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CLOSE A Michigan teenager completed a two-day, 40-mile walk with his 7-year-old brother on his back. The Cerebral Palsy Swagger was designed to raise awareness about the muscle disorder that affects the younger brother. (June 8) AP
Braden Gandee, 7, rides on his brother Hunter's, 14, shoulders as they close in on the final miles to the University of Michigan Bahna Wrestler Center on Sunday. (Photo11: AP/The Ann Arbor News, Chris Asadian)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan teenager who wanted to raise awareness about cerebral palsy by walking 40 miles with his younger brother strapped to his back battled heat, rain, fatigue and more to finish the trek Sunday.
Hunter Gandee, 14, had been planning for weeks to pull off the walk, hoping to put a face on the muscular disorder that prevents his 7-year-old sibling, Braden, from being able to walk without help. But all his organizing couldn't prepare him for the conditions he faced as he packed the 50-pound boy over two days.
He even thought about giving up along the way.
"Honestly, yes, there was a point that we did consider stopping," Hunter said. "Braden's legs — the chafing was getting pretty bad. We did have to consider stopping. It was at about the 30-mile point."
A phone call changed all that.
Hunter reached out to a friend, who said a prayer for the brothers. That, combined with some rest and a change in how Braden was positioned on his brother's back, helped the boys make it the final 10 miles.
It may have taken a bit longer than they anticipated, but the Gandees and more than a dozen of their family members and friends strolled up a winding road Sunday toward the University of Michigan's wrestling center.
At the top of the hill, Hunter lifted up Braden so he could touch a "Go Blue" banner erected for them near the walk's endpoint. The move was met with thunderous applause and cheers from those who had gathered to see the boys finish the trek.
Asked how he felt, Braden replied simply: "Tired."
Hunter said he was "more tired than I think I've ever been. My legs are pretty sore. But we pushed through it. And we're here."
More than 30 hours earlier, Hunter, with Braden securely strapped to his back, left the parking lot of Bedford Junior High in Temperance near the Ohio border. Just before their Saturday morning departure, well-wishers packed the gym for a send-off and the school band performed.
The boys' parents and two other siblings accompanied them on the walk. A caravan of cars and other walkers also joined in.
The goal of the walk, called the Cerebral Palsy Swagger, was to raise awareness about cerebral palsy and hopefully inspire new ideas for mobility aides and medical procedures.
Braden typically uses a walker, braces or a power chair to get around.
Hunter, a 155-pound wrestler, said he trained for the trek by lifting weights and staying active. And by checking the weather forecast.
Saturday was warm and sunny, but Sunday was cool and rainy. The boys were prepared, though, and packed a variety of outerwear.
By the time Sunday afternoon arrived, the rain had subsided and they completed their triumphant march into Ann Arbor under sunny skies.
For Hunter, the walk was about doing something for his brother.
"I can't even describe to you how special (Braden) is to me. I can't put it into words," the teen said. "He's awesome. He's always there for me. I really just wanted to give back to him in some way."
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Amitabh Bachchan credited his success to the script writers for helping him rule the industry.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan credited his success to the script writers for helping him rule the industry for more than four decades.
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Amitabh Bachchan, 71, who got the ‘Angry Young Man’ image in the industry after his brave portrayal of inspector Vijay in ‘Zanjeer’, said he is thankful to Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar for moulding his image as an actor.
“The credit goes to (‘Zanjeer’) writers Salim- Javed for capturing the prevailing mood of the society. I was just the voice. It was Salim-Javed who thought of it and put in
cinematic emotion. I was merely an actor who got lucky,” Amitabh Bachchan said on the sidelines of India Today conclave 2014 while discussing on the issue ‘Cinema as the mirror of society’.
“The discontent and anger during the Emergency brought about Zanjeer and the ‘ Angry Young Man’,” he added.
While Amitabh Bachchan reflected the image of men in the society of that era but he described filmmaking during that time as “haphazard”.
“It was an individual profession and more of a mom-and- pop organisation, where people would borrow money and make a film. The song and fight sequences would be shot over a week and shown to a financer. Till then, we would sit twiddling our thumbs. Thus, in between, we worked in several films,” he said.
The ‘Sholay’ star also has a successful stint in small screen as a quizmaster. He confessed that he took up ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC) to clear his debts by Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd, an entertainment company.
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“We were the first to start corporation of Bollywood in 1995. We did not know how to operate the business and we ran into losses. KBC helped me earn money to pay off the debt.” |
‘Something is about to Change’
FOUR BLOOD MOONS is a theatrical one night event exploring a rare lunar phenomenon that over the centuries has accompanied both tragedy and triumph for the Jewish people. From Pastor John Hagee’s New York Times best-selling book of the same name (750,000 copies in print from Worthy Publishing), FOUR BLOOD MOONS premiered in theaters on March 23, 2015, followed by an encore performance on April 9, 2015.
“The heavens are ‘God’s billboard.’ He’s been sending signals to earth, and we haven’t been picking them up,” Hagee says. “Two blood moons, in 2014 and 2015, point to dramatic events in the Middle East and, as a result, changes in the whole world.”
Produced by Rick Eldridge (THE ULTIMATE GIFT, BOBBY JONES:STROKE OF GENIUS) FOUR BLOOD MOONS is directed by Academy Award winner® Kieth Merrill, written by Eldridge and Merrill. A Goose Creek Production presented by 4BM Productions, it is produced in association with ReelWorks Studios and The WTA Group.
FOUR BLOOD MOONS combines scripture, science, history and big-screen live action spanning centuries, including previous similar lunar occurrences and the earth-shaking changes around them. It also examines our current four blood moon cycle—and its possible meaning for Israel, the Middle East and the world.
An array of historians, religious scholars and commentators appear in FOUR BLOOD MOONS and offer their insight—filmmaker, speaker and author Dinesh D’Souza; radio host and author Dennis Prager; and noted author and historian David Barton to name just a few.
“A blood moon occurs at a lunar eclipse when the earth comes between the sun and the moon. As the sun shines through our atmosphere, it throws a shadow on the moon, making the moon look red.” John Hagee
Only three times in the past 500 years have four of these blood moons (or tetrads) occurred back to back and on major Jewish holy days. The fourth tetrad began April 15, 2014, on Passover. In October last year, the second blood moon appeared on the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as Sukkot). Blood moons in 2015 land on the same holy days.
What happened in the past around such occurrences?
1493 — Spain’s rulers had expelled all Jews and Columbus had discovered America, an eventual haven for the Jewish people.
1948-49 — The founding of Israel.
1967-68 — Following the Six-Day War, Jerusalem rejoins the state of Israel.
FOUR BLOOD MOONS examines the biblical passages seemingly connected to these events—in Joel and Acts—where it says the “sun will be darkened” and the moon will appear as blood in advance of God’s world-changing action on earth.
Hagee points out that during this four blood moon cycle, all of which touch on Jewish holy days, a solar eclipse also will occur–a combination of events that will never repeat.
Whatever the results, audiences at FOUR BLOOD MOONS will see a compelling and entertaining exploration of these spiritual, celestial and historical events. And they will leave the theater convinced that something is about to change that could impact us all.
For interviews, contact: Michael Conrad [email protected] 214-616-0320
For press material, Click Here. |
Islamic State fighters have demolished the 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph in Syria 's ancient city of Palmyra , as the extremist group continues its campaign of destruction at the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The United Nations said on Monday that the destruction of the Roman-era arch was a sign that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) was “terrified” by the history it embodied.
The Arch of Triumph, an iconic part of what was once the most complete panorama to have survived from classical antiquity, was destroyed on Sunday, according to the country’s antiquities chief.
Isil overran the site in May, pushing out the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.
"This new destruction shows how extremists are terrified by history and culture - because understanding the past undermines and de-legitimises their claims - and embodies an expression of pure hatred and ignorance," said Irina Bokova, the director general of UNESCO.
Horrific news out of #Palmyra The terror group #ISIS blew up the ancient Arch of Triumph. #Syria pic.twitter.com/99deTvnZ09 — Bassem (@BBassem7) October 4, 2015
Since rushing to power across parts of Syria and Iraq last year, Isil have tried to turn back the clock on Syrian and Iraqi history, systematically erasing signs of their pluralistic ancient heritage.
Under Isil's puritanical brand of Islam, the preservation of ancient artefacts and monuments is viewed as a form of idolatry.
The jihadists have already released carefully staged videos showing the piece-by-piece destruction of some of Palmyra's most famous sites. Once popular visitor sites, the temples of Bel and Baalshamin were rigged with explosives.
Palmyra's custodian has also been killed. 82-year old Khaled al-Asaad was beheaded in August, apparently after questioning over the whereabouts of treasures that had been hidden as Isil advanced on the city.
Inside Palmyra, Isil has ruled with an iron fist and hardline Islamic law. The city's ancient ruins have been repurposed as a stage for executions and local residents say that underage girls have been forced to marry some of the group's fighters.
The Syrian presidency issued a rare condemnation of the destruction, describing it as Isil’s “revenge” against a pluralistic history that threatens the extremist group’s grand project.
Mr Assad’s regime has also been accused of chauvinism, encouraging sectarian faultlines in the four year war.
New: Video emerges of destroyed Palmyra arch |
"Spark: How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success" author and Marine Angie Morgan shares 4 steps for establishing credibility. Following is a transcript of the video.
What makes somebody credible is your ability to trust them. And so, through "Spark" we written about four keys to credibility. And we start off by sharing with our readers is that credibility is really in the eyes of the beholder. You determine whether or not I'm credible to you.
And so how you influence credibility is first and foremost, understand what's expected of you within this relationship. And sometimes expectations aren't always bright-lined in a job description. You really have to build that relationship so you can understand what people want from you.
And then you can influence your credibility by two: really watching the commitments you make, and how well you follow through. We have this concept in "Spark" that we introduce, it's called the say-do gap. What's the space between your actions and your words? And if you're looking to influence somebody you have to make sure that space is as small as possible. Making sure that you're the person who can follow through on your commitments.
And when you're working in an organization to, and this is our third key to building credibility, you have to make sure that you see your success with and through other people. So to help determine the credibility of the team you're a part of, you have to clearly communicate intentions to others so they understand what's expected of them. This really builds credibility and trust within teams.
This fourth piece is absolutely key: you have to make sure that you hold people accountable to their commitments and the commitments within the team. And that we're like accountability in team environments can be so, I don't know, makes people sometime uncomfortable thinking, "Gosh, I got to bring up a problem when I see it demonstrated differently from my co-worker. I got to really address this situation if they're not rising to that expectation."
We have to make sure standards matter. All those four aspects of being a credible leader matter when you're working with a team. |
Kick the Can — Yahoo Mail Is a Consumer Disaster, but Company’s Response Is Even Worse
On Friday, November 8, Jeff Bonforte, the well-regarded techie who is now in charge of Yahoo Mail and all its communications products after the Silicon Valley Internet giant bought his startup Xobni, took to the stage at its weekly FYI employee meeting.
As described by dozens of Yahoos, Bonforte explained how things were going with the new Yahoo Mail product, which was enduring loud protests from users for a wide variety of reasons, including the removal of a popular tabs feature.
As has been widely reported, a relentless and vocal group of Yahoo Mail users have been complaining vociferously after Yahoo drastically revamped its popular service in October.
According to those in attendance, he said the metrics of use were flat, although there were signs of minor improvement.
Then Bonforte, who has one of the more colorful and sarcastic personalities at Yahoo (see his epic email about Yahoos not using its mail product here), made a joke that many in attendance did not find funny at all.
While acknowledging customer complaints and dissatisfaction, he added that Yahoo would need to “kick the users hard” in a certain body part to get them to leave Yahoo Mail, according to numerous people there.
Hard indeed, as the initial Yahoo Mail issues have turned into a full-scale disaster, with various outages that seem to be taking place across the network, impacting countless individuals and the many small businesses that rely on the service.
Some reports and downtime sites show multi-day outages over the course of many days, while others show shorter times. The complaints have most certainly been mounting for weeks.
What is consistent are two things: Outages have been occurring regularly and Yahoo has been woefully negligent in informing its users about the problems.
They have also declined to return emails inquiring about the issue and others related to Yahoo Mail from this site for weeks, in perhaps the most astonishing display of PR incompetence I have experienced in a very long time. Heretofore excellent communications staffers I have worked with in the past have seemingly been rendered mute.
To be clear, other Internet sites have done this kind of thing in the past — not responding quickly or in detail to various consumer issues. And, to be fair, sources inside the company said the delay was due to trying to find out exactly what was going wrong before talking about it.
But that was a week ago. Since then, the silence has been deafening.
How many people have been or are currently impacted and for how long? Yahoo will not respond.
Where are the outages taking place? Yahoo will not respond.
What exactly is being done to fix the problem? Yahoo will not respond.
Instead, Yahoo has relied on a series of news-free tweets on the issue, which only began appearing yesterday and today, as well as promises it was fixed when it was not:
Yahoo Mail is aware some users are having service disruptions. The eng team is working on the issue. Pls stay tuned for updates. — YMail Team (@yahoomail) December 11, 2013
But, just now, in the first significant communication about the problem in weeks, Bonforte posted to Yahoo’s Mail blog a short note acknowledging the issues, but with few concrete details:
We are very sorry for recent difficulties with Yahoo Mail. Some of our users have not been able to access their mail since 10:27 PM PT on Monday night, due to a hardware problem in one of our mail data centers. The issue has been harder to fix than we originally expected. We have dozens of people working around the clock to bring it to a resolution. We believe our current efforts will restore our users’ access to their inboxes by 3 pm PT today. We’ll post again then on our @YahooMail Twitter handle.
While I am certain Bonforte — for whom I have had great respect for a long time — and his team are trying their best to fix the problem, the contrast to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s insistence on engineering excellence and innovation and the inability of the company to provide a cogent explanation about what is happening to one of its most important daily interfaces with its customers could not be any more stark.
In other words: What could be bigger than a Fail Whale? This. |
An hour ago Far From Home was one of those tracks I entirely forgot I made because it's never been in my sets as much as it should have... fortunately @nicelasers requested it for Laserface so now you have this video. Stunning remix from @craig_connelly . . @laserface_ Miami and Seattle shows are on sale now! Ticket link in bio. . . #Laserface #laserfacemiami #pewpewpew #garethemery #trancemusic #music #lasers #seattle #trancefamily #trancefam #tour #lf #mmw #2019 #edmshow #lightproduction 786 View all Instagrams
7 days ago Having the latest, fanciest gear is almost always massively overrated. . Top is my Ibiza ‘studio’ for the winter. . Bottom is my LA studio. . BUT oddly enough I have been writing better music in Ibiza despite the fact the whole setup cost less than $1000. . Now my LA studio is insane. It’s soundproofed, sound treated, built in a custom structure with a floating floor, is a beautiful space to hang out in, and contains some lovely gear. It’s basically the studio of my dreams, took a year to build, and cost far too much. . You would think the better studio produces better music... but it turns out that’s not the case. . I hope this gets you hyped to go and make some shit and cause a ruckus with whatever crappy gear you can lay your hands on. . Gaz x . #studiolife #garethemery #ibiza #eivissa #trancemusic #studio #trancefamily #trance 2887 View all Instagrams
8 days ago Elise was released from hospital today after a very scary week. I am so grateful right now that she’s ok. . She had to go in after a savage cold/flu that both her and Sansa had morphed into bronchitis, struggling to breathe, serious stuff when you’re 18 months old. . It started when I was in LA, so I rushed back here so Kat and I could take turns to sleep at the hospital. For the last week one of us was always by her bed. . Absolutely exhausted but I can’t express how relieving it is to see her old self after a week of watching her with various wires and tubes everywhere. . I am very grateful for the great health care she had here in Ibiza, to my wife for being an absolute soldier, and to her 3 grandparents who flew out to help. . There are some unusually brutal respiratory bugs in Europe this winter. Take care of your old and young people and if something doesn’t seem right, get it checked out. 🙏❤️ 6468 View all Instagrams
8 days ago Prepping Laserface sets for Miami / Seattle... what new songs do I need to be checking out? . (Lionheart, Take Everything, and Kingdom United are already in the set, obvs). . . @laserface_ @nicelasers #laserface #seattle #miami #trance #music #trancefamily #pewpewpew #newmusic #trancemusic #garethemery 2189 View all Instagrams
10 days ago Who’s heard Lionheart yet? Thank you for your beautiful feedback so far ❤️ . For those of you that haven’t, link in bio . @ashwallbridge @pollyanna_music #KingdomUnited #garethemery #newmusic #trance #trancefamily #lionheart 2246 View all Instagrams
11 days ago Best lasers you’ve ever seen? . . . . (I appreciate if you’re losing your Laserface virginity at our shows in Seattle or Miami your answer may change soon but genuinely interested in who else rocks the laser game) . . Seattle / Miami tickets in bio 🙏 📸: @rukes . . #laserface #garethemery #dreamstatesocal #trance #music #trancelovers #trancefamily #trancemusic #nicelasers @laserface_ @nicelasers 2738 View all Instagrams |
Ask EV drivers what they don’t like about their electric car experience and the chances are most of them would say charging their vehicles away from home is their least favorite thing. Now, researchers in England are exploring the possibility of making wireless recharging available on some motorways, the English equivalent to our interstate highways.
The government hopes the new technology will encourage more drivers to switch to an electric or plug-in hybrid car. Off-road trials of the Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer technology will begin later this year after the completion of a bidding process to select a developer. The trials will involve fitting vehicles with wireless technology and testing the equipment, installed underneath the road, to replicate motorway conditions.
Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “The potential to recharge low emission vehicles on the move offers exciting possibilities. The government is already committing $550 million over the next five years to keep Britain at the forefront of this technology, which will help boost jobs and growth in the sector. As this study shows, we continue to explore options on how to improve journeys and make low-emission vehicles accessible to families and businesses.”
The trials are expected to last for approximately 18 months and, subject to the results, could be followed by road trials. As well as investigating the potential of wireless power, Highways England also says it is committed to installing plug-in charging points every 20 miles on the motorway network as part of the government’s Road Investment Strategy.
These are the first trials for wireless charging roadways. They will show how the technology would work on the country’s motorways and major A roads, allowing drivers of ultra-low emission vehicles to travel long distances without needing to stop and charge the car’s battery. Electric and hybrid car sales are on the rise in Britain, where a total of 9,046 ultra-low emission vehicles were registered in the first quarter of 2015 — a rise of 366% from the same period in 2014.
The UK government has committed itself to an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. In 2013, 25% of UK carbon emissions were from transport, so there is a need to increase the use of low carbon vehicles (LCVs). Wireless recharging technology could help meet that need. |
It is natural, in an age of bailouts and government intervention, to denounce the actions being taken “for our own good” by the President and Congress, and write at length about what we shouldn’t be doing. It is my view that people look entirely too much to the government in general and the President in particular to solve problems and fix things. However, with the prevelance of that mindset, I would like to submit some ideas, for a change of pace, about what positive things a new President of the United States could and should do, given how little power under the Constitution the President has to make bold changes in policy. We can call this “what I would do if I were the new President”.
One of the first things would be to have a “fireside chat” with the American people, explaining to them the relationship between the economic and financial crisis on the one hand with our imperialist, adventurist foreign policy on the other hand, making it clear that it is in reality one big issue. President Reagan was quite effective on numerous occasions in making the case on national television for bold changes he wanted to make, and any President wanting to return to the rule of law and following the Constitution would need to do that.
On the first day of office, I would announce a significant change in foreign policy: it will no longer be the policy of the United States to intervene into the affairs of other nations or to occupy their lands. The right of self-determination of the peoples of all countries, free from outside interference from the United States, would be respected at all times. Henceforth, all troops would be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, as efficiently and as safely as possible. Bold and new strategies would be pursued in seeking the capture of Osama bin Laden, making use of Letters of Marque and Reprisal. This would be the tool of first resort in responding to terrorist attacks against the U.S. or U.S. citizens.
Likewise, I would call for negotiations with all countries (e.g., NATO members, Japan, Korea, and Tawain) where troops are currently stationed, to terminate treaties and agreements binding the United States to provide military support and manpower, the new policy of the United States being that each country is responsible for providing its own defense, without the aid of the United States. Besides the obvious constitutional reasons, it would be emphasized that the financial state of the U.S. makes it prohibitive to continue providing for the defense of other countries. Henceforth, all troops would be gradually withdrawn from the 130 or so countries where they are currently stationed, and military bases would either be closed or sold to the respective countries if needed.
On the first day of office, I would begin a process of reviewing all executive orders, with all such orders that violate the Constitution being repealed as quickly as possible. It would be announced that torture will no longer be tolerated, the prison at Gitmo would be closed, and all cases reviewed as quickly as possible to be tried properly and expeditiously in U.S. courts under our justice system (all prisoners lacking sufficient evidence to face charges would be released and deported in the case of foreign nationals). I would make it a priority to end the war on drugs and call upon Congress to repeal federal drug laws, restoring the matter to the states. I would begin a process of pardoning all non-violent drug offenders, who should be treated for a medical problem rather than being sent to jail.
Turning to economic policy, the first thing I would do is announce that I would direct the executive branch not to spend any more money of the $700 billion bailout passed by Congress in the fall. Part of my reasoning would be that Congress unconstitutionally gave the discretion of how to spend the money to the Secretary of the Treasury, and that I would not only not be bound to authorize spending any of the money, but I would also be bound by my oath to the Consitution not to usurp that decision from the Congress. Following from this, I would call upon Congress to repeal this and all bailout measures as a first and most important step to restoring fiscal responsibility.
I would also call upon Congress to authorize a full and complete audit of all proceedings of the Federal Reserve, and call upon Congress to follow up with major legislation to regulate the Federal Reserve to the hilt and require that all of its proceedings (including all meetings of the Board of Governors and all its committees) be conducted in public, with all information pertaining to its operations made fully available to the public. Legislation calling for the elimination of taxes on silver and gold, and legalizing competing currencies, would likely follow (though perhaps not in the first 100 days, depending on how the audit of Fed goes).
One of the most important things a President can do to push for changes in policy is to submit a budget reflecting those changes. In my first budget proposal, I would call for very sharp reductions in military spending, starting with overseas military operations. Accordingly, all foreign aid programs would be set to zero. Additionally, all new weapons programs would be carefully reviewed, with all of those that are not essential to our national security being eliminated from the budget. As suggested by Congressman Ron Paul, I would put half of the savings towards deficit reduction and balancing the budget, with the other half going to shore up certain programs that people have become dependent upon that are facing major fiscal problems down the road (such as social security and medicare), as well as those that take care of our veterans. Of course, a transition to wean people off of these programs would be part of the long-term strategy.
One area of major budget cuts on the domestic side would be in the Department of Agriculture. I would call for the complete and final termination of the corn ethanol subsidy program as wasteful and harmful to the environment and land conservation, and as also being unconstitutional. I would also propose the elimination of all subsidies that go to so-called agri-business, which are in reality large corporate operations that put small farming operations at a disadvantage. All remaining agriculture subsides would be phased out over three years, allowing for a transition for those smaller farming operations that have become dependent on these programs. The price support programs would be terminated immediately, with the transitional payments simply made in cash (divorced from price supports and production controls).
I would propose the elimination of all corporate subsidies, as well as all agencies that function as corporate welfare operations. In the area of Education, with the goal of eliminating the Department of Education as soon as possible, I would propose that the No Child Left Behind Act not be reauthorized or replaced, saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Some programs, such as student loans and Pell grants, even though they are unconstitutional, would not be targeted at the onset. I would propose the elimation of the Department of Homeland Security, with the transfer of its few legitimate functions to the Department of Justice, and the complete elimation of all programs and agencies that violate privacy and civil liberties.
I would call for major tax relief, consistent with fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget, with the specific goal of eliminating taxes on capital gains and savings, and an overall reduction in income taxes (the eventual goal being the elimination of the income tax and repeal of the 16th Amendment, which can only happen with a major reduction in the role of government).
In the area of energy and environmental policy, besides the elimination of the ethanol program and all corporate subsidies, I would call for the legalization of hemp and use the bully pulpit of the presidency to encourage the growing of hemp as a source for ethanol. By “encourage”, I only mean in it the moral sense of the word. Usually by “encourage” it is meant that subsidies will be provided, which is exactly what we should not do. In what would be a largely symbolic move, with very modest savings of money and energy, I would direct the executive branch to institute in its own operations sound energy conversation practices and increased use of recycling (to the extent that it is cost-effective), as a way to set a good example.
I would propose liberty-based reforms to Congress in the area of health care, particularly expanding the use of tax-free medical savings accounts, and calling for the reversal of those provisions in the tax code that gave rise to the HMOs and third-party payer systems. I would also propose legislation to allow any retiree to opt out of the Medicare system and have freedom of choice in how to pay for health care. This potentially could ease the Medicare fiscal crisis.
This is hardly exhaustive, but these are some things a new President could do, and these are things I would endeavor to do were I the President. It would be nice to think that our new President, Barack Obama, would be inclined to do even a small portion of the above, but that would be the least of my expectations. Meanwhile, we can continue to get these ideas out to anyone willing to listen and learn, and build the number of active, liberty-minded individuals who are willing to engage and influence members of Congress- for Congress is the key. |
Ashlyn, 16 years old (S)
I stumbled on an article earlier that was about a young transgender, Ashlyn Parram, who was refused into her exam unless she went home and changed into boys clothes.
Now before I had even read more than two lines of that article I got really angry with the person who had written it. Why did I get annoyed with them? Simple, this person was writing an article about discrimination against transgender people - from what I could gather from the title - but they were almost as bad as the people they were critiquing.
They were writing about Ashlyn who had been refused into an exam by her teacher because she is biologically male and wouldn't go home and change into boys clothes; but they were referring in their article to the young victim as "he". He! I ask you! The whole point of their article was to denounce trans discrimination, and about how the young girl was being treated because of who she was and then they write their article and call her a he! No, no, no! This is wrong in so many ways!
If someone says they are a girl, you respect that and use the appropriate pronouns, which are normally the feminine pronouns right? It's the same in any case, if someone says they are a boy, girl, neither gender or both, and any variant thereof, you respect that and you use the appropriate pronouns or the pronouns they tell you to use.
I don't know if this person realises what they've done by using masculine pronouns, misgendering really hurts trans people. I hope Ashlyn doesn't read their article.
I didn't finish reading this person's article, instead I went to find the story on another website, which I found and to my great relief this person had not misgendered young Ashlyn and I was able to continue my reading.
As it were, Ashlyn turned up to her GCSE exam in a skirt and was asked by her teachers to go home and change into boys clothes in order to be able to sit the paper. Now if I had been in her position I have no idea what I would have done. I mean, you arrive in the morning to sit your end of the year exams, so you're probably already quite stressed, but then your teachers tell you you can't sit the exam because of who you are, I mean what do you do in that situation? You're stressed and now you're probably feeling so terrible and bad about yourself over the top of that. Do you just do what the teachers ask so you can sit the exam? That's not what Ashlyn did.
After being told that she had to change into boys clothes, Ashlyn left and went to print up a copy of the law that bans discrimination based on gender identity and handed it straight to her headmaster Chris Wall. He was forced to admit that Ashlyn couldn't be refused into the exam, but the teachers separated her from the rest of the students by seating her right at the back of the hall. So... She's finally allowed to sit her exam, but isn't allowed to sit near the others because? Because of her gender? That is segregation! The teachers' behaviours are nothing less than disgusting. And this isn't the first time that teachers have acted in such a way. Ashlyn's sports teacher wanted her to be part of the boys' swim class. Another teacher has imitated Ashlyn's walk and yet another has told Ashlyn and her family that "gender dysphoria doesn't exist". Yes, of course it doesn't exist and of course Ashlyn has made it all up, because everyone wants to be discriminated against and spat at and hit in the street for being who they are. I don't think so. Living in the wrong body is one of the worst things I can imagine.
Ashlyn and her mum (S)
Ashlyn has lost many friends over the last two years since the beginning of her coming out; and now she has her teachers against her too.
Luckily Ashlyn has a very supportive family, and her mum and step dad have reported the headmaster's behaviour saying that it was discrimination based on Ashlyn's gender and that as a headmaster he had failed to give her the appropriate support. Thanks to her family's support Ashlyn says that she is determined to live her life the way she wants even though coming out as transgender remains incredibly difficult and in some cases dangerous.
I'm with Ashlyn all the way, she's incredibly brave and strong; and I really admire her for standing up to her teachers like that. |
1.
A lot of fans know Edgar Allan Poe earned just $9 for “The Raven,” now one of the most popular poems of all time, read out loud by schoolteachers the world over. What most people don’t know is that, for his entire oeuvre—all his fiction, poetry, criticism, lectures—Poe earned only about $6,200 in his lifetime, or approximately $191,087 adjusted for inflation.
Maybe $191,087 seems like a lot of money. And sure, as book advances go, that’d be a generous one, the kind that fellow writers would whisper about. But what if $191,087 was all you got for 20 years of work and the stuff you wrote happened to be among the most enduring literature ever produced by anyone anywhere?
In one sense, there could not be a more searing indictment of the supposed rewards of the writing life: how, whether we’re geniuses like Poe or not, we suffer and rewrite and yet never realize anything even kind of approaching a commensurate value.
In another sense, there’s hope for us all.
Last October, in the depths of a depression so profound and overwhelming that I had to take mental-health leave from work, I started rereading Poe for the first time since I was a kid. And something happened: I encountered a writer completely different from the one I thought I knew.
It turned out Poe was not a mysterious, mad genius. He was actually a lot like my writer-friends, with whom I constantly exchange emails bitching about the perversities of our trade—the struggle to break in, the late and sometimes nonexistent payments, the occasional stolen pitch. In short, I realized that Poe was, for a good portion of his career, a broke-ass freelancer. Also, that our much-vaunted gig economy isn’t the new development it’s so often taken to be.
Poe’s short stories weren’t the adventure-horror tales I remembered, either. They turned out to be exquisitely wrought metaphors for despair. In “MS. Found in a Bottle,” the narrator, finding himself just about to be sucked into a whirlpool, says, “It is evident that we are hurrying onwards to some exciting knowledge—some never-to-be-imparted secret, whose attainment is destruction.” I read the line and laughed in recognition. That was 2016 for me, in a sentence. Call it a most immemorial year.
I didn’t know it then, but reevaluating Poe is, in fact, a time-honored tradition. Every generation discovers its own Poe; in the 168 years since his death, the hot takes have just kept coming. R.W.B. Lewis described the phenomenon this way in 1980: “One of the important recurring games of American literary history has been that of revising the received human image of Edgar Allan Poe.”
There are obvious and less obvious reasons for this continual reevaluation. For starters, Poe’s earliest biographies—some of them based on inaccurate information Poe himself provided—needed correcting in a literal sense. Poe’s literary executor Rufus W. Griswold, for whatever reason, forged letters and deliberately torpedoed Poe’s reputation. The inaccuracies and falsehoods weren’t cleared up until almost 100 years after Poe’s death, with Arthur Hobson Quinn’s 1941 biography.
Another reason is, well, I’m not the only person to read Poe as a child and again as an adult and to be struck by the differences. In his magnificent Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe, published in 1971, Daniel Hoffman writes, “I really began to read Poe when just emerging from childhood. Then one was entranced by such ideas as secret codes, hypnotism, closed systems of self-consistent thought.” Later, Hoffman says, “Returning to the loci of these pubescent shocks and thrills…I found that there was often a complexity of implication, a plumbing of the abyss of human nature.” Ditto.
You never enter the same Poe whirlpool twice. Much of his work has a purposeful, built-in double nature; he intended we discover “secret codes” of meaning. While Poe despised facile parables, in a review of Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1842, he allowed, “Where the suggested meaning runs through the obvious meaning in a very profound under-current, so as to never interfere with the upper one without our own volition,” such schemes are permissible.
This points to the other important, less acknowledged, double nature of Poe’s work. It’s both art and commercial entertainment. Few other American writers so obviously and continually straddle the gap between high and low culture, between art for art’s sake and commercial enterprise.
Which is why the Poe reevaluation game isn’t just played by academics and highbrows—including Fyodor Dostoevsky, Charles Baudelaire, T.S. Eliot, Richard Wilbur, Allen Tate, Jacques Barzun, and Vladimir Nabokov. Poe is pop, too. The Simpsons, Britney Spears, Roger Corman, an NFL team and romance novelists have all joined in the game. The Beatles put Poe in the top row, eighth from the left, on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, just slightly removed from W.C. Fields and Marilyn Monroe.
I think if Poe hadn’t had to write for money, he’d probably have faded away long ago.
2.
Picture this: A tech breakthrough has made mass publishing cheaper than ever before. With the cost of entry down, new publications launch with much high-flown talk about how they’ll revolutionize journalism, only to shut their doors a few years or even months later. Because the industry is so unstable, editors and writers are caught in a revolving door of hirings, firings, and layoffs. A handful of the players become rich and famous, but few of them are freelance writers, for whom rates remain scandalously low. Though some publications pay contributors on a sliding scale according to the popularity of their work, it’s mostly the case that writers don’t earn a penny more than their original fee even when their work goes viral.
I’m speaking of Poe’s time, not our own. Still, I expect some of this will sound familiar. Pretty much the only piece missing is a pivot to video.
Here’s something else that might sound familiar. Poe grew up writing moony, ponderous poetry and dreaming of literary stardom. Surely, he figured, the world would recognize his genius—the critics would rave, the angels would sing!
The problem was he had no trust fund, no private means. Poe had been more or less disowned by his wealthy adoptive father John Allan, who would eventually leave Poe out of his will altogether. All of this meant, then as now, that Poe had to compromise his cherished ideals and buckle down to the realities of the marketplace.
He would hold a series of short-lived and ill-paid editorial jobs, beginning with the Southern Literary Messenger, Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, Graham’s Magazine, and, finally, the New York Evening Mirror and the Broadway Journal. In between and after these jobs, he’d be what John Ward Ostrom called a “literary entrepreneur,” i.e., a broke-ass freelancer.
As Michael Allen laid out in 1969’s Poe and the British Magazine Tradition, the story of Poe’s career is in large part the story of a writer struggling to adapt to the demands of a mass audience. His earliest literary friends and mentors had “turned him to drudging upon whatever may make money” (John Pendleton Kennedy) and advised him to “lower himself a little to the ordinary comprehension of the generality of readers” (James Kirke Paulding).
Meanwhile the stakes were as high as stakes go. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that if Poe didn’t write pieces he could sell, he and his family didn’t eat. Poe’s one-time boss George Graham described him wandering “from publisher to publisher, with his print-like manuscript, scrupulously clean and neatly rolled” yet finding “no market for his brain” and “with despair at heart, misery ahead for himself and his loved ones, and gaunt famine dogging at his heel.”
At one point, when Poe was ill, his mother-in-law and aunt Maria Clemm was forced to do all this on Poe’s behalf: “Going about from place to place, in the bitter weather, half-starved and thinly clad, with a poem or some other literary article she was striving to sell…begging for him and his poor partner, both being in want of the commonest necessities of life.” I’ve heard some freelance horror stories in my time, but this one takes the Palme d’Or.
Even when Poe did manage to sell his literary wares, he didn’t earn very much, as this chart I assembled shows. Over time, he did his fitful best to make his art commercial; he simplified his language and tried his hand at popular forms. Some of these experiments worked and some didn’t. Poe still wrote “in a style too much above the popular level to be well paid,” as his editor-friend N.P. Willis put it.
Why? The usual reasons, as I see it. A writer’s heart wants what it wants. It’s not at all a simple matter to ditch the obsessions that drive you to write to begin with, and it’s hard to change your natural register, no matter that commonplace comment in MFA programs, Maybe I’ll just write a romance novel for money. If it really were so easy to write popular stuff, wouldn’t we all be churning out viral articles and paying the rent with royalties from our bestselling YA werewolf romances? In between writing prose that makes the Nobel people tremble, I mean.
Piece Year Published Original Payment Approx. Amount in 2017 Dollars “Ligeia” 1838 $10 $253 “The Haunted Palace” 1839 $5 $127 “The Fall of the House of Usher” 1839 $24 $609 “The Man of the Crowd” 1840 $16 $431 “The Masque of the Red Death” 1842 $12 $345 “The Pit and the “Pendulum” 1842 $38 $1,093 “The Tell-Tale Heart” 1843 $10 $315 “The Black Cat” 1843 $20 $631 “The Raven” 1845 $9 $277 “The Cask of Amontillado” 1846 $15 $426 “Ulalume” 1847 $20 $562 “Annabel Lee” 1849 $10 $308
Sources: “Edgar A. Poe: His Income as a Literary Entrepreneur” and In2013dollars.com
3.
So, where exactly does the hope come in?
It’s true Poe’s unending financial problems did not make his life happier or longer and likely constrained some of his writerly impulses. Catering to the market was hardly his first choice, and he remained ambivalent about writing for an audience and magazines he sometimes saw as beneath him. “The poem which I enclose,” Poe wrote to his friend Willis in 1849, “has just been published in a paper for which sheer necessity compels me to write, now and then. It pays well as times go—but unquestionably it ought to pay ten prices; for whatever I send it feel I am consigning to the tomb of the Capulets.”
Then, of course, there were other people’s feelings. Poe’s attempt to adapt to the market did not go unpunished in his own day. “Hints to Authors,” a semi-veiled takedown, was first published anonymously in a Philadelphia paper in 1844: “Popular taste is sometimes monstrous in character…judging by the works and mind of its chief and almost only follower on this side of the Atlantic, it is a pure art, almost mechanical—requiring neither genius, taste, wit nor judgement—and accessible to every contemptible mountebank.”
And the commercial stink has never quite worn off. It seems to be among the reasons Henry James and Aldous Huxley—who likened Poe’s poetic meter to a bad perm—criticized him so harshly. Marilynne Robinson has noted how “virtually everything” Poe wrote was for money: “This is not exceptional among writers anywhere, though in the case of Poe it is often treated as if his having done so were disreputable.”
Yet commercial pressure arguably pushed Poe in the direction that saw him write some of the most lasting work in American history—even world history. I can only speculate, of course, but I think that if Poe had had his druthers, he’d have gone on with the pretentious poetry and abstruse dramas he initially favored. I seriously doubt we’d still be reading him now. Just try pushing through “Al Araraaf.” It’s like sitting down to a lengthy phone call with an elderly relative. You love this person, but it’s a chore.
We tend to view popular success with a skeptical eye, just as many did in Poe’s day. We tend to think of commercial pressure as corrupting. What if it can be also a positive, transformative force? Certainly, the ability to speak to millions of people across 17 decades is not a bad thing. It’s a real-life superpower. We should all be so lucky.
On that point, consider how conditions for freelancers and other writers have improved since Poe’s time. As Tyler Cowen relates in In Praise of Commercial Culture, today more people than ever receive basic education. Vastly more people receive higher education. The cost of art materials has fallen tremendously (think of the price of video equipment just 30 years ago compared to today). And you no longer have to go to a particular concert hall or museum to access art; you can just Google. By comparison, Poe’s couple of decades as working writer really sucked.
So yeah, hope. When I first cracked back into Poe last October, my therapist begged, “Please stop reading him. He’s too depressing.” But my experience of reading Poe and other writers on Poe the last 11 months has been the opposite of depressing. It helped me climb out of a very deep hole.
In the end, Poe only pocketed $191,087, but he did get the immortal fame he grew up dreaming of. And I got taken, blessedly, outside myself. If the past is anything to go by, what lies ahead is not destruction. It just might be the stuff of our wildest dreams.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. |
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Bruce Lee Bio
Lee Jun-Fan also known as Bruce Lee was an actor, martial artist, and martial arts instructor born in Chinatown, San Francisco to parents from Hong Kong. He was raised in Hong Kong and lived there until his late teens. When he was 18, he returned to the United States and at that time he also began teaching martial arts. Before becoming a martial arts master, he was trained in Wing Chun under his teacher Yip Man. After appearing in the television series “the Green Hornet,” Lee developed his own martial style which was a combination of different styles.
Although he had abandoned his acting career to become a martial arts teacher, a martial arts exhibition in Long beach in 1964 resulted in an invitation to attend an audition for a TV show called “Number One Son” which never aired; however, he then got an offer to appear in the television show “The Green Hornet.” After appearing in ‘the Green Hornet,” his career took off and he subsequently appeared in films such as ‘Way of The Dragon,” “Fists of Fury,” and many more. Unfortunately, he dies from cerebral edema on May 10, 1973.
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Bruce Lee Height in Centimetres (cm)
171cm
Bruce Lee Height in Inches – How Tall was Bruce Lee in Inches?
67.32 inches
Bruce Lee Height in feet
5.6102 foot , 5 feet 7 inches – How tall was Bruce Lee when he wore shoes? When he wore shoes, he was 5 feet 9 inch tall.
Bruce Lee Weight
135lb
Bruce Lee Weight in kg
61kg – What was Bruce Lee’s weight when he died? He weighed roughly 126 pounds. or 57 kg.
Bruce Lee Measurements / Body Figure
Not Available
Chest size
39 inches
Waist size
29 inches
Biceps size
14 inches
Neck size
15.5 inches
Bruce Lee Girlfriend / Affairs / Wife
1.Thordis Brandt
2.Linda Cadwell – He married Linda Cadwell on August 17, 1964. They were married until 1973 when he suddenly passed away.
Film Appearances
The Big Boss
Fist of Fury
Way of the Dragon
Enter the Dragon
The Game of Death
Birthday Date
November 27, 1940
Bruce Lee Age at Death
32 years old
Eye Colour
dark brown
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TAMPA — A man accused of raping a 70-year-old woman in a church sanctuary now faces a charge that he tried to hire a hit man to kill her and her daughter before the trial, authorities said.
Demetreius M. Morris, 27, was already in the Orient Road Jail when he sent notes earlier this month to someone saying he wanted to put out a hit on the women before he faced a May 8 court date, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The person he is accused of sending the notes to was not identified by the Sheriff's Office.
Morris was arrested by Tampa police in October after a DNA sample linked him to a rape earlier that month.
A 70-year-old woman had been attacked as she gave a man a tour of the sanctuary of Living Word Fellowship, 8215 N 13th St.
A DNA sample from Morris was already held in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement database because he had been arrested before, in 2002, and charged with a lewd and lascivious act on a child, records show.
That sample linked him to the church rape, and he was arrested on counts of sexual battery, kidnapping, lewd and lascivious battery on an elderly person and lewd and lascivious molestation of an elderly person.
While he was being held on those charges without bail, the Sheriff's Office said, Morris "corresponded via hand-written notes to the listed witness expressing his desire to have a 'hit' placed on the victim and the victim's daughter."
The notes were written between April 12 and Sunday, and said Morris wanted the women killed before May 8, the Sheriff's Office said. "The defendant advised he would pay for the 'hit' with Social Security money he is scheduled to be paid," the agency said.
Records show Morris has pleaded not guilty to the rape charges and was scheduled to go to trial May 8 before Hillsborough Circuit Judge Chet Tharpe.
He now faces an additional charge of solicitation to commit murder, a first-degree felony.
He remained in jail Thursday without bail.
Times news researcher John Martin contributed to this report. |
Sharoon Thomas moved his cloud software operation from India to Silicon Valley in October 2015 after it was hand-picked by a high-profile venture capital fund. He arrived to California on a business visa that restricted him to developing his business idea and didn’t allow paid work. The visa also didn’t give him a chance to become a permanent resident in the U.S.
Sharoon Thomas, right, with Fulfil co-founder Ritu Panda, says Toronto "is so diverse that I feel right at home.” ( Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star )
Last summer, with the escalating anti-immigration and nationalist rhetoric from then presidential front-runner Donald Trump, Thomas approached Toronto-based Extreme Venture Partners, a technology venture capital firm. In early June, Thomas, 29, settled in Toronto and his company Fulfil is already recruiting two sales executives to promote its software, which help distributors and retailers manage their inventories along with other e-commerce products. “Toronto is the world’s most welcoming city. It is so diverse that I feel right at home,” said the native of Cochin, who has travelled and worked in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Spain, the United States and United Kingdom.
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“Even before Trump was elected, the U.S. (immigration) did not have provisions for startup entrepreneurs. After Trump, I felt I made a wise decision to apply to Canada. Entrepreneurs already have to deal with a lot of uncertainty. The last thing we need is have our immigrant status questioned.” The relocation is an example of a growing interest among entrepreneurs in choosing Canada over the U.S., thanks to political uncertainty south of the border under President Trump’s administration, which has made a travel ban against six Muslim-majority countries, currently being challenged in court, and a wall along the Mexican border priorities. Thomas said a wealth of IT talent and lower startup costs give Toronto an edge, and that stability is an important consideration for entrepreneurs in selecting a location. According to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada, as of March 15, more than 100 foreign entrepreneurs have been approved for permanent residence in Canada under the Start-up Visa Program since its inception in 2013. These entrepreneurs represent more than 60 startups launched in Canada through this program, in which candidates are heavily vetted for their business ideas and acumen.
In total, these pilot entrepreneurs received over $3.7 million in investment capital from 32 venture capital funds, six angel investor groups and 14 business incubators designated by Ottawa. Applications are being processed in a little over five months on average. Some startups created under the visa program have already been acquired by larger companies, an indicator of success for a new venture. TalentBuddy, an online school that focuses on teaching web development, was taken over by San Francisco-based Udemy last year. Huzza, a Vancouver-based video-streaming company, was bought out by Kickstarter in February.
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“The evaluation of the pilot shows that it has largely met its goals,” said Immigration Department spokesperson Carl Beauchamp. “Successful start-up visa applicants from a diverse range of countries have launched their companies across a number of industries. Some . . . are quickly becoming established companies.” Ray Sharma, Extreme Venture Partners’ CEO, said inquiries from potential startups have surged since Trump came to power and the growing pool of interest allows his company cherry-pick the best of the best. “We want to bring American companies to Canada,” said Sharma, whose new Extreme Accelerators program hopes to fund up to 50 international startups along with providing mentorship, access to resources and connections for follow-on funding. “Canada’s progressiveness and multiculturalism makes its citizenship the most valued in the world. That goes beyond business.” If successful, up to five members of the startup team selected under Extreme Accelerators, as well as their families, can be permanent residents, said Sharma. Hamid Akbari, CEO of Blanc Labs, a Toronto-based software startup, said political climate played a huge part in his decision to come to Canada over the U.S. “We had to choose between the two countries. I came when (George W.) Bush was president. The administration had these policies with Iran. It was a tough situation,” said the Iranian native, 40, who first came to Canada to pursue his doctoral degree at York University in 2005. “The challenge in the U.S. now is its unpredictability. We don’t like uncertainty. We like stability.” Since Blanc Labs was established in 2013, it has expanded its operations to Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S. It now hires 20 employees and 150 software engineers and scientists around the world. Clarification – June 16, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that said Blanc Labs currently has 150 software engineers and scientists on contracts around the world. In fact, they are all employees.
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The U.S. does not have the authority to use a drone attack against a U.S. citizen not engaged in combat on U.S. soil, Attorney General Eric Holder Eric Himpton HolderObama political arm to merge with Holder-run group Barack, Michelle Obama expected to refrain from endorsing in 2020 Dem primary: report Ocasio-Cortez to be first guest on new Desus and Mero show MORE told Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulThe Hill's Morning Report — Emergency declaration to test GOP loyalty to Trump The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump escalates fight with NY Times The 10 GOP senators who may break with Trump on emergency MORE (R-Ky.) in a Thursday letter.
White House press secretary Jay Carney revealed the letter at his Thursday press briefing. It was sent in response to a 13-hour filibuster Paul held on the Senate floor Wednesday to criticize the administration’s drone policy.
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“The president has not and would not use drone strikes against American citizens on American soil,” Carney said.
Reading from the Holder letter to Paul, Carney said: "Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil? The answer is no. The answer to that question is no."
Paul said Thursday afternoon that he was dropping his objection to a vote on Brennan as a result of the Holder letter, clearing the path for Brennan's confirmation Thursday.
"I’m very pleased to have gotten this response back from the Attorney General of the United States," Paul said on the floor. "To me I think the entire battle was worthwhile."
The new letter from Holder is a slight shift in position from an earlier letter he sent to Paul last week. In that letter, Holder said it was unlikely the U.S. would use a drone attack against in American in the U.S., but that it was possible in response to a September 11, 2001-type attack.
Paul criticized the administration’s position in his filibuster, which he used to block a confirmation vote on Obama’s nominee to lead the CIA, John Brennan.
“No one politician should be allowed to judge the guilt, to charge an individual, to judge the guilt of an individual and to execute an individual. It goes against everything that we fundamentally believe in our country,” Paul said during his marathon effort, which won support from senators on both sides of the aisle.
Brennan is likely to win confirmation, and Paul’s position on drones and filibuster came under criticism on Thursday from GOP Sens. John McCain John Sidney McCainGOP lobbyists worry Trump lags in K Street fundraising Mark Kelly kicks off Senate bid: ‘A mission to lift up hardworking Arizonans’ Gabbard hits back at Meghan McCain after fight over Assad MORE (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamHouse to push back at Trump on border Trump pressures GOP senators ahead of emergency declaration vote: 'Be strong and smart' This week: Congress, Trump set for showdown on emergency declaration MORE (S.C.).
The administration’s policies on drones have come under increased scrutiny, and Holder indicated earlier this week that Obama will soon publicly address the issue.
Carney said Thursday that the timing of an Obama address had not been set but would take place in the “coming months.”
The press secretary also criticized Paul for holding up Brennan’s confirmation.
“This debate has nothing to do with the qualifications of John Brennan. Sen. Paul said as much yesterday,” Carney said.
--This report was updated at 2:58 p.m. |
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Pittsburgh’s Police Chief is under fire for a controversial photo that is making its rounds on Facebook, and some are saying the Chief called his entire department racist.
It happened during the First Night parade.
The protest group called Fight Back Pittsburgh carried signs saying “End White Silence.”
On their Facebook page a photograph of Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay holding one of the group’s banners, a poster that stated, “I resolve to challenge racism @ work #EndWhiteSilence.”
On the group’s twitter profile the group describes itself as a Pittsburgh-based collective working to create a world that is free of destructive white privilege and oppression.
The picture of the chief holding the sign set off the Pittsburgh Police union.
FOP President Howard McQuillan told KDKA’s Marty Griffin: “The chief is calling us racists. He believes the Pittsburgh Police Department is racist. This has angered a lot of officers.”
Police Chief Cameron McLay released the following statement about the allegations:
“I was hired to restore the legitimacy of the police department. I did not seek these young activists out. I was stopping for coffee at First Night. Their message is not anti-anybody. It is simply a call for awareness. The photo was a great, spontaneous moment in time. Please join dialogue for community healing.”
Sources tell Griffin that McLay has been called to a meeting at City Hall regarding the photograph.
Police officers were so outraged by the photo, they thought it was photoshopped, but the police chief confirmed it was real.
A source of Marty Griffin’s inside the Mayor Bill Peduto administration has called the photograph potentially very destructive, with no upside.
However Kevin Acklin, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, tells Ralph Iannotti, the mayor continues to support Chief McLay unequivocally in his efforts to improve dialogue between police and the community at large.
Acklin says it’s part of a much larger national movement to improve relations.
The group that held the rally says the intention of the banner that the chief held was for “white people not to be afraid to talk about racism, we are inviting to white people to talk about race.” |
Demographics Statehood: December 7, 1787, the 1st state Capital: Dover Total Area: 49th among states, 6,452 sq km (2,491 sq mi) Water Area: 1,145 sq km (442 sq mi) Highest Point: Ebright Road, 2 New Castle County, 137 m (448 ft) Total Population: 45th among states
2010 census - 897,934 Population Density in 2010: 460.8 people per sq mi Distribution in 2000: 80.1% Urban, 19.9% Rural Economy:
Gross State Product - $62.7 billion (2010)
Personal income per Capita - $39,817 (2009) Largest cities in 2010:
Wilmington: 70,851
Dover: 36,047
Newark: 31,454 Delaware has relatively lenient corporate tax laws, attracting many businesses to incorporate in the state even though virtually all their activities are carried out elsewhere.
Among Delaware's many historic churches is Old Swedes Church and Hendrickson House Museum, in Wilmington, which has been in use since its completion in 1698.
Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, a French immigrant, built the state's first gunpowder mill on Brandywine Creek near Wilmington in 1802. The Du Pont Company would eventually become the largest chemical company in the United States.
Delaware was the first state to ratify the United States constitution. It did so on December 7, 1787.
The sheaf of wheat, ear of corn, and the ox on the state seal symbolize the farming activities of early Delaware.
Delaware was named for Lord de la Warr. He was the first governor of Virginia.
The Du Pont Laboratories first produced nylon at its plant in Seaford. This earned the town the distinction of being the Nylon Capital of the World.
Hagley Museum was originally the du Pont black powder manufactory, estate, and gardens.
John Dickinson was a signer of the United States Constitution, but he didn’t sign his own name. Dickinson had to leave the meeting, so George Read signed for him.
The United States flag was reportedly first flown in the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge in Delaware on Sept. 3, 1777.
Delaware’s northern border is curved. It is called the Twelve-Mile Circle. All points along that part of the border are exactly 12 miles from the Old Court House in New Castle. They were marked in 1682. When a line connected the marks, part of a circle resulted. |
Syrian refugees in the United States have become a political football after the Paris attacks. Here are the facts. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)
As the Syrian refugee crisis mutated from a regional problem to a global one, security concerns have increasingly been cited as a justification for keeping borders closed and refusing to resettle migrants. This argument has gathered momentum in the wake of the attacks in Paris on Friday, after a Syrian passport with the name Ahmad al-Mohammad, a 25-year-old born in Idlib province, was found near the body of a suicide bomber. French authorities say fingerprints from the suicide bomber match those of someone who passed through Greece in early October.
[Were Syrian refugees involved in the Paris attacks? What we know and don’t know]
If one of the Paris attackers really did make his way from the Middle East, through Greece, and into Western Europe, it will raise big questions on the continent about the tens of thousands of other refugees traveling along this route. In the United States, 13 governors had said as of mid-afternoon Monday that they will not allow Syrian refugees to be resettled in their states.
It is undeniable that the huge numbers of refugees and migrants reaching Europe do represent some kind of security threat — anything involving that many people arriving in such chaotic situations would. However, it is not only deeply unfair to paint all of those arriving with the same brush — it is also self-defeating.
All of the other suspects in the Paris attacks appear to have been European citizens. In fact, large numbers of citizens from France, Britain and other Western nations have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight, suggesting that the problem is not so much those coming from over there but those who are already here. Nor are these people necessarily the ones with familial links to the Islamic world: There have been a number of European converts to Islam who have traveled to join the Islamic State, and vast numbers of European Muslims have repeatedly condemned the actions of the Islamic State.
[That time the United States happily airlifted thousands of Muslim refugees out of Europe]
Perhaps one of the most persuasive arguments against equating refugees with terrorists is simple: It's exactly what the Islamic State wants.
The very same refugees entering Europe are often the very same civilians who face the indiscriminate violence and cruel injustice in lands controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (though, it should be noted, many in Syria are also threatened by the brutal actions of the Syrian government). Globally, studies have shown that Muslims tend to make up the largest proportion of terror victims, with countries such as Syria and Iraq registering the highest toll.
If Muslim refugees come to Europe and are welcomed, it deeply undercuts the Islamic State's legitimacy. Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has helpfully catalogued some of the Islamic State's messages on the refugees pouring into Europe from the Middle East. The messages give the impression of deep discomfort and even jealousy that the Muslim population the Islamic State so covets for its self-proclaimed "caliphate" would rather live in "infidel" Western lands.
“Would You Exchange What Is Better For What Is Less?" is the title of one video message. It sounds more than a little like a note from a jilted ex.
Writing in The Post's opinion pages this weekend, counterterrorism analyst Harleen Gambhir said the Islamic State had deliberately "set a trap" for Europe with the Paris attacks:
The strategy is explicit. The Islamic State explained after the January attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine that such attacks “compel the Crusaders to actively destroy the grayzone themselves. . . . Muslims in the West will quickly find themselves between one of two choices, they either apostatize . . . or they [emigrate] to the Islamic State and thereby escape persecution from the Crusader governments and citizens.” The group calculates that a small number of attackers can profoundly shift the way that European society views its 44 million Muslim members and, as a result, the way European Muslims view themselves. Through this provocation, it seeks to set conditions for an apocalyptic war with the West.
Some have suggested that the Islamic State deliberately sent someone along this route to help sow discord. Given the availability of fake Syrian passports in Turkey and other places, it is quite reasonable to presume that the passport found near the body of one of the Paris bombers was planted there to further inflame a tense Europe — an idea strengthened by reports that a different man was found traveling with the same passport in Serbia.
Why would a jihadist who expressly rejects all notions of modern citizenship take his passport on a suicide mission? So it gets found. — Charlie Winter (@charliewinter) November 15, 2015
If you were on a suicide mission, the very last thing you would bring along is your real passport. https://t.co/sqTAsdGMjB — Michael Clemens (@m_clem) November 15, 2015
What seems almost certain is that the Islamic State wants you to equate refugees with terrorists. In turn, it wants refugees to equate the West with prejudice against Muslims and foreigners.
[What Americans thought of Jewish refugees on the eve of World War II]
The reality is that most of these refugees are already receiving a pretty rough welcome in the West. Syrian refugees who arrive in the United States face remarkable scrutiny from multiple government agencies, including the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Defense Department. The screening process can take years, leaving legitimate refugees in limbo. It's worth remembering that making that welcome worse may be exactly what the Islamic State wants.
1 of 45 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The scene in France after bloody rampage stuns Paris View Photos Security is ramped up around the nation as French law enforcement searches for the perpetrators of the devastating attacks of Nov. 13. Caption Security is ramped up around the nation as French law enforcement searches for the perpetrators of the devastating attacks of Nov. 13. Nov. 30, 2015 President Obama and French President Francois Hollande pay their respects at the Bataclan concert hall, one of the attack sites. Philippe Wojazer/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
More on WorldViews:
France's real gun problem
Why the language we use to talk about refugees matters so much
5 stories you should read to really understand the Islamic State |
Amazing aerial photos of Mexico City show that no natural boundaries can stand in the way of endless suburban sprawl
Unbelievable photos that show Mexico City from above, demonstrate just what it means to be the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere.
The Mexican capital’s sprawling suburbs are home to 20 million souls with an astounding 25,400 people per square mile in the city.
Endless rings of homes radiate out in ocean-like waves from the city center and Mexican photographer Pablo Lopez Muz has shot the phenomenon to dazzling effect.
‘In a megalopolis like Mexico City,’ says Lopez Muz, ‘constantly threatened by its incessant population growth and it´s lack of infrastructure, the relationship between man and space is ever so apparent.’
Hills and valleys aren’t allowed to stand in the way of human habitation here. Homes cover both and follow the rise and fall of the earth as far as the eye can see.
‘Flying over Mexico City has always been an overwhelming experience,’ says Lopez Muz, who took the photos from the cockpit of a tiny two-person plane. ‘For ages it seems like the urban landscape with no ending, continually spreading over the hills and flatlands of the city.’
Coming in Waves: Suburbia stretches almost endlessly outside Mexico City and plays home to 20 million people
Endless: Homes far out endlessly from Mexico City and undulate in waves of humanity for miles around, creating the most populous city in the Western hemisphere |
Looking for an affordable flight to Hawaii? The search will get a bit easier starting next year.
Low-cost airline Southwest is expanding its service to Hawaii in 2018, the carrier announced Wednesday, a move that has been speculated on for years by customers and industry-watchers alike.
Southwest’s decision to fly to Hawaii could have an impact on overall ticket prices to the state, according to the company’s executive vice president, Andrew Watterson.
“On average, our fares will be lower than theirs or bring down the market price. That’s called the ‘Southwest Effect,'” he said, according to Hawaii News Now. “Low costs come from very efficient operations. We pay our people well, but we work them hard and we work the airplanes hard. So that leads to low costs so we have lower than our competitors so we’ll be able to bring lower ticket prices.”
The airline has yet to announce any exact pricing or routes, but did say that the first flights will leave from the West Coast, specifically California. The company is also considering the possibility of inter-island flights.
You heard that right. We’re thrilled to share our intention to bring our world-famous hospitality and value to the Hawaiian Islands! pic.twitter.com/NoVNXlsSH7 — Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) October 12, 2017
Southwest allows customers to check up to two bags for free and does not charge fees to change flights. That affordability comes at a cost, though: the carrier only serves snacks, so make sure you pack a meal for the ride. The average flight time from Los Angeles to Honolulu is just under six hours.
Southwest is the world’s largest low-cost carrier. It’s also the only one that’s part of the United States’ “big four” airlines, along with Delta, United and American. |
Heritage Lottery Fund Success for Museum Means Hidden Gem will be Jewel in the Crown of the County
Ceredigion Museum is celebrating its success in securing £916,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the New Approaches project, which will see the creation of a new street level shop combined with the Tourist Information Centre, café, re-equipping the Coliseum auditorium and a range of community focused activities. The £1.3 million project has already received £154,000 support from CADW, the Friends of Ceredigion Museum, the Community Grant Scheme and the Garfield Weston, Wolfson and HB Allen trusts and foundations.
Ellen ap Gwynn, Leader of the Council, said
“This is fantastic news for the museum, Aberystwyth and the County. We have a much loved museum with fantastic collections in a unique setting, which attracts visitors to Aberystwyth and works closely with the community. But the museum struggles with poor visibility and access, it really is a hidden gem. New Approaches will give it a new lease of life and help the museum support itself financially, which is crucial at this time of austerity. Combining resources with the TIC means both services will be more sustainable and the new facility will be a jewel in the crown for the County.”
Carrie Canham, Curator, said
“This Heritage Lottery funding is the culmination of three years’ hard work and we’re delighted. The Friends of Ceredigion Museum have been a tremendous support, as have the WCVA and other supporters in the community. New Approaches will provide more opportunities for people to enjoy the museum and get involved with the exciting activities we’re planning. We’re not quite there with the funding yet, we’ve still got £45,000 to raise, but now that the Heritage Lottery Fund has come on board, it will encourage other funders to support the project too. Also, the Friends of Ceredigion Museum will be organising fundraising activities such as auctions and raffles to help fill the gap.”
Richard Bellamy, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales, added,
“This project is a great example of a museum working closely with its local community to expand and offer even more to its visitors, helping bring history to life. “Our investment of almost £1 million, raised completely by National Lottery players, will ensure that the museum’s new auditorium and the other community focused activities being held will be enjoyed by both local residents as well as tourists from further afield.”
The project aims to create a new street level entrance for the museum, a state of the art Tourist Information Centre, an improved shop with a wider range of products from local suppliers and a café franchise for a local business offering locally produced food. |
Wall Street’s Euthanasia of Industry
By Michael Hudson
July 17, 2011 " Information Clearing House " - Michael Hudson interviewed on Guns N Butter with Bonnie Faulkner Listen here
I’m Bonnie Faulkner. Today on Guns and Butter, Dr. Michael Hudson. Today’s show, “Guns, Finance and Butter: Finance is the New Mode of Warfare.” Dr. Hudson is a financial economist and historian. He is president of the Institute for the Study of Long Term Economic Trends, a Wall Street financial analyst and Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His 1972 book, Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire, is a critique of how the United States exploited foreign economies through the IMF and World Bank. He is also author of Trade, Development and Foreign Debt: The Myth of Aid and Global Fracture: The New International Economic Order. Today we discuss the crisis of the economy in the United States, the jobless recovery, the debt ceiling debate, default in China. We also talk about the economic crisis in Europe and financial warfare against Greece. Michael Hudson, welcome.
Thank you very much, Bonnie.
Michael, I read the in the newspapers that the great recession, so-called, has long since ended but that unemployment remains stubbornly high with only a measly 18,000 jobs created in June. I believe the term that was coined some time ago is a jobless recovery. What is a jobless recovery?
We call that a depression. And the economy is going worse and worse. That’s why today the stock market is down 160 points. The financial sector realizes that the game is over. The financial interests from America to Greece, Ireland and Europe are all insisting that governments pay off the bad bank loans that they’ve taken onto their balance sheet by increasing taxes and pushing the economy into a depression. In the United States, president Obama has bought the idea that the only way of getting recovery is to cut wages by about 30 percent and he’s doing that in two ways. At the Federal Reserve he’s empowered the Federal Reserve Chairman, Bernanke, to lower interest rates, flood the economy with money, QE2, $600 billion have flown out of the country, to push the dollar down. When you push the dollar down the main victims are consumers because oil prices and raw materials prices and machinery prices and shipping all have a common cost.
When you’re devaluing the currency what you’re devaluing really is the price of labor because all the other costs are globally fixed. So Obama believes that reducing the prices of American labor in foreign exchange is going to make the economy more competitive. At the Treasury Department you’re now seeing him argue over how to reduce the budget deficit and he is doing what nobody really imagined the change was possible when he was elected president. He’s actually moved to the right of Michelle Bachman and the Republican party. Michelle Bachman on television recently has pointed out that she was against TARP, the giveaway to the Wall Street interests.
I remember the very last presidential debate between Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain. It was on a Friday night and McCain had just gone back to Washington to say that he supported the bailout of the banks. And in the debate, everybody avoided even discussing the bailout. And then later Mr. Obama said that in order for there to be a recovery the banks had to avoid losing a single penny. And in fact, what’s happened today was all made pretty clear even before Mr. Obama was elected by the appointees he made – the sort of right-wing economic appointees, Tim Geithner, the bank lobbyist and the Secretary of the Treasury, Larry Summers, financial pusher of bank deregulation and getting rid of the Glass-Steagall Act as his chief advisor, and of course Rahm, who was pushing the interests. So the Obama administration kept the Bush administration by giving $13 trillion of giveaway to the banking sector. Now, all of this has pushed the government way into deficit and the question is, how do you get the money back?
People would have thought before Mr. Obama was elected that he’d get the budget back in balance by now beginning to reintroduce progressive taxation by taxing wealth and by using the taxes on finance and the very rich to fund what he’d promised – a public option in the public health program and protecting Social Security. Over the weekend he’s come out against this. He wants to lower Social Security, to cut back Medicare, cut back Medicaid, especially the payments to the poor, and you realize that now if you look back on that last debate he had with John McCain before the election in 2008, he and McCain were bidding for the campaign contributions that are what politicians do. And the way that you get campaign contributions, if you’re any politician, is you deliver your constituency to your campaign contributors.
The biggest campaign contributors are Wall Street and the real estate sector, and these are the contributors that the Democrats and the Republicans are all vying for and indeed, Mr. Obama’s main contributors were these large Wall Street interests and those are the people that he’s going for now and he’s delivering his constituency, namely the people who voted Democratic, and he’s delivering them to Wall Street and he’s showing his philosophy by saying, “Well, we have to make sure that bankers don’t lose money; employees lose money.”
Now, over the weekend, yesterday in the New York Times, there was an interview with the head of the FDIC, Sheila Bair, whose five-year term just expired last week. Now that it’s expired she can begin to tell the stories. And she told the story of how one meeting with Obama after another he’d make promises to her, promises that he would try to prevent the mortgage crime that was occurring, to prevent the fraudulent subprime mortgages, to make a bank regulation to prevent criminal activities. She said in every case she’d go to his big speeches and an hour before the speech she’d be given a copy of it and he took out everything that he’d promised her and it was all rewritten by the big bank contributors.
The important thing is that now Ms. Bair is saying look, people said that there would’ve been a meltdown I you didn’t give all this 13 trillion to Citibank, to AIG and to Goldman Sacks but the fact is that we at the FDIC wound down Washington Mutual. Our business is winding down bad banks. Citibank could have gone under and all the other banks and the depositors wouldn’t have lost. They would’ve all been insured because there were plenty of bank assets. There weren’t enough assets in Citibank and AIG to pay the gamblers and the big players, the wealthiest one percent. And she said in every case they were told the wealthiest one percent can’t afford to lose a penny.
So that’s when Mr. Obama said, “OK, to make these gains, to save the financial sector from losing money, we have to make employees pay. We have to make them pay through more Social Security taxes instead of making the higher brackets pay, we have to pay by cutting back Medicare. We can’t charge the pharmaceutical companies by actually bargaining with them like they do in Canada; we have to let them set the prices with no argument. And he’s sort of made an accommodation with the Republicans to solve the problem.
The problem is, how can he, Mr. Obama, who’s pledged to represent his constituency in the Democrats, how can he move way to the right of where George Bush is at? Well, the only way he could do this would be for the Republicans to move even further to the right. So the Republicans have accommodated Mr. Obama by pushing the crazy wing of their party, the Tea Parties, Michelle Bachman, the Alaskan Governor Palin, and they’ve come with such a crazy, intransigent, right-wing attitude that now Mr. Obama can move way to the right and essentially still triangulate and say, ‘Look. I’m better than these guys are.’ And he’s hoping that people will vote for him just because he’s not as bad as the Republican Tea Partyists.
Well, the reality of course is that there are not going to be many people showing up to vote on the Democratic side and it’s quite possible the Republicans would get in. And the one silver lining for the Republicans winning in 2012 would be at that point the Democratic congress would find its backbone again, once it’s in opposition, and would say no to the Republicans trying to push the policy that Mr. Obama is now trying to push.
Well, you asked about the economy. The economy’s going under because Wall Street and investors realize that it’s a done deal. That Mr. Obama is going to succeed in pushing the economy much further into a depression. We need the depression in order to cut living standards and labor by 30 percent. We need a depression in order just to lower the wages of America and to have an excuse – of course, a depression is going to make the budget deficit even larger and the solution to the depression has already been written up just like the invasion of Iraq was all written up before 9/11 the solution is going to be that the government is going to sell of its land, whatever is in the public domain.
The American government is going to look just like Greece and just like Ireland. They’re going to be told, ‘The states can’t pay, there’s no federal revenue to share with Minnesota or Wisconsin or the city of Chicago. They’re going to have to sell off their roads, sell off their streets, sell off their infrastructure, sell off their public utilities, sell off their business. The government will sell whatever it has, the Postal Service, to essentially buyers who will now borrow the money from the banks making a huge new market for banks and investment bankers, in privatizing and cutting up what used to be the public domain and turning it over to the wealthiest 10 percent of the economy. So people realize yes, the class war’s back in business. We’re going into a depression. We’ll buy back all these stocks after they go but meanwhile, the game’s over. Let’s grab what we can and just bail out. And that’s what’s happening now.
What is your assessment over the current debate in Washington concerning the raising of the debt ceiling? This debate seems to be taking place between the Obama administration and the Republicans without much input from Democrats.
It’s a good cop-bad cop deal, a charade that they’re both playing. The Republicans are playing the role of the bad copy, saying, ‘You have to not raise taxes on anybody, no progressive income tax at all, no closing of the tax loopholes, not even a prosecution for income tax fraud. And by the way, we can get a lot of money if we just give a tax holiday to all of the companies and the individuals that have been keeping their money offshore. Let’s just free wealthy people from taxes altogether and that will help recover.’ So they’re being sort of the bad cop so Obama can pretend to be the good cop and say, ‘Hey, boys, let me at least do something. You know, I’m willing to cut back Social Security, I’m willing to take over really what was a George Bush program, but you have to let me get a little bit of revenue somewhere’. And at the very end the Republicans will say, ‘Oh, okay, you can throw us into the briar patch.’, and they’ll give something and they’ll essentially get their program and Obama will have sold out his constituency.
Now, the question is, what will the Democrats do? They don’t know what to do. The politicians I talk to say nobody’s going to challenge Mr. Obama in 2012. He has his constituency pretty much locked up in the Democrat party. So they can’t really run against him. As the leadership in congress he’s promoted all of the worst of the Blue Dog Democrats. Fortunately ,most of them are the ones who lost their office in the last election. But essentially, we’re still living with the consequences of Rahm Emanuel, who said a crisis is too good to waste. Let’s use this to really lock in our pro-Wall Street program.
If there’s any group that’s to the right of the Republican party it’s the Democratic leadership committee – the Clintons, the Rahms, the Clinton manager who was appointed to the Simpson-Bowles Commission, Erskine Bowles. So what Mr. Obama is doing is really pushing forth now the recommendations of the Simpson Bulls Commission that he’d appointed right after he was elected but before he took office so he now says that, okay, he’s going to go with this bipartisan commission and the Republicans will pretend to say, ‘Well, we really wanted to get the deal done. We’ve got a lot’. And they’ll go along with what really is a Republican program. What can the Democrats do? They’re stymied.
Now, Obama wants to cut four trillion out of the budget while the Republican leader, Boehner, only wants a 2.4 trillion cut. I’ve also read that it was Obama, not the Republicans, who proposed putting Social Security cuts on the table. Why would Obama be proposing much larger cuts than the Republicans?
For two reasons: Number one, he can get away with it. No Republican administration could ever have got away with cutting Social Security. That is the most basic income protection program that Americans have and it was sold as saying, ‘look, this is not a social welfare program, it’s not a tax. This is money that you put in’. In order to double-cross his constituency, only a Democrat could do it and only a Democrat posing as a left-winger could really pull the double-cross that Mr. Obama is posing.
I’m speaking with financial economist and historian, Michael Hudson. Today’s show, “Guns, Finance and Butter: Finance is the New Mode of Warfare.” I’m Bonnie Faulkner. This is Guns and Butter.
China has warned the U.S., “Do not default.” What would be the implications and ramifications of a U.S. default? Would a U.S. default put the entire global banking system into crisis?
Nothing would happen at all. Everybody knows there’s not going to be a default. China would not lose a cent on this. China would say, ‘Okay, if you can’t pay us the They’re bills that’s okay. There’s a lot of American investment in China; we’ll just take possession of it at its book value.” They wouldn’t mind that very much. A default would mean that the dollar would not be acceptable again until the United States pad – and again, there’s not going to be a default but if there were, America would have no way of paying for its military bases anymore. America would be unable to extend the war. Mr. Obama couldn’t be the war president.
I mean, even before he took office he won the Nobel War Prize so he knew that he was going to escalate wherever he could. That’s what the war prize is given for. That’s why it was given to Kissinger and to other people that go to war. And he wouldn’t be able to extend the war into Libya, he wouldn’t be able
Would a U.S. default send interests rate soaring and if so, what would be the economic effect?
An interest rate wouldn’t matter if you default. I mean, if you tell me I can write you an IOU but you’re not going to collect, I’ll give you 20 percent. What does it matter if you default? No, it wouldn’t send interest rates soaring at all. It wouldn’t have any effect at all. This is all a just pretend argument to create the crisis to give Mr. Obama the opportunity to do what politicians do – to sell out his constituency to his campaign contributors on Wall Street. He’s going to go down as a Herbert Hoover, or rather a Warren Harding probably. He’s going to go down as the man who brought on the depression that the Republicans never could have gotten away with. Only a Democrat posing as a left-winger could support the anti-labor, anti-wage, pro- Wall Street policies that his advisors have been pressing. And there again, that came out in the New York Times interview with Sheila Bair.
I see. So this is a charade put on for public consumption, the business of a possible debt default.
It is to create the illusion of a crisis. Now politician or Wall Street really likes a crisis but what they do like is the illusion of a crisis to create a pretense for introducing a solution to the crisis that actually makes fortunes for them all. And the way in which Obama resolves the non-crisis of the budget limit is going to make fortunes for Wall Street – and impoverish the population for the next decade.
I see. So this is a way of getting away with all of this.
Yes.
I was going to ask you if there are elements within the U.S. establishment who actually want a default but it sounds to me like it’s just a charade.
It’s a charade. Nobody wants the default. The safest investment there is are Treasury bills. America’s whole international position would go, the whole basis of American diplomacy and military power is the ability to write IOUs that it never intends to pay. I mean, you could say America defaulted back in August of 1971 when it closed the gold window. What can China do with its Treasury bonds already? The Americans will be glad to give them another Treasury bond with a new maturity but it won’t let China buy oil companies or filling stations or anything else. It won’t let them buy industrial companies or technology companies or technology exports. I mean, it’s already – in effect, the whole international monetary system based on the dollar has been in default for the last 30 years.
Is the U.S. in an economic war with China?
No, not really a war. There’s a jockeying for position but there’s no economic war. I’ve never heard any anti-American expression whatsoever in China. Only on MSNBC do I hear China-bashing and I guess from Paul Krugman I hear it. But even when Paul Krugman goes to China he makes a million dollars by giving speeches. But there’s no real warfare.
Dr. Hudson, let’s talk a bit now about Europe, starting with Greece. You have written that the Greek economic will not end up with the proceeds of any European central bank bailout; the banks will get the money. Could you explain that?
That’s right. The condition of the loans that the EU and the IMF are making to Greece is that all of the money has to be paid out to bondholders of these banks, mainly in France and in Germany. Angela Merkel, in Germany, said that ‘wait a minute. This isn’t what the free market’s supposed to be all about. If they make a bad loan the bondholders can be wiped out. The depositor is protected but not the bondholder.’ This is exactly what Sheila Bair said in her New York Times interview, was the banks said, ‘Look, the bondholders have to be paid first, the domestic economic later’, and they’ve corrupted basically the socialist government in Greece.
Now, this returns us to what we were talking about at the beginning of this show. You have in Greece the socialist government, the premiere, Papandreou, is head of the Socialist International, the Second International. He’s pushing for the austerity program and the bank bailouts that’ll hopelessly indebt Greece and force it to sell off much of its economy. The conservatives are opposing this just like Michelle Bachman here was saying she was opposing TARP and the bank bailouts. The conservatives in Greece, and actually throughout Europe, are to the left of the Socialist parties. And the same thing happens in Britain with the British Labour party being on the ultra-right for privatization, privatizing the railroads and other things that even Margaret Thatcher and the conservatives couldn’t do. In Iceland it’s the Social Democrats that were pushing for bailing out the banks with the conservative parties and the Icelandic population were against. Same thing in Ireland. All over Europe the Socialists are now on the right wing of the political spectrum.
Now the politics is all about finance. And the fact is that finance has nothing to do with the right or the left wing of the political spectrum. It spans the whole spectrum. And the terminology and the political concepts that existed a century ago when the Social Democratic and the Labour parties were being formed were basically concerned with employer/employee relations, labor unionization vis-à-vis heavy industry. That’s not the case today. Today you have a war of finance not only against consumers and employees, but against industry. You have industries being financialized. That’s what they talk about in business schools. In fact, Bob Locke and others are coming out with a good book by Zed Books in the fall all about how this management philosophy is disabling economies. This management philosophy, financialization, has also disabled socialist politics and left-wing politics.
You don’t hear very much at all in America, either in the Socialist parties, the Democrat parties, or in Europe about financial issues and economic issues. It’s about cultural issues, minorities, sexual equality, but it’s not about the economic issues. So almost without anybody preparing a political alternative you’ve had a transformation of what began as an economic democracy into a financial oligarchy. This is going to be the main problem for the next century – how to cope with the emerging financial oligarchy that has been empowered by the financial bubble and most of all, by the bailout.
When Bush and Obama gave $13 trillion to Wall Street’s managers they’ve empowered a whole century of ruling class people, much as the 19th century railroad barons were empowered by giving them the western lands and all the money for the railroads and much of the great land barons and real estate interests were created in much of the third world. So you’ve created a rentier oligarchy that is exactly the opposite of everything that was expected at the early 19th century and into the 1930s.
In the middle of the Great Depression, in 1936, Keynes wrote his general theory of employment interest and as his last chapter called for euthanasia of the rentier. Well, what we have now instead of the euthanasia of the rentier is the euthanasia of the employees, the euthanasia of industry, the euthanasia of entire economies in order to siphon off rent extraction and interest and financial fees to the very top of an economy and nothing like this has really occurred in Western civilization since the conquest of Europe a thousand years ago. It did occur in the roman empire when the creditors took over and we all know what happened to that. We had a Dark Age and you talked about recession. Well, we’re not only moving into a depression but the question is, is the depression going to keep on going and what kind of a society are we going to have if we have the kind of tax shift off wealth onto employees, onto labor, onto industry, onto the cities, and privatization, meaning a sell-off and sort of pre-bankruptcy sale on credit and essentially an oligarchy emerging. That’s what nobody’s talking on either end of the political spectrum.
Will the IMF and EU bailout for Greece lead to another default?
Yes. There’s no conceivable way in which Greece can pay the money that’s being demanded. The Financial Times of London has been very clear on this for the last month or so. You can read the columns on the editorial page, on the op-ed page, and you can see that almost everybody realizes that they can’t be paid. All you have to do is look at the premium for default insurance for Greek bonds to see that.
So the question is, if Greece can’t pay anyway, why are they even going through the charade? Well, the reason they’re going through the charade is so that the commercial banks can then sell all of the bonds that they do have. They can be reimbursed and sell the bonds to their own commercial banks and to suckers. They’re letting the people who now are holding the bag take the money and run. So what they’re doing is saying, ‘Okay, the commercial banks can sell out to the IMF and the Central Bank and now it’s much harder to default on an inter-governmental debt, if it’s a government of Europe, against the government of Greece than it is for the commercial banks’. And again, the Greeks can say, ‘Well, we know the game that you’re playing. You are the people that lent the money to us to pay the bank. We didn’t get a penny of it. You in effect paid your own banks; this is your problem. We’re not going to pay you. You don’t like it? Kick us out.’
I’m speaking with financial economist and historian, Michael Hudson. Today’s show, “Guns, Finance and Butter: Finance is the New Mode of Warfare.” I’m Bonnie Faulkner. This is Guns and Butter.
How is the European Central Bank different from central banks of other countries?
Very important question. Central banks from the Bank of England in 1694 to the Federal Reserve in 1913 were funded and created to finance the government deficit. The idea was that government spending would be fueled by banks just creating on their typewriters or their printing press, or now in their computer keyboard, they would create money. What we know as money is created on computer keyboards, whether commercial banks do it or central banks do. But the European Central Bank is different from all other central banks. They are not allowed to fund government operations. They’re not allowed to do this.
The whole idea behind the creators of the European Central Bank is that governments have to pay commercial banks what they could really do for themselves for nothing. They let commercial banks use their computer keyboard to create hundreds of billions of dollars worth of IOU’s that bear interest, whereas the Central Bank has its own computer keyboard; it could create this credit just as well if the European Central Bank doesn’t do this. So the European Central Bank is from the outset a creature of bank lobbyists who say, ‘We want the business of making interest and financial fees off the privilege of alone being able to create the public utility of money.’ You can think of money as a public utility just like electricity or water. And in America, public utilities – ConEd here in New York, electric companies elsewhere — all are regulated to keep their prices in line with the cost of producing the gas and electricity that they sell the customers.
Well, money’s that kind of privilege except you can create any amount of money simply on a computer keyboard if you’re a bank and you can find a customer – in this case the government customer but you can find almost any customer, especially in your own affiliates. Now that you’ve got rid of Glass-Steagall the banks can in effect create an infinite amount of money freely and create as much interest as they can find borrowers willing to pay. The European Central Bank gives them a free rein to do this and essentially has privatized the public utility of credit creation.
I see. So what you’re saying is that in Europe it’s only the private banks that can create credit, not the Central Bank.
That’s right. And they’re prevented specifically from funding the government debt, which is what central banks are supposed to do, and Europe is not allowed to bail out other governments. That’s under the Lisbon Treaty. It’s as if saying Washington is not allowed to have revenue sharing with the states and cities like there is. For the last few decades, Washington has been sharing revenue with the states and cities. That’s what was keeping them afloat until quite recently but now this is all different from Europe. And of course, this just is tearing Europe apart. There’s no way that Europe can survive under the financial rules of the Lisbon Treaty that have tied its hands financially. So one of the reasons the Euro has gone down against the dollar. In spite all of the dollar’s problems you’ve talked about it’s the euro that’s going down more than the dollar because they realized that the way in which the euro was created, the eurozone, is unworkable.
Right. So do you think, then, that either they’re going to have to change the rules there or the European Union is going t break apart?
Yes.
European banks hold debt from faltering EU countries such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, etc. But American banks have sold European banks credit default swaps. That is, American banks have insured European bank debt. How is this going to play out if European governments default on their debt?
It complicates it very badly. In Ireland’s case, a month ago or so, for instance, Europe apparently was all set to realize that the Irish government made a terrible mistake in taking the bad bank debt – much of it crooked bank debt – onto the government balance sheet and making the taxpayers liable for all the banks’ bad loans that then were financialized by the European governments. They were going to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to write down the loans to the bondholders because there’s a basic principle at work. A debt that can’t be paid won’t be’.
Well, all of a sudden it was rumored that Tim Geithner, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, told the Europeans, ‘Wait a minute. You can’t make the banks take a loss because Wall Street has already taken a huge gamble on your horse race. We’ve placed big bets that these governments are going to pay, there won’t be a debt write-down, so you have to keep Irish labor on the hook, you have to keep the Irish taxpayer on the hook, you have to make Ireland pay.’ Same thing in Greece. It’s said that Geithner again told the Europeans, ‘The American banks have made a big gamble on Greece, the Greek people will be defeated, that the oligarchy will win, that the oligarchy will succeed in pushing them into depression and you’ve got to save American banks from losing on this gamble by destroying yourselves. Destroy Greece, destroy yourselves because otherwise our banks would lose money and we’re not willing to lose a dollar. We’d rather you lose a trillion dollars than us lose one dollar because I represent the American banks, not you.’ So one can say, ‘Shame on Mr. Obama for putting a Treasury secretary that has such a dysfunctional, almost sociopathic, personality and psychology to be willing to do this.’ Europe’s response is to say, ‘Who put Mr. Geithner in power over the European government, impoverishing us? Who put the American Treasury in a position to demand that we go into depression?’
When I was in Norway one of the Norwegian politicians sat next to me at a dinner and said, “You know, there’s one good thing that President Obama has done that we never anticipated in Europe. He’s shown the Europeans that we can never depend upon America again. There’s no president, no matter how good he sounds, no matter what he promises – we’re never again going to believe the patter talk of an American President. Mr. Obama has cured us. He has turned out to be our nightmare. Our problem is what to do about the American people that don’t realize this nightmare that they’ve created, this smooth-talking American Tony Blair in the White House.
What is your assessment of the new head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde?
She made her reputation as a corporate lawyer lobbying against labor unions and working on how the corporations could keep down labor, worsen workplace oppositions. She made her reputation working against labor so she’s in the right position. That’s the IMF – what it’s selling. The IMF’s product is austerity. The IMF’s product is poverty. She’s the perfect person to impose poverty. She’s anti-labor, she’s opportunistic, she supports the banks, she supports the IMF philosophy. She’s probably the best person to lead the worst organization in the world.
You describe a class war of banks against all the rest of society which cuts across the notion of left or right in political terms. Could you elaborate on that a little bit?
This is probably the hardest issue to get across because finance really isn’t a class. Surprisingly enough, the first discussion of this came in the 1970s and ’80s in Russia. Stalin – actually, it was already in the ’60s. Stalin had asked a leading thereologists and ancient historians to look at the class conflict in antiquity, and especially into Oriental despotism. And there were two people who took the lead. One of them was Muhammad Dandamaev who wrote a good book published by the University of Illinois Press on slavery and ancient Babylonia. And he said finance really isn’t a class because everybody’s a creditor. In America, employees save money, they have Social Security. Everybody is a creditor to somebody as well as being a debtor, and the financial classes are debtors. So it’s not really a class. He said it’s a legal estate. And if you look at all of the discussions in the 19th century about class warfare it was always, what was the class? The class was the owner of capital or the people that they hired. It was labor and industrial capital. Those were the two classes. There was also a land-owning class, the rentiers, but nobody ever thought of finance as being a class of people. Bankers were supposed to be intermediaries, they were supposed to provide credit for the wheels of commerce but most people thought of wealth as being land or stock ownership or securities. They didn’t think of finance as being a class. So I use the term very loosely, not in the classical meaning of the word class.
So there’s a financial dynamic of compound interest, a financial dynamic of banks and the financial sector getting the rest of society into debt that now can be created on a computer keyboard without limit, and then essentially getting rich by pushing the rest of society into debt up to the point where the entire economic surplus is being used not to raise living standards, not to invest in tangible industrial capital formation, not to pay taxes to government, but to pay interest and financial fees to the financial sector. So I guess instead of a class I should refer to what national income economists call the FIRE sector – finance, insurance and real estate. And it’s a symbiotic sector that’s emerged to become the characteristic central planners of the economic.
A hundred years ago people thought well, right now we have the big corporations, heavy industry, the steel companies, the railroads doing the planning. We think government should be doing the planning. That was the socialist planning. But now you don’t have government doing the planning, you don’t have industry doing the planning, you have Wall Street and the financial sector doing the planning. Nobody a hundred years ago expected anything like this so you have essentially a new class, a new bureaucracy – not the bureaucracy that Hayek warned about in The Road to Serfdom doing the planning, but a much more centralized planning bureaucracy on Wall Street in America, the city of London in England, the Bourse in France, Frankfurt in Germany, Shanghai in China. You have financial interests that are somehow centralizing all of the planning power and all of the economic surplus in their own hands in a way that’s impoverishing the rest of society. This is something entirely new and the political system has not come to terms with it.
You said that when you’re devaluing the price of the currency that what you’re devaluing really is the price of labor. Could you elaborate?
When all countries have common prices for fuels, raw materials, machinery and hard currency credit, so when the currency goes up and down the actual global price of all of this basic input – raw materials – remains the same. What are affected are domestic prices and costs and these are mainly labor and real estate. For instance, let’s look back at the 1980s when the United States was pushing Japan to increase the value of the yen. The yen went up in price against the dollar but the Japanese paid exactly the same global rate for their oil and iron and steel and copper and raw materials and the only thing that really went up was Japanese labor costs. Similarly, if the United States dollar goes down to make more exports, America’s still going to have to pay the same cost that other countries pay for its fuels and raw materials and equipment and what’ll become less expensive will be the price of labor, which will be worth less in terms of euros or other harder currencies. So devaluation basically is a means of lowering labor.
In Greece, for instance, if Greece were to leave the eurozone and adopt the drachma and devalue, its foreign debts are in hard currency so it would have to pay more in drachma to pay its euro debts and dollar debts and other foreign currency debts. It would have to continue to pay world prices for all of its basic inputs but Greek labor would be devalued relative to foreign currency. So the idea is to lower the cost of labor on the theory that it’s labor costs that determine international prices.
I’m speaking with financial economist and historian, Michael Hudson. Today’s show, “Guns, Finance and Butter: Finance is the New Mode of Warfare.” I’m Bonnie Faulkner. This is Guns and Butter.
So then you’re saying that with a dollar devaluating, American labor actually earn less. They have less buying power.
In global terms they have less buying power. If the dollar goes down and prices are set globally for machinery and imports, and the cost of what America imports is going to go up. The cost of what it imports in China, for instance, will go up and Walmart will have to charge people higher prices. The costs of its fuels and metal is going to go up. So the effect will be to squeeze the budget of employees and to raise the economy’s domestic cost structure faster than wages respond by rising. The idea of devaluing the dollar is to raise the cost of living and not raise wages so that you increase the rate of exploitation of labor.
Yes. That makes a lot of sense, particularly in view of the fact that most of the things that people buy these days are imported.
That’s right. As America has de-industrialized it’s shifted production abroad and it’s had to import more and more of its essentials. Its exports are primarily food and now it’s trying to raise the price of world grain by using corn and other crops for gasohol to drive down the price of oil, and it’s created an artificial world food surplus.
The aim of the government today is what it was under the Carter administration – to create a food crisis to starve out third World countries and make them more dependent on the United States so the United States government can say ‘we will give you more food but you have to sell off your raw materials to American firms, you have to get rid of your democracy and put in a government that we appointment so we can have Hilary Clinton in charge of your policy instead of your own people.’ And that’s how the Americans basically are impoverishing the Third World countries, by insisting – for instance through the World bank and IMF – that they will only give loans if other countries do not feed themselves and depend on American grain. Now that America’s using the grain to make alcohol and gasoline there’s no more grain available to feed these people so the result is African starvation as official American policy.
So you’re saying that the United States uses the World Bank and the IMF to force other countries to import our agriculture.
That’s been the explicit aim and I’ve described that in my book, Super Imperialism, how the mainstay of the U.S. balance of payments for the last 50 years has been agriculture, not industry. And in addition to agriculture, of course, military exports to the oil exporting countries so that they’re permitted to charge as much as they want for their oil as long as they agree to spending it on buying American airplanes. Saudi Arabia’s now buying tanks to use against its population. The idea is to arm the countries to prevent their domestic populations from bringing about a democratic government. That’s what’s creating the Arab Spring and the reactions against the governments – wasting their economic surplus on buying American arms and agreeing not to promote agriculture but to buy American food to essentially finance dependency on the United States. That’s the role of the World Bank and IMF – to make other countries dependent on the United States.
Right. And the way that they effect that is to put the other countries in debt.
That’s right. And not only in debt but in food dependency on the United States so that at the stroke of a foreign policy Hilary Clinton can say, “You’re not on our approved list. We are going to starve your population until you agree to follow American policy and sell off your public domain to more American companies”. So this is why I said that finance is the new mode of warfare. Finance and food dependency achieve today what military invasion was required to achieve in centuries past.
Now, Dr. Hudson, just to clarify – how is it that the United States can force other countries to not be self-sufficient in their agriculture? How are they forced to not grow their own crops?
There were proposals in the 1950s that the United Nations and the United States should promote land reform. And I’m told that David Rockefeller, at Chase Manhattan, gave John Deaver, the economic research director and my former boss, a copy of the Forgash Plan for a world bank for economic acceleration to promote land reform. And John Deaver said that in every country that has undertaken land reform to grow their own crops there’s been an anti-American feeling. Well, an anti-American feeling because American foreign policy is dictated very largely by the agribusiness interests in the United States – the large grain dealers. The mainstay of the U.S. balance of payments is food exporting, which means [INAUDIBLE sounds like: finance’s] counterpart in foreign economic and food dependency on the United States. So this is the most constant element of U.S. foreign policy since World War II, food dependency.
And if other countries need money to develop, if the United States can in effect have its banks raid these countries, creating a foreign exchange crisis, countries will have a choice: either they can withdraw from the world trade and financial system and go their own way or they can join. But the price of joining, the price of being a member, is they have to agree not to protect their own agriculture but to build in a special favoritism to U.S. agriculture. My book, Super Imperialism, explains how this is done and the trade field and in the financial field.
I’ve always been a little mystified as to why everyone joins the IMF and the World Bank, why they don’t go it alone.
The question you’re asking is, who are they? Who is Argentina? Who is Brazil? It’s not as if the whole country makes the decision. These countries are very largely their own oligarchies. For instance, when I started the Third World Bond Fund for Scudder Stevens in 1990, Brazilian and Argentine bonds were yielding 45 percent interest. Nobody would buy these bonds in America. Scudder was unable to sell shares in the funds to American buyers or to European buyers. The buyers were wealthy families in Brazil and Argentina because they knew that they were going to pay the debt. So the dollar yank for the Yankee Imperialists that were being blamed were actually Argentinean and Brazilian oligarchs operating through offshore funds with the dollars they’d siphoned out of their own country.
So if you have a country that’s run like Saudi Arabia is run, or other dictatorships, a client dictatorship run by a client oligarchy is kept in place by essentially the U.S. diplomacy against the domestic democracy. That’s why America backed dictators in Latin America for 50 years after World War II. And President Johnson said, ‘Well, they may be bastards but they’re our bastards.’ So the interest of the oligarchy is basically to make their economies dependent offshore because the oligarchs have their money outside of these countries. There’s a massive capital flight there and the more their currency goes down the more their currency becomes dependent, the more they have to borrow dollars, the more they borrow from their own domestic oligarchy and the higher the value this oligarchy, that has its money abroad, has vis-à-vis its own domestic economy. So the interest of the rentier oligarchy that’s floating on top of the economy, as Werner Sombart said, ‘like globules of fat on the soup of the economy’.
They benefit from this while the economy as a whole suffers. This is the problem with neoliberal reform. It’s created oligarchies throughout the former Soviet countries. We can see this from the Baltics to Central Asia and what’s happened there. We can see it in Latin America. We can see in what the U.S. and Europe have been promoting in the Near East, in Saudi Arabia and other countries. The interest of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain is not that of their citizens; it’s the interest of the rulers on top of these economies.
You have written that the bailout of Greek sovereign debt amounts to financial warfare. That is the selling off of the Greek Islands, the Athens Airport, etcetera. How is this stripping of Greek assets accomplished?
Essentially, the European Central Bank and the IMF told Greece, ‘Look. You have to run a budget surplus or minimize your deficit in order to meet the criteria that the eurozone members meet. So you’re going to have to balance the budget not by taxing the rich – that’s our constituency – but by selling off your airports and your public domain and counting this as a budget inflow. So you balance your budget not by progressive taxation, which is how America and western Europe got rich, but by selling off the public domain – to foreigners mainly – and the idea is that you’re going to get rich by selling it off because these new buyers are going to operate the water and airports and other things more efficiently, and lower your prices.’
Well, of course, this is pure mythology. When you privatize a basic infrastructure it’s privatized on credit and so the new owners build in their interest charges and financial charges into the cost of doing business, they pay themselves enormous salaries, much higher than the public sector would pay, and they begin to treat their monopoly position as if they can put a toll booth on the roads, a toll booth on the water and sewers, a toll booth anywhere. And if the governments don’t have a price regulating system in place to treat these infrastructure investments like public utilizes and keep their prices in line with the necessary costs of production, then you’re going to turn the whole economy into what economists call rent extraction – predatory monopoly charges just like rent-racking except on the scale of the water, sewer, use of broadcasting spectrum, telephones and you have the economy ending up looking like Mexico, where they privatized the telephones and Carlos Slim became the owner and became the wealthiest person in the world by making Mexico pay the highest prices for using telephones and the communications spectrum of any country in the world. That’s the neoliberal model saying, ‘Greece, you can get rich by letting the Carlos Slims of the world come in and take your economy. And we’re not going to do this by an army. We’re not going to land paratroopers. We’re going to just give political contribution to your socialist party members to vote to give all of this away. We’re going to do it financially without any bloodshed.’
Michael Hudson, thank you very much.
Thank you, Bonnie.
I’ve been speaking with Dr. Michael Hudson. Today’s show has been “Guns, Finance and Butter: Finance is the New Mode of Warfare.” Dr. Hudson is a I’m Bonnie Faulkner. This is Guns and Butter.
Dr. Hudson is a financial economist and historian. He is president of the Institute for the Study of Long Term Economic Trends, a Wall Street financial analyst and Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His 1972 book, Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire, is a critique of how the United States exploited foreign economies through the IMF and World Bank. He is also author of Trade, Development and Foreign Debt and Global Fracture: The New International Economic Order, among many others. Dr. Hudson has been a consultant to foreign governments including Canada, Mexico and Russia. Visit his website at www.michael-hudson.com. That’s Michael dash H-U-D-S-O-N dot com. |
As we documented in a previous article, electricity is the key to unleash world democracy and freedom,
“It’s well known that many wars are fought over resources, many times oil and other energy bases. Electricity is arguably the most essential staple for human survival; because with enough electricity, water can literally be extracted from thin air, which can then be used to plant and water crops.
With enough electricity, nearly all of humanity’s needs can be met.
Centralized energy, like most of us have now, is inherently dangerous to a free society. It can fluctuate, prices can be raised, and grids can be shut down or get damaged by natural disasters. The move toward localized production of electricity, then, is a move towards freedom, security, and democracy. Autonomous energy production is the precursor to an autonomous free society. The secondary effect of increased use of renewable energy is, of course, cleaner air and less pollution. We have all the reasons in the world to support this exciting new development.”
Our previous article pointed out the strides that some countries are taking to make the move toward solar and other sustainable energies. Now, an even more exciting development has been made in the most unlikely of places: an obscure home work shop in Virginia known privately as the “box full of creative chaos”.
Doug Coulter of Floyd, Virginia, lives in the woods in what he calls a “libertarian communism” community where he spends much of his life inventing and innovation in his home work shop.
What Doug has developed can be a game changer when it comes to providing the world’s electricity. He claims that,
“If this works, I’m about to anger several trillion dollar a year businesses.”
These businesses include gas and electric utilities and Big Oil companies.
Doug claims to be on the verge of cracking what has stumped scientists for decades: nuclear fusion. Doug runs an open source forum for scientists and engineers, where he got much of the research needed to crack this priceless problem. He says that once his nuclear fusion reactor is complete, it too will be open source so that anyone living anywhere will have access to the technology. Watch this video to see what he is up to:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nick Bernabe is the owner and lead editor of the website TheAntiMedia.org, an activist, blogger, and the founder and spokesman of the March Against Monsanto movement. He is also a guest contributor to The Mind Unleashed. Please follow his Facebook page by clicking here.
Image credit: YouTube/Vice |
Bonucci: 'If I wanted to leave Juve...'
By Football Italia staff
Leonardo Bonucci confirms “if I wanted to leave Juventus, I would’ve pushed to do it last year, as I had important offers over the summer.”
The centre-back was on target today in a 1-1 draw with Udinese after being out-muscled by Duvan Zapata for the opener.
“I tried to steer him to the wing and make the angle as difficult as possible for him, but Zapata was lucky that the shot went in anyway after Gigi Buffon’s deflection,” Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia and Mediaset Premium.
“Today we lowered the intensity level and consequently the ball didn’t move around as quickly as usual, so it has to serve as a lesson to us. Despite it all, we still increased our lead to eight points and that is important.
“I live for the victory, I can’t help myself. Even if the result is ultimately positive, I have regrets that we didn’t give 100 per cent, especially in the first half. I can’t stand these slip-ups.”
Bonucci has been unstoppable since returning to the squad, as he was frozen out for the Champions League clash with Porto due to a touchline row with Coach Max Allegri.
Nonetheless, transfer rumours continue to circulate around Antonio Conte’s Chelsea and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
“It’s all the same as before, I continue to fight for Juve and when needed can contribute with a goal. I am owned by the club, I have a contract with Juve to 2021 and feel important for the team, so I don’t see why there has to be a problem.
“If I wanted to leave Juventus, I would’ve pushed to do it last year, as I had important offers over the summer and had already started studying English.
“I am important to the team, but as we saw in Porto, nobody is indispensable. Nobody must feel comfortable here, as we need to give 100 per cent in every training session to earn our place.
“I’d like to be a Coach in future and have Allegri’s problems of choosing between all these strong defenders.” |
The Raven King is the final book in Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle series.
Maggie Stiefvater would like to clear something up: She did not set John Green’s car on fire. John Green’s car just happened to catch fire as they were racing along a track in Minnesota after the The Fault in Our Stars author challenged her on Twitter. “I remember that I came around the first corner and there was John Green’s car on fire,” she said. “And I thought, Oh, John, you’re such a showman. You’re going to burn to death in front of your own fans.” Perhaps it was unwise for Green to challenge Stiefvater in the first place. She showed up to the race with a new engine and, after Green had been rescued (“They delivered him out the window like they were delivering a cow,” Stiefvater said), proceeded to race — and beat — every driver present.
It’s no coincidence, then, that a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro features prominently in her best-selling young-adult series, the Raven Cycle. The Camaro, which Stiefvater owns in real life, belongs to the character Richard Campbell Gansey III, a prep-school teenager who comes from old money. The series is packed with Welsh legend, occult magic, and old-fashioned teen angst. With each subsequent book — first The Raven Boys in 2012, then The Dream Thieves in 2013 and Blue Lily, Lily Blue in 2014 — the series has steadily gained popularity with its own burgeoning fandom. The final book in the series, The Raven King, came out earlier this week. Just before the book’s release, Stiefvater spoke to Vulture about why the young-adult label is bullshit, writing a strong feminist character, and why she can’t look at her beloved Camaro the same way.
The Raven Cycle series is such an interesting mix of magic and folklore and mystery and thriller. How did you come up with the idea to combine all these elements into one story?
When I was a kid, I read the books my parents handed to me. My mother gave me wonderful, soul-enriching children’s fantasies like The Chronicles of Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time — books with stickers on the front. And my father used to read thrillers called things like Point Blank and Shot in the Back, and he gave them to me when he was done with them. I also loved the the Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper very deeply, and that was all based in Welsh mythology, so the Raven Cycle is sort of a marriage of all those things.
The character of Ronan Lynch was definitely the heart of the story from the very beginning. Ronan can take things out of his dreams, and I’ve always loved that concept — the metaphor of taking things out of your head and making them a reality — because as a teenager who was trying to be creative, that’s what getting that under control felt like. So it started out as his story, and dream magic was at the heart of it.
Why do you think the story and the characters of the Raven Cycle fit into the realm of YA?
The thing about YA is that — am I going to say this out loud? I am going to say it out loud: It’s kind of a bullshit distinction. I didn’t have YA when I was growing up, but now YA has evolved into something quite specific: a story told from a teen’s point of view. So I feel like it’s YA because we say it’s YA — that’s what it comes down to. I could give you a big, overarching thematic statement about how YA is about coming-of-age stories and learning who you are, but I’m 34 now, and I’m still doing those exact same things. So the question I wanted to ask with the Raven Cycle as far as genre goes was: Can I just tell a story? Can I get away with it in the YA section? And the answer is yes because YA is whenever you say, “This is a YA book.”
When do you think the YA label became so specific?
I think it’s when it started to make money, to tell you the truth. I haven’t been in this business as long as other folks, but when I first started there were no rules because nobody was paying attention to us — we were the crazy kids over in the corner writing weird things. But once it started making money, people who weren’t YA readers started writing about YA and telling us what it was.
People who write about YA tend to reference the “supernatural trend” or the “dystopian trend.” Do you think there are certain fads that cycle through YA?
I do, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a negative thing. There are people who follow trends for the business aspect, but there’s another side to it, which is that we’re all bathing in the same creative juices, so we tend to arrive at the same kind of creative conclusion. So natural trends appear because everyone is reacting to certain work.
One of my favorite things about the Raven Cycle is how deep and complex each character is. How do you come up with characters who have such rich inner lives?
Before I was an author I was a full-time portrait artist, and when I started out my first goal was to create an exact copy of a photograph. Once I’d accomplished that I realized it would be better art if I could not only re-create a photograph but also capture the object better than a photograph could. Then once I’d accomplished that I realized I could make the best portrait if I drew a likeness that was not only better than a photograph but also something only I could do — a Maggie Stiefvater piece.
And that’s how I create my characters. I start out with a real human model, then I strip it away so it becomes someone who’s even better, and then I finally come up with a character who’s someone only I could write. But they all start out with a human heart.
One of your characters, Blue Sargent, is an outspoken teenage feminist. Why did you decide to make that such an important part of her worldview?
Almost all of the female characters in my books are written as a reaction to what it means to be a woman in a man’s society. I grew up as a female bagpiper — I used to practice four hours a day, and every weekend I’d play competitively. Now I’m into cars, so I’m almost always a woman surrounded by men, and my characters explore what that means and what it looks like. I don’t really want Blue to be a guidebook — she’s more an observation of one option.
You’ve mentioned previously that fans of this series are unlike fans of your previous books. How are Raven Cycle fans different?
The Shiver trilogy was massive — it sold millions of copies, and I got tons of reader feedback about it, positive and negative. But when things started moving with the Raven Cycle, the nature of my interactions with fans were extremely different. I could never predict them. Then I had a friend explain to me that the Raven Cycle has a fandom, and fandom moves differently than plain old readers do. They have rules about the role creators play; your input is only needed in certain areas, and if you overstep the boundaries you’re breaking the rules. It’s really been a five-year crash course in fandom, but I enjoy it now that I know what I’m doing.
I had no idea fandom was so intense. So, what kinds of interactions do you have with yours?
One of the things I did with the Raven Cycle is I gave one of the main characters, Gansey, my 1973 Camaro to drive. I figured it was a good character move, so I put it in the story and didn’t even think about it. But then one of my friends, my terrible friends, was riding in the car, and she pulled up a fanfiction that took place in the car between Gansey and one — well, several — other characters from the book. They were enjoying themselves in the car, and I will never be able to look at my gearshift knob the same way.
That’s one way to fill the vacuum that’s left when you finish the book.
That actually makes me happy to hear because that’s what I want the book to do when it goes out into the world: I want the vacuum. I want readers to want something more when they’re done. They might not even know what it is they want, but they just feel empty and want more. |
The body of research connecting and kinda bums me out. One study out of Wake Forest University even tells us that people are happier, including introverts, when we act like extroverts.
For this research, subjects completed a standard measure of the traits. was measured in relation to extroversion; people who measured high in extroversion are assumed to measure low in introversion.
Then researchers conducted several studies in which subjects, at various intervals--every three hours in one study, once a week in another--recorded on a seven-point scale how extroverted they were behaving and how happy they felt.
What the researchers found is that even people who measure low in extroversion are happier when they are behaving extroverted.
I called lead researcher, psychologist William Fleeson, to talk about this. First we defined our terms.
"There are different definitions of extroversion out there," Fleeson said. "The one that has the most evidence supporting it is how much you are the ways that are described by certain words."
None of Jung's energy-in, energy-out stuff for this research. Rather, Fleeson had subjects rate their behavior with words that are consistently used to describe extroversion: talkative, enthusiastic, , bold, energetic, adventurous.
The research also used a specific set of words to describe happiness--or, more specifically, positive affect: excited, enthusiastic, proud, alert, interested, strong, inspired, determined, attentive, active.
I don't pretend to be a scientist, I'm a writer. So excuse me if it seems like a dip into the shallow end of the psychology pool when I ask: Are these extrovert-centric words for happiness? Should we also include more introvert-centric words such as peaceful, content, engaged?
Do semantics count in our pursuit of happiness?
For his research, Fleeson drew on a three-component model of happiness, using just one of the three components: Positive affect. That's the happy other people can see and hear, and it is strongly related to extroversion. The second leg of the stool is life satisfaction, which is more than emotional: Even if you're not feeling great at the moment, you know your life is pretty good all around. (Introverts have a little bit less of that kind of happiness than extroverts. We think too much, right?)
The third component of happiness is absence of negative affect--not having , , , frustration. "And the opposite of that is feeling at peace, at ease," Fleeson explained.
At peace, at ease. Those also sound introvert-ish to me.
So one could argue that introvert happiness here is being described as a sort of negative space. Feeling peaceful is not positive affect, it is the lack of negative affect.
Is that right?
Is peace the absence of anxiety? Is introversion the lack of extroversion? Or does introversion take up its own space in the world?
Of course, Fleeson points out, positive affect does not preclude peace and calm. We can all have both. And I have no argument with the conclusion that if you want to feel a particular kind of happy-doodle energetic happiness, you can get there by being outgoing, enthusiastic, and talkative. William James proposed essentially the same thing: Emotion follows behavior.
"Introverts already act extroverted. You can do what you do already and you will have more positive affect most of the time," Fleeson says.
This is a tool many of us use in our daily life. If nothing else, acting extroverted means people won't annoy us by asking if we're OK. (Because, of course, anyone who is not acting extroverted must not be happy.) Whether and how often you want to feel that particular kind of happy is a up to you; it's a philosophical question. Should life be one long Mountain Dew commercial? If it isn't, does that mean you are not happy?
Oh, and whether introverts pay a price for behaving like extroverts is research for another day. Fleeson didn't explore the energy cost for introverts behaving extroverted, although he personally understands the need to crawl into a dark room after a stretch of interaction.
But he did say that when he had subjects sit at a table and assigned them to act either introverted or extroverted for ten minutes at a time, the subjects who got most exhausted by the task were extroverts who had to behave introverted.
Maybe extroversion is a force so strong that suppressing it is exhausting. Or maybe introversion generates energy of its own, so intense it wears extroverts out.
--
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Emma Dent Coad, Kensington’s new Labour MP, has a rule: ‘Don’t do personal.’ Except, that is, when it comes to David Cameron (‘Camoron’), George Osborne (‘double dipstick’), Boris Johnson (‘baby-daddy’), Nick Clegg (‘puny’), a local Tory rival (‘freeloading scumbag’), politicians generally (‘knaves, sophists, deceivers’), the judge running the Grenfell Tower inquiry (doesn’t ‘understand human beings’), the Queen (‘Elizabeth Saxe-Coburg-Gotha’), Prince Charles (‘massive tax evasion’), the Duke of Cambridge (‘so thick’), the Duchess of Cambridge (‘Kate Kardashian’), Prince Harry (‘playboy prince’) and black Conservative London Assembly member Shaun Bailey (‘token ghetto boy’).
Dent Coad came to politics late, but during her half-year in Parliament she has experienced enough drama for a whole career. No one expected her to win the Kensington seat, held by Tories since it was created — and it took three recounts for her victory by 20 votes to be confirmed. The unlikely win made her a symbol of the Corbyn surge, taking Labour’s hard-left message to Britain’s richest streets. Just a few days after the election in June, Dent Coad’s fame grew in tragic circumstances. She was at the scene of Grenfell Tower while the fire which killed 71 people was still raging, and took centre stage in the response. As the council and government floundered, Dent Coad built a rapport with survivors, and her maiden speech in Parliament was a sharp critique of the inequality laid bare by the Grenfell tragedy.
But after rising over the summer, she came back down to earth at Labour’s party conference in September. Indulging a long-running obsession with republicanism, she mocked Prince Harry’s military service at a fringe meeting, saying: ‘Harry can’t actually fly a helicopter — he tried to pass the helicopter exam about four times and he couldn’t get through it at all so he always goes for the co-pilot. So he just sits there going “vroom vroom”.’ When her comments became public, the backlash was swift — particularly after Harry’s helicopter instructor said the prince was in fact one of his best pupils and had passed the exam. She refused to admit she was wrong even as Labour colleagues criticised her and Jeremy Corbyn declined to offer support.
Ever since, Dent Coad has been less vocal. One person who worked with her before she was an MP says it was inevitable that she would soon find herself in hot water: ‘She thinks she’s this grand strategist who’s better at playing the game than anyone else, but she’s actually really crap at the game.’
Emma Dent Coad’s badge in remembrance of the tower’s 71 victims
Emma Dent Coad entered Parliament aged 62 after a career writing about architecture and design — it was housing policy that sparked her passion for politics. She became a Labour councillor during the Blair years — although, she says, ‘I’m not New Labour and never have been’ — and calls Corbyn ‘a people’s hero’. (Despite her hard-left views, Dent Coad — brought up in bohemian Chelsea by an aristocratic Spanish father and English mother — sent her three children to public school.)
She showed her stubborn streak early in her time on the council when she chained herself to the railings of a condemned nursing home. A few years later, she launched a power-grab, forcing out experienced Labour councillors and getting herself elected as minority leader on Kensington & Chelsea council. She ended the consensual style of politics that had prevailed. One Tory rival says: ‘She came in and her line was, “We’re going to get you.”’
But after just one year of leadership, she was forced out of the job by her colleagues who were fed up with the ‘Stalinist’ control freakery — among other things, she wrote every Labour candidate’s election leaflets. ‘She’s loathed and feared by her own group,’ one Conservative councillor says. ‘They probably hate her more than we do.’ The former council leader Nick Paget-Brown adds: ‘I got the sense that she felt that there was no point in engaging and preferred to put the energy into her tweets and blog.’
In the panic after Theresa May called the snap election, Dent Coad was quickly adopted as Labour’s candidate for Kensington, to the surprise of her Labour colleagues. Some local sources blame the pro-Corbyn group Momentum for forcing her on the party; others suggest Labour HQ was just keen to find a candidate quickly in a seat they thought they had little chance of winning. But although the Tory MP Victoria Borwick was thought to be so safe that her party devoted few resources to retaining the seat, she was more vulnerable than she appeared. Her 7,000 majority was decent rather than forbidding, the constituency having been shorn of Chelsea at the last boundary review, with poorer parts of North Kensington substituted. And after a series of high-profile MPs in the area, Borwick was a weak candidate, known for her support of Brexit and the ivory trade. Dent Coad herself credits ‘one-nation Tories’ who switched to Labour for her victory, and has been careful to appear moderate on local issues, such as opposing her own party’s ‘bonkers’ mansion tax proposals.
The fire broke out at Grenfell Tower six days after Dent Coad was elected. She helped on the ground, as well as lobbying ministers to improve support for survivors and calling for an inquiry into the wider causes. One local opponent admits: ‘She dealt with the Grenfell response quite well. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.’ She became so popular with some survivors that, at the first council meeting after the fire, they called on her to take over. (At least one survivor disagrees, however. He accuses her of ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ while staying aloof from the hands-on response.)
Dent Coad savaged the Tory council leaders and called for those responsible for the disaster to be jailed. But questions have arisen about her part in the refurbishment of the tower, which is believed to be a factor in the rapid spread of the fire. Dent Coad sat on both the Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation board, which managed Grenfell, and the council’s housing sub-committee while plans for the work were discussed. At one meeting, she praised the refurbishment proposal, saying that it ‘showed the council had listened to those residents’. She denies any responsibility for the details of the refurbishment, insisting that she never had any say in the choice of contractors or materials used.
She has long loathed the monarchy: she joined the pressure group Republic in 2005, after pictures emerged of Prince Harry dressed as a Nazi, and has described the royals as ‘work-shy scroungers’. Dent Coad held an alternative ‘people’s picnic’ while her neighbours were holding street parties to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday. Colleagues were unsurprised to hear of her slurs on Harry (and Prince Philip, whom she accused of infidelity). One former Labour councillor says: ‘It’s authority in general — she doesn’t like uniforms or anything like that.’
For Dent Coad, the stubbornness that marked her rise proved to be her Achilles heel. Within weeks of her arrival as a political star, she damaged her credibility with a single rant. But for Corbynistas like her, compromise is unthinkable. After all, as one rival puts it: ‘When you’re fighting the class war, you give no quarter.’ |
When it comes to the topic of marijuana, people these days have only one thing on their minds: Which state will be next to legalize weed? For many years, legally smoking marijuana has always been a pipe dream of many who indulge in the ganja, but now it is a reality for some. You can see the line between both because killer synthetic versions of marijuana are sold in states where it is illegal, while mangoes are flying off shelves in states where it is legal.
Some states are taking a bit more time to lift the illegal moniker off of marijuana (much to the disdain of the weed smokers living in said state). However, a study might assist in influencing politicians in legalizing weed as it has been found that hemp repairs DNA.
According to an article by The Arrows of Truth, hemp seed and hemp oil have been found to be a factor in DNA repair. In studies, hemp has a perfect 3 to 1 ratio of Omega fatty acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6) needed by the human body, which is excellent for cellular repair. Hemp is also 65 percent protein, in which 35 percent of it is globulin edestin protein, which is closest to human globulin, making it easy to digest. This protein is also a major factor in DNA repair too, as cells use this protein to correct the damage.
Hemp oil and hemp seeds have been linked to the repair of damaged DNA.
Another article by the Hemp Book describes how DNA works, as explained by Genetics Home Reference in the following statement.
“Most genes contain the information needed to make functional molecules called proteins. (A few genes produce other molecules that help the cell assemble proteins.) The journey from gene to protein is complex and tightly controlled within each cell. It consists of two major steps: transcription and translation. Together, transcription and translation are known as gene expression. “During the process of transcription, the information stored in a gene’s DNA is transferred to a similar molecule called RNA (ribonucleic acid) in the cell nucleus. Both RNA and DNA are made up of a chain of nucleotide bases, but they have slightly different chemical properties. The type of RNA that contains the information for making a protein is called messenger RNA (mRNA) because it carries the information, or message, from the DNA out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm.”
Summarizing the scientific jargon, DNA operates through making proteins. However, the protein making capabilities of DNA can be halted through a number of factors such as UV radiation, viruses, toxins, and others. Hemp seed and hemp oil has the right ingredients, along with the right amount, to repair any damage done.
Also, it should be known this study is not breaking news; this was originally discovered back in 2012. What makes this study important, along with all marijuana studies that discover benefits for the drug, is it may assist in the legalization of marijuana in all states. If more studies show that hemp can be used for the benefit of mankind along as well as for “medical purposes”, it won’t be long until every states has Wal-Mart superstores selling weed at the cigarette check-out line.
We want to know what you think about this discovery. Do you think marijuana should be legal in all states because of its medical benefits? Or do you think that hemp seed and hemp oil (along with other hemp products) should be legal even if the kind people use to “toke up” isn’t? Please let us know in the comments below.
[Images via Bing] |
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A pedestrian walks by a Verizon Wireless store on Jan. 24, 2012 (Justin Sullivan/GETTY IMAGES)
Lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon will scrutinize a controversial deal between Verizon Wireless and cable companies that critics fear will lead to less competition among Internet service providers and could harm consumers.
The Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights will hold its hearing of Verizon Wireless’s $3.6 billion bid for unused spectrum owned by cable giants. But that portion of the deal is drawing less opposition than a unique cross-marketing agreement among once-rivals to sell bundles of wireless, regular phone, Internet and video services.
The Justice Department is investigating if that portion of the deal could lead Verizon Communications, which owns half of Verizon Wireless, to neglect its FiOs Internet and television service that competes with cable offerings by deal partners Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and others.
That would leave consumers in some markets with few choices, maybe only one choice, for providers of those services to their homes, analysts say.
Ahead of the hearing, labor unions on Tuesday lobbied the offices of lawmakers, protesting the deal that they say will lead to too much consolidation among the top two wireless providers. They fear the power of AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the wireless market will lead to losses in communications industry jobs.
Along with public interest groups they said consumers benefited from the competition between FiOs, which covers about 14 million U.S. homes, and cable firms.
“The cutthroat competitive environment that pushes innovation forward and forces companies to continually invest in rolling out better products and services is born from companies doing everything they can to steal away their competitors’ customers, not by offering to sign up your own customers for rivals’ services,” Joel Kelsey, policy adviser at public interest group Free Press, said in his written testimony ahead of the hearing.
Verizon Wireless’s general counsel will argue on Wednesday that consumers benefit from the marketing agreement because cable firms cover areas they don’t serve with their FiOs service. Through the sales partnership, Verizon Wireless subscribers will be able to get bundled packages that aren’t available to most Americans, the firm says.
“To justify the investment to create innovative converged wireless and wireline products and to offer convenient bundles of services to customers across the United States who want them, Verizon Wireless needed to find wireline partners with footprints that cover the rest of the country,” Randal Milch, Verizon Wireless’s general counsel, said in a written testimony.
Comcast executive vice president David Cohen will testify that other firms, including AT&T and DirectTV are involved in similar cross-marketing agreements.
“The harms that have been alleged are hypothetical and speculative, and opponents of the transactions – several of which are competitors that simply fear increased competition – ignore the benefits the transactions will bring to consumers,” Cohen said in written testimony before the hearing.
Analysts say the hearing, the first by Congress on a major telecom merger after the failed $39 billion bid that AT&T made for T-Mobile late last year, will be closely watched for any signs of protest by lawmakers.
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) opposed AT&T and T-Mobile’s deal and telegraphed his concerns early in hearings where he expressed concern about the deal and asked tough questions.
Observers say they will watch for questions on how Verizon and cable firms plan to price bundles of services and if they offer better prices compared to those with FiOs. They will also see if lawmakers express concerns that Verizon Wireless could give better quality of service to videos offered by cable firms — an action that could disadvantage FiOs .
“I’ll be looking for how tough the questions will be and if anything is revealed about an otherwise opaque plan for the marketing portion of the deal,” said David Kaut, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus research. |
Bihu Loukon
Maklang, Manipur, India
Constructed: ???
Used by: ???
Conflicts in which it participated:
???
Just a smidgen to the west of the teeny town of Maklang in the state of Manipur, India, sits the remains of the mighty Bihu Loukon, a mud-walled, eight-pointed starfort. Which concludes the factual information we have about this starfort! Thank you for reading, goodnight!
Well, there's a little more information to be had about what was clearly once a stellar starfort. It was introduced to the wider world in 2013, when a Google Earth peruser spotted the fort's outline and reported it to the Kangla Fort Board, an organization dedicated to the history and maintenance of the Palace of Kangla, the traditional seat of government for the Kingdom of Manipur, in the city of Imphal.
The locals, of course, knew a little something about this fort. When questioned by a journalist from Kangla Online, one elderly gentleman referred to Bihu Loukon as the pallis, and said that its walls had been higher when he was a lad. He described a long canal connecting the fort to local waterways, upon which boat races had been held. What the locals did not know was that this had been a starfort! It is difficult to see the shape for what it is from ground level, and they were shocked and amazed to see the satellite imagery...although they were probably even more shocked to learn that there are such things as "satellites."
Today, the fort's mud walls are about five feet high, and about fifteen feet thick. The entire fort is described as encompassing "five or six hectares," which would make it somewhere in the neighborhood of 538,000 or 646,000 square feet. By comparison, enormous!
The locals, of course, knew a little something about this fort. When questioned by a journalist fromone elderly gentleman referred to Bihu Loukon as the, and said that its walls had been higher when he was a lad. He described a long canal connecting the fort to local waterways, upon which boat races had been held. What the locals didknow was that this had been a starfort! It is difficult to see the shape for what it is from ground level, and they were shocked and amazed to see the satellite imagery...although they were probably evenshocked to learn that there are such things as "satellites."Today, the fort's mud walls are about five feet high, and about fifteen feet thick. The entire fort is described as encompassing "five or six hectares," which would make it somewhere in the neighborhood of 538,000 or 646,000 square feet. By comparison, Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island is the United States' second-largest fortification, and is just over 871,000 square feet. Bihu Loukon was
Officials on the scene speculated that this fort must have been built very long ago indeed, as the walls are demonstrably mud, with no bricks in evidence...perhaps even older than Kangla Palace itself, which dates back to the 1630's. Maybe, but in my experience abandoned forts tended to be treasure troves of free building materials for the local populace, so bricks may have been used, and then carted away once the garrison left.
And the shape of the fort itself is a mystery. The concept of the starfort emerged in northern Italy at the very end of the 15th century, in reaction to cannon being increasingly used in siege warfare. Everybody in Europe was swiftly enamoured by this fortification design, and examples began to pop up all over the place...but in the middle of Asia, just 100 years after the concept was invented many thousands of miles away?
Unless the shape in which Bihu Loukon was built was chosen solely for esthetic purposes, it would almost have to have been built in the late 18th or 19th century...when somebody armed with cannons was in the region, cannoning merrily about, and the fort's defenders had cannon of their own to mount in such a defensive structure.
The remains of Bihu Loukon's jigsaw-like outer wall are also interesting. Was there really a thin wall with such irregular lines surrounding the fort, or are these the foundations of a more wall-like wall? And, ultimately, why was this vast fort placed here, in the middle of countless acres of paddy fields? Certainly not to defend such a tiny sliver of a town like Maklang, which probably hadn't existed when the fort was built in any case.
Today one of India's most far-flung states, Manipur has been part of a well-travelled trade route betwixt India, China and Southeast Asia for over two point five millennia. The Kingdom of Manipur was sucked into the First Toungoo Empire in the late 16th century, an empire which comprised most of modern Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. This empire began to dissolve soon after its ruler and driving force, Bayinnaung (1516-1581), died...but Manipur remained on the outskirts of Burma (today's Myanmar), and was swept along in the wake of that troubled land.
Formerly being part of an empire is kind of like previously having dated a particularly jealous and, as you have belatedly realized, dense mate. You know that the relationship is over, but somehow this is not as clear to Aggressive Mate, who feels as though it's only a matter of time until you're safely back in their arms.
Over the next few centuries, successive rulers of Burma did what they could to bring the Kingdom of Manipur back into the fold through a series of military adventures and dynastic marriages. Little Manipur stood fast, however, and remained more or less independent.
The First Toungoo (Taungoo?) Empire at it's greatest extent, in 1580. Look to the upper left for spunky lil' Manipur. Thanks for your excellence in all things, Wikipedia!
And this is the likely reason that Bihu Loukon was built where it was...it sits about 10 miles directly to Imphal's east, along a road what would surely have been a likely route of invasion for those who wished Manipur ill. While this is not the most direct route from Burma as the crow flies, Manipur is mostly mountains, with a 700-mile-wide, ovular valley nestled in its center. Any force approaching directly from the east or west would rapidly exhaust itself clambering over endless rocky terrain, so snaking from the north our south, while also a lengthy and painful process, seems to be the only logical course of action for militaries without helicopters.
In the case of a north- or southbound attack into the valley, the notional (Burmese) invading force would probably hang a right (or a left, if coming from the north) at Maklang. Hence, Bihu Loukon.
The wee townlet of Maklang, and Bihu Loukon. You might need to squint to see it! If Bihu Loukon was built to defend an expected route of attack towards the Palace of Kangla, Manipur's capital at Imphal, it seems unlikely that it would have been the only such fortification built for this purpose...but as neglect and aggressive farming has nearly erased the Starfort Of Our Current Interest™ from the earth, it seems likely that other, similar forts have been ploughed under and long forgotten.
With the why at least partially answered, we turn back to the when.
While it is of course impossible at this point to know when Bihu Loukon was built, archaeologists involved in researching the fort when it was first "discovered" in 2013 mentioned the possible use of radiometric dating. This process could conceivably identify the "exact date" on which the mud used in the fort's construction was first exposed to sunlight. Which sounds delightful, but it doesn't appear that any further information regarding Bihu Loukon has been published online since the initial rush of local excitement when the fort was identified in 2013.
If we agree that the shape of Bihu Loukon denotes the use of (or recognized need for defense against) artillery, we must wonder how and when "modern," European-style artillery might have made its appearance in the region.
In 1599 the ever-expansionist Portuguese, in the person of mercenary Filipe de Brito e Nicote (1566-1613), commanding three frigates and 3,000 men, managed to capture the port city of Thanlyin. On the Gulf of Thailand, this had long been a major port of the Toungoo Empire, and though that empire was disintegrating by the start of the 17th century, King Anaukpetlun (1578-1628) managed to get his empirical act together and recapture the city in 1613, executing Brito by impalement.
Did this clash with the Portuguese introduce the joys of "modern" artillery to the Toungoo Empire? If so, the locals got over their shock in a hurry and made relatively short work of Brito's force...plus, the Toungoo Empire continued on its downward spiral, so it seems unlikely that King Anaukpetlun had appropriated some revolutionary new weapon from his experience with the Portuguese.
The French East India Company took over Thanlyin and made it their base of operations in the region in the 1740's, providing arms to yet another local empire, the Hanthawaddys, in their ongoing war against the Konbaung Empire for control of Burma. Never ones to willingly be left out of a fracas, the English East India Company also got involved, eventually providing arms to the Konbaungs. Modern cannon! Did either European entity also provide starfort instruction to anyone? Even if so, the areas in which the French and English operated at this time were very far from Manipur.
The colonial tendrils of Great Britain had slid inexorably closer to Manipur by the 1820's.
Portuguese mercenary Filipe de Brito e Nicote, in his carefree pre-impalement days. And a charming elephant that one hopes was not also impaled. Because no elephant chooses to have guys ride around on its back.
This put them at odds with Burma, which had been doing its best to recapture Manipur for the past decade. The First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) ensued, which resulted in the manner one might expect, given the hindsight of history. With the British now calling most of the shots in the region, Manipur was eventually annexed along with the rest of the Indian subcontinent by the end of the 19th century. Could Bihu Loukon have been built during this period, as a last-ditch effort to keep the British out of Imphal?
Kangla Fort in Imphal, Manipur: Just about as much of an un-starfort as is possible for a fort to be. Manipur was permitted semi-autonomy as a "Princely State" within the British Raj. Japanese forces attempted to bash their way to Imphal during the Second World War (1939-1945). Imphal had been built up as a major Allied logistics base, with airfields and supply dumps, both of which would have been extremely useful for the Japanese as their fortunes were turning against them in 1944.
Fierce and costly fighting raged from March until July of 1944 betwixt the Japanese and combined British, Indian and Gurkha forces, just about everywhere around Imphal except to its west, which means that Bihu Loukon was unlikely to have been even tangentially involved. Ultimately, the Japanese were denied their goal. |
Bernie Sanders is a gruff, 74-year-old senator from a small state. He doesn't exactly exude charisma. Yet young voters are drawn to him, making the career politician a serious challenger for the Democratic nomination for president.
Part of the reason for his popularity: he embraces socialism.
"[R]esearch shows that young people are much more likely to support socialism than older people," NPR writes this week. "A May study from the market research firm YouGov found that 26 percent of people between the ages of 18-39 have a favorable opinion of socialism, compared to only 15 percent of people over 65. The Pew Research Center has also found that almost half of people between the ages of 18-49 view socialism favorably."
This isn't especially surprising. An enduring quote -- attributed, falsely, to Winston Churchill -- sums up the ideological journey for many people: "If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain."
When we're young, we're idealistic. We see the world the way it should be, and we rage at injustice. Then we get older, gain some experience, and realize that man's (and woman's) best intentions sometimes produce the worst results.
But the mindset is a little different for today's 20-somethings than it was for past generations. It's not just idealism that fuels young Americans' passion for socialism. It's the Great Recession, which defined their views of capitalism.
"Older millennials that graduated from college or got into the workforce in the late 2000s really had a hard time believing in American Dreams and capitalism," Kei Kawashima Ginsberg told NPR. Kawashima-Ginsburg is the director of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
With the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Enron's collapse and Wall Street banks deemed too big to fail (just to name a few prominent examples from recent years), many young Americans came to view the capitalist system as inherently corrupt and unfair. Socialism promised something different, something bigger than the win-at-all-costs fight for money.
"I think of people working toward the common good," a George Mason University student told a reporter when asked what socialism meant to her. That response is relatively common among educated Americans in their 20s.
Baby Boomers and even Gen Xers, on the other hand, still remember the Soviet Union, and so they associate socialism with the bad guys from the Cold War, with dreary cities, bread lines and political oppression. Millennials only know the Cold War from history textbooks; they associate socialism with democratic Western European countries that have single-payer health-care systems and generous government-provided pension plans, and where people generally still seem happy and prosperous despite economic struggles in recent years.
All of this suggests that the 2016 presidential election might pit young voters against older voters more than is usual. The Pew Research Center found in 2011 that socialism remains a "divisive word" in the U.S., "with wide differences of opinion along racial, generational, socioeconomic and political lines."
-- Douglas Perry |
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Two quakes off Indonesia’s easternmost Papua province within minutes of each other killed two people and damaged hundreds of buildings, but did not impact a major LNG project, officials said on Wednesday.
A 6.4 magnitude quake was followed 10 minutes later by another of 7.0 magnitude nearby, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Indonesia’s meteorological agency said the quakes occurred around 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of the island of Biak, at a depth of 10 kilometers, and issued a tsunami warning.
BP said that its Tangguh LNG project in Papua was operating normally and was not affected by the quake.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said a 47-year-old woman and a five-month old baby who lived in Serui on Yapen island had been killed.
“They were killed by collapsing walls,” Kardono told Reuters, adding that 11 churches, four schools and hundreds of houses had collapsed or been damaged.
“We heard people have gone back home, but until now it’s not clear where the people whose houses have collapsed have taken refuge,” Kardono added.
Jaya Murjaya, an official at the meteorological agency, said: “According to reports, the quakes were felt strongly in Biak, and with this intensity the quakes could cause cracks on the walls of houses and buildings.” |
Earlier this month, CoinReport covered the legal battle between Kenyan mobile financial services companies BitPesa and Safaricom. According to an article published by allAfrica, a judge ruled in favor of Safaricom, which claimed that BitPesa needed to be approved by the Kenyan Central Bank to run its network.
On December 22nd, the Central Bank of Kenya said in an official statement that bitcoin is not legal tender in the country. The bank holds this position on bitcoin and all other virtual currencies because they are not issued and cannot be guaranteed by governments. Since virtual currencies rely on speculative value, the bank fears this could result in high volatility that could leave holders with significant losses.
Bitcoin Today and Tomorrow
The volatile price of bitcoin over the past year hasn’t helped proponents: prices have ranged from around $177 in mid-January to current highs of above $450. Reasons for the price volatility have varied, including the massive volume increase from China a few months ago.
However, many feel that bitcoin prices in 2016 will continue to increase for reasons more typical of fiat currencies. An article published by Reuters explains that “mining” computers compete to solve puzzles in order to clear transactions. The first computer to do so is rewarded with 25 bitcoins. This reward will be halved next July. Reuters explained that bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto designed the bitcoin program to half rewards about every four years to keep inflation in check. The cut in supply is predicted to lead to price increases. CoinReport, for example, conducted an unscientific poll that showed 26% of participants predict bitcoin prices to top $1,000 next year.
Kenya joins other nations, including China, that do not recognize bitcoin and other virtual currencies as legal tender.
Image credit – DEMOSH from Nairobi, Kenya (source) (CC BY 2.0) |
Knoji reviews products and up-and-coming brands we think you'll love. In certain cases, we may receive a commission from brands mentioned in our guides. Learn more.
There are approximately 75 trillion cells in the human body. Each of these cells has its own unique purpose and function within the body. If for any reason these cells become malnourished or otherwise impaired, our health rapidly deteriorates. The health of all living organisms begins at the cellular level.
Each cell has an organelle, which is a subunit of that cell and has its own specific function to help the cell. Those organelle cells all contain mitochondria, often referred to as the "powerhouses" of the cell because these supply the chemical energy our cells need to function and regulate our metabolism through the conversion of energy. Every single cell in all organisms has metabolism. This is what gives the energy to provide all body functions, including brain function, heartbeat, respiratory and circulation. As nothing can survive without metabolism, it is necessary that we keep our metabolism functioning as well as possible.
This is why glutathione is important. Glutathione is a peptide that normally occurs in the tissues of animals and plants. It plays a direct role in the neutralization of free-radicals, which are the things that cause illness, problems with aging and DNA. It also detoxifies the many carcinogens and neurotoxins that impact our health, including from lead, mercury and arsenic.
Glutathione therefore plays a fundamental role in metabolic reactions, protein synthesis and DNA repair. Every single cell in our bodies and body functions is affected by the glutathione system, including the central nervous system, gastrointestinal system, immune system and lungs. Glutathione may even reduce the risk of cancer and aid in repairing traumatic injury.
To keep our glutathione system running well and performing all of these fundamental tasks, Vitamin D and milk thistle should be incorporated into the diet as these boost glutathione production. Many of the immunological claims about Vitamin D are due to its role in making glutathione and its role in preventing cancer. Vitamin D also helps the body maintain blood sugar levels and builds strong teeth and bones. The benefits of milk thistle are also enormous, especially in terms of how it heals and supports the liver. Anyone who wishes to improve his health should consider eating foods rich in Vitamin D or taking a Vitamin D and/or milk thistle supplement. Foods that are high in Vitamin D include: Wild salmon, mackerel, herring, catfish, sardines, cod liver oil, organic egg yolks, shitake mushrooms and button mushrooms. Daily doses of sunshine can also boost Vitamin D production.
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Virtus.pro to join EnVyUs as second invited team for CCS
Virtus.pro is the second invited team for PGL CS:GO Championship Series (CCS) Kick-off Season.
The CS:GO Championship Series (CCS) Kick-off Season will feature a prize pool of 110,000 USD distributed among the three stages of the tournament. CCS announced their schedule and format only a week ago where they stated how teams are going to be split into the two groups, Red and Blue.
The organizers sent the first invite to the DreamHack Winter and MLG X Games winners, Team EnVyUs. Today, they revealed that Virtus.pro are the second invited team to the event which will kick off in March. Virtus.pro recently performed very well, as the EMS One Katowice champions are timing their form for the next major which again, is being held in Katowice.
The plan is to issue a total of six direct invites, while the last two spots will be filled in by teams coming from the qualifiers. With the first two invites featuring EnVyUs and Virtus.pro we can expect to see the next slots being filled with the rest of the current top teams.
More content on GosuGamers: |
Most of the main banks in Ireland have some sort of transaction or admin charges on current accounts. The big two banks , AIB and Bank of Ireland made over €1 Billion profit between them in the first 6 months of 2018 – probably helped by fees such as these and also the large amounts of cash some customers keep in their current accounts to try and avoid fees.
Ulster Bank are increasing charges from April 19th – but there are a still a couple of banks where you can avoid some or all of these bank charges.
We have carried out a comparison of current bank account charges in Ireland to help you work out which is the best bank for you if you want to reduce the bank charges you pay.
(We have included some charges for non Euro debit card purchases – which is fairly common now with online shopping in the UK etc)
We have included the new online bank N26 – which has been available to Irish residents for more than a year now.
We have also included the upcoming increases to charges announced by Ulster Bank that take effect from April 19th 2019
The figures below were checked in February 2019.
Overview of Bank Charges :
EBS (Moneymanager Account)
EBS don’t currently charge any admin fees or transaction fees . This is an account with basic features – it might be ideal for people on lower incomes. No chequebooks are issued , no overdrafts allowed and contactless payments are not available.
N26 – have no Admin fees on their current account – and they only charge Irish customers for Euro ATM withdrawals if you use them more than 5 times in a month.
There are no fees with N26 for card spending in foreign currencies.
N26 is an “online only” bank based in Germany that has operated in several EU countries since 2015. They now have over 2 million customers and are operating on a European Passport (a banking licence granted by the German regulator and the ECB). They are covered by the German deposit guarantee scheme and are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules.
N26 have no branches – so you can’t pay in cash or cheques. But you can set up Direct Debits. They don’t charge any fees for non Euro purchases using their debit card. But be careful with ATM usage – there is €2 charge for €Euro withdrawals when you use an ATM more than 5 times in a month. This can be avoided by getting cashback in shops . They only charge 1.7% fee on Non Euro cash withdrawals. More on N26 Here
PTSB (Explore Account)
The PTSB Explore current account has a €12 quarterly account maintenance fee ( €48 a year) but no day to day transaction fees. But – PTSB also offer cash rewards such as 1oc for every time you use your debit card to buy something. This reward is capped at €5 a month.
So you would have to use a debit card 40 times a month to cancel out the account charges. They also offer cashback on payments of bills to specific companies by direct debit. More about the PTSB Cashback Current Account here.
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank currently charge €12 per quarter maintenance fee (€48 a year) on current accounts – but this can be avoided if you keep an account balance of at least €3000 . Ulster Bank currently have no day to day transaction charges.
From April 19th Ulster Bank will start to charge €2 per month (€6 per quarter) admin fee which cannot be avoided.
If the balance on the account goes below €3000 in any month – you will also be charged transaction fees for that month as follows:
ATM withdrawals 35c
Cheque Processing 39c
Debit Card Transaction 20c
Contactless 1c
Over the Counter and in branch Machine Transactions 80c
Automated Transactions (Direct Debit/ Standing Orders) 20c.
AIB – have both Admin Charges and Transaction Fees – but they can both be avoided .
AIB charge the following amounts for transactions on current accounts:
Automated Transactions (Direct Debit/ Standing Orders) 20c.
ATM withdrawals 35c
Machine Lodgements 35c
Cheque Processing 39c
Debit Card Transaction 20c
Over the Counter Transaction 39c
They also charge an admin fee of €4.50 per quarter. (€18 a year)
All the above fees can be avoided at AIB by keeping a minimum of €2500 in the account at all times . But – going below €2500 at any time in a quarter will result in charges being applied for the whole quarter.
Bank of Ireland – have a €5 quarterly charge and transaction fees too if you don’t meet certain criteria.
Bank of Ireland charge all current account holders an “admin” €5 per quarter (€20 a year) . This charge cannot be avoided.
On top of this – unless you keep at least €3000 in the account you will be charged transaction fees too. (No fees on Golden Years, Graduate, 3rd Level student or 2nd Level student current accounts)
BOI Transaction fees :-
Automated Transactions (Direct Debit/ Standing Orders) 10c.
ATM withdrawals 25c
Machine Lodgements 25c
Debit Card Transaction 10c
Contactless 1c
Internet/Phone Transaction 10c
Over the Counter Transaction 60c
Cheque Processing Fee (per cheque) 60c
KBC Extra Account – €6 a quarter charge (avoidable).
Any customers who don’t lodge at least €2500 a month at KBC will be charged the maintenance fee and also will be charged
30c for each ATM transaction and
30 cent per cheque lodged in the quarter.
No other transaction charges.
An Post Smart Account
This account has a €15 a quarter charge (€60 a year) PLUS other charges as follows :
Cash Withdrawal in Branch 50c (1 a month is free)
ATM withdrawals 60c
Lodgements at branch 50c
This is another account that pays rewards – such as 5% back on all Lidl transactions of €25 and above using the debit card.
Comparison of Bank Charges – based on the following annual transaction scenario:
Cheques Lodged 12 (1 a month)
Direct Debits/ Standing Orders : 72 (6 a month)
Debit Card Purchases (Euros) : 360 (30 a month)
Debit Card – 12 Non Euro Purchases of €200 equivalent each.
ATM withdrawals : 70 (5 a month)
Counter transactions 24 (2 a month)
Contactless 52 (1 a week)
Assuming the conditions for avoiding bank fees were not met…
N26 would charge € zero (But you wouldn’t be able to do any counter transactions or cheque lodgements with N26)
would charge (But you wouldn’t be able to do any counter transactions or cheque lodgements with N26) EBS would charge €24 (for the non euro purchases.)
would charge (for the non euro purchases.) PTSB would charge €54 over the year (10c reward for debit card purchases included)
would charge over the year (10c reward for debit card purchases included) KBC would charge €90 for the year
would charge for the year BOI charges would be €150.30 over the year
charges would be over the year AIB would charge €185 over the year.
would charge over the year. An Post would charge €192 for the year
would charge for the year Ulster Bank would charge €211.70
(Figures for Ulster Bank affective from April 19th 2019)
Comparison of banks quarterly current account fees IF the balance is kept above the relevant limit.
(These Figures include the Non Euro Debit card Purchases)
N26 – no charge .(No special conditions to obtain fee free banking)
EBS €24 (No conditions)
AIB (Min €2500 balance) : €42
KBC (lodge min €2500 a month) €42
Ulster Bank (Min €3000 balance) : €24
PTSB €48 per year (Balance level not applicable) Could be lower if you pay bills for SSE or Sky by Direct Debit
BOI (min €3000 balance) : €68 per year
An Post: fees cannot be avoided by keeping a certain amount in the account. They would charge €192 for the year for the above transactions. – But there is the chance of cashback if you shop at Lidl or use SSE for energy. But you would need to spend about €1600 a quarter at Lidl to get enough cashback to cover the fees.
With N26 you will only pay a charge if you use an ATM more than 5 times a month … (so just spend with the debit card instead and use cashback. )
Tip: The best way to get free banking (but without a chequebook) is probably to have an account at EBS and also N26. You can use EBS for ATM , paying in cash and cheques and use the N26 card to get the Apple Pay and contactless features and fee free non euro purchases. You can pay salary in to either and pay bills from either account.
Stamp Duty
Note: There is also a government stamp duty of 12c per ATM cash withdrawal. This charge is capped at €2.50 a year if you only use your debit card for ATM transactions and capped at €5 a year if you use your debit card for both purchases and ATM transactions. Government Stamp Duty charge on debit cards is applied in January each year.
More details of Debit Card Stamp Duty
Are Irish Banking Customers being ripped off?
In the UK- bank transaction charges are very rare. Most of the major banks do not charge fees.
Unlike it’s Irish current account customers – Bank of Ireland’s current account customers in the UK have fee free banking without any extra conditions – as long as they stay in credit !
AIB also operate some current accounts in the UK – and they do not charge any day to day transaction fees or monthly admin fees. They only charge fees when an account is overdrawn .
The banks in Ireland have less competition – with AIB and BOI having a large proportion of all the current accounts. So they know that they can get away with charging their Irish customers . Maybe more people should complain and switch to a bank that does not charge fees.
More here about ATM Cashpoint Charges in Ireland
Comparison of N26 Vs Revolut
Also – Irish Bank Charges on Card Spending in Non Euro Currencies
See our Comparison of Business Bank Account Charges here
More information on Apple Pay availability in Ireland
More Money Saving Tips |
A young man died in Karnataka’s Davanagere district after being allegedly hit by a car belonging to former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s son, police said on Friday.
Yeddyurappa’s son BY Raghavendra was in the car when the incident occurred but was not driving the vehicle, police said.
Ravichandra, Raghavendra’s driver was booked for the incident, under sections 279, 304 A of the Indian Penal Code. “It was the MLA who informed us about the incident,” said Manjunath Gangal, deputy superintendent of police, Davanagere rural.
The victim was identified as Suresh, a resident of Madapura village in Honnalli taluk, Davanagere district, around 300 kilometres from Bengaluru. His age wasn’t immediately known.
“The incident occurred while Raghavendra’s car was passing through Madapura at about 8.40 pm,” Gangal added.
According to Gangal, there were no streetlights on that stretch of the road. “It appears that the victim was crossing the road, and the MLA’s driver could not spot him in the darkness,” Gangal said.
The 44-year-old Raghavendra represents the Shikaripura constituency in the assembly. His father is the state BJP chief and is widely expected to be the saffron party’s chief ministerial candidate when elections occur next year.
First Published: Sep 01, 2017 11:51 IST |
NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Cutting taxes to try to stimulate the economy could do more harm than good in a zero interest rate environment as it can heighten the risk of deflation, according to a recent New York Federal Reserve study.
Policies that are aimed at increasing the supply of goods can be counterproductive when the main problem is insufficient demand, New York Fed economist Gauti Eggertsson said in a research paper entitled “Can tax cuts deepen the recession?”
“The emphasis should be on policies that stimulate spending,” Eggertsson said, adding that his research found the impact of tax cuts is “fundamentally different” with interest rates near zero.
“At zero short-term nominal interest rates, tax cuts reduce output in a standard New Keynesian (economic) model. They do so because they increase deflationary pressure,” he wrote. Eggertsson’s study focused primarily on labor taxes and some sales taxes.
Cutting payroll taxes, for example, would create an incentive for people to work more. But if there are not enough jobs, this could have a negative effect: creating more demand for work and thus driving down wages.
And with interest rates near zero, the Fed cannot cut rates further to fight deflation.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed into law a $787 billion package of measures to lift the recession-mired U.S. economy that included about $287 billion in tax cuts.
Eggertsson’s findings counter the argument that cutting taxes to put an extra buck in consumers’ pockets will boost their spending. Instead, given the current economic backdrop, it is likely people would save money from temporary tax cuts, given the recession and expectations that tax increases are inevitable in the future.
He said that while a number of economists have argued that aggressive tax cuts are needed to revive the U.S. economy, policy-makers should “view with a great deal of skepticism” studies that use post World War Two data — a period characterized by positive interest rates.
The best ways to stimulate spending, according to Eggertsson’s study, is through traditional government spending and a credible commitment to boosting inflation, creating an incentive to spend now before prices rise. (Reporting by Kristina Cooke; Editing by Diane Craft) |
I first heard it from attorneys who typically represent men in a divorce. I then began to see it in the cases that came before me. I remember the attorney who first mentioned it to me some ten years ago, he leaned back in his chair at a conference on divorce and said, "It never ceases to amaze me how many men come to me with their jaws on the floor saying they never saw it coming."
Now, I am witnessing it in my own social circles. All around me long-term marriages are coming to an end. And as the studies show many of those jumping ship are women.
Not only am I seeing a rash of fleeing women all around me, I also see what I first ascertained years ago: That a fairly significant number of men--especially in longer term marriages--never saw their divorces coming. There was, they say, no warning, no build up, no escalating tensions, just an unexpected, non-negotiable and seemingly unprovoked decision to leave.
Of course, this is not the norm. Most marriages careen into a ditch after traversing a noticeably bumpy road. Likewise, there are women who are surprised when their husbands decide to leave, but what I am talking about here is that not-so-small group of guys who are caught flat footed by their wives sudden and seemingly unexplained departure.
As with everything involved with the human condition, there is no one reason for any trend. But after having witnessed it from the bench and in my own backyard and from reading what I can, I do see one common mistake both men and women are making that seems to rear its head in a number of these unexpected abandonment cases. I mention it here because I think it ends some very salvageable marriages.
I call it "The False Okay." I think a lot of women tell the very same lie for years on end. They say "okay" when they don't mean it. They tell their husbands, "everything's fine," even when it's not. "Keeping the peace" is what they call it. They are, they tell me, getting through the day. It is all about the argument they simply do not want to have.
I think there is a whole group of women out there who don't do well with conflict. They are the ones with a happy husband because he always gets what he wants and she doesn't seem to mind. But what he doesn't see are all of the collected hurts stored up in her emotional closet. Not because she doesn't ever get what she wants but because that lopsided equation makes her feel unloved.
The next thing you know, the kids are gone, as is her best reason to put up with it. The sad thing is he doesn't know there is a problem and she doesn't know how to change the script. "This is who he is," she thinks, "a guy who doesn't care at all about my needs and wishes."
I hear it all of the time. She's sick of being the giver. Sick of being unappreciated. It is not a sexy cause, because both parties bear some blame. It is not the only cause. But it is the one I hear most often when there is an unexpected departure by a woman later in the marriage. She thinks getting her needs heard, not to mention met, is a hopeless thing.
So she goes. |
Ekistics Plan and Design unveiled an ambitious $7.5-million revitalization plan to the public Tuesday that would drastically change the look and feel of the area extending from the Esplanade on the waterfront up to George Street and bordered on the sides by Dorchester and Townsend streets.
Charlotte Street would undergo a complete facelift, with power lines buried underground and a wider one-lane street to allow for wider sidewalks, a bike lane, outdoor dining and seating area and small parks to make it more inviting for people to live and shop.
While it may seem a bit pie-in-the-sky for an economically depressed area with a declining population, CBRM Coun. Eldon MacDonald, whose district includes the downtown and a member of the committee tasked with breathing new life into the downtown core, says that’s exactly why the plan is vital to the municipality. And, he said, not only is it possible, it could begin happening in just three years.
He said because Charlotte Street is in desperate need of major infrastructure work, now is the time to make wholesale changes.
“We’re all aware that Charlotte Street is deteriorating,” he said, “we’re all aware that it’s six or eight or 10 inches higher than centre at the curb. When you park at Napoli, you have to put one foot in your car before you close your door because it will jam your foot in. You’re at a 45 degree angle when you’re at Daniel’s. That’s not normal, that is going to have to be fixed. And when we’re doing underground piping or any kind of infrastructure under the asphalt, under the concrete, when that’s tore up, that’s your window of opportunity. My opinion is, if that’s tore up in three years time, we’ve got an opportunity to do this, because once the asphalt and concrete goes back down, you’re a good 30-50 years before you’re going to say ‘Tear up the asphalt, tear up the concrete.’ So for me I think we have a really good window of opportunity. I think it can happen quicker than most people probably think.”
Most of the approximately 80 people at the public presentation seemed to agree, including Danielle and Mark Patterson, who run their technology company Docmaster out of an office on Wentworth Street.
Danielle said the makeover would “instantly change the perception of Cape Breton,” and encourage more young couples like themselves to move back to the CBRM like they did after years of living in Newfoundland and Florida.
“There’s a lot happening, there’s a lot of momentum, there’s a lot of people who are already living here and want to live here and stay here, but there’s also a lot of people who want to move back here, and I think they get turned off when they come home and see Charlotte Street depleting,” she said. “I think this would instantly change the opinion of what is actually happening and the potential that exists here. This is a great step. It’s now or never, in my opinion.”
Mark said the $7.5-million price tag is a “drop in the bucket” for such a huge undertaking.
“I think it’s a fantastic plan to revitalize the downtown area, and obviously we can hire all the consultants to draw up the best plans and have them on paper, but ultimately it comes down to funding and the money to make it happen,” he said. “And what was presented today, with the cost of doing this would have such a huge transformation on not just Sydney but the whole CBRM, and for the cost of it, I think it’s very realistic that this could proceed in the next couple of years with the help of some government funding across all three levels of government.”
Not everybody was completely taken with the plan, however.
Laura Lewis, owner of Rascalz Kids Clothing, had apprehensions about Charlotte Street being reduced to one lane.
“First of all, I’m excited that there’s new planning happening for downtown because I love downtown and I love being down there. My concern with having one-way, single-lane traffic, I think it could cause chaos on the street with delivery trucks, with parking, where people would have to wait to back into a parking spot. I think it’s wonderful to have large sidewalks and bicycle lanes, but I think what we have to realize there are a lot of services and retail that are downtown and we need the traffic to run smoothly. I would be concerned that it wouldn’t be effective.”
MacDonald said all the input from the meeting would be taken into consideration as the plan is finalized in the next few months and then presented to CBRM council.
“While those things are happening there’s going to be some pains while it’s being done, but the short-term pain has to be looked at as a 25-year, long-term window of having prosperity on the waterfront, on Charlotte Street, on George Street, and all the side streets in between. Not an easy thing to accomplish but I think the municipality will be onboard to make those things happen,” he said.
“This really is not about downtown Sydney, it’s about downtowns, and what we can learn over the next two and a half years or more from the plan we’re going to go through, it can be transferred into downtown Glace Bay, to downtown New Waterford, to downtown North Sydney, to downtown anywhere. So it’s about putting something in place to help build on.”
[email protected]
Charlotte Square, which would be next to the current Connors Basic office supplies store on Charlotte Street, is seen in the image from design firm Ekistics Plan and Design. |
As you can imagine, we’re sitting on quite a bit of data here about programmers and the technologies they use. We’ve used this for various things in the past (for instance, you can use your history on the site to promote yourself on Careers 2.0) but we’ve never done a deep dive into the data and presented what it says about the popularity of various technologies among developers.
Well, as you can tell from the title of the post, that ends today. Thanks to the help of our summer math intern Qiaochu, we pulled millions of data points around some of the most popular technologies and are now ready to settle the debate and declare with certainty which technologies developers prefer.* We’ll start with two matchups today, but we’ll be doing some more in the near future.
Before we get started, a quick note on the methodology (since I know it will get challenged in the comments): we looked at a number of different metrics and ultimately settled on using % of total users who are active (active being defined as asked, answered, voted, or commented on a question in that month) on the relevant tags. All of the other metrics you’d think of (page views, total votes, etc) tracked pretty closely with the users numbers but were much more likely to be skewed by “blockbuster” questions and were therefore deemed less reliable. And with that out of the way, on to the matchups!
#1 – Android vs. iOS
WINNER: Android
There have been endless articles written debating which platform is more popular with developers, Android or iOS. Some have claimed that iOS is more developer friendly, while the other side claims that Android is bound to win and so developers should focus on that. After analyzing all our data, the verdict is: Android is now more popular than iOS with developers.
As you can see below, iOS was running ahead of Android for several years, but peaked and stagnated in June 2010 (following the release of the iPhone 4). Android, on the other hand, has been on a tear since December of 2009 and overtook iOS as of the beginning of 2011. Unsurprisingly, iOS continues to stall (even declining somewhat) whereas Android continues its growth and is now approaching utilization by 10% of all SO developers.
#2 – Flash v. HTML5
WINNER: HTML5
This one is another biggie with most people coming down hard on one side or the other (and being fierce about it). But for most, the fact that HTML5 is the winner here isn’t the big surprise: rather, it’s how long its taken HTML5 to overtake Flash.
Flash has been on a long (but slow) slide downward as its fallen out of favor in the last few years. That said, there’s a lot of legacy support left for it and a lot of people who still really want it (can you say, restaurants) even with it’s inferior user experience; and as such, there’s still plenty of developers asking and answering questions about it on SO. HTML5 on the other hand has been on a slow and steady climb; not the rocket like growth that Android has shown.
Still, we can see that HTML5 is the rising star and Flash is on the way out, but it looks like it will still be around for a while before it does.
So there you go, Stack Overflow’s first round of technology face-offs. We’ve got more planned, but feel free to suggest any others that you’d like to see and we’ll try to fit them in.
*obviously this line is in jest – but we do still think this is a pretty good approximation and insight into how the usage of various technologies has evolved |
The 82 freed Chibok schoolgirls arrived in Nigeria's capital on Sunday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari as anxious families awaited an official list of names and looked forward to reuniting three years after the mass abduction.
They arrived at the Abuja airport and were met by Buhari's chief of staff, presidential adviser Femi Adesina said. The president was expected to meet with the schoolgirls at 4 p.m. local time.
.<a href="https://twitter.com/MBuhari">@MBuhari</a> Today, 82 more <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChibokGirls?src=hash">#ChibokGirls</a> were released. —@NGRPresident
The girls were freed Saturday in exchange for detained Boko Haram suspects, Buhari's office said in a statement.
A Nigerian government official says that five Boko Haram commanders have been released in exchange for the Chibok girls.
The official who confirmed the release spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters on the matter.
This is the largest negotiated release so far of the nearly 300 girls whose abduction in 2014 highlighted the threat of Nigeria's homegrown extremists who are linked to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Before Saturday's release, 195 of the girls had been captive. Now 113 girls remain unaccounted for.
A first group of 21 girls were released in October as Nigeria announced it had begun negotiations with the extremist group. At the time, the government denied making an exchange for Boko Haram suspects or paying ransom.
The 82 freed Chibok schoolgirls arrived in Nigeria's capital on Sunday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari as anxious families awaited an official list of names and looked forward to reuniting three years after the mass abduction. (Olamikan Gbemiga/Associated Press)
The girls released in October have been reported to be in government care in Abuja for medical attention, trauma counselling and rehabilitation, according to the government. Human rights groups have criticized the decision to keep the girls in custody in Abuja, nearly 900 kilometres from Chibok.
The newly freed schoolgirls should be quickly released to their families and not be subjected to lengthy government detention, Amnesty International's Nigeria office said, adding that they don't deserve to be put through a "publicity stunt" and deserve privacy.
Two buses carrying the newly released Chibok girls turn under the bridge at the airport junction in Abuja Sunday. (Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which along with the Swiss government has mediated negotiations between Nigeria's government and Boko Haram, said the girls soon would meet with their families.
A happy site for families missing loved ones: Some of the 82 released <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChibokGirls?src=hash">#ChibokGirls</a> board an aircraft. <a href="https://t.co/9yiJOUocQe">pic.twitter.com/9yiJOUocQe</a> —@ICRC_Africa
The ICRC also tweeted what might have been the first public image of the freed schoolgirls on Sunday, showing a line of young women wearing shirts with the ICRC logo waiting to board a helicopter.
The group said it had acted as a neutral intermediary to transport the girls into Nigerian custody.
Long-suffering family members said they were eagerly awaiting a list of names of the girls and their "hopes and expectations are high."
The Bring Back Our Girls campaign said Sunday it was happy that Nigeria's government had committed to rescuing the 113 remaining schoolgirls. "We urge the president and his government to earnestly pursue the release of all our Chibok girls and other abducted citizens of Nigeria," the group said in a statement.
This undated image taken from video shows an alleged Boko Haram soldier standing in front of a group of girls said to be among abducted Chibok schoolgirls held since April 2014. (Site Institute via Associated Press) The 276 schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok in 2014 are among thousands of people abducted by Boko Haram over the years.
The mass abduction brought the extremist group's rampage in northern Nigeria to world attention and began years of heartbreak for the families of the missing schoolgirls.
Some relatives did not live to see their daughters released. Many of the captive girls, most of them Christians, were forced to marry their captors and give birth to children in remote forest hideouts without knowing if they would see their parents again.
It is feared that other girls were strapped with explosives and sent on missions as suicide bombers.
While 82 schoolgirls held captive for three years by Boko Haram militants have been released as part of a prisoner exchange, more than 100 women are still missing. 2:02 A Nigerian military official with direct knowledge of the rescue operation said the freed girls were found near the town of Banki in Borno state near Cameroon.
Buhari late last year announced Boko Haram had been "crushed," but the group continues to carry out attacks in northern Nigeria and neighbouring countries. Its insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, with millions facing starvation. |
Circle of the Corpsegrove
The Circle of the Corpsegrove is composed of druids who enforce the natural cycle of life, death, decay, and birth. They view death not as an end, but as a new beginning, and have few qualms about sending creatures to an early grave. Druids spend their lives releasing the energy trapped in the dead to imbue the earth with fertility and growth. Although they are commonly associated with the dark art of necromancy, these druids consider undeath the an affront to the natural cycle.
Harvest Life
At 2nd level, you can reap energy from death to restore life. When you or an ally kills a Small or larger creature within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction to restore hit points to the slayer equal to your druid level. The dead creature rapidly decomposes into dust and cannot be the target of spells that require a corpse or other remains. Once a target is healed with this feature, they cannot benefit from it until they take a short or long rest. Constructs and undead are immune to both effects of this feature.
Touch of Decay
Also at 2nd level, you learn the chill touch cantrip. It is considered a druid spell for you.
Circle Spells
Your connection to life and death infuses you with the ability to cast certain spells. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to circle spells. Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.
Druid Level Circle Spells 3rd entangle, ray of sickness 5th ray of enfeeblement, spike growth 7th plant growth, vampiric touch 9th grasping vine, blight
Fertilize
Upon reaching 6th level, plants conjured by your spells can be infused with the plentiful nutrients of carrion to grow rich and luxuriant. You can enhance certain spells with an additional effect if a number of dead creatures equal to the spell level of the spell are within the spell's range. The creatures are consumed by the spell. Undead and construct creatures cannot be used for this feature.
The DC for any effect is equal to your spell save DC for that spell.
Spell Effect entangle A creature that starts its turn in or enters the area must make a saving throw or be restrained. spike growth A creature that is forcibly moved in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw or trip and fall prone, taking additional damage as if it had moved an additional 5 feet. plant growth (1action) The overgrown plants grow large and thick enough to heavily obscure the area. plant growth (8hours) Affected plants immediately bear twice the amount of fruit or food. grasping vine The spell may be cast on a space occupied by a corpse. The vine grapples any creature it pulls. The grapple ends if it targets another creature. wall of thorns If a creature fails its saving throw, it becomes tangled in the wall and is restrained.
Grave Inoculation
Starting at 10th level, the ills of death no longer plague you. You are immune to disease. You also have resistance to necrotic damage.
Rebirth
By 14th level, your essence is immersed in the endless cycle. When you die, if your entire body is placed upon or buried in an area of natural growth, your soul plants itself in the soil and begins germinating a new body. An area with a radius of 5 feet withers and dies as you absorb the life energy of the foliage. Your corpse decomposes into the soil. This feature does not work if you are missing any significant part of your body, such as a limb or your head. The parts need not be attached, but must be present.
Over the course of 1 day, your soul incubates a new body out of the biomass from the rotting vegetation and your cadaver. The grown body is identical to your previous one. You recall all your memories and life experiences and retain any capabilities you had at the time of your death. You take a -4 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Every time you finish a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears. If you die while you have this penalty, you cannot use this feature.
If the process is disturbed or interrupted, such as by excavation or a spell that dispels magic effects, you do not resurrect and you die permanently. You can only be resurrected by a true resurrection or wish spell.
Credits
Subclass by StrayChowChow
Art "Death's Roar" by The-Hare (the-hare.deviantart.com) |
President Donald Trump is greeted with a salute as he walks down the steps of Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. Trump is in New York to attend a series of fundraisers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans muscled the largest tax overhaul in 30 years through the Senate early Saturday, taking a big step toward giving President Donald Trump his first major legislative triumph after months of false starts and frustration on other fronts.
“Just what the country needs to get growing again,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview after a final burst of negotiation closed in on a nearly $1.5 trillion package that impacts the breadth of American society.
He shrugged off polls finding scant public enthusiasm for the measure, saying the legislation would prove its worth. “Big bills are rarely popular,” he said. “You remember how unpopular ‘Obamacare’ was when it passed?”
Trump on Saturday tweeted his thanks to Senate and House Republicans as they now begin trying to reconcile differences in legislation passed by both chambers, a behind-closed-doors process that is expected to move swiftly. Trump is aiming to sign the tax package into law before Christmas. “Biggest Tax Bill and Tax Cuts in history just passed in the Senate,” he tweeted inaccurately. The overhaul is significant but far from the largest.
Presiding over the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence announced the 51-49 vote to applause from Republicans. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., was the only lawmaker to cross party lines, joining the Democrats in opposition. The measure focuses its tax reductions on businesses and higher-earning individuals, gives more modest breaks to others and offers the boldest rewrite of the nation’s tax system since 1986.
Republicans said the package would benefit people of all incomes and ignite the economy. Even an official projection of a $1 trillion, 10-year flood of deeper budget deficits couldn’t dissuade GOP senators from rallying behind the bill.
“Obviously I’m kind of a dinosaur on the fiscal issues,” said Corker, who battled to keep the bill from worsening the government’s accumulated $20 trillion in IOUs.
The Republican-led House approved a similar bill last month in what has been a stunningly quick trip through Congress for complex legislation. Democrats derided the hastily written, scribbles-in -the-margin crafting of the bill in the final hours Friday night.
After spending the year’s first nine months futilely trying to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law, GOP leaders were determined to move the measure rapidly before opposition Democrats and lobbying groups could blow it up. The party views passage as crucial to retaining its House and Senate majorities in next year’s elections.
Democrats dismissed the bill as a gift to its wealthy and business backers at the expense of lower-earning people. They played up the fact that the bill would permanently reduce corporate tax rates, from 35 percent to 20 percent, while offering only temporary tax cuts to individuals, lasting until 2026.
Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has said the bill’s reductions for many families would be modest and by 2027, families earning under $75,000 would on average face higher, not lower, taxes.
The bill is “removed from the reality of what the American people need,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. He criticized Republicans for releasing a revised, 479-page bill that no one could absorb shortly before the final vote, saying, “The Senate is descending to a new low of chicanery.”
“You really don’t read this kind of legislation,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told home-state reporters, saying senators focus on the major provisions as opposed to the “mind numbing” comparisons to current law.
Democrats took to the Senate floor and social media to mock one page that included changes scrawled in barely legible handwriting. Later, they won enough GOP support to kill a provision by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would have bestowed a tax break on conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan.
The bill hit rough waters after the Joint Taxation panel concluded it would worsen federal shortfalls by $1 trillion over a decade, even when factoring in economic growth that lower taxes would stimulate. Trump administration officials and many Republicans have insisted the bill would pay for itself by stimulating the economy. But the sour projections stiffened resistance from some deficit-averse Republicans.
But after bargaining that stretched into Friday, GOP leaders nailed down the support they needed in a chamber they control, 52-48. Facing unyielding Democratic opposition, Republicans could lose no more than two GOP senators and prevail with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence, but ended up not needing it.
Late changes introduced by GOP leaders included helping millions of companies whose owners pay individual, not corporate, taxes on their profits by allowing deductions of 23 percent, up from 17.4 percent. That helped win over Wisconsin’s Johnson and Steve Daines of Montana.
People would be allowed to deduct up to $10,000 in property taxes, a demand of Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. That matched a House provision to keep some GOP votes from high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California.
The changes added nearly $300 billion to the tax bill’s costs. To pay for that, leaders decided not to erase the alternative minimum tax. Instead, they reduced the number of high-earners who must pay it. They also increased a one-time tax on profits U.S.-based corporations are holding overseas and they would require firms to keep paying the business version of the alternative minimum tax.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. — who like Corker had been a holdout and has sharply attacked Trump’s capabilities as president — voted for the bill. He said he’d received commitments from party leaders and the administration “to work with me” to restore protections, dismantled by Trump, for young immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children. That seemed short of a pledge to actually revive the safeguards.
The Senate bill would drop the highest personal income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 38.5 percent. The estate tax levied on a few thousand of the nation’s largest inheritances would be narrowed to affect even fewer.
Deductions for state and local income taxes, moving expenses and other items would vanish, the standard deduction — used by most Americans — would nearly double to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for couples, and the per-child tax credit would grow.
The bill would abolish the “Obamacare” requirement that most people buy health coverage or face tax penalties. Industry experts say that would weaken the law by easing pressure on healthier people to buy coverage, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the move would push premiums higher and leave 13 million additional people uninsured.
Drilling would be allowed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Another provision, knocked out because it violated Senate budget rules, would have explicitly let parents buy tax-advantaged 529 college savings accounts for fetuses, a step they can already take but which anti-abortion forces wanted inscribed into law. There were also breaks for the wine, beer and spirits industries, Alaska Natives and aircraft management firms.
___
Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Richard Lardner in Washington and Scott Bauer Milwaukee contributed to this report. |
A key element to a happier life is being surrounded by a supportive and influential network of friends and acquaintances. Sometimes, though, we can mistake influencers with manipulators and it can be hard to tell the difference.
It’s rare to find those who will invest time and energy into something that doesn’t have the potential for some personal gain. Just like in business we calculate the ROI (return on investment) for our friendships, maybe not in such a black and white way, but it happens.
A manipulator knows how to get what they need with little effort from themselves but at great cost to others. They find ways to work around the system (or you) for their benefit, so even though your ROI is low, you still take the time to invest in the relationship.
Manipulators people spend a lot of time and energy creating an environment where they can control the outcome, so their needs are constantly met by others. The biggest problem of a manipulative relationship is we often don’t even know it’s happening, and we allow it to continue.
Here are 4 ways to disarm a manipulator:
Recognize the Problem
It should come as no surprise that you must recognize there is a problem before you can solve it. The first sign of a problem is leaving an encounter with someone not feeling quite right and questioning the outcome. If you have questions and doubts around something you promised or agreed to, it might be time to start questioning the motives behind the request.
Here are some characteristics of manipulators:
Their needs take precedence over everyone else’s.
They expect you always to be available on a moment’s notice.
They are often in a crisis that requires immediate action.
Another key indicator of a manipulative relationship is when other friends start to notice the imbalance of the give and take with someone else. Pay attention to the people around you and their opinions. It is often easier to see things from the outside looking in.
Ask Questions
Part of a manipulative relationship is the never-ending demands that are put upon us. They are usually phrased in such a way that we should feel privileged at the opportunity to help.
Because a manipulator thrives on control, it is helpful to take away some of that control by putting the focus back on them by asking questions. The right kind of questions can help make them aware of the one-sided value to the request and can signal that you are aware of their behavior. For example:
I see how this helps you. Can you help me understand how this benefits me?
Do I have a say in how this goes forward?
Does this seem like a reasonable request to you?
Does it seem fair to you that you are asking me to do …?
When you ask probing questions, you are shining a light on the true nature of their request. If there is any self-awareness, then they will usually see the situation for what it is and change the request or withdraw it altogether.
Say “No” and Stand Firm
You can only control your actions. That is important because you will not be able to change the behavior of a manipulator, but you can stop being their victim. That happens when you start saying “no.”
We are manipulated because we allow it and refusing to be manipulated is the first step in breaking the cycle. Manipulators are good at what they do, so pay attention to their response. They are likely to say or do things that pull at the heart strings. We should stand firm in our “no,” knowing that we are taking the first step towards freeing ourselves from their influence.
Use Time to Your Advantage
Manipulators are good at what they do and will have all sorts of responses to our objections. They also know their best opportunity to get us on board with their scheme is to get us to agree immediately. Instead of committing to the request, we can try using time to our advantage.
“Let me get back to you.”
That one statement puts the power of the situation back in our court. It gives us the ability to really assess the situation and allows us to find a reasonable and respectful way to decline if that is what we want to do.
We stay in a relationship for all sorts of reasons, but we should only stay in it if it is serving us. And one of the ways our relationships serve us is by us serving them. So while someone important might need more attention and help from us because of a major life change, over time the relationship honors the needs of everyone.
Needless to say, a manipulator doesn’t buy into this philosophy. Remember it is okay to create boundaries and say “no” for our well-being. After all, we are better prepared to help others when we put ourselves first. |
WASHINGTON -- The Center for Reproductive Rights filed an injunction on Friday against a new Texas law that prevents a woman from getting an abortion unless her doctor first gives her an ultrasound, describes the fetus to her in detail and allows her to listen to the fetal heartbeat.
The Center argues that the sonogram bill hijacks the doctor/patient relationship and violates their First Amendment rights by "forcing physicians to deliver politically-motivated communications to women, regardless of their wishes." The lawsuit also charges that the bill discriminates against women by subjecting them to certain "protections" that are not imposed on men.
"It's sex discrimination because Texas is treating women differently than it is treating men based on outdated stereotypes that women are too immature or incompetent to make their own decisions," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of CRR. "Texas doesn't impose any kind of similar protections over men's reproductive health decisions, such as getting a vasectomy or disposing of unused donor sperm."
State Rep. Sid Miller (R-Stephenville), the author of the bill, said the law is not intended to put unwanted emotional strain on a woman or change her mind, but simply to inform her of her options.
"It would be pretty hard to interfere with the doctor/patient relationship when there's not one," he told HuffPost. "This bill is about allowing the doctor to explain the sonogram, which is not happening now. What we're trying to do is give her all the information available so she can make an educated decision."
The bill mandates an ultrasound between 24 and 72 hours before an abortion, and any physician who fails to comply could be charged with a criminal misdemeanor and stripped of his medical license.
"It's a wholly inappropriate law," Northup told HuffPost. "Doctors are supposed to provide care that is wanted and consented to by their patients, and this forces the government right into the privacy of the doctor's office to push an anti-choice agenda."
Mandatory sonogram bills have gained steam during this legislative session: So far in 2011, 28 ultrasound bills have been filed in 14 different states. Three states -- Arizona, Texas and Florida -- have enacted sonogram laws, and a similar provision was vetoed in North Carolina this month.
CRR successfully blocked the implementation of a mandatory ultrasound law in Oklahoma last year, and Northup said they are optimistic about being granted an injunction in Texas. |
GOOSING THE ECONOMY….Larry Bartels says that Democratic presidents produce higher economic growth than Republican presidents, and that the differences in average growth rates for middle-class and poor families (but not affluent families, apparently, who do well under both parties) are statistically significant by conventional social-scientific standards. Charts here.
So what’s going on? Paul Krugman says he’s uncertain about Bartels’s results because he can’t figure out a “plausible mechanism” for them — a common reaction among economists, who generally don’t believe that presidents influence the economy enough to produce the kinds of differences Bartels documents. Bartels himself isn’t sure what causes the effect either, but takes a crack at an explanation here:
One of my aims in writing Unequal Democracy was to prod economists and policy analysts to devote more attention to precisely that question. Douglas Hibbs did important work along these lines in the 1980s, documenting significant partisan differences in post-war macroeconomic policies. He found that Democrats favored expansionary policies producing substantially higher employment and growth rates, while Republicans endured and sometimes prolonged recessions in order to keep inflation in check. (Not coincidentally, unemployment mostly affects income growth among relatively poor people, while inflation mostly affects income growth among relatively affluent people.) In recent decades taxes and transfers have probably been more important. Social spending. Business regulation or lack thereof. And don’t forget the minimum wage. Over the past 60 years, the real value of the minimum wage has increased by 16 cents per year under Democratic presidents and declined by 6 cents per year under Republican presidents; that’s a 3% difference in average income growth for minimum wage workers, with ramifications for many more workers higher up the wage scale. So, while I don’t pretend to understand all the ways in which presidents’ policy choices shape the income distribution, I see little reason to doubt that the effects are real and substantial.
Tyler Cowen, noting that the biggest changes in inequality come in the second year of a president’s term, suggests that anti-inflationary zeal is the causal mechanism:
Republicans are more willing to break the back of inflation and risk an immediate recession. Alternatively, it could be said that central bankers expect enough support for tough, anti-inflation decisions only from Republican Presidents….Other plausible channels for income inequality effects, such as tax and regulatory decisions, would not be concentrated in the second year of each administration. ….Inflation is good for the poor in the short run, since many poor are debtors. But inflation is bad for the poor in the long run. Just ask anyone who lived through the New Zealand inflation of the 1970s. So Bartels could have entitled his key graph: “Democratic Presidents live for the short run and we need a Republican President every now and then.”
It’s worth noting that there’s a fair amount of agreement between these two views. The low-inflation environment of the past decade or two may have broken the link, but before that Democrats were certainly more oriented toward wage growth than Republicans, who were generally more obsessed with keeping a check on budget deficits and inflation.
But policy almost certainly matters too, and I’m not sure Tyler is right about this being inconsistent with the observation that growth differences are highest in the second year of an administration. Presidents tend to be at the peak of their power in their first year, and that’s when they’re most able to pass major economic reforms: think of Bush and Reagan’s tax cuts, Clinton’s economic plan, and LBJ’s Great Society. It’s not implausible that, on average, the biggest changes come in the first year of a new administration and show their biggest effect in the second year.
In any case, the evidence that Democratic administrations provide higher growth is surprisingly robust. And it’s not just growth: Democratic presidents also provide lower inflation, lower unemployment, higher stock market growth, and lower inequality — and they do so regardless of whether you build a lag time into the analysis to account for the time it takes for economic policies to have an effect. It’s true that, by all accounts, nobody believes presidents have enough impact on the economy to be responsible for this, but there are now enough postwar data points to make coincidence an unlikely explanation. Something seems to be going on. It’s well worth some serious investigation. |
Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire's mother was arrested on Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz., for failing to have an ignition interlock device on her vehicle, according to a report in the Arizona Republic.
Carrie Mae Stoudemire, 54, was stopped at 3:25 p.m. after her Lincoln Navigator was straddling two lanes and going 60 mph, according to the Scottsdale police report. Her eyes were "watery and glassy," according to the officer.
Carrie Stoudemire told the officer the Navigator was rented and she was unaware she needed to have an ignition interlock device on all of her vehicles. She added that she was on her way to an alcohol class.
An ignition interlock device prevents a vehicle from being started if the driver's blood alcohol content, which is collected by exhaling into the device, registers above a pre-set level.
Police said Carrie Stoudemire's driver's license says she must have the device on her vehicles until Oct. 30.
After Carrie Stoudemire refused to participate in a field sobriety test, the officer handcuffed her and put her in the back seat of his patrol car.
According to the report, Amare Stoudemire and another man arrived at the scene a few minutes later. Carrie Stoudemire began to yell "Amar'e!" and asked for a lawyer.
Police said Carrie Stoudemire was charged with speeding, operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device and failure to drive in a single lane. She was booked into the Scottsdale jail and later released.
Carrie Stoudemire has been in and out of jail throughout Stoudemire's life for charges ranging from drunken driving to drug possession to prostitution. In 2006, she was sentenced to three years in prison in Arizona for aggravated DUI following an accident. |
My constitutionally unprotected knife, according to the Washington Supreme Court.
From today’s Washington Supreme Court decision in City of Seattle v. Evans, which also usefully canvasses decisions from other state courts:
We hold that the right to bear arms protects instruments that are designed as weapons traditionally or commonly used by law abiding citizens for the lawful purpose of self-defense. In considering whether a weapon is an arm, we look to the historical origins and use of that weapon, noting that a weapon does not need to be designed for military use to be traditionally or commonly used for self-defense. We will also consider the weapon’s purpose and intended function…. [T]he small knife found on Evans’s person is a utility tool, not a weapon…. Evans does not demonstrate that his paring knife is a constitutionally protected arm.
The court’s analysis interprets both the Second Amendment and the Washington Constitution’s right to bear arms provision, and also says it’s consistent with Oregon and Connecticut caselaw, which views “arms” as covering switchblades, dirks, billy clubs and police batons. The court doesn’t discuss whether the protection would extend to concealed carrying, but it reaffirmed that the right to bear arms includes a “right to carry a weapon” in some way, presumably including carrying in most public places.
The court also expressly noted that “many knives banned under the Seattle ordinance may be arms deserving constitutional protection…. In a different case under appropriate facts, the ordinance’s ‘broad prohibition’ on carrying arms for purposes of self-defense may well be constitutionally infirm. We reserve judgment on this issue for an appropriate case.”
Four of the nine Justices dissented, reasoning that knives are generally constitutionally protected, whether or not the particular knife is designed as a weapon. (For gender identity politics buffs, note that the less weapons-friendly — but still quite weapons-friendly — majority was three women and two men, and the more weapons-friendly dissent was three women and one man.)
Thanks to David Stearns for the pointer. |
Volunteers pack bags of rice at the San Francisco Food Bank on Nov. 1, the same day that the largest cuts in the history of our country’s food stamp program went into effect.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
On Nov. 1, the largest cuts in the history of our country’s food stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, went into effect when the increase ordained by the 2009 economic stimulus package expired. The reductions, which total $5 billion, have already touched more than 47 million people—1 in 7 Americans. I spoke to one food stamps recipient, a single mother in Washington, D.C., named Debra, about how she was coping financially and emotionally with her post-cut “new normal.” Our conversation, edited and condensed, is below.
Slate: How have the recent SNAP cuts affected your budget?
Debra: I was getting $203 dollars a month in food stamps. Now I’m down I think $60 or $70, to around $130. I’m not sure because they said they cut 30 percent, and I had $12 left in my account when I went to get food stamps. This month my account had $147.
Slate: That’s how much you’ll spend on food for the month?
Debra: Yes. It’s me and my daughter at home. She’s 21. It was bad enough before the cuts: We were eating lunchmeat all week, and we only had enough for a can of vegetables a day. Divide $203 by 30 days, and then by 3 meals, and then halve it for each person. It’s not a lot. And now it’s going to be much worse. I don’t know if we can still do the canned vegetables every day. One thing we won’t do anymore is have three-course meals on weekends. We used to buy a dinner on Saturday and Sunday that would have three courses: a vegetable, a starch and a meat. But meat is going to be a huge problem. It’s expensive for anyone. I don’t know what we’ll eat for the weekends anymore. Hopefully not lunchmeats again.
Slate: So meat is the first thing to go?
Debra: Yes, my weekend chicken, turkey wings, whatever we could afford. I used to buy a beef roast, but that’s now out of the question. At Giant in the mornings, they mark down the meats that are about to expire and I used to get those. But you have to make sure portions are small enough that you can afford them. I had some “$2 off” coupons too, which helped. The good thing is that church will give me a turkey for Thanksgiving because I can’t get my own. I don’t know what else I’ll have on the table for Thanksgiving but at least I’ll have a turkey.
Slate: It’s you and your daughter at home?
Debra: Yes. She can’t apply for her own benefits until she’s 22. I’m still supporting her. I also have a neighbor I’ve known for 13 years, who’s critically ill, and I visit her a lot. I’m a veteran: I have a nursing background in the military. I try to help where I can. I also volunteer a lot for organizations that support mental health. We developed a peer program for schools, and a pamphlet that tells people where they can get help. We have a lot of meetings to figure out better intake processes for mentally ill youth. That’s a lot of how I spend my time. I’m also disabled, so I get a VA compensation check every month along with my social security. My daughter and I live on those two checks.
Slate: Did you talk about the cuts with your daughter? What is it like supporting her through this too?
Debra: We talked about it. She wants to help and get a job, but it’s a catch-22. I’m on rent assistance, and if she gets a job, my rent goes up and my food stamp money goes down. But she’s got an interview at Target coming up and if it works out that will be an interesting challenge.
Slate: Do you feel hungry a lot?
Debra: I have hunger but I’ve gotten used to it. It’s something to adjust to. I try to cut it by drinking a lot of water, but water gets boring so I buy Kool-aid for some flavor. I have kidney stones, so my doctor says I need to drink a lot of water anyway. I also have milk and cereal for the mornings. But yeah, I’m hungry. I’m very fortunate because I have a neighbor who gets Meals on Wheels delivered, and she’ll give some of it to me and my daughter.
Slate: Do you and your daughter ever go hungry so the other one can eat?
Debra: She eats. I’m her mother. I let my daughter eat. Last night she was hungry and we had some peppers. I made her an omelet with eggs, lunch meat and peppers and I went to bed without eating. I could have made myself an omelet too, but that would have meant no eggs for the weekend. And I had been in Baltimore that day—I’d bought a corn beef sandwich for $4. I didn’t know what she had eaten all day, but I had food in my belly from lunch. So it came down to me feeding her and I went without. This morning, though, she didn’t have breakfast, and I had cereal.
Slate: How many meals do you have a day?
Debra: Usually two. Well, that’s not counting cereal in the morning sometimes. But we’re going to have to be very careful with cereal to make it through this month. I’m going to have to totally readjust my grocery list. I’m not fond of Oodles and Noodles or whatever those are called but they are easy to buy. At least it’s something in your stomach. But we normally have a canned vegetable with some pasta in it for lunch and a sandwich for dinner. Meat on weekends, though not anymore.
Slate: Do you have other ways to supplement your food supply?
Debra: Food banks. I use Martha’s Table once a month and Bread for the City once a month. Martha’s Table is extremely helpful. They give you juice and fruits and vegetables in cans. It’s two whole bags of groceries. Though the lines are awful: I’m not sure when they start but by the time I get there at 9:30 they are just terrible, which is because it is such a good and popular food bank. Martha’s Table works out better for me than Bread of the City. They’ll give you six cans of stuff, maybe once a fresh vegetable, and they usually have some old bread getting ready to go bad that someone donated. But all of it is better than nothing.
Slate: Have the reductions had any repercussions for the rest of your budget? For instance, are you cutting back elsewhere in order to afford food?
Debra: I used to do laundry twice a month. Now I can only afford once a month, $20 instead of $40. I also used to spend $40 per month on transportation. But I’m only putting half of that on my Smart Card [for D.C. bus rides] now. It’s a challenge if I don’t have enough money to go to the food bank. I forgot to tell you—I am a mental health patient and I have individual therapy twice a week. I need money to get to those appointments. If I can’t make it I have to text and let them know I can’t come, but it’s not good. I’m very fortunate because a lot of clients have it much harder than me. I get those two checks every month and they have even less money. I don’t know how they make it.
Slate: Have you considered re-entering the workforce?
Debra: Yes, I’ve thought about it, and my daughter is also considering it. But my food stamps, rent, VA compensation, and social security would be affected. I’d have to make a lot of money to overcome all the reductions, something like $15 to $20 an hour.
Slate: You don’t think you could find a job that would pay that much?
Debra: There are so many people out there looking for jobs. The jobs come and go. They’re so hard to find. It feels to me like a hopeless situation right now.
Slate: Do you see a way out of SNAP in the future?
Debra: I’ve been on food stamps for two years. It is really tight. And right now, no, I don’t see a way out. Unless I get a job that really pays a lot of money, but that’s what everyone is looking for. There’s a way to do it but I don’t know what it is.
Slate: When you’re shopping, how do you triage health, cost, and what you and your daughter like to eat?
Debra: We’ve learned to eat what we can afford. I’ve never been a picky eater but my daughter had to learn to like okra. I found it for a salad once and we had it with tomatoes. I’ve had things that we may not want to eat but we know we should: corn, beans, stuff given to us by food banks. We like the vegetables Martha’s Table lets you choose: peppers, potatoes, carrots. Sometimes they have fresh fruits too. I love oranges. I might buy a bag of oranges to last for one month. The thing is, we could eat all that in a week. But I’m very fortunate, because it’s better than nothing. When I shop, I try to buy store brand products instead of brand names like Dole. And I try to do price comparisons. It’s sometimes hard because a larger package might be a better deal than the smaller one, but it still costs more and you have to be able to afford it.
Slate: It sounds really tough.
Debra: It is hard. I can’t say it’s not. I just hope this helps people understand that just because food stamps are out there doesn’t make it easy for people to eat well. It’s still a struggle. |
Chris Matthews: Pence Gave a "Barn Burner" Of A Speech, All The Elements Of A Keynote Address
MSNBC's Chris Matthews reacts to Gov. Mike Pence's speech after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced him as his running mate.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: It was a barn burner. And it had all the elements of a keynote speech for next week's convention. Clearly, both these guys were warming up today. I know we're just supposed to get an announcement of a vice presidential announcement already made, but they used it to get network time, cable time, to basically give us a draft of what we'll hear next week.
I thought the speech by Governor Pence was reminding me of old-time Republican speeches, people like Walter Judd. this is the whole power-packed conservative argument. It's about building, it's about infrastructure of all things. But manufacturing jobs. And he was talking about his own state of Indiana. If you go to places like Michigan City down at the bottom of Michigan, Lake Michigan there, you see cities with nothing left, but maybe a Blockbuster that's gone now. Maybe a diner is still there. They've been hollowed out.
The great irony, of course, Brian [Williams], is he brags about his state's A-1 bond rating, balance budgets, create 40,000 net jobs, at the same time basically decrying the economic state of the country, the loss of jobs to Mexico, et cetera. They're trying to have it both ways in the rust belt by saying it's terrible. But also bragging about their own successes there. I would say overall, his reference to the presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, as the builder is a pretty good place to start in terms of branding this ticket...
And he picks this you go, wait a minute, why is this guy somehow able to end up solid after days and hours of cold feet and confusion, and yet ends up on solid ground once again. He's a billionaire. How did he get to be a billionaire? If it's $11 billion or $4 billion, he's successful. How does he end up solid after all this weaving and craziness? Is this guy capable of success after all the nonsense? They must wonder, maybe he is. That's something to worry about. Which is good for our democracy.
They're going to be on their toes [at Clinton campaign HQ]. They're going to say this guy is at least 50%. in the latest polling, this guy is going to be a contender. 'We've got to beat him.' The american people have to be given a positive choice from Hillary Clinton. She's got to figure out the trust factor she has, which is her deficit right now. She has to figure this guy out. And she hasn't done it yet.
So he's the builder. Hillary Clinton is the enemy, that clearly the Republicans in an almost unimaginable way hate her. Hillary Clinton must never become president of the United States, that was the big crowd pleaser from the VP nominee now. Clearly they're going to run negatively, and maybe successfully on that negative camp. |
Bolingbrook, Ill. (Feb. 7, 2017) - WeatherTech Racing together with Scuderia Corsa will field the No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTE in the GTE-Am Class for drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.), Bill Sweedler (Westport, Ct.) and Townsend Bell (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, June 17-18. The all-American trio bring solid miles to the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Sweedler and Bell are returning as the defending Le Mans GTE-Am Class winners from 2016. MacNeil will be making his fourth start at the French classic. Combining the efforts of the seasoned IMSA WeatherTech Championship drivers under the Scuderia Corsa banner for the 24 hours was a natural decision.
"I think we are headed to Le Mans with a very strong package," MacNeil said. "Bill and Townsend won there last year in a Ferrari. We will be running a brand new 488 GTE and the Scuderia Corsa team knows the car and knows us as well. I run with them in the Ferrari Challenge Series, so between us three drivers and the team we already have a great racing relationship. This will help us to get right down to getting the car set-up and ready to go for race day."
"We have threatened to team up for a couple of years," Sweedler said. "Cooper had his own program and we had ours, but this year we were able to get all of the pieces in place to do it together! We have known the MacNeils for a many years and shared resources at Alex Job Racing in the past. Cooper has a lot of miles at Le Mans and has a lot of time behind the wheel of a Ferrari. Experience, drive, and a former winning team gives us another shot at winning the biggest sports car race in the world."
"With our win last year, we have learned what it takes to stand on top of the podium at Le Mans," Bell said. "We will have high expectations and we'll have to be at the top of our game again. We've been friends with Cooper for a long time now in the paddock and I'm looking forward to racing with him. He is a great guy and has the experience at Le Mans which is key. As we found out to be successful at the 24 you have to have the pace. No excuses. No full course yellows, wave bye to game your way back on the lead lap."
The team will travel to Le Mans, France for the pre-test weekend June 3 and return for the race to run June 17-18. |
Lucknow in the 19th century – Vintage Pictures
By Somali K Chakrabarti
Lucknow, the city of Nawabs, was also once the city of adab and tehzeeb (etiquette and manners).
Refined speech, manners, art, literature, poetry and “Nawabi” style cuisines once marked the culture of the city.
The capital city of Uttar Pradesh, on the bank of River Gomati, has a cultural legacy shared by Hindus and Muslims, with a strong influence of Persian court culture. The nobility consisted mainly of Shiite Muslims, who traced back their ancestry to Persia.
Peppered with Persian vocabulary and idioms, Udru language spoken in Lucknow was known for its elegance, expressiveness and extreme politeness. Lucknow Urdu played a key role in the city’s cultural milieu.
Lucknow first attained prominence in the 15th century under the sultans of Jaunpur. Later it was ruled by Mughal governors. By the 17th century, Lucknow was a prosperous commercial centre and continued to flourish till 1856 as the capital of the independent Nawabs of Avadh (originally the governors under the Mughals).
The city’s culture evolved under the patronage of the Nawabs and Lucknow became a flourishing centre for the art, literature, poetry (ghazals , sher-o-shayari), music (qawwali, thumri) and dance (kathak).
Courtesans were frequent performers at the palaces of the Nawabs. These influential elite women actively shaped the developments in music and dance styles.
Here is a collection of vintage pictures of some of the hallmark structures of the city.
Bara Imambara, ca 1860
Lithograph View of Imambara and the Rumi Durwaza, from Moosah Bagh end of the city, ca 1860
Imambaras were important religious buildings in Lucknow, in which the ceremony of Muharram was conducted. The most important Imambara in Lucknow is the Asafi or the Bara (Big) Imambara, a colossal edifice constructed in 1784, at a cost of two million rupees during the reign of Nawab Asaf-ud-daulah.
Rumi Darwaza, ca 1824
Rumi Darwaza was an imposing gateway, built by Asaf–ud–daula in 1784. The huge elaborate gate, erected just beside the Bara Imambara, is said to be modelled on one of the original gateways to Constantinople.
Dilkhusha Garden
The Dilkusha Palace in an Indianised European style was built by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan (ruled 1798-1814), as a hunting retreat, set in extensive grounds. The house is said to be modelled on Vanbrugh’s Seaton Delaval in Northumberland.
Moti Mahal, ca 1860
Moti Mahal (or Pearl Palace) of Lucknow was named after its pearl-shaped dome. It is located along the Gomti river and was commissioned by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan (r. 1798-1814). It appears to have been built for purposes of defence or to keep a check on the advance of an enemy.
Chattar Manzil
The Chattar Manzil or Umbrella Palace (1820s) was ‘so named for their distinctive, triple umbrella pavilions or chatris which ornament the domes. It served as the palace for the rulers of Awadh and their wives. The larger or Greater Chattar Manzil had three storeys with tehkhanas or suites of underground rooms. The Lesser Chattar Manzil comprises of government offices. Both are impressive architectural hybrids.
Chota Imambara
The Chhota Imanbara is also known as the Husainabad Imambara or Palace of Lights. It was built between 1837 and 1842 by Muhammed Ali Shah to serve as a mausoleum. The complex consists of a forecourt and main court. The Imambara is located inside the main court and has two tombs on either side. A gilded dome dominates the building and is covered with minarets, small domes, arches and a miniature replica of the Taj Mahal.
Kaiserbagh Baradari, ca 1880
The Kaiserbagh complex was built by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (ruled 1847-56), and was much damaged and looted in 1858. A baradari (a house twelve-doors) was an elegant Nawabi-style pavilion, which together with gardens was an essential feature of much secular architecture in Lucknow. The Kaiserbagh Baradari, square in plan, stood in the middle of the palace complex and contained a number of collonaded halls of varying sizes.
Residency
Lucknow suffered the devastation and ruin of a British onslaught aimed at crushing the revolt during the Indian Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.
The Residency Building, built in c.1800 for the British Resident in Lucknow, was a key site of the Siege of Lucknow during the Uprising of 1857. It was sieged twice then recaptured in March 1858 by British forces under Sir Colin Campbell. Approximately 3000 British inhabitants took refuge within the complex. The surviving ruins of the Residency convey the grandeur of the original structure and provide an insight to the events of 1857.
Looting and ransacking of the palaces by the British troops followed by dynamiting of large tracts of the city were devastating blows from which Lucknow never quite recovered. Few buildings that survived the events of 1858, were restored and maintained, yet even many of these structures lie in a neglected and decrepit state.
The succeeding years saw the fading away of rich traditions and practices and the decline of Lucknow from a centre of cultural excellence into a city struggling to preserve its heritage.
Pictures Source: The British Library
References :
The Tabla of Lucknow, James Kippen
Online British Library
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By: Somali K Chakrabarti Hi there! Welcome to Scribble and Scrawl! Here, we delve into themes related to positive lifestyle, explore facets of art and culture, share travel experiences, and highlight inspiring stories. Hope you enjoy reading the posts.
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Illustration: Matt Golding Gone are the aesthetically-challenged "gumnut" sitting chairs that were used by former PMs for meetings. In their place is a long (dinner-sized) table from the Parliamentary Library that allows the PM to greet, work - and share tea - with people. Mr Turnbull is an enthusiastic tea drinker, preferring black tea in the morning and green tea as the day wears on. The lacquer cups on the table were a gift from the Japanese ambassador.
Other innovations in the office include a standing desk for Mr Turnbull to do computer and iPad work (which is fairly trendy but not as trendy as those treadmill desks some active types are keen on). As with other PMs, the bookshelves behind the PM's desk are full of bound copies of parliamentary acts. But Mr Turnbull has also included a diverse selection of books from his Canberra foreshore apartment and former ministerial office. They include John Howard's The Menzies Era (a must-read for any Liberal PM) and former Labor cabinet minister Neal Blewett's account of the first Keating government, A Cabinet Diary. There's also Michelle Grattan's Australian Prime Ministers. But it's not all Australian politics.
There are books about Nelson Mandela, British leaders, Napoleon and Canberra's engineering heritage (the second edition). Other topics covered include Australian intelligence agencies, art history, philosophy, gardens in Kyoto as well as several books on China. Mr Turnbull hasn't forgotten publications closer to home either, with wife Lucy's book on Sydney prominently displayed as well as several on the famous Spycatcher case he worked on in the 1980s. Yes, this includes his own book on the subject, The Spycatcher Trial. Also decking out the office shelves are multiple photos of the Turnbull family. One picture shows a shoeless Mr Turnbull drinking Italian beer and snuggling his grandson, Jack. The walls are adorned with sections of Australian artist Tony Clark's work Clark's Myriorama from the Parliament House art collection, a painting by Mr Turnbull's grandmother (who he suspects might have had some help from William Dobell) and a John Olsen from Mr Turnbull's personal collection.
Another family touch is a gift from Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer via the Bank of NSW archives. It is a framed board minute approving the loan for a property bought by Turnbull relative John Turnbull in 1817. On the PM's desk (the sit-down one), there is an inkwell from his wife. This was a gift on their most recent (35th) wedding anniversary. TONY ABBOTT Tony Abbott's office had a sportier influence. Along with some Indigenous art, there was an Aussie Rules football, an Australian cricket team cap as well as a cap for the Great Western Sydney Giants.
The headwear theme continued with Akubra hats. He also had a photo of himself and his mother, Fay and a portrait of Robert Menzies. A model Linfox truck (from Lindsay Fox's logistics company) also took pride of place on the shelves. JULIA GILLARD Ms Gillard had an eclectic mix on her bookshelves.
These included a Sherrin footy (celebrating 150 years of AFL) and a smattering of books, including a dictionary/thesaurus and Australian literature reference. She had a photo of herself and first bloke Tim Mathieson and another snap with pal Hillary Clinton. Ms Gillard also had some special footy boots that adidas gave her, labelled "PM" and "Gillard". On the walls were two water scenes by Arthur Streeton. KEVIN RUDD
First-time around, Mr Rudd also had the Streeton paintings as well as a giant map of the world above a separate desk for reading newspapers. The bookshelves were mostly filled with books - and not very tidy ones either. Who has time for tidy books when you're governing in the midst of the GFC? Follow us on Twitter |
Notorious for their racist chants at soccer matches, hooligan supporters of the Israeli team Beitar Jerusalem flooded a Jerusalem mall this week and beat up several Arab employees, Israeli media reported.
Amateur video posted on Tuesday showed a large crowd chanting raucously inside what appeared to be a mall. The video was said to have been shot shortly before the crowd, numbered in the hundreds by the Israeli daily Haaretz, brawled with employees who sought to remove them.
“They caught some of them and beat the hell out of them,” Yair, who owns a bakery in the mall food court, told Haaretz. “They hurled people into shops, and smashed them against shop windows. I don’t understand how none shattered into pieces.”
Another witness, whose name was concealed by the newspaper, said, “They made a terrible noise, screamed ‘death to the Arabs,’ waved their scarves and sang songs at the top of their voices.” Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American activist and blogger pointed out in a post on The Electronic Intifada, that the Hebrew chant, “mavet la aravim” – “death to the Arabs” – can be heard in the video at the 2:32 and 5:21 marks.
Haaretz reports that closed-circuit cameras inside the Malha Mall captured the violence, but there were no arrests.
The violence comes two months after the team was penalized by the Israel Football Association in January for racist chants by its fans after some hurled racial epithets at an opposing player, an Israeli of Nigerian descent, during a game.
It was the latest unpleasant episode for the Beitar club, which has a strong following among ultranationalists in Israel. As a 2006 article in The Guardian observed, racist chants by fans during games have occasionally spilled over into rioting afterward.
On Sunday, an Israeli legislator proposed harsher treatment of those engaging in soccer hooliganism, allowing them to be arrested and held without charge in a form of military detention.
“To prevent a national tragedy like there was in Egypt, and because violence is on the rise on Israeli soccer fields, we must take very extreme steps against hooligans,” Alex Miller, the chairman of a committee on education, culture and sports, was quoted as saying in The Jerusalem Post,, referring to violent riots after a soccer match in Egypt that killed at least 74 people last month.
His comments came before Monday’s mall brawl and ahead of a meeting of his committee, also on Monday. The topic: violence and soccer. |
What do you call a group of ...?
Many of the following terms belong to 15th-century lists of 'proper terms', such as those in the Book of St Albans attributed to Dame Juliana Barnes (1486). Some are fanciful or humorous terms which probably never had any real currency, but have been taken up by antiquarian writers, notably Joseph Strutt in Sports and Pastimes of England (1801).
People
a blush of boys
a drunkship of cobblers
a hastiness of cooks
a stalk of foresters
an observance of hermits
a bevy of ladies
a faith of merchants
a superfluity of nuns
a malapertness (= impertinence) of pedlars
a pity of prisoners
a glozing (= fawning) of taverners
Animals
a shrewdness of apes
a herd or pace of asses
a troop of baboons
a cete of badgers
a sloth of bears
a swarm or drift or hive or erst of bees
a flock or flight or pod of birds
a herd or gang or obstinacy of buffalo
a bellowing of bullfinches
a drove of bullocks
an army of caterpillars
a clowder or glaring of cats
a herd or drove of cattle
a brood or clutch or peep of chickens
a chattering or clattering of choughs
a rag or rake of colts
a covert of coots
a herd of cranes
a bask of crocodiles
a murder of crows
a litter of cubs
a herd of curlew
a cowardice of curs
a herd or mob of deer
a pack or kennel of dogs
a school of dolphins
a trip of dotterel
a flight or dole or piteousness of doves
a raft or bunch or paddling of ducks on water
a safe of ducks on land
a fling of dunlins
a herd or parade of elephants
a gang or herd of elk
a busyness of ferrets
a charm or chirm of finches
a shoal or run of fish
a swarm or cloud of flies
a skulk of foxes
a gaggle of geese on land
a skein or team or wedge of geese in flight
a herd of giraffes
a cloud of gnats
a flock or herd or trip of goats
a band of gorillas
a pack or covey of grouse
a down or mute or husk of hares
a cast of hawks
a siege of herons
a bloat of hippopotami
a drove or string or stud or team of horses
a pack or cry or kennel of hounds
a flight or swarm of insects
a fluther or smack of jellyfish
a mob or troop of kangaroos
a kindle or litter of kittens
a desert of lapwing
an exaltation or a bevy of larks
a leap or lepe of leopards
a pride or sawt of lions
a tiding of magpies
a sord or suit of mallard
a stud of mares
a richesse of martens
a labour of moles
a troop of monkeys
a barren of mules
a watch of nightingales
a yoke of oxen
a pandemonium of parrots
a covey of partridges
a muster of peacocks
a muster or parcel or rookery of penguins
a head or nye of pheasants
a kit of pigeons flying together
a litter or herd of pigs
a stand or wing or congregation of plovers
a rush or flight of pochards
a pod or school or herd or turmoil of porpoises
a covey of ptarmigan
a litter of pups
a bevy or drift of quail
a string of racehorses
an unkindness of ravens
a crash of rhinoceros
a bevy of roes
a parliament or building of rooks
a hill of ruffs
a pod or herd or rookery of seals
a flock or herd or trip or mob of sheep
a dopping of sheldrake
a wisp or walk of snipe
a host of sparrows
a murmuration of starlings
a flight of swallows
a game of swans; a wedge of swans in the air
a drift or herd or sounder of swine
a spring of teal
a knot of toads
a hover of trout
a rafter of turkeys
a bale or turn of turtles
a bunch or knob or raft of waterfowl
a school or pod or herd or gam of whales
a company or trip of wigeon
a sounder of wild boar
a destruction of wild cats
a team of wild ducks in flight
a bunch or trip or plump or knob (fewer than 30) of wildfowl
a drift of wild pigs
a pack or rout of wolves
a fall of woodcock
a descent of woodpeckers
a herd of wrens
a zeal of zebras
You can read more about collective nouns on the Oxford Dictionaries blog. Here you will find more details about the history of collective nouns and their origins.
See other FAQs about language.
Take a look at some vocabulary questions. |
Sanctions are a growth industry in Washington. Whether the problem is international terrorism, external aggression, humanitarian crisis, human rights violations, civil war or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the US government reaches first for its rather ample powers to restrict access of target countries to the international financial system.
Washington’s reliance on sanctions is not irrational. They can have powerful effects when dealing with non-state actors and profit-motivated malefactors. They have also had a significant impact in the case of the international effort to pressure Iran to negotiate a cessation of its nuclear weapons related activities. However, while it is understandable that policy makers wish to apply unilateral sanctions that worked in one situation to other tough problems, including North Korea’s WMD programs and human rights violations, one size may not fit all.
BNP and Banco Delta Asia
The readers of the business and international press on July 1, 2014, were provided with an excellent example of the power of US financial sanctions when BNP Paribas, a major French bank with global financial operations, was fined $8.9 billion, forced to agree to suspend for one year US dollar clearing operations from its New York and several other international branches, and required to dismiss 13 corporate officers including a chief operating officer. These penalties—imposed to punish BNP’s Switzerland Office for repeated provision of financial services contrary to US law to clients in Sudan, Iran, and Cuba from 2004-2012—was larger than its annual profit and equal to the total estimated amount of the illegal financial transactions the bank conducted. Perhaps even more damaging was the possibility that the fine might cost the bank clients. Moreover, US Attorney General Eric Holder made clear in his public comments that the penalties were a message to stockholders of major banks that the US government expected them to hold their Boards of Directors accountable for either ignoring or failing to put in place controls that would prevent such violations.
Even before BNP’s guilty plea was announced, nonproliferation sanctions experts inside the US government were aware of an interesting development in the international financial community. The private sector—particularly the financial and insurance communities—was increasingly avoiding involvement with countries subject to US sanctions even when the transactions in question and the parties involved were not subject to those measures. In effect, the biggest players in international finance expanded the impact of sanctions on key proliferators like Iran by simply walking away from their financial markets.
The same proved true in the highest profile example of US financial sanctions against North Korea: the 2005 Banco Delta Asia (BDA) case. The Macao-based bank, used by Pyongyang for financial transactions and the movement of gold bullion, was cited for money laundering and some $25 million in North Korean assets were frozen. Several things resulted, all seemingly disproportionate to the size of the seizure. First, there was a serious run on BDA and other Macao banks were also shaken. Second, Pyongyang reacted with great volatility in the diplomatic sphere, making the return of the frozen assets its main demand for returning to nuclear talks. Third, the international financial community became very reluctant to involve itself in any financial dealings with North Korea for fear of following in BDA’s footsteps. While the Bush administration eventually relented on the frozen assets in order restart nuclear negotiations, by-and-large the financial community outside of China has remained hands-off with regard to business with North Korea. Indeed, Pyongyang has had a difficult time moving money and often is reduced to using couriers to lug cash back into the country.
Both of these models are providing new impetus for advocates of getting sanctions against North Korea to work faster and better. This certainly seems to be one factor driving legislation (H.R. 1771) introduced by House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce and passed by the House on July 29. The legislation seeks to:
Strengthen already powerful authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to sanction entities that facilitate North Korean proliferation activities;
Press the Obama administration to declare North Korea a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern and to ban Pyongyang from using the SWIFT system for processing international financial transactions. (Similar steps used against Iran resulted in the corporate self-censorship described above.);
Undo the decision of the Bush administration to remove North Korea from the state sponsors of terrorism list; and
Increase pressure on North Korean shipping by pressing countries to inspect their cargos and to crack down on their violations of shipping norms and regulations.
Other advocates of increased sanctions have focused on the opportunities available through derivative sanctions to pressure Chinese entities to halt their involvement in proliferation-related activities. For example, the House legislation would give the Administration the ability to sanction firms and governments that tolerate North Korean front operations. The theory is that, like the Europeans and others in the case of Iran, Chinese banks and firms would walk away from their North Korean business if forced to choose between that and access to the US financial system. Aside from dealing a major blow to Pyongyang’s proliferation programs, reducing Chinese support for its economy by inducing the kind of financial self-censorship we have seen with regard to Iran could be a sanctions magic bullet for North Korea.
Questions to Ask Yourself about New Sanctions
There isn’t enough space to walk through all the elements necessary for a thorough consideration of the risks and benefits of using US financial sanctions to compel China—both the government and private entities—to cut support for North Korean proliferation activities. But answers to four critical questions might begin that discussion.
Question 1: Isn’t Washington allowing North Korea to use the US financial system while blocking Iran from doing so by declaring it a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern?
Answer: No, in fact both countries’ access is highly constrained. The designation of Iran as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering did not significantly affect the scrutiny that the US government or the private sector gave to transactions involving Iran. Rather, the designation was a coalition building measure, imposed in solidarity with other governments that needed to take steps to constrain Iranian access to their financial systems. Some advocates believe that designating the DPRK as a country of primary money laundering concern will have an exponentially larger impact on Pyongyang than the Banco Delta Asia sanction. But the reality is most banks connected to the US banking system have already voluntarily stepped away from dealing with North Korea. .
Question 2: What about other steps taken from the Iran playbook to pressure North Korea like denying it access to SWIFT?
Answer: A complete answer would require detailed financial analysis. However, in general, the North’s banking system is so crude and its entry points into the international system so limited that it seems, at first glance, that this would not likely have a major impact on North Korea or on its proliferation programs. In fact, actions at the most basic level of international finance—scrutiny of North Korean couriers carrying large quantities of cash through international airports—would have a more significant impact. There is also a risk to the US in continually intervening in the operation of international funds transfer services like SWIFT (which is a business entity subject to Belgian and EU law), since we are far more dependent on the smooth operation of such services than North Korea.[1]
Question 3: Why don’t we sanction a major Chinese financial player for transactions involving North Korea the way we have hit French, US and Swiss banks in recent years for activities with Iran? Does the Obama administration need more authority or just more will?
Answer: Easier said than done, the answer revolves around a number of important considerations. First, is there a clear case to be made against an offending entity? Even when imposing sanctions under Executive Order, the US bureaucracy has been extraordinarily careful to build strong cases against offenders. This due diligence has insulated US sanctions from the kind of court challenges that have threatened to unravel EU sanctions. The IEEPA gives the bureaucracy remarkably broad power to seize private property and to intervene in normal economic activity. But case-building takes months and involves a wide variety of Executive Branch agencies. Moreover, in many cases involving administrative sanctions, foreign governments, including China, are given the opportunity to take remedial action prior to the imposition of penalties. Without such a step, collateral damage—as described below—becomes far more likely. When matters go to prosecution, case-building becomes even more exacting. The BNP case, for example, took five years to build.
Second, is there a clear case that the offender will actually be hurt by sanctions or prosecution? Self-censorship has been the primary trend to avoid US penalties in these sanctions cases but a second trend is the evolution of “designated evaders”: firms and banks that do not have interests in the US market and do not have correspondent accounts with American banks. The US can deny such firms access to its financial system but that will have no effect. This, of course, is the case for nearly all sanctioned North Korean entities. Sanctions against them are largely just pieces of paper without effect given the lack of almost any economic interchange between the US and North Korea.
While major Chinese and Russian entities tend to be as averse to US sanctions as their US and European counterparts, there are also many niche banks and players without such interests willing to earn large risk premiums by servicing North Korean clients. Such “designated evaders” seem to be a way for governments unsympathetic to US sanctions laws to work around them without a major confrontation either with Washington or their own large international business entities.
Of course, one could seek to continue to expand US sanctions reach to deal with this reality, but at some point the exercise would end up targeting entities and governments several levels away from the original problem being addressed. Moreover, each time the US imposes these sanctions it exposes its disproportionate influence and dependence on smoothly functioning international financial markets to a test. If Washington’s actions were seen as a greater threat to the markets than the problem it was seeking to address, our influence could evaporate quickly and US prosperity would be damaged.
Third, are the governments of the offending firms on the same page as the US with regard to the object of the sanctions? This is perhaps the most telling difference between BNP and what the US would face in the case of a major Chinese entity supporting North Korean proliferation. At one time, the US and Europe were at loggerheads on sanctions. This came to a head when the US sought to use the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA)—prohibiting foreign investment in its oil sector—against Iran. The matter came close to triggering a trade war between the US and Europe but both sides blinked and an accommodation was found. As international concern about Iran’s nuclear activities grew, however, so did European willingness to impose sanctions and to find a way to accept measures aimed against their own firms. In the end, the French government intervened with the Obama administration over the BNP case, but was silent after the plea bargain was announced.
The same cannot be said for Chinese attitudes over North Korea. While the Chinese leadership may be frustrated and unhappy with Pyongyang (and also unhappy with American policy towards that country), there is no evidence that Beijing believes economic pressure will improve matters. Indeed, it appears the Chinese leadership believes that economic development in North Korea is the long-term answer to the entire North Korean problem.
Question 4: How might China react to unilateral sanctions that affect its banks and businesses?
Answer: Major elements of the Chinese economy are much more interested in doing business in the US than with North Korea. These elements—both private and state-owned enterprises—are likely to exhibit very creative means of avoiding entanglements with sanctioned North Korean entities, as long as the US government and media do not force them to declare public fealty to US policy. But, this will not solve the problem of support for North Korea’s proliferation programs by the many small and medium sized Chinese entities that can profit from this niche market. It also can not address the tendency of Beijing to tolerate work-arounds to financial and other sanctions on North Korea that Chinese and North Korean traders continue to develop.
It is possible to envision steps that could create powerful sanctions compelling the Chinese to make an “us-or-them” choice between North Korea and the US, but the risks to American interests in East Asia and to our long-term role in the international economy need to be assessed much more carefully than is likely in today’s Washington. There is no guarantee in the current global climate that the Chinese will pick us despite the obvious economic logic of that choice. To take one complicating factor out of many that must be dealt with in this context, how wise would it be to force together an alliance of Moscow and Beijing aimed at derailing US financial sanctions by sanctioning both powers simultaneously over Ukraine and North Korea? Given the apparent inability of today’s Washington to cope with rapid shifts in geopolitical reality in Europe, East Asia and the Middle East, this writer would counsel against subjecting national security and US prosperity to such a complicated test of strategic analysis and choice.
Conclusion
Looking for a single magic bullet that can achieve all our North Korea policy desires in one stroke may not only be a fool’s errand, but could also prove counterproductive, particularly given the dangers of Chinese economic retaliation and the likelihood of damaging any possibility of future US-Chinese cooperation in dealing with Pyongyang. It is worth remembering that the BDA sanctions were embedded in an overall “strategic sanctions” approach to North Korea, namely an “Illicit Activities Initiative” intended to deny Pyongyang profits from counterfeiting, drug trafficking and smuggling that advocates believed were important for maintaining support for the regime among the elite. There is still considerable debate over whether this approach had a hope of providing leverage for other national security purposes such as getting Pyongyang to yield on its nuclear weapons ambitions. But at least it had a strategic logic.
If Congress and the Obama administration wish to make another sanctions push on North Korea to effect change in its policies, Washington would be well-advised first to determine what its strategic approach should be, which targets are the most lucrative and how key countries (notably China and the ROK) can be persuaded to move in the same direction. In that context, while patiently expanding those areas where Beijing and private Chinese firms will consent to move farther against North Korea, it might be worthwhile to look for a “Chinese BNP.” An entity that violated both US sanctions law and UN Security Council Resolutions on North Korea, thus violating both countries’ policies, would be an excellent candidate for the kind of sanctions that could have the right effect on enterprises considering involvement with the wrong North Korean entities.
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[1] H.R. 1771 also addresses banks that facilitate bulk cash transfers by DPRK sanctions violating fronts. |
If Florida Gators freshman defensive end Jonathan Bullard looked like he had extra fire in his belly on Saturday against the Missouri Tigers, there is a good reason for that as he was playing in part for his grandmother, whose recent brush with a serious illness had him back home in Shelby, NC this week.
Bullard, who arrived back in Gainesville, FL on Friday evening and vowed to play for Florida on Saturday, turned in his best game of the season, registering 1.5 sacks for a loss of 13 total yards, hurrying Mizzou quarterback James Franklin thrice and coming up big with another 1.5 tackles, mostly on run plays.
“The d[efensive] line sat down with Bullard and we talked to him. We let him know that we’re there for him. We all rallied around him. We gave our thanks to him for coming back and playing, knowing his situation back at home,” redshirt senior defensive tackle Omar Hunter explained after the game.
“Whatever he needed, he knew we was there. We just gave him our respect for coming back and playing the game for us,” junior DT Sharrif Floyd added. “That was basically it. There was nothing else to do that. That’s hard, it’s hard to lose a family member, especially one you’re so close to.”
Bullard was just one of two freshmen defensive linemen who play their hearts out for the Gators on Saturday. Also getting in on the fun was Buck linebacker Dante Fowler, Jr., who notched two tackles for an 11-yard loss as well as a big seven-yard sack of Franklin.
[EXPAND CLICK TO EXPAND and read the rest of this story.]Like Floyd and junior defensive end Dominique Easley before them, Bullard and Fowler have flashed some serious talent late in their first season. It has not gone unnoticed.
“Jonathan is a young man that is going to be a heck of a football player here. He’s just getting started, folks. He made a couple really nice plays. Dante made some really nice plays in the run game also got a nice sack, I believe. Very proud of those two young guys coming along,” head coach Will Muschamp said in his post-game press conference.
“It’s very difficult for a freshman to walk into a situation, a place like Florida, and really contribute and play quality, quality snaps. Both of those guys, because of the older guys, the older guys have done a great job with them. They’ve made them accountable to learn what to do and how to do it. They’ve understood the mental intensity you got to play with the way we play.”
Hunter is one of those older guys. The fifth-year defensive tackle is equally impressed with what he has seen from the duo and ranks them up there with some of the best young players he has seen during his time at Florida.
“Bullard came a little bit late, so he didn’t get that full offseason training that Fowler did. Right now they’re both getting it. They’re both learning the system. They’re both in shape right now, and they look pretty good,” he said.
“That shows you how good they’re going to be one day. When they really, really get it, it’s going to be something special. They’re probably the two best freshmen I’ve seen come through here in a long time.”
Getting pressure on quarterbacks has been an issue for the Gators all season long, but if Bullard and Fowler are truly blossoming with three games left to play, it may very well be just the right time for Florida to be able to take advantage of these emerging talents.[/EXPAND] |
Posted on behalf of Melissa Lee Phillips.
Cancer researchers got a surprise when they went looking for signs of disease in tumour mitochondria — a surprise that may help to explain the characteristic immortality of cancer cells.
Nuclear DNA in cancer cells is rife with mutations, and there was no reason to think that mitochondrial DNA, which contains genes important for the cell’s metabolism, would be any different. But Jason Bielas and his colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, report in PLoS Genetics this week that far fewer mitochondrial mutations arise in cancer cells than in normal, healthy cells.
Several years ago, Bielas and his co-workers quantified the “mutator phenotype” in the nuclear DNA of human cancers: they found 100 times as many de novo mutations in cancer cells as in healthy cells. Expecting to find something similar in mitochondrial DNA, they measured the frequency of new mutations in the mitochondria genomes of colorectal cancer cells. Instead, they found that the tumour cells contained an average of three times fewer new mutations than normal colon tissue.
The mutations found in healthy cells that seemed to be “missing” from cancer cells were mainly C-G to T-A transitions — a type of mutation that results from oxidative damage. This makes sense, the authors say, because cancer cells are known to shift from an energy metabolism based on oxidative phosphorylation to one based more on anaerobic glycolysis.
In fact, they speculate that tumour cells’ shift to glycolysis may be beneficial to the cancer for just this reason: with an anaerobic metabolism, oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA decreases; the tumour mitochondria then function better than normal mitochondria, allowing the diseased cells to live indefinitely. This “may be a key factor in cancer-cell immortality”, Bielas says.
The researchers also see potential for new therapeutic approaches in these results. “Cancer therapeutics focused on directly increasing mitochondrial DNA damage might suppress malignant growth,” says Bielas. |
Back in the mid-noughties the peak oil meme gained significant traction in part due to The Oil Drum blog where I played a prominent role. Sharply rising oil price, OPEC spare capacity falling below 2 Mbpd and the decline of the North Sea were definite signs of scarcity and many believed that peak oil was at hand and the world as we knew it was about to end. Forecasts of oil production crashing in the coming months were ten a penny. And yet between 2008, when the oil price peaked, and 2015, global crude+condensate+NGL (C+C+NGL) production has risen by 8.85 Mbpd to 91.67 Mbpd. That is by over 10%. Peak oilers need to admit they were wrong then. Or were they?
Introduction
It is useful to begin with a look at what peak oil was all about. This definition from Wikipedia is as good as any:
Peak oil, an event based on M. King Hubbert’s theory, is the point in time when the maximum rate of extraction of petroleum is reached, after which it is expected to enter terminal decline. Peak oil theory is based on the observed rise, peak, fall, and depletion of aggregate production rate in oil fields over time.
Those who engaged in the debate can be divided into two broad classes of individual: 1) those who wanted to try and understand oil resources, reserves, production and depletion rates based on a myriad of data sets and analysis techniques with a view to predicting when peak oil may occur and 2) those who speculated about the consequences of peak oil upon society. Such speculation normally warned of dire consequences of a world running short of transport fuel and affordable energy leading to resource wars and general mayhem. And none of this ever came to pass unless we want to link mayhem in Iraq*, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Nigeria to high food prices and hence peak oil. In which case we may also want to link the European migrant crisis and Brexit to the same.
[* One needs to recall that GWI was precipitated over Kuwait stealing oil from Iraq, from a shared field on the Kuwait-Iraq border, leading to the Iraqi invasion of 1991.]
The peak oil debate on The Oil Drum was a lightning conductor for doomers of every flavour – peak oil doom (broadened to resource depletion doom), economic doom and environmental doom being the three main courses on the menu. The discussion was eventually hijacked by Greens and Green thinkers, who, not content with waiting for doomsday to happen, set about manufacturing arguments and data to hasten the day. For example, fossil fuel scarcity has morphed into stranded fossil fuel reserves that cannot be burned because of the CO2 produced, accompanied by recommendations to divest fossil fuel companies from public portfolios. Somewhat surprisingly, these ideas have gained traction in The United Nations, The European Union and Academia.
It is not my intention to dig too deeply into the past. Firmly belonging to the group of data analysts, in this post I want to take a look at two different data sets to explore where peak oil stands today. Is it dead and buried forever, or is it lurking in the shadows, waiting to derail the global economy again?
The USA and Hubbert’s Peak
The USA once was the poster child of peak oil. The Peak Oil theory was first formulated there by M. King Hubbert who in 1956 famously forecast that US production would peak around 1970 and thereafter enter an era of never-ending decline (Figure 1). Hubbert’s original paper is well worth a read.
Figure 1 From Hubbert’s 1956 paper shows the peak and fall in US production for ultimate recovery of 150 and 200 billion barrels. The 200 billion barrel model shows a peak of 8.2 Mbpd around 1970 that proved to be uncannily accurate.
Looking to Figure 2 we see that Hubbert’s prediction almost came true. US production did indeed peak in 1970 at 9.64 Mbpd while Hubbert’s forecast was a little lower at 8.2 Mbpd. The post-peak decline was interrupted by the discovery of oil on the N slope of Alaska and opening of the Aleyska pipeline in 1977 that was not considered in Hubbert’s work. Herein lies one of the key weaknesses of using Hubbert’s methodology. One needs to take into account known unknowns. We know for sure that unexpected discoveries and unexpected technology developments will occur, it’s just we don’t know, what, when and how big.
Figure 2 In red, US crude oil production from the EIA shows progressive growth from 1900 to 1970. The oil industry believed this growth would continue forever and was somewhat aghast when M. King Hubbert warned the party may end in 1970 which it duly did. The discovery of oil in Alaska created a shoulder on the decline curve. But apart from that, Hubbert’s forecast remained good until 2008 when the shale drillers and frackers went to work. Hubbert’s 1970 peak was matched by crude oil in 2015 and exceeded by C+C+NGL that same year.
Following the secondary Alaska peak of 8.97 Mbpd (crude oil) in 1985, production continued to decline and reached a low of 5 Mbpd (crude oil) in 2008. But since then, the rest is history. The shale drillers and frackers went to work producing an astonishing turnaround that most peak oil commentators, including me, would never have dreamt was possible.
Before going on to contemplate the consequences of the shale revolution, I want to dwell for a moment on the production and drilling activity in the period 1955 to 1990. 1955 to 1970 we see that total rigs* declined from 2683 to 1027. At the same time crude oil production grew from 6.8 to 9.6 Mbpd. It was in 1956 that Hubbert made his forecast and in the years that followed, US production grew by 41% while drilling rigs declined by 62%. No wonder the industry scoffed at Hubbert.
[* Note that Baker Hughes’ archive pre-1987 does not break out oil and gas rigs from the total.]
But then post 1970, as production went into reverse, the drilling industry went into top gear, with operational rigs rising sharply to a peak of 3974 in 1981. But to no avail, production in the contiguous 48 states (excluding Alaska) continued to plunge no matter how hard the oil and its drilling industry tried to avert it. Hubbert must surely have been proven right, and his methodology must surely be applicable not only to the US but to the World stage?
The oil price crash of 1981 put paid to the drilling frenzy with rig count returning to the sub-1000 unit baseline where it would remain until the turn of the century. The bear market in oil ended in 1998 and by the year 2000, the US drilling industry went back to work, drilling conventional vertical wells at first but with horizontal drilling of shale kicking in around 2004/05. Production would turn around in 2009.
Those who would speak out against peak oil in the mid-noughties, like Daniel Yergin and Mike Lynch, would argue that high price would result in greater drilling activity and technical innovation that would drive production to whatever level society demanded. They would also point out that new oil provinces would be found, allowing the resource base to grow. And they too must surely have been proved to be correct.
But there is a sting in the tail of this success story since drilling and producing from shale is expensive, it is dependent upon high price to succeed. But over-production of LTO has led to the price collapse, starving the shale drilling industry of cash flow and ability to borrow, leading to widespread bankruptcy. In fact informed commentators like Art Berman and Rune Likvern have long maintained that the shale industry has never turned a profit and has survived via a rising mountain of never ending debt. Economists will argue, however, that improved technology and efficiency will reduce costs and make shale competitive with other sources of oil and energy. We shall see.
Herein lies a serious conundrum for the oil industry and OECD economies. They may be able to run on shale oil (and gas) for a while at least, but the industry cannot function properly within current market conditions. Either prices need to be set at a level where a profit can be made, or production capped to protect price and market share. This of course would stifle innovation and is not likely to happen until there are queues at gas stations.
2008-2015 Winners and Losers
BP report oil production data for 54 countries / areas including 5 “other” categories that make up the balance of small producers in any region. I have deducted 2008 production (barrels per day) from 2015 production and sorted the data on the size of this difference. The data are plotted in Figure 3.
Figure 3 The oil production winners to the left and losers to the right, 2008 to 2015. The USA is the clear winner while Libya is the clear loser. About half of the countries show very little change. Click chart for a large readable version.
What we see is that production increased in 27 countries and decreased in the other 27 countries. One thing we can say is that despite prolonged record-high oil price, production still fell in half of the world’s producing countries. We can also see that in about half of these countries any rise or fall was barely significant and it is only in a handful of countries at either end of the spectrum where significant gains and losses were registered. Let’s take a closer look at these.
Figure 4 The top ten winners, 2008 to 2015.
The first thing to observe from Figure 4 is that the USA and Canada combined contributed 7.096 Mbpd of the 8.852 Mbpd gain 2008-2015. That is to say that unconventional light tight oil (LTO) production from the USA and LTO plus tar sands production from Canada make up 80% of the global gain in oil production (C+C+NGL). Iraq returning to market in the aftermath of the 2003 war makes up 18%. In other words expensive unconventional oil + Iraq makes up virtually all of the gains although concise allocation of gains and losses is rather more complex than that. Saudi Arabia, Russia, The UAE, Brazil, China, Qatar and Colombia have all registered real gains (5.258 Mbpd) that have been partly cancelled by production losses elsewhere.
Figure 5 The top ten losers, 2008 to 2015.
Looking to the losers (Figure 5) we see that Libya, Iran, Syria, Sudan and Yemen contribute 2.828 Mbpd of lost production that may be attributed to war, civil unrest or sanctions. I am not going to include Venezuela and Algeria with this group and will instead attribute declines in these countries (0.979 Mbpd) to natural reservoir depletion, although a slow down in OECD technical assistance in these countries may have exacerbated this situation. That leaves the UK, Mexico and Norway as the three large OECD producers that register a significant decline (1.687 Mbpd) attributed to natural declines in mature offshore provinces. Let me try to summarise these trends in a balance sheet:
Figure 6 The winner and loser balance sheet.
We see that these 20 countries account for 8.463 Mbpd net gain compared with the global figure of 8.85 Mbpd. We are capturing the bulk of the data and the main trends. In summary:
Unconventional LTO and tar sands + 7.096 Mbpd
Net conventional gains + 2.592 Mbpd
Net conflict losses -1.225 Mbpd
The sobering point here for the oil industry and society to grasp is that during 8 years when the oil price was mainly over $100/bbl, only 2.592 Mbpd of conventional production was added. That is about 3.1%. Global conventional oil production was all but static. And the question to ask now is what will happen in the aftermath of the oil price crash?
One lesson from recent history is that the oil industry and oil production had substantial momentum. It is nearly two years since the price crash, and while global production is now falling slowly it remains in surplus compared with demand. This has given the industry plenty time to cut staff, drilling activity and to delay or cancel projects that depend upon high price. In a post-mature province like the North Sea, the current crisis will also hasten decommissioning. It seems highly likely that momentum on the down leg will be replaced by inertia on the up leg with a diminished industry unwilling to jump back on the band wagon when price finally climbs back towards $100 / bbl, which it surely will do one day in the not too distant future.
For many years I pinned my colours to peak oil occurring in the window 2012±3 years. Noting that the near-term peak was 97.08 Mbpd on July 15 2015 it is time to dust off that opinion (Figure 7). The decline since the July 2015 peak is of the order 2% per annum (excluding the Fort McMurray impact). It seems reasonable to presume that this decline may continue for another two years, or even longer. That would leave global production at around 92 Mbpd mid 2018. It is nigh impossible to predict what will happen, especially in a world over run by political and economic uncertainty. Another major spike in oil price seems plausible and this could perhaps destabilise certain economies, banks and currencies. Should this occur, another price collapse will follow, and it’s not clear that production will ever recover to the July 2015 peak. Much will depend upon the future of the US shale industry and whether or not drilling for shale oil and gas gains traction in other countries.
Figure 7 The chart shows in blue global total liquids production (C+C+NGL+refinery gains+biofuels) according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA). The near term peak was 97.08 Mbpd in July 2015. The decline since then, excluding the Fort McMurray wild fire impact, is of the order 2% per annum. In the current low price environment, it is difficult to see anything arresting this decline before the end of next year. In fact, decline may accelerate and go on beyond the end of 2017. The dashed line shows the demand trajectory and scheduled balancing of supply and demand by the end of this year. By the end of next year the supply deficit could be of the order 3 Mbpd which on an annualised basis would result in a stock draw of 1.1 billion barrels. But remember, forecasts are ten a penny 😉
Concluding Thoughts
M. King Hubbert’s forecast for US oil production and the methodology it was based on has been proven to be sound when applied to conventional oil pools in the USA. When decline takes hold in any basin or province, it is extremely difficult to reverse even with a period of sustained high price and the best seismic imaging and drilling technology in the world. On this basis we can surmise that global conventional oil production will peak one day with unpredictable consequences for the global economy and humanity. It is just possible that the near term peak in production of 97.08 Mbpd in July 2015 may turn out to be the all-time high. Economists who argued that scarcity would lead to higher price that in turn would lead to higher drilling activity and innovation have also been proven to be correct. Much will depend upon Man’s ability to continue to innovate and to reduce the cost of drilling for LTO in order to turn a profit at today’s price levels. If the shale industry is unable to turn a profit then it will surely perish without State intervention in the market. But from 2008 to 2015, oil production actually fell in 27 of 54 countries despite record high price. Thus, while peak oil critics have been proven right in North America they have been proven wrong in half of the World’s producing countries. Should the shale industry perish, then it becomes highly likely that Mankind will face severe liquid fuel shortages in the years ahead. The future will then depend upon substitution and our ability to innovate within other areas of the energy sector.
Related reading:
From Rune Likvern:
The Bakken LTO extraction in Retrospect and a Forecast of Near Future Developments
Bakken(ND) Light Tight Oil – Update with Sep – 15 NDIC Data
Are the Light Tight Oil (LTO) Companies trying to outsmart Mother Nature with their Financial Balance Sheets?
From Enno Peters:
Visualizing US shale oil production |
Prominent pastor Rev. George Waddles Sr. will be preaching Easter Sunday at Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side—as he has for the last 29 years—despite evidence that he may have sexually molested a young girl in his office during counseling sessions.
Waddles has pleaded not guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a felony that carries a potential seven-year prison sentence.
According to Cook County prosecutors, who laid out their case during a bond hearing in September 2015, the 67-year-old Rev. Waddles had known the alleged victim since she was a toddler. The girl—whom The Daily Beast is not naming because she is a minor and an alleged victim of sexual abuse—and her family had dutifully attended services multiple times a week and her mother even taught Sunday school at Zion Hill.
By the time the girl was 13, in 2011, Assistant State’s Attorney Tara Pease-Harkin said, Waddles—who has a master’s degree in social work—was privately counseling her in his office. Within a year, the sessions between the pastor and the teen allegedly became “inappropriate.”
Prosecutors said that from 2012 to 2014, Waddles told the girl that he had been dreaming about her and thinking about her when she wasn’t around. He asked, and she refused, to lift her shirt, and he tried to kiss and hug her at the end of counseling sessions.
On two different occasions, Waddles tried to inappropriately touch the girl and apologized when she refused, Cook County State’s Attorney’s spokesman Steve Campbell told The Daily Beast.
In 2014, Waddles allegedly asked the then-15-year-old girl to sit on his lap. When she did, he put his hand inside her pants, and inside her underwear. She left his office and told her mother a month later.
The mother and daughter confronted Waddles at a meeting in his office, and later with Waddles’s wife, Karen Waddles, present, Pease-Harkin said. (In an unrelated Facebook post a few months earlier, Karen Waddles wrote that she was “concerned about what’s happening with our young girls. They’re becoming sexualized at an early age and it’s hard to know how to protect them…I think the church must speak up—we need to set standards, live by those standards ourselves, and hold each other accountable.”)
From that meeting allegedly came an admission from Waddles that he had inappropriately touched the girl as well as a request that the pair not go to police—all secretly recorded by the girl’s mother on her cellphone, prosecutors say.
Such an admission, if it is allowed in court and it indeed shows what Pease-Harkin suggests, could be a particularly damning piece of evidence. Though Illinois has strict privacy laws which regulate the recording of public conversations, Waddles’s taped confession might meet the criteria for an exception to the law, according to Eric Johnson, a professor at University of Illinois College of Law.
Ticking off the statutory exceptions to state law, Johnson noted that since the alleged victim’s mother wasn’t recording at the behest of police, was participating in the conversation, and suspected Waddles had committed a crime against her daughter, “it’s my guess that the recording will be admissible,” Johnson told The Daily Beast in an email.
At the September hearing, Pease-Harkin also said that two other women had come forward claiming to be victims of Waddles’s abuse. One who reported unwanted hugs and kisses in 1996 when she was 11 also claimed Waddles made her touch his penis. Another said he tried to hug and kiss her during office counseling session in 2006, and wouldn’t allow her to leave his office. No criminal charges were ever filed in these cases.
A spokeswoman from the state’s Department of Children and Family Services told the Chicago Tribune an agency investigation did not find that abuse had occurred.
Waddles turned himself into police on Sept. 29, 2015, and according to prosecutors, made “a positive disclosure” to detectives consistent with the girl’s story.
Waddles was released from jail, and a judge ruled he would be allowed to continue to perform his duties as pastor, but could have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 without another adult present.
Calls to Waddles and Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church were not returned. When called for comment, Waddles’s attorney, Marc Salone, said, “You mean any comment besides the presumption of innocence guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution? I believe in the Constitution. I think we should let the courts decide.”
“At some point. the trial will happen and the court, and not the court of popular opinion, will decide every defendant’s fate,” Salone said.
But according to the girl and her family, the only person being treated like a criminal in this case is the alleged victim.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, the family said that they had been shunned by their former congregation and were receiving weekly intimidating phone calls. At the same time, according to the Tribune, Waddles has remained in the pulpit, and been invited to speak at other churches. His congregation celebrated the anniversary of his service with a special program, and offered prayers and words of encouragement on the church’s Facebook page, which has since gone private. The judge also granted Waddles’s request to travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he preached at Greater Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church on its 19th anniversary.
Three weeks before he was charged, at the National Baptist Convention (NBC), Waddles resigned as president of the group’s Congress of Christian Education. NBC president Jerry Young addressed the “street talk” about Waddles’s resignation at the convention and said he was not fired, but was stepping down for unspecified health reasons. (In arresting documents, Waddles reported taking medication for hypertension and a heart condition.)
“When you’re so wrapped up in it, it’s hard to see the truth,” the alleged victim told a Tribune reporter. “They see him as God. They don’t do what God says. They do what he says.”
“You’re supposed to be championed for doing what’s right,” her mother said.
The reaction to rally around the accused, especially when he is in a position of power, is all too common, said Barbara Blaine, founder and president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a support group for sexual-abuse survivors.
Blaine has been to Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church to pass out fliers to churchgoers urging them to stand with the alleged victim and remove Waddles from ministry until the case is resolved, but church officials and hired security kept her away from the parishioners, she said.
Blaine plans to go back on Sunday, April 24, the day before Waddles’s next court appearance.
Since starting her group 27 years ago, Blaine—herself a survivor of abuse—told The Daily Beast, “It never ceases to amaze me how parishioners still will not believe that their pastor could do such a thing, as if the barometer is, ‘If I know the accused, it couldn’t be true.’”
“We all know perpetrators, we just don’t know we know them,” she said. |
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Oct. 6, 2017, 12:36 AM GMT / Updated Oct. 6, 2017, 12:36 AM GMT By Ken Dilanian
WASHINGTON — Members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team traveled to interview the former British intelligence officer who authored a dossier alleging collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, a source close to the ex-spy tells NBC News.
Few other details were forthcoming about the interview, but Mueller's interest in Christopher Steele puts a new focus on the 35-page dossier he compiled, which includes salacious sexual allegations that then-president-elect Donald Trump denied. CNN first reported Thursday that the interview with Mueller's team and Steele took place.
Steele, who works in the private intelligence business in London, was hired by an American firm, Fusion GPS, to compile opposition research about Trump during the election campaign. The dossier laid out the results of his information-gathering. Fusion GPS was co-founded by a former Wall Street Journal reporter, Glenn Simpson.
Related: Senate Intel Heads Say Trump-Russia Collusion Is Still Open Question
Steele, who was once a spy in Russia and has spent a career developing an expertise on the country, relied on a network of sources and information collectors, some of whom were paid, according to the source. He did not travel to Russia himself, the source said.
At one point after the FBI began investigating in July 2016, NBC News has reported, the FBI considered paying Steele to continue his information-gathering, but that never came to fruition.
Former U. S. intelligence officials who worked with him have vouched for Steele's professionalism and his Russia expertise. Also, Steele had provided the FBI significant information for its investigation of corruption in international soccer. But some former intelligence officials have cast doubt on some of the dossier's claims.
The dossier grew out of an effort by an unknown Republican person or group to gather opposition research on Trump during the primaries, and an unknown Democratic person or group took over paying for the effort during the general election, the source said.
Included in the dossier is an unproven allegation that Russian intelligence agencies have video recordings of Trump and prostitutes at Moscow's Ritz Carlton hotel.
Then-FBI Director James Comey told Trump about the dossier after his first intelligence briefing shortly before he took office.
At his first news conference in January, Trump denounced the document, which was first published by Buzzfeed.
"A thing like that should have never been written, it should never have been had and certainly should never have been released," he said, later saying the memo was written by "sick people [who] put that crap together."
Related: Senate Intelligence Heads Showcase Bipartisanship in Russia Probe
The sex allegation is only a small part of the document, and perhaps only marginally relevant to the larger question that is the subject of Mueller's investigation: Whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian intelligence effort to interfere in the presidential election with hacking, leaking and fake news.
The dossier asserts that the Trump campaign engaged, as the document puts it, in a "well-developed conspiracy of cooperation," with Russian intelligence agencies as they sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Sen. Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said this week that "we have been incredibly enlightened in our ability to rebuild backwards the Steele dossier up to a certain date." Two committee sources told NBC News the intelligence committee has verified part of the dossier, but they won't say which parts.
U.S. officials have said that the FBI also has verified aspects of the dossier. It's unclear what those are.
But some claims in the dossier seem to line up with known facts.
For example, the dossier says Trump sought to secure business deals in Russia, saying, "Regarding TRUMP's claimed minimal investment profile in Russia, a separate source with direct knowledge said this had not been for want of trying. TRUMP's previous efforts had included exploring the real estate sector in St. Petersburg as well as Moscow…"
In August, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen acknowledged that during the Republican primaries in 2016, he was seeking on Trump's behalf to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, said in June that Trump asked him to refute the claims in the dossier.
"I could not and would not," Clapper said he replied.
CORRECTION (Oct. 6, 6 p.m.: An earlier version of this article erred in describing the date when major news media first reported that hackers linked to Russia had attacked the Democratic National Committee. It was June 14, not July 28. The Steele dossier did not mention the DNC hacks until after they were reported in the news media. |
Russian Burger King restaurants are due to start accepting Bitcoin as a payment method this summer, reports state on Wednesday.
According to local news resources, a Moscow branch of the burger chain has started piloting Bitcoin payments, with officials now confirming a nationwide rollout.
Uznay Vse states the unnamed branch accepted a Bitcoin transaction on Tuesday this week, which represents “the first official reports of Bitcoin payments for goods and services in Russia.”
Burger King has also begun the hunt for an IT professional able to implement the relevant software.
“Several programs need to be written which will allow restaurant tills to speak to the Android and iOS apps and allow customers to pay with cryptocurrency,” Uznay Vse continues.
Russia is becoming an increasingly pro-crypto environment this year, with Finance Ministry deputy Alexey Moiseev saying this week that such currencies may be legally traded on exchanges if subject to “appropriate regulations.” |
It hasn’t worked out that way. More than a decade later, there’s still no widely accepted universal standard of copyright protection, leaving each country to act as it pleases. While a movie theater in London will pay American distributors for the right to screen the latest Hollywood film, for example, a cheap, pirated version of the same movie would likely be available that same day in the Idumota market in Lagos; the Nigerian authorities, zealously guarding the interests of local filmmakers against pirated versions of their own creations, would very likely pay no attention to a bootlegged copy of the latest Brad Pitt film. With no single, international body enforcing the various global copyright agreements in existence, compliance is uneven and uncommon.
Those who do comply—like the United States—find themselves tangled up in restrictions that the makers of the law never considered. American librarians who wish to offer free electronic editions of works that had been widely enjoyed for years, now must request permission; academics who want to cite extensively from works that were once freely available, now have to pay permission fees for the privilege.
Some have rebelled: Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Golan v. Holder, a case brought forth by a group of scholars eager to repeal the Uruguay act. The plaintiffs’ primary argument is that retroactively implementing copyright protection is unconstitutional and threatens the very notion of the public domain. If the Justices reject this argument, we would lose much more than the right to free Pippi: At stake here is the concept, advanced by the Founding Fathers, that a culture can only thrive if society weighs the individual’s right to intellectual property against the public’s right to knowledge.
These twin interests were on James Madison’s mind when he drafted, together with Charles Pinckney of South Carolina, what would eventually become Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, empowering Congress “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” The clause is a neat bit of tightrope-walking, acknowledging the importance of copyright protection, but only for a certain period of time. Madison et al believed that for the public to be educated, writings—unlike buildings or fields or horses—should only belong to their creators for so long before being made available to all for free.
Seen in this light, the Uruguay act is more than just bad legislation. By placing thousands of formerly free foreign works under what, barring the Supreme Court’s intervention, is likely to be decades of protection, Congress has dulled that most important instrument of edification and innovation, the public domain. The consequences of the act go beyond the philosophical: Getting back to Shostakovich, while no concrete data exist, it’s very likely that the Russian genius is played far less often as a result of the 1994 legislation. As the Chronicle of Higher Education reported earlier this year, “When the Conductors Guild surveyed its 1,600 members, 70 percent of respondents said they were now priced out of performing pieces previously in the public domain.” This means that orchestras that aren’t very rich—which is to say, the majority—can now only offer their audience a limited program, from which the giants of Russian modernism are sorely absent. Similarly stifled are Mexican folk singers: The library of the University of California, Los Angeles maintains a collection of more than 100,000 recordings of Mexican folk music, the use of which is now restricted to those able to visit the library in person. Preparing a collection of children’s songs from around the world, author Kevin Cooper was forced to exclude many that were previously squarely in the public domain, settling instead on a narrower and far less diverse edition. These examples, and numerous others, appear in an amici curiae brief filed in support of the plaintiffs by the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and other interested parties. |
European leaders have been eager to show nothing but optimism as Friday's release of stress tests results on euro zone banks looms. Central bank leaders and financial ministers from Portugal to Greece have publicly insisted that their banks are not in trouble, with some even providing a sneak preview of the results, claiming that their country's banks will pass with flying colors.
That, though, say an increasing number of analysts, could ultimately be a problem. Should too many banks pass the stress tests, they say, confidence in the stress tests themselves could be undermined, thus doing little to shore up an anxious European financial sector.
"The fact that a number of governments are optimistic is not such good news," Marie Diron, a senior economist with the consulting group Oxford Economics, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "If all banks pass, then it shows that the tests were not drastic enough."
The fact that several European banks are facing difficulties, said Diron, is well-known. Should that not be reflected in the test results, scheduled to be released as soon as markets close on Friday, she said "I think markets would respond negatively to that. They would treat the tests as insignificant."
'At Best, a Sham'
A report in the Wednesday edition of the German business daily Handelsblatt seems to indicate that the fear is not an idle one. Of the 14 German banks to have been tested, only one reportedly failed: the notoriously troubled Hypo Real Estate (HRE). The bank has already been nationalized through 102 billion ($104 billion) in infusions from Berlin's bank bailout fund and is expected to transfer 210 billion worth of toxic debts into a government-backed "bad bank" in the coming months. Prior to the tests, there had been much speculation surrounding the health of Germany's Postbank as well as its numerous, troubled state banks. All of them, according to the Handelsblatt, passed with flying colors.
"The stress tests are, at best, a sham," Bert Flossbach, head of the wealth management firm Flossbach & von Storch, told the newspaper.
"We already knew that HRE was failing," seconded Diron.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday sought to play down the criticism of the stress tests. Speaking at her final press conference before the summer holidays, Merkel said that "when balanced against the situation we find ourselves in, the criteria used in the stress tests are very real." She said it had to be kept in mind that Europe has already established a bailout package for Greece as well as a European fund should additional European countries run into sovereign debt troubles.
The tests are being carried out by the Committee for European Banking Supervisors, which includes representatives from all 27 European Union member states, and are supposed to indicate how banks might cope with a variety of stressors, from a sharp economic downturn to a Greek bankruptcy. A total of 91 institutions are being tested, 14 of them in Germany.
Euro zone leaders hope that the stress test results will reduce market jitters related to the sovereign debt crises run into by countries like Greece, Spain and others. Inter-bank lending has slowed as institutions have become wary of each other, fearing that a national bankruptcy could bring some highly exposed banks down with it.
Consistent Message
Exactly what criteria are being used has been a matter of some speculation. In particular, some analysts have expressed doubts about the degree to which a Greek default has been tested. It has been widely reported that banks were asked to factor in a 17 percent reduction of their holdings in Greek bonds -- the kind of across-the-board cut referred to in the industry as a haircut. Whether that is severe enough remains a matter for debate.
"One of the primary uncertainties is about haircuts," Diron said. "It seems that the assumptions that have been made are not what is currently priced in the market."
Additionally, there is some doubt that European leaders have plans in place to provide additional capitalization to those banks which fail the stress tests. According to a story in the New York Times, Credit Suisse estimates that public-sector banks in Europe, including German state banks, the so-called Landesbanken, and Spanish savings banks, may need up to 90 billion in extra capital.
Still, much depends on how the results of the stress tests are made public on Friday. Central bankers and regulators across the continent will do their best to ensure that the message is consistent across the euro zone. And that enough information about the tests is made available quickly.
"The ideal outcome," said Diron, "is that a few banks fail, but not too many so it's not too disruptive. Then governments should quickly announce what they plan to do." |
He has a doctorate in the social sciences and taught briefly at the college level. He has been married three times, divorced twice and confessed to an extramarital affair. He has never served in the military and lives in one of Washington's poshest suburbs. He is the very personification of his much-reviled "cultural elite." He is Newt Gingrich, and he is out to get himself.
Gingrich has been on something of a tear lately, brandishing the term "secular-socialist machine" with the elan of William Jennings Bryan declaiming about a Cross of Gold -- and, God willing, with the same effect. He used it recently in a Washington Post op-ed laced with the sort of gloating demagoguery that makes Gingrich his own acolyte. The man rides a pogo stick. When he is over the top, he just keeps going.
The most obvious repellent characteristic of the cultural elite is that it is out of step with the views of most Americans -- or, as Gingrich put it, "Americans oppose the views of academic elites." This nimble grammatical construction makes the academic elite something other than Americans, even though some of them may well have served in the military -- always proof of red-bloodedness. The argument presupposes, also, that what is popular is right, when, as suffragettes could once attest, this is not always the case.
Neither "socialism" nor "secularism" comes close to describing America or the Obama administration's programs. In fact, the very reason most Americans find secularism a strange and useless term is that this country has never had a state religion. If Gingrich wants to see what secularism looks like, he should read a history of France. There, a suffocating state religion produced a nasty sort of secularism that on May 24, 1871, resulted in the execution of Georges Darboy, no less than the archbishop of Paris. In this country, by contrast, the Pentagon celebrates National Prayer Day, and the winner of a nationally televised bull-riding event credits his triumph neither to his own skills nor to the lack of them by the bull, but to God. It must have been as slow a Sunday for God as it was for me.
Cultural conservatives date the beginning of the clash between good and evil to when the Supreme Court outlawed school prayer. That was in 1963, too late for me or Gingrich to avoid that dreary and soporific recitation of the same old thing every morning. Shockingly, though, this prayer seems to have had precious little effect on either one of us. But as Gingrich must know, the prayer issue is a cynical device to appeal to people who want their prayer recited -- and not those of Muslims, Hindus and the rest. I always knew to whom I was praying -- it was the school's God, the principal's God and the God of the teacher. Mine was at home, along with a waiting glass of milk.
This business about socialism has become a conservative trope -- as loony on the right as is some of the left's admiration for Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. The current issue of Commentary, a magazine that virtually created the neoconservative movement, devotes about 4,500 words to the subject. It asks: "What Kind of Socialist Is Barack Obama?" To which any sane person would have to reply: "Not a Very Good One."
As with Gingrich, one example of Obama's socialist intent is the recently enacted health-care law that, to the chagrin of the left, did not contain a so-called public option (now that would have been some welcome socialism!) and which nationalized not a single insurance company. Instead, if you look at, say, Aetna, and expect that it has been delisted from the stock exchange, you find, to your utter relief, that its share price, while down as of late, is still higher than its 52-week low. As a socialist, Obama could not even get into my grandfather's pinochle game.
That same grandfather would have had a term for Gingrich: luftmensch. This is a wonderfully descriptive Yiddish word for a fellow who has no visible means of support -- who lives off the air itself. This, in an updated and very Washington way, is Gingrich. No longer an office holder, not a chief executive, not really an academic, he lives on the kindness of think tanks and the gullibility of strangers. His business is the manufacturing of provocation, at being a troublemaker, a glint of mischievousness in his eyes, a wee smile of inner satisfaction. He is bad. He is good at being bad. He is just not any good at being good.
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Reading Time: 14 minutes
This is the second part of my Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire review.
In part one, I looked at the game with a broad overview, examining where it might fit in the current games market. Whilst writing that review, I found I had more to say about the game’s mechanics.
This post is an in-depth look at Shadespire, focusing on how the game is played and some of the deckbuilding and gameplay tactics you might adopt using the warbands that come with the core set. With that in mind, this post is intended to be read alongside yesterday’s and not on its own.
Hopefully, between the two posts, you’ll have most questions you have about the game answered and also understand why I consider Shadespire good enough to be considered GeekDad Approved.
How do I set up a game?
Lay your warband hero cards out in front of you, with their associated models. Hero cards have two sides: silver basic side and a golden “inspired” side. See more in becoming inspired later in the review. You’ll also need two decks of Shadespire cards: an objectives deck and a power deck.
How do I create a deck?
The game requires two decks. An objective deck (gold cards) and powers deck (grey cards)
You must have 12 cards in your objective deck.
You must have at least 20 Cards in your powers deck
There are two types of power card. Upgrade: Generally a card played on a hero to give a continual improvement. Ploy: Quick tactical decisions that might briefly give you an edge.
No more than half your powers deck may be ploys.
Who’s on first?
There is a specific order in which the game is set up, with players rolling off to see who chooses who goes first for each step.
The Dice:
The first use of the dice is the roll off. Shadespire uses custom dice. 5 attack dice and 3 defense dice. These have various symbols on them.
On the attack dice there are:
2 Hammers.
1 Crossed Swords.
1 Single Assist.
1 Double Assist.
1 Critical.
On the defense dice there are:
2 Shields.
1 Dodge.
1 Single Assist.
1 Double Assist.
1 Critical.
A roll-off consists of rolling four dice and comparing the number of criticals rolled. (The chances of a critical are equal on both a defense and attack dice so it doesn’t matter which four you roll.)
The first step is board placement. There are 2 boards, one per player. One player places first and the other places their board so that at least 3 hexes on each board line up. Boards must be placed with the same length sides against one another. i.e. with either widths adjoining or lengths adjoining. They cannot be placed with a length against a width, in a t-shape.
Board placement may seem like a trivial choice, but can (and should) make a tactical difference. Some warbands do better when defending a narrow frontage, whilst others have a speed advantage and may want a more open table. These things need to be considered when placing your board.
Next, whoever placed the first board (a disadvantage) gets to place the first objective tokens first. In a 2 player game, there are 5 objective tokens. This means they will get to place three of them. Tokens are chosen randomly and placed face down, so neither player knows which objective is where. There are a small number of rules to be followed when placing objectives. They can’t be on hero starting hexes, must be two hexes apart, and only the final hex may be on a board edge. Once all the objectives are placed, they are revealed to all players.
Warhammer: Shadespire is GeekDad Approved!
The next step is drawing cards. Each player draws 3 Objective Cards and 5 Power Cards from their corresponding decks. Either draw can be cast aside (a ‘do-over’) and another set taken. Beware though: Cards are finite and throwing away cards is not without risk. If both players are happy with their cards, they roll off to see who starts to place their models first.
Note: The game is meant to be played with all cards hidden, but when learning the game, or playing with younger players, the game works perfectly well with the cards face up. It removes the element of secrecy and surprise, but the game mechanics still work perfectly well.
Players take it in turns to place their models, starting with the person chosen after the roll-off (the winner of the roll-off gets to choose.) Once both sides have placed, there is one more roll off to see who goes first. The player who finished placing their models first can add one extra critical to their dice roll. In the starter set, this will always be the Stormcast Player.
Playing the game: How is a turn broken down?
A Shadespire turn has very little in common with its parent game Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.
Games are broken down into 3 Rounds, each made up of an Action Phase and an End Phase.
In the Action Phase, players take turns to activate their warband. They will do so four times each. Each one is called an ‘activation.’
In the first part of an activation, a player will (usually) make one action.
The 2nd Part of the activation is called the Power Step. Both players can take part in this step regardless of whose activation it is.
After all players have had four activations, the Action Phase finishes and play moves to the End Phase.
What can you do in an Activation?
This is the lifeblood of the game. What you do, when, is vitally important. On each activation players may do ONE of the following.
Make a Move Action. Move one hero up to the distance indicated on its hero card. This hero may not move again this round (or take a charge action.)
Make a Charge Action. Move one hero up to the distance indicated on its hero card, bringing an enemy into range of one its possible attack actions. Make that attack action. Heroes may only charge once per round and may take no further actions after charging, unless a special rule applies.
Go on Guard with one character. This makes the hero harder to hit. Instead of using either armor (shields) or dodging (a curved arrow) when defending, heroes on guard use both.
Make an Attack Action with a hero (or another attack action printed on a card.) You can attack once per activation, unless card effects allow you to make another. If the character hasn’t charged, this can be done multiple times in a round (but not an activation.)
Draw a new power card.
Discard an objective card and draw another.
Pass.
How is combat resolved?
There are a number of subtle variations to combat, though nothing that isn’t easy to pick up after a few turns. Here is a broad overview of combat.
The hero being used this activation fights, either through a charge action or an attack action. In both cases you use the attack bar on the hero’s card.
This has three figures on it. Range. The number of hexes your attack can cover. Usually 1, occasionally 2. Attack Dice. This has a number and a symbol, hammers or swords. The number shows how many dice to roll. The symbol shows which symbol on the attack dice gives a hit. There are more hammers on the attack dice than swords, making them easier to hit with. A star with a number. The amount of damage (wounds) caused by a successful hit.
The attacking player rolls his attack dice.
The defending player now rolls his defense dice.
When defending, heroes will either use their dodge ability or rely on the armor they are wearing. This is given on the hero card (either as a shield or a curved arrow.) The symbol also shows the number of defense dice the player rolls for this character. A shield with a 1 in it, means they roll one defense die and must score shields to stop the damage.
If the defender rolls the same number (or greater) of defense successes, as the attacker rolled attack successes, the attack is successfully deflected.
If not, the attack has hit and deals the damage specified by the damage given on the card for the attack used. Note: Multiple hits do not cause multiple damage. Partial defense does not mitigate any of the damage. Damage is an all or nothing affair in Shadespire. If it a hit gets through it does all its damage. If it is blocked, no damage is caused.
After damage has been applied. If the attacker managed to land a hit, even if did no damage, they have the option to push his opponent’s model back one hex. If the defending player has no square to be pushed into, they instead take damage.
If no hits were caused or the defender blocked more hits than were scored, there is no pushback.
There are two other things to consider when rolling dice to resolve combat. Criticals. The “!” symbol on the dice is a critical hit. There’s only a 1:6 chance of one coming up, but when they do, they’re potent things. A critical can only be canceled out by another critical but a critical cancels all non-criticals. e.g. If a Stormcast player rolls three hammers, that’s three hits, but if his opponent rolls 1 critical on his defense die, that will cancel all three out hammers out. Some faces on the dice have “assist” symbols on them. These count as successes if the attacker or defender has people in their warband on adjacent squares to the combat. This allows members of the same warband to help one another out. Assists on both sides of the combat cancel each other out.
If the attacking player kills an enemy hero they gain a glory point.
How do heroes become inspired?
One of the key elements of the game is the concept of heroes becoming “inspired.” Each hero can become inspired and when they do, they become a better version of themselves.
For heroes in the current warbands, there is no way to actively become inspired. Heroes become inspired as a reaction to events on the tabletop. This reaction is not part of combat per se, but it does come about as a result of combat. In the case of Garrek’s Reavers, they become inspired the moment 3 heroes (any 3) are killed. The Stormcast become inspired the first time they make an armor save.
After an Activation: The Power Step.
After a player has completed his activation, whatever they may have done with it, play proceeds to the Power Step. In this step players use their power cards.
There are two types of power card, “ploy cards” and “upgrades.”
Ploy cards are free to play and represent tactical maneuvers used in the hope of bringing an advantage.
Upgrades cost 1 glory point to play. They permanently improve one of your characters. Some upgrade cards are specific to certain heroes, others are universal. Note: Although you spend glory to make an upgrade, you don’t lose it for the purposes of counting victory points at the end. You may only make 1 upgrade per glory token won.
Players can keep playing power cards until both players pass, taking it in turns. Once both players have finished, play progress to the next player’s activation. You are allowed to start playing power cards even if you passed at an earlier opportunity in the same power step.
Once all players have made four activations, and the final power step is completed, play moves to the End Phase.
What is the End Phase?
The End Phase could also be termed the “wash up.” In this phase, the following occurs, starting with the player that started the round.
Check whether any objectives have been met. If they have, claim the glory and discard the completed cards.
If you wish, discard any remaining objective cards.
Play any upgrade cards you wish (assuming you have the relevant glory.) Note: Ploys cannot be played at this time.
If you wish, discard any power cards you no longer want.
Draw back up to 3 objective cards and 5 power cards.
Once both players have completed their end phase, assuming it’s not the final turn, players roll off to see who chooses who goes first in the next turn. If it is the final turn, there is no need to redraw cards. Objective points are totaled and the winner declared.
Playing the Game: Beyond the mechanics
The mechanics of the game may take up what seems like several thousand bullet points, but once you play they are fairly straightforward. When you start to play, you’ll discover that you need to be tactically astute to get the most from your warband. The mechanics on the surface are quite rigid and winning the game will require exploiting whatever flexibility you can find.
With only four activations per turn, you have to think about the best way to bring your heroes into the action. This means everything, board, objective and hero placement should all be dependent on your game plan.
The game plan will then affect how you play the game. Whether you hunker down, and try to minimise casualties, whether you burst into enemy territory, or whether you spread out, hunting down the placed objectives. Games become cat and mouse affairs as you try to maximise your plan, whilst running interference on your opponent’s.
The platform that all good game plans are built on, is the decks.
Deck Construction.
Building you Objective Deck.
Your objective deck may well be where the game is won or lost. You need to pack it with as many things that suit you and your warband’s style of play. Don’t, for example, pick lots of things that require quick movement, if you’re playing Stormcast.
I’ve only explored the tip of the deckbuilding iceberg, though there aren’t that many alternative cards available yet. The cards contain a mix of traditional, capture the flag type objectives, and more situational cards, such as suffering no damage or killing the opposing leader.
For some objectives, it’s easy to see how they can be obtained, but others take a little more thought. One or two seem virtually impossible. Objective values vary, most are 1 glory point only. A few are 2, fewer still are 3. “Annihilation” is a whopping 5. Very tempting, but you have to consider, how likely it is that you’re going to destroy all your opponents forces.
“Supremacy” is a great card for Garrek’s Reavers, but a terrible one for the Stormcast. It requires that at the beginning of the end phase, you hold three objectives. For the Reavers, particularly against slow, fewer numbered enemies, this card is a godsend (albeit a bloody one.) It’s worth 3 glory. If you can win it early in the game, that’s three points to spend on buffing your more fragile troops.
“Eternals” for the Stormcast is a card that I can’t see the point of including. It requires that all of your Stormcast Eternals survive until the end of the game. This is hard to pull off. Even if you do manage to hunker down and avoid damage, it will give the Reavers free rein to run about the board, picking up Supremacy plus all the objective tokens they turn up.
Whilst most objectives cards give glory only in the end phase, there are some that can be cashed in, the instant their conditions are met. Consider loading your deck with these cards. Not only do they give an instant glory hit, they also allow the immediate drawing of a new objective, offering further opportunities to score yet more glory.
Playing to your objective deck’s strengths.
The Stormcast are hard to kill. That’s why, so far, my tactic is to push them into the opponent’s half. There are a number of objective tokens that give glory for controlling the board in enemy territory. If you set up near the center of the board, it’s easy to capture enemy hexes and stay there. You only need 1 hero to survive until the end of the game, and you can claim the glory.
It’s worth noting that even after your warband has been destroyed, you are allowed to keep cycling through your objective deck when it’s time for your activation. Mostly this is futile, but if the scores are close, then maybe, just maybe, you’ll have chosen something you can achieve from beyond the grave, to give your warband victory from the unlikeliest position. (In the faqs, released as I was editing this piece, it says that the Stormcast card “Sigmar’s Bulwark,” one that gives glory if you take no damage in a round, is claimable even if all your warriors are dead!)
It will be interesting to see what new objective cards become available in the future expansion sets. At the moment, I don’t think there are too many different ways to play the game. There has been some question among the game’s forums of whether objective decks need to contain all “hold objective X” cards. Using only the core set, I think the answer is yes.
I don’t think there are enough different objective cards to employ any effective alternate strategies. Certainly, you should include either all of the hold objective cards or none of them. To include only a portion puts too much store in the luck of the initial placement. Hopefully, the new objectives from the expansion packs might encourage alternative game plans. Plans that don’t revolve around objective capture.
Building your Power Deck.
Once you’ve built your Objective deck, you need to tailor your power deck to ensure as many of the cards as possible will help you obtain those objectives. You may only take half of the cards as ploys, so think carefully about which ones you need. Upgrades? Some of them are universal and very useful. Some are for a specific hero. These upgrades can be useful, but not if the hero is dead before you get to use them. Then you have to go through the frustration of wasting a card draw on a useless card.
Some power cards only work on a given roll of the dice. These can be potent if successful, but equally, lead to disappointment if they fail. You don’t want to be relying on these cards at a crucial moment, and it’s important to decide if you’re the type of player who can manage these sorts of setbacks, or if you prefer a steadier, more predictable outcome.
Stormcast are slow, so I tend to pick anything that gives them a free hex of movement, such as ‘Sidestep.’ Cards like this enable you to move into position without using up a valuable move action, or better still, move into a position where you can attack without charging.
For the Khorne players, buffs for the weaker members of the team are vital. It’s very hard, initially, for the Reavers to “one-shot” kill a Stormcast warrior. But if you can buff them, this becomes possible. A Stormcast player can (almost) bear to ignore the weaker members of the team, and instead, focus on your heavier hitters. The more heroes you can create that can deal significant damage, the better. With only three heroes at their disposal, the last thing a Stormcast player needs is to worry about fighting strong enemies on multiple fronts.
Rudimentary Tactics
The Reavers move quickly but don’t deal out much damage, and they certainly can’t take it. The ponderous Stormcast, crawl across the table, but are like tanks in battle. How will this affect your tactics?
Board placement may be everything! I’ll be honest, I haven’t explored this option very much, but the more I think about this the more it seems, that particularly for Stormcast, victory starts with board placement. For our videos we’ve used a simple, perfect rectangle placement, to make it easy to capture the playing area on camera. As I gain more experience, I think this puts the Stormcast at a disadvantage. At least that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!
Turn one is about maximising your glory so you can buff your heroes for brutal combat in later rounds.
From the moment the game starts, you need to be thinking about your objectives. Even whether to “do over” your initial draw of cards is an important decision. You may have drawn some good cards, but if you can’t achieve any of them in the opening turn, you may find yourself too far behind to catch up. As a Khorne player, playing a less numerous opponent, I would consider a do-over if I didn’t draw Supremacy. This means that you’ll have looked through half your cards so have a 50% chance of having it in your hand from the start of the game.
The power step is vital. How you stack your deck, and what you do with the cards that come out makes the difference between winning and losing. For those moving beyond the basic game, it means the path victory begins long before arriving on the tabletop.
It’s worth playing your buff cards early. There’s a temptation, particularly with Stormcast, who may be able to withstand several hits before dying, to hold off playing a card that gives an extra wound, or extra damage, just to see if a better opportunity comes along. Particularly with the extra wound cards, I recommend playing them as soon as possible. Your opponent may have some nasty tricks up their sleeve, and before you know it, your “safe” hero is dead, and that one wound may have made all the difference. Even if it turned out not to be all that useful, you’re cycling cards, and maybe one draw closer to that killer ploy.
Never give up. A few times in my games, seemingly futile actions have paid great dividends, shifting am enemy hero one hex backwards, suddenly puts an objective out of reach. A desperate run into the center might pay off. Opportunities for attack are limited in this game and the odds of success are not always great. A hero on a single wound, might remain alive on the objective in enemy territory, and suddenly bring you the vital glory that wins the battle.
What comes next?
Play some games! See how the mechanics work. Learn to understand the ebb and flow of the game. I’ve laid out some simple tactics, that I think work, but there are many other varieties, many of which are probably better. With new expansions on the horizon, the tactics are only going to get deeper. Hopefully, I’ll bring you a follow-up strategies post when I’ve got to grips with the wealth of new options.
As I said in my previous post. Shadespire is a great game to play. You can easily play two or three games in an evening, giving great scope to get to grips with the rules and explore different tactics. I would recommend trying as many different tactics as possible. I imagine that as players become more experienced, it’s those who are able to pull off the unexpected or cope with fickle twists of the dice who will come out supreme.
So that’s all from me on Shadespire for now. Do check out Agents of Sigmar for additional coverage too. Let me know in the comments if you have some killer tactics or must have cards. Shadespire is a new game and everybody is learning. It’s a great time to jump in on this GeekDad approved game and it would be great to generate some discussion and debate some strategies. Who knows maybe one day our warbands may even clash in the lost city of Shadespire!
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Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of this game for review purposes.
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Inbee Park gets the champagne treatment from So Yeon Ryu and Na Yeon Choi. (Photo: Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports) Story Highlights Inbee Park won the U.S. Women's Open on Sunday by four shots
She has won three consecutive majors in 2013 and will go for four at the Women's British Open
I.K. Kim was second, four shots back
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Is it time to start thinking up names?
The Quintuple Slam? The V Slam? The Penta Slam?
Inbee Park of South Korea methodically marched to history Sunday at seaside Sebonack Golf Club with an authoritative four-stroke victory in the 68th U.S. Women's Open, joining Babe Zaharias as the only players in LPGA history to win the first three major championships of the season.
LEADERBOARD: U.S. Women's Open
With a final-round 2-over-par-74, the world No. 1 kept runner-up I.K. Kim (74) at bay throughout the cloudy day and now is three-fifths of the way toward an unprecedented sweep of all five majors on the LPGA tour's calendar this season.
In a nod toward her native country, perhaps it should be called the Da-seot (five in Korean) Slam?
"I think I have a heartbeat. I don't know if Inbee has one," said Karrie Webb, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame who has won seven majors. She tied for 13th. "You can obviously feel for someone like I.K. Kim who would be winning any other U.S. Open on this golf course if it weren't for Inbee.
"Sometimes it's just not good enough when someone is as hot as Inbee is."
Park finished at 8-under 280 to win her second U.S. Women's Open and then was doused in champagne by defending champion Na Yeon Choi and So Yeon Ryu. Kim finished at 4-under 284. Ryu, the 2011 winner of this championship, was the only other player to finish in red numbers at 1 under with a closing 72. Paula Creamer, the 2010 winner, shot 72 and tied for fourth with Angela Stanford (74) and Jodi Ewart Shadoff (76) at 1 over. Asian players have won the last 10 majors.
"I just hope this is not a dream," Park said. "It feels great. It feels great to put my name on this trophy twice. That just means so much. … It was a tough day out there. The golf course was playing tough. I tried to stay calm, and I think I did. I really stayed calm out there, and I just didn't know what I was doing out there. If I knew what I was doing (in terms of history), I think I wouldn't be able to stand."
Inbee Park of South Korea celebrates aher victory in the U.S. Women's Open at Sebonack Golf Course. (Photo: Anthony Gruppuso, USA TODAY Sports)
Adding Sunday's title to the wins in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April and the Wegmans LPGA Championship in June, Park, 24, joins Zaharias (in 1950 when only three majors were played), Mickey Wright (1961) and Pat Bradley (1986) as the only players in LPGA history to win three majors in a season.
Park will try to do what only Wright (1961-62) and Tiger Woods (2000-01) have done in the modern era — win four consecutive professional major championships when the Ricoh Women's British Open is contested Aug. 1-4 at the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews. Park would become the only player to win four pro majors in a single season.
If Park were to win in Scotland, the Evian Masters in France from Sept. 12-15, a major for the first time this year, would be the final notch in an unparalleled annual span of major championship glory. Last year Park won the Evian Masters when it wasn't designated as a major.
Her 2013 already is as good as some careers. After her win in the 2008 Open, when at 19 she became the youngest to win the national championship, Park went 72 LPGA tournaments without a victory. But her win Sunday was her third in a row, her sixth of the season and her eighth in her last 28 starts, a stretch that also includes six second-place finishes.
Now Park will be asked over and over again about the British Open.
"You can try to put pressure on me, but I will just go out and do my best," said Park, who last year won the money title and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average. "I've just won three majors in a row. I think it's too early to think about the next one.
" … I'm just glad that I can give it a try at St. Andrews. That's going to be a great experience. Whether I do it or not, I'm just a very lucky person."
With her parents watching — her father, Gun Gyu Park, saw his daughter win a major in person for the first time — and her fiancé/swing coach Gi Hyeob Nam in the gallery, Park didn't make worse than a bogey all week despite peril around every dogleg and at the end of every hole with the demanding greens. Park gave credit to all of her family and friends and her mental coach, Sookyung Cho, who preaches patience.
Park, with her nonchalant ways, always makes it look easy — there are no fist pumps, no primal screams of joy. She doesn't scream when things don't go her way, doesn't shout at the ball. She just plays each shot and then moves to the next. She has the ideal blueprint for the U.S. Women's Open and most any tournament — hits fairways, hits greens, makes putts and controls her emotions.
Park, who was the only player among 68 to break par in the third round, took a 4-shot lead into the final 18 holes. Kim knocked the deficit to three with a birdie at the second but gave it back at the fourth. Both made bogeys on consecutive holes starting at the sixth before a birdie by Park on the ninth stretch her lead to five. It got to six with another birdie on the 10th. Kim never got closer than four the rest of the way on the 6,658-yard layout that featured baffling, contoured greens.
"She doesn't want to think about the British Open and things like that. I'm not sure how much she has the pressure, but I think she's managing it really well. Not many people can do that, you know?" Kim said. "She's happy with her life, not just golf, and she has her family together and friends and all that.
"So I think that's what works for her."
Seems everything else is, too. |
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are lowering mortgage standards. On Monday, the two government-backed housing giants revealed a new program designed to boost mortgage origination among first time buyers and those with low to medium incomes. The new program, which will initially be limited two non-bank lenders, will allow borrowers to include the income of residents that aren’t actually on the mortgage, as well as make it easier for borrowers to include income from second jobs.
While these changes may strike some as sensible, anyone who has seen The Big Short would have valid concerns in the oversight of these looser lending standards – especially when you consider that the companies responsible for mortgage origination will not be the ones holding the mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will. It’s always easier to make loans when you know the taxpayers are the ones that will be holding the risk.
Not only does this program increase taxpayer risk, it does nothing to solve the real issues in the housing market.
While it’s true that America’s home ownership rate is at a 51-year low, this has less to do with current lending standards and has more to do with housing prices rising much faster than household income. One of the factors contributing to this interest rate policy, which disincentives traditional savings and has driven would-be savers to look for higher yield investments. With growing concerns about a bubble in stocks, many Americans have turned to housing with investment-home sales increasing 7% in 2015, the first increase in five years.
Given this problem, a sensible solution would be to reverse the Fed’s low interest rate policy and to eliminate various levels of government regulation that make it difficult to build additional housing. But we are not living in sensible times. So government instead for this new lending program that will simply make it easier for some families to borrow money for a house whose price may be artificially high.
Of course while there is reason to worry about history repeating itself in the case of Fannie and Freddie, it’s still not quite as crazy as the FHA’s decision earlier this year to make it cheaper for first-time home buyers with sub-680 credit scores to get into the housing market.
Because the only thing government is worse at than pricing risk, is learning from past mistakes.
Tho Bishop directs the Mises Institute's social media marketing (e.g., twitter, facebook, instagram), and can assist with questions from the press. Contact: email; twitter; facebook. |
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Dark Matter stuffs an incredible amount of plot into 43 minutes. Considering all the machinations and intertwining story threads, Kill Them All, is a feat of pacing. Beautifully choreographed brawls, sword fights, and gun fights flow seamlessly with hush-hush meetings, intense interrogations, and laugh-out-loud humor. The goal is to get the crew (including newbies) back on the Raza so we can start the season proper. This is a tall order with everyone in different places. Along the way, we learn a lot more about our heroes’ precarious situation in the cosmos and see some folks make surprising but necessary decisions.
Previously on Dark Matter: Six snitched and the Galactic Authority scatter the Raza crew to the four winds. Prison life. We met Nyx. Two rallies her troops. Jace Corso shot One. A bunch.
Kill Them All
The teaser introduces us to an aggressive businesswoman sporting even more aggressive cleavage on the phone in a sleek office. She’s wheeling and dealing when her assistant, Hughes, comes in to tell her about the Raza’s capture. At first she’s unimpressed until he reveals the crew compliment. She sees Five, and with a relieved but still somehow threatening sigh, says, “Hello, pumpkin.”
At Hyperion8, Six has had enough and demands answers from Investigator Shaddick. She takes the opportunity to interrogate him. He sums up the arc of season 1 succinctly. Finally, Shaddick makes her angle clear, she wants to pin the deaths of the 15,000 researchers from Episode 11 firmly on the Raza crew instead of on Traugott Corporation who developed the illegal tech or the Mikkie Combine who paid the Raza crew to steal it.
This puts the Warden in an awkward spot. He expositions that the prison is under GA contract thus duty bound to help Shaddick, their ranking officer. However, he’s under orders by Traugott Corps. to have the Raza crew deaded. Guess they don’t want their illegal research coming to light.
Shaddick interrogates Five next. Five has done a lot of harsh growing up in a short amount of time, and you can see it all in this exchange. Shaddick tries to cajole then intimidate a confession out of her. Five stands her ground admirably.
Shaddick: You’re making a mistake. You think you’re protecting your friends. There’s already enough evidence from their previous crimes to put them away forever. You are the only one who has anything to lose here. Five: If you can convict them without my help then do it. Leave me alone.
Oop!
Jodelle’s body language in this scene is so key. She sells it. Shaddick takes a different tack, asking Five to think of Six willingly purgering himself to protect her. Five can let him off the hook by confessing and getting immunity for herself in the process. She doesn’t seem to even consider it, but her face softens for a moment before hardening again and saying, “He made his choice.”
Shaddick finally loses her veneer of control and starts cussing and threatening directly. Five calls her a bitch and basically:
Nyx visits with Team Inmate during chow time. I gently swoon over how pretty Melanie and Melissa are. Nyx knows they’re planning to escape and wants in on it. She has connections and knows the supply schedule because, as she puts it: “I offer hard to source products for discerning and cooperative buyers.” Nyx is basically the most beautiful ferengi you will ever lay your eyes on. Guardy McHenchman cuts their conversation with Nyx short, ordering Team Inmate to a new work detail.
Gifs courtesy of tumblr user: anatsaja
In waste disposal, a hulking inmate bosses them around and smells Two’s hair. Three is really not having any of that, but Two keeps him from pressing the point too much. I’m loving the subtle Two and Three dynamic going on this season. If you’ll remember, they did have a brief fling in season 1. Also, Three was the first to cave and give up their safe’s password when a rival pirate threatened her life.
The hulking inmate is of course working for the Warden so he orders them to put their haul into the incinerator then turns it on. They’re saved by king of the inmates, Arax who puts them under his protection. That’s quite the reversal from last episode.
Zoie Palmer has the thankless task of sitting in a chair and barely moving but still giving an engaging performance. Spoiler Alert: she nails it! Shaddick drags Six in to order the Android to download her contents for examination. Obviously, that’s all the evidence Shaddick would need to prove her case. Palmer manages to communicate the entirety of Lucious Lyon’s “Snitch Ass Bitch” just using her eyes as she refuses to comply.
Shaddick has to go back to interrogating since the Android doesn’t recognize Six as a part of the Raza crew. Team Inmate doesn’t fold. A new challenger enters the field of battle though. Shaddick has an order she can sign that would send Four back to his home world of Xyron to face execution.
Thankfully, Cmdr. Truffault from the Mikkei Combine comes to Hyperion demanding immediate visitation. The Warden sends Three to meet her. She tries to get him to roll over on the crew and take responsibilities for Mikkei’s crimes. That doesn’t work, so she transfers a map of the prison from her eye into his. Cool.
This time when Arax sends his squire to politely request Team Inmate’s company, they comply without a fight. Arax has had a change of heart. Why be king of the prisoners when you can … not be a prisoner at all. Nyx crashes their meeting and informs them the supply schedule has been discontinued until further notice. Time is short for Team Inmate though, since the Warden wants them dead. Bummer.
Four has a solution. He tells Shaddick that he’s going home to face his punishment. Shuttle acquired.
Lt. Anders – ever the savvy (and twitchy) friend, tries yet again, to save Six from himself. He tells Six not to include the destruction of the research facility in his report because the Raza crew’s fate is already sealed. They’re all going to be killed. Six FINALLY sees the light and realizes he works for way worse criminals than the Raza crew. Took you long enough bruh. Unfortunately, it’s too late to save One. Anders informs him that One is dead. Six is devastated. His life is such a Shakespearean tragedy.
I feel terrible saying this but I had forgotten ALL about One until Anders brought him up. If you look at it, his story really was over so it makes sense.
Six apologizes to Five, then arranges to get Two thrown into solitary so they can communicate in the prison’s ill-considered virtual playground for the prisoners. Two is understandably reluctant to trust Six, but he still cares for them, and they need him.
They need to buy some time so, against his wishes, Arax knocks Four out so he gets put in the infirmary for a while before his transfer.
A shuttle lands and discharges Misaki Han, an old friend (maybe more) of Four’s. She seems pretty pissed about what he’s become. She drags him out of the infirmary despite the medic, Devon’s protests. Devon follows them out.
Five lies and tells Shaddick she will cooperate. Shaddick brings her back to the Android’s room. When they get there, she tells Shaddick she lied. She only wanted to say goodbye to the Android. Shaddick goes full evil and pulls a gun on her, threatening to shoot if she doesn’t cooperate.
Five agrees, looking shaken, but she just stalls until Six can cut the power to the section, thus freeing the Android from her restraints. Once free, Five commands her to “Kill them all.” Title explained.
As I said during the #DarkJoys livetweet, Five was the MVP of the episode and fully earned her Raza Crew stripes.
Gifs courtesy of tumblr user: anatsaja
RIOT!
It takes the guard on surveillance duty a comically long time to notice the entire prison is brawling. The Warden orders her to run the Code Black protocol in all cell blocks. Four, Misaki and her retinue, and Devon who are all in the medical wing, are affected as well. Everyone passes out. A guard drags Two to her cell where she wakes up and steals the guard’s gun and key card. She then goes to subdue the surveillance guard and crank up the frequency until all the other guards hit the floor too. Warden sees this and cuts all but emergency power. Everyone wakes up and the riot resumes.
In the chaos, Team Inmate w friends, Team Kill Them All, and Six converge on Misaki’s shuttle. There’s a hilarious moment where Five crashes Four and Misaki’s honor fight in a hallway by blasting her with ‘Bubba‘ the energy gun. “Sorry but, kinda in a rush.” Ha!
Anders tries to stop them when they are all just outside the shuttle, but Six and him wind up shooting each other. Two commands a reluctant Three to help her haul Six on board.
Aboard the Raza, Android can no longer integrate with the ship so she has to fly them out manually. Devon’s prognosis for Six is dim. Five suggests they put him in the stasis chamber that Three brought aboard during the show’s backstory. Continuity abounds!
Five placing her hand over Six’s face in the stasis pod is a nice moment. When they revive Six, no doubt, there will be a lot to deal with, but the affection is still there.
The gang finds out about One’s murder. Two is quite sad. Three lowkey comforts her.
Back in the posh office from the teaser, Hughes informs the business woman that the Raza and her ‘asset’ have escaped the prison. She resolves to get it back. |
The news media finally seems to have caught up to the notion that Donald Trump's international business dealings just might create a bit of a conflict of interest when he's serving as president of the United States.
The New York Times published an investigation over the Thanksgiving weekend detailing some of Trump's business associates around the world and how they see his election as a "yuge" opportunity to make a lot of money by partnering with the president-elect's "brand" — with his family will undoubtedly sharing in the profits. At this point, it appears that Trump has no intention of doing anything more than superficially distancing himself from his business and pretending that's a "blind trust."
In his interview with the Times last week, Trump explained that he had thought he would have to "do something" and had since been told that "the president can't have a conflict of interest," immediately evoking memories of Richard Nixon's famous quote: "If the president does it, it's not illegal." It's a very similar notion. The idea is that the president's job is so unique that normal rules and laws do not apply. The full quote is even more incoherent:
As far as the, you know, potential conflict of interests, though, I mean I know that from the standpoint, the law is totally on my side, meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest. That’s been reported very widely. Despite that, I don’t want there to be a conflict of interest anyway. And the laws, the president can’t. And I understand why the president can’t have a conflict of interest now because everything a president does in some ways is like a conflict of interest, but I have, I’ve built a very great company and it’s a big company and it’s all over the world . . .
Now, according to the law, see, I figured there’s something where you put something in this massive trust and there’s also — nothing is written. In other words, in theory, I can be president of the United States and run my business 100 percent, sign checks on my business, which I am phasing out of very rapidly, you know, I sign checks, I’m the old-fashioned type. . . . But in theory I could run my business perfectly, and then run the country perfectly. And there’s never been a case like this where somebody’s had, like, if you look at other people of wealth, they didn’t have this kind of asset and this kind of wealth, frankly. It’s just a different thing.
But there is no — I assumed that you’d have to set up some type of trust or whatever and, you know. And I was actually a little bit surprised to see it. So in theory I don’t have to do anything. But I would like to do something. I would like to try and formalize something because I don’t care about my business.
Trump seems to have been told that the presidency is unique and therefore not subject to conflict of interest laws and also that he is unique because he's so vastly wealthy he is not subject to conflicts of interest. In any case, it's worth reading the entire transcript to see just how much over his head he really is.
President Barack Obama tried to warn Trump that he needed to find a White House counsel who would give him strong, unbiased advice and help him navigate these treacherous ethical waters. Trump clearly didn't listen. In fact he went out of his way to name as his chief counsel one of the most notorious lawyers in Washington, Don McGahn, the man best known as the ethics lawyer to corrupt former House whip Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, a man who pretty much filled the swamp Trump promised to drain. As the architects of the "K Street Project," which strong-armed lobbyists into hiring only Republicans if they wanted to do business with the government, DeLay and McGahn were instrumental in institutionalizing GOP self-dealing and corruption during the George W. Bush years.
DeLay had Texas tear up its 2000 redistricting plan after Republicans won the majority in 2002, and McGahn defended him when DeLay was tried for illegally funneling campaign cash into a PAC to help Republicans win. (He lost the case, but it was reversed on appeal.) Of course, McGahn also had been the lawyer who advised him that the scheme was legal in the first place.
McGahn helped DeLay with a Russian pay-to-play scheme and a subsequent Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit. As the in-house counsel for the National Republican Campaign Committee, McGahn oversaw the raising of more than $625 million from 2000 to 2008 with almost no oversight and no rules. The scheme finally ended when a Republican congressman insisted on an audit and the FBI indicted the treasurer on embezzlement charges.
Naturally, George W. Bush then made McGahn a member of the Federal Election Commission, where he did everything in his power to undermine the campaign finance laws — and succeeded — after which he went to work for the Koch brothers — of course. In 2016 he joined the Trump campaign, and he will now be White House counsel.
The idea that this man is going to give Trump guidance on how to deal with conflicts of interest in an ethical manner is laughable. His career has been spent counseling his clients on how to do the opposite. Like Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and Jeff Sessions, it's yet another example of Trump hiring the worst person in America for the job. It's almost as if he's trolling America, just messing with our heads for the fun of it. And like nearly all forms of trolling, it's not funny at all. |
BRUSSELS -- EU lawmakers have called on Azerbaijan to release individuals widely seen as political prisoners ahead of the inaugural European Games and urged European leaders to skip the event’s June 12 opening ceremony in Baku.
European Parliament Vice President Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said on May 12 that the Azerbaijani government “should fully grant its citizens all the freedoms that are laid down in the European Convention on Human Rights, which it adheres to,” and in line with the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Olympic Charter.
Lambsdorff spoke at a European Parliament event titled Baku Games: Run For Human Rights, hosted by all of the chamber’s main political parties.
The European Parliament is likely to vote on a resolution on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan in June, and several members of the chamber plan to write to the Azerbaijani government in the coming weeks calling for the release of jailed journalists and others whom rights activists consider political prisoners.
The lawmakers say they hope President Ilham Aliyev will pardon these individuals on the occasion of Azerbaijan’s Independence Day celebrations on May 28.
Azerbaijan’s record on civil society and media freedoms has faced increasing international scrutiny in the run-up to the European Games, an Olympics-style event limited to athletes from Europe that is set to be held in June in Baku.
The games will bring some 6,000 athletes from 50 European nations to the Azerbaijani capital for two weeks.
Giorgi Gogia, a senior South Caucasus researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, told the event that numerous individuals he has worked with in Azerbaijan over the past 15 years are either in jail, in hiding, or have fled abroad.
He noted that the Azerbaijani government has tightened restrictions on nongovernmental organizations.
“The space for civil society is really gone in the country,” Gogia said.
Baku has repeatedly rebuffed accusations by Western officials and international rights groups that it is stifling dissent and jailing people for their political beliefs.
Dinara Yunus, daughter of the Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus and historian Arif Yunus -- both of whom were jailed in 2014 -- told the event that her mother is suffering from both hepatitis C and diabetes, has lost 16 kilograms during her incarceration and is slowly going blind.
She added that she has not heard anything from her father since his arrest last year.
“I don't know anything about my dad since August 5,” Yunus said. “He is just buried alive.”
She described Western nations’ approach to Baku’s rights record as “silent diplomacy” that is doing little to improve the situation in Azerbaijan.
“So far I don't see any improvements. I am losing hope to see [my parents] alive,” Yunus said. “It is not about now only calling for their freedom, it is calling for saving their lives. They need hospitalization abroad; they need medical treatments.” |
The Oireachtas banking inquiry faces the prospect of a legal challenge in Europe’s highest court if it wants to compel the European Central Bank (ECB) to appear before the investigating committee.
The release of correspondence between then ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet and the late Brian Lenihan in the run-up to Ireland’s bailout in 2010 has intensified the clamour in Dublin for the central bank to appear before the inquiry.
The ECB governing council has yet to discuss the matter formally but there is no great enthusiasm in the bank’s Frankfurt headquarters for any of its officials to go before the Irish panel, which plans public hearings next year.
There has been no request as of yet from the Oireachtas inquiry. Still, it is understood the ECB has advice to the effect that it is not under any legal obligation to participate in such a national inquiry.
An informed source, who is familiar with the legal framework within which the ECB operates, said the Oireachtas committee would have no power to compel the central bank to attend if it refused to co-operate voluntarily.
European Court of Justice
While the ECB’s intentions as regards the Irish inquiry remain unclear, any application from the committee to the ECJ would delay its work.
One complicating factor is that legal actions before this court can be time-consuming, frequently taking years.
Another is that the inquiry must complete its work before the next election, which must take place by the spring of 2016.
However, there is a precedent for a case in national law dealing with the ECB being sent to the ECJ.
Earlier this year the German constitutional court in Karlsruhe referred a case to the ECJ after finding a local complaint against the ECB’s sovereign bond-buying scheme was beyond its remit .
Two days ago in Frankfurt, ECB president Mario Draghi told reporters the bank’s “normal counterparty” was the European Parliament.
“Never forget that the ECB is accountable to the European Parliament, not necessarily to the national parliaments,” he said.
Statute
According to article seven of the statute, “neither the ECB, nor a national central bank, nor any member of their decision-making” shall seek or take instructions from EU institutions or from any government of a member state or “any other body”.
The statute also says the ECB shall enjoy in all member states “such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the performance of its tasks”. |
Image copyright Science Photo Library Image caption The study found that a majority of women did not report the most serious incidents of domestic violence
About a third of all women in the EU have experienced either physical or sexual violence since the age of 15, according to a survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
That corresponds to 62 million women, the survey says.
It is said to be the biggest survey conducted on the subject, and is based on interviews with 42,000 women.
The report calls on EU countries to treat domestic violence as a public, not a private issue.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Report co-author Joanna Goodey: "Liberal" countries show high rates of physical violence
It says laws and policies relating to sexual harassment should be reviewed.
Under-reported
The survey asked women about their experiences of physical, sexual and psychological violence, at home and in the workplace, as well as stalking, sexual harassment and violence in childhood.
It found that "one in 10 women has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 15, and one in 20 has been raped".
What emerges is a picture of extensive abuse that affects many women's lives, but is systematically under-reported to the authorities Morten Kjaerum, Agency for Fundamental Rights
The survey noted that 22% had suffered from physical or sexual violence by a partner, but that 67% did not report the most serious incidents of domestic violence to the police.
It said there was a link between heavy alcohol use and domestic violence.
About 18% of women said they had been the victims of stalking since the age of 15, and 55% said they had been sexually harassed, often in the workplace, the survey found.
It noted that young women as a group "are particularly vulnerable to victimisation".
The countries where women reported the highest number of incidences of physical and sexual violence were
Denmark (52%), Finland (47%) and Sweden (46%), states that are often commended for gender equality.
The UK and France reported the 5th highest number with 44%
The lowest incidences of violence were reported in Poland with 19%.
But the survey noted that the results may reflect the fact that some countries find it less culturally acceptable to talk about the problem than others.
"What emerges is a picture of extensive abuse that affects many women's lives, but is systematically under-reported to the authorities," said Morten Kjaerum, director of the Agency for Fundamental Rights.
He said the survey showed that "violence against women is an extensive human rights abuse in all EU member states".
He urged countries to take action to fight the problem, which he said "impacts on society every day".
The report said that campaigns and responses to the problem should be aimed at men as well as women.
"Men need to be positively engaged in initiatives that confront how some men use violence against women." |
A #Syrian refugee hands out food to homeless in Germany! A true Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/8X0q7llU8H — Arber B Muriqi (@ArberMuriqi) November 25, 2015
Syrian refugee Alex Assali feeds Berlin's homeless to 'give something back to Germany' BelfastTelegraph.co.uk Syrian refugee Alex Assali,who fled fled his country in 2007, is feeding the homeless on the streets of Berlin 'to give something back' to the nation that granted him asylum. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/syrian-refugee-alex-assali-feeds-berlins-homeless-to-give-something-back-to-germany-34237210.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article34154981.ece/2d4c5/AUTOCROP/h342/PANews%20BT_P-0ba51004-8391-46cb-b5f5-84e19563675a_I1.jpg
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Syrian refugee Alex Assali,who fled fled his country in 2007, is feeding the homeless on the streets of Berlin 'to give something back' to the nation that granted him asylum.
Assali spends his weekends cooking large amounts of food then setting up stalls around Berlin to feed homeless people and those in need.
He said he serves about 100 people a week and has been handing out food from various locations across Berlin.
Assali's story went viral after friend Tabea Bü posted a photo of him preparing food on Facebook.
"He really has lost everything; he had to leave his family back in Syria because people wanted to kill him," Ms Bu wrote in the Facebook post.
"Even though he doesn't have a lot, he goes on the street and distributes food to the homeless.
"I have the feeling like, God has blessed him as he is a blessing for so many more people."
Ms Bü said she and Mr Assali are overwhelmed by the messages of support.
"We both never imagined what this little post could do, but we are happy that we did bring a little light into the world," Ms Bü wrote on Facebook.
A poster attached to his stall table in the photo reads: "Our target is to give something back to the people who helped us ... We want to be a positive part in the German community."
THATS ALEX! A big shoutout to him this morning, Dieser Mann beeindruckt mich zu tiefst! Seine Geschichte ist nicht... Posted by Tabea Bü on Saturday, 21 November 2015
Belfast Telegraph Digital |
Image caption Beverley Jones was enraged by a text message on her partner's phone
A woman who hit her partner in the face with a rolling pin after suspecting him of cheating has escaped a jail term.
Beverley Jones, from Swansea, told Michael Rees to close his eyes for a Christmas present and count to three before she struck him on the nose.
Mr Rees, who denied cheating, had to be treated in hospital for cuts and swelling after the attack.
Jones admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and was given a two-year community order at Swansea Crown Court.
Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said Jones suspected her partner of being unfaithful after finding a text message on his mobile phone.
"They rowed about the text message but made up and he asked her to go to bed.
This was an isolated aberration - I do not believe sending you to prison would be the correct sentence Judge Christopher Vosper
"He got undressed and went under the covers.
"Jones came upstairs turned off the light and said: 'I've got a Christmas present for you. Do you want it?'
"She asked him to close his eyes and count to three.
"On opening his eyes he saw her above him with her arm raised holding a rolling pin.
"She struck him on the bridge of the nose and said: 'That's what you get for going for girls behind my back.'
"Infidelity was clearly at the front of her mind."
Problems
Mr Rees was taken to hospital with facial injuries including a cut and swelling to the bridge of his nose.
The prosecution said he had suffered flashbacks following the incident in December 2011.
The court heard the text message to Mr Rees had been innocently sent by the girlfriend of one of his workmates.
A statement from Mr Rees read to the court said: "I believed our relationship was going well.
"I cannot believe what happened. I didn't expect her to attack me."
The couple broke up following the incident and has had no contact since.
Jones admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and was given a two-year community order.
Judge Christopher Vosper said: "This was an isolated aberration - I do not believe sending you to prison would be the correct sentence.
"You need support and help to deal with your problems." |
I recently made the switch from Sublime Text 3 to GitHub‘s Atom editor. Whilst I was tinkering around last year with the initial Atom preview releases I was only now ready to make the move. I have to say that their 1.0 release video had quite some impact on giving it another shot too :)
Introducing Atom 1.0! A text editor for the home of tomorrow..today! Learn more at https://atom.io/ As always, feel free to leave us a comment below and don’t forget to subscribe: http://bit.ly/subgithub Thanks! Connect with us. Facebook: http://fb.com/github Twitter: http://twitter.com/github Google+: http://google.com/+github LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/github About GitHub GitHub is the best place to share code with friends, co-workers, classmates, and complete strangers.
What’s it about?
For many the great GitHub integration is what it’s all about, tho for me this wasn’t the main reason to jump ship. Whilst I am using Git in the bigger projects I also do small “occasional” hacking, with just local git repositories and especially without the need for complex branching. Hence this article is more of a guideline on how to setup Atom for the “Sunday” hacker, rather than the full-stack Palo Alto engineer. Much more, this is just how I use it as a simple WebDeveloper. Your needs might be very different. The last note (promise!) is that I am aware that all of this can be achieved using Sublime Text as well. Most of the Atom packages are actually just ports from ST packages. I still made the move because, well I guess I just wanted to try something new and so far I’m quite happy with it…
Start from scratch
First, if you used the preview version of Atom early I think it’s best to start fresh as a lot of packages that used to be community packages have moved to core and for me it seemed to be the right thing to do. Since all configuration and third party packages are saved under “.atom/” in your home directory just go ahead and delete that from the command line.
cd ~
rm -R .atom/
Default Settings
Atom 1.0 will greet you with a nice splash screen on start. The first you will notice is that Atom is actually a lot more user friendly than Sublime Text. A lot of the essential features are shipped right out of the box. For me the only required settings change was to enable the Preview Tab functionality.
Preview Tabs
Preview Tabs allow you to open files, have a look at the code and then open another file, whilst automatically closing the previous one, if no code changes have been applied.
Since Atom is package based, some of the settings are actually done within the core packages individual settings. In this case the setting is hidden within the Tabs Core Package.
Go to Settings -> Packages and search for Tabs. Then click Settings. There you’ll find the option to enable “Preview Tabs”.
Essential Packages
The main reason that made Sublime Text the editor of choice for so many of us, was the extensibility provided via packages. Atom follows this approach and their website already lists more than 2000 Community Packages. Here’s is my list of essential packages.
A beautifier plugin is a no-brainer these days and atom-beautify seems to be the go to solution for this. Simply install it and with the click of a button you’ll have well indented and formatted code in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, C, C++, C#, Objective-C, CoffeeScript, TypeScript and SQL.
Love it, or hate it, but don’t say it’s not useful at some points. I personally love Bootstrap especially for it’s grid system and use it pretty much all the time. This package adds autocomplete for Bootstrap code and also ships with Font-Awesome and Glyphicon snippets. No need to search through cheatsheets anymore! What’s especially handy is the boilerplate snippet. Simply type in “html-” and you’ll be presented a HTML5 boilerplate with Font-Awesome and Bootstrap CDN’s loaded.
Whilst Atom-Beautify does a great job at indenting and formatting the code, your CSS is probably still a mess with properties in random orders. CSSComb solves that problem by arranging CSS properties in a logical order and even indenting browser-prefixes for improved readability.
A color picker is often quite useful. I still make heavy use of OSX’s Digital Color Meter but I think it’s good to have something else around within the editor.
Now this is actually something I never managed to do in Sublime Text, but in Atom it just works. Pigments pulls in the HEX, RGBa or HSL value and applies it as the background colour of your code. Great if you’re like me and can only tell the colours of two values, #000 and #fff…
I am somewhat surprised that this package hasn’t been rolled into Atom Core yet. With over 100.000 users, there surely is some demand for it. It’s functionality is pretty simple and if you’ve worked with Sublime’s Projects and Workspaces before you pretty much know already what’s coming. It allows you to save different window sets with its open files for each project and lets you switch between them easily. Pretty much a no-brainer to use it…
The last package in my list is not as polished as the other ones but if you’re a developer working with WordPress, the auto-completion for functions hooks and methods sure comes in handy. It won’t replace the codex any time soon tho…
Final words
There you have it, my take on Atom and why I made the switch from Sublime Text. Please let me know in the comments if you are considering making the move and if you know of any Atom packages that make the experience for Sublime users better! |
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Aug. 28, 2014, 1:15 AM GMT / Updated Aug. 28, 2014, 1:22 AM GMT
A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed convictions against 16 members of an Ohio Amish community found guilty of hate crimes for forcibly slicing off the beards and cutting the hair of members of other Amish communities.
A judge ruled improper instructions led a jury to convict the members of the Bergholz sect of hate crimes — motivated by dispute over religious doctrine — rather than stemming from the wide range of family and personality conflicts the defendants argued were behind the 2011 attacks on nine people in eastern Ohio.
“When all is said and done, considerable evidence supported the defendants’ theory that interpersonal and intra-family disagreements, not the victims’ religious beliefs, sparked the attacks,” the 2-1 opinion from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals read.
Samuel Mullet and other members of the Bergholz community he founded were convicted of hate crimes for several attacks on men and women who left the community. Mullet was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Cutting the beards of men and the hair of women is considered an insult, as it is grown long to show their piety, according to the opinion. The decision leaves the door open to retrials in the case.
IN-DEPTH
Amish Hair Attack Ruling Overturned (WGAL)
— Phil Helsel |
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The majority of the 53,800 alleged breaches relate to CBA's intelligent deposit machines.
The Commonwealth Bank's ongoing woes around alleged systematic money laundering operations by criminal gangs and terrorists have deepened, with fresh claims the contraventions are continuing.
Key points: AUSTRAC alleges CBA is continuing to contravene money laundering and terrorism funding reporting procedures
100 new alleged breaches added to more than 53,000 existing issues raised by AUSTRAC
AUSTRAC says it is still not being informed about many suspicious transactions despite its recent legal action
The allegations were raised as AUSTRAC filed a further 100 alleged breaches of Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) as part of the existing Federal Court proceeding being run by the Government's financial transactions watchdog.
The damning new evidence alleges the CBA's breaches of AML/CTF laws have continued longer than first thought and AUSTRAC still was not being told about suspicious matter transactions well into this year.
The investigation centres on CBA's ATM network, or "intelligent deposit machines" (IDMs), and the bank's failure to monitor risks within the system.
Alleged terrorist funder gets heads up before AUSTRAC
In one case, a client who had been convicted of terrorism charges in Lebanon, and was known to have tried to organise funding for terrorist acts in Australia, was given 30 days' notice of the closure of his CBA account before AUSTRAC was even alerted.
He also managed to withdraw funds from the account more than a week after it was supposedly closed.
"On 20 July 2017, CommBank erroneously processed a transfer of $5,000 from CommBank Account 184 [the alleged terrorist funder] to an account held by Person 138 [his brother] in Lebanon in spite of suspecting terrorism financing in relation to an identical attempted transfer on 19 June 2017," AUSTRAC's new court statement alleged.
"Even though this was the second attempted international money transfer to Beirut that was suspected to be linked to terrorism financing, CommBank did not put a stop on CommBank Account 184 at this point.
"In spite of concluding on 26 June 2017, that potential terrorism financing was being conducted on CommBank Account 184, a stop was not put on CommBank Account 184 until 9 August 2017."
Even after that, nine days after the account was supposedly closed, $6,225 was withdrawn from the account of 184 at CBA's Bankstown Central branch.
Drugs and firearms 'money mules'
In another instance, CBA failed to notify AUSTRAC about the actions of a drugs and firearms syndicate, which allegedly laundered $42 million through CBA ATMs and IDMs between 9 March 2016 and 8 August 2016.
NSW Police allege that the money mules would launder the money by making cash deposits into numerous bank accounts through branches, ATMs and IDMs.
"The money mules made structured cash deposits into the CommBank accounts identified ... to launder the funds of the drug and firearms syndicate," AUSTRAC alleged.
AUSTRAC argued that by May this year CBA would have had reasonable suspicions about the alleged "cuckoo smurfing" operation, particularly as the New South Wales Police Organised Crime Squad had already demanded transaction histories from the bank.
Under the act, CBA is required to alert AUSTRAC's chief executive within three days of any suspicious transactions brought to its attention.
The police received the details of the suspicious transactions on May 3. AUSTRAC is still waiting.
"At no time has CommBank given the AUSTRAC CEO an SMR [suspicious matter report] in relation to the matters," the statement noted.
Systemic non-compliance
The 100 new alleged contraventions take the total number of breaches under scrutiny to 53,800.
While not a big percentage increase, the worry for the bank is AUSTRAC's very dim view of work being done to remedy the systemic problem.
"After IDMs were first rolled out in May 2012 there were at least six periods of time within which CommBank should have, but did not, follow the procedures set out [for money laundering/terrorism funding risk management]," AUSTRAC's statement argued.
"The contravention is ongoing."
The new statement of claim also highlights a number of new instances where AUSTRAC was not informed of suspicious transactions, despite demands from state police for details of a number of suspicious transactions and red flags being raised within the bank itself.
That was in June this year.
"These allegations are very serious and reflect systemic non-compliance over approximately six years", AUSTRAC chief executive Nicole Rose said.
Four key fresh allegations
The fresh allegations follow many of the themes pursued in the original 600 page statement of claim, but are distilled down to four key points according to AUSTRAC:
CBA failed to report two suspicious matters within 24 hours of forming a suspicion relating to the financing of terrorism.
CBA failed to report 54 suspicious matters either on time or at all in relation to accounts and individuals that were the subject of two further law enforcement operations.
Even after CBA became aware of suspected terrorism financing, money laundering and/or structuring on CBA accounts, in 38 instances it did not appropriately monitor its customers to mitigate and manage money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risk, including the ongoing ML/TF risks of doing business with those customers.
In six instances additional to those in the original statement of claim, CBA did not comply with the requirements of its own AML/CTF program to identify, mitigate and manage the ML/TF risks associated with intelligent deposit machines (IDMs).
The maximum penalty for each individual contravention alleged in the amended statement of claim is up to $21 million.
Compliance has improved: CBA
CBA said it will review the amended statement of claim and update the market as appropriate.
"We will file an amended defence in due course," CBA said in a statement released to stock exchange.
Despite AUSTRAC's assertions that breaches were ongoing, the bank said it had significantly upgraded and expanded its operations to ensure compliance with the AML/CTF Act.
"During 2017 we have stepped up the rigour and intensity of the program and extended it across all aspects of financial crime obligations and all business units to further strengthen regulatory compliance," CBA said.
In its response to AUSTRAC's initial allegations, the bank admitted it had failed to properly assess money laundering and terrorist funding risk adequately and issue suspicious matter reports in a timely matter before October 2015.
"CBA will submit that the extent of that harm should be assessed in the context of the significant number of SMRs issued in respect of the customers in question above and the fact that a number of the SMR contraventions relate to information itself derived from law enforcement," the bank said in a submission filed with the Federal Court.
Terrorism funding allegations 'a large escalation'
AML/CTF law specialist and Latrobe University professor Louis de Koker said it was dangerous to speculate about what CBA should have done or what AUSTRAC would do.
"[However] some of CBA's risk management failures were basic and serious," Professor de Koker said.
He said CBA's admissions it failed to comply with an agreed program to manage and mitigate ML/TF risk were a particular concern.
"Those admissions are extraordinary," he said.
Thomson Reuters regional head of regulatory intelligence Nathan Lynch said the latest allegations around terrorist funding were a large escalation of the issue for the CBA.
"These are the most important issues to report under the AML/CTF regime and businesses have to file these with AUSTRAC within 24 hours," Mr Lynch said.
He argued the expansion of AUSTRAC's claim would ratchet up the pressure on CBA to settle.
"It's highly likely that both parties are already in discussions about the appropriate penalty and any other remedies the bank might have to undertake," he said.
"CBA has already admitted to the vast majority of the breaches, so there would be little to be gained for either side by taking this to trial.
"Any settlement with AUSTRAC would be dependent on the board overhauling the ambivalent risk culture that it believes had permeated the bank.
"Reading the claim, the regulator seems to think that culture built up over a period of years."
Editor's Note: While the CBA does not dispute a convicted terrorist used its accounts on two occasions to transfer money to Beirut, Lebanon, the transaction was reversed a week later after a CBA search revealed the potential terrorism link. |
President Donald Trump addressed thousands of Boy Scouts at a national gathering on Monday, stressing loyalty while threatening — perhaps jokingly — to fire Health Secretary Tom Price if a crucial vote to repeal “Obamacare'” fails.
Trump told the Scouts that Price “better get” the votes to begin debate on the legislation Tuesday.
“Otherwise,” Trump tells the crowd, “I’ll say: Tom, you’re fired.”
He adds: “You better get Sen. Capito to vote for it.”
West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito has expressed reservations about the Republican health care bill.
It’s unclear whether the president was serious or joking.
Trump is the eighth president to attend the National Scout Jamboree, the organization says. More than 40,000 Scouts, leaders and volunteers are at the 10-day event, typically held every four years. President Barack Obama did not attend during his two terms, although he addressed a 100th anniversary event in 2010 by video.
Each U.S. president serves as honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke to the group on Friday. The organization is honoring Tillerson, once an Eagle Scout himself, with the development of the Rex W. Tillerson Leadership Center at the West Virginia summit site. |
It’s hard to define the essence of the great Kurt Vonnegut‘s gift, but it might have a lot to do with the precision of his humor’s arrow, which pierces the very heart of the human condition and contemporary culture. In 2005, shortly after the release of his final* book, A Man Without a Country — a collection of short personal reflections on everything from the differences between men and women to the double-edged swords of technology to the importance of humor — an 82-year-old Vonnegut appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Steward, proving his wit every bit as sharp and his social commentary every bit as astute as it ever was, tackling everything from creationism to the Bush administration to overpopulation to the Iraq war.
Underpinning his sharp satire, however, is a certain kind of sadness, perhaps one only palpable to those who have devoured Vonnegut’s revealing recent biography, one of the 11 best biographies and memoirs of 2011.
Jon Stewart: I always felt in your writing that you were both admiring of man but disappointed in him. Kurt Vonnegut: Yes, well, I think we are terrible animals. And I think our planet’s immune system is trying to get rid of us and should.
For more Vonnegut gold, see the author’s fictional interviews with luminaries and his NPR interview in Second Life mere months before his death.
* In 2009, the excellent posthumous anthology Armageddon in Retrospect was released, collecting 12 never-before-published essays. |
The development focus switched to DXR (where the "D" comes from "Dehydra"), which is based on clang instead of gcc. Try DXR instead, or else try the gcc python plugin: https://fedorahosted.org/gcc-python-plugin/.
was a lightweight, scriptable, general purpose static analysis tool capable of application-specific analyses of C++ code. In the simplest sense, Dehydra could be thought of as a semantic grep tool. It presented a wealth of semantic information that can be queried with concise JavaScripts . It was also useful to find bugs in source code as it allows for much more error checking than C++ is capable of by itself. Dehydra was built as a GCC plugin, thus it is easy to use for projects that already support GCC.
Dehydra is also useful for generating language bindings and is used to bootstrap Treehydra, a heavy-duty static analysis GCC plugin. |
Way back in Bite #93 we talked about creating a "router" for Alamofire that would generate URL requests from enum cases.
In most apps we'll likely end up with some version of that code to help communicate with the API for that particular app. It'd be great if there was some sort of "standard" way to write this code each time.
Today we'll look at a library called Moya that aims to provide this. Let's dive in. 🏊
Moya is a network abstraction layer that encapsulates calling Alamofire functions. It helps us avoid creating messy custom network abstractions in every project.
To use Moya in an app, we'll need an enum with a case representing each API endpoint we want to hit:
enum FirstOrder { case AllTroops ; case Troop ( String ) }
Then we'll extend it to conform to Moya's TargetType protocol:
extension FirstOrder : TargetType { var baseURL : NSURL { return NSURL ( string : "https://api.firstorder.galaxy.far.away" ) ! } var path : String { switch self { case . AllTroops : return "/troops" case . Troop ( let id ): return "/troops/ \( id ) " } } var method : Moya . Method { return . GET } var parameters : [ String : AnyObject ]? { switch self { case . AllTroops : return [ "sort" : "recent" ] default : return nil } } var sampleData : NSData { switch self { case . AllTroops : return "[{ \" id \" : \" FN-2187 \" }]" . dataUsingEncoding ( NSUTF8StringEncoding ) ! case . Troop ( let id ): return "{ \" id \" : \"\( id )\" }" . dataUsingEncoding ( NSUTF8StringEncoding ) ! } } }
Finally, we'll create a new Moya provider using our enum and make it available globally:
let FirstOrderAPI = MoyaProvider < FirstOrder > ()
Now we can make requests like this:
FirstOrderAPI . request ( . Troop ( "FN-2187" )) { result in switch result { case . Success ( let response ): do { let json = try response . mapJSON () // TODO: Parse JSON } catch ( let error ) { handleError ( error ) } case . Failure ( let error ): handleError ( error ) } }
This is just a taste, Moya has a ton to offer including some fantastic enforcement of good testing practices.
In conforming to the TargetType protocol, we're actually required to provde sampleData . We can also customize things further by providing an endpointClosure when creating our provider.
More info about Moya can be found at git.io/moya |
Twitter, Facebook, the comment sections of blog posts and YouTube videos, and all sorts of Internet meeting places have turned into nothing more than virtual gladiator arenas in which we fight to the death about stuff we forget about the next day.
It’s easy to get caught up in angry Internet discussions. But I think everyone, Christians especially, really ought to consider the ways in which they communicate with others online. You don’t win an argument by being the loudest person in the room. You don’t win an argument by being the biggest jerk in the room.
On the Internet, you win an argument by keeping the discussion civil. Here are five tips to dialoguing on the Internet in a respectful way:
1. Treat others like you want to be treated.
When it comes to the standards of the Bible, I try not to get angry at my non-Christian friends when they aren’t living up to them, even though I wish everyone would try to hold to biblical standards.Christian, your job is to make disciples, not win arguments. Don’t pursue the latter at the cost of the former.
The Golden Rule, however, is a biblical principle I think everyone, regardless of religion or lack thereof, should hold to when it comes to Internet dialogue. It’s really simple: you don’t like it when you get yelled at, so don’t yell at people. The following four points fall under the umbrella of this point.
2. Lead with humility.
If I’m debating with someone online about a political, spiritual, or an otherwise controversial topic, it can be easy for me to argue relentlessly without even the slightest consideration that I may be wrong.
What if, no matter how sure we are about how “right” we are, we approach every online discussion with a posture of humility that assumes the other person may be just as right as we are? I think this would radically improve our tone on social media and otherwise.
3. Don’t use polarizing language.
I cannot stand shock jocks on TV and radio. I find them to be wholly unhelpful to intelligent, effective communication in the realm of controversy. Even if I agree with folks like this, I find them to be shrill and nothing more than caricatures of legitimate, honest ideas and positions.
Here are some examples of polarizing language:
“He is the worst!” “She is the best ever!” “I hate this!” “It’s always like this.”
When you use polarizing language like in the phrases above, you naturally limit conversation because you pushed the superlatives as far as they can go.
Polarizing language limits conversational progress.
Related note: Only one “?” or “!” will suffice. When you use “!!!” or “???” people think you’re either angry, impatient, or way more excited than you need to be.
4. Assume the best in others.
This point sorta goes back to point number one: treating others like you want to be treated. When I am talking with someone on the Internet, whether or not I know them, I do everything I can do to give them the benefit of the doubt. I know that not everyone in the world is looking to better humanity (see ISIS), but most of the people I am talking with online, even if I vehemently disagree with them, are simply trying to do what they think is best.
For example, I am pro-life. However, you will never hear me call people who are not pro-life “pro-abortion” or “pro-death.” I think to call pro-choice folks as any other name than that which they call themselves is inherently disrespectful and un-Christlike.
Polarizing language limits conversational progress. Many of these folks are truly trying to do what they think is right, and though I think they are very wrong, I owe them my respect, and I need to treat them as I think Christ would. Assuming the best in others, paired with an attitude of humility, will go a long way in effective, civil, and even encouraging dialogue (in person or online).
5. Respond as if you’re conversing in person.
This is a fitting final point because I think it does a good job of summarizing the previous ones.Too often, we discuss stuff differently online than we would in person—usually, we’re more polarizing (see point three).
It’s difficult to articulate volume and tone via static text on the Internet. Because of this, we should consider how we might phrase something to communicate with the most love and grace so as not to be heard as angry and unloving. As you’re crafting that tweet reply or that Facebook comment, pretend you’re speaking to the person. What if you were asked to read your comment aloud to the person you’re writing to? Consider these things.
Christian, your job is to make disciples, not to win arguments. Don’t pursue the latter at the cost of the former.
Originally posted here |
Last weekend, Top Cow released Rise of the Magi #0 as one of the Free Comic Book Day offerings for 2014. Rise of the Magi is a standalone title that delves into the realm of magical fantasy. Marc Silvestri and Matt Hawkins, head honchos of Top Cow, aren’t stopping there either, with a Cyber Force/Aphrodite IX crossover on the horizon that is sure to be filled with bullet casings and cyber-punk awesomeness. Be on the look-out; Aphrodite IX #10 hits shelves today.
I spoke with Hawkins and Silvestri to discuss the release of both of these projects.
FreakSugar: Give us a little set-up for the Cyber Force/Aphrodite IX crossover. Aphrodite IX has an intertwined lineage with the history of Cyber Force. How will the recent events of Cyber Force play into Aphrodite IX?
Matt Hawkins: Both stories are integral to the other and are connected via the generational models and the Aphrodite Protocol which is created and engineered in the Cyber Force book and executed in the Aphrodite IX series.
FS: Rise of the Magi will introduce a new set of characters to Top Cow readers, in particular Asa Stonethrow (and Bloop the Wonder Frog); what is the core theme of the project?
Silvestri: Magi is about assumptions and the danger of having them, not just assumptions about the people and world around but more importantly, assumptions about yourself. Asa’s story is the classic hero’s journey and discovering that when pushed, people are capable of doing much more than they thought.
The broader stroke is about people being married to a particular belief system and showing that until proven otherwise no matter what you believe, you’re wrong.
FS: Matt, you have recently revealed a couple of new secrets into Aphrodite’s past in Aphrodite IX #9; as a writer, what is your feeling on big reveals as story beats in terms of the scope of an ongoing series?
Hawkins: I think it’s important to toss in a fairly large reveal/twist in every story arc. You don’t need to do it in every issue or they start to lose some of their impact. If you can consciously build to these and have just enough red herrings so it’s not too obvious what’s going on, the better.
FS: What sorts of developments can you elaborate on regarding Aphrodite IX in the months building towards the crossover with Cyber Force?
Hawkins: Issue 10 is on shelves today and issue 11 wraps the first season of Aphrodite IX. In these issues, one of the city states will be annihilated and the full scope of the Aphrodite Protocol and how it was managed across 700 years will be revealed.
Page 4 from Aprodite IX #10 Page 5 from Aprodite IX #10 Page 6 from Aprodite IX #10
FS: Will the Rise of the Magi project have direct implications on other characters in the Top Cow Universe?
Hawkins: Magi is a self-contained storyline, we’re not constraining Marc with continuity!
Silvestri: Not at the moment. We really want to keep ‘Magi’ free from any baggage that having an extended universe brings. So many of these mega crossovers make you feel like you’ve accidently watched the sequel to a movie before watching the original!
FS: Is there an element of comedy in Rise of the Magi? I mean, there’s Bloop the Wonder Frog. Or is this lighter littler detail cleverly shrouded by darker themes in this book?
Silvestri:Thematically, ‘Magi’ is actually pretty heavy in terms of ideas and actions and the ramifications of both. It takes place today but in two different realities that though very different, share the same issues caused by the only true wildcard in nature; human beings.
Tonally ‘Magi’ is pure action-adventure/fantasy with a definite twisted sense of humor. The important thing for me though is that the story’s humor comes from life’s little ironies and absurdities rather than one-liners
FS: Can you share any details about the “black ball” found in Rise of the Magi?
Silvestri: The “orb” in ‘Magi’ is pretty much the center of that universe and we don’t have any real plans to cross it over into the Top Cow universe proper. The world of ‘Magi’ truly is magic based – including our reality – so in order not to drive all of our readers nuts, we’re going to keep `em separate!
FS: Top Cow covers a lot of ground in terms of genre storytelling and even mash-up style genre stories; are there any bases you guys haven’t covered yet? Are there any types of stories you would like to see more of?
Hawkins: Marc has always wanted to do some children’s stuff and has had some great ideas over the years. I’ve always wanted to write a hardcore horror book. We get pitched a lot of projects we decide whether we do them or not based on if we a) think they’ll sell and b) we think they’re cool.
Silvestri: Yeah, one of these days I’m going to write a children’s horror book. I’d also like to do a true Sci-fi/magic mash-up.
FS: Should Top Cow fans make plans to attend any of the major shows in particular in terms of major announcements for the year?
Hawkins: Comic-Con is always the big show with all the major announcements. We announced at Emerald City Comic Con that the next Talent Hunt will feature the characters on the Cyber Force/ Aprodite IX side of the Top Cow universe.
FS: Does Top Cow have more plans for crowd-sourced projects like the ridiculously successful Cyber Force project?
Hawkins: We’ve talked about doing a few of these, but have not yet pulled the trigger to do another one. The Cyber Force one was so perfect and had a great message of giving comics out for FREE! |
Why Greenpeace Speaks Out on Racial Justice
For more than 45 years, Greenpeace has worked to protect life on our planet against the powerful, corrupt forces set up to destroy it. We have believed from the beginning that collective action by strong communities is the most effective way to bring about environmental protection.
Throughout Greenpeace’s history, we’ve gone to the furthest reaches of Earth’s oceans and forests to fight for the environment, but in our own neighborhoods and communities we have not done enough to fight for racial and social justice. When we do, we often get asked why, as an environmental organization, we are speaking or taking action on racial justice issues.
To us, the answer is clear.
We speak out because we believe environmental and racial justice are inextricably linked.
We can’t have a green and peaceful future without racial justice, equity, civil rights, and empowered communities. We believe the systems of power and privilege that destroy the environment also strip vulnerable communities of their humanity — and too often, their lives.
That’s why we speak out. That’s why we take action. And that’s why we will continue to do so as long as it takes to create the future we believe in. Black people should be able to walk through any neighborhood, drive down any street, and work anywhere without the threat of being killed by the police.
This year we’ve already experienced a number of incidents in which black people have been gunned down by law enforcement. In each new moment, our hearts break for the victims and the victims’ families. These moments expose the systemic racism and inequality that link these tragedies to others around the country and around the globe.
Institutional racism causes these individual tragedies.
Our society has been structured to benefit some people at the expense of others. Together, these systems, which thrive on race, class, and gender injustices, also rely on the destruction of the environment. In pushing back against the structures of racism and injustice, we are inevitably pushing against the structures that deplete and degrade the Earth’s natural resources.
However, our commitment to racial justice goes deeper than what we stand against, it’s also about what we stand for. We stand for peace, and peace is only possible when the structures of our society do not enact implicit and daily violence on people of color.
Take climate change. We all know climate change is big enough to affect every human being on the planet. However, the injustices that run through our society ensure that the climate crisis hits communities of color hardest right now.
Black and brown communities from Houston to New Orleans have been living with the toxic legacy of the oil and gas industry for generations, only to see climate change begin to take away their homes and land.
Indigenous communities in Arizona and Alaska have seen new waves of oppression unleashed on them through mining and extraction, and now many of them, too, are being hit by climate effects, from disappearing coastlines and wildlife, to disastrous wildfires and drought.
And poor families in so many American cities and rural communities have been the historic targets of power companies, which have strategically placed their coal-fired power plants in low-income communities and communities of color. The health impacts of that history, from high rates of asthma and early mortality, to mercury poisoning that disproportionately affects women and children, are only being compounded by climate change.
The foreshadowing of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy and the historic heatwaves of the last 20 years suggest that, as climate impacts continue to escalate, it will be these communities who take the brunt of the injury and pain.Climate change makes manifest the intersectionality of environmental crises and racial crises that has been clear to communities facing discrimination for decades.
If we stand for peace, we must stand for a redefinition of how we treat each other, removing the violence that is too often locked into the fabric of our society.
Only equity, including racial equity, will bring that about.
Greenpeace stands in solidarity with the victims of racial violence who deserve justice, understanding, and healing. We stand in solidarity with those who seek peaceful and strategic solutions to systems of power and privilege and their violent expressions. And we stand in solidarity with our Black Lives Matter allies demanding accountability for the victims of police and other forms of state sanctioned violence. We believe that the success in Greenpeace’s work is deeply interconnected with the success of those working for racial, social, and gender justice.
We encourage our supporters to advocate, educate, and show up for social and racial justice.
We also encourage our supporters to help us with this work, and share with us ways in which you see social and environmental justice working together. One way we can all help is to raise the topic of racial justice in our communities, churches, workplaces, schools, and homes. One of the most powerful forces blocking progress is silence.
By speaking about these issues, encouraging people to explore interconnections between issues important to them, and by being ready to respond constructively to those who resist change, we help create change.
There are many places to learn more about and join the call for justice, two of which are:
blacklivesmatter.com
showingupforracialjustice.org |
Networking, unexpected drop-ins, incessant phone calls, pesky get-togethers … many of us just aren’t cut out for so much social stimulation.
If you’re an introvert, you will understand how important it is to live in an environment in which you can thrive in. I like to think of the introvert as a prickly, desert-hardy cactus, which can self-sufficiently survive in solitary landscapes. But put the cactus in the middle of a bustling city, or in a chaotic office, and it will be over-watered, over-stimulated, and underdeveloped.
As introverts, we ain’t no sunflowers, wallflowers perhaps, but definitely not sunflowers.
If we can’t find the space to live happily and freely … well then what? As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get … going, and the final option at the end of the day may well be going someplace else.
So if you’ve ever considered emigrating to another country, a much quieter country, this article will be of use to you.
The following list of introvert-friendly countries is by no means definitive, and was compiled through research undertaken on a variety of forums and websites. Every country has a mixture of introverts, ambiverts, and extroverts, so it’s unlikely that you’ll ever find an “introvert paradise” with 100% of the population introverted. That’s just unrealistic.
You will however, find different cultures, customs and norms in each of the following countries that are perhaps better suited to the quiet, reserved person.
11 of the Most Introverted Countries in the World
The following list is ordered alphabetically, and provides useful information on each introvert-friendly country for your disposal. Enjoy!
Austria
Population: 8,414,638 (2011 Census).
Official Language: German.
Capital: Vienna.
Cool Attractions: Melk Abbey, Vienna State Opera, Hohensalzburg Castle, Hofburg Imperial Palace, Innsbruck Altstadt, Schönbrunn Palace.
What people say: “I’ve been to Austria a few times, beautiful country, introverted yes, friendly, not so much.” (city-data.com)
Belgium
Population: 11,035,948 (2012 Census).
Official Language: Dutch, French, German.
Capital: Brussels.
Cool Attractions: Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Liege, Spa, Namur, Mechelen, Hasselt, Dinant.
What people say: “Of the nineteen or so countries I visited, perhaps the most profound experience was in the Flanders region of Belgium. It was here I embraced the knowledge of how special it was to live as an introvert.” (nancyfenn.wordpress.com)
Czech Republic
Population: 10,436,560 (2011 Census).
Official Language: Czech.
Capital: Prague.
Cool Attractions: Prague Castle, Terezin, Concentration Camp, Cesky Krumlor, Konopiste Chateau, Karlovyvary.
What people say: “In the USA I can get along, though too much “people time” makes me tired and edgy. Here in Prague, though, my introvert nature can breathe an expand, as this is an introvert nation”. (praguepies.blogspot.com.au)
Denmark
Population: 5,602,536 (2013 Estimate).
Official Language: Danish.
Capital: Copenhagen.
Cool Attractions: Tivoli Gardens, Legoland Billund, Tycho Brake Planetarium, Rosenborg Castle, The Little Mermaid.
What people say: “(The Danish) are just not easy to know on a closer level. I would say they are more private and keep to those they know well.” (portal.foreignersindenmark.dk)
Estonia
Population: 1,294,455 (2011 Census).
Official Language: Estonian.
Capital: Tallinn.
Cool Attractions: Tallinn Zoo, Lahemaa National Park, Tartu, Parnu, Rouge, St. Mary’s Cathedral.
What people say: “On average, Estonians are introverted and they do not show much emotion”. (www.photologix.nl)
Finland
Population: 5,421,827 (2012 Estimate).
Official Language: Finnish, Swedish.
Capital: Helsinki.
Cool Attractions: Fortress of Suomenlinna, Power Park, Lapland, Rauma, Helsinki Cathedral, Mekaanisen Musiik in Museo.
What people say: “Put two Finns in an elevator. Neither of them says a word and they don’t feel uneasy at all. There is mutual understanding between them that they didn’t have to start small talk”. (www.wrongplanet.net)
Iceland
Population: 321,857 (2013 Estimate).
Official Language: Icelandic.
Capital: Reykjavik.
Cool Attractions: Gullfloss Waterfall, The Blue Lagoon, Geysir Hot Springs, Vatnajokull National Park, Lake Myvatn.
What people say: Iceland has a whole section of a social networking site dedicated to Icelandic introverts and shy singles. Enough said.
Japan
Population: 128,056,026 (2010 Census).
Official Language: Japanese.
Capital: Tokyo.
Cool Attractions: Mount Fuji, Great Buddha of Kamakura, Golden Pavilion, Disneyland, Imperial Palace, Hiroshima, Universal Studios.
What people say: “But at some point it hit me: I’m an introvert and Japan is a country that rewards introverted behaviour. Suddenly I knew why I never felt very comfortable in the US, where extroverted behaviour is praised … I have often said that if I were going to design my own country, it would resemble Japan”. (bungotaketa.wordpress.com)
Latvia
Population: 2,970,371 (2011 Census).
Official Language: Latvian.
Capital: Riga.
Cool Attractions: Siguida Castle, Venta Waterfall, Pedvale Open-Air Museum, Aglona Basilica, Rundale Palace and Museum.
What people say: “… people here are introvert(ed) and communicate inside their close circle of friends”. (integration.lv)
Sweden
Population: 9,555,893 (2012 Census).
Official Language: Swedish.
Capital: Stockholm.
Cool Attractions: Liseberg Funpark, Slottet Castle, Carl Larsson-Garden, Foteville Viking Reserve, Domkyrkan Cathedral, ABBA:The Museum.
What people say: “... social relationships are particularly problematic among Swedes. This may manifest itself as communication apprehension, reservedness, desire for social autonomy, positive attitudes towards loneliness, and strict boundaries between private and public life“. (www.nordicway.com)
Switzerland
Population: 7,954,700 (2011 Census).
Official Language: German, French, Italian, Romansh.
Capital: Bern.
Cool Attractions: Lake Geneva, Swiss Alps, Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory, Zurich, Interlaken, Lucerne.
What people say: “Switzerland’s type is much more introverted, inward, private. Few Swiss, for example, entertain others in their homes. Where an introvert in America is the “odd man out”, in Switzerland the introvert is the norm“. (jungiancenter.org)
***
You may also like to check out Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Mongolia, South Korea, Luxembourg, Germany and China as potential introvert-friendly cultures. Also, if you have any suggestions, or positive and negative experiences while traveling to any of these countries, please feel free to share below! |
Jen Kish always wanted to be an Olympian, but was not certain if she would ever get the opportunity.
It wasn’t because the Edmonton product lacked motivation, drive or commitment. She has that in spades.
Her calling simply was not an Olympic event until now, when rugby sevens makes its debut in Rio.
“The Olympics are something that I always wanted to go to as an athlete and compete in,” Kish said. “What inspired me to go to the Olympics was watching the women’s hockey team compete in 2002. I saw them on TV, and I was so inspired and that’s what I saw myself doing. The dream was kind of put on the back-burner because I ended up in a sport that wasn’t part of the Olympics, so I shifted my goal to the World Cups, which is the next biggest thing in sport.
“Now that I’m going to the Olympics, I have moments of ‘Is this actually happening?’”
Kish, 28, is considered one of the best rugby sevens players in the world and captains an upstart Canadian team in Rio. She was introduced to rugby in high school after playing football for W.P. Wagner and took to the sport immediately.
“I played lots of sports growing up, and I was playing high school football and just after the season, my coach suggested rugby to me and rugby never interest me, but I went and tried out for the women’s rugby team and my career kind of took off,” Kish said. “Within that year that I joined the high school rugby team, I joined a club team in the summer, and from the club team, I went and tried out for the provincial team, and when I was playing provincials, I got scouted from the U-19 Canadian coaches that were watching. And all that happened within the span of a year, and then I didn’t play football any more after that.”
Kish was a quick study and was soon captain of Canada’s Under-19 rugby team. She graduated to the senior level, at which she competed in three Nations Cups as well as in the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup before making the switch to sevens permanently once it became an Olympic event.
“I think I dominated in the contact area of the game in rugby, and that’s just basically because of my four years of my football behind me,” Kish said. “I was a safety and that’s where my defence comes from, and there was a lot of contact in football and I was already prepared for the contact in rugby. Because I was dominating in rugby in high school, I realized that I could actually fulfil my dream to actually make a Canadian team, and that’s when I set the goal to make Team Canada.”
Rugby sevens is a perfect fit for Kish and her skill set. She captained Canada to a second-place finish at the World Cup in Moscow in 2013 and was named a finalist for the women’s player of the year.
Last summer, Kish captained Canada to gold in the rugby sevens tournament at the Pan Am Games in Toronto.
“Sevens is a game of finesse, speed and power and 15s is more of a game of chess,” Kish said. “There are more players on the field and it’s a longer game. You have so many players around you, so your mistakes are hidden. In sevens, your mistakes are exposed. If you turn over the ball, it’s going to lead to a try; if you miss a tackle, it’s a try. In 15s, there is a lot going on, so someone can make five mistakes within three minutes and there can be no try.”
Canada opens the Olympic sevens rugby tournament against Japan on Saturday. Canada also faces Great Britain and Brazil in group play.
Expectations are high on the Canadians going into the inaugural Olympic tournament, and as team captain, Kish is up for the challenge.
“It’s no secret that we’re podium contenders, and that’s just based off our history in the past four years, we’ve build a winning case,” she said. “We usually start slow in the season, and we build throughout the season, and in the last two years, we’ve won the last series stop. That’s why I think it’s going to bode well for us when we go to Rio because we’re a team that keeps building throughout the season.
“I think we’re going to be the fittest team there, and fatigue is not going to be a factor for us. We understand that Canada is looking at us as medal contenders as we are ourselves, but it’s a reality, and I think it’s not out of reach for us.”
[email protected]
On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest |
Ian Hooton/SPL/Getty
Look after future generations vs Realise human potential
Fears that we are too many are nothing new. As long ago as 1798, the English writer Thomas Malthus warned that a growing population would eat its way through the planet’s finite resources, condemning millions to die of starvation.
Read more: The ethics issue – The 10 biggest moral dilemmas in science Science has given us the power to design life, reshape the planet and colonise other worlds. But should we? New Scientist grapples with the big ethical questions
We haven’t exhausted our supplies quite yet, but seven billion people later our planet’s ability to support us all comfortably does appear to be under threat. If we all lived like affluent Americans, say, resource consumption and carbon emissions would be at unsustainable levels. Given the clear and present dangers posed by climate change, how can we look after future generations without keeping half of the world’s population in poverty?
For Travis Rieder, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the answer is reducing birth rates – and not in the places you might expect. When it comes to climate change, says Rieder, “my American kid is way more problematic than the many children a family might have in poor, high-birth-rate countries”. And should the worst consequences of climate change come to pass, it will be the poorest that suffer most severely. So let’s assume that the West is incapable of slashing carbon emissions or finding a technological silver bullet (see “The ethics issue: Should we geoengineer the planet?“). In this case, we are obliged to explore all options, including the taboo subject … |
Recipe attempted on 24th May 2011
Ratatouille
Recipe source: WendyinKK
Inspired by the animated movie, Ratatouille
Vegetables
1 aubergine (12 inches)
1 yellow squash (12 inches)
1 green zucchini (12 inches)
3 roma tomatoes
Olive oil for rubbing onto the vege
Preparation of vege:
Slice every vegetable into 2-3m thick. Put sliced aubergine, squash and zucchini into a big bowl. Pour some olive oil in and toss all the vegetables around. Heat a pan and sear the oiled vegetables.
Sauce ingredients
1 cup chopped onions
4 cloves garlic
1 cup chopped capsicum
400gm tomatoes, chopped
½ tsp ground oregano
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp sugar (more or less to balance the taste of the tomatoes)
Handful of basil
Olive oil for cooking
Cooking of sauce:
After searing the vege, with the same pan, on medium heat, put in some olive oil and sauté garlic and onion until golden and fragrant. Put in chopped capsicum and cook for 1 minute. Put in chopped tomatoes and cook until softened. Add in oregano, salt and sugar. Cook until everything softens and turns thick.
Assembly:
Preheat oven to 200 (fan)/220C
Put sauce onto base of baking pan. Put basil over sauce. Arrange the 4 vege in sequence over sauce.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Verdict:
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I am submitting this post to
Bake Fest by Vardhini hosted by Sumee
I learnt to know of this dish’s existence through… the cartoon !!! It was very pretty to look Remy (the rat) slicing the vegetables, tossing them into the baking dish, having that baked and served. Although the original version is nothing like such, but more of a pot of vegetable stew, I’m definitely more interested in making the visually more attractive dish.According to Chef Michael Smith , sautéing the aubergine and zucchini first will give much better flavour. Of course I won’t skip the step. If the chef tells you this step will give you better flavour, go ahead and do it. I always love the smell of fried aubergine and squashes, therefore I truly believe this super tedious step will give me definite satisfaction later.Slicing the vege is a breeze to me. It’s the searing of the vegetables that almost killed me. Being at 39 weeks, with baby Reuben sitting so low in my tummy, standing so long to sear almost each slice of vege is no easy feat. (Reuben could pop out any minute!, but now he's 10M) I sliced them thin and each vege took at least 3 panfuls to finish searing. I did 11 pans of searing. Haha! But it’s all worth it. The aroma from the seared vege is just wonderful.We had this with some homemade buns. I truly loved this dish, but my tomato basil hating hubby tried very hard to eat a few slices of it. My MIL and BIL enjoyed this dish a lot. The sauce was good and the seared and baked vege was just yummilicious. That is if you love squashes and those sort of stuff. The dish didn’t turn watery as the early sautéing removed some of the moisture and I really cooked the sauce thick. The extra moisture from the dish only came from the roma tomatoes that weren’t seared. The dish is still moist but not soggy, with the top fragrant from the high temperature baking. |
We make snow for Hollywood sets, TV commercial shoots, music videos, promos or just about anything else you can dream up. Add that authentic glitz that only real snow can produce. We’ve been working in the entertainment industry for more than 30 years, so we understand the process and know how to work with Hollywood.
Impress your guests with a fresh blanket of snow at your next party. We make snow for all kinds of parties including, holiday, birthdays, bar and bat mitzvahs, welcome home, get well, or just a sledding fun in the snow party. Really, you don’t need much of a reason to include snow in your next event. Our snow services can create sledding hills or that authentic looking fresh snowfall that covers your yard, trees, shrubs and walkways. We can also do real Ice Skating Rinks with real ice or synthetics. Add an ice rink to you next party!
No snow party is complete without snow services or holiday related entertainment! We have many services including carolers, Santas (real bearded or fake bearded), brass bands and much more. Visit the the Southern California Party Entertainment Section of our parent company, The Entertainment Contractor, to choose the best entertainment for your event.
Sometimes the icing on the cake for your special event is quite literally ice – snow ice to be exact. Make your next special event the talk of the town with snow accents for red carpets and award ceremonies, School and University Events, tabletop displays, special entertainment settings, band or entertainment backdrops, or just a little extra something to send your event over the top. We have lots of great ideas to make your special event spectacular.
What surfaces can we put snow on?
Grass, concrete, asphalt. You cannot put indoors or on wood.
Can we do snow in the back yard?
That depends on if there is access to the back yard for two large trucks and the trucks must be perpendicular to the area being blown, back to back. Approximately 5 car lengths long. With your address we can usually satellite the area and look at it and if not, photos can be e-mailed to us. In rare cases of difficult load in, we may choose to do a site check. We can always make possible alternative suggestions
Can we make a slide or sled run?
Yes, we usually can have bales of straw brought in to your location at an additional charge or you can provide the bales yourself and our staff will stack them at no additional charge to you unless you have a proper natural hill on your site that will lend itself to a sled run that is easily accessed by our trucks.
Do you dispose of snow?
No, Nature will melt the snow as it normally does in the snow areas of the world. Melting depends on how hot or cold it is at the time of year that it is installed. We install all year long, even in the middle of summer. If you need for the snow to be out sooner, we can hire a water truck to come out and blast the snow away for you at an additional charge. Most clients just wait for the snow to melt.
What happens to the straw after the snow melts?
Depending on the area your straw is delivered to, if we can have it delivered to and the company we use is willing to pick it up, they will pick up the bales that are still tied together as a bale. They will not clean up any loose straw. The straw must be dry, as wet straw is heavy. It usually takes approximately a week for the snow to melt and straw to become dry enough to haul away. We usually set delivery for 1 week after event. Clients usually like to continue to slide for a day or two after the event if the snow holds up (depending again what temperature the weather is at the time).
How many children can go down a sled run? |
In an ad released on Twitter, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says that as "a grandmother with two eyes and a brain," she sees climate change as an urgent threat to future generations. (Hillary Clinton)
UPDATE: When we wrote this story at the end of July, we had hoped we'd be able to do what we're doing now, which is to cross some of the issues off this list as Clinton clarifies her positions on contentious topics.
And that's exactly what's been happening. In August, Clinton tweeted this:
The Arctic is a unique treasure. Given what we know, it's not worth the risk of drilling. -H — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 18, 2015
And on Tuesday, she announced that she opposes the Keystone XL Pipeline. Here's the update:
As secretary of state, Clinton was heavily involved in reviewing the Keystone XL oil pipeline to ship Canadian oil to Nebraska. The State Department studied the pipeline and found no significant environmental damage would occur from approving this fourth phase of the pipeline, according to Politico. The broader review continues, and the Obama administration hasn't made a final decision on the pipeline.
But while the president is widely expected to opt against building the pipeline, Clinton hedged. Environmentalists consider the pipeline a key litmus test for candidates and don't want to see it built. But many Democrats -- all but the most liberal ones -- support it.
In response to several questions in July on her position, she declined to comment and eventually said:
"This is President Obama's decision, and I am not going to second-guess him," she said, adding: "If it's undecided when I become president, I will answer your question."
The Clinton camp doubled down soon after, with a spokeswoman saying: "...Given her former role as Sec state and having been part of the Keystone process, she believes that weighing in now could be disruptive to the process and not responsible to do. She is just in a different situation than other candidates."
That appears to have suddenly changed Tuesday. At a appearance in Des Moines, Iowa, Clinton said it’s time to state her opinion because the review process is taking too long. “I oppose it," she said.
In August, Clinton similarly avoided taking a position on banning offshore drilling - especially controversial drilling in the rich oil reserves in Arctic. The first part of Clinton's energy proposal, which she released July 27, indicated she wants to ensure "safe and responsible" fossil fuel production by designating some areas that are "too sensitive" to drill as off-limits. Now, we know that banning all drilling in the Arctic is exactly what President Hillary Clinton would do. It's a break from President Obama, whose Interior Department recently gave Shell the go-ahead to drill off Alaksa's northern coast. And it's a win for environmentalists.
But even with Keystone and offshore drilling, environmentalists may not be entirely happy with Clinton's vision so far to combat climate change, because her July 27 document left out many of the day's controversies in the environmental world. She proposed expanding solar panels and working to have every American home in 2027 powered by renewable energy, but she originally made no mention of the Keystone XL pipeline, fracking or offshore drilling.
Her campaign maintained she plans to roll out more details later, but there was reason to believe we might not get clarity on how she feels about some of these topics. That's because Clinton has so far avoided taking stances on several controversial issues of domestic and foreign policy -- most notably ones that divide her Democratic base.
Her campaign has been unapologetic about this approach, leading our own Chris Cillizza to label her Keystone position a "ridiculous hedge." We now know her position on Keystone. But we still don't know the Democratic front-runner's stance on at least six five four big issues she'd have some control over if she were president.
Here they are:
1. Fracking
Environmentalists rally to ban fracking in Colorado in February. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Clinton's energy proposal also made no mention of America's biggest energy boom: Natural gas. But there are signs she would support its growth, even though many environmentalists oppose the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing -- or "fracking."
At a clean energy summit in Nevada last year -- before she was a candidate for president -- Clinton described natural gas as a bridge to building a clean-energy economy, though she had some concerns about the amount of methane that fracking produces.
"With the right safeguards in place, gas is cleaner than coal," she said.
2. Trade
Activists in May protest a trade deal Obama's negotiating with 12 Pacific Rim nations. (AFP/Saul Loebsaul)
Clinton has been up-close to two presidents forging major trade deals in her career, and she has a complicated relationship with free-trade agreements. She's gone from "meh" as first lady to championing President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership deal as secretary of state.
[Hillary Clinton's position on trade? It's (very) complicated]
As a candidate, it seems she's wavering between the two:
"Any trade deal has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security," she said in April. She encouraged Obama to listen to the concerns of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but it wasn't clear whether she supported the final resolution that was eventually reached.
3. Medical device tax
Congressional Republicans are pushing to get rid of a tax on the medical device industry that was enshrined in Obama's 2010 health-care reform law to help pay for expanded health-care coverage. Many Democrats in Congress also support getting rid of this tax, though it's not clear that there's enough to survive a veto from Obama.
The House of Representatives passed a repeal bill in June with 46 Democrats on board. The bill got exactly the two-thirds support it would need to override a veto (280-140), but some members were missing and some Democrats who support repeal might not also vote to override a veto. The Republican-led Senate is considering a vote, too; it approved a repeal amendment 79-20 in 2013, when Democrats were in the majority.
Clinton was asked about the tax at a conference with the medical industry in 2014, where she said: "On the tax itself, again, I think we have to look to see what are the pluses and minuses that are embodied in a decision."
She has given no reason since then to believe she's made up her mind.
4. Breaking up big banks
Occupy Wall Street protesters in 2011 in Washington. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
In 1933, Congress instituted a law requiring big banks to separate their investment and commercial-banking practices. Know as the Glass-Steagall Act, it aimed to avoid irresponsible lending that could lead to a financial crisis.
President Bill Clinton repealed the law, but a bipartisan coalition in Congress that includes Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have proposed reinstating it.
But Clinton will not make that a feature of her campaign, one of her economic advisers told Reuters this month. He gave no reason.
Anne Gearan contributed to this report |
Types of paranormal and unearthly phenomena experienced and reported in Pluckley, Kent, renowned as England’s most haunted village!
Screaming:
Location: Pluckley – Area around the Brickworks, Pluckley Heath
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1991
Further Comments: To hear the screaming ghost is not uncommon in this area, and is reported to be quite bloodcurdling.
Flickering Light:
Location: Pluckley – Church of St Nicholas
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sounds of knocking can be heard coming from beneath the church at night, often accompanied by a flickering and fluttering light inside the empty building. Some say the light belongs to Lady Dering, buried within three lead coffins in an attempt to prevent her decay. The churchyard is reputed to be haunted by a red lady, wandering the area in search of her missing baby. Finally, the inside of the church is also said to be haunted by a woman in mid-twentieth century clothing.
Victorian Woman:
Location: Pluckley – Dering Arms public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This pub is said to be home to a phantom woman in Victorian clothing who lurks by the bar.
Pleased to Meet you…
Location: Pluckley – Devil’s Bush
Type: Legend – Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: An unknown bush in the village can be used to summon the Devil, by dancing three (or thirteen) times around it, and / or saying (or not saying) a spell.
Headmaster:
Location: Pluckley – Dicky Buss’s Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1965
Further Comments: Taking his own life in the 1800’s, the phantom headmaster was observed by an author in the mid twentieth century; the entity wore stripy trousers and an old coat.
Walker:
Location: Pluckley – Elvey Farm Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Blamed for poltergeist activity, a phantom walker is said to frequent the farm house. There is also reports of a haunting smell, that of burning yarn or wool.
Dying Highwayman:
Location: Pluckley – Fright (aka Frith) Corner
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large spectral tree has been seen here, together with a highwayman pinned to it by several swords. On other occasions, an elderly phantom woman is spotted; thought to be a gypsy woman, she accidentally set herself on fire with her pipe while sleeping.
Miller:
Location: Pluckley – Mill Hill, location where ruined mill once stood, near the Pinnock
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This location is haunted by both a miller and a gypsy woman, the latter said to have burnt to death on the site.
Colonel:
Location: Pluckley – Park Wood (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 1965?
Further Comments: This woodland, levelled in 1965, was home to a phantom officer who had hanged himself on the site.
Tutor Lady:
Location: Pluckley – Rose Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This reputed female phantom could be heard calling out for her hounds, although it is said that she has not been heard for many years. The woman is said to have committed suicide by eating poisonous berries.
Screams:
Location: Pluckley – Screaming Woods
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that the screams which emerge from the woodland belong to those who became lost and died amongst the trees.
Dog Walkers:
Location: Pluckley – Station Road, area around Greystones House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Couple unknown, monk reported seen in 1971
Further Comments: Victims of the all-too-common love triangle that ends in suicide, this couple and their little dog can be heard walking and chatting down this area of the road. Greystones itself is reputedly home to a phantom monk.
Invisible Hand:
Location: Pluckley – The Black Horse Public House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s onwards
Further Comments: This non alcoholic spirit moves items across the bar, tidies, and sometimes hides coats and wallets. The site is also home to disembodied screaming.
Horses & Carriage:
Location: Pluckley – The main village street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen trotting down the main street, the history of the carriage pulled by two horses (or four, depending on the source) is unknown.
Taxi Fare:
Location: Pluckley – Unnamed road in village
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: A taxi driver reported seeing a man on the roadside who flagged the taxi down. The fare climbed into the back of the cab, but when the driver turned round to ask his passenger where he was heading, he found the car empty.
Source: http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/hotspots/pluckley.php |
This story has been updated with President Trump's defense of breaking all this news Friday.
It's Friday night. A Category 4 hurricane is about to slam the Texas coastline, and President Trump directed the Pentagon to ban transgender people from joining the military and pardoned a politically radioactive convicted former sheriff. News also broke that one of his more controversial advisers, Sebastian Gorka, is leaving the White House.
This isn't your average sleepy Friday news dump — a trick newsmakers use to bury unpopular news by releasing it when most people aren't reading news. This is a flagrant attempt to hide a series of politically fraught (but base-pleasing) moves under the cover of an August, Friday night hurricane.
And on Monday, Trump made his news dump even more audacious. He claimed he did it precisely because of the hurricane, but not for the reason we're assuming: “In the middle of a hurricane, even though it was a Friday evening, I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally,” he told reporters at a news conference Monday with Finland's president.
[Trump defends pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio]
Uh, what? Trump pardoned former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio as the nation's eyes were on a hurricane because he thought more people would hear about it? That defies common sense. News networks and newspapers only have so much bandwidth, and Trump forced them to choose between coverage of Trump's remarkable pardon and a remarkable hurricane.
It's already transparent as day that Trump is doing controversial things he knows are controversial, and he would prefer the public and the media not focus on it. Rather than acknowledge that, or even dodge it by giving a typical politiciany-non-answer, Trump tried to defend it by insulting thinking people everywhere.
Ironically, by so obviously trying to downplay this news, he framed it in neon flashing signs.
The contrast of a president making not one but two major decisions — and suffering more White House staffing turmoil — as the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in more than a decade is making landfall is stark. Oh, and North Korea just fired short-range missiles. Oh, and NBC News reports special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team have issued subpoenas for officials with ties to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to testify to a grand jury.
That's news to fill an entire week, let alone the span of a few hours on a weather-dominated Friday night. And amid catastrophic flooding in Houston, Trump's pardon was not forgotten. Reporters asked him about it in the news conference Monday afternoon.
Is it possible Trump and his team had always planned to formalize a major policy change to military recruits and pardon Arpaio after the president had dinner on Friday, Aug. 25? Maybe. Trump hinted both were coming over the past month. (Arpaio was convicted in 2017 of contempt of court for failing to stop racially profiling illegal immigrants after a judge ordered him to stop.)
“Do people in this room like Sheriff Joe?," Trump asked at a Phoenix rally on Tuesday. “I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine, okay?”
President Trump spoke about possibly pardoning former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio during a rally in Phoenix on Aug. 22. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt in July. (The Washington Post)
But that doesn't explain why Trump went ahead and signed those orders as a massive, news-dominating hurricane is about to make landfall. Why the urgency?
Pouring unpopular news out like this is an extremely politically risky decision for Trump. Hurricane Harvey is his first major test as emergency commander in chief. Earlier in the day, top Republicans had urged him to stop tweeting insults to them and focus on keeping people safe in Texas and Louisiana.
@realDonaldTrump #hurricane keep on top of hurricane Harvey dont mke same mistake Pres Bush made w Katrina — ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 25, 2017
Trump risks looking like he's using this potentially deadly hurricane as political cover.
As GOP strategist Alex Conant pointed out, by breaking all this news now, Trump also risks fomenting outrage by giving even the appearance of hiding this underneath a hurricane. And he catches any potential supporters flat-footed.
President Obama tried to dump unpopular news on Friday nights. But it rarely worked. News cycles don't work like they used to. 1/ — Alex Conant (@AlexConant) August 26, 2017
If you're going to do something unpopular, you're now often better off selling it & owning it. 3/ — Alex Conant (@AlexConant) August 26, 2017
Sure enough, Democrats in Congress quickly jumped on Twitter and called up reporters to express their outrage.
“President Trump is a coward,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who represents much of the area where Arpaio was sheriff, told The Washington Post's David Weigel. “He waited until a Friday evening, as a hurricane hits, to pardon a racist ex-sheriff. Trump should at least have the decency to explain to the American public why he is undermining our justice system.”
Here's Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.):
Then he ran to Camp David. The only reason to do these right now is to use the cover of Hurricane Harvey to avoid scrutiny 4/ — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 26, 2017
Arizona Republican congressmen Trent Franks and Andy Biggs issued statements supporting Trump's decision.
The president did the right thing -- Joe Arpaio lived an honorable life serving our country, and he deserves an honorable retirement. — Rep. Trent Franks (@RepTrentFranks) August 26, 2017
But that was about it. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), tweeted this:
Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course. — Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) August 26, 2017
And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wasn't happy either: “The President has the authority to make this pardon,” he said in a statement, “but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”
The hurricane-Friday-night news dump is bold, even for Trump. His explanation for why he did it was even bolder, yes, even for Trump. If he hoped to keep backlash to a minimum, it's backfiring. |
Lurker Lou ruined skateboarding. When he snapped Matt Militano’s board during Slap’s One in a Million show (not even first try!), he singlehandedly took away all the fun there was to be had in riding a skateboard. We sat down with Lou to discuss why he is so hell-bent on destroying skateboarding, and why he hates America’s children.
+++++++
Where are you from, and how did you get into skating?
I’m from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The actual town is Dennisport, which is a small town, kinda white trash, dead all year, crazy in the summertime. My dad used to own a liquor store, and it had a drive-thru, and all these kids used to skate in there. My older brother had two friends who skated, and they sold me a used board for super cheap, so I started going out with them. I was turning 11, and they were 16.
How’d you end up moving to New York?
That was all Zered.
When did you originally meet him?
I met him when I was in 8th grade, he was the talk of Cape Cod. I never got out of my town to skate much, but as I got older, I’d go to other towns and link up with different dudes to skate. I met Zered at a contest. He won, and I think I got 3rd place. He lived two towns away, and after that, I just started going to his skatepark. He got on Zoo, and they got him an apartment here with Billy [Rohan] and Brian Brown. I’d just crash on an air bed, then Billy got kicked off and I took over his room. As soon as I moved here, we started filming Vicious Cycle.
Was there ever a point where you were supposed to be the next dude to get on Zoo?
The reason I never wanted to fuck with Zoo was because I didn’t want it to be like, “That dude got put on because he’s Zered’s boy.” There was never any time when I was the next dude to be fully on, how [Kevin] Tierney or Black Dave are now. It might’ve been cool, but I was a little young, and wasn’t psyched on Zoo. Still not really psyched on Zoo, so…
When you moved here, were you like “I’m gonna try and do the pro skater thing,” or was it just move and see what happens?
I’d go to New York for three weeks at a time, then go back to Cape Cod and work my ass off for a month. Sometimes I’d go to Union Square and hustle product, and I’d get money like that. But I’d piss my money away at the Fish like an idiot at 18, 19. I just wanted to skate. I wanted to go to Flushing, I wanted to do tricks that had never been done. I’d know Steven Cales did a nollie flip [over the grate] in Keenan’s [Chocolate Tour] part, but I’d want to nollie flip it in a line. I wanted to go pro, I didn’t know who I’d want to skate for.
Did you just get over it after a while?
I got a job building sets for $150 a day. It was moving around furniture and light carpentry. Then I got a raise, and realized I would never make that type of money off skating. I was like, “I’m 21, I got a good job, my mom is psyched,” so I did that for years and didn’t skate for anyone. I just got boards through Zered or Robbie Gangemi at Vehicle. There were always small companies I could’ve got on, like with Official, I said I didn’t want to skate for a website, and Rodney [Torres] got bummed. Then he quit, so I’m glad I never did that. I thought about maybe getting on Instant Winner. They kinda gave me a loose offer.
How’d the Coda thing end up happening?
I was living with this kid, and he skated for Coda. That dude took four months rent money from me. I was about to go home for Christmas and I check the mail. There’s a full-on warning letter from the realty company about how no rent has been paid in months. I called that dude up, he was in Vermont, and say, “Yo, I’m gonna fucking kill you, dude. You took $2,800 from me. Do not come back to New York.” I took all of his shit, sold it to Beacon’s Closet, and pawned off some of it. His girl came by to pick up some of his shit, and I just threw it all in the hallway. Pat Smith was so psyched that I was like “Fuck this dude,” that he kicked him off Coda and offered to put me on. I waited a month or so, and told him I’m down. I got on because of a cokehead roommate. Then I filmed for that Coda video for the next six months.
Were you still working full-time, and just focused on skating during the weekends?
My job would be maybefive days of straight work, then maybe a few days in the next week, and then I wouldn’t work for a week-and-a-half. That job has always been beneficial to skaters. That’s why all the skaters work there.
What made you want to start your own company instead of skating for someone?
After a few years, I was confused about Coda. Pat would say he wanted to give me a board, and I did two graphics for it. Then everyone kinda got sidetracked. He told me they wanted to do a “bridge” series, and I wanted to do the bridge that goes over the Cape Cod Canal. But some of the dudes weren’t psyched on their graphics, and I’d go “What’s going on with mine?” We were playing phone tag all the time.
I know saying that you’re not psyched on the graphics sounds super corny to kids in their teens, but once you’re grown up, you don’t want to look down at a skateboard that you hate the graphic of. Me and Pat are still cool, that’s my boy, but I just had to part ways. I was psyched on Hopps, and wanted to hit up Jahmal [Williams], but I got the feeling that Jahmal didn’t want to put me on or do a collabo.
Why?
I don’t know, I mean, I’ve known Jahmal since I was a kid. When I was 16, I got punched in the face by a bike messenger in Boston and Jahmal chased him down and punched him in the back of the head. He’s an inspiration behind Iron Claw. In his skate career, he skated for mad people, and then didn’t skate for anyone for a while, then did his own thing. We just never sat down, it was just kinda awkward.
How’d Iron Claw come together?
Billy Rohan was in a crazy stage a year ago, and he gave me Glenn Chapman’s number because I wanted to do some boards. Tyler Mate called me up telling me he wanted to start a skateboard company, and asked if I wanted to skate for it. He used to do this clothing company called Death Traitors. They used to sponsor me, and he had beef with the dude he did it with, so he deaded it. I was like, “That’s funny, because I was going to start my own shit too.” I just wanted to make boards that I could skate, and maybe make a little money off. I knew I could sell them at Autumn, Charles would hook it up at Supreme. Tyler wanted me and Watermelon [Alex] on the team. He told me the name was Iron Claw.
I wasn’t hyped on the name at first. I wanted to start a company called “95” — because it’s the east coast highway, the year I started skateboarding, and it was the best year in skateboarding. All of the footage that came out in ’96 was filmed in ’95. I did a little research on Iron Claw because he told me it was an old punk song. I found out it was a prison restraint device. It’s a thing that prisoners could whip their hand and get out of, it was only around for a few years. It made an “I C” to me, so I thought it was sick. We took our ideas and we smashed them together. We get along and I always liked the shit Death Traitors did, but our goal was to have none of our shit look similar to Death Traitors. We saved up to get a LLC and boards. It feeds itself for now.
How do you go about putting kids on the team? You seem to be looking for something really specific.
I wanted to put Shawn Powers on first. I knew he skated for Shut and I didn’t want to steal anyone. I liked Phil Rodriguez, but didn’t know him. Caviar had just come out, and all those kids’ style had matured. Billy McFeely couldn’t do it because he was skating for Jart. I hooked Derrick [Ziemkiewicz] up once, but since then, I haven’t seen him. Nobody ever sees him. He’s over there in Poland, Queens, yet Phil is coming out all the way from Rockaway all the time, so I put him on. With Kennedy [Cantrell], I saw the One in a Million footage, and thought he was sick. He did a lot of tricks that I really like — he wallrid nollied over a set of stairs, he has a good frontside flip, he did some sick street lines. After all that One in a Million shit was over, I asked him if he was down to get boards from me, so I mailed them out to him. Me getting psyched off watching a 20-year-old kid skate is pretty fucking rare. Him and Phil are working on all VX1000 parts for the end of this year.
I know you were psyched to do the One in a Million thing, and I was hyped they had you involved, so why did it turn into such a mess? What’s your version of the story?
I got the e-mail from Alex Klein saying he wanted a Quartersnacks judge, and that wasn’t happening, so he got forwarded to me from you. I thought it was gonna be like last year. I signed on, a couple of weeks go by, I get a call giving me the outline two days before it started. He said they were staying at House of Vans, that there were gonna be eliminations, and asked if I wanted to focus kids’ boards when they get kicked off. I go, “Yeah, sure, I don’t care.” He asked if I was down to be the “mean guy” of the show because he had heard I was real opinionated. I showed up on Monday night, and I thought I was going to see some kid’s footage and talk about the tricks. Then I found out there was going to be a high ollie competition and thought that was a bit corny. So right there, Alex explained how the show was going to be, with eliminations and immunity, and nobody had any idea. I knew there were gonna be eliminations, but not the whole challenge thing. Then that Mandible Claw dude Colin Read goes, “This shit is wack” right away. A couple of people said it wasn’t a good idea, and I wasn’t backing it either. Once that dude Matt couldn’t do that high ollie thing, I was like, “Fuck, this kinda sucks.” None of the kids knew the boards were gonna be focused, so that was a big surprise.
It’s definitely funny, but I guess in a shitty way for them.
Yeah, people got all butt hurt, but he got tons of product regardless. I was already roped into it, but Alex said it was fully going to be a reality TV show, and I was kinda supposed to be the Simon Cowell.
My real friends know me, and they all said I wasn’t bad. Listen to me on the bench at Tompkins or listen to me yapping at Enid’s. I didn’t really hate. I liked all those kids. I’d smoke weed and drink with some of them. By the time we all figured what was going on, we kinda played into it. Alex would try to roust them up with drama, but those kids didn’t want to hate on anybody. He tried to make a reality show and bring drama out, but it backfired.
If One in a Million comes to fucking Denver tomorrow, and you got asked to do it, you wouldn’t do it because of how bad it went this year. But don’t say you wouldn’t take the job I took either. I didn’t know what was going on until the production meeting. I even tried to come up with challenges, but me and Colin Read would get shut down on all of them. All those kids were saying, “It’s dope we’re in New York, but this shit is corny.” I put in a week skating with them, and thought a few of them were getting sent to the finals. I went in there, sat down, and Steve Rodriguez says “Nobody wins, y’all go home tomorrow.” I had no clue. I was in as much awe as all the 14-year-olds commenting on the episodes. I felt like an asshole going, “Nobody wins, nobody did the challenges.” All the kids go haywire, break all of the boards, and get into Alex’s face. It was a revolt. They threw a huge party and got fucked up. We thought the whole thing wasn’t coming out.
Were you surprised at how sensitive people were to the episodes? You told me you got a death threat.
Dudes were sending shit to my YouTube page, and those messages go right to my Gmail inbox. I got an e-mail from this one kid saying, “I hope you fucking die. You fucking ruined skateboarding. If I ever see you, I’m going to kill you.” I’d just reply saying “Get fucked.”
That’s all you can say.
Yeah. I knew I was going to get mad haters because A) Who the fuck is Lurker Lou? B) Who the fuck is this crazy dude with a foot-long beard? According to some dudes, I’m “irrelevant” in skating. My word to all those people: Don’t get too attached to a reality TV show. It was a joke from the get-go. Last year’s looked a little reality tv show-ish as well, minus the challenges. There were still dudes getting eliminated at the end of it. There was drama. They didn’t have the drama this year because there was no Forrest Edwards. Alex told me I was going to be the “drama” this year.
People even got bummed that I didn’t break the board first try…I don’t know what Jamie Thomas is putting in those Zero boards. Let’s set up a line of ten Zero boards, and see how many you could focus. I found it insanely funny at first, but it sucked when I’d check my e-mail in the morning. Some of them weren’t even from kids, they’d be from people who were 22. Send your e-mails to Alex Klein, not me. Hate all you want — I’m fat, I have a beard, I’m sloppy. Keep it coming dude, I’m still skating, and I’m putting out another video part. I’ve been skateboarding in New York longer than any of those kids have been skateboarding altogether. And whoever made that “Mean Man” remix is a fucking genius. They definitely know me.
Has anyone said anything to you outside of the internet?
Nobody says anything to my face. I’ll go to Astoria, and I can tell kids want to say something, but they don’t. The only people that say shit are my friends, and they all say, “You weren’t even being a dick.” I didn’t even get to really hate.
Photo Credit: 30 Pack Pat |
The delightfully borderless Infinity display that Dell introduced on the XPS 13 this year is moving up in size class. As part of a sneak preview of upcoming Windows 10 hardware here at Computex Taipei, Microsoft showed the new Dell XPS 15. The only things we know about this new laptop so far are that it has a razor-thin bezel, like its smaller sibling, and that it's going to be among the wave of hardware refreshes that will accompany Windows 10 in the latter half of this year.
The 2015 XPS 13 model offers a choice of display configurations going from a basic 1080p panel to a touchscreen with a 3200 x 1800 resolution. It wouldn't be unreasonable to surmise that the XPS 15 will follow a similar path, though Dell had a rep at the show sternly forbidding anyone from touching the laptop. Which was probably a good idea, given how easily it managed to pick up smudges from the brief demo Microsoft's Nick Parker gave of it during the Windows maker's keynote. Just a sneak peek for now, but color us intrigued.
Verge Video archive: A closer look at the 2015 XPS 13 |
A rendering of the intended seating layout for the USuites Dining Hall, scheduled to open in January 2018. (Courtesy of Student Affairs)
Morgan Joubert
Connector Contributor
As the growing university continues to expand, so does a growing population of students, and with more students, more meal plans. With new residence halls and additional property being added across the growing campus, UMass Lowell made tough decisions on how they would be accommodating their hungry students’ needs.
As the lines increased at the only dining hall on East Campus, a resolution needed to be finalized to allow a more convenient option for all students seeking a full stomach. The clear solution was an additional dining hall on East, within the residence hall University Suites (USuites).
The USuites dining hall will look similar to that of the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center. It will stay open an hour longer than the dining hall located in Fox Residence Hall, but will include similar food options to those seen across UMass Lowell’s campus.
It will not only accommodate the 500 students living in University Suites, but also provide easier access to food for any student living in River Hawk Village, the new residence complex on Perkins Street.
“If you take the ICC Dining Hall and put it down here [on East Campus] there would be no reason to walk through it and want to go to Fox,” said Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Larry Siegel.
The purpose of the new dining hall is to allow meal time on East Campus to be equally convenient for all students. It allows the increasingly long lines to be cut in half by providing over 128 seats in the new dining hall along with a fire place, booths, and tables.
“I hope that it will take the stress off of the athletes,” said Siegel. He said the new dining hall will also be a great addition for any and all athletes interested in grabbing something to eat after a long day of practices and classes, who have had difficulties doing so in recent years.
It will allow athletes who are getting back from practice to have the opportunity to go back to their rooms, freshen up and still be able to go to dinner before the dining halls close. However, the USuites dining hall will not only be a convenience for athletes, but other students living in East Campus.
“I’m really excited about it,” says Victoria Arakaelian, a sophomore biology major and resident of University Suites. “If there is a blizzard going on outside I don’t have to walk to Fox Hall to grab something to eat; it’s nice to have something available.”
The new dining hall will also allow equal quality meals to those available at Fox Dining Hall, but menus will also be tweaked weekly to entice more students to venture over to USuites. The residents of USuites will not be the only ones offered this new dining experience.
“I’m looking forward to the convenience of being able to grab and get food right outside my work,” says Gillian Roberts, a freshman clinical lab science major who also works within the offices of USuites. “It’s difficult at times to eat at Fox when it’s so crowded.”
USuites Dining will be open for use in January 2018 at the beginning of the spring semester. “Once its done, I think they’re going to love it,” said Siegel. |
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