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The world is no one’s oyster. If it were, it would be full of pearls. But it is stashed with hidden beers. In the past, I have left a number of bottles stashed in rock holes in random locations in southern France. (So have a few readers of Food and Think.) Now, the game called “Find the Beer” comes to America. I’ve left a trail of ales behind me in Northern California, and in this post are directions to each treasure. Please play the game right and leave a beer of your own choice if you take one of the stashed bottles. Just be sure to replace your find with a beer in a bottle–not a can, which may deteriorate and corrode under harsh conditions–and notify us via the comment box below of your contribution. Game on!
1. Big River Bridge on Highway 1, near Mendocino, CA; Anderson Valley Brewing Company’s Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. At the south end of the bridge just south of the town of Mendocino, a beer awaits in the east side guardrail. The brew is a velvety smooth oatmeal stout from Anderson Valley that tastes vaguely like cream, sour caramel and woodsmoke. Sounds bad but it’s great–one of my very favorites, in fact. The beer is only 5.8% alcohol and not one suitable to long periods of aging, but the Mendocino County coast is cool all year, and this beer should hold up just fine until you get there.
2. Near Napa, on the Trinity-Oakville grade section of Dry Creek Road; Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale. A friend of mine once said that beer is the perfect athlete’s food. “It has water, calories and painkiller,” he explained. And so I hope that a cyclist on a long and arduous ride finds this next beer. It is sweet, fragrant, hoppy and strong. At 9.6% alcohol by volume and with some heavy sugar content, the 12-ounce bottle contains at least 250 calories (alcohol contains 7 calories per gram) and probably about 80 percent water. Bring it home, chill it, and make it your recovery meal. Where is it exactly? In a hole in a tree trunk on the south side of the highway about 100 yards west of the Mount Veeder Road turnoff.
3. Muir Woods Road, Marin County; Belgian-style homebrew. A long, long time ago, I brewed a batch of brown Belgian-style beer. Then I forgot that I ever did–until early in 2013, when I found a box in my basement containing 30 bottles dated July of 2007. The lost stash! The beers remain good, if possibly past their peak, and I’ve decided to donate a bottle to the game. I left it in an old Eucalyptus log by the side of the road, smack at an intersection that local cyclists call “Four Corners.” Precisely, the beer is hiding at the southwest corner, several feet down a gravelly bank, in a rotted-out cavity in the log. Use a stick to pull out the beer (or be on spider alert)–and let me know how you like the beer. Just be nice; it was one of my first homebrews.
4. Bicycle/Hiking Trail (Old Highway 1) in Pacifica, CA; Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Brown Shugga’. This beer, made with a liberal addition of brown sugar on top of the standard barley malt, is good when fresh. Keep it around a year, and it gets better. Fast forward two more years, and a Brown Shugga’, bitter and sweet and vibrant when it first hits retail shelves, is like liquid candy–chewy, sticky, and fudgy. So it goes for the two-and-a-half-year-old bottle that now dwells in Pacifica, on the well-known bicycle-hiking path (I like to call it John Steinbeck’s Highway 1, since he surely drove it when this was the main coastal route) that ascends inland and upward from Pacifica to Moss Beach, over Montara Mountain. The bottle is buried deep in the pine duff behind a large Monterey pine tree beside the semi-paved trail. See the photo below for details.
5. Shasta Lake, CA, under a fig tree beside Turntable Bay Road, off of Interstate 5; Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. The temperature was 105 degrees Fahrenheit (in the sun, but nonetheless) when I buried this beer in six inches of dirt, gravel and pine needles and placed two hand-sized rocks on top. But within the canopy of the fig tree, it was a cool 80. Thus, this strong IPA from Dogfish Head should be in good shape even through the fiercest heat wave. How to find it? If you’re driving north on Interstate 5 and arrive at Lake Shasta, take the exit to Turntable Bay Road. This paved downhill through the forest quickly turns to dirt. After several switchbacks and a quarter mile from the freeway, you will see the fig tree on the right as the road turns sharply left. Pull over, and scramble into the gully and start digging beside the trunk. There are burrs, spider webs and dust–but for a Dogfish Head IPA it’s worth the sweat and blood. See the accompanying photo for the exact location.
Elsewhere in the World: Those readers who have been following along know that Find the Beer had its roots in France, where the game began one year ago. Currently, a handful of beers remain stashed in cobblestone rock holes (the French love to build things with cobblestones–perfect infrastructure for treasure hunts). A number of these bottles dwell along roadways that are about to be swarmed by cyclists and fans of the 100th Tour de France. On such high mountain passes as Tourmalet and Col d’Aubisque, and on the road to Col de Jau–at these locations and others, beers have been patiently waiting for months. Refer to this post from May to find your way to them. In particular, the beer on Tourmalet is a high-alcohol giant that, after one year of aging at high altitude, should be a real treasure. Go find the beer. |
The Brave One is a 2007 American psychological thriller film directed by Neil Jordan from a screenplay written by Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor and Cynthia Mort. The film stars Jodie Foster as Erica Bain, a New York City radio host who along with her partner, is severely beaten by thugs, leading to the latter's death. Terrified for her safety, she buys a pistol. Armed with the gun, she undergoes a personality transformation and becomes a vigilante, shooting a number of criminals. Detective Sean Mercer (Howard) investigates the vigilante shootings, which lead him closer and closer to Bain. The film features Naveen Andrews, Terrence Howard, Nicky Katt, Zoë Kravitz, Mary Steenburgen and Luis Da Silva in supporting roles.
The Brave One was released in the United States on September 14, 2007. The film received mixed reviews from critics who acclaimed Foster's performance but criticized its execution and was a box office success, grossing $170 million on a budget of $70 million. At the 65th Golden Globe Awards, Foster received a nomination for Best Actress Motion Picture in a Drama.
Plot [ edit ]
As radio show host Erica Bain (Jodie Foster) and her Malayali Nasrani fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) are walking their dog at night at Stranger's Gate in New York City's Central Park, they are attacked by three violent criminals who film the whole attack on their phones. David dies from his injuries, and Erica, while seriously injured, survives. Angry and traumatized, she attempts to purchase a gun. Terrified and unwilling to wait the month required to obtain a gun legally, she buys a Kahr K9 semi-automatic pistol from a black market gun dealer.
When she stops at a convenience store, a man comes in screaming at the female cashier for not allowing him to see his kids, and shoots her. The killer then hears Erica's cell phone ringer, while attempting to clear out the till, and stalks her in the aisles. Just as the killer is about to find her, Erica is overcome with fear and shoots through the aisles and kills him. On another night, two men harass and threaten passengers in a subway car. The passengers all leave at the next stop except Erica. When the men, amazed that she was not threatened enough to leave, take it as a challenge and threaten her with a knife, Erica shoots them both dead. Another night, Erica attempts to save a prostitute by threatening the woman's pimp with her pistol. When he attempts to run them down with his car in retaliation, Erica shoots him in the head, causing his car to run over the prostitute. The prostitute is injured, but lives, and is taken to the hospital. All the while, Erica attempts to track down the men who killed David.
She strikes up a friendship with Detective Sean Mercer (Terrence Howard), who is investigating the vigilante crimes and who is initially unaware of her role in the deaths. Erica, in trying to find out if the detective is close to solving her case, as well as the vigilante killings, pretends to want to interview Mercer. During the interview, the detective asks her how she pulled it back together after her tragedy. She replies that she did not, and she had to become a different person from the one she was before. They talk several times after.
Erica and her boss, Carol, enter an elevator together in their office building. In the elevator, she overhears two men talking about the vigilante killer.
Erica's boss then gets her to take calls on her radio show to solicit the public's opinion on the vigilante killings. The various responses almost get her to confess to the killings, but once at the police station, she is unable to bring herself to do so. Mercer tells Erica about a criminal he has been pursuing for a long time, who has allegedly committed several murders, but Mercer is unable to bring him to justice.
When Erica kills the suspect that Detective Mercer had long been after, Mercer comes to suspect her as the killer. He attempts to set a trap for Erica by taking her along with him to interview the prostitute she had saved before, but the prostitute does not let on that she knows Erica. When Mercer is finally able to interview one of the subway car passengers, he gets a description of the probable vigilante, and learns that the person is a female rather than male as previously suspected. When the police bring in Erica to identify one of the suspects in her attack, she recognizes one of them, but does not identify him. After, Mercer meets Erica for coffee, during which he hints that he suspects her as the vigilante.
Informed by the police that they found her engagement ring at a pawn shop, she manages to hunt down a name, address and phone number at the pawn shop. With the phone number, she is able to track down one of the attacker's ex-girlfriends, who witnessed the whole attack via a video recording on a cellphone, but is too frightened to reveal information, fearing a similar reprisal. However, she forwards the video recording of Erica's attack to Erica's phone. Erica almost breaks down on seeing the video, then forwards it to detective Mercer. Erica, now armed with positive visual identification of all three attackers, is able to track them down.
At the climax of the film, Erica finds and confronts the men responsible for David's murder. She kills two, finding and releasing her dog in the process (which they had stolen and kept after the attack) and struggles with the third. Mercer arrives on the scene just as the third attacker had taken the upper hand and disarmed Erica, holding her in a choke-hold, and attempts to arrest him. Erica then retrieves her weapon and attempts to execute the attacker. Mercer persuades Erica to lower the gun, but after looking into her begging eyes, hands her his own for her to use a legal weapon to kill the last attacker. The attacker begs to be arrested, instead, insisting that it is Mercer's job to do so, Erica then executes her attacker. Mercer insists that Erica should wound him to help frame the attackers as being behind the vigilante killings. Mercer places Erica's gun in the last attacker's dead hand and Erica leaves the scene, eventually being joined by her dog in Central Park.
Cast [ edit ]
Release [ edit ]
Box office [ edit ]
In its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, the film was #1 at the box office, grossing $13,471,488 in 2,755 theaters.[2] As of December 29, 2007, the film has grossed $170,087,663 worldwide—$66,793,804 in the United States and Canada and $103,993,859 in other territories.[1]
Critical reception [ edit ]
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 43% based on 183 reviews.[3] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 56%, based on 33 reviews.[4]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 31⁄ 2 stars (out of 4); saying Foster and Howard "are perfectly modulated in the kinds of scenes difficult for actors to play, where they both know more than they're saying, and they both know it."[5]
Awards and nominations [ edit ]
The film received one Golden Globe nomination when the nominees for the 65th Golden Globe Awards were announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Foster was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama.[6]
See also [ edit ] |
A Chinese air force employee handles the monkeys, who can together dismantle 60 birds' nests a day. 163.com Monkeys have been trained to clear the skies of the biggest threat to China's air force at the moment - birds - as Beijing prepares for its massive military parade this week to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war.
A monkey is put into action. 163.com Pictures from July show military personnel instructing monkeys to dismantle the nests of birds on trees at an unspecified air force base used for parade training.
The military base was situated along a migration route for birds, which undermined the safety of the military's flight training, said trainer Wang Mingzhi, who is responsible for clearing the birds near the base.
Birds can cause severe damage to planes when they collide.
The military staff also trained eagles to drive other birds out of the sky. 163.com "No one can climb trees as tall as 30 metres," Wang said. "With shotguns, we can blow off only two nests with a box of bullets. If we use water cannon, it would be a waste of water and human resources."
The officers have five monkeys, who together can dismantle 60 nests a day. The base also trains eagles to drive away other birds. |
Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the man in charge of looking into Hillary Clinton's shady actions as Secretary of State, was spotted during the live broadcast of the Presidential Inauguration shaking hands with the former First Lady as she exited the stands.
Chaffetz posted a picture of the moment on his Instagram with the caption, “So pleased she is not the President. I thanked her for her service and wished her luck. The investigation continues."
So pleased she is not the President. I thanked her for her service and wished her luck. The investigation continues. A photo posted by Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) on Jan 20, 2017 at 12:31pm PST
On Friday, the Utah Republican said the congressional probe would carry on looking into whether ol' "Crooked Hillary" committed any crimes when she used a secret server, set up in her home basement, to send and receive highly classified emails that FBI sources say were hacked by at least five foreign intelligence agencies during her time as Madam Secretary.
In December Chaffetz told Fox News, “We can’t simply let this go. If the president or the president-elect wants to pardon Secretary Hillary Clinton for the good of the nation, that is their option. But I have a duty and an obligation to actually fix the problems that were made with Hillary Clinton.”
In response to Chaffetz's post, Twitterers are voicing their moral outrage, including former Hillary campaign spokesman Brian Fallon who called him simply, "Subhuman."
@BraddJaffy classless move by Chaffetz — Ali B. (@_Ali__B) January 20, 2017
@BraddJaffy The left is open and wants progress. The right simply wants to divide. — Scott Weisgerber (@swcreates) January 20, 2017
@BraddJaffy @chrislhayes The man is scum and an embarrassment to your country. — Terry (@Bnkr_Chk2) January 20, 2017
Exit reminder of how Hillary feels about the investigation: |
This week Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale started legal action against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. At issue are comments Ford made about Dale in two separate media interviews. "I believe it's clear to any reasonable person that [Ford] was insinuating that I'm a pedophile or some sort of predator that has an undue interest in children," Dale told CBC Radio's Metro Morning. In both interviews, Ford, referencing a May 2012 incident, insisted that Dale had leaned over Ford's fence and taken pictures of Ford's children. When police investigated at the time, they found no evidence that Dale was on Ford's property or looking over his fence.
If what Ford has been saying about Dale is untrue, as Dale insists, then I don't blame the reporter in the least for initiating legal action in an effort to protect his reputation. However, I do have to take issue with his insistence that it's perfectly fine for him to remain on the city hall beat for the Star while he does so. A reporter should be as impartial as possible, which given human nature is perhaps often not as possible as we'd like. Still, it's not unreasonable to ask that a reporter covering any particular beat should at least have no obvious conflicts with the regular subjects he's reporting on. And there are few conflicts more obvious than being on the other end of a lawsuit with someone. There is no way Dale can provide objective coverage about Rob Ford at the same time that he's suing him.
That neither the Star (Star editor Michael Cooke has said Dale will "of course" stay in his role at city hall), nor Dale seems to understand this is troubling.
"Why would [Dale] be punished because the mayor has chosen to make vile and baseless accusations against him?" Cooke asked. Which is entirely the wrong question. It's not a matter of punishment. It's a matter of objectivity -- and the appearance of such. It's about serving readers and maintaining reasonable standards of journalism. In other words, it's not about Dale. The fact that the only sensible result here entails Dale having to temporarily leave "the work [he] love[s]" is unfortunate, but not outrageous. That's how maintaining neutrality works.
If a judge sitting on the bench has a case come before him involving a defendant who has previously assaulted the judge, we expect the judge to recuse himself. The conflict of interest, if not real then at least perceived, is too great. It doesn't matter if the judge really wants to hear the case because it involves fantastically interesting legal questions, or if the judge happens to be (as Dale explains of himself) an "exceptionally even-keeled person" determined "not [to] let this affect my job." And it doesn't matter that it was the defendant who assaulted the judge and not the other way around. A conflict's a conflict. Even if the person conflicted out of the situation did nothing wrong.
For the sake of journalism's reputation, I hope it's an understanding Dale and the powers at be at the Star arrive at soon.
ALSO ON HUFFINGTON POST: |
Rosetta is a new way to create Flash files, which made possible a new kind of vulnerability affecting many websites, including very popular ones.
Scenario: you’re using (for example) LinkedIn…
…but you accidentally visit a malicious website…
…that wants to take over your LinkedIn account.
It’s common for any website to be able to receive some information from other external websites: for example, it’s used by the “Like” buttons (Facebook, Twitter, Google+…) you see often on other external websites. A common method to receive information is to do a request to the target website, and give as a parameter your own function, that will be called back by the target, and will receive JSONP (JavaScript Object Notation with Padding) formatted data. It’s commonly called a JSONP request.
The malicious site can do a JSONP request to LinkedIn, and give its Malicious() function to call back, as a callback parameter.
LinkedIn then returns the JSONP-formatted data by calling Malicious() (in the context of the malicious page).
Malicious() can only read the information that LinkedIn sends: it can’t modify information and it can’t control what is sent. This explains why JSONP requests are commonly used, even if it could look an information leak: when implemented correctly, it’s not a security risk in itself, because external websites can’t control the information that is sent. But if a Flash file was passed as a callback parameter instead of a function like Malicious(), it could have more control, because it could be executed by the browser in the context of the target site (and if you’re wondering why, that’s just because that’s how Flash works). To prevent that, JSONP requests only accepts printable characters in callback parameters
._0123456789 abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
and a Flash file usually contain many non-printable characters, so they can’t be used as a callback parameter.
Enters the Rosetta Flash vulnerability, known as CVE-2014-4671. With complex tricks, it’s actually possible to make a Flash file made only of printable characters. By using such a Flash file as a callback parameter, the Flash file is executed by the browser, in LinkedIn’s context: this gives control to the malicious website over the LinkedIn page’s information. It affected many major websites:
LinkedIn, eBay, Google, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Baidu, Tumblr, Flickr, Yahoo! …
A simple way to prevent this for a website is to prepend a comment (such as /**/) at the start of the callback parameter: this will prevent the callback parameter to be interpreted as Flash, as Flash files are not allowed to start with comment characters, even with Rosetta. |
Twelve months ago, Nick Tandy left Le Mans as champion. A year later, he is returning to the most prestigious event in sports car racing looking to defend his win, in a completely different class.
In 2015, Tandy and co-drivers Earl Bamber and Nico Hulkenberg proved that a third car, entered for Le Mans only, could indeed win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
While there’s no extra Porsche 919 Hybrid for the Brit to race in LMP1 with at Le Mans this year, he will be behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 RSR, a car he knows very well.
Article continues below ...
"I’m looking forward to going back," Tandy told Sportscar365. "It was obviously a happy place last year and now it means something extra special for me."
With the Porsche Team Manthey full-season GTE-Pro effort dropped for this year, Porsche has instead decided to enter an extra pair of 911s for its most important race, in addition to the cars run by Proton Competition.
In these cars will effectively be Porsche North America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship lineup. Tandy will drive the No. 91 car alongside Kevin Estre and Patrick Pilet.
"They’re two brand new cars, and they’re not full-season," he said. "The people from Porsche in Germany, and the crew that will be operating them, don’t run in the WEC full-season."
"But between our programs in the U.S. and the [GTE] Pro entry that we’ve got with Proton, the people who are involved in the two Porsche Motorsport cars going to Le Mans have been fully involved with the program since the start of the year."
"Yes, there are additional cars for a one-off event, but it’s the same main core of people that we use in all of our factory race series across the globe."
Last year, Tandy competed with KCMG in LMP2 for the rest of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, but this year he has no drive in WEC, but rather is concentrating on the IMSA series in the U.S.
"It’s quite nice to go there and know that you’re not looking to score points for a championship, and the only aim is to go there and to win the race," he said.
"There’s no pressure from a points-scoring perspective. I don’t think we’re at a disadvantage with the car or the tires for example, because of what we’ve been running in IMSA and also with the Proton car in WEC."
"The crew is sharp because a lot of them have come off the back of the Nürburgring 24."
It’s easily arguable that GTE-Pro is more competitive than ever for this year’s running of the race, with strong efforts from Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, Ford and Aston Martin teams.
While AF Corse has won both WEC rounds so far this season, Tandy admits that anything could happen.
"Looking at the results from the previous two races, you can only look at Ferrari and the way that they’ve absolutely dominated," he admitted.
"Unless we have a bit of help along the way, from wherever it might come from: conditions or the organization at the ACO or whatever, I think all the cars are a big step behind the Ferrari in WEC trim."
"It’s Le Mans, and it’s a different sort of track. The Ford looks like a car that’s been designed for this race, and Corvette is coming as defending champions, so everybody is in it."
"From our point of view, we want to be able to have a chance. If we’re five seconds a lap off the pace, we can’t even race. We’re [hoping for] a better opportunity to race the other cars than the Porsche GTE-Pro car did at Spa."
The troubles that hit Volkswagen Group late last year led to both Porsche and Audi reducing its LMP1 program to two cars each at Le Mans, with no third prototype set to take to the track.
As Porsche was keen to keep its lineups in the Nos. 1 and 2 cars the same, this left Tandy and Bamber without an LMP1 drive at Le Mans.
"Being defending champions outright, you’d want to go back and defend the title, which is something that we can’t do now," he said.
"Of course it’s a disappointment for both me and Earl, but we understand the situation and the reasoning behind it, but it’s not like we’re not in the race at all, because we’re still going there in a factory Porsche going for a class win at Le Mans."
"Of course, it’s tough to think about what happened last year and that we don’t have that opportunity again, but it’s not like we’re not going at all."
"We still are going to be involved in the biggest race in the world, in a factory Porsche, so it’s not too bad, is it?" |
REMOTE-CONTROLLED insects may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but they have already been under development for some time now. In 2006, for example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, the Pentagon's research and development branch) launched the Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems program, whose ultimate aim is to turn insects into unmanned aerial vehicles.
Such projects provide proof of principle, but have met with limited success. Until now, that is. In the open access journal Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, a team of electrical engineers led by Hirotaka Sato of the University of California, Berkeley, report the development of an implantable radio-controlled neural stimulating device, with which they demonstrate, for the very first time, the accurate control of flight in freely flying insects.
The miniaturized system developed by Sato and his colleagues is mounted onto the pronotum (the dorsal, or upper, plate of the exoskeleton), and consists of electrodes implanted into the brain and wing muscles. Flight commands to start and stop flight and control the insect's elevation and turning were generated on a personal computer running specialized software, and transmitted to a microcontroller which is equipped with a radio transceiver and powered by a microbattery.
The device is much simpler to program and use than similar ones developed previously, because it makes implicit use of the beetle's own flight control capabilities. The researchers found that flight could be initiated by simply applying a single pulse of electrical stimulation via the electrodes implanted into the left and right optic lobes. A single pulse from the same electrodes was also sufficient to stop the wing beats. Exactly how this occurs is unclear; it is known that visual inputs can initiate flight in locusts and fruit flies, and the researchers speculate that stimulation of the optic lobe activates large diameter "giant fibre" motor neurons which project from the brain to the wing muscles.
Once initiated, flight continued in the absence of further stimulation. The beetle powers its own flight, and levels with the horizon on its own, so that the neural and muscle stimulators are only used when a change in orientation or elevation is required. Turning could be initiated by asymmetrical stimulation of the muscles at the base of the wings, with a left turn being triggered by an electrical pulse to the right flight muscle, and vice versa. The stimulator could also be used to modulate the frequency of wing oscillations, which caused changes in altitude.
Electrically-controllable insects have obvious military applications. They could be used as micro air vehicles for reconnaissence missions, or as couriers which deliver small packages to locations that are not easily accessible to humans or terrestrial robots. The beetles used here (Mecynorrhina torquata) are among the largest of all insect species, and are capable of carrying addditional loads of up to 30% of their 8g body weight. But they could also be very useful to researchers who study insect mating behaviour, the foraging behaviour of insect predators, and flight dynamics and energetics.
Sato, H., et al (2009). Remote Radio Control of Insect Flight. Front. Integr. Neurosci. 3 (24). DOI: 10.3389/neuro.07.024.2009. |
Senate Republicans on Tuesday released a seven-part jobs plan that they say will spur private-sector growth and boost the economy.
“This is a pro-growth, pro-jobs plan that will create the environment necessary to get Americans back to work and ensure that American businesses are competitive globally,” said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the former George W. Bush budget chief who drafted the plan. Portman unveiled the proposal Tuesday at Senate Republicans’ weekly caucus luncheon after speaking with small business owners and workers in every Ohio county, his office said Tuesday.
The proposal features several items that congressional Republicans have already made a part of their broader legislative agenda, including spending cuts, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, a reduction of the corporate tax rate to 25 percent, and a provision that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.
Another feature of the plan that Republicans have pushed for this Congress is the ratification of three pending trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama before the July recess.
On health care, the GOP jobs plan calls for malpractice reform, the ability for individuals to purchase insurance across state lines and the promotion of health savings accounts.
The plan would also make permanent tax incentives and credits for research and development and small business investment; reduce taxes on capital gains and dividends; and codify President Obama’s plan to require cost-benefit analysis for federal regulations.
The jobs plan was released one day before House Democrats plan to unveil their own “Make It In America” plan to create manufacturing jobs. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders will introduce the plan Wednesday at a 1 p.m. Capitol news conference.
“The president has indicated he wants to double exports,” Hoyer said Tuesday at his weekly pen-and-pad. “The way you double exports obviously is to have goods and services for that matter which can be exported overseas, and we intend to pursue that.” |
Prince Renato II of the Principality of Pontinha. Prince Renato II of Pontinha When the wealthy British Blandy family tried to sell a disused island fort off the coast of Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, at the turn of the 21st century, there were not many interested parties.
The rock, which is about the size of a one-bedroom house, is pretty uninviting. Its features include a cave and a small terrace, according to The Guardian, where we first heard about the Principality of Pontinha.
For this reason, the asking price was a mere $25,000 (£17,000). Even then, the Blandys found it hard to find a buyer. That was until the family met Renato Barros — a local art teacher — at a party. Barros immediately decided he wanted to buy Pontinha.
Barros was not a wealthy man and he struggled to raise funds. But he eventually scraped together enough cash to buy the fort, and, on November 30, 2007, he declared its independence from Portugal.
Now Portugal is threatening to reclaim the island, Barros told Business Insider.
"The Portuguese state wants to rob me," said Barros, who is now known as Prince Renato II of Pontinha. "I'm trying to avoid the blood and war but the Portuguese government and the international community do not take me seriously (sic) my pretensions," he added in an email.
This is the story of the struggle for Pontinhanese independence. |
In 2009, the Parliament of the World’s Religions was held in Melbourne, Australia. Over 6,000 people, including American and Australian Pagans, attended. The theme was “Make a World of Difference: Hearing each other, Healing the earth.” That same weekend, in Sydney, the National Conference for all Concerned Christians was held. Its theme was “Australia’s Future and Global Jihad”.
Australia is a secular country. Australia is a Christian nation. Which is true?
In his book A Secular Age, Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor identified three different forms of secularism.The first is a political secularism – a strict removal of religion from the public sphere through exercise of legitimate state power. The second is social, when there is a decline in the level of religiosity of the population. In this second sense of secularism, religious communities generally cease to influence politics, education, and public life. In Taylor’s third notion of secularism, belief in God is one option of many, and religion is just one voice in the public sphere.
Whether you consider Australia to be secular depends on the definition of secularism that you use.
Section 116 of the Australian Constitution states:
The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
Secularism in Australia means no state church. It means people have a choice between belief and no belief, and parliament can’t discriminate against people because of their religion. Another basis for describing Australia as a secular nation is the relaxed attitude and even scepticism toward institutional religion. Although 64% of Australians check the Christianity box, attendance at religious services is declining, and people often describe themselves as spiritual but not religious.
However, it should not be assumed that religion takes a marginal place in Australia’s public and intellectual culture.
In the U.S., religious freedom means rigorously protecting the boundary between Church and State. Not so in Australia. The law prevents establishment of religion. It doesn’t prevent interaction with it. There are small ways in which this happens, such as prayer in the parliament. And then there are big ways. For example, in the state of Victoria, special religious instruction (SRI) is given in public schools.
SRI is “instruction provided by churches and other religious groups and based on distinctive religious tenets and beliefs.” Scheduled during normal class time, SRI is not compulsory, and parental consent should be obtained.
The most common form of SRI is Christian religious education (CRE) delivered by ACCESS Ministries. Between 2009 and 2012, ACCESS Ministries received almost $20 million in government grants. The parent-run, grassroots organisation Fairness in Religions in School (FIRIS) claims that alternate forms of SRI are less common and receive no government support.
ACCESS Ministries also provides chaplains for the National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP). In the 2014 federal budget, the government provided $243.8 million over a four-year period to continue this program, which funds chaplains in Australian primary and secondary schools. The 2015 budget added $60.6 million every year for four years.
In a 2008 address to the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion National Conference, Dr. Rev. Evonne Paddison, CEO of ACCESS Ministries said:
In Australia we have a God-given open door to children and young people with the Gospel, our federal and state governments allow us to take the Christian faith into our schools and share it. We need to go and make disciples.
SRI has its critics and there are allegations of proselytizing and bias. In an article in The Age, Melbourne priest and academic Professor Gary Bouma called the curriculum “appalling” and “crap” delivered by “bullies.” Mostly, it goes on unnoticed and unchallenged.
Some Pagans don’t see a problem with SRI or the Christian chaplains in public schools. The connection isn’t missed by academic and former High Court judge Michael Kirby, an Anglican. In the article mentioned above, he said:
One just has to look around at the ignorance and prejudice concerning homosexuals and women to see what damage can be done by some narrow religious instructions. There have to be viable alternatives which parents and students can consider and opt for.
Marriage equality is currently a hot topic. Australians rejoiced with Ireland and the U.S. when both countries legalised same-sex marriage. Many Australians think it’s time for it to happen here. Polls consistently show that a majority of Australians support legalising same-sex marriage.
Australians rightly point to conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott as a major force against marriage equality. However, a big undermining effort comes from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL).
The ACL is a powerful, political organisation headquartered in Australia’s capital, Canberra. Its vision is to see Christian principles influencing government and business.The ACL successfully sways votes and controls outcomes. During the 2010 election, the ACL struck a bargain with both sides of politics not to support the introduction of same-sex marriage. The ACL is a potent political force not just because it can mobilise its supporters, but also because of its direct influence on politicians.
It is a paradox that Australians are increasingly identifying as non-religious, but don’t object to huge amounts of Government dollars being poured into Christian organisations that teach Christianity in public schools while climate change funding, foreign aid, university funding, and health care are all cut. It is a paradox that the ACL opposes same-sex marriage on behalf of Christians while most Christians actually support marriage equality.
Australia is home to many beliefs, including those of 30k Pagans, according to the 2011 census. Is Australia a secular country?
Yes, but it is one that privileges the members of one faith over others. Australian Pagans don’t need to be dismayed, however. A close examination of the Christian Right reveals a small network of prominent figures who use smoke and mirrors to create a narrative that suggests that they have widespread public support. This doesn’t mean we can sit back and relax; we should continue to engage in causes that are important to us. And, we can feel hopeful about the increasing secular ideals and values, which will bring balance and diversity to the intersectionality of religion and politics. |
Back in July we were the first to bring you the stop motion video featuring a Porsche Carrera 3.2 teardown that took the Porsche world by storm. Later that same month we talked with the producers of that video to learn how it was made and found out a sequel would be coming. Today, we're happy to say that sequel is well on its way to being completed and we have the trailer of it for you.
Watch The Video
According to Mathias Hoeing, one of the key people behind these videos, they are progressing on the sequel, although at a pretty slow pace. He says, "this is a side project for everyone involved, so everyone's business comes first and then the stars need to align, and, and, and,..."
If you watched the video above, and have a keen Porsche eye, you might have noticed that this new video features a different motor. In the first video, we watched as a 3.2 liter motor was torn down. The trailer above shows us a 3.0 getting built up to become a 3.8 liter motor. Matthias believes this is a project that hasn't been completed before. He said, "The idea behind this build is to have a big displacement engine that doesn't look like one. You know, usually you can easily tell a 3.6/3.8 engine because of certain features that came with the M64 engine family in the 964 and this will never make it "look at home" in an earlier car."
Makes sense to us and just reinforces the detail we know that comes out of Matthias' shop. Stay tuned, we'll have the full video for you as soon as it's available.
Other Porsche Blog Posts You Will Enjoy
Magnus Walker: Desert Outlaw
Fascinating Stop Motion Film of a Porsche Engine Getting Torn Down
A Guide To The Meaning Behind Porsche's Part Numbers
Timeless: A Short Documentary Film about the Porsche 911
Not all Porsche 911s are Universally Loved |
It amazes me when I read that many still do not use RHW and opt to still use MHW these days.
Yes the NAM team did great updating the MHW yrs ago with the prefab interchanges which vastly improved the functionality and looks of MHW, but nothing made SC4 better then the RHW imo.
I was one of those people who despised the RHW initially, because of the issues that still plague it, like the pieces snapping together if you drag out the wrong side first, or the slope intolerance it has, but it has made it so much easier to make cities fit the way you want(like having a 5 lane loop corridor around the central downtown area), which you can't do with MHW or having multiple on/off ramps from a single exit/entrance MIS ramp.
I wish I could remember who it was from the NAM team who I had sent a PM to years ago in a foul mood after having yet another issue with RHW who sent me a response of "whoa buddy calm down and do it this way" response and ever since I have loved the RHW lol.
The NAM team definitely deserves this honor, and I will always be appreciative for what they have done for this game over the years. I have always thought its a shame that EA/Maxis never even considered hiring some of these people to work on an expansion/new version of the game for transit capabilities, considering how much time and effort they have put into this game making it way better than I think EA/Maxis ever intended. |
China's Queen of Poker, Celina Lin, Discusses Road to Becoming a Pro and More
November 13, 2014 Donnie Peters
"In terms of growing up in a Shanghai family, it is kind of expected that you grow up to be a lawyer, to be a doctor, and so forth." — Celina Lin.
Celina Lin was born in Shanghai, China, but she moved to Melbourne, Australia, at the age of seven. After attending school, Lin choose poker as opposed to a more normal career path that her parents had envisioned her traveling down.
In this two-part interview with PokerNews, Lin discusses her decision to become a poker player, the conversations she had with her parents, and poker in China.
Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+! |
Second Ave. change orders pressure December completion By Benjamin Kabak By· Published in 2016
For the MTA, this is the summer of the Second Ave. Subway. News has been slow around the transit space in New York City as the L train shutdown remains a concern, but still a few years off, and the next fare hike isn’t going to dominate headlines for a few more months. Meanwhile, the MTA is trying to open the Second Ave. Subway ahead of a self-imposed December deadline, but as we’ve heard every four weeks, the project is increasingly under pressure as deadlines slip and testing gears up.
During the monthly updates regarding the state of the project, we’ve often heard from the MTA’s engineering consultant on the agency’s change orders. The change orders are a rather technical element to this project, generally a part of a governance process in which one party has to request a change, and justify any associated costs, before the other party accepts and/or implements the change. It could be something as simple as staffing or as complex as a new design. With just six months to go before the long-awaited subway line is set to open, the pace of change orders should be slowing down, but instead, they seem to be steadily adding to the project’s obstacles.
Last week, The New York Post went behind the scenes on these COs, and while I have some questions in with the MTA regarding the details, here’s a snippet:
The Second Avenue subway delays have nothing to do with no-show workers — they’re the fault of the nitpicky MTA for demanding a staggering 2,500 design changes, a rep for the contractors said. Hardhats have even had to go back and rip up completed work on several occasions to satisfy the agency, General Contractors Association of New York Executive Director Denise Richardson told the agency’s board. A recent delay came when the MTA demanded a new shade of concrete on the sidewalk outside the 86th Street station — after contractors had already installed the completed walkway for two blocks, she said. Contractors also had to tear down and rebuild station entrances, move a pump room three feet, and twice install the pipes for the fire-alarm system between the 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street stations, Richardson said. There are always changes on projects of this size, said Richardson, but not nearly this many — and they are typically made before work is completed.
I’ve heard from residents on the Upper East Side who have been told of the concrete shading issues by workers, and these residents, who have lived through years of unanticipated construction, tell me the whole is “getting old.” (Of course, once the subway opens, they’ll be a bit happier, but even now, these delays simply add to an unpleasant and long experience while chipping away at what little confidence residents may have had in the MTA.)
An MTA spokesman told The Post that “there are always inconsistencies that need to be addressed as part of the design process.” Yet, the MTA’s low-bid contracting process lends itself to a situation where change orders come to dominate the closing months of the process. It’s worse at Second Ave. where people live and work than it was with the 7 line at Hudson Yards, a relatively underdeveloped area, and now attention has shifted to the Upper East Side. The clock is ticking, and yet, shades of concrete are just one of many obstacles to completion. |
Leaked advice shows how private equity firm was able to buy and sell without paying stamp duty or capital gains tax
The lengths to which companies will go to avoid paying substantial amounts of UK tax are laid bare in the Paradise Papers, which reveal in detail for the first time how some of the biggest property deals in recent years were structured.
The data includes hundreds of pages of tax advice prepared for several multimillion-pound deals involving the US private equity group Blackstone, including the £480m purchase of a business park in west London.
Leading accountancy firms can be seen recommending the use of offshore companies and a series of complex loans to minimise the tax bills on buying, letting and eventually selling commercial buildings for Blackstone’s investment funds.
None of this is illegal. In a statement, Blackstone said its investments were “wholly compliant with UK and international tax laws and regulations”. But the disclosures are likely to reignite the debate over the fairness of aggressive tax avoidance schemes.
Included in the data is tax advice prepared for the acquisition of Chiswick Park, a 13-hectare (32-acre) site that hosts the UK headquarters of companies including Pokémon, Avon and the shopping channel QVC.
Before the deal was completed, Blackstone, a client of the law firm Appleby, commissioned tax advice from the UK-based accountancy multinational PwC.
In a 60-page report on tax structuring dated March 2011, PwC outlined a series of steps Blackstone could take to ensure its funds did not pay stamp duty on the purchase, to reduce its tax bill on the rental income it received while holding the property, and later to dispose of it without paying capital gains tax.
The first page of advice spells out the aim of the proposed tax structure, saying it “has been designed with a view to meeting the following key objectives”.
They were:
To mitigate, where possible, taxes on acquisition.
To minimise continuing income, corporate, withholding and other taxes in the UK, Jersey and Luxembourg.
To implement a structure that provides for flexibility for additional acquisitions, separation, development and divestment.
To minimise tax on exit from a UK, Jersey and Luxembourg perspective.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Inside Chiswick Park business park. Photograph: View Pictures/UIG/Getty Images
The recommended structure, which was adopted by Blackstone, was complex and ingenious. It involved the creation of seven companies in Luxembourg through which money for the purchase of the estate was passed in the form of loans.
For the cost of €75 to establish each firm, Blackstone was able to substantially reduce its tax liability. Using the technique, it reduced the tax paid on up to £30m in rent it received each year, and on the £780m sale of most of the park to Chinese investors in 2013.
Although there is no suggestion of wrongdoing, the structure was so aggressive that PwC sought approval from Luxembourg tax authorities in advance of setting it up.
Appleby was again involved when Blackstone used a similar setup to buy a shopping centre in Glasgow in 2013. The £190m deal was for the St Enoch centre, which has 61 shops including Hamleys, Topshop, Boots and Debenhams.
This time, Blackstone sought advice from accountants at Deloitte. Across 67 pages, it outlined the same kind of tax restructuring scheme used for Chiswick Park. Again, Luxembourg companies and profit-participating loans (PPLs) were integral to the plans.
Chiswick Park and St Enoch shopping centre were already held in Jersey-based unit trusts when Blackstone swooped for them. This allowed the firm to buy them without paying stamp duty, as long as they remained “collective investment schemes” – something to which a number of investors had contributed.
To ensure this status was maintained at Chiswick Park, the purchase was made through two of the Luxembourg companies, called “Chestnut 1 Sarl” and “Chestnut 2 Sarl”.
PwC advised that any income they made from UK property would not be subject to Luxembourg taxes as a result of the country’s double taxation treaty with the UK.
Money for the deal was passed down from Blackstone’s property funds through five new Luxembourg companies in the form of PPLs. This type of loan is often used in aggressive tax planning as it is treated as a debt by the recipient, but equity by the lending company.
The recipient can offset interest on repayments against profit to reduce the amount of tax paid, while the lender can treat the interest paid as dividends. In a conventional loan, those repayments would be treated as taxable income.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest St Enoch shopping centre in Glasgow.
Photograph: Alamy
For the Chiswick Park deal, PwC suggested Blackstone’s funds make a PPL of £131m to the Luxembourg company at the top of the chain. The tax structuring document explained: “PPLs are used to fund the acquisition finance to provide a tax-efficient means of repatriating profits from Luxembourg to the BREP [Blackstone Real Estate Partners] funds.”
After the sale, PwC recommended that the two companies buying Chiswick Park should register as “non-resident landlords” in the UK. This would allow rents from the multinational companies who let the offices there to be received without tax being applied. Before being declared to the UK taxman, the rents could be reduced by deducting the cost of the intra-company loans.
To ensure authorities did not consider any of the trusts or companies involved as being run in the UK, meetings of the unit trust were held in Jersey and attended by Appleby as trustees. Meanwhile, the Luxembourg companies signed off deals where they were based.
Two London-based companies involved in looking after the properties, Blackstone Property Management Ltd and Broadgate Estates Ltd, were designated “independent agents” of the unit trust to avoid giving it any kind of UK base.
Two years after the Chiswick Park purchase, the accountants provided more than 100 pages of advice on how Blackstone could refinance its holdings before putting the business park up for sale. By this point, Blackstone had sold off some of the buildings, and spun others off into separate unit trusts.
Accounts show the spinoff of “building six” and the cost of financing the trust’s operations meant it made a loss in 2011, despite collecting rent totalling £25m. In 2012, rent of £31m was reduced to a profit of £4m.
The documents from PwC also show that the setup of the loans had been rubber-stamped by the Luxembourg tax authority.
Deloitte suggested Blackstone approach Luxembourg authorities for an advance tax analysis ruling on parts of the St Enoch structure. At several points during its advice, it cautions that UK authorities may oppose its reading of the rules. In one section, Deloitte suggests HM Revenue and Customs may take issue with the use of loan repayments to reduce profits.
“There is a risk that HMRC will challenge the deductibility of interest in relation to debt drawn down to fund the acquisition of units in the JPUT, on the basis that it is not drawn down to fund the acquisition of the property directly,” it said.
A US tax expert who looked at the advice given by Deloitte and PwC said parts of the structures could be subject to challenge by UK tax authorities.
“There are certain ‘danger zones’ highlighted in the documents,” said Prof Reuven Avi-Yonah from the University of Michigan. “All of the problematic issues seem to be in the UK, presumably because they are going to get rulings in Luxembourg.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reuven Avi-Yonah. Photograph: Allison Shelley/Getty Images
Avi-Yonah, a specialist in corporate and international taxation, said the documents in the Paradise Papers gave an insight into company structures that was rarely available, even to the authorities, and that they could prompt action against certain schemes.
“The fact there is more than one structure and they are fundamentally similar suggests this a widespread type scheme,” he said. “If HMRC becomes aware of the fact that this is a common type of structuring then they are more likely to challenge it, because they will be aware they are losing a lot of revenue.”
In a statement, Blackstone said: “Blackstone’s investments are wholly compliant with UK and international tax laws and regulations. The property investment structures in question were acquired from institutional investors and are of a type commonly used for decades for investments in UK real estate, including by listed companies and a variety of institutional investors, and were adopted after appropriate advice was taken from leading tax and legal advisers.”
PwC told the Guardian: “We take our obligations to clients, governments and other stakeholders extremely seriously. The advice we provide is given in accordance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, including proper disclosure to tax authorities, and adheres to the highest professional standards and our own tax global code of conduct.”
Deloitte said: “We are unable to comment on specific client matters on grounds of confidentiality.” |
(CNN) Shots will continue to be the main option for the upcoming flu season. A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee recommended Wednesday that FluMist, the nasal spray influenza vaccine, not be used during the 2017-18 season.
Though it's popular among those who hate needles -- including most children -- last year's recommendation to exclude FluMist did not affect vaccine coverage numbers for the 2016-17 season compared with the 2015-16 season according to preliminary data presented to the committee. Overall, 58.2% of US children between the ages of 6 months and 17 years were vaccinated, compared with 59% the previous year.
The US Food and Drug Administration first approved the nasal spray, produced by MedImmune, a subsidiary of London-based AstraZeneca PLC, in 2003. By all accounts, it worked well in the early years. Last season, though, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided to not recommend the spray because of its poor performance compared with the flu shot.
At last year's meeting, MedImmune's Dr. Chris Ambrose shared results from the company's 2015-16 effectiveness study, which found the FluMist quadrivalent vaccine to be 46% effective, compared with the flu shot's 65% effectiveness.
In response to these findings, AstraZeneca initiated a scientific investigation to identify potential causes of lower effectiveness, explained Alexandra Engel, director of media relations for the company, in an email. She said discussions continue with the FDA, the CDC and the advisory committee with "a goal of a renewed recommendation" for use during the 2017-18 season.
Although FluMist is not recommended for the upcoming season, the vaccine is still approved by the Food and Drug Administration for people between the ages of 2 and 49. So patients can get it if they find a health care provider offering it, though it might not work as well as a shot.
Wednesday's presentations at the committee's meeting also revealed that 99 children died due to the flu during the 2016-17 season, up from 92 the year before.
"If the data are similar to the data presented in previous years, the vast majority of these (pediatric deaths) will be unvaccinated children," said Dr. William Schaffner, representative on the committee's Influenza Working Group. "That is my prediction."
Schaffner said the most important outcome of Wednesday's meeting was the committee's decision to reaffirm its standard recommendation that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated.
As they do every year, the committee of 15 immunization experts reviewed data from previous flu seasons to make its recommendations, which this year include advice that doctors not give their patients FluMist.
Preventing many cases but not all
Overall, the flu vaccine was 61% effective among children between 6 months and 8 years old and 42% across all age groups during the 2016-17 season, Dr. Jill Ferdinands of the CDC's Influenza Division said Wednesday. For the oldest age group, those 65 and older, the vaccine was 25% effective.
Still, the vaccine prevented nearly 30% of hospitalizations that might have been caused by flu among Americans of all ages, and that rate was higher -- 37% -- among adults 65 or older in particular. Overall, the vaccine reduced outpatient visits by 42% for influenza A and B viruses last season.
Schaffner said the evaluation of vaccine effectiveness has been consistent with previous information from previous years. "Pretty good but not great: That's the story of flu vaccine, year in, year out. Although we can't guarantee it will prevent every case of flu, it still prevents many."
He noted that the vaccination numbers do not account for modified cases, when someone gets the flu but does not suffer too much.
"You got flu, but you weren't hospitalized, and you didn't die," Schaffner said.
Alicia Budd, a member of the CDC advisory committee, noted that influenza A strains predominated last year, with overall moderate flu activity at a similar severity to previous seasons. The season peaked in mid-February, with Western regions showing a peak during January.
Most notably, the majority of circulating viruses were similar to the viruses used to make the vaccines.
An emphasis on pregnant women
Each February, a government committee makes the final decision about which virus strains will go into vaccines sold in America for the coming flu season. Its decision is based on information from more than 100 countries, where influenza-monitoring centers conduct surveillance of circulating viruses. The committee considers which viruses are making people sick, where those viruses are spreading and how well the previous season's vaccine protects against them.
After the committee selects the strains to be used for the vaccine, manufacturers genetically adapt the strains to optimize the vaccine for the production process. Typically, trivalent formulations include two A strains and one B strain, and quadrivalent formulations add a second B strain.
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The flu shot is an inactivated influenza vaccine, but FluMist is a live attenuated influenza vaccine, which means the live viruses have been weakened (attenuated, in medical terms) and work by stimulating the immune system.
On Wednesday, the committee also approved changes to its current recommendations regarding pregnant women. Though the language will be finessed, it recommends that all women who are pregnant or who might become pregnant during the upcoming influenza season receive the vaccine.
Although pregnant women should not receive live attenuated virus vaccines, any licensed, recommended and age-appropriate trivalent or quadrivalent inactivated vaccine formulation may be used.
In the fine print, the committee recommendation explains that there are a lack of data on safety of approved inactivated vaccines during pregnancy. A public commentator expressed the opinion that flu vaccination be recommended only for women during the second and third trimesters, but the committee maintained its advice that all women who are or might be pregnant get the shot.
Schaffner said the most notable point was the recommendation that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated. "Parents, please make sure your children are vaccinated," he said. |
Abstract
The gene-environment interactions that underlie development and progression of psychiatric illness are poorly understood. Despite a century of progress, genetic approaches have failed to identify new treatment modalities, perhaps because of the heterogeneity of the disorders and lack of understanding of mechanisms. Recent exploration into epigenetic mechanisms in health and disease has uncovered changes in DNA methylation and chromatin structure that may contribute to psychiatric disorders. Epigenetic changes suggest a variety of new therapeutic options due to their reversible chemistry. However, distinguishing causal links between epigenetic changes and disease from changes consequent to life experience has remained problematic. Here we define epigenetics and explore aspects of epigenetics relevant to causes and mechanisms of psychiatric disease, and speculate on future directions.
Introduction
In 1942, Conrad Waddington introduced the word epigenetics, fusing “epi”, meaning “above”, with “genetic” to name the contributions of noninherited factors to embryonic development (Waddington, 1952). Waddington was so enamored of his eponym that he used it to name his laboratory at the University of Edinburgh and titled his first book “The Epigenetics of Birds” (Van Speybroeck, 2002). “Epigenetics” was slow to spread within the scientific community partly because Waddington’s definition—“all those events which lead to the unfolding of the genetic program for development”—was broad, and to many, confusing. Discovery of the molecular basis of inheritance and the altered patterning of control of gene expression during cell differentiation allowed the definition to be refined (for review, see Holliday, 2006). The definition of Wu and Morris (2001), “The study of changes in gene function that are mitotically and/or meiotically heritable and that do not entail a change in DNA sequence,” is most commonly used to describe this phenomenon. Here we argue that the defining aspect of epigenetic change is not whether DNA is modified (Liyanage et al., 2014) but the ready reversibility of epigenetic change. This change contrasts directly with nucleotide substitutions, site-directed recombination at T-cell and immunoglobulin genes, insertion of foreign DNA sequences from viruses or transposons, and other genetic events that are for all intents and purposes permanent and may irretrievably modify the genetic code. Taking these data into account, we define epigenetics as the study of readily reversible mitotically and/or meiotically heritable changes. Figure 1 illustrates the distinction between epigenetic and genetic events.
Figure 1. View largeDownload slide Epigenetic and genetic alterations of DNA. Epigenetic changes, including methylation and hydroxymethylation of cytosines and other nucleotides, chromatin condensation and opening, and the shortening and lengthening of telomeres, are reversible and thus provide a capacity to rapidly adapt to changes in the environment (lightning bolt). Genetic changes, including DNA substitutions, insertion/deletions (not shown), recombination, and viral integration/transposition, are primarily irreversible. For example, it is rare that a second point mutation exactly reverses a mutation or that a second recombination event occurs at precisely the same location as a previous recombination event. The magnitude of reversibility is shown by the length of the blue arrow.
Figure 1. View largeDownload slide Epigenetic and genetic alterations of DNA. Epigenetic changes, including methylation and hydroxymethylation of cytosines and other nucleotides, chromatin condensation and opening, and the shortening and lengthening of telomeres, are reversible and thus provide a capacity to rapidly adapt to changes in the environment (lightning bolt). Genetic changes, including DNA substitutions, insertion/deletions (not shown), recombination, and viral integration/transposition, are primarily irreversible. For example, it is rare that a second point mutation exactly reverses a mutation or that a second recombination event occurs at precisely the same location as a previous recombination event. The magnitude of reversibility is shown by the length of the blue arrow.
In this review, we focus on knowledge of epigenetics and the brain, including how epigenetic dysregulation can contribute to disordered behavior. We illustrate how epigenetic states of critical genomic loci contribute directly to the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. DNA methylation and chromatin structure changes at the molecular level restrict the range of gene function at these critical loci and in combination with genetic events can signal the onset of brain disorders.
Crosstalk between Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms
Genetic variation is not independent of epigenetic variation but can predict it. The likelihood of DNA mutation and repair is strongly influenced by the epigenetic state of DNA. Methylcytosines are vulnerable to mutation to thymine by deamination to uracil (Duncan and Miller, 1980). Also, transcribed regions of DNA in an epigenetically open state are both more vulnerable to mutation and amenable to transcription-coupled repair (Sweder and Hanawalt, 1993). When a spontaneous nucleotide lesion or DNA damage initially occurs, it is usually on a single strand of DNA and at that point it is readily repaired with high accuracy by a variety of DNA repair processes; in cells with normally functioning DNA repair systems, such nucleotide lesions are almost always correctly repaired. Because a nucleotide lesion on single-stranded DNA is reversible, by the definition we use here, single-strand lesions could be labeled as epigenetic events. However, if the lesion is not repaired and is copied on the second strand of DNA, or if it is incorrectly repaired and copied onto both strands, it becomes an irreversible, and therefore a genetic, event. Genetic variants can alter DNA methylation and also directly change gene expression, as has been detected on a genome-wide basis (Gibbs et al., 2010).
Chemical Modification of DNA Expands Its Information Content
In a process distinct from nucleotide mutations, mammalian DNA is chemically modified via methylation, hydroxymethylation, and formyl- and carboxy-modifications of cytosines predominantly located in cytosine guanine dinucleotides (CpGs) and by N-methylation of adenine (Fu and He, 2012). Other nucleotides are also modified more rarely, but their functions are not well understood. Chemical modifications of cellular RNA, including ribosomal, transfer, long-noncoding, small nuclear, and messenger RNA—for example the N(6)-methyladenosine in mRNA—also mark a new epigenetic layer of chemical information and complexity (Roundtree and He, 2016). No doubt many other important modifications of DNA and RNA remain undiscovered. Cells have a dedicated enzymatic machinery to epigenetically modify nucleic acids and proteins and another set of machinery to reverse it (Goll and Bestor, 2005). As shown in Figure 2, 3 sets of enzymes, which can be classified as “writers” (which add DNA or protein marks), “readers” (which generate a biological effect based on the type of DNA or protein mark), and “erasers” (which erase the marks left by the writers), are needed for the reversible modification of DNA and protein.
Figure 2. View largeDownload slide DNA epigenetic modifications and their editors. The 2 best-known DNA modifications are methylation (5m) and hydroxymethylation (5hm). Other nucleotides can be modified, but DNA methylation preferentially occurs on cytosine nucleotides adjacent to guanine nucleotides, a modification catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). DNA methylation generally silences transcription whereas hydroxymethylation generally activates transcription, although exceptions are now widely known, and seem to be related to the genomic feature (e.g., promoter, intragenic region, 3’ UTR) in which the epigenetic modification is located.
Figure 2. View largeDownload slide DNA epigenetic modifications and their editors. The 2 best-known DNA modifications are methylation (5m) and hydroxymethylation (5hm). Other nucleotides can be modified, but DNA methylation preferentially occurs on cytosine nucleotides adjacent to guanine nucleotides, a modification catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). DNA methylation generally silences transcription whereas hydroxymethylation generally activates transcription, although exceptions are now widely known, and seem to be related to the genomic feature (e.g., promoter, intragenic region, 3’ UTR) in which the epigenetic modification is located.
Location, Location, Location
Transcription can be exquisitely sensitive to local levels of DNA methylation (Razin and Cedar, 1984). Cytosine methylation in promoters, enhancers, and transcription start sites usually silences gene expression (transcription), and hypomethylation of the same cytosine bases is generally associated with increased transcription (Wolffe and Matzke, 1999). The opposite trend is observed for genic (i.e., exonic and intronic) cytosine methylation. In these regions, DNA methylation is associated with increased transcription. Regions outside genes, particularly repetitive DNA sequences such as LINE (long interspersed nuclear elements) and SINE (short interspersed nuclear elements) are hypermethylated and transcriptionally silenced to prevent potentially disruptive genomic transposition (Yoder et al., 1997). Both allele-specific gene expression, such as imprinting, and allele-skewed gene expression, such as differential allele expression, are mediated by epigenetic mechanisms (Barton et al., 1984). The effects of other DNA modifications, including cytosine hydroxymethylation, are less well characterized but may functionally erase the effects of cytosine methylation as well as exert their own independent effects. Factors regulating access of the DNA methylation machinery and consequent chemical modification of DNA to highly selected regions of the genome are not well understand.
Chromatin
Another way to expand genome information content is to alter the way that the DNA strand, which would be 3 m long if stretched out, is packaged as a DNA/protein complex: chromatin. Packaging of DNA enhances or reduces accessibility for transcription and other processes, including DNA damage and repair. The 3-dimensional topology of chromatin, including long-range interactions within the same chromosomeand across different chromosomes, is modified via a complex network of histone chemical modifications, including phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, ADP-ribosylation, and many others. Combinations of chemical modifications of histones that alter their ability to influence gene expression states are known as the histone code (Jenuwein and Allis, 2001). These covalent modifications, centered on amino acid residues in the tail portions of histones, alter histone-DNA interactions and chromatin structure and ultimately affect gene expression. Details of the combinatorial codes of modified histones and their biological effects are still being worked out, but some basic principles of the histone code have emerged. The predominant target in the histone octamer is histone H3, although other subunits are also chemically modified (for more detail, see Figure 3). Phosphorylation of serine residues 10 and 28 on histone H3 is a marker for chromosome condensation and gene silencing (Wei et al., 1998). On the other hand, the combination of phosphorylation of serine10 and acetylation of lysine14 on histone H3 is well correlated with active gene transcription (Strahl and Allis, 2000). Analogous to epigenetic modifications of DNA, the amino acid modifications of histone H3 can also be enzymatically reversed, with a subsequent return to the original gene expression state.
Figure 3. View largeDownload slide The histone code and its modifiers. The basic functional unit of chromatin is the nucleosome, which is composed of 147bp of DNA wrapped tightly around an octamer of histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3, and H4). Histone tails project from nucleosomes and are subject to posttranslational modifications, including methylation (Me), acetylation (Ac), phosphorylation (P), phosphoacetylation (p-Ac), ubiquitination (Ub), and ADP-ribosylation (ADP-R), in different combinations. Local combinations of differentially modified histone proteins form histone codes. Histone codes enhance or inhibit transcription by recruiting enzymes that catalyze the opening or condensing of chromatin, thus making the DNA more or less accessible to transcription factors and additional regulatory factors that modify transcription. The histone code is edited by an ensemble of enzymatic writers, erasers, and readers. Writers add covalent modifications. Erasers catalyze removal of modifications. Readers recognize and bind specific motifs.
Figure 3. View largeDownload slide The histone code and its modifiers. The basic functional unit of chromatin is the nucleosome, which is composed of 147bp of DNA wrapped tightly around an octamer of histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3, and H4). Histone tails project from nucleosomes and are subject to posttranslational modifications, including methylation (Me), acetylation (Ac), phosphorylation (P), phosphoacetylation (p-Ac), ubiquitination (Ub), and ADP-ribosylation (ADP-R), in different combinations. Local combinations of differentially modified histone proteins form histone codes. Histone codes enhance or inhibit transcription by recruiting enzymes that catalyze the opening or condensing of chromatin, thus making the DNA more or less accessible to transcription factors and additional regulatory factors that modify transcription. The histone code is edited by an ensemble of enzymatic writers, erasers, and readers. Writers add covalent modifications. Erasers catalyze removal of modifications. Readers recognize and bind specific motifs.
Epigenetics and Development
Epigenetic changes control the unfolding of the developmental program in which pluripotent cells differentiate to cells with specialized functions (Reik et al., 2001). Cell differentiation requires expression and suppression of subsets of genes from among the 25,000 or more genes that are inherited and requires nuanced expression, including alternative transcription start sites, and variations in level of RNA expression and translation, including by regulatory RNAs. Via epigenetic modification, a hemoglobin gene cannot become a sodium channel gene but can be expressed in an erythrocyte and at the correct developmental time-point and level. Conversely, the sodium channel gene is correctly expressed in the neuron. A dramatic example of epigenetic variation is the random inactivation of 1 of the 2 X chromosomes in females, condensing the DNA and chromatin of the inactive chromosome into a Barr body and shutting down the expression of all but a few genes on that chromosome (Cooper, 1971).
Inherited Disorders of DNA Methylation Machinery
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurological disorder that features behavioral deficits, seizures, lack of verbal skills, and severe motor coordination predominantly in female patients (Rett, 1966). RTT was formerly classified as a developmental disorder by the DSM-IV but was removed after discovery that RTT is caused by genetic mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene. MECP2 is a transcriptional repressor that binds specifically to methylated cytosine (Amir et al., 1999). Whole genome surveys by high throughput chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing experiments of MECP2 binding sites have identified hundreds of loci, some of which are involved in neurodevelopmental signaling pathways (Yasui et al., 2013). In fibroblasts derived from patients with RTT and cortical neurons from mouse models of RTT, MeCp2 deletion leads to aberrant cell migration and differentiation. Importantly, these effects are reversed by tubastatin, an HDAC6-specific inhibitor, indicating that epigenetic therapy is a potential option for treating RTT patients (Xu et al., 2014).
Other diseases affecting brain development and function are also caused by genetic defects in the epigenetic machinery. Some of these are rare, including ICF syndrome (immunodeficiency, centromere instability, and facial anomalies), which is caused by autosomal recessive mutations in the DNA-methyltransferase-3b gene (Xu et al., 1999). More common variants in the machinery of DNA methylation that may be relevant to behavior are found in methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (Rozen, 1996). The reader is referred to this recent review for more detail (Bjornsson, 2015).
Stress and Early-Life Trauma
Early-life stress is a powerful risk factor for several psychiatric disorders (for a recent review, see Klengel et al., 2014). Numerous studies linking maternal behavior and stress-induced depressive-like behaviors in animals have reported changes in DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene (NR3C1) (Weaver et al., 2004), specifically, hypermethylation of regulatory areas of NR3C1 coupled to a decrease in GR transcription. The reduced GR levels induced by DNA hypermethylation then impair negative feedback of the HPA axis such that stress responses are poorly modulated (Weaver, 2014). Other key genes in the stress axis, including genes encoding neuropeptides, and the GR chaperone FKBP5 are also epigenetically programmed by early adversity. In mice, increased secretion of corticosterone following early maternal separation is accompanied by changes in expression and DNA methylation of the neuropeptide Avp promoter. Mice stressed by social defeat exhibited lower DNA methylation in regulatory elements of Crh and altered transcription of this gene, while resilient mice showed fewer changes. Finally, differential methylation of Fkbp5 has been implicated in stress response in a mouse model.
Many of the genes identified in animal studies also show epigenetic abnormalities in human postmortem brain samples or peripheral blood cells from patients with stress disorders. For example, changes in promoter DNA methylation of the NR3C1 gene in hippocampal tissues obtained from suicide victims show a correlation with exposure to early adversity. Importantly, the DNA methylation changes tracked with total GR expression. Exposure to childhood abuse in humans has been shown to correlate with lower allele-specific FKBP5 methylation associated with disinhibited GR-induced transcription of FKBP5 (Klengel et al., 2013). Recent evidence points to a potentially transgenerational transmissible effect of stress on an epigenetic level, as holocaust exposure had an effect on FKBP5 methylation that was observed in exposed parents as well as in their offspring (Yehuda et al., 2015).
Depression
The World Health Organization forecasts that depression will be the leading cause of disease burden by 2030 (Whiteford et al., 2013). However, the absence of a convincing animal model of depression, coupled with inconclusive genetic studies in humans, has hampered efforts to identify candidate depression genes (Lolak et al., 2014). New approaches have utilized DNA methylation patterns of individual CpGs in a manner similar to the use of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genome wide association studies (GWAS) studies (Cortijo et al., 2014). These epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) have the advantage that they are unbiased and hypothesis free and can survey DNA methylation patterns in virtually any tissue.
EWAS studies of postmortem frontal cortex samples and saliva from depressed patients found methylation differences in 7 genes including 3 genes that were also previously discovered in genetic studies (Dempster et al., 2014). Another EWAS study found hypermethylation at the zinc finger and BTB domain containing 20 genes that is associated with hippocampus integrity, plays a role in neurogenesis and neurodevelopment, and is a candidate gene for depression (Davies et al., 2014). It is unclear whether these DNA methylation changes play a causal role in the development of depression by mediating the expression of these genes or may be useful as markers for diagnosis and categorization of disease state(s).
Given the crosstalk that occurs between chromatin and DNA modifications by virtue of their important role in homeostasis of cell functions and physiology, it comes as no surprise that recent studies have unearthed a relationship between histone modifications and depression. For example, studies of postmortem prefrontal cortex found that antidepressant use was associated with reduced methylation of lysine H3K27 at the BDNF promoter I, correlating with decreased serum BDNF levels (Duclot and Kabbaj, 2015).
Given the key role of DNA modifications, and crosstalk with histone modifications, in regulation of memory and other neurological processes (see below), more comprehensive EWAS studies encompassing a greater spectrum of CpG dinucleotides, or even better, unbiased surveys of genomic DNA methylation by whole genome sequencing will be vital to better understand the role of such processes in depression.
Learning, Memory, and Degenerative Disorders
Learning and formation of new memories require the structural and functional remodeling of neuronal synapses in response to specific patterns of neuronal activity (Martin et al., 2000). In turn, the neuronal signaling pathways trigger nuclear epigenetic activity, ultimately resulting in long-term alterations of gene expression (Dash et al., 2007). Experiments using the global histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors trichostatin A and sodium butyrate (Vecsey et al., 2007), as well as genetic disruption of histone acetyltransferase genes (Alarcon et al., 2004), demonstrate clear effects on long-term memory and directly implicate histone acetylation as an important component of memory formation. Roles for Hdac2 (Morris et al., 2013), Hdac3 (McQuown et al., 2011), and HDAC Sirt1 (Michan et al., 2010) in synaptic plasticity, learning, long-term potentiation, and both long- and short-term memory have been identified. Also, studies of animals with genetic manipulations of the G9a (Gupta-Agarwal et al., 2012) and Mll2/Kmt2b genes (Kerimoglu et al., 2013) have firmly defined a role for histone methylation in both learning and memory. A role for HDAC3 has also been identified for addictions, where inhibition of this enzyme enhanced behavior performance in fear memory formation and the extinction of drug- seeking behavior (Malvaez et al., 2013).
DNA methylation has also been associated with memory formation and maintenance. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic knock-out studies of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) resulted in memory suppression and impaired memory consolidation, synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory (Lipsky, 2013). Studies of Tet1 knock-out mice demonstrate a key role for DNA demethylation in abnormal memory extinction, but not memory formation (Rudenko et al., 2013). DNA methylation and histone modifications cross-talk extensively during memory maintenance (Miller et al., 2008). The administration of a DNMT inhibitor, which prevented the reinstatement of old memories before extinction, affected not only DNA methylation but also reduced H3 and H4 deacetylation. Similarly, HDAC inhibitors could prevent the reinstatement of past memories when administered before extinction by increasing histone acetylation and reducing DNMT1 expression through the suppression of the ERK kinase signaling pathway.
Drugs of Abuse
Molecular neuroadaptation to addictive substances shares aspects with learning and memory. For both, pairing of cues with outcomes, and in contexts, leads to long-lasting synaptic changes. Neuroadaptaive changes associated with addictive behaviors have been identified in several circuits, including the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, which itself includes the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens (NAc) (Tuesta and Zhang, 2014), hippocampus, amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex. Although approximately 30% to 70% of vulnerability to different addictive agents is heritable (Goldman et al., 2005), the remainder is due to environmental factors such as psychological stress and social interactions (Renthal and Nestler, 2008). This observation suggests a major role for epigenetic mechanisms due to their environmental sensitivity and long-lasting effects.
Histone modifications (acetylation, phosphorylation, and methylation) have been shown to alter effects of both stimulant and depressive drugs in in vivo models. For example, acute exposure to cocaine, which is known to rapidly induce the immediate early genes c-fos and fosb in the NAc, increases histone H4 acetylation in their promoters. Chronic exposure to cocaine induced Bdnf and Cdk5 H3 promoter acetylation and transcription upregulation. Furthermore, inhibition of HDAC family members using sodium butyrate and trichostatin A or the knock-out of specific histone deacetylases (e.g., Hdac5) potentiates cocaine’s effects while overexpression of Hdac4 attenuates them. HDACs also help mediate neuroadaptations to other drugs of abuse, including opioids and nicotine. In selected alcohol-preferring animal models, inhibition of Hdac2 using siRNA or trichostatin A in the amygdala reduced voluntary alcohol intake was found to normalize deficits in Bdnf-Arc signaling (a pathway associated with anxiety behaviors in alcohol withdrawal) and dendritic spine density in the amygdala upon withdrawal from chronic ethanol exposure (Sakharkar et al., 2014). HDAC activity has also been found to be mechanistically important in other drug models: enhancement of morphine-induced locomotor sensitization and conditioned place preference (Sanchis-Segura et al., 2009) and regulation of nicotine preference (Pastor et al., 2011). Effects of epigenetic modifications in addiction are not unidirectional or simple. Histone methylation can activate or repress gene transcription depending on the specific lysine residue modified and as a result can have both negative and positive effects on drug-associated behaviors. Methylation of H3K9 in the NAc inhibits behavioral responses to cocaine and morphine (Maze et al., 2010), but methylation of H3K4 in the NAc enhances methamphetamine-induced conditioned place preference (Aguilar- Valles et al., 2014).
Along with histone modifications, though less studied, DNA methylation has been implicated in regulation of drug responses. In animal models, a role for DNMTs in response to cocaine was observed. Inhibition of Dnmt3a in the NAc via a pharmacological inhibitor or gene knock-down increased behavioral responses to cocaine and overexpression of Dnmt3a; supplementation with the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine had the opposite effect. A methylation reader, Methyl-CpG-binding protein-2 (MeCP2), and a key modulator of neural activity-regulated gene expression was found to inhibit methamphetamine reward behavior using specific NAc knock-down and knock-in models (Godino et al., 2015). In contrast, and again showing context specificity of epigenetic effects, chronic cocaine increased MeCP2 expression in dorsal striatum, where local knock-down of the protein inhibited cocaine self-administration (Im et al., 2010).
Candidate gene epigenetic studies in blood and saliva have identified differential methylation associated with drug exposure in a multitude of genes, for example, ALDH1A2 in alcohol dependence (Harlaar et al., 2014), MAOA and MAOB in smoking (Launay et al., 2009), prodynorphin in alcoholism, and OPRM1 in opioid addiction (Andersen et al., 2015). Interestingly, a study conducted in human postmortem brain examined 3 SNPs in the prodynorphin gene that were previously reported to be associated with alcoholism. These SNPs were found to overlap with CpGs, which showed significant hypermethylation in alcoholic subjects carrying the protective genotype vs controls (Taqi et al., 2011). Thus a differential epigenetic signal (i.e., DNA methylation) has been shown to provide an additional level of heterogeneity to the known variation in the genetic code that is associated with alcohol addiction. These results emphasize the important role of DNA methylation, in combination with genetic polymorphisms and histone modifications, to regulate brain responses to drugs of abuse.
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Studies of DNA methylation in schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) illustrate progress in relating epigenetic changes to severe psychiatric disorders, but also the complexities of such studies in patients who will have experienced many other exposures with the potential to cause epigenetic changes (Kuratomi et al., 2008). Genome-wide methylome studies found altered DNA methylation of numerous genes implicated in SCZ and BD (Dempster et al., 2011). Aberrant methylation of numerous CpGs was found in genomic DNA from blood of twins with SCZ and BD compared with discordant twins. These differences included hypomethylation of the ST6GALNAC1 promoter, as had also been observed in patients with psychosis (Dempster et al., 2011). While the latter study found DNA hypermethylation of COMT in SCZ (Nohesara et al., 2011), another study provided evidence that methylation of the COMT promoter is affected both by the COMT Val158Met polymorphism and physical activity (Lott et al., 2013). A recent comprehensive EWAS found >4500 differentially methylated CpGs at 3000 genes (Wockner et al., 2014), while another study reported that elevated blood homocysteine levels in SCZ patients are associated with altered methylation at >1000 CpG sites, again implicating many genes (Xu et al., 2015). Another EWAS identified aberrant methylation of genes involved in neuronal differentiation, dopaminergic function, hypoxia, and infection (Castellani et al., 2015), many of which overlap with SNPs in putative SCZ risk loci (Hannon et al., 2016).
Researchers have long sought to tie variations in chromatin structure to SCZ. An increase in arginine-rich histones, reversible by a D2 agonist, was reported in the neutrophils of SCZ patients some 4 decades ago (Issidorides et al., 1975). Transcriptome studies have uncovered abnormal expression of many histone-related genes in SCZ patients. For example, dysregulation of HDAC3 in the temporal cortex and increased expression of HDAC1 have been reported in the frontal cortex of SCZ patients. Expression of HDAC1, HDAC3, and HDAC4 inversely correlates with expression of GAD67 (GAD1), a gene implicated in SCZ pathogenesis. For a recent comprehensive review of all chromatin changes associates with SCZ development, please see (Nestler et al., 2015).
Maternal Effects
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are caused by maternal alcohol consumption, which alters the developmental trajectory of the fetus via epigenetic pathways. FASD may include facial abnormalities, low birth weight, microcephaly, poor coordination, low intelligence, microophthalmia, and deficits in hearing and vision (Chokroborty-Hoque et al., 2014). Recent studies show that alcohol exposure specifically during early development induces major alterations in gene promoter methylation and histone modification and deregulates noncoding RNAs that are functionally consequential (Kleiber et al., 2014). In an FASD cohort from South Africa, CpG methylation changes in imprinting control regions (e.g., lower KvDMR1 and PEG3 DMR) were found in genomic DNA isolated from peripheral blood (Masemola et al., 2015). Given the wide-ranging effects of alcohol on cellular physiology, many more studies are needed to identify all of the epigenetically regulated developmental pathways that are altered by fetal exposure to alcohol.
Transgenerational Effects
There is some evidence that different types of environmental stimuli can alter the epigenome of the whole brain or related neural circuits, contributing to long-lasting behavioral phenotypes that may be transmitted from parent to offspring via transgenerational mechanisms. For instance, food deprivation in first generation (F0) mice led to decreased serum glucose levels in both male and female offspring (F1), whereas the high-fat diet in male rats (F0) selectively resulted in pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction in female offspring (Anderson et al., 2006). This implies that parental exposures can transgenerationally impact the metabolic function of offspring. Another study examined the offspring of males fed with a low-protein diet. In their offspring, the expression of multiple genes related to lipid and cholesterol metabolism was higher, possibly because of increased methylation of a key lipid regulator gene (Carone et al., 2010). While maternal influence on health of offspring has been long recognized and can be attributed to intrauterine environment, these recent findings suggest that physiologically impactful epigenetic changes can be transmitted through the male germ line. In line with the abovementioned results, malnutrition in F0 pregnancies led to in utero undernourishment of F1 animals, subsequently altering the sperm DNA methylome of F1 adult males (Ng et al., 2010). Collectively, environmental stimuli can impact the sperm methylome even before maturation of the individual and may be due to the epigenetic changes in spermatogonium cells. Accordingly, the spermatogonium acts as a candidate target to prevent such transgenerational inheritance of certain diseased phenotypes. However, the involvement of DNA methylation changes in transgenerational inheritance by sperm has recently been called into question. An exhaustive analysis of cytosine methylation patterns in sperm obtained from mice consuming 1 of 3 diets by whole genome methylation mapping found that “epivariation,” either stochastic or due to unknown demographic or environmental factors, was a far stronger contributor to the sperm methylome than was the diet consumed (Shea et al., 2015).
Recently, Dias BG and Ressler KJ (2014) linked odorant conditioning and DNA hypomethylation of an olfactory receptor gene in mice. This odor sensitivity was shown to be transmitted for 2 generations, but it is unclear how olfactory stimulation could drive molecular events in the sperm. This highlights a general problem for proponents of transgenerational epigenetic behavioral transmission: how can a learned association be epigenetically encoded in the germline of the parent and then transmitted and decoded in the brain of the child?
Conclusion and Future Directions
Epigenetic change is a relatively new frontier of temporally dynamic, reversible, molecular change that can be measured genome wide, revealing mechanisms of genomic control as well as consequences of environmental exposures. Epigenetic influences on gene regulation help mediate response and adaptation to the environment, accounting for part of the liability to psychiatric diseases. Epigenetic mechanisms mediate gene by environment interactions in which certain combinations of inherited variation and exposures are particularly dangerous. They may even account for some nongenetic transgenerational transmission of liability, as is still controversial. Several frequently prescribed medications, including valproate and opioids, and psychotropic drugs that are susceptible to abuse, strongly influence epigenetic mechanisms and their effects are partially mediated thereby. Increasingly, epigenetic effects will be considered, and measured, in the diagnosis of mental disorders and in their treatment, where epigenetic actions and effects of drugs will need to be considered. Although speculative at the moment and challenged by the question of how to target specific genes, pharmacological modification of epigenetic processes holds promise. Compared with diseases such as immunodeficiency, centromere instability, and facial anomalies, RTT, and cancer, where epigenetic changes are widespread and of a large magnitude, it is likely that small changes in specific regions, perhaps at a single histone octamer or single CpG dinucleotide, would be targeted in psychiatric diseases and with effort taken to minimize off-target effects. A deeper understanding of the molecular factors, such as accessory proteins that open, close, and remodel chromatin in a locus-specific manner, will be needed before gene-specific drugs, with few off-target effects, are developed. Equally important is a better understanding of signaling pathways that translate behavioral interventions into molecular events that may reverse negative epigenetic changes associated with disease.
Most epigenetic association studies have utilized peripheral tissue samples such as blood, buccal tissue, or saliva samples. There is evidence for a modest correlation between methylation patterns in blood cells and the brain prefrontal cortex in rodent and rhesus monkey models (Davies et al., 2012) as well as between peripheral methylation and related brain metabolites in human positron emission tomography studies (Shumay et al., 2012). However, the majority of studies in animal model systems or postmortem tissues where blood and brain comparisons have been made show clear gene- and sometimes even CpG-specific methylation patterns, probably reflecting their tissue specificity, making the discovery of mechanistically informative disease-specific DNA methylation changes difficult. New algorithms, aided by the Human Epigenome Project, have identified tissue-specific methylation patterns, and these can be used to “normalize” samples with mixed cellular backgrounds. The development of induced pluripotent stem cells and reliable protocols to differentiate neuronal precursors into diverse neuronal, glial, and astrocytic lineages might seem to open the door to “patient”-specific epigenotyping; however, these cells are themselves derived from some peripheral tissue, such as skin or blood, and have been dedifferentiated. Thus, induced pluripotent stem cells will be more valuable for understanding effects of genotype, and in vitro exposures, and the epigenotype of the brain will remain somewhat a mystery.
Epigenetic changes may predict response to therapy and may be useful as biomarkers to diagnose disease and monitor disease progresssion. Recent data suggest epigenetic patterns such as serotonin transporter methylation status may predict antidepressant pharmacotherapy response (Domschke et al., 2014). Intriguingly, normalization of hypomethylation of the serotonin transporter and MAOA genes correlates with successful psychotherapeutic intervention in anxiety disorders (Roberts et al., 2014; Ziegler et al., 2016). Lithium increases H3K4me3 and acetylation of H3 and H4 at a specific gene promoter region in mouse brain and postmortem brains of patients with BD. The well-known atypical antipsychotic drug, clozapine, could also increase H3K4me in the murine brain. Thus, epigenetic plasticity may constitute a key mechanism of therapeutic interventions in mental disorders, and epigenetic changes may be biomarkers for lasting therapeutic effects, contributing to better monitoring and possibly even prediction of treatment success in a personalized medicine approach.
Although this review focuses on extensively studied epigenetic mechanisms such as chromatin remodeling and DNA methylation, several other mechanisms have been identified that can modify gene expression and cell function, and that can be both cause and consequence of psychiatric disease. For example; At chromosome ends, telomere length is maintained by telomerase, an enzyme that adds copies of a DNA repeat at open telomere ends. Telomere shortening, which ordinarily occurs with aging, is accelerated by stress and may be a biomarker of stress and, at extreme levels, may impair cell function. Extranuclear regulatory RNAs, some packaged in microvesicles known as exosomes, are capable of epigenetically modifying gene expression, possibly even trans-generationally as recently reported (Bale, 2015). Epigenetics continues to expand in new directions, revealing new layers of genomic, cellular, and neural function.
Statement of Interest
None.
Acknowledgments
The present work was supported by intramural funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the German Research Foundation (DFG, SFB-TRR-58, C02 to K.D.), and the German Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF, 01EE1402A, PROTECT-AD, P5 to K.D.). We apologize to those whose work has not been cited due to space constraints.
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Ziegler C Richter J Mahr M Gajewska A Schiele MA Gehrmann A Schmidt B Lesch KP Lang T Helbig-Lang S Pauli P Kircher T Reif A Rief W Vossbeck-Elsebusch AN Arolt V Wittchen HU Hamm AO Deckert J Domschke K 2016 ) MAOA gene hypomethylation in panic disorder-reversibility of an epigenetic risk pattern by psychotherapy . Transl Psychiatry 6 : e773 .
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP 2016. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US. |
Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said he wanted to shut down Muslim kindergartens, which he claimed deepened isolation of immigrant children, in an interview with a local newspaper.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Asked by the Kurier if such establishments would be closed, Kurz said, "Of course, we don’t need them. There should be no Islamic kindergartens."
According to the paper, around 10,000 children of Arab and Chechen origin go to Islamic preschools in Vienna alone.
Kurz said these establishments isolated children linguistically and culturally and were paid for with taxpayers’ money.
A way to force them to close, he said, would be to raise criteria of language proficiency, which was also key to successful integration.
The minister stressed Austrian authorities were already trying hard to integrate immigrants, including teaching them the German language and local values after the country started accepting refugees from Italy and Greece. |
A Charles County man who was elected last month as a delegate for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been indicted on child pornography and explosives charges, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Caleb Andrew Bailey, 30, faces up to 50 years in prison on four charges.
Authorities said they began looking into the Waldorf man when a package of ammunition and explosives he shipped to Wisconsin ruptured en route and was reported to authorities by postal inspectors.
Joe Cluster, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, confirmed Bailey was a delegate for Trump in the state's April 26 primary. He received 23,905 votes in the state's 5th Congressional District.
"We strongly condemn these allegations and leave it in the capable hands of law enforcement," Trump spokesman Hope Hicks said in a statement. "He will be replaced immediately."
According to the indictment handed down late Wednesday, mail inspectors intercepted the package at a postal facility in Capitol Heights. Bailey called the Postal Service to ask why the package had not been delivered, prosecutors said.
The package included 119 rounds of reloaded .50 caliber cartridges with M48A1 incendiary projectiles, and 200 rounds of 14.5mm M183A1 spotting projectiles which contain an explosive charge, prosecutors said. Neither Bailey nor the intended recipient has a federal explosives license needed to transport the material contained in the package, prosectors said.
Police searched several properties associated with Bailey, including his home, and seized an illegal machine gun, prosecutors said.
They also say Bailey "used a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct" to produce child pornography. He was charged with possessing child pornography.
Bailey faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years for unlawful transport of explosives and for illegal possession of a machine gun, a maximum of 30 years for production and attempted production of child pornography and a maximum of 10 years for possessing child pornography, prosecutors said.
Bailey is in federal custody pending a hearing on Tuesday.
If he is unable to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, an alternate delegate would vote to support Trump's nomination in his place.
[email protected]
twitter.com/jfritze |
From time to time large PC makers unveil hardware that chip companies like Advanced Micro Devices would rather not discuss with the general public. Recently it turned out that some of the desktops sold by Hewlett-Packard carry a strange microprocessor called AMD FX-670K, which does not seem to be exactly an FX-series offering.
Hewlett-Packard recently started to offer HP Pavilion 500-266ea PCs with AMD FX-670K accelerated processing unit with four code-named Piledriver x86 cores as well as Radeon HD 8670D graphics engine (according to HP’s documents). The chip has clock-rate of 3.70GHz, though it is unclear whether this is the maximum Turbo Boost frequency or default clock-rate, 4MB L2 cache and dual-channel DDR3 memory controller. However, unlike other FX processors, this one does not have 8MB third-level cache (a logical thing since it is based on Richland core), which affects performance in single-thread applications. Since the chip’s model number includes K-letter, the central processor should have unlocked multiplier to allow easy overclocking, which is a feature of all “unlocked” AMD FX chips.
It is interested to note that a member of Hardware Canucks forums got the processor and found out that while it uses FM2 packaging (just like all the other APUs based on Trinity or Richland designs), it does not feature integrated graphics. In case the graphics is truly not there (which may be a result of the fact that the chip is not fully supported by the BIOS of the mainboard it is installed into), then FX-670K should be considered as a product similar to FX-4300-series, but in FM2 packaging, without L3 cache and a number of other things.
Companies like AMD usually ship oddly named microprocessors and graphics cards to OEM partners due to requests of the latter. In fact, AMD widely offers Athlon X4 760K processor based on Richland core without graphics and with specs that are similar to the FX-670K chip.
It is not a secret that the future of high-performance FX-series multi-core microprocessors is rather gloomy as Advanced Micro Devices’ roadmaps simply do not include any updates to them. Many believe that going forward AMD will offer cherry-picked FX-series chips with integrated graphics powered by the same cores as their mainstream accelerated processing units. In case the FX-670K is a processor that actually carries integrated graphics engine (which is not recognized by some mainboards), it looks like the company has already started to do so. In case AMD began to re-brand Athlons into FXes for HP, then it looks like the value of the FX brand is about to start getting lower.
KitGuru Says: Since Athlon and Sempron will now be used to market chips based on low-cost/low-power micro-architectures, to avoid confusion AMD might quietly discontinue various Athlons and Semprons in FM2/FM2+ packaging based on high-performance architectures, but without integrated graphics engines. However, adding essentially cut-down chips into the premium FX line seems to be a rather cynical decision. |
In the final entry in the series, "Waking Up in Trump's America," Seattle Councilmember At-Large Lorena González argues that police reform will come from pressure on local and county government and not from Washington, D.C.
One of the hardest things I’ve done in my career is to sit with the family of a man whose life has been taken by the police. In those meetings, as both a civil rights attorney and as and elected official, I have listened to a mother cry for the loss of her beloved son. Stories of a compassionate son, who made some mistakes in life, but did not deserve to prematurely die permeate the room.
It is with empathy that I listen to memories of a relative that is not recalled as a criminal, according to the media, but as the life of the party or the one who always stepped up to take his mom to run errands. It's not too far of a reach for me to relate given my own personal experience of losing a cousin to police violence or listening to my brother talk about his experience with biased-policing. These are the real experiences of brown and Black American families in today's America.
Without due process of the law, a son, a brother, a friend, has been torn away forever from his loved ones. Was he guilty? Was he innocent? We’ll never have a chance to find out because he’ll never get his day in court. Now we’re facing down a president and an attorney general who patently deny the crisis of police reform gripping this nation. Who will sit with all the families living in fear that their son or daughter could be next?
As Sen. Jeff Sessions sat through confirmation proceedings, I felt for a brief moment as if over ten years of work tackling police brutality was falling apart in front of me. This is a man who has blocked the path to citizenship at every turn for undocumented immigrants, a group that at one point in time included my own mother and father. In his testimony last week, Sen. Cory Booker warned that Sessions’ record as a lawyer, former Alabama attorney general, and United States senator shows that he will not protect people of color, LGBTQ, and immigrant communities.
In short, those most at risk to suffer police misconduct.
When people think of places in America grappling with police reform, many towns come to mind. Ferguson. New York City. Philadelphia. While Seattle, that liberal bastion of the Pacific Northwest, might not be the first place you think of, the reality is that my city is struggling with police reform just like the rest of our nation. Indeed, Seattle has been under a federal consent decree for unconstitutional policing since 2012, after a string of high-profile excessive force and biased-policing incidents resulted in public outcry.
There is fear here, too. Fear that the deaths in our city will go unacknowledged and unresolved. Fear that our new president, through neglect and perhaps outright malice, will usher in an era of tacit allowance toward brutal police practice and misconduct. Sen. Sessions has consistently expressed his skepticism of using consent decrees as a tool to reform police departments. But in Seattle the consent decree process has yielded much needed and overdue reform that would not have occurred but for the intervention of the Department of Justice. These interventions are critical for departments less inclined to voluntarily participate. However, criminal justice reform will not end now that the Trump administration is in power. Elected officials, like those in Seattle, and activists across the country will fill the gap and continue to push for needed reforms.
Now we’re facing down a president and an attorney general who patently deny the crisis of police reform gripping this nation.
In the face of national uncertainty, there is hope. In Seattle, our police reform process is well underway and will not be derailed by national leadership changes. Very soon police reform legislation will be heard in my city council committee. The laws we make there will create a clear and structured path forward for the protection of all our residents. Further, we will be a beacon of hope for localities around the country, proving that reform can and will take place during a Trump presidency.
Over the next four years, it will fall to city and county governments to forge the path forward on police reform. The people who founded this nation made sure that its future residents would have recourse in the event of a federal government that does not reflect their beliefs. Now is the time to put the strength of the will of the people to the test.
I urge you — write to your city council, your county council, your state legislature representatives. These are the bodies that will hold the power to reform for the next four years. |
NASA/ESA/the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
A photogenic and favorite target for amateur astronomers, the full beauty of nearby barred spiral galaxy M83 is unveiled in all of its glory in this Hubble Space Telescope mosaic image. The vibrant magentas and blues reveal that the galaxy is ablaze with star formation. The galaxy, also known as the Southern Pinwheel, lies 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra.
The Hubble photograph captures thousands of star clusters, hundreds of thousands of individual stars, and “ghosts” of dead stars called supernova remnants. The galactic panorama unveils a tapestry of the drama of stellar birth and death spread across 50,000 light-years.
The newest generations of stars are forming largely in clusters on the edges of the dark spiral dust lanes. These brilliant young stellar groupings, only a few million years old, produce huge amounts of ultraviolet light that is absorbed by surrounding diffuse gas clouds, causing them to glow in pinkish hydrogen light.
Gradually, the fierce stellar winds from the youngest most massive stars blow away the gas, revealing bright blue star clusters and giving a “Swiss cheese” appearance to the spiral arms. These youngest star clusters are about 1 million to 10 million years old. The populations of stars up to 100 million years or older appear yellow or orange by comparison because the young blue stars have already burned out.
Interstellar “bubbles” produced by nearly 300 supernovas from massive stars have been found in this Hubble image. By studying these supernova remnants, astronomers can better understand the nature of the stars that exploded and dispersed nuclear processed chemical elements back into the galaxy, contributing to the next generation of new stars.
This image is being used to support a citizen science project titled STAR DATE: M83. The primary goal is to estimate ages for approximately 3,000 star clusters. Amateur scientists will use the presence or absence of the pink hydrogen emission, the sharpness of the individual stars, and the color of the clusters to estimate ages. Participants will measure the sizes of the star clusters and any associated emission nebulae. Finally, the citizen scientists will “explore” the image, identifying a variety of objects ranging from background galaxies to supernova remnants to foreground stars. |
During this past weekend’s violent riots in Charlottesville, where white supremacists rallied in protest of the removal of a Confederate statue, one protester was caught on video discarding his racist stance when targeted by anti-racist protesters and left without his Nazi comrades.
Documentary filmmaker C. J. Hunt says he witnessed one white man screaming for help after being chased down, and quickly ripped off his shirt and begged the crowd for mercy. The unidentified man wore the khaki-and-white uniform of the white nationalist group Vanguard America.
“I’m not really white power, man, I just came here for the fun,” the man, before saying “I’m sorry” and begging for mercy.
Hunt, with camera in tow, approached the young man about his bizarre surrender. When Hunt asked the man if he was a white supremacist he replied, “barely.”
“It’s kind of a fun idea,” he further explained. “Just being able to say ‘white power,’ you know?”
See it all unfold below. |
I live in the southwest and am horrified by the size of solar farms being built in my local area. What do they achieve?
If solar were fashion, we'd say it was having a moment. Over the past few years we've gone from near zero solar photovoltaic panels to 2.5GW of capacity. Of this 1.9GW is installed on rooftops and 0.6GW on giant solar farms, with planning secured for a further 0.9GW of utility scale projects.
Ordinarily, I'd greet these farms supplying renewable energy with a cheery, "Welcome to the grid!" Unfortunately, my real response on seeing one on a beloved rolling south Devon hillside was more profane. Developers tend to say they're of "low visual impact". Actually they're positively industrial, guaranteed to bring out your inner Nimby.
Why now? Solar panels (produced in the Far East) cost a third of what they did three years ago. And there's been a change with Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), too. Generators used to get two ROCs for every MWh of solar-produced electricity. They can be bought and traded among energy suppliers. But in March 2013 these were scaled down to 1.6 ROCs per MWh. Cue a scramble to generate more capacity.
The southwest is the UK's sunniest spot and home to over 70 solar farms with a capacity of 0.29GW. But you can take heart that we're already nearing grid capacity. And stand by for new guidance from the government on planning. Rumour is that the rules are getting tighter.
Farmers are keen as mustard to lease their fields for panels, and you can see why. A 44-acre site can net in the region of £50,000 a year in rent. And as long as sheep may safely graze in the gaps between the mounted panels they still get the single farm subsidy payment. When it gets to the complex patchwork of businesses developing the farms it gets more difficult to follow the money, as they tend to use equally complex financial models. What is clear is that solar offers them excellent access to the financial markets. So well done them, but what about us?
Despite their monstrous size, it should be possible to learn to love solar farms. They are inert, contain no moving parts, produce no noise. They live on low-grade agricultural land and after 25 years (their average lifespan) they can be removed without trace. They might actually give the soil a welcome break.
But there's a sad lack of projects offering cheap energy for locals. (Good Energy's Delabole wind farm and the single westmillsolar.coop in Watchfield are rare exceptions). So far big solar's brought scant power to the people.
Green crush
A still from the game Of Orcs & Men
Eco warriors may say that they have enough to do with liberating the real planet earth, but are there strategic lessons to be learned from computer games? Gamesasylum.com nominates Of Orcs & Men the "greenest game you've never played", lamenting the fact that this allegorical battle between rapacious humankind and the oppressed orcs hasn't been a smash hit (yet). Certainly the orcs confirm one widely held ecological maxim: it isn't easy being green.
Greenspeak: DeLycrafi (de-laikra-fai) verb
Bid to cleanse cycling of sport-specific clothing and presumably rid us of the Mamil (middle-aged man in Lycra). Part of Boris Johnson's drive to promote London's accessible new cycling infrastructure. Inevitably there's a backlash…
If you have an ethical dilemma, send an email to Lucy at [email protected] |
American/Canadian television series
Haven is an American-Canadian supernatural drama television series loosely based on the Stephen King novel The Colorado Kid (2005). The show, which deals with strange events in a fictional town in Maine named Haven, was filmed on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, and was an American/Canadian co-production. It starred Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant, Nicholas Campbell and Eric Balfour, whose characters struggle to help townspeople with supernatural afflictions and protect the town from the effects of those afflictions. The show was the creation of writers Jim Dunn and Sam Ernst.
The one-hour drama premiered on July 9, 2010, on Syfy, and concluded on December 17, 2015.[1][2] In August 2015, Syfy cancelled the series after five seasons.[3]
Premise [ edit ]
When FBI Special Agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) is dispatched to the small town of Haven, Maine, on a routine case, she finds herself becoming increasingly involved in the return of "The Troubles", a plague of supernatural afflictions that have occurred in the town at least twice before. With an openness to the possibility of the paranormal, she also finds a more personal link in Haven that may lead her to the mother she has never known.
Over time, Parker, who eventually quits the FBI to join the Haven Police Department, begins to realize that her arrival in Haven may have been pre-arranged and that her name and even her memories may not be her own. As the series progresses, she learns more about the mysteries of both Haven and her true identity.
She and her partner, police detective Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant), find themselves frequently facing problems caused by both the effects of the Troubles, as well as the activities of town folk who take more drastic measures against those who are Troubled.
Cast and characters [ edit ]
Main [ edit ]
Emily Rose as Audrey Parker
Lucas Bryant as Nathan Wuornos
Nicholas Campbell as Garland Wuornos (season 1; guest seasons 2–3)
Eric Balfour as Duke Crocker
Recurring [ edit ]
Development and production [ edit ]
Haven was originally developed for ABC Television in 2007 by writers Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn, with production company Piller Segan.
Haven episodes. View of Lunenburg . The shoreline can be seen in variousepisodes.
In September 2009, E1 Entertainment announced it was working with Stephen King to develop a television series based on his novel The Colorado Kid (2005). The entertainment company ordered the concept straight to series, with thirteen episodes planned.[5] In November, Syfy announced it had acquired the series.[6]
Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn wrote the pilot episode. According to Ernst, the original idea had no supernatural involvement, which prompted Stephen King to ask "Where's the supernatural element"? after he read their notes.[7] In February 2010, Emily Rose was cast in the lead role of Audrey Parker.[8] Eric Balfour and Lucas Bryant came on board in late March.[9] Canadian broadcaster Canwest Global Communications acquired rights to the series in March as well.[10]
In April 2010, Adam Kane signed on to direct the pilot.[11] Production began April 20 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and surrounding areas.[12] Filming occurred primarily in Chester, Nova Scotia (including using the local arena as a studio[13]) and throughout the south shore of the Canadian province, including Lunenburg,[14] Halifax, and Mahone Bay.[citation needed]
The series premiere, "Welcome to Haven", aired on Syfy in the U.S. on July 9, 2010,[15] and on Showcase in Canada on July 12.[16] The show became available to other international markets in October 2010.[17]
Episodes [ edit ]
Season Episodes Originally aired First aired Last aired 1 13 July 9, 2010 ( ) October 8, 2010 ( 2010-10-08 ) 2 13 July 15, 2011 ( ) December 6, 2011 ( 2011-12-06 ) 3 13 September 21, 2012 ( ) January 17, 2013 ( 2013-01-17 ) 4 13 September 13, 2013 ( ) December 13, 2013 ( 2013-12-13 ) 5 26 13 September 11, 2014 ( ) December 5, 2014 ( 2014-12-05 ) 13 October 8, 2015 ( ) December 17, 2015 ( )
The one-hour drama premiered on July 9, 2010, on Syfy.[1] The series was the first property to be produced for Syfy Pay channels around the globe, excluding Canada and Scandinavia.[17] On October 12, 2011, it was renewed for a third 13-episode season, which began airing on September 21, 2012.[18][19] On November 9, 2012, it was renewed for a fourth 13-episode season.[20] On January 28, 2014, the show was renewed for a split 26-episode fifth season. The first half aired in 2014 with the second half airing in 2015.[21]
Reception [ edit ]
Haven premiered to mixed to poor reviews from critics, with its first season attaining a metascore of 53 (out of 100) according to review aggregator Metacritic and a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews, the site's critical consensus stating: "It benefits from an intriguing setting and a strong lead in Emily Rose, but otherwise, Haven is a derivative supernatural crime procedural."[22] The Miami Herald's Glenn Garvin found it "quite successful" as a "narrative of eccentric, slightly damaged yet ultimately warm characters",[23] while USA Today's Robert Bianco called it a "ludicrously see-through supernatural crime drama that wastes a perfectly fine performance from Emily Rose".[24]
References to other works [ edit ]
Allusions to the written works of author Stephen King are made in the series regularly;[25] the series itself is based upon King's novella The Colorado Kid (2005). On Syfy.com's Haven website, many of these references are pointed out as they occur in each episode. For example, Derry and the eponymous Haven are both fictional towns in Maine previously used in the author's stories.[26][27] Other references abound: one of the main characters receives a copy of a novel written by a character from King's novel, Misery (1987),[28] while another character has just been released from Shawshank Prison.[28] In some cases the plot of an episode revolves around an idea from King's works: a character who has precognitive, psychometric visions after touching people or things;[29] or plants that start killing people.[30]
It is noted on the Syfy site that "It is a particular favorite Stephen King book for the Haven writers and producers".[26] For example, in "A Tale of Two Audreys", a little boy in a yellow rain slicker is seen outside the church chasing a newspaper boat that he has set in the stream in the gutter. He chases until it falls down into a storm drain on Witcham Street. He then sticks his right arm down into the drain and screams. The scene can be found in the opening chapter of the 1986 book.[31] Also derived from It, the episode "Fear and Loathing" revolves around a troubled person who (unwillingly) takes the form of a person's worst fear, and in one instance appears as a clown, a visual allusion to Pennywise of the film version of It (1990).[32]
Home media [ edit ]
DVD [ edit ]
Name Set details DVD release dates Special Features Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 The Complete 1st Season Discs: 4
Episodes: 13 June 14, 2011[33] January 30, 2012[34] June 1, 2011[35] Twelve audio commentaries with cast and crew
"Welcome to Haven" featurette
"Visual FX of Haven" featurette
"Mythology of Haven" featurette
Behind-the-scenes video blogs
Additional cast interviews
Season two sneak peek: "Inside the Writers' Room" The Complete 2nd Season Discs: 4
Episodes: 13 September 4, 2012[36] October 1, 2012[37]
May 16, 2012[38] Ten audio commentaries with cast and crew
"Silent Night" Christmas episode
Six making-of featurettes
Five behind-the-scenes featurettes
Interview with Adam Copeland
Haven panel at New York Comic Con The Complete 3rd Season Discs: 4
Episodes: 13 September 3, 2013[39] September 30, 2013[40] May 15, 2013[41] "The Haunting Truth about Haven: A Documentary"
Six audio commentaries with the writers
"Escape to Haven" webisode series
Haven panel at New York Comic Con
panel at New York Comic Con Deleted/alternative scenes
Interviews with the cast and guest stars
Behind-the-scenes footage
Blooper reel
Haven: After the Storm comic (Region 1 only) The Complete 4th Season Discs: 4
Episodes: 13 August 26, 2014[42] September 8, 2014[43] November 12, 2014[44] Thirteen "Inside Haven" featurettes
"Darkside Seekers" webisode series
Six audio commentaries with the writers
Panel highlights from San Diego Comic Con, Nerd HQ and New York Comic Con
Three interviews with the cast
Pancakes: The Morning After deleted scene
deleted scene Behind-the-scenes footage
Blooper reel
Haven: In the Beginning comic (Region 1 only) Season 5, Volume 1 Discs: 4
Episodes: 13 September 8, 2015[45] October 12, 2015[46] November 18, 2015[47] Thirteen "Inside Haven" featurettes
Haven Origins: Witches Are Born
Haven Origins: Native Breaks Free
Audio commentaries The Final Season Discs: 4
Episodes: 13 April 19, 2016[48] April 4, 2016[49] May 18, 2016[50] Thirteen "Inside Haven" Featurettes
Thirteen Audio Commentary Tracks
Interviews with Eric Balfour, Lucas Bryant, William Shatner, Adam Copeland & Producer Shawn Piller
Mythology Refresher
Haven Revisited: Livestream Segments with the Cast & Crew
Revisited: Livestream Segments with the Cast & Crew Haven Archives: Entries from the Crocker Diaries
Archives: Entries from the Crocker Diaries Haven Origins: Lovers Conquered All
Origins: Lovers Conquered All Haven Origins: Trust Kills Fear The Complete Series Discs: 24
Episodes: 78 April 19, 2016[51] TBA TBA TBA
In Region A, Entertainment One released the first season on Blu-ray on June 14, 2011, and the second season on September 4, 2012, and in Region B, the first season was released on September 14, 2011.[52]
Broadcast [ edit ]
Haven has been sold for broadcast in several countries worldwide, including Australia,[53][54] Canada,[55] New Zealand,[56] the United Kingdom,[57] and the United States.[citation needed]
Syndication [ edit ]
Chiller acquired the rights to air Haven in June 2013.[58] It first premiered on Sunday, July 14, 2013, at 8pm ET, and aired four episodes every Sunday thereafter until the series was discontinued prior to the network's closure.[citation needed]. Genesis International distributes the syndication version to several local markets in the US. |
by
If political conventions are ranked on a one to ten scale for intelligence, I give the Republican Convention zero and the Democrats one.
How can the United States be a superpower when both political parties are unaware of everything that is happening at home and abroad?
The Republicans are relying for victory on four years of anti-Obama propaganda and their proprietary programed electronic voting machines. For nearly four years Republican operatives have flooded the Internet with portraits of Obama as a non-US citizen, as a Muslim (even while Obama was murdering Muslims in seven countries), and as a Marxist (put in power by the Israel Lobby, Wall Street, and the military/security complex).
Most Republican voters will vote against Obama based on these charges despite the curious fact that no committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives held a hearing to determine if Obama is a citizen. If Obama were not a citizen, why would the very aggressive House Republicans not capitalize on it? It would be easy for a Congressional committee to determine if Obama were a citizen. Despite the propaganda, the Republicans in office have shown no interest in the propaganda charges spread by Republican operatives over the Internet.
Either Republicans have no confidence in the charges and do not want to end up proving with Congressional hearings that Obama is a citizen, or the Republicans, having destroyed every other aspect of the US Constitution, reducing it to “a scrap of paper,” feel that making an issue of the last remaining Constitutional provision other than the Second Amendment would be the height of hypocrisy and don’t want to risk opening the constitutional issues that Republicans have run roughshod over.
If the Republicans can destroy habeas corpus, due process, violate both US statutory and international law, ignore the separation of powers, and create a Caesar, why can’t the Democrats run a non-citizen?
Why didn’t the Republican convention raise the issue about the Obama regime’s claim that the executive branch has the power to assassinate US citizens without due process of law? No such power exists in the US Constitution or in US statutory law. This gestapo police state claim exists only as an assertion. Republicans ignored this most important of all issues, because they support it.
Why did not either party raise the question of how can the US economy recover when corporations have offshored millions of US middle class jobs, both manufacturing jobs and professional service jobs. For at least a decade, the US economy has been able to create only lowly paid domestic non-tradable (not exportable) service jobs, such as waitresses, bartenders, and hospital orderlies.
Both parties talk total nonsense about jobs. The Republicans say they can create jobs by not taxing the rich. The Democrats say they can create jobs by financing jobs programs. The Republicans say that the Democrats’ jobs programs simply take money from business investments and give it to those who patronize bars and the drug trade. The Democrats say that the low taxes of the Republicans just subsidize yachts, exotic cars, private aircraft, and $800,000 wrist watches for the one percent, most of which is produced abroad.
Neither political party will admit that when US corporations offshore their production for US markets, Americans are removed from the incomes associated with the production of the goods and services that they consume. Offshoring is defended by both moronic political parties as “free trade.” In fact, offshoring is the gift of what was US GDP to China, India, and the other countries to which US corporations locate their production that they sell to Americans. US GDP goes down, the GDP of the countries who make the American goods sold to Americans goes up. The idiot free market economists call the de-industrializing of America “free trade.”
As an intelligent economist–an oxymoron– would know, destroying consumer incomes by moving their jobs to other countries, leaves consumers without incomes to purchase the imported offshored goods.
Neither American political party recognizes this disconnect. Neither party can afford to recognize it, as both parties are dependent on corporate campaign financing, and offshoring boosts executive bonuses and share prices. A political party that opposes offshoring of US jobs simply does not get financed.
So, the great “superpower,” the “indispensable nation,” the world hegemon, is going into an election, and no one knows what are the stakes.
Why did not either political party ask: if Washington has demonized Iran, why did the 120 countries that comprise the non-aligned movement convene in Iran last week?
Is Washington’s propaganda failing? Can Washington no longer convince the world that the countries that Washington wants to destroy are evil and must be destroyed?
If Washington’s propaganda is failing, the world rule of the hegemonic power will not succeed. As world rule is Washington’s goal in keeping with the neoconservative ideology, then Washington is failing and is not the superpower it pretends to be.
Most credible foreign policy experts, none of which either political party has, believe that Washington has thrown away US “soft power” by its obvious lies and unjustified military attacks on seven Muslim countries, its encirclement of Russia with missile bases, and its encirclement of China with air, naval, and troop bases.
In other words, Washington’s moral force no longer exists. All that exists is financial and military force, and both will fail as they are insufficient.
Neither party asked why the US is at wars with Muslims for Israel. Why should Americans be losing lives and limbs for Israel while going broke and running up enormous war debts for our children and grandchildren? The answer from both parties is to blame the country’s bankruptcy on what Washington does for its own economically disenfranchised citizens. America’s financial problems are all the fault of Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, housing subsidies, Pell grants–any and every thing that gives a leg up to the non-one percent.
In short, the attitude of both parties is: if you are not the one percent, you are disposable.
Both Obamacare and the alternative Republican voucher program dispose of ill Americans who confront potentially terminal diseases. The American people and the ill no longer count; only the budget counts. Letting the elderly die sooner is cheaper. We can therefore afford more wars for hegemony and more tax cuts for the one percent.
Have any peoples in human history ever been less represented by their government and political parties than Americans?
The US government represents Israel and the one to ten percent. Everyone else is disposable.
Regardless of the political party whose lever is pulled in November, every American who votes will be voting for Israel and for their own demise.
Paul Craig Roberts is a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. His latest book, Wirtschaft am Abgrund (Economies In Collapse) has just been published.
COMING IN SEPTEMBER
A Special Memorial Issue of CounterPunch
Featuring recollections of Alexander Cockburn from Jeffrey St. Clair, Peter Linebaugh, Paul Craig Roberts, Noam Chomsky, Mike Whitney, Doug Peacock, Perry Anderson, Becky Grant, Dennis Kucinich, Michael Neumann, Susannah Hecht, P. Sainath, Ben Tripp, Alison Weir, James Ridgeway, JoAnn Wypijewski, John Strausbaugh, Pierre Sprey, Carolyn Cooke, Conn Hallinan, James Wolcott, Laura Flanders, Ken Silverstein, Tariq Ali and many others … |
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At this point in the campaign season it is redundant to inform readers that Bernie Sanders, the Independent Senator from Vermont running for the Democratic nomination, has made a prolific impact on the voting public. He has.
Before Bernie Sanders, candidates rarely if ever affirmed that black lives do, in fact, matter. Unequivocally and without hesitation.
Before Bernie Sanders, you would be hard pressed to hear from either a Democrat or Republican candidate about prison reform—closing private prisons and immoral (probably illegal) immigrant detention centers.
Before Bernie Sanders, ending the colossal failure that is the U.S.’s War on Drugs seemed like a pipe dream. Treating drug addiction as a mental health issue; ending the discriminatory, racist mandatory minimum sentencing for low level drug offenders; and holding police departments accountable for murdering predominately African American and Latino individuals—these are issues which the grassroots and third party candidates have been yelling themselves hoarse about for years and years.
Finally, a mainstream candidate is listening (or rather, a truly Left candidate who is moving the mainstream).
With a 19 April primary in New York, Bernie Sanders and his rival Hillary Clinton have been traversing the lengths of the Empire State in hopes of galvanizing support among a voter base that has notoriously low turnout numbers.
But last night at Washington Square Park in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, the prospect of raising voter turnout in New York City seemed absolutely within grasp.
Some 28,000 utterly electrified people joined Bernie Sanders for his “A Future to Believe In GOTV Rally” last night, with some speculating it was one of the largest such political rallies in recorded history.
Joining Sanders on stage was a myriad group of activist, union and celebrity supporters.
You can watch the full event here.
In her speech Linda Sarsour, civil rights activist, media commentator and Brooklyn-native, positively affirmed her personal support and thereby Sanders’ support for the marginalized communities which mainstream candidates are consistently silent about.
“He works for the people,” Sarsour began emphatically.
“The pundits, the pollsters, the establishment has already counted you out before you went to the polls,” she said to boos from the audience. “We have a political statement to make in New York City, because New York City stands with labor, we stand with women, we stand with immigrants, and New York City, we stand with Muslims and Black Lives Matter…”
Sarsour stated in just a few, succinct sentences the values that truly make New York City world renowned. It is not Donald Trump’s unbridled, unregulated, ruthless capitalism that has destroyed communities and neighborhoods for the benefit of luxury condos. It is not Hillary Clinton’s self-serving opportunism and race-baiting that defined her two terms as Senator.
New York’s is a foundation of working class and immigrant strength. It is a foundation that allowed both my Queens-native parents—and countless others—to realize dreams unimaginable to their immigrant parents and grandparents.
It is community, it is solidarity.
While the establishment media becomes ever more consumed by an overwhelming establishment bias—i.e. Hillary Clinton—it is my belief that New York will make a political statement on 19 April, as Sarsour intimated.
That said, young New Yorkers have already made such a statement.
They are tired of the corporate media blackout of Bernie. They are tired of CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and on and on, refusing to call out Donald Trump on his bullshit and ignoring Sanders’ speeches and rallies and policy positions. They are incensed that the Daily News, a newspaper for the working people of New York historically, has endorsed Hillary Clinton thanks to corporate ties.
And last night, it showed.
The Indypendent, an institution of social movements and real left wing politics since the early 2000s, in conjunction with The Occupied Wall Street Journal, born out of the Occupy Wall Street movement of the late 2000s, crowd-funded a four page broadsheet, special primary edition called The Battle of New York.
The issue eloquently makes the case for Sanders as the nominee: “When Bernie Sanders echoed Occupy Wall Street, called for racial justice and spoke of peace as if it were possible, it means he heard us.
“This is how we meet him back, and speak to each other,” the editors write.
What a success.
Millennial after millennial took their free (always free) copy from myself and others handing them out—instead of falling into the cliche that says millennials are too idealistic, fixated on their cell phone screens while waiting in line to see Bernie Sanders, the cultivator of a revolution—the diverse crowd did one thing. They read.
And to me, this proves that all the condescending talk, all the “wisdom of elders,” realistic politicians and pragmatism have met an end. Not that it won’t continue, but we won’t be listening. We will be fighting for racial justice, for LGBTQ justice and for civil rights. For the rights of South American and South Asian immigrants, for the rights of Muslim Americans. Against a bottomless war machine and an secretive, unchecked drone war. For the right to self determination for all peoples. For a “big tent,” as the pundits like to say.
Bernie Sanders’ campaign is about a lot of things, but one of his lasting legacies will be the reengagement of my generation of voters.
Apathy is tyranny…but neoliberalism is worse. |
An experimental Marine Corps study obtained by the Monitor has concluded that units with both men and women are less effective than all-male units.
The results of the experiment, known as the Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force (GCEITF), could be used by the Marines as grounds to ask for an exemption to the combat exclusion policy, which currently bars women from taking part in direct combat.
The services have until January to open all jobs to women, or ask Pentagon leaders for an exemption by October.
The GCEITF included roughly 200 male and 75 female volunteers, who were evaluated on how they performed a series of physical combat tasks between March and May.
The results of the study come on the heels of news last month that two women passed the Army’s grueling Ranger School and earned their Ranger tabs.
The Marine Corps’ conclusions have sparked criticism from female Marines and others, who argue that the study was poorly conducted and biased toward a belief that men are biologically and psychologically built to be better fighters.
Indeed, efforts to integrate combat units constitute “social engineering,” Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, a former Marine infantryman who served as Director of Operations on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff before he retired, argued in an op-ed this week that was widely seen as laying the groundwork for the Marines’ experimental task force study release.
In introducing its conclusions, the Marine Corps cites the “the brutal and extremely physical nature of direct ground combat, often marked by close, interpersonal violence.”
It further argues that the nature of battle “remains largely unchanged throughout centuries of warfare, despite technological advancements.”
Mr. Newbold echoes similar points, citing “the burden of 30 to 80 pounds of personal equipment, mind-bending physical exertion, energy-sapping adrenaline highs, or the fact that the threadbare clothes you wore were unchanged for over three weeks and may have been 'scented' by everything from food, to blood, dysentery, and whatever was in the dirt that constituted your bed. And don’t forget insects of legendary proportion and number,” he adds in his op-ed, published by the War on the Rocks, a highly-regarded military blog.
“More importantly,” Newbold argues, are the bonds with comrades who experienced the “shared duties of clearing the urinals, the pleasures of a several nights of hilarious debauchery, and multiple near-death experiences – a comrade in arms who has heard more about your personal thoughts than your most intimate friends or family.”
Though Newbold acknowledges that the two women two who recently passed Ranger School are “worthy role models,” he warns against “the cost of sexual dynamics in a bare-knuckled brawl, amidst primeval mayhem.”
Women don’t belong in such a world, Newbold argues, concluding, “If I’m wrong, the cost may be denied opportunity to strong and impressive young women. If you’re wrong, our national security is shaken and there is a butcher’s bill to pay.”
The op-ed was published one day before the Marine Corps was set to role out its own study, which found that “All-male squads, teams and crews demonstrated higher performance levels on 69 percent of tasks evaluated ... as compared to gender-integrated squads, teams and crews.”
The study also concludes that all-male squads were faster and had greater accuracy in firing weapons.
Finally, it concludes that all-male crews “had a noticeable difference in their performance of the basic combat tasks of negotiating obstacles and evacuating casualties.”
The study cites a wall obstacle specifically. “Male Marines threw their packs to the top of the wall, whereas female Marines required regular assistance in getting their packs to the top.”
The study also cites the basic stats of the participating troops, which included men who averaged 178 pounds in weight with 20 percent body fat, and women who averaged 152 pounds, with 24 percent body fat.
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The study concludes that “females possessed 15 percent less power than males,” and that “the female top 25th percentile overlaps with the bottom 25th percentile for males.”
Women also were more likely to be injured, according to the study. |
The first sound — a muffled pop — caused little alarm. It had come from somewhere on the third floor of a home in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, shared by musicians from Iran.
The men had been unwinding with a routine video game of Internet pool, each comfortably ensconced in his own room, lazily playing before bed. The next sound came from one of the men, Arash Farazmand, who wondered aloud, “What’s that?”
Two more blasts, now well inside the home, had the unmistakable thunder of weaponry. And then there was the sound of someone dying.
It was soon clear that a gunman was methodically moving through the house.
“He was stepping so fast,” Pooya Hosseini recalled on Thursday, describing the deadly scene that unfolded just after midnight on Monday inside 318 Maujer Street and his confrontation with the gunman — a fellow Iranian musician — that enabled him to survive. |
Lumix DMC-GH4 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera with V-Log L Activation Code Kit is rated 4.6 out of 5 by 5 .
Rated 5 out of 5 by John from Great Camera!!! This my third GH4. I primarily shoot classical music concerts and operas/musicals with locked off cameras, so having a camera that stops recording at 29 mins 59 seconds, is not an option for me. Lighting is not normally an issue, so f/4.0 at 640 ISO covers most of my theater shooting needs. For the money, there is not a better camera on the market. I have paired my cameras with the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8; Panasonic ?35-100mm f/2.8, and the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 - all great lense for my purpose. I plan on adding more GH4 cameras to my kit to save on rental charges for multi-camera shoots. FYI: I have been shooting video since 1981.
Rated 4 out of 5 by Austin from Fantastic Camera, mostly I'm only giving 4 stars because I'm 57 and my eyes are not what they once were, and it seems camera manufacturers don't care about older shooters. I use the two I purchased mainly as video cameras. We are starting to do more and more with 4K, and the focus assist on these suck. Focus assist is not accurate. Also, AF on non-Lumix lenses doesn't work. Why? On the Blackmagic cameras I just sold off, I could put any lens on it an AF worked great. That's my two biggest complaints. On a positive note, I get great image quality. The menus are easier to use than a Canon 7D (last DLSR I owned until now), but not easy. There are still millions of unnecessary settings buried in an archaic hierarchy. Wish camera manufacturers would take a hint from Apple and simplify things. It's small, light, good image quality, affordable. For TV shows I shoot, it is really nice.
Rated 5 out of 5 by josh from Great camera! Good low light and great quality. Plus 96 fps!
Rated 4 out of 5 by ted from good Like it a lot but not as big an upgrade from the GH3 as I expected, unless you need 4k. |
Muay Thai star Buakaw Banchamek squares off against Kong Lingfeng at Kunlun Fight 62 in Bangkok.
Chinese kickboxing promotion Kunlun Fight returns to Thailand this Saturday June 10. The event number 62 is a large fight-bill with some of the most notable Muay Thai fighters featured on the card.
Famed Buakaw Banchamek battles out in the headliner of the show. Thai star squares off against his long time vis-a-vis out of China Kong Lingfeng. The pair has fought last March in Dongguan with the authentic representative of the Art of Eight Limbs earning a unanimous decision. An upcoming encounter is a rematch. The bout is scheduled for three round at 70 kg.
Also on the card another prominent athlete out of Banchamek Gym, Superbon. The 2017 IFMA world champion takes on Artem Pashporin of Russia. The challenge is also a three-round 70 kg bout. In addition, Belarusian Vitaly Gurkov teams-up with Banchamek squad. The singer of the rock band “Brutto” faces off Chinese Nurla Mulali in a three-rounder at 77 kg.
The program also comprises Thai Yodwicha Por Boonsit up against Dzianis Zuev of Belarus as well as a series of other 70 kg super fights. The event accommodates the next round of the 70 kg tournament semi-finals. The fight card can be found below. The official weigh-in ceremony was conducted on Friday.
1 of 3
Kunlun Fight 62 Bangkok fight card
70kg: Buakaw Banchamek vs. Kong Linfeng
66kg: Singdam Kiatmuu9 vs. Gu Hui
80kg: Artur Kyshenko vs. Gabriele Casella
70kg: Yodwicha Por Boonsit vs. Dzianis Zuev
70kg: Jomthong Chuwattana vs. Gabriel Mazzetti
65kg: Kompetch Fairtex vs. Wei Ninghui (China)
63,5kg: Lin Qiangbang vs. Nobutoshi Kondo
70kg: Superbon Banchamek vs. Artem Pashporin
70kg Qualifying Tournament Group 10
Semi-final A: Victor Nagbe vs. Armen Israelyan
Semi-final B: Tian Xin vs. Sergii Kuliaba
70kg Qualifying Tournament Group 11
Semi-final A: Yohann Drai vs. Yiliyasi
Semi-final A: Wu Xuesong vs. Martin Gano
80kg: Bo Fufan vs. Ramon Kubler
60kg: Han Zihao vs. Shogo Kuriaki
77kg: Nurla Mulali vs. Vitaly Gurkov
61,5kg: Yu Wansheng vs. Denies Puric
72,5kg: Ma Shuo vs. Sorokin Vasily |
Perhaps it’s appropriate that among the vast array of current television options, science fiction is represented by a gaping void. Light and inconsequential sci-fi-flavored fare hasn’t been difficult to find, but there’s been a noticeable lack of dramas set on space ships and other planets — fewer still that are challenging and bold. “The Expanse” sets out to fill that gap, and various aspects of it show real promise. But if the drama is to live up to its potential, it will have to improve on its first four episodes, which awkwardly link a series of somewhat muddled stories, and introduce characters that are too often standard genre types rather than distinct individuals.
It’s to the show’s credit that it is openly political, and takes on issues of class, representation and exploitation. The narrative takes place 200 years in the future, when Mars has been settled, Earth is run by the U.N. and many of the blue-collar folks living on a series of mining outposts are looking to break away from their colonial overlords. Quite a few Belters, as they’re known, believe Earthers are living too high on the fruits of their labors, and yet out in space, there’s little love for the militaristic people of Mars, who are highly disciplined and navigating their own frosty relationship with those on the neighboring planet.
The problem with “The Expanse,” which is based on a series of books by James S.A. Corey, is that it tries to do too much at once in its opening episodes, which ultimately undercuts their overall effectiveness. Storylines about rogue elements, terrorist machinations, a missing woman and political gamesmanship are all crammed into hours that have very little room to breathe. Clearly “The Expanse” wants to set up a series of linked mysteries, but too often it ends up sketching out a set of scenarios that could have been plucked from dozens of other sci-fi serials, and yet are vague, confusing or insubstantial.
The series of incidents that unfold in the opening hours are sometimes exciting — in particular, the knockabout crew of a rust-bucket freighter go through some suspenseful and unexpected adventures (some of those are on display in the first episode, which Syfy posted online in advance of the show’s Dec. 14 premiere). But other stories on Earth and in the Belter colony Ceres feel a bit rote, in part because the people in the midst of those events aren’t always interesting in their own right.
Thomas Jane plays one of TV’s favorite types, a cynical, semi-corrupt cop. A mild twist is that he works for a private security firm, not a government entity (as in the “Alien” movies, almost every aspect of life ends up serving commercial interests, which is one reason the Belters feel aggrieved). It’s hard to say if it’s the writing or the performance that comes up short in the police storylines; it would be safe to say that neither has enough texture or depth to make Jane’s character charismatic or compelling yet. The best part of the Ceres tale is when the terrific Jared Harris turns up as an underworld boss whose genial demeanor never quite reaches his eyes.
Shohreh Aghdashloo does what she can with a stiff, underwritten role as a savvy U.N. operative on Earth, and Steven Strait is competent but little more as a freighter officer who gets pulled into a series of machinations that seem designed to turn unrest into war. Two standouts in the cast are Dominique Tipper, who plays a tough, resilient engineer, and Cas Anvar, who imbues the role of the freighter’s pilot with welcome warmth.
The charms of “The Expanse” are often in the details, like the rat that calls the dingy freighter home, or the scuzzy landlord on Ceres who doesn’t change the air filters and ends up making kids sick. Ceres’ main commercial area also looks suitably distressed and lived in, and scenes of daily life — and rebellion — on that outpost throb with the kind of vitality the rest of the series could use more of. In the main, however, the production design doesn’t set itself apart from other genre fare; the blue-and-black palette that is by now too common in sci-fi dominates, but some of the space sequences are suitably swashbuckling.
There’s enough potential here — and enough of a desire for space-set sci-fi in some quarters — for viewers to stick with “The Expanse” to see if it figures out how to tell a more cleanly assembled, character-driven story. Even as many streaming and cable dramas lean into the idea of assembling a season-long movie (a concept that, granted, sometimes leads to underpowered slogs), “The Expanse” is a bit too frantic to supply incident and telegraph rising stakes. But the stakes will only matter to the degree that its characters and allegories become complex, idiosyncratic and resonant.
In the early going, the drama is not quiet an adventurous slice of sci-fi escapism, like Syfy’s highly enjoyable “Killjoys,” nor a serious parable about power and exclusion, a la the powerful re-imagining of “Battlestar Galactica.” Trying to be both sometimes causes “The Expanse” to split the difference and ultimately seem a bit generic and perhaps overly aspirational. (And it’s hard not to wonder if a larger episode order would have alleviated some of the character and pacing problems here, but in the cable realm, 10 episodes appears to be the new standard.)
In a TV universe in which dozens of dramas are creating deeply memorable characters and mining their own allegories with exceptional skill, “The Expanse’s” sparks of life may not be enough to power it into must-see territory. To be more certain of survival in this unforgiving atmosphere, this middling space saga will have to reach a higher orbit, and quickly.
For a discussion of “The Man in the High Castle,” “Marvel’s Jessica Jones” and “The Expanse,” check out the most recent installment of the Talking TV podcast. |
After crashing and burning in 2D shoot-em-ups for more years than I care to remember, I've often wished for lightning-fast reflexes. But there's only one shmup that ever got me thinking about the insane effort that it takes to reach the speed of light. That game was SWIV.
In the category of homegrown 16-bit shooters, it has no equal. But in truth, it did not spring, unbidden and sui generis, from the rich creative soup of 1991 games development. SWIV, as a copper might put it, had previous.
A reboot used to be something that was just between you and your personal computer. These days, it means Domestos-level slate-cleaning, sloughing off the past to re-imagine an intellectual property in a way that hopefully brings the money back in. SWIV was a reboot before that word had attained its current Hollywood-tinged usage. In the games mag language of the time, it was more of a pseudo-sequel - or, if you wanted to get fancy, 'spiritual successor' - to Tecmo's late-1980s arcade staple Silkworm, an addictive side-scrolling shoot-em-up in which a helicopter and/or jeep took on waves of militaristic enemies.
The famous crop circle reveal - hey, they were big in the 1990s! - was just one of many SWIV graphical in-jokes.
These included weird pogo-sticking helicopters, floating mines and a mid-level chopper with a goose-necked cockpit that would dish out power-ups once destroyed. Unlike most other arcade games, Silkworm's choice between heli and jeep offered up two distinct play styles. The heli could swoop and soar over the entire screen but could only shoot forward. The jeep had a wider range of firing angles but was restricted to trundling along the ground, at the mercy of road bombs and missile silos, although it could perform a teeny bunny hop on demand. At a time when 20p felt like a considerable sum to invest, no-one willingly chose the jeep.
The inevitable home computer conversions of Silkworm were handled by UK developers The Sales Curve, and for their next project, they stuck pretty rigidly with the concept of a helicopter and/or jeep against overwhelming military odds - they just ditched all the creative restrictions and hassle of the arcade licence. According to the snazzy blueprints that flash up in the pre-game introduction, SWIV is just an acronym for the Special Weapons Interdiction Vehicle you pilot into battle. But if you chose to interpret it as Silkworm 4... well, that was on you, soldier.
In SWIV, the heli could only fire forwards, while the jeep had a range of firing angles, and a teeny bunny hop. There were floating mines, goose-necked helicopters that eventually surrendered power-ups, and wave upon wave of militaristic enemies, though none of them pogo-sticked (though some skimmed amphibiously over water like lethal flying fish). Rather damningly, the concussive, phased explosions caused by the relentless carnage were very obviously lifted directly from the 16-bit Silkworm port. They still sounded amazing.
What The Sales Curve had done, in less than two years, was mature the basic concept of Silkworm into something far richer, simply by radically changing perspective. Instead of a side-scrolling shoot-em-up, this was a vertically scrolling shoot-em-up - which sounds like a simple thing on paper, but in reality, changed the game fundamentally. That shift of perspective from side-on to top-down created scope for graphical improvements and a frightening escalation of mayhem. It looked amazing, and played brilliantly.
No wonder Tecmo didn't pursue any legal sanction against SWIV: this was their bare-bones blueprint elevated to a frankly dazzling level. The Sales Curve's innovation and creativity wasn't restricted to its interpretation of intellectual property law.
Sporadic voyages in the speedboat had all the movement restrictions of the jeep, with added inertia too.
SWIV was also an unprecedented feat of focused technical skill. Instead of breaking up the action into discrete levels like shmups immemorial, the game created the illusion of a single, unbroken 40-minute attack run: the equivalent of 236 screens rolling out like a bomb-cratered carpet, with no data-accessing pauses or juddering (on the 16-bit versions, at least). This was thanks to the ahead-of-its-time Dynamic Loading System, created by programmer Ron Pieket Weeserik, that rare technical bullet-point that earned a place on the front of the box.
The SWIV mission began in a ghost town and crawled through an military airport, a petrified forest, various bodies of water, a desert, an aeronautical graveyard and a volcanic mountain range, becoming more organic and alien-like as it rolled implacably toward an ending that remained, for the most part, tantalisingly out of reach. The colour palette shifted as you progressed - the sea bits required more blues, obviously - a programming sleight-of-hand that might have been more perceptible if not for the non-stop pandemonium.
On the first few plays, whether as a one-player heli or two-player air-and-ground team, the SWIV scrolling speed felt leisurely, almost too slow: more adagio than allegretto. That impression lasted roughly 17 seconds, as waves of super-incentivised enemies swarmed your vehicle. Stocking up on multiple spread-firing power-ups, released by those gooseneck choppers, was the only way to proceed. (The liberal detonation of bubble-like smart-bombs was another useful way to grab precious seconds of me-time before the next attack wing.)
Pause mode was only a keyboard press away, but the implied relentlessness functioned as a psychological mindgame. The inexorable scrolling only paused for SWIV's equivalent of end-of-level bosses, military installations bristling with missiles and mega-lasers that were about as friendly and relaxing as your average motorway service station.
War is hell, but SWIV looked beautiful. A self-confessed Thunderbirds nut, artist Ned Langman created a fleet of choppers, planes and tanks that managed to combine distinct personalities with an unifying utilitarian military design aesthetic. These craft looked almost realistic, until you factored in their suicidal attack patterns. There were also occasional hat-tips to shooters past, from lethal spinning hubcaps to rotating slabs of obdurate metal that could have floated in from Namco's classic Xevious.
As the game rolled steadily toward its climax, the environments got stranger and more hazardous.
While the graphics looked exciting enough to have come from a mysterious Japanese import on the PC Engine or NeoGeo, the humour underneath the frantic surface of SWIV felt more like a callback to the UK's 8-bit bedroom coding boom. Hidden missile emplacements popped out of the ground like a game of Whac-A-Mole. A mysterious alien ship lifted off to reveal a pristine crop circle. The sight of a dramatically dried-up riverbed was undercut by a tiny shopping trolley. The high-score tables for heli and jeep reset each time you booted up, sometimes packed with classic Doctor Who actors, sometimes with gameshow hosts. SWIV was probably the only shoot-em-up to feature Gloria Hunniford's name in its attract mode.
Over two decades later, SWIV still feels like the apex of a certain game archetype, partly because of the technical and graphical skill on display, and partly because it was released just before the industry bet the farm on 3D. At the time, no-one seemed to evaluate and then build on its achievements (although The Sales Curve did go on to produce a semi-sequel - a "spiritual successor", if you like - for the Super Nintendo). SWIV was a Goldilocks moment in gaming's evolution, but also turned out to be a bit of a dead end.
What it still has is that hook - by pressing the fire button, you're tacitly agreeing to spend the next 40 minutes grappling with the game. No checkpoints. No insta-saves. And no chance of completing it if you're playing as the jeep. When you had exhausted all your credits, SWIV would tell you how may missiles you fired (usually tens of thousands), plus how many enemies you destroyed and how many 'escaped', as if you weren't trying to vapourise every last one of them.
Then it told you far you'd made it through the game, and it was nudging that percentage up toward 100% - hell, up to 70% would be good - that made me sympathise with scientists trying to push anything toward the speed of light, where literally redoubled efforts will only nudge you a fraction further along.
Completing SWIV - for most mortals, an impossibility without the cheats available in a gelded, questionably legal version of the game - was bittersweet. After an animated explosion, you were congratulated on eliminating the forces of evil. "Humanity can live forever in peace and harmony," read the valedictory screen. "So they won't need an army anymore. Your SWIV unit is being disbanded and you are now unemployed. Your P45 and severance pay are in the post." It was more ahead of its time than it realised. |
– May 7, 2010
Dr. Curtis Conkey is the Principal Investigator at the Joint Training Integration & Evaluation Center in Orlando, Florida. He specializes in advanced training technologies for Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, US Navy.
This year’s Defense GameTech Conference featured a keynote by Mr. Will Wright, designer of popular games like SimCity, SimEarth, and The Sims. The slides are included in the video, and you can also download them from the GameTech 2010 website.
Wright was introduced to GameTech 2010 through the efforts of Dr. Roger Smith, Chief Technology Officer at the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation, US Army. Wright gave an outstanding presentation on the intersection of military gaming and commercial gaming technologies, including historical precedents. His rapid fire delivery of nearly 200 slides in 50 minutes left the audience mesmerized and a bit overwhelmed.
Mr. Wrights’ understanding of how technology trends, past and future, and human, cultural and social development roll up into potential gaming applications was truly remarkable. It’s actually impossible to summarize all the ground he covered, so I would highly recommend that anyone interested in the blending of Defense Department training and commercial gaming listen to the entire presentation – possibly twice.
For more information, visit the GameTech 2010 website. |
He’s wearing a signature look: Slim dark suit and narrow tie, in contrast to the protesters, clad in yellow T-shirts over their coats and holding signs. “Poverty affects us all,” reads one.
Activist-turned-politician Gord Perks looks comfortable kibitzing with a crowd of protesters outside Toronto city hall on a recent mild February morning.
For months, the city councillor for Ward 14 (Parkdale-High Park) has waged an impassioned campaign for higher taxes — something most politicians consider death at the ballot box — leading up to next week’s budget debate on the floor of council. It’s turned him, some would say, into a de facto leader of the left.
They share a similar, blunt opinion: Toronto needs more revenue to look after the city’s most vulnerable.
“I think he’s always been a leader on council, a strong leader on council, and in his community,” he says. “Don’t we need more people like that in politics?”
Councillor Mike Layton, a council ally, says Perks has always governed by his own moralistic values, even when it puts him at odds with close colleagues.
She calls him a “straight shooter, fearless and highly principled,” though lacking the “touch” to bring councillors together to win certain issues.
“He is the most vocal critic of John Tory and always uncovers those edges that need to be uncovered, where the reality doesn’t meet the promises,” says Paula Fletcher, another leading left-wing voice at city hall.
“Mine is one voice. I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of saying leader,” he says, sitting in his office, fidgeting and scowling.
Fiercely passionate, this is a man who was too Greenpeace for Greenpeace.
It’s been a hard winter for the 52-year-old, often spotted puffing on a cigarette, immersed in thought, hunched and pacing the sidewalk behind city hall.
After speaking out against management and helping staff unionize, Perks was fired in the early 1990s. Pollution Probe also fired him after a successful unionization of staff.
“What they said to me was I was too much of an activist for that organization,” he states, popping an occasional cherry tomato in his mouth — acid reflux be damned.
Perks’ disquiet was on full display last month.
Addressing the budget committee — which in his view misguidedly adopted Mayor Tory’s mantra about not increasing property taxes above the rate of inflation — Perks delivered an impassioned 629-word speech.
The budget contains nothing for the working class or poorest residents of the city, Perks said sombrely. The fiscal blueprint looks after business interests.
“It was a speech that was incomplete, in that it didn’t make any acknowledgement at all of the fact that there are significant new initiatives” that bolster support for the poor, Tory said this week.
While Tory calls Perks “extremely smart” and unrivalled in his “effort to read the material and to know the issues,” he thinks he would have more “credibility” if he presented a more balanced view.
Perks says the mayor is mistaken.
“I actually think I have a really balanced view of the world that unfortunately doesn’t happen to be the majority view on council right now,” he says.
Former councillor Doug Ford certainly didn’t share his world view, but he left city hall dazzled by Perks, whom he calls a “very, very bright individual.”
“He understands every motion there is at council. I don't agree with him, but I have the highest respect for Gord Perks,” says Ford.
Ford recalls driving his large, black Navigator SUV along Dundas St. and seeing Perks — who doesn’t have a driver’s licence — waiting for a streetcar.
“If Gord had his way, we’d all be driving a horse and buggy.” On that day, Perks took Ford’s offer of a ride.
Perks is accustomed to being an outsider. The eldest of five, he says there was a “class division” even in his own family. His sisters took figure skating lessons while he mopped the floors and drove the Zamboni at a North Toronto arena.
In high school, teachers either applauded or failed him.
“If I thought that I was being taught the wrong stuff, I just wouldn’t do it,” he says. “I was that kid who got all the report cards that say, ‘Gordie, can do the work.’”
Perks spent a summer mining coal in Kentucky — “which is deeply ironic” — before taking up environmental studies at the University of Toronto.
“Neither of my parents were political activists, although they let me watch the Watergate hearings,” he says.
“I was born at the time when the things that you noticed were the beginnings of the environmental movement, the Vietnam War, and Richard Nixon. I don’t understand why everyone didn’t turn out like me.”
After the late NDP leader Jack Layton persuaded Perks to run as an environmental champion in the 2006 federal election — he lost — it was soon-to-be mayor David Miller, over a beer, who convinced a wary Perks to represent Parkdale.
“I wanted to help engage a broader conversation about equality, about justice, about civics, about public finance about all kinds of things that have always been part of how I think about the world,” he says of his decision.
He edged out 13 others by a margin of 838 votes and returned to city hall in 2010 and 2014 with increasing support.
Though never part of Miller’s executive committee, Perks was an insider in the administration, helping to bring about Transit City — a plan for a criss-crossing LRT network swiftly killed under former mayor Rob Ford.
Neither Ford’s nor Tory’s administration is much to his liking.
“What I’m finding incredibly difficult right now is that very big conversations about where we want to live are either taking place behind the curtain or have been subsumed by big slogans instead of hard work,” he says.
“We’re transitioning from a city that was broadly affordable across all income groups to one that is not.”
He flashes a smile remembering the Miller years, when he worked so relentlessly on the budget that he and three others were hospitalized.
“I was working and sleeping,” he said. “But I would gladly do that every time until people are sick of me or until I drop dead.”
With files from David Rider |
A homeless cat in Russia has been praised for helping to save the life of an abandoned newborn baby by keeping him warm for several hours.
The cat, named Masha, has been living in a cardboard box in a block of flats for the last three years in the town of Obninsk in the Kaluga region of Russia.
A baby, believed to be no older than 12-weeks old, was recently found dumped in the box in the apartment block hallway on a day reported to be several degrees centigrade below freezing.
One of the residents discovered the baby on the floor along with Masha, who had "warmed the baby for several hours with her body" as well as meowing to call for help.
"The residents are certain, if the cat hadn't taken care of it, the baby wouldn't have had a chance," Russian news channel TV Zvezda reported.
The woman who discovered the baby, Nadezhda Makhovikova, who happens to be a nurse, also found a bag full of food and nappies.
When paramedics arrived to take the baby to hospital, the cat was said to have chased the ambulance down the street.
Vera Ivanina, a paramedic, told REN TV: "She was so worried about where we were taking the baby. She ran right behind us, miaowing. She was really a rational creature."
The baby was found to be perfectly healthy and police have now launched a search for his parents. |
A Global News story about the threat posed by returning ISIS fighters, headlined “ISIS fighters are coming back to Canada. Are they a threat? It’s complicated: report” is a real head scratcher.
The authors of the referenced report used a study from the Soufan Center to make their conclusions but a close comparison of both pieces might leave you wondering if Global News read the same report.
The study couldn’t make the security threat posed by Canadians returning home from fighting alongside the Islamic State, clearer.
It discusses different types of returnees, stating: “All returnees, whatever their reason for going home, will continue to pose some risk.”
Global News managed to sugar coat facts that demonstrate it’s not just male returnees that we should be worried about with study authors noting that ISIS has trained child terrorists, and even women have been involved in plotting and executing terrorist acts.
We know first-hand that returning ISIS sympathizers present a risk to Canadians when just last month, a single terrorist attempted to stab a police officer and execute a truck attack that injured another four people in Edmonton.
In fact, it appears Global’s own expert, former CIA chief and now adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University, Graham Fuller, agrees that even one single terrorist poses a safety risk to Canadians, telling the news organization:
“I don’t think many of these people do constitute a threat, but how many does it take?”
Of course, his statement was buried at the end of the article.
Either way it seems we all agree that returnees pose a serious threat to Canadians, except Global News. |
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Dec. 22, 2017 8:00 to Dec. 27, 2017 7:59 (UTC)
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You'll also receive double the amount of Skip Tickets from your purchase! Use Skip Tickets to instantly earn rewards from Quests that you've already completed all three Objectives for!
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・Customers that purchase the Weekly Jewels Extravaganza deal will receive 50 additional bonus Jewels (for a total of 3,050 Jewels).
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・Please note that while the confirmation message that appears when purchasing Jewels will not include the bonus amount, the bonus amount will be added to your account upon purchase.
Follow us on Twitter for the latest news! @kh_ux_na |
VERMONT — A Vermont dad came up with a creative idea to keep his son safe while keeping his own feet dry: he built a drone to follow his grade-schooler son to the bus stop every day.
The cold Vermont winters were the impetus for the project: "If I am walking my kid to the bus stop in December and January, I would really rather not be doing that," Paul Wallich told NBC News.
Wallich wrote on a tech blog that he had fantasized about tracking his son on his way to the bus stop using a camera-equipped drone, but finally decided to build one this year.
He bought the pieces to build a quadcopter and added a smartphone with a video-chat app. He put a GPS beacon in his son's backpack to enable the drone to track him.
Photo: Paul Wallich
The system has limitations — namely, Wallich has to navigate it manually around trees and up hills because it flies in relation to the GPS coordinates of his son's backpack.
He could program it to fly relative to the ground instead of the coordinates if he were willing to let it fly closer to his son, "but with the current state of the technology, unless I really changed the design a lot, I would not want it within 15 feet of my kid," he told NBC.
Wallich said he does have some fixes in the works: he is working on adding sonar units for collision avoidance and is looking at an "optical flow" sensor for better position control, according to his blog post. He's also hoping for an improvement in battery life, because current batteries only last for a single round trip.
"So until the batteries improve by another order of magnitude or so, I'll have to do most of my watching the old-fashioned way, in person," he said.
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The Ichneumon is the scientific name for the Egyptian mongoose, but originally the word described a mythological variant of the creature that reportedly stalked and killed dragons. Mongoose are snake eaters, and in mythology dragons were highly associated with serpents, therefore, the logical next step at the time was to assume mongoose could kill dr agons. (Which back then weren't thought of as being half as large as we imagine them today).
Regarding the creatures in this personal project, the idea is that they should be believable enough to look like they could exist here on earth, either in the past or perhaps at some point in the future. So I thought of the Ichneumon as a descendant of modern mongooses that has grown to tiger-sized proportions. Other real animals eventually found there way into his inspiration. Fur texture extrapolated off of the Egyptian mongoose became quills atop a massive mane, his coloration takes cues from the snow leopard. And the Mountain Ichneumon developed an exaggerated patagium, that while cannot allow it to fully glide, helps the large predator survive long falls in the mountainous environments in which it hunts. While not big enough to be a threat to adult dragons, this creature instead stalks into caves and steals away with hatchlings and juvenilles. It's thick fur protects it from the cold as well as helps to guard it against fiery burns, and it's quills deter aerial assaults from unhappy dragon parents. It's bite contains venom similar to that of the shrew, and it's sensitive nose is it's primary tool for finding prey.
Which I'm very excited to say won! I encourage everyone to look through the events facebook page, as there are literally thousands of wonderful critters to look at. |
Our British readers will already be painfully familiar with the comical propensity that government officials (even spies!) have for losing sensitive data while on the move. It might be an idea, therefore, to give your forgetful local representative a break with one of these new Corsair USB drives. The Padlock 2 features OS-agnostic password protection via the keypad you see above plus 256-bit encryption of the data stored on the flash inside. So even if someone is tenacious enough to pry the case open, he'll have a hard time getting anything useful out of it. Oh, and don't worry about forgetting the passcode, there's a procedure for wiping the drive clean and generating a new one. 8GB units are available immediately, and we've spotted them online priced at £46 in the UK and $59 in the good old US of A. |
U.S. Rep. Gary Peters came to Pontiac City Hall Wednesday morning to discuss his plan to combat an agreement between Pontiac Emergency Manager Lou Schimmel and Oakland County that could result in less funding for the city.
At the end of 2011, Schimmel signed an cooperative agreement that would let the county receive and administer Pontiac's share of funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program through 2014. The agreement was meant to lift the financial burden of administering the funds for the cash-strapped city.
The problem was it didn't legally bind the county to spend the federal dollars intended for Pontiac in the city. After he was alerted in December that Pontiac would not directly receive HUD funds for fiscal year 2012, Peters asked HUD to review the agreement.
Oakland County currently administers funds for 51 communities through CDBG's Urban County program.
However, HUD uses a different formula to calculate CDBG allocations for Pontiac -- because of higher community need, the city receives more per-capita funding than Oakland County does. Peters's office determined that if the city were to take part in the Urban County program, it could lose up to $850,000 annually.
Pontiac could instead subcontract with the county in a joint agreement that would allow the city's funding to be computed separately but still allocated by the county.
According to Laura Feldman, public affairs specialist for HUD's Midwest region, Schimmel has until Friday to decide whether to go forward with a cooperative or joint agreement that will determine how the Pontiac's HUD funds for 2012-2014 will be allocated.
"HUD, Pontiac and Oakland County are only exploring the options at this point," Feldman wrote in an email to HuffPost. "HUD is making sure that the Emergency Manager has a clear understanding of all the options available."
Richard Marsh Jr., Pontiac's federal programs administrator and consultant for Wade Trim Associates, Inc., said that it was at HUD's urging that Schimmel pursued an arrangement with the county.
"There had been a lot of history with the Federal Programs Division having numerous findings, things that HUD finds that were not done appropriately in the department," Marsh explained. "Mr. Schimmel had heard about that and was concerned with it."
Marsh was instated in 2011 by Pontiac's previous emergency manager, Michael Stampfler, after an independent audit showed the city lacked compliance with federal programs, including missing documentation for how CDBG money was spent.
A December audit by the same company showed the questionable practices in the Federal Programs Division had been addressed.
Feldman said HUD met with Schimmel several times, and mismanagement was only one of several of the emergency manager's concerns with the way the agency's funding was distributed.
Schimmel's plan to work with Oakland County would have the county administering HUD funds, which go towards neighborhood revitalization, public service and home repair loans, effective May 1.
Marsh said he was concerned about Pontiac receiving less funding, and while he has not seen a new plan from Peters, he said a phone call meeting with HUD on Tuesday is supposed to clarify the way funds will be distributed in the future.
National cuts resulting in 60 percent less federal HUD funding drastically affected Pontiac's CBDG money in 2011, dropping to $1.4 million from $1.8 million in 2010.
Peters, who has publicly opposed Michigan's emergency manager law, sees Schimmel's handling of federal funds administration as part of a larger problem with emergency managers.
"Replacing democratically elected officials with an emergency manager creates an environment where decisions are made with no accountability and no commitment to the long term benefit of the city," Peters said. "The governor can appoint an emergency manager, but he can't guarantee that his decisions are in the best interests of Pontiac residents." |
A collision between a vehicle and two young cyclists has some people in Saskatoon's Mayfair neighbourhood calling for changes on their street.
Police were called to 37th Street and Avenue D North on Tuesday afternoon after a vehicle hit two young girls on their bikes.
Luckily, police said the kids suffered very minor injuries. Both were treated at the scene and released by EMS shortly after the collision.
A vehicle hit two young girls on their bikes at 37th Street and Avenue D North Tuesday afternoon. (Patrick Sauve/CBC)
However, several people who live in the area, including Gary Harbaruk, said changes are needed on his street.
"Unfortunately something happened, but it could have been last year," Harbaruk said. "It could have been the year before. I don't want to say anything bad, but it wasn't very good planning to divert traffic onto a street where there's a water park."
Harbaruk said diverting traffic from Avenue C has resulted in a tragedy waiting to happen.
"Nobody slows down," he said. "They put in that diverter on Avenue C and 39th Street and they've diverted everybody by this water park and they come down here rush hour sometimes 70, 80 kilometres an hour. They don't even slow down. There's kids all over the place. Now you see what happens."
The intersection at 37th Street and Avenue D North does have yield signs, but Harbaruk said that's not enough to slow people down. He's hoping the city will, at the very least, put speed bumps in the area or reduce speed limits around the park.
Roxanne Schwark said she also sees vehicles racing down the street.
"Sometimes they hit that pothole so hard that they actually fly in the air," Schwark said. "There's kids everywhere. They don't look. They just run across and it was only matter of time before somebody got hit." |
EnVyUs misplayed a critical moment fighting to take Objective B on Temple of Anubis. They ended up winning the map anyways, but the punt give their opponents a window in which to regroup and potentially hold. Times mentioned refer to the video sub-clip below.
The situation: EnVyUs (in blue and on attack) is leading due to victories on prior maps and has just taken Objective A. Eager to wrap up the game, they quickly make a move for the second point. Tracer and Sombra’s mobility puts them well ahead of their team. Working together, the two score a pick on the FaZe’s Sombra (at 14:43 in the clip). Note at this moment that EnVyUs’ Lucio is at 86% of the way towards his Sound Barrier ultimate, a key tool for teamfights. Further, though they don’t know it, their opponents’ SB is at only 52%.
Hungry for blood from the pick, EnVyUs’ Effect (on Tracer) overcommits, quickly dying at 14:48 (aside: Effect overpushed and died alone for no reason a number of times this match, e.g. as Reaper shortly after the end of the portion clipped here). The overcommitment also baits her Winston, who splits from the still-approaching team with leap to die alone on point at 14:51. A mere 3 SECONDS later, their Lucio’s Sound Barrier becomes ready, and he pops it immediately in the 4v5 (though its shield on the far-back Widowmaker is essentially irrelevant, so it’s basically a 3-man SB). The attackers kill Genji at 14:58, then burn D.Va’s Self Destruct at 15:01 for no kills (but the first 1/3 checkpoint of cap time), followed by Sombra’s EMP at 15:07 right before she dies. Despite the hype from the commentators, EnVyUs gains no real traction here and they lose control of the point. The short respawn distance for the defenders means they are able to hold and regroup. The attackers burned many ults while the defenders used only one (a late Self Destruct from their own D.Va at 15:20). FaZe is left with some time to defend in relative comfort with their ult advantage, forcing Envyus has to burn some time before finding another credible opportunity to push.
With better communication and less bloodlust, EnVyUs could have delayed their dive for just a few short seconds and been able to use a 6-man Sound Barrier against the 5 defenders that had no SB of their own available. It almost certainly would have resulted in a clean wipe and a map win. This one mistake cost them time, dragging the game out for an additional 4 minutes. They gifted FaZe a chance to stay in the game. Though EnVyUs did in the end take the map, it’s important to learn from victories as much as from defeats, and the dives from Tracer and Winston before their one-sided Sound Barrier could come up was a key mistake at a critical juncture. |
Atheist Airman Threatens Suit After He Is Denied Reenlistment for Refusing to Say 'So Help Me God;' Air Force Says It's Law
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The American Humanist Association is threatening to sue the Air Force on behalf of an atheist airman at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada after he was denied reenlistment into the service last month because he refused to say "so help me God" in the Oath of Enlistment.
An Air Force official explained in a USA Today report that taking the oath to God is a statutory requirement and the only way the atheist airman can opt out of acknowledging God is if Congress changes it.
"The American Humanist Association's Appignani Humanist Legal Center recently sent a letter to U.S. Air Force officials on behalf of a service member at the Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, who has been denied reenlistment for omitting the phrase 'so help me God' from his contract," the AHA announced in a release on its website Thursday.
"According to the letter, on Aug. 25 the member of the U.S. Air Force opted for a secular affirmation in his reenlistment contract. He was told by his superiors that he must swear to God or leave the Air Force. The letter demands that the service member be permitted to reenlist using a secular affirmation," said the release.
"The government cannot compel a nonbeliever to take an oath that affirms the existence of a supreme being," Monica Miller, an attorney with the Appignani Humanist Legal Center noted. "Numerous cases affirm that atheists have the right to omit theistic language from enlistment or reenlistment contracts."
According to USA Today, Air Force Instruction 36-2606 says all airmen must take the active-duty oath of enlistment that ends with "so help me God" when they enlist or re-enlist. The publication highlighted that an older version of the AFI once had an exception that said: "Note: Airmen may omit the words 'so help me God,' if desired for personal reasons."
That exception, however, was dropped in an updated version of the AFI released Oct. 30, 2013. Everyone must now say the full oath which reads:
"I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
Air Force spokeswoman Rose Richeson told USA Today Thursday that "reciting 'so help me God' in the re-enlistment and commissioning oaths is a statutory requirement under Title 10 USC 502."
AFI 36-2606 "is consistent with the language mandated in 10 USC 502. Paragraph 5.6 (and) was changed in October 2013 to reflect the aforementioned statutory requirement and airmen are no longer authorized to omit the words 'so help me God,'" she added.
The Air Force maintains that "so help me God" cannot be made optional unless Congress amends the statute.
According to the AHA, "If the service member is not given the opportunity to reenlist, the commanding officers may be sued. The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers is working with the Appignani Humanist Legal Center on this issue."
Read the complete legal demand for a secular Air Force Oath of Enlistment below: |
And for all of you who still want to think of the media as political noncombatants, get a load of what Devine writes about himself:
"In addition to his decade of experience publishing a chain of weekly newspapers, including the News Record, the Patriot, the Perth Amboy Gazette, the Atom Tabloid, the South Amboy-Sayreville Citizen, Devine was publisher of several monthly special interest magazines, including New Jersey Wreck Diver and Kid Zone, During that period, he served two years as secretary of the Rahway Chamber of Commerce.
Devine started his career in journalism as a reporter for WKNJ FM Radio, the Elizabeth Daily Journal, and the Bridgewater Courier News (a Gannett newspaper) and as managing editor of the Kean College Independent, a student-run campus weekly newspaper. He is a currently a contributing editor and consultant to New Jersey's oldest weekly newspaper and its website, WWW.NJTODAY.NET."
This is the same guy who, when he is not dumping on Phil Murphy, says he wants to hunt Republicans. Why? Do they taste better than Democrats?
"In addition to being elected six times as a member of the Union County Democratic Committee, Devine served as a council coordinator with MoveOn.org, member of the Sierra Club, ACLU, NOW (National Organization for Women), AARP and NAACP, president of the Elizabeth Democratic Association and chairman of the Coalition for Quality Education."
Phil Murphy is a Wall Streeter who made his money at the notoriously anti-worker firm of Goldman Sucks. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Mr. Murphy's career there:
From 1997 to 1999, Murphy served as the President of Goldman Sachs (Asia).[9] In that capacity, he was officed in Hong Kong.[19] During this time Goldman Sachs profited from its investment in Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings, a shoe manufacturer which became notorious for its harsh labor practices.[20]
... Then in 1999 Murphy secured a spot on the firm's Management Committee.[7] There his colleagues included Hank Paulson and Gary Cohn, both of whom later served at highest levels of the federal government.[17] This coincided with the Glass–Steagall: aftermath of repeal and made a profound change in how Murphy and his colleagues made their profits, with much greater use of leverage than before.[17]
In 2001 Murphy became global co-head of the Investment Management Division of the firm.[7][21][17] This unit oversaw the investments of foundations, pensions, hedge funds, and wealthy personages, and by 2003 it had amassed some $373 billion in holdings.[17] Hedge funds in particular received large lines of credit from Murphy's unit.[17] Another company initiative that Murphy helped to undertake was the unit that did major business in the emerging markets within the EMEA region.[19]
According to Wikipedia, Murphy thinks of himself as a member of an "elite" and actually bragged about this to the Wall Street Journal in 1998, comparing Goldman Sucks to the United States Marine Corps... but with a different pay scale... and you don't get shot at... and you get to rip-off child workers... and finance regimes that uphold the best traditions of slave labor and human trafficking.
Likewe said, Devine James makes some real strong points about Phil Murphy, and that's something, coming from the former political director of the New Jersey Democrat State Committee. Here's a photo of Devine with the first Phil Murphy, another corporate Democrat billionaire who made his dough ripping off the folks. |
Photo: Business Insider/Ben Collins
In 2009, Sam Eisho walked into the Centrelink office at Maroubra and tried to give the staff a cheque for more than $18,000.
Told to line up at the end of the claims queue, he attempted to explain that he was there to pay back what he felt he owed the Australian Government.
The amount was equivalent to all the welfare payments he received between 1999 and 2001, when he first arrived here and before he started the construction company he’s successfully built.
He’d come a long way since he was nearly killed at an Iraqi checkpoint, fleeing Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Travelling into Kurdistan, the autonomous region which encompasses parts of Eastern Turkey and Northern Iraq — where Eisho is from — the guards decided they wanted his cash, a small amount of money he needed to complete the journey to see his family.
Enraged, he scrunched the notes — emblazoned with the face of the now-executed dictator — and threw them into the dirt at his feet.
He was led away and locked in a room. And if he had not seen a solider he knew from university, who pleaded for his life, Eisho is sure he would have been killed.
“They would give you a very hard time … The north of Iraq was separate then,” Eisho told Business Insider.
That was when he decided to leave. 11 days after marrying his wife in 1996, she and the civil engineer fled. He was 28 years old, and running from the country he was born in.
After flying to Turkey, they travelled to Greece, at times hidden under furniture in the back of a truck, his wife nearly suffocating. And Eisho — who completed his Bachelor degree at the University of Mosul, spent three years making mattresses.
He came to Australia through legal channels. His uncle, a doctor already living here, was eventually able to sponsor him, and he arrived on the first day in May, 1999.
Since then Eisho, the Managing Director of SR Construction, has built a successful business. Directly, he employs more than 40 people, and has more than 100 sub-contractors, with offices in Sydney’s Hillsdale and Ingleburn.
None of it, he says, would have been possible if was not for the support he received from the Australian Government when he got here. It was this debt that saw him standing in the Centrelink line in 2009, trying to explain that he wanted to pay back what he felt he owed.
“They said ‘the line is there,’ and I said ‘no, I’m here to pay you,” Eisho said.
“In 2008, 2009 my situation was perfect. I said, ‘it’s time to go and pay the country back.
“I could not have done anything without Australia’s support.”
Bureaucracy thwarted him. A cheque made out to the Collector of Public Money (pictured at the foot of this story) for $18,641.43 was returned with a letter suggesting Eisho donate the sum.
In the accompanying note, he had asked if his money could be put towards schools and hospitals.
Asylum seekers are never far removed from Australia’s political rhetoric; processing of refugees is one of few issues where there are marked policy differences across the country’s political spectrum.
Eisho arrived in Australia legally – it was Greece where he claimed asylum – though he did benefit from a social welfare system others are accused of wallowing in.
He is an exception to what is, by some, painted as a rule.
Eisho was able to secure a builder’s licence after completing a TAFE course.
Finding work though, was harder. To make ends meet Eisho went to a group interview for a job at the Coles at the Eastgarden shopping centre, now a short walk from his office in Sydney’s south.
Applicants were told to complete an aptitude test, and wait a few days until they were contacted. After the hiring manager saw his results, they said: “You start tomorrow.”
The next day while he was on his lunch break, a contractor contacted him, after seeing his advertisement in the local newspaper.
“They called and said we have seen your ad in the Southern Courier.
“They said can you come now, and I said ‘of course.”
“I left Coles without even any notice, and they started giving me some work, like tiles here, doors there.
“I bought a Toyota Cressida for $500 with savings from Centrelink, me and my wife.
“And then I applied for a credit card from ANZ. That gave me $5000 … to buy tools, to buy petrol. It was very tough anyway.
His aunt, who is based in the United States lent him $US25,000.
“She knew I was struggling with money.”
He has since paid it back twice over. And as well as gifting the $18,000 Eisho has also, he said, donated around $60,000 to Hospitals, and his daughter’s primary school.
While he will always feel indebted for the financial assistance that helped make him, Eisho said the main reason he gives so much, is the care his wife received when she gave birth, in Australia, to the couple’s daughter — and the contrast to the health care system in his homeland.
“Here, they treat a human being like a human being.”
Now read: US Police Officer Stood Down After Leaking Incredible Photos Of Boston Bombing Suspect
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Brazil’s ballooning middle class is transforming the South American country into a global competitor. On the ground in São Paulo, Sparksheet’s Brazilian correspondent Renata Acioli spoke to TAM’s marketing director Manoela Amaro about how Brazil’s largest airline is reinventing its brand to engage a new generation of travellers.
The history of TAM is intertwined with the story of Brazil’s remarkable economic rise. Until recently, air travel was a luxury item in Brazil. Ticket prices were prohibitive for most Brazilians and flying was reserved for the wealthy executives who make up what Brazilians refer to as “classes A and B.”
But the country is changing and Brazil’s emerging middle class is reinventing the game for brands and marketers alike. According to estimates, 10.7 million Brazilians are set to hit the skies for the first time in 2011, 8.7 million of whom belong to the “emerging classes” C and D.
Brazil’s largest airline now faces the challenges of remaking its brand for these new travellers. As TAM’s Manoela Amaro explains, the company is leveraging social networking sites like Twitter and YouTube, establishing partnerships with lower-end brands such as retail chain Casas Bahia (which has made billions in profits by charging interest on instalment plan purchases), and creating ads with popular folk figures.
How have the so-called “emerging classes” changed the face of flying in Brazil?
We are in the midst of an economic boom in Brazil and the whole world is witnessing it. In the past, travelling by plane was basically for the richest people from “classes A and B”, who top the Brazilian consumer pyramid.
Nowadays, the base of the consumer pyramid is increasing with the economic growth of classes C and D. Thousands of people from these lower economic classes are now potential customers.
What are you doing to engage these new customers?
TAM’s strategy is to show that the company is accessible to all. That’s why we adopted the slogan: “You will go, and will go with TAM.” [Editor’s note: The Portuguese slogan, meant to echo a popular cheer sung during Carnival, is almost impossible to translate into English].
We invited Brazilian pop singer Ivete Sangalo to be the spokesperson for our brand. We didn’t want an “elitist” person or a very popular one, but someone who could reach out to all classes.
She was on the cover of TAM Nas Nuvens inflight magazine and in several videos made for our channel on YouTube and our inflight TV. In September, we produced a big concert with Ivete at Madison Square Garden, in New York.
How are you using content to accommodate customers that have never flown before?
We launched the microsite Como Viajar [“How to Travel”] where people can learn everything about flights, especially the English terminology, which some customers might not know. The site’s “host” [the person who dispenses the flying advice] looks like a regular person, neither a sophisticated nor a popular one.
Both the check-in staff and flight crew are trained to help passengers who are travelling for the first time. We realize that flying is completely new to many customers and everything from ticket pricing to the inflight experience can be confusing.
We also recently launched a second portal called TAM Tips for all kinds of travellers, not necessarily those who have never travelled before. It’s still in beta but it will be a collaborative website linked in to the social networks that will offer tips and routes for tourists.
Tell us about your partnership with the low-end Brazilian home products store Casas Bahia. What does it say about TAM’s new brand?
This is part of our strategy for distribution. We can’t expect the passenger to come to the airport or one of our stores to buy a ticket. We have to be where they are.
We’re trying to challenge the perception that TAM is an airline focused only on executive customers and show that we are open for anyone who wants to fly. It goes hand in hand with the Ivete Sangalo slogan: “TAM is for everybody.”
Brazil has the highest rate of social networking activity in the world. How does this play into your engagement strategy?
We are living in the “truth” era. Customers always had the decision-making power in the service industry but this whole movement of social networking just makes it more evident.
Here at TAM, we have been using this to foster relationships and share our values with passengers. TAM is the Brazilian company with the largest number of followers on Twitter – more than 128,000. If you have a question and post it there, someone from our team will answer you in less than five minutes. We have a team dedicated to monitoring and replying to messages like a call centre that works 24 hours a day.
Twitter is a great way to listen to what people are saying about the brand in real time. To engage further, we sell promotional tickets exclusively to these followers, what we call “Twitter fares.”
You produced a very popular interactive video campaign for last year’s World Cup in South Africa. How did that experience turn out?
We launched a website, Paixão por Torcer [“Passion for Cheering”], where we asked visitors to send inspirational messages with videos that would be watched by the Brazilian soccer team during their flight from Brazil to South Africa. The exterior of the TAM plane that transported the soccer players was painted with messages sent to the website, with the slogan: “We don’t take only the Brazilian team. We take all of Brazil.”
On the day we launched the video TAM had the most accessed branded YouTube channel in the world, and the video currently has more than 115,000 views.
Brazil has two very important world events scheduled: the Olympics in 2014, and the World Cup in 2016. What are your expectations for these events?
We are very excited. Brazil has much work to do in terms of infrastructure and we at TAM will have to be prepared for the demand that will come with these events. This is our goal for 2011.
SparksheetTV: As Brazil’s largest international airline, how does TAM present Brazil’s culture and brand to the world? |
The New York Giants were looking for a power running back to complement Paul Perkins in the backfield and there is a possibility that they have found one. The Giants agreed to contract terms with running back Shaun Draughn on Tuesday, who could fill that void.
The Giants’ rushing attack hasn’t been their strength for quite some time now. They were last in the NFL in rushing touchdowns scored in 2016, having reached the end zone just six times through the ground game.
Draughn himself had six total touchdowns last season with the San Francisco 49ers, which including four on the ground. With the Giants lacking production in short yardage situations, Draughn could be of service.
Perkins earned himself the starting role during the final stretch of the season in his rookie year and he will likely be the lead back going forward, barring any changes.
In addition to Perkins, Shane Vereen has already carved himself out a role in the passing game. He has value as a pass catcher the Giants like, especially on third downs.
Draughn can likely carve out a role in short-yardage and goal-line situations, especially since the Giants currently don’t have anyone to fill that spot. With this addition, it’s unclear how it will impact the draft plans if at all.
With this class being so deep at running back, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the Giants added a young power back later in the draft to possibly work in with Draughn.
Perkins’ job is safe as is Vereen’s, but that doesn’t mean Draughn can’t or won’t have a significant role in the offense, especially when it comes to goal-line situations. |
During the confirmation proceedings for Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, bloggers at National Review Online took it upon themselves to defend the Supreme Court from charges that it had tilted far to the right and in favor of corporate interests since John Roberts had taken over as Chief Justice of the United States. For instance, this summer, Ed Whelan strongly criticized Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron for "contend[ing] that the 'Roberts court has repeatedly placed corporate interests first and the rights of individuals second.' "
But now The New York Times has reported on a new study finding that "[t]he Roberts court, which has completed five terms, ruled for business interests 61 percent of the time, compared with 46 percent in the last five years of the court led by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died in 2005, and 42 percent by all courts since 1953." The study added that the "differences are statistically significant."
And the study is not the work of progressives alone. Indeed, one of its co-authors is federal appellate Judge Richard Posner, a Ronald Reagan appointee and a conservative hero.
This all leads me to wonder: Which NRO blogger will be the first to throw Judge Posner under the bus in defense of the Roberts Court? |
22.10.2015
Europa –la del Consejo de Ministros, de las reuniones de altas esferas en Bruselas y los medios de comunicación– asiste impasible a la llegada a nuestras fronteras de personas que huyen de la guerra. Mientras los Gobiernos se ponen de acuerdo en cuotas de aceptación de refugiados ridículas para la magnitud de la situación, a pie de calle los ciudadanos europeos se organizan para abrir en la medida de lo posible sus ciudades. Os contamos un buen puñado de interesantes iniciativas que cruzan Europa para caminar hacia un continente más humano.
Hablamos de la acogida y la apertura, en el sentido más amplio que podamos pensar; no sólo como una suerte de implicación solidaria pasajera con quienes atraviesan fronteras, sino con la imaginación volcada en hacer rincones urbanos más domésticos, accesibles y amables para todos.
La llegada del otoño a Madrid vino acompañada de la agrupación de decenas de personas en torno a una asamblea en el barrio de Lavapiés con la intención de convertir la capital en ciudad refugio. Tras unas cuantas semanas imaginando cómo sería convertirse en una ciudad de acogida y una manifestación el pasado 12 de septiembre, la materialidad se adelantó. A las estaciones de autobuses y trenes comenzaron a llegar familias con niños, personas viajando en grupos que pasaban por Madrid en tránsito hacia alguna otra parte, alejándose de la guerra en Siria. Y la asamblea se puso manos a la obra: a coordinar casas de alojamiento, transporte hasta un lugar donde dormir, una red de intérpretes, atención sanitaria, ropa y comida, facilidad para adquirir billetes y continuar el viaje… Mucho antes de que el Ayuntamiento se hiciese cargo e interviniese en la situación, la red facilitó acogida de manera autogestionada a más de 200 personas a finales de septiembre y principios de octubre. Una manera de hacer política implicando lo doméstico y lo personal, lo ciudadano y lo inmediato que ha sentado precedente.
Es solo un ejemplo cercano, pero de Este a Oeste y de Norte a Sur de Europa, son muchos los proyectos íntimamente ligados a sus territorios que se ocupan de la necesidad de entornos habitables construidos por las personas y para las personas. Y todo desde ámbitos de saber diversos que se entrelazan: cultura, arte, arquitectura, activismo.
Mientras en Madrid se fraguaba la red ciudadana de acogida, 50 iniciativas provenientes de 23 países europeos y de implicación ciudadana en el espacio público estaban reunidas en Botkyrka, un suburbio a las afueras de Estocolmo, polinizando ideas emergentes y elaborando redes para apuntalar la construcción común de las ciudades. Fue Build the City, la segunda edición de Idea Camp, un encuentro promovido por la European Cultural Foundation en el que una miniatura de urbe funciona como laboratorio de creación colectiva en torno al espacio público y a los retos contemporáneos de la cultura. Fruto del mismo programa, hasta 25 becas de investigación y desarrollo serán financiadas para el impulso de algunos de estos proyectos durante 2016.
Sería tedioso citarlos todos y sin embargo con una pincelada de algunos es posible trazar un mapa de retos ciudadanos con los que hacer política desde la calle.
La situación de refugiados en la ciudad turca de Gazantiep, fronteriza con Siria, es de dimensiones impensables en comparación con Madrid. Allí, como aquí, surgen ideas para darle la vuelta a las circunstancias. Como la iniciativa de la artista Merve Bedir, Bostan: a garden for all, un espacio híbrido de huerta, cocina y restaurante gestionado por personas refugiadas que serviría de bisagra entre quienes acogen y son acogidos en torno a la comida.
La arquitecta Zuzana Tabakcova propone con Network the school! poner recursos a disposición de instituciones educativas tradicionales de Berlín para que sean las propias comunidades de aprendizaje quienes puedan diseñar su entorno
De raíces castizas y redes recientes bebe el proyecto Caring in the city, de Silvia Nanclares, a través del cual se pregunta si es posible la crianza colectiva en las ciudades modernas y propone investigarlo con los pies en el barro en el barrio de Arganzuela, en Madrid.
Las urbanistas Pez Estudio cuestionan desde la investigación-acción a largo plazo la relación de las personas con el entorno natural y las intersecciones que se generan entre lo rural y lo urbano en el proyecto Agronautas.
Y de redes germinadas en diferentes puntos de España y confluyentes en Barcelona, el dispositivo GRRR, una estrategia que activaría la gestión y reutilización de recursos físicos como materiales de construcción a través de un plataforma autogestionada de oferta y demanda.
En la producción y facilitación del encuentro participa la plataforma de campañas de micromecenazgo de código abierto Goteo, junto a organizaciones culturales de Francia, Polonia, Moldavia, Croacia y los anfitriones, Suecia.
Muchas de estas acciones parecerían estar aisladas y tener un interés estrictamente local en sus comunidades, pero en suma significan una mirada amplia, diversa y distribuida desde la cual hacer política en común. En definitiva, de poner lo doméstico y lo cercano en el centro de la vida en nuestras ciudades. |
A dead monkey found in a forest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could be one of the sources behind the recent outbreak of Ebola in the countrys southwestern Kasai province.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that improper handling of dead monkeys felled by the virus could have infected hunters and women who came in contact with the simians.
According to WHO statistics, three cases of the hemorrhagic fever have recently been recorded in the DRC, with at least another 36 suspected cases that include 12 deaths possibly linked to the disease.
This is the second outbreak of its kind in just over a year in Kasai, where the current emergence claimed its first life on November 27, 2008.
Doctors Without Borders says it has hired and trained a dozen local “home visitors” to help reduce the spread of the outbreak.
The new local staff will identify and follow up with those who have had any contact with the disease. Currently, there are 184 people who must be tracked.
Photo: Doctors Without Borders - Médecins Sans Frontières |
Former Prime Minister John Key has a new employer.
Mr Key will become a director on the Board of Air New Zealand beginning September 1.
Chairman Tony Carter says Key fits the bill of someone with strong international business experience and a deep knowledge of tourism.
"When John Key announced he was stepping down as Prime Minister and moving to a new phase of life outside of politics, it became a priority for the Board to try to secure his services as a Director," he says.
"John will bring extensive international commercial experience, outstanding leadership skills, global perspective and a keen understanding of the tourism sector gained during the years he was Tourism Minister as well as Prime Minister of New Zealand."
Mr Key says he is delighted to accept the position with New Zealand's national carrier.
"Air New Zealand is an incredible company that has significant opportunities ahead of it and I look forward to working with the Board, Chief Executive Officer and his Executive team to see it fulfil its potential," Mr Key says.
John Key stepped down as Prime Minister in December 2016 and had been quiet on his future plans but did say he was considering a number of options from around the world.
Air New Zealand's longest serving Director Paul Bingham will retire in September at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
Newshub. |
Cinnamon Toast
We previously had the opportunity to learn about the BlackBerry 10 lockscreen. In those leaked slides, we had a small glimpse at BlackBerry 10’s unique notification system, dubbed ‘Cinnamon Toast’.
Today we have further information on BlackBerry 10’s Cinnamon Toast and the new French Toast. The purpose of Cinnamon Toast, as the slide above points out, is to allow the user to preview messages from the lockscreen.
With Cinnamon Toast, BlackBerry 10 will be able to progressively show more information on the notifications based on the angle of the BB10 device. As demonstrated in the slide, there are three variations of data revealed based on the degree of angle.
The reveal is continuous and reversible. After you’ve picked up the device to reveal the full message of the notification, as you set it back down the information will begin to disappear in the same manner as it first appeared.
French Toast
Have you ever accidentally deleted something due to not first having a prompt asking if you wanted to delete an item? Luckily, this problem is solved with French Toast. The purpose of French Toast is to undo a delete operation.
As the slide says, with French Toast’s ability to undo moderate deleted items there is no need for delete confirmations before the delete. This should make the flow faster and smoother, while still retaining security by quickly recovering from accidental deletes.
The slide above further describes the interactivity of French Toast on BlackBerry 10’s UI. For instance, after an item is deleted the French Toast prompt will remain on the screen, and will then have a 3 second-timeout once the user touches the screen after the action.
BlackBerry 10 is certainly an advanced operating system that will surely have a future outside of the mobile space. If the previous leaked slides detailing the lockscreen isn’t enough, you can see a live demo of it in our video of the BlackBerry 10 keyboard. Check that video out here. |
Future WWE house shows will not be branded as Raw or SmackDown anymore, according to an Internet article.
PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson reports that WWE is polling fans on its mailing list for their thoughts about removing the brands and giving all the tours a new name:
Moving away from branded tours would allow the company more freedom to split the house show lineups between the Raw and Smackdown rosters, as opposed to having everyone from one TV show on one specific loop.
WWE also is soliciting input from its fans on what the new name of the tour should be. LordsOfPain.net reports that the choices are WWE The Tour, WWE Live, WWE Live in Action!, WWE World Tour, WWE Live Tour, WWE Presents, WWE Universe Live! and WWE Superstars Live!
The Raw and SmackDown brand extension, which has been in place for more than 10 years, started as a result of WWE’s purchase of WCW and ECW assets, including their roster talent. Its idea was to give more television exposure to the increased number of stars on the WWE roster.
Wrestlers were annually “drafted” to either the Raw or SmackDown show, and for the following year, they exclusively appeared on that show unless they were “traded” to the other brand.
WWE then began branding house shows and even pay-per-view events as either Raw or SmackDown.
In August 2011, WWE began moving toward unifying the brands into one when it announced it was removing the exclusivity stipulation and would allow stars to appear on both shows. Raw, which always has been considered the company’s “A” show, began airing “Raw Super Shows” featuring Raw and SmackDown talent.
Now, most of the WWE roster appears on both shows.
But the house shows still remained fairly brand-exclusive. Raw events normally feature stars closely associated with the Raw TV show, such as John Cena and CM Punk. SmackDown shows followed suit and usually feature Sheamus and Randy Orton.
Lately, with WWE’s expansion into more television programming—WWE Main Event on Wednesday nights and the kid-friendly Saturday Morning Slam—and its increased reliance on social media, the company concluded that brand extension was no longer necessary.
Follow Bill Atkinson on Twitter at @BAtkinson1963. |
“What is a ghost?” It’s the question at the heart of Guillermo del Toro’s near-perfect The Devil’s Backbone, the pin that holds together the interwoven threads of his layered story. Is it a literal ghost: a restless spirit that persists in stalking the halls at night? Or perhaps the looming specter of war, in a place full of orphans whose parents were claimed by the conflict… Or is a ghost simply the lingering regret for words unsaid, chances untaken, dreams unfulfilled?
The story opens at a remote orphanage in the final days of the Spanish Civil War. Young Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives with a suitcase and shoebox of childish treasures, confused and uncertain. And for all that the teachers—including the eloquent Dr. Casares (del Toro fave Federico Luppi) and the elegant Carmen (Marisa Paredes)—are kindly, Carlos has a hard time settling in. The resident bully Jaime immediately dislikes him, the orphanage echoes eerily with secrets, and there is an unsolved mystery surrounding a boy who abruptly disappeared the night a bomb fell in the courtyard.
When Carlos is given the boy’s bed, he soon suspects that the missing Santi never actually left the orphanage. Something began haunting the school in the wake of his disappearance, a being the other boys call “The One Who Sighs”, and it isn’t long before Carlos comes face to face with the ghost and hears a most frightening warning: “Many of you will die.”
Meanwhile, the caretaker Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega) has grown impatient. He’s convinced Carmen and Casares have been working with the Reds and are hiding gold. A former inmate of the orphanage and hiding to avoid the war, Jacinto has dreams of wealth and grandeur. Terribly unhappy with his lot in life, he refuses to let anything stand in the way of those dreams.
What unfolds is a story that is both brutal and beautiful, supernatural and utterly human, in a way only del Toro can balance. Told primarily through the eyes of the orphans, it’s a boy’s coming of age in a time and place so turbulent that ghosts are unavoidable and innocence is fragile.
Stylistically speaking, this may be the most beautiful ghost story ever filmed. The saturated color palette is one of contrasts: deep blues and grays against yellows and oranges. The cloudless pale sky is vast over the golden grass and the huge orphanage is now mostly empty and dilapidated, emphasizing the sense that this is a place abandoned and forgotten by the outside world. The characters are often divided by space—both mental and literal—and cannot escape their situation.
The cinematography adds to the alternating loneliness and claustrophobia, the camera is at times drawn back to frame the characters as tiny insects, while other times it is drawn in for uncomfortable close-ups. Death and war are ever-present in the vivid symbols and trappings of the orphanage: the unexploded bomb lodged in the courtyard and Carmen’s wooden leg, the safe full of gold Jacinto is so desperate to unlock, bleeding crucifixes and Casares’ jars of preserved malformed fetuses (which provide the film’s title).
And then there’s “The One Who Sighs” himself, a ghost unlikely any other. With a cloud of blood floating above the flaking crack in his head, his bones illuminated as if x-rayed photographs, he is both horrifying and tragic. A broken porcelain doll, like a fly trapped in amber, he is caught forever in the moment of his death. As with many of del Toro’s monsters, he is also not the threat he seems; debts may be owed to the dead but they will only collect their due.
Even with such stunning visuals, a ghost story such as this would fall apart without powerful performances. Luckily the cast rises to the challenge, particularly the untested child actors. Fernando Tielve as Carlos provides the courageous heart while Eduardo Noriega plays Jacinto as a fire-eaten and greedy man too often spurned and soured by it. Luppi is yet again compelling, conveying rage, disappointment, and heartache with equal conviction and Marisa Paredes’ Carmen is the embodiment of regret and weary disillusionment.
This being a del Toro picture, there’s an unflinching commitment to fully showing the tolls of war. Men are executed, children die, and unforgivable cruelty is at every turn. Jacinto himself gives voice to the truth: in such barbaric times people expect and even ignore further atrocities. At some point the world stops caring.
But del Toro also refuses to condone this nihilism. Even with so much death and shameful waste there will always be hope. The human spirit is something that cannot be daunted forever; eventually wars must end and people must rebuild. The future depends upon the next generation—and so it is the duty of the children to persevere and keep hope alive—to right the wrongs of their elders and seek justice before walking away from the past and beginning anew.
It’s impossible for me to be impartial about this movie. It is, in my opinion, del Toro’s masterpiece and is best paired with its follow-up, Pan’s Labyrinth, which del Toro made as the second half of a set. The Devil’s Backbone succeeds on every level: as an elegy on war, as a ghost and horror story, as a tale of a boy’s coming of age, and as a commentary on the nature of regret and the power of the human spirit. Moving, heart-breaking, terrifying, thought-provoking—it’s guaranteed to take you through the whole gamut of emotion.
In interviews, Guillermo del Toro often cites this as his favorite and most personal film. He drew upon personal experiences, childhood nightmares, and a deep connection with history to craft this phantasmagoria. His passion and bond with the story is tangible in every scene. Just as “The One Who Sighs” cannot rest until his demands are met, this is a story that demands to be felt. And regardless of how you watch it—in the bright light of day or in the atmospheric darkness of night—The Devil’s Backbone will linger…
Just as the greatest campfire ghost stories do.
Angie Barry wrote her thesis on the socio-political commentary in zombie films. Meeting George Romero is high on her bucket list, and she has spent hours putting together her zombie apocalypse survival plan. She also writes horror and fantasy in her spare time, and watches far too much Doctor Who. You can find her at Livejournal.com under the handle “zombres.”
Read all posts by Angie Barry at Criminal Element. |
9. Arnold Schwarzenegger Was Paid Approximately $21,429 For Every Word He Said - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
TriStar Pictures
Terminator 2: Judgment Day would probably be most people's choice for "best Terminator movie," because that's exactly what it is. And Arnold Schwarzenegger, who plays the titular character, likely remembers it as such, too, though not necessarily for the reasons you might expect: the actor was paid a whopping $15 million dollars to star, and only utters 700 words throughout the entire movie. Which translates to around $21,429 per word.
I mean, woah, right? Of course, Arnie does more than just say words over the course of the sci-fi classic, but I'm not sure you can really catch him doing much "acting." That's to say, this was a massively prosperous venture for the action hero". Uttering the iconic line "Come with me if you want to live" bagged him $171,432 alone! |
I’ve been writing PHP code for almost 15 years, and next year will be the 10 year anniversary of this blog.
Back when I started the blog, PHP 5 had just come out. It occurred to me that it might be interesting to take a quick look how my PHP code has changed in this timespan. It might also not be interesting, in which case: leave now!
So I dug up some old code and created two fictional code samples, representing a class I might have written in 2006 and 2016.
2006
This first example is based off an old open source project that originally had PHP 5.0.4 as the minimum version requirement.
Back then my toolkit contained:
Vim.
Firefox 1 (and installing it on anyone’s computer, whenever they weren’t looking).
A borrowed Powerbook G4 running OS X Tiger, or maybe a custom built PC running XP and two yellowed 15” CRT monitors.
Basically all development in a SSH session on a Slackware Linux box. Or maybe Debian.
PEAR.
Subversion.
A worn down F5 button on my keyboard for debugging.
<?php /** * A music player! * * @package Sabre_MusicPlayer * @version $Id$ * @copyright 2006 Rooftop Solutions * @author Evert Pot <[email protected]> * @licence http://www.freebsd.org/copyright/license.html BSD License (4 Clause) * @uses Sabre_MusicPlayer_Song * @example ../examples/player.php */ class Sabre_MusicPlayer_Player { /** * Some id * * @var int */ public $id ; /** * Secret key * * @var string */ private $key ; /** * Repeat the song x times * * @param int $times * @return bool */ public function repeat ( $times ) { } /** * Adds a new song to the playlist * * @param Sabre_MusicPlayer_Song $song * @throws Sabre_MusicPlayer_DrmException * @return void */ public function addSong ( Sabre_MusicPlayer_Song $song ) { } /** * Returns all songs * * @return array */ public function getSongs () { return array (); } /** * Returns a singleton instance * * @return Sabre_MusicPlayer_Player */ public static function getInstance () { } /** * Secret stuff! */ private function secret () { } } ?>
For some crazy reason all my sources were indented by 4 spaces! Everything!
@version $Id$ was a special tag that subversion could recognize and would automatically insert version information in every file.
was a special tag that subversion could recognize and would automatically insert version information in every file. @licence was misspelled, and it would take me several years to find the mistake in hundreds of files.
2016
It’s almost 2016 now and PHP 7 is out. This is the style I’ll use for new projects:
<?php namespace Sabre\MusicPlayer ; /** * A music player! * * @copyright Copyright (C) fruux GmbH (https://fruux.com/). * @author Evert Pot (http://evertpot.com/) * @license http://sabre.io/license/ Modified BSD License */ class Player { /** * Some id * * @var int */ public $id ; /** * Repeat the song x times */ function repeat ( int $times ) : bool { } /** * Adds a new song to the playlist * * @throws DrmException * @return void */ function addSong ( Song $song ) { } /** * Returns all songs */ function getSongs () : array { return []; } /** * Returns a singleton instance */ static function getInstance () : self { } /** * Secret key * * @var string */ private $key ; /** * Secret stuff! */ private function secret () { } }
Starting next year, I’m dropping the copyright years from all source files. As far as I’m aware, there’s no real legal reason to keep them, so it’s vanity. It causes a massive ‘Happy new year’ commit every year in the Git repository though, so 2016 will be the last!
Since PHP 5.3, we got namespaces! This has a pretty major impact on line lengths in lots of places. It also removed the @package declaration and in many cases @use .
declaration and in many cases . A somewhat recent change is that I removed all public function and property modifiers where possible. The public keyword literally does nothing, and I’m unconvinced that it actually helps people understand the source. In fact, I think the opposite. The public keyword pushes the functionname further to the right which means more scanning.
function and property modifiers where possible. The keyword literally does nothing, and I’m unconvinced that it actually helps people understand the source. In fact, I think the opposite. The keyword pushes the functionname further to the right which means more scanning. I’m removing all @param , @var and @return tags where they can be inferred from the source. In the past I’ve always kept an entire block of @param tags for every argument. Now that most types can be typehinted (in PHP7) it’s not really needed anymore.
, and tags where they can be inferred from the source. In the past I’ve always kept an entire block of tags for every argument. Now that most types can be typehinted (in PHP7) it’s not really needed anymore. Before, I would list all properties in a class first, and functions second. Now I’ve started grouping them based on visibility. That means that the public properties come first, public functions next, protected properties, and so on. This makes a lot more sense for people reading the source, as someone who only interacts with the public API of a class, does not need to read about protected or private properties. It will move the things that are more likely to be relevant upward.
PHP 5.4 array syntax. Even though this change was mostly cosmetic, it’s the primary reason I dropped PHP 5.3 support when I reasonabily could.
Since many years none of my sources have had a ?> , which probably helped me avoid a bunch of bugs before I used PHPUnit/PHP-CS-Fixer consistently.
I still don’t care about PSR-2. I helped split PSR-1 and PSR-2 to ensure that people can follow the important stuff (PSR-1) while keeping creative freedom with their sources (PSR-2). I’m not about to change that in 2016.
Right now I’m considering two more controversial changes:
Reducing all indentation in classes by 1 more level. This will place every function right on the first column. There’s no super strong argument against this, as you kind of know you’re working inside a class. Change my public $foo declarations back into var $foo , to really drive home the point that “we don’t need public ”. I’m worried that that one doesn’t really carry many benefits other than “nonconformance is fun”.
Other changes
Moved from Google Code Hosting to Bitbucket (briefly) to Github.
Moved from Subversion, to Mercurial to Git.
Moved from PEAR packages on “Pearfarm” to Pirum hosted on free SourceForge hosting to Composer and Packagist.
Moved from PSR-0 to PSR-4.
Really went all-in with PHPUnit, running all my tests on Travis CI.
Went from being really excited about OS X, to kind of hating it.
Last thoughts
Looking back that’s a fair amount of changes. Some of them were painful, either because it was a lot of work (moving to namespaces) or because it meant it’s hard to change habits (for example mercurial. Still sad about that) or because I’m plain stubborn. Aside from that, most of these changes were gradual, and it’s kind of interesting to take a step back and look at them all at once.
What’s also interesting is how forward looking PHP Documentor has been. Many things that were in PHP Docblocks are now core PHP language features, the latest examples being scalar typehints and the splat operator.
I wonder if that’s one day true for the following expressions as well:
/** * @param int|string * @param int[] * @throws Something * @property-read int $myProperty */
Aside from my sources, I also think that architecturally I’ve moved to a more minimal ‘get the job done’ type of approach. In the early days of PHP 5 I think a lot of us copied a lot of things that were happening in the Java-world, but the reality is that that’s a widely inappropriate place to look for architectural inspiration when you’re developing PHP applications.
The reality of PHP is that your entire program will need to initialize, handle the request, serve the response and die again in milliseconds. A Java developer only has to optimize the middle part.
So over time I feel like my source has become more Javascript-like. Less typing, less objects for every bit of data, less configuration and a lot more more convention, assumption, functional and event-based. Whereas before I might have started a new bit of functionality as an abstract class or interface, now it’s likely to be a function until the point where I know polymorphism will pay off. I think many people have seen this and moved from heavy java-inspired frameworks (such as ZF1, Doctrine) to lighter solutions (such as Silex and Slim and using non-relational datastores or plain PDO).
Bonus 2004 version
I also dug up an even older project to look at my style then. My code back then was pretty awful, and I didn’t really bother with many things such as escaping or PHPDoc. So instead, here’s how it might have looked like if I was a developer in 2004 and knew what I was doing. I tried to largely follow PEAR’s coding standards from back then.
<?php /** * A music player! * * @package Sabre_MusicPlayer * @category Music * @author Evert Pot <[email protected]> * @copyright 2004 Rooftop Solutions * @license http://www.freebsd.org/copyright/license.html BSD License (4 Clause) * @version CVS $Id$ * @uses Sabre_MusicPlayer_Song * @since File available since version 2.0 */ /** * A music player! * * @package Sabre_MusicPlayer * @category Music * @author Evert Pot <[email protected]> * @copyright 2004 Rooftop Solutions * @license http://www.freebsd.org/copyright/license.html BSD License (4 Clause) * @version Release: @package_version@ * @uses Sabre_MusicPlayer_Song * @example ../examples/player.php * @since Class available since version 2.0 */ class Sabre_MusicPlayer_Player { /** * Some id * * @var int * @access public */ var $id ; /** * Secret key * * @var string * @access private */ var $_key ; /** * Repeat the song x times * * @param int $times * @access public * @return bool */ function repeat ( $times ) { } /** * Adds a new song to the playlist * * @param Sabre_MusicPlayer_Song $song * @access public * @return true|PEAR_Error */ function addSong ( Sabre_MusicPlayer_Song $song ) { } /** * Returns all songs * * @access public * @return array */ function getSongs () { return array (); } /** * Returns a singleton instance * * @access public * @static * @return Sabre_MusicPlayer_Player */ function getInstance () { } /** * Secret stuff! * * @access private * @return void */ private function _secret () { } } ?>
A few notables here: |
Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. AP photo.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The main articles in the Iraq’s constitution pertaining to federalism have not been implemented and this neglect has led to many of the problems facing the war-torn country today.
This was one of the conclusions of the University of Kurdistan-Hawler (UKH) forum titled “Iraqi Kurdistan and the Reshaping of the Middle East” and held in Erbil on Wednesday to mark the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the Iraqi constitution.
Political scientist David Romano said if former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had not – unconstitutionally – denied Sunni provinces the right to declare autonomy, much of the violence currently consuming Iraq might have been prevented.
“When Diyala province declared its intention to hold a referendum on becoming a region, he came with arrest warrants, there were demonstrations, and politicians had to flee,” said Romano, a professor at Missouri State University in the US.
“Maliki declared this intention as illegal, but he had no constitutional right to do so.”
Maliki also blocked the creation of regions by the provincial governments of Salahadin and Nineveh, Romano said, adding that at the same time the Iraqi Parliament refused to discuss a similar request by the Shiite province of Basra.
Articles in the constitution concerning the federal structure and the division of powers have been neglected, or interpreted in different ways between the federal and regional governments. This has led to problems such as the dispute over sharing oil revenues, Romano pointed out.
The Federacy Council, which according to the constitution was to be installed next to the Iraqi parliament, never came into existence – mainly because Kurdistan remained the only region in the federation.
“How can a federal system function without the two chambers of its legislative authority? Federations need multiple regions. If not, you end up in a situation of opposition between the one region and the federal government. And that is the story of Iraq of the past 10 years,” he said, referring to the conflicts between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region.
Romano reminded the audience of the fear that existed before the US toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. First, the concern that organized violence – ruling by fear – would continue. He also said mentioned the worry that patronage, and buying loyalty would remain a fact of life.
Finally, he said the Saddam era was marked by concern the state would continue to use oil to increase its control over the people, just as it would also use ethnic and religious divisions to divide and rule.
He noted that things went very differently than expected in the post-Saddam era.
“The Americans set the scene by dismantling the army which left armed people out of work, and gave a carte blanche for revenge by imposing a de-Baathicifation policy. Even so, those worries appear to have come true,” Romano said.
The Kurdistan region has tried to make federalism work, he said, by “advising the province of Nineveh on how to make oil contracts and how to become a region.”
Romano added that “many Kurds work in Baghdad not as Kurds, but as Iraqis.” This remark prompted Vice Chancellor of UKH Khaled Salih to reproach Kurdish ministers and parliamentarians for not exercising their right to speak Kurdish during government business, even though it is designated in the constitution as one of the two languages of the Iraqi federation.
Political scientist Sherko Kirmanj, from the University of Utara Malaysia, promoted the idea of changing Iraq into a confederation – a system in which states work together.
“Sunni’s want their own region similar to the that of the Kurds, but the [Kurdistan Regional Government] has its own army, intelligence services and foreign policy. These elements are part of confederalism, so the Sunnis are asking for that rather than for federalism,” Kirmanj said.
He said the fact the world is bypassing Baghdad when dealing with the Kurds for weapons and ammunition, is an indication that confederalism is already partly in place. As is the use of three flags during official Kurdish visits – the Kurdish, Iraqi plus the one of the visiting nation.
He presented a roadmap to confederation with Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish areas, and Baghdad as a separate, metropolitan region with the confederation’s higher and a lower chambers of parliament. Kirmanj said each part would have its own head of region and its own army. The president of this confederacy would be appointed for five years, with the position rotating between different member states.
The Sunni provinces should join together, he said, instead of forming a number of separate regions, as one Sunni entity within the confederation would be more powerful.
Even the Shiite of Iraq are heading there, he said.
“They know they will not rule Kurdistan again and cannot hold on to the Sunni areas. Now it is just a matter of borders, territorial unity, which part belongs to whom. This will eventually be settled in some way or another.” |
Sex worker Shaalu is using fewer condoms when she meets her clients in New Delhi - not out of choice, but because a funding crunch and procurement delays in the state-run HIV/AIDS programme have disrupted supplies of free condoms.
“I am more scared of HIV now,” said Shaalu, 32, who often resorts to unsafe sex as free condoms are scarce and she is hard pressed for funds to repay a debt of around Rs 3 lakh.
Government provides free condoms under its community-based AIDS prevention programme that targets high-risk groups like sex workers. That strategy, the World Bank estimates, helped avert 3 million HIV infections between 1995 and 2015.
But government data released last week showed about two-thirds of India’s 31 state AIDS units had less than a month’s supply of condoms. Some states only have enough for a few days.
Reliable supplies are key - experts fear that the shortage could lead to more unsafe sex and increased infections, especially among the poor.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS can be transmitted via blood, breast milk or unprotected sex. The incurable infection killed 130,000 people in the country and 1.5 million globally in 2013, the World Health Organisation says.
“Not having the only barrier method at the doors of those who need it is catastrophic,” said Mona Mishra, an activist who runs a national AIDS Momentum campaign.
The shortages come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slashed federal AIDS funding in February by a fifth. Modi hoped states would fill the gap, but the cut came as regional AIDS units faced bureaucratic payment delays.
An official at India’s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which runs the programme, blamed the condom shortage on the federal cuts and a delayed procurement tender that was recalled due to technical discrepancies.
National woes
Condoms in the open market are cheap, but female sex workers often hesitate to buy them from a medical store due to social taboos.
Mostly from poor families, these women were under pressure to have unsafe sex if clients didn’t carry their own condoms, said Kusum, head of the All India Network of Sex Workers that represents 200,000 women.
In the western state of Maharashtra, the stock of free condoms was one-eighth of its monthly requirement of 3.3 million condoms on October 17.
Despite recent hiccups, country’s AIDS programme has won praise globally - HIV prevalence among female sex workers almost halved to 2.67% during 2007-2011 and new infections have fallen in recent years.
The NACO official in New Delhi said free condom supplies should improve in the next 15-20 days.
But for Shaalu, who only gave her working name, AIDS budget cuts and condom shortages are a double shock - she last received her 3,000 rupees monthly salary for promoting safe sex as a “peer educator” in April.
“The government should at least give us condoms so that we can earn money,” she said. “If we get infected, we will die.”
First Published: Nov 06, 2015 12:11 IST |
Tim Sherwood has tabled a £3.5million bid for Swindon Town's Massimo Luongo and Ben Gladwin as he begins his preparations for next season.
But Sherwood, the Aston Villa manager, is facing competition from Queens Park Rangers after the relegated London club matched the offer for the highly-rated midfielders.
Swindon are holding out for a £4million deal but are resigned to losing the pair after losing the League One play-off final to Preston North End on Sunday.
Sherwood has been a long-term admirer of Luongo, the Australian international, after working with him at Tottenham Hotspur's academy but also wants Gladwin to make the move to Villa.
Tim Sherwood wants Swindon Town's Massimo Luongo and Ben Gladwin
Gladwin, also 22, played a key role in Swindon's season and both players are expected to have their futures resolved before the weekend.
Villa could be taken over by new owners this summer but Randy Lerner, the current chairman, is adopting a "business as usual" policy before the club is sold.
Lerner may have to raise his offer for Luongo and Gladwin, however, with Swindon chairman Lee Power keen to stick to the club's £4m valuation.
Villa will face Arsenal in the FA Cup fnal this weekend but Sherwood is mapping out his plans for next season after securing Premier League survival.
He is keen to bring in players under the age of 25 and could offload many of his current squad to raise funds.
Carles Gil, a £3.2million signing from Valencia in January, Andreas Weimann, Philippe Senderos and Matthew Lowton are all facing uncertain futures. |
“Klaatu barada nikto” is a phrase that originated in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. The humanoid alien protagonist of the film, Klaatu (Michael Rennie), instructs Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) that if any harm befalls him, she must say the phrase to the robot Gort (Lockard Martin). In response Gort relents from destroying the Earth and resurrects Klaatu from death.[1]
The Robot Hall of Fame describes the phrase as "one of the most famous commands in science fiction"[2] and Frederick S. Clarke of Cinefantastique called it "the most famous phrase ever spoken by an extraterrestrial."[3]
Usage in the film [ edit ]
Edmund H. North, who wrote The Day the Earth Stood Still, also created the alien language used in the film, including the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto". The official spelling of the phrase comes directly from the script (as shown in the above image) and provides insight as to its proper pronunciation.
The phrase was never translated in the film and neither Edmund North nor did 20th Century Fox ever release an official translation.
Near the end of the film, as Klaatu is pursued by the American military, he urges Helen Benson to memorize the phrase, saying "There's no limit to what he can do. He could destroy the Earth... If anything should happen to me you must go to Gort, you must say these words: Klaatu barada nikto.' Please repeat that."
Shortly after, Klaatu is shot and killed. Knowing that Klaatu has died, Gort vaporizes the polymer cube encasing him and disables the two soldiers standing guard. Helen conveys Klaatu's message. Gort takes her inside the spaceship, and then retrieves Klaatu's lifeless body, which he revives.
Usage in 2008 remake [ edit ]
In the 2008 remake, the line was added at Keanu Reeves' insistence.[4] Klaatu uses it near the beginning of the film to shut down Gort, and again at the end, highly distorted and barely audible, when he stops the destruction of the Earth. Although the line can be heard in the film, it does not appear in the English subtitles.
Interpretation [ edit ]
Because there is no official translation of the phrase, a few notable attempts have been made to determine the phrase's meaning:
Philosophy professor Aeon J. Skoble speculates the phrase is part of a fail-safe feature used during diplomatic missions, whereby Gort's deadly force can be deactivated in the event the robot is undesirably triggered into a defensive posture. Skoble observes that this theme has evolved into a "staple of science fiction that the machines charged with protecting us from ourselves will misuse or abuse their power."[5] In this interpretation the phrase apparently tells Gort that Klaatu considers escalation unnecessary.
Fantastic Films explored the meaning of "Klaatu barada nikto" in the 1978 article "The Language of Klaatu". In the article Tauna Le Marbe, the magazine's Alien Linguistics Editor, attempts to translate all the alien words Klaatu used throughout the film.[6] Le Marbe's literal translation was "Stop Barbarism, (I have) death, bind;" the free translation was "I die, repair me, do not retaliate."[6]
The documentary Decoding "Klaatu Barada Nikto": Science Fiction as Metaphor examined the phrase Klaatu barada nikto with some of the people involved with The Day the Earth Stood Still. Robert Wise, director of the original, recalled a conversation he had with Edmund North, saying North told him, "...it's just something I kind of cooked up. I thought it sounded good."[7]
Billy Gray, who played Bobby Benson in the film, said that "barada nikto must mean... save Earth".[8] Florence Blaustein, widow of the producer Julian Blaustein, said North had to pass a street called Baroda every day going to work and said, "I think that's how that was born."[9] Film historian Steven Jay Rubin recalled an interview he had with North when he asked the question, "What is the direct translation of 'Klaatu barada nikto?' And Edmund North said to me, 'There's hope for Earth, if the scientists can be reached.'"[10]
In accepting the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1998, Director Robert Wise closed his remarks by saying, "...I'd like to say 'Klaatu barada nikto', which, roughly translated tonight, means 'Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.'"[11]
Popular culture references [ edit ] |
Gian Clavell did not care to hear Monday about the growing number of lucrative opportunities to play professional basketball overseas.
“No,” the former Colorado State guard said after a pre-draft workout with the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. “The dream is the NBA. Just because I get a little bit of a bump in the road, it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop and say, ‘I’m going to go overseas.’ No, man. If I have to go the the D-League, then I’ll go to the D-League. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make an NBA team.”
Clavell rarely failed to produce good soundbites during three seasons at CSU. The truth is, his production typically matched his passion. While carrying a Rams team with seven players to within one game of the NCAA Tournament last season, Clavell averaged 20.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and was named the Mountain West player of the year.
“He’s a competitor,” Colorado wing George King, who participated in Monday’s workout but will return to CU, said of Clavell. “He’s a great shooter and he’s very vocal.” Related Articles February 26, 2019 Nuggets’ Isaiah Thomas: “Why not try to get the No. 1 seed?”
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February 24, 2019 Nuggets continue home dominance with resounding win over the Clippers
February 23, 2019 Singer: Isaiah Thomas, Gary Harris and Monte Morris in the same lineup? Nuggets are trying to make it work
Clavell, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound guard, was the heart-and-soul of a Rams team that was defined by its irreverence toward the odds. CSU, its roster gutted by the academic suspensions of three players, won 10 of 11 games down the stretch of the regular season, then marched to the title game of the conference tournament before finally running out of gas on the doorstep of an improbable NCAA Tournament berth. Clavell, the 23-year-old from Puerto Rico, led the march, a brash personification of his tough-nosed coach, Larry Eustachy.
Clavell reflects often on his senior season, one he believes tells prospective NBA employers everything they need to know about what he would provide for a franchise.
“Never give up, no matter what situation you’re in,” Clavell said, citing the biggest takeaway from his final college season. “You can be in a lot of situations, and it doesn’t mean that you stop. That’s life. Life isn’t perfect. You’re going to get bumped, hit, dropped on the floor. You’re going to get knocked down. You have to continue to get up and strive for everything you want to do.”
Clavell faces an uphill path to achieving his NBA goal. He’s not projected to be selected in the upcoming draft, meaning his best chance of making an impression would come during the summer league. Still, the world’s best league has expanded its admission with the recent addition of the two-way contract that gives teams two spots beyond their 15-man roster to use for player development. Players on two-way contracts can be shuffled between the D-League and NBA teams, with the majority of time spent in the former.
Players on two-way contracts are paid $75,000 with the opportunity to increase that wage to roughly $250,000, depending on the amount of time they spend in the NBA. The new contract was added to the last collective bargaining agreement as a way to incentivize players to develop their games stateside. The move has created more chances for fringe players such as Clavell, and he insists a chance is all he needs.
“I have confidence in myself,” he said. “I’m trying to show what kind of leader I am.” |
By Andy Kirk | October 14, 2016 | Collections
At the end of each month I pull together a collection of links to some of the most relevant, interesting or thought-provoking web content I’ve come across during the previous month. Here’s the latest collection from August 2016.
Visualisations/Infographics
Includes static and interactive visualisation examples, infographics and galleries/collections of relevant imagery.
WSJ | 'A Field Guide to Red and Blue America'
FiveThirtyEight | 'Who will win the presidency?' - here's the flagship 538 viz for this election
Polygraph | 'The songs and technique of famed DJ Grandmaster Flash'
Data Sketches | A 12 month collaboration between Nadieh and Shirley 'Each month, we choose a topic and aim to have a visualization completed by the end of the month.'
New York Times | 'Decisive Moments at the Rio Olympics, Frame By Frame'
Smoky Mountains | 'The Fall Foliage Prediction Map: 2016 edition'
New York Times | 'From the Slowest Swim to the Fastest Bike, Gold Medal Racing Speeds on the Same Scale'
AESM Physiotherapy | 'Youngest and oldest olympic gold medalists'
The Guardian | 'How Katie Ledecky obliterated her own world record in the 400m freestyle' (See whole series, links at the bottom)
ONS | 'Save the date: Looking at marriage registrations in more detail, by month and by date, shows some interesting patterns.'
New York Times | All their Rio 2016 Interactive Stories in one place...
New York Times | ...but I must highlight one of my favourites: 'Olympic Races, in Your Neighborhood'
Cool Green Science | 'Migration in Motion: Visualizing Species Movements Due to Climate Change'
PLOS One | Paper: 'Innovative Visualizations Shed Light on Avian Nocturnal Migration' (multiple authors)
SRF | (Translated) 'Thanks to a new survey method linguists have first evaluated the speech habits of around 670,000 German people.'
Swim Swam | 'Was there a problem with the Rio pool?'
Articles
The emphasis on these items is that they are less about visualisation images and are more article-focused, so includes discussion, discourse, interviews and videos
Medium | 'About Trump’s hands... Are they really that tiny? We do the stats!'
Ann K Emery | 'How the sketching process works'
Guardian | 'Can you get to know a person through data alone?'
Medium | 'Data design & comics — What Alan Moore and the red thread can teach us about information design'
Source | 'How we rebuilt the Wall Street Journal's graphics team'
ProPublica | 'Looks Can Kill: The Deadly Results of Flawed Design'
Michael Babwahsingh | 'Saving Information Design History: Part 2' (with link in there to Part 1)
FT | 'Simple techniques for bridging the graphics language gap'
EagerEyes | Grumpy Kosara Part 1: 'Stacked Bars Are the Worst'
EagerEyes | Grumpy Kosara Part 2: 'The Repetitive and Boring History of Visualization'
Learning & Development
These links cover presentations, tutorials, resources, learning opportunities, case-studies, how-tos etc.
D3 in Depth | 'D3 in Depth (by the excellent Peter Cook) aims to bridge the gap between introductory tutorials/books and the official documentation.'
Google Sheets | 'This spreadsheet tracks the items published in Data Is Plural, a weekly newsletter highlighting useful and curious datasets'
Medium | 'Design Better Data Tables'
Vimeo | Paolo Ciuccarelli's talk from Eyeo Festival 2016 'The Poetics of Data Experiences (and How to Teach it)'
Questions in DataViz | 'How should you prepare a visualisation project?' (Perhaps a shameless inclusion because Neil references my book extensively but very nice to see it in practice)
Poynter | 'How The New York Times used its archives to make the past a (virtual) reality'
ONS | 'In a relationship – it’s complicated: A strategy for choosing the right chart.'
Facebook | From 2014 but worth another bump 'Methods for Exploratory Media Analysis' by Lev Manovich
YouTube | 'News Lab Data Visualization Round Up with Alberto Cairo August 2016'
ProPublica | 'Here are all of the materials we used to teach the 2016 ProPublica Data Institute: slides, exercises, links, and homework.'
Ben Collins | 'Recreating Tufte’s famous weather chart with Google Sheets and Charts API'
Oceanography | 'True Colors of Oceanography: Guidelines for Effective and Accurate Colormap Selection'
ViljamiS | 'Typography for User Interfaces'
Subject News
Includes announcements within the field, brand new sites, new (to me) sites, new books and generally interesting developments.
Kyrandale | New book: 'Data visualization with Python and JavaScript' by Kyran Dale
Mapbox | 'Announcing the Mapbox Studio dataset editor'
John Grimwade | New blog! If you had a wish list of people who you would want to see starting a blog, John would be in the top 5
Winning With Analytics | New Blog by Dr Bill Gerrard on the use of analytics in sport
Sundries
Any other items that may or may not be directly linked to data visualisation but might have a data/technology focus or just seem worthy of sharing
New York Times | 'Can You Beat Usain Bolt Out of the Blocks?'...
FT | ... as well as 'On Your Marks! Can you react faster than an Olympic athlete?'
Variance Explained | 'Text analysis of Trump's tweets confirms he writes only the (angrier) Android half'
Robert Grant Stats | 'Want some data that look a certain way or have certain stats, but don't have the time to look for a suitable data set or write a program to simulate it? Draw it'
Mewo2 | 'Generating fantasy maps'
Lisa Rost | 'How I Feel When I Have A Conversation'
Font Squirrel | 'Upload an image with type and we’ll identify the fonts that match.'
New York Times | 'Driving tips: How You Can Help Limit Traffic Jams'
c82 | 'National Parks Posters: Celebrate 100 years of the National Park Service with beautifully detailed posters of every park.'
Mother Jones | 'This Is What's Missing From Journalism Right Now'
The Verge | 'Welcome to Airspace: How Silicon Valley helps spread the same sterile aesthetic across the world' |
Mage: The Ascension, Press Releases
Now available in PDF and print from DriveThruRPG.com: Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
I tell you this: We are Divinity.
Reality is ours to bend. To subvert. To command.
We have that power – all of us.
Not everyone knows what to do with it, or uses it well.
Most of us never realize just what it is we are or how much we can do.
Those of us who do… well, some of us are monsters.
Manipulators. Parasites. Tyrants. Fanatics.
And the rest of us never see that monster in our own mirror, only in the reflections of those folks who are not “us.”
Here’s the truth, though: We are ALL “us.” We are ALL gifted,
We can ALL change the world. Most of us remain asleep.
A blessed few Awaken. Fewer still use that power wisely.
And none without consequences.
And so, reality is up for grabs. Where do you stand?
And will you Fall… or Ascend?
What’s in it? |
2017 Shot Of The Year Presented By Friction Gloves: The Playoff
Four of disc golf's most exciting moments battle for top honors
Ultiworld Disc Golf’s 2017 Shot of the Year voting is presented by Friction Gloves; all opinions are those of the author. Check out our review of Friction’s DG Gloves here.
After 56 total entrants, thousands of votes, and enough spirited debate to put holiday dinners with your overly political uncle to shame, we’ve finally come to this: Ultiworld Disc Golf readers have selected the four competitors who will vie for the 2017 Shot of the Year, and it’s a who’s who of the sport’s most electrifying talent.
Coming out of the “West” bracket are two huge moments from the same tournament that, serendipitously enough, took place out west. First, it’s Paul McBeth’s 368-foot uphill ace from the Gentlemen’s Club Challenge. This kicked off the season with a bang and landed disc golf on SportsCenter, a feat that hasn’t gotten old yet. With the gradual slope and out-of-bounds to the right, McBeth said the hole was extremely difficult, but that he was playing the shot aggressively as he tried to chase down Ricky Wysocki’s lead.
“As soon as I let it go I knew it was good,” McBeth said. “I was like, ‘Just be close,’ but it went about as close as you can get.”
McBeth GCC Ace Video (SpinTV)
Eagle McMahon’s roller during the same round, meanwhile, made like Looney Tunes’ Roadrunner and just kept cruising along the desert floor to the tune of 750 feet. He wasn’t being hunted by Wile E. Coyote, but something inside was motivating the young pro — even if he couldn’t quite pin down what that something was.
“From what I can remember, that round I was super jacked up, for some reason,” McMahon said. “So I was crushing super far.”
Eagle GCC Roller
Not too shabby for the first PDGA National Tour event of the season. Who’s your pick to move on to the finals?
The “East” bracket is again headlined by McBeth smashing chains, but from a little closer. Still, this putt for eagle on the Aussie Open’s 70th hole was an instant classic, and yet another that found the four-time PDGA World Champion dialing up the intensity.
“I played it a little bit safer [on my second shot] and gave it a look, and I was like, ‘Here’s my moment, here’s my chance to get this hole,'” McBeth said. “‘What’s gonna happen if I miss? I par?’…As soon as I let it go I knew it was on the right line…Even though it was a smaller gallery, the Jomez boys were there and they knew thousands and thousands of people would see it.”
McBeth Aussie Open Eagle Video
If McBeth is going to secure a spot in the finals, though, he is going to have to make it past the top vote-getter in the entire competition. Simon Lizotte’s 700-plus-foot drive on Jones East’s ninth at the Glass Blown Open — one of three eagles during a round in which he (seriously!) claimed that he felt like he wasn’t playing well — was everything we’ve come to expect from the German pro. Equal parts power and precision, the impetus was pure for a shot he had toyed with in practice but never intended to unleash during a round: He wanted to put on a show.
“I wasn’t playing great (in my mind), so I felt like going for everything I could go for,” Lizotte said in a message. “Plus there was a backup on the hole, so the gallery from the lead card, plus the lead card, was watching.”
Lizotte GBO Eagle Video
Two phenomenal highlights from two phenomenal players, but only one can move on. Make your picks now, then come back tomorrow for the finals! |
In 2008, a boisterous young man by the name of Jho Low Taek, a Penang-born Wharton grad with a taste for Cristal champagne and Broadway blondes, approached Malaysia’s Terengganu state government with a proposal to use the state’s authority to sell RM10 billion (US$2.87 billion) in bonds to start a state-backed investment fund.
That proposal has led to what Tony Pua, a Democratic Action Party lawmaker, has called “the mother of the mother of the mother of all scandals in the history of Malaysia.”
That might be one mother too many, but Pua is not alone, with critics of what is now called 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, coming from outside the opposition as well. It is certain that the proposed Terengganu Investment Authority has metastasized into a mess that can properly be called huge and has put Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s tattered reputation on the line yet again. Much of the story has been detailed in two Malaysian publications, The Edge and the online news portal Malaysiakini’s business unit, Kinibiz.
Najib, the head of the 1MDB advisory board, has faced a barrage of questions from opposition lawmakers in Parliament for weeks and an attack on his own flank from former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his allies, including former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, over what can only be regarded as an astonishing level of mismanagement.
The question was why Malaysia needed another government-backed investment fund in the first place, especially one dreamed up by a young friend of the PM’s family. It has Khazanah Nasional Bhd., the 23-year-old investment holding arm that manages Malaysia’s assets and makes strategic investments, and the Employee Provident Fund, which also invests employee pension funds. Both are creatures of the Ministry of Finance.
The Terengganu Sultan, Mizan Zainal Abidin, had misgivings over the plan by Jho Low, as he calls himself, so the 27-year-old Low went to the parents of a friend he had made among Malaysia’s privileged elite in the UK. While anti-colonial rhetoric still spews at home, Malaysia’s wealthy have always known where to send their scions. Jho Low was at the exclusive 450-year-old Harrow, with his friend Riza Aziz at nearby 150-year-old Haileybury, which trained English youth for service in India. Riza’s mother is Rosmah Mansor, Najib’s second wife.
Thus the proposed Terengganu Investment Authority metamorphosed into 1Malaysia Development Bhd., also under the Ministry of Finance. Today 1MDB has accumulated debt of RM36.25 billion (US$10.4 billion) that is only covered by repeated accounting upgrading of the value of property handed to it at a knock-down price by the government to get it started – a 196-hectare former air force base near the center of Kuala Lumpur.
In recent months, the government, in an attempt to build up the fund so it can be listed, has strong-armed at least three no-bid contracts for 1MDB to build coal-fired and solar power plants. One of those power plants, in Port Dickson near Malacca, was awarded to 1MDB despite a lower bid from a joint venture of YTL International Bhd and SIPP, partly owned by the Sultan of Johor, who is said to have been enraged by the loss and is demanding privately that SIPP be given its own no-bid contract for another plant.
Although its dealings are opaque, sources in Kuala Lumpur believe it was Jho Low, previously regarded as a savvy investor despite his tender years, who drove 1MDB into disaster. Although the chairman of the Board of Directors is Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, who holds the high-ranking honorific of tan sri, he is regarded as a figurehead and many of 1MDB’s major decisions have Low’s fingerprints on them
Low, who has accompanied Rosmah on forays to New York to meet celebrities including Lionel Ritchie and Paris Hilton, landing in the pages of the New York Post, involved 1MDB in backing his failed 2011 bid to buy three prestigious London hotels – Claridge’s, the Connaught and The Berkeley, according to documents filed in the Chancery Division of the UK’s Royal Courts of Justice.
A Los Angeles law firm accused the government of Malaysia, without mentioning 1MDB, of racketeering in funding the phenomenally successful movie The Wolf of Wall Street, an Oscar-nominated picture starring Leonardo DeCaprio and co-produced by Riza Aziz, Rosmah’s son. How that might have been done is unclear. The lawyers for a Los Angeles plaintiff who sued over the rights to the movie refused to elaborate, citing lawyer-client privilege. But in the case of the Claridge’s campaign, 1MDB issued guarantee letters saying the fund would stand behind the purchase. Presumably that meant Malaysia’s sovereign fund would cover any losses accrued if the sale failed.
The fund loaned RM7.2 billion to finance oil exploration for another chum out of that rarefied London ex-colonial society – Tarek Essam Ahmad Obaid, a London playboy said to be a grandson of the Saudi Sheikh Obaid, one of the kingdom’s most senior grandees. Tarek met Jho Low a few months before the deal for the loan was consummated, according to Clare Rewcastle Brown, a former BBC reporter who has followed the 1MDB affair closely. Tarek is the founder and chief executive of PetroSaudi International, Ltd. Despite its pretentious website there is little information on PetroSaudi, which was only incorporated three years before the entry of 1MDB. The money, to be loaned at 8.75 percent, has disappeared.
What 1MDB has not done is make enough money to cover its huge debt, although determining anything is difficult because no up-to-date accounts have been filed.
“I was the finance head for oil companies before I entered politics,” Rafizi Ramli, strategic director and secretary-general of the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat, told Asia Sentinel. “Nobody I knew had ever come across PetroSaudi before. We tried to check what it was. It was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. While it is normal for financial investors to enter into ventures, how could a government commit such a huge sum of money with a greenhorn company with no known track record, incorporated in a haven for dodgy money, in an industry where capital risk is so huge?”
When the bid to explore for oil collapsed, the money appears to have been invested in speculative yen forex deals, insiders told Rafizi. Forex trading is not for amateurs. By early 2012, it began to appear that the money had altogether disappeared, according to Tony Pua. 1MDB was having trouble filing its financial reports, a signal that something was wrong. When 1MDB said the funds had been moved into a fund in the Cayman Islands, its managers refused to say who was managing the money.
Today, Pua said, the entire operation appears to be built on debt, although with audited financial reports delayed it is impossible to say for sure. Its managers are seeking to cover the losses through additional borrowings and money raisings, including a US$4.75 billion one engineered by Goldman Sachs, the international investment bank, that cost 1MDB 10 percent of the offering, a phenomenal amount for “commissions, fees and expenses” according to the prospectus. By comparison, Tenaga Nasional, the state-owned energy utility, paid a 2 percent fee on a US$300 million money raising. SMBC Aviation Capital, which leases jets to Malaysian Airlines, paid 0.5 percent on a US$1 billion capital raising. The fees paid to Goldman worked out at US$1.54 billion, Pua said.
The fund today is betting its future on becoming the country’s biggest power producer and a global energy player. It acquired a string of overpriced independent power producers from the Genting gambling interests and Ananda Khrishnan, the country’s richest businessman and an UMNO crony, for RM11 billion to generate cash flow, at what were astounding valuations. Indeed, within six months, the fund’s auditors wrote off RM1.2 billion of the valuation because they were so overpriced.
“Because they were desperate to borrow to cover the acquisitions, they had to pay higher interest rates,” Pua said. “And because they were desperate, they paid Goldman crazy fees to arrange the loans.”
On top of the enormous interest burden from the debt, it turns out that the cash flow from the IPPs is so small that it was barely enough to cover the interest, let alone pay back the RM15 billion principal.
With the hole from the initial failed loan to PetroSaudi, and the vast debt from the IPP purchases, 1MDB is now trying to list to raise US$10 billion from the market. But in order to write a credible prospectus for the listing, it requires strong financials. 1MDB’s financials do not come anywhere near credible enough to assure potential investors of future cash flow.
The government has stepped in to extend the contracts for the IPPs, which were supposed to end after their contract periods ended. That is still not enough. The government then tendered a contract to build the coal-fired plant in Port Dickson. Critics charge the contract was unnecessary, that Tenaga Nasional, the state-owned utility, had the experience and capital to build the plant itself. The tender turned out to be a fiasco, with the YTL-SIPP consortium coming in with a lower bid, only to be disqualified on what many critics have said was a technicality.
Since then, the government has awarded three contracts to 1MDB, the other two without the potential embarrassment of a tender process. But critics point out that 1MDB has never built anything and is mainly relying on the expertise of Tenaga Nasional. The bid for a 50 megawatt solar power plant project in Kedah in the north of the country is to be the largest solar plant in Malaysia despite the fact there is no guaranteed offtake, that prices for solar, even though they have fallen sharply, still exceed that of conventional plants, and that Malaysians are going to end up paying more for their electricity.
All of these moves are an attempt to rescue 1MDB and give it the potential to demonstrate income to investors. So on the advice of a 27-year-old neophyte and friend of the prime minister’s family, the country has created a state-backed investment fund, got itself involved in a series of businesses it knew nothing about, put the country’s sovereign backing behind a private hotel bid and a Hollywood movie, run up a vast amount of debt, and now is seeking to bail itself out via preferential contracts to build electrical plants with expertise so far it doesn’t have. The critics expect that this is going to cost Malaysia’s taxpayers and ratepayers a considerable amount of money. |
In thermodynamics, the triple point of a substance is the temperature and pressure at which the three phases (gas, liquid, and solid) of that substance coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium.[1] It is that temperature and pressure at which the sublimation curve, fusion curve and the vaporisation curve meet. For example, the triple point of mercury occurs at a temperature of −38.83440 °C and a pressure of 0.2 mPa.
In addition to the triple point for solid, liquid, and gas phases, a triple point may involve more than one solid phase, for substances with multiple polymorphs. Helium-4 is a special case that presents a triple point involving two different fluid phases (lambda point).[1]
The triple point of water was used to define the kelvin, the base unit of thermodynamic temperature in the International System of Units (SI).[2] The value of the triple point of water was fixed by definition, rather than measured, but that changed with the 2019 redefinition of SI base units. The triple points of several substances are used to define points in the ITS-90 international temperature scale, ranging from the triple point of hydrogen (13.8033 K) to the triple point of water (273.16 K, 0.01 °C, or 32.018 °F).
The term "triple point" was coined in 1873 by James Thomson, brother of Lord Kelvin.[3]
Triple point of water [ edit ]
Gas–liquid–solid triple point [ edit ]
A typical phase diagram . The solid green line applies to most substances; the dashed green line gives the anomalous behavior of water
The single combination of pressure and temperature at which liquid water, solid ice, and water vapor can coexist in a stable equilibrium occurs at exactly 273.1600 K (0.0100 °C; 32.0180 °F) and a partial vapor pressure of 611.657 pascals (6.11657 mbar; 0.00603659 atm).[4][5] At that point, it is possible to change all of the substance to ice, water, or vapor by making arbitrarily small changes in pressure and temperature. Even if the total pressure of a system is well above the triple point of water, provided that the partial pressure of the water vapor is 611.657 pascals, then the system can still be brought to the triple point of water. Strictly speaking, the surfaces separating the different phases should also be perfectly flat, to negate the effects of surface tension.
The gas–liquid–solid triple point of water corresponds to the minimum pressure at which liquid water can exist. At pressures below the triple point (as in outer space), solid ice when heated at constant pressure is converted directly into water vapor in a process known as sublimation. Above the triple point, solid ice when heated at constant pressure first melts to form liquid water, and then evaporates or boils to form vapor at a higher temperature.
For most substances the gas–liquid–solid triple point is also the minimum temperature at which the liquid can exist. For water, however, this is not true because the melting point of ordinary ice decreases as a function of pressure, as shown by the dashed green line in the phase diagram. At temperatures just below the triple point, compression at constant temperature transforms water vapor first to solid and then to liquid (water ice has lower density than liquid water, so increasing pressure leads to a liquefaction).
The triple point pressure of water was used during the Mariner 9 mission to Mars as a reference point to define "sea level". More recent missions use laser altimetry and gravity measurements instead of pressure to define elevation on Mars.[6]
High pressure phases [ edit ]
At high pressures, water has a complex phase diagram with 15 known phases of ice and several triple points including ten whose coordinates are shown in the diagram. For example, the triple point at 251 K (−22 °C) and 210 MPa (2070 atm) corresponds to the conditions for the coexistence of ice Ih (ordinary ice), ice III and liquid water, all at equilibrium. There are also triple points for the coexistence of three solid phases, for example ice II, ice V and ice VI at 218 K (−55 °C) and 620 MPa (6120 atm).
For those high-pressure forms of ice which can exist in equilibrium with liquid, the diagram shows that melting points increase with pressure. At temperatures above 7002273000000000000♠273 K (0 °C), increasing the pressure on water vapor results first in liquid water and then a high-pressure form of ice. In the range 7002251000000000000♠251–273 K, ice I is formed first, followed by liquid water and then ice III or ice V, followed by other still denser high-pressure forms.
Phase diagram of water including high-pressure forms ice II, ice III, etc. The pressure axis is logarithmic. For detailed descriptions of these phases, see Ice
The various triple points of water Phases in stable equilibrium Pressure Temperature liquid water, ice I h , and water vapor 611.657 Pa[7] 273.16 K (0.01 °C) liquid water, ice I h , and ice III 209.9 MPa 251 K (−22 °C) liquid water, ice III, and ice V 350.1 MPa −17.0 °C liquid water, ice V, and ice VI 632.4 MPa 0.16 °C ice I h , Ice II, and ice III 213 MPa −35 °C ice II, ice III, and ice V 344 MPa −24 °C ice II, ice V, and ice VI 626 MPa −70 °C
Triple point cells [ edit ]
Triple point cells are used in the calibration of thermometers. For exacting work, triple point cells are typically filled with a highly pure chemical substance such as hydrogen, argon, mercury, or water (depending on the desired temperature). The purity of these substances can be such that only one part in a million is a contaminant, called "six nines" because it is 99.9999% pure. When it is a water-based cell, a special isotopic composition called VSMOW is used because it is very pure and produces temperatures that are more comparable from lab to lab. Triple point cells are so effective at achieving highly precise, reproducible temperatures, an international calibration standard for thermometers called ITS–90 relies upon triple point cells of hydrogen, neon, oxygen, argon, mercury, and water for delineating six of its defined temperature points.
Table of triple points [ edit ]
This table lists the gas–liquid–solid triple points of several substances. Unless otherwise noted, the data come from the U.S. National Bureau of Standards (now NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology).[8]
* Note: for comparison, typical atmospheric pressure is 101.325 kPa (1 atm).
See also [ edit ] |
A dozen stakes races are scheduled for the 2015 season at Presque Isle Downs and Casino, beginning with the $100,000 Tom Ridge Stakes on May 18 and highlighted by the Grade II $400,000 Masters Stakes on Sept. 7.
As of Thursday, for the first time, there are no Inaugural Stakes for fillies and mares to open the eighth full season, which starts Sunday, May 17, and concludes Thursday, Oct. 1.
The Inaugural Stakes was the first race on the Tapeta surface when the track opened for a 25-day meet in September 2007, but was not listed on the 2015 stakes schedule.
PID will run Sundays through Thursdays for 20 weeks, with first post time at 5:25 p.m. with eight races scheduled for every card.
2015 stakes schedule
TOM RIDGE STAKES
Monday, May 18
- $100,000 for 3-year-olds, 6 furlongs.
- 2014 winner: Choctaw Chuck (Deshawn Parker).
SATIN AND LACE STAKES
Sunday, June 14
- $100,000 for fillies, mares 3-and-up, 51/2 furlongs.
- 2014 winner: Quality Lass (Antonio Gallardo).
KARL BOYES MEMORIAL NORTHWESTERN PA. STAKES
Monday, June 15
- $100,000, for 3-and-up, 51/2 furlongs.
- 2014 winner: Sharp Sensation (Jesse Campbell).
LEEMATT STAKES
Sunday, July 12
- $75,000, Pennsylvania breds 3-and-up, 1 mile.
- 2014 winner: Edge Of Reality (Erick D. Rodgriguez).
NORTHERN FLING STAKES
Sunday, July 12
- $75,000, Pennsylvania breds, fillies, mares 3-and-up, 1 mile.
- 2014 winner: Star Pearl (Erick D. Rodriguez).
MALVERN ROSE STAKES
Sunday, Aug. 9
- $75,000, Pennsylvania breds, for 3-year-old fillies, 11/16 mile.
- 2014 winner: Dame Dorothy (Willie Martinez).
MARK MCDERMOTT STAKES
Sunday, Sept. 6
- $75,000, Pennsylvania breds, 2 years old, 6 furlongs.
- 2014 winner: Duff (Huber Villa-Gomez).
PRESQUE ISLE MILE
Sunday, Sept. 6
- $200,000, 3-and-up, 1 mile.
- 2014 winner: Decisive Moment (Willie Martinez).
MASTERS STAKES
Sunday, Sept. 20
- Grade 2, $400,000 for fillies, mares, 61/2 furlongs.
- 2014 winner: Living the Life (Mike Smith).
MRS. HENRY D. PAXSON MEMORIAL STAKES
Thursday, Oct. 1
- $75,000, Pennsylvania breds, fillies 2 years old,6 furlongs.
- 2014 winner: Happy to Go (Pablo Morales).
FITZ DIXON JR. MEMORIAL STAKES
Thursday, Oct. 1
- $100,000, 2 years old.
- 2014 winner: Less than Perfect (Willie Martinez).
- H.B.P.A. STAKES
Thursday, Oct. 1
- $100,000, fillies, mares 3-and-up, 1 mile, 70 yards
- 2014 winner: Miss Mischief (Antonio A. Gallardo). |
A version of this essay was originally published at Tech.pinions, a website dedicated to informed opinions, insight and perspective on the tech industry.
I recently returned from a short trip to Shenzhen, the large Chinese city less than an hour’s drive north of Hong Kong. When anyone wonders why we don’t build consumer electronic products in the United States, the one-word answer is Shenzhen.
When I first traveled to this city more than 30 years ago, I’d walk out of the train station and see locals hawking live chickens and the sidewalks filled with homeless people. I’d get into a cab that was usually filthy, both inside and out, and pray for my life while the driver navigated gravel roads full of ruts with his head sticking out of his window because the windshield was covered with mud. At that time, the area was full of factories making cheap consumer goods.
Now, Shenzhen is a large, modern city comparable to Shanghai, or even Hong Kong. As I was reminded on this trip, Shenzhen has turned into the world capital of consumer electronics manufacturing. Shenzhen is to the making of these products as Silicon Valley is to the designing them.
In fact, there’s a practical bond between the two areas, evident each day at breakfast at any one of the dozens of internationally branded hotels, such as the Sheraton, Shangri-La, Hyatt, Hilton, Four Seasons, St. Regis and Westin.
At breakfast, you see tables full of young American engineers and project managers from Apple, Google, HP, GoPro, Amazon and dozens of smaller startups, beginning their day before heading into the factories to solve problems and get their products into production. For many, it’s a constant shuttle between the San Francisco and Hong Kong airports — as often as twice a month for some.
It’s certainly not much fun to make the 15-hour flight, especially crunched up in an economy seat. But in spite of that, making the trip is the best way to take your product from an idea to manufacturing with the greatest chance of success — not just for large companies, but even for entrepreneurs with an idea.
Shenzhen companies thrive on building new products, and there are usually companies skilled in your area. You can find an experienced team for not much cost, because they want to fill their factories.
Shenzhen looks much like any other large, modern city but, with a population of 10.35 million, everything is larger in scale. It has the largest library in the world and the largest city hall. Beneath the appearance of a buzzing metropolis full of skyscrapers and clogged highways is a network of thousands of companies focused on supporting the world’s thirst for the next smartphone, HDTV or gizmo you didn’t know you needed until you read about it.
These companies are housed in factories scattered within a two-hour radius that vary from nondescript cement structures to sprawling office parks that look like ones you might see in Japan or Taiwan. Depending on what they produce, they can be as clean as an automated Japanese factory, or something resembling a sweatshop from the 1930s. Occasionally, but not often, there will be a factory producing low-cost components that barely skirts the laws of tolerable working conditions, but that’s the exception rather than the rule when it comes to technology products.
But what this network in Shenzhen — supported by huge factories in other cities such as Shanghai — does better than anywhere else in the world is build huge volumes of the components that go into consumer electronic products: Lithium-ion batteries, LCD displays, touchscreens, motors, electrical components, switches, plastic moldings, printed circuit boards, semiconductors, packaging, antennas, speakers, microphones, and leather, plastic and other assorted materials. For each component, there are scores of companies in intense competition to keep the prices down and advance the technology.
There’s one human characteristic that’s also important, and it’s not labor costs, although that is a secondary factor. It’s the attitude of the people who work in this industry. They have a high work ethic and can-do attitude that gets things accomplished without any fear of failing or thinking something can’t be done — even when sometimes it can’t. Whether companies are thriving or struggling, they will rarely turn away new business, and most have an insatiable thirst to try new things so they can learn and grow.
Now, it’s not all rosy. Every company has strengths and weaknesses, A teams and C teams, smart and not so. Interest in taking on your product can wane if sales don’t meet expectation or if a bigger customer comes along. It’s often painful to get things done with junior people. But in the end there’s no better alternative. As to copying your product, it’s not a big issue. When it occurs, it’s usually by other companies that become aware of it once the product goes on sale.
I’m often asked why we can’t make these products in the U.S. When it comes to a high-volume consumer electronics product that contains a variety of components, building it in the U.S. is just not practical, or often even possible, while still maintaining the cost, quality and fast time to market. Even if it were, we don’t have the same attitude of taking quick action and being responsive.
When Motorola tried building its smartphone in a plant in Texas, the company needed to import the parts from China. There are virtually no companies in the U.S. that make batteries, displays, speakers, semiconductor chips and wire for mass-produced products. While there may be companies building some of these components in low volume for the military, few are competitively priced.
Can it be done in the U.S.?
The U.S. does build printed circuit-board assemblies, partly because it’s a highly automated process using assembly machines and components available worldwide. But you still need to take those PCBAs and combine them with the touchscreens, the lithium-ion batteries, the tiny motors and speakers. To import these efficiently you must send them by boat and that takes a couple of weeks and ties up lots of dollars in inventory costs.
But, more importantly, suppose that when the displays arrive, they have a defect. What do you do? If you were building the product in Shenzhen, you would call the company that’s an hour away, and they will have engineers in your factory in a few hours to fix the problem. Try that from the U.S., and you would likely shut down your assembly line for several weeks.
Multiply this by the hundreds of parts and processes that go into your product that comes from China. Not only is it inefficient, but it’s also just not practical to build these kinds of products in the U.S. Even if a company were to try, it could not compete with its competitors on many dimensions. A perhaps cruel, but accurate, analogy is trying to build an automobile in the Arctic from parts made in Detroit.
Phil Baker is a product development expert, author and journalist covering consumer technology. He has developed scores of products for companies, including Apple, Seiko, Polaroid, Barnes & Noble, Polycom, Proxima, ThinkOutside and Pono Music. Baker is the author of “From Concept to Consumer,” a former columnist for the San Diego Transcript, and founder of Techsperts, Inc. Follow him at Baker on Tech, and reach him pbaker. |
NO contraception, no dole – that’s the view of an ex-Labor Minister who believes welfare should be linked to compulsory contraception.
Gary Johns, writing in The Australian, suggests there should be “no taxpayer inducement to have children”.
The former MP who served in the Keating government admits such a measure will “undoubtedly affect strugglers, [and] … Aboriginal and Islander people in great proportions”.
“But the idea that someone can have the taxpayer, as of right, fund the choice to have a child is repugnant.”
According to Mr Johns larger families of past generations “were the result of the combination of absent contraception and the need to have many children, in order that some survive to care for parents in old age”.
But he says such conditions now don’t apply.
“Infant mortality is minuscule in all sectors of society, and the taxpayer picks up the tab for aged care.
“Potential parents of poor means, poor skills or bad character will choose to have children. So be it.
“But no one should enter parenthood while on a benefit.”
The ex-Minister claims “it is better to avoid having children until such time as parents can afford them”.
“No amount of ‘intervention’ after the fact can make up for the strife that many parents bring down on their children.”
Mr Johns goes on to cite two recent examples over Christmas.
“Both happened to be indigenous, but of course, many non-indigenous cases abound,” he says.
“The first, in Cairns, involved a single mother with nine children from five fathers.
“Better this woman had fewer children. Better men on benefits also could be prevented from having children.”
Many social media users have taken to Twitter to express their views after reading Johns’s piece.
Gary Johns "No contraception,no dole" piece attempts to position itself as unbiased, non-racist. It is not #auspol — Joseph Boston (@ZenMarley) December 29, 2014
Gary Johns op-ed piece in The Australian entitled "No contraception,no dole" is reflective of anti-blackness as cultural institution #auspol — Joseph Boston (@ZenMarley) December 29, 2014
No contraception- no dole. Radical (heartless?) demand by former Labor Minister. On @sunriseon7 6.45a.m. — Derryn Hinch (@HumanHeadline) December 29, 2014 |
The Seattle Seahawks released their Week 1 depth chart Tuesday and running back Christine Michael was listed ahead of Thomas Rawls.
It's worth noting that the depth chart is unofficial and plenty can change between now and Sunday. But Pete Carroll suggested on Monday that the Seahawks may need to ease Rawls in during the opener against the Miami Dolphins.
"He's ready in the next couple weeks to get back in where he can start a game, take a game over and do all of the things that he can do," Carroll said. "It's still time to take care of him as we get him back. He only carried the ball a couple times so far. But he's done everything we could ask of him."
Asked to clarify what he meant by taking care of Rawls, Carroll added, "We’re just making progress with him. You don’t want to rush him. This is his second preseason game in a sense, as far as relative to the other guys. So we’ll see how he does. I’d love for him to carry the ball quite a bit in this game, and then we’ll know where we stand going into the next week. It’s just really bringing him along properly and carefully. We want to make sure we take care of him."
Rawls' only live action during the preseason was two snaps last week against the Oakland Raiders. He is coming off a season-ending ankle injury in December that required surgery.
The Seahawks still envision Rawls as the starter when he's 100 percent healthy and comfortable. Carroll's comments indicate that might not happen in Week 1, though. This could be a situation where the team needs to see what Rawls looks like early in the game before determining what kind of workload he can handle.
Michael had a phenomenal preseason and has earned the coaches' trust.
Last year, Seahawks running backs averaged 24 carries per game. Both Rawls and Michael will get touches and it could become clearer later in the week how Carroll plans to use them.
Meanwhile, tight end Jimmy Graham is listed as a starter. Carroll said Monday that the team wants Graham to practice as if he's going to play, but his status for the game is up in the air. If he doesn't play, it will be Luke Willson with the first team.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tony McDaniel is listed as the starter at defensive tackle. Jarran Reed (toe) could replace him if healthy.
Jeremy Lane is listed as the starting right cornerback ahead of DeShawn Shead. |
Do you remember those sexy carwheel candids of Miranda’s a few months back? Well, turns out those were candid shots from a Kora Organics photoshoot, and they just released a few of her sexy photos in their latest campaign. Kora Organics is a company that not only uses Miranda’s beautiful likeness, but seems to have a hefty stake by Miranda considering their slogan is “Organics by Miranda Kerr” and their story claims that Miranda’s hand was used in its creation. Seems being a beautiful top model opens a few doors for you. Either way, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Miranda for Kora over the years.
… as a side note, I wonder how much celebrity insight is used when branding a product “XXX by YYY”. Do you think they actually participate in the product, outside of choosing a product between a few samples? I figured the celebs just picked the one that smelled best, or something, but it’s possible that they do in fact play a larger role. Anyone have any insight? |
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A lot has changed for former Alabama running back Eddie Lacy over the past six months. Following the Tide's domination over Notre Dame in January, Lacy decided to skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft. The Green Bay Packers selected the Louisiana native 61st overall hoping that he can contribute right away.
Despite all the changes in Lacy's life right now, leaning on his former teammates for advice remains the same. After the draft, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson called Lacy with some words to live by.
"Just be careful with the people you hang around," Richardson said to Lacy. "Make sure you keep control of your money and other than that just make sure you go out there and play Alabama football."
Ingram echoed some of the same things saying "keep working hard and just stay focused," the Heisman trophy winner said at an autograph signing in Huntsville.
Clearly even after leaving the capstone, Alabama running backs like to stick together. |
NBC10's Mitch Blacher explains how potholes are costing drivers and what the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is doing to solve the problem. (Published Friday, April 3, 2015)
Don't expect a penny back if you hit a pothole in Pennsylvania and have to pay for car repairs.
Even though the commonwealth allows drivers to file claims for reimbursement, the NBC10 Investigators found every single claim filed this year has been denied. Zero payouts at a time when the State Department of Transportation is spending more to fill potholes than at any time in the past five years -- $47 million on 80,000 tons of pothole-filling material since January 1.
"It wasn't my fault. I couldn't avoid it," Reading resident Brian Berger said of a pothole on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Berger said he spent more than $1,200 repairing two bent rims and replacing two tires. Berger did not file a claim for reimbursement but does feel the government should bear some liability for the damage.
Pennsylvania State Representative Scott Petri said the state's pothole liability law is meant to protect taxpayers.
"Can you imagine the cost to the commonwealth and its municipalities if they had to send a lawyer to every pothole case?" he said. "It would probably bankrupt some of our municipalities."
A review of state law across the Delaware Valley reveals drivers impacted by pothole damage have little recourse.
Pennsylvania and Delaware government agencies are immune from civil liability related to pothole property damage. New Jersey law allows pothole related damage payments as long as they are documented and reported within 90 days of the damage.
Rep. Petri said he plans to explore a pothole victim's fund, which would help mitigate property loss or damage from potholes.
"It would have to be enough of a fund that it’s not just the first hundred people and then oh we don't have enough money," he said. "That would frustrate people more.” |
Bam Margera K.O.'d in Bloody Texas Hotel Fight
Bam Margera Fight -- K.O.'d In Bloody Texas Hotel Fight
" starwas knocked out cold after getting into a fight on the 11th floor of a Texas hotel last week ... TMZ has learned.Bam tells TMZ ... he was at thefestival late Thursday night, walking through a crowd of a bunch of drunks, "when someone said something rude to me, so I began making fun of a big girl in the group." Bam said, "I called her a sea otter and asked her why she's in Texas. She should be in Alaska laying on an iceberg because she's a beached whale."Bam says the woman's friend punched him in the face and the two began fighting. Bam fell to the ground and the woman then delivered the knockout blow. Bam was out for 7 minutes.Bam says his face was "covered in blood" and he has a black eye. On top of that, he lost his $500 bracelet. |
Firefighters from around the country will soon answer the call in Elkhart but it's not for a fire, it's the National Firefighter Combat Challenge. It's just one of many new or updated events hosted by the city in the coming weeks and months.
Mayor Tim Neese joined us Tuesday on 16 Morning News with a look at what’s happening in the City with a Heart this summer.
The combat challenge will be held June 16-17, and they describe it as a two-day family-friendly event promoting health, wellness and competition. It is the first time the event has been held in our area.
“We’re anticipating about 75 firefighters… and possibly about 5,000 spectators that will be downtown during this competition,” Mayor Neese said. “This is going to be a site where individual winners as well as team winners will go on then to the nationals.”
The former “Rhapsody in Green” has a new name and some new features. It will be called the “Rhapsody Art and Music Festival” and will be held on June 9-11. They plan to have fewer craft items and more unique artwork.
Here’s a look at some other events coming soon to Elkhart:
USA Softball Elite Tournament: June 22-24
Jazz Festival (30 year anniversary): June 23-25 – featuring Ben Folds
Bike Night: July 8
The return of the Go Kart Races: August 11-13 (big announcement coming soon, according to the city)
ASA Fast Pitch Men’s Open East National Championships: August 25-27 |
There isn’t an official Nintendo Pokémon game that exists to play on a mobile platform. Sure, you can buy a 3DS and get the classic Pokémon games to catch all the pocket monsters, but phones and mobile gaming are everywhere, and who wants to carrying around two devices?
The solution to this problem dropped this month on Android and iOS through branded Adult Swim content on in the form or Pocket Mortys, a game based on the sci-fi sitcom cartoon Rick and Morty. You play Rick as he travels through different dimensions collecting and battling Mortys against other Ricks. Catch more Mortys, craft the items you find in the randomly generated worlds, and take on the Council of Ricks! It’s a mobile game worth obsessing over (and we did).
Now that Pocket Mortys has been out for over a week, we’ve had a chance to beat the game and investigate the mysteries and bugs. This game is a lot more than a Pokémon clone, and has a great amount of content from Rick and Morty’s second television season. As the game progresses, signs (literally) start to point to Pocket Mortys possibly bridging the narrative gap between season two and the still-upcoming third season of Rick and Morty. Early suggestive evidence that the game would eventually include more Mortys has also been confirmed, which will fix a Morty bug and likely add a quest for a currently-pointless quest item.
Beating the game in its first iteration requires 42 badges from defeating Ricks in other dimensions before you can take on the sixth member of the Council of Ricks. You’re going to need some high-level Mortys to beat the final Rick (Mysterious Rick) to get your portal gun back. The easiest way to quickly level up Mortys is to catch wild Mortys in later levels (badge 40 or higher) and combine them in the Morty daycare to make higher-level Mortys. It’s best to catch Mortys you want to evolve on your own and not combine with your leveled Mortys, as combining them will delete any buffs you added to their attack, defense, and speed with seeds earlier in the game. After you beat Mysterious Rick, all that’s left to do is complete the crafting quests (if you haven’t already) and catch all the Mortys.
This is where the game runs into the biggest bug and the biggest hint that more Mortys and crafting quests are on the way. First, there is the Roy VR Headset crafting recipe (Interdimensional Goggles plus IQ Enhancing Helmet), which isn’t used for one of the games’ existing nineteen quests. That suggests more quests, as does having a three-numbered Morty classification system suggest there will be more Mortys in the future (right now there are 82, but each Morty is labeled with three digits: 082).
The big bug is that you cannot actually catch all 82 Mortys in the game as of now. The final Morty you face in the game proper, Mysterious Rick’s last Morty, doesn’t get randomly generated in the wild. It’s currently impossible to catch Mascot Morty. This has been confirmed by the official Twitter account and will be fixed in an update where they will also be adding more Mortys .
Can’t get Mascot Morty? It’s a bug that’ll be fixed in an update soon. Plus: Even. More. Mortys. #PocketMortys 👾 pic.twitter.com/YbeYRBZCFW — Pocket Mortys (@PocketMortys) January 18, 2016
The most interesting hidden layer in the game is the possible connection Pocket Mortys could have to the plot of Rick and Morty the series. The last episode broadcast, “The Wedding Squanchers,” ended with Rick giving himself up to the Galactic Federation, a governing body that wanted Rick for numerous crimes against the galaxy. Rick became a prisoner so Morty and the Smith family could return to Earth without being bothered by the newly arrived Federation on their home planet. Rick is placed into some sort of space supermax prison and the season ends on a cliffhanger. Is it possible that Pocket Mortys is what Rick’s mind is doing to keep itself sane?
In the show itself, there are scenes that suggest Rick loves Morty, his grandson, more than his callous attitude would let on. In Pocket Mortys, signs placed randomly throughout worlds where you battle trainers start by giving you helpful advice (like a tutorial), then progress to be weirder and weirder. Some players have decided this is the show’s reality seeping through into Rick’s fantasy of collecting all the Mortys.
This isn’t Rick and Morty’s first mobile game, but if it ends up being referenced in the plot of season three, it will set a new bar for Rick and Morty fans hungry for (apples?) more content as the long production process of season three drags on. Even if we just have more Mortys coming in Pokémon fashion, the game seems to have more depth than the PokéClone we initially thought it was, especially for Rick and Morty fans.
As a bonus, if you also liked Alex Hirsch’s show Gravity Falls, check this crazy Pocket Mortys easter egg out. |
In this week's issue of the journal Science, MIT researchers report that just four fairly vague pieces of information -- the dates and locations of four purchases -- are enough to identify 90 percent of the people in a data set recording three months of credit-card transactions by 1.1 million users.
When the researchers also considered coarse-grained information about the prices of purchases, just three data points were enough to identify an even larger percentage of people in the data set. That means that someone with copies of just three of your recent receipts -- or one receipt, one Instagram photo of you having coffee with friends, and one tweet about the phone you just bought -- would have a 94 percent chance of extracting your credit card records from those of a million other people. This is true, the researchers say, even in cases where no one in the data set is identified by name, address, credit card number, or anything else that we typically think of as personal information.
The paper comes roughly two years after an earlier analysis of mobile-phone records that yielded very similar results.
"If we show it with a couple of data sets, then it's more likely to be true in general," says Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye, an MIT graduate student in media arts and sciences who is first author on both papers. "Honestly, I could imagine reasons why credit-card metadata would differ or would be equivalent to mobility data."
De Montjoye is joined on the new paper by his advisor, Alex "Sandy" Pentland, the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Science; Vivek Singh, a former postdoc in Pentland's group who is now an assistant professor at Rutgers University; and Laura Radaelli, a postdoc at Tel Aviv University.
The data set the researchers analyzed included the names and locations of the shops at which purchases took place, the days on which they took place, and the purchase amounts. Purchases made with the same credit card were all tagged with the same random identification number.
For each identification number -- each customer in the data set -- the researchers selected purchases at random, then determined how many other customers' purchase histories contained the same data points. In separate analyses, the researchers varied the number of data points per customer from two to five. Without price information, two data points were still sufficient to identify more than 40 percent of the people in the data set. At the other extreme, five points with price information was enough to identify almost everyone.
The researchers characterized price very coarsely, treating all prices that fell within a few fixed ranges as functionally equivalent. So, for instance, a purchase of $20 at some store on some day in one person's history would count as a match with a purchase of $40 by someone else at the same store on the same day, since both purchases fell within the range $16 to $49. This was an attempt to represent the uncertainty of someone estimating purchase amounts from secondary information, such as an Instagram photo of the food on someone's plate. The limits of each range were based on a fixed percentage of its median value: The range $16 to $49, for instance, is the median value of purchases ($32.50) plus or minus 50 percent, rounded to the nearest dollar.
Preserving anonymity in large data sets is a pressing concern because public and private entities alike see aggregated digital data as a source of novel insights. Retailers studying anonymized credit-card histories could certainly learn something about the tastes of their customers, but economists might also learn something about the relationship of, say, inflation or consumer spending to other economic factors.
So the MIT researchers also examined the effects of coarsening the data -- intentionally making it less precise, in the hope of preserving privacy while still enabling useful analysis. That makes identifying individuals more difficult, but not at a very encouraging rate. Even if the data set characterized each purchase as having taken place sometime in the span of a week at one of 150 stores in the same general areas, four purchases (with 50 percent uncertainty about price) would still be enough to identify more than 70 percent of users.
Nonetheless, de Montjoye and Pentland remain adamant that socially beneficial uses of big data should be pursued. "Sandy and I do really believe that this data has great potential and should be used," de Montjoye says. "We, however, need to be aware and account for the risks of re-identification."
In separate work, de Montjoye, Pentland, and other members of Pentland's group have begun developing a system that would enable people to store the data generated by their mobile devices on secure servers of their own choosing. Researchers looking for useful patterns in aggregate data would send queries through the system, which would return only the pertinent data -- such as, for instance, the average amount spent on gasoline during different time periods. |
Lawless Denim Hit with Hefty Fine for Consumer Fraud Act Violation
Lawless Denim has unfortunately lived up to their name in recent months with many filing complaints against the Arizona-based custom jean producer. But they’ve finally come to terms after Arizona’s Office of the Attorney General held an investigation and found him to be in violation of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act.
The company’s owner, Roman Acevedo, has been charged with a fine summing $250,000. However, the fine will be suspended should Acevedo provide up to $20,000 in refunds. $10,000 of that is set for customers who have already filed complaints while another $10,000 is earmarked for those who have yet to file complaints. The Attorney General outlines that consumers may be eligible for restitution:
Consumers who have not yet submitted a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General Office are also eligible for restitution. Along with a complaint, consumers must submit supporting documentation containing a Lawless Denim or LD & Co. receipt, invoice, or order confirmation showing the amount paid. To receive restitution, the Attorney General’s Office must receive a complaint and documentation by September 5, 2016.
In an interview with a local news station, Acevedo says “the moral of the story is that American-made is almost impossible to do for a small business.” [I think you’ll find the majority of the brands on this site as evidence to the contrary -Ed]
Hundreds of customer orders remain unfulfilled. If you were one of the many still affected, file a consumer complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. |
Consumer spending fell 3.5% and mounting job losses make the final GDP number look more grim going forward. Since real consumption was down, inventories accumulated and for the moment seem to mask the true GDP figure. Demand across the board has been reduced and larger inventories mean lower sales from businesses. Analysts expected a 5.5% drop, which did not materialize thanks to shipments of good, even as unsold inventory accumulates.
Economic Indicators
Exports which had been one of the strong points for the US Economy contracted even with the help of a weaker USD, as a global recession is taking place and foreign markets reduce their imports. The stimulus package that was approved by congress is seen by many as a measure against mounting layoffs and a good jump start to the American consumer confidence.
This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds. |
Nigel Farage has warned that unless "something radical is done it is only a matter of time" before a British holidaymaker or lorry driver dies as a result of the Calais migrant crisis.
The UKIP leader told the BBC the French port was "virtually lawless".
He said he experienced it when migrants had tried to get into his car as he queued for the Channel Tunnel.
Home Secretary Theresa May said the government was "working very hard" to increase security.
She said "some people" had made it through the tunnel and would be dealt with in the normal way, adding that the crisis should be tackled "upstream".
Mrs May was speaking after holding a meeting of the emergency committee Cobra.
Labour's interim leader Harriet Harman called on the government to "get a grip" on the situation.
"This is not just a problem in Calais now, it's a major problem in Kent now as well," she said.
"As long ago as nine months ago we were pressing the government to get on to this and sort this out."
Labour MP Keith Vaz, who chairs the home affairs committee, urged David Cameron to hold talks with Francois Hollande on his return from Asia.
Mr Vaz said he had witnessed 148 migrants successfully make the journey illegally to England on Tuesday morning while at an immigration processing centre in Folkestone, Kent.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Nine migrants have died in and around Calais in the past two months
France says it will send extra police officers to Calais, and the Department for Transport announced it was relaxing rules that limit how long lorry drivers can drive for and how long they must rest.
Nine people have been killed at Calais in the last eight weeks.
The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said the UK and France had reached an outline agreement on a scheme to repatriate some migrants - who are mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan - but there were no details as yet of how it would work.
Mr Farage, who is an MEP for the south of England, said unless the French authorities were willing to "enforce law and order around those terminals", then the UK should step in.
'Terrible price'
British holidaymakers, businesses and residents in Kent were "paying a terrible price" for the failure of the French authorities and the shortcomings of the European Union's asylum policy, he told BBC London.
"I was stuck on that road outside Eurotunnel a few weeks ago. I was there for about 40 minutes and I was surrounded by scores of migrants, crossing the motorway and trying the passenger doors on my car. It is a pretty scary situation.
Image copyright PA Image caption MPs say the Kent police risk being "overwhelmed" by the congestion caused by disruption at the tunnel
"The British government appears not to want to criticise the French government at all but frankly they are not doing enough."
Earlier, Mr Farage told LBC Radio that the army may be needed to be brought in to Calais - where the UK and France have juxtaposed border controls - to help a "very overburdened police force and border agency".
'Lax'
Politicians have called for freight to be diverted to other cross-channel routes to ease the pressure on the Dover-to-Calais crossing and to help address the problems on the M20 - where lorries have been "stacked" on a southbound stretch of the motorway for weeks, restricting access to non-freight traffic.
The Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe, Damian Collins, said the chaos at Calais was having "terrible" repercussions for Kent but the problems were happening "principally on French territory" and the French authorities needed to do more to defend the Channel Tunnel.
"They have allowed people to willingly break into the Channel Tunnel site," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. "I can't believe they would be that lax in protecting an airport or another sensitive facility but that has happened constantly throughout the summer. So they have to enforce their own restrictions."
Another Conservative MP, former minister Tim Loughton, pointed the finger at the French, who he said were "trying to make a European problem a British problem - if they can get it off their shores and on to ours, it's less of a problem".
'Humanitarian issue'
The UK is providing £7m ($11m) of additional funding for new fencing at the terminal, the latest contribution it has made to try and secure the site.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: "We are treating this as a security issue, but primarily it is a humanitarian one.
"We should be big enough to take a lead and accept our fair share of refugees... just moving in with force and building a bigger fence is not a solution."
Speaking in Malaysia on Wednesday, Mr Cameron said the situation in Calais was "very concerning" but the government was working closely with the French authorities and was prepared to contribute more money to improve security at the port. |
Ask the question “What should we do about prostitution?” anywhere in the world, and you are increasingly likely to get the answer: “Legalise it.” This view is based on a belief that there will always be men who pay for sex and women who sell it. Decriminalising all aspects of prostitution – including brothel-owning and sex-buying – will, according to this argument, make life safer for these women, and also make it easier to root out abuse.
The position favoured by every sex trade survivor I have interviewed is: prostitution is inherently abusive
Those in favour of decriminalisation, including many liberals and some feminists, consider prostitution to be work, and argue that “sex workers” can be protected by unions and health and safety measures. Decriminalising the selling of sex – so that only buyers are breaking the law – means prostitutes themselves are not penalised. But even where only the buying of sex is a criminal offence, it is argued, prostituted women are forced to take risks.
In recent years this argument has made big advances. In 2000 the Netherlands made formal what had already been acceptable for some years, and lifted the ban on brothels, in effect legalising the sex trade. Three years later the New Zealand government passed, by one vote, the New Zealand Prostitution Reform Act which decriminalised street-based prostitution and brothel-keeping.
The opposite, abolitionist position – favoured by feminists including myself, and every sex trade survivor I have interviewed – is: prostitution is inherently abusive, and a cause and a consequence of women’s inequality. There is no way to make it safe, and it should be possible to eradicate it. Abolitionists reject the sanitising description of “sex worker”, and regard prostitution as a form of violence in a neoliberal world in which human flesh has come to be viewed as a commodity, like a burger.
Abolitionists do not consider prostitution to be about sex or sexual identity, but rather a one-sided exploitative exchange rooted in male power. They believe the progressive solution to the sex trade is to assist women to exit, and criminalise those who drive the demand. In Sweden, where the law criminalising demand and decriminalising those selling sex has been in place since 1999, there has been a sea change in attitudes among citizens, with around 80% supporting their government’s approach.
What I have discovered, while researching campaigns for the legalisation or decriminalisation of prostitution in the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK, is that sex industry bosses have an influential voice in such campaigns, often providing funding; and that groups claiming to represent “sex workers” are just as likely to be a voice for pimps as they are to represent the women who earn their living selling sex.
If prostitution is framed as work, it stands to reason that the workers require rights. The problem is that the term “sex worker”, coined in the 1980s and increasingly used by police, health workers and the media, includes pornographers, strippers and pimps, as well as those directly selling sex.
In Nevada, where brothels are legal, I interviewed a brothel owner who was pimping out a severely learning-disabled young women who had been sold to the brothel by her boyfriend’s father. The fact that the brothel this young woman was being sold from was legally sanctioned and seen as a business – no different from a restaurant – meant that the pimp was able to present herself as doing her employee a favour by giving her a job.
In the UK the argument in favour of decriminalisation has won support from trade unions. The GMB set up an adult entertainment branch in 2002, which held speaking gigs at political party conferences, the Royal College of Nursing and the Women’s Institute.
In 2010, having observed the growing influence of the International Union of Sex Workers, I decided to look into its background and membership. Launched in London in 2000, the union calls itself a “grassroots organisation” standing up for the rights of all those working in the sex trade. I discovered that its modest membership appeared mainly to consist of academics studying the sex trade, men who buy sex, and the odd person running specialist services – hardly representative of Britain’s sex trade.
One of its members, and a spokesman, was Douglas Fox, who has been active in the Conservative party and Amnesty UK, and co-owner of a large escort agency. He proposed a motion for blanket decriminalisation of the sex trade at the Amnesty International annual general meeting in 2008. Seven years later, this became Amnesty policy.
Elsewhere a similar pattern can be seen. Almost immediately after an umbrella movement aimed at criminalising the buying of sex – Turn Off the Red Light – was formed in Ireland, a counter-campaign named Turn Off the Blue Light was up and running. It turned out a convicted pimp, Peter McCormick, was bankrolling it.
Another activist is John Davies, currently serving 12 years in prison for charity fraud. Prior to his conviction for scamming at least £5.5m from British taxpayers, Davies travelled the world speaking at conferences, arguing that trafficking is a myth created by feminists, and that decriminalisation is the only answer.
Sex workers and supporters protest against the closure of window brothels in Amsterdam. Photograph: Robin van Lonkhuijsen/EPA
What happens when the legalisation argument wins is shown in the Netherlands over the past decade. Just three years after the law there was changed, the government began closing down street prostitution zones and restricting the number of “window brothel” licences. In 2004 I interviewed the leader of the government-funded Red Thread union. She told me it had only 100 members and most of those were “erotic dancers” and not in prostitution at all. Karina Schaapman, Amsterdam councillor and sex trade survivor, said in 2005 that legalisation came out of the notion that women were actively choosing to be prostitutes. “But that image is incorrect,” she said. “Two-thirds of prostitutes are foreign, most often illegal, and nobody is registering them.” The former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen said legalisation had failed to remove organised crime from the sex trade, and that he hoped to “partially reverse” the legislation.
Meanwhile, the links between organised crime, violence and prostitution in New Zealand have not been severed. Views differ as to whether decriminalisation has made the situation better or worse. One report, published five years after decriminalisation, claimed it had little impact on the number of people working in the sex trade but had offered some safeguards to children and others. But the personal testimony of women who have been prostituted provides evidence that brothel owners and punters have benefited more than the women have.
The good news is that the pimps don’t always win. New laws criminalising the buying of sex, and decriminalising the selling of it, came into force in Northern Ireland in 2015 and in the Republic of Ireland this year. A legal challenge to the law in Northern Ireland is being led by Laura Lee, a “sex workers’ rights” campaigner – whose backers include the pimp Peter McCormick.
I hope Lee loses. I completely understand why some people, on hearing that decriminalisation offers some protection to prostitutes, support it. But hardly anyone, including abolitionists, is arguing that the women and men who sell sex should be treated as criminals. Our argument is that pimps and sex-buyers definitely should be.
What those who oppose us fail to realise is that decriminalisation, as it is most commonly used and understood, also means allowing pimping, sex-buying and brothel-owning. And this is not the way forward – unless we want to make it easier for the men who run the global sex trade to make more money out of women’s bodies.
• Julie Bindel is a political activist and author of The Pimping of Prostitution: Abolishing the Sex Work Myth |
Kolkata: Even as Union home minister Rajnath Singh prepares to intervene to resolve the political crisis in Darjeeling, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be losing its support base in the hills of West Bengal—one of the two constituencies in the state that elected BJP candidates in 2014.
Last week’s attack on and protests against visiting BJP leaders in Darjeeling and Kalimpong showed that though the party continues to have the support of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung, moderate leaders have turned against it.
After being attacked in Darjeeling on Thursday, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh alleged moderate leaders such as Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa, both ousted from the GJM, created the ruckus under instructions from the Trinamool Congress. But recent turn of events showed they have seized control of the movement for Gorkhaland.
Tamang, Thapa and a bunch of other Gorkha leaders such as Harka Bahadur Chhetri of the Jan Andolan Party (JAP) have been urging the BJP to make its stand clear on the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. Ghosh said several times previously that the BJP is opposed to the idea of carving up West Bengal. Lately, he has sidestepped questions over it.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said it is not within her authority to decide on Gorkhaland, said Thapa. So, a solution can emerge only from tripartite talks involving the centre, he said, adding, “We are only saying that our movement for Gorkhaland will continue but it will be a peaceful one."
All these leaders—even those opposed to the firebrand Gurung—have said that creating a separate state of Gorkhaland for the Nepali-speaking natives of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts is the only solution to the problem. Thapa reiterated that the people of Darjeeling will not settle for anything less than a separate state—greater autonomy will not do.
Banerjee recently said she, too, wants a permanent solution to emerge, triggering speculation whether she was willing to grant the Gorkhas more autonomy and limited law-making powers under the sixth schedule of the Constitution. But Gorkha leaders insist that, too, is not a solution.
Topden Bhutia, a GJM central committee member and close aide of the fugitive Gurung, said, “Binay Tamang has the support of the administration now. But even he has to speak for Gorkhaland. People of Darjeeling will not settle for the sixth schedule."
Though ousted from the GJM, Tamang and Thapa are increasingly gaining ground among the masses. Various groups have started removing pictures of Gurung from the GJM party flag in a defiant move that was inconceivable until recently, when Gurung fled his home, chased by the police for alleged involvement in various crimes.
People in Darjeeling and Kalimpong are upset with the BJP for not doing enough for one of its own constituencies, said Amar Lama, a leader of JAP. “We were told that S.S. Ahluwalia, the MP, was to visit Darjeeling and Kalimpong," he said. “The protest rally was aimed at him, and not the BJP state president. But the MP didn’t come at all." |
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Anyone who has ever gotten an unexpectedly large heating bill will likely be interested to hear about Harvard University’s ambitious HouseZero project currently taking place in Cambridge, Massachusetts: To create a sustainable building that produces more energy than it consumes.
That may sound impressive enough on its own, but clear your mind of the kind of futuristic architecture that would be more at home as the dazzling headquarters of a Silicon Valley tech giant. Instead, what researchers from Harvard, architectural firm Snohetta and Skanska Technology have done is to retrofit a stick-frame pre-1940s house — which will serve as the new energy-efficient home of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities.
The idea is to demonstrate a transferable model of retrofitting that could be applied to the 14 million-plus residential houses of its type that currently exist in the United States. This stands in contrast to conventional thinking that similar levels of energy efficiency can only be developed as part of a new construction.
The so-called HouseZero project boasts a variety of nifty features. These include reducing the need for electric lighting by creating new, enlarged windows and skylights, designed to protect interior spaces from direct sun in the summer, while also encouraging winter sun. This means minimal cooling necessary in the hot summer months, while minimal heating is required in the cold winter months. Air quality and comfort levels in the house are permanently monitored, with ventilation controlled via smart algorithms and room sensors that are responsible for opening and shutting windows. Then there’s a glazed, solar chimney designed to generate thermal uplift to draw heat from the basement into the main living areas. In addition, expect energy generated by photovoltaic panels and then stored for use — with surplus energy fed back into the city’s power grid.
In terms of materials and design, the house consists of open-plan areas, glass partitions, and lots of exposed wooden beams; which will all contribute to a quiet, undisturbed living experience. Sure, you might feel a bit like you are living in an Apple store at times, but the lack of bills will presumably make up for it!
Should all continue to go to plan, expect more houses like this to pop up around the United States in the not-too-distant future. |
With all-white sneaker season officially on deck, Nike is taking one if its most legendary silhouettes to a whole new level of comfort with the upcoming Nike Air Fore 1 High CMFT Lux QS. The sneaker adds several new technologies into the mix that are designed to elevate the comfort level of the Air Force 1.
The new technologies include a seamless one-piece Nike Breathe upper and a Lunarlon drop-in sockliner/midsole that features Zoom Air in the heel. The mesh-based Nike Breathe upper is a significant upgrade over the normal leather upper as your feet won't get drenched in sweat the second you step outside into the summer heat. And the Lunarlon x Zoom tooling should feel infinitely more comfortable than the brick-like Air sole used in the regular Air Force 1.
Thankfully, unlike several of Nike's past Air Force 1 upgrades, the additional tech in the CMFT Lux QS doesn't take away from the clean aesthetic of Air Force 1. The sneaker keeps the overall look and feel of the O.G., which includes a white-on-white upper, metallic gold accents, and a fully translucent blue-tinted sole unit. This pair also has a military inspiration, with E Pluribus Unum written on the tongue — a Latin phrase that translates to "Out of many, one" — and stars on the lace locks.
POST CONTINUES BELOW
It wouldn't be far fetched to see this as a release for Memorial Day.
[via kasina] |
The eShop has just updated and New Super Luigi U add-on content for New Super Mario U has now gone live.
It’s cost on the eShop is $29.95, a much fairer price than the $59.95 Nintendo are asking for it at retail here. Although you do get a nice green box.
You will need either an update to version of New Super Mario Bros U installed on your Wii U to download it or have the disk in the drive. If you buy the game at retail you do not need New Super Mario Bros U.
New Super Mario Bros U updated yesterday with a new patch with support for this add-on and the Wii U Pro Controller.
New Super Luigi U is very similar to New Super Mario Bros U but has had all of the courses in the game replaced with 100 hundred second and harder courses. Luigi like in Super Mario Bros. 2 also has lower traction and his higher more ‘floaty’ bounce.
Anyone picking up New Super Luigi U today or waiting for the retail box? |
Six people were wounded in separate triple shootings in Baltimore late Wednesday night and Thursday morning. And late Thursday, two more men were shot in the city, bringing the total to eight shooting victims in a 24-hour span.
With the often violent Memorial Day weekend approaching, police spokesman Lt. Eric Kowalczyk said officers would be stepping up checks on known violent offenders and increasing uniformed and plainclothes deployments "so we're not seeing incidents like this throughout the weekend."
Police say a 26-year-old man and two women, ages 29 and 46, were shot Thursday morning in an alley off the 4900 block of Curtis Ave. in Curtis Bay. Detectives were examining the alley as well as the inside of a small commercial garage.
"It's too early to know" a motive, Kowalczyk said. He said the victims were in "good" condition and expected to survive. A description of the suspect was not released.
Ron Jenkins stood near the crime scene. He said he's watched the neighborhood go from "bad to worse to what it is now." He said neighbors rarely see police patrols.
Curtis Bay has been the scene of three shootings and one robbery this year, according to police statistics.
Three people were shot, one of them gravely wounded, Wednesday night in the 1100 block of N. Monroe St. in West Baltimore, about three blocks west of the Western District police station.
One victim was shot in the head and listed in grave condition at an area hospital, police said. Homicide detectives were investigating.
A second victim was shot in the chest and was listed in critical but stable condition, police said. Another was shot in the leg.
The attack occurred about 11 p.m. Wednesday. On Thursday morning, remnants of crime scene tape remained on fences and street signs on Monroe Street and nearby Appleton Street. The block features a large graffiti memorial for Robert Hopkins, who police say killed himself in January after a crime spree that included two killings.
Police did not release the names of any of the victims in the shootings Wednesday or Thursday.
But they did identify a man who was shot to death Wednesday morning in the 2600 block of Park Heights Terrace, in the Greenspring neighborhood: Davon McLaurin Sr., 37.
That case remains open. Police asked anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100.
The number of homicides in Baltimore this year — 71 — is nine fewer than at the same time last year.
Baltimore Sun reporter Justin George and Colin Campbell contributed to this article.
[email protected] |
Following news last week that EPA had allowed for the re-introduction of asbestos into the construction market, architects across the country have lambasted the proposal, calling for a blanket ban on asbestos. In response, the environmental agency has issued the following statement:
“The EPA accepts the blanket ban on asbestos and will under no circumstances permit the production of asbestos blankets, but other asbestos products may be used where there is significant desire to do so because after all, asbestos is the best osTM #MAGA.”
In addition to this statement, the EPA released a full list of materials granted SNUR (Significant New Use Rule) status following a year-long safety inquiry. The document can be seen below.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
NOTIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT NEW USE RULES FOR PROHIBITED MATERIALS:
Structural Cheese: With asbestos back on the menu, so is cheese. Once again, certain cheeses will be classified as safe for construction. Any cheese harder than an average supermarket cheddar will once again be permitted for use in structural members for public and governmental buildings no larger than a soccer stadium. Many of these cheeses have been consistently described as ‘robust’, ‘extra strong’ and ‘particularly tangy’ and so are clearly suitable for supporting extremely heavy loads. For obvious reasons, mozzarella is banned for construction use in pizza shops and all cheese is banned from mice farms. The EPA would like to clarify that this cheese legislation has nothing to do with the 1.4 billion-pound surplus of cheese in the U.S.
Napkin Tiling: To combat the wasteful practice of discarding unused restaurant-grade napkins, the EPA will classify them as suitable for tiling bathrooms and wet-rooms. The famous slogan “one sheet does plenty” clearly applies to the use of napkins as bathroom tiles, and they are marketed as “super-absorbent” so are perfect for use in areas that tend to get excessively wet. They are also often folded into the shape of boats, or swans, so are clearly waterproof. Napkins with scribbles and doodles on them will not be permitted.
Chocolate Fire Doors: In order to drastically cut deforestation in North America the EPA proposes to drastically increase deforestation in South America. This can be done by doubling chocolate production in South American countries. This surplus chocolate will be used in the construction of fire-rated door sets. In the event of a fire, conventional timber doors catch fire, and fire is well known to be the leading cause of fire. Chocolate has been shown only to melt at high temperatures, and not only is melted chocolate not dangerous, but it also delicious. Fire rated doorsets are, however, compromised if any part of the door isn’t up to standards, so it is recommended that Tunnocks Teacakes are used as door-knobs and strawberry laces as security chains.
Insulation-Grade Plutonium: Spent nuclear rods are known to give off an incredible amount of what is essentially warmth, and as nuclear power production increases the waste products are piling up into dangerous quantities. The EPA proposes that this nuclear waste is ‘upcycled’ into insulation batting for cavity walls and underfloor matting. Of course, to protect the occupants from the harmful effects of the radiation, foil backed plasterboard can be used to reflect the radiation away, because that is how it probably works, we think. |
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I do not remember precisely what the equations or who the relevant mathematicians and physicists were, but I recall being told the following story. I apologise in advance if I have misunderstood anything, or just have it plain wrong. The story is as follows.
A quantum physicist created some equations to model what we already know about sub-atomic particles. His equations and models are amazingly accurate, but they only seem to be able to hold true if a mysterious particle, currently unknown to humanity, exists. More experiments are run and lo and behold, that 'mysterious particle' in actual fact exists! It was found to be a quark/dark-matter/anti-matter, or something of the sort.
What similar occurrences in history have occurred, where the mathematical model was so accurate/good, that it 'accidentally' led to the discovery of something previously unknown?
If you have an answer, could you please provide the specific equation(s), or the name of the equation(s), that directly led to this?
I can recall one other example. |
★From Beginning to the End★
This is an excellent introduction to the history of this often misunderstood time. Although it is a story written in broad strokes, of an extremely complicated period, particularly in the development of Britain, the author has peppered it with some fascinating details of the people and the events of the time.
Inside you will read about...
✓ The Ship Builders
✓ Life in Scandinavia
✓ "The Fury From the North"
✓ Expansion Beyond the British Isles
✓ And much more!
She has also taken care to include extracts from some of the contemporary comment that is available. The extracts from the extravagantly presented poetic oral traditions allow the reader a glimpse into what it might have been like to be there. The text will certainly enable you to decide what further aspects of the history of the Middle Ages you might like to explore. |
The bridal industry has been disrupted as more players try to get a piece of the business even as marriage rates fall. Long-time industry leaders are struggling. (Photo: Mary Altaffer / AP)
This fall, Alfred Angelo Bridal held a big sale at its warehouse in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The boutique wasn’t courting brides-to-be however — individual gowns couldn’t be purchased, though they were available in bulk. The top seller that day wasn’t even a dress; it was the store’s 2008 Ford Cargo Van, which went for $5,300.
This particular sale was a bankruptcy auction. Alfred Angelo, which once handled a well-respected corner of the U.S. wedding industry, filed for liquidation in July. Overnight, customers found their orders unfulfilled, leaving brides scrambling to find dresses in time for weddings that in some cases had to be called off.
The good news for Alfred Angelo was that it managed to raise about $250,000 to pay off creditors. The bad news was that its largest lender, a Connecticut asset management firm, had extended it $54 million.
Even before Alfred Angelo’s sudden collapse, the bridal industry was in chaos. The old guard had been losing business to upstarts backed by Silicon Valley and legacy retailers seeking a chunk of a reliable market.
David’s Bridal Inc., the longtime industry leader with a 25 percent market share, is writhing under a pile of debt. And it’s not just about the dress: Signet Jewelers Ltd., owners of Jared, Kay, and Zales, is dealing with lackluster sales as bigger fish move into the engagement and wedding ring space.
More choice may be good news for the soon-to-be-betrothed, but it’s small solace for the little stores who for decades traded on a deep cultural fixation with wedding accoutrements.
It also doesn’t help that the overall pie is shrinking — marriage rates have fallen since the mid 1980s as more couples choose to live together before heading to the altar. The number of adults who never married has reached a record high of 20 percent, a cultural earthquake largely driven by millennials skipping the tradition entirely.
Even as wedding rates fall, a frenzy is underway to claim a foothold in the existing space. Gap Inc. has Weddington Way; Urban Outfitters has BHDLN. Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s are all taking a piece of the bridal business, selling everything from bridesmaid dresses to wedding bands.
Then there are the startups. Venture capital firms have pumped at least $490 million into the bridal industry in recent years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
There are new registry services such as Zola and Blueprint. Dress renters include Vow to be Chic and Brideside. All Seated handles seating charts while Paperless Post does invitations (with actual paper if you like). Diamond Foundry, backed by $100 million in venture funding, grows diamonds in a California laboratory for setting in engagement rings.
For decades, if you were getting married, chances are you bought everything for the wedding in the same way. You went to a one-stop shop with a few loved ones, and you’d get the personal experience of picking out a wedding gown, bridesmaid dresses, accessories, and shoes. The dress selection was unrivaled, and you could even score some bargain numbers for under $100.
David’s Bridal was the ultimate provider of the bridal shoppe experience. The first shop popped up in the 1950s as a single boutique in Florida, before founder David Reisberg sold it to an investor in 1972. The new owner expanded the boutique concept under the David’s Bridal banner, opening both standalone outposts and shops within department stores. The chain slowly expanded until it was the biggest bridalseller in the country.
In 1999, the chain went public. A year later, May Department Stores Co. acquired it for $436 million. Eventually David’s was purchased by Leonard Green & Partners, a private equity firm. Then, in 2012, it was bought by another firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
But as David’s Bridal bounced from one parent to the next, the 300-plus store chain began to accumulate debt. This included a $491 million senior secured term loan due in 2019 and $270 million in unsecured notes due in 2020. Its sales didn’t kept pace.
Earnings have declined 30 percent since their 2012 peak. The retailer currently has a revenue base of $738 million, according to Moody’s relatively small compared with general fashion retailers but imposing when placed next to wedding industry competitors.
The world of bridal, it seems, had become ripe for disruption.
Almost any retail industry in the world of brick-and-mortar (or steel and concrete) is susceptible to attack by e-commerce. Bridal shops like David’s have been pretty well insulated though, by dint of what they sell and how they sell it.
Buy Photo Small bridal stores find they are competing with start-ups offering rentals as well as corporate entries including Urban Outfitters. (Photo: The Detroit News)
Buying a wedding dress is traditionally an emotional, once-in-a-lifetime event. Not the sort of thing one does on Amazon.com. Many American brides will always want the full, in-person treatment, the industry reason — in part since that’s always been the case.
Department stores and fashion retailers with too much square footage saw an opportunity to convert extra space into their own version of this reliable moneymaker. So they jumped into bridal. And it worked.
Executives at Urban Outfitters, which also owns Anthropologie and Free People, regularly call out BHLDN (as in “beholden”) for being one of its fastest-growing brands. The store sells both bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses, along with accessories, at its 16 locations and online. It plans to grow the label by opening more boutiques inside existing Anthropologie stores and expects annual revenue from just the bridal business to surpass $100 million over the next three to five years.
Ilana Stern, founder and general manager of Gap-owned Weddington Way, said she started her company because brides had so many issues coordinating shopping, especially for bridesmaid dresses. If all the bridesmaids are in one place, it’s easy to go to a local boutique and get everyone their outfits. But if they’re scattered far and wide, it’s much harder. Under Gap, Weddington Way now has 10 physical boutiques tucked inside Banana Republic shops so shoppers can get style advice and dress fittings in person, even if they have to travel to the wedding.
Many other upstarts hope to win over brides, too. Dresses are a hot category, with such startups as Vow to be Chic, Union Station, Borrowing Magnolia, and Get the Gown offering designer dress rentals for brides or bridesmaids. Clothing rental pioneer Rent the Runway has also gotten involved with its own online wedding shop, serving up styled looks for brides, bridesmaids, the mother of the bride, and guests.
Representatives of David’s Bridal and Signet didn’t return calls seeking comment. As for Alfred Angelo, a bankruptcy lawyer representing the defunct boutique said she’s trying to get customers their gowns.
Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/2xECVI2 |
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There was a slight sense of deja vu ahead of kick off. Liverpool at the Emirates, donned in black, taking on Arsenal in August.
Granted, this season’s game took place in the summer sunshine, rather than the North London floodlights. But for the second consecutive season, the Reds faced off against the Gunners early in the season.
A similar scenario, but the scoreboard could not have been more different; untroubled last year, it flashed more than Gary Lineker this time.
There was a difference in the dugout, of course, not to mention in the away side’s line-up. Only five of those who started last August were named in the 11 by Jurgen Klopp.
What’s changed, then?
Pointing towards that change, both in personnel and in the dugout, is an obvious starting point.
In the goalless draw last August, Liverpool actually produced a solid performance and, in truth, had the better chances to win the game. But this 4-3 win was a real transition from that. After a tentative start, the Reds were emphatic.
It should be noted how Arsenal were different over the course of the two games, as well, although they did have more starters from last year – seven – than Liverpool.
Here is how the two games differed in some key areas.
PLAYER POSITIONS
Last year: The structure of the team was far more rigid, with the 4-3-3 clearly defined. Nathaniel Clyne was higher up the pitch on the right, while Joe Gomez – at left back – was far deeper, almost helping form a back three. Ahead of them, Lucas Leiva was in the holding midfield position, with James Milner and Emre Can either side; the German, having to compensate for Gomez’s defensive instructions, was slightly more advanced. Up front, the trio of Philippe Coutinho, Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino were all spaced out, with the two Brazilians taking up positions wide.
This year: A marked change. The space between Ragnar Klavan and Dejan Lovren was far wider than last year’s partnership of Lovren and Martin Skrtel; Clyne remained out wide and Alberto Moreno, interestingly, was the deeper of the two full backs. In the front six positions, however, it was much less structured. Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum were very close to each other in the middle, with Adam Lallana also in a central role. Firmino and Sadio Mane were not far from that trio, with Mane noticably infield; only Coutinho drifted from these central positions.
PASSING COMBINATIONS
Last year: The most frequent successful pass combination was between Simon Mignolet and Christian Benteke, with 11. No surprise that all of those passes started within 20 yards of Mignolet’s goal, with the stopper finding his compatriot in the other half of the pitch. This was very much a long-ball tactic.
This year: Mignolet did not feature in any of Liverpool’s top five passing combinations – to be expected, given Firmino was the man leading the line. Joint-highest on this occasion was Henderson to Moreno, a successful combination 12 times, with the captain seeking out the Spaniard on the left. This highlights a far more progressive style, playing on the front foot.
ATTACKING DOWN THE RIGHT
Last year: Coutinho was the clear outlet for Liverpool with 38% of their attacks moving down the left-hand side. With Firmino drifting inside, almost 35% of their movements towards goal came down the centre, leaving the right-hand side fairly quiet with just 27%. Up against Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin – who also started on Sunday – the lesser of the two, Monreal, was given a quiet evening.
This year: Liverpool looked to move up both wings, with far fewer attacks starting down the middle. The marked difference comes on the right – again, a sign of the influence of Mane – with almost 40% of attacking play filtering down that side. Almost 34% came down the left, too; the graft came in the middle, but the invention was shared out wide.
WINNING BACK THE BALL
Last year: It should be noted that Liverpool only had 34% of the possession compared to the 50% at the Emirates on Sunday, and therefore the side’s chances of winning back the ball – or, as defined by OPTA, ‘ball recoveries’ - are greatly increased. Still, Rodgers’ side won back the ball more than Klopp’s did in the corresponding fixture.
Yet the interesting aspect comes from who actually pressed the ball. Here, it was Coutinho who was the main man, with a remarkable 12 recoveries – nine of them in the opposition half. On the other side, Firmino made six recoveries, but four of those came in his own half.
This year: Fewer ball recoveries in general, which only serves to make Mane’s efforts even more impressive. He recovered the ball eight times, four in the opposition half, which demonstrates how crucial he will be to Klopp’s pressing game. Coutinho, however, won the ball back only thrice – all in defensive positions – highlighting the potential freedom the Brazilian could be given this season, and the freedom he was allowed at the Emirates.
TERRITORY
Last year: Although Liverpool had the better chances – Benteke being denied point-blank by Petr Cech was a stand-out moment – it was a defensive line-up. Understandably, given the pressure he was under, Rodgers set his side up not to lose. That was reflected in how the Gunners won the territorial battle, with 34% of the play being played in Liverpool’s final third, and just 23% in the Arsenal final third.
This year: Klopp accused his side of showing Arsenal too much respect in the first half, but that would not happen in the second half. The battle was evenly split between the two – Liverpool 25%, Arsenal 27% - with a distinct portion of the play coming in midfield (48%). This shows just how Klopp sought to gain the advantage in the midfield, and did not regress into putting men behind the ball. |
I did this project in 2012, and I thought I’d re-post from my old blog. We’re about to tackle some port replacements on Gimme Shelter, so I messaged the current owner of of the Seahorse yesterday for an update. Four years later, these windows are still leak free.
I’d been thinking about it for three years. I’d had the supplies yet hesitated for two months. This weekend I finally set aside the time and replaced the fixed ports on the Seahorse.
The original windows were so crazed it was like looking through a frosted shower door.
Two of them had cracked in half from top to bottom and were just being held together with silicone in a desperate attempt to keep the water out.
Then I had to deal with the issue that many of the screws had rusted off in the screw holes.
When I called Beckson to inquire about replacement ports, here is the quote I received.
PF555-BS WINDOW 90/90,blk/smk,PR PR 305.00
PF525-BS WINDOW 90/45,blk/smk,PR PR 305.00
Yes, $610 + tax + shipping for four windows seemed a bit much.
That’s when I turned to this DIY article for help: http://www.thecoastalpassage.com/windows.html
If you can stand Bob’s braggadocio regarding his skills with a scalpel, it’s a great article. I decided I was going to use this method to replace my ports and purchased the following supplies:
1 36″ x 48″ x 1/4″ sheet of smoked plexiglass: $109
1 tube Dow Corning 791: $12
4 5′ rolls 3M heavy Duty Mounting Tape: $24
1 really nice scraper: $8 (because scraping with a screwdriver sucks)
1 roll Frog Tape Masking Tape: $4
1 super cheap caulking gun: $3
Project total: $160
I used my dremel to cut the plexiglass. It would have probably been faster and easier with the jig saw, but I was nervous the jig saw would shatter the acrylic.
I started on Saturday around 9 a.m. and nervously removed the first window. That was the easy part. Scraping all the silicone off the cabin was the hard part. I had estimated the project would take about an hour per window. It actually took closer to four hours per window.
Around 2 p.m. Saturday I had the two starboard ports cut and mounted. I had been nervous the 3M tape wouldn’t hold the acrylic down because the cabin curves, and the acrylic would have to flex, but it worked like a charm.
I took a break to cool off and to find a better scraper. Then I started cutting the port-side ports. The first one shattered, and I was thankful I’d bought more acrylic than I needed. The next two cut out with no problem, so I removed the old windows, started scraping and had all of them mounted by dinner time.
As soon as the dew evaporated Sunday morning, I started masking the windows for sealant. I forgot to take a photo of any of the windows with masking tape on them. I had thought the masking was tedious. Then I opened the Dow Corning 791.
I don’t know if I had a really bad caulking gun or if the Dow 791 is just THAT thick, but I had a terrible time getting it out of the tube. I’d have to press the plunger into the deck and lean all my weight on the trigger to get it moving. It made for a very long caulking process.
Once I’d get a bead around the window, I’d work it into the crack and smooth it out with my finger, then I’d pull the tape to leave a nice clean seal.
Beware, on The Coastal Passage DIY, the Dow Corning 791 is black. Mine was not black. It was a light grey color. I was not thrilled that it was light grey, but it still looks ok. Anything looks better than my old windows.
Someone more skilled than myself could probably rout a 1/4″ lip into the hull and make the windows sit flush with the cabin. That would look very nice and modern. I don’t own a router or care enough to attempt it.
With no screws in the acrylic, I’ve hopefully eliminated all the weak points that caused the previous windows to crack. The boat also looks 20 years younger.
The only question left is how long will the 3M mounting tape and Dow Corning 791 hold up against hull flex? Hopefully a very long time. |
The BBC has been forced to apologise to an acclaimed psychologist and writer after editing her derogatory comments about religion so that a radio programme broadcast "the opposite" of what she had said.
Dorothy Rowe complained to the corporation that her interview on the Radio 2 programme What Do You Believe? had been so heavily edited that the final version misrepresented her views. During a 50-minute recorded interview, Rowe, best known for her work on depression, had attempted to comment on the subject proposed by the programme's producer: "Why so many people want to believe in God and search for faith." But she was aghast to hear how her words were eventually used.
In an email to the corporation, published on her website, Rowe stated: "My words were edited to make it sound that I held a favourable opinion of religion in that it gave a structure to a person's life. What was not broadcast was what I had said about how such structures can be damaging to people. Being misquoted in this way concerned me greatly."
Rowe, who says she is one of the BBC's biggest fans, was never likely to keep her complaints private. An Australian who spends much of her time in the UK, she has become one of the most respected modern-day thinkers, named as one of the six wisest people in the UK by a magazine and voted one of the world's 100 living geniuses in a global poll.
Rowe, who is in Australia promoting a new book, said on her website she had no option but to complain as she was acutely aware of the dangers of "having something in the public domain that did not represent my views" and which would "could cause me considerable problems, particularly when the subject matter was religion". She said the interview "sounds like I am giving unqualified praise to religious belief. There is no mention of what I talked... about at length, that religious belief can cause immense misery. I often summarise this with: 'The church keeps me in business'."
The latest row over the BBC's production methods comes soon after the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand saga and a string of phone voting scandals which have undermined confidence in the corporation. The BBC has promised to introduce tighter editorial controls.
After hearing the broadcast, Rowe emailed David Barber, the BBC's head of compliance. Barber, who later resigned over the Ross-Brand furore, passed the complaint to Christine Morgan, executive producer at the BBC's religion and ethics department, who apologised to Rowe, saying she was "very concerned to find that, as you say, the programme did not accurately reflect the view you expressed". But on her website Rowe accuses Morgan of "saying she was sorry I was distressed, not that she was sorry that I had suffered an injury".
The row has provided ammunition for secular critics who accuse the BBC of using its programmes to promote religion. Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, who was interviewed for the same programme as Rowe, said: "I gave a long interview, but when I listened to the finished product it contained just a couple of very brief soundbites from me which were not representative of the thoughts I had expressed... This programme was the most blatant piece of religious propaganda I have heard for a long time."
A reply to a Freedom of Information request passed to the Observer reveals that the corporation spent almost £10m last year on its religious affairs unit in Manchester. According to the BBC's annual report, religious broadcasting on BBC radio rose from 1,078 hours in 2006-07 to 1,114 hours in 2007-08.
A spokeswoman for the corporation said: "The BBC's religion and ethics department acknowledged that extracts from an interview with Dorothy Rowe - broadcast in the programme What Do You Believe? - misrepresented her views on religion and has apologised to her."
Rowe was also invited to write an article published on the BBC's religion and ethics website explaining her views. |
The entity known as a Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss appeared on Bloomberg TV Tuesday to ply viewers with a new selling point for their growing cryptocurrency business: Bitcoin is “Gold 2.0.” Here's Tyler's spiel:
We think that bitcoin is like gold 2.0, so whatever your reasons for investing in gold – whether it’s scarc[ity], durability, portability, fungability – we think that bitcoin matches or beats gold across the board on all of those categories. It’s actually not scarce, it’s fixed. You can send it around like you send an email – it’s a lot harder to do that with bars of gold. The market cap right now of bitcoin is $300 billion. The market cap of gold is $6 trillion. We think that bitcoin disrupts gold. We’ve been saying this since the market cap was $1 billion in bitcoin. We’re 300 times more correct today, and we think that there’s a chance that we’ll be 20 times more correct from here on out.
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All of this adds up to the self-evident case that prudent investors ought to cast off their crypto fears and buy up some bitcoin, preferably on the Winklevii's own Gemini trading platform, if they want to ride a wave of buying that will make them twenty times richer and incalculably more secure in their wealth.
There's an obvious appeal to a pitch like this. If the characteristics investors love in gold apply even better to bitcoin, then the 1,700-percent gains bitcoin has seen this year are only the beginning. If just a fraction of the money currently invested in shiny yellow stuff makes its way over to the blockchain, Cryptostan has happy days ahead. Here's Tyler Cowen making a similar argument:
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To consider some other rough estimates, the total estimated value of the above-ground gold stock is about $7.5 trillion. Diverting 1 percent of gold holdings into bitcoin gets its value up to about $5,000. The current bitcoin price is several times beyond that, but a range of $15,000 to $20,000 again seems within the bounds of reason, at least to this observer. To the extent bitcoin is a store of value and a hedge, it is competing with gold more than with government fiat currencies, which ultimately are defined by their transactions uses.
This reasoning makes perfect sense if you've managed to nothing about where bitcoin demand really comes from. While it's plausible that goldbugs are dipping their toes into bitcoin, the real story behind bitcoin demand is families taking out mortgages to get in, grandmas getting crypto primers from their grandsons, South Korean shopkeepers plowing life savings into bitcoin, etc. This is hardly a casual rebalancing of assets into a new substitute. It's classic retail speculation.
But even if we grant their point that bitcoin is the new gold (about which there's plenty to argue), that's still...not the best pitch. Gold has been a notoriously bad investment over the past few decades, despite the legions of get-rich-quick schemes and late-night TV hucksters eager to convince you otherwise. After the post-Bretton-Woods gold boom of the 70s – which one could perhaps analogize to the current run-up in crypto prices – returns have consistently lagged behind stocks and bonds.
Of course, gold's usefulness is more about hedging risks in other asset classes than chalking up gains. On this point, it's done the job pretty decently, particularly during and after the global financial crisis. Good for gold!
Too bad bitcoin currently exhibits none of those qualities. For one, its value is as stable as its most diehardproponents (i.e., not very). Its recent performance sure is impressive, but it's also worrying – anything whose price can climb 40 percent in 40 hours can also experience the opposite. A serious investor establishing a bitcoin position is going to want to hedge it. That's kind of awkward if you're promoting bitcoin as a hedge.
Plus there's no way to know how bitcoin will perform during a bear market in stocks or a recession, because bitcoin hasn't existed through either of these events. It could be that swarms of investors stung by plunging stock prices will clamor for warm embrace of cryptocurrencies. But bitcoin's current mania has come amidst placid financial conditions and a strong economy. It's hard to imagine the price keeping up as the broader economy went south and highly leveraged retail speculators had to liquidate their positions to stay above water.
Which gets to the fundamental point, which is that gold exists in a functioning market and bitcoin does not. There are deep and liquid markets for gold futures where investors can easily bet on the price to rise or fall or whatever. Meanwhile, even with the introduction of bitcoin futures over the weekend, it remains close to impossible to short bitcoin. Between margin requirements, transaction fees and storage costs, traders are unable to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities that usually bring futures prices to within a few bps of spot prices.
This underscores the basic problem with bitcoin as a stable, predictable financial asset: it has no natural sellers. As UBS's Paul Donovan wrote Monday:
Cryptocurrencies only have value if accepted as currencies. However, they cannot be used for the most important transaction in an economy, and cryptocurrency supply can only rise and never fall (making them a poor store of value). To date, using cryptocurrencies requires (effectively) a simultaneous asset sale and purchase of goods or services.
Then again, who would say no to an asset that can only go up? |
You’ve been watching German movies on the weekends and listening to German music while you drive and exercise.
Your listening and comprehension have gotten loads better, but now you want to practice speaking German, which is still much harder for you than reading and writing.
So talk with a native German speaker! Conversing with native speakers is one of the most important steps in acquiring a new language, and it can rapidly increase your rate of learning.
But where do you find someone to talk to, especially if you’re not in a German-speaking country and won’t be anytime soon?
Luckily, the internet makes it possible to immerse yourself in a new language without even leaving your home. There are a number of awesome services out there that make it easy to find a German language partner.
The following list will show you how and where to find real people with whom you can speak German.
12 Great Ways to Find a Partner for German Language Exchange
German teachers available: 200+
italki is an online language learning service that helps you find teachers from around the world. You can study one-on-one with native speakers who are either professionals or language enthusiasts. The platform enables you to take classes from the convenience of your home, cafe, or wherever you have an internet connection.
Signing up to italki is free, while the lessons, however, are not. Teachers are compensated in ITC, italki credits, 10 of which equal $1. Prices vary from teacher to teacher and can range from $5 to $35 per hour. Language tutors post their schedule online and the service makes it easy to sign up for classes.
2. Couchsurfing
Members: 2 million+
Many people who use Couchsurfing are searching for a place to sleep in a foreign city. However, what’s lesser known is that the website can also be helpful in finding language partners.
The majority of Couchsurfing members don’t actually host, but rather have their status set to “Coffee or a drink“. In the advanced search function you can find potential language partners simply by selecting your current city and setting “language” to your target language (in this case German). With over two million members on Couchsurfing, success is very likely. Plus, it’s free!
3. My Language Exchange
Native German speaking members: 1,090
MyLanguageExchange.com is a free service that helps connect like-minded language learners from all over the world. The platform has over 1 million members from more than 133 countries and features 115 languages that are being practiced, including German.
The main idea behind MLE is to find penpals to practice with via email. Besides that, the site also offers inbuilt text chat. Although voice and video chat is not part of the site itself, meeting native speakers to hang out with on Skype shouldn’t pose much of a problem.
4. The Mixxer
Members who speak German: ca. 2700
The Mixxer is a free educational site for language learners hosted by Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. Their service is designed to connect people around the globe for one-on-one language meetups via Skype.
The design of the website is very basic and puts functionality before decor. The plain look, however, should not distract from the fact that it hosts a large and active community of people eager to improve and practice their language skills.
5. Polyglot Club
Members who teach German: ca. 500
As the name suggests, this site is a gathering of people who can speak several languages each. The Polyglot Club has over 400,000 members, is completely free, and allows you to find other language enthusiasts in your city and attend regular club meetings.
It also makes it easy to find people nearby who teach your desired language and/or want to learn what you are offering. The site goes so far as to let you search for the type of chat software others are available on to make getting in contact with them even easier.
6. Tandempartner.net
Members offering German: 1,400+
The Germany-based service Tandempartner.net is actually part of a bigger network that helps users look for private tutors. However, it also comes with a search function for language partners. You can find partners for all sorts of language combinations and filter them based on location, age, gender, experience and availability.
Although the website is aimed at finding people on-site in Germany, it also has an “online tandem” check box for location-independent language exchanges. The basic usage of the service is free, but to contact potential language partners, users need a paid premium membership.
7. Tandem Partners
Members offering German: 5,600+
Despite the similarity in name, TandemPartners.org is not related to the previous resource. It is another free service that connects language learners with each another, and is quite substantial with over 30,000 members.
The usage of the site is straightforward: sign up, select source and target language, post an ad, browse for other members, meet and talk. A special feature of Tandempartners.org is that is offers its own integrated video chat instead of relying on Skype, as many of the other services do. At the moment the service is free of charge, but it looks like it might be monetized some time in the future – so get on it now!
8. SprachDuo
Members offering German: Unknown
The website with the name SprachDuo, which means “language duo”, is a project by the European Student Forum in Munich. Primarily used by German university students, SprachDuo helps people find language partners based on source and target language, city and age.
Because it is based in Munich, most members are located either there or in other cities of Germany. However, there are still some international members as well. With about 1,600 user logins per month, the site is relatively small, but might still be worth a look.
9. Meetup
Members offering German: Unknown
Meetup.com is best known as a networking service to help people with similar interests form local communities. Luckily that includes language learning. Almost all major cities have language exchange groups available.
Many of these groups organize regular meetings, which you can join easily. It’s a good way not only to find language partners, but to get to know new people in general. You can also contact individual members to see if they are interested in partnering up for language classes.
10. InterNations
German-speaking members: Unknown
If you want to learn German but have no way of actually traveling to a German-speaking country, InterNations can help you find German speakers who decided to come to you instead. It is a networking platform for expats active in 190 countries and almost 400 cities.
People who choose to go abroad are usually open and happy to meet locals, make connections and share a bit of their own culture, so establishing contacts should be easy enough. The service is free, however, new members have to be approved. Besides InterNations, other local expat organizations are also a good place to look.
11. Craigslist
Craigslist is not just for selling furniture or finding roommates. With its international presence, the site is a great way to find language partners. The “Community” section is a good place to look for existing German conversation tables or language exchange ads. Craislist is also a great place to look for German tutors if you want lessons, but don’t want to teach one yourself in exchange.
Good keywords to use in your ad are “language exchange” or “language partner” in both English and German. Don’t forget to mention which languages you are offering, as that is what others will be searching for. Apart from that, keep your eyes peeled for the classifieds section in local magazines or online directories, as these are usually good addresses too.
12. Bulletin Boards
Partners for language exchanges are not only found online. Good old paper can also do the trick. The old-school way of printing out ads and posting them on notice boards still works.
If you choose to go the paper route, bulletin boards in universities are a good place to start. Aim for faculties that either teach your target language, or a language you can offer. You could also try posting ads at dorms for international students.
And One More Thing…
If you like learning conversational German, you don’t want to miss the FluentU app. The FluentU app takes great videos and turns them into language learning experiences so that you can learn real German as people really speak it:
Watching a fun video, but need help understanding it? FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts.
You can tap on any word to instantly look it up. Every definition has examples that have been carefully written for learners. You can add words to vocab lists.
And FluentU isn’t just for watching videos. It’s a complete learning platform. It’s designed to teach you all the vocabulary from any video. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re learning.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and it recommends you examples and videos based on the words you’ve already learned. This is true personalization that really works.
Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play stores. |
China is sufficiently alarmed by the flint hardness of its "soft-landing" to talk up trillions of fresh stimulus. The European Central Bank is preparing to print “whatever it takes” to save Spain and Italy. Markets are pricing in an 80pc chance of yet more printing by the US Federal Reserve in September or soon after.
There is no doubt that the three superpowers acting in concert can launch a mini-cycle of growth early next year - assuming they deliver on their rhetoric - but the twin headwinds of debt-leveraging and excess manufacturing plant across the globe cannot easily be conjured away.
The world remains in barely contained slump. Industrial output is still below earlier peaks in Germany (-2), US (-3), Canada (-8) France (-9), Sweden (-10), Britain (-11), Belgium (-12), Japan (-15), Hungary (-15) Italy (-17), Spain (-22), Greece (-27), according to St Louis Fed data. By that gauge this is proving more intractable than the Great Depression.
Some date the crisis to August 9 2007, the day it became clear that Europe’s banks were up to their necks in US housing debt. The ECB flooded markets with €95bn of liquidity. It seemed a lot of money then. The term “trillion” was still banned by the Telegraph style book in those innocent days. We have since learned to swing with the modern dance music from central banks.
For me, the defining moment was twelve days later when yields on 3-month US Treasury bills to crashed from 3.76pc to 2.55pc in just two hours. At first we thought it was a mistake, a screen glitch. Nothing like this had happened before, not during the crashes of 1929 or 1987, or after the Twin Towers attack on 9/11.
Investors were pulling money out of America’s $2.5 trillion money market industry in panic. This was the long-feared heart attack in the credit system, even if the economic malaise behind it did not become clear for another year.
The original trigger for the Great Recession has since faded into insignificance. America’s house price bubble -- modest by European or Chinese standards -- has by now entirely deflated. Warren Buffett is betting on a rebound. Fannie and Freddie are making money again.
Five years on it is clear that subprime was merely the first bubble to pop, a symptom not a cause. Europe had its own parallel follies. Britons were extracting almost 5pc of GDP each year in home equity by the end. Spain built 800,00 homes in 2007 for a market of 250,000. Iceland ran amok, so did Latvia and Hungary. The credit debacle was global. If there was an epicentre, it was Europe’s €35 trillion banking nexus.
Monetarists blame the ECB and the Fed for keeping money too tight in early to mid 2008, pushing a fragile credit system over the edge. They blame “pro-cyclical” regulators for aborting recovery ever since by forcing banks to raise asset ratios too fast. They are right on both counts.
Yet the `Austrian School’ is surely right as well to argue that a rise in debt ratios across the rich world from 167pc of GDP to 314pc in just thirty years was bound to end badly. There comes a point when extra debt draws down prosperity from the future. The future arrived in 2008.
A study by Stephen Cecchetti at the Bank for International Settlements concludes that debt turns “bad” at roughly 85pc of GDP for public debt, 85pc for household debt, and 90pc corporate debt. If all three break the limit together, the system loses its shock absorbers.
“Debt is a two-edged sword. Used wisely and in moderation, it clearly improves welfare. Used imprudently and in excess, the result can be disaster,” he said.
Creditors and debtors may in theory offset each other, but what actually happens in a crunch is that borrowers cut back feverishly. Creditors do not offset the effect. The whole system spins downwards. It is debt’s fatal “asymmetry”, long overlooked by New Keynesian orthodoxy.
It is how people behave, and how countries behave. Creditor Germany did not offset the squeeze in Club Med. Creditor China did not offset the squeeze in the US. The world contracted.
But why did the credit bubble happen in the first place? You could argue that it is merely the flip-side of too much saving. The world savings rate has crept up to a modern-era high of 24pc of GDP. That is the most important single piece of information you need to know to understand the great economic drama we are living through.
There is nowhere for this money to go. The funds flood into investment -- now a world record 49pc of GDP in China -- or into asset bubbles.
So my candidate for chief cause is Asia’s `Savings Glut’, and indeed whole the structure of East-West trade under globalisation.
The emerging powers built up $10 trillion of foreign reserves -- ie bonds -- in a decade. They flooded the global bond market. That is why spreads on 10-year Greek debt fell to a wafer-thin 26 basis points over Bunds in the bubble.
They also flooded Western markets with cheap goods, driving down goods inflation. Western central banks -- in thrall to inflation-targeting -- cut short-term interest rates ever lower. They set the price of credit too low, forcing pension funds and insurers to hunt frantically for yield to match their books. The central banks compounded the effect.
Western multinationals played their part in this saga. They drove up the profit share of GDP to historic highs, playing off wage rates in the US and Europe against cheaper labour in China, Latin America, or Eastern Europe. That too concentrated wealth among those who tend to buy shares, land, and Impressionist paintings, rather than goods. The GINI coefficient of income inequality went through the roof, as it did in the late 1920s. It is a formula for asset bubbles.
The credit bubble disguised the exorbitant imbalances in trade, capital flows, and incomes. The game could continue only as long as the West in general -- and the Anglosphere and Club Med in particular -- were willing to run ruinous current account deficits, borrowing themselves into dire trouble.
As soon as the debtors hit the brakes and slashed spending, the underlying reality was exposed. There is too much saving and too little consumption in the world to keep growth, and people in jobs. It is the 1930s disease. On this the Keynesians are right.
None of this would have been any different if banks had been saints. The forces at work are tidal in power.
So this is where we are in the summer of 2012. The imbalances are slowly correcting. Wage inflation has eroded Asia’s competitiveness. China’s current account surplus has dropped from 10pc of GDP in 2007 to around 2.5pc this year.
Yet Europe refused to adjust. Germany is still running a surplus of 5.2pc, down from 7.4pc in 2007. The North has refused to offset the demand squeeze in Club Med. Indeed, Germany legislated its own internal squeeze through a balanced budget law and imposed this curse on the rest of Euroland. The effect is to trap Euroland in chronic slump, at least until the victims rebel and take matters into their own hands.
As for our debt mountain, we have barely begun the great purge. Michala Marcussen from Societe Generale says the healthy level is around 200pc of GDP for advanced economies. If so, we have 100 points to cut.
This cannot be achieved by austerity alone because economic contraction would tip us all into a Grecian vortex. Such a cure is self-defeating.
Much of the debt will have to be written off. Whether this done by inflation (1945-1952) or default (1930-1934) will be the great political battle of this decade. Pick your side. Pick your history. |
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