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In the 5 years that I’ve been a stepmom and have been working with stepmoms, one thing is abundantly clear; many divorced moms have incorrect preconceived notions about their child’s stepmom and her motivations. These false assumptions can wreak havoc on the dynamic between the mom and stepmom and ruin the potential for a positive relationship down the line. I hope these 8 truths will clear up some of the most common misunderstandings about stepmoms.
1. She isn’t playing house with your child and your ex-husband.
Stepmoms are trying to build their own family, a very real family that includes their husband, and children who aren’t theirs.
Some of them will grow to love their stepchildren and some won’t, but they’re doing their best to ensure the child still grows up feeling happy and loved.
They’re nurturing a marriage and trying to figure out their role in the stepchild’s life. And while you knew your place in your child’s life from day one, stepmoms can spend years trying to find theirs.
2. It’s not about YOU.
A stepmom’s priority is her marriage. When she does something for her stepchild, often the motivation has nothing to do with you. It’s not about trying to make you look bad or make you feel “less than.”
She’s trying to do the right thing – just like you would.
Similarly, when she supports her husband, the intention is not to go “against” you. In fact, there are times when stepmoms actually side with mom, although — unless you have a decent relationship with the stepmom in your situation — you’d never know it.
3. Stepmoms often feel powerless and alone.
Stepmoms have no legal rights with their stepchild. They understand this; their stepchild already has a mom and a dad. But it gets difficult when they’re turned away for trying to obtain something as simple as a library card for their stepson or stepdaughter. Or when the doctor’s office won’t give them any information, even though they will be the one driving the child to the appointment and giving them their medication.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, especially for stepmoms who have taken care of their stepchildren since they were very small.
It can make a woman feel unimportant and insignificant. It’s a feeling only a fellow stepmom could understand.
In addition, stepmoms are often powerless when it comes to their stepchild’s behavior. This is a struggle because they are greatly affected by the unwanted behavior, but they don’t have the authority to do anything about it. If they’re lucky, their husband will be supportive and listen to their concerns, but this isn’t always the case.
4. When you contact their household, it often feels weird and disruptive.
Stepmoms know you have the right to call your children as often as you’d like. And they understand you need to talk to your ex occasionally about parenting issues. But it can still feel like an intrusion.
Stepmoms are constantly struggling to find ways to bond with their stepchildren, and when you call, it interrupts the activity in the house and their stepchildren are immediately distracted. Any bonding that was going on is gone.
Stepmoms may feel as though you’ve crept into every aspect of their lives. And your calling their house is another painful reminder of that.
5. Stepmoms don’t cross your boundaries on purpose, they just can’t see them.
Many moms complain that the stepmom is trying to “parent” their child. But a fundamental problem seems to be, what moms consider “parenting,” stepmoms consider “being responsible” or “supporting their husbands.”
Remember, many stepmoms aren’t sure of their role.
They’re stumbling along, figuring it out as they go. And it’s difficult to try and do the ‘right thing’ only to realize you’ve just caused mom a coronary. It’s not intentional.
Stepmoms wish there was a rule book. They wish the situations were black and white. They wish they could be on the same page as mom and dad, and know how to handle every situation.
But they don’t.
This is where neutral, open communication would be to everyone’s advantage.
Unfortunately, for many stepmoms, their first experience of mom is an emotionally-charged phone call, email or text telling her she has “no right” to do whatever it is she did. To a stepmom, this feels like you’re kicking her when she’s already down. It comes as a shock — because again — her primary intention was to help her husband and care for her stepchild.
6. A stepmom’s marriage has a 60-70 percent chance of failing.
And one Boston study reported that 75% of the women who were surveyed said if they had it to do all over; they would NOT marry a man with children. That says a lot about the difficulties stepmoms face.
This may not mean much to you personally, but it means your children will have to experience the prolonged process of a second divorce and deal with the aftermath.
7. Stepmoms are often disrespected or ignored by their stepchildren.
There are various reasons for this, chief among them understandable and agonizing loyalty conflicts for the child, but regardless — it still hurts. Stepmoms are only human.
Life isn’t always flowers and butterflies in the other household. Many children feel weird about having a stepmom. They don’t know what it means or what to do with it, so they act out or just ignore the stepmom, which is awkward for everyone.
And most stepmoms don’t have “unconditional love” to fall back on. When a child misbehaves, wreaks havoc, or throws a tantrum, parents may get angry and frustrated, but their unconditional love makes it bearable.
Stepmoms aren’t so lucky. There’s no unconditional love coming to rescue them from wanting to scream at their stepchild or run the other way, sob somewhere private, and never look back. All they have are difficult feelings and nowhere to put them.
But they do come back, day after day, because they believe their marriage and their stepfamily are worth it.
8. A simple “thank you” can go a long way.
Stepmoms wish you’d give them even the smallest acknowledgement. For a lot of women, being a stepmom is one of the hardest things they’ve ever done. Often, their needs and wants come last, their schedules aren’t their own, and they’re affected by a situation they didn’t create.
Many stepmoms take excellent care of their stepchild, with little or no reward. They get no thank you, no love from the child, and no appreciation from anyone but their husband — if they’re lucky.
They make many sacrifices in order to be with the man they love. So, to only be referenced as “she” (or even worse), or to be completely ignored by you, can hurt them deeply. What they wouldn’t give for a simple “thank you” or a nod in their direction.
I believe that kind of recognition can heal wounds.
Do stepmoms ever act from ego or a sense of competition with the ex-wife?
Sure, just as some moms do.
But it’s important to grasp the implications of a bigger context here: being a stepmom is uniquely difficult and confusing. If you’re a mom, could you see yourself struggling in her shoes?
Perhaps, one day, with a better understanding of each other, the mom/stepmom relationship will be one of championing the other, instead of automatic conflict.
Jenna Korf is a Certified Stepfamily Foundation coach, an RCI Certified Relationship coach and co-author of the book, “Skirts At War: Beyond Divorced Mom/Stepmom Conflict.” She is also a blogger for The Huffington Post and has been featured as a stepfamily expert on CNN.com, parenting.com and care.com. Jenna is also a Registered Nurse, a stepmom and a stepchild. To read more from Jenna or for one-on-one coaching visit her at StepmomHelp.com.
Check out Jenna’s latest book Skirts at War: Beyond Divorced Mom/Stepmom Conflict here: |
Today I found out how to tell if you are a supertaster. What’s a supertaster you ask? More or less, it’s just someone with a heck of a lot more taste-buds than the average person. Specifically, someone with more than about 35 papillae per 7mm diameter circle on their tongue. Papillae are tiny structures on your tongue that contain your taste-buds. It turns out, about 25% of people are supertasters; 25% are non-tasters; and the other 50% are somewhere in the middle.
All these extra taste-buds tend to make supertasters hyper sensitive to tastes, due to the increased intensity of any given taste they are detecting. Researchers estimate the supertasters experience flavors about three times stronger than the average taster.
Because of this, supertasters tend to hate green vegetables, grapefruit juice, certain alcoholic beverages, coffee, green tea, soy based products, overly sweet things, and generally are just considered “picky eaters”. It turns out though, that it has nothing to do with personality with supertasters, as is often implied, and more to do with the fact that they can taste things that the people labeling them “picky eaters” and ridiculing them for it, can’t. So don’t get bitter at them, they can’t help it.
There are two primary ways to detect if you are a supertaster or not. The first and less “do at home” friendly, is to get some propylthiouracil (PROP), a prescription only thyroid medication drug. In this test, people are made to taste PROP and if they report a bitter taste they are either a medium or a supertaster (non-taster’s can’t taste PROP; supertasters find it repulsively bitter). They then are given a reference stimulus to determine how an individual scales their description of what they are sensing. With this, they are trying to determine if someone says something is “extremely bitter”, do they mean the same level as someone else that just says “bitter”, but has a different notion of how strongly to describe some sensation. From this reference stimulant, usually auditory, they are able to determine if someone who tastes the bitterness is a supertaster or just a medium taster.
Now for the more “do at home” friendly version.
Materials Needed:
Piece of thick paper such as a 3×5 note card or construction paper
Blue Food Coloring
Mirror
Magnifying Glass
Cotton Swab (optional)
Hole Punch (optional)
Step 1:
Poke a hole in the paper approximately the size of a standard paper hole punch hole (should be 7mm or .27 inches in diameter; most hole punches range between 6mm and 8mm).
Step 2:
Now rub some of the food coloring onto your tongue with a cotton swab or your finger. You will notice under the magnifying glass that the food coloring will tend to show up on your tongue, but the papillae will stay pink-ish, looking like little pink bumps on your tongue.
Step 3:
Place the hole on the paper over the part of your tongue that has the food coloring and press gently, so as not to move the paper while you are counting.
Step 4:
Use the magnifying glass and a mirror to count how many papillae you see on your tongue through the hole in the paper. The papillae should appear like tiny pink dots surrounded by blue food coloring.
That’s it. If you counted close to 35-ish or more, you are a supertaster. If you counted between 15 or more up to around 35-ish, you are a medium taster. If you counted less than 15, you are a non-taster. Obviously there are ranges within each group, but that’s generally how the three groups are classified. But beyond labels like “supertaster”, the more papillae you counted, the strong you taste things.
Bonus Facts:
Body type has been found to be closely related to ability to taste. Supertasters tend to be thinner and have less cardiovascular problems due to dislike of fatty foods.
The term “supertaster” was first coined by Psychologist Linda Bartoshuk and her colleagues in the 1990s. In their research, they noticed some people tested in their experiments seemed to have a much higher taste response. However, they only coined the phrase and further studied the differences between taste sensitivity; the difference in ability to distinguish taste strengths had already been discovered. Specifically, work was done about 70 years previous by A.L. Fox, a chemist, who noticed that some people reported phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) as being bitter, while others couldn’t taste it. Later, Roland Fischer, in the 1960s, discovered that PROP, which was later used by Linda Bartoshuk for her research, could not be tasted by non-tasters and by some medium tasters, but was extremely bitter to supertasters.
Though supertasters have a significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular and weight problems, they run a much higher risk of colon, gynecological, and other cancers than non-supertasters. This is thought to be due to a drastically limited intake of green vegetables, due to their disgusting taste to supertasters.
Women are much more likely to be supertasters than men (35% of Women vs 15% of Men)
Asians are much more likely to be supertasters than the rest of the world
Caucasian males have the lowest rate of supertasters of any known group.
In The Simpsons episode “Father Knows Worst”, Homer eats a stick of burning coals and becomes a supertaster.
The alternative rock band They Might Be Giants has a song called “John Lee Supertaster” about John Lee, a supertaster and the bass player for the rock band Muckaferguson, who “can’t drink coffee or beer” and “loves ice cream and pie”.
Expand for References: |
INTRODUCTION:
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used by athletes to prevent anticipated exercise-induced pain, thereby putatively improving physical performance. However, these drugs may have potentially hazardous effects on the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa during strenuous physical exercise. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of oral ibuprofen administration before exercise on GI integrity and barrier function in healthy individuals.
METHODS:
Nine healthy, trained men were studied on four different occasions: 1) 400 mg ibuprofen twice before cycling, 2) cycling without ibuprofen, 3) 400 mg ibuprofen twice at rest, and 4) rest without ibuprofen intake. To assess small intestinal injury, plasma intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) levels were determined, whereas urinary excretion of orally ingested multisugar test probes was measured using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to assess GI permeability.
RESULTS:
Both ibuprofen consumption and cycling resulted in increased I-FABP levels, reflecting small intestinal injury. Levels were higher after cycling with ibuprofen than after cycling without ibuprofen, rest with ibuprofen, or rest without ibuprofen (peak I-FABP, 875 ± 137, 474 ± 74, 507 ± 103, and 352 ± 44 pg·mL, respectively, P < 0.002). In line, small intestinal permeability increased, especially after cycling with ibuprofen (0-2 h urinary lactulose/rhamnose ratio, 0.08 (0.04-0.56) compared with 0.04 (0.00-0.20), 0.05 (0.01-0.07), and 0.01 (0.01-0.03), respectively), reflecting loss of gut barrier integrity. Interestingly, the extent of intestinal injury and barrier dysfunction correlated significantly (RS = 0.56, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION:
This is the first study to reveal that ibuprofen aggravates exercise-induced small intestinal injury and induces gut barrier dysfunction in healthy individuals. We conclude that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs consumption by athletes is not harmless and should be discouraged. |
A band of Spanish net buccaneers has mounted a determined incursion into Her Maj's territorial cyberwaters by demanding that Blighty's forthcoming Royal Research Ship be named the RRS Blas de Lezo, in honour of the man who administered the British a serious military shoeing during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
The £200m floating outpost of empire is due to launch in 2019, and the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) recently rather ill-advisedly invited public suggestions as to a suitable title for the intrepid polar adventurer.
This quickly resulted in a swell of support for Boaty McBoatface, which still tops the leader board, albeit with the Spanish pretender snapping at its stern.
Those of you who've read the extremely thin volume A Compendium of Spanish Naval Heroes will know that in March 1741, Blas de Lezo successfully repulsed British attempts to take Cartagena de Indias, in present-day Colombia.
Today, Blas de Lezo is known as the "Half Man", due to having by his mid-20s rather carelessly lost his left eye, his left leg below the knee and the use of his right arm. His physical misfortunes did, however, subsequently make a major contribution to his personal legend.
The Spanish forces now attempting to raise their hero's flag above a Royal Research Ship were apparently called to arms on a private board down at car forum ForoCoches, according to El Mundo.
Hispanics worldwide have also answered the call to vote for the Blas de Lezo down at Taringa! under the rallying cry: "Let's unite as brothers to troll the British. They took the Falkland Islands from you and now we'll take their boat!"
Sadly, this entertaining maritime tomfoolery is likely to end in brutal defeat for both sides when the RRS Blas de Lezo and the RRS Boaty McBoatface are sunk by a veto broadside from NERC, which has the final say on the ship's name. ®
Update
No sooner had we published this story, than it emerged that NERC has torpedoed the "offensive" Spanish contender. A spokeswoman said: "We will remove or reject any name suggestion that we deem liable to cause offence." |
In this undated image provided by Allicia Leaper of Crush Photography, Scott Diethorne, dressed as Santa, poses for a photo with a child upside down in his arms. Diethorne, the beloved Santa with "naughty" tattooed on one arm and "nice" tattooed on the other, has been asked to tone down his typically goofy poses at a suburban Philadelphia mall, leaving some fans miffed. (Allicia Leaper/Crush Photography via AP)
A beloved Santa with "naughty" tattooed on one arm and "nice" tattooed on the other has been asked to tone down his typically goofy poses at a suburban Philadelphia mall, leaving some fans miffed.
Scott Diethorne is known for silly poses like hanging kids upside down and flashing his "naughty" or "nice" forearms.
Customers tell Philly.com that when they arrived at the Oxford Valley Mall in Bucks County for their annual photos recently, they learned Santa Scott could only take "traditional" Christmas pictures — no tattoos or upside-down poses.
Cherry Hill Programs, which runs the mall, says they're "dedicated to preserving the tradition and image of Santa."
Diethorne declined to comment, but his daughter says he loves his job and he doesn't want this outcry to jeopardize it.
His fans are coming for photos anyway. |
Image caption The Security Council held a meeting this week on Libya, which the Libyan UN ambassador attended
Critics howled with derision at the UN Security Council's response to the bloodshed in Libya this week.
An emergency session produced no action, not even a legally binding resolution: only the Council's weakest form of expression, a press statement.
Here at the UN, however, Western diplomats were flush with the triumph of finally getting the Council to address at least one of the revolts in the Middle East. One called it the "strongest statement in years".
'Protecting peace'
That difference reflects the enormous gap in perception between the public and the diplomats over how the UN works and what it can do.
The Security Council was set up in 1945 to "protect international peace and security," which at the time essentially meant preventing another world war.
Some Council members - China and Russia in particular - still hold to a narrow definition of what threats deserve UN attention.
Image caption Demonstrators in Libya have demanded the removal of Col Muammar Gaddafi
In the case of Libya, they see a tyrant accused of killing his people as a domestic, if bloody, affair.
Others, like the European states, see the prospect of refugees flooding across borders as an international threat.
They also argue the Security Council's role has evolved to include a "responsibility to protect" civilians from murderous governments.
But Council diplomats put great stock in sending a "unified message".
They strive to achieve consensus among all 15 members, and they have to avoid a veto by one of the five permanent members - Britain, France, Russia, China and America.
So the Security Council tends to settle on the lowest common denominator.
That is why its responses are often bemoaned as inadequate by the world, but hailed by insiders as hard-fought achievements.
Still, we haven't heard the last word from the Council on Libya yet. Western nations are pushing for action, not just statements.
That could include mandating safe passages for humanitarian goods, an arms embargo, sanctions, an investigation into alleged atrocities, the deployment of peacekeepers, a no-fly zone to protect civilians from regime air strikes, and/or military intervention.
Western intervention
But which of the steps listed above is likely to happen?
Military intervention can be safely ruled out: It is so complex and controversial that the Council has only twice taken that route - Korea in 1950 and Iraq in 1991.
Sending in peacekeepers, too, is a non-starter - typically, they are deployed to fortify existing truces or borders (not to fight) at the request of the government of a strife-torn country.
Instituting a "no-fly zone" over Libya enforced by fighter jets is also most unlikely. Council members are wary of such Western-led military measures after their experience in Iraq.
Image caption Col Gaddafi, who said he will die a martyr in Libya, is accused of serious human rights abuses
Authorising an investigation into Col Gaddafi's violent crackdown is more feasible, but New York will almost certainly wait to see what comes out of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is currently debating such a measure.
Such a probe could prompt the Security Council to refer Libya to the International Criminal Court for a war crimes investigation, but that is not an easy step: Only Sudan has received such treatment, and some Council diplomats believe that was counter productive.
The concept of a humanitarian corridor has been tossed around, but no one's very clear on what that would entail.
Some talk about asking neighbouring countries to ease border restrictions to facilitate convoys, although that seems to be happening already.
Perhaps the Security Council would formally endorse that step. UN humanitarian agencies are already poised to take their own action.
That leaves us with an arms embargo and sanctions targeting Col Gaddafi's entourage and key members of the military and elite.
These might send a "political signal" that would encourage defection from the Colonel's ranks, says a UN diplomat.
If the Security Council does authorise action, these last are the most likely options.
But before that, we may very well get more words - a more authoritative, tougher statement.
The Libyan revolt has put the UN under the spotlight, partly because the collapse of the state threatens a fallout more dangerous than that from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, but also because European nations on the Security Council are under public pressure to be seen as doing something.
The trick is to win agreement from all Council members on something that is not dismissed as meaningless by people in the West, the region, and above all in Libya. |
Arabic’s history spans nearly three thousand years. The language first appears as a shadowy idiom in the early 1st millennium BCE, sporadically attested in ancient rock inscriptions from the southern Levant and North Arabia and fragments in the documents of major empires. In Classical Antiquity, Arabic flourishes as a written language among the nomads of North Arabia and the Syro-Jordanian desert, and by mid-first millennium CE, it had become the language of world empires and international scientific discourse. Ahmad Al-Jallad plots out the complex evolution of the world’s fifth most widely spoken language. For the first time, Arabic’s entire history will be told, with a special focus on the primary sources and their socio-cultural contexts. The evolution of both the language and its associated writing traditions are discussed in light of linguistic, historical, and archaeological research, and presented as a coherent narrative. The book is divided into three parts — 1) the Word: Arabic’s earliest stages when it remained a purely spoken language. Evidence for it is preserved in transcriptions of loanwords, personal names, and other fragments in the written languages of the time; 2) the Blade: this refers to the instrument used to carve rock inscriptions, usually a sharp stone or metal blade. Arabic is abundantly attested in rock inscriptions from the late first millennium BCE onward; 3) the Pen: in the early first millennium CE, Arabic is written more and more frequently in the Nabataean script and in ink. This catalyzes the evolution of the Arabic script as we know it and ultimately the transformation of Arabic into a world language.
The book is in contract with Princeton University Press and expected to appear in 2019.
A visual timeline of Arabic
Early First Millennium BCE
Arabic makes its first appearance in the Iron Age Levant and Mesopotamia. The shadowy language is known only from a handful of loanwords, personal names, and fragmentary inscriptions in varieties of the South Semitic alphabet, a script used across Arabia in the 1st millennium BCE. In this period, groups of people called Arabs inhabit the frontier region between the Fertile Crescent and the deserts of North Arabia. Assyrian sources call the oasis of Dumah (modern Dumat al-Jandal) the ‘fortress of the Arabs’.
Seal Ward fig. 1208 (courtesy OCIANA)
A seal from Mesopotamia with a fragmentary inscription in the South Semitic script, beginning with the lam auctoris, typical of Ancient North Arabian inscriptions. The style dates to the 8th-7th centuries BCE (Sass 1991: 48-49).
Tablet from Uruk (courtesy OCIANA; Kienast 1958: 43-44)
A tablet with an inscription in the South Semitic script. The text is fragmentary but some words can be made out: Right: gwl |/ bbl ṯqb … | nby /.. y | —- | h{b}; Left: ʾ or sbbn {r} / l ṣr | (I do not believe the line with two holes at the end is a ṯ but a word divider). The first two words could mean ‘he went to Babylon’ but the remaining letters are difficult to interpret. The left image, which is upside down, seems to contain names, perhaps ʾbbn /ʾababun/ or sbbn /sababun/. The second line begins with the lām auctoris followed by the name ṣr, maybe /ṣayr/ or /ṣawr/.
Ancient North Arabian inscription from Bāyir, Jordan (Hayajneh, Ababneh, Khraysheh 2015)
A bilingual Ancient North Arabian (script undetermined)-Canaanite inscription from northeastern Jordan. The Ancient North Arabian inscription contains an invocation to Milkom, Kemosh, and Qaws, the gods of the Iron-Age kingdoms of the southern Levant. The Old Arabic reads: hā malkum wa kamās wa qaws bi-kum ʿawaḏnā ‘O Malkom, Kemosh, and Qaws, in you we have sought refuge’.
Late First Millennium BCE
Attestations of Arabic begin to flourish in this period. Inscriptions in the Safaitic and Hismaic alphabets, both belonging to the South Semitic script family, begin roughly in the centuries before the Common Era, spanning the southern Levant, from the Hawran to the Hisma and Dumah. The establishment of the Nabataean Kingdom in present-day Jordan markers a turning point in the history of Arabic — an Arabic-speaking elite begin the process of writing the Arabic language in a variety of the Aramaic alphabet known as Nabataean.
A Hismaic inscription from the Madaba region in Jordan (Graf & Zwettler 2004)
A votive inscription in Old Arabic expressing the fulfillment of a vow to deity and a petition for mercy (vocalization is based on Al-Jallad 2017)
saqoma le-ʾelāhe Ṣaʿb wa taʿānaya wa taśaddada laho be-kolle mā phaʿala wa naḏara ʾarbaʿa ʾasleʿat men-nīrat wa ʿaphanat wa yatḥall be-ṣaḥrāy wa law lā-ka taraḥḥam ʿalayya wa ḏakarat allāto ʾaśyāʿa-nā kolla-hom
He sinned against the god Ṣʿb and so was reduced to abject supplication, and suffered, and so he exerted himself for his (the deity’s) sake in all that he has done and he vowed four commodity lots of Indigo and Verdigris pigments and then secluded himself in the desert in order that you may show mercy upon me, and may Allat be mindful of all our companions’
JSLih 384, An Arabic inscription in the Dadanitic script from the Higaz (courtesy OCIANA)
This is a grave inscription set up by a woman. The text is unique in that it is written in Old Arabic rather than Dadanitic, the written language of this area at the time. The text reads: naphs ʿabdsamīn bin zaydḫarg ʾallatī banah salmā bint ʾawsʾarśān ‘the funerary monument of ʿAbdsamīn son of Zaydḫarg which Salmā daughter of Awsarśān constructed’
KRS 2453, An Old Arabic poetic text (Al-Jallad 2015)
A poetic text in an Ancient North Arabian script exhibiting a mix of Safaitic and Hismaic values. The text is related to the Baal Cycle, would could suggest a rather early data of composition:
ḥagga mōt wa-lāẓẓ ṯarām
pha moyakān ḫalph layāley-oh wa-ʾaywām-oh
pha ʾā Baʿal yobatt wa lā hū bātt wa mā nām
Mōt held a feast; the scorner eats
Established is the alternation of his nights and days
And, behold, Baʿal is cut off; cut off indeed, but not dead.
First-Third Centuries CE
This period is witness to the climax of Arabic script diversity. The language is written in Safaitic, Hismaic, possibly in Ancient South Arabian, as well as for the first time Nabataean and Greek scripts, ranging from the Hawran to North Arabia. The wealth of texts across different alphabets allows us to form a detailed picture of the diverse cultures and dialects of the Arabic-speaking peoples of this period.
ʿEn ʿAvdat Inscription (Kropp 2017)
The ʿEn ʿAvdat inscription comes from near the ruins of the Nabataean city Oboda in the Negev. According to Macdonald (2010), it contains an Arabic liturgy belonging to the deified Nabataean king ʿobodah. Since the inscription is undated, the exact period to which it belongs is unclear. Kropp (2017) places it between 88 and 125 CE. The text reads:
pha yaphʿal lā pedā wa lā ʾaṯarā
pha kon honā yabġenā ʾal-mawto lā ʾebġā-h
pha kon honā ʾarād gorḥo lā yored-nā
‘May he act that there be neither ransom nor scar; so be it that death would seek us, may he not aid its seeking; and so be it that a wound would desire (a victim) let it not desire us!’
A war song from Marabb al-Šurafāt (NE Jordan) (Al-Jallad 2017)
This undated text, but possibly the 1st c. CE, contains a short war song that was perhaps sung by soldiers on their way to battle.
The poetic section reads:
pha ḥalīl-oh meḥ-ḥarb pha hay-yawma honā ʾāḫer ḥalīl
raʾosa ḏekrat pha hay-yawma honā ʾāḫer ḥalīl
ʿaneya man ḫoṣepha pha hay-yawma honā ʾāḫer ḥalīl
‘May his halting be only for war, so let here this day be the final encampment; foremost fame!, so let here this day be the final encampment; those who return suffer, so let her this day be the final encampment’
Safaitic inscription from Wādī Umm Khinyṣri (NE Jordan) dated to the first century CE (Harahsheh & Al-Šudayfāt 2006, tracing by authors)
The nomads of the Syro-Jordanian desert were keenly aware of political happenings in the Roman Empire, and often dated their inscriptions to those events.
ḥalla dawra sanata malk agreppoṣ ben hayrodayṣ wa wagada ʾaṯra ʾaḫwāl-oh ʾāl ʾaślal taym w garmāʾ wa ʾaḥwaḍ wa zabīd pha nawgaʿa wa hā ḏū-śaray wa llāt ġanīmata le-ḏī daʿaya wa lam yoḫabbal sephr
‘he encamped in this region the year of King Agrippa son of Herod and he found the traces of his maternal uncles, of the lineage of ʾAślal, Taym, Garmāʾ, ʾAḥwaḍ, and Zabīd, and so he grieved in pain; O Dusares and Allāt, may he who would read (this writing) aloud have spoil and let not the writing be effaced’
A pre-Islamic Arabic graffito in Greek letters (Al-Jallad and al-Manaser 2015)
This Arabic graffito in the Greek script provides the earliest vocalized example of the Arabic language, demonstrating the usage of the accusative case in this period.
ʾAwsos ʿūḏou bannāʾou kazimou ʾatawa mis-seʿīʿa śatāw wa-bannāʾa ʾad-dawra wa yirʿaw baqla bi-kānū(n)
‘ ‘Aws son of ʿuḏ son of Bannāʾ son of Kazim came from Sīʿ to spend the winter with Bannāʾ in this place and they pastured on fresh herbage during Kānūn’
Fourth-Sixth Centuries CE
These centuries witness a script bottleneck. The Ancient North Arabian alphabets seem to decline and eventually disappear, while the Nabataean Aramaic script spreads and becomes associated with Arabic. Nabataean-script inscriptions begin to show more influence from Arabic and their Aramaic component recedes, until it is restricted to a few fossils. By the sixth century, the Nabataean script had developed fully into what we would recognize as the Arabic script.
Namarah Inscription (source)
The Namārah epitaph, named after the area in which it was discovered, is a grave inscription for a certain Marʾalqays son of ʿamro, “king of all the Arabs”. Dated to 328 CE, it is one of the earliest examples of writing the Arabic language in the Nabataean Aramaic script, foreshadowing the development of the Arabic script from Nabataean.
Excerpt (Aramaic bolded):
tī naphs marʾalqays bar ʿamro malk al-ʿarab kollah ḏū ʾasara ʾal-tāga
‘This is the funerary monument of Marʾalqays son of ʿAmro king of all the Arabs, who bound on the diadem’
Sakākā Inscription (S1, Nehmé 2010: 71)
This text in the Nabataeo-Arabic alphabet, from Sakaka in northern Saudi Arabia, is transitional between the Nabataean script and the Arabic script proper. The text also exhibits a mix of both Arabic and Aramaic languages. It is dated to April, 428 CE.
Excerpt (Aramaic bolded):
dəkīr-w moḥāreb-w wa ʾaṣḥāboh ʾal-ʿaśarah
‘May Moḥāreb and his ten companions be remembered’
Ḥimà-Sud Paleo-Arabic 1 (Robin, C.J., A. al- Ghabbān, and S.F. al-Sa’īd 2014)
A Christian Arabic-script inscription from Ḥimà, from the region of Nagrān. The language of the text is, however, in all respects Aramaic.
ṯawbān bar mālik-w b-yaraḥ burak šatt 3×100 20+20+20+4
‘Thawbān son of Mālik-w in the month of Burak in the year 364 (470 CE)’
Ḥarrān Inscription
A bilingual Greek-Arabic inscription commemorating the building of a martyrium of St. John, dated to 568 CE, from Harran, southern Syria. The text is nowadays part of a modern house.
ʾanā šaraḥīl bar ṯ̣ālemo banayt ḏā ʾal-marṭūl sanat 463 (= 568 CE) ….
I, Sharahīl son of ṯ̣ālemo, built this martyrium the year 463 … (the rest of the inscription has defied a satisfactory interpretation)
Petra Papyri (source)
Greek legal documents from Petra (6th c. CE) containing numerous Arabic words and phrases in transcription. Since Greek notes the vowels, these documents, along with the Graeco-Arabic inscriptions mentioned above, are our clearest witnesses to the pronunciation of Arabic in the pre-Islamic period. The final line on this photograph (P.Petr II, 199) contains the name of a property bait al-akbar ‘the largest apartment’.
Seventh-Tenth Centuries CE
Following the Arab Conquests, Arabic, written in the latest form of the Nabataean script, spread across Asia and Africa and was elevated to the status of an official language of an empire. Our earliest examples of Arabic as an administrative and literary language date to these centuries.
Graffiti
The Zuhayr Inscription (Ghabban 2008)
A graffito dated to the year 644 CE (24 A.H.) from northern Saudi Arabia, the earliest rock inscription containing diacritics (dots) to distinguish homographic phonemes. The text reads:
ʾanā zuhayr katabt zaman tuwuffiy ʿumar sanat ʾarbaʿ wa-ʿašrīn
‘I, Zuhayr, wrote at the time Umar died, the year 24’
Papyri
The Ahnas papyrus (PERF 558)
An early bilingual Arabic-Greek receipt dated to 643 CE (22 AH), at a time when Arabic and Greek were both administrative languages of the Umayyad state. The Arabic goes as follows, vocalized based on contemporary Greek transcriptions:
bismillāh ar-raḥmān al-raḥīm hāḏā mā aḫaḏ ʿabdallāh ibn gābir wa-aṣḥābuh min al-gazr min ahnas aḫaḏnā min ḫalīfat tidrāq ibn abūqīr al-aṣġar wa-min ḫalīfah iṣṭafar ibn abūqīr al-akbar ḫamsīn šāh min al-gazr wa-ḫams-ʿašrah ʾuḫrē ʾagzarahā ʾaṣḥāb sufunuh wa-katāyibuh wa-ṯiqlāh fī šahr gumādē al-ūlē min sanat iṯnatayn wa-ʿašrīn wa-katab ibn ḥadīdo
‘In the name of God, the Rahman, the merciful; this is what Abdallah son of Gabir and his companions took as slaughter sheep from Heracleopolis; we have taken from the representative of Theodorakios, the younger son of Apa Kyros, and from the representative of Christophoros, the eldest son of Apa Kyros, fifty sheep of slaughter and fifteen other sheep; he gave them for slaughter for the crew of his vessels, his cavalry, and infantry in the month of Gumada 1 in the year 24; Ibn Hadido has written.’
Qur’an
Birmingham Qur’an fragment (source)
Scholars have identified a number of early fragments of the Qur’an through radio carbon dating techniques. One of the earliest is a parchment held by the University of Birmingham, containing two leaves of a Qur’anic manuscript. In 2015, these were dated to between 568 and 645 AD. The text is a fine example of the so-called Higazi hand, the script and orthography (writing conventions) associated with the Umayyad State, likely originating in the writing school of Yathrib (Madina) in pre-Islamic times.
Damascus Psalm Fragment
A gloss of Psalm 78 found in the Geniza of the Umayyad mosque of Damascus, dated as early as the late 8th to 9th century. The Arabic text is written in Greek letters, exposing the pronunciation of the language at the time. The language seems to reflect the vernacular of the period as well rather than the literary language. Thus, it provides our earliest witness to the spoken Arabic shortly after the Arab Conquests. For a monograph devoted to this document, see Al-Jallad (forthcoming).
fa-akelū wa-šabeʿū ğeddā wa-šehwet-hum ğēb lahum
‘So they ate and were greatly sated and he brought to them what they desired’
Second Millennium CE (in progress)
By this time, Arabic is firmly established as a global language, used across three continents for science, administration, law, religion, and more. The spoken language also spread across North Africa and the Middle East, although we know far less about medieval spoken Arabic due to the strong written standard. Calligraphic forms of Arabic emerge as the Arabic script becomes one of the main vehicles of artistic expression in Islamic civilization. The influence of Arabic begins to be seen on languages across the world.
Eleventh-Nineteenth Centuries CE
Mamluk Axe (source)
A Square Kufic Arabic inscription on the axe of Sultan Qait Bay, ruler of Egypt (1468-1495). The text says:
The Sultan, the victorious king, the father of happiness, Muhammad Ibn Qait Bay, his help may be glorified.
Ottoman Arabic inscription of the Old Mosque in Edirne, built in 1414 CE (source)
Arabic building inscriptions belong to a time-tested tradition, dating back to the pre-Islamic era. This gilded marble plaque, situated above the old mosque of Edirne, contains a hadith ‘saying of the Islamic prophet’ followed by honorific titles for the Ottoman ruler who patronized the mosque.
1) qāla l-nabī, ʿalayhi l-salām, man banā li-llāhi masjidan banā llāhu lahū baytan fī l-jannati”. Amara bi-ʿimārati hādhā l-jāmiʿi l-sharīfi l-sulṭānu l-mu’ayyadu l-mujāhidu
2) l-murābiṭu manṣūru l-liwā’ qāhiru l-aʿdā’ nāshiru l-ʿadli wa-l-iḥsāni ʿalā ahli l-dunyā l-sulṭānu bnu l-sulṭāni bni l-sulṭāni ghiyāthu l-dunyā
3) wa-l-dīni Muḥammadu bnu Bāyazīd khān khallada llāhu sulṭānahū wa-awḍaḥa ʿalā l-ʿālamayni burhānahū fī muntaṣafi shawwāli sanati sitti ʿašari wa-thamānmi’ah
1) The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: Who builds a masjid for God, God builds him a house in paradise. The righteous sulṭān, striving in jihād, has ordered the building of this noble jāmiʿ
2) [He who is] guarding the frontiers of Islam, victorious with his flag, overwhelming the enemies, spreading justice and beneficence over the inhabitants of the earth, the sulṭān, son of the sulṭān, son of the sulṭān, helper of the earth
3) And the religion, Muḥammad, son of Bāyazīd, Khān, may god make his reign eternal and make his proof manifest on both worlds, in the middle of the [month of] shawwāl of the year eight hundred sixteen.
Mamluk Graffito from Jebel Qurma, Jordan (Photograph, A. Al-Jallad)
Jebel Qurma, near the oasis of Al-Azraq, was a popular look-out point over the centuries. Inscriptions in Safaitic, Thamudic, Greek, and Arabic scripts attest to the various periods in which men were dispatched to this hilltop to keep watch. This Mamluk inscription shares a rock with a Safaitic one, two forms of Arabic separated by over 15 centuries.
ḥaḍara fī hāḏā l-makāni l-mubāraki ʾaḥmadu bnu yaḥyā bni abū bakr
‘Aḥmad son of Yaḥyā son of Abū Bakr settled in this blessed place’
First Arabic book published with movable type, commissioned by Pope Julius II for Arabic-speaking Christians of the Middle East (source)
Gregorio de Gregorii, an Italian printer, published the first book in Arabic with moveable type in 1514, commissioned by Pope Julius II for delivery to Christians in the Middle East. This was the first printed book in Arabic.
A printed Arabic grammatical manual Arabic, 1866 (source)
This concise manual on Arabic grammar was produced by the 19th century Syrian/Lebanese intellectual Nāṣīf al-Yāzijī (1800-1871), part of the Nahda, an Arabic cultural renaissance of the 19th and early 20th centuries, beginning in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean.
Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries CE
Arabic is the world’s fifth most widely spoken language, stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian ocean. The true extent of Arabic’s spoken diversity is discovered as researchers document hundreds of different dialectal forms of the language that were hidden behind the standardized Classical language over the centuries. Diglossia becomes publicly debated as Arabic’s dialects begin to take a written form.
Wikipedia in Egyptian Arabic (source)
A version of Wikipedia written entirely in an elevated register of Egyptian colloquial Arabic, containing over 10,000 articles. The orthography contains some etymological spellings, such as رقم for raʾam ‘number’, as well as phonetic forms like تلات /talāt/ instead of the etymological form ثلاث.
3arabizi (online Arabic) (source, Twitter)
A conventional way of represented in Arabic in Latin characters emerges on the internet and in text messages. Combining numbers and digraphs, Arabic’s consonants completely accounted for, e.g. 3 = ʿayn, 7 = ḥāʾ, and so on. Often times, 3arabizi simply calques Arabic orthography, leaving many of the short vowels unwritten.
Modern Standard Arabic
A widely popular Japanese cartoon dubbed into Modern Standard Arabic and distributed across the Arabic speaking world. Classical Arabic continues to flourish, perhaps as never before, as mass education and media spread knowledge of a modernized version of the language, called Modern Standard Arabic or fuṣḥā, far beyond a small educated elite. The complex interaction between this high register and the myriad of spoken forms will shape Arabic’s future. For an excellent article on Arabic’s future, see the death of Arabic is greatly exaggerated , by Elias Muhanna.
References:
Al-Jallad, A. 2015. Echoes of the Baal Cycle in a Safaito-Hismaic Inscription. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religion 15.1: 5–19.
Al-Jallad, A. 2017. Graeco-Arabica I: The Southern Levant. In A. Al-Jallad (ed.), Arabic in Context. Leiden: Brill, 99-186.
Al-Jallad & al-Manaser 2015. New Epigraphica from Jordan I: a pre-Islamic Arabic inscription in Greek letters and a Greek inscription from north-eastern Jordan. Arabian Epigraphic Notes 1: 51–70.
Ghabban, A.I. (Trans. & Remarks by R. G. Hoyland), “The Inscription Of Zuhayr, The Oldest Islamic Inscription (24 AH/AD 644–645), The Rise Of The Arabic Script And The Nature Of The Early Islamic State“, Arabian Archaeology And Epigraphy, 2008, Volume 19, pp. 210-237.
Graf, D.F. & Zwettler, M.J. The North Arabian “Thamudic E” Inscription from Uraynibah West. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 335, 2004: 53-89. Pages: 71–83
Ḥarāḥšah, R.M.A. & Al-Šudayfāt, Y.M Nuqūš ṣafawiyyah muʾrraḫah ilà ḥukm aġrībā al-ṯānī (19/50 – 92/93 m). Maǧallat muʾtah li-l-buḥūṯ wa-ʾl-dirāsāt (silsilat al-ʿulūm al-insāniyyah wa-ʾl-iǧtimāʿiyyah) 21:6, 2006: 111-129.
Hayajneh, Hani, Mohammad I. Ababneh, and Fawzi Khraysheh. 2015. “Die Götter von Ammon, Moab Und Edom in Einer Neuen Frühnordarabischen Inschrift Aus Südost- Jordanien.” In Fünftes Treffen Der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Semitistik in Der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft Vom 15. – 17. Februar 2012 an Der Universität Basel , edited by V. Golinets, H.-P. Mathys, and S. Sarasin, 79 – 105. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag.
Kienast, B. Mitteilung von einer Tontafel mit altsüdarabischer Beschriftung. Pages 43-44, pl. 46 in H. Lenzen (ed.), XIV. Vorläufiger Bericht über die von dem Deutschen Archäologischen Institut und der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft aus Mitteln der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft unternommenen Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka, Winter 1955/56. (Abhandlungen der deutschen Orientgesellschaft, 3). Berlin: Mann, 1958. Pages: 43-44 Plates: 46:A,B.
Nehmé, Laïla. 2010. “A Glimpse of the Development of the Nabataean Script into Arabic Based on Old and New Epigraphic Material.” In The Development of Arabic as a Written Language, edited by Michael C. A Macdonald, 47–88. Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Robin, C.J., A.I. al- Ghabbān, and S.F. al-Sa’īd. 2014. “Inscriptions Antiques de La Région de Najrān (Arabie Séoudite Méridionale): Nouveaux jalons pour l’histoire de l’écriture, de la Langue et du Calendrier Arabe.” CRAI , no. 3: 1033 – 1128.
Sass, B. Studia Alphabetica. On the Origin and Early History of the Northwest Semitic, South Semitic and Greek Alphabets. (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, 102). Freiburg Schweiz: Universitätsverlag / Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1991. Pages: 48-49, fig. 24, 25
Seal Ward: Ward, W.H. The seal cylinders of Western Asia. (Carnegie Institution of Washington Publications, 100). Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington , 1910. Pages: 352 |
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas is the choice for NFC South rookie of the year as voted on by the four reporters covering the division for ESPN.com.
Michael Thomas' 92 receptions for the Saints were the second most by a rookie receiver in NFL history. Chuck Cook/USA TODAY Sports
Jenna Laine, Bucs reporter: Thomas had 1,137 receiving yards, third most in the NFC South behind only Julio Jones and Mike Evans and ninth in the NFL. His nine touchdown catches were tied for sixth in a league full of superb wideouts. That included a season-high 156 receiving yards against Atlanta.
Vaughn McClure, Falcons reporter: Deion Jones, Falcons. The second-round draft pick from LSU gets votes simply based on making the adjustment from part-time starter in college to full-time communicator as middle linebacker of the Falcons' defense. Jones showed tremendous growth through the season and developed a commanding voice while getting everyone aligned correctly. Everyone knew about his speed from day one. He put it on display during an epic moment in a Week 3 win against his hometown Saints, intercepting a tipped Drew Brees pass and returning it 90 yards for a touchdown. Jones had two pick-sixes this season and led the Falcons with 106 combined tackles. Sure, he's a bit undersized at 222 pounds and missed some key tackles at different points in the season, but Jones will only get better with time. And his speed is a nice luxury for a franchise that has been lacking in that area for a few years.
David Newton, Panthers reporter: Thomas is the easy choice for me after watching him catch all 10 of his targets against Carolina for 146 yards and a touchdown. The second-round pick out of Ohio State already has established himself as one of the premier receivers in the division with a team-high 92 catches. He finished strong with 10 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown against Atlanta at a time when many rookies hit the proverbial wall. That Thomas made this type of impact on a roster that includes Brandin Cooks is scary when you consider the future of this offense.
Mike Triplett, Saints reporter: A tough choice right out of the gates, since Falcons linebacker Deion Jones was so awesome for the division champs (including a 90-yard pick-six against Brees in Jones' hometown Superdome in Week 3). But I'll play homer here and go with Thomas since he definitely deserves the love. Thomas' 92 catches were the second-most in NFL history by a rookie receiver, behind only Anquan Boldin's 101 in 2003. The second-round pick from Ohio State also ranked sixth all time among NFL rookies with 1,137 receiving yards and tied for 15th with nine touchdown catches, according to ESPN Stats and Information. The 6-foot-3, 212-pounder provided the kind of physical and sure-handed presence the Saints had for a decade with Marques Colston before they released him last February. And Thomas' emergence as a go-to guy helped New Orleans maintain its status as the No. 1 total offense and No. 1 passing offense in the NFL in 2016. |
"Never has there been a greater need for tolerance, compassion and solidarity with people who have lost everything," he added.
"Forced displacement is now profoundly affecting our times," said Antonio Guterres, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees. "It touches the lives of millions of our fellow human beings — both those forced to flee and those who provide them with shelter and protection."
Among the unprecedented masses are some 20.2 million refugees, a figure that has risen "significantly and consistently" over the past four years in lock step with the worsening Syrian civil war. Two million more people were recorded as displaced within their own countries, bringing the number of internally displaced persons to roughly 34 million worldwide. But the UN says that number is likely even higher, pushing the global total of refugees and internally displaced above 60 million.
The number of people who have been forcibly displaced across the globe is likely to have "far surpassed" 60 million for the first time, a United Nations refugee agency report said on Friday.
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The number of people who have been forcibly displaced across the globe is likely to have "far surpassed" 60 million for the first time, a United Nations refugee agency report said on Friday.
Among the unprecedented masses are some 20.2 million refugees, a figure that has risen "significantly and consistently" over the past four years in lock step with the worsening Syrian civil war. Two million more people were recorded as displaced within their own countries, bringing the number of internally displaced persons to roughly 34 million worldwide. But the UN says that number is likely even higher, pushing the global total of refugees and internally displaced above 60 million.
"Forced displacement is now profoundly affecting our times," said Antonio Guterres, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees. "It touches the lives of millions of our fellow human beings — both those forced to flee and those who provide them with shelter and protection."
"Never has there been a greater need for tolerance, compassion and solidarity with people who have lost everything," he added.
Related: 12,000 Syrian Refugees Are Stranded in a Desert Purgatory Because Jordan Won't Admit Them
The displacement crisis is worsening by practically every metric. According to the UN, a refugee's chances of returning home is at its lowest point in more than three decades. Only 84,000 people did so in the first half of this year, compared to 107,000 during the same period in 2014.
UN figures indicate that roughly 839,000 people became refugees in the first six months of 2015 — a rate of 4,635 people forced from their homes daily within that span.
"A consequence of more refugees being stuck in exile is that pressures on countries hosting them are growing too — something which unmanaged can increase resentment and abet politicization of refugees," said Guterres' office in a statement.
Indeed, a tide of anti-refugee politicians from the US to Europe have in recent months renewed calls to shut borders to people from certain countries, particularly Syrians, out of fear that they could be members or supporters of terrorist organizations like the Islamic State.
But despite such rhetoric in some of the world's wealthiest countries, lower- and middle-income countries near conflict zones have borne the brunt of the crisis in recent years. Of some 4.2 million Syrian refugees who have fled their country since 2011, the vast majority are in just three countries — Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. Without the Syrian civil war, the UN estimates there would have been a much smaller increase of about 500,000 in the global refugee population since 2011. Instead, that total increased by 45 percent in just three and half years to 4.7 million people.
Related: Afghan Migrants Are Bracing for Winter on the Streets of Paris
Struggling to support their refugee populations, some of Syria's neighbors have begun to tighten controls on the movement of displaced people. Earlier this month, the UN reported that some 12,000 Syrians were stranded in a desert area along the border with eastern Jordan, unable to pass through traditional routes into the country that are now closed.
Conflicts in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, among others, have led to marked increases on several continents. According to the UN, Sub-Saharan African countries host some 4.1 million refugees, the most of any region in the world. Meanwhile, the number of Afghans living as refugees abroad totaled roughly 2.6 million, the second-highest number behind Syria.
Follow Samuel Oakford on Twitter: @samueloakford |
In politics, there are popular talking points that get repeated so often they become their own form of gospel, even when cursory examinations of these claims can prove them to be weightless. You’ve all heard that “97% of climate scientists agree…,” “women make 77 cents to a man’s dollar for the same work,” “Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah are funny,” and so forth. As it turns out, much to the chagrin of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump supporters alike, the notion that the United States has had its manufacturing base bled dry over the past few decades is another example of this.
People hear and read headlines proclaiming the lose of American manufacturing jobs, like this one from CNN (which describes the loss of 5 million such jobs since 2000), and come to the conclusion that outsourcing must be the cause of it. While there are examples of companies “moving overseas,” the overall trend in manufacturing suggests that isn’t the primary threat to low/unskilled American labor. It’s actually technology. In all likelihood, it isn’t a foreigner who took your job, but that nerdy kid that got shoved into a locker back in high school.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, real U.S. manufacturing output went up, not down, from 1987 to 2016. In fact, output is up a full 85.2% over these 29 years, with current output having recovered to its pre-recession levels. This despite the implementation of that “worst” deal ever, NAFTA. So what does this mean? The total production of our manufacturing sector is at an all-time high, growing at a rate faster than the population since the 1980s, and leading to a greater per-capita production of goods in America than in 1987. At the same time, we are employing millions of fewer people in manufacturing than in years past. How can these both be true at the same time? It’s due to automation, and process improvements.
If the U.S. manufacturing base is making more/better goods than before, but employing fewer people, that’s the result of finding ways to organize production better, machines that run smoother, faster, and do more things, and perhaps additional factors like cheaper or more abundant raw materials, or imported parts. In a world without trade agreements, manufacturing output per-worker would still be higher than before due to these improvements, meaning the total number of people required to make the same volumes and kinds of goods would still be decreasing. In other words, even if protectionism did work (it doesn’t), and you could “keep” some additional jobs in the U.S., it would just be a band-aid, a temporary fix, as these jobs would end up going away with more production improvements anyway.
In fact, if anything, we could expect more automation to result from trade restrictions. If it’s cheaper to go with robots, but even cheaper to outsource, many companies will likely do the third. But if you take away that option, they will go with the second cheapest, which is to automate as much as possible, by investing in new physical capital for their plants. It will also incentivize those behind the technology to develop it faster, since demand for such industrial tech would increase.
(I recommend people read this article from Rex Nutting to learn more about changes in U.S. manufacturing)
You see, it’s cheaper, faster, and more efficient to use technology in more ways than ever before. Just a couple of months ago, Budweiser tested the first ever shipment of goods from a self-driving truck, developed by a company named Otto. It was something that scared the hell out of a lot of truck drivers, and others in the comments section of the YouTube video they posted. Some top comments read:
“It’s cool, sure. But all the truckers are about to be out of jobs… how is this something to be happy about”
”this is the type of so called technology that we dont need…..lets puts hundreds of thousands of people out of work so the owners of big business will make more profits…..”
“this is not cool at all,
I am a truck driver, and what are the 800,000 truck drivers in America suppose to do once otto takes over?? you want to see mass riots take away a mans lively hood that he has spent a lifetime doing. WE have nothing to lose, i have worked all my life tell me what else i can do that makes 60,000 a year. screw you Budweiser
People are right to feel nervous about the changing world. The old America, where you could get by with a high school degree has been slipping away for some time. Of course, we can and should help people stuck in this predicament, but we shouldn’t do so by lying to them. This is a skills-based economy now. You need a good college major, or certifications, or you need to go to trade school, but one way or another if you want to make a decent living you’ll have to invest some time, energy, and likely money into yourself first.
Politicians aren’t going to help you. Whether you’re white collar or blue collar, working class or a business owner, CEO or janitor. The current manifestation of our Federal government, and many state governments, is a disaster that’s making things worse. Tax reform, regulatory reform, repealing/overhauling Obamacare, and more can and will make things better. But it won’t fix the long term picture. This is a structural transformation, just as we transitioned from an agriculture-based economy to an industrial one. We are moving faster and faster into the information age, and it’s time more people put their heads and talents towards adapting. |
Linguistdiscusses his book Language: The Cultural Tool and we have a report from the Gunther Van Hagen exhibition at the Natural History Museum, Animal Inside Out
This week on Science Weekly we meet Daniel Everett, author of Language: The Cultural Tool. Daniel discusses his thesis that language is not innate, which is central to the theory of universal grammar most associated with his fellow linguist Noam Chomsky. Rather, he believes that language is like a bow and arrow, a tool to solve a human problem.
Also this week we delve into the anatomical world of Gunther Von Hagens, best known for his Body Worlds exhibitions and innovations using the plastination of corpses in order to facilitate unique perspectives on the structure of the body. This time he has turned his skills to the animal kingdom with the exhibition Animal Inside Out, showing at the Natural History Museum in London until 16 September. For Science Weekly, Lexi Topping met with the curator Dr Angelina Whally.
Alok is joined by Guardian science correspondent Ian Sample and Observer science & technology editor Robin McKie to discuss some of this week's big science stories including why the US authorities are nervous about two papers exploring genetically modified strains of influenza, and the discovery in South Africa of the ancient human desire to barbecue.
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US astronomers have detected the second-smallest exoplanet ever discovered with a mass just four times heavier than the Earth, adding to a growing number of low-mass planets dubbed "super-earths".
"This is quite a remarkable discovery," said Andrew Howard, an astronomer at the University of California at Berkeley.
This infrared photo provided by NASA and taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope, shows a region of space called W5 where astronomers are looking at planet formation. Credit:AP
"It shows that we can push down and find smaller and smaller planets," he said in a presentation at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington DC this week.
The exoplanet, a name given to planets outside our solar system, has been dubbed HD156668b, and is located around 80 light years from Earth in the direction of the Hercules constellation. |
Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are among a group of 12 former cricketers who want India to play the upcoming Champions Trophy in England.
All the players ESPNcricinfo contacted - Tendulkar, Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Gundappa Viswanath, Sandeep Patil, Sanjay Manjrekar, Aakash Chopra, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Saba Karim, Murali Kartik, and Deep Dasgupta - were unanimous in their opinion that India should attempt to defend the Champions Trophy title that they won in 2013.
The doubt over India's participation in the Champions Trophy arose after the BCCI missed the April 25 deadline to send its squad for the tournament to the ICC. The board had said the delay was due to "operational" reasons.
The concerns over India's participation have increased since then, after the BCCI was outvoted by a massive margin at the ICC Board meeting in April, when the ICC's members approved a new constitution, governance structure and finance model. The biggest sticking point for the BCCI was the finance model, in which it stands to get a reduced share of ICC revenue when compared to the existing Big Three model.
The BCCI is divided over the issue, with a faction strongly in favour of revoking the Members Participation Agreement with the ICC, which would rule India out of hosting and participating in all ICC tournaments until 2023, the end of the present rights cycle.
A final decision on India's participation in the Champions Trophy is likely to be taken by the BCCI at its special general body meeting on May 7 in Delhi. |
EUGENE, Ore. - Two women have sued the City of Eugene, the chief of police and a police department supervisor saying they should have done more to halt sexual harassment and abuse by one of its officers.
Eugene attorney Marianne Dugan filed the lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of the women, identified by the fictitious names Jane Doe and Jean Coe.
The lawsuit identifies them as neighbors of Stefan Zeltvay.
Eugene Police started investigating a criminal complaint against Zeltvay in July 2012. He later resigned from the department.
Zeltvay to 5 counts of sexual harassment and 1 count of third degree sex abuse. The crimes happened both while Zeltvay was on and off duty.
The plaintiffs contend Zeltvay's conduct towards women was well-known in the Eugene Police Department to people including Police Chief Pete Kerns and Lt. Jennifer Bills, a supervisor.
The lawsuit contends that abuse the plaintiffs suffered prior to July 2012 could have been avoided if the City of Eugene acted early to stop Zeltvay's behavior.
"Although EPD states it officially received a complaint in July 2012, the investigation reports make clear that Officer Zeltvay's sexually aggressive and assaultive behavior was notorious among the EPD supervisors, and was tolerated," the lawsuit says. "The plaintiffs have learned that several EPD employees have stated that it was common knowledge for years that Zeltvay was touching and otherwise sexually harassing women.
"Jane Doe suffered years of sexual abuse by former Officer Zeltvay, while the Police Department ignore the pervasive knowledge within its supervisory ranks that Zeltvay was a dangerous sexual predator."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and attorney fees. |
Part 13
Rein
It felt strange, waking up and not having to creep silently to avoid rousing Huo; not having to drag her out of bed and across the campus to their classes, and being able to leave their classes without having to get a stern talking-to from the teachers. By all accounts, their lives as students should've been better since Huo was arrested, but it wasn't hard to tell that it was bothering everyone.
"It's not fair!" Cielo was complaining as she, Rein, and Terran walked through the arched hallways of Beacon toward the cafeteria. "I've been gone for a week! Plus I just lost half of my eyes and a fourth of my teammates! How's Professor Port expect me to finish a project on a Grimm of my choice by the weekend? That's only a few days away!"
Terran sighed. "Well he did tell us about them–"
"–Today, of all days!" Cielo cut him off by saying. "Why couldn't he have had someone come to my room at the hospital and let me know he had given out a project? Just coming into class and saying "By the way, there's only two days until you need to do your Grimm presentations" doesn't give me enough time to do anything about it."
"But Cielo, he–"
"–Doesn't understand how hard it is to be a student, I know!" Cielo forcibly finished Terran's sentence with. "He talks all the time about his feats when he wasn't old and stuff, but how come he won't give me an extension on the project? I mean, between Huo, her crazy brother, and this," she tapped a finger against the elegantly crafted silver guard that covered her missing eye and scarred skin, "I can't sit down and worry about some dumb assignment."
The trio continued down the hallway, with Cielo continuing to complain about her workload and refusing to let Terran get a word in when she ran headlong into a boy with bright blonde hair and a pair of clawed gloves walking the other way with who Rein assumed was his team. "Hey!" the boy exclaimed. "Watch where you're go… oh." His sentence trailed off from anger to an awkward apology as he looked Cielo in the face. "Sorry Cielo, I guess you kinda… can't." He laughed nervously and then he and his team hurried away without another word.
Cielo pouted. "That's the third time that's happened today," she whined. "Leo's never blown me off like that! Is it really that off-putting for someone to have an eye-patch?" Rein didn't give her an answer, instead casting an aside glance to Terran, who didn't speak either. "Well?" Cielo demanded. "Is it?"
"I-I don't know!" he stuttered back. "Everyone might not know what to say! I mean, in one week you lost an eye and a teammate; what's someone supposed to say about that?"
Cielo folded her arms infront of her and huffed indignantly. "What about "that eye-patch looks really cool" or "don't worry about your teammate being arrested, you're still a great leader"? That would be nice to hear." She spun back around to face the direction they had been moving in. "Ugh, people need to learn how to be nicer to me." She resumed walking.
Rein returned to her earlier pace without as much as a hesitation. Terran let out a loud sigh. "Maybe my parents were right; I should've gone to law school. Don't meet as many crazy people in law school." He must've noticed Rein watching him just after he spoke, as his face flushed red in embarrassment. "I… I don't mean you, of course!" he added quickly. Rein said nothing and turned to face forward.
In the cafeteria, Rein helped herself to the same meal she had every day since she had arrived at Beacon: a tofu and soy cheese wrap, and a plain salad. She walked through the crowds of students with the tray of food held tightly in her small, linen-wrapped hands and closed in on the table she had sat at every day, taking her spot in the same chair she had used for the past several months.
"So?" Sage asked, motioning to the triangular shield over Cielo's left eye socket. "You like it?"
Cielo took a seat in the place beside Rein; the one Huo had usually taken. "Did you do something to make it look scary while I'm wearing it? Everyone I try to talk to avoids me like… like… uh…" She pouted and folded her arms. "Well, like something people try to avoid a lot! A hobo? Ya, a hobo! Everyone I try to talk to avoids me like I'm a hobo!"
"Maybe you just need to take a shower," Ras said from his spot across from Rein. "When I avoid a hobo, it's usually 'cause he smells like shit. Do you smell like shit?" He was immediately smacked across the back of the head by Aruna, seated between him and Lylla. "Ow! What'd I do?" he asked.
"You can't say something like that!" the raven-haired girl snapped at him.
"Oh give him a break, Aruna," Lylla chided her. "We all know he probably didn't mean it. Did you Ras?" she asked. Ras shook his head defiantly and returned to his lunch. "See?" Aruna rolled her eyes.
"People are avoiding you because you're the first person in our class to lose a body part in the line of duty," Sage told Cielo. "You're reminding everyone about how dangerous what we're doing is, and it's making them uncomfortable." He took a sip of his coffee. "Just wait until someone else gets injured; it'll clear right up."
"That's not a very optimistic outlook," Lylla told him. "What if you're the next one?"
Sage laughed. "Please, if I get myself hurt, I'm just going to drop out right then and there." He turned back to Cielo. "You'll just have to deal with being everyone's cruel reminder for a while; once someone else fucks up, you should be fine."
"Well let's hope it's soon," Cielo responded. She suddenly frowned. "Wait, I don't mean I want someone else to get hurt; I just don't want anyone to feel weird because I lost an eye." She ran her hand over the eye guard. "Although I must admit you did a fantastic job on this, Sage!" The eye patch was made of plain steel, cut into a triangular shape that rested over Cielo's wound, with its bottom following the curve of her cheekbone, and the top meeting her hairline. The metal was silver in colour, matching the small circlet in Cielo's hair, as well as the cuirass and plate skirt she wore.
Sage scoffed. "Of course I did. I was also up until four this morning finishing it, so make sure you don't do anything stupid and get it broken." He took another drink of coffee. "If you do, I'm not making another one."
"Oh relax, I'll be fine," Cielo responded, then attempted to toss a grape from her plate into her mouth. Cielo's aim was off, and the grape bounced off her eye guard and rolled away. She scowled at the grape and slouched forward, putting her head in her hands. "I hate today," she said.
"Having a rough day back?" Aruna asked her.
Cielo groaned. "Where to start? I can't fight right because I'm missing an eye, everyone's avoiding me because it's freaking them out, and I've got to finish a project on the history of a Grimm by the weekend that I haven't even started!"
Aruna looked from Cielo to her team, and back again. "You haven't even started the Grimm project yet?" she asked.
"How was I supposed to? I was in the hospital! I only found out today!"
The four students across the table exchanged glances. "You do know he gave us that project, like, three months ago, right?" Lylla asked.
Rein could see the sense of panic rise in Cielo's face. "WHAT? How am I just hearing about this now?" She turned to Rein and Terran. "Why didn't you guys tell me this earlier?"
"I tried to," Terran said, "but you kept cutting me off!"
"You never asked," Rein replied.
"How did you not know about this?" Lylla asked. "I mean, we went to the library every day after school for a month to work on it. Or, the rest of us worked on it while you and Ras threw paper planes at people on the lower floors."
Cielo let out a cry of frustration. "I didn't know you guys were working on a project! I thought we were just… hanging out there, or something." She leaned back in her chair and stair up at the high, arching ceiling of the cafeteria. "Would it be a bad idea to ask how far you guys are on yours?"
"Probably, I was done before we even left for Crete," Sage told her. Cielo groaned again. "Well it's your own fault; maybe if you'd pay attention and do your work, things like this wouldn't happen."
"It's not my fault that Professor Port's so boring! Besides, Ras is in the same boat as me; I don't think he did any work either!"
Ras snorted. "Doesn't matter; we're allowed to partner up for the project, so Sage's putting my name on his. I just have to present it with him." The table jumped, and Ras's face contorted in pain. "Ow!" He turned to look at Sage. "Did you just kick me?"
"Wait, we can do it with partners?" Cielo asked. She turned to Rein with a mischievous grin. "Hey, do you think you could–"
"No," Rein told her.
Cielo sighed, then looked to her other side. "Terran?" she asked sweetly, leaning over and hugging his arm. "Could you help me out and let me put my name on your project? I'd be awfully grateful."
Rein watched the heat rise to Terran's head as he stumbled through his response. "I… no! You can't… I don't… uh…" He swallowed and tried to continue. "Can't you try to do it yourself?"
"Not by the end of the week," she told him. "Please? I'll show you my boobs if you do!"
Terran froze in his seat as his face flushed red. "…What?"
Cielo scowled. "Oh come on! Please? Please-please- please- please- please-"
"Okay, fine!" Terran squeaked out. "…but you don't have to do anything!" he quickly added.
Cielo smirked and sat up. "And that is how you get people to do things for you," she said to the speechless students seated around the table.
Lylla suddenly laughed. "God, you're terrible!"
Cielo patted Terran on the back. "When you're a team leader, it pays to know how to manipulate your teammates. Isn't that right, Terran?" Terran put his head down on the table and mumbled something Rein couldn't hear, but caused Cielo to giggle. "Don't worry about it," she told him, ruffling his spiked black hair. "So, I hear you had a conversation with the Headmaster yesterday," Cielo asked Sage, changing the topic of conversation away from the class project and Terran's embarrassment. "How'd that go? Am I getting my teammate back?"
Sage's already thin eyes narrowed to slits of dark yellow. "I thought we went over this when I gave you that mask: Ozpin is keeping Huo detained until the police have dealt with her brother. Give it a week or so, and I'm sure you'll be back to a four-person team."
"Good," Cielo exclaimed. "I know it's only been a day, but not having Huo around really throws off our day."
"Not necessarily in a bad way though," Terran said, seemingly recovered from Cielo's partnership strategy. "I mean, I haven't been punched, called a pussy, or otherwise insulted today." He stuck his fork into a piece of baked potato on his plate. "Well, at least not as consistently as usual," he added in a flat tone.
Cielo laughed and folded her arms. "Sorry to tell you this, but the only thing that keeps you from being everyone else's punching bag is being Huo's punching bag," she told him. "She might mess with you a lot, but she does stick up for you when other people pick on you. Don't you remember what she did to that guy who stole your clothes out of your locker and made you walk back to the dorm in your underwear? I'm pretty sure he still walks with a limp. Not to mention how long it took them to replace that wall."
Terran's head sunk back down to lay on the table. "Thanks for reminding me of that, captain," he said listlessly.
Cielo patted him on the back again. "Don't worry about it; Sage said that the headmaster himself is seeing into Huo's situation. She'll be back to protect you in no time."
"Is it really 'protecting' when it means I get beat up by one really strong person instead of a dozen less strong people?" Terran asked.
"Take what you can get, sweetie," Cielo told him. Terran slid down in his seat and picked at his food as Cielo continued on about Huo. "I just wish there was something we could do for Huo; having to wait it out feels so… eugh."
"Don't worry about it," Ras told her as he built an impressively-sized model of Beacon Academy out of the food on his plate. "Once we lure the guys out, arresting them won't take long at–" His comment got cut short as the entire table jumped and he clutched his leg. "Ow! Why do people keep kicking me?" he complained as his sculpture came crashing down on his plate.
Cielo looked to Sage. "Uh… what's he talking about? I thought we weren't supposed to try and do anything."
"We aren't," Sage said. "It's wishful thinking: Ras is still under the impression that we can fight these people without any help."
"But we're not gonna fight them with no help, we've got–" Ras's words got cut short again as the table bounced once more. Judging from the cold looks his teammates were giving him, Rein wasn't quite sure who the one who kicked him was. "Who keeps doing that?" he asked. "It really hurts!"
Rein narrowed her eyes. "There's something you're not telling us," she said.
Sage sighed. "Look, it's nothing. I already told you that Ozpin won't let us leave the Academy grounds without his permission because of Morgan's threat, right?" Rein nodded. "Ras seems to think this means we can go into the city with his permission and make him come after us, then get them arrested or something." He turned to his step brother as he talked. "I told him that wasn't something we should do, and to not talk about it anymore."
Ras blinked a few times, then looked at his other two teammates. "Okay, I'm lost," he said.
"Eat your food, Ras," Sage told him harshly.
Rein glanced at her team. Cielo returned her look of confusion and shrugged, then returned to picking through her food. Terran coughed uncomfortably and resumed eating as if nothing had happened. Everyone at the table had to have known that there was something that hadn't been made known to the whole group. Sage is hiding something important, Rein decided on immediately. It has something to do with Huo. Ras didn't understand the common social cues of being told not to talk about something, and got kicked when he mentioned being bait for the Zhang Dynasty. A frown came over Rein. Why wouldn't Professor Ozpin come to us? We're Huo's team, not Team SLAR. The sound of someone giggling caught Rein's attention, and she looked up to see Lylla laughing at something that must have happened while Rein was lost in her own thoughts. Huo has romantic feelings for her, Rein recalled. Could Professor Ozpin be exploiting that? It would cause Huo a lot of distress if something were to happen to Lylla, which is all the more reason for Huo's half-brother to prioritize attacking her.
A hand waving infront of her face made Rein jump. "Hey, you okay?" Cielo asker her. "You're staring off into space again; a little more hard-core than usual."
Rein scowled. "I'm fine," she said as she began to nibble at the vegan meal infront of her.
The sound of Sage sighing in annoyance cause Rein to look up at him. "Look, I'm supposed to be meeting Ozpin to talk about Ras's grades anyway; I'll see if I can get him to push for Huo's release a little harder, okay?" Rein gave the green-haired boy a slight nod in approval, which seemed to go unnoticed. "I'll let you know what he says," Sage told her after waiting an uncomfortably long time.
"Thank you," Rein told him before continuing to slowly eat away at her food.
"Oh come on, that's all you're gonna say?" Cielo asked. "He's going to try and get Huo out of jail! I know you don't really talk that much, but you talk to Huo more than anyone else, so that kinda makes her your best friend. Don't you think you should have a little more to say since Sage's gonna help out your best friend?"
Rein pondered her leader's words for a moment. "Thank you very much."
Cielo sighed. "I probably should've seen that coming," she said to herself. "I mean I get that you're not really that big a talker, so you might not have the best vocabulary, but you've got to be able to show some enthusiasm, right?" Rein stared silently at her with narrow eyes, and the other girl instead began talking at the rest of the table. "You would not believe how tedious this gets! I mean, of course she's a sweetie, but when she only says, like, six sentences a day; it makes it a little hard to get to know what she's thinking…"
As her team leader prattled on about the difficulties of talking with her, Rein delved back into her own thoughts. Sage is having another meeting with Ozpin today, she thought. Even if he isn't lying about it being for Ras's marks, he's still going to be discussing what's going on with Huo and the Zhang Dynasty. She looked up at Sage. Why? Why is he being trusted with my own partner's issues and I'm not? Her entire past was all but unknown to her, and being kept out of the loop only felt like some kind of cruel joke was being played on her. History is the only class we have together, and it's at the end of the day, she thought to herself. I'll tail him and figure out what's happening and why they won't tell me.
Rein drifted through the remainder of the school day, paying even less attention to her classes as usual as she waited for the day to end. The day seemed to take even longer than usual as Rein sat through lectures and presentations in the hope that her day would soon come to an end.
"…And amidst the chaos of their commanding officers' demises, we slipped away into the twilight," the ancient history professor, Gin was saying as Rein watched the clock on the wall run its continuous marathon of painstakingly slow ticks as the time for class to end approached. "Being out in that wilderness, knowing full well that something so intelligent; something so organized; something so dead-set on ending your life is out there hunting you was enough to frighten even the most battle-worn amongst us." The dark-haired man continued his frantic pacing, his heavily armoured boots making a sharp metallic ring echo through the almost silent room with each step he took, accompanied only by the sounds of the ornaments woven into Gin's hair rattling against each other. "Now that fear wasn't in cowardice, of course," he continued. "The six of us had just barely escaped the encampment with our lives, and blindly running through an alien land in the desperate hope of finding refuge while four scores of soldiers far more heavily armed than us combed the earth with the sole purpose of finding us made us believe that we would most likely not make it back to the resistance with our lives. However, as fate would have it–"
The ringing of the school's bell cut off the horned Faunus's war story and caused him to halt his pacing. "Ah; as fate would have it, this story shall be continued during the next class," Gin announced as the students collected their belongings. "Oh, and Sage," he called out, "if would be so kind as to come with me."
His request caught Rein off guard. What? I thought Sage was supposed to be meeting with Professor Ozpin. She looked down the rows of curved desks to see Sage nod in confirmation and hand his books over to Ras. Professor Gin does have an extensive history with shady practices, if his stories of the war are anything to go by; perhaps he has some part in this. Rein made the decision to tail the pair, and pushed her books toward Terran, seated beside her and having a conversation with Noire.
"Take these," she ordered.
"What? Why?" he asked. "Can't you carry them yourself?" Rein shot him a cold look, and the thin, light-brown skinned boy hastily gathered her things for her while the dark-haired girl beside him laughed at him. Rein nodded in thanks and immediately started toward the door of the classroom, noticing that Sage and Professor Gin had already left.
She made it out of the door in time to see Sage turn a corner leading toward the centre of the school. Rein was about to follow when someone called out to her. She looked over her shoulder to see Jules hurrying over. "What?" she asked impatiently.
"Hey, no need to be hostile, I just want to ask you something," he said. Rein stood silent, waiting for him to ask his question. It took him much longer than Rein would've liked to realize what she was doing. "Oh, um… okay then." He cleared his throat. "You know how there's that tournament at the end of the year?" Rein nodded slightly. "Well, I was wondering if maybe you'd want to–"
"No," Rein cut him off with.
Jules sighed. "You don't even know what I'm going to ask," he protested.
"I'm not training with you," Rein told him bluntly before turning around to leave. Great, now Sage and Professor Gin are probably long gone, she thought as she started toward the halls that led further into the school.
Jules halted her progress again by grabbing her shoulder. "Hey, if you're scared of giving away your strategies, you don't have to worry; you'll beat me easily in the tournament and probably even win it. I just want some–"
"I'm not entering the tournament," Rein told him, shaking off his hand and walking away hastily. She heard the sound of Jules's footsteps as he continued to pester her. "What?" she asked harshly.
"Why aren't you entering the tournament?" he asked. "You're almost guaranteed to win!"
Rein knew why she wasn't entering. I've killed people before, and I don't know if I might accidentally do it again. Even though it had been a dream, Rein's memory of killing the boy in the forest had begun to bother her so much that had only fought out of necessity since. For the past several weeks, Rein had been refusing to participate in her combat arts class, and, while the news was a relief to every other member of the class, it had also done its part of starting rumours that there was something wrong with her.
"I don't want to," Rein told Jules.
The indigo-haired boy put his hands up in defeat. "Okay, not a problem. I get it; you're dealing with some personal issues right now and can't be bothered…" Rein didn't even hear him finish his sentence as she sped away to try and catch up with Sage and Professor Gin. "Hey!" he shouted after her. "You could, y'know… ah, forget it; have fun with… whatever you're doing."
Rein was too late to see where Sage and Gin had gone. She stood in the empty hall, silently cursing Jules for his insistence on an arbitrary contest. She scanned the hall, looking for any sign of where the two could have gone, when one of the three elevator doors lining the inside wall of the hallway glided open and let a pair of students walk out. Rein glanced at the numbers, projected in light blue, and saw that one of them was climbing higher. She watched the number rise until it halted at one of the highest floors in the building. Knowing she didn't have the time to wait for one of the elevators to take her to her destination, Rein bolted toward one of the building's stairwells.
Rein leapt through the air from landing to landing, using her Semblance to dissipate into a black cloud of smoky vapor and reform higher up as necessary. She passed several packs of students descending the concrete steps, most of whom watched her fly up the tired staircase in confusion. Rein paid them no attention, and she was soon enough at the floor she needed to be. Rein cracked open the door to the hallway as quietly as she could, peaking out into the halls to make sure no one would see her.
After making sure the hall was clear off people, Rein slipped out of the stairwell. The hall wasn't as high and grandiose as those on the lower floors, but shared the same dull grey walls that Rein crept along until she heard muffled voices talking from behind a thick metal door with a nameplate reading Professor Gin Yagiza. Rein walked up to the door and pressed her head against it, attempting to listen in on the conversation inside. Even by putting her ear to the door and all but halting her breath, Rein still wasn't able to make out more than a few odd words spoken in the room.
She backed up into the centre of the hall. I can't go through the door, she knew, so I need to find a different way to listen in. Her eyes raised to a grated ventilation duct located about one foot above the door. She almost smirked. I can use that. Rein walked up to the door and put her back to it, then dropped to her hands in preparation and bolted toward the opposing wall, running part way up it before twisting around and pushing off with all her strength directly at the metal grate. Just before hitting it, Rein's Semblance dissolved her body into smoke, and she passed through into the air duct.
It took less than a second for Rein to reappear, landing silently along a crossbeam that ran the length of the room. The room was dark and musty, with the only light coming from a window opposite the room's only door. The shelves of the room were cramped with a multitude of items from around the world; ornate vases depicting classical scenes of monsters and men; carvings of wood and stone were scattered amongst the shelves, bookcases, and desk that sat in the centre of the room. The room also held a large number of plants, most Rein could recognize as homeopathic remedies or natural medicines, but others she had never seen before. Above all else, she noticed the three people sitting in the room.
"I find it very commendable that you and your team would agree to this," Headmaster Ozpin said, seated in a high-backed chair to the left of Gin's desk. "But you do understand that Gin's operation is in no way associated with my school, correct? Should this turn sour, I have no aid I can offer you."
Sage was seated in a similar chair on the opposing edge of the desk Gin was seated at, arms folded. "We're well aware of the risks, sir," he said. "Truth be told, if Professor Gin hadn't told me he wants me to succeed him, I wouldn't be doing this."
Gin made a soft, breathy chuckle and leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the small part of the desk infront of him that wasn't inhabited by a plant, urn, or other strange relic. "Whoa there, who said anything about you succeeding me? I may be old, but I'll bet I've still got a decade or two left in me. You'll be working for me, if I even consider you."
Rein's brow furrowed. What are they talking about? she wondered. This operation must be what Ras was talking about at lunch, but why would Sage be talking about succeeding Professor Gin? The corners of her mouth curved downward as she silently cursed the missing context she so desperately wanted. Fucking Jules. If he hadn't wasted my time, I might know what's happening here. Despite the few missing pieces, Rein none the less held her position to hear what she could.
Sage didn't seem to like what he was being told: he had stood up from his chair and placed both hands on the edge of Gin's desk. "I thought I was already considered? Isn't the whole reason you let me in on this shadow organization because you were going to recruit me once I became a Huntsman?"
Rein's breath caught in her throat. What is he talking about? What shadow organization? The looked over at the ancient, goat-horned professor sitting behind the desk. What is this?
Gin looked to Ozpin, then back at Sage. "Well… in a way, yes. In another way, no. It really depends on what happens." Sage's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the ancient teacher's words. "Don't give me that look, kid. I've been doing this since your grandparents were learning to walk: I can't just recruit every kid with a gun who knows what we do. Now take your seat."
"Come on, we all know I'm not just some kid with a gun," Sage retorted, reluctantly falling back into the chair behind him. "You've seen what I'm capable of: I'm a better combatant than almost all first-years, and a good amount of the second and third-year students too."
Gin shook his head, causing the trinkets woven into his thick black hair to clink around. "I don't need good fighters, Sage. If all we were just good fighters, we'd be no different than Huntsmen. Being a Trapper is more than that." He tapped his old, gnarled fingers across his desk. "I told you yesterday that we must allow some necessary evils in order to keep the larger ones at bay. Do you understand what that means?" He stood up at his desk. "Are you willing to ruin an innocent man's livelihood in order to keep him from creating something too dangerous for humanity to wield? Are you willing to allow the slaughter of dozens in order to preserve the lives of thousands? Are you willing to become a terrible person in order to keep worse ones down?"
Even from her perch high above him, Rein could still the look of determination in Sage's eyes. "If that's what it takes," he answered after a tense pause.
Gin smirked. "You say that now, but what about in ten years? You could have a wife; a son or daughter. Do you still think you could be away? You'd be the same absent parent your father was to you."
Sage's face immediately darkened. "No I won't," he said harshly as he stood up from his chair. "We'll draw out Morgan for you." He turned away from the old pair of professors and left the room without another word.
The room was quiet, and Rein was beginning to think she might leave when Gin started cackling. "Good gracious that boy needs to lighten up," he said.
Ozpin chuckled quietly. "You're giving him a lot to take on; bringing up Verdant isn't the best idea either."
Gin sighed and sat back down in the seat behind his desk. "It was necessary. He's a talented kid, but he still doesn't understand what being a Trapper is. If I'm going to recruit him, I need to make sure he understands what will become of him."
"I still wish you'd hold off until he's graduated," Ozpin responded. "Sage is still young: he should be able to enjoy the innocence that gives him for as long as he can."
Gin shrugged. "Youthful innocence led me to believe that all humanity was evil. Youthful innocence gave me almost three decades of naïve and stupid beliefs that all Faunus wanted was a fair world, and all humanity wanted to do was persecute us. Youthful innocence drove me into the Faunus Revolution, and I paid for it dearly: the hell I went through during that war is leagues beyond what these kids could experience in this time of peace we've all worked so heavily to uphold."
"And is that such a bad thing?" Ozpin asked. "To allow children to live as such?"
Gin laughed. "I suppose not," he replied. "But I still am an old stubborn goat: there are so few Trappers as is, and I can't wait for Sage to graduate."
Ozpin let out a reluctant sigh. "I suppose it's not fair for me to tell you how to do the job you've had for eighty years. Just… do be careful, okay?" The goat-horned man nodded in confirmation, and Ozpin turned around and stepped through the sliding metal doors.
Rein realised she had been holding her breath for the length of the two professor's conversation, and slowly exhaled. I was right: Sage is going to fight Morgan. But what was Professor Gin talking about? Why did he refer to himself as a 'trapper'? What–
"If you want to talk, feel free to take a seat instead of hiding up there like a rodent," she heard Gin say. Rein froze in panic and looked down slowly at the old Faunus who was staring up at her with his small silver eyes. "I can see quite well in the dark, remember? Albeit, I may not have noticed had your Aura not flared up in inquisition right now." He motioned toward one of the now empty chairs. "Take a seat, child."
Rein hesitated for a moment before leaping down from her perch and taking a much more comfortable seat in one of the cushioned, high-backed chairs. "What was that?" she asked.
Gin sighed. "Among other things, us discussing how to deal with the Zhang Dynasty members currently in Vale." He angled his slanted, silver eyes up to look at Rein. "Considering Miss Zhang is your teammate and partner, I can see why you would be so interested as to sneak into my office to find out what is happening." Rein sat silently as she waited for the professor to continue. The horned man cocked his head to the side and let out a hum of confusion. "Okay… I guess I'll just keep talking then," he said. The professor stood up from his desk, standing an impressive six and a half feet without counting the extra foot his spiraling horns gave him. "The truth is, I'm not a real Professor; I'm not even a Huntsman, for that matter: I'm something called a Trapper. Made it up myself, almost eighty years ago now. My job is to deal with criminals and evil people the police and Huntsmen can't: those who hide their crimes from the public eye, those who hide themselves from all…" He paused a moment and looked at Rein with a glint in his eye. "Those who use the cover of 'progressive research' to conduct highly unethical human experiments."
Rein felt a pang of unease pass over her at Gin's final example. What is he talking about? Does he have some idea of what happened to me? The only other person I've met who seems to know who I am was that grey-haired man, Ferrous, and he… She swallowed her nervousness and reassumed her usual blank stare. "So what is Sage doing?" Rein asked him, hoping to change the subject away from herself.
Gin frowned. "Wait, you're not the slightest bit interested in this?" Rein shook her head. "Really? Secret organizations, human experimentation? None of that sounds… familiar?" Rein shook her head again. "Okay seriously, do you remember anything strange about your time before joining an academy?"
"No," Rein lied. She wasn't sure what the old Faunus knew about her, but Rein had managed to keep her bizarre past to herself before and she wasn't about to change that. I don't know that he wasn't a part of it, or even the leader behind it. What if he just wants me to confirm I am who he thinks I am and then take me back? Rein still managed to hold her emotionless stare, although the old professor still seemed to see through her.
Gin's brow furrowed. "Have I just been going crazy for the past five months? Your name is Rein Seikyo, right?" Rein nodded in confirmation. "You can't grow your hair back out even if you tried, you fight with a set of six shotgun scythes, and you're between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, right?" Rein nodded again. Gin sighed in annoyance. "For god's sake, give me your arm," he said, reaching out and grabbing hold of Rein's right arm. Before she could try and stop him, Gin rolled up the end of her school uniform's sleeve and undid the tightly wrapped bandages of light blue linen that wrapped around her arms. He pulled the bandages apart at Rein's wrist, revealing a set of four numbers tattooed in plain blue ink. "Zero-zero-four-two," Gin read off of her deathly pale skin, looking satisfied with himself. "Do you know what these numbers are?" Rein shook her head, this time in honesty. "I do. They're your serial numbers. Do you know what for?"
Rein pulled her arm away from the old Faunus and leapt back from him. She instinctively flicked her wrists to dispense her scythes, forgetting for a moment that she was currently dressed in her school uniform. She quickly threw her fists up infront of her. "How do you know that?" she asked harshly.
Gin sighed in exasperation. "Oh calm down, child," he said in a bored tone. "If it were my intention to attack you, we wouldn't have made it this far. Take your seat." Rein didn't move, and the two stared at each other in silence. "Well then, if you're going to be difficult about it, I suppose you can just leave," he told her before walking back around his desk and sitting in his seat, then kicking his feet up onto the corner of his desk and pulling out a superhero comic book from one of the drawers. Gin began reading the comic silently, only looking up at Rein after turning the pages several times. "I am being serious, you know," he said. "Please, take a seat; you look stupid standing there."
Rein quietly weighed her options. If he does have some kind of connection with Ferrous, it wouldn't make sense for Professor Ozpin to seem to be so trusting of him; Professor Ozpin would have to know. She watched Gin as he returned to reading his comic book. His talk about hunting criminals doesn't seem to be a lie; Sage and Professor Ozpin both mentioned it. Rein reluctantly lowered her fists and shuffled slowly over to one of the chairs infront of Gin's desk, sitting down without a word.
Gin closed his comic book and sat up strait in his seat. "See?" he chided her. "Was that really so hard to do?"
"You aren't very professional for a teacher," Rein said.
Gin chuckled, a noise that faintly reminded Rein of the bleating of a goat. "I'm not a teacher, remember?" he said with a smirk, then picked up the comic he had been reading and waved it in Rein's face. "You ever read these? I have; since they began being published, actually. If you ever live as long as I do, do make sure to keep yourself up to date on the modern trends, it lets you communicate so much more easily with–"
"What do you know about me?" Rein cut the old man off with. Typically, Rein wasn't one to interrupt her superiors, but the old Faunus didn't seem to be the kind of superior Rein had thought he was.
"Well that depends on what you want to know," Gin told her. He thumbed through his comic book, then placed it down on his desk. "What do you want to know?"
Gin's openness caused a loss of words for Rein. For as long as she could remember, Rein had been hoping to learn more about herself; discover just who and what she was, and what her place in the world was. For all she had hoped for it, Rein never expected her revelation to come simply by asking for it. Is this cheating? she pondered. I've spent more than six years trying to do this on my own and all it's gotten me is nightmares and questions, but should I just abandon it in favor of taking an easy answer? Rein could feel her chest tightening as she considered what she was able to learn. I could learn everything about me just by asking. I could learn what's been done to me; what I've done… Her mind wandered back to that memory in the forest, the memory of her executing the other child. She vividly recalled the look of terror on the boy's face as her weapon pierced his neck, and the spray of gore that followed her scythe's fatal discharge into his skull. Rein didn't realise she had stopped breathing until her body made her gasp for air. I… I don't want to know.
Rein stood up from the chair. "Nothing," she said quickly, then turned around and left the room without another word. |
TWITTER: @GeorgeRichards
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Florida television analyst Denis Potvin is one of six Islanders whose number hangs from the Coliseum rafters.
On Tuesday, the Isles' former captain had pointed words for local politicians who he says allowed his team to leave its long-time community.
"This could be my last time in this building and I think it's a totally unfair situation,'' said Potvin, who led the Islanders to four Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83.
"Nassau County has to be blamed 100 percent for this. So many ownerships here have tried to get something done going back to Bill Torrey. We needed a helping hand to make this a modern building. It never happened. It's tough to see this go.''
Potvin said he doesn't plan on returning for the Islanders' grandiose celebration in their final regular season game on April 11. The Panthers play host to New Jersey that day and Potvin says he'll be on that broadcast.
Of course Potvin could come back for a playoff game or two.
"This is where I really feel it,'' he said. "My friends and family here on Long Island are going to lose an NHL franchise. You don't get those back. I'm more emotional today because the reality is here. I won't be back.''
We also spoke to Torrey and I will get to that on Wednesday. Torrey said he's also sad to see the team leave but understands this building isn't up to NHL standards anymore. He'll be back here likely for the end of season ceremony -- but he'll also return to the Coliseum to watch his three granddaughters play hockey here. |
Acceptance of homosexuality was once an issue that Republicans could be relied on to oppose with vigor, and it was something they always lost on, since most people don’t care what goes on in a bedroom between two consenting adults.
But now the scales have shifted and the pendulum has swung back in the other direction.
The Trump movement, as a surge of populism and nationalism, cared little about social issues and as a result men like Peter Thiel and Milo Yiannopoulos were able to rise to the forefront of right-wing politics.
Here are just a few reasons why Republican gays are much better than their Democrat counterparts.
1. They’re So Much Better Looking
So true.
Partially because leftist gays all end up looking the same, but also because right-wingers are generally more attractive.
2. Much More Wittier And Charming
The sassy gay stereotype has existed for a long time, but truth be told the average communist LGBT’er is a humorless drone devoid of mirth aside from the odd “heteros are so dumb” joke, with the charm of a dead oyster and resting bitchface to match.
By contrast, Republican gays are known for having a savage and cutting wit, particularly in their criticism of pop culture and cultural marxism; and having a copious amount of charisma to spread
3. They Are Authentic Bi/Homosexuals
Due to the trend of intersectionality a lot of people identifying as LGBT on the left are, quite frankly, frauds searching for a clique to be a part of. Often they’ll having multiple victim identities, i.e; “I’m a genderfluid disabled Muslim queer POC”.
Our gays are just people who have homosexual desires but are capable of thinking critically and independently on political issues regardless of that identity, just as a heterosexual person would.
4. Less Degenerate
You won’t catch Peter Thiel or any of the wonderful Log Cabin Republicans running around mostly naked in the streets in rainbow suspenders waving giant dildos in people’s faces.
That’s because they often have high-paying careers (gays earn more and are generally higher educated than average Americans) and other duties to atttend to, rather than traumatize children with BDSM leather orgies on street corners.
5. More Intelligent And Intellectual
Again, forsaking intersectionality and degeneracy frees up so much brainpower.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize radical Islam is a much more pressing threat to western LGBT people than an unflattering portrayal of a polyamorous lesbian couple on cable TV.
6. In General They’re Happier, Better People
So important.
Couple the above traits together and you have some of the best minds at the forefront of the populist revolution, ready to wage war on cultural Marxism and globalism and look fabulous while doing so.
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Phoenix Suns guard Brandon Knight (3) steals the ball from Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins (22) during the first half of their NBA game Sunday, March 14, 2016 in Phoenix, Ariz. (Photo: David Kadlubowski/azcentral sports)
Suns guard Brandon Knight’s season is ending early due to a health issue for a second consecutive season with Phoenix.
Knight and the team made a collaborative decision to have him sit out the remainder of the season and get a second opinion this week on his sports hernia. Missing the past two games and the remaining five games puts Knight on an earlier timetable if it is determined that surgery is needed.
Knight, 24, missed seven weeks for the sports hernia, a type of groin strain, from Jan. 21 to March 9. He initially suffered the injury Dec. 31 at Oklahoma City and tried to play through it until he aggravated it on a Jan. 19 dunk attempt.
MORE: Download our Suns XTRA app iOS | Android
Knight returned for 10 games in March before another dunk try aggravated the injury in his first return to Milwaukee, where he attempted to slam on Giannis Antetokounmpo and was fouled Wednesday.
Knight averaged a career-high 19.6 points, 5.1 assists and a career-high 3.4 turnovers per game this season with 41.5 percent shooting from the field and 34.2 percent 3-point shooting. After this season, he will have missed 46 of the Suns’ 109 games since he was traded to the Suns in February 2015. He signed a five-year, $70 million contract in July.
“I’ve had that injury and that’s a tough injury because I can make the same move 10 times and I can maybe only feel it three,” Suns interim head coach Earl Watson said. “Or I can make it 10 times and feel it seven out of the 10. That injury is just like a floating injury.
“It’s vague. They really don’t know what’s wrong until they open you up and that’s the dynamic end.”
Suns power forward Jon Leuer sat out a second consecutive game Sunday after he re-sprained his right ankle Thursday during two-on-two play.
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RELATED: Early struggles stymie Suns in loss to Jazz
‘Book’ club
Suns rookie guard Devin Booker might have left the University of Kentucky early but school remains in session.
Professor Watson is assigning summer reading to Booker. It sounds like Phil Jackson, who Watson admires, but he draws more from John Wooden, his sage “body-will-follow-the-mind” mentor while he played at UCLA.
Watson’s suggested reading is “Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender,” a book by psychiatrist and spiritual author Dr. David Hawkins that focus on way to releasing negativity.
Booker told Watson he did not read books often.
“He also said he was a great defender earlier in the year,” Watson said. “We know that wasn’t true.”
RELATED: Suns defense makes strides but detail to come
Bogdanovic update
Suns 2014 first-round pick Bogdan Bogdanovic had his best scoring game in the Euroleague Top 16 round on Friday, posting 21 points with four 3-pointers and five assists in a win. His Fenerbahce Ulker team has cinched the best Top 16 record at 11-2 with one game remaining before the playoffs.
Bogdanovic has averaged 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 27.5 minutes per game this season.
The Suns will travel to meet with Bogdanovic after the Suns season to discuss the possibility of the guard joining Phoenix for next season. He has a NBA-out clause in his contract for this summer.
Free throws
* The first 300 fans donating 15 cans of vegetables to the St. Mary’s Food Bank will receive two tickets to Monday’s Suns-Kings game. Donations can be made at St. Mary’s, 2831 N. 31st Ave. between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays or on the day of the game, if supplies last.
* The Suns had a trio of points-rebound double-doubles in consecutive games Wednesday and Friday for the first time since Tom Chambers, Dan Majerle and Mark West did it in 1989.
* Watson on an April goal: “The character is there. The belief is there. I’m glad that’s there. There is one more step we have to take. We have to learn how to play without dribbling all the time. I love dribbling drills but don’t bring them to the game.”
* Watson on Booker: “If we wants to continue to start, he has to earn that through the summer and come in to prove it.”
Reach Paul Coro at [email protected] or (602) 444-2470. Follow him at www.twitter.com/paulcoro. |
Most information in the world is in text format, and programmers often find themselves needing to make sense of the data hiding within. You want to do this efficiently, avoiding labor-intensive, manual work—and Ruby is ideally suited to this task.
Text Processing with Ruby takes a practical approach to working with text:
First, Acquire: Explore Ruby’s core and standard library, and what’s possible with IO and its derived classes like File. Extract text into your Ruby programs from the file system and standard input. Process delimited files such as CSVs, and write utilities that interact with other programs in text-processing pipelines. Process web pages with Nokogiri to pull out information from even the messiest of HTML , and decipher character encoding mysteries.
Second, Transform: Use regular expressions to match, extract, and replace patterns in text. Write a parser using Ruby’s StringScanner library. Use Natural Language Processing techniques to extract keywords and implement fuzzy searching.
Finally, Load: Write the transformed text and data to standard output, files and other processes. Serialize text into JSON , XML, and CVS , and use ERB to create more complex formats.
You’ll soon be able to tackle even the most enormous and entangled text with ease, scything through gigabytes of data and effortlessly extracting the bits that matter.
Top Five Text Processing Tips by Rob Miller, author of Text Processing with Ruby
Clean up your data first
Data in the real world is messy. It almost always pays off to take some time to normalize different sources of data and to get them into the same format before you begin whatever actual processing you need to do. You’ll have less exceptions and special cases in your code, and it’ll be a lot more resilient.
Master regular expressions
There are definitely some text processing problems that can’t be solved with regular expressions, but not that many. While they’re not always the best or more readable option, knowing regular expressions well will get you out of many tight spots, and even more often than that will be the first step towards a more robust solution.
Break your problem into discrete steps
Almost all text processing tasks, no matter how complicated they seem on the face of it, are really a series of small transformations. Figuring out how to frame your problem in this way will make it easy to take a pipeline approach, where your text flows through a series of small, discrete steps, each of which transform the data in a particular way and then passes it on. Such programs are both easier to reason about and easier to modify and extend.
Figure out a strategy for missing data
Data in the real world, as well as being messy, also frequently has gaps. Decide early on how you’re going to cope with that — how you’ll represent the absence of particular fields or properties — and you’ll avoid messiness later on.
Make the most of existing tools
There are hundreds of command-line tools that exist solely to process textual data. Each of them is capable of performing a particular transformation, which means you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. If you use existing tools for the parts of your problem that have already been solved, all that remains is to solve the unique problem that you have. |
Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE on Thursday slammed Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE, saying the Democratic nominee does not have the strength to serve in the White House.
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"When she's over in China, if she goes down, in Tiananmen Square, they'll just leave her there," Trump said during a rally Thursday in Ohio.
"They're tough people. They're just going to leave her there. They're not going to help her up. They'll say 'Let her come up when she's ready.' These are tough people."
Trump has questioned whether Clinton has the stamina to serve as president many times in the past.
Last month, a video surfaced of the Democratic nominee appearing to stumble into a van after leaving a 9/11 commemoration ceremony early. Trump's campaign recently released an ad featuring a video of her collapse, along with other clips of her coughing and seemingly being helped up stairs.
Clinton's campaign said Clinton was overheated and dehydrated. It was later revealed she had been diagnosed with pneumonia.
Clinton has since released a letter from her doctor speaking to her health and saying she is fit for the presidency.
Trump during the rally said when Clinton ran for Senate in New York, she vowed to bring back jobs to upstate New York. But instead, Trump said Clinton did "nothing but talk."
"And that's all she's doing now when she runs for president," he said.
"She doesn't have the strength. She doesn't have the aptitude. She doesn't have what it takes if we're going to be a great country again, that I can tell you 100 percent." |
Tim Murray by
Media bias
L
Generalize Away Islamic Terrorism
Blame the Internet, Not Imams
Misguided But Not Malicious
Play the Victim Card
Remove Islam From the Equation
Relativize the Threat
Multiculturalism
ike Chinese Water Torture, HBO TV continues to insinuate its liberal message into the public consciousness drip by drip. It does so with Hollywood movies, and with documentaries such as the one that recently aired concerning home-grown jihadist terrorism, "Counter Terror Dilemma". As any good liberal movie producer or journalist knows, the best way to deliver propaganda is to make it a human interest story. By focusing on the plight of one person or one family, by putting a "human face" on a complex problem of vast magnitude, a propagandist knows that he can hit on the right emotional keys that over-ride rational thought.This documentary followed the classic formula. It goes something like this. First introduce the audience to Muslims as they want us to see them. Plain folks like you and me. Good Americans who just happen to wear different clothes and hold different religious beliefs. The Muslims in this film were the grieving relatives of a young man who simply expressed pro-ISIS statements on the Internet and conversed with ISIS members. As a result, he was apprehended and sentenced to a very long jail sentence.Enter good guy Phillip Mudd, analyst for Homeland Security. Mudd reached out to these relatives and invited them to his home with the object of explaining why federal authorities had no option but to incarcerate their son or brother because they could not afford to take the chance that he might be recruited as a terrorist. Mudd bled for them, but he couldn't help them. Sorry.But then Mudd, in other segments, brandishing his credentials as a cool-headed analyst, recited the usual clichés designed to throw cold water over smouldering 'Islamophobic' prejudices. Another man, presumably an Americanized Muslim teacher, complemented Mudd's conclusions with similar observations of his own. The following is more or less an amalgamation and summation of their points. Stop me if you have heard them before:Terrorists come in different shapes and sizes and adhere to different ideologies. Muslim terrorists are not the only kid on the block. Timothy McVeigh was not a Muslim. Dylan Roof was not a Muslim. The Columbine shooter was not a Muslim. So let's not talk about Islamic terrorism. Let's just say "terrorism". The generic kind.These young American-born 'terrorists' were not radicalized by anything they heard in a mosque, but from what they learned on the Internet. And what they learned was a perverse and highly toxic interpretation of Islam, a compound of cherry-picked verses designed to justify an assault on America and the West. So don't go blaming raving imams or Saudi-funded mosques. Blame the Internet — or the man who invented it, Al Gore.Rather than focus on the ideology of a terrorist, look at his personal life, look at the psychological make-up of the individual. Extreme political movements can simply be explained as a function of unbalanced minds. Forget about the ideology that guides and inspires them. Forget underlying socio-economic factors that this ideology taps into. These young men made the wrong choice, they took a dark road. What they needed — what all such young men need to this day — is a good shrink and an imam who will tell them what Islam is really all about. Peace and good will.To buttress this line of thinking, it was revealed that before he hooked up with ISIS, the young man who served as the starting point of this documentary broke up with his girlfriend. Ah, you see! We told you so. It is not about Islam, it is about young people who feel alienated, rejected, insignificant and without a purpose. And why many of them find that purpose in a murderous cause. Radical Islam just happens to be the flavour of the month.Best then to delete any reference to Islam, Islamism, or Muslim when discussing domestic terrorism. Strike those hateful words from all the training manuals will you? Do that and the MSM will eventually follow suit. So repeat after me, the twin towers were not taken down by Muslims. They were taken down by psychopaths.People have a right to worry about anything they want, but the current fear about ISIS terrorist attacks are way out of proportion to their likelihood or impact. If they must worry, Americans would have better justification to worry about obesity, cancer and drunk driving than "Islamic" terrorism. Good point. Don't you think, in retrospect, that 7th century Christians in northern Africa and Spain should have paid more attention to their diet and hygiene rather than worry about the rumours of an approaching army of Muslim cut-throats bent on mass slaughter, rape and enslavement? I guess some people have their priorities all screwed up. That's what xenophobia does to you, I guess.So you see, this ISIS thing is overblown. Instead of focusing on a jihadist boogeyman, we should follow Justin Trudeau's prescription after the Boston bombings: Reach out to these poor, young alienated outsiders and "include" them . Which makes me think, perhaps if someone in Mecca, a Big Brother perhaps, had reached out to Mohammed during his teenage years, gave him a hug and built up his self-esteem, he wouldn't have grown up to be a pedophile Prophet Warrior who launched a totalitarian movement that continues to threaten us 14 centuries later. Perhaps if at a crucial moment in the boy's development a brotherly mentor could have interested the young Mohammed in golf or basketball...or perhaps if a girlfriend hadn't spurned him — history would have been different.Pity that there wasn't a Justin Trudeau back then. He would have nipped violent jihad in the bud simply by waving everyone in the region into Canada, unscreened. By "including" them, by showcasing our famous Canadian compassion, we would have surely melted their hearts. With apologies to Ignatius Loyola, if you are a Liberal Prime Minister or a Liberal Premier of Ontario and you give a warm welcome to Muslim refugee at the airport, he's yours for life. A Liberal supporter until the day he dies. A certified member of the world's "first post-national state" But all of this is to say:Good work, HBO! We can always count on you to make sense of the world. You and the CBC make a great tag team. |
The San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner. The annual convention will watch the biggest studios come together under one roof to announce their upcoming projects, discuss spoilers and tease fans with first looks of numerous movies.
The gathering will also watch star casts coming together to release new Comic-Con trailers and interact with fans. But who all will be attending the grand event? When is it happening? What can fans expect? All your queries will be answered below. Read on...
Date: The San Diego Comic-Con is spread across four days starting July 20.
Movie trailers to release: Among the numerous trailers that will drop at the event, fans can expect Justice League trailer, Aquaman sneak peek, Blade Runner 2049's new clip, Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars sneak peek, Thor's new trailer and Charlize Theron's Atomic Blonde, Ready Player One, Wonderstruck, Jigsaw, Kingsman The Golden Circle and Brigsby Bear among others.
Movie trailers that will not be featured: Star Wars: The Last Jedi,
Specials: SDCC 2017 will watch a special tribute to Princess Leia from Star Wars taking place, 20th Century Fox presentation that is yet to be announced could feature either Deadpool 2 discussion or the upcoming X-Men movies spoilers.
Here's an extract of the movie's schedule you need to know:
Preview night, July 19:
Annabelle: Creation screening: Westfield Horton Plaza
Thursday, July 20:
Ghostbusters 101: A Ghostbusters Panel Of Biblical Proportions: Room 6DE, 10:15 am.
20th Century Fox: TBA — Hall H, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm.
Brigsby Bear: Cast and Filmmakers Panel — Hall H, 12:45 - 1:45 pm.
Disney Animation Studios: The Art of the Story — Room 7AB, 2:00 - 3:00 pm.
DCU Original Movies 10th Anniversary: Room 6BCF, 2:15-3:15 pm.
Netflix Films: Bright and Death Note — Hall H, 3:15 - 4:30 pm.
The Lego Ninjago Movie: Room 6A, 6:45 - 7:45 pm.
Netflix Mystery Surprise Screening: Horton Grand Theater, 10:00 pm.
Friday, July 21:
Behind the Battle: War for the Planet of the Apes Room 32AB, 11:00am - 12:00 pm
Hollywood Location Scouts: Room 9, 1:00 - 2:00 pm.
The Female Voices of Film Twitter: Horton Grand Theater 1:30 - 2:30 pm.
Star Wars and Fandom: The Early Years Room – 7AB 4:00 - 5:00 pm.
Star Wars Music and Sound: Room 7AB 5:00 - 6:00 pm.
Saturday, July 22:
Warner Bros: Ready Player One; Aquaman; Blade Runner 2049; Justice League – Hall H, 11:30 am-1:30 pm.
Women Who Kick Ass featuring Atomic Blonde's Charlize Theron: Ballroom 20, 1:45 - 2:30 pm.
Marvel Studios - Hall H, 5:30 - 7 pm.
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars – Room 7AB, 7:30 - 8:30 pm.
DC Master Class - 6DE, 6 - 7 p.m.
Sunday, July 23:
Princess Leia Star Wars Fan Club Tribute Presentation – Room 6DE, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Hanna-Barbera 60th Anniversary – Room 7AB, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm |
The USC Laboratory of Neuro Imaging of the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute has received a $21.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to study epilepsy, a condition that is currently incurable.
Epilepsy causes seizures in the brain due to a disruption of electrical communication between neurons. At least 5.1 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with epilepsy or a seizure disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The grant will support a team of international researchers working toward a cure for epilepsy and treatments to prevent it. Through the Epilepsy Bioinformatics Study for Antiepileptogenic Therapy, researchers will identify biomarkers associated with the development of epilepsy and possibly discover therapies to prevent epilepsy from starting after a traumatic brain injury.
Arthur Toga, Provost Professor of Ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and director of the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, is one of the study’s key leaders. He answers questions about why scientists need to find a cure for epilepsy.
Why is the study important?
Epilepsy is a disabling disorder of the brain affecting millions worldwide, so the global burden of epilepsy is tremendous. Seizures happen at unpredictable times and can vary greatly in severity. While some treatments exist, there are none that can reliably prevent or cure epilepsy.
Most epilepsy is acquired — it develops as a result of a traumatic brain injury, a stroke, a brain tumor or a central nervous system infection. Understanding the changes that these nervous system insults bring about in the brain is key to preventing the disorder and to reversing their effects to cure epilepsy.
Why did your team decide to focus on epilepsy that develops because of traumatic brain injury?
Unlike other possible causes of epilepsy, traumatic brain injuries can be reproduced in animal models, which allows us to gather comprehensive data about the disorder — a requirement to developing effective interventions.
The current understanding of epilepsy indicates that the condition — and therefore its treatment and cure — has consistencies across individuals regardless of the reason for its development. Treatments and interventions that will prevent epilepsy from occurring after traumatic brain injury will likely have wide applicability to the other causes of the disorder. A cure for post-traumatic epilepsy should lead to a cure to all epilepsy.
What is noteworthy about this study?
This study calls on interdisciplinary experts around the world to work together to attack a problem of paramount importance. Epilepsy, like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and autism, is a disorder affecting the human brain. Understanding the brain in all its complexity is impossible for any group to accomplish in isolation. Large-scale collaborative efforts like the one we’re undertaking are the only hope we have for unlocking the secrets of brain function and eventually curing diseases of the brain.
How else will the grant funds be used?
This grant will also bridge the gap between the epilepsy community and centers for traumatic brain injuries. Resources will be created to educate patients and their families about the importance of research on how the brain develops epilepsy. Scientists will have the opportunity to learn about the most pressing research needs and concerns patients and their families have. An important goal is to encourage individuals to participate in clinical studies on this topic.
What role does technology play in the effort to cure diseases of the brain?
Advances in technology are expanding the scope of what we can measure, how precisely we can take those measurements, and how quickly and easily we can analyze and disseminate that information. We at the USC Laboratory of Neuro Imaging and the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute are excited to be both at the forefront of this new era of possibility and a hub for such an important collective endeavor.
More stories about: Epilepsy, Neurosciences, Research |
The annual who’s who of Minnesota lobbying spending has some familiar names at the top for 2015.
Business groups and the state teachers union are again among the biggest spenders on lobbying campaigns for a period covering the Legislature’s budget session a year ago, according to data published by the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. The spending also reflects lobbying of metropolitan governments and state agencies.
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, which lobbies on a range of business regulations and tax issues, led the way with nearly $2.2 million in spending. Next up was the Minnesota Business Partnership, a consortium of major corporation leaders, that devoted $1.2 million in lobbying. Education Minnesota was third at $980,000.
Two associations that represent a collection of local government interests — the League of Minnesota Cities and the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities — reported a combined $1.3 million in spending.
Groups are required to offer estimates to the nearest $20,000. Some organizations lower down the list were new or ramped up their spending from the prior report.
They include PolyMet Mining Corp., which is pursuing state agency approval for permits to open a new copper-nickel mine in northern Minnesota; the company reported $340,000 in expenses. Also notable was the Minnesota United Football Club, which tiptoed last year into a legislative bid for state tax breaks and local approval of a new St. Paul soccer stadium; the team said it put $110,000 into lobbying last year.
The Minnesota United was still behind the Minnesota Vikings in that category, with the pro football team reporting $180,000 in spending.
Utilities and others that lobby regulators, namely the Public Utilities Commission, are included on a separate roster. Enbridge Energy Partners, CenterPoint Energy Resources and Xcel Energy Services were lobbying leaders in that area. |
Victory of the Daleks
Such is the nature of TV production that incoming showrunner, Steven Moffat, was planning 2010s Series Five as early as 2008. The timescale allowed, not only a complete season of scripts to be arranged, but also finding and casting a new Doctor and companion. With new executive producers Beth Willis and Piers Wenger on board, Moffat chose to ‘soft reboot’ the series in an attempt to give some fresh impetus to the show which, by the time his series aired, would be in its fifth year. Along with new lead actors, there would be a new interior and exterior for the TARDIS and a new set of titles and theme music.
Despite the changes, Moffat decided to follow a tried and tested formula for the structure of his first few stories. Russell T Davies had successfully opened Series One with a contemporary tale followed by trips to the future and past. Moffat’s opening stories followed this same pattern and he elected to use the Daleks in his historical tale. Moffat already had a basic vision of what he wanted and offered Mark Gatiss the chance to script it in September 2008. Gatiss had also written the historical tale, The Unquiet Dead, for Series One which had featured Charles Dickens and Moffat was keen to match the Doctor with another famous personality of the past. Gatiss’ brief from Moffat was “Winston Churchill and the Daleks!”
Gatiss was very excited to be writing for the Daleks and his final script took some inspiration from classic British war movies and elements from Power of the Daleks. With the ‘soft reboot’ in mind, Moffat and Gatiss also felt it was the perfect time to make some changes to the Daleks.
The New Paradigm
In the most recent televised Dalek story, it appeared the Daleks had been utterly defeated and so Gatiss engineered the plot of Victory of the Daleks so that a small collection of ravaged Daleks could ‘win’ and restore themselves to their full potential. As part of the ‘Victory’ of the title, the Daleks would become a ‘New Paradigm’ (or NPD) and their appearance change from previous designs.
Moffat and Gatiss were keen on the 1960s Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing, and wanted their new look Daleks to take some inspiration from the props made by Shawcraft for the films. Although the same basic design as the TV props was retained, the movie Dalek props had larger fenders and therefore stood much taller than their TV counterparts1. They were also finished in brighter colours, denoting various ranks. It was this, more imposing Dalek, that Moffat and Gatiss hoped to emulate.
Production Designer Ed Thomas assigned concept artist Peter McKinstry to the difficult task of creating something that was familiar, yet completely different. McKinstry explains that his brief was to give, “a complete overhaul of every element of the Dalek.” Although Steven Moffat noted that carte-blanche wasn’t being given to the designers, saying, “You can’t go too far with that design,” however the keynote was a “more frightening Dalek.”
Starting with the overall look, one factor to consider was a particular quibble that had been raised by the original designer of the Daleks himself, Ray Cusick. Way back in 1963, the casings had been designed not to betray any signs of contemporary methods of fabrication, so were smooth and metallic. This was not the case when the monsters returned in 2005. The fictional construction techniques depicted on the bronze props were not consistent with the futuristic technology of the Daleks.
McKinstry comments that, “all the screws and rivets, although they add detail, up close it’s very man-made looking. It didn’t make any sense in-universe. Why would the Daleks use 20th century screws and rivets to manufacture their travel machines?”
These dated adornments were therefore the first to go. “My approach was to intrude clean lines, so the Dalek would now look like alien technology – beyond our own. I wanted it to appear that there were no shut lines or access panels visible, and this would make them look solid – impregnable! The creature inside was sealed in completely and there was no way to get inside without using a huge amount of force. This was all to help them look more dangerous and imposing.”
Dangerous was very much the word as McKinstry turned his thoughts to ways in which the Daleks might be physically formidable. In 1989, Ray Cusick produced a redesign of his creations which included “razor-sharp retractable barbs” on the manipulator arm to stop humanoids wrestling with them as they had so often done in the past. By coincidence, a similar idea was introduced to the New Paradigm.
“I gave them razor sharp edges on their surfaces – a slightly raised blade running vertically along each skirt slat. The circular collars around the head were also meant to be sharp, and blades were also put on the eyestalk, making it physically dangerous to grab.”
Aside from the additional razor blade edges, the body generally remained true to the established shape. Changes to the detailing was what defined the new look. The geometry of the skirt was essentially unchanged but the panels became raised. The neck, whilst still a stack of rings, had an extra stage and became more like a louvre screen with vertical slits so the operator could see out. The dome became more curved and a channel was cut into the surface. The protruding lights on the head were made slightly sleeker and the large cowl at the front of the dome was removed in favour of a more slender eye pivot.
A change to the eye-stalk itself was suggested by Steven Moffat. In his notes he said, “Maybe inside the eyestalk we can see, held in grisly place, a REAL EYEBALL. Like the Dalek mutant has extruded itself up through the casing, and its REAL EYE sits at the end of the eyestalk. Not a lens this time, a quivering eye, a darting pupil. Bit horrid maybe. But Daleks ARE horrid, kids LIKE horrid.”
He also wanted to freshen them up with a new trick or two, saying, “Maybe they should DO something new. Is there any new, cool thing the Daleks could DO? Doesn’t have to be world-conquering – just a cool new feature.” This lead to the most significant difference from the earlier casings, as McKinstry explains:
“I suggested that the redesigned mid-section now extruded from the body to make the Dalek silhouette more muscular. The traditional plunger and gun could [rotate] round to the back of the machine where a panel might open up to reveal a new appendage.” Thus the evil creatures were provided with their cool new feature and, being Daleks, had one particular upgrade that was likely to pop out: “A weapon which would swing round to replace either the gun or the plunger.”
His proposal went down well. “The idea was met with enthusiasm!” It was a concept that actually harked back to a similar idea that was discarded in the original Dalek design.
Once the shape had been signed off, then came the tricky issue of the colour scheme arose. The designer himself favoured a conservative approach. “I suggested that we give the them very metallic surface detail,” says McKinstry. “I wanted them to actually look like they were made from Dalekanium.” – A fictional metal invented by the Daleks.
The show-runner Steven Moffat had his own vision though, providing the brief to the Art Department that the props should be: “Lovely, shiny, Fruit-Gum colours, all gleaming, like you want to lick them.”
Therefore, all five Daleks were finished in bright colours which, as per the 1960s Dalek movies, would denote the rank or function. Gatiss’ original ideas included gold, silver, black, blue and red, however, ultimately, these were changed after suggestions by James North. Gatiss furthered his new vision of the Daleks by actually giving the name of the rank on-screen.
In a change to the established colour of the Supreme Dalek, the leader was given a white finish. There was also a blue ‘Strategist’ and an orange ‘Scientist’. In another change from generally established continuity, the drone Dalek was also given a bright colour – in this case, red. Moffat suggested an ‘Eternal’ Dalek as a “cool” name but didn’t elaborate on its function. Gatiss suggested a yellow a black finish for the Dalek in a nod to a wasp which the pair thought was an amusing take on a pointless but dangerous creature2. Green and purple liveries were also suggested at the design stage, but ultimately rejected.
As with the new Dalek props of Series Four, the in-house team at Upper Boat Studios, headed by Penny Howarth, created the five new Dalek props. With no existing props to copy and to cast from, each mould and component had to be scratch built.
The pressure of the schedule was punishing and extra staff had to be taken on to complete the construction of the props. Some areas of the design had to be simplified to cope with the build process – the blade-like detailing on the skirt had to be tweaked in favour of just having extruded panels. With the ‘New Paradigm’ Daleks complete, the team turned their attention to location matters.
War of the Daleks
Filming began on 21st August 2009 in the bunker of the Joint Resilience Unit in Swansea with Andrew Gunn directing. The building had been a Ministry of Defence centre in the 1950s and was perfect for the setting.
The plot of the tale required the use of the standard bronze ‘New Series’ Daleks and, as with Power of the Daleks, the Daleks were duping the humans characters into believing they were in co-operation. In this case, scientist Bracewell, believed he had created the ‘Ironsides’ for Churchill and therefore the Daleks were given a new paint scheme to match the World War II setting.
Three ‘NSD’ props were required and with MT1 away at BBC Birmingham, it was NSD2 and NSD4 that were utilised for the initial scenes. They were both painted into a khaki green finish befitting the setting. Canvas utility belts were added to their shoulder sections that had various pockets and bags added to it suggesting the Daleks carried tools and bottles. The lights on the dome were also covered with canvas in a nod to ‘blacking out’ of light that was necessary during the war. ‘Union Jack’ stickers covered the usual ID tag area. The original idea had been to include a target design on the side of the Dalek as per the image that could be seen on a Spitfire. However, it was felt the image would distort on the hemispheres when not viewed from the side-on3.
Little extra work was carried out to the props as the upside-down slat on NSD2 (as seen in The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End) had not been corrected, however, a new plunger attachment was constructed to allow it to twist upwards, allowing a Dalek to carry a tray. Both Daleks had their necks incorrectly rotated at various times during filming.
Bracewell’s rooftop demonstration of the ‘Ironsides’ took place at the Glenmorgan Building in Cardiff on 27th August. NSD2 was the prop used here and its upside-down slat can be seen briefly beneath the canvas belt. Jacobs Market in Cardiff was the next location to be used on 28th and 29th August and included the scenes set in Bracewell’s lab. Both NSD props were used. NSD4 had the new sucker attachment fitted and was seen to carry a tray and offer tea. It also took the brunt of the Doctor’s attack with the large spanner.
NSD4 retained the plunger attachment to carry a file down a corridor outside the lab. This scene was recorded during filming at Brackla Bunkers in Bridgend on 31st August and 1st September.
On 2nd September, the team moved to the humidifier area of Freeman’s Cigar Factory in Penarth. After a thorough cleaning, the large room was perfect for use as the Daleks’ spacecraft, with its shiny steel walls and ceiling. Extra elements of set were added to help complete the illusion.
All the Daleks props were required here for the reveal of the new Daleks, including NSD5 that had been recalled from BBC Manchester. It remained in its bronze finish and its dome had the ID tag that was briefly seen up-close in The Waters of Mars.
New Dalek operators Jon Davey and Benjamin Ashley joined stalwarts Nicholas Pegg and Barnaby Edwards. This was the first use for the ‘New Paradigm’ Daleks. Their first reveal included a tricky manoeuvre which required negotiating a ramp whilst blinded by smoke. This wasn’t aided by the weight of the props which, the operators noted, was somewhat heavier than the standard Dalek props. They also required a different technique for moving the prop around compared to the smaller bronze Daleks4. The rest of the filmed sequences included fairly standard Dalek fare and despite the build up for the new Daleks, they remained fairly static and didn’t show anything of the proposed new feature.
Nick Briggs had provided every Dalek voice since 2005 and it was his task to provide something a little different for the New Paradigm. “The Supreme has a much gruffer voice which is more taxing.” The final voice was realised with a different modulation with a layer of distortion.
Victory of the Daleks was transmitted on the 17th April 2010 but the Daleks were planned to make a return later in the season.
Turned To Stone
Moffat’s first season included a complicated arc that was partially resolved in the season’s finale episodes – The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. The tale included a wish list of “every monster he has ever faced” that Moffat wished to see confront the Doctor. Whilst the list ultimately had to be scaled down due to cost, the public would expect the Daleks to be heading such a gathering of monsters and were retained.
At the denouement of The Pandorica Opens, three of the new Dalek props appear alongside the monster menagerie. The props were the white ‘Supreme’, the Red ‘Drone and the yellow ‘Eternal’. The choice of props for these scenes was actually limited because the two remaining props were required for the following episode The Big Bang and needed a complete new look…
The story required stone Daleks as a result of the end of the universe that occurred during the tale. One of the two Daleks also needed to be a working prop and rather than fabricating two new Daleks, the decision was made to convert two of the existing NPD props. The blue and orange Daleks were covered in a thick substance that resembled stone but still allowed the various components to move. Various cracks and dents were made in the sides of the props to complete the illusion that it was ancient stone. The decision to cover the expensive props in the hard substance effectively ended their use as normal Daleks in the future.
The stone Daleks first featured as exhibits in the ‘National Museum’. This was filmed at Brangwyn Hall in Swansea in January 2010. The various scenes included one of the stone Daleks coming back to life and eventually ‘exterminating’ the Doctor. This was performed by the blue NPD5.
In February, the ‘Underhenge’ scenes were filmed for both episodes. To date, it was the largest set ever used in Doctor Who. The scenes required all five of the NPD Daleks. The two ‘stone’ Daleks were used when the Doctor was released from the Pandorica after the destruction of the universe.
The finale episodes were transmitted on the 19th and 26th June 2010.
Sweet Daleks
Such is the nature of fandom, of any popular film or TV series, that any small change to an established feature is noted and debated to the Nth degree. The New Paradigm Daleks received a particularly brutal attack from fans of the Daleks. Doctor Who Magazine even devoted an article to the subject in issue 431, stating for and against viewpoints.
Many disliked their size, terming the new Dalek ‘Fatleks’ and many thought they had a clumsy design with each section out of scale with the last. The weapons hatch on the rear came in for particular attention, seemingly giving the Dalek a hunchback.
To many, it was a paradoxical and confusing design. On one hand, it achieved the bigger and more dangerous alien look but matched it with colours that “kids should want to go up and lick.”6 For them, the colours were slightly comical and were completely at odds with what was trying to be achieved.
However, not every fan disliked them and children in particular seemed to be impressed with the design. And, as it happened, to the general public they were… Daleks.
Designer Peter McKinstry reflected, “The issue with this kind of brief is when you change things too much on the Dalek it just stops looking like a Dalek.” But Gatiss himself was more affectionate towards them. “I love absolutely everything about them … they are everything I wanted them to be, except the hump. Honestly look at them what’s not to love. They are so beautiful. I can understand people not liking that [hump] but what I don’t understand is that seems to have taken over people’s opinion of the entire thing. It’s not all about the hump.”
Despite the general ire directed towards the Daleks, Matt Smith’s first season as the Doctor was a resounding success. The ‘soft reboot’ had worked and the show’s popularity showed no signs of faltering and even started to gain viewers in the generally tricky North American market. Dalek merchandise was also given a boost with manufacturers latching onto a whole new colourful opportunity.
Re-election of the Daleks
A new Doctor and companion is always guaranteed to generate huge publicity, but just two weeks after a Radio Times cover featuring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, Doctor Who featured again. The Daleks returning to the show was always big news and in this case, with a major design change, the temptation for another Doctor Who themed cover so soon after the last was too hard to resist for the Radio Times. As had happened in 2005 with Dalek, the broadcast of Victory of the Daleks was set to coincide with a General Election in the UK. The Radio Times took full advantage of the coincidence once again, and came up with a series of three different covers to show off the new look Daleks. The red ‘Drone’, blue ‘Strategist’ and yellow ‘Eternal’ all had one cover each and represented the colours of the main three political parties in the UK. They were each super imposed over a slightly reworked version of the 2005 cover featuring Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
The Doctor Who ‘Up Close’ exhibition in Cardiff was still getting regular visitors and its animated Dalek display featuring the Supreme Dalek from Series Four continued into 2010. Soon after Victory of the Daleks had transmitted, NSD4 in its khaki livery was added to a separate display. Surprisingly, unlike the exhibition ‘copies’, the screen prop was positioned so it was very easy for the general public to get close to and touch.
The Lands End exhibit also saw some additions in early 2010. With the closure of the Kelvingrove and Coventry Transport Museum displays, a number of exhibition props became available. TPE-EC1 was moved into a new display outside of the animated area. It was fitted to its short track as it was in Coventry. The animated display also saw a new addition in the shape of Dalek Caan. This wasn’t quite the full screen-used prop though. The ‘open-Dalek’ section that had featured in Series One and several exhibitions thereafter, was fitted to the hero Caan skirt. It was augmented with the hero gun and arm box panels and neck cage. A ‘distressed’ gun was added into the gun socket instead of the valuable hero gun. As with the main Daleks, the mutant was given some movement and appeared to bounce up and down during the display.
During the opening months of 2010, the BBC had been planning a range of new free interactive computer games called “Doctor Who: The Adventure Games.” The launch was timed to coincide with the transmission of Series Five in June. But in April, a number of school children in Sheffield were given the chance to preview the first episode which was entitled “City of the Daleks”. Seizing the chance of a promotion, the three remaining NPDs made their first public outing and were on display for the public and media alike. As this was prior to the transmission of the finale episodes, everyone was unaware as to why only three of the Daleks were attending. In August, The red ‘Drone’ Dalek also made an appearance on the BBC stand at ‘National Eisteddfod’ in Ebbw Vale.
The BBCs ongoing travelling exhibitions continued when a new display was set-up at the ‘Centre For Life’ in Newcastle in May 2010. It was a similar display to all those that had gone before, therefore featuring mainly ‘New Series’ items. Another animated Dalek display was the centrepiece, and with a number of exhibition props available, it was the largest set seen yet. The Specialist Models made NSD-W featured alongside TPE-SP, TPE-SEC2, TPE-EC2 and a further static bronze Dalek that lurked in the dark next to the animated Davros. The display ran along the lines of previous displays with moving Daleks firing lasers and Sec rising up from the floor. NSD2, in its khaki livery, also featured in the main display area.
This was the last display to be arranged by Martin Wilkie’s Experience Design and brought to an end the long association that Wilkie had with Doctor Who exhibitions. A time that stretched back to the Longleat and Blackpool exhibition days.
So Close You Can Feel Their Fire!
After very successful live music events in both 2006 and 2008, another Prom concert was planned for 2010 at the Albert Hall. The basic format followed the same pattern as the 2008 show, although this time Matt Smith actually appeared live, as The Doctor, during the show. The Daleks had their own musical section and to introduce it, NSD4 was sent from the Cardiff exhibition, still in its ‘Victory’ livery, to interrupt Karen Gillan who was onstage at the time. NSD4 rose from the centre of the auditorium suggesting it was a soldier of the audience and asking if they wanted tea. The Dalek itself was interrupted from the stage by the white Supreme NPD who commanded it to leave as it was inferior. The new white Dalek received a rapturous welcome from the audience. The show was performed on 24th and 25th July.
But the Prom wouldn’t be the only live musical show that happened in 2010. After the huge success of the various concerts since 2006, BBC Worldwide suggested a touring show. They approached experienced show director, Will Brenton, with a view to taking on the show. He suggested a more narrative element for the show rather than a series of musical passages. During development, Steven Moffat recalled the 1973 tale Carnival of Monsters, and suggested that elements of this story could be used in the show. Gareth Roberts, whom had written for Series Five, co-wrote a script with Brenton which included an interstellar showman and his ‘incredible machine.’ Matt Smith was not available to appear live and so he pre-filmed sections that the live actors performed with. Nigel Planer of The Young Ones fame was the main live star, playing the showman Vorgenson.
Many of the shows most recent enemies appeared during the show, but of course, the Daleks were the main enemies that the audience craved to see. They were held back for the second half of the show where they battled the Cybermen and, at the finale, a levitating Dalek Supreme would appear from the side of the stage!
With the New Paradigm now established on screen, it was these Daleks that would appear in the show rather than the bronze ‘Time War’ Daleks. After the Series Five finale, the main TV prop numbers were down to three and therefore necessary to construct new props. The task was handed to Millennium FX rather than the in-house team in Cardiff. The chance was taken to make the props lighter than the TV versions to aid the operators who had to make a number of choreographed manoeuvres onstage. Charlie Bluett and Harvey Smith of Millennium FX created five near exact copies of the original five NPDs from the original moulds. There were only two small differences that gave away the fact that these props did not originate from the original construction team – the fleshy part of the eye differed slightly in its appearance and a small ‘curtain’ of black material was added to the underside of the fender to help hide the operators feet on stage.
One more Dalek was also constructed for the show – the special ‘flying’ version of the Supreme Dalek that was needed for the finale. TwinsFX were hired to invent of number of the onstage effects for the show, including the flying Dalek. As the method of flying the Dalek needed its own special mechanism they made the Dalek themselves. They were also allowed access to the original BBC moulds to create the main casing. They then constructed copies of the eye, arm and gun in-house to fit to the prop7.
The tour ran in October and November 2010 in nine cities and was deemed a huge success. There was extensive promotion of the show and the TwinsFX Dalek made a number of local TV and media appearances. One of the bigger promotional items was on ITVs breakfast show Daybreak in late October. ‘Voice of the Daleks’ Nick Briggs was interviewed on the show alongside, an Ood, a Cyberman and the TV hero Supreme Dalek. The TV hero yellow Eternal Dalek made an appearance at the Première in London.
With the Series Five season completed, and no plans for the Daleks in the 2010 Christmas Special, fans thought they had seen the last of the Daleks for some time. Steven Moffat even started to tease the press that he would be resting them for the foreseeable future. However, they did get a cameo Christmas appearance when the white Supreme prop featured in the Christmas trailers for David Walliams and Matt Lucas’ new comedy show Come Fly With Me. Both were fans of the show and had even employed Tom Baker as narrator for their hugely popular show – Little Britain.
A New Experience
In 2011, the BBC decided to take all future Doctor Who exhibitions in-house. They envisioned a single, larger scale and more immersive display more in tune with modern audiences whom were getting used to to displays that were more interactive. Therefore the existing exhibitions were all closed. The Newcastle display at the ‘Centre for Life’ was closed on October 2010, Lands End in January 2011 and the Cardiff ‘Up Close’ in March. The various displays and props were placed into storage. The Series Four Supreme Dalek, that had been in the animated display at Cardiff, didn’t get packed away however as it went straight out on the road again for the BBC Wales annual roadshow.
The BBC employed Sarner International to help design their newly planned display. Sarner were experienced in creating theme parks and helped to bring a depth to the display unseen before. Upon arrival, visitors would be treated to a film featuring elements Series Five, before the whole wall opened with the ‘crack’ that featured in the arc of the series. The visitors were then walked straight into an interactive adventure with their guide who became part of the show. Matt Smith featured in pre-filmed sections and appeared to interact with the guide. Along the way, visitors would be guided through various sets relating to the show which included a graveyard with Weeping Angels, a full scale recreation of the TARDIS set (complete with moving floor) and a Dalek Spacecraft…
Attendees were plunged into a full scale war between the New Paradigm Daleks and the old ‘Time War’ Daleks. The set depicted the NPD craft and included three animated Dalek props. The battle was displayed on several large screens simulating the windows of the spacecraft. As with the ‘Live’ show, the Daleks were created by Millennium FX. They supplied a white ‘Supreme’, and two red ‘Drones’. Each Dalek moved into the set on a track and Nick Briggs provided the pre-recorded vocals. The brief view of ‘Time War’ Daleks on the screens was possibly the first indication we hadn’t actually seen the last of them.
Moving on, the visitors would then enter a 3D cinema room. The screen was initially covered with a design that resembled the Pandorica. Next to the screen was one of the stone Daleks used in The Big Bang. This was the orange ‘Scientist’ prop.
After leaving the interactive section, attendees then entered the main hall. They had been treated to a Victory of the Daleks display, that included NSD4, while waiting to enter the interactive section but here there was a full display of Daleks from across the whole history of the show. It began with the ‘exhibition’ Davros that had last been seen in Newcastle. This was followed by two 1960s style Daleks.
These Daleks belong to Andrew Beech who works as Content Supervisor for live Doctor Who events and is Curator of the Doctor Who Experience. When Doctor Who was revived in 2004/05, Beech owned a batch of 60s-era replica Daleks, originally constructed by Steve Allen, Alistair Lock and Dave Brian that had been made over a period of time from early 1990s. Two were cannibalised by Mike Tucker and his team to build the original bronze Daleks for the Series One episode Dalek.
Two remaining Chase-style props eventually joined the London Doctor Who Experience following some refurbishment. The work was carried out by Mike Tucker who was asked to change the props (termed AB1 and AB2) to create a time-line of Dalek development.
To make AB1 a little more distinctive than the typical 1960s “drones”, Tucker painted the dome black and fitted it with new lights which turned it into one of the props from Evil of the Daleks. During that adventure, the black dome served to distinguish them from the human Daleks who had silver heads, but in fictional terms their status is a little unclear. They’re referred to as “Black Daleks”, which was previously a term applied solely to one commander per story, but in Evil there are many of these black domes. They are often referred to as “Throne Room Daleks”, because they are so strongly associated with the Emperor Dalek but they were never exclusively seen there.
Dalek AB2 was rolled back even further so that it represented an even earlier model, that of the first Dalek story, which involved removing the slats and mesh, and providing it with ping-pong ball lights. The skirt was also adjusted so that the hemispheres pushed through from the inside rather than being screwed to the outside as per Dalek AB1.
The prop had received two early TV appearances before the refurbishment and settlement into its new home. In the summer of 1992, the BBC ran a live magazine show from The National Garden Show in Ebbw Vale. Starring Caron Keating (of Blue Peter fame), Linda Mitchell and a young Rob Brydon, the show featured a mix of the usual daytime fare. One such item was a preview of original Doctor Who props going up for auction at Bonhams in August of that year. Beech was interviewed about the sale and brought his Dalek along to star in the fun item where Brydon took on the role of a hapless version of the Doctor. Elisabeth Sladen also featured in the item. Another exciting element was a rare appearance by second movie Dalek, Dalek AARUII 2 which was going to be included in the auction itself.
Dalek AB2s second appearance was on the BBCs popular Saturday evening game show – The Generation Game. The segment required guests to guess the auction prices of various Doctor Who props. Colin Baker was also on hand to give some details of the props to presenter Jim Davidson. The Dalek was valued at some £16,000!
Beech’s Daleks were followed in the line up by an incredible replica of Dalek One-7 in its time as a ‘Resurrection’ Dalek from 1984. The prop was created by Mark Barton Hill and had previously been seen at the Longleat Exhibition when the Dalek was recreating Dalek One-7 in its ‘Five Doctors’ form. The replica prop even included the blocks of wood that were protruding from beneath the front slats on the original prop at that time. Barton Hill had a reputation for high quality prop building and restoration and had performed the restoration of the ‘Yardley-Jones’ TARDIS prop that was also featuring in the main hall.
The Special Weapons Dalek was next in the alien line-up. This prop had served in several exhibitions since its only TV appearance in Remembrance of the Daleks. It had last been seen at the second Blackpool exhibition where it was looking very worse for wear and missing a number of sections of its gun. Mike Tucker was commissioned to restore the prop back to it original state which included using a number of new parts.
The ‘Time War’ Daleks featured next, and with a number of exhibition props now free to use after the travelling versions had stopped, it was an arbitrary choice as to which was used. As it conspired, it was mix of the two Earls Court Daleks that eventually featured. The upper half of TPE-EC2 was matched with the skirt of TPE-EC1 to create the final prop TPE – EC2/EC18.
The New Paradigm Daleks were represented by the hero yellow ‘Eternal’ Dalek which had also starred for the press in and around Kensington in a special photoshoot to promote the opening of the Exhibition.
The Doctor Who Experience opened in February 2011 at Olympia in London and ran for a year. In July, another special photoshoot was arranged to recreate the famous pictures taken on Westminster Bridge for The Daleks Invasion of Earth. Four of the Dalek ‘timeline’ props were removed from the Experience for the shoot – those being Dalek AB1, TPE-EC2/EC1, Mark Barton Hill’s Dalek One-7 replica and the ‘Eternal’ NPD.
For a brief time before the closure, NSD2 joined NSD4 in the ‘Victory’ display. It wasn’t the end of the Experience though. It was reopened in July 2012 next to the Roath Lock studios in Cardiff, which was to be the new home of Doctor Who.
Queen of the Daleks
Despite Steven Moffat’s insistence that the Daleks were being rested for Series Six, they did get a small cameo in the opening moments of the finale – The Wedding of River Song. The short sequence featured The Doctor retrieving information from the data coil of a Dalek. For the scene, the ‘in-house’ team distressed the original white Supreme NPD9 after which it featured a number of cracks in its casing through which came light from internal bulbs, suggesting you could see into the workings of the Dalek. The episode was transmitted on 1st October 2011.
Since Doctor Who’s return in 2005, spectacular musical shows were becoming a common event and although there was no Doctor Who Prom arranged for 2012, Australia would get its own set of concerts based on a similar concept to the Prom events. The ‘Symphonic Spectacular’ took place on the 4th February in Melbourne and several concerts in December in Sydney. They were hosted by stars Alex Kingston and Mark Williams. The NPDs created for the ‘Live’ show in 2010 were transported over to Australia where they would promote and perform.
In March 2012, the BBC was in the process of transferring a number of it operations from London and New Broadcasting House in Manchester to a new site at Media City in Salford. After ‘Victory’ had completed filming, NSD5 had returned to BBC Manchester which had become its adopted home for a number or months. The Dalek was also transferred over to Media City to stand in the lobby for visitors.
But it was joined by another Dalek. TPE-TVC, which had seen screen use on the Andrew Marr show in 2008, was transferred from Television Centre to the new location. The Queen made an official visit to Media City on 23rd March and the paparazzi seized the chance to get a number of pictures as she passed the two props.
To replace the Dalek at Television Centre, another mix of exhibition props was drafted in. It consisted of part ‘Earls Court’ and part ‘Spaceport’ prop sections – TPE EC1/SP. As before, the Dalek was available for visitors on the TVC tour to pose with for photo opportunities.
With the ‘rest’ season complete, Moffat had plans to bring back the Daleks for Series Seven. A story that promised “Every Dalek Ever!” Excitement surrounding the hype was palpable, but was all as it seemed…
Next page – Series Seven |
In an undercover video produced by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas (PV), the Democratic commissioner of the Board of Elections in New York City is heard acknowledging, “I think there is a lot of voter fraud.”
Commissioner Alan Schulkin tells an undercover investigative journalist, “Like I say, people don’t realize certain neighborhoods, in particular, they bus people around to vote… They put them in a bus and go poll site to poll site.”
Project Veritas met Schulkin in December of 2015 at the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) Christmas Party.
When the PV journalist asks Schulkin whether the types of “neighborhoods” where “they bus people around to vote” are “minority neighborhoods, like black neighborhoods and Hispanic neighborhoods,” he replies, “Yeah, and Chinese too.”
“Why do they do that?” asks the journalist. “Just to get more votes for the Democrats?”
“For more votes,” says Schulkin. “More votes for themselves. They’re all running for office… They get buses and they move people around.”
When the PV journalist asks Schulkin about the fact that New York has no voter ID laws, he responds, “No, you can’t. You cannot ask. They can’t ask for voter ID. It’s the law. The law says you can’t ask for anything, which they really should be able to do. You know I don’t think it’s too much to ask somebody to show some kind of an ID.”
“[Y]ou’re the Commissioner you said of the Democratic Election Commissioner,” says the journalist. “So, if you think there is voter fraud and you think there should be voter ID, why don’t people listen to you?”
“Well, that’s because the New York State legislature makes the laws, I don’t make the law,” Schulkin says.
When the journalist continues on to a question about absentee ballots, Schulkin replies, “Oh, there’s thousands of absentee ballots. I don’t know where they came from.”
“Hillary Clinton doesn’t support voter ID laws,” the PV journalist states.
“I know, that’s why I’m not always crazy about everything the Democrats do either,” the commissioner responds, continuing:
De Blasio just gave out ID cards… They don’t… that’s in lieu of a drivers license, but you can use it for anything. But they didn’t vet the people to see who they really are. Anybody can go in there and say, I am Joe Smith, I want an ID card. It’s absurd. There is a lot of fraud, not just voter fraud, all kinds of fraud. This is why I’m getting more conservative as I get older.
“Well, maybe you won’t vote for Hillary, I don’t know,” the journalist suggests to Schulkin.
“I wouldn’t, but I have no choice,” he states.
When the journalist suggests that in addition to voter ID fraud, people can also “cover their faces” when they vote, Schulkin agrees, saying, “Well the Muslims can do that too. You don’t know who they are.”
The PV journalist then tells Schulkin that Mayor Bill de Blasio “wants to let them [Muslims] in New York.”
“He doesn’t care, what does he care?” the commissioner replies. “Who’s going to pay for it? You are. Your tax money… Your vote isn’t really counting because they can go in there with a burka on and you don’t know if they are a voter.”
“People think that it’s a liberal thing to do, but I take my vote seriously and I don’t want ten other people coming in negating my vote by voting for the other candidate when they’re not even registered voters,” Schulkin adds.
Catherine Engelbrecht, president of voters’ rights and election integrity organization True the Vote, tells Breitbart News that Schulkin “isn’t saying anything we haven’t heard countless times before: people are bussed to polls.”
“Many states, New York included, don’t require voters to show ID,” she continues, “and absentee ballots are easily exploited. It’s all true. Every election cycle videos like this surface and in the moment we are outraged… then it’s on to the next shocking headline.”
Engelbrecht says Americans need to take their vote seriously and become part of the election watch process.
“The only way to ensure our elections really reflect the will of the people is to roll up your sleeves, pull on your waders, and jump in to help solve the very real election-process problems that exist all over our country,” she urges. “Volunteer at the polls, advocate for common sense election code reforms like voter ID, and support officials and organizations who keep pressing for improvements, not just shrug and look the other way.”
“The future of our elections, of our country, depends on citizen engagement,” she warns. |
L-R: Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia in This Is Us.
Traditional TV viewership has been trending (way) down in recent years — and two months into the 2016–17 season, there’s little evidence to suggest a halt to the networks’ Nielsen nosedive is in sight. Leaving out sports and special events, all five of the major broadcast networks are suffering year-to-year viewership drop-offs among adults under 50, the demographic group most attractive to advertisers. And save for NBC, which is down a modest 5 percent, the declines are all in the double digits, with ABC alone losing a stunning 22 percent of its young-adult viewership compared to last fall. (Not having Scandal on the air this quarter certainly didn’t help.) Even cable isn’t immune: Big shows such as FX’s American Horror Story and AMC’s The Walking Dead have also seen same-day ratings declines (though some of the audience is being made up via DVR replays). Still, while ratings erosion is the big overall theme, several other story lines have emerged early in the new season. Vulture dove deep into the Nielsen weeds and called up our best industry sources to find out what else merits attention this fall:
NBC’s This Is Us is the season’s runaway hit ….
Last May, NBC’s (very good) PR machine went into overdrive getting out word that online viewership of the first extended preview for the Peacock’s soapy, twisty fall drama This Is Us was setting all sorts of records. Industry trade Deadline started comparing the show to feature blockbusters such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens or the new Ghostbusters. At the time, NBC’s obsession with letting the world know just how popular this trailer was seemed a bit, well, desperate. In fact, like the crowds at a Donald Trump rally, the 127 million online views for the preview turned out to be predictive. Not only is TIU far and away the season’s No. 1 new show among the key advertiser demographic of adults under 50, it’s currently the No. 3 show on all of broadcast TV, behind only Empire and The Big Bang Theory. And while being positioned behind NBC’s big unscripted hit The Voice surely helped boost early tune-in, the show now regularly outperforms its lead-in, marking the first time a scripted series has ever accomplished such a feat.
… but the other networks have reasons to smile, too.
Poor Fox: The network dutifully gave Kiefer Sutherland carte blanche to do whatever show he wanted after 24, and the actor attached himself to Touch, the poorly reviewed and little-seen thriller that lasted just 26 episodes between January 2012 and May 2013. Rather than reward the network for indulging his creative instincts, Sutherland ended up jumping to ABC, where his new drama Designated Survivor has become one of the fall’s most successful launches. While same-day viewership has slipped notably since its September premiere, DS is getting an incredible lift from DVR replays, more than doubling its audience within a week of each episode’s initial telecast. Because of the show’s high concept— low-level cabinet official ends up as president— there’s a big risk DS could quickly see ratings collapse if viewers feel the series isn’t delivering on the promise of the pilot. But for now, Sutherland has given ABC’s already strong Wednesday lineup a significant ratings jolt
Another newbie doing well — really well — on Wednesdays is Fox’s small-screen adaptation of Lethal Weapon. Critics generally liked the pilot, but there was plenty of industry skepticism about whether the decades-old film franchise still had enough juice left in it to work as a TV show. So far, the answer is a resounding yes: While not a monster hit, Lethal has already become Fox’s second-biggest show among adults under 50, drawing more young viewers than any other program on the network save for its Wednesday companion Empire. It’s also dramatically boosted Fox’s 8 p.m. Wednesday performance versus last fall’s first season of Rosewood, even as Empire has lost one-third of its under-50 viewership compared to the first six weeks of last season.
Meanwhile, smart scheduling by CBS has allowed fall freshmen Kevin Can Wait (which began the season behind Monday-night episodes of The Big Bang Theory) and Bull (slotted behind NCIS) to get off to good starts as well. ABC also has to be delighted by how well new comedies American Housewife and Speechless have paired up with The Middle and The Goldbergs on Tuesday and Wednesday night, respectively. And while NBC Thursday comedy The Good Place and CBS Friday-night action hour MacGyver aren’t drawing particularly huge audiences, both shows have found a footing on nights where expectations are relatively low for both networks.
HBO’s big bet on Westworld looks like it has paid off.
After a series of Sunday-night flops (Vinyl) and disappointments (The Leftovers, The Newsroom, True Detective season two), HBO went into the fall praying viewers would embrace its most ambitious series since Game of Thrones. So far, all evidence suggests viewers are doing just that. After launching with HBO’s best same-day tune-in for a new show in nearly three years, viewership has actually ticked up in subsequent weeks. Plus, the show is doing very well on non-linear platforms: HBO says a quarter of Westworld’s overall average audience of 11.7 million weekly viewers is coming from streaming on HBO GO and HBO NOW, while video-on-demand views account for 17 percent of the show’s audience. Just as important, the buzz around Westworld is quite loud, with the show’s intricate plots and mythology provoking heated online debate and inviting comparisons (both good and bad to ABC’s Lost). HBO ordered a second season of Westworld this week, putting aside concerns over its huge price tag (one insider estimates it’ll cost the network around $100 million for another batch of episodes) and worries about whether the series can maintain creative momentum. The decision suggests HBO executives are optimistic about having found a potential new signature drama.
ABC is paying a price for ripping off Shonda Rhimes too many times.
Ever since the Rhimes-produced Scandal grew into a monster hit circa 2013, the Alphabet network has been working overtime to load up its schedule with as many Shonda-esque dramas as it can find. This isn’t surprising, given network TV’s historic tendency to fire up the clone machine the moment a series (or type of series) breaks out as a hit. The strategy sometimes works, as evidenced by NBC’s endless Chicago Whatever hours and, in past years, multiple offshoots of CSI and Law & Order. But over the past year or so, ABC has discovered, painfully, that Rhimes’s brand of noisy, twisty, and female-forward entertainment isn’t easily duplicated. Shonda-lite fall freshman Notorious and Conviction have both been massive flops, while last season’s FBI thriller Quantico — nicknamed Grey’s Academy by TV-industry insiders because its pilot seemed such an obvious attempt to crib from the Rhimes playbook — has seen its Nielsen ratings plummet during its second season.
Even Rhimes’s own involvement in a project is no guarantee of success, as evidenced by the meh performance of last spring’s The Catch. (It’s still scheduled to return for a second season next year.) The good news for ABC is that the network maybe sorta knows it needs to diversify its drama development. As noted earlier, its third new fall hour, the Kiefer Sutherland thriller Designated Survivor, has definitely clicked with audiences and has brought male viewers back into the ABC fold. And Rhimes’s next new show for the network will mark a big departure from her past shows: Still Star-Crossed is a period twist on Romeo & Juliet. ABC also seems to be ready to add some more non-serialized procedurals to its lineup, as evidenced by its recent decision to develop a reboot of the 1980s cop show Magnum, P.I.
Diversity works.
This fall brought a flood of new shows — most on cable, a few on the broadcast networks — featuring people of color in leading or prominent roles. While none has been the sort of overnight sensation Fox’s Empire was two years ago, most seem to have found an audience, and in some cases, critical acclaim. OWN’s Queen Sugar, from Ava DuVernay, generated some of the season’s best reviews, and it has consistently been one of the most-watched dramas on cable since its September premiere. (The Oprah Winfrey–run network ordered a second season of the show before it premiered.) Over at FX, Donald Glover’s Atlanta is already an Emmy-season front-runner and was a strong ratings performer during its ten-episode run, particularly among millennial audiences. And while the aforementioned Fox success Lethal Weapon is more an attempt to capitalize on a well-known film franchise than a bid to open up the airwaves to creative diversity, the series does feature an African-American co-lead (Damon Wayans) and several significant characters played by non-white actors. Ratings for a couple of other series with non-white leads haven’t been as impressive: Fox’s Pitch has struggled on Thursdays, while HBO’s Insecure — picked up this week for a second season — is drawing a modest same-day audience (even by HBO standards) on Sunday nights. But both have generated strong buzz and seem to have found a consistent core audience. |
The San Antonio Spurs and the Milwaukee Bucks have come to terms on a trade that will send Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas to the Bucks for Richard Jefferson. Though I hate seeing Bruce Bowen leaving the Spurs as when we here in San Antonio think of Bowen we think of San Antonio not because of what he has done on the court but for the community.
Thomas and Oberto really did not establish many minutes and with the addition of Jefferson it surely gave the Spurs no hesitation to send those two out. Bowen will be missed with his defense but Jefferson brings in his own and more offense to the Spurs too.
Jefferson is a big addition to the Spurs and I hope this is not the only move we make.
Bruce Bowen good luck in Milwaukee, you surely will be missed. |
Previously on All Stars the queens were group together to host legendary club nights with Valentina spending too much time in her fantasy, leaving Naomi to shoulder most of the work. On the flipside, Latrice and Trinity slayed with the help of Manila and her passion for graphic design. When it came time to deliberate Naomi was scared that Trinity would focus on saving her season 9 sister rather than looking at their overall performances. Not that she had to worry though, as Latrice turned the lip sync out and sent Valentina out of the competition.
The queens returned to the Werk Room to discover Valentina hated the reality of having to pack, before Latrice shared how hard it was to eliminate her since they’ve grown close after years on the road together. Naomi was feeling extremely relieved to have survived, particularly after discovering that Trinity would have eliminated Valentina too since she is making all of her decisions based on score cards. Talk quickly turned to said score cards, with it evident that Manila is way out in front with Trinity nipping at her heels and Monet and Monique the dark horses. Which Manila quickly deflected, saying she could be in the bottom next. Couple that with Monet saying she will do whatever it takes and damn, Manila, you in danger girl.
The next day the queens discovered that the Werk Room has been made over, with Ru’s photos all replaced by pictures of Judy Garland and everyone started to wildly speculate what it means. Ru opted not to leave the hanging, giving a history lesson on how Judy Garland indirectly kicked off the Stonewall riots and was a code for early gay men to identify each other which led to the term best judy for your gay best friend. And as such, this week’s challenge would see them do drag makeovers on their best judys. Naomi was paired with her bestie Ricardo who is BAE, Monique’s best judy was Danny – who was also kinda hot – Monet’s was also a hot guy named Patty, Latrice got her dear friend Tim, Trinity’s boyfriend arrived and, swoon, Manila’s best judy is her husband Michael.
Oh and in addition to them welcoming their best judy into their drag families, they also had to choreograph a dance inspired by Judy Garland.
The queens showed their best judys around the Werk Room before getting down to work. Not wanting history to repeat itself, Monet quickly grabbed some matching outfits and strategised how to snatch victory rather than go home. Despite looking nothing like Patty. Monique was thrilled to have new people to talk to, Trinity’s boyfriend was shocked by home good he looked in a wig and Manila and her husband couldn’t stop touching and I love it. After a stint in the bottom, Naomi was feeling the pressure to finally score a win – particularly since she won the makeover on season 8 – though given her judy can’t walk in heels, she in danger girl.
Ru returned to get to know the judys, with Monique sharing how important Danny is to him before Ru checked in to find out why Monique always looks like she is ready to cut a bitch during deliberations. They were all tender with each other and let’s be honest I can’t type properly through the tears. Trinity spoke about the awkwardness of dragging up her partner and tucking his junk. Monet and Patty – who met through Bob – spoke about their concerns about not looking alike, and TBH I want them to get married. Speaking of marrieds, we checked in with Manila and Michael with the former just glad that Michael will soon learn the pain of drag. Naomi and Ricardo were super cute, though poor Naomi was stuck inside her head and was super nervous leading to Ru giving her a pep talk about not playing it safe and to act a fool and I am ready to see it. Oh and then we learnt that Tim already has had attempts at drag, however Alexis Knight was put to bed the first time she appeared by Latrice. And this is her shot to finally sissy that walk.
Ru then broke down hearing how Tim carried Latrice through prison and damn, this is just as bad as Survivor’s love ones visit.
Elimination day rolled around with everyone overwhelmed by everything they needed to get done. Latrice was nervous to land in the bottom again, knowing it is certain doom, Manila and Michael had a dance break and Monet and Patty dazzled everyone as Patty’s beautiful red eyebrows were removed and he transformed into Powder. The judys were heartbroken to lose their facial hair while before Naomi shocked everyone by throwing out that she is planning to do boy drag on the runway. Monet was shaded for making Patty even paler, Michael was gagged by home beautiful he looks, Tim pretended he was happy with how Latrice did his make-up and Manila made her husband tuck so he would truly understand what she goes through. Oh and Trinity spoke about how big her manses dick is, which seems unnecessary.
Ru, Michelle and Carson were joined by my goddaughter Frances Bean and Meredith Grey on the judging panel as the queens and their newest sisters kicked off the dances. While Trinity’s boyfriend struggled, Manila’s husband had a little more rhythm, Monet and Patty slayed, Latrice and Tim gave energy, Naomi and Ricardo were awesome while Monique and Danny were adorable. On the runway Latrice and Alexis were all big hair and shiny but felt flat, Monique and Danny were staring down the barrel of victory, Manila and Michael were a royal flush, though didn’t look related. Naomi and Ricardo both arrived as Cher before Naomi removed her wig, twirled and turned into Sonny and I love it. Hand them the win. Trinity and her boyfriend looked alike in gaudy Miami old lady and while Monet and Patty were ebony and ivory, they looked alike. And let’s be honest, their dance was far and away the best.
Monique and her judy received glowing praise for their runway, though their dance – which I stand by calling adorable – was read for filth. The judges loved everything Monet did, with their dance being the stand out for all of the judges. To the point Frances soaked it in, geddit? Manila and Michael dance was praised, though the runway was read for filth and I am nervous. Particularly since Manila explained that Michael came into her life after Sahara died and it is all too emotional. Latrice’s dance was read for filth, though praised for her unending depths of charisma. Oh and they hated the fact they looked nothing alike. Obviously Naomi received glowing praise for everything and for doing things that nobody else would think of. Despite having basic choreography, Trinity and her boyfriend were praised for their synchronicity and slaying the family resemblance. Naomi made it two for two when it comes to makeovers, landing in the top with Monet while team Latrila would be broken up for good as they landed in the bottom together.
Back in the Werk Room Naomi was feeling her oats for finally snatching a win, while Monet was thrilled to get her rudemption after Tyler Oakley brought him down in season 10. Monet and Naomi split Latrila to hear why they each should stay, with Latrice reminding Monet how much being here means to her. And while Monet can understand that, she knows that Manila has slayed the season and as such, Latrice’s legacy isn’t enough when this season has been lackluster. Over with Naomi and Manila, Naomi thanked Manila for loaning her the mustache and congratulated her for slaying the competition. Talk turned to her being in the bottom with Latrice, with Manila saying she would rather stay over Latrice and not be taken out for being a threat. And damn, I am nervous. Particularly since she started tearing up talking about understanding whichever way it goes.
The girls swapped coaches with Monet torn, since Manila would have sent her home a few weeks ago and since she didn’t start with an apology, Monet felt like being shady. Manila though went the mindfuck route, hoping to embarrass Monet into keeping her since beating the best is the only way to be the best, apparently. On the other side of the room, Latrice played into Naomi’s hand reminding her that she saved her the week before … and look at how it turned out! Latrila got together with their judys to talk about the competition, with judys heartbroken for bringing them down leaving to poor Latrice to try and lift everyone else up and hold it together.
Monet and Naomi returned to the mainstage ready to destroy Judy Garland’s – who’ll be singing, for ye – Come Rain or Come Shine. Despite being a strong lip syncer, Monet couldn’t compete with Naomi who owned the lip sync from start to finish. She was wacky, wild, acrobatic and really took Ru’s advice, acting a fool and hilariously snatching victory and 10,000 doo-lahs. Not only did she own the lip sync however, she then stood centre stage, stone cold, and eliminated her idol, this season’s front runner, Manila for being a huge threat. Leaving everyone gagged and gooped.
Is it heartbreaking to see Manila slay the competition, only to be felled at her first stumble? Sure. Particularly since she and Raja both killed season 3 and All Stars 1 really screwed her. But, let’s be honest, these are the rules and Naomi taking out a threat is baller. I mean, Alaska would never eliminate a girl her loaned her an item for the mainstage. Thankfully Manila wasn’t too bitter about being cut, knowing that it was due to her winning ways rather than anything else. Plus – she pointed out it was totally my fault, since the pizza curse has leapfrogged from Survivor over to Drag Race with her comforting Maianila Luzon Pizza.
While I feel really bad about manifesting her elimination, I have zero qualms about eating something this delicious. Mounds of meat, chilli and cheese, make for the perfect salty accompaniment for my feelings of lingering saltiness to see Manila lose the crown. Again.
Enjoy!
Maianila Luzon Pizza
Serves: 2 friends, 1 salty-yet-gagged and the other sad.
Ingredients
2 bases as per Pizsa Zsa Gabor
⅓ cup passata
oregano and basil, roughly chopped, to taste
100g mild salami, sliced
3 pork and fennel sausages, skin removed and cooked
100g pancetta, sliced
chilli oil, to taste
mozzarella, to taste
Method
Prep the bases as per Zsa Zsa’s instructions.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Smear passata over the prepared bases, sprinkle of the herbs, salami, cooked sausage, pancetta and a lug of chilli oil before topping – but we’re all bottoms! – generously, with mozzarella.
Transfer to the oven and bake for fifteen minutes, or until bubbly and golden.
Devour immediately, hoping not to burn our mouth with some scalding cheese. Unless you want to feel something in this post-Manila world.
As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr. |
Afternoon from Minneapolis.
Nino Niederreiter, Jared Spurgeon and the Wild faces (my!!!) New York Islanders, who boast a lineup that includes John Tavares, Brock Nelson, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Cal Clutterbuck and (who else????) NICK LEDDY, Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center.
Against one of the top teams in the East (Isles lead the league with 19 wins), the Wild looks to wrap up a pedestrian 1-1-1 homestand on a good note before heading out on a three-game road trip to San Jose, Glendale (Ariz.) and Chicago.
The Islanders used to be my favorite team as a kid. Those allegiances are long gone, but I always get a little nostalgic when the Isles come to town and especially during my annual trip to Long Island. Sadly in March, I will be covering my final game at Nassau Coliseum because the team moves into its new digs in Brooklyn next season.
It will be emotional.
I’m also excited that Hall of Fame broadcaster Jiggs McDonald will be in town Tuesday to come out of retirement (so to speak; he fills in every now and then on Islanders and Panthers broadcasts). The great Howie Rose (infamous for his “Matteau! Matteau! Matteau! Stephane Matteau!!!! call when the Rangers beat the Devils in OT to advance to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final) has the game off, so Jiggs will swoop into Minnesota, where he has family, to work with Butch Goring, the best trade deadline player acquisition EVER (in the Billy Harris/Dave Lewis trade in 1980 prior to the first of four straight Isles Cups).
I became friends with Jiggs when he called Panthers games on radio full-time back when I covered them in the latter part of my Fla. career at the Sun-Sentinel. That was real cool because I grew up watching Jiggs do Islanders games on the former SportsChannel with Ed Westfall. In fact, the neatest part of covering the Panthers when I was a young pup? As an old Islanders fan, imagine covering a Florida organization that had Bill Torrey as its President, Billy Smith as its goalie coach, Denis Potvin as its TV color analyst and Duane Sutter as assistant coach (and eventual head coach). Was pretty cool starting out as a hockey writer with so many people I rooted for as a kid around.
OK, onto the Wild.
1. Captain Mikko Koivu, who missed Saturday’s practice with what was described as a very minor strain, practiced today, as did defenseman Ryan Suter, who missed the past two games with the mumps. He is expected to return vs. the Isles (more on this below)
Yeo didn’t divulge yet which defenseman (Nate Prosser, Keith Ballard or Christian Folin will come out of the lineup.
Niklas Backstrom will be in net (more on this below).
Charlie Coyle missed practice today because he’s sick.
“I was told it is definitely … not… the mumps,” coach Mike Yeo said. “It’s a stomach ailment. We’ll see where he’s at [Tuesday].”
If Coyle is questionable, the Wild will either have to play Stu Bickel at wing or call up a forward from Iowa later today or in the morning. Yeo may want Bickel playing against a tough Isles team.
Typically, we’ll get word after 4 p.m. CT because the salary cap is computed daily. The Baby Wild plays at Charlotte tonight.
Matt Cooke is still not practicing due to the hip flexor. Eighteen games out and counting now. Wild misses him badly.
2. Speaking of Charlotte, I updated the top of the last blog that goalie Josh Harding left Saturday’s game after two periods due to dehydration.
It was so serious, he was taken to the hospital and remained hospitalized until he was released late Sunday. Multiple sources say this is related to his multiple sclerosis. Harding is listed day-to-day with dehydration, but this will likely be one of those indefinite day-to-day’s. It’s very unlikely he will play another game for Iowa until this is figured out.
Iowa has recalled Johan Gustafsson from ECHL Alaska to back up John Curry tonight in Charlotte and the Wild was making arrangements on getting Harding back to Minnesota.
So, wish Harding well.
3. From a Wild perspective, Harding is out of the picture for the time being, meaning Darcy Kuemper and Backstrom are the two goalies … period. Somebody suggested to me that perhaps the Wild swoops in on Anaheim and signs Ilya Bryzgalov as insurance (technically Bryzgalov is on a tryout with the Ducks and still a free agent), but I’d think that is improbable.
Backstrom, who is 3-2-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in nine appearances, gets the start vs. the Isles.
“We feel that’s what the team needs right now and part of that is [Backstrom] deserves to start,” Yeo said.
There’s no doubt the Wild would love Backstrom to get in the net and play a string of good games to 1) help the team and 2) give Kuemper some internal competition.
Yeo alluded to this the other day, but it does seem the second Kuemper hit the 14-game threshold that mean he required waivers to get to Iowa, his game has been inconsistent.
Columnist Chip Scoggins is writing about the Wild goalie situation for Tuesday’s paper. It certainly seems like the Wild’s biggest concern right now. The Anaheim game really showed that. The Wild gave up about eight scoring chances in the game and Kuemper was beaten cleanly on five of them (on only 18 shots).
Yeo said, “That’s the struggles of any young goalie. We know that he has the technical ability, we know that he has the athletic ability, we know that he’s a great kid and he’s going to put the work in, but the reason why it takes goalies a little longer is because of the mental aspect of it, how you prepare, how you find consistency in your game.”
Backstrom doesn’t look like the same goalie as the past few years. He just looks more confident and healthier in net because he is healthy. He does his rehab work daily and it’s to the point he’s not thinking about being in pain on the ice.
Tuesday’s game will be Backstrom’s 400th of his Wild career. He is the winningest goalie in Wild history and owns 25 individual goalie records.
He’s not used to being a backup but says, “You have to find a way to be there for the guys. You can’t hide behind excuses even if it’s something you’re not used to. You just have to find a way.”
Kuemper’s big issue seems like he lets goals affect him instead of forgetting about it and moving on. I asked Backstrom his perspective on Kuemper as a veteran: “For everyone, even young and older, you learn every day. You learn about yourself, you learn about the game. For sure you want to stop every puck, but it’s a big thing for a goalie, you have to realize if you do everything right, and they score, you can’t let that bother you. You hate to get scored on but you have to forget it and move on and focus on the next shot. Even if you’re my age, I think if you talk to every goalie, you work every day just to be in the moment and not look behind you. You can’t fix what happened in the past. You have to learn from it and move on. I don’t know, maybe when you retire, you realize you learned it. But before that, for a goalie, for sure a lot of the game is physical, but it’s mentally, too. You have to be comfortable about there. You can’t be afraid of letting in goals and making mistakes because it’s going to happen. It’s part of the game.”
Kuemper talked to Chip today and said he has had some bad luck recently at home, but his body of work is still good.
“I’m definitely learning,” Kuemper told Scoggins. “It’s been a little bit tough with new D-men every night it seems with the disease going through. Not that that’s an excuse. But the mumps makes it tough. But I’m kind of learning as I’m going. Obviously you want to be as consistent as you can. I don’t feel like I’m going in there one night feeling awesome and one night fighting the puck. Sometimes there’s some puck luck as well. I’ve been consistent at every level and I know it will come here.”
On the so called meltdowns, Kuemper said, “I think it’s just coincidental. The only game that I’d say really went awry was that New York game. I think that kind of put some thoughts into peoples’ heads. So when two goals happen, then all of a sudden, it’s, ‘Oh no. It’s happening again.’ But really it’s just situational.”
Check out Chip’s column Tuesday.
4. I’ll be writing about Suter, who is coming back from the mumps.
“I’m glad it’s out of my system,” he said. “There’s a few days there where you really can’t do anything. It’s a miserable virus and I’m glad it’s out of me. It was miserable. I’m fortunate we only played a few games there, a few off days. So that helped. My version was pretty bad.”
Suter was hoping to return Friday against Anaheim, but at the morning skate, he was dizzy and nauseous. Saturday, the Wild had a very tough practice and Suter looked exhausted afterward. He said he felt much better after today’s practice.
Suter said he woke up Sunday morning with one of the symptoms bigtime. He thought the worst (i.e. cancer), but after some ultrasounds and bloodwork, it was confirmed he had the mumps.
“I was just locked in the room,” he said. “My wife was great. She’d knock on the door, leave the food outside the door and I’d go and get it. She’s an angel.”
Suter has two kids and another on the way, so he quarantined himself from his pregnant wife, Becky, and kids.
He never got the swollen facial glands, but it did hurt and “you could feel the heat coming off the virus,” Suter said as he touched his face.
Suter admitted, “As I was laying in bed, I kept thinking to myself, ‘Why didn’t I get the booster?’” he said, laughing.
Teammates all got mumps boosters in mid-November. He chose not to because, “That’s the thing, I probably wash my hands more than anybody. I go out of my way to make sure I’m a clean guy. So for me to get it, I always tell these guys, ‘You’ve got to be mentally strong and you’ll never get sick.’ So they’re all giving me a hard time, ‘What were you thinking while you were laying in bed sick?’”
“I’m glad it’s over.”
So is Yeo. If you look at the goals against vs. Anaheim, you know Suter would have been on the ice for a lot of those hairy moments.
“It’s hard to really quantify what he means to our team,” Yeo said. “You’re talking about half the game first of all and you’re talking about every key situation against every key player. I thought we did OK against Montreal without him, but certainly his presence was missed last game against a bigger, heavier puck possession team. That’s where he comes into play. He makes it so difficult for them to establish that type of game because of his execution, the way he’s able to break their pressure, but then if they do get set up and they do have control, he’s so sneaky strong, he’s so good with his stick and is in such good position that he helps us defend much quicker.”
5. So, we’re in the press scrum today when I happen to glance at Twitter and see that Ottawa coach Paul MacLean, who had been saying some weird, outspoken comments after games and practices lately, was fired.
I always make fun of Yeo’s poker face to you. Well, now I have to fess up. Apparently I showed pocket aces to Yeo. The coach looked at me and my wide-open eyes and interrupted the press scrum with a, "What do you got?”
I told him the news, and his eyes turned stunned, too, especially because the Sens rallied from 3-0 down to beat Vancouver in overtime yesterday.
Yeo then had the perfect exit to his press scrum. He put his hands on his head and walked away: “Thanks for the constant reminders!”
It was a funny ending to the practice availability.
Lastly, here's a TSN update on expansion talk at the Board of Gov's meetings in Boca Raton, my old hometown. I even make a cameo in Bob McKenzie's story.
Talk to you Tuesday. |
President Donald Trump is spending the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., where he spent 40 days during his first year in office.
President Donald Trump is spending the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., where he spent 40 days during his first year in office. Photo: DON EMMERT/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
President Donald Trump, who is currently spending a 10-day Christmas vacation at the Florida luxury resort he owns, has visited one of his company’s properties on nearly one-third of the days he has been in office, according to a Wall Street Journal review of the president’s travel.
Of the more than 100 days Mr. Trump has visited one of his properties, he spent nearly 40 at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., which he visited for much of his two-week August vacation. And he spent 40 days at Mar-a-Lago, his luxury resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where he arrived Friday.
Mr. Trump’s is an unusual case of presidential travel, since he spends much of his time away from the White House at places that he owns but where other guests pay to stay. Other presidents have traveled frequently to spend time at their own homes, such as President George W. Bush to his Texas ranch, or his father to Kennebunk, Maine. Others have vacationed at Camp David, the White House retreat in Maryland, or rented accommodations, as President Barack Obama did in Hawaii.
As a businessman who made his fortune in residential and commercial real estate, Mr. Trump’s considerations are more complicated because his visits can create the appearance of a conflict of interest in highlighting a Trump property—from which Mr. Trump draws revenue—on a visit paid for by taxpayer dollars, ethics experts say.
Last month, at a refueling stop in Hawaii on his way to a 12-day trip through Asia, for instance, Mr. Trump paused to visit the Trump International Hotel Waikiki. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement to reporters on the trip calling the hotel a “tremendously successful project.”
“George W. Bush went to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, a lot, but it’s not like you could rent the bedroom next to his,” said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the transparency advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The group filed a lawsuit in January alleging that Mr. Trump violates the Constitution when his businesses receive payments from foreign and state governments, and was later joined in the case by the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United Inc., whose members are restaurants that compete with Mr. Trump’s. But a federal judge in Manhattan threw out the suit Thursday, saying the suit failed to show the alleged violations caused them harm or that their alleged injuries fell within “the zone of interests” the Constitution protects.
The White House didn’t return a request for comment.
Mr. Trump’s air travel to Mar-a-Lago has cost the government about $6 million so far this year, according to a Journal review of Department of the Air Force records obtained this year by the conservative group Judicial Watch. That $6 million doesn’t include other costs incurred during a president’s stay, such as Secret Service and Coast Guard protection.
Over the course of his eight years in the White House, travel by Mr. Obama and his family cost $96.9 million—or an average of $1 million a month, according to Judicial Watch’s analysis of Secret Service and Air Force documents. Before Mr. Trump started traveling to Bedminster in June—the cost of that travel hasn’t been disclosed—his air travel costs to Mar-a-Lago averaged about $1.5 million a month.
Before he was elected president, Mr. Trump was a frequent critic of his predecessor’s vacations—in particular his golfing habit. “@BarackObama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. Nice work ethic,” Mr. Trump tweeted in 2011
He also mocked the amount of time Mr. Obama spent in Washington, tweeting that same year: “Yesterday @BarackObama actually spent a full day in Washington. He didn’t campaign, fund raise or play golf. Shocking.”
While staying at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump has spent about 20 days golfing at his nearby golf courses in West Palm Beach and Jupiter, Fla. On the weekends Mr. Trump has spent in Washington, he has golfed on nearly two dozen days at the Trump golf course in Potomac Falls, Va.
Before his inauguration, Mr. Trump turned over the management of his company, the Trump Organization, to his adult sons, but retained ownership. The president’s financial disclosure form , filed in April, showed he drew $37.2 million in revenue from Mar-a-Lago in the 16-month period ended in April—about $7 million more than he reported on his 2016 disclosure, which includes some overlapping months with the 2017 report.
Mr. Trump also drew about $20 million in revenue from his Bedminster resort, roughly consistent with the previous year’s report. Mr. Trump didn’t begin traveling to Bedminster until the month after he filed his disclosure.
Many of Mr. Trump’s businesses have raised their rates in the first year of his administration. The Trump International Hotel in Washington—where members of the Trump administration often drink and dine— raised its rates in the months after he became president to about 60% higher from what it had planned to charge, the Journal has reported. Mar-a-Lago this year doubled its initiation fee for members to $200,000.
The company said this year that it would transfer profits earned from foreign government payments by guests at his properties to the U.S. Treasury, but has declined to provide information on how it will track that money and whether it would disclose when and how much money it transfers. A spokeswoman for the Trump Hotel Group, said, “We expect to have information available to share toward the end of February 2018.” |
It’s a label that makes everyone in the American Soccer landscape cringe:
“The Future of American Soccer”
Ever since Freddy Adu’s failure to live up to the astronomical hype, young American Soccer prospects have been treated like scientists handling Weapons-Grade Plutonium. While we try to replicate everything the successful big nations achieve, we are scared to death of ruining young players with praise.
But it’s human nature to be excited about young talent, and so identifying talent and praising them for it should not be considered hype. More importantly, calling a player the future of an entire nation’s soccer program and labelling a player a great prospect are not the same thing.
Enter Christian Pulisic. Like many before him, he is considered a top prospect in the US youth system. Only 16 years old, Pulisic recently joined Borussia Dortmund. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania but has also obtained a Croatian passport, allowing him to sign with a club in Europe before turning 18. Most recently Pulisic trained with the BVB first team, even drawing praise from their manager Jurgen Klopp. Klopp told the German media:
He did a good job. He can kick the ball around really well. And in a very intense training session with narrow spaces, he did not stand out in a negative way. That is a real sign of quality.
While it’s not groundbreaking for a manager to praise a young player, for a manager who has coached the likes of Mario Götze, Marco Reus, and Shinji Kagawa to say things like that … you can’t help but take notice.
What sets Pulisic apart is his great technical ability and creativity. While he’s not a great “athlete” by other American sports standards, his first touch and composure on the ball make him an exciting talent. This video really highlights all of his abilities:
0:32 – His ability to pick out a pass before a play is fully developed is a skill very few Americans possess.
0:44 – His sublime first touch around the defender sets up his shot perfectly.
2:07 – Not only does he show great skill and composure but also has the strength to muscle through a challenge and finish.
2:24 – He can also attack defenders 1 v 1 with ability to keep close control of the ball.
1:39 – Mix all of his impressive skills together and he has the ability to pull of the truly spectacular moments.
While Pulisic probably classifies as a midfielder, his finishing is also well above average. It remains to be seen where his future position on the field will be. He’s shown glimpses of being a true number 10, but his one-versus-one ability also makes him an option as a winger.
Players with technical skill like Pulisic will be what takes US Soccer to the highest level, and once we start producing more and more players in the Pulisic mold, we won’t be tempted to overhype the few who emerge.
Christian Pulisic is not “The Future of American Soccer”. He’s simply a great prospect that we as fans and media should be excited about seeing develop. So let’s sit back, enjoy this young man’s skills, and hope for the best. |
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- At 5 a.m. on any given day, Anne Mahlum could be found running the dark streets of Philadelphia -- with homeless men cheering her on as she passed their shelter. But one morning last spring, she stopped in her tracks.
"Running really is a metaphor for life," Anne Mahlum says. "You just have to take it one step at a time."
"Why am I running past these guys?" recalls Mahlum, 27. "I'm moving my life forward every day -- and these guys are standing in the same spot."
Instead of continuing to pass them by, the veteran marathoner sprang into action so they could join her.
She contacted the shelter, got donations of running gear, and in July 2007 the "Back On My Feet" running club hit the streets.
The first day, Mahlum led nine shelter residents in a mile-long run. Today, Back on My Feet has teams in three Philadelphia shelters, including 54 homeless members and more than 250 volunteers. The group has logged more than 5,000 miles.
Requirements for shelter residents to join are simple -- they must live in an affiliated facility and be clean and sober for 30 days. Members receive new shoes and running clothes, and teams run together three times a week between 5:30 and 6 a.m.
The runners are diverse -- doctors, janitors, students and shelter residents -- but such distinctions aren't apparent.
"All you can tell is who's the fastest," says Mahlum. "You can't tell who's homeless and who's not."
For Mahlum and others, Back On My Feet is more than a running club.
"We're a community of support, love, respect," she says. Watch how the group hits the predawn streets of Philadelphia. »
Runners greet each other with hugs and words of encouragement. While members say they've lost weight, quit smoking and have more energy, Mahlum believes they're also learning important life skills such as discipline and goal-setting that can help them get on the road to self-sufficiency.
"Running really is a metaphor for life," she says. "There is always another mile. You just have to take it one step at a time."
That's something Mahlum herself has learned over the past 10 years as she's dealt with her father's alcoholism. Running has been her therapy, she says.
"I'm learning more about my life through all of this." Watch Mahlum recall a troubling moment when she turned to running. »
Back On My Feet also has a job training program for a partner. Three members are taking classes, learning computer and interview skills, while three others have found jobs.
Mike Solomon, an original member, is one of the group's success stories. A former crack user who spent his youth in and out of trouble on the streets of Wilmington, Delaware, Solomon is employed, in school and training to run a marathon in his hometown. He considers Back on My Feet part of his support group. Watch Solomon describe how he got off crack and on the run. »
"Anne is helping people see the hero in themselves," says Solomon.
Mahlum aims to have Back On My Feet in 10 local shelters by the end of the year and expand beyond Philadelphia in 2009. She believes her approach could be part of a solution to homelessness.
"Do we need homes? Yes. We need jobs? Yes," she says. "But imagine if you didn't have anybody in your life who said, 'I'm really proud of you.' Back On My Feet does just that." |
I know a girl who treats leads like they are amusement park rides. She wants the lead to entertain her with a bunch of flashy moves… lifts, dips, drops. If the dance isn’t exciting enough for her, she will throw herself into a dramatic dip or drop – and expect the guy to catch her.
Not only is that incredibly dangerous, but it’s rude to the lead. It treats him like he is there solely to serve her. Leads shouldn’t feel used for the follower’s enjoyment.
It amazes me how many times I hear this complaint from leaders… Feeling like his job is to give ladies a magical, exciting dance – despite the fact that she may not have the technical skills to execute it on her end.
I don’t expect the lead to show me off and make me feel beautiful, sexy and talented. That is MY job – and I shouldn’t rely on a lead for that. Great followers look amazing with anyone they dance with because of their skills – not the leads.
Therefore, I’m studying technique – so I can be an equal contributor. A lead doesn’t want to exhaust himself compensating for things we aren’t willing to learn to do correctly (i.e., maintaining our own balance, staying on time, or sustaining proper frame and connection). He’s there to have fun too – not just work his ass off trying to keep us upright and beaming.
The most unforgettable dance I’ve witnessed was a tango couple in Denver; he led nothing but forward steps and side steps. The woman, with gorgeous footwork and brilliant musicality, spun those movements into pure magic.
She showed me that with amazing technique, we can make simple dances look and feel utterly captivating.
For me, partner dancing is about giving. I don’t seek out leads based on what I can get, I seek out leads based on what I feel we can give one another. I want the lead to sincerely enjoy dancing with me – and for the right reasons.
Ideally, I want to give perfect balance, solid connection and flawless timing (have patience; it is a work in progress). I want to inspire him with my musicality and entertain him with beautiful, creative styling. I want him to feel that moving with me is effortless so he can be in his heart and not in his headspace. And since that is the gift I want to give my lead, I am actively building those skills.
Ultimately, I want to be the follower who makes the dance fun for my lead. Because in partner dancing, it’s not all about me. It’s all about us.
If you just want to “use” a lead to make you feel beautiful and talented, at least drop $20 in his pocket when the song starts and say, “Entertain me!” so he knows what hell he just entered into. He will need it for physical therapy / medical bills when you throw yourself into a dip he didn’t lead. |
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Stalkking: Love the music http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~milkyway/mirror/dr_yagokoro.mp3 (December 30, 2007, 3:58 pm)
anon: keys? what are the fscking keys to operate this game? (December 31, 2007, 1:06 am)
: click on the pills to turn them (December 31, 2007, 7:03 am)
Lithen: thanks for music source! is there no way to move them? cause just flipping them..thats kinda hard (December 31, 2007, 12:57 pm)
X: You move the the little creatures to the pills by clicking on them, rather than moving the pills to them. Just line up two or more of the same color pill halves vertically and then move the matching creature to be the third or more of that color in the line and the pills disappear. (December 31, 2007, 10:43 pm)
X: 70700 (December 31, 2007, 10:53 pm)
anon: 5# thanks for that. It never occurred to me that those chibi people could be moved. (January 1, 2008, 12:12 am)
bobthevicious: thnks stalkking for teh music sauce. epic win on your part (January 2, 2008, 4:52 pm)
Guardian: Love the music! Got 35400!:-D (June 3, 2008, 6:13 pm)
Anonymous: 181,500 goddamn i could just play this forever (August 16, 2008, 10:39 pm)
Name^2: What is this music? I very like it, it this Hatsune Miku? ^_^ (May 20, 2015, 1:25 am)
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We are pleased to announce the availability of Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 6.0. This is a book designed to help system administrators obtain the best performance from vSphere 6.0 deployments.
The book addresses many of the new features in vSphere 6.0 from a performance perspective. These include:
A new version of vSphere Network I/O Control
A new host-wide performance tuning feature
A new version of VMware Fault Tolerance (now supporting multi-vCPU virtual machines)
The new vSphere Content Library feature
We’ve also updated and expanded on many of the topics in the book. These include:
VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) features
Network hardware considerations
Changes in ESXi host power management
Changes in ESXi transparent memory sharing
Using Receive Side Scaling (RSS) in virtual machines
Virtual NUMA (vNUMA) configuration
Network performance in guest operating systems
vSphere Web Client performance
VMware vMotion and Storage vMotion performance
VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and Distributed Power Management (DPM) performance
The book can be found here http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/VMware-PerfBest-Practices-vSphere6-0.pdf. |
Automatic voter registration picked up more momentum Thursday as Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed a bill that would automatically register eligible voters when they interact with Department of Motor Vehicles offices.
The bill, which could add up to 50,000 new voters to the rolls within the first four years, passed with near-unanimous support from the legislature’s members, including Republicans, who have opposed the concept in other states.
Under the law, Vermonters who go to the DMV to obtain or renew a driver’s license will be automatically added to the registration rolls unless they choose to opt-out. The federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires states to give citizens the opportunity to register to vote at the DMV, but civil rights groups have sued various states for failing to consistently abide by the law’s provisions.
“Automatic voter registration saves time and money, increases the accuracy of our statewide voter checklist, curbs the potential for fraud, and protects the integrity of our elections,” Vermont Secretary of State James Condos said in a statement. “As Secretary of State, I believe voting is a sacred right -- one we must protect and encourage by removing unnecessary barriers. Democracy works best when more people participate.”
But in West Virginia, Republicans supported the concept and helped pass that state’s automatic registration bill in March.
Voting rights advocates argue that automatic registration is more secure, accurate and cost-effective: It means the state can transmit data on eligible voters between agencies rather than relying on information from paper registration forms that can easily translate to errors on the rolls. Registration rates in Oregon have quadrupled since the system took effect in January.
"This reform is a common-sense, no-brainer idea for any state looking to make voting more convenient and accessible for everyone,” said Adam Gitlin, counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia considered measures this year that would implement automatic registration, so more states could shift the burden of registration from citizens to their governments soon. |
She was meant to die while in a space mission.
In October 1957, the world’s first artificial satellite called the Sputnik 1 launched. With the Sputnik 2 scheduled to orbit the Earth a month later, the scientists in Moscow thought, “What if we include a living thing on board?”
And there the stray dog named Kudryavka, or Little Curly, surfaced. She is the first animal to orbit the Earth.
Internationally known as Laika, which is a Russian word for several breeds of dog similar to a husky, the dog was rescued from the streets of Moscow. She was a young, mostly-Siberian husky.
Photo by NASA
It could have been any animal chosen for this feat. But the Soviet scientists thought a stray dog would be the ideal candidate for space travel because their kind has already learned to endure harsh conditions of hunger and cold temperatures.
There were two other dogs named Albina and Mushka which were trained for the space mission. But Laika prevailed to have survived the healthiest after kept in a small cage and made to eat a nutritious gel as food.
Albina was the first “backup”, having flown twice on a high-altitude rocket. Mushka was used to test instrumentation and life support.
Laika’s fate in the historic space mission was ultimately decided by the Russian scientists. And they were only able to make the dog’s trip to be one way.
At the time this statement was released, observers were outraged.
The scientists were left with no choice since no re-entry strategy had been worked out in time for the launch. Eventually, Sputnik 2 burned up in the upper atmosphere in April 1958 after orbiting the Earth 2,570 times.
Sputnik 2. Photo taken from Weebly
It is concluded in 2002 that the animal died from overheating and panic just a few hours after the mission started. No life signs were received from Laika through her medical sensors after 5 to 7 hours into the flight.
This statement is different from previous reports which said that Laika died painlessly in orbit about a week after blast-off.
Despite that Laika was meant to die in space, she was taken care of by the Russian scientists in her travel. Other than her food in jelly form and being chained to prevent her from turning around, she had a carbon dioxide absorbing device to prevent the accumulation of the toxic gas. There was also a fan provided to keep the dog cool when the capsule’s temperature exceeded 15 deg Celsius.
Sources: Space.com | BBC News |
Of course, National might still win [or not — Editor].
Year after year, John Carter’s Northland electorate won internal party plaudits for its huge membership. For this weekend’s by-election, no less than the economic development, regulatory reform, science and innovation, tertiary education, skills and employment and associate finance minister took full personal control of the campaign. Pretty much the whole cabinet was whisked in by ministerial limo.
The Public Finance Act was assaulted with election bribes. John Key cut short his state visit to Japan to hit the mean streets of Moerewa. Dark stories were told about the risk to Tim Groser’s free-trade agreement with Korea if National were to need the support of UnitedFuture’s Peter Dunne.
Luckily for National, the Labour candidate’s name remains on the ballot paper. Maybe there’s some methodological flaw in Wednesday’s TV3 Reid Research poll that gave the edge to Winston Peters.
Sigh of relief
At the time of writing, National had also been spared the full story becoming public about the resignation of former MP Mike Sabin. Those close to Mr Peters suggested he would return to Wellington before the by-election to reveal all under parliamentary privilege. Instead, the NZ First leader elected to stay in Northland talking about his proposal to expand the port at Marsden Point, a referendum on cannabis and his forthcoming bill to remove name suppression from alleged paedophiles if victims say they don’t want it and to launch a register for parents to check there are no sex offenders in their neighbourhood.
No doubt there was a sigh of relief at National Party Headquarters. But that may be short-sighted.
Arguably it would be better for National had the full Sabin story become known well before by-election day.
Fragments are on the public record: that Mr Sabin has been under police investigation since August, that Mr Key was “happy” for him to remain chairman of the law and order select committee overseeing the police budget while that investigation was under way, and that Mr Sabin resigned “due to personal issues … best dealt with outside Parliament.”
Mr Sabin himself is no longer that important: the police and any other relevant arms of government will now deal with him as they see fit.
But Mr Key’s government stands accused of somehow covering up after Mr Sabin, with Labour leader Andrew Little going so far as to say he believes Mr Key is lying.
That is not entirely implausible. Although NBR has been unable to substantiate allegations the National Party top brass knew all about Mr Sabin as far back as before the 2011 election, police commissioner Mike Bush has made clear that he and his officers did not “drop the ball” when it came to informing the Beehive about the Sabin investigation in August.
Mr Bush has not commented further.
The Beehive line is that Mr Bush told police minister Anne Tolley about the investigation in August – and her successor Michael Woodhouse after the election – but didn’t name the MP concerned. Nor, we are meant to believe, did Ms Tolley or Mr Woodhouse ask.
The Beehive will not answer questions about whether or not either passed this information to Mr Key or his office. Answering such questions, according to chief of staff Wayne Eagleson, would violate the privacy of natural persons.
Public duties
If the Beehive’s account of the Sabin matter is true, then Mr Key’s government has become deeply dysfunctional. Reflect on the type of conversation we are being asked to believe happened, just weeks before a general election:
“Minister,” says Mr Bush, “you need to know that we’re investigating an MP for assault.”
“Cheers,” says Ms Tolley. “Thanks for letting me know.”
Given the proximity to the election, Ms Tolley in fact had a public duty to ask the commissioner who was involved. Was it Mr Key or David Cunliffe, the candidates for prime minister? Was it Bill English, David Parker or Russel Norman, the candidates for finance minister? Or Murray McCully, David Shearer or Mr Peters, the candidates for foreign minister? Maybe Judith Collins or Mr Little, the candidates for justice minister?
Even if Ms Tolley neglected her duties to the public, is it plausible her political duty to the prime minister didn’t lead her to inquire? “Please god, let it be Cunliffe!” she would surely have thought.
Mr Woodhouse’s story is just as odd. When briefed by Mr Bush after the election, we’re told he too ignored his public and political duties to inquire further.
Perhaps even more incredible is Mr Eagleson’s claim that, when he was contacted on November 26 by Labour’s chief of staff Matt McCarten about the Sabin situation – which he says he already knew about from others – he waited until the following week to mention it to the prime minister, who remained, he claims, utterly ignorant until December 1.
“Prime Minister,” the Beehive says Mr Eagleson or his underlings never said, “we have a problem. We’ve just been called by the opposition, which has some serious dirt on Sabin, and it’s all around town because we’ve heard about it from others a while ago. You might be asked questions about it as soon as today.”
Are such calls from the opposition really so routine they don’t get escalated?
The risk for Mr Key is that if the full Sabin story becomes known in a week, a month, six months or a year, it will look as if his government covered it up not just through a general election campaign but then again through the by-election as well. The clock keeps ticking. |
Korg Gadget 3 for iPad and iPhone has arrived. This version has been hotly anticipated, and true to their word Korg have released the iOS update for their popular mobile music production studio towards the end of March 2017.
One of the most interesting new "gadgets" in Korg Gadget 3.0.0 for iOS is Recife, a 16 pad drum machine. Plus there's two new gadgets designed for recording audio. Also of note is the ability to export plug-in data to Ableton Live, support for AudioShare and Allihoopa.
All of this in one iOS app? You'd better believe it!
And of course, Korg Gadget 3 is Ableton Link compatible meaning you can jam in sync with a vast number of other Ableton Link enabled mobile and desktop music apps.
What's New in Version 3.0.0
Two new gadgets provide long-awaited audio recording.
“Recife” - A new powerful drum gadget with 16 pads.
Supports music sharing service "Allihoopa". http://allihoopa.com/
Supports exporting plug-in data with Ableton Live Export.
Supports audio document manager “AudioShare”.
Other improvements have been made to enhance stability.
Korg tells us that, "Audio tracks let you include vocals, acoustic instruments and electric guitar. Support for audio tracks is a new and long-awaited step for KORG Gadget. There are two new audio track gadgets: the general-purpose Zurich can be used for recording sources such as vocals and acoustic instruments, and Rosario is optimized for guitar recording with a variety of effects and amp types provided. These gadgets elevate KORG Gadget into the realm of a true all-in-one production studio. In addition to recording audio, you can also import existing audio files.
"Also provided is Recife, a new type of drum machine gadget with high-quality samples and 16 pads. For both audio and preset sounds, it features a high degree of freedom and widens your creative potential."
So, what does this mean for the delayed Korg Gadget for Mac? Our feeling is if the iOS version of Gadget v3 has hit the app store... Korg Gadget for Mac can't be far behind. Keep your fingers crossed and your eyes on AskAudio. We'll bring you the news when Gadget for Mac drops. |
So I watched Barely Lethal…
There are times when my love for cinema leads me down some dark paths. I had the sense to not pay to see this movie at the cinema but I couldn’t resist watching it home. I couldn’t sit through this movie’s entire trailer so I don’t know why I thought watching it would be any better? In the end, I need to watch movies to keep this blog going and sometimes that means sitting through a bad movie or two.
Okay, basic plot: The Prescott Academy is an elite spy-training facility that is headed by Hardman (Samuel L. Jackson). Prescott specialises in the training of young girls. Agent 84 (Hailee Steinfeld) is the academy’s top student but she’s always longed for the fun and thrills of normal teenage life. One day while out on a mission to take out the villainous international terrorist Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba), Agent 84 fakes her death and embarks to discover what a ‘normal’ life could be like. Posing as an exchange student, she takes up the identity of Megan Walsh – a dorky teen from Canada. Megan soon realises that teenage life is far more complicated than described in the movies, especially when you have an international terrorist after you.
Samuel L. Jackson appeared in quite a few movies in 2015 (five, in fact) and I felt that two of them (Barely Lethal & Big Game) were both released past their expiry date. I felt Big Game should have been released in the 80’s and this film should have been released at least twelve years ago. The early 2000’s where when outlandish teen films like this were king. Unfortunately, it was released in 2015 – which isn’t the real problem; the real problem is that the film is packaged like it was made in the early 2000’s. This film feels so outdated and is completely devoid of any modern style.
I wasn’t there when this film was written but I’m 100% sure that the screenwriter – John D’Arco – watched Agent Cody Banks then immediately after that watched Mean Girls and then started writing this script. To be honest, he probably watched a few other teen flicks from the early 2000’s, extracted every cliche he could from those stories and then compressed those cliches into a liquid; he then used this liquid as the ink in the pen with which he wrote the script. This movie doesn’t have characters, it has stereotypes: from the class clown who’s actually complex and thoughtful, to the coolest guy in the school who’s actually a boring dud, right down to the AV geek who’s the actual guy our heroine should be with. This leads to a bunch of non-interesting characters and a plot so predictable that it might as well be a connect-the-dots picture from a colouring book.
Not only is this movie a ripoff and predictable, it also isn’t real. By ‘real’ I mean that the events of the story don’t occur in a way that match the landmarks of the story. Take for example a story where two characters who dislike each other end up falling in love. For this dislike to transform into love, there needs to be a series of adventures or events that build up to the characters’ feelings changing. If two characters who hate each other suddenly become lovers with no explanation then their ‘love’ will seem fake and – as a result – any tension borne from this love will seem manufactured. That’s what happens in this movie. Characters go from enemies to best friends within the blink of an eye. It felt like the screenwriter was too lazy to add scenes to represent the transition and instead just chose to directly tell our characters how to feel.
Thomas Mann is in this movie and boy, did I feel for him. You can see that he’s trying to deliver a competent performance but everyone around him is just phoning it in and ruining his work. Hailee Steinfeld’s performance in this film is lacking…lacking heart, lacking charm, lacking commitment; take your pick. This is a silly film and it’s clear that the people making the film were trying to make a silly film but Steinfeld never finds the balance between just being silly and having funny, and actually putting in a competent performance. Jessica Alba and Samuel L. Jackson make better work of finding this balance but it’s in no way their best work.
Overall, Barely Lethal tries to be this silly, spoof-like homage to teen movies but just ends up being a complete ripoff. The script is unoriginal and uninspired, as is the acting with only Thomas Mann putting in a watchable performance. Rather take a trip back to the early 2000’s and watch Agent Cody Banks. 3/10 |
Red-tailed hawks that took up residence in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (Credit: CBS 2)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Some Brooklyn residents say they’re afraid to leave their homes — not because of crime, but because of aggressive birds.
As CBS 2’s John Slattery reported, one resident said she was targeted and attacked by a red-tailed hawk.
The big nest sits atop a fire escape, and it’s from there that Tahjah Coleman was attacked in the back of the head.
“Boom, bit. Put my hand on the back and got a handful of blood,” Coleman recalled.
The location is on Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where a pair of red-tailed hawks chose a sixth-floor fire escape for their nest.
Coleman said she was on the sixth-floor terrace of her apartment across the street, when she felt a beak and claws in the back of her head.
“I was grabbed by the back of the head, when I was bitten. I didn’t know exactly what was going on. So when I turned around I got scratched on the side. I had a scratch right here,” she said.
Coleman was able to knock the bird off of her and went to a nearby hospital for rabies and tetanus shots.
Now, she said she has no interest in venturing out onto the balcony.
“I can’t go out on the balcony any more. (You can’t?) No. (Too scary?) He basically owns the balcony. It’s not ours any more,” Coleman said.
Red-tailed hawks, like all raptors, are protected under federal and state law. So the nest can’t be disturbed.
“They’re living there like we’re living here. They need to start paying rent,” joked Coleman’s brother, Kareem.
Coleman and other neighbors said the nest was built in March and the attack didn’t come from the female.
“It’s just the male that’s doing it. (Males are like that, aren’t they?) Oh, yeah very aggressive,” she said.
It was some 10 years ago that a red-tailed hawk called Pale Male became a media darling after taking up residence on Fifth Avenue across from Central Park. There are now a dozen such nests in Manhattan alone.
Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com: |
While going to films opening night decked out in character costumes has become more popular in recent years, it was a major feature of opening weekends during the Star Wars prequel era … well, at least in Southern California. Aware of this, certain American theater chains in California are making their policies in regards to the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens clear.
According to CBS TV in Los Angeles, the Cinemark and AMC chains are letting fans know to leave their masks and lightsabers at home. Posters at Cinemark theaters feature a disclaimer stating, “no face coverings, face paint, or simulated weapons — including light sabers — will be allowed in the buildings.”
Meanwhile, AMC will be more permissive with the simulated laser swords, but also discouraging masks and blasters. Their warning reads, “Guests are welcome to come dressed in costume, but we do not permit masks. In short, bring your light saber, turn it off during the movie, and leave the blaster and Darth Vader mask at home.”
It is suggested that the bans are to aid safety efforts after a rash of theater shootings in the last several years. At the same time, it is probably ill-advised to watch the new movie through the small visor of a Boba Fett mask.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens on December 18th.
(Last Updated )
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Citizenship by Investment Malta
Introduced at the beginning of 2014, the Malta Individual Investor Programme (IIP) offers high and ultra-high net worth individuals and families worldwide citizenship in a highly respected EU Member Country. Malta has been a member of the European Union since 2004, enjoys a stable political climate, bi-partisan political scene, growing economy, and has some of the soundest banks in the world. The Malta IIP is the first investment citizenship program of its kind to be recognized by the European Commission, and the executive body of the European Union has formally acknowledged the legality of the program paving the way for its success. The Malta citizenship by investment application process is extremely efficient, and the government of Malta is committed to the highest standard of due diligence and vetting of investor applicants ensuring only persons of impeccable standing and repute will be admitted.
Successful candidates will be granted citizenship in Malta by a Certificate of Naturalization, which can also be extended to include their families. Once a candidate is awarded Malta citizenship, which includes EU citizenship, they have the right of establishment in all 28 EU countries and Switzerland. They also have the ability to set up business in Malta, and can get a Malta passport enabling them to enjoy visa-free travel to more than 160 countries across the world including the United States.
UPDATE: As of 2019, the Individual Investor Program has received more than 1000 Malta passport applications on behalf of investors from more than 40 different countries. As of this date, the IIP Malta is still accepting new applications.
Eligibility for Individual Investor Programme Malta
An amendment passed in 2013 to Chapter 188 of the Maltese Citizenship Act, as well as the enactment of Legal Notice LN47 in 2014, legally grant eligible persons EU citizenship by investment via the Malta Individual Investor Program. To be considered eligible for the Malta citizenship scheme, the main applicant must be at least 18 years of age and must meet all the Malta immigration requirements outlined below.
The Malta citizenship by investment program has some of the strictest due diligence standards of any immigrant investor program in the world to ensure only deserving and reputable applicants are granted Maltese citizenship. As part of the Malta Individual Investor Programme, there is a four-tier due diligence process carried out directly by the government to assess candidates comprehensively. Applicants must have a clean criminal record, and the Malta government conducts extensive criminal checks with INTERPOL, the International Criminal Court, and various other sources and authorities. As part of the due diligence process, applicants must also provide a police certificate before they will be approved for European citizenship.
To be admitted into the citizenship by investment program Malta, applicants must show that they do not suffer from any contagious diseases. All applicants must also be covered by an international health insurance policy.
All individuals and families applying to the Malta Individual Investor Program must make a significant non-refundable contribution to the National Development and Social Fund set up by the Government of Malta and run by a board of trustees. The fund, which is on the same level as the central bank, finances projects in the country linked to public health, education, job creation, social improvement, and innovation. The following contributions must be made within four months of being issued a Malta IIP Letter of Approval in Principle:
Main applicant - €650,000
Spouse - €25,000
Minor children - €25,000 each
Children 18-26 (unmarried) - €50,000 each
Dependent parents & grandparents - €50,000 each
Adult children (physically or mentally challenged) - €50,000 each
Applicants must commit to retaining an immovable residence in Malta for a minimum time period of five years. This can be done by either buying a property in Malta for at least €350,000 and maintaining ownership for 5+ years, or by leasing a property for five years or more with a minimum annual rent of €16,000. Applicants must provide evidence of owning or leasing a property on the islands within four months of receiving a citizenship Malta Letter of Approval in Principle.
Before a person can be admitted for Maltese citizenship by investment, applicants are required to invest at least €150,000 in government approved financial instruments (bonds, stocks, and debentures that benefit the nation) and must commit to keeping the investment for at least five years.
Upon purchasing real estate or entering a property lease in Malta, investor citizenship candidates are issued a Malta identity document called an eResidence card. This signifies the commencement of their residency in Malta and also demonstrates the candidate's genuine link with the country. 12 months after an applicant has established residency in Malta, applicants who have maintained residence in the country will be granted citizenship. You do not need to spend all 365 days in Malta before citizenship is granted, Maltese law defines residence as "an intention to reside in Malta for any fiscal year, usually evidenced by a stay of a minimum of 183 days or by the purchase/rental of property together with a visit to Malta." Consequently, upon purchasing or leasing an apartment or villa in the Mediterranean island nation and procuring a Malta residence card, applicants are not required to spend any time in Europe. Candidates who have been a resident of the country for at least one year prior to I.I.P. approval already satisfy this residency requirement and can subsequently become a citizen of Malta much faster.
Malta Citizenship Scheme Application Timeline
Malta Residency: Potential candidates who are not already resident in the country are strongly advised to begin the Malta residency process immediately since the Individual Investor Programme has a 12-month residency requirement. To be granted citizenship in Malta as fast as possible, it is very important that the clock is ticking on an applicant's residency requirement while they progress through the Malta citizenship application process. Upon initiation of a nominee's residency in Malta, a small deposit of €5,000 for the primary applicant and €1,000 for each family member is due on account of the National Development and Social Fund contribution.
Day 1: A Malta Individual Investor Program application is formally submitted to Identity Malta by an Accredited Person. The application will contain imperative supporting documents, and evidence of source of funds must also be presented at this stage. The following fees are now due:
Due Diligence Fees
Principal applicant - €7,500
Spouse - €5,000
Minor dependents (aged 0-12) - no fee
Minor dependents (aged 13-17) - €3,000 each
Adult dependents - €5,000 each
Malta Passport Fees
All candidates - €500 each
Bank Charges
Per application - €200
A total deposit of €10,000 is now due towards the monetary contribution. Any deposit made when applying for Maltese residency counts towards this amount.
Day 5: Identity Malta will notify the concessionaire or Accredited Person within five business days of submission to confirm whether client's application has been accepted for review or requires additional paperwork.
Day 90: Confirmation from Identity Malta that the application and supporting documentation are formally in order. The candidate is subject to a further 30 days of additional verification by the Government of Malta's regulatory body.
Day 120: Applicant is approved in principle. This signifies official Malta IIP approval conditional only on the candidate fulfilling all their remaining obligations under the Maltese nationality program for investors.
Day 125: Identity Malta sends the applicant a formal request for payment of remaining balance of National Development and Social Fund contribution. The candidate has 20 days to pay the full amount.
Day 145: Maltese IIP financial contribution deadline. The entire National Development and Social Fund contribution must be made by this time.
Day 240: Final citizenship by investment Malta compliance. Applicant must provide evidence of €150,000 bonds investment as well as a Malta real estate purchase or rental.
Issuance of Naturalisation Certificate: Once an applicant has fulfilled all their obligations under the Malta Individual Investor Program and taken an Oath of Allegiance, they will be issued a Certificate of Naturalisation and given a Malta Passport.
If you are interested in learning more about the Malta citizenship by investment program, please contact our team for a confidential consultation.
Tax Consequences of Citizenship in Malta
Obtaining European citizenship by investment through the Malta investor program does not have any tax consequences! Even if an individual moves their primary residence to Malta, they can retain the status of a "non-domiciled" person and therefore have an extremely advantageous tax exposure. Candidates that become a resident of Malta but are not domiciled in the country are only required to pay tax on any income they earn or receive in the country. Malta has no municipal taxes, no estate duty, no death or inheritance taxes, and no wealth or net worth taxes. Malta also has double taxation treaties with approximately 60 countries around the world. The corporate tax rate in Malta is 35%, but special tax concessions apply to non-resident or non-domiciled company owners.
Dual Citizenship Malta
Individuals that obtain a second citizenship by investment are not required by Maltese law to renounce their existing citizenship. Malta has no restrictions on holding dual nationality, in fact, the nation's Citizenship Act specifically provides that Malta dual citizenship is permitted, but your current country of citizenship may have restrictions that prohibit you from possessing a Malta second passport.
Will My Future Children/Grandchildren Be European Citizens?
Any child born to a parent who is a Maltese citizen will also be a citizen of Malta. This means children born to men or women who obtained Maltese nationality via the Individual Investor Program will be full European citizens even if their place of birth is not in Europe. Consequently, if your family participates in the Malta investor program then when your children grow up and have families of their own your grandchildren will also have EU passports. Participating in the Maltese citizenship program will gift future generations of your family with increased political and economic freedom, as well as significantly increased educational opportunities in the West. Many investors cite “family legacy” and “providing a better life for children and grandchildren” as senior influences in their decision to sponsor their family for second citizenship in Malta.
Is Malta Investment Citizenship Permanent?
Malta citizenship through investment is granted by a Certificate of Naturalisation, and once you obtain EU citizenship via the Malta Individual Investor Program you will have it forever and can even pass it on to future generations.
How Fast Can I Obtain Second Citizenship?
If you have not already procured Maltese residency, the minimum amount of time needed to gain Europe citizenship by investment is 12 months. If you have already met the Malta residency requirement of the Individual Investor Program, you can secure citizenship in Malta in as little as six months.
Where is the Malta Passport Office Located?
Since 2008, the Maltese Passport Office has issued biometric passports according to EU and international standards. To obtain citizenship and a European passport through the Individual Investor Program Malta, candidates must give the country their biometric information such as fingerprints. This involves visiting one of the country's international embassies in person, or traveling to the country and going to the Maltese Passport Office located in the Evans Building on Merchant Street in downtown Valletta.
Maltese Citizenship for Investors with Financial Assets Denominated in U.S. Dollars
Now is a great time to participate in the Malta citizenship by investment program if you are holding a significant amount of U.S. dollar-denominated assets. When the Malta economic citizenship program was first announced in early 2014, the euro was significantly stronger than the American dollar. At this time, the EUR 650,000 minimum contribution amount was equivalent to almost USD $900,000. As of 2019, however, the American dollar has strengthened compared to the euro and the required donation of EUR 650,000 is presently closer to USD $750,000. Consequently, the Malta second citizenship program is currently more affordable for investors holding much of their wealth in assets that are denominated in U.S. dollars.
Has the Malta Citizenship Program Been Canceled?
No. The Maltese Individual Investor Program has not been canceled and is still accepting new applications from reputable investors across the world. If Maltese economic citizenship interests you, we encourage you to act quickly since the opportunity will not be around forever.
Should I Buy or Rent an Apartment in Malta?
Malta citizenship by investment program applicants have two options on how to meet the program's residency requirement. The first option is to purchase an apartment on the islands for a minimum price of €350,000. The second option is to rent or lease an apartment on the island for a minimum annual rent of €16,000. There are pros and cons to both choices.
By far the biggest benefit to buying a property in Malta is that the investment is not a sunk cost and can be recovered after the five-year commitment has been met. The Maltese economy is growing by more than 3% per year, and the tiny size of the islands means that land is in very limited supply. With an extremely healthy banking system and strong immigration numbers, it is very likely that applicants who purchase real estate to meet the Malta IIP's residency requirement will turn a profit on the home when they finally go to sell 5+ years later. The biggest downside to making a Malta real estate purchase is that it increases the total investment required to participate in the program. Depending on your current business situation, the opportunity cost of this money could negate any appreciation of the property's value. It can also be difficult to get a mortgage on a property in Malta as a foreign buyer, so the purchase may have to be made with cash or financed in your home country.
The top reason to satisfy the Malta citizenship by investment programme's residency requirement by leasing a property on the islands instead of buying one is that it requires a lot less money. The minimum monthly rent required for the Malta citizenship scheme is only €1333, and even if you paid for all five years upfront the total commitment would only be €80,000 which is a fraction of the amount required to purchase real estate. Renting an apartment in Malta is also quick and easy; there is much less paperwork involved compared to buying a residence, and you do not need to be as meticulous when selecting a home since you will not own it (many investors lease an apartment sight unseen). The biggest downside to renting a house instead of buying one is that all the money you spend on rent is a sunk cost, and you will not be able to recover any of these funds. Paying rent is an expense, but purchasing a property in a strong real estate market such as Malta is an investment. This being said, the reason you are paying this rent is to obtain an EU passport so in the end even though it is a sunk cost that cannot be recovered it is still an excellent investment.
Is There a Language Requirement?
There are no citizenship tests included in the Malta investment program, and applicants are not required to know Maltese or even English to be accepted into the financial citizenship program. Dr. Anton Tabone has experience assisting non-English speaking clients with Maltese immigration matters.
Voting Rights
People who acquire Maltese citizenship via the Individual Investor Programme can vote in political elections provided they have been resident in the country for 6 of the past 18 months.
Can My Malta Passport Be Revoked?
European citizenship granted under the Malta Individual Investor Program can be revoked if an applicant does not follow through with all the requirements of the citizenship by investment programme. To be granted citizenship, applicants commit to retaining a residence in Malta for five years and also keeping their Maltese bonds investment for a minimum of five years. If a person does not comply with these requirements and stops renting an apartment or sells their home in Malta before the five years is up, they can have their citizenship as well as their EU passport taken away.
Malta Tourism
Malta is a tiny island country in the very middle of the Mediterranean Sea that is an immensely popular tourist destination thanks to its beautiful architecture, many historical monuments, and fantastic weather. Despite only having a current population of 423,500 the islands have been inhabited for more than 7000 years and were home to one of the most sophisticated civilizations on Earth. Today there are 7 UNESCO World Heritage sites on the islands, and people travel from all across the world to visit the country making tourism one of the largest economic sectors in Malta accounting for 15% of the nation's GDP.
European Union
Malta became a full member of the European Union in 2004. EU freedom of movement treaties permit Maltese citizens to live, work, and study in any other European Union country including Switzerland. This means that people with Malta passports are allowed to move to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK).
Schengen Area
Malta has been a member of the Schengen Area of Europe since 2007. This allows a Maltese citizen to travel to 26 European countries without going through any border control. Countries that make up the borderless area include EU members Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England (Great Britain), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden, as well as the four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Individuals that hold a passport from any Schengen Area country can visit any other country in the borderless area without the inconvenience of a border check.
Does Malta's Citizenship Program Accept Bitcoins?
The Maltese citizenship by investment program does not recognize Bitcoin or other crypto as legal investment currency for financial transactions related to their immigration program, and consequently, you cannot use Bitcoins to make the Individual Investor Programme's compulsory investments.
How to Get Malta Citizenship
Many people interested in European citizenship by investment research the subject online, determine they are a good fit for the Malta Individual Investor Program, but then are unsure how to apply for Maltese citizenship through investment. Applying for Maltese citizenship on your own is not possible. Under the requirements of the Malta IIP or MIIP, a prospective applicant is obliged to use a concessionaire or Accredited Agent in order to get the application process started. This means the ONLY way to apply for the Malta citizenship program is through an Accredited Person, so contacting one of these exclusively certified individuals to learn more about the program is the best way to initiate the Maltese citizenship application procedure.
Biometric Data
All Malta citizenship scheme applicants, with the exception of children under six years old, must at some point visit in person a Maltese embassy or the Malta Passport Office in Valletta to give their biometrics. Biometrics include facial features as well as the scanning of fingerprints for applicants aged 12 and above. Biometric data that is given as part of the Malta citizenship by investment application process can be stored for as long as six months.
Oath of Allegiance
All Malta immigration applicants that are at least 18 years old are required to take an Oath of Allegiance in order to officially receive citizenship of Malta, provided they have the capacity to do so. This oath must be taken in person, so all successful candidates of the Malta citizenship scheme must visit the country to finalize the process of becoming an EU citizen.
How Can I Verify If a Company or Person Is IIP Accredited?
A law firm, audit firm, intermediary firm, financial advisory firm, or other person or body that has been officially authorized to help foreign nationals attain Maltese citizenship will advertise their Identity Malta Accredited Agent number which can be independently verified on the Government of Malta's website here. Dr. Anton Tabone holds Malta Individual Investor Program Accredited Person license number IIP086.
Is Malta Safe to Invest In?
Malta is a republic with a parliamentary democracy system and is highly respected and considered neutral on the international stage. Malta's banks have total assets worth more than seven times the country's gross domestic product (GDP), making it a very economically secure nation with the second largest banking sector in the Eurozone. Unlike many neighboring EU countries, Malta has an excellent credit rating (BBB+) and their government bonds are in high demand amongst both professional and retail bond investors.
Malta withstood the "great recession" remarkably well with the country's housing price index never dropping by more than 5% in a year including in 2008 and 2009 when other European real estate markets were crushed. The country has also never imposed a tax on deposits in Maltese banks, dissimilar to nearby Cyprus who imposed a one-time tax levy in 2013 which included offshore bank accounts. As part of the former British Empire, Malta's financial system was built from the ground up with a solid foundation and has proven to be both robust and stable even while other European nations have faced major economic challenges. Not only did the Maltese economy weather the European financial crisis exceptionally well, it is now one of the leading economies in the Eurozone.
According to the country's National Statistics Office, the Malta economy expanded by more than 3% last year. The European Commission is currently forecasting that the Maltese economy will expand by more than 4% in both 2019 and 2020, making it one of the top economies in the entire EU during this period. The economists and reporters of the "Global Wealth Migration Review" recently reported that Malta experienced the second largest wealth growth of any country in 2017, behind only India and tied with China. Every new high-net-worth individual (HNWI) that becomes a citizen of Malta via the I.I.P. will help grow the local economy. As of 2019, the Maltese economic citizenship program has brought in more than EUR 500 million and has become a key driver of fiscal growth in the country. The nation's safe and stable economy is just one of the many reasons why the Malta Individual Investor Program is a secure and strategic investment.
What is a "Malta Golden Visa"?
A "Golden Visa" is the name of a popular EU investor visa offered by a few Southern European countries, such as Spain and Portugal, to foreign nationals who invest in their country's property market. Many people refer to the new Malta Residence and Visa Program (MRVP) as a European Golden Visa. If you are interested in an EU Residence Permit as opposed to European citizenship, a Maltese investor visa may be right for you. Malta residency by investment can make doing business in Europe easy by eliminating the need for a Schengen Visa in order to travel within the European Union.
Maltese Nationality vs Residency
The Individual Investor Programme is much more than just a Malta investor visa; it offers foreign investors full citizenship in Europe as opposed to just EU residency. While the Malta residence scheme is an excellent way for non-EU investors to get a European Residence Permit, obtaining a second passport in Malta is only possible through the IIP. If you want full European citizenship and a Malta passport, the Individual Investor Program is for you. Often considered the most reputable economic passport program in the industry, making an investment for citizenship in Europe through the Malta nationality program is safe and transparent.
What Does the Due Diligence Process Entail?
As a distinguished citizenship for investment program, the Malta Individual Investor Program will only accept investor immigration candidates who are highly respectable and have no ties to criminal activity. As part of the immigration Malta due diligence procedure, detailed background verification checks are run to determine if candidates are of good repute and that all funds have been derived from legal means. The due diligence fees paid when formally submitting a Malta citizenship application cover the expenses incurred while verifying that an investor's money is clean and that they are a credible person. The Malta investor citizenship program has an immaculate reputation and the world's strictest due diligence standards and will reject any aspirant who is unable to identify and prove the legitimate source of their cash. Applications that contain false information or omissions will also be declined.
The program has an impressive four-tier due diligence system that is considered the most advanced in the industry and any person deemed a potential reputational risk, national security risk, or currently subject to a criminal investigation will be denied Maltese citizenship. Also, applicants who have been denied a visa to any country with which Malta shares visa-free travel arrangements will not be eligible for the program unless they have since successfully obtained a visa from that nation. Malta's due diligence team is comprised of many former risk and compliance officers from major banks. The experienced team has developed a risk matrix that includes a seven-step verification process for each applicant. In addition to thorough background verification and anti-money laundering scrutiny, Malta immigration officers even have journalists from Thomson Reuters and Exige build a detailed assessment of each individual to be factored into their overall risk profile.
If I Make the Major Financial Contribution Am I Guaranteed a Malta Passport?
Applicants for citizenship by investment in Malta are not required to make the sizable contribution to the country's National Development and Social Fund until after they have passed the due diligence stage of the program and have been approved in principle. Once a person has been approved in principle, the only conditions that must be met before they will be made a European citizen and given a Maltese passport are for them to satisfy all the remaining Malta citizenship requirements laid out in the program such as the bonds investment and residency stipulation. This means that you never have to worry about failing the due diligence process after you have already invested the full amount of money required by the program.
Can My Children Study in Europe?
In additional to getting a second passport that makes traveling internationally very easy, people who obtain Malta nationality through the immigrant investor program can go to university in Europe without needing to qualify as a foreign student. Not only are the entrance requirements at most top universities in Europe significantly lower for students from other EU countries compared to students applying from abroad (especially Asia), often the tuition rates charged by universities and colleges will be much lower for Europeans.
Which of the Maltese Islands Do I Need to Visit?
The Maltese archipelago consists of three main islands: Malta, Gozo, and Comino, and has a total land area of 316 sq. km. Malta is the largest and most populated island and is the cultural and commercial hub of the country. Gozo is the next largest of the islands and is more rural with a booming tourist, fishing, and agriculture industry. Comino is a very tiny island located directly between Malta and Gozo. Valletta, the capital city, is located on Malta island and is where all business related to the Maltese citizenship program takes place. When IIP Malta candidates visit the country to give biometrics, obtain a residency card, or take the Oath of Allegiance, they will need to visit Valletta, which is located conveniently close to the Malta International Airport.
What Is the Difference Between a Citizenship by Investment Program and an Immigrant Investor Program?
Also referred to as an economic citizenship or investor citizenship arrangement, citizenship by investment programs enable foreign nationals to obtain citizenship in a country provided they make a substantial fiscal contribution to that jurisdiction. Immigrant investor programs typically only offer investors residency in a country in exchange for a hefty monetary contribution, not citizenship, which is why citizenship investment programs are much more coveted by investors. Because a financial investment is a requisite of the Individual Investor Program, some people inadvertently think it is no different than a Malta passport for sale scheme; which is entirely false! Although some media publications periodically use terms such as "Maltese passport for sale" when discussing the island's citizenship programme, wealthy businessmen and businesswomen expecting to instantly buy Maltese citizenship are going to be disappointed because the IIP is not an EU passport for sale scheme it is a legitimate citizenship by investment program recognized by the European Commission. Not only can you not go out and buy a Maltese passport tomorrow, you cannot just instantly buy Malta citizenship outright; the Individual Investor Program requires applicants to establish residency on the islands and build a genuine link with the country. Truth be told, investor programs are not actually very different from other forms of skilled worker immigration as both types of programs have the simple goal of improving a country's society and economy. The fact is, global citizenship facilitates innovation across borders, and educated business leaders who are the primary demographic participating in citizenship by investment immigration bring tremendous value to the communities they join.
Malta Global Residence Programme
In addition to Malta economic citizenship, immigration to Malta is possible via the country's Global Residence Programme. The Global Residence Program Malta enables economically self-sufficient individuals who rent or own a permanent address on the islands to be formally recognized as a resident for tax purposes. If you are not interested in getting a Maltese passport and simply wish to live in a warm Mediterranean residence while retired and collecting a pension, the Malta Global Residence Program may be the ideal Malta immigration channel for you.
Maltese Citizenship by Descent (How to Get an EU Passport)
Wondering how to get a European passport if you have Maltese ancestors? Amendments to the country's Citizenship Act in August 2007 make it easy for direct descendants of Malta citizens to obtain an EU second passport. Maltese citizenship by ancestry enables anyone with documentation showing direct descent from an ancestor born in the country of a parent who was also born on the islands to fill out a Malta citizenship application and obtain a European passport. Even if you have no plans to ever invest in Malta, if you have Maltese parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, our Malta immigration team can assist you in attaining dual citizenship in Europe as well as a second EU passport.
What Type of Health Insurance Do I Need?
The Malta citizenship investment program requires all entrants to hold a valid comprehensive health insurance policy that covers all worldwide medical expenses up to at least 50,000 euros per family member.
How Many Applicants Will Be Accepted for Economic Citizenship in Malta?
Although the Maltese nationality by investment program is the most exclusive citizenship scheme available today, there is no cap on the number of applications accepted. When the Individual Investor Programme Malta first launched in 2014, it was strictly capped at 1800 applicants. This is no longer the case, however, and the country has secured a deal with the European Commission to allow the member state to choose for themselves how many people to accept into the program.
Finding a Property in Malta
Citizenship by investment Malta candidates are required to have a registered functional address in the country in order to apply for a residence permit under the program. Since it is impossible to become a citizen of Malta by investing without first meeting the Individual Investor Programme's residency requirement, applicants must present authorities with a copy of sale agreement or lease agreement at least 12 months before they will officially be given a Malta passport. There are no specific IIP requisites for the property other than satisfying the minimum annual rent (16,000 euros) or purchase price (350,000 euros), although we recommend our clients choose sensibly and not lease a tiny bachelor apartment for a large family.
Our Malta immigration team can assist clients with locating the ideal property on the islands that will thoroughly meet their needs while also fulfilling all the investor program regulatory requirements. Once power of attorney documents have been completed, we will also be able to sign a lease on our client's behalf making the process of securing a sanctioned apartment even easier and less time consuming. Clients can also complete the property transaction application in advance, allowing us to email them properties that match their requirements and upon selection secure the apartment, sign the lease agreement, and pay the landlord's deposit and first three months of rent on their behalf without the client needing to return to the country. At MaltaImmigration.com we treat every single one of our clients like a VIP!
Can I Invest in Malta Citizenship with a Company or Trust?
All funds for the Individual Investor Programme Malta must be transferred from the main applicant's personal bank account. This means you can not make the financial contribution to the National Development and Social Fund (NDSF) from a holding company or offshore trust. It also means you cannot have a friend or family member wire the money to the islands on your behalf; the name on the bank account sending the money must match the name of the primary applicant.
Citizenship by Investment Malta Application Process
The first stage of the Maltese Individual Investor Program is initial due diligence, during which IIP Malta Ltd. conducts a preliminary background verification on the main applicant and their family. As part of this process, the applicant must provide their personal details such as private address as well as profession and name of employer. The main applicant must also provide information about the number of residence cards he or she holds. All applicants need to provide a copy of their passport, and the main applicant must additionally hand over some basic bank account details such as the name of their bank, its address, and the SWIFT code.
After the preliminary due diligence stage, a client service agreement and power of attorney document must be signed by the applicant as part of the preparation of a Malta resident permit application. There are also several government forms that must be completed including Form K and Form ID 1A for non-EU, EEA, or Swiss citizens. In addition to requiring a passport copy, the Maltese resident permit application requires the main applicant to provide a bank reference as well as bank statements from the last three months, a suitable certificate of global health insurance coverage, and a cover letter detailing their reasons for applying for a Malta passport. Spouses are required to present a copy of their passport, a marriage certificate, and a certificate of their health insurance policy with global coverage of at least 50,000 euros. Documents required for dependents include a passport copy, birth certificate, proof of sufficient international health insurance coverage, as well as evidence of financial dependency on the main applicant for dependents older than age 18. We work alongside clients throughout the entire Maltese passport application process.
Can Documents Be Submitted in Your Native Language?
All documentation pursuant to the Malta economic citizenship program must either be in English or accompanied by an authenticated translation. For example documents required by Identity Malta that are in languages such as Russian, Arabic, or Chinese must be submitted alongside an accurate English translation. Translated documents must also contain details about the professional translator who was responsible for the language translation. When a “certified copy” of a document is mandatory, a photocopy of the original document will suffice provided it is certified to be a true copy of the original by a duly licensed lawyer.
For a confidential consultation regarding the Malta citizenship by investment programme please phone us today or request a call back via our contact form. |
Microwave Facts
Microwaves are radio waves with frequencies ranging from around 300 million cycles per second (300 MHz) to 3 GHz. RF. A standard measure of exposure for microwave energy is the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) or rate of tissue energy absorption measured in watts per kilogram of tissue.
Microwave radiation leakage can damage human cells and tissues.
All appliances working on electricity produce a toxic electromagnetic field (EMF) of approximately 60 hertz. This is over and above potential microwave leakage from appliances or devices.
Microwave ovens can leak
Microwave leakage is serious enough that the FDA sets strict limits on it for the manufacturers. But once door seals age, leaking tends to exceed those limits, often at head level. That’s bad news, because the microwave energy inside a microwave oven is massive!
Frequency inside your microwave 2.45 BILLION hertz.
Frequency shown to start harming the human body: over 10 hertz
That’s 2.45 billion vs. 10 hertz. It doesn’t take very big leak for the damage to begin. (One top culprit: aging door seals)
The facts about microwaves & cataracts
Eyes are especially vulnerable to microwaves. That’s because unlike other areas of the body, they lack the blood vessels to dissipate the heat and cellular stress.
The first suspected clinical case of microwave-caused cataracts was reported by Hirsch and Parker as early as 1950's. (Sulman 1980).
For decades, cataracts have been reported in workers exposed to this type of radiation. (On the back of the lens where radiation cataracts usually occur.)
What do microwaves do to food?
In a microwave oven, alternating current forces atoms reverse polarity at a startlingly high rate. This creates such violent friction that the water inside the food molecules begin to vibrate and heat up.
The dangers of microwaved foods.
Microwaves break chemical and molecular bonds, and can literally rip atoms apart, disrupting the basic biochemical structures of life. It’s no wonder foods cooked in such a way become so harmful to consume.Government and industry studies suggest they pose no threat, but a growing body of knowledge now contradicts those claims.
Microwaved foods lose nutrition.
The Swiss scientist Hans Hertel, was the first to study microwave dangers, specifically, how cooking degrades and depletes food of nutrients—an effect that shows up in study participants' blood samples.
Microwaving makes food unhealthy
When the microwave radiation destroys and deforms food molecules, new harmful compounds form (radiolytic compounds). These dangerous compounds harm the body in many ways.
Microwaved meals change blood chemistry
The research, from Search for Health (Spring, 1992): After study participants consumed microwaved vegetables, Swiss Scientist Hertel measured the following effects:
Cholesterol levels increased rapidly.
Hemoglobin decreased significantly (creating anemic tendencies.)
Lymphocytes (white blood cells) showed a significant term decrease.
Increased stress (evidence by the increase of leukocyte)
NOTE: Leukocyte response can indicate pathogenic effects such as poisoning and cell damage.
Microwaving human breast milk
The research, from Pediatrics (vol. 89, no. 4, April 1992) on microwaving human breast milk:
Cuts down on lysozyme activity
Reduces key antibodies
Promotes potentially dangerous bacteria.
Milk heated to 72 degrees lost a full 96% of all immunoglobulin-A antibodies, which fight invading microbes.
Researcher’s conclusion: microwaving likely reduces and reverses the potential benefits of food, above and beyond the harm heating itself causes.
Another study of microwave problems reported in the medical journal, The Lancet, showed that when infant formula was microwaved for ten minutes, it altered the structure of its component amino acids, possibly resulting in functional, structural and immunological abnormalities. |
5 years ago
(CNN) - Ron Paul is no fan of Gov. Rick Perry, but the three-time presidential candidate is coming to the side of his fellow Lone Star State Republican.
A grand jury indicted the Texas governor Friday on two felony counts involving abuse of power, stemming from his veto of funding for a statewide public integrity unit run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat.
Some on the right view the indictment as a blatant political ploy.
"This is pure politics, I tell ya. This is really a joke," Paul told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Monday.
The former Texas congressman made sure to mention that he doesn't "generally defend our governor very much," saying Perry's record on civil liberties and foreign policy is "a disaster."
But in this case, he added, "the abuse of power comes more from the DA's office than the governor's office."
The case centers on Perry's June 2013 veto of the $7.5 million budget for the unit run by Lehmberg after she refused his demand to resign following her drunken driving arrest and conviction.
Perry faces accusations of coercion of a public servant and abuse of his official capacity, but he said he has no regrets about his decision and vowed to fight the indictment.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz–all potential 2016 presidential rivals for Perry–have also come out in defense of the Texas governor.
Paul, who ran against Perry and several others for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, also addressed the growing national debate over the militarization of police forces, brought to light by the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.
"Police are supposed to be local people, they're supposed to be peace officers," Paul told Mitchell. "They're not supposed to be warriors."
Paul did not speak about his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is considering a presidential run in 2016 and who penned an opinion piece last week with similar thoughts about the militarization of police forces.
CNN's Ashley Killough contributed to this story. |
It's really kind of remarkable that many of Donald Trump's critics in media appear to have learned nothing from his shock victory.
You would think that those whose warnings on the Republican businessman appear to have gone largely ignored by the electorate would pause to reconsider how best to keep the incoming president in check. The election-year strategy of protesting Trump by yelling loudly, chanting sanctimonious pabulum ("This is not normal!") and showering the Republican candidate and his supporters with mockery and insults obviously proved ineffective.
But instead of reassessing the situation, and gaming out a new strategy to persuade those who voted for the Queens businessman to not do that again should he run for reelection in 2020, many of the same people who opposed Trump during the election have taken now to calling him things like "whore," blaming him for things that are not his fault and generally protesting him in the most absurd way imaginable.
In short, it looks like many of the same people who screamed impotently into the void during the election have chosen simply to scream louder.
Slate's Jamelle Bouie, for example, penned an op-ed recently comparing Trump to Dylan Roof, the 21-year-old white supremacist who shot and murdered nine African-American churchgoers in Charleston, N.C.
" What gave us Donald Trump is what gave us Dylann Roof," read the subhead to Bouie's article.
Incoming Atlantic reporter Julia Ioffe tweeted, and later deleted, "Either Trump is f—-ing his daughter or he's shirking nepotism laws. Which is worse?"
Her question was made in reference to a story about whether Ivanka Trump would get an office space typically reserved for the first lady.
Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, whose online show appears to be taped in a basement, has taken up referring to the incoming president as a " Russian whore."
Some newsrooms have also blamed Trump for things in which he has played no role. Salon, for example, republished a TomDispatch op-ed and titled it, "Hey, President Donald Trump: Do you know where your bombs are falling?"
Rolling Stone published a story titled, "Standing Rock Protesters React to Life Under Trump." A bit startling, considering the president right now (and for another month still) is Barack Obama.
"Find out what it's like to work as an abortion provider in the age of Trump," read one Slate headline.
Over at the New York Times, Charles Blow and Paul Krugman appear to be experiencing personal crises.
We should never accept this as OK. It may be the new normal, but that's a new normal in which the America we knew and loved is gone — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) December 20, 2016
Thought: There was (rightly) a cloud of illegitimacy over Bush, dispelled (wrongly) by 9/11. Creates some interesting incentives for Trump — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) December 16, 2016
This is not a joke. It's not funny or intriguing. It's EXTREMELY troubling. This is not what a prez does. THIS IS NOT NORMAL… https://t.co/8Nbdor2PoO — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) December 15, 2016
Then there's the picture essay published this month by Vanity Fair, titled "An illustrated history of Donald Trump's hair. Warning! Don't read before lunch!"
So much for going high when they go low.
Here's some advice:
Donald Trump is going to be the next president. The Electoral College voted. It's a done deal.
If he turns out to be the authoritarian strongman his rhetoric suggests he will be, it'd be wise for those with megaphones to conserve their ammunition and fire when a target actually presents itself.
Save the attacks for when Trump actually does something, or attempts to do something, illegal or unconstitutional. Be respectful, but forceful, in protest. Don't sink to reality TV-style shouting matches with Trump. He will win that fight every time. He's a professional.
Resist turning the outrage dial up to 11 for every stupid, offhand remark and every thoughtless tweet. Resist blaming him for things in which he has played no role.
Opposition can't just be one long, unending scream for great and little things alike. People tend to tune out white noise.
Yes, a portion of the electorate will ignore warnings and legitimate Trump criticisms no matter what. But there are also those who can be convinced by well-reasoned and well-placed arguments that they made a mistake in 2016, and that they shouldn't repeat it again in 2020. |
BJP leader Harsh Vardhan at home with his mather after he was declared Delhi's BJP Chief Minister candidate
Fondly called "Doctor Saab," senior Delhi BJP leader and former health minister Harsh Vardhan has got what was denied to him five years ago -- a chance to be the party's chief minister candidate.An ENT specialist, Dr Vardhan entered politics in 1993. On Wednesday, he was declared as the face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi, dashing the hopes of outspoken state unit chief Vijay Goel. He takes on the challenge of being pitched against Congress Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who has been in office for the last three terms.Three-time MLA from Delhi's Krishna Nagar constituency, Dr Vardhan, 59, was elected to the Delhi assembly in 1993 and has held various portfolios, including education, law and health in the BJP government.The BJP was in power in Delhi from 1993 to 1998.Dr Vardhan, who enjoys wide support in the party, has a clean image. He is widely credited with pioneering the pulse polio programme in India which also helped him earn a name for himself.Delhi polls are on December 4 and results will be out on December 8.Dr Vardhan also enjoys the support of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the parent organisation of the saffron party. RSS support ensured that he was nominated as the BJP Chief Minister candidate for Delhi.But it has not, so far, been a smooth journey.In 2008, though Dr Vardhan was the party's state unit chief, it was senior leader VK Malhotra who was declared the candidate for Delhi.According to sources, what seemed to have tipped the scale in favour of Dr Vardhan as CM candidate this time is Vijay Goel's aggressive projection of himself for the top post and an evident unilateral style of functioning.Dr Vardhan was born on December 13, 1954. He attended the Anglo-Sanskrit Victoria Jubilee Senior Secondary School in Delhi and the GSVM Medical College in Kanpur from where he obtained his MBBS and MS degrees, with specialisation in ENT.He is married to Nutan, a specialist in hospital administration and has two sons and a daughter.Dr Vardhan has maintained a low profile in politics, especially after the BJP's debacle in the 2008 elections.The BJP has, at present, 24 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly. The Congress has 43.Sources close to him said Dr Vardhan, who has a clinic in Krishna Nagar, was more active in medicine than in politics this time.This time too, it will not be smooth sailing for Dr Vardhan. Not only is the party pitted against the Congress, it has the Aam Admi Party (AAP) too to contend with. |
UPDATE: AUSTRALIANS like to think of themselves as rugged, fun and easy going but for the rest of the world the picture of Down Under is far from completely positive.
Many foreigners regard Australians as variously unreliable, unhelpful and untrustworthy, a major tourism conference was told yesterday.
And holidays Down Under were poor quality and bad value by those interviewed in a major survey on brands across multiple nations.
The reality check came from Gruen Transfer ad guru Russel Howcroft, who unveiled fresh global data. It showed:
THE CHINESE think we're stylish and classy – but not very helpful.
AMERICANS see us as carefree and rugged, but we don't deliver quality or good value.
THE BRITISH regard us as charming and independent – but untrustworthy.
INDIANS believe our daring is offset by arrogance.
Mr Howcroft, head of the George Patterson Y&R ad agency, said the positive news was these perceptions could be changed.
And Tourism Australia was doing just that as part of its $180 million "There's nothing like Australia'' campaign.
He said the results were different when people who had actually visited Australia.
When Brits who had visited Down Under were singled out, they shared the overwhelmingly positive view of the country of Australians, who rate our homeland as tops as a different, relevant, reliable and friendly destination.
Mr Howcroft said 80 per cent of foreign markets saw Australia as "different'', 60 per cent had knowledge of it, half thought Australia was a relevant place to them – but only 30 per cent held it in high esteem.
"If you don't hold a brand in esteem, you're highly unlikely to pay a premium for it,'' said Mr Howcroft.
"Australia isn't cheap, so they need to have a perception of very high quality, high value for what it costs them when they get here, to appear reasonable.''
He endorsed Tourism Australia's use of foreign travellers who had experienced Australia to endorse the reality of high quality service and value.
Only about 9 per cent of foreigners nominated Australia as good value.
The Y&R Brand Asset Valuator comes from surveys of hundreds of brands globally, with data co-ordinated in New York, to present a picture to advertising agencies of what 700,000 consumers want in different nations.
Tourism Australia last month launched its campaign in China in a bid to further unlock the enormous potential of the growing Chinese middle class, with similar hopes for India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Tourism Australia chief Andrew McEvoy said the findings didn't surprise him.
That's why the new campaign was based on emphasising the distinctiveness of Australia and use of social media to spread the good word about Australia from foreigners who had visited.
He said using Bollywood stars as ambassadors to promote Australia had been a key plank in boosting Indian tourism following the student protests in 2009 with the latest campaign aimed at China featuring Chinese music stars.
"There's different perceptions in different countries about Australia, so we're encouraging people who have been to Australia to tell our story via Facebook and it is working,'' he said. |
How big did God command Noah's Ark to be built? Was it the biggest vessel humans had ever created or would produce for many years to come?
God told Noah to build an Ark that would be big enough to save his family and animals that would not otherwise be able to survive a worldwide flood. The ship was to be 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide by 30 cubits high (Genesis 6:15). How long, however, is a cubit?
An ancient cubit is considered the length between the elbow of an adult male and the tip of their middle finger. Quite a few Biblical scholars, and most Biblical commentaries, believe an ancient cubit was somewhere between 17.5 to 21.5 inches long (44.4 to 54.6 centimeters). This difference of 4 inches (10.1 centimeters) means there is a bit of a range in how big was Noah's Ark and how much volume it possessed.
If we conservatively assume the cubit used by Noah was 18 inches (.45 meters), we end up with an Ark that was 450 feet (137 meters) long, 75 feet (22.8 meters) wide, and 45 feet (13.7 meters) high. If we assume a 19 inch (.48 meters) cubit, we end up with a 475 feet (144.8 meters) long, 79.1 feet (24.1 meters) wide, and 47.5 feet (14.4 meters) high Ark that was indeed a big ship!
A life size replica of Noah's Ark, built from wood, exists in the U.S. at the Ark Encounter theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky. It was built under the assumption that a "long" or "royal" cubit was used that measured 20.4 inches (51.8 centimeters). The huge replica stretches 510 feet (155.4 meters) long by 85 feet (25.9 meters) wide and 51 feet (15.5 meters) high. According to the park, their attraction is so big that it is the width of two U.S. school buses and has a height equal to three giraffes stacked on top of each other!
Front of Noah's Ark replica
built in Kentucky
Assuming the more conservative cubit length of 18 inches, Noah's ark was constructed on a 1:6 ratio. Naval architecture reveals that this is the most stable ratio for an ocean-going vessel. It could have easily survived even big ocean waves and would be next to impossible to capsize. The amount of water the ship would displace, given a draught of 15 cubits, exceeds 22,000 tons.
The total volume of Noah's Ark, with an 18 inch cubit, was roughly 1.5 million cubic feet (42,475 cubic meters). This is equal to the total capacity of more than 570 standard stock cars used on a typical railroad. Its floor space, divided over three decks, would total over 101,000 square feet (9,383 square meters). This is more floor space than twenty-one standard college basketball courts!
The Ark God had Noah make was truly big! In fact, this giant ship was the largest one produced by man from the time of Adam until vessels that are even more colossal were built in the late 1800's A.D.! |
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My original title for this post was "Let's De-Fund the NRA." Then I watered it down to something about the NRA being accountable. And then I ramped it up after seeing this update where the NRA actually dared to deny their own lobbyist's arrogant, authoritarian, flippant attitude toward public reaction to the Newtown shootings, calling it the "Connecticut Effect," a thing to wait out until public memories fade.
Remember this jerk when you hear Republicans and the NRA whine about how divisive Democrats are. Because it isn't Democrats who said flatly, "No, we're not going to do that." And then remember how the NRA lies when it suits them to do so:
Via ThinkProgress:
Now, the NRA is attempting to disavow any association with Welch or its Wisconsin chapter. In an email to TPM on Tuesday, the NRA wrote that “Bob Welch is neither a staff lobbyist nor a contract lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. He does not speak for the NRA.”
That's a flat-out, straight-up lie, as Scott Keyes explains.
The NRA’s attempt to claim no association with Welch and its Wisconsin state chapter is laughable. Welch is a registered lobbyist for the Wisconsin NRA group, known as WI-FORCE (Wisconsin Firearm Owners, Ranges, Clubs & Educators), so any association between WI-FORCE and the NRA is an association between Welch and the NRA.
I think the NRA should be defunded in the same way the right wing has acted to defund schools. Some ways to do it: Sue them for liability in every single gun death inflicted with malice and intent to kill, put a transaction tax on their asset transactions, impose fees and penalties for all manner of things, and call for an end to secret fund transfers between non-profits, which is how many organizations duck their NRA contribution reporting.
I'm all for constitutional respect, but I'm done with these arrogant idiots who just shrug every time someone dies because of their undying love for gun manufacturer profits and their fetish with weapons of mass killing. Especially when they lack the character to own it. If they don't want to own what they do behind closed doors, there's no reason to consider them trustworthy about anything at all.
I'm over it. As far as I'm concerned, they can get on board with the sensible and moderate proposals on the table or they can cease to exist with any power or say in how this country is governed. |
45 Minutes That Changed The Course Of History – How 200/1 Corbyn Made It Onto The Leadership Ballot
Jeremy Corbyn never really wanted the top job. And as we so often forget, his implausible ascent to the top of the Labour party almost fell at the first hurdle.
The Magic Number
On that sunny afternoon two years ago today, I took odds of 200/1, on the Betfair Exchange, for Corbyn to win the Labour leadership. It looked like a seriously misguided punt. He didn’t even have enough nominations to make the ballot. I, like every other punter who backed him, didn’t really expect him to win it, but had planned to lay the bet off at a shorter price, once his name hit the ballot paper.
That afternoon, Corbyn still required the support of another 13 MPs to reach the magic number of 35 nominations. For any backbench candidate, this is the most difficult stage of the contest – indeed, it had been designed this way to prevent the minorities from standing.
However, a lucky precedent had already been set. In 2010, David Miliband had lent some of his supporters to Diane Abbott, in order to ‘create a debate’ within the party. Back then, Miliband and his supporters had very little to fear.
Labour’s left-wing had been in terminal decline since the mid 1980s. In 2007, Michael Meacher failed to collect enough nominations to stand, as did John McDonnell.
McDonnell failed again to secure enough nominations to stand in 2010. When Diane Abbott forced her way on to the ballot that year, she received a pitiful 7.24% of the first-round votes.
This time, senior party figures John Prescott and Frank Field urged MPs to nominate Corbyn, even if they did not agree with his views. A senior figure from the right of the party told The Spectator:
‘The right of the party should have nothing to fear from Jeremy. It would be good for the left of the party to see just how few votes would be cast.’
Even the ever combative John McDonnell had been opposed to standing a ‘left’ candidate, feeling there there was no hope of gaining enough nominations.
10 days before the ballot was due to close, a small group of left wing MPs met, to decide who could potentially represent the left in the leadership contest. This group ncluded people such as Ronnie Campbell and Dennis Skinner, both in their 70s and 80s and new MPs such as Cat Smith and Clive Lewis.
McDonnell opened by putting his case forward, for not standing; ‘I’ve done it enough times, I’m not doing it again.’ Diane Abbott also ruled herself out, having ran in 2010. McDonnell turned to his long time comrade and demanded ‘It’s your turn Jeremy’. He replied cautiously ‘oh go on then’.
Corbyn has never looked back that moment. He had 18 initial backers, but would be up against a tight clock to find the further 17 MPs required.
Attention turned to Tom Watson, the party’s ‘fixer’, to lend some support. Watson was putting together his own campaign for the deputy leadership, and eventually relented to lend some in return for support once deputy. These extra 8 supporters brought his total to 26, but as Corbyn’s team approached the final day for nominations, he was still short by 9 names.
45 Minutes To Go
As the 12pm deadline approached on June 15th 2015, a chink of light emerged at the end of the dark tunnel. At 11.15am, Margaret Beckett came to the parliamentary office, and announced she would nominate Corbyn. It was a vote the team had not been working on, and it came as a complete shock to everybody.
Beckett later told an interviewer that she was a ‘moron’ for coming to that decision: ‘I probably regard it as one of the biggest political mistakes I’ve ever made.’ On Friday after the 2017 election she told David Dimbleby that ‘I have always seen myself as being on the soft left or centre left’ before adding ‘Corbyn has ran an infinitely better campaign’.
Back in 2015 it still looked ominous for Corbyn. Then, with 20 minutes remaining, Corbyn reached 30 names after Jon Cruddas, Rushanara Ali and Sadiq Khan nominated him.
Sadiq Khan, was keen to ascociate himself with elements of the left and would rely on Corbynite support when campaigning for London Mayoralty nomination.
As the clock ticked down to midday, McDonnell began to worry about the numbers. But then came the support of two more London MPs in Tulip Siddiq and Neil Coyle, both supporters of Mary Creagh, before she pulled out of the race.
Coyle would later pen a letter to the Guardian claiming ‘We helped put Corbyn on the ballot because we wanted a genuine debate within the Labour party. We didn’t expect to be debating things far from the priorities of most voters: unilateral nuclear disarmament, the Falkland Islands, the monarchy and all the rest.’
Tom Watson stuck around the office, telling McDonnell that he would nominate Corbyn – if it was absolutely necessary. Frustratingly, there were now enough MPs to put Corbyn onto the ballot, but none would be forthcoming until others had committed.
Then Gareth Thomas, came into the office with a nomination, and the Corbyn camp declared themselves on 33 nominations. They pleaded with the remaining members of PLP for just two more backers. What Mcdonnell had failed to realise , is that they were actually on 34 votes, and just needed a final one.
McDonnell recalled later.’ I was on my knees in tears begging them,’ He warned the MPs that party members would ‘not understand why Jeremy was excluded by just two votes’.
Then, with 2 minutes remaining, Gordon Marsden stepped up to nominate him. They had reached the target. Although his nomination was the 35th, the Corbyn team thought it was only the 34th.
Andrew Smith then handed over his form and was later credited as the man who put Corbyn on the ballot.
As the clock struck midday, Corbyn had pulled off his first major shock. He told the BBC:
I fully acknowledge and recognise that those colleagues who nominated me – MPs who nominated me – may not necessarily agree with me on the pitch I’m taking or my views on many things.
And after that dramatic afternoon had ended, British Politics would never be the same again.
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Entfremdung (social alienation) that afflict the worker under capitalism. 19th-century German intellectual Karl Marx (1818–1883) identified and described four types of(social alienation) that afflict the worker under capitalism.
Karl Marx's theory of alienation describes the estrangement (Entfremdung) of people from aspects of their Gattungswesen ("species-essence") as a consequence of living in a society of stratified social classes. The alienation from the self is a consequence of being a mechanistic part of a social class, the condition of which estranges a person from their humanity.
The theoretical basis of alienation within the capitalist mode of production is that the worker invariably loses the ability to determine life and destiny when deprived of the right to think (conceive) of themselves as the director of their own actions; to determine the character of said actions; to define relationships with other people; and to own those items of value from goods and services, produced by their own labour. Although the worker is an autonomous, self-realized human being, as an economic entity this worker is directed to goals and diverted to activities that are dictated by the bourgeoisie—who own the means of production—in order to extract from the worker the maximum amount of surplus value in the course of business competition among industrialists.
In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (1932), Karl Marx expressed the Entfremdung theory—of estrangement from the self. Philosophically, the theory of Entfremdung relies upon The Essence of Christianity (1841) by Ludwig Feuerbach which states that the idea of a supernatural god has alienated the natural characteristics of the human being. Moreover, Max Stirner extended Feuerbach's analysis in The Ego and its Own (1845) that even the idea of "humanity" is an alienating concept for individuals to intellectually consider in its full philosophic implication. Marx and Friedrich Engels responded to these philosophic propositions in The German Ideology (1845).
Types of alienation [ edit ]
In a capitalist society, the worker's alienation from their humanity occurs because the worker can only express labour—a fundamental social aspect of personal individuality—through a private system of industrial production in which each worker is an instrument, a thing and not a person. In the "Comment on James Mill" (1844), Marx explained alienation thus:
Let us suppose that we had carried out production as human beings. Each of us would have, in two ways, affirmed himself, and the other person. (i) In my production I would have objectified my individuality, its specific character, and, therefore, enjoyed not only an individual manifestation of my life during the activity, but also, when looking at the object, I would have the individual pleasure of knowing my personality to be objective, visible to the senses, and, hence, a power beyond all doubt. (ii) In your enjoyment, or use, of my product I would have the direct enjoyment both of being conscious of having satisfied a human need by my work, that is, of having objectified man's essential nature, and of having thus created an object corresponding to the need of another man's essential nature [...] Our products would be so many mirrors in which we saw reflected our essential nature.[1]
In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (1932), Marx identified four types of alienation that occur to the worker labouring under a capitalist system of industrial production.[2]
Alienation of the worker from their product [ edit ]
The design of the product and how it is produced are determined, not by the producers who make it (the workers), nor by the consumers of the product (the buyers), but by the capitalist class who besides accommodating the worker's manual labour also accommodate the intellectual labour of the engineer and the industrial designer who create the product in order to shape the taste of the consumer to buy the goods and services at a price that yields a maximal profit. Aside from the workers having no control over the design-and-production protocol, alienation (Entfremdung) broadly describes the conversion of labour (work as an activity), which is performed to generate a use value (the product), into a commodity, which—like products—can be assigned an exchange value. That is, the capitalist gains control of the manual and intellectual workers and the benefits of their labour, with a system of industrial production that converts said labour into concrete products (goods and services) that benefit the consumer. Moreover, the capitalist production system also reifies labour into the "concrete" concept of "work" (a job), for which the worker is paid wages—at the lowest-possible rate—that maintain a maximum rate of return on the capitalist's investment capital; this is an aspect of exploitation. Furthermore, with such a reified system of industrial production, the profit (exchange value) generated by the sale of the goods and services (products) that could be paid to the workers is instead paid to the capitalist classes: the functional capitalist, who manages the means of production; and the rentier capitalist, who owns the means of production.
In the capitalist mode of production, the intellectual labour of the employed engineer yields a salary, but not profits or losses.
Alienation of the worker from the act of production [ edit ]
In the capitalist mode of production, the generation of products (goods and services) is accomplished with an endless sequence of discrete, repetitive motions that offer the worker little psychological satisfaction for "a job well done". By means of commodification, the labor power of the worker is reduced to wages (an exchange value); the psychological estrangement (Entfremdung) of the worker results from the unmediated relation between his productive labor and the wages paid to him for the labor. The worker is alienated from the means of production via two forms; wage compulsion and the imposed production content. The worker is bound to unwanted labour as a means of survival, labour is not "voluntary but coerced" (forced labor). The worker is only able to reject wage compulsion at the expense of their life and that of their family. The distribution of private property in the hands of wealth owners, combined with government enforced taxes compel workers to labor. In a capitalist world, our means of survival is based on monetary exchange, therefore we have no other choice than to sell our labour power and consequently be bound to the demands of the capitalist. The worker "[d]oes not feel content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind. The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself"; "[l]abor is external to the worker" (p. 74), it is not a part of their essential being. During work, the worker is miserable, unhappy and drained of their energy, work "mortifies his body and ruins his mind". The production content, direction and form are imposed by the capitalist. The worker is being controlled and told what to do since they do not own the means of production they have no say in production, "labor is external to the worker, i.e. it does not belong to his essential being (p. 74). A person's mind should be free and conscious, instead it is controlled and directed by the capitalist, "the external character of labor for the worker appears in the fact that it is not his own but someone else's, that it does not belong to him, that in it he belongs, not to himself, but to another" (p. 74). This means he cannot freely and spontaneously create according to his own directive as labor's form and direction belong to someone else.
Alienation of the worker from their Gattungswesen (species-essence) [ edit ]
The Gattungswesen (species-essence), human nature of individuals is not discrete (separate and apart) from their activity as a worker and as such species-essence also comprises all of innate human potential as a person. Conceptually, in the term "species-essence" the word "species" describes the intrinsic human mental essence that is characterized by a "plurality of interests" and "psychological dynamism", whereby every individual has the desire and the tendency to engage in the many activities that promote mutual human survival and psychological well-being, by means of emotional connections with other people, with society. The psychic value of a human consists in being able to conceive (think) of the ends of their actions as purposeful ideas, which are distinct from the actions required to realize a given idea. That is, humans are able to objectify their intentions by means of an idea of themselves as "the subject" and an idea of the thing that they produce, "the object". Conversely, unlike a human being an animal does not objectify itself as "the subject" nor its products as ideas, "the object", because an animal engages in directly self-sustaining actions that have neither a future intention, nor a conscious intention. Whereas a person's Gattungswesen (human nature) does not exist independently of specific, historically conditioned activities, the essential nature of a human being is actualized when an individual—within their given historical circumstance—is free to subordinate their will to the internal demands they have imposed upon themselves by their imagination and not the external demands imposed upon individuals by other people.
Relations of production [ edit ]
Whatever the character of a person's consciousness (will and imagination), societal existence is conditioned by their relationships with the people and things that facilitate survival, which is fundamentally dependent upon co-operation with others, thus, a person's consciousness is determined inter-subjectively (collectively), not subjectively (individually), because humans are a social animal. In the course of history, to ensure individual survival societies have organized themselves into groups who have different, basic relationships to the means of production. One societal group (class) owned and controlled the means of production while another societal class worked the means of production and in the relations of production of that status quo the goal of the owner-class was to economically benefit as much as possible from the labour of the working class. In the course of economic development when a new type of economy displaced an old type of economy—agrarian feudalism superseded by mercantilism, in turn superseded by the Industrial Revolution—the rearranged economic order of the social classes favored the social class who controlled the technologies (the means of production) that made possible the change in the relations of production. Likewise, there occurred a corresponding rearrangement of the human nature (Gattungswesen) and the system of values of the owner-class and of the working-class, which allowed each group of people to accept and to function in the rearranged status quo of production-relations.
Despite the ideological promise of industrialization—that the mechanization of industrial production would raise the mass of the workers from a brutish life of subsistence existence to honorable work—the division of labour inherent to the capitalist mode of production thwarted the human nature (Gattungswesen) of the worker and so rendered each individual into a mechanistic part of an industrialized system of production, from being a person capable of defining their value through direct, purposeful activity. Moreover, the near-total mechanization and automation of the industrial production system would allow the (newly) dominant bourgeois capitalist social class to exploit the working class to the degree that the value obtained from their labour would diminish the ability of the worker to materially survive. Hence, when the proletarian working-class become a sufficiently developed political force, they will effect a revolution and re-orient the relations of production to the means of production—from a capitalist mode of production to a communist mode of production. In the resultant communist society, the fundamental relation of the workers to the means of production would be equal and non-conflictual because there would be no artificial distinctions about the value of a worker's labour; the worker's humanity (species-essence) thus respected, men and women would not become alienated (see Marx's theory of human nature).
In the communist socio-economic organization, the relations of production would operate the mode of production and employ each worker according to their abilities and benefit each worker according to their needs. Hence, each worker could direct their labour to productive work suitable to their own innate abilities, rather than be forced into a narrowly defined, minimal-wage "job" meant to extract maximal profit from individual labour as determined by and dictated under the capitalist mode of production. In the classless, collectively-managed communist society, the exchange of value between the objectified productive labour of one worker and the consumption benefit derived from that production will not be determined by or directed to the narrow interests of a bourgeois capitalist class, but instead will be directed to meet the needs of each producer and consumer. Although production will be differentiated by the degree of each worker's abilities, the purpose of the communist system of industrial production will be determined by the collective requirements of society, not by the profit-oriented demands of a capitalist social class who live at the expense of the greater society. Under the collective ownership of the means of production, the relation of each worker to the mode of production will be identical and will assume the character that corresponds to the universal interests of the communist society. The direct distribution of the fruits of the labour of each worker to fulfill the interests of the working class—and thus to an individuals own interest and benefit—will constitute an un-alienated state of labour conditions, which restores to the worker the fullest exercise and determination of their human nature.
Alienation of the worker from other workers [ edit ]
Capitalism reduces the labour of the worker to a commercial commodity that can be traded in the competitive labour-market, rather than as a constructive socio-economic activity that is part of the collective common effort performed for personal survival and the betterment of society. In a capitalist economy, the businesses who own the means of production establish a competitive labour-market meant to extract from the worker as much labour (value) as possible in the form of capital. The capitalist economy's arrangement of the relations of production provokes social conflict by pitting worker against worker in a competition for "higher wages", thereby alienating them from their mutual economic interests; the effect is a false consciousness, which is a form of ideological control exercised by the capitalist bourgeoisie through its cultural hegemony. Furthermore, in the capitalist mode of production the philosophic collusion of religion in justifying the relations of production facilitates the realization and then worsens the alienation (Entfremdung) of the worker from their humanity; it is a socio-economic role independent of religion being "the opiate of the masses".[3]
Philosophical significance [ edit ]
The Essence of Christianity (1841) and according to him divinity is humanity's projection of their human nature Philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872) analysed religion from a psychological perspective in(1841) and according to him divinity is humanity's projection of their human nature
Influences: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Ludwig Feuerbach [ edit ]
In Marxist theory, Entfremdung (alienation) is a foundational proposition about man's progress towards self-actualisation. In the Oxford Companion to Philosophy (2005), Ted Honderich described the influences of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Ludwig Feuerbach upon Karl Marx:
For Hegel, the unhappy consciousness is divided against itself, separated from its "essence", which it has placed in a "beyond".
As used by the philosophers Hegel and Marx, the reflexive German verbs entäussern ("to divest one's self of") and entfremden ("to become estranged") indicate that the term "alienation" denotes self-alienation: to be estranged from one's essential nature.[4] Therefore, alienation is a lack of self-worth, the absence of meaning in one's life, consequent to being coerced to lead a life without opportunity for self-fulfillment, without the opportunity to become actualized, to become one's self.[5]
In The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), Hegel described the stages in the development of the human Geist ("Spirit"), by which men and women progress from ignorance to knowledge, of the self and of the world. Developing Hegel's human-spirit proposition, Marx said that those poles of idealism—"spiritual ignorance" and "self-understanding"—are replaced with material categories, whereby "spiritual ignorance" becomes "alienation" and "self-understanding" becomes man's realisation of his Gattungswesen (species-essence).
Entfremdung and the theory of history [ edit ]
In Part I: "Feuerbach – Opposition of the Materialist and Idealist Outlook" of The German Ideology (1846), Karl Marx said the following:
Things have now come to such a pass that the individuals must appropriate the existing totality of productive forces, not only to achieve self-activity, but also, merely, to safeguard their very existence.[6]
That humans psychologically require the life activities that lead to their self-actualisation as persons remains a consideration of secondary historical relevance because the capitalist mode of production eventually will exploit and impoverish the proletariat until compelling them to social revolution for survival. Yet, social alienation remains a practical concern, especially among the contemporary philosophers of Marxist humanism. In The Marxist-Humanist Theory of State-Capitalism (1992), Raya Dunayevskaya discussed and described the existence of the desire for self-activity and self-actualisation among wage-labour workers struggling to achieve the elementary goals of material life in a capitalist economy.
Entfremdung and social class [ edit ]
In Chapter 4 of The Holy Family (1845), Marx said that capitalists and proletarians are equally alienated, but that each social class experiences alienation in a different form:
The propertied class and the class of the proletariat present the same human self-estrangement. But the former class feels at ease and strengthened in this self-estrangement, it recognizes estrangement as its own power, and has in it the semblance of a human existence. The class of the proletariat feels annihilated, this means that they cease to exist in estrangement; it sees in it its own powerlessness and in the reality of an inhuman existence. It is, to use an expression of Hegel, in its abasement, the indignation at that abasement, an indignation to which it is necessarily driven by the contradiction between its human nature and its condition of life, which is the outright, resolute and comprehensive negation of that nature. Within this antithesis, the private property-owner is therefore the conservative side, and the proletarian the destructive side. From the former arises the action of preserving the antithesis, from the latter the action of annihilating it.[7]
Criticism [ edit ]
In discussion of "random materialism" (matérialisme aléatoire), the French philosopher Louis Althusser criticized such a teleological (goal-oriented) interpretation of Marx's theory of alienation because it rendered the proletariat as the subject of history; an interpretation tainted with the Hegelian idealism of the "philosophy of the subject", which he criticized as the "bourgeois ideology of philosophy" (see History and Class Consciousness [1923] by György Lukács).[8]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ] |
They say it pays to have friends in high places. And our governor certainly has been reaping the rewards of having well-placed pals.
Few missed the sight of Chris Christie cavorting with Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, after Jones flew Christie and his family to a playoff game in a private jet. The governor mingled with players on the sideline and enjoyed all the amenities of Jones' luxury box.
As The Star-Ledger editorial board pointed out, that splurge would cost $25,000 to $30,000 per person as part of a vacation package -- meaning the gift to the Christies was worth at least $125,000.
This week, the New York Times reported on the tally for a trip the Christie clan took to Jordan in 2012. The visit followed a trip to Israel on a plane lent by Sheldon G. Adelson, the billionaire casino owner and supporter of Israel.
"King Abdullah invited the governor and his family to Jordan as his personal guest so the two families could spend time together," according to a spokeswoman for the governor.
Time is money, it's also said, and the weekend bill for a luxury hotel stay added up to $30,000.
Christie has been able to accept these generous gifts because they come from "friends" -- as defined by a porous executive order issued during the McGreevey administration.
Christie has been "friends" with the king of Jordan since they met a dinner hosted by Michael Bloomberg. In addition to the king, Jerry Jones and legions of Dallas fans, Christie could have millions of Facebook friends, LinkedIn friends -- buddies who could presumably shower him with gifts that need never be reported if the Governor's Office Code of Conduct is stretched to its legal limits.
And that's what this governor has done.
As the normally brash and confrontational Christie shied away from answering questions in London this week about all the friendly generosity, he seemed abashed, as though he were caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
It's obvious the elastic code that's allowed this largesse needs immediate and thorough revision.
Lawmakers should press for those changes quickly and vigorously. Gifts to the governor should be strictly limited and publicly reported. A cap should be set on the value of those gifts, and they should be reported.
The next governor may have spartan tendencies; perhaps he or she will enjoy palling around with the rich and famous as much as Christie does.
But New Jersey needs ironclad standards to prevent the sort of excess that's become far too common in this administration.
Follow The Times of Trenton on Twitter @TimesofTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook. |
The original, original Boba Fett is back — and will join Hasbro’s popular 6-inch action figure line, the Black Series! Check out StarWars.com’s exclusive first look at Prototype Boba Fett below!
While Boba Fett’s iconic Mandalorian armor has become one of the most famous designs in all of Star Wars, it started out with a very different color scheme. In early concept art by Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston, seen in the accompanying gallery, the bounty hunter was depicted wearing sleek, all-white armor. On June 28, 1978, Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt and The Empire Strikes Back assistant film editor Duwayne Dunham debuted the costume with a test video (also available below), detailing its weaponry and functionality; the colors would later be developed to what has become Fett’s definitive look, but it all began with this early version.
Hasbro’s figure is a tribute to this important piece of Star Wars history and design — look for it exclusively at Walgreens this fall, with preorders opening at San Diego Comic-Con later this month! |
A judge in Maryland has granted a new trial to Adnan Syed, setting aside his conviction for the 1999 murder of his former girlfriend, in a case that was the subject of the first season of the hit podcast “Serial.”
Mr. Syed’s lawyer, C. Justin Brown, posted the news on Twitter on Thursday afternoon and confirmed by phone that the motion for a new trial had been granted by Judge Martin P. Welch of the Baltimore City Circuit Court.
The decision to grant Mr. Syed, 35, a retrial was a major victory for an inmate who has long maintained his innocence and has exhausted all other avenues of appeal. He was convicted in 2000 in the murder of his former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, and had served 16 years of a life sentence.
“Serial” turned speculation about Mr. Syed’s guilt and whether he had received a fair trial into something of a national pastime in 2014. The show was downloaded more than 100 million times and won a Peabody Award for its role in illuminating flaws in the criminal justice system. |
TOLEDO, Oh. (WNWO) -- A Toledo couple was stunned by a text message over the weekend, denying them service by a local baker who said she doesn't cater to homosexuals.
Candice and Amanda Lowe are newlyweds who recently returned from a Florida honeymoon. While they were in the Sunshine state, they received the not-so-sunny news from the owner of Take the Cake Bakery.
"Candice, I'm sorry...I just realized your (sic) in a same sex relationship and we do not do cakes for same sex weddings or parties...I'm so sorry. I wasn't aware of this exactly until I saw your page. Take care :)"
The owner of the bakery, who refused to speak with NBC 24 for this story, was refusing service to Candice, who was planning a surprise birthday celebration for Amanda for when they returned from their honeymoon.
The sweet gesture was quickly soured with a text message. "We just wanted to cry," said Amanda.
"I got the text and I was OK at first, but then I thought about it and I was so upset," Candice told NBC 24.
The couple was shocked that they would experience something like this day and age, but more surprised by the fact the bakery owner took the time to figure out their sexual orientation - through Facebook. "She asked me what my Facebook handle was because she tags you in photos with the cake," said Candice. "Then, I got the text message."
After Candice posted a screen shot of the text message on Facebook, it quickly received hundreds of shares and reactions, all in support of the newlyweds. As for Take the Cake's page, negative comments and those in support of the same-sex couple now fill page.
The bakery is run out of a home. No one answered the door when NBC 24 stopped by on Wednesday. The owner also refused to return phone calls and comment on her decision.
In the State of Ohio, it is not illegal to refuse service to anyone based on their sexual orientation.
As for Candice and Amanda, they have moved on, but hope that the bakery owner will learn from this situation. The couple has since ordered a cake for Amanda's birthday - from a different and willing bakery. |
Since I put up these pictures here at the beginning of February 2007, the story of the Portugese barn full of classic and not-so-classic cars seems to have taken on a life of its own. The interwebs have been abuzz with theories and somebody has even gone to the trouble of making up a story about it. Classic car lovers, treasure hunters and auction houses have all somehow contacted intuh.net in an effort to find out more. In order to stem the flow of e-mails and even telephone calls: here's all I know. At the end of January 2007, I stumbled upon a Portugese web forum with a thread that contained a large number of pictures of old cars left in a barn, somewhere in Portugal. The picture files themselves were hosted on the web site of a Portugese classic car dealer, but were taken down after only a few days. I thought it would be a shame not to have them online, so I rescued them from my browser cache and put them up here, on intuh.net. For all those who have been eagerly sending round e-mails about 'a New York man' having bought 'a piece of land in Portugal' for 'next to nothing', that happened to have this treasure-filled barn on it: I'm pretty much convinced that's an urban myth.
A much more credible story can be found here. Cheers,
E.
September 18, 2007 |
Ashlee and Levi Smith play with their sons Liam, 3, and Aiden, 3 months, on Sunday in Salem, Utah. Ashlee, 26, and her husband float on and off the Children’s Health Insurance Program for their children. Ashlee volunteers with chronically ill children and says she sees the need for the program every day. (Sammy Jo Hester/For The Washington Post)
The lingering uncertainty in Congress over the fate of the Children's Health Insurance Program has left Ashlee and Levi Smith torn between optimism and anxiety.
As the parents of two young children who have relied on the government-backed health-care plan, the Smiths are unsure whether they should stretch their finances to put their boys, 3 and 3 months, on a private plan — or have faith that a polarized Congress will work it out.
"$1,200 for the four of us," Ashlee Smith, 26, said, estimating the plan's monthly cost from their two-bedroom townhouse outside Salt Lake City, where she crafts necklaces as part of the family business. "We can't pay that and save for a mortgage, or save anything at all."
Congress appears unlikely this week to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which has become a crucial element in broader negotiations over how to fund the government. If no decision comes by Friday, then lawmakers are likely to take up the issue in early January — but with each delay, the pressure grows on families to find their own solutions.
For the Smiths, who are Republicans, the congressional stalemate over the $15.6 billion program is bigger than a question how to pay. It is also a question of who — or what — to believe.
Over the course of the year, their faith in the GOP-led Congress has eroded. Their general disenchantment became more pronounced when lawmakers, including even their home-state senator, Orrin G. Hatch, an architect of the CHIP program, failed to secure the funding.
The tangible effects of that inaction reverberated from the Smiths' home to doctors' offices and statehouses across the country. Nine million children use CHIP to help lower their medical costs.
Liam Smith, 3, throws a paper airplane Sunday in his family’s Salem home. His parents have used the Children’s Health Insurance Program in the past. (Sammy Jo Hester/For The Washington Post)
The Smiths have watched their GOP representatives in Washington focus on pushing politically difficult initiatives — from seeking to rescind the Affordable Care Act to enacting a sweeping tax overhaul.
CHIP is considerably more popular and, unlike many programs, enjoys bipartisan support. On television, the Smiths watched Alabama Sen.-elect Doug Jones use his nationally televised victory speech to demand funding for the program. Governors from red and blue states have pleaded with Congress, and television host Jimmy Kimmel delivered a monologue extolling the program's value. Everyone seems for it, and lawmakers insist they can get something done. Still, nothing.
"Jesus, bless them," said Smith, holding Aiden in her hands and thinking of her lawmakers. "I am not being very nice to my government, and I have faith that one day there will be good leaders who can put all the fighting aside. But they've put themselves in such a corner that none of them can work together even when they agree."
CHIP was the product of a more congenial Washington. After the failure of President Bill Clinton's health-care overhaul effort in the early 1990s, the liberal Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) paired with Hatch, a conservative, to do something to reduce the number of uninsured children.
The idea was to fund it through settlements and taxes from the tobacco industry. In 1997, the federal government began giving block grants to states, who in turn crafted insurance plans for working-class parents. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the program helped reduce the rate of uninsured children from 14 percent to 7 percent.
Both liberals and conservatives got something from the plan. For Democrats, there was an opportunity to show how government can help more for people who can't afford medical care for their children. For Republicans, they got a chance to show how innovative states could be in creating their own programs.
Levi Smith plays with his son Liam, 3, on Sunday in their Salem home, while his wife, Ashlee, holds Aiden, 3 months. The family has relied on CHIP on and off, and Ashlee Smith says federal lawmakers have “put themselves in such a corner that none of them can work together even when they agree.” (Sammy Jo Hester/For The Washington Post)
In Utah, the federal government disbursed more than $118 million in 2016 to offer insurance plans for the parents who made too much money to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford insurance on the federal government exchanges — that's about $48,000 for a family of four. More than 16,000 children in Utah currently use the program.
Since the program began, states have never faced a lapse in funding, and advocates hoped that Congress would reauthorize money this year as a matter of routine. It didn't.
In November, the House passed a bill that would reauthorize funding for the program if the money could be found from new sources, including taking funds that were used to support health centers in underserved communities.
Senate Democrats and some Republicans rejected the House plan, saying it would preserve one safety net by destroying another.
Federal funding for CHIP stopped flowing on Sept. 30. A report put out by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute published on Wednesday noted that states are running out of money faster than anticipated. Half will have no money for the program by January's end if nothing is done.
Nearly 2 million children would lose insurance by the end of January, the report said. Some families in Utah have said they will have to take on second or third jobs to help pay for private insurance, while others said they would stop working altogether to lower their income and qualify for government assistance.
Hatch told The Washington Post he remained confident that CHIP will be funded before states run out of money.
"Washington is clearly broken, and the dysfunction we've seen this year has been the worst in recent memory," said Hatch, who is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Nonetheless, Hatch said predicted CHIP reauthorization "will pass the Senate in a fiscally responsible manner in the coming weeks — with enough time to ensure the program has no gaps in coverage — and continue to provide quality coverage for children across the country."
Monica Porras prepares her daughter, Deane Ortiz, 6, to go to a fundraiser on Dec. 8 in West Jordan, Utah. Porras is a 45-year-old mother of seven who has two autistic children and operates two cleaning businesses. CHIP helped pay for the treatment for her children. (Sammy Jo Hester/For The Washington Post)
If Hatch can't keep this pledge, there is no consensus yet on what to do when the money runs out. Fifty states will have to conjure 50 different plans. Many, like Utah, say the costs of the program are too high to pay for it alone.
Officials in Alabama this week said they could accept no new children for their CHIP program.
Oregon has tapped into reserve funds. Some states, such as Colorado and Virginia, have told parents to search for private insurance options.
In Utah, there is a daily discussion about whether parents should do the same, according to Kolbi Young, a spokeswoman for the state's health department.
The state has prepared for the worst, drafting letters to parents explaining the situation in the event Congress fails to act.
"We're a Republican-leaning state with a Republican government, so we're optimistic," Young said. "But it's tricky. We want our families to be prepared, but we don't want them leaving the program if they don't need to."
In the meantime, parents wait and fret.
Monica Porras, 45, who owns a small domestic and commercial cleaning business, said she has been grateful for CHIP because it allowed her to afford treatments for her 15-year-old son Abraham, diagnosed with autism.
"If there's no CHIP, he'll be in regression," she said.
"There must be a misconception of who we are, that we are not hardworking, that we are not deserving," Porras said.
The Smiths don't know how they would make ends meet if CHIP goes away. To supplement income from Ashlee Smith's necklaces, Levi Smith just took a customer service job that he hopes will lead him down the path to become a software developer.
The parents are uninsured, but in January they will receive coverage through a plan on the federal government's marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.
Recently, as the Smiths discussed what to do about providing for the children if they get sick, they tried to make sense of these political times.
Levi Smith said he learned to love the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's health-care law, because having low insurance costs helped him see a specialist after developing gout. He liked the idea of the Republicans' tax cut legislation, at least if it meant that filling out tax forms would become simpler.
"I'm all for making life easier," Levi said.
Ashlee Smith saw it differently.
"They're not seeing the most vulnerable," she said. "They're seeing tax breaks for the rich when they could be taking care of doing better care. We're not the ones who are going to benefit."
Added Levi: "I believe that there are good people on both sides, but they just have different ways of doing good things. I just wish common sense would compromise. Without that compromise, I feel like we are taking something away from people, and it's not their fault. When you do that, I don't think you can talk about the American dream in the same way."
There was space for disagreement, Ashlee said, but she still questioned just how things in Washington could have gotten so bad. With a background in child development, she volunteers at a hospital to help parents and children with terminal illnesses cope. Many of them could only pay with CHIP.
"I'm still not sure that I believe in socialized medicine, but I think this is different," she said, holding her baby in her hands. "I wish there could be something I could do to help, but I feel like I'm just a small fish in this."
The Smith family plays Sunday in their Salem home. Without CHIP, Ashlee and Levi Smith are unsure how they will meet their children’s health-care needs while saving for a mortgage and other payments. (Sammy Jo Hester/For The Washington Post)
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed the source of a new report showing that states are running out of children’s health insurance funds faster than anticipated. The report came from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute , not the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Paige Cunningham contributed to this report. |
On Thursday, the Terrorism and Illicit Finance Subcommittee will hold a hearing on virtual currency as it relates to American national security.
Update: Hearing summary available here.
On June 8, 2017, the Terrorism and Illicit Finance Subcommittee within the US House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Virtual Currency: Financial Innovation and National Security Implications.”
Witnesses at the hearing include:
Jerry Brito, executive director at Coin Center, a leading non-profit research and advocacy center focused on public policy related to cryptocurrency and decentralized computing;
Scott Dueweke, President of The Identity and Payments Association, a worldwide association for companies, organizations, and professionals in digital payments and identity verification;
Kathryn Haun, lecturer at Stanford Law School and a federal prosecutor with the US Department of Justice;
Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CRO of Chainalysis, a global provider of anti-money laundering software for Bitcoin; and
Luke Wilson, Vice President of Business Development-Investigations at Elliptic, a blockchain intelligence company that identifies illicit activity on the Bitcoin blockchain for Bitcoin companies and law enforcement agencies.
The hearing will examine national security concerns related to the usage of virtual currencies and blockchain technology. The aforementioned witnesses will testify on “the exploitation of virtual currency by terrorists and transnational criminal groups.” Risk assessments and policy considerations aim to reduce malevolent actions without obstructing FinTech innovation. |
All Those Quarters You Lose In Your Car Go To China… And Then Get Sold Back To The U.S.
When Americans travel, our money goes with — and not just in a metaphorical sense. Where people go, coins get left behind. Meanwhile, the pennies we drop at home get swept into trash heaps and scrap yards, falling out of sight and out of mind. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist — and even if they’re beat up, it doesn’t mean they lose their value.
The Wall Street Journal reports this week on the weird and lucrative market of coin repatriation. Money that has traveled around the world can come back home, and those pennies add up.
How many nickels, dimes, and quarters have you lost in your car over the years? Now multiply that by 315 million Americans and the more than 250 million cars we collectively own, and it adds up.
When those cars are scrapped and shredded, the metal goes overseas, often to China. And that’s where the repatriation business comes in.
A bunch of hired hands go through all that salvage and pulls out the coins. The man behind the repatriation business then collects them in bulk, from various salvage yards, and ships them to a partner in the U.S. The American partner then turns in all those coins to the Mint, which will buys back for nearly face value.
It adds up — big. The U.S. Mint has paid out more than $100 million in coin redemption since 2009, the WSJ reports. And it’s not just American money, either: repatriation takes place for British coins too, for example.
If it sounds like maybe that fat wad of cash is too good to be true, well, the feds think so too. So many more coins started pouring in since 2009 that law-enforcement officials are thinking a bunch of them have to be fake.
The coin reimbursement program shut down last year, and officials detained $664,000 worth of coins from our cunning entrepreneur. While the man profiled in the WSJ piece was not accused of any wrongdoing, federal prosecutors allege three others in the same line of work have been importing counterfeit coins.
Lost in the Seat Cushions, There’s $100 Million in Spare Change |
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has urged the Government to apologise for a colonial-era massacre in India in which hundreds of people were killed.
British Indian Army troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed protesters in Amritsar on 13 April 1919, killing at least 379 people.
David Cameron was the first British prime minister to visit a memorial for the Amritsar massacre in the northern state of Punjab in February 2013.
He described the massacre by troops under British command as "deeply shameful", but stopped short of an apology.
Writing in the memorial's visitors' book on Wednesday, Mr Khan said it had been "incredibly moving" to see the site of the mass shooting, calling it a tragedy that should never be forgotten.
Image: London Mayor Sadiq Khan at the Golden temple in Amritsar
"It is time for the British government to finally apologise," wrote Mr Khan. "Our thoughts are with all those who died."
He also laid a wreath at the site and said afterwards: "It is wrong that successive British governments have fallen short of delivering a formal apology to the families of those who were killed.
"I'm clear that the Government should now apologise, especially as we reach the centenary of the massacre.
"This is about properly acknowledging what happened here and giving the people of Amritsar and India the closure they need through a formal apology."
The Labour politician also visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism.
He is on a six-day trip to India and Pakistan to strengthen cultural and economic ties between the countries and the English capital. |
Israelis are not the ones who should be apologizing for what happened here Monday. We acted just like any progressive country is supposed to act when its sovereignty is being undermined. We tried to do it in diplomatic means, we attempted to appeal to logic, yet when hundreds of “peace activists” armed with bats and knives are determined to fight the “Zionists,” the result is predictable.
Latest on Flotilla Hundreds detained at Ashdod port Ynet reporters Soldiers, officers bring passengers of Marmara ship under arrest at Ashdod port, first questioning each separately and then transferring them to Beersheba Prison, where they receive toiletries, meal, and beds Hundreds detained at Ashdod port
Many questions can be raised regarding the military tactic, available intelligence information, and the operational alternatives (those who are waiting around the corner, your time shall come with all the inquiries and committees.) Yet our main mistake as a nation is the conception: The Swiss terminology that somehow took hold in the Middle East.
While groups of hooligans were getting organized in Turkey, here in Israel we referred to it as a “peaceful mission.” While they were planning how to beat up soldiers with bats, we dealt with the essence of the humanitarian aid. It wasn’t hard to realize that there was no connection whatsoever between persistent provocateur Raed Salah and concern for Gaza’s residents.
Solid provocation
It was hard to ignore the fact that those supposedly wishing to quickly provide aid to the besieged Gazans were delayed in Cyprus in order to grant media interviews. The members of these “concerned organizations” could have transferred their goods in numerous ways (some of them via the IDF, directly) yet they preferred to harm Israel’s image. Who cares about food for the besieged when one can produce a solid provocation?
So what are we supposed to do next time? Try the exact same thing? Detain them aggressively, without batting an eyelid?
The naval blockade around Gaza was imposed because Hamas established a threatening Iranian outpost right under our nose. As long as the State of Israel has not given up on the effort to curb the military
It doesn’t look good and the images it produces aren’t pretty, yet the lives of Israeli citizens are more important than any scathing diplomatic protest. And yes, insisting on life here has its price. I simply prefer that the other side pay it. |
Labour plans to abstain in Commons vote but will seek changes at later stage to legislation that Lib Dems and SNP oppose
Labour is facing calls to help other opposition parties kill off the government’s new surveillance laws, after the SNP and Liberal Democrats said they would vote against the legislation.
Labour plans to abstain on the investigatory powers bill at second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday because it supports the main aims of the legislation, but it wants the government to include greater privacy protections.
Lib Dem and SNP critics of the bill want Labour to take a tougher stance against the legislation, which would give the state powers to force communications firms to store individuals’ internet connection records – the addresses of websites visited – for 12 months.
The Liberal Democrats, who blocked the legislation under the last coalition government, said Labour’s decision to abstain was “gutless” and called on the party to reverse its decision.
Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary, made clear Labour was prepared to vote down the legislation at a later stage and force the government to extend its transitional arrangements unless there were a string of changes.
But he said he was persuaded that the police and security services were losing the ability to catch criminals because of advances in technology, and that the law needed to be updated to give a “clear legal framework” for access to some internet records.
The changes suggested by Labour include:
A guarantee that the political activities of campaigners for justice, trade unionists and bereaved families will not be spied on using the new legislation.
A clear definition of protecting “national security” and “economic wellbeing”, which are the current conditions that justify the use of the new powers.
A proportionate list of crimes that would justify allowing police and security services to access someone’s internet connection record.
Restrictions on the number of law enforcement agencies that would be allowed to use the legislation.
Better protections for the confidential communications of “sensitive professions” such as MPs with constituents, lawyers with clients and journalists with sources.
Approval for interception to be granted by judges on the basis of the evidence rather than merely whether the right process has been followed.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham Photograph: Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images
Burnham said: “The bill cannot be supported in its current form but nor should we just oppose it because there is a deadline where the country needs new legislation. What I am saying very clearly to Theresa May is: here are very specific concerns that we have and unless you meet them we will not cooperate with getting this bill on the statute book by the end of the year. That is quite a significant statement.”
However, Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, accused Labour of “sitting on their hands while the government rams through a law that will erode our civil liberties”.
He said: “We want a bill that keeps us all safe, and keeps the government in check. You can’t fight terrorism by just gathering information on everybody and making it available to anyone who asks – that’s like finding a needle in a haystack that grows every day. Every pound the government spends on storing the family photos you sent home from your holiday is a pound taken away from your local police.”
Snooper's charter would set bad example to the world, says SNP Read more
The SNP also said it would vote against the legislation and questioned its legality. Joanna Cherry, the party’s justice spokesperson, said she accepted that the law needed a thorough overhaul, but said the plans could “set a dangerous precedent and a bad example internationally”.
She accused ministers of trying to rush the investigatory powers bill through parliament to avoid scrutiny, and said the SNP’s concerns were shared by three parliamentary committees and campaign groups.
“The bill seeks to put on a statutory footing some powers which go well beyond those currently authorised by law in other western democracies. No convincing operational case for such powers was produced with the draft bill. It is for the government to make that case,” Cherry said.
“The SNP looks forward to working with other parliamentarians to get this right but the government must afford sufficient time for consideration of the bill. Surveillance is a global concern, and this new legislation could be copied internationally.”
The SNP and Lib Dem resistance to the bill could become a problem for the government at a later stage if Labour decides that its demands have not been met.
There are thought to be around a dozen Tory rebels against the bill who would be prepared to vote in favour of amendments that strengthen protections for privacy.
David Davis, a Tory MP and leading civil liberties campaigner, told the Spectator this month: “We are not setting out to trash this bill, but there are going to be sensible, serious amendments to it.”
Davis told the Guardian that there would be “battles ahead” at a later stage over a number of aspects of the bill to ensure greater protections for privacy.
Privacy campaigners have demanded that the bill be split to allow proper scrutiny. This would allow the renewal of those parts needed to retain existing powers due to expire in December, which require internet and phone companies to retain business records for 12 months.
It would allow the rest of the bill, including its powers to track everyone’s web use and to license the security agencies to hack into phones and computers worldwide, to be examined further and avoid it being rushed on to the statute book.
The government argues that the bill is needed to address a gap in police and intelligence powers that means some communication cannot be tracked.
It revives some of the aims of a previous surveillance bill, which became dubbed the snooper’s charter in the last parliament and was eventually blocked by the Lib Dems.
The Internet Services Providers’ Association (Ispa) has also set out its concerns about the bill, including a lack of clarity about key terms, concepts and cost implications.
It said: “Of key concern in this area are internet connection records (an entirely new concept), encryption powers, extra-territorial application but also the various definitions of data in the bill.”
James Blessing, Ispa’s chairman, said: “Government needs to address concerns around its intentions, definitions and costs to enable industry to make a proper assessment of the bill and help parliament scrutinise the complex proposals. ”
At the weekend, Barack Obama questioned the way tech companies were making smartphones so strongly protected that they could not be broken into by law enforcement agencies.
The US president told a technology festival in Texas: “The question we now have to ask is: if technologically it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system, where the encryption is so strong there’s no key, there’s no door at all, then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot?”
His remarks come after the FBI took Apple to court in an attempt to force it to break into a smartphone owned by one of the gunmen in the San Bernardino massacre. |
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The faster a company implements an ERP system, the sooner it may realize the system’s business value and move on to other strategic investments.
For more than two decades, ERP systems have served as enterprises’ workhorses, automating back office functions and generally keeping day-to-day business operations running. Now many companies that implemented ERP systems in the 1990s and early 2000s are looking to upgrade, replace, or consolidate them. With economic uncertainty lingering, CIOs face pressure to make these large investments and complicated projects pay off.
A company’s ability to realize a return on an ERP implementation often hinges on its capacity to deploy the new system quickly; that is, within the time frame specified in the business case, or 18 months on average.
ERP projects that take longer than anticipated add a variety of costs including that of project team members and consultants working additional hours and, in cases where a company is replacing a legacy system, the cost of operating two systems at once.
“The maintenance and operating costs associated with running dual systems can quickly erode the benefits presented in the business case,” says Matt Miller, a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s SAP service line.
The longer ERP projects take, the more likely they will grow mired in organizational fatigue and inertia, according to Jeff Jackson, a director with Deloitte Consulting’s SAP service line. “Eighteen-month projects that stretch out to three years impede a company’s ability to get value from the new system,” he says. “They also take funding and resources from other strategic projects.”
Moreover, sluggish ERP implementations may cause CIOs to lose credibility with senior executives, or worse; truly troubled implementations have been known to cost CIOs their jobs.
To keep ERP projects on schedule and on track to fulfill intended business objectives, companies should consider adopting the following three practices:
Start with a leader project. Leader projects help organizations define standard work processes. They don’t have to be part of the core ERP implementation, but they usually complement it. An example of a leader project could be a “Six Sigma” quality improvement initiative, or the rollout of radio frequency devices inside warehouses.
“The purpose of the leader project is to acclimate users to the idea of changing their behaviors, adapting to new processes, and learning to accommodate a new, and ultimately, more beneficial system,” says Eric Monti, a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s SAP service line.
Leader projects may speed ERP deployments by forcing companies to understand and articulate their business processes before they even begin the ERP implementation. In so doing, leader projects can bring to light process variations among business units, regions, and/or manufacturing plants that implementation teams can subsequently take into consideration when designing the ERP system. By identifying process variations up front, leader projects may shorten the time required for ERP system design.
“If properly scoped and executed, leader projects can bring uniformity to ERP deployments, making them easier to execute,” says Miller.
Enforce standardization. Keeping ERP systems as standard as possible across deployment sites is critical to efficient implementations. The more a company tries to customize or “localize” the system for different business units or geographies, the longer activities like software configuration, custom development, testing, and training are likely to take, notes Monti.
Some localization may be required to meet country-specific fiduciary or regulatory requirements, or to accommodate variations in business processes that give different business units or regions a competitive edge. Monti and Miller suggest companies target 20 percent localization to the overall system design.
Limiting localization during the initial design phase of an ERP project presents one challenge; preventing those design decisions from getting compromised and leading to additional customization during the actual deployment is another. It requires a commitment to the initial design from project stakeholders and global business process owners, according to Miller. It may also require CIOs and other executive stakeholders to push back when users pressure implementation teams to further customize the solution.
“When companies let localization get out of hand, the cost and complexity of ERP projects rise,” says Miller. “Localization leads to higher maintenance costs that the company will pay over the ERP system’s lifetime, and those costs can eat into the business case.”
Execute the ERP project in waves. Deploy new ERP systems to deliberately chosen sites in sequenced waves. Sites can be grouped based on specified criteria such as business similarity (like business units grouped together), business risk (low-risk functionality first), or region, says Miller. The team should apply a consistent deployment approach within and across these waves.
The first wave is typically a pilot intended to validate the solution and confirm it supports day-to-day business operations. It serves to demonstrate that “yes, you can deploy ERP; yes, it can run your business; and no, it doesn’t add systemic risk as you go live,” says Miller.
The second wave builds on the first. The implementation team may opt to roll out the solution to more sites or address more complicated business processes during the second and subsequent waves, according to Miller. Monti adds that second and subsequent waves should leverage the site readiness activities, training, and testing materials used in previous waves.
“Execution in waves tends to accelerate deployments because each wave builds on the previous one, and leverages materials and deployment processes across sites,” says Miller. “In other words, companies don’t have to reinvent the wheel with each wave.”
***
Miller and Monti assert these three practices can go a long way toward keeping ERP projects under control and, thus, set them up to deliver the business case. Speed and efficiency are essential to containing ERP implementation costs and achieving business goals. |
We did it. And we did it BIG.https://t.co/wZdLh1Lbpx — FSU Football (@FSU_Football) August 18, 2016
We’d all heard the talks of the new incoming video board and how it was going to totally blow people’s minds, but no one really understood that until FSU Football’s twitter released a sneak peek video of it in full action. This new board is 9,368 square feet of pure awesomeness with true “high-definition image (1080p) which represents more than a 250 percent increase in overall resolution” as previously reported on by the Seminoles athletic website. That makes this the largest video board in the state of Florida and the second largest nationally behind Auburn. Perhaps Auburn is overcompensating for something, like, a national title loss to FSU.
Now I don’t really understand all the technical mumbo-jumbo, but all I know is Doak is going to be absolutely crazy this fall and I can’t wait to hear it and see it from a mile away. |
The Alien Quadrilogy Drinking Game/Prometheus Pre-Game
This is how you prep for your viewing of PROMETHEUS. You must watch all 4 Alien films IN REVERSE. No AVP flicks either. Follow the rules below then go see Prometheus the next day. Or the same day, if you are a god damn maniac.
Enjoy and be careful probably.
In general:
Mouth-kill: 1 drink
Death by tail!: 1 drink
Grabby (offscreen) kill: 1 drink
Explodey kill: 1 drink
Acid-spray kill: 2 drinks
Chest-burst: 1 drink
Face-huggery: 1 drink
Resurrection:
1. Needlessly bizarre camera angle - 2 drinks
2. Winona Ryder makes the “Amelie” face - 2 drinks
3. Ripley acts all weird like an Alien - 1 drink
4. Shoulder hair on that one guy - 3 drinks
5. Brad Dourif makes you feel dirty and weird and scared - 3 drinks
6. Whenever “The Newborn” appears on screen, Boo mercilessly.
7. Swimming Aliens! Clap and scream like an idiot and then drink one
8. Ron Perlman is “gruff” with someone - 1 drink
9. Dude in the wheelchair says something in a weird accent - 1 drink
10. Ripley plays basketball - drink until you forget you saw it
Alien 3
1. Dillon’s speech! At the end, hoist your beer in the air in solidarity, then drink one.
2. Someone says “fuck”. Drink one. Good luck.
3. Someone calls 85 “85”. Drink two.
4. Whenever the warden speaks, drink one because he sounds like a muppet.
5. Whenever you feel strangely bummed out by Alien 3, drink one. It will probably happen a lot.
6. Drink one during the rape scene because the song that plays is actually kind of awesome. One time I bought the soundtrack JUST to hear that song and it was weird because the song is actually really long and the cool part only lasts for like 30 seconds, which is kind of a bummer so I only listened it like once. So yeah.
7. "This thing is really pissed off!“. 2 Drinks.
8. Dillon says "FUCK YOU” to the alien and then challenges it to a fistfight. 3 drinks.
9. Newt and Hicks’ funeral. Pour one out for ‘em.
Aliens
This is where shit gets real.
1. Gorman acts like a n00b - 1 drink
2. Hudson is a smart ass - 1 drink
3. Allusions to Vasquez and Drake being bang-buddies - 1 drink
4. Apone goes “arrrrrrnnnnrrrr” - drink one
5. "Let’s Rock!“ - drink two
6. "In the pipe, 5 by 5” - drink one.
7. Hey look! Its Crowe! - drink one.
8. Hey look! Its Wierzbowski or whatever his/her name is - drink one.
9. Vasquez goes out like a BAWSE - drink two.
10. Newt almost gets someone killed - drink one.
11. References to Hudson being the “Tech Guy” - drink one.
12. "Eat This!“ - One drink
13. Sexual tension between Hicks and Ripley - one drink
14. "Cornbread” - one drink
15. Apone goes “Heyaaawwhhhhaaarggghh” - drink one.
16. Ripley does that thing where she closes her eyes and feels the breeze for a second before going to rescue Newt - drink one because that shit is BAD ASS.
17. The queen makes that weird toilet flushing sound that they featured in the commercial for the Aliens action figures - drink one.
Alien
1. Brett says “right” - drink one.
2. Lambert freaks the FUCK out (including when she slaps the piss out of Ripley) - drink one.
3. Brett and Parker are comic relief - drink one.
4. Long, loving shot of the set because Ridley Scott had such a boner for the set design - drink one.
5. Jones is a dick and ruins everything - drink one.
6. Dallas looks bored - drink one.
7. Dallas does that thing where he takes a deep breath before moving on, which is also bad-ass and I just realized that Ripley’s similar move in Aliens might be a reference to that - drink three.
8. "The food ain’t that bad baby" - drink one.
9. Ripley half naked getting into that spacesuit. Don’t drink anything while its happening, then finish your beer after its over cuz damn…
10. That weird sprint-y running in place thing that Ash does in the beginning - drink one.
11. Anytime the coffee just looks god awful - drink one.
12. "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off…" crush the rest of your beer and pat yourself on the back because you made it!!! Good luck seeing Prometheus with your hungover ass. |
The wildfire season that has leveled hundreds of homes, closed roads and parks, and sent hazy smoke into major cities across the West has become the most expensive in U.S. history, officials said Thursday, marking another chapter in a year of brutal extremes linked to climate change.
A menacing one-two punch of record rain last winter and record heat this summer, following a historic drought in several Western states, gave birth to a bumper crop of grass and brush that has since dried out and burned up.
Big fires that have hit Montana, Oregon and California especially hard have thrust as many as 27,000 people to the fire lines, pushing the cost of fire suppression for the U.S. Forest Service to a milestone $2 billion this year, the agency reported.
The expense tops the agency’s previous record of $1.7 billion in 2015, with two weeks still remaining in the budget year, which runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The cost does not include the smaller amounts spent by other federal and state firefighting agencies.
“The level of continued fire activity and the length of the fire season is what’s driving our costs,” said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Babete Anderson.
Forty-one large blazes burned out of control across the West on Thursday, the latest in a fire season that began early in California and is forecast to remain much livelier than normal through at least the end of the month.
More than 8 million acres have been blackened nationwide this year, an area larger than the state of Maryland. That’s nearly 50 percent more than what’s usually charred at this point in the year.
Montana has taken the brunt of the devastating season, with the picturesque Rocky Mountains turning into a tableau of flame and smoke. Blazes forced thousands from their homes and killed at least two firefighters.
In Oregon, the Eagle Creek Fire has lit up the scenic Columbia River Gorge while showering the Portland area with a steady supply of ash.
California has seen dozens of major fires, from the massive 96,000-acre Eclipse Fire in the Klamath National Forest near the Oregon border to smaller but more devastating blazes near Lake Oroville and Yosemite National Park.
“It started with several years of drought,” said Scott McLean, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, noting that a windfall of dead and dried-out trees set the stage for this year’s stark fire season. “They’re not coming back to life no matter how much rain you put on them.”
Instead, the wet winter created a buildup of grass that prompted several large fires in the state’s lower elevations in spring and early summer, only to be trailed by burns in the higher elevations as the year progressed, McLean said.
A record hot summer in California, which pushed the mercury to a chart-topping 106 degrees in San Francisco two weeks ago, only energized the fire season.
LeRoy Westerling, a climate scientist at UC Merced, said several factors play a role in increasingly severe fires across the West, including the nation’s history of fire suppression, which as a byproduct has left more fuel for fires to burn. Global warming is also in the mix.
“Higher temperatures mean more evaporation, which means drier fuels, and that means more fire,” Westerling said. “It’s complex, but climate change is really the back-seat driver, and it has been for decades.”
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @kurtisalexander |
Lauri Markkanen, Freshman, Power Forward, Arizona
Overview:
Lauri Markkanen could have been a relatively unknown international prospect a year ago but decided to attend Arizona to showcase his skills. His choice to play college basketball paid off as he grew into a top ten NBA Draft prospect. The Finland native is a unique seven-footer who is fluid on his feet and has a beautiful shooting stroke. At just 20 years old, Markkanen already has an excellent understanding for the game and should be able to immediately contribute offensively. NBA teams will love Markkanen’s potential as a stretch four at the next level.
Markkanen’s superb offensive game begins and ends with his jump shot. He hit 42.3% of his threes on 4.4 attempts per game. Markkanen has a textbook shooting stroke, getting his shot off quickly with no wasted motion. Much more than just a stand-still shooter, he can get his jumper off in just about every area of the game. He’s at his best when shooting off the catch, but is capable of dribbling into a pull-up. Markkanen is excellent at moving off-ball, positioning himself for easy, open shots. He can also be used in ball screens as a pick and pop weapon. Markkanen is comfortable attacking closeouts as well, where he can put the ball on the floor and dribble into a mid-range fade-away. He isn’t a polished playmaker with less than one assist per game, but he’s a smart player within an offense and doesn’t turn it over at high rate.
For as lethal as Markkanen can be as a jump shooter, he will need to improve his offensive versatility. He’s a decent athlete but lacks NBA-caliber strength and explosiveness. He will need to improve his toughness and quickness so he can spend some time playing in the mid-to-low post. He does have some face-up potential, but he’s best at getting to the rim when he already has a head of steam. His lack of length shows up around the rim as he doesn’t finish well in traffic. There is a concern that he plays too much like a guard in a seven-footer’s body. College defenses would often be content switching smaller players onto Markkanen since he doesn’t thrive in one-on-one situations and doesn’t have the post-game to make them pay. He did snag 2.4 offensive rebounds per game and averaged 4.4 FTA per game, so he does show potential to contribute in different ways on offense.
Defensively, Markkanen has a bit more work to do to make an impact at the next level. Being seven feet tall, Markkanen will be expected to protect the rim, which he isn’t capable of yet. He has average length and isn’t a great leaper which compromises his potential to be a rim protector and also dampers his ability to rebound well. He does have solid footwork and instincts to hold his own on the perimeter, which will be necessary as he projects to play a lot of power forward. He lacks the strength to defend the post and gives up a lot of space in the paint, which will impede his ability to play as a stretch center.
Final Projection:
Lauri Markkanen is a seven-footer with rare shooting ability who should fit perfectly in an NBA offense. He has a strong understanding of the game and is polished for someone his age. Markkanen will need to expand his game to avoid becoming a one-dimensional player. He will draw comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki, but he must develop his mid-post game to even come close to playing at that level. Markkanen will also need to make an impact defensively to stay on the floor. He has the game of a stretch power forward, but at seven-feet tall, teams will want him to spend some time at center. He needs to add strength to his frame to survive in the post at the next level. In any event, Markkanen should have the shooting ability to stick in the league for a long time.
See all NBA Draft Profiles and Rankings |
“Starting next month, I will run three times a week”
“After Christmas, I will only eat ice cream once a week maximum”
How many of you have tried to start a new habit and failed?
Forming a new habit is not an easy task, yet we all know that in order to improve ourselves, creating a new habit (or breaking a bad one) is crucial and unavoidable.
As people who love to learn new ways to “hack” our lives, i believe that we need to break down the mechanic of how a habit is created in order to successfully create a new habit.
Charles Duhigg (a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter) wrote a very good book that breaks down the mechanics of habit creation, it is titled “The Power of Habit” (Published in 2012). You can see his work here: http://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/
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He argues that habit creation involves three components:
1. Cue
2. Routine
3. Reward
The cue is the trigger behind the behavior. For example, when you receive an email in your phone, your phone make a sound and the light is blinking. That is the cue.
What do you do next? You get anxious on who might send you an email, and what is the email about. Then you open your phone to check your email (that’s the routine!).
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The reward is, you get a feeling of relief / satisfaction (and no more anxiety), because you are no longer curious who send the email and what is the email about.
How do you break your bad habit then? There are two ways to break and improve your bad habit:
A. Turn Off The Cue
Using the example above, you turn off the notification on your phone, or maybe you just put your phone away. Without the presence of the phone, there is no cue that sets your bad habit of checking emails too often. Hence, you can focus on more important task and be more productive.
On the other way round, you can also irreversibly use the cue as a way to forge positive habit change. For example, you have decided that you want to go the gym more often. Instead of relying on your willpower to go to the gym, you can sleep in your workout clothes and also put your running shoes beside your bed, so when you wake up the next day and found it, you will automatically think of the gym, and hence go there more often.
As you can see, most of the times, the decision to do something has been decided way back before the action actually takes place. In this case, the decision whether to go to the gym or not, is not decided on the morning when you just wake up (and most probably still feel sleepy), but it has been decided the day before that, when you put your running shoes as a cue beside your bed.
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B. Change The Routine
But what if the cue is something that is unavoidable (or unchangeable), you ask? Let’s see this example:
A client of mine (let’s call him Obamma) is your typical office worker. Like most of us, he is in a job that he does not really love. His job consists of many repetitive stuffs that make him bored.
He has this bad habit every day around 2.30 pm to go to cafeteria to eat cookie. He knows this is a bad habit and yet he is still doing it day after day.
After working with me and doing this exercise, here’s what he found:
– What’s the CUE and why are you doing that habit? At first he thought that he is craving sweet stuffs (he said that he has a “sweet tooth”), but after doing a deeper thinking, he finally realize that the real cue is BOREDOM. He is bored and crave mental / physical activity.
– What’s the ROUTINE? Go to cafeteria and eat cookie.
– What’s the REWARD? His craving of physical activity is fulfilled, he is not bored anymore.
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He knows that it is pretty difficult to turn off the cue, so instead he change his routine. Now instead of going to cafeteria to eat the cookie, he can:
– Go to water cooler and drink water
– Go have a quick chat with coworker
– Go to toilet and wash his face
After doing the exercise with me, he has been able to break his bad habit. Now he never goes to the cafeteria to eat cookies anymore.
A study by Psychol Health Med that was published on August 16, 2011 also finds that habitual behaviors that are elicited automatically are more likely to be maintained. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21749245). In other words, you should not rely on willpower to maintain habits, but you should create automatic systems instead. Hence it is very important for you to also do these exercises, find out reasons behind why you do certain habits, and try to fix it.
Now, it is all about YOU. What good habits do you want to start? How about the bad ones which you want to break?
Start applying the technique to improve your life NOW. If you have any question, you can leave a comment here or you can email me HERE: [email protected] |
And then there’s Double Dare.
It was the show that helped usher Nickelodeon into a newly established administration with Gerry Laybourne re-branding and recreating the kid-friendly channel into the First Network for Kids (exclamation mark). You may have fond memories of Double Dare’s super-sloppy obstacle courses and colander-hat-wearing-egg-throwing physical challenges, but what you might not have known then and probably don’t realize now is that Double Dare brought in a lot more green than just slime (or, in this incarnation, “gak”).
There’s a reason that, of all the other shows produced during the eighties and early nineties, Double Dare is the one that endured until a relatively recent end. Debuting for the first time as a featured host of his own television show was effervescent Marc Summers, who is as omnipresent on the Food Network today as he was on Nickelodeon back in the day.
“I was a kid coming out of the womb knowing I wanted to be on television,” Summers told me during our phone interview. Summers’ determination at a young age was brought on by a stint on Romper Room at age five in which he saw “how much fun the adults making the show were having.”
His name change from Marc Berkowitz to Marc Summers occurred thanks in part to what he felt to be anti-Semitism at a radio station at which he worked and due to the revelation of infamous Son of Sam being David Berkowitz. Summers’ new name would be homage to a fellow radio personality.
“In ’86, a friend of mine got the original call to go audition for Double Dare, but he had decided to stop trying to be ‘talent’ and wanted to be a producer. He called me up and said, ‘I don’t know, there’s some show, I think it’s called Double Dare. And I’ve never heard of this network, it’s called Nickelodeon, and why don’t you go to the audition instead of me?’”
Summers did exactly that, besting what he reported to be 2,000 candidates in New York and 1,000 in Los Angeles.
The show was created by a team including You Can’t Do That on Television wunderkind Geoffrey Darby who would have an impressively large hand in bringing the mess to Double Dare… along with much of the rest of the network at this time. He was assisted by a young up-and-comer who had been working in Nick’s promotions department.
Bob Mittenthal would have his hand in a number of Nickelodeon shows over these years, too.
“I didn’t really have any interest in children’s television,” Mittenthal told me. “It was kind of a happy accident that they [Nick’s promo department] needed someone and decided to give me a shot. I ended up liking it and fitting in well with the people. It was a time of big growth for them.”
“They were interested in doing a game show,” Mittenthal continued. “A lot of cable networks follow this pattern. Game shows are generally pretty cheap to produce. When the people don’t have a ton of money to do scripted programming, one of the first things they look to do is game shows.”
“When we were kids, there were a lot more game shows on daytime TV,” said longtime Double Dare director Dana Calderwood (who also worked on such old faves as Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego). Though everyone I spoke to — from Summers to Mittenthal, to set designer Byron Taylor — compared the show to a kind of kids’ take on the 1950s game show Beat the Clock, Calderwood also made reference in his interview to personal favorites Concentration, To Tell The Truth, and You Don’t Say.
“Game shows were a staple for all of us when we were kids,” Calderwood said. “Long before Double Dare. It was something where you went home after school and there might be a game show on. You might watch that, you might watch a movie, you might go out and play baseball. It was something that we were much more conscious of.”
“I think I was probably too dumb to realize it would be complicated,” Calderwood said about directing a game show of his own for the first time.
“The games were often very fast, and there’s a lot of cutting. But, they’re also very formulaic. In other words: You know what’s going to happen. In sports, you don’t necessarily know if they’re going to hit the ball or not. In a game show, a question is going to be asked, they’re going to ring in, it’s going to be this side or that side — so you’re ready with those two cameras, and now we’re going to do a stunt so everybody walks downstage on this camera. There’s really a formula to it.”
Part of that formula on Mittenthal’s structural level was especially appealing to Nickelodeon and their new vision of how to develop the network.
Said Mittenthal: “One of the concerns about doing a trivia show was that there’s a right answer and a wrong answer. There was a lot of celebration of being a kid at Nickelodeon, and they didn’t want to make kids feel bad about themselves. They realized that with this idea of a dare, there was no penalty for not knowing the answer; in fact, not knowing the answer made something even better happen.”
Sticking to what has always been a firm budget at Nickelodeon — something that set designer Taylor (responsible for overseeing the designs of all of DD’s obstacle courses and physical challenge stunts) referred to as the largest limitation on the show — the creators produced the program’s pilot in a most unusual place.
“We actually shot a pilot using a couple of VHS camcorders in the basement of Geoffrey Darby’s house in New Jersey,” Mittenthal said. “That’s the way that they used to do all of their game show pilots. When they tested it, kids absolutely didn’t care at all that it was shot on VHS in somebody’s basement. They just wanted to see people get messed up.”
Initially, Mittenthal had wanted to call the show Truth or Dare, feeling that the series could profit off of the notoriety of one of many childhood games. When it was discovered this title could not be used, “Double Dare just seemed like the natural place to go.”
The host in that makeshift VHS basement pilot was Darby himself.
“So, we now we needed a host. It became very clear very quickly that actors are not game show hosts,” Mittenthal said. “Game show hosts are born and it’s not a ‘part’ you can take on, because it’s so on-your feet.”
“Marc Summers came to us on a casting tape from his agent and he just jumped out at us right away. I think there was maybe a little bit of hesitation based on the fact that he didn’t look like a kid, which is I think what they wanted at first. But, he was so good at moving along the show and the handling of spontaneous situations that arose. He was born to do it and he was great.”
“All I knew was that it was going to get me on television,” Summers said about taking on the host of a new show for a cable network… at a time when cable didn’t mean much.
“You have to remember,” Summers said, “this was when CNN was known as ‘Chicken Noodle News.’ I mean, I didn’t know what Nickelodeon was, other than at that time I had small kids and when we’d wake up at two in the morning, we’d watch that Pinwheel show and that was about the most I knew about Nickelodeon at the time. I just wanted to work, so I didn’t give a shit about cable, not-cable, broadcast, syndication. I just wanted to get on TV.”
In the end, it turned out to be a successful choice on the part of the creators of DD and Summers who quickly became a producer of the program and eventually would oversee production on almost every level throughout the series’ multiple runs.
“I was having fun,” Summers said. “Are you kidding me? How could you not? They were paying me to go throw green liquids at 11-year-olds and I was laughing my ass off. So how bad could it be?”
The fact that, yes, Summers absolutely enjoyed his time on DD may be a surprise to those of us who had always heard that he lives with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Visions of Jack Nicholson’s irate and valetudinarian character from As Good as It Gets may crop on, and someone “like that” working on a game show like Double Dare with all its guck and multi-colored sluice doesn’t seem to compute.
Today, Summers is very vocal about his OCD and is a proactive advocate for the community of those living with the aberration. Back when the show was being produced, no one would have known better.
“Nobody understands,” Summers reacted to my inquiry about having OCD while working on DD. “First of all, that whole thing has been blown so far out of proportion. I never had one bit of a problem. One thing, if you had any problem, you could talk to everybody on the set and there was never any issue. Number two, I didn’t even understand what the hell the show was [when I first started].”
“When I walked in the first day in Philadelphia and saw all these obstacles and they were putting whipped cream and food coloring on, the first thing I said to Geoffrey Darby was, ‘What the hell is that?!’ And he said, ‘Well that’s our obstacle course.’ When I did the audition, I was asking questions and we were doing physical challenges.”
“So, I didn’t know what the obstacle course was. I didn’t even have any idea. I just remember this: When they were putting chocolate pudding and ice cream and all this stuff around, I said, ‘Do you really think kids would want to do that?’ I mean, that was my first thing: ‘Really? Do you think kids want to jump in that crap?’”
“And if you look at the first thirteen episodes, I was just baffled, standing as far away from those kids as possible — and I guess that was the OCD coming out: Don’t touch me with that crap. Then Michael Klinghoffer [one of the show creators] and all the producers said, ‘You have to get more involved, you gotta hang out with the kids,’ and I went, ‘Okay.’ I never went, ‘Oh my god, I’m not doing that.’ It was my chance to be on TV. There was never an issue.”
“It wasn’t until after I came out and talked about it when Gerry Laybourne called me to apologize. And I said, ‘Apologize for what?’ and she said, ‘I had no idea.’ And I said, ‘You know what? Neither did I.’”
Explaining to me that he “couldn’t say enough good things about Marc Summers,” Calderwood told me that they would have all done whatever it took to get the show to be the best it could be. “It was like going to camp or school or a war together,” he said.
“It was everybody’s first big show.”
“[Marc] did not like to get messy, but he never told any of us that. We never knew that until years later that it was really hard for him to do that piece of it. We couldn’t believe it. I asked him about it, and he would say he would just have to wait until he could get out of there and get to the hotel to take a hot shower.”
“He said it was terrible sometimes, but he did it because he knew that’s what the show was and wanted the show to be good. He just put on a brave face and worked himself through it. “
“We were never aware of it. It is true, though. Marc talks about it. It’s something that he’s active in it as a ‘cause.’ We didn’t have any idea that that was an issue for him.”
“He fit in really well with the producers of the show, partly because he had so much game show experience himself. He became an integral part of the creative team of the show, from the beginning. I think those guys became friends and have remained friends over the years. He was one of the guys.”
Summers did have a few particular peccadilloes when it came to the free-flowing, splattering mess on DD. “The only thing that was totally disgusting was they tried to do a physical challenge once with canned dog food. If you open up a can of dog food anywhere near me, I will start throwing up.”
“They opened up this can of dog food and started putting it in bowls, and kids had to throw it or something. I literally had to walk outside of the studio, and they had to change the physical challenge because I was so violently ill from the smell of freakin’ dog food.”
“That had nothing to do with OCD; that was just a sensory thing. I only feed my animals dry food. I just can’t get into that wet stuff, it makes me throw up. That had nothing to do with OCD, that’s just being a person.”
“Towards the end — especially when we were doing Family Double Dare on Fox — we got knee-deep in shit, and I could care less. I was having fun.”
It was clear that a major part of all of this “fun” was the signature kid-centric obstacle courses and physical challenges involving gigantic toiletries gone amuck, human hamster wheels, and plenty of food-based products such as one of Summers’ favorites, the Gum Drop.
Calderwood was a writer of DD’s questions (revealing to me that, yes, they did have a formula even to this aspect of the show, with a series of easy, medium, and hard questions in order to help shape the show according to when a physical challenge would come up).
As with the others with whom I spoke, Calderwood explained that though everyone on the show knew the kids were “tuning in for the mess,” the questions were an important ingredient of the show. They helped to pace the action and led to maintaining tension through points being counted. Not to mention, in Calderwood’s estimation, it would have been difficult to create and run all obstacle courses all the time — with the setting-up of and afterward cleaning, in particular — throughout four to five episodes a day.
Set designer Byron Taylor received his graduate degree from NYU where he studied, surprise, set design… though his original aspirations were for the theater. “I had no intention in working in television,” he said. “I was from California. I could’ve stayed there and gotten into the business that way, but wanted to work in live theater.”
A year or so out of school, doing what he could to pay the bills with freelance drafting work, Taylor ran into a college friend a few years his senior named Jim Fenhagen. Fenhagen had created the original design of DD (a set that was to represent everything from a “bathroom” to a “natatorium,” from what everyone told me) but the obstacle courses themselves still needed to be designed on a regular basis.
Fenhagen brought Taylor aboard and, as Taylor tells it, “Two weeks drafting in the studio became then going down to Philadelphia where we shot the first couple of seasons of the show, supervising the installation of the set, and it sort of snowballed from there.”
Along with what he had told me about limitations with budgets on the obstacle courses and physical challenges he designed, Taylor explained the other challenge for him was the fact that, “Nobody had done a kids game show for a long time by that point and certainly not like this. Nobody at the Nickelodeon office had ever done this before, either.”
“You had to sort of figure it out and make it up as you went along. We had to go through the whole process of getting props for them and testing them to make sure they could actually be done. So it was an interesting process that slowly developed.”
“Things got to be rather elaborate pretty quickly. All of the obstacles had to be done at a shop because a lot of the stuff by virtue of its scale and the materials involved, you had to do it in a controlled environment.”
“We pushed the envelope pretty far. Things would come from the shop and you would try them out. Basically, you were guessing when you would draw them up. Once you got it there and you put kids through it and you put the mess on it, it would complicate factors, so you would have to rework pieces occasionally once you got them in the studio.”
Lisa Shaftel, one of the crafts artists who physically made many of the props on the first DD episodes, told me a few goodies about how she would sometimes have to test the obstacles herself.
“I was the smallest person in the shop, so the carpenters used to use me as the guinea pig to go through the obstacles and the props to see if the kids could reach, like if things were too big or too small.”
“One of the things that we built was a very simplified vertical ant farm that was basically a large plywood box with acrylic, Plexiglass sheets/panels on the front side. They built this sort of maze inside that the kids had to climb through, and it was 95% finished and they called me over to go through to test it out, and I climbed up inside it and the distance was too far and I couldn’t reach, and I got stuck inside it.”
“I had to sit there for a while, while the carpenters unscrewed all the Plexi-panels and got a ladder to get me out. It was kind of like, ‘You will never believe what happened to me at work today. I can’t believe I get paid for this.’”
Shaftel finished up her anecdote telling me that, unfortunately, because of the hold-up, the show’s iconic kid-sized ant farm didn’t get shipped on time because it had to be torn apart and completely rebuilt, “you know, so the kids could get through it.”
“A number of those ideas came from riding the train back and forth from New York [where the Nick head offices were and where Taylor lived with his wife with whom he worked then and now] and Philadelphia,” Taylor said. “A number of times I’d be sitting next to Geoffrey and we’d be free-associating. A bunch of ideas came from that. I could find notes that came from those trips.”
“There were very few strictures that were placed on what we could do,” Taylor said. “Obviously, we had to stay away from guns. A water pistol is a great device, but if you can’t use it because it’s shaped like a gun, you have to find other unusual ways of spraying water. That was one limitation.”
“They didn’t want kids to eat so much. You don’t want a bunch of kids choking on Ritz Crackers because you’re doing that gag where you stuff your mouth with crackers and try to whistle. There’s a fine line they had to maintain about those kinds of things.”
“And demonstrating things that were too realistic. Too much like what kids might want to try at home. I’m sure enough kids tried jumping off roofs with a cape on their back because they saw Superman in the fifties.”
“We did a thing where we had a stuffed cat that we swung by its tail and tried to get through a window or some crazy stunt, but that never reappeared. I remember there was a thing about feeding a baby — a realistic kind of doll and splattering it with food — and not only was it hard for Marc out there by himself judging these things, but it was also just a bad idea: Kids throwing food at their younger siblings if they tried to recreate it at home with a real baby.”
From the folks with whom I spoke, at least, seems as though danger on the show or in the home wasn’t much of an issue. There was the broken arm that befell a kid who had apparently lied on his application and had fragile bones (Summers had to run out of the studio once the bone went through the arm, wondering how stage assistant Robin Morrella “could stay around for that”).
There was the bleacher that collapsed, leaving one of the adult men in the audience with a sliced penis and most likely at least a free pair of British Knights, courtesy the show for his trouble (wouldn’t you think?). And there was the kid who fell down one of the slides, his father — a lawyer — suggesting to Summers that the show either give over the big screen TV that would have be won if the kid had negotiated the obstacle successfully… or be sued (they settled on the TV).
After that incident, Summers noted, all future DD show contestant applications were screened for any kids whose parents were attorneys.
Summers told me there was a series of what he referred to as “nuisance cases” in which Nickelodeon would normally just settle in lieu of a potential public embarrassment. One story was too much to leave unsaid:
“We used to pie the parents like crazy. And if the parents weren’t hit in the face hard enough, I would say, ‘That’s not how you do it! This is how you do it!’ And I would really trash the parents. So, we do the show on a Sunday, and on Wednesday I get the call from the Viacom attorneys. ‘Do you remember when you threw a pie in a parent’s face? Well, they’re suing us because the lady said she can’t have sex anymore since you threw a pie in her face.’ And I started to laugh my ass off. They ended up giving her $25,000 to go away.”
This was an era before Jackass and — for most of the show’s run — Beavis and Butt-Head. There were no “Don’t try this at home, kids” messages on DD, and no one I talked to felt that would have been necessary.
“It all seemed like good, harmless fun,” Mittenthal said. “I was pretty young at the time, and didn’t have any kids of my own. I was not really focused on imitative behavior and how that might piss a parent off. I think that other people involved in the production in the show might have been more sensitive about it than I was.”
Calderwood said it wasn’t much of a concern for him except for: “We had to always pass these stunts by the lawyers. There were really rigorous safety standards on every single obstacle. ‘You gotta put safety tape here. You gotta put friction tape here.’”
“In the first season, the floor was a smooth surface, and by the second season, they’d gotten some stuff that had some traction to it. And we would show them how to run on the course before every obstacle course. We would say the best way to run is to pick up your feet, don’t slide your feet, sashay around and you won’t slip and fall. The funny thing is some kids wouldn’t believe us and they wouldn’t listen.”
“We would give them every conceivable safety tip. We wanted to have winners, too.”
“We were concerned about safety but we wanted them to win. So you walked up to that line as far as you could, obviously. There were some obstacles we could never do because they would never give us approval. It happened a couple of times. And usually what they would do is cannibalize the pieces and come up with another idea with it to sort of save money. I do remember once or twice, they wouldn’t let us use it as is.”
Summers had a much more pragmatic view of the issue of safety and kids trying this shit at home:
“I used to have parents stop me and yell at me about my job, or they would be upset that ‘My kids ruined my living room. They built an obstacle course. They put coffee grounds on my carpet.’”
“One Halloween, somebody knocked on the door, and they said, ‘Oh my god, you’re the guy from that terrible show.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ and they said, “Oh, my kids destroyed my house because of you.’”
“And my response to them is: Be a parent. My job is to host TV shows. If you can’t rule your kids, it’s not my problem. It’s your problem. When I came back out that next morning, after Halloween, this lady had taken all the Styrofoam, and filled my tree areas and where all the dirt and flowerbeds were supposed to be, she came in and just destroyed my place as her big Screw You kind of moment.”
“There was very early on a perception that we were wasting food,” Mittenthal said. “Some of the Nickelodeon people were really assailed for that, that there were people starving in the world and that we were ‘using food to play with.’”
“We were very sensitive to that. At that point, we never used anything that was identifiable that was ‘real food,’ that would sustain life. They might have still used chocolate. It wasn’t whipped cream, it was gak or something like that. We didn’t want to send a message that it was okay to waste food.”
The issue came to weigh day upon even the shoulders of Taylor.
“That was a big issue always,” Taylor said. “There were certain foods that it was basically: How could you recreate them synthetically? We used a lot of stuff that would be considered junk food. A lot of Jell-O. Non-dairy topping. And colored it to make it look like all kinds of stuff.”
“We didn’t use the same green slime that Geoffrey used [on You Can’t Do That on Television], because if it sat out on the stage under the hot lights, an oatmeal-based slime would bake like a rock, and if you didn’t get those off the set you’d have chunks of, like, greenish plaster. We used to like applesauce — that was my favorite with a little bit of food coloring. Little milk powder, something to make it opaque.”
“We used food,” Summers confirmed. “We used eggs. We used chocolate pudding. The reality of it was, ‘Do you want to sustain yourself on chocolate pudding and whipped cream and all that crap? Go ahead.’ Did we waste eggs? I suppose we did. But, somehow not going through 100 eggs a week on DD isn’t going to solve the homeless problem.”
Then again, according to Shaftel who has made a career out of creating the kinds of props she materialized for DD along with other children’s shows like Sesame Street, “The nature of productions is they’re insanely wasteful. Every time I work on a film, everything goes into the dumpster at the end.”
“The amount of lumber and the plastics that go into the dumpster after being used for three weeks is horrifying. I don’t think it’s possible to clean up that business because everything is temporary.”
At least on DD, Shaftel says she never thought kids watching the show were getting the message that being wasteful was all right.
One thing Nickelodeon definitely never wasted in those early days was a good concept. When DD went on to help finance so much of the rest of the channel’s lineup and further development, other incarnations were established.
“Super Sloppy Double Dare was just the same show, marketed a different way,” Mittenthal said. “Double Dare 2000 was when they brought it back after it went away for a while. They made a lot of money on that show for a good number of years. None of which went to the creators.”
Family Double Dare began on the new (and flailing desperately) Fox Network in 1988 and was, again, essentially no different from the original show except for one thing:
“The kids were there to have fun,” Summers said. “They didn’t care if they won money or prizes. They just wanted to get messy. But the parents — when we started giving away station wagons and minivans — they got crazy. There were times when the parents would get upset if they lost, which was so ridiculous.”
“Parents would pin their kids up against the wall,” Summers revealed. “And they’d grab their kids by the neck. ‘I needed that car and you screwed up!’ And we’d have to separate parents from kids.”
Mittenthal’s response to my question of what made the show so special was its indulging in something that he called “so forbidden. Kids were always being told to clean up their room and be neat and tidy and not make a mess. Here was this thing that was like jumping into a mud puddle, but much more colorful and much more mud. It was a kid’s fantasy of doing something completely forbidden.”
“There was nothing on air that looked like it,” Taylor said. He went on to illuminate for me the entire design of the show being based on an Italian art movement in the 1980s called “Memphis.” (Imagine a page of Ikea furniture… all pieces of which are brilliantly colored in an effulgent array of hues.)
“The design theme or movement involved a lot of flat graphics,” Taylor continued. “It was a weird amalgam of machine-made stuff but also handmade in a way as well. Had a kind of a post-punk feeling, perhaps?”
“I would say virtually 95% of it [the look of Double Dare] or more was taken from that design aesthetic. Other things: Rube Goldberg, the game Mouse Trap (if we could get close to that, that was a great thing). Those were the key elements.”
Taylor went on about Double Dare’s resonance from then until now: “I think MTV was still in a brick loft at that point. That whole kind of aesthetic washed over everything after that. All kids shows and graphic design absorbed all of that and spit that out over the next couple of years.”
“I can’t imagine Double Dare being done in a network environment,” Calderwood said. “Couldn’t have been done. Couldn’t pick up a prop, couldn’t say what would happen if picked this up and put it over Marc’s head, and then ran over and did this and let’s pull this over and [etc.].”
“I think the cable environment was a far more creative environment to learn in and to create in, but we probably didn’t know it at the time, because we all thought, ‘Well, we’ll just do this for a while, then we’ll move to a network some time where all the cool things happen,’ and it’s really further from the truth than we realized.”
With his characteristic bravado, Summers summed it up for me in one last quip: “You could bring Double Dare back tomorrow. Something I’ve been wanting to do, but Nickelodeon doesn’t get it.”
“Could a show like that come back now?” Mittenthal responded to my inquiry. “God, I don’t know. I’m sure they’ll try it in the next couple of years once people forget about it again. I think TV is something where things get rehashed and recycled constantly. They’ll find some new way to do it and probably have some online component.”
Mathew Klickstein is the author of SLIMED! An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age, which is in stores everywhere and will tell you more about Nickelodeon than you probably should know. |
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By Aubrey Wieber The Bulletin
A woman who claimed she suffered permanent memory damage after three Bend Police Department officers beat her at a downtown bar in 2013 will receive $200,000 from the city in exchange for dropping her lawsuit against the department, the city and the officers.
Kathryn Dailey, 40, was set to go to trial Monday before the case was dismissed with prejudice Friday, which means that Dailey can’t bring any further claims against the parties stemming from the same event. Dailey was suing for excessive force and wrongful arrest.
“We are pleased with the settlement, and hopefully it will be a lesson to the police officers who are apparently having some trouble over there,” Dailey’s attorney, William Brandt, said Friday.
Dailey, a physical therapist who used to live in Bend but is now in North Carolina, said at first she rebuffed the settlement offer, but changed her mind in order to avoid trial.
“There is always a risk in going to trial, and it’s hard to put a price on being permanently damaged,” Dailey said.
Anne Aurand, spokeswoman for the city of Bend, on Friday afternoon said the city and police department have yet to see the actual settlement document, and didn’t have much information.
“Both parties agreed to settle,” Aurand said. “We reached a settlement to avoid a trial.”
Dailey’s lawsuit claims she entered Velvet Lounge on Dec. 13, 2013, after seeing Mark Wirges, a friend, in the bar. Shortly after that, Wirges got into an altercation with another patron. The suit claims Dailey helped separate the two, and prevented Wirges from leaving a bathroom near the back of the narrow bar.
Officers Mike Hatoor, Rob Pennock, Tom Pine and James Kinsella arrived, and congregated in the narrow hall outside of the bathroom. They asked Dailey and Wirges to come out, the suit claims.
According to the suit, when Dailey opened the door, Pine and Kinsella grabbed Wirges, while Hatoor grabbed Dailey and slammed her to the ground, causing her head to hit the concrete floor. The suit claims that Hatoor then punched Dailey in the face, again causing her head to hit the floor.
Pennock then knelt on Dailey’s back while Hatoor cuffed her, the suit claims.
According to the lawsuit, as Dailey was being led out of the bar, Hatoor grabbed Dailey’s hair, “forcibly pulling her back into a horizontal position,” before Officer David Poole entered the bar and grabbed Dailey by the legs to help Hatoor pull her out of the bar. Poole and Hatoor then dropped Dailey on the ground in front of a squad car. Hatoor then forced Dailey into the car, smashing her head on the door jam in the process, while Poole opened the far-side door, and pulled Dailey through the car and onto the street, according to the lawsuit.
Throughout the process, Dailey repeatedly asked what she was doing to be treated so violently, and if she was under arrest, but she never received a response from the officers, the lawsuit claims.
According to the lawsuit, Dailey sustained closed skull fractures of the lower orbital rim and the inferior orbital floor, severe swelling, loss of consciousness and headaches, as well as injuries to her back, arms, wrists, ankle and hands.
Dailey was charged with resisting arrest, fourth-degree assault and attempted assault on a public safety officer in connection with the incident, but all charges were dropped in May 2014.
In addition to the police department and city, Hatoor, Poole and Pennock were also defendants in the lawsuit, which originally sought a minimum of $260,000 in damages. The Bend Police Department did not respond to a request seeking the status of the three named officers with the department.
The Bend Police Department declined to comment on the settlement.
“I just know that for myself, just to move forward, I needed to have some sensation that justice was served,” Dailey said. “That these guys were held accountable for what they did.”
—Reporter: 541-383-0376, [email protected]
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In one of their first meetings last summer, Rex Kalamian finished working out Terrence Ross and shared something of an epiphany with him. “I never realized how good you really are. You’re a really good basketball player, do you realize that? You have to realize it first,” the Raptors new assistant coach told the team’s young shooting guard.
Terrence Ross has become more than a dunker for the Raptors, with his shooting and his defence improving. ( Steve Russell / Toronto Star )
“We only played this team two times a year when I was in the West (as an assistant with Oklahoma City),” Kalamian said Friday, long after the Raptors had cleared the court at the Air Canada Centre. All of these months later, with the Raptors enjoying a record-setting 10-game winning streak, it’s starting to look like Ross is believing Kalamian’s assessment. Consistently inconsistent in his previous three years with the Raptors, Ross seems to be finding his way of late. The 24-year-old has scored in double-digits in six of his last eight games and shot the ball well, hitting 52.7 per cent of his shots through his last 10 games. Ross isn’t one to sing his own praises, so his head coach, Dwane Casey, and Kalamian piped up on his behalf.
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“One thing he’s doing, he’s putting in the extra work, staying after practice and working at a game-speed clip,” Casey said after Thursday’s win over the Knicks. “So many guys come in after practice and go through the motions and that doesn’t get it done. Him and coach Kalamian are getting on the clock, going at a game speed . . . and that I think has changed his mojo, his rhythm and his shooting. His energy level has always been there defensively. The thing that was missing was his shooting, but now his shot is going in. It didn’t show (against New York, where he was 2-for-9) but recently his shot’s been going in.” Kalamian said every player is different when it comes to these extra sessions. DeMar DeRozan prefers form shooting and, as his all-star season demonstrates, that work is paying off. Kalamian and fellow Raptors assistant Nick Nurse suggested the game-speed sessions for Ross. “What I try to do is just add a little something to the routine and show him different things that I see with his footwork on film,” Kalamian said. “I think players go through situations where all of a sudden they gain confidence and they like it.” The goal is to keep Ross at this productive level.
“He’s a developing player, he’s not a finished product,” Kalamian said. “He probably has, in his career, about seven more big jumps. “I keep telling him, ‘You’ve got so much potential that you’re not even getting into the game yet. Keep working, keep getting better. This level you’re at now is who you are and who you will be for a long period of time until you make your next jump.’ ”
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His production off of the bench has been a huge part of this win streak. While the three-pointers and dunks get fans out of their seats, Ross’s defence has picked up as well. That’s at the core of what Casey wants to get from all of his players this year. “The one thing I’ve asked him to do in games — and this is going to sound funny — is make two spectacular defensive plays a game,” Kalamian said. “I want to see special defence two times a game. A great block from behind, a passing lane, a steal that turns into a dunk, ripping your man off the dribble, something that’s really special. If you can give us two plays like that, eventually it’s going to end up being four and then we’re going to ask for six.” That’s showing up, too. Ross had two blocked shots against the Knicks and four steals in Sunday’s win over the Clippers. On one of those plays, he anticipated a Chris Paul pass so well that when Paul turned to throw the ball, Ross had lunged above him and Paul threw the ball right into his arms. “(Thursday) night he was 2-for-9, but plus-26,” Kalamian said. “That’s pretty good. We need you on the floor, not just because of your offensive ability, but even on nights when you’re not making shots you’re still a positive and you’re still a plus for our team. Be a basketball player, not just a shooter.” |
- At first glance, it looks like a standard parking sign. But this particular one isn’t explaining to drivers where they can and cannot park. Instead, this sign simply just indicates its displeasure over Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
A “No Trump Anytime” sign was seen posted underneath "No Parking" and "Tow Away" signs in front of the Howard Theatre in Washington D.C. on Monday. These signs have also been seen in other parts of the country.
Across the country in California, similar Trump signs have been showing up in multiple areas in Hollywood.
The person claiming responsibility for these signs is a Los Angeles-based street artist named Plastic Jesus. The artist is also behind the “No Kardashian Parking” signs that also went up in Los Angeles and controversial Academy Award public art pieces featuring a heroin-using Oscar statue.
According to the artist’s Instagram account, the signs are being placed in New York and Chicago as well. |
What Makes a Polymath
Ratafire Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 24, 2015 Unlisted
From the New York Polymaths Meetup
Renaissance Mutant Ninja Artists by Rachel Loose, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael
Basically they are all turtles. The never finishes his work turtle, the never bathe turtle, the bronze David turtle and the pretty lover turtle…
Polymath is a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning, most often he or she is also an expert in a wide range of fields.
What makes a polymath then?
Does a polymath have better abilities in these wide-ranging fields than that of a sole expert in a specific field? Personally I believe yes, or else it is not cost effective to be a polymath.
Suppose being a polymath is efficient, then there can be two possibilities: there is no actual separation between fields, or connecting different fields in a certain way can boost one’s performance.
Follow Ratafire on Twitter. Ratafire is the first free to use on-going crowdfunding site for creatives. Join us if you are a polymath!
General Intelligence vs. Multiple Intelligence
In order to guess how polymaths are “constructed”, we need to look into the actual question underlaying this topic: how is human intelligence constructed?
Or rather, the more heated question of what is intelligence.
This is the fundamental question in artificial intelligence, I believe, unlike what the popular ideas think that the current bottle neck of artificial intelligence is the computation speed or our limited understanding of human brain, the bottle neck lies in we have not simplified or defined intelligence properly.
Spearman (1904) suggested that in his experiments, when a certain person was doing well on a given cognitive ability test, there is a positive correlation that this person will do well on another cognitive ability, therefore, he argued that there is a general intelligence, called g.
Contrary to Spearman’s theory, Gardner’s (1983) theory suggested multiple intelligences. By studying individuals with brain damages, Gardner found out that those who have a certain area damaged are not able to perform certain tasks. From these experiments he came to conclusion that there should be at least 7 types of specific intelligences.
The multiple intelligence theory became popular, and is mostly used as an excuse if one is not good at the logic-word smart section.
Educators love to use it to criticize the current education system, because how can we ignore children who are not logic-word smart? Some are naturally talented at other things and so on. This is also a favorite for those who oppose any type of IQ test.
I am not interested in making the possessor of any type of intelligence feel better about him or herself. I am only interested in what will be an efficient model of an intelligent machine.
General intelligence and multiple intelligence are two approaches.
You can imagine the general intelligence approach is a stored-program computer, where the hardware is set in the Von Neumann architecture, where you can program the intelligence to perform different tasks, while the multiple intelligence is a fixed-program computer, where it can only be used to perform a fixed task.
For example, in the multiple intelligence model, the theory suggests that a certain part of the cerebrum governs a fixed function.
Frontal Lobe — reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, problem solving
Parietal Lobe — movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli
Occipital Lobe — visual processing
Temporal Lobe — perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech
Is our brain a polymath?
If so, what is controlling the brain’s unifying behavior, be it a real unifying behavior or a synchronization of different behaviors controlled by different parts of the brain that appear to be one behavior.
Before we make our assumption, let’s continue to look at several key info we know about the brain.
We know that the brain’s myelination starts from the back and then moves towards the front of the brain before one reaches 20. Myelin is a fatty white substance that is thought to increase the speed at which impulses propagate in the brain (or in this context impulses of neurons).
The myelination process is almost like the growing of the super-ego. If you observe the functions controlled by the frontal lobe, they almost represent super-ego. While the Parietal Lobe, the Occipital Lobe, and the Temporal Lobe are like the ego, and the limbic system the libido (this comparison is a popular thought I find interesting).
In psychoanalysis, they often emphasize that libido, ego and super-ego are systems, not brain parts. However, the gist of psychoanalysis does not lie in the over criticized “non-scientific” generalization of systems, but in the process of how the psyche develops — starting from libido, then ego, and then super-ego, just like the myelination process. This can offer insights into the design of intelligence.
We know that IQ correlates with the structure of white matter (myelin-coated tracts) , and learning also changes its structure.
TEDxHendrixCollege — Doug Fields — The Other Brain
We know that the glia cells, not the neurons may be responsible for the thinking part of the brain. If this idea is true, then neurons are merely the lights on the computer, not the computer.
This raises a good question, which is what do neurons do? If they are the lights, then who is looking at them. If the glia cells are thinking, why do they need the neurons to show that they are thinking?
We also know that glia cells communicate like broadcasting signals, while neurons communicate like signals going through landlines. Why do we need two types of communication?
The corticospinal tract descends from the cortex through the deep white matter of the cerebrum. It then passes between the caudate nucleus and putamen of the basal nuclei as a bundle called the internal capsule. The tract then passes through the midbrain as the cerebral peduncles, after which it burrows through the pons. Upon entering the medulla, the tracts make up the large white matter tract referred to as the pyramids (Figure). The defining landmark of the medullary-spinal border is the pyramidal decussation, which is where most of the fibers in the corticospinal tract cross over to the opposite side of the brain. At this point, the tract separates into two parts, which have control over different domains of the musculature.
Let’s first look at the communication type we are familiar with, that of the neurons’, and see what it is doing. Looking at the image above — I think it is sorting.
The following are my hypotheses.
The signal starts from the primary motor cortex, travels through filters, and in the end arrives at the muscles. Fascinating, and I believe that makes a lot of sense if the neurons are not the thinking part of the brain.
Suppose some sort of primary thinking is done in the glia cells of the motor cortex, and its result turns into a neuron signal. The signal itself is already a “finished product” that can control the motion, but we need to make the motion accurate and useful, so we need to add filters on it. When the signal travels through other parts of the brain, the glia cells in the other parts of the brain do the sorting.
This is only the situation where the “finished product” of a neuron signal exists. Before there is a “finished product”, there has to be more thinking, and information gathering. In order to cooperate with the other parts of the brain, it communicates in the glia cell’s way, which is broadcasting signals.
And then when the glia cell sense that it needs more information, they can also send out neuron signals to order other body parts to gather information.
Suppose different parts of the Cerebrum can sort information according to their schema, what will happen when a part of the Cerebrum disagrees with another?
The Emperor’s New Groove
I think the parts that win get to control the movements of the body, while in the part where consciousness is recorded, it appears that computational time is allocated to these parts of the brain.
If the brain is a society, it must have a way to determine who is leading the society at a given point of time. If so, the political structure of the brain will have great effects.
I guess during normal and extreme periods the competition for leading the brain is low. In the in between period, the frontal lobe will always want to grab control, and functions as a police to see if the actions committed by the brain fit its long term goals.
The above are mere my assumptions of the operation of the brain. If they hold any water, then we must get into the society of the brain to find out its political structure.
I think given that the brain seems to diversify its functions into different regions, just like how polymaths attempt to diversify their abilities into different fields. The political structure to unite the diversified functions is the key to how efficient the final result is.
Many complex intellectual tasks involve more than one part of the brain.
For example, playing a music instrument is a full brain activity. There is no such thing as the musical part of the brain, or how emotions control music. For a full brain activity like this, whether we can drive the entire brain to think in a coherent fashion is the key.
That is the ideal of the polymath.
Layers of Abstraction
You may then ask, what does this have to do with polymaths? Do we have to look into the brain to see what a polymath is? Well, yes and we must look into the brains of polymaths.
Suppose different parts of the brain have the cooperate or competitive relationship, there must be a way to tell which is the winning side. Whether that exists I will still have to dig into the studies.
The layer of abstraction means how abstract the questions the part of the brain operates on. This is one of my assumptions, where the closer it is to the surface of the brain, the more abstract questions it deals with.
However, the more abstract a question is, the more it sounds like the question that is immediately available to us. For example we may have a question of “What to eat today?” This question is very abstract, because we are not looking at how many steps do we have to walk to get the food, and how many times do our teeth have to chew on the food.
Let’s take a look at these two classic abstractions:
Which one is more abstract?
Which one is more abstract in relation to modern computer’s thinking method?
The Turing machine is more abstract, because there are other architectures other than the Von Neumann architecture to represent the Turing machine.
Why do we have to look at the layers of abstraction at all? One way to think about it is that our brain has different levels of abstraction, and one obvious separation lies in the difference between the conscious and the subconscious.
When using the word subconscious in this context, I mean the parts of the brain that are not controlled by the conscious.
Here is the question again, which is more abstract, the conscious or the subconscious?
The conscious is more abstract.
The reason why we need to look at the level of abstraction is because many complex structures have layers. We are given very little clue when we try to build such structures.
Before we even start building, we need to know in what layer of abstraction the clue rests in, in order to know whether we should move up or down in the building process.
In the layers we are observing, some layers are more useful than others, in terms of building things such as intelligence.
I think the key ability of a polymath is to identify the level of abstraction of a piece of evidence in his or her hand, and then morphs the evidence towards the layer where it is useful.
The reason why this is the key ability of a polymath comes from the fact that polymaths have to jump from different levels of abstraction to be a polymath. Seeing different fields as different fields, and seeing the connections of different fields are already two distinct levels of abstraction.
If we look back to our model of the brain, it is odd that it seems that in order to move from different levels of abstraction, one has to move the same piece of information into different parts of the brain. I will need to investigate into this to know more.
Nevertheless, at least we have came to today’s conclusion — of what makes a polymath — The ability to identify and move among different levels of abstraction. |
Background:
Maternal calorie restriction during pregnancy programs offspring for later overweight and metabolic disturbances. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is responsible for non-shivering thermogenesis and has recently emerged as a very likely target for human obesity therapy.
Objective:
Here we aimed to assess whether the detrimental effects of undernutrition during gestation could be related to impaired thermogenic capacity in BAT and to investigate the potential mechanisms involved.
Methods:
Offspring of control and 20% calorie-restricted rats (days 1–12 of pregnancy) (CR) were studied at the age of 25 days. Protein levels of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TyrOH); mRNA levels of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) and deiodinase iodothyronine type II (DIO2) in BAT; and blood parameters including thyroid hormones, were determined. The response to 24-h cold exposure was also studied by measuring body temperature changes over time, and final BAT UCP1 levels.
Results:
Compared with controls, CR animals displayed in BAT lower UCP1 and TyrOH protein levels and lower LPL and CPT1 mRNA levels; they also showed lower triiodothyronine (T3) plasma levels. CR males, but not females, revealed lower DIO2 mRNA levels than controls. When exposed to cold, CR rats experienced a transient decline in body temperature, but the values were reestablished after 24 h, despite having lower UCP1 levels than controls.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that BAT thermogenic capacity is diminished in CR animals, involving impaired BAT sympathetic innervation and thyroid hormone signaling. These alterations make animals more sensitive to cold and may contribute to long-term outcomes of gestational calorie restriction in promoting obesity and related metabolic alterations. |
METAIRIE, La. -- Bill Parcells strongly considered becoming the New Orleans Saints' coach during Sean Payton’s suspension in 2012. And the Saints came closer to trading for quarterback Tony Romo in 2006 than people might have realized.
Those were two of the most interesting Saints-related tidbits in Parcells' latest authorized biography, "Parcells: A Football Life," which he co-authored with writer Nunyo Demasio.
Some of this stuff has been out there already, but I finally had a chance to dig into the book now that the offseason is upon us. And it’s even more relevant now that two of Parcells' protégés are working for the Saints -- Payton and scout Jeff Ireland.
According Bill Parcells' latest book, he and Tony Romo could have been together as Saints in 2012 if a couple of decisions had gone differently. AP Photo/Mike McCarn
Here are some of the highlights. Stay tuned for Part 2, to come:
On coaching Saints in 2012: Parcells strongly considered Payton’s plea to fill in for him as an interim coach during Payton’s bounty suspension. The Saints even agreed to let Parcells approach former assistants Eric Mangini and Al Groh about joining the staff so he could have had some of his own familiar guys with him.
According to the book, both Payton and Saints owner Tom Benson embraced the idea, but general manager Mickey Loomis seemed reluctant, perhaps sensitive to the effect on the incumbent coaching staff. The book also noted that some reports speculated Parcells would land an executive role after Payton’s return. Parcells and Loomis met for the first time that spring when Payton arranged for them to discuss the possibility over a round of golf.
"Who knows what Loomis really thought?" Parcells said. "I don’t have any idea. I don’t know Loomis; I only met him once. But guys like me threaten guys like him."
Still, Parcells weighed the pros and cons for more than two weeks and wrote that some people close to him, like Lawrence Taylor, urged him to take the job. Parcells liked that it was a temporary opportunity and that it offered a chance to enhance his legacy by possibly taking a fifth team to the playoffs (especially after his previous job with the Miami Dolphins ended poorly). He also wanted to help Payton, whom he considers like a son.
However, Parcells had qualms about working with a staff to which he had no direct ties, especially considering it was just part-time. "So if things don’t go well, people will say, 'This guy tried to change everything we were doing,'" Parcells said. 'And if it does go well, people will say, 'Well, (expletive), he has a built-in advantage.'"
Parcells, who was 69 at the time, also didn’t like the idea of pushing back his Hall of Fame eligibility five years, though he said he refused to base his decision solely on that.
Ultimately, according to the book, Parcells decided he liked his current lifestyle and was uncertain whether he possessed the energy required to do things in his maniacal way.
As for the bounty allegations that got Payton suspended in the first place, the book said Parcells expressed dismay that Payton allowed it to happen under his watch and said, "I didn’t teach him that stuff." But the book said Parcells also detected some hypocrisy with the way the NFL came down so strongly on the Saints in the name of player safety, even as they were pursuing an expanded 18-game schedule.
On a possible Romo trade: According to the book, the Saints offered the Dallas Cowboys a third-round pick for quarterback Romo when Payton first took over as New Orleans’ coach in 2006 -- when Romo was still a backup. But Parcells and Dallas owner Jerry Jones wanted a second-round pick, which the Saints deemed too costly.
Payton had pursued and developed Romo when Payton was the Cowboys’ passing-game coordinator under Parcells. Payton and Romo were both record-setting quarterbacks at Eastern Illinois. According to the book, Payton convinced Romo to accept a $15,000 bonus to sign with the Cowboys as an undrafted rookie in 2003, even though another Eastern Illinois product, Mike Shanahan, had offered $25,000 to try and lure Romo to Denver.
Payton almost took Raiders job: The book detailed how close Payton came to accepting the Oakland Raiders head coaching job in 2004, even buying a black suit and silver tie. But Parcells joined some of Payton’s close friends in the coaching ranks -- Jon Gruden, John Fox and Bill Callahan -- in advising against it.
"Put my name behind those three," Parcells recounted advising Payton, saying he wanted to talk to Payton "like a son" and not like a head coach talking to an assistant. "You’re going to get your chance. This just isn’t the right one, kid." |
“…so we are essentially rewriting economic history” – Brent Moulton
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At what age should a child in Australia be held criminally responsible for their actions? Why do we criminalise and imprison very young children? These are among the critical questions that must be asked as part of the current national attention towards the treatment of youths in Australian detention facilities.
Harrowing images of the restraints used on a child held in Don Dale youth detention centre in Northern Territory have shone a national spotlight on the conditions experienced by children in custody. In response the government has announced a royal commission.
Demonstrating that the problem is not unique to one state or facility, two inquiries are also under way in Victoria into the alleged abuse of children in youth detention. Despite this, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has pushed back against calls for the royal commission to adopt a national scope, maintaining that focus and expediency is needed.
The juvenile detention scandal, news fatigue, and the power of an image | Mike Ticher Read more
While an urgent review of the treatment of young persons in custody in Northern Territory is required, these fundamental questions are a nationwide concern.
In all Australian states and territories, the age at which a child becomes criminally responsible is set at 10 years old. This means that at the age when most children are finishing year 4 and entering year 5 at primary school, they are also at the age when their actions become accountable by law.
From 10 years of age children in Australia can be charged by police, tried in our courts and imprisoned in detention facilitates, in some cases for life.
While there are various protections in place to ensure the age of the child is taken into consideration by police, courts and corrections – for example, the use of children’s courts and youth detention facilities – these safeguards are applied unevenly, and research has shown these to be inadequate in many cases.
This is made worse by the fact that commitments to protections are dwindling in some states. For example, Queensland has repealed the law that requires that children only be imprisoned as a measure of last resort, and in several states children can be imprisoned in adult facilities.
This diminished commitment to protecting children in conflict with the law appears to ignore the evidence about the vulnerability of very young children charged with criminal offences. Research shows that young children exhibiting anti-social behaviour often have disadvantaged backgrounds with histories of abuse, poverty and family disruption.
Research also shows that punitive intervention in both unnecessary and harmful. The vast majority of children will grow out of their offending behaviour, yet children who are criminalised – be it by charge, conviction and/or detention – are at a heightened risk of repeat offending. In other words, engagement with the criminal justice system is criminogenic for children.
Punitive responses to juvenile offending that might seek to decrease youth crime actually have the opposite effect, resulting in an increase in repeat offences. While the system aims to deter offenders, the outcomes for children protect neither the individual nor the community.
Ensuring that the Australian community is aware of the damaging impacts of juvenile detention is important in challenging the currency of “tough on crime” policies. Instead of imprisoning children, the goal must be to divert vulnerable young children away from the justice system wherever possible.
The criminalisation of very young children in Australia contributes to the nation’s already tarnished human rights record.
In June 2015 Amnesty International published a report calling on the Australian government to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility nationally from its current position of 10 years old, consistent with the UN’s stance that 12 years old is “the lowest internationally acceptable minimum age of criminal responsibility”.
Despite this call for reform all Australian state and territory jurisdictions continue to legislate that children can be held criminally accountable from 10 years of age.
Australia stands apart from many international jurisdictions that set the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 12 years old or above, including Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Spain. In these countries a range of alternate supports and responses are in place to ensure that children who commit wrongful behaviour are diverted away from the criminal justice system while still providing the necessary social supports and care to facilitate desistance from criminal activity.
Children in solitary confinement: we must stop treating kids in the system like adults | Anna Copeland Read more
There is much for Australia to learn from the experiences of these international counterparts, not least the adoption of a welfare approach to children in conflict with the law.
The gulf between the internationally accepted minimum age and the Australian approach should be an issue of critical importance for the forthcoming royal commission and the other inquiries currently under way in Australia.
The Don Dale case provides a powerful reminder of why there is no place for very young children in criminal justice institutions. Now, these harrowing revelations must also provide the impetus for Australian national and state governments to cease criminalising and incarcerating very young children. |
Every time we hear of girls and young women who appear to embrace violent jihad by joining Islamic State (IS) or al-Shabaab, we struggle to comprehend their actions. Violent women subvert entrenched notions of femininity which tell us women are gentle, nurturing and conformist. Violence by women tests the limits of these norms, and is threatening because it reveals that cultural understandings of womanhood are constructed – in other words, these norms are not given or “natural”.
Portrayals of violent women in the media often vilify them as warped and evil, or demean them with humour. There is a tendency to assume that women are not truly in control of their violent acts. Instead, they have been coerced, have fallen under the influence of others or are not in their right minds. Of course, violence by men is not considered to be acceptable as such, but it is more easily seen as an acknowledged aspect of normal male behaviour. Culturally, violence is coded as masculine.
In my work on gender representations of women who kill, I have examined the repetition of certain stock stories about violent women, for example as witches on the margins of society. For the most part, these stories emphasise the deviance of female murderers, repeating stereotypes of violent women as especially masculine or as sexually depraved. These portrayals reappear in different places and at different times. This is not to argue that the telling of these stories is fixed and unchanging; it gets modified in relation to new events, contexts and cultural concerns. But these stock stories offer ready-made explanations for, and ways of talking about, women’s involvement in violence.
Marriage of convenience
The phenomenon of girls and young women travelling to Syria to join IS have also been portrayed in the media through stock stories and gendered stereotypes. The widely used term “jihadi bride” is a clear example. The fact that “jihadi” has to run alongside the idealised feminine role of the bride underlines the novelty of young women’s – and particularly young western women’s – involvement with IS.
Such gendered nicknames, which define the role of women and girls in relation to men, have trivialising effects. Articles raise the spectre of young women’s rebellious actions to participate in a violent, extremist group, and yet they also rob those actions of their seriousness through repetition of these vaguely humorous nicknames.
A parallel can be found in the practice of referring to female Chechen terrorists as “black widows”. This is a more threatening term than “jihadi bride” but it similarly positions women in relation to a conventionally feminine, heterosexual role. One reading of this is women avenging the deaths of their husbands. There is also a longer standing meaning of the deadly black widow who kills multiple husbands. This plays into stereotypes of women’s calculated evil and devouring sexuality. Samantha Lewthwaite, believed to be a prominent figure in Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, has been dubbed the “white widow”.
Contrasting portrayals can be found where women are judged to be on the “right” side. Kurdish women who fight IS are described as “brave” and skilled fighters. But this does not mean they are immune from the stereotypes – one headline from the Daily Mirror called them the “angels of death” in an attempt to highlight the novelty of their femininity.
Mail model
The thrill of implied deviant sexuality is a significant aspect of reports on female members of IS. Terms with sexual connotations, such as “seduced” and “lured”, are used to describe Western young women and girls travelling to Syria to join IS. These terms play down willing choices but also hint at a sexual motivation.
The Daily Mail’s website is a particularly good example of how media outlets seek to highlight this aspect of women in IS. It is illustrated by their report on a “female Gestapo” whose members “bite and whip any woman who steps out of line and force girls to become sex slaves”. Rape and sexual abuse in IS camps is a serious issue but this reporting, complete with Nazi imagery, is uncomfortably close to soft pornography. It seems designed to titillate the reader above all else. And of course, MailOnline stories are always accompanied by its infamous sidebar of shame, where celebrity gossip and pictures of semi-naked women which deepen the associations between young women and girls, and sex.
Women’s involvement in political violence and terrorism makes it more newsworthy, as some articles explore and as the recruiters recognise. Femininity is especially symbolic. The unruly behaviour of women and girls is interpreted as a warning sign of social disorder. A comparison can be found in the media fascination with young women’s drunkenness. This is a less apocalyptic symbol of social unrest than joining IS, but also voices fears about female unruliness.
The stereotypes and assumptions about young women and girls who join or support IS downplay the significance of politics. The absence of a consideration of their political rationale from many, (although not all), news features denies that these could matter or need to be understood. This prevents the opportunity to investigate and counter the motivations that brought them to their decision. Instead, women and girls must have been brainwashed, lured or seduced by cleverer men – it is a powerful, enduring narrative that we would do well to reject. |
Lewandowsky’s most recent blog post really makes one wonder about the qualifications at the University of West Anglia Western Australia.
Lewandowsky commenced his post as follows:
The science of statistics is all about differentiating signal from noise. This exercise is far from trivial: Although there is enough computing power in today’s laptops to churn out very sophisticated analyses, it is easily overlooked that data analysis is also a cognitive activity. Numerical skills alone are often insufficient to understand a data set—indeed, number-crunching ability that’s unaccompanied by informed judgment can often do more harm than good. This fact frequently becomes apparent in the climate arena, where the ability to use pivot tables in Excel or to do a simple linear regressions is often over-interpreted as deep statistical competence.
I mostly agree with this part of Lewandowsky’s comment, though I would not characterize statistics as merely “differentiating signal from noise”. In respect to his comment about regarding the ability to do a linear regression as deep competence, I presume that he was thinking here of his cousin institute, the University of East Anglia (UEA), where, in a Climategate email, Phil Jones was baffled as to how to calculate a linear trend on his own – with or without Excel. At Phil Jones’ UEA, someone who could carry out a linear regression must have seemed like a deity. Perhaps the situation is similar at Lewandowsky’s UWA. However, this is obviously not the case at Climate Audit, where many readers are accomplished and professional statisticians.
Actually, I’d be inclined to take Lewandowsky’s comment even further – adding that the ability to insert data into canned factor analysis or SEM algorithms (without understanding the mathematics of the underlying programs) is often “over-interpreted as deep statistical competence” – here Lewandowsky should look in the mirror.
Lewandowsky continued:
Two related problems and misconceptions appear to be pervasive: first, blog analysts have failed to differentiate between signal and noise, and second, no one who has toyed with our data has thus far exhibited any knowledge of the crucial notion of a latent construct or latent variable.
In today’s post, I’m going to comment on Lewandowsky’s first claim, while disputing his second claim. (Principal components, a frequent topic at this blog, are a form of latent variable analysis. Factor analysis is somewhat different but related algorithm. Anyone familiar with principal components – as many CA readers are by now – can readily grasp the style of algorithm, though not necessarily sharing Lewandowsky’s apparent reification.)
In respect to “signal vs noise”, Lewandowsky continued:
We use the item in our title, viz. that NASA faked the moon landing, for illustration. Several commentators have argued that the title was misleading because if one only considers level X of climate “skepticism” and level Y of moon endorsement, then there were none or only very few data points in that cell in the Excel spreadsheet. Perhaps. But that is drilling into the noise and ignoring the signal. The signal turns out to be there and it is quite unambiguous: computing a Pearson correlation across all data points between the moon-landing item and HIV denial reveals a correlation of -.25. Likewise, for lung cancer, the correlation is -.23. Both are highly significant at p < .0000…0001 (the exact value is 10 -16, which is another way of saying that the probability of those correlations arising by chance is infinitesimally small).
These paragraphs are about as wrongheaded as anything you’ll ever read.
I agree that a simple “Pearson correlation” between CYMoon and CauseHIV in Lewandowsky’s dataset is -0.25. However, Lewandowsky is COMPLETELY wrong in his suggestion that this “signal” can be separated from outliers. In the Lewandowsky dataset, there were two respondents that purported to believe in CYMoon and disagree with CauseHIV (both were in Tom Curtis’ group of two super-scammers). I’ll show that these two superscammers make major contributions to the supposed “correlation”. Like Lewandowsky, I don’t believe that these two respondents are present “by chance”: I believe that they are present as intentionally fraudulent responses.
First, the correlation can be replicated trivially as follows:
cor(lew$CYMoon, lew$CauseHIV) #[1] -0.2547965
Second, p~+ 10^-16 can be replicated by diagnostics from an OLS regression of CYMoon against CauseHIV (standardized) as shown below:
ols=lm(CYMoon~CauseHIV,data=data.frame(scale(lew[,c("CYMoon","CauseHIV")]) )) summary(ols) Coefficients: Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|) (Intercept) 2.574e-17 2.859e-02 9e-16 1 CauseHIV -2.548e-01 2.860e-02 -8.908 <2e-16 ***
However, Lewandowsky is absolutely off-base in his assertion that the examination of outliers is inappropriate statistical analysis. In fact, exactly the opposite is the case: proper statistical analysis REQUIRES the examination of outliers. Furthermore, in this case, the examination of a contingency table (pivot table) is not only relevant but essential to the examination of outliers.
Examination of diagnostics by a competent statistician requires more than looking at the p-value. Part of any such analysis is examination of the qqnorm-plot for the residuals: this is the second graphic in the standard plot in R. Here are the results for CYMoon~CauseHIV (standardized), a graphic that shows severe non-normality of the residuals. (The dashed blue line shows the pattern from normal distribution of residuals.)
Figure 1. QQnorm- plot for CYMoon~CauseHIV.
A second basic diagnostic is examination for outliers using Cook’s distance: this is the fourth graphic in the standard plot in R. This identifies two points (889,963) as very high leverage:
Figure 2. Cooks’ distance: CYMoon~CauseHIV.
Now, let’s do the contingency deprecated by Lewandowsky, a calculation which shows that there are only two respondents purporting to disagree on CauseHIV and to agree on CYMoon.
with(lew,table(CYMoon,CauseHIV)) CauseHIV CYMoon 1 2 3 4 1 8 5 116 938 2 1 0 33 34 3 1 0 2 1 4 1 0 2 3
These two respondents are the two respondents identified as outliers from the standard diagnostic (889, 963). Both are already familiar to us as super-scammers who claimed to believe in every conspiracy.
To show just that a “significant” correlation can depend as few as two outliers, I’m now going to simplify the contingency table by considering only two classes: disagree – 0 and agree-1, yielding the contingency table below: two respondents in the extreme, with 14 respondents purporting to only dispute CauseHIV and 8 respondents purporting to endorse only CYMoon, as shown below:
Data=twoclass(lew)[,c("CYMoon","CauseHIV")] with(Data,table(CYMoon,CauseHIV)) CauseHIV CYMoon 0 1 0 14 1121 1 2 8
The (Pearson) correlation calculated in the same way as Lewandowsky is -0.1488. I’m now going to show that the two outliers dominate this calculation. (The calculation with a 4×4 matrix is structurally identical but adding up to -0.25.)
r=cor(Data$CYMoon,Data$CauseHIV); r # -0.1487561
There are only four unique points (0,0), (0,1), (1,0) and (1,1) in the contingency table. In the calculation below, I show the contribution of each point to the correlation coefficient. The column headed normdot is the product of (x-mean(x))*(y-mean(y)) divided by sd(x)* sd(y)* (N-1), where N is the number of respondents (1145).
N=nrow(Data) Stat= data.frame(CYMoon=c(0,1,0,1),CauseHIV=c(0,0,1,1),count=c( with(Data,table(CYMoon,CauseHIV)) )) m=apply(Data,2,mean);m Stat$dot= (Stat$CYMoon-m[1])*(Stat$CauseHIV-m[2]) Stat$normdot= (Stat$CYMoon-m[1])*(Stat$CauseHIV-m[2])/(sd(Data$CYMoon)*sd(Data$CauseHIV))/(N-1) Stat$normsum= Stat$normdot*Stat$count
The sum of the normsum column gives the correlation coefficient.
sum(Stat$normsum) # -0.1487561
The table calculated above therefore shows the relative contribution of each point to the correlation coefficient as shown below.
Stat[,c(1:4,6)] CYMoon CauseHIV count dot normsum 1 0 0 14 0.0086115825 0.009640767 2 1 0 2 -0.9774146183 -0.156318155 3 0 1 1121 -0.0001220419 -0.010939947 4 1 1 8 0.0138517572 0.008861259 ___________ Total -0.1487561
One can readily see that the two super-scammers (889, 963) contribute essentially 100% (over 100%) actually of the negative correlation between CauseHIV and CYMoon in this calculation.
Next here is the result of applying the same methodology to the 4×4 contingency table in Lewandowsky’s analysis shown here in order of decreasing contribution to the negative correlation. As above, sum(Stat$normsum) is equal to the correlation.
About half of the negative correlation comes from the 33 respondents who disagree with the Moon conspiracy and agree with CauseHIV (without strongly agreeing).
The other half of the negative correlation comes from seven outliers which contribute -0.138 (about 50% of the correlation), with the two superscammers identified above being the largest contributors. (The other 5 outliers need to be examined individually.)
There is a negative contribution from the 938 respondents who strongly agreed with HIV and strongly disagreed with CYMoon: this seems puzzling at first. What happens is that the centroid is moved off dead center. This contribution is offset relatively by positive contributions from on-axis results (CYMoon – strongly disagree or CauseHIV – strongly agree) : this seems to be fairly characteristic in this sort of sparse contingency table heavily weighted on-axis.
Stat[order(Stat$normsum),] CYMoon CauseHIV count dot normdot normsum 2 3 33 -0.761 -0.004 -0.142 4 1 1 -8.254 -0.047 -0.047 3 1 1 -5.425 -0.031 -0.031 4 3 2 -2.418 -0.014 -0.027 3 3 2 -1.590 -0.009 -0.018 2 1 1 -2.597 -0.015 -0.015 1 4 938 -0.014 0.000 -0.075 2 2 0 -1.679 -0.010 0.000 3 2 0 -3.508 -0.020 0.000 4 2 0 -5.336 -0.030 0.000 3 4 1 0.328 0.002 0.002 1 2 5 0.150 0.001 0.004 4 4 3 0.499 0.003 0.009 1 1 8 0.232 0.001 0.011 2 4 34 0.157 0.001 0.030 1 3 116 0.068 0.000 0.045
Thus the “unambiguous” negative correlation between CYMoon and CauseHIV arises from the following two phenomena: about half of the -.254 comes from only seven outliers, with the two superscammers contributing the most. The other half is contributed from people who neither endorse the CYMoon conspiracy or dispute CauseHIV.
The results for CauseSmoke are very similar. The negative correlation is -0.236. A little less than half is contributed by only four outliers, especially the two (fake) outliers who purport to both strongly believe in CYMoon and disbelieve CauseSmoke. The balance is contributed from those people who hold plausible views, but did not express that they did so strongly.
CYMoon CauseSmoke count dot normdot normsum 2 3 33 -0.754 -0.005 -0.149 4 1 2 -8.231 -0.049 -0.099 4 3 1 -2.395 -0.014 -0.014 3 3 1 -1.575 -0.009 -0.009 1 4 916 -0.015 0.000 -0.081 2 1 0 -2.589 -0.015 0.000 3 1 0 -5.410 -0.032 0.000 2 2 0 -1.671 -0.010 0.000 3 2 0 -3.492 -0.021 0.000 4 2 0 -5.313 -0.032 0.000 1 2 5 0.149 0.001 0.004 1 1 4 0.232 0.001 0.006 3 4 3 0.343 0.002 0.006 4 4 3 0.522 0.003 0.009 2 4 35 0.164 0.001 0.034 1 3 142 0.067 0.000 0.057
Far from the examination of contingency tables being irrelevant to the analysis, they are essential to it.
The “signal” from Lewandowsky’s analysis is also “unambiguous”: that, using his own words, “number-crunching ability that’s unaccompanied by informed judgment can often do more harm than good”. A thesis that his own work amply illustrates.
Update: Jeff Id asked about the effect of robust regression. I’m working on a longer post on robust regression, but will preview this with the result here. R has a very handy robust regression function rlm in the same style as lm, the default option is Huber’s robust regression. The “robust” correlation between CYMoon and CauseHIV is the robust regression coefficient between standardized versions of each series: the robust correlation is 0.000000 (not Lewandowsky’s -0.254). Lewandowsky’s “unambiguous” result is unambiguous dreck.
fm=rlm(CYMoon~CauseHIV,data=data.frame(scale(lew[,c("CYMoon","CauseHIV")]) )) summary(fm) Value Std. Error t value (Intercept) -2.433000e-01 0.000000e+00 -2.138241e+09 CauseHIV 0.000000e+00 0.000000e+00 -2.938290e+05 Residual standard error: 5.487e-09 on 1143 degrees of freedom |
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Artist: Armin van Buuren
Show: A State of Trance
Release Date: December 26, 2013
Genre: Trance
Quality: MP3 / Joint Stereo
Bitrate: 320 kbps / 44.1 Khz
Duration: 2:02:32
Total Size: 280 MB
A State of Trance 645
is available on Spotify!
As a yearly tradition, Armin van Buuren presents the official A State of Trance Year Mix of 2013. More than 100 best trance tracks coming together in a 2 hour mega-mix that became a highlight to every listener of A State of Trance radio show. It’s not only Armin who selects the final tracklist. Each year, Armin presents the A State of Trance Top 20, based on the votes of the listeners. The sounds of 2013 brings you the tracks of Above & Beyond, Andrew Rayel, Ferry Corsten, Dash Berlin, Orjan Nilsen, RAM, Simon Patterson, Beat Service, Armin van Buuren himself and many more DJs.
Tracklist ASOT Yearmix 2013 Intro - The Oath Omnia - The Light Ilan Bluestone - Sinai Headstrong feat. Stine Grove - Satellite (Aurosonic Progressive Mix) BT - Skylarking Andy Duguid feat. Jaren - 7even Omnia feat. Everything By Electricity - Bones Christian Burns, Paul Oakenfold & JES - As We Collide (Orjan Nilsen Remix) Band Of Horses - The Funeral (Dash Berlin Remix) Denis Kenzo feat. Sveta B. - Lullaby Lonely (Progressive Mix) Dash Berlin & Alexander Popov feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn - Steal You Away (Club Mix) Hardwell feat. Amba Shepherd - Apollo (Dash Berlin 4AM Remix) Armin van Buuren feat. Emma Hewitt - Forever Is Ours Above & Beyond feat. Zoe Johnston - Alchemy (Above & Beyond Club Mix) Audien - Wayfarer Omnia - Immersion Orjan Nilsen - Violetta W&W - Thunder W&W & Ummet Ozcan - The Code Mark Sixma - Requiem Orjan Nilsen - XIING Ferry Corsten feat. Jenny Wahlstrom - Many Ways Lange feat. Ilseviolin - Violin's Revenge (Dark Club Mix) Ronski Speed feat. Lucy Saunders - Rise Again (Omnia Remix) Johan de Kock & Stefan Viljoen feat. Nanje Nowack - Silence (Tommy Johnson Remix) Kat Krazy feat. elkka - Siren (Armin van Buuren Remix) Bobina with Ana Criado - For Who I Am (Beat Service Remix) Armin van Buuren vs Arty - Nehalennia Super8 & Tab - L.A. Armin van Buuren feat. Richard Bedford - Love Never Came BT & Aqualung - Surrounded (Super8 & Tab Remix) Mark Knight & D. Ramirez V Underworld - Downpipe (Armin van Buuren Remix) Armin van Buuren & W&W - D# Fat Armin van Buuren feat. Cindy Alma - Beautiful Life (Protoculture Remix) Armin van Buuren feat. Trevor Guthrie - This Is What It Feels Like (W&W Remix) Armin van Buuren feat. Laura Jansen - Sound Of The Drums Estiva - Dinodrums Andy Moor & Betsie Larkin - Love Again (Andrew Rayel Remix) Conjure One feat. Aruna - Still Holding On (Arisen Flame Remix) Arisen Flame - Gladius Shogun feat. Tania Zygar - Find Me Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat. Natalie Gioia - Dreams (Original Club Mix) Heatbeat - Game Over Cosmic Gate - So Get Up Emma Hewitt - Rewind (Mikkas Remix) Above & Beyond - Walter White Armin van Buuren feat. Fiora - Waiting For The Night Dash Berlin feat. Christina Novelli - Jar Of Hearts (Club Mix) Dash Berlin feat. Sarah Howells - Go It Alone (Andrew Rayel Remix) Giuseppe Ottaviani & Eric Lumiere - Love Will Bring It All Around Mark Sixma - Character Beat Service - Aurora W&W - Lift Off! Andrew Rayel & Jwaydan - Until The End (Club Mix) Armin van Buuren presents Gaia - Humming The Lights Alexandre Bergheau - Damavand Rank 1 vs M.I.K.E. - Elements Of Nature Markus Schulz - Remember This Skytech - The Other Side Max Graham - The Evil ID Bobina with Andrew Rayel - Sacramentum (Andrew Rayel Aether Mix) Andrew Rayel - Musa RAM - Grotesque (Alex M.O.R.P.H. and RAM Original Mix) Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat. Silvia Tosun - An Angels Love (Andrew Rayel Aether Remix) Woody van Eyden - Nangulan Andrew Rayel - Dark Warrior Armin van Buuren & Markus Schulz - The Expedition (A State Of Trance 600 Anthem) Armin van Buuren feat. Miri Ben - Ari - Intense Solarstone - Love Theme From Blade Runner (Pure Mix) Orjan Nilsen - Mafioso (Mark Sixma Remix) MaRLo - Visions Jorn van Deynhoven - Six Zero Zero Andrew Rayel - Zeus Simon Patterson feat. Lucy Pullin - The One MaRLo - BOOM Fisherman & Hawkins - Apache Ferry Corsten - F The Bull$h1t Antony Waldhorn - Theatrum Driftmoon & Andy Blueman feat. Dsharp - Exodus Alexander Popov - Lost Language Solarstone & Clare Stagg - Jewel (Pure Mix) Craig Connelly & Christina Novelli - Black Hole (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix) Abstract Vision & Elite Electronic - Conqueror Matt Bukovski vs Andy Elliass & Abys - Cheops A.R.D.I. - Beyond The Time Aly & Fila and Susana - Without You RAM & Susana - RAMelia (Tribute To Amelia) The Thrillseekers feat. Stine Grove - Anywhere With You (Solarstone Pure Mix) Bjorn Akesson - Gunsmoke Sergey Nevone & Simon O'Shine - Apprehension (Aly & Fila Mix) Armin van Buuren - Who's Afraid Of 138?! (Photographer Remix) Adam Ellis - Napalm Poet Aly & Fila feat. Sue McLaren - Mysteries Unfold (Uplifting Mix) Simon Patterson - Brush Strokes Dart Rayne & Yura Moonlight and Sarah Lynn - Silhouette (Allen & Envy Remix) The Avengers - Yugen M.I.K.E & Fred Baker presents Active Sight - Never Ending (Bryan Kearney Remix) Ciro Visone - First Coming (Ian Standerwick Remix) ReOrder & Ian Standerwick presents SkyPatrol - Folding Your Universe RAM - RAMnesia Andain - What It's Like (Sneijder Remix) Sneijder & Bryan Kearney - Proper Order ASOT Yearmix 2013 Outro - A Matter Of What You Believe In
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There you have it—after much speculation, teasing, and supposed domain registration, Red Dead Redemption 2 is happening. For console players.
"Red Dead Redemption 2 will release worldwide in Fall 2017 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One systems," reads a post on the Rockstar Newswire, alongside some busier sunset artwork than what surfaced the other day. "An epic tale of life in America’s unforgiving heartland, the game's vast and atmospheric world will also provide the foundation for a brand new online multiplayer experience."
No mention of PC as it stands, then, but given GTA 5's popularity round our way, we probably shouldn't give up hope just yet. Then again, the first Red Dead Redemption passed us by completely, so who knows. Judging by the comments flooding the above linked Newswire post, a number of desktop delegates don't appear best pleased with the exclusivity. Such is life.
In any event, Rockstar says it will launch a Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer at 11am EST/4pm BST on Thursday, October 20th. |
Happy Halloween!!!
This week we look at a very spooky protein, BAT3 which localizes to the nucleoplasm (looks like jack o'lanterns if you squint hard enough) and cytoplasm of the cell as seen in Figure 1 in A-431 cells.
In addition to having a spooky name, this protein, also known as BAG6, was first identified as being involved in programmed cell death (apoptosis). Subsequent studies have revealed that BAT3 plays a role in many important cellular processes including gene regulation, protein synthesis, protein quality control, and protein degradation (Binici J & Koch J. 2014). Due to its role in these processes BAT3 has been associated with a myriad of diseases including progressive kidney diseases, type I diabetes, Parkinson?s disease, and cancers. BAT3 has also been shown to promote certain bacterial infections (A.W. Ensminger & R.R. Isberg 2010).
Interestingly, many (transcript) variants encoding different flavors (isoforms) of this gene have been found. This information may provide some insight into the diverse functions of BAT3 as a chaperone protein.
We hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!! For more fun and spooky gene names check out this list by NOVUS. |
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A feared assassination attempt on German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly been foiled in Prague.
Czech police halted an armed man in his car as he allegedly tried to join Merkel’s motorcade during her visit to the capital.
Local reports claim that officers found a baton, a canister of tear gas, cement blocks, and handcuffs in the man’s black 4x4 Mercedes.
A video posted on the Blesk news website shows several officers around a police car talking to the middle-aged man.
" The perpetrator has been detained,” police spokesman Josef Bocan said.
"He is suspected of attempting to cause a crime – specifically an attempt to use violence against an official.”
“Thanks to the professional actions of officers, Angela Merkel’s life was not in danger.
"The incident is currently being investigated by Prague detectives.”
(Image: Getty)
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The chancellor was in Prague to meet Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.
She was travelling from the airport to the city when the suspicious vehicle appeared on the outskirts of the city, Russia Today reports.
The Mercedes driver is reported to have refused to obey orders coming from police cars accompanying the German chancellor.
He is alleged to have carried on trying to enter the motorcade and cut off a police vehicle that was trying to stop him.
The driver reportedly only stopped and got out of the vehicle after police warned him that they were going to shoot.
Merkel is meeting 15 other heads of state this week to create a new agenda after Britain's decision to leave the EU.
A series of demonstrations have greeted her in Prague, while demonstrators held posters saying “Merkel is killing Europe.” |
In November, four people were arrested after a violent, slappy brawl involving a man in an 8-ball jacket aboard an F train. While all the charges were dropped against Jorge Pena, the 25-year-old 8-ball jacket wearer, one of the women accused of attacking him has now pled guilty to assaulting him with her stiletto.
The News reports that Danay Howard, 21, pled guilty to two counts of assault, including a felony, for the incident. Her charges will be reduced if she completes a year of therapy and does three days of community service for the assault.
Pena, a part-time bouncer, said that he was on his way home after a 12-hour shift when Howard, who was allegedly drunk at the time, started making fun of his jacket and his slight speech impediment.
As you can see in the video up above, Howard seems to berate Pena relentlessly: Pena said he told her, "I don't talk to you. I don't know you. Just leave me alone. I don't know why you're talking to me," at one point. More words are exchanged between Pena, Howard, and some of Howard's friends (among other things, Howard allegedly called Pena a "bum ass n**ga" and "stupid"); Pena tried to walk away from the group, he calls Howard a "bitch" at one point, and Howard starts hitting him with her stiletto. That's when Pena slapped her, sparking the full fight.
"She put me in a position that I had no choice. She tried to kill me," Pena explained at the time. "I am quiet man...I respect women. That's why I don't do nothing when she pushed me but when she hit me I had to do something. I had no choice," he said.
Pena was initially charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct in the incident, and spent four days in jail, but the Manhattan DA's Office concluded that he had acted in self-defense, and all charges were dropped. He also earned the praise of the creator of the 8-ball jacket. |
Combined cycle gas turbine
The Combined Cycle Power Plant or combined cycle gas turbine, a gas turbine generator generates electricity and waste heat is used to make steam to generate additional electricity via a steam turbine.
The gas turbine is one of the most efficient one for the conversion of gas fuels to mechanical power or electricity. The use of distillate liquid fuels, usually diesel, is also common as alternate fuels.
More recently, as simple cycle efficiencies have improved and as natural gas prices have fallen, gas turbines have been more widely adopted for base load power generation, especially in combined cycle mode, where waste heat is recovered in waste heat boilers, and the steam used to produce additional electricity.
This system is known as a Combined Cycle. The basic principle of the Combined Cycle is simple: burning gas in a gas turbine (GT) produces not only power – which can be converted to electric power by a coupled generator – but also fairly hot exhaust gases.
Routing these gases through a water-cooled heat exchanger produces steam, which can be turned into electric power with a coupled steam turbine and generator.
This type of power plant is being installed in increasing numbers round the world where there is access to substantial quantities of natural gas.
33% electricity only and remaining 67% as waste. A Combined Cycle Power Plant produces high power outputs at high efficiencies (up to 55%) and with low emissions . In a Conventional power plant we are gettingand remaining 67% By using combined cycle power plant we are getting 68% electricity.
It is also possible to use the steam from the boiler for heating purposes so such power plants can operate to deliver electricity alone or in combined heat and power (CHP) mode.
Mechanism
Combined cycle power plant as in name suggests, it combines existing gas and steam technologies into one unit, yielding significant improvements in thermal efficiency over conventional steam plant. In a CCGT plant the thermal efficiency is extended to approximately 50-60 per cent, by piping the exhaust gas from the gas turbine into a heat recovery steam generator.
However the heat recovered in this process is sufficient to drive a steam turbine with an electrical output of approximately 50 per cent of the gas turbine generator.
The gas turbine and steam turbine are coupled to a single generator. For startup, or ‘open cycle‘ operation of the gas turbine alone, the steam turbine can be disconnected using a hydraulic clutch. In terms of overall investment a single-shaft system is typically about 5 per cent lower in cost, with its operating simplicity typically leading to higher reliability.
3-d modeling of a combined cycle power plant
Working principle of CCTG plant
First step is the same as the simple cycle gas turbine plant. An open circuit gas turbine has a compressor, a combustor and a turbine. For this type of cycle the input temperature to turbine is very high. The output temperature of flue gases is also very high.
This is therefore high enough to provide heat for a second cycle which uses steam as the working medium i.e. thermal power station.
Air Inlet
This air is drawn though the large air inlet section where it is cleaned cooled and controlled. Heavy-duty gas turbines are able to operate successfully in a wide variety of climates and environments due to inlet air filtration systems that are specifically designed to suit the plant location.
Under normal conditions the inlet system has the capability to process the air by removing contaminants to levels below those that are harmful to the compressor and turbine.
In general the incoming air has various contaminants. They are:
In Gaseous state contaminants are:
• Ammonia
• Chlorine
• Hydrocarbon gases
• Sulfur in the form of H2S, SO2
• Discharge from oil cooler vents
In Liquid state contaminants are:
• Chloride salts dissolved in water (sodium, potassium)
• Nitrates
• Sulfates
• Hydrocarbons
In Solid State contaminants are:
• Sand, alumina and silica
• Rust
• Road dust, alumina and silica
• Calcium sulfate
• Ammonia compounds from fertilizer and animal feed operations
• Vegetation, airborne seeds
Corrosive Agents:
Chlorides, nitrates and sulfates can deposit on compressor blades And may result in stress corrosion attack and/or cause corrosion Pitting. Sodium and potassium are alkali metals that can combine with Sulfur to form a highly corrosive agent and that will attack portions of the hot gas path. The contaminants are removed by passing through various types of filters which are present on the way.
Gas phase contaminants such as ammonia or sulfur cannot be removed by filtration. Special methods are involved for this purpose.
Turbine Cycle
The air which is purified then compressed and mixed with natural gas and ignited, which causes it to expand. The pressure created from the expansion spins the turbine blades, which are attached to a shaft and a generator, creating electricity.
In second step the heat of the gas turbine’s exhaust is used to generate steam by passing it through a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) with a live steam temperature between 420 and 580 °C.
Heat Recovery Steam Generator
In Heat Recovery Steam Generator highly purified water flows in tubes and the hot gases passes a around that and thus producing steam .The steam then rotates the steam turbine and coupled generator to produce Electricity. The hot gases leave the HRSG at around 140 degrees centigrade and are discharged into the atmosphere.
The steam condensing and water system is the same as in the steam power plant.
Typical Size and Configuration of CCGT Plants
The combined-cycle system includes single-shaft and multi-shaft configurations. The single-shaft system consists of one gas turbine, one steam turbine, one generator and one Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG), with the gas turbine and steam turbine coupled to the single generator on a single shaft.
Multi-shaft systems have one or more gas turbine-generators and HRSGs that supply steam through a common header to a separate single steam turbine-generator. In terms of overall investment a multi-shaft system is about 5% higher in costs.
The primary disadvantage of multiple stage combined cycle power plant is that the number of steam turbines, condensers and condensate systems-and perhaps the cooling towers and circulating water systems increases to match the number of gas turbines.
Efficency of CCGT Plant
Roughly the steam turbine cycle produces one third of the power and gas turbine cycle produces two thirds of the power output of the CCPP. By combining both gas and steam cycles, high input temperatures and low output temperatures can be achieved. The efficiency of the cycles adds, because they are powered by the same fuel source.
To increase the power system efficiency, it is necessary to optimize the HRSG, which serves as the critical link between the gas turbine cycle and the steam turbine cycle with the objective of increasing the steam turbine output. HRSG performance has a large impact on the overall performance of the combined cycle power plant.
The electric efficiency of a combined cycle power station may be as high as 58 percent when operating new and at continuous output which are ideal conditions. As with single cycle thermal units, combined cycle units may also deliver low temperature heat energy for industrial processes, district heating and other uses. This is called cogeneration and such power plants are often referred to as a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant.
The efficiency of CCPT is increased by Supplementary Firing and Blade Cooling. Supplementary firing is arranged at HRSG and in gas turbine a part of the compressed air flow bypasses and is used to cool the turbine blades. It is necessary to use part of the exhaust energy through gas to gas recuperation. Recuperation can further increase the plant efficiency, especially when gas turbine is operated under partial load.
Fuels for CCPT Plants
The turbines used in Combined Cycle Plants are commonly fuelled with natural gas and it is more versatile than coal or oil and can be used in 90% of energy applications. Combined cycle plants are usually powered by natural gas, although fuel oil, synthesis gas or other fuels can be used.
Emissions Control
Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR):
To control the emissions in the exhaust gas so that it remains within permitted levels as it enters the atmosphere, the exhaust gas passes though two catalysts located in the HRSG.
One catalyst controls Carbon Monoxide (CO) emissions and the other catalyst controls Oxides of Nitrogen, (NOx) emissions. Aqueous Ammonia – In addition to the SCR, Aqueous Ammonia (a mixture of 22% ammonia and 78% water) is injected into system to even further reduce levels of NOx.
Merits
Fuel efficiency
In conventional power plants turbines have a fuel conversion efficiency of 33% which means two thirds of the fuel burned to drive the turbine off. The turbines in combined cycle power plant have a fuel conversion efficiency of 50% or more, which means they burn about half amount of fuel as a conventional plant to generate same amount of electricity.
Low capital costs
The capital cost for building a combined cycle unit is two thirds the capital cost of a comparable coal plant.
Commercial availability
Combined cycle units are commercially available from suppliers anywhere in the world. They are easily manufactured, shipped and transported.
Abundant fuel sources
The turbines used in combined cycle plants are fuelled with natural gas, which is more versatile than a coal or oil and can be used in 90% of energy publications. To meet the energy demand now a day’s plants are not only using natural gas but also using other alternatives like bio gas derived from agriculture.
Reduced emission and fuel consumption
Combined cycle plants use less fuel per kWh and produce fewer emissions than conventional thermal power plants, thereby reducing the environmental damage caused by electricity production. Comparable with coal fired power plant burning of natural gas in CCPT is much cleaner.
Potential applications in developing countries
The potential for combined cycle plant is with industries that requires electricity and heat or stem. For example providing electricity and steam to a Sugar refining mill.
Demerits
The gas turbine can only use Natural gas or high grade oils like diesel fuel. Because of this the combined cycle can be operated only in locations where these fuels are available and cost effective. |
ST. CATHARINES, ONT.
A disgraced Niagara Regional Police officer has been fined $15,000 for his part in a scheme that involved smuggling copious quantities of cheese and chicken wings across across the border.
Casey Langelaan, 49, resigned from the police service last year after he was caught up in a large-scale smuggling operation that saw thousands of dollars worth of U.S. cheese and chicken wings smuggled into Canada and sold to Ontario restaurants.
"A man of otherwise good character has been embarrassed and shamed in his community," Judge David Harris said Friday after Langelaan pleaded guilty in a St. Catharines, Ont., courtroom to charges of evading compliance with the Canada Customs Act and possession of imported goods.
Court heard the investigation began in January 2012 and involved Niagara police, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The investigation initially focused on the cross-border activities of another NRP officer, Const. Geoff Purdie, who is now serving time behind bars in an American jail for smuggling steroids into Canada.
When investigators questioned Purdie, he offered up Langelaan, a sergeant at the time and making well over $100,000 a year, as a fellow smuggler.
But instead of smuggling steroids, court heard, Langelaan’s preference was cheese and chicken wings.
No one was interested in the poultry, court heard, but Langelaan, a resident of Fort Erie, sold the cheese to restaurants in Aylmer and Dorchester, Ont., at a profit of more than $50,000.
Lawyer Paul O’Marra described his client as a "highly respected officer" whose reputation has taken a “major hit” because of the crimes.
O’Marra said Langelaan has also suffered a blow to his pocketbook.
Canada Borders Services Agency wants him to pay a penalty of $50,000, almost three times the amount of duties and taxes the former cop didn’t pay at the border. That matter is subject to civil litigation.
His taxes were also re-assessed.
Two other people were arrested as a result of the investigation that revealed more than $200,000 worth of cheese had been purchased in the U.S. and distributed in Canada. Const. Scott Herron and Bernie Pollino are scheduled to appear in court Dec. 12.
According to the CBSA, travellers can bring back, duty free, $20 or 20 kilograms in total (whichever limit is reached first) of dairy products.
It must also be for personal consumption. If it is used for commercial purposes a permit is required and duties are charged accordingly.
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@nfallslangley |
The second week in August marked the 45th anniversary of GenCon. “The best four days in gaming” has grown more than 30 percent since 2010, with over 41,000 badges sold this year. Originally started as a small gathering of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax’s friends, GenCon now finds itself the capstone event amidst a kind of golden age for so-called hobby games. Board gamers, role-playing gamers, LARPers, and war gamers all sit shoulder to shoulder in its massive play spaces, while buskers vie for their attention on the nearly 400-strong vendor floor. Boosted by satellite events like PAX and the un-closeting of an emboldened gamer population at large, there’s plenty of room for continued growth.
Buried inside the sacred tome that is GenCon’s annual program, amidst the thousands of play sessions of new and old properties, was a listing for an entirely new event—a keynote presentation. To no one’s surprise, the keynote presentation was given by Wizards of the Coast (WotC). Their goal? To rally the faithful around their grand experiment called "D&D Next."
The time of troubles
The Dungeons & Dragons family of games has been in and out of a state of civil war throughout its history. Call them “The Edition Wars.” OD&D begat AD&D which begat Third Edition, and with each transition came, if not enmity within the ranks, then perhaps the kind of gentle chiding that siblings have for one another across the dinner table. But nothing ruined Thanksgiving quite like the row that developed over the release of Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition, colloquially known as D&D 4e.
Help shape D&D Next WotC wants Next to be an epic revitalization of D&D, so the company has made a playtest available now despite the final product being two years out. I encourage you to take a look, WotC wants Next to be an epic revitalization of D&D, so the company has made a playtest available now despite the final product being two years out. I encourage you to take a look, open for download right here
Released in 2008, this ruleset was like nothing like the ones that had come before it. It emphasized “powers” as the main element of growth for the player character (PC), a catalog of skills which changed and expanded the capabilities of a PC over time. Many of the old guard thought that these powers looked and felt a lot like the skills one might gain in an MMO, with all the buffs, debuffs, and cooldown timers that went along with them. Others lamented the game system's lack of cohesion. Elements of lore and useful rules were scattered haphazardly over dozens of books, each of which were themselves fattened with scores of magical items that began to blur together into a coagulated hunk of loot.
I dove headlong into 4e as soon as it was released, and my own campaign almost immediately became bogged down in combat. What I remembered primarily as a communal storytelling experience during my years playing D&D version 2.5 became a fairly ponderous miniatures wargame with the introduction of 4e.
Several sessions into 4e, I came to a painful realization: if it took 10 encounters to gain a level for a PC, and if our combat encounters continued to span two to four hours of play time each, it would be a very long while before we reached level 10, where great boons were granted and characters truly evolved. To make matters worse, our play space had become a riot of status indicators, books, character sheets, and decks of custom-printed power cards that made setup and teardown a chore. Four years later, we still have yet to reach level 11.
My play group’s experience is probably an extreme case, but I'm sure there are plenty of other seasoned gamer groups whose members have families and day jobs that had a similar experience with the 4e rules changes. Anecdotal evidence gleaned from my friendly local game stores, where high level campaign modules still linger on the shelves years after their initial publication, suggests that the fourth edition of D&D has mostly stalled out at retail.
Heavy weighs the head
Mike Mearls is the unassuming man tasked with breathing new life into D&D. The senior manager of research and development for D&D tends to absently brush aside the bouncy, bright shock of reddish hair that rests atop his head. Like many dungeon masters (DMs) I have played with, he is both deliberate and aloof, as likely to drift off in thought as to be preternaturally quick to respond to those around him. But like a particularly engaged classics professor, or a maniacal improv actor, he is terrifically present at the game table. During a press-only playtest on the GenCon floor, he opened up his secret stash of lore for me and a group of colleagues, sharing the introduction to a larger campaign he once played with friends, all set to the new beat of D&D Next.
You’re in a lumber town, north of the main areas of the civilized world. For years Axefold was protected by a band of druids and rangers who lived in the old wood and would hunt down orcs, goblins, and other monsters… 20 years ago a great green dragon descended upon the wood. The rangers and druids came together and fought a great, epic battle in the woods. The folk of the town could hear the thunder of spells, lighting spilling down from the sky, storm clouds gathering and the dragon’s great roar… And then there was silence.
D&D Next will be the most rigorously playtested role-playing product that WotC has ever brought to market.
In May, D&D Next launched the largest playtest that WotC has ever assembled, letting anyone sign up to download and try early ruleset and adventure material, and then share their thoughts with the development team. Armed with a set of classic pre-generated characters and only the most meager selection of rules, these testers have set out on a quixotic journey to try to break the D&D Next system before it's ready. D&D Next will be the most rigorously playtested role-playing product that WotC has ever brought to market; the company says it has already received much more feedback than it did during the entirety of the 4e beta.
Mearls and his team are serious about the business of play. Their goal is nothing short of redefining what D&D is, to return it to its core principles of exploration, adventure, and storytelling. To hear them tell it, this won't merely be another layer to cover over what has come before, but a flexible ruleset with variable complexity, perfectly capable of playing as a tactical miniatures game like 4e, or as an old school “talkie.” Without a 1-inch grid ever being rolled out on the table, and without a single ounce of pewter cast in the image of an elf or a dwarf, D&D Next games can consist entirely of the interactions between the players and the DM, of dice and words alone.
Days passed… bled into weeks… into months without any sign of the druids and rangers who once watched over the wood or the great dragon they fought. Even to this day no one is sure where this battle took place or what transpired. But most folk presume that the rangers and their allies and the dragon were all slain. And of course without all the forest’s protectors and overseers, bands of goblins, orcs, and the other creatures have slowly begun to return and threaten Axefold. |
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The Catholic nuns who ran the Bessborough mother and baby home, in County Cork, claim they were instructed in 2013 to destroy “all documents” relating to vaccine trials carried out on children in their care.
The nuns claim this instruction was issued by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA), who deny the accusation. The CICA were, at the time, examining the vaccine trials until legal action halted the investigation.
The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary made this claim, through their lawyers, in a letter to Tusla, Ireland’s the Child and Family Agency. The letter, dated January 2015, was released to the Cork-based newspaper, the Irish Examiner, under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Irish Examiner reports that in August 2014 a letter was sent by assistant principal social worker Pearl Doyle asking a series of questions in relation to material transferred by request to Tusla, in 2011. This letter was sent as the Irish Government was proposing setting up an investigation into mother and baby homes.
In the letter a total of 23 questions were posed concerning infant mortality, burials, financial records and, vaccine records. Among these questions Doyle asked where the “complete” list of vaccine records are and how children were chosen, whether the consent of the mother was obtained and, if so, where these consent forms are.
Five months later the order of nuns replied, through their lawyers, reported that they had been instructed to destroy “all documents on the advice of the CICA.
The letter stated:
“The congregation handed over all records held to the HSE [Health Service Executive]. The congregation were directed by the Commission of Inquiry into the Vaccine Trials in 2013 we believe to destroy all documents in their possession or under their control regarding the trials.”
CICA has said it issued “no such instruction.”
In 2014 a mass grave at a Catholic run home for unmarried mothers, in Tuam, County Galway, came was brought to light by local campaigners. 796 children who died between 1925 and 1961 had been buried in mass graves.
Following this horrific revelation the Mother and Baby inquiry was established. A team of three commissioners is being led by Judge Yvonne Murphy. They are investigating what happened to more than 35,000 women and children placed in these home from c. 1922 to 1998. The inquiry is examining the mothers and children’s causes of deaths at the homes, burials, vaccine trials carried out on children, how residents ended up there, how they were treated and where they went afterwards will all form part of the mammoth inquiry.
Former residents from some of the 14 homes around Ireland have begun giving evidence in private. The full report is expected in August 2016 along with a social history of the homes.
Here’s a 2014 report by RTE’s investigative current affairs show, Prime Time: |
What is Bourbon virus?
Bourbon virus belongs to a group of viruses called thogotoviruses. Viruses in this group are found all over the world. A few of these viruses can cause people to get sick.
How do people get infected with Bourbon virus?
We do not yet fully know how people become infected with Bourbon virus. However, based on what we know about similar viruses, it is likely that Bourbon virus is spread through tick or other insect bites.
Where have cases of Bourbon virus disease occurred?
As of June 2018, a limited number of Bourbon virus disease cases have been identified in the Midwest and southern United States. At this time, we do not know if the virus might be found in other areas of the United States.
Bourbon Virus
What are the symptoms of Bourbon virus?
Because there have been few cases identified thus far, scientists are still learning about possible symptoms caused by this new virus. People diagnosed with Bourbon virus disease had symptoms including fever, tiredness, rash, headache, other body aches, nausea, and vomiting. They also had low blood counts for cells that fight infection and help prevent bleeding.
Who is at risk for infection with Bourbon virus?
People likely become infected with Bourbon virus when they are bitten by a tick or other insect. Therefore, people who do not take steps to protect themselves from tick or insect bites when they work or spend time outside may be more likely to be infected.
How can people reduce the chance of becoming infected with Bourbon virus?
There is no vaccine or drug to prevent or treat Bourbon virus disease. Therefore, preventing bites from ticks and other insects may be the best way to prevent infection. Here are ways to protect yourself from tick and other bug bites when you are outdoors:
Use insect repellents
Wear long sleeves and pants
Avoid bushy and wooded areas
Perform thorough tick checks after spending time outdoors
Additional information on reducing exposure to ticks is available on the CDC Ticks website.
How do I know if I have been infected with Bourbon virus?
Tests that will help a doctor diagnose Bourbon virus infection are currently under development. See your healthcare provider if you have any symptoms that concern you.
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What is the treatment for Bourbon virus disease?
Because there is no medicine to treat Bourbon virus disease, doctors can only treat the symptoms. For example, some patients may need to be hospitalized and given intravenous fluids and treatment for pain and fever. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses, including Bourbon virus.
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What should I do if I think someone might be infected with Bourbon virus?
See your healthcare provider if you have any symptoms that concern you.
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Can Bourbon virus cause animals to become ill?
Scientists do not yet know what animals can get infected or become sick from Bourbon virus. Studies are ongoing to look at this. See your veterinarian if your pet or livestock have any symptoms that concern you.
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Information about Bourbon virus for healthcare providers
Bourbon virus is a novel RNA virus in the genus Thogotovirus (family Orthomyxoviridae) that was discovered in Bourbon County, Kansas in 2014.
Epidemiology
There have been a limited number of Bourbon virus disease cases identified in the United States. Most patients reported exposure to ticks before becoming ill.
Clinical Signs and Symptoms
Patients with Bourbon virus have reported fever, fatigue, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and maculopapular rash. They were also found to have thrombocytopenia and leukopenia. Based on the patient’s clinical signs and symptoms, they were thought to have a tickborne disease. Some of the patients found to be infected with Bourbon virus have died during their acute illness.
Treatment and Outcome
Currently there are no specific medications or therapies for Bourbon virus disease. Supportive therapy is recommended for any patient suspected of having Bourbon virus disease.
Diagnosis
There is no routine testing available for Bourbon virus. However, protocols are in place to allow people to be tested for evidence of Bourbon virus infections. Please contact your state health department if you have a patient with an acute illness that might be compatible with Bourbon virus infection.
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Bourbon virus resources
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FC Barcelona and Rakuten Inc., a dynamic global company leading the way in e-commerce, communications, digital content and FinTech services for consumers and businesses around the world, have reached an agreement for the Japanese company to become the main global sponsor of the Club and to appear on the front of the first team’s jersey for the next four seasons, beginning in 2017/18.
The agreement was formalized today, Wednesday, in a ceremony held at the Auditorium 1899 in the presence of the President of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Manel Arroyo, the Vice President responsible for Marketing and Media of FC Barcelona, and the Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani. The partnership agreement links the Club with Rakuten from the 2017/18 season until the 2020/21 season, with the option of a further one-year extension. As a result of this agreement, FC Barcelona will annually receive €55m plus title incentives for the duration of the four-year contract. This agreement will be ratified at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Club Members to be held in the near future.
Rakuten, Inc. (TSE: 4755) is one of the world's leading internet services companies. Founded in Japan in 1997, it offers a wide variety of services for consumers and businesses with a focus on e-commerce, finance, and digital content. Since 2012, Rakuten has been ranked among the world’s ‘Top 20 Most Innovative Companies’ in Forbes magazine’s annual list. With its vision of being a global innovation company, Rakuten is continually expanding worldwide.
Given their strong innovation credentials, Rakuten will be FCB’s first Global Innovation and Entertainment Partner. Rakuten will support the players and delight FC Barcelona fans and members with new initiatives showcasing the company’s technological prowess in messaging, drones, e-commerce, AI and much more. These initiatives will draw on Rakuten’s global resources. In Europe, the Japanese business is present in companies such as Viber, the mobile messaging and calling app; Wuaki, the video-streaming service established in Barcelona and now available in 12 countries; PriceMinister, one of France’s leading e-commerce sites; and Kobo, a global digital e-reading service now available in 12 European countries. Across the globe, Rakuten companies in Japan and the US include the Rakuten Ichiba e-commerce marketplace, the US-based shopping cashback service Ebates, and Overdrive, a distributor of eBooks to libraries. These brands will also provide invaluable support to the partnership.
Rakuten company Viber, the global mobile messaging and calling app, will also become FC Barcelona’s Official Communications Channel.
Statements by Josep Maria Bartomeu, President of FC Barcelona
"We are delighted with our agreement with Rakuten, a global brand in innovation whose experience and know-how in the fields of big data, communications and e-commerce will contribute to the future success of FC Barcelona”.
“This agreement puts us at the forefront of sports club sponsorships, which has always been an objective for the current Board of Directors. We hope this partnership between Rakuten and FC Barcelona brings unparalleled sporting and commercial success, and helps the club achieve its goal of being a reference point worldwide".
Statements by Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten Inc.:
“This partnership opportunity is set to power our global brand strategy and, more importantly, as the Global Innovation and Entertainment Partner, we are looking to bring the collective power of our brands like Viber, Wuaki, Ebates, Kobo, PriceMinister to build a cool innovation framework that will deliver innovative solutions and services to fans, members and players”.
“I am very excited about joining the Barça community as I have personally followed the team for decades and have long admired their unique playing style and professionalism, their commitment to success and their culture of nurturing young talent – all values we share at Rakuten”. |
(Courtesy of Cristo Rey Tampa High School )
Cristo Rey Schools Bring Promise of Catholic Education to Those Who Can’t Afford It
Catholic education is seeing a revival in urban communities, thanks to a Jesuit-inspired model founded on an alliance between the Catholic Church and corporate America.
PETER JESSERER SMITH
TAMPA, Fla. — Dominick and Michelle Alesandrini dreamt of sending their son Joseph to a Catholic high school. For years, the Catholic couple had scrimped and saved to put their boy through the Catholic elementary school where Michelle worked as an educator.
However, the couple realized they could not afford the tuition for Tampa’s Catholic high schools on Michelle’s teaching wages and Dominick’s property maintenance and repair business. They saw their hopes for Joseph’s education slipping away.
“We’re both Catholic, and we were raised Catholic,” Michelle told the Register in early August. “We don’t want to raise just a good citizen and a good person, but a good Catholic, as well … so where your child goes to school is important.”
However, as the Alesandrinis wondered what to do, they discovered a new kind of Catholic school — a Catholic college-preparatory school specifically tailored for families with low incomes — that opened its doors in August 2016: Cristo Rey Tampa High School.
“We just felt this was an answer to a prayer for us,” Alesandrini said.
Joseph Alesandrini, 14, has joined the 93 students who form the inaugural class of Cristo Rey Tampa High School, which is one of two new college-preparatory schools to open this year for the Cristo Rey Network. The other is Cristo Rey Baton Rouge Franciscan High School in Louisiana.
The Cristo Rey Network serves more than 10,000 students in 21 states and the District of Columbia. It is a network of 32 Catholic college-preparatory high schools with enrollment limited to youth from urban low-income families.
But the mechanism that makes Cristo Rey schools unique is the Corporate Work-Study Program. Students have longer school hours for four days and then work one day a week in a professional setting, which allows them to earn 60% of their tuition. The remainder of tuition comes from scholarships, donors and a minimum contribution from parents calculated by an approved third party.
Cristo Rey Tampa
Charles Imbergamo, president and CEO of Cristo Rey High School Tampa, told the Register that getting the school ready to open was “an incredibly exciting ride.” The classrooms are all equipped with Wi-Fi, and students have all of their textbooks contained on their own Google Chromebooks, eliminating the need to carry around backpacks.
“We raised a lot of that philanthropy on a dream, and now it is a reality,” Imbergamo said.
They had raised $3.5 million to start, but the dream would not have been possible without the support of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Fla. The Cristo Rey Network strives to guarantee the Catholic identity of its schools with two mechanisms: The school has to have the authorization of the local bishop, in this case Bishop Robert Lynch, and a religious order or diocese must sponsor the school and oversee the religious instruction, sacramental life and spiritual formation of the students. At Cristo Rey Tampa, the Salesians sponsor the school.
The Cristo Rey Network has also received the endorsement of leading U.S. Church figures, such as Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta. Archbishop Gregory previously told the Register that the network is helping the Church deliver the promise of Catholic education to underserved families of black and Latino youth living in impoverished urban neighborhoods. According to the network’s data, 97% of students are either black, Latino or multiracial. Although the cost of living varies from place to place, the average family income is close to $35,000.
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City told the Register that he discovered many low-income Latino Catholic parents could not afford to send their children to Catholic high schools in Oklahoma City even though they wanted to. Many had sent their children to Catholic elementary schools, but the higher tuition of high schools made Catholic high-school education out of reach for them.
That was a serious problem for the archbishop: The essence of Catholic education has always been to evangelize youth and provide them a high-caliber education and spiritual formation regardless of their faith, income status or ethnic and racial background.
“What caught my attention about the Cristo Rey model was that it targets the low-income and minority students,” he said, pointing out that they have growing Latino and African-American populations in Oklahoma City. “It’s a unique educational model and thoroughly Catholic.”
A Ticket Out of Poverty
Regina Burcham acted as liaison between the Oklahoma City Archdiocese and the network during the feasibility study — the process Cristo Rey makes applicants go through to make sure they have met all the benchmarks to build a successful Cristo Rey school. She told the Register that the low-income families they surveyed wanted their children to have a Catholic education that would prepare them for college, give them moral and spiritual formation and provide them with valuable skills and the experience of a professional work environment.
“They communicated to us that a college degree is their ticket out of generational poverty,” she said. Even though Oklahoma City has a very low Catholic population, the archdiocese discovered that they had “overwhelmingly positive” support from both low- and moderate-income families, as well as philanthropists and corporations, wanting to make this dream a reality.
Burcham, who is now the Corporate Work Study director, said she has lined up 35 corporate employers, including Boeing, Loves and various hospitals and law firms.
“Students love the jobs, because they start connecting the professional environment with their education,” she said.
Cristo Rey Oklahoma City High School has met all the benchmarks and plans to open its doors in August 2017, as the 33rd high school of the Cristo Rey Network. It will welcome 125 new freshmen its first year.
“Whether students are Catholic or not, they will be exposed to the Catholic faith, the Gospel message and the teachings of the Church, in an integral way with their educational experience,” Archbishop Coakley said.
The Cristo Rey high school will complement other efforts in Catholic education — not replace them. Families who can afford the tuition of a regular Catholic school will have to send their children there. Students are only eligible for Cristo Rey schools if their families cannot afford a Catholic education — or, in the words of founder and Jesuit Father John Foley, “If you can afford to come here, then you can’t come.”
Cristo Rey’s History
The Cristo Rey Network’s story begins in the poverty-stricken Pilsen neighborhood of southwest Chicago. Jane Genster, president and CEO of the Cristo Rey Network, told the Register that the Jesuits learned that parents “wanted their children to be professionals in this country.”
The challenge the Jesuits faced was that 1996 was not 1956. Catholic schools no longer had legions of unpaid teaching religious subsidizing the cost of education. So they devised another way — an alliance with the private sector that, over the course of 20 years, has resulted in more than 2,300 corporate partners and 46 university partners. As Cristo Rey schools spread, they systematized their approach, raised their standards of academic excellence, increased retention rates and developed post-graduation support to college-bound alumni.
Genster said the goal is to create a Cristo Rey model that retains low-income students (in all their varied situations), alongside their Catholic high-school counterparts serving middle-income to upper-income students. That goal is 90% over four years. So far, they are nearing their interim goal of 70% — but Genster pointed out that students who make it to their junior year nearly always graduate.
More than 90% of Cristo Rey graduates from the Class of 2009 enrolled in college, and 36% of the Class of 2009 completed their bachelor’s degree within six years. Although this college graduation rate is 2.5 times the rate of their low-income peers, the Cristo Rey Network wants outcomes to be on par with upper-income students by achieving a 70% six-year college completion rate for its Class of 2020. Genster said they are developing new tools and resources to help college-attending alumni find the right college or university for them and navigate the challenges that come with pursuing their degrees. The loss of a scholarship, Genster said, can derail a low-income student’s college career. But Cristo Rey high schools now have paid alumni advisers that work with graduates to solve problems with the right strategies and get back on track.
“It’s ambitious, but our view is that we should be ambitious for our young people,” she said.
Bright Futures Ahead
A Cristo Rey education made a profound impact on the life of Dominique Jordan, 25, who graduated from Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles in 2009. An African-American native of Inglewood, Calif., Jordan went to Georgetown University on a Gates Millennial Scholarship and obtained a double major in finances and management. He now has a career as a wealth adviser at Morgan Stanley, as well as a small business that handles investment planning for first responders.
Jordan said he benefited from the “Cura personalis mindset” at his Cristo Rey alma mater, where he and others were formed academically, spiritually and professionally. His own experience in the work-study program at Merrill Lynch developed his passion for the world of finance. Although he is not Catholic, he said Verbum Dei encouraged his love for Jesus as a Christian.
He added that his success was the answer to his single mother’s prayers. Since he has been given much, he has given much back in return, helping his mother raise his little sister and setting up his own nonprofit, the D.J. J.D. Foundation, to help other high-school students learn about finances, the financial market and how to set and achieve their own goals.
“Eleven years ago, if you told me I’d be where I am today, I probably would have laughed at you,” he said. “But in the Cristo Rey Network, there’s no telling where it will lead you.”
Peter Jesserer Smith is a Register staff writer.
INFORMATION
Those who are interested in bringing Cristo Rey to their area should reach out to Cristo’s school-growth team.
Brian Melton ([email protected]) is chief network growth officer and general counsel.
Constance Croghan ([email protected]) is school-growth project manager.
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I write that as a preamble to my response to the Black Trump Supporter who chastised you for your coverage of Trump. [JF note: It was from a man named Jamie Douglas, here .] In criticizing your coverage, he points out problems afflicting America and African Americans, in particular. He makes some valid points about the relative (a term to be stressed) success of Black Caribbean and Nigerian immigrants compared to African Americans with long family histories in this country. Smarter people than I will engage on this point. I will only point out that his observations are not reasons to support Donald Trump. They are, at best, reasons to punish Democrats and to “stick it” to those Blacks with whom you’ve disagreed over the years. [JF: I assume this is the impersonal “you,” like on in French or “with whom one has disagreed...” in English. Rather than meant for me!]
Spaniards tend to respect the U.S. Even those who view the U.S. as a malign force think of it as an incredibly capable country filled with smart (if misguided) people. Mr. Trump’s success is not something they can easily reconcile.
I was in Spain this past week, where the collective question about the U.S. political campaign can only be translated as “WTF?” While I am not familiar with members of the entire political spectrum in Spain, my acquaintances are generally shocked at the recklessness and the intellectual vapidity of one of our leading political candidates.
2. Why the Berlusconi comparison is so useful. An American reader who has been in Europe writes:
Why don’t journalists ask Trump surrogates to address Trump’s repeated view that he would advocate torture and killing of families of known terrorists? This seems as abhorrent as any of his positions. Maybe I have missed it but I have never, for example, heard a reporter ask Pence whether he supports this extreme position at odds with basic tenets of civilized behavior, Geneva Convention, rule of law, the reason why we fought WWII, etc.
Seventy days (plus a few hours) until the election, with something like the “real” campaign beginning, these thoughts arrive from readers on how the nation, the party, the press, and others reckon with the reality of a candidate Trump.
Even the reference to immigration (“Illegal immigration has badly hurt the employment prospects and cultural standing of black Americans. I cannot see how any serious person could argue otherwise,” [as the Black Trump Supporter wrote]). I happen to agree that immigration (legal and illegal) has hurt the employment of working-class and unskilled Americans, Blacks included. I believe that the broad studies that focus on wages miss the other reasons that employers select low-skilled laborers (working conditions and deference to authority, for example). But Mr. Douglas doesn’t support his argument with facts, only rhetoric. So, while I can accept his assertion regarding employment (because of my own research and educational background in economics), I nearly spit out my coffee when he mentioned “cultural standing.” Look, African Americans have a lot of problems in this country and continue to deal with issues of institutionalized racism, individual racism, police brutality, plus all of the other problems shared by the poor. But if someone would like to define “cultural standing” for me and then explain, not only how that standing is low for African Americans but how it is worse since the Civil Rights Era due to unchecked immigration, I am all ears! Which brings me back to my opening remarks. As I explained to my Spanish friends, you have to understand the depth of Trump’s support in two ways: The first is his exceptional, if unconventional, rhetorical skills and brand management. When I compare him to Berlusconi, they get it immediately. The second, and this is where I believe Mr. Douglas comes in based solely on what was published in your Note, is that Americans don't “do policy,” by and large, as an electorate. They “do feelings” and “teams.” Sometimes you vote for your team and sometimes you vote against the other team. Mr. Douglas’s opinions are perfectly valid as opinions. In fact, I suspect we’d agree on more than few things. They are not, however, reasons to support Trump based on anything one could reasonably argue that a Trump presidency would do (see current back-pedaling on Immigration Policy). Rather, they are reasons to support Trump as a sharp stick in the eye of those with whom you’ve disagreed for many years. Maybe you can’t prove them wrong (hell, that would take actual policy work) but you can make them lose. And on November 9th, that will be good enough. On January 20, 2017, however, and for the years after, it won’t nearly be enough.
***
3. The candidate of the future. The preceding note says that the end of the Trump candidacy won’t be the end of Trumpism. Another reader to similar effect:
I was curious to see where Mr. Trump would take [his campaign]. Unfortunately, he seems to be stuck on neutral. That is unfortunate. But he epitomizes the future. The Celebrity as candidate. What is unresolved is the neglected portion of poor working-class whites who found a channel. The Republican Party neglected them. They will still be there. I thought he had a chance if he was able to get 30 percent of the black vote. I thought that was achievable. Now it seems remote. Maybe the status quo remains. For now. But not much longer. The pivot is being made historically from the statesman/politician to business leadership. The building of corporate transnationalism and the inability of the nation-state to adequately manage this change bodes for severe transformation. I am unsure of how it will play out. However, anger and frustration is building in the heartland. At least from Nashville, Indianapolis and Tennessee. The less affluent are my clientele. I give them access to a piece of the American Dream. I resell big box stuff. My clients are the New Americans: Africans from different parts; Latinos, of which I am now adapted as a dual citizen of Costa Rica; and from other parts. I sell to the New Native Americans: natives of all types and parts of the country. And all is not well. The economy is well enough at this moment to keep the lid from popping off. Let the next economic downturn happen, and I am unsure of how it will play out.
***
4. Take a stand. Earlier this month I quoted a reader who said that stricter measures were needed to shun or ostracize the Vichy Republicans, the people like Paul Ryan or Pat Toomey who beyond question know what is wrong with Donald Trump but who still officially stand with him. In reply I explained why I thought the most sensible thing someone like me could do is simply to lay out the record, making clear who knows what as the campaign unfolds.
The reader isn’t buying it, and is back for more:
I appreciate your including my message of August 11 (below) in your “Trump Nation” posting of August 12, including your detailed response. [Various other complimentary set-up remarks...] At the same time, I wonder if you are entirely satisfied with where your response leaves the issue, since it appears to have some limitations. For one thing, the idea that supporting Trump will be “be part of [the] record” for Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and others seems really inadequate as a means of motivating them to denounce Trump. Were they to do so, they would risk serious and immediate professional and personal consequences; given the nature of Trump’s supporters, even violent attack would be possible. The prospect of some general taint on their record, with unspecified consequences, is a very weak deterrent. Certainly Eisenhower, in the case you cited, did not sustain any obvious damage for his cowardice in 1953; he was triumphantly re-elected in 1956 and had an honored retirement. As well, this concept fails the test of justice. As you and others (such as the Southern Poverty Law Center) have documented, real people are suffering now from Trump’s effects on the country—let alone the potentially world-historical evils that would result from his election. (McCarthy, whom you mention, did not have the nuclear-launch codes.) Yet your concept leaves those who are supporting him, and who are thus complicit in these evils, with no immediate punishment at all. And finally, deferring a reckoning in this way really seems, with respect, to let those who have so forcefully denounced these scoundrels (the word is not too harsh, given the indictment presented) off the hook. If you are right in describing their conduct as despicable, then they should be publicly despised—and that despisal should be ongoing and constantly reinforced. After all, the fact that other and better people might save the country from the worst results of their bad conduct by defeating Trump on November 8 does not reduce their culpability. And those most involved in making the case against them would seem to have an obligation, if they take their own words seriously, to lead the continuing effort to shame them, especially since these critics have access to public fora with which to do so. The mark of dishonor you correctly believe should attach to Ryan, McConnell, and others will not appear on its own, nor will it be applied by God like the fabled mark of Cain. It will take real effort to resist the tendency, on November 9, to “let bygones be bygones.” And those of us who believe, as I do and as you and others seem to imply, that such an attitude would be a real error have to look to you, Michael Gerson, Jennifer Rubin, and others to use your voices to avert it and to continue to hold these people to account. I realize that commentators who take such a position toward figures with major institutional political power risk consequences to themselves; but that would seem to be the price of the stand you and others have so honorably taken. I hope you will reconsider the approach you outlined on August 12 in favor of a more active position toward those in prominent positions who surely know better, but who are continuing to do nothing to prevent the damage Trump's candidacy is causing, and the far worse damage it threatens in future.
To respond briefly: Yes, I think it contemptible that the likes of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Reince Priebus, Marco Rubio, and Tom Cotton (along with most incumbent GOP senators); Chris Christie and Mike Pence (along with most incumbent GOP governors); and other people who clearly know better are abetting Trump in this campaign and increasing the chance he might actually win office. In my view, they will always deserve the contempt they are earning with this Vichy-like accommodation—and Republicans and conservatives who have stood against Trump will always deserve respect for their stand (even from those who disagree with them on many other fronts).
But in practical terms, I don’t know what more someone in the press who is opposed to Trump is supposed to do. Does Paul Ryan spend one second worrying about what I think? Does Mitch McConnell spend one nanosecond? Chris Christie might feel bad that his fellow Springsteen fan Jeff Goldberg is calling him one of the “hollow men.” He doesn’t care if I say so.
I made a similar point to this reader, when saying that I would quote his followup. He replied this way:
To be clear: I’m not suggesting that you should take some kind of public lead in a political sense (for example, in trying to remove Trump’s enablers from office). Rather, I simply hope that you and others who have been so prominent in making the case against the enablers’ behavior should not drop the issue on November 9, regardless of the outcome of the election. If that’s what you mean by “laying out the case in public,” that may be the most you can do.
Fair enough. As I say, it’s 70-plus days until the election, and then a whole national history beginning the next day. |
It appears that Daniel Kelly will be in search of a new opponent for his hometown fight at UFC 193 in November.
Kelly (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) was set to meet Brazil’s Ricardo Abreu (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the card. But on Friday, Abreu told MMAjunkie that a rib injury will keep him from fighting Kelly at the Australia event.
UFC officials have not yet made an announcement of Abreu’s withdrawal from the event, and he is still listed as Kelly’s opponent on the official fight card at UFC.com.
UFC 193 takes place Sunday, Nov. 15, in Melbourne, Australia. Due to the time difference, the pay-per-view main card, which follows prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass, airs in the U.S. on Saturday, Nov. 14. UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey meets Holly Holm in the main event, and women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk takes on Valerie Letourneau in the co-feature.
Abreu was looking to get back on track after the first loss of his pro career. He started his career 5-0, including a win over Wagner Silva at the TUF: Brazil 3 Finale. But in June, he dropped a split decision to Jake Collier at UFC Fight Night 68.
Kelly, a four-time Olympian in judo from Melbourne, is looking to rebound from his first MMA loss. He won his first two UFC fights with a submission of Luke Zachrich and a decision over Patrick Walsh. But in May, Sam Alvey stopped him with a 49-second TKO in Australia.
The latest UFC 193 card now includes:
Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm – for women’s bantamweight title
Champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Valerie Letourneau – for strawweight title
Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva
Michael Bisping vs. Robert Whittaker
Akbarh Arreola vs. Jake Matthews
Kyle Noke vs. Peter Sobotta
Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante
Daniel Kelly vs. TBA
Steven Kennedy vs. Richard Walsh
Jared Rosholt vs. Stefan Struve
James Moontasri vs. Brendan O’Reilly
Danny Martinez vs. Richie Vaculik
Ryan Benoit vs. Ben Nguyen
For more on UFC 193, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site. |
FILE - In this May 16, 2011 file photo, the Wal-Mart logo is displayed in Springfield, Ill. Since the start of the recession in Dec. 2007, S&P 500 companies have borrowed an additional 40 cents for every dollar they've hoarded in cash. For many companies, debt has risen more than cash. Drugmaker Pfizer added $3.5 billion to cash from the start of the recession through June. But it added $28 billion of debt, according to FactSet. PepsiCo added $22 billion more debt than cash. Hewlett-Packard added $16 billion more, Wal-Mart $6.5 billion. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)
I was recently struck by the juxtaposition of three news events: the Black Friday labor protests against Wal-Mart, Mac McCelland's horrific article about online shipping warehouses published in Mother Jones and the announcement the Rocco Landesman, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts was stepping down at the end of the year. While the connection between the first two events is probably obvious -- on the heels of the Mitt Romney campaign, throwing a spotlight on the brutality of our global economy is long overdue -- the link to the arts may be less so. Nevertheless, I would assert that over the past two decades we have seen the Wal-Marting of the American theater, and the resignation of Landesman presents an opportunity for President Obama to appoint someone who will address a level of centralization and homogenization that is killing the theatre in the United States.
In chapter two of Thomas Friedman's valentine to the global economy, The World Is Flat, Friedman lists as "Flattener #7" what he calls "supply-chaining," which he illustrates by describing his visit to Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, AR. He writes:
My Wal-Mart hosts took me over to the 1.2-million-square-foot distribution center, where we climbed up to a viewing perch and watched the show. On one side of the building, scores of white Wal-Mart trailer trucks were dropping off boxes of merchandise from thousands of different suppliers. Boxes large and small were fed up a conveyor belt at each loading dock. These little conveyor belts fed into a bigger conveyor belt, like streams feeding into a powerful river. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the suppliers trucks feed the twelve miles of conveyor streams, and the conveyor streams feed into a huge Wal-Mart river of boxed products. But that is just half the show. As the Wal-Mart river flows along, an electric eye reads the bar codes on each box on its way to the other side of the building. There, the river parts again into a hundred streams. Electric arms from each stream reach out and guide the boxes -- ordered by particular Wal-Mart stores -- off the main river and down its stream, where another conveyor belt sweeps them into a waiting Wal-Mart truck, which will rush these particular products onto the shelves of a particular Wal-Mart store somewhere in the country. There, a consumer will lift one of these products off the shelf, and the cashier will scan it in, and the moment that happens, a signal will be generated. That signal will go out across the Wal-Mart network to the supplier of that product -- whether that supplier's factory is in coastal China or coastal Maine. That signal will pop up on the supplier's computer screen and prompt him to make another of that item and ship it via the Wal-Mart supply chain, and the whole cycle will start anew.
I was reminded of Friedman's chillingly gee-whiz paragraph when I was listening to Tony Award-winning actress Beth Leavel's keynote speech at the 2009 Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) convention delivered to hundreds of adoring high school and college theater students from across the Southeast. During a Q and A session following her speech, she responded to a question from a young man who was wondering whether he ought to go to Chicago rather than New York to pursue his dreams. Leavis responded, "All I know is that if I want to work in Chicago, I have to be in New York; if I want to work in Seattle, which is a great theater town, I have to be in New York; if I want to work in my home town of Raleigh, I have to be in New York."
It occurred to me, as I watched a sea of attractive, youthful heads registering her implicit advice about what their career destination should be, that New York City is the Bentonville of the theater world. As in Friedman's description above, theater educators across America, from high school teachers to undergraduate departments to grad schools, represent the "thousands of different suppliers" who ship their "products" (i.e., their students) from all parts of the nation to New York where they feed the theatrical conveyor belt "like streams into a powerful river." The business of theater educators is to export a "quality product" that will be accepted by New York headquarters. Once there, if the "product" is "lucky" enough to be chosen, it is plucked from the big conveyor belt and shipped to the specific regional theater or touring production that needs that particular product. Once that product has been plucked and successfully consumed at its final destination, the call is communicated back to the student's originating theater department to create another one like him or her, and, as Friedman says glowingly, "the whole cycle will start anew." Advertisements by "prestigious" theater departments will appear in American Theatre Magazine crowing "our graduates work," showing a picture of the successful product prominently displayed with their credit as proof of the value of their training. If we did it once, the ad implies, we can do it again.
The effect of the Wal-Mart supply chain on commerce is well-documented: local businesses are destroyed, money is taken out of the local economy to flow back to headquarters, wages are depressed and unique cultural products are replaced by homogeneous national brands. Go to any Wal-Mart in America and you will find basically the same products displayed in the same way and at the same low price. The Wal-Marted theater scene is no different.
Instead of local arts organizations run by and staffed by artists whose lives are made within a specific community and whose artistic vision is informed by that community, Wal-Mart-style regional theaters and their big-box counterparts, the touring houses who sell Broadway remounts, import generic artists from NYC to do generic plays for a short run after which they depart never to be seen again, taking the community's money with them. This is the system being celebrated by Beth Leavel, as well as every theater instructor who dazzles their young charges with visions of Tony Awards. This is the system that monologist Mike Daisey dissected in How Theater Failed America.
Admittedly, only a fool would assert that New York City isn't currently the dominant city of the American theater, in the same way that Wal-Mart is the dominant retailer. But many would argue that Wal-Mart isn't good for America, and I would argue that neither is Wal-Mart theater. And like the business leaders and legislators who promote Wal-Mart as an economic engine bringing jobs to depressed areas despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, theater artists and educators who continue to promote this system are contributing to the homogenization of the American theater.
Let me give a specific example of this homogenization in action, one that is reinforced by educators as well as so-called conventional wisdom. Beth Leavel, who was born in Raleigh NC and got her undergraduate degree at Meredith College in her hometown and her graduate degree at UNC Greensboro, recounted how she was told by her teachers that in order to work in NYC, she had to get rid of her North Carolina accent. As anyone who had been through a theater program knows, this is common practice. Yet more than anything else I can think of, the way a person speaks reflects their background, the place where they were raised, their past and their people. To erase this in favor of a "neutral," so-called "standard American" accent that has the flavor of no place, no background, no history and no class is to erase a person's uniqueness in favor of generic blandness.
This saddens me. There are few things more beautiful than a regional accent with its musicality, vowels, consonants and diphthongs and special vocabulary. There are certain sentences that soar when said in the elongated sounds of the south (listen to the sermons of Martin Luther King, Jr. for an example of this), other sentences crackle when said in the staccato nasality of Chicago or Boston, and still others that resonate with the rounded vowels of the upper midwest. But we sacrifice all that richness in order to provide the neutrality necessary to work within a centralized system with no roots, no sense of place.
Like speech, stories are enriched by a regional flavor that gives them the juice of life. This is reflected not only in the rhythms and vocabulary used, but in their very subject matter, moral values and ways of portraying emotion. When a story is put through the filter of a non-localized system, it is neutralized as certainly as Beth Leavel's lost accent, and it becomes "standard American." It loses a sense of uniqueness, its specificity.
There is another way. For instance, there currently is a broad movement directed toward strengthening local economies which focuses on local food, local businesses and local identity. Advocates argue that a centralized, specialized, homogenized, globalized world makes our lives poorer and less interesting, and does untold damage to our natural, social and cultural environment. I would argue that entertainment should be added to that list. As author and farmer Wendell Berry once said in an interview, "In a truly grounded, locally adapted culture, the artists would be the rememberers. They would memorialize great occasions, preserve necessary insights and so on." To be a rememberer means to have roots in a place.
As the search for a replacement for Rocco Landesman begins, I call on those who will narrow the list of nominees to seek someone who will promote local over national in all of the arts and begin to restore the source of what is most vibrant in the arts -- the local flavors that reflect specific places in the American landscape. Let the mass media focus on creating homogenized products for mass consumption. |
New Delhi: Since the Narendra Modi government came to power, access to information through the Right to Information (RTI) Act has diminished greatly, according to the annual report of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for 2014-15. The number of instances where information was denied for reasons other than those permitted under the Act has risen. The level of dissatisfaction with the information provided by public information officers (PIOs) and the reduction in the penalties imposed on PIOs for not furnishing relevant information has also increased, indicating a concerted effort to curtail the flow of information in response to applications.
Although the report is not yet available online, Venkatesh Nayak, of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’s access to information programme, obtained a copy on request from the CIC.
Incidentally, Modi and RTI do not seem to go well together. The Guajarat RTI commission suffered from shortage of commissioners throughout Modi’s tenure as the chief minister. Similarly, due to differences with the Centre, Gujarat did not have an ombudsman, or Lokayukta, for much of Modi’s rule.
Increase in rejections
In conversation with The Wire, Nayak spoke at length about his concerns over the deliberate attempts being made to deny information to applicants. This, he said, is reflected in the high percentage of cases where the reason for rejection of the application was “other” than section 8 (personal information), section 9 (personal copyright), section 11 (third party), and sections 24 and 25 (exempt organisations) of the RTI Act.
While 755,247 RTI applications were received by the reporting public authorities in 2014-15 (79,000 fewer than those received in 2013-14), nearly 8.4% of these were rejected (up from 7.2% in the previous year), Nayak said. However, what was disturbing was the number of rejections (28,444) under the non-exempt category, an increase of over 6% from 2013-14.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) accounts for almost all (99%) of rejections under the “other” category. Of the 12,674 applications received by the PMO, 22.10% were rejected, 1% of which was under the exempt category.
Rejections under the “others” category increased despite the CIC having previously called for a deeper examination of this problem as the RTI Act does not permit the rejection of RTI applications for reason than those specified. However, the 2014-15 annual report makes no mention of the increase. “Strangely, the CIC states that the increase is only 1% in this category as compared to the previous year (para 2.4.5 on page 12) whereas a comparison between the figures for 2013-14 and 2014-15 under “others” category clearly shows an increase of 6.2% even though fewer public authorities registered and reported their RTI statistics to the CIC,” Nayak said.
“On the face of it, this comparative figure appears to support the anecdotal experiences of many an RTI users and activists that public authorities under the government of India have begun rejecting more RTI applications under the NDA regime. However this trend requires deeper analysis to ascertain whether the rejections were justified under the law or were simply anti-transparency bureaucratic responses,” he added.
Dissatisfaction with CIC
Even when information was provided to applicants, it was usually not to their satisfaction, said Nayak, which is best reflected by the number of first appeals filed with various public authorities.
During 2014-15, 86,944 first appeals were filed, 96% of which were cleared in the same year. “When compared with the total number of rejections (sections, 8, 9, 11, 24 and “others” included) at 8.40% at the PIO stage, the proportion of first appeals filed stands at 11.78%, indicating a more than 3% increase. This shows that a large number of RTI applicants were dissatisfied with the responses of the PIOs even though they did not invoke any exemption to reject their RTI applications,” Nayak said.
Besides, in the last few years the CIC has stopped giving detailed orders with background information on the submissions made by both the parties and the arguments. “This not only impacted the coverage of orders by the media, it also prevented the creation of a data pool of judgments which could be easily referred to for reference in the future,” he said.
The CIC has also not been publishing data on how it decides the second appeals and complaints received. In 2014-15, it received 35,396 appeals and complaints cases, 20,181 of which were decided during the year. However, no data is available on how the cases were cleared – in how many cases the appeal or complaint was upheld and information ordered to be disclosed, and in how many case the appeal or complaint was rejected. “This continuing trend of lack of publication of data about the outcome of the cases decided by the CIC year after year is preventing any informed discussion on whether the CIC is ordering disclosure of information more and more or otherwise,” said Nayak.
While these trends point to a decline in the overall functioning of the information delivery mechanism, the fines imposed on errant PIOs for not revealing information has shown a decline of 61% during the year. The penalties imposed by the CIC on PIOs dropped to 739,000 rupees in 2014-15 from 19,25,000 rupees in 2013-14. Nayak, however, said it was not clear whether the reduction in the number of penalties was due to better compliance by the PIOs or a more lenient attitude adopted by the information commissioners.
Other trends
There have been developments that point to a larger effort to restrict the access to information and move away from transparency in governance, Nayak said, adding, “The RTI Act provides for having people from different walks of life as information commissioners. But you find that most of them are retired bureaucrats. And to exclude others like academicians, lawyers, rights activists and journalists from becoming commissioners, the Cabinet Secretariat introduced the eligibility criteria of 30 years work in one field, which favoured the retired civil servants. So, while the corporate world and the social sectors are looking at leadership from the youth, most of the commissions have become geriatric retreats.”
Five recently appointed commissioners, including Chief Information Commissioner R.K. Mathur, are all former bureaucrats, as are many of those appointed as information commissioners in various states. “Even Congress ruled states like Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka have been following in the footsteps of the Centre. On the other hand, Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh has appointed just one person from the bureaucracy while taking others from other fields.”
Nayak also draws attentions to the lack of women as commissioners; the CIC has only one female commissioner.
The report also noted that while the number of RTI applications received by the President’s Secretariat (2,816) declined by over 8%, those received by the PMO (12.674) increased by 44%.
According to the report, only 2,030 public authorities had registered to submit their RTI returns in 2014-15, as against 2,333 in 2012-13. The Delhi High Court joined the list of organisation submitting their RTI data, but 502 public authorities, including the Supreme Court; Lok Sabha Secretariat; and ministries of coal, water and sanitation and railways, had not submitted their annual returns to the CIC. |
The Windows 10 Creators Update, which has been in development since before the Anniversary Update launched back in 2016, is now feature complete. Microsoft today confirmed in its Windows Developer Day livesteam that the Windows 10 Creators Update SDK is feature complete, and I'm hearing the same can be said for the operating system too.
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, as it's standard procedure for Microsoft to lock in features a couple months before general availability as it allows the engineering teams to double-down on bug fixing to ensure a smooth release on launch day.
It's possible that we may see a couple smaller features or changes show up in Insider builds before sign-off in a couple months, but those features are just the last that were locked into the Creators Update. Any new big features planned for Windows will now be scheduled for Redstone 3 or Redstone 4.
Developers can already download the feature-complete SDK from here, and Insiders running the latest Insider Preview builds should be running a mostly feature complete build already. We're now on the final stretch of development, which is very exciting.
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