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DALLAS (AP) — A man who authorities say opened fire outside Dallas police headquarters from his parked van, with bullets piercing the glass at the entrance and causing damage inside, was the only person killed after the gunfire turned into a street battle and standoff.
Chief David Brown said the suspect told authorities he was James Boulware and blamed police for having lost custody of his son and for "accusing him of being a terrorist." But authorities declined to officially identify the man until a medical examiner verified it.
A police sniper shot and killed the man in his van early Saturday after, according to Brown, the department felt he still posed enough of a threat. The suspect had told police negotiators that he had explosives in the van.
"When the negotiation was on, he became increasingly angry and threatening, such that we were not only concerned with our officers there trying to contain the scene being shot by him at a moment's notice," but also people nearby, Brown said at a news conference.
Officers also found the man had planted pipe bombs outside police headquarters.
Police questioned Boulware's father, also named James, later in the day Saturday, arriving while an Associated Press reporter was at the home.
Authorities said the shooting miraculously left no one else dead or injured. Among the areas damaged inside: the front desk where the worker on duty had just gone to get a soft drink.
The suspect also fired on officers who drove up to confront him, riddling at least one squad car with bullets but not actually hitting anyone. Cellphone video shot from a nearby balcony or roof showed the suspect's dark-colored van ram a squad car as gunshots rang out. At one point the man got out of his van and walked toward the entrance to the building firing his gun but turned around, according to Dallas Police Maj. Jeff Cotner.
Police would not say why he retreated.
The van then fled, eventually stopping in a restaurant parking lot in the suburb of Hutchins, where the standoff ensued until the police sniper shot and killed the man.
Investigators found a package of pipe bombs in the parking lot at police headquarters and at least two more pipe bombs in the van, police said.
Wary that the van may have been rigged with explosives, police used a camera-equipped robot to inspect it rather than have officers approach it immediately, which was why it took several hours to confirm the suspect was dead.
After he was confirmed dead, the van erupted in flames while the authorities were detonating the suspected ordnance inside.
Boulware's father said that his son had strong feelings against law enforcement after he lost custody of his son, now 12 or 13 years old. Boulware spent several hours Friday at his father's home in Carrollton, a Dallas suburb.
His father said he talked about how well his recently purchased van drove. But he also discussed a widely publicized video of a police officer in McKinney, Texas, pushing a black teenage girl to the ground and brandishing his gun at other teens.
Boulware's father last spoke with Boulware by phone about three hours before Dallas police said the shooting began.
"Not being able to get a job and the legal system letting him down, (he) finally snapped," the elder James Boulware told the AP in a phone interview before police arrived to question him about his son. "But I can't say shooting at a police station is right in any way."
The attack began around 12:30 a.m., when several police officers were standing nearby. A popular bar across the street from police headquarters was still open, and the neighborhood is also home to a boutique hotel and apartment buildings.
Reporters allowed to walk through the scene after it had been secured counted numerous bullet holes in the front window of the police building. Number markings were all over the street to show where shell casings and other forms of evidence had been found. Blackened debris marked the spot where the pipe bombs exploded in the parking lot of the police station.
One squad car that police said had been occupied by two officers at the time had a bullet hole in the back of the driver's seat. Police on the scene declined to say how the two officers escaped the shots or if they had ducked below the dash.
In the early confusion, witnesses reported seeing as many as four attackers, including some who had taken high positions for better vantage points. Brown later said investigators were confident the only attacker was the suspect later killed.
Anita Grendahl was asleep in her seventh-floor apartment in a high-rise across from police headquarters when she heard gunshots loud enough to wake her up over a white noise machine in her room.
"We just woke up to a few pops and thought somebody was on my balcony, and then looked outside and saw the van crash into the car," she said.
___
Associated Press reporter Diana Heidgerd and video journalist Jacques Star in Dallas contributed to this report.
___
Follow Nomaan Merchant on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nomaanmerchant. |
10h25, place du Palais Bourbon. Les nouveaux élus de La France insoumise se sont donnés rendez-vous à quelques mètres de l'Assemblée nationale. Dans une chaleur déjà écrasante, Eric Coquerel et Alexis Corbière répondent aux nombreux journalistes venus assister à leurs premiers pas de députés.
Dans l'assistance, émerge aussi la tête rousse d'Adrien Quatennens, 27 ans, élu dans la 1ère circonscription du Nord. Ce conseiller clientèle se définit comme député de "la vie ordinaire"...
Sur la petite place, face à l'Assemblée, où les voitures sont bloquées pendant de longues secondes par les journalistes présents, les nouveaux visages de la France insoumise côtoient les stars du mouvement de Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Ruffin veut "sortir les gens de l'indifférence"
Parmi elles, le journaliste François Ruffin, nouveau député de la Somme. Dès son arrivée, le réalisateur de Merci patron! est assailli par les caméras. "Ce n'est pas une arrivée, c'est un début !", martèle l'élu, qui se dit prêt à "batailler" pour "sortir les gens de l'indifférence".
Son credo :
Les petits peuvent l'emporter contre les gros !" François Ruffin
La première décision de François Ruffin, lorsqu'il a été élu dimanche ? Organiser une manifestation dans les rues de sa circonscription. Aujourd'hui, il propose l'organisation d'une autre manifestation mardi 27 juin, place de la République, le jour de l'entrée en fonction de la nouvelle Assemblée.
François Ruffin veut une manifestation mardi place de la République pour l'entrée en fonction des députés FI. #directan @LCP pic.twitter.com/m3MTYtGCtB
? Maxence Kagni (@maxenceka) June 20, 2017
François Ruffin promet également que sa première proposition de loi portera sur les auxiliaires de vie sociale, "dont les revenus ont baissé de 30% dans la Somme", afin de leur offrir un "statut national".
Mélenchon président du groupe... dans un premier temps
"Qui est-ce que vous attendez ? Emmanuel Macron ?", demande un couple de touriste allemand, dans un anglais approximatif. Le nom de Jean-Luc Mélenchon ne leur évoque rien.
Le leader de la France insoumise arrive en retard, dans la cohue. Il s'emporte contre des journalistes qui tiennent leurs micros un peu trop prêts, selon lui, de la tête de ses députés, avant de dire son "immense fierté" de voir la formation d'un groupe France insoumise "à l'image du pays".
Le nouveau député des Bouches-du-Rhône met fin à un faux suspense lorsqu'on lui demande s'il souhaite présider ce groupe : "Oui." Interviewé quelques heures plus tard par LCP, le leader de la France insoumise a toutefois nuancé sa position, expliquant que ce rôle devrait être temporaire, le temps de construire les fondations du groupe :
"Il faudra me remplacer en cours de mandature", prévient @JLMelenchon qui n'exclut pas de présider le groupe @Franceinsoumise #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/Sp75dvqb7W
? LCP (@LCP) June 20, 2017
"Notre mot à dire sur chaque page du code du travail"
Jean-Luc Mélenchon annonce également que chaque député de La France insoumise aura la charge d'un certain nombre de départements, dans lesquels il devra se rendre régulièrement. "Nous représentons la tierce partie, la société", ajoute l'élu, qui assure que ses députés auront "leur mot à dire sur chaque page du code du travail". Et cela y compris si certains syndicats parviennent à un accord avec le gouvernement.
Si la question de la constitution d'un groupe commun avec les communistes reste en suspens, Jean-Luc Mélenchon a tendu la main à certains socialistes. Sous conditions :
La première étape de la décontamination, c'est de voter contre la confiance au gouvernement. C'est un ticket d'entrée pour parler avec nous. Jean-Luc Mélenchon
(Propos recueillis par Vianey Lorin et Marion Chatelin)
Les députés se réunissent ensuite pour une photo de famille devant l'Assemblée. Jean-Luc Mélenchon tente de se mettre sur le côté, avant que certains militants le rappellent à l'ordre. "Oh ! Nous, les Marseillais, nous sommes grands !", répond le député des Bouches-du-Rhône. Une plaisanterie qui fait bien rire la nouvelle députée de Paris Danièle Obono, qui lui glissera quelques minutes plus tard : "Tu fais trop le Marseillais, ça y est!".
Au moment d'entrer dans l'enceinte de l'Assemblée nationale, Eric Coquerel crie "Résistance ! Résistance !". Quelques soutiens lui répondent. A l'intérieur, sur les marches qui mènent à la salle des quatre colonnes, les députés insoumis posent à nouveau. L'occasion pour François Ruffin de lancer son cri de ralliement :
Et à la fin, c'est nous qu'on a... Gagné ! François Ruffin
Nouvelle photo de groupe de FI juste devant les 4 colonnes. Coquerel crie: "Résistance !" @LCP #directAN pic.twitter.com/1fGA5GiJvt
? Maxence Kagni (@maxenceka) June 20, 2017
Une cravate... rouge !
Direction la photo officielle. Jean-Luc Mélenchon apostrophe Adrien Quatennens : "T'as pas une cravate rouge ? Tu as l'air en deuil..." Alexis Corbière, lui, aimerait ne pas en porter du tout. Jean-Luc Mélenchon s'en prend aussi à Ugo Bernalicis, député du Nord, et à sa cravate bleu : "Pourquoi tu as mis une cravate de bourgeois ?"
"Une cravate rouge, ça fait Darty...", lui répond le jeune député. Jean-Luc Mélenchon avale sa salive de travers. Il est attaché aux symboles et à l'histoire de sa famille politique : il choisit une cravate rouge parmi celles que lui proposent un huissier. Alexis Corbière et Adrien Quatennens la porteront eux aussi lors de la photo...
Jean-Luc Mélenchon multiplie les petites attentions à l'égard de ses camarades députés. Il chouchoute la nouvelle génération, quitte à prendre son temps. Un peu trop au goût de l'élu Les Républicains Jean-Luc Reitzer : "On est là, nous on attend !"
(Images de Vianey Lorin et Marion Chatelin pour LCP)
"On est obligé de supporter ça ?"
Dans les couloirs, Jean-Luc Mélenchon échange ensuite quelques minutes avec le député PS sortant René Dosière avant de croiser brièvement Gilbert Collard à qui il sert la main avant de s'éclipser. A 13h30, le petit groupe se dirige vers l'hémicycle. Les députés de la France insoumise aimeraient aller vite : ils ont faim. Mélenchon, lui, fait comme s'il ne les entendait pas. Il déambule dans le salon Delacroix, observe les peintures, s'arrête devant l'impressionnant bronze de la salle Casimir-Périer... Il savoure.
"Imprégnez-vous d'abord de la religion républicaine...", glisse le leader de la France insoumise. "Là, il faut vraiment que l'on mange, on reprendra les cours d'histoire après", râle à voix basse un député FI.
Une fois son petit tour achevé, Jean-Luc Mélenchon se dirige vers une entrée : "On rentre par là ?" "Non, non, non !", s'exclament les autres. Un peu désorienté par sa déambulation, Jean-Luc Mélenchon a failli entrer dans l'hémicycle... par la droite ! Une fois sur les bancs rouges de l'hémicycle, le député des Bouches-du-Rhône fait les gros yeux : "On est obligé de supporter ça ?" Le motif de son courroux ? Le drapeau européen, qui, selon lui, n'a rien à faire derrière la tribune du "parlement de la République française".
(Images de Vianey Lorin et Marion Chatelin)
Alexis Corbière monte observer l'hémicycle depuis les bancs du haut. "Ah, c'est quelque chose, hein...", murmure Jean-Luc Mélenchon, visiblement ému de faire son entrée dans ces lieux au côté de son lieutenant.
Le temps de constater que Jean Jaurès n'a pas de plaque commémorative dans l'hémicycle, et de rappeler François Ruffin, qui en avait marre d'attendre, les députés posent une dernière fois en groupe.
Danièle Obono monte enfin à la tribune et apostrophe Jean-Luc Mélenchon : "Est-ce qu'il est vrai que les Parisiens ont une vocation révolutionnaire ?", lui répond en souriant le député des Bouches-du-Rhône, avant de lui expliquer les détails de la procédure parlementaire. Et de conclure : "C'est dur quand ils se mettent tous à crier, tu vas voir..." |
SANTA CLARA — The 49ers welcomed four players to the practice field Tuesday, highlighted by wide receiver Mario Manningham’s first participation since tearing ligaments in his left knee last December.
Veteran cornerback Eric Wright and rookie defensive linemen Tank Carradine and Quinton Dial practiced for the first time as 49ers.
Tuesday was the first day players on the physically unable to perform or non-football injury lists could participate in practice, and the 49ers held a light walk-through. Their first full practices will come Wednesday. The 49ers have 21 days to add the players to the 53-man active roster, place them on injured reserve for the rest of the season or release them.
Manningham seemed energize after practicing for the first time since he was injured in last season’s 42-13 loss at Seattle on Dec. 23, the team’s second-to-last game of the regular season.
“I’m just trying to get confidence back, stay right upstairs,” Manningham said. “You can get caught up in not playing. Just trying to keep my attitude positive.”
Manningham expects to be a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice and still should need at least a couple of weeks before he’s ready to play in a game. He said he wasn’t medically cleared to practice until Monday.
“Just taking it day by day, doing a couple periods,” Manningham said. “Just trying to do what I’ve got to do to get back to 100 (percent). Just ease into it.”
Manningham was second on the 49ers in receptions and third in receiving yards last year. Other than Anquan Boldin, wide receivers for the 49ers have combined for just 15 receptions through six games this season, so Manningham would be a welcome addition when he returns.
“Just trying to stay in tune with what the team’s doing,” Manningham said. “It’s hard to be in a meeting when you’re not involved in it.”
The 49ers play at Tennessee on Sunday and then immediately head to London for an Oct. 27 game against Jacksonville. They have a bye week when they return, and the Nov. 10 home game against Carolina could be a target date for Manningham.
Wright signed with the 49ers in late August a month after a trade from Tampa Bay to San Francisco was voided because he failed a physical. News of a DUI arrest became public shortly after the trade was announced. Wright was returned to the Buccaneers and they released him. He later signed with the 49ers, who promptly placed him on the non-football injury list. Wright, a San Francisco native, didn’t indicate any physical ailments when speaking with the media for the first time as a 49er. “All of us in general, we have personal responsibilities,” Wright said when asked about his health issues that kept him off the field. “We all have families, we have kids and different things like that. We’re responsible for a lot of things. We’re more than just professional athletes, so I’m just grateful for this opportunity to be here playing for my hometown team and playing for such a storied franchise and being able to live out my dream.” Asked if he had any physical limitations, Wright said, “Being out just practicing, that says a lot.” |
Greetings Subscribers!
This month’s subscriber flair is the next piece in the space plant series, Conner’s Beard moss! The Space Plant Collection features exotic plants found throughout the galaxy: from strange and unusual specimens, to alien species, to varietals commonly found in greeneries. This Conner’s Beard moss growing on a rock is the fifth item in our Space Plant series! Though simple looking, Conner’s Beard moss holds the notable distinction of being considered the first plant subspecies to have naturally evolved on a spacestation. Tied intrinsically with its unique place of birth, the bryophyte can only survive in the specific conditions that the aging station’s life support systems created. The sculpture featured in the Ecosphere is a replica of the gift shop souvenir the moss was originally discovered on by a waylaid botanist.
If you’re an active subscriber, the flair will be attributed to your account today. If you subscribe over the weekend, the plant will be attributed to your account on Tuesday September 13th! More information about subscriptions can be found here! |
CNN fired back at President Trump after he attacked the network in a tweet Saturday for representing the U.S. “very poorly” to the world.
“It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world,” the network’s public relations team tweeted. “That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst.”
It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst — CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 25, 2017
The tweet also included an apple emoji, a nod to their recent “Facts First” ad campaign.
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Trump tweeted earlier Saturday that Fox News is “much more important” than CNN.
“.@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly,” he tweeted. “The outside world does not see the truth from them!”
.@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2017
Trump has repeatedly criticized CNN throughout his campaign and presidency, labeling them “fake news.” In contrast, he has appeared on Fox News several times and praised anchors like Sean Hannity for their coverage and ratings.
Saturday’s comments come as the Justice Department’s attempts to block a potential merger between AT&T and Time Warner are under scrutiny. The Justice Department has reportedly told AT&T to sell CNN's parent company, though AT&T denied that it offered to do so. |
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Jan. 27, 2017, 8:37 PM GMT / Updated Jan. 27, 2017, 10:05 PM GMT By Jon Schuppe
Officials in Chicago, reeling from a dramatic uptick in killings and under pressure from President Trump to contain it, outlined a series of high-tech solutions on Friday, including more predictive policing techniques.
The tools will be used in impoverished neighborhoods in the city's south and west edges where a disproportionate amount of deadly violence occurs — and where the rise in the homicide rate has been most concentrated. The move fits a broader strategy of focusing efforts on the relatively small number of people who commit violent crime and the limited number of places where it erupts.
The steps announced Friday included:
An expansion of ShotSpotter sensors that pick up the sound of gunfire and alert police to its location.
Near-ubiquitous coverage of public areas by surveillance cameras.
The introduction of predictive policing software that identifies areas most likely to see gun violence.
Layering that analysis with another predictive program that identifies people most likely to commit —or be the victims of — gun violence.
A "war room"-like office, staffed with analysts who will translate that data for changes to deployments and long-term strategy.
The tools will allow the department to be "more proactive and focus on the right people in the right place and at the right time," Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
Related: Trump Offers to Send ‘the Feds’ into Chicago to Fix Violent Crime — but They’re Already There
He and Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled the moves in a press conference that was cut short after Johnson fell ill and appeared about to faint. Johnson went to a hospital for evaluation, officials said.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at a news conference at a police station on Jan. 27. Chicago Police
Predictive policing has been gaining popularity among police departments around the country, and the approach has been described as both a boon and bane to society. Proponents say the techniques are key to making modern police more professional and efficient.
But civil rights groups warn that the methods could discriminate against certain people, target the innocent and exacerbate problems associated with heavy enforcement in disenfranchised communities.
That is exactly what the Chicago Police Department is trying to avoid. Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced the result of a yearlong investigation that found city cops routinely violated citizens' rights by using force, often deadly, when it wasn't necessary. Chicago's long history of police abuses, shouldered mostly by blacks and Latinos, has eroded the public's trust — and officers' ability to solve crimes, investigators said.
Related: Chicago Police Department Routinely Violated People's Rights, Feds Say
As the number of Chicago's homicides rose 58 percent in 2016, to 764, the clearance rate — killings that ended in an arrest — dropped from 36 percent to 26 percent, according to an analysis by the University of Chicago's Crime Lab.
A vast majority of the city's homicide victims were black, young and had arrest records, the analysis said. Most occurred in streets and alleys, and suspects overwhelmingly had prior arrests themselves.
Mayor Emanuel said the new technology would ultimately help improve things — but he added it had to come with better training, hiring more officers, promoting more detectives and investing in social services like after-school programs.
That, Emanuel said, will require more help from the federal government, which has become an issue under Trump. In recent days, Trump has singled out Chicago's crime rate and said if the city didn't put a lid on it, he'd "send in the feds."
Emanuel has said he'd welcome any help, but hasn't talked to Trump since he took office. |
If last night's tensions are anything to go by, today's inauguration 'celebrations' for the 45th president of the 'United' States is sure to be chaotic away from the choreographed proceedings. As Reuters reports, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers and miles of barriers were in place in Washington on Friday, as officials braced for hundreds of thousands of people planning to celebrate or protest; and "Bikes for Trump" are “absolutely” prepared for physical conflicts.
About 30 groups have obtained permits for protests they estimate will attract about 270,000 people on Friday and Saturday, far more than have been seen in other recent presidential inaugurations.
Reuters reports that about 900,000 people were expected to pack central Washington, including the grassy National Mall facing the Capitol, where the New York businessman and former reality TV star will be sworn in, and the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
A disparate group of liberal activists irked by comments by Trump about women, illegal immigrants and Muslims have planned protests throughout central Washington. Supporters of Trump, who has never before held elected office, were expected to pack the streets to cheer the man they see as bringing a fresh approach to politics and sparking economic growth.
One of the largest anti-Trump protests expected on Friday will be organized by the ANSWER Coalition, a broad-based liberal group, which expects to have thousands at the U.S. Navy Memorial, along the parade route.
"It's Day One, we're saying, of a larger era of resistance, and we believe we're going to send a very powerful message to Trump and the government," said Ben Becker, 33, an organizer with the group. "The Trump agenda is very comprehensive. It includes attacks on Muslims, immigrants, on women's rights, on workers' rights. So really, no matter what community you're a part of, you have a stake in this fight."
The U.S. Secret Service, Washington police and other law enforcement agencies planned to have some 28,000 officers in place to secure the roughly three-square-mile (almost eight-square-kilometre) area of downtown Washington. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said police aimed to keep groups separate, using similar tactics as employed during last year's political conventions. A protest group known as Disrupt J20 has vowed to stage demonstrations at each of 12 security checkpoints and block access to the festivities on the grassy National Mall.
Of course, there is another side to today's "events"...
Trump supporters also flooded into the capital, many sporting baseball caps bearing his "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. Jackson Rouse, an 18-year-old high school senior from northeastern Arkansas, who skipped school to attend the inauguration with his father, expressed concern that several dozen Democratic congressmen and congresswomen planned to stay away from the inauguration in protest. "I think he was voted in fairly and it was a fair election," Rouse said. "I love Trump. I expect changes and I expect he's going to do everything he said he was going to do."
Some of Friday's protests will bring a carnival atmosphere, including a group of pro-marijuana activists who plan to hand out 4,200 joints to be lit up in violation of federal and local laws.
While Washington will be the focal point of the protests, anti-Trump activists have planned sympathy rallies around the nation and the world, with events planned for major U.S. cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, and as far away as Sydney.
And then there is the 'wall of meat'...
“Bikers for Trump is here to protect the citizens,” said rider Mark Connors, a country singer who rode his Harley Davidson from San Diego, CA. Connors said Bikers for Trump riders will not seek confrontations but he is “absolutely” prepared for physical conflicts. “We have made the decision that when those people come, we are going to stand face-to-face with them, eye-to-eye, toe-to-toe, shoulder-to-shoulder with my brothers,” Connors said.
Finally, when all of today's pandemonium is over, what is hoped by the organizers to be the largest political protest in recent memory will take place during the Women's March...
Predicting the actual turnout of the event is difficult, but more than 200,000 people on Facebook have said they would be attending and more than 1,200 tour buses have applied for parking in the city. City officials say they have made preparations to deal with a crowd as large as 400,000, though the final turnout could be much smaller depending on factors like weather and available lodging. Aside from the annual March for Life that often draws crowds in the hundreds of thousands, few other recent protests in Washington have been so large. Organizers are hoping that the march—ostensibly dedicated to women’s rights but also aimed at calling for protecting the rights of immigrants, Muslims and racial minorities, among other groups—is the beginning of a broader anti-Trump movement that is expected to continue through his term in office.
But today is what everyone is focused on... |
In the 1990s and into the early 2000s, a global movement against corporate globalization and neoliberal capitalism developed, with anti-authoritarian and anarchist politics at it’s head. In 1994, the Zapatista insurrection in Chiapas, Mexico against NAFTA made the world sit up, as indigenous people began self-organizing their communities after taking land back from the State in an armed uprising, blending indigenous Zapatismo with Mexican anarchism. Soon, a tidal wave of actions, indymedia projects, and grassroots groups began to be formed across the US, which fed into the growing anarchist movement. When the protests in Seattle of 1999 hit in November against the World Trade Organization, they famously popularized the black bloc tactic, however in truth the anarchist movement in North America had already been growing for years and exploded within the ascending anti-globalization movement, and was much bigger than simply one single tactic. Regardless, along with the anti-globalization movement, anarchism and its ideas grew.
Paid terrorists attack volunteer revolutionaries in the service of global capitalists.
The anti-globalization movement became in many regards, de-facto anarchist; from the ways that people made decisions to how people organized themselves to take action. Moreover, the mobilizations in Seattle were also important because it saw thousands of people join in confrontational demonstrations that disobeyed the leadership of union bureaucrats and NGOs, to say nothing of the Democrats in power or the police. As the government called for a curfew on demonstrations and even brought in massive amounts of body bags, and President Clinton demonized the black bloc as only wanting to attack “small businesses,” the riots grew into popular revolts as whole neighborhoods stood up against the police and began looting stores. Moreover, the combination of street clashes and blockades shut down the WTO meeting; the protesters won. Seattle set in motion a chain of events, as the anti-globalization upheavals continued, not only in size and scale, but also as popular confrontations between the State, it’s security forces, and the general population. While the events of September 11th in many ways sunk the movement, it remains a high point of anarchist organizing in recent memory.
Ironically, when large scale demonstrations like this break out across the social terrain in today’s world, as they often have in the last several years under another Democratic President, Obama, the far-Right simply writes them off. But how and why the write them off is very telling. Generally this first takes the path of conspiracy, as one section of the Right dismisses any kind of popular uprising or resistance as the work of “paid protesters,” almost always under the direction of billionaire George Soros. Another section of the Right will take this even further, and claim that those facing felonies and military grade police weapons are in fact in the service of the “Zionists,” and are the foot soldiers of the “globalist” order.
But the far-Right did not always see things this way.
As the riots of 1999 in Seattle against the WTO played out, many on the far-Right actually saw what was happening in a favorable light. Beyond that, they even chastised their own movement for failing to live up to the same standard as the people that rioted and shut down the WTO meetings. Although the far-Right framed these actions in terms of conspiracies of the “Zionist Occupied Government, or “New World Order,” they still strangely enough, supported it. Matthew Hale, then the leader of the World Church of the Creator, stated in an essay after the riots:
What happened in Seattle is a precursor for the future—when White people in droves protest the actions of world Jewry not by ‘writing to congressmen’, ‘voting’, or other nonsense like that, but by taking to the streets and throwing a monkey wrench into the gears of the enemy’s machine. Did the right wing hinder the WTO? No. They were too busy ‘writing their congressmen’—congressmen who were bought off a long time ago, or waiting for their ‘great white hope’ in shining armor who they can miraculously vote into office.No, it was the left wing, by and large, which stymied the WTO to the point where their meeting was practically worthless, and we should concentrate on these zealots, not the ‘ meet, eat, and retreat’ crowd of the right wing who are so worried about ‘offending’ the enemy that all too often, they are a nice Trojan Horse for the enemy’s designs.
Others agreed. Louis Beam, a former member of the Ku-Klux-Klan, and an almost a Subcomandante Marcos figure on the racist far-Right, as well as the person who popularized the concept of ‘leaderless resistance’ wrote:
…My heart goes out to those brave souls in Seattle who turned out in the thousands from both Canada and the U.S. to go up against the thugs of Clinton and those who put him in office. I appreciate their bravery. I admire their courage. And I thank them for fighting my battle…“Soon, however, there will be millions in this country of every political persuasion confronting the police state on streets throughout America. When you are being kicked, gassed, beaten and shot at by the police enforcers of the NWO you will not be asking, nor giving a rat’s tail, what the other freedom lovers’ politics ‘used to be’—for the new politics of America is liberty from the NWO Police State and nothing more.
We mention this history, just as Don Hammerquist did in Fascism and Anti-Fascism, not to imply that there can be some sort of ‘unity’ between white supremacists and anarchists, but simply to point out that the far-Right, at this time, recognized that one of their enemies – anarchists, were actually political agents in a battle against the State and the economic system it is designed to protect. They also understood that this struggle made their own movement appear weak due to inaction and reformism. Also, keep in mind that this was happening at a time of increased anti-fascist organizing, mostly under the banner of Anti-Racist Action (ARA), the very group that were breaking up meetings and beating the shit out of Matt Hale’s Nazi supporters, so these comments were not made without hesitation or reflection.
Things are much different now. For instance, when the African-American community of Ferguson rose in revolt against the police in the summer of 2014, the far-Right across the board condemned the uprising as the work of paid Soros protesters, or an example of the black threat to white civilization. One far-Right group actually even went to Ferguson to help put down the rebellion, the Oath Keepers, a Patriot/militia group, and attempted to act as an auxiliary force to the police. However, upon arrival, some in the group decided they instead wanted to march with guns with the protesters in order to show the police that the citizens were not afraid of them. This about face in position among some members, from wanting to support the State to wanting to support the black citizens of Ferguson, caused a split in the group. Needless to say, the march never happened, but the point remains clear: stand up to the State and its police, especially if you’re black, and the far-Right does not support you. In fact, it demonizes you as the enemy for doing so, or portrays you as a stooge to powers far beyond your control.
The current myths around Soros as the “Puppet Master” mirror the previous views of groups such as the John Birch Society and the American Nazi Party.
These extreme simplifications go back to the 1950s on the far-Right, where anti-communist groups like the John Birch Society painted a world where communists in the service of the USSR infiltrated every group with sizeable influence that was trying to change conditions for poor, working-class, and oppressed people. Moreover, they strongly opposed the civil-rights movement because they saw it as a stepping stone to socialism. Neo-Nazis like George Lincoln Rockwell took these ideas a step further, and proclaimed that civil-rights groups such as the NAACP were actually run by the Jews. African-Americans, Rockwell argued, were not smart enough to organize their own organizations, and thus had to have Jewish leadership. Such leadership, he went on, was proof of Jewish communist plans to ‘race-mix’ white people out of existence. Such ideas continue today on the far-Right, as Neo-Nazis like Matthew Heimbach repeat the same tired lines, while also heralding black nationalist groups such as the Nation of Islam. For the Right it seems, black struggle and organization is always dismissed, unless those involved have anti-Semitic and nationalist politics which mirror their own.
Despite downplaying grassroots resistance, community organizing, and revolt of any kind, the far-Right in the past 8 years has growly increasingly militant and at times, even insurrectionary. It called for Obama to be tried as a traitor. It called for Hillary to be fired and jailed as well. In an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge, a far-Right militia occupation in Oregon called for the end of the federal government and the replacing of the State with the power of the Sheriff and the opening up of all federal lands to mining, ranching, and resource extraction. At the same time, the racist far-Right grew in street militancy, clashing with anarchist and left-wing demonstrators, leaving several people injured, and in some cases, even attempting to kill them.
Throughout it all, if the far-Right was sure of one thing, it was the illegitimacy of any resistance that did not come from the Right itself. Any grassroots mobilization, any strike action, occupation of land, or insurrection against State authority was seen as suspect; written off as the act of provocateurs in the service of globalist elites. While it is easy to laugh off these ideas as the fantasy of twitter warriors, or tin-foil hat Alex Jones fans ranting about “the Lizards,” with Trump now echoing many of these positions, they become less easy to dismiss with a slight of hand.
From Globalization to “Globalism”
Hillary says things can't change. I say they have to change. It's a choice between Americanism and her corrupt globalism. #Imwithyou — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2016
“Globalism” has now replaced “communism” and even Islam, as the boogeyman of the Right, while at the same time, still encapsulating both of them as threats within its worldview. The far-Right, and the Right in general is very good at taking very complex systems and reducing them down to simple problems caused by a select group of people. As we will show, the idea of globalism both seeks to attempt to appear populist or even revolutionary, while at the same time, singling out select groups of people who the Right claims further the ‘globalist agenda.’
But where did the idea of globalism come from and what the hell does it mean? After NAFTA was passed, and globalization allowed capital to move freely across national borders while locking workers behind them, as structural adjustment programs slashed social services, took away land, and restructured economies in the service of international capital, the mood began to change in the US among everyday workers against globalization. This anger helped feed into the anti-globalization movement, as large segments of labor joined the fight against free-trade deals. But it wasn’t long until sections of the right began to bring critiques of globalization into their talking points as well, Pat Buchanan being a key example.
On the Right, discussion of global capitalism was turned on its head; into a conversation on the problem of “the globalists.” In short, the problem wasn’t a system, but a set of people, and this problem is almost always described along the lines of a conspiracy. In short, those on the far-Right framed the problem in terms of American nationalism, sovereignty, and power, pitted against the “globalist agenda.” Furthermore, the far-Right, of whatever stripe, always described the elite globalist system as being supported and maintained by a set of non-State actors, which work in it’s service to destabilize sovereignty and attack the ‘Native’ population. For some this is immigrants, for others Muslims, for the racist far-Right, it means black people being controlled by Jews, among others. But for all, it means anti-capitalists and grassroots communities in struggle which fight against the dominant social order and power structure. As Liam Stack wrote:
Globalism is often used as a synonym for globalization, the system of global economic interconnection that has been critiqued for decades by liberal groups like labor unions, environmental organizations and opponents of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But for the far right, the term encapsulates a conspiratorial worldview based on racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism…
The term also often explicitly rejects any sort of anti-capitalist analysis of the systems of power and moreover, and instead replaces a class analysis with racial and national overtones:
Lauren Southern, a host on the right-wing Canadian media site Rebel Media, explicitly rejected its use as a synonym for globalization in a video she posted online in September. She said the word meant rule by autocrats — such as President Obama, former President George W. Bush and the United Nations — who value “the false flag of diversity” and “unchecked immigration from the third world.”
Hope Hicks, Trump’s spokesperson defined globalism as such:
An economic and political ideology which puts allegiance to international institutions ahead of the nation-state; seeks the unrestricted movement of goods, labor and people across borders; and rejects the principle that the citizens of a country are entitled to preference for jobs and other economic considerations as a virtue of their citizenship.
For the ‘anti-globalists’ then, the major problems facing everyday people are not pollution, repression, or poverty, but the pooling of State power into umbrella organizations, such as the United Nations, and “the flooding” of countries by immigration. For the Right, this results in a perceived attack on Western Civilization.
And for some on the far-Right, these ideas take extreme forms. For example, Alex Jones (who called globalism “the ultimate form of slavery”) contends that the globalists ultimate plan is a one world government and that they use immigration to flood sovereign States in order to destroy them and rig elections. Jones then goes on to contend that globalist elites also have plans to kill off a massive amount of the population through genocide and extermination for the sake of consolidating their power. Jones also preaches a set of even more hardcore conspiracy theories, some of which are paranormal in character and outright fucking crazy. But in the last year, Jones has crossed over as a Trump supporter, having Trump on his show, and we’ve even watched as Trump has parroted much of what Jones says in his radio broadcasts. It’s easy to laugh Jones off, but clearly his myth of ‘globalism’ is selling.
An image of George Soros from InfoWars’ article on globalism.
The Oath Keepers, one of the biggest Patriot groups also label globalism and globalists as their chief enemy. From the Oath Keeper page:
Arising out of the writings of Immanuel Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (the Hegelian dialectic), and even further back to Plato, Globalism is a belief in a Utopian world run by wise men who care for the masses with a kind, benevolent hand. This we know is a bunch of crap, because those who are leading, (and have led), the world into this collective dystopia have murdered, “collectively”, hundreds of millions of people, through wars, genocide, ethnic cleansing and eugenics. Fascism, socialism, communism and crony capitalism are all globalist at their core. meaning the collective is supreme over the individual. It is the battle between collectivism and individualism that we should be focused on, not left versus right,republican versus democrat, or fascist versus communist, but, rather, the collectivists vs. the individual, for collectivists hide in all the political persuasions. If someone wants to take your Creator-given, natural rights from you “for the greater good”, you can be assured they are collectivists. Those who would create the New World Order, are collectivists.
In many ways this critique of globalism simply continues cold-war opposition to communism, or inserts new enemies, such as immigrants or Islam, to make it fit into this idea of globalism as anything that threatens American nationalism and ‘sovereignty.’ The Conservativpedia post on globalism again makes this point:
Globalism is the failed liberal–authoritarian desire for a “one world” view that rejects the important role of nations in protecting values and encouraging productivity. Globalism is anti-American in encouraging Americans to adopt a “world view” rather than an “American view.” Globalists oppose nationalism and national sovereignty, and instead tend to favor on open borders, free trade, interventionalism, and foreign aid. Globalists virulently opposed Donald Trump in 2016. Instead, globalists preferred Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz for the nomination, both of whom have voted in favor of the globalist agenda as senators. Liberals support globalism because it leads to centralized power, thereby providing liberals with an easier way to gain control. It is far easier for liberals to persuade a handful of people in centralized government to rule in their favor than it is for liberals to push their agenda on a decentralized form of government.
The conspiracy theories of Alex Jones and his critique of “globalism” has been mainstreamed by Trump, who not only came on Jones’ show, but parrots much of his talking points.
This is why immigration is such a huge point on the far-Right, because they see it as “a tool of the globalists” to destroy State sovereignty. Of course, this myth hides the fact that mass migration of people is caused largely by the globalization of the capitalist economy, US involvement in the drug war and foreign policy, and now, climate change and lack of access to water. As The National Interest expands the far-Right position clearly:
Nationalists believe that any true nation must have clearly delineated and protected borders, otherwise it isn’t really a nation. They also believe that their nation’s cultural heritage is sacred and needs to be protected, whereas mass immigration from far-flung lands could undermine the national commitment to that heritage. Globalists don’t care about borders. They believe the nation-state is obsolete, a relic of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, which codified the recognition of co-existing nation states. Globalists reject Westphalia in favor of an integrated world with information, money, goods and people traversing the globe at accelerating speeds without much regard to traditional concepts of nationhood or borders.
The overall logic of those opposed to globalism can best be reiterated and understood in simplicity by the Neo-Nazi Matthew Heimbach, who stated that the coming period will be defined by a war between globalism and nationalism, where nationalists of all stripes will fight against the globalist elites, which in Heimbach view, are manifested as a racialized Jewish global ruling class. If the nationalists are successful Heimbach contends, they will then create fascist States for each of their own races. While Heimbach’s position would be seen as extreme even on the Right, in many ways, this is just the logical conclusion on an idea founded on anti-Semitism. As Stack wrote:
Far-right groups in the United States began to refer to globalism at the end of the Cold War, when it replaced communism as an idea that was an ever-present danger to the nation, Mr. Pitcavage said. They have also referred to it as the New World Order, and soon they saw its tentacles everywhere. The shape of that conspiracy had distinctly anti-Semitic overtones, in part because many of communism’s foes had historically seen communism as inextricably linked to Judaism, Mr. Pitcavage said. Members of the far right became fixated on prominent Jews like the businessman and philanthropist George Soros. Those conspiratorial beliefs were bolstered when former President George Bush celebrated the end of the Cold War in a 1991 speech by saying it was the dawn of a “new world order.” His use of the phrase was taken as proof by many that a globalist conspiracy really was afoot.
The problem with all of this talk of ‘globalism’ vs nationalism is that it holds half-truths and full lies. Neoliberal finance capitalism is a global system. Neoliberalism and globalization have left behind billions of people, destroyed the environment, and attacked the living standards of the majority of people at the benefit of a small set of elites. However this is not conspiracy, it is not the creation of a cabal of Jews, and moreover, globalization is not designed to destroy the power of national States in order to create a one world government, nor is it the project of ideological liberal/Jewish/Islamics/Communists, or ‘globalists.’ Globalization and capitalism in general needs States. It needs them to manage and control their populations and lock them in place, even as capital and goods move freely. Finally, States are needed by elites on a variety of levels in order to bring about stability and prevent revolution when revolt and crisis break out. Moreover, just because capital is more globalized, does not mean that there are not competing visions among elites themselves.
But while the myth of globalism exists to explain the world in a way that allows the Right to actually make sense to people, and moreover, to make themselves appear to actually have political agency, it has other myths to describe everyone who resists in the here and now.
The Myth and Reality of George Soros
Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2016
If there’s one thing Right loves to throw around, it’s the idea that George Soros is behind any sort of social movement, organized protest, or dissent in general against the status-quo. This is something that is held dear by all parts of the far-Right and even the center right-wing. It seeks to make sense of popular struggles and dismiss them as simply the work of people who are paid off by an evil financial capitalist. The myth has links back to anti-Semitic works such as the original fake news piece, The Protocols of Zion, and Soros being Jewish only adds icing to the far-Right’s cake. Moreover, it also side steps the issue of the very real stranglehold that non-profits and foundation money does play in resistance movements, which is negative, that seeks to channel social movements back into politics and the State, as opposed to building autonomous power on a community level.
But who is Soros? George Soros is the chairman of Soros Fund Management and is one of the 30 richest people in the world, making billions on hedge funds and currency speculation. Far from being an anti-capitalist or revolutionary, he’s most known for as “the man that broke the bank of England,” after he neted over $1 billion in currency speculation. Along with being one of the richest capitalists alive, Soros also donates to and funds many liberal non-profits that promote the Democratic Party and it’s bureaucrats. Soros has also backed many Democratic candidates, such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In 1984, Soros set up the Open Society Foundation that acts as a grantmaking network, further expanding the amount of non-profits who took on the role of providing social services; filling gaps that were created after Reagan began slashing various programs.
Because Soros does have expansive wealth, donates to what the far-Right describes as “left-wing” groups such as MoveOn.org (a front for the Democratic Party), the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and MediaMatters.org (a large liberal non-profit), along with Democratic career politicians, on top of coming from a Jewish background, those on the Right love to use the image of Soros as a wealthy Jewish elitist to further a wide range of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and in the eyes of the far-Right, every riot, strike, occupation, and disruption ultimately has one man behind it: Soros.
This is also a myth that like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or shows like Ancient Aliens, gets ratings, clicks, and votes. One of Donald Trump’s last campaign adds attacked Soros, along with the head of Goldman Sachs (where ironically Trump’s top advisor Steve Bannon formerly of Brietbart used to work), and the Federal Reserve, along with Clinton, in what many described as having anti-Semitic undertones. In 2010, Glenn Beck released a two part series on Soros, calling him “The Puppet Master,” claiming that he wanted a one world government and for himself to rule it. Again, this reduction of struggle, dissent, and unrest boils down complex situations into easy solutions; and Soros as a wealthy Jew makes an easy devil for the far-Right.
The far-Right portrays Soros as behind the organic struggles of poor, especially black people, as a way to demonize and downplay them. This plays into the myth that a Jewish cabal controls the world and moreover, that black people are unable to organize themselves without “puppet masters.”
For instance, during the fall of 2014, the far-Right again used the myth of Soros to claim that he was behind the Ferguson riots, and paid people tens of millions of protesters to “riot” in the wake of police murder of Mike Brown, Jr. Later, as black insurgency spread to Baltimore, the far-Right again pushed the line that Soros was bank-rolling the Black Lives Matter movement, which many on the Right simply equated part and parcel with the self-organized uprisings that were organically coming from the black community itselves. As the Movement for Black Lives (in many ways the “official” Black Lives Matter organization) tried to reign in the expanding movement that was becoming more and more militant, it also became awash in grants from the Ford Foundation as Soros’ Open Society Foundation. Not surprisingly, some of the leaders of the official organizations of Black Lives Matter, and its push for policy reforms, Campaign Zero, and ended up endorsing Clinton.
For those on the far-Right, this is evidence that the entire movement was itself funded by Soros, and that the rebellions, protests, mass organizing, and uprisings were all his doing. But what this really shows is that wealthy liberals and powerful non-profits were trying to bring popular and self-organized movements back into politics; to smother them of any revolutionary potential. For instance, in a recent article on Left Voice by Julia Wallace and Juan Ferre argues that this relationship between wealthy donors (like Soros) and non-profits actually moved revolt out of the streets and back into more ‘acceptable forms’:
We may ask ourselves, how did a platform of a movement that swept the streets throughout the US become a set of policy briefs meant to lobby Congress? The undersigned names and organizational affiliations give us a hint: most belong to the world of nonprofits, many are sponsored by the Ford Foundation, George Soros, the Black-Led Movement Fund, and other capitalist funders. Wealthy philanthropists like George Soros are not friends of popular struggles, foolishly bankrolling their own demise. Organizations like the Ford Foundation are not interested in “liberation,” but rather, appeasement and co-optation. There is a long history of US capitalists intervening in social movements (ie., the Civil Rights movement) with the effect of steering them away from militancy and towards compromise. Philanthropy is a strategy of the rich, who may give up some wealth to fund progressive projects in order to quell social unrest, maintain their position of power, and maintain the capitalist order. Many organizations that form part of the M4BL have taken donations from corporations, including a $500,000 grant from Google (Ella Baker Foundation). There is plenty of lip service to opposing capitalism, but how much challenge is really being made when the same organizations are accepting money from millionaire capitalists and billion-dollar corporations? The ever-burgeoning nonprofit industry has a key role to play in contemporary US society. It contains the outrage of the disenfranchised, the most exploited and oppressed. It diverts the thrust of militant activism from disruption to civic procedures. The money and logistics funneled into these movements have a determining influence. In exchange for precious resources, they shape the demands and methods of the organizations they fund to fit the likes of the funders. As progressive as it may seem, the generous influx of money into these movements causes terrible harm. A significant layer of activists becomes “professionalized,” embraces the modus operandi in these settings and reproduces a strategic framework and discourse that leads nowhere.
The far-Right portrays Soros as behind popular revolt because it wants to paint grassroots organizing and resistance as illegitimate.
In short, Soros along with a host of other wealthy and powerful liberals were part of a push to pacify and contain Black Lives Matter and bring it back into the Democratic Party, but had nothing to do with “funding riots,” as the far-Right likes to imagine. The elites that attempt to control social movements with money want them to be political not disruptive.
But these are also myths that aren’t going away anytime soon. Recently, far-Right social media accounts proclaimed that Soros would “use black hate groups to bring down America.” Not surprisingly, these quotes were quickly shown to be completely made up and false. Most recently, the far-Right claimed that Soros owned various electronic voting machines in a variety of states, and thus was possibly rigging the election, while these myths were quickly exposed as simply “fake news.”
Why the Right Needs These Myths
At the end of the day, the myth of Soros and the globalists is helpful to the far-Right because quite simply it explains why people revolt; for the Right, it’s simple: they are paid to and on their own, are too dumb or incapable of organizing anything. This myth goes back to the anti-Semitic and racist views of old, and the anti-communist lines held by the John Birch Society that a select group of puppet masters are playing the good workers and poor in an elaborate scheme for world domination.
But most importantly, the Right has a direct and real need to explain why revolt comes out of human communities because by attacking and discrediting it, it makes itself appear to be revolutionary and at the forefront of a worldwide struggle against “globalism” and overall, justifies themselves taking State power (or supporting it). This combination of dismissal of the capacity of human beings to run their own affairs and struggles, especially the poor and the colonized, while at the same time valorizing one’s own need to rule over those people, runs throughout both the authoritarian Left and the Right, and should recognized as the filth that it is and attacked.
In fighting the far-Right we can’t simply dismiss these ideas, we need to confront them head on. |
In Cars, International News, Toyota / By Matthew H Tong / 12 September 2017 6:32 pm / 34 comments
The Hilux is one of Toyota’s most successful models ever, with global sales tallying at 17.3 million units since it first debuted in 1968. It’s on sale in approximately 180 countries, but not in Japan since 2004. Well, that’s about to change now.
Effective today, the Toyota Hilux rejoins the Japanese domestic market with the new 2GD-FTV 2.4 litre turbodiesel as its sole beating heart. Two variants – X and Z – will go on sale, sharing the same electronic common-rail direct injection four-cylinder producing 148 hp at 3,400 rpm and 400 Nm of torque from 1,600 rpm. The six-speed super ECT automatic is the only transmission available for the pair.
Both twin-cabs variants are part-time four-wheel drive, featuring the same 4WD transfer dial as well as ECO and POWER drive modes for on-the-fly operation. Buyers can choose up to five colours, including Nebula Blue Metallic, a striking hue missing from our local palette. The cabin is all black and the seats are wrapped in cloth. Optitron instrument cluster with coloured multi-info display is exclusive to the Z variant, while the X settles for a more basic instrumentation.
It’s equipped with safety features such as pre-collision system with pedestrian detection collision avoidance that recognises both humans and cars, as well as lane departure alert.
The Toyota Hilux X is priced at 3,267,000 yen (RM125k) while the Z costs 3,742,200 yen (RM143k). They’re fully imported from the Ban Pho assembly plant in Thailand, and Toyota plans to shift 2,000 units in Japan annually. Back in Malaysia, the Hilux starts from RM87k for the single cab 2.4 MT to RM130k for the double cab 2.8G AT.
GALLERY: JDM Toyota Hilux Z
GALLERY: JDM Toyota Hilux X |
One of the most unique and uniquely odd film I have seen.Considering when and where it was made, the production values are almost unbelievably high. It seems to have been made in occupied France, with the clear intent to blame the Freemasons as dupes and/or masterminds in engineering the outbreak of war.While proving the premise seems like it would be an uphill battle, the film demonstrates great care in citing historical events within France to back this up. Citing Freemason infiltration into the German government as well (i.e., Nazi establishment), for a supposedly "National Socialist" (read NAZI) film, it does a really good job of making the German Freemason agitator look like a bad guy! A last minute attempt by the Nazi collaborators to shuffle blame to the Freemasons for the war not going so well? I wonder...Prescott Bush (yes the ancestor of the American presidents) did funnel cash to the Nazis to get them started... member of Skull and Bones, subsidiary of Freemasons. Obviously there is a real-life tie in here somewhere! So one cannot dismiss the film's premise out of hand.Students of freemasonry and NWO detectives will find here the most lavish and detailed expositions of secretive Masonic ritual I have ever seen. Others more knowledgeable than I say it is stunningly accurate. This alone made it worth watching.For more info on current relevance of the movie, may I suggest;Click Invisible Empire - A New World Order Defined
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Reviewer: twaine - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 2, 2018
Subject: Highly accurate depiction of Freemasonic corruption As a student of Freemasonry it's the single best film exposing this 'communist', aka satanic, aka Jewish supremacist cult. Most Gentile Masons are totally unaware that "the craft" also refers to witch craft; this is not speculation and they're the juju behind every 'revolution' that I've studied.
For decent Masons, and I know more than one, to understand the other 'craft' they must understand their ritual number lingo, and a bit of Eastern philosophy; at least the human energetic piece which allows one to understand how magic and sorcery are powered. They actually put this in our face in "Monsters Inc."!
If you're aware of TinyURL and use the label DragonsPawPrereqs you can find the key to their kingdom and most of what we've been fed about the "evil Nazis" has been inverted and is total garbage.
As Patton said before he was killed in the hospital, "We fought the wrong enemy"; the true enemy was and still is "communism", aka Jewish supremacism. - November 2, 2018Highly accurate depiction of Freemasonic corruption
Reviewer: luka10 - favorite favorite favorite - March 18, 2017
Subject: Collaborationist propaganda This movie has been procuced in France during german occupation. It was wanted by the government of the betrayer Pétain who was obssessed by freemasonery. It was not successfull so in the same show was another movie with the comic star Fernandel. It's an interesting document about this historical period. - March 18, 2017Collaborationist propaganda
Reviewer: donsiye - favorite favorite favorite - June 20, 2015
Subject: Seen better Propaganda films If anyone thinks that the war was started in the way they portrayed is naïve.
The Treaty of Versailles tried to destroy Germany, but it only helped to create Hitler and another world war.
Everyone knows that wars are good for business, and especially the money lenders.
The funniest part of the film was all the favors they asked of Avenel. - June 20, 2015Seen better Propaganda films
Reviewer: Leighdf - favorite favorite favorite - May 26, 2015
Subject: Presents a Bizarro World version of Freemasonry It's not what I'd call "stunningly accurate", but I'm sure it served the purposes of the Nazi propaganda ministry that commissioned it. I think some reviewers may miss the point... it's not INTENDED to be an accurate expose of Freemasonry. Nor is it a film "about occult Nazis". This is pro-Nazi propaganda which is purely anti-Masonic. As such it paints masons as secretive, conniving, and manipulative warmongers. It is no coincidence that Avenel's first conversation after initiation is with a Jew. The purpose of this film is to foment distrust of a group of people whose philosophy is at odds with that of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.
Definitely worth watching to see the Nazis' mindset. While viewing, remember... this is a Nazi portrayal of their enemies.
The subtitles could have been done better, but they were serviceable. The English-speaking viewer should plan to rely on pause, rewind, and freeze-frame now and again. You'll be glad of it, as the captions do much more than simply translate. They also impart important historical information that would otherwise be lost on a modern viewer. - May 26, 2015Presents a Bizarro World version of Freemasonry
Reviewer: carer2 - - May 1, 2014
Subject: French It should be pointed out that this film is French language with English sub-titles which I could not read very well as they do not stay on the screen long enough.Pity,because it looked interesting. - May 1, 2014French
Reviewer: Amish 01 - favorite - December 5, 2012
Subject: Propaganda 101
During ww2 Germany and in the USSR also, Freemasonry was simply folded into the political dictatorships. All lodges not part of this were dissolved and members who would not go along arrested along with others. The Nazi Party was founded by the
A better film about the occult Nazis would be: The claim of the film about a 'judeo-masonic' is just disinfo straight from the Protocols where the Freemason's world revolution is then spun to be a Jewish conspiracy, whether the Freemasons or the Pope is correctly identified as part of the revolution it is said they are all 'jewish'. Texe Marrs and many others continue to do this today. The Freemasons are Knights Templar & Jesuit priest founded. That is who wrote the degrees and who the top level answers to, unknown to the lower levels.During ww2 Germany and in the USSR also, Freemasonry was simply folded into the political dictatorships. All lodges not part of this were dissolved and members who would not go along arrested along with others. The Nazi Party was founded by the Teutonic Knights - German Templars - at their Thule Society , by a Freemason Skull n Bones like other Greek letter college fraternities was founded by Freemasons.A better film about the occult Nazis would be: Nazis: The Occult Conspiracy - December 5, 2012Propaganda 101 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans are threatening to boycott 2016 presidential debates sponsored by networks CNN and NBC unless the networks cancel plans for special programs on Democrat Hillary Clinton, a possible 2016 White House contender.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in Chicago, Illinois, June 14, 2013. REUTERS/John Gress
In letters Monday to executives for NBC Entertainment and CNN Worldwide, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said the programs amounted to political ads for Clinton, whose long public life has included serving as first lady, U.S. senator from New York and, most recently, secretary of state.
Priebus asked the companies to scrap plans by August 14 for the CNN documentary film, due to premiere next year, and the NBC miniseries on Clinton, expected to air in 2015.
“As an American company, you have every right to air programming of your choice,” Priebus wrote to NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt and CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker.
“But as American citizens, certainly you recognize why many are astounded at your actions, which appear to be a major network’s thinly veiled attempt at putting a thumb on the scales of the 2016 presidential election.”
Priebus said if CNN and NBC went ahead with the Clinton shows, he would seek a binding RNC vote that the Republican Party would not work with the two networks on its 2016 primary debates or sanction the debates sponsored by them.
State Republican Party leaders from Florida, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada and Iowa followed up on Priebus’s statement on Twitter, promising to support such a vote.
“Such political favoritism has no place in American journalism,” said South Carolina Republican Chairman Matt Moore.
CNN called the Republican actions premature, given the non-fiction film is months away from completion.
“We would encourage the members of the Republican National Committee to reserve judgment until they know more,” said CNN spokeswoman Barbara Levin. The documentary, commissioned by CNN’s film unit, was expected to appear in theaters in 2014.
“Should they decide not to participate in debates on CNN, we would find it curious, as limiting their debate participation seems to be the ultimate disservice to voters.”
An NBC spokeswoman said NBC News was completely independent of NBC Entertainment and had no involvement in the miniseries. NBC Entertainment declined to comment.
NBC’s Greenblatt, when asked in July about Clinton’s opponents potentially demanding equal time from the TV network, said NBC’s series would likely air before the presidential race heats up in the spring or summer of 2015.
U.S. election laws require broadcasters to give equal access to free air time to legally qualified political candidates. The rules do not apply to news coverage.
Clinton, who lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to President Barack Obama, has not said she is running in 2016 but many political analysts expect she will. |
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Two lesbians plan to exchange wedding vows Saturday evening in the front yard of Equality House, across the street from Westboro Baptist Church.
Aaron Jackson — co-founder of Planting Peace, the nonprofit organization that in March made the rainbow-colored building at 1200 S.W. Orleans the focal point of its equality campaign — said wedding ceremonies will begin at 8 p.m. for Little Rock, Ark., residents Kimberly Kidwell and Katie Short.
Jackson said Planting Peace hopes publicity surrounding the ceremony will send a signal to the U.S. Supreme Court as it decides two key cases regarding the constitutionality of gay marriage.
"We would like marriage equality, and we don’t think people should be treated as second-class citizens," Jackson said.
He said Planting Peace sent out a message on social media outlets asking if any same-sex couples would like to be married in front of Equality House, and it received about five responses.
Jackson said Planting Peace learned more about each couple before deciding that Kidwell and Short, who have been together five and a half years, "sounded like a good fit."
Jackson acknowledged same-sex marriage is illegal both in Kansas and in Arkansas, where Kidwell and Short live.
He said a Unitarian minister will officiate.
Jackson teamed up with John Dieubon in 2004 to found Planting Peace, a nonprofit organization that bought the house at 1200 S.W. Orleans last year. Planting Peace chose the location because it is across the street from Westboro Baptist Church, 3701 S.W. 12th, which has conducted anti-homosexual protests since 1991.
Jackson said in March: "This isn’t us trying to start a war with them or anything of that nature. This is just, they believe one thing and we believe another. We’re opposing their view."
Lizz Phelps, a spokeswoman for Westboro Baptist, said Wednesday that Planting Peace has been doing a "wonderful" job of bringing attention to issues she considers significant.
Phelps said she hopes Planting Peace’s efforts help prompt the nation to legalize same-sex marriages — because she believes Jesus Christ will return soon after that happens.
Phelps said the legalization of same-sex marriages in the days of Noah were followed soon afterward by the Great Flood, "and it says in the Gospel that as in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the return of our savior."
In an unrelated development, Jackson said Overland Park-based Twigs Interiors on Wednesday donated furniture valued at $30,000 to Equality House.
Jackson said workers brought in new couches, put in carpeting, painted interior walls and put in mirrors to show its commitment to the causes in which Equality House is involved.
Jackson said the company made the donation after learning about Equality House in an article published in The Pitch, a Kansas City, Mo.-based publication.
"It’s a huge blessing that they came over here and showed their support and helped us out," Jackson said. "We’re very appreciative of it." |
Three horses are dead and one is injured following a chuckwagon crash during a Thursday night race at the Calgary Stampede, officials confirm.
This story is from 2012. Two horses have died so far in the 2015 Calgary Stampede. Read about the latest Stampede horse death here.
In a video of the accident, Chad Harden's wagon takes a serious tumble in the back stretch of the Rangeland Derby's fourth heat.
The tumble brought down a number of his horses and an outrider — a cowboy who loads poles at the start and must finish the race with the chuckwagon.
Stampede spokesman Doug Fraser said two horses had to be put down by veterinarians. Harden and the outrider are both fine.
"One of Harden's outrider horses also collided with the wagon and sustained serious injuries," Fraser told reporters in a prepared statement. "The left lead horse, which was the horse that collapsed, experienced a fatal event the nature of which is undetermined at this time. The right lead horse and the outrider horse were humanely euthanized due to the severity of their injuries."
The horse on the right wheel sustained non-life-threatening injuries and is receiving veterinary attention, according to officials. The injuries will require surgery, but the horse will survive.
The left wheeler and the other outrider horse were not injured.
Chuckwagon driver Chad Harden speaks to reporters shortly after a crash during a Thursday night race led to the deaths of three of his horses. (CBC)
A tearful Harden, overcome with grief after the loss of his horses, spoke to reporters shortly after the animals were euthanized on the dirt track, calling them "part of our family."
"We love those horses," he said, his voice breaking with emotion. "The outriding horse is an 18-year-old horse, I've had him for 13 years. He's part of our family, he's supposed to be my kid's horse."
Speaking of his right lead horse, which helped Harden win the 2009 Calgary Stampede, he said the horse was irreplaceable.
"They're just like humans, they're our family," he said. "It's just devastating for our whole family. It's hard to take."
P.O.V. Should the Calgary Stampede's chuckwagon race be banned? Take our poll.
The Stampede introduced changes last year aimed at making chuckwagon races safer for both horses and competitors.
Vancouver Humane Society calls for ban
The move came after six horses died in 2010, two from heart attacks.
All horses are now inspected by veterinarians when the animals arrive at the Stampede, and before and after every race.
What is chuckwagon racing? The sport, at the Calgary Stampede since 1923, represents pioneer cowboys breaking up camp and racing their chuckwagon rigs back to town after working out on the range. A driver commands a team of thoroughbred horses supported by two outriders who follow the chuckwagon and must finish the race with it. A race starts with the outriders "breaking camp," mounting their horses and following the wagons as they complete a Figure 8 around two barrels before circling the track. The first wagon to cross the finish line usually wins, but time penalties are given for infractions like knocking over a barrel, wagon interference or an outrider finishing too far behind his wagon driver.
The rules also require that the horses be given a mandatory day of rest after every four days of racing.
To reduce crowding on the track and the chance of collisions, the number of outriders alongside each competing chuckwagon was decreased to two from four. Several of the riders were seriously injured in previous years.
At last year's Stampede, safety officials fined chuckwagon driver Cliff Cunningham $12,500 — the steepest fine ever levied on a driver at the event — following a race collision that led to the death of a horse. The initial fine was only $2,500, but the penalty was later raised when investigating officials reviewed footage of the accident and interviewed other drivers involved.
Animal welfare groups have continued to cry foul over the popular Stampede, in spite of recent efforts to appease such organizations. Animal rights activists have long charged that the rodeo amounts to sanctioned animal cruelty.
The Vancouver Humane Society has specifically targeted the chuckwagon races, expressing concern over the safety of the event and noting that more than 50 horses in the races have been killed in the past 26 years. |
Share. Winners announced. Winners announced.
UPDATE: We can now officially announce the winner of this competition. Congratulations to PythonSelkan! Check out the Top 5 Previously, On Uncharted trailers, including the winner's, below.
PythonSelkan
Sameer A.
Tom W.
James G.
Josh B.
For all you budding filmmakers out there, this one's for you. With just under four months until Uncharted 4: A Thief's End launches, we're making the wait a bit more bearable by offering one lucky Nathan Drake fan a Sony 4K Android TV with a copy of Uncharted 4 Collector's Edition at launch and a signed letter from Naughty Dog. The winning video may also be displayed in adverts across IGN.
To win this prize, you've got to create a trailer that gets everyone up to speed with the Uncharted story so far, and sets the scene for Uncharted 4. You can include whatever you want - the most explosive moments, Drake's sharp quips - anything you like. Just make it fun and memorable, which shouldn't be too hard considering Uncharted's pedigree.
The winning video may be featured in adverts across IGN, plus, the Top 5 trailers will be featured in an article.
You'll need Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection to create the trailer, but the rest is up to you. You can use any platform you want to edit the video, ShareFactory, Adobe Premiere, whatever floats your creative boat.
How to Enter
So if you think you can make a trailer that will get everyone pumped for Drake's next adventure, here's how to get involved:
Create a 'Previously On' trailer summarising the story of the Uncharted series so far in a video no longer than six minutes in length.
You must do this using Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection on PlayStation 4 and a video editor of your choice.
The video must be 720p or higher.
You can submit your entry in one of the ways described below. By entering into this competition, you understand and agree that your details will be shared with Sony to choose the winning entry. Full terms and conditions can be found HERE.
Email
Send your finished video to [email protected] with "Previously, on Uncharted" in the subject line. In the body of the email please provide the following:
a link to your video (can be a link, or a raw video file),
your full name, and a statement confirming you are over the age of 18.
Twitter
Include your video or a link to your video in a Tweet and send it to @IGNUK with the hashtag #IGNUncharted4.
This competition closes at 9am on the 8th February 2016 and is only open to UK residents over the age of 18. |
Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved Christopher Plaskon, right, with attorney Edward Gavin, appears in Superior Court in Milford, Conn., Monday, March 7, 2016. Plaskon has pleaded no contest in the killing of a classmate at their high school on junior prom day in 2014. (Ned...
Copyright by KXAN - All rights reserved Christopher Plaskon, right, with attorney Edward Gavin, appears in Superior Court in Milford, Conn., Monday, March 7, 2016. Plaskon has pleaded no contest in the killing of a classmate at their high school on junior prom day in 2014. (Ned...
Associated Press - MILFORD, Conn. (AP) - A teenager accused of stabbing a classmate to death at their high school for rejecting his invitation to the junior prom pleaded no contest to murder Monday, and prosecutors said they will seek a 25-year prison sentence.
Christopher Plaskon, 18, accepted a plea bargain during a brief appearance in Milford Superior Court. Sentencing is set for June 6.
Plaskon was charged with killing 16-year-old Maren Sanchez at Jonathan Law High School in Milford on April 25, 2014. His family and friends said he became upset that Sanchez turned down his prom invitation.
Plaskon was held at a psychiatric hospital after the stabbing. His attorneys were considering an insanity defense.
Plaskon lawyer Edward Garvin said his client suffered from psychosis and called the claim that the stabbing was over a prom rejection "inaccurate." State's Attorney Kevin Lawlor, however, said evidence from several sources pointed to the rejection as the reason for the attack.
Garvin said state law would allow Plaskon to apply for parole in 13 years, based on the fact that he was 16 at the time of the killing.
Lawlor said the plea bargain was the best result possible in the case.
"I've said it before and I've said it to countless families: No number (of years in prison) is going to bring your loved one back. I just hope they can move on and heal," he said.
Sanchez's mother declined to comment after the emotional hearing, at which several people wore purple - Sanchez's favorite color.
The attack happened in a first-floor hallway at about 7:15 a.m. on the day of the junior prom. Students described an emotional scene where people were crying as police and paramedics swarmed the school.
A witness tried to pull Plaskon off Sanchez during the attack, and another saw Plaskon discard a bloody knife, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Plaskon was taken to the principal's office in bloody clothing and told police, "I did it. Just arrest me," according to the affidavit.
Staff members and paramedics performed life-saving measures on Sanchez, but she was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly afterward. The medical examiner's office said she was stabbed in the torso and neck.
Sanchez, a member of the National Honor Society who was active in drama and other school activities, had been focused on prom in the days before she was killed. She had posted on Facebook a photograph of herself wearing a blue prom dress and was looking forward to attending with a new boyfriend.
At school on the day before the stabbing, Sanchez and a friend talked excitedly about their plans for the upcoming dance.
A friend of Plaskon's told police that Plaskon thought about hurting Sanchez because he wanted to be more than friends with her. The friend said Plaskon said he wouldn't mind if Sanchez "was dead or hit by a bus." |
A new study puts some old folk wisdom to "feed a cold and starve a fever" to the test. In mouse models of disease, Yale researchers looked at the effects of providing nutrients during infection and found opposing effects depending on whether the infections were bacterial or viral. Mice with bacterial infections that were fed died, while those with viral infections who were fed lived. The paper appears September 8 in Cell.
"We were surprised at how profound the effects of feeding were, both positive and negative," says senior author Ruslan Medzhitov, David W. Wallace Professor of Immunobiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Yale School of Medicine. "Anorexia--not eating--is a common behavior during sickness that is seen in people and all kinds of animals. Our findings show that it has a strong protective effect with certain infections, but not with others."
In the first series of experiments, the investigators infected mice with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which commonly causes food poisoning. The mice stopped eating, and they eventually recovered. But when the mice were force fed, they died. The researchers then broke the food down by component and found fatal reactions when the mice were given glucose, but not when they were fed proteins or fats. Giving mice the chemical 2-DG, which prevents glucose metabolism, was enough to rescue even mice who were fed glucose and allowed them to survive the infection.
When the researchers did similar studies in mice with viral infections, they found the opposite effect. Mice infected with the flu virus A/WSN/33 survived when they were force fed glucose, but died when they were denied food or given 2-DG.
Further research showed that different areas of the brain were affected depending on which type of infection the mice died from, indicating that the animals' metabolic needs differ depending on which part of the immune system had been activated.
"Almost everything we know about infection is based on immune response studies and looking at how the immune system eliminates pathogens," Medzhitov says. "But that's not the only way we defend ourselves. There are also cases where we change and adapt so that microbes don't cause harm. Our study manipulated the ability of these mice to tolerate and survive infection without doing anything that had an effect on the pathogens themselves."
Medzhitov's Lab is now looking at the effects of another common sickness behavior--changes in sleep patterns--on how the immune system fights infection. His team is also doing follow-up studies on the pathways involved in food preference, which may explain the cravings that people have for certain foods when they're sick.
But he says their findings may have more immediate implications as well, for the design of clinical trials evaluating the benefits of providing nutrients to patients with sepsis. "Sepsis is a critical problem in hospital ICUs that defies most modern medical approaches," he says. "A number of studies have looked at nutrition in patients with sepsis, and the results have been mixed. But these studies didn't segregate patients based on whether their sepsis was bacterial or viral. The implication is that patients should be stratified by the cause of their sepsis, and trials should be designed based on that."
###
This research was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Cell, Wang et al: "Opposing Effects of Fasting Metabolism on Tissue Tolerance in Bacterial and Viral Inflammation." http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(16)30972-2 |
As Hurricane Sandy was approaching the Jersey Shore, President Barack Obama has suspended his campaign activities to be at the ready for the pending crisis. But on Monday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer wasn’t convinced it wasn’t just for political imaging purposes.
Krauthammer compared Obama’s willingness to be out front on Sandy to his lack of willingness to be out front on Benghazi, which he said suggested political opportunism.
“He says he’s not concerned about the impact on the elections,” Krauthammer said. “I’m sure he’s very sincere on that. It is a little odd that he shows up in the briefing room, where he hasn’t shown up in the briefing room for about, what — a month and a half on Libya, or for everything else for that matter? Then you get the photo-ops of him in the situation room deploying, I guess, the utility crews who will restore power all over America. Whereas you would think he might want to use the situation room and had convened high-level people during the nine hours our people were under attack in Benghazi.”
Krauthammer went on to explain why the onus of the disaster prep and relief isn’t on the president, but on the governors of states. But in this instance he suggested it is serving as an opportunity for the commander-in-chief to steer the momentum of the election back his way.
“It’s hard to look at this, playing the president, playing the commander-in-chief in what’s a natural disaster that really doesn’t a lot of leadership from the White House,” Krauthammer said. “It’s up to the governors mostly. The White House and the governors release money. That’s about all that they do. And he’s really good at releasing money and pretending it’s not about politics. He wants to use this to show himself in command and I think he might actually be the beneficiary of the fact that all national attention is drawn away for three days. Romney clearly had the momentum, it slowed down but it was still heading in his direction. It’s not clear what happens when the country sort of wakes up out of this in three days and restarts attention on the campaign, whether the momentum will be gone or not. I mean, that’s an open question.”
(h/t Real Clear Politics Video)
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(CN) – John Roll, the chief federal judge in Arizona, had made the decision to visit a Safeway in Casas Adobes after attending Sunday morning Mass. He wanted to speak with U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords about a brewing crisis in the state’s federal courts.
Giffords was holding a “Congress on Your Corner” event in the supermarket parking lot. At 10 a.m. as Giffords spoke to a pair of constituents, Roll approached the Democratic politician to tell her what was on his mind.
He had only just said hello to Giffords when a man in the crowd approached with a 9mm Glock pistol and began firing.
Judge Roll was among the six people Jared Lee Loughner shot and killed in the Tucson shooting on Jan. 8, 2011. The very problem that occupied Roll as he made his way to meet Giffords had just worsened.
In the days before he was shot, Roll had been coming to terms with a Senate confirmation that would send Judge Mary Murguia to the 9th Circuit. Months earlier, U.S. District Judge Frank Zapata had taken senior status, a kind of semi-retirement.
Now, there were only three active judges left on a court with 12 permanent seats, leaving New Chief judge Roslyn Silver to divvy up Roll’s 900 criminal and civil cases.
The ability of the court to deliver justice in a timely manner to the people of Arizona was at stake. Silver announced a judicial emergency. Statutory time limits for trying defendants were temporarily suspended.
Three years down the line, Arizona is still one of several federal districts dealing with a ballooning caseload because of judicial vacancies.
The U.S. judiciary defines a judicial emergency as vacancy that leaves weighted filings in excess of 600 cases for each judge; any vacancy that is older than 18 months and has left judges with weighted filings of 430 to 600 cases; or any court with only one active judge.
Since Roll’s death, four more judges for the District of Arizona – David Bury, Frederick Martone, James Teilborg and Roslyn Silver – took senior status, leaving the court with 699 adjusted filings per judgeship.
In late January, the U.S. Judiciary reported that the Senate had taken the “highly unusual” step of holding a single-shot confirmation hearing for six Arizona nominees.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Logan, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney John Tuchi, former U.S. Attorney Diane Humetewa, lawyer Rosemary Marquez, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Douglas Rayes and Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge James Soto took one step closer to filling the seats this week, after the Judiciary committee approved the nominations by voice vote.
At the committee’s executive business meeting on Thursday, ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley voiced support for the unprecedented package deal conservative Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake had arranged with the White House.
“That’s not to say that I’m not troubled by certain aspects of the nominees’ record,” Grassley told the committee.
“Just because a nominee is voice-voted out of committee, it does not necessarily mean a nominee enjoys unanimous support when it gets before all 100 senators,” Grassley said. “And every member deserves a right for a recorded vote.”
The senator did not mention the judicial emergency in the state. He did not mention that Judge Zapata’s seat had been vacant for 1,304 days; Judge Murguia’s for 1,151 days. He never pointed out that the court had been grappling with how to adequately deliver justice to its people for more than three years.
Despite keeping a nomination pace comparable to that of President Bill Clinton in his fifth year, and surpassing President George W. Bush’s rate, President Barack Obama was saddled at the end of 2013 with more judicial vacancies than either of his two predecessors during the same period, the Brookings Institution found.
“Bush and Clinton, by contrast, saw the number of vacancies decline overall by the end of their fifth years in office,” it reported.
Political obstructionism has taken its toll on courts that have already faced a double-barrel assault from sequestration and last year’s government shutdown.
When Democratic senators last year pushed through the “nuclear” option, changing Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster and allow confirmations by a simple majority, it seemed Washington had taken one step closer to filling empty seats.
But Republicans politicians in the Senate have found another weapon in their arsenal: the blue-slip procedure, or what some have called the “silent filibuster.”
Though senators let federal judicial nominees from their states move forward by indicating their approval on a blue slip of paper, a senator can obliterate the nomination altogether by never submitting his blue slip.
If the six Arizona nominees are confirmed, the tally of judicial emergencies will still stand at 29. In other words, Arizona is only one part of an ever-present problem – the same issue Judge Roll was intent on tackling more than three years ago.
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ELDERLY Australians committing welfare fraud on a massive scale are behind the extraordinarily high number of $100 notes in circulation, a former senior Reserve Bank official says.
Yesterday the Herald revealed there are now 10 $100 notes in circulation for each Australian, far more than the more commonly seen $20 notes.
Welfare fraud on a massive scale ... elderly people wanting to get the pension are hiding their income in cash to ensure they qualify for the means-tested benefit, former Reserve official Peter Mair says. Credit:Jessica Shapiro
One popular explanation is that they are used for illegal transactions as part of the cash economy, something the former Reserve official, Peter Mair, rejects as a "furphy".
In a letter to the Reserve Bank governor, Glenn Stevens, dated July 4, Mr Mair laid the blame squarely on elderly people wanting to get the pension and hiding their income in cash to ensure they qualified for the means-tested benefit. |
Note 1: Like fighting games? Check out my reviews of Fatal Fury: First Contact, Fatal Fury 2, Nekketsu Riki Kunio, Saturday Slam Masters, 3 Count Bout, and WWF WrestleFest!
Note 2: This game was played on an NES 101 model (toploader) that was modified to output in AV composite (red, yellow, white) just like the original NES. It was connected to a 32-inch HD tv.
Quick History: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters was released for the NES in North America and Europe in 1994, but surprisingly, the game was not released in Japan. It was released at the very end of the NES’ life cycle, as less and less games were being made for the system. By 1994, the NES’ successor, the Super Nintendo, was firmly established as the dominant home console (as well as competitor Sega Genesis), and TMNT Tournament Fighters was over-looked by most gamers (or they never knew it existed in the first place), even TMNT fans. Interestingly, both the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis released a version of TMNT Tournament Fighters as well, but those games (while different from one another) were unlike the NES release. While many gamers are familiar with the first 3 NES Turtle games (TMNT, TMNT 2: The Arcade Game, TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project), this 4th game, TMNT Tournament Fighters, received a lower-production run than the ultra-successful original 3 Turtles games for the NES.
Gameplay: TMNT Tournament Fighters is a one-on-one fighting game, similar to well-known games of that genre like Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat. Either against the CPU or against another human player, you select from among 7 characters and fight in a ‘best of 3 rounds’ match against the game’s other characters.
Modes: Many options are available in TMNT Tournament Fighters. A ‘Story’ mode is available, where the Turtles are challenged by their arch-enemy, Shredder to “meet in the streets to find out who is the best.” This mode simply has you choose 1 of the 4 Turtles and battle through the other characters in the game (including a ‘mirror’ match vs your own character). Additionally, for 1 player, you can select a quick match vs the computer, or for 2 players, vs each other. Another nice addition is the ‘Tournament,’ where any combination of human characters or CPU characters participate in a Knockout-Tournament to decide a champion.
Characters: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, Shredder, Casey Jones, and Hot Head are the game’s 7 selectable characters. The 4 Turtles are all palette-swapped versions of each other with slightly different colors; however, each one has their own unique special move(s) and particular animations. The Turtles all fight bare-handed. In 2 player VS, both human players could select the same characters, with the exception of Hot Head vs Hot Head. In Issue 54 of Nintendo Power, where this game was introduced, this line was given to explain why you couldn’t do this: “You can’t fight as Hot Head vs. Hot Head because the dragon spirit won’t allow such a battle to take place.” That always struck me as odd, even back in 1994. However, there is a way to achieve Hot Head vs Hot Head. If you select VS. CPU, pick Casey Jones or Shredder as your player and Hot Head as your CPU opponent, then win or lose your match, once you select ‘Re-match,’ you’ll be able to highlight Hot Head with both the ‘1 player’ and ‘CPU’ cursor to create the ‘forbidden’ match. It’s only then that you see why the developers didn’t want you to play this way – because Hot Head is so big, when you have two of him on screen at the same time, the game flickers a lot, and it doesn’t look good at all. However, you can still play the match with no problem despite this.
Options: The Options menu allows you to alter your Continues (for Story Mode), change the difficulty level, and change the game speed (from Normal to Turbo). All of these are welcome additions to the game. Personally, I feel the Turbo option is the best way to play, as Normal just feels a bit too slow. The game is simple enough to beat on Easy (although Shredder, your opponent in the game’s final match, is still tough), but the game amps up considerably beyond Easy mode.
Control: There aren’t a lot of great reviews for TMNT Tournament Fighters online, and the few I have found often site things like ‘unresponsive’ control for the game’s special moves. This couldn’t be further from wrong. The game controls extremely well, and pulling off the one or two special moves each character has works every time, as long as you’re inputting the control motions correctly. I have noticed that original source material, like the issue of Nintendo Power that originally reviewed the game, incorrectly listed how to utilize certain special moves – it’s entirely possible that the game’s instruction manual did this to, although I don’t own once to know for sure. There is an FAQ available online that mostly lists the moves correctly, with the exception of Casey Jones’ hockey stick attack (Hold Down/Away, then press Up + B). Since each character has only 1 or 2 special moves, they’re easy to memorize, and using them in-game is a key to winning.
Music & Sound: Meh. Nothing great here. The music is absolutely nothing special, and the sound effects could have been better. The punches and throws and special moves all have their own noises, but the NES, especially in 1994, could have done better than what’s here.
So, where can I find this game? EBay. The game has not been released for any modern-gaming download services like Nintendo’s eShop. You can also play the rom on your computer.
Conclusion: TMNT Tournament Fighters for the NES is an average game. It controls well, looks OK, and is one of the few one-on-one fighting games available for the system. The multitude of gameplay modes, as well as a decent Options menu, help the game. Beyond that, it’s just not a very ‘involved’ fighting game like Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, or even the Super Nintendo version of TMNT Tournament Fighters. While there is some small bit of fighting strategy to beating the game’s opponents, you’ll often have to rely on just hitting your same special move over and over to get the win.
The Southern Gentleman’s Opinion and Letter Grade: Recommended only if you’re a huge TMNT fan and looking to complete your collection of Turtles’ games for the NES. Otherwise, you might look for the excellent SNES version of Tournament Fighters, which is easier to locate and more in line with what fighting-game fans are likely to expect from their games. C+ |
And, it has to be said, a lot of the time, this problem isn't helped by the way things are reported
on the TV or in the news
.
These are the 5 most common terms that, when I hear them used, I die a little. Though their effect is subtle, all of these terms perpetrate common myths about the way evolution works. The sooner they become extinct, the better!
For some much better examples, check out the Living Fossils website.] UPDATE - don't do that, it's a creationist website, as someone has kindly pointed out by email. Does anyone know of a website that showcases living fossils without an agenda??
he main problems is that a link implies a chain; a great chain of being, with the dumber animals at the bottom and clever man at the top.
Instead, however, I prefer the term basal.
A lamprey is considered to be a more basal vertebrate than a human because it shares similar characteristics with what we expect the common ancestor of all vertebrates to have. We didn't evolve from a lamprey; we share a common ancestor that is just as distant from lampreys as it is from humans, it only looks a lot more like a lamprey.
Evolution is misunderstood by millions.Now, this term is something that often gets used synonymously with natural selection. In fact, it wasn't actually coined by Darwin himself; it was first used by Herbert Spencer, though Darwin later came to use it extensively.The problem with the phrase "survival of the fittest", in my view, is that it rather misrepresents the way that selection really works. This is because it isn't really the survival of the fittest organism that drives evolution. It's the death of the least fit organism.I can see how "survival of the fittest" appealed to victorian sensibilities! Instead of implying a brutal, red-in-tooth-and-claw vision of nature, it implies a striving towards self improvement. Which is, it has to be said, appealing. Unfortunately, it's neither borne out by theory nor facts.This is another very appealing term. Below was the best example I could find after a quick rifle through the drawers here in Leicester. It is a maple leaf next to a modernish mapleish leaf (sycamore). [It's so appealing because for some so called living fossils really look like just that: like a sorcerer has breathed life into an inanimate fossil. Or that the fossil animal has been there all along, biding its time.However, it just doesn't reflect reality. No organism can survive without adapting. Yes, it may well be that their body form seems relatively conservative, but then, it is likely there is a lot of change that we may have missed.I think it's very improbable that the same environment would be around for hundreds of millions of years, and even more improbable that the same organism would be able to stay on top of the game for that long. Instead, these organisms have necessarily had to flexible; ready to adapt to the tumultuous changes in the environment over the aeons.Richard Fortey advocates the term "survivors" instead; a much more preferable term. These animals are simply very, very successful, and are not some sort of dinosaur.This is undoubtedly the worst term in general use. There are many, many fundamental problems with this term, as I've written about before , but one tYet, there is a much deeper reason why I'd like this term to be dead and buried. It is entirely perjorative. It is only used by those wishing to deinigrate evolution. It automatically implies that we are involved in some sort of gigantic join-the-dots puzzle; that we spend our time desperately poring through rocks trying to find that one elusive crocoduck that will fill in our tree and finally legitimize our ill-conceived agenda.The reality is that, if anything, it's the other way round. We have far too many fossils and which ones are closer to the ancestral line and which are further is the tricky bit.This is the one term that I am willing to issue a full, North Korea style, gagging order on. The main reason is that media reporting is obsessed with this idea. What we're interested in is uncovering the history of life on Earth and understanding how evolution works. We're not simply trying to prove that it happened.In summary, we are not missing anything, and we're not looking, thank you very much.I have to say that, in outreach work that I've done, I've succumbed to saying this. It's just too convenient to say.Strictly speaking, we are no more evolved than a lamprey. We are good at we do and lampreys are good at what they do.Now, I'm sure that a lot of people will call me a pedant for disliking this term. The problem with using the word adaptation instead of trait or character is that it assumes that it got there via adaptionism.It's undeniably true that most important force that shapes the morphology of an organism is adaptation, i.e. evolving them so that they are better adapted to the task required. However, it is not the only force that shapes body parts or behaviours. Often, they are there because of constraints on evolution; they may arise simply in tandem with the evolution of another body part. So, I don't like it because it makes us inadvertently make assumptions about the origin of any character of an animal.Really, the people that ruined this term were evolutionary psycholgists, who, it's fair to say, regularly take an overwhelmingly adaptionist view of the human body. The worst example I can think of is the hypothesis that women like pink because it is an adaptation to picking berries. By using the term adaption, it automatically implies that there must be a selective reason for this. Remember what I was saying about survival of the fittest? This is a perfect example of that being misapplied. It is not simply that those who preferred pink were more likely to survive to have offspring; it would necessarily mean that those who didn't prefer pink would have to die. Which is... improbable, to say the least.There you have it. Now, I realize that there are probably less serious problems than this in media reporting. The problem is that, the more these terms wash over us by being slipped into the odd news report here and there, we're more and more anaesthetised to their erroneous connotations. If we replaced this with more correct language, we wouldn't have the widespread misunderstanding of evolution that there is currently. Or at least, not as bad.It's not particularly a problem for us paleontologists and evolutionary biologists, because we use specialist terminology. For instance, I might describe something as stem group if it's part of a transitional sequence; a term which has a precise definition, meaning we can be accurate and concise when we describe ideas to one another.Obviously, journalists can't provide a glossary with every article; it belies the entire point of journalism, namely being to digest a complex story and condense it down to one nice, shiny nugget of information. But there has to be better ways of reporting stories, rather than using these loaded terms. |
We’re not sure what’s going on over at Google but either incompetence or the trolling bug has seized control of operations. Last week we saw a purposeful redirect of maps.google.com send Windows Phone users to the search page instead of allowing them to use Maps (Google later backed down) and now today it’s affecting YouTube. The behavior is specific: head to m.youtube.com and click any video. In the past, such an action would launch Internet Explorer’s HTML5 video player, allowing Windows Phone users to watch just about everything that was mobile (assuming it wasn’t a Flash-only video). Now on Windows Phone 8 devices we get prompted to install an app.
While installing an app to watch a video may not seem like such a Herculean feat, we have to remember one thing here: we don’t have a YouTube app. Okay, technically we have the Microsoft YouTube player, which is just a front for the website, but the App prompt won’t actually reveal that. Instead, when a user clicks the “Search for app in the Store?” dialog box they are met with “Sorry, no apps found”.
Since as we mentioned the official Microsoft YouTube app is just a website wrapper, it exhibits the same behavior. The only opportunity users have would be to opt for a third party solution like Metrotube, SuperTube or PrimeTube. But when you search under ‘YouTube’ in the Store, those apps are slightly buried below some nonsense apps. So what’s going on here (Windows Phone 8)? As far as we can tell, the problem stems from Windows Phone 8 users using the default setting of Desktop Mode in Internet Explorer. Even though users can still navigate to m.youtube.com and view the mobile version of that site, videos simply will not play in that mode (on Windows Phone 7 devices where they don’t have the App Search ability, videos simply don’t play). Switching to the Mobile view in Internet Explorer appears to alleviate the problem. While that hardly seems like a terrible situation, it is causing confusion amongst users since the behavior has seemingly changed starting January 10th/11th for an unknown reason.
Reader complaints have started rolling in...
It gets worse for Windows Phone 7 users... On Windows Phone 7 the problem is even worse as Desktop mode or Mobile version both don't work on m.youtube.com anymore at all. That differs from Windows Phone 8 devices where switching to Desktop Mode appears to "get around" the block. One solution for some is to clear all of their Search History (cookies, passwords, websites) and restart the phone. Not an obvious solution but it seems to work. |
YEREVAN, November 25. /ARKA/. The Public Television of Armenia reported Friday morning that $15 428 777 has bee raised and promised in Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s 19th Telethon.
The telethon, conducted under the banner ‘My Artsakh [Armenain name of Karabakh - ARKA]’, was launched yesterday at 22:00 local time and lasted 12 hours. It was aired by some Armenian TV Channels, including the Public Television, and was available online also on the fund’s official website.
The financial resources raised this year in the telethon will be spent on recovery of Artsakh’s damaged areas, defense of the population and construction of houses for Artsakh’s multi-child families.
Along with that, purposed projects will be implemented in Armenia and Artsakh.
Ahead of the telethon, on November 16 to 20, an All European phonethon was conducted in France with participation of French, German and Swedish branches of the All Armenian Fund.
The Armenian community of Greece joined the phonethon. Over €1 352 000 was collected in the phonethon.
Hayastan All Armenian Fund has already held a special telethon after the four-day April war, on May 14, which collected more than $1.1 million.
The money has been spent on recovery of civil infrastructure and organization of humanitarian aid to the war-stricken people.
In 2015, the fund’s telethon, held under the slogan ‘Our Home’ raised about $10.4 million, which was spent on construction of houses for multi-child families.
Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s telethons have raised around $300 million over 25 years, which has been spent on implementation of more than 1,000 projects aimed at strengthening Armenia’s independence and improving lives of more than 10,000 residents of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.—0--
11:36 25.11.2016 |
From now until the opening of training camps, The MMQB will run a series of our Greatest Hits from the site’s first year. From April, Peter King gets an exclusive look at how the NFL schedule makers get the job done...
NEW YORK — On the fifth floor of the NFL’s Park Avenue offices in Manhattan, there is a small, rectangular room with frosted glass. You cannot see inside with the stainless-steel VAL PINCHBECK ROOM sign on the outside, and you cannot enter without a keycard. With good reason: This is where four men assigned to sift through more than 500,000 schedule possibilities worked almost every day (including from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Easter Sunday) for the past 10 weeks until completing the 2014 NFL schedule Tuesday night. No one without permission enters but them.
Not even the cleaning people at night. Three hours before the schedule was announced Wednesday, there was a garbage can in one corner of the room overflowing with Vitamin Water bottles, Pepsi cans and Starbucks cups. Across the room: an industrial-strength shredder with the remnants of the schedules that didn’t make the cut. The NFL offices are white-glove tidy, but this place … not so much. As the four men of the schedule did their post-mortem, and shared it with The MMQB, it was a little gamey in the room. That’s what happens when four men and 40 computers work for 70 days to invent what they hope will be a 256-game masterpiece—but which they know will bring charges of favoritism and cronyism from teams, TV networks and stadium operators.
This year, NFL senior vice president of broadcasting Howard Katz and his team had the following roadblocks to the schedule you’ve bitched and moaned about since last night: a combined 17 games in non-traditional slots—Thursday CBS/NFL Network games, Saturday NFL Network games, and a Sunday morning FOX game (Detroit-Atlanta, from London)—as well as six One Direction concerts at NFL venues in the fall, New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks playing at Soldier Field on Saturday of Week 9 (the NFL won’t risk a bad-weather rugby game ruining an already-iffy field for a Bears game the next day), and baseball. The joke in the room late Wednesday was the NFL would have to root against the Phillies all summer, because the Eagles are home on potential baseball playoff weekends on Oct. 5 and 12. Lord help the league if the Pirates get hot in October—because the Steelers are home Oct. 20 and 26. And it’s not neighborly to fool with the World Series.
The remnants of schedules that didn't make the cut in the Val Pinchbeck room, off limits to all but the four men who make the schedule. (Peter King/The MMQB) The remnants of schedules that didn't make the cut in the Val Pinchbeck room, off limits to all but the four men who make the schedule. (Peter King/The MMQB)
The rubric this year is even a crazier quilt than normal because of San Francisco and Minnesota. The Niners are a marquee team, but the NFL cannot play non-holiday weeknight games in Santa Clara, site of the 49ers’ new stadium, because the team and local authorities want to have a year to figure out how to accommodate weeknight traffic flow at the stadium. “We could not play the 49ers on a Monday or Thursday at home, with the exception of Thanksgiving,” said Katz. That’s how the Seahawks-at-Niners turkey day game got made. After years of freely scheduling the Vikings, now the restrictions in Minnesota are major because they’re playing on campus at the University of Minnesota while the new Vikings stadium gets built. So no home games Monday. No home games Thursday. No home games on Gopher football weekends.
After plugging in restriction after restriction, the magic schedule emerged from one of those 40 computers April 16, at precisely 4:20 p.m. In the six days that followed, 175 other schedules were analyzed as competitors, and 24 emerged as serious contenders, but none could beat the April 16 winner.
The late Pinchbeck used to make the schedule by hand, by filling in first the national TV games and all the others around it. Today, NFL senior director of broadcasting Michael North, the computer geek of the crew and the only one with a direct link to Pinchbeck (who died in 2004), plugged in 4,400 “seed schedules” to the 40 computers, with different permutations for all 46 national TV games, and he let the computers spit out tens of thousands of schedules.
“We threw away probably 175 schedules that we’d have played without batting an eye five years ago,” Katz said.
Said North: “Any one of these 4,400 seeds might be the one that leads you to the finished schedule. Any one might be a dead end. You’ve got to play all of them out. But on April 16, this finished schedule popped out, and we couldn’t find one after that to beat it.”
There almost was one. Before I tell you about the schedule that won the beauty contest, let me tell you about the schedule that finished in second place. If that one had won, the Seattle Seahawks would have been steamed.
The runner-up schedule had two major Seattle glitches that NFL hates to hand teams: a three-game road trip, and a road game after a Monday night road game. And they would have happened in the same three-game stretch. In mid-season, Seattle would have played at St. Louis on a Sunday, at Washington on a Monday night, and at Kansas City on a Sunday.
"You fix one team," Katz said, "and 12 more problems come up."
Anyplace east of Spokane is far from Seattle, obviously. But this schedule would have been a killer. First a 1,787-mile flight to St. Louis, and back after the game. Then a 2,311-mile flight to Baltimore-Washington Airport, and back after the game. Then a 1,407-mile flight to Kansas City, and back after the game. That’s 11,010 air miles in 15 days … unless, of course, the Seahawks spent a week in the Midwest or East to minimize one of the back-and-forths. Commissioner Roger Goodell is the final approver-in-chief of the schedule, and I wondered whether he’d have approved one that had the Super Bowl champion with such a brutal 15-day stretch.
“Would you have played that schedule?” I asked Katz.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “We didn’t want to. We were hopeful that we’d find a better one. I think we would have, and we did. If we had to play it, I think we would have had an interesting discussion with Roger about it. We had many interesting discussions in this room about it—whether it was a fatal flaw or not. I didn’t deem it fatal, but we were hoping we could find a way out of it.”
North chimed in then. “So it turns into a robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario,” he said. “If you want to fix this Seattle problem, who do you want to break in exchange? This was a schedule that we gave serious consideration to—look at this start for Kansas City.”
North put a schedule on the monitor in the room with a dreadful opening for Kansas City: five road games in the first seven weeks. “Would we have played a schedule, if everything else was good, with five of Kansas City’s first seven on the road, including a three-game road trip—left coast, right coast, left coast?” North said.
“The answer was no,” Katz said.
“That schedule fixed Seattle, but it broke Kansas City worse than what we were doing with Seattle,” North said.
“You fix one team,” said Katz, “and 12 more problems come up.”
[si_video id="video_9D278C44-C499-CB51-7645-9468656D28C2"]
* * *
From left: NFL senior manager of broadcasting Jonathan Payne, NFL VP/broadcasting Onnie Bose, NFL senior VP/broadcasting Howard Katz and NFL senior director of broadcasting Michael North in front of the old-fashioned schedule board, long a staple of the schedule process but outmoded today. (Peter King/The MMQB) From left: NFL senior manager of broadcasting Jonathan Payne, NFL VP/broadcasting Onnie Bose, NFL senior VP/broadcasting Howard Katz and NFL senior director of broadcasting Michael North in front of the old-fashioned schedule board, long a staple of the schedule process but outmoded today. (Peter King/The MMQB)
What else the group of four—Katz, North, vice president of broadcasting Onnie Bose and senior manager of broadcasting Jonathan Payne—had to contend with:
A different Thanksgiving. Three games, six NFC teams, three rivalries: Chicago at Detroit, Philadelphia at Dallas and, in the nightcap from California, Seattle at San Francisco. “We decided to make a statement on Thanksgiving,” Katz said. “It sounds corny, but it’s our most traditional national holiday. Let’s play great traditional rivalries game on Thanksgiving. So we took Chicago-Detroit and made that our CBS game.” Which leads us to …
A new NFL word: “crossflexing.” If you’re an NFL TV nerd, you know Chicago and Detroit, as NFC teams, should be on FOX if the game’s not a prime-time Thursday, Sunday or Monday game. But the new NFL TV contract calls for the league to be able to move up to seven FOX games to CBS annually, and up to seven games from CBS to FOX for the good of the overall Sunday schedule as the season goes on. One proviso: There must be an equal number of games flexed from one network to the other. Right now, four FOX games are going to CBS, and only two are slated to go from CBS to FOX. So Katz must come up with at least two more to migrate away from CBS.
Here’s how it helped this year’s slate: Look at Week 4. CBS was weak in the early 1 p.m. Eastern Time slot with Buffalo-Houston, Tennessee-Indianapolis and Miami-Oakland. Meanwhile, FOX had a gangbuster early schedule: Green Bay-Chicago, Detroit-New York Jets, Tampa Bay-Pittsburgh and Carolina-Baltimore. “We looked at it and said wait a second,” Katz said. “FOX has Green Bay-Chicago at 1, and they could take that game to a lot of places. That’s a huge game. They had two other good games. Then Carolina-Baltimore … Steve Smith playing his old team, a big storyline there. What kind of distribution will Carolina-Baltimore get if it stayed on FOX?” Katz estimated 15 to 18 percent of the country would see that game. “So we crossflexed,” he said. On CBS, Katz believes 40 percent of the country will see Carolina and Baltimore. “That’s better for our fans,” he said. Obviously, the NFC is the stronger conference now, with more attractive teams. It helps the NFL to have more attractive games move from FOX to CBS.
Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning meet again in Week 1. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images) Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning meet again in Week 1. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Here’s another one: Washington-San Francisco will be the CBS doubleheader game (the late Sunday afternoon national game on CBS) in Week 12. Why? FOX already has a slew of strong games, including Green Bay-Minnesota and Detroit-New England, and the late game would be seen only in home markets because it’s not a FOX doubleheader week. The Washington-San Francisco game might be seen by 70 percent of the country now, instead of 20 percent.
A better Thursday schedule. There was pressure on Katz’s crew to make Thursday a strong night for football, with CBS showing eight Thursday night games starting in Week 2. The league didn’t want a bottom-feeder stinker, as sometimes happened in the past on NFL Network. The CBS package is strong, starting with Steelers-Ravens on Sept. 15, the Giants at Washington in Week 4 (the week when the CBS fall season kicks off, an important slot for CBS), Jets-Pats in Week 7, Saints-Panthers in Week 9.
The league obviously thought a Denver-Seattle opener was risky—based on the outcome of the Super Bowl. Those are my words, not theirs. “We thought there were three likely possibilities for the opener: San Francisco, Denver and Green Bay,” Katz said. “I guess we could’ve played Dallas, but we really liked Dallas for the FOX doubleheader for Week 1. Dallas also had Texas Rangers conflicts the first month of the season. Putting them on the road in Week 1 might have doomed them for four or five road games in the first few weeks. I thought we had a better place to use the San Francisco-Seattle game, because it has become such an incredibly great rivalry game. It seemed to us that saving that game for later in the season on NBC was probably a smarter move. Green Bay felt right.” The move also left Peyton Manning to kick off the Sunday night season with the Broncos. Against Andrew Luck and his old friends, the Colts
A conscious effort to play more division games late. For the past two seasons the league has played all 16 games on the final regular-season Sunday within the division. This year, the last three weeks will be heavy on division games—33 out of 48 played, up from 26 in the final three weeks last year. “A heavy dose of division games late in the season usually leads to great things,” Katz said. Five of Seattle’s final six games are within the NFC West—including both Niners games (Week 13 and 15).
Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III will meet on Monday Night Football. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III will meet on Monday Night Football. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Don’t cry for ESPN. Even with more quality games siphoned off to CBS on Thursday, the Monday slate doesn’t look bad at all. Check out the quarterbacks in the first five Monday games: Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers, Luck, Jay Cutler, Tom Brady—and in the sixth, it’s a Russell Wilson-Robert Griffin III matchup.
More flexing for NBC, though it’s a long shot to be used. The new TV deal allows the league to flex out of no more than two Sunday night games in six additional weeks, Weeks 5 through 10. This, basically, is insurance against a huge injury to a quarterback. Hard to imagine the NFL and NBC not wanting any of the slated games, with Brady (Week 5), Giants-Eagles (6), Niners-Broncos (7), Aaron Rodgers-Drew Brees (8), Ravens-Steelers (9) and Bears-Packers (10). It’d likely take a stunning reversal by one of the teams, or a quarterback going down, to flex in those weeks.
A very strange Thursday daily double. Have two teams ever played back-to-back Thursday games? This year, Chicago and Dallas will. Each plays on Thanksgiving, and the NFL has matched them against each other at Soldier Field the following week, on Dec. 4. “We have a rule that says each team can only play one short-week Thursday game,” Katz said. “It’s about player health and safety. Week one doesn’t count. So if you take three games on Thanksgiving, we can play 13 other Thursdays. That’s 16 Thursday games; with 32 teams, everyone plays one. In this new package, we had to figure out how to create one more. So we took two of the six teams playing on Thanksgiving and playing them against each other the following Thursday. They’re playing on full rest, and then 10 days after that.’’ Turns out it’s not the first time, as Pro Football Talk reported today: Green Bay and Dallas faced off the Thursday after they both played on Thanksgiving in 2007.
* * *
There are problems. The world champs have only one prime-time home game and it’s the enforced one that kicks off the season; that rankles the Pacific Northwest. The Bears went 8-8 last year, but they’re being treated like the ’85 Bears, with the maximum five prime-time games, plus the Thanksgiving matinee at Detroit. Chicago had better be good—really good. Oakland flies to New Jersey, New England and London, all in September. FOX wanted its annual doubleheader leading into its Sunday night World Series game in October, but that weekend, for many reasons, had to be a CBS doubleheader weekend.
But no schedule makes 32 teams and the TV networks universally happy. The computerization of the process makes sure Katz’ crew at least sees every possibility. About a month ago, before one of the computers spit out the magic schedule, North saw a schedule he liked during a sleep-deprived night. He was home. It was about 3 a.m. He screen-grabbed the slate and fired off an email to Katz with the schedule. Just one problem: One version of it included a three-game road trip for the Giants, including one to Seattle; another version of it included a three-game road trip for the Giants, all against division foes. Weird, playing all three division roadies in a row.
Eli Manning and the Giants won’t have to wear road whites for three straight weeks, thanks to the patience of the schedule-makers. (Mark Cunningham/Getty Images) Eli Manning and the Giants won’t have to wear road whites for three straight weeks, thanks to the patience of the schedule-makers. (Mark Cunningham/Getty Images)
“Howard,” North wrote in an email, “what do you think?”
He thought Katz would be asleep. Katz wasn’t.
“Call my cell,” Katz wrote back.
They chatted for a few minutes and Katz eliminated the option, including the Seattle trip; too many other good schedules out there. But he said he’d consider the one with three straight road division games. Luckily, they found better schedules. They went to bed that night knowing they could do better.
At the end of the process Wednesday evening, an hour before the schedule was unveiled on NFL Network, the four men looked tired. Pleased with their work, but tired.
“This schedule,” said Katz, “has the best television without putting really any unfair burden on any club.”
One more thing. Rugby in Chicago. At one point, the schedulemeisters called the Bears and said they might have to move or call off the rugby match, because they had a very good schedule that called for Chicago to be home on Sunday, Nov. 2, the day after the game.
“Really cool, right?” said North. “The U.S. rugby team playing the New Zealand All Blacks. It’s on a Saturday. What happens if it pours rain on Saturday and these huge men playing rugby tear up Soldier Field, and we’ve got a Bears game scheduled for Sunday? That would have been a problem. Then you look at the Bears schedule—they’ve got a rugby game in week nine, the city has a marathon in week six—where the start-finish line is in the parking lot [of Soldier Field]—and in week two they have a NASCAR race, and I believe also a PGA golf tournament. So there’s three weekends in the first nine that the Bears can’t be home. So what’s the net result? Even if you use the bye strategically to cover up something, that’s still a lot of road games early in the season.”
Rugby will happen Nov. 1. The Bears will be on their bye Nov. 2. Crisis averted by computer, like so many others.
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By |
Am I the only one who fears for the life of any character Gyp Rosetti is talking to? Rosetti leapt to the forefront this season as the scorned and hotheaded gangster to watch out for. So violent, so ruthless, so short-sighted…it’s almost a shame Joe Pesci isn’t playing him. Bobby Cannavale is slayin’ it thus far this season, as Gyp makes sure no slight goes unpunished. After this week’s shenanigans, I’m stoked, and a little nervous about what Gyp Rosetti will do next.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The episode begins with Nucky’s older brother coming back on the scene. Former Sherriff Eli Thompson is out of prison today, letting viewers know that sixteen months have passed since we last saw him. Eli expresses annoyance that Nucky sent Mickey Doyle to pick him up from the prison—and probably some annoyance at looking like he’s aged a decade. Who can blame him? The former Sherriff Thompson asks Mickey the very question I asked after last week’s ep: How the F&%$! are you still alive?!
Not sure where Eli gets the stones to expect so much of Nucky. Sure, outwardly, Eli did two years in prison to keep Treasurer Enoch Thompson our. But in reality, Eli conspired to murder his brother along with The (late) Commodore, and Jimmy Darmody. Given what happened to Jimmy and his beautiful wife, I’d say Eli got off easy with a mere two years in jail. Still, he’s angry. Angry that Nucky continues to do better than him, angry that Will (his oldest son, and the only one with a name) has become a man without him, and angry as hell that he’s loading booze for Mickey Doyle. We already know how well Eli handles feeling marginalized. Just a matter of time before this leads someplace violent.
Then there’s Mrs. Margaret Thompson. I want so much for Margaret to be the moral center of Boardwalk Empire. Because I do empathize with her story and where she came from, I want her behavior to be above reproach. I believe she meant well when she spoke to the chief of medicine at the party last week. I believe her intentions were good when she went to the hospital to follow up with the unfortunate patient, and the handsome young doctor. Still, when Margaret gives us the exasperated line You have a maddening way! We can’t help but be reminded of her early days with Nucky, and with Owen Slater. It lets us know that an affair with the handsome young doctor is not far off. But seriously, what woman could resist an affair with Owen Slater? And what the hell kind of doctor smokes a pipe inside of a hospital?
On the loose side of town, Lillian “Billie” Kent and her naked radiator repair service seems to be catching on. She’s got her hooks in Nucky, big time. Her coquettish delivery of authentic 20’s lingo is super cute to watch. Everyone is warning Nucky that Billie is a bad girl with a ulterior motives. Nucky being Nucky, he clearly believes that a beautiful young showgirl must love a guy who looks like Steve Buscemi for reasons that have nothing to do with money. Can’t wait to find out what her endgame is, and what her real relationship with Rothstein is.
Speaking of Rothstein, that business is getting sticky. Rosetti isn’t over Nucky’s decision to make Rothstein his only customer. And why would he be? Rothstein is already irritated his shipment is a day late when Rosetti blocks the shipment completely. Some local fuzz in Tabor Heights get heavy, and it’s a slight Eli may not be willing to forgive. Nucky is certainly not going to be able to stand for it. We know Rosetti is committed, since setting up this caper required him to suffer through diner spaghetti and meatballs with a cup of * gasp * coffee.
Chalky White returned this week, with the whole White family (that is not, in fact, a white family). Samuel, the soon-to-be doctor, and Maybelle’s romance continues unabated. In the style of a respectful suitor, Samuel approaches Chalky for permission to wed his daughter. Chalky considers, and then assents. It seems almost too easy. This is HBO, and there’d be no reason to tell us about Maybelle unless something goes terribly wrong.
What do you know? Maybelle is of that tender age where she romanticizes gangsters and tough guys and excitement and fun. She doesn’t want to marry the boring old doctor. Chalky handles his outrage predictably—which is to say, badly. I was with him up until he almost told her that her life was his. Life ends up being the better teacher though, as Maybelle gets a good look at what a real bad-boy is like. The look on her face when her father catches her in a rough speakeasy tells us that she understands her father’s point. An interesting life is not usually a happy one. And being a doctor’s wife would probably not be so bad.
A delightful new addition comes in the form of Stephen Root as Gaston Means. This character has a historical basis, but I hate spoilers so I’m not reading ahead. Stephen Root is a wonderfully versatile character and voice actor. You may have seen him as Eddie on True Blood, or in the movie Dodgeball, or heard him as lovelorn neighbor Bill Dautreive on King of the Hill. I’m excited to watch the arc of this “special investigator,” and I hope he has more awesome lines dripping with wisdom.
“Ordinary Men avoid trouble. Extraordinary men turn it to their advantage.”
Truer words are seldom spoken.
Overall, Spaghetti and Coffeeis an entertaining episode, chock-full of things that will pay off handsomely later on. I might argue that the storylines are getting fragmented. I’m not seeing enough of characters I love, like Richard Harrow, Esther Randolph, and Al Capone. I’m also missing characters I love to hate, like Gillian Darmody and Nelson Van Alden. I worry that splitting up so many storylines will water the whole show down. I tend to give HBO the benefit of the doubt on these matters…well, I did until Season Five of True Blood. After that wretched, insulting, appallingly scripted waste of acting talent, I’m warier than I once was. Still, Boardwalk Empire is as good as ever so far.
-Wednes |
Mozilla has effectively postponed Firefox's controversial third-party cookie-blocking policy for several months.
Yesterday, the open-source developer announced it was collaborating with a new initiative, dubbed "Cookie Clearinghouse," or CCH, launched by Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society.
"Today Mozilla is committing to work ... to develop the CCH so that browsers can use its lists to manage exceptions to a visited-based third-party cookie block," wrote Brendan Eich, Mozilla's CTO, in a post on his personal blog.
The CCH, which is headed by Alexia McDonald, director of Stanford's Center for Internet and Society -- and formerly a part-time privacy research officer at Mozilla -- will come up with a list of sites to be blocked by browsers, as well as another that includes blocking exceptions.
Those lists would be analogous to the blacklists and whitelists used for other purposes, like those that prevent browser users from visiting potentially-malicious websites.
Such centralized, constantly-updated lists, said Eich, are necessary to solve the false positive and false negative results that have plagued Firefox's third-party cookie blocker.
Cookies are used by online advertisers to track users' Web movements, then deliver targeted ads. Firefox was to allow cookies presented from domains users actually visit -- dubbed a "first-party" site -- but block those generated by a third-party domain unless the user had previously visited the cookie's site-of-origin.
Examples of first-party cookies are those placed in a user's browser by sites like Amazon.com to identify the customer on repeat visits, letting him or her skip the log-on sequence. Third-party cookies, however, are often placed in ads on first-party sites so that advertisers and online ad networks can track a browser's past activity.
Earlier this year, the feature was set to debut in Firefox 22, which launches next Tuesday, June 25. Later, it seemed on track for Firefox 23, the edition slated to ship Aug. 6. But a month ago, Mozilla postponed cookie-blocking's implementation, saying it needed to "collect and analyze data on the effect of blocking some third-party cookies," specifically the impact of false-positives and false-negatives.
Months ago, when Mozilla's proposal appeared set to debut in Firefox 22, several online advertising groups, including the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Association of National Advertisers (ANA), vehemently objected, claiming that the on-by-default blocking would "disenfranchise every single Internet user" and result in the shuttering of small businesses and small websites. An official with the ANA promised that Firefox users would see more ads, not fewer, if the feature was switched on.
Firefox's cookie blocking is essentially a clone of what Apple's Safari already does, and has done since its 2003 inception. Safari for iOS, the mobile operating system that powers the iPhone and iPad, has blocked third-party cookies since its 2007 debut.
But the decision to partner with McDonald's project means that third-party cookie blocking in Firefox, or other browsers, is much further in the future than August.
"We hope to complete Phase I in a few months, by Fall 2013," said the CHH website in a short FAQ published Wednesday. Phase I will involve decision-making on several fronts, including technical issues, such as the criteria for adding sites to the black- and whitelists, and the file format for those lists.
"Once the lists are in place, it will take time to populate them," the CCH FAQ continued. "Browsers choosing to use the lists will need time to test them before releasing them widely. While we will all work diligently and quickly, it is likely to take months before the entire system is live in a Web browser. [Emphasis not in original.] Browser plug-ins and add-ons may be available more quickly."
If the CCH's estimate is accurate, it will be months before Firefox actually fires up its cookie blocking in a production edition.
"We believe that the CCH will address some of the concerns we've identified with the third-party cookie-blocking patch that we are holding in Aurora," a Mozilla spokesman said. "The patch won't move to general release until we have had the opportunity to do our own instrumentation and to implement the design set out by the CCH. Given the moving pieces, we do not expect that to happen until sometime in Q4 at the earliest."
Firefox Aurora is the least-polished of the three main build channels Mozilla maintains. While features added to Aurora usually debut in the Release channel 12 weeks later, Mozilla will not shift cookie blocking to the Beta and then Release channels until it's satisfied with the white- and blacklists, and their integration with the browser.
This article, Mozilla again postpones Firefox third-party cookie-blocking, this time for months, was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is [email protected].
See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com. |
Image caption Sujith PV's mother Sulojana says she will never forgive the killers of her son
Kerala, one of India's most developed states, has witnessed a series of brutal political murders in recent years, writes BBC Hindi's Divya Arya.
Sujith PV, 26, was killed in February and his mother, Sulojana M, still remembers her son's murder in painful detail.
"They struck him with a pipe, broke his skull and bones, and then hacked him to death in front of my eyes."
Sulojana, her husband and their two sons were sleeping at home in Kannur district when they were woken up by some people.
"Around 20 people surrounded him [PV Sujith], we knew many of them from our neighbourhood, they were all left party supporters," she says.
Image caption The house where Sujith PV was killed
Mr Sujith was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist organisation from which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) draws its ideological roots.
Six workers of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) were arrested for his murder.
Cycle of violence
His murder was the latest in the decades-old string of political vendetta killings between the left and the right in some parts of Kerala.
Kerala's Crime Records Bureau estimates that at least 100 people have been murdered and many more injured in political violence in the last 10 years.
Most cases of political crimes have occurred in Kannur and Thalassery in north Kerala's Malabar region.
The issue of political violence has been in focus in recent days as the state has been in the midst of assembly elections - voting was held on Monday and a new government would take over after the votes are counted on Thursday.
"The left rules this area like the Gulag [cruel labour camps in 1930-1950 run by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin] and the RSS is no less dogmatic, bloody and narrow minded, so violence is inevitable," says novelist Paul Zacharia.
Image caption Left parties are confident of wining this week's assembly elections
The CPI(M) has a strong support base and generations of loyal party workers in the Malabar region.
The region is also important for the BJP's ambitions because it's one of the party's few strongholds in Kerala, which has been traditionally ruled by either Congress-led governments or a coalition of the left parties.
Mr Sujith's parents were supporters of the CPI(M) but when he turned 18, he decided to support the BJP.
The family lived together happily and supported different ideologies in elections, but political parties were obviously not happy with such arrangements.
Memorials
Image caption Memorials are often build for killed members of political parties
KP Surendra of the CPI(M) was 27 when he was attacked allegedly by a group of RSS supporters with swords in 1986.
He survived, but deep gashes caused permanent damage to his left foot, leaving him incapable of joining his dream job in the police force.
"The man who led the attack was accused of leading many other such killings, he was also killed a few months later," he says.
Both parties encourage workers to build memorials for killed supporters which are then used to sustain anger and whip up passions.
However, in some cases the politics of revenge has been jettisoned and the families of those killed have decided to take on their rivals in the election arena.
For instance, Rama KK - wife of left leader TP Chandrasekharan who was hacked to death in 2012 by his former CPI(M) colleagues when he broke away from the party and formed his own Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) - contested the recent assembly polls against Communists.
"My son was very agitated and wanted to avenge his father's killing, but with time he understood the futility of this and now he is helping me fight for a different kind of politics in this area," she says.
Tipping point?
Image caption Mr Chandrasekharan's son, Abhinant, is not afraid or angry anymore, he is instead hopeful about the future
Many believe that Mr Chandrasekharan's murder was a tipping point in the state politics when young voters started feeling alienated from the CPI(M).
The BJP, which is yet to see any significant electoral success in Kerala, has tried to attract young voters in this week's election by presenting itself as the only force that has been able to challenge the left in its own backyard.
Mr Zacharia says the BJP's claims are not completely unfounded because of the Congress government's "weak response" to cases of political violence.
"Even in areas with Congress legislators, the administration and the police look the other way when such violence happens and this has created distortion in the politics of the region.
"Political violence has, in fact, been normalised in the state," he adds. |
View Caption Hide Caption (instagram.com/mattyports, twitter.com photos)
CORAL GABLES — Playing the lead role in the Hurricanes’ backfield the last three seasons, Duke Johnson rewrote UM’s record book.
Now that Johnson has left for the NFL, one of the Hurricanes’ most pressing offseason questions is whether someone can command the stage.
Will it be sophomore Joe Yearby, who emerged with 509 yards a touchdown on 86 carries?
How about sophomore Gus Edwards, who showed well in a lesser role (61 carries, 349 yards) and finished second behind Johnson with six rushing scores?
Maybe a breakout performance is coming from four-star freshman Mark Walton, who arrived on campus last month, or talented sophomore Trayone Gray?
UM coach Al Golden wants to stress this to the aforementioned players:
Just because Johnson’s gone, doesn’t mean any of you are the man to replace him.
“There’s a difference between being Batman and Robin,” Golden said recently in a phone conversation.
In an informal poll this week, nearly 56 percent of respondents thought Yearby will be the Hurricanes’ No. 1 back in 2015. Edwards (22 percent) was slightly ahead of Walton (17). But Edwards has been better as of late.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder finished the spring atop the depth chart, ahead of Yearby (5-10, 190). Returning from a shoulder injury suffered in the spring game, he put up impressive numbers in UM’s post-spring strength testing.
He power-cleaned 352 pounds (last year, he broke the UM running backs record set by Willis McGahee with 362) and ran a faster 40-yard dash than the smaller Yearby (4.53 seconds to Yearby’s 4.57).
But if Edwards wants to be the top dog in the Canes’ backfield, he’ll need to be more than a weight room hero. Edwards averaged 4.7 carries per game last year, and half his season’s workload came in two midseason games (31 combined carries for 300 yards, with three touchdowns, against Cincinnati and Virginia Tech).
“For him as a big back, to carry the ball for the whole season, it’s going to take a lot of nights where he doesn’t go out with the fellas. It’s going to take a lot of days in the ice tubs, and continuing to keep his conditioning up,” Golden said.
“Taking care of his body. Eating right. Doing all the little things you need to do — the treatments, the ice pools — being really, really disciplined about that.
“He’s got all the tools. He had a really good spring. He’s got to keep working on the conditioning part of it so he’s stronger in the fourth quarter and can finish games. Those are the things I see for Gus if he’s going to be that guy.
“It’s going to take a lot of discipline and sacrifice and adherence to a strict regimen and having to give up a lot of things in order to do that. Because when you’re a big back and you start to carry the ball, you’re a physical guy. You’re not really absorbing hits and contact. You’re delivering blows. He just has to learn how to take care of his body and be smart.”
Yearby had a couple standout games (113 yards on eight carries against Cincinnati, 104 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries against North Carolina), but is still undersized for a featured back. He was also suspended for UM’s spring game for reportedly missing curfew the night before.
“With Joe, again, we talk about maturity. It’s different – there’s a difference between being Batman and Robin,” Golden said. “If you want to be the guy, it takes a great deal of discipline, a great deal of sacrifice. Certainly Joe has the requisite skills, in terms of his lateral quickness, his toughness. He’s got to continue to get stronger and become more durable. I have no doubt that he’ll do that.”
As for Gray, he has shown flashes of good things – he scored a 10-yard touchdown against Florida A&M on his first career carry – and has struggled with conditioning, in the classroom and with ball security (you may remember his fumble against Cincinnati which was returned for a touchdown). Golden said Gray (6-2, 220) is a “big, strong running back, someone that’s going to get a great opportunity to show what he can do” in the months leading up to the Sept. 5 season-opener against Bethune-Cookman.
And Walton? “We’re very excited about Mark Walton. I know he’s coming in with a chip on his shoulder and has something to prove. That’s good to see.”
Asked if Walton (5-11, 185), UM’s top incoming recruit and a former star at Miami-Booker T. Washington High, arrived with enough talent to pass his elders in year one, or by the end of it, Golden lightheartedly suggested the reporter pump their brakes (hey, I was just asking).
He’d like to see Walton practice first.
“We’re going to work like crazy [until the start of training camp] in order to make that transition as easy as possible, so we can get his talent in the game,” Golden said.
“Certainly he’s got the character and the makeup and the desire to make an impact this year, but we’ll see in terms of picking up the offense and protections and stuff like that. We’ll do everything we can do make sure that he makes a seamless transition.” |
Activated charcoal is thought to be detoxifying, purifying, even medicinal — perfect for keeping it clean as you get ready for bathing suit season. It’s no wonder, then, that restaurant mixologists and bartenders have gone to the dark side, adding activated charcoal to their cocktails for sexy black sips. Here are five photogenic charcoal-activated cocktails that will blow up your Instagram feed. To your health!
Not Kilgore’s Drano, Spoke & Steele, Indianapolis, Indiana
It’s been ten years since the death of iconic author Kurt Vonnegut, and to honor the local Indy legend, as well as giving a nod to the grand re-opening of the Vonnegut Museum there, many of the city’s restaurants have Vonnegut-inspired cocktails on their menus, including the charcoal-activated Not Kilgore’s Drano sip at this downtown restaurant. Kilgore Trout was a character in many of Vonnegut’s books, and in the Breakfast of Champions, Kilgore’s demise is brought on by drinking Drano. This dark sip is created with Bank Note Scotch (Vonnegut’s drink of choice was scotch and water), Rittenhouse Rye, lemon, thyme agave syrup, two drops of saline solution, and ¼ teaspoon of activated charcoal (a nod to Kilgore’s dark fate) – with a cayenne pepper and thyme garnish. Make a reservation at Spoke & Steele.
Black Tie White Noise at Beauty & Essex, New York, New York
The name of this interesting cocktail is a nod to David Bowie’s 18th album. The drink blends a host of ingredients — simple syrup, lemon zest, yellow chartreuse, Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey, Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Scotch, and Angostura bitters. But the ingredient that really rocks this sip is one capsule of activated charcoal (and that whiskey, by the way, is filtered twice through charcoal). Make a reservation at Beauty & Essex.
Black Tai at Stripsteak by Michael Mina-Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii
Lead bartender Raymundo Jaime designed a cocktail program at Michael Mina’s newly-opened restaurant that creatively plays with island life cocktails, including his tropical Black Tai. The aloha cocktail is a nod to Hawaii’s celebrated Mai Tai, and the recipe calls for Appleton Estate VX Rum, lime juice, Black Sesame Orgeat, Pierre Ferrand Orange Curacao, brown sugar syrup, and, wait for it, a capsule of activated charcoal. It arrives garnished with a mint sprig. Make a reservation at Stripsteak by Michael Mina-Waikiki.
Health Kick at Watr at the 1 Rooftop, Miami, Florida
Sunday rooftop events are big here, and so is the Health Kick cocktail, a twist on the classic Moscow Mule — with a dose of wellness. The you-are-what-you-drink cocktail is made with house-infused black plum (high in antioxidants), Deep Eddy gluten-free vodka, fresh lime juice, and Fever Tree ginger beer — and activated charcoal, for kicks. Make a reservation at Watr at the 1 Rooftop.
Low Visibility at Alden & Harlow, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Bar director Seth Freidus collaborates with bartender Drexel Axeloons for the high-profile Low Visibility cocktail. It’s made with Citadelle, Absinthe, lemon — and a Black Mission fig and activated charcoal combo. “We amped things up with the gin, absinthe, and fresh lemon juice, so you have a dark and ominous looking cocktail that’s actually very bright on the palate,” says Freidus. A lemon peel and cherry jewel garnish color its world. Make a reservation at Alden & Harlow.
Have you been sipping charcoal-activated cocktails? Let us know here or over on Facebook, G+, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter. And, remember to snap + share your #dishpics with us on Instagram for a chance to win in our weekly giveaway. P.S.: Drink pics qualify as #dishpics.
Laurie Bain Wilson is a Boston-based journalist, author, and essayist who writes often about travel, food, and baseball. Find her on Twitter @laurieheather.
Photo credit: David Murphey (Stripsteak by Michael Mina-Waikiki). |
It’s a question that many dog owners will have spent sleepless nights pondering. How rapidly should a wet dog oscillate its body to dry its fur?
Today we have an answer thanks to the pioneering work of Andrew Dickerson at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and a few buddies. But more than that, their work generates an interesting new conundrum about the nature of shaken fur dynamics.
Dickerson and co filmed a number of dogs shaking their fur and used the images to measure the period of oscillation of the dogs’ skin. For a labrador retriever, this turns out to be 4.3 Hz.
They then created a simple mathematical model of what’s going on. They reasoned that the water is bound to the dog by surface tension between the liquid and the hair. When the dog shakes, centripetal forces pull the water away. So for the water to be ejected from the fur, the centripetal force has to exceed the surface tension.
This model leads to an interesting prediction. If the animal has a radius R, the shaking frequency must scale with R^0.5. That makes sense, smaller animals will need to oscillate faster to generate forces large enough to dry themselves.
To find out whether that applies in nature, Dickerson and pals studied films of various animals of different sizes. They found that a mouse shakes at 27 Hz, a cat at about 6 Hz while a bear shakes at 4Hz. “Shake frequencies asymptotically approach 4Hz as animals grow in size,” they conclude.
But taken together the best fit for this data is not R^0.5 as predicted. Instead the universal rule for shaken fur is that the frequency increases with R^0.75.
Clearly, their model misses some important correction factor. Dickerson and co make one suggestion. In their model, the radius is the distance from the centre of the animal to its skin. Perhaps the fur makes a difference, they say in a video intended for the 2010 APS Gallery of Fluid Motion.
Maybe. It certainly gives paws for thought (ahem).
Further ideas in the comments section please.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1010.3279: The Wet-Dog Shake
Video: arxiv.org/src/1010.3279v1/anc |
Councils are taking a “softly, softly” approach to rogue landlords, with only about a quarter of complaints regarding substandard housing leading to inspections, it has emerged.
On Tuesday MPs voted down an amendment to the housing bill which would have forced landlords to ensure homes were fit for habitation, with the government arguing that councils already had adequate power to deal with problem property owners.
However, research carried out for Labour MP Karen Buck reveals councils are not using the powers they have.
The rogue landlords exploiting the deepening UK housing crisis Read more
A survey of 120 local authorities in England found that while councils received 51,916 complaints about poor living conditions – including cold, damp and overcrowding – housing officers only inspected 14,043 homes. The figures, which cover 2013, show housing officers were four times more likely to react informally to complaints by sending a letter or making a phone call rather than issuing a legal notice. On average councils prosecuted fewer than one landlord a year each.
The report reveals a mismatch between the number of potentially life-threatening hazards councils recorded during inspections and the number of notices they served. While inspectors identified 4,301 so-called category one hazards, such as excess cold and fire risk, councils only took enforcement action on only 3,550 occasions.
The private rented sector is now the second largest tenure in England. Around 4.4 million households rent – more than double the number in 1996. But as the sector grows, so does concern over some of the properties being let.
Buck, whose private members bill to ensure rented homes are fit for human habitation was talked out by Conservative backbenchers, said it was alarming that there was such a low level of enforcement in the private rented sector. “Far too few of the landlords that let grossly substandard properties can expect to have tough enforcement against them,” she said.
She added that the private rented sector was growing and was increasingly used to house low-income families and homeless people – but housing officers lacked the resources to protect vulnerable tenants. “The more vulnerable people that go into the private rented sector the more urgent the need for more resources to protect them,” she said.
The author of the report, Stephen Battersby, a housing consultant, acknowledged that resources were a factor but said local authorities were too cautious. “Taking a softly, softly approach to landlords does nothing to discourage those who are undermining the more responsible landlords. It is a strategy that has failed.”
He added: “If a council finds a category one hazard then the very least they should do is serve a hazard awareness notice. It they don’t then it is a breach of their statutory duties under the Housing Act.”
Far too few of the landlords that let grossly substandard properties can expect to have tough enforcement against them Karen Buck, Labour MP
‘Enforcement is a last resort’
In October, new laws came into force to prevent landlords carrying out revenge evictions following complaints. But tenants are only protected if councils serve improvement notices. “Just a letter from the local authority will not stop these evictions. If councils continue their softly, softly approach it won’t do anything to prevent retaliatory evictions,” Battersby said.
Similarly, councils will not be able to make use of new powers in the housing and planning bill to ban the worst the landlords and recover rent unless they take more enforcement action.
Battersby, who has carried out the survey for the past three years, said enforcement activity had remained at around the same level since 2011.
“While it is a good thing that this report indicates no great drop off in enforcement activity, that still remains very low by comparison with the scale of the problems in the private rented sector,” he said.
The Local Government Association said councils took complaints seriously, but that enforcement was a last result. “The private rented sector is growing and, with limited resources and competing funding pressures, councils are working hard to ensure that complaints from tenants are prioritised and dealt with appropriately,” a spokesperson said. “Some may be resolved without the need for inspection, and enforcement is a last resort when all other options fail.”
A list of convicted landlords, published by the Guardian and Environmental Health News in 2015, revealed 2,006 convictions between 2006 and 2014 resulted in fines of just £3m – less than £1,500 for each conviction.
North London landlord Katia Goremsandu, who used a sticker to disguise a faulty fire alarm and left tenants living in damp and freezing homes, topped the list. She was convicted seven times and fined a total of £16,565.
Research by the Building Research Establishment in 2015 found that 8.4m homes in England have a significant hazard. The annual cost to the NHS of these hazards is thought to be around £2bn in England and £2.5bn for the UK as a whole.
Buck said tenants should be given the right to sue over uninhabitable conditions because enforcement levels were too low overall. “Some local authorities do this very well, but there is a lack of consistency. We need to complement what local authorities do with a power for tenants.”
It is understood that amendments may be tabled to the government’s controversial housing and planning bill, giving tenants the right to sue, when the legislation passes through the House of Lords.
Jump in two-bed flats for sale after buy-to-let clampdown Read more
A DCLG spokesman said the government was determined to crack down on rogue landlords. “We have brought in legislation to protect tenants from being evicted, provided £6.7m of funding and introduced selective licensing so councils can target the areas with the worst problems.
“Furthermore, the housing bill strengthens councils’ powers including enabling them to blacklist landlords who have been convicted of serious offences and seeking banning orders for the most prolific offenders.”
‘Too indulgent’
In 2015 a special housing tribunal, which deals with appeals from landlords, took Southwark council to task for being “too indulgent in its dealings” with a landlord who had rented out a cold, fire-risk, eight-bedroom house, in which some of the tenants had to go through a shower room to get to their bedrooms. The tribunal rejected the landlord’s appeal but said it was a concern that the council had “spent quite so long negotiating … on the basis of informal schedules of works”.
In 2013 another housing tribunal found Wansdworth council had taken more than 20 months to take the formal action against a landlord who was renting out a cold, overcrowded, mouse-infested house with dangerous eclectics and an inadequate fire detection system. |
PakWheels, a famous automotive classified website in Pakistan has revealed that their server was breached by an unknown third party exposing personal data of registered users. In an email sent to users on 26th December, the site explained that hackers were able to conduct this breach by exploiting a known vulnerability in outdated vBulletin forum software.
Although PakWheels didn’t reveal the number of affected users, we at HackRead have inside details on this breach according to which the number of targeted users impacted by this breach goes over 674,775 users including names, emails, encrypted passwords, mobile number and Facebook sessions.
The inside information came from data breach notification website LeakedSource who told HackRead that the data breach took place before October 2016, yet, it is unclear who was behind the breach and who provided LeakedSource with the data.
PakWheels was started back in 2003 to fill the missing space between automotive enthusiasts and absence of a platform that discusses automotive industry related topics in the country. Since then, the website is being widely used for advertising, buying and selling of cars within Pakistan.
Currently, according to Alexa, the website is among 67 most visited platforms in Pakistan.
This is not the first time when a high-profile website in Pakistan fell prey to hackers. In May 2016, Pakistan’s real estate giant Zameen was hacked by a Bangladeshi hacker who leaked its entire database after being ignored by Zameen’s administration.
As far as vBulletin forum software, the year 2016, has been a bad year for anyone using vBulletin and not updating it to its latest version. Until now, the forums hacked due to vulnerability in outdated vBulletin forum software include Clash of Kings forum with 1.6 million data stolen, Epic games forum with 800,000 accounts stolen, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) forum, Russia’s Mail.ru with 27 million accounts stolen, LifeBoat forum with 7 million accounts stolen and Exile Mod gaming forum with 12,000 accounts stolen.
[fullsquaread][/fullsquaread]
If you are a PakWheel user change your password right now, also change your Facebook password in case you log in on the site with your Facebook account whilst website owners still using the outdated version of vBulletin, update your software right now. |
TOGETHER WE DID IT! 28 hours before our campaign ran out, we soared past our initial goal!
We are humbled by grateful for our hundreds of backers. Now, let's see if we can make it to $120,000 by 8:30/5:30pm on Wednesday! This money would allow us to hire a full-time market researcher AND make us the all-time number one vegan project on Kickstarter!
Better Eating International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is inspiring compassion and sparing animals from miserable lives and cruel deaths through smart, personalized educational videos. Our inclusive and empowering model will help create a future where animals are valued as unique individuals and no longer exploited for human gain. With a diverse and talented team armed with the latest technologies, we'll give people the knowledge and tools they’ll need to live more ethically.
If we reach our goal of $97,500, this campaign will be fully matched by a generous foundation! This will effectively double our funding to $195,000, and we will use that total to create nearly 100 short educational videos about animal agriculture and vegan eating. We'll make even more micro-targeted videos if we surpass our goal.
Humans exploit and abuse animals in countless ways, with none being more pervasive and sickening than the billions of chickens, turkeys, fish, pigs, and cows who are killed for human consumption each year. These unique individuals are capable of feeling affection, joy, loneliness, and pain, and they are made to suffer immensely by animal agribusiness.
Additionally, raising animals for food is a leading contributor to climate change, deforestation, and water pollution, while catching billions of fish is destroying aquatic ecosystems. Humans pay a price too: our lifesaving antibiotics are becoming less effective through use on farmed animals, farm and slaughterhouse workers are among the most mistreated workers in any industry, and 80% of staple crops are fed to farmed animals instead of people.
The only solution to these problems is to move toward a world without animal production. This will require revolutions in technology, in our institutional practices, and in our behavior, beliefs, and culture. The Better Eating team is uniquely poised to tackle this latter category.
It's time to jump-start a movement that has stagnated at around 2 percent of the population! We're aiming to see every internet-using young adult exposed to the realities of animal agriculture. Many of them will become vegan, and all of them will gain a firm understanding of the reasons to be.
We'll reach tens of millions of people each year with the same quality and depth of messaging that our movement has thus far only been able to offer on a small scale. To create such an experience, we’re organized around these core ideas:
We know from the best-practices of the marketing world, as well as from our team’s years of creating cause-based education for nonprofits, that long-term persuasion depends on a number of factors:
Repeated exposure to the same content, brand, or idea.
to the same content, brand, or idea. An emotional connection to the issue being explained or the need being filled.
to the issue being explained or the need being filled. A rational explanation for behavioral change that can be conveyed to others.
for behavioral change that can be conveyed to others. A practical solution that removes as many barriers as possible.
We’re taking in all this information to develop a stockpile of hundreds of 30-second animated PSA’s that span both Why and How topics related to veganism:
Why video subjects will include: animal sentience and ethics, standard practices on farms, environmental concerns, workers’ rights, and public health. How video subjects will include: fast food options, cafeteria options, navigating grocery stores, meat replacements, dairy replacements, talking to parents & friends, and more.
Our videos will string together to persuasively convey our message to English and Spanish speakers in the US through “sequential advertising” that will be delivered to viewers on their phones, tablets, and computers over several days or weeks. Every ad will conclude by encouraging the viewer to follow our Facebook page, where they’ll be offered further targeted educational content.
By approaching vegan education primarily from an ethical standpoint, viewers deciding to change their diet are likely to develop an identity as someone who cares about animals, which will influence beliefs and behaviors beyond eating.
Everyone has their own life experience, making certain messages more powerful to some people than others. A working student at a rural community college has different needs than a young professional in a large coastal city, but they both deserve tools to make choices that better align with their values.
By tapping into the online systems used in politics and marketing, the best Better Eating content will be automatically selected for each person. The relatively quick and unexpected success of the marriage equality movement, for example, was largely due to their smart, targeted messaging choices that led to a cultural shift. It’s time that we do the same for animals.
This initial Kickstarter will fund 96 videos: 8-12 topics, created in both English and Spanish, with considerations towards age, gender, income, region, education, and other interests and characteristics.
To assist in meaningful content creation, we will encourage supporters to join a Community Advisory Panel made up of people who represent diverse backgrounds varying in race, ethnicity, gender, age, wealth/income, and location. CAP members will act as vegan focus groups, reviewing content that is directed toward their unique demographics prior to and after production.
Using an online focus group service, we will also beta test all video content with the non-vegan general public before it reaches a wider audience, focusing the video’s clarity, credibility, and emotional weight. We’re working on longer-term assessment tools as well to measure changes to people’s beliefs, behavior, and purchases.
We also plan to support local animal rights, vegan community, and social justice groups by directing our viewers their way using location targeting. We know that even the best online educational experience is not a full replacement for in-person networking and community support.
Animation makes it easy to explain complicated ideas and to create new videos quickly and cost-effectively. Unlike graphic undercover footage, animation escapes most online censorship, allowing us to reach millions more people.
As we confirm the appropriate content for a specific audience segment, our Creative Team will start to tackle video creation. In just four to five days, we can turn a video script into a completed 30-second animated video.
As we continue to make videos for different audiences, our Lead Animator, Lead Designer, and Audio Engineer can begin to reuse elements of older videos to make new ones. We anticipate this will shorten the production time to two to three days.
Better Eating International’s first program is an incredibly ambitious effort. It wouldn’t be possible without a founding team of talented individuals with the combined skills to ensure that our message is culturally-responsive and effectively conveyed and delivered.
Alex and Michael have been active in social justice together for over a decade, and were behind one of the most powerful vegan advocacy programs in the animal rights movement. Michelle has years of experience in organizational and financial management plus a wealth of marketing knowledge. Jess, Thomas, Luuly, and Sina have refined their respective creative and communications trades for years at commercial and nonprofit firms.
Kickstarter has long been a major incubator for creativity and disruption. Recent mission-driven successes have modernized childhood literacy programs for the digital age and launched collaborative games that promote social justice. It’s a platform where motivated people can achieve the near-impossible and we are proud to be joining this tradition.
Competing with the marketing force of the meat, dairy, and egg industries is not easy or cheap. By leveraging social networks, we will counter their problematic messaging on a mere fraction of their budget -- but to do so we'll need to raise $195,000. Fortunately, this campaign will be fully matched by a generous foundation, so whether big or small, your contribution will go twice as far.
This is an all-or-nothing proposition. If we make $97,500 from our generous Kickstarter supporters, it will instantly become $195,000 -- but we can't properly undertake this effort for less. If we fall short, we get nothing.
Back this project today and help us bring a fresh perspective to vegan education!
Our exciting backer rewards include various forms of recognition and merchandise, a personalized animation, and a strategic conversation with our Leadership Team over dinner! (And we plan to release some special bonus rewards throughout the campaign).
To choose one of the backer levels, simply click the pledge box of your choice. We’ll follow up by email to confirm the details of your rewards. We hope you’ll enjoy these perks, but most of all we hope you’ll take advantage of the matching opportunity to do twice as much good for animals.
Note: Delivery dates for some levels reflect the latest reward offered. Our expected schedule is as follows:
Facebook and email recognition - throughout the campaign
Website and video recognition - June 2017
T-shirts, stickers, buttons & digital caricatures - October 2017
Printed caricatures & animated cameos - December 2017
Staff dinner - April 2018
Leadership Team dinner - August 2018
If we achieve our base goal of $97,500, we will be on our way to creating this revolutionary new program. However, our initial plans are truly just the beginning! After that, Kickstarter backers can expand this project in a myriad of ways.
Better Eating International is a tax-exempt 501c3 nonprofit in the United States (EIN 81-4124366). All US backers will receive letters after the campaign verifying that your donation was tax-deductible (minus the market value of your rewards).
We are committed to building a staff that is as diverse as our audience, and providing fair and living wages for our team members. With our production being handled entirely by our staff in Los Angeles, CA; Portland, OR; and across the globe, most of the income from this Kickstarter campaign (60-65%) will go towards compensating our Creative Team as they produce these life-changing resources. The other 35-40% will be spent on researching content, placing videos online, and other program costs.
If we surpass our fundraising goal, we will shift more funds toward research and video placement, making our work even more effective and seen more widely. Our initial overhead costs have been largely offset by a handful of early donors.
Please contact us with any questions:
(443) 738-4751
[email protected] |
A British tourist has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a UK soldier in Cyprus.
Fusilier David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, was stabbed to death after a fight broke out in a nightclub in the popular resort of Ayia Napa, last November.
Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, reportedly from London, admitted manslaughter at a court hearing in Larnaca, said Photini Larcou, registrar of the court, on Monday.
She added that two other British teenagers were acquitted of all charges. The three accused had also faced charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of a knife and possession and use of a controlled substance.
Osman will remain in police custody until sentencing, which is due to take place on 15 May. Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life in prison under Cypriot law.
Collins, from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was said to have been stationed at an army base in the Dhekelia area of the island.
He was off duty with three other soldiers when they became involved in a brawl with three British holidaymakers in the early hours of the morning. He was stabbed the day before he was due to fly out to Afghanistan.
Police investigators had said Osman initially told them he stabbed Collins in self-defence after four off-duty soldiers attacked him and his friends inside the nightclub. Osman had said he didn't mean to hurt the soldier and was sorry for what happened.
At a hearing at Famagusta district court in November, Osman admitted there had been a previous altercation between the off-duty soldiers and the trio before the fatal fight occurred in the Black & White nightclub.
A police search of Osman's hotel room at the time found marijuana, two brass knuckles and 11 switchblade knives that the suspect said he bought from a local shop and had planned to take back to give to friends.
Connie Pierce, a British military spokeswoman, speaking in November, said the attack took place in an area of the eastern Mediterranean island that British soldiers are told to avoid because of previous incidents.
After the rape and murder of Danish tour guide Louise Jensen by British servicemen in 1994, the centre of Ayia Napa was declared off-limits to soldiers by military top brass on the island – a clubbing resort with a reputation for sex, drugs and violence.
About 3,000 UK military personnel are stationed in Cyprus at bases retained after the former British colony gained independence in 1960.
In 2008, nine British soldiers went on trial accused of trashing a pub and beating up its owner during a mass bar brawl on the island. The servicemen, who were celebrating finishing tours of Iraq and Afghanistan and coming home to the UK, were all acquitted. |
Sinking in the polls and needing to battle perception that the Republican contest to face President Barack Obama had become a two-horse race between Mr Perry and Mitt Romney, Mrs Bachmann grabbed headlines by ripping into the Texan.
Mr Perry has long faced the ire of some conservatives for signing an executive order in Texas requiring young girls to get a Gardasil vaccine to combat sexually transmitted disease that could lead to cervical cancer.
"I'm a mom of three children," Mrs Bachmann said. "And to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong. That should never be done."
Mr Perry, the front-runner, conceded that he had mishandled the issue but on Fox News later Mrs Bachmann stepped up her attack. "I will tell you that I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Florida, after the debate," she said.
"She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that out of 35 million doses of Gardasil distributed in the US only about 0.05 per cent have led to any side effects. No instance of mental retardation was reported.
Evan Siegfried, spokesman for the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership, told Politico: "There is zero credible scientific evidence that vaccines cause mental retardation or autism. She should cease trying to foment fear in order to advance her political agenda."
Even some staunch conservatives said Mrs Bachmann, whose penchant for repeating things she has heard or read without checking their veracity has long concerned some of her senior strategists, was wrong.
Rush Limbaugh, the talk radio host, said on his show: "Michele Bachmann, she might have blown it today. Well, not blown it but she might have jumped the shark today – if she'd have just left it alone on this vaccination thing from last night." |
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports
The hockey season may be over and done with, but the wound that is this last season as a Vancouver Canucks fan is still relatively fresh. There’s plenty of meat left on these bones and with the draft and the opening of free agency now in the rear view mirror, it’s time we got cookin’.
The process starts with a series of player-by-player reviews for the season that was. Today’s will be centered on the first half of the Canucks-Swiss equation, Yannick Weber. Otherwise known as, the consolation Weber.
Let’s break it all down on the other side of the jump.
(The Sam Bennett love fest is real, as evidenced by this very objective video title)
The 2014-15 campaign was another great step forward for Yannick Weber, who went from relevant depth defender to legitimate top-four option in the span of a few months. As has become a persistent theme during his brief stay with the Canucks, Weber earned his growth with this club through every incremental step up the lineup. This, after joining the Canucks following the absence of a qualifying offer from the Habs just over a season earlier and a brief trip to Utica thereafter.
Brought in to help alleviate the departure of Sami Salo in free agency, Weber was first sought out for his hard shot to operate as a power play specialist in spot duty. By the end of his first campaign, he’d lost then regained his spot doing just that. This season, though, Weber added another wrinkle to his game, developing the ability to play within the confines of his own zone as well. This turned Weber from a carefully guarded secret, sheltered at evens, to a legitimate 5-on-5 option.
Coaches can, generally speaking, be relied upon as a relatively good gauge for a players strengths and weaknesses, as described within the players usage. That Weber’s ice-time and defensive responsibility increased over the campaign to the extent it did is telling – even given that injuries helped to facilitate this growth. And while this article aims to make observations based on last season, it helps to paint a clearer picture of the players growth when put into the context of expanded usage and responsibility across two different coaching staffs.
By the end of the last campaign, Weber had become a regular alongside Dan Hamhuis as the Canucks second pairing. This made it easy for some to dismiss his development, what with the time honoured tradition of evoking the “babysat by Hamhuis” narrative. The numbers, though, paint a picture that indicates neither player was propped up by the other, but rather, both benefited from the assignment. As does Weber’s HERO chart, which shows a positive impact on the entirety of his partners throughout last season.
Most encouragingly, though, Weber’s growth from his own end didn’t come at the expense of his more natural abilities, as a trigger man with the man advantage. Among all NHL defencemen last season, Weber was 16th in PP P/60 with a whopping 5.09. That’s more than a point higher than the rate at which the second most prolific Canuck with the man advantage, Alex Edler, was producing. The Canucks were also in control of 10% more of the shot share with Weber on the ice in this state of play than without. If nothing else, this displays his ability to help operate a finely tuned offensive setup regardless of whether it is from his stick or otherwise.
I’ve heard it argued before (in reference to defenders like Anton Stralman and Jeff Petry) that there are certain defenders who transcend points as the sole mean of adjudicating offensive worth. The Canucks got lucky with their Weber find, as he passes both tests with flying colours.
Crunching Numbers
Boxcars:
In nearly every respect, the 2014-15 campaign was one of career highs for Weber. In goals, his 11 on the season nearly doubled his previous high of six, set in the previous season. With 21-points in total, Weber set eclipsed his previously set high of 18-points from 2011-12. Frankly, it would have been almost more appropriate to note that the only column in which a new high wasn’t set was the assist bracket. What’s more impressive is that this seasons number can’t be written off as being buoyed by extended play on the wing – frankly, I think that experiment is done for good.
Corsi:
Weber has always been a relatively strong territorial asset. Having spent much of his career in the peripheries though and being heavily sheltered when called upon, it was relatively difficult to surmise much from this information with any degree of certainty. Shedding both qualifiers this season, it’s become increasingly clear that Weber can in fact move the river in the right direction. Unsurprisingly, the shifty Swiss uses a high event game to push play forward, as he had the fourth highest Corsi events per 60.
Goal-based:
The goal-based underlying data shines an especially favourable light on Weber. Among regular Canuck defenders only Ryan Stanton and Edler posted better relative numbers than Weber, who enjoyed a GF%Rel of 5.7%. In a not-so-surprising development, it was Weber’s offense which droves these results. His 2.6 GF60 was the highest mark of his career and the highest among Canucks defenders that saw the ice with any sort of regularity.
Scoring Chances:
The scoring chance data for Weber doesn’t illicit the strongest of reactions in either direction. With a SCF%Rel of 0.1%, the team did just marginally better with Weber on the ice than without – although, realistically, the difference is negligible. The balance is tilted strongly in neither direction, but rather the product of middling results in both generation and suppression.
Chances of the ten-bell reflect slightly better on Weber. He’s in the black, both by relative and raw measures. Then again, so are most Canuck defenders not named Luca Sbisa.
Shot-based:
Weber is the fourth best defender on the Canucks by SF%, which makes sense given his recent development into a top-four defender. Knowing that Weber is a high-event defender, it shouldn’t be overly enlightening that shots are equally as frequent with Weber on the ice. His particular strength, driving them towards the oppositions nets.
Going Forward
The Canucks blue line is absolutely stacked. Not necessarily with top-end pieces, but just warm bodies in general – many of which, have yet to prove themselves at the NHL level. In this group, the 27-year old Weber will appear a grizzled vet, with his 229 games played in the NHL. And while this may bode well for the diminutive Swiss defender, I’m not necessarily sure it’s the most positive of signs for a team that intends to compete for a playoff spot as recently as now, next year and the year after.
In this group, Weber seems primed to rejoin Hamhuis for at least the better part of next season, forming a middle of the pack second pairing. The two did yeoman’s work towards the end of last season in that role and it appeared as though there might be chemistry there. I can’t imagine why the Canucks wouldn’t go back to that well, at the very least, to start next season.
It will be interesting to see what kind of job security Weber will have from that spot. The Canucks may have traded Kevin Bieksa, but they also added Matt Bartkowski. This says nothing of the fact that Adam Clendenning and Frankie Corrado are both waiver eligible next season and likely to stick with the club as a result. Weber is on a one-year contract and set to hit unrestricted free agency the following off-season. It’s a situation that will be interesting to follow as the season goes on. Then again, the way things are going “interesting” is about as high a hope as we can set. |
New Delhi: One97 Communications Ltd, which runs the online payments firm Paytm, has started Aadhaar-based electronic know your customer (eKYC) process of user verification, the company said in a statement on Monday.
Regulated entities like banks and wallet providers are required to carry out certain customer identification procedures while establishing account-based relationships and undertaking transactions.
Paytm, which is one of the recipients of a payments bank licence, plans to launch its payment bank services before November.
KYC is a process of verifying the identity of the user and a regulatory norm to prevent identity theft, financial fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. Earlier, a typical KYC process would take several days that required in person exercise of filling up forms and submitting copies of identity and address proof.
Paytm said the Aadhaar-based eKYC is entirely paperless, instant and secure. A customer’s identity is verified instantly by matching the biometric scan of a fingerprint or iris against the Aadhaar database.
Paytm already has close to 135 million wallets.
“We are building India’s largest eKYC customer network to bring half-a-billion Indians to the mainstream economy. We have aggressive targets to become the largest Aadhar-based eKYC company in the country," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive officer, Paytm, in the statement. |
Trump claims that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower before the election.
Sound nutty?
Perhaps ... but former Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that Trump is probably right that Trump Tower was bugged (by the Justice Department, not Obama personally).
And chief Fox News Washington correspondent James Rosen - who Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder ordered be bugged ... like many other reporters for well over a decade - said he thought Trump might be right:
Washington's Blog asked the highest-level NSA whistleblower in history - Bill Binney - whether he thought Trump had been bugged.
Binney is the NSA executive who created the agency’s mass surveillance program for digital information, who served as the senior technical director within the agency, who managed six thousand NSA employees.
He was a 36-year NSA veteran widely regarded as a “legend” within the agency and the NSA’s best-ever analyst and code-breaker.
Binney also mapped out the Soviet command-and-control structure before anyone else knew how, and so predicted Soviet invasions before they happened (“in the 1970s, he decrypted the Soviet Union’s command system, which provided the US and its allies with real-time surveillance of all Soviet troop movements and Russian atomic weapons”).
Binney told Washington's Blog:
NSA has all the data through the Upstream programs (Fairview/Stormbrew/Blarney) [background] and backed up by second and some third party country collection. Plus the FBI and CIA plus others, as of the last month of the Obama administration, have direct access to all the NSA collection (metadata and content on phones,email and banking/credit cards etc.) with no attempt at oversight by anybody [background]. This is all done under Executive Order 12333 [the order which allows unlimited spying no matter what intelligence officials claim] .... FBI would only ask for a warrant if they wanted to be able to take it into court at some point given they have something meaningful as evidence. This is clearly true given the fact the President Trump's phone conversations with other country leaders were leaked to the mainstream media.
In other words, Binney is saying that Trumps phones were bugged by the NSA without a warrant - remember, top NSA whistleblowers have previously explained that the NSA is spying on virtually all of the digital communications of Americans. - and the NSA shared the raw data with the CIA, FBI and other agencies.
If the FBI obtained a warrant to tap Trump's phone, it was a "parallel construction" to "launder" improperly-gained evidence through acceptable channels.
As we've previously explained:
So does it mean that the NSA spying on Trump Tower actually turned up some dirt?
Maybe ...
But history shows that mass surveillance has long been used to blackmail opponents ... including high-level officials. And see this.
And the former NSA director admitted that the mass surveillance is a power grab.
So we won't know until the intelligence agencies actually show their cards ... and reveal what evidence they've gathered. |
Schoolchildren to be given lessons in national symbols to encourage them to understand values of the republic
French schoolchildren are to be given lessons in national symbols including the tricolour and the Marseillaise in an attempt to combat the spread of religious fundamentalism.
The government announced new measures including a “day of secularity” after concerns were raised that some children – notably those from migrant populations – were failing to understand the “values of the republic”.
This month teachers complained that some pupils refused to keep a minute’s silence in respect for the 17 victims of three terrorist attacks two weeks ago. Some schools also reported that a number of Muslim pupils rejected the “Je suis Charlie” movement after the Charlie Hebdo attack, saying the satirical magazine’s drawings of the prophet Muhammad had insulted their religion.
Teachers are to be given training in transmitting republican values in an effort to stop young people dropping out of education and falling prey to extremists. Pupils will be given “civic and moral lessons” – including in civility and politeness – as well as “media instruction” as part of the scheme costing €250m (£190m) in the next three years. National “secularity day” will be on 9 December.
Gunmen Saïd and Chérif Kouachi were the French children of Algerian immigrant parents, while Amédy Coulibaly was born in France to parents from Mali. Last week the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, said the failure to integrate large populations from north Africa and elsewhere had led to a kind of “social and ethnic apartheid” in France. Government ministers have also spoken of “ghettos”, namely the grim housing estates of city banlieue where the migrant population is high as is unemployment and poverty.
Valls’ description has shocked France, where it is illegal to collect or collate information based on ethnic or religious background. Sébastien Sihr, secretary general of the teachers’ union SNUipp-FSU, said on Thursday: “In a fractured and ghettoised society, having a mix of [social] backgrounds is the only way to give pupils a real idea of how to live together.” |
Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. says it sees a brighter future with former chief executive officer Stephen Wetmore than with the man who replaced him less than two years ago in the top job, Michael Medline.
In a stunning decision that took many industry players and observers by surprise, the Toronto-based company said on Wednesday it has reinstated Mr. Wetmore – who was CEO for about six years between 2009 and 2014 – as the person best suited to deal with the myriad challenges of a rapidly changing, uncertain retail environment.
Canadian Tire's board was concerned the company's digital retail strategy was inadequate in the face of fast-moving competitors such as Amazon.com, according a person close to company.
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Mr. Wetmore is seen by the board as better equipped to execute a plan to ensure Canadian Tire thrives in a retail market increasingly moving online, the person said.
Desjardins Securities analyst Keith Howlett agreed that the company's immediate priorities are finding and implementing the right strategy in the rapidly growing and fiercely competitive online shopping channel.
The shakeup is needed "at a time of unprecedented change in the retail industry," said Canadian Tire chairwoman Maureen Sabia, without providing specifics on what issues need to be addressed.
"While the short-term priorities are delivering results, the board's responsibility is the long-term success of Canadian Tire," she said in a statement.
The board "has given me a clear mandate to take our iconic brand to the next level," Mr. Wetmore said.
"Every day, our customers are demanding more control over their shopping experience. We must continue to rapidly evolve the Tire to exceed both our customers' and our shareholders' expectations."
Ms. Sabia's comments indicated that the company views the company's current satisfactory performance as the result of work done by Mr. Wetmore before Mr. Medline's arrival.
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"Stephen transformed our company during his previous tenure and laid the foundation for our current performance. We believe he is uniquely qualified to lead the company through the increasing complexities of the new world of retail. His appointment as President and CEO is neither an interim, nor a short term, appointment."
Mr. Medline, a 15-year veteran at the company, became president in 2013 and CEO in 2014.
Mr. Howlett said the board and Mr. Wetmore – as deputy chairman – "likely disagreed with Mr. Medline over one/all of the following: (1) the appropriate digital strategy, (2) the pace of its implementation, or (3) the role of acquisitions in implementing the company's digital strategy."
Short-term earnings weakness – expected in the second quarter of 2016, to be reported next month – is not likely the underlying cause for the CEO shakeup, Mr. Howlett said.
But "the change in the CEO does reflect that traditional retailing paradigms are under stress and must evolve."
Bringing back Mr. Wetmore is good news, RBC Dominion Securities credit analyst Andrew Calder said in a research note.
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"While surprising, we expect investors to react positively to this change. Investors widely consider Mr. Wetmore's previous tenure to be a success, which included the transformational purchase of [sports retailer] Forzani.
"In our view, in addition to the online channel which the organization has rolled out successfully in the Sportchek banner, the core Canadian Tire Retail banner is facing increasing competitive threats by way of Wal-Mart, Amazon, Costco and other innovative players with online ordering and home delivery of hard goods and other core work/life/play products."
Michael McLarney, president of industry publication Hardlines, said the return of Mr. Wetmore may signal a renewed focus on corporate strategy, such as boosting the stock price and making more acquisitions to fuel growth.
In his last go-around as Canadian Tire CEO, Mr. Wetmore – a New Brunswick native and former CEO of Bell Aliant – spearheaded the acquisition of sports retailer Forzani Group Ltd., whose banners include Sport Chek, and streamlined administrative functions at head office.
Mr. Medline was viewed as more concerned with improving the customer experience, Mr. McLarney said. "Under Medline, Canadian Tire really reinforced its brand and really focused on merchandise, on being a better retailer."
Mr. Medline had also been leading a major expansion of Canadian Tire's online presence, including the testing of different e-commerce strategies. But the company "had several hiccups on that front," Mr. McLarney said.
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Back in 2009 – when Mr. Wetmore was CEO – Canadian Tire exited online sales completely, then later reversed that decision and had to play catch up in the e-commerce space.
The company said on Wednesday that Mr. Wetmore will step down as deputy chairman of the board but stay on as a director. |
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon today announced plans to create more than 5,000 new part-time roles over the next year in Virtual Customer Service, a program in the company’s award-winning customer service organization that offers employees the flexibility to work from home as a customer service agent. In addition to competitive wages, virtually-located employees who work 20 hours per week or more receive benefits, including the company’s innovative Career Choice program that pre-pays 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether those skills are relevant to jobs at Amazon. These new Virtual Customer Service jobs are part of Amazon’s plans to hire more than 30,000 part-time roles over the next year, on top of more than 100,000 full-time, full-benefit jobs the company is creating in the U.S. over the next 18 months. See the experience of a military spouse and Amazonian working in Virtual Customer Service here.
“There are lots of people who want or need a flexible job—whether they’re a military spouse, a college student, or a parent—and we’re happy to empower these talented people no matter where they happen to live,” said Tom Weiland, Amazon Vice President for Worldwide Customer Service. “We’re finding that roles with Virtual Customer Service are particularly attractive to military spouses who want to continue working and parenting, even if their spouse is deployed or the family is relocated, as often happens with military families. Wounded, injured or ill military veterans and others with mobility challenges are also enjoying these opportunities to work from home with Amazon. Both active duty and retired service men and women support our country and we are happy to support them.”
Amazon Virtual Customer Service employee Sabrina Tierce relocated six years ago from central California to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State where her husband is stationed as an Army medic. “It’s amazing to have a job that offers me the flexibility to care for my child when needed and even to move around the country if we are relocated,” said Tierce. “My commute is about 15 paces. The worst part of my day is if there’s a Lego on the stairway, because that’s a rough commute to work.”
Amazon currently employs more than 10,000 military veterans, and last year pledged to hire an additional 25,000 veterans and military spouses during the next five years.
“Amazon’s commitment and taking an intentional step around military spouse employment truly shows that they do understand the challenges that the community faces and that they can be a part of the solution,” said Kylee Durant, USO Vice President for Transition Technology and Innovation Programs as well as a military spouse. “To have an innovator like Amazon recognize the need – the deep need – that military spouses have for employment says to me they are a catalyst for greater societal change in this country.”
Part-Time Opportunities in Amazon Customer Fulfillment
In addition to Virtual Customer Service roles, Amazon will create more than 25,000 part-time roles over the next year across its network of sortation and fulfillment centers where employees sort and consolidate customer packages. Amazon has nearly 40,000 part-time employees across the U.S. and has found the roles are especially appealing to students and stay-at-home parents looking to earn money during windows of availability in their schedules.
Part-Time Employment with Benefits
Over 70 percent of part-time employees in Amazon’s Virtual Customer Service and Customer Fulfillment work more than 20 hours per week, which means they receive benefits, including life and disability insurance, dental and vision insurance with premiums paid in full by Amazon, and funding towards medical insurance. These part-time employees can also take advantage of the company’s Career Choice program, an innovative benefit that helps train employees for in-demand jobs at Amazon or elsewhere so that they can take full advantage of the nation’s innovation economy. The program pre-pays 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a future career at Amazon. More than 9,000 employees have participated in Career Choice and more are signing up every day. Amazon has open-sourced the program and is reaching out to companies to help them copy and adopt their own Career Choice programs.
To learn more about working at Amazon, visit http://www.amazondelivers.jobs/.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products and services sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment, sortation, delivery, and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains, and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, payments risks, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services, and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings. |
SALT LAKE CITY — For parents with stubborn kids, life can feel at times like they're trying to tow a 747 with their teeth. A new study may give hope to tired parents working with stubbornness, showing a connection between adult success and childhood defiance.
A 40-year long study, spanning from 1968-2008, tracked children's behavior and how it correlates to career success as adults. The results of the study, published in Developmental Psychology, point to a correlation between strong behavioral traits in childhood and success later in life.
"The results revealed direct and indirect influences of student characteristics (responsible student, rule breaking and defiance of parental authority, and teacher-rated studiousness) across the lifespan on career success," the study states.
Children between the ages of 8 and 12 were monitored for certain behavior traits. Children who exhibited a more defiant and stubborn personality had a higher rate of career success later on as adults, the study found.
"We examined the influence of parental socioeconomic status (SES), childhood intelligence, and student characteristics and behaviors (inattentiveness, school entitlement, responsible student, sense of inferiority, impatience, pessimism, rule breaking and defiance of parental authority, and teacher-rated studiousness) on two important real-life outcomes (i.e., occupational success and income)," the authors of the study wrote.
Children who exhibited stubborn and defiant tendencies were more likely to have higher salaries as adults in the workforce than those of their more submissive peers, the study states.
There were 745 individuals participating in the study, 49 percent of whom were females, 51 percent of whom were male. The study ended in 2008 and the authors of the research have spent the last eight years compiling additional data and analyzing outcomes.
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The website of the New York Times probably doesn't go out of service more than any other big site, but when it does, boy do people notice.
For the second time in two weeks, nytimes.com is returning an error message, at least for a large segment of visitors. This time, it seems hackers are to blame.
Last time around, on Aug. 14, the Times's homepage went dark pretty much across the board for around two hours. After some initial speculation that it had been hacked, the Times characterized it as an "internal issue."
The outage from this incident is more limited. The first notice I had was a tweet from Consumerist.com's Mary Beth Quirk. Since then, a slew of others have complained about the problem on Twitter, though different users are having different experiences, and a minority report the site functioning as normal. I'm getting the failure screen above. Capital New York's Tom McGeveran is getting rerouted to the homepage of the international edition. Former PaidContent editor Staci Kramer pointed out a workaround that brings up the homepage, but the links on it don't work.*
"Our initial assessment is that this is most likely the result of a malicious external attack," a Times spokeswoman emails. "We are working to fix the problem." Gawker highlights a tweet suggesting it was the work of the Syrian Electronic Army, which earlier attacked the Washington Post's site.
Mashable reporter Seth Figerman posts a screengrab suggesting the SEA is taking credit for the hack as well:
This is what happens when I visit the http://t.co/sZB2l78Lg5 pic.twitter.com/gzvuSrE7VE — Seth Fiegerman (@sfiegerman) August 27, 2013
*Correction: Staci Kramer is no longer with PaidContent. An earlier version of this post inaccurately suggested she was. |
There was a familiar ring to this week's revelation that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in Trump's doghouse (provoking a torrent of leaks that Sessions had threatened to resign).
Flip back through the clips, and you find: Reince in the doghouse ... Sean in the doghouse ... Bannon in the doghouse ... National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster in the doghouse ... White House Counsel Don McGahn in the doghouse.
Reince in the doghouse ... Sean in the doghouse ... Bannon in the doghouse ... National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster in the doghouse ... White House Counsel Don McGahn in the doghouse. Even son-in-law Jared Kushner, who's pretty close to untouchable, got a little chin music yesterday as the press pool got a glimpse of Trump's meeting with congressional leaders. Trump said, to laughter: "Jared has actually become much more famous than me — I'm a little upset at that."
So what's with the constant needling and belittling? |
The Sandvich is the Heavy’s first unlockable. It tastes as good as it looks and heals 120 health. Like in real life, the decision to eat a Sandvich must not be taken lightly; The Heavy is completely vulnerable during the four second eating process, and his loud, happy sounds of vigorous chewing will draw enemies like tiny ant cowards to a picnic. OF DEATH. On the bright side, the Heavy’s Sandvich supply is unlimited, so his only real concern is being caught short while enjoying this delicious edible device. The Sandvich is a great tool for a Heavy defending an area, as it gives him the ability to replenish health between enemy waves without having to abandon his post. Similarly, an offensive Heavy without a Medic can step back from the front line and grab a quick snack before resuming his rampage. Beware, however: the Heavy must set aside his shotgun to take the Sandvich, and enemy Snipers are much more dangerous for a Heavy wielding only a minigun. |
China, under President Xi Jinping, has shown a growing desire to embrace traditional culture. The government — which asserts ownership over all ancient tombs and underground cultural relics — has sought to combat the tomb-robbing problem through lawmaking, increased surveillance and monetary rewards for people who turn in relics.
But officials say the problem is so pervasive that it has become nearly impossible to eliminate.
“It’s just like drugs in the United States,” said Zhou Kuiying, deputy director of the Shaanxi provincial bureau of cultural heritage. “Even though the government bans tomb robbing, there are still many people who do it.”
For more than 3,000 years, Chinese rulers and aristocrats adhered to elaborate funerary rituals, including the practice of burying the dead with objects to use in the afterlife. Depending on the era and the rank and wealth of the deceased, the burial goods could include everything from jade discs and bronze vessels to lacquer boxes and glazed pottery figurines.
Grave robbing in China has a history that is perhaps as long. In the second century B.C., tomb robbing was so widespread that the Lüshi Chunqiu, a classic Chinese text compiled around 239 B.C., advocated frugal burials to deter looters. Even the mausoleum of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, which is guarded by his famous Terracotta Army, is rumored to contain a series of booby traps intended to ward off potential robbers.
It wasn’t until centuries later, during the post-Mao opening of China in the 1980s, that this practice became an epidemic. Farmers, whose families had for generations been charged with safeguarding local tombs, began moving off the land and into cities. Vast areas were turned over to make way for subway tunnels, apartment buildings and highway networks. Construction sites doubled as archaeological pits, and countless tombs and historical relics were unearthed in the process.
Along the way, many Chinese, buoyed by rising incomes, developed a new appreciation for relics, giving rise to a new class of Chinese collectors who rival even longtime Western collectors of Chinese antiquities in their knowledge, enthusiasm and purchasing power.
As the market for Chinese art and antiquities exploded, so too did the number of forgeries. The problem became so rampant that some collectors even began quietly seeking out recently looted objects to avoid the risk of buying fakes. |
POQUOSON, Va. (AP) — A white Virginia sheriff's deputy has been reassigned after attending a Halloween party in blackface.
The Washington Post reports Deputy Jean Browning, a 20-year veteran of the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office in southeast Virginia, attended a party dressed as U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson. She was accompanied by her boyfriend, who was dressed as President Donald Trump.
Trump publicly feuded with the Florida congresswoman last month after she criticized comments he made to the widow of a soldier killed in Niger.
Sheriff J.D. Diggs said in a news release that based on the circumstances and "the need for the community to realize that the sheriff's office takes race relations seriously," he had reassigned Browning to another job within the department. She was previously an anti-drug officer in the local school system. |
A Baltimore woman has been arrested and charged in the fatal stabbing of her husband inside a room at Johns Hopkins Hospital on Friday, Baltimore police and hospital officials said Saturday.
Anita Nicole Jones, 30, was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Christopher Yancey Sr., 33, police said.
Police were called to the world-famous East Baltimore hospital about 2:30 p.m. Friday after staff members heard a disturbance in a room in the hospital’s pediatric unit, entered and found the man suffering from a stab wound to the upper body, police said.
Police said the couple’s 14-year-old son was undergoing a minor procedure at the hospital, and that the boy’s mother and father were alone in a room when the stabbing occurred. Police said Jones emerged from the room and told hospital staffers that Yancey had cut himself.
Yancey was pronounced dead shortly after he was discovered, police said.
Police said Jones left the hospital before officers arrived. No weapons were found at the scene.
An arrest warrant was later issued for Jones, and she was taken into custody Saturday.
in a statement, Kim Hoppe, a hospital spokeswoman, called the stabbing an “isolated incident.”
“At no time were patients, staff or other visitors in danger,” Hoppe said. “We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased. Since this is a police investigation, we must defer all inquiries to them.”
It marked the 281st homicide in Baltimore in 2017. That is a record pace.
The hospital, which is consistently ranked among the best in the country and praised for its emergency care of victims wounded in the gun battles all around its East Baltimore campus, has seen violence breach its doors before.
The most high-profile incident occurred in 2010, when a Virginia man shot his mother’s doctor, killed his mother and then killed himself.
That incident, in which witnesses said Paul Warren Pardus blamed the doctor for paralyzing his mother during surgery, led to an hours-long lockdown and snipers setting up positions on hospital buildings until a robot sent into the facility discovered Pardus and his mother were dead.
Dr. David B. Cohen survived being shot.
That incident prompted widespread discussions around the safety of medical providers.
In 2014, a man named Donald Wizeman, also from Virginia, was found fatally shot in an emergency room bathroom at the hospital. Investigators ruled his death a suicide.
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twitter.com/rectorsun |
Shortly after the Barclays Premier League campaign finished, Manchester City flew to North America for two post-season friendly matches.
For the teams they will be facing, Toronto FC and Houston Dynamo, they are mid-season friendlies. And inconvenient ones at that.
Toronto host City at the renovated BMO Field on Wednesday four days after their match with Portland Timbers and three days before they face San Jose Earthquakes.
And Houston host City at BBVA Compass Stadium on Thursday just two days before they face New York City FC at Yankee Stadium, a match the City squad with watch from the sidelines.
Both teams are, of course, excited to face the Premier League giants, though it remains to be seen which of the big names play and for how long.
Indeed, with this summer's Copa America in mind, City's three Argentines Sergio Agüero, Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis will only take part in the Toronto match while the two Brazilians, Fernandinho and Fernando, will only take part in the Houston match.
“We are very excited to play Manchester City at BMO Field this season. Hosting a club like Manchester City is a great opportunity for our players to compete against one of the biggest clubs in the world,” Toronto general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a statement.
Dynamo president Chris Canetti told MLSsoccer.com: "We’ve been working very hard over the last several years to try and land a team that has the stature that Man City has. This is going to be a big moment for the club and its fans. We’ve always said we want to deliver an opponent like this for our club and our fan base.”
Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle, however, recognised the scheduling concerns that come with the match.
“I don’t think any of us could turn down the opportunity to play such an elite team as Manchester City, and that’s a credit to the match,” he told MLSsoccer.com. “It is a quick turnaround … in terms of the squad that’s something we’ll look at very closely.”
And there lies the rub: these midseason friendlies are matches that MLS clubs cannot and will not turn down despite the potential problems that arise from them.
In late July New York Red Bulls face a challenging fortnight, taking on Orlando City in an MLS match on Saturday, July 18, before two quick matches in succession in the International Champions Cup - against Chelsea on Wednesday, July 22, and then Benfica on Sunday, July 26 - before resuming MLS activities against Philadelphia Union on Saturday, Aug 1.
That is four matches in 15 days, tough by anyone's standards.
Meanwhile, Orlando City have shoe-horned in a friendly against West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday, July 15, in between MLS matches FC Dallas on July 11 and New York Red Bulls on July 18.
It is not only fatigue caused by the glut of games that is a problem for MLS teams but injuries as well.
David Beckham, memorably, made his debut for Los Angeles in a midseason friendly against Chelsea on July 22, 2007, despite already suffering an ankle injury.
In normal circumstances, Beckham would not have played but such was the attention of his arrival and the commercial demands placed on him that he made a cameo appearance for the final 13 minutes.
"I'm not fit and I haven't trained since I have been out here," Beckham said afterwards. "The ankle is swollen and we'll see how it is tomorrow.
"I sprained it in the England game and I played four days after I pulled the ligaments.
"Then I had the last game of the Spanish season a week after and I had three injections to numb it and I played in that game without any feeling in my foot.
"There are always going to be problems after that but that's what I wanted to do, to play in that game.
"It has been five weeks since that game and this sort of injury usually takes six or seven weeks to heal.
"It's a lot better, it's making progress - it's not a serious injury."
Friendly fire: David Beckham goes down in his LA Galaxy debut Credit: AFP
MLS commissioner Don Garber insisted that the decision for Beckham to play was the player's alone.
Garber told BBC Radio: "It was up to David and he felt he was fit enough to come in. Neither the League nor the Galaxy is putting pressure on David to play - that is absolutely not happening."
Beckham, one must note, aggravated his ankle in that match and did not make his MLS debut until Aug 7 in a defeat to DC United. In the end Beckham played just five MLS matches for Galaxy that season due to a mixture of ankle and knee injuries.
Meanwhile, last summer Bayern Munich head coach Pep Guardiola refused to shake hands with Caleb Porter after the MLS All-Star match.
Guardiola was particularly upset by a hard tackle by Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson on Bastian Schweinsteiger, which resulted in the Germany international clutching his ankle and limping off the pitch.
Landon Donovan told ESPN afterwards: “I understand he doesn’t want his players to get hurt. They’re not great tackles but they’re not the worst tackles I’ve ever seen and I hope Schweiny’s not hurt."
Bastian Schweinsteiger suffers bruised ankle in MLS All-Star Game, but 'nothing serious' http://t.co/hKBsA14HmU — SaadAbuZeinab (@saadabuzeinab) August 8, 2014
The list goes on. In July 2013, Brek Shea, then with Stoke City, was forced to limp off the field after sustaining a knee injury during a friendly match with Philadelphia Union.
“Obviously I’m pretty upset right now,” said Shea, now with Orlando City. “I was excited to get back to Stoke and get ready for the season. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it feels.”
Mark Hughes, the Stoke manager, had harsher words to say.
“It was a nasty injury,” Hughes said. “It looks like some damage to the ligaments in his knee. He’s going to be scanned. I thought it was a very, very poor challenge by the boy. What the hell was he was thinking of, I have no idea.
“It’s a friendly game,” the Stoke City manager added. “You need to protect your fellow professional. And I don’t think the guy did that. I don’t know who he was. Maybe he was trying to make a name for himself, I don’t know. He went the wrong way about it.”
Brek Shea is injured and limping off. Looks like he's done for the night. Matt Kassel is getting booed by his own fans. — Dave Zeitlin (@DaveZeitlin) July 31, 2013
MLS midseason friendly matches are meant to be win-win. They represent chances for the visiting sides - mainly from Europe - to expand their brand in the United States and help prepare for the new season.
While for the MLS sides, these games represent a chance for players to challenge themselves against the best players in the world, for fans to see these superstars in person and for the clubs to boost exposure and revenues.
But at least once a summer there is a general feeling that these midseason friendlies benefit the visitors far more than they do the home sides.
And that they are distractions - albeit a lucrative and high-profile ones - to their goals of reaching the MLS play-offs or progressing in cup competitions.
But that is not always the case. During the International Champions Cup, LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and San Jose Earthquakes have matches scheduled during US Open Cup quarter-final weekend.
Here is the full #ICC2015 schedule! See you all this summer! pic.twitter.com/dpgqnxXLl8 — Int Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) April 28, 2015
The winners of the US Open Cup, one must note, qualify for the Concacaf Champions League and the winners of that qualify for the Fifa Club World Cup where meaningful competitive matches against the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus and Barcelona are possible, not friendlies.
The idea that Premier League, Bundesliga or La Liga sides would reschedule matches - or shoe-horn more games into their fixture list - during the height of their seasons is simply inconceivable.
But there is no escaping the reality that the MLS and US Soccer need the stardust that the likes of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Barcelona can sprinkle on their game when they arrive each and every summer.
Just as significantly, many soccer fans in the States would rather see the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in action - even in a meaningless friendly - than any of the players in the MLS.
When Toronto FC lost 4-1 to Roma in a midseason friendly in August 2013, the club's former president Kevin Payne tersely told fans who voiced their dislike of these matches: "Get used to it!"
Payne might as well have been speaking to everyone involved with MLS.
Follow Bob Williams on Twitter |
With all the talk lately about Facebook's flawed privacy systems, it's a good time to consider what you're making available elsewhere on the web and on your system. These 10 settings tweaks and setups make your web life a little less public.
Photo by Jorge Franganillo.
Note: The most basic means of boosting your privacy in any computer system is encrypting your data, but that's more of a system setup than a slight change to your usual setup. Still, it's worth looking into if you've got files for your eyes only.
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10. Run a Background Check on Yourself to Know What's Out There
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It takes only a few seconds to know what Google knows about you, but there are many, many other avenues into your past and present on the web. Want to know more about what a potential employer can know? Consumer action blog Consumerist has a nicely comprehensive list of background check tools to try out. You shouldn't try and run them all, but at least get a feel for what can be known about you with just a few clicks. Photo by omk_489. (Original post)
9. Skip Incognito/Private Browsing and Really Leave No Trace
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Private browsing modes might prevent your coworkers or roommates from seeing where you wander on the web, but you still leave plenty of traces for someone who knows where to look. Take the How-To Geek's advice and really browse without leaving a trace. Wipe away Flash cookies, clean out DNS caches, and automate your system so every boot-up is a fresh start.
8. Pick Better Security Questions
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Some security questions and password recovery schemes offered by webapps are so bad, anyone with your casual acquaintance and a small amount of Google savvy could poke into your email whenever they felt like it. To get around weak security questions, use blogger danah boyd's security question algorithm. Instead of straight-up providing your mother's maiden name, use a scheme, such as "[Snarky Bad Attitude Phrase] + [Core Noun Phrase] + [Unique Word]," so that your answer becomes "StupidQuestion MiddleName Booyah," substituting "MiddleName" for the actual answer. If you're lucky enough to be able to choose your own security questions, Lifehacker reader James has written about the best kinds of questions at his blog. (Original posts: memorable answers, good questions).
Choose Memorable Answers to Security Questions Blogger danah boyd's sick of dumb password retrieval security questions on web site… Read more Read
7. Set Up BitTorrent for Private Downloading
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BitTorrent is a public commons of file sharing, and that means that all kinds of folks interested in, say, what your home IP address is, and what you're downloading, can dig into it. With both a proxy and settings in your favorite torrent app, you can protect your privacy when downloading. Nothing's foolproof, but a few checkboxes and a different downloading path can do a lot to give you great peace of mind.
6. Know Your Google Settings
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If you're anything like us, or most of our readers, you've got a lot of your life floating around in Google's cloud-based apps. It pays, then, to know how to set what Google shares publicly about you, how much of your search history is being saved, and how to back up your data so you've always got your own copy. These are among the 10 Google settings you should know about that center on privacy and data retention, though it's always a good idea to know the parameters of the spaces you share your data in.
5. Know How to Travel Without Being Spied On
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Just because some countries have widespread net access doesn't mean it's an open and private web. It's often meant to deter dissidents in strong-handed regimes, but why take the chance of letting your web data fall into the wrong hands? One Lifehacker reader, wishing to remain anonymous and in a non-specific region, crafted a survival guide for traveling where privacy isn't respected. Using secure Gmail, carrying two cloned USB sticks, relying on KeePass and TrueCrypt for passwords and encryption, and knowing how to send data over the web without having it looked at are all good skills to have, both for traveling and in general. Image a composite of photos by hemmob and nolifebeforecofee
4. Know Where You Stand With Facebook at a Glance
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Facebook has promised "simplistic" privacy settings coming soon, but in the meantime, knowing exactly what you've offered to share or keep private is far from transparent. One very crafty hacker at ReclaimPrivacy has put together a settings-scanning bookmarklet that shows what you're sharing beyond your social circle, and offers links and automatic fixes for those settings. Another coder, Ka-Ping Yee, offers a site that shows what the public web can see on Facebook, some of which you can then remove. They're both excellent eye-openers, both for your own account and for friends who refuse to consider what's being shown out there. (Original posts: ReclaimPrivacy bookmarklet, Facebook public).
3. Run Your Browser Through a Proxy
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It's not something you'll want to do all the time, but once in a while, you might want to hide your online tracks. To do so, you can use the go-to web randomization tool, TOR, which has tools available for nearly every OS and browser. For a DIY solution that can work from any browser, we've detailed installing the free PHProxy tool on your home computer or hosted web space to get around restrictions and slightly disguise your tracks. You could also run a proxy through Google's App Engine, and go the full-tilt geek route of encrypting your browsing with an SSH SOCKS proxy. Any way you choose, it's a smart skill to have handy for dodgy connections and restrictive networks.
2. Better Protect Your Mint.com or Other Financial Accounts
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The thing that makes Mint.com such a convenient one-stop shop for financial data and budgeting also makes it a gold mine for anyone looking to learn more about you, or know which accounts they could try to jump into. Security professional Jason Owens provides some smart tips on better protecting your Mint.com account that can apply to any site where you manage your financials. Key among them—don't use your regular email address. Set up a new email address you don't tell anyone about as your login/password verification address. You can forward its mail to your main email, sure, but if someone compromises your email, don't make it too too easy for them to get a hold on your finances.
1. Stay Available on Facebook Without Really Being In It
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You might have considered quitting Facebook, but stopped short because it's how a few far-flung friends and relatives stay in touch, or a place those without your email address can ping you. We can understand, and, luckily, have a halfway solution to recommend. Quit Facebook without really quitting, as Whitson did. Create a new account, linked to a different email, and set it up so that your old friends are still there, but Facebook, even at its most Draconian, can't really reveal all that much about you, and your friends can't really overshare without your permission.
What steps have you taken recently to bolster your own web or desktop privacy? What would you like to fix, but need some pointers on doing so? Let's hash it all out in the comments. |
Severe health risks of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are not new. Studies by scientists among others in France, Germany, Austria, since at least the 1990s, pointing to several levels of health dangers to mankind abound. A recent study released by Egyptian researchers found that rats fed a GMO diet suffer from infertility, among other health issues. In the US similar studies were muzzled by Monsanto and the Monsanto staffed FDA. In a 2011 paper the Institute for Responsible Technology – IRT refers to 19 animal studies linking GMOs to mostly liver and kidney organ disruption.
In the early 2000 the first Russian studies revealed reduction in fertility and birth defects in hamsters and rats. In a 2013 Russian study, scientist have discovered that mammals that eat GMO foodstuffs have difficulties to reproduce. The study concluded that “Campbell hamsters that have a fast reproduction rate were fed for two years with ordinary soya beans which are widely used in agriculture and those contain different percentages of GMOs. Another group of hamsters, the control group, was fed with pure soya [found in Serbia, as 95% of soya in the world is transgenic].”
According to Dr. Alexei Surov, who led the study on behalf of the National Association for Gene Security,
“We selected several groups of hamsters, kept them in pairs in cells and gave them ordinary food as always. We did not add anything for one group, but the other was fed with soya that contained no GMO components, while the third group [was fed] with some content of GMOs and the fourth one with increased amounts of GMOs….. Originally everything went smoothly. However, we noticed quite a serious effect when we selected new pairs from their cubs and continued to feed them as before. These pairs’ growth rate was slower, and [they] reached their sexual maturity slowly. When we got some of their cubs, we formed the new pairs of the third generation. We failed to get cubs from these pairs which were fed with GMO foodstuffs. It was proven that these pairs lost their ability to give birth to their cubs.”
Sterilization from GMOs is not an accident. Henry Kissinger, the protégé of the Rockefeller Foundation and one of the driving forces – still today – of the Bilderberg Society, not only is the author of the infamous proclamation in the early seventies:
‘Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; and who controls money can control the world;’
he also said,
‘Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the Third World.’
This is still a (mostly unspoken) key objective of the elite, associated through different semi-secret organizations like the Bilderbergers, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Trilateral Commission, the British Chatham House, the Economic Forum (Davos), and others.
GMO Seeds
GMOs are based on two strands; one involves insect resistance, the other is herbicide resistant and more dangerous, because it is glyphosate-tolerant. Glyphosate, known under its trade name ‘Roundup’, is however absorbed in the food fibers and has devastating health effects. The herbicide is an endocrine-disruptor, a chemical that at certain doses can interfere with the hormone system of mammals. These disruptions may cause cancer, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects and full sterility by the third generation, as the Russian study clearly demonstrated.
In his eye-opening 2007 book Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation, F. William Engdahl points to food control and depopulation as the strategic key objectives of GMOs as put forward by Henry Kissinger already half a century ago. A less populated Third World will give the US and world elite easier and cheaper access to needed raw materials, allowing the ‘chosen few’ to maintain a lifestyle of exuberant luxury and resources abuse.
Ellen Brown, referring to Gary Null’s documentary Seeds of Death: Unveiling the Lies of GMOs, quotes Dr. Bruce Lipton,
“We are leading the world into the sixth mass extinction of life on this planet. . . . Human behavior is undermining the web of life.”.
Worse is to come, if and when the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is ratified by the US and its eleven Pacific partners. The TPP – much like the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, linking the US with the 28 EU countries) – is negotiated behind closed doors. The chief agricultural negotiator for the US is the former Monsanto lobbyist, Islam Siddique. The two monster trade agreements would deprive governments from regulating transnational corporations’ activities, to the point where the rights of corporations would supersede sovereign nations laws. Corporations would be able to set up private courts that may rule a country liable for lost profit due to legislation that may interfere with their activities.
This would particularly apply to biotech agriculture. GMOs could no longer be forbidden by individual countries. They are integral parts of the two giant trade agreements which the US is attempting to ram down the throats of their ‘partners’ – and may do so in the general realm of vassalage which has been cultivated by Washington’s threat and sledgehammer politics – “You are either with us or you are against us” – and the latter is usually punished with devastating sanctions, if not with death of errant, non-compliant leaders.
The objective of depopulation is alive and well – and being implemented under our eyes; and We, The People, are blinded by the steady drop-by-drop of propaganda that makes us believe that these trade agreements will resolve the world’s food problems, will eliminate famine. What they will eliminate after a few generations is peoples’ fertility. This, coupled with the constant and continuous wars on terror and financial assassinations of entire countries (see Greece) by the so-called Bretton Woods Organizations, IMF and World Bank, working hand-in-hand with the FED and Wall Street, may eventually succeed in drastically reducing world population – if We, The People, do not wake up.
Waking up to a new form of agriculture is crucial. Back to nature and earth-friendly farming, as well as away from globalization to the notion of ‘local production for local consumption’. Russia has a strict ban on GMOs. Russia is producing about 40% of its food by permaculture methods on simple garden plots. According to Natural Living, 80% of the country’s fruit and berries, and 66% of vegetables and about 50% of the nation’s milk are produced on dacha-type plots.
It is not too late to get away from GMOs, from planned sterility and from depopulating the globe for the benefit of a tyrant elite. But, We the People, have to wake up, take back the sovereign control of our nations from the vassal leadership which Washington has discretely, almost imperceptibly placed at the helm of the 11 TPP and the 28 TTIP nations by stolen or manipulated elections or outright ‘regime change’. The breaking up of the Eurozone and the European Union – both of which are in dire straits – might be the beginning of a new era of self-determination.
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, CounterPunch, TeleSur, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance. |
The 39th Annual National HomebrewCon took place at the Minneapolis Convention Center last weekend. Homebrewers, Beer Judges, and beer geeks converged on Minneapolis for 3 days of non-stop education, libation, and celebration. Myself and Eric Wentling were there to cover the entire conference for Beerploma. Eric has been to numerous Homebrew Cons and is a decorated homebrewer. Homebrew Con 2017 was my first and I am very much a homebrewing novice. We both are going to be penning our experiences from different perspectives. There is at least one thing that these pieces will have in common: Homebrew Con 2017 was a spectacular time.
National Homebrew Con 2017: D ay 1
Since this was my first Homebrew Con, I appreciate that the AHA(American Homebrewers Association) provided a myriad of resources for first-timers. I wanted to be able to enjoy and learn as much as I could. Knowing it is a 3 day event, it is a marathon and not a sprint. I had to make sure I was sampling the beers and keeping a clear head to be able to do my job of covering the event.
Everywhere you go on the Homebrew Con website, there are constant reminders to stay hydrated. The day before, you would have thought that I was going in for some type of ultrasound I was drinking so much water. Hydration is important at an event like the Homebrew Con. Beer is literally available whenever you want it and with great power comes great responsibility.
Paranoia about getting too into my cups seemed to get the better of me. I brought enough gatorade and food to sustain a 4th ring suburb. After an uneventful Lyft ride from my house (another thing that is a must if you really want to enjoy yourself) I made it downtown around 1:30 on Thursday. I checked in, got my badge, and picked up my swag back. The swag bag had hop pellets, yeast samples, fruit puree samples, a bottle of Whales Brah from Surly, and a nice bottle of mead.
Homebrew Expo and Social Club
I was anxious to get to the show floor to walk around. My eyes were as wide as a Budweiser endcap display in a liquor store as I gazed around the area. A colossal expanse of beer exhibits as far as the eye could see. My focus rested on the middle area of the warehouse-sized room at the gigantic pint glass. I was home!!
As soon as I met up with Eric and Sarajo I said, “I need some beer!” and Eric told me that Lupulin’s Hashy IPA was being poured right around the corner at the YCH booth. I got a pour of Hashy in my tasting glass and we began to walk around. As I thought to myself that this place is Disney World for beer geeks, the homebrew equivalent of Walt Disney, Charlie Papazian, walked by. Charlie Papazian, the father of homebrew and Founder of the Brewers Association, is someone whose passion for homebrewing and writing inspire me. I hesitated a minute to get his attention. However, Sarajo, being the go-getter that she is, flagged him down. Before I knew it, I was getting a fist bump and a picture with him.
After meeting my first beer celebrity of the day, it was off to all the fun displays. Briess Malting, Brewers Supply Group (BSG), Rahr Malting, Country Malt Group, Anvil Brewing Equipment, Beer Dust, Spike Brewing, More Beer, Blichmann, and BeerSmith all had displays. The floor was a smorgasbord of brewing toys and gadgets. At the BeerSmith table, the inventor of the BeerSmith software himself, Brad Smith, was talking with people. I listen to his BeerSmith podcast religiously. It was fun chatting with him in person and he gave me some great pointers on some equipment to buy to up my homebrew game. I was also excited that he was going to be giving a talk on Saturday about recipe creation. Speaking of sessions, the time was drawing near to go to my first session!
Hold My Beer And Watch Me Science
If you know me, you know that Science is not my strong suit. I can pinpoint the place where I totally disengaged from learning science in high school: the mole road map. However, I thought it would be a fun session. It is never a bad idea to learn more about science if you want to become a better homebrewer. The session did not disappoint. The presenters were fabulous. Denny Conn and Drew Beechum from Experimental Brewing and Malcolm Frazer and Marshall Schott from Brülosophy comprised a fantastic panel of experts. Sarcasm and repartee were sprinkled in amongst a rich discussion about fine-tuning your homebrew. By using triangular testing and a little bit of science, they explained how you can make your homebrew better. I thought that this session was approachable despite my scientific and intellectual shortcomings.
After that session, my brain hurt and I headed back to the social area to get some beer and decompress. I had about 20 minutes to kill before the keynote address by Omar Ansari, the founder of Surly Brewing Company. I also realized that between now and the kick-off party, I would have to get some food. Remembering that water is your friend and food is your guardian angel, I planned to get to Britt’s Pub for some fish and chips after the keynote.
Keynote Address From Omar Ansari
In a rather warmish auditorium, there was a keynote address from a luminary of the MN beer scene. It seemed apropos that Omar Ansari, a man who put a lot of time and effort into getting the taproom bill passed back in 2011. This legislation transformed MN into a craft beer destination. Ansari delivered the narrative of his early days as a homebrewer and how that brought about the idea of Surly. The speech had moments of humor which I liked. The sentiment that Surly will always work to be different than macro beer resonated with the crowd.
Surly detractors might find these words ringing a bit hollow after all that has transpired with Surly in the last couple years. Recently, Surly announced the closure of their Brewer’s Table, a fine-dining option at Surly, and the departure of their Head Chef, Jorge Guzman. This comes on the coattails of a year when Todd Haug, their brewmaster, left the brewery to move onto Three Floyds. Some in the beer community feel that Surly would be an ideal candidate to be acquired by a larger entity. However, it would seem that Ansari has no plans to put Surly up for sale.
Regardless of where you stand on Surly’s transformation over the years, Omar’s passion and love of beer is as steadfast now as it was back when he first started homebrewing. To me, that was the real take away from the speech. Ansari even joked about breaking the Internet in MN when he tweeted that he and Jacob Leinenkugel (owned by SAB Miller at the time) had a big announcement. As far as keynotes go, his story was fun to listen to and it definitely generated a lot of fun dinner discussion.
Kick-Off Party
After a nice walk to Britt’s Pub and a base layer of fish and chips, it was time for the Kick-Off Party. The Kick-Off party is a collection of local and regional breweries pouring some fantastic beers for the Homebrew Con attendees. Several breweries showcasing beers brewed with ingredients furnished by the Country Malt Group and YCH Hops were on display. I certainly wanted to try these beers along with many others.
There was bean bag toss and live music to create a beer festival atmosphere. There was ample seating at the Kick-Off Party. I appreciated this because after being on concrete for the entire day my feet were killing me. Walking around, it seemed like they could have done a better job spacing out the booths because there were some areas that created huge bottlenecks of people.
I did my best to get around and try all the breweries. However, with over 50 breweries and no backup liver, that wasn’t happening. I was being really picky about what I drank. If it was something I had tried before, I skipped it. After all was said and done, I think I did a pretty good job of making my way around. Here is a truncated list of beers that really stood out:
Dangerous Man Oyster Stout
A nice roasty, chocolaty stout with decent body and a touch of salinity from the oysters. This is one of only a handful of oyster stouts I have had and made me want to try more. The line for the beers at Dangerous Man were long all night and I believe that they were the first to run out of most of their beers.
Tin Whiskers Session Pale Ale
This was made with malt from the Country Malt Group. Tin Whiskers’ Head Brewer, Derek Brown, told me that this is something that will make an appearance in the taproom because of its balance. He really liked the body this beer achieved and I have to agree with him.
Urban Chestnut Zwickel Bier
This was a guest brewery from St. Louis, another craft beer hotbed of activity as of late. This beer stood out to me because it was clean and crisp. A perfect style for summer that is woefully underrepresented in our local craft beer market. I was happy to try several beers from Urban Chestnut and would gladly visit their brewery the next time I am in St. Louis.
Roets Brewing Mango Gose
Refreshing, balanced, and fruity are terms that you can use to describe this fantastic beer from Roets Brewing. This style has really come into its own and I am happy that brewers are taking it a step further with different fruit flavors. I didn’t want to be greedy, but I did go back for several tastes of this fantastic brew.
Modist Brewing Red Tide Session IPA
Perhaps the most appropriate beer of the night because it was the beer that Josh Hoover brewed for a pro-am competition. The beer took 2nd place in a competition and he sent the recipe to Modist. Modist then brewed it on a large scale and used Red X and coffee malt from the Country Malt Group in the beer. This might be my favorite Session IPA to date. I don’t normally like Session IPAs because they are thin and too astringent for my palate. However, this one had a nice malt character to balance the hops.
There were other beers of course, but the time was waning. I ordered up my Lyft back home. Of course, it wouldn’t be right for me to go a whole day without a strange Lyft experience. I always make sure to enter in a drop-off destination so that the driver knows where they are going. Perhaps my mistake is assuming that a Lyft driver would know anything about the local streets and highways. After getting into the car, the driver enters in my address (I watched him do this) and I could see the route on the screen of his phone taking us to St. Paul. His next question was, “So, we are going to Brooklyn Park, correct?”
Well, after I had to prompt him pretty much every step of the way to get on the highway, I made it home no worse for the wear. I chugged a glass of water and set my alarm for a nice rest. Tomorrow was going to be a fuller day and I wanted to get a good seat for my 9 am session.
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Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin and the author of “How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking.”
Christian Rudder, co-founder of the popular dating site OkCupid, has a résumé that itself sounds like a fictionalized dating profile. Besides starting a successful Internet company (sold to Match.com in 2011 for $50 million), he’s the guitarist in the indie-pop band Bishop Allen, a movie actor (“Funny Ha Ha”) and a Harvard grad with a math degree. Throw in a penchant for long walks and cooking paella, and he’d be the most dateable man in America.
Now he can add “author” to his profile. His book, “Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking),” builds on the popular OkTrends blog, which Rudder ran at OkCupid and which addressed questions of world-historical importance such as “How should you shoot your profile photo to get maximal interest?” (no flash, shallow depth of field) and “How do heavy Twitter users differ from other OkCupid members?” (they masturbate more frequently).
In “Dataclysm,” Rudder has grander goals. People on the Internet are constantly (and mostly willingly) sloughing off flakes of information. The resulting global cloud of informational cruft, Rudder says, makes possible a completely new way to do social science — to figure out, as he puts it in his subtitle, “who we are.” Yes, computers don’t understand humans very well. But they have their own advantages. They can see things whole that human eyes can handle only in part. “Keeping track is their only job,” Rudder says. “They don’t lose the scrapbook, or travel, or get drunk, or grow senile, or even blink. They just sit there and remember.”
That’s great if you’re a scientist or a monetizer of data trails. But the humans under study might quail a little to know, for instance, that OkCupid keeps track not only of what messages you send to your potential dates, but of the characters you type and then erase while you compose your little satchels of intriguingness. A beautiful scatterplot (the book is absolutely loaded with beautiful scatterplots) maps the messaging landscape. On one side of the plot you find the careful revisers, who draft and delete, draft and delete, typing many more characters than they eventually send. On the other side are those messagers who type fewer characters than they send. How is this possible? Because these are the copypasters, the diligent dates who see romantic approach as an opportunity for digital-age efficiency, sending identical “Hi there” blurbs to dozens of potential mates. It’s courtship in the age of mechanical reproduction.
“Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking)” by Christian Rudder. (Crown)
Rudder has been quite open about OkCupid’s practice of experimenting on its customers, to the consternation of some. (At one point, the service started offering users matches that the algorithm secretly thought were terrible, just to see what would happen.) Experiments such as this are inherently deceptive; in Rudder’s view, they’re worth it, thanks to the opportunity they offer to study human behavior in the wild. He returns repeatedly to the theme that his data — which tracks what we do, not what we say we do — is a surer guide to our interiors than questionnaires or polls. People may say, for example, that they don’t have racial preferences in dating. But the data from OkCupid messages shows quite starkly that people are apt to contact romantic prospects from their own racial group. And it suggests that the real racial divide, as far as online dating goes, isn’t between white and non-white, but between black and non-black. “Data,” Rudder says, “is about how we’re really feeling,” unmediated by the masks we wear in public. That strikes me as too strong; I think most of us are still performing, even when we think no one’s watching. It’s masks all the way in. But it’s undeniable that Rudder and his fellow data-holders can see and analyze behavior previously invisible to science.
The material on race — perhaps because race is hard to talk about in public — is some of the strongest in the book. Rudder provides lists of phrases that are strongly preferred, or dispreferred, by whites, blacks, Latinos and Asians in their OkCupid profiles. The least black band in the world, it turns out, is Scottish indie-pop outfit Belle and Sebastian. (Caveat: I’ve seen Rudder’s own band play live, and I think it has to be in the running.) The lists are full of curiosities. Asian men are strongly inclined to put “tall for an Asian” in their profiles, in keeping with stereotypes about short stature being a dating liability for men. But Asian women also have “tall for an Asian” on their list of most-used phrases — why?
Rudder argues that hopeful singles are asking the wrong questions of their dates, focusing on topline items such as politics and religion, when subtler questions are more predictive. He observes that in three-quarters of OkCupid dates that eventually became committed relationships, the two partners gave the same answer to the question “Do you like scary movies?” That sounds impressive! But without more information, it’s hard to know exactly what to make of it. Horror movies are pretty popular. If, say, 70 percent of people like them, you’d expect 49 percent of couples (70 percent of 70 percent) to both say “yes” to that question by pure chance, and 9 percent (30 percent of 30 percent) to both say “no” — so you’d have 58 percent of couples agreeing, even if a taste for gorefests was completely unrelated to romantic capability.
I had a few other quibbles like that. But the reason I had quibbles is that Rudder’s book offers you something to quibble with. Most data-hyping books are vapor and slogans. This one has the real stuff: actual data and actual analysis taking place on the page. That’s something to be praised, loudly and at length. Praiseworthy, too, is Rudder’s writing, which is consistently zingy and mercifully free of Silicon Valley business gabble.
Rudder compares his project to Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States.” The comparison took me by surprise, but it makes sense. Like Zinn, Rudder is looking for a social science that foregrounds aggregates, instead of individuals, and attends to subtle social movements that might not be visible to any single person. But “people’s history” has two meanings. It’s history of the people but also history by the people; a kind of investigation that’s not restricted to academics and experts. That’s the big question for the new social science of datasets. It’s clear we’re now all part of the study. Can we develop a people’s data science that allows us all to be the scientists, too?
Jordan Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin and the author of “How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking.” |
Poll: Americans Lack Knowledge Of The Supreme Court
Yesterday, C-Span released an online survey conducted on June 7 2009, among 1,002 voters who voted in the 2008 general election. As the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor start next week, the poll’s findings are alarming, and illustrate how little Americans know about the Supreme Court.
When asked how many Justices sit on the court only 49 percent were able to give the correct answer.
When asked if they could name any Justices on the Supreme Court, only 46 percent said yes, against 54 percent who said no.
When asked if they could name the first woman to serve as Justice on the Supreme Court, only 41 percent were able to answer as opposed to 59 percent who could not.
Only 43 percent of the people surveyed were able to identify Sonia Sotomayor as President Obama’s nominee as opposed to 57 percent who did not know.
This is the C-Span survey. |
Don't point your finger at me, Sans! Don't you know pointing is rude?Wait, what!? Another Sans!?... Yes... Another Sans. But fear not, Papyrus is coming soon! How soon? ... Uh, can I choose not to answer that question? XDI always wondered if that Ficus Licker guy could hear Frisk's and Sans' conversation... or I guess their "One way" conversation. I mean, there are only like two/three other monsters in that room and none of them are close to the Ficus Licker. I'm pretty sure it would be hard not to eavesdrop. I wonder if it makes him feel even more awkward than he probably already does? LOL, I sure hope so! XD... Wait... I just realized I forgot to put the knife and fork on the table! Oh well, I'm not gonna go back and fix it. It has to stay the way it is.Anyway, I haven't had a sketchbook for like two months now. So I've been using a College rule, 1 subject notebook!... and a ball point pen. I actually have been loving it! I don't care if it's lined paper. It can still be beautiful, right? RIGHT!? |
Hillary Clinton’s achievement of becoming the first woman to secure a major party’s presidential nomination is viewed by four in 10 voters as a “historic moment” for the country, according to a new national poll by Morning Consult.
The survey of 1,362 voters, conducted in the days after she claimed the requisite number of delegates, found the sentiment to be stronger among women than men. Only a third (33 percent) of men said Clinton’s achievement was historic, while 42 percent of women shared the view.
Groups such as EMILY’s List, which helps to elect Democratic women, have claimed her victory as a major moment in American history, pointing out that women did not even get the right to vote until 1920.
“This is a big deal. A stop-everything-you’re-doing-to-think-about-the-history-we-just-made big deal,” said Stephanie Schriock, the group’s president, in a post on Medium.
[visualizer id=”35743″]
Among other things, only 22 percent of Americans said they viewed Clinton’s nomination as a “step forward” for the country, while 18 percent said it left them angry and another 30 percent said it made them frustrated.
About one in 10 voters (12 percent) said Clinton is “the most historic nominee the nation has ever had,” while 30 percent of them said her nomination was “one of the most historic nominations, but not the most historic the nation has ever had.”
Clinton’s nomination had only a small effect on whether someone felt proud. Only 29 percent of voters said it made them more proud and 22 percent said it made them less proud. More than 40 percent of voters said it had no effect on their pride. A quarter of them said it was “not that notable.”
The results were nearly identical between men and women.
President Obama’s election as the first black president was perceived by more voters as historic than Clinton’s nomination as the first woman to be a major party’ nominee. While 43 percent of voters said it did not impact their pride, 35 percent said it made them more proud.
[visualizer id=”35748″]
Fifteen percent of voters said they were proud that a woman had been nominated by a major political party, another 18 percent said they were angry about it. About a third (30 percent) of voters said her nomination had left them frustrated. Only 22 percent of voters said her nomination is a step forward for the country.
And while most American voters we polled may not ascribe great importance to Clinton’s achievement, her lead in the general-election race against Republican nominee Donald Trump is growing. Thirty-nine percent of voters said they back Clinton over Trump, who was the first choice for one-third of respondents. One in 10 voters opted for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson.
General-Election Matchup June 8-9, 2016 June 1-4, 2016 May 19-23, 2016 Hillary Clinton 39% 36% 38% Donald Trump 33% 37% 35% Gary Johnson 10% 10% 10% Don't Know/No Opinion 19% 17% 17%
In a head-to-head race without a third-party candidate, Clinton leads Trump 42 percent to 37 percent. A little more than one-fifth (21 percent) of voters remain undecided in that scenario.
The Morning Consult survey polled 1,362 voters from June 8-9 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. View the toplines here and here and the crosstabs here and here. |
A now-former board member of the Calgary Homeless Foundation is facing serious charges, accused of sexually assaulting and drugging a teenage boy and attacking another young man with a knife.
Robin Adair Wortman, 62, has been charged with sexual assault and assault with a weapon, as well as two counts of communication to procure sexual services from victims under the age of 18. Investigators said he did not have any past dealings with police.
Wortman had been a member of the volunteer board of the Calgary Homeless Foundation for seven years. When news of his arrest reached the organization Monday, an emergency meeting was called and Wortman was removed from the board, “subject to the final court disposition.”
Watch below: Calgary Police Staff Sgt. Melanie Oncescu issues a statement after a man was accused of sexually assaulting and drugging a teenage boy.
A statement from the foundation said the board has no direct contact with clients.
“We have no knowledge of the scenario or the allegations, but we have 100 per cent confidence and trust in the leadership and the due diligence of the Calgary Police Service and the court,” Calgary Homeless Foundation president and CEO Diana Krescy said.
“We honour when somebody comes forward and speaks up; we’ve got to put our strength behind those vulnerable people.”
WATCH: Staff Sgt. Melanie Oncescu explains what police consider ‘vulnerable’
Wortman was arrested on March 12 at an apartment in the 1000 block of 16 Avenue S.W. in connection with another incident, in which a 19-year-old was chased out of an apartment with a knife. The teen was unharmed.
Police believe the accused targeted vulnerable teens in particular.
“I would identify someone who is vulnerable as perhaps struggling with mental health issues or homelessness or substance abuse… or perhaps they’ve somehow been failed by the support systems one would hope would be available to them,” Staff Sgt. Melanie Oncescu said.
WATCH: Advocate Sheldon Kennedy explains why it’s so important for victims of sexual abuse to tell their story.
Investigators said a 17-year-old came forward to police in January, reporting he had been sexually assaulted.
“The teen accepted what he thought was crystal meth, but it is also believed he was given date-rape drug GHB to incapacitate him before he was sexually assaulted,” police said in a Monday statement.
In such investigations, Oncescu said police are always concerned there may be more victims.
“When we lay the charges of communication to procure a sexual encounter with a person under the age of 18, that’s always a concern that someone is out seeking that,” she said.
His next court appearance is March 15.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 403-428-5457.
WATCH: ‘They live a riskier lifestyle’: Sheldon Kennedy on childhood sexual abuse victims
The 17-year-old victim is receiving care at the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre in Calgary.
Kennedy was at the police press conference Monday and commented on the link between child abuse and vulnerable populations.
“If we look at the stats, 72 per cent of people involved in treatment centres disclose early childhood abuse,” he said. “Kids that’ve been abused are 26 times more likely to experience youth homelessness. Kids that are abused are at a 30 per cent higher risk of high school dropout rate. So the impact is real.”
WATCH: Advocate Sheldon Kennedy says one the most misunderstood theories of sexual abuse is the “grooming process”.
Kennedy suggested one of the most misunderstood theories around child sexual abuse is the grooming process.
“What did I learn in school? ‘Be careful of the white van that cruises around town because they’re going to get you.’ Well—98 per cent of the kids that come through the child advocacy centre, they know their abuser. Forty-six per cent of them is a parent or caregiver, so ‘stranger danger’ is out the window.”
With files from Global’s Erika Tucker |
Pretoria – The DA is planning a march to the Department of Social Development in Tshwane in the hopes of ensuring social grants are paid on time, the party said on Friday.
The party had applied for permission to hold a march next Friday, DA social development spokesperson Bridget Masango said.
"Thousands of DA supporters and concerned South Africans will take to the street of our capital to make it clear to the ANC that they cannot take the grants away from our poor and vulnerable."
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) this week indicated it had no clear plan in place to ensure the continued payment of social grants to more than 17 million beneficiaries after March 31.
"We are heading towards an unparalleled catastrophe, because the ANC’s Bathabile Dlamini has failed to put the interests of the poor first, focusing instead on hiding her smallanyana skeletons and defending Jacob Zuma at all costs."
Masango criticised President Jacob Zuma for not intervening.
"We need to fight Dlamini’s contempt for the poor and send a strong message next week that we will not allow our people to be treated in this way. The DA will fight for every person to get their grants, and on time."
Masango encouraged all concerned South Africans to join the march. Details of the meeting point and the route of the march would be announced at a later stage. |
I’ve always been a sucker for a great hat. Before I came to work at the Library of Congress, I was a writer for a society magazine in Louisiana whose calling card was the hats we wore to cover local events. Needless to say, when given the opportunity to don a fashionable chapeau, I jump at the chance. This past Friday, I enjoyed a day at the races during Black-Eyed Susan Day – the precursor event to the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland, at Pimlico Race Track – wearing a hat I actually made myself, out of placemats!
Every year, the warmer weather heralds in the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the United States. The series kicks off with the Kentucky Derby (which was held this year on May 2), followed by the Preakness (May 16) and culminating with the Belmont Stakes (set for June 6 this year). All three events are more than a century old.
On May 17, 1875, the first Kentucky Derby was held, with horse Aristides winning the inaugural race. Prominent Louisville citizen Col. M. Lewis Clark, Jr., built Churchill Downs and patterned the event after the English Classic, the Epsom Derby.
“The inaugural meeting of the Louisville Jockey Club opened today under more favorable auspices than had been hoped by the most sanguine of its managers. The attendance was upwards of 12,000, and the grandstand was thronged by a brilliant assemblage of ladies and gentlemen. “Altogether today’s meeting was extraordinarily successful, the weather being everything that could be expected, the track in fine order and everything to indicate a satisfactory meeting.” — Nashville Union and American, May 18, 1875
The Preakness was first run May 27, 1873, with Survivor winning the purse. However, Pimlico racetrack opened in October 1870 with the Dinner Party Stakes won by the colt Preakness. According to its website, the Preakness marked its 140th anniversary this year (much like the Kentucky Derby), perhaps in honor of the horse itself and the very first race at Pimlico. The Library’s Prints and Photographs Online Catalog has several images of the racetrack.
“A notable feature of the day was that, with the exception of the first race, which was really no contest whatsoever, the favorites were badly defeated. In once instance, a horse se’ling lowest in the pools was the winner.” — Evening Star, May 28, 1873
The oldest of the three, the Belmont stakes debuted on June 19, 1867, at Jerome Park in New York with horse Ruthless taking home the win. According to history.com, Ruthless was also the very first filly to win one of the three historical races.
“DeCourcey and Ruthless now along, still were full of game, and footed homeward at a good bat. It was now a close and beautiful run … The noble pair lay with each other for 60 rods, DeCourcey still leading; but now the filly drew on him. As they reached the grand stand she had her nose at his saddle-girths. Yard by yard as she strode along she gained, and at the middle of the stand had him beaten, and got her head in front. Fifty yards were left to run, and the struggle was kept up to the finish, DeCourcey battling bravely, but Ruthless went over the score by half a length the winner.” — New York Tribune, June 20, 1867
Only two female thoroughbreds have captured the Belmont since (only 22 fillies have ever competed in the event.) Three have won the Kentucky Derby, and five have won the Preakness, the most recent being Rachel Alexandra in 2009.
As far as the history of wearing hats, we can thank our friends from across the pond, where hats and finery were de rigeur at races such as the Royal Ascot and Epsom. When Clark founded the Kentucky Derby, he also brought to it that fashionable European tradition.
According to the website of the Kentucky Derby, “What Colonel M. Lewis Clark Jr., envisioned was a racing environment that would feel comfortable and luxurious, an event that would remind people of European horse racing. For a well-to-do late 19th and early 20th century woman, a day at Churchill Downs, especially on Derby Day, was an opportunity to be seen in the latest of fashions.” |
The Bank of Canada will publish the results of its recent review of interest rates on Wednesday, and there is plenty of speculation Governor Stephen Poloz will use the opportunity to raise the bank’s overnight rate, which would increase costs for everything from mortgages to business loans. The speculation is largely based on strong GDP performance for the first quarter of 2017, though one good quarter does not a year make.
Actually, with the interest rate at a historic low of 0.5%—pedal to the metal for the BoC—it is surprising how slowly the economy is moving. The bank is supposed to be able to juice growth by dropping rates. That’s clearly not happening, here or in other parts of the world. Negative interest rates in Europe have been equally ineffective at improving GDP.
However, the Bank of Canada doesn’t actually target economic growth; it targets inflation and nothing more. It wants inflation to run at between 1% and 3%,with all other concerns—from ballooning household debt to employment rates—being secondary to this overriding concern. The bank uses three special inflation measures (CPI-Common, CPI-Median and CPI-trim, which you can read all about here) that attempt to remove the more volatile aspects of the Total Consumer Price Index. I’ve averaged all three together in the chart below to simplify things.
But here’s the trouble. Despite a decent first quarter of GDP growth, the Bank of Canada’s preferred inflation measures are averaging an 18-year low as of May 2017! You’d have to go back to March 1999 to get a lower average inflation rate. Ever since 2010, the bank’s key inflation measures have been nowhere near 3%, or the top of their stated range. In fact, the average inflation rate since 2010 has been only 1.6%, much closer to the bottom of the range than the top. The bank’s inflation measures have been falling steadily over the past 12 months. If anything, the rate of inflation is too low.
Source; Bank of Canada and author’s calculations
But there’s a hidden issue afoot here. Inflation is a sanitized way of talking about wage gains, which are one of its primary components. When the Bank of Canada raises interest rates one of the primary impacts is that it reduces wage gains for working Canadians. As rates rise, businesses cut back, lay some people off and make workers afraid of asking for a raise, hence less inflation. The Bank of Canada inflation range is in effect a ceiling on the raises Canadian workers can hope to get in a year.
Just as inflation has been low for the past several years, so have wage gains. The survey of wages from the business side (Statistics Canada’s Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours) recorded a decline in year-over-year weekly earnings in 2016, a first in 15 years of measurements. The survey of wages from the employees’ perspective (the Labour Force Survey) recorded 0% growth year over year in hourly wages as recently as September 2016. The April and May 2017 year-over-year hourly wage gains were an abysmal 0.4% and 0.6% respectively. For all of the 2000s it was exceedingly rare to see a month where hourly wages grew less than 1% year to year. But after 2010 it has become commonplace.
Source: Cansim 281-0026, 282-0071 and author’s calculations
There has been plenty of talk (including from me) about rising mortgage debt and the dangers of high private sector debt in general. One of the possible policy solutions is certainly higher interest rates. However, the knock-on effects from such a move, in terms of further lowering already low wage gains, are significant. Targeted taxation is a more effective way of reducing asset price inflation.
A foreign buyers tax has shown some early promise. Other measures to rein in the housing market might include a speculators tax, a lifetime cap on the principle residence tax exemption, and a higher capital gains rate in general. Targeted tax measures have the benefit of controlling real estate prices, and therefore mortgage debt, without the downside of driving down wage gains.
GDP growth was decent over the past few months, sure, but it hasn’t translated into real raises (and therefore inflation). Nudging the Bank of Canada’s overnight rate up a notch will only further depress both. A better approach is to let our economy grow for a change and let employers work harder to hire new employees, which would ultimately result in higher wages.
Given the terrible growth in wages since 2010, we’ve got some catching up to do.
David Macdonald is a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Follow him on Twitter @DavicMacCnd. |
TEHRAN (IQNA) – Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stressed on Friday his confidence that Hezbollah will emerge victorious from any Zionist war on Lebanon, highlighting that the divine support and the military preparations enable the Resistance to keep triumphant.
In an interview with Al-Manar TV channel, Nasrallah said that during 2006 war, popular resistance fought one of the most powerful armies in the world and achieved the victory which violates all the natural laws, adding that Holy God supported the mujahidin according to His Promise.
He noted that a large part of the Lebanese government and a number of Arab and regional countries sided with the Zionist entity during 2006 war, providing it with the political, media and military support in order to crush the Resistance.
The military force used by the Zionist entity against Hezbollah in 2006 was larger than that 'Israel' employed during all the Arab-Israeli wars, the Resistance leader added.
Nasrallah pointed out that the Israeli defeat in 2000 marked the first Arab victory which was morally and militarily pure, adding that some Lebanese factions felt sad for the Israeli loss and repeated the same experience in 2006.
"Some Lebanese and Arab sides bet on the Zionist victory in 2006."
The Hezbollah leader said that a European embassy contacted Hezbollah during July's war to assert that only the Lebanese government wanted the Zionist enemy to continue its war against Lebanon in order to defeat the Resistance.
"In 2006 Israel agreed on holding the ceasefire agreement, but some Lebanese factions and Arab regimes insisted on disarming Hezbollah before ending the war. Do they consider Israel as an enemy? Does the dignity of the Umma and al-Quds mean anything to them? They do have different calculations."
Those parties and regimes even deny via their media outlets that Hezbollah defeated Israel in 2006 despite the Zionist acknowledgement in this concern, Nasrallah said.
He added that Hezbollah has been always preparing to face any Zionist aggression, noting the Syrian military support to the Resistance.
Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah fighters performed their divine duty and the people were confident that the Resistance would emerge victorious, yet that the Zionist enemy was frightened and confused since the beginning of the war.
He clarified that the political system in Lebanon is corrupted adding that the ruling class is corrupted and its components have looted the country's fortunes and desperately preserve their authority positions.
Nasrallah said that after July's war and unlike the victorious parties in the world, Hezbollah did not seek power in Lebanon for that may have caused a civil war which is worse than the political corruption.
He pointed out that the media outlets supported by certain Persian Gulf countries and the West distort Hezbollah image by circulating that the Hezbollah is a group of drug traffickers and money launderers and that the Secretary General's son died at a night club, stressing that the party cares exclusively about the Resurrection Day when the real truths will be displayed.
Nasrallah reiterated Hezbollah's commitment to the national unity and forming a unified government with all the Lebanese factions, including al-Mustaqbal movement because nations cannot be built amid hatred.
He stated that the most remarkable scene during July's war was the people's steadfastness, tranquility and political awareness which made them fantastically go back to their villages on August 14, 2006, which formed one of the basic features of the victory.
"Nowadays, the southerners enjoy peace and prosperity, thanks to the Resistance sacrifices, while the Zionists are building fences along the Lebanese-Palestinian border for their fear of Hezbollah."
People challenged all the threats and courageously went back to their villages, according to Nasrallah who added that God helped them to frustrate the scheme of keeping them displaced.
Nasrallah confirmed that after July's war, he visited the South and Bekaa, adding that he enjoys a normal life as he receives political delegations and friends, and stressing that he is not hiding at a basement.
He noted that Hezbollah commanders and their families as well as all people faced July's war patiently, which assisted them to defeat the enemy.
The Zionist estimations indicate that any Israeli war against Hezbollah would be adventurous and that striking Iran would not be beneficial, so the decision to attack Syria was taken, according to Nasrallah.
"The July war was aimed at eliminating the resistance in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, and eventually isolating Iran,” Nasrallah pointed out.
He stated that Syria has been targeted for it used to provide Hezbollah with homemade missiles, adopted the Resistance option, and rejected to abandon the Palestinian cause.
"What is going on in Syria is a form of revenge and a continuation of July's war and President Assad is one of the main obstacles that face the US scheme, the New Middle East."
Nasrallah considered that the speech of Donald Trump, the US candidate for presidency, embarrassed President Barack Obama and obliged him to eradicate ISIL.
He said that the Lebanese army stuck to its patriotic creed during 2006 war, sacrificed scores of its soldiers and supported the Resistance in the battlefield, but that PM Fad Siniora wanted the army to disarm and clash with Hezbollah.
"Siniora ordered the army to confiscate the trucks which used to move Hezbollah missiles from Bekaa to the South, revealing that the party's leadership, President Lahoud and Speaker Berri threatened the PM to undo his orders."
"The Lebanese army has all the weaponry, equipment and human conditions to defeat the terrorists in Arsal barrens, but the political decision of the government is not resolute.
"The other party claims that the Lebanese army can confront the Zionist aggression but says that it cannot defeat the terrorists in Arsal barrens."
Nasrallah stressed that the Lebanese army can defeat the terrorists in Arsal barrens, but that Nusra Front has allies in the Lebanese government.
The Hezbollah leader said that the Takfiri scheme cannot survive in the region for it is rejected by all groups, adding that no one can live under ISIL ruling.
Nasrallah emphasized that Hezbollah has gained a vast military experience from Syria war, which frightens the Zionists and will help the Resistance in its Galilee operation.
"If Hezbollah emerged from 2006 war a regional force, it will emerge from Syria crisis an international force."
Nasrallah considered that if Turkey blocks its border with Syria, most of the crisis would be ended as the military and human support to the terrorists would be stopped, adding the pro-terrorism states plan to get rid of all the gunmen after the end of their missions.
"The former Saudi security official Bandar bin Sultan visited Moscow to convince Putin to send terrorists from Chechnya and Dagestan to fight the Syrian army in order to kill them there."
Nasrallah pointed out that the deal according to which the Zionist entity was established includes the Arab kings who are charged with protecting Israel, adding that the Arab militaries have been always powerful, except for the regimes which ban fighting the Zionists.
"If chaos pervades in the region and the Arab regimes collapse, people will certainly wipe out the Zionist entity, liberate Palestine and pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Nasrallah confirmed the solid relations with the Palestinian resistance factions, saying that Palestine is grander than all the other causes.
"I think that the resistance factions cannot accept the normalization of the relations with the Zionist entity."
About Islamic unity, Nasrallah said that the situation is not tragic, noting that what is going on in Syria is not a Sunni-Shia confrontation as scores of those who fight for the army are Sunnis.
"Who liberated Fallujah are the Sunni tribal forces. But the Persian Gulf media has sought classifying the battle as sectarian."
Nasrallah considered that Syria crisis pervades awareness, exposes the mean and prepares the Umma for the major victory of liberating Palestine.
Israel is facing a strategic dilemma after defeating its scheme, according to Nasrallah who expected that the Zionists flee Palestine as they did when they escaped from Lebanon in 2000.
"The US and Zionist schemes will fail to involve the Arab people in confronting the Resistance, which will eradicate the Zionist enemy."
Tackling media siege imposed on Al-Manar TV, Nasrallah vowed to break it, stressing that Hezbollah channel will keep performing its major duties via all the technological means, eliminating the possibility of renaming the outlet due to its symbolic and historical position.
Source: Al Manar |
Republicans have now lost three successive elections to control the Senate, and they’ve lost the last two presidential elections. Nonetheless, they fought tooth and nail to kill President Obama’s health care initiative. They lost that fight, but with the corporate wing of Democrats, they managed to bend it toward private interests.
So, we should be here on this: Obamacare, as it is known, is deeply flawed. Big subsidies to the health insurance industry, a bonanza for lobbyists, no public option and, as the New York Times reported this week, “Millions of Poor Are Left Uncovered by Health Law” — largely because states controlled by Republicans refused to expand Medicaid.
[…]
Despite what they say, Obamacare is only one of their targets. Before they will allow the government to reopen, they demand employers be enabled to deny birth control coverage to female employees; they demand Obama cave on the Keystone pipeline; they demand the watchdogs over corporate pollution be muzzled and the big bad regulators of Wall Street sent home. Their ransom list goes on and on. The debt ceiling is next. They would have the government default on its obligations and responsibilities.
When the president refused to buckle to this extortion, they threw their tantrum. Like the die-hards of the racist South a century and a half ago, who would destroy the union before giving up their slaves, so would these people burn down the place, sink the ship.
[…]
At least, let’s name this for what it is: sabotage of the democratic process. Secession by another means.
[Ed. note: Watch the full essay below.]
Producer: Gail Ablow. Associate Producer: Robert Booth. Editor: Sikay Tang.
Moyers is an award-winning journalist who began his latest media venture with the launch of Moyers & Company on air and online at BillMoyers.com in January 2012. |
In the early 1990s, when I carried a White House pass as a correspondent for The Boston Globe, I had a seat in the briefing room. I did not spend much time there — neither did many administration officials. My desk was annexed by the photographers as a place to pile their coats.
My seat for the briefings was in the fifth row, which might as well have been Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. On those occasions when the president appeared, he’d work his way through the first two rows, making sure to call on the broadcast correspondents; the reporters from the papers of record and the keyed-up representatives of the wire service, where scoops get measured in seconds, not minutes. Rarely did the president take a question from the outback.
There I was — a few yards from the Oval Office — and no one would give me the story. President Bill Clinton walked by our window, down the famed colonnade, to his office each morning. Had I screamed, he would have heard me. At times, in frustration, I thought about it.
It was different when it was my turn to be the pool reporter. It got me through the doors to the Oval Office, onto Air Force One. A few times a year, I had a seat at ringside. But it was an all-or-nothing affair. The price was endless, mindless hours in a holding room, a hotel hallway or a White House van. Boredom made you loopy. Here’s an actual pool report I filed:
The president jogged at Fort McNair
Of him we saw not hide nor hair
They parked our vans outside the gate
And that is where they made us wait
We shivered outside, we ink-stained wretches
While Potus did his jog and stretches …
Those who braved the morning fog will
Forgive this bit of wretched doggerel ...
Which is not to say we didn’t work hard. I wrote 380 articles one year and was honored by my peers. But when I brought that up while haggling for a raise, my editors scoffed and compared me — accurately, I admit — to a middle linebacker: A lot of plays just came my way. |
Constance McMillen in her own words
(CNN) -- A school district in Mississippi has agreed to pay a recent high school graduate $35,000 in damages and adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to a statement released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The settlement comes after the ACLU sued the school district in Fulton, Mississippi, on behalf of Constance McMillen, a lesbian teen who was told by Itawamba Agricultural High School officials she and her girlfriend would be ejected if they attended the school-sponsored prom.
The agreement, which was filed Tuesday, ends the lawsuit.
"I'm so glad this is all over. I won't ever get my prom back, but it's worth it if it changes things at my school," McMillen said in a statement released Tuesday.
The prom, originally scheduled for April 2, was eventually canceled by school board officials who previously said they reached their decision based on "the education, safety and well-being of [its] students."
Officials at McMillen's former high school are not commenting at this time, and a call to the north Mississippi school district seeking comment Tuesday wasn't immediately returned.
According to the ACLU statement, McMillen "suffered humiliation and harassment after parents, students and school officials executed a cruel plan to put on a decoy prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private prom 30 miles away."
McMillen believes the alternative prom she was sent to was a sham because only a handful of people attended. "A lot of people were talking about how it was a joke just set up for me," she previously said.
In March, a federal judge ruled that McMillen's First Amendment rights were violated when her school district refused to let her attend her prom in a tux with a girl.
That was good news, said her attorney, Christine Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender project. It set a precedent and helped broadcast an important statement, which was made stronger by virtue of where it came from, she said.
"We're in a conservative area of the country, where people tend to think we can do what we like," said Sun, who lives in New York but has traveled multiple times to Mississippi on McMillen's behalf. "This case sends a strong message that that's not going to fly anymore."
In 2004, the national gay rights group GLSEN -- the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- issued a report that said of all 50 states, Mississippi had the most hostile environment for gay youths.
"We hope this judgment sends a message to schools that they cannot get away with discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students," said Bear Atwood, interim legal director at the ACLU of Mississippi.
Since McMillen's name made national headlines, the lesbian teen advocate has served as the grand marshal for New York's Gay Pride Parade, she received a $30,000 college scholarship from an anonymous donor, and a Facebook page called "Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom!" had attracted nearly 410,000 fans as of Tuesday.
"It means a lot to me," McMillen said. "The amount of support helps me to continue with the fight." |
Last year, Microsoft took the wraps off a lot of of new Windows Azure services. This year, many of those services are at last going from "preview" to "general availability."
On April 8, Microsoft officials announced that Windows Azure Active Directory (WAAD) is now generally available and ready for production use.
WAAD is Microsoft's cloud implementation of its Windows Active Directory directory service. A number of Microsoft cloud properties already are using WAAD , including the Windows Azure Online Backup, Windows Azure, Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online and Windows InTune.
Officials made the WAAD general-availability (GA) announcement on the opening day of the annual Microsoft Management Summit (MMS).
Next up -- I'm hearing possibly as early as the week of April 15 -- Microsoft may announce the general availability of the persistent Windows Server and Linux virtual machines which the company announced last year. These VMs allow users to host existing Windows and Linux applications on Windows Azure. These VMs are key to Microsoft's plan to expand Azure from more of a pure platform-as-a-service offering to a PaaS plus IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) one.
Microsoft also could announce the general availability on or around April 15 of its Azure Web Sites (codenamed "Antares") and Windows Azure Virtual Network (codenamed "Brooklyn") services, too, according to some of my contacts.
Microsoft officials are declining to say when Microsoft will make the persistent Windows and Linux VMs; Azure Web Sites; and/or Azure Virtual Network generally available.
Other server and cloud announcements Microsoft execs made during Day 1 of MMS on April 8:
Windows Azure Backup is now available as a public paid previewf. This service is aimed at those wanting to store server data offsite, with automated backups to the cloud available.
System Center Management Pack for Windows Azure is now available in public preview form. This pack allows users to monitor availability and performance of the Azure services using their existing System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) environment.
System Center Advisor Connector for Operations Manager is available as a free, public preview for System Center 2012 SP1 users.
Microsoft also is continuing to beat the "software-defined networking" (SDN) drum , announcing its participation in OpenDaylight, an open-source project focused on SDN.
"By participating in the multi-platform endeavor, Microsoft is demonstrating our commitment to an open, extensible and standards-based approach to SDN and network virtualization," according to Microsoft's official statement.
Microsoft is continuing to refine its messaging around Windows Azure, and recently began touting Azure as something customers should treat as part of their own datacenters , even though customers cannot actually run Azure inside their own datacenters. |
The following press release has been issued:
EXTREME RETURNS HOME WITH LIVE EVENT AT ARENA IN SOUTH PHILLY, PREMIERE TV SHOW ANNOUNCED, AND IS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Extreme Rising Pro Wrestling returns to live action Saturday, December 28th 2013 with their debut at The Arena located at the infamous corners of Swanson and Ritner in South Philadelphia. Doors open at 6pm, Bell time at 7pm. Tickets will go on sale Friday, October 25th at 12 noon eastern time at www.extremerising.com.There will be more information, talent confirmations, and matches to be announced soon.
VIDEO PROMOTIONAL LINK: http://youtu.be/l-qd-mMxZZs
Extreme Rising Pro Wrestling has inked a deal with a local television station to premiere their weekly, broadcast TV show beginning on January 1st, 2014 into Philadelphia, Bucks County, South Jersey to the shores, and Northern Delaware. Full details on the television show forthcoming.
On October 3, 2013 Extreme Rising underwent some behind the scene changes and reorganization that will improve and enhance the development and advancement of the wrestling promotion. Steve O’Neill will now officially head all aspects of the promotion.
There will be more news and information released on the Extreme Rising live event Saturday, December 28th 2013, and the Extreme Rising TV show that premieres January 1st 2014 in the coming days and weeks. Stay up-to-date on the Official Facebook page
www.facebook.com/extremerising and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ExtremeRising
To close, Extreme Rising is also happy to announce and welcome SLICK’S GRAPHIC’S into our “extreme family”. Slick’s is the official promotional printer for signs, vehicle wraps, decals, lettering, and much more for Extreme Rising. Slick’s is located at 1309 S. Pennsylvania Avenue in Morrisville, PA 19067 and can be reached by phone at 215-494-3294. www.slicksgraphics.com. |
Here are our very favourite places to eat in New York. Including classic diners like Katz’s Deli, to Umami Burger and Big Gay Ice Cream.
I popped over to New York at the end of last year and being somewhat of a London foodie I was obviously interested in seeing what American delights I could fit into my belly within the space of a week.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor is it an ‘all time best things to eat in New York’ countdown. Instead just consider this as a collection of some kickass places I’ve eaten in during my few visits here, and if you’re heading to New York at any point in the near future then you could do worse than to look some of them up.
Most of the places listed below are pretty cheap or mid-range and none of them will break the bank. The locations vary a little but most are in Manhattan with a couple of nods to Brooklyn. Some of these may be considered too ‘touristy’ by some readers, but hey – I was a tourist!
Anyway, enough blathering, let’s skip to the eating.
1) Tick Tock Diner (West 34th & 8th)
So it’s your first morning in New York and what do you have a craving for? Coffee and pancakes at an all-American diner of course! I usually head straight to the Tick Tock Diner on the corner of 34th Street and 8th Avenue.
Now this may not be the best diner in New York city but there is something about the bright neon lights and 80s chrome that really appeals to me. Plus the fact that it’s a bit further away from the crowds in Times Square so there is more chance of you getting a seat. (For fans of a more particular American experience you should head to Ellen’s Stardust Diner on Broadway where the servers are on roller skates and regularly burst into song. Be prepared to queue though. For a while).
Snuggled into a booth at Tick Tock I order a coffee, a bagel with cream cheese, and a small stack of pancakes with bacon and eggs. I am obviously never going to eat all of this but y’know, when in… uh… Rome… The pancakes are good and you get free refills with your coffee. What more do you need to set you up for some sightseeing?
The last time I was in New York however, I had a craving for a Croque Madame sandwich, which is essentially a toasted ham and cheese sandwich topped with a fried egg. But as we weren’t in a Parisien cafe, the best I could do was get a Monte Cristo sandwich and ask them to plonk an egg on top, which they dutifully obliged. Oh and then it came with a massive side of chips. AND some maple syrup.
While it didn’t win the award for the most delicious thing I ate that week, it definitely won the award for ‘biggest, weirdest, American breakfast item’ and it also meant that I didn’t need to eat a single thing for the rest of the day. Gotta love diners…
Address: 481 8th Ave, New York
Open 24 hours!
2) Katz’s Delicatessen (Lower East Side)
No trip to New York would be complete for me without a visit to the legendary Katz’s Delicatessen. Established in 1888, Katz’s Deli is one of the longest running and only surviving Jewish Deli’s in New York, and you can tell that as soon as you walk in: the interior looks like it hasn’t been decorated in 50 years, and it probably hasn’t. Photographs of their famous patrons from the last 100 years line the walls and they even have sawdust on the floor in the bathrooms, for real! But this is all part of the old school charm that I have come to love about NYC.
Fun fact: Katz’s is also the setting of an obscure, little-known scene in a film called When Harry Met Sally where… oh you already fully aware… fine.
Once I had bagged a seat and managed to flag down a very stroppy but 100% authentic New York waitress, I ordered half a pastrami sandwich on rye and a bowl of Matzo Ball Soup ($17.45). This may not sound a lot but once you see the size of their sandwiches you’ll understand: the pastrami is piled so high that no human could open their jaw wide enough to fit it inside. (Maybe one of those snakes that can dislocate their jaw could though?) My husband attempted to tackle the Three Meat Platter ($34.95), below, which Katz’s does warn is big enough to feed three tourists or one Katz’s regular, but he was woefully outmatched by the mounds of brisket and corned beef. He maintains it was the coleslaw. I know better.
Everything comes served with the regulation sour pickles and mustard and everything is absolutely delicious! Now you’re feeling like a real New Yorker, but for heavens sake don’t lose that ticket stub!
Address: 205 East Houston Street (corner of Ludlow St), New York
Open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays!
3) Dana’s Bakery (Meatpacking District)
After consuming an unholy amount of calories it’s probably wise to do a spot of walking to add a bit of balance. I like to walk down The High Line which leads from West 34th Street down through Chelsea to the Meatpacking District and brings you out nicely in front of Gansevoort Market, a food hall filled with street food traders selling all sorts of general yummy treats.
One of these such traders is Dana’s Bakery who have the most mind boggling display of macarons I have ever seen! They are all the colours of the rainbow x50 and with the most awesome flavours on the planet. Choose from Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter and Jelly or Birthday Cake to name but a few. We got a box of four for around $12 and they were as good as they sound.
Address: 52 Gansevoort St, New York
Hours: 9:30am–8pm 4) Joe’s Pizza (Greenwich Village) I love pizza, and you can’t go to New York and not get one of their famous pizza slices! I like to hit up Joe’s Pizza in Greenwich Village for my fix. It’s a little bit touristy because it also featured in the Spiderman movie a few years back (there is a scene where Peter Parker was their delivery boy), but it’s usually a small queue of locals, which I take to be a good sign. They pizzas are sold whole (around $20) or by the slice ($2.75-$3.50) and the flavours are all pretty traditional: plain cheese, mozzarella or Sicilian Square. I opted for a plain cheese with salami which had just been cooked so was super fresh. The slices are huge, the salami was tasty and a touch greasy (in a good way) and the crust is thin, crisp and very foldable. I yummed it up and went back for seconds. Pro Tip: Joe’s only takes cash so make sure you have a few bucks in your pocket if you want to give this place a visit. Address: 7 Carmine Street, Bleecker Street, New York
Hours: 10am–4am 5) Ippudo (Midtown) If you’ve got a hankering for Asian food of the Ramen variety then I cannot rate Ippudo more highly enough. We swung past for dinner on a Friday night only to be met with a queue out of the door and a waiting list of an hour for a table of two. Rather than put us off it simply reaffirmed our beliefs that this place must be the good shit. And it was. We kicked off with a couple of pints of their very own Brooklyn Kaedama Ale, which is exclusive to Ippudo restaurants, and a couple of steamed Hirata pork buns ($9) which started us on our journey of deliciousness. Once seated at the large, circular wooden table in the middle of the restaurant we ordered two bowls of the Classic Ramen ($15) and some Okonomiyaki with grilled eel ($10). Everything was utterly delicious and it was definitely some of the best Ramen I have ever had. Even if you ignore everything else I have said in this article, please just go here! Address: 321 West 51st Street, (Between 8th and 9th Avenue), New York
Hours: 5pm – 11.30pm 6) Num Pang (Times Square) I have included this little Cambodian sandwich shop in the list because it was a real sight for sore eyes when I stumbled across it in Times Square one lunchtime. Anyone who has ever been to Times Square knows that it is basically a hell hole tourist trap and every restaurant you go to will be overpriced, oversubscribed and overrated. However, this little gem, snuck in between 6th and 7th Avenue, was a New York miracle. Real Cambodian sandwiches that real New Yorkers eat that are really delicious. And they’re a snip at around $10 each too. After all the stodgy food I had been eating I went for the Roasted Cauliflower baguette with Chinese and Thai eggplant spread ($7.95) as I felt I needed a veggie fix and it was just what the doctor ordered. But if you are feeling more indulgent I hear the Five-Spice Glazed Pork Belly is also very delicious. Num Pang: http://www.numpangnyc.com
Address: 148 West 48th Street (between 6th and 7th Ave), New York 7) Pork Slope (Brooklyn) Once you’ve had your fill of the crowds in Manhattan, it’s probably time to slink on over to the cool side of town: Brooklyn. Here you’ll find yourself knee-deep in cool, hipster haunts, but the one place we found ourselves in was the brilliantly names Pork Slope, on Park Slope (you see what they did there?). An all-American style bar offering beer, bourbon and great bar food Pork Slope is a laid-back hit. We ordered the Chicken & Waffle Sliders with cheese, bacon and spicy maple syrup ($13), and sank more than a couple of beers. The food was good, the beer was cold, and it was nice to just kick back and pretend like you’re a true Brooklynite. Address: 247 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
Hours: 5pm – 4am Mon-Fri, 12pm – 4am Sat-Sun
8) Umami Burger (Greenwich Village)
Not far from Joe’s Pizza and sitting in the heart of Greenwich Village is Umami Burger on 6th Ave and West 9th Street. Originally founded in LA, Umami Burger aims to serve burgers with… you guessed it, bags of umami flavour. I opted for the restaurant’s namesake, the Umami Burger, with a crisp Parmesan frico, shiitake mushroom and specially made Umami ketchup, plus some Maple Bacon Fries for the table, which were deeply addictive. While the Umami Burger itself was probably not the best burger I’ve ever had (that title is still held by Bleecker Street and Lucky Chip) my husband had the K-BBQ Burger (Gochujang glaze, caramelized kimchi, sesame aioli, Korean ketchup, scallion-cilantro salad) and he maintains that it’s the best burger he’s had in New York so far. All the flavours in the K-BBQ whack you over the head with a big umami mallet. Address: 432 Sixth Avenue, New York
Hours: 11:30am – 12am
9) Forcella (Williamsburg)
This place gets a spot on the list because they sell something I have never heard of before: fried pizza! But not in the gross ‘battered and deep fried in a chip shop’ way. More in a ‘the dough is fried in oil for a few minutes before the sauce, cheese and toppings are added’ kinda way. After that the whole thing is baked in an oven like a regular pizza. My New York friends told me that NYC-ers have been going nuts over this stuff for a few years now, so we headed over to Brooklyn again and went to Forcella in Williamsburg to get our mitts on it.
The Montanara is listed on the menu as “The original New York Fried Pizza” ($14). In all honesty, I thought it was just okay, it kinda tasted like a slightly greasy cheese and tomato pizza to me. However I also ordered the Vomero pizza (above) which was topped with homemade fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, dry figs and ‘San Daniele’ prosciutto ($21) and I personally thought this pizza was much tastier! But if sampling weird food firsts is your thing then this place should be on your list.
Address: 485 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, New York
Hours: 5pm – 4am
10) Big Gay Ice Cream (West Village)
I may have saved the best for last here. Big Gay Ice Cream is just about the happiest place on the planet. There are rainbows and unicorns everywhere AND they serve the most delicious ice cream ever! Choose from flavours such as the Salty Pimp (vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche, sea salt, with a chocolate dip) or the Gobbler (apple butter & bourbon butterscotch, pie pieces and whipped cream) in a cone or in a cup. Either way, you will not be disappointed.
Address: 61 Grove Street (at Seventh Avenue South), New York
Hours: 1pm – 11pm
Okay, that’s it. Now off you pop to pick up some last minute tourist junk before your flight home. And don’t forget to bring me back a giant Toblerone!
Summary Title: 10 rad places to eat in New York Description: Here are our very favourite places to eat in New York. Including classic diners like Katz's Deli, to Umami Burger and Big Gay Ice Cream. Author: Toni Ratcliff Brought to you by: Methods Unsound Logo: |
This article is about the relations with the Republic of China. For the relations with the People's Republic of China, see China–Holy See relations
Relations between the Holy See and the Republic of China (common known as Taiwan after 1971); also known as Sino-Vatican relations were established on a non-diplomatic level in 1922. In that year, Archbishop Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini was appointed to head an Apostolic Delegation in the country.[1][2] Though Archbishop Costantini did not have diplomatic status, the Chinese government gave him the same honours as those granted to the diplomatic corps accredited to China at the funeral of Sun Yat-sen in 1925.[3] Archbishop Costantini left China in 1933 and was succeeded by Archbishop Mario Zanin, who likewise was given all the honours reserved for Ministers Plenipotentiary.[4] The Holy See recognizes the Republic of China as the representative of China.
History [ edit ]
Agreement to establish diplomatic relations had been reached in 1917, but this move was blocked by France, which by the treaties imposed on China at the end of the Second Opium War held a "protectorate" over the Catholic missions in the country.[1][2][5]
Diplomatic relations were finally established on 23 October 1942[6] and, with the presentation by Archbishop Antonio Riberi of his letter of credence to the President in 1946, the Holy See's Apostolic Delegation in China gained diplomatic status.[7][8]
There was a period of confusion after the Republic of China government moved in 1949 to Taipei on the island of Taiwan, to which Japan renounced all rights, title and claims three years later in Treaty of San Francisco. Although many diplomatic missions followed the government to Taipei, the Holy See's mission remained on the mainland and sought contact with the new Communist regime, the People's Republic of China, which did not accept him as a diplomat and in 1951 expelled him (see the Death of Antonio Riva). In the following year, the Holy See, having been rejected by the Beijing government, resumed relations with the previous (Nationalist) government, which after its defeat on the mainland had moved to Taipei and continued to claim to represent all of China under the name of "Republic of China", as before.[9]
The United Nations continued to recognize the Taipei-based government as that of China until 25 October 1971. On that date, the seat of charter member of the United Nations and permanent member of the Security Council China passed to the Beijing government. The Holy See took account of the altered situation by moving to a new post the nuncio who had represented it in Taipei, and appointing no successor, so that its mission in Taipei has since then been headed only by a chargé d'affaires. The Taipei government has made no change in the status of the embassy to the Holy See that it maintains in Rome.
On April 8, 2005, President Chen Shui-bian represented "China" and attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II. In March 2013, President Ma Ying-jeou visited Vatican City to attend the inauguration of Pope Francis. However, no pope—even John Paul II, by far the most-traveled pope—has ever visited the areas controlled by the Republic of China government.
As is usual for countries which maintain diplomatic relations with ROC, the Holy See in diplomacy recognises the Republic of China government as the government of China. As a result, when arranged alphabetically with other heads of state in Vatican ceremonies, ROC presidents are arranged under "Chine", French for "China" (French being the diplomatic language of the Holy See).
Gallery [ edit ]
See also [ edit ] |
Motorola Moto X Developer Edition
This Motorola smartphone’s HD display presents apps and movies in crisp definition, and its speedy processor doesn’t flinch while you multitask or play the latest games.
Vibrant HD Display
With the kind of pixel count typically reserved for HDTVs, this sharp 720p display brings your photos and videos to life with fine details, bright color, and deep contrast even in bright lighting conditions.
Android 4.4 KitKat
Designed to showcase your apps and media without getting in the way, Android 4.4 lets you multitask, watch videos, or play games effortlessly. If you’re tearing through an ebook or watching a movie, the OS’s immersive mode lets you focus by hiding all other apps. Alternatively, memory optimization and an improved touch response let you multitask and hop across multiple apps quickly and easily.
A Perfect Fit
The Moto X’s subtly curved back does more than just look elegant: it lets the phone fit perfectly in the natural shape of your hand, making using it on a daily basis all the more comfortable.
Specifications
Product number: XT1053
4.7” AMOLED display
720p HD resolution
32GB memory
2GB RAM
1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
10MP rear camera
2MP front camera
Android 4.4 KitKat OS
4G LTE data
Bluetooth 4.0
WiFi
Unlocked for all GSM carriers, including AT&T and T-Mobile
2,200mAh battery
Battery life: up to 24 hours
Weight: 4.59oz.
Dimensions: 5.09”x2.57”x0.41”
Condition: new
One-year warranty
Technical specifications
About Motorola
In 1928, the first east-west transatlantic flight widened the horizons, making it easier than ever for people to live far from home or travel far from a jury summons. 1928 also saw the birth of the Galvin Manufacturing Organization, which would later change its name to Motorola. Its production lines bristled with wireless car radios and military transponders, all designed to connect Motorola customers near and far. In 1969, “far” took on a whole new meaning when Neil Armstrong used a Motorola transistor radio to communicate humankind’s first words from the moon’s surface.
Today, Motorola presses forward in their quest to keep people connected. Thanks to the company’s research, cell phones shrank in size until they were razor-thin, and now its Droid smartphones keep social media, email, and texting at customers’ fingertips.
For questions pertaining to this deal, click the Ask a Question button below. For post-purchase inquiries, please contact Groupon customer support.
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The city will publish the list online and use it to impose penalties on bad landlords. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Ted Cox
CHICAGO — On Friday, the city took the landlords of 20 properties, or 280 residential units, to an emergency heat court hearing to force them to restore heat for their tenants after last week's frigid temperatures yielded hundreds of complaints from renters and nearly 500 property inspections from the city.
On the heels of Friday's court hearing, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that the city will be identifying landlords who repeatedly are cited for "failing to provide basic services and protections, such as adequate heat" to publish a "bad landlord list" online.
Landlords with more than three cases filed in Administrative Hearings court within the last 24 months will also be targeted on the list. Administrative hearing cases include no heat, lack of working smoke detectors, illegal porches and other similar violations, according to a news release.
The move follows reports that the Metropolitan Tenant Organization, a nonprofit which aims to educate, organize and assist tenants on issues related to their housing rights, saw a surge in calls for heat-related problems from Chicago renters, including more than 2,000 visits to its website Thursday, a record for the group.
The new list, which will be available in a few weeks, will position the city to impose penalties against the landlords, such as "making them ineligible for city land, zoning changes, business licenses and any building permits unrelated to addressing their violations," according to a city news release.
The city will continue to pursue landlords who refuse to comply with the administrative hearing process.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: |
It is "highly likely" that Daesh (also known as Islamic State or IS, banned in Russia) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in Russian airstrikes last month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov told Sputnik on Thursday.
"According to the Russian Defense Ministry, it is highly likely that Daesh leader al-Baghdadi was eliminated as a result of a Russian Aerospace Forces strike on the terrorists' command post in the southern suburb of the city of Raqqa in late May this year," Syromolotov said.
He stressed that the "information is now verified through various channels."
On June 16, the Russian Defense Ministry said that al-Baghdadi might have been among a group of terrorist leaders attending a so-called Daesh military council and killed in a Russian Aerospace Forces strike on May 28 south of the terrorists' stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, commenting on the news, said he could not give firm proof that the IS leader was indeed killed.
In 2014, al-Baghdadi, an Islamic cleric and at the time the leader of Daesh of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, or IS terrorist group), declared establishment of an Islamic caliphate and named himself its caliph. He is also listed as a terrorist by the US Department of State since 2011. |
The in headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is on the defensive following its order asking teachers to carry out religious duties.
The order was issued by the Education Department officials asking teachers to carry out religious duties, including distributing 'prasad', during a religious festival in Yamunanagar district.
The Yamunanagar District Education Officer (DEO), in his note dated October 29, sought an explanation from certain teachers who had failed to report for duty for training for the Kapal Mochan festival of the Hindus.
The school teachers were asked to get training and carry out the work of priests in view of lakhs of people coming for the festival.
A section of the teachers have protested against the diktat of the Education Department and the Khattar They accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of pursuing a "Hindutva agenda".
spokesman Jawahar Yadav on Wednesday defended the Khattar government's decision saying that teachers were not being asked to perform the duties of priests.
He said that the order given to the teachers was only in connection with making arrangements for the festival at the district level.
Yadav told TV news channels that there was no (Hindutva) agenda behind the move. He said that only 15-20 teachers were directed to carry out duties during the festival as nearly five lakh people were expected for the four-day-long festival which started on Wednesday.
He said that studies of students would not be affected as the duties were assigned during holidays.
Jaidev Arya, state adviser to the Teachers Association, said that the government order was "unwarranted".
--IANS
js/in/bg
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) |
CONSTANT vigilance: that is the task of the people who protect society from enemies intent on using subterfuge and violence to get their way. It is also the watchword of those who fear that the protectors will pursue the collective interest at untold cost to individual rights. Edward Snowden, a young security contractor, has come down on one side of that tussle by leaking documents showing that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on millions of Americans’ phone records and on the internet activity of hundreds of millions of foreigners.
The documents, published by the Guardian and the Washington Post, include two big secrets (see article). One is a court order telling Verizon, a telecoms company, to hand over “metadata”, such as the duration, direction and location of subscribers’ calls. The other gives some clues about a programme called PRISM, which collects e-mails, files and social-networking data from firms such as Google, Apple and Facebook. Much of this eavesdropping has long been surmised, and none of it is necessarily illegal. America gives wide powers to its law-enforcement and spy agencies. They are overseen by Congress and courts, which issue orders to internet firms.
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Barack Obama has responded to the leaks by saying that he “welcomes” a debate on the trade-off between privacy, security and convenience. Despite the president’s words, however, the administration and much of Congress seem unwilling to talk about the programmes they oversee; and the politicians and executives who do want to speak out are gagged by secrecy laws. Opinion polls show that Americans are divided about the merits of surveillance—which is partly because they know so little about what is going on. But spying in a democracy depends for its legitimacy on informed consent, not blind trust.
Guarding the guards
You might argue that the spies are doing only what is necessary. Al-Qaeda’s assaults on September 11th 2001 demonstrated to politicians everywhere that their first duty is to ensure their own citizens’ safety—a lesson reinforced recently by the attack on the Boston marathon in April and last month’s gruesome murder of Lee Rigby, a British soldier, in London. With Islamist bombers, there is a good case for using electronic surveillance: they come from a population that is still hard for Western security services to penetrate, and they make wide use of mobile phones and the internet. The NSA’s boss, Keith Alexander, says the ploys revealed by Mr Snowden have stopped dozens of plots. The burden on society of sweeping up information about them has been modest compared with the wars launched against Afghanistan and Iraq. And the public seems happy: if there were another attack on America, Mr Snowden would soon be forgotten.
Yet because the spies choose what to reveal about their work, nobody can judge if the cost and intrusion are proportionate to the threat. One concern is the size, scope and cost of the security bureaucracy: some 1.4m people have “top secret” clearances of the kind held by Mr Snowden. Is that sensible? The WikiLeaks saga also exposed weaknesses in the system.
A second worry is the effect on America’s ties with other countries. The administration’s immediate response to the PRISM revelation was that Americans have nothing to fear: it touched only foreigners. That adds insult to injury in countries that count themselves as close American allies: the European Union, in particular, fastidiously protects its citizens’ data. Fears abound that the spy agencies practise a cynical swap, in which each respects the letter of the law protecting the rights of its own people—but lets its allies do the snooping instead.
Lawyerly official denials of such machinations fail to reassure because of the third worry: that governments acting outside public scrutiny are not to be trusted. James Clapper, America’s director of national intelligence, told Congress in March that the NSA does not gather data on “millions of Americans”. He now says he answered in “the least untruthful manner” possible. Trawls through big databases may produce interesting clues—but also life-ruining false alarms, especially when the resulting decisions are cloaked in secrecy. Those on “no-fly lists”, which ban an unknown number of people from most air travel, are not told what they have done wrong and cannot clear their names. In desperation, 13 American citizens, including some who were exiled from their own country by the travel ban, are suing the government.
Furthermore, governments tend to be opportunistic. After September 11th Dick Cheney, then vice-president, and his staff exploited the rules to gain important new powers that they then kept secret. Even Congress did not know of this. Today’s spooks are supposedly more closely constrained. Yet America’s system involves judges sitting in a secret court who issue secret data-collection orders which bind the recipients to secrecy. A handful of secretly briefed lawmakers oversee the process. The legal opinions that govern the process are secret, too. Attempts to cast light on this verge on the farcical: the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a lobby group, is fighting a legal battle to get the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to release a secret opinion issued in 2011, which (unusually) blocked a secret NSA programme. Perhaps the ends justify the means—we do not know—but that was not the case with extraordinary rendition, “black jails”, waterboarding and the other ventures Mr Cheney’s mob led America into.
Trust but verify
Our point is not that America’s spies are doing the wrong things, but that the level of public scrutiny is inadequate and so is the right of redress. Without these, officials will be tempted to abuse their powers, because the price of doing so is small. This is particularly true for those who bug and ban.
Spooks do need secrecy, but not on everything, always and everywhere. Officials will complain that disclosure would hinder their efforts in what is already an unfair fight. Yet some operational efficiency is worth sacrificing, because public scrutiny is a condition for popular backing. Even allowing for the need to keep some things clandestine, Americans need a clearer idea of what their spies are doing in their name. |
Facebook - Evan Shivley’s “Camp Out” tree stumps on the roof of Building 20 is one of 15 art installations throughout the building.
Facebook - Building 20 at Facebook HQ was designed as one open room. The building is 430,000-square-feet and LEED-certified.
- Have you ever wondered what kind of perks tech employees really get? We checked in with companies from around the Bay Area to see what they offer to lure talent while keeping employees happy and healthy.
Below are responses local tech companies sent KTVU when asked about their perks:
Airbnb
A quarterly $500 travel coupon every quarter good for a stay at any Airbnb listing worldwide for personal travel. The purpose of the stipend is to not only encourage employees to recharge from time to time, but also allows all Airbnb employees to regularly connect with our host community
Dog friendly office
Airbnb's office space was designed to inspires creativity and collaboration and is a reminder of what we do and the community we serve. Not only are our meeting rooms inspired by actual listings, but we have photos and stories of our hosts on our walls
Four hours of paid time off each month for our employees to volunteer around the globe
We incorporate volunteerism and giving back into our employee gatherings around the globe and have an annual Week for Good where all of our employees, alongside our hosts, come together to give back to the community through various volunteer projects
Fireside chats from thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and influencers
Culture of Learning - access to online learning tools and databases, employee taught courses, etc.
Airbnb partners with various local businesses to offer a range of discounts for healthy food and fitness activities as well as memberships and discounted passes to local museums
Dropbox
Unlimited PTO - Work-life balance is an important part of life at Dropbox. Dropbox provides unlimited time off for everything life throws your way - new parent leave, family vacation, sick days, and more
Paid Volunteer Time Off - Dropbox also offers 4 days of paid time off to volunteer and matches employees charitable contributions-allowing employees to support the organizations they care about the most. Dropbox for Good, an employee-driven social impact group, also organizes various volunteering opportunities and initiatives with a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education, digital rights, and local poverty
Creative + Collaborative Workspace: The Dropbox's SF headquarters was designed with one goal in mind - to create the ideal work environment for all employees, offering unique destinations to suite a wide range of needs. The office enables employees to work anywhere - a one-on-one huddle, at the whiteboard, in team pods or even on the roof. Rooms known as "deep focus" and the library are perfect for deeper concentration, while the coffee shop, music lounge, and variety of conference rooms host informal meetings and brainstorms
Cafeteria: The Dropbox Tuck Shop - Dropbox offers its employees three meals, as well as drinks and snacks throughout the day. The cafeteria, lovingly called the "Tuck Shop" is led by executive chef Brian Mattingly
Special Interests at Dropbox - Dropbox employees are encouraged to create special groups to foster relationships and bring people together through activities such as: watching Bollywood movies, playing board games, pool, ping pong, vintage video games, knitting, a capella singing, jamming away in the company's dedicated music room called The Mint, and much more
Hot coffee #lifeinsidedropbox A photo posted by Dropbox (@dropbox) on Jun 5, 2015 at 8:52am PDT
Facebook
Four months of fully paid parental leave for new moms and dads (parental leave can be taken in any increment - ie: weeks or months at a time-during the first year of a child's life, or a year within adoption)
Robust healthcare benefits, including a medical clinic onsite, insurance covered by the company, and we also cover spouses and close relatives in our Second Medical Opinion program
21 days of PTO
$4,000 new child benefit
Open and collaborative workspace with a 9 acre green roof at our Menlo Park Headquarters
Members of our employee group Latin@Facebook celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month with a special sign hack. Our front sign is decorated with tiles that are representative of Spanish tile design and Talavera pottery. (Photo: @dichosa22) A photo posted by Facebook (@facebook) on Sep 26, 2014 at 5:36pm PDT
Roku
Work for a brand that's a household name and a leader in the streaming industry
Team culture where everyone works together to win big while also succeeding independently
Smart, self-motivated, and collaborative people
Discounts on Roku streaming devices
Competitive salary and equity
Generous PTO policy
Work-life balance supported
Great location; reverse commute for most
Electric car charging stations
Free daily catered lunch and generous snacks
Watch TV while at work!
Salesforce Volunteer Time Off: Salesforce employees are eligible to take up to 7 days of paid Volunteer Time Off per year supporting their communities. Since Salesforce was founded in 1999, employees have volunteered more than 1.8 million hours.
The top 100 eligible volunteers are rewarded with a $10,000 grant to the nonprofit organization of their choice.
Mindfulness/Wellness: As a customer-oriented company, we know that we can only take care of our customers if we first take care of ourselves. Wellbeing is one of Salesforce's fundamental values, so we devote a lot of time and resources to making sure that our Ohana is happy and healthy. We have standing and treadmill desks; we have workout classes; we have a wellness reimbursement program that offers employees $100 every month to be used on health and fitness programs; and we have wellness zones in which employees can put away their devices and practice mindfulness.
We also have a Press Pause speaker series, which provides employees with opportunities to "press pause" on their day-to-day activities to expand their minds and learn something new. Since speakers discuss subjects relating to our core values, we've had numerous sessions related to wellbeing, including lessons on managing workplace anxiety and meditation practices from a Zen master (we've also hosted Matthieu Ricard ["The Happiest Man Alive"], Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, 30 monks from the Thich Nah Hahn Foundation, and more).
Wellness Reimbursement Program: Salesforce employees are able to spend $100 each month any way they want with Salesforce's Wellness Reimbursement Program - fitness classes, nutrition counseling, acupuncture, you name it!
Aloha Wellness Journey: Salesforce piloted an email program that guides employees along the "Aloha Wellness Journey." Participants answer daily wellness questions, receive helpful tips, and track their scores over time in order to lead happier, healthier lives. The pilot program was so successful that the company is now building the journey into an app and will be rolling it out to employees worldwide.
PuppyForce: Salesforce offers a communal workspace where employees can bring their best friends to work. The onsite facility is a combination of doggy day care and shared office, where up to six employees can work while supervising their pets! Celebrating National #WorkLikeADogDay with the adorable pups at #PuppyForce today! A photo posted by Salesforce (@salesforce) on Aug 5, 2015 at 11:48am PDT Hawaiian-themed happy hours in the office? Yes, please. #AlohaFriday A photo posted by Salesforce (@salesforce) on Jan 29, 2016 at 4:00pm PST Twitter Health benefits include meditation rooms and ergonomic consultations for your workspace
Dining benefits include three meals a day, kombucha on tap, and an onsite fresh juice and smoothie bar
Fitness benefits include free bootcamp and yoga classes at the office
Other benefits include an on-site game room and employee game nights and two global days of service in which employees take Friday off to work at a local charity Uber In our initial offer letters, we offer Medical, Dental, Vision, Life/Disability, Flexible Spending, 401k
We receive a gym reimbursement that can be applied to fitness classes as well (i.e. class pass).
We have unlimited vacation days
We are showered with Uber credits
We have a full stocked cafeteria with coffee, juice, snacks, and beer tap Yelp Yelp groups are a key factor to foster employee engagement within the Yelp family. The groups are employee led and receive a budget for events. Topics include women, parents, diversity, health and wellness, and more
The Yelp offices were designed to create a fun, creative, and collaborative environment. Employees can start the morning with a coffee from our in-house baristas and end the week with a Friday evening beer with friends from the kegs on tap on our All Hands floor. A fully stocked kitchen in every office ensures a snack is on hand, but we don’t cater regular meals to instead encourage employees to explore the local businesses around our office and get some fresh air
Our great HQ location in the heart of SOMA allows easy transportation for anyone coming from East Bay, South Bay or within the city. Yelp provides commuter and wellness benefits to encourage a healthy lifestyle and public transportation use, too. Perks like an on-site chiropractor in our San Francisco HQ and a golf simulator in Phoenix help people relax and take care of themselves
Employee charitable donations are matched and the Yelp Foundation Gives Local annual nonprofit grant contest encourages employees and our community to vote for the nonprofits they’re passionate about. Yelp also coordinates volunteer opportunities amongst employees through an internal platform called Benevity and Yelp Cares employee groups
From day one, our sales folks go through an intensive Yelp Sales Development Program that prepares them for success at Yelp. We also do leadership development summits and management training. On a less formal note, Yelp also encourages employees to share knowledge and skills in an authentic way, like our weekly Friday lunch learning groups, where engineers present on topics of personal interest ranging from ad delivery to salsa dancing Zillow Fitbits - all employees receive a Fitbit on their first day of work
Standup desks - every employee workstation is equipped with an adjustable standup desk Treadmill desks
Every Zillow Group office has a number of conference rooms equipped with treadmill desks where employees can schedule "walking meetings" - On-site yoga classes - Monthly gym reimbursement
Mind Body & Spirit days in our San Francisco office - The whole office takes a full day off to "press the reset button" and participate in Zillow Group-sponsored fitness events (hiking, biking, Soul Cycle, boot camp), eat healthy food and get massages.
Maternity Leave - 16 weeks fully-paid
Parental Leave - 8 weeks fully-paid
$1,000 in "Baby Bucks" to help new parents purchase the essentials
Free overnight breastmilk shipping for nursing mothers traveling on business
Fully-equipped nursing rooms with hospital grade pumps and fridges
Adoption assistance - $5,000 per employee towards the expenses related to the adoption of a child
What kind of perks do you get? Join the conversation on our KTVU Facebook page or share on Twitter/Instagram using #KTVU. |
About This Game
Overview
Gamemodes
Features Steam Leaderboards, Achievements, Trading Cards!
Full controller support
Overdosed is a crazy fast paced, adrenaline fuelled trip to remember! In this top down shooter the player is on an intense experimental form of LSD and as a result they must battle against hordes of nightmarish creatures in randomly generated roguelike adventures and arena style levels. Basically run around with an Uzi in each hand wildly spewing bullets in all directions. Fun for all the family!Influenced by the colourful craziness of Hotline Miami, Overdosed takes those run and gun elements and ramps up the intensity as you scramble looking for cash piles, ammo and more drugs while defending yourself against many terrifying enemies.This is the main roguelike mode where the main goal is to progress through 5 randomly generated stages, each one with their own unique set of objectives to complete in order to progress. Every level will be different each time you play. Pickups like ammo/cash/drugs spawn at random locations which you must hunt for if you want to survive!Once you die you go back to stage 1... however you can come back stronger! Adventure features a hub area where you can spend the cash you find on new weapons, permanent upgrades and ammo. So with each playthrough you will punch that little bit harder!Adventure also features bonus objectives which reward you for tasks like kicking enemies down a pit of death or defending a giant mound of coke. It’s a risk/reward situation where you can make a quick buck or lose it all and perish under a horde of enemies.As you start with just Dual Uzi’s, fight increasingly frantic waves of enemies and earn points to purchase additional weapons and gadgets within the level. There’s no order of unlocks so you can play it your way and spend your points however you like. Each wave gets harder than the last with more enemy numbers and the introduction of new enemy types.We have integrated a steam leaderboard system for the arena/adventure stats so you can compare and compete with others around the globe to see who can reach the highest wave or get the fastest times!What’s a twin stick shooter without the ability to use twin sticks!? We have full controller support working in game and menus. |
HEX UPDATE – Hark Now the Bells
Winter is coming! Today we talk release dates, holiday celebrations, UI improvements and more!
As winter comes, our thoughts turn to friends, family, and holiday cheer. To everyone who plays and supports our game, it means the world to us to see you enjoying our labor of love. You are part of our HEX family! So, in the spirit of the holidays, we have a little celebration for you. Check out the Night of Bells celebration for some lore, exclusive cards, and sweet new alternate arts. Happy holidays!
Flashback Tournaments are Live
“Flashback” tournaments are now available in client!
What is a Flashback tournament? It is a tournament using packs and cards from sets that are not currently used in the limited tournament scene. Since no one has had the opportunity to play with Shards of Fate and Shattered Destiny in the Evolving Gauntlet format, we want to bring those sets out for a limited time for people to enjoy! Note that these special tournaments will temporarily replace the current Evolving Gauntlet queue for the duration of this event.
You will need 100 platinum and some combination of Shards of Fate or Shattered Destiny packs equal to two (2x Shards of Fate, 1x Shards of Fate and 1x Shattered Destiny, etc). You will be granted 1x opened Shattered Destiny pack after 1 win, 1x opened Shards of Fate pack after 3 wins, and 1x unopened Shards of Fate pack after 5 wins. Champions will be limited to those from Shards of Fate and Shattered Destiny when building decks in these Flashback tournaments. However, gems will still be those legal in the current standard format. We think this gives a fresh, exciting new way to experience some of our classic content and can’t wait to see the new life you will breathe into old and trusted strategies.
See you on the battlefield!
Campaign Launch Date
Last Tuesday we announced the news you’ve all been waiting for! Chronicles of Entrath: Chapter II has a release date. Get ready this December for a new class, new levels, and brand new ways to play the campaign! Arrrrrrrrr you ready for this adventure? We’ll see you on the 6th!
Launch Stream
While our servers are down for maintenance (full details on downtime will be posted later, so stay tuned), we will be having a special stream to give you guys a look at Chapter II in all its glory! Join InfamousNeo on the official twitch channel as he showcases the ranger class, mercenaries, and some early Alachian Sea content. See you there~
UI Improvements
Cracking open your chests has never looked so good! This week we covered our UI upgrades to the chest opening and Wheel of Fate experience. Along with some visual and organizational changes, we are also adding the ability to open multiple chests at a time. Check it out!
Close Encounters of the HEX Kind
In case you missed it, Corey Burkhart also went over the design process behind a HEX campaign encounter. Read about Captain Chumspike and his merry band of minotaur mariners, how they were designed, and some cool new tech coming with Chapter II. Travel with us from prototype to full-blown hype!
Draft Gauntlet
We have some big improvements to tournament time commitments coming with our next patch. This update allows you to enjoy the best parts of draft at your own pace! Read all about our new Draft Gauntlets and how they will affect the HEX drafting experience.
AskHEX Answers Part 7
AskHEX answers continues in our forums. I have updated the AskHEX thread with some more cool community info! As before, we are going to keep this thread locked so that it is clean and easy to follow, but feel free to toss your comments on our team’s responses in the forums below.
That’s it for this week! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Please leave any questions or comments in the forums, and don’t forget to Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Twitch.
Discuss this article in our forums! |
New Sierra Designs Cloud sleeping bag
The New Sierra Designs Cloud sleeping bag is a zipperless sleeping bag similar to the Backcountry Bed but when they were designing this sleeping bag they tried to save significant weight.
Depending on the temperature range, it is anywhere from 8 to 11 ounces lighter than the Backcountry Bed and only one ounce heavier than the Nitro collection.
Cloud sleeping bag, creates your bed like structure
In order to hit their weight goals they use 800 fill power dry down and 15 denier shell and liner fabrics. Like the Backcountry Bed the Cloud sleeping bag includes a half pad sleeve, this is essentially the fitted sheet, so you insert your pad into the sleeve which is basically like your mattress and by combining those two things together you create your bed like structure.
The Cloud sleeping bag features a crescent-shaped opening and the reason that’s important is when you’re inside the bag it provides tension along that line preventing the bag from opening up.
Instead it wants to stay wrapped around you sealing out drafts the hood on the cloud is similar to a traditional mummy. You have adjustments on the upper hood and the lower portion of the quilt, so if temperatures get cold you can simply cinch those up and you get the thermal efficiency of a traditional mummy bag.
Cloud sleeping bag integrated comforter
The key to the Cloud sleeping bag design is the integrated comforter. This is similar to our Backcountry Bed but where it differs is that only opens to one side and that is to save weight. The comforter has a unique shoulder pocket that was designed to stay wrapped around you to help seal out drafts.
The Cloud sleeping bag offers several venting solutions which is key to keeping you comfortable in your sleeping bag. First of all the comforter itself can simply be pushed out of the way to vent your core. At the bottom of the bag is our hands-free foot vent, this allows you to vent your feet by simply raising your knee and sticking your toes out the bottom of the bag.
The Cloud sleeping bag is available for men in two temperature ranges 35 degree in a 20 and for women in the 20 degree.
Check out the Cloud if you’ve been looking for a more comfortable ultralight sleeping bag. There simply is nothing that provides this level of comfort at this weight
Cloud sleeping bag KEY FEATURES
Patent pending zipperless design for more comfort
Oversized integrated comforter resemble all the comforts of your bed at home
Insulated shoulder pocket keeps comforter wrapped around you sealing out drafts
Patented self-sealing foot vent allows fast and easy ventilation
Sleeping pad sleeve keeps your sleeping pad under you improving comfort & warmth
PFC-Free 800FP DriDown® and 15d nylon fabrics
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This study assessed the trends in individual tree growth, and accompanying carbon accumulation, as trees increase in size. The authors measured 403 species all over the world, in a variety of climates, and found that individual tree growth rates continue to increase throughout trees’ lifetimes. These findings are more relevant to managers of old growth, mixed-age stands than to those of even-aged stands, but even managers of old growth forests should still consider stand-level dynamics looking to this research for management implications. While tree-level processes help us to understanding stand dynamics, management requires a more holistic view that accounts for a variety of ecological functions across the landscape.
For example, the authors note, “The rapid growth of large trees indicates that, relative to their numbers, they could play a disproportionately important role in [forest feedbacks to the global climate system] [Enquist et al., 2009]. For example, in our western USA old-growth forest plots, trees >100 cm in diameter comprised 6% of trees, yet contributed 33% of the annual forest mass growth.” However, they provide caveats, including, “ increasing individual tree growth rate does not automatically result in increasing stand productivity because tree mortality can drive orders-of-magnitude reductions in population density [Pretzsch & Biber, 2005; Kashian et al., 2005]. That is, even though the large trees in older, even-aged stands may be growing more rapidly, such stands have fewer trees. Tree population dynamics, especially mortality, can thus be a significant contributor to declining productivity at the scale of the forest stand [Coomes et al., 2012].”
Although the title of this paper generally suggests that larger trees equal more carbon sequestration, the body reveals that forest carbon dynamics are more complex. While individual trees sequester more carbon with age, other factors such as mortality and lower numbers of trees per area often result in reduced stand-level carbon accumulation, which the authors recognize. These findings of continued tree growth contradict previous belief that tree growth gradually stagnates with age, and thus can help us to better understand and model forest carbon dynamics.
See the report in TACCIMO: Stephenson, N. L., Das, A. J., Condit, R., Russo, S. E., Baker, P. J., Beckman, N. G., … & Zavala, M. A. (2014). Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size. Nature.
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No summer barbecue would be complete without the great Aussie salute. It's a tradition that has been linked to one specific fly: the Australian bush fly.
When the weather warms up, many of us come face to face with the bush fly, literally. In our eyes and in our mouths.
Sure, it's a nuisance, but insect experts such as Dr Maggie Hardy of the University of Queensland, believe this little Australian has got a bad rap.
"It's not really a pest, it doesn't really spread disease, it does not hurt our livestock or agriculture, and it's probably good for pollination," Dr Hardy said.
The Australian bush fly (Musca vetustissima) is just one of an estimated 30,000 fly species that call Australia home.
In fact, they were in the earliest written records of Australia, predating Captain James Cook's 1770 voyage, Dr Hardy said.
But we still don't know that much about this species, she said.
The bush fly is a member of a family called Muscidae that also includes the common housefly (Musca domestica), which is the bane of people worldwide.
But, unlike the common housefly, the Australian bush fly prefers the great outdoors, it loves humans, and it is less likely to vomit on your snags.
Summertime and the living is easy
Share Bush flies love your sweat.
The little grey fly with big brown eyes is native to Australia.
But, as the name suggests, it is most common in the bush. That's because it breeds in dung.
"Up in tropical Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia you'd probably find them year round," Dr Hardy said.
When the weather warms up, numbers increase and they migrate further south.
"I don't think there's been any research done on how far they can fly, but it would be reasonable to assume they can fly from central Australia into the southern states, and from there across to Tasmania," Dr Hardy said.
And they're out more in summer, because we're also out more in summer.
"Any time there is more of us, there's more of them," Dr Hardy said.
A sucker not a biter
Share A bush fly (Musca vetustissima)
Unlike other types of flies — such as mosquitoes or horse flies — the bush fly is not after your blood. It prefers your sweat, saliva and tears.
"They actually eat the proteins and carbohydrates and salts that are present on your skin," Dr Hardy said.
And it doesn't bite. In effect, it works like a vacuum, sucking up your bodily secretions with its soft mouth.
"Their mouth parts are like little sponges. So basically if it's already a liquid they'll just suck it up with their mouth parts then they'll just kind of drink that," Dr Hardy said.
Because their primary food source is already liquid, they don't need to vomit to digest their meals — which is the modus operandi of other species such as the common housefly and the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), which are more versatile feeders.
"I wouldn't say they vomit on you, they're just trying to help you out on a hot summer day," Dr Hardy said.
But, if they were tempted by a snag, Dr Hardy conceded they would have to use stomach enzymes to reduce the food to liquid first.
"Although the enzymes are stored in the fly stomach, it's not 'vomit' in the sense humans and animals vomit partially digested food, stomach acids and enzymes," she said.
"It's more like the saliva we have in our mouth, in that it contains enzymes that help with digestion and liquefaction."
Exploring the world feet first
Share Fly feet are designed to make the most of the world
Flies explore their world using their feet, which are designed to cover the greatest possible surface area.
They can stick to just about anything using special adhesive pads with small hairs that produce a type of glue made out of sugars and oils.
And when they're walking on you, sensory receptors in their hairs are also smelling you.
"They can smell things like pheromones from other flies, they're very sensitive to changes in direction or humidity, and they can smell carbon dioxide," Dr Hardy said.
The hairs on their feet can also carry bacteria. A 2010 study implicated the fly as a potential carrier of the foodborne pathogen E. coli.
But Dr Hardy said the risk of getting sick was no greater than if you picked a piece of food up off the ground using the 'three-second' rule.
"All that research seems to suggest that flies themselves are spreading disease which is true in the way a two-year-old spreads disease," she said.
"They touch something, then they touch something else, then they touch something else, then everyone in the nursery gets sick.
"It's just a mechanical thing, but you wouldn't call a two-year-old a vector of disease."
The bush fly has also been associated with trachoma — an eye disease caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis — in Aboriginal communities in outback Australia.
Dr Hardy said while a 2002 study had found an increase in trachoma in the wet season when the flies were more prevalent, the disease also occurred during the dry season when the flies were absent.
"That study didn't definitively link trachoma with M. vetustissima, although it illustrates that there may be a correlation between an increase in both trachoma and fly populations in the wet season."
"The bush fly may carry the bacteria on its feet, and because the bush fly is an eye-and-face seeking fly it could then deposit the bacteria near the eyes," she said.
But even though the fly may inadvertently spread disease, Dr Hardy said it's not a major vector.
For that, look no further than another group of flies: the mosquito, which carries pathogens that cause diseases such as malaria, dengue and yellow fever, and Zika.
Magnificent flying machines
Share A bush fly (Musca vetustissima) on a flower. Flies see the world very differently to us.
As you wave your hand across your face, you also have to admire the bush fly's ability to evade swatting.
Like all flies this comes down to its design and ability to navigate the world — qualities that are inspiring the design of drones.
Flies have two sets of wings; one large and a much smaller set of hind wings called halteres, which are sophisticated organs that enable the fly to balance and turn suddenly.
"These halteres give them the specific ability to evade being swatted," Dr Hardy said.
And they can sense your hand coming just from the sudden change in light.
Flies have two compound eyes that are made up of thousands of little receptors.
"Each of them is an eyeball in itself," Dr Hardy said.
They can't really focus or see colours such as red, yellow or white, Dr Hardy says, but they have very good peripheral vision and they are able to determine light and shade more accurately.
"You can imagine if your peripheral vision was great and you had thousands of individual receptors as someone's hand comes to swat you, you can see it coming in a way that humans don't.
"Flies are the best ones at seeing something moving of all the animals we've studied." |
The Problem With Ukrainian Police Reform
Over the past year, thousands of newly recruited police officers have taken to the streets of Kiev, Odessa, Lviv, and other cities across Ukraine. In contrast to their predecessors in the old, post-Soviet militsia, these newcomers are polite, well-trained, and physically fit. Perhaps most importantly, they refuse to take bribes. Many of the new recruits sympathized with the 2013-2014 Euromaidan demonstrations that overthrew the corrupt political order of former President Yanukovych, and they are genuinely interested in building a new, more democratic Ukraine. Over a quarter of the new police force consists of women — one of the highest rates in the world. The new units enjoy high approval ratings in Kiev and are regarded as a symbol of a “civil” state.
International experts are thrilled, too. They tout the new patrol police as one of the brightest rays of hope in post-Euromaidan Ukraine. It’s been described as a “force for change” and even the “cops who would save a country.” It’s no wonder the foreigners are happy — much of the new police reform has been funded through the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), with additional help from Canada and Japan.
So far, so good. But this apparent success masks some important shortcomings that could undermine it in the months and years ahead. The police reform process has been opaque and top-down, led by a few powerful officials with little input from civil society. As a result, the international donors who have partnered with the Interior Ministry risk repeating a problem that has plagued similar efforts to clean up law enforcement in other parts of the world. All too often, donors tend to give their help to corrupt and autocratic political elites still mired in militarized and secretive systems.
What such an approach tends to miss is that the police aren’t responsible only to people at the top. Police forces should also answer to the people they serve. For this reason, successful police reform depends on forging a consensus between the state and society on how and when the state may employ violence: consider, for example, the ongoing discussion in the United States on the relationship between the police and African-American communities. That debate is taking place in the wider democratic context of free media, frequent and fair elections, and impartial courts.
But Ukraine and other countries with a long history of authoritarianism lack such venues for an effective state-society dialogue. As in other post-Soviet states, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry (which oversees the police) was designed to support government policies, to punish dissent, and to demonstrate the government’s reach across the country. Despite several rounds of competitive elections, a diverse civil society, and numerous media outlets, Ukrainian officials continued to use the police to coerce the opposition right up until the Euromaidan uprising. International donors looking for quick results risk inadvertently supporting, or even strengthening, the state’s punitive apparatus, without ensuring more active participation of the citizenry in overseeing the police.
To date, Ukraine’s new police have been focused on a myriad of petty matters: smoking in public places, homeless people sleeping in tourist areas, and cars parking around bus stops. But the new policing model in Ukrainian cities does not explain how bigger and more violent crimes are prevented through policing small things. Meanwhile, top-level police offers, accustomed to deploying excessive force against peaceful demonstrations or operating criminal syndicates, remain unchallenged and unreformed. And while a shiny new police force might challenge small-scale corruption, there has still been no serious anti-corruption drive from the top.
Even more worrisome are the Interior Ministry’s plans to organize a new SWAT force supported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol, and the State Department’s Bureau for Narcotics and Law Enforcement. In a repeat of the patrol police project, only a closed circle of ministry officials and U.S. donors are involved in designing the new force, which is supposed to replace former special operations police forces such as “Berkut,” infamous for its deadly violence against Euromaidan demonstrators. Activists worry that adopting the U.S. model for a militarized police force will allow Ukraine’s leaders to use brutal force against anti-government demonstrations in the future. A better fit might be found in neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic, where military police units are assigned exclusively to the armed forces or to carry out counterterrorism missions.
Since the ouster of Yanukovych, Ukraine has experienced an inflow of former government officials from Georgia, including former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Inspired by the reforms they carried out at home, these officials have sought to export their experience to Ukraine. The Georgian police reform eradicated petty corruption and gained international praise for its dramatic break with a repressive past.
Yet Saakashvili’s reform also transformed the Interior Ministry into the single strongest government body, one amply equipped to spy on the political opposition. Unfortunately, the methods used to direct top-down reform in Saakashvili’s Georgia are now being replicated in post-Euromaidan Ukraine. Only a narrow group of people are interacting with the external donors and making key decisions. Civil society activists are only invited to oversee procedures already in place, as opposed to generating ideas for the reform’s direction. The vision of change is transmitted directly from the deputy-minister level to specific projects on the ground, bypassing public discussion.
The only exception to this pattern of top-down reform occurred earlier this year, when civil society activists were allowed to influence the drafting of the new police law adopted in July 2015. The activists succeeded in redefining the police as an agency that “serves society by ensuring protection of rights and freedoms,” ordering the police to report instances of human rights abuse, and requiring the police to carry identification badges. Because of this substantial public input, the drafting the new law was a textbook example of a genuine police reform process. That’s a good sign for the future. But so far there’s little evidence that the authorities have learned from this example.
Though they often disagree among themselves about the course of the police reform, activists are united in their push for three major changes. First, they insist that the head of the police, designed as a professional, non-political post, should be recruited on a competitive basis, not appointed by the Minister of the Interior. Second, the deputies of local police chiefs should also be selected through fair competition. Both demands aim to break the long tradition of police units that owe their loyalty to respective governments rather than the public.
Third, there has so far been no discussion at all on the future of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a key component of the internal security apparatus. The SBU’s surveillance reach inside the country is vast, and before the Euromaidan revolution, the government routinely used it to suppress political opponents. In Georgia, the powerful, unreformed intelligence agency became a highly controversial issue in the 2012 parliamentary elections, which dealt a severe blow to Saakashvili’s regime.
The Ukrainian and Georgian experiences with police reform reflect larger trends in the ex-Soviet Union and in other countries emerging from authoritarian rule. International efforts typically provide police with new uniforms, refurbish police stations, and train officials. Programs focus mostly on institutional objectives and formal legal structures; only a small fraction of funds goes to civil society groups who promote the rule of law.
Donors usually operate under the assumption that reformed police forces will, thanks to greater professionalism, assume a neutral role in the political landscape, thus safeguarding the democratization process. So far, however, there is little evidence that this is happening in the former USSR. Despite years of donor assistance in Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, the police in these countries still arbitrarily arrest political opponents during elections, curtail the work of the mass media, and brutally suppress anti-governmental mass protests. In worst-case scenarios, the police use skills acquired through donor training projects to carry out the political decisions of the incumbent elites.
Instead of cosmetic upgrades, donors must concentrate on promoting collaboration between the state and society. To be sure, a top-down process is likely to get results much more quickly than one involving the participation of civil society. Yet it is only through the latter that a post-Soviet police force can be transformed into one appropriate for the needs of a democratic society. It is not the speed of police cars or the availability of body cameras that define effective police reform. The rule of law can be upheld only by a police force that answers to the public – and that can only happen if the people have their say.
In the photo, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko poses with newly graduated police officers during an official ceremony in Kiev on July 4, 2015.
Photo credit: SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images |
NEW DELHI: The much touted "one stop crisis centre" — conceived in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case and the Justice Verma report — has been scrapped by the NDA government. The project worth about Rs 200 crore was expected to provide medical, legal, police and emergency services to women in distress.
The women and child development (WCD) ministry, which was helming the project, had planned to set up the centres in every district of the country. According to sources, the plan has been shot down by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on the argument that the scheme was unnecessary and services could be provided through the existing infrastructure like hospitals and women police stations.WCD ministry sources however pointed out that there were many scenarios when women who were stalked, molested, raped or experienced violence and could not or were not willing to go to a police station. "They require only shelter or counseling. The centre promises anonymity to the victim. It would have acted as an overnight shelter while making all the services of a hospital, police station, legal aid cell under one roof,’’ sources said. The cost of a centre was pitched at Rs 36 lakh.A collateral damage of the decision is the scrapping of the women’s helpline. "It will be difficult to run a helpline. Where will we send the women who require help if the centre does not exist?’’ the source said.The ministry had in fact already announced the centres and enlisted support from states including 90 members of Parliament who have allocated land for the purpose in their constituency. WCD minister Maneka Gandhi had assured that the centres would be open by December. Despite several attempts Gandhi could not be reached for comment.The centres were a significant recommendation of the Justice Verma committee set up to suggest far-reaching reforms in police, judiciary and executive.The Verma committee had felt that there was absence of a single-point redressal system for heinous crimes against women. It felt, the victims faced a harrowing time in getting their complaints registered and did not mange to get medical and legal aid on time. |
Airbnb was founded almost seven years ago in San Francisco. After a slow start, the company has grown to over 1 million listings in 190 countries. One would expect the American cities to be its biggest market but this is not the case.
Top Ten Airbnb Cities by number of listings
In the list of top ten Airbnb cities the US only has two participants: New York and Los Angeles. Europe is by far the biggest contributor to the list, with six entries, and Paris being the proud leader with almost 45,000 listings.
Two cities are from different areas of the world: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), number four with 17,800 listings, and Sydney completing the list at the tenth spot with 10,000 listings.
(Data provided by Beyond Pricing)
What’s interesting is that none of the top 20 most populated cities is represented in the list of top ten Airbnb cities. Apparently Airbnb hasn’t caught on as much in mega cities such as Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.
Top Ten Airbnb Cities by number of listings per 1000 inhabitants
These numbers don’t really tell us where Airbnb is most popular. New York has a lot of listings, but it’s also the largest city by population on the list. To make a fair comparison, I’ve divided the number of Airbnb listings by the population of the city. This gives very different results.
Now eight (!) of the top ten cities are European. Amsterdam, Milan and Lisbon join the list, while London drops out. However, Miami is the suprising leader of the list with over 21 listings per 1000 inhabitants, followed closely by Copenhagen and Paris.
I’ve only used the top fifteen cities to make this comparison, so there may by cities with less than 8,000 listings that have more listings per 1000 inhabitants. San Francisco, for example, would come in on the number seven spot with 5,6 listings per 1000 inhabitants.
Sources:
List of cities proper by population
Largest European cities by population
Which of these cities surprises you the most? Comment below! |
A video of an abandoned Batman game has surfaced on the internet. Based on the Gotham By Gaslight graphic novel from DC Comics, this Victorian era take on the Batman was written by Bryan Augustyn and drawn by Mike Mignola; the creator of Hellboy. This sprang from a series of What If type comic books called Elseworlds.
The Elseworld tag:
“In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others that can’t, couldn’t or shouldn’t exist. The result is stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as tomorrow.”
In this Elseworld comic, Gotham By Gaslight, the book begins with Wayne retelling a dream to Dr. Sigmund Freud; where Wayne watches as his parents are shot down by a bandit, then gets saved from the bandit by annoyed bats hidden in trees. Freud’s all into this because he’s got a symbolism obsession; not a far stretch for the greatest charlatan and father of modern Psychology. Wayne insists that it’s just a dream flashback, while Freud gets his oral fixation on with his cigar; sometimes a cigar really is just that.
The backdrop for this story is in Victorian-era setting, where Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham City after training all around the world. Freud even mentions that Wayne trained under a London Detective; perhaps the fictional Sherlock Holmes? That’s right. If Batman started off back then, he would have been the first Behavioral Science Unit.
Antsy to get started on being Batman in the Gotham equivalent of Victorian-era London, Bruce Wayne wastes no time establishing himself as the original darkness that flaps in the night; move aside Darkwing Duck. The primitive screw heads are no match for his fisticuffs and bat-horse-mobile. One problem, everyone thinks that Bruce Wayne is Jack the Ripper. Can Batman stop one of history’s elusive serial killers while behind bars?
A lot of people think of this version of Batman to be steam punk. The first book shows no steam punk like gadgets or cool technology. If it were to be redone today, they’d have shown Batman using a modified Nerf Maverick gun, while wearing goggles with brass gears glued to the thing. However it’s just Batman, dark brooding gentleman in a cowl. Without computer technology and a victim to leech based medicine, this dark knight is no match of another Elseworld comic called Superman: Red Son. Comrade Batman!
Originally the game was being produced by Day 1 Studios, but was later on dropped when THQ passed on the sales pitch back in 2009 reports Siliconera. Probably a smart move as Warner Bros. Picked up DC Comics the same year. It could have turned really messy with copyright and trademark legalities.
So the speculation right now is that the video is a deliberate leak by Day 1 Studios, possibly hoping to get Warner Bros attention in the wake of Batman video game popularity. Let’s hope the attention that it does get from Warner Bros. doesn’t turn into the Eye of Sauron. I somehow picture a horde of ring wraith lawyers charging into the night.
So the video that’s surfaced is probably the prototype video for the project. Let’s take a gander at the game that could have been.
The video depicts a barrel chested Batman skipping across rooftops and the streets of old day Gotham. Like the Matrix, we see duplicates and people holding guns that make sudden jerking movements, pointing at the Batman like a counterstrike arrow bot. We also see the Batman leaps on top of buildings in a single bound. Again, this is forgivable as it’s a prototype.
What catches my eye is the cape. It ripples in the air and swings with each movement. Sometimes it just moves with a mind of it’s own. Over all, the cape looks amazing as it appears a lot of code must have been invested in it. Like a lot. Like DOA-bikini-volleyball-mammary-glands-physics lots. Was this the focus of the pitch? The cape physics are almost Spawn like.
If they wanted to give Batman an Elseworld gimmick that would have completely held the interest of comic book gamers, they should have created a whole new storyline revolving around current day Batman getting his hands on a Green Lantern’s ring of power; not the In Darkest Knight horror they spun together either. I can almost imagine the weeks of game play I could get out of that as Batman goes mad with power.
So in the end, this video should remind the world that the steampunk genre and Victorian-era storylines are the untapped markets ready to be exploited today. The closest I’ve come to seeing a proper airship was in the 3 Musketeers movie. So chop, chop, Hollywood. Give me steam!
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The focus of the Westminster sexual harassment scandal switched to Labour on Tuesday as it was claimed Party officials hushed up the rape of a young activist.
Bex Bailey, 25, said senior Labour figures told her not to report the attack by a fellow activist at a Party event six years ago because it could damage her political career.
She is one of the first women to speak out about such a serious sexual assault since reports of harassment swept through Parliament, and has been widely praised for her bravery in coming forward.
Labour immediately announced an independent investigation into the allegations that a senior staff member told her to keep quiet when she told them about the attack two years after it happened.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday night, the Labour Young Women group said: “Unfortunately, we fully expect this will not be an isolated incident.” |
Here’s a fun fact: Every time you do a voice search, Google records it. And if you’re an Android user, every time you say “Ok Google,” the company records that, too. Don’t freak out, though, because Google lets you hear (and delete) these recordings. Here’s how.
Head over to Google’s Voice and Audio Activity page and start deleting all those recordings. You can delete them individually or all at once, just click the More > Delete Options > Advanced to get there. Each file will also have a plaintext transcript and recording information associated with it for your perusal. While you’re shoring up privacy settings, you can also tell Google to stop tracking which web pages you visit here, or turn off everything from a map of stored locations to YouTube watch history on this page.
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While voice recordings can be “paused,” they’ll be reactivated the next time you use Virtual Assistant, Voice Search, or say “OK Google.” Which kind of sucks! So stay diligent about deleting stuff, especially if you say anything embarrassing and/or incriminating to your phone.
Again, the recording feature is definitely more of a hinderance for Android users. That said, having the recordings available for users to listen to is markedly more transparent than similar services like Siri (which stores your data for up to two years, unless you turn off the service) or Amazon Echo (which may or may not be wiretapped by the FBI).
[The Independent] |
The path to peace isn’t laid by narratives aimed at blaming the other side when all parties have their fair share of responsibility for the continuing conflict, writes Hussein Ibish
For both politicians and commentators, spin is an occupational hazard. Politicians cannot function without “spinning” realities to suit their purposes thereby putting the most favourable possible interpretation on events for their own interests. Commentators may be tempted to do the same, but their proper role is to react to political spin coming at them from officials, candidates and activists.
The duty of analysts, at least theoretically, is to guide their readers towards a balanced interpretation of reality, as best they understand it. Sometimes, though, even experienced veterans can let their guard down and find themselves totally suspending disbelief and presenting spin in an uncritical manner, especially if they think it’s all in a good cause.
Roger Cohen of The New York Times seems to have fallen into precisely this trap in his most recent op-ed, in which he essentially serves as the stenographer for Israel’s former negotiator Tzipi Livni.
Ms Livni has joined forces with Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog in an effort to unseat the incumbent prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The bulk of Mr Cohen’s article is given over to Ms Livni’s account of how and why the American-brokered negotiations with the Palestinians collapsed earlier this year.
It’s no surprise that Ms Livni places the blame squarely on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Indeed, her account, as recounted by Mr Cohen, draws heavily on the liberal Israeli mantra that the lack of peace is best explained by the Palestinians’ inexplicable refusal to “miss any opportunity to miss an opportunity,” which dates back to the era of Israeli diplomat and politician Abba Eban. He first made the comment after the December 1973 Geneva peace talks.
According to Ms Livni, Mr Abbas essentially turned down a constructive and far-reaching American proposal presented on March 17, and refined on April 1. All of a sudden, Ms Livni claims, she watched Mr Abbas on television signing papers to join a number of multilateral agencies, which she says almost killed the talks. The coup de grace, she insists, actually came when Mr Abbas’s Fatah party announced an agreement with Hamas on April 23.
“A long season of negotiation gave way to recrimination,” Mr Cohen writes, “and, soon enough, the Gaza war.” He adds that thus, “another opportunity in the Holy Land has been lost. The waste is unconscionable, tragedy indeed”. By this point in the narrative it’s not clear whose voice – Mr Cohen’s or Ms Livni’s – is channelling the spirit of Mr Eban. Not only is this heavy duty Israeli political spin, it is designed to counter not a Palestinian, but an American, understanding of the primary causes for the breakdown of the talks.
In testimony before the US Senate on April 7, secretary of state John Kerry clearly stated that two Israeli actions – the failure to release Palestinian prisoners on schedule and the announcement of 700 new settlement housing units – crashed down on the process: “And poof! That was sort of the moment.” The moment, of course, in which the talks became non-viable. A state department spokesperson later clarified that Mr Kerry thinks there are faults on both sides and isn’t playing “the blame game.”
This American account was subsequently confirmed by two unnamed senior Obama administration officials. One, generally assumed to be the outgoing Middle East special envoy Martin Indyk, told veteran Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea on May 2, “the primary sabotage came from the settlements.”
He explained that, “continuing construction allowed ministers in his [Mr Netanyahu’s] government to very effectively sabotage the success of the talks”. He added that “the claim on your side that Abbas was avoiding making decisions is not true,” and listed a series of Palestinian concessions on demilitarisation, land swaps, security and, crucially, refugees.
On May 15, The New York Times quoted another senior American official as saying, “At every juncture, there was a settlement announcement. It was the thing that kept throwing a wrench in the gears”.
Indeed, last May, Ms Livni told Israel’s Army Radio that the settlers “are preventing us from reaching a resolution” and that “settlement construction makes it impossible to defend Israel around the world.”
It’s perfectly obvious why, in the midst of a heated election campaign, Ms Livni feels the urgent need to provide a self-serving narrative about the breakdown of her negotiations with the Palestinians. And it’s also easy to understand why Mr Cohen, an avowed supporter of peace, would want to give her a platform. Presumably, it’s to help unseat Mr Netanyahu in favour of a more constructive Israeli government led by the Livni-Herzog coalition. It’s fair to say that most people interested in peace would welcome such an electoral outcome.
But the path to peace isn’t laid by narratives aimed at blaming the other side when all parties have their fair share of responsibility for the continuing conflict. And Mr Cohen did his readers a disservice by not even mentioning the well-established and almost certainly accurate American account, cited above, that Ms Livni is challenging.
This spin might be good Israeli electoral politics, but it’s very bad diplomacy and even worse journalism. And, given the facts painstakingly related not by Palestinian but by American officials, it’s totally unconvincing.
Hussein Ibish is a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine
On Twitter: @ibishblog |
Miami -
Da staunten die Ladenbesitzer nicht schlecht: Ein Opossum hat über Thanksgiving ein wenig über die Stränge geschlagen – und in einem Schnapsladen für ein kleines Chaos gesorgt. Im US-Bundesstaat Florida brach das Beuteltier in einen sogenannten Liquor Store ein und bediente sich anschließend in den Regalen.
Oppossum trank mehrere Flaschen Alkohol
Mehrere kleine Flaschen Alkohol trank das Tier. Als die Polizei eintraf, wirkte das Opossum desorientiert und sabberte stark. Und so entschlossen sich die Beamten, den haarigen Einbrecher zur Ausnüchterung in ein Wildtierzentrum zur bringen.
Eine Ratte sorgt für Massenpanik in New Yorker U-Bahn – hier mehr dazu lesen.
Nachdem die Angestellten im Florida Wildlife Center dem Trunkenbold mit einer erhöhten Flüssigkeitszufuhr halfen, posteten sie anschließend auf ihren Facebook-Account ein Foto mit einer Schnapsflasche. Der Post wurde umgehend zu einem viralen Hit.
Das Tier soll, wenn es sich von den alkoholischen Strapazen vollständig erholt hat, in die Freiheit entlassen werden.
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Beach fun turns into ER run after Surfside shark bite UH senior was enjoying Memorial Day in the warm Gulf waters when a shark took a bite out of her holiday
Kori Robertson puts ointment on the bite mark left from an apparent bull shark attack on Monday at Follett's Island. Kori Robertson puts ointment on the bite mark left from an apparent bull shark attack on Monday at Follett's Island. Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Beach fun turns into ER run after Surfside shark bite 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
Kori Robertson was minding her own business, standing waist-deep in water chatting with a friend, when she felt a jerk on her leg, followed by sharp pain. The 22-year-old college student didn't know what was happening, but she knew it wasn't good.
"I had been stung by a jellyfish before and it did not feel like that," said Robertson, who was enjoying Memorial Day with a handful of friends on Follett's Island, near Surfside, when the good time suddenly ended. "It didn't feel like a little fish nibbling at me. I had to pull my leg up out of the water, then I thought I had to get out of the water. Now."
Though she never saw the culprit in the brown water, Robertson said she was told by doctors it was a shark that had bitten her right thigh, likely a bull shark, which are plentiful along the upper Texas coast and are known for aggressive behavior. Not for nothing are they likened to aquatic pit bulls. Then again, said shark was probably minding its own business as well, swimming through the shallow water, looking for a snack, when suddenly a fleshy object appeared right before it.
"I just want people to know about this," Robertson said. "It's not something you usually think about"
Robertson, a senior education major at the University of Houston, is more of a beach lover than a shark hater despite her fresh wounds. She just wants people to think twice about the water they and their children are playing in. Bull sharks rarely inflict fatal wounds, but they can inflict a nasty gash that may require multiple surgeries if tendons are severed.
In that sense, Robertson was lucky. Whatever bit her did not get a good hold on her thigh. Her skin was badly cut, but the bite was only 1 centimeter deep. Her doctors' biggest concern is infection from the warm Gulf water. Her concern: "Big scars."
Robertson's boyfriend rushed her to the hospital after wrapping her thigh in a towel. Emergency room doctors at UTMB in Galveston treated her wounds but did not stitch them up, fearing that would make it easier for infection to set in. She is recuperating at her mother's home in The Woodlands.
"Even on the way to the hospital, I said we need to take pictures of this," she said. "I have nieces and nephews who I take out further than this. "
Shark attacks along the Texas coast are uncommon and rarely fatal. The International Shark Attack File maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History shows 34 attacks from 1911 through 2010 for all of Texas, with 16 in the last decade, none of them fatal.
"I'm definitely not scared, though it will take me awhile before I go further out in the water," Robertson said. "You need to use caution. You definitely want to be able to see your feet."
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Nigel Farage’s pro-Brexit flotilla down the Thames has run into opposition from Vote Remain boats under the command of multi-millionaire pop star and SFJW (Social Focking Justice Warrior) Sir Bob Geldof.
Harsh words have been exchanged; collisions only narrowly averted; one fishing boat has drenched Geldof’s with a hose.
Gosh: I wonder which group is more likely to enlist the sympathy of ordinary people still unsure which way to vote.
Will it be
a) the former – comprising boatloads of fishermen whose livelihoods have been all but eradicated by Britain’s EU membership?
or
b) the latter – a gin palace commandeered by a multi-millionaire pillar of the global elite (who isn’t even a British subject and therefore not entitled to vote in this referendum) and packed to the gills with pro-EU reporters and members of the wankerati, blaring out noise from its extravagant sound system and pouring scorn on the smelly fisher proles nearby?
My personal guess is that it won’t be b).
In fact, if the Brexiteers do win this referendum, I suspect it will have less to do with anything they have said or done themselves than it has with the extraordinary arrogance of the Remainers.
Here are some examples of the kind of sneering, metropolitan contemptuousness which does Remain so few favours.
The picture that perfectly encapsulates the Leave campaign pic.twitter.com/coh2upVIBM — ian leslie (@mrianleslie) June 15, 2016
“Brexit flotilla” is a handy euphemism for a bowel movement. — Rupert Myers (@RupertMyers) June 15, 2016
The irony in having a load of undesirables packed onto an unsuitable sea vehicle campaigning against unwanted immigration. #flotilla — Fourfoot (@fourfoot) June 15, 2016
At least one person on Cap’n Bob’s Remain boat realised how utterly self-defeating this arrogance will prove.
Bethany Pickering describes herself as “Socialist, feminist, environmentalist; all the snazzy ideologies. Politics undergrad at Queen Mary University London, Yorkshire born ‘n bred. LGBT+ Officer for QM Labour Society” – so I don’t think she’ll be exactly overjoyed being quoted at Breitbart, let alone praised by us.
Still, she has got it dead right and I do salute her honesty and insight.
On a boat with Bob Geldof and its awful. I may vote remain, but don’t support jeering at fisherman worried about their livelihoods. — Bethany Pickering (@blp_1995) June 15, 2016
As someone who was on Bob Geldof’s boat, and left with others in protest, I can tell you it is everything wrong with strongerin #thames — Bethany Pickering (@blp_1995) June 15, 2016
Fisherman, please know that most Labour remain people on Geldof’s boat left in disgust. Not why I’m in at all #thames — Bethany Pickering (@blp_1995) June 15, 2016
Left Bob Geldof’s boat in disgust. Fisherman, the Labour Remain presence sincerely apologises #thames — Bethany Pickering (@blp_1995) June 15, 2016
In Britain, as in the US, people are beginning to wake up to the fact that it’s not about left and right any more. It’s about the people against the Establishment elite.
Indeed I think I see a new Brexit campaign slogan coming on.
“Vote Leave: because Sir Bob Geldof thinks you’re a c***!” |
On Friday, an hourlong VH1 special “ruvealed” nine of the queens who will be competing in RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars 3, an upcoming season of the drag queen reality-competition show that features competitors from previous seasons who want — nay, need — another chance at victory.
But for a highly organized, Drag Race-obsessed corner of Reddit, not much about the special was a surprise. It was vindication.
For months, fans of the show had been coordinating on /r/RuPaulsDragRace — as they have for the show’s past several seasons — to “Nancy Drew” this season’s cast before it was announced. Their predictions of which drag queens from previous seasons would appear on All Stars 3 were 100% correct, about as accurate as it had been over the last few years, with just a few exceptions.
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This whole process of uncovering which rising drag stars were going to break onto the mainstream platform of RuPaul’s Drag Race started before season six. But 2015’s season seven was the first time Nancy Drewing, as these redditors call it, became an established, mathematic art form. They predicted that season’s cast with 100% accuracy.
“Since then, we’ve only really gotten one queen wrong ever,” Reddit user robbysaur, one of the main Nancy Drews leading All Stars 3 speculation, said in a phone interview with Mic. “For season eight, we did not get Laila McQueen because Skarlet Starlet went on a social media break — and then the day before the reveal, she said she was calling off work and really made it seem like she was on.”
Robbysaur’s accuracy claim is almost true. His final All Stars 2 cast prediction post didn’t leave anyone out, but he predicted a few extra queens who weren’t on the show. In a private Reddit message to Mic, robbysaur said he stopped updating the post because a close friend with ties to the show told him the final cast ahead of time, and he didn’t want to raise suspicion from the rest of the subreddit.
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If you’re counting, that means /r/RuPaulsDragRace correctly predicted every single contestant for seasons seven, nine and All Stars 3, with just a few minor mistakes in season eight and All Stars 2. (At the end of Friday’s All Stars 3 special, RuPaul teased that a tenth queen had yet to be revealed. The Nancy Drews think it’ll be season one winner, BeBe Zahara Benet. So, jury’s still out on that.)
Still, that’s pretty impressive.
Becoming a Nancy Drew
So, you want to help unveil the next season’s cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race? Here’s how these redditors clock which queens are going to show up.
First, you compile a list of who’s who in the drag world and stalk the hell out of them on social media. If a prolific queen suddenly falls off the face of the Earth around the time filming is supposed to start, that’s a major red flag. For example, the final Nancy Drew thread for season eight noted the date ranges all 12 contestants went without posting. (Superfans can even spot when it looks like someone else is suddenly managing a queen’s social media, as was the case with Pearl in season seven.)
The next step is a bit harder, but the goal is basically the same. You have to keep an eye on popular venues, like gay bars and nightclubs, to see which queens are booking regular gigs during the filming dates — and who is suddenly taking an unexpected vacation.
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“When 10 queens all go missing in the same three weeks, we know something’s going on,” robbysaur said. “We know that if anyone has a gig in those three or four weeks that they are not on the show, because it’s in their contracts — according to our subreddit — that once they are eliminated, they can’t do any gigs [until filming is over]. So, if they even have one gig in those three or four weeks, they are not on the show.”
Nancy Drews don’t mess around, either. If you come to the subreddit with tea, you have to bring receipts.
“Otherwise, people on the subreddit are going to question you until they really see a receipt that someone does have a gig in Puerto Rico on Aug. 23,” robbysaur said.
Those are the tried-and-true methods the subreddit uses most, but clues often come from old-fashioned scuttlebutt exchanged over drinks at a gay bar or lunch with your friend who works for a fashion designer.
For example, maybe someone got an email from the employee of a nightclub saying BenDeLaCreme canceled her gig because she mentioned, in passing, that she’s on All Stars. Or maybe you heard through unnamed sources that Thorgy Thor has been putting together a massive collection of killer outfits.
Interestingly enough, robbysaur’s conflict about whether to share his connections to the inner workings of Drag Race with his fellow redditors says something larger about the way this whole process works: Since many of these people have very real connections to the world of drag, Nancy Drewing is as much a game of leveraging contacts in their personal lives as it is a game of social media stalking.
And sometimes, failing to find a balance between the two can be your undoing.
The disappearance of Drag Race prophet naivesmalls
Enter naivesmalls, /r/RuPaulsDragRace’s most mysterious, prolific Reddit user who recently fell off the face of the Earth.
“OK, so naivesmalls — I think it’s pronounced ‘ny-ee-vay’ — they had basically given us all correct information for season nine,” robbysaur said. “They told us who was lip syncing, who was winning the challenge, who was winning the lip sync, what the runway themes were, what the lip sync songs were, etc. etc. — everything. And they got it all correct.”
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Nobody really knows how naivesmalls got their information, but it was the real deal. They started popping up in the All Stars 3 speculation threads, yet again dropping intel about who was going to appear. And then something changed.
“They messaged me a couple weeks ago saying they got a message that Reddit was trying to ban their account,” robbysaur said. “And there was a period on the subreddit where any comment that mentioned naivesmalls’ name was automatically deleted, which was really bizarre.”
A screenshot of private messages exchanged between robbysaur and naivesmalls regarding those deleted posts is embedded below. Since naivesmalls’ account no longer exists, the messages display as being sent from “[deleted].”
A screenshot of private Reddit messages between robbysaur and naivesmalls — whose user name is displayed as ”[deleted]” — regarding the cast of ‘All Stars 3’ robbysaur/Reddit
It’s not clear why naivesmalls’ messages were automatically flagged, but some members of the subreddit — if you’ll forgive the donning of tin-foil hats for a moment — think it’s part of a conspiracy by World of Wonder, Drag Race’s production company, to keep Nancy Drews from uncovering the show’s secrets ahead of time. One Reddit user, mistyday32, told Mic in a private Reddit message they thought naivesmalls was probably banned for “spilling too much tea.”
(Mic has reached out to Reddit, VH1 and /r/RuPaulsDragRace’s moderators for comment and will update this post with any responses.)
In all likelihood, naivesmalls probably just violated the subreddit’s rules for the proper marking of spoilers — but where’s the fun in that?
“I really think it’s all of us feeling our fantasies and creating all of these theories about what our relationship is like with the studio,” robbysaur said.
A photo posted by (@) on
Despite naivesmalls’ disappearance, they won’t be gone for long.
“They did tell one of our trusted users that they will be back and they gave them a little clue about when they come back, how we will know,” robbysaur said. “It was almost like Christianity, when we’re expecting the second coming of Jesus and there’s gonna be all these apocalyptic symbols before it happens.”
But that wasn’t the only time something weird happened that made robbysaur suspect World of Wonder was trying to interfere with the Nancy Drew threads. Robbysaur said he recently received messages from someone claiming to have attended a live taping of an All Stars 3 episode that didn’t quite add up.
“We really suspected for the All Stars 3 cast that Darienne Lake was on, and we were all willing to accept that,” robbysaur said. “And the first message I received after we speculated that was, ‘Oh yeah, I was [at a live taping of All Stars 3] and Darienne Lake was on,’ and that was it. I bought it. I didn’t think it was a problem.”
But then, robbysaur said the person’s messages conflicted with intel he got later that suggested Darienne Lake wasn’t on the show. Robbysaur said he thinks someone from WoW — who identified themselves in a private message as a “longtime lurker” — was intentionally feeding him false information to throw him off the scent. When robbysaur pressed this person for details, they stopped responding.
A screenshot of their exchange is embedded below, with their username blurred out to preserve their anonymity. Robbysaur’s messages are in green.
A screenshot of private Reddit messages between robbysaur and another user claiming to have attended a live ‘All Stars 3’ taping Robbysaur/Reddit
Then again, maybe they were just a run-of-the-mill Reddit troll. Nobody’s really sure. But with season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race right around the corner, it’s likely not the last example of shady behavior that’ll come out of /r/RuPaulsDragRace.
“I go back to Paris Is Burning, where they say that sometimes — and they use the word ‘faggot’ — they say, ‘Faggots can pull a stunt and nobody will ever know,’” robbysaur said. “So when you get a big group of people, of queer men together [who] are all secretive and shady, and they work in the drag industry and they’re all trying to hide these things and be petty — honestly, I think it’s kind of fun. I’m not mad at them for it.” |
Canada, the land that made a blithering “male feminist” Prime Minister, has yet again demonstrated just how woke it is!
How?
Some no-name Colombian-Canadian singer “asked white audience members to move to the back of the concert hall and people of color to move to the front during her Halifax Pop Explosion gig at the Marquee Ballroom in Nova Scotia’s capital last month … [while her] request was nothing new — it’s often part of her shows — this time it apparently was met with some resistance”.
However, this time one volunteer at the music festival stood up against the clear expression of privilege and demonstration of power:
“A white female volunteer who was reportedly there to photograph the show — along with several other white audience members — reacted to the singer’s desire to get ‘brown girls to the front’ with what festival officials called ‘aggressive’ and ‘overt racism'”.
So, demanding to not being discriminated at a music festival is an act of “aggressive … overt racism”?
The volunteer was then not only kicked out of the festival for refusing to be racially segregated, but the Halifax Pop Explosion said that they’d provide its volunteers in the future with re-education “anti-oppression and anti-racism training“.
Remind me again how pampered pop stars who can get away with segregating people based on race and sex is somehow “oppressed”…
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Man playing Monopoly shot in groin A man was shot, apparently accidentally, while he and a companion were playing the game late Wednesday, police said.
A man was shot, apparently accidentally, while he and a companion were playing a board game late Wednesday, police said.
The unidentified man was playing Monopoly at a home in the 400 block of Mary Street on the South Side with a female, investigators said. The pair also were playing with a handgun they apparently forgot was loaded, according to police.
The weapon discharged, striking the man once in the upper left thigh near the groin, police said. One officer said the shot narrowly missed hitting an artery.
The man was taken to a hospital for treatment, but authorities said he did not appear to have life-threatening injuries.
No charges were anticipated, police said. |
The first of several British investigations into the e-mails leaked from one of the world's leading climate research centers has largely vindicated the scientists involved.
The House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee said Wednesday that they'd seen no evidence to support charges that the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit or its director, Phil Jones, had tampered with data or perverted the peer review process to exaggerate the threat of global warming two of the most serious criticisms levied against the climatologist and his colleagues.
In their report, the committee said that, as far as it was able to ascertain, "the scientific reputation of Professor Jones and CRU remains intact," adding that nothing in the more than 1,000 stolen e-mails, or the controversy kicked up by their publication, challenged scientific consensus that "global warming is happening and that it is induced by human activity."
The 14-member committee's investigation is one of three launched after the dissemination, in November, of e-mails and data stolen from the research unit. The e-mails appeared to show scientists berating skeptics in sometimes intensely personal attacks, discussing ways to shield their data from public records laws, and discussing ways to keep skeptics' research out of peer-reviewed journals. One that attracted particular media attention was Jones' reference to a "trick" that could be used to "hide the decline" of temperatures.
The e-mails' publication ahead of the Copenhagen climate change summit sparked an online furor, with skeptics of man-made climate change calling the e-mails' publication "Climategate" and claiming them as proof that the science behind global warming had been exaggerated or even made up altogether.
The lawmakers said they decided to investigate due to "the serious implications for U.K. science."
More on "Climategate"
Poll: Americans More Skeptical About Global Warming
Study: Human Impact on Climate Now Clearer
Mistakes in Climate Report Fuel Skepticism
UN Panel Admits Glacier Warning a Mistake
Phil Willis, the committee's chairman, said of the e-mails that "there's no denying that some of them were pretty appalling." But the committee found no evidence of anything beyond "a blunt refusal to share data," adding that the idea that Jones was part of a conspiracy to hide evidence that weakened the case for global warming was clearly wrong.
In a briefing to journalists ahead of the report's release, Willis said the controversy would ultimately help buttress the case for global warming by forcing the University East Anglia and other research institutions to stop hoarding their data.
"The winner in the end will be climate science itself," he said.
The winner on Wednesday was Jones, who stepped down temporarily as chief of the climate research unit about week after the e-mail scandal broke. The committee expressed sympathy with Jones, whom Willis said had been made a scapegoat for larger problems within the climate science community.
"The focus on Professor Jones and the CRU has been largely misplaced," the report said.
But the lawmakers did criticize the way Jones and his colleagues handled freedom of information requests, saying scientists could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by aggressively publishing all their data instead of worrying about how to stonewall their critics.
Lawmakers stressed that their report which was written after only a single day of oral testimony did not cover all the issues and would not be as in-depth as the two other inquiries into the e-mail scandal that are still spending.
Willis said the lawmakers had been in a rush to publish something before Britain's next national election, which is widely expected in just over a month's time.
"Clearly we would have liked to spend more time of this," he said, before adding jokingly: "We had to get something out before we were sent packing."
One of the two pending inquiries is being headed by former civil servant Muir Russell, who is looking into whether scientists, including Jones, fudged data or manipulated the peer review process. It also is examining the extent to which university followed applicable freedom of information laws.
That report is due to report sometime this spring.
Geologist Ernest Oxburgh is leading a parallel investigation into the integrity of the science itself, one staffed by academics including Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Huw Davies, a former president of the International Association of Meteorology & Atmospheric Science.
The committee said that climate scientists had to be much more open in future for example by publishing all their data, including raw data and the software programs used to interpret them, to the Internet. Willis said there was far too much money at stake not to be completely transparent.
"Governments across the world are spending trillions of pounds, or trillions of dollars, on mitigating climate change. The science has got to be irreproachable," he said. |
Frenzy: Attorney Scott C. Cox, representing Paul Peters, addresses the media outside the District Court in Louisville, Kentucky. Credit:David R. Lutman Mr Peters was described yesterday as passionate and volatile in his approach to business, but also upright and old-fashioned. His stiff demeanour was seen as a legacy of his upbringing in colonial Hong Kong and schooling at Scots College in Sydney. His interests were drawn from the old school too - high-end cars, fine wine and horseflesh. The evidence in court this morning went further in confirming just how bizarre the case was. Prosecutors alleged Mr Peters surprised Ms Pulver as she studied in a bedroom at her family's Mosman mansion on August 3.
Paul "Doug" Peters. "At about 2.15pm Ms Pulver saw a man carrying a black aluminium baseball bat and wearing a striped, multi-coloured balaclava walk into her room," the indictment states. The intruder allegedly told her to "sit down and no one needs to get hurt". He then allegedly forced a black box against her throat and looped a device similar to a bike chain, which was also attached to the box, around her neck. The man allegedly then locked the box into position around Madeleine's neck and placed a lanyard, which had a green USB stick and a plastic document sleeve attached, around her neck. The man allegedly then said "Count to 200, I'll be back. If you move I can see you, I'll be right here", indicating the hallway outside the bedroom. He then left. Extremely frightened, Madeleine sat there for a short time thinking that the man was robbing the house. After a few minutes she yelled out but there was no response. She phoned her mother on her mobile phone and took the documents from the plastic sleeve. She saw the word 'explosive' on one and assumed there was a bomb around her neck.
She phoned her father, who called the police, then read the document which said not to call police, but by then they had already been notified. When police arrived Madeleine was crying and hysterical. The note contained the following: "Powerful new technology plastic explosives are located inside the small black combination case delivered to you. The case is booby trapped. It can ONLY be opened safely, if you follow the instructions and comply with its terms and conditions." It said not to contact authorities, and provided a Gmail address. "You will be provided with detailed Remittance Instructions to transfer a Defined Sum once you acknowledge and confirm receipt of this message." Police linked the account to Chicago airport and identified Paul Douglas Peters as having been there. They examined computers that has accessed that account, and used CCTV to identify a vehicle that led them to Kentucky. Peters flew to the US five days after Madeleine's ordeal began. The account had reportedly been accessed on NSW's central coast, presumably at the Kincumber Library, where police seized a computer during an intense two-week investigation.
This morning the defendant's estranged wife, Debra Peters, sobbed in court as Magistrate Dan Whalin remanded her husband in custody. Mr Peters appeared calm as he stood in the dock wearing a lavender shirt, tan shorts and sandals. He was placed in hand and leg cuffs. His lawyer, Scott Cox, said he was unfamiliar with extradition laws with Australia and reserved the right to apply for bail. Mr Peters is due in court on October 14. For people who know Peters - a former senior executive of Allco Finance who divided his time between the New South Wales central coast and the US - the news has been greeted with astonishment. Former colleagues said he valued his relationships with three teenage daughters, who live with his second wife in the small township of La Grange, outside Louisville, Kentucky, where he was arrested. ''He's a rational, intelligent high-achiever,'' former Allco colleague said yesterday.
It seems, too, that the father of the victim, Bill Pulver, is relieved but none the wiser. ''Bill doesn't know him,'' a police source said. ''He has no recollection of him at all.'' NSW Detective Superintendent Luke Moore confirmed in a US press conference that financial demands had been made by the intruder. Those who know Mr Peters from his days at the now defunct Allco Finance Group - he was chief executive of the company's Malaysian joint venture - say he left for the US about a year ago in an apparently futile bid to reconcile with his second wife. Neighbours in Kentucky painted a picture of the relationship with his wife, Debra, from whom he had been separated for at least four years. A friend confirmed the pair sometimes lived together in the five-bedroom house with their daughters, but more often, she said, Mrs Peters would stay with family in New Jersey while he was in town with the three girls. ''They were definitely separated,'' she said.
The house had been put on the market six weeks ago, with an asking price of $US400,000. After Allco collapsed in Australia, Mr Peters bought out its Malaysian arm, to create Douglas Corporation. But it too foundered and was dissolved some time after 2009. Mr Peters was born in Hong Kong, the son of a Cathay Pacific pilot, and was sent to board at Scots in 1973 along with his two brothers. ''I am absolutely flabbergasted,'' said one of his classmates from the 1970s at Scots College. ''Paul was a fabulous part of our tight-knit crew,'' he said. A former girlfriend recalled him being part of a Scots gang known as the Muppets. ''They drove round in a white van and crashed people's parties and caused mayhem,'' she said. ''There was never anything in his psychology to suggest he might have done something like this,'' said another friend.
He was unlike his older brother Brent, nicknamed ''Brentos'' who was well known as the school bully. Brent left school to become a bouncer in Kings Cross. At 25 he was charged with attempted murder of two police officers and at 28 he was arrested over a Kings Cross heroin distribution racket. Brent Peters was acquitted of both charges. Another brother, Wayne, 54, is a successful investment banker who was managing director of Swiss Banking Corporation in Australia, before heading to Hong Kong where he ran fund manager Allard Capital Asia. Mr Peters studied economics and law at Sydney University and, according to his LinkedIn entry returned to Hong Kong in 1988. Loading
He moved into investment banking, becoming a specialist in tax-advantaged leveraged leasing in overseas jurisdictions. With ANNE DAVIES and SAFFRON HOWDEN |
CNN contributor and progressive activist Sally Kohn criticized free speech advocacy during a Friday debate at the University of Missouri (MU), saying such advocacy was really just an excuse for attacking multiculturalism and other progressive attitudes.
Kohn was at MU as part of a two-day symposium on the topic of campus free speech. Kohn’s event was a debate with fellow CNN contributor Kirsten Powers, in which the two clashed about whether recent campus trends have been harmful to free expression. (RELATED: DePaul Protesters Halt Milo Yiannopoulos Speech)
Victoria Stroup, a student at MU, described the event in a piece for Campus Reform. She said Koch’s argument defended recent protests that seek to silence conservative speakers and events, arguing that those claiming to champion “free speech” are really just trying to give cover for regressive, anti-diversity views.
Kohn repeatedly attacked the “Koch-funded” Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a non-profit that has made a name for itself aggressively defending free speech rights for both professors and students. FIRE, she said, is simply part of a “broad conservative agenda” to protect conservative views, using free speech as a smokescreen. (RELATED: Kohn: I Massage Facts To Fit My Narrative)
Kohn also argued that disruptive protests, such as those aiming to prevent a controversial guest from speaking, are a form of free speech themselves.
When Powers argued that speech should be protected because by itself it is never dangerous, Kohn countered by saying Powers failed to recognize her white privilege. Speech that seems harmless to middle or upper-class whites, she said, could be deeply threatening to poor and non-white communities. If somebody claims to feel certain speech is unsafe, Kohn said, they should be believed.
“Feelings are valid,” she said, according to Stroup. “I’m never going to argue with people’s feelings.” (RELATED: Sally Kohn Blames Police For Dallas Shooting)
Kohn also said it’s a good thing if conservatives feel unable to express their views for fear of encountering hostility from their peers or professors.
“If they feel like they can no longer speak against positive social change, good.”
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The total of untested rape kits held by the city of San Diego is approaching 2,900, and each one should be examined, City Attorney Mara Elliott said Tuesday.
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San Diego was among the California cities identified in a 2014 state audit as having a large backlog of untested sexual assault kits, which contain hair, saliva, blood and possibly semen collected from victims.
Elliott said the number of untested kits has grown to 2,873.
“When rape victims submit to an ordeal that can take up to four hours, the evidence they provide should be fully analyzed and shared for maximum value in solving crimes and preventing future crimes,” Elliott said. “Other cities test every kit. San Diego should test every kit.”
Elliott also called for the results of testing to be shared with other jurisdictions.
Police officials contend that it’s not necessary to test every kit, since evidence developed in an investigation could make the results irrelevant. They also say the federal rules can limit the evidence that can be entered in databases.
In response, the city attorney said that while rape-kit analysis may not always advance an individual investigation, analysis may yield a DNA match that can benefit other investigations and resolve cold cases.
DNA evidence in active cases can be shared by law-enforcement agencies throughout the state through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS.
Elliott issued her call before Wednesday’s “Denim Day,” which commemorates an Italian Supreme Court ruling that initiated international support for the recognition of sexual violence.
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ELMONT, N.Y. -- A Brooklyn man has been accused of raping a Long Island teen that he met on Snapchat, CBS New York reports.
Javier Morales, 28, met the 14-year-old girl on the mobile app, and the teen's mother contacted police after the alleged rape, Nassau Police Detective Lieutenant Richard LeBrun said.
"Defendant Morales, as you can see here, is a prime example of a sexual predator," LeBrun said as he showed reporters an image of Morales.
"We are living in this new age of technology. All the children have iPhones, they have other communication devices. Parents need to get into those devices, they need to talk to their children with regard to what is good, what is bad," he added.
New York Police Department and court records show that Morales is also the suspect in a separate rape case in Brooklyn involving a 12-year-old. |
We’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes on the framework osu! runs on (the lazer project). Today I took a step back to test a week of intense coding changes with smoogipooo to see how things feel and work.
I made a little game which took 5 hours and 375 lines of code to write. Would have been 2 or 3 hours if I didn’t find some bugs along the way with the framework (this was my intention, so I am very happy).
Download here (30mb because it contains osu! resources, sorry)
Controls:
W to move up
S to move down
D to boost
tab to autoplay
I’ll release the full source for this in the near future. And yes, this will likely appear as a game mode for osu! in the future (maybe a just-for-fun one like target practice :).
We are making great progress here. Big cogs are turning!
Enjoy your weekend! |
2016 dog bite fatalities ::
Statistical information gathered by DogsBite.org is verifiable through news reports and other criteria.1 Our Fatality Citations section documents sources used in our dog bite fatality research.
2016 dog bite fatality statistics 2
2016 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities by Breed 2016 fatal dog attacks by breed
In 2016, eight fatalities involved dogs from two or more different breeds, thus producing a death count total of 41 rather than 31. Two dog breeds each contributed to one death, including: Australian cattle dog and shar pei. The unreleased breed data includes a family dog that killed an infant and a pack of dogs that killed a 58-year old man.
2016 analysis and 12-year summary
31 U.S. dog bite-related fatalities occurred in 2016. Despite being regulated in Military Housing areas and over 900 U.S. cities, pit bulls contributed to 71% (22) of these deaths. Pit bulls make up about 6% of the total U.S. dog population. 3
Together, pit bulls (22) and rottweilers (2), the second most lethal dog breed, accounted for 77% of the total recorded deaths in 2016. This same combination also accounted for 76% of all fatal attacks during the 12-year period of 2005 to 2016.
The breakdown between these two breeds is substantial over this 12-year period. From 2005 to 2016, pit bulls killed 254 Americans, about one citizen every 17 days, versus rottweilers, which killed 43, a citizen every 102 days (Related graph).
In 2016, the combination of pit bulls (22), their close cousins, American bulldogs (2), and rottweilers (2) contributed to 84% (26) of all dog bite-related fatalities. Both American bulldog cases involved dogs acquired in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Labradors and their mixes contributed to 3 deaths in 2016, followed by 6 breeds, each with 2 deaths: American bulldog, Belgian malinois, doberman pinscher, German shepherd, mixed-breed, rottweiler and 2 cases with unreleased breed data.
Annual data from 2016 shows that 42% (13) of the fatality victims were children ages 9-years and younger and 58% (18) were adults, ages 30-years and older. Of the total adults killed by canines in 2016, pit bulls were responsible for 67% (12).
In 2016, female victims (16) were greater in number than male victims (15). Among children ages 9-years and younger, male deaths were greater, 62% vs. 38% and among adults 59-years and older, female deaths outpaced males, 75% vs. 25%.
In 2016, infants 3 to 6-days old accounted for 31% of all child deaths. In one case, a pit bull-mix was lying in bed with the baby and its parents when it attacked. The family had adopted the dog 5-months earlier from the San Diego Humane Society.
42% (13) of all dog bite fatality victims in 2016 were either visiting or living temporarily with the dog's owner when the fatal attack occurred, up from 32% in 2015. Of this subset of 13 fatalities, 77% (10) were inflicted by pit bulls.
In 2016, 32% (10) of attacks resulting in death involved a dog or person new to a household (0-2 month period). Children 9-years and younger accounted for 80% (8) of these deaths. Of this subset of 10 fatalities, 70% (7) were inflicted by pit bulls.
In 2016, 61% (19) of all fatalities involved more than one dog, up from the 11-year average of 44% (2005 to 2015). 35% (11) of all deaths involved 2 or 3 dogs and 26% (8) involved a pack attack of 4 or more dogs, up from the 11-year average of 14%.
29% (9) of all dog bite fatalities in 2016 involved breeding on the dog owner's property either actively or in the recent past; pit bulls accounted for 67% of these deaths. 3% (1) involved tethered dogs, down from the 11-year average of 10%.
Dog ownership information for 2016 shows that non-family dogs inflicted the majority of deaths, 55% (17). Of this subset, 59% (10) were inflicted by pit bulls. Conversely, only 19% (6) of attacks resulting in death occurred off the dog owner's property.
Family dogs inflicted 45% (14) of all deaths in 2016; family pit bulls accounted for 86% (12) of these deaths, up from an 11-year average of 63%. Of the 22 fatal pit bull attacks, 55% (12) involved a family or household member vs. 45% (10) non-family.
In 2016, only 6% (2) of all deadly attacks resulted in meaningful criminal charges; the lowest level on record. 4 2016 also marked the first time a police officer's "personal" attack-trained K-9 killed a person; he was charged with two felonies.
2016 also marked the first time a police officer's "personal" attack-trained K-9 killed a person; he was charged with two felonies. California led all states in fatal attacks in 2016 incurring 6 deaths; 67% of these deaths were inflicted by pit bulls. Florida, North Carolina and Texas each followed with 3 deaths. South Carolina, a routine dog bite fatality state, incurred no deaths.
Discussion notes and graphics
2016 dog bite fatality victims
Tyler Trammell-Huston
9-years old | Linda, California
Tyler Trammell-Huston, 9-years old, was brutally killed by his sister's three pit bulls after she left him alone with the dogs. At the time of the attack, Tyler was staying with his half-sister, Alexandria Griffin-Heady, who hoped to "rescue" him from the foster system. Tyler was in protective custody, living at a foster home under the care of Sacramento County Child Protection Services. In October, CPS began granting unsupervised overnight visits with his sister and her pit bulls who lived in a small trailer that sat adjacent to a home where two of Tyler's siblings lived. Griffin-Heady had raised the pit bulls, a mother and two offspring, since they were puppies. She gushed about her pit bulls on social media and posted numerous photos of them. In a tearful press conference after Tyler's death, Griffin-Heady called her pit bulls "my babies" and "What made them do that I will never know." In late March, the Yuba County DA declined to bring charges. [ ]
Date of death: January 3, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (3) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Half-sister Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Payton Sawyers
15-months old | Independence, Virginia
Payton Sawyers, 15-months old, suffered life-threatening injuries after she was attacked by a pit bull-mix while under the care of her babysitters on January 6. Grayson County sheriff's deputies and rescue personnel responded to a 911 call about 9:30 pm on the 400 block of Penn Ford Road. The child was airlifted to Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in critical condition. Sheriff Richard Vaughan said the child was attacked by the couple's pit bull-mix, E.J., and the dog had the child's head in its mouth. After an investigation, including executing a search warrant of the couple's home, John Underwood II and Terra Connell were charged with felony child neglect and possessing a vicious dog. Connell was also charged with possession of illegal drugs and possession of ammunition by a felon. On January 8, Payton died of her injuries. After her death, the Grayson County Sheriff's Office charged the couple with second-degree murder in addition to the other charges. [ ]
Date of death: January 8, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-rottweiler mix Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Babysitter Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Yes
Talan West
7-years old | Lumberton, North Carolina
Talan West, 7-years old, was brutally killed by a neighbor's pit bull, while two other dogs attacked and injured his 8-year old brother. The attack occurred on the 2400 block of Odum Road in Lumberton, a few homes down from where the siblings lived. Talan and his brother Jaylan were playing in a field behind their home when three loose dogs charged them. Jaylan jumped on a car, but his younger brother could not escape. Robeson County deputies found Talan unresponsive with “severe puncture wounds about the body.” His mother Jamie West said the pit bull ripped out the back of his neck, breaking it. Both children were taken to Southeastern Regional Medical Center, where Talan died. His brother was treated for dog bite injuries and released. The male pit bull was found dead at the scene; the dog reportedly had a severe case of heartworms and became overexcited during the attack causing heart failure. The two dogs that attacked Jaylan, both mixed-breed females, were euthanized after the attack. [ ]
Date of death: January 24, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (1)
Mixed-breed (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Neighbor Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Aiden Grim
3-days old | Youngstown, Ohio
Aiden Grim, 3-days old, was fatally bitten on the head by a family dog. The infant had been lying in a plastic laundry basket on the floor. His mother, 21-year old Kristy Grim, was sleeping next to him on the couch. She awoke to the baby screaming, covered in blood. Youngstown police arrived and found the baby deceased with a head injury. Police said Grim's brother and mother were also home at the time, along with five dogs. Authorities seized the dog that inflicted the bite. Dr. Joseph Ohr, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, said the baby died after the dog's teeth pierced the infant's skull causing fatal brain injuries. The manner of death was ruled accidental. Dr. Ohr said the male labrador-shepherd mix tried to pick the baby up from the laundry basket. Facebook photos -- which caused an angry backlash on social media -- showed that the dogs used these baskets as beds. No charges were filed. The male dog belonging to Grim's brother was later declared vicious and returned to him. [ ]
Date of death: February 7, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Labrador-shepherd mix Relationship to dog: Famiy Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Uncle Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Suzanne Story
36-years old | Hertford, North Carolina
Suzanne Story, 36-years old, suffered a violent death by her pit bull-mix. She died just as a helicopter sent from a Virginia hospital was landing to airlift her to the facility. Story had been cleaning the dog's crate in her home when it suddenly attacked her. Her older sister and roommate, Robin Ross, heard her screams for help. Ross managed to pull the roughly 100-pound dog off her and shut the animal in the bathroom, but the dog broke a hole through the door and attacked Story again, ripping her throat out. "The dog was holding her down," Ross said. "It was horrible." Story had acquired the 1.5-year old dog, named Buddy, about two weeks earlier from a newspaper ad placed in The Virginian Pilot. The ad said the dog was "very good" with kids and people. Cheryl Davino of Norfolk, the dog's former owner, placed the ad. Davino and her husband drove the animal across state lines to Story's home and gave her the dog free of charge. Davino said the dog was "a big baby" and had never been aggressive in the past. [ ]
Date of death: February 10, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-boxer mix Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Victim Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Gladys Alexander
92-years old | Olympia, Washington
Gladys Alexander, was brutally attacked by up to four dogs after entering a neighbor's home to give her a newspaper. The neighbor had helped Gladys with some day-to-day tasks, and it was not unusual for her to enter into the person's home, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office stated. At the time of the attack, the neighbor was away. She returned while the dogs were attacking Gladys. She intervened to stop the attack and called 911. Gladys was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. She died from her injuries two days later. The sheriff's office described the dogs as two adult pit bull-mixed breeds and two juvenile mixed-breeds, containing pit bull, labrador and heeler. The neighbor owned one of the dogs and had been dog sitting the others for her daughter who was incarcerated. Officials seized the dogs after her death and all four were euthanized after a 10-day quarantine period. [ ]
Date of death: March 8, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-lab mix (2)
Lab-pit bull mix (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Neighbor Spay/Neuter: Unknown/No 5 Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Bessie Flowers
86-years old | Charlotte, North Carolina
Bessie Flowers, 86-years old, was fatally attacked by her daughter's two pit bulls. Flowers was visiting her daughter's home in south Charlotte when the deadly attack occurred. Flowers was on the back porch heading into the home when she slipped or tripped onto the dog bed. The family pit bulls approached Flowers and began "playing with her." This turned into aggression, which rapidly escalated, according to police. The victim's daughter was able to pull the dogs off Flowers and call 911. In a gasping voice, she told dispatchers, "This is an emergency. My dogs attacked and really hurt her. Please come!" The dogs attacked her face and neck causing fatal dog bite injuries; she died at the scene. Because the daughter did not want to surrender her pit bulls to authorities, animal control officers seized them. Both pit bulls, a male and female, were later euthanized. No autopsy was performed because the cause of death was "clear" as "blunt force neck injuries due to dog attack," the medical examiner's office said. [ ]
Date of death: March 28, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (2) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Daughter Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Sonda Dyan Tyson
66-years old | Leesburg, Florida
Sonda Tyson, 66-years old, was brutally mauled to death by her own dog. Family members discovered Tyson lying in a pool of blood on the back porch of her home. Her daughter-in-law, Amber Fletcher, called 911. Fletcher told dispatchers, "She's bleeding everywhere ... Her bones are showing..." Paramedics arrived and began to evaluate the victim when a large dog coated in blood tried to push its way onto the porch. Paramedics first tried to block the dog's path with a refrigerator, then retreated and called police. Officers arrived minutes later and shot the dog with a rifle from atop of a fire truck. A second shot was required to kill the animal, police said. “It was a gruesome scene,” Police Lt. Joe Iozzi said. The medical examiner said the cause of death was massive blood loss, resulting from the mauling. Family members said that Tyson lived alone with her four dogs, including the pit bull-bullmastiff mix named "Hercules." Tyson's son found the dog as a puppy and gave it to her for protection, they said. [ ]
Date of death: March 31, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-bullmastiff mix Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Victim Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Valente Lopez Aguirre
58-years old | Fresno County, California
Updated Information: April 29, 2017
Valente Lopez Aguirre, 58-years old, was discovered dead in a dry canal on West Barstow Avenue between Floyd and Bishop Avenues on April 14. Farm workers found the body as they walked along the canal bank. Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene. The coroner determined Aguirre died of an animal attack. Detectives found a group of aggressive dogs in the area. Five dogs were seized and underwent DNA testing to establish if the dogs were responsible for Aguirre’s death. The results were inconclusive. On June 16, authorities released the dogs back to their owner. Three weeks later, Robert Simonian, 74, was found dead in the same canal -- this time the canal was not dry. The coroner ruled Simonian died of drowning, but he also suffered dog bite injuries. Authorities seized the same five dogs again. No breed information was released. On April 29, 2017 the five suspected dogs owned by Harold Matthews were identified as three pit bull-mixes, a small mixed-breed and a chihuahua-mix. [ ]
Date of death: April 14, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix (3)
Mixed-breed (1)
Chihuahua-mix (1) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Property owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: No
Sebastian Caban
3-days old | San Diego, California
Sebastian Caban, 3-days old, was killed by a pit bull-mix while lying in bed with his parents and the dog. When his mother coughed, the dog suddenly attacked the baby's head. Both parents had to pull the 80-pound dog off the baby. After two 911 call attempts that went unanswered, the couple rushed Sebastian to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Deputy Director of San Diego County Animal Services, Dan DeSousa, told the media the dog was an American Staffordshire terrier, a breed more commonly known as a pit bull. Within 3-hours of news media reports, DeSousa used multiple breed names to distance the dog from a pit bull, including a "great dane-terrier mix" -- complete denial of any pit bull heritage. Five days after the baby's death, San Diego Humane Society (SDHS) admitted they adopted out the neutered 2-year old pit bull-mix named Polo to the couple 5-months earlier. Over the next few days, SDHS posted four posts to their Facebook page promoting pit bulls and pit bull adoptions. [ ]
Date of death: April 21, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-great dane mix Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Parents Spay/Neuter: Yes Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Manuel Mejia
49-years old | Miami-Dade County, Florida
Manuel Mejia, 49-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs in southwest Miami-Dade County. Authorities did not release any information to the public until reporters began investigating over 2-weeks after his death. Mejia was a live-in caretaker at a dragon fruit farm in Homestead. On April 23, up to 10 dogs kept by the owner of the farm viciously attacked Mejia. His girlfriend, Pamela Babineau, witnessed the attack and called 911. Mejia was airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center where he died of his injuries six hours later. The medical examiner's report showed he suffered severe bite injuries to his head, neck, chest, back and legs, fractured ribs and more. The dogs are described as a female American bulldog and nine Belgium malinois-bulldog mix offspring about 8-months old. Babineau told police three dogs instigated the attack and up to seven others joined in, indicating that all 10 dogs were involved. On November 14, 2016 DogsBite.org submitted two public records requests about this case. [ ]
Date of death: April 24, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: American bulldog (1)
Belgian malinois-bulldog mix (9) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Business owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Antoinette Brown
52-years old | Dallas, Texas
Antoinette Brown, 52-years old, suffered catastrophic injury by a pack of loose dogs in southern Dallas on May 2. Police did not confirm the attack until 5 days later. Due to protocol failures between police and Dallas Animal Services (DAS) the dogs were not seized until 4 days later. Antoinette was bitten over 100 times. Her mother, Barbara Brown, said the dogs, "Ate her like they was eating a steak." Doctors placed her into a medically induced coma. She died on May 9 after being removed from life support. DAS and other city officials came under fire after the grisly attack. The city had recently stepped up efforts to combat the longstanding loose dog problem in south Dallas, but it was not enough. Authorities seized seven dogs from 3307 Spring Avenue suspected in the fatal mauling. From July 2013 through September 2015, authorities seized 21 dogs from the same home due to violations. On October 31, 2016 police announced that no charges would be filed because a DNA link could not be established. [ ]
Date of death: May 9, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix (4)
Rottweiler-mix (1)
Shepherd-mix (1)
Doberman-mix (1) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Neighbor Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: No
Adonis Reddick
45-years old | St. Louis County, Missouri
Adonis Reddick, 45-years old, was fatally attacked by his own pit bull. He was discovered dead by family members at his home near Spanish Lake. Family members had not heard from him for a few days so they stopped by to check on him. They found him lifeless with bite injuries and his pit bull, named Milow, loose in the house behaving extremely aggressive. St. Louis County police responded to the home and shot and killed the pit bull because police and animal control could not control it. Another dog in the house, a female German shepherd-mix, was taken into custody without incident. The county medical examiner determined that Reddick died of "penetrating and perforating" wounds to the neck, St. Louis County police spokesman Shawn McGuire said. Reddick had developmental disabilities and is remembered as a powerful advocate for others living with disabilities. In 2015, Reddick won a national award, the Self Advocate of the Year Catalyst Award, for his efforts to educate and support others with disabilities. [ ]
Date of death: May 9, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Victim Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Earl Stephens Jr.
43-years old | Stockton, California
Earl Stephens Jr., 43-years old, was killed by a pit bull while visiting the dog owner's home in east Stockton. Stephens had gone over to his friend's home to help him repair a scooter in the friend's fenced-in front yard. The men were inside the home when Stephens walked outside to get some cigarettes from his car, according to authorities. As soon as he walked into the front yard, his friend's pit bull, named Harley, viciously attacked him. The dog had reportedly been friendly to Stephens earlier in the day. Sounds from the attack caused his friend and a woman inside the home to rush outside to help. The woman was bitten on her fingers while struggling with the dog. The friend was struck in the head accidentally by a hammer the woman was using on the dog. Stephens' injuries were described as "massive." When deputies arrived, they found Harley in the yard still aggressive. They shot and killed that pit bull. Two younger offspring pit bulls also participated in the attack and were seized by authorities. [ ]
Date of death: June 4, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (3) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male (primary attacker) Owner of dog: Friend Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Hunter Bragg
7-years old | Corinna, Maine
Hunter Bragg, 7-years old, was brutally killed by a pit bull while visiting his father. The attack occurred at the home of Gary Merchant Jr. at 207 Moody's Mill Road in Corinna. Hunter's father, Jason Bragg, was living in a camper on the Merchant property. When Penobscot County first responders arrived on scene, Hunter was already dead. Hunter was playing in the yard with two other children when the pit bull fatally attacked his throat and face. The medical examiner's report said Hunter died of "blunt and sharp force injuries of [his] head and neck." There were eight dogs living on the property at the time of the attack. The 1.5-year old male pit bull, named Koda, previously belonged to the daughter of Merchant's wife since a puppy. She returned the dog to the Merchants in early 2016 after it attacked another dog in her home multiple times, according to the bite report filed by animal control officer Charles Gould after Hunter's death. As of August 26, 2016, no additional information has been released. [ ]
Date of death: June 4, 2016 Chained: Yes Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Relative Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Pending
Erin McCleskey
36-years old | Manor, Texas
Erin McCleskey, 36-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs while serving civil papers to a home in northeast Travis County. McCleskey was an independent contractor for a legal support services provider. On June 15, McCleskey drove to 12316 Fay Street in Manor. She exited her vehicle, leaving it running, and entered the property's front gate. Upon entering, she was attacked by up to six dogs. The medical examiner said that she had been dead for five hours before being discovered. A neighbor, who saw her running car parked in front of the gate, found her body, according to news reports. The dogs' owner, Terry Swanson, was away at the time. Authorities seized six adult dogs, four labrador-mixes and two Australian cattle dog-mixes. There were also 14 puppies in a pen on the property. Justice of the Peace Herb Evans later ordered all six dogs euthanized. He noted in his order, "She didn’t deserve to die, and these animals don’t have a license to kill." As of June 26, 2016, the investigation remains active. [ ]
Date of death: June 15, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Labrador-mixes (4)
Australian cattle dog (heeler)-mixes (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Property owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Jocelyn Winfrey
53-years old | New Haven, Connecticut
Jocelyn Winfrey, 53-years old, was mauled to death by two dogs while visiting the dog owner's home. On June 20, Winfrey and Dr. Hamilton Hicks, a resident in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, returned to his home on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard. After the two stepped inside Hicks' fenced-in yard, his two American bulldog-mixes viciously attacked Winfrey. Hicks tried to intervene, but he could not stop his dogs. Alderman Brian Wingate lives nearby and witnessed part of the attack. He described the scene as "really, really horrific." Another witness said, "Half of her face was basically bitten off. She looked like she was dead." Winfrey underwent cardiac arrest twice while en route to Yale-New Haven Hospital. She lost a leg and both eyes in the attack. On June 27, doctors removed Winfrey from life support and she died. Police arrested Hicks after finding three bags of crack on him at the time of the attack. Dr. Hicks graduated from Harvard in 2001, attended medical school in Miami then began a residency at the Yale School of Medicine. No charges were filed in connection to the fatal attack. [ ]
Date of death: June 27, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: American bulldog-mix (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Friend Spay/Neuter: No/Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Susie Kirby
3-days old | Fresno, California
Susie Kirby, 3-days old, was mauled to death by two family dogs at a home on North Glenn Avenue. The baby was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where she later died. The baby's' mother had placed the infant on a recliner-type couch and put pillows around her so that she would not fall off, according to Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer. Earlier, the mother had propped open the front door to let cooler air inside. When she left the baby to go to the bathroom, she believed her brother's two dogs -- one with a history of aggression -- were tied up outside. However, that was untrue. "While she was in the bathroom," Chief Dyer said, "the dog came through the door, grabbed the infant and took that baby outside." The baby's uncle returned home from the store and found his dogs attacking Susie outside, Dyer said. Both male dogs, described as a mix of Shar-pei and pit bull, were euthanized. Police turned the case over to Child Protection Services for a complete investigation. No charges are anticipated. [ ]
Date of death: June 27, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-shar pei mix (1)
Shar pei-pit bull mix (1) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Uncle Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Kayden Begay
3-years old | Navajo Nation Reservation, Arizona
Kayden Begay, 3-years old, was struck down by a pack of pit bulls while visiting his paternal grandparent's home in Seba Dalkai. The boy's mother, Kimasha Shorty, told the Navajo Times that her son followed her aunt outside to get the cattle when a pack of pit bulls belonging to a neighbor attacked and killed him. The owner of the dogs, Marlinda Begay, is a relative on Kayden's father's side, the mother said. Kimasha was told his aunt was unaware that Kayden had followed her outside. People in the area had complained to the Navajo Nation Rangers about these dogs attacking livestock before, Shorty said, but no action was ever taken. A report from the Navajo Nation Animal Control Program obtained by the Associated Press confirmed that five dogs killed the boy before officials arrived. Navajo officials shot and killed two dogs on scene and took three others into custody. Those dogs were later euthanized. All five dogs tested negative for rabies. As of July 26, 2016 no other information is known. [ ]
Date of death: July 14, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (5) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Neighbor/relative Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: Unknown
Elizabeth Rivera
71-years old | Detroit, Michigan
Elizabeth Rivera, 71-years old, was mauled to death by up to four family pit bulls at her southwest Detroit home in the 2000 block of Ferdinand Street. Sgt. Michael Woody of Detroit Police said a family pit bull attacked the woman, knocking her down then attacked her throat, severing her jugular vein. She died at the scene. Rivera's granddaughter arrived home and discovered her lifeless body on the home's first floor. After an autopsy, the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office said that Rivera died of "crush injury to the neck." The manner of death was ruled an accident. Family members said the pit bulls belonged to Rivera's daughter and her daughter's boyfriend. Several years ago, Rivera was severely bitten in the face by a different pit bull owned by the same couple, relatives said. Rivera underwent extensive surgeries and skin grafts after the earlier attack. That pit bull was put down, family members said. On July 16, one or more pit bulls owned by the same family members killed Rivera. [ ]
Date of death: July 16, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (4) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Daughter Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Crisencio Aliado
52-years old | Honolulu, Hawaii
Crisencio Aliado, 52-years old, was found bloody and dead on a stream bank in Kalihi, near the Kamehameha Highway on July 29. Aliado was a homeless man, according to reports. Two dogs were discovered at the scene and seized by the Honolulu Police Department. The Honolulu medical examiner ruled that Aliado died due to multiple dog bite injuries. The deadly attack occurred behind a local business, ContainerLand, located at 2312 Kamehameha Highway. The owners of ContainerLand confirmed to news sources that the two dogs in custody at the Hawaiian Humane Society, both pit bull-mixes, belonged to them. The owners claimed their dogs "somehow" escaped the fenced warehouse. A friend of Aliado, Norbert Cardoza, said that Aliado had been washing his clothing in a nearby stream when he was attacked. “He was the most mild-mannered person you could meet. Didn’t bother nobody. Just that he was homeless,” Cardoza said. On August 11, authorities returned both pit bulls to their owners. [ ]
Date of death: July 29, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Business owner Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: No
Michelle Wilcox
30-years old | Screven County, Georgia
Michelle Wilcox, 30-years old, was mauled to death by her boyfriend's pit bull while visiting his home near Newington. An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Wilcox died of injuries inflicted by the dog. No one else was home during the fatal attack, according to a statement issued by the Screven County Sheriff's Office. The boyfriend destroyed the dog, a male pit bull, immediately after discovering the attack. Michelle was familiar with the dogs and had handled them on "numerous occasions in the past," and "none of the dogs in the home had any known history of viciousness or aggression," the statement added. It is later learned, however, that one of the boyfriend's four pit bulls had "some legal charges over an attack," while under the care of its former owner. Michelle was a meat inspector employed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and studied pre-veterinary medicine at Gainesville State College and animal science at the University of Georgia. [ ]
Date of death: August 1, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Boyfriend Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Derion Stevenson
9-years old | Las Vegas, Nevada
Derion Stevenson, 9-years old, was killed by a pit bull-mix while visiting a friend's home. Derion had gone to a home on Duck Hill Springs Drive when the pit bull exited the home and attacked him in the throat and face. He was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, where he later died. “This 9-year-old young man was with friends when this incident occurred,” Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Jesse Roybal said. “Not only is this tragic for this young man’s family, but for his friends that had to witness it.” The Clark County coroner’s office said the boy died from blunt force injuries to the neck and head. His death was ruled an accident. The 3-year old unaltered male pit bull, named Left Eye, was euthanized the next day. 3-weeks before the deadly attack, Left Eye attacked a pet dog being walked in the neighborhood. At that time, Clark County animal control officials did not declare the dog dangerous or vicious. They said the incident was "not serious enough." [ ]
Date of death: August 17, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-mix Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Friend Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Pending
Michael Downing
83-years old | Jacksonville, Florida
Michael Downing, 83-years old, was brutally killed by up to four dogs. Police believe the dogs escaped their yard through a hole in the fence, attacked the man then dragged him back under the fence. The man was discovered dead and dismembered along the fence line inside the dog owner's backyard. The fence line divides the parking lot of the Franklin Arms Apartments, where the victim lived, and the dog owner's backyard. Witnesses said Downing was taking out trash to the dumpster when the dogs attacked him. The owner of the dogs, Lephus Felton, 52, blamed the victim for the attack, alleging, "He was antagonizing my dogs." Felton said one of his dogs is a rottweiler and the other three are part rottweiler, German shepherd and chow. Two of the dogs are parents of the two younger dogs. Felton was away when the attack occurred, when he returned, a woman told him his dogs killed someone in his backyard. Authorities confiscated all four dogs. As of September 17, 2016, no charges have been filed. [ ]
Date of death: August 19, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Rottweiler (1)
Mixed breed (3) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Neighbor Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: Pending
Susan Shawl
60-years old | Conifer, Colorado
Susan Shawl, 60-years old, was killed by her two family pit bulls at her home on Black Widow Drive. The pit bulls belonged to her son, 36-year old Richard Shawl, who also lives at the home. Jefferson County sheriff's deputies responded to a dog attack about 7 pm. They arrived to Susan badly mauled, "barely conscious" and heavily bleeding. They tried to keep her alive using a tourniquet as medical responders rushed in. Initially, a medical helicopter was called to the scene, but was later cancelled. Susan died at the scene. The dogs also attacked their owner. Richard suffered non-life-threatening injuries trying to help his mother. He was transported to a local hospital. The family had owned the pit bulls for at least 8-years. In 2008, Jefferson County Animal Control issued a warning citation to Richard about his dogs being "loose and aggressive." Just after the deadly attack, a photo of the two family pit bulls appearing calm and idyllic from Richard's Facebook page was featured on many news stories. [ ]
Date of death: August 29, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (2) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Son Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Baby Jane Doe
6-days old | College Station, Texas
Baby Jane Doe, 6-days old, died after being attacked by a family dog in Brazos County. The only news report of this infant's death was reported by Rusty Surette of KBTX on September 23, 2016, nearly one month later. The report by Surette stated only that the infant died after an "incident" with the family dog and did not state if the baby died due to a dog bite. Surette also failed to answer this basic question after our nonprofit asked him twice in two separate emails. To confirm whether the infant was a dog bite-related fatality, we sent public information requests to three separate Texas agencies: Brazos County Health Department, Texas Department of State Health Services (Temple) and the College Station Police Department. According to the "front page" of the police report, the only page we were able to access, the victim suffered an "animal attack," the injuries are described as "punctures and lacerations through skull" and the victim was deceased. No other information was released to the public. [ ]
Date of death: September 1, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Unreleased (1) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Family member Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Piper Dunbar
2-years old | Topeka, Kansas
Piper Dunbar, 2-years old, was found dead in her front yard by a search-and-rescue team. Topeka police Lt. Bryan Wheeles attributed her death to a dog attack. Authorities seized two dogs that were in a fenced-in area at the home. Police identified both dogs as pit bulls. The animals belonged to Margaret Jaramillo (Johnson), a family friend who was temporarily staying at the home. Piper was first reported missing Saturday at about 8 pm. Her father, Donnie Dunbar, said she slipped away when he fell asleep. Topeka Police responded to 814 SE Carnahan Avenue and began going door-to-door in the neighborhood. Officers found Piper in the northeast corner of her front yard. Dunbar said that when police located his daughter they tackled him. Both Dunbar and Jaramillo were taken by police to the Law Enforcement Center for questioning. Information from the interrogations was submitted to Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor’s office for review. Authorities euthanized both pit bulls. [ ]
Date of death: September 24, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull (2) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Mixed Owner of dog: Family friend Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: Pending
Kiyana McNeal
4-years old | Sherman Township, Michigan
Kiyana McNeal, 4-years old, was killed by a dog she had known less than an hour. The child's mother, Jacey McNeal Wolkins, had been searching for a new family dog after her previous dog died of cancer. The new dog arrived on October 23, 2016 -- a man from Illinois drove his doberman-type dog to their home. The former owner stayed with Kiyana and her mother for 30 to 45 minutes, as they got acquainted with the new dog, then departed for Illinois. About 5 minutes after he left, Jacey called the man for unknown reasons and asked him to return, according to family members. Before he returned, the dog attacked Kiyana in the neck as she tried to give the animal a dog biscuit. The man returned while the dog was attacking Kiyana and her mother was struggling to get the large dog away from Kiyana. He carried the child outside and began CPR on the little girl. Emergency responders tried to resuscitate Kiyana, but she died on scene. No charges were brought and the dog's previous owner was never named. [ ]
Date of death: October 23, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Doberman-mix Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Unknown Owner of dog: Mother/Seller Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Daisie Bradshaw
68-years old | New York City, New York
Updated Information: April 29, 2017
Daisie Bradshaw, 68-years old, was mauled to death by dogs in her Mariners Harbor home on Staten Island. On October 25, police responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive female at a home on Simonson Avenue at about 9:40 am. Police found Daisie's body covered in bite marks, bruises and lacerations in the basement of her home along with two dogs. Police said the victim was bitten multiple times and suffered "defensive wounds." The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The dogs belong to Daisie's daughter who also lives in the basement, but was not present when her dogs attacked. Animal Care and Control impounded both dogs. About 10 days after the attack, both dogs were listed on the NYC Urgent Dog website, which urges people to adopt dogs on death row. Both of the daughter's male neutered dogs, listed as pit bull-mixes, were stated to be "on hold for legal reasons." On January 26, 2017 the New York City Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that Daisie died due to dog bite injuries. [ ]
Date of death: October 25, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull-German shepherd mix (1)
German shepherd-pit bull mix (1) Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male (2) Owner of dog: Daughter Spay/Neuter: Yes Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
Isaiah Jacob Franklin
6-years old | Huntington, West Virginia
Isaiah Jacob Franklin, 6-years old, was fatally attacked by a family pit bull in his home in the 2600 block of 9th Avenue in Huntington. Scanner traffic reports at the time of the attack indicated Isaiah suffered severe injuries to his head and neck and the dog remained aggressive when first responders arrived. He was transported to Cabell Huntington Hospital where he died of his injuries. Family members said the 3-year old male pit bull, named Tiny, belonged to his mother's boyfriend and that it attacked the child without provocation or warning. Two adults where in the room with Isaiah as he finished up playing a video game when the dog suddenly attacked; his mother was in the next room. The dog had been living in the household for about a year, according to his mother. Photographs of the dog posted to social media showed the dog was unneutered. The family also owned a female pit bull that was uninvolved in the attack. Both dogs were taken into custody by animal control. No charges are anticipated. [ ]
Date of death: December 2, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Pit bull Relationship to dog: Family Sex of dog: Male Owner of dog: Mother's boyfriend Spay/Neuter: No Multiple dogs: No On/Off property: On Criminal charges: No
David Fear
64-years old | Grover Beach, California
David Fear, 64-years old, was attacked by a police officer's "personal" dogs after they escaped their owner's property. The primary attacker, a Belgian malinois, first attacked his neighbor, Betty Long. Fear intervened to save her life and suffered critical dog bite injuries, including two arteries in his arms being severed, contributing to him losing six pints of blood. Long suffered dog bite injuries and multiple broken bones from falling. Fear died of his injuries. The city of Grover Beach refused to release the officer's name for nine days. The Tribune later published an exclusive article, detailing officer Alex Geiger's previous employment and that his malinois was a trained police K-9. The dog was dual-certified in narcotics detection and patrol work -- obedience, search, apprehension and handler protection (bite work). Geiger was the dog's handler and part of the city of Exeter's K-9 unit from September 2015 to August 2016. Geiger was hired by Grover Beach, which has no K-9 unit, one month later. Geiger currently faces three felony counts in connection to the attacks. As of July 2017, the criminal trial is pending. [ ]
Date of death: December 16, 2016 Chained: No Breed of dog: Belgian malinois (1)
German shepherd (1) Relationship to dog: Non-family Sex of dog: Male/Unknown Owner of dog: Police officer Spay/Neuter: Unknown Multiple dogs: Yes On/Off property: Off Criminal charges: Yes
Additional victims - excluded
Deaths involving minor dog bite injury, dog-related caused injury (killed by a car while fleeing a dog) and cases that lacked a "reasonably clear" determination of death after dog bite injury are not included in our fatality statistical data. Deaths involving fatal non-bite injury (struck by dog death) or death due to untreated severe dog bites (sepsis) may be added to our data at a future time.
07/05/16: Robert Simonian, 74-years old (Fresno County, CA)
Severe dog bite injuries untreated (sepsis death) |
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