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As technology advances and gets even better, the older chips that were used to work with the technology we grew up with becomes discontinued. In the computer world, for example, you won’t see anyone running an 6502 microprocessor like the Apple II series ran, or the Intel 8088 that the original PCs ran. While many people are aware of how the computer CPU chips grow to the current market, sometimes people forget that retro video game consoles also have a similar situation, where the older processors and no longer created and supported. A newly founded nonprofit has announced plans to re-release a handful of Sega’s central processing units from their systems past, and we have the news of which consoles, and why they are doing it!
The relaunch of these classic Sega CPUs comes to us from a new organization called the Open Core Foundation, who is planning on designing older processors based on Hitachi branded chips, which were used to run computer operating systems and various gaming consoles in the 1990s. According to Shumpei Kawasaki, a member of the Open Core Foundation, these chips which were considered to be advanced for their time, could still be used today in electronics such as sensor devices and do-it-yourself projects. He also stated that their goal as an organization is to provide a low-cost and open-source CPU cores to the community involved in the development of such products.
The entire process will start getting made public in just a few months. This coming October, Open Core Foundation will release a design for its very first core called the “J1”, which will be based on Hitachi’s SH2 processor. This particular microprocessor was used in the Sega Saturn gaming console, which was released to Japanese gamers back in 1994. It was also used on the Sega 32X platform released as a Genesis add-on that same year. The new organization has reverse engineered the SH2 chip logic and design in their upcoming J1. The patents of Hitachi SH2, which was originally released in 1993, are due to expire later this year, Kawasaki states.
Coming up later on in 2016, this newly found organization plans to release the faster and original “J2” core, which will be based on Hitachi’s SH4 chip. This chip was used in Sega Dreamcast console, which was first released in Japan back in 1998. While this 32-bit based chip will run at speeds of approximately 1GHz, Kawasaki stated that the clock speed could be increased. It has been predicted that the J2 core will be able to run an early version of the Android operating system.
According to Kawasaki, the chips based on the cores could be manufactured by such contract manufacturers as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, however this could prove to be an expensive endeavor. Alternately, users may be able to download a simulated version of the logic from their website, and load it on a field-programmable gate array such as the Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA LX9 MicroBoard. One organization taking advantage of this method is an energy measurement company called Smart Energy Instruments, who are using a simulation of the J1 core on a measurement board it provides to utility companies. President and chief operating officer of the company, Rich Larson, stated that they put it in such devices as their fault detection devices and power quality meters.
Open Core Foundation has the same objectives as other open source hardware projects including OpenSparc and OpenRISC, which also aim to provide similar open source chip architectures that can be replicated. Keeping such projects alive does become difficult due to the lack of software developer involvement. Because of this, they feel that the best way to help with that situation is to have developers be involved, especially with providing feedback with bugs in the newly created cores, as well as validate architecture.
As for the retro video game community, this could become an interesting situation for those fans of the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast systems. For one, it will provide us with a way of replacing the CPU’s of these (somewhat) short-lived systems, in the event they should fail. It could also give some people a chance to build their own homebrew consoles from scratch, giving them a personal feel based on features that are wanted by their creators. We will continue to monitor for future developments.
Source: PC World
Open Core Foundation: Official Website | {
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Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Many of the crops imported and exported from the US are grown with non-sustainable water supplies
The global market for foodstuffs is depleting water sources in many parts of the world quicker than they can naturally be refilled.
The complex trade is increasing pressure on non-renewable groundwater, mainly used for irrigating crops such as rice, wheat and cotton.
Pakistan, the US and India are the countries exporting the most food grown with unsustainable water.
Researchers say that without action, food supplies will be threatened.
Around 43% of the water used to irrigate crops around the world comes from underground aquifers, as opposed to rivers and lakes. Many of these sources are being used up quicker than they can be refilled from rainfall.
Back in 2000, experts believed that non-renewable resources sustained 20% of global irrigation. In the 10 years to 2010, this increased by more than a fifth.
While scientists have long known about the depletion of groundwater, this new study sets out to understand how supplies are impacted by the booming international trade in food and crops.
The vast majority of the world's populations live in countries that source nearly all their staple crop imports from nations who deplete significant amounts of groundwater to irrigate these foodstuffs.
The researchers found that some 11% of the non-renewable groundwater used for irrigation is embedded in the the global food trade. Two-thirds of this are accounted for by Pakistan, the US and India.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Rice-growing in Pakistan is often irrigated with unsustainable groundwater
Over the decade from the year 2000, the use of non-renewable groundwater has doubled in China and increased significantly in India and the US. The crops using the biggest amounts of this water are wheat, rice, sugar crops, cotton and maize.
However, the web of responsibility is a complex one.
The US, Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and China are among the top 10 users of unsustainable water in agriculture. However, they are also among the top importers of crops grown with these dwindling resources.
So, Iran, for example, mainly imports rice from Pakistan irrigated by the Upper Ganges and Lower Indus aquifers. These water sources have extraction rates up to 50 times higher than required for sustainable use. Iran in turn exports perennial crops irrigated by the Persian aquifer that has been extracted at a mere 20 times the rate that is sustainable.
"The depletion rate is alarming - we have these clusters of countries that are at risk both from domestic production and imports," said lead author Dr Carole Dalin from University College London.
"If the reserve of water runs out the price of food will be affected and it will affect almost all the world's population."
Many developed countries are aware of issues in the depletion of groundwater and have put measures in place, such as urban water restrictions in California during the recent years of drought. However, in developing nations, the mechanisms to restrict water may not exist.
"Pakistan for instance is quite complex," said Dr Dalin. "They can make good money out of exporting rice, but the framework is not really there to account for the impact on the environment. It is true that eventually it will affect the production there."
The researchers argue that while governments need to have greater awareness about the impacts of production on water resources, consumers in richer countries should also think about water when considering the foods that they buy.
"The products that consumers buy at a supermarket may have very different environmental impacts depending on where they are produced and how they are irrigated," said co-author Yoshihide Wada, from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
"In order to help consumers make more sustainable choices about their food, producers should consider adding water labels that make these impacts clear."
The paper has been published in the journal Nature.
Follow Matt on Twitter and on Facebook. | {
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by Shafique Khokhar
Saima Sardar, 30, was set to marry her Christian fiancé in November. The threats of a former boyfriend led her to ask for greater security at the hospital where she worked. Activist calls for a law “to punish violence against women" and ban forced marriages.
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – Saima Sardar, a 30-year-old Christian nurse, was killed by her ex-boyfriend because she refused to marry him and convert to Islam. The murder took place on 10 July in Faisalabad, at the hospital where she worked.
The assassin, Muhammad Waseem, was able to get inside the facility during her shift and shot her with a gun. Then he took his own life.
"Converting to another religion or marrying someone is a personal choice,” said Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) president Naveed Walter speaking to AsiaNews. “Unfortunately, in Pakistani society Muslim men who like minority girls think that the latter should obey them and that their offer cannot be refused.”
Saima worked at the Social Security Hospital and a few years ago started a relationship with her murderer. Eventually they broke up, partly because of her family’s opposition. Later she became engaged to a young Christian and the two were set to marry in November.
According to the family, when Muhammad heard about Saima’s pending marriage, he began to harass her. He wanted her to deny her faith and convert to Islam. Then they would marry according to the Islamic tradition.
Faced with Saima's refusal, the ex-boyfriend lost his mind. For months he threatened her and even warned her: "if you do not convert and marry me, you will die".
Out of fear, she asked hospital guards not to allow him inside the building. Muhammad nevertheless was able to get in and shot her. Shortly afterwards, when two of the victim’s colleagues arrived, he shot himself.
Saima's funeral took place on 11 July, whilst the body of her murderer is still in the hospital morgue, unclaimed.
According to Naveed Walter, "a law is immediately needed to treat violence against women as a crime, and punish forced marriages with imprisonment of no less than three years and a fine of 500,000 rupees” (US$ 3,200).
"The question is who will appear before a judge when murderers kill themselves,” he wonders. Nevertheless, “Those who refuse to live next to people with different religions should be viewed as having mental problems.” | {
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Bandai Namco Will Invest Heavily in Creating New IP; Announces New Strategy
Giuseppe Nelva February 9, 2018 2:16 AM EST
Bandai Namco announces a new mid-term plan with an extensive reorganization, changes at the top, and large investment in new IP.
Today Bandai Namco announced a new mid-term business plan titled: “CHANGE for the NEXT: Empower, Gain Momentum, and Accelerate Evolution“.
The plan involves rather extensive changes to the company’s business organization and goals, to be executed over the next three years.
The goal is to strengthen the previous “IP Axis” strategy to maximize the value of the publisher’s IP, and “provide the best products and services at the best possible times.” On top of that, the company aims to improve its penetration and expansion in the global markets and strengthen development in regions and businesses with high growth potential.
Starting in April 2018, the units formed by the publisher’s subsidiaries will be renamed from “SBU” (Strategic Business Units) to simply “Units,” and they will split into five from the previous three.
The Network Entertainment SBU (which includes video games) will be split into Network Entertainment Unit, which will continue to take care of video games and network content, and Real Entertainment Unit, which will take care of content for real-world facilities like the VR Zone in Tokyo.
On top of that, an IP Creation Unit will be spun-off from the Visual and Music Production SBU, and will focus on creating new IP.
Below you can check out a graph showcasing the new units and the strategy as a whole.
The IP Creation Unit will collaborate with all the other businesses of the publisher. The company will also invest heavily in enhancing its visual production and production technologies, on top of strengthening its collaboration with external partners who can provide advanced capabilities and tech.
Bandai Namco will also invest aggressively in the creation of new IP. On top of its usual investment, there will be a further 25 billion yen invested over the next three years in creating new IP, and taking on new businesses and new technologies.
According to the new strategy, the regional holding companies and the business companies in each unit will form in an “All Bandai Namco” concept. In Japan, they will pursue the top position in each market, while in North America and Europe the aim is to expand home video games and network content. A full-blown entry into the Chinese market will also be attempted.
Changes are also coming at the top, with current Chief Executive Officer Shukuo Ishikawa retiring to become an advisor starting in June. Leadership will be consolidated with current Chief Operating Officer Mitsuaki Taguchi becoming CEO.
On top of all the changes, Bandai Namco also announced its quarterly financial results for the period ending on December 31st, 2017. As you can see in the table below, both the company as a whole and the Network Entertainment SBU posted very positive figures, with massive improvements year-on-year.
Speaking of IP, in other Bandai Namco news, the company just successfully released Dragon Ball FighterZ, which debuted with 68,731 units sold in Japan. If you want to learn more, you can check out our review. | {
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Jeder, der in der Schweiz eine Mailadresse anschreiben will, soll gleich wie bei der Telefonnummer seine überprüfte Identität beim Provider hinterlegen müssen.
Jetzt will einen politischen Vorstoss einreichen, um das Problem anonymer Mails an der Wurzel zu packen.
Cyber-Attacke wird zum Politikum
Gugger will im Parlament einen Vorstoss einreichen, der anonyme Mails künftig erschwert. «Anscheinend ist in der digitalen Welt alles erlaubt», nervt er sich. Wenn er beim Streiten Menschen bedrohe und Leute erpresserisch unter Druck setze, könne man ihn wegen Beleidigung und Nötigung verklagen. «Per Mail kann ich anonym aber viel gröberes verbales Geschütz auffahren, und nichts passiert. Eine absolute Frechheit, da auch dies ein Offizialdelikt ist!»
Unbekannte von Schweizer Mailverkehr ausschliessen
Gugger hat eine radikale Idee: Jeder, der eine E-Mail-Adresse in der Schweiz anschreiben will, soll wie bei der Mobiltelefonnummer zwingend seine überprüfte Identität bei einem Provider hinterlegen müssen. Auf diese IP-Adressen, die so künftig mehr über den Besitzer aussagten, könnten Behörden dann vertraulich zurückgreifen.
International kaum durchsetzbar
Dennoch will er Guggers Hauptanliegen nicht einfach vom Tisch wischen. «Die Kompetenzen der Strafverfolgung bei Cyber-Attacken sind armselig», so Grüter. Das zeige der Fall Ruag. Das Schweizer Rüstungsunternehmen war 2016 Opfer einer grossangelegten Hackerattacke geworden – doch die Bundesanwaltschaft musste nach zwei Jahren ihre Untersuchungen aufgeben. «Sie kamen nicht an Informationen im Ausland!», so Grüter. Handlungsbedarf gebe es in jedem Fall. | {
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"It's All Over Now"
Framed with COPEN Fabric Liner
Limited Edition Serigraph Print
$ 1,199.00 USD | {
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Hours being expanded for popular Belle Isle attractions
Summer hours for some attractions on Belle Isle in Detroit are being expanded.
Starting Friday, the Belle Isle Aquarium will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays through Sundays. Visitors can tour the Dossin Great Lakes Museum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. those days.
The James Scott Memorial Fountain will operate from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily from Thursday through Labor Day, while the popular giant slide will be open from noon to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
Michigan's Natural Resources department operates the island park in the Detroit River under a lease agreement with the city. The nonprofit Belle Isle Conservancy is responsible for generating funds for improvements and cultural programs on the island.
The nonprofit Detroit Historical Society operates the Dossin museum. | {
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The Obama administration is spending $20 million on police body cameras, amid rising tension over police violence.
The announcement from the Justice Department on Friday would create a new pilot program to equip police in dozens of cities with the devices, as the first step in a $75 million three-year effort that President Obama requested from Congress in December.
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“This body-worn camera pilot program is a vital part of the Justice Department’s comprehensive efforts to equip law enforcement agencies throughout the country with the tools, support and training they need to tackle the 21st century challenges we face,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement shared with media outlets. “Body-worn cameras hold tremendous promise for enhancing transparency, promoting accountability and advancing public safety for law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.”
The new push comes days after the worst rioting Baltimore has seen in decades, sparked by the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, which has been ruled a homicide.
Use of body cameras has gained traction as a popular check on police power over the last year, amid outrage about multiple deaths of blacks at the hands of officers from Ferguson, Mo., to Cleveland, to Staten Island, N.Y., to Baltimore.
Bystanders’ videos of many of those events — including the deaths of men at the hands of police in Staten Island and South Carolina — has contributed to the outrage and led to new scrutiny on police officers’ use of lethal force.
Of the money, $17 million would reportedly come in the form of grants for departments to purchase the cameras, while $2 million will go towards training and technical assistance and another $1 million for evaluating the effectiveness of the program.
One-third of the funding will be dedicated to small law enforcement offices.
In addition to the federal effort, cities from Baltimore to San Francisco to Los Angeles have begun exploring programs of their own to require their police to wear body cameras.
— Updated at 11:16 a.m. | {
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Hello, everyone. I am very excited to say that tomorrow that my trusty sidekick “The Golden Lobster” will be publishing his first post ever here tomorrow! Not only that, it is one of the most rewarding scams we have ever pulled off to date, so buckle your seat belts and prepare for that.
In other news, I killed a Machariel yesterday and it dropped a “Core X-Type 100MN Afterburner, worth 500M. I Saw him posting in recruitment looking for an incursion corporation, chatted with him a bit then told him to warp to a level 4 mission to see “what he was capable of”. Except instead of a mission it was me.
It died. | {
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One of my girlfriends once contacted every guy who ever ghosted her or didn't ask her out again after a first date. She just had to know why all these guys "rejected" her.
This seems rough, though, as you're basing your self-worth off the attention — or inattention — of complete strangers. There are no winners there. In this case, it's not the heart that's looking for approval from others; it's the ego.
If you're going to date, not everyone is going to like you, and you're not going to like everyone. Sometimes, people you've gone on a few dates with are just going to disappear. It's the nature of dating.
Not everyone is going to be your boyfriend, and the fact that they aren't your boyfriend is part of the reason they're not formally breaking up with you. There's no reason to — you're essentially strangers.
Bummer? I don't think so. It's a good lesson in not taking things personally.
And that's why ghosting isn't a huge deal. If someone doesn't want to see or talk to you again, then you shouldn't want to see or talk to them, either. It's most likely not about you. Instead, it's usually a chemistry thing, and it's time to move on to the next person who you'll have a better connection with.
But if you're still feeling bummed that you were ghosted by someone who probably didn't deserve you anyway, here are some ways to get over it quickly.
1. Don't Take It Personally
Remember — I've kind of drilled this in already — but ghosting is not about you. It's only rejection if you think that you're entitled to a relationship with everyone and that you're owed an explanation for everyone's behavior.
We don't own anyone. If someone wants to leave your life, let them — whether they provide a reason or not. Most likely, if someone is ghosting you, you didn't know them all that well anyway.
2. Dive Into Your Own Hobbies
Don't let your world revolve around romance. If your happiness is dictated by outside sources, like a guy liking you, then your joy will never be consistent or stable. People come and go, but you're stuck with yourself forever.
Plus, if you're putting all your eggs in someone else's basket, you probably haven't devoted much time to yourself in a while. Do you know what you like, or are you just concerned with other people liking you?
If you're still hung up on that guy who ghosted you, direct that attention back into yourself. Have a "me" day. Find out what you like about yourself, and cultivate that instead of someone else's attention.
3. Make A Spotify Playlist
Then, invite all of your girlfriends over for a ghosting dance party. Dress up as a ghost. Make a love song playlist. It might even be good to add "Monster Mash" to the mix to make it extra spoooooky.
There's no better way to get over a guy than to spend a little quality time with your girlfriends. Who needs a guy when you've got your best friends, too much wine, and the new Lorde album to dance wildly around your living room to?
A girl's-night-in dance party will make you forget about that bad boy and help to remind you that your BFFs are the ones who actually make you happy. So why not spend some time with them and dance off your heartbreak to some great playlists?
4. Question Why You're Bothered By It
Kylah Benes-Trapp
Ask yourself why you're pining after people who clearly aren't interested in talking to you? What a waste of time!
If a guy wants to talk to you, he will talk to you. He knows where you are and how to find you. So if he likes you, he will make plans with you, and he will also want to be with you.
Don't listen to what your friends say. There are no justifications and no excuses. He isn't scared or intimidated, or this or that.
If a guy isn't contacting you, then that means he isn't looking for a relationship with you, and you should just move on. Don't try to force something that isn't meant to be.
And if you're taking it as a blow to your pride or ego, it's time to ask yourself why you do that. Do you base your self-worth on what kind of person you are, or instead, do you prioritize what you look like, how popular you are, and how many dudes like you?
If it's the latter, then you're never going to be fully satisfied with anything in life.
5. Move On
Download a dating app and start talking to other people. Realize there are more fish in the sea — or rather, "more menz on the internetz."
You've likely felt this way before, and you'll probably feel this way again. But everything will be OK. In fact, everything will be more than OK — it'll be so great!
So get talking to other guys, because they say the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.
If you've been ghosted, don't let it (or them) haunt you. Just use these tips to get over it, and keep moving on.
Life's too short to spend wondering why that guy you went on two dates with never hit you up again. | {
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Well let's not forget the writers themselves said that not all characters are gonna end up following their direct historical or fairytale counterparts.What I firmly believe is that Salem will have 4 very powerful girls that will hunt down each maiden and reclaim their power. Cinder has fall powers and then there's 3 more. At the end, Salem is gonna sacrifice and kill them to obtain all four maiden powers for herself. Just my personal theory | {
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The Flickr Related Tag Browser requires Flash player 7 or higher. Get Flash here | {
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View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.
Miami-Dade Police are investigating after a 4-year-old girl died after she was shot inside a car Saturday night.
The shooting happened just after 6 p.m. in the 12000 block of Northwest 20th Avenue, as the girl was sitting in a parked Mercedes Benz with several other small children, police said.
Somehow the girl, later identified as Rahquel Carr, was shot in her upper body. Carr was taken to Ryder Trauma Center where she later died, police said.
Related: 3-Year-Old Girl Pulled From Pool at Miami Home, Rushed to Hospital
Police said it's unclear if one of the other children in the car was responsible for the shooting. An adult was nearby when the shooting happened, police said.
Under Florida law, a firearm must be securely encased when in a vehicle. It is unclear where the firearm was located at the time of the shooting.
"We will be looking at who this firearm belonged to, were the firearm was in the vehicle at the time, along with who was present when the gun was fired," said Miami-Dade Police spokesman Det. Roy Rutland.
Related: Miami Beach Holds First Ever Gun Buyback
No arrests have been made. Children were witnesses to the shooting and Miami-Dade Police will be forced to interview them, as well as many family members, Rutland said.
"There's a lot of speculation right now as to who had that firearm at the time, but we're not in the business of speculating, we're in the business of facts," Rutland said.
Distraught family members and friends arrived to the home Saturday night to give them support.
"Someone called my daughter, and told her she got shot," said Sonia Wheelers, who said she is like a grandmother to the child. "It's horrible, it's sad."
The shooting is still being investigated and the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department will be conducting an autopsy on the child, police said. | {
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Tory Remainer Nicky Morgan Dismisses Calls For Second Referendum
Leading Conservative Remain MP Nicky Morgan has dismissed calls for a second Brexit referendum, telling LBC: “I’m not in favour”.
The former education secretary, who previously rebelled against the government’s flagship Brexit bill, insisted Britain would be leaving the EU as planned next year.
She joined Iain Dale and three other panellists on Wednesday’s edition of Cross Question.
Picture: LBC
Ms Morgan said it was a “tragedy” that terms such as Leavers and Remainers were still be used almost two-and-a-half years after the flagship vote.
“I am firmly of the opinion the UK will be leaving the European Union,” she told the panel.
“We will not be a member of the EU that is it.
“Now how we leave and what the relationship is going forward and the rest of it that's what we're arguing about now, but we will be leaving the EU so we will have be fulfilling the mandate.”
If you missed the latest episode of Cross Question you can catch up here. | {
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Federal authorities have arrested key members of a Southern California white-power group, the latest move in an ongoing effort by authorities to break the back of an organization linked to racism-fueled violence.
Robert Rundo, leader of the so-called Rise Above Movement, was taken into custody Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
Two others — Tyler Laube and Robert Boman — were arrested Wednesday morning in connection with organizing and participating in riots, according to federal authorities. Another, Aaron Eason, was charged but remains at large, they said.
All four were charged with traveling and using the internet to organize or participate in riots, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Private messages between group leaders, members and associates show an effort to keep their violent intentions secret, according to an FBI affidavit attached to the complaint. One man, Benjamin Daley, urged members in a 2016 phone call to attend events wearing polo-style shirts and khakis, and to get military-style haircuts.
In an August 2017 exchange with someone considering joining the group, Daley said the individual would have to “change your [style] up a bit when your with us.” The associate said he could grow out his hair and drop the “boots and braces look,” the affidavit said. Daley responded: “think its time to reimagine the nationalist look and playbook, we have become predictable that needs to change.” He told another associate to keep a low profile on social media.
In private Facebook messages to the person in January, Daley said: “I would be mindful of saying anything that could be misconstrued as a call to violence. I know people who literally have had feds show up at there door over posts. [J]ust food for thought. Trust I’m not speaking in terms of morality rather practicality.”
In a hearing Wednesday, the judge in the case denied bail for Rundo, calling him a flight risk. Prosecutors argued that Rundo — who appeared in court in a white jumpsuit, mostly staring down at his hands — had taken several trips abroad, including one to Mexico. He was picked up in Central America before he was taken into custody at the airport in L.A.
Rundo “has demonstrated and undergone a significant personal sacrifice over the past three weeks, repeatedly seeking to flee from this ongoing engagement of law enforcement,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. David Ryan.
Prosecutors also pointed out Rundo’s criminal history, which includes a conviction in a stabbing case, and said that when authorities searched his home, they found a large framed portrait of Adolf Hitler.
Boman and Laube appeared in court later Wednesday afternoon. Ryan said Boman was located in the morning after spending the night in a treehouse at someone else’s residence. Boman — who has prior convictions for grand theft, robbery and assaulting a police officer — fled authorities by bicycle and foot before officers tackled and arrested him.
Boman’s attorney said his client has a problem with meth and argued that he was not a flight risk because he has nowhere to go.
Judge Maria A. Audero ordered that he, along with Laube, be held without bail. “He’s a member of a horribly violent group,” she said of Boman.
Laube’s attorney called him the “least culpable” of those charged in the complaint, saying his client wasn’t on social media and didn’t attend an April 2017 protest in Berkeley at which violence broke out, because by then he had withdrawn from the organization.
For 18 months, Laube has been residing in a sober-living home in Gardena.
The arrests come after several other members and associates of the group were publicly accused of traveling to Virginia with the intent to incite a riot and commit violence in Charlottesville last year.
Daley, 25, along with Thomas Walter Gillen, 34, both of Redondo Beach; Michael Paul Miselis, 30, of Lawndale; and Cole Evan White, 24, of the Northern California city of Clayton were arrested earlier this month.
Federal authorities said the group was founded in late 2016 or early 2017 by Rundo and Daley, originally branded as “DIY DIVISION.” The group grew in numbers through use of social media, on which they coordinated combat training before political events and bragged about the violence to recruit members.
Posts include video clips of members assaulting people at political events, their faces covered by distinctive skeleton or U.S. flag masks. In one February post, the group posted a photo of members covering their faces with books, along with the text: “When the squads not out smashing commies . . . #nationalist #lifestyle.”
Authorities believe that their Twitter account, @RiseAboveMvmt, was operated by Rundo. It has since been suspended.
As bold as the group’s social media presence was, members have been guarded with the media and remain relatively under the radar in their communities. Family members of some group members have declined to speak with The Times, and former neighbors of others said they didn’t know who the group members were. Local law enforcement agencies said they were unaware of the group causing major problems in the South Bay.
For more than a year, authorities say, the group has caused trouble across California, at political rallies in places including Berkeley and Huntington Beach. Much of the violence at the Charlottesville rallies was captured in photos and videos, screenshots of which were laid out in an affidavit prepared by an FBI task force officer.
In one scene, White is seen headbutting a woman, leaving her with a bloody gash on her face. In another, White grabs a counter-protester by the shoulders and jerks him away before headbutting a minister wearing a clerical collar. The footage also appears to show Miselis, his hands taped, shoving a black man to the ground and then striking him.
[email protected]
Twitter: @AleneTchek
UPDATES:
5:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information from court proceedings.
12:30 p.m.: This story was updated with new details and additional information about private messages.
11:05 a.m.: This article was updated with information from the criminal complaint and information from a court hearing.
This article was originally published at 9:45 a.m. | {
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We use cookies to provide the best web experience for our users. By continuing to browse this site, you agree to this use. Read more from our Privacy Policy . By using this website you also agree to our Terms & Conditions for use of this website | {
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It is aimed at accelerating expulsion of people who don’t qualify for asylum and hopes to provide better conditions for those allowed to stay in the country | {
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Gun control legislation being proposed in New York could require anyone hoping to buy a firearm to disclose their social media and internet search history, according to a report.
The bill, drafted by state Sen. Kevin Parker and Brooklyn borough President Eric Adams, both Democrats, would allow officials to review up to three years' worth of social media and internet search history before a gun license is approved and renewed, ABC Action News reported this week.
In addition, the Senate bill would give authorities permission to look for "profane slurs used or biased language used to describe race, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation; threatening health or safety of another person, or an act of terrorism," according to ABC News-affiliate WHAM.
The proposal, which is in committee but has not been scheduled for a vote, has already received pushback from anti-gun control advocates and constitutional lawyers. Paul McQuillen, director of the Buffalo chapter of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, also told ABC Action News his group was not ready to support the plan yet.
"The Bill of Rights is totally under assault with this particular bill," Tim Andrews, president of the New York Shooters Committee on Political Education, told NBC News-affiliate WHEC. "It's an invasion of privacy. Some would see it as a Fourth Amendment violation, and a violation of the First Amendment, freedom of speech." | {
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John McCain has taken his place among the pantheon of American heroes like Abraham Lincoln, John F Kennedy and Rosa Parks by being granted the honour of lying in state inside the US Capitol.
The late Arizonan senator was eulogised by leaders by both Democrats and Republicans being praised as “one of the bravest souls our nation has ever produced” during a ceremony on Friday.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called upon those assembled — and the broader American public — to follow McCain’s example by embracing fervent patriotism and disciplined political debate.
“We have this beautiful thing, the chance to do for this man, what he did for us,” Mr Ryan said during his remarks just feet from the coffin draped with an American flag that held McCain’s body. “To stand up. To stand up and embrace the cause of his life”.
"This is one of the bravest souls our nation has ever produced", Mr Ryan said.
Mr Ryan was joined by Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Mitch McConnell to deliver remarks remembering McCain’s service to the United States, which included more than 30 years representing Arizona in Washington.
Before that, McCain had served admirably in the US Navy, and was subjected to brutal beatings after being captured in Vietnam even though he resisted bending to his captors’ demands.
John McCain: US Senator in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2000 John McCain waves to crowds at The University of Portland in Oregon. McCain was campaigning for Republican nominee George W. Bush AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 1967 Senator John Mccain In A Hanoi Hospital During The Vietnam War November, 1967 Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 1993 John McCain, a former POW, looks at a display of personal belongings of American POWs at the joint POW/MIA archives center in the Hanoi Army Museum AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 1999 Republican Senator John McCain announces his official bid for the 2000 White House in Nashua, New Hampshire. Evoking five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain highlighted his own sacrifice and his 17-year record of public service in the US Congress AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 1999 Republican presidential candidate John McCain poses with an A-4 jet -- similar to the one which he was piloting when he was shot down during the Vietnam War -- on the deck of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier in New York. McCain, who flew off of the Intrepid during the Vietnam War, but was not on it when he was shot down, was at the Intrepid to receive the 1999 Intrepid Freedom Award AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2000 Republican presidential hopeful John McCain answers questions at a news conference in New York AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2000 US Arizona Senator and Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain smiles as he speaks on the phone during a radio show interview from his hotel room in Los Angeles AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2000 US Arizona Senator and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain reacts to cheers from the crowd after speaking in a rally at the Santa Clara University on the eve of the multi-state SuperTuesday primaries AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2000 US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) smiles as he is interviewed on WGIR-AM radio in Manchester as he campaigns to become the Republican candidate for president of the United States AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2002 John McCain on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2004 Senator John McCain speaks at the Victor Awards in Las Vegas Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2008 US Senators Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham, John McCain and former senator Phil Gramm watch the Super Bowl at the Hyatt Regency Boston. McCain was leading in most polls over rival contender former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney before the biggest "Super Tuesday" in American history Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2009 John McCain shakes hands with Dorothy Cross, great niece of the first African American heavyweight boxing champion John Arthur "Jack" Johnson. McCain and Peter King introduced a resolution calling on President Barack Obama to posthumously pardon Johnson, who was a victim of what is widely regarded as a racially motivated conviction in 1913 for violating a law prohibiting taking women across state lines for "immoral purposes" Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2009 John McCain delivers remarks at the John Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. McCain spoke on "Why Freedom Still Matters" and "Human Rights and Foreign Policy." Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2010 John McCain with veteran Richard Philippi at VFW Post #1677 during a campaign stop in Casa Grande, Arizona Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2010 Cindy and John McCain during the Western Conference finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center in Arizona. The Lakers defeated the Suns 111-103 Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2010 John McCain speaks to a group of supporters alongside his wife Cindy at his victory party after winning Arizona's primary election in 2010 Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2010 Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member US Sen. John McCain stands in an elevator on Capitol Hill. The US Senate is debating a the New START, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and is expected to vote on it before the end of the 111th Congress's lame duck session Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2010 U2 frontman Bono and John McCain talk during the 2010 Atlantic Council awards dinner at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2011 US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta greets ranking member John McCain before a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen testified before the committee on US strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2011 US President Barack Obama speaks prior to signing the John M. Roll United States Courthouse Bill into law in the Oval Office of the White House as Homeland Security Secretary and former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Senator John McCain, Chief of Staff to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Pia Carusone, Rep. Ed Pastor, and Rep. Trent Franks look on. President Obama signed the bill to name a new federal courthouse in Yuma, Arizona, after federal Judge John M. Roll, who was gunned down during the shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2012 Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney talks with former presidential nominee US Sen. John McCain on Romney's campaign bus with Press Secretary Andrea Saul in between events near Manchester, New Hampshire. McCain announced his endorsement of Romney the day after Romney beat former US Senator Rick Santorum by only eight votes in "first in the nation" Iowa Caucuses Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2012 John McCain rides on the Senate subway after participating in a news conference on Capitol Hill. McCain joined Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry as he urged fellow Senators to approve the "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities bill, an international agreement for protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2012 John McCain speaks to members of the media after a hearing on the Benghazi attack before the Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington, DC. Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director David Petraeus testified before the committee about the September 11 attacks on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2012 John McCain turns to greet Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart during a campaign visit to support Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the Bay of Pigs Museum and Library of the 2506 Assault Brigade in the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami, Florida. McCain took the time to rally people behind Romney and to encourage them to go out and vote Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2012 John McCain speaks during an interview in his Russell Senate Office Building office on Capitol Hill. McCain said he wanted a solid NATO-Afghanistan accord sealed at a summit, ensuring critical post-2014 US involvement in the region rather than "looming international abandonment." AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2013 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain joke and embrace before Sen. John Kerry's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to become the next Secretary of State in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2013 John McCain testifies before a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on the state of video, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee discussed unbundling cable services and the impact of changing technology, among other topics Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2013 John McCain, Meghan McCain and Jimmy McCain attend "Raising McCain" Series New York Premiere at Tribeca Cinemas in New York Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2013 Prince Harry is accompanied by US Senator John McCain as he tours a Senate photo exhibit on landmines and unexploded ordnances in the Rotunda of Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. Prince Harry was in the US on a week long visit AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2013 US Senator John McCain speaks during a mass rally of the opposition in Independence Square in Kiev. McCain told more than 200,000 EU supporters rallying in Kiev that Washington backed their desire for European integration. "To all Ukraine, America stands with you," he called out to the cheering crowd. "The free world is with you, America is with you, I am with you... Ukraine will make Europe better and Europe will make Ukraine better." AFP/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2013 US Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel GPO/Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2014 John McCain hugs Debbie Valle after speaking at a forum at the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix, Arizona. McCain met with Arizona Veterans to discuss mismanagement of Veterans Affairs Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2014 John McCain and wife Cindy attend a MLB game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures PHOENIX, AZ - NOVEMBER 08: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), center, and his wife Cindy (R) greet supporters after casting their vote at the Mountain View Christian Church polling place on November 8, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona. Throughout the country, millions of Americans are casting their votes today for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to become the 45th president of the United States. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) Ralph Freso Getty Images John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2015 WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 05: Sen. John McCain (L) (R-AZ) and Sir Elton John, Founder, Elton John AIDS Foundation, pose for a photo before an Elton John AIDS Foundation and The ONE Campaign hosted reception on global HIV/AIDS funding at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on May 5, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for EJAF) Paul Morigi Getty/EJAF John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2017 Senator Amy Klobuchar takes a selfie with Senator Chris Van Hollen, Senator John McCain and Senator Bernie Sanders on the West Front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC at Donal Trump's inauguration ceremony. He became the 45th president of the United States Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2017 Sen. John McCain gives a thumbs up to well wishers as he gets into his car at the US Capitol. McCain was recently diagnosed with brain cancer but returned on the day the Senate is holding a key procedural vote on US President Donald Trump's effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2017 US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley greets Sen. John McCain during a special Twilight Tattoo performance at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia. McCain was honored with the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal for over 63 years of dedicated service to the nation and the US Navy Getty John McCain: US Senator in pictures John McCain - 2017 John McCain arrives at Capitol Hill. Donald Trump's tax reform plan has overcome pockets of resistance within Republican ranks, US senators said, setting up a vote that could provide the president with his first major legislative victory."We have the votes," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters as he entered the chamber AFP/Getty
“Half a world away, wearing our nation’s uniform, John McCain stood up for every value that this Capitol Building represents,” Mr McConnell said in his remarks. “Then, he brought that same patriotism inside its walls — to advocate for our service members, our veterans, and our moral leadership in the world”.
“So it is only right that today, near the end of his long journey, John lies here,” Mr McConnell continued, describing the man who died on Saturday after a year-long battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
In one of McCain’s final acts as a senator, the Republican shocked his colleagues by casting the decisive vote against President Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal Obamacare, a signature healthcare achievement of his predecessor. That vote was among many differences McCain had with the man who would lead his party at the end of the senator’s life — and that sharp dislike of one another led the McCain family to decide against inviting the president to his funeral.
The president did not attend the Capitol ceremony, either.
“The president asked me to be here, on behalf of a grateful nation, to pay a debt of honour and respect,” Mr Pence said in his remarks.
In the week that has followed his death, McCain’s legacy has been remembered by many in the political press, the public, and among the politician colleagues who worked with him day in and day out.
That included both the good — his valiant service as a prisoner of war, and his dedication to country as a public servant — as well as the controversial — like McCain’s 1989 corruption scandal or his decision to choose Sarah Palin as his running mate during his 2008 run for president.
In a sign that McCain later came to regret his running mate choice, Ms Palin was also not invited to the services remembering the late senator.
McCain will be put to rest on Saturday after a memorial service at Washington National Cathedral featuring eulogies from former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush. | {
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This wiki should be considered unmaintained and deprecated, though some information may still be relevant. Please instead refer to Lubuntu.me.
Get Colorful Mouse Cursor
Instructions here
Change Mouse cursor for all apps
PCManFM and LxPanel don't use the cursor theme, you will have to change the cursor manually.
Edit /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme to list the correct cursor theme.
You will need to change the default cursor. More instructions here.
Touchpad settings
Edit ~/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart with the respective values to achieve the desired result on the following.
Please note there are many more options. Looking at the man pages for synaptics (the driver options), synclient (interfaces with the driver), & syndaemon (handles relationship between keyboard and touchpad) should reveal the breadth of them.
You can view current settings with
synclient -l
More common requests include:
Enable horizontal two finger scrolling
synclient HorizTwoFingerScroll=1
Disable tap to click
synclient MaxTapTime=0
Disable coasting (scrolling after release)
synclient CoastingSpeed=0
Disable touchpad while typing
syndaemon -d -t
Optionally add -k to allow for modifer keys so that you can do CTRL-click, for example.
Adjust Double-click speed in 12.04
1. Double-clicking in window titles
Start with the LXDE menu, go to Preferences. Open Openbox Configuration Manager. Find 'Mouse' on the window panel, click it. Should see 'Double Click Time' it at the bottom. No need to log out.
2. Double-clicking in PCManFM and on the desktop:
If you have difficulty in double-clicking to open files in PCManFM or files on your destop, you may want to increase the time you are allowed for two clicks to be registered as a "double click" and not as two separate single clicks. To do so, you will need to edit a file called .gtkrc-2.0 in your home directory. If you don't see this file, make sure you have enabled viewing of hidden files and folders (or use ls -a in your terminal window instead of plain ls ). If you still don't see this file, you will need to create the file. Then, open the file and add a line with the new time in ms
gtk-double-click-time=400
The lower the number, the faster you need to double-click. You have to log out and log back in to see the changes. Source: How to adjust the double click's speed in PCManFM?
Disable how using the scrollwheel on the switches to the next Desktop
Before restarting openbox with this command: openbox --reconfigure
Edit ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml and remove these lines:
<mousebind button="Up" action="Click"> <action name="GoToDesktop"> <to>previous</to> </action> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Down" action="Click"> <action name="GoToDesktop"> <to>next</to> </action> </mousebind>
My Touchpad Changes Desktop, How Do I stop it?
The scroll button on your mouse keeps changing the Desktop Workspace even when you're scrolling through a folder or file.
cd ~/.config/openbox cp lubuntu-rc.xml lubuntu-rc.xml.bak
(this makes a backup file so that when you think you've messed it up you could revert it back.)
leafpad lubuntu-rc.xml
and delete the lines which says;
<mousebind button="UP" action="click"> <action name="DesktopPrevious" /> <mousebind button="Down" action="click"> <action name="DesktopNext" />
en 14.04 forigu la linioj, (borra las líneas)
<mousebind button="Up" action="Click"> <action name="GoToDesktop"> <to>previous</to> </action> </mousebind> <mousebind button="Down" action="Click"> <action name="GoToDesktop"> <to>next</to> </action> </mousebind>
Log out and Log in back again to see the changes!
if you've messed it up and want to revert it back;
cp lubuntu-rc.xml.bak lubuntu-rc.xml | {
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Like many entities in the gaming world, broadcasting giant Twitch will be in attendance at E3 2014 to provide a look at the games being displayed on the show floor. They just recently released a schedule for their official broadcast, which happens to include something that is sure to bring a smile to the faces of Killer Instinct fans.
According to the announcement, Killer Instinct’s upcoming second season will be on shown on Twitch’s official E3 broadcast in some capacity on June 9 at around 11:40 AM PST. While no details of what the broadcast will entail have been revealed as of this writing, this will likely be a venue for Iron Galaxy Studios and Microsoft to talk about their plans for the franchise moving forward.
For your reference, you can check out the entire press release and schedule below.
Press Release Twitch Announces Largest Presence Ever at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) Twitch – the official live streaming partner of E3 – to broadcast all the event’s biggest games and press conferences SAN FRANCISCO- June 2, 2014 – Twitch, the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers, today announced its broadcast schedule for the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). In addition to featuring a full slate of games each day from marquee publishers, all of the major press conferences will be broadcast on Twitch at www.twitch.tv/E3. This year’s schedule marks an E3 milestone for the brand in terms of the quantity and quality of featured content. During the convention, broadcasts will be conducted from the Twitch booth (South Hall #501) where attendees are welcome to see the live filming in progress. Joining Twitch’s Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham, Jon Carnage and Jordan “Soma” Tayer on hosting duties will be Swiftor, MANvsGAME, Seltzer_FD, and TheJustinFlynn. “Thanks to our passionate community, Twitch has become the epicenter for publishers and developers who want to connect with them,” said Jon Carnage, Content Director, Twitch. “As a result, this will be our most robust E3 presence to date. It also ensures that every living room has a window into all the major news and games revealed at the show.” Broadcast Schedule Monday 6/9 PT 9:30am – Xbox E3 2014 Media Briefing
11:00am – Xbox E3 2014 Media Briefing Post show
11:30pm – Hotline Miami 2 (Dennaton Games/Devolver Digital)
12:00pm – EA World Premiere: E3 2014 Preview
1:00pm – EA Special Event
2:00pm – EA World Premiere: E3 2014 Post show
2:30pm – Bethesda (Unannounced title)
3:00pm – Ubisoft 2014 E3 Media Briefing
4:00pm – Ubisoft 2014 E3 Media Briefing Post show
4:30pm – Witcher 3 (CD Projekt RED)
5:00pm – Dying Light (Techland)
5:30pm – Final thoughts
6:00pm – PlayStation E3 2014 Press Conference Tuesday 6/10 PT: 9:00am – Nintendo Digital Event
10:00am – Deep Silver (Unannounced title)
10:15am – Deep Silver (Unannounced title)
10:30am – Dragon Age: Inquisition (EA)
11:00am – Ubisoft (Unannounced title)
11:20am – The Division (Ubisoft)
11:40am – Farcry 4 (Ubisoft)
12:00pm – Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Activision)
12:20pm – Microsoft Studios (Unannounced title)
12:40pm – Microsoft Studios (Unannounced title)
1:00pm – DRIVECLUB (SCEA)
1:20pm – Evil Within (Bethesda)
1:40pm – Lords of the Fallen (NAMCO)
2:00pm – Destiny (Activision/BUNGIE)
2:20pm – The Order: 1886 (Sony Computer Entertainment)
2:40pm – Nintendo (Unannounced title)
3:00pm – Evolve Special Tournament (2K)
4:00pm – Super Smash Bros. Invitational (Nintendo) Wednesday 6/11 PT: 10:00am – Alienware
10:30am – Twitch Time
11:00am – Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac Games/Microsoft Studios)
11:20am – Microsoft Studios (Unannounced title)
11:40am – Killer Instinct: Season Two (Iron Galaxy/Microsoft Studios)
12:00pm – Square Enix (Unannounced title)
12:20pm – Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade (Square Enix)
12:40pm – H1Z1 (Sony Online Entertainment)
1:00pm – EA (Unannounced title)
1:20pm – Batman: Arkham Knight (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
1:40pm – Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
2:10pm – Nintendo (Unannounced title)
2:30pm – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (Unannounced title)
2:50pm – Crytek (Unannounced title)
3:00pm – Sony Computer Entertainment (Unannounced PS4/PS3 title)
3:15pm – Sony Computer Entertainment (Unannounced PS4/PS Vita Digital title)
3:30pm – Hohokum (Honeyslug, SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment)
3:45pm – Helldivers (Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment)
4:00pm – Alien Isolation (The Creative Assembly/SEGA)
4:20pm – Civilization: Beyond Earth (2K)
4:40pm – Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – Ultimate Evil Edition on PS4 (Blizzard)
5:00pm – Evolve Special Tournament (2K) Thursday 6/12 PT: 10:00am – Tetris w/creator Alexey Pajitnov
10:15am – Zombies Monsters Robots (Ying Pei Games)
10:30am – Guinness World Records – certificate presentation
11:00am – Fable Legends (Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Studios)
11:20am – Microsoft Studios (TBD)
11:40am – Project Spark (Team Dakota/Microsoft Studios)
12:00pm – Nintendo (Unannounced title)
12:20am – Square Enix (Unannounced title)
12:40pm – PlanetSide 2 PS4 Edition (Sony Online Entertainment)
1:00pm – 505 Games (TBD)
1:20pm – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (Unannounced title)
1:40pm – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (Gearbox/2K)
2:00pm – Ubisoft (Unannounced title)
2:20pm – The Crew (Ubisoft)
2:40pm – Nintendo (Unannounced title)
3:00pm – Tecmo Koei (Unannounced title)
3:20pm – Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes (Disney Interactive)
3:40pm – SEGA Sonic BOOM! (SEGA)
4:00pm – Evolve Special Tournament (2K) This is Twitch’s first year as the official live streaming platform of E3. The partnership with the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is a three year agreement that will heighten the global presence for the leading video game event. For more information on Twitch, visit our press center and blog. About Twitch Twitch is the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers where more than 45 million gather every month to broadcast, watch and talk about video games. Twitch’s video platform is the backbone of both live and on-demand distribution for the entire video game ecosystem. This includes game developers, publishers, media outlets, events, user generated content, and the entire esports scene. In February 2014, Wall Street Journal ranked Twitch as the 4th largest website in terms of peak internet traffic in the U.S., fortifying the brand as an entertainment industry leader and the epicenter of social video for gamers. For more information, visit: www.twitch.tv
While there has been speculation that E3 would be the perfect time for the studios to tease new Killer Instinct content, this is the first confirmation we’ve received that the game will have a presence at the conference.
E3 2014 is scheduled for June 10-12. As always, stay tuned for more on these and other titles in the next few weeks.
Source: Twitch.tv via Joystiq | {
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While it has never been easier to wager on sports, the vast majority of the bets remain short-term. Obviously, much of that is a function of opportunity: There are far more individual games to bet on than there are long-term futures wagers. Compared with the night-to-night, luck-driven whims of baseball, basketball, or football games, though, such future wagers actually give bettors a much better chance to use serious objective analysis to gain an edge. And if you’re looking for one potentially profitable bet in particular, I’ve got just the angle: baseball over/under win totals.
Welcome to Grantland’s fourth annual MLB Over/Under Jamboree. The premise of this column is simple: I compare my expectations for all 30 teams against the lines being put forth in Vegas and online. I then narrow the process down to the handful of over/under bets most likely to pan out in your favor. Beyond the obvious, immediate benefits to making a winning bet — more Gummi Bears, of course! — by digging deep on a few clubs, we’ll hopefully also gain some insight into how teams win ballgames, how oddsmakers believe teams win ballgames, and how disconnects between expectations and results arise.
Last year was a good one in Over/Under land. I went 3-1 in the featured wagers I made in the 2014 column and 3-2 on other bets touted in the “Bonus Picks” section. I also snuck in an under bet just before Opening Day, when I noticed that Vegas hadn’t bothered to adjust its over/under number after Atlanta suffered multiple starting-pitching injuries. Too late to write up in the column, but a few more Gummi Bears added to my jar.
Here are the MLB wagers I like the most for 2015.
Chicago Cubs: OVER 82.5 wins
Gregg Forwerck/Getty Images
Blame Back to the Future Part II conspiracy theorists, momentum chasers, or just a nationwide rush of irrational fandom. Either way, the Cubs surging all the way up the board to 6-1 World Series odds is sheer lunacy. If shorting bets were allowed, I’d mortgage my house, 1.5 kidneys, and my entire collection of Bill Sampen bobbleheads. But while World Series odds are heavily swayed by simple betting interest, over/unders are so infrequently bet on that the lines usually come in much closer to what the fancy projection systems predict. If you can find even a two-game gap between your favorite casino and the average number spit out by the computers, that’s generally a wager you want to make.
2015 MLB Preview Season Predictions From our Staff
Grantland's 2015 Division Previews
The 30: Preseason Power Rankings
All-MLB.TV Team: Players to Watch
Breakout Brigade: 10 Rising Stars
Over/Under Jamboree: Bets to Love
Risers/Sliders: Projection Changers
Explaining 2015's Unrivaled Parity
The Spring Tommy John Surge Cost
Pitchers Who Play Poker: Mix It Up
Are Hitting Prospects Worse Off?
The Cubbies Are Legit Contenders
Appreciating the Exceptional Nats
Click here for more MLB Preview! The Cubs don’t quite fit that description, but they come close. Using Sportsbook.ag, where I’ve been getting my lines over the past two years, the Cubs’ over/under number came in at 82.5. The mean for the five projections I looked at is 83.8. For multiple reasons, even that number looks too low.
First, the computers most likely overestimate the amount of time überprospect Kris Bryant will spend in the minors. For instance, PECOTA projects the third baseman to amass 394 plate appearances this season, a number that more or less assumes he won’t be called up until after the approximate deadline for Super 2–eligible players has passed. Yesterday, Michael Baumann wrote about the decision the Cubs face in handling Bryant’s service time and the financial incentives they can reap if they can keep him off the major league roster a couple of months past Opening Day, in addition to all the ethical and competitive quandaries that would create. I’ve spoken to several sources — granted, none of them Cubs executives — who think it’s much more likely that Bryant comes up in mid-April, once he’s been in the minors long enough to enable the Cubs to control him for one extra year, but still several weeks before the Super 2 deadline. An extra 200 at-bats for Bryant could certainly net one additional win for the Cubs.
Second, projection systems often undershoot win totals for teams with elite managers. From 2008 through 2013, the Rays beat their projected win number five out of six times. Granted, multiple factors contributed to that streak, from young players developing to random chance within a relatively small sample size, but based on the limited manager analytics we have, it does look like Joe Maddon, now manning the dugout on the north side of Chicago, squeezed an extra win or two per year out of his charges via savvy roster choices and in-game tactics.
Third, if the Cubs are on pace for 80-something wins and in the midst of the wild-card race come June or July, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have a battalion of prospects at their disposal to make a go-for-it trade to push their club over the top.
I’m not ready to call the Cubs strong World Series contenders. Even making the playoffs could be a tough task, given the strength of usual suspects like the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Nationals, as well as improved smaller-market clubs like the Padres and Marlins. But with a significantly upgraded pitching staff, the addition of quality two-way catcher Miguel Montero, several kids poised for potential breakouts, and Maddon taking the reins, 83 wins looks very, very doable. The Cubs are my best over/under bet for 2015.
Houston Astros: OVER 74.5 wins
Last year, I touted Astros as an over bet, reasoning that it’s just really hard to keep losing 100 games, which is how many Houston would’ve needed to drop for bettors to win an under wager. The Astros came through, winning a nearly respectable 70 games.
The bar’s been set a bit higher in 2015, but I like this Astros team enough to slap some Gummis down on the over — and to rank Houston higher than last year’s American League champs in The 30.
One of the leading drivers for a better season at Minute Maid Park should be George Springer. The 25-year-old outfielder is coming off a rookie season that showcased both his prodigious skills and sizable weaknesses. Springer launched 20 homers in 345 plate appearances, trailing only Giancarlo Stanton, Nelson Cruz, and teammate Chris Carter in HR/PA rate. He also struck out 33 percent of the time, placing him seventh in strikeout rate among 263 players with 300 or more PA. That elite power is consistent with his minor league numbers, but the strikeout rate is a fair bit higher than what he showed earlier in his pro career, offering hope for at least a couple fewer whiffs and something like a 35-homer campaign.
Youth is also an obvious indicator of a soon-to-improve ballclub, and along with Springer, seven other starting position players and four of the five members of the starting rotation are under 30 years old.
Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, this prediction isn’t to suggest there’s anything resembling a playoff team in Houston: The Astros just need to win 75 or more games. With a young roster bolstered by offseason pickups like Luis Valbuena at third and a couple of new arms for the bullpen, in addition to a mean projection from the computers for 78.7 wins, this is another high-confidence wager.
Oakland A’s: OVER 81.5 wins
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Losing Brandon Moss, Josh Donaldson, Derek Norris, and Yoenis Cespedes will cut into the A’s home run totals, and Oakland’s power was one of its strongest assets over the past three years. But despite the exodus of pop, this team looks like yet another overachieving Billy Beane/Bob Melvin mad-scientist group that offers all kinds of platoon and time-sharing possibilities that’ll boost the values of every player on the roster by helping to mask their weaknesses. The A’s also snagged a defensive stalwart in the incredibly versatile Ben Zobrist and added third baseman Brett Lawrie, who, after flashing the kind of skills that suggested a future breakout for a few years now, might finally be ready to put everything together at age 25.
Of course, with the departures of Jon Lester and Jeff Samardzija, the rotation has been remade — and many would say “reduced.” But newly acquired right-hander Jesse Hahn has star potential, with a fastball and a curve that induce lots of whiffs and that led to a ground-ball rate above 50 percent in his rookie 2014 season. Other pitching reinforcements will arrive in-season, as A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker work their way back from Tommy John. Meanwhile, the bullpen could be beastly again, with Tyler Clippard claiming the closer role while Sean Doolittle rehabs from rotator-cuff surgery, and all the other key contributors returning from last season’s stingy group.
It’d be tough to pick the A’s to win the AL West, given the formidable competition they’ll likely face from the Angels and the Mariners, and a fourth-straight playoff berth might even be a long shot. But can they clear 81.5 wins? When the nerds have them, on aggregate, a shade better than 83: absolutely.
Tampa Bay Rays: OVER 79 wins
Yes, I’m going back to the well on the Rays after passing on them for two straight seasons. Yes, all four of this year’s bets are overs. Yes, all of that gives me pause. And yes, Tampa Bay is the weakest of the four bets. But there’s still enough here to convince me to put my last few handfuls of Gummis on the line.
It starts with the Rays’ starting rotation, which is the best in the AL East. The only thing stopping Alex Cobb from becoming a Cy Young contender at this point is an ability to avoid freakish, non-arm-related injuries: We’re talking about a pitcher with a strikeout-to-walk rate better than 3-to-1, a scant 24 homers allowed in 309.2 innings, and a 2.82 ERA over the past two seasons. I’m also head over heels for Drew Smyly and the prospect of his high-fastball approach at the Trop, while Chris Archer’s an emerging star, and Jake Odorizzi emerged as one of the best strikeout artists in the league last year. If the recovering Matt Moore can return to even 90 percent of his pre–Tommy John level in June, this will be a brutal rotation, one through five.
Were it not for the question-filled lineup, we’d be talking about the Rays as a strong playoff contender rather than sweating their ability to reach .500. Losing Zobrist is the biggest hit; after that, we’re talking about a bunch of departures that are more about name value than actual production. Outfielder Matt Joyce was a decent on-base threat but couldn’t manage even double-digit home runs. Shortstop Yunel Escobar had one of the worst years of his career, with his defense growing particularly ugly. Jose Molina’s pitch-framing skills might be legendary, but he’s a truly awful baseball player in every other way, and newly acquired Rene Rivera will be a clear upgrade at catcher. As for Wil Myers, the young right fielder might one day reach the potential that made me (and many of my colleagues) freak out when the Royals flipped him and a bunch of other prospects for James Shields and Wade Davis, but he was absolutely atrocious last year, batting .222/.294/.320, in addition to providing sometimes scatterbrained defense and just 87 games played. Although you might question the bona fides of newly installed starters like Steven Souza and Nick Franklin — and rightfully so, given their limited major league track records — after the Rays finished dead last in the American League in runs scored last season, any flicker of competence would represent an upgrade.
I’m not buying PECOTA’s call of 86 wins — that assumes too many factors falling in the Rays’ favor — but I do like them enough to support one of those ugly-bet wins in which a mediocre team inches just past the number to reward your faith. In the slightly obscure and often profitable world of over/under bets, that’s plenty good enough.
Bonus Picks
Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
In addition to the four wagers I actually made, here are a few more words and a few more bets I considered but ultimately resisted.
Cleveland Indians: OVER 83.5 wins
Since the Tribe had opened at 81 wins at the Atlantis casino in Reno before jumping up to 83.5, this more or less came down to nitpicking over 2.5 wins. I’m still extremely bullish on the Indians this year, though. Given that they’re coming off an 85-win season and have an offense that added Brandon Moss and a pitching staff filled with multiple breakout candidates, I might even talk myself into this bet before Opening Day.
Colorado Rockies: OVER 71.5 wins
I ranked them 26th in The 30, but that was with a bunch of caveats, including a note about how better health could lead to noticeable improvement after last season’s injury apocalypse. A month from Opening Day, with everyone on the field, this is a pretty talented team.
Cincinnati Reds: UNDER 78.5 wins
Here’s what really worries me about the Reds: If they’re out of or even on the fringes of the race come July, they’ll have so many veteran players — notably, Johnny Cueto and Jay Bruce — who’d make tempting trade bait that it would be hard to imagine them holding on to either one. The projection systems peg them at 77, and even that could be a bit too high, especially if the team gets off to a slow start. | {
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ICYMI, there was hockey on Tuesday night.
Crosby and McDavid faced off for the first time, another young phenom overshadowed all the hoopla, and Rick Nash hit a respectable career milestone.
Here are five things we learned in the NHL.
Conor vs. Sidney
That isn’t a typo.
It was the first showdown between Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid — two superstars separated by 10 years and 10 digits on their jerseys — and the game was largely a back-and-forth thriller.
Only it was another Conor who stole the show. More on that later.
McDavid recorded three points to Crosby’s zero and looked great doing it. Watch as the two are featured in this same video, with Crosby and Penguins being denied on a four-on-one while McDavid and the Oilers came right back with a high-speed chance of their own.
Check out this stat.
But it was Conor Sheary who had the last laugh as he scored his second goal of the game with under two minutes left. His pair of goals came in just 12:41 of ice time.
Despite the Penguins getting the W, we’ll give the decision here to Connor. Surely his outdueling of Crosby on this night could not be overshadowed…
Laine ahead of the rest
Or could it.
In a blowout win over the Dallas Stars Tuesday, Patrik Laine tallied three goals to record his second hat trick IN HIS 14th CAREER GAME!
He now leads the league in goals. He’s 18.
And for more stats that will get Winnipeggers falling out of their chairs.
Not for nothing, Mark Scheifele is your NHL points leader.
Golden Bear charms the Habs
Hey, Jack Nicklaus appeared in the Montreal Canadiens‘ dressing room Tuesday prior to the game. That’s a thing, right?
The golfing legend stopped by apparently to drop some wisdom on the Canadiens ahead of their tilt with the rival Boston Bruins. [Golfing early joke here.]
The Habs missed the playoffs last year but as Nicklaus said, “You got a pretty good start this year.”
Turns out the Golden Bear has been to a hockey game before.
“I’m from Columbus, incidentally,” he said. “That’s a bad deal right now, isn’t it?”
So wait, how did Nicklaus even come to be there?
Eriksson finally scores 1st in VAN
It’s been a long time coming for the third Canucks triplet.
Free agent signee Loui Eriksson finally scored his first in a Vancouver Canucks uniform Tuesday in a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers.
Needless to say, it’s been a tough start for the 2016-17 Nuckies.
But they prevailed in a convincing win over the typically high-scoring Rangers, and the monkey came off the back of more than just Eriksson.
Eriksson now has just one goal and four assists in 14 games with Vancouver. The flashes of brilliance we’ve seen from the Swedish triplets have been few and far between but we know more are coming.
Now, about that contract.
Try BP’s new Half-Time Lunch featuring $10 combos, Pizzas of the Day and more! It’s lunch served fast, so you can get back to the office in no time! Click here to learn more. Dine in only.
Rick Nash hits 400
Speaking of the Rangers’ scoring prowess this season…
Rick Nash is the sixth active player to reach the milestone.
Nash already has seven goals in 14 games this year, after potting just 15 in 60 last season. He’s hit at least 30 goals eight times and 40 goals twice over his career. He’s had his share of scoring and injury woes since he entered the league in 2002 but it’s nice to see him hit such a huge number.
Nash is 92nd all-time in scoring, two goals behind Paul Kariya. | {
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Democrats really do have a shot at winning the House Democrats remain quietly confident that they can take the House. Will Mitt's bumbling campaign work in their favor?
With most observers still predicting -- though less confidently than before last week's presidential debate -- that Obama will secure a second term and Democrats maintain control of the Senate, it is the House that could determine the short-term future of the country and mean the difference between a fruitful or impotent second term for the president. Would it look like Obama’s first two years in office, when he and congressional Democrats pushed through sweeping reforms on healthcare and Wall Street, or the last two years, which were defined by bitter stalemate and unproductive battles over spending issues? Obama’s ambitious legislative agenda of unfinished work from the first term -- immigration reform, climate change legislation, etc. -- would be virtually dead on arrival if Democrats can't take the House, blunting the victory of a reelection.
If you ask most analysts, the question of whether Democrats can win the necessary 25 seats is not even worth asking. “House majority remains out of Democrats’ grasp,” veteran handicapper Stu Rothenberg titled a blog post yesterday. Charlie Cook agrees. So does Kyle Kondik, the House editor for Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, who wrote Thursday, “there’s very little indication that Republicans will lose their House majority.”
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Democratic leaders have been saying publicly for weeks that they think they have a good shot of picking up the House, which pundits dismiss out of hand as empty posturing. Privately, some Democrats say they really believe the odds are better than 50-50 and that all the pundits and handicappers are a month behind -- a month that’s seen a nose dive for Mitt Romney, with a potentially dire coattail effect for House Republicans. But Democrats are wary of making their case too strongly, they say, for fear that conservative super PAC money will abandon Romney and starting pouring into key House races, where a relatively little bit of money can make a huge difference. So for now, at least, they're sitting back without pushing back too hard on the prevailing conventional wisdom.
Even the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol seems a bit concerned. “IF the polls are right, and IF nothing much changes over the remaining six weeks, the House could well be in play,” he wrote recently. “Maybe Republicans will hold on in an even popular vote election with the help of incumbency advantages and post-2010 redistricting. But it's also possible that an Obama +3 victory on Election Day would drag the Democrats to an edge in the congressional vote — and control of the House. In any case, based on current polling, I don't think one can say that it's now out of the question that we could wake up on the morning of November 7 to the prospect of ... Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
Indeed, there’s some reason for his concern in the polling. In early August, the Reuters/Ipsos poll House generic ballot test -- which asks if respondents would vote for a generic Democrat or generic Republican -- showed the parties tied at 46 percent. In September, this same poll showed Democrats leading by 6 points, 49 percent to 43 percent. An NBC/Wall Street Journal generic poll from July had similar movement since July, as did an Economist/YouGov poll. The most recent generic poll comes from NPR, which shows Dems up 3 points. Another recent poll of exclusively battleground congressional districts, conducted by Politico and George Washington University, had Dems up 2.
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Democrats need 25 seats to win, and internal polling shows there are 32 Democratic candidates leading or tied with their Republican opponent, according to a memo from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official body tasked with electing Democrats to the House. The committee claims a total of 75 races are “in play” across the country, and has put 53 districts in its Red to Blue program, which means they think there’s at least enough of a shot at winning in those seats to invest money and resources.
The DCCC has outraised its GOP counterpart, the NRCC, by about $10 million over the cycle and is prepared to spend about $18 million more on commercials. Democrats have reserved $65 million in airtime before Election Day, while NRCC has received just over $47 million. But that advantage could be easily wiped out by outside Republican super PACs, explaining why Democrats are hesitant to tout their optimism about the battle for the House. Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and its affiliate Crossroads GPS spent $50 million on House races between Oct. 13 and Election Day alone in 2010.
There are few things working against Republicans this year. The problem with any wave election is you then have to defend your gains the next cycle. These gains, by definition, come mostly from swing districts previously occupied by Democrats, so it doesn’t take huge shifts in public opinion to swing things back the other way. Redistricting, the decennial process of redrawing congressional districts, was expected to give Republicans a huge boost, thanks to their massive gains in state Houses across the country, which control the process. But the end result will probably have little net effect. “Add up all the numbers and you get Democrats +1 seat, Republicans -1. In other words, redistricting has been something of a wash,” Rothenberg wrote earlier this year. For the dozens of states where Republicans effectively gerrymandered districts, there are other, larger states where Democrats did the same, especially in California and Illinois. These states are so big and have so many congressional districts that anybody’s list of the top House races is dominated by these two states.
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The key, Democrats say, is Mitt Romney and his lackluster performance. "In August, the pick of Congressman Paul Ryan made his Medicare-ending budget the ticket mate for every Republican running for Congress and gave us the nationalized Medicare debate we’ve wanted all year. Then Congressman Todd Akin’s offensive comments reminded voters how extreme Republicans are," the DCCC memo states. It's still unclear whether Romney would bring the House down with him if he lost, but it's certainly possible. Even with all this, Democrats’ chances of capturing the House are still shy of 50 percent -- 25 seats is a tall order -- but probably better than a lot of pundits think. | {
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62 per cent of Americans believe that the media has exaggerated the threat of coronavirus, according to a new Pew Research poll.
The results of the survey found that 63 per cent of Americans believe the CDC and public health officials have got the risk of COID-19 about right, with just 21 per cent believing they have exaggerated the risks.
While 62 per cent think the media has overhyped the threat, 29 per cent believe President Trump hasn’t taken it seriously at all while a further 52 per cent say he has not taken the risk seriously enough.
Only 30 per cent say the media has handled the issue appropriately, while just 8 per cent say the press has not taken the risks seriously enough.
On a partisan breakdown, 76 per cent of Republicans think the media has exaggerated the threat compared to 49 per cent of Democrats.
There is still a significant number of people who believe that the response to coronavirus has been over the top or even hysterical, with many suggesting that once a large number of people in the U.S. are tested, the mortality rate of COVID-19 will drop substantially.
Others point to infection and death toll numbers out of Italy to make the point that overreacting is essential to stopping the spread of the virus and preventing deaths in the hundreds of thousands.
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A group of crows is called “a murder.” That may be reason enough not to want 10,000 of them around at once.
But there are other reasons, too. Just ask officials at Pitt, where, after years of contending with hordes of migrating winter crows, there have been no bird-perpetrated homicides but plenty of smelly and slippery messes left on sidewalks.
It’s a visual fitting of “The Birds.” The school’s response has been more “Home Alone.”
Defense starts around sunset, with the steady, cacophonous cawing of birds unseen. Outside the Cathedral of Learning on Friday, the sound was powerful enough to be clearly detected from inside a moving vehicle. It evoked mental images of a bar fight between seagulls.
Joe Miksch, director of media relations at the university, said it’s actually the recorded sound of owls and hawks — known predators of crows.
For several years, Pitt has dusted off CDs each fall — when murders begin to roost — that contain the adversarial avian voices. The discs are broadcast using CD players wired to speakers and positioned around campus as needed. (Apparently Spotify has yet to fill this niche.)
Here’s what that sounds like:
Miksch said the move was recommended by the National Aviary and Penn State. The latter has had its own public battles on this front, utilizing fireworks — aka “bird bangers” — and lasers in a targeted campaign described by the school’s Office of Physical Plant as “periodic crow harassment.”
Pitt’s anti-crow campaign also involves “limited use” of “holiday laser lights,” Miksch said.
So far, at least, the combination appears successful.
“The idea is to nip it in the bud,” Kate St. John, a bird expert and author of the Outside My Window blog, told The Incline. “If Pitt can worry them away now, then they won’t be a really big problem with 10,000 of them in late December.”
A January 2017 article in The Pitt News described undergrads dodging crow feces as it rained down from the sky.
But why are they here, or, more to the point, why are there so many in one place?
Crows are smart — scary smart. They’re also definitely not above eating garbage. In the winter, they migrate out of cold, foodless zones and hit the cities, where there’s plenty of garbage to eat, trees or perches to roost on, and sidewalks to poop on.
As for why they gather in such large numbers, there are various theories. Some involve a strength-in-numbers benefit, others a willingness to share the choicest real estate.
“They start in late October, building and building. They’re coming from the north somewhere. These are not resident [crows], and they won’t stay beyond late February,” St. John said.
But that’s little consolation to Pitt or its feces-dodging students.
“When you’ve got 10,000 pooping crows in the trees around the Cathedral of Learning and Heinz Memorial Chapel, it doesn’t smell good, and it’s slippery when wet, and by the end of December, they have a real issue,” St. John added.
So Pitt rolls out its audio scarecrow each year at this time. It’s an annual tradition, a sure sign that fall has fallen. And while the birds are supposed to be bothered, Miksch said he was unaware of any human complaints about the noise.
There’s a slight chance, however, that the birds get wise to all this. Again, they’re very, very smart.
“They can get used to these things and decide ‘Oh, what the hay, I hear this all the time, it’s nothing,’ St. John explained. “Crows are like monkeys with wings …”
In recent decades, the birds’ presence has grown in cities across the U.S. as they’ve been targeted by hunters and uprooted by rural development. And it turns out they like cities a lot: there’s plenty of garbage to eat and plenty of places to roost.
As National Aviary Ornithologist Bob Mulvihill told 90.5 WESA in September, crows prefer to roost in trees near low-level artificial light and like spots that are warmer, making densely-populated areas with manmade sources of heat, like Pittsburgh’s East End, ideal. All this is to say that even if Pitt manages to scare the crows away, they’re not going far.
And if Pitt doesn’t drive them off, they can always be trained to pick-up litter or adopted as a new mascot.
No crows were harmed in the making of this article. | {
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Le Servette FC accueille le FC Chiasso ce samedi 22 juillet à 19h. Voici quelques informations pratiques
Abonnements
Toutes les personnes qui ont contracté un abonnement mais qui ne l'ont pas encore reçu sont invitées à se rendre à la caisse numéro 8 dès 17h avec un justificatif de paiement. Un billet pour la rencontre leur sera remis.
Pour les personnes qui souhaiteraient s'abonner le jour du match. Des formulaires seront à leur disposition à cette même caisse 8. Le formulaire est à remplir sur place et l'abonnement est à régler sur place également (uniquement cash).
Cé Qué Laino
Nos habituels chanteurs n'étant pas à Genève ce week-end, le club s'est mis à la recherche de plusieurs personnes susceptibles de pouvoir les remplacer pour ce match. Cette recherche s'étant révélée infructueuse, nous sommes dans le regret de ne pas pouvoir interpréter l'hymne genevois lors de cette rencontre. Il sera de retour pour la réception du FC Wil le 9 août prochain.
Musique d'entrée
Vous avez été plus de 600 à voter pour la musique d'entrée des joueurs. Quelle musique a remporté le plus de suffrages ? Rendez-vous au stade pour le découvrir ! | {
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Panaji: During his two day visit to the state, where he traces his paternal roots, Portugal ’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa is likely to release the English translation of his father, the renowned poet and writer Orlando Da Costa’s Portuguese play Sem Flores Nem Coroas (Without Flowers or Wreaths).The three-act play, set in a house where the family is grieving the death of one of its members on the night of Goa’s Liberation, is being translated under the recently inaugurated Joaquim Heliodoro da Cunha Rivara Chair on Indo-Portuguese language at the Goa University (GU) in collaboration with Camoes Instituto da Cooperacao e da Lingua Portuguesa.Orlando Da Costa, born in Mozambique , spent his growing years in his ancestral house on Rua Abade Faria, Margao, along with his brother Joao before they left for Lisbon. Joao went on to become a chemical analyst and moved back to Goa. He passed away six years ago and is survived by his Finnish origin wife Sinikka Jussailainen Costa, her daughter Anna Kaarina Costa and her family, who continue to live in the same house in Margao today.The Portugal PM is also likely to pay tribute to historian and former director of Fundacao Oriente , the late Paulo Varela Gomes, and posthumously award him with a Cultural Merit Medal. Gomes’ wife Patricia Vieira will accept the award at the event on the morning of January 11 at Fundacao Oriente’s headquarters in Fontainhas.Antonio Costa is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 7 in New Delhi when he is expected to sign MoUs that will improve bilateral relations between the two countries. He will then spend two days in Bengaluru where he has been invited as chief guest for the Parvasi Bharatiya Diwas. He is also scheduled to attend the Vibrant Gujarat 2017 Summit before he visits Goa on January 11 and 12. | {
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If Cleopatra wanted to woo you, you’d smell her before you ever saw her. Legend has it that when she first visited Marc Antony in Tarsus, she coated the purple sails of her golden boat in a fragrance so pungent that it wafted all the way to shore. As Shakespeare wrote, Cleopatra’s sails were “so perfumèd that the winds were lovesick with them.” It does sound a bit extra, but, honestly, who wouldn’t want to catch a whiff of Egypt’s most famous queen?
Now, a team of four researchers have recreated a perfume they believe Cleopatra might have worn, based on residue found in an ancient amphora. “This was the Chanel No. 5 of ancient Egypt,” says Robert Littman, an archaeologist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. “It was the most prized perfume of the ancient world.”
Littman and his colleague Jay Silverstein came up with the idea during their ongoing excavation of the ancient Egyptian city Thmuis, located north of Cairo in the Nile Delta and founded around 4500 BC. The region was home to two of the most famous perfumes in the ancient world: Mendesian and Metopian. So when the researchers uncovered what seemed to be an ancient fragrance factory—a 300 BC site riddled with tiny glass perfume jars and imported clay amphoras—they knew they had to try to recover any scent that had survived.
Myrrh, the key ingredient in ancient Egypt’s prized perfume. GeoTrinity/CC by 3.0
The amphoras did not contain any noticeable smell—but they did contain an ancient dried residue (analysis of which is pending). Dora Goldsmith and Sean Coughlin replicated the Thmuis scent using formulas found in ancient Greek materia medica and other texts.
Both Mendesian and Metopian perfumes contain myrrh, a natural resin extracted from a thorny tree. The experts also added cardamom, green olive oil, and a little cinnamon—all according to the ancient recipe. The reproduced scent smells strong, spicy, and faintly of musk, Littman says. “I find it very pleasant, though it probably lingers a little longer than modern perfume.”
In ancient Egypt, people used fragrance in rituals and wore scents in unguent cones, which were like wax hats that dripped oil into one’s hair over the course of the day. “Ancient perfumes were much thicker than what we use now, almost like an olive oil consistency,” Littman says.
On the left, a musician wears an unguent cone. British Museum/Public Domain
Though the modern-day Mendesian offers an intriguing approximation of an ancient Egyptian perfume, the jury’s out on whether Cleopatra would have worn it. “Cleopatra made perfume herself in a personal workshop,” says Mandy Aftel, a natural perfumer who runs a museum of curious scents in Berkeley, California. “People have tried to recreate her perfume, but I don’t think anybody knows for sure what she used.”
Aftel is no stranger to the concocted scents of ancient Egypt. In 2005, she reproduced the burial fragrance of a 2,000-year-old mummified Egyptian child, a girl dubbed Sherit. Since her mummification, the perfume had shriveled into a thick black tar around Sherit’s face and neck, according to a Stanford press release. Aftel identified frankincense and myrrh as the primary ingredients in the perfume and reconstructed a copy. “I smelled the mummy,” Aftel says. “As a natural perfumer, it’s a very beautiful way to connect to the past.”
If you’re in D.C., you can smell this most recent recreation yourself: the scent is on display at the National Geographic Museum’s exhibition “Queens of Egypt” until September 15. There’s not enough perfume to coat an entire sail, but you can dab a little on your arm. | {
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Le parti du président Serge Sarkissian a largement remporté les élections législatives de ce dimanche en Arménie. C‘étaient les premières élections organisées dans ce pays depuis la réforme constitutionnelle de 2015 qui instaurera un régime parlementaire à partir de fin 2018.
Le Parti républicain, au pouvoir, est arrivé nettement en tête avec plus de 49 % des voix et devrait donc former le nouveau gouvernement.
De son côté, la coalition d’opposition menée par l’homme d’affaires Gaguik Tsaroukian a réuni plus de 27 % des votes. Elle avait fait campagne sur l’incapacité du gouvernement actuel de lutter contre la pauvreté et la corruption.
Le scrutin a été étroitement surveillé par des observateurs européens de l’OSCE. Plusieurs dirigeants de l’opposition ont dénoncé des irrégularités, des violations du secret du vote et des votes multiples.
Le pays avait déjà connu des violences post-électorales après des accusations de fraudes en 2008. 10 personnes étaient mortes dans ces affrontements.
Elections législatives en Arménie : le parti au pouvoir donné vainqueur https://t.co/gvmWKNlmiQ — Le Monde (@lemondefr) 2 avril 2017 | {
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We are producing exciting new sets of 15mm Sci-Fi Exo-Skeleton Armored Human Squads and a new alien race named the Hura Technocracy. | {
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Protest comes from the Auckland Peace Action, who disagree with the celebration of the day as ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people continues in West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
May 14, 1948, marks a day of independence for Israel as they fought off armies to claim their own state.
Valerie Morse of Auckland Peace Action says their people are still being murdered in the occupied territories. She says celebrating the Jewish state's oppressive ways is wrong.
"We are in support of the Palestinian people - freedom, justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people."
President of The Zionist Federation Rob Berg says the group's protest is disappointing.
"It's surprising and always distressing that it always seems to be when Israel's involved, whereas every other country's allowed to have these types of celebrations."
Newshub. | {
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The United States and South Korea have agreed to indefinitely suspend joint military exercises, the Pentagon said Friday.
The move comes in response to US President Donald Trump's pledge to halt military exercises with South Korea following a summit earlier this month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Pentagon said Defense Secretary James Mattis "indefinitely suspended select exercises" in order to support diplomatic talks following the US-North Korea summit in Singapore.
Read more: Trump-Kim summit: South Koreans wary of losing US defense assurance
"This includes suspending FREEDOM GUARDIAN along with two Korean Marine Exchange Program training exercises scheduled to occur in the next three months," the Defense Department said.
It added that additional decisions will depend upon North Korea "continuing to have productive negotiations in good faith."
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that it had suspended planning for the large-scale Freedom Guardian exercise originally scheduled for August.
Following the Kim-Trump meeting on June 12, the US president announced that he would cancel what he called "very provocative" and expensive military exercises that the United States regularly holds with South Korea.
North Korea has long lashed out at the joint military exercises.
Watch video 26:00 Share Kim & Trump: A big deal? Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2za4z Kim & Trump: Big Deal?
At the summit, Trump and Kim pledged "to work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
The vague wording left out details of how North Korea would dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief and security guarantees.
No threat from North Korea or an extraordinary threat?
A presidential declaration sent to US lawmakers on Friday called for continuing sanctions on North Korea for another year, calling the country "an unusual and extraordinary threat."
"The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," the declaration said.
Though the notice is considered pro forma and was expected, it was a break from earlier statements from the president, including a tweet directly following the summit saying, "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat with North Korea."
Russia, South Korea meet
Also on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in Moscow and agreed to "continue joint efforts to establish complete denuclearization on the Korean peninsula."
Read more: Vladimir Putin invites Kim Jong Un to Russia
Russia, which borders North Korea, is looking to capitalize if international sanctions are lifted against Pyongyang.
Moscow has security interests in East Asia linked to stability in North Korea.
As a nuclear power and permanent UN Security Council member that has relations with both North and South Korea, it may also play an important role in any diplomatic solution on the Korean peninsula.
cw/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters) | {
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Suppose you’d written a book. And suppose, for some odd reason, that your middle name happened to be “And”. Suppose, for example, that mother had named you “Cary And Grant”.
Then the software at Amazon.com, not unreasonably, would assume that you were two people, and would list the book’s authors as (1) Cary and (2) Grant.
Now suppose, even more oddly, that your name contained a comma. Not the word “comma”, but the actual punctuation mark. Suppose, for example, that your mother had named you “Cary, Grant”. Then Amazon’s software, again not unreasonably, would assume that your name was being presented in the format “Last, First” and would reverse the order, listing the author as Grant Cary.
Now take this one step further and suppose your name contained both the word “And” and a comma. Perhaps more than once. Suppose, for example, that your name happened to be The Fresh, Chilled and Frozen Horse and Ass Meat Research Group. Then, in accordance with its not unreasonable rules, Amazon’s software would conclude that there are three separate authors, namely:
Chilled the Fresh
Frozen Horse
Ass Meat Research Group
Now suppose that eventually, someone at Amazon became aware of this error and hit some sort of a button to make the software re-parse the word “And”. But suppose it didn’t quite work, first because the software re-parsed only the first “And”, and second because the re-parsing was even worse than the original. You might get something like this:
As it happens, Ass Meat Research Group is the highly prolific co-author of 88 different entries in the Amazon catalog, with a variety of collaborators including not just Frozen Horse and Chilled the Fresh but the almost equally prolific Sheep the Edible Offals Of. (At least there are 88 entries as of this writing, and will presumably continue to be unless this blog entry triggers a further correction, an outcome devoutly to be unwished.) Every one of these 88 entries is priced at $325 and most are in the 20 to 30 page range. Despite the high prices, they must be very popular, because several are listed as Temporarily Out of Stock.
This makes me want to join Facebook just so I can list “Ass Meat Research Group” among my favorite authors.
A tip of the hat to my friend Aaron Mandel, who somehow discovered this. No, I don’t know what he was searching for.
Edited to add: Apparently as a result of this blog post, Amazon has removed all records of these authors from its database. See here for my lament. | {
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Donald Trump’s favorite network, Fox News, isn’t always rosy on what he says and does, especially when he backs Russia over the U.S. intelligence community | {
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A religious 'cult' which claims that autism can be cured by 'casting out demons' is manifesting roots across Europe, according to reports.
And it even claims to have hundreds of members in the UK as the group continues to spread its worrying message.
The Last Reformation is a Christian movement formed in Denmark in 2011 by leader Torben Søndergaard.
It is a branch of evangelical Christianity and appears to have its base in the Netherlands.
But the leader has made shocking claims that he can cure illnesses, diseases and conditions through prayer - and has even claimed to cure autism.
Søndergaard claims to regularly 'casts out demons' from those suffering from ill health, such as cancer patients.
(Image: Last Reformation/Youtube)
He posted a video boasting of his success in 'healing' a little girl from autism, a condition that has no cure.
In one of his many videos posted to YouTube, he said: "We see so many people set free from demons and healed.
"One of them was a young girl, 9 years old, who had autism. When I prayed for her...that spirit just left her.
"And suddenly she smiled, that young girl, and said 'Hey mom, I'm happy.'"
(Image: Last Reformation/Youtube)
The worrying movement is spreading across Europe, and is claiming to already have more than 100 members in the UK.
People are signed up through a process called 'kickstarting', where established members preach to strangers and encourage them to join.
They do this by demonstrating their 'healing powers'. The website reads: "It simply means a disciple of Jesus who helps another disciple to pray for the sick for the first time and to see people getting healed for the first time.
Read more:
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"Kickstarting is short for teaching people to heal the sick, preach the gospel, cast out demons, etc. by taking them out and showing them how to do it."
But the sensational claims that demons cause autism, homosexuality and life-threatening illnesses has sparked concern.
On the weekend of May 20, the group will hold a seminar in Dublin for established members and others to attend.
The meeting will be held in a secret location, reported Dublin Live , after concerns about the group's teachings.
One Dublin resident opposing the visit is Fiona O'Leary, an autistic mum who has two children with the same condition.
Ms O'Leary, who helps run an autism awareness group called Autism Rights Together, is outraged by Søndergaard's claims.
(Image: Last Reformation/Youtube)
She said: "I'm autistic and two of my five children are too, and I can't imagine how awful it would be for them to hear themselves described as being possessed by demons.
"They are asking for 'gifts' and 'donations' and exploiting vulnerable people who have experienced tragedy in their lives or are mentally ill.
"They are highly organised, sophisticated and dangerous."
Speaking to The Local , Søndergaard said they did not claim to cure autism, but claimed she was freed from the 'demons' that caused it.
Read more:
He said: "It happened in Australia to a nine-year-girl who suffered autism. She was freed from demons and she was happy. It wasn’t something shocking like a big man holding her down.
"She was with her mother and we all prayed and the demon was cast out and she was happy and the mother was happy."
"It’s not that we tell people that we can cure autism, it’s not like that.
"Just as Jesus could cast our demons and cure people so can we all through prayer, we are just teaching people how to pray so that they too can help the sick." | {
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Tags
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s term as chairman of the Fed expires at the end of the year and President Obama has quite ungraciously indicated his intent to replace him, remarking that he had, “already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to.”
Despite what Mort Zukerman has argued in his column titled “Mistreating Ben Bernanke, the Man Who Saved the Economy,” policy under Bernanke has not been good, to say the least. Policy before the crisis expanded created credit, kept rates too low for too long, generating a second, but this time catastrophic, boom-bust cycle. Since then, the Fed’s dovish policy of low interest rates and quantitative easing has retarded recovery by:
1. Keeping interest rates from tracking market levels which would better redirect resources to highest value uses;
2. Making it easier for firms to avoid necessary liquidation and reallocation of resources; and
3. Adding to the policy uncertainty which, coupled with the extreme regime uncertainty, is the main cause of the continuing Bush-Obama Great Stagnation.
Mainstream criticism of Fed policy, both before and after the crisis, can be found at John B. Taylor’s blog “Economics One” or his book Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis. For an Austrian perspective, besides the Salerno paper cited above, see Frank Shostak’s archive, George A. Selgin’s “Guilty as Charged,” or my “Bernanke: The Good Engineer?”, which concludes, “Bernanke's current monetary policy is a train wreck waiting to happen. The ultimate solution as is pointed out by Roger Garrison: ‘The hope of achieving long-run sustainable growth can only rest on the prospects for decentralizing the business of banking.’”
A picture of how much policy has drifted into “Mondustrial Policy” under Chairman Bernanke and toward ever-more dangerous monetary central planning can be found in the Independent Review, “Ben Bernanke versus Milton Friedman: The Federal Reserve’s Emergence as the U.S. Economy’s Central Planner” by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel. Hummel summarizes much of Bernanke’s post-crisis Fed policy as follows:
In sum, phase one and phase two of Bernanke’s policies turned out to be only slight variations on the same theme. Almost nothing that the Fed did during either phase can be accurately described as an effort to stimulate or even stabilize aggregate demand. Whatever the ostensible rationale, everything ended up being a supply-side intervention designed to prop up failing financial institutions. Helicopter Ben talks a good line about being ready to unleash quantitative easing, but this talk only imparts an aura of justification for the Fed’s incredibly expanded role in allocating the country’s scarce supply of savings. If anything, his policies were closer to a quantitative tightening. A better moniker would therefore be “Bailout Ben.”
We are unfortunately back in the situation in which, as bad as Fed policy has been, monetary policy could easily become even more destructive of wealth creation. As I wrote in a letter to the editor in 2010 when Bernanke was last up for reappointment, the only legitimate reason to reappoint Bernanke was that anyone else this administration might appoint would provide leadership which would most likely make policy even worse. Currently the two leading candidates to replace Bernanke are Janet Yellen and Lawrence Summers. Neither name instills confidence even on the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal which writes on July 29:
The real problem is that neither Ms. Yellen nor Mr. Summers seems likely to do what should be the next chairman’s priority — restoring the Fed’s independence by ending its post-crisis political interventions and focusing above all on maintaining price stability.
Those who believe in sound money should tremble at the prospect of either.
Janet Yellen who is heralded as the “Best Fed Choice” by Fed cheerleader Alan S. Blinder, a leading proponent of Fed activism and more fiscal stimulus, is more aptly described by the Journal:
Ms. Yellen is also seen, in and outside the Fed, as a leading monetary dove. That isn’t limited to her backing for Mr. Bernanke’s monetary interventions since the 2008 panic. We’ve followed Ms. Yellen for 20 years and can’t recall a key juncture when her default policy wasn't to keep spiking the punchbowl [emphasis mine]. Many Democrats think the Fed needs to keep interest rates at near zero through the 2016 election, and Ms. Yellen is their woman.
Summers may actually be even more problematic. He is an architect of the failed stimulus of 2009 and a revolving door player between Wall Street and government that would only add to the image of the Fed as a financial central planner and most likely continue the evolution of monetary policy to mondustrial policy.
Can Fed policy get worse under the leadership of either Dr. Yellen or Dr. Summers? Most definitely YES. Unfortunately leadership of the Fed is not the only problem. An institution that relies on good leadership to avoid harm to the economy and the nation is not a good institution. If banks and other financial institutions should not be too big to fail, neither should the Fed. While in the perception of too many, the Fed is both too big and too important to fail, it is an institution that not only could be, but has been, a complete failure.
The conclusion of my 2010 letter is still relevant:
The FED according to the Post is an “institution that has served us well for decades. ...” However, The FED is not an institution that has served us well. It was set up to protect the value of the dollar and to avoid boom and bust cycles. Since inception of the Fed, the dollar has, in real terms, declined over 87 percent, now having a purchasing power compared to a 1913 dollar of less than 13 cents. Just since the mid-1990s overly easy monetary policy has caused or enabled two significant boom-bust periods with accompanying bubbles in first dot.com stocks and then residential and commercial real estate. The Wall Street Journal in a January 25theditorial which argues against confirmation partially because of Bernanke’s and the FED’s complicity in causing the most recent boom and resulting bust and financial crisis, unwittingly gives the one legitimate short run reason to retain Bernanke; other potential nominees would be even worse. In the long run, instead of celebrating the Fed and central banking, true financial reform would, following Nobel winner F. A. Hayek look seriously at proposals to “denationalization of money” including the recent suggestion by economist Richard Ebeling to end the Federal Reserve. | {
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Rosendahl Grand Cru ølglass er et klassiskt glass på stett designet av Erik Bagger.
Ølglasset er en del av Grand Cru kolleksjonen fra Rosendahl som inneholder en rekke vinglass og kjøkkenglass, serviser og annet dekketøy.
Bestill Rosendahl Ølglass i sett på 6 glass!
Her finner du pakker med 2 ølglass!
Ølglasset fra Rosendahl er et halvliterglass ( 50 cl ) laget i blyfritt glass. Høyden på glasset er 18 cm. Ølglassene kan kjøpes i pakker på 2 glass eller i sett på 6.
Rosendahl ølglass er designet av danske Erik Bagger som senere også designet flere ølglass under sitt eget selskap og navn.
Matchende Tilbehør til Rosendahl Ølglass
Selv om dette ølglasset godt kan benyttes alene uten tilbehør finnes det en rekke glass og serviser i Grand Cru serien fra Rosendahl som matcher.
Mange liker for eksempel å ha et snapsglass servert sammen med ølglasset. Det finnes også snapsglass i Grand Cru serien.
Du vil også finne mindre og større Grand Cru skåler til potetgull eller chilinøtter om dette er noe du setter pris på å ha ved siden av ølglasset.
Du kan se en oversikt over de ulike Rosendahl Grand Cru produktene her.
Rosendahl ølglass kan vaskes i oppvaskmaskin, men kun på temperaturer opp til 50 – 55 grader. | {
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Now Available on Steam - Gal*Gun: Double Peace, 10% off! | {
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Snow Daze: The Music of Winter [Finished] - Version: 1.5 (4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
votes, average:out of 5) Loading... Loading... Developer: Cypress Zeta
Consider supporting the dev if you like the game and want them to do what they love. Click on dev's link for more info. Release Date: 28 July, 2018 Game Size: 1.16 GB Censorship: Uncensored Game Engine: Ren'Py Current Game Version: 1.5 (Finished) Total Views: 12,828 views Advertisement
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Game Informations Snow Daze (formerly Home Invasion) is a visual novel with mind control/incest themes. You play as Jason, an unloved son trapped in a house with his three hot sisters and sexy mom. A blizzard hits forcing everyone to be snowed into the same house for a week. With everyone finally trapped in the same house he has a plan – a plan involving musical subliminals and a sexy future.
How to install? Extract to desired location.
Click on SnowDaze.exe to start playing.
System Requirements: Dual Core Pentium or equivalent Processor.
Intel HD 2000 or equivalent Graphics.
1.16 GB of free disk space (Recommended to have twice as much free disk space than this).
Download managers (like IDM) may not work for internal files (Walkthrough/patch etc). In that case, do Right click on file > "Save Link As".
Walkthrough and Guide Galleryfix, Hints, Replay mod: Download
Snowdaze 1.3 had a few CG gallery entries that were unobtainable, this mod started out as a fix for that. It now also adds actual replay functionality, changes some of the Bonus Stories audio tracks in the extras menu into animated scenes, and has a (optional) hint system that shows how each choice will affect your relationships.
Features:
adds replay menu
both gallery and replay menus have an unlock button, it can be clicked again to relock scenes that haven't been unlocked in game.
gallery entries are easier to unlock.
adds hints system
adds a small points overlay to let you know how you're doing
adds bonus stories scenes (Audio only for them and more files is still available by clicking the "audio" button at the bottom.)
fixes minor display errors found while making the rest of the mod.
Installation:
Extract zip into "/snowdaze1.5/game" folder. Snowdaze 1.3 had a few CG gallery entries that were unobtainable, this mod started out as a fix for that. It now also adds actual replay functionality, changes some of the Bonus Stories audio tracks in the extras menu into animated scenes, and has a (optional) hint system that shows how each choice will affect your relationships.Extract zip into "/snowdaze1.5/game" folder. | {
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Cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain expects a breakeven following an investment in new mining equipment, according to a press release published on the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) site on May 8.
London-based Argo said that it expects a cash breakeven in May, and outlined its intention to continue to expand its mining infrastructure as hardware prices become cheaper.
The company expects that 1,000 units of Bitmain Z11 miners that came into production on May 2 will improve gross margin during the second quarter. Argo further reveals that it has settled a purchase of 1,000 units of S17 miners for “a total consideration of £1.7 million ($2.2 million) with plans to put it into production in early July.”
Executive Chairman Jonathan Bixby said, "We strongly believe that the cryptocurrency market has considerable long-term potential to become a major asset class and that the correct strategy is to continue to invest in mining infrastructure at current prices."
In August 2018, Argo reportedly became the first crypto company to join the London Stock Exchange (LSE), after raising around $32 million for a total valuation of about $61 million. According to an initial admission document from the LSE, a total of 156,250,000 ordinary shares placed at 16 pence per share valued Argo at a market capitalization of £47 million (around $61 million).
Notably, Argo registered a pre-tax loss of £4.1 million ($5.3 million) as of the end of 2018, according to the company’s annual report. In February of this year, Argo announced it would terminate its mining-as-a-service operations by April, focusing solely on direct mining. “The redeployment of the mining infrastructure and capital is expected to be profitable following a material reduction in input costs achieved from suppliers,” the update read at the time. | {
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Det er den fjerde påsatte brand inden for få dage, og derfor efterlyser Fyns Politi nu også vidner til den seneste af dem.
Søndag eftermiddag klokken 15.28 fik alarmcentralen et opkald fra en borger, som kunne se røg stige til vejrs fra et sted inde i Havekolonien Grejsdalen. I første omgang ville vagtchef Kenneth Taanquist ikke konstatere, at der var tale om en brand, fordi det også kunne være en grill, som havde fået for meget tændvæske eller et stykke kød, som var brændt lidt rigeligt på.
Det var dog ikke tilfældet, for ifølge både Fyns Politis senere meldinger på Twitter og Fyens Stiftstidendes reporter Carsten Olsen var der sat ild til døren i et sideskur. Ilden var dog blevet så hurtigt slukket, at den ikke havde bredt sig til selve kolonihavehuset.
Der var ingen personer til stede, da branden fandt sted ved kolonihavehuset, som ifølge avisens udsendte reporter ligger ret isoleret i havekoloniforeningen. Derfor har det været muligt at komme uset til og fra brandstedet.
Politiet var efter branden massivt til stede i området med både en indsatslederbil og tre patruljevogne for at sikre spor af gerningsmanden eller -mændene. | {
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The ANU's fossil fuel divestment strategy is hardly novel -- plenty of investors are bailing out of fossil fuel stocks, and for more than just moral reasons, write Glenn Dyer, Bernard Keane and Paddy Manning.
The Australian National University’s decision to sell $16 million worth of fossil fuel investments puts it in good company. The City Of Moreland in Melbourne took a similar decision last Friday, joining Seattle in the United States, Oxford in the UK and Dunedin in New Zealand in divesting fossil fuel stocks. Stanford University in the US decided in May to quit its investments in fossil fuel companies in its US$18 billion endowment fund, becoming the first US university to do so. AMP has also made a similar decision in respect of its socially responsible funds. Hunter Hall, the Sydney-based investment group has made a similar decision; even the Rockefeller family, who gave the world Big Oil, have made a similar decisions to quit fossil fuel investments.
Strangely, there’s been no comment from Prime Minister Tony Abbott about those decisions like he has made repeatedly about ANU. “Of course they should be free to do what they want, but when they make stupid decisions we should be free to criticise them,” Abbott said yesterday about ANU. “Any entity which says that they’re simply not going to invest in energy companies is frankly depriving its members of the benefit of some very good investments.”
Abbott knows all about stupid investment decisions — he’s the man who urged mining investors to take their money out of Australia and put it into Zambia and Ghana in 2010, when Australia was ranked the world’s best place for mining investment by independent foreign analysts.
His current advice isn’t much better than in 2010: Santos, Woodside, Whitehaven Coal, BHP and other fossil fuel companies have seen their share prices fall sharply of late. World oil and coal prices are falling — oil peaked in 2008 at US$148 a barrel, thermal coal prices have fallen by well over 60%, and coking coal prices peaked in 2011 (after the floods in Queensland slashed world supplies of both types of coal). Even leaving aside the moral questions concerning global warming and climate change, ANU can be justified on the basis of the losses incurred in holding any investments. The trustees of the ANU’s funds have a duty to make sure they don’t incur losses. Possibly the Prime Minister believes that ANU should retain losing investments as a kind of moral statement about the glories of fossil fuel.
And strange that Abbott has been so voluble on the ANU’s divestment when he had so little to say about the Commonwealth Bank gouging and ripping off investors via its financial planning arms, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Seems you can treat investment funds how you like — as long as it doesn’t upset the resources sector.
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In May, AMP Capital announced that its ‘’responsible’’ funds would have limited scope to invest in certain mining and energy companies. The changes resulted in 56 companies ruled out of bounds for the funds, with the affected industries grouped with pornographers, weapons manufacturers, gaming companies, uranium miners and producers of alcohol and tobacco. Those funds are substantial, managing around $3 billion of the AMP’s more than $90 billion or so of investments. That’s broader than what ANU decided to do, but the AMP has escaped criticism from the likes of the Australian Financial Review, or senior politicians.
Hunter Hall said in June — again sans commentary from Abbott, or campaign from the AFR — that it:
“… decided to widen the negative ethical screen for our retail funds to include fossil fuel stocks. Our negative ethical screen seeks to avoid investments in companies that are involved in activities that are harmful to people, animals, and the environment. We know from climate science that burning fossil fuels is having a powerful and accelerating impact on climate and the environment. After observing the gathering momentum of fossil fuel divestment campaigns and consulting a number of our supporters, it became clear that climate change was also a very important issue to many of our investors … Hunter Hall’s investment portfolios have always been underweight fossil fuel companies but our decision to end fossil fuel investments outright enables Hunter Hall to focus on new investment opportunities.”
The Future Fund, in contrast, yesterday made it clear it would not be quitting its fossil fuel investments. Managing director David Neal said it would not be divesting from fossil fuel companies on ethical grounds. Rather, the fund’s investment managers would “work with” companies on “environmental, governance and social issues”.
“We think exclusions are very much a last resort – engagement is the way to influence good governance,” Neal is reported as saying. “[For us the question on] fossil fuel relates to the potential to impact on the demand for these, such as the creation of new energy technology and the value of reserves, that’s something that we need to worry about.”
Engagement is indeed a way to influence governance. But no amount of governance can address the problems created by reliance on fossil fuels. And no amount of governance can help when major commodity markets are moving against you. | {
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Sen. Todd Young Todd Christopher YoungSenate GOP eyes early exit Why the US should rely more on strategy, not sanctions Davis: The Hall of Shame for GOP senators who remain silent on Donald Trump MORE (R-Ind.) on Saturday called on leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold a hearing next week with Trump administration officials about a potential U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.
"The brutal Maduro Regime has caused unspeakable suffering amongst the citizens in Venezuela and I commend the brave Venezuelans who are standing up for their freedom and for their basic human rights," he said. "However, I am concerned by reports of possible U.S. military intervention in Venezuela,"
"I am calling on the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold immediate hearings with key members of the administration next week to discuss their plans for Venezuela and to explain any plans to deploy U.S. forces to the country," he added.
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The Hill reached out to Sens. James Risch (R-Idaho) and Bob Menendez Robert (Bob) MenendezKasie Hunt to host lead-in show for MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Senators ask for removal of tariffs on EU food, wine, spirits: report VOA visa decision could hobble Venezuela coverage MORE (D-N.J.), who are the committee's chairman and ranking member, respectively.
The conflict in Venezuela has reached new levels in recent days, as opposition leader Juan Guaidó, whom the White House recognizes as the country's interim president, called on the country's military to force President Nicolás Maduro out of power. He was unable to get the support of key military leaders, however.
National security adviser John Bolton John BoltonMaximum pressure is keeping US troops in Iraq and Syria Woodward book trails Bolton, Mary Trump in first-week sales Ex-NSC official alleges 'unprecedented' intervention by White House aides in Bolton book review MORE this week has indicated support for military intervention in Venezuela. | {
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Arena football appears to be headed to downtown Portland, perhaps as soon as next spring.
The National Arena League has announced that Portland will become one of its expansion cities in the 2018 season. The yet-to-be-named team would play at Cross Insurance Arena.
“I think they’re hoping for this April,” said Matt Herpich, general manager of the arena. “If not, it’s almost guaranteed for next April (2019).”
There are, however, some important details to be worked out between Cross arena and a new professional sports league still trying to gain its footing.
Herpich said Wednesday that lease negotiations have yet to be completed. The team would be owned by the league, Herpich said, with the idea of eventually transitioning to local ownership.
“We started talking late summer, early fall and we’re still having conversations,” Herpich said. “They love Portland. They liked the city, liked the vibe. They liked the idea of the fan base and the sports following in the state of Maine.”
The NAL is one of several indoor professional football leagues in North America. Based out of Atlanta, the league held its inaugural season earlier this year. Four of the eight NAL teams that played in 2017 apparently have folded. A fifth team, in Monterrey, Mexico, is not expected to play in 2018.
Portland would host one of four expansion franchises. The others would be in Trenton, New Jersey, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Greensboro, North Carolina. Coming back for a second season will be the league champion Jacksonville Sharks, runner-up Columbus (Georgia) Lions and the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The 2018 season will run from April to August, the league said.
NEWS CONFERENCE WITH DETAILS
NAL officials were in Worcester on Wednesday to announce the newly formed Massachusetts Pirates.
“We’re on the verge of some great things,” NAL Commisioner Chris Siegfried said during a news conference streamed on the league’s Facebook page. “We’re not going to announce them tonight, but there’s going to be some close rivalries nearby (to Worcester).
“We’ve got seven teams right now locked and loaded. Not all of them have been announced, but they all have solid ownership and we’re very excited about it.”
Siegfried said the league is in the process of finalizing the 2018 schedule and would release it “in a week or two.” The league posted on its website that news conferences in Portland and Greensboro “will be scheduled later in the month.”
Herpich said there has been no date set for any news conference at Cross arena regarding a football team.
“We’ve got to get a lease signed,” said Herpich, who noted that holding football games in the summer could bring in fans during what is usually a slow season for the arena. “It would be great for our sports and great for our staff to keep active during summer,” he said. “Our concert season is really Labor Day to Memorial Day, because then they go outside.”
Arena football, first played in 1987, takes place in buildings typically designed for basketball or hockey. As opposed to the 100-yard field used outside, arena football typically uses a field 50 yards long. Each sideline has a padded barrier placed over hockey boards separating fans from the field of play. Rebound nets are located on either side of the goalposts to allow missed field goals to bounce back onto the field, where the ball can be played live. Punting is not allowed.
Each team fields eight players on offense and defense, with four offensive players on the line of scrimmage before each snap.
“It’s a fast, exciting game in an intimate atmosphere,” Siegfried said during the Worcester event, noting that kids in the stands could high-five players between plays. “It’s a rock concert. It’s family-friendly. It’s right there in your face.”
Some fans agree.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Steve Krolikowski of Cumberland Center, recalling the arena game he saw years ago in New York at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. “I think people in Portland enjoy football in general, and some tourists might enjoy it in the summer.”
Indoor professional football seems in a constant state of flux, with new leagues forming and others dissolving.
The sport was popularized by the Arena Football League, which began play in 1987 and had a regular-season network television deal with ESPN2 from 1995-99. In its 10th season, in 1996, it had 15 teams and a total attendance of over a million fans, but the AFL is now down to six teams. Five are in major markets such as Cleveland, Philadelphia and Baltimore, where the games are played in facilities designed to host NBA and NHL teams, making it a difficult economic model to maintain.
TALES FROM INAUGURAL SEASON
Newer leagues, like the NAL, appear to be shifting away from large arenas to midsized facilities. Last year the league played regular-season games from late March to mid-June. Some NAL teams played 12 games, while other clubs played fewer. The now-defunct Dayton, Ohio, team played only seven games. The team was actually based out of Atlanta and played all seven games on the road, losing all of them – including by scores of 94-6, 68-6 and 77-0.
“Most of the guys probably couldn’t find Dayton on an Ohio map,” kicker Jim Terry, a veteran of 16 indoor football league seasons and eight different leagues, told the Florida Times-Union in June. “A lot of games are like the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals.”
Terry played one game with Dayton before a rib injury ended his season. The Times-Union reported that Terry said he wasn’t paid for the game he played, so he kept his helmet and uniform.
Cross arena, which can seat about 6,700 fans for hockey, would be the smallest venue used by the NAL’s existing franchises. The arena lost its major tenant in May 2016 when the Portland Pirates hockey team moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. A new professional hockey team – the Maine Mariners of the ECHL – is scheduled to debut at the arena in the fall of 2018.
“Bringing back hockey was our first priority,” said Herpich, the arena’s general manager. “Now if this works, it would be super cool. We’re excited about the prospects.”
Arena football games tend to be wide-open, high-scoring affairs. In 2017, Lehigh Valley averaged 61 points per game behind the play of league MVP and former University of Maine quarterback Warren Smith Jr. A veteran of several indoor leagues, Smith quarterbacked Maine to the NCAA playoffs in 2011, setting a school passing yardage record as a senior.
Several players have gone from indoor football leagues to the NFL, most notably Kurt Warner, a two-time NFL MVP who quarterbacked both the St. Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. Warner played in the Arena Football League for the Iowa Barnstormers. The AFL paid its players $900 per game during the 2017 season, according to news reports.
DRAWING INTEREST IN PORTLAND
Alexis Seader and Ian MacRae, both of Portland, said an arena football team makes sense for Portland because it’s a sports town. They agreed it would be worth trying to see a handful of games – as long as tickets are not too expensive.
“We live around the corner and are always looking for fun stuff to do in the neighborhood,” Seader said as the two sat at the bar in Brian Boru. “If it’s affordable and a family-fun atmosphere, if there’s action and (air conditioning) in July, with cold beer? We could be convinced to go.”
The Steelhawks – the NAL’s Allentown, Pennsylvania, franchise – will charge from $11.50 to $41.50 a ticket for a single game and from $56 to $262.50 for a season-ticket package to all seven games in 2018.
MacRae said arena football is fun to watch on television because the action is so fast. He said he isn’t sure the sport would draw enough fans to fill Cross arena.
Across the street from the arena at Binga’s Stadium, Portland resident Nick Simpson, 31, said arena football would be great for the city because it would be something different.
“I think a diversity of activities is good for Portland, just like a diversity of people,” he said.
Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming contributed to this report.
Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:
[email protected]
Twitter: GlennJordanPPH
Steve Craig can be contacted at 791-6413 or at:
[email protected]
Twitter: SteveCCraig
Send questions/comments to the editors. | {
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Have you ever wondered what all those extra SUVs are in the Presidential or VIP motorcades? You know, the ones with severely tinted windows. The SUV's that no one gets in or out. Maybe they are Unmarked 'black helicopters' on four wheels...
Well, wonder no more. They have a 6 barreled 7.62 mm mini gun. They Fire over 4,000 rounds per minute The wipers need to be run to remove Spent casings when the weapon is firing.
This video is from the company that makes this happen. The vehicle is also armor plated.
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The Final Countdown(s)
Not counting the time Elon Musk jettisoned a dummy in a Tesla toward Mars, SpaceX hasn’t flown a crewed mission. Ever. In fact, the United States hasn’t flown a crewed mission since the July 2011 Atlantis flight. Luckily, we’ve had Russia to rely on.
That could change next year. On January 7, the first flight of a SpaceX Dragon craft designed to carry a crew is set to take off from Kennedy Space Center, according to NASA. Now, to be clear, this Dragon capsule is meant for a crew, but this particular flight will not be a crewed mission – yet.
Think of it as a test for NASA’s future Commercial Crew Program. Called Demo-1, the flight – and others like it over the next few months – will culminate in a crewed launch in June 2019 (Demo-2).
Testing…123
In addition to SpaceX, Boeing – which also has a commercial crew contract with NASA – also has many test flights planned over the next year, and a crewed mission in August 2019 using the CST-100 Starliner capsule. Boeing’s first test flight won’t be as early as SpaceX though – it’s slated for March 2019.
Between these flight tests, both companies will also need to complete “abort tests” – proving that the astronauts can safely escape unscathed in the possibility of an emergency. After each test, NASA will look over all the data, reviewing performance, safety, and looking for opportunities to resolve issues – until all systems are certified.
So the big question: Will both companies stay on schedule? If all goes well. But delays also aren’t entirely avoidable. “Flying safety has always taken precedence over schedule,” says NASA spokeswoman Marie Lewis to Reuters. SpaceX has seen delays before. And it’s not just Elon Musk. Space is full of delays.
But, patience is key. As the old saying goes: Test twice and launch once, right?
READ MORE: SpaceX’s crew rocket set for January test flight [Reuters]
More on SpaceX: SpaceX Just Launched a Rocket With a Critical Reused Part | {
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Today we are revealing Dota 2’s 6.84 Gameplay Update. Head over to the update page to learn about the various adjustments made to gameplay, the new Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades, new items, and more. These changes are live in the Dota 2 Test Client now, and will be coming to the Main Client later this week.
The International is approaching, and that means the Compendium is on its way. This year’s Compendium will also be available later this week, and will be packed with items, and other rewards you won’t be able to find anywhere else. And if you’re eager to know who you can cheer for at The International, keep an eye on this space; we plan to announce which teams will be invited very soon. | {
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Pip Broughton, producer, co-founder
For 15 years Pip worked as a theatre director, including Artistic Directorships of Croydon Warehouse, Paines Plough and Nottingham Playhouse.
Since 1995 Pip has been working in film and television as director and producer. As producer Pip was instrumental in the development of the Sky Playhouse season and produced 17 of the series, working with first-time directors Idris Elba, Matt Smith and Polly Stenham; and acting talent including Juliet Stevenson, Stephen Fry, Stellan Skarsgaad, Ben Whishaw, David Harewood, Emma Thompson; and writers Frank McGuinness, Mark Ravenhill, Jeremy Brock, Paul O’Grady, Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Sandi Toksvig.
Directing work has included several single films for Channel 4 and primetime drama series for both ITV and BBC. She jointly produced Craig Roberts’ directing debut theatrical feature film JUST JIM – released 25th September 2015 in the UK. Recently she directed the acclaimed television film version of UNDER MILK WOOD for BBC with Michael Sheen, Sir Tom Jones, Jonathan Pryce and others; and in 2016, the Bafta-winning ABERFAN, THE GREEN HOLLOW by Owen Sheers. The programme received unanimous acclaim and earned the BBC's highest audience approval rating in five years.
Pip was the lead producer and director on both series of the 8-part S4C/BBC Wales series, KEEPING FAITH. The programme’s first series earned record viewing figures on iPlayer in 2018 and eventually transferred to BBC1. The same year, Pip reunited with Owen Sheers to direct, TO PROVIDE ALL PEOPLE, which aired on BBCOne Wales and BBC2 to wide critical acclaim.
IMDb | {
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Социолог: Защищать Путина готовы менее 20% россиян
«Главком»
Розсилка ВІДПРАВИТИ
Директор российского аналитического «Левада-Центра» Лев Гудков утверждает, что менее 20% россиян готовы защищать президента РФ Владимира Путина и отрицать его причастность к коррупции. Об этом он сказал в интервью «Главкому».
Эксперт отметил, что российская власть «коррумпирована, власть мафиозная, власть эгоистична». «Те, кто во власти – жадные и бессовестные, они заботятся только о собственных интересах. Это все сохраняется», - сказал Гудков.
«Менее 20% (опрошенных. – Ред.) готовы защищать Путина и отрицать его причастность к коррупции. Есть немногие, которые говорят, что он, безусловно, причастен к злоупотреблениям, к коррупции, это от 10% до 16%. Около четверти говорят, что, наверное, это так (президент причастен к коррупции. – Ред.), но я об этом мало знаю. Еще около четверти говорят, что, скорее всего, это так, так как все политики, которые во власти, нечисты на руку. Вместе с тем, значительная часть людей говорит, что нет разницы, правдивы эти обвинения, или нет, важно, что при нем жить стало лучше. Такая вот размазанность (в ответах) – она очень характерна, это очень традиционный взгляд на эгоистичную, произвольную, на корыстную власть», - рассказал социолог. | {
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How Parents And Teachers Can Nurture The 'Quiet Power' Of Introverts
Enlarge this image LA Johnson/NPR LA Johnson/NPR
When Susan Cain wrote Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking in 2012, it was a big success. The book made the cover of Time magazine, spent weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list and was the subject of one of the most-watched TED Talks, with more than 13 million views.
From that grew The Quiet Revolution, a company Cain co-founded that continues to produce and share content about, and for, introverts. The site offers an online training course for parents and stories submitted by readers about being introverted. There's even a podcast.
Kids, Cain says, "are at the heart and center of it."
"Introverts often are really amazing, talented, gifted, loving children, and they feel like there's something wrong with them," she says. "And our mission is to make it so that the next generation of kids does not grow up feeling that way."
In her latest book, Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts, she's taking her message about introverts to teenagers. Though the book is written for young adults, it's also a tool for teachers and parents.
I talked with Cain about her mission of supporting introverts, and asked her advice on how to teach them.
So what does it mean to be an introverted child?
It's really not different for a child than for an adult. It's a person who feels at their best and at their most alive when they're in quieter, more mellow environments. And it stems from a neurobiological difference between introverts and extroverts. Literally, different nervous systems. Introverts have nervous systems that simply react more to everything that's going on around them, and that means they feel more in their sweet spot when there's less stuff happening. And extroverts have nervous systems that react less, which means that they don't get to their sweet spot until there's more stuff happening. And so this is why you see these different behavioral preferences. An introverted kid would rather draw quietly or would rather play their favorite sport with one or two other kids. A more extroverted child would rather be part of a big gang and a big noisy birthday party, and not only not be fazed by it but seem to really relish all that stimulation.
And it's different from being shy?
It is different. Shyness is much more about the fear of being judged. It's a kind of self-consciousness and not wanting people to look at you and feeling easily embarrassed or easily shamed. These are all the feelings that a shy child would have. And in practice, many introverted children are also shy, but many are not, and you can also have children that are quite extroverted but who are shy, and as soon as they overcome their shyness, you see them being in the middle of the big gang. So it's really important when you're working with children to understand what is actually happening inside them so that you make sure that you're responding to the right thing.
So let's talk about schools. Where do they come in?
You know, lots of schools are really hungry for information on how they can do a better job of working with these kids.
They're asking good questions: What indeed are the right ways to think about class participation? And are we over-evaluating as an educational culture? We overvalue the person who raises their hand all the time. Why is that important? Do we overvalue in quantity, as opposed to quality, of participation? Are there ways to think about class participation differently? Like we [at Quiet Revolution] have been encouraging schools to think in terms of classroom engagement rather than participation. Take a more holistic way of looking at how a child is engaging with this material or with their classmates.
One of the anecdotes I loved in the book was when the teacher had her students think for a minute before answering. What other kind of good ideas or tips can teachers use like that?
Another idea is the think/pair/share technique, which I think many teachers are familiar with already, but may not realize the power of it within a population of students. This is a technique where the teacher asks the students a question; asks them to think about the answer. They pair up with another student to talk about their reflections. And then, once they're paired, once they've articulated it with that partner, then you ask each pair to share their thoughts with the room as a whole. And this does a lot of great things for introverted kids. No. 1, it gives them the time to process. No. 2, it allows them to get the experience of articulating their thoughts out loud. But in front of only one other student, they don't have to do it in front of the whole class. And then, often, once they have had that warmup period with one other student, they're then much more likely to want to share with the whole class.
Grant Snider/Dial Books for Young Readers
So this is a technique that works, it works equally well for introverts and extroverts. It's great for the extroverts, too, but it just happens to work well with the more reticent kids.
What do you think about using social media or technology in the classroom? Helpful for introverts? Harmful?
Helpful. Well, of course social media is such a big thing, so for introverts, there are pros and cons. But my first impulse is to say helpful, and there are teachers now who are starting to incorporate social media into their classrooms and report that the more reticent children are much more likely to participate when their means of expression is through their screens. They can type their answer into a screen, the other students then see what they have written or typed or whatever, and then "real life" dialogue begins based on the initial ideas that were contributed through the screen.
So in general I'm a big fan of social media. I think incorporating it creatively into the class can work. If we're talking about it as an educational technique, then I am all for it.
This brings me to another school-related trauma: the public speech. Should teachers kind of push introverts along, out of their comfort zone?
Yeah, so I think that it's important, of course. The key, if we're talking about public speaking or really anything that kids are fearful of, is to think of anxiety levels on a scale of 1 to 10, and to make sure you're pushing kids within a zone of 4 to 6.
If you have a kid who is really freaking out, they're really in that 7-to-10 zone, it's just too dangerous to push them at that point. They might succeed, they might, you know, do well and feel this is great. But there's too big a risk of it backfiring and the experience going poorly and the fear being further codified in their brain.
So you're much better off meeting a fear in small steps. The answer is not: 'OK, you never have to do ... ' The Answer is: "OK. You're afraid of public speaking. Why don't you prepare your speech and work on it first with your best friend?"
Give the speech to your friend. And then, when you've done that, maybe you can give it to another, smaller group. From there, you work up in stages, to finally giving the all out speech. You look for ways to make the experience less anxiety producing.
In the book, you mention that loving the topic can help kids get into their speech.
Making sure that the child is speaking about a subject that they're truly passionate about and excited to speak about is important. Because again, this is ... biochemical. If you tap into your body's behavioral activation system by speaking about something you're excited about, then that overcomes the body's behavioral inhibition system. Which is the system in your body telling you, stop. Slow down. Get the heck off the stage. So it does require extra work on the part of the teacher and an extra degree of thought and care, which I recognize is not always easy, you know, for overburdened teachers. But it goes a long way.
What about group work? Is that good for introverts?
In my experience, it depends a lot on how the group is structured. How carefully it's structured. Because I've seen group work where it works really well, you've got kids who work well together, everybody knows their role. That can be a really positive experience. And then I've seen big free-for-all groups where it's Lord of The Flies and you've got the most dominant kids taking over. Everyone else is checked out. So it can really go both ways. | {
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the amount of things my parents lied about is too damn high
150 shares | {
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The market has shed 12.5 percent since the start of the year as cash injections dropped sharply.
Dubai stocks hit a 27-month low on the back of sharp falls in the real estate market and a drop in liquidity levels.
The Dubai Financial Market Index ended Wednesday’s trading down 1.83 percent on 2,947.99 points, breaching the 3,000-point psychological barrier.
The Dubai bourse, the most exposed to the global markets in the Gulf region, dropped 3.1 percent by the close of the trading week.
The market has shed 12.5 percent since the start of the year as cash injections dropped sharply, with the main fall coming from the vital real estate sector.
“Dubai market has underperformed its GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) markets losing over 12 percent [YTD] dragged by the sell-off in real estate sector,” said MR Raghu, head of research at Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz).
Most of the seven Gulf bourses have made good gains in 2018 due to a partial recovery in oil prices.
“Fundamentally, the real estate prices have been falling and the market has been sluggish,” Raghu told AFP news agency.
Dubai real estate witnessed a 46 percent fall in off-plan sales by value in the first quarter, and a 24 percent decline in previously owned resales, he said.
The real estate sector is one of the main pillars for Dubai’s highly diversified economy, which is not dependent on oil.
The index of the real estate sector on Dubai bourse has shed about 18 percent since the start of the year with property giant and market leader Emaar dropping 22 percent.
Damac Properties, a leading real estate developer, was down 26 percent and troubled Drake and Scull International shed 50 percent since January 1.
A massive fall in liquidity levels and reports that international investors, an important component in the market, have moved to Saudi Arabia, are other causes for the downturn, analysts said.
According to local economic reports, liquidity levels dropped a massive 35 percent in April alone. | {
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In Russia, the economic ills and reported struggles that have dogged the region of late have a direct impact on the ice. It doesn’t show on the scoreboard – there is no chart mapping the precipitous fall of the Russian rouble painted under the center-ice faceoff dot during a Kontinental Hockey League game – but there is a direct connection.
That instability and volatility are having a negative impact on the viability of North American players earning a living, according to former KHL goalie Chris Holt.
It’s easy to forget the ties that bind a professional sports league to the physical location where the play takes place. Last year, though, as the value of crude oil and rouble collapsed at an alarming rate and even as talks and ceasefires are discussed in hopes of ending volatility in Ukraine and the rouble is steadied, the impact was felt. Teams in the KHL were forced to make drastic, quick decisions on some of the North American talent.
“Imports are often the most expensive players on the teams so the economy may impact that moving forward,” Holt said. “I know that many teams were putting their most expensive players on waivers because they were in some financial trouble and I’m not sure if their previous teams still owe them.”
The final part of that statement is alarming to an American sports fan. Imagine the lack of a guarantee in the contract of an NHL star like Sidney Crosby? In North America, the players have a strong union protection and regardless of the circumstances of team owner’s other business ventures, a consistent paycheck is always there.
Holt, who played three seasons in the KHL for four teams, explained how things are done in the KHL.
“Players are typically paid every month,” he explained. “There have been circumstances where I have had to go a couple extra weeks without a check, but nothing more than that.”
While those aren’t extraordinary labor practices, Holt noted that other players he’s spoken with have not been as lucky.
“Unfortunately, I have heard from other imports that have gone months without a check or have been only partially paid for the time period,” he said. “It really depends on the team you are on, and rest assured, we all talk and are very informed of teams with a poor reputation for this kind of thing.”
The inconsistency of pay is just something you have to deal with, Holt said. Business goes on as usual and sometimes it’s better not to make waves about it.
There are also incentives and financial punishments for play, something Holt called a double-edged sword.
“If you are not producing like the team expects you to (no matter how unrealistically lofty those expectations might be) you find yourself in a situation where there is a glitch in your payment,” he said. “I (my team) have often been threatened with payment holds during a cold streak. There are also large bonuses for winning, so it is a bit of a double-edged sword. Just play well and all is usually going to be fine.”
According to Holt, the average salary for an import is approximately $300,000 to $500,000 annually. Imports, Holt says, are among the most expensive players. That salary begins to grow when you add in incentives.
Many teams, Holt explains, can give a few thousand per win and other bonuses in the area of $1,000 per goal. Bigger bonuses come from playoff success, like $50,000 for a series win and $100,000 by winning the series after that.
For some players, the risks are worth the rewards. It’s an opportunity to play hockey at a high level and collect a paycheck, however infrequently it may be. There’s still a tremendous earning potential in the KHL, which is unrivaled by any league outside the NHL in North America. The league also gets players to commit with a different timeline than the NHL, which benefits the KHL.
“Often the KHL wants to talk contracts and demand almost immediate answers in April, far before NHL teams are thinking about free agency,” Holt said. That’s how we get stuck … we take the huge money in an unstable league, over turning everything down to maybe talk to the NHL in July, even though most of us dream of a career in the NHL. Kind of a smart trap by the KHL.”
So while the contracts are different than those in the NHL, it’s not exactly strange. It’s a success-integral business for the owner, why not the player? What’s on paper may be deceiving, though, according to an anonymous source with direct knowledge of KHL contracts.
The dollar amount on paper is often nowhere near the actual amount a player might receive. A good playoff run or strong play could earn a player close to 50-75% more than the original net sum agreed upon, that’s including the “on-paper” incentives. That money, is in off-the-books payments, sometimes envelopes of cash, according to the source.
That earning potential is surely a positive for players looking to display their craft on a grand stage while being able to support themselves and their families, whether that family joined them overseas or is back home.
While Holt acknowledges the obvious downside associated with playing in Russia – 10-plus-hour flights across eight time zones and air travel he said was “in all honesty a little terrifying” before the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that claimed the lives of 44, including an entire KHL team – to him it was still an opportunity to play hockey at a high level.
He hasn’t closed the door on the sport that he’s spent so much of his life trying to succeed at. Holt is not alone. There are still plenty of North American players taking the ice and lacing up their skates across those eight time zones.
Holt says that day-to-day life in the KHL is mostly normal, once you get past the language barrier. There are two-month-long training camps with work days that can exceed seven hours and sometimes be grueling.
And while it could get lonely (sometimes families will travel to Russia from North America) Holt says that the locals and Russian players have always been kind. It also helps that other North American players are around.
“Players from like nations will almost always flock together outside of the arena, but every team I have been on, the team-mates have been very nice to me and other imports,” said Holt.
But there’s still political uncertainty. There are still sanctions that could hurt the financial health of any organization. The money could be here today and gone tomorrow. The more gunfire that fills regions of political instability and the more sanctions that follow, could mean a less frequent paycheck. It’s a risky reality.
The NHL Players’ Association, the union representing player interest in the NHL, keeps players and their agents apprised of the sanctions and how it could affect their career overseas.
“We have informed agents/players that there are government sanctions in place and players/agents need to be aware of these sanctions if they are considering entering into a contract with a Russian person or business,” Jonathan Weatherdon, a spokesman for the NHLPA said. “We aren’t advising them on whether to sign a contract, but we are making them aware of these sanctions and recommend they seek appropriate legal counsel if they are considering a contract.”
There’s an obvious inherent risk, especially in contract instability.
It’s hard to lend an ear of sympathy, though, to the athletes making potentially millions. They’re surrounded by a team of advisers and, despite a language barrier, the contracts probably aren’t cryptic zodiac-killer creeds or illegible psychobabble.
There’s another side to the coin here too, a lot of top talent from Russia plays in North America and economic turmoil makes playing in Russia less attractive. There are, of course, some richer teams – Holt says the expensive imports being placed on waivers was to the delight of the richer teams that could snag those players – but costly assets like the Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin are less likely to head back to their home country, when the next paycheck is not guaranteed.
It’s impossible to tell, however, because for a player like Ovechkin, maybe that money is guaranteed or, based on that information supplied by an anonymous source, he’ll have a lot more coming to him than advertised. He is, after all, a marquee talent, that despite the plunging price of crude oil affecting the financials of some of the league’s owners, any team would be lucky to have.
Things seem to be levelling off financially, but there’s uncertainty when discussing something one of the largest economic markets in the world. The rouble could collapse completely tomorrow, or new sanctions could force all North American players back home. For now, it’s a risk that enough players seem to be willing to take. | {
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Posted on Monday, August 15, 2016 - 07:57 pm: So I’m going through my pictures. Unfortunately, not many came out good, for some reason the autofocus on my camera was having difficulty holding, resulting in many pictures not properly focusing or losing the focus in the middle of the exposure. It pretty much made panoramic photos impossible, but I had some interesting results regardless. As of today I have no focus adjustment at all unless I shake my phone and hope it lands in a better position. I guess I’ll head to the Microsoft store tomorrow to get that swapped.
Anyway, here we go!
Beautiful Scenery all around. Even at a rest stop in PA
I stopped for gas at a Sheetz, and was pleasantly surprised. Surge, in the fridge all nice and cold. I haven’t seen them in the wild since the 90s. Coca-Cola brought it back recently but it was only available on Amazon. Needless to say, I grabbed a few to keep me up after the 2hrs and 42 minutes of sleep I had the night before.
Continuing to truck on, there is a rest stop/observation area in Maryland on I-68. I took a few shots, and the focus issues started to raise its head. I made a panorama, but didn’t notice till after posting it on Facebook that it was blurry.
The rest here came out decent though. Makes me wonder how much dynamite was used to cut the pass in the mountain.
Getting there!
Almost there. For some reason my technology decided the route I should take is to get off Hwy 50 an exit early, and go down some Uly road. (Cunningham Run Rd and Stewarts Run)
I was at the campsite shortly after. I didn’t even get out my truck and the rest of the gang were already crowding around helping to unload. Got the bike out and the tent setup in short order.
A quick pano pic from the campsite in the early Thursday afternoon. Cloud cover made for some interesting sudden shadow half way through the snap.
That is all the pics for Thursday. We went for a ride the long way to Parkersburg. It was freaking hot out, to the point I thought I was going to pass out. To top it off, my check engine light was coming on and off, so par for the course with a Buell event I suppose. Mark hit a pothole so hard the clock fell out on his tuber. We stopped at Das Rookhaus, which Mark claimed has the best peperoni rolls. We got there, and it was hotter inside the place than it was outside, apparently the AC was broken. I was about to kill Mark as I know I was dehydrated and my gills couldn’t take much more of the blistering heat. The kid working there said the kitchen was even hotter.
We took a quick vote and decided to eat at the Pizza Place (yes that is what it is called) a few blocks down the road. Got there, unsuited again, and ordered up a Sicilian slice with a giant water. The pizza was “fake”, it was like a knockoff Little Caesars, but I like fake pizza anyway.
After relaxing, getting rehydrated, and cooling off in the AC we hit the road back to the campsite. Check engine light still on, and staying on more. I brought my Bluetooth dongle, so I’ll try ECMdroid when I get back to the campsite. After getting back and getting everything setup, I had no dice with getting ECMdroid to work, it would crash after pulling the data. I used two different devices with two different versions, same thing both times. Oh well. I am pretty sure it is a stator issue, so I broke out the multimeter, and sure enough it showed the battery being near dead. I didn’t feel like tearing into it, so I pulled the headlight fuse and threw the battery tender on to bring it back up to par.
Thursday evening calm, just a bunch of us hanging out sharing stories and making inappropriate jokes and comments. Gary and Damnut did some astro photography, one of Damnut’s pictures of the moon was so zoomed in and detailed you could almost see the rovers.
Thursday night sucked though. It was so hot it was difficult to sleep, to top it off it rained hard. Thankfully my tent stayed dry, but it was bad enough that Phillip and Jaclyn bailed and slept in their truck. At some point before the rain, Damnut decided to plug in an extension cord and ended up blowing the circuit. I woke up not long after due to my now powerless fan. After assessing the situation as best as one can at 3AM, I ended up getting my battery operated one out from the truck so I could get some sleep. The next morning Damnut was scooping the water out from his tent with a carbon fiber front fender (which is for sale by the way)
Friday morning came, we decided to drive to get breakfast at the same slow diner in Cairo. It is not their fault that they are slow, it usually just one girl doing everything from serving us to cooking and everything else. Our group alone increased the town’s total population by about 4% for an hour or two. Couple quick pictures from the town
Back at the camp site, you wouldn’t believe it had down poured only hours ago.
Damnut trying to start his bike. It saturated to the point that it wouldn’t start. That is three tubers with problems for those keeping track! Luckily it started after a few minutes of cranking and gunshot loud bangs.
I didn’t really take many pictures after that. Phillip, Jaclyn, Ken and I went to get lunch, we all hopped in Phillip’s truck to go Parkersburg. Buffalo Wild Wings was our destination. After eating, we saw Suicide Squad. It was pretty good. It tried very hard to be like Guardians of the Galaxy, but I found it enjoyable anyway, and it ties in nicely with the other DC movies of late.
Phillip and Jaclyn are on some kind of eating every 2 hours’ schedule, so we ventured off to a Mexican restaurant nearby. I ordered 10 more buffalo wings, figuring it would be great to hold me over. Turns out the wings were gigantic, and they were not joking about the spiciness.
(Pic stolen from Ken on Facebook)
I had to take a picture of this little guy that was near the register
Ken has a friend in the area who rides, we stopped by his place, he was wrenching on an old Guzzi he just bought. He then told us about Fort Boreman park, so we checked that out and had a pleasant but hot view of Ohio, Parkersburg, and the Ohio River.
While on our way back to the campsite, it must have been 2 hours because there was talk of getting Dairy Queen, so we stopped at one off Hwy 50. Phillip paid for them, thank you again, it was a real treat in this heat
We got back to the campsite, more people started showing up. Janette was there with her daughter Jean, and Crusty had arrived to claim the title of being the only one to ride there. Technically Adrenaline_junkie did ride there too, but since he could walk there he doesn’t count.
Friday night was more of the usual stories, insults, profane humor and such that is come to be expected with this crew. More photography too, and watching for the meteor shower. Cops even showed up because there were more trucks than motorcycles, thinking that it was a bunch of locals. Also the cop informed me that it is illegal to take pictures after 10PM, but I’m sure it is just a load of crock and he was all pissy for no reason. At least there wasn’t any rain, but it was another hot night.
Saturday we straggled out of bed. I worked my magic to get internet to the campsite so Crusty could post a snippet. Once everyone got into gear, we rode into town and got breakfast at Dodd’s Log Cabin Grill. I ended up ordering a Big Bucky, which is a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich with Texas Toast, surrounded by hash browns, and everything smothered in sausage gravy. It was so good I got another one Sunday.
I went back to the campsite after breakfast and relaxed. I didn’t expect the Big Bucky to be that big, so I ended up with a lead weight in my stomach for a few hours. Damnut took a nap, while Mark and some others went to scout a route to the dirt track that we would be heading to tonight. It rained for a minute or two then stopped. It did that a few times, but thankfully no substantial rain. I tried getting a pic of it, you could see the rain leaving and continuing pour on the other side of the field as the cloud moved on, but the focus gremlins got me again.
Everyone was trying to stay cool and dry before getting ready for the wedding
Now it is Saturday afternoon, everyone is getting suited up for the wedding. Some quick pics were taken before we all went over to the Gainer house for the ceremony
Jaclyn in her dress posing
Crusty watching as Roy and I take photos of each other taking a photo of each other.
Damnut in his Snowman print suit
Hopping in the cars to ride over, Damnut’s vanity shows again.
Bride and groom arrive
Now you know it is a real shotgun wedding, with real shotgun. (I got a video clip of her cocking it with authority too)
Everyone starting to gather in the back yard for the ceremony.
The procedure is under way
Vern trying to figure out how to operate that doohickey.
Ken living up to the stereotype
Mark and Vern getting very emotional
A quick selfie
The kiss
Gary taking some pictures
Quick prayer before the grub
Bride and Groom get first crack at the grub
The grub
The cake
Jim ate too much
We didn’t have much time to settle after eating, we were on a tight schedule to make it to the race track that was about an hour’s drive way.
Jim busting out of his XXXL shirt
We made it!
Jim won a fan for being the best dressed
Leaving the track, all the cars were coated in dirt, so we had a little fun.
Back at the campsite, no fire jenga this year but still a good fire. Some of us were up to 2AM, most of us were beat after the long day.
Phillip and Jaclyn were staying in a hotel for the night, and they looked very perky in the morning.
I got the everything loaded up, the bike looks sad to leave
At the log cabin place again, and another Big Bucky. After eating I said my goodbyes, and began the long voyage home
Some of you noticed from my Glympse I was stopping at Sheetz. I hit every one along my route until somewhere in middle of PA. I had to refill my stash.
There you all have it. Thank you again to Mark and your family, you guys went above and beyond again. Congrats to Phillip and Jaclyn. I hope to see all of you next year. | {
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DUBLIN, Ireland, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- An abandoned puppy was rescued from a garbage pile in Ireland after being discovered by another dog and its owner.
The Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shared a photo of the approximately week-old puppy named Autumn, which barely survived after being left in a pile of garbage in an area away from the public.
"Autumn is only seven to ten days old and would not have lasted probably even 24 hours if she had not been spotted by a very clever terrier called Poppy who when out for a walk with her owner ran over to the rubbish pile and refused to return when called," the association said.
Poppy's owner went to check on the terrier and discovered the puppy underneath the garbage pile and brought it in to the SPCA.
According to the society, it was a "miracle" Autumn survived.
"Autumn will now go to an experienced foster home and hopefully will grow up to be a happy healthy dog all thanks to Poppy and her vigilant owner," the SPCA said. | {
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Also Downloads: FL Studio Crack | {
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The cost of transportation, lodging and food was too expensive
The cost of transportation, lodging and food was too expensive
Compared to other festivals I’ve been to, Boston Calling wasn’t as good
Compared to other festivals I’ve been to, Boston Calling wasn’t as good
The tickets were too expensive for what the festival offered
The tickets were too expensive for what the festival offered
Bad weather disrupted the festival – it was muddy, rainy, etc.
Bad weather disrupted the festival – it was muddy, rainy, etc.
I was concerned about safety and security
I was concerned about safety and security
I wasn’t interested in this year’s performers
I wasn’t interested in this year’s performers
The festival didn’t have the style of music I prefer
The festival didn’t have the style of music I prefer
I don’t like where the festival was located
The festival was too crowded
The festival didn’t have enough to offer outside of the music
The cost of food and beverage was too high
There weren’t enough food and beverage options available
The quality of food and beverage options wasn’t good | {
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This is a first analysis on documented cases of the LEOSS study on the epidemiology of SARS-COV‑2.
Over the next days we will publish more statistics and update the ones already available. A public data set is now available. All scientists are invited to register to get access to the more extensive scientific data set.
Note, in the following diagrams, we present descriptive analysis. This means, in the graphs the distribution of values is pictured for each clinical phase separately. The data of one patient is e.g. included in the distribution for the uncomplicated phase AND the complicated phase. Cause-effect analysis is not yet performed due to the limited number of included case records.
With a click on each image you can open a larger version. | {
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Hinata’s Bathroom Saga
Original version posted on my Instagram ➡ here | {
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ST. PAUL - In the midst of the divide and confusion over health insurance's future, Minnesota Democrats who would be governor are near united in their prescriptions: Universal and single-payer is the way forward.
In a recent debate before a union-member crowd, the half-dozen Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidates gave nods to supporting universal health care, meaning everyone would be covered by health insurance. Four of the six proudly said they supported a single-payer health care model, meaning a publicly financed system. Last week, Democrat Rebecca Otto, the state's auditor, came out with a lengthy Minnesota-based plan to finance health care.
The leading Democrats to replace DFL Gov. Mark Dayton would give the state a radically different debate than it has ever had on health insurance. The politics of health care have changed dramatically since 2010, when Minnesota had its last gubernatorial election with no incumbent.
Since then, the country and state have grappled with the rocky rollout of the ACA, known as Obamacare, seen health insurance costs leap and the number of uninsured decrease. Now, in Washington, D.C., with a new president and Republican-controlled Congress, the debate is how and whether the GOP can repeal the federal health care law. So far, repeal attempts have failed.
Dayton has long said he supports single-payer health care but on a national level and this year came out with a public option to allow all Minnesotans to buy into a state system. The Republican Legislature rejected Dayton's proposal.
listen live watch live
If a Democrat wins the 2018 election, he or she may struggle with similar political realities. Earlier this year, deep blue California tabled a measure to bring single-payer health care to that state.
Republican waging different fight
Minnesota Republicans are having a debate of their own on their equally crowded side of the governor's race. Among Republicans, the theme is getting distance from MNsure, the health exchange created after the federal government rolled out the Affordable Care Act.
In a flare-up among Republicans last month, former party chair-turned-candidate Keith Downey accused fellow candidate Matt Dean of not working hard enough to rescind MNsure at the Capitol. Dean, a state representative from Dellwood, hit back that he has "devoted my legislative priorities to killing" MNsure and called Downey's attacks "embarrassing and tragic."
The GOP Legislature earlier this year approved millions in state spending to subsidize those with skyrocketing increases in their health insurance costs and to fund a multimillion dollar reinsurance plan to keep costs down.
Meanwhile, through executive actions, President Donald Trump has opened the health insurance market to plans that do not meet Obamacare standards and ended certain federal subsidies for health insurance. Minnesota is suing over the latter.
"ObamaCare is a broken mess," the president said on Twitter. "Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves."
National and state Republicans have dismissed Democratic support for single-payer health care as a doomed, budget-busting, big-government takeover of patients' most crucial rights.
Growing single-payer support
For most Democrats running for governor, however, fighting to keep and improve Obamacare is not enough. That's a reflection of the growing support for government-paid health care.
"A majority of Americans say it is the federal government's responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. And a growing share now supports a 'single-payer' approach to health insurance," a Pew Research survey found this summer.
More than half of Democrats in the national survey said they supported health care coverage through "a single national government program." That support is likely stronger among the Minnesota DFL activists who will winnow the gubernatorial field before next November.
The idea of single-payer health care is not new. More than 40 years ago, a health care prognosticator predicted in the Atlantic Magazine that "national health care," presumably financed by the federal government, was just a few years away.
But it is getting new life.
"I'd argue on health care, we've exhausted every other alternative," said longtime state Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville. Marty, who has run for governor twice, has long pushed for a universal, Minnesota-based health-coverage system. He has introduced measures in the Legislature to make it happen and written a book about what he calls the "Minnesota Health Plan."
At the DFL candidates forum in Duluth this past week, Otto and state Reps. Erin Murphy and Tina Liebling said pointedly that they supported single-payer health care.
"I'm a single-payer supporter," said Murphy, a nurse who has long represented St. Paul in the Minnesota House. "I don't want to wait for Congress. I don't have a lot of faith in Congress."
State Rep. Paul Thissen, of Minneapolis, said he supported "Medicare for all," a single-payer system being pitched by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, and others in Washington.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said health care should be universal, comprehensive and affordable, and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz of Mankato said he backed "universal access to health care."
'A path'
Otto, the three-term state auditor now running for governor, has given the most detail on her plan. She proposes to funnel all the current state and federal health care dollars into a single trust fund, bolstered with cash from new taxes, and deliver health care coverage to all Minnesotans.
'If you are a Minnesota resident, you are covered, and that's it," she said.
Her proposal would do away with co-pays and deductibles - and much of the role insurance companies play now. Instead, health care providers would be paid quarterly per patient, with incentives to keep people healthy. She said the state would come up with a set of minimum benefits that all residents would receive, and businesses or individuals could supplement those if they wished.
The plan still has some blank spaces in it. She said she would work with lawmakers and others to figure out how and on whom to raise taxes. Otto acknowledged that the federal funds Minnesota got for health care in the past may not be there in the future and that political realities at the Minnesota Capitol and in Washington, D.C., might make approval of her plan difficult or impossible.
"What I'm creating here is a path," she said. "Somebody has to talk about this, and I am willing to talk about this."
Among Democrats, she is not alone in that willingness.
The Pioneer Press is a Forum News Service media partner. | {
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The housing market in San Francisco is red hot, with property values shooting through the roof year after year.
The median home price in San Francisco proper is just over $1.1 million, according to Zillow.
That's great news if you're a homeowner.
It's less great if you're trying to buy your first house. In San Francisco. At age 28. With significantly less than $1.1 million in the bank.
Here's how my girlfriend and I navigated San Francisco's insane housing market to find a home — and get out of San Francisco's crazy rental market.
It's an eight-month saga with lots of ups and downs. But I promise it has a happy ending. | {
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Charles Hamilton is back.
Yesterday, at the iHeart Media summit in Los Angeles, producer Ray Angry posted a photo to Instagram backstage with Hamilton and Rita Ora, and according to the caption, the two have collaborated on a song possibly called "NY Raining." Hamilton, who recently joined Instagram, posted a photo of him performing on stage with Ora—and some footage of him rehearsing on the piano. (No, this is not a new song, it's "Moonlight Sonata.")
Another day living the dream. #LA #RitaOra #NewMusic A photo posted by Charles Hamilton (@charleshamiltonmusic) on Jan 22, 2015 at 9:15am PST
Noodling on the keys. #rehearsal #studiolife A video posted by Charles Hamilton (@charleshamiltonmusic) on Jan 21, 2015 at 3:26pm PST
Just did a killing show for iHeart Radio w @charleshamiltonmusic and his lovely mom was there with the good vibes. #RealMusicLives A photo posted by Ray Angry (@rayangry) on Jan 22, 2015 at 9:53am PST
A few weeks back, Thompson Studios tweeted a photo of Hamilton alongside The Invisible Men, the masterminds behind Iggy Azalea's hit, "Fancy." The trio previously worked with Ora on DJ Fresh's hit "Hot Right Now." Forums also picked up that multiple employees at Turn First Artists, the London-based music and branding company, who work with Ora, Azalea and The Invisible Men, listed Hamilton as an artist that will be big in 2015. Looks like Hamilton may make a comeback this year. | {
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BERLIN, Germany — A German official has hailed the US Senate's announcement of a “major review” of America's clandestine surveillance programs as the first sign Washington has grasped the seriousness of the threat to US-German relations posed by the National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal.
“If we want to return to a relationship based on trust, it will require serious effort,” Peter Schaar, Germany's commissioner for data protection and freedom of information, told the New York Times.
“Officially the Americans said that they respected German law,” he said. “Now we know that was not the case.”
On Monday, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, said President Obama is poised to order the NSA to stop spying on the leaders of its allies and offered her first clear condemnation of the surveillance program, the Times reported.
“I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers,” Feinstein said in a statement announcing a “major review of all intelligence collection programs.”
But much of the damage may already be done.
"The decision to review the surveillance policy is a first step to re-establish trust, but we have put several questions to the US embassy and we haven’t received answers on all of them," Interior Ministry spokesman Jens Teschke said in an interview.
Growing evidence that the NSA was tapping the phone calls of German Chancellor Angela Merkel as far back as 2002 has forced the German leader to take a stronger stance on the so-called Edward Snowden affair — joining with French President Francois Hollande to try to force Washington to handcuff its intelligence services.
Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and her likely coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) agreed to call a special session of parliament to discuss the spying scandal on November 18, Reuters reported.
The most likely outcome of those discussions is an investigative committee with the dubious prospect of ferreting out much about the cloak-and-dagger operations of the NSA, Germany's Tagespiegel says.
But there have already been calls from Merkel's allies and opposition parties to offer Snowden — who is marooned in Russia — political asylum in Germany to allow him to testify.
On Sunday, the Social Democrats' parliamentary chairman Thomas Opperman said in an interview with Das Bild that the investigative committee should seek to interview Snowden, while Christian Ströbele of the Green Party proposed granting him asylum or witness protection, according to Detsche Welle.
Near-daily revelations about the breadth and depth of the NSA's surveillance program have opened a rift in US-German relations that threatens to expand beyond the immediate issue of spying, DW reported.
More from GlobalPost: Pack your bags: Is the United States less prosperous than Canada?
Last week, Merkel pushed other European Union leaders not to allow the widening NSA scandal to derail talks over a proposed EU-US free trade pact. But she faces mounting calls from within her own party and the Social Democrats to freeze the talks, the German news agency said.
As an indicator of how tricky negotiations may become, one such call has come from Social Democrat Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament who supports the EU-US agreement.
"If such events continue, and more news comes out,” he said during an EU summit last week, “I fear that those who are against the free trade agreement in principle will become the majority.”
Analysts agree US-German relations have been harmed.
"Yes, it's a big scandal, probably the biggest since the Iraq War,” says Nina Schick of the British think-tank Open Europe.
“But will it fundamentally change that friendly relationship — the cooperation on international security issues and more important, perhaps, the trade talks that are ongoing? Probably not.” | {
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Since the 1970s until a few years ago someone always gave me a weekly desk planner for Christmas. They had laid flat on my work area; on one side of the plastic spiral binding was a lovely photo paired opposite with a page for the days of the week, each day having ample room to note the social and work events of my life.
I recently unearthed my 2005 calendar, the last I had used, featuring Heidelberg and published by Braus im Vachter Verlag in the same town. It included some exceptional photographs of the German city by Andrew Cowin. It was a gift from a friend who lives there. My copy was festooned with entries in my scrawl about most of my bike rides for that year. At a glance I could see the weeks when I was active or which ones I was sitting on my butt.
Sometimes in my notations I’d jot down where I went and how many miles. Seeing those entries again made me wish I was more diligent today about keeping track of my rides. Since 2005, however, I have not had a weekly calendar to immortalize my comings and goings. I have migrated my business and personal appointments to software calendars all synchronized on my desktops, laptops, and smartphones. But I no longer make daily notations of my bike rides. As a numbers-obsessed guy, I miss having that information about my bicycle workouts, though I am too lazy to log my rides day-to-day.
Now, with an iPhone app, I’m able to go back to those good ol’ days as I pedal into the future.
Cyclemeter 4.0, an iPhone app from Abvio LLC of San Francisco, collects the data of my rides and automatically tucks it away in my iCal app and syncs it with my iPhone, MacBook Air, and iMac calendars as well as my online calendar at me.com. And it keeps tabs on my rides by the week and month, which is a nice little touch. This feature alone makes the $4.99 price of the app worth every penny.
Cyclemeter is, as with almost every iPhone app I own, effortless to use. There’s no need for a manual or instructions to get going. You tap on the app, it opens to the Stopwatch screen with blank fields and big red “Start” button. Once you click the obvious, you’re on your way and the app is gathering volumes of data for your entire ride.
In addition to the Stopwatch and Calendar soft buttons, Cyclemeter has a Google Maps view of your ride as well as one that lets you see a list of the rides you’ve taken and saved. The More… button gives you another handful of options such as Remote Control, which lets you stop and start the app if your earphone has a remote control feature. You also can send mail and update your Facebook and Twitter accounts with a simple tap of the screen.
While the app launches in Cycle mode, the versatile app also tracks eight other activities, everything from Drive in your car to Walk, Swim, Skate, and more. It is a good general-purpose GPS tool. Because you can organize and track these activities, you can measure how you’re improving in them over time.
Although you can use Cyclemeter while listening to your On the Go music selection with the iPod app, using both is not as straightforward as it is in my MotionX GPS app. And if your earphones do not have a remote control button, getting to and from the music or answering phone calls involves a lot of back and forth between apps.
But for versatility of the device and its unique Calendar feature, Cyclemeter is an exceptional app for people who want to keep records of their active lives. As with the best of tools, it doesn’t just keep tabs of what you do, it motivates you to do them. | {
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Thirteen Republican lawmakers sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking him to appoint a second special counsel to investigate the Justice Department and FBI.
The new special counsel would look into decisions made by the leadership within the DOJ and FBI to end the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her unauthorized private email server, according to the lawmakers.
The second special counsel would also look into how the investigation into President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller has yet to find any collusion between Trump and Russia throughout his entire investigation.
“As you know, evidence has come to light that raises serious concerns about decisions and activities by leadership at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding how and why the Clinton probe ended and how and why the Trump-Russia probe began,” the members of Congress said in the letter. “Additionally, important questions have been raised with regards to FISA warrants targeting U.S. citizen Carter Page. We write to urge you today to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate these decisions and activities.”
“We acknowledge with immense gratitude that nearly every single man and woman in the DOJ and FBI conducts themselves daily with integrity, independence, patriotism, objectivity and commitment to the rule of law,” the letter continues. “That is why this Special Counsel is of the utmost importance to ensure that these historic, legendary and necessary agencies move forward more respected and effective than ever before.”
Also WATCH: Why Is CNN’s Approval Rating For Trump 15 Points Lower Than Rasmussen’s?
The 13 Republican lawmakers are: New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Florida Rep. Francis Rooney, North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, New York Rep. Claudia Tenney, Georgia Rep. Jody Hice, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, Virginia Rep. Dave Brat, and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar.
The letter comes the same day Trump blasted Sessions for announcing an investigation into the possible abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
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The White House has taken such great care to tip the public relations battle for new Second Amendment policy in its favor that administration officials even bought the silence of gun-control groups with promises of access to meetings.
Politico reports the reason gun-control groups — like the Brady Campaign, Third Way and Mayors Against Illegal Guns — have been strangely silent in the continuing Capitol Hill debate is because of one reason: They were asked by White House officials to keep quiet. And White House officials asked them to be quiet because they knew the gun-control reforms they were pursuing would be controversial in Americans’ eyes, and they wanted to control the public message, Politico says.
In exchange, Politico reports, these groups were given the right to attend high-level policy meetings on gun control and give their opinions behind closed doors. They were also guaranteed weekly discussions with Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s chief of staff, Bruce Reed, Politico reported.
The caveat on those meetings, too: Keep quiet.
“The implication is very, very strong when they are calling these meetings, and we are all sitting there,” said one regular attendee, who like the others, would only speak about them anonymously, Politico reports. “It’s not like they’re being bullies, it’s them bringing everybody together, not being one-off meetings with groups that might be interested in things other than the bottom line, not providing the forum for that kind of stuff.”
Another participant of the closed-door session with Mr. Reed told Politico: “You’re glad to be in the room.”
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Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. | {
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Steve Bannon said that he didn’t know anything about the Facebook Data Mining and Cambridge Analytica scandal. He is a former VP and board member of the political consultancy. He also claimed that in New York, neither He nor Cambridge Analytica was anything to do with the information harvested from Facebook.
Donald Trump’s former chief strategist later said outside the discussion room that he “did not remember” being part of any scheme to buy data that came from Facebook and redirect it to use for election propaganda, as The Guardian revealed last weekend.
He blamed Cambridge Analytica’s parent company SCL. He also said that their parent company was responsible for the mining of the data. The global data analytics operation, which worked with Trump’s election team, scraped millions of Facebook profiles of US voters and data about their social media friends, then used them for political propaganda.
The Facebook’s Data Scandal goes deeper. The tech firm used personal information in early 2014 to build a system that could profile individual US voters, in order to target them with personalised political advertisements.
Tech whistleblower and former employee Christopher Wylie told The Guardian.
“We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on,” Wylie said. “It’s just about the cost of it. It’s bought and sold every day, it’s just a marketplace,” he said, adding: “I didn’t even know about the Facebook mining, that’s Facebook’s business … They went to Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008 and told him all about the power of personal data.”
On Wednesday, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted the company made mistakes and apologized for a “breach of trust” with their users.
Take your time to comment on this article.
Source: The Guardian | {
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Frankly, I would be shocked if Jacksonville took a quarterback in the No. 3 spot. I felt this way before my conversation with Bradley and feel the same way afterward. The other options are just too good. As Icontinueto say, there is no franchise quarterback in this draft. And when you swing and miss on a first-round quarterback, when you draft a QB higher than his value, it sets you back for years. Jaguars fans know this all too well. Look at what the prior regime did with Blaine Gabbert. (That's why the prior regime is the prior regime.) Caldwell traded away the former No. 10 overall pick last month, ending the Gabbert era -- or, better phrased, the Gabbert error. The Jags could get a potential future starter -- someone to groom behind veteran QB Chad Henne -- with either the 39th or 70th overall selection. Remember, Bradley comes from Seattle, where the Seahawks drafted a pretty solid quarterback in Round 3 by the name of Russell Wilson. | {
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Senate Republicans unveiled their alternative to a Democratic plan to continue the payroll tax cut, paying for it by means-testing federal benefits to prevent payouts to millionaires and billionaires.
Democrats proposed a 3.25 percent surtax on incomes over $1 million to pay for the extension, a move Republicans have pledged to oppose.
The GOP plan would also impose a three-year pay freeze for federal workers, and begin cutting the number of Americans employed by the government by 10 percent — or about 200,000 jobs.
Republicans are also introducing their version of the "Buffett Rule," which would make it easier for the wealthy to voluntarily contribute to paying down the federal deficit on their tax returns.
Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected the Republican plan:
“We are glad Republicans have seen the light and taken up Democrats’ call to pass a middle-class tax cut, just a few days after their leadership indicated they would oppose it. However, Democrats’ proposal would put more money in the pockets of middle class families and create more jobs. The Republican proposal cannot pass the Senate as it stands, but now that Republicans have reversed their position on this middle-class tax cut, we look forward to working with them to negotiate a consensus solution.”
Here's the full press release from Senate Republicans:
Republican Payroll Proposal
The Republican Proposal Extends Current Payroll Tax Relief, Reduces The Deficit By $111 Billion And Trims The Size Of The Federal Government
Prevents A Tax Increase, Protects Social Security:
Provides a one year extension of the temporary Social Security tax holiday that passed in 2010, protecting all individuals from tax increases, including the job creators targeted by the Democrat plan. Ensures that the Social Security Trust Fund is not harmed by this temporary tax holiday.
Reduces The Deficit, Trims The Size Of Government:
Reduces the deficit by $111 Billion. Uses The Simpson-Bowles model to freeze federal civilian salaries and reduce the size of the civilian federal work force.
Means Tests Government Benefits For Millionaires & Billionaires:
Adds a new means test to government health benefits, unemployment compensation and food stamps so that millionaires aren’t receiving federal benefits that are better targeted elsewhere.
President Obama: “I’ve said that means testing on Medicare… would be appropriate.” (President Obama, Press Conference, 7/15/11)
“I’ve said that means testing on Medicare… would be appropriate.” (President Obama, Press Conference, 7/15/11) Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): “If you don't need them, if you are millionaire, why should you have these benefits?” (Sen. Feinstein, Floor Remarks, 1/25/10)
“If you don't need them, if you are millionaire, why should you have these benefits?” (Sen. Feinstein, Floor Remarks, 1/25/10) Jack Welch, Former GE Chairman: CNBC, 10/7/11)
Gives Millionaires & Billionaires Another Opportunity To Help With The Deficit:
Includes Sen. John Thune’s ‘Buffet Rule Act of 2011,’ which makes it easy for millionaires like Warren Buffet who want to pay more taxes to reduce the federal deficit with a voluntary contribution via their tax returns.
Warren Buffet: “I think that people at the high end, people like myself, should be paying a lot more...” (ABC News’ “This Week,” 11/21/10)
No Tax Hike On Job Creators:
Does not include a single dollar of new taxes on job creators. | {
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Thesubreddit, also known as the place where all of the smartest people on the internet congregate, has negatively responded to a fellow member's comment earlier this morning.All of the subreddit’s subscribers, a number well in the 200,000’s, were there to downvote /u/’ comment in the weekly “What Kind of Eggs Best Describe Your Playstyle” thread after he responded with “fried” instead of the more commonly posted “scrambled”.The subreddit has seen an increasing number of high-quality posts recently, with gems such as “I’m a goofy parent, how do I beat my son in Smash” receiving up to 2000 upvotes, so some were taken aghast upon seeing /u/’ comment in a thread that was sure to reach similar numbers.“We were angry," says one Smash redditor. “And rightfully so, I believe. We’re all about being yourself and sharing your own beliefs. But when your subjective feelings and ideas conflict with the general subreddit's consensus, there's going to be a problem”It was hard to disagree with his logic. However, not all redditors were on the same boat.A few community members opined that they “found it sad that someone was getting downvoted for their opinion”. They also argued that the thread itself was silly and that it stood in the way of would-be quality, informational posts. The sympathizers were promptly downvoted for their sound rhetoric.Hopefully this teaches a lesson to those willing to exchange ideas with others. | {
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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been on the market since August 2012 and has attracted audiences from all age groups. We have seen players as young as 15 years-old playing NA FPL with professional players. On the contrary we also have Silver Snipers, a Swedish team who range in age from 63 to 82. However, the future of CS :GO will be shaped by the young guns who are starting to carve out a name for themselves in the scene.
Region: North-American
Sam “s0m” Oh – 16 years
Image Credit: HLTV
Sam “s0m” Oh (born June 7, 2002) is a Korean-American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player and streamer. S0m came into the limelight when he was first added to the compLexity stream team on the 21st of February 2018. Following that, s0m has played for multiple teams such as Old Guys Club and Swole Patrol. At the tender age of 16, s0m boasts an impact rating of 1.15 and and 0.75 Kills Per Round.
S0m recently helped Swole Patrol to qualify for IEM Sydney, beating eUnited 3-0 in the grand-final. Yesterday, s0m was added to the Team Envy roster, alongside the likes of Bradley “ANDROID” Fodor, and Jacob “FugLy” Medina.
Jason “neptune” Tran – 16 years
Image Credit: HLTV
Jason “neptune” Tran (born September 15, 2002) is an American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. He joined Ghost Gaming as an entry fragger on the 25th of September for the second time as he was benched in 2017 after it was revealed that he was only 15 years-old and thus ineligible to play for the team which recently qualified for ESL Pro League Season 6. His HLTV rating stands at 0.93 and has 0.60 Kills Per Round.
Owen “oBo” Schlatter – 15 years
Owen “oBo” Schlatter (born June 26, 2003) is an American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. He has no professional background, but is well renowned for FPL streams and he has played with top North-American players on the platform. He is infamous for extremely flashy plays and will be a top gun in the professional CS : GO scene in the near future.
Region: Europe
In the European region, four young guns have etched their name in the professional scene, namely, Plopski and Brollan and Sergej and x. At the age of 16. They are playing for the top rated teams in the Swedish and Finnish Scene.
Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora – 16 years
Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora (born May 14, 2002) is a Swedish-Spanish professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. He is currently playing for x6tence Galaxy. In his lifetime, Plopski has a rating of 1.12 and has 0.71 Kills Per Round. In his career with x6tence Galaxy, the team has stood first in Winners League – Season 1: Invite Division, beating BPro Gaming in the grand final.
Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin – 16 years
Image Credit: HLTV
Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin is a Swedish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player currently playing for Fnatic. Brollan is one of the youngest players to play for a professional team, signing with GODSENT when he was only 15 years old. On October 17th he signed with Fnatic. His HLTV rating stands at 1.15 and has 0.74 Kills Per Round. In his career with Fnatic, the team stood first in the PLG Grand Slam 2018.
Jere “sergej” Salo- 17 years
Image Credit: HLTV
Jere “sergej” Salo (born March 1, 2002) is a Finnish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, who is currently playing for ENCE as a rifler. Sergej has achieved the heights of achievements at the tender age of 17.
He has won multiple tournaments under the roster and recently stood second in the finals IEM Katowice 2019. He was the MVP at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6, making him the youngest player ever to win an HLTV MVP award, as he was 16 years and 231. He also became the youngest person to reach a Major Grand Final, at the age of 17 years and 1 day at IEM Katowice 2019.
David “frozen” Čerňanský-16 years
Image Credit: Liquidpedia.net
David “frozen” Čerňanský (born July 18, 2002) is a Slovakian professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, who currently plays for mousesports as an entry fragger. Frozen was first spotted by players in 2017 and made his big debut by playing for team No-Chance. After that, he was picked up by Mouz following their horrible run at the Minor. At the age of 16, he averages a rating of 1.17 and 0.81 kills per round. In 2017 and 2018, he was named the breakout player of the year by Magisk and Guardian respectively.
Region: South East-Asian
Jason ‘f0rsakeN’ Susanto – 14 years
Jason ‘f0rsakeN’ Susanto is a professional Indonesian player who currently plays for BOOM in the SEA region. He is the brother of Kevin “xccurate” Susanto who plays for team TyLoo. At the tender age of 14, f0rsakeN boasts a rating of 1.35 and has 0.82 Kills Per Round. f0sakeN is making waves in the SEA region. He plays in the APL and on SoStronk. He has been crowned as the player of the month multiple times by SoStronk. | {
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(CNN) An Oklahoma newspaper has retracted a coronavirus-related story it published on April Fools Day that caused panic among parents and teachers.
The Sapulpa Times also issued an apology on its website for a story that claimed Sapulpa students would have to repeat the entire school year.
The Oklahoma State Board of Education ordered all public schools to close beginning March 17 due to the coronavirus, including the schools in Sapulpa, which is southwest of Tulsa.
"The story was not endorsed by, approved by, or even known about by any of the Sapulpa School's Administration when it went live on Wednesday morning, but SPS are the ones now having to deal with frantic parents and angry teachers," Micah Choquette, the owner and editor of the Sapulpa Times, said in the letter.
Choquette said the story was an innocent joke and an attempt to find humor in "a time where it's sorely needed." The newspaper retracted the story almost immediately after it was published.
Read More | {
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Thirty-something Rob Gordon, a former club DJ, owns a not so lucrative used record store in Chicago. He not so much employs Barry and Dick, but rather keeps them around as they showed up at the store one day and never left. All three are vinyl and music snobs, but in different ways. Rob has a penchant for compiling top five lists. The latest of these lists is his top five break-ups, it spurred by the fact that his latest girlfriend, Laura, a lawyer, has just broken up with him. He believed that Laura would be the one who would last, partly as an expectation of where he would be at this stage in his life. Rob admits that there have been a few incidents in their relationship which in and of themselves could be grounds for her to want to break up. To his satisfaction, Laura is not on this top five list. Rob feels a need not only to review the five relationships, which go back as far as middle school when he was twelve, and try to come to terms with why the woman, or girl as the case may ... | {
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Jeff Lewis has suffered a setback in his legal battle with his daughter’s surrogate.
According to a new report, a judge has denied the Flipping Out star’s request to seal the lawsuit from the public and revealed the case will be sent to a jury trial sometime next year.
The Blast revealed details of the latest development in the case with readers on October 23 and noted that Jeff and his surrogate have been advised to begin preparing for court.
In 2016, Jeff and his partner, Gage Edward, enlisted Alexandra Trent to carry their first child, Monroe, who was born in 2017. Months later, Alexandra sued Jeff, Gage, Bravo Media, and their Flipping Out producers, claiming she never agreed to film Monroe’s birth for the reality show.
While Alexandra did agree to film certain moments leading up to the birth, she didn’t initially know she would be on the show at all and definitely didn’t expect producers to record footage of her vagina without her permission. She also didn’t expect for Jeff and Gage to make “disgusting” comments about her on the show.
“If I was a surrogate, and I had known there was going to be an audience, I probably would have waxed,” Jeff said at one point during production.
In her lawsuit, Alexandra is seeking unspecified damages, citing invasion of privacy and fraud and suggesting the humiliating comments made about her on the show led to anguish, self-loathing and depression.
In the legal response filed by Jeff, Gage, Bravo Media, and their producers, the parties denied all allegations of wrongdoing and claimed Alexandra agreed that any disputes between them should be heard in private.
According to Jeff, Alexandra voluntarily participated in Flipping Out and signed away rights to take legal action against him and his producers before her first appearance.
Speaking to PEOPLE months ago, Jeff called the lawsuit a “financial shakedown” and slammed Alexandra for “mudding” what was previously a beautiful experience for himself and Gage.
“These are fabricated claims and are completely bogus and without merit. This smells to me like a financial shakedown,” he told the magazine.
“Shame on her for mudding such a beautiful experience,” Jeff added. “I personally believe she will have to answer to God one day for what she’s done. And if I were her, I’d start drafting my apology now.”
Flipping Out airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on Bravo TV.
Photo Credit: WENN Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo | {
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she is a trans woman. the fact that she is a trans woman is so important and the fact that he conveniently said “trans person” was just a clever way of saying “i dont see you as x, i see you as a person”
plus when someone specifically asks to be referred to with female-gendered terms and you use a gender-neutral term it’s a specific form of misgendering known as degendering | {
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Tuesday isn’t just a test for American democracy. It’s also a test of whether social media platforms can co-exist with electoral politics, a question whose answer is not obvious following the 2016 elections, after which Americans learned of massive disinformation campaigns on social media from Russia and here in the U.S. aimed at sowing discord and swaying voters.
Twitter and Facebook are working to make things better this time around. That much is clear. Facebook has called its effort to curb disinformation the biggest the biggest shake-up at the company “since our shift from desktop to mobile phones.” Twitter has suspended millions of fraudulent accounts. But some intentionally deceptive activity isn’t getting caught—even on Election Day.
On Monday night, dozens of tweets remained on the platform urging users to vote Nov. 7. Obviously, Election Day is right now—Tuesday, Nov. 6. Some tweets, which are still up even after I contacted the company, are focused on confusing Republicans and some on confusing Democrats. “No, tomorrow is voting for all Democrats only. Vote Nov 7 if ur a Democrat,” one user responded Tuesday morning to a tweet from Jim Hagedorn, a Republican congressional candidate from Minnesota. Another account responded to a tweet from the official GOP account with the message, “They’ve CHANGED VOTING DAY FOR REPUBLICANS! Republicans vote NOV 7 ! Don’t forget to vote on the 7th!” These tweets aren’t getting a lot of pickup, and mostly just look pathetic. But they are responding to candidates and political parties that people may well be looking to for reliable information.
Twitter is definitely trying to catch these things. The company has been banning users in the runup to Election Day for sharing information about voting on the wrong day. And some users on Twitter are complaining they’ve had accounts suspended for urging people to vote Nov. 7 too. “Had my account locked bc I wrote in reply to a Hillary post that I would tell democrats to vote Nov 7,” one Twitter user lamented Tuesday morning.
For its part, Twitter says it’s working on it. “We continue to enforce our rules vigorously against intentionally misleading election-related content,” a spokesperson said in a statement, though the company would not comment on any of the individual tweets I flagged for privacy reasons. “Over the course of the day, we will leverage the partnerships we’ve built for months with our peer companies, state election institutions, law enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Security to protect the integrity of the public conversation around this election.”
Twitter removed thousands of bots and accounts created by Russian trolls in the months following Election Day two years ago, and the company is certainly hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened back then. After all, Facebook, Twitter, and Google’s inability to be more proactive about fighting malicious trolls in 2016 caused all three companies to be the subjects of multiple congressional hearings. If the social media platforms aren’t able to do better this year, lawmakers may well take matters into their own hands. | {
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I've been running a small SMTP and IMAP mail server for many years, hosting a handful of individual mailboxes. It's hard to say when exactly I started. whois says I registered the tablix.org domain in 2005 and I remember hosting a mailing list for my colleagues at the university a bit before that, so I think it's safe to say it's been around 15 years.
Although I don't jump right away on every email-related novelty, I've tried to keep the server up-to-date with well accepted standards over the years. Some of these came for free with Debian updates. Others needed some manual work. For example, I have SPF records and DKIM message signing setup on the domains I use. The server is hosted on commercial static IP space (with the very same IP it first went on-line) and I've made sure with the ISP that correct reverse DNS records are in place.
Image by Andreas Trepte CC BY-SA 2.5
From the beginning I've been worrying that my server would be used for sending spam. So I always made sure I did not have an open relay and put in place throughput restrictions and monitoring that would alert me about unusual traffic. In any case, the amount of outgoing mail has stayed pretty minimal over the years. Since I'm hosting just a few personal accounts these days, there have been less than 1000 messages sent to remote servers over SMTP in the last 12 months. I've given up on hosting mailing lists many years ago.
All of this effort paid off and, as far as I'm aware, my server was never listed on any of the public spam black lists.
So why am I writing all of this? Unfortunately, email is starting to become synonymous with Google's mail, and Google's machines have decided that mail from my server is simply not worth receiving. Being a good administrator and a well-behaved player on the network is no longer enough:
550-5.7.1 [...] Our system has detected that this 550-5.7.1 message is likely unsolicited mail. To reduce the amount of spam sent 550-5.7.1 to Gmail, this message has been blocked. Please visit 550-5.7.1 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=UnsolicitedMessageError 550 5.7.1 for more information. ... - gsmtp
Since mid-December last year, I'm regularly seeing SMTP errors like these. Sometimes the same message re-sent right away will not bounce again. Sometimes rephrasing the subject will fix it. Sometimes all mail from all accounts gets blocked for weeks on end until some lucky bit flips somewhere and mail mysteriously gets through again. Since many organizations use Gmail for mail hosting this doesn't happen just for [email protected] addresses. Now every time I write a mail I wonder whether Google's AI will let it through or not. Only when something like this happens you realize just how impossible it is to talk to someone on the modern internet without having Google somewhere in the middle.
Of course, the 550 SMTP error helpfully links to a wholly unhelpful troubleshooting page. It vaguely refers to suspicious looking text and IP history. It points to Bulk Sender Guidelines, but I have trouble seeing myself as a bulk sender with 10 messages sent last week in total. It points to the Postmaster Tools which, after letting me jump through some hoops to authenticate, tells me I'm too small a fish and has no actual data to show.
So far Google has blocked personal messages to friends and family in multiple languages, as well as business mail. I stopped guessing what text their algorithms deem suspicious. What kind of intelligence sees a reply, with the original message referenced in the In-Reply-To header and part quoted, and considers it unsolicited? I don't discount the possibility that there is something misconfigured at my end, but since Google gives no hint and various third-party tools I've tried don't report anything suspicious I've ran out of ideas where else to look.
My server isn't alone with this problem. At work we use Google's mail hosting and I've seen this trigger happy filter from the other end. Just recently I've overlooked an important mail because it ended up in the spam folder. I guess it was pure luck it didn't get rejected at the SMTP layer. With my work email address I'm subscribed to several mailing lists of open source software projects and regularly Google will decide to block this traffic. I know since Mailman sends me a notification that my address caused excessive bounces. What system decides, after months of watching me read these messages and not once seeing me mark one as spam, that I suddenly don't want to receive them ever again?
I wonder. Google as a company is famously focused on machine learning through automated analytics and bare minimum of human contact. What kind of a signal can they possibly use to train these SMTP rejects? Mail gets rejected at the SMTP level without user's knowledge. There is no way for a recipient to mark it as not-spam since they don't know the message ever existed. In contrast to merely classifying mail into spam/non-spam folders, it's impossible for an unprivileged human to tell the machine it has made a mistake. Only the sender knows the mail got rejected and they don't have any way to report it either. One half of the feedback loop appears to be missing.
I'm sure there is no malicious intent behind this and that there are some very smart people working on spam prevention at Google. However for a metric driven company where a majority of messages are only passed with-in the walled garden, I can see how there's little motivation to work well with mail coming from outside. If all training data is people marking external mail as spam and there's much less data about false positives, I guess it's easy to arrive to a prior that all external mail is spam even with best intentions.
This is my second rant about Google in a short while. I'm mostly indifferent to their search index policies, however this mail problem is much more frustrating. I can switch search engines, but I can't tell other people to go off Gmail. Email used to work, from its 7-bit days onward. It was one standard thing that you could rely on in the ever changing mess of messaging web apps and proprietary lock-ins. And now it's increasingly broken. I hope people realize that if they don't get a reply, perhaps it's because some machine somewhere decided for them that they don't need to know about it. | {
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A tömeg pár év alatt lerombolhatja az Erzsébet teret. A parkot és a Gödör Klubot ugyanis nem intenzív bulizásra tervezték, és a hirtelen siker ellenére senki nem tartja karban és fejleszti Budapest legnépszerűbb terét. Mert mindenki szerint másnak kéne.
Stáb Szabó Zoltán
Kálmán Mátyás | {
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Phillip Hancock: Rare foreign organ donor praised in China By Frances Mao
BBC News, Sydney Published duration 25 June 2018
image copyright PETER HANCOCK image caption Phillip Hancock is the first foreigner to be an organ donor in Chongqing
Phillip Hancock had been working as an English teacher in China when he unexpectedly fell ill and died last month. The posthumous gift of the Australian's organs has been lauded in China, a nation with few foreign donors, and changed five lives.
Mr Hancock, 27, died from complications related to type 1 diabetes in the city of Chongqing on 9 May.
According to the Red Cross Society of China, he became Chongqing's first foreign organ donor and only the seventh in the nation's history.
Mr Hancock's liver and kidneys were used in three life-saving operations. His corneas helped two people to see again.
Organ donation remains uncommon in China, which has one of the lowest donor rates in the world.
Mr Hancock's gift struck a chord with many Chinese on social media, with some calling him a "hero" and an "angel".
image copyright WEIBO image caption One online tribute reads: "You saved three lives and helped two others see. You'll always be remembered."
Another person wrote: "You'll live on through those you saved."
'Wanted to help in whatever way'
Mr Hancock had lived in China for four years when he fell ill from diabetes-related complications. When his family flew to his side, they found him in a coma in hospital.
Doctors told them that his heart had temporarily stopped beating on the way to hospital.
Tests taken at separate hospitals showed evidence of brain death, his father said.
"There was nothing to be done," Peter Hancock told the BBC. "We knew he was gone, even though he was still warm to the touch and his heart was beating."
image copyright PETER HANCOCK image caption Messages on social media praised Mr Hancock's generosity
Doctors told the family that his organs would deteriorate the longer he was kept on life support.
"It was very hard, we had to make that decision [to switch off life support] sooner rather than later," Mr Hancock said.
"Most people don't talk about organ donations when they're alive, but thankfully Phil did talk about it.
"He had always thought that if he was ever in that situation, he would like his organs donated - whatever they could take - so he could help out in some way.
"He always wanted to help people in whatever way possible. That's why he wanted to be a teacher."
Donations in China
Reluctance in China about donating organs is related to a traditional belief that the body should remain "complete" after death, experts say.
"The idea that one's body as a whole - including its outermost skin and hair, given by one's parents, is not to be harmed - must be at the back of everyone's mind," said Associate Prof Yi Zheng, a cultural studies expert at the University of New South Wales.
People also harbour misconceptions about the organ donation process, said Dr Kelvin Ho from the Hong Kong Organ Transplant Foundation.
"They think that doctors will not try their best to save their lives if they have agreed to donate their organ after death," he told the BBC.
Fears around black market organ trading have also fuelled public suspicions. In 2015, China stopped harvesting organs from executed prisoners - a practice that had supplied two-thirds of transplanted organs.
It was no surprise that the government helped publicise Mr Hancock's story in state media, according to Dr Ho.
"It would have helped them to show the public that even non-Chinese are willing to be organ donors," he said.
Though overall rates remain low, Dr Ho said the number of organ donors in China had increased in recent years to more than 5,300 in 2017.
image copyright Getty Images image caption In an unrelated case, a woman pays tribute to an organ donor listed on a memorial in Harbin, China
The Hancocks said they have been overwhelmed by messages of gratitude, including by one recipient of their son's organs.
"He told us how grateful he was that Phil had been so generous. Phil had saved his life and given him another 40 years," Mr Hancock said.
Such messages had "helped a little" with his grief, he said.
"Some people have said to us: 'Try and not to be too sad because part of Phil is still living on in these people.' | {
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By Sharon Frew & Jenness Mitchell
“I take drugs to make me forget,” a woman explains as she fills a syringe with liquid cocaine.
“Usually I just stick to my methadone script, but I just wanted something today to make me feel better.”
The woman and her partner were about to get their next fix within a Glasgow city centre alleyway when they learned about the drug consumption van parked only yards away.
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Now preparing to shoot up within the clean surroundings of the vehicle, the woman tells STV News: “I didn’t know this place existed.
“I went to the alley to inject, but I know I’m putting myself at risk going down there.
“It stinks in there. I’m just disgusted with the mess. I always try and pick up the needles I use, why doesn’t everyone else?”
The woman, who has been on methadone for more than a decade, leaves the van after her fix and sets off to collect her prescription.
Inject: One woman takes drugs ‘to forget’.
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The man behind Scotland’s first mobile drug consumption van says he’s determined to continue operating the service despite the risk of prosecution.
Peter Krykant, a recovering heroin addict and former drugs worker, has modified a minibus into a facility where he says addicts will be able to safely take drugs under supervision. He hopes it will prevent overdoses and blood-borne viruses among users.
As well as clean needles and harm reduction advice, there are also medical supplies on board – including naloxone, which is used to reverse a potentially-fatal overdose.
Mr Krykant told STV News: “I’ve answered the question many times, ‘what if someone overdoses and dies on your van?’
“I think that is a fear tactic. We know from experience if someone has an opiate-based overdose, we can reverse that by administrating naloxone.
“We see people dying all the time in our alleyways and on our streets because by the time an ambulance gets to them, it’s too late.”
Filthy: An alleyway in Glasgow is littered with drug paraphernalia.
One user, who learned about the van through word of mouth, has been on and off drugs for more than 20 years.
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The 44-year-old man said: “I had a business, a house, a family.
“One night one of my workmates offered me a line of cocaine, I said yes. The next night I asked him for two. Then I moved on to injecting it.”
He believes users will be less likely to make a mistake whilst on the van as they won’t be forced to hurry or feel under pressure from street CCTV.
The man’s friend, who was there in support, said: “The van is a brilliant idea. It should be like this all the time.
“I’ve seen people using dirty water, even their urine to inject with.
“They use in the street and they try to hide away, but not well enough.
“A few days ago I saw a guy in an alley, injecting into their groin.”
Police: Officers on the lookout for illegal activity.
Mr Krykant has launched the service despite previous calls for a legal consumption room in the city being rejected by the Home Office.
He has been warned that running such a facility puts him at risk of committing offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
With close to 500 injecting users in Glasgow city centre, Mr Krykant is urging the country’s top law officer to act.
He said: “I think the change needs to come directly in Scotland from our Lord Advocate who has the powers which are devolved to instruct the police not to pursue any convictions around a consumption facility and not purse anyone using a consumption facility.”
Mr Krykant’s call comes as Scotland tops the chart for the highest drug deaths in the EU and as Glasgow tackles its worst HIV outbreak in 30 years.
Nathan Sparling, the chief executive of HIV Scotland, believes there needs to be a unique Scottish and Glasgow response to this, however the UK Government “haven’t allowed that”.
He added: “All the expert advice suggests drug consumption rooms not only stop overdose deaths, but will reduce HIV infections.
“We need to be able to have that intervention because this goes way beyond just drug use – it will help the general population’s wellbeing.”
Needle: There are around 500 injecting users in Glasgow city centre.
In response to the van’s launch, a Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service spokesperson said: “The Lord Advocate is committed to reducing harm arising from illegal drugs but has made it clear that the introduction of such a facility would require legislative change to establish a legal regime for its operation through a democratically accountable process.”
Assistant chief constable Gary Ritchie said Police Scotland is committed to improving the safety and wellbeing of people, places and communities across the country, “including those who are drug dependant”.
He added: “Problematic drug use and substance addiction are complex public health issues, which have long lasting and pernicious impacts on individuals and families, as well as our villages, towns and cities.
“We are engaged in ongoing work with the Drug Deaths Taskforce and a range of partners and recovery communities to explore holistic and sympathetic approaches to finding lasting, sustainable and effective resolutions.
“At present, the establishment of any form of safe consumption location contravenes several sections of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and any attempt to circumvent the law as it stands to provide an entirely unlicensed and unregulated facility may expose vulnerable people to more risk and harm.” | {
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デロイトが発表した「Voice of Asia」シリーズによると、アジアの65歳以上の高齢者は、世界で最大かつ最も急速に成長するマーケットを生み、そこに豊富なビジネス機会を創出するという。
アジアの65歳以上人口は、2017年の3億6500万人から2027年には5億2000万人以上に増加し、高齢化が進む国では新たな課題が生じる一方で、新しいビジネス機会も多数生み出されると見込まれる。
◆高齢化に伴い成長の勝者となる産業とは？
高齢化が進むアジアで産業機会をもたらす主要因としては、相互に関連する次の3点が挙げられる。
・アジアでは急速に高齢化が進行しており、今世紀半ばには、この地域の65歳以上人口は10億人に達するとみられる。
・高齢化関連の支出は、アジアにおける高齢化の進行を上回るペースで拡大するとみられる。新しい技術の導入や、増加する慢性疾患の継続的治療が、他の大半の費用を凌ぐ勢いで医療関連費を押し上げる要因になるからである。
・民間部門はさらに速いペースでビジネス機会が拡大すると予想される。これは、政府予算が逼迫する中、医療関連費の公費負担割合が今後数十年間、低下していく公算が大きいと考えられるためである。
デロイト・ジャパンのエコノミストである大山剛氏は「日本ではすでに顕在化しつつあることですが、高齢化により生じる機会は、医療分野だけにとどまるものではありません。日本の急速な人口高齢化は、人々のニーズを変化させ、ニーズに応えるビジネスの在り方をも変化させています。介護、高齢者向け消費財、高齢者が暮らしやすい住宅や社会インフラのほか、資産運用や保険といったセクターで、需要が増加しています」と述べている。
◆インドが経済大国として台頭
このように高齢化が進展する中、機会をより有利に活用できる国があり、中でもインドが、人口動態の変化にも乗じ、経済大国として台頭すると見られている。
過去数十年間に日本、次いで中国が台頭した後、今度はインドがアジアで3番目に、成長の大波をけん引すると予想される。インドの潜在労働力は今日、8億8500万人だが、20年後には10億8000万人に増加し、半世紀にわたり10億人超を維持する見通しだ。
デロイト・インドのエコノミスト、アニス・チャクラバルティ氏は、「インドは、今後10年間、アジアにおける労働力増加の半分以上を担うことになるでしょう。これは単に労働力が豊富であるという話ではありません。新たな労働力は、インドの従来の労働力よりはるかに高度な訓練・教育を受けた人材です。また、労働人口に占める女性の割合の増加や、今までより長期間働き続ける能力・関心の高まりを背景に、潜在成長力が向上することも見込まれます。そのビジネスへの影響は膨大です」と説明している。
来るべき「インディアンサマー」ともいえる安定的な成長は数十年続き、世界に非常に大きな影響を及ぼすとみられるが、アジアで経済の拡大が見込まれる国はインドだけではない。比較的若年層の多いインドネシアとフィリピンにも、同様の成長が期待されている。
◆各国が高齢化の影響を最小限に抑える方法
高齢化は新しい課題ではない。日本ではすでに急速な人口高齢化への対応が始まっている。但し、その影響が完全に見極められているわけではない。インドの成長ですら予想されるとはいえ、保証されたものではない。成長を促進し、維持するためには、適切な制度設計が必要だ。さもなければ、人口増加が、失業率の上昇やそれに伴う社会不安を引き起こすことも考えられる。
アジアの将来の経済成長を促進するためにできることとして、以下がレポートでは指摘されている。
・退職年齢の引き上げ：昨今は労働集約的な仕事は減少しているものの、平均余命の伸長を背景に定年を引き上げる動きがあるほか、当面の収入源としても、より高齢になるまで働く意欲が広がっている。こうした傾向を助長することは、高齢化の影響の最前線に立つ国の経済成長に寄与すると考えられる。これは特に香港、台湾、シンガポール、韓国、中国に当てはまる。
・労働人口に占める女性の増加：アジアは、労働市場に参加する女性が男性よりはるかに少ないという状況にある。これまで活用されていなかった女性労働力の活用は、高齢化が進む国の潜在成長力を押し上げる直接的な手段である。
移民の積極的な受け入れ：移民政策について2017年に賛否両論が起き、まだ議論が続いているが、受け入れが経済的に優れた方策であることに変わりはない。人口動態要因により成長が減速するリスクに直面している国は、より開放的な移民政策を取るべきであろう。高度な技能を持つ若い移民を受け入れることは、高齢化による成長減速の回避に効果を発揮すると思われる。ただし、ここで大きな問題となるのは、政策的に、また不動産価格の面からも、十分な規模で移民を受け入れることが可能か、ということだ。
・生産性の向上：生産性は、人口要因と同じように経済効果を持つ要因である。新技術がもたらす成長機会を積極的に取り込むことができるように、政府として労働者の教育や新たな技能の習得に力を入れることも有効と考えられる。
アジアの高齢化により、アジアだけではなく世界中のビジネス環境にも変化が起こる。インド、インドネシア、フィリピンといった地域、産業では医療関係にとどまらず幅広い分野に新たな機会が生まれる予測されている。 | {
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DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings’ recent history is loaded with players who spent all or most of their lengthy careers with the Original Six franchise.
The list includes Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Chris Osgood and Tomas Holmstrom.
Defenseman Niklas Kronwall would love to join that group. And he sees no reason why his relationship with the team that drafted him in the first round in 2000 won’t extend beyond this season, the final year of his contract.
"As an organization with the history and tradition of Detroit, I think anyone who is fortunate enough to have a chance to play here for many, many years would love to take that," Kronwall said. "Hopefully, I can do the same."
The Red Wings are likely to begin contract talks with Kronwall this month or shortly after the start of the season.
"Everyone knows I like it here a lot," Kronwall said. "I want to stay. Hopefully, they want me to stay as well. So whenever they feel it’s the right time to start negotiating we’ll be ready for it."
Kronwall will earn $3.75 million in the final season of a five-year deal that has a $3 million salary-cap hit. Getting him signed to a long-term deal is one of general manager Ken Holland’s top priorities this season.
Kronwall, 30, is a good puck-mover with offensive ability and a penchant for delivering crushing open-ice hits. He is coming off a strong season, picking up 11 goals and 37 points in 77 games.
He was strong in the playoffs, too, leading the team in ice time (23 minutes, 4 seconds per game) and delivering a big check on Ryane Clowe that gave the San Jose Sharks forward a separated shoulder.
"Last year was a good year for me overall," Kronwall said. "I felt I took a step in the right direction. Hopefully I can build off that, keep getting stronger and keep playing hard out there. Hopefully I can take another step this year."
Kronwall joined a handful of teammates for an informal practice Thursday at Joe Louis Arena.
The highlight of his summer was his first hole-in-one during a weeklong golfing trip to Scotland and Ireland with seven other Red Wings. He used a 6-iron to ace the 206-yard, 15th hole at Turnbery.
"It was kind of surreal," Kronwall said. "We had caddies and he just gave me a club at every hole. I wasn’t really sure about the club, but he said ‘hit this one.’
"I thought it was long at first because I hit it pretty well. The other guys kind of froze for a second and said, ‘I think that went in.’ They heard when it hit the pin and landed in the hole. Unfortunately, I missed that experience because I couldn’t believe it went in."
He was paired with Osgood in a match against Jimmy Howard.
"I’m not a huge golf fan," Kronwall said. "I love going out and just hitting some balls, play a round or two with friends. But this was very intense. We had some real good golfers on the trip.
"By the end of the week I was thrilled as anyone. The courses and atmosphere and everything around it, it was a great experience." | {
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The LA Galaxy, not far removed from winning three MLS Cups in four years — they completed the feat just 12 months ago, actually — are in full-on tear-it-down-to-build-it-back-up mode this winter, and rightly so.
[ FOLLOW: All of PST’s MLS coverage ]
On Tuesday it was announced that MLS’s premier club had sold U.S. national team defender Omar Gonzalez to Pachuca of Mexico’s Liga MX, a move that would allow financial flexibility to address a number of issues ahead of the 2016 season. Tuesday’s announcement was followed by the sale of midfielder Juninho to Club Tijuana, also of Liga MX. Both players won three MLS Cups during their time in Los Angeles, and both players leave massive holes to fill, in so many different ways.
So, where do the Galaxy go from here? In typical Galaxy fashion, they won’t just rebuild; they’ll reload.
For starters, no team in the league sells itself to players and better convinces them to make the plunge into MLS, than the Galaxy. While most MLS teams in a similar situation would look to rebuild through retreaded MLS players who’ve been around the block a few times, the player pool from which the Galaxy will select is much larger — and, to put it bluntly — better than that of the average MLS team.
[ MORE: MLS hot stove — Offseason signings, trades update ]
Rebuilding Building a backline
In truth, the defense was going to need a major addition at center back this winter, which would have been nearly impossible given roster and cap restrictions, to make it anything more than passable in 2016 anyway. The fact that Gonzalez is also gone means the Galaxy can employ two MLS-caliber center backs in 2016, rather than just one, as has been the case for a handful of years now.
While the Galaxy didn’t receive any additional allocation money for selling Gonzalez, the $436,250 (Designated Player salary cap charge) of savings against the cap could easily be used to sign a pair of starting center backs for the price of one.
MLS-based options: Ike Opara, Sporting Kansas City — it’s a deal that might just make sense for both sides (for more, listen here); Chris Schuler, Real Salt Lake (out of contract) — when healthy, one of the highest-upside center backs in the league, and a perfect candidate to cover acres of space.
Verdict: Whoever the Galaxy go for at center back, he/they will need to be extremely mobile and able to cover lots of ground with Gerrard acting as a turnstile in front of the backline. Whatever they do, they should not go out and spend whatever it would cost to sign Ashley Cole.
[ MORE: Gil leaves RSL for Mexico | Beckham wants Zlatan in Miami ]
Tailoring a midfield to Gerrard’s strengths/weaknesses
The massive elephant in the room is the indisputable fact that Steven Gerrard‘s presence on the roster forced such widespread roster turnover this winter. His $6.3 million annual salary makes him the highest-paid Galaxy player heading into 2016 — all for a player who hugely disrupted the team’s chemistry and balance upon his arrival in August of this year.
The $350,000 of salary cap relief from selling Juninho, plus the windfall of allocation money received in the deal, plus the league’s additional investment of targeted allocation money, plus the sale of Gonzalez, means the Galaxy now have close to $2 million of on-budget cash with which to work this winter — flexibility they’d otherwise not have had.
MLS-based options: Jermaine Jones, New England Revolution (out of contract) — they’d have to give up a serious chunk of cash to acquire his rights from the Revs, but he’s got a house in LA and he’s the box-to-box terror Gerrard needs to play alongside; Perry Kitchen, D.C. United (out of contract) — again, they’d have to acquire his rights, and he’d have to be the stationary d-mid in front of the defense, but he’s a better player right now than both Jones and Gerrard; Osvaldo Alonso, Seattle Sounders (reportedly on the trading block) — his legs aren’t what they once were, and he’s hurt with alarmingly increasing frequency, but he’s as experienced and wily as they come.
Verdict: This is probably where the Galaxy look to the international market, more so than at center back, at least. Again, Gerrard needs a very specific midfield partner to protect him defensively and afford him the opportunity to maraud forward when he decides it’s time to play hero-ball. Think: a Roger Espinoza-type player.
However they rebuild and reload this winter, the Galaxy will be a factor come August and September next year, because 1) they’re the Galaxy, which means it’s their birth-given right in MLS; and, 2) they’re the richest (and most astute) team in the league, now flush with the most MLS-specific cash we’ve seen in a long, long time. To the rest of MLS: beware.
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Now that Albertans have elected the United Conservative Party as their government, that brings the number of provinces fighting the carbon tax up to five.
Incoming Premier Jason Kenney will see his government join Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick in opposing the deeply unpopular tax.
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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or EDITORIAL: It's time the feds realized the carbon tax must go Back to video
A tipping point has been reached. With the population of Alberta tossed in to the mix, these five provinces now represent more than half the population of Canada.
You’d think this would be a wake-up call to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It’s pretty simple math. If five provinces are trying to get out from under the yoke of the carbon tax, if leaders representing the majority of the people are opposing it, that should tell Trudeau and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna something.
That something is that this tax should be put aside, placed on hold, axed, finished, removed. It’s a public policy mess. It’s a political disaster. And so far it’s been deeply divisive. | {
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Tonight the Mondo Gallery opened their first show of 2017, “Mondo x Acme Archives Present: SWxMM.” The “MM” stands for artist Mike Mitchell, who frequently crafts collectible series of art: from his “Fat” series (cute, fat animals), to his “Supers” (various pop culture icons in the traditional hero pose), and lately his pop culture portraits. You can see our coverage of Mike’s Marvel portrait show here.
Some of the most sought after of his portraits are from Star Wars (of course). This show at the Mondo Gallery presents new Star Wars prints, but also collected all of Mike’s previous ones. Seeing them all grouped like this is the ideal way of viewing his work. Alone they’re cool, but together they create an undeniably impressive showcase, highlighting the beautiful design of Lucasfilm and the creative minds that have powered the Star Wars series.
All the artwork is below the press release. Check back with Cinapse for Mondo’s next gallery show — each time we’ll show you the artwork right when the gallery opens! | {
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When Jyotirao Phule embarked with his partner, Savitribai, on their journey to promote radical reform, he had already smashed the social shackles that came with being the son of a greengrocer and the grandson of a gardener in orthodox Pune. This was a boy who received a rudimentary education in Marathi, found himself married before 13 to a bride of 8, and who then resumed his education in a Christian mission school at the insistence of a Muslim neighbour. While “correct" behaviour would have been to quietly keep stock of pulses and vegetables, he digested Thomas Paine’s The Age Of Reason and charted a course of his own, asking all those inconvenient questions that reason sparks in sensible people.
Jyotirao must have been an unusual man at the time for transmitting the ideas he absorbed to his wife. They were just on either side of 20 when they set up an institution for girls in 1848, dismissing conservative melodrama against female education as “idiotic beliefs". That was revolutionary enough, but this thinker who drew inspiration from George Washington and dedicated his most important book—Gulamgiri (1873)—to “the good people of the United States" for eliminating slavery, then went on to establish a school for “untouchables". This in a city where, till recently, the Peshwas had commanded the “lowborn" to move around with brooms tied to their waists so that the ritual defilement they brought into town could also be brushed away after every polluting step.
The Peshwas—hereditary ministers—had woven a great deal of princely myth around their high-born persons at the cost of their original middle-caste royal patrons, the descendants of the Maratha king Shivaji. Jyotirao dusted up in the dialect of the poor (which was thought crude) the tales of Shivaji’s valour, casting him as a protector of peasants and upholder of the rights of the weak. His irate respondents reacted with the more enduring construction of Shivaji as a protector of sacred cows. Jyotirao didn’t care. When the Brahmins claimed that they were high because they were born from Brahma’s mouth, Jyotirao asked if the creator also menstruated from that general area, before deploying Darwin to demolish his scandalized interlocutors. Because Jyotirao was a man, and a fairly influential man with access to the British, it was Savitribai who often faced physical retaliation for their work. This came in the form of being pelted with dung while she walked to their controversial schools, for example. She remained undaunted. In a village outside Pune, an untouchable girl got pregnant with her upper-caste lover. Lynching was proposed—the boy for disgracing his family’s honour and the girl for being disgrace itself—when Savitribai appeared. “I came to know about their murderous plan," she wrote to her husband, “(and) rushed to the spot and scared (the mob) away, pointing out the grave consequences of killing the lovers under the British law."
Naturally, many grumbled that with his tributes to the West, Jyotirao was an unpatriotic lackey. As it happened, he cheerfully exasperated the British too. In 1888 they extended to Jyotirao the honour of an invitation to dine with the Duke of Connaught. Jyotirao accepted, only to horrify his Victorian friends by arriving in peasant’s garb, with a torn shawl his chief accessory. He proceeded to lecture Queen Victoria’s grandson that he must not mistake his dinner companions as representative of India—it was the voiceless poor who were the soul of the land. On another occasion, when the Poona municipality sought to demonstrate loyalty to the governor of Bombay through a 1,000-rupee present, Jyotirao alone among 32 members opposed the idea, insisting that the money be spent on something more worthwhile than fanning the already inflated vanity of an Englishman: education.
He was upset with the colonial tendency to privilege Indian elites even in Western schooling. What “contribution", he asked, “have these (elites) made to the great work of regenerating their fellowmen? How have they begun to act upon the masses? Have any of them formed classes at their own homes or elsewhere, for the instruction of their less fortunate or less wise countrymen? Or have they kept their knowledge to themselves, as a personal gift, not to be soiled by contact with the ignorant vulgar? Have they in any way shown themselves anxious to advance the general interests and repay the philanthropy with patriotism? Upon what grounds is it asserted that the best way to advance the moral and intellectual welfare of the people is to raise the standard of instruction among the higher classes? A glorious argument this for aristocracy, were it only tenable!"
When Jyotirao died, many thought the nuisance had finally withdrawn to the grave. Savitribai, however, continued to irritate the elders, breaching convention yet again by not only appearing at her dead husband’s cremation, but by also lighting the pyre. She died seven years later in the great plague of 1897, but many remembered her across western India and beyond on her birth anniversary last week through the rousing anthem she left: May all our sorrows and plight disappear/Let the Brahmin not come in our way/With this war cry, awaken!/Strive for education/Overthrow the slavery of tradition/Arise to get education.
Medium Rare is a weekly column on society, politics and history. Manu S. Pillai is the author of The Ivory Throne: Chronicles Of The House Of Travancore. He tweets at @UnamPillai.
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The suspect was thought to be an ex-boyfriend of Buket Yıldız.
The man identified by the police in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv as the main suspect of killing two Turkish students on December 31 was caught by Turkish police in Istanbul on January 5.
Hüsnü Can Ç., 20, thought to be ex-boyfriend of Buket Yıldız, was detained by police in a cemetery in Istanbul's suburban district of Pendik, The Hürriyet Daily News, the oldest current English-language daily in Turkey, reported with reference to the Demirören News Agency.
Read alsoChief prosecutor Lutsenko: Circle of suspects in Sheremet assassination narrows
The suspect went to Ukraine 10 days before the murders, according to security sources.
The door of the apartment was not opened forcibly, making the police believe that the suspect had spare keys or Yıldız invited him in.
The murderer first killed Yıldız, slitting her throat, according to findings. Then he came across her housemate Zeynep Hüsünbey, who was coming home from shopping, at the door and stabbed her to death.
The bodies of Yıldız and Hüsünbey were discovered on January 3 after one of the victims’ friends failed to reach them and went to the police.
Hüsnü Can Ç. took a flight to Istanbul, the Ukrainian police told Turkish counterparts. An international arrest warrant was issued for him. | {
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377 still reside in shelters in NP
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of Social Services Frankie Campbell said yesterday Hurricane Dorian shelters across New Providence will close at the end of the month.
He thanked all stakeholders who have played a role in the restoration effort since the devastation storm struck Grand Bahama and Abaco in early September, displacing thousands of families and killing at least 71 people.
“You would remember that at one point we were managing at least 15 shelters throughout the Commonwealth,” he said outside the House of Assembly.
“That was reduced to about 10 in New Providence and to date we still have two shelters — the one at Bahamas Academy on Wulff Road and Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.
“We have continued to work to assist persons to move in with family members; to transition into rental units that we were assisting with and other persons to go back to their original islands
“I am pleased to announce that our work continues and the support that we would have gotten continues.
“You would have heard recently that we were in discussions with two properties. That was reduced to one. Those discussions continues, but we are making good progress, sufficient for me to be able to say that by the end of the month we will be in a position to deactivate the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium and make it available for its original intent which is sporting activities.”
At last report, there were 281 people still residing in the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium and fewer than 100 people at Bahamas Academy.
According to the minister, the Bahamas Academy will be the last of the shelters to close.
He said his ministry will continue to work displaced residents to facilitate rental assistance, and work alongside sister agencies toward transitional homes and temporary housing units in the affected islands will enable the ministry “in the shortest possible time to also deactivate Bahamas Academy”.
As it relates to a record of where shelterees have gone, whether to homes, family or otherwise, Campbell said he was confident the social workers and management of the shelters has those details, but he was unable to provide them off hand.
He reminded the public that the shelters were never intended to be detention centers, and as such shelterees where able to come and go as they pleased.
The government had hoped to have shelters in New Providence closed before the end of the Christmas season | {
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DC Comics has provided us with an exclusive teaser image of September's Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 by writer Tony Bedard with covers and interiors by Tyler Kirkham and Batt. All that's been confirmed so far is that Kyle Rayner will be heading a group composed of leaders from the wider spectrum of corps -- Rage, Avarice, Fear, Will, Hope, Compassion and Love. Can you pick out all six lanterns joining Rayner's new guardians? | {
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In this programme, Paul travels from Britain's most westerly mainland point to a place once guarded by an ancient Celtic goddess. On the way he discovers how the ancient oak woods of Loch Sunart were once a hive of industry, then goes deep underground to discover how 18th-century miners named a new element. On the shores of Loch Linnhe, he meets the owner of a castle and recreates a scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail, before ending his grand tour from the heights of the pap of Glencoe.
Show less | {
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Un fichier en cours de téléchargement. AFP/JOËL SAGET
La Hadopi a décidé d'étudier la façon dont les "échanges non marchands", plus communément qualifiés de téléchargements illégaux de films ou de musique, pourraient fournir une rémunération aux ayants droit, a annoncé jeudi 27 juin l'autorité administrative.
La Haute Autorité remarque la "permanence de cet usage complexe, migrateur et résilient", qualifié, selon le point de vue adopté, "soit de piratage en ligne, soit d'échange non marchand".
LE "TÉLÉCHARGEMENT ILLÉGAL", UN CERCLE VERTUEUX ?
La Haute Autorité reconnaît que le téléchargement illégal (ou l'échange non marchand) n'a pas que des effets néfastes pour les artistes et les ayants droit, un argument de longue date des opposants à la riposte graduée mise en œuvre par la Hadopi. "L'intégration de ces usages pourrait être de nature à créer un cercle vertueux favorable tout à la fois à la création, aux usages, à l'innovation et à un meilleur partage de la valeur", estime l'institution.
Lire : "Le juge, toujours au cœur de la réponse graduée de la Hadopi ?"
La Hadopi, très prudente, entend donc lancer une mission prospective destinée à étudier la possibilité d'une "rémunération proportionnelle du partage" et plus précisément de "valider ou invalider la faisabilité d'un tel système". Ces travaux incluront par exemple l'ébauche d'une "méthode de calcul de barème de rémunération pour les titulaires de droit".
Il reste cependant, toujours selon la Haute Autorité, à parvenir à une "définition légale et claire du statut des œuvres et des usages" et une "compensation équitable et proportionnelle" pour les ayants droit.
La Haute Autorité cite comme modèle l'exception pour copie privée - une redevance payée sur l'achat de matériel permettant de copier des œuvres audiovisuelles - et la rémunération équitable - payée par les chaînes de télévision, les radios ou les commerces pour la diffusion de musique.
UN ARGUMENT DE LONGUE DATE DES OPPOSANTS À LA HADOPI
La légalisation des échanges non marchands, sous la forme d'une licence globale adossée par exemple à l'abonnement Internet, est une proposition avancée depuis plusieurs années par les opposants à la répression du téléchargement illégal.
Dans son rapport remis à la mi-mai, la mission Lescure sur "l'acte II de l'exception culturelle" avait recommandé de maintenir la réponse graduée pour lutter contre le piratage tout en l'allégeant et écarté l'hypothèse d'une légalisation des échanges non marchands.
Lire : "La mission Lescure propose de taxer les smartphones et supprimer la Hadopi"
Le Monde avec AFP | {
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It’s gonna get a little weird, it’s gonna get a little wild.
I’m not from ‘round here, I’m from another dimension.
Tom: Hideyo Mochimo (myself)
Star: Sachiko Pudding
Marco: Jack of All Trades
Photos: Lucasoar Films | {
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i can remember this until my cake day, i don't need to write it down AAAAND It's gone..
142 shares | {
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US Attorney General William Barr testifies during a US House Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Justice Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, April 10, 2019. – The US attorney general told Congress Wednesday he believes the FBI spied on President Donald Trump’s election campaign and said he is opening an investigation into whether it was justified. Amid fresh charges by Trump that he was the target of an “attempted coup,” Bill Barr told lawmakers the FBI may have gone too far in opening a counterintelligence probe into Trump’s 2016 operation. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department expects to make a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Trump-Russia investigation public Thursday morning, a spokeswoman said Monday.
The redacted report would be sent to Congress and also made available to the public, Kerri Kupec said.
Special counsel Robert Mueller officially concluded his investigation late last month and submitted a nearly 400-page confidential report to Attorney General William Barr.
The attorney general then sent Congress a four-page letter that detailed Mueller’s “principal conclusions.”
In his letter, Barr said the special counsel did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Donald Trump’s associates during the campaign, but Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice.
Instead, Mueller presented evidence on both sides of the obstruction question. Barr said he did not believe the evidence was sufficient to prove that Trump had obstructed justice.
Democrats have questioned how Barr could boil down Mueller’s full report so quickly and allege that it might have been written in a favorable way for the president.
Over the past several weeks, a small group of Justice Department officials has been scouring the document to redact grand jury information and details relating to pending investigations, among other materials. | {
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NEWS
Toronto Arrows’ historic win earns Team of the Week honors, while Eloff leads NOLA Gold points machine
MLR announces Player, Team and First XV of Week 3
Salt Lake City, UT; February 11, 2019: In the third week of their inaugural season, the Toronto Arrows followed a late try with a valiant defensive stand in the final minutes to tally the franchise’s first ever win and the Major League Rugby Team of the Week award. Fullback JP Eloff led the high-octane NOLA Gold offense with 14 of his side’s 41 points to take Player of the Week.
On the road against Austin Elite Rugby, the Arrows reshuffled their starting line-up and scored first through Avery Oitomen’s 16th minute try. The two teams traded strikes, with the home side eventually grabbing a 19-18 lead in the 65th. But with five minutes remaining and the ball deep in Elite territory, Arrows outside center Dan Moor charged down an Austin clearance attempt and scooped up the loose ball for the game-winning try, securing the club’s first ever victory. Toronto’s 23-19 win vaulted them to third in the overall standings.
Jean-Pierre Eloff scored 14 of NOLA’s 41 points with four conversions and two penalty goals, finishing the match kicking six-for-six. In the 74th minute, Eloff set up a NOLA try with a massive line break, running half the field before the ball eventually ended up in the hands of JoJo Tikoisuva, who’s converted try duly extended the Gold lead to 41-24. Eloff’s 14 points and his 153 meters carrying the ball topped the league, while his Player of the Week marks the second consecutive week a NOLA Gold player has won the award, after Taylor Howden won in Week 2.
MLR’s First XV of Week 3:
Loosehead Prop (No. 1), Jamie Dever, Houston SaberCats
Hooker (No. 2), Matt Harmon, New Orleans Gold
Tighthead Prop (No. 3), Morgan Mitchell, Toronto Arrows
Lock (No. 4), Lou Stanfill, San Diego Legion
Lock (No. 5), Apisai Naikatini, Seattle Seawolves
Blindside Flanker (No. 6), Eric Duechle, Seattle Seawolves
Openside Flanker (No. 7), Zack Stryffeler, New Orleans Gold
No. 8, Riekert Hattingh, Seattle Seawolves
Scrum-half (No. 9), Marcelo Torrealba, Austin Elite
Fly-half (No. 10), Joe Pietersen, San Diego Legion
Wing (No. 11), Josua Vici, Houston Sabercats
Inside Center (No. 12), Spencer Jones, Toronto Arrows
Outside Center (No. 13), Dan Moor, Toronto Arrows
Wing (No. 14), Tristan Blewett, New Orleans Gold
Fullback (No. 15), Jean Pierre “JP” Eloff, New Orleans Gold
ABOUT MLR
MLR is a professional rugby league launched in April of 2018. It’s an initiative of the American rugby community, in partnership with private investors, who believe that American rugby can thrive at the highest levels: as a commercial enterprise; as an influential player on the international scene; and as a participation sport at the youth and senior level. MLR will be the pinnacle of American rugby, and provide a rallying point for local communities, a focal point for American rugby fans, and an aspirational destination for young athletes.
The teams competing in MLR Season 2 are Austin Elite, Glendale Raptors, Houston SaberCats, New Orleans Gold, San Diego Legion, Seattle Seawolves, Utah Warriors plus new additions Rugby United New York and Toronto Arrows. Agreements are already in place to add at least a further three teams from major North American markets for Season 3.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Major League Rugby: Press Office, 323-476-0016, [email protected] | {
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. is investigating recent claims of civilian casualties, according to a statement released by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan.
“U.S. Forces-Afghanistan is aware of an incident in the Pul-e ’Alam District in Logar Province this morning with potential civilian casualties,” the statement reads. “An official investigation has been launched.”
According to local Afghan media source Pajhwok, nearly 13 civilians and two Taliban leaders were killed in a U.S. airstrike in Logar Province.
Salim Saleh, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok that shadow governor Mullah Mohammadullah and his deputy Huzaifa were also killed in the airstrike.
Logar has been an area of unrest lately. Nearly two weeks ago, a U.S. service member was wounded in an operation against the Taliban in the restive province.
US service member wounded in Afghanistan A U.S. service member was wounded in action in Logar province, Afghanistan, Monday evening.
Moreover, an Afghan defense official has told Military Times that Afghan forces reportedly killed Haqqani network commander Mullah Qand in an operation last night in Logar Province. The Haqqani network is a U.S. designated terrorist group with deep ties to the Taliban.
#AFG Seized by 333 in Logar after Afghan Special Forces killed top Haqqani network commander Mullah Qaand in Logar. Photo via @GovFidai pic.twitter.com/tzZtRJVXq1 — BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 30, 2017
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Military Times was not able to confirm with U.S. officials whether the Haqqani leader was killed or if U.S. forces participated in the operation.
Based on the latest UN assessment, over 5,000 civilians have been killed or wounded in Afghanistan this year.
There are currently over 8,000 U.S. service members serving in the war-torn country. But that number is expected to rise with the White House’s new strategy for South Asia, which includes an unknown increase in U.S. forces in Afghanistan. | {
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Only one undefeated team remains: the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings. Nine teams, however, have just one loss, with six at 4-1 and three at 3-1.
With every team at least 25 percent of the way through its schedule, we are checking the #PulseOfTheNation:
The Vikings have reached rarefied air, despite Teddy Bridgewater's preseason injury and Adrian Peterson's being out the past three weeks. The New England Patriots (4-1) struggled in a home loss to the Buffalo Bills last week but welcomed Tom Brady back in a road win at the Cleveland Browns. The defending champion Denver Broncos (4-1) have navigated the post-Peyton Manning era well, but they suffered a setback (with quarterback Trevor Siemian out) against the 4-1 Atlanta Falcons. The Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) have looked downright unstoppable at times but were handled by the surprising Philadelphia Eagles (3-1), who just lost their first game.
Speaking of surprises, the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders are 4-1, well ahead of expectations. The Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, meanwhile, are high-expectation teams currently sitting at 3-1. | {
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As promised I took a trip down to Mulligan Mint before approving the launch of our new series of coins. I did this to ensure that the promised upgrades and investments were made and to be sure that my customers would have a much better customer service experience this time around. I was pretty happy with what I saw.
I am happy to announce that after this visit I am going forward full tilt bore with the new silver medallions. Three designs are coming very soon, all with the Sentinel on the front and some variations there of on the reverse. The first 1,000 will be a very limited run and we will only make 1,000 of them. They will have the ant reverse.
The next two will have a reverse that is going to be absolutely amazing. We will do an uncirculated and a proof version of this one. The new reverse design will be released next week, you can see the obverse in this video. So here you go guys this is what actually happens and what it takes to turn raw silver into minted medallions. | {
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