Datasets:

Elriggs
/

openwebtext-100k

Dataset card Data Studio Files Files and versions Community

Split (1)

train · 100k rows

text stringlengths 465 100k
DH Valencia: The Finalists Return Text by TeamLiquid ESPORTS Graphics by shiroiusagi DH: VALENCIA DreamHack: Valencia 2013 Stardust Another Fairy Tale? Jaedong 1,272 days Brackets and standings on Read our Another Fairy Tale?1,272 daysBrackets and standings on Liquipedia Read our Lucifron, YuGiOh, and JYP article for more previewy goodness! The Finalists Return Here's something that we don't see too often at a DreamHack: both finalists are coming back to compete at the next tournament! StarDust and Jaedong played StarDust: Another Fairy Tale? by Monk In one of the biggest surprises in StarCraft II history, breezed his way to a championship at DreamHack Summer 2013. The stars aligned perfectly for Stardust, as his path to the finals was laden with almost exclusively with Korean Zergs and a scattering of weaker Terran and Protoss foreigners. StarDust's unique style in PvZ—his self-professed match-up—hinged on immortals, awkward timings, perfect force fields, and heavy mind games. This unorthodox style confounded the best Zergs DreamHack Summer had to offer in HyuN, , and , opening the path for StarDust to claim the title against all odds. Here's a short breakdown of some of the elements that made StarDust's PvZ so effective. Stalker-less immortal/zealot/sentry compositions Unlike stalkers, these units are very specialized and can deal especially well with Zerg's most basic units in roaches and zerglings. Unlike stalkers, these units are very specialized and can deal especially well with Zerg's most basic units in roaches and zerglings. Double forge upgrades Because the core of StarDust's armies was frequently zealots, his upgrades scaled especially well. Because the core of StarDust's armies was frequently zealots, his upgrades scaled especially well. Awkward timings Because he used such a unique army composition, StarDust hit at timings that Zergs were unfamiliar with. For one example, StarDust often ignored getting gas at his natural in favor of a faster push, attacking with zealot heavy armies at unusual timings. Because he used such a unique army composition, StarDust hit at timings that Zergs were unfamiliar with. For one example, StarDust often ignored getting gas at his natural in favor of a faster push, attacking with zealot heavy armies at unusual timings. Endless, perfect force-fields StarDust liked to dump a lot of his excess gas into sentries, often having 10+ with his main force. On top of having a TON of forcefields, they were almost always perfect. StarDust liked to dump a lot of his excess gas into sentries, often having 10+ with his main force. On top of having a TON of forcefields, they were almost always perfect. Posturing and mind games This is perhaps the core concept of StarDust's build. StarDust had many different timings he could hit after his opener, sometimes staying on two bases and making a massive gateway unit army and sometimes taking a quick third and delaying his attack. His opponents often guessed wrong, making units when they needed drones or drones when they needed units. One thing StarDust did beautifully was use pressure and fakes to force his opponents to make early lings and roaches, and then punish them for it several minutes later. He kept Zerg in a vicious cycle where they had to make even more roaches and lings to defend against a growing Protoss army instead of getting the drones and tech they needed. Once StarDust's immortal-sentry-zealot composition reached critical mass, he was able to easily run over a very inefficient Zerg army. StarDust is elated to win the first championship of his five year career. StarDust is elated to win the first championship of his five year career. Mass spine crawler defense Instead of wasting minerals on zerglings that were going to get shredded by zealots and forcefields anyway, Jaedong made mass spines to survive a massive zealot-sentry-immortal timing in one of his games. Instead of wasting minerals on zerglings that were going to get shredded by zealots and forcefields anyway, Jaedong made mass spines to survive a massive zealot-sentry-immortal timing in one of his games. Hydralisks This seemed to work as long as the Zerg didn't overproduce roach/ling against StarDust's earlier timings, and then attacked Stardust before his deathball got too big. StarDust proved that his army composition could sometimes fight directly with maxed armies of roach/hydra, especially on narrow maps where his forcefields could clinically dissect ground based forces. This seemed to work as long as the Zerg didn't overproduce roach/ling against StarDust's earlier timings, and then attacked Stardust before his deathball got too big. StarDust proved that his army composition could sometimes fight directly with maxed armies of roach/hydra, especially on narrow maps where his forcefields could clinically dissect ground based forces. Mutalisks Like hydras, this was all about finding a timing to transition while not getting destroyed by zealot-sentry-immortal. Jaedong actually got the timings right in the grand final, only to lose to probes in a base trade he really, really should not have lost. In any case, it went to show that while StarDust's timings are tricky to figure out, they can be worked around. Like hydras, this was all about finding a timing to transition while not getting destroyed by zealot-sentry-immortal. Jaedong actually got the timings right in the grand final, only to lose to in a base trade he really, really should not have lost. In any case, it went to show that while StarDust's timings are tricky to figure out, they can be worked around. Swarm hosts Another reaction that can theoretically work, but probably not on Whirlwind. When Jaedong tried to do so, StarDust just walked around the swarm hosts and won. Interestingly enough, StarDust has a great opportunity to win yet another championship on the back of his PvZ. This Dreamhack sports almost the same lineup as the previous iteration, except it has even less notable Terran and Protoss players than DH: Summer. Not-returning: Squirtle, NaNiwa, TaeJa, GuMiho, Sting Squirtle, NaNiwa, TaeJa, GuMiho, Sting Newcomers: Center, JYP From StarDust's point of view, DreamHack Valencia is basically an easier version of DreamHack: Summer. The best players besides himself are mostly Zerg, the tournament is a bit Zerg heavy in general, and there are even less strong Terran and Protoss players to stand in his way. The flip side of the coin is that StarDust's style is now much more exposed. With both Hyun and Jaedong losing to StarDust in the last tournament, they've surely analyzed their replays and now have a better understanding of how to deal with his unique and hard-to-decipher style. On the other hand, StarDust surely knows he's being examined under a microscope, and will surely have added new twists and turns to his style to keep it viable. Jaedong: 1,272 Days by Waxangel It's been very clearly and very painfully demonstrated that did not adjust well to StarCraft II. It's hard to blame Jaedong for it, considering that just about every facet of his professional life was turned upside down. He's on a team that has totally different priorities from any KeSPA team. He's in the position of being a challenger, not an established titan, for the first time since 2008. He wasn't even playing StarCraft II full-time for six months when HotS was released, forcing him to adapt yet again. Unfortunately for Jaedong, his pesky rival Flash has decided to make him look bad in comparison by almost instantly (in StarCraft time) becoming a top tier player. Goddammit Flash, wasn't it enough to take three Brood War championships away from Jaedong in the game's final years? Every victory for Jaedong seems like a milestone. Every victory for Jaedong seems like a milestone. Nope, not when your rival has been busy locking down the most wins in Proleague award and dragging his team to the playoffs. Being Flash's rival is a pretty raw deal, even when you're not actually playing him in a game. There is one thing that Jaedong can do to keep this rivalry respectable, one achievement he can attain first, one way he can still one-up Flash: Win a major StarCraft II tournament. No, the So far, Evil Geniuses have done just about everything they can to help Jaedong reach this goal. They've sent him to nearly every major tournament possible since his signing, and he is inching closer and closer to winning a title. He placed top eight at MLG Anaheim, top four at DreamHack: Stockholm, and was one map away from winning DreamHack: Summer. Now, he's headed toward his fourth international tournament in as many months. In each previous attempt, Protoss came between Jaedong and his goal of a championship. In Stockholm and Anaheim he was thwarted by housemate NaNiwa, while StarDust narrowly edged him out at DH Summer. While amusing at first, JvP became a less and less funny joke each time around (or more and more hilarious, if you're a Flash fan). JvP is a worthy successor to JYPvT and RyungvP from the WoL era, being an unusually awful match-up for a player who is otherwise rather good. While Jaedong seems to have the nuances of ZvZ and ZvT down, for some reason he can't seem to stop himself from running into horrible meatgrinder deathtraps in ZvP. Yet, even JYP and Ryung eventually found ways to get over their single match-up troubles, and Jaedong is showing signs that he is slowly figuring out how to not be an atrocious ZvP player in tournaments. Even though he lost to NaNiwa at MLG, he also did beat Stats, one of KT Rolster's best players not named Flash. Even now, the badness of Jaedong's ZvP gets a bit exaggerated. He typically plays well for 95% of his games, but it's the 5% where he makes strange and incomprehensible decisions that holds him back. With a bit more improvement at ZvP, and perhaps slightly better bracket luck in avoiding Protoss opponents, the age of the Tyrant may very well return. It's been 1,272 days since Jaedong won his last major championship. It's been 1,272 days since Jaedong could say he was better than Flash. In Valencia, Jaedong can start making up for lost time. Here's something that we don't see too often at a DreamHack: both finalists are coming back to compete at the next tournament! StarDust and Jaedong played one hell of a final back at June's DreamHack Summer, and now they're headed to Valencia to (hopefully) play some more awesome StarCraft. TeamLiquid takes a look at the last DreamHack's finalists ahead of the next tournament in Valencia.In one of the biggest surprises in StarCraft II history, mYi.StarDust breezed his way to a championship at DreamHack Summer 2013. The stars aligned perfectly for Stardust, as his path to the finals was laden with almost exclusively with Korean Zergs and a scattering of weaker Terran and Protoss foreigners. StarDust's unique style in PvZ—his self-professed match-up—hinged on immortals, awkward timings, perfect force fields, and heavy mind games. This unorthodox style confounded the best Zergs DreamHack Summer had to offer in viOLet , and Jaedong , opening the path for StarDust to claim the title against all odds. Here's a short breakdown of some of the elements that made StarDust's PvZ so effective.His Zerg opponents tried to adapt on the fly at DreamHack, all with varying degrees of success. You could sense they were getting close to finding a solution toward the end, but Jaedong just couldn't close it out in game five of the grand final.Interestingly enough, StarDust has a great opportunity to win yet another championship on the back of his PvZ. This Dreamhack sports almost the same lineup as the previous iteration, except it has even less notable Terran and Protoss players than DH: Summer.From StarDust's point of view, DreamHack Valencia is basically an easier version of DreamHack: Summer. The best players besides himself are mostly Zerg, the tournament is a bit Zerg heavy in general, and there are even less strong Terran and Protoss players to stand in his way.The flip side of the coin is that StarDust's style is now much more exposed. With both Hyun and Jaedong losing to StarDust in the last tournament, they've surely analyzed their replays and now have a better understanding of how to deal with his unique and hard-to-decipher style. On the other hand, StarDust surely knows he's being examined under a microscope, and will surely have added new twists and turns to his style to keep it viable.It's been very clearly and very painfully demonstrated that Jaedong did not adjust well to StarCraft II. It's hard to blame Jaedong for it, considering that just about every facet of his professional life was turned upside down. He's on a team that has totally different priorities from any KeSPA team. He's in the position of being a challenger, not an established titan, for the first time since 2008. He wasn't even playing StarCraft II full-time for six months when HotS was released, forcing him to adapt yet again.Unfortunately for Jaedong, his pesky rival Flash has decided to make him look bad in comparison by almost instantly (in StarCraft time) becoming a top tier player. Goddammit Flash, wasn't it enough to take three Brood War championships away from Jaedong in the game's final years?Despite Jaedong's slow start, it's undeniable that he's been making progress. In fact, if Jaedong wasn't eternally saddled with this Flash comparison and had come into SC2 with anything resembling normal expectations, we'd be lauding him for the progress he has made. When you take into account that TLO and Grubby are praised for developing into fringe championship contenders over the course of two years, then shouldn't the player who in half the time, came within ONE MAP of winning DreamHack Summer get some credit?Nope, not when your rival has been busy locking down the most wins in Proleague award and dragging his team to the playoffs. Being Flash's rival is a pretty raw deal, even when you're not actually playing him in a game.Thereone thing that Jaedong can do to keep this rivalry respectable, one achievement he can attain first, one way he can still one-up Flash: Win a major StarCraft II tournament. No, the HyperX Tournament doesn't count. I'm talking about tournaments that tens if not hundreds of thousands of people will watch and care about. Both players have come close, but they're still tied with silvers being their best result. Flash came up short against Life at MLG Dallas, while Jaedong conceded the DH: Summer title to Stardust.So far, Evil Geniuses have done just about everything they can to help Jaedong reach this goal. They've sent him to nearly every major tournament possible since his signing, and he is inching closer and closer to winning a title. He placed top eight at MLG Anaheim, top four at DreamHack: Stockholm, and was one map away from winning DreamHack: Summer. Now, he's headed toward his fourth international tournament in as many months.In each previous attempt, Protoss came between Jaedong and his goal of a championship. In Stockholm and Anaheim he was thwarted by housemate NaNiwa, while StarDust narrowly edged him out at DH Summer. While amusing at first, JvP became a less and less funny joke each time around (or more and more hilarious, if you're a Flash fan). JvP is a worthy successor to JYPvT and RyungvP from the WoL era, being an unusually awful match-up for a player who is otherwise rather good. While Jaedong seems to have the nuances of ZvZ and ZvT down, for some reason he can't seem to stop himself from running into horrible meatgrinder deathtraps in ZvP.Yet, even JYP and Ryung eventually found ways to get over their single match-up troubles, and Jaedong is showing signs that he is slowly figuring out how to not be an atrocious ZvP player in tournaments. Even though he lost to NaNiwa at MLG, he also did beat Stats, one of KT Rolster's best players not named Flash. Even now, the badness of Jaedong's ZvP gets a bit exaggerated. He typically plays well for 95% of his games, but it's the 5% where he makes strange and incomprehensible decisions that holds him back. With a bit more improvement at ZvP, and perhaps slightly better bracket luck in avoiding Protoss opponents, the age of the Tyrant may very well return.It's been 1,272 days since Jaedong won his last major championship. It's been 1,272 days since Jaedong could say he was better than Flash. In Valencia, Jaedong can start making up for lost time.
The Interior Department on Friday issued a final plan to close 1.6 million acres of federal land in the West originally slated for oil shale development. The proposed plan would fence off a majority of the initial blueprint laid out in the final days of the George W. Bush administration. It faces a 30-day protest period and a 60-day process to ensure it is consistent with local and state policies. After that, the department would render a decision for implementation. The move is sure to rankle Republicans, who say President Obama’s grip on fossil fuel drilling in federal lands is too tight. ADVERTISEMENT Interior’s Bureau of Land Management cited environmental concerns for the proposed changes. Among other things, it excised lands with “wilderness characteristics” and areas that conflicted with sage grouse habitats. Under the plan, 677,000 acres in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming would be open for oil shale exploration. Another 130,000 acres in Utah would be set aside for tar sands production. The administration and Democrats said that while the plan would curtail what was originally sought for oil shale development, it still opens up a significant amount of land that was previously unavailable for the energy production method. The administration noted the plan pushed forward Friday also included two research, development and demonstration (RD&D) leases for oil shale development. "The proposed plan supports the Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to explore the full potential our nation’s domestic energy resources and to develop innovative technology and techniques that will lead to safe and responsible production of resources, including oil shale and tar sands, which industry recognizes are years from being commercially viable, but require RD&D today," Interior spokesman Blake Androff said. Sen. Mark Udall Mark Emery UdallGardner gets latest Democratic challenge from former state senator Setting the record straight about No Labels Trump calls Kavanaugh accusations ‘totally political’ MORE (D-Colo.) praised the plan, saying the administration exercised the right amount of caution on oil shale development, which has not yet been brought to commercial scale and brings concerns about the amount of water used in the practice. "I am glad the Interior Department is taking measured steps to encourage research and development of our oil shale resources. With water being one of our most precious commodities in the West, I have concerns about the potential impacts of commercial oil shale development. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing this technology explored further," Udall said in a Friday statement. Oil shale development is not to be confused with drilling into shale formations for oil and natural gas. The practice, which involves separating hydrocarbons bound up in rocks, has not been widely executed since Exxon's failed Colorado venture in the 1980s. Bobby McEnaney, senior lands analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, praised Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for the proposed final plan. “By significantly reducing the acreage of wilderness potentially available for leasing, Secretary Salazar is laying out a creative, thoughtful and more responsible approach in managing some of our most precious resources,” McEnaney said in a Friday statement. More from The Hill: • Obama says deficit plan must include higher taxes for wealthy Boehner John Andrew BoehnerEx-GOP lawmaker joins marijuana trade group Crowley, Shuster moving to K Street On unilateral executive action, Mitch McConnell was right — in 2014 MORE-obama-has-qopportunity-to-leadq-on-fiscal-cliff" mce_href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/267059-boehner-obama-has-qopportunity-to-leadq-on-fiscal-cliff"> • Boehner: Obama has 'opportunity to lead' negotiations on fiscal cliff • Speaker faces conservative backlash over call for immigration reform • Petraeus resigns as CIA chief over extramarital affair Congressional Republicans are not likely to be as pleased. GOP lawmakers, along with some Democrats, have pushed for more fossil fuel production in the West. Republicans have led the charge, saying Obama’s policies on fossil fuel drilling on federal lands are too restrictive. While Obama notes domestic oil-and-gas production has increased during his administration, Republicans contend that it is activity on private and state land that is driving the boost. They point to this year’s dip in oil-and-gas production on federal land — though levels are still higher than they were during the Bush administration. The Congressional Western Caucus released a report in August to deliver that message. “This proposal will place further limitations on the exploration and development of our country’s natural resources and is yet another example of how this administration continues to stand in the way of North American energy independence," Rep. Ed Whitfield Wayne (Ed) Edward WhitfieldWhy Republicans took aim at an ethics watchdog What Azerbaijan wants from Israel? Overnight Energy: Green group sues Exxon over climate science MORE (R-Ky.), the chairman of House Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on Energy and Power, said in a statement to The Hill. Oil and gas lobby the American Petroleum Institute, an ally of congressional Republicans, slammed the decision. Jack Gerard, the group's chief, said Thursday he would take a "wait-and-see" approach to Obama's second term to gauge whether he would live up to campaign rhetoric in which he praised the domestic oil-and-gas industry. Reid Porter, the lobby's spokesman, said Friday's news was a disappointing sign from the administration. “This is another step in the wrong direction that limits development and investment in one of the nation’s most energy-rich areas and goes against a prior government decision that would allow for research and development over a much wider geographical area. Just days after the election this decision by the administration sends negative signals to industry and capital markets at a time when we need to encourage growth and innovation in the U.S.," Porter said in a statement to The Hill. — This story was updated at 5:07 p.m.
Michael Bennett gets to Cam Newton in the Seahawks' season-opener. (Charlotte Observer/Getty Images) Michael Bennett gets to Cam Newton in the Seahawks' season-opener. (Charlotte Observer/Getty Images) Every week, Doug Farrar and Chris Burke break down key plays from the previous week, and examine concepts you may see more often down the road. It was an under-the-radar signing that shouldn't have been. When defensive lineman Michael Bennett signed a one-year, $4.8 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks in March, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their most disruptive weapon against the pass, and Seattle head coach Pete Carroll added a perfect wingman for the subtleties in his defensive fronts. Carroll runs what he has called a "4-3 scheme with 3-4 personnel," and in that personnel, he always has room for unique athletes who bring interesting attributes to the defenses he draws up. Bennett qualifies. He was actually signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M before the 2009 season, but the previous administration didn't know how to use him. And it took him a while to get up to speed with the Bucs -- he amassed just two sacks total in 2009 and 2010, ramped it up to four in 2011, and ended his Tampa Bay career with nine in 2012. Moreover, he was one of the league's best when it came to quarterback pressure. According to Pro Football Focus' game-charting metrics, Bennett ranked sixth in the league among 4-3 defensive ends in total pressures with 71 (nine sacks, 14 QB hits, and 48 hurries), which was even more impressive when you consider that he was slipping inside to play tackle on a relatively high percentage of plays. That's carried through to the 2013 season -- in fact, Bennett's been even more disruptive for his new team, ranking second to St. Louis' Robert Quinn in PFF's Pass-Rushing Productivity metric, and amassing 2.5 sacks, three hits, and nine hurries in three games. Needless to say, Carroll couldn't be happier about the efforts of a guy he originally projected to replace Jason Jones as a situational swing tackle. “I thought we were going to get a good active pass rusher," Carroll said of Bennett on Monday. "He had shown versatility that he could play inside and outside, but I didn’t appreciate how constant he is effort-wise. I didn’t have that sense about him watching him on film, but he is a relentless football player. You love guys like that -- he’s going to get everything out of every play. He takes some chances. He’s a risk taker in his rushes, in his playmaking, and in the running game. He’ll make some mistakes at times, but he’s also going to make some huge plays. I think it’s the intensity that he brings; we were surprised at that. That shows up and that’s a great asset.” The tape certainly shows it now. The first play we'll detail happened with 9:25 left in the Seahawks' 13-7 season-opening win over Carolina. The Panthers had third-and-seven at their own 23-yard line. Seattle lines up in an interesting formation here with Bennett (72) playing left defensive end in a very wide stance. Linebacker Bobby Wagner (52) is standing up right over right guard Chris Scott. Linebacker K.J. Wright (50) is readying for a blitz, as is linebacker O'Brien Schofield (93), outside linemen Tony McDaniel (99) and Benson Mayowa (95). At the snap, Wagner occupied Scott and right tackle Byron Bell, while Bennett and Wright looped inside the A-gap to provide pressure up the middle. Schofield was doing the same. McDaniel took left tackle Jordan Gross all the way around the pocket and got the first hit on Cam Newton. Wright and Bennett also attack Newton, who is somehow able to free himself from all the pressure and load a little dump pass to fullback Mike Tolbert ... for a six-yard loss. Bennett was handed a personal foul on the play, but he had made his point -- he was able to track down a mobile quarterback on an inside stunt much more quickly than his 6-4, 271-pound frame would seem to indicate. And if he hadn't collided with Wright as the blitz was happening, Bennett had a good shot at his first sack as a member of the Seahawks. He would have to wait one more game for that to happen. Bennett's first Seahawks sack happened with 2:33 left in the first quarter of the Seahawks' 29-3 Week 2 win over the San Francisco 49ers. This play was less about scheme and more about effort. Seattle went with a four-man rush in their base heavy package, with Bennett, McDaniel, defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, and defensive end Red Bryant from left to right. 49ers right tackle Anthony Davis got a pretty good hold on Bennett as he turned the corner, but Bennett managed to bring Colin Kaepernick to the ground after he was pulled down by Davis. “He’s different," Carroll said of Bennett's physical attributes. "Yeah he’s a different guy. This is a classic example ... we were looking for guys with special qualities and we’re not just looking for just cookie-cutter guys. He has something really unique about him and it’s really ... it’s his tenacity, that speed, that anticipation that makes him special. He’s not the fastest guy, but he plays with great quickness. He's not 325 [pounds] or something like that, but he makes up in other ways. So that’s why you see him moving around, playing a lot of different spots because we think that we can put him in places where we can take advantage of what he’s good at. So that’s a real classic example of a guy that we’ve brought into the program and we’ve tried to adjust to what he does.” Carroll moved Bennett around more in the Seahawks' 45-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday, and Bennett picked up one of his two sacks from a different position -- as a one-tech shade tackle between center Brad Meester and right guard Uche Nwaneri. This sack, which came with 4:34 left in the third quarter, was a great example of scheme setting players up to do what they do best. Bennett was able to split Meester and Nwaneri because Wright slipped through the other A-gap, forcing running back Maurice Jones-Drew to lag for a second before deciding to block Wright and leave Bennett alone. Not a good move. “He has demonstrated that he can do a lot of stuff," Carroll said. "If you looked at the difference spots he lined up [against Jacksonville], that was about everywhere that you could put a D-lineman and it’s just the way he comes off of the football and he attacks. He’s a very effective player. I think I said this morning, ‘He’s more than we thought he was.’ He’s got more variety to his game, it comes out of just the tenacity and the motor that he has. We are real excited about it. He had a great rush on the second sack that he was involved in. What a fantastic effort by him and the guys were roaring up field and he got there before the other guys. "For years, we have been looking for an inside presence in the pass rush. I think that’s the best shot that we have right now. The other guys are doing well too, but he has really jumped out.”
On Dialectical Materialism The following text was written by Ray Nunes in the late 1980s as part of a study group of people who were interested in forming a new Marxist-Leninist party in New Zealand. It is an introductory text about the Marxist theory of development, also known as dialectical materialism. It includes a comparison between important philosophical writings of various Marxists. We have shared it because it gives a good insight on the basics of Marxist Philosophy. Dialectical materialism is the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism. Not only is it the sole outlook which gives a scientifically-based understanding of the world around us; it also enables us to understand what brings about changes in that world – including human society and in people’s thoughts about it. That is the first important thing to note. The second important thing is that a proper understanding of dialectical materialism can enable a workers’ political party to guide its practical work correctly in the process of changing the world. We shall deal with these two aspects in order. Philosophy – the study of the development of human thinking about the natural world and man’s place in it – has a fairly long history. But in the middle of the nineteenth century it underwent a revolution at the hands of the two great thinkers and founders of scientific socialism, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Engels wrote an account of the development of their philosophy in his pamphlet: Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy. (The word ‘end’ is used in the sense of ‘outcome’.) He writes: The great basic question of all philosophy, especially of more recent philosophy, is that concerning the relation of thinking and being? The question of the position of thinking in relation to being, a question which by the way, had played a great part also in the scholasticism of the Middle Ages, the question: which is primary, spirit or nature – that question, in relation to the church, was sharpened into this: Did God create the world or has the world been in existence eternally? The answers which the philosophers gave to this question split them into two great camps. Those who asserted the primacy of spirit to nature and therefore, in the last instance, assumed world creation in some form or other – and among the philosophers, Hegel, for example, this creation often becomes still more intricate and impossible than in Christianity – comprised the camp of idealism. The others, who regarded nature as primary, belong to the various schools of materialism These two expressions, idealism and materialism, originally signify nothing else but this ? (1) Most of the earlier Greek philosophers were materialists in their outlook. Important contributions to materialism were also made by English philosophers, particularly Francis Bacon, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, to which group Marx gave the credit of being the fathers of modern materialism. The French materialists of the eighteenth century were much influenced by the British school. In the sphere of ideas they helped to prepare the ground for the great French Revolution of 1789-93. Each of these schools was opposed by philosophical idealists, particularly (but not only) by theologians, advocates of religion. So it is today with Marxism. Up to the mid-nineteenth century the religious – and most of the secular – authorities propagated the idea that the bible, both the old and the new testaments, were the founts of all knowledge. The age of the earth was held to be about six thousand years. The nature of the wider universe was unknown. Today an immense array of factual evidence has been accumulated by the physical sciences – particularly astronomy, geology, palaeontology, chemistry and physics, conclusively proving that the age of the earth is in the vicinity of 4.5 thousand million years, while the age of the universe is approximately 15 thousand million years. Our own solar system with its sun and planets is a tiny part of the Milky Way galaxy, with its two hundred billion stars, and there are at least two billion galaxies in the cosmos, many much vaster than our own. The simplest forms of life on earth originated about three billion years ago, evolving eventually into modern man (homo sapiens) somewhere between one hundred thousand and forty thousand years ago, a mere trifle in geological time. Modern man, homo sapiens, is himself descended from ancestral species known as hominids. Nowadays, anthropology can trace earlier types of erect-walking beings back several million years, with an evolutionary history which includes a number of increasingly skilled tool-making-and-using hominid species.*Contemporary scientific data such as the above provides the modern, natural-scientific basis for materialism and for affirming the primacy of matter in relation to mind. Thought that does not originate from a brain cannot and does not exist. Thought is a product of thinking beings, but the world existed billions of years before such beings evolved. Matter is primary; thought, consciousness secondary. That is the basic philosophical standpoint of Marxism-Leninism today, as developed by Marx and Engels, reinforced by a century of scientific advance While Marx and Engels did not have all the modern discoveries of science to draw on, many vital scientific discoveries did take place in the nineteenth century which underpinned their philosophical materialism. Engels mentions particularly the discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat (Mayer and Joule); the law of the conservation of energy (which should be called the law of the transformation of energy); the nature of the cell as the basis of biological development (Virchow); and the epoch-making establishment of evolutionary science by Darwin. In Germany, the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries produced an outcrop of important thinkers who established the German school of classical philosophy. Some (Kant, e.g.) were a mixture of materialism and idealism. Others were idealists out to refute materialism. One of these, however, Georg Hegel, while his philosophical system was idealist, became the first in modern times to develop his philosophy on the basis of the dialectical method. In a preface to his great work Capital, Marx wrote: The mystification which dialectic suffers in Hegel’s hands, by no means prevents him from being the first to present its general form of working in a comprehensive and conscious manner. With him it is standing on its head. It must be turned right side up again, if you would discover the rational kernel within the mystical shell. (2) Marx and Engels came up, as it were, through the school of classical German philosophy, and at first became adherents of Hegel. However, Hegel’s idealism was subjected to severe criticism by Ludwig Feuerbach from the point of view of materialism. Immediately Marx and Engels became ‘Feuerbachians’; that is, they answered the basic question of philosophy by affirming that nature, matter, was primary and thought, consciousness, was secondary. But they went much further than Feuerbach, whose outlook lacked consistency. They united philosophical materialism with the dialectical method of Hegel, only with that method standing upon its feet, not upon its head, and revolutionised philosophy with the outlook of dialectical materialism. Philosophical Materialism Most people know philosophical idealism in the form of religion. Of course there is an enormous variety of religions and sects. Nearly all have in common a belief in a creator, a god who made the world and everything in it. This view usually holds that the world was created before man and does not depend on man for its existence. This view is thus a form of objective idealism. Subjective idealism, on the other hand, holds that the material world, nature, being, exist only in men’s consciousness, that they are the product of our sensations or ideas. That is, if one ceases to observe them, they do not exist. Materialism, on the other hand, considers that gods and their powers are man-made, as primitive forms of explanations of natural phenomena which were once mysteries because of man’s lack of scientific knowledge, but are nowadays no longer. The many nature gods – thunder, wind, forests, rivers etc. gradually in the course of ages became refined and distilled into a single, omnipotent being. The religions, including Christianity, to which such gods belong are a distorting mirror, in which man, who created them, sees a one-sided reflection of the social life, beliefs and customs of peoples from which they sprang. Why, then, do they not disappear in the light of present-day scientific knowledge? Because the exploiting classes consciously use them as ideological weapons to convince the masses that the problems of this world – wars, starvation, poverty, oppression etc., are caused by a creator; that man is therefore powerless against them, and can only submit and hope for a better life in another, though mythical, world after death. Without the immense support of the exploiters, rendered in a thousand different ways, gods and religion would quickly lose most of their followings. Religion is consciously used by the bourgeoisie as a form of opium to stupefy the masses and divert them from struggle for socialism. Subjective idealism is another way of attacking materialism. Its chief spokesman was the English Bishop Berkeley, in the early eighteenth century. Its modern advocates have to disguise it, because, carried to its logical conclusion, by denying the objective existence of everything but one’s own sensations, it reduces to the belief that only the speaker exists, a view known as solipsism and ridiculed as such. In a period of political reaction following the defeat of the 1905 Russian revolution, a trend of subjective idealism made its way into Marxism, pretending to be the latest thing in modern science, deriving as it did from the Austrian scientist Ernst Mach. Lenin defended Marxism from the would-be Machians in his book Materialism and Empirio-Criticism. Answering such people who claimed to have risen above the ‘naive realism’ of Marxist materialism, Lenin wrote: The “naive realism” of any healthy person who has not been an inmate of a lunatic asylum or a pupil of the idealist philosophers consists in the view that things, the environment, the world, exist independently of our sensation, of our consciousness, of our Self and of man in general. (3) In one way or another, even though it may disguise itself as positivism, a supposed ‘philosophy of science’, subjective idealism leads back to the idea of a creator. Thus, as Engels showed, there are two lines in philosophy, the line of materialism or the line of idealism. ‘Are we to proceed from things to sensation and thought, or from thought and sensation to things?’ (4) Motion and Development Once Marx and Engels had, by intense intellectual labour, reached the luminous standpoint of dialectical materialism (and Engels acknowledges Marx’s pre-eminence in this work) they applied it in all of their investigations, writings and practical activity such as the founding and leading of the First International, the ‘International Working Men’s Association’. While recognising the great achievements of the eighteenth century French materialists, they pointed to the main shortcomings of this school. Lenin summarised their views as follows: This [i.e., French] materialism was predominantly mechanical, failing to take account of the latest developments of chemistry and biology ? 2) the old materialism was non-historical, non-dialectical (metaphysical, in the sense of anti-dialectical), and did not adhere consistently and comprehensively to the standpoint of development; 3) it ? only interpreted the world, whereas the point is to change it; that is to say, it did not understand the importance of revolutionary, practical activity. (5) ‘Mechanical’ materialism arose in the form it did because at that time the science of mechanics was the first to come to any definite close. This view understood development in a ‘mechanical’ way, simply as increase or decrease in size or quantity, or as movement in a circle which simply repeated itself and came back to the same starting point. ‘Not adhering to the standpoint of development’ means that it did not conceive of, or try to explain, the changes of state that are a marked feature of actual development. Rather it saw the world as a vast machine whose parts, such as living things and also society, could only undergo changes in size and in due course, like the flywheel of an engine, would come back to begin the process again. Not only the world, but the entire universe around us is a demonstration that objective reality is material. That is, all that exists outside of our heads, outside of the minds of people, is material. This is an integral part of the Marxist theory of knowledge, of how mankind acquires valid knowledge. There is a relationship between mind and matter, but it is one which only dialectical materialism can properly explain. Feuerbach first gave a materialist explanation which Marx and Engels agreed with fully. Engels summarises his view as follows: The material, sensuously perceptible world to which we ourselves belong is the only reality ? Our consciousness and our thinking, however suprasensuous [above the senses. Author] they may seem, are the product of a material, bodily organ, the brain. Matter is not a product of mind, but mind itself is merely the highest product of matter. (6) Beyond this, for historical reasons which Engels explains in the passage following, Feuerbach was unable to go. We will go into more detail on the Marxist theory of knowledge further on. It is sufficient to note here that the relationship of matter to mind, which the French materialists could not adequately explain, is understood more easily when we consider that matter can be approached from two sides; that of philosophy and that of the physical sciences. Here we are concerned mainly with the philosophical concept of matter, which can be defined as ‘all that which exists outside of and independently of consciousness’. This is the fundamental materialist view of matter. The actual physical constitution of matter, its structure, the inter-relations of the atomic nucleus, the so-called elementary particles, positive and negative electricity, the interchangeability of particles with energy and radiation, are subjects for the physical sciences to study. Every day new discoveries in this field enlarge – and sometimes correct the scientific body of knowledge relating to it. But these discoveries do not alter the philosophical view, which considers the question ‘what is matter?’ within the framework of the specific relationship of matter and mind in the particular sphere of the theory of knowledge, epistemology. Nature, matter, is in a constant state of motion. Nothing is absolutely at rest, nor can it be. The real connection between matter and motion was unclear to former materialists. ‘And yet’, wrote Engels over a century ago, ‘it is simple enough. Motion is the mode of existence of matter. Never anywhere has there been matter without motion, nor can there be.’ (7) Motion in this sense is not only mechanical motion in space (or space-time) but all forms of change and development, growth and decay. Matter is in constant motion wherever man looks, both in the world and in the cosmos. Within every atom, electrons are spinning and orbiting a central nucleus, and every object, however infinitesimal, is either a moving particle or made up of moving particles, which can also have a dual character as particle and wave. Our world spins on its axis, rotates around the sun, while the whole solar system rotates around the galaxy, which, in turn, is part of a larger system of galaxies, all moving in a general process of expansion of the universe. The physics and mechanics to which we have just been referring are but two of the many forms of the motion of matter. Each of the major sciences is, in fact, a study of a basic form of the motion of matter; chemistry, plant and animal biology are other forms, while a still more complex form exists in the development of society. It is not difficult to see that all living things are in a state of growth or decay. It is more difficult to see things which appear quite stable undergoing change. A rock may seem to be quite unchanging. Nevertheless, it is being acted upon by sun, wind and rain (or condensation) which imperceptibly bring about changes. Thus it is that the earth itself has a history of billions of years in time, during which the rocks, land masses, and continents, seas, rivers, lakes and oceans, have all undergone countless changes and are still undergoing them. A lump of wood such as a table may keep its appearance for a long time but it, too, is subject to atmospheric and chemical changes which lead to its eventual decay. Thus when we examine the world of nature we find that change and development are universal, even though with some things change seems so slow that they appear to be at rest. But this rest is only relative to certain times when these same things undergo rapid changes. There is nothing whatsoever in the universe that is at absolute rest. There have been many attacks on philosophical materialism besides those which openly take the standpoint of religion or out-and-out idealism. Particularly, the question of the theory of knowledge is a focus of attack. There are those philosophers, among them Hume and Kant, and their more modern descendants, ‘who question the possibility of any cognition or at least of an exhaustive cognition of the world? The most telling refutation of this, as of all other philosophical crotchets is practice, namely, experiment and industry,’ (8.) writes Engels. Kant introduced the concept of ‘ungraspable’ things-in-themselves, that is, that there are classes of things beyond the capacity and ability of man to know. Engels answers this objection with the materialist line: ‘If we are able to prove the correctness of our conception of a natural process by making it ourselves, bringing it into being out of its conditions and making it serve our own purposes into the bargain, then there is an end to the Kantian ungraspable “thing-in-itself”‘. (9) He cites the chemical extraction from coal tar of the colouring matter of the madder root, alizarin, as one of the many similar cases, of once ‘ungraspable’ things-in-themselves which overnight became ‘things-for-us’. Of course, today there are thousands of substances existing in nature, whose chemical constituents – often very complex, as in the case of insulin – have been analysed and understood to the point of being synthesised by modern science and technology. There is nothing ungraspable now about many such processes which were in earlier times apparently unfathomable mysteries. The materialist viewpoint is this: there is nothing which is unknowable; only things which are not known. The development of human knowledge is, in fact, a constant process of transition of things-in-themselves into things-for-us. And indeed this is a central task of modern scientific, (i.e., Marxist-Leninist) epistemology, the explanation of the transition from ignorance to knowledge. For it is precisely this transition, this transformation, that is cognition. But there are things which can never be known to man, argued the founder of the philosophy of positivism, Auguste Comte, in the nineteenth century. Man can never know the composition of the stars, he claimed. Yet two years after his death in 1859 the spectroscope was invented and the chemical composition of the stars could be determined by the technique of spectral analysis, ever since a standard practice in astronomy. There is another type of attack along a different line but with the same intent. This is the agnostic viewpoint represented by Hume and carried down to modern positivism. Materialism holds that our senses give us reliable information on the objective world, that all our knowledge derives from information given to us by our sensations. To this latter point the agnostic of Hume’s tendency agrees. But then he questions whether our sensations can give us really accurate representations of objects. He denies that beyond the boundary of sensations there is anything certain. This is also the line of modern positivism of various shades. To the questions which the materialist answers: yes, we can know that either with our present level of knowledge or with further investigation, the positivist answers: we do not and cannot know the answer. Engels’ reply to this was; From the moment we turn to our own use these objects, according to the qualities we perceive in them, we put to an infallible test the correctness or otherwise of our sense-perceptions. If these perceptions have been wrong, then our estimate of the use to which an object can be turned must also be wrong, and our attempt must fail. But if we succeed in accomplishing our aim, if we find that the object does agree with our idea of it, and does answer the purpose we intended it for, then that is positive proof that our perceptions of it and of its qualities, so far, agree with reality outside ourselves. (10) Engels called agnosticism ‘shamefaced materialism’. The agnostic regards nature materialistically, but he adds that there is no way of knowing that there is or is not some sort of Supreme Being beyond the known universe. Even in Engels’ time the scientific knowledge of the universe was such that there was no room for any creator, particularly one shut out from the existing universe. Today that scientific knowledge has been enormously extended, and the concept of an evolutionary universe is still more thoroughly and unquestionably established. The materialistic view that our sense perceptions give us an accurate reflection of reality is fully borne out by all modern science. The human brain is constituted of matter organised in a particular way. It is matter that thinks. It is the repository of the sensory connections of man with the external world, as a result of which a variety of mental activities takes place. The sum of these activities: sensation, perception, conception, thought, feeling and will, make up consciousness. In our consciousness the material world is reflected. Thus, consciousness is a property of the brain, a reflection of being. Without a brain, this definite form of organised matter, there can be no thought, no consciousness. Hence, in the relationship of matter to consciousness, nature to spirit, matter is unquestionably primary. The conception that thought or consciousness can exist separately from the brain is the basis of the religious belief in the existence of a God, which holds that the material universe and all that it contains is simply a thought – or thoughts – in the mind or consciousness of an immaterial being. Of course, there is not the slightest tittle of evidence for such a belief. The only consciousness known to mankind is that which is a product of the brain. The more truly our consciousness reflects the material world, the more scientifically accurate is our knowledge of the latter. In today’s world reactionary idealists still attack materialism by smuggling into the theory of knowledge Humean agnosticism and the long-disproved Kantian ungraspable ‘thing-in-itself’ in new guises. Predominant among these is the ‘uncertainty principle’ of modern quantum mechanics. This holds that the velocity and position of particles such as the electron or light photon cannot be measured simultaneously because the very act of utilising a measuring instrument such as a beam of light would alter one or the other. Modern physics also recognises that such particles are actually twofold in character, appearing either as particle or wave according to the physical reaction taking place. Instead of recognising this ‘unity and struggle of opposites’ as a splendid example in nature of the fundamental correctness of dialectics, bourgeois philosophers immediately saw an opportunity of attacking materialism by asserting that the uncertainty principle proved wrong the dialectical materialist view that everything is knowable; there are only things that are not known. They assert the impossibility of knowing simultaneously the velocity and position of particles. But the fact is that the wave-particle duality can be reproduced in the laboratory in scientific experiments. Moreover, using statistical methods, both the velocity and position of particles can be determined with sufficient accuracy to enable man to turn them to practical use, showing that they are not unknowable ‘things-in-themselves’. The production of the electron tunnelling microscope which gives new possibilities of direct close-up study of atoms, makes use precisely of statistical methods of determining with great accuracy both the position and velocity of electrons; it is practical evidence that both these are knowable, though in a special statistical form based on probability. Dialectics Historically speaking, Marx and Engels became philosophical materialists before they united the dialectical method with materialism to form the integral world outlook of dialectical materialism. The world outlook of dialectical materialism incorporates materialist dialectics, a scientific theory of development. All things and processes are in a state of development, even though this may not always be evident to the naked eye. To say a thing is developing is to say that it is changing – either growing or decaying (and usually these processes go on simultaneously, as in biology). Human knowledge extends over three very broad fields: nature (the material world around us), society, and human thought. All of these are constantly in a state of development and change. Dialectics is unique in that it enables us to understand – and use – the general laws of change. Any science only becomes established when, through continued observation, collection and comparison of facts concerning its subject matter, and close study of these facts, regularly recurring features and essential, inner connections are revealed and, after testing in practice, become known as the laws of this science. So it is with dialectics, the study of motion, change and development. Engels defined dialectics as ‘the science of the general laws of motion, both of the external world and of human thought – two sets of laws which are identical in substance but differ in their expression in so far as the human mind can apply them consciously, while in nature and also up to now [1888. Author] for the most part in human history, these laws assert themselves unconsciously, in the form of external necessity, in the midst of an endless series of accidents. (11) The great value of materialist dialectics is that it enables us to understand things and processes in their actual movement and in their mutual interaction with other things around them. It teaches us to seek the basic cause of movement within things, and not outside them. It takes account not only of slow and gradual changes in things (evolutionary change) but also of sudden changes, leaps from one state to another (revolutionary change), and shows the connection between these two types of change. For instance, gradual decrease in the temperature of water leads to a point – nought degrees celsius – where a sudden change takes place to a new state, to a substance, ice, with quite different properties from those of water. Note that there is not a slow growth of an ever-thickening paste until the new substance, ice, is reached. What takes place is a leap to a new and different state. Similarly, gradual increase in the temperature of water leads to a sudden, not gradual, change at 100 degrees celsius to a new state, steam, again a substance with different properties from those of water. We will bring forward more examples (nature is full of them) as we deal further on with the laws of dialectics. Dialectics differs essentially from formal logic in that it deals with things and processes as they are in the real world, in a state of motion and development, not static and unchanging. ‘The great basic thought’, writes Engels, that ‘the world is not to be comprehended as a complex of ready-made things, but as a complex of processes, in which the things apparently stable no less than their mind images in our heads, the concepts, go through an uninterrupted change of coming into being and passing away ? this great fundamental thought has, especially since the time of Hegel, so thoroughly permeated ordinary consciousness that in this generality it is now scarcely ever contradicted’. (12) In his biographical essay, Karl Marx, Lenin points out that Hegelian dialectics as the most comprehensive, the most rich in content, and the most profound doctrine of development, was regarded by Marx and Engels as the greatest achievement of classical German philosophy. He writes: They considered every other formulation of the principle of development, of evolution, one-sided and poor in content, and distorting and mutilating the real course of development (which often proceeds by leaps, catastrophes and revolutions) in nature and society. (13) While Hegel developed the doctrine of dialectical development and formulated laws of dialectics, he presented them as laws of the movement of thought, and then in an upside-down way. He asserted that the motion and development of nature and society in the real world, only comes about as the result, the materialisation moment by moment, of the development of an all-embracing idea, which he called the Absolute Idea. This of course, is pure idealism, the view that matter is created by thought. Where the Absolute Idea came from Hegel neglects to mention. Unlike Hegel’s, Marx’s dialectics were materialist. Thus he writes in an Afterword to Capital: ‘My dialectic method is not only different from the Hegelian, but is its direct opposite.’ (14) Marx turned dialectics the right way up. He showed, in contrast to Hegel, that 1) the ideas of men arise from the material world around them, and 2) that real development proceeds from changes in the material world to changes in people’s ideas, and not vice-versa. These materialist views correspond with the modern scientific understanding of the world. The material world existed long before men and consequently long before ideas, which are wholly a product of a material organ, the human brain. Take for example the right to strike. Is it possible that such an idea could exist before there were people? The very notion is ludicrous. But further, a strike is the act of a group of wage workers who refuse to sell their labour power to a given employer at a given time. Such an act could not take place under slave society or feudalism because in those systems labour power was not commonly a commodity. The idea of the right to strike, therefore, can only come into existence on the basis of the material conditions of the wage workers under capitalism, the conditions of capitalist commodity production, where labour power is a commodity bought and sold on the market like any other, and where the workers, as the owners of this commodity, can withhold it from the market. Plainly, the material world gives rise to the idea and not vice-versa. The word ‘materialism’ is often used by bourgeois parsons and the press to denote the possession of material goods, gluttony, self-indulgence etc., in order to discredit the philosophical outlook of materialism. But the ‘gross’ materialism invented by the parsons is the province of capital, of the wealthy bourgeoisie, and by no means that of the adherents of the philosophy of dialectical materialism, whose aim is the liberation of mankind precisely from bourgeois rule, from the ideology of self-interest and ‘me first’, which objectively is served by just those who denounce ‘materialism’ with such loud and only too often, hypocritical voices. Metaphysics Materialist dialectics not only rejects all unscientific views on the relation of spirit to nature, of thinking to being. It also opposes the unscientific view that all things exist in separation from each other and are unchanging in all essentials. This outlook, called metaphysics, is part of the religious world view but is not limited to the church. French materialism was also metaphysical in its general outlook. Largely this was due to the limitations of the eighteenth century. Science was still relatively undeveloped, still in the stage of collection and observation of data. ‘But this method of work’, says Engels, ‘has also left us as legacy the habit of observing natural objects and processes in isolation, apart from their connection with the vast whole; of observing them in repose, not in motion …’ (15) The metaphysical mode of thought is directly opposed to that of dialectics. Thus, it held that new varieties of plants and animals could not emerge as a result of natural development. Religion still generally propagates this view in respect of the emergence of man, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence for human evolution from the animal kingdom. This comes not only from the study of fossils, palaeontology, but also from the science of molecular biology, which shows that the genetic makeup of man is almost identical with that of the chimpanzee. (98 per cent so, according to an article in Scientific American, 1997). Under the title of ‘creationism’, religion tries to cover its anti-scientific, metaphysical outlook – that all things are created by God for eternity – with a scientific-sounding name. The French philosopher, Robinet, (1735-1820) asserted that the adult person was the same as the embryo. The only difference was one of size. The embryo was supposed to contain in extreme miniature, all the various parts and organs of the fully grown organism, a metaphysical view of human biology. Modern metaphysics considers development simply as quantitative increase or decrease, refuses to recognise leaps and sudden changes, and particularly the notion that the source of development in things is internal contradiction, which we will consider in more depth shortly. It is not surprising that the ruling class makes use of metaphysics in various ways, not only in the role of religion. We find it in politics, in the role of reformism and revisionist advocacy of the gradual growing over of capitalism into socialism, the denial of the class struggle and the necessity of revolution. The Fabian Society in England (and after World War II in New Zealand) preached ‘the inevitability of gradualism’ in opposition to Marxism and in support of ‘Labour’ socialism, which meant in practice substituting class collaboration between workers and capitalists for class struggle between them, with the aim of making the workers simply an appendage of the capitalist class. The Laws of Dialectics So far we have given a general outline of the main aspects of philosophical materialism and of its opposition to philosophical idealism. We have also considered dialectics as a doctrine of development in opposition to metaphysics. When we come to the laws of dialectics which it is necessary to use in the practical work of changing society we find certain problems which can be confusing to those just coming to the subject. These concern certain differences in exposition, and also some errors, contained in, for instance, Stalin’s views. It is necessary to try to elucidate these differences and solve the problem of who and what is correct. First of all let us say that Marx and Engels, the founders of dialectical materialism, took over the three dialectical laws expounded by Hegel, utilised them in their work, and enlarged upon them from their materialist standpoint. These laws are stated in their classical form: 1) The law of the unity and struggle of opposites. 2) The law of the transformation of quantity into quality and vice-versa, and 3) The law of the negation of the negation. Set out baldly in this way, these laws may appear rather strange and hard to grasp. However, as we come to examine them we shall find that they have real meaning and can be understood and used. As we earlier noted, they express in a general way certain features common to the process of development (or motion, or change.) We will give a brief outline of each law, with examples, and then return to them in a different setting, taking into account new and different formulations used by both Stalin and Mao, and consider the nature and relative importance of these. LAW I: The law of the unity and struggle of opposites. (This can also be called the law of contradiction). This means that all things or processes develop and change as a result of the struggle of opposites (opposing tendencies or forces) within them. Whether in nature, society or human thought, all things or processes contain such opposites, or contradictions, and each side or aspect of each contradiction, while mutually exclusive of its opposing side or aspect, is interacting with or interdependent on the other. Thus they at the same time form a unity of opposites, inseparable from each other. A magnet has a north and south pole, which interact with each other, and though we may cut that magnet into two, four, eight or more parts, north and south poles will remain. The positively-charged nucleus of an atom is in contradiction with the negatively-charged electrons which orbit it. In living things we see life and death in indissoluble unity, as the contradictory processes of assimilation and dissimilation proceed within every cell. In capitalist society we find a basic contradiction between capital and labour, the capitalist class and the working class. Capital cannot exist in separation from its opposite labour, as long as capitalism lasts, for it depends on class exploitation for its existence. In the sphere of thought, we find a mental reflection of the contradictions in the objective world. This applies to the comprehension of both large and small phenomena, to the use of concepts which reflect struggle, change and development in society as well as nature. To understand why a massive object like the sun appears to be in a state of equilibrium, emitting life-giving heat over thousands of millions of years, man first had to understand both gravitation and nuclear reactions, for the emission of heat from the sun is explained by the contradiction between nuclear radiation and gravitation. What keeps the sun in a state of relative equilibrium is the process of nuclear reactions within the interior of the sun, a process of the conversion of hydrogen into helium, which results in radiation pressure streaming from the core to the outer layer. This process is counteracted (opposed) by gravitational pressure of the sun’s mass acting towards the sun’s centre, thus maintaining a stable condition – as long as the internal stock of hydrogen does not become too depleted. For it must be realised that, in the contradiction motion-equilibrium, motion is absolute, equilibrium relative. Eventually (though it will last a few billion years yet) the equilibrium will be disrupted, but motion will remain, only taking different forms. Many of our everyday words are actually concepts that arise from everyday existence on earth within ordinary space and time, and they lose their meaning except when taken together as opposed concepts. Thus, up-down; backwards-forwards; in-out; under-over; here-there and similar words denoting space relations only have significance as a unity of opposites. There is no up without down, no under without over etc. Similarly in relations of time: soon-late; now-then; always-never; often-seldom etc. Our ideas image the real world; only dialectics enables us to image it in its motion. It is the struggle between opposites within a thing that leads to its movement and development, up to the point where a new thing (or process) emerges and replaces that which existed before. The struggle between an egg shell and the growing embryo it shelters ends in the latter breaking the shell and emerging as a living chick, replacing the egg. The struggle between the positive and negative charges in a thundercloud lead to the emergence of a lightning flash, a new thing which solves the contradiction between the opposed charges. There are countless other examples which can be given. The reader will find many more in Engels’ books, ‘Anti-Duhring’ and ‘Dialectics of Nature’. LAW II: The law of the transformation of quantity into quality and vice-versa. We spoke before of water being transformed into steam or ice as a result of gradual increase or decrease in temperature, that is, in the quantity of heat in the water. This is a simple example of quantity being turned into quality at a certain point, both substances being qualitatively different from water. There are an infinite number of examples in nature. Every metal has a melting point where it becomes a liquid; every gas will become a liquid when subjected to a sufficient pressure; the addition of a single neutron may be sufficient to produce a qualitatively different substance, an isotope, from a given element. In society, before slavery becomes economically possible the productive forces must reach a certain minimum level enabling the slave to produce more than his own upkeep; similarly a certain quantity of capital must be accumulated before it becomes possible to employ a wage worker. A war cannot be won by a platoon. But by recruitment a platoon can grow to a battalion, a battalion to a division, and a division into an army capable of winning a war. Similarly, a gradual increase in revolutionary forces within a country can bring about a position of strength from a position of weakness and lead to a successful revolution such as took place in Russia and China, or a successful national liberation war such as took place in Viet Nam. The success of such revolutions in turn gives rise to a great growth in other revolutionary forces. Thus, not only is quantity transformed into quality, but quality is also transformed into quantity. Within the working-class Party the gradual accumulation of experience and of Marxist-Leninist understanding leads to improvement in the quality of its members and in the correctness of its policies. At a certain point this is transformed into an increase in numbers, until continued development of this kind leads to the point where the Party becomes the Party of the masses and is capable of successfully leading the socialist revolution. Every change of quality in a developing thing creates a new basis for quantitative increase. Changes in quality are themselves the result of gradual increase in the quantity or force of one opposite in a contradiction until a point is reached where a transformation to a new quality (a leap to a new state) takes place. LAW III: The negation of the negation This ‘third law’ of dialectics was formulated by Hegel as one of the three classical laws of dialectics. The content given it by Marx and Engels was, in essence, that of a repeated process of the new superseding the old, which is a basic feature of all development. This simply means that in the unfolding of the struggle of opposites in any contradiction, at a certain point a new state emerges, replacing or negating the former state, and in turn it itself becomes negated in further development, and so on. Thus the process appears as a ‘negation of the negation.’ This can more simply be called the supersession of the old by the new. What is new in a thing is the opposite to that which is old. Struggle takes place between these opposites, or ‘aspects’ of the contradiction, leading eventually to the dominance of the new over the old and the emergence of a new quality. Just as the chick supersedes the egg, further development sees the adult bird supersede the chick. In each case the new supersedes the old. Negation of a former state by a new state is a fundamental law of development. Geology is a multifold record of the replacement of one era by another. In biological development, both in plants and animals, innumerable new species have negated former species. Likewise, in society, new social systems arise as a result of development determined by society’s own laws of motion, each replacing a previous socio-economic formation; from primitive communism to slavery, to feudalism, to capitalism, to socialism (even though capitalism has been restored in formerly socialist countries). Because it is a natural feature of development, the negation of a particular state will carry with it features of the latter state. There will, in fact, be ‘an apparent return to the old,’ but the new thing that has developed will be on a new and higher level compared to what existed before. The above is how Marxists brought up on the works of Marx and Engels essentially understood the negation of the negation. It became one of the three ‘classical laws’ of dialectics taken from Hegel and expounded by Engels in his philosophical writings. But because this formulation was given to one of the classical laws, it does not mean that nothing more can or should be said about them. That would be against the very spirit of dialectics. As we shall see, Lenin, Stalin and Mao all said more about them. The question can be a confusing one for someone reading either Stalin or Mao on dialectics, then reading Marx, Engels or Lenin and finding different approaches, and in the case of Stalin and Mao a rejection of the negation of the negation. What is of the first importance is acquiring a basically correct content that is in line with the essence of the dialectical method. Hence this review of the classical laws as a starting point, as an aid to overcoming such confusion as may arise. In a section of Capital entitled ‘The So-Called Primitive Accumulation’, Marx gives a thoroughly-detailed, factual exposition of how the small-peasant, private property of the feudal era is seized from him by the burgeoning capitalist class in a lengthy historical process which turns the basis of production from being individual in character to being social in character. In the concluding chapter of this section, entitled ‘Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation’, he speaks of how mercilessly this ‘expropriation of the immediate producers’ was accomplished, and then proceeds to show how the action of the built-in laws of capitalism prepare the ground for the expropriation in turn of the capitalist class. While production under capitalism becomes ever more social, capital is concentrated into fewer hands, and at the same time the system of production organises and disciplines the working class so that they become the gravediggers of capitalism. After having shown how this process is accomplished in real life, in history, Marx sums up by saying: ‘Centralisation of the means of production and socialisation of labour at last reach a point where they become incompatible with their capitalist integument. this integument is burst asunder. The knell of capitalist private property sounds. The expropriators are expropriated’. The capitalist mode of appropriation, the result of the capitalist mode of production, produces capitalist private property. This is the first negation of individual private property, as founded on the labour of the proprietor. But capitalist production begets, with the inexorability of a law of Nature, its own negation. It is the negation of the negation. This does not re-establish private property for the producer, but gives him individual property based on the acquisitions of the capitalist era: i.e., on co-operation and the possession in common of the land and of the means of production. (16) Thus, after having spent fifty pages proving from history that one part of the process has partially occurred, and that a further part must occur in the future, Marx characterises this as a dialectical process, the negation of the negation. Bourgeois critics of Marx attacked him then and later with trying to ‘prove’ the inevitability of socialism through the ‘Hegelian Triad’. This latter was an expression to describe development of thought through three phases: a positive statement – thesis, its negative opposition – antithesis, resulting in a higher outcome, synthesis. This is similar in form to the negation of the negation. Engels pointed out in answer to such an attack from the anti-Marxist and would-be reformer of socialism, Herr Professor Duhring that Marx showed the inevitability of an ‘expropriation of the expropriators’ from a thorough investigation of the whole process of capitalism’s development. Having done that, he notes that it is a dialectical process, and that in all this there is not the slightest attempt by Marx to ‘prove’ anything by the negation of the negation. Speaking of his own dialectical method in contrast to Hegel’s, Marx quotes very favourably a review of Capital, which he published in the Afterword to the book’s second edition, and which he says gives an absolutely correct description of his method. In this description there is not a word about triads, only of Marx’s strictly scientific method of investigation which seeks out and discloses the special (historical) laws that regulate the origin, existence, development, and death of a given social organism and its replacement by a higher organism. Marx’s Method Marx goes on to say that his method is the ‘direct opposite’ of Hegel’s. According to Hegel the development of the idea, in conformity with the dialectical laws of the triad, determines the development of the real world. And it is only in that case, of course, that one can speak of the importance of the triads, of the incontrovertibility of the dialectical process. A Russian critic of Marx named Mikhailovsky also imitated Duhring in his criticism. Much of the foregoing is in fact a summary of Lenin’s scathing rebuttal of the former in What the Friends of the People Are. It must be remembered that in dissociating himself from Hegel’s method Marx says: ‘With me, on the contrary, the ideal is nothing else than the material world reflected by the human mind, and translated into forms of thought’, and he adds that ‘dialectic ? in its rational form ? includes in its comprehension and affirmative recognition of the existing state of things, at the same time also, the recognition of the negation of that state …’ (17) Thus, here we see that the matter can be (and actually is) treated as a contradiction between affirmation and negation, which is repeated in any lengthy process. This should be kept in mind when we come to Mao’s treatment of contradiction and the negation of the negation. At the risk of boring the reader we must spend yet a little more time on this because of the role assigned to the negation of the negation by both Stalin and Mao. Speaking of Mikhailovsky’s repetition of Duhring’s arguments, Lenin writes: Replying to Duhring, who had attacked Marx’s dialectics, Engels says that Marx never dreamed of ‘proving’ anything by means of Hegelian triads, that Marx only studied and investigated the real process, and that the sole criterion of theory recognised by him was its conformity to reality. If, however, it sometimes happened that the development of some particular social phenomenon fitted in with the Hegelian scheme, namely, thesis – negation – negation of the negation, there is nothing surprising about that, for it is no rare thing in nature at all ? It is clear to everybody that the main weight of Engels’ argument is that materialists must correctly and accurately depict the actual historical process, and that insistence on dialectics, the selection of examples to demonstrate the correctness of the triad is nothing but a relic of the Hegelianism out of which scientific socialism has grown, a relic of its manner of expression. (18.) Marx himself was a master at applying dialectical materialism, as any student of Capital would soon discover. He hoped to write an exposition of the subject, but his other work left him too little time. Thus the task of popularising Marxist philosophy (as well as some other aspects of Marxism, such as its analysis of scientific development) fell to Frederick Engels. There are several well-known works in which this is carried out, in particular, the popular general outline of Marxism, Socialism, Utopian and Scientific; Anti-Duhring, a polemical work against the self-proclaimed universal genius and socialist reformer, the book itself being subtitled: ‘Herr Eugen Duhring’s Revolution in Science’, part of which was rearranged to comprise Socialism, Utopian and Scientific; and Ludwig Feuerbach and the End [also translated as 'Outcome'] of Classical German Philosophy. Engels’ other main work on the subject, the Dialectics of Nature, is more specialised and directed towards demonstrating that, as he remarks elsewhere: ‘Nature is the proof of dialectics’. In addition, there are Marx’s own comments on dialectics and philosophy scattered throughout his writings, including his early works, with Engels; The Holy Family, and The German Ideology, and his early essays criticising Hegelian philosophy. However, for the most part, up to the time of Stalin, Marxists internationally undoubtedly acquired their knowledge of dialectical materialism through the above-mentioned works of Engels. Lenin was no exception. He defended both dialectical and historical materialism against bourgeois and petty-bourgeois critics of Marx and in practice applied the same dialectics used by Marx and Engels in a similar masterly way to them. Lenin was also very widely read in philosophy, being familiar with all the main trends in European philosophy (as his works show) and making a particular study of Hegel in order to deepen his understanding of dialectics. Lenin made vital practical and theoretical use of materialist dialectics. First, this was in the recognition of the necessity of building a party of a new type able to conduct revolutionary activity in the new conditions created by the development of monopoly capitalism. Second, in the theoretical and practical struggle against the Machian subjective idealist trend shown by a number of leading Party figures in the period following the defeat of the 1905 revolution. His book, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism is both a refutation of this trend (which is basically similar to the modern schools of positivism,) and at the same time is a profound exposition of Marxist philosophy in general and a further development of the Marxist theory of knowledge in particular. Lastly, this mastery of dialectics was shown in the development of a new theory of revolution, bringing Marxism into line with changes in the character of capitalism and the development of a new stage, imperialism. The correctness of his use of the Marxist dialectical method is shown by the triumph of the socialist revolution in Russia in November, 1917. Although what has just gone before may appear to be an historical digression, it has been necessary to show the basis of the materialist dialectics used by Marx and Engels and mainly expounded by Engels (who said in Ludwig Feuerbach that for years it had been his and Marx’s best working tool and their sharpest weapon). The ‘law of the negation of the negation’ played the least role in their methods. Primarily, they investigated things in their real historical development, motion and change, and because motion itself is a contradiction, they necessarily sought out the contradictions within things as the source of this development. This was the principal foundation of their method. Lenin, too; understood this. In a note in his Conspectus of Hegel’s ‘Science of Logic’ just after Hegel’s criticism of the Kantian ‘thing-in-itself’, he writes: Dialectics is the teaching which shows how Opposites can be and how they happen to be (how they become) identical, – under what conditions they are identical, becoming transformed into one another, – why the human mind should grasp these opposites not as dead, rigid, but as living, conditional, mobile, becoming transformed into one another. (19) Writing in his ‘Logic’ on the Law of Contradiction, Hegel notes: ‘Contradiction is the root of all movement and vitality and it is only insofar as it contains a Contradiction that anything moves and has impulse and activity’. (20) In various ways Hegel returns to and repeats this selfsame concept, and Lenin makes this penetrating comment: Movement and ‘self-movement’ (this NB! arbitrary (independent), spontaneous, internally-necessary movement), ‘change’, ‘movement and vitality’, ‘the principle of all self-movement’, ‘impulse’ (Trieb) to ‘movement’ and to ‘activity’ – the opposite to ‘dead Being’ – who would believe that this is the core of ‘Hegelianism,’ of abstract and abstruse (ponderous, absurd?) Hegelianism?? This core had to be discovered, understood, rescued, laid bare, refined, which is precisely what Marx and Engels did. 21 That is to say, the law of contradiction, the law of the unity and struggle of opposites was precisely the core of the dialectics of Marx and Engels. The phrase: ‘negation of the negation’, is included by Lenin in his description of Marx’s dialectics in his biographical essay, Karl Marx. But he does not single it out as a law, simply as a feature of development by stages: ‘A development that repeats, as it were, stages that have already been passed, but repeats them in a different way, on a higher basis (‘the negation of the negation’), a development, so to speak, that proceeds in spirals, not in a straight line’ (22) Lenin in his Philosophical Notebooks also gives emphasis to a statement by Hegel: ‘The negative is to an equal extent positive’ – negation is something definite, has a definite content, the inner contradictions lead to the replacement of the old content by a new, higher one. (23) Here again is the idea of the supersession of the old by the new, leading to a higher stage of development by negation of the old, the outcome of a contradiction between the old and the new which, as Marx indicated in the ‘Afterword’ to Capital, can be regarded as a new affirmation which is in contradiction with a new negation. In a sixteen-point summary of the elements of dialectics as a more detailed elaboration of a three-point summary by Hegel (See Conspectus of Hegel’s Science of Logic), Lenin again treats the ‘negation of the negation’ simply as a manifestation of the apparent return to the old – i.e., as a subordinate feature, not a law. In the same summary Lenin has a note in regard to the second ‘law’. In Point 9, speaking of contradiction (the first law), he says: 9) Not only the unity of opposites, but the transitions of every determination, quality, feature, side, property into every other [into its opposite?].’ And in regard to Law II, this is later bracketed with another contradiction as follows: (15) The struggle of content with form and conversely. The throwing off of the form, the transformation of the content. (16) The transition of quantity into quality and vice versa. ((15 and 16 are examples of 9)). (24) Thus from this we see that Lenin considered that what was previously regarded as a ‘classical law’, the transition of quantity into quality and vice versa, is in reality simply a particular form of contradiction. Lenin wrote that not empty, futile, sceptical negation ‘is characteristic and essential in dialectics – which undoubtedly contains the element ? of negation and indeed as its most important element – no, but negation as a moment [factor] of connection as a moment [factor] of development, retaining the positive … (25) Lenin thus clearly adhered to negation as an integral part of dialectics, but not as a basic law. What Lenin saw was that the essence of negation was the replacement – or supersession – of the old by the new, but that the positive content of the old is retained. This is true in the case of all development. Science has developed precisely in this way, with new and more correct concepts of natural processes replacing concepts formerly thought correct, in the light of the level of the scientific knowledge of the period. This does not mean uncritical acceptance of all the old. The former state of things is negated; that is the basic feature of the development. The retention of what may be positive and useful to the new is determined by the nature of the struggle between the opposites, the two main aspects of the contradiction. After the socialist revolution in Russia a petty-bourgeois intellectual trend grew up in the field of literature in particular and culture in general, to abolish all pre-existing culture and start creating – from scratch – a proletarian culture to replace it. Lenin fought vigorously against this trend, known as Proletcult. He wrote: ‘Only a precise knowledge and transformation of the culture created by the entire development of mankind will enable us to create a proletarian culture. The latter is not clutched out of thin air; it is not an invention of those who call themselves experts in proletarian culture. That is all nonsense. Proletarian culture must be the logical development of the store of knowledge mankind has accumulated under the yoke of capitalist, landowner and bureaucratic society.’ (26) It is in this sense that the negation of the former state of society retains what is useful and necessary to the new state. So far we have presented, in outline only, some of the main aspects of dialectical materialism as developed by Marx and Engels, and further deepened by Lenin. Stalin’s Views With the publication of Stalin’s essay Dialectical and Historical Materialism in 1938, the Communist movement internationally (though most probably not China) tended to make this the focal point of their study of the subject. This situation lasted until Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin in 1956 and the suppression of most of Stalin’s works. Even after this, many Communist parties regarded this pamphlet as the best short exposition of dialectical and historical materialism. Stalin’s essay, which was published in many different forms, including as a separate pamphlet, is divided into three sections: 1) Dialectics and the dialectical method – including the laws of dialectics; 2) Philosophical Materialism, which considered (a) the materiality of the world; (b) the materialist answer to the basic question of philosophy, namely that matter is primary, and thought or spirit secondary; and the knowability of the world, the non-existence of ‘ungraspable’ things-in-themselves, and the fact that the proof of the validity of our knowledge lies in human practice. 3) The third section of the pamphlet concerns historical materialism; the fact that social consciousness derives from and is based on social being; the relationship of the forces of production to the social relations of production; the fact that these relations form the economic basis of society on which is erected a corresponding legal, political and ideological superstructure; and the struggle between antagonistic classes which arises on the basis of the production relations of exploiters and exploited, with the eventual outcome of that struggle being the inevitable overthrow of the capitalist class and the establishment of socialism and communism. [Pamphlet I of the present series dealt separately with historical materialism. It could have followed the same pattern as Stalin's work, but did not because it would have meant dealing with the most abstract material in the study of Marxism-Leninism i.e., dialectics, at the outset, thus placing an obstacle in the way of learning for newcomers to theory.] Our assessment of Stalin’s pamphlet is as follows. Mainly, the work is intended to be a summary of the teachings of Marx and Engels on philosophy and its application to history, and it succeeds in this very well in respect of historical materialism, and not as well in respect of philosophical materialism. Superficially it would appear that there is little the matter with the section on dialectics, but unfortunately, this section contains serious shortcomings. The main one of these is that, while correctly pointing to the necessity of comprehending all things and processes in their real development, Stalin, enumerating four laws of dialectics, treats them as being all more or less equally important. But this is not the case, nor was it the method followed by Marx, Engels and Lenin, even though appearances may be against Engels. The law which they regarded as the most important and decisive for development is the law of contradiction. We have already demonstrated this in the preceding pages. It can be further shown by some quotations from Lenin’s short – but very profound article, culled from his from his Philosophical Notebooks entitled, in volume 38 of his Collected Works, On the Question of Dialectics (in the 12-volume Selected Works it is: On Dialectics.) It is plain from the contents of his ‘Notebooks’ that Lenin intended to write a work on dialectics, but lacked the time. The short article here referred to is a brief summing up of his studies. At the outset he says: The splitting of a single whole and the cognition of its contradictory parts is the essence (one of the essentials, one of the principal, if not the principal, characteristics or features) of dialectics. This is precisely how Hegel, too, puts the matter ? And further: The identity of opposites (it would be more correct to say their ‘unity’, – although the difference between the terms identity and unity is not particularly important here. In a certain sense both are correct) is the recognition (discovery) of the contradictory, mutually exclusive, opposite tendencies in all phenomena and processes of nature (including mind and society). The condition for the knowledge of all processes of the world in their ‘self-movement’, in their spontaneous development, in their real life, is a knowledge of them as a unity of opposites. Development is the ‘struggle’ of opposites. The two basic (or two possible? or two historically observable?) conceptions of development (evolution) are: development as decrease and increase, as repetition, and development as a unity of opposites? In the first conception of motion, self-movement, its driving force, its source, its motive, remains in the shade (or this source is made external – God, subject, etc.). The first conception is lifeless, pale and dry. The second is living. The second alone furnishes the key to the self-movement of everything existing; it alone furnishes the key to the leaps, to the break in continuity, to the transformation into the opposite, to the destruction of the old and the emergence of the new. The unity (coincidence, identity, equal action) of opposites is conditional, temporary, transitory, relative. The struggle of mutually exclusive opposites is absolute, just as development and motion are absolute. (27) What is perfectly plain from this quote is that the law of contradiction (the unity of opposites) is what enables one to understand the self-movement of things. Thus, materialist dialectics holds that the primary cause of movement and development is internal, arising from the contradiction within things, and not from some outside cause. Is this not also how Marx saw dialectical motion? What do we see in Capital, his main work That in his analysis of value, the latter is presented as having a twofold character, being comprised of use-value and exchange-value. Moreover, underlying the twofold character of value – and Marx was the first to recognise this and understand its importance – lay a twofold character of labour, in the form of concrete labour and abstract labour. I was the first to point out and examine critically this two-fold nature of the labour contained in commodities,” Marx wrote in Capital. And to emphasise just how important this contradictory character of labour was, he added in the next sentence: “As this point is the pivot on which a clear comprehension of Political Economy turns, we must go more into detail, (28.) which he proceeds to do. And further, he writes to Engels on the completion of the first volume of Capital: The best points in my book are: 1) the two-fold character of labour, according to whether it is expressed in use value or exchange value. (All understanding of the facts depends upon this.) (29) The dialectical method of studying a thing or process from all sides in order to disclose the internal contradictions which impel its development is apparent throughout Capital. In Lenin’s article On the Question of Dialectics already quoted, he later states: In his Capital, Marx first analyses the simplest, most ordinary and fundamental, most common and everyday relation of bourgeois (commodity) society, a relation encountered billions of times, viz. the exchange of commodities. In this very simple phenomenon (in this ‘cell’ of bourgeois society) analysis reveals all the contradictions (or the germs of all the contradictions) of modern society. The subsequent exposition shows us the development (both growth and movement) of these contradictions and of this society in the sum of its individual parts, from its beginning to its end. Such must also be the method of exposition (or study) of dialectics in general (for with Marx the dialectics of bourgeois society is only a particular case of dialectics). (30) In Lenin’s article On the Question of Dialectics we have a virtual programme for the further development of dialectics as a study of contradiction; a programme for the exposition of the basic character of contradiction, for the deepening of the understanding of contradiction as the basic cause of development, the internal cause of self-movement, and as a weapon of investigation into all processes and phenomena, into all aspects of society. This programme appears to have been missed by Stalin. For he makes only a brief summary of the law of contradiction in his pamphlet, the law is placed last in his exposition of dialectical laws, and it is not treated as the basic law. In his treatment of the dialectical method, Stalin expounds four laws. (1) The law of interconnection and interdependence of phenomena; (2) the law of continuous change and development through the supersession of the old by the new; (3) the law of the transition of quantity into quality and vice versa, and (4) the law of the unity and struggle of opposites. As can be seen, these laws differ from the three ‘classical’ laws, which make no mention of any law of interconnection, though certainly classical dialectics recognises the interconnectedness of phenomena, and is itself a logic of motion and development, in contradistinction to metaphysics. But the internal content of motion is, as we have seen, contradiction, and the interconnection of a given thing or process with surrounding phenomena is no less attributable to the development of contradictions. The ‘negation of the negation’ is not mentioned by Stalin. However, it must be said that in regard to change and development, he sees the content of this as the supersession of the old by the new, though he does not use this exact formulation. In connection with the transition of quantity into quality and vice versa, Stalin gives this the status of a distinct law of dialectics, a major law. This is the more surprising as, in spite of quoting from Lenin’s Philosophical Notebooks, he apparently completely misses Lenin’s view, contained in his (previously-quoted) 16-point summary of the dialectical method which figures prominently in the Notebooks, namely, that this law of transition is actually a particular case of contradiction. It is evident from his exposition that Stalin did not realise the overriding importance of the law of contradiction for dialectics and hence was bound to make errors in analysing things. Mao Tse-Tung’s Views It was Mao Tse-tung who understood Lenin’s programme for the further development of dialectics and carried it out in his brilliant essay On Contradiction. Besides the importance of contradiction, Lenin stressed in his article the significance of dialectics as a ‘theory of knowledge’ (the philosophical term for this is ‘epistemology’). Mao also gave this aspect of dialectics a masterly, short exposition (in which he developed it further) in another brilliant essay: On Practice. These two pamphlets, whose content is at once popular and profound, are an invaluable guide to the practical work of a Marxist-Leninist party or to any active worker in the class struggle. Before going on to look at these works of Mao, we said above that Stalin’s article did not succeed so well in its treatment of philosophical materialism. We refer here to Section 2 b), which treats of idealism, but only of subjective idealism. It entirely omits reference to the very common trends of objective idealism, which includes most major religions and as well, Hegel’s objective idealism. This is a notable omission, considering that the objective idealism of religion is by far the most commonly-held world view of the masses of workers and other toilers throughout the world. As to Engels, Lenin had the highest regard for his writings on dialectics, but he says in his previously-quoted article on the subject, that in regard to the cognition of the unity of opposites: This aspect of dialectics (e.g. in Plekhanov) usually receives inadequate attention: the identity of opposites is taken as the sum-total of examples (“for example, a seed,” “for example, primitive communism.” The same is true of Engels. But [with him] it is “in the interests of popularisation”) and not as a law of cognition (and as a law of the objective world). (31) What Lenin is pointing out is that Engels, while popularising dialectics and making a great contribution in doing so, nevertheless did not bring out the basic nature of the law of contradiction. Lenin puts things in perspective when he says: ‘Dialectics in the proper sense is the study of contradiction in the very essence of objects’ (32) Before proceeding to consider Mao’s exposition of the law of contradiction, let us refer back to the question of dialectical laws. In a Penguin Book entitled Mao Tse-tung Unrehearsed, there were published in 1974 (i.e., in Mao’s lifetime) a number of unofficial texts of important speeches and articles by Mao dated between 1956 and 1971. While a degree of circumspection in regard to these must be used in view of the fact that they are not authorised texts, it is possible to distinguish the authentic voice of Mao in much of the book. The following are two quotes regarding philosophy which have the ring of truth and do not contradict but are fully in line with, what Mao wrote in On Contradiction. The first, from a Talk on Questions of Philosophy on August 18, 1964, is as follows: Comrade Kang Sheng: ‘Could the Chairman say something about the three categories.’ [Author's note: this refers to the three dialectical laws]. [Mao]: Engels talked about the three categories, but as for me I don’t believe in two of those categories (The unity of opposites is the most basic law, the transformation of quality and quantity into one another is the unity of the opposites quality and quantity, and the negation of the negation does not exist at all.) The juxtaposition, on the same level, of the transformation of quality and quantity into one another, the negation of the negation, and the law of the unity of opposites is ‘triplism’, not monism. The most basic thing is the unity of opposites. The transformation of quality and quantity into one another is the unity of the opposites quality and quantity. There is no such thing as the negation of the negation. Affirmation, negation, affirmation, negation ? in the development of things, every link in the chain of events is both affirmation and negation. Slave-holding society negated primitive society, but with reference to feudal society it constituted, in turn, the affirmation. Feudal society constituted the negation in relation to slave-holding society, but it was in turn the affirmation with reference to capitalist society. Capitalist society was the negation in relation to feudal society but it is, in turn, the affirmation in relation to socialist society. (33) Once again, the reference to ‘affirmation and negation’ as a contradiction harks back to Lenin. Commenting on ‘negation’ in Hegel’s Logic, he says: ‘Scientific consideration demands the demonstration of difference, connection, transition. From assertion to negation – from negation to unity with the asserted – without this, dialectics becomes empty negation, a game, or scepsis. (34) The second quote of Mao’s, from a Speech at Hangchow, 21 December 1965, is as follows: ‘It used to be said that there were three great laws of dialectics, then Stalin said there were four. In my view there is only one basic law and that is the law of contradiction. Quality and quantity, positive and negative, external appearance and essence, content and form, necessity and freedom, possibility and reality etc., are all cases of the unity of opposites.’ (35) We must say here that in our opinion Mao’s view is the correct one. What was formerly expressed as three laws is more correctly expressed as one basic law. Lenin made it clear that the dialectics of Marx and Engels were fundamentally based on the law of contradiction, and his own statements show that he too regarded this law as fundamental. As we have already recorded, he specifically saw quantity and quality as a unity of opposites, while earlier, Marx had already expressed the contradiction: affirmation-negation. What is clear is that Mao had made a profound study of Lenin’s Philosophical Notebooks, and his short article On the Question of Dialectics, and his other writings on philosophy, and he had also absorbed the philosophical views of Marx and Engels. Thus, his own philosophical writings were fully in line with their basic views while making a further advance, and still further demystifying dialectics from the point of view of mass understanding. If Mao regarded dialectics from the point of view that there was only one basic law, and not three or four, the question arises: why did he not say so in On Contradiction? The fact is that at that time, although the Communist Party of China belonged to the Communist International, their experience of this organisation had taught them that it was utterly wrong on China. But still, the question was one of unity in the world Communist movement, of which Stalin was the undisputed leader. To have disputed Stalin’s four laws then would have had a disruptive effect on this unity at a time when the Soviet Union was the only socialist state in the world and a bastion of the international working class. Mao was able to write On Contradiction giving pride of place to one basic law but presenting it in a way that did not concretely criticise Stalin or the Soviet Union. It is plain from Mao’s own works and from the dialectics of the Chinese revolution that by 1938, when he wrote On Contradiction and On Practice Mao already had a deeper understanding of dialectical materialism than Stalin. Later, he wrote more on the subject, while still giving Stalin credit for his positive achievements. In a ‘Talk at a Conference of Party Committee Secretaries’ in January 1957, Mao noted that Marx, Engels and Lenin developed Marxism by wide study and by refuting ‘negative stuff’ and added: In this respect, Stalin was not as good. For instance, in his time, German classical idealist philosophy was described as reaction on the part of the German aristocracy to the French revolution. This conclusion totally negates German classical idealist philosophy. Stalin negated German military science, alleging that it was no longer of any use and that books by Clausewitz should no longer be read since the Germans had been defeated. [Author's note: Lenin, however, studied Clausewitz and used his definition of war]. Stalin had a fair amount of metaphysics in him,” adds Mao. “In the ‘History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Short Course,’ Stalin says that Marxist dialectics had four principal features. As the first feature he talks of the interconnection of things, as if all things happen to be interconnected for no reason at all. What then are the things that are interconnected? It is the two contradictory aspects of a thing that are interconnected. Everything has two contradictory aspects. As the fourth feature he talks of the internal contradiction in all things, but then he deals only with the struggle of opposites, without mentioning their unity. According to the basic law of dialectics, the unity of opposites, there is at once struggle and unity between the opposites, which are both mutually exclusive and interconnected and which under given conditions transform themselves into each other.” (36) Dialectics – A Practical Weapon Mao Tse-tung wrote four essays on philosophy: On Practice, On Contradiction, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, and Where Do Correct Ideas Come From. Together they constitute a basic means for approaching and solving problems that arise in the practical work of the Marxist-Leninist party. All of them repay close study, but particularly On Contradiction and On Practice, for they constitute a systematised approach to the understanding of dialectical materialism. What is presented here is only an introductory outline; to actually master these works requires the direct study of them. Perhaps a few remarks as to their origin may be useful. In the history of the Chinese revolution errors of both a right opportunist and left dogmatist nature were made by the Communist Party of China in its early history. Particularly damaging were the errors of a group of leaders who were left dogmatists and doctrinaires (led by Wang Ming) who had returned to China after a period of studying theory and the Soviet experience in the USSR, but who did not understand the different character and circumstances of the Chinese revolution. In China the first stage was that of a bourgeois-democratic (or new-democratic) and not a directly socialist, revolution. The latter had to be preceded by the former before it could hope to succeed. But the military and political line of the dogmatists consisted of copying the Soviet experience in a mechanical way, which resulted in heavy losses to the revolutionary forces. Their military line consisted of conducting, or demanding of others that they should conduct, city insurrections, irrespective of losses and repeated failures; and of always meeting Chiang Kai-shek’s better-armed and much bigger forces head on in frontal assaults. These tactics resulted in the forced abandonment, at great cost, of the successful large-scale Red Army bases in the South, built up under Mao’s leadership, and the consequent necessity of finding a new base in the far north. This had its outcome in the historic ‘Long March’. Up to nearly a half-way point in the march, at the township of Tsunyi, the Wang Ming-Comintern line still prevailed, and the revolutionary forces had been decimated. At their last gasp, they called an expanded Political Bureau meeting which changed the leadership, placing Mao at the head. From then on, the revolution never looked back. The Red Army succeeded in establishing a base at Yenan in the north. It was there that Mao wrote On Practice and On Contradiction to combat and correct the immensely harmful and erroneous trend of dogmatism and its offshoot, empiricism. However, in order to achieve this Mao had to sum up, systematise and develop further the Marxist-Leninist teachings on dialectical materialism in as popular a form as was possible. In doing this he made the Marxist method far more accessible to the masses than previously, no mean achievement. What follows here is simply in summary form. The originals must be studied for a proper grasp of the subject matter. The Law of Contradiction It is no disparagement to Lenin’s genius as a dialectician to observe that the actual enunciation of the law of contradiction as the basic law of dialectics was made by Mao. (Of course, as we have shown, the content of Lenin’s views points to precisely this conclusion). Mao makes his important statement in the opening sentence of his essay On Contradiction. It reads: The law of contradiction in things, that is, the law of the unity of opposites, is the most basic law in materialist dialectics. (37) Why is stating this as the basic law a step forward in Marxism-Leninism? Because in the study of Marxist philosophy it concentrates attention on what is primary and basic in the method of approach to dialectics. If one gives equal weight to each of the classical dialectical laws, then one can easily end up (as Plekhanov did, for instance) by merely quoting examples of their operation without actually penetrating to the essence of a problem and thereby also seeing what is necessary to solve it. Thus, to recognise and state the determining character of contradiction as the basic starting point of the dialectical method of investigation and study is a definite advance, a new contribution to Marxist-Leninist science, and a valuable aid to newcomers to its study. Mao points out that a variety of questions arise in connection with this law, and says: If we can become clear on all these problems, we shall arrive at a fundamental understanding of materialist dialectics. The problems are: the two world outlooks, the universality of contradiction, the particularity of contradiction, the principal contradiction and the principal aspect of a contradiction, the identity and struggle of the aspects of a contradiction, and the place of antagonism in contradiction. (38.) What Mao has to say on these problems constitutes the content of his essay. I. The Two World Outlooks These are the metaphysical and the dialectical materialist world outlooks. We have earlier given some explanation of these two outlooks. In connection with metaphysicians, Mao also says: They contend that a thing can only keep repeating itself as the same kind of thing and cannot change into anything different. In their opinion, capitalist exploitation, capitalist competition, the individualist ideology of capitalist society, and so on, can all be found in ancient slave society, or even in primitive society, and will exist forever unchanged. They ascribe the causes of social development to factors external to society, such as geography and climate. They search in an oversimplified way outside a thing for the causes of its development, and they deny the theory of materialist dialectics which holds that development arises from the contradictions inside a thing. Consequently they can explain neither the qualitative diversity of things, nor the phenomenon of one quality changing into another. (39) Mao points out that materialist dialectics holds that ‘Contradictoriness within a thing is the fundamental cause of its development, while its interrelations and interactions with other things are secondary causes ? It is evident that purely external causes cannot explain why things differ qualitatively and why one thing changes into another.’ (40) It is plain that vast changes have occurred in human society both East and West, though no change has occurred in either geography or climate. Though geography and climate are conditions for its development, human society changes much more rapidly than either because its internal contradictions are different from theirs. Here we must spend a moment on an important, in fact a vital, question which requires a further quote: Does materialist dialectics exclude external causes? Not at all. It holds that external causes are the condition of change and internal causes are the basis of change, and that external causes become operative through internal causes. In a suitable temperature an egg changes into a chicken, but no temperature can change a stone into a chicken, because each has a different basis. (41) Mao points out that the October revolution in Russia had an enormous international impact and that it exerted influence on changes in various countries. But these changes, as in China, were effected through the inner laws of development in these countries. In New Zealand, the big imperialist powers have influenced the development of New Zealand capitalist society. But their influence has been effected through the inner laws of development of New Zealand capitalism. What pushes forward the development of New Zealand capitalist society is the internal class struggle of workers against capitalists. The influence of imperialism is a secondary cause, and not a primary cause. New Zealand is a developed capitalist country with no feudal class relations. This means that it does not face a bourgeois-democratic or anti-imperialist stage in its revolution, but is in the stage of socialist revolution. For a long-time in the now thoroughly muddle-headed Communist Party of New Zealand the opportunist W.McAra tried to divert the Party (and largely succeeded) on to the erroneous path of a two-stage revolution. According to him, the external contradiction with imperialism was primary, and the internal class contradiction secondary. For him, New Zealand was a ‘third-world’ type country. Eventually his line was defeated, but it took far longer than it should have, precisely because of lack of understanding of this relationship between internal and external causes which Mao makes quite clear. This points the way to formulating a correct line for the development of the revolutionary cause in New Zealand. While not ignoring external causes and contradictions, a Marxist-Leninist party must seek out the main internal contradictions. Thus, Mao points out, ‘it can be seen that to lead the revolution to victory, a political party must depend on the correctness of its own political line and the solidity of its own organisation’. (42) In other words, it cannot expect or rely on socialism being brought to it from outside. It must be won as the result of internal class and revolutionary struggle. II. The Universality of Contradiction There are two sides to facets of this question. The first, that contradiction exists in all things and processes. We have already explained that this is in line with all scientific (i.e., valid, and not imagined, knowledge). Contradiction is universal because all things are developing, changing, and hence in motion. Motion itself, as Engels explained in Anti-Duhring, is a contradiction. A thing is in one place while it is already moving towards another. The only thing that does not change is the process of change itself. The other aspect of universality is that a thing or process is in motion while it exists as a specific unity of opposites. Thus a movement exists in the thing or process throughout its life, but when an existing thing or process ends, the former contradiction that moved and developed it gives way to new contradictions within the new thing, which undergoes its own development resulting from the new internal contradictions. III. The Particularity of Contradiction: In his analysis of this side of dialectics Mao broke entirely new theoretical ground. It was a necessary part of his systematic development of materialist dialectics, for it shows the basis of the errors of the dogmatists. (We are certainly not done with this anti-Marxist tendency, as is shown by the thoroughly dogmatist, one-sided and superficial viewpoint of the (now defunct) leader of the Albanian Party of Labour, Enver Hoxha who, not understanding the first thing about dialectics, attacked, slandered and criticised Mao’s works on the subject. More is said on this further on. Mao’s analysis of particularity studies, to begin with, several essential features of contradictions. 1) Each form of the motion of matter has its particularity. Each has a specific character which is determined by the particular nature of the contradiction within it. This particular contradiction constitutes the particular essence which distinguishes one thing from another. It is the internal cause or, as it may be called, the basis for the immense variety of things in the world. (43) Every form of the motion of matter has its own particular contradiction: The following examples are given by both Lenin and Mao: In mathematics: + and -. Differential and integral. In mechanics: action and reaction. In physics: positive and negative electricity. In chemistry: the combination and dissociation of atoms. In social science: the class struggle. There are, of course, many others. In war: Offence and defence, advance and retreat, victory and defeat. In biology: Assimilation and dissimilation. (It should be noted that major developments have taken place in the physical sciences and in biology since Lenin. For instance, we would have to add to physics the contradiction between the atomic nucleus and its electron shell and between the strong and electro-weak nuclear forces and between these forces and gravitation. Besides, there have been numerous sub-divisions of each of the sciences, of which physics is only one example, each subdivision having its own particularity of contradiction.) Particularity of contradiction is what distinguishes each science or sphere of knowledge. This holds true not only for nature but also for social and ideological phenomena. Every form of society, every form of ideology has its own particular contradiction and particular essence. (44) The study of the particular contradictions in each science is what enables one to be distinguished from another. It is useless trying to apply the laws of physics to mathematics, or the laws of biology to social science. (This latter has been done, and produced the extremely reactionary outlook of ‘social Darwinism’ as a basis for claims of racial superiority.) Social science studies the forces of production and the relations of production, classes and class struggle. (And, we must add, basis and superstructure). Philosophy studies materialism and idealism, the dialectical outlook and the metaphysical outlook. The study of the universality of contradiction enables us to understand the universal cause or basis for the movement and development of things. But studying particularity is necessary to enable us to differentiate between things and processes and leads us towards solving particular problems in a correct way. There are two processes in cognition: from the particular to the general and from the general to the particular. Man’s knowledge begins with getting to know the essence of many particulars, and on the basis of this knowledge he can proceed to generalise, finding the common essence of things. This done, he can utilise such generalised concepts to study new, concrete things, deepening the knowledge of both the particular and the general. Dogmatists do not follow this sequence of obtaining knowledge. They end up using rigid formulas applicable to all things at all times. Thus, Marx, Engels and Lenin had written nothing about a revolution proceeding by establishing military bases in the countryside and then surrounding and taking the cities with the aid of city insurrections. Nor had they spoken of protracted war as a necessary part of revolutionary strategy under specific conditions. In their time these forms of struggle were not on the agenda, for they were concerned mainly with developed, capitalist Europe. To the dogmatist Enver Hoxha therefore, only the formula of the Russian revolution could be applied to any revolutions. If they did not proceed according to this formula, they could not be genuine socialist revolutions. In spite of this, the Chinese revolution did not proceed according to Hoxha’s metaphysical formula, yet it succeeded. Hoxha asserts that it was never a socialist revolution. And yet Stalin, who was claimed by Hoxha to have made no mistakes, called China a socialist country in his Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR in 1952. In fact, Hoxha drew most of his lines of attack on Mao from the Russian revisionists, thereby showing that dogmatism and revisionism can turn into each other. What is necessary to avoid falling into dogmatism is the study of the particularity of contradiction. But there are also other aspects to this side of matters. 2) When we are dealing with different forms of the motion of matter, we start from the fact that each process of real development is qualitatively different. Thus, each will have its own particular contradiction. Here Mao makes the following very important observation: Qualitatively different contradictions can only be resolved by qualitatively different methods. For instance, the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is resolved by the method of socialist revolution; the contradiction between the great masses of the people and the feudal system is resolved by the method of democratic revolution; the contradiction between the colonies and imperialism is resolved by the method of national revolutionary war; the contradiction between the working class and the peasant class in socialist society is resolved by the method of collectivisation in agriculture; contradiction within the Communist Party is resolved by the method of criticism and self-criticism; the contradiction between society and nature is resolved by the method of developing the productive forces. (45) 3) To understand what contradictions exist in any major thing is vital. But each contradiction has its own opposites (or aspects) which must be studied, because the understanding of each contradiction depends on understanding the mutual struggle and interdependence of each aspect. These aspects must each be analysed and studied. This is basically what Lenin meant when he emphasised that the most essential thing in Marxism, the living soul of Marxism, is the concrete analysis of concrete conditions. (46) The substitution of stereotypes for study of a thing in its real development is characteristic of dogmatism. For instance, people who imagine that a revolution in New Zealand would follow exactly the same path as either the Russian or Chinese revolutions are mechanically transferring stereotypes to conditions which are quite different from either Russia or China. What is basic and common is that there is a bourgeoisie and a proletariat. But we have no feudalism in New Zealand; it has been a capitalist country from the European settlement. There are a variety of contradictions besides that of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. There is the contradiction between the monopolist and non-monopolist bourgeoisie; the contradiction between workers and sections of the petty bourgeoisie including small farmers, and the contradiction between the ruling capitalist class and the oppressed nationalities of the Maori people and the Pacific Islanders. To solve problems of the New Zealand revolution the particular nature of each contradiction and each aspect of each contradiction must be studied, so that the entire ensemble of contradictions may be understood in their interconnection, and correct policies adopted for their solution. Following Lenin, Mao castigated people who were subjective, one-sided and superficial. That is, they did not take an objective view of each contradiction, of the concrete conditions in which each aspect develops. They d
Heroes, villains, legends … the folklore of America features all of this and more. In this volume you will find pirates and soldiers, lumberjacks and steel drivers, mountain men and lawmen, cowboys, Indians, inventors, and eccentrics. All of whom are just waiting to be included in your roleplaying game campaign! And don’t let the time period fool you, just because these characters existed in the 18th and 19th Centuries, doesn't mean you can’t use them in your pulp, superhero, fantasy, or even science fiction campaigns! After all, these characters are Larger Than Life! "So, Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Pecos Bill, Davy Crockett, and Annie Oakley walk into a bar..." "Sure, that's impressive, but let me tell you about that time that I..." Larger Than Life features 20 archetypes, ranging from Blackbeard the Pirate to the man who invented the 20th Century: Nikola Tesla. In addition, there are a total of 24 full character sheets, each with a detailed history and description of the character in question. But that’s not all! You also get over 124 biographies of other people related to each archetype, as well as six famous ocean-going ships, famous outlaw gangs, Paul Bunyan’s entire logging gang, and innumerable other historical tidbits. Each archetype also comes with at least one template, allowing you to build your own version of that archetype. So what are you waiting for? Dive in and start discovering those tidbits of American history you never new existed. But watch your step, because after all, these characters are… Larger Than Life!
Enter The 36 Chambers said: They needed to clear this shit up weeks ago. People still think Xbox One cant play used games ffs. I think the damage is already done. Click to expand... The Xbox One (initially) not playing used games was broadcast on practically every gaming news sites and most regular news sites. It was one of the main things people took away from that initial presentation and was one of the main reasons Sony dominated so hard when E3/November arrived.The Switch potentially having online features be done by a mobile isn't anywhere near as known, literally all that was said about online in the presentation was that it would be paid in Fall. The information about the online people will actually take to heart will be info that comes out in advertising or the likely UI/system Direct before launch. The only people who know/care are people on GAF who, mostly, are well informed enough to know exact details.
A Polish magazine has sparked anger after publishing a front cover image depicting a white woman being molested by a group of dark-skinned men. The far-right weekly wSieci (Network) mocked up the picture to illustrate an issue dedicated to discussing the rape and sexual assault of women by migrants across Europe. It shows a half-naked blonde woman, who is wrapped in the flag of Europe, screaming as she is groped by six hands next to the headline: 'Islamic Rape of Europe'. Scroll down for video Shocking: Polish far-right has featured this image on its front cover depicting a white woman wrapped in a flag of Europe being molested for an edition addressing rape and sexual assault by migrants entering Europe The image has sparked outrage after it was shared online. Media expert Henk van Ess said: 'Sick cover from a big Polish magazine – is deliberately arousing public fear.' Bartosz wrote: 'This s* embarrasses me as a Pole. 'It doesn’t matter that wSieci is a far right tabloid... this s* is unacceptable.' However, other users welcomed the magazine's stance, saying it would open up the debate on the migrant crisis. Account named IsHillaryInJailYet said: 'Polish magazine wSieci writes about the refugee rape culture in Germany. Finally people are talking about this.' Twitter users Henk van Ess and Bartosz (above) have condemned the front cover as 'sick' and 'unacceptable' Other users welcomed the magazine's stance, saying it would open up the debate on the migrant crisis The edition features hard-hitting articles titled 'Does Europe want to commit suicide?' and 'The Hell of Europe', it was reported by Breitbart. In its preview, the magazine says: 'In the new issue of the weekly Network, a report about what the media and Brussels elite are hiding from the citizens of the European Union.' Its main feature goes on to accuse the authorities of allowing sex assaults by migrants to escalate well before they were brought into the spotlight by events in Cologne on New Year's Eve when hundreds of women reported being attacked. In the article, Aleksandra Rybinska writes: 'The people of old Europe after the events of New Year’s Eve in Cologne painfully realised the problems arising from the massive influx of immigrants. 'The first signs that things were going wrong, however, were there a lot earlier. 'They were still ignored or were minimised in significance in the name of tolerance and political correctness.' The magazine accuses the authorities of turning a blind eye to the sex attacks by migrants including hundreds of reported cases in Cologne on New Year's Eve (above) 'in the name of tolerance and political correctness' Earlier this week, prosecutors said most of the suspects identified in connection with the robberies and sexual assaults in Cologne were refugees. The crimes, described as unprecedented by authorities, sparked uproar in Germany and a heated debate about the country's ability to integrate almost 1.1 million people who sought asylum there last year. Cologne prosecutor Ulrich Bremer said 73 suspects have been identified so far - most of them from North Africa. A total of 1,075 criminal complaints have been filed, including 467 alleging crimes of a sexual nature ranging from insults to rape.
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Saturday accused Russia of endangering world order, citing its incursions in Ukraine and loose talk about nuclear weapons, and said the U.S. defense establishment is searching for creative ways to deter Russian aggression and protect U.S. allies. Carter also expressed concern about China's expanding influence and growing military might, but he reserved his stronger words for Russia in his remarks to the Reagan National Defense Forum. National security experts and defense officials attended the gathering at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Carter said Russia is undertaking "challenging activities" at sea, in the air, in space and in cyberspace. "Most disturbing, Moscow's nuclear saber-rattling raises questions about Russian leaders' commitment to strategic stability, their respect for norms against the use of nuclear weapons, and whether they respect the profound caution nuclear-age leaders showed with regard to the brandishing of nuclear weapons," he said. His remarks were perhaps the strongest he has expressed about America's former Cold War foe. "We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia," he said. "We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake; the United States will defend our interests, our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all." The backdrop to Carter's remarks is the reality that after more than two decades of dominating great-power relations, the United States is seeing Russia reassert itself and China expand its military influence beyond its own shores. Together these trends are testing American preeminence and its stewardship of the world order. Carter, returning from eight days of travel in Asia, cited several pillars of the international order that he argued should be defended and strengthened: peaceful resolution of disputes, freedom from coercion, respect for state sovereignty, and freedom of navigation. "Some actors appear intent on eroding these principles and undercutting the international order that helps enforce them," he said. "Terror elements like ISIL, of course, stand entirely opposed to our values. But other challenges are more complicated, and given their size and capabilities, potentially more damaging." "Of course, neither Russia nor China can overturn that order," he said. "But both present different challenges for it." He accused Russia of stirring trouble in Europe and the Middle East. "In Europe, Russia has been violating sovereignty in Ukraine and Georgia and actively trying to intimidate the Baltic states," he said. "Meanwhile, in Syria, Russia is throwing gasoline on an already dangerous fire, prolonging a civil war that fuels the very extremism Russia claims to oppose." Carter made clear that Russia is at the forefront of Washington's concern about evolving security threats. "We are adapting our operational posture and contingency plans as we - on our own and with allies - work to deter Russia's aggression, and to help reduce the vulnerability of allies and partners," he said. Russia under President Vladimir Putin is challenging the U.S. in many arenas, including the Arctic, where last year Moscow said it was reopening 10 former Soviet-era military bases along the Arctic seaboard that were closed after the Cold War ended in 1991. Russia also is flying more long-range air patrols off U.S. shores. Carter left open the possibility that Russia's role in Syria could evolve into one the U.S. can embrace. "It is possible - we'll see - Russia may play a constructive role in resolving the civil war," he said. In a question-and-answer session with his audience, Carter said he believes Putin "hasn't thought through very thoroughly" his objectives in Syria. He called the Russian approach there "way off track." In his speech, Carter said the U.S. will take a balanced approach by working with Moscow when productive and appropriate. As Russia makes what Carter characterized as threatening statements about its potential use of nuclear weapons, the U.S. is modernizing its entire nuclear arsenal — not only the submarines, bomber aircraft and land-based missiles that are armed with long-range nuclear weapons, but also the weapons themselves. "We're investing in the technologies that are most relevant to Russia's provocations, such as new unmanned systems, a new long-range bomber, and innovation in technologies like the electromagnetic railgun, lasers and new systems for electronic warfare, space and cyberspace, including a few surprising ones I really can't describe here," he said. Carter said China is the single most influential player in Asia's future, and he noted that earlier this week he went aboard an American aircraft carrier in the South China Sea to demonstrate U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation. The U.S. objects to China's claims of territorial limits around disputed artificial islands there. "As a rising power, it's to be expected that China will have growing ambitions and a modernizing military," he said. "But how China behaves will be the true test of its commitment to peace and security." He said the U.S. has been shifting its focus toward the Asia-Pacific, including sending its best naval and other military weapons, ships and equipment to that region. "We are also changing fundamentally our operational plans and approaches to deter aggression, fulfill our statutory obligations to Taiwan, defend allies, and prepare for a wider range of contingencies in the region than we have traditionally," he said.
Left-back signs a new long-term contract with Derby County. Derby County’s Scotland international left-back Craig Forsyth has this afternoon put pen-to-paper on a new four-year deal with the Club. The former Dundee defender has penned fresh terms after a consistent 2013/14 campaign in which he played in every single one of the Rams’ fixtures. Having agreed a new deal, he will now remain with the Rams until the summer of 2018, following in the footsteps of Jeff Hendrick who yesterday signed a new deal with the Club. Head Coach Steve McClaren commented: “We’re very pleased that Craig Forsyth sees his long-term future with Derby County. “Off the back of Jeff Hendrick penning a new deal on Thursday we’re pleased that another key member of last season’s team has committed their future to the Club. “Craig has worked hard at his game and that was evident in his performances, especially in the second half of last season, as he played a key role at both ends of the pitch.” Forsyth initially joined the Rams on loan from fellow Sky Bet Championship side Watford in March 2013 and made his debut in the 1-1 draw with Cardiff City. However, by his third game for the Rams – a 2-1 victory over Leicester City - Forsyth was deployed at left-back and marked his first appearance in the back four with an assist for the winning goal as he crossed for Chris Martin. The Scotsman’s loan spell in the East Midlands was cut short as he was recalled by his parent club following 10 appearances for the Rams, but he was back with Derby in the summer of 2013, signing a three-year contract after an undisclosed fee had been agreed between the two clubs. He went on to make 53 appearances for the Rams during the 2013/14 season, scoring his first goal for the Club in the 2-2 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew’s in February. The full-back’s ever-presence and consistent performances led to international honours, as Forsyth was named in Gordon Strachan’s Scotland squad for their international friendly with Nigeria at Fulham’s Craven Cottage last month. Both Martin and Forsyth were brought off the bench by Strachan in their natural positions in the 2-2 draw and showed glimpses of the form that earned them in a place on the international stage, as 25-goal striker Martin was introduced into the action as a half-time substitute while left-back Forsyth entered the fray after 77 minutes. Tweets by @ dcfcofficial
The situation:We revert back to Week 9 for this week’s Vikings Rewind. Down 10-0 to Washington with 42 seconds left in the first half, the Vikings face a 3rd and 6 and Washington's 20. The reason:It was a drive that started at Washington's 46 following cornerback Captain Munnerlyn's interception with 1:04 left. Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had a good 22-yard gain to wide receiver Greg Jennings on the first drive, but the offense moved four yards in two plays to set up the third down situation. The result:Bridgewater connected with tight end Chase Ford on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds left before halftime to cut the deficit down to a possession. How it happened: Washington showed blitz before the snap, stacking seven in the box, which prompted Bridgewater to change up the play. With four wide split in the shotgun formation, and Ford lined up in the slot to the left, Bridgewater communicated a last second change based on a possible blitz. Washington ends up sending four in what appears to be a Cover 3 (see here for what a Cover 3 looks like) with two linebackers (circled in red) dropping back right at the first down marker. Ford (circled in blue) ran about a 10-12 yard corner route that would’ve gotten a first down, but Bridgewater saw an open hole in the end zone. Washington cornerback David Amerson was out of position attempting to jump wide receiver Adam Thielen’s post route (circled in black), and he collided with Thielen right as he made his break. With the safety playing underneath Ford, it created that wide gap (circled in yellow) in the corner of the endzone. How did Bridgewater and Ford get on the same page to improv the route? Bridgewater simply just pointed and Ford said he knew what Bridgewater meant. “I ran the route, Teddy made a good adjustment seeing the open hole in the endzone and threw it up there,” Ford said. “It was really all Teddy. It was a good throw. I just adjusted to it.” What’s even more impressive about the play was Bridgewater could see defensive end Jason Hatcher getting around left tackle Matt Kalil. His time was limited to get that throw off, but Bridgewater looked unfazed as if he was out in the playground designing routes on the fly. “He’s poised man,” wide receiver Charles Johnson said of Bridgewater in two-minute situations. “He’s super poised, very confident. He’s a veteran in a rookie body. Just the way he handles himself and how he orchestrates an offense, he don’t look frightened ever. He can mess up and still be the same ol’ Teddy.” Ford said after the game he was even surprised by how easy his first career touchdown catch was, and that was due to a pass from Bridgewater that only Ford would’ve snagged on the play. “Teddy's a good quarterback,” Ford said. “He's 22 years old but you couldn't tell unless somebody told you. He's poised in the pocket, does a great job and gets better every week and that's what we need.” Bridgewater had just failed to convert on 4th and 2 before Munnerlyn’s interception. He made a poor decision floating a ball out of bounds when he could’ve ran for the first down, but Bridgewater came back and sparked the offense on this drive right before halftime. He looked more comfortable during the second half as well, and I’m sure that drive had a lot to do with his improved play later in the game. Bridgewater in the final two minutes of the half is 26 of 40 for 305 yards with one touchdown, one interception and an 85.9 quarterback rating. For a rookie, that’s very impressive given the challenges created under two minutes, which might be the toughest situation a quarterback faces during a game. “It’s hectic for me as an offensive lineman, but I could only imagine for [Bridgewater] it’s got to be even more hectic,” right tackle Phil Loadholt said. “He’s got to get everyone lined up, get the play in his ear, communicate to us, communicate to the receivers. The fact that he’s such a young guy and he’s handling those moments, that’s very encouraging.”
There are 30 seconds left in the game, and your team is up a goal. You need to ensure that the final wave of attacking forwards are kept off of the scoreboard, deterring them from those prime scoring areas where goals are frequently scored. What kind of defenceman are you putting on the ice? Zdeno Chara (especially in his heyday) makes an awful lot of sense. Very few can get by Chara successfully. He’s a freakish combination of size, power, and mobility, and has a knack for forcing forwards into areas of the ice where they’re less comfortable. But, you don’t have to possess Zdeno Chara’s skill set and physical attributes to get the job done. There’s more than one way to protect a lead late. Offensive defencemen, for example, may be able to deter attacking forwards from those sweet spots on the ice by simply preserving possession of the puck. If your team is in the offensive zone and in control of the play, it’s impossible to concede a shot and goal. Analyzing competency in this area is difficult for this very reason. We often observe the punishing hits dished out by guys like Chara, who has more than earned his reputation as one of the league’s best defenders. But we often fail to observe the steady offensive-minded defenders’ contributions in the same capacity. This type of player may not be mercilessly separating an attacking forward from the puck as he crosses into the neutral zone, but that’s because he doesn’t have to – his team has the puck, and they’re in the attacking end. So, which players succeed at keeping guys from getting into these premier scoring areas? Which players fail? Thankfully, it’s a relatively easy question to answer. The NHL has provided shot coordinate data for years, which is easily scrapable. War on Ice has already done the leg work for historical shooting percentages in the defensive zone (properly identifying “danger areas”), as well as league averages. For the purposes of this analysis, we’ll focus on two danger areas – in and around the crease (the horizontal axis, where ‘0’ would indicate that the player gave up just as many shots as the league average), and the ‘slot’ (the vertical axis, where ‘0’ again indicates that the player gave up just as many shots as the league average). We’ll pull each player’s average shots/60 conceded from these areas and compare them to league norms. It’ll give us a feel for what players have been the most successful in driving guys out of these areas, regardless of how they’re accomplishing this feat. (The analysis will only include defenders with 1600+ minutes over the last two seasons and 120 GP). Where does your preferred defender sit? Click Image to Enlarge The top-right and bottom-left quadrants are really the ones of interest here. The top-right quadrant contains the guys who have leaked more shots from near-the-crease area and slot area than the league average. The bottom-left quadrant contains the opposite – guys who have successfully deterred shots from near-the-crease and slot areas relative to the league averages. Let’s start with the top-right section. Quick sanity check: most of these names are guys you wouldn’t in a million years want on the ice for a high -leverage shift. Andrew MacDonald and Dennis Wideman are two of the worst performers here, which I’d submit falls right in line with what we have qualitatively observed for years now. MacDonald gives up about 1.5 more shots per 60 near the crease than the league average. Wideman gives up about two shots per game more from the slot than the league average. If you’re trying to figure out where it went south for these guys defensively over the years, you can probably start here. Forwards live in front of their goaltender. One of the big surprises (to me anyway) in this “bad” group is New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh. Despite my objections (and double and triple checking to ensure the data is accurate), McDonagh has leaked quality shots against two years in a row – though, even over that stretch, he still pales in comparison to teammate Dan Girardi. Oh, and Alex Pietrangelo. We have talked about his shaky underlying numbers before. Consider this another data point against him. Lastly, it’s impossible not to notice how many “defensive defencemen” – by reputation only – sit in this quadrant. Brooks Orpik, Girardi, Roman Polak, and Dion Phaneuf are just four of many names in this list who are oft-regarded as shutdown defenders. By the number of shots they concede from these dangerous scoring areas, the reputation appears undeserved. Now let’s look at the bottom-left quadrant, where our plus-plus defenders sit. It is no surprise to see the likes of Chara, Duncan Keith, P.K. Subban, and Mark Giordano in here. I asked at the beginning of this post what defender you’d have out on the ice in such a key situation. I’m guessing many of you responded with one of these names. If you did, pat yourself on the back! Just as interesting are the three defenders who, at least in the last two years, have exceeded those three elite defenders in limiting forwards from shots near-the-crease or the slot. Ottawa’s Marc Methot is one of those guys. No defender has been better at preventing shots near the crease than Methot in the last two seasons (1.4 less than the league average, per 60), and he’s been just as adept at keeping shots out of the also dangerous slot area. Erik Karlsson gets an awful lot of credit for the dominance of Ottawa’s first pairing, but Methot is an instrumental complement. To the extent that Karlsson’s firewagon brand of hockey temporarily fails, Methot’s become the ultimate bailout package – the guy who can settle things down and cover for his partner. The graph also shows what Bob Hartley already knows and Mike Babcock is going to quickly learn. They’re in possession of monstrously underrated defenders in T.J. Brodie and Jake Gardiner, respectively. Again, I think this speaks to how defencemen can be effective in myriad ways. Brodie and Gardiner are giving up 40 pounds to a similarly-strong defender in Methot, and yet they’re able to shut the door to these quality chance areas in the same manner. The Takeaway This analysis is just one look at how defenders of different sizes and skill sets can impact the game on the defensive end. In today’s NHL, height and weight is just one of many components. Defenders without Zdeno Chara size may not be Zdeno Chara, but they can still develop into one hell of a defenceman.
An imam who sexually touched four young girls during Koran lessons at a mosque has been jailed for 13 years. An imam who sexually touched four young girls during Koran lessons at a mosque has been jailed for 13 years. Imam jailed for 13 years after sexually abusing girls during Koran lessons in mosque Mohammed Haji Saddique, 81, would call the pupils to sit next to him and read in Arabic from the Muslim holy book. He sexually touched the girls in front of his class and slapped students repeatedly if they made mistakes during lessons. Cardiff Crown Court heard Saddique - of Cyncoed, Cardiff - had metal and wooden sticks, which he used to poke the children as they studied. Saddique, who taught at the Madina Mosque in Cardiff for more than 30 years, was convicted of the offences following a trial. A jury found him guilty of 14 offences - six indecent assaults and eight sexual assaults - that took place between 1996 and 2006. Judge Stephen Hopkins QC jailed Saddique for 13 years and ordered him to register as a sex offender indefinitely. "All four complainants were very brave indeed in overcoming not only personal but cultural barriers which they faced in making formal complaints and giving evidence against you," the judge said. "There is a darker, deviant side to you which this trial has exposed. This was a gross breach of trust - parents sending their young, female children to be taught the Koran by you." Saddique, who insisted the allegations were a conspiracy by other members of the mosque, has "no idea" of the harm caused by his actions, the judge said. The court heard Saddique was born in Hong Kong and moved to Pakistan before coming to the UK in 1967, eventually settling in Cardiff. He was a member of the Madina Mosque and was involved in running it, including as a treasurer and teaching Koran studies to primary school pupils. Classes took place four times per week after school and pupils referred to the imam as 'Uncle Saddique' as a mark of respect, the court heard. "You would attempt to maintain discipline and concentration by tapping or slapping the child sitting next to you who didn't read correctly," the judge said. "Every time one of these small children made a mistake you would slap them until they got it right and slap them for every mistake they made." Police first launched an investigation in 2006 following complaints by two girls but Saddique denied any wrongdoing. The investigation was restarted in 2016 after two other girls came forward. Saddique would touch the girls under their traditional loose-fitting clothing during his lessons, and rub them against his groin and legs. In victim impact statements read to the court, the girls, now in their 20s, spoke of the lasting impact of Saddique's offending. Speaking of one, the judge said: "It has put her off religion, she deliberately doesn't own a Koran. "[For her] the ethos of going to the mosque at any time is that when you are there, God is protecting you. "Her idea was shattered because you abused her when she was reading from the holy book." Another victim said giving evidence went against "the culture and ethos of those who follow the Islamic faith" and she feared there would be consequences for Saddique's conviction. Representing Saddique, Caroline Rees described her client as a "frail and unwell" great-grandfather who was held in high esteem by his family and community. "This is a man of 81 whose life expectancy is not good given his health and age," she added. The judge also made Saddique the subject of a sexual harm prevention order. Detective Chief Inspector Rob Cronick, of South Wales Police, said: "As a result of the verdict and today's sentence I believe there may be members of the community who may now feel confident enough to speak to the police or our support agencies." He urged anyone affected to call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, or the force on 101 quoting reference number 1600442164. Online Editors
It was announced early this week that the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet will be released on February 9. The Surface Pro will be available for purchase from Microsoft, Best Buy and Staples stores, both online and off, on that date. In the official Microsoft blog post about the February 9 launch, Panos Panay, General Manager of Microsoft Surface, said the company was “pumped about all the anticipation and excitement in regards to Surface Windows 8 Pro.” So with all that excitement in the air, we immediately began checking in with Microsoft, Best Buy and Staples…. Will they be opening pre-orders soon? Did they have any pre-launch or launch specials on the Surface Pro? Any launch bonuses? All three had basically the same answer. No. No pre-ordering. No specials. No bonuses. Nada. The price is the same at all three stores, $899. That would, of course, be for the lower end model with 64 GB of storage. There will also be a 128 GB model available. Sadly, at this point, it doesn’t appear that any of the three stores offers any advantage for shoppers to come to them to get the Surface Pro. Will you be buying a Surface Pro on February 9? If so, where will you get it and why? Let us know in the comments section below!
I found the press release Obama issued to get Project Vote rolling, in the ACORN archives at the Wisconsin Historical Society. (Obama worked closely with ACORN on this campaign, his later denials notwithstanding.) The release quotes Obama explaining the need for Project Vote by pointing to the rioting in Los Angeles. Said Obama in 1992: “The Los Angeles riots reflect a deep distrust and disaffection with the existing power pattern in our society.” That’s Alinsky-speak for “We’ve got to use the power of the angry underclass to put capitalism in check.” Naturally, we’ll continue to disagree about whether Obama’s leftist past was a convenient pose, or something that guides his policies to this day. I certainly don’t think President Obama would openly speak about events in London the way he spoke about the L.A. riots nineteen years ago. What he thinks to himself is another matter. Of course, a quick statement like this is much less important than the context provided by a systematic look at Obama’s overall political development. Nonetheless, direct quotes from Obama’s early political past are few and far between. This one is particularly intriguing. Ann Coulter, Human Events, August 10, 2011: Inciting violent mobs is the essence of the left's agenda: Promote class warfare, illegitimate children and an utterly debased citizenry. Like the British riot girls interviewed by the BBC, the Democrats tell us “all of this happened because of the rich people.” We're beginning to see the final result of that idea in Britain. The welfare state creates a society of beasts. Meanwhile, nonjudgmental elites don't dare condemn the animals their programs have created. Glenn Beck, “The Glenn Beck Program,” August 8, 2011: They put a supercommittee together. The Republicans and the Democrats have to come together with the supercommittee who has the -- who have the Democrats put on the supercommittee? John Kerry, who's warning the media that you'd better not tell both sides of the story. Max Baucus from Montana. And of course, what's-her-name Murray -- Patty Murray from Washington. All three, huge, huge on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. Let me go back again to Jan Schakowsky. If we're not going to cut taxes, they're laying the groundwork now. If we're not going to raise taxes on the millionaires and create these jobs and instead go after Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, if we do that and that doesn't get people out on the streets, I don't know what will. They are intentionally going for this to make this the case, to get the American people out on the streets, and I'm telling you now: It will be London, it will be Greece, it is coming. They've sown all the seeds they need to. It's a matter of time.” Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation, “Your World,” August 9, 2011: [L]et's face it, the left is continually trying to find excuses for violent criminal behavior. We're seeing that today in the United Kingdom, we’ve seen it across Europe, we’re even seeing it in the United States as well, where the left has justified acts of sheer anarchy in the past. Sean Hannity, “The Sean Hannity Show,” August 10, 2011: Here's the problem. Now, I'm looking at what is going on in London right now. And the rioting that's taking place here. The rioting is taking place in large part because austerity measures -- because their country is going bankrupt, we should be learning from their mistakes, but we are not. And people are out there, they're blaming conservatives, they're blaming the government. They are blaming, quote, "rich people" that it is their fault. They got 16,000 police officers in London to try and handle this more than they've ever had. And I'm thinking this sounds a lot like, you know America 10, 12, 15, 20 years down the road. Because once those promises can never be fulfilled, is this coming to America? [sic] Matthew Zeitlin is an intern at The New Republic.
Street Outlaws star Chris “Kamikaze” Day has a reputation on the show for being a racer who never backs down from a race, no matter how much he’s out-gunned on horsepower. That battle-ready attitude has earned him respect on the streets in the 405, but not always the win due to that power deficit, but that’s about to change. Unveiled at the Speedmaster booth, Day went public at the 2017 PRI Show with the Elco’s new twin-turbo setup and he’s ready for some racing combat. Day’s 1981 El Camino has been rocking a 500 cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet powerplant on nitrous since he made his debut on the show, but the combination was always a bit smaller than the people he was racing. Since the arms race for horsepower on the show began, Day has held onto his tried and true engine, but it was time to go bigger to keep his spot on The List. According to Day, the switch wasn’t easy but something he had to do. “I couldn’t afford to have the engine combo needed to have a really fast nitrous car. I’ve always wanted a turbo car and after talking to Precision Turbo about what could be done with the engine combo I have, the decision was made. It sucks to lose the iconic zoomies, I know a lot of fans have expressed concerns about that on social media, but making this switch is what will really step my entire racing program up to the next level.” Changing the Elco over to a twin-turbo setup was more than just removing the nitrous system and bolting on a pair of turbos; the process was very intense. The entire car needed to be changed from the tires to the converter, 4-link, rotating assembly, intake, and fuel system. “There are so many new pieces I had to add or change for this switch, on top of all the things I already had in place that will work with this kind of power. First off would be the turbos, I went with Precision Turbo’s Gen 2 94mm Billet Pro Mod turbos. A new Aeromotive fuel system was added to take care of the fueling needs. I also added a Rossler three-speed transmission to help put the power down. The guys at Woolf Aircraft did all the stainless piping on the car. I had Moser Engineering make some changes in the rearend and the brake system to work with the new set-up. Lucas Oil came on board this year as well, so that’s going to be a good one, too,” Day explains. Driving a turbo car is something that Day has never done, but he’s ready to see what the difference is between boost and giggle juice on the street. “I have never owned a turbo car in my life, but I have always wanted one. The way a nitrous car launches so hard versus the power curve of a turbo car, it’s so different. I’m excited to see how this car pulls in the back 330 of a pass,” Day says. Unlike many of the racers on The List that have made changes to their engine program, Day plans on staying true to his roots and keep the big bowtie power under the hood, which uses Speedmaster internals. “I will always stay big-block Chevy with FastTimes Motorworks building my engines. If everything came together and I had the budget for it, I would probably change the motor combo. I would love a billet block and billet heads, that would be the biggest change I would make to the motor if I could,” Day says. This switch was a move that Day put a lot of thought into before he started removing parts. By going to a boosted combination Day will be more competitive and have additional time to test. “With the combo I have, the Elco will make more power, and more power is always a good thing. The switch to turbos should also lead to a little less engine maintenance which means more time spent testing, refining the setup and more time racing,” Day explains. Adding horsepower is fun, but it can also open up a box of new challenges. Day is well aware of the fact he has a nasty curveball coming his way when it comes time to start testing the new boosted setup. “There still isn’t much chassis in the car as the way it sits. This is still just a back-half car with stock frame rails. I can’t really say for sure what I’m going to do because I’m just going to have to test and go grassroots garage with this. I’ll just see what the car likes and doesn’t like, and make changes from there,” Day says. Day maybe staring down the barrel of some serious adjustments with the Elco, but he isn’t sweating what needs to be done and has a rock-solid plan to get the care lined out quickly. “Pretty much if it has a steering wheel and a throttle pedal, I’ll drive the damn thing. I’ll get in the car and make changes to my process. I believe in systems, routines, so while testing I will start refining my routine. Once I get in the car I’ll try to do the same thing each time and I’ll just keep working on improving that every time. It will be a learning curve for me, the team, and the car,” Day explains. The boosted upgrade isn’t the only thing on the radar for the Elco according to Day, he’s ready to make sure the car can handle all the power coming its way. “The chassis is lagging behind by a ton. People think we have done so many changes to the car itself, but the Elco is still basically a stock frame with just a 4-point cage. We need to do a lot of work to the chassis for this power. We will have to reinforce some areas to handle the torque and make sure the chassis can handle the new power.” Getting the car ready for this new combination has been a challenge for Day, but one he has enjoyed. “Change is hard sometimes, but necessary. What still just makes me stop and think sometimes is that a guy like me has an opportunity like this. I’m still just a guy in a garage with some good friends helping me competing against full teams, with stacker trailers, motorhomes, and full-time tuners on staff. These changes are going to help my program and make it where I can be more competitive,” Day says. Day is ready to take the Elco to the top of The List with these new changes as soon as he can. The plan is for the Elco to also be raced as much as it can and everywhere it can, so 2018 is going to be a very busy year in the 405 and all points in between for Day!
New Orleans voter Albertine Reid leaves the booth at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward on Election Day last year. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo) Even before the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity raised alarms with its sweeping requests for state voter data, House Democrats rolled out legislation they hope will ensure the voting process is fair. One measure, introduced at a news conference on Capitol Hill on June 22, would restore voter protections across 13 mostly Southern states. Sponsored by Alabama’s Terri A. Sewell and Georgia’s John Lewis, a civil rights icon, the measure is a response to the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision. That ruling struck down provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required those states to seek federal approval before changing voter laws and also set a formula for determining which states would be subject to the law. “We’ve got to ensure that people understand that every American deserves the right to vote. Certain barriers make that impossible, like, if you don’t drive because you’re elderly and disabled. But this is unfair,” Sewell said. The states affected are Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Arizona, California, New York and Virginia. Another measure, introduced by Virginia Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., aims to end gerrymandering of House districts by using ranked-choice voting — where voters get to rank candidates rather than just pick one — and creating districts where more than one member represents a diverse group of constituents. The bill seeks to establish a more diverse, balanced and fair representation in Congress — “an appeal to the low tolerance Americans have for the current ‘winner-takes-all’ approach,” a Beyer spokesperson said. While the Virginia Democrat’s proposal would mean radical changes across the U.S. voting and congressional representation system, he said changing the system is the only way to “revitalize” the political process. “We would have more moderate Democrats from districts leaning Republican, and vice versa, creating a type of politician — now nearly extinct — known as a ‘bridge builder,’” Beyer wrote in an opinion piece in The Washington Post last week. “Many members would share constituents with members of the other party, creating incentives to work together on legislation affecting the district.” Neither bill has garnered any Republican backing, though the Sewell-Lewis bill is co-sponsored by 185 House Democrats. The two measures have disparate aims: one to expand voting rights, the other to expand the system itself. Both, however, frame a Democratic legislative response to the White House commission’s purpose to investigate voter fraud. Rivaling commissions On June 28, the commission requested states provide detailed voter information including Social Security numbers, party affiliation, criminal backgrounds and military history. The responses, from Republicans and Democrats in secretary of state offices, have been fraught with privacy concerns. At least 44 states are refusing or only providing limited information requested by the commission, according to the Chicago Tribune. Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and the commission’s vice chairman, fired back in a statement Wednesday, saying that “despite media distortions and obstruction by a handful of state politicians, this bipartisan commission on election integrity will continue its work to gather the facts through public records requests to ensure the integrity of each American’s vote because the public has a right to know.” Even Kobach’s state, though, won’t be providing some of the requested information because laws there protect Social Security information, for instance. Meanwhile, Sewell’s profile in the area may grow. In response to Trump’s forming of the voting commission in May, the Democratic National Committee launched its Commission on Protecting American Democracy and installed former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander as chairman and Sewell as its vice chairwoman. “One person, one vote is a fundamental principle of our democracy, and I am proud to be part of a Commission that seeks to protect and advance voting rights,” Sewell said in a statement after her appointment. Jason Allen, a York, South Carolina, resident and lawyer, said he hopes the efforts will ensure voter protections. He said recent efforts to crack down on voter fraud have had a “chilling effect” on legitimate voting activity, particularly among minorities. “I have found South Carolina’s voter ID law does not technically prevent many people from voting, but it has a chilling effect on political engagement because it sends a signal that the political process isn’t for everyone — more rural, poor, minority populations who generally vote for Democrats, that is,” he said.
Overweight young adults may have poorer episodic memory - the ability to recall past events - than their peers, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge, adding to increasing evidence of a link between memory and overeating. In a preliminary study published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, researchers from the Department of Psychology at Cambridge found an association between high body mass index (BMI) and poorer performance on a test of episodic memory. Although only a small study, its results support existing findings that excess bodyweight may be associated with changes to the structure and function of the brain and its ability to perform certain cognitive tasks optimally. In particular, obesity has been linked with dysfunction of the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in memory and learning, and of the frontal lobe, the part of the brain involved in decision making, problem solving and emotions, suggesting that it might also affect memory; however, evidence for memory impairment in obesity is currently limited. Around 60% of UK adults are overweight or obese: this number is predicted to rise to approximately 70% by 2034. Obesity increases the risk of physical health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as psychological health problems, such as depression and anxiety. "Understanding what drives our consumption and how we instinctively regulate our eating behaviour is becoming more and more important given the rise of obesity in society," says Dr Lucy Cheke. "We know that to some extent hunger and satiety are driven by the balance of hormones in our bodies and brains, but psychological factors also play an important role - we tend to eat more when distracted by television or working, and perhaps to 'comfort eat' when we are sad, for example. "Increasingly, we're beginning to see that memory - especially episodic memory, the kind where you mentally relive a past event - is also important. How vividly we remember a recent meal, for example today's lunch, can make a difference to how hungry we feel and how much we are likely to reach out for that tasty chocolate bar later on." The researchers tested 50 participants aged 18-35, with body mass indexes (BMIs) ranging from 18 through to 51 - a BMI of 18-25 is considered healthy, 25-30 overweight, and over 30 obese. The participants took part in a memory test known as the 'Treasure-Hunt Task', where they were asked to hide items around complex scenes (for example, a desert with palm trees) across two 'days'. They were then asked to remember which items they had hidden, where they had hidden them, and when they were hidden. Overall, the team found an association between higher BMI and poorer performance on the tasks. The researchers say that the results could suggest that the structural and functional changes in the brain previously found in those with higher BMI may be accompanied by a reduced ability to form and/or retrieve episodic memories. As the effect was shown in young adults, it adds to growing evidence that the cognitive impairments that accompany obesity may be present early in adult life. This was a small, preliminary study and so the researchers caution that further research will be necessary to establish whether the results of this study can be generalised to overweight individuals in general, and to episodic memory in everyday life rather than in experimental conditions. "We're not saying that overweight people are necessarily more forgetful," cautions Dr Cheke, "but if these results are generalizable to memory in everyday life, then it could be that overweight people are less able to vividly relive details of past events - such as their past meals. Research on the role of memory in eating suggests that this might impair their ability to use memory to help regulate consumption. "In other words, it is possible that becoming overweight may make it harder to keep track of what and how much you have eaten, potentially making you more likely to overeat." Dr Cheke believes that this work is an important step in understanding the role of psychological factors in obesity. "The possibility that there may be episodic memory deficits in overweight individuals is of concern, especially given the growing evidence that episodic memory may have a considerable influence on feeding behaviour and appetite regulation," she says. Co-author Dr Jon Simons adds: "By recognising and addressing these psychological factors head-on, not only can we come to understand obesity better, but we may enable the creation of interventions that can make a real difference to health and wellbeing." ### The study was funded by the Medical Research Council and Girton College, University of Cambridge, and the James S McDonnell Foundation. Reference Cheke, LG et al. Higher BMI is Associated with Episodic Memory Deficits in Young Adults. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology; 22 Feb 2016.
Click for sound. Please enable Javascript to watch this video // OO.ready(function() { OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer', 'BhY3BzYjpmH4dNDg1tZN-znS7AfLOzNC', BI.OoyalaEmbed.autoplay_muted); }); // President Barack Obama wants to send astronauts to asteroids, and he's even giving NASA $100 million to figure out a way to lasso asteroids. As ridiculous as that might sound, world renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson praises Obama's and NASA's asteroid retrieval initiative. "You kind of want to know how to move asteroids around - that's a good thing to be able to do," Tyson tells us. "Because one day we're going to find one with our name on it." The host of StarTalk Radio explains how lassoing an asteroid could actually work and he also tells us about different methods to move asteroids. StarTalk Radio is a podcast and radio program hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, where comic co-hosts, guest celebrities and scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Follow StarTalk Radio on Twitter, and watch StarTalk Radio "Behind the Scenes" on YouTube. Produced by Will Wei, Robert Libetti, and Kamelia Angelova
Despite of what's expressed in this blog post, I am generally responsive (as can be seen from my RT track record) and willing to be cooperative (or rather, not really willing to be uncooperative). I even often do the opposite of what I wrote below. It's just that sometimes you need to vent. On people suggesting to use File::Spec (or Path::Class) everytime... Have using hard-coded "/" failed these days (on platforms that I care about)? Why do I have to subject myself to the verbose file('a', 'b', 'c') or even the masochistic File::Spec->catfile('a', 'b', 'c') , when 'a/b/c' works? The platforms which do not use "/" path separator are either old, dying, rare, or all of those. And new platforms being written won't even dream of not obeying the /. It's already becoming the overwhelming majority that assuming it works everywhere is the best practical approach. On the other hand, issues like case-sensitivity or encoding in filesystems are still very real and common... On people telling me to support 5.8.x... Well, breaking news for you, even 5.10.x is ancient (no longer supported by p5p). Why do I have to sacrifice by refraining from using // and having to write $foo = defined($foo) ? $foo : 'default' ? Why do I have to avoid using named captures in my long- and often-tweaked regexes, and thus have to deal with $1..$24 and track the number of parentheses, which is very error-prone? I want my say and state and ~~ , dammit! When all my servers and clients have upgraded to Wheezy and beyond, I'll expect to repeat this cycle and ditch 5.10 for 5.12, 5.14, ... Sorry, I don't can't afford to care for people that are too behind. If you want to be supported, be a client and cough up some dough >:-) On Windows ... I hate dislike don't care about Windows and I'm quite glad of the so-called Microsoft's lost decade. They never try to play nice with others, so why should I play nice with them? On people suggesting to 'use utf8' ... I almost never have to put non-ASCII characters in my source code. I only name my identifiers with [A-Za-z0-9_] and would like to keep it that way. I read Chinese and French for a bit, but I avoid Unicode until it's unavoidable. So, no thanks. On those suggesting to moosify, mousify, mooify my modules... I'll decide when I need to go OO, thank you very much. That's currently only about 5-10% of the time. I regard OO as a non-necessary evil. It offers features but comes with a cost, just like everything else. I prefer to keep simple things simple.
To Benedict Cumberbatch: My name is Catherine but you wouldn’t know that. I am the girl in the dress who humbly asked for an autograph at the end of your recording of the last episode of Cabin Pressure. I had not been fortunate enough to get a ticket to watch but I wanted to meet you. I am an American currently traveling abroad. It’s not all that glamorous traveling by cheap bus and sleeping in 18 bed dorm rooms in run down hostels but if you knew anything about me, you’d know it is exactly what I needed. What I should really be saying is that you don’t know anything about me and you have no reason to but that shouldn’t change the way you could have interacted with me this evening. When I approached you this evening, I had not been a part of the crowd that had sprinted after you. In fact, I actually thought you had left but when I walked down the road and spotted you, I mustered up a heck of a lot of courage to quietly ask for an autograph. You, with a very annoyed tone, said you had already told them you were done taking pictures and when I asked for an autograph you denied me that as well. All I wanted, really wanted, was your stupid scrawl on a piece of paper. You don’t know me. You don’t know that I gained the friendship of a wonderful girl while I was in Vienna who is a big fan of yours. I told her if I met you that I would do everything I could to get her your autograph. I actually wanted to get her your autograph more than I wanted one for me. You see, I’m traveling alone and it is something I prefer. I can do what I want when I want. It does get lonely sometimes. It’s been over two months since I’ve been home. Meeting this girl to sit at Starbucks for a few hours was fantastic. It was just the right amount of socialization I needed in this exile I put myself in and I wanted to thank her for her company with something to show my appreciation for her friendship. You didn’t just say no to me. You stripped me of my individuality. You placed me in your “collective” without a regard to my feelings. You assumed I had been in that group you must have denied. Had I been, I wouldn’t have approached you. I would have respected your direction. But I hadn’t and you did not even consider that so instead of having your words impersonally dilute themselves among a crowd, I found myself singularly targeted by your annoyance with no back up or shield against the concentrated negativity aimed directly toward my presence. I stood there with my cold hands in my pockets clenching my pen with my thumb aching to pop the cap off and the other trying not to mangle the postcard I had picked to send to my friend. I was so proud of the postcard I had picked and kept imagining her expression when she received it with your autograph instead of “Wish you were here!” on the back. I get it though. You’re human. You were probably tired and hungry and it gets hard faking a smile for yet another fan. I know what it’s like. Back at home, I had been working as an EMT on an ambulance before I lost my job due to another’s incompetence. I loved my job despite being severely underpaid. I was working anywhere from 90 to 110 hour work weeks on top of volunteering for my local fire and ambulance company. It made my mother sick with worry. I ate, slept, and showered at work. I sometimes went entire shifts without a meal so that I could transport the elderly, sick, and dying between facilities or respond to emergencies. I honestly don’t complain about it because it was a choice I made. I wanted to help people, to make them feel better in their lowest moments, all while doing it with rarely receiving a thank you. You’d be surprised how abrasive people can be toward the ones helping them but I always kept a cheerful disposition; whether it was faked or not was another story. I never let them see the tired, the hungry, the stress. Who am I to judge when it could be the worst day of their lives? I didn’t know them just like you don’t know me and just like I don’t know you. I shouldn’t just assume you could fake one more smile or bury your resentment toward my brief interruption to your life. You had, after all, been kind enough to transfer your cigarette to your left hand so that you could oblige to my request for a handshake so I can’t be very upset. It wasn’t even a moment I will ever be able to recall with any sort of detail. My hand was numb with the cold and the entirety of the situation and I was terrified to even look at your face. Had I been a dog, I would have been walking away with my head low to the ground enough to grind my nose in the pavement and my tail tucked between my legs as I tried to escape from you. I didn’t even want to be on the same street as you. I felt violently sick. I didn’t and still don’t know who to be mad at. Myself or you? But how can I be mad at you? Was I being selfish? Can I be entitled to just 30 seconds of selfishness after giving so much of myself to others and never asking for anything in return? Are you equally deserving of your own selfishness as you work to please others, though with garnering more respect? My answers to these questions are really just a ball of confusion. All I know is that, for lack of eloquence as this seems to hit the nail on the head, you made me feel like shit. You made me resent myself for having the audacity to approach you. You clearly drew the line on the sidewalk and all those on my side were the unworthy except it was only me standing there embarrassed and horrified after being denied simply by saying hello. I never planned on meeting you again after tonight before you refused me an autograph. I will never pay money to meet you in an assembly line. If I did, you’d be getting a mask that I’m familiar with putting on all too well. Had I gotten what would have taken less than half a minute of your life from you, I’d be happy as a clam for meeting you despite never really believing I would. Instead, tonight, I will go to sleep if I can. I will think about how you couldn’t hold a pen and fake a smile for me because it was too much and I wasn’t important enough. I will remember that I was personally denied by you. I will remember to continue to live by hoping for the best but always expecting the worst. I will hope that you never do to someone else what you did to me. I want you to remember that you don’t know your fans and for that reason you should be gentle with them whenever possible. I imagine you show your best qualities to the people who really matter but all I wanted was your autograph instead of feeling ashamed. May this be a lesson to us both or perhaps just myself. Catherine
Small variations in pitch size should not really have an impact, yet attacking sides do thrive on large grounds and more defensive teams favour smaller surfaces Football managers are accustomed to shifting the blame following defeats, with referees the usual target of their ire. Mauricio Pochettino, however, blamed the White Hart Lane pitch in the wake of Tottenham’s surprise 2-1 defeat against Newcastle on Sunday. “Our style means we need a bigger space to play because we play a positional game,” the Argentinian coach said. “It’s true that White Hart Lane is a little bit tight and it’s better for the opponent when they play deep.” Pochettino’s specific problem is against opponents who defend with a ‘low block’, sitting on the edge of the penalty box. “On Sunday there were two shots from Newcastle – it was unlucky for us. And they play deep. West Bromwich play deep, Liverpool the same, they play very deep and it was difficult for us. We need time to adapt to our new set-up and to understand better our position on the pitch.” Two years ago the Premier League attempted to standardise pitch size. “Unless otherwise permitted by the board, in league matches the length of the pitch shall be 105 metres and its breadth 68 metres,” read rule K21. The next rule, however, states that exceptions are allowed “if it is impossible to comply with rule K21 due to the nature of the construction of the ground”. Ten Premier League clubs comply perfectly with the 105m x 68m regulations – Arsenal, Aston Villa, Hull, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea and West Bromwich Albion – although there are only minor differences elsewhere. White Hart Lane is 100m x 67m, with Stoke’s Britannia Stadium and Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road the smallest, at 100m x 66m. Finding space remains a key attacking concept, but the difference here is minimal. Such small variations should not have a significant impact upon play, although it’s obvious that expansive, attacking sides thrive on large pitches, and more defensive teams, and long-ball teams, favour smaller playing surfaces. It is interesting that Pochettino is so concerned about the dimensions – his coaching idol, his former Argentina manager Marcelo Bielsa, often used to pace out an opposition pitch pre-match, checking it matched the dimensions provided by the club. Perhaps Bielsa had heard of Graeme Souness. In 1987 Souness, then Rangers manager, was scouting their upcoming European Cup opponents Dynamo Kiev, and realised the Ukrainian side had two particularly dangerous wingers. The night before the game, the Ibrox groundsman worked his magic at the manager’s command. “The pitch didn’t have to be a fixed width as long as it was above a certain minimum, so I thought: ‘Right, I’ll make it the absolute minimum,’” Souness said. “On the Tuesday afternoon the Kiev players trained on the pitch when it was the normal size. On Wednesday night they came out for the match and must have been shocked to discover that, after 15 paces, they were on the touchline … it wasn’t purist stuff, but it was within the rules.” Having lost the first leg 1-0 in Kiev, Rangers turned the tie around, and triumphed 2-1 on aggregate. Arsène Wenger once blamed the small pitch at Highbury for Arsenal’s disciplinary problems. “There is something about the size of the pitch at home,” he said in 2002. “It’s tight and, of course, we have a dynamic way of playing, everybody defends well and we are a team who put opponents under pressure, so there is more physical contact. On a bigger pitch, you have less contact. It is certainly linked with that. Highbury is very compact.” Stoke, considered the anti-Arsenal under their former coach Tony Pulis, are also an interesting case. They set their pitch size at the minimum possible, which meant their long-ball game was more effective. It also – literally – played into the hands of their former long-throw expert Rory Delap. When Stoke qualified for the Europa League in 2011-12, Uefa’s pitch regulations were larger than that of the Premier League, which meant the Britannia briefly had two separate pitch markings visible throughout games, which confused their right-back Ryan Shotton, who took a quick throw from the wrong touchline in a league game. Ultimately, Premier League pitches are all roughly the same size. However, the Laws of the Game state pitches can be between 90 and 120 metres long, and drastically different in width – between 50 and 100 metres, although they must be longer than they are wide. With such variations allowed at amateur level, it is Sunday League sides, rather than Premier League teams, who can be particularly tactical with the dimensions of their pitch.
First RSS, I signed up to give something hopefully cool. Well my Santa has made my gift seem rather boring! Santa went the extra mile and contacted me to confirm my real name and stated it was critical for my gift. All I could think for days was what could it be? Both packages arrived a day early and my kids were excited! Explaining secret santa to a 4 year old is rather difficult. They opened the small box first and I just out laughing. Having mentioned video games and South Park, my incredibly talented santa painted a picture of WOW fat Stan. Brilliant. But wait there's more! What's in the large box? A hidden letter almost got passed up. Unbelievable, personalized street sign with my family name. So awesome. And it's the real deal too not some knock off. This is nicer than the street sign in my block!
Donald Trump will continue to make his pitch to African-Americans on Wednesday night in deep-red Mississippi. But the venue isn’t the most puzzling aspect of the event – he’ll be accompanied by Nigel Farage, the former head of the nationalist UK Independence Party who was accused of racism during his successful campaign encouraging UK to withdraw from the European Union. Farage confirmed a Sky News report that he’d be appearing at Trump’s evening rally in Jackson, Mississippi. Farage said he was already in Jackson, and would be attending a dinner before the rally, where he planned to tell the “story of Brexit.” The UK politician won’t be endorsing Trump, however. Farage indicated in an interview he felt such a move would be hypocritical after he condemned President Obama for wading into the Brexit campaign by urging UK citizens to vote to remain in the EU. It’s unclear how exactly his appearance at Trump’s Mississippi event came about — Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told Sky News she would “highly doubt” there would be a joint appearance between the two and didn’t know anything about it. She did not respond to an NBC News request for comment. But it’s not entirely unexpected — Trump embraced the successful Brexit vote on a visit to Scotland shortly after, hailing it as a precursor to his own success this November. “They took their country back, just like we will take America back,” he tweeted at the time. And last week, he cryptically tweeted: “They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!” They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2016 Indeed, there have been many similarities between Trump’s supporters and those who favored the Brexit. Both seized on deep dissatisfaction with politics as usual, the establishment, and failures of government to address their citizens’ concerns. And both tapped the frustration, bordering on fear, of the influx of immigrants from outside the nation and concerns over their effects on citizens’ safety and economic prospects. Farage drew fierce criticism in particular for his tactics to harness the latter, which opponents said amounted to racism. Farage commissioned a poster for the campaign that displayed a line of largely non-white migrants with the text: “The EU has failed us all. We must break free of the EU and take back control.” He also argued UK employers should be able to discriminate between British citizens and migrants when hiring. That could complicate Trump’s already rocky attempt to broaden his appeal to minorities, part of an effort to make up for considerable lost ground to Democrat Hillary Clinton over the month of August. With Trump singing a different tune from his stridently anti-immigrant message during the primary — he has softened his stance on immigration reform in recent days, moving away from advocating for mass deportations and allowing some leniency for law-abiding undocumented immigrants — Farage’s appearance could be an awkward reminder of Trump’s inconsistencies on the issue.
Not to be confused with German author Wilhelm Jensen (1837–1911). Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (commonly known as Johannes V. Jensen; 20 January 1873 – 25 November 1950) was a Danish author, often considered the first great Danish writer of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 "for the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style".[1] One of his sisters, Thit Jensen, was also a well-known writer and a very vocal, and occasionally controversial, early feminist. Early years [ edit ] He was born in Farsø, a village in North Jutland, Denmark, as the son of a veterinary surgeon[2] and he grew up in a rural environment. While studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen he worked as a writer to fund his studies. After three years of studying he chose to change careers and devote himself fully to literature. Literary works [ edit ] Johannes V. Jensen in 1902. The first phase of his work as an author was influenced by fin-de-siècle pessimism. His career began with the publication of Himmerland Stories (1898–1910), comprising a series of tales set in the part of Denmark where he was born. During 1900 and 1901 he wrote his first masterpiece, Kongens Fald (translated into English as The Fall of the King in 1933), a modern historical novel centred on King Christian II. Literary critic Martin Seymour-Smith said it is an "indictment of Danish indecision and lack of vitality, which Jensen saw as a national disease. Apart from this aspect of it, it is a penetrating study of sixteenth-century people." [3] In 1906 Jensen created his greatest literary achievement: the collection of verses Digte 1906 (i.e. Poems 1906), which introduced the prose poem to Danish literature. He also wrote poetry, a few plays, and many essays, chiefly on anthropology and the philosophy of evolution. He developed his theories of evolution in a cycle of six novels, Den lange rejse (1908–22), translated into English as The Long Journey (1923–24), which was published in a two-volume edition in 1938.[4] This is often considered his main work in prose, a daring and often impressive attempt to create a Darwinian alternative to the Biblical Genesis myth. In this work we see the development of mankind from the Ice Age to the times of Columbus, focusing on pioneering individuals. Like his compatriot Hans Christian Andersen, he travelled extensively; a trip to the United States inspired a poem of his, "Paa Memphis Station" [At the train station, Memphis, Tennessee], which is well known in Denmark. Walt Whitman was among the writers who influenced Jensen. Jensen later became an atheist.[5] Late career [ edit ] Jensen's most popular literary works were all completed before 1920,[citation needed] a year which also marks his initiation of the 'Museumcentre Aars' in the town of Aars in Himmerland. After this he mostly concentrated on ambitious biological and zoological studies in an effort to create an ethical system based upon Darwinian ideas. He also hoped to renew classical poetry. For many years he worked in journalism, writing articles and chronicles for the daily press without ever joining the staff of any newspaper. Legacy [ edit ] Jensen was a controversial figure in Danish cultural life. He was a reckless polemicist and his often dubious racial theories have damaged his reputation. However, he never showed any Fascist leanings. Today Jensen is still considered the father of Danish modernism, particularly in the area of modern poetry with his introduction of the prose poem and his use of a direct and straightforward language. His direct influence was felt as late as the 1960s. Without being a Danish answer to Kipling, Hamsun or Sandburg, he bears comparison to all three authors. He combines the outlook of the regional writer with the view of the modern academic and scientific observer. In 1999, The Fall of the King (1901) was acclaimed as the best Danish novel of the 20th century by the newspapers Politiken and Berlingske Tidende, independently of each other.[6] Bibliography [ edit ] Danskere, 1896 Einar Elkjær, 1898 Himmerlandsfolk, 1898 Intermezzo, 1899 Kongens Fald, 1900–1901 – The Fall of the King Den gotiske renæssance, 1901 Skovene, 1904 Nye Himmerlandshistorier, 1904 Madame d'Ora, 1904 Hjulet, 1904 Digte, 1906 Eksotiske noveller, 1907–15 Den nye verden, 1907 Singaporenoveller, 1907 Myter, 1907–45 Nye myter, 1908 Den lange rejse, 1908–22 – The Long Journey – I: Den tabte land, 1919; II: Bræen, 1908; Norne Gæst, 1919; IV: Cimbrernes tog, 1922; V: Skibet, 1912; VI: Christofer Columbus, 1922 Lille Ahasverus, 1909 Himmerlandshistorier, Tredje Samling, 1910 Myter, 1910 Bo'l, 1910 Nordisk ånd, 1911 Myter, 1912 Rudyard Kipling, 1912 Der Gletscher, Ein Neuer Mythos Vom Ersten Menschen, 1912 - The Glacier, A New Myth Of The First Man Olivia Marianne, 1915 Introduktion til vor tidsalder, 1915 Skrifter, 1916 (8 vols.) Årbog, 1916, 1917 Johannes Larsen og hans billeder, 1920 Sangerinden, 1921 Den lange rejse, 1922–24 – The Long Journey Æstetik og udviking, 1923 Årstiderne, 1923 Hamlet, 1924 Myter, 1924 Skrifter, 1925 (5 vols.) Evolution og moral, 1925 Årets højtider, 1925 Verdens lys, 1926 Jørgine, 1926 Thorvaldsens portrætbuster, 1926 Dyrenes forvandling, 1927 Åndens stadier, 1928 Ved livets bred, 1928 Retninger i tiden, 1930 Den jyske blæst, 1931 Form og sjæl, 1931 På danske veje, 1931 Pisangen, 1932 Kornmarken, 1932 Sælernes ø, 1934 Det blivende, 1934 Dr. Renaults fristelser, 1935 Gudrun, 1936 Darduse, 1937 Påskebadet, 1937 Jydske folkelivsmalere, 1937 Thorvaldsen, 1938 Nordvejen, 1939 Fra fristaterne, 1939 Gutenberg, 1939 Mariehønen, 1941 Vor oprindelse, 1941 Mindets tavle, 1941 Om sproget og undervisningen, 1942 Kvinden i sagatiden, 1942 Folkeslagene i østen, 1943 Digte 1901–43, 1943 Møllen, 1943 Afrika, 1949 Garden Colonies in Denmark, 1949 Swift og Oehlenschläger, 1950 Mytens ring, 1951 Tilblivelsen, 1951 The Waving Rye, 1959 (tr. R. Bathgate) Works in English The Long Journey , vol 1–3, ( Fire and Ice ; The Cimbrians ; Christopher Columbus ) New York, 1924. , vol 1–3, ( ; ; ) New York, 1924. The Fall of the King, 1933.
May 1, 2017, 10:00 AM GMT / Updated April 16, 2018, 5:21 PM GMT NAME: Mei Lum AGE: 26 HOMETOWN: Chinatown, NYC TWITTER: @meihonglum, @wingonwoandco / INSTAGRAM: @meilum, @wingonwoandco How do you introduce yourself? I am a woman of color, an Asian American, a third-generation Chinese American. I am a granddaughter and daughter of my family’s long legacy in New York City’s Chinatown. What inspires you? What challenges you? Continuously fighting — in daily conversations and in the work that I do — to challenge this common narrative that Chinatown is a dying neighborhood. There are so many members of our community that are fighting: to stay in their homes, to amplify their voices and their stories, and to create and innovate in their own capacities during a time when Chinatown is going through rapid changes. There is a counter narrative of resistance and resilience coming from those who make up our neighborhood. We don’t spend enough time celebrating these stories. This is what challenges and inspires me in everything that I do. SEE THE LIST: NBC Asian America Presents: A to Z - The 26 Emerging Voices of 2017 "Believe in the opportunities that exist in the unexpected and the unknown." Tell us about the biggest risk you ever took. I think this has been both the biggest and safest risk I’ve ever taken. I realize now how much of an influence years of Cantonese poetry lessons with my grandfather has had on me. I remember memorizing a Confucian saying about respecting and honoring your elders and… here I am. What are you reading/watching/listening to these days? I'm reading Grace Lee Boggs’ autobiography "Living for Change," and Joseph Goldstein’s "Mindfulness." I am currently listening to Half Waif’s "Turn Me Around" on repeat and blasting Mitski’s "Puberty" album on the shop's record player when no one's around. If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what job would you want to have? In this moment, it’s really tough for me to think about my life without this experience…but I have always wondered about how my life would be like if ended up pursuing music after high school and played tuba professionally. What’s your motto? Trust and lean into the ebs and flows of life and believe in the opportunities that exist in the unexpected and the unknown. I celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month because... ...I celebrate the journey and the struggle of my ancestors who came before me. They worked tirelessly to establish deep roots in America and make sure our family had opportunities to pursue our passions. My ancestors’ journey to America, to New York City’s Chinatown define my Asian-American heritage. Follow NBC Asian America on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.
TRENTON — A change located deep inside New Jersey's proposed budget for the 2015 fiscal year appears to allow the state to divert money paid to communities damaged by corporate polluters to the state's general fund. With the principal defendant in the state's lawsuit over Passaic River pollution yet to settle, environmentalists fear the budget language change could pump hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue into the state's general fund at the expense of the environment in cities and towns waiting to be compensated for assets damaged by oil and chemical contamination. "This is terrible policy," said Brad Campbell, a former state Department of Environmental Protection commissioner who is now an environmental lawyer. He said it conflicts with "the clear language" of New Jersey's Spill Act, which enables the state to seek compensation directly from polluters and it means significant natural resources will never be restored. "And it's bad fiscal policy, using another nonrecurring and completely unpredictable revenue stream to mask a structural deficit," Campbell said. But former Treasurer David Rousseau, now a budget analysis for New Jersey Policy Perspective, said the budget is a balance between long-term goals and immediate needs. At issue is the amount of money deemed necessary to restore a damaged environmental resource and compensate residents for the loss. The budget Gov. Chris Christie proposed in February says the state wants the first $50 million in natural resource recovery settlements to be used for cleanups, remediation and legal fees while claiming any additional settlement money for the general fund, which can be used for any purpose. Budget experts interviewed by The Associated Press said the administration needs to clarify its intent because the language in the budget proposal is imprecise. "If the money is used for some other purpose, the communities will have to continue to live with this legacy of pollution and not be able to enjoy their natural resources," said Debbie Mans of NY/NJ Baykeeper. Such a diversion of funds also could make polluters less willing to settle claims for more than $50 million, she said. The proposal is likely to come up Monday when DEP Commissioner Bob Martin is scheduled to appear before the Assembly Budget Committee. DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese declined to comment Friday. The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services has flagged the proposal for clarification. Lawmakers will want to know, for example, how much of the settlement will actually be used for the cleanup of the Passaic, which for decades was an industrial dumping ground for toxins generated from the Diamond Alkali Co. plant in Newark, which produced Agent Orange and other deadly pesticides during the 1960s. About 100 companies dumped pollutants into the river. Federal officials recently proposed a $1.7 billion cleanup of the lower 8 miles of the river, from Belleville to Newark, in one of the largest Superfund remediations ever proposed.
Could the sun be setting on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign? Even as polls report an almost nonexistent chance that Donald Trump will end up in the White House, he is accusing opponent Hillary Clinton of participating in voter fraud. Calling the election “rigged,” The Don has pointed fingers at everyone from the Clinton campaign to the mainstream media. Trump has accused the media of “pushing” Clinton as a candidate, and of covering up many of the misdeeds Clinton has participated in. For example, social media sources accused Clinton of using donations to the Clinton Foundation for her own personal spending. According to the allegations, Hillary and Bill used the guise of a fundraiser for Haiti to line their own pockets with “donations” to the Clinton Foundation. However, mainstream TV and news outlets seemingly buried this issue, with the only evidence a few rare social media posts. null A civilian also pointed out on Twitter that Chelsea Clinton sits on the Board of Directors for IAC, a company which owns the Daily Beast, after that newspaper wrote an article stating 94 percent of all terror attacks are not carried out by Muslims. Could this article have been aimed at making Donald’s immigration reform plan look ineffective? It seems true that Hillary’s wrongdoings have been largely left out of the media spotlight. Trump also complained on Twitter that Hillary received no punishment over her leaked email scandal and accused the State Department of trying to cover up the controversy. Trump’s claims may hold water here as well. Donald Trump speaks at the Republican Hindu Coalition's Humanity United Against Terror charity event, October 15, 2016. [Photo By Kena Betancur/Getty Images] According to the Washington Examiner, new documents from the FBI investigation of Clinton’s emails show the State Department offering to boost the FBI presence in Iraq in exchange for the Bureau of Investigation keeping silent on Clinton’s leaked emails. Trump disapproved of this on Twitter and was quick to attack Clinton’s campaign. null Additionally, Trump supporters are angry that Hillary received no punishment for her actions. The Donald himself tweeted, “WikiLeaks proves even the Clinton campaign knew Crooked [Hillary] mishandled classified info, but nobody gets charged? RIGGED!” This refers to thousands of sensitive emails between Clinton campaign chair John Podesta and Clinton’s staff, which the classified information site leaked several weeks ago. null Trump wasn’t sated by just attacking Clinton, however. The Donald also attacked leaders from his own party and implied they were in on the alleged voting fraud. Trump claims that Clinton received the questions to be asked at the presidential debates ahead of time. null null This could be supported by the fact that Hillary seemed vastly more prepared to answer questions at both the first and second debates. All the madness of the 2016 election has not gone unnoticed on the interwebs, of course, and Twitter alone is a gold mine for Trump and Hillary memes. Here are some of the best election memes and gags. null #MovieTitleToDescribeElection is pretty self-explanatory. The hashtag has been popping up all over Twitter, resulting in utter wackiness from both sides. One citizen even summed the 2016 election up as “Dumb and Dumber.” Trump cheers after speaking at a rally at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine, October 15, 2016. [Photo By Sarah Rice/Getty Images] Many voters also expressed outrage that support for Trump just recently started waning. It wasn’t until allegations that Trump groped and sexually assaulted women came to light several weeks ago that his public and GOP support began to fall in huge numbers. A CNN“Poll Of Polls” that includes the NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll; The Washington Post/ABC News Poll; Fox News Polls; and the G.W. Battleground Poll has Clinton ahead of Trump, with 47 percent of voters preferring the Democratic nominee to Trump’s 39 percent. Additionally, Libertarian Gary Johnson commands 7 percent of the vote, while Green Party nominee Dr. Jill Stein has 2 percent. Whether there is a controversy or not, it’s pretty clear The Donald is fast descending through the polls. Many members of Trump’s party oppose him for President, with a handful of GOP senators calling for Donald to step down. However, some want the Republican Party to lie in the orangey bed they made. Certain Democratic Party supporters see dethroning The Don as a way to undo the consequences of choosing him as the GOP’s nominee. However, not all is lost if the GOP does want a do-over. According to the Daily Beast’s interview with Stanford Law Professor Nathaniel Persilly, the Republican Party can legally: Replace Trump if he withdraws voluntarily; create a fillable vacancy by ousting Trump without The Don’s approval; or replace Trump as the nominee without losing votes from states already committed to vote red. Some states’ party systems operate in such a way that the state’s Electoral College members must vote for the candidate whose party gets the majority of votes. This means that if Trump is replaced with another Republican candidate, those states already legally bound to the Republican ticket would have to vote for said replacement. [Featured Image by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images]
English noble who took part in the deposition of Richard II Arms of Sir Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel, KG Thomas Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel and 10th Earl of Surrey KG (13 October 1381 – 13 October 1415) was an English nobleman, one of the principals of the deposition of Richard II, and a major figure during the reign of Henry IV. Lineage [ edit ] He was the only surviving son of 5th earl of the second creation and his first wife, Elizabeth de Bohun. When he was 16 his father was executed (1397) and his lands and titles forfeited. Fitzalan was a royal ward of King Richard's half-brother John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, along with a large part of the Arundel estates. Holland greatly mistreated him, a matter FitzAlan would cruelly repay many years later. Escape, exile, return and restoration [ edit ] Eventually Fitzalan escaped from his guardian and joined his uncle Thomas Arundel, the deposed Archbishop of Canterbury, in exile. The two eventually joined with another exile, the King's cousin Henry Bolingbroke.[1] Fitzalan followed Henry in his return to England in July 1399, and in the following events which led to the deposition of King Richard II and Henry's crowning as King Henry IV. He functioned as butler at the coronation, and shortly afterward the new King restored him to his titles and estates.[1] These included two notable Earldoms; those of Earl of Arundel and Earl of Surrey, and large estates in the Welsh Marches. The Epiphany Rising [ edit ] Early the next year a group of Barons who had been close to the deposed King Richard II revolted—known as the Epiphany Rising—amongst them Fitzalan's former guardian John Holland. The latter was captured by followers of Fitzalan's aunt Joan, Countess of Hereford, and at Fitzalan's behest was soon executed (some claim he was tortured first). The rebellion of Owain Glyndwr in Wales [ edit ] The next few years Fitzalan was much occupied by events in the Welsh marches, where he had to help deal with the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr which ran in full from 1400 to maybe 1412 but gained a great deal of early momentum until 1405. After the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 he was appointed to defend the Marches from further attacks along its full length and then focused on defeating Glyndwr in the northern March adjacent to North Wales. Revolt in the North [ edit ] In 1405 there was a revolt in the north of England, led by the Archbishop of York, Richard le Scrope, and the Earl of Norfolk, Thomas de Mowbray. Fitzalan was the head of the Commission which condemned the pair to death. This apparently led to a falling out between Fitzalan and his uncle, Archbishop Thomas Arundel, who objected to the execution of a fellow prelate. Portuguese alliance and marriages [ edit ] King Henry's sister, Philippa of Lancaster, had married King John I of Portugal, and to further cement the alliance between England and Portugal, Fitzalan married Beatrice, the illegitimate daughter of King John. The wedding took place in London on 26 November 1405, with King Henry IV in attendance. Welsh conflicts and alliance with Burgundy [ edit ] In the following years Fitzalan again had to help suppress revolts in Wales and the Welsh Marches. Politically, Fitzalan allied himself with the King's half-brothers the Beauforts, and when Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter was appointed Chancellor in 1410, Fitzalan became one of the King's principal councillors. Beaufort favored an alliance with Burgundy, and Fitzalan was one of the leaders of those sent to help fight the rival Armagnac faction in France. Sometime in this period Fitzalan was made a Knight of the Garter. Henry IV fell seriously ill in 1411, but was determined to forge an alliance with John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. The King announced his intention that a fleet would be sailing to Calais, and issued instructions to ambassadors to go to Burgundy's offer of a military aid against Orleans. But two days before the fleet was due to sail, the king changed his mind, and on 21 September 1411 declared Parliament would meet in November. Instead Arundel set sail with a private fleet and a mercenary force hired by the Burgundians from the Prince of Wales. Arundel found himself in a difficult dilemma: the king wanted an Armagnac alliance, but the prince preferred to deal with Burgundy. A double-dealing policy commenced negotiating with the duke of Berry while continuing to reinforce Burgundy. But the old king recovered at the November Parliament, and the prince's Regency council was dismissed. On 9 November, Arundel led 1000 archers to aid the Burgundians to victory before the bridge at the Battle of St Cloud, near Paris. Some of Arundel's men fought in the ranks of Duke's bodyguard.[2] The Peace of Chartres signed by Henry IV in 1409 was broken. His policy of pro-Valois Armagnac diplomacy was enshrined in the Treaty of Bourges. But no sooner had it been signed on 20 May, the friends of the Burgundian elites declared it illegal, because it was. John the Fearless raised a royal army forcing Berry to surrender Bourges in the name of Charles VI on 15 July. The very next day the peace was renewed by the French nobility in a promissory letter to Henry IV signed by the dukes of Berry, Orleans, Bourbon and Burgundy. On 10 August 1412, the peace was again threatened by Thomas, Duke of Clarence who extorted an humiliating ransom from the Armagnacs after he had landed at St Vaast-le-Hogue. The King favoured Clarence over his older brother, so the Beauforts lost influence, and Arundel retired to his estates. Clarence was instructed to proceed to Gascony to await; the next spring King Henry IV died. Great friend and soldier of Henry V [ edit ] Arundel was with Henry at Westminster for Christmas 1414. One of the king's close friends he displayed the cardinal virtues of loyalty to the Lancastrian monarchy, as well as enjoying the honour of personal comradeship. Some lords remained loyal to Richard II and threatened rebellion throughout the north. There were those on the Welsh Marches, such as the Chamberlain of Chester who had deserted to Owain Glendower. } The new King Henry V restored the Earl of Arundel to a place of influence, immediately appointing him Lord Treasurer, as well as constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports. On 19 March 1415 The Lord Warden was ordered to summon and array seamen for a forthcoming fleet operations: 57 ships from the Cinque Ports in 40 days were expected to assemble. No ship more than 20 tuns was permitted to leave port. All requisitioned vessels were to be taken to Southampton by 8 May. On St George's Day at Windsor Arundel was made a Knight of the Garter with precedence. He was among 16 of the 25 knights preparing for war that summer. The following day 24 April, the king rewarded his friend with an additional £300 on top of a modest salary as Lord Treasurer of £100 per annum. Arundel's experience deploying massed ranks of longbowmen was vital to Henry's strategy to succeed; as many as 2000 had been used at St Cloud. But the invasion date was put back to 1 July, at the end of April. On 15 June a service was held at St Paul's; Arundel could not have known he would not return in triumph, so he lingered at least until 24 June. Meanwhile, he was despatched on an expedition "into parts of Wales" to raise more archers to add complement to existing units. The royal household paid him £18 12s expenses, but the coffers being bare, Arundel's troops did not receive all their wages. On 27 May 1415, Arundel and Thomas Beaufort had been put in charge of provisioning Calais and the army in Normandy.[5] This included a scheme devised by the Keeper of the Privy Seal to extort money out of Italian merchants in London that raised nearly £2000. As they were about to leave (8 August) Southampton by ship, King Henry replaced Arundel with a new Treasurer, Sir John Rothenhale; Arundel was on the campaign to fight. He wrote a will signing over his estates to trustees for his wife, Beatrice, Countess Arundel and the children for which he gained the King's consent.[6] Noblesse oblige was one of Arundel's personal chivalric codes. When it was revealed the earl of March was inveigled into the Southampton Plot, Arundel and Lord Scrope provided the bulk of 10,000 marks fine imposed by Henry for this illegal marriage to Anne Stafford. Arundel's astute business dealings saved March and the King at the Michaelmas Council, which was in uproar. Bishop Richard Countenay of Norwich had died, the duke of Clarence was ill, but Arundel remained the King's "great friend". The Southampton plotters attempted to implicate Arundel, but as their testimony unravelled it became clear Sir Thomas Gray was speaking spiteful lies, and the young earl was held to be without blame.[7] Arundel was one of the initial commanders of Henry V's 1415 French campaign, he sailed with a minimum one hundred men-at-arms, and three hundred archers. Of his own retinue two men-at-arms and thirteen archers died at the siege of Harfleur. At least fourteen men-at-arms and sixty-eight archers were sick, and sent home on the Feast of St Wenceslas (29 Sept); Arundel was among them with five men-at-arms to help him.[8] The Council advised the king against a proposed march to Calais; but Arundel had to return to Sussex on 10 October 1415. He was nursed by a faithful retainer's wife, Elizabeth Ryman. In his will made on 10 October, he asked to be buried in the church of the Holy Trinity, Arundel. He left 200 marks for a funeral, and required a statue be erected over his father's grave. He had pledged a vow to pray to St John of Bridlington when he was a servant of Prince Hal; and now at Mary Gate, Arundel a chapel was to be built dedicated to the Virgin. Arundel wanted all the wages arrears to be paid by his heirs that were owed to soldiery.[9] Ancestry [ edit ] Succession [ edit ] Fitzalan left no legitimate children. The castle and lordship of Arundel was inherited by his cousin John, 13th Earl of Arundel. The Earldom of Surrey fell into abeyance (or became extinct; authorities differ on this matter). The rest of his property was split amongst his three surviving sisters. See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Bibliography Secondary sources [ edit ] Curry, Anne (2006). Agincourt: a New History . Stroud. Jacob, E. F. Henry V and the Invasion of France . London 1947. Mortimer, Ian (2009). 1415 : Henry V's Year of Glory . Bodley Head. Nicolas, Sir Nicholas Harris (1826). Testamenta Vetusta : Illustrations from Wills of Manners, Customs etc., from the Reign of Henry the Second to the Accession of Elizabeth I . vol.1. Rawcliffe, Carole (1999). Medicine and Society in Later Medieval England . London. Taylor, Frank; Roskell, John S. (1975). Gesta Henrici Quinti: the Deeds of Henry the Fifth . Oxford. Wylie, J.H.; Waugh, William Templeton (1914–1929). The Reign of Henry the Fifth . 3 vols. Cambridge. Wylie, James Hamilton (1884–1898). A History of England under Henry the Fourth. 4 vols. Note: Some sources do not include the first seven earls in their list of Earls of Arundel (see Earl of Arundel). In such sources this Earl is the sixth.
NORTON (CBS) – College administrators, campus and local police are investigating a case of anti-Semitic graffiti on the Jewish Life House at Wheaton College. None of the students living at the house slept there Sunday night because they were too nervous after a swastika and other offensive images were found spray-painted on the back door, campus officials told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Kim Tunnicliffe reports https://cbsboston.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/norton-college-swastika-tunnicliffe-w1.mp3 “I am told that this is the latest, and most visible, expression of hate to which these students have been subjected, but not the first,” College President Ronald Crutcher said in a statement Monday. “Offensive and derogatory remarks have been shouted from the street, as recently as Friday evening.” “Demeaning, degrading and offensive speech creates a hostile environment for those who are targeted by it, and it impoverishes our entire community by attempting to silence those with whom we may disagree. It also is a violation of the Wheaton Honor Code and our community standards,” he said. Wheaton spokesman Mike Graca said the incident runs counter to what Wheaton is all about. “We are going to make a strong statement that this won’t be tolerated,” Graca told WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Kim Tunnicliffe. On Monday afternoon, the Anti-Defamation League released a statement condemning the graffiti. “ADL condemns this anti-Semitic incident, and commends Wheaton College President Ronald Crutcher for immediately making it clear to all that acts of hate will not be tolerated,” said Derrek L. Shulman, Regional Director of ADL New England. “We commend Campus Police and Norton Police for responding swiftly and seriously to this apparent Hate Crime,” added Jeffrey Robbins, ADL New England Regional Board of Directors Board Chair. “ADL will continue to work with the campus community, and help it to grow stronger in response to this deeply troubling incident.” If you have any information about these incidents, contact the Wheaton Public Safety Department or Norton police (508) 285-3300.
Continuing on this quest to focus on one tiny little workflow change at a time, so that I can get even better at using Emacs… One of those packages I installed but never got around to trying out was all , which lets you interactively edit all lines matching a given regular expression. It’s like an editable occur, sorta. It turns out that helm-swoop lets you use C-c C-e to edit matching lines interactively (so you can use keyboard macros or replace-regexp or whatever). You can type C-x C-s to save it back to the buffer. On a related note, I’m still tickled pink every time I use dired-toggle-read-only ( C-x C-q ) to make a Dired buffer editable so that I can batch-rename filenames. More posts about: emacs Tags: helm \| See in index // 14 Comments »
Disney’s animation studio has been on a roll for the last few years with great films like Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled, and The Princess and the Frog. But Frozen is the best film to come from the studio since Beauty and the Beast. What makes Frozen even better than those other recent films? It takes everything we love about Disney films and delivers it all in a wonderful new package that feels both classic and updated at the same time. Basically, Frozen improves upon just about everything Enchanted tried to do, and it does it all with a mostly straight face. It takes old Disney conventions and turns them on their head in creative ways to make a truly special film. Don’t get me wrong. Enchanted is a good movie. I even wrote about how it improves each time I see it. But it really isn’t as innovative or special as I would like it to be. This comparison of Frozen and Enchanted isn’t going to be like my other Movie Matchups. I won’t try to compare their plots; I will instead discuss how they bent Disney conventions and why Frozen did a much better job. As such, I won’t give my customary summary at the start, but I’ll simply jump into the comparisons. So let’s break the ice and start singing a happy working song as we discover what Frozen did better than Enchanted. Beware because this article is full of spoilers. Orphans The main characters are orphans. It makes sense that Disney movies often have main characters with only one or no parents. This makes their backstories less complex to get across and it tightens the group of characters who are important to the story. For example, Aladdin was originally going to have a mother and she was even going to sing a song, but she was ultimately cut from the film to save on screen time and to focus more on Aladdin himself. Enchanted didn’t even try to address this frequently used Disney convention. Neither Giselle nor Prince Edward has a father or a mother. Edward only has an evil step-mother. Frozen, on the other hand, gives sisters Elsa and Anna two loving but overprotective parents who die at sea during the prologue, leaving their daughters with just each other. This creates a dramatic dynamic because once the parents are gone the two girls need each other more than ever, but Elsa pushes her sister away because she fears her inability to control her emotions and her ice powers will hurt anyone who comes close to her. By the way, another character, named Kristoff, is a straight-up orphan, but he gets adopted by trolls early in life, and the trolls are such a delightful addition to the film that I’ll give this one a pass. Falling in Love (and Getting Engaged) in One Day Disney princesses often fall in love at first sight or in an otherwise unbelievably short space of time. Enchanted pokes fun at that idea when a divorce lawyer named Robert Philip tries to educate Giselle about how the real world works. Unfortunately, this potentially clever idea is forgotten in the end when Giselle decides to stay in the real world with Robert after only knowing him for just a few days. Not much of an improvement over love at first sight in my eyes. Frozen takes a completely different tack with this idea. Sure, Princess Anna decides to marry a prince within a few hours of meeting him. But Elsa and later Kristoff point out what a terrible idea it is to decide on such a big thing so hastily. It’s clear that Anna was so lonely after years of isolation that she was too eager to latch onto anyone who showed her kindness. Also, it turns out that Elsa and Kristoff were right and she doesn’t know the prince’s intentions at all. In the end, she starts to take a shine to Kristoff after getting to know him a little, but the film doesn’t end with them getting married. They’re still just friends, as they should be at that point in their relationship. The “Evil” Queen’s Motivations Queens (and step-mothers) are often just plain evil for no good reason in Disney movies. Can anyone explain what reason Maleficent had for being so bad besides not being invited to a party? Maybe the upcoming film devoted to her will clear that up. Snow White’s step-mother was simply vain, Ursula craved power, Cinderella’s step-mother wanted free slave labor – the list of simple motivations goes on and on. The queen in Enchanted doesn’t satirize or improve upon any of those other femme fatales. She’s just a Maleficent wannabe who shows up long enough to threaten the heroes and then die. Queen Elsa, on the other hand, is wonderfully complex. She’s a tragic hero rather than a villain. She just wants to avoid hurting people. Before they died, her parents encouraged her to hide her freezing powers. So she went through life in constant fear of being discovered and unable to protect people from herself. When her power is exposed to the whole kingdom she immediately runs far away, hoping that she will be left alone. In the end, we learn that she’s not bad at all. She’s a victim of circumstance and fear. Her redemption is so satisfying because we’ve been yearning the whole film to see her be reconciled with her sister. Beautiful Visuals The musical numbers are all punctuated by incredible visuals. Enchanted answers the question, “What would an animated scene look like if it was done in real life?” The results are stunning, especially in the show-stopping number “That’s How You Know.” The “Happy Working Song” is also a comical way to bring something to life that seems completely insane in our world but is completely normal in a cartoon. Despite Enchanted’s efforts, I would definitely argue that Frozen surpassed it in what it accomplished visually. The scenes of Elsa building her snow palace, Olaf the talking snowman dreaming of what summer feels like, and Anna excitedly inviting guests into the palace for the first time in years are all spectacularly brought to life by both music and images. This movie is a feast for the senses. Talking Animals Animals are often intelligent and/or able to communicate with humans in Disney films. Enchanted cleverly had a chipmunk, named Pip, follow Giselle into the real world where he suddenly finds himself unable to speak. So he has to use visual clues to get humans to understand him. He’s actually one of the smartest characters in the whole movie and his speech impediment leads to a lot of funny scenes and misunderstandings. Animals are also unable to talk to humans in Frozen, but that doesn’t mean they lack intelligence. Kristoff spends a lot of time talking with his pet reindeer, Sven. But he does it in a playful way where he gives the animal’s responses in a funny voice to show the audience his own thought process, as well as that of his beast of burden. Even the trolls point out that this is a little weird. In later scenes, though, Sven gets messages across to Kristoff without the benefit of speech or Kristoff making up words for him. In both films, the animals’ lack of communication is smartly handled. Suddenly Bursting Into Song You have to suspend your disbelief in Disney movies when characters suddenly break out into song and dance numbers. As I mentioned before, Enchanted did a pretty good job with this. When Giselle starts singing to Robert out of nowhere in front of a bunch of strangers, Robert is naturally embarrassed and tries to get her to stop. But her song inspires so many others to join in that it evolves into the film’s signature musical production. It’s a funny sendup of something cartoons sometimes take for granted. The songs in Frozen, on the other hand, never come out of nowhere. They flow so naturally from dialogue to song and then back and forth within songs that you never feel like the movie has come to a halt for another song. Instead, the songs move the story forward or give further insights into the characters while also heightening the emotions expressed and drawing in the audience. They also enhance the artistry of the film. “Let It Go,” “Fixer Upper,” “In Summer,” “For the First Time in Forever,” and several other songs are absolute joys to listen to and watch unfold on the screen. The Love Triangle Not every Disney movie has a love triangle. In fact, sometimes two members of the triangle turn out to be just one, like in the case of Sleeping Beauty. As I noted earlier, Giselle falls in love with Edward at first sight but is then unintentionally wooed by Robert in just a few days. This is supposed to be a witty commentary on quick movie romances, but its message is ultimately undermined by its sloppy payoff. Frozen avoids the pitfalls of the traditional love triangle. It has all the initial elements of a classic triangle, but then it provides two serious twists by having one of the men Anna loves be the villain and then ensuring she doesn’t make the same mistake twice by instantly hooking up with the other man on the rebound. True Love’s Kiss to Break the Spell It often just takes the kiss of a handsome prince to heal a princess from whatever ails her. In Enchanted, that’s definitely true. It’s supposed to be a big surprise that Edward’s kiss isn’t what brings Giselle back to life but Robert’s. However, this is just trading one cliché for another. Frozen does what Enchanted wasn’t brave enough to attempt: to have true love come from someone other than a handsome prince. In the case of Frozen, Anna sacrifices herself for her sister and that is the act of true sisterly love that saves them both from their miseries. That was unexpected and brilliant. This climax ties the two sisters together at a critical moment and resolves all of the story’s conflicts in one swift stroke. Conclusion Enchanted debuted in 2007 when Disney was still working on finding its groove again. It was a pretty good sendup of the clichés that had become so entrenched in Disney’s animated films, but it failed to offer something truly unique and new to replace those clichés. Frozen finally did what Enchanted tried to do. It broke the mold while still honoring all the traditions that had come before. It’s like the Casino Royale of Disney movies. I hope it portends even greater changes in the future. I am extremely optimistic about the future of animation now that Disney is returning to the level of Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. This is the Deja Reviewer wishing you a Happy New Year and bidding you farewell until we meet again. All images are the copyright of their respective owners. Advertisements
The Qtum Project Creates a Mixture of Bitcoin and Ethereum A new project called Qtum has been created by the Singapore-based Quantum Foundation that plans to meld the Bitcoin protocol with Ethereum technology. The open source project integrates the Ethereum Virtual Machine with Bitcoin’s Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) model and aims to provide smart contracts to businesses worldwide. Also read: SEC Delays Decision on SolidX Bitcoin Trust A Project That Mixes Bitcoin Code With Ethereum’s Virtual Machine The project Qtum is an interesting decentralized app (Dapp) venture that combines the Bitcoin client 0.13, Proof of Stake (PoS), and the Ethereum Virtual Machine to enable smart contract services. The project has also received $1 million in funding from investors such as Fenbushi partner Bo Shen, Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio, BitFund founder Xiaolai Li, and more. Qtum’s goal is to provide a value transfer protocol Dapp platform with the best properties of both projects. “Qtum integrated the EVM onto a UTXO-based blockchain, and writing contracts for this should be just as easy as for Ethereum, but you get the benefits of the UTXO model,” explains Qtum developer Jordan Earlz. “These benefits include mobile/light wallet support by SPV, a more stable model (whereas Ethereum has forked many times to fix problems with this), and compatibility with existing Bitcoin tools and protocols.” The Qtum Project Will Deploy Master Contracts and Incentivized Proof of Stake The Qtum development team details how the platform will allow both smart contracts and master contracts that include off-chain data. The Qtum project explains to the publication 8btc that master contracts accomplish much more than typical smart contracts. “A contract signed by two banks could be terminated with the consensus of the two banks alone,” states the Quantum Foundation. “A master contract gives total control to the contract-signers over the execution or termination of the contracts. That’s a mimic of real-life scenario. The Master Contract is a great step forward, bringing new potential to the blockchain application and extending the concept of smart contract.” The project also claims to be the first to implement a smart contract system utilizing Bitcoin’s UTXO while also integrating a Proof of Stake mechanism. The network consensus is referred to as IPOS (Incentivized Proof of Stake) which the developers say rewards the network participants. Extensive Testing, Sparknet and Utilizing the Most Stable Blockchain The Qtum team has built two Dapp projects so far including SpringEmail and Qloha. Both services utilize cryptocurrency solutions that enhance messaging applications and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (STMP). According to the team, the Qtum project is in the midst of creating desktop and mobile wallets for its user base. After extensive testing, the developers plan to unveil its testnet application dubbed “Sparknet” which will be the prelude to the official platform launch. Qtum also has disclosed that the team will be seeking out code reviews from independent individuals and organizations willing to experiment with the project. The project is pleased to utilize the Bitcoin protocol within the Qtum project, stating that the Bitcoin blockchain is the most dependable public distributed ledger available. “Bitcoin is the most mature, stable and secure blockchain available, in comparison to Ethereum or Bitshares or others which are still considered unstable with the numerous problems and security issues they had since they launched,” says the Qtum team. “In addition to Bitcoin having the biggest support from the community which offers a large collection of tools and software related to Bitcoin which can be used by quantum as well, in contrast to the other blockchains which sometimes lack even the simplest software.” What do you think of the Qtum project mixing Bitcoin with Ethereum and Proof of Stake consensus? Let us know how you feel about this project in the comments below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Qtum’s blog. Do you want to vote on important Bitcoin issues? Bitcoin.com has acquired Bitcoinocracy, and rebranded the project to Vote.bitcoin.com. Users simply sign a statement with a non-empty Bitcoin address and express their opinions. The project focuses on determining truth backed by monetary value and transparency.
All multi-cellular organisms contain hormones. Photo courtesy of Troy Walz. By Bruce Treffer, UNL Extension Educator There are a lot of concerns and mixed messages about hormones in beef. There are a few things to keep in mind the next time you hear that beef contains too many hormones. All multi-cellular organisms contain hormones. That’s true for animals and vegetables, but some meat production systems use hormone implants which cause the meat to have slightly more hormones than the non-implanted. True in beef, but not in pork or chicken as federal law does not permit the use of hormones in raising hogs or chickens. Implants are used to increase efficiency (i.e. feed conversion to muscle more quickly) or more muscle from less feed more quickly, which keeps prices down and reduces the environmental impact of production. In beef, the implanted animals will produce meat that contains slightly more of the hormone estrogen (1.9 versus 1.3 nanograms per 3 ounce serving - which is about the size of a deck of cards). Is that extra estrogen going to cause problems? Consider the facts. When hormones are eaten, they are digested, broken down and largely neutralized, so they don’t act as hormones anymore. Even if they did, the 1.9 nanograms of estrogen in implanted beef seems miniscule when we consider that a child’s body produces around 50,000 nanograms of estrogen per day. An adult female (non-pregnant) will produce 480,000 nanograms of estrogen per day on its own. The 1.9 nanograms of estrogen in implanted beef is also miniscule compared to 225 nanograms of estrogen in potatoes, 340 nanograms of estrogen in peas, 520 nanograms of estrogen in ice cream, 2,000 nanograms of estrogen in cabbage, 11,250 nanograms of estrogen in soy milk, and 170,000 nanograms of estrogen in soybean oil… all based on a 3 ounce serving size. One birth control pill contains 35,000 nanograms of estrogen. It may be surprising to learn that there are more hormones in commonly eaten food products than there are in beef (http://go.unl.edu/uhg4 or http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2767.pdf)! So why do kids seem to be growing faster and reaching puberty earlier? Genetics play a role, but hormones make far less sense than calories consumed and increased levels of body fat (i.e., childhood obesity). According to Dr. Frank Biro of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, “BMI (body mass index) is, we found, the biggest single factor for the onset of puberty.” It is easy to blame hormones and sometimes just meat for that matter, or food in general for health problems because the general public is removed from actual food production and processing. It is human nature to be fearful of things we aren’t familiar with or that we don’t fully understand. It is always advisable to do some research and make inquiries yourself before believing everything you hear or read. If misinformation and half-truths are repeated often enough, and in sinister enough media campaign voices, they can take on a life of their own devoid of science or truth. For more UNL Beef information go to http://beef.unl.edu
Urged not to ‘contemplate betraying what people voted for’, PM says it will be up to government to decide how money is spent Theresa May has declined to rule out continuing to pay significant sums into the EU budget after Brexit. Asked about the issue in the Commons, the prime minister would only say that the government would be able to make decisions about how to spend taxpayers’ money after leaving the EU. The Conservative MP Philip Davies urged her to make a pledge not to pay any money into the EU budget. He argued that even “contemplating that would be contemplating betraying what people voted for” in June. May replied that Britain would live up to its obligations while it remained a member, adding: “When we leave the EU, people want to ensure that it is the British government that decides how taxpayer money is spent.” The comments leave open the possibility – already hinted at by the Brexit secretary, David Davis – that the UK could pay in money in an attempt to retain access to the single market. The subject is politically difficult for the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and other frontbenchers who told voters during the referendum campaign that Brexit would mean clawing back £350m a week to spend on the NHS. May was also asked about reports that the EU would charge Britain a £50bn exit bill to leave the EU, and made no comment. Giving a statement to the Commons about last week’s European Council meeting, May said she had told leaders that MPs had voted by almost six to one to support her timetable to invoke article 50 by the end of March. She said the government would respect a supreme court decision on whether MPs must be given another vote on the issue through an act of parliament, but added that she was determined it would not change the timetable. May reiterated her desire for a “smooth and orderly” Brexit, and said she had raised with the EU leaders her desire to protect European citizens already living in Britain – suggesting that it was the other countries stalling the process. “It remains my objective that we give reassurance early on in the negotiations to EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in EU that their right to stay in the place they have made the homes will be protected through our withdrawal. This is an issue I would like to agree quickly but clearly this requires an agreement with the rest of the EU,” she said. Jeremy Corbyn said Britain was becoming increasingly isolated on a world stage and called on May to make a new year’s resolution to urgently improve relations with other European countries. The Labour leader accused the government of a “shambolic” approach to Brexit that he said was becoming increasingly frustrating to other EU members, with contradictory frontbench claims about the need for transitional arrangements and how long a deal might take to complete. Corbyn said most people could agree that 2016 had been a year of huge change for the UK and the rest of the world, “but with change has come a great deal of division”. He urged May to commit to building better relations with European countries to help secure the “best deal for the people of Britain”, and heavily criticised the Brexit process so far. “At the moment it is clear that on the international stage the prime minister and Britain are becoming increasingly isolated. And if we are to build a successful Britain after Brexit, it is more vital than ever that our relationship with our European partners remains strong, cordial and respectful,” he said. “It is also clear through my own discussions, European leaders are becoming increasingly frustrated by her shambolic government and their contradictory approach to Brexit negotiations.” Corbyn accused the frontbench of confusing people with mixed messages on Brexit. He contrasted the Brexit secretary, David Davis, saying a deal could be struck within 18 months with reports that Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK’s permanent representative to the EU, had said it could take 10 years. He also pointed out that the chancellor, Philip Hammond, had clearly said a transitional deal was necessary, while the trade secretary, Liam Fox, suggested otherwise. “The people of Britain deserve better than this confusion at the heart of government and confidence is being lost,” Corbyn said. “The government’s chaotic approach to Brexit risks causing enormous damage to the British economy now and in the long term.”
The Libertarian Party Town Hall event hosted by CNN on Wednesday night was the highest rated show on cable news in the coveted 25-54 demographic for the night. More than 1.6 million viewers tuned in to the hour-long event featuring Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson and vice presidential candidate William Weld. Perhaps more important than the raw numbers is the massive uptick in viewership for Wednesday's event compared to a similar Libertarian Town Hall discussion hosted by CNN on June 22. Overall viewership was up 74 percent and viewership in the 25-54 demographic increased by 101 percent—more than doubling the "in demographic" audience for the first town hall with Johnson and Weld, CNN reported Thursday. The Libertarian Town Hall outperformed CNN's usual programing in the 9pm slot. Anderson Cooper, who served as host and moderator for the discussion with Johnson and Weld, got 1.3 million viewers for his show in the same time slot on Tuesday night and only 1.1 million viewers for the same hour on Monday. The big numbers caught the attention of media analyst Brian Stelter, who notes that the Libertarian Town Hall even beat ratings beast Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday. It's likely that Wednesday's event was the largest TV audience ever for a Libertarian Party presidential candidate. That shouldn't be a surprise, considering how many Americans are fed up with the binary political system, in general, and with the two choices coughed up by that binary political system this year, in particular. Johnson is averaging 8 percent in four-way polls with Trump, Clinton and Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. He cracked 10 percent in two polls released this week, both taken before Wednesday's event. It's too soon to know whether the Town Hall will help Johnson in the polls, but Wednesday's ratings and previous polls show many Americans are looking for an alternative. Did Johnson and Weld give their 1.6 million viewers that alternative? They came off as a "sensible alternative" to Clinton and Trump, writes Reason editor in chief Nick Gillespie. "Johnson and Weld were calm, optimistic, and straightforward in how they answered questions from moderator Anderson Cooper and various audience members." But there were some slip-ups. While Johnson and Weld succeeding in seeming "human, humane, decent, calm, and at least compared to their major party competitors, thoughtful," Reason senior editor Brian Doherty says they didn't do a great job of articulating actual Libertarian positions on some issues, pushing instead a centrist, anti-partisan message. For Reason's full recap of the second Libertarian Town Hall on CNN, watch here:
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said in an interview with Roll Call on Thursday that members of Congress are underpaid and can't afford to live "decently" in Washington. “I think the American people should know that the members of Congress are underpaid,” Moran said. “I understand that it’s widely felt that they underperform, but the fact is that this is the board of directors for the largest economic entity in the world.” Members of Congress make $174,000 per year currently. Moran added: “Our pay has been frozen for three years and we’re planning on freezing it a fourth year. … A lot of members can’t even afford to live decently in Washington." Moran said he will introduce an amendment to fix the problem during debate over the Legislative Branch bill. Given Congress's near-record-low approval ratings, of course, it's unlikely many Americans will sympathize with members' financial plights. Moran, for what it's worth, represents a district just across the river in Nothern Virginia, so he doesn't have to deal with maintaining two homes, like many members do. Some members have taken to sleeping in their offices while Congress is in session. The two counties in Moran's district -- Arlington County and Fairfax County -- both rank in the top five nationally when it comes to average income. Moran is not seeking reelection this year.
Smite developers Hi-Rez Studios have launched a new, comical web series called Minion has Spawned about a new intern at the company. On Terry’s first day, something terrible happens. All of the Smite videos on YouTube become unavailable due to a copyright debacle. How topical! The first episode also digs at Riot Games’ League of Legends contract with players that previously prohibited them from streaming competing titles. That has since been revised after feedback from contracted streamers and eSports competitors. If you’re not familiar with Smite, it’s a MOBA that puts the players closer to the action with a third-person camera. Each of the characters is based on a deity from a variety of cultures. Our Take I’m not a MOBA player, and I don’t know much about Smite. I do know, however, that Hi-Rez Studios has a great sense of humor and this is well delivered. By the way, in case you are wondering if Hi-Rez allows streaming and monetizing, the studio definitely does.
Lesbians are more likely to get vaccinated, but also to drink excessively A new HHS study breaks down key health trends by sexual orientation, revealing major differences across groups It might not come as a huge surprise that bisexual men are more likely to get tested for HIV than those who identify as straight or heterosexual, but what about the fact that they're also much less likely to have a primary care physician? The findings are among several new insights the Department of Health and Human Services published on Tuesday, compiled in the first federal study of sexual orientation and health practices that evaluates differences across groups. The report includes responses from nearly 35,000 adults aged 18 and up, revealing fascinating -- and sometimes dispiriting -- data about lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual health practices. The study relied on self-reported sexual orientation identification, asking participants if they considered themselves "lesbian or gay," "straight, that is, not gay" or "bisexual." Participants of both genders could also opt to identify as "something else" or say "I don't know the answer," but were asked an additional follow-up question that was not included in the report. Approximately 96.6 percent of participants identified as straight while just 1.6 percent identified as gay or lesbian and 0.7 percent identified as bisexual. Advertisement: The data revealed some major disparities in the area of healthcare access, finding that bisexual people of both genders were significantly less likely to have health insurance than people of any other group. Nearly a quarter of bisexual respondents were uninsured, while approximately 84 percent of gay, lesbian and heterosexual respondents did have medical coverage. When it comes to seeking out certain medical treatment, specifically HIV testing, gay, lesbian and bisexual people were more likely than their straight counterparts to participate. Additionally, nearly half of gay and lesbian respondents reported getting flu vaccines, but bi- and heterosexual people lagged behind. Little of the data sets itself up for clear or immediate analysis, with a few notable exceptions. When it comes to obesity rates, the report found that gay and bisexual men were much less likely than heterosexual men and women across sexual orientations to be obese. Additionally, gay, lesbian and bisexual people were also more likely to be physically active than heterosexual people, which is likely related. This isn't that surprising: body-shaming has been highlighted as a prominent issue in the gay male community, and studies have revealed an epidemic of eating disorders among gay men. As the report notes, none of the data is conclusive as is, but it could mark an important jumping off point for deeper investigations in the future.
Republicans have a math problem. The tax reform bill they are pushing through the Senate will live and die by a complicated rule — known as the “Byrd Rule,” a condition of the “budget reconciliation” process that allows Republicans to pass legislation with only 51 votes in the Senate. Because of how they set it up, Republicans’ tax bill can only increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion in the first 10 years, with no increase outside that window. But as it stands, neither the House tax bill nor the Senate’s passes this test. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House bill will increase the deficit by $1.7 trillion, and the initial analyses of the Senate bill show it is on track to increase the deficit outside the 10-year window — the plan’s largest impact on the deficit is by $216.7 billion in 2027. Maneuvering around Senate rules is not new to congressional Republicans, who recently tried, and failed, to pass Obamacare repeal through budget reconciliation. They said tax reform would be easier. Both the House and Senate bills have tried to repeal or cap various deductions — some big, some small — earning the ire of various factions of the party. But they haven’t yet gotten the math to work. It will all come down to what the Senate parliamentarian will permit. There’s no question that Republicans are desperately in search of budget gimmicks and rosy economic projections to make it all work — the question is if it will. The Byrd Rule is the price of partisan politics At the beginning of this year, with a bare 52-vote majority, far short of the 60-vote filibuster threshold, Republican leadership devised a plan to bypass Democrats altogether on major legislation: They would tie their major agenda items to the budget through “budget reconciliation,” a bill that can impact spending, revenue, or the debt ceiling with only a party-line vote in the Senate. It’s a process President Bill Clinton used to pass welfare reform in 1996 and President George W. Bush used to pass tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. It’s how President Barack Obama got several budgetary amendments to the Affordable Care Act passed. Republicans also attempted to use budget reconciliation to try to pass an Obamacare repeal bill in the Senate As Vox’s Dylan Scott explained, any bill being passed under reconciliation has to comply with every section of the six-part Byrd Rule. “If it fails any one of those tests, it must be stripped out”: 1. The provision must change federal spending or revenue. 2. If the bill does not meet the budget resolution’s instructions to reduce the federal deficit, any provision that results in either increased spending or decreased revenue is removed until it does meet those targets. 3. The provision must only affect policies that fall under the jurisdiction of the specific committees that were instructed in the budget resolution. 4, The provision’s effect on spending or revenues must be more than incidental to its policy impact. 5. The provision cannot increase the federal deficit at some point in the future, beyond the typical 10-year “budget window” that is used to evaluate legislation. 6. The provision cannot change Social Security. Republicans have tied their hands: They have passed a budget that allows them to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion in the first 10 years, but they want to pursue massive tax cuts that appear to increase the deficit outside that 10-year window. House Republicans are expected to vote on their tax bill this week, as the Senate is marking up its version — both would have to see substantial changes to pass the Byrd test. The ways Republicans are trying to get around the Byrd question Already Republicans are using gimmicks to get around this, the major one being passing what appears to a sweeping tax cut that will sunset after 10 years. This is what former President George W. Bush did with his tax cuts under budget reconciliation in 2001, essentially getting around the deficit restriction by making the tax cuts temporary. This House included some of this, sunsetting the $300 family credit after five years. The Senate could do the same. There are already rumors of a temporary and permanent split in tax reform proposals among Republican members. The question is whose tax cuts are permanent and whose are temporary. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said his committee has "every intention of making the business reforms permanent" at the start of the bill’s markup — meaning it might be the individual tax cuts that will sunset, instead of the corporate rate. One way this happens, floated by Zach Moller, a senior policy analyst for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, is what he calls the “Title Gambit.” Republicans could split up their tax bill into three separate titles: One would be a temporary Republican-led effort that would pursue aggressive tax cuts; a second would be permanent and comply with Senate rules; and the third would be a permanent bipartisan proposal needing 60 votes that would likely find consensus around issues like the child tax credit or doubling the standard deduction. By going this route, Republicans would be able to split the impact of the deficit between budget reconciliation bills and regular order. But again, it comes down to whether the parliamentarian will go for these separate titles, which are usually separated by committee involvement. Some analysts have also floated the nuclear option, in which the presiding officer of the Senate — Vice President Mike Pence — just overrules the Senate parliamentarian. McConnell did not allow for this in the health care debate, but some have theorized there is more pressure for him to go to extreme lengths this time. Either way, Republicans are relying on projections of increased economic growth from tax cuts to offset the revenue losses from those cuts, known as “dynamic scoring,” to sell their tax bill. The Senate Budget Committee could also use a different, more ideologically conservative score of their tax plan instead of the CBO’s evaluation, like the Tax Foundation’s score or the Treasury Department’s. But currently, even under the rosiest of projections, economic growth alone doesn’t seem to be enough to offset the full losses from the deepest cuts Republicans have proposed. The conservative Tax Foundation found the House tax bill would still increase the deficit by $500 billion, and projections from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School showed that by 2040, the debt would increase by $6.4 trillion to $6.9 trillion. The tax cuts aren’t paying for themselves. And there’s still skepticism whether the Senate parliamentarian will accept those growth numbers.
Everyone remembers the brutal injury that knocked Malcolm Mitchell out of the first preseason game of the year against the Saints, so in the interest of keeping everyone’s lunch inside their stomachs, we won’t go over that again. Just hearing that the kid wasn’t done for the year was enough relief for pretty much everyone. And then word came out today that Mitchell and Rob Ninkovich were both full participants in practice. Who do those two think they are, Deadpool? Patriots Football Weekly’s Eric Scalvino caught up with Malcolm to see how he was coming along – after all, it was just three weeks ago that he hurt himself. Here’s what Mitchell had to say today: "When I felt it," Mitchell recalled Tuesday, "I thought something just popped right there. I didn’t even think about it. I was going to be fine. "When I saw a picture of it," he added with a chuckle, "I said, ‘OK, I understand everyone’s reaction.’ Actually, I’m not weak-stomached or anything like that. It was fine." Scalvino noted that Mitchell’s been wearing a protective brace on his arm to make sure the injury doesn’t get aggravated accidentally. Gronk must be proud. Participating in practice is great, and it sounds like he’s got a good handle on the "It is what it is" approach to rehab. More from Scalvino and PFW: "I’m not a big fan of hesitating or letting something slow me down. An injury is an injury. You just deal with it," he stated matter-of-factly. "I think it’s worse if you think about it too much. Obviously, you have to be smart about it, but at some point you’ve just got to let it go and just play. Yeah, I’m trying to get ready for my next opportunity to go. "This is a sport where injuries happen all the time. Something’s going to happen [to you] eventually. So, you just take it and have to deal with it. To get frustrated over something I have no control over would be stressful, and that’s unnecessary stress. It can’t help me, it can only hurt me." And he’s certainly not bummed out about getting the chance to watch his team and cram as much knowledge as he can: "It’s helpful, very beneficial to take it all in. if you can’t go out there and do everything, watching it and taking it in mentally is the next-best thing. Me coming in every day doing the best I can, that hasn’t stopped. Regardless of whether it’s in the training room, the meeting rooms, or when I’m out there on the field. "While they’re playing, I’m a fan at that point," he acknowledged. "Obviously, I have a different perspective because I can see stuff on the screen and know what’s about to happen. That’s my main focus, to cheer them on. When I’m watching them play, I’m not dissecting the play. If someone catches a pass, I’m cheering for them. Maybe when we come back in and watch film as a team, but while I’m watching them play – like in Carolina – I’m not dissecting it as the game’s going on." "You come in eager to learn, eager to play, eager to prove yourself, and then… you just have to be patient and wait for the time to be able to do that again." The soonest Malcolm might be able to come back was projected at four weeks, which puts him at possibly available for the first or second game of the season. And with the way Jimmy Garoppolo and Mitchell were clicking in the Saints game, Jimmy G and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are surely stoked that Malcolm may be able to play this season after all. Hey, now the offense can yell "MALCOLM, GO!" too. It’s only fair.
The way we bury our dead hasn’t changed much over the past two thousand years. But it needs to change soon, according to a group of designers, philanthropic foundations, and funeral directors who sponsored a recent design competition to rethink burial traditions in the face of emerging problems with the status quo. It's a less less macabre concept than it sounds. In fact, there are some pretty compelling reasons to change the way we bury each other. For one thing, we’re running out of space: in cities especially, cemetery overcrowding is a major problem. More importantly, both burial and cremation are surprisingly bad for the environment, not to mention the health of the living—our dental fillings, for example, release thousands of pounds of mercury into the atmosphere when we’re cremated. Advertisement What’s holding up a revolution in the way we bury our dead? The answer is complex. Most of us are uncomfortable with talking candidly about death, and ritual is there to help to calm that anxiety. There are also legal hurdles with unconventional burials, not to mention challenges from the established commercial industry that surrounds funerals. Still, the “natural burial” movement, which seeks to make bural more eco-friendly, is gaining momentum. So are less conventional burial methods, from space-borne ashes to fireworks. So in April, Designboom launched Design for Death, a competition that invited designers to propose new burial methods. In the end, they received 2,050 proposals and distributed over $100,000 in prize money. A group of jurors—including architect Richard Meier, artist Ray Ceasar, and the director of the National Funeral Directors Association—voted to pick the best. Some of them are trite, others are powerful—and most are a bit of both. After all, the ways we mourn (and the ways we take and give comfort) differ for everyone. With that in mind, some of these designers make powerful arguments for change. Check them out below. Advertisement Advertisement The Infinity Burial Project by Jae Rhim Lee "By trying to preserve dead bodies, we deny death, poison the living, and further harm the environment," says MIT research fellow and artist, Jae Rhim Lee, the designer behind the so-called Mushroom Death Suit. The idea is simple: certain strains of mushrooms are actually able to remediate toxins. Knowing that the average body is host to 219 different chemicals—all of which seep into the soil when we decompose—Jae Rhim's proposal would use "death suit" covered in the mushrooms to prevent the spread of toxins into the soil. Advertisement Advertisement Emergence by Enzo Pascual, Pierre Rivière Three French designers proposed this eco-casket, made from biodegradable plastics and embedded with a tree seedling, as an alternative to a traditional steel, wood, or plastic box. The beautiful thing about their design? Co2 emitted from your body's decomposition will power a perpetually-glowing headstone on the surface. It's a self-powered memorial. Advertisement Urn for a Ceremony by Agnes Hegedus Hungarian designer Agnes Hegedus created this elegant little urn for a style of burial that was once more popular: the water-based cremation. Except in this case, the body isn't cremated on the water. Rather, an urn containing your ashes floats out to sea aboard a clay pot, which is designed to sink slowly down to the ocean floor. The pots would cost only a few dollars to make. Advertisement Advertisement "I Wish To Be Rain" by Studio PSK and Matter & Fact The increasingly common practice of "cloud seeding," which alters the intensity of natural rainfall by literally "seeding" it with particular chemicals, serves as the basis for this idea from two UK design teams. "Humans now have the ability affect, control and even cause natural phenomena, whether it is rain, an earthquake or a flood," write the designers. "We wonder if a person could do this not just by their actions, but literally transform themselves into types of natural spectacle." The concept would use a weather balloon to carry your ashes into the sky—releasing them high above the earth, to be "rained" back down in millions of droplets of water. Though it's probably deeply illegal, it's still a lovely idea. Advertisement Design for Death Living by Ancunel Steyn "Multifunctional land is not a non-renewable resource," argues Ancunel Steyn, the South African designer behind this proposal. "The question is, how can we reduce space required to store the dead?" Steyn proposed an urban design that would intersperse memorials with public infrastructure: from parks, to art galleries, to mixed-used commercial buildings. The memorials themselves would take up a very small, tissue box-sized space, stacked on a series of walls arranged around the site. Advertisement Advertisement Family Tree by Loucas Papantoniou and Asta Sadauskaite Two Lithuanian designers created this hexagonal design for an urn-storage system. The idea, as the title suggests, is to create a literal family tree of urns. There's also a digital element, which could come off as smart or tacky, depending on how you feel about SMS-based memorials: "The urn vault is made of wood, with an OLED display cap," explain the duo. "The display emits a serene, pulsing light that conveys spirituality and displays the name of the deceased with a short memorial message." Advertisement Souvenair by Chen Jiashan This simple design, by French artist Chen Jiashan, is half windchime and half urn. "Why should we keep the deceased ones away from our eyes?," asks Jiashan. "The souvenair, small in size but clearly visible, can be hanged at home or in a public place. Its tiny and appeasing 'ding' recalls the presence of the loved one whenever some wind blows."
Colton Haynes has said he’s in a much better place after publicly coming out as gay in May. In a new Out magazine interview, the 27-year-old “Teen Wolf” and “Arrow” star reveals that he’s experienced his share of emotional challenges while coming to terms with his sexuality over the years. “I feel really bad that I had to lie for so long. But I was told that was the only way I was going to be successful,” Haynes said. “When you’re young in this industry, people take advantage of you, and they literally tell you that your dreams are going to come true. If you believe that, you’ll do anything.” Blair Getz Mezibov/OUT magazine The 27-year-old actor said his Kansas hometown was a place where “you just couldn’t be gay.” Haynes describes his hometown of Andale, Kansas, as a place where “you just couldn’t be gay.” When he came out to his friends and family, the actor said his parents were devastated, which prompted him to run away from home for three weeks. He said he was staying with a friend when he learned that his father, William, had committed suicide. “I was told that my dad killed himself because he found out I was gay. So, of course, I lost it and was like, ‘How could you say something like that?’ And no one will ever really know the truth,” he recalled. “But my brother and my mom went to pick up my dad’s stuff, and the only picture on his fridge was my eighth-grade graduation picture. So I was just like, F*ck.” From there, Haynes said, things got even worse before he eventually went to live with his sister, Willow, first in Florida and eventually in Texas. Blair Getz Mezibov/OUT magazine Opening up publicly about his sexuality, Haynes said, “was really an emotional thing for me." The actor, who “couldn’t tell you how long” it’s been since he’s had sex, said he was blindsided by the criticism that “The Real O’Neals” star Noah Galvin unleashed on him in a foul-mouthed interview with New York Magazine’s Vulture blog. In it, Galvin blasted Haynes as “the worst,” before dismissing the actor’s revelations about his private life as “not doing anything for the little gays but giving them more masturbation material.” “When I came out, Noah tweeted, ‘Welcome to the family,’ and ‘So proud of you,’” Haynes told Out. “Then, all of a sudden, I’m the worst, I’m a terrible person, and I’m a shame to the gay community.” Opening up about his sexuality, he said, “was really an emotional thing for me. And for that to be discredited by someone who has never met me was upsetting.”
Prong 1: Faith is Irrational. two Prong 2: Religion is Harmful. When addressing the subject of why some atheists actively oppose religious faith, I've often referred to there being "two primary prongs of the atheist's objection to religious belief" (here's an example where I did so) For the sake of brevity, I often gloss over some important details. In this post, I'd like to discuss these two prongs of atheism a bit more thoroughly.At the outset, it is necessary for me to clarify that what I am about to discuss is not universally accepted among atheists. Because atheism is nothing more than the lack of theistic belief (i.e., an atheist is one who does not answer in the affirmative to the question of whether any sort of god or gods exist), the two prongs I will discuss are commonly held but not universal positions of the atheist. Atheists have many reasons for not accepting theism, and my selection of the two I will discuss here should not be mistaken as a suggestion that they are universal. I also acknowledge that an argument could be made that these prongs are more relevant to anti-theism than they are to atheism.The function of thought is to promote understanding. For understanding to be possible, we must have some method of assessing the veracity of various claims. This method is reason. If I tell you that I believe in unicorns, you are in the position of evaluating the truthfulness of my claim. In applying reason, you expect me to provide evidence. After all, I'm the one making the claim. In your pursuit of the truth, you are likely to discover that my belief about unicorns is based on faith. Faith is required for me to maintain my belief because my belief has no justification, no supportive evidence.Faith refers to the belief in something for which there is insufficient evidence to otherwise warrant belief. Asdemonstrates in Atheism: The case against God , the core of faith entails conflict with reason. Knowledge requires justification in the form of evidence; however, faith is belief in something without adequate justification. If evidence emerged that unicorns do in fact exist, faith would become unnecessary, even irrelevant.Throughout time, many intellectually honest Christians have acknowledged that faith is the enemy of reason. Those who continue to insist that faith and reason are both valid ways of knowing must answer the question of why they needways of knowing when reason is sufficient for the rest of us. The inevitable answer, as Smith notes, is that the Christian wants to "claim as knowledge beliefs that have not been (and often cannot be) rationally demonstrated" (p. 104). Faith is the core of religious belief, and religion cannot exist without it.Personally, I find this prong to be sufficient to reject the theistic claim about the existence of gods. If you ask me to explain why I am an atheist , I will inevitably mention the lack of evidence and the resulting irrationality of faith in its absence. Still, I do not find this prong sufficient to stimulate a drive toward secular activism. Demonstrating that religious belief is irrational is not the same thing as demonstrating that it is harmful. Thus, we come to the second prong.This is a massive topic which will already be familiar to most atheists. That a number of bloody atrocities have been committed in the name of religion should not be surprising when one examines the contents of the "holy" tests which form the center for these religions (see this post at Ebon Musings for many examples from the Christian bible). However repulsive one finds these acts at which religion is the root, it would be a mistake to restrict our focus to bloodshed.In the interest of brevity, I will leave it to others to catalog the many negative effects of religion. Instead, I'd like to keep this post as simple as possible by borrowing from' excellent The God Delusion . Whatever else religion is, I wholeheartedly agree with Dawkins that it is inherently divisive. He argues that religion divides us in ways that other types of human differences (e.g., nationality, politics, etc.) generally do not. Examples include labeling children , segregating schools, and taboos about marrying out of the in-group. The effects of this divisiveness have been widely documented and do not need to be repeated here.While neither of these prongs must be accepted for one to be an atheist, their combination explains my atheism (prong 1) and motivates my interest in secular activism (prong 2).
A former pastor was sentenced to two years of probation Monday by a judge who said he had “picked the pockets” of his congregation by receiving nearly $150,000 in government disability benefits while collecting a church salary. Federal sentencing guidelines called for Carroll Freemont Pennell, 69, to spend 12 to 18 months in prison for stealing government money over more than 10 years while he was pastor of the Word of God Fellowship Church in Brunswick. Instead, Judge George Singal sentenced him to probation, issuing what he called a “lenient” sentence because the cost of Pennell’s medical care in prison would exceed the amount he stole from taxpayers. “I do this not because you do not deserve a period of incarceration, but because of your health history,” Singal said at the sentencing in U.S. District Court in Portland. Pennell, who wept during the proceedings and struggled to stand using a wooden cane, is in failing health, said his attorney, J.P. DeGrinney. He has had triple bypass heart surgery, multiple bouts with cancer and spinal problems, and is mentally frail, DeGrinney said. Pennell was pastor of the church from 1995 until he resigned and moved to Cushing, Texas, in November 2011. He also worked in the shipping department of the Grumbacher Brush Co. in Lisbon Falls until October 1997, when he said disabilities including back pain and a heart condition made him unable to work, court records said. In 1999, Pennell began receiving disability benefits from the Social Security Administration on the condition that he not earn more than $500 per month in salary and benefits from working. To cover up his work as pastor, he had his church paychecks of $300 per week issued to his wife, Glenna, according to a criminal complaint filed by Adam Schneider, an investigator for the Social Security Administration. In all, Pennell received $146,829 in disability benefits from February 1999 to August 2010, when he reached retirement age. “My heart is full of remorse. I’m embarrassed. I’m sorrowful,” Pennell said during Monday’s proceedings, wiping tears from his eyes. “I live with this day and night, and no matter what the sentence is, I’m still going to have to live with it. I live with the fact that I’m going to be a felon. It’s very crushing.” Videos found at the church after Pennell resigned as pastor show that he “preaches in an emphatic manner” and “moves about the altar in a vigorous fashion without any apparent limitation,” says the complaint. Yet he claimed in a review of his benefits in 2002 that his activities were limited to “church fellowship suppers and listening to gospel singing groups.” Pennell pleaded guilty Nov. 18. The charge carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. In exchange for his plea, a second charge, of conspiracy to commit Social Security fraud, was dismissed. His wife was not charged. Pennell’s friend of 16 years, Pastor Arthur Long of New Hampshire, spoke at Monday’s sentencing hearing to ask the judge for “leniency and mercy.” Singal asked Long how Pennell could ask sinners to repent, when he did not do the same. “He knew he was stealing from the people he was preaching to,” Singal said. “How do you put together these two divergent views that I’ve heard from you and that I’ve seen in legal records here?” Long said he believes that Pennell was preaching not only about his own life but also a truth about a higher standard. “Unfortunately, because there is hypocrisy, his private life did not live up to the standard he was preaching,” Long said. The Word of God Fellowship Church, an affiliate of the Texas-based International Word of God Fellowship, no longer exists in that name. DeGrinney called Glenna Pennell to speak at the hearing, then changed his mind after the judge warned that she could incriminate herself if she did. Assistant U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank, who prosecuted Pennell, called the case “difficult.” Frank acknowledged Pennell’s age and failing health, but said he willingly and intentionally used the church as a “vehicle of perpetrating his fraud.” Frank made no sentencing request and did not specifically ask for Pennell to be imprisoned. “I think Judge Singal is an experienced judge, and ultimately it is his call,” Frank said afterward. Singal also ordered Pennell to pay $29,512 in restitution. Frank said Pennell could not be ordered to pay back the full amount he had stolen because the five-year statute of limitations had expired for the early years of Pennell’s scheme. In sentencing Pennell, Singal said his actions corrupted his church and augmented the public’s cynicism in its leaders. “One could argue to me that your feelings of remorse are punishment enough,” Singal said. “I’m not sure I buy that.” Pennell, dressed in a black suit, left the courtroom with a small group of supporters. He declined to be interviewed. He will be allowed to serve his probation term at home in Texas. Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at: [email protected] Twitter: @scottddolan Share
WatchAid takes a spin on your typical tracking TV app by providing direct links to watch your shows. WatchAid is the ultimate Application for TV Show enthusiasts. Select your favorite TV Shows, and WatchAid will notify you when a new episode is available for streaming on any streaming services. Keep track of unwatched episodes - Browse through personalized show suggestions - Connect directly to watch your show. Features : • Runs on your iOS Devices and Apple TV, • List of episodes as they become available, • Search or browse through thousands of shows, • Direct links to episodes¹, • No ads, no pop-ups, fast and hassle-free interface, • Keep control and consent over notifications, • Show suggestions based on your taste, • Native support for iPad, • Today Widgets and 3D Touch support, • Connect your Plex server • Sync your Trakt & Facebook account (optional). No account required, WatchAid is totally free, support comes from users generosity. 1. With over 100 sources WatchAid provides direct links to all major streaming apps including all networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, AMC, FX, USA, Discovery, ...), all premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Starz, ...), all streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, iTunes, ...) and more to come... Report issues or send suggestions to [email protected]
favorite favorite favorite ~^\|\_@\|@_/\|^~~/\~The GRATEFUL DEAD at Woodstock 40 years ago today!July 69', the "Establishment" put the first men on the moon... August 69' the Hippies put on 3 Days of Music & Peace in upstate New York...well, the rewards from the Moon Landing keep paying dividends even to today, and the Woodstock, Music and Peace thing?Well, Rap replaced Rock...lmao, and the Peace thing still ain't caught on...I never heard NWA sing about peace. I guess when you can put a profit in peace then we'll have it?Technology became the new religion, not Tim Leary and his "mind expanding drugs"...amazing how many "hippies" that survived Woodstock have a blackberry, i-Phone, i-Pod, and a laptop and don't take LSD anymore.We can repeat the Moon landing, can the Hippies repeat Woodstock? They tried a few times, Watkins Glen, Atlanta, ALTAMONT...but they were nothing like Woodstock.This ain't the worst show the DEAD ever did.I think the fact that Pigpen did a 45 minute version of "Turn On Your Lovelight" is proof he was the only one on stage NOT on LSD that day....lol.They were there as part of the scene, they were not interested in the exploitation of the Hippies, or the exploitation of the music...they enjoyed themselves, and didn't care about being "shocked" by the ungrounded mics, and all the other cool "crap" that went on at Woodstock.My favorite performers from Woodstock are Joe Cocker & the Grease Band, The Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Who, Sly & the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, Ten years After, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Jimi Hendrix.If you're a fan of the GRATEFUL DEAD you're gonna want this show...too.I was 14 when Woodstock took place, I was too young to go...but I remember all the freaks, weirdo's and hippies carrying on like they were the center of the universe...yeah, of their own world.My older brother went, he was 18-19, he came back with Mono...missed the start of college that September, wasn't healthy enough to go to school until January. LMAO...freaks.Woodstock....no food, no water, no toilets, no phones, roads blocked for tens of miles, and lots of rain....and the hippies will tell you it was the BEST THING that ever happened on planet earth...watch the movie now, 40 years later...see if it still gives you that same feelin...My first rock concert wasn't Woodstock, it was Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden September 19, 1970, and I am glad.I recommend using your EQ during playback of most of the shows on the IA, this one included.Windows Media Player has a 10 band EQ and SRS WOW effects that enhance the sound.Here's one way to stream/dowload this show:The IA recommends users of Windows XP view this web-page with RealPlayer.RealPlayer is a free media player you can download at www.realplayer.com Using RealPlayer to view this webpage, click the VBR M3U link to open the songs in the Playlist.If your Playlist is not open, open it by clicking the Playlist icon at the lower right hand corner of RealPlayer.Once the songs are in the Playlist, double click the song to play it, then click the record button at the lower left hand corner of Realplayer to record it.When the red line reaches the other end click the stop button to download the song. Your song is in the RealPlayer Downloads folder.Repeat these steps for each song.Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Listen to the GRATEFUL DEAD, or BUST.Thanks for the LOVE from Woodstock.PS: Remember to click on the "DeadLists Project" link and get the POSTERS for this show.
[Update: January 12, 2013. RIP, Aaron Swartz. He was 26. His family has released a statement describing his death as “the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach.” Eulogies from Cory Doctorow and Rick Perlstein. I wrote the post below back in July 2011, when the indictment was filed (then updated it once in Sepetember 2012). I thought from the onset the prosecution was dubious; after Swartz’s death, the expert who was going to testify on his behalf posted his conclusions, conclusions that to me are damning to the U.S. Attorney’s office. MIT’s network was extraordinarily open by design: Aaron Swartz was not the super hacker breathlessly described in the Government’s indictment and forensic reports, and his actions did not pose a real danger to JSTOR, MIT or the public. He was an intelligent young man who found a loophole that would allow him to download a lot of documents quickly. This loophole was created intentionally by MIT and JSTOR, and was codified contractually in the piles of paperwork turned over during discovery. In light of the expert’s disclosures — which suggest that Swartz did have “authorization” to obtain the articles, due to the structure of MIT’s network and the various JSTOR agreements — it seems that the prosecution was even weaker than it appeared on the surface. An AP article notes that JSTOR’s attorney, Mary Jo White, the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, had called Stephen Heymann, the lead Assistant U.S. Attorney on the case, to ask him to drop the prosecution; instead, the U.S. Attorney’s office continued to demand Swartz plead guilty to all charges. I think the circumstances demand an explanation from U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz about what she sought to accomplish with this prosecution (and what transpired between her and Heymann), as well as a statement from the White House as to whether they will continue these “exceeding authorization” prosecutions in the future. Arguably breaching a Terms of Service should not even arguably be a crime. For further reading on the abuse of prosecutorial discretion in light of the consequences here, see Lessig’s “prosecutor as bully.” Dan Gillmor has thoughts about how to remember him by continuing his work. Update: January 14, 2013. Back in late 2011, Aaron wrote to me about this post. My recollection here.] The New York Times reports: Aaron Swartz, a 24-year-old programmer and online political activist, has been indicted in Boston on charges that he stole more than four million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers. (Read the full indictment below.) Mr. Swartz was indicted last Thursday by the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Carmen M. Ortiz, and the indictment was unsealed Tuesday. The charges could result in up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine. JSTOR’s press statement is here. One of Swartz’s companies, Infogami, was funded by Y Combinator and acquired by reddit, so this is big news in the tech world. Demand Progress, a non-profit Swartz founded, is understandably upset: Cambridge, MA – Moments ago, Aaron Swartz, former executive director and founder of Demand Progress, was indicted by the US government. As best as we can tell, he is being charged with allegedly downloading too many scholarly journal articles from the Web. The government contends that downloading said articles is actually felony computer hacking and should be punished with time in prison. “This makes no sense,” said Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal; “it’s like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.” “It’s even more strange because JSTOR has settled any claims against Aaron, explained they’ve suffered no loss or damage, and asked the government not to prosecute,” Segal added. There’s an interesting discussion (mostly about JSTOR) at Y Combinator. The commentators at reddit aren’t impressed either: Good thing he didn’t rape or murder someone or he’d be facing 15 years. * * * Hell, if he was a Wall Street CEO they’d just give him a bonus. Indeed. Let’s look at the indictment. He’s charged with: 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud) 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(4) (Computer Fraud) 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(2), (c)(2)(B)(iii)(Unlawfully Obtaining Information from a Protected Computer) 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5)(B), (c)(4)(A)(i)(I),(VI)(Recklessly Damaging a Protected Computer) 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Aiding and Abetting) 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C), 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c),and 18 U.S.C. §982(a)(2)(B) (Criminal Forfeiture) 18 U.S.C. § 1030 is better known as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which I’ve written a little bit about here. As I wrote there, “If the Circuit Courts and the Supreme Court interpret the CFAA the same way they’ve interpreted the RICO Act, we’ll see a lot more of these claims in the future,” and it sure seems like given how the Swartz indictment is primarily based on CFAA violations. [Update: September 12, 2012. Seth Finkelstein notes that a superseding indictment was entered. As far as I can tell, the charges aren’t really different, there’s just more factual detail supplied. Wired explains. As I mentioned in my original post, even if we assume the prosecutor can prove every word of the indictment, it is by no means clear that Swartz has actually violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.] But there are a few problems, one democratic (little “d”) problem and a couple legal problems. “The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America” On the democratic point, back when I criticized the iPhone prototype arrest, I quoted “The Federal Prosecutor,” a speech by Robert Jackson, who was a former Attorney General, a Supreme Court Justice, and the Chief Nuremberg Prosecutor: The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America. His discretion is tremendous. He can have citizens investigated and, if he is that kind of person, he can have this done to the tune of public statements and veiled or unveiled intimations. Or the prosecutor may choose a more subtle course and simply have a citizen’s friends interviewed. The prosecutor can order arrests, present cases to the grand jury in secret session, and on the basis of his one-sided presentation of the facts, can cause the citizen to be indicted and held for trial. He may dismiss the case before trial, in which case the defense never has a chance to be heard. Or he may go on with a public trial. If he obtains a conviction, the prosecutor can still make recommendations as to sentence, as to whether the prisoner should get probation or a suspended sentence, and after he is put away, as to whether he is a fit subject for parole. While the prosecutor at his best is one of the most beneficent forces in our society, when he acts from malice or other base motives, he is one of the worst. I don’t see what societal interest Carmen Ortiz think she’s vindicating with the Swartz indictment. According to Demand Progress, JSTOR already settled their claims with him. What more needs to be done here? The “criminal violation” here arises not from any social duty — like, you know, our society’s communal prohibition on murder — but rather from Swartz “exceeding the authorization” imposed by JSTOR on its servers. Prosecuting Swartz criminally makes less sense than prosecuting telecommunications companies for violating their consumer agreements, and we all know that’s not going to happen any time soon. Did Aaron Swartz Really Commit Any Crimes? Then there’s the legal problems which might turn out to be a lot more important here. A good place to find some background is the Congressional Research Service’s Cybercrime: A Sketch of 18 U.S.C. 1030 and Related Federal Criminal Laws. Put aside the aiding and abetting and the criminal forfeiture claims; those require some other crime be proven before they can be applied. Stop thinking about him opening up a closet at MIT; breaking into a closet is a crime, but it’s a state law trespass, not a federal computer fraud. I’m not going to take the wire fraud claim under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 seriously. They’re going to have a lot of trouble proving Swartz “devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud” by evading the IP restrictions imposed by JSTOR. As the Department of Justice’s Attorney Manual (USAM) notes, most courts interpret “defraud” as meaning “a scheme to defraud another out of money.” More from the USAM about the “specific intent” to defraud here. The 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(4) claim requires the prosecutor show Swartz “knowingly and with intent to defraud, accesse[d] a protected computer without authorization, or exceed[ed] authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value.” The indictment claims the papers were “things of value,” but they’ve got the same problem: no intent to defraud. Bear in mind we’re talking about a computer hacking statute; the statutes don’t all just create liability for improper access, they create liability for specific “hacking” scenarios. Section (a)(4) was meant to prosecute individuals who stole information for the purpose of fraud. Swartz, a long-time information activist, certainly didn’t download millions of research papers from JSTOR with the intent of defrauding people about Group Theory. That claim is likely going to lose. The 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5)(B) claim requires the prosecutor show Swartz “recklessly cause[d] damage.” The CFAA defines “damage” as “any impairment to the integrity or availability of data, a program, a system, or information” 18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(e)(8). Given the ways in which computer systems function, the meaning of “any impairment” in § 1030(e)(8) is ambiguous. As a conceptual matter, all transmissions to a computer cause the “impairment” of the computer’s function by utilizing memory, storage, or processing cycles. If interpreted that way, the CFAA would create strict liability for “the receipt of any unwanted electronic communication under any circumstance.” Czech v. Wall Street On Demand, Inc., 674 F. Supp. 2d 1102, 1116 (D. Minn. 2009)(discussed by Eric Goldman here). In light of the ramifications of such an interpretation, some District Courts have imposed an “actual impairment” requirement, reasoning that Congress did not intend to create liability except where the “damage” to the system was concrete and verifiable. Id. at 1116–1117. The problem for the prosecutor is if Demand Progress is correct that JSTOR “explained they’ve suffered no loss or damage.” If so, then this claim is likely dead, too. The 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(2) claim is probably their best bet. That just requires that Swartz “intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access, and thereby obtains … information from any protected computer.” Most every computer on the internet is a “protected computer,” so they might have something there. Except that “exceeds authorized access” isn’t necessarily the same thing as “more than JSTOR wanted.” Consider US Bioservices Corp. v. Lugo, 595 F. Supp. 2d 1189, 1192 (D. Kan. 2009)(collecting cases, noting “under these provisions of the CFAA, access to a protected computer occurs ‘without authorization’ only when initial access is not permitted, and a violation for ‘exceeding authorized access’ occurs only when initial access to the computer is permitted but the access of certain information is not permitted.”). The indictment says the Swartz used throw-away email addresses, automated download scripts, IP spoofing, and MAC-address spoofing. Big deal: there’s no dispute that Swartz was permitted to access the information in question. Downloading too many files isn’t the same thing as downloading passwords or credit card numbers. [Update, January 2013: Soon after this post went up in July 2011, Lawrence Lessig posted a brief comment on the case taking a similar view, including “Even if the facts the government alleges are true, I am not sure they constitute a crime. There is considerable uncertainty in this area of the law. Many wonder about the quick conversion of terms-of-service into criminal prosecution. But that’s a question the courts will ultimately have to resolve.” As of September 2012 (when I last updated the legal research here), the Fourth Circuit had joined the Ninth Circuit in holding that violating terms of service does not constitute a crime under the CFAA. In contrast, the Fifth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits have held that it can be a crime. As I wrote back in September 2012: “Swartz’ case is in the First Circuit. (See this post for more, courtesy of Circuit Splits.) This is the classic sort of Circuit Split that prompts Supreme Court review; if Swartz sticks to his guns, he just might be the case. Trial is currently scheduled for February 2013.” Given the disclosures by Swartz’s expert, Alex Stamos, which are linked at the beginning of this post, it seems that Swartz had a strong argument that he did indeed have “authorization.” As Stamos says, at the time of Swartz’s downloads, “the JSTOR website allowed an unlimited number of downloads by anybody on MIT’s 18.x Class-A network” and “Aaron did not use parameter tampering, break a CAPTCHA, or do anything more complicated than call a basic command line tool that downloads a file in the same manner as right-clicking and choosing ‘Save As’ from your favorite browser.” Thus, all Swartz did was write a script to find and download the files. As a factual matter, that may have been “authorization,” rendering it lawful everywhere. Even if the script was “exceeding authorization,” if the First Circuit had adopted the same rule as the Fourth Circuit and the Ninth Circuit, then Swartz would likely have been not guilty as a matter of law. All of which further shows why this prosecution should not have been brought in the first place; the prosecutor is supposed to exercise their judgment to do justice.] Don’t U.S. Attorneys Have More Important Things To Do? The whole case looks like the iPhone prototype saga again: a civil claim that some overly aggressive prosecutor is trying to dress up as a federal crime. JSTOR has more than adequate civil remedies for whatever transpired here. Worse, there’s more at stake here than the possibility that Swartz might go to jail and the certainty that he’ll have one of the most stressful and expensive experiences of his life. Recall the scene in The Social Network when a jilted Mark Zuckerberg first starts building Facebook by writing scripts to pull pictures from the Harvard houses’ online directories. That’s not much different in sum and substance from what Swartz did: he was permitted to obtain the information, but he did so in excessive volume. Under the Massachusetts’ U.S. Attorney’s theories against Swartz, Zuckerberg committed several felonies. Zuckerberg, though, has ample funds and protection against a suit like that. What about the next Zuckerberg? This prosecution will give every “hacker” — and I use that term in a complimentary fashion, like the UNIX hackers of old, the people who built the Internet and its tools through creativity and determination — pause before they do anything outside of a bona fide API. The chilling effects will make us all worse off.
Hey all, welcome back! Two things of note unrelated to this chapter: First, I finally got around to updating Chapter 1 to improve the characterizations of Red and Blue off the bat. Second, I finally completed and uploaded a digital copy of the full flowchart that Red used in Chapter 20 upon noticing that he was upset. I put it in a post on reddit, and will link to it again in this chapter's post. All feedback on either is appreciated, as always! As for this chapter, I just want to quickly note that the grant application and endowment process for research is far more streamlined and rapid in the Pokemon world than ours. Red's experience, grueling as it is, is not at all representative of the full struggle researchers in our world go through. Chapter 24: The Art of Persuasion, Part I "A month here, huh?" Blue nods, staring at his feet. He just arrived at the Trainer House a few minutes ago, looking more humbled than Red's seen in years. He hasn't had a chance to watch Blue's battle with Brock yet, but surely it can't have gone that bad? Red looks at Leaf and raises a brow. Blue's ego probably needed to get taken down a peg or two, but he still wants to help his friend out. On top of which, before today Red was probably the one who would be least against staying in one place for so long. "I'm game. What about you Leaf? Think you could stomach sticking around?" Blue looks up in relief, then turns to her. Leaf smiles. "Let's do it. I'm sure I'll think of something to fill the time…" Red wakes up early Sunday morning to write up and refine his research proposal, then start looking for funding. The rest of the day is spent seeking grants from anyone and everyone that might be even remotely interested. First Red makes a list of organizations that give grant money to independent researchers. Then he finds out what particular topics they funded research on before or were looking to fund research on now. Only then does he start his letters, each tailored to their goals and values. Since all he needs is the money to hire a psychic on and off for about a month, his asking amount is relatively low compared to most others: a measly four thousand dollars. During lunch, he looks up the average amount of grant requests independent researchers send out before getting funded, then doubles it and estimates he could get funding by the end of the week if he does nothing but eat, sleep, research, and write. So that's what he decides to do. By Monday the first rejection emails start coming in, almost faster than he can send out new applications. The International Bug Catchers Association thought the hypothesis was focused more on psychic phenomenon than bugs, and the Institute of Psychic Phenomenon thought that even if correct, it might only have to do with bugs, or even just spinarak. Red sighs and thinks of forwarding their emails to each other before changing his mind and sending them to Professor Oak with an eyeroll emote in the subject line. By the end of Tuesday, Red's fingers are cramping over the keyboard. He powers through, stopping only for a quick break to have dinner with Leaf and Blue. His mind wasn't really on the conversation though, and the other two seemed similarly preoccupied, and relieved to get back to work afterward. When Leaf asked if she could have his mother's phone number, he gave it to her without even asking why she wanted it. On Wednesday morning Red gets excited when he reads an email from Professor Oak about a rather eccentric millionaire who often funds research trying to prove the existence of a "psychic particle." He spends most of the time before lunch taking extra care writing and revising the email to him, but when the response letter arrives that night, it politely informs him that such a particle would only exist in true psychics, not "lowly bugs." By Thursday he's seeing application letters in his dreams and putting ice packs over his fingers while he reads about new potential funders. He's over halfway through his list now, and starting to get nervous. It isn't until Friday morning that desperation sets in. As he reviews his list over breakfast, Red realizes he's nearing the end of it. He hasn't heard back from half the organizations he emailed, and has to stop himself from scratching out the remaining ones from the beginning of the week. As Friday night fades into the wee hours of Saturday morning and the desperation begins to turn to dread, Red starts to seriously consider either giving up on his idea or asking Professor Oak if the Pallet Lab could fund it. It's not a matter of pride that he hasn't yet: he has no qualms about mentioning that he worked at the Lab under Professor Oak (sometimes directly, so he's not lying). But the whole point of his journey is to experience and understand the process of doing research on his own, so he can learn from it. And what he's learned so far is actually rather valuable: namely that getting a research grant is tedious, difficult work, especially when the topic you're testing is obscure or not immediately relevant to anyone's interests. And really, isn't that how it should be? The very fact that he's thinking of scrapping the whole thing makes it easy to decide against asking the Pallet Lab to fund it. If the idea really has merit, he should be able to find funding for it, right? Such are the drift of Red's thoughts as he finally pushes away from the desk in the Trainer House's computer lab and staggers off to the floor his room is on. At 2 AM the halls and elevators are mostly empty, and Red enjoys having the large public bathroom on his floor mostly to himself. After he showers and brushes his teeth, he makes his way to his room and quietly eases the door open. He notices that Blue's bed is empty, and wonders if he's in the training rooms downstairs. He hasn't exchanged more than a few words with Blue or Leaf in the last couple days, and he briefly wonders what they're up to. As he slips beneath the sheets his mind turns back to his potential research topic. Is it possible to crowdfund the money he needs, maybe? The asking price is pretty low, after all… he'll have to look into that in the morning… Red slips his aching hands under the cool sheets of his pillow and yawns, thoughts on scientific breakthroughs in history that came from seemingly unimportant discoveries. He wonders if someone would eventually write about all this, the struggle of Red Verres's first groundbreaking experiment... Self-indulgent as the thought is, it makes him smile. He knows he has to be careful of the gambler's fallacy though-no, wait, not the gambler's fallacy, that's the one about thinking the probability of a random event increases if it hasn't happened in awhile, and vice versa. It's the one he always gets confused with gambler's fallacy… His tired mind searches around a bit before it finds it: sunk cost, that's the one. People have a tendency to grow attached to endeavors that they've spent a lot of effort or money on. If they give up before seeing results, they feel like they've wasted it all for nothing. It makes them more likely to throw good money after bad, though if told about someone else in the same situation, they would likely advise giving up. Combined the two fallacies are part of what makes gambling so dangerous, and that's basically what he's doing: gambling his time and energy on the potential chance of getting the grant money. Is he deciding to go on because of all the time he already put into it? The best way to ensure he's not is to precommit to stopping after a certain time period or threshold is reached. A gambler hitting the poker tables might only bring a couple hundred dollars of cash with him when he leaves the house and put a hold on his account until the following morning, to ensure they can't lose more than that no matter how strong the urge to recoup their losses. Unfortunately he doesn't have as elegant a solution for himself, but maybe he doesn't need one. He has a built-in threshold: the list of organizations. Red pulls out his phone and writes a memo to himself: Future Red: When you finish writing to all the groups we've already researched, STOP. No looking up new ones. No crowdsourcing. Just accept that the research isn't substantial or compelling enough for now, and let it go. I know where you sleep, Past Red Red sets the memo to an alarm that'll go off on Sunday morning, then puts his phone away. Now he can commit to finishing what he started, and will know he gave it his best honest try. If nothing else, he can try to get a government grant in December during their yearly application acceptance, though they rarely give them out to individual researchers, let alone novices. Though hopefully by then he won't be a novice anymore. Either way, tomorrow is another day, with its own opportunities to explore. Three days after she asked Red for his mom's number, Leaf sits in a workroom at the Trainer House with her laptop and phone out. On the screen is a list of questions, and after writing the last one, she gives it a quick read through, then sits back and makes the call. "Hello?" "Hi, Mrs. Verres? This is Leaf." "Leaf? Is everything alright?" "Everything's fine. I asked Red for your number, and was wondering if you had a moment to talk?" "I'm in the middle of something right now, but if it's not an emergency I can call you back in about ten minutes, if that's alright?" "Oh, of course! I'm sorry, I should have texted first-" "Not at all. What did you want to talk about?" "I have a project I wanted your opinion on. Red told me you're a journalist, and I'm thinking of writing a few pieces on the Pewter Museum." "Well, I'm flattered. Of course, I'd be happy to help however I can. I'll call you in a bit, alright?" "Great, thank you!" Leaf closes the call and lowers the phone, fingers running over the cover as she turns it over and over in her hands. Ever since she was little, she's never had any trouble walking up to strangers and talking to them. One of the benefits of being raised constantly on the move was getting used to meeting new people all the time. She especially loves befriending people who can teach her new things, like Dr. Brenner at the museum, and her "interviews" with others formed the basis for the traveler's log she wrote for herself of all the places she went with her mom and grandpa. When she came to Kanto the idea she had in mind was to write about their local myths and stories, but visiting the museum gave her a different idea. What she wants to write now isn't just some stories to entertain or inform. The reaction of many locals to the museum's exhibits makes her want to persuade. And for that, she'll need help. After almost a week of writing interspersed with researching the history of Pewter City and its museum, she finally finished, and decided it's time for an outside opinion. There are others she could have talked to, friends of hers or her family's in Unova. But Mrs. Verres is from Kanto, and knows its culture and people. She can't hope to change many people's mind if she doesn't do her best to understand them first. Leaf goes back to her rough draft until Mrs. Verres calls back. She starts the paper with her visit to the museum as a tourist to Kanto, how much it impressed her, and how important the presentation of new scientific research can be to society and future generations. It seemed a bit too dry at first, so she made sure to pepper it with little observations and anecdotes from her visit. The wide eyed excitement of the children, the energy of adventure and discovery that permeated (most of) the crowds. But she doesn't know if it's enough. She tries to read it objectively and has to admit that it isn't particularly inspirational. Maybe some good quotes... She's fiddling with the closing paragraph's language when her phone rings. "Hey Mrs. Verres, thanks for calling back so quick!" "No problem, but please, call me Laura. So what can I do for you?" Leaf gives a summary of her and Red's museum visit on Saturday, and what she wants to do. Halfway through the explanation Mrs. Verres-Laura-asks Leaf to email what she's written so far. Leaf does so, and she can tell when Laura starts reading because her side of the conversation becomes "Mmms" and "Uh huh"s. "So yeah, that's about it. Any advice you could give would be appreciated." "Sure, give me a minute to finish up." "Kay." Leaf waits, rereading parts of it herself. She notices her legs kicking and stops them, then crosses them before some other nervous tick manifests. This is the first time she's shown someone her writing with the direct intention of getting feedback, and she both looks forward to and dreads what Laura might have to say. Finally Laura exhales. "Alright, all done. It was very well written, by the way. I'm impressed." "Thanks! I've been working on it since Saturday. Do you have any advice on how to make it better?" "I do, but first, have you ever gotten a critique of your work before?" "Like, by a professional? Not really. But it's okay, you can be honest. I won't be hurt by whatever you say." Laura chuckles. "If that's true then it means one of us hasn't done our jobs properly. My editor's suggestions always felt like chopping bits off one of my children." Leaf smiles. "I don't think I'm there yet." "Well, I'll get to the point then: you're going to have to rewrite the whole thing." Leaf's smile wilts. "I-what?" "From scratch. Maybe you can keep some of the middle, especially the first hand observations, those were fantastic." Despair and confusion and, yes, hurt, make it hard to respond for the space of a couple breaths. "You didn't like it." "I quite enjoyed it actually. As I said, it was very well written. But the truth is, it's fluff. It's a review mixed with an opinion piece. And other than getting people who already agree with you to nod over their breakfast or afternoon coffee, you're barely going to make a dent in the views of someone who doesn't agree with you. At best maybe you'll get people who haven't been to the museum before to plan a visit. Which is nice, but not what you're after, right?" Leaf bites her lower lip. She expected an incisive critique, had thought some of these things herself, but hearing them said by another really drives them home. "No. Not really. But you're right, it's not… new. I'm not saying anything new, and I'm not saying it in a new way." "That's it exactly. You're not doing investigative reporting, you're writing to persuade. And that means you need to focus on completely different things." Leaf nods to herself, mentally getting used to the idea of rewriting the piece. It's a daunting task after she worked so hard on this one, but at least she has the research all done, and Laura is right. What she's written so far won't convince anyone. "Leaf? You alright hon?" "Yeah." "I'm sorry, I know-" "No, it's okay. This is why I called you. It all makes sense. Thank you." She straightens in her chair and opens a new document. "Okay, so… any advice on what to do instead?" "Absolutely. First let's list what you did right: you appealed to three of the big four. Logic, emotions, and ethics. Can you guess what the one you missed was?" Leaf considers the arguments she deliberately avoided. "Authority?" "Close, but not quite. This is a mistake young writers make all the time when trying to argue against ideas of older generations. You didn't appeal to tradition." Leaf frowns. "Of course not, tradition's stupid. Heck, the whole point is to break people from clinging to tradition." "And that attitude is exactly why your writing won't reach anyone you want it to. Leaf, the people who don't like the new exhibits have a very different value system than you. Do you really think ignoring what they think is important, let alone deriding it, will change their view?" "No, you're right. But what am I supposed to do then?" "Understand their values better. You want to reduce the influence of a value you don't share, but because you don't share it, you're missing how it can help you." "Help me?" "Yes. Really immersing yourself in opposing views is a skill that takes a lifetime to cultivate, but for now, the first step is to figure out what purpose the value serves, why it makes sense to them. Always remember that people's beliefs and worldviews are more complex than first impression lets on. Since your actual goal isn't to make them find traditions less important, just make sure tradition doesn't hold them back in this one area, you can actually use the overall value to your advantage." "Hang on, let me think a moment." Leaf puts the phone down and puts it on speaker, then spins her chair in a slow circle with one foot, eyes closed. If she were a proud Pewter citizen, irate at the museum's sudden attack on her traditional beliefs, what other traditions might balance that out? What would another Pewter citizen who likes the changes say? She remembers speaking to the visitors on Saturday when she started writing. Most were tourists, but of the natives there were a handful that spoke about it all with a subtle but powerful pride. Ah. Leaf smiles and opens her eyes, putting her foot down to stop her rotation. "I can focus on Pewter's other tradition: how they've always been at the forefront of science and discovery." "Exactly. Remember that traditions are cherished not just because of comfort or pride, but often from an inherent sense that what's worked so far must have value, and that rocking the boat is risky. Show them the risks in the status quo, offer them a new source of value" Leaf has already started typing as Laura talks. "Does it matter if my point isn't strictly true? I mean, a lot of geological and paleontological discoveries came from Pewter, but other cities have them beat in general, and they're obviously not current on this topic." "I'm glad you asked, because there are seven general traits to effective persuasion. Ready to write things down?" Leaf finishes her last thought and starts a new paragraph. "Hit me with them." "Repetition, Consistency, Social Proof, Agitate then Solve, Prognosticate, Tribalism, and Storytelling." Leaf's fingers fly over the keyboard. "Okay, I think I get the first two and the last one. What about the rest?" "I'm going to go over them all. Let me know which one you think answers your question. First is Repetition. Pretty simple, the challenge is in presenting the same point or argument in a variety of ways. You want it to stick, but you don't want to bore them. Next is consistency, also basic: no wild shifts in tone or hypocritical positions. "Social Proof is basically an appeal to popularity, but without blatantly doing so. Most people will subconsciously find it easier to accept a belief that they feel is mainstream, or held by certain popular individuals. At the very least, it wards against automatic rejection of an idea as too bizarre or 'obviously crazy.' As long as you know your audience and are subtle about it, it can help with just about any demographic. That last part applies to all of these, by the way: subtlety is key." "Got it. So that one doesn't really answer my question, but it's still important for me to keep in mind. What if most people disagree with it?" "Do you actually know the real numbers? Have you looked into any surveys or polls?" "I tried to find some on it, but couldn't." "Consider doing one yourself then. Work with the museum if you can. But if it turns out the vast majority are against it, that's where popular figures can come in. Movie stars, famous trainers, professors, whoever. "Next is Agitate then Solve. You want to present the audience with a compelling reason the status quo isn't good, the problems it's causing, then offer a solution. Make sure the reader or listener understands the problem, why it's a problem, then sees your suggestion as the most obvious thing in the world." Leaf grins. "There's my answer. 'Pewter City, once the crown jewel of Kanto for its leadership in Earth Sciences, has been steadily falling behind…'" "Now you're getting it. And prognosticate is an extension of that. Do a bit of informed prediction. Why will the bad thing get worse? If Pewter doesn't regain its dominance, what next?" "It might start losing tourism, see brain drain, and become a hollow shell of its former self." Laura laughs. "Cut the last line and you're gold. Remember, subtle!" "Right, right. Tribalism is an 'us vs them' thing, yeah?" "Yep. Like Social Proof, but more stark. I wouldn't normally advocate pushing this one: tribalism can get ugly fast, and it usually doesn't need any encouragement to get there. But it has a positive side to it too, and that's what you have to tap into, if you can. Can you see it?" Leaf thinks. "Nationality? Other cities or regions will get ahead of Pewter?" "Sort of, though that's just another flavor of Agitate and Prognosticate, and it's not particularly inspirational." "Hold on." Leaf thinks again, closing her eyes and letting her legs tap and drag her around and around. Eventually she frowns and shakes her head. "I don't think I'm seeing it." "Well, there's not just one correct answer for any of this. Tell me whatever comes to mind." "I can't really think of anything, to be honest. How would you approach it?" "Well, there's one tribe that encompasses them all, and works fairly well as a fallback for almost any topic. Make it about our eternal struggle: humanity against the elements. The world is a pretty hostile place, and if mankind has to do everything it can to seek the truth, utilize discoveries, develop new technology, and defend itself from pokemon." Leaf has stopped spinning, merely sitting and staring at her phone with her brow furrowed. "I… don't think I can use that one." "Why not?" Leaf opens her mouth to say... what, she isn't sure. But the thought of framing the issue, any issue, as humanity vs pokemon, doesn't sit right with her. Sure, humans working together as one global tribe is important, but painting pokemon as the enemy, as the "them" that needs to be guarded against… it just feels wrong. The life and wellbeing of humans and pokemon are linked, and one isn't inherently higher than the other. Just because she's a human doesn't mean she should promote humanity at the expense of pokemon. "It's complicated. I guess I just don't think I believe it, in this case." There's silence, and Leaf worries that Laura will inquire further, demand her true justification. Instead she simply says "Alright, well you don't have to use all of them, and if you find another way to apply that one feel free to take a different angle. If not though your article will be more streamlined with fewer things to clutter it up." Leaf lets out a breath and returns to her keyboard. "Right. And the last one?" "Ultimately, the most compelling thing you can do with all of the above is weave it into a story. I don't mean it has to have a protagonist and a plot and everything. Make it real: don't talk about yourself, but talk about what you see. Descriptive language, framed as what's simply there and plain to see to everyone. Draw them in with an evocative scene, introduce real life characters accompanied by quotes. Your whole piece should frame a narrative that the readers feel part of. It's about them, ultimately." Leaf is nodding to herself as she listens and types. "Right, yeah. That's what I was trying to do with mine." "And you did a good job for what it was. I hope you see why this might work better though." "Absolutely. I really can't thank you enough-" "It was my pleasure. Feel free to send me your drafts or call again if you need to." "Thanks. Any last bits of advice?" "End with a quote. Something profound, or at least profound sounding. The beginning of the piece has to be good enough to inform and hook your readers, but leaving them with something evocative and easy to remember is almost as important. Out of curiosity, how are you planning to publish it?" "I didn't think that far ahead honestly. My travel blog for sure, then maybe some local boards or forums, and the museum's review page." "Hmm. Not a lot of traffic on any of those. You want a wide audience, right?" "Yeah, I'm kind of hoping people will enjoy it enough to share organically." "Why not try a news site?" "I'd love to, but I haven't looked into it yet and don't know what their restrictions or requirements are. Maybe one of the news sites will pick up on it." Or maybe, if she happens to know someone in the business locally... "Well if that doesn't pan out, I might know a guy who knows a girl who can give it a look." Leaf grins. It's late when Blue enters the Pokemon Center, tired from a long day at the Gym. He's been spending his nights at the Center, helping out however he could. It's still a bit short-staffed from the backlog of pokemon injured during the fire, and Blue learned basic pokemon first aid from a young age, so he's more helpful than random volunteers. If he had his preference, Blue would be using this time to train more, or catch up on his sleep. But gramps was right when he said Blue has to start cultivating his image in as many different ways as he can, and that's doubly true with his loss at the Gym. But tonight he's here for something else too. The same older doctor is waiting for him when he goes to retrieve his shiftry, finally all healed up and ready for him to retrieve. She's warmed up to him considerably since he started working here, doing whatever tasks need getting done diligently and without complaint. Blue discovered fairly quickly that someone who'll do the tedious or less desirable tasks with a smile tend to get in people's good graces. Blue exchanges pleasantries with her while he holds the shiftry's greatball in his hand, feeling its cool metal against this palm. The night of his defeat, he hadn't been able to sleep at all. He tossed and turned for hours, mind replaying the match and trying to come up with ways he could have won, or can win in a month. It was only after it arrived at the obvious solution that his brain finally called it quits and let him sleep. This is his key to victory, right here. His shiftry is the strongest pokemon he has. Once properly trained, it will be more than capable of taking down whatever Brock sends against him. Which means all he has to do is train it to accept and follow his orders. Blue runs a finger over a ridge on the ball's lid, then clips it to its belt and heads for the supply room to change into scrubs. He's worried that because of the way he caught the shiftry, it might be harder than normal to train. He'll just have to be... persuasive.
The Google Nexus 9 is one of the first devices to ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop and it’s also one of the first Android devices to feature an NVIDIA Tegra K1 64-bit processor. So it took a a little longer than usual for someone to figure out how to root this Nexus device… but just a few hours. Developer Chainfire has released an updated version of SuperSU and a patched kernel. Rooting a device allows you to run apps that have access to files and settings which might not otherwise be available. Not all apps that require root access have been updated to work with Android 5.0, and thanks to enhanced security features in the operating system it’s possible that some Android apps that worked on older versions will never support Lollipop. Eventually Chainfire’s tools will be built into CF-Auto-Root, but as of November 5th, 2014 here’s how to root a Nexus 9 tablet: First, you’ll need to install the Android SDK and/or have the latest versions of adb and fastboot on your system. If you don’t know what that means, you’ll probably want to wait for a simpler method to root your device (or consider not rooting). All of that is to say that there’s always a chance something could go wrong here and you shouldn’t hold me (or Chainfire) responsible. Oh yeah, one more note: Do not use the Nexus 9 version of SuperSU on any device other than the WiFi-only Nexus 9. Unlock the bootloader The first step requires unlocking the bootloader. Note that this will wipe data from your device just as if you had performed a factory reset, so if you have anything to back up, you should do that before you get started. All done? OK, then follow these steps: 1. Open the Settings and scroll down to the “About tablet” section. 2. Tap the “Build number” 7 times until it says that you’re a developer. 3. Go back to the Settings menu and select “Developer options.” 4. Check the boxes next to “USB debugging” and “Enable OEM unlock.” 5. Connect your tablet to a PC with a microUSB cable, fire up a command prompt or terminal window, and type “adb reboot bootloader to reboot your device into the bootloader. If nothing happens, try “adb devices” to see if your PC recognizes the tablet. If not, you may need to futz with the USB debugging option or update the Android SDK on your computer. 6. Once you’re at the bootloader, type “fastboot oem unlock” in your terminal window and confirm that this is what you want to do if you’re asked. 6a. Note that you need to be in fastboot mode for this. If your tablet says HBOOT instead, use the volume buttons to move up to the FASTBOOT option and hit the power button to select that option. Now the tablet will wipe your data, void your warranty, and dump you back at the bootloader menu. Inject SuperSU and Chainfire’s patched kernel For this next part, make sure you’ve downloaded and unpacked Nexus9-root-SuperSU-v.2.18.zip or the latest version of Chainfire’s SuperSU. Check the xda-developers forum for the latest download link. 1. Make sure the inject.img and patched.img files are in the same directory as your fastboot executable. If you don’t want to do that, you’ll just have to type the entire directory path for the img files, so this is just a time-saving step. 2. Type “fastboot inject.img” to install SuperSU. Wait a moment and the system will return to the bootloader menu. 3. Type “fastboot flash boot patched.img” and wait a moment for the system to return to the bootloader menu. 4. Reboot your device by typing “fastboot reboot” or by pressing and holding the power button for 10 seconds. That’s it. When your system reboots, you should see SuperSU in the App Drawer, and when you run supported apps that require root access, a pop-up message will ask if you want to provide root privileges. Just be aware that Android 5.0 is still pretty new and some apps that worked on earlier versions of Android may not work yet (or ever).
Action Picks Up Around The 15:25 MarkNewport News, VA - Newport News Police on Wednesday released body camera video of officers confronting — and eventually arresting — Marcus Vick earlier this year.Vick, a Hampton Roads native and former Virginia Tech quarterback, was arrested on April 3 in Newport News.The video shows officers approaching Vick at a OneLife Fitness location regarding warrants against him dating to 2013.Police spokesman Lou Thurston said in April that Vick was wanted in Montgomery County at the time for contempt of court. Judge grants Marcus Vick $50,000 bondA judge at the Montgomery County’s Circuit Court had ordered Vick’s arrest in 2013 after he failed to show up for a matter related to a civil suit.In the video released Wednesday, Vick is seen talking with officers and on the phone with someone for around 15 minutes before taking off past one of the officers and out the front door.Multiple officers then proceed to chase Vick for several blocks.Vick was eventually arrested near City Center Boulevard near Canon Boulevard, and was later charged with resisting arrest, obstruction of justice and assaulting an officer.He has since pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, and was sentenced to 12 months in jail — 11 months of which were suspended.Charges for assault on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of justice were withdrawn — or nolle prossed — earlier this month.
It’s almost time for EW’s 8th annual EWwy Awards, which gives fans a chance to honor the Emmy-snubbed — think Jane the Virgin‘s Gina Rodriguez or everything pertaining to The Affair. Before the voting begins on Monday, July 20, we want to know which shows, actors, and actresses you want to see in the race. Below are the categories in contention, so be sure to hit the comments with your nominees, and then check back on Monday to see who made the cut and vote! Best Drama Series Best Actor, Drama Best Actress, Drama Best Supporting Actor, Drama Best Supporting Actress, Drama Best Comedy Series Best Actor, Comedy Best Actress, Comedy Best Supporting Actor, Comedy Best Supporting Actress, Comedy If you need a refresher, here’s a full list of the 2015 Emmy nominees.
653 SHARES Facebook Twitter Linkedin Reddit Oculus had talked much about ‘Hand Presence’ with the launch of their Touch VR controllers last year, but few games have implemented the controllers in such a way that truly deliver on that promise. Combined with Touch, Lone Echo’s impressive procedural virtual hands take Hand Presence to the next level. It’s not something you’d think is particularly important when it comes to immersion in VR, but our hands are our primary means of interacting with the world around us, and getting them ‘right’ in VR can make it that much easier to feel immersed and present inside of your virtual body. Lone Echo (and multiplayer spinoff Echo Arena) developer Ready at Dawn has spent a considerable amount of time on the game’s virtual hands, and have achieved hands-down the most realistic looking implementation thanks to a smart procedural posing system which adapts the grip animation to each object and surface based on a physical model. We got a brief glimpse of the procedural gripping tech from the company earlier this year, and now in the recent Echo Arena open beta we’ve been able to good a closer look. The robotic hands are not only beautifully detailed, they’re also impressively functional. You can grab any surface or object in the game, allowing you to push and pull yourself around the zero-G environment with ease. Each time you grip a surface you’ll see a unique arrangement of the fingers which lay upon the surface in an impressively convincing way. The feeling of gripping around the corner of a surface and watching the fingers bend around it just right is surreal. Even after you grab, the grip pose is dynamic and continues to shift based on your arm position. When it comes to arms in VR, the rule-of-thumb is to not show the player’s arms because it’s difficult to estimate their position when only the locations of the hands and head are known in a system of many joints. If the estimation of the arm is far off from the player’s actual arm position, it can be an immersion breaker. That’s why you see so many armless avatars in VR games. Lone Echo turns that rule-of-thumb on its head with some of the best arm inverse kinematics (IK) that we’ve seen to date. Together with the procedural hand gripping, these systems drive added immersion in VR because it makes it easier to feel as if the arms and hands in front of you are really your own. Lone Echo & Echo Arena double down on this achievement by making many of the game’s interfaces and interactions touch-based, with functional virtual touchscreens rather than the all too often seen laser-pointer interface. Although as humans we don’t even really need to think about our grip when we go to grab things, getting a computer to figure out how to realistically arrange fingers on a virtual hand is a surprisingly challenging problem. If you want to delve into the concepts and math behind the system, be sure to check out the presentation by Ready at Dawn’s Jacob Copenhaver.
I made a keyboard – let me tell you about it! I'm even typing this post using the keyboard I built. How meta. This has been a fairly involved process so there is a lot to discuss. The main goal of this post is to talk people through the things I went through and what I wish I knew before I had started this project. Advertisement Motivation The most common questions/statements I got when telling people that I was building a keyboard from scratch were: "Why not just get a keyboard online or from a store locally?" "That's going to cost too much money." "You'll never be able to make a keyboard as good as something commercially manufactured." or just "Why?" There's a really simple answer to what motivated me to do this. I wanted to see if I was capable of doing it. I'd never designed anything before, dealt with manufacturing companies, sourced materials like the ones I used, or wired something like this up before. From a glance it seemed to me like I would be able to do it with a solid amount of effort so I decided to go for it. To me, this was a hobby project, and hobby projects can run some people up into the thousands (think high end RC cars or models) so this was financially feasible for me to pursue. Advertisement In regards to the build quality – yes, I am aware that this design has flaws (will be discussed later) and that the overall quality isn't as good as, say, a Ducky, but I can definitely make something that is functional and isn't completely terrible aesthetically (in my opinion). I'm a huge fan of DIY projects and as cliché as it sounds, I'm hoping that this post will help people realise that they can do this sort of stuff if they put their mind to it (not just limited to keyboards). Plus, who can have enough keyboards, right?! Background Just a quick bit of a background on myself: My name is Dave I live in Australia I like long walks on the beach I'm a programmer by trade I don't have a creative bone in my body I've never done something like this before Everything that didn't involve programming for this project was almost completely foreign to me before I started working on it Advertisement Disclaimers Probably a good idea to establish a few things first, just so we don't get off on the wrong foot: I am not a designer, so I'm aware that things could be prettier The design was largely inspired by other DIY 60% keyboards (i.e. matt3o's BrownFox design). I was not aiming for perfection for this first keyboard build. It was to confirm that I was capable of being able to build a functional keyboard. My second build will largely be my own design (hopefully) and I will be aiming for as close to perfection (by my standards and preferences) as possible. This will obviously take a long time to do, but I'm absolutely willing to put the effort in given how much satisfaction I got from this first build. I am TERRIBLE at soldering. Yes, I am aware that I have the fine motor skills of a 100 year old man. I blame this on being left handed and having the least steady hands on the planet. at soldering. Yes, I am aware that I have the fine motor skills of a 100 year old man. I blame this on being left handed and having the least steady hands on the planet. I am not a photographer. My photographs are all taken with my phone and my shaky hands (see previous point). Advertisement Okay, disclaimers out of the way – let's talk about making a keyboard. Materials There's a fairly long list of things I required for this build. Check out my workstation before I started building: Advertisement Nice clean table – not for long. Here is a list of everything and where I sourced them from: Enclosure Material Sheet steel (from Dicandilo) – For the top and bottom layers, I went with 1.6mm sheets. One thing of note: steel is heavy. If you want your enclosure to be light, go with a lighter metal (i.e. aluminium). Acrylic (from All Acrylic Shapes) – The middle two layers I went with 6mm thick clear acrylic sheets. This, to me, was aesthetically pleasing and also stopped my enclosure from being too heavy for my girly arms to pick up. Advertisement Here's a photo of the enclosure materials from the day I picked them up: Enclosure materials. Excuse the grubby fingerprints on the steel. Switches and Keycaps Such a contentious topic. Truth be told, I have no strong preference when it comes to Cherry switches. I've been using browns for a while now on my WASD v2 keyboard and saw no reason to change, so I went with Cherry MX Browns. I purchased from from gonskeyboards. Advertisement I purchased my keycaps for this build from WASD Keyboards. Pretty basic set I know, but they get the job done. Internals The guts of the keyboard. Everything except the insulation rubber (which I got from eBay) I purchased from Little Bird Electronics Advertisement Diodes – 1N4148. This seems pretty standard for this sort of stuff. 22 AWG hook-up wire. I strongly suggest you get a lot of different colours as it makes it much easier to track when you are soldering things up. I got black, brown, grey, red, white and yellow. I'd actually recommend using a slightly thinner gauge wire for this build. It will be easier to manipulate and much easier to wire up the columns. Teensy 2.0. This is a pretty sweet microcontroller – it has more than enough pins (just) to hook up all the rows and columns and is impressively tiny (as the name suggests). This makes it really easy to mount inside the enclosure and not get up in anything else's business. Insulation rubber. I picked up some 0.8mm neoprene rubber off eBay and I definitely don't regret it. Easy to work with, cheap, and looks pretty slick. The rubber was used on the inside of the back plate and underneath the Teensy board to stop shorting of pins. Probably a good idea since we're dealing with electricity. A mini USB cable. I was silly and assumed I needed a micro USB cable, since everything else uses that. I was sadly mistaken. Advertisement Cost of Everything Here is a rough breakdown of how much I paid for everything. Please keep in mind I bought a little extra of some things (diodes, wires etc…) so some prices may seem quite high: Steel + cutting: $40 Acrylic + cutting: $110 – Yep, acrylic over here is more expensive than the steel. Switches: $80 Diodes: $20 (I bought extra) Wiring: $18 (I bought extra) Keycaps: $100. This could be greatly reduced if you got them as part of a group buy or you didn't order a few individually printed ones like I did. Teensy: $20 Insulation rubber: $20 Mini USB cable: $5 Other Things You Will Want A decent soldering iron. You will thank yourself later. Also note: you will burn yourself many times throughout the build. Might as well do it with a fancy iron! LEADED SOLDER – I started the build without leaded solder and oh dear… – I started the build without leaded solder and oh dear… Wire strippers. Do not use your teeth. Do not use someone else's teeth. Do not use a scalpel. Use wire strippers. A decent working surface/area. A big table with a good cutting mat to work off is pretty good. I just picked up a cutting mat from my local electronics store, Jaycar. Adhesive for the insulation rubber. Make sure that it won't corrode the rubber or steel. I managed to get my hands on these guys and they are absolutely awesome. Solder braid. You will get solder in places you don't want it. You will want to get rid of it. Solder braid is your best friend. All hail the braid. Tweezers. You are working with a small amount of wiggle room and you will wind up dropping something between the cracks or you will need something to feed a cable through a small gap. Tweezers are a huge mate in tough times like these. Patience. Big emphasis on a decent working area. You will have a lot of stuff to keep track of and not having to stack things on top of each other makes a huge difference. Here is what my workstation looked like one Friday evening: Advertisement One of my glamorous Saturday evenings. Try not to be too jealous. The Design/Build Process The Enclosure I'm trying to work out what was the hardest thing to do for this build and I have a feeling the enclosure was it. I had absolutely no clue to begin with what I even wanted my keyboard to look like. I thought just trying to replicate my WASD v1 but wanted as little bezel as possible. I also liked the idea of a very simplistic design. I stumbled across matt3o's BrownFox build and fell in love with that instantaneously and decided to base my design around it. Advertisement From here it was a huge learning process. I had all the dimensions of the switches so I knew how big each hole in the design needed to be, and I even knew the dimensions of the keycaps I was going to be using so I knew how far apart the holes needed to be, what I didn'thave a clue with was how to translate this into a drawing that a manufacturer knew how to build. I ended up going with the DraftSight software and, not to be too negative here since it got the job done, I was a bit disappointed. This probably has nothing to do with the software, more that I am not a draftsman. The software had a reasonably steep learning curve (in my opinion) with very little online support other than the instruction manual. This took a lot of tinkering around to get used to doing the things I needed to do which was mostly being able to draw lines to scale and provide their measurements. Sounds easy; it didn't turn out to be for me (once again, it's probably because I have had no experience here). I used the BrownFox drawing file as a base and changed things how I saw fit. This was mainly minor tweaks. I had to then find people to source the building materials from and cut them. Fortunately the two places I found for the steel and acrylic respectively sold and cut them. This was pretty handy. As for what these people expect so they can help you out: Provide a CAD drawing or PDF of your design, indicating scale (if it isn't 1:1 Indicate the unique distances of cutouts. I sucked at this. It made my drawings very messy/sketchy, but it was necessary and I found most places didn't want to work this out themselves even if you provided the dimensions/scale. This is what my top panel ended up looking like when I sent it off to the manufacturer: Advertisement If anyone here is a Draftsman, I apologise for this filth. The Internals Cool, so we can fast-forward and I now have my enclosure materials. The most interesting thing here is now I have my switches. The switches can be mounted on the plates and we can begin soldering the diodes. Exciting stuff. This is was just after I finished putting the switches in. Let me tell you now how satisfied I was when the switches mounted perfectly on the steel plate. The cherry switches occupy a 14mm * 14mm hole. In fact, it's probably best that you become acquainted with the Cherry MX Datasheet if you plan on using Cherry switches. Advertisement This was the first tangible milestone of the project. Exciting times! Now here's another really common question I got: "Did you do this with a PCB or hand-wired?". I opted for the hand-wired route for this build. At the time, I thought it would mean a quicker turnaround, which I later realised was not the case. However, I do have an appreciation for doing the hand-wired build, as it adds that ghetto factor you can't get with a PCB. Advertisement Soldering Okay, so the switches are in so the soldering should be a piece of cake, right?! Wrong. This took me a really, really, really, really long time to do. I think this mostly stemmed from my ultra shaky hands, which don't lend themselves to fast or good soldering. Allow yourself plenty of time to do this if you plan on hand-wiring your board. First of all we need to connect a diode up to each individual switch and then connect up each row of diodes with each other (there are 5 rows total). Here is an extremely useful article that explains the importance of the diodes and how they work. Basically it allows us to be able to identify which rows and columns are currently active during the event of keypresses. Advertisement It's also a pretty good idea to pre-solder a glob onto each of the pins on the switches, as this will save you a lot of time later. The diodes get soldered to the top left pin on each switch with the black stripe on the diode facing the bottom (i.e. the row with the spacebar on it) of the keyboard. There will be nothing worse discovering this problem once you think you're done building the keyboard. Mmmmm sweet globby goodness. It's also probably a good idea to pre-bend your diodes at a 90 degree angle before soldering, too. If you do this, your rows will be a) infinitely easier to solder and b) will look like they weren't done by a 3-year-old who has had a litre of red cordial. Unfortunately, I did not pre-bend my diodes thinking I wouldn't have a problem here. Guess what, the 3 year old did the soldering! Advertisement Oh it's not looking too bad, is it?! Advertisement Hang on… it's still kind of okay… Vomit Sweet, so we've soldered on our diodes and connected up our rows. You've probably found this to be reasonably time consuming. Unfortunately, connecting up the columns is also just as time consuming and requires you to pay extra attention because if you don't make the cables up right you will certainly get some shorts going. Advertisement I'll just quickly add here, if anyone doing a hand-wired build has a better/more efficient method of making the cables for the columns, please let me know because this part sucked for me and I couldn't work out a better alternative. So we now need to hook up each individual column of switches. My build has 16 columns but you can have as many or little as you like depending on how you've designed your layout. The column wires connect to the right-hand pin on each switch (i.e. the pin that you didn't connect a diode to). What I did to create my cables for the columns was get a length of wire and using my cable stripper I removed chunks of cable about the length between the pins in the column and then fed those chunks back on, leaving gaps to connect the wire to the pins. It looked something like this: Advertisement My ghetto solution for avoiding shorts. From here it was just a matter of connecting up each of the columns. Just keep in mind here, if you're working with this gauge of wire, due to the small working space inside the keyboard it's actually rather difficult to feed these lengths of cable through from the top of the column to the bottom. For these circumstances I just made the cables shorter and used multiple cables to connect up the column. Advertisement The column on the left uses just the one cable. The column on the right uses a couple of cables. As long as everything is joined up it's all good. One you've hooked up all the cables then all we need to do is connect them to our microcontroller. Advertisement Enter the Teensy. This little guy does a lot. All I've done in the picture above is solder a wire to each of the pins I will be using. Remember you have to avoid pin D6 and any of the power/ground pins. The pinout for the Teensy 2 can be found here. Advertisement Now would also be a good time to attach the Teensy to the keyboard so we make sure that it will all connect up nicely. I put mine near the gaps where the spacebar switches are. This is probably an ideal spot in most hand-wired builds. Remember to put some insulation between the bottom of the teensy and the steel plate. This is where those adhesive strips I bought came in super handy. The adhesive is making sure that the Teensy board isn't going anywhere. Now it's just a matter of connecting a wire from the teensy to each of the rows and columns. It doesn't matter where on each row/column you connect the wires so do whatever works for you. I had a couple of really sad moments at this stage. I wanted to do a good job of routing the cables underneath the row/column wiring but the wire was just too thick to do a good job of this so I had to go against my preference and "spider" out over the top of my existing cabling. Advertisement One other really important thing. Make sure you note which pin on the Teensy board is connected to which row/column. Write this information down somewhere. You'll need it when it comes to programming the firmware. Spiderman, spiderman, does whatever a spider can. If you have a keen eye you'll see that the yellow wire on the top right of the above image is connected to a diode instead of the pin on the right to it (because it is supposed to be connecting a column) – I did fix this after realising it after loading my firmware and noticing that column wasn't working at all. Advertisement At this stage, assuming we've done everything right our soldering is now done. Before we close up the enclosure, we need to put a rubber inlay on the inside of the bottom steel plate to avoid any accidental shorts. Once again, the adhesive strips come in handy here. Advertisement I promise I cleaned up the rubber before closing up the case. On to the programming part of this build. Firmware This section is going to be really short. I have an embedded software background so I understand what is required to drive the hardware we're using so I thought I'd give writing the firmware from scratch a crack. I then found after not too long (i.e. getting a key to work) that it's probably a better idea to see if someone had written some sort of framework to make our lives easier. Fortunately there is. You can find the Github repository for TMK's keyboard project here. I strongly suggest that you use this as a base and follow matt3o's firmware guide to get the firmware going on the Teensy if you don't have any prior knowledge of how to write code to drive a keyboard. Advertisement If you're having trouble getting the firmware going on your Teensy board please let me know and I'll do my best to assist you I know this section is brief, but there really isn't anything I can tell you here that matt3o hasn't already covered in great detail. The Finished Product! Once you've hit this stage, you're done! This is how my keyboard turned out. I left my WASD v2 in the shot just to let you see a bit of a comparison. Advertisement The finished keyboard! So happy with it! As for how the keyboard handles, it's rock solid. It has a lot of weight to it so it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere and the keys feel fantastic. I'm 4,000 words into this blog post already and my fingers don't feel fatigued at all and typing is a pleasure. Advertisement Let's discuss a few last things. Then I will let you go in peace. Flaws in My Design The Spacebar This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As mentioned earlier, I thought that having 3 switches for the spacebar would work out quite nicely. When I had 3 switches in the spacebar was way too stiff. I then had the idea to change the 3 spacebar switches with cherry reds but wasn't patient enough to get the switches in. In the end I decided to just take out the middle switch altogether. I was a bit nervous about this as I didn't know if it was really going to make much of a difference. Boy was I relieved when I started using the keyboard. The spacebar is pretty stiff but I much prefer it over any spacebar I've used on other keyboards. It feel much easier to activate the key which allows me to type easily. Advertisement Stabilisers I slightly miscalculated the space for the stabilisers to slot in. This is easily rectified by our friend Mr. Dremel. Right Modifier Keys This was probably, in my opinion, the only huge flaw in my design. I miscalculated the bottom row of key cut-outs which left me with a bit of a gap between my right modifier keys and the start of the arrow keys. I haven't lost any sleep over it, but I will definitely be fixing that up for my second keyboard build. Advertisement I'm sure there are a tonne more flaws with how I went about things and would love to hear your constructive criticism about them. Anything that I can address in future iterations I'd be keen to hear about. What's Happening Next? Current Build There are a couple of things that I want to tidy up with my current build before labelling it 100% complete: Polish the steel a bit more so it has a more professional looking finish to it. Find a backslash key with the right profile (i.e. the same profile as the number keys). Order in some bolts to bolt up the enclosure. At the moment it's still a bit wobbly because I've just got some pins holding the enclosure together. Order in a nice mini USB cable. The one I have at the moment is a bit ugly. Next Build Here is a list of things that I will definitely be doing for my next build. I really will be aiming for perfection for my second build as I believe I have learnt enough valuable lessons from the first build to take a serious crack at making something that rivals a professional build. Advertisement Design and have a PCB manufactured. Use a decent set of keycaps (I have a set of DSA Dolch keycaps lying around so I may use them). Use treated steel for the top and bottom layers. The steel I used for this build looks a little bit scrappy. Having something with a smooth and consistent finish would be nice. Design a layout that is largely "my own". I drew a lot of inspiration for this layout from other DIY jobs but I want to have a long hard think about what I really want out of my next keyboard and come up with a layout that truly fits it. Advertisement Acknowledgements I can't stress how appreciative I am for all of the help and assistance I received during the course of this project. I literally would not have been able to do this without the help of so many people. In no particular order, here are the people/communities that I am thankful for (apologies if I have missed anyone specific out – I will be updating this list as more people come to mind!): matt3o – This guy is a beast. Anyone in the DIY keyboard community already knows this. I saw his BrownFox build and immediately had a million questions I contacted him about and he answered every last one in detail. Over time he helped me with a lot of things and his keyboard builds are largely what inspired mine. – This guy is a beast. Anyone in the DIY keyboard community already knows this. I saw his BrownFox build and immediately had a million questions I contacted him about and he answered every last one in detail. Over time he helped me with a lot of things and his keyboard builds are largely what inspired mine. Gon – This guy was another really helpful person involved with this. He runs an awesome DIY keyboard site here and has been making stuff that I could only dream of making for a long time. – This guy was another really helpful person involved with this. He runs an awesome DIY keyboard site here and has been making stuff that I could only dream of making for a long time. Damon (my house-mate) – Damon has to put up with more of my nonsense than anyone else on the planet. He has also acted as a huge sanity checker for my ideas and helped me source a lot of ideas for this project. – Damon has to put up with more of my nonsense than anyone else on the planet. He has also acted as a huge sanity checker for my ideas and helped me source a lot of ideas for this project. Peter (he's a bro) - Peter has always been a sounding board for things that I work on. He has taken a particular interest in this project and has been offering interesting opinions towards it. We are both going to be working on keyboard builds in parallel in the future (for my next project). Peter also has the quality of being brutally honest and not sugar-coating anything, which has always kept my ideas in check. - Peter has always been a sounding board for things that I work on. He has taken a particular interest in this project and has been offering interesting opinions towards it. We are both going to be working on keyboard builds in parallel in the future (for my next project). Peter also has the quality of being brutally honest and not sugar-coating anything, which has always kept my ideas in check. r/mechanicalkeyboards – The reddit community have certainly been the source of a lot of inspiration for this as well as answering some of my less intelligent questions with patience and detail when I was just learning about how to do all this DIY stuff. – The reddit community have certainly been the source of a lot of inspiration for this as well as answering some of my less intelligent questions with patience and detail when I was just learning about how to do all this DIY stuff. Deskthority - Same as above – very helpful community who were patient enough to deal with me during my (more) annoying phase. Advertisement Big ups to all of these guys and girls. Final Words Thank you for reading this fairly lengthy post. I hope that you've taken something out of it. It genuinely means a lot to me that you have reached this far down (OK let's be honest here, you just scrolled through to look for more pictures, didn't you?!). Advertisement If you have any other questions regarding the DIY keyboard stuff, my build, or just want to chat about whatever, you can hit me up at/on: Email – [email protected] IRC – grug \| irc.freenode.net Reddit – gurgus Deskthority – grug Dave Cooper is a Computer Science graduate from Western Australia who has been working as a programmer for various companies for the last five years. He's currently working full-time for an open source project, Moodle and absolutely loving it. He loves to build things, break things and make mistakes (how else do we learn?!). You can find his original (and possibly updated!) post about this build on his website.
--Description--Do you spend days, weeks, or months on end adventuring? Do you wish that all of that time far from civilization affected the look of your character and his/her followers? Five O'Clock Shadow is a mod that makes your character's and his/her followers' facial hair grow as time passes.You can use a razor (FormID xx00D28E) to:- maintain the player character's facial hair at its current state- let the player character's facial hair grow again- trim the length by one step- trim to the longest possible version of the chosen style of facial hair based on the current length of facial hair- shave all facial hair off- select the style of facial hair: beard, chinstrap, goatee, goat patch, horseshoe, moustache, muttonchops, sideburns, or Van Dyke- change settings: time required for facial hair to grow by one step, switch between growth occurring at any time or only when sleeping, enable/disable cutscenes, enable/disable follower supportFollower support is disabled by default and must be enabled via the settings menu (read the previous paragraphs for more information), if one wants to use it. A follower's facial hair grows at the same rate as the player's, but growth can occur at any time as long as the player isn't looking at the follower. The facial hair, which the follower has when he becomes a follower, is assumed to be his preferred style. A follower will shave and reacquire their default facial hair, when the player sleeps in an inn or player home, provided that the follower is in the same place. Followers must meet the following conditions to be supported by the system: be male, not be a beast race (Argonian, Khajiit, etc.), have one of the support styles of facial hair, and be in the PlayerFollowerFaction and CurrentFollowerFaction factions. Followers who leave your party have their default facial hair restored about an hour (in-game) after they've left, provided that the ex-follower and the player are in different cells, and the player does not have line of sight to the ex-follower. This restoration is attempted repeatedly until successful. If a follower dies, then their facial hair is not reset until the next time the game is started. If a follower's facial hair cannot be identified (probable causes include facial hair from an unsupported mod), then the NPC will be flagged as incompatible by adding an ability to him.If you use the plugin that doesn't include conditions to stop the follower cloak during brawls, then you should use jonwd7's Brawl Bugs Patch. If you use the plugin that does include conditions to temporarily disable the cloak during brawls, then you might end up in a situation where new followers aren't supported until the brawl has occurred. You can force a follower into one of the slots by giving them a specific spell (FormID xx00C7C8) via the console, if a potential upcoming brawl has been detected and followers aren't being added to slots.--Requirements--Skyrim (>= 1.9.32.0.8)SKSE (>= 1.7.1)--Compatibility--There shouldn't be any compatibility issues, unless you are using another mod that changes the facial hair used by the player character while playing.--How to install--1. Extract contents to "\Skyrim\Data" (manual) or install archive with your favorite mod manager (Nexus Mod Manager, Mod Organizer, etc.)2. Activate "Five O'Clock Shadow.esp"--How to use--The mod will attempt the identify the facial hair of the player character and determine the correct style when the mod is loaded. If you have not finished the creating your character, then the message will be repeated once you leave the character creation menu, provided that you answered accordingly to the popup message.Trimming the length of facial hair works in one of two ways:- facial hair growth is reversed by one step, if the facial hair isn't trimmed to a particular style- the length of a style is trimmed shorter, if the facial hair is trimmed to a particular styleTrimming to a certain style trims the facial hair into the longest possible length of the chosen style that the current length of facial hair can support.Clean shave is what it sounds like; everything is shaved off.--How to uninstall--Uninstalling in the middle of a playthrough is not supported as some data may have been baked into the save.- Remove "Five O'Clock Shadow.esp" and "Five O'Clock Shadow.bsa" from "\Skyrim\Data".--Credits--The SKSE team.This mod uses these sounds from freesound.org:- Shaving.aif by charliemidi--How to contact the author--PM MrJack on the official Bethesda forums or mrpwn on Nexus.--Translations--Other mods:
Fifteen years ago student Dan Atkinson started The Other Side, a weekly comedy night in York. Five years later it was taken over by promoter Toby Jones and became the Hyena Lounge – and has delivered big names and big laughs ever since. But the laughter stops on Saturday (June 4). Almost exactly a decade after the York Hyena Lounge was born, it will go the same way as every unprepared stand-up – and die on stage. In the summer the lounge will stage half a dozen gigs in a swan song at the Great Yorkshire Fringe. After that the club will be gone from York completely. “It’s going to leave a huge void,” admits promoter Toby Jones. The reason? Stonebow House has new owners and current tenants are being kicked out, including The Duchess, home to the Hyena Lounge since 2014. It looks as if this Saturday’s comedy line-up – featuring Steve Shanyaski, Mick Ferry, Panella Mellor and Andre Vincent – will be the last live entertainment at the Duchess. On Thursday, York band Little Resistance played what they said was the last live music gig at the venue – although YorkMix has been unable to confirm that. It seems our gig this Thursday will be the last live gig at @theduchessyork! Be there for one last chance to experience this amazing venue! — Little Resistance (@littleresistanc) May 29, 2016 York falling behind Toby tried to find a new venue for the Hyena Lounge in York. “We tried, we really tried,” he said. “We looked at nearly ten venues. We looked at buying our own venue. We’ve looked at where else we could possibly go and there’s just nowhere. “We’ve spent the last three or four months looking at every single avenue.” One place that was ruled out early on was the Basement, where the club started out. A major reason they left was because “we weren’t given the dates”. The other? “Coney Street, particularly on a Saturday night, is an absolute hellzone. It’s horrendous, a horrible place to be.” [adrotate group=”4″] Toby feels that York is lacking venues for live entertainment generally. And that is having an effect on the city’s night life. He said: In York people are very happy to jump on a train and go into Leeds. York falls behind hugely, culturally I think. Particularly in modern culture. It’s very much an archaic city stuck in its medieval tourism industry and tea and cakes. Moving forward, it’s not very progressive at all as a city. That’s to its detriment. It needs somebody to come along and say let’s give people other forms of entertainment or culture, which York is desperately lacking. At times it seems very backward looking. Younger people don’t want to pay for entertainment, and long-term that’s a big worry, he believes. “It’s the same if you speak to music promoters in York, if you speak to theatre groups in York: everybody’s facing the same problem, getting the people of York to go out to stuff is quite difficult.” Star names Over the years the Hyena Lounge has brought some top comedy talent to York. “Pretty much everybody in comedy has played the Hyena Lounge,” Toby said. “It’s a breeding ground for up-and-coming comedians, many of them end up as household names and playing arenas. “Comedians who wouldn’t otherwise have come to York include Sarah Millican, Russell Howard, Micky Flanagan, Rhod Gilbert, Jon Richardson… All the ones that are really big now. Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Ross Noble we put on early. “All the ones who now regularly play the Barbican and then into arenas. The first time we ever did Micky Flanagan there were less than 30 people there. “So we have gone from absolutely nothing with people following their careers right up to point of them becoming superstars.” That’s often because they like coming to York. Absolutely. It’s the only reason Russell Howard kept coming back year after year, or Sarah Millican coming back to play to 200 people. It’s because they enjoyed the gig so much – they enjoyed the experience, they enjoyed the audiences and I think they enjoyed the venue. Moving on After Saturday’s show, Toby will have to load everything on the back of the van. Losing York as a venue will probably only hit him come the autumn. And he thinks that’s when the rest of the city will start to notice too. “If you look at how many comedy shows there are now in York comparative to say five years ago, it’s pitiful. Once we’re gone it’s woefully small. “At that point people will start scratch their heads and hopefully start to wonder how things are changing and not for the better.” If a new venue can be found that’s suitable he’d happily bring the laughter back. “We’ll never say never. We’re constantly keeping our eyes open and talking to people all the time,” he said. “It’s just finding somewhere that’s feasible.”
Every continent save Antarctica is ringed by vast stretches of seagrass, underwater prairies that together cover an area roughly equal to California. Seagrass meadows, among the most endangered ecosystems on Earth, play an outsize role in the health of the oceans. They shelter important fish species, filter pollutants from seawater, and lock up huge amounts of atmosphere-warming carbon. The plants also fight disease, it turns out. A team of scientists reported on Thursday that seagrasses can purge pathogens from the ocean that threaten humans and coral reefs alike. (The first hint came when the scientists were struck with dysentery after diving to coral reefs without neighboring seagrass.) But the meadows are vanishing at a rate of a football field every 30 minutes. Joleah B. Lamb, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University and the lead author of the new study, said she hoped it would help draw attention to their plight.
For other people named William Stephenson, see William Stephenson (disambiguation) Sir William Samuel Stephenson CC MC DFC, (23 January 1897 – 31 January 1989) was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor, spymaster, and the senior representative of British Security Coordination (BSC) for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. He is best known by his wartime intelligence codename Intrepid. Many people consider him to be one of the real-life inspirations for James Bond.[2] Ian Fleming himself once wrote, "James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is ... William Stephenson."[3] As head of the British Security Coordination, Stephenson handed over British scientific secrets to Franklin D. Roosevelt and relayed American secrets to Winston Churchill.[4] In addition, Stephenson has been credited with changing American public opinion from an isolationist stance to a supportive tendency regarding America's entry into World War II.[4] Early life [ edit ] Stephenson was born William Samuel Clouston Stanger on 23 January 1897, in Point Douglas, Winnipeg, Manitoba. His mother was from Iceland, and his father was from the Orkney Islands. He was adopted early by an Icelandic family after his parents could no longer care for him, and given his foster parents' name, Stephenson. He left school at a young age and worked as a telegrapher. In January 1916, in World War I, he volunteered for service in the 101st Overseas Battalion (Winnipeg Light Infantry), Canadian Expeditionary Force. He left for England on the S.S. Olympic on 29 June 1916, arriving on 6 July 1916. The 101st Battalion was broken up in England, and he was transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion in East Sandling, Kent. On 17 July he was transferred to the Canadian Engineer Training Depot. He was attached to the Sub Staff, Canadian Training Depot Headquarters, in Shorncliffe, and was promoted to Sergeant (with pay of Clerk) in May 1917. In June 1917 he was "on command" to the Cadet Wing of the Royal Flying Corps at Denham Barracks, Buckinghamshire. On 15 August 1917, Stephenson was officially struck off the strength of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and granted a commission in the Royal Flying Corps.[5] Posted to 73 Squadron on 9 February 1918, he flew the Sopwith Camel biplane fighter and scored 12 victories to become a flying ace before he was shot down and crashed his plane behind enemy lines on 28 July 1918. During the incident Stephenson was injured by fire from a German ace pilot, Justus Grassmann,[6] by friendly fire from a French observer,[7] or by both. In any event he was subsequently captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war until escaping in October 1918.[7] His RAF Service file indicates that he was repatriated from the Officer's Prison Camp, Holzminden, Lower Saxony on 9 December 1918. By the end of World War I, Stephenson had achieved the rank of Captain and earned the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross. His medal citations perhaps foreshadow his later achievements, and read: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When flying low and observing an open staff car on a road, he attacked it with such success that later it was seen lying in the ditch upside down. During the same flight he caused a stampede amongst some enemy transport horses on a road. Previous to this he had destroyed a hostile scout and a two-seater plane. His work has been of the highest order, and he has shown the greatest courage and energy in engaging every kind of target. Military Cross citation, Supplement to the London Gazette, 22 June 1919. This officer has shown conspicuous gallantry and skill in attacking enemy troops and transports from low altitudes, causing heavy casualties. His reports, also, have contained valuable and precise information. He has further proved himself a keen antagonist in the air, having, during recent operations, accounted for six enemy aeroplanes. Distinguished Flying Cross citation, Supplement to the London Gazette, 21 September 1918. Interwar period [ edit ] After World War I, Stephenson returned to Winnipeg and with a friend, Wilf Russell, started a hardware business, inspired largely by a can opener that Stephenson had taken from his POW camp. The business was unsuccessful, and he left Canada for England. In England, Stephenson soon became wealthy, with business contacts in many countries. In 1924 he married American tobacco heiress Mary French Simmons, of Springfield, Tennessee. That same year, Stephenson and George W. Walton patented a system for transmitting photographic images via wireless[8] that produced £100,000 a year in royalties for the 18-year run of the patent (about $12 million per annum adjusted for inflation in 2010). In addition to his patent royalties, Stephenson swiftly diversified into several lucrative industries: radio manufacturing (General Radio Company Limited[9]); aircraft manufacturing (General Aircraft Limited); Pressed Steel Company that manufactured car bodies for the British motor industry; construction and cement as well as Shepperton Studios and Earls Court. Stephenson had a broad base of industrial contacts in Europe, Britain and North America as well as a large group of contacts in the international film industry. Shepperton Studios were the largest film studios in the world outside of Hollywood. As early as April 1936, Stephenson was voluntarily providing confidential information to British MP Winston Churchill about how Adolf Hitler's Nazi government was building up its armed forces and hiding military expenditures of £800,000,000. This was a clear violation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and showed the growing Nazi threat to European and international security. Churchill used Stephenson's information in Parliament to warn against the appeasement policies of the government of Neville Chamberlain.[10] World War II [ edit ] After World War II began (and over the objections of Sir Stewart Menzies, wartime head of British intelligence) now-Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent Stephenson to the United States on 21 June 1940, to covertly establish and run British Security Coordination (BSC) in New York City, over a year before U.S. entry into the war.[11][12][13][14] The BSC was registered by the State Department as a foreign entity. It operated out of Room 3603 at Rockefeller Center and was officially known as the British Passport Control Office from which it had expanded. BSC acted as administrative headquarters more than operational one for SIS and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and was a channel for communications and liaison between US and British security and intelligence organisations.[15] Stephenson's initial directives for BSC were to investigate enemy activities; institute security measures against sabotage to British property; and organize American public opinion in favour of aid to Britain. Later this was expanded to include "the assurance of American participation in secret activities throughout the world in the closest possible collaboration with the British". Stephenson's official title was British Passport Control Officer. His unofficial mission was to create a secret British intelligence network throughout the western hemisphere, and to operate covertly and broadly on behalf of the British government and the Allies in aid of winning the war. Stephenson was soon a close adviser to Roosevelt, and suggested that he put Stephenson's good friend William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan in charge of all U.S. intelligence services. Donovan founded the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which in 1947 would become the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As senior representative of British intelligence in the western hemisphere, Stephenson was one of the few persons in the hemisphere who were authorized to view raw Ultra transcripts of German Enigma ciphers that had been decrypted at Britain's Bletchley Park facility. He was trusted by Churchill to decide what Ultra information to pass along to various branches of the U.S. and Canadian governments.[citation needed] The Princess Hotel in Bermuda, home to British Imperial Censorship during the war, and to Sir William Stephenson after the war. While it was still neutral, agreement was made for all trans-Atlantic mails from the U.S. to be routed through the British colony of Bermuda, 640 miles off the North Carolina coast. Airmails carried by both British and American aircraft were landed at RAF Darrell's Island and delivered to 1,200 censors of British Imperial Censorship, part of BSC, working in the Princess Hotel All mail, radio and telegraphic traffic bound for Europe, the U.S. and the Far East were intercepted and analyzed by 1,200 censors, of British Imperial Censorship, part of British Security Coordination (BSC), before being routed to their destination with no indication that they had been read.[16][17][18][16] With BSC working closely with the FBI, the censors were responsible for the discovery and arrest of a number of Axis spies operating in the US, including the Joe K ring.[18] After the war, Stephenson lived at the Princess Hotel for a time before buying his own home in Bermuda.[18] Under Stephenson, BSC directly influenced U.S. media (including newspaper columns by Walter Winchell and Drew Pearson), and media in other hemisphere countries, toward pro-British and anti-Axis views. Once the U.S. had entered the war in Dec. 1941, BSC went on to train U.S. propagandists from the United States Office of War Information in Canada. BSC covert intelligence and propaganda efforts directly affected wartime developments in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, the Central American countries, Bermuda, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Stephenson worked without salary.[19] [20] It continued to be used in peacetime until the 1970s. The Rockex was an IBM Telex machine adapted by Pat Bayly to operate on a one time cypher, allowing secure communication among the Allies throughout the war.It continued to be used in peacetime until the 1970s. He hired hundreds of people, mostly Canadian women, to staff his organization and covered much of the expense out of his own pocket. His employees included secretive communications genius Benjamin deForest "Pat" Bayly and future advertising wizard David Ogilvy. Stephenson employed Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, codenamed CYNTHIA, to seduce Vichy French officials into giving up Enigma ciphers and secrets from their Washington embassy.[21] At the height of the war Bayly, a University of Toronto professor from Moose Jaw, created the Rockex, the fast secure communications system that would eventually be relied on by all the Allies.[22] Not least of Stephenson's contributions to the war effort was the setting up by BSC of Camp X, the unofficial name of the secret Special Training School No. 103, a Second World War paramilitary installation for training covert agents in the methods required for success in clandestine operations.[23] Located in Whitby, Ontario, this was the first such training school in North America. Estimates vary, but between 500 and 2,000 British, Canadian and American covert operators were trained there from 1941 to 1945.[24][25][26] Reports indicate that Camp X graduates worked as "secret agents, security personnel, intelligence officers, or psychological warfare experts, serving in clandestine operations". Many were captured, tortured, and executed; survivors received no individual recognition for their efforts."[24][25] Camp X graduates operated in Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Balkans) as well as in Africa, Australia, India and the Pacific. They may have included Ian Fleming (though there is evidence to the contrary), future author of the James Bond books. It has been said that the fictional Goldfinger's raid on Fort Knox was inspired by a Stephenson plan (never carried out) to steal $2,883,000,000 in Vichy French gold reserves from the French Caribbean colony of Martinique.[27][page needed] BSC purchased a ten-kilowatt transmitter from Philadelphia radio station WCAU and installed it at Camp X. By mid-1944, Hydra (as the Camp X transmitter was known) was transmitting 30,000 and receiving 9,000 message groups daily — much of the secret Allied intelligence traffic across the Atlantic.[28] Honours [ edit ] For his extraordinary service to the war effort, he was made a Knight Bachelor by King George VI in the 1945 New Year Honours. In recommending Stephenson for the knighthood, Winston Churchill wrote: "This one is dear to my heart." In November 1946 Stephenson received the Medal for Merit from President Harry S. Truman, at that time the highest U.S. civilian award. He was the first non-American to be so honoured. General "Wild Bill" Donovan presented the medal. The citation paid tribute to Stephenson's "valuable assistance to America in the fields of intelligence and special operations".[29][30] The "Quiet Canadian" was recognized by his native land late: he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada on 17 December 1979, and invested in the Order on 5 February 1980. On 2 May 2000, CIA Executive Director David W. Carey, representing Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet and Deputy Director John A. Gordon, accepted from the Intrepid Society of Winnipeg, Manitoba, a bronze statuette of Stephenson. In his remarks, Carey said: Sir William Stephenson played a key role in the creation of the CIA. He realized early on that America needed a strong intelligence organization and lobbied contacts close to President Roosevelt to appoint a U.S. "coordinator" to oversee FBI and military intelligence. He urged that the job be given to William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, who had recently toured British defences and gained the confidence of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Although Roosevelt didn't establish exactly what Sir William had in mind, the organization created represented a revolutionary step in the history of American intelligence. Donovan's Office of Strategic Services was the first "central" U.S. intelligence service. OSS worked closely with and learned from Sir William and other Canadian and British officials during the war. A little later, these OSS officers formed the core of the CIA. Intrepid may not have technically been the father of CIA, but he's certainly in our lineage someplace. On 8 August 2008, Stephenson was recognized for his work by Major General John M. Custer, Commandant of the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps. Custer inducted him as an honorary member of the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, an honour shared by only two other non-Americans.[31] Legacy [ edit ] The William Stephenson statue near Memorial Boulevard in downtown Winnipeg. In 1997, a new public library built in Winnipeg was named for him, after a vote was held to choose the name of the new library. Leo Mol donated a miniature of his statue of Stephenson to the library. On 24 July 1999, The Princess Royal unveiled, in Stephenson's hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, near the Provincial Legislature on York Street, Leo Mol's life-sized bronze statue of Stephenson in military aviator uniform. The monument is dedicated to Stephenson's memory and achievements.[32] On 15 November 2009, Water Avenue in downtown Winnipeg was renamed William Stephenson Way.[33] Whitby, Ontario, has a street named for Stephenson, which connects with streets named Intrepid and Overlord. In 2004 Sir William Stephenson Public School was opened in Whitby In Oshawa, Ontario, Branch 637 of the Royal Canadian Legion is named for Stephenson. Located in southern Oshawa, Ontario, is a park named Intrepid Park, after Stephenson's code name. This park is located in the vicinity of what was formerly Camp X. A historic plaque erected at the park reads as follows: "On this site British Security Co-ordination operated Special Training School No. 103 and Hydra. S.T.S. 103 trained Allied agents in the techniques of secret warfare for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) branch of the British Intelligence Service. Hydra Network communicated vital messages between Canada, the United States and Great Britain. This commemoration is dedicated to the service of the men and women who took part in these operations. In Memory of Sir William Stephenson 'The Man Called Intrepid' Born at Winnipeg, Manitoba, January 11, 1896. Died at Paget, Bermuda, January 31, 1989. Director of British Security Co-ordination. 1941-1946."[34] Disputes [ edit ] In 1976 British-born Canadian author William Stevenson published a biography of Stephenson, A Man Called Intrepid. Some of the book's statements have been called into question; in a review the same year, Hugh Trevor-Roper wrote that "This book ... is, from start to finish, utterly worthless," while other former intelligence personnel and historians criticized the book for inaccuracies. Nigel West's 1998 book Counterfeit Spies asserts that "Intrepid" was probably not Stephenson's codename, but BSC's telegraphic address in New York.[35] Stevenson was a frequent visitor to Bermuda, where Stephenson had taken up residence during after the war. He was an ex-naval officer, having served in the Fleet Air Arm during the war with prominent Bermudian lawyer William Kempe (a founding partner of Appleby, Spurling & Kempe), a prominent Bermudian law firm (another author and frequent visitor to Bermuda was ex-naval officer Ian Fleming). Intelligence historian David A. T. Stafford asserts that a more reliable source on Stephenson's career is H. Montgomery Hyde's The Quiet Canadian, published in 1962, before Stevenson's book.[36] But generally acknowledged as the most accurate account of Stephenson's life is Bill Macdonald's The True Intrepid (1998), with a foreword by the late CIA staff historian Thomas Troy. The book clears up the spymaster's fictitious background in Winnipeg and contains oral histories from his ex-agents. Macdonald's book includes a chapter on the secretive communications genius Benjamin deForest "Pat" Bayly, who according to Stafford's book Camp X - refused to speak with Stafford. Bayly is not mentioned in The Quiet Canadian or A Man Called Intrepid. In Counterfeit Spies, Bermuda resident Rupert Allason (Nigel West) reports that no record exists of Stephenson having received the French Croix de guerre avec Palmes or the Légion d'honneur. Stephenson was of course awarded Britain's Military Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroics in France. In September 2009 his medals and other effects were displayed in Manitoba's legislative building, in Winnipeg. William Stevenson describes a dinner held at Lord Beaverbrook's house in May or June 1940 which Stephenson purportedly attended. Churchill's private secretary Jock Colville casts doubt on Stevenson's account, pointing out that the invitation that Churchill supposedly sent Stephenson was clearly a forgery. The highly punctilious Churchill would never have called Beaverbrook "the beaver", and he would never have signed himself "W.C." (the abbreviation for "water closet)." Moreover, Stevenson reports that Lord Trenchard chatted with Stephenson about his own fighter plane; however, in 1940 Trenchard was over 65 years old and was retired from the military. In author William Stevenson's papers at the University of Regina there is a reference to the Beaverbrook dinner, noting that in later years Stephenson had cabled the author that he did not recall the exact date of the gathering. There is no mention of Stephenson having received an invitation from Churchill. In his foreword to Richard Dunlop's Donovan, Stephenson writes that he received a telephoned invitation to the dinner.[ original research? ] In his 1981 book The Churchillians, Jock Colville took issue with Stevenson's description of Stephenson's wartime relations with Churchill. Colville pointed out that Stephenson was not Churchill's personal liaison with Roosevelt, that in fact (as is well known) the two leaders corresponded directly. Indeed, Colville contends that he never heard Churchill speak of Stephenson (which may say as much about Churchill's relations with Colville, an Assistant Private Secretary, as it does about his relations with the spy Stephenson). Based on this and other questions, Colville expressed the hope that Stevenson's book would not be "used for the purpose of historical reference." Meanwhile, numerous other references to a Stephenson-Churchill connection can be found; for example, in Maclean's magazine, 17 December 1952, and The Times, 21 October 1962. The relationship is also referenced in Hyde's biography of Stephenson, The Quiet Canadian (1962). In addition, British–Soviet double agent Kim Philby, in his book My Silent War, refers to Stephenson as a friend of Churchill's. Stephenson's personal secretary and personal cipher clerks mention Stephenson-Churchill communications in The True Intrepid and in the documentary film Secret Secretaries. In CIA historian Thomas Troy's book Wild Bill and Intrepid, there is a chapter on the relationship based on several direct interviews conducted by the author with Stephenson on Bermuda which discounts much of the criticism of West and Hugh Trevor-Roper. Popular culture [ edit ] In 1979 Stephenson was portrayed by David Niven in the miniseries A Man Called Intrepid, based on William Stevenson's bestseller, A Man Called Intrepid.[37] In 1983 a Canadian company, Nova Games, Ltd., published an arcade game called Intrepid, about a spy infiltrating the KGB, named ostensibly after William Stephenson's codename. In 1998, John Neville portrayed Stephenson in a revival of the Canadian TV series Witness to Yesterday. The site of Camp X is now Intrepid Park. See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] References [ edit ]
E3 2015: Going hands-on with the Alienware Steam Machine Shacknews Showcase's Andrew Zucosky visited with Alienware at E3 2015 to discuss their upcoming Alienware Steam Machine, discussing its specs and how it improves upon last year's Alienware Alpha. Steam Machines are closer to becoming reality with each passing day. One of the manufacturers at the forefront of the Steam Machine movement is Alienware, which is why Shacknews stopped by for a visit during E3 2015. Join Shacknews Showcase's Andrew Zucosky as he speaks to Alienware's Chris Sutphen about the four tiers of Alienware Steam Machine that the manufacturer plans to make available. Along the way, Sutphen discusses the machines' specs, making a candid admission that the 5400rpm hard drive contained in the Alienware Alpha fell short of customer expectations while announcing that the Alienware Steam Machine would ship with a 7200rpm drive. Afterwards, it's time to go hands-on with the upcoming machine itself. For more on the Alienware Steam Machine, be sure to watch the full interview below and also check out the current listing on Steam.
Enthusiastic crowds in the Midlands and the conservative Upstate rallied behind Bernie Sanders’ populist message Friday. The Democratic presidential hopeful’s campaign estimated that 2,700 people filled the Medallion Center ballroom in Columbia. The diverse crowd overflowed into another room and the lobby. Earlier Friday, Greenville got a taste of “Bernie-mania,” when Sanders drew a mostly – but not exclusively – white crowd of 2,800 to the TD Convention Center for the self-described democratic socialist’s first campaign event in the state. Three women – two of them African Americans – introduced Sanders at his Greenville event, signaling his desire to appeal to two powerful S.C. Democratic groups. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The State Sanders said the election of President Barack Obama shows the nation’s progress. But, he added, “the bad news is that racism still remains a much too real part of American life.” As examples of institutional racism, Sanders cited the nine slayings at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston and police violence against blacks. The U.S. senator, an independent from Vermont, spoke for about an hour or more at both events, delivering a fiery speech outlining how he thinks the United States has failed to deliver enough jobs, wages, education and healthcare to the middle and working classes, and to protect them from discrimination, based on their race, sexuality or income. There is a reason why millions of people are working 50, 60, 70 hours a week trying to cobble together some income. The reason is that wages in America for millions of people are just too damn low. – Bernie Sanders Both crowds came from near and far – some driving in from Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. The audiences delivered the same energy that Sanders has been attracting to rallies nationwide, their loud cheers and boos punctuating nearly every stump speech point that he delivered. Not all of Sanders’ supporters are liberals. Ann Tupiak, 41, of Mauldin said she considered herself socially conservative – she voted for George W. Bush twice and would prefer it if Sanders opposed abortion – but she supports the independent’s economic and environmental policies, including his denunciation of the role that money has come to play in driving politics. “I like that he is not being paid off” by corporate interests, she said. Supporters frequently spoke of Sanders’ authenticity, adding they are tired of business-as-usual politics. “There are people that have been left behind,” said Loren Chapman, wearing a hat with his “dream team” on it — Sanders and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive Massachusetts Democrat who some party activists had hoped would run for president. A 52-year-old mail carrier from Johnson City, Tenn., Chapman said he is supporting Sanders because he wants “young people who are underemployed to be able to make a decent wage.” Increasing the minimum wage – which Sanders called a “starvation wage” – offering free college and paid sick leave for all worters are among Sanders’ positions that Chapman said he supports. Sanders tailored some of his message for S.C. voters, noting 27 percent of Palmetto State children live in poverty. He also took a jab at S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, a Republican, and the GOP-controlled Legislature for rejecting federal money to expand Medicaid. (I)t is terribly wrong to allow a rigid, right-wing political ideology to stand in the way of health care for hundreds of thousands. It is wrong to allow hundreds of people to die unnecessarily because they don’t have Medicaid. – Bernie Sanders On “family values,” Sanders says he wants to end “the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on Earth that does not guarantee family medical leave.” “Staying home with your baby is a family value,” he said. Sanders did not attack Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, instead targeting the GOP. “What the Republicans are talking about when they refer to family values is telling every woman in America that they cannot control their own bodies,” and telling “our gay brothers and sisters (that they) should not have the right to marry or enjoy the other benefits of American citizenship,” Sanders said. The senator’s speech offered few details on how he would pass his agenda if elected president. Instead, Sanders called for a political revolution, echoing the disenchantment that many of his supporters said they feel over current policies. Columbia residents Paul Kinosian and Helene Goldson left Sanders’ Friday evening rally in Columbia talking about the candidate’s energy. “He’s struck the nerve of what people are all (mad) about,” said Kinosian, adding he thinks Sanders can win because he strikes the right chords with voters. Goldson likes Sanders’ family values. But she is less convinced his candidacy can win the White House. If Sanders becomes the Democratic nominee, the presidential race “will be so divisive.” Sanders will make stops Saturday in Sumter and Charleston, completing his two-day swing through the state. Reach Self at (803) 771-8658
A photo taken on May 9, 2014 in Saint-Nazaire, France, shows the Vladivostok warship, a Mistral class LHD amphibious vessel ordered by Russia at the STX France shipyard. (AFP PHOTO / JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD) France will sell two Mistral-class landing ships originally intended for Russia to Egypt, according to announcement made by the office of French President Francois Hollande Wednesday. According to the short announcement, Holland met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Wednesday and negotiated the “principle and terms of the purchase.” [France backs off sending Mistral warship to Russia in $1.7 billion deal] Egypt has been in negotiations with the French government for a short period and the talks will continue into October as both sides settle on an exact price, according to a report in the French newspaper La Tribune. The two ships had originally been built for the Russian navy, but their sale was canceled in September 2014 because of Russia’s involvement in the war in Ukraine and mounting pressure from NATO for France to call off the sale. The $1.7-billion-dollar purchase was part of a 2011 deal between the Russian defense export agency Rosoboronexport and the French company DCNS, according to a U.S. Navy assessment. The first part of the deal would have France build and sell the initial two Mistrals, while Russia would contract and build an additional two in Russia. France refunded Russia $1 billion for the cancellation but did not have to pay penalties. [Critics say proposed sale of French Mistral ship to Russia will harm region] The ships can carry around 150 troops and more than a dozen helicopters. According to TASS, a Russian news agency, it will cost over $300 million to reconfigure the two Mistrals that were originally outfitted for the Russian Navy. TASS also reported Wednesday that Russia and Egypt had signed a deal for Egypt’s purchase of 50 Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters from Russia. According to the report the purchase could include a variant of the Ka-52 (the Ka-52 Katran), which specifically designed for the Mistrals Russia had intended to acquire.
Some time ago, The Chainsmokers said that their debut album was “up to our fans.” Now, it seems they’ve made true on that promise and have quizzically announced that an LP is on the way. Both Alex and Drew have said that an album means more to them than just a collection of songs, it has to tell a story. The duo has been unstoppable when it comes to mainstream success, dominating charts and overwhelming the radio with one hit after another; their latest being “Paris.” At this time there’s no release date, and no real confirmation, but we all know what they’re getting at with these posts… Chainsmokers Album? A post shared by The Chainsmokers (@thechainsmokers) on Jan 29, 2017 at 5:03pm PST Photo by Christina Kuhlmann Photography
Szpilka said - "If HBO is looking for a replacement for Jennings, I'm interested in the fight. Such a fight would certainly bring a lot of excitement. Jennings, I am ready to fight you. Fight with me. Or are you afraid of Polish power?" Polish heavyweight giant Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15 KOs) turned down an offer to fight Bryant Jennings (17-0, 9 KOs) in an HBO televised fight on January 18th, but another Pole - undefeated Artur Szpilka (16-0, 12 KOs), is ready to step in there for the opportunity. Jennings is scheduled to return in the co-feature spot to Lucian Bute vs. Jean Pascal at the Bell Centre in Montreal. I'd rather see this fight than a fight with Wach. Jennings will crush this dude. I don't know why they don't try and make a fight with Mike Perez since he was just on HBO. [QUOTE=Foreign Soil;13989336]Jennings will be another letdown for the Great American Hope.[/QUOTE] Jennings is a KO waiting to happen. Szpilka will destroy him. Szpilka will KO the overrated Americlown. Hell yeah, this is a good fight right here. [QUOTE=mrlopez;13987291]^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this guy must be smokin that ish to say that about jennings. he's one of the most humble, down to earth cats out there. he'd love a shot at a bigger and better name, who wouldnt, but the fact…
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (ViaNews) – Argentina, the second largest country in Latin America, will start 2018 with a new policy on electric vehicles, allowing the first clean energy vehicles in the country be made available for sale. The new policy aims to boost the production and sales of electric vehicles, promoting an E-mobility future by starting to do away with import taxes on hybrid, electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. Among the authorized vehicles are the Toyota Hybrid Prius and the Renault Kangoo ZE models. Last December 15th, the first operational station for loading 100% electric vehicles in the country has been inaugurated in the city of Buenos Aires by the Italian firm Enel, through its subsidiary in Argentina, Edesur. In the future, the station will be able not only to load the Renault model but any other car from all car manufacturers, as it happens today in Europe. Moreover, the Swiss company ABB has come to an agreement with state-owned firm YPF to install 220 electric car chargers in Argentina (the ABB Terra 53 chargers will be made available in 110 YPF stations through a partnership with QEV Argentina) an estimated investment of US$ 13 million (American dollars). Those stations will be able to charge models from manufacturers like Toyota, General Motors or Volkswagen. “Argentina is going to be a global force in the clean energy sector.” President Mauricio Macri stated. About 6000 electric vehicles are expected to reach the Argentinian market in 2018. A “green future” is becoming a reality in Latin America by creating the policies and infrastructure required to attract manufacturers. Countries such as Netherlands, France, China or Germany have already committed to the goal of only selling electric vehicles in a period of time that ranges from 2025 until 2040. Latin America has a long road to walk to reach such goals, but 2018 is set to be the year where countries in the region start to see electric mobility in the streets, and customers starting to benefit from energy efficiency improvements. Uruguay December 27th, 2017 Uruguay launched the first electric route in Latin America. The route encompasses an initial section of six strategically located, ANCAP (state-owned oil company) charging stations for electric vehicles, within a distance of 60 to 70km from each other, between the cities of Colonia del Sacramento and Punta del Este. The recharging is free of charge for national and international vehicles (mostly hybrid vehicles). The average time to recharge a vehicle is about an hour, providing an autonomy of about 300 km or 187 miles. UTE (state-owned electric company) will continue to expand the route. The company has plans to install 48 additional stations, which will cover the entire country through its main national roads. Ute CEO, Gonzalo Casaravilla stated: “Each loading point costs between US$ 4 to US$ 5 thousand (American dollars).” Chile Nowadays, Chile has over 180 electric cars running through its streets, a number set to raised to five million by 2050. Among the main challenges, to lower prices and achieve a faster charging time are a priority. The goal is to be able to charge the car battery as fast as it takes today to load a fuel tank, which is about five minutes. Next February 2018, the Chilean capital, Santiago de Chile, will feature on its streets, the first Santiago E-Prix of Formula E. The world’s first fully-electric single-seater street racing series was founded back in 2012, serving as a platform for car manufacturers to develop new technologies. It has achieved great success bringing the electric car concept closer to customers worldwide. Last month, the Fuel Choices and Smart Mobility Summit took place in Tel Aviv, Israel. Main directors of the automotive industry have reunited to debate about the future of sustainable mobility. People at the summit agreed on the fact that the cars of the future will indeed be environmentally friendly, equipped with fast-charging organic batteries and will get smaller. According to Erez Lorber, a Chief Operating officer for StoreDot, a company that develops organic batteries, in “ten years, 50 percent of the world’s cars will be electric.”
Fish oil supplementation may be useful for rheumatoid arthritis As I have said on several occasions before: I am constantly on the lookout for new rigorous science that supports the claims of alternative medicine. Thus I was delighted to find a recent and potentially important article with some positive evidence. Fish oil has been studied extensively in terms of its effects on health. We know that it has powerful anti-inflammatory properties and might thus benefit a wide range of conditions. However, the effects of FO in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have not been examined in the context of contemporary treatment of early RA. A new study has tried to fill this gap by examining the effects of high versus low dose FO in early RA employing a ‘treat-to-target’ protocol of combination disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Patients with RA <12 months’ duration and who were DMARD-naïve were enrolled and randomised 2:1 to FO at a high dose or low dose (for masking). These groups, designated FO and control, were given 5.5 or 0.4 g/day, respectively, of the omega-3 fats, eicosapentaenoic acid + docosahexaenoic acid. All patients received methotrexate (MTX), sulphasalazine and hydroxychloroquine, and DMARD doses were adjusted according to an algorithm taking disease activity and toxicity into account. DAS28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (mHAQ) and remission were assessed three monthly. The primary outcome measure was failure of triple DMARD therapy. In the FO group, failure of triple DMARD therapy was lower (HR=0.28 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.63; p=0.002) unadjusted and 0.24 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.54; p=0.0006) following adjustment for smoking history, shared epitope and baseline anti–cyclic citrullinated peptide. The rate of first American College of Rheumatology (ACR) remission was significantly greater in the FO compared with the control group (HRs=2.17 (95% CI 1.07 to 4.42; p=0.03) unadjusted and 2.09 (95% CI 1.02 to 4.30; p=0.04) adjusted). There were no differences between groups in MTX dose, DAS28 or mHAQ scores, or adverse events.
(CNN) A massive winter storm clobbered the East Coast on Saturday, dumping more than three feet of snow in parts of West Virginia and Maryland, tying up traffic on highways, grounding thousands of flights and shutting down travel in the nation's largest city. From the Carolinas to New York, tens of thousands were without power Saturday night as a result of the storm, which was finally heading out to the Atlantic. Except for some isolated flurries, snowfall in most of the major cities will likely finish early Sunday morning, CNN Meteorologist Sean Morris said. By the numbers: • 40 inches of snow was recorded in Glengary, West Virginia; 39 inches fell in Philomont, Virginia; and Redhouse, Maryland, received 38 inches. • 25.1 inches of snow at Central Park, the third-largest snowfall on record. • More than 28 inches of snow at Dulles International Airport, the second-largest snowfall recorded there. Baltimore's BWI notched 29.2 inches. • At least 14 people dead (six in North Carolina, three in Virginia, one in Kentucky, three in New York City and one in Maryland). • 11 states declared states of emergency: Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. Washington, D.C., has declared a "snow emergency." • 8,569 flights canceled for Saturday and Sunday, according to FlightAware.com. • More than 74,000 people without power. Huge snowfall but no record Though the blizzard set no snowfall records in New York or Washington, you wouldn't know it from walking through the steady evening snow or waist-high snow banks. New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport received 27.7 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service, and Newark Liberty International Airport received more than 25 inches. New York's Central Park recorded 25.1 inches of snow by 7 p.m. Saturday, ranking as the third-largest snowfall since records began in 1869. Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the total was bound to go higher as snow continued to fall. "We have to prepare for an even worst-case scenario," he said, "and be ready if it goes even farther." New York at a standstill A travel ban was in effect on all roads in New York City and Long Island on Saturday. City bus service and above-ground subway lines were halted, along with area rail services such as the Long Island Rail Road. All Broadway performances were canceled due to the blizzard, according to the Broadway League. The wind-driven snow at times appeared to descend sideways, making it difficult to see. On Manhattan's Upper West Side, doctoral student Luis Abraham Garcia of Mexico pushed a wheeled suitcase on the snow-covered sidewalks, hoping to catch an outbound train. He'd been in Washington on Friday, intending to fly home to Mexico City. However, the flight was canceled, so he traveled to New York to catch a flight Saturday. That flight, too, was called off. So now he hoped to take a train to Chicago, where he would try again to fly home. This was Garcia's first snowstorm. "I've never seen snow like this. I've been to New York during other seasons -- in the cold and the heat -- but never saw it under a blanket of snow," he said. Officials said the ban would be lifted at 7 a.m. Sunday, but they urged people not to travel unless necessary. "Our plows will still be clearing the streets, and we must keep the streets passable for emergency vehicles," the mayor said. "Whenever possible, New Yorkers should stay indoors until this storm passes." Stranded The storm caused major traffic tie-ups on highways in Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Road accidents Friday night caused a 7-mile-long backlog involving around 500 vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a state police spokeswoman said. The traffic stayed there through Saturday afternoon, when police started turning some drivers around and allowing them off at points along the roadway. Among those stuck on the turnpike: The Duquesne University men's basketball team, on the road after a victory against George Mason in Virginia. Photos that the team posted to Twitter showed senior forward Nick Foschia making a snow angel in the road and a line of vehicles stranded on the highway. Also stuck was the Temple University women's gymnastics team. Nick Foschia: known for three-pointer celebrations, Cleveland sports knowledge, and now snow angels #DUQSurvivor pic.twitter.com/o3g4OgyAhe — Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) January 23, 2016 Members of the National Guard and the local fire department delivered water to some of the stranded motorists Saturday morning. Guard members were also dispatched in West Virginia to help move stuck tractor trailers that blocked a roughly 11-mile stretch of Interstate 77 north of Charleston. Power outages and flight cancellations At 9:30 p.m. ET Saturday, more than 150,000 people were without power as a result of the storm. Nearly 65,000 customers were in the dark in the Carolinas. The states were hit hard by a combination of snow, sleet, ice and strong winds Most airports in the Mid-Atlantic virtually were shut down. The number of flight cancellations for Saturday and Sunday was 7,421, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.com. Mass transit services in Washington and Baltimore were suspended for the weekend. And some Amtrak service to and from the East Coast has either been canceled or truncated. Flooding in New Jersey Coastal flooding was a big concern as the storm headed out to sea, and the National Weather Service issued a warning for the New Jersey coast until noon Sunday. Parts of the Jersey Shore already saw flooding as a result of storm surge and very large seas coming ashore. Forecasters predicted widespread flooding again at high tide Sunday morning. Margate City, just down the coast from Atlantic City, was already covered in water. Some businesses along the main thoroughfare, Ventnor Avenue, put sandbags in front of their doors. Farther south, the mayor of North Wildwood said the high tide was much higher than anticipated and caught many of the town's 5,000 year-round residents off-guard. "We had a lot of evacuations, a lot of people who had stayed in their homes not anticipating this, needing to be rescued," Patrick Rosenello told CNN. Most of the city was without electricity, he said, and the phones at the emergency dispatch center were jammed all day. The National Weather Service said "significant" beach erosion was likely. Rosenello said Saturday's flooding "devastated" the dune system. "There's going to be major cleanup. There's going to have to be major renovations," Rosenello said.
The IMF report – "Will It Hurt? Macroeconomic Effects of Fiscal Consolidation" – implicitly argues that austerity will do more damage than so far admitted. Normally, tightening of 1pc of GDP in one country leads to a 0.5pc loss of growth after two years. It is another story when half the globe is in trouble and tightening in lockstep. Lost growth would be double if interest rates are already zero, and if everybody cuts spending at once. "Not all countries can reduce the value of their currency and increase net exports at the same time," it said. Nobel economist Joe Stiglitz goes further, warning that damn may break altogether in parts of Europe, setting off a "death spiral". The Fund said damage also doubles for states that cannot cut rates or devalue – think Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Italy, all trapped in EMU at overvalued exchange rates. "A fall in the value of the currency plays a key role in softening the impact. The result is consistent with standard Mundell-Fleming theory that fiscal multipliers are larger in economies with fixed exchange rate regimes." Exactly. Let us avoid the crude claim that spending cuts in a slump are wicked or self-defeating. Britain did exactly that after leaving the Gold Standard in 1931, and the ERM in 1992, both times with success. A liberated Bank of England was able to cut interest rates. Sterling fell. The key point is whether you can offset the budget cuts. But by the same token, it is fallacious to cite the austerity cures of Canada, and Scandinavia in the 1990s – as the European Central Bank does – as evidence that budget cuts pave the way for recovery. These countries were able export to a booming world. They could lower interest rates, and were small enough to carry out `beggar-thy-neighbour' devaluations without attracting much notice. We were not then in our New World Order of "currency wars". Be that as it may, it is clear that Southern Europe will not recover for a long time. Portuguese premier Jose Socrates has just unveiled his latest austerity package. He has capitulated on wage cuts. There will be a rise in VAT from 21pc to 23pc, and a freeze in pensions and projects. The trade unions have called a general strike for next month. Mr Socrates has already lost his socialist majority, leaking part of his base to the hard-Left Bloco. He must rely on conservative acquiescence – not yet forthcoming. Citigroup said the fiscal squeeze will be 3pc of GDP next year. So under the IMF's schema, this implies a 3pc loss in growth. Since there wasn't any growth to speak off, this means contraction. Spain had a general strike last week. Elena Salgado, the defiant finance minister, refused to blink. "Economic policy will be maintained," she said. There will be another bitter budget in 2011, cutting ministry spending by 16pc. Mrs Salgado has ruled out any risk of a double-dip. But the Bank of Spain fears the economy may contract in the third quarter. The lesson of the 1930s is that politics can turn ugly as slumps drag into a third year, and voters lose faith in the promised recovery. Unemployment is already 20pc in Spain. If Mrs Salgado is wrong, Spanish society will face a stress test. We are seeing a pattern – first in Ireland, now in Greece and Portugal – where cuts are failing to close the deficit as fast as hoped. Austerity itself is eroding tax revenues. Countries are chasing their own tail. The rest of EMU is not going to help. France and Italy are cutting 1.6pc GDP next year. The German squeeze starts in earnest in 2011. Given the risks, you would expect the ECB to stand by with monetary stimulus. But no, while the central banks of the US, the UK, and Japan are worried enough to mull a fresh blast of money, Frankfurt is talking up its exit strategy. It risks repeating the error of July 2008 when it raised rates in the teeth of the crisis. The ECB is winding down its lending facilities for eurozone banks, regardless of the danger for Spanish, Portuguese, Irish, and Greek banks that have borrowed €362bn, or the danger for their governments. These banks have used the money to buy state bonds, playing the internal "carry trade" for extra yield. In other words, the ECB is chipping at the prop that holds up Southern Europe. One has to conclude that the ECB is washing its hands of the PIGS, dumping the problem onto the fiscal authorities through the EU's €440bn rescue fund. That is courting fate. Who believes that the EMU Alpinistas roped together on the North Face of the Eiger are strong enough to hold the rope if one after another loses its freezing grip on the ice?
Police have launched an investigation into a controversial student union diversity officer who allegedly tweeted “kill all white men.” Bahar Mustafa was criticised earlier this year for posting a message on Facebook banning all white people and men from a university event she was organising about diversity and inclusion. The 27-year-old is also facing being dismissed from her position as welfare and diversity officer at the student union of Goldsmiths University, in London. {snip} Scotland Yard yesterday confirmed that officers were investigating allegations about the alleged tweet. A spokesman said: “Police received a complaint on May 7 about a racially motivated malicious communication that had been made on a social media account. There have been no arrests and enquiries are continuing.” It is alleged Ms Mustafa used a university Twitter account to tweet racial slurs at student activist Tom Harris calling him “white trash”. {snip} Original Article Share This
He took a bullet for his President. Literally. On March 30th, 1981 James Brady had only been press secretary for Ronald Reagan for 69 days when a man named John Hinckley Jr. opened fire on the President and his entourage in an assassination attempt. Hinckley was later found to have lied on his application for the .22 caliber handgun he used to shoot Brady and the President, and had recently been arrested in Nashville, Tennessee after attempting to sneak three handguns on a plane. It is well known that, in the midst of his battle with mental illness, he shot President Reagan in an attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster. He was, by pretty much any measure, not an appropriate candidate for owning a firearm. Though Reagan survived unscathed, Brady would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, but that didn’t stop him from being a political force for gun control. By his death at 73 this week, Brady would become major force in the debate over gun control in the United States, even being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and having a Clinton-era law named after him which requires a background check on anyone purchasing a handgun. Wherever we may stand on 2nd Amendment rights and gun control, James Brady’s experience and story can serve as an excellent reminder to champions of liberty. Personal experience matters. In a time where it is exceedingly easy for us to share our opinions with the world, we often get so wrapped up in how an issue effects our existence that we can forget to remember that our opinions are very much shaped by our personal experiences. It is so easy, as a person who has never been shot, for me to shake my head at the efforts of gun-control advocates, but if I don’t at least consider the experience of someone who has had a bullet rip through their body, I am not doing service to my own argument. For a pro-choice advocated to declare a 12 week old fetus “not a person” may elicit high-fives and nods from people who agree with her, but to a woman who has experienced a devastating miscarriage at that gestation, it’s a slap in the face and a heartless discount of her grief. A libertarian saying all social safety nets should be eradicated probably won’t sit well with someone who was raised by a single mother who fought with all she had to keep food on the table, even if it meant accepting government assistance from time to time. James Brady’s life served as a reminder to many that gun violence can touch us all, and that sometimes the champion of something we disagree with isn’t just a bureaucrat who wants to limit our freedom for nefarious means. Empathy needs to become fashionable again, if we ever want to show our philosophy to be a legitimate one. Instead of condemning the people whose choices we don’t agree with, we should seek to understand their experience.
Donald A. Collins \| 23 November 2015 Church and State On Monday, November 23, 2015, the Wall Street Journal began on page one a series of articles, the first entitled, “The World’s New Population Time Bomb: Too Few People” in an editorial-like attempt on its news pages to make the case for importing more cheap labor immigrants and more growth, which of course means more reckless use of renewable and non renewable planetary resources in the face of accelerating climate changes. This initial piece reminds me of the old adage which offers the wise advice that “when you have dug yourself into a hole, stop digging”. Human numbers have almost quadrupled since my birth in 1931 to nearly 8 billion and as the WSJ article points out will likely grow another couple of billion by mid century, to which it is saying would be great. The question of course is for whom. The story of King Midas comes sharply to mind. He got all the gold but turned his daughter into a gold statue. The entire WSJ article dredges up the old false claim about the need for endless growth which sees more and more as better even as the finite planet aches with over use of all its natural resources. The author does mention automation as useful and indeed that must be a key replacement for manual human labor. However, as machines replace people and you have more people where are those jobs coming from? Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop. The population bomb as Paul Ehrlich has often explained has already exploded, but calling for more mindless growth on a finite planet while ignoring the urgent need to give all families the means to stop unwanted births shows that human greed for more, including immigrants no country can absorb, borders on insanity. In responding to the article one of my colleagues noted that this is what one might expect from Mr. Murdoch’s relentless pursuit of growth and profits at all costs. Clearly another example of ignoring the facts of global warming, environmental disfigurement, and reckless endangerment of all humans along with the plants and animals needed to sustain lives. But I have stated my position without giving my readers the chance to comment. Read the article and then let me know if your agree or disagree! I love to hear all opinions even when they don’t agree with mine. Don’t fail to post your views on the WSJ website beneath the article. I doubt that you will slake the appetite for more more more, but you will likely feel better after taking action against this already arrived sea of troubles and in so doing to at least alleviate some of the dire consequences already evident in the deteriorating world situation. After all getting leadership to identify the problem of excess population growth has been the main hindrance in working toward a solution for decades. For those of us in the developed world, life has been improving, but the status of many very desperate people in much of the world is clearly sustaining the recruitment of ISIS oriented people. Such a rise will not be eliminated by force of arms, but by intelligent use of education and application of resources toward helping those in dire living conditions. The WSJ’s article offers an errant doxology of more, more, more wealth and power for fewer and fewer which will not allow sustainability and of course will not bring peace and prosperity. It is certainly worth mentioning that the power blocs of organized religion and ethnic advocacy have chimed in to influence increasing numbers. For example, don’t fail to read on this site the explosively accurate analysis of this site’s Chairman, Dr. Mumford about how the Vatican has impeded efforts to bring population growth a humane reduction. Former US Navy officer, banker and venture capitalist, Former US Navy officer, banker and venture capitalist, Donald A. Collins , a free lance writer living in Washington, DC., has spent over 40 years working for women’s reproductive health as a board member and/or officer of numerous family planning organizations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Family Health International and Ipas. Yale under graduate, NYU MBA. He is the author of From the Dissident Left: A Collection of Essays 2004-2013 Read more on this topic: WSJ Series Notes Decline In Cheap Chinese Labor! Solution: Add More People!!! WSJ’s Prescription For 3rd World Manufacturing Failures Forgets History Wall Street Journal Cites South Korean Demographic Success But Ignores Emphasizing the 2 Main Reasons For Why It Happened The WSJ’s 5th Page One Series On Demography About Africa Suggests Rolling The Dice On Human Numbers: Very Bad Advice WSJ #6, Japan Becomes A Perfect Model For Solving The Population Bulge Professor Milton Siegel, who for 24 years was the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization, speaks to Dr. Stephen Mumford in 1992 to reveal that although there was a consensus that overpopulation was a grave public health threat and would be a major cause of preventable death not too far in the future, the Vatican successfully fought off the incorporation of family planning and birth control into official WHO policy. This video is available for public viewing for the first time. Read the full transcript of the interview here. Professor Paul Ehrlich: Can a collapse of global civilization be avoided? Al Bartlett – Democracy Cannot Survive Overpopulation Amazon Warehouse Robots : Mind Blowing Video Be sure to ‘like’ us on Facebook
Media playback is not supported on this device Bolt beats Gatlin for sprint double World Athletics Championships Venue: Beijing National Stadium, China Dates: 22-30 August Coverage: Live on BBC TV, Red Button, Radio 5 live, online, mobiles, tablets and app. Click here for full details. Usain Bolt won the rematch and 200m gold as he ran a wonderful bend to once again leave rival Justin Gatlin chasing silver and fresh air. On a sweaty, sticky night in the Bird's Nest, Bolt was out of the blocks quicker and opened up an unassailable lead over the first 100m before coming away down the straight and jabbing his thumbs at his chest as he crossed the line. His 19.55 seconds was the fastest in the world this year, his speed and peerless championship class too good for American Gatlin, whose 19.74 was well outside his season's best. Jamaican Bolt, who will also compete in the 4x100m relay, said: "It means a lot to me. Media playback is not supported on this device Bolt wiped out by cameraman "I'm happy to be a 10-time World Championships gold medallist, especially when people have been saying I would lose. "I had the utmost confidence. As long as my coach is confident, I'm super confident. "The British people give me a lot of love and I will continue running fast." South Africa's Anaso Jobodwana set a national record of 19.87, with Panama's Alonso Edwards three thousands of a second behind in fourth. Britain's talented 20-year-old Zharnel Hughes, who trains with Bolt in Jamaica, ran a personal best of 20.02 for fifth in his first major final. But this was all about the man metres in front, his 10th world gold just another astonishing number in a career without parallel. For much of this season Bolt, 29, has been a struggling shadow of the man who has dominated both sprinting and his sport for the past seven years. Coming into these championships he had raced only one 200m all summer, and that a lacklustre 20.13 in May. Bolt's major individual titles Olympic 100m champion: 2008, 2012 World 100m champion: 2009, 2013, 2015 Olympic 200m champion: 2008, 2012 World 200m champion: 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 Gatlin, twice banned for doping, had run more than two tenths of a second faster than any other man in the field this year, and almost half a second quicker than Bolt. Bolt had neither the times this summer nor the races, a pelvic injury restricting his season until just a month before these championships. But in the stadium where he smashed Michael Johnson's long-standing world record in winning Olympic 200m gold seven years ago, he was out of the blocks quicker than Gatlin. Media playback is not supported on this device Bolt reacts to 200m glory With the American two lanes inside him, he was able to relax down the straight and celebrate as Gatlin trailed behind him once again. Gatlin went into Sunday's 100m final, part one of their showdown, as the dominant man in world sprinting. But, having cracked under the immense pressure of that first battle, he was once again unable to peak when he needed it most, and at 33 years old he may never have a better chance of beating his sport's superstar. Hughes, born in the British Dependent Territory of Anguilla, formally gained British citizenship in June this year and won the national trials in some style. And in his first major global championship he has improved throughout the rounds to confirm his potential for big finals ahead. He will have no better exemplar than Bolt, unstoppable here once again. Media playback is not supported on this device Why Bolt beat Gatlin again - Johnson How the world reacted Great Britain's Zharnel Hughes, who finished fifth: "He is a legend. I even doubted him a bit but he knows what to do, so credit to him and congratulations to him." Multiple world champion Michael Johnson: "He is the best in the world and he does not have any rivals. We have to give him a lot of credit for running in the 100m and 200m - this is the most he has been challenged." Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes: "There are some people in this world who are super human. Bolt wins 200m." Former British sprinter Darren Campbell: "What Usain Bolt does for the sport is incredible. He's taken the sport to another level. Everywhere you go people know Usain Bolt." BBC Radio 5 live commentator Mike Costello: "Everybody runs in a sprint race at school and can relate to what he does when he runs fast, but he gives the crowd something to remember afterwards by turning it into a party, and that's why he will be missed so much when he goes." BBC TV commentator and former athlete Steve Cram: "Resurrecting a performance like that from a season he has had shows Usain Bolt is the greatest." Photos of Bolt's double delight Usain Bolt underlines he is the number one as Justin Gatlin trails behind him Bolt unleashed his signature 'Lightning Bolt' during his victory lap However, the lap did not go as smoothly as the race when he collided with an eager cameraman He was soon back on his feet and was almost engulfed by his supporters inside the Bird's Nest After a week of media hype about their rivalry, Bolt (left) and Justin Gatlin were able to reflect
Soft drink giant Coca-Cola India has said that it will be forced to shut down some factories if the government accepts the proposal to impose a 40-per cent 'sin tax' on aerated beverages. Coca-Cola India is the first company to protest the high tax rate proposed in the good and services tax (GST) Bill. Currently, the tax on aerated beverages such as Coke and Pepsi Cola, which have come under severe criticism from health groups due to their high sugar content, is 18 per cent. The companies have also been facing rough weather in the West over health issues. An acceptance of the Arvind Subramanian committee recommendations with regard to GST rate of 40 per cent on aerated beverages will have a negative ripple effect on the entire beverage ecosystem...we will have no option but to consider shutting down certain factories. Ishteyaque Amjad V-P, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia "An acceptance of the Arvind Subramanian committee recommendations with regard to GST rate of 40 per cent on aerated beverages will have a negative ripple effect on the entire beverage ecosystem ... It will lead to a sharp decline in consumer purchase and for a demand-driven industry, it will mean a significant rationalisation of manufacturing capacity," Coca-Cola India and South West Asia vice-president (public affairs & communication) Ishteyaque Amjad said in a statement. At the same time, Coca-Cola reiterating that India is one of its most important markets said, "The Coca-Cola Company believes in India and identifies it as one of its strategic growth markets. The Coca-Cola system in India has already invested more than $2.5 billion ... Our system is on course to invest another $5 billion in India by the end of 2020." We are supportive of GST and believe this will be good news for business and the Indian economy.However, a tax rate of 40 per cent is high. Having said that, we are confident that the government will take a balanced view of taxation with respect to our industry Shiv Shivakumar Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo India Coke's rival PepsiCo said that though the tax rate of 40 per cent is high, it is confident that the government will take a balanced view. "We are supportive of GST ... However, a tax rate of 40 per cent is high. Having said that, we are confident that the government will take a balanced view of taxation with respect to our industry," PepsiCo India chairman and chief executive officer Shiv Shivakumar said. (In association with Mail Today)
Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Council tax in Trafford is set to go up by 4 per cent EVERY year until 2020 as swingeing budget cuts continue to bite - and school crossing patrols are in the firing line. Town hall chiefs are considering raising the household bill by the maximum amount possible each year for the next three years as part of their budget plans. Another measure will see schools or community groups that want to keep crossing patrols having to pay for the service. But the town hall has avoided moving to three-weekly general rubbish collections by instead charging people to collect garden waste and getting more strict on recycling. Parking charges are also set to rise. In total, cuts for 2017/18 will total £22m. There has not been a general rise in council tax in the borough for the past six years - although there was a 2 per cent rise last year under the government’s so-called ‘social care’ tax. But council bosses say they’ll now need to increase the charge to balance the books. The majority of the town hall’s income is through council tax. Half the extra cash, around £1.7m each year, will be ring-fenced to protect social care. The rest will be used to plug the remaining budget gap. Town hall chiefs have highlighted that council tax bills in Trafford are the lowest in the north west. The bill for a Band D property will go up by £45 a year. Budget proposals for next year include: Hiking parking charges to bring in an extra £702,000 Transferring in-house ‘reablement’ services for those leaving hospital to an outside firm, saving £946,000 Charging schools that want to keep crossing patrols for the service, bringing in £350,000 Reviewing the council tax support scheme, to bring eligibility in line with Universal Credit, saving £160,000. Those in receipt will still get a 100 per cent discount Charging residents - if they choose - £40 a year to collect away garden waste, bringing in £430,000 Launching a recycling responsibility campaign - which could including fining those consistently putting things in the wrong bins - to save £151,000 Cutting property repair and maintenance bills by £89,000 Slashing energy and water bills by £80,000 Staff taking 1.5 days of unpaid leave, saving £500,000 Transferring bowling green maintenance to individual clubs, saving £18,000 Reviewing the council’s bad debt provision, saving £200,000 Getting the best deal on insurance premiums, saving £50,000 Budget accounting efficiencies, saving £332,000 Parking fees will increase as follows, before being frozen for three years: 30 minutes - 20p to 70p 2 hours - 50p to £1.50 3 hours - £1 to £2.50 4 hours - £2 to £3.50 Full day - £4 (£3 on street) to £7 (£6 on street) Those using seven off-street car parks, which are currently free, will be charged £1 if they stay for more than two hours. The sites are Lacy Street in Stretford; Flixton Road, Urmston; Manor Avenue, Urmston; Hampson Street, Sale Moor; Balmoral Road, Altincham; Atkinson Road, Urmston; and James Street, Sale Moor. Council chiefs highlight that parking charges were cut across the borough in 2008 in a bid to boost town centre trade - and that prices are still among the cheapest in Greater Manchester. Private car parks, they add, are often more expensive. Bosses introduced fortnightly collections of smaller general waste bins in 2013, with weekly collections scrapped. Despite Trafford boasting one of the best recycling rates in the country, they say they need to do more to cut costs - and insist charging people for garden waste collections and being ‘more strict’ means they can avoid moving to three-weekly collections. It is thought around a third of households will opt into garden waste collections. Those who consistently flout recycling rules could be fined. Residents who don’t want to pay £40 for the garden waste collection, can pay £7 for a compost bin. Weekly food collections will still be free. (Image: PA) Schools - or community groups - that want to retain a crossing patrol will have to pay the council. Bosses say they have no choice but to think of alternative ways to deliver the discretionary service because the current model is ‘not sustainable’. The council was forced to do a u-turn two-years-ago when they proposed scrapping scores of crossing patrols. The ‘reablement service’ - which helps people leaving hospital could be transferred to an outside body - is the last social service taken care of in-house. Handing responsibility to a care provider will save cash, without impacting upon those benefiting from the service. A £9m cost-effective LED street lighting project was introduced last year, and is around half way through. That will save £100,000 next year. Some £2.8m of council reserves will be used next year to help balance the books. But the council still needs to find an extra £2m in the coming months. The bulk of the savings – £9m – will come from measures passed in the last few years. The full-year effect of some of this year’s cuts will help balance the books next time around. It’s not all doom and gloom. The council is planning to pump £24m into leisure facilities across Trafford in an ‘unprecedented’ cash-injection. They want to bring out-dated centres in Urmston, Sale, Altrincham and Stretford up to scratch. They plan to use capital receipts, some borrowing, and new sources of income to pay for the mammoth project. Difficult decisions to be made Council chiefs say the plan is about ‘making the Trafford pound go further’ in the face of continuing austerity measures, changes to government funding arrangements and rising demand for services. Council leader Sean Anstee said: “We want to take the Trafford pound further, make it more effective in the way we budget and use it for planning for the future, so that employment, housing and investment opportunities are in place to continue to grow Trafford as the economic powerhouse of Greater Manchester it has become. “There remain difficult financial decisions to be made the achieve savings over the next three years, whilst still providing the best possible services. We want to show residents that by investing in, and developing a range of services, including joined-up healthcare provision and delivery of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework , we are committed to supporting the borough to flourish.”
Shitty Silverstone Before yesterday’s British Grand Prix, the Manor Mercedes garage had a bet to see who would retire from the race, partly due to a certain variance gamble. In the spirit of Easter, the driver to retire would be forced to wear bunny ears and mouth for the entire day. Needless to say, the team was not expecting both drivers to retire. The team decided to play a risk with 4 Variance. This turned out to be a double-edged sword when Felipe Massa qualified 5th and Pastor Maldonado in 18th. Maldonado fell behind quickly and on lap 30, things turned sour when he aquaplaned and collided with a lapping Nico Hulkenberg in turn 6. In rainy conditions, Massa struggled to find grip, being forced to switch to wets shortly before lap 23. Nine laps later, he beached the car in the mud – also in turn 6. Next week, the Model F1 World Championship begins the second half of the season at Germany. Midseason Report As we enter the halfway point of the season, Manor currently sits 6th in the World Constructors Championship, 10 points behind Lotus and 40 points ahead of McLaren. In the World Drivers Championship, Massa is in 10th with 34 points, while Maldonado is 12th with 26; the ham of the Manor sandwich is Lotus’ Giedo van der Garde, 3 points behind Massa and 5 points ahead of Maldonado. Head-to-head, Massa holds the edge over Maldonado, though team manager splendidtree had hoped for a reliability bump from Maldonado. Overall, though, the team has a 60% finishing percentage, which is reasonable for team expectations. Team principal macus16 is pleased with the current results, stating: “I am incredibly happy how the start has gone – not only have we more than likely secured the battle of band C, we’ve constantly fought in the top 10 and secured enough 5th place finishes to start our very own conspiracy theory.” Advertisements
WASHINGTON -- Back in 2002, when Mitt Romney began running for governor of Massachusetts, his campaign managers thought it would be a good idea to have the millionaire perform various blue-collar jobs around the state. In a move that presaged "Undercover Boss," strategists put Romney in blue jeans, gave him a long, shiny wrench, and had him play at being a mechanic for a photo op. The campaign called these events "work days." He served sausages outside Fenway Park. He donned a hard hat. He hammered nails. He drove a tractor on a farm, bumping along stiffly in the seat. It was, at times, painfully forced. Then again, every day was basically his first on the job. "Just keep on doing some stuff?” Romney asked as the cameras whirred before turning back to the engine block. He mumbled under the hood about power steering fluid and stabbed at the engine with a wrench as if unsure where to put it. At one point, he wondered to the crowd, "Whose Bichon Frise is that over there? Is that a neighbor? Oh, that's great." These kinds of stunts are a political tradition designed to showcase the candidate as just another average Joe. In 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama worked a day as a home health care worker. Romney did similar duty one afternoon with a nurse in Medford, Mass. Some pols pull it off better than others. Watching the footage from a news report and Democratic trackers today, it's hard not to feel sorry for Romney. For those brief moments, the one thing he seemed to have in common with the common man was, simply, a strong desire not to be caught looking stupid. The Boston Herald gave him a hard time back then, describing these events as "Village People-esque." His Democratic opponent for governor, state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien, called them a "costume party." "In 2002, putting Romney in different costumes and having him work with 'real people' was the first of many lame attempts during his political career to portray Mitt as a regular guy who understands the challenges faced by average people," O'Brien recently told The Huffington Post. "It backfired back then and appears to backfire every time he's tried to be the 'aw shucks' regular guy in subsequent presidential campaigns." With the Republican National Convention just days away, Romney is once more looking for a way to present himself to the masses. His campaign has turned to skilled ad men to re-craft his image, with hopes that glossy ads and the right tag line can turn the multi-millionaire businessman into a Republican populist. It's the same task that Romney's 2002 campaign faced. And the jury is out as to whether it works. "The work day events and spots may have contributed to our success in 2002," said Jonathan Spampinato, who was the deputy political director. "But I don't recall a positive correlation between our polling numbers and the work day adverts." On those work outings, Romney seemed to really stumble when he stopped acting and became himself. In front of the microphones, he talked about filling up cars with gas and changing some oil. "On that Jeep Cherokee ... it took five quarts," he said, uncomfortably sharing the exacting details of the work. While on the farm, Romney blurted, "I have severe allergy to hay." He added, laughing maybe to himself, "We'll be dripping from eyes to nose shortly. I sent a crew back to go find as many handkerchiefs as they're able to find."
Ghost wreaks havoc on Parker Industries, and the outcome is to die for. With Peter Parker and Anna Maria Marconi doing the rounds — Marconi lets Aunt May and the top staff at Parker Industries know she and Peter are broken up — things are starting to smooth out. The only thing left to do is get a version of the planned supermax prison in working form. Enter Ghost, a villain who despises corporations. After causing several glitches in the system, Ghost takes over the infrastructure, sealing off the exits and taking control of the beta test. By turning the security systems against the Parker Industries team, he forces the hand of one of Parker’s associates to betrayal. The Amazing Spider-Man #17 works on pretty much every level. The artwork is incredible, even by Humberto Ramos’ standards. There’s a polish here that really shows Ramos is still progressing, and it’s apparent in his Sajani Jaffrey artwork. Jaffrey’s look continues to evolve, and her form is beginning to look more mad scientist, especially with the secret plans she and Anna Maria have been working on. On the action side, things get pretty crazy when the security systems get hijacked, and the artwork tells a great visual story. There’s a stark contrast between Peter and his alter-ego Spider-Man, and this issue shows us both sides by removing the costume off the latter. Though he tries not to reveal his secret identity, Parker still manages to execute some superhero moves, and Ramos nails the section by showing us a sort of cross-section — a way of seeing Peter’s expressions and confidence we wouldn’t normally see because of the suit. On top of that, you have Victor Olazaba’s wonderful inks which are very attractive. The lines, varying from bold to delicate, capture the details the way punctuation fills in a sentence. On colors, Edgar Delgado works in a spectrum of shades. Flip through the pages quickly, and you’ll see the colors shift and twist. The coloring is high-contrast with another layer for lighting, and it’s beautiful. The artwork keeps in step with Dan Slott and Christos Gage’s well-paced scripting which is bringing back all of the plot points left hanging while the Spiders tackled the Inheritors. I really enjoy the writers’ tactfulness — during Aunt May’s dinner, the script resolves the issue of Marconi and Parker’s relationship status while also adding a bit of tension when Parker sees one of Felicia Hardy’s paintings from the auction on the wall. Parker and Marconi might be done, officially, but they have a Superman sort of moment when Parker takes her web-slinging. Even then, there’s an added layer — did you see the Mary Jane billboard in the background? The developments are natural, and the writing adds in a sort of exclamation mark when one of the guards is killed by Ghost. The panel, executed (no pun intended) well by the visual arts team, reminds readers that everything isn’t fun and games. Being able to twist, turn, and maneuver through dramatic shifts in the story is something Slott and Gage are excelling at, and the artists prove they’re just as capable of bringing that vision to the page. Probably the thing that impresses me most is the tone of the issue. Secret Wars is looming, but The Amazing Spider-Man doesn’t feel like it’s in a rush to end. We do have a lot of plot points coming together, but it doesn’t feel forced — rather, it feels necessary. We also have a villain that’s perfectly suited for the task, and while I’m not familiar with Ghost, I get what he’s all about without the sense he’s just another generic cybercriminal. Ghost also provides the issue’s kicker, and the development opens the door for bigger things ahead. With the art getting better, the story coming to a full resolution, and an end in sight, The Amazing Spider-Man shouldn’t be ignored. Fans looking for something a little more classic and with less grit should definitely take a look at this superhero comic that’s unashamed for being exciting, fun, and still Spider-Man. The Amazing Spider-Man #17 (2014) [usr 4 text=false] Marvel Words: Dan Slott and Christos Gage Pencils: Humberto Ramos Inks: Victor Olazaba Colors: Edgar Delgado Letters: Chris Eliopoulos Previous Issue: The Amazing Spider-Man #16 Review Buy The Amazing Spider-Man #17 from Things From Another World! Share this: Facebook Google Reddit Tumblr Twitter
Two actresses have accused former President George H.W. Bush of groping them during separate photo shoots — and Bush has acknowledged he has “patted women's rears” in an attempt to “put people at ease,” according to Deadspin and Newsweek. On Tuesday, actress Heather Lind wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post that the 93-year-old ex-president “touched me from behind” during a photo op three years ago before telling her “a dirty joke.” Lind appeared with Bush as part of a promotion for Turn: Washington's Spies, a TV show about the American Revolution. Then on Wednesday, New York actress Jordana Grolnick told Deadspin a similar story. “I got sent the Heather Lind story by many people this morning,” Grolnick says. “And I’m afraid that mine is entirely similar.” A spokesperson for the ex-president responded to the allegations with an apology statement, tweeted by the Los Angeles Times’ Matt Pearce: At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke — and, on occasion, he has patted women's rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner. Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely. The controversy surrounding the ex-president began earlier this week with Lind. In the now-deleted post, Lind documents being groped by Bush while he was in his wheelchair. As the Daily News reported, Lind wrote: ... When I got the chance to meet George H. W. Bush four years ago to promote a historical television show I was working on, he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo. He didn't shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke. And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again. Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say 'not again'. ... His security guard told me I shouldn’t have stood next to him for the photo. We were instructed to call him Mr. President. It seems to me a President’s power is in his or her capacity to enact positive change, actually help people, and serve as a symbol of our democracy. ... He relinquished that power when he used it against me and, judging from the comments of those around him, countless other women before me. What comforts me is that I too can use my power, which isn’t so different from a President really. I can enact positive change. I can actually help people. I can be a symbol of my democracy. I can refuse to call him President, and call out other abuses of power when I see them. The accusation comes in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and a series of high-profile sexual assault allegations made against powerful men. Since the Weinstein scandal broke, female lawmakers like Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and a state lawmaker in Rhode Island have said they were sexually harassed by male politicians. George H.W. Bush is the latest politician to face these allegations.
Governor Charlie Baker took ownership of the problems facing the state’s embattled transit system, empaneling a committee of experts to examine the operations of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and present recommendations next month to improve the agency. “In order to fix the problems at the MBTA, they must first be diagnosed,’’ Baker said at a Friday news conference. “Let me be clear: We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result.” The announcement of the commission came as the MBTA’s subway system is slowly returning to normal after weeks of shutdowns and limited service amid record amounts of snow, and as the commuter rail continues to limp along, operating without a third of the locomotives necessary for regular service. Advertisement Though similar commissions have been convened twice over the last decade — primarily to look into the T’s finances — Baker insists this panel will take a different tack by formulating a list of practical recommendations in a relatively short period of time. He has given the panel a deadline of the end of March. Get Metro Headlines in your inbox: The 10 top local news stories from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here A spokesman for the T said that the agency would work with the governor “to achieve the shared goal of providing transit riders with services that are reliable, safe, and accessible.” Some transportation watchers say they are cautiously optimistic that the commission will be able to spur change. Jim Aloisi, a former transportation secretary who was a member of the 2007 transportation finance commission, said he doesn’t see Baker’s panel as a repeat of the past. “Thank God the governor didn’t decide to appoint another transportation finance commission, because we’ve been commissioned to death,” he said. “What we need is what he gave us, which is a very quick, agile, and informed approach to getting the solutions that we need.” Advertisement Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said the panel’s charge is not to examine why the MBTA collapsed under the onslaught of snow. “This panel has been asked to address the larger problems, not the immediate cause of what happened this winter, but the deeper causes, the root causes,’’ she said. The seven-member advisory group, made up of local and national leaders in transportation and urban planning, has been tasked with looking closely into the T’s finances, operations, and maintenance from past years, and will suggest ways for the system to move forward. The advisory group includes well-respected national and local officials, including Jane Garvey, former head of the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Highway Administration leader; Katherine Lapp, former executive director of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who now works at Harvard University; and Paul Barrett, former Boston Redevelopment Authority director, who will serve as chair. After Baker introduced him at a news conference, Barrett said he spent two days riding the Red Line talking to employees who want to see system up and running smoothly again. Advertisement “Hopefully we’ll bring some answers to them about a brighter future and a more motivated workforce that can help really deliver the 21st-century system that we all want to have and rely on going forward,” he said. The MBTA has made progress restoring service after another weekend snowstorm buried exposed tracks and rail beds. On Friday, the T reopened sections of the Green and Red lines, and put the highest number of subway cars in service for the first time since Feb 9. T officials have said that the entire Braintree branch of the Red Line and the B branch of the Green Line will reopen by Monday. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff “In order to fix the problems at the MBTA, they must first be diagnosed,’’ Governor Charlie Baker said at a State House news conference. Keolis, the commuter rail operator, plans to run only limited service next week, as workers replace motors on trains and thaw frozen switches. For weeks, canceled trains have stranded commuters packing North and South stations, and state officials have expressed concerns about the company’s plans to rebound from the storms. “We had an honest meeting with the Keolis folks, and we’re waiting for them to hand us their recovery and communications plan,’’ Pollack said. Keolis spokesman Mac Daniel declined to comment on the governor’s panel, which will also be looking at the commuter rail, but said the company has been working closely with Baker’s staff and the T. In recent weeks, Baker, a Republican who took office in January, and his staff have made efforts to be more engaged with the transit system. Baker said his management staff has been working closely with officials from the T and Keolis, including two meetings with Keolis officials on Wednesday. Previously, Baker said he received most of his information on the MBTA from Pollack. The governor met MBTA General Manager Beverly A. Scott only last week, after he’d publicly criticized the system’s performance, and after her surprise resignation announcement. Transportation advocates such as Aloisi said this could be an “opportunity moment” for the T, now that the transit system’s shortcomings have been revealed in a way that is impossible to ignore. State Representative Bill Straus, a cochair of the joint committee on transportation, said he is looking forward to a serious examination of the T, particularly how it handles maintenance. “What I’m hoping for most of all are that there would be recommendations to a regular and consistent ‘state of good repair’ programs,” said Straus, a Democrat. “Unfortunately, a series of governors – and I’m not picking on any one – have not paid attention to it.” Rick Dimino, the executive director of A Better City, a group that promotes improvements in transportation and other services, said he hopes the panel’s recommendations will take into account the need for revenue, despite the governor’s no-tax pledge. “This commission’s credibility, I think, will be on the line if they’re not talking about revenues, as well,” Dimino said. “And hopefully the governor will be open-minded toward taking recommendations in that regard.” More MBTA coverage Jim O’Sullivan and John Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Nicole Dungca can be reached at [email protected]
The world’s best-selling insecticide may impair the ability of a queen honey bee and her subjects to maintain a healthy colony, says new research led by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln entomologist. The research examined the effects of imidacloprid, which belongs to a popular class of nicotine-based insecticides known as neonicotinoids. Honey bees often become exposed to neonicotinoids in the process of pollinating crops and ornamental plants while foraging for the nectar and pollen that feed their colonies. Queen bees in colonies that were fed imidacloprid-laced syrup laid substantially fewer eggs – between one-third and two-thirds as many, depending on the dose of imidacloprid – than queens in unexposed colonies, the study reported. “The queens are of particular importance because they’re the only reproductive individual laying eggs in the colony,” said lead author Judy Wu-Smart, assistant professor of entomology. “One queen can lay up to 1,000 eggs a day. If her ability to lay eggs is reduced, that is a subtle effect that isn’t (immediately) noticeable but translates to really dramatic consequences for the colony.” Wu-Smart and her colleague, the University of Minnesota’s Marla Spivak, assessed colonies populated by 1,500, 3,000 and 7,000 honey bees. Some colonies received normal syrup, with others given syrup that contained imidacloprid in doses of 10, 20, 50 and 100 parts per billion, or PPB. Colonies that consumed the imidacloprid also featured larger proportions of empty cells, the signature hexagonal hollows that serve as cribs for honey bee broods. About 10 percent of cells in the unexposed colonies were vacant, compared with 24, 31, and 48 percent of the 20, 50 and 100 PPB colonies, respectively. The finding suggests poor brood health in the exposed colonies, Wu-Smart said. The researchers further found that exposed colonies collected and stored far less pollen, which they convert into a “bee bread” that provides crucial protein for recently hatched larvae. While more than four percent of the cells in unexposed hives contained pollen, less than one percent of cells in even the 10 PPB colonies did. And the honey bee equivalent of biohazard containment – the removal of mite-infested or diseased pupae before they can infect the hive – also suffered. An unexposed colony of 7,000 bees removed more than 95 percent of the ailing brood, but a 100 PPB colony eliminated only 74 percent and a 50 PPB colony just 63 percent. Wu-Smart said this reduction in hygienic behavior indicates that the exposed colonies could be more susceptible to pests and pathogens. Yet Wu-Smart and Spivak also discovered that some of the insecticide’s apparent effects, such as decreasing the amount of time a queen spent moving through the hive or the number of worker bees foraging for food, dissipated as the size of a colony increased. “What we can say is that smaller colonies tend to be more vulnerable, because the queens are more likely to become exposed,” Wu-Smart said. “When we look at our general beekeeping practices, the early spring is when colonies are at their smallest size. They’re coming out of winter, and a lot of them are naturally smaller.” Unfortunately, Wu-Smart said, growers typically apply insecticides or sow insecticide-treated seeds at that same time. Even imidacloprid-treated crops that bees typically do not pollinate, such as corn, can contribute to exposure when winds sweep up the dust stirred by planting machines and carry it across miles of landscape. That dust can settle in willow trees, dandelions, clovers and other flowering plants that represent food sources for honey bees. Though Wu-Smart said she doesn’t consider banning neonicotinoids a practical step in protecting honey bee colonies, she did advocate for regulating insecticide-treated seeds the same way the industry does with sprays and other application techniques. “When you spray a pesticide, you have to consider things like wind and temperature to reduce drift,” she said. “You can’t aerial-spray on a windy day. With seed-treated products, there is no label telling (growers) that it’s been treated with an insecticide. There is no restriction as to when you can plant. “When we do a lot of the extension outreach and talking to growers, many of them are unaware that this is even a problem. So just having that label on the bag saying that planting these seed treatments on a windy day could potentially cause some effects on bees could be useful.” The new study represents another step toward understanding the complex, often intertwined ways that neonicotinoids and other insecticides affect honey bee colonies, Wu-Smart said. “What we’re seeing now is that beekeepers will … check their hives, say that the hives look good, come back a few weeks later, and (see) the colony start to look really weak,” she said. “They’ll come back (again), and the colony is dead or dying. So it’s a slow decline of their colony health. “In many of these cases, we want to figure out why these colonies are dwindling when they should be at their peak production. This is providing some of that insight. It’s not answering all the questions, but it’s definitely something to consider.” Wu-Smart and Spivak published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports. The research was supported in part by a fellowship Wu-Smart received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Authorities in Ottawa say they’re investigating a viral video that appears to show a taxi driver berating and menacing an Uber driver and his fare, CBC News reports. “You think I’m joking? If I see you again, you’re dead meat,” the man is seen shouting at the Uber driver before opening the vehicle’s rear door and telling the passenger, “Come out and talk to me like a man” and “You fuckin’ cheapskate, take a real fuckin’ taxi.” The @OttawaPolice opened up a file on this incident when it was brought to our attention. @Scott_Gilmore — Charles Bordeleau (@ChiefBordeleau) September 13, 2015 “The issue we are facing is it appears this man is making threats, but we need someone to come forward as a victim,”a police spokesperson told the Ottawa Citizen. “In incidents of a threatening nature, we need a victim to lay charges.” After seeing the video, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson told the Ottawa Sun he was “completely disgusted” by the man whose actions tarnished the reputations of “hard-working, honest” cab drivers. According to CBC News, the incident is just the latest confrontation between the city’s taxi drivers and Uber operators. Over the summer, a group of Ottawa cabbies reportedly posed as fares and secretly recorded videos of Uber drivers in an attempt to “gather evidence against them.”
had a dream last night was with a friend at an event, showed up early, a show in someone’s yard. some guys were joking about raping girls. didn’t know we could hear them. needed to decide now whether to speak up. to correct strangers. to call out a large group of dudes I didn’t know. decided yes. told them how fucked up their conversation was, and exactly why. explained about Rehtaeh Parsons and Steubenville. two guys appeared on top of the wall next to us, telling me to shut up. i got louder. i did not shut up. told them to come down off that wall where they felt so big and try saying that to my face. put my hand on my knife. then people started showing up all around us and the energy was diffused. dudes backed off and I relaxed into the crowd and i started belting out pop songs
Weather-Related Blackouts Doubled Since 2003: Report Research Report by Climate Central Summary Climate change is causing an increase in many types of extreme weather. Heat waves are hotter, heavy rain events are heavier, and winter storms have increased in both frequency and intensity. To date, these kinds of severe weather are among the leading causes of large-scale power outages in the United States. Climate change will increase the risk of more violent weather and more frequent damage to our electrical system, affecting hundreds of millions of people, and costing Americans and the economy tens of billions of dollars each year. Click image to enlarge. Climate Central’s analysis of 28 years of power outage data, supplied to the federal government and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation by utilities, shows: RELATED CONTENT Full Report PDF Press Release PDF A tenfold increase in major power outages (those affecting more than 50,000 customer homes or businesses), between the mid-1980s and 2012. Some of the increase was driven by improved reporting. Yet even since 2003, after stricter reporting requirements were widely implemented, the average annual number of weather-related power outages doubled . Non-weather related outages also increased during that time, but weather caused 80 percent of all outages between 2003-2012. in major power outages (those affecting more than 50,000 customer homes or businesses), between the mid-1980s and 2012. Some of the increase was driven by improved reporting. Yet even since 2003, after stricter reporting requirements were widely implemented, the average annual number of weather-related power outages . Non-weather related outages also increased during that time, but between 2003-2012. Michigan led all states with 71 major weather-related power outages between 2003 and 2012, averaging at least 800,000 customers affected each year during that decade. Texas ranked second with 57 outages and also averaged more than 800,000 customers affected annually. Ohio was third with 54, followed by Pennsylvania and Virginia with 52. The number of customers affected could not be estimated for these three states. 147 million customers lost power , for at least an hour and often far longer, from weather-related outages since 2003, an average of 15 million customers affected each year . Currently, there are 145 million customers in the U.S. A customer is a home or a business, or anyone who receives a bill from a utility, so the number of people affected by outages is likely much higher, from 300 million to perhaps half a billion or more over the decade analyzed. , for at least an hour and often far longer, from weather-related outages since 2003, an average of . Currently, there are 145 million customers in the U.S. A customer is a home or a business, or anyone who receives a bill from a utility, so the number of people affected by outages is likely much higher, from 300 million to perhaps half a billion or more over the decade analyzed. 59 percent of weather-related outages analyzed were caused by storms and severe weather; nearly 19 percent by cold weather and ice storms; 18 percent by hurricanes and tropical storms; 3 percent tornadoes, and 2 percent by a combination of extreme heat events and wildfires. Most of these outages come from damage to large transmission lines or substations, as opposed to the smaller residential distribution network. Climate change is a threat multiplier. Major weather-related outages cost Americans between $20 and $55 billion annually according to recent estimates. Lack of preparedness for increasingly extreme weather puts people, infrastructure and the economy at growing risk. There is broad agreement with “very high confidence” that climate change-related extreme weather events damage critical infrastructure, disrupt the food supply, threaten water supplies and increase mortality worldwide (IPCC 2014). Click image to enlarge. Even in cases where the link to climate change is not well understood, extreme weather appears to be becoming more severe, as the case with hurricanes and thunderstorms. While only two Category 4 or 5 hurricanes have made U.S. landfall since 1990, average hurricane strength and the total number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes is increasing. And while the trend in the incidence of severe thunderstorms is unknown due to lack of comprehensive monitoring, insurance companies are now paying out at least seven times more for thunderstorm damages than in the 1980s. Climate change is, at most, partially responsible for this recent increase in major power outages, which is a product of an aging grid serving greater electricity demand, and an increase in storms and extreme weather events that damage this system. But a warming planet provides more fuel for increasingly intense and violent storms, heat waves, and wildfires, which in turn will continue to strain, and too often breach, our highly vulnerable electrical infrastructure. Full Report - Blackout: Extreme Weather, Climate Change and Power Outages Correction: The original text mistakenly claimed there had been no U.S. landfalling Category 4 or 5 hurricanes since the mid-1990s.
Deputies arrested a driver and charged him with impersonating an officer after he allegedly tried pulling over a motorist that almost collided with his car on Christmas night. Hernando County sheriff's deputies got a call from someone saying that a reckless driver in an SUV nearly hit him in Spring Hill, Florida. After the near crash, the caller said the SUV driver chased him with flashing lights at a high speed and was trying to get him to pull over, according to WTSP. Deputies eventually caught up with James Buck and they discovered several items of law-enforcement paraphernalia. Affixed to the 23-year-old's SUV was a sticker saying "Department of Defense registered vehicle," a police interceptor emblem often seen on official patrol cars and accessories like L.E.D. lights and a siren or public address speaker. A shield-style badge was hanging from his rearview mirror and another was in Buck's wallet, deputies said. Buck allegedly told deputies that he added the police lights and other faux law-enforcement gear to his truck so "no one would mess with him," according to WESH. It's possible that Buck has criminally bad taste in movies too. Deputies said they found a "Let's Be Cops" DVD inside his truck. The 2014 buddy-cop flick stars Damon Wayans, Jr. and Jake Johnon as two wannabe Los Angeles policemen. It was poorly received by critics.
An Open Letter to USA Cycling and its Members: On March 18, 2016, USA Cycling (USAC) notified its membership that a security breach had taken place and that some personal information had been compromised. The goal of this letter is to highlight numerous ways in which USAC failed and continues failing to protect its members personal information and implement standard web security practices. Following the breach, USAC informed its members that sensitive information, including name, mailing address, email address, date of birth, and emergency contact information had been compromised. In that same email, USAC advised that, “if your USA Cycling password is used in other accounts, you change your password in those other accounts immediately”. As an IT professional, I understood this to mean that USAC did not take any steps to encrypt or otherwise secure its members passwords — that those passwords were stored in the USAC database exactly as we would enter them when logging in; an incredibly insecure decision. This suspicion was later confirmed by an individual within USAC: Subsequently, USAC directed all of its members to set new passwords. The following is a screenshot of the original email from USAC, with the specific instructions to reset your password highlighted: USAC failed again in its communication to members by not clearly stating that the link to reset your password 1) can only be used once; and 2) is a unique link only for the recipient of the email. This oversight had real consequences as users copied and pasted the link to share across social media sites, advising their teammates and friends on how to reset their passwords. Well-intentioned members sharing their private password reset links When clicking on the password reset link, members are taken to a page to set their new password. Here’s what it looked like when I clicked the link: USAC’s password reset page After filling in my desired password, retyping it, and hitting “Next Step,” I was asked to set a security question before finishing the process. I tried logging in, only to be told my username and password were wrong. Multiple attempts using my license number and the password I had just set and confirmed all failed. Clicking the “Forgot Password” link tells you to email USAC: Having emailed USAC and received a new link, I went through the process of resetting my password again, meticulously typing in the exact same password every single time, and again being unable to log in. I exchanged more emails with USAC before finally receiving the following: Nowhere on the password reset page are we told about any password requirements other than, “must be at least 8 characters long.” Surely if I had entered a password that didn’t fit the guidelines, I would have been told that my password was invalid? USAC’s website wouldn’t accept a password that it knew was “bad,” right? I replied to USAC and asked. Oh. Wrong. USAC’s website is not only incapable of communicating to members that passwords must be: At least 8 characters But no more than 15 characters Containing only letters and numbers The website will also allow you to submit an invalid password, leading to the situation I experienced in which you continuously try logging in with a password you know is what you put on the reset form, yet confusingly doesn’t work. Furthermore, and most alarmingly, these draconian restrictions are evidence that USAC is still not encrypting its members passwords; that USAC is still storing our passwords in plain text. With proper security procedures in place, the content and length of a user’s password have little to no impact on the website’s ability to encrypt and protect our information; whether your password is ten letters or ten thousand letters and symbols, standard security practices of encryption (hashing is the technically more accurate term) can handle it. The multiple failures of USAC to accurately communicate with members and protect members’ information is appalling. That an organization representing more than 60,000 individuals fails to adhere to the most basic internet security practices (encrypting passwords) is an embarrassment that we, as members, should not tolerate. With respect, Brian Cheung
Kenny Dalglish Liverpool owners John W Henry and Tom Werner are considering offering Kenny Dalglish a role at the club, just eight months after sacking him as manager. Dalglish factfile Born: 4 March 1951, Glasgow 4 March 1951, Glasgow Playing career: Celtic (1969-77), Liverpool (1977-90), Scotland (1977-90) Celtic (1969-77), Liverpool (1977-90), Scotland (1977-90) Managerial career: Liverpool (1985-91), Blackburn (1991-95), Newcastle (1997-98), Celtic (2000), Liverpool (2011-12) See Kenny Dalglish's Anfield career in pictures The 61-year-old, who was dismissed last May, has not yet been contacted by the Americans who are discussing offering Dalglish an ambassadorial role. Dalglish has been back to Anfield on two occasions since his sacking, but did not speak to the owners. Current manager Brendan Rodgers is understood to be open to the idea. Were Dalglish to be offered a return, he would most likely resume the role of club ambassador he held from 2009 until he replaced Roy Hodgson as manager in 2011. Henry's Fenway Sports Group (FSG), do not see the Scot's possible return as likely to be a destabilising influence on the new regime. When Dalglish left the club last May, he said: "I said when first approached about coming back as manager that I would always be of help if I can at any time, and that offer remains the same." Henry also left the door open. "Kenny is in many ways the heart and soul of the club. He personifies everything that is good about Liverpool Football Club," he said at the time. "He has always put the club and its supporters first. Kenny will always be a part of the family at Anfield."
Intruder, a Comics-Only Paper That Supported Seattle's Booming Comics Scene, Prepares to Fold Marie Hausauer Walking into Push/Pull Gallery in Ballard felt like entering your cool high-school friend's basement. Framed comic book–ish art was scattered across the venue's bright teal walls. On the snack table: Flamin' Hot Cheetos, Dinamita Chile Limón Doritos, a bowl of frosted animal crackers. I think there was a pinball machine there? Cans of Rainier issued from some endless 18-pack. A handle of Jim Beam floated around. A few artists stood behind tables, pushing one-off zines, pins, and prints. All were gathered for the release of the penultimate issue of Intruder, a comics-only newspaper published quarterly and distributed for free in local cafes, comic book shops, and record stores. Many in attendance sorta looked like comic-book characters of themselves. This was especially true of the Intruder contributing illustrators. There was the guy with tattoos crawling up his neck, the guy with the comically long sideburns and an oversize T-shirt, the guy who was three-quarters shaggy beard and one-quarter baseball cap, the guy with a handlebar mustache, the nerdy guy with '70s hair and glasses who was wearing carpet-colored clothing—all outcasts from different eras. The people who showed up represented a sizable portion of the Seattle comics community, which seems to have picked up steam in the last five years. Short Run, an annual comics festival, started back in 2010 and has grown every year since. Intruder started publishing in 2012. Dune, an egalitarian comics drawing collective that meets once a month at Cafe Racer, has been going strong for four years and just released its 41st issue. Cold Cube Press—a local press that publishes comics, other visual art, and literature using a Risograph—started in 2015. James the Stanton, the guy with the comically long sideburns, has been publishing his Gnartoons series since 2005. At the Intruder party, he told me he moved to Seattle from the Bay Area in 2012 because the scene here seemed more active. He said people in the Bay Area seemed snobbish, and the scene in Portland felt too established. But then he visited Seattle, met the Intruder crew, and sensed that a lot of people were working on new stuff. Local comics artist Mita Mahato felt similarly after seeing the first issue of Intruder come out. "I remember being excited by the format to the point where I was scanning pages and sending them to friends and saying, 'Look at what's happening in Seattle!'" she said to me in an e-mail. "The Intruder was doing something different—or maybe it was a throwback? Not mini-comics. Not personal zines. But a FREE collaborative comics newspaper." After the next issue, the paper's 20th, Intruder is closing up shop. "It's not fun to make anymore," said editor Marc Palm (handlebar mustache guy) at the party. It takes a lot of work to gather all the pieces, and it's a little costly. Partly because of Intruder's relative success, the regular contributors are getting really busy and so are even harder to wrangle. James the Stanton has a new book coming out. Palm has got a book coming out. Tom Van Deusen ('70s hair and glasses guy) is writing a regular strip for Vice. Aidan Fitzgerald is running the aforementioned Cold Cube Press. People got demanding art jobs. "There's this idea that you have to get bigger, get glossy, to grow," Palm told me. "Can't this thing just stay one thing, and can't everyone just admire it for that?" he said of the paper. This ethos is reflected in the paper's consistent style. Every issue looks the same: two-color covers (black and one other color), ink on paper, 12 to 20 pages, just the comics, thanks. The idea for the paper started in Van Deusen's apartment. "There was a little collective of us sitting around drawing and playing records and stuff," Palm said. "Someone had a copy of Smoke Signal [a comics-only paper based in New York]. We loved the newspaper feel, so we thought, 'Why don't we just make a comics newspaper in Seattle?' In the last 30 years, there'd been only two: the Seattle Star (in the mid-to-late '80s, which often featured Peter Bagge) and one other." Palm told the 11 artists gathered around that he'd handle the logistics. In addition to contributing a piece, he'd collect all the work, lay it out, and communicate with the printer. "The big push was just to make things and get things done," he said. The group's aesthetics ranged from in-your-face hairy/gloopy/crosshatched stuff to clean-line story-driven stuff, but all of the artists share a similar temperament: dark humor, dread, misanthropy. Many of the pages feature huge illustrations that are so densely drawn, you feel the urge to look for Waldo. In terms of content, the comics match the concerns of many young people working for not very much money in the city. The politics are often broadly anticapitalist and paranoid. Lots of romantic troubles. Lots of depression. Lots of parodies of masculinity. The general lesson seems to be that humans are shitty, terrible, gross monsters doomed to a life of failure and unhappiness, and many of the comics offer nuanced permutations of that idea. A good example can be found in Max Clotfelter's contribution to Issue 10, called "Rough Things I've Seen on My Daily Walk to Work." It's a nine-panel grid of gnarly objects Clotfelter found on the streets of Capitol Hill. Lots of blood. A handmade dildo outside of Club Z. A quart-sized bottle of orange juice filled with vomit. And, "worst of all," the destruction of the neighborhood by corporate developers. Seth Goodkind's strangely affecting page in the latest issue is a parody of John Mellencamp's song "Small Town" and features a suicidal small-town clown. Max Clotfelter Not all the drawings are gross and gloopy, but many are. I asked Palm what gives. He said he was influenced by the underground comics of the 1960s, which didn't fit into the comic-book world of superheroes. "We wanna draw sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll," he said. Plus, the style is fun for him. "It's like you're a mad scientist." But he hastened to add that the attention to grossness, dread, and ugliness also works against the impulse so many have to try to escape reality. "You need to look at the gross stuff," he said. It's true that much of life comes at us filtered, glossed up, and prepackaged. Grossness, decay, chaos—these characteristics often indicate problems in systems, and the refusal to examine those problems means they won't ever get fixed. Training yourself to not only regard but to closely examine images that initially repulse you can serve as good citizen training. Though Intruder is bowing out after the next issue, the paper has already made an impact on the local comics community. Palm said a comics-only paper up in Bellingham called Emergence and another one in Portland called Vision Quest cite Intruder as their inspiration. Kelly Froh, author and codirector of Short Run festival, said that Intruder got a lot of comic artists and comic enthusiasts to see the fun again, "When you can pick up free comics at your record store, or at a block party on Summit Avenue, that's making comics as accessible as they should be," she said. "Cartoonists like to complain a lot about how making comics is lonely and isolating," said Colleen Frakes, author of Prison Island. "Intruder and other collaborative publications make it feel less lonely." Palm told me that he's happy to teach anyone who is interested how to make a paper like Intruder, but he's got no plans to hand off the name to anyone else. His hope is that younger comics artists read the paper and then get inspired to do their own thing.
Britain “faces a miserable end” if it takes part in US and South Korean military exercises, North Korea has warned, as tensions over the rogue state’s nuclear weapons continue to rise. The Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills began on Monday and run until the end of the month. Britain is not currently taking part in the military drills. Seoul and Washington say the exercises are an opportunity for the allies to improve their defensive capabilities, but Pyongyang routinely denounces them as a dress rehearsal for war against North Korea. In a statement, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency denounced Washington and Seoul as “warmongers” and said the drills are proof of their intention to invade. It also branded its enemies as “war maniacs” and “dull immature infants.” Read more “The reality vividly shows that the US ambition for stifling the DPRK [North Korea] remains unchanged no matter how much water may flow under the bridge and the puppet group’s ambition for invading the North remains unchanged,” it said. “We solemnly warn not only the US and puppet group, but also satellites, including the UK and Australia, which are taking advantage of the present war maneuvers against the north, that they would face a miserable end if they join in play with fire by tiger moths of war.” The state-run media outlet dismissed South Korea’s insistence that the annual exercises are merely defensive, claiming: “Formations of strategic bombers loaded with nuclear bombs are always ready for sorties.” Meanwhile, an editorial in the North Korean Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the joint military exercise is “the most explicit expression of hostility against us, and no one can guarantee that the exercise won’t evolve into actual fighting.” It added that the exercise was like “pouring gasoline on fire and worsening the state of the [Korean] peninsula.” Read more Washington and Pyongyang have traded a series of threats since Kim Jong-un’s hermit regime announced it is now capable of striking US territory with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) carrying a nuclear warhead. US President Donald Trump responded by promising “fire and fury” and warned his military is “locked and loaded.” Britain, America’s top European ally, could formally refuse Trump’s call for help in waging a war against North Korea, as long as Kim does not strike Hawaii or the US mainland. The UK’s membership of NATO does not automatically oblige it to participate in a conflict between the US and North Korea, even if the latter attacks military bases in the Pacific. Although Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an attack on one NATO member is an act of aggression against the entire military alliance, the application of this provision is limited only to attacks on member states’ territories in North America, Europe and the Atlantic. Consequently, if Kim’s warheads strike US military bases in the Pacific, the US could ask for Britain’s assistance, but cannot formally compel the UK and other NATO allies to join the military efforts against North Korea.
The jury also upheld the government’s claim to Alavi bank accounts and other properties in New York, Texas, California and Maryland funded by the building’s rental revenue. “In this trial, 650 Fifth Avenue’s secret was laid bare for all to see,” Joon H. Kim, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “The owners of 650 Fifth Avenue gave the Iranian government a critical foothold in the very heart of Manhattan through which Iran successfully circumvented U.S. economic sanctions.” Defense lawyers, who were not immediately available for comment, were expected to appeal the decision. The government first filed its complaint in 2008. In September 2013, Judge Katherine B. Forrest, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, ordered Alavi and Assa to forfeit their shares of the building. But an appeals court in 2014 sent Alavi’s portion of the case back to trial , on the ground that it was unclear if the foundation actually knew its partner was controlled by Iran. The government retained control over Assa’s share. During the new trial, neither the prosecution nor the defense disputed that Alavi, a charity established by the shah of Iran in the 1970s, knew Assa was state-run when the two entered into joint ownership of the building in 1989. But John Gleeson, one of Alavi’s lawyers, said the foundation was duped into believing that private owners took over Assa after the 1995 sanctions. Advertisement Continue reading the main story He pointed to a series of letters between Alavi and Assa, in which the charity’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to arrange a face-to-face meeting with the supposed new owners. Alavi was “stonewalled,” Mr. Gleeson said during closing arguments. “It’s really difficult to understand why you can be held accountable for the knowledge that you were trying to get, but you were lied to about,” he said. An assistant United States attorney, Michael D. Lockard, described Alavi officials as engaged in a concerted campaign of deception and obfuscation, hiding journals in attics and shredding subpoenaed documents. The letters the defense showcased were a mere paper trail intended to cover up the foundation’s true ties to the Iranian government, Mr. Lockard said. “Those letters were written so that they could be shown to a jury like you,” he told the panel of eight jurors. The case was unusualin that it consolidated several suits from the government and various families that have been victims of terrorism linked to Iran. The jury ruled on the charges of money laundering and sanctions violations, but Judge Forrest issued a separate decision that the victims’ families were entitled to claim Alavi’s assets as compensation for terrorism-related damages. After what she called an enormous amount of evidence against Alavi, Judge Forrest wrote that she was “firmly convinced” that Alavi “takes directives from Iranian government officials, and its day-to-day operators have been appointed by Iranian officials to ensure conformity with the interests of the government of Iran.” James L. Bernard, a lawyer for some of the families, said more than a thousand people stood to receive compensation from the government. “We are extremely pleased with the court’s decision today and to bringing our clients one step closer to obtaining the recovery to which they are entitled,” Mr. Bernard said.
Photo By Michael Alexander Kate Viets of Church of the Transfiguration, Marietta, listens to a talk by Holy Family Church administrator Father Miguel Grave de Peralta during a Lenten day of recollection for the Lay Carmelite community. Viets has been a Lay Carmelite for five years. Facebook Twitter This is the third in an occasional series featuring area Catholics deepening their faith by affiliating with religious orders. MARIETTA—Joe Herzberg and Charles Trout stood in front of the altar at Holy Family Church to accept with prayers and blessings a brown square cloth, draped over their chest and back. For these two, the small woolen garment serves to remind them of their faith journey. Described by the faithful of the lay Carmelite community as the “yoke of Christ,” these men received this cloth, known as a scapular, and took their next steps as new members of the Holy Family Lay Carmelites on Saturday, March 18. “It reminds me I have to get more serious. Now it is the next phase. It says I need to stiffen my resolve to live a good and holy life,” said Herzberg, 65, a grandfather of nine, as his connection with this community of Lay Carmelites deepened. Trout spends his workday sitting alone atop one of the many cranes dotting midtown Atlanta. For years he was a seeker who left the church. After his return, he found his soul nourished by a quiet, interior prayer life. During a visit to an Alabama monastery, a monk pointed Trout toward the numerous books authored by the saints, nuns and priests of the Carmelite religious order. What he read resonated with his personal spirituality. That experience was his introduction to a religious community stretching back centuries. He learned from the books there is more to the spiritual life than praying alone. He discovered value in sharing faith with others, particularly within the Lay Carmelite community. “My friendships that I made here are very important to me,” said Trout, 65. “Their dedication is astounding to me. I feed off of them.” Seven local Carmelite groups In the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Lay Carmelite communities are one way to live more deeply the Catholic faith. Believers support each other by following the same path of prayer. The heart of Carmelite spirituality is contemplation, seen as a God-given gift springing from prayer, community and service. Members are required to pray using the church’s Liturgy of the Hours at least twice a day, along with additional reflection and meditation time. The Carmelite order and the Discalced Carmelite order, established after a reform of the Carmelites in the 16th-century, are spread across the globe. However, none of their priests or sisters is currently serving in the Atlanta Archdiocese. However, at least seven lay groups are active, four affiliated with the Carmelite order and three affiliated with the Discalced Carmelites. Two of the local communities recently achieved milestones. The Holy Family Church community welcomed the new members who made temporary promises and will continue their inquiry into their vocation as Third Order Carmelites. And, at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, a Secular Carmelite community, after meeting for more than a dozen years, was officially recognized. The Discalced Carmelite Friars of the Province of St. Therese, based in Oklahoma, recognized the faithful members meeting at the Atlanta cathedral. A decree from the Vatican leader of the religious order granted official status to the group, which is now known as the Discalced Carmelite Doctors of Divine Love Community. When the Christ the King group first began meeting in November 2001, seven people came. “I just hoped someone would show up,” said Mary Shusta about the initial meeting. A lifelong Catholic, Shusta approached Archbishop John F. Donoghue with her vision. He endorsed the idea. “The Holy Spirit has always been in charge. The Holy Spirit has always brought people here,” said Shusta, who is the only currently active member from the original group. Growing up in Michigan, she heard about a Carmelite convent in her native Grand Rapids. She didn’t know much, except the nuns “pray without ceasing.” Years passed and she felt called to pursue an affiliation as a lay member of a religious community. She turned to what she knew best, the Carmelites. The monthly gatherings resemble a family, where people share experiences of prayer, she said. Community members follow the Carmelite structure with its members praying at least twice a day the Liturgy of the Hours and setting aside 30 minutes “to just be quiet and listen for what God has to say.” She’s reading for inspiration the Catechism of the Catholic Church. What is her prayer? “I describe it as St. Teresa of Avila described it, as a conversation with God. It continues all day. God is never far away. When you are distracted, you come right back,” said Shusta, who is 55, lives in Atlanta, and works in the telecommunications industry. “I just felt called to pray” For her part, Dawn Kernan, another longtime member, said the Secular Carmelite community nourishes her spirit. She feels uplifted after community events. “We live in the world, but we don’t get caught up in the materialism of it,” she said. Kernan attended daily Mass but wanted something more. A friend told her about the many service opportunities to deepen her faith, but that prospect wasn’t appealing. “Although I was always willing to help out, deep down I really just felt called to pray,” she said. The mother of six learned about the Carmelite study group at the cathedral and has been participating for 12 years. Her family attends St. Jude the Apostle Church, Sandy Springs, where she and her husband, Steve, serve with the EDGE middle-school youth program. Now, the Carmelite Doctors Community includes both Kernan parents. The family’s devotion to Mary, Mother of God, has increased, and they attend daily Mass and try to carve time out during the day to pray the rosary together. “Today, 12 years later, the Carmelite spirituality is a huge part of my life,” she said. “I think it is Our Lady of Mt. Carmel who guides, watches over and protects our family. Our lives are centered on Christ, so no matter what happens, we all have learned to look to him before making decisions or judgments,” said Kernan, who just welcomed the arrival of her first grandchild. The history of the order The Carmelite community stretches back centuries. Its family tree has roots in when the prophet Elijah took shelter on Mount Carmel, which gives the religious order its name. This mountain in the Holy Land later in ancient times became inhabited by Christian hermits. They fled to Europe in the aftermath of European crusading armies battling Muslims. Pope Nicholas V approved the formation of the order in the 13th century. Carmelites continue to be inspired by Elijah as a prophetic voice for God. Another inspiration for the community is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, a model of contemplation and faith. The Carmelites split in the 16th century. The original community is known as Carmelites of the Ancient Observance. Reformers St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, in Spain, sought in the 1500s to return the order to a more austere way of life, like the original hermits. This led to the formation of the Discalced Carmelites. Discalced is from a Latin word, meaning without shoes. Both have Third Orders for lay people. Those affiliated with the Carmelite order are titled Lay Carmelites, while those affiliated with the Discalced Carmelite order are called Secular Carmelites. Both share the Carmelite focus on contemplative prayer. Two Discalced Carmelite communities and a study group are present in the Atlanta Archdiocese. In addition to the community at the Cathedral of Christ the King, there is one at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers, titled Mary Queen of Carmel. The study group meets at St. Marguerite d’Youville Church, Lawrenceville. Discalced Carmelite Father Bonaventure Sauer, of the Mount Carmel Center in Dallas, Texas, described the order’s focus as “spirituality of interiority.” He explained Carmelites understand a believer encounters God “within the interior depth of a person.” “Where do you meet Christ in the world? For Carmelites, it’s very interior,” he said. Prayer is not to be self-focused. “It’s not just a private thing. (Prayer is) when I am alone with God, but if it’s authentic, God will change me,” he said. And the changed person goes into the world to serve. Three decades of community It was 1988 when the Lay Carmelite community began at Holy Family Church in Marietta, the oldest in the archdiocese with about two-dozen members. This group is one of four communities of Carmelites of the Ancient Observance here. Cecile Bordlymay, a grandmother of three and a retired nurse, has been a member for the past eight years. She said her interest in the prayer life began in high school in Chicago when she read a book about the scapular and it moved her to visit a priest to be enrolled in the scapular, a Marian devotion. As an adult, she learned more about the Carmelites when she saw the community at prayer. “I knew just right off the bat. Our Lady never forgot I wanted the scapular. I felt I was always a Carmelite,” she said. The distinctive piece of clothing isn’t a “magical charm,” said Bordlymay. Instead, it is a sign of intimacy with God, a sign of humility, she said. A lay member of the Carmelites can be buried wearing the scapular. The interior prayer nurtures a desire for closeness to God, she said. “My desire to acquire worldly goods has diminished, I have no desire to compete with others as I see other people as having different gifts from God which I do not have,” said Bordlymay, who is a member of the Ukrainian Greek Church, an Eastern Catholic church in communion with Rome. The well-known Carmelite authors, like St. Therese of Lisieux, led Kate Viets to the Holy Family community. “There were these bits and pieces. I didn’t put them together before I came to the Carmelites. They’re bits and pieces God put in my path,” she said. As the mother of two school-age children, Viets has to be deliberate in finding time to pray. She turns to her bedroom for prayer in front of a crucifix and an icon of Jesus and the Blessed Mother. “There is much going on in my life. There are two bookends of my day—morning prayer and evening prayer. That’s the part that really touched me, taking the time to sit and really listen,” she said. Family life and work as a preschool teacher aren’t distractions to set aside. Instead they are windows to God, a perspective she’s learned from the spirituality that has enriched believers for hundreds of years. “Wherever one is placed in life, with prayer and contemplation,” she said, “Carmelite spirituality understands God’s will is revealed.”
There’s no joie de vivre or bull sentiment behind their views but both CLSA’s Christopher Wood and Marc (aka Dr Doom) Faber are betting on a further continuation of the equity market rally. Wood, writing in his weekly Greed & Fear newsletter, reckons US ISM (manufacturing) data, due out this week, is likely to provide further evidence of statistical recovery “to give hope to those betting on a ‘normal’ recovery”. As for the US housing market, there’s some evidence of rising transaction volume but that doesn’t mean a real recovery is at hand. In fact, he warns, the continued deterioration of the US commercial property market is not just an American issue: there are similar commercial real estate problems in Europe, particularly in the UK. On the dollar’s near-term trajectory, Wood notes that with the risk trade back on in recent weeks, the US dollar index fell earlier this week to the critical support level of 78-79 before rebounding slightly. While a “climatic breakdown” in the dollar is unlikely at this juncture, investors should monitor the risk, he adds. Faber, meanwhile, also sees a continuing equity rally — mainly because economic conditions “will continue to deteriorate and necessitate additional stimulus packages and further quantitative easing (read money-printing)”. Moreover, as economic improvement is unlikely to be substantive, he points out that larger fiscal deficits and further money printing is not likely to be favourable for government bonds in the long term: Poor economic conditions are equally not favorable for industrial commodities. Cash with no yield is also a poor investment. Overall, concludes Faber, on a near-term basis, “all equity markets have become extremely overbought”. In previous reports, he predicted that markets would rally towards the end of July and that the percentage of S&P; 500 stocks above their 200-day moving average would need to increase to above 80 per cent for the market to reach an intermediate top But the overbought position of the market at this stage of the cycle does not imply that, following a correction, the market cannot move higher. Faber notes: This is also my feeling because whereas at the intermediate low in early July (S&P; 500 at 879) sentiment had turned negative, now a very large number of investors are convinced that the bull market is for real and that further strength is a given. Another reason for near term-caution, in Faber’s view, is the increasing likelihood of a US dollar rebound. As of last week, he notes, the net number of contracts speculators held betting on a decline versus a rise in the value of the dollar against currencies traded on the CME was nearing extremes, which in the past was associated with at least a temporary US dollar rebound. And since US dollar weakness accompanied the stock market rally since early March, dollar strength is likely to occur simultaneously with a stock market correction. So, he concludes: If I had completely missed the stock market rally since March, I would, given the high volatility I expect, wait for a more favourable entry point. And if for some reason, buying could not be postponed (peer pressure), I would stick for now to the highest quality companies, in which an investor could average down without hesitation should the stock market sell-off once again. It’s unlikely the equity market will reach new lows for the year so, he advises, use corrections to accumulate equities. However, investors pursuing near-term gains should avoid resource stocks. Yes, Faber still likes gold. But, he warns, like other resource stocks, it is unlikely to move sharply higher in the period directly ahead. Full FT Alphaville post
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation have released photographs from Tuesday morning’s brazen smash-and-grab robbery of gold nuggets from the Wells Fargo History Museum in San Francisco hoping the public might be able to help them identify the suspects. LISTEN: The robbery began about 2:20 a.m. when one suspect drove an SUV through the front of the Wells Fargo History Museum on Montgomery Street. “That suspect go out of the SUV and began immediately ransacking a display case. At that point, two more unknown suspects exited out of another vehicle which was parked at the curb in front of the building,” FBI special agent Brian Weber told KCBS. Weber said the suspects held a guard at gunpoint while committing the robbery and then drove away in the car that had been parked in front of the building. “The suspects all wore black ski masks and black gloves during this incident and really all we can say at this time is that they are male and approximately 6 feet in height,” he said. The photos taken from surveillance show the SUV after it had crashed through the front of the museum, as well as at least two of the three suspects.
CNN issued a statement denying that its reporters blackmailed a Reddit user involved in the making of a viral anti-CNN meme after massive social media backlash Wednesday. In the statement, the news network pushes back on reports from Donald Trump Jr. and others claiming it had "blackmailed" a 15-year-old Reddit user, saying in a statement that the user was an adult and that he had apologized before speaking with CNN. "CNN decided not to publish the name of the Reddit user out of concern for his safety," a CNN spokesman told The Hill. "Any assertion that the network blackmailed or coerced him is false. The user, who is an adult male, not a 15-year-old boy, apologized and deleted his account before ever speaking with our reporter." ADVERTISEMENT In the story, CNN's original statement read: "CNN is not publishing "HanA**holeSolo's" name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same." "CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change." The statement, particularly the last line, was picked up as evidence of "coercion" by President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE's supporters and other journalists, who sharply criticized CNN for considering "doxing" the user. I can't emphasize how bad this is on CNN's part. This is basically "don't post stuff we don't like or we'll dox you." Extremely unethical. pic.twitter.com/5bJZIZasH0 — German Lopez (@germanrlopez) July 5, 2017 In a statement, the spokesman denied CNN had made a "deal" with the Reddit user, and said the inclusion of the controversial statement in their piece was intended to show that no "deal" occurred. "CNN never made any deal, of any kind, with the user. In fact, CNN included its decision to withhold the user's identity in an effort to be completely transparent that there was no deal." The CNN reporter who reported the story claimed on Twitter Wednesday that he had been contacted by Solo after the publication of the piece, saying he was in "total agreement" with the story.
Three women are trying to convince Amazon to choose Anchorage over competing cities from around the country as the location of its second headquarters. Their long-shot campaign against rivals like Chicago and New York highlights Anchorage's strategic location and its internationally important cargo airport. Meghan Stapleton, a former senior adviser to Sarah Palin, said she organized the effort to lure the online retail giant. Anchorage won't offer the tax incentives dangled by other cities, so she's compiling letters from political and business leaders touting Anchorage's virtues. She's getting help from Elaine Baker and Elaine's daughter, Carmen Baker, owners of furniture store Elaine S. Baker & Associates. Seattle-based Amazon began soliciting proposals from cities across North America early last month. It's seeking to invest $5 billion in a new campus that could employ 50,000. The deadline is Thursday. Stapleton said it's too late to propose the tax breaks that Amazon seeks. But she'll work with Anchorage and state officials to assemble those later, if the application piques Amazon's interest. "This is a phenomenal opportunity to showcase Anchorage and Alaska," she said. Anchorage's attributes include a highly educated workforce, university degree programs in logistics and supply chain management and relatively short flights to Asia, Europe and the rest of North America, she said. There are also benefits and legal exemptions for cargo shippers that have made the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport the fourth-largest cargo airport in the world, she said. "We need to get aggressive when there are opportunities like this out there," said Stapleton. "If it's not Amazon, there will be other companies who will see our name as a submitted city and perhaps they will be interested in locating here." Alaska Chamber President Curtis Thayer said the state has no sales tax or personal income tax, which would be valuable features for Amazon's workforce. Alaska would benefit from an Amazon campus in part because of the state's high corporate income tax rate. Thayer said he was submitting a letter recommending Anchorage at Stapleton's request. In an unrelated commentary in the Alaska Journal of Commerce, Thayer recently urged Alaska leaders to apply. He said Tuesday that while everyone talks about the need for economic diversity in Alaska, the city and state's political leaders "sat on their hands." He's glad Stapleton and the Bakers are giving it a shot. "There are other areas in the country that you can say are more attractive to Amazon, but we have a company that wants to invest. We should try," Thayer said. Amazon says it's looking for a city with at least 1 million residents, well beyond Anchorage's roughly 300,000. But Stapleton said she's hoping "the totality" of Anchorage's positive traits attracts Amazon. Carmen Baker and her mother had been searching for volunteers to help create an application, but people kept turning them down, saying it was too difficult, Carmen said. But when Stapleton walked into the furniture store to buy a sofa, Carmen's mother sought her help. They launched the effort about a week ago. "We haven't had more than five hours of sleep since then," Carmen said. "Everyone is doom and gloom about the economy, so we have to do something." "You want the big fish when you cast your line," Carmen said. "But you're happy when you get a couple fish that help sustain you through winter. So maybe we get smaller companies of maybe 10,000 people." In the campaign, Alaska leaders explain why Anchorage is a special place to live and do business. Close to two dozen contributors include the state's congressional delegation, lawmakers, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, the governor and educational and business officials. Other metropolitan areas are using deals and gimmicks to convince Amazon. New Jersey and the city of Newark are offering some $7 billion in tax incentives. Kansas City's mayor purchased 1,000 items from Amazon and reviewed them online, according to news reports. Tim Gravel, president of Kaladi Brothers Coffee in Anchorage, said he provided a letter to Stapleton highlighting Anchorage's mountainous backyard, world-class trails and the valuable employees available from universities in Alaska. "It's a good place to raise kids and you don't have traffic problems like other cities have," he said. There's also plenty of great coffee in Anchorage to keep Amazon workers productive, he said.
President Trump created a voter fraud commission to investigate widespread voter fraud and already states that are controlled by Democrats are refusing to cooperate because they say it is a waste of time. The Washington Examiner reported In a letter sent Wednesday to all 50 secretaries of state, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity’s vice chairman — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach — requests the full names of all registered voters, their addresses, dates of birth, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, voting history and other personal information. Alex Padilla, California’s Democratic secretary of state, released a statement Thursday vowing that he will “not provide sensitive voter information” to a commission that is pursuing “debunked claims of massive voter fraud.” “As secretary of state, it is my duty to ensure the integrity of our elections and to protect the voting rights and privacy of our state’s voters,” Padilla said. “I will not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that has already inaccurately passed judgement that millions of Californians voted illegally. California’s participation would only to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the president, the vice president, and Mr. Kobach.” Padilla went on to call the commission a “waste of taxpayer money” and a “distraction from the real threats of the integrity of our elections today,” which he considers to be Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign. Padilla is a liar, a recent study was released that indicated that upto 5,700,000 people cast illegal votes in the previous presidential eletcion. A new study by an independent think tank strongly supports President Trump’s assertion that millions of people voted illegally in the Presidential election. In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016 The Washington Times reported A research group in New Jersey has taken a fresh look at postelection polling data and concluded that the number of noncitizens voting illegally in U.S. elections is likely far greater than previous estimates. As many as 5.7 million noncitizens may have voted in the 2008 election, which put Barack Obama in the White House. The research organization Just Facts, a widely cited, independent think tank led by self-described conservatives and libertarians, revealed its number-crunching in a report on national immigration. Just Facts President James D. Agresti and his team looked at data from an extensive Harvard/YouGov study that every two years questions a sample size of tens of thousands of voters. Some acknowledge they are noncitizens and are thus ineligible to vote. Mr. Agresti’s analysis of the same polling data settled on much higher numbers. He estimated that as many as 7.9 million noncitizens were illegally registered that year and 594,000 to 5.7 million voted. By Ryan Saavedra Posted on June 30, 2017
Topic Number 420 - Bartering Income Bartering is the exchange of goods or services. A barter exchange is an organization whose members contract with each other (or with the barter exchange) to exchange property or services. The term doesn't include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis (for example, a babysitting cooperative run by neighborhood parents). Usually there's no exchange of cash. An example of bartering is a plumber exchanging plumbing services for the dental services of a dentist. Information Returns for Bartering Transactions The Internet has provided a medium for new growth in the bartering industry. This growth prompts the following reminder: Barter exchanges are required to file Form 1099-B.pdf, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions for all transactions unless an exception applies. Refer to Bartering in Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income and the Form 1099-B Instructions for additional information on this subject. Persons who don't contract with a barter exchange or who don't barter through a barter exchange but who trade services, aren't required to file Form 1099-B. However, they may be required to file Form 1099-MISC.pdf, Miscellaneous Income. Refer to the Form 1099-MISC Instructions to determine if you have to file this form. If you exchange property or services through a barter exchange, you should receive a Form 1099-B. The IRS also will receive the same information. Reporting Bartering Income You must include in gross income in the year of receipt the fair market value of goods or services received from bartering. Generally, you report this income on Form 1040, Schedule C.pdf, Profit or Loss from Business (Sole Proprietorship) or Form 1040, Schedule C-EZ.pdf, Net Profit from Business (Sole Proprietorship). If you failed to report this income, correct your return by filing a Form 1040X.pdf, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Refer to Topic No. 308 and Should I File an Amended Return? for information on filing an amended return. Estimated Tax Payments If you receive income from bartering, you may be required to make estimated tax payments. Refer to Topic No. 306 and Form 1040-ES.pdf, Estimated Tax for Individuals for more information. Additional Information Refer to Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income, and our Bartering Tax Center page for more information on bartering income and barter exchanges.
NBC News reporter Katy Tur offered a measured response after Donald Trump singled her out at a rally on Wednesday for supposedly neglecting to report on his supporters. "We have massive crowds," Trump told the audience. "There's something happening. They're not reporting it." Pointing at Tur, he continued: "You're not reporting it, Katy. There's something happening, Katy. There's something happening, Katy." Speaking with MSNBC anchor Brian Williams on Wednesday night, Tur acknowledged that it was strange to have a presidential nominee and thousands of his supporters verbally criticize her in unison. "It is a unique experience to have an entire crowd of people, whether it is an open-aired venue like we were today, or a stadium with 10,000-plus people, booing you. And it's especially unique when they're saying your name and looking directly at you," Tur said. The Trump campaign embedded reporter also said the real-estate magnate continues to mislead rally attendees when he claims that members of the media "never show the crowds" at rallies. The NBC reporter said the campaign doesn't allow journalists to leave the press pen and mingle in the crowd, and that Trump knows perfectly well that the main "pool camera" that transmits the live feed to all the cable networks stays directly on the candidate while other individual press cameras are pointed in different directions at the rallies. "Donald Trump also does know this to be incorrect," Tur said. "He's joked in private with reporters about how he understands how the pool camera works." She added: "This is a shtick that he does, it's to rile up his base, it's to give them an excuse for polls that might not be in his favor, it's to give them an excuse to berate somebody other than Donald Trump, and to blame somebody for something that doesn't look as good as they want it to look." Tur is hardly the only reporter that Trump has publicly chastised. The Republican presidential nominee has singled out CNN's Sara Murray at campaign events, mocked a New York Times reporter with a disability at a rally, and regularly takes to Twitter to complain about coverage from individual reporters.
Security footage has captured the clashes and chilling visuals of men holding cleavers. Highlights 12 men armed with swords and cleavers fought in a Saket hospital Two rival groups fought for nearly an hour in the hospital reception The staff hid in toilets, a guard who tried to intervene was beaten Armed with swords and cleavers, around a dozen Nigerian nationals fought in a hospital in south Delhi as terrified staff hid in toilets and upper floors. The incident took place a little before daybreak on Saturday, after three wounded Nigerians came to the hospital in Saket for treatment.Around 4 am, when the wounded men walked in, their friends allegedly waited outside. The police say the fight started when a member of a rival gang drove up in an auto-rickshaw and barged in.Security footage has captured the clashes and chilling visuals of men holding cleavers. A broken door is on the floor as the men pummel each other.The rival groups clashed for nearly an hour in the hospital reception. A guard who tried to stop them was also beaten and left injured. The staff and nurses of the clinic reportedly bolted all access to the upper floors where patients are recovering.The groups allegedly vandalized the hospital and ran away before the police arrived.
President Clinton shakes hands with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and Vice President Gore shakes hands with House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Tuesday Dec. 19, 1995. (AP Photo/White House) It’s become a political cliché that “red” and “blue” states represent two Americas. But consider how states prioritize programs like health care and education — or how they administer their social safety nets — and the differences are very real. Federal policies help smooth out some of those differences — everyone is eligible for the same Medicare and Social Security programs when they get older — but conservatives have long campaigned to broaden the divide by turning over more and more federally administered programs to the states. We can see how that might play out by looking to the past. In 1996, Congress “reformed” our existing welfare system in much the same way Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) wants to “reform” Medicaid and other anti-poverty programs: they killed off the federal entitlement and turned the money over to the states to implement new models of welfare as they saw fit. It was a central plank in Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” 20 years ago and also considered one of Bill Clinton’s signature achievements. University of Minnesota sociologist Joe Soss spent a decade studying how those reforms shook out in the real world. With Richard C. Fording and Sanford F. Schram, he co-wrote the book, Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race, explaining how race became a determining factor in how states created their own welfare programs — and how that ultimately led to a system that’s rife with racial bias. BillMoyers.com spoke with Soss last week. Below is a lightly edited transcript of our discussion. Joshua Holland: Slightly fewer than one in three welfare beneficiaries are African-American. But it seems clear from the rhetoric around welfare that a lot of people think of it as a program for blacks. How did that view play into the welfare reforms of the 1990s? Joe Soss: In the 1980s and ’90s, a kind of narrative had emerged that I call the story of illegitimate takings. It held that there were white people who played by the rules, and then there were people of color — and particularly black people — who were taking from those people in an illegitimate way. At the time, there was a lot of talk of the pathologies of the underclass. And many believed that it was really these liberal programs that were to blame for what was seen as a kind of crisis of crime and disorder and sexual irresponsibility and welfare dependence and all of these things. Bill Clinton ran on this idea that he was going to end welfare as we know it. And he was also going to get tougher on crime. He was attempting to reassure white voters, but once the Republicans took Congress, in 1994, Clinton found that he had painted himself into a corner, because of course the Republicans were willing to go much farther in this game than he was. After that, for a public that had already learned to think of welfare as a black program — that had internalized these Republican calls to get tough on the welfare queens and whatnot — welfare now became center stage. The public was aroused, so something had to be done. We looked at public opinion on welfare and racial attitudes, analyzing not just the overall trends, but studying the views of actual individuals over time. And what we found was fascinating. First, not many other factors predicted who would hold those kinds of views of welfare. It was pretty broad. But the one thing that did predict a negative view of welfare was negative beliefs about African-Americans, particularly a belief in black laziness. And also stereotypes of black women as being sexually irresponsible. Full Show: Ian Haney López on the Dog Whistle Politics of Race And what we found was that it wasn’t just that the people who had held these negative racial views all along who responded to these kinds of dog whistles but, even more striking, we found that as politicians talked more and more about welfare and what was wrong with the program, they moved people’s racial attitudes. The people who were most likely to start seeing welfare as a big problem were actually those who shifted from not having negative views of African-Americans to steadily responding to this discourse by beginning to see race in a different way and seeing African-Americans in a much worse light. What’s remarkable about the general association of black people with welfare and handouts in the popular culture — that stereotype — is that it’s almost a perfect inversion of American history. For much of the 20th century, and certainly in the earlier history of this country, we had all sorts of race-specific programs that channeled benefits to whites and excluded everyone else. So until very recently, in many ways we have this long history of a white-centered welfare state. But after that time, when victories were achieved that actually allowed for some equality of access to those programs, that very equality became the basis for saying, “Oh, this is all about African-Americans and it’s just a handout to this racially targeted group.” It’s a very sad part of American history, very troubling. Holland: One of the central provisions of welfare reform was replacing the federal welfare system established during the New Deal with a block grant program which gave the states the ability to design their own programs. You wrote that state officials implemented their policies in ways that “proved remarkably sensitive to racial differences.” Can you explain that finding? Soss: After welfare reform passed, the federal government said [to the states], “Here are a bunch of goals we want to accomplish. We want, first and foremost, for you to put people to work, and we want to discourage childbirth, and we want to promote marriage… You’re now free to figure out how to do these things.” What happened was pretty remarkable… What you see in this crucial period of recreating the system is that pretty much the only thing we could find that really drove one policy decision after another was the percentage of minority recipients on the welfare rolls at the time. In other words, people had become so focused on racial issues that race really drove the patterning. They were not necessarily conscious of it; it was race-coded and below the radar for most people. But all of the states with more African-Americans on the welfare rolls chose tougher rules. And when you add those different rules up, what we found was that even though the Civil Rights Act prevents the government from creating different programs for black and white recipients, when states choose according to this pattern, it ends up that large numbers of African-Americans get concentrated in the states with the toughest rules, and large numbers of white recipients get concentrated in the states with the more lenient rules. So state freedom to make these different choices became the mechanism for recreating a racially biased system across the states, where the toughness of the rules you confronted really depended on your racial characteristics. Holland: According to your study, just five years after the passage of the Welfare Reform Act, 63 percent of families in the least stringent programs were white and 11 percent were black, and in the most restrictive programs — that is, the ones with the toughest penalties and the most stringent requirements for eligibility – 63 percent were black and just 29 percent were white. Soss: Yes, and the stringency of the rules matter tremendously for outcomes. The tougher the rules — and the more frequently people are punished for breaking them — the worse the outcomes are for people after they finish the program. In fact, in the toughest programs, people actually end up in worse shape after they get through them than they were before they got the benefits to begin with. And remember, they were in such a bad situation that they had to turn to a welfare program that’s been so stigmatized that pretty much everyone wants to avoid it. We also found that people who go through the toughest programs learn lessons about government that lead them to retreat from participating in politics. They become less likely to make their voices heard, and less likely to participate in elections and community organizations. Holland: About 40 percent of the African-American population live in the Deep South, where there are also very conservative state governments. Is it possible to untangle racial animus from ideology when it comes to designing these programs? Soss: In one sense the question you’re asking is whether this is all just about how the South is different. And the answer is no. But ideology matters. Here’s an interesting finding: In our study, we found that, not surprisingly, conservative counties and areas tended to sanction welfare clients much more often — they were much tougher on beneficiaries — than the most liberal counties. But what we found was that almost the entire difference was made up by the different treatment of black and Hispanic clients. For white clients, it actually made no difference whether you were in the most liberal or most conservative county. You’d be treated the same regardless. It was only clients of color who received different treatment in conservative and liberal counties. Holland: One of the experiments you did was at the level of the program administrator. You used imaginary, “blind” cases to test for administrators’ attitudes towards their clients of different ethnicities. Soss: We used identical, made-up case files. The only differences between them were that some had what are considered “black names,” and others had “white names.” So one would be like, Emily O’Brien and on another we put Lakisha Williams. We pretested them to show that most people who saw these names, right or wrongly, associated them with white or black people — or Latinos. And we then presented actual welfare case managers with cases where it wasn’t quite clear whether the person should be sanctioned or not. Again, it was the exact same case, except we varied the name, and therefore, the race they associated with the person. And then we also varied one other thing, which you can call a discrediting marker. So in one of the experiments, we looked at what happens if you add information that the imaginary beneficiary had been sanctioned before — maybe that would lead the case worker to think they’re a troublemaker. That should have no bearing on the current sanction decision, but it might just change their view. Or we changed the number of children they had — for half of the case managers, the person had one child; for the other half, they had four children and were pregnant. And we found that, across all of our experiments, for the white client, adding that marker — which invoked a negative image of welfare recipients — had no effect at all. They were still judged the same way on the current matter. The black client or the Hispanic client, when they did not have this discrediting marker, were also judged neutrally on the borderline problem we gave these managers. So there wasn’t an automatic bias. But when you added that discrediting marker, the likelihood that the person would get sanctioned went through the roof if they were a person of color. In other words, the person might not be discriminated against if there was nothing there that provided a kind of cue, but as soon as you added something that seemed to confirm the negative stereotypes about welfare recipients, it had no effect on the white client, but it made the black client seem like a person who should be sanctioned, and the rates went up. And the thing that’s really fascinating is that this was equally true for all case managers, regardless of how they self-identified in terms of race and ethnicity. It was equally true of white case managers and case managers of color.
An episode of Star Trek: The Original Series "The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the American television series Star Trek. It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but not broadcast on television in its complete form until late 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler. It was rejected by NBC in February 1965, and the network ordered another pilot episode, which became "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Much original footage from "The Cage" was later incorporated into the season 1 two-parter episode "The Menagerie". Primary cast [ edit ] Overview [ edit ] "The Cage" had many of the features of the eventual series, but there were numerous differences. The Captain of the starship USS Enterprise was not James T. Kirk, but Christopher Pike. Spock was present, but not as First Officer. That role was taken by a character known only as Number One, played by Majel Barrett. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek; he displays a youthful eagerness that contrasts with the later more reserved and logical Spock. He also delivers the first line in all of Star Trek: "Check the circuit!" followed by, "Can't be the screen then."[1] The weaponry used in the pilot was also different from that seen in the series proper, identified as lasers rather than phasers, and different props were used for the communicator and handheld weapon (which made the change to "phasers" easy to retcon as an upgraded technology). NBC reportedly called the pilot "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "too slow" with "not enough action".[2] Rather than rejecting the series outright, though, the network commissioned a second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before".[3][4] This was accepted and Star Trek began production. During the first season, the producers' need for new episodes to be delivered to the network to meet the original series commitment became urgent, and a frame was written allowing most of the original footage from "The Cage" to be used within the series continuity as a two-part episode "The Menagerie".[5] The original pilot episode "The Cage" is sometimes listed as episode 99 when shown. On the VHS home video releases, it was identified as Episode 1. The process of editing the pilot into "The Menagerie" disassembled the original camera negative of "The Cage", and thus, for many years it was considered partly lost. Roddenberry's black-and-white 16mm print made for reference purposes was the only existing print of the show, and was frequently shown at conventions. Early video releases of "The Cage" used Roddenberry's 16mm print, intercut with the color scenes from "The Cage" that were used in "The Menagerie". It was only in 1987 that a film archivist found an unmarked (mute) 35mm reel in a Hollywood film laboratory with the negative trims of the unused scenes. Upon realizing what he had found, he arranged for the return of the footage to Roddenberry's company.[6] "The Cage" was first released on VHS in 1986,[4] with a special introduction by Roddenberry, and was aired for the first time in its entirety, and in full color, in late November 1988 as part of The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next,[4] a two-hour retrospective special hosted by Patrick Stewart. It contained interviews with Gene Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Mel Harris, cast members from Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation, clips from both series and the Star Trek films I through IV with a small preview of Star Trek V. It was later rebroadcast on UPN in 1996 with a behind the scenes look at Star Trek: First Contact. According to "The Menagerie", the events of "The Cage" take place thirteen years before the first season of Star Trek. No stardate was given. Plot summary [ edit ] The USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, receives a radio distress call from the fourth planet in the Talos star group. A landing party is assembled and beamed down to investigate. Tracking the distress signal to its source, the landing party discovers a camp of survivors from a scientific expedition that has been missing for eighteen years. Amongst the survivors is a beautiful young woman named Vina. Captivated by her beauty, Pike is caught off guard and is captured by the Talosians, a race of humanoids with bulbous heads who live beneath the planet's surface. It is revealed that the distress call, and the crash survivors, except for Vina, are just illusions created by the Talosians to lure the Enterprise to the planet. While imprisoned, Pike uncovers the Talosians' plans to repopulate their ravaged planet using him and Vina as breeding stock for a race of slaves. The Talosians use their power of illusion to try to interest Pike in Vina, and present her in various guises and settings, first as a Rigellian princess, a loving compassionate farm girl, then a seductive, green-skinned Orion. Pike resists all forms. After an earlier landing party failed to gain entry from the surface, six members of the Enterprise crew prepare to beam into the Talosians underground complex, but only Pike's first officer and yeoman—both women—materialize in Pike's cell to offer further temptation. By then, however, Pike has discovered that primitive human emotions can block the Talosians' ability to read his mind, and he manages to escape to the surface of the planet along with the two members of his landing party. The Talosians confront Pike and his companions before they can transport back to the Enterprise. The captain tries to negotiate, but the first officer sets her weapon on a buildup to overload. Pike and Vina move closer to her, agreeing with her preference for death rather than captivity. After all, as Vina explains, if the Talosians have even one human being, they might try again. This demonstration of fatal resolve confirms what the Talosians have been gleaning from the records they've accessed from the Enterprise's computers: the human race despises captivity far too much to be useful. Despite their last hope having been proven unsuitable, the Talosians are not vengeful. They let the humans go. The first officer and yeoman beam up immediately, but Pike remains behind with Vina, urging her to leave with him. Vina explains that she cannot leave. An expedition had indeed crash-landed on Talos IV; Vina was the sole survivor, but was badly injured. The Talosians were able to save her, but as they had no understanding of human physiology or aesthetics at the time, she was left horribly disfigured. With the aid of the Talosians' illusions, she is able to appear beautiful and in good health, as much to herself as to any others. Realizing that the continued Talosian illusion of health and beauty is necessary for Vina, Pike is ready to return to the Enterprise without her. In an act of goodwill, the aliens show him that Vina sees an image of Pike next to her, and they walk up to the entrance that takes them into the Talosian habitat. Pike then beams up after the Keeper's closing words: "She has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." Casting [ edit ] Jeffrey Hunter had a six-month exclusive option for the role of Captain Pike.[7] Although he was required to continue if the series was picked up by the network, he was not required to film the second pilot that NBC requested. Deciding to concentrate on motion pictures instead, he declined the role.[8] Gene Roddenberry wrote to him on April 5, 1965: I am told you have decided not to go ahead with Star Trek. This has to be your own decision, of course, and I must respect it. You may be certain I hold no grudge or ill feelings and expect to continue to reflect publicly and privately the high regard I learned for you during the production of our pilot.[9] Two weeks after the option expired on June 1, 1965, Hunter formally gave his letter requesting separation from the project. He died on May 27, 1969, one week before the original series ended its run. Roddenberry later suggested that he was the one who—unhappy with interference by Hunter's then-wife Dusty Bartlett—had decided not to rehire Hunter.[10] However, executive producer Herbert F. Solow, who was present when Bartlett, acting as manager, refused the role on behalf of her husband, later said in his memoir, Inside Star Trek, that it was the other way around.[11] Production [ edit ] "The Cage" was filmed at Desilu Productions' studio (now known as Culver Studios) in Culver City, California, from November 27 to mid-December 1964. Post-production work (pick-up shots, editing, scoring, special photographic and sound effects) continued to January 18, 1965.[12] Gene Roddenberry paid a lot of attention to what The Outer Limits team was doing at the time, and he was often present in their studios. He hired several Outer Limits alumni, among them Robert Justman and Wah Chang, for the production of Star Trek.[13] One of the creatures in the cages was reused from the episode "The Duplicate Man" of The Outer Limits, where it was called a megasoid. The prop head from The Outer Limits episode "Fun and Games" was used to make a Talosian appear as a vicious creature. The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum in "The Sixth Finger" was reused in Star Trek as well. The "ion storm" seen in "The Mutant" (a projector beam shining through a container holding glitter in liquid suspension) became the transporter effect. All of the Talosians were portrayed by women, with their telepathic voices recorded by male actors. This was done to give the impression that the Talosians had focused their efforts on mental development to the detriment of their physical strength and size, and also to give that much more of an alien feel to the Talosians. However, the deep voice of Malachi Throne as the Keeper in "The Cage" was electronically processed to sound higher-pitched[14] for "The Menagerie", as Throne also portrayed Commodore Mendez in the latter. The Keeper's voice from "The Menagerie" was kept for both the remastered and new "original" versions of "The Cage" which would be released later. Throne's unaltered voice work as The Keeper only survives as a brief sample that can be found in the preview trailer for "The Menagerie" (Part II). See also [ edit ]
It looks like a lot of people are gunning to replicate Instagram’s success. Such is the case with the recently launched Photoplay service (Photoplay.net), which has a website and apps on all three major platforms including iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 (Windows Phone 7.x is coming later too). The app and service of course is free and like Instagram, it combines aspects of mobile photography, filters and sharing onto social networks, including its own. We’ll do a full review of the app in the coming days but we figured we’d share our initial thoughts on the app and service, in case you were interested. A bold move Windows Phone 8: Represent To be honest, we sort of rolled our eyes at the company’s press release. If you’re not Instagram, simply taking on the king seems like the best new way to get attention these days. Because of that, we were skeptical whether or not the app and photo service would be even worth mentioning, never mind being an actual competitor to Instagram. But after using for a little while, we have to admit, it’s a solid app. Sure, the big question remains if Photoplay garners enough users to make it worthwhile to regular people, even to the extent of its name being known alongside Instagram’s. There’s quite a bit of doubt, if you ask us, but if there were one app to challenge the hipster-photo dominance of Instgram, Photoplay may be it. From their description: “Photoplay is a community of people, who enjoy doing beautiful pictures every day and sharing them with friends. Contrary to Instagram, Photoplay focuses on breaking the limits. Three different picture formats: square, horizontal and vertical, suits any picture. Customizable effects, such as vignetting, give more power to user. Flexible privacy settings allow selecting right audience for each photo. Discover photos on map feature, three different location-based tops, as well as extended search, make finding interesting content easy as never before.” The App The app itself weighs in at a modest 4MB, and you can login to the service via creating an account or using the universal login of Facebook, Twitter or Russian social-network Vkontakte. The app can also, optionally (and off by default) access your address book to find friends to follow. Because like Instagram, Photoplay in not about just adding photos, but about following friends from Facebook, Twitter, your address book or Vkontakte. You don’t have to do any of that, but it sure makes the service more interesting. In the app, you can then manipulate photos either from your gallery (previously taken) or hop right into the camera (sadly, there is no Lens support just yet). There you can do all sorts of basic edits to your images, including adding one (of seven) filters, tilt shift, pre-set crops and brightness/clarity. Once done you can add tags and post the photo to the Photoplay service and your other social networks (you’re always given a choice too before submitting, which is great). Whether the photo is public or for friends only, is your choice. Following friends is a breeze as the service once connected to your social networks (again, optional) can tell you who is using the service already and you can then opt to follow them. Doing so means that your Feed will show their latest photos and similarly, the News area shows changes in followers, who’s following who now, etc. Privacy One thing we were worried about with such a service is privacy. After all, who wants to have all their photos seen by who knows who on the internet? Luckily, Photoplay looks to have made this a priority. As we mentioned earlier, logging into your other social networks is completely optional. Likewise, you have to manually enable the app to access your phonebook and photo sharing is easily made public or private. You can also report inappropriate photos, should you come across any. It just works well
No more episodes like Henry Louis Gates supposing that an encounter with a policeman on his front porch might be about race. His suspicion made sense in the light of blacks’ relations with police forces under Prohibition, but those relations would be vastly different post-Prohibition. Ever wonder when that “next” beer summit was going to be? The reason there hasn’t been one is that there would be nothing more to talk about — unless the topic was, yes, ending the War on Drugs. And no more books with titles like — I just cherry-picked this one — Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men or The New Jim Crow (that one chosen deliberately as a particularly hot title of the past year). Eliminating the War on Drugs would pull the rug out from under all of this. If there were no reason for the police to hunt people carrying or selling drugs, then there would be vastly less reason for such a concentration on black neighborhoods or black people in law enforcement. It’s about Darnell. No, he’s not a “stereotype”; he’s a perfectly normal person who worries all people concerned with black community issues. Darnell’s brother Eugene fixes heaters and air conditioners. He was never a great student but he had a way of sticking to things. Darnell happened not to be, really. He didn’t like school either — especially since the one he went to was the kind where it was hard to learn much of anything. He liked his friends. And a lot of them stopped going to school after ninth or tenth grade. After a while, he stopped seeing why he shouldn’t hang out with them during the day, instead of missing sitting in classrooms not learning much. Now, one thing Darnell could do is get his GED, and meanwhile get a job stocking shelves at Staples. Or working at a shoe store or supermarket. He could get vocational training of some kind, with a small loan it wouldn’t be hard to get. But that’s not what a lot of his friends do. The way they make money is by selling drugs. Of course nobody calls it that. No one walks up to Darnell and says “Would you like to help us sell drugs on the street to make a living?” It goes by euphemisms — “out on dem corners” and so on. There is a quiet community norm: Young men who drop out of school and do not take jobs, because they can keep money in their pockets by selling drugs on the street. Hardly all young men do this in the community. Most don’t, in fact. But many do — enough that to Darnell, there is nothing unusual about it. He sees people going to prison for this: But that’s seen as a badge of manhood. He even sees people getting killed — but let’s face it: Just like most men don’t deal drugs, most men in these communities do not get killed. To Darnell this looks like collateral damage of a kind he has a hard time imagining happening to him. Plus, he has less of a sense of a meaningful future than most people reading this can imagine. He has possibly never been outside of his city. He barely knows anyone who gets married. As is well documented, Darnells can be starkly casual about the possibility of not living past 25. Of the options open to him for having money in his pocket, the most attractive one is the one that gives him the most flexible schedule, allows him to be with his favorite people, and lends him an air of the soldier besides. The question is not why he would choose to sell drugs, but why he wouldn’t. Darnell is not on the corners because it’s all society prepared him for: That is a melodramatic, antiempirical, leftist cliche. Eugene’s doing fine and the community has as many Eugenes as Darnells. Darnell had choice. His choice makes perfect sense for someone like him, where he lives, having had the only life he knew. Say that Darnell’s mother needs to control him and you’re saying nothing will change. What, precisely, would you counsel his mother to say? And do you think she hasn’t? Can you genuinely imagine that she can determine how Darnell is going to spend his life via the enunciation of some sentences? Hasn’t it always been considered a prime challenge of parenting that children tend not to heed parental advice? Notice, though, that Darnell is a perfectly rational, normal human being. Just as I am not describing a choiceless victim of “institutional racism,” I am not describing a monster or a wastrel. What we need is not a forum where people clap at zestily-enunciated lines about “responsibility.” We need simply to imagine a day when a Jevon thinks about dropping out of school and selling drugs and realizes that he can’t do that because drugs are available for low prices at Rite-Aid and CVS. He’d stay in school. Watch. And this is a prime reason the War on Drugs must end. It tears poor black communities to pieces. Not only by flooding them with police — but by encouraging bright young black people to work the black market and lending it an air of heroism.

Subsets and Splits

No saved queries yet

Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.