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During either Drag con LA or New York, you will cut the line to Meet Miss cucu herself and join her for a Kiki in a private area in the convention center and ask her anything you want!! Photo opp and 3 merch items included plus executive producer credit on the album and a digital download of the album with a personalized phone call from Cynthia herself
Includes:
Cucu live experience
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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I'm just going to click on this cute girls picture AAAAND shes fat | {
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Over 1 million people and many prominent world leaders marched in anti-terrorism protests in Paris last Sunday, but the United States government notably failed to send either President Obama or any other high-level official. The next day, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that this was a mistake, and that someone with a higher profile should have been sent.
This Friday, however, Secretary of State John Kerry attempted to apologize to France in his own unique way — by having legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor perform "You've Got a Friend" at a Paris press conference. Watch below:
"When you're down and troubled and you need some loving care, and nothing, oh, nothing is going right," Taylor sang as Kerry and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo stood onstage. "Just close your eyes and think of me / yes and soon I will be there / to brighten up even your darkest nights." At the end of the song, the audience applauded. | {
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March 16, 2020 General Interest
What makes Olympia uniquely situated to support cooperatives? Maybe it’s because we’re home to the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, which supports the development of cooperative businesses and housing. We interviewed John McNamara and Miles Nowlin to learn about cooperatives in our area, the unique benefits of the cooperative model, and what support is available for people to start their own enterprise or community.
Download this episode | {
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What do you do when you see a rat? Do you grab your skirt and jump on the highest point inside your house, screaming at the top of your lungs for someone to come and rid you of your misery? Or do you grab your broom/shovel/other cold weapon of choice and go after the sneaking little bugger, letting him know that he shall not pass?
These gibbons definitely went the courageous way when they one very rude and intrusive rat in their enclosure at the Dudley ZOO in England. The lar gibbons went absolutely bananas when they saw the rodent casually nibbling on something in the grass. One of them was catching some sunshine, while the others were poking through the grass, but when the rat started moving, everyone went ballista on the rodent. One of the monkey did what every cartoon character would do in its situation - it took to the ropes to get the hell out of there!
“Hilarious lar gibbons are getting all panicky about the rat in their enclosure,” is written in the description of the original video. “Penny, the baby is trying to shoo the rat away with its long arms when his mom, Meo, comes to help and they both run the rat out of the enclosure.”
While the babies ran away, the mom took on a protective posture, as any mom would and darted after the rat to scare it away. Another gibbon joined forces, ultimately rushing the uninvited guest out. | {
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Paul Boyton - Born Ireland 1848 developed the first immersion suit as we know it. Gain a glimpse into Paul's life and the challenges he faced to bring his ideas to fruition
In 1875 Boyton crossed the English Channel in the first survival suit Read Here http://t.co/p4KzwWjnIK #OE15 #InnovateAtSea #RespectTheWater — Deviate Aspire (@DeviateAspire) September 1, 2015
Paul Boyton was born in Rathangan, County Kildare, Ireland in 1848. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a child, Paul enjoyed water sports. His home was within one block of the Allegheny River. From early May until late in October, when he wasn’t at school, Paul would spent most of his time in the water. This was not to his mother’s approval as she feared that the young Paul would drowned.
After a childhood of love for water sports, Paul went on to pursue a career in the water. In 1873, Paul Boyton became captain of the lifesaving service in Atlantic City, an Organization he founded. It was during this time that he began experimenting with lifesaving equipment, in particular the rubber suit. The rubber suit would later become known as the “Boyton Suit” and it was designed by C.S. Meriman. The suit consisted of a pair of pantaloons with five tubes which could be inflated at will. The suit was easy to put on and was able to sustain the wearer in the water indefinitely while keeping the wearer perfectly dry. Wearing the suit, Boyton could float on his back and propel himself with a paddle or a small sail attached to his foot.
Impressed by the suit, Boyton gave demonstrations on the suit in New York Harbour, hoping to make his fortune. Boyton quickly realised that he needed a dramatic event to prove the effectiveness of the suit. So, on a trip from New York to England he attempted to jump off the boat 200 miles from harbour to demonstrate the effectiveness of the suit. The ship captain, fearing the bad publicity of a suicide, had him locked in a cabin for the duration of the journey. After convincing the captain he was not suicidal, the captain allowed him to demonstrate the suit 7 miles from Cork Harbour. His arrival at Cork was met with wild excitement. Although he didn’t manage to sell the suits, he did manage to make money lecturing about the suit.
English Channel Swim
His first attempt at crossing the Channel was unsuccessful. He stopped short of France. This made the public more eager and attracted attention from England and America. The second attempt in 1875 was successful. Although hypothermia and drowning are an immediate fear when in rough cold waters, it is probably this experience Boyton will remember most:
“About an hour before I got on land, I heard a tremendous blowing behind me. It startled me for the moment, for I guessed it was a shark. I instantly drew out my knife, but while I was in the act of doing this, a second snort came closer to my head. I out with my knife and instantly threw myself into a standing position, ready to strike if I had been attacked; but simultaneously with this movement of mine a tremendous black thing leaped completely over me and darted away like lightning. It was a porpoise.”
After completion, He was greeted with a 21 gun salute. Boyton also received congratulatory telegraphs from Queen Victoria and President Grant.
Conclusion
The Boyton Suit was effective in its task. It has been described as the first immersion suit. It is believed that he swam over 25,000 miles in it. Boyton’s love for water, desire for adventure and love for technology was crucial for this product. He brought international attention to his product and in doing so, he brought international attention to the immersion suit. The immersion suit has changed a lot since Boyton but it sticks to the core principles of the Boyton Suit: It keeps the user dry and mitigates against hypothermia.
References | {
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Twice in his 27 years, Buster Posey has known the tense yet exquisite feeling of walking into a ballpark knowing that nine good innings later, he and his team can be World Series champions.
“It’s definitely a different feeling,” Posey said. “The moment you wake up, it feels different. It’s a special feeling. It’s something every one of us can embrace and enjoy.”
The Giants will get to embrace it Tuesday night in Kansas City. They are on the brink of their third World Series title in five seasons after one of the best pitchers in this or any postseason gave the fans one more thrill before AT&T Park closed for baseball until spring.
Madison Bumgarner pitched the first World Series complete game and shutout by a Giant in 52 years in Sunday night’s 5-0 victory, a four-hitter in Game 5 that elevated his already lofty postseason stature.
With Brandon Crawford driving in three runs and Juan Perez busting open the game with a two-run eighth-inning double, while still raw from the news that friend and winter-ball teammate Oscar Taveras of the St.Louis Cardinals had died in a car crash, the Giants grabbed a lead of three games to two in the best-of-seven Series.
The Giants need to win once in two games at Kauffman Stadium to take the championship, a tall order even if it sounds otherwise, as anyone who still feels the sting of 2002 can attest.
2 1 of 2 Beck Diefenbach / Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Brant Ward / The Chronicle Show More Show Less
This Series has tracked that one identically, with the Giants winning Game1 on the road and Games4 and 5 at home to take a 3-2 lead back to the American League park. Rumor has it, things did not go well in Anaheim 12 years ago.
If the Giants do hoist the trophy, Bumgarner will be favored to win the Series Most Valuable Player award, as he did in the National League Championship Series, after holding the Royals to one run in 16 innings in Games 1 and 5, twice beating James Shields.
In fact, Salvador Perez’s Game1 homer is the only run Bumgarner has allowed in four World Series starts against the Rangers, Tigers and Royals, leaving him with the lowest ERA in Series history, 0.29, among pitchers with at least 25 innings.
On Sunday, he threw the first World Series shutout since Josh Beckett’s for the Marlins in 2003 and the first by a Giant since Jack Sanford in Game 2 of the 1962 seven-gamer against the Yankees.
In Game 6 that year, Billy Pierce went the distance in a Giants win. No Giant threw another World Series complete game until Bumgarner sliced and diced a formidable Kansas City lineup over 117 pitches on a warm evening at China Basin.
Juan Marichal pitched in that 1962 Series. On Sunday, he sat in AT&T Park and marveled at Bumgarner’s work.
“He’s so smooth. He’s cold-blooded,” Marichal said in the clubhouse as he waited to shake Bumgarner’s hand. “When he’s on the mound, he dominates everybody.
“I saw him at age 21 in Texas. At that time, I said to myself, 'We’re going to see a pitcher for a long time, a good, good pitcher.’ Every time he’s on the mound, I know something positive is going to happen.”
There was little doubt manager Bruce Bochy would allow Bumgarner to finish, even though Santiago Casilla twice got loose in case Bumgarner ran into late trouble.
“I would have felt worse if I had taken him out and something would have happened, when you’ve got a guy out there rolling the way he was,” Bochy said.
Perez’s two-run double against Wade Davis in the eighth allowed Bumgarner to breathe a little easier after he had nursed a 2-0 lead for four innings. Perez’s blast off the center-field wall was as important as it was stunning, coming against a pitcher who allowed two extra-base hits to right-handed hitters all season.
“We had a two-run lead,” Crawford said. “With Madison on the mound, we’re still confident. But to put a couple of extra runs on the board was huge, especially against one of their big three.”
Crawford followed with a single that scored Perez and gave the shortstop three RBIs. He delivered the first run off Shields with a groundball in the second, then two innings later, plucked a two-out, two-strike offspeed pitch off the ground and blooped it to center to score Pablo Sandoval.
“Hunter-esque,” Crawford said, smiling.
Hunter Pence started the first rally with a single before Brandon Belt went against the right-side shift and got his first career bunt single, something he and Bochy had discussed to “spread the field,” Belt said.
Belt also made a fine defensive play to end the fourth inning when Bumgarner made his only real mistake, failing to cover first on a Salvador Perez groundball. Belt ran to the bag and slid feet first to beat the runner.
“He’s 6-5,” Joe Panik said. “If he goes in face first, I don’t want to think about it.”
Now, the Giants can start to think about two chances in Kansas City to return to San Francisco with a third trophy in the Bochy era.
Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @hankschulman
Tuesday’s game
What: World Series Game 6
Where: Kansas City, Mo.
When: 5:07 p.m.
TV/Radio:Channel: 2Channel: 40/680,95.7
Pitchers: Peavy (6-4) vs. Ventura (14-10)
World Series schedule
All games at 5:07 p.m.
Game 1: Giants 7, Royals 1
Game 2: Royals 7, Giants 2
Game 3: Royals 3, Giants 2
Game 4: Giants 11, Royals 4
Game 5: Giants 5, Royals 0
Game 6: Tues. at Kansas City
Game 7: Wed. at Kansas City* | {
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Descriptions
Main Features:
Delicate Pokemon ball model
Vivid appearance for cosplay game
Made of high quality ABS material
Excellent desktop decoration, great collection
Creative gift for the person who is in fond of Pokemon
Full of flavour of fairy tale, tell the anime to your children, share the parent-child interaction happiness
Item Name: Pokemon Ball ( empty )
Quantity: 1Pcs
Diameter: 7cm
We have nine styles for your favor:
A Type: Poke Ball
B Type: Master Ball
C Type: Great Ball
D Type: Ultra Ball
E Type: Timer Ball
F Type: GS Ball
G Type: Quick Ball
H Type: Love Ball
I Type: Park Ball
Specification General Information Materials: ABS
Theme: Movie and TV
Gender: Unisex
Completeness: Finished Goods
Stem From: Japan Dimensions and Weight Package weight: 0.055 kg
Package size: 10.00 x 10.00 x 10.00 cm / 3.94 x 3.94 x 3.94 inches Package Contents Package Contents: 1 x Poke Ball
Product Safety Disclaimer:
We do not accept any responsibility or liability for misuse of this or any other product. All our products are extensively tested to comply with rigorous and strict QC standards. For certain products (e.g. toys, knives, etc.), we recommend proper supervision as we cannot be held liable for misuse or accidents. | {
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Yesterday, God’s wrath was unleashed upon America as he allowed the coldest blizzard in the history of modern times crash upon the Eastern seaboard.
A Weather Channel meteorologist was firsthand witness to the fearfully potent thundersnow phenomenon that highlighted the blizzard that’s currently wrecking havoc in the Boston region and beyond.
Our Christian Broadcasting Center broke news of the devastating blizzard’s direct relationship with the per capita gay marriage rate in the affected region. It is no coincidence that the first day after ‘gay friendly’ areas of America celebrated Valentine’s Day and all sorts of newly married male couples shared very romantic dinners and uploaded the pictures for their friends to fawn over on Facebook, that we see all of this weather immediately took place.
Scientists estimate that reports of thundersnow have sharply increased by 48% since 2009, which is also the year Barack Obama took office. Since Obama took office, America’s gay marriage approval rating has also increased by 48%. This is no coincidence, this is scientific correlation implying causation. Gay marriage is causing thundersnow.
[adinserter name=”bigsky”] The Weather Channel recorded live footage of this divine phenomenon. | {
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Now that we've been dating for three months when are you going to propose to me?
159 shares | {
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Сегодня Госудма во втором и третьем чтении проголосовала за принятие пакета поправок авторства депутатов Яровой и Озерова. Изменение законодательства, инициированное поправками, имеет далеко идущие последствия для телекоммуникационных компаний, работающих в России. В частности, теперь компании обязаны хранить все данные своих абонентов в течение многих месяцев. Мессенджеры и социальные сети по запросу властей должны предоставлять ключи декодирования к зашифрованной переписке пользователей.Основатель соцсети «Вконтакте» и мессенджера Telegram Павел Дуров сегодня заявил, что не собирается выполнять это требование. Он сказал, что Telegram не будет выдавать данные или ключи шифрования третьим лицам, включая правительство, пишут «Известия». По его словам законы, которые принимаются в различных странах, никак не повлияют на это решение.Что касается России, то за отказ от требования властей предоставить ключи декодирования предусмотрен штраф в размере до 1 млн рублей.Тем не менее, законом не предусмотрено блокирование ресурса, который отказался предоставлять ключи. Об этом говорит независимый юрист Антон Богатов. Кроме того, он считает, что оштрафовать компанию, которая зарегистрирована не в России, практически невозможно. «С ним [с Павлом Дуровым — прим. ред.] будут вяло бороться и говорить, что он «нехороший человек» — и он сам, и Telegram», — заявил юрист.При желании заблокировать сервис все же можно, но эксперты считают, что этим вряд ли будет кто-то заниматься. К примеру, для блокирования Telegram нужно будет внести в реестр запрещенных сайтов Роскомнадзора IP ресурсов Apple и Google. А именно — каталогов приложений, в которых размещается программа. В этом случае часть приложений на телефонах российских пользователей вообще перестанут работать. Если же потребовать у Apple или Google удалить Telegram из каталогов, корпорации могут просто не послушать власти, и не пойти на такой шаг.На данный момент вся переписка пользователей Telegram шифруется. Данные хранятся на серверах сервиса только в зашифрованном виде. Есть и возможность прямого вида шифрования. Для включения этой опции пользователю нужно включить режим секретного чата, после чего сообщения будут передаваться между пользователями в зашифрованном виде напрямую, минуя сервер. И в этом случае Telegram не сможет передать расшифрованную переписку пользователей властям даже в том случае, если Павел Дуров все же решит сотрудничать с правоохранителями РФ. | {
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Thirteen people associated with Hoppz' Cropz stores in Colorado Springs, including co-owners Joseph Hopper, also known as "Joey Hops," and Dara Wheatley, nicknamed "Boss Lady," have been indicted on charges that they illegally distributed nearly 200 pounds of marijuana in a variation on the sort of "free" pot giveaway schemes that date back to the days before and just after the launch of legal recreational cannabis sales.
We first told you about this concept in the February 4, 2013, post "Marijuana for Free on Craigslist? Maybe With a Donation — or as a Bonus for Another Purchase." One ad that appeared around that time under the business name "Bud's Worm Farm" offered an eighth of marijuana in exchange for paid "sponsorship" of one hundred red wiggler worms. Another page, titled "Fresh and Cured Hash," touted "$60 gram for BHO and $40g for Full melt." However, the items were not for sale. "I ask [for] donations for my time, energy, the ability to grow the plant, then make oils, the cost of butane and ice for hash," the item read. Another section announced that the deal is "Amendment 64 & 20 compliant," in reference to the constitutional measures that legalized limited recreational weed sales and medical marijuana, respectively.
The following day, on February 5, we discovered a page that took this idea even further, giving away "free" weed with the purchase of a $50 bumpersticker from a company dubbed legalchronicdelivery.com.
Here's a look at the sticker:
File photo
Just how legal was this service? Well, shortly after the publication of our story, the website disappeared — and by mid-February, then-Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and Denver Police Chief Robert White jointly declared such deals to be unlawful.
But after January 1, 2014, when Amendment 64 was put into effect, the free-marijuana notion rushed back into the marketplace, as we reported later that month in "'Free' Marijuana Deals Budding on Denver Craigslist." Here's the text from one ad during that period:
THUNDERF*CK — $40 (DENVER) I have high quality strains for free for an appropriate donation for gas, time, and effort. Strains available: Thunderfuck LA Confidential X Tangerine All top shelf quality. I am Amendment 64/20 compliant. So I can only give you medicine if your are 21+ or a red card holder. Call or text. Price for gas, time, and effort as follows: 40 1/8 75 1/4 150 1/2 260 1
The Hoppz' Cropz indictment, announced by current Colorado Attorney General (and potential future gubernatorial candidate) Cynthia Coffman and assorted Colorado Springs officials at a press conference yesterday, alleges a more sophisticated approach to "free" marijuana.
Another Facebook photo of Joey Hops. Facebook
According to the indictment, accessible below, Hopper, Wheatley and alleged conspirators Adam Donaldson, Joseph Sergio Crivici, Derrick Bernard, Victoria Fernandez, Marcee Smith, Alejandra Gonzalez, Nathan Bernheisel, Raylene Rubio, Nicole Sandoval, Ashley Hefner and Melissa Colmus "engaged in a scheme whereby the members conspired to purchase medical marijuana from licensed facilities and resell it for profit under the guise the marijuana was being offered as a free giveaway with the purchase of a dramatically overpriced, yet low cost, item."
One example: Customers were supposedly charged $15 for a lighter worth only a few pennies — and as a bonus, they were provided with a gram of "free" marijuana that just happened to be valued at around $15.
The indictment goes on to say that "in essence, the enterprise possessed and distributed marijuana — and conspired to do the same — in Colorado Springs, Colorado while simultaneously engaging in tax evasion, money laundering, attempts to influence public servants, filing false tax information and failing to pay over taxes."
Why bother with such an approach post-Amendment 64 implementation? One possible reason is noted on the Visit Colorado Springs website: "Many cities and counties within Colorado have chosen not to allow the retail sale of marijuana within their jurisdiction's limits. This includes Colorado Springs and El Paso County as well as Teller County."
The assorted defendants face prosecution by the Colorado Attorney General's Office in Denver District Court, and the results will determine if "free" marijuana will cost some or all of them their freedom. Click to read the Hoppz' Cropz indictment.
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The Australian dollar has fallen to its lowest level in around a decade as investors anticipate further interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank in the next few months.
Key points: The Australian dollar fell on the minutes to 68.42 US cents by midday (AEST)
The Australian dollar fell on the minutes to 68.42 US cents by midday (AEST) That is just above its low of 68.24 US cents on January 15, 2016 — the previous low before that was in March 2009
That is just above its low of 68.24 US cents on January 15, 2016 — the previous low before that was in March 2009 The RBA has flagged the likelihood of further interest rate cuts, despite acknowledging negative effects for depositors
By 12:00pm (AEST), the local currency had fallen 0.2 per cent to 68.42 US cents, following the RBA's release of its June meeting minutes.
That is the lowest level since January 2016, and you have to go all the way back to the aftermath of the global financial crisis in March 2009 to find an even lower level.
The minutes revealed Australia's central bankers thought it was "more likely than not" that it would be appropriate for the cash rate to fall in the period ahead.
However, the board recognised that lower interest rates are not the only monetary policy lever.
It also said that other options might assist in lowering the rate of unemployment towards 4.5 percent, the level which the RBA regards as full employment.
Late last year, RBA deputy governor Guy Debelle has flagged the option of quantitative easing — or metaphorical money printing — to help stimulate the economy through bond buying and asset purchases, used by major global central banks during the global financial crisis.
The minutes reiterated previous public statements that the RBA is now focussed on lowering the jobless rate given it is "apparent that the labour market still had significant spare capacity".
Depositors feel rate pain
The minutes also revealed that impact of lower interest rates on depositors — in particular older Australians — was a key consideration in the RBA's decision to slash the cash rate to a record low earlier this month.
The "implications of lower interest rates on household incomes" was discussed at length, and "changes in interest rates can have different effects on different groups of households", according to the RBA's minutes of its June meeting.
"Members recognised that many older Australians rely on interest income which would decline with lower rates," the RBA said.
However, board members opted to cut the cash rate to 1.25 per cent to help lower the unemployment rate after "carefully considering" the impact on people relying on interest from bank deposits.
The argument in favour of cutting rates was based on the outlook for a lower Australian dollar, reduced borrowing rates for business, and lower interest payments for households which would free up cash for other spending.
Since the RBA's decision to cut rates, banks have passed on either all or most of the reduction to borrowers — while also reducing deposit rates to the disappointment of older Australians who rely on the income stream.
The RBA board also discussed the risks of lower interest rates, especially given the current high levels of household debt.
"Members judged a decline in interest rates was unlikely to encourage a material pickup in borrowing by households that would add to medium term risks in the economy," the minutes said.
The board also noted the trade dispute between the United States and China had "intensified the downside risk posed to the global economic outlook". | {
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THE frenzy over the must-have Elsa doll for Christmas reached new heights yesterday, when gardai were called to a toy store in Dublin after a fight broke out between customers desperate to get their hands on one.
The incident happened at the Smyths outlet, in Airside Retail Park, in Swords, Co Dublin.
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The Garda Press Office said officers were called to the store at 9.30am.
A spokesperson said they were carrying out an investigation into the matter following several complaints but declined to comment further.
However, sources told the Irish Independent that a number of people had been "fighting" over 'Frozen' Elsa dolls.
No arrests had been made, but gardai took details of those present and were examining CCTV footage.
Social media reports suggest that at least one person required medical treatment but a spokesperson for nearby Beaumont Hospital said staff there were not aware of any incident.
Demand for 'Frozen' dolls is intensifying across the country, with many stores sold out of the coveted Snow Glow Elsa model.
Some entrepreneurial individuals who got their hands on the doll early have been offering the doll for sale at €80, nearly twice its normal retail price of around €45.
The 18" doll sings and lights up and has proven the smash hit seller for Christmas in Ireland and worldwide.
Manufacturers in China have been unable to keep up with demand for the toy, which is linked to the Disney movie which features princess sisters Elsa and Anna.
Parents have been frantically ringing toy stores and going online in a bid to get their hands on one of the toys.
Meanwhile, the National Concert Hall in Dublin is expecting huge demand for its special 'Frozen' sing-along screenings on December 13.
Irish Independent | {
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enFeb 19, 2020
Krista McCarville is keeping her Championship Pool hopes alive with a win against Alberta on Wednesday. (Photo, Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver) Krista McCarville is keeping her Championship Pool hopes alive with a win against Alberta on Wednesday. (Photo, Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver)
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McCarville shoots 100% to overcome Alberta at Scotties
Krista McCarville has one foot planted tentatively inside the Championship-Pool door.
Laura Walker, one halfway out.
“Coming into the last draw tonight,’’ said skip McCarville, looking ahead to Northern Ontario’s final Pool A clash at Mosaic Place on Wednesday night after her 4-3 win over Alberta on Wednesday morning. “It’s up to us. It’s not like we’re banking on other teams to win or lose for us.
“It’s in our hands and that’s all we can ask for.”
No simple task for McCarville, third Kendra Lilly, second Ashley Sippala, lead Jen Gates and coach Rick Lang, versus the hometown reps Team Robyn Silvernagle from Saskatchewan, also 4-2, but at least they control their own destiny.
On the same draw, Alberta’s Walker, reeling after three consecutive loses, faces a mighty challenge in taming 5-1 Kerri Einarson of Manitoba.
Rachel Brown of Canada reacts to a shot during her team’s 6-4 win against Nunavut on Wednesday. (Photo, Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver)
“We knew it was going to be a tough day,’’ acknowledged McCarville. “Two great teams to play. But we knew we had to rebound after our loss,” – a 6-4 upset by pesky Nunavut – “yesterday. We had to play better. We had to focus on the ice, bear down and make those key shots.
“I thought we did that. It feels good going into our night game, adjusting to the ice a little bit better than we did yesterday.”
By their play against Alberta, there was no lingering disappointment from the Nunavut shock, including a perfect 100 per cent game played by the skip.
“We just had to drop it,’’ McCarville preached. “It’s a long week. At the Scotties you know you’re going to have some of those games. And unfortunately we did.
“There’s nothing we could do about it. It’s done and over with so you just have to forget about it.”
Alberta began to lose the plot in the sixth end, when Walker flashed her final stone wide of the mark to give up two via steal to trail 4-1.
“We didn’t play a very good end,’’ sighed Walker. “They had a rock on the button the entire time. We tried to set something up. Our corner guard slipped into the rings and we were just desperately trying to generate a deuce from there.
“The ice was a little straighter today. You can’t overthrow anything. I overthrew my last one a little bit and we didn’t get the curl.”
The skip and her Edmonton-based team of Kate Cameron, Taylor McDonald, Nadine Scotland, alternate Kelsey Rocque and coach Brian Chick still have an outside chance to reach a tiebreaker.
“Do we?’’ replied Walker. “I really wasn’t looking that closely.
“I was expecting to have to win two games today.”
All the Albertans, who had begun this Scotties so brightly, can do is knock off arguably the most accomplished team here so far this week against Manitoba, and hope.
In other early draw games, Chelsea Carey’s Team Canada (Calgary 4-2) stayed alive by beating Lori Eddy’s scrappy Nunavut (Iqaliut; 1-5) 6-5, Corryn Brown’s British Columbia foursome (Kamloops; 4-2) toppled skip Erica Curtis of Newfoundland & Labrador (St. John’s; 1-5) by an 8-6 scoreline and the Prince Edward Island reps skipped by Suzanne Birt (Montague; 4-2) hammered winless Yukon (Whitehorse; 0-6), skipped by Hailey Birnie, 11-5.
The 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts continues with draws today at 1:30 p.m. and 6;30 p.m. (all times CST).
Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/
TSN and RDS2 (streamed on ESPN3 in the United States) will provide complete coverage of the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.
For ticket information for the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, go to www.curling.ca/2020scotties/tickets/
This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2020scotties/nouvelles/?lang=fr | {
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Promoted, transfered to a better location, moving into a flat with SO for the fist time - It's a damn good month.
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I don’t know what former L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander and his buddies were thinking when they went to Las Vegas in 2017.
A councilman, two city staffers, a businessperson, a real estate developer and a lobbyist travel to Sin City.
Knowing how L.A. works, what would you guess they were up to?
They’re big fans of Carrot Top?
I don’t think so, and neither does the U.S. attorney.
You probably know by now that on Monday, Englander — who in 2018 abruptly and somewhat mysteriously quit his job as the L.A. City Councilman representing the Northwestern San Fernando Valley — surrendered to federal authorities in connection with what happened on that Vegas trip. He was slapped with seven criminal charges related to an ongoing City Hall corruption probe.
If the indictment is accurate, it’s hard to believe the arrogance of Englander and his pals. It’s not like they had traveled to Mongolia; they were just a few hours from home, where someone might have spotted them. All I can figure is that they thought they’d run into David Copperfield and he’d make them invisible for a few days.
The feds say Englander and the gang partied in Sin City on the dime of an unnamed businessman who was “seeking to increase his business opportunities in the city.” The booze flowed, casino chips were free, female escorts were part of the package and Englander was handed an envelope stuffed with cash.
The federal grand jury indictment of Englander begins with a reference to “multiple suspected pay-to-play schemes” at City Hall involving “multiple city officials, developers, investors, consultants, lobbyists, and other close associates working in furtherance of the potentially illegal schemes.”
If that’s not engraved on a wall at City Hall, it should be.
The fact that Englander was the first to get jammed up on the feds’ corruption probe came as a surprise to many, given that they raided the home and office of Councilman Jose Huizar way back in 2018. No charges have been filed against Huizar, but the federal search warrant at the time had investigators looking at possible bribery, extortion, kickbacks and money laundering involving several city officials and business figures.
The striking thing about the Englander indictment is his apparent stunning lack of sophistication, which seems to have made him an easy mark for federal investigators. Englander, by the way, was a self-touted public safety advocate and former LAPD reserve police officer.
So Officer Dum-Dum, according to the indictment, went to Vegas on June 1, 2017. He was a member of a powerful City Council committee that vets development proposals, and went with the aforementioned pals, who just might have had a development proposal in mind?
Are these the only knuckleheads in the world who believed that line about how what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?
The indictment alleges that in a casino bathroom, Englander accepted an envelope from a businessperson, and it was stuffed with $10,000 in cash. The same businessperson — whose identity I’d love to know, so call me if you know who he or any of the others are — gave Englander $1,000 in casino chips and covered a $2,481 dinner tab for the group.
The high-rollers then allegedly went to another hotel, where the same businessperson covered a $24,000 “bottle service” tab. And then the developer in the group paid another $10,000 for “bottle service and alcohol” at a party that ran into the next morning.
So that’s $34,000 for one night of spirits. How is that possible?
I called former Las Vegas mayor and longtime mob attorney Oscar Goodman, who once nearly got me killed at a party celebrating a mob murder acquittal, but that’s another story.
“What month was it?” Goodman asked of the Englander junket. “I don’t know whether it was in summer, but they have these little beach parties at various hotels …. Sometimes people from the entertainment world drop a hundred thousand dollars on a Sunday night, and that’s without gambling.”
Goodman, who owns Oscar’s Steakhouse in Vegas, told me price depends on taste.
“If you’re drinking the equivalent of Dom Perignon … or Louis XIII cognac, anyone can run up a bill real fast,” Goodman said.
Or it was one heck of a lot beer, and if this did indeed happen at one of those beach parties, remind me to never enter a swimming pool in Las Vegas.
According to the indictment, a night of drinking was not the end of the party. The next morning, the businessperson allegedly paid for and sent a female escort to Englander’s hotel room. According to Goodman, this kind of thing is not unknown to happen in Vegas.
Now let’s jump ahead a few days to June 10, 2017. That’s when hardworking Councilman Englander went to a golf tournament at the Morongo Casino Hotel & Resort in Palm Springs, according to the indictment, where he stepped into the bathroom, and imagine his luck — the same businessperson he hung with in Vegas was in the john with another envelope stuffed with cash. This time the jackpot was $5,000.
So where does the pay to play part come in? I’m glad you asked.
A week later, said the indictment, “defendant Englander, Businessperson A, and Developer B had lunch so that defendant Englander would introduce Businessperson A and his company and product to Developer B.”
I am shocked, shocked, shocked that things might happen this way.
According to the indictment, when Englander began feeling the heat, he tried to cover his tracks, apparently unaware that the sleazy businessperson with all the cash was by then working with the feds and relaying conversations in which Englander repeatedly told him to lie to investigators.
Later, Englander allegedly did his own lying when investigators asked him about all of this. Now he’s looking at three counts of witness tampering, three counts of making false statements and one count of scheming to falsify facts. Englander pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 bail, but the former public safety candidate could be looking at years behind bars if convicted.
This case stands as a reminder that the perception exists for some people in the Los Angeles business world that there’s a price for getting what you want out of City Hall. Of course, most people who need a favor are smart enough to realize campaign finance laws are so toothless, they can buy influence without breaking the law.
It’s worth noting that one of the city officials along on the Vegas trip was John Lee, who worked as Englander’s chief of staff and is now the councilman for the same district. Some folks are calling for Lee to step down over the Vegas incident, but Lee said in a statement that he was “unaware of any illegal activities” and has cooperated with investigators. He said he “did everything in my power to pay for and reimburse expenses related to this trip.”
So why did Lee go on the trip, why were there any expenses to reimburse, and isn’t “everything in my power” a curious choice of words?
Lee, by the way, is running for reelection and leads his challenger, Loraine Lundquist. But a full week after the election, county officials were still counting. Anybody have an abacus you can send to the county registrar?
On another note, city attorney Mike Feuer this week announced his run for mayor just eight months after FBI agents raided the office he runs, serving warrants in an investigation of two lawsuits related to the disastrous DWP billing scandal.
My advice is that you stay tuned, stay healthy, and think twice about rolling the dice in Vegas.
One day, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll knock down the new coronavirus that’s got people rattled. But there is no vaccine for the virus that infects City Hall.
[email protected]
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The ID. Space Vizzion – New Volkswagen Concept is Unveiled in LA
Baptized as ID. Space Vizzion, this electric vehicle, is the seventh concept idealized to the MEB platform. From the looks of it, VW is preparing to go heads deep on electric.
This new vision from VW is particularly impressive. It rocks GT aerodynamics but without losing the design elements of a wagon SUV. The battery is relatively large, with 82kWh and 300 miles of range. The motor is capable of generating 275hp and 406 pound-feet of torque. That gives the Vizzion an estimated 0-60 in five seconds and a max speed of 109 Mph. The car is scheduled to hit the streets in 2022.
“Volkswagen globally plans to sell 20 different electric models by 2025 at an annualized volume of nearly 1 million units using our modular electrical architecture. It will support the projected production volume of 20 million vehicles to 2029…
… This makes us the largest, and the MEB platform by far the most efficient electric volume segment platform in the automotive industry. It will be used by other group brands and external partners such as Ford. The MEB brings massive scaling effects with no fewer than eight factories around the globe.
We just broke ground specifically to build these electric vehicles last week, as part of an $800 million investment here in the US, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We will not only build the vehicles in Tennessee. We will also assemble the batteries there, as well.
We have announced that worldwide, we will go carbon zero by 2025 in line with the goals of the United Nations, Paris Climate Agreement. It’s a massive statement. And frankly, it’s only possible with an electric future. This is our belief.” – Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen of America. | {
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Musician Neil Young and tech executive Phil Baker have been trying to push the tech industry to make it easier for consumers to listen to high-quality audio for almost a decade now. The duo’s hi-res music player Pono aimed to fix problems they said plagued MP3 players like the iPod and music software like iTunes — including compressed, lossy, and low-fidelity audio files that were not similar enough to their original recordings.
But five years after the Pono was released, Young believes the tech industry has still not advanced enough for consumers to easily listen to high-resolution audio. Their new book, To Feel the Music: A Songwriter’s Mission To Save High-Quality Audio, details the hurdles they had to overcome to create the Pono as well as what the tech industry should do in order to get consumers to realize what they’re missing with streaming and “CD-quality” music.
In an interview with The Vergecast, Young tells Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel that even though Grammy-winning artists are able to make music almost anywhere they go on their laptop or mobile devices, they’re still sacrificing on audio fidelity.
Below is a lightly edited excerpt of that conversation.
So many artists today write their songs on tour in a hotel room on a MacBook. They’re not starting with the big analog studio. They’re not starting with tape. They’re starting digitally. Does that carry through? Is it even worth it to talk about the output format when it’s teenagers in bedrooms writing hits right now?
What’s the problem with teenagers in bedrooms writing hits?
Well, they’re starting on a MacBook, recording straight to MP3.
Yeah, I know. But if that’s what they want to put out as a record, that’s a problem.
Right. But I’m saying... I’m looking at the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. Apple gave me a review unit. They said, “Look at all of the artists who use this thing with GarageBand to start.” But you’re saying that shouldn’t be where the recording starts?
It’s a piece of crap. Are you kidding? That’s Fisher-Price quality. That’s like Captain Kangaroo, your new engineer. A MacBook Pro? What are you talking about? You can’t get anything out of that thing. The only way you can get it out is if you put it in. And if you put it in, you can’t get it out because the DAC is no good in the MacBook Pro. So you have to use an external DAC and do a bunch of stuff to make up for the problems that the MacBook Pro has because they’re not aimed at quality. They’re aimed at consumerism.
That’s what Steve Jobs told me. He told me that exact thing: “We’re making products for consumers, not quality.” So they don’t want audio quality. They don’t want to spend a lot of time on that. Audio quality — for your reference and for anybody else that’s listening — is deeper than visual quality.
You can look at things and think you’re seeing everything with a hi-res whatever you’re looking at in a picture. But true audio dimension is so deep, and there’s so much data there if you want to capture it all — in the echo and the softness and the loudness and the difference as things are decaying and getting smaller and smaller as they go away. That’s part of the beauty of sound, and the beauty of music based on that is that you can hear all of the detail.
Now, when you talk about doing that on a MacBook Pro, it makes me barf. This is where we are.
But I see so many artists... we talk to artists, we interview them. We did a video with a guy who won lots of Grammys, works for lots of people, and he’s like, “I assemble samples in the back of my car using my MacBook Pro. I love it. This is how music is made.”
I’ve never won a Grammy for music, so I wouldn’t know about that quality.
Sure. I’m just saying, we talked to the people who are making the money, and they’re like, “I assemble samples on my MacBook Pro.”
It’s not about money. It’s not about hits. It’s about quality. It’s about sound. It’s about museum quality. It’s about the real thing. The facts. The real sound. What happened when you opened your mouth and sang? What went into the air? That’s what we’re not getting with the new technology.
The older technology used to give you a reflection of it so that you could still feel it. Today, it’s reconstituted. It’s poorly sampled. It’s garbage that has less bits to save people memory, which is not even relevant anymore. We have so much memory we’ve got it coming out of our ears. Yet we’re still saving memory, saving quality, so we can store more crap. It’s just we’ve gone down this bad street, and we’re way down. So if you talk to somebody about quality and they’re using anything from that, they’re not going to hear it. They’re going to hear today’s quality. And they may be great as far as today’s quality goes, but to me, it’s just like it doesn’t matter. | {
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Macedonian parliament. Photo: MIA
Sixty-nine MPs in Macedonia’s 120-seat parliament voted for the agreement with Greece to rename the country the Republic of North Macedonia to be put to a plenary session of the legislature in a fast-track procedure, while 40 voted against, mainly MPs from the opposition right-wing VMRO DPMNE.
During Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov’s speech in parliament in defence of the deal, opposition legislators shouted “traitor” at him.
After the vote, they left the parliament session in protest.
The ratification of the agreement at the parliamentary plenary session is expected to happen tomorrow, although this has not yet been officially confirmed.
“Since the opposition MPs left parliament and said they will not participate in the adoption of this document, the necessary procedures will be speedier and we are making efforts to ratify it tomorrow,” an MP from the ruling majority told BIRN on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
Macedonia is chasing a tight deadline for the ratification of the historic deal in order not to miss its opportunity to get an agreement for the long-awaited start of EU accession talks at the EU Council of Ministers’ meeting on June 25-26 – as well as an invitation to join NATO at the military alliance’s summit, which is set for July 11.
Once the Macedonian parliament ratifies the agreement, signed on Sunday by Dimitrov and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias, Athens is expected to make the next move by sending letters to NATO and the EU, informing them that it no longer objects to the Republic of North Macedonia’s membership of these organisations.
The ratification will almost certainly not be signed by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, who objects to the name deal, in which case a second vote in parliament will be required.
However, Ivanov’s refusal to sign the ratification is not expected to block the process but merely prolong it slightly.
While the first vote took place in parliament, a group of several hundred opponents of the agreement demonstrated outside amid a heavy police presence, calling on MPs to resign and join them in protest.
Unlike on Sunday when police used tear gas and shock grenades to prevent angry protesters from storming parliament, Tuesday’s protest was calm.
People chanted slogans against Prime Minister Zoran Zaev calling him a “traitor”, as well against what they called an “illegitimate parliament”.
The protesters then headed to the nearby HQ of the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party, demanding a meeting with party leader Hristijan Mickovski, but were not granted one.
Mickovski has previously said he is against the deal, which he described as “capitulation”.
However, he did not call for a boycott of the forthcoming referendum on the new name, which expected to take place in September or October.
For the deal to be put into full effect, Macedonian citizens must support it at the plebiscite, after which the country would alter its constitution and adopt the agreed new compromise name, the Republic of North Macedonia.
Read more:
Macedonia PM Pledges Referendum on Name Deal
Macedonian Church Gets Entangled in ‘Name’ Dispute
Macedonia ‘Name’ Deal Faces Bumpy Ride Ahead | {
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I now have a new toy at work! Thank you so much for the Dr. Strange figure probably wasn't supposed to open the box but what fun is that?. And wow my ferrets love the hammock. thanks again perfects gifts | {
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New Delhi: The Union cabinet on Tuesday approved the legislation to implement the land boundary agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh, a step that is likely to help improve ties with India’s eastern neighbour.
The cabinet cleared the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill 2013 on LBA between India and Bangladesh, Frank Noronha, principal spokesperson of the government, tweeted. Once approved by Parliament, the law will enable exchange of territories between the two countries.
The bill amends the first schedule of the Constitution to give effect to an agreement between India and Bangladesh on acquiring and transfer of territories between the two countries on 16 May 1974, according to PRS Legislative Research.
The National Democratic Alliance government has stepped up its efforts to boost relations with Bangladesh, including a new visa policy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to strengthen ties with all neighbours in South Asia as he follows a neighbourhood-first foreign policy.
Experts welcomed the move.
“This is a very good step especially since the (state units of the) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) changed their position. The earlier view was that the LBA was unwise politics. It was an outstanding matter. It needed closure. It is important to improve relations with Bangladesh and other countries in the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region. It supports the Prime Minister’s vision of improved relations with the neighbourhood," said former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.
India signed the additional protocol to LBA in September 2011, but it was not ratified because the then Manmohan Singh government failed to get Parliament’s backing after the bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by then external affairs minister Salman Khurshid.
At that time, the main opposition to the legislation came from the now ruling BJP, especially its Assam unit. The BJP had objected to LBA because India stood to lose around 10,000 acres under the terms of the agreement when Bangladesh took over 111 enclaves (17,160 acres) from India’s possession and India, in turn, received 51 enclaves (7,110 acres) from Bangladesh. Enclaves are tiny landlocked territories that each country has within the borders of the other nation.
Prime Minister Modi told a BJP rally in Assam in November that ratification of LBA would result in a better demarcated border and stem the flow of illegal migrants from Bangladesh to India—a key concern for the BJP and some regional parties. A multiparty parliamentary standing committee in December, too, backed the ratification, saying it was in India’s national interest.
India has recalibrated its strategy to exert economic and strategic influence on neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh.
“This also opens the door for collaboration with Bangladesh for transit facilities (through Bangladesh) to India’s (landlocked) North-East," a long standing demand of India crucial for developing the vast insurgency-riven region, added Sibal.
India is also using the benefits of electricity commerce as a key to development in the region. The eight-member Saarc had signed a framework agreement on electricity trade at its Kathmandu summit in November. An interconnected grid planned under the agreement will allow power to be traded like any other commodity. Saarc groups India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Maldives. India already has power grid links with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, and has plans to develop transmission links with Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Troubles over finding a formula to share the Teesta waters and ratify LBA had cast a shadow over bilateral ties with Bangladesh, despite better relations since Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister.
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Hot air balloons from 50 countries are taking to the skies in New Mexico.
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta runs until next Sunday and is expected to attract nearly a million visitors. | {
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Barnes and Noble announced today that its new Android app is optimized for Android tablets, and will allow users to browse over 140 magazine titles.
These magazine titles were only only available on color NOOK devices until today. Now, they work on any Android devices running 2.1 and higher, including 3.0 Honeycomb tablets like the Motorola XOOM and Samsung Galaxy Tab.
The app re-orients itself for displays 7 inches or larger, and features an ergonomic "article view" mode to strip articles of all content besides text.
The NOOK Newsstand is the biggest library of e-magazine titles for Android, and includes periodicals such as ESPN Magazine, The Economist, O, Esquire, and more.
Click here to download the free app from the Android Market
Don't Miss: The 10 Best Android Apps For Your NOOK Color | {
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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraq asked for international help on Wednesday to collect and preserve evidence of crimes by Islamic State militants and said it is working with Britain to draft a United Nations Security Council resolution to establish the investigation.
FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari speaks to reporters during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily
Britain, international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Nadia Murad, a woman from the Yazidi religious minority who was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters in Mosul, have been pushing Iraq to allow a U.N. inquiry.
The 15-member Security Council could have established an inquiry without Iraq’s consent, but Britain wanted Iraq’s approval in a letter formally making the request. Iraq sent the letter, seen by Reuters, on Monday.
“We request assistance of the international community to get benefited from international expertise to criminalize Daesh terrorist entity,” wrote Iraq’s foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in the letter, which was translated from Arabic.
Daesh is another name for Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS.
Britain’s mission to the United Nations said on Twitter that it was working with Iraq on a draft resolution. It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote in the council.
Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate effectively collapsed last month, when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces completed the recapture of Mosul, the militants’ capital in northern Iraq, after a nine-month campaign.
Parts of Iraq and Syria remain under Islamic State control, especially along the border.
“I hope that the Iraqi government’s letter will mark the beginning of the end of impunity for genocide and other crimes that ISIS is committing in Iraq and around the world,” Clooney said in a statement.
“Yazidis and other ISIS victims want justice in a court of law, and they deserve nothing less,” Clooney said.
The Yazidis beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions. Islamic State militants consider the Yazidis to be devil-worshippers.
U.N. experts said in June last year that Islamic State was committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy them through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes.
The Iraqi government said in the letter that it was important to bring Islamic State militants to justice in Iraqi courts. | {
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Image copyright AP
When a violent criminal tries to avoid arrest by getting in a car and driving off, any police officer will jump behind the wheel and give chase. But in few countries does the pursuit end up on live TV as often - or for as long - as in the US.
"Woah! Look at that! Extre-e-emely dangerous driving. I have never seen a pursuit as crazy as this."
The TV news commentator could barely disguise his excitement as cameras tailed a runaway driver screeching across Los Angeles on Monday - smashing into vehicles and swerving through oncoming traffic.
"Woah! He's got a weapon! He's just carjacked that vehicle. Live on television. Amazing."
Even in LA - the car chase capital of America - this was an epic. During 25 minutes of breathless rolling coverage, viewers saw the "maniac" driver crash six times and force a terrified young woman out of her vehicle at gunpoint.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The gunman is filmed smashing into other vehicles, firing on officers, stealing a second car and attempting to steal others during the chase
At no point did the cameras stop rolling.
Pictures of office workers huddled round televisions were shared on Instagram and Twitter - including one memorable image of an entire newsroom transfixed by the drama.
Image copyright BrandonJBooth
"It's a cultural phenomenon. We can't take our eyes of this immoral behaviour!" says Dan Neil, automotive columnist at the Wall Street Journal.
"We all know the outcome - he's going to get caught. The odds are a million to one. And yet still, everyone gathers round the TV. We want to see the finale… the coup de grace."
Live TV police pursuits had a big following even before the OJ Simpson chase in June 1994 brought the phenomenon to global attention.
Some 95 million Americans tuned in to see the NFL legend being slowly driven down the Santa Monica freeway, tailed by more than a dozen highway patrol and police squad cars (see top picture).
But in recent years, news networks have ramped up their coverage - transforming what was once a local news item into a showpiece event. National cable networks interrupt scheduled programming in order to offer live, blow-by-blow commentary from rival helicopters.
Chase fans receive phone alerts and follow dedicated Twitter feeds pointing them to the best news channel to catch the action.
Image copyright PCALIVE
Famous televised chases include a stolen timber lorry which ignited in flames, and a school bus hijacking in Miami where the suspect was killed in a shootout.
The morality of showing this on TV - and the danger of glorifying carjackers - has long been debated. In Los Angeles, police authorities recently urged TV networks to curb their coverage - comparing it to a "bloodsport".
Deaths during police chases 322 people died in the US during police pursuits in 2013
208 occupants of the pursued vehicle
105 occupants of other vehicles
8 bystanders
1 chasing police officer
29 deaths were in California. Only Texas had more (46)
2007 was the peak year for pursuit-related deaths (425) Source: NHTSA
But on Monday the local Fox, CBS and NBC stations all screened the chase.
"If they wrestled with their conscience, clearly the conscience lost," says Dan Neil.
"Remember - newsgathering operations here are funded by ratings... That's why you spend $10m (£6.5m) on a helicopter."
During the LA chase we hear the studio newscasters condemn the "maniac" driver, while doing their best to build tension and keep audiences glued to the screen: "What could he be running away from? Could it be more than life in prison he is facing?"
Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute, who was in the studio chair for the OJ Simpson chase and many others, acknowledges that car chases are fascinating, drawing viewers "like moths to a flame", but he points out that "something awful" is probably going to happen.
"And when it does, it's going to be visual and graphic."
Tompkins has written ethical guidelines for studio news editors on whether or not to cover a chase live. One question they need to ask, he says, is whether the chase is newsworthy - in essence, whether telling the public about the chase makes them safer.
"For local channels, I can understand it. But when national cable networks run a chase that isn't newsworthy... I think that's much harder to defend," he says.
The next question is, if you're going to go live on a car chase "are you prepared to air the worst possible outcome?"
He cites the tragic episode where Fox News showed a man fatally shooting himself in the head after a high-speed chase ending in the Arizona desert. The channel was showing the chase with a five-second delay for safety - but somehow failed to cut away before the suicide.
It is not only at the end of the chase that someone may die. Every year more than 300 people die during police pursuits in the US - including bystanders, other drivers and even TV journalists.
In 2007 two helicopters owned by rival networks collided in mid-air while covering a car chase - killing all four people on board.
Image copyright AP Image caption Wreckage of one of the helicopters that collided in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2007
If a TV station stays with a chase long enough, the odds are they will end up showing something horrific. But plenty of channels show them, and plenty of viewers watch.
The essential appeal is voyeurism says Dan Neil.
This has been with us in America since the Wild West - a guy robs the bank and runs away on his horse, so the sheriff gets on his horse and pursues him Prof Geoffrey Alpert, Washington State University
"We love the opportunity to pull up a chair and watch the troubles of someone else from a safe distance. And the car chase couldn't be more perfect theatre.
"The view from the helicopter is godlike. It is very seductive to look down on the fatalistic beings below and forget there are people involved.
"I mean - the poor lunatic is out of his mind. But we've managed to make entertainment out of him - sport even. I dare say that somebody's even betting on it somewhere."
This same helicopter view is familiar to players of the original Grand Theft Auto - the wildly popular video game which rewards players for carjacking and murders. But Neil thinks many viewers are cheering for the other side - the cops.
"It appeals to the American sense of rough justice," he says. "There's a moment when everyone wants the bad guys to get their comeuppance."
But while the police accuse news networks of sensationalising pursuits, are the officers themselves ever at fault - for initiating unnecessary car chases?
The PIT manoeuvre A famous feature of pursuits, the precision immobilisation technique is used by police to make the target vehicle spin out of control and stop, allowing an arrest to be made
The chasing vehicle gently bumps the rear corner of the moving target - similar to a "bump and run" formerly used in stock car racing
Fans of car chases have elevated the PIT to cult status, sharing videos of "textbook" examples.
"Oh every day" says Prof Geoffrey Alpert, at the University of South Carolina, who collects data on pursuits.
"Every day there are these useless chases across America. I'm talking about pursuits for minor offences. Running a red light. I don't believe these chases are necessary or reasonable."
Approximately 40% of pursuits end in a crash, he says. And almost every day in the US there is a death relating to a police pursuit.
"The myth in police pursuit is, 'If he's running he must have something to hide.' We call it 'the dead body in the trunk myth'," says Alpert.
"The other myth is, 'If we don't chase this guy, that's going to encourage everybody else to run.' That's what cops tell me in training."
In fact, despite the city's reputation for dramatic car chases, police in LA now have a policy to chase "only for violent crimes".
In this latest televised chase, Alpert says, the police had no choice.
"He was extremely violent. You saw the trauma on that young woman's face afterwards. He's not the kind of guy you want let free."
Alpert says some people regard police chases as "like Nascar - hundreds of thousands of people watch it waiting for the next crash".
But it is news, so far as he is concerned.
"This has been with us in America since the Wild West. A guy robs the bank and runs away on his horse. So the sheriff gets on his horse and pursues him. That's the way it's always been." | {
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Santorum Explains His Comments About Black People And Entitlements
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
If you were listening carefully to NPR's Ted Robbins' report on Rick Santorum on Morning Edition yesterday, you heard some pretty controversial comments from the Republican presidential candidate.
At a campaign stop over the weekend, Santorum was asked about foreign influence on the U.S., but the former Pennsylvania senator went on a tangent about entitlement programs and appeared to tell a mostly white crowd that he did not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money."
That's what Ted reported, yesterday, and what CBS News reported later in the day.
Now, late yesterday, the comments started receiving some heat, though a lot less intense than the scrutiny the name of Rick Perry's ranch got and the notice the content of Ron Paul's newsletters have gotten.
The conservative site Hot Air posted a piece on Santorum's comments, today, questioning whether he said "black people" at all. They say Santorum mumbled and in the context of the rest of his answer saying "black people" doesn't make sense.
Santorum went on Fox News, last night, and did not deny he referenced black people. Instead he said he had "not heard it" and didn't know the context in which it was said.
Here's a longer version of Santorum's answer as reported by CBS:
"It just keeps expanding — I was in Indianola a few months ago and I was talking to someone who works in the department of public welfare here, and she told me that the state of Iowa is going to get fined if they don't sign up more people under the Medicaid program," Santorum said. "They're just pushing harder and harder to get more and more of you dependent upon them so they can get your vote. That's what the bottom line is."
And here's CBS News' video of his answer:
In his interview with Sean Hannity, Santorum also noted that he had done more than anyone to bring African Americans into the GOP.
"All I can say is that I don't single out any group of people," Santorum told Fox. "That's one thing I don't do. I don't divide people by group race and class. I condemn all forms of racism
"This is just someone trying to cause trouble."
The Grio, which has a longish piece on the comments, says one thing that is important to point out is that the majority of welfare recipients are not black. | {
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Trump lawyer obtains restraining order against Stormy Daniels President Trump's lawyer got a temporary restraining order barring adult film star Stormy Daniels from speaking about her alleged affair with Mr. Trump. Obtained by CBS News, the order was issued last week in private arbitration in California. Paula Reid reports. | {
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A "thank you" in the end credits, an 8X10 still image from the film, a signed DVD, T-shirt, poster and an "associate producer" credit (with no ownership or points).
Less | {
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K-141 Kursk was a Russian nuclear cruise missile submarine which was lost with all hands when it sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000. It was named after the Russian city Kursk, around which the largest tank battle in military history, the Battle of Kursk, took place in 1943.
The Kursk sailed out to sea to perform an exercise of firing dummy torpedoes at Pyotr Velikiy, a Kirov class battlecruiser. On August 12, 2000 at 11:28 local time (07:28 UTC), the missiles were fired, but an explosion occurred soon after on Kursk. The only credible report to-date is that this was due to the failure and explosion of one of Kursk’s new/developmental torpedoes. The chemical explosion blasted with the force of 100-250 kg of TNT and registered 2.2 on the Richter scale [1]. The submarine sank to a depth of 108 metres, approximately 135km (85 miles) off Severomorsk, at 69°40′N, 37°35′E. A second explosion 135 seconds after the initial event measured between 3.5 and 4.4 on the Richter scale, equivalent to 3-7 tons of TNT [2]. Either this explosion or the earlier one propelled large pieces of debris far back through the submarine.
Kursk was eventually raised from her grave by a Dutch team using the barge Giant 4, and 115 of the 118 dead were recovered and laid to rest in Russia. Russian officials have strenuously denied claims that the sub was carrying nuclear warheads. When the boat was raised by a salvage operation in 2001 there were considerable fears moving the wreck could trigger explosions.
via ru_warhistory | {
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Ottawa announced its plans today to cut the small business tax rate from 10.5 per cent to nine per cent by 2019, as it attempts to quell a backlash to proposed tax reforms that have stung the Trudeau government.
The drop, first announced during the lead-up to the 2015 election campaign, would first lower to 10 per cent on Jan. 1, 2018, and then down to nine per cent on Jan. 1, 2019.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau's move to reduce the tax rate paid by small businesses comes at a time when his government is deflecting criticism of proposed tax reforms that have angered small business owners, who said the changes would hurt the same middle-class Canadians the government is purporting to help. Some premiers and Liberal backbenchers also objected to the reforms.
The new plan was presented at a national caucus meeting Monday morning. Morneau also announced changes to the package of tax reforms he first announced this summer.
The Liberals will be releasing news of the tweaks throughout the week.
At a stop at an Italian restaurant in Stouffville, Ont., Morneau, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger said the government will not be moving forward with its proposed changes to limit access to the lifetime capital gains exemption noting "potential unintended consequences associated with the proposed measures."
The Prime Minister twice tells reporters he will answer for the Finance Minister during a tax announcement in Stouffville. Ontario 2:06
The proposal was particularly unsettling for farmers who argued the changes would make it more expensive for a family member to buy a farm than for a third party.
The Liberals said they are still sticking with their plans to restrict "income sprinkling" — the practice of transferring income from a business owner to a child or spouse who would be taxed at a lower rate.
But they stressed they aren't coming after family members who work for the business. Trudeau said there will be a "simple and clear" framework for families to follow.
"It's not the people who are the problem, it's the system," he said.
Liberals' 1st budget froze rate at 10.5%
All three major parties pledged to cut the small-business tax rate in the run-up to the last election, and the previous Conservative government had begun cutting it in its last budget.
In their platform, the Liberals said as they reduced the tax rate they would close loopholes that allowed the wealthy to use incorporation as a small business to unfairly reduce their income tax burden.
In their first budget, the Liberals froze the rate at 10.5 per cent. It applies to the first $500,000 of active corporate income, and the government says lowering the rate will provide entrepreneurs with up to an additional $7,500 per year.
MPs - Joel Lightbound (Liberal), Pierre Poilievre (Conservative), and Nathan Cullen (NDP) discuss 10:04
"This tax cut will support Canada's small businesses so that they can keep more of their hard-earned money — money that they can invest back into their businesses, their employees and their communities," Trudeau told a news conference.
"When we made the commitment back in 2015 to lower small business taxes, we were very clear about one thing: we would only make this change after we took a look at the tax system. That's what these consultations of these past months were all about."
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer isn't buying the timeline.
"The prime minister only made this announcement today because local business operators are speaking out in opposition to his tax grab," he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to attend a special caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
"When he promises that he won't raise taxes on the middle class, I just don't believe him. The high tax hypocrisy of the Liberal government, including the self-proclaimed family fortune that is left untouched by these measures, is starting to be understood by more and more Canadians."
Liberals' popularity hit
The proposals were unveiled in mid-July, but it took about a month for the backlash to materialize. Since then, the Liberals' popularity has taken a hit in some public opinion polls.
The attacks from Conservatives were bolstered by news that, for two years, Morneau failed to disclose to the federal ethics commissioner that he and his wife are partners in a private company that owns a family villa in southern France.
Morneau had already publicly suggested that all three pillars of the Liberals' tax reform plan could see adjustments.
The government's original plan, which included restrictions on income sprinkling, also proposed limits on the use of private corporations to make passive investments that are unrelated to the company and would curb the ability of business owners to convert regular income of a corporation into capital gains.
Learning from mistakes?
Backbenchers emerged from the meeting saying they feel satisfied that the government has listened to their concerns.
"I feel very, very positive. For the first time in a couple months, I've got a bit of a smile on my face," said Saint John MP Wayne Long, who was kicked off two Commons committees for voting against the government earlier this month on a Conservative motion calling for further consultations on the proposed reforms.
"There wasn't a lot of specifics today, but I'm very, very confident by certainly the tone and messaging of the minister that a lot of these concerns ... will be addressed."
New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, who was kicked off two Commons committees for voting on a Conservative motion calling for further consultations on the proposed tax reforms, says he now feels confident about where the Liberals are going. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
The rollout of the tax reform proposals has been a communications disaster for the government, in part because backbenchers were not consulted before the original announcement, Long suggested.
"I'm hoping that we can all learn from this and move forward as a team ... When everybody on the team feels they're part of the team, that's what makes a winning team and I think we've turned a corner on that."
Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault, who had apologized to small business owners for the implied message that they're tax cheats, said he's satisfied there has been a "change in tone already."
"The finance minister has listened. Caucus has been involved and heard very loudly," he said, adding that business owners have also been heard.
Minister of Small Business and Tourism Bardish Chagger sits down with Chris Hall to discuss 9:17
On Friday, Morneau acknowledged that the government has to do a better job of reassuring middle-class Canadians that they won't be hurt by the proposals.
"The fact that farmers won't be impacted, we need to make that clear," he said.
"The fact that, you know, small businesses will be able to continue to invest in their business, which is what we want, and won't be worried about passing their business to the next generation, we're going to communicate that clearly." | {
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1. La piattaforma Rousseau è gestita da un’azienda privata, la Casaleggio Associati Srl. FAKE NEWS
La piattaforma Rousseau NON è gestita dalla Casaleggio Associati. Inizialmente la Casaleggio Associati ha sviluppato la piattaforma Rousseau per il Movimento 5 Stelle, e lo ha fatto gratuitamente.
Nel 2016 la piattaforma viene rilasciata e donata al Movimento 5 Stelle e la sua gestione viene affidata all‘Associazione Rousseau fondata da Gianroberto e Davide Casaleggio proprio con lo scopo di sostenere e sviluppare l’omonima piattaforma di democrazia diretta. L’Associazione Rousseau è senza scopo di lucro e oggi è composta da Massimo Bugani (socio e responsabile organizzazione eventi), Enrica Sabatini (socio e responsabile ricerca e sviluppo), Pietro Dettori (socio e responsabile editoriale) e Davide Casaleggio (Presidente). Le donazioni versate mensilmente dai parlamentari sono finalizzate al supporto delle attività dell’Associazione Rousseau. La Casaleggio Associati NON percepisce nulla di quegli importi.
2. Il voto per il Progetto di Governo non è sicuro. La piattaforma su cui si voterà è stata multata dal Garante della privacy . FAKE NEWS
L’area voto utilizzata negli ultimi 5 mesi e che verrà utilizzata per il voto sul Progetto di Governo NON è stata oggetto di contestazioni da parte del Garante della privacy. I problemi evidenziati dal Garante riguardavano la precedente piattaforma non più in uso. Tutte le contestazioni del Garante sono state risolte nel vecchio sistema e non sono mai state presenti nel nuovo. Il sistema scrutinato dal Garante è stato messo in sicurezza e comunque non ha alcun accesso all’attuale sistema voto.
Nello specifico, la nuova area voto attualmente utilizzata è stata scritta da zero seguendo lo stato dell’arte per quanto riguarda la sicurezza, la privacy, la trasparenza e la robustezza.
In particolare:
Il Login è garantito da un software open source di nome Keycloak che si appoggia allo standard de facto OpenID Connect. Il software è aggiornato, sviluppato da una ampia community oltre che da una azienda leader nel settore (Red Hat). Al momento il software non è mai stato hackerato. Come livello di sicurezza ed identificazione aggiuntivo abbiamo implementato il 2 Factor Authentication via SMS.
Il Database non è esposto esternamente e non vi sono utenze che vi hanno accesso al di fuori dell’applicativo di backend.
I framework usati sono aggiornati ed hanno out of the box diverse feature di sicurezza che rendono il sistema immune a diversi attacchi conosciuti (tipo sql injection, xss…).
L’accesso al cluster è protetto da VPN ed è auditabile (ed auditato).
3. Errori e bug potrebbero consentire ad un utente di votare più volte per il Progetto di Governo. E’ possibile ricondurre il voto alla persona che l’ha espresso. FAKE NEWS
L’area voto prevede due tabelle distinte per i voti e i votanti. Una tabella dice che una persona ha partecipato alla votazione senza indicazione di cosa ha votato e c’è una seconda tabella distinta che contiene l’elenco delle preferenze espresse. Quindi non si può risalire a quale scelta è stata fatta dall’utente. Inoltre, non è possibile che uno stesso utente voti più volte perché il sistema consente un unico accoppiamento utente-partecipazione al voto. E’ come nel voto fisico in cui è presente un registro votanti che contiene l’elenco di chi ha partecipato al voto ed un’urna all’interno della quale vengono inserite le schede. Il collegamento diretto voto-votante è impossibile.
4. La piattaforma Rousseau è impreparata a gestire un elevato traffico per il voto sul Progetto di Governo. FAKE NEWS
Grazie al miglioramento dell’infrastruttura ed un’allocazione ad hoc di risorse hardware che vengono incrementate in maniera proporzionale alle esigenze del voto, la nuova area voto, in uso da 5 mesi, ha dimostrato buone performance in condizioni di carico. Durante la votazione per la conferma di Luigi di Maio come capo politico, hanno votato 56.127 persone ed il sistema è stato oggetto di 3 attacchi DDos che sono stati sventati. Le performance dell’area voto sono rimaste intatte, a parte un lieve rallentamento durati meno di 30 minuti.
Nell’arco delle operazioni di voto, malgrado gli attacchi subiti, il tempo del server per processare le richieste (latenza) è stato di: massimo 71 millisecondi nella metà dei casi, massimo 207 millisecondi nel 90% dei casi e 409 millisecondi nel 99% dei casi. Abbiamo gestito una media di 116.25 richieste https al secondo, con picchi di 305 richieste al secondo durante il picco di voto (escludendo il DDoS). Considerando gli attacchi, i tentativi di attacco e gli errori legittimi, possiamo dire di non aver avuto alcun errore nel processare i voti.
5. Il voto degli iscritti sul Progetto di Governo può essere facilmente manipolato. FAKE NEWS
Le modifiche del codice possono solo passare da un sistema di version control tracciato. Eventuali, improbabili, modifiche del codice nel file system non comporterebbero alcuna alterazione. Il database con i risultati dei voti non è accessibile direttamente da parte degli amministratori. Tutte le connessioni alle macchine sono protette da VPN e sono tracciabili. A conclusione di ogni operazione di voto, la procedura prevede l’attivazione di rigidi controlli di verifica sulla presenza di anomalie.
6. Non esiste nessun ente terzo che certifichi né il numero dei votanti, né i risultati finali di ogni votazione. FAKE NEWS
Le votazioni sono certificate da un notaio che ha accesso in tempo reale al monitoraggio del sistema di voto. Questo permette di verificare e certificare eventuali anomalie.
7. La piattaforma Rousseau riceve 1,6 milioni di euro di soldi pubblici. FAKE NEWS
La piattaforma Rousseau è sostenuta da donazioni di iscritti e portavoce per un totale nel 2018 di 1.254.031 euro di entrate a fronte di 1.123.990 euro di spese.
Come evidenziato nel bilancio 2018, il 59% dell’importo totale (ossia 659.710 euro annui) è utilizzato specificatamente per il supporto della piattaforma ossia per sostenere le spese del personale, gli investimenti sull’infrastruttura tecnologica e per il funzionamento degli uffici, mentre il 40% del totale (464.281 euro) è dedicato alle spese di supporto legale e per gli accantonamenti dei rischi legali del MoVimento 5 stelle, per le spese di comunicazione e di organizzazione di incontri di formazione e per gli oneri diversi di gestione.
Nello specifico:
Spese del personale dipendente (230.676 euro di stipendi) e a supporto in partita iva (105.130 euro) ossia 12 persone che lavorano in 10 ampie aree di azione (assistenza agli iscritti, gestione delle segnalazioni e delle questioni legali, ricerca e sviluppo, project management, web design & development, coordinamento delle funzioni, organizzazione eventi, produzione contenuti editoriali, comunicazione e rapporto con la stampa, amministrazione e contabilità).
Investimenti per sostenere e potenziare l’infrastruttura tecnologica (220.318 euro).
Spese per il funzionamento degli uffici (103.583 euro annui).
Spese per il supporto legale e per gli accantonamento dei rischi legali (272.973 euro).
Spese di comunicazione e di organizzazione degli eventi di formazione (87.858 euro).
degli eventi di formazione (87.858 euro). Oneri diversi di gestione (103.450 euro).
8. Migliaia di persone di altri partiti si stanno iscrivendo in questi giorni e potranno falsare il voto su Rousseau. FAKE NEWS
Per poter votare su Rousseau è necessario essere iscritti alla piattaforma da almeno sei mesi. Questo rende impossibile che iscrizioni di massa all’ultimo minuto possano influenzare una votazione. Inoltre, questa finestra temporale così lunga consente di effettuare controlli e verifiche accurate sulle richieste di iscrizioni presentate ed è attivo un sistema di segnalazioni quotidiano attraverso il quale gli iscritti stessi possono inviare comunicazioni in merito.
9. Non si possono affidare le decisioni ad un voto su Rousseau perché è piena di profili fake e non si conosce neanche il numero di iscritti. FAKE NEWS.
Per poter votare è necessario essere iscritti certificati. La certificazione viene rilasciata solo se l’iscritto è identificato da un documento ufficiale (dalla carta d’identità alla patente, al passaporto), da un indirizzo e- mail e da un numero di telefono che vengono verificati. La certificazione di un iscritto avviene in 3/5 giorni lavorativi a seguito di ulteriori controlli sulla validità delle informazioni fornite.
Gli aventi diritto al voto su Rousseau sono ad oggi 115.372.
10. Il 29 agosto 2019 la nuova piattaforma Rousseau è stata hackerata. FAKE NEWS.
La nuova piattaforma Rousseau NON è stata hackerata il 29 agosto 2019. L’immagine che è stata diffusa è frutto di un fotomontaggio che gli stessi utenti della Rete hanno smascherato | {
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From North Korea to Kim Kardashian, the US president has dispensed with the ‘adults in the room’ and is going it alone
Such a photograph would, it is fair to assume, have been beyond the most delirious, hallucinatory imaginings of a tropical fever patient five years ago. Donald Trump sits at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office with hands folded and a broad grin. To his right, dressed in black, stands an unsmiling Kim Kardashian West, a reality TV superstar catapulted to fame a decade ago by a sex tape.
“‘I broke the internet.’ ‘I broke the country!’” parodied Comedy Central’s the Daily Show in response. The journalist Tom Gara of BuzzFeed News tweeted: “It’s amazing that the most powerful person in the world is just taking casual meetings with Trump like this.” And as preparations continue for talks with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, the NBC correspondent Peter Alexander posted: “The other Kim summit.”
Trump himself tweeted simply that it was a “great meeting” at which they “talked about prison reform and sentencing”, glazing over Kardashian’s somewhat dubious qualifications as a White House policy guru. But then, the 45th US president appears to have dispensed with expertise or a trusted inner circle. The doors of his Oval Office have been thrown open to the national security adviser one minute, a famous face from Keeping Up with the Kardashians the next.
I think we’ve got a fuller picture of it now. He’s not a president who thinks he needs anybody
As Trump approaches 500 days in office, unleashing a daily barrage of remarks, tweets, insults, pardons and threats, teeing up a global trade war and chasing an on-off-on meeting with Kim, the restraints are off and the fabled “adults in the room” appear scarcer than ever. It is, critics say, not so much a team of rivals as a team of one. Donald Trump.
Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said: “I think we’ve got a fuller picture of it now. He’s not a president who thinks he needs anybody. This is the ‘I’ presidency. You hear it in every speech and see it in every tweet: it’s always about himself. As in all things, his presidency will rise and fall on his own efforts.”
Once it was thought that rival White House factions would compete to shape the Trump presidency. But talk of a fight to the death between the “globalist-Goldman Sachs” wing and the “populist-nationalist” wing has faded into the background noise of individual egos. It’s now a war of all against all, multiple media reports suggest. A feud between the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and the trade adviser Peter Navarro, for example, is said to have erupted in a shouting match last month on the sidelines of trade talks in China.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kim Kardashian West meets Donald Trump at the White House. Photograph: The White House
According to the Axios website, Kelly Sadler, who had made a derogatory comment about the ailing senator John McCain, told Trump in front of colleagues that she thought her boss, Mercedes Schlapp, was one of the worst leakers in the White House. Schlapp “pushed back aggressively” and defended herself as the president looked on, Axios said.
Steele commented: “He gets almost a sadistic pleasure watching his staff form up camps, go after each other, tear each other down. What he did not expect from his business background was the leaks. There was one agenda at Trump Tower; there is not one agenda at the White House. What he’s learned is that people come into it with their own agenda. But by and large he gets his kicks from watching the staff behave like children on a playground.”
Donald Trump and the erosion of democratic norms in America Read more
The list of departures is long and includes his communications director Hope Hicks, likened to a surrogate daughter, and his chief strategist Steve Bannon, likened to Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII. Neither has been replaced. “He’s his own communications director; that job is still vacant,” Steele added. “He’s his own chief strategist: he goes by his gut. He’s his own policy person: again he goes by his gut.”
In the past week alone, that gut instinct has led Trump to: slap hefty steel and aluminum tariffs on allies Canada, the European Union and Mexico, risking a global trade war; abruptly reinstate the Kim summit in Singapore on 12 June while saying, “I don’t want to use the term ‘maximum pressure’ any more”; accuse the New York Times of making up a source when in fact it was quoting a White House official who briefed numerous reporters; make 35 claims that were untrue at a rally in Nashville, according to a Washington Post count; declare that he wished he chose someone other than Jeff Sessions as attorney general; insist that he did not fire the FBI director James Comey over the Russia investigation, despite having admitted doing so in a TV interview, and continue to push his baseless “Spygate” theory; and react to comedian Roseanne Barr’s racist joke with self-pity rather than condemnation.
This is the first president in my memory who only listens to people who agree with him. I think it’s gotten worse
Then there was the curious episode of a presidential pardon for the conservative author and film-maker Dinesh D’Souza, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to violating federal campaign finance laws (and who once referred to Barack Obama as a “boy” from the “ghetto” ). The president also ruminated about pardons for the former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and the TV personality Martha Stewart, both of whom had links to his show The Apprentice. It was widely speculated that he is sending a signal to aides questioned by the special counsel Robert Mueller: stay loyal and all will be forgiven.
Typically a chief of staff would be expected to intervene and save a president from himself. John Kelly, who succeeded Reince Priebus in the job, never had much control over Trump’s Twitter finger and is now seen as a diminished force who no longer has the president’s ear. Even Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, seems a bit-part player these days.
By contrast, the newest faces in the West Wing have a reputation for reaffirming Trump and making him feel good about himself. His national security adviser, John Bolton, economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani seem to indulge rather than check their boss’s impulses.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The satirist John Oliver has described Trump and his ally Rudy Giuliani as ‘basically two versions of the same person’. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
Bob Shrum, a 74-year-old Democratic strategist, said: “This is the first president in my memory, including Richard Nixon, who only listens to people who agree with him. I think it’s gotten worse. If there’s any change, it’s in the direction of impulsive, unilateral, unconsidered decision making.”
Giuliani, a septuagenarian, thrice married New Yorker prone to incoherent interviews, and who has been working overtime to discredit Mueller, seems a natural fit. He and Trump are, the satirist John Oliver observed, “basically two versions of the same person.”
Gwenda Blair, a Trump biographer, said: “Trump is a salesman and now he has a deputy salesman. He doesn’t regard Giuliani as a rival; Giuliani is there specifically because he can get headlines and attention. Now Trump has two distraction machines: two spinning tops are much better than one. It doesn’t matter if they contradict themselves because they get two headlines.”
Trump’s management style is familiar from his decades as a chief executive in the cut-throat Manhattan property world, Blair added. “It’s what he always did: he’s the hub of the wheel and everyone else is a spoke. He sets everyone against each other and without overlapping duties so their only loyalty is to him. It’s constant upheaval: first someone is up, then they’re in the doghouse. He loves them and then he fires them. It’s what he’s done his whole career.”
She observed: “If you’re named Trump, you’re probably pretty safe, although there have been a couple of wives thrown under the bus.” | {
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Retooling player development processes is a steady—and slow—way to change a country's soccer fortunes. Mix in a little dual-national recruitment, however, and you can change things up in a hurry.
BY Blake Thomsen Posted
July 07, 2014
4:11 PM SHARE THIS STORY
of the U.S.’s elimination from the 2014 World Cup, much has been made about the gap in talent between the U.S. and the world’s top teams. Former U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel , among others, has come out and said that it’s time for the U.S. “to start developing more into a nation that can control some of the big games, instead of reacting to the good play of the opposition.”
To do so, the prevailing logic goes, the U.S. simply needs better players. (We’ll leave aside the Landon Donovan-fueled discussion of Jurgen Klinsmann’s tactics for another time and place). If Klinsmann could bring players off the bench of the quality of Romelu Lukaku, Mario Gotze, or Andre Schurrle—who were all used as substitutes against the U.S.—the Yanks would be able to play against any team in the world and feel good about their chances.
But unfortunately, boasting that kind of squad depth is far easier said than done. Germany and Belgium (and the rest of the world’s true soccer superpowers) have been developing a steady flow of homegrown world-class players for years. Despite the ever-increasing focus on improved player development, no one knows how long it will take for the U.S. to approach Germany or Belgium's stratosphere in the player-development department. At a bare minimum, though, it seems that the process will take at least 10 years, if not far longer.
However, the U.S. is far from hopeless when it comes to closing the massive talent gap in just one World Cup cycle. In fact, the U.S. is actually in better hands than any other country in the world that is also seeking to rapidly overhaul its player pool. How so? Put simply, Klinsmann has become the world’s best recruiter of dual-national players.
International recruiting in soccer isn’t an entirely new concept, even for the U.S. As early as the 1994 World Cup, the U.S. was fielding multiple dual-national players. German-American Thomas Dooley and Dutch-American Earnie Stewart were both sons of U.S. servicemen, and Tab Ramos spent the first 11 years of his life in Uruguay. More recently, Bob Bradley utilized dual-nationals as well, bringing Mix Diskerud and Jermaine Jones into the fold, as well as Jose Torres.
Other countries have taken to gobbling up a bigger country’s “C” and “D” team players—provided those players have ties to the smaller country in question—and using them to stockpile their national teams. Think Algeria’s use of players developed in France but with Algerian roots.
But Klinsmann has taken it to an entirely new level by actively recruiting promising young players around the world. The common thread with past dual-internationals, especially European-Americans, is that they generally weren’t good enough to play for the other country for which they were eligible. Even Jones, who was a revelation for the U.S. in the World Cup, only joined the U.S. after his Germany career was effectively over.
Past coaches simply needed to get on the phone with players—as Bradley did with Jones—after their international careers had faded with other countries to secure commitments. Thus, there usually wasn’t much true recruiting involved, but rather arrangements of mutual convenience.
Klinsmann, however, has turned the old system upside down with a number of impressive recruiting “gets” in his brief tenure. Instead of relying on castoffs, Klinsmann is actively winning recruiting battles against the likes of world No. 2 Germany for stars of today ( Fabian Johnson ) and tomorrow (Julian Green and John Brooks). Elsewhere, Aron Johannsson was snatched away from Iceland, where he could have been a national hero.
While the Bradley regime saw the world-class Giuseppe Rossi and Neven Subotic slip painfully away, Klinsmann has yet to lose a major recruit. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Klinsmann is one of the most recognizable players of the past 30 years and is the World Cup’s sixth-leading goal scorer all-time. His sway with young players—especially those with German ties—is undeniable.
U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati confirmed as much in a recent interview. “If you’re a young German-American player,” he said, “it’s probably a little different to get a call from Jurgen Klinsmann than it might be from John Smith.”
Klinsmann himself has not understated his recruiting ability. “I think in the last two years, at least since I’m involved, in many of the cases we’ve won [dual-national recruits] over,” Klinsmann said. “We’ll try to do that in the future as well.”
In short, Klinsmann’s recruiting has proven to be a rapid potential solution to the U.S.’s talent deficiencies. Rather than waiting 10+ years for improved development strategies to produce maybe one or two stars, Klinsmann can just pick up the phone and initiate a (usually successful) dialogue with ready-made stars from around the globe. This, far more than Klinsmann’s coaching or youth development, best explains the potential for the shrinking of the player quality gap between the U.S. and elite soccer countries.
Despite the early promising signs, there is still much work to be done. As nice as it was to have Johnson, Brooks, Green, and Johannsson in Brazil, the U.S. still came up far short against Germany and Belgium in terms of player quality—and anyone who watched Argentina play Belgium on Saturday could easily note that the Yanks would have been similarly overmatched against Messi and Friends. But this is where, again, Klinsmann may just come to the rescue.
Klinsmann’s recruiting efforts for the next cycle are likely just getting started, with 17-year-old Ethiopian-German-American Arsenal sensation Gedion Zelalem next on his list. The amount of contact between the two is unknown, but after Zelalem initially looked a lock to play for Germany, the tides are steadily changing.
It’s no coincidence that Zelalem withdrew from a German U-17 squad in March that would have tied him to Germany for his entire international career. Even less coincidentally, the Washington Post’s Steven Goff reported that Zelalem was in the U.S. with his father in May to secure American citizen status via the Child Citizen Act of 2000. He’s not technically a U.S. player yet, but it seems likely that he’ll commit soon with Klinsmann hot on the recruiting trail.
Don’t expect Klinsmann’s efforts to stop there. Would anyone be surprised if Augsburg’s German-American Shawn Parker —who made his Bundesliga debut as a teenager—committed to the U.S. at some point in this cycle? And Zelalem and Parker are but two of many. Surely there are plenty of other promising dual-national Americans floating around Europe (or elsewhere).
Back in 2010, no one could have predicted that Johannsson or Green would play for the U.S. in 2014. In reality, no American could have even known who those guys were. But Klinsmann and his devoted staff have a way of finding the Greens and Johannssons of the world—and more importantly, they also have a way of getting them to commit.
It’s also worth noting that most of Klinsmann’s already-committed recruits are on the younger side. Green is 19, Brooks 21, Johannsson 23, and Johnson still just 26. Those four have a chance to be among the U.S.’s very best players in 2018, and all but an injury-hampered Johannsson already made big impacts in Brazil. Bremen native Terrence Boyd, controversially left off the World Cup roster, is also just 23.
It’s always questionable (and perhaps a bit reckless) to look too far ahead, but this discussion lends itself to a quick glance at the future. Here is a look at what a 2018 World Cup Starting XI comprised of exclusively dual-nationals could look like, aside from Brad Guzan in net. A quick note: for the purpose of this lineup, we’ll say Zelalem commits and Parker doesn’t.
Eight of the 10 dual-nationals there are Klinsmann recruits, and none will be over 30 in 2018.
The brilliant thing, of course, is that the U.S. need not field exclusively dual-nationals in Russia in four years time. Here’s a lineup that combines the best of both worlds, again with Zelalem included.
Aside from Besler, who will be 31 in 2018, all of the outfield players will still be under 30. Again, projecting any lineup even one year in advance, let alone four, is a dangerous game. But it’s hard to not get excited about the potential of this group, which boasts considerable talent and depth from homegrown Americans and dual-nationals alike.
Though perhaps not exactly sustainable from generation to generation, this mix of homegrown and dual-national players is the present and short-term future of U.S. Soccer. Consider the 2014 World Cup, in which the U.S. beat the odds and qualified from a very difficult group. With apologies to DeAndre Yedlin , the U.S.’s four standout outfield players were two players from America’s heartland—Clint Dempsey and Matt Besler—and two players from German metropolises—Jermaine Jones and Fabian Johnson. Expect a similar talent distribution between homegrown Americans and dual-nationals in the future.
The only drawback of Klinsmann’s aggressive recruiting is the possible lack of commitment to the U.S. cause from players that some perceive as more mercenaries than patriots. ESPN’s Alexi Lalas has long maintained the importance of full commitment to the U.S.—he has repeatedly suggested that players who aren’t willing to bleed for the U.S. in the same way that homegrown Americans are have no place in the team.
Considering the U.S. has long relied on functioning as more than the sum of its parts due to an incredible team spirit, it’s a valid line of thinking—though admittedly one that can get uncomfortably xenophobic in a hurry.
With that said, lack of commitment certainly hasn’t been an issue so far. It clearly wasn’t in this World Cup, and that’s highly unlikely to change anytime soon.
All of this is not to say that the U.S. will be on the same talent level as Belgium or Germany (or Argentina, or Brazil, or whoever) in 2018. But as long as master-recruiter Klinsmann is at the helm, it seems probable that the U.S. will continue to close the gap, improved homegrown player development or not.
Blake Thomsen is an ASN contributing editor. If players were eligible for the country of their great-grandparents, he’d be a dual-national star for the Cuban national team. Follow him on Twitter | {
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While the rest of the world is saluting the birth of a miracle – the manifestation of the best of the human spirit in a peaceful movement that is uniting millions of people across religions, geographies and social and economic groups – Arundhati Roy has seized the opportunity to be intellectually irreverent.
Sadly, her vituperative dismissal of this powerful human revolution in her piece, ‘I would rather not be Anna’ published in the Hindu, is short on factual rigor, even challenging her own convoluted reasoning in places. According to her, “If what we’re watching on TV is indeed a revolution, then it has to be one of the more embarrassing and unintelligible ones of recent times. For now, whatever questions you may have about the Jan Lokpal Bill, here are the answers you’re likely to get: tick the box – (a) Vande Mataram (b) Bharat Mata ki Jai (c) India is Anna, Anna is India (d) Jai Hind”.
The depth, magnitude and importance of this mass movement is clearly lost on Roy. Had Roy watched television carefully, she would notice that Team Anna has gone to great lengths to educate the public, holding press briefings on minute aspects of the Jan Lokpal Bill, while comparing it section by section with the government Lokpal Bill. If the mood and expression of the audience is nationalistic, it is only because they feel it is the best way to express solidarity. In no way does it suggest that people are unable to differentiate between the Jan Lokpal Bill and what they consider the toothless ‘Jokepal’ Bill so carelessly tossed up by the government – a bill which in Roy’s own admission, is indeed, “so flawed, that it was impossible to take seriously”.
Roy believes that, “For completely different reasons, and in completely different ways, you could say that the Maoists and the Jan Lokpal Bill have one thing in common – they both seek the overthrow of the Indian State. One working from the bottom up, by means of an armed struggle, waged by a largely adivasi army, made up of the poorest of the poor. The other, from the top down, by means of a bloodless Gandhian coup, led by a freshly minted saint, and an army of largely urban, and certainly better off people”.
The facts – if Roy had the time and patience to analyze them – speak otherwise. Unlike the Maoist movement (in which Ms Roy may no doubt be the expert), the Jan Lokpal Bill does not seek a change in regime. It only seeks a change of response from the regime. Not a single word has been spoken about bringing the government down and misunderstandings to that effect have been effectively countered by Team Anna. Nor is Anna’s ‘army’ largely urban or better off – it encompasses all segments of society, with its ideology and sentiment even infiltrating rural India.
Roy goes on to offer another blinkered spin of Anna’s illegal prison detention, not highlighting that it was illegal, but pointing out, “cannily, he (Anna) refused to leave prison, but remained in Tihar jail as an honored guest, where he began a fast, demanding the right to fast in a public place. For three days, while crowds and television vans gathered outside, members of Team Anna whizzed in and out of the high security prison, carrying out his video messages, to be broadcast on national TV on all channels. (Which other person would be granted this luxury?)
Reality check Ms Roy: Anna Hazare was not in jail. After his release, he was in the office of the DG–Prison, which does not qualify as ‘jail’ under the jail manual. Movement to meet someone who is in the office of the DG–Prison is different from someone who is jailed. No video recordings were made or brought in and out of the Tihar premises when Anna Hazare was in jail. The fact that Ms Roy blurs the difference between jail (prison) and the DG’s office because it is situated in the same compound demonstrates her complete lack of understanding of how the prison system works. While Roy could be forgiven for not being able to comprehend such subtle differences, her choosing to mislead the nation and demean the selfless sacrifice of a man for the betterment of the country may not.
Yet, Roy persists. She writes: “Meanwhile 250 employees of the Municipal Commission of Delhi, 15 trucks, and six earth movers worked around the clock to ready the slushy Ramlila grounds for the grand weekend spectacle. Now, waited upon hand and foot, watched over by chanting crowds and crane-mounted cameras, attended to by India’s most expensive doctors, the third phase of Anna’s fast to the death has begun. “From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India is One,” the TV anchors tell us”.
For the past 65 years, the MCD has routinely undertaken maintenance and preparation of grounds such as Ramlila for peaceful political rallies and religious/social events – a guarantee offered under the Constitution. This was not an exception, as Roy attempts to make it out to be, especially since the government itself offered the Ramlila Maidan as a venue.
According to Roy, “While his means may be Gandhian, Anna Hazare’s demands are certainly not. Contrary to Gandhiji’s ideas about the decentralization of power, the Jan Lokpal Bill is a draconian, anti-corruption law, in which a panel of carefully chosen people will administer a giant bureaucracy, with thousands of employees, with the power to police everybody from the Prime Minister, the judiciary, members of Parliament, and all of the bureaucracy, down to the lowest government official. The Lokpal will have the powers of investigation, surveillance, and prosecution. Except for the fact that it won’t have its own prisons, it will function as an independent administration, meant to counter the bloated, unaccountable, corrupt one that we already have. Two oligarchies, instead of just one”.
Roy is obviously confusing the need to create a central structure which is aimed at benefiting the poorest of the poor down to the villages with her interpretation and understanding of Gandhiji’s ideas. Contrary to Roy’s conclusions, a central body empowered to control or reduce corruption will ultimately deliver maximum benefits to those who are most vulnerable. Anna, like his role model, Mahatma Gandhi, has never made a speech without speaking about the strength and importance of the Gram Sabha, or how the poorest of the poor need to be benefited through this legislation. Clearly, Roy is spending little or no time whatsoever listening to what Anna and his team repeats three times a day on every channel while arguing their case.
As far as the structure is concerned, without question, there may be scope for improvement, but that will be no different from any other attempts at drafting Bills that have been made in the past. It is for this reason that legislations are open to amendments based on practical, on-ground experience. While Roy is perfectly within her right to question the future success of a legislation, perhaps a more pro-active approach could have been to provide superior, well reasoned alternatives.
Roy has trashed Anna’s fast by stringing together a list of other fasts which she believes are equally important. However, the people of India, in their wisdom, have decided to support a fast which opposes corruption. Is Roy expressing her intolerance and anger with the masses for backing the fast of a 74-year-old Gandhian? Is that an enlightened or democratic or intellectually acceptable line to take, or could one possibly dare to urge Ms Roy to respect the people’s right to choose their own cause?
Roy’s article reaches yet another intellectual low point. She writes: “Who is he really, this new saint, this Voice of the People? Oddly enough we’ve heard him say nothing about things of urgent concern. Nothing about the farmer’s suicides in his neighborhood, or about Operation Green Hunt further away. Nothing about Singur, Nandigram, Lalgarh, nothing about Posco, about farmer’s agitations or the blight of SEZs. He doesn’t seem to have a view about the Government’s plans to deploy the Indian Army in the forests of Central India”.
The truth is that Anna Hazare has spoken in great detail about the plight of the Indian farmer, including the Pune events. He has spoken about the improvement of the downtrodden, including in his village. Roy is simply not paying attention. What would you prefer Ms Roy – for us to question why you do not speak about corruption with the same passion as you do about Maoists and question your motives, or congratulate your efforts in a handpicked area of your choice?
In another lethal attack, Roy writes: “He (Anna) does however support Raj Thackeray’s Marathi Manoos xenophobia and has praised the ‘development model’ of Gujarat’s Chief Minister who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims. (Anna withdrew that statement after a public outcry, but presumably not his admiration.)”
Anna’s view of development in Gujarat and his humility in withdrawing it after realizing what implications it may have, is a sign of his greatness, not his weakness. Is he not allowed some human flaws? Is Roy infallible? Will Roy write an apology letter after reading this factual dissection of her article? If she does, as Anna did, then she would demonstrate courage in seeking a public apology after having written a piece that is factually wrong and makes unsubstantiated allegations.
Like this one. “Is it surprising that members of Team Anna have also been associated with Youth for Equality, the anti-reservation (pro-‘merit’) movement? The campaign is being handled by people who run a clutch of generously funded NGOs whose donors include Coca-Cola and the Lehman Brothers. Kabir, run by Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, key figures in Team Anna, has received $400,000 from the Ford Foundation in the last three years. Among contributors to the India Against Corruption campaign there are Indian companies and foundations that own aluminum plants, build ports and SEZs, and run Real Estate businesses and are closely connected to politicians who run financial empires that run into thousands of crores of rupees. Some of them are currently being investigated for corruption and other crimes. Why are they all so enthusiastic?”
Assuming that Roy’s insinuations are correct, she fails to make the point that she hopes to since she is now arguing against herself. Is it her case that these corporates who are facing anti-corruption charges are funding a legislation which will lead to the reduction, if not the removal, of corruption and therefore cause a huge dent in their profits (because by definition they have done well out of arbitrage and corruption)? Or does she, like the Prime Minister, see some sophisticated conspiracy (foreign hand) which she is neither able to establish nor substantiate?
Ms Roy’s argument about corrupt corporates funding anti-corruption legislation can only have two meanings. Either these companies are completely suicidal and stupid (in which case the movement must accept such monies since it kills corruption) or are now reformed from the corruption disease (in which case they are welcome as new-found allies). Please pick your case, Ms Roy.
Roy’s flawed reasoning continues: “Now, by shouting louder than everyone else, by pushing a campaign that is hammering away at the theme of evil politicians and government corruption, they have very cleverly let themselves off the hook. Worse, by demonizing only the Government they have built themselves a pulpit from which to call for the further withdrawal of the State from the public sphere and for a second round of reforms — more privatization, more access to public infrastructure and India’s natural resources. It may not be long before Corporate Corruption is made legal and renamed a Lobbying Fee”.
Not a single such demand has been made in any speech or statement by those supporting the Jan Lokpal Bill. In sharp contrast to Roy’s weak attempt at a racy spin, Team Anna has argued that greater availability of legitimate funding through the exchequer will allow the state to play a more effective and comprehensive role in delivering services to those who need it the most. Statements by Team Anna about the State withdrawing from public infrastructure or governance is a figment of Roy’s imagination and she is welcome to place any that she can produce on record.
Roy wants to know if “the 830 million people living on Rs 20 a day really benefit from the strengthening of a set of policies that is impoverishing them and driving this country to civil war?”
That is a good question. The answer is Yes. It is well established that reduction in corruption helps reduce and eventually eradicate poverty, though the extent can vary. If Roy has an alternate economic analysis to present, she should do so.
Roy, in her wisdom warns us, “Do not be fooled by the flag waving. We’re watching India being carved up in war for suzerainty that is as deadly as any battle being waged by the warlords of Afghanistan, only with much, much more at stake.”
Is Roy serious in comparing Anna Hazare to the Taliban? Even Roy’s biggest supporters will have to distinguish between a violent, bloody, autocratic, drug-based, anti-human rights, anti-women regime of the warlords in Afghanistan versus a peaceful, honest, voluntary, non-violent protest against corruption in India.
Demeaning the efforts of millions of people who are willing to sacrifice self interest for a larger cause, trashing even print and television journalists (your own allies when it is convenient to you), displays a lack of grace, even when it is delivered in snotty English-with-a-twist, careless Cafe Coffee Day-style edit pieces.
You could do better, Arundhati Roy. You could do better.
P.S. My criticism of Arundhati Roy’s lack of rigor and unsubstantiated allegations is not intended to take away from her achievements in support of many worthy causes. Only this time, she has got it totally wrong. | {
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Dr Web's estimate of Flashback infections
Source: Dr Web Initial reports of drops in the number of systems infected with the Flashback Mac malware are being corrected – the adjusted number is now back to around 550,000 systems. The corrections come after it was shown by Dr Web that one system among the various command and control IP addresses was halting bot scans. Flashback-infected machines randomly work through a generated range of different systems, connecting to each to check for commands. The blocking system meant that companies, like Dr Web, who set up their sinkhole servers earlier, so that they could estimate the number of infections, got to see more infected machines connecting, while sinkholes set up later saw fewer infected systems.
Connecting to the IP address Dr Web identifies does confirm the reported behaviour: the system accepts the connection but doesn't respond, leaving the TCP/IP connection open. Geolocation searches on the IP address show the system is apparently located in Fremont, California. It is unclear who operates the blocking system or what their purpose is.
Symantec updated its earlier blog posting in which it estimated 140,000 infected systems, noting a rise to 185,000 infected systems in its monitoring and concurring with Dr Web's reporting of a blocking sinkhole.The lack of a drop in numbers of infections is despite Apple first updating Java to close the hole, then updating again with a removal tool and offering a standalone removal tool. Some theorise that the numbers may reflect systems running Mac OS X 10.5 and earlier for which there have been no updates from Apple.
A recent analysis of Flashback by Kaspersky traces the initial distribution of the malware to WordPress blogs. It theorises that bloggers with vulnerable versions of WordPress or who had installed ToolsPack plugin were used to provide a platform for launching the malware on behalf of an apparently Russian cybercriminal partner programme. The WordPress blogs included scripts loaded from sites on .rr.ru domains. An estimated 30,000 to 100,000 blogs were compromised, with 85% of the blogs being in the US.
Meanwhile, Intego is reporting yet another Flashback variant that is says is in the wild. Dubbing it Flashback.S, Intego reports that it uses some new locations to place its files (~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.java.update.plist and ~/.jupdate) and actively cleans itself from the Java cache to avoid detection. The variant does not appear to use any new exploits but can still install itself in the user's account without a password being requested.
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Scary new details have emerged about the attack upon CBS News reporter Lara Logan in Tahrir Square in the hours that followed Hosni Mubarak‘s resignation as president of Egypt. The attack occurred at the hands of jubilant celebrators of the Egyptian Uprising that turned very ugly towards Logan and sent her to a U.S. hospital for five days.
According to a report from the Daily Mail:
The 39-year-old foreign correspondent for CBS News show 60 Minutes was separated from her film crew in Cairo on February 11 and surrounded by as many as 200 men in Tahrir Square at the height of the anti-Mubarak demonstrations. According to one source, reported in The Sunday Times newspaper, sensitive parts of her body were covered in red marks that were originally thought to have been bite marks. And medical sources have revealed that marks on her body were consistent with being whipped and beaten with the makeshift poles that were used to fly flags during the demonstration. An unnamed friend of the reporter told The Sunday Times: ‘Lara is getting better daily. The psychological trauma is as bad as, if not worse than, the physical injuries. She might talk about it at sometime in the future, but not now.’
The report suggests that the reason behind the attack on Logan was in part reports that came from Egyptian state run media that claimed foreign journalists covering the Egyptian revolution were Israeli spies. The article claims that Logan’s attackers had labeled her a spy and were chanting ‘Israeli’ and ‘Jew’ as they beat her.
(H/T Gawker)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] | {
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Tell Congress to Ban Federal Use of Face Recognition
Now is the time. Tell congress to ban federal use of face recognition
At the local, state, and federal level, people across the country are urging politicians to ban the government’s use of face surveillance because it is inherently invasive and dangerous. Ten U.S. cities have done so, including San Francisco and Boston. Now is finally our chance to end the federal government’s use of this spying technology. Tell your senators and representatives they must pass Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020. This important bill would be a critical step to ensuring that mass surveillance systems don’t use your face to track, identify, or incriminate you. The bill would ban the use of face surveillance by the federal government, as well as withhold certain federal funding streams for local and state governments that use the technology.
That’s why we’re asking you to insist your elected officials co-sponsor and vote “Yes” on the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020, S.4084 in the Senate. | {
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I’m hearing tough prop Mitchell Allgood could be on the move next season despite being under contract to the Parramatta Eels.
Allgood was left behind when the Eels jetted out on their end-of-season trip to Seattle in the USA this week – a clear indication that he is on the outer.
His name has been mentioned to several clubs and with the likes of the Dragons and Storm needing props, he won’t have any trouble getting a start for 2015.
Strong and tough, Allgood isn’t the biggest prop in the game but plays with plenty of passion and will give value.
Read more at Sportal.com.au | {
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Pinkie Pie: WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! We really are going very fast!
Bravey: Gggg! T-t-too fast... s-slow d-
Apple Bloom: Faster Pinkie! Faster!!!
Pinkie Pie: Okay! Ready to test the top speed of that baby?
Bravey: Uh.....no?
PP: Here we go!
AB: YEAH!!!!
B: AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!! | {
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A RWBY-based Valentine’s Day comic for a contest by fav.me/d8c51zd
Based on Weiss’s statement in Volume 2 Chapter 5 about boys being only interested in her because of her status. But here, she finds there are people who truly care for her.
I also had this in mind as a slight continuation of RWBY – Eight Pages fav.me/d82oc3e, though it can stand on its own. Thought of as such, Ruby tries to make things up to Weiss for accidentally scaring her.
White Rose/Ice Flower romance. Possibly more one-sided on Ruby’s part.
Alternate Versions:
fav.me/d8hrryd
fav.me/d8hrszo
fav.me/d8hrt9d
| {
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Danang, Vietnam(CNN) For the first time since the end of the Vietnam War more than four decades ago, a US Navy aircraft carrier has arrived in the country.
The USS Carl Vinson anchored two nautical miles off the port city of Danang, which was a key battleground during the war that ended in 1975.
"Our nations' relationship has reached new heights in the past few years, and the USS Carl Vinson's port visit to Vietnam is a reflection of that," said US Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift.
Publicly, the United States has portrayed the four-day visit by the Vinson and its contingent of 5,000 sailors and aviators as a historic opportunity to enhance the budding friendship that has emerged between the two former foes.
But it's far from a standard port call.
Analysts say the visit by the 95,000-ton carrier to Vietnam is a clear shot at Beijing, designed to counter China's aggressive island building and militarization in the South China Sea.
The USS Mitscher is seen off the Vietnamese coast Monday.
"Vietnam has been deeply concerned about China's pugilistic and aggressive moves in the South China Sea," said John Kirby, a retired US Navy rear admiral and CNN military and diplomatic analyst.
"They are worried about where China is going, and they have wanted for years now to have a better relationship with the United States."
Cultural exchanges, including culinary and sporting activities, will take place between some of the US military personnel on board and their Vietnamese counterparts. Some US sailors will also visit a center for victims of Agent Orange, the toxic chemical compound used by the US during the conflict to destroy jungles and forests.
This aerial photograph of Johnson South Reef reef obtained by the Philippine Inquirer and taken on November 28, 2017, shows Chinese militarization and reclamation on the reef.
Island fortresses
The subject of China, and Chinese activity in the South China Sea, is likely to loom large over the visit.
Since 2014, China has forged ahead with island-building in the disputed waters, despite a landmark ruling in 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which said there was no legal basis for China's maritime claims.
China's claims to the South China Sea stretch roughly 1,000 miles from its southern shores, pitting it against Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
High-resolution aerial images of China's reclamation efforts in the Spratly Islands, recently obtained by the Philippine Inquirer newspaper, show that the reefs and sandbars have been turned into island fortresses, with ports, air strips, lighthouses, hangars and multi-story buildings.
Vietnam is among the claimants that has stood up most publicly against China, after the Philippines -- long one of most ardent critics of Chinese expansion in the area -- reversed course under President Rodrigo Duterte.
In June 2017, Vietnam refused Chinese demands to cease drilling on Vanguard Bank, an area that belongs to Vietnam under international law. Vietnam had granted a subsidiary of Spanish company Repsol drilling rights to the bank. China claims the area is part of its territory.
Vietnam eventually backed down a month later, under pressure from China.
Vietnam has also urged its fellow ASEAN nations to take a stronger stance against China in the South China Sea, though the body has largely chosen not to forcefully challenge Beijing.
"This is obviously a game of balance of power, and China is flexing its muscle in the South China Sea," said Le Hong Hiep, a fellow at Singapore's ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.
"Other countries will need to do more to counteract China."
US role
The United States has long had a robust naval presence in Southeast Asia, in part to ensure the openness of the South China Sea trading routes. Some $5 trillion in goods pass through those waters each year.
Under US President Donald Trump and his predecessor, President Barack Obama, the US has conducted "freedom of navigation" operations, sailing military vessels and flying planes close to islands China controls, often triggering heated warnings from Chinese patrols.
But it has done little to rein in China's expansionism in the South China Sea.
"The US does need to take a consistent and perhaps more assertive approach to how to deal with this advancement," said Kirby.
"I do not think it's too late to forestall further militarization, but I think we need to have a comprehensive -- and not just a military -- strategy for how to deal with this."
Iconic photos of the Vietnam War 1960s photojournalists showed the world some of the most dramatic moments of the Vietnam War through their camera lenses. LIFE magazine's Larry Burrows photographed wounded Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeremiah Purdie, center, reaching toward a stricken soldier after a firefight south of the Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam in 1966. Commonly known as Reaching Out, Burrows shows us tenderness and terror all in one frame. According to LIFE, the magazine did not publish the picture until five years later to commemorate Burrows, who was killed with AP photographer Henri Huet and three other photographers in Laos. Associated Press photographer Nick Ut photographed terrified children running from the site of a Vietnam napalm attack in 1972. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped napalm on its own troops and civilians. Nine-year-old Kim Phuc, center, ripped off her burning clothes while she ran. The image communicated the horrors of the war and contributed to growing U.S. anti-war sentiment. After taking the photograph, Ut took the children to a Saigon hospital. Eddie Adams photographed South Vietnamese police chief Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan killing Viet Cong suspect Nguyen Van Lem in Saigon in 1968. Adams later regretted the impact of the Pulitzer Prize-winning image, apologizing to Gen. Nguyen and his family. "I'm not saying what he did was right," Adams wrote in Time magazine , "but you have to put yourself in his position." A helicopter raises the body of an American paratrooper killed in action in the jungle near the Cambodian border in 1966. Henri Huet, a French war photographer covering the war for the Associated Press, captured some of the most influential images of the war. Huet died along with LIFE photographer Larry Burrows and three other photographers when their helicopter was shot down over Laos in 1971. Legendary Welsh war photographer Philip Jones Griffiths captured the battle for Saigon in 1968. U.S. policy in Vietnam was based on the premise that peasants driven into the towns and cities by the carpet-bombing of the countryside would be safe. Furthermore, removed from their traditional value system, they could be prepared for imposition of consumerism. This "restructuring" of society suffered a setback when, in 1968, death rained down on the urban enclaves. In 1971 Griffiths published "Vietnam Inc." and it became one of the most sought after photography books. Newly freed U.S. prisoner of war Air Force Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm is greeted by his family at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, in 1973. This Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, named Burst of Joy, was taken by Associated Press photographer Sal Veder. "You could feel the energy and the raw emotion in the air," Veder told Smithsonian Magazine in 2005. This 1965 photo by Horst Faas shows U.S. helicopters protecting South Vietnamese troops northwest of Saigon. As the Associated Press chief photographer for Southeast Asia from 1962-1974, Faas earned two Pulitzer Prizes. Oliver Noonan, a former photographer with the Boston Globe, captured this image of American soldiers listening to a radio broadcast in Vietnam in 1966. Noonan took leave from Boston to work in Vietnam for the Associated Press. He died when his helicopter was shot down near Da Nang in August 1969. In June 1963, photographer Malcolm Browne showed the world a shocking display of protest. A Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death on a street in Saigon to protest alleged persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. The image won Browne the World Press Photo of the Year. Tim Page photographed a U.S. helicopter taking off from a clearing near Du Co SF camp in Vietnam in 1965. Wounded soldiers crouch in the dust of the departing helicopter. The military convoy was on its way to relieve the camp when it was ambushed. Frenchman Marc Riboud captured one of the most well-known anti-war images in 1967. Jan Rose Kasmir confronts National Guard troops outside the Pentagon during a protest march. The photo helped turn public opinion against the war. "She was just talking, trying to catch the eye of the soldiers, maybe try to have a dialogue with them," recalled Riboud in the April 2004 Smithsonian magazine, "I had the feeling the soldiers were more afraid of her than she was of the bayonets." In this 1965 Henri Huet photograph, Chaplain John McNamara administers last rites to photographer Dickey Chapelle in South Vietnam. Chapelle was covering a U.S. Marine unit near Chu Lai for the National Observer when a mine seriously wounded her and four Marines. Chappelle died en route to a hospital, the first American woman correspondent ever killed in action. Mary Ann Vecchio screams as she kneels over Jeffrey Miller's body during the deadly anti-war demonstration at Kent State University in 1970. Student photographer John Filo captured the Pulitzer Prize-winning image after Ohio National Guardsmen fired into a crowd of protesters, killing four students and wounding nine others. An editor manipulated a version of the image to remove the fence post above Vecchio's head, sparking controversy. For his dramatic photographs of the Vietnam War, United Press International staff photographer David Hume Kennerly won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. This 1971 photo from Kennerly's award-winning portfolio shows an American GI, his weapon drawn, cautiously moving over a devastated hill near Firebase Gladiator. Hubert Van Es, a Dutch photojournalist working at the offices of United Press International, took this photo on April 29, 1975, of a CIA employee helping evacuees onto an Air America helicopter. It became one of the best known images of the U.S. evacuation of Saigon. Van Es never received royalties for the UPI-owned photo. The rights are owned by Bill Gates through his company, Corbis. Associated Press photographer Art Greenspon captured this photo of soldiers aiding wounded comrades. The first sergeant of A Company, 101st Airborne Division, guided a medevac helicopter through the jungle to retrieve casualties near Hue in April 1968.
In Vietnam, the United States sees an opportunity to join forces over a common problem and push back against China's growing influence in Asia.
US military ties with Vietnam have deepened since 2016, when Obama lifted the decades-old embargo on US arms sales to the country as part of his Asia pivot.
Under Trump, military cooperation with Hanoi has continued.
Despite pulling the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional trade deal that Vietnam was a key part of, Trump has maintained strong ties with Hanoi.
In November, Trump visited Vietnam as part of his inaugural Asia trip aimed at reassuring allies that the US was still committed to the region, and in January, the US Defense Secretary James Mattis also visited, laying the groundwork for this week's visit by the USS Carl Vinson.
The frigate USS Vandegrift arrives November 19, 2003, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The visit marked the first US Navy ship visit to Vietnam in 30 years, since 1973.
US message: We're here to stay
In addition to Vietnam, the US is also tightening military cooperation with long-standing allies Australia, Japan and India.
The nomination of Adm. Harry Harris, the highest commander of US forces inthe Asia Pacific region, as US ambassador to Australia is expected to further enhance cooperation between Canberra and Washington in issues relating to the South China Sea.
US warships have visited Vietnam several times since November 2003, when a US frigate, the USS Vandegrift, made the first port call to the country since the Vietnam War ended. However, a visit by an aircraft carrier is of a different level and something that government officials in Beijing will be paying close attention to.
On Friday, a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said that she hoped that the visit can "play a constructive role for the region instead of making the regional countries feel worried."
Kirby said the carrier's arrival in Vietnam sent a clear signal.
"It's a message to Vietnam, about how much we care about that relationship; it's a message to China, about what they're doing in the region; but it's also a broader message to everyone in the Pacific region, that the United States is here and we're here to stay," Kirby said. | {
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Media: Decentralize Me Podcast
Date: 08-08-2019
ArcBlock Podcast Interview with BloXroute Chief System Architect Aleks Kuzmanovic and the new Blockchain Distribution Network
Thanks for listening to this episode of Decentralized Me, a podcast with a global perspective on the companies, technologies, and people making the decentralized Internet a reality. Now your hosts, Matt McKinney, and Jean Chen.
Matt: Aleks, great to meet you. I’m Matt from ArcBlock and we have my good friend and colleague Jean Chen joining us as well. What I was hoping to do actually just to kick it off and to help us get a little more understanding of BloXroute is maybe give us an introduction to BloXroute and the current state of the project.
Aleks: Yes. So basically BloXroute was founded by my former student Uri Klarman, who is now our CEO and I'm a professor of computer science at Northwestern University. Both Uri and I are computer networking researchers originally. And what that means if we come from this place of Internet protocols, Internet efficiency, content distribution networks and stuff like that. And the first time that I saw the blockchain scalability problem, I realized it's a computer networking problem and so Uri and I teamed up. We started building something at the university but pretty soon we figured out that we don't have enough resources. So this is how we ended up connecting to some people at Cornell - Professor Emin Gun Sirer from Cornell and his Ph.D. student Soumya, who was building at the time a relay network and then we teamed up with them.
We became a group of four, raised money from venture capitalists and we built a team that now has around 25 people. The headquarter is in Chicago near Northwestern University. We do have a very strong team in Israel given that Uri and our COO Eyal are both Israeli. We have a really, really strong team over there. I call them our special forces because whenever there is a hard thing to be done that they are the ones to solve those problems. And so the company was originally founded in 2017 and we have grown to a team of 25.
Matt: I had another question in mind, but I'm curious as to what so far for you guys has been the biggest challenge? For example, what's the one or two challenges that you all have run into that you could share with everyone as your team grew and money was raised - something that was maybe a bit of a surprise or a bit more challenging than expected?
Aleks: So at a very high level, the hardest part for any startup is to start doing anything. I think that's the biggest hurdle for any startup. And so for us, particularly in academia, people often build a prototype or do something small and then eventually nothing may pan out. So for us stepping up from being a university project to a real company was, I think, the biggest challenge for us to overcome. And then if I would have to provide some more concrete details, I would suggest that building with a distributed team can be challenging.
I mean bugs, problems of all sorts are coming at you. And so if there isn't some strategic and organized way to combat them, you can easily fall back and don't do anything. Right? And so this has been my experience, which is you always feel that you are making progress and the progress is being made, but on a daily basis, you get pulled back to, hey, this doesn't work. That doesn't work and in the end, It's a marathon that needs to be won. To do that you have to have a lot of patience and a lot of goodwill and a great team to actually deliver.
Matt: Definitely. It's a bit of managing the day to day to achieve the long term objective. So as a follow-up to my question earlier, what's been the one or two biggest hurdles that BloXroute has had to overcome specifically as you've moved from your idea into production?
Aleks: The biggest hurdle for us was to actually change the mindset. Because typically... I mean in Grad school the mindset is different. The mindset is, oh, let me get enough data so I can write a paper. So it works. It does at least something. Actually building a service that works for the people out there, and people are going to complain if it doesn't work, it's a whole different ball game. And so for us, I think the critical moment was when we hired Eyal. Eyal is experienced... He has over 25 years of industry experience. So if I can send a message to anybody listening out there who wants to do stuff, their project, I think we need to bring in more industry people with experience because having those people around, when you run into problems, can greatly help solve your pain points because they have done it before.
And so those who have the experience to solve those low-level technical problems, having somebody like that is essential. For us, it was actually creating this industry-level structure of our company, which would be that we have set up meetings every day at 10:00 AM. We have various vivid communication among ourselves. Problems are solved in real-time. And so I think having this industry level of mindset is really essential. For us at least it was, so this is how I would frame it.
Matt: So, how do you define the scalability bottleneck? Why does that actually matter?
Aleks: Typically when people talk about blockchains, of course, it comes from Bitcoin - we need the electronic cash for the Internet and stuff like that and that is all fine. However, the big issue with blockchains and the way it works is scalability. What that means is the number of transactions that blockchain can support is fairly limited. There are different versions of blockchains, there are new technologies coming into space, but in reality, the issue is that once there is a technological barrier to actually pushing the number of transactions per second on-chain, that creates a limitation that needs to be solved. So, why do we need scalability? I think it's for the end-users because the more scale there is, the smaller the fees are going to be, the faster the services and transactions and so on.
However, when there is sufficient scale, this is really when the fees can significantly be reduced and this is really the space that inspires me. This is why I have this. This is one of the reasons why I came into space because it opens the space for these super cool applications that everybody is talking about, micropayments and many smart contracts and many, many other things. To me, as a networking researcher, when I looked at this, I said, "Okay, blockchain scalability problem is fundamentally a computer networking problem." Why would that be the case? It might be because I'm biased, but let me try to explain why that's not the case. Because the end of the game, and basically the goal for all the blockchain systems is to put all these distributed nodes, which are trying to put transactions in order, on the same page.
So if you can send data between those nodes so quickly and so efficiently, so that they can all be on the same page, then that will be a solution to the scalability problem because then all of them would be on the same page. An example I often give to people is assuming there is no network and assume all of those nodes are next to each other and they can talk to each other at the highest possible speed. So if you imagined such a scenario, then, in theory, it would be very easy to put them on the same page and to have some consensus among them.
Now with all that being said, it's not just about speed, like how many bits per second, it's really about doing things smartly and basically having a smart network underneath blockchains. It can help solve this bottleneck problem. So I hope I will dive into details down the road, but in general, this is my thinking about blockchains and networks.
Matt: In our industry, as you know, we hear a lot about side chain, sharding, layer one vs. layer two, so for BloXroute, why layer zero? Why is that the solution to solving the problem of the scalability bottleneck?
Aleks: Let me first say that it's an important part of the puzzle, let me put it that way. Then I want to explain why it needs to be necessary. People are doing different things, layer one sharding for example. I've seen some very, very promising work and theories. For example, there are layer two projects where people say, "Hey, let's not do things on-chain. Let's put things off-chain." And there are indeed cases where this is very helpful. However, independent of all of this, our argument and the reason why I'm talking to you now is that there is a huge potential in boosting up all these other solutions by adding another at least 1000 X to the TPS rate that you can get with these other solutions.
It's multiplicative to whatever you get at the sharding level or at the layer two level. So basically why not use that solution as well? Our thinking is as the industry moves on and as the blockchains move on, as more and more transactions are going to be needed, a layer zero solution is going to be necessary because you're going to have more and more transactions being done on-chain. So this is where we see layer zero as a very, very nice solution. I think if you really want to move the blockchains to the mainstream, we really are gonna need to boost up the TPS rates and layer zero is going to be an essential part of that puzzle.
Matt: What does a BDN typed service do for an individual company or as a user and what's the real benefit?
Aleks: Yes. Let me just dive a little bit technical in how we adjust things and then you'll figure it out. So consider nodes of any blockchain system. Basically what a BDN does is that we provide two types of nodes. One is we provide a gateway software to a blockchain node. Gateway software is a piece of code that lives at that particular blockchain node. And on one side it speaks the native blockchain language to the blockchain node. On the other hand, it speaks the BloXroute language because the other types of nodes that it lives in our network are so-called the relay nodes or content distribution nodes that help propagate data through the Internet much quicker.
So the way that BloXroute BDN works is that we have this gateway software and a blockchain node that first translates the types of information that come from the blockchain into the BDN. And at the second level, what it does, it is doing a block compression. It is capable of significantly reducing the block size so that it can be then sent more efficiently through the blockchain distribution network (BDN). So in short, the gateway software help connects blockchain nodes to the BDN and the BDN itself helps propagate data much more quickly through the network. So the end-user sees and the entire blockchain system sees a significant boost in the transaction per second rate that a particular blockchain can support.
Matt: So one of the key features that we hear a lot about within the blockchain industry and even crypto to some extent, is the concept of decentralization. I'm wondering how BloXroute maintains decentralization for your users or for these users within the network?
Aleks: Yes. so one thing that is actually moving towards centralization is this idea of pooling, right? So you have mining pools for example. it actually helps everyone be capable of joining that system on a more equal basis. Because these big mining pools, they themselves already connect pretty strongly among themselves at a network level. So once you have a BDN, anyone who installs that gateway becomes pretty well connected to the rest of the world. So this is one of the scenarios where we are helping with the decentralization.
BloXroute helps ensure decentralization is maintained, as a BDN is audited very effectively by the decentralized peer-to-peer network. Basically what that means is that the peers themselves are capable of checking whether the BloXroute is providing the service that it needs to provide, such that the BDN is incapable of censoring data or giving preferences to some nodes over the others. Basically what we are giving the peer-to-peer network is the significance of power to audit this blockchain distribution network (BDN), such as they can be aware of the scenarios. If something goes wrong with a BDN, the blockchain nodes are first going to know about that. So this is a little bit different system from the classical direction where everybody was going by saying, "Oh, it must be 100% decentralized, a 100% conceptualized."
So, we do need a central component. However, let's make sure that this central component is made fully accountable and could be decentrally audited. If you have this, then you can achieve a level of decentralization and power that is required to make this work.
Matt: As a follow-up to decentralization does that play a key component in terms of any kind of DDoS protection? Or how does the BDN network help protect users and customers on the network?
Aleks: You are asking a great question. So whoever asked me this question, I realize that they understand to a very good extent of what they're doing. So in order to be decentralized, we can't control who can join the network, who cannot join the network, right? Because if we can then it's no longer a blockchain system. That is something.
So given that anyone can join the system and moreover all the data coming into the network is encrypted, and we do this because we don't want to be in a position to be capable of understanding what the users are sending and what is in a block and stuff like that, so number one, anyone can send any data to us. Number two, the data is encrypted, we are unable to see what is the content of a particular block. Given these two circumstances, the natural question that you're just asking me is how do we prevent against DDoS attacks? Basically, to do this we have a system that is more or less piggybacking on the existing DDoS protection systems deployed by blockchains. What does that mean? So for a miner to generate the block they have to invest, consider just for now a proof of work (PoW).
That particular node must invest some power and basically be in the competition by producing the right node so that it can generate the right block. However, once it sends this information to us, we simply here to serve it blindly. However, after we figure out who has sent a real block, we are capable of understanding who the real miners are in the system. We can actually reserve some level of resources for those who actually proved themselves in the past to be real miners and real generators of valid blocks. So that the system can still operate pretty well despite potential issues where someone run malicious nodes that are sending us a lot of data. We can do a similar thing for proof of stake. So at a high level, we are piggybacking on the existing blockchain to prevent BDN from malicious behavior.
Matt: You’ve led me to the next question and I wanted to know how BloXroute handles different types of consensus - you've mentioned proof of work, proof of stake (PoS), are there any fundamental differences in terms of how you do that?
Aleks: Initially, when we looked at the problem, we weren't necessarily working on Proof of Work. But then we started, at some point, we realized that there is fundamentally no difference with the different types of consensus. Why is that? Because in any blockchain system what needs to happen is that transactions need to be made. They need to be distributed to the blockchain nodes. And then the blockchain nodes, in whichever way is going to be either proof of work or proof of stake, will be kept to generate the blocks and send those to the rest of the world. More or less at a high level, this is the same work regardless of consensus protocol. And let me just quickly just explain what it is.
Once the transactions are sent to the system, BloXroute catches all transactions. Moreover, they also provide a short ID to these transactions. So for example, if that transaction, in the real world it is 500 bytes long, what we do is we create an identifier which is like a 4 bytes long identifier, which is a completely local thing done by BloXroute. o once a block comes independently regardless of whether it comes from, the proof of work or proof of stake or any other consensus level protocol, what happens at our gateways is that they take this original transaction and replace that with a short identifier. They are capable of significantly reducing the size of data that needs to be sent among these blockchain nodes. And in case you've never launched a blockchain network, or a blockchain ecosystem, this helps significantly. So this feature, which is very basic and very simple, yet is very powerful.
So basically this is the service that we are providing and it works great independently of the type of consensus that you have, whether it's POW, POS or something else.
Matt: I feel fortunate that we're talking here at the end of July and I saw that you guys just recently completed your first Bitcoin Cash mining tests. And I was curious if you could just tell us a little bit about the results. What actually took place and was it a success? Concerns? How did it go?
Aleks: Yeah. so we chose Bitcoin Cash because from early on we knew that they support large blocks. This is why we did our experiments on their test network. There we were capable of generating huge blocks of millions of transactions that cost nothing and we can send large thirty two megabytes blocks all around the world. And so that was a really great playing field for us because obviously the larger the block is, the more our services become valued. And so this is why we were doing this. And so in short, they're super excited with the results that we had.
And it particularly helps with the Bitcoin Cash in such a system that already had some competing features of their own such as compact blocks. However, the real value that we bring is that we put all these different miners in sync and we put them in sync by streaming all these transactions to all these miners in a very strategic way. So this alone is a big help. And our propagation of data to our BDN, which would be the blocks, also helps them. The details are available online but in general, we saw a particularly big boost in China because the Internet is behaving differently. And of course, because there is a lot of interesting things happened on the network level. However, we were capable of dramatically improve performance - I think by 50 times or something - which we find very valuable because there are so many miners in China,but they still need to be connected to the rest of the world. This is number one.
Matt: I think one of the unique things about BloXroute, of course, is you're not just Bitcoin Cash. Do you have similar expectations around the Ethereum network as well and supporting ETH? Can you share any kind of expectations based on the results of Bitcoin Cash that you're going into your next tests?
Aleks: Yes, we are hopeful that things are going to pan out well, but of course, there are some important differences. So with Ethereum, we are going to go to the mainnet. We really want to show that in the real world it's possible to push things forward and to create value for the miners and everyone else. Ethereum is a little bit of a different kind of beast. Let's say their blocks are much smaller but they happen more frequently. So this is one difference. Another difference is that there are no compact blocks. So we are hopeful that our internal computing and compression techniques can help scale them up significantly and actually boost up their performance. And we really have some good collaborations with a lot of leading Ethereum mining pools. So let's see how that goes. We're hoping it's going to go well, but we are sure that we're going to learn a lot from that as well.o we'll see how that goes.
Matt: What's an expected timeline to release your services to the public?
Aleks: So for Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum, the first version of our system, the source code is going to be shared pretty soon with the public. In the first version, we're going to first share this with the mining community that we are testing with, so that they have access to all the source codes and everything else. However, in order for people to trust us and to run our code, they have to have access to it. So we're planning on releasing our code in September 2019 but would suggest that based on the fact that we have another testing preparing to go live. We may need some time to make some adjustments to our product.So Q4 of this year is a likely target.
Matt: In terms of the mining communities and partners, are you able to share any partners who have already committed to the BloXroute, the BDN, that you'd be able to share with us?
Aleks: So basically on the mining pool side, I would say that it's hard to find one that is not our partner. We are seeing a lot of excitement in the mining pool community. And on the other hand, we are of course talking to a large number of blockchain systems because putting a particular blockchain onto our BDN requires some work, basically building the gateway that will be compatible with our system and so on. And so we have talked to a large number of projects, more than 30 or 40, I would definitely say, and so while our intention is to support every possible project out there, we, of course, don't have enough developers to support that right away.
I think it’s the first time in my life that I realized that being a venture capitalist is actually not as easy as I thought. I thought that we'd be like, oh, I have a lot of money, so now I'm gonna throw this money around and something will pan out. But this is really a position wherein we need to be careful of looking at who do we want to support? Not because we don't wish them well, but because if they are not successful down the road then our investment, in terms of the work that we provide, is not going to be a match. And so basically we are looking at the projects that we hope and believe are going to be successful down the road.
So more or less we are now in that phase, but pretty soon I think we are going to announce the next group of blockchain projects that we believe in this space. and that we are going to partner with and move on towards building this future we all believe in.
Matt: I just want to say on behalf of all of us, thanks for your time and thanks for the opportunity to obviously learn more about BloXroute.
Aleks: Thank you. | {
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A family of four operating an adult residential and child care company in the Bay Area have been arrested and charged with human trafficking and other labor-related crimes, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Friday at a news conference in San Francisco.
The four defendants, identified as Joshua, 42; Noel, 40; Gerlen, 38; and Carlina Gamos, 67, were charged with 59 criminal counts, including rape of a worker, stemming from the operation of their six Rainbow Bright care centers in South San Francisco, Daly City and Pacifica. Most of the facilities were residential homes, Becerra said. Four of the facilities provided adult residential care and two provided child care.
The defendants allegedly targeted members of the Filipino community, many of whom were new to the United States, for labor exploitation. While serving the arrest warrants, agents also seized 14 illegal assault weapons, including three "ghost" rifles without serial numbers. In addition, a loaded pistol was found on a table in the garage of a home used for child care with a blanket over it.
In a news conference, Becerra said additional criminal charges will be filed related to the firearms.
Becerra said Rainbow Bright was also cheating taxpayers by failing to pay its fair share of state income taxes, workers compensation and state unemployment insurance.
He said the number of workers exploited in this case could be in the hundreds and that the abuses took place over 10 years.
"It was the workers who helped bring this case to light, and it is the workers who are the greatest victims of Rainbow Bright and its operations," Becerra said. "While the employees were providing by all accounts loving care, they were doing so under egregious circumstances."
Rainbow Bright's owners are accused of forcing employees to work nearly 24 hours a day and sleep on floors and in garages, and locking them outside in the rain when the owners were not home. The complaint alleges that Rainbow Bright executives deterred the employees from leaving by regularly threatening to turn them over to U.S. immigration officials and confiscating some employees' passports.
The charges are the result of a year-long investigation by the Attorney General's Office Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement (TRaCE) Task Force, and included several state and local law enforcement agencies. Since its creation in 2014, Becerra said, the task force has identified close to one-quarter of a billion dollars in unreported business income.
Becerra urged member of the public who may suspect similar crimes in their neighborhoods to contact the TRaCE task force at (855) 234-9949.
"What's most painful as we discuss this is this is happening in neighborhoods," Becerra said. "This could be happening in your backyard, in your neighborhood, with people you believe are living a regular life and being cared for."
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One of the ways — if not the best way — to track the progress of LEDs over the past few years has been through the metric of lumens-per-watt. As you can gather from the name this is an efficiency rating that is based on the amount of visible light emitted relative to the amount of power consumed. A lumens-per-watt (lpw) rating is especially interesting because it works regardless of the light source — the lpw rating for an incandescent bulb is a lowly 15 (or so) while newer LED bulbs are in the range of 75. While 75 lpw is plenty efficient, it’s no where near what manufacturers like Cree are working on. In fact, the company has just put out a 200 lpw LED known as the XLamp MK-R.
Back in February 2010 the company had a 208 lpw LED operating in its labs, meaning it took the company close to two years for the technology to make its way into production. While that is surely an excellent turn around time, it’s worth noting that the MK-R only achieved this rating while operating at 1W and 25 degrees Celsius (77F) — 25C being room temperature, while the LEDs themselves are capable of operating without problems at 4x that level.
At higher temperatures LEDs do experience a drop in lumen production, though. Running at 85C — a typical temperature — the quad-die MK-R puts out 106.7 lpw (1600 lumens at 15W). Some of the other variants of the MK-R (different bins) are capable of slightly higher numbers, though that’s happening at higher color temperatures and lower CRIs, which means bluer, less accurate light overall.
If this is starting to smell funny, don’t worry: things probably aren’t as bad as you think. After the big 200 lpw announcement, Cree explained that this makes the “next generation of 100+ lumens-per-watt system[s]” possible, meaning that it understands that no one will see that sort of efficiency in real-life applications for some time, but buyers will get 100+ lpw fixture options. And more efficiency means less power and brighter LEDs, which means energy savings and cheaper upgrades. So that halogen replacement your business was looking to do makes more sense than ever.
Followers of lighting, while impressed with the advance, probably won’t be shocked. LEDs have their own version of Moore’s law, known as Haitz’s law, which forecasts that LEDs will see the same sort of exponential growth seen in transistors counts. (Both LEDs and computer chips being based on semiconductor technology.)
Now read: New plastic light bulbs are cheap, bright, shatterproof, and flicker-free | {
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Rose McGowan was arrested and released on bond after reporting to authorities in Virginia for felony possession of a controlled substance.
The Loudoun County Sheriffs Office tells The Blast McGowan showed up Tuesday to turn herself in and was placed under arrest. She was booked into the system, took a mugshot, and then was released on a $5,000 bond.
Officials say "Ms. McGowan appeared in Loudoun County, Virginia, on November 14, 2017, to accept service of the Airports Authority Police arrest warrant, and she was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond."
As we previously reported, McGowan was disembarking a plane in Washington D.C. back in January when she dropped her wallet. It was later found by a cleaning crew and upon investigation, two small baggies of cocaine were found inside, along with her medical marijuana card. | {
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The Word Count Software is an extremely powerful tool for carrying out the process of word count. This is latest word count software which is used by many transcription and translation industries. The software is a great way to count words and pages. It is also a great way for carrying out line count, page count & character count of various files. The word count tool can be used in multiple files in different formats. It can be effectively used for calculating amounts and generating reports.
The word count manager can be used in different file formats like Doc, Docx, xlsx, xls, ppt, pub, pdf, html, log, csv, ini and pptx. The word count software is an extremely fast and reliable tool. It gives very accurate results which maintain the quality of the scripts and writings. The tool is widely used in various translation and transcription industries. It is used in secretarial and medical transcription areas for line count, page count & character count.
The most attractive feature of the software is that it can be easily downloaded from the internet. This helps the users in saving a lot of time and money. The users can use this software for counting the words in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Publisher. It can also effectively count the words in Microsoft PowerPoint and PDF. | {
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In what's being called a breakthrough in the war on malaria, an international team of scientists has discovered that a mutation that makes parasites resistant to a key antimalarial drug winds up killing them.
Worries over the spread of resistance to the drug atovaquone -- which is noted for its safety and effectiveness even in children and pregnant women -- have significantly limited its use. But the discovery suggests that atovaquone could be used more broadly, and could dramatically enhance efforts to treat malaria, a parasitic disease that kills more than 400,000 people a year.
The research, conducted by scientists in Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the U.S., involved billions of malaria parasites and thousands of mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites someone infected with malaria, the mosquito becomes infected with microscopic malaria parasites -- which it then spreads to other people.
While some parasites develop a resistance to antimalarial drugs, the new study showed that the mutation that makes them resistant to atovaquone functions as a sort of "genetic time bomb" that eventually kills them inside mosquitoes' bodies by interfering with the production of energy the parasites need for growth.
"The resistant parasites die before they can infect another person," Christopher D. Goodman of the University of Melbourne, a member of the research team, told The Huffington Post in an email. "The atovaquone resistance dies with them, so new people can't be infected with the atovaquone-resistant parasites and resistance to this drug can't spread through the population."
University of Melbourne Mosquitoes during a "blood feed" in the laboratory.
"These results are very exciting because the spread of drug resistance is currently destroying our ability to control malaria," Geoffrey McFadden, a professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia and a member of the research team, said in a statement. "We now understand the particular genetic mutation that gave rise to drug resistance in some malaria parasite populations and how it eventually kills them in the mosquito."
Other malaria experts who were not involved in the research shared McFadden's excitement.
Laura Kirkman, assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, called the research "interesting and remarkable" in an email to HuffPost. "We know there is drug resistance to all antimalarials currently in use," she wrote, "but this is the first example of resistant parasites that are also incapable of being transmitted by the mosquito to other human hosts."
"What's important is that this is the first finding of drug resistance that apparently can't be transmitted or spread -- a persistent problem with other antimalarial drugs," Sarah Hochman, an epidemiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said in an email.
In addition to encouraging wider use of atovaquone, the researchers said the finding could point the way toward the development of new malaria drugs, including less expensive, generic forms of atovaquone.
But before any of that can happen, the researchers need to do more work.
“Our next challenge will be to look for any spread of this drug resistance in field settings such as Kenya and Zambia," McFadden said.
A paper describing the research was published April 15 in the journal Science. | {
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“Leeds’ very own Miguel Campbell is the owner of Outcross Records. He’s behind tracks like ‘Something Special’ and ‘Baby I Got It’; and is due to drop a debut album on label of the moment Hot Creations.
His debut Essential Mix is a soulful and funky journey through upfront and classic house. Listen out for exclusives from Maceo Plex and Onira and classic tracks from Daft Punk and Paul Johnson.”
Check out other Essential mixes in my archive and subscribe to the feed to get good music in the future.
BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix 2012-08-25 Miguel Campbell [Uploaded.to download] [Depositfiles download]
Tracklist:
See text file.
Follow Core News on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
Help keeping the site running - Support Core News :) | {
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Includes 1 Left Joy-Con, 1 Right Joy-Con, and 2 Black Joy-Con Straps
Use 2 Joy-Con independently in each hand or use them together as one game controller when attached to Joy-Con grip | {
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It turns out storms usually miss the expanse of coastline from roughly Virginia Beach to Long Beach Island, N.J., because of its geography. Whereas the Outer Banks of North Carolina and southern New England protrude outward into the Atlantic Ocean, the Delmarva Eastern Shore and surroundings are tucked in.
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“The Delmarva area is hard for hurricanes to hit both geographically and meteorologically,” said Brian McNoldy, Capital Weather Gang’s tropical weather expert. “It’s a concave part of the coastline and storms that travel that far north are typically curving to the north or northeast. If the Delmarva Peninsula ‘stuck out’ east of Cape Hatteras, the hurricane landfall map would look quite different there.”
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Of course, just because a hurricane hasn’t made landfall in the Delmarva area in modern records, doesn’t mean this region hasn’t witnessed hurricane and tropical storm conditions. Numerous storms have made landfall just south of this area in North Carolina, and then passed over it. And then there are remnant storms from the Gulf of Mexico, which unload copious amounts of rain.
Long-time residents no doubt remember storms like Hazel, Agnes, Isabel, Floyd, Irene, and Sandy, none of which were hurricanes when they swept through the area, but still had profound effects on the region.
“An official hurricane landfall is not needed to produce disastrous impacts,” McNoldy said. “A strong hurricane just 50 miles offshore won’t show up on the landfall map, but would certainly be memorable and destructive. Even a tropical storm is capable of producing major impacts.”
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Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University and Capital Weather Gang contributor, notes that the National Hurricane Center maintains a database of the states where hurricane conditions have occurred.
“Maryland has been impacted by two hurricanes,” said Klotzbach. “One in 1878 and the Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane of 1933. And, while hurricane-force winds may not have occurred, Isabel in 2003 certainly caused damage there as well [it was a tropical storm when it came through].”
Delaware has also twice witnessed hurricane conditions: by the same 1878 storm that impacted Maryland, and in a hurricane in 1903, the one and only to make landfall in southern New Jersey.
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Due to its proximity to the Outer Banks, Southeast Virginia more routinely deals with hurricanes, having experienced hurricane conditions 13 times since 1851.
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While it is true hurricane and tropical conditions can occur a good distance away from the landfall zone, the most severe impacts of hurricanes, including the strongest winds and most severe coastal flooding, do tend to focus where they come ashore. Does the Delmarva area’s absence of direct strikes since 1851 mean it will never witness one’s wrath? Not necessarily.
Given the right configuration of weather systems, a hurricane could be steered straight into the Delmarva coast. While not technically a hurricane at landfall, Hurricane Sandy — which roared ashore near Atlantic City, came awfully close to striking Delmarva.
Not to mention, unofficial historical accounts pre-1851 suggest hurricanes have slammed this region head on.
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“Although one hasn’t hit since 1851, there are records of hurricanes hitting Virginia and the Delmarva Peninsula in 1667, 1683, 1693, 1724, 1785, and 1788. So it can happen,” said McNoldy.
In other words, this region shouldn’t consider itself immune. It should continue to monitor the tropics and have contingencies for a full hurricane blast. | {
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Here's the Backstory for Knotty, She is a human who one day woke up as his DnD Character Knotty, confused he now she sets off to find out the source of her transformation.
Knotty's DnD backstory is that she was from a group of goblins that got slaughtered by a band of adventures when she was very young, one of the adventurers noticed her and feeling bad that she was basically the sole survivor took her in and raised her, As she got older she showed a lot of promise as a tinkerer, despite most places in her town not really liking her due to her being a goblin she managed to craft her Crystal rifle and set out as an adventurer, to both start a revolution in goblin kind...and maybe get a human husband along the way. | {
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Nigel Farage’s Ukip leadership has finally come to an end after Paul Nuttall was elected as the party's new leader.
Mr Nuttall, the former deputy leader, secured 62.6 per cent of the vote to succeed Mr Farage and take over the troubled party.
Accepting his new role as leader, he said: "I want to replace the Labour party and make Ukip the patriotic voice of working people." | {
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“It allows us to be more efficient in practice. It cuts to the chase,” Eller said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh I think I see this, I think I see that, I think you’re doing this.’ We have high-speed video. We have motion-sensors. We have 4D motion sensors that are on the body. We know what’s going on, and we know what’s effective and what’s not effective. I think it’s just going to allow the players to develop faster, honestly. It’s going to be great for the hitters.” | {
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The journalist appeared unable to contain his wonder as he spoke over footage of U.S. Navy destroyers launching Tomahawk missiles toward a Syrian military airfield. He even misused a Leonard Cohen lyric to set the scene.
Brian Williams waxing lyrical about the beauty of weapons—what in the world is this? pic.twitter.com/3hoxCgCfP1 — Taniel (@Taniel) April 7, 2017
“We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two U.S. Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean,” Williams said.
He then lifted a line from late singer-songwriter Cohen’s 1988 hit “First We Take Manhattan,” saying, “I am guided by the beauty of our weapons.”
Williams went on to describe the images as “beautiful pictures of fearsome armaments making what is for them a brief flight over to this airfield.”
Internet users tore into Williams over his “surreal” commentary of the strikes, which were carried out following a chemical weapon attack allegedly ordered by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Twitter users brought up Williams’ exaggeration of his accounts of his Iraq War reporting, accused him of trying to glorify war and suggested he’d completely misinterpreted the lyric.
Here’s a sampling of the responses:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: I need a war
TRUMP: Here's an airstrike
WILLIAMS: Mm those missiles on the ship look beautiful... I was just there — ishmael n. daro 🍳 (@iD4RO) April 7, 2017
@Taniel can tell Brian really got the essence of Leonard Cohen's work — Gaetano Filangieri (@andyfrankly) April 7, 2017
Brian Williams misinterpreting a Leonard Cohen lyric in an attempt to glorify war is hysterical in that I both laughed and lost my mind. — Brand Manager (@MadeOfSpiders) April 7, 2017
OMG I do not watch @MSNBC & I did not know Brian Williams was still a "journalist" but after watching this video, it is time to retire Brian https://t.co/0pRrMv1YzW — ~ Nicole ~ (@NovemberNicole1) April 7, 2017
Oh did Brian Williams drape himself in the glories of war as he saw it again — Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) April 7, 2017
You'd think a guy who had experienced the horrors of a missile attack like Brian Williams wouldn't be so enthralled by a missile attack. — Everywhere Jeet (@Ugarles) April 7, 2017
Brian Williams calls DOD video of missile strikes "beautiful", unironically quotes Leonard Cohen, "Im guided by the beauty of our weapons" — Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) April 7, 2017
This is truly a surreal segment. Brian Williams: "I am guided by the beauty of our weapons." https://t.co/85TNZxkNa8 — Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) April 7, 2017
The saddest thing here is Brian Williams is probably not lying this time. He likely thinks missile strikes are beautiful. https://t.co/11XnE4EbjO — jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) April 7, 2017
Dear Brian Williams,
There is nothing "beautiful" about war. Hell only exists because humans keep creating it. — John Haltiwanger (@jchaltiwanger) April 7, 2017
Brian Williams is quoting Aaron Sorkin to Chris Matthews to discuss Syria — Brendan O'Connor (@_grendan) April 7, 2017
@Taniel Wtf is wrong with Brian Williams....jesus.... — Rypley Rendar (@Rypley2) April 7, 2017
@Taniel I'm a fan of Brian Williams but I must say going into description about its beauty leaves me speechless, it seems wrong on any level its war — Kris MG (@krismess_kool) April 7, 2017
Brian Williams is the Joe Buck of war. — Ben Schwartz (@benschwartzy) April 7, 2017 | {
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Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says she is ready to meet her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the upcoming Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Alaska in May, to discuss bilateral relations and co-operation in the Arctic.
That’s a sudden about-face, given Canada’s snub of the Russians by failing to send any political representation to Arkhangelsk, where the International Arctic Forum ended this week.
Speaking to reporters from Brussels, where she attended the NATO foreign ministers meeting on Friday, Freeland said she’s “very much looking forward to attending” the Arctic Council meeting in Fairbanks.
“I believe that Sergey Lavrov will be there and that would be a very valuable opportunity for all Arctic countries very much, including Canada, to talk about our shared interests in the Arctic region,” Freeland said, responding to a question from Radio Canada International. “And I would be absolutely prepared to have a bilateral meeting with Sergey Lavrov at Arctic Council if that works for both of our schedules.”
Freeland said she already had an opportunity to “chat” with Lavrov last November at the sidelines of the APEC summit in Lima, Peru, and at the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bonn, Germany, in mid-February.
Crimean freeze
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit Thursday Sept.5, 2013 in St.Petersburg, Russia. © The Canadian Press / Dmitry Lovetsky
The frosty relations between the two Arctic neighbours plunged to new lows under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its covert support for pro-Russian rebels in parts of Eastern Ukraine.
Canada, home to about 1.3 million Ukrainians and the first country to recognize Ukraine’s independence, froze nearly all political and military contacts with Russia, with the notable exception of co-operation in the Arctic.
The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came in at the end of 2015, saying that re-engagement with Russia was one of its foreign policy objectives.
No thaw in sight
Many analysts at the time believed that Arctic co-operation between Canada and Russia, which survived the deep freeze of relations between Moscow and Ottawa, could serve as a perfect platform for a diplomatic thaw.
The heads of the eight Arctic nations’ coast guards take part in the Arctic Coast Guard Forum Academic Roundtable at Coast Guard base Boston, June 9, 2016. © Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Kelley/U.S. Coast Guard
However, Russia’s continued meddling in Ukraine and Canada’s decision to lead a 1,000-strong NATO battle group in Latvia made the prospects of a quick Canadian-Russian rapprochement increasingly unlikely, especially after Trudeau turfed Stéphane Dion from the foreign affairs portfolio. Dion, the main cabinet champion of normalizing relations with Russia, was replaced with Freeland in January.
Freeland, a 49-year-old former journalist, speaks fluent Russian and Ukrainian and is a fierce critic of the Kremlin. She is on the list of 13 Canadian politicians and activists barred by Moscow from entering Russia because of her pro-Ukrainian activism.
Harder line towards Moscow
In February, the newly minted minister’s feud with the Kremlin got even more personal after a Russian investigative journalist published a story accusing Freeland of essentially whitewashing the story of her Ukrainian maternal grandfather.
The story alleged that Freeland’s grandfather was an editor of a virulently anti-Semitic Ukrainian nationalist newspaper that actively collaborated with the Nazis in German-occupied Poland during WWII.
While Freeland did not dispute the fact that her grandfather had worked at the Nazi-sanctioned newspaper, the story was seen in Canada as a crude attempt by Moscow to discredit her and interfere in the Canadian political process.
Then in early March, Freeland announced that Canada is officially extending its military training mission in Ukraine by another two years, until the end of March 2019.
Arkhangelsk snub
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Iceland Gudni Johannesson attend a session of the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia March 30, 2017. © Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters
Ottawa also decided not to send a cabinet minister to represent Canada at the International Arctic Forum hosted by President Vladimir Putin in Arkhangelsk, which wrapped up Thursday.
Unlike its NATO allies Norway and Denmark, who dispatched their foreign ministers to Arkhangelsk, Canada was represented by a senior foreign affairs bureaucrat in charge of the Arctic file, Alison LeClaire.
Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Børge Brende met with Lavrov on the sidelines of the Forum, while Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö and Iceland’s President Guðni Jóhannesson participated in a panel discussion with Putin.
A message of unity
Freeland said Russia was one of the main topics discussed at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
“Issues on the agenda primarily were Russia, Ukraine, counterterrorism and burden sharing,” Freeland said. “On Ukraine, I spoke about Canada’s strong commitment to an independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine.”
She also spoke about the battle group that Canada will be leading in Latvia, as part of a 4,000-strong NATO-enhanced presence in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, to shore the defences on NATO’s northeastern flank against a possible Russian threat, Freeland said.
“It was a very good and very frank conversation,” Freeland said. “I have to say the message that I take from the meeting today is that there is strong trans-Atlantic unity in NATO, strong unity of all the NATO allies.” | {
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The following is an update from MitoSENS scientist Dr. Matthew “Oki” O’Connor:
Hi, everyone! Long time, no update – my fault!
As you all saw, our manuscript that was supported by Lifespan.io donors was published last fall. Dr. Boominathan and I have been presenting our results at conferences around the world, and I can tell you that they have been very well received.
The second part of the project has been completed (testing a library of MTSes on ATP6), and that does not seem to have solved the problem of substantially increased ATP6 expression and import.
We have, however, learned more about the problem and have made progress on solving it. We’ve discovered that there was a problem at both the mRNA expression level and at the protein level.
We think we’ve solved the mRNA problem, but we’re still working on the protein problem. The mRNA solution is a bit of a long story, so I’m going to save the details for a future update, but it’s pretty cool.
Additionally, it’s been an exciting summer. The highlight of our summer is always the SRF Summer Scholars program, in which talented undergraduate biology students join our various projects for 12 weeks.
This summer has been twice as special for the Mito project because we got not one but two amazing interns to pioneer new work. This is due to a timely grant from Michael Antonov (one of the visionary co-founders of Oculus) that allowed us to expand operations this summer to push a new project that I’ll talk about in my next update. But first…
Optimizing the Allotopic Expression of ATP6 to Mitochondria in Mutant Cells
Jasmine Zhao joined us this summer from UCLA, where she will be a senior this fall. In Jasmine’s words:
This summer, my project will be conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Amutha Boominathan and Dr. Matthew O’Connor at the SRF Research Center in Mountain View. The goal of this project is to design and test different constructs that can potentially improve the allotopic expression of ATP6 to mitochondria in mutant cell lines. Mitochondria are double-membrane bound organelles that provide energy in the form of ATP to power the biochemical reactions of a cell. Unlike other organelles, however, mitochondria have their own DNA separate from the nucleus, and 13 out of those 37 genes encode for oxidative phosphorylation complex proteins. Due to possible leakage of the high-energy electrons of the respiratory chain, which results in the formation of reactive oxygen species, the oxidative stress mitochondrial-DNA (mtDNA) is subjected to can lead to mutations, aging, and cell death. For instance, the ATP6 gene encodes for subunit a of the Fo structural domain of ATP synthase, also known as Complex V. The Fo structural domain is embedded in the inner membrane of the mitochondria and contains the membrane proton channel that allows for the synthesis of ATP. Mutations of ATP6 have been implicated in different human diseases that affect neural development, vision, and motor movement, such as Leigh syndrome and Neuropathy, Ataxia, and Retinitis Pigmentosa (NARP).
Thanks
Oki
Want to know more?
You can learn more about this project at the SENS website here! | {
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This article is from the archive of our partner .
The legendary science fiction author died in Los Angeles at the age of 91, his family and publisher have confirmed. The science fiction blog got confirmation from Bradbury's grandson and biographer that the author of such classics as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles (and so many more) had died Wednesday morning.
An early icon to many young readers and adults alike, Bradbury's stories introduced millions to science fiction and a general love of reading. In a lengthy and insightful interview that's worth a look in remembrance of the author, he told the Paris Review in 2010:
Science fiction is the fiction of ideas. Ideas excite me, and as soon as I get excited, the adrenaline gets going and the next thing I know I’m borrowing energy from the ideas themselves. Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn’t exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible, never the impossible.
Bradbury was in no way reclusive. His grandson, Danny Karapetian, called him "the biggest kid I know" in his remarks to io9. The Associated Press notes that Bradbury regularly appeared at bookstores and literary events in Los Angeles, even after a 1999 stroke put him in a wheelchair. And the author kept his website current with information about his work, his life, and his thoughts. You can hear the author speak in the myriad video clips on his site, which are unfortunately not embeddable. | {
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Premier Rutte heeft de polsmeniscus gescheurd van minister Raymond Knops van Binnenlandse Zaken. Dit gebeurde tijdens de wekelijkse fitnesstraining voor leden van het kabinet voorafgaand aan de ministerraad.
Premier Rutte heeft de polsmeniscus gescheurd van minister Raymond Knops van Binnenlandse Zaken. Dit gebeurde tijdens de wekelijkse fitnesstraining voor leden van het kabinet voorafgaand aan de ministerraad.
Brace | {
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Defenders of Kathleen Sebelius’ decision to overrule the FDA’s decison to make Plan B emergency contraception available over-the-counter without age restrictions floated the specter of 11-year-old girls having sex to justify the decision. (Though, of course, the sex has already happened when the Plan B is purchased, so really, people who float this argument are just arguing that it’s better for the 11-year-old in question to be pregnant than not, which seems really cruel.) The reality is that fewer than 1 percent of 11-year-olds are sexually active, so the real people hurt by these restrictions are the 15- and 16-year-olds having sex with age-appropriate partners and those 17 and older who have a legal right to the pill but find that having to ask for a pharmacist to fetch it is too much of an obstacle, because either the pharmacy counter is closed or because the pharmacy staff won’t hand it over, either out of ignorance or malice.
For those who would scoff at the chance that these are serious concerns, I give you the story of Jason Melbourne of Mesquite, Texas. Melbourne went to the Mesquite CVS to buy Plan B for his wife, who had to stay home to look after their two small children. The reward he got for being a good husband who goes to the drugstore to buy lady things for his wife was resistance from the pharmacy staff, who refused to sell him the drug because they claimed to believe that men don’t have a legal right to buy it. Well, the problem is there are no gender restrictions on access to Plan B, something that Melbourne demonstrated to the staff by use of Google on a smartphone. They continued to refuse to sell to him, making outrageous claims about men supplying the drug to rape victims, even though he got his wife on the phone to explain the situation. Melbourne is the second man in Texas who has reported being denied Plan B at a CVS to the ACLU. Considering how many people don’t contact the ACLU after having their rights violated—or who would believe the pharmacy staff’s claims—that suggests this could be a widespread problem.
Certainly, initial research suggests a lot of people who have a right to over-the-counter access to Plan B are being routinely denied at pharmacies. A paper published in JAMA last month described researchers who posed as 17-year-old girls (who have a legal right to Plan B without a prescription) and called pharmacies around the country, asking for the drug. In 19 percent of the calls, the caller was told she couldn’t obtain the drug under any circumstances. In most of these situations where those who have a right are being denied access, I suspect the problem is less malice than ignorance. Regardless of why pharmacies are failing their customers, however, the solution is the same: The HHS needs to reverse its decision and allow Plan B to be taken out from behind the pharmacy counter and put on the shelves, available to whoever wants it.
| {
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Florida is typically the crown jewel of presidential elections. With its shifting make up and divided politics, there’s endless speculation every four years over where its 29 electoral college votes will fall.
Perhaps not as much in 2020, though.
Rather, Pennsylvania is more likely to determine the county’s fate, according to a majority of Florida’s sharpest political minds polled in the Tampa Bay Times monthly Florida Insider survey.
More than 70 percent of the 175 campaign operatives, fundraisers, political scientists and other veteran politicos polled said Pennsylvania will be more important than Florida in 2020.
Why Pennsylvania? President Donald Trump was victorious there in 2016. It marked the first time a Republican put the Keystone State in the win column since 1988. Democrats, though, won the governorship there two years later.
And though its population is shrinking, it still has 20 electoral college votes, a hefty haul for either party.
Mostly, Democrats will fight hard for it because it’s hard to imagine the party can win back the presidency without it. And that goes for many of the Midwest states that made up Hillary Clinton’s failed firewall.
More than half of the Florida Insiders said Wisconsin and Michigan as well as perennial swing state Ohio will be more important in 2020 than the Sunshine State. Trump won all of them in 2016.
Democrats can win the White House without Florida, but it would be nearly impossible to if Trump wins those Midwest battlegrounds again, many insiders said. Meanwhile, Trump’s path to victory without Florida is more difficult.
“Because Dems know Trump can’t win without Florida, they will do everything possible to pin him down there," one Democratic strategist said. "But they can win the White House with without it.”
A Republican insider agreed: “If Dems can’t win back those blue midwestern states, Florida won’t do any good for them.”
Others pushed back against that narrative. Florida’s electoral college windfall is too important for Democrats to ignore. Since 1984, only one presidential candidate — Bill Clinton in 1992 — lost Florida but won the presidency.
Forty of the respondents didn’t rank any state above Florida.
“There is no realistic way (some attempt to spin otherwise) to put together a winning electoral college map for either party to win without Florida,” a Republican said. “The same cannot be said about other states. Closely behind Florida would be Pennsylvania and Ohio.”
Here’s a potential wild card: What if Trump decides to allow offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico? It’s apparently under consideration, despite unanimous opposition among Florida’s Congressional delegation and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Doing so would be disastrous for Trump’s chances in 2020, more than eight in 10 Insiders said. Just one respondent, a Republican, said that move would help him here.
One Republican said Trump will win Florida easily unless he “screws it up with drilling” in Florida, where memories persist of tarballs washing ashore Gulf beaches. Meanwhile, a Democrat opined swing counties that Trump surprisingly won, like Pinellas County, would shift if Trump allowed oil rigs off the state’s western shore.
“It could kill him in the state,” the Democrat said. “Even among his base in western Panhandle, it’s never been a popular idea.”
Speaking of the Panhandle, Trump gets a big chunk of the blame from Insiders for leaving Hurricane Michael victims without aid. But there’s plenty of finger pointing at Congressional Democrats and Republicans too.
This month’s Insiders were: Erin Aebel, Tom Alte, Jason Altmire, Gayle Andrews, Scott Arceneaux, Donna Arduin, Dave Aronberg, Brad Ashwell, Jon M. Ausman, Roger Austin, Ryan Banfill, Christina Barker, Scott Barnhart, Rodney Barreto, Ashley Bauman, Alan Becker, Geoffrey Becker, Samuel Bell, Wayne Bertsch, Ron Bilbao, Barney Bishop III, Greg Blair, Katie Bohnett, Matt Bryan, Bob Buckhorn, Alex Burgos, Kristy Campbell, Dean Cannon, Tim Canova, Al Cardenas, Reggie Cardozo, Chip Case, Kevin Cate, Mitch Ceasar, Jim Cherry, Alan Clendenin, Brad Coker, Mike Colodny, Hunter Conrad, Gus Corbella, Brian Crowley, Ana Cruz, Husein Cumber, Colburn David, Richard DeNapoli, Pablo Diaz, Victor DiMaio, Tony DiMatteo, Michael Dobson, Doc Dockery, Paula Dockery, Bob Doyle, Charles Dudley, Ryan Duffy, Barry Edwards, Eric Eikenberg, Alia Faraj-Johnson, Mike Fasano, Peter Feaman, Mark Ferrulo, Damien Filer, Mark Foley, Brian Franklin, Towson Fraser, Keith Frederick, Ellen Freidin, John French, Stephen Gaskill, Steve Geller, Richard Gentry, Susan Glickman, Susan Goldstein, Alma Gonzalez, Ron Greenstein, Joe Gruters, Marion Hammer, Abel Harding, James Harris, Rich Heffley, Cynthia Henderson, Ann Herberger, Mike Hightowers, Don Hinkle, Jim Horne, Aubrey Jewett, Jeff Johnson, Christina Johnson, Ken Jones, Eric Jotkoff, Fred Karlinsky, Joshua Karp, Henry Kelley, Jim Kitchens, John Konkus, Kartik Krishnaiyer, Stephanie Kunkel, Jackie Lee, Bill Lee, Matt Lettelleir, Jack Levine, Alan Levine, Tom Lewis, Stephanie Lewis-McClung, Bethany Leytham, Al Maloof, Javier Manjarres, Roly Marante, William March, Beth Matuga, Brian May, Kim McDougal, Clarence McKee, Seth McKee, Kathy Mears, David Mica, Paul Mitchell, Travis Moore, Lucy Morgan, Samuel Neimeiser, Meredith O’Rourke, Stephanie Owens, Maurizio Passariello, Alex Patton, Darryl Paulson, Anthony Pedicini, Jorge Pedraza, Juan Penalosa, Evey Perez-Verdia, Joe Perry, Ron Pierce, JC Planas, Bob Poe, Van Poole, David Rancourt, Marc Reichelderfer, George Riley, Jim Rimes, Terrie Rizzo, Pat Roberts, Jason Roth, Sarah Rumpf, Ron Sachs, Tom Scarritt, Steve Schale, Tom Scherberger, April Schiff, Mel Sembler, Kathleen Shanahan, Bud Shorstein, Kyle Simon, Patrick Slevin, Adam Smith, Eleanor Sobel, Alan Stonecipher, Nancy Ann Texeira, Cory Tilley, Frank Tsamoutales, Greg Turbeville, Christian Ulvert, Jason Unger, Greg Ungru, Matthew Van Name, Steven Vancore, Ashley Walker, Robert Watkins, Nancy Watkins, Screven Watson, Jonathan Webber, John Wehrung, Andrew Weinstein, Gerald Wester, Leslie Wimes, Jon Woodard, Zachariah Zachariah, Christian Ziegler, Mark Zubaly | {
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The growth in popularity of cryptocurrencies has, in many ways, outpaced the infrastructure built to support it. In terms of security, cryptocurrency exchanges that serve both as a marketplace and a store of the digital assets have become a hacker’s favorite target. Now that the cryptocurrency market has grown to its current capitalization of more than $200 billion, demand for crypto insurance is gaining traction.
Already, big-time insurers are emerging as major players in the market: Lloyd’s of London, a centuries-old insurer with a net worth of $45 billion, partnered with Coinbase last year to provide a $255 million policy in April this year.
Apart from Coinbase, other cryptocurrency custodians that have purchased insurance include Gemini, Kingdom Trust and Anchorage.
Why is there a need for crypto insurance?
Despite the remarkable technology backing cryptocurrencies, recent reports show that cybersecurity is still one of the biggest threats to the industry. Security research firm CipherTrace estimates that more than $4 billion worth of crypto funds was lost through theft and fraud in 2019.
For example, Binance, one of the biggest crypto platforms, announced in 2019 that it had “discovered a large-scale security breach” that resulted in hackers stealing 7000 Bitcoins worth a whopping $40 million.
According to Binance, the hackers used phishing and viruses to access the company’s hot wallets that allegedly contained about 2% of the company’s BTC holdings. Fortunately, Binance created a Security Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) in 2018 to protect users and their funds in such cases. Since 2018, the SAFU has been receiving 10% of all Binance’s trading fees as funds that are set aside in cold storage to be used in extreme cases.
Related: Grand Theft Crypto: The State of Cryptocurrency-Stealing Malware and Other Nasty Techniques
Another case which highlights the need for crypto insurance is the Bitfinex hack of 2016. In June 2019, two Israeli brothers were arrested in connection to the cyber attack that saw the firm lose nearly 120,000 BTC (worth around $72 million at the time).
Since the start of this year, at least seven crypto exchanges have reported a large-scale hacking attack on their platforms. One of these is Bittrue — a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange that lost about $5 million in XRP and Cardano.
These reports highlight just how prevalent cyber attacks have become in the crypto space. What’s more disturbing is that cybersecurity experts reveal that “such attacks can be carried out with far more rudimentary levels of self-taught skills.”
While speaking to Cointelegraph, Hartej Sawhney, the co-founder of cybersecurity agency Zokyo Labs, said that, “there’s an array of low hanging fruits for hackers,” adding, “you don’t need military training to conduct cybercrime on today’s centralized exchanges.”
The challenge of insuring cryptocurrencies
With millions at stake, not to mention a growing cryptocurrency market capitalization, the insurance industry can provide a safety net for crypto investors. Traditional insurers can restore investor confidence in cryptocurrencies as a store of value.
Giant crypto exchanges like Binance, Gemini and Coinbase have already put in place insurance covers to compensate users in case of an incident. For instance, Coinbase claims in an insurance document that it maintains “commercial criminal insurance in an aggregate amount that is greater than the value of digital currency” it holds in hot storage.
The document further reads that Coinbase’s “insurance policy is made available through a combination of third-party insurance underwriters and Coinbase, who is a co-insurer under the policy.”
In October 2018, Gemini also obtained insurance services from Aon and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The company’s head of risk said:
“Consumers are looking for the same levels of insured protection they’re used to being afforded by traditional financial institutions.”
However, regulatory uncertainty is one of the biggest challenges that insurers are facing at the moment. All over the world, regulators are concerned about money laundering risks presented by cryptocurrencies, yet few have set out clear policies and frameworks on how cryptocurrencies should be traded and used.
Related: What Crypto Exchanges Do to Comply With KYC, AML and CFT Regulations
While speaking to Cointelegraph, Yusuf Hussain, Gemini’s head of risk, also agrees that, “The biggest concerns from traditional insurers are rooted in the lack of regulatory clarity.” He adds:
“Thoughtful regulation in cryptocurrency will be the lynchpin for increased availability of crypto insurance. Done right, it can pave the way to healthy and sustainable markets and fuel long-term innovation that unlocks the promise of cryptocurrency and transforms society for the better.”
In his opinion, the best way to provide crypto insurance is to include appropriate licensing while “building an institutional grade infrastructure that meets the standards established by traditional financial markets.” Hussain says:
“An independent evaluation of the design and implementation of an exchanges security controls is also important [since] obtaining a SOC 2 report helps the industry move from saying it’s secure, to demonstrating it’s secure.”
The volatility of cryptocurrency prices also contributes to insufficient insurance coverage in the industry. In January of last year, data from coinmarketcap showed that the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency industry was valued at over $800 billion, while currently it is fluctuating at just over the $200 billion mark. Volatility affects the valuation of insurance premiums, thus limiting the number of coins that can be insured in case of a hack.
A lack of insurance statistics in the cryptocurrency industry also presents problems of coverage pricing, as historical data is normally used to calculate premiums. In a volatile industry characterized by three-figure price swings, insurers can only manage to cover a small number of lost coins.
Coinbase, for instance, only insures a $255 million limit of its hot storage coins with Lloyd’s of London. It is unknown whether there is insurance for the rest of its cold storage coins.
What insurers stand to benefit
There is still a big education gap and a lot of misunderstandings preventing traditional insurance companies from providing full covers for the cryptocurrency industry. Add that to the challenges highlighted above, and suddenly it’s understandable why exchanges are having a hard time getting worthwhile insurance for their customers.
Despite the overall hesitant approach, insurance companies like Lloyd’s of London have always paid attention to Bitcoin. In a 2015 report, Lloyd’s assessed the risk factors of crypto insurance, mentioning that “the establishment of recognized security standards for cold and hot storage would greatly assist risk management and provision of insurance.”
Apart from Lloyd’s, a report by Bloomberg noted that other major players in the insurance industry such as Aon, Allianz and Marsh & McLennan are also paying attention to cryptocurrency insurance.
Cointelegraph talked to Timothy Fletcher, the lead of Aon’s western region Financial Services Group (FSG), who believes that:
“Certain insurers are willing to deploy capital and create bespoke insurance solutions for digital asset companies, many remain conservative given the evolving nature of the underlying blockchain technology.”
Fletcher added that, “a number of the larger, established insurers have taken a hard line and do not participate in the crypto sector at all.” In Fletcher’s opinion:
“A lack of regulatory clarity and limited insurance loss experience” are among the main issues causing the hesitant approach of the insurance market towards crypto.
On the other hand, the Bloomberg report showed that although the crypto industry is rife with heists and fraud, there are many insurers “betting they can avoid the pitfalls” to benefit from the substantial premiums of crypto insurance.
When asked to comment on possible methods that could be used to improve crypto insurance, Fletcher suggested that crypto exchanges should partner with a brokerage representative who is “knowledgeable about digital assets and understands how to navigate a volatile insurance market.” Fletcher also believes that insurers will need to understand the unique risks of each crypto exchange company while being mindful and respectful of the underwriting process.
For example, underwriters can charge up to five times or more for coverage against loss or theft. With a growing number of crypto startups considering insurance as a must-have in these times of cyber insecurity, there are greater opportunities for insurers to offer products tailored to each client’s specific needs. Furthermore, clients looking for wider coverage will need more underwriters in a practice that will reduce risk when disaster strikes.
Insurers are learning the space
Despite the many hurdles facing the cryptocurrency insurance space, the growth of the market over the years is hard to deny. All things considered, the insurance business is a people business and, therefore, the most effective way to improve engagement between crypto exchanges and insurers is to have in-person meetings. Such interactions will allow insurers to get a feel for a company’s management, culture and compliance.
Insurers can benefit from the increased demand for crypto insurance and boost their yields with bespoke products. Considering the growing trend in the number of insurers who are investing time to understand the risks and opportunities involved in the crypto space, it is time for insurers to consider offering coverage in this emerging industry.
Fledgling companies in the insurance world are already moving in to provide tailor-made products. Market experts like Fletcher foresee an influx of insurers into the space:
“Many insurers will offer coverage in this space; however, the coverage terms and conditions can vary greatly (e.g., coverage for hot vs. cold storage).”
While there is a need for more education around the subject of crypto insurance, another important factor to be considered is transparency. Traditional insurers are looking for full transparency to tackle some of the custody challenges of the crypto insurance market. Perhaps it’s time to rethink insurance policies and design them for individual cryptocurrency owners instead of custodians. | {
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Sylwia is a Java developer. She is very passionate about programming and all things Polish.
As we all know bugs in a software could be difficult to find and fix. Therefore many tools and techniques have been developed in past years that can find bugs automatically. At IDR Solutions we are using two of those testing tools: FindBugs and PMD for testing in our Java PDF Library and PDF to HTML5 and SVG Converter. In this article I will explain about these two and say why it is worth using them both.
What is FindBugs?
FindBugs is an open source defect detection tool designed to find bugs in Java programs. FindBugs is looking for code instances that are likely to be errors called “bug patterns”. FindBugs uses static analysis to examine the code by matching bytecodes against a list of more than 200 bug patterns, such as null pointer dereferences, infinite recursive loops, bad uses of the Java libraries and deadlocks. The current version of FindBugs is 3.0.0 that has been released on 06 July 2014.
FindBugs in NetBeans
Running FindBugs in NetBeans is very easy as there is FindBugs plugin built into NetBeans. All you have to do to run it is to click on Source from the menu bar in NetBeans and select Inspect. Than you will be presented with the following window.
The installation process is very simple just select FindBugs from the Configuration options and click Install.
Install -> Next -> Accept the terms of the license agreements -> Install ->Finish
Once that is done select the project or class that you want to inspect and click on Inspect button.
FindBugs will run the inspection automatically outputting all the errors encountered.
As you can see on the image bellow I have 15 errors in the Viewer class alone.
What I like about FindBugs is that it gives you all the information needed starting from number of errors, name, description and the line it is on, so it is easy to spot and fix.
FindBugs Category:
All the bug patterns of FindBugs can be found under the following category:
Bad practice, Correctness, Experimental, Internationalization, Malicious code vulnerability, Multithreaded correctness, Performance, Security and Dodgy code.
For more information on FindBugs please visit the website: http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/
What is PMD?
PMD is an open source code analyzer that scans Java source code looking for over 400 potential problems. PMD detects bad practices in code such as: empty try/catch blocks, unused methods, braces. The current version of PMD is 5.2.3 that has been released on 21 December 2014.
PMD in NetBeans
Unlike FindBugs, PMD plugin isn’t built into the NetBeans IDE but the installation process is also very simple. Just select Tools from the menu bar in NetBeans and click Plugins. you will be presented with the following window:
Next select the Available Plugins tab -> type EasyPmd in the search -> tick the box next to the plugin -> Install
The installation process will start automatically
Install -> Next -> Accept the terms of the license agreements -> Install ->Continue -> choose Restart IDE Now -> Finish
Once that is done select the project or class that you want to inspect than select Window from the menu bar and click on Action Items.
Similar to FindBugs, PMD also gives you all the information needed about the error starting from number of errors, name, description, category and the line it is on. additionally PMD gives you information about the weight of the error so you know witch error to fix first.
PMD category:
All the bug of PMD can be find under the following category:
Android, Basic, Braces, Clone implementation, Code size, Comments, Controversial, Coupling, Design, Empty code, Finalizer, ImportStatement, J2EE, Java beans, JUnit, Jakarta Commons Logging, Java Logging, Migration, Naming, Optimization, Strict Exceptions, String and StringBuffer, Security Code Guidelines, Type Resolution, Unnecessary and Unused Code.
For more information about PMD please visit the website: http://pmd.sourceforge.net/
PMD vs FindBugs
I cannot say whether one of these tools are better than the other as they both complement each other in finding different sets of problems. Even though there is a lot of overlap between FindBugs and PMD each of the two has its own purpose, strength and weaknesses.
However the biggest difference between them two is that PMD works on source code where FindBugs works on bytecode. So the potential issues that are found by FindBugs in byte code level won’t be detected by PMD while scanning source code. Therefore we need those two tools. And also using FindBugs and PMD you can learn a lot about how to write better Java code in the first place.
Hopefully you find this article useful, what tools do you use?
Did you know...
IDRsolutions offers a whole range of online file converters to convert PDF and Microsoft Excel, Word and Office Documents to HTML5, SVG or image formats?
It is free to use for single file conversions and also includes Developer links if you want to use our commercial software for bulk conversions. Find out more on this page | {
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Matt Stoller is a fellow at the Roosevelt institute. You can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/matthewstoller.
Throughout much of the United States, cell phone service is terrible (so is broadband, as Susan Crawford shows). And not just in rural or sparsely populated areas, but cell phone calls routinely drop in major metropolitan areas. You can’t use your phone underground in New York, and there are plenty of places on Capitol Hill you can’t get service. I actually once had trouble getting service near the Federal Communications Commission. This is a result of a lack of competition and increasingly poor regulatory policies. In the late 1990s, 50% of wireless revenues were invested in wireless infrastructure. By 2009, that number dropped to a little over 10%. What is it today? We don’t know, because the FCC no longer even collects the data. The result is that your cell phone drops calls. Cell phone service is also expensive, and the companies nickel and dime you – America is one of two countries where the person receiving the call has to pay for the call. A rough calculation shows that up to 80% of the cost of your cell phone service comes from corruption.
Our banking services are similarly terrible. We have an increasing amount of power in the hands of a few large consumer banks. In most of Europe and in the UK, consumers rarely use checks, they simply transfer money over the internet. A paper check is somewhat absurd – a check is a few bits of information, so there should be no reason to clear this through a paper-based system. But in the US, the backend is still rooted in a 1970s architecture called Automated Clearing House, which was itself layered onto a much older system. This system allows checks (and debit card transactions) to take up to five days to clear, and is remarkably insecure. The association that runs the ACH, known as the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA), refused to upgrade it after member banks voted to kill a measure to speed up our payments clearing system. In America, the largest banks – JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo – are only now introducing products to allow internet transfers between bank accounts. I tried Chase’s Quickpay service a few weeks ago, and it’s pretty confusing and limited. Mostly, the fat and happy credit card oligopoly of VISA and Mastercard enjoys absurd margins, a roughly 2% tax on every transaction in the country.
These systems interrelate, and inefficiency in one impacts the other. This became very obvious to me when I went to Kenya last summer, and saw how a semi-competent telecom and banking system could work. Kenya has the world’s most innovative mobile payments system, called M-Pesa. M-Pesa is a cell phone based cash remittance system based on text messages. Unlike Chase’s Quickpay system, M-Pesa just works, and works well. You load your SIM card with money at any number of street stalls, telecom stores, beauty shops, or anywhere else someone has decided to set up a Safaricom outlet. Transfers happen via text message, and they cost 0.5 – 4% of the cost of the transaction, which is cost effective for a country where so few people have access to banks. Withdrawals can happen at any Safaricom outlet. If your phone is stolen, that’s ok, the cash is loaded onto your SIM card and you have a unique password. And everyone uses it. It’s like Paypal, only it’s not terrible.
No one quite knows why Safaricom, which is essentially a monopoly, has been able to make this system work in Kenya, whereas large banks and telecoms haven’t been able to make something similar work in the United States. There’s a good case to be made that the lack of banking services in Kenya left open a large business opportunity. There was a ready made culture for this service – workers in Kenya often send money they make in urban areas back home, and there are many small retail stalls run by shopkeepers which were quite willing to sell Safaricom services. M-Pesa first caught on among the unbanked. In the US, most people have access to banks, and remittances are only common among certain population sub-groups (the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is actually beginning to regulate the space). Credit cards are common. But still, this doesn’t explain why I can easily transfer money from a checking account in Europe to a friend’s checking account in Europe, but can’t do it here. I spoke with representatives from Dwolla, which is a company attempting to build a similar system in the US, and they didn’t really have an answer. The Federal Reserve, which overseas check-clearing in the United States, hasn’t been able to force an upgrade to the clearinghouse that American banks use. The National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) hasn’t wanted to, and didn’t respond to my inquiry as to why they aren’t trying to make it happen. And unlike Safaricom, American telecommunications companies haven’t pushed into the banking space, largely resisting the ability to buy goods and services via text message or short codes.
This isn’t just a problem of monopolistic behavior or excessive market power. Safaricom is a very powerful company in Kenya, and there is basically no competition to what they do. Yet they have produced a terrific system that companies all over the world are trying to replicate. Cell service on volcanos where no one lives except zebras and lions is more reliable than cell service on Fifth Avenue in New York. What seems to have happened is that American corporate executives are now more focused on financial engineering, which is essentially the extraction of capital from their enterprises and from the public, than they are at selling improved goods and services. For example, GE just got a tax break extended which added $3 billion a year in annual profit in the latest fiscal cliff deal. That’s a lot of money, and not one good or service was improved to drop that cash to the bottom line. As another example, the cable industry is projecting an average monthly bill of $200 by 2020, versus $86 today. At 73 million subscribers, that’s an additional $100 billion a year of revenue. Comcast alone has 22 million customers – that’s $30 billion a year for this one company alone. And let’s be clear, this is not going to better products, Americans tend to get worse internet and cable service than counterparts around the world. Investing in manipulative pricing schemes, lobbying for tax breaks and not investing in good infrastructure is a rational choice for American corporate executives, since their ethic is to extract as much capital as possible from the American economy. And yet, this is why America can’t have nice things.
Antitrust is the core problem here. Without restraint on behavior, corporate executives will work to grab as much market and political power as possible, because only market power and political power allows them to have pricing leverage without investment, risk, or innovation. Competition is the enemy of these businessmen. America has a long tradition of monopoly power and anti-monopoly sentiment and activism. From the progressive era of Teddy Roosevelt to the early 1980s, America had a strong tradition of antitrust regulation rooted in the understanding that too much market power led to inefficiency and price gouging. This tradition ended under Reagan. Since this dramatic shift in antitrust enforcement, corporate power in every industry from cable to railroads to rental cars to banking to health insurance to pipelines has skyrocketed. The result has been inefficiency and price gouging. American electric utilities have dramatically reduced the number of people they have that can repair power lines, which is why it took so long to restore power after Hurricane Sandy. Increasingly, services provided by American corporate oligopolies are terrible. That’s why, if you want to see the future of banking services, you have to look to Kenya. We know how to fix this. It’s called antitrust. And we have to do is dust off some old law books, decide that greed isn’t the only core value we believe in, and get to work. | {
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EXCLUSIVE: Bravo Media is expanding its originals slate with Spy Games, an espionage-inspired reality competition series from Kinetic Content, a Red Arrow Studios company. The series will air later this year.
Hosted by model and martial artist Mia Kang, Spy Games follows 10 contestants as they battle it out in the ultimate game of espionage for a $100,000 prize.
Mia Kang Photo by Steven Ferdman/Shutterstock
Inspired by a once secret World War II government program called “Station S,” the show will follow the ten competitors living together on a compound as they are challenged to figure out the secrets their fellow players are keeping. Training and judging them in the art of espionage are “The Assessors” — Douglas Laux, Evy Poumpouras and Erroll Southers – three former intelligence professionals from the CIA, Secret Service and FBI, respectively, who will create missions and tests designed to push contestants to their breaking points as well as determine who stays and who goes home. As contestants are eliminated one-by-one, they quickly realize this game may be more mentally and physically challenging than they bargained for. However, they all must keep their eyes on the prize since only one contestant can come out on top and walk away with $100,000.
Spy Games is produced by Kinetic Content (part of Red Arrow Studios) with Chris Coelen, Karrie Wolfe, Eric Detwiler, John Saade, David Burris and Andrew Wallace serving as executive producers. | {
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Washington (CNN) White House chief of staff John Kelly is defending the handling of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned last week after media reports revealed allegations by his ex-wives that he abused them.
"It was all done right," Kelly told the Wall Street Journal in comments published Tuesday.
Kelly has come under fire for his handling of the matter and initial statement of support for Porter, and FBI Director Chris Wray on Tuesday offered information about Porter's security clearance process that conflicted with the White House's stated timeline.
Kelly said "no" when asked if the White House should have handled the scandal differently.
CNN previously reported Kelly and other White House officials were aware of allegations against Porter for months, and that Porter was one of many top White House staffers who operated without a permanent security clearance.
Wray said on Tuesday that the FBI had briefed the White House on several occasions about the status of Porter's investigation, submitted a completed background investigation last July and closed the file last month.
In response to the first story detailing the allegations in the Daily Mail , Kelly vouched for Porter in a statement and said, "I can't say enough good things about him."
In a statement released last Wednesday evening after further media coverage and the publication of a photo of Colbie Holderness, Porter's first ex-wife, with an injury she said came from Porter's abuse, Kelly said he was "shocked by the new allegations."
Holderness told CNN she informed the FBI about the abuse allegations and subsequently provided the bureau photos from the alleged incident where she said Porter gave her a black eye.
Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said Kelly is "wrong" to claim the White House handled the situation correctly, and referenced comments from White House spokesman Raj Shah, who said last week they could have handled it better.
"I think it was mishandled," Flake said. "The White House said they handled it poorly, or could have handled it better. I agree."
Flake, a frequent critic of Trump's tenor and behavior, said he is also "concerned" about what has come to light regarding the backlog of background checks for the White House, and when asked if Kelly should continue as White House chief of staff, Flake replied, "I am not going to go there."
For his part, President Donald Trump addressed the issue on Friday without expressing sympathy for the women and saying Porter had "very strongly" said he was innocent. | {
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Play it first! Play Dark Souls III at the PC Gamer Weekender in London from March 5-6. Click here to find out more.
Once upon a time, beating Gwyn, Dark Souls' final boss, was itself a badge of honour. It was no small thing to have bested the unofficial Hardest Game. These days it takes a little more to impress. Some people try 'onebro' runs, taking on Dark Souls without leveling up. Others use Rock Band controllers because they like to feel themselves going hollow in real life too. Last year, speedrunner Otsunari beat the game without taking damage. These achievements have now been eclipsed by The_Happy_Hobbit's spectacular 4.5-hour run in which he never gets hit.
Let's clarify: even blocking would contravene a no-hit run. Hobbit did away with armour and opted for a range of intimidating weapons that shine when swung with two hands, dodging every single incoming hit. The exceptions are the final boss fight against Gwyn, in which he bravely parried Gywn's gargantuan flaming sword, and occasional quits and reloads to reset enemies and boss encounters gone wrong (but no save files were altered at any point). Environmental damage, like falling and poison, was considered a-okay so long as it wasn't part of an enemy attack. The scripted death that forms part of the Seath the Scaleless fight was also ignored.
This was all a bit easy, of course, so the run was no-magic-allowed. I am off to wallow in my own inadequacy. | {
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Quicken Loans chief people officer Mike Malloy said Wednesday his company is continuing to hire staff to fill their offices at the Old Fish Market Building in Windsor, Ont.
Malloy said Quicken Loans is hiring staff for the Rocket Innovation Studio brand, adding a "dozen or more [are] there now, and [we] are hiring everyday."
The company originally said renovations on the Old Fish Market Building would be completed by the first or second quarter of 2019, but Quicken Loans has yet to formally launch its Windsor office.
"Right now, we have jobs open and [we're] interviewing people everyday in software development, software quality, data development," he said.
According to Malloy, Windsor and the surrounding communities in the region have provided a "great pipeline of talent."
He said the company hasn't had any trouble finding talent in Windsor-Essex.
Amy Dodge/CBC More
"We've had great outreach with a lot of stakeholders in the technology community, as well as with the universities, who've been incredibly welcoming to us and excited about the opportunity to have this tech hub here in Windsor," Malloy said.
When Quicken Loans originally announced in October 2018 its intention to establish a tech hub in the Rose City, the company said the goal was to grow the office "to more than 100 tech workers."
Malloy said the company is "building to that" number.
"When you do something for the first time, you learn as you go," he said. "So we've been learning, making sure we got the construction right, making sure the site was just right for our team members and then making sure we establish the right relationships and had the roles that were really going to drive value for the Windsor community."
Though Quicken Loans doesn't currently offer mortgages in Canada, an October 2018 media release said the company has "publicly stated its interest in learning about the Canadian home mortgage market." | {
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New data from YouGov Profiles reveals the very different characteristics of UKIP voters with a Tory or Labour past
Although UKIP voters are more likely to be prior Conservatives, there are a significant number who have also switched from Labour. This much we already know, but new YouGov Profiles data reveals how different the two sides of UKIP really are – from their demographic background all the way down to the issues they feel strongly about and their TV viewing preferences.
Formerly Conservative voters (Blue UKIP) are most likely to reside in London (20%), the Midlands (17%) or the South (14%). 19% of previously Labour voters (Red UKIP) are also from the Midlands, but their next most likely residence is in Lancashire (16%) and Yorkshire (13%). Red UKIP are half as likely to have a university degree and are 16% more likely to be from a working class, C2DE social background.
They share a concern for core UKIP issues – immigration, the EU, crime – but Red Ukippers have strong support for nationalising railways and utilities, while Blue Ukippers are more likely to oppose political correctness and think multiculturalism has had a negative impact.
In terms of top scoring celebrities, Jim Davidson has strong appeal from both factions. Beyond that, the public faces most particular to Blue Ukippers are mainly from a political background (Margaret Thatcher notably scores highest) while entertainment celebrities like Piers Morgan and Louis Walsh may have a bigger pull for Red UKIP voters.
The pronounced taste for entertainment among Red UKIP voters carries over to the TV programmes they've recently watched that could carry adverstising. Programmes like I'm a Celebrity and Jeremy Kyle are particularly favoured by ex-Labour voters, however none of these feature in the Blue UKIP list. For former Tories, drama and crime programmes are more watched.
In the run up to the election, YouGov will be applying Profiles to every constituency in Britain. Users will be able to see detailed information on the quintessential resident of each locality, but they will also be able to see how each area divides on the big issues, compared to the region and Britain as a whole. | {
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The Multimatic-designed car, which will be revealed at the Le Mans 24 Hours next month, was driven by Scott Maxwell at the Calabogie Motorsports Park in Ontario.
An initial test took place on Saturday May 16, with only a few laps being conducted by Maxwell. An additional test was carried out in a more thorough shakedown last Wednesday at the same venue.
It is believed that the same car will be on display at the Le Mans 24 Hours next month, when an official announcement for the 2016 race program is announced.
Motorsport.com can reveal that the Ford GT will be powered by the Roush Yates Ecoboost 3.5-litre V6 turbo, similar to that used in the Riley & Scott Daytona Prototype car. The car will also feature a Ricardo-designed and built gearbox.
Car designed in England
The majority of the mechanical design of the car has been undertaken by a Multimatic ‘design cell’ in Cambridgeshire, England.
The team there is led by former Lola LMP designer Julian Sole and includes several other former Lola designers, including Norman Ashmore, brother of former Reynard CART engineer Bruce Ashmore.
Co-ordinating the racing programme is the former team principal of Aston Martin Racing, George Howard-Chappell.
Howard-Chappell is now Motorsports Business Director for Multimatic, and is co-ordinating the main aspects of the racing programs for 2016. He has been attending the FIA/ACO Technical Working Group and rules meetings since early 2014.
However, the real driving force behind the project from the get-go was Multimatic technical director, Larry Holt, who spent years lobbying his significant contacts at Ford to get the green light for both the road car and race car projects.
Testing plan continues
Motorsport.com understands that further development testing is planned for the project throughout the summer, before the car goes through its FIA/ACO performance measurement tests at the Ladoux test facility in late summer.
It remains to be seen if the car will make a one-off cameo appearance in 2015.
Motorsport.com sources have indicated that tentative plans to possibly debut at Petit Le Mans are said to have recently been put on the back burner, and a more likely public debut will come at the Daytona 24 Hours in January. | {
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Europe has answered the call of the French youth-led ‘Nuit Debout’ movement urging people to protest against austerity and other troubling social and economic issues. Rallies have been held in dozens of cities, with the largest crowds in Paris and Madrid.
The capital of Spain saw thousands rally in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square in solidarity with the French initiative, but also in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of their own similar protest movement ‘Indignados’ that saw mass rallies in 2011 and led to the creation of left-wing party Podemos, now Spain's third most-popular political party.
May 15, or March 76 of the Nuit Debout’s (Up All Night) calendar, was chosen willfully to stress the continuity of Spanish and French protests between the two movements.
The call for a “global day of action” was published on Nuit Debout’s website and social pages under the hashtag #GlobalDebout. The website now claims that some 266 towns in France along with 130 cities in Europe and worldwide have responded.
Photos posted on Twitter prove the statement – with people seen gathering in many European cities and even some locations outside.
Some European cities, like Geneva, London, Rome and others, have created their own Global Debout groups on social networks to draft followers.
According to a statement from movement organizers in France, people have been called to “occupy public spaces worldwide, to gather together, express themselves and take back politics into their hands.”
Nuit Debout nait à Genève :)#GlobalDeboutpic.twitter.com/raA5ewr18S — Nuit Debout Genève (@NuitDeboutGE) May 15, 2016
It also stressed that the causes of social, economic and environmental disasters have the same roots globally and therefore should be dealt with accordingly – through initiatives from citizens around the world. Thus through Global Debout they aimed to arrange local “autonomous” protests linked by an issue that is urgent for the region, be it austerity, low wages or jobs.
In France, it all started on March 31, after some 400,000 people marched in several cities across the country to protest labor reforms that would make it easier for employers to fire workers.
The movement has now grown into wider anti-government protests, with demonstrators expressing their grievances over a variety of issues besides labor reform.
READ MORE: ‘Democracy, where are you?’ Clashes erupt after French govt forces through labor law
Some of the movement protests have been turbulent: those occupying Place de la Republique in Paris, for instance, have been sporadically clashing with law enforcement officials.
In April, more than 20 demonstrators were injured in Rennes, and police used tear gas to disperse the protests all over the country. The protests have taken place in Paris, Marseille, Rouen, Rennes, Toulouse, and other cities.
Troubled by weeks of increasingly violent demonstrations, the French government on Sunday swore to clamp down the protests with no reservations.
Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister, while speaking in Rennes, where violent protesters resulted in severe damage to public property on Friday night, said that, “security forces face extremely violent groups who are not there to express their demands but to cause trouble, to destroy and to express hatred of the state […] it is intolerable and it will not be tolerated.”
The harsh warning comes after an 18-year-old protester was placed under investigation for ‘attempted murder of a policeman’ during a demonstration on May 3, when in the heat of the protest several youngsters pushed an officer to the ground and hit him in the head with a metal beam.
Some 300 officers were injured in Nuit Debout protests across the country, with police planning to stage their own protest against “anti-cop hatred” during the upcoming week.
The Alliance police union, along with other groups representing officers, urged the staging of a national demonstration on May 18, “outraged by the irresponsible and persistent attempts to make it look like police officers are savages who blindly mutilate youths.” | {
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Within the last decade, science has affirmed that ovarian cancer offers symptoms and it was not the silent killer it was known to be.Ovarian cancer may cause various symptoms and signs.
Ladies are more likely in order to have symptoms, in the event the disorder has spread beyond the particular ovaries. But even the particular initial phases of ovarian cancer could cause them.
Typically the most common symptoms add the following:
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1. Bloating
Bloated tummy is familiar during PMS or when you take in a lot of. But women together with ovarian cancer may encounter bloating every day and even there is no alleviation.
It may be moderate bloating, like feeling some sort of little full or may possibly be severe, where this is hard to switch pants. Is is frequently misdiagnosed as, gas, diet regime, constipation or other stomach ailments.
2. Feeling Full Quickly or Difficulty Eating
Do you feel total could you have done an average sized meals and does it take place more often? The sense of fullness is certainly not the same as absence of appetite, you think full physically after a person eat a small volume of food. | {
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There are thousands of apps on Apple App Store and Google Play Store which are never discovered, let alone getting downloaded. A substantial fraction of the apps that make it to the home screen of the users’ phones, are deleted right after the first use. Here are 5 most common reasons why apps fail and how to make sure yours doesn’t.
1. Not Focusing on the Problem
Apps that make it to the top have one thing in common – They all solve a problem. It might be helping the user pick a dress for the upcoming party, order a quick lunch, or book hotels. Your app might look great and have all the latest features, but if it doesn’t solve a real problem, then the users simple don’t care.
2. Not Keeping it Simple
Be it a website or a mobile app, user experience is everything. If the user’s journey from discovering your app to solving his/her problem is smooth and seamless, your app can take your business to new heights. But if it’s not, then failure is inevitable. While venturing into the app ecosystem, many businesses make the mistake of making their app a motley of features making it heavy and overtly complex, eventually hurting UX.
3. Not Building it for Multiple Devices
For today’s data-native users, it is quite natural to start searching for a product on one device and make the purchase on another. Cloud hosted mobile apps comes geared up to deliver consistent user experience across multiple devices. Always, choose an online app maker that allows you to build secure cloud hosted apps that are compatible with multiple iOS and Android devices.
4. Not Testing it Before Launching
You’re done creating your app and you got so excited that you launched it on the app store before even testing it once. Ideally, you should get a pre-launch preview of your app on a simulation tool. Try to go for a mobile app builder that comes loaded with simulators, letting you test the look, feel and behaviour of your app on different devices.
5. Not Getting them Engaged
The success of an app isn’t defined by the number of downloads. Rather, it is defined by how engaged your users are. Having a mobile app gives you the unique advantage of engaging users via push notifications and in-app messages. Personalised push notification can boost user engagement by 3X. But here’s the caveat – Push is powerful and has to be handled carefully. While sending push notifications, ensure you send the right message at the right time in the right place to the right users. Pick a RMAD platform that enables you to schedule and send push-notification across any time zone for any part of the world.
The Takeaway
A mobile app is not something you can get right overnight. No matter how meticulous you have been through the development, there will always be gaps between expectations and results. So what to do about it? Well, choose a mobile app maker that comes with integrated feedback form, enabling you to get inputs from your users and deploy them for constant improvement.
I am a mobile enthusiast, passionate about helping individuals and businesses in building, marketing and monetising mobile apps. Having an extensive 10+ years’ experience across multiple verticals. | {
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"There was no spare space, and if somebody was going to be held in an isolated building you'd have to kick out the occupants, otherwise they would hear the screams or see people coming in and out all the time," he added. "That would have got out fairly quickly." | {
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Editor’s note: Information has recently come to light that puts the veracity of the story originally appearing here — regarding Costco birthday cakes — into question. A thorough review of the facts has found it does not meet the Inquisitr’s standards on multiple fronts, including accuracy and disclosure. As such, the editorial and management teams of the Inquisitr offer a full and frank retraction of the piece previously appearing at this URL. | {
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Bitcoin (BTC) has been absolutely slammed over the past week. Since passing above $13,000 for the second time this year last Wednesday, the crypto has been on a clearly downward-sloping trend.
In fact, as of the time of writing this article, Bitcoin has lost 25% in the past week, falling to as low as $9,300.
Despite the fact that optimists are expecting for bulls to experience some form of short-term reprieve, historical trends and other key indicators predict a further unwinding of the cryptocurrency bull market.
Bitcoin Poised to Hit $7,500
Conceptualized by Trace Mayer, an early Bitcoin investor and funder of Kraken, the Mayer Multiple is a way of determining if BTC is either overbought, fairly valued, or oversold. It is calculated by putting the asset’s current price over its 200-day moving average.
Per an analysis of this indicator (currently sits at 1.6) by CryptoKea, a little-known analyst that accurately called the recent drop to at least $9,700 earlier this month, if you consider the Multiple, the ongoing correction looks much like the first “major correction” of 2017’s bull run.
26/ Bitcoin´s price is very much on track to resemble the first major correction of 2017´s bull market in terms of Mayer Multiples (see full thread for details & targets). Even if we go all the way down to the bottom of the bullish channel, this is still considered a bull market. pic.twitter.com/Wit1KaQjsS — CryptoKea (@CryptoKea) July 16, 2019
He notes that if history repeats itself and Bitcoin reverses out of its current short-term bearish trend like it did in 2012 and 2017, it could find support anywhere from $7,148 to $8,700. This corresponds to 1.20 times to 1.46 times of the 200-day moving average, which currently sits at $5,957.
Most likely, however, Kea notes that the “most probable target” as per the use of the Mayer Multiple will be $7,505 — another 20% drop from the current Bitcoin price of $9,600.
This somewhat lines up with the target of $8,000 that other analysts hold. Per previous reports from NewsBTC, Timothy Peterson, a prominent American crypto fund manager, notes that Bitcoin’s current active account figure suggests that BTC is overvalued.
According to Peterson’s model, which takes a 30-day median (as of July 13th) of the number of active accounts on the Bitcoin blockchain, BTC currently has a fair valuation of just above $8,000.
In a tweet issued on Saturday, Josh Rager, a prominent technical analyst and cryptocurrency commentator, looked to this same level.
$BTC Weekly Chart Another drop today, price has multiple long wicks at wkly resistance Atm, there only sellers beyond this price & could lead to strong pullback Confluence w/ both on-chain & chart data that could suggest any pullback would likely bottom out at $8k pic.twitter.com/VHP01caJtA — Josh Rager ? (@Josh_Rager) July 13, 2019
Rager notes that a “confluence” of chart data and on-chain data suggests that a pullback “would likely bottom out at $8,000”. As he explained in the chart above, $8,000 acted as a key horizontal support and resistance level in the recent rally and 2018’s crash.
What’s more, there is also a CME Bitcoin futures gap around $8,500, which is one of the last gaps waiting to be filled.
And as Alfonso Esparza, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp, recently told Bloomberg: “[Bitcoin] continues to trade lower as comments from President Trump put downward pressure on the cryptocurrency. It could fall further to $8,000, giving back all the gains made in June.”
Drop Might be Over?
Despite this, one analyst believes that the drop is most likely over. In fact, he drew attention to almost five signs why this may very well be the case, even if it sounds crazy.
Firstly, the one-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Stochastic iteration of this indicator are at their lowest levels since at least February, entering the “oversold” range. The one-day Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) has tapped the zero level, despite the fact that Bitcoin is in a raging bull market according to most analysis.
$BTCUSD, 1D
– RSI is lowest from February
– MACD is ->0 level (a new bear market? No!)
– stochastic is at lowest point from December
– Elder's Forse Index – lowest from November
– historical volatility is almost at 100%
– DI/ADX are like "which drop?"
Drop is over!$BTC #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/RNsrJhGyy5 — CryptoHamster (@CryptoHamsterIO) July 17, 2019
Also, the Elder’s Forse Index, an indicator meant to exhibit the strength of moves, is at its lowest since November 2018; and historical volatility is almost at 100%, implying a move to the upside to return volatility to levels deemed normal.
Featured Image from Shutterstock | {
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Boise, ID — 19 JAN 15
GEMTECH introduces the newest additions to the 300 Blackout line. Whether you are looking for an economical training round or a lethal hunting round, supersonic or subsonic, GEMTECH has you covered.
Providing excellent stopping power and precision, the supersonic 125gr Nosler 300BLK ammunition delivers not only the ballistic performance that you demand, but also the smooth extraction and reliable feed that intense action hunting requires. This hunting load gets the job done each and every time.
If you’re looking for an economical training round, GEMTECH’s supersonic 147gr FMJ 300BLK is the ammunition for you. The 147gr FMJ projectiles in this round are brand new and from a single manufacturer. These cartridges provide a bullet that punches through some of the toughest materials. GEMTECH doesn’t accept excuses not to train.
GEMTECH has maximized the famous Sierra Match King Hollow Point Boat Tail in the company’s new subsonic SMK 220gr HPBT 300BLK load. This bullet design delivers the ballistic performance, accuracy, and stopping power required of tactical professionals in high stress scenarios.
Despite claims by the competition, Gemtech has developed the quietest and most accurate loads for the 300BLK available, at a better price and with a more versatile family of cartridges than anyone else.
Online: www.gem-tech.com
Tags: Gemtech | {
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The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
Whenever I ask indie devs what they’d like to know about marketing, a lot of them respond saying they have no idea where to begin. With this in mind, I went to Develop this year to give advice about how to get your game on people's radar. I considered five key areas of discoverability:
knowing your audience
sharing your content
nurturing your community
contacting influencers
and spending money on promotion
The following is a broad overview to be used as a jumping off point for further research. Each game is unique. Marketing plans should always be individually crafted.
Knowing Your Audience
"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself." — Peter F. Drucker
Did you make your game because you like playing games and wanted to turn something you love into a career? Because you see games as an important art form? To a certain extent, it doesn't matter: if you want your company to survive, your business goal is to make money—to sell your game.
Of course, you may have more personal goals for the game, but ultimately you’ll probably want enough profit to enable you to keep making games. In a traditional business landscape, an entrepreneur or CEO would begin by researching the market to find where there’s a gap, allowing them to create a product that is viable for profit. They’d know their target audience from the very beginning.
The games market is a crowded one. Over 500 mobile games are added daily and 4207 games were added to Steam in 2016. Most indie games were probably developed more because of creativity and passion than deliberated market research. This means that knowing your audience is that much more important.
No marketing can be done without understanding who will be most likely to buy your game. How else will you know where to market your game? Which features to push? Which publications and streamers to get involved? Every marketing strategy question will come back to ‘Who is my target audience?’
Helpful Tips on Finding Your Audience
How do you define your audience? First, ask yourself: what platforms will the game be on? What genre is the game? From there you can do research into the demographics for certain platforms and genres. For example, we find that our Sunless Sea players on Steam often fall into the 18-35 year old male category.
Places to start your research:
If in doubt, look to other games that are similar to yours and see if there is information about their demographics. If possible, get in touch with the devs.
There are stats out there about which countries use which platforms, and how much players there spend on games—NewZoo in particular is a great resource. As you begin discovering your audience, you may even find that breaking down audience by country leads to an opportunity to extend your customer reach by localising your game.
Investigating affinity audiences may also help: these are people that may be interested in your game based on their other interests, passions and lifestyle choices. For example, people that like Star Trek may enjoy FTL. Using Google Analytics on your website is a great way to gather this type of audience information.
The best thing you can do to gather audience information is testing—surveys or polls, or even getting a few people to play your game, so you can collect qualitative data.
A lot of the developers I know often have created a game they want to play. This can be great from a design and gameplay perspective, but I think it’s worth mentioning that, when marketing, you should not make any assumptions. Marketing is, at its core, about research and testing. While some of your audience may be similar to you, you may find some players will be attracted to your game for completely unexpected reasons and will notice things you would not.
Marketing is quite a cyclical process: Research, Plan, Implement, Measure, Optimise and then back to Research. Your audience isn’t set in stone, so it’s important to continue to gather audience data and adjust as necessary. Once you begin to gain players, you may notice new trends, and be able to define your target audience even further.
Sharing Your Content
Knowing who your audience is will inform where and how you share your content. Of course the first thing you want to do is to find out which social platforms your audience prefers.
Your game can help you to decide which platforms should be your focus. If your game has a unique art style, think Instagram or Tumblr; if it involves a lot of strategy or stats, start up a subreddit.
Also consider how comfortable you are with certain platforms. If there’s one that’s going to be excruciating for you to use and you’re more comfortable with other platforms where your audience also exist, then it’s fine to focus there.
So, what sort of things can you share? Anything really, as long as it’s material your audience likes and you’ll learn that as time goes on. Some starting points:
Game updates
Videos
GIFs
Screenshots
Questions
Dev blogs
Fan art / Cosplay
Promotional news
Besides using social media platforms to speak to your audience, it's also vital to have a designated space to keep all of the main facts about your game (release date, game description, features, price, etc.). Typically you may already have this in the form of a press kit, but you'll also want this information to be available to your fans, whether it's on your website or available via whichever store pages you're on (Steam, GOG, Itch.io).
There are a few other things to keep in mind once you begin sharing content:
Timing
When should you start sharing information about your game to your audience? The sooner the better! As soon as you have a concrete concept of what your game is going to be and when you have something to say.
The longer you have to build your community, the better off you are—the goal is to already have a fanbase when your game is ready to launch. Without a marketer on your staff this may be daunting to think about, but you can scale back how much you share and how often, and then ramp it up ahead of your launch.
For PC/Premium games, begin sharing at least 6 months ahead of launch*
at least 6 months ahead of launch* Keep timezones in mind, post when your audience is awake
For big announcements, make sure it’s not during a public holiday, big games conference or a day where long-awaited AAAs are releasing
*This recommendation is for games that are not going through crowdfunding. If you’re considering a Kickstarter or other crowdfunding campaign, that is a whole different beast, and you’ll need to start much further in advance.
Consistency
Once you start up a social channel for your game, it’s important to keep a consistent schedule for posting regular content. If you aren’t consistent, fans may lose interest in the game or even confidence in your studio.
Be realistic. Plenty of articles will say things like, “Five posts a day is most effective for Twitter,” but if you don’t have a dedicated marketing person, that might be difficult, so pick a schedule you can stick to.
Framing for Clarity
Framing is how you present things to your audience. If you know who your audience is then you will be able to tell what features of your game to push and what images will be more enticing to them.
Framing is also important for clarity. For example, if you want to make sure that fans understand something you’re sharing from pre-production may change, try taking a screenshot or video from within your game engine, so people can see it’s a work in progress.
Your game may also have a certain atmosphere or dialect around it that you want to keep within the branding of your game, however, with marketing, it’s always best to make sure any messaging that goes out to your fans is absolutely clear. Don’t let the flavour of the game interfere with people’s understanding of the game itself or important announcements.
Nurturing Your Community
Okay, so now you know who your audience is, and have set up channels to share information with them about your game, but how do you keep them interested? How do you form a community around your game?
Why It’s Important
The games industry’s shift from traditional boxed products to more mobile and F2P models, has really strengthened the “Games As a Service” approach. With that, player expectations about game studios have also shifted.
Players expect to be able to get in touch with the studio, not only on a customer service level, but also as a member of the game’s community. They also want to know what kind of company you are and what you stand for. These days consumers want to make sure they are backing a horse that aligns with their own personal beliefs.
In Fallen London, for example, fans appreciate our commitment to representation and gender parity. These expectations will become more and more important as younger generations rise to buying power.
Consumers have grown to distrust ads and more traditional forms of marketing. Forming a community for your game allows you as a studio to be more personable and therefore trustworthy. If a community is nurtured, it means that members will pass along their enjoyment of the game to other players, and word of mouth is the best type of advertising you can get.
General Tips for Setting Up a Cyclical Community
One of the best things you can do when setting up for a community is to make sure any set of rules or company beliefs are clearly posted somewhere from the beginning.
For example, if you’ve set up a forum or Reddit page somewhere, make sure any rules you want your players to follow are easily found and explained. These could be how to post on the forum, or even how to treat other players.
As your community grows, your earlier fans will be able to point new fans to these rules for you—it’s good for everyone to have clear direction and expectations.
Levels of Interest
It’s important to share content that will hit the different levels of interest of members in your community:
New Fans
Important announcements like game release info, new trailers, game sales etc. should be designed to entice new players into joining your community.
Aware Fans
Regular updates like new screenshots, features added etc. are there to keep members within your community interested throughout development.
Invested Fans
Any sort of fan contests whether fan art or cosplay will allow those members of your community who want to be more invested to show their dedication.
ULTIMATE Fans
And finally, there will be members of your community that will act as brand evangelists, those who are super-dedicated—players that may know the game better than you do. These members, if possible, should be offered positions of responsibility and trust within the community. These opportunities could be roles like a forum moderator, or even someone that gets early testing opportunities. They will help keep your community strong, and be your best supporters.
Contacting Influencers
We’ve talked about community, but what about getting in touch with the press and other influencers? These people will send new members to your community, and without new people joining, your community could become a time sink rather than a valuable resource.
First step—create your list. Whether you’re using a spreadsheet or Mailchimp, it’s best to create the bulk of your press list early on, once you do it, you’ll only have to update occasionally.
Make sure you have all the major publications included first. Many sites will list at least a generic [email protected], if they offer up more detailed information, make sure you can delineate between who does previews vs. reviews vs. news etc. If your studio releases on a variety of devices and platforms (console/PC/mobile), it’s good to tag them along those lines as well—don’t send your mobile game to PC Gamer or RPS!
It’s also good to look at which specific journalists cover games similar to yours. Much like defining your audience, it’s important to make sure the publications you’re adding are the right fit for your game, too.
I’d recommend making a separate list for YouTubers and Twitch streamers. You’ll be contacting streamers closer to launch, and generally want to use a more casual tone with them, so a separate list makes things easier. Contact streamers who will have specific interest in your game and its mechanics.
When should I contact them?
When you have something to show them, mostly. For the press, especially if this is your first game, get in touch with them when you have something to show—that could be an announcement trailer or a demo. Having something to show is great, but if you have anything for them to play that will always be better.
Unlike your community, they won’t want updates when every new feature is added, instead, save contacting the press for times when you have big news like partnering with another studio or releasing Early Access.
Consider the timing:
don’t send out a press release during E3 or any other busy events
make sure a slew of big AAAs aren’t releasing
generally avoid the pre-Christmas window, which will be overcrowded
Journalists are busy and thrown hundreds of games, so don’t be afraid to politely check in with them if they haven’t answered. Try to be as personal as possible—besides sending out a blanket press release, send out more personal emails to important publications and journalists who are a great match to your game.
Remember that press are people too, so getting to know their likes and dislikes, and about them personally, will help you develop good working relationships with them.
A few quick tips
Don’t forget timezones! If most of your list are US publications, don’t send it out at 9:00 BST
Generally it’s better to send out press releases Tuesday–Thursday
For press reviews, ideally start sending out keys for press review 3–4 weeks ahead of your launch
Unless you have a specific planned review with a YouTuber, send out keys to streamers much closer to launch, a week or less
What should I include?
It’ll increase your odds of being covered if you add assets to your news press releases (trailers, demos, GIFs, a new batch of screenshots etc.), and your information should be structured to shout about the best bits first.
Include any directions or info that will make the process as frictionless as possible (like if there’s a particular trick to getting the build running). Be sure any embargoes are clear and unmissable, and always make sure there’s a clear link to your press kit—and keep it updated!
Spending Money on Promotion
When indie devs budget out the cost to make a game, very few include marketing spend. Yet it’s common knowledge that AAA games and their publishers certainly must set aside a large budget just for marketing.
The games industry isn't great at sharing how much they spend on marketing, as it's perhaps a bit taboo, but surveys from the larger business world show that large companies (>$5b revenue) spend 13% of revenue on marketing, while smaller companies ($250-500m revenue) spend around 10%. Of course, marketing spend is more than just paying for promotion, but that’s what we’ll focus on in this section.
So when should indie devs consider spending money on promotion?
When you can afford it
And when you can understand it
Being able to spend money on promotion is wonderful, and can really help widen the reach of potential buyers, however, finding the funds is difficult enough, so be sure to understand the whole picture before spending a dime. If you have a limited budget, center your spending around key milestones like Early Access or launch, when your game is available for purchase.
Don’t spend any money unless you have very specific objectives. If you don’t understand what you want as an outcome of spending your money, then you risk wasting it. If you don’t have an in-house marketer or analytics wizard, it would be worth reaching out to consult with one for a short time to set up a plan for any advertising you’d want to do.
It’s also important to understand that a lot of the advertising from big brands isn’t specifically done to get sales conversions. In business you’ll often hear people talking about a sales funnel: Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action. This describes the path consumers go on before they buy a product—and plenty of ads you see are often for more top-level functions like awareness and interest, which, if you’re an indie with a small marketing budget, you probably can’t afford to constantly throw your money towards.
However, at key points like your launch, could help grab more potential buyers, or if you have a mobile game which is much more straightforward from ad to purchase.
How can I spend it?
There are unlimited ways to spend money on promotion, and it definitely depends on your goals, budget and audience. However, a few steady and common examples are:
DIGITAL ADS
These could be campaigns on Adwords, Facebook, Reddit, etc. Typically digital ads are where I hear horror stories of devs spending money on social platforms without understanding what objectives they have for campaigns or what the results mean.
Pros for digital ads:
Compared to other types of promotion they can be inexpensive and very customisable
They’re easy to stop early if they’re not performing well against your objectives
They allow you to gather more audience data about your purchasers
Cons for digital ads:
Can feel like sitting in front of the NASA console for the first time —it’s complicate
—it’s complicate Therefore it takes time to learn, unless you can hire a consultant
Can easily waste money due to a lack of understanding
Unless you’re advertising a mobile game, they’re generally more for awareness than direct sales
EVENTS
Events can be great if you have gameplay that suits having people come up and play it, or a game that’s great for watching. If your game has a lot of reading or is more suitable for long-term play, it may be more effective to use your money to go to events as a speaker, that way you can still gain the benefits of going to a conference without having to pay for a booth.
Pros for events:
Personal! You can have one-on-ones directly with your fans or new players
Great for game testing and seeing how people actually interact/react to your game
Prestige, or showing that your game is a real game —great for branding purposes.
Cons for events:
Not great for direct conversions to sales
Can be expensive, especially if you want to go to a few
The competition is literally all around you
Can be exhausting, especially if you have a small team
PODCASTS
If you’re looking for a more personal ad, podcasts can be a great way to go. Many podcasts will have data on their viewership demographics, so you can choose which podcast audiences align with your own.
Pros for podcasts:
Much like streamers, podcast advertising feels pretty close to word of mouth advertising
Podcast themes can be niche and cover a wide range of interests
They can be a great way to reach your affinity audiences
They come in rage of prices
Cons for podcasts:
Can be difficult to see direct impact on sales (unless you have a mobile game)
Better if done consistently, which could be pricy/hard to keep up
Many steps to get the buyer from ad to purchase
So, some final reminders on spending money for promotion:
DON’T pay for numbers instead of earning your audience
DON’T spend money without having specific goals/outcomes
DON’T spend money on a platform without understanding how it works
Conclusion
That was a lot of info to take in all at once about discoverability and marketing, but my main takeaway is this: marketing isn’t just PR or social media. Marketing is ALL the strategies you use to lead people to buy your game. In a crowded marketplace, it’s important to make sure you have a stake in each of these areas in order to better your chances at discoverability.
Additional Resources:
Your Indie Game Deserves a Marketer — by Hannah Flynn
Everyone Can Do PR: The 5 Pillars & Pitfalls of Indie Games PR — by Thomas Reisenegger
How to Choose the Best Social Media Platforms as a Game Developer — by Charlene LeBrun | {
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Ryan Bundy seemed uneasy as he settled into a white leather chair in a private suite at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. As the eldest son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who had become a national figure for his armed standoff with U.S. government agents in April 2014, Ryan had quite a story to tell.
Eight months had passed since Cliven and hundreds of supporters, including heavily armed militia members, faced off against the federal government in a sandy wash under a highway overpass in the Mojave Desert. Now, here in the comforts of the Bellagio, six documentary filmmakers trained bright lights and high-definition cameras on Ryan. They wanted to ask about the standoff. Wearing a cowboy hat, Ryan fidgeted before the cameras. He had told this story before; that wasn’t the reason for his nerves. After all, the Bundy confrontation made national news after armed agents with the Bureau of Land Management seized the Bundy family’s cattle following a trespassing dispute and the accumulation of more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees. But the Bundys, aided by their armed supporters, beat back the government, forcing agents to release the cattle and retreat.
Images of armed Bundy supporters with high-powered rifles taking on outgunned BLM agents circulated widely on social media. As a result, the Bundys became a household name, lionized by the right as champions of individual liberty and vilified by the left as anti-government extremists.
But something seemed off to Ryan about this interview in the Bellagio. While the family’s newfound fame had attracted fresh supporters to their cause, it had also inspired suspicion. With a federal investigation looming, who among these new faces could they really trust?
Among the more recent figures in the Bundy orbit was this mysterious documentary film crew. The director, Charles Johnson, was middle-aged, with a silver goatee, slicked-back hair, and a thick southern accent. His assistant, who identified herself as Anna, was tall and blond. A website for their company, Longbow Productions, listed an address in Nashville, Tennessee, but the Bundys could find no previous examples of their work.
An excerpt from an interview that the purported Longbow Productions film crew conducted with Ryan Bundy, obtained by The Intercept.
As the cameras recorded, Ryan’s skepticism was plain. At times, his right eye rolled back into his head, the result of a childhood accident that paralyzed half of his face, and his gaze shifted to figures outside the shot. “There’s been a lot of red flags in the community about Longbow Productions,” one of his companions explained to the film crew. “No bullshit, straight talk. … It’s almost like you’re trying to make us incriminate ourselves.”
With a conspicuously placed copy of the U.S. Constitution poking out of his left breast pocket, Ryan turned his gaze to Johnson.
“We really do want to work with you, if that’s really what’s going on,” he said. But his family needed to know, “Is this just a mole project to garner information that will then be given to the feds?”
Johnson insisted the project was a legitimate endeavor. “I want a truthful documentary.”
“Alrighty,” Ryan said. “Let’s proceed.”
“Quiet on the set,” Johnson told his crew.
Ryan should have trusted his instincts. Johnson and his colleagues were not documentarians. They were undercover FBI agents posing as filmmakers. By the time they sat down with Ryan, Johnson and his team had spent eight months traveling to at least five states to film interviews with nearly two dozen people about the Bundy standoff, all part of an FBI effort to build criminal cases against the Bundys and their supporters.
The story of the FBI’s fake documentary crew, revealed in more than 100 hours of video and audio recordings obtained by The Intercept, offers an unprecedented window into how federal law enforcement agents impersonate journalists to gain access to criminal suspects. The raw material produced by the FBI was presented under seal in the U.S. District Court in Nevada, where Ryan Bundy, his father, Cliven, and his brothers, as well as more than a dozen supporters, were charged with conspiracy, assault, weapons offenses, and other crimes related to their standoff with the government.
An excerpt from an interview with Cliven Bundy, produced by undercover FBI agents posing as filmmakers and obtained by The Intercept.
The Bundys consider themselves true men and women of the American West. Cliven Bundy, a Mormon patriarch with 14 children and at least 60 grandchildren, operates a cattle ranch with his family 80 miles east of Las Vegas that was settled by Cliven’s ancestors in the 1880s. “The ranch has been home for me most all my life,” Cliven told Johnson and the other undercover FBI agents, believing they were making a documentary about his life and the standoff.
Cliven and his family aren’t wealthy ranchers, and their land has only offered a subsistence lifestyle at best. As generations of western ranchers have done, Cliven’s family built a home near a water source on private property and then allowed cattle to graze freely on surrounding lands owned by the U.S. government. A dilapidated semi-trailer, broken-down cars, old tires, and wooden shipping pallets litter the dirt road leading into the Bundy property. The ranch is set up like a wagon wheel, with the Bundy home at the center surrounded by irrigated fields of alfalfa and melons. From there, the ranch then extends out in every direction, covering more than 600,000 acres, counting government land, where Cliven’s 400 head of cattle graze.
The Bundy family’s dispute with the federal government began nearly 30 years ago, when conservation officials declared the desert tortoise an endangered species, resulting in severe restrictions to grazing rights for ranchers in Clark County, Nevada. Some of Cliven’s neighbors fought the government in court, but in time, all but Cliven abandoned their ranches. Cliven took another tack, refusing to renew his permit for grazing rights. He continued to allow his cattle to graze federal lands, damn the consequences. As far as Cliven was concerned, the land was public and no one was using it anyway. The government hauled Bundy into court, and in 1998, a U.S. District Court judge issued an order prohibiting Cliven from using the lands. Cliven refused to comply, and his unpaid grazing fees piled up, reaching more than $1 million. In July 2013, another District Court judge issued an order demanding that Cliven not trespass on federal lands. And then in April 2014, the Bureau of Land Management, with the help of so-called contract cowboys, began to round up Cliven’s trespassing cattle.
The roundup set off a storm of rumors among the Bundys and their local supporters — that the cattle were being mistreated, that they were dying or being killed intentionally, and that the government was burying them in mass graves. On April 9, the Bundys and other locals intercepted a convoy of contract cowboys protected by BLM agents. The crowd stopped the line of trucks in an attempt to see whether they were transporting dead cattle. A confrontation ensued. Cliven’s 57-year-old sister was thrown to the ground by a BLM agent. Cliven’s son Ammon kicked a BLM dog and was tased twice as result. All of it was captured on camera.
One video in particular, shot by Pete Santilli, blew up online and would later be referenced repeatedly by subjects in the FBI’s undercover documentary production. The clip, which has now been seen more than 1.8 million times on YouTube, turned Cliven’s story into a cause célèbre among rural conservatives, right-wing groups, and anti-government militias, who viewed the cattle roundup, and the force used during that confrontation, as an abuse of government power. Cliven, who had appeared on Santilli’s radio show the day before the clash describing how hundreds of contract cowboys protected by hundreds of armed federal agents were taking over his ranch, won a massive audience of fired-up supporters from around the country. “They have my home surrounded,” Cliven said. The news quickly spread through social media, fueled by photographs that appeared to show federal agents aiming sniper rifles from a hilltop. Sean Hannity soon interviewed Cliven on Fox News about the situation.
Cheered by Tea Party conservatives, the Bundys garnered public support from Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Dean Heller of Nevada. That support later faded after Cliven was caught on video making racist comments about “the negro” and suggesting that African-Americans would be “better off as slaves.” There was no question that the Bundys energized some devout bigots. Stanley Blaine Hicks, aka Blaine Cooper, a propagandist for the family’s cause, once filmed himself smearing a Quran with bacon, setting its pages on fire, then shooting it with a bow and arrow (he boasted about the stunt in a secretly recorded conversation with the FBI). At the same time, however, the family’s supporters were not a monolith. For many, the Bundys’ high-profile battle with the federal government became symbolic of economic and cultural losses that resonate deeply in western ranching communities.
Hundreds of people, including militia members with assault rifles, began to arrive at the Bundy ranch. “We need guns to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government,” said Jim Lordy, from Montana, in an interview with a Las Vegas TV news crew. Local authorities, in a poorly planned attempt to corral protesters into designated areas, set up zones marked by signs that read, “First Amendment Area.” The signs only inflamed perceptions that the government was overstepping its constitutional authority.
The protests grew so large that the Bundys’ supporters blocked a stretch of Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. The situation came to a head on April 12, when scores of protesters confronted the BLM in a wash outside the Bundy ranch, as gunmen took up positions on the hillsides and overpasses around them. While the authorities had already set in motion plans to release the cattle the night before, the presence of so many armed militiamen, armed federal agents, and unarmed civilians escalated tensions dramatically. In its indictment against Cliven and his followers, the government would later describe the standoff as a “massive armed assault.” Fearing for the safety of its agents, and envisioning another violent showdown like the Ruby Ridge incident of 1992, the BLM released Cliven’s cattle that day and withdrew from land near the Bundy ranch on April 21, 2014.
Cliven had beaten the government, or so he thought. What he didn’t realize was that an undercover FBI investigation, intended to build cases against the Bundy patriarch and his supporters for what happened during the standoff, was about to begin.
Ammon Bundy speaks to the media as others look on at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, on Jan. 4, 2016. Photo: Rob Kerr/AFP/Getty Images
The FBI office in Las Vegas called on an undercover agent using the name Charles Johnson to take part in an operation that would reveal how the Bundy protests were organized and whether anyone had violated federal law. They came up with the idea of creating a fake documentary production company whose filmmakers would interview Cliven and the protesters.
Johnson would later testify that the plan was “unique” and “a little bit different,” in that instead of seeking to expose a crime that had not yet happened, the fake documentary sought to uncover information “after the fact.”
The agent’s assessment was true, but it was also an understatement. Not only did the FBI’s plan involve detailing events that had already taken place, the events in question were widely documented, as was the involvement of the individuals the bureau ultimately targeted. A quick Google search would reveal hundreds of interviews, photographs, and social media posts chronicling nearly all those individuals’ participation in the standoff. What’s more, even if the undercover team could coax interviewees into making comments more incriminating than the information already available in the public sphere, any evidence gleaned from the operation would require disclosing in court that the FBI had taken the controversial step of impersonating journalists.
Despite a clear risk that considerable resources would be expended to gather publicly available information, incurring a guaranteed backlash from legitimate members of the news media along the way, Johnson and the FBI pressed on, setting up a fake website for the production company and deploying cameras, lights, sound equipment — everything they needed to appear professional — for the operation. The working title of the FBI’s documentary was “America Reloaded.”
While the scale of the operation was unlike anything that has been revealed in recent years, this wasn’t the first time FBI agents had impersonated the news media. In June 2007, a 15-year-old high school student near Seattle repeatedly emailed bomb threats to his school, causing daily evacuations of the building. Because the student used proxy servers to hide his location, the FBI was unable to track him. As a result, FBI agents posed as an Associated Press journalist and emailed the student individual links to a fake news article and photographs that surreptitiously installed a tracking program allowing the FBI to determine the student’s location.
When the FBI’s actions were revealed nearly seven years later, the Associated Press and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, representing 25 other news organizations, wrote letters to FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Eric Holder objecting to the practice of impersonating journalists in criminal investigations. In a November 6, 2014, letter to the New York Times, Comey defended the practice. “That technique was proper and appropriate under Justice Department and FBI guidelines at the time,” he wrote. “Today, the use of such an unusual technique would probably require higher level approvals than in 2007, but it would still be lawful and, in a rare case, appropriate.”
In June 2016, the FBI adopted an interim policy that requires undercover operations involving the impersonation of news media to be approved by the deputy director of the FBI in consultation with the deputy attorney general. Because the FBI’s fake documentary project in Nevada began before this policy was enacted, it’s unclear whether senior leaders at the FBI signed off. The FBI did not respond to questions for this story, including a request for that information. Instead, the bureau released only a prepared statement to The Intercept: “The FBI conducts investigative activity in accordance with the Attorney General’s Guidelines and the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide. These authorities provide safeguards intended to ensure that FBI employees act in accordance with the law and the Constitution.”
Cattle that belong to rancher Cliven Bundy are released near Bunkerville, Nev., after U.S. officials ended a standoff with hundreds of armed protesters on April 12, 2014. Photo: Jim Urquhart/Reuters
On the night of June 14, 2014, two months after BLM agents released Cliven Bundy’s cattle and retreated from the armed supporters, Johnson placed his first call to the Bundy ranch. The undercover FBI agent had hoped to speak to Cliven, but Cliven’s son Ammon took the call. If Johnson and his team had done their research, it was not evident from this first phone call. Despite the fact that Ammon was the most famous member of the Bundy clan after his father, the FBI agent appeared to have no idea who he was.
An excerpt from an audio recording of a phone call between undercover FBI agent Charles Johnson and Ammon Bundy.
Johnson laid out the “business opportunities” he envisioned for the Bundy family. “I do a lot of documentary work,” he said. “I’ve kind of been watching this situation unfold, kind of from a distance, and just to be real honest with you, I’m amazed at the support and the actual momentum that your dad has been able to gather. It’s truly impressive to me.” Johnson said his vision for the documentary was to tell the story of Cliven, whom he described as a “folk hero,” and the movement he inspired.
Ammon was not sold on the idea, explaining that his family had received many media and documentary requests since the standoff. “We want to reach a lot of people,” Ammon explained. “But we also can’t do 100 different documentaries.”
An excerpt from an audio recording of a phone call between undercover FBI agent Charles Johnson and Ammon Bundy.
Johnson then proposed buying the rights to the Bundy family’s story. But Ammon said they weren’t interested in money. “I’d be willing to meet and talk with you, but I think you need to get more familiar with the story first and then really see if you want to take on this thing,” Ammon said.
It was a rocky start for the undercover FBI operation, but the agents pushed forward. Less than two weeks later, Johnson, Anna, and at least two other undercover agents went to the Bundy ranch. As they rolled up on the property, Anna read into a concealed microphone the license plates of vehicles she saw.
A Go-Pro video, obtained by The Intercept, of undercover FBI agents arriving at the Bundy ranch.
“Someone’s walking towards us,” she then said. “Here we go.”
It was Brian Cavalier, a heavily tattooed supporter from Arizona. Cavalier wore a handgun holstered on his right hip and a hoop earring in one of his ears. Everyone around the Bundy ranch called him “Booda” for his bald head and round, hairless belly covered with a poorly sketched tattoo of the Chinese Buddha. He had joined the Bundys after watching the video of BLM agents tasing Ammon Bundy. He served as the Bundys’ bodyguard and in the months following the standoff became something of a gatekeeper to the family. As the undercover FBI agents arrived on the property, Cavalier informed them that their visit had not been approved, but he allowed them on the ranch anyway.
As they toured the property, Cavalier described his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a U.S. Marine, and his work with the mercenary company Blackwater.
“Did you ever kill anybody?” Anna asked.
“Yeah,” Cavalier said. “I was a United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper.”
(The U.S. Marine Corps has no record of Cavalier having served.)
The FBI team had come to the ranch to interview Cliven Bundy but only managed to interview Cavalier and Cliven’s wife, Carol. Had Cavalier or Carol known anything about filmmaking, the FBI’s on-camera interviews would have blown their cover. Both were interviewed outdoors, the Bundy matriarch in the harsh sunlight and Cavalier near a livestock pen where the winds were so gusty the audio is at times inaudible. They also filmed dubious B-roll of the ranch, with Johnson directing shots at the horizon, while the cameraman repeatedly directed his attention to the license plates of cars parked around the property. This wasn’t cinéma vérité; it was amateur hour. The FBI was just lucky no one at the Bundy ranch knew the difference.
Johnson considered the outing a success. “I think what today does is it gives us tremendous credibility,” he told his FBI colleagues in a conversation captured by hidden body microphones the agents wore.
But in the same conversation, Johnson admitted to concerns that they seemed to be documenting history, not investigating active crimes. “Do you think there’s any more stuff to be gotten out here?” Johnson asked one of his colleagues. “The problem is, we’re the last one to the dance.”
But Johnson’s fake documentary crew would get a lucky break. That afternoon, Cavalier, who was prone to running his mouth, offered a tantalizing lead when asked if the Bundys had any help from people in law enforcement. “There’s a finder’s fee,” Anna offered, suggesting the film crew was ready to pay for such information.
“Is the camera off now?” Cavalier asked.
“Can you turn it off?” Anna said to the cameraman. The body mic Anna wore continued to record the conversation.
An excerpt from an interview with Brian “Booda” Cavalier, produced by undercover FBI agents posing as filmmakers and obtained by The Intercept.
“The information I can give you is very, very sensitive,” Cavalier said. “I can tell you this much, just to give you a taste: Every three days, Mr. Bundy’s name is ran through a database to check for any wants or warrants, because if they’re going to come down here and serve warrants or do anything stupid, they’re going to come that way first.” As for compensation, Cavalier added, it was on the film crew to make an offer. “It’s gonna cost you something, because my ass is on the line and I don’t put my ass on the line for nobody,” he said.
Less than a week later, Johnson and his crew met Cavalier in a Las Vegas hotel room. They filmed the bodyguard in disguise. The lights were turned down. With a green scarf over his face, Cavalier made claims about the Bundys’ penetration of law enforcement, saying they had sources at the BLM and the FBI. Cavalier said that he regularly contacted law enforcement during the standoff to run background checks on individuals showing up at the ranch.
“We definitely ran you guys and found out that you’re not related to FBI, BLM, or ATF,” Cavalier told the undercover agents.
The Bundy family and their supporters fly the American flag as their cattle are released by the Bureau of Land Management back onto public land outside of Bunkerville, Nev., on April 12, 2014. Photo: Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal/AP
Whether Cavalier’s claims about government sources were true is unclear. What is clear, however, is that questions surrounding law enforcement support for the Bundys became part of a broader script the FBI deployed throughout the summer of 2014 in phone conversations and sit-down interviews conducted with individuals present during the standoff.
Anna coordinated the interviews. The undercover agent would call subjects with a general framing of the documentary, enthusiastically describing the Bundy standoff as the American people’s first victory in standing up to the U.S. government in 200 years. Then, presenting herself as a scatterbrained journalist with zero understanding of the Bundys or militia movements in general, Anna would ask interviewees if they feared for their lives during the standoff, if they were willing to die for their cause, and if they were prepared to take a life for the movement.
Despite a deep-seated distrust of the U.S. government, often rooted in right-wing conspiracy theories, a majority of the people Anna contacted were more than willing to describe their views and participation in the events that day with what appeared to be a somewhat clueless member of the press.
On August 4, 2014, Anna called a Bundy supporter named Greg Burleson, who claimed to have spent more than a decade among Arizona’s right-wing extremists, for a time taking part in vigilante border patrols with J.T. Ready, a neo-Nazi who murdered his girlfriend and members of her family before killing himself in 2012. “I am a freaking wild man,” Burleson told Anna during their second conversation.
Burleson appeared to be exactly the type of character the FBI was hoping to find. He was hardly in hiding, though. Both before and after the Bundy standoff, Burleson posted Facebook status updates threatening to kill members of law enforcement and asserting that he had pointed his weapon at BLM agents in Nevada. And if the FBI team wanted further information on him, they could have called their colleagues in Arizona, where Burleson had worked as a paid FBI informant.
Over the years, Burleson had provided information to agents in Phoenix, and in 2013, his FBI handler transferred him to Special Agent Adam Nixon, who later participated in the investigations of the Bundys. For reasons that have not been disclosed, Nixon closed Burleson as an informant. By the time Anna called, Burleson was off the FBI books.
Eric Parker aims his weapon from a bridge as protesters gather by the Bureau of Land Management base camp, where cattle seized from rancher Cliven Bundy were being held, near Bunkerville, Nev., on April 12, 2014. Photo: Jim Urquhart/Reuters
Burleson’s eccentricities and paranoia were evident from the beginning. During one call with Anna, he answered the phone with a fake accent. “I do that because I’ve got people targeting me now,” he explained. Burleson later claimed to have access to sensitive law enforcement documents proving he was being watched.
The Longbow Productions team interviewed Burleson on camera on October 28, 2014, at the FireSky Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. A rangy man with a ponytail and a thick mustache, Burleson wore a pistol to the taping and said his AK was in the car.
“Would you like something to drink?” Johnson asked him.
Burleson asked for bourbon. “No chaser,” he added.
Hidden cameras recorded as the FBI agents got acquainted with their interview subject. They reviewed a map of the area around the Bundy ranch, with Burleson describing where he had been positioned during the standoff. Once the lights were on and his interview began, Burleson, bourbon in hand, described his bloodlust for federal agents. “I literally went there to put them six feet under,” he said.
An excerpt from an interview with Greg Burleson, produced by undercover FBI agents posing as filmmakers.
Burleson told the crew that he had taken aim at specific people that day — “I leveled off and I sighted-in the people that I was targeting” — with the hope that the situation would turn violent. “A lot of people say, ‘Thank god it wasn’t bloody,’” Burleson added. “I’m saying, ‘Damn, I’m disappointed.’”
While it was the FBI’s former informant who expressed the greatest desire for violence to the fake documentary crew, the bureau’s own recordings show the Arizona militiaman’s eagerness to do battle with the federal government was not shared by many of the Bundy standoff participants.
Eric Parker, who was featured in an iconic image of the standoff pointing his rifle in the direction of federal agents, made it clear to the undercover FBI team that he had no interest in bloodshed. An electrician from Idaho, Parker was hesitant to meet with the filmmakers and expressed his concerns that discussing the events that day could leave him legally exposed. At the same time, Parker was deeply frustrated with how the story had been presented. “We were all pinged as right-wing extremists and gun nuts,” he said during his first call with Anna. Still, he said, his lawyer had given him strict guidance on talking to the press.
“This is not about getting people in trouble,” Anna assured him. “This is about spreading your message.”
Parker eventually agreed to take part in the project. On August 17, 2014, the Longbow crew traveled to a lodge in Montana, where Parker and his family, along with his friend and fellow standoff participant Scott Drexler, were planning a relaxing weekend of fishing in the mountains. Parker took a seat on a porch outside.
An excerpt from an interview with Eric Parker, produced by undercover FBI agents posing as filmmakers.
In the two-hour interview, Parker explained that his motivation for traveling to Nevada was twofold. First, he saw the video depicting the BLM tasing Cliven’s son and throwing his sister to the ground as part of a broader trend of police brutality. Second, he viewed the establishment of the free speech zones, coupled with the presence of well-armed federal agents, as an attack on the First Amendment. By traveling to Nevada with weapons, Parker explained, he and his friends hoped to prevent what they viewed as unlawful arrests or use of force against protesters.
“They got 200 armed men with body armor rolling around,” he said. “We need 200 armed men with body armor rolling around.” Far from the coordinated operation government prosecutors would later allege, Parker said the actual confrontation was disorganized and ultimately terrifying. “I thought we would be there, armed, of course, and stand our ground and make sure the protesters don’t get pepper-sprayed and make sure that the illegal arrests stopped,” he explained. “I wouldn’t have thought in 100 years we would be on a bridge staring down federal agents.”
When he took his position on the pavement, the moment when the famous photo was taken, Parker said his hands were shaking.
“How do you acquire your target?” Johnson asked him.
“There’s no picking the target,” Parker answered. “I wasn’t chambered, and my finger wasn’t on the trigger. … Nobody wanted to die.”
Ryan Bundy speaks to members of the media in front of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters near Burns, Ore., on Jan. 6, 2016. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
On November 14, 2014, Anna called Ryan Bundy. She told Ryan she was with Longbow Productions and reminded him that they had filmed at the ranch in June. Anna then asked if they could set up a time during the first week of December to interview Ryan, his father, and his brothers Ammon and Melvin in a hotel room in Las Vegas. She even offered tickets to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas that week.
“I’d go for that,” Ryan said with excitement. “It’s been a few years since I’ve got to go to the NFR. So I’d go for that.”
An excerpt from an audio recording of a phone call between an undercover FBI agent and Ryan Bundy.
After talking for a few more minutes, Ryan asked Anna about the documentary: What would it be about? When would it be released?
“We want the American citizens to know that for the first time in almost 200 years, normal, average citizens, hardworking Americans, stood up, and they stood up against, you know, the tyrannical government, and they were able to get the government to back down,” Anna explained. It was a line she had used many times.
“So who’s your audience?” Ryan asked.
“I’d like to get it out to all America,” Anna answered.
Ryan told Anna he’d check with his father and brothers about coordinating interviews, but he remained suspicious and began to investigate Longbow Productions. Three days later, Anna called again.
“I just want to be straight forward with you,” Ryan told her. “With your company, there’s been a bunch of red flags go up in our mind. And that hasn’t happened with a lot of other companies.”
“OK,” Anna said.
“Now, we looked up your address, and it looks like your business is being run out of a federal building,” Ryan said. “Is that correct?”
“What?” Anna said, her voice rising.
“Is your address to your main company a federal building in Nashville, Tennessee?”
“No,” Anna said, giving Ryan an address to an office building about a mile from Vanderbilt University.
“But that’s not a federal building?” Ryan asked.
“No,” Anna insisted.
An excerpt from an audio recording of a phone call between an undercover FBI agent and Ryan Bundy.
It’s unclear why Ryan thought the government owned the building. In fact, it’s a BlueCross BlueShield corporate building. But Ryan was indeed onto something; he just didn’t fully understand what. Ryan explained that he was concerned after hearing from other interviewees that the filmmakers had been asking questions about guns and ammo. “We deem those questions to be inappropriate,” Ryan said. “The Second Amendment gives us the right to keep and bear arms, and it doesn’t matter whether we have a BB gun or something bigger.” He also expressed concern that his family couldn’t find previous examples of Longbow’s work. Ryan said he suspected the filmmakers could be government spies.
“I’m not a liar,” Anna replied.
But Anna was a liar, and a good one, skilled enough to undercut Ryan’s suspicions and persuade him, his father, and his brothers to sit for interviews. Three weeks after this phone call, Cliven Bundy arrived at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Cliven, dressed in a tan hat and a black leather vest, sat in the same white leather chair. The framing for the shot was sloppy: A white piece of trim molding can be seen running vertically across the left side of frame. The corner of a large, generic piece of floral hotel artwork dominated the right side of the frame. No professional cinematographer would have approved the shot.
Johnson, conducting the interview, asked Cliven about the militias, appearing to probe whether Cliven was coordinating their actions at the standoff. But Cliven maintained the armed groups just showed up; he had nothing to do with it. “The ranch was out of control,” Cliven said. “The feds had total control of everything there.”
“People either look at you as a folk hero or kind of a — that you were the one who instigated it, because if you were just doing what was right, why did you need all those people? How would you respond to that?” Johnson asked.
“I mean, you know, I gotta face this,” Cliven said. “And the militia steps up there, and they do a service for me. Now as far as I can say, all I can say is that I’m thankful for that service.”
What’s extraordinary about Cliven’s interview is that, despite spending nearly a year trying to get the rancher before the camera, the FBI couldn’t get him to say anything that he wouldn’t otherwise gladly say to legitimate radio and TV stations. Cliven even alluded to this in his interview. “Almost every day I have an opportunity to talk to people, just like I’m talking to you,” he said. “Every day I have that opportunity. Today, I’ve already did a couple of interviews. I interviewed with a magazine, a newspaper. I know three interviews with radio on my board there I haven’t taken care of.” To Cliven, Johnson and the undercover FBI agents were just another group of journalists.
About two months later, Johnson and his crew traveled to Arizona, where they filmed Ammon in a similarly unrevealing interview, despite Johnson’s repeated attempts to goad Ammon into talking about the potential for violence at the standoff.
“If this escalated and was not peaceful, did you think you might have to take a life?” Johnson asked at one point.
“I never did once think I’d have to take a life, because I knew that my stand would be one where someone would take my life and they would do it with me standing against them but not threatening their life,” Ammon told the undercover FBI agents.
A drone video taken during the anniversary of the standoff at the Bundy ranch.
Then, in April 2015, the Longbow Productions crew returned to the Bundy ranch for the anniversary of the standoff. The Bundys had set up a small makeshift stage below the overpass where the standoff occurred. About 100 white folding chairs were set up in front of the stage.
Anna, wearing a body mic, once again walked around the ranch and read aloud the license plates of cars parked there. The FBI agents brought a quadcopter drone with them. In the afternoon, as people of all ages milled about the stage, setting up for the event, the agents flew the drone high above to capture the scene. As it came down to land, the highway overpass visible in the background, a young girl ran over in bare feet, looking at the drone in amazement.
The drone then took off again, and down below, Bundy supporters could be seen staring up at the flying camera — unaware that they were being filmed as part of a U.S. government production.
Supporters of rancher Cliven Bundy listen to speakers at an event in Bunkerville, Nev., on April 10, 2015. Photo: John Locher/AP
The Bundy family describes their standoff with the government and the people from around the country who came to their aid as a movement. It’s a strong word for what occurred, but not entirely inaccurate. Proof of that came a few months after the FBI shuttered its fake documentary operation, when Ammon Bundy began to publicize on social media the criminal cases of two Oregon ranchers.
Like Cliven Bundy, Dwight Lincoln Hammond and his son Steven Dwight Hammond had a decadeslong antagonistic relationship with the Bureau of Land Management. The two Oregon ranchers were convicted at trial in 2012 of setting fire to federal lands on which the Hammonds had grazing rights for cattle. The Hammonds argued that the five-year mandatory minimum sentence that came with the charges was unconstitutional, and a U.S. District Court judge agreed, sentencing Dwight to three months in prison and Steven to one year and a day. They served those sentences, but an appeals court vacated them, and another federal judge sentenced the pair to the mandatory minimum of five years.
Ammon and Ryan Bundy saw similarities in their own family’s struggles with the government. They traveled to Oregon in late 2015 to help the Hammonds, who declined the offer of assistance. So the Bundy brothers, accompanied by three dozen supporters, including Cavalier and several others from the Nevada standoff, took over a U.S. government building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. Ammon, naming his group the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, then posted videos to social media calling on militants to join them in Oregon. Local police and federal officials surrounded the government building. The Bundy family was again at the center of a national story.
For more than a month, the Bundys and their supporters holed up in the building while federal agents, concerned about a gunfight that could leave dozens dead, waited them out. On January 26, 2016, a Jeep and a Dodge Ram pickup left the wildlife refuge. Ammon and Cavalier were in the Jeep. Inside the pickup were Ryan Bundy and four supporters, including Robert “LaVoy” Finicum. FBI and Oregon police vehicles pulled over the Jeep. Ammon and Cavalier surrendered, but the pickup, driven by Finicum, took off at high speed. As he approached a roadblock, Finicum’s truck plowed into a snowbank. He exited the vehicle, and the FBI and Oregon police opened fire, killing Finicum and wounding Ryan Bundy. (FBI agents are under investigation for alleged misconduct in the shooting.)
The shootout and the arrests were followed by federal indictments against 38 people, charging the group members with various crimes related to the standoffs at the Bundy ranch and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. So far, the government’s record in prosecuting the Bundys and their supporters has been mixed. Three supporters have pleaded guilty and another six, including former FBI informant Greg Burleson, have been convicted at trial. But seven have been acquitted, and a trial in Nevada last month resulted in a hung jury for four defendants, including Eric Parker. The stakes will be raised in Las Vegas on June 26, when the trial of Cliven Bundy and his sons is scheduled to begin. Federal prosecutors plan to play clips from “America Reloaded.”
Terrance Jackson, Burleson’s attorney, plans to appeal his client’s conviction. Burleson is facing a minimum of 57 years in prison. “I think the FBI used their resources to go after the people that are the least culpable,” Jackson told The Intercept, adding, “They used methods that need to be carefully scrutinized.” Jess Marchese, Eric Parker’s attorney, said a number of the jurors he spoke to were turned off by the government’s presentation of the Longbow evidence.
Beyond its implications in the Bundy case specifically, the FBI’s decision to create a fake media company raises critical questions about the federal government’s practice of impersonating the press. Following the 2014 revelations that it had been impersonated by the FBI, the Associated Press, along with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, filed a lawsuit demanding more detail on the FBI’s practice of posing as journalists, arguing that “the practice endangers the media’s credibility and undermines its independence.” In February, a federal judge ruled that the FBI has said enough about the matter. To date, it is unclear how many times, or how often, the bureau has deployed agents under the guise of newsgathering.
Following the flurry of arrests last year, several of the targets of the Longbow investigation were interviewed by federal agents. Summaries of their conversations were written up in FBI reports obtained by The Intercept. Brian Cavalier, the Bundy bodyguard who first allowed the crew onto the ranch, reportedly “felt that the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders when he was arrested,” telling the FBI that he never believed in the Oregon occupation and that several of the individuals there “did not want the occupation to end peacefully.” Greg Burleson, for all his tough talk about killing federal agents, was arrested without incident outside his apartment in Phoenix — he has lost his vision in the months since he traveled to Nevada and now uses a wheelchair. While he stood by his decision to take part in the standoff, Burleson reportedly told the FBI that “if he had it to do all over again, he would do a little more research.”
Eric Parker, the man from the famed sniper photo, was arrested on March 3, 2016. In a 10-page account of his conversation with his arresting agents, Parker said he had been contacted by at least two organizations “offering to put armed security at his house to shoot it out with the FBI when they arrived.” Parker said he declined because he “does not want to see any violent confrontation with the FBI.” Parker was the only standoff participant who mentioned his brush with a suspicious documentary film crew.
“A media company called Longbow Productions later interviewed Parker for a documentary about the Bundy situation, but the movie has never been released,” Parker’s arresting agent noted. “Parker believes the documentary film crew must be associated with the FBI.” | {
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Pilots of a United Airlines jet apparently didn't follow proper procedures and inadvertently disabled some vital electrical systems after they received a fire warning and started an emergency return earlier this month to New Orleans, according to people familiar with the probe.
A team of safety experts led by the National Transportation Safety Board has tentatively concluded that after skipping over a portion of a checklist, the pilots of the Airbus A320 also failed to restore power to some equipment,... | {
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NEW YORK — Is Israel just a nation among nations?
On one level, it is indeed an ordinary place. People curse the traffic, follow their stocks, Blackberry, go to the beach and pay their mortgages. Stroll around in the prosperous North Tel Aviv suburbs and you find yourself California dreaming.
On another, it’s not. More than 60 years after the creation of the modern state, Israel has no established borders, no constitution, no peace. Born from exceptional horror, the Holocaust, it has found normality elusive.
The anxiety of the diaspora Jews has ceded not to tranquility but to another anxiety. The escape from walls has birthed new walls. The annihilation psychosis has not disappeared but taken new form.
For all Israel’s successes — it is the most open, creative and dynamic society in the region — this is a gnawing failure. Can anything be done about it? | {
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The defense industrial base (DIB) is under attack. Foreign actors are stealing large amounts of sensitive data, trade secrets, and intellectual property every day from DIB firms — contributing to the erosion of the DIB and potentially harming U.S. military capabilities and future U.S. military operations. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has taken steps to better secure systems against cyber threats, but most protections in place focus on classified networks, while unclassified networks have become an attractive entrance for adversaries seeking access to cutting-edge technologies and research and development efforts. To address this problem, DoD has increased regulations and introduced new security controls, but the current approach may be insufficient.
This report offers DoD a way ahead to better secure unclassified networks housing defense information — through the establishment and implementation of a cybersecurity program designed to strengthen the protections of these networks. The program offers a means for DoD to better monitor the real-time health of the DIB and ensure that protections are in place to prevent the disclosure of sensitive corporate information from DIB firms or sensitive supply chain information across the DIB. The program also includes a means to offer qualified small DIB firms access to cybersecurity tools for use on unclassified networks, for free or at a discounted rate, to ensure that affordable protections are accessible to all DIB firms. Advanced persistent threats and sophisticated cyber attacks will not stop, but this program can help build stronger defenses, develop more-coordinated responses, and help maintain the technological superiority of U.S. military forces. | {
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YSK'nın internet sitesinde yer alan verilere göre Ekrem İmamoğlu oyların yüzde 48.80'ini aldı. AK Parti İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı Adayı Binalı Yıldırım'a çıkan oy oranı ise yüzde 48.48.
DHA'nın aktardığına göre oy dağılımı şu şekilde:
Açılan sandık oranı: Yüzde 99.69
Oy sayıları: Ekrem İmamoğlu: 4 milyon 157 bin 505 — Binali Yıldırım: 4 milyon 130 bin 190
Oy oranları: Ekrem İmamoğlu: yüzde 48.80 — Binali Yıldırım: Yüzde 48.48 | {
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by Robert Osbourne – Scuba Diver Life
This is a unique expedition. For the first time in 50 years, divers are exploring a flooded mine on Bell Island, Newfoundland. They’re part of Bell Island Mine Quest, and ultimately, they’re doing it for you.
It’s been a complicated mission to begin an archeological survey of the hundreds of miles of abandoned tunnels at Bell Island mine. This mine is so special because when the miners walked out in the mid 1960s, they thought they were going on a Christmas break. They left behind everything — lunch buckets, pipes, equipment, shoes — that they used in the mine. But the mine’s owners had other plans. They permanently closed the mine and turned off the pumps, so the freezing water rose, effectively preserving a snapshot of history. That’s what the divers are here to explore.
It’s hoped that the Bell Island mine can join well-known, similar destinations like Bonne Terre in Missouri, as a dive destination. Consequently, the divers are laying out mainlines to create a couple of permanent circuits for certified cave divers to explore the mine. Mine Quest is also conducting scientific experiments on decompression stress in conjunction with DAN — work that NASA is watching closely.
The Mine Quest divers began making forays into the abandoned tunnels at the beginning of last week, identifying and recording artifacts. They also laid more than 1,300 feet (400 m) of main line and conducted daily tests on the divers. All solid progress, but things haven’t been going so well on the surface. The expedition hit some rough waters outside the mine. As expedition co-leader Jill Heinerth observed, not unexpected, “I learned that you can do a lot of research and planning before an expedition,” she says. “Try and anticipate everything and the one thing that’s guaranteed is change…a lot of unexpected things are going to happen.”
One storm after another has blown through the area. First, half the team was trapped on the island when the ferry shut down. The next day the whole team moved over to the island to avoid such delays, but before the move could be completed, the winds kicked up once again. The ferry shut down and half the expedition’s supplies were stuck on the mainland, including bottles of oxygen vital for the re-breathers. In an act of near desperation, Rick Stanley loaded the gear in his 24-foot RIB, put on a drysuit and headed across the bay with the supplies. “We’re adventurers, this is what feeds us,” he says. “We weren’t going to put our lives in jeopardy.” But his easy dismissal of his actions defies belief —remember, a 170-foot steel ferry had stopped running because of the high waves and winds.
As if that weren’t enough, the mine flooded the same day. The huge storms had dumped massive amounts of snow on the ground, and the next storm brought rain and warm temperatures. All the snow melted and started flowing downhill, into the mine. The water rose, effectively shutting down the staging area where the divers had worked all week, and volunteers came in to move thousands of pounds of equipment to a new area. The dive team had to rework all their plans and adjust their safety lines.
And as if to prove the old saying that bad things happen in threes, a third problem arose — this one more about comfort. There were no open hotels on Bell Island, so Stanley tracked down the owner of a bed & breakfast that operates in the summer and convinced them to open for the expedition. One minor problem — there are 11 beds and 20 people. Stanley took it all in his stride, saying “I love a challenge. I love to fix things. We’re on an island, so you know what, all these challenges are fantastic.”
What’s Next at Bell Island Mine?
Despite the hiccups, the expedition’s work hasn’t slowed down for a moment. Divers are making discoveries on a daily basis, including massive carpets of bacterial colonies that live in absolute darkness, personal possessions left behind by the miners, huge pieces of mining equipment virtually intact and graffiti on the walls — personal messages left behind by miners who’ve long since passed away. Exploring the Bell Island Mine has been a sobering experience according to diver Jill Heinerth, “The mine feels a bit like a church,” she says. “I would want to whisper. I feel the presence of those souls who spent their lives and worked for their families there.”
As for the scientific angle, Dr. Neal Pollock’s decompression experiments have led to new information about the effects of extreme diving in cold water on decompression stress. He’s been looking for a sure indicator of the onset of decompression sickness — that goal may be elusive, but he has made a new discovery about divers using electronic vests to stay warm on long, cold dives. Vests not only keep a diver warm, but also cause “better circulation, delivering inert gas into tissues,” he says. “If the garment fails and the diver gets cold as they surface, they can’t eliminate inert gas. That will increase decompression stress.”
By the end of the week, everyone feels the expedition has been a resounding success. The divers think they’ve wedged open the door of a whole new world. “We have just scratched the surface,” says Heinerth. “We’ve explored a small piece of the mine. We have to come back and do some deeper and longer penetrations into some of the portions of the mine that were worked last.”
And Rick Stanley thinks he’s started to build something very important for the province of Newfoundland. He hopes to have the mine open for certified divers in the summer of 2016. | {
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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A Rockville Centre officer who faced assault charges in connection with a violent arrest outside a bar was cleared of all charges Tuesday.
Cellphone video showed Officer Anthony Federico in an altercation with brothers Kevin and Brendan Kavanagh back in May 2016.
“He was on patrol that night, went to investigate a disturbance, and was attacked and defended himself,” Police Commissioner Charles Gennario said when Federico’s trial began in January.
Federico had been adamant about his innocence, saying he was responding to a bar brawl alone and pounced on by violent drunks.
He was stoic and silent after being cleared of the allegations Tuesday, CBS2’s Carolyn Gusoff reported. Meanwhile, cops who packed the courtroom erupted in applause.
Defense attorney William Petrillo called the prosecution ill-advised in a case that may now cause officers to hesitate to act in dangerous situations.
“Anthony Federico is a great police officer and a great person, and his whole life has been uprooted and his world has been turned inside out and upside down,” he said.
The defense claimed the cellphone video didn’t tell the whole story. Petrillo said Federico was first hit in the face, then kicked and grabbed by a drunken and drugged Kevin Kavanagh and his brother while a female friend hurled slurs and curses.
Federico used his Taser repeatedly before hitting Kevin in the head with the device, prosecutors said. Kevin required sutures and staples to close the gash in his head.
The trial was a bench trial: A judge rendered the verdict.
Federico faced charges of assault and falsifying a police report and could’ve faced up to seven years in prison if convicted.
A spokesperson for Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement, while they disagree with the verdict, they respect the judge’s decision.
“We respect the judge’s verdict just as we respected the Grand Jury’s decision to indict after it reviewed the video and evidence. Our office will continue to enforce the law and seek justice without fear or favor,” the statement read.
Federico will be back on patrol as soon as he’s ready, the commissioner said.
The Kavanagh brothers are suing the Village of Rockville Centre and its police department for $5 million each. | {
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Political performance artists, The Yes Men, have taken credit for today's prank, in which they posed as Chamber of Commerce officials pushing for comprehensive climate change legislation. In a statement from the group offered hours after a fake press conference was held at the National Press Club and a fake press release was sent out under the Chamber's name, The Yes Men said the following:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a dramatic announcement at the National Press Club today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reversed its position on climate change policy, and promised to immediately cease lobbying against the Kerry-Boxer bill.
Not.
Within minutes of the announcement, it was revealed that the "Chamber spokesperson" was an impostor, and the press conference an elaborate hoax designed by activists to draw attention to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's fight against public interest on climate change. At the close of the news conference, real Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Eric Wohlschlegel barged into the room visibly rattled, and declared the event a fraud.
The stunt was pulled off by the Yes Men, the activists best known for posing as corporate executives in order to reveal how corporate greed negatively influences public policy. Recently, the Yes Men have focused their attention on the urgent need for action on climate change. Today they sought to reveal--and repeal--relentless corporate lobbying of elected officials aimed at derailing domestic climate legislation and a much-needed global climate accord.
[snip]
At the end of [fake U.S. Chamber "representative" "Hingo Sembra"]'s remarks, Eric Wohlschlegel confronted Bichlbaum. In the stand-off, both accused the other of being a fraud and disrupting business as usual. The standoff ended with Wohlschlegel dispensing his business card to reporters in the room, and attempting to field a number of pointed questions about the Chamber's real stance on climate legislation currently in Congress, which the real Chamber opposes.
The video of the National Press Club affair was passed along to the Huffington Post late Monday afternoon. It is a must watch.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/chamber-of-commerce-hoax_n_326069.html | {
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This morning we noted that former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has made it official (actually, he already had announced last fall) that he would again run for the Libertarian Party's nomination for president. He was also in attendance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) yesterday, debating the legalization of marijuana on a panel. His applause line: "Having a debate right now over whether or not to legalize marijuana is kind of like having a debate over whether the sun will come up tomorrow." He also melodramatically keeled over when his debate opponent, former New York Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, claimed that marijuana use dramatically increased people's risks for heart attacks.
He also took a moment to dismiss Sen. Rand Paul's brand of libertarianism of not being very libertarian. Or so CNN says in a weirdly short post that could use a little more context or accompanying video:
While Paul may be the most libertarian-minded candidate in the field of prospective GOP presidential candidates, Johnson said, Paul doesn't fit the libertarian mold on a host of issues: from abortion to marriage equality to immigration and marijuana. "He's a Republican," Johnson said. "Great, I mean terrific," Johnson said sarcastically. "I mean, the most libertarian candidate that Republicans may end up fielding."
And then the item abruptly ends with this paragraph that does not appear to be a quote but rather the writer's own analysis of Paul's foreign policy:
Paul has even sidled away from his libertarian foreign policy views, ?shying away from his isolationist views in favor of a more nuanced foreign policy that would better fit the mold of a Republican primary.
And there it just ends without any explanation of what this paragraph even means. Do we have a drinking game or bingo card for poor media descriptions of libertarian or libertarian-leaning political positions? "Isolationist views" is worth both a drink and a corner box on the bingo card. Rand Paul is not an isolationist and never has been. And certainly Gary Johnson is not an isolationist either, favoring a reduction in the size of our military forces overseas, but not necessarily (or as much) in places with a lot of unrest like the Middle East.
It is interesting nevertheless to see Johnson working to differentiate himself from Paul, building on similar comments he made last fall. Johnson's ability to match or exceed his vote total from 2012 (1.3 million votes, one percent of the vote total) will certainly be affected by who the Democrats and Republicans nominate. Paul has a much bigger chance to pull votes away from Johnson than somebody like Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush. So that "more libertarian than thou" branding is going to continue as long as Paul is a viable contender. And wouldn't that be an interesting debate to be having during election year? | {
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Nos Finitions
Évolution Le cuir PU est une matière tendance qui résiste au quotidien avec un aspect proche du cuir véritable.
Perpétuelle Confectionnée dans un cuir de vachette nappa au fini mat, la finition Perpétuelle possède une texture lisse, souple et très agréable au toucher. L'élégance au service de la fonctionnalité.
Perpétuelle Couture Confectionnée dans un cuir de vachette nappa au fini mat, la finition Perpétuelle possède une texture lisse, souple et très agréable au toucher. L'élégance au service de la fonctionnalité.
Ambition Son cuir grainé et brut a subi un tannage spécial pour affronter intempéries et éraflures. Un film polymère pigmenté le protège des décolorations. Le chic ultra résistant de tous les instants.
Ambition Couture Son cuir grainé et brut a subi un tannage spécial pour affronter intempéries et éraflures. Un film polymère pigmenté le protège des décolorations. Le chic ultra résistant de tous les instants.
Exception Notre finition vintage aspect nubuck. Très agréable au toucher, léger fini mat, cette finition vous fera vivre un retour dans les années 60.
Exception Couture Notre finition vintage aspect nubuck. Très agréable au toucher, léger fini mat, cette finition vous fera vivre un retour dans les années 60.
Pulsion Les cuirs mats fluorescents et leurs couleurs lumineuses font de la gamme Pulsion des objets luxueux en harmonie avec la vie moderne.
Pulsion Couture Les cuirs mats fluorescents et leurs couleurs lumineuses font de la gamme Pulsion des objets luxueux en harmonie avec la vie moderne.
Illumination Finition brillante, cuir verni et lisse. Les couleurs Onyx, Or Maïa et Platinium envoûteront les amateurs de glamour.
Illumination Couture Finition brillante, cuir verni et lisse. Les couleurs Onyx, Or Maïa et Platinium envoûteront les amateurs de glamour.
Horizon La finition Horizon est déclinée en plusieurs imprimés (abaca, autruche, serpent ou crocodile) pour une touche résolument animale. Une invitation à l’évasion vers d’autres horizons.
Patine Notre partenaire Johnny Piot est un artisan spécialisé dans le traitement du cuir. Collaborateur des plus grands noms de la chaussure comme des maisons de maroquinerie les plus prestigieuses, il réalise, entièrement à la main, avec un savoir-faire minutieux, un effet vieilli au cuir, lui donnant ainsi un aspect ancien, élégant et singulier. L'expertise de Johnny Piot est la touche de sophistication qui fera de votre étui Noreve un accessoire de mode unique et extrêmement convoité ! Délai : + 10 jours
Tentation Tropézienne Le must des protections conçues par des selliers Français ! La finition Tentation Tropézienne habille avec soin, luxe et élégance vos appareils mobiles dans de magnifiques cuirs aux couleurs de Saint-Tropez.
Tentation Tropézienne Couture Le must des protections conçues par des selliers Français ! La finition Tentation Tropézienne habille avec soin, luxe et élégance vos appareils mobiles dans de magnifiques cuirs aux couleurs de Saint-Tropez.
Addiction Le cuir au tannage minéral, ou cuir Saffiano, utilisé pour ces créations leur confère une grande souplesse et élasticité. Son imprimé au motif croisé, obtenu par pression à chaud, lui donne un aspect unique, particulièrement apprécié des créateurs et des amateurs de mode. Prada en fut longtemps le propriétaire exclusif. | {
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Frenchman René Lacoste was a superstar tennis player. In 1926 and 1927, he was ranked number one in the world, and during his tennis career, he won seven Grand Slam championship tournaments. But he found the attire associated with the sport restrictive. Tennis whites, as they were called, consisted of a white, long-sleeved button-down shirt, long pants and a tie. It was a lot of clothing to wear when racing to the net to make an overhead shot.
Lacoste was seeking a shirt that was more accommodating to movement. In a 1979 article from People magazine, he elaborated:
“One day I noticed my friend the Marquis of Cholmondeley wearing his polo shirt on the court,” remembers René. ” ‘A practical idea,’ I thought to myself.” It was so practical, in fact, that René commissioned an English tailor to whip up a few shirts in both cotton and wool. “Soon everyone was wearing them,” he smiles.
One school of thought attributes the shirt’s invention to meeting the needs of British polo players in India in the 19th century. The style was emulated in the U.S. by John Brooks, grandson of the founder of Brooks Brothers, after he saw polo players wearing the shirts in England in the late 1800s–hence, the reason we still call it a polo shirt today. It was also referred to as a tennis shirt—piqué knit cotton, short-sleeved, unstarched collar, a placket opening with buttons at the neck, and a “tennis tail” to help keep the shirt tucked in. (That tail even made an impression on artist-poet Joe Brainard, who, in his book-length poem I Remember includes the line: “I remember when those short-sleeved knitted shirts with long tails (to wear ‘out’) with little embroidered alligators on the pockets were popular.”) In 1926, Lacoste first sported the shirt when he played in the U.S. Open in New York City.
Around that same time, Lacoste was dubbed “The Crocodile” by his fans and the media for reasons that are still speculative today: his athletic boldness, his pointy schnoz, and a bet. As GQ explains:
The American press dubbed him the Alligator in ’27, after he wagered for an alligator-skin suitcase with the captain of the French Davis Cup team. When he returned to France, “alligator” became “crocodile,” and Lacoste was known forever after as the Crocodile.
Not only did he embrace the nickname, but he went all out and had a logo of the reptile embroidered onto his blazer. It became his personal brand before there was such a thing.
Once he retired from tennis in the early 1930s, he started the company La Chemise Lacoste with his pal André Gillier, president of the largest French knitwear company at the time, to produce and sell crocodile-emblazoned shirts. The Lacoste tennis shirt made its way to the United States in 1952 and was carefully branded as “the status symbol of the competent sportsman,” an attempt to establish Lacoste in the upper echelons of society.
But, you’re confused, right? Isn’t the crocodile logo associated with Izod? That’s where things get complicated. Lacoste wound up in the United States because it had licensed its brand to Izod (then called Izod of London), which had been seeking out an upscale product.
Izod Lacoste, as the brand became known, initially looked like a flop; there weren’t many customers in the early ’50s for a pricey polo shirt (about $8 then) with a small crocodile sewn onto the chest. But Vincent De Paul Draddy, who originally licensed the Lacoste name for Izod, had a brilliant idea. He provided Izod Lacoste swag to some of his famous buddies, including JFK, President Eisenhower and Bing Crosby, and from there, the shirts caught on, and became easy to find in department stores. People were happy to wear them, especially if the rich and famous were already fans.
In the 1970s and ’80s, sporting an Izod, as the shirts became known, spanned across generations. Teenagers, and particularly those who wanted to assume a preppy look, embraced the style, even popping the collar to assume the full Biff and Muffy look. (See the 1980 book The Official Preppy Handbook by Lisa Birnbach, for more on how the Izod shirt was a key ingredient to achieving that look, or listen to Three 6 Mafia’s Poppin’ My Collar from 2006 for a more contemporary interpretation.)
By the early 1990s, the trend was fading. Lacoste and Izod parted ways in 1993 (Lacoste went further upscale; Izod became more moderately priced and abandoned the crocodile.)
Over the years, the shirt and its iconic logo spawned many imitators and admirers. Designers and brands from diverse price points have taken to embroidering animals onto polo shirts: ponies (Ralph Lauren), marlins (Tommy Bahama), eagles (American Eagle), and even the crocodile itself! The Chinese-based company, Crocodile Garments, was locked in a legal battle with Lacoste over the rights to the crocodile for over a decade until, in 2003, Crocodile Garments conceded to changing its logo. According to CNN, the settlement stated that Crocodile Garments would “have a croc with a tail which rises more or less vertically and it has skin which is much more scaly. It also has bigger eyes.”
Not only was Lacoste, who passed away in 1996, around to see multiple animal-emblazoned polo shirt imitators, but he also was privy to the fashion evolution that took place on the courts–from the whitest of full-coverage tennis whites to the shortest of itty-bitty tennis shorts (thanks, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors). | {
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The Tory right has got its wish: the Lib Dems are gone. Which just makes it harder for the PM | {
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TOKYO (Reuters) - The Kobe Steel 5406.T plant at the center of a data-falsification scandal that has shaken supply chains around the world has been stripped of all its industrial quality certifications, the Japanese government said on Wednesday.
FILE PHOTO: Kobe Steel's logo is seen through a fence at a facility of Kakogawa Works in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, November 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
In another blow to the embattled steelmaker, the government-sanctioned seal on insulated copper tubing from Kobe’s Hatano plant, one of its main copper product plants, was revoked after an investigation by a certification firm into its quality controls, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a statement.
The plant southwest of Tokyo has also lost its ISO 9001 quality certification from the International Standards Organization (ISO), Japan Quality Assurance Organization said.
Earlier, the plant was stripped of its Japan Industrial Standards (JIS) seal for seamless copper pipe products used for air conditioning and refrigerators, as part of the fallout of one of Japan’s biggest industrial scandals.
Having the quality seals revoked means the company can no longer sell the products with the JIS label, potentially restricting the number of customers that want to buy them and reducing its sales.
“We aim to regain the JIS certification and recover trust from our customers as soon as possible by implementing measures to prevent future misconduct,” Kobe Steel said in a statement.
JIS-certified products account for about 40 percent of Hatano’s sales by weight, Kobe Steel said. Copper products made up about 7 percent of the company’s total sales in the year to March 2017.
Some customers have agreed to keep buying products made at Kobe’s Hatano plant without the JIS label after it was first stripped of its JIS certification, a Kobe Steel spokesman said.
But the plant may be forced to stop shipping some products if the ISO 9001 certification was among the conditions set out in contracts with customers, the spokesman said.
“There will be some impact on our business as we have lost credibility in our quality assurance system, but it is not clear how much impact we will face,” he said.
Industry experts said customers may switch suppliers or pick Kobe’s competitors for future orders although the short-term impact may be reduced by the limited availability of substitute products.
Three other Kobe Steel copper and aluminum plants involved in the data cheating had their ISO 9001 quality certifications suspended earlier this month for up to six months, according to Kobe Steel.
Japan’s third-largest steelmaker, which supplies producers of cars, planes, trains and other products across the world, said last month that about 500 of its customers had received products with falsified specifications.
Japanese manufacturing prowess has taken a hit in recent weeks due to the Kobe Steel scandal and news of improper final domestic inspection procedures at Nissan Motor 7201.T.
Nissan said earlier on Wednesday it had been informed that the ISO 9001 certification of its plants and those of affiliate Nissan Shatai 7222.T had been revoked for production of Japan-bound vehicles.
Kobe Steel has an extensive role in global supply chains.
It produces engine valve springs found in half the world’s cars, according to its website.
Kobe shares have plunged nearly a quarter since news of the data tampering in early October. They fell 4 percent on Wednesday, versus a 1.6 percent drop in the Nikkei 225 .225. | {
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Image caption Pte Manning was found not guilty of the most serious charge he faced
A sentencing hearing for US Army Private Bradley Manning has begun at a military court in Maryland.
On Tuesday, he was convicted of 20 charges, including espionage and theft, but acquitted of aiding the enemy.
The sentencing could take weeks, with both the prosecution and defence allowed to call witnesses. Pte Manning faces up to 136 years in prison.
He had admitted passing hundreds of thousands of battlefield reports and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks.
Analysis How much damage did Bradley Manning really do? That issue is at the heart of the sentencing process and also the wider debate over whether to treat the soldier as an ethical whistle-blower or a traitor. Supporters say his disclosures helped highlight abuses in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, and force a debate on what should be kept secret and wider US foreign policy. Critics say that by divulging confidential contacts between US embassies and individuals living under sometimes repressive regimes, he put people at risk, perhaps forcing some into hiding. They add it had a wider chilling effect on people's willingness to talk to US officials and confidential contacts are a necessary part of diplomacy. What the Manning case has done - along with that of Edward Snowden - is push forward a debate on what the boundaries of secrecy should be and when individuals may reveal what had been classified.
The website's founder Julian Assange said Pte Manning's conviction for spying set a "dangerous precedent", accusing the US authorities of "national security extremism".
Mr Assange described the soldier as the most important journalistic source the world had ever seen, and said the military court's verdict had to be overturned.
'Still under fire'
More than 20 witnesses are expected to be called for the sentencing hearing, which could take weeks.
Analysts say Pte Manning, who did not testify in his defence, could still take the stand during the sentencing phase.
On Wednesday, Maj Ashden Fein, the trial prosecutor, said the Wikileaks disclosures "have impacted the entire system" that allows military intelligence analysts to access classified information.
Pte Manning's defence lawyer is expected to say the soldier never intended to harm US national security, an argument made at length and with apparent success during the trial, as he was acquitted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy.
On Tuesday, Pte Manning appeared not to react as Judge Col Denise Lind read aloud the verdicts, but his defence lawyer, David Coombs, smiled faintly as he was found not guilty of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Julian Assange described Bradley Manning as a "quintessential whistleblower"
"We won the battle, now we need to go win the war," Mr Coombs said of the sentencing phase. "Today is a good day, but Bradley is by no means out of the fire."
During the trial the judge stopped both sides from presenting evidence about whether the leaks had endangered national security or US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, but the prosecution and defence will be able to bring that up at the sentencing hearing.
The judge also limited evidence of Pte Manning's motives. At a pre-trial hearing, he testified that he had leaked the material to expose the "bloodlust" of US forces and the country's diplomatic deceitfulness. He did not believe his actions would harm the country.
World media reaction Editorial in The New York Times "Lurking just behind a military court's conviction of Pfc Bradley Manning... is a national-security apparatus that has metastasized into a vast and largely unchecked exercise of government secrecy and the overzealous prosecution of those who breach it." Ansgar Graw in Germany's Die Welt "After the verdict, an immature youngster with vague dreams of a 'better world' and few thoughts about his own obligations is facing further years in prison. But his military superiors failed at least as much as Bradley Manning." China's People's Net website "Manning has a number of supporters in the United States, who believe that Manning uncovered the most ugly side of foreign policy formulated by American politicians and military leaders." Correspondent on Russia's Rossiya TV "The verdict in the Manning case... is also a signal to all future truth-lovers in America... Even after bursting the boil of secrecy, it is very difficult today to not only change the course of history, but also to awaken society that is not ready to and does not want to hear the truth."
During the court martial, prosecutors said Pte Manning systematically harvested hundreds of thousands of classified documents in order to gain notoriety.
With his training as an intelligence analyst, Pte Manning should have known the leaked documents would become available to al-Qaeda operatives, they argued.
The defence characterised him as a naive young soldier who had become disillusioned during his deployment in Iraq.
His actions, Mr Coombs argued, were those of a whistleblower.
Among the items Pte Manning sent to Wikileaks was graphic footage of an Apache helicopter attack in 2007 that killed a dozen people in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, including a Reuters photographer.
The documents also included 470,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and 250,000 secure state department cables between Washington and embassies around the world.
Pte Manning, an intelligence analyst, was arrested in Iraq in May 2010. He spent weeks in a cell at Camp Arifjan, a US Army installation in Kuwait, before being transferred to the US. | {
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It’s still more than three years until the next presidential election, and yet here was Ray Buckley — the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party for the last decade — riding shotgun last Wednesday from Boston to Hopkinton, New Hampshire, with Rep. Tim Ryan, the 44-year old Democrat from Youngstown, Ohio.
Ryan made a name for himself when he challenged Nancy Pelosi for the leadership of the House Democrats last year, arguing he was the right man for the job because he was one of the few Democrats able to handily win reelection in a district where many of his white, working-class constituents also voted for Donald Trump.
Buckley and Ryan have known each other for two decades, the starting point for an, "Oh gosh, how did we get so old?' riff that cracks up the crowd at a backyard fundraiser for the New Hampshire House Democrats on Wednesday afternoon. They met when Ryan was in law school in New Hampshire, managing a state Senate campaign for Steve DeStefano, who lost by a heartbreaking five votes.
But despite the near-constant ribbing, last week's New Hampshire visit was not just a reunion of old friends. In June, Ryan campaigned for a Democratic candidate in South Carolina. Next month, he'll make his second trip of the year to Iowa.
Which begs the question: What the hell is Ryan doing?
A Cheshire Cat-style smile spreads across his face when a reporter at New Hampshire’s major television station, WMUR, casually asks if Ryan's running for president. Ryan’s sitting in the green room, waiting to do a television hit. “Is this interview happening right now?” he says after a few seconds. This will be the first of four times he gets asked this question in the span of six hours.
Tim Ryan for President wouldn’t be totally out of left field — he’s a charismatic guy with a compelling biography representing Democrat-turned-Trump counties in arguably the most important swing state in the country. He’s been on the short list of potential candidates for nearly every statewide office in Ohio for several years. But one by one, he’s passed on each one of them. After 16 years in the House, his résumé isn’t unimpressive, but by his own admission it could be stronger. Trump’s election galvanized him, he said, and he didn’t want his toddler to grow up and “say ‘Dad, you were congressman for like 20 years, what’d you do?’ I don’t want to say, ‘well, I started tech companies in downtown Youngstown.’ I want to say more than that,” he said.
So is he considering a run for president? Another WMUR reporter, political director Adam Sexton, asks him — this time on air. “I have no idea at this point. But we’ll see,” Ryan says. “I like being out around the country, I like talking about this, I like crafting the message, and I think maybe the country needs someone from a place like Youngstown, Ohio, that has really tried to develop the local economy at the local level, and we’ll see where it goes.”
He’s not the only one taking this approach. His fellow House Democrat Seth Moulton will appear with him in Iowa next month. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is heading to New Hampshire later this month. Maryland Rep. John Delaney actually just went ahead and announced his presidential bid last month because it’s never too early to start campaigning when nobody knows who you are. This is not to mention the bevy of more oft-mentioned Democrats in Congress and around the country who are making moves that seem geared toward future ambitions.
“Look, this is the first time in a generation that we don’t have an overwhelming favorite,” Buckley says on the drive to New Hampshire. “And anyone that has the capacity to be a good president should absolutely consider it.”
As for Ryan, Buckley turns toward the backseat of the car and mouths, “He should run.”
Ryan, at least at this juncture, would rather talk about the Democratic Party’s future than his own. His district is the epicenter of the Trump phenomenon, a place where Obama won by 28 points but Clinton won by a mere six. Ryan represents those much-analyzed white working-class voters, who — even as they bailed on Democrats to vote for Trump — reelected Ryan by a 36% margin. And in the wake of Clinton’s loss, Ryan has set out to try to turn Democrats into the candidates who can win back his constituents in a presidential election, by focusing on an economic message.
“I get more mad at the Democrats over the years that we let this happen — that this guy came. Obviously we weren’t doing what we needed to be doing,” he says.
Ryan's first step in his plan to reshape his party after its 2016 loss was running for Democratic leader, challenging Pelosi for the post she has held for a decade. He felt that after such a devastating defeat, the Democratic Party needed to change — and that meant changing its leaders. He lost — badly. But the bid gave him the “notoriety,” as he puts it, to take his show on the road.
He flew to South Carolina in June to campaign for the long-shot Democratic candidate in a special election to replace Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. Earlier this month, he campaigned for the Democratic Senate candidate in Alabama — who has an even longer shot. From there, he drove to Mississippi to attend a conference with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Next he’ll head to Kentucky for a Democratic conference, and to Indiana with Sen. Joe Donnelly.
“Let’s go down there and dust it up,” he said of his most recent trip to Alabama.
“Who knows. I mean who knows what Trump’s gonna be doing by December,” when the Alabama Senate contest will take place. “I mean, Jesus. Who knows what could happen by then.”
Besides, he says, if Democrats are going to win back House seats in 2018, they’re going to have to put a lot of seats on the board. And the off year, when tensions are running a little lower, is a good time to make some inroads.
“That’s why I think it’s important to go to these places, cause if you’re afraid to go there, what’s the use? Just write people off? Like high school, you can sit at the cool kid table 'cause you voted for us, but if you don’t sit at the cool kid table, you don’t matter. To me, that’s not what it’s about. And we’ve got to let every American know they matter to us and period,” he says.
Ryan isn’t choosing where to go, he says, so much as accepting invitations. But if he were hypothetically to be considering a presidential bid, they would be useful locations to travel to. Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina hold three of the earliest nominating contests. In 2016, Alabama's primary was on Super Tuesday; Kentucky's was the next week. Both of those are states Clinton won in the primaries, helping cement her victory over Bernie Sanders.
Ryan is adamant that a Democratic message moving forward can’t just be a rejection of Trump and what he stands for.
"We spent a lot of time talking about him” in 2016, he tells a woman at a backyard fundraiser for the New Hampshire House Democrats. “We weren't talking about them” – the voters, he says.
“We can't let this guy get us so mad that we end up just engaging him on every single minute of every single day,” he later added during his remarks.
But the events in Charlottesville the weekend prior made it harder not to define Democrats in opposition to the president.
“You’ve got to rebrand and be out there pushing something that’s very very positive. And the contrast now too can be very sharp given what he’s doing," Ryan said. "You know, like you’re either with the Nazis and Trump or you’re with the Democrats.”
So what is Ryan doing riding through New Hampshire in the backseat of an SUV, as Buckley regales him with fun facts about the state (“That’s where the inventor of the Segway lives. This is where Velcro was invented. That’s the building where Adam Sandler bought an apartment for his mother”)?
“I’m pushing a national message,” Ryan says with a laugh. “I feel like I understand what needs to be done because I’ve grown up in this area and I’ve been around enough to know what, how to get these communities back,” he explains.
“I don’t want to say I understand it better than anybody, but I don’t think there’s anybody that understands it more than I do. I get it. I get it. I know what needs to be done. I’ve been in Congress 15 years. I’m not new,” he adds.
In a sort of Trumpian way, Ryan thinks Democrats should be talking bigger.
“Think big. Reverse global warming. What are we doing? You know, we’re Americans. Neutral? Minimum wage? Like, what are we doing here? It’s driving me nuts. Like this is not what we’re here for. This is not the D-Day invasion, like this is like, ‘well, we’re gonna send a couple guys over with a couple of boats and see what happens.’ No, this is like we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna make this happen, and we’re gonna hit some roadblocks, but... I just think that kind of aspirational message is needed for us,” Ryan says, getting as animated as he got all day.
He never quite directly answers the question of whether he’s running for president, but in his side conversations he talks like someone who is considering it.
“If I ever ran for president, I’d look like Bill Clinton. I mean, I would turn into a bubba. I mean, you go to these events and you’re nervous and you like, eat,” he said after Buckley recounted a story about another candidate eating ice cream.
Apropos of his figure, Ryan suggests there might be some false reporting out there about it.
“I forget what reporter I was talking to, they asked me about Paul Ryan, and I said, ‘you know bah bah bah, yeah I see him at the gym.’ I said, ‘you know, obviously, you know my abs are better than his.’ And I’m totally joking, obviously, and the reporter puts it in the story, and doesn’t say like, he joked or like anything. I was like, no, no no,” Ryan says.
Asked if that means he hopes this part of the interview shouldn’t be part of the story, Ryan says he just wants proper credit for his sense of humor. “If you say that he joked, yeah I think that’s pretty funny. I think it just shows how funny I am,” he says.
After downing “a small coffee, with two shots of espresso in it and extra cream” in the car, Ryan declares himself hyped. “Gonna rip my shirt off at the next event,” he cracks, with a joking, Hulk-style noise. “Yeah, that’ll lose votes.”
Ryan’s day in New Hampshire starts with a fundraiser for state House Democrats. At his second event for young Democrats, he spends about 15 minutes talking to candidates as young as 18 who are running for local offices. He’s adamant that this has to be a part of what Democrats spend their time doing over the next three and a half years. It’s the only way to break through in a moment when everything is defined in Trump's reflection.
“We’re all living inside Donald Trump’s head now, whether we like it or not, like, we see it, tweet by tweet by tweet,” Ryan says. “And so we’ve got to get underneath all of that and just grind it out with a message that’s aspirational and position ourselves for when we’re ready for a change.”
So what does he say when nonreporters ask what he’s doing traipsing through Iowa and New Hampshire?
“Oh, I say we’re announcing for president next week,” he deadpans, before dissolving into laughter. | {
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Cherry Chocolate Chunk Energy Bars!
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| {
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モバイル周辺アクセサリー専門のロア・インターナショナルより、プラモデル製作時に必要な工具や塗装を綺麗に収納でき、限られた空間での整理整頓を可能にする収納システム「Artty Station（アーティステーション）」が登場！ 国内クラウドファンディングサービス「Makuake（マクアケ）」にて、先行販売中です。
プラモ製作がはかどる！Artty Station（アーティステーション）
本製品は、プラモデル製作時の工具や塗装などのアイテムを収納できるモジュール式収納システム（収納棚）です。この1台を持つだけで、デスクの空間を節約し整理整頓が可能となりますので、効率よく作業ができるワークスペースを作る事ができます。より快適なプラモ製作に必要不可欠なアイテムです。
「Artty Station（アーティステーション）」は、さまざまなユーザーの環境に応える5つのラインナップが用意されています。また、先行予約販売となるMakuakeでは特別に、最大20％OFFとなるリターンが用意されています。
＜Artty Station（アーティステーション）特長＞
自由度の高いモジュール式の収納システム
ユーザーのさまざまな環境に応える5つのラインナップ
丈夫な高密度・両面UVコーティングのMDF素材を使用
リーズナブルな価格設定
＜Artty Station（アーティステーション）ラインナップ＞
ArttyStation Solo（ソロ） 4,500円（税別）
ArttyStation Piccolo（ピッコロ） 15,000円（税別）
ArttyStation Symphony（シンフォニー） 24,000円（税別）
ArttyStation Concert（コンサート） 35,000円（税別）
ArttyStation Opera（オペラ） 49,800円（税別）
※2019年12月正式販売予定
DATA
Makuake プロジェクト概要
受付期間：2019年8月21日（水）～2019年10月11日（金）18時
目標金額：300,000円
●ブランドArtty Station（アーティステーション）について
プラモデル・模型製作には非常に多くの道具が必要です。ニッパー、ヤスリ、カッター、ピンセット、パレット、塗料のボトル、さらにはランナーや説明書などでデスク上を占領してしまうと、実際に作業できるスペースは狭くなってしまいます。作業スペースを確保できなければ、集中力は途切れやすくなり、せっかくの楽しい時間が台無しです。アーティステーションは、このような悩みをすべて解決し、プラモデラーが大満足できる最適な環境を提供。どんなに複雑で狭い空間もアーティステーションで効率の良い作業空間に早変わりします。
関連情報
関連記事 | {
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Frances Arnold, an American scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, retracted a paper published last year after admitting to faulty research.
Arnold's paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams was published in May 2019 in the Science journal.
The award-winning scientist said in a series of tweets Thursday that the work had not been "reproducible" and that she had been "very busy" when the paper was submitted. Arnold added she "did not do my job well."
SECRET 'PIGGY BANK' OF 1,200-YEAR-OLD GOLD COINS DISCOVERED IN ISRAEL
"For my first work-related tweet of 2020, I am totally bummed to announce that we have retracted last year's paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams. The work has not been reproducible," she posted.
"It is painful to admit, but important to do so. I apologize to all. I was a bit busy when this was submitted, and did not do my job well," Arnold said in a follow-up tweet.
In a notice published to its website, the Science journal outlined why it was retracting the paper Arnold co-wrote with Inha Cho and Zhi-Jun Jia.
"After publication of the Report “Site-selective enzymatic C‒H amidation for synthesis of diverse lactams” (1), efforts to reproduce the work showed that the enzymes do not catalyze the reactions with the activities and selectivities claimed," the statement read.
MYSTERIOUS LAKE MICHIGAN SHIPWRECK IS SLOWLY 'DISAPPEARING'
"Careful examination of the first author's lab notebook then revealed missing contemporaneous entries and raw data for key experiments. The authors are therefore retracting the paper."
Many of the responses to Arnold's tweets commended her for her honesty and transparency.
“Sometimes things appear to work, then they don’t. Science should be a process, not winner takes all whatever the cost,” wrote Professor Lee Cronin of the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"Seeing a Nobel laureate tweet about a paper retraction teaches how important it is for scientist to be honest about their data,” tweeted scientist Anmol Kilkarni.
Arnold works as a chemical engineer at the California Institute of Technology and won the Nobel Prize in chemistry with two other scientists for their work on the evolution of enzymes. | {
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It should be no surprise to anyone that the Trump administration’s ATF would be a kinder gentler regulator to the firearms industry. The NRA-backed pro-gun president made eliminating wasteful, useless regulations one of his key campaign promises and his extremely pro-gun son has apparently helped push him further in the right direction. Word comes today through a leaked ATF white paper exactly what kinds of pro-gun regulatory changes are coming down the road.
The full white paper is available here, but here’s a quick summary:
New Federal Firearms License specifically for online and gun show sales. This would be the return of the “kitchen counter” FFL, allowing private citizens to enjoy all the benefits of a Federal Firearms License without actually needing to run a proper business. Ostensibly it would be used for those who don’t have a retail location but still want to sell guns online and at gun shows, but reality is that it would be a way for every citizen to pay one licensing fee and have guns shipped straight to their door from the factory with no middleman (since the government already did a more thorough background check than any NICS check could do). Redefinition of “armor Piercing Ammunition.” Companies making and importing ammunition that currently meets the definition of “armor piercing” such as lead free projectiles and the 7N6 ban from 2014 would be able to sell their wares once more without fear. It would also drive down the cost of ammo for Soviet surplus ammunition since the pipeline would once more be open. Lifting the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and M1911 Army Surplus Importation Ban. For years there has been a treasure trove of surplus M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and M1911 handguns sitting in Korea waiting to be shipped back to the UnitedStates so that the CMP could sell these guns to the U.S. citizens at dirt cheap prices. The Obama administration blocked their importation citing concerns over “gun violence”. Overturning that decision would be quick and painless and make many a firearms collector very happy. Eliminating Law Letter Requirements. If an FFL wants to get a machine gun manufactured after 1986 they need a letter from a local law enforcement agency requesting the gun for demonstration purposes. These “law letters” or “demo letters” are really just a time consuming formality keeping gun stores and FFL holders from buying machine guns. Elimination of this archaic requirement would allow new machine guns to be avalable to every FFL/SOT holder. Possibly including the new wave of “kitchen counter” FFL holders. Reversing the decision on shouldering a pistol brace. A couple years back the ATF issued a series of confusing and conflicting rulings about whether it was illegal to shoulder a pistol arm brace such as the SB Tactical brace. There’s apparently quite a bit of energy being directed at reversing the ruling and once more enabling the mass shouldering of pistol arm braces. Redefine “Sporting Purposes.” There’s a Chinese manufacturer that is making brand new M14 style rifles. They are plentiful in Canada but unavailable in the United States because, according to the law, they are not for “sporting purposes” and ineligible for importation. The folks behind this white paper seem to think that it’s high time we redefine what “sporting purposes” are. This might qualify things like 3-gun and other competition shooting activities as “sporting” and open the door for just about everything to be imported. Make agency rulings searchable. Instead of relying on what opinion letters have been published on the internet, make those opinions publicly available and searchable so that everyone can see previous opinions and hold the ATF accountable. Remove silencers from the NFA. This one isn’t really possible to do from within the ATF, it would probably require Congress to act through the Hearing Protection Act. But support from the ATF goes a long way towards public acceptance of the idea. Allow interstate firearms sales at gun shows. Right now gun stores can only sell guns to residents of their own state from locations within that state’s borders. If they want to visit a gun show across state lines they can only take orders and ship to a local FFL, not directly sell. The ATF wants to make it so that FFLs can travel from state to state and sell guns as they see fit. Reclassify “destructive devices”. Right now both destructive device munitions and launcers are considered “destructive devices” and regulated just like silencers and machine guns, meaning every round of HE for your grenade launcher needs a serial number and its own Form 4. The ATF wants to make it so that only the launcher, not the munition, is considered the registered “destructive device.” Raise the threshold for “grey market” records reporting. Right now any store that has more than 10 crime guns traced to it needs to do extra recording and reporting to the ATF of their used guns. The ATF wants to raise that threshold to lessen the strain on dealers. Eliminate “multiple gun reporting” for border states. Right now, if you buy more than one AR-15 in a certain time period in Texas and other border states the ATF requires a special form to be sent detailing the sale. It’s ostensibly to stop straw purchasers, but the success rate is low enough to be statistically zero. Eliminating that burden would help gun dealers. Reduce record retention requirements. The ATF currently requires all 4473 forms to be kept for 20 years. That’s a bit much, don’t you think? This proposal would reduce that burden on gun stores. Allow NICS checks for non-gun purchases. You can’t work in a gun store if you are prohibited form buying a gun. To figure out if an employee is disqualified the simplest way would be to have the store run a NICS check, but that’s not allowed under the current law. Allowing background checks for employees would reduce the cost to hire new employees and make life easier for gun stores.
Right now these are just proposals — none of them have been approved or implemented. The document in question was prepared as a menu of items for the new ATF head to consider, not necessarily a final list of things that will be implemented. But it seems reasonable to expect that this is at least an indication of the general directions of things to come. And of course, the anti-gun groups are already in full pearl-clutching mode.
“This white paper offers a disturbing series of giveaways to the gun industry that would weaken regulatory oversight of the gun industry without adequate consideration of the impact on public safety,” said Chelsea Parsons, vice president of guns and crime policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. “ATF has long described its regulatory function as a core part of its law enforcement mission to fight gun crime, yet this paper seems to prioritize reducing perceived burdens on the gun industry over an interest in protecting public safety from the illegal diversion of firearms,” Parsons said.
The regulations the white paper moves would address were put in place largely without any consideration of their impact on the rights of gun owning Americans and have little or no impact on crime. A little swing of the pendulum back in the opposite direction is very much in order. | {
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A Chinese woman has infiltrated President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, overcoming the power of the entire US security apparatus by simply asking to use the pool and by dodging any clarifying questions.
The mystery woman managed to trick the agents by claiming she wanted to swim at the West Palm Beach country club’s pool on Saturday. Despite her name, Yujing Zhang, not matching any on the guest list, a Secret Service agent assumed she was related to a member with the same last name and let her through without confirming that fact, later blaming a “language barrier” for the oversight.
Also on rt.com Trump linked to massage parlor owner involved in Robert Kraft prostitution scandal - report
She was only busted in the main reception area –by a receptionist, not a Secret Service agent– when she claimed she was there for a United Nations Chinese American Association event that didn’t exist, according to the charging documents, which paint an unsettling picture of a troop of Keystone Kops-esque bumblers unable to outsmart an unarmed woman despite the heightened security procedures in place for the president’s visit.
When the agents finally decided to search the suspicious woman, they found two Chinese passports, four cell phones, a hard drive, a laptop, and a thumb drive which contained what they vaguely termed as “malicious malware,” leaving the list of items up to interpretation by US media.
Also on rt.com EU diplomats warned to stay out of pubs & cafes to avoid Russian & Chinese ‘spies’
Removed from the Mar-a-Lago property, Zhang proved to be fluent in English, allegedly telling the agents she had been directed on WeChat to travel from Shanghai to speak with a member of the Trump family about “Chinese and American foreign economic relations,” and stating she had arrived early to “familiarize herself with the property and take pictures.”
Zhang was ultimately arrested for making false statements about using the pool, according to the charging documents, since “no swimming apparel was found in Zhang’s possession or on her person.” For the unspeakable crime of allowing the agents to believe she was a visiting club member – and because embarrassing Secret Service agents isn’t technically a criminal offense – Zhang faces up to six years in prison as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
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For office or working environment LED lights to have the first choice for a long time. Most offices have replaced old fluorescent lights with LED Tubes or LED Panels for better illumination condition and cost effectiveness. But still some offices need to upgrade and they are looking for the best solution you can choose the best from the best and this is why today’s’ article is all about the difference between LED Tubes & LED Panels.
LED Tube Lights
You can select LED Tubes from lots of LED products designed to replace your old T8 lights. LED Tubes are lighter than other bulbs which make it easy to set up. They are less costly and less power ingesting than other lights. LED tube lights decrease the dangerous effect on the environment as they consist of non-toxic gases. These lights offer crystal clear, smooth and stable light. LED tubes of 15W to replace 32W T8, T10 or T12 lamps making the LED 50% more efficient. These tubes have a longer time span of 50,000 hours which is 55 times extended than other lights. LED tubes use drivers that power the LEDs. Some drivers are incorporated in the LED tubes and some decide to use an external driver outside the lights which totally depends on the manufacturers. There are some subtle differences between these designs. More people are asking for LED tubes that can be easily installed as a plug and play version into existing fixture without removing the existing ballasts. Though the installation cost is high, still it’s an investment for the long run.
Advantages
1. LED tube lights can reduce electricity consumption up to 50%
2. LED tubes are recyclable after their life span.
3. The service of LED tube depends on some components like mechanical design, quality of LED, heat management etc.
4. Illumination of Led tubes are better buy some of these tubes are unlikely to be suitable for use in luminaries which are used in emergencies.
5. For many areas like offices, corridors and car parks vertical illumination is important to see someone’s face and read a notice board.
LED Panel Lights
But these days LED surface mounted device panels are now turning into more popular in the modern community for lighting up buildings like offices. They also save energy by improving energy efficiency. LED panels can generate light of full spectrum. Typical sizes for conventional fluorescent light containing troffer fixtures are 2ft*2ft or 2ft*4ft. These correlate with common recessed ceiling panel sizes. We can easily replace LED troffers with fluorescent tube light troffers. We can do this by installing LED strips directly into the aluminium troffer. Manufacturers can create a numerous configuration of power and brightness by changing the number of density of LED stripes. LED troffer can replace a fluorescent fixture consuming two times more energy if it’s well designed. We can give an example of a ballast draw included 3* T8 fluorescent lights that consume 108 watts. A 40w LED troffer can replace the same fixture and it won’t be unreasonable to achieve 40% savings on your utility bill.
Advantages
1. Panel lights are designed to be flexible. Designers design a variety of different shapes & different particles of the light source according to the customer requirement.
2. The illumination of LED panel light is higher and glow is even.
3. Heat dissipation of LED panel light is less than other lights. These lights are slim.
4. Control ability of these lights are strong. LED Panel lights can carry out program control by an external controller and regulate the light color.
5. LED panel lights can change or adjust light color according to the environment and different needs.
6. These lights don’t produce any radiation and glare and can protect eyesight. The light color is also very average.
If you have made up your mind to change your office lightings then it can be done easily with an wise selection of light. LEDs are certainly brighter than any other lights and they consume more as well as they last more. Just think about different awesome options these lights have and give your office a nice, peaceful and comfortable look. | {
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Ted Kulfan
The Detroit News
Detroit — It's a new season but the Red Wings are again having difficulty winning shootouts.
Never mind they have accomplished offensive players, crafty goal scorers such as Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist, who seemingly should dominate in the one-on-one battle against opposing goaltenders.
But once it gets to a shootout — the NHL's way to decide tied games after a five-minute four-on-four overtime — the Red Wings don't win. They've lost all three shootouts this season, after going 5-9 last season and 2-5 in the lockout-shortened 2013 season.
Something about the shootout just doesn't suit the Red Wings.
"You have to be comfortable with it and right now I don't think any of us are," said goalie Jjimmy Howard, who is 0-3 this season and is below .500 (19-24) in his career. "It's one of those things where you can do it in practice but once you get 20,000 people watching you it might be a little nerve-wraecking.
"I'm not a shooter, but I can only imagine it's probably not one of the best feelings."
The Red Wings spent time during Monday's practice — they had an day off Tuesday — working on the shootout, going one-on-one against Howard and goaltender Petr Mrazek.
"If you don't take care of shootouts, there's a lot of lost points," Nyquist said. "Every point is so important. You know those shootout points are going to matter. You have to find a way to get them."
Thus far, in three shootouts this season, the Red Wings have been ineffective on both ends.
They've scored on only 1-of-8 shots (Nyquist goal), while allowing five of seven goals.
It's early, but those three lost points thus far could have vaulted the Red Wings (19 points) into second place past Montreal (21 points) in the Atlantic Division.
"It's obviously points on the table you'd like to have," assistant coach Tony Granato said. "That's something, moving forward, we can get better at. We've got good shooters, good goalies, so hopefully we can take advantage of that."
But will the Red Wings and the rest of the league need to worry about the shootout beyond this season?
There's been plenty of speculation the league will abandon the shootout to decide a winner, instead focusing more on a three-on-three concept that would surely produce nightly highlights.
The NHL instituted the shootout after the 2004-05 lockout as a way to end ties and give something back to fans, who loved the idea of a shooter-against-goalie confrontation.
But while fans appear to still enjoy the shootout, players are getting bored.
"A lot of guys are getting sick of it throughout the league," Howard said. "It was fun at the beginning, but I think how we're deciding (these) games is a tough way.
"Sometimes it's not indicative of how you played. You get in a shootout and the pucks go in and all of a sudden you didn't have a good game."
The league could increase the length of overtime from five to about seven or eight minutes, with the first half being four-on-four and the latter half three-on-three.
Or, possibly, maybe go directly to three-on-three, which many players wouldn't mind seeing.
"That's going to end a lot of games," said Nyquist of the three-on-three action. "You're going to get chances. The crowd likes shootouts, but three-on-three sounds pretty interesting."
What bothers some players is the fact meaningful and important points are being decided by a skills completion — similar to a home-run hitting contest in baseball.
Settling on a winner or loser in more of a hockey manner — even in the seldom seen three-on-three — seems much more palatable.
"If they want to get rid of the shootout, just go straight to three-on-three. Someone is going to score," Stephen Weiss said. "You're settling it in a game atmosphere, not so much a skills competition. I don't make those calls, but that would be pretty cool.
"You'd see a lot more games ending in three-on-three. The players would love it, fans would love it."
But it's because of fans' enthusiasm toward the shootout that Granato, and some players, don't want it to see it disappear just yet.
"I like it because the fans like it," Granato said. "It's their game. They are what makes our game. If they want a shootout, they should have a shootout.
"I don't think it's lost its pizzazz. No matter where you are in the standings, when a shooter is coming down and you see 17,000 fans come out of their seats, they still like it."
Red Wings' year-by-year record in the shootout
2014-15: 0-3 (1 goal, 5 against)
2013-14: 5-9 (11-14)
*2012-13: 2-5 (5-8)
2011-12: 9-3 (15-8)
2010-11: 4-4 (6-4)
2009-10: 6-9 (19-21)
2008-09: 6-4 (13-10)
2007-08: 5-5 (12-11)
2006-07: 2-8 (10-17)
2005-06: 4-3 (12-9)
Overall: 43-53 (104-107)
*NHL lockout | {
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