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It’s time for another STAC update, and we come bearing good news!
Holding made easier
Ever since we’ve released the news about the hold bonus, two key issues were brought up by our community:
“We’d like to be able to store our STAC on a wallet of our choosing.”
“Verification on exchanges takes a while, and we’d like some more time to get that done.”
We’ve heard you, and more importantly, so did the CoinStarter team. There’s good news to tell you, so here we go.
The snapshot date for the hold bonus has been postponed to the 31st of March. Obviously, we can’t keep resetting dates, so make sure to have your stack of STAC ready before the 31st. Everyone can be a holder, not only ICO participants. Anyone acquiring STAC is able to receive the bonus. It is no longer necessary to store the STAC in a specific wallet.
On STAC wallets
The team has deployed a new section on your CoinStarter account named ‘HODL BONUS’. This is where you can add one or more wallets holding STAC. CoinStarter tracks these wallets to make sure you qualify for the bonus.
The new HODL BONUS section in your CoinStarter account
The page also contains the rules you need to follow to qualify. There is no time limit for adding your wallet address, but there should be no outgoing STAC transfer after the 31st.
Last, but certainly not least: exchange wallets aren’t compatible to be used as storing wallets.
We’re on the Radar
STAC has become available for trading on Radar recently. We’re really happy to see the availability of STAC steadily expand. Radar is a new category of exchanges, so make sure to dive into their about page before you gather more STAC to hold.
STAC on Radar
What’s the current price of STAC?
It’s a question we’ve seen frequently in the past weeks. And rightly so. We’re happy to announce that STAC is now on CoinMarketCap, making it easy for you to track its price by yourself. We’re aware that the market cap and circulating supply aren’t available yet. For now, we don’t have an update on that, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know more.
STAC on CoinMarketCap
Get ready for the launch!
We are as excited as you for the launch of the CoinStarter platform. The team has given us some details on what’s to come, and we can’t wait to share those with you. For now, all we can tell is that the platform that we’ll be launching will have a very different design and user experience. It’ll blow you away! | {
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Image: Formation Creation / Gizmodo
It’s officially spring, and that means fire pit season is just around the corner! Nothing like drinking a beer in the backyard with some friends, while you gaze deeply into dancing flame pondering your existence and the future of mankind. Boy, do we have a special addition for you.
But a fireproof skull or six provide a Shakespearean—or just plain metal—vibe to your fire pit experience. These adult-sized noggins are made in America and designed to work with any propane or natural gas fire pit. It’s unclear how well they’d hold up in a classic, country-style wood fire, although the vendor on Amazon claims that the skulls are made of the same “type of ceramic material that NASA uses to test rocket engines on” and can withstand temperatures up to 3000-degrees Fahrenheit. They’re also heavy enough to withstand wind gusts, which is always a nice feature on any fire-related item, and they’ll also work in gas fireplaces.
You really have to see these skulls to believe them. Imagine what fun it would be if you invited some friends over, pulled off the fire pit cover, and then confessed to being a serial killer—although obviously you would explain that you’re not really a serial killer, just a lover of all things macabre. The overall effect is creepy as hell.
Now listen to this party idea: you call up some buds, bury the skull in lava rocks, and then when you go to stir the fire, this motherfucker pops up:
Except you don’t explain it or even mention it, then wait to see which of your friends runs for the woods first.
The faux human skull fire logs are an expensive indulgence. Each one will cost you $65, although you can also buy a three-pack for $190. They also come in black, brown, white, and “aged dark grey skull.”
[Formation Creation via Laughing Squid] | {
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Breitbart:
“HUGH HEWITT: Let’s go to policy now. A very blunt question because you talk about going to every Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Indiana when you were running statewide. Should Jefferson-Jackson dinners be renamed everywhere because both were holders of slaves? MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG: Yeah, we’re doing that in Indiana. I think it’s the right thing to do. You know, over time, you develop and evolve on the things you choose to honor. And I think we know enough, especially Jackson, you know, you just look at what basically amounts to genocide that happened here. Jefferson’s more problematic. You know, there’s a lot to, of course, admire in his thinking and his philosophy. Then again, as you plunge into his writings, especially the notes on the state of Virginia, you know that he knew that slavery was wrong. …”
I find this hilarious.
It just goes to show how culturally unmoored these people are from both ordinary people and Western culture in general that a homosexual in a gay marriage is going around calling Thomas Jefferson immoral for being a slaveowner. In their view, “homophobia” is the real sin.
Note: The term homophobia was non-existent before the mid-1970s. We’re watching these people casting aside and making up new moral values as they go. As the argument goes, we’re all terrible people for not believing in their values which were made up like 4 years ago. | {
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Not enough ratings Quadcopter plane hybrid
Description Discussions Comments Change Notes
#text_need_flash_capsule_lrg Award Award Favorite Favorited Unfavorite Share Add to Collection This item has been added to your Favorites File Size Posted 0.230 MB 16 Jul, 2015 @ 9:44pm ( view ) 1 Change Note
Created by Krobivnov
Offline See the collection (may be hidden) 105 Unique Visitors 25 Current Subscribers 0 Current Favorites | {
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2017年08月21日 19時00分 食
お酒を飲むのをやめると体に生じる7つの利点
By Johnny Silvercloud
お酒を飲むとリラックスしていい気分になり、楽しい時間を過ごせますが、お酒を飲むのが習慣化してしまうと、アルコールが持つ悪影響から健康に不調を来すことがあります。過度な飲み過ぎは命に関わるがんのリスクも持ち合わせているのですが、もしお酒を飲まなくなると体に現れる7つの影響が解説されています。
What Happens To Your Body When You Quit Drinking Alcohol
https://www.littlethings.com/quit-drinking-benefits/
◆1：寝付きが良くなる
By Vi Khoa Duong
2015年にメルボルン大学のMelbourne School of Psychological Sciencesが発表したアルコール依存症に関する研究によると、アルコールは睡眠を妨害する性質を持つため、夜に目覚めたりイライラしてストレスを感じたりする原因になり、日中に眠気が続いてしまうことがあるとのこと。飲酒をストップすると夜間の睡眠の質が向上するため、目覚めが良くなり、一日をリフレッシュした気分で過ごせるようになることが科学的に証明されています。
◆2：がんになるリスクが減少する
By National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
アルコールの飲み過ぎが肝臓に悪影響を及ぼすことは周知の事実ですが、アメリカ国立がん研究所によると、乳がん・頭頸部がん・食道がん・大腸がんを引き起こす可能性もあるとのこと。日常的にお酒を飲む人は、断酒するだけで肝臓がんを含む5つのがんリスクを遠ざけることができるわけです。
◆3：節約になる
By CafeCredit.com
1本1000円のワインのボトルを買う代わりに、数百円で買える水や炭酸水にすればお金の節約になるのは明らか。バーでお酒を飲めば1杯のカクテルで500円以上かかり、場合によってはグラス1杯の炭酸水で数百円を支払うことになります。
◆4：食べ過ぎなくなる
By Jamie McCaffrey
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism(アルコール乱用・アルコール依存に関する国立研究所)の調べでは、適度な飲酒量を守っていても、お酒を飲んでいる間はお酒を飲まない人より食べる量が多くなることがわかっています。
◆5：ダイエットになる
By Tanvir Alam
4番の「お酒を飲むと食べ過ぎてしまう」ということは、お酒を飲まなければ自然と食べる量が適量になるということ。ピザなどのジャンクな食べ物はお酒のいいお供になりますが、食べ物のデータベースサイト「MyFitnessPal」によると、冷凍マルガリータには1枚あたり300kcal、および糖分が23g含まれています。また、カクテルの種類によっては食事と同レベルのカロリーを含むことがあるため、お酒飲まなければ不要なカロリーをカットすることができます。
◆6：肌がきれいになる
By tec_estromberg
Vogueはアルコールを飲むと脱水と炎症を引き起こし、肌に深刻なダメージを与えることについて説明しています。お酒をやめることは肌にみずみずしさを与えるだけではなく、壊れた血管が減少することで肌の色も良くなるそうです。また、同年齢で20年以上飲酒している人とそうでない人は10歳以上の年の差があるように見えることもあり、お酒を飲まなければ老化の速度を抑えることも可能です。
◆7：胃酸の逆流が減る
By JD Hancock
アメリカ国立医学図書館の発表によると、アルコールは胃と食道の筋肉を弛緩させ、胃酸の逆流を起こしやすくなることがあり、「胃食道逆流症(GERD)」の発症リスクになる可能性があるとのこと。もし胸焼けなどの症状が長く続いているのなら、アルコールを少なくしてみると改善するかもしれません。
このようにお酒を飲まないことでさまざまな利点が得られるわけですが、継続的に飲酒を続けていた人は、禁酒後の数日間に体の震え、不眠、不安感、ゆううつ、発汗などのさまざまな離脱症状に悩まされる可能性があります。しかし、1週間後には禁酒による利点を体で感じられるようになるとのことです。
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It is commonly anecdotally reported that AGP goes away with gender transition for trans women. For example, many in this survey about AGP on /r/AskTransgender reported having experienced it going away, studies like Doorn (1994) found similar changes, and even surveys by me show that pretransition trans women have more AGP than posttransition ones:
Comparison of AGP rates in trans women who are pre-HRT vs post-HRT from a survey on 4chan. (Yes, 4chan is unreliable, but not uniquely so in a way that I would expect to mess with these results – after all, it’s similar to what we see from the other sources I’ve mentioned.)
So, with all of this evidence, how could I possibly deny that AGP disappears with transition? Well, let’s state what we’ve found above more clearly: if you take trans women, who know they’re being examined specifically in the context of trans issues, and ask them specifically about autogynephilia in the sense of something experienced by trans women, and in particular in an environment that expects it to disappear with transition, you’ll find that it disappears with transition. Yup, I’m going to call social desirability bias.
Probably the simplest solution to this is just to ask more stealthily. Don’t specifically ask trans women, ask people in general and consider the subset that happens to be trans. Don’t ask whether it disappeared with transition, just check if it did. Don’t make the purpose anything trans, just test it independently. And probably use a measure that gives different instead of the same results for cis women and trans women, just to make it harder to question the results. Here’s the results:
From my first survey asking people to look at and rate the attractiveness of various sorts of pornography, titled “Can you look at some porn For Science?”. Trans women remain very AGP regardless of transition status.
Obviously, this isn’t perfect; I’m sure there’s a ton of rough edges that could be cleaned up. Bigger sample size, asking about more forms of transition, checking social desirability bias, tweaking the question used, examining the effect that HRT has on libido, etc.. However, I’ve found similar results in other surveys that varied things a bit, so I expect it to generalize well.
So, let’s break down what I did a bit. First, I assessed AGP in trans women as part of a number of other paraphilic interests, asking “How sexually arousing would you find the following?”. I picked the phrasing “Picturing an attractive woman and imagining being her” because an AGP trans man suggested (based on his pre-transition sexuality) that this might work for assessing AGP in cis women (which is important because of the point that it would be stupid to use a scale that gave the same results in cis women and trans women). I also had an item asking about “Picturing myself as the opposite sex, or with certain physical features of the opposite sex”, which is what I used to define Highly AGP Men (who had to answer “Very” on that question to be considered “highly AGP”).
Now as you can see, having transitioned did not prevent trans women from being AGP. I asked about hormonal and social transition separately. Then I defined people to be pretransition if they had not started either but intended to either almost immediately or in the longer term, hormonally-transitioning if they were currently using HRT (regardless of progress), socially transitioning if they had to some degree socially transitioned (defined by the participants). Post transition was defined by having both hormonally transitioned (to the point of not expecting more changes from HRT) and socially transitioned (to the point where they did not intend to socially transition “more”). Even those entirely post-transition were usually very AGP!
This doesn’t even account for the fact that some people probably still saw through it or were in denial, or that some people’s libido might’ve been tanked to the point where their AGP is unobservable. It doesn’t account for the fact that some of the participants might’ve been HSTS (and at least some of the responses are compatible with being HSTS, but who knows when it comes to reddit…).
So that is my take: AGP does not go away with transition, but if you ask it in a context where the trans women want to present it as going away, they probably will. | {
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday the state will reopen from the coronavirus economic shutdown in “baby steps” and that its regions could reopen at different times and rates.
The governor said that for most people, the reopening’s first phase will not be much different than what they are experiencing now with schools and nonessential businesses closed and people being encouraged to stay home. He is expected to begin laying out his plans this week as he reviews recommendations from a task force he appointed that looked at reopening various aspects of the economy.
“Phase One is a baby step,” DeSantis said during a news conference at Tampa General Hospital. “We are deliberately going to be very methodical, slow, and data-driven on this because I think people want to have confidence things are going in a good direction.” He said a slow approach would also give the state an opportunity to step in to handle any spikes in the disease that might occur.
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The Republican governor said while Miami-Dade County and the rest of South Florida have had fewer per-capita confirmed infections than many parts of the country, they do have the highest rate in Florida. That means it is likely that area will open more slowly than other parts like Tampa Bay, which have had a lower infection rate., he said.
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1ERbOh2cdc&feature=emb_title” title=”DeSantis: Hospital systems holding up amid virus” description=”Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touted victories in the state’s virus data, saying hospitals in Florida had unused ventilators and hospital beds. DeSantis gave his latest COVID-19 briefing on Monday from Tampa General Hospital in southwest Florida. (April 27)” duration=”1M26S” /]
Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties had different exposure levels because in January and February they received thousands of travelers from the heavily infected New York City area and they have highly used cruise ship ports.
There were some signs of stirring in South Florida on Monday. Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach were announcing Monday they are reopening their parks, golf courses, marinas, and some other recreation facilities this week with strict limitations.
- Advertisement -
In Key West, beaches were reopened to residents although the Florida Keys remain closed to visitors.
“It is really a different ballgame when you compare southeast Florida to the rest” of the state, DeSantis said. “Pretty much the rest of the state has really handled this very well. There has never been even close to stress on the capacity of health care resources.”
The state police chiefs association last week warned against a regional approach to reopening and called for a statewide plan, telling the task force its members fear Floridians would travel to less restrictive areas and potentially overwhelm those areas’ law enforcement. Others, including the chief of the state’s business licensing division, said a regional approach would be preferable.
As of Monday morning, there have been more than 32,000 patients confirmed with COVID-19 in Florida since the beginning of March and nearly 1,100 deaths.
Florida Democrats criticized DeSantis’ handling of the crisis, saying he stacked his task force with business leaders and Republicans. They say he should have included doctors on its executive committee and gotten input from workers. They said DeSantis has remained in lockstep with President Donald Trump, his close ally, and has been more concerned about the economy than health care.
“President Donald Trump has been absolutely chaotic in his response to the coronavirus pandemic from the beginning to today and, very sadly for us in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been following his lead every step of the way,” state party Chair Terrie Rizzo said on a conference call.
Dr. Bernard Ashby, a South Florida cardiologist, said on the Democrats’ call that DeSantis and the Republicans should have treated the pandemic as war and convened panels of medical experts from the beginning.
“During the course of a war you don’t put together an economic panel, you put together generals to deal with the enemy,” he said. “That shows where our priorities are.”
—
DeSantis says Florida will reopen slowly, methodically | {
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FDA reviewed many published research studies, including both nonclinical and clinical data.
Nonclinical Studies
We reviewed published nonclinical studies showing that early exposure to anesthetic drugs can produce adverse neurotoxic effects in different species, including simple nematodes, rats, and nonhuman primates.1-20 The studies demonstrate that the use of anesthetic drugs during the period of rapid brain growth or synaptogenesis results in widespread neuronal and oligodendrocyte cell loss in the developing brain, and alterations in synaptic morphology and neurogenesis. Based on comparisons across these nonhuman species, the window of vulnerability to these changes is believed to correlate with human exposures in the third trimester of pregnancy through the first year of life, but may extend to approximately 3 years.
In pregnant primates, late in gestation during peak fetal brain development, exposure to 24 hours of ketamine in the third trimester or exposure to 5 hours of isoflurane or 5 hours of propofol increased neuronal cell loss in the fetus. In neonatal primates, exposure to 3 hours of ketamine that produced a light surgical plane of anesthesia did not increase neuronal cell loss; however, neuronal cell loss was seen with treatment regimens of 24 hours of ketamine, or 5 hours or more of isoflurane plus nitrous oxide or propofol. Data in isoflurane-treated rodents and in ketamine-treated primates suggest the neuronal and oligodendrocyte cell losses are associated with prolonged cognitive deficits in learning and memory. The clinical significance of these nonclinical (animal) findings is not known.
Clinical Studies
We also reviewed the epidemiologic literature investigating the association between childhood anesthesia exposure and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.21-41 The studies were published between 2009 and 2014. Some studies found no association between pediatric exposures and neurodevelopmental
outcomes,21-29 whereas others did.30-41 In particular, several of the studies have increased concerns that longer or repeated exposures may contribute to various cognitive and behavioral problems, including neurodevelopmental delay-related diagnoses, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.32, 33, 37, 38, 41 However, it remains unclear whether these associations represent an effect of the anesthesia drugs as opposed to the surgery itself, or are the result of uncontrolled confounding related to the underlying condition or other factors. The observational studies had many limitations, including heterogeneous exposure and outcome definitions and measures, potential for selection and information biases, incomplete control for confounding, and insufficient power. Most studies included children exposed to anesthesia before age 2-3 years, but the studies varied widely in the age groups included. Some focused only on newborns and infants, while others included children with anesthesia exposures up to 12 years of age. Most of the studies were not able to determine the duration of anesthesia exposure.
More recently, interim findings from the General Anesthesia Compared to Spinal Anesthesia (GAS) trial and results from the Pediatric Anesthesia NeuroDevelopment Assessment (PANDA) Study have been
published.42. 43 The GAS trial is an ongoing international, multicenter, randomized controlled trial comparing neurocognitive outcomes following randomization to either awake-regional anesthesia or to sevoflurane-based general anesthesia in children younger than 60 weeks but born at more than 26 weeks gestation who required inguinal hernia repair. The primary outcome of the trial is Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Third Edition (WPPSI-III) Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (IQ) at age 5 years. The secondary outcome is the composite cognitive score of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III at age 2 years. The initial 2-year follow-up results were published in January 2016. Data were evaluated from 238 children treated with awake-regional anesthesia and 294 children administered general anesthesia. The median duration of sevoflurane in the general anesthesia cohort was 54 minutes. The authors reported no difference in Bayley III development scores between the two study arms. They suggested these data support the conclusion that sevoflurane anesthesia of less than 1 hour duration does not appear to increase the risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome at age 2 years compared to awake-regional anesthesia. The GAS study still needs to be completed to evaluate the primary WPPSI-III IQ outcome measure at age 5 years.42
The PANDA study is a sibling-matched observational cohort study that examined whether a single anesthesia exposure in healthy children younger than 3 years is associated with an increased risk of impaired global cognitive function (IQ) as the primary outcome, and abnormal domain-specific neurocognitive functions and behavior as secondary outcomes at ages 8 to 15 years. Exposed children (n=105) had a single episode of general anesthesia before 3 years for elective inguinal hernia surgery and were 36 weeks gestational age or older at birth. The mean duration of anesthesia in the exposed group was 84 minutes, with 17 children having exposures more than 2 hours. Ninety percent of the exposed children were boys. The unexposed cohort (n=105) were biologically related siblings closest in age (within 3 years) to the exposed child, also 36 weeks gestational age or older at birth but with no anesthesia exposure before 3 years. The study found that mean IQ scores were not significantly different between the exposed and unexposed siblings, with both groups scoring somewhat higher than average. There were no significant differences in mean scores on any of the secondary assessments, although exposed children were significantly more likely to have abnormal “internalizing” scores on the Child Behavior Checklist. This may have been a chance finding, as analyses did not adjust for multiple endpoints.43
The PANDA study addressed many of the limitations of the previous epidemiologic studies. However, as designed, the study was not able to evaluate effects of prolonged or repeated anesthesia exposures, or possible effects in more vulnerable subgroups (e.g., less healthy children). The study also may not have been sufficiently powered to evaluate meaningful differences in all secondary outcomes or for analyses examining age at exposure, duration of exposure, or gender differences.
The PANDA study, along with the preliminary GAS trial findings, provide some clinical evidence that a single, relatively brief early exposure to general anesthesia in generally healthy children is unlikely to cause clinically detectable deficits in global cognitive function or serious behavior disorders. These findings are consistent with animal data, which have not predicted an increased risk with anesthesia exposures less than 3 hours. However, the GAS trial has not yet been completed, and additional high-quality research is needed to investigate the effects of repeated and prolonged anesthesia exposures in children, including vulnerable populations. Research is also needed to explore possible subtle behavioral effects, vulnerable ages of exposure, potential gender differences, and potential variability among specific anesthetic drugs and protocols. | {
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Each year football teams around America hold try-outs to search for that hidden talent that nobody else has found. Football players showcase their skills in high-school and college tryouts with the hopes of one day making it to the big leagues. In racing, those try-outs are rare or non-existent, until now.
A new program, Short Track Auto Racing Tryouts, or STAR Tryouts for short, is being conducted by Crooks Racing as they analyze short track racing talent in an effort to put a driver in the team’s Super Late Model program in 2017.
Crooks Racing is asking for drivers to send in their applications to possibly be selected for their program. However, this isn’t any ordinary application process. Crooks Racing will host a “gong-show” style of event to determine who will race for the team for in 2017.
Up to 12 drivers will be named as finalists at this year’s Performance Racing Industry trade show in December. Those finalists will then be given the opportunity to show a panel of judges what they’ve got.
Drivers will be judged on their abilities on the race track, but also off the race track in the realm of media applications as well.
After the finalists are selected, Crooks Racing will take the group to an unspecified racetrack. The process is simple; each driver will make a 10-lap run to get acclimated to the race car and track before debriefing with the team to discuss any changes that may be needed. After that the driver will then be given three runs of five to seven laps. Once that is completed, the driver will make a 30-lap run and then a mock-qualifying run.
All drivers will be judged on consistency, communication, adaptability, attitude, enthusiasm, feedback and speed. Judges will consist of Gary Crooks (team owner), as well as known-driver and media member to be named at a later date.
The STAR Tryouts will also be video-taped and a show will be post-produced by Speed51.com.
"We get multiple inquiries a month regarding our Driver Development Program, and in preparation for the 2017 season, we thought it would be a fun and exciting way to provide an opportunity for each of the selected candidates to showcase their potential on and off the track,” said team owner Gary Crooks. “As a true Driver Development Program, our goal is to provide an opportunity for talented young men and women to hone their skills and to help prepare them to be able to capitalize on potential racing opportunities that may be presented to them in the future. With so many young, talented race car drivers out there, we feel this is the best way to make it fair for those who express serious interest in our program."
Upon completion of the event, Crooks Racing will announce a winner for the upcoming race season. The winner will receive a contract of a minimum of 20 races in a combination of the Super Late Model events, including but not limited to, PASS and the CARS Tour. The races must be within 350 miles of the Crooks Racing headquarters in Mooresville, NC.
All applicants must be self-funded and are required to be able to pay a sum of $4,500 to cover testing expenses if chosen to take part in the STAR Tryout event.
The driver that receives a contract will also be required to pay an amount of $14,750 per event to cover all expenses, such as tires, fuel, hotels, etc. Each driver will be asked to provide their own travel to and from each event and pay for any damage incurred at each event. The driver will receive 30% of the prize money for each event.
Crooks Racing won seven races during the course of the last two seasons. The team finished second in the 2015 Snowball Derby, finished second in the 2015 Pro All-Stars Series South standings and won the 2015 Super Late Model World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing championship at New Smyrna Speedway.
For more information regarding the program, please reach out via email to [email protected]
Driver Talent Search – STAR Tryouts To Decide a Potent Ride | {
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Antonio Briseño assinou contrato com o CD Feirense válido para as próximas duas temporadas. O primeiro mexicano a jogar de castelo ao peito afirma estar “muito feliz por esta oportunidade” e que “é um sonho competir numa liga tão importante, e numa equipa como o Feirense”.
Com 1,85 metros, Briseño define-se com um jogador “forte fisicamente, trabalhador e que dá tudo em campo”. “Vou-me entregar a 100%, se tiver de morrer em campo por este emblema, morro. Sei o que é chegar a um clube destes, vou deixar tudo em campo, em cada jogada e em cada jogo”.
Nascido a 5 de fevereiro de 1994 na cidade de Guadalajara, o central mexicano cumpriu toda a sua formação num dos principais clubes do país, o Atlas. Fez a sua estreia na equipa principal em outubro, de 2011, com apenas 17 anos. Aos 19, conquistou definitivamente o seu espaço na equipa principal e aos 20 transferiu-se para o Tigres, tendo efectuado 43 jogos. Antes de vir para Portugal, jogou também no Juarez (22 jogos) e no Veracruz (13 jogos). Pelo meio, foi Campeão Nacional ao serviço do Tigres em 2015/16 e Campeão do Mundo de Sub-17 pela selecção mexicana.
Nos primeiros passos no futebol europeu, afirma que quer seguir os passos do seu ídolo Rafael Márquez e “crescer como futebolista, seguir os passos de alguns mexicanos a jogar em Portugal, fazer bem as coisas e poder concretizar os objetivos da equipa”.
O central é assim mais uma opção ao serviço de Nuno Manta Santos, que já contava com Flávio, Rocha e Bruno Nascimento. Briseño junta-se amanhã ao restante plantel. | {
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You can find the Artsy Podcast on iTunes , Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or the podcasting app of your choice. Don’t forget to rate the show and leave us comments; we’d love to hear from you.
What began as an April Fools joke on the website Reddit is now being hailed as the world’s largest collaborative artwork. Over one million users, armed with one pixel each, worked together over 72 hours to create a canvas that now contains everything from the American flag to the Mona Lisa. On this episode, we’re joined by Josh Wardle and Kevin O’Connor from Reddit to break down this massive online art project. Will this digital canvas end up in MoMA? And what can a dog wearing clogs tell us about the nature of internet collaboration?
This podcast is hosted by Artsy Associate Editor Isaac Kaplan, joined for this edition by Reddit Senior Product Manager Josh Wardle and Reddit Lead Ops Engineer Kevin O’Connor. It was produced by Editorial Associate Abigail Cain.
Intro music: “Something Elated” by Broke For Free | {
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The driver of a school bus that was filled with elementary students when it crashed in Chattanooga, killing at least five children, has been arrested and faces charges including vehicular homicide.
Calling the Monday afternoon crash "every public safety professional's worst nightmare," Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher told an overnight news conference that 24-year-old bus driver Johnthony Walker was charged with five counts of vehicular homicide. Walker was also charged with reckless driving and reckless endangerment.
Investigators were looking at speed "very, very strongly" as a factor in the crash, Fletcher said earlier.
Police said overnight that five children were killed in the crash. Earlier in the day, Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston told news outlets the crash killed six. The Associated Press was not immediately able to reach officials early Tuesday to clarify the discrepancy.
Thirty-five students from kindergarten through fifth grade were on board when the bus flipped onto its side and wrapped around a tree. The bus was the only vehicle involved in the crash, but Fletcher said the scene was complicated and covered a significant area.
Bloodied Woodmore Elementary School students lay on stretchers, while others walked away dazed with their parents after the crash, local news outlets reported. More than 20 children went to hospitals for their injuries, according to Fletcher.
Emergency responders needed almost two hours to get all the children off the bus.
The school bus driver has been charged (Chattanooga Fire Department)
Television cameras showed emergency vehicles still there late into the night, and the National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that a team would be heading to Chattanooga on Tuesday morning to investigate.
Television stations reported that people lined up to donate blood and some donors were asked to make appointments for Tuesday.
Kirk Kelly, interim superintendent for Hamilton County schools, said classes would be held Tuesday with counselors available for students and staff.
Fletcher said the families of the children who died had been notified but police would not release their names because they were juveniles.
"Our hearts go out, as well as the hearts of all these people behind me, to the families, the neighborhood, the school, for all the people involved in this, we assure you we are doing everything we can," Fletcher said.
At the state Capitol in Nashville, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam called the crash "a tragic event" and offered assistance. | {
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OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is vowing to repeal President Barack Obama's sweeping health care law.
McConnell spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference next to a tower of 20,000 pages of health care rules and regulations. He calls it a "monument to liberalism" and says Republicans will not back down from the fight.
McConnell faces re-election next year. He says Republicans need to rebound from election losses last year and, quote, "punch back." He says Democrats haven't had a new idea, quote, "since the days of the Studebaker."
He compares the possibility of Democrats nominating Hillary Rodham Clinton or Joe Biden for president in 2016 to, quote, a "rerun of 'The Golden Girls.'" | {
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Selección de pantallas para Samsung
Piezas como puertos de carga
Recomendación: ¿Servicio técnico si o no?
Los Galaxy son los más populares
¿Qué son los cables flex de Samsung Galaxy?
¿Qué importancia tiene la batería?
¿Voy a necesitar accesorios para arreglarlo?
¿La electricidad estática puede romper una pantalla?
¿Qué otras piezas son relevantes y se pueden cambiar?
¿Algo mas que deba saber?
En iLevante vendemos todas las pantallas para teléfonos Samsung del mercado nacional. Si tienes un teléfono de esta marca y se te ha roto la tuya, te aseguramos que con nuestras piezas de reparación te va a ir genial.A parte de esto, en la mayoría de las pantallas regalamos (sin ningún compromiso) un kit de reparación con destornilladores, puas y ventosa. Echa un vistazo al producto, pues en la imagen te aparecerá el kit. Si no te aparece en la imagen y aún así lo quieres, puedes preguntarnos o también puedes comprarlo a parte. Lo tienes aquí mismo, en esta categoría, es de las piezas mas compradas.Te damos casi todas las herramientas que necesitaras (en cada uno de los productos te ponemos como cambiarlo).Hoy en día la reparación de estos móviles ya no es tan complicada como podía ser hace unos años y los fabricantes intentan hacer sus piezas lo más sencillas de usar y reparar. Nosotros aprovechamos la coyuntura para, entre otros productos, vender las pantallas completas. En vez de tener por separado el táctil, el LCD, el flex (y otros) se integran en uno solo y así su cambio es más fácil. Mas fácil de comprar, mas fácil de instalar. Todos ganamos, ¿no?Los puertos de carga son unas de las piezas mas comunes de reparación. Se rompe de tanto conectarle el cargador y acaba fallando o no cargando bien. Por una cantidad que en muchos casos no llega ni a los 10 euros, lo tendrás solucionado. En la actualidad, esta pieza ya no se cambia tan frecuentemente, desde que los conectores MicroUSB dejaron de existir y pasaron a ser USB-C, los teléfonos sufren mucho menos. Así que ganamos en vida útil de los Samsung Galaxy.Otras piezas suelen ser cables de conexión a la placa base, la cámara delantera y/o trasera y así con multitud de módulos que vendemos. Cada uno separado en su categoría y para su móvil en concreto.Si has sabido diagnosticar el problema o fallo de tu móvil y sobre todo, si te consideras un manitas, te animamos a que emprendas la divertida tarea de arreglar el teléfono tu mismo sin servicio técnico.En la mayoría de casos solo necesitas las piezas que te damos, paciencia y meticulosidad.Hay que tener en cuenta que muchos de los servicios técnicos no oficiales están regentados por gente con muy poca experiencia y poca formación. Por eso, si no te atreves, por favor, lleva tu teléfono a un servicio técnico de confianza. No es necesario que sea el oficial, seguramente en cualquiera te podrán hacer la reparación correctamente.Si, para Samsung, los teléfonos Galaxy son los que ganan siempre en las listas de venta por goleada. Le siguen su gama de Note, pero también están dentro de los Galaxy.Por lo que todo lo que fabrica Samsung en relación a telefonía móvil es Galaxy. Así que no te extrañe que por esta categoría todos los productos tengan un nombre muy parecido, pues solo cambia el modelo al final del producto.En muchos de nuestros artículos verás que ponemos - con el cable flex, con el flex, cuidado con el flex. Este es un tipo de cable plástico que lleva una lámina de (generalmente) cobre. Es una placa de circuitería flexible. De ahí su nombre.Cualquier pieza que manipules que lleve este tipo de cable es frágil y hay que tratarlo con cuidado. Nuestro consejo es: no lo torsiones mas de lo necesario ni lo dobles mas de 90 grados. Están preparados para ser doblados, pero debe quedar holgura en la doblez. Si lo intentamos plegar como un papel se romperá el cable interior.Muchas piezas se rompen por manipular incorrectamente el cable flex. Así que mucho ojito con este cablecito.A la hora de realizar una reparación, la batería es un componente que se puede cambiar sin ningún problema. Nosotros estamos comenzando a traer baterías de muchos modelos, aunque todavía tenemos pocas. No trabajamos con baterías originales, utilizamos baterías compatibles y hemos tardado muchos años en encontrar la marca que nos puede garantizar una buena duración y seguridad en la batería. Por esa razón, si para tu smartphone Samsung Galaxy todavía no la tenemos, que sepas que la razón es esta. Tenemos que probar y garantizar que el modelo de batería es de la calidad necesaria.Por otro lado, si vas a realizar una reparación, todos los teléfonos Samsung tienen una característica especial (vale, puede que todos no, pero muchos sí. Y es tan importante que decimos todos y así nos curamos en salud): Antes de que cambies una pantalla de esta marca, tienes que apagar el teléfono y quitarle la batería. Cuando comenzamos en esto, alguna vez nos sorprendió que, una pantalla que había pasado todos nuestros test, a la hora de instalarla el táctil no funcionaba. Nos dimos cuenta que esto se reproducía cuando no retirábamos la batería. Parece ser que quedaba algún tipo de energía que estropeaba el táctil. Entonces, desde ese momento, avisamos a nuestros clientes. Por favor, quítala.Definitivamente si. Necesitarás mínimo destornilladores de precisión (que no se suelen tener por casa habitualmente, todo sea dicho). Muchos de nuestras piezas (normalmente a partir de 20-25 euros) vienen con un pack de reparación gratuito. Otros mas económicos no suelen incluirlo y tendrás que comprar a parte.Te enumero los que te harán falta: destornilladores plano, en estrella y torx. También necesitarás un alfiler para sacar la SIM en algunos modelos. Una ventosa viene genial para despegar la pantalla. Normalmente traen un pegamento y es dificil sacarla, pero si tienes la ventosa la cosa cambia a mas fácil.Unas púas (como las de tocar la guitarra) son recomendables (en nuestro kit están) y sino tienes esto, hay gente que utiliza cartas de una baraja normal (pero no esperes volver a jugar con ellas).Por último, te hará falta adhesivo (si la pantalla no lo incluye -la mayoría si). Este adhesivo debe ser de doble cara y muy fino. Como te podrás imaginar, también lo tenemos. Pero si quieres saber si tu pieza incluye adhesivos, pregúntanos, por favor.No solo puede, sino que es algo que fácilmente puede ocurrir. El táctil es super sensible precisamente a eso. Seguramente alguna vez te has quitado un suéter y has oído las chispas estáticas. Imagina que luego tocas el conector de la pantalla táctil. Ya está el trabajo! Te podemos asegurar que no funcionará. Así que mucho ojo con estos detalles.La banda que tenemos a la venta es un buen accesorio que te durará toda la vida cada vez que tengas que arreglar algún elemento electrónico y también es algo super barato.Las demás piezas son tan conocidas como la tapa trasera. Puede haber una parte del teléfono que sufra tanto el paso del tiempo? Si, esta pieza se puede cambiar y además es de lo mas económica. La mayoría rondan los 10 euros o menos.Otra de las piezas son las cámaras, que suelen ser baratas excepto en teléfonos de alta gama. Tampoco nos volvamos locos esperando una ganga. Y si en algún sitio te lo venden a precio de saldo, desconfía.Si quieres saber algo mas, pregunta. Tienes nuestro contacto distribuido por toda la página para que nos preguntes lo que quieras. Si sabemos contestarte te ayudaremos y sino, buscaremos la información para mejorar, como hacemos cada día.Gastos de envío, formas de pago y todas estas cuestiones, las tienes también en cada una de nuestras páginas y como cambia habitualmente según el producto o su peso, es mejor que consultes directamente cada página. | {
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This is The Harper Spin, a weekly column from seasoned auto critic Jason H. Harper. He’s raced at Le Mans, crushed a car in a 50-ton tank, and now, he’s bringing his unique style to The Verge.
You do not care about pickup trucks.
A pickup is a petrol-powered wheelbarrow; surely one of the lower rungs on the automotive hierarchy. Pickups? Driven and obsessed over by people who are decidedly not you. Right?
Except, well, there was that time that you needed to move your queen mattress to the new apartment, and you called up that guy who used to date your cousin, and he showed up in his lifted Ford F-150 with the Hella lights on the roof and he hoisted that mattress into the bed like it was nothing. You stepped onto the running boards and hauled yourself into the high-up cabin and you rode over to your new pad while looking down at the people in their Lilliputian cars and you thought: this thing is manly. And it’s nice to be able to haul stuff. But then you realized that guys like your cousin’s ex are only summoned when someone needs their stuff hauled around, and that sucks.
Besides, you do not care about pickup trucks.
Now, here comes the brand-new Ridgeline, which looks more like a traditional truck
But there was also that time that Honda released a pickup truck, in 2005, and you thought that was kind of interesting. It was called the Ridgeline. The idea of a truck from Honda, known for easy-driving cars full of innovative conveniences, was appealing. But then you saw the thing. You may not be a pickup person, but even to your eyes it looked all wrong, what with the soft angles and weird angled walls alongside the bed. It didn't impress pickup people, and it didn’t sell all that well.
Now, here comes the brand-new Ridgeline, which looks more like a traditional truck, if a softer and gentler one. The Honda is midsized, which is better suited to city traffic and fits into a garage. The Ridgeline joins the updated Toyota Tacoma and new entrants from Chevrolet and GMC. In the truck world, midsize is the new black.
That’s because trucks have been a’changin’, even the biggest, rootin’-tootin’ trucks like the Ford F-150. They ride comfortably these days, have digital screens, heated seats, and heaps of safety features. A new Chevy Silverado travels around as nicely as a Mercedes E-Class of old. In fact, if you spent some time in one, you just might fall a little bit in love.
Another surprise: just how much you can spend on a truck. The Honda starts at $30,000 and works up to the $43,000 Black Edition. A Ram 1500 Limited 4X4 is around $56,000. Not much blue collar in that.
(Honda)
But the new Ridgeline, now looking 400 percent less dorky, is still an outlier. It is built on an unibody frame, the same as a car, rather than the standard body-on-frame used in pickups. A body-on-frame is an internal ladder system, sturdier than a unibody design, and ideal for off-roading and towing. But unibodies are far superior in terms of comfort and handling.
The Ridgeline is offered in all-wheel-drive and front-wheel-drive flavors. Those too are better suited to asphalt than burly trails. Trucks are normally four-wheel or rear-wheel drive. (Consumer Reports has a good primer on the differences between AWD and 4WD, if you’re interested.)
So, guess what? If you took a $43,000 Black Edition Ridgeline out for a ride, you’d find it drives like a well-mannered crossover. It shares chassis parts with the Pilot, though they are beefed up. It hustles around town, handles curves gracefully, and the seats are Honda comfortable. It’s easy to forget that you’re even driving a truck.
The AWD drive has a lot to do with that, but so does stuff you’d never, ever expect to find in a truck. Like a legitimate torque vectoring system which overdrives an outside wheel to help the truck handle corners. Many vectoring systems, even those found on hardcore sports cars, rely on systems which brake the inside wheel instead. This is the same kind of stuff that’s found on Acura’s NSX supercar. Go figure.
It hustles around town, handles curves gracefully, and the seats are Honda comfortable
Other things you wouldn’t have found on a truck from a decade ago: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A 400-watt AC power outlet. A navigation system with real-time traffic, and safety systems that warn you of an impending front collision and help you stay in your lane. Adaptive cruise control, which maintains your distance from the vehicle ahead of you in traffic.
The interior isn’t fancy — and the lack of an actual knob to turn the stereo volume up or down is inexplicable — but the inside will fit five adults, a testament to Japanese automakers’ uncanny talents for maximizing interior space.
If all those things cause the Ridgeline to be rather car-like, there are disadvantages. The bed is clever — it’s actually got a lockable compartment inside — but isn’t all that big. An ambitious trip to Home Depot may leave you in need of a second trip. And if you ever hauled something like a boat, it would need to be a small motorboat and not a yacht. The towing limit is 5,000 pounds.
If the Ridgeline entices you, Mr. or Ms. Non-Truck, you might also go to a Chevy or GMC dealership and try out a diesel Colorado and Canyon. (They’re basically the exact same truck with different nameplates.) They too are stuffed with new tech, including CarPlay and a seat that buzzes when you cross over a lane divider without signaling.
(GMC)
But they also drive incredibly well. Whereas the Ridgeline’s 3.5-liter V-6 has 262 pound-feet of torque, the Canyon’s 2.8-liter diesel gets 369 lb-ft, which grunts up hills with bull-like aplomb. Better, though, is the amount of innovation that GM has applied to quiet both the diesel’s natural vibrations and noise, making it even better to drive than the regular gas engines. The diesel Canyon and Colorado are great trucks. If you did care about these things, you’d find these two models have a lot more credibility in the truck community.
We wager that there’s a good chance that once you’ve driven something like the Ridgeline or the Canyon, you just may come away a little bit smitten. You may find yourself thinking of the stuff you’d like to move if you had one. And then you realize you might just want one.
But, a warning: if you do succumb, never tell your friends. Because those people who don’t yet care about trucks have to move stuff, too. And next time, they’ll call you. | {
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Washington (CNN) White House press secretary Sarah Sanders used a series of inaccuracies on Monday when she tried to distance President Donald Trump from moves by special counsel Robert Mueller that represent the clearest connection yet between Russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 election and Trump's campaign.
Sanders' answers downplayed the response Papadopoulos received when he pitched the idea of a meeting between Trump campaign officials and "Russian leadership" to discuss US-Russian ties if Trump won the presidency. And played down Manafort's substantial role in the victorious 2016 campaign.
Here's a CNN fact-check of Sanders' defense of Trump and the White House:
'Outside the scope of the campaign'
Sanders, when pressed on Papadopoulos' role in the campaign, inaccurately stated that the activities outlined in a statement of offense occurred "outside the scope of the campaign."
"These were activities that took place outside the scope of the campaign," Sanders said when asked about whether Trump hires the best people.
Though Sanders is right as it currently relates to Manafort and Gates, whose indictments so far hinge on tax charges unrelated to the Trump campaign, that isn't true for Papadopoulos, according to the statement of offense signed by Mueller
According to the document, Papadopoulos reported his work with a professor based in London and a woman he believed to be related to Russian President Vladimir Putin (he later learned she was not related).
"Following his March 24, 2016, meeting with the Professor and a Female Russian National, defendant Papadopoulos emailed" a campaign supervisor to provide a readout on the conversation focused on trying to "arrange a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss US-Russian ties under President Trump."
According to the document , the supervisor said he would "work it through the campaign" and said even though no commitments should be made, added that it was "great work."
The trip that Papadopoulos proposed never took place.
'Nothing happened'
Sanders, when asked about Papadopoulos' interactions with the campaign, said the foreign policy adviser "reached out and nothing happened beyond that."
"I think (that) shows, one, his level of importance in the campaign; and two, shows what little role he had within coordinating anything officially for the campaign," she said.
It is true that the trip with Trump, as outlined by Papadopoulos in the complaint, never took place. But saying that nothing happened isn't accurate either.
The Mueller statement of offense details how two other campaign officials responded -- in private -- to an email from Papadopoulos that detailed a "request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump" by proposing a lower-level campaign official make the trip instead of the would-be President.
"Let's discuss," one official wrote in an email without copying Papadopoulos. "We need someone to communicate that (Donald Trump) is not doing these trips."
The campaign official added, however, that "someone low level in the campaign" should go "as not to send any signal."
CNN has been told by a congressional source that the exchange was between Manafort and Gates, the two officials who were indicted by the special counsel on Monday.
'He was dismissed not too long after that'
Sanders essentially told reporters Monday that Manafort was nothing more than a delegate counter on the campaign.
"The President hired Paul Manafort to handle the delegate process, which he did and he was dismissed not too long after that," Sanders said when pushed on the significance of his indictment.
Manafort, a longtime Republican operative, spent five months on Trump's 2016 campaign. While he was hired to deal with a bruising delegate process at the Republican National Convention, he also chaired the campaign for three months, regularly working with the Republican nominee and his family.
But his role was far greater than just working on the campaign's delegate operation.
Sanders is not the first White House official to try to diminish Manafort's role.
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer inaccurately claimed in March that Manafort was someone "who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time."
'He was not paid by the campaign'
JUST WATCHED Manafort attorney: No Russia collusion Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Manafort attorney: No Russia collusion 01:21
Sanders cast Papadopoulos as nothing more than a campaign volunteer on Monday, ignoring the fact that Trump called him an "excellent guy" who was an "energy and oil consultant" in an interview with The Washington Post
"Look, this individual was a member of a volunteer advisory council that met one time over the course of a year and he was part of a list that was read out in The Washington Post," Sanders said. "I'd hardly call that some sort of regular adviser."
She added: "He was not paid by the campaign. He was a volunteer on, again, on a council that met once."
The fact that Papadopoulos was unpaid puts him in line with many on Trump's campaign and in no way a gauges his stature in the operation.
According to previous reporting, Manafort, Gates, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior strategist Steve Bannon were all unpaid "volunteers" while doing extensive, high-level work for the campaign. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
First contact with girl
add your own caption
add your own caption | {
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(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters)
By Mark Miller
CHICAGO (Reuters) - If you are hovering around retirement age today, you will be closing in on your eighties in the year 2030. With any luck, you will be healthy and mobile - but imagine for a moment that you are not. Let's say a debilitating illness requires that you receive care in a nursing home.
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It is an unsettling future to imagine. But now ask yourself this - who will take care of you? The United States is headed toward a severe shortage of caregivers - paid and unpaid - in the decades ahead, according to human resources expert Paul Osterman. A professor of human resources and management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, Osterman is the author of a new book, "Who Will Care for Us: Long-term Care and the Long-Term Workforce" (Russell Sage Foundation, 2017), which examines trends in the labor force market for caregivers.
His conclusion? “It’s an absolute train wreck waiting to happen.”
Our aging population will push up demand, although Osterman notes that roughly half of demand for care will come from younger, disabled people.
He examines the projected rising demand for care in the coming decades, and then matches up the demand side with trends in the labor force for paid certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and home care workers, including the availability of unpaid family and friends - the most common source of care for many people.
He finds that in 2030 there will be a national shortage of 151,000 paid direct care workers and 3.8 million unpaid family caregivers. By 2040, the shortfall will be much larger: 355,000 paid workers, and the family and friends shortfall will be a shocking 11 million.
"These are conservative estimates,” Osterman said in an interview. “They assume no changes in immigration policies, and that family members will be willing to provide care at the same rate they do today - that’s not likely, due to smaller families and more geographic dispersion.” If family caregivers become more scarce, that can only put further pressure on demand for paid care.
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DAMAGING IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration in the United States will only worsen the situation. In 2015, 18 percent of CNAs and 27 percent of home care aides were immigrants, Osterman estimated, citing Census data. Among immigrant home aides, 24 percent each come from Central America and Asia, 23 percent come from the Caribbean and 10 percent are from Africa.
But he cautions that the impact of a shrinking immigrant labor pool will be uneven, due to the huge variation in immigration patterns among the states. “New York and California have very large immigrant populations, but it would probably have very little impact in a state like Ohio,” he said.
The highest percentages of home care aides who are immigrants are found in New York (64 percent), New Jersey (47 percent) California (46 percent), Florida (38 percent) and Texas (22 percent). By contrast, just 8 percent of the home care aide workforce in Ohio are immigrants; in Georgia, the figure is 12 percent.
Osterman also does not believe a crackdown on undocumented workers would affect the caregiving labor market much. Young men make up a very large part of the undocumented population and nationally, nearly 90 percent of direct care workers are female. “Undocumented workers as a group are unlikely to be a dominant source of labor for these jobs,” he said.
Caregivers earn very low wages - median income for CNAs in 2015 was $20,000, and home care aides earned a median of $15,000, according to Census data. Normally, a labor shortage would resolve itself by putting upward pressure on wages - which would bring more workers into the field. But in this case, the impact on wages - and the caregiving shortage - will be uneven, Osterman said.
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Two-thirds of long-term care in the United States is funded by the federal Medicaid program, with the remainder paid through private commercial insurance or out of pocket. Medicaid payment policies vary widely among the states, but Osterman worries that in many states, care facilities funded by cash-strapped Medicaid programs will not be able to boost wages.
"It’s difficult for wages to rise because they are set bureaucratically according to Medicaid reimbursement rates,” he said. Meanwhile, wages in the high-end private payer market will rise, with a corresponding impact on the cost of care and insurance.
Osterman’s book is not completely doom and gloom. He holds out hope that we can attract more workers to caregiving by making the occupation more attractive. One needed change, he said, is attitudinal. Many key actors in the profession - doctors, hospitals, regulators, legislators and insurance companies - simply do not demonstrate respect for direct care workers, which is an obstacle to improving the job.
The second challenge, he writes, is the complexity of our care delivery system and its financing mechanisms, both of which make reforms difficult to implement.
Osterman also argues for restructuring the roles of caregivers. Currently, new caregiving workers receive only about two weeks of job training; expanding that could open the door to broader responsibilities.
"In some states, a caregiver can’t administer eye drops, or help with wound care,” he said. He thinks caregiving workers could be trained to help with responsibilities like physical therapy, or coaching people with diabetes on eating and exercise.
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That could attract more workers, he thinks, and save money in the healthcare system by shifting tasks away from higher-paid workers such as nurses.
“The point of my book is not to be nice,” he said. “It’s really a financial case for doing this, and an argument for an important social policy.” | {
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Box Office: 'Hateful Eight' 70mm Roadshow Breaks Theater Records
Six theaters across the U.S. saw new records in the first week of Quentin Tarantino's Western.
Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight 70mm roadshow presentation has galloped to house records at several theaters across the country after its first week in theaters.
The Weinstein Co.'s snowy frontier Western, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Walton Goggins, broke records for both its opening weekend and its first full week in the following theaters:
Music Box Chicago ($105,791 for the weekend, $196,358 for the week); Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Ore. ($70,795 weekend, $144,432 for the week); AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Md. ($73,180 weekend and $120,220 week); Boston’s Coolidge Corner Theatre ($60,479 for the weekend, $106,235 week); Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Mass. ($50,544 for the weekend, $88,374 week); and the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin, Texas ($37,320 weekend and $75,435 for the week).
no longer existed," says Robert Richardson, who captured the film's super-widescreen images with Ultra Panavision 70 lenses that hadn't been used since 1966's 'Khartoum.'"]
The 70mm version of the film, which has been showing in the largest 70mm release in more than 20 years, had a strong opening-weekend debut, earning $4.6 million at 100 venues in 44 U.S. markets. After its first two weeks, its 70mm engagements have grossed $11.2 million for a $112,000 per theater average for the first 12 days.
The top-grossing theaters for the 70mm roadshow include Village East Cinema in New York and the ArcLight Hollywood.
The neo-Western expanded to a total of 2,474 engagements at the beginning of its second weekend on Jan. 1, and its combined 70mm and digital showings have grossed a domestic total of $33.8 million to date.
In order to show the 200-plus pounds of film, old projectors were refurbished and retrofitted into modern theaters, while experienced projectionists were hired to operate the equipment and maintain standards. Released by The Weinstein Co., the 70mm version of The Hateful Eight is a slightly longer version that includes both an overture and a 12-minute intermission. | {
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President Donald Trump has now held a pair of Cabinet meetings that have drawn scrutiny for how much Cabinet members have praised him.
They sound familiar to the boardroom meetings on Trump's past reality TV show "The Apprentice."
"Yet another Trump Cabinet meeting devolves into Dear Leader heaping of praise," a former Obama official tweeted after the latest meeting.
President Donald Trump again enjoyed a praise-filled Cabinet meeting earlier this week, and it was reminiscent of another setting that featured Trump prominently at the head of a boardroom-like setting — his reality TV show, "The Apprentice."
The gathering of his Cabinet, the ninth meeting of Trump's first year in office (by comparison, President Barack Obama held 19 through his first full term), featured Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson thanking God for a "courageous" president.
Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, lavished praise on Trump for "seeing, through the course of this year, an agenda that truly is restoring this country." He said he is "deeply humbled ... to be able to be here."
For his part, Trump too offered effusive praise for the "fantastic team" surrounding him at the meeting, which took place after Congress passed the Republican tax package, promising to "go onto really some amazing things" in 2018.
But it paled in comparison to the words his officials offered him.
"You said we could make this economy great again, and you promised to roll back regulations, and you've signed more bills rolling back federal red tape than any president in American history," Pence said.
He went on: "Mostly, Mr. President, I'll end where I began and just tell you, I want to thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank you for speaking on behalf of and fighting every day for the forgotten men and women of America. Because of your determination, because of your leadership, the forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more."
Donald Trump. Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images Trump thanked Pence for his "very nice" comments, turning to Carson and asking him to lead a prayer. He made sure to let the assembled press know that they "need the prayer more than I do," adding, "maybe a good solid prayer and they'll be honest, Ben. Is that possible?"
Carson then began the prayer.
"Our kind Father in Heaven, we're so thankful for the opportunities and the freedom that you've granted us in this country," he said. "We thank you for a president and for Cabinet members who are courageous, who are willing to face the winds of controversy in order to provide a better future for those who come behind us. We're thankful for the unity in Congress that has presented an opportunity for our economy to expand so that we can fight the corrosive debt that has been destroying our future."
This wasn't the first time Cabinet officials heaped praise on Trump
It was reminiscent of an earlier Cabinet meeting in June, in which Trump's Cabinet went around in a circle singing his praises.
That meeting, the first full meeting of his Cabinet, featured officials such as Pence, former chief of staff Reince Priebus, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price each trying to one-up each other with their praises of Trump.
"On behalf of the entire senior staff around you Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity and the blessing that you've given us to serve your agenda and the American people," Priebus said.
Pence, who was first to speak, called his role in the administration "the greatest privilege" of his life.
Price, who went on to resign in September, said, "I can't thank you enough for the privileges you've given me and the leadership that you've shown."
'Yet another Trump Cabinet meeting devolves into Dear Leader heaping of praise'
Those meetings seemed familiar — eerily similar — to anyone who watched Trump's longtime NBC show "The Apprentice."
It was on "The Apprentice" that contestants would face Trump in the "boardroom" — which is the name Trump uses for the room where Cabinet meetings are held — to plead their cases, win over Trump, and learn of their fate.
As The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum wrote of "The Apprentice" in July after having rewatched the program, the show "departs radically from reality" in one particular way: "No one criticizes the boss."
"Instead, the Trump of 'The Apprentice' receives endless praise, even behind his back," she wrote. "All scandal and debt are erased; Trump's combative streak is alchemized into Daddy's tough love. Celebrities who sign up for reality shows often agree to be made fun of. On 'The Apprentice,' while Trump is outrageous, he's rarely ridiculous: if he insults people, they deserve it (and often love it). He's a family man and a business genius. Contestants are grateful for his attention, even negative attention, since he could be off doing deals."
That theme has clearly carried over from one "boardroom" to another.
And the Cabinet lovefests quickly found themselves the subject of scorn and mockery for attendees' over-the-top displays of affection for Trump.
Chris Lu, former deputy secretary of Labor under Obama, tweeted after the June meeting that Obama's Cabinet "was never told to sing Obama's praises."
"He wanted candid advice not adulation," Lu added, noting that he ran 16 of Obama's Cabinet meetings during his first term.
On Wednesday, he resurfaced the tweet following the latest praise-filled gathering.
"Re-upping this tweet as yet another Trump Cabinet meeting devolves into Dear Leader heaping of praise," he wrote.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, the host of "Morning Joe" and a figure whom Trump has both been close to and engaged in nasty feuds with, lambasted the rosy display when it first happened in June.
"Don't make it a cheerleading session about yourself," Scarborough said. "That's not why Americans voted for this man."
He added the members who effusively praised Trump "owe us more than that," should "stand up" for themselves, and “have dignity.”
The meetings also spawned parodies, including from a top Democrat.
Following the June meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sat around a table with top aides and asked them "how'd we do on the Sunday show yesterday" and "how'd my hair look coming out of the gym this morning?"
"You have great hair," one aide responded. "Nobody has better hair than you."
A third aide cut in, grabbing Schumer's arm.
"You know, before we go any further, I just want to say thank you for the opportunity and blessing to serve your agenda," he said. | {
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Relatives of prisoners killed on the eve during clashes at a police station jail in Acarigua
Wracked with pain and anger, dozens of families gathered in front of a morgue in the Venezuelan town of Acarigua on Saturday after 29 inmates died in rioting at a police station jail.
"It seemed there was a massacre of these children in the police station," 50-year-old Zuleyma Ponte told AFP.
"My son was killed. Whose fault is it? It's the lack of supervision, the lack of serious government," he said.
The deaths came after police special forces intervened Friday to stop a "massive prison break," according to Oscar Valero, public security secretary for Portuguesa state.
The prisoners received the officers with "a hail of gunfire" while detonating three grenades that wounded 19 police, Valero told reporters.
As the clash raged, family members near the station said they heard detainees shouting, "Don't let us die."
"What we are asking for is, please, just give us our boys. They're not coming back, so give their bodies to their families and investigate those responsible," said Aliris Perez, a 34-year-old teacher whose 24-year-old brother died in the violence.
Perez, who was close to the station when the riot occurred, said he heard several explosions as "many authorities" arrived at the site.
Carlos Nieto, the head of a prisoner rights NGO, said the clashes broke out when special forces attempted to rescue visitors who had been taken hostage Thursday by the leader of the inmates.
An official of the National Service of Medicine and Forensic Sciences told VPI online television on Saturday that work in the morgue was delayed as they waited for supplies from the capital Caracas, about 350 kilometers to the east.
"They're sending us supplies, gloves, gowns, autopsy boots and scalpels, all of which we didn't have," said the official, whose name wasn't given.
Eight autopsies have already been carried out, the official said.
Overcrowding common
Violence and overcrowding are common in the approximately 500 preventative detention centers in Venezuela.
The penal code says defendants should not spend more than 48 hours in these centers, but in practice they function as prisons, and it's often unclear who is responsible for them.
In the Acarigua police station, there were about 500 inmates in a space built for 60, according to an internal police report seen by AFP.
Bloody clashes and accidents often occur in the facilities.
In March 2018, 68 inmates died in a fire at a police jail in the northern city of Valencia, and in August 2017, a riot at a facility in the southern Amazonas state left 37 prisoners dead.
More than 400 people are believed to have been killed in Venezuelan jails since 2011, while human rights organizations also say they face a lack of food and medicines -- like much of the country -- while the facilities are beset by corruption.
Following the bloodshed in Acarigua, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed its "special concern for the high levels of violence in Venezuelan prisons," and called for authorities to "protect the life and security of people under its custody."
Amnesty International Americas director Erika Guevara-Ross blamed the Venezuelan government, writing on Twitter that, "because these people were under the custody of the state... the government of (President) Nicolas Maduro is principally responsible for these deaths." | {
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Don’t we all just have that friend that won’t shut up about that time he did shrooms in the woods (we get it, Sean. You can stop telling us the story). Now that friend might have a new audience: a Johns Hopkins University psychiatrist is all ears. For, you know, science.
Roland Griffiths, who has spent years studying the medical implications of mood-altering and hallucinogenic drugs, is now soliciting volunteers to share their stories of taking psychedelics, Motherboard reports. In particular, Griffiths wants to know if taking LSD, DMT, or their ilk has had lasting impacts on people’s lives.
According to the experiment’s website, the purpose of the survey is to look for cases of people who gained new psychological insight into their lives while tripping balls. The goal would be to find ways to apply the takeaways in these cases to future psychiatric therapy.
Griffith and his team refer to these sorts of life alterations as quantum change — a powerful shift in one’s moods or thoughts as a result of sudden new insights or experiences.
It’s certainly too soon to speculate what sorts of conclusions and (eventually) treatments might emerge from this experiment. But it does seem to indicate shifting attitudes within the scientific and medical communities, and the growing acceptance of hallucinogenic drugs. With growing evidence that microdosing hallucinogenics could benefit all sorts of people and medical marijuana allowed in 29 U.S. states, our attitudes towards therapeutic drug use have certainly grown.
And we’re certainly a far cry from MK-Ultra, the top-secret CIA program that tested the effects of LSD on American citizens in hopes of enhancing interrogation and torture techniques. It’s nice to see hallucinogen research continue with the goal of finding new ways to help people instead.
And, hey, if reading this article has reminded you of some crazy trips, you can always offer up your stories as a participant in Griffiths’ study. Don’t worry, it’s totally anonymous. | {
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The actions of the Congressional Black Caucus in threatening violence to defend the ‘cops as pigs’ painting hanging in the U.S. Capitol complex is in direct contrast to Black Democrats in Chicago in 1988 who flashed a handgun and used police to take down a painting of the late Mayor Harold Washington that depicted him wearing only women’s underwear. Washington had recently died in office from a massive heart attack. One of those involved in taking down the painting, Bobby Rush, is now a congressman representing Chicago.
The painting, by art student David K. Nelson, titled Mirth and Girth, showed the African-American Washington wearing white lingerie including a bra, stockings, garter belt and G-string style panties.
Mirth and Girth by David K. Nelson, image via SAIC
Untitled #1 by David Pulphus, 2016 winner of Congressional Arts Competition selected by office of Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO).
From Wikipedia:
TRENDING: FOX News Panel Melts Down After Newt Gingrich Correctly Calls Out Lawless Soros-Funded District Attorneys (VIDEO)
Mirth & Girth is a portrait painting by School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) student David K. Nelson, Jr., depicting the recently deceased, popular African-American mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington wearing only a bra, G-string, garter belt and stockings.[2] After a brief showing at a May 11, 1988 private student exhibition in the Art Institute, angry African-American aldermen, including Ald. Allan Streeter, Ald. Bobby Rush and Ald. Dorothy Tillman, arrived with Chicago Police Department officers and confiscated the painting, triggering a First Amendment and race relations crisis and a civil lawsuit. …At some point between when the painting was confiscated and when it was returned, a 5-inch (13 cm) gash was made on the canvas. Nelson filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming that the painting’s confiscation and subsequent damaging violated his First Amendment rights. He and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) settled with the city for $95,000 (1994; $138,000 in 2008) in compensation for the damaged painting after the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the lower court’s decision.[3][4]” …Aldermen Edward Jones (20th) and William C. Henry (24th) were the first aldermen to arrive from the City Council session. According to the federal lawsuit, Henry showed he had a gun, and then with Jones removed the now-hung painting from the wall and placed it on the floor, facing the wall. After they left, another student rehung the painting. Three other aldermen, Allan Streeter (17th), Dorothy Tillman (3rd) and Rush, arrived later. They took down the painting and attempted to remove it from the school, but were stopped by a school official. The aldermen then took the painting to the office of the school president Anthony Jones (no relation to Edward Jones). The painting had a 5 in (13 cm) gash,[2] and it had been wrapped in brown paper.[4] Alderman Tillman threatened to burn the painting in President Jones’ office, but a Chicago Police Department (CPD) lieutenant present with the aldermen, Lt. Raymond Patterson, advised against this. Instead, another unnamed alderman called CPD superintendent Leroy Martin. Martin telephoned Patterson in Jones’ office and ordered Patterson to take the painting into police custody, telling Jones that the painting amounted to “incitement to riot”. Patterson overrode this direct order, citing his own powers as the lieutenant on the scene and hung up on Martin. A CPD sergeant accompanied Rush, Streeter and Tillman to a waiting police car with the wrapped painting in hand. Parts of the incident were later broadcast on television.[3][4][20]
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago published a retrospective on the painting controversy and included a photo of the painting being taken away by Black Democrats and Chicago police.
“Chicago aldermen Allan Streeter and Ernest Jones, flanked by Chicago police officers, “arrest” SAIC student David K. Nelson, Jr.’s painting Mirth & Girth, 1988,” image via SAIC
In her essay for The File Room, titled “Private Fantasies Shape Public Events: and Public Events Invade and Shape Our Dreams,” Carol Becker, former SAIC Dean of Faculty, describes the day’s events: “[SAIC President] Tony Jones convened a small group of faculty, administration, and staff as an ad hoc advisory group to help him determine what actions, if any, should be taken. This group crammed into the Provost’s office. As they deliberated, phones rang off the hook condemning the painting, and the press continued to gather in the administrative offices demanding a statement. Then suddenly the opportunity to make an academic decision was taken away as nine black aldermen, who had just marched over from City Hall, stormed the School.” Miscommunication and rumors only added to the growing turbulence between the School and city officials. Three of the aldermen, Allan Streeter, Dorothy Tillman, and Bobby Rush, took the painting down and attempted to remove it from the School. After much commotion in President Jones’s office, the painting was seized and “arrested” by the Chicago Police Department.”
The Chicago Tribune interviewed Nelson at the time of the controversy. | {
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The Pentagon announced this week that it had opened up all combat jobs to qualified female service members, a victory for women who have been serving in such roles for years without official recognition.
Less happy about the development were the Center for Security Policy’s Frank Gaffney and the Center for Military Readiness’ Elaine Donnelly, who spoke about the policy change on Gaffney’s “Secure Freedom Radio” program on Friday.
Speaking about the policy change and about the Pentagon’s support for “Lean In” discussion groups, Gaffney lamented “this kind of feminization, I guess is the only way to think about it, in the military.”
Gaffney added that such developments are “so clearly at odds with the concepts that are absolutely central to the military’s whole raison d’etre, and yet that’s being thrown to the side in favor of gender quotas and lower standards and otherwise accommodating the ‘Lean In’ agenda.”
“There will be a price to pay,” Donnelly agreed. “Women will pay the price, unfortunately. Men will as well. Our national security will suffer as a result of this decision.” | {
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Lighting Design In Depth: The Producers in the Park 2018 Posted in Tips & Tricks
This week, we are joined in the Lounge by award-winning theatrical Lighting Designer Mike Wood. Mike put together this comprehensive article regarding the lighting design for The Producers performance at the American Stage in the Park. Mike fully documented the design process and shared light plots, cue lists, behind-the-scenes photos, and more!
I first wrote this for my personal blog at www.mikewoodld.com/blog/ - and I was honored when 4Wall asked me if they could share it in the Lighting Lounge. It's been a while since I wrote anything for the Lounge - my last post was almost 4 years ago (5 Things Student Designers Should Know). Hopefully, it won't be another 4 years in between posts this time!
I've always enjoyed sharing my work with other people - I do it mostly through photos on my Instagram page, though in the last few months I've decided that I want to spend some time writing about my work and focus on the design process. I recently finished working on an outdoor production of The Producers down in St. Petersburg, Florida and decided that this would be a good first test for this new venture. What follows is mostly an overview of the entire process that doesn't get overly specific about any one particular area, though my goal in 2018 is to write one post for each show that I do, focused on one particular part of the design process.
I hope you enjoy the article and hopefully get something from it. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments!
A very special thanks to my friend, Steve Kraack, who wrote the section on our show control systems.
Step 1: Assemble The Team
It's impossible to do such a complex production alone. For The Producers, I assembled a team of lighting professionals to join me in creating the show. Everyone has unique responsibilities and everyone is integral to bringing the production to life.
Abby May - Associate Lighting Designer
Anthony LeFebvre - Assistant Lighting Designer
Ryan Finzelber - Lighting Programmer
Ben Phillips - Lighting Intern
Abby and Anthony are both former students of mine from Howard W. Blake School of the Arts in Tampa, Florida.
Abby since went on to major in lighting design at UNCSA, graduating last year. She's currently the lighting supervisor for Ailey II in New York.
Anthony is currently a senior at the University of Central Florida in Orlando - this summer he will spend his time in Sag Harbor, NY at The Bay Street Theatre.
Ben Phillips is a current student at HWB School of the Arts in Tampa, where he is a technical theatre major with an emphasis in Lighting Design.
Ryan Finzelber is a Sarasota based freelance lighting and scenic designer and lighting programmer who has been working with me in a variety of roles since 2015.
Our production electrician for the show is Chris Baldwin, who is the house production electrician for American Stage. In addition to his work there, he has designed several shows in the area.
Step 2: The Design Process
The most complicated part of any park show is designing the complete system from the ground up. Literally the ground. We start with an empty field and end up with a full proscenium theatre, complete with lighting positions, dimming, circuitry, and fixtures.
The design process for The Producers started several months before any scaffolding was placed in the field and before any lights were ordered. Scenic designer and production manager Jerid Fox and director Rye Mullis met to discuss the needs of the show. From those meetings and conversations over the course of many weeks, Jerid began to create drawings and Sketchup models of the scenery.
The original drafts of the set are very similar to what we ended up with. Here's a look at the Sketchup model:
Once the scenic designs were finalized, it was the lighting team's turn to get to work.
The first design decision that I made was a complete accident. I was trying to adjust the side trusses that Jerid had in his Sketchup model and accidentally mirrored them upstage to be 80′ long instead of the typical 40′ that we've used in the past. I said to myself "Hey, that actually looks kinda cool…" The new trusses created a bit of a perspective when viewed from the front, helping to create the feeling of depth that Jerid was trying to accomplish with his wings and US scenic unit. He liked the accident as well, and so we kept it.
FINDING A VENDOR
From here, it was time to start playing with lights. Unlike the traditional regional theatre shows that I do, the park doesn't have any kind of a fixture inventory to work from. This is good and bad at the same time. Good, because I can basically pick whatever kinds of fixtures I want to use. Bad, because the fixtures that I choose have to be waterproof since they'll be outside in Florida for over a month - this severely limits the selection of gear. Then you've gotta find vendors who have the IP rated fixtures in stock for rental, which narrows the list down even more.
I've been working extensively with 4Wall Entertainment in New Jersey for the last few years on a number of projects, including the system design and installation of two new theatres in an educational facility in Manhattan. When it came time to look for a vendor for this year's park show, I was pleased to find out that 4Wall was planning to open an office in Orlando, FL around the same time that this show would be happening.
Phil Foleen and I started talking about the possibility of doing the show together back in September of 2017. At the time, I figured it was a pipe dream - there'd be no way that that amount of gear (fixtures, truss, cable, dimmers, controls) would be in Orlando in time to get a local rental, and there'd be no way that we'd be able to afford shipping all of the gear in from another 4Wall location. Sure enough, the first quote came back at nearly 2x the entire lighting budget for the show.
Feeling a little discouraged, I reached out to Phil and said, "Alright, here's the bottom line. I have this much money to spend and honestly not a penny more - I will still probably be able to get some supplemental items, but I understand if this is not doable."
A day later I got a call from Phil, expecting to hear, "Yeah man, there's just no way." Much to my pleasant surprise, he opened the call with, "We're in!" And away we went. The Producers was to be the first theatrical show to happen for 4Wall in Florida, and they were willing to help however they could to make it happen.
LET'S MAKE A LIGHT PLOT
When I design an indoor theatrical show, my primary concern is what the lighting looks like on the actors. While this is obviously a priority in the park too, the limitations (and the scale) of the space make it so that I focus more on creating full-stage pictures rather than individual specific moments. The angles for front light kinda suck, so it's hard to get any real isolation unless it's a followspot.
For example - if I were doing The Producers in a standard proscenium space, I would probably have masking that hid all of my lighting instruments. In the park, there is no masking. We're going to see every lens, every fixture, every position. I design the plot with this in mind. The lenses become little dots of color that everyone can see.
CHOOSING THE GEAR
Ultimately we decided on a mixture of two types of IP65 rated LEDs for the rig - the Chauvet Professional COLORado 2 Solos and the Elation SixPar 200s. The original plan was to use the SixPars for top/back light as well as side light, and then use the Solos for eye candy (They've got a zoom feature that looks sweet when you're seeing the lens (again, eye candy!) Due to some limitations in inventory, we ended up only using the SixPars as side light - and non IP ones at that. The Chauvets took care of everything else.
This change actually ended up being a blessing as it made it possible to run Powercon True1 all over except for the boom locations. Before that, we would have had to do all kinds of adapting and creative cabling.
The other big decision was on followspots - in previous years, we've had a pair of Lycian 1271 units on the FOH tower. While they've worked decently, we always had issues with ballasts going bad since they (the ballasts) had to be carried each night up the tower. They had to wrap the spots every night with tarps, it was a whole thing. Additionally, we wanted three followspots this year instead of the traditional two. (Seriously, half of the show is spent with Max/Leo +1 onstage.) We decided to go with 5° Source Fours with City Theatrical Yokes this year - a leap of faith that the brightness would work out, but cheaper overall and less maintenance required throughout the run. (EDIT: This choice turned out to be the wrong one. While the spots did work, they just weren't bright enough for me. Next year, it'll be back to regular spots!)
All of the conventional units are Source Fours lamped at 750w. No explanation really needed there. Plus, birds love landing on the 10° units.
CAPTURE MODEL
The second step in the plot process is the Capture Model. While I don't typically make full models of my shows, I almost always do in the park because of the strange angles and moving scenery. It allows me to see what things will do in space before I get out there and minimizes surprises. In addition, it allows the programmer extra time to create the showfile before we get onsite. "Dark" time in the park is controlled by this little thing called the sun, so the more work that can be done in advance, the better.
I use Capture because it's relatively user-friendly, works well with ArtNet/EOS, and is actually really affordable compared to some other visualizers out there. I can also then create an executable file to use for design presentations.
​​​​
VECTORWORKS
Next up is taking the decisions I made in Capture and drafting an actual plot in Vectorworks Spotlight. This might seem a little backward to some, as Capture now supports Vectorworks importing - but since I'm using Capture as a way to actually make some design decisions, this workflow makes sense.
There's a lot of information that has to go on the plot. Part of the fun is figuring out how to best display all of the appropriate information in a way that both makes sense and is aesthetically pleasing. We ended up with several pages showing all of the details.
(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
LIGHTWRIGHT
There's a lot of it. Reports of every type sorted in different ways. I try to provide as much information as possible about the design and system so that there are no questions at load in.
This year, since all of the gear was coming in from New Jersey, we had to be very specific about cable so that we knew how much needed to be on the truck. I added some circuit and data line management features to the PMP, which allowed us to map out cable segments of all types and even generate a shop order list including additional spares.
Here are a few samples of some of the various reports that are created by the PMP. As you can see, literally every single circuit is detailed in advance with what cables and fixtures are on it.
LIGHTING PAPERWORK
There's a lot of it. Reports of every type, sorted in different ways. I try to provide as much information as possible about the design and system so that there are no questions at load in.
This year, since all of the gear was coming in from New Jersey, we had to be very specific about cable so that we knew how much needed to be on the truck. I added some circuit and data line management features to the PMP, which allowed us to map out cable segments of all types and even generate a shop order list including additional spares.
Here are a few samples of some of the various reports that are created by the PMP. As you can see, literally every single circuit is detailed in advance with what cables and fixtures are on it.
(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
MAGIC SHEET BEFORE/AFTER
THE CONTROL SYSTEM
Haven't you ever set up a tech table and thought "gee, I wish I could set this up and strike it every single night!" If you did, please call me. Because I'd love to have you come do it.
While the actual run of the show has a FOH booth, it's very far from the stage and doesn't really have room for more than the Stage Manager and the FOH audio mixer (Steve Kraack, who is fantastic.) We set up and strike our tech tables every night. By the final dress rehearsal, it goes pretty quickly.
(CLICK TO ENLARGE SYSTEM DIAGRAM)
The show is programmed on an ETC Ion console but is ran on a small Minix PC with an ETC Nomad Dongle because we don't like the idea of leaving the Ion outside for over a month.
In years past, we've had a handful of RVIs for everyone to see data. With the introduction and expansion of Nomad in the last few years, everyone now just uses their laptops which has saved money and setup time.
I have nomad running on my Mac, which allows me to see command lines and a PSD - the only two things I really care about on this project. Abby designed the followspots for the show, which are 5° Source Fours, so her Nomad is partitioned to be able to only work with those instruments and program on list 2. Anthony runs Nomad so that he can label cues and help Chris check on work notes. Even Ryan, the programmer, uses nomad on his computer set to the same user ID as the console. He puts the PSD on that screen so that the ion screen real estate isn't eaten up by it.
All of these control units are networked together into the larger control network which consists of an ETC 4-Port DMX Gateway, an ETC Show Control Gateway, CEM III, and Sensor + Racks. There are wireless APs at FOH and backstage, which allow for iRFR access to the system as well as access to the locally hosted PMP database for the show. The whole system is network based until it gets to the DMX Gateway - this allows us to run one network cable to the tech table instead of several DMX lines.
The Show Control Gateway interfaces SMPTE and MIDI with the audio department. Unfortunately, we cut SMPTE during tech because there wasn't enough time to coordinate tracks with the orchestra, but we still make extensive use of MSC commands to integrate lighting and sound.
Step 3: Shop Prep
Shop prep can make or break a show. There are nearly 80 LEDs in this show that need DMX addresses and modes set on them. Trying to do that when they're already in the air would take an entire day in itself. Instead, we spent two days prepping and labeling every piece of equipment for the show.
Our friends at freeFall Theatre in St. Pete have a massive warehouse space a few miles from the park. They were kind enough to let us use the space for two days to do our work.
The Paperwork Management Portal creates all of the labels that we need for the show - everything from fixtures to dimmers to cable to truss. Each fixture yoke gets a label and a color code, and each connector gets a label detailing circuit and dimmer numbers.
We patch the dimmer rack, set the IP addresses on all of the networked equipment, test each light, and pack it by position back on the truck. It was a busy two days.
Step 4: Load In
Load in takes place about a week or so from tech starting, which gives Chris plenty of time to get everything working. There was a crew of 6 working hard throughout the day to get everything in the air. Since we did extensive prep work, they were able to use the color codes to quickly sort and hang fixtures and truss as it came off the truck.
The crane arrives at 1:00 pm to lift the trusses into the air. Landing them properly requires a great deal of planning and precision. Since there are three levels to the trussing, they have to go up in a specific order and the locations need to be accurate within a few inches of the drawings in order for the lights to make their shots.
Step 5: Focus
Focus was led by Abby and Anthony on a very rainy Tuesday night. There were intense thunderstorms all day long and we were worried that we'd have to reschedule focus, which would have been a disaster as there was no extra time built into the schedule - again, we're at the mercy of the sun.
Luckily, the clouds parted just in time and focus was able to be accomplished on time.
Step 6: Programming
"AND WE'RE HOLDING FOR THE SUN"
We spend a lot of time in the park just waiting for the sun to go down so that we can work. This means that our work day doesn't really get started until 8:00 pm, sometimes 8:15 pm. While we can work late into the night, there's a city noise ordinance that begins at 11 pm which means that we can't have amplified sound past that time. That means that we get 3 hours of dark time to actually work with the actors onstage. 2:30 if you factor in breaks and such. 2:00 if we hold for other departments. The show run is nearly 3 hours long. You can see where I'm going here.
In addition to needing to wait for the sun to go down to program, we also have to keep it in mind when creating the show itself. As the run progresses, sunset gets progressively later. By the final week of the show, it might not be completely dark outside until halfway through act 1! Still, we cue the show as if it was going to always be completely dark from the top of the show. (Last year during Hairspray, the curtain was held for nearly an hour due to rain - but ultimately the show started and finished! That might have been the only audience to truly see the opening number with the actual cues instead of the sunset (which is a killer CYC, I'll admit.)
We ended up with about 400 called lighting cues in the show - over 100 of which are in "Springtime for Hitler" alone. (And 40 or so in "Betrayed") There are about 140 spot cues which are all programmed in a second list that is triggered from the main cue list. One of the handy features of my Paperwork Management Portal is the auto-insertion of executes into the main cue stack.
(CLICK EACH CUE LIST TO ENLARGE)
(CLICK TO SEE THE MAGIC THAT HELPED CREATE CHASES FOR THE SIGNS)
Step 7: Technical Rehearsals
The park show schedule typically looks like this:
Wednesday Night - Cueing (Actors work onstage on other things)
Thursday Night - Act 1 Q2Q
Friday Night - Act 2 Q2Q
Saturday Night - Full Tech Run
Sunday Night - Full Tech Run
Monday Night - Day Off
Tuesday Night - Dress Rehearsal
Wednesday Night - Preview #1
Thursday Night - Preview #2
Friday Night - Gala Opening
Saturday Night - Press Opening
This doesn't leave much time for rain delays or cancellations, which often happen. On Sunday, bad storms rolled in around 1 pm and didn't leave the area until almost 7. Everything was soaked with rain. The crew spent the first hour and a half of rehearsal drying everything off enough to make it safe to rehearse. (Since most of the rig was LED, we could be little help in the drying process…) We also didn't want to do a full tech table setup in case the rain came back.
During the technical rehearsals, cues are changed, deleted, added, refined, cursed at, and more. The associate LD, Abby May, spends most of the time working with followspot cues and operators, ensuring that they learn the show by the time it opens. More paperwork is generated (see image right) for the followspots.
Worknotes get added every night. In a typical show, the crew would come in before the next day's rehearsal to get work and focus notes done before the rehearsal starts. In the park, we have to get them done the same night because, once again, of the sun.
SHOW CONTROL / SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Here's a guest spot from Steve Kraack, our brilliant sound designer and engineer for the show:
Creating a professional-looking and sounding production is the end goal for all producers, directors and designers. And doing this on a limited budget is an ever-growing requirement. Reducing staff through technology is one goal, but the more important goal for me, as a designer, is the incredible precision and consistency a production can maintain using integration and automation of multiple production systems. As the Sound Designer and Engineer for American Stage's 2018 production of THE PRODUCERS in the park, I needed to increase my capabilities by using automation to simplify my workflow and allow my simple, one-track mind to focus on the mix each and every night. This frees me from the script, the sound effect playback, and from navigating the many deep layers of the sound board to make theatre magic happen.
Allow me to list a few stats before I explain how it works. 52 Audio inputs, 20 Wireless Mics, 16 Audio Outputs, 11 different mixes, 6-piece live orchestra, 3 effect channels, 35 Sound Effects, 575 Individual Sound Board actions grouped into 97 grouped and scripted cues. All completed in a 2 hour and 45 minute show, 5 nights a week for 4 weeks. The ability to complete and manage all of those tasks with quality and consistency requires automation.
In this diagram, we can see a simple layout of how systems are connected. But how does information flow to make this work? Well, we start with the execution of a GO command from the EOS Lighting Console. With GO, an MSC (MIDI Show Control) command is sent via ethernet to the Show Control Gateway. The Gateway is setup to broadcast that signal via the MIDI Out port. I use Figure53's QLab to automate my sound board commands. I use QLab for many reasons, but mostly because it allows me to send OSC or MIDI commands to almost any digital sound board out there today. QLab also allows me to listen for MIDI commands and perform actions when I receive that signal. QLab will listen for the MSC command on the MIDI IN port of an Audio Interface connected via USB to my MacBook Pro running QLab. All that is required is for the QLab cue numbers to match the MSC cue number sent from the EOS Console… and like magic, it will trigger QLab cues as well. It is almost too simple not to do it all of the time.
This setup does require some planning from technically capable designers, but in the end, it is doable by anyone on a minimal budget. I have used similar setups for small community theatre, educational youth theatre, high school performances, and professional theatre. My experience shows that it has always worked very well and is clearly ready for professional quality work in any production environment. In previous shows, If my sound console was in close proximity to the EOS Lighting Console, I can plug directly into the MIDI OUT on the Console. In that case, the Show Control Gateway is not required.
The final component to make theatre magic happen is a lot of programming in QLab and on the Sound Console. When light cues are triggering sound cues, it requires clear communication of when cues happen and what is expected to happen, for both lights and sound. Timing is everything. My best example is a Blackout Cue at the end of Act 1 before Intermission. When the Stage Manager calls the Blackout cue, the GO button is pressed on the EOS Light Console, an MSC command is sent, QLab responds at the exact same time with a series of commands to the sound board. Big Finish before Intermission, right! I want that final sound to resonate and linger after the blackout, with no distractions. Lights go black. QLab instructs the sound board to bring all 20 wireless mics out, the orchestra mics on a different sound board layer to go out, hold for 7 seconds for the ring and applause, then automatically trigger another cue to fade up intermission house music synced to fade up with the house lights. This all happens with no interaction by the engineer. As the designer, I can control the timing of each action and make sure cues happen in the same manner each and every night. It also simplifies the role of the sound engineer by reducing the workload to a manageable level allowing them to focus only on the mix. Cueing is controlled from a master source and triggered by the Stage Manager. Theatre magic!
Contribution by Stephen Kraack, Sound Designer
Technical Director at Theatre Arts & Dance Alliance, Lithia, Florida
Contact at [email protected]
Step 8: Dress Rehearsals
Dress rehearsals are the time when everything happens just as it will in a real performance. Or so we hope. We only really got one dress rehearsal for the show since the rain kept us from working on Sunday night, and we spent most of that dress rehearsal furiously scribbling down notes and fixing them as quickly as we could.
Step 9: Previews
I spent the majority of the two preview performances moving around in front of the stage taking photos of the show. We didn't have wireless comm out there, so I was on the phone with Anthony back at the tech table trying to yell whatever notes I saw over top of the speakers 10′ from my face.
The previews give the cast a chance to work with the audience for the first time. We learn what is funny, where we need to add pauses, where something isn't quite working. The goal is to never stop the show, but as we tell the audience when they sit down, it's still a rehearsal.
The first preview went off without a show-stopping incident. There were a few prop mishaps - the stack of scripts for Max and Leo was nowhere to be found… when Max opens the safe to show Leo an empty void where they will one day put their money… there was already a million dollars in it. Fun stuff like that.
The second preview was going along just swimmingly when all of the sudden, the major scenic unit spins around during Springtime for Hitler and the door doesn't open. A temporary latch had been installed that day and it had gotten stuck. Our PSM, Rachel, got on the god mic and called a hold and the problem was reset. I think it's kinda fun to be in a preview audience when something goes wrong like that.
Step 10: Opening Night
American Stage opens their park show every year with its annual Gala Under the Stars event, where the theatre raises money for their production and educational programs. The field is filled with tables, there's a live and a silent auction, and everyone has an amazing time.
Pictured from Left to Right:
(Front Row) Chris Baldwin, Ryan E. Finzelber
(Back Row) Phil Foleen (4Wall), Ben Phillips, Mike Wood, Abby May, Anthony LeFebvre | {
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PARIS (Reuters) - Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood won their foursomes on Saturday to become the first European duo to sweep all four pairs matches and are on course for even more history as Europe take a 10-6 lead into the final day of the Ryder Cup.
Golf - 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National - Guyancourt, France - September 29, 2018 - Team Europe's Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood during the Foursomes REUTERS/Carl Recine
After thumping Tiger Woods and Bryson Dechambeau 5&4 they became the first-ever European pairing to win all four of their matches. Only Larry Nelson and Lanny Wadkins, in 1979, have ever managed it for the Americans.
The crushing winning margins -- 3&1, 5&4, 4&3 and 5&4 -- tell only half the story. Left in their dust was a battered Woods, the 14-times major winner being drubbed three times, with Patrick Reed brushed aside twice. The other win came against Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, the form pairing of the U.S. team this week who won their other three games.
Molinari and Fleetwood go into Sunday’s singles with the chance to become the first Europeans to win five points out of five. Fleetwood has already claimed the most points in a single Ryder Cup by a European rookie.
Dubbed “Mollywood” by their newly-acquired army of fans, at first glance the pair might have looked unlikely contenders to lead the European charge.
Ryder Cup first-timers such as Fleetwood are not supposed to perform like this, while Molinari had failed to win any of his six previous matches, losing four of them.
However, a more positive view was that Fleetwood was European number one last year, knows the Le Golf National course inside out having won the French Open here in 2017, and showed his big-match temperament by finishing second in this year’s U.S. Open.
Molinari is the freshly-minted British Open champion and widely regarded as the most consistent ball-striker on the European Tour -- an attribute that has paid huge dividends on the tight course where finding the rough, as the Americans all-too-often did, was a recipe for disaster.
Those pedigrees, combined with what looked like a great on-course chemistry, proved an irresistible force.
“I feel a little bit emotional now and we’re only on Saturday,” said the famously laid-back Fleetwood, who has played all weekend with a huge smile on his face.
“We were really good this afternoon, really solid and played really well. To have your own piece of history together is really special. I’m just glad we’ve done our job for the team.”
Molinari was equally delighted. “Playing alongside Tommy, it’s been amazing,” he said.
“But we’ve come to do a job, not to go in the record books, those 4-1/2 points we’ll need tomorrow (for the overall victory) we will have to fight hard for; it’s not going to be easy.” | {
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Does fried chicken actually promote cancer?
The Komen pinkwashing fraud
The cruelty of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
The toxic ingredients in KFC foods
KFC's ingredients are toxic to human health?
Destruction of the rainforest
Susan G. Komen, cancer industry front group
Think Products? Think again...
Stop thinking and just buy stuff, you fools!
Can Eating Junk Food Cure Breast Cancer?
(NaturalNews) Susan G. Komen for the Cure has now crossed the line into asinine idiocy thanks to its new alliance with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), where pink buckets of fried chicken are sold under the slogan, "Buckets for the Cure." I'm not making this up. See the ad image yourself at: https://www.naturalnews.com/images/KFC-PinkCh... This idea that buying fried chicken is actually going to cure cancer is one of the most utterly idiotic health ideas yet witnessed in American pop culture. Komen for the Cure is so far gone from reality that the organization apparently doesn't even think twice about suggesting such an absurd idea. Eat more fried chicken, folks, and then what? Loading up on that kind of a diet is more likely to cause you tothan to find a cure for cancer.Fried chicken, you see, is coated in starches. The recipe for the KFC chicken batter is basically flour, sugar, salt, black pepper and(MSG). All by itself, this is a recipe for chronic degenerative disease because the flour and sugar are highly processed, and the MSG is anthat Dr. Russell Blaylock links to obesity, cancer and neurological disorders. And the chicken meat itself? That's another cruel story on top of that (read more below).When you fry starches at high temperatures, you also create, toxic chemical by-products of cooking that are believed by many health experts to promote cancer ( https://www.naturalnews.com/acrylamides.html ). One scientific study, for example, demonstrated that. Acrylamides are also linked to ovarian cancer.So now we've got Susan G. Komen for the Cure actually promoting foods. It just boggles the mind, but it's entirely consistent with what I've said about Komen for the Cure in the past: The organization is a drug-company-funded front group that actuallyin my opinion. I see it as engaged in outright fraud by scamming consumers out of their money while claiming to be "searching for a cure" when, in reality, most of the money raised by the group actually goes to pay for more mammograms thatcancer ( https://www.naturalnews.com/027742_mammograph... ).If Susan G. Komen for the Cure were using such tactics to promote herbal remedies, it would have been shut down and its executives arrested long ago as fraudulent quacks. But because the group is so strongly aligned with the profiteering, powerful drug companies, it continues to get away with these utterly fraudulent marketing gimmicks without suffering a single investigation from the FTC, Dept. of Justice or even any mainstream newspaper.Why is it that Komen for the Cure can actually promote products thatcancer and no one seems to notice the outright hypocrisy? Why aren't the quack-watching websites screaming about the quackery of selling cancer-causing foods to raise money to fight cancer? Why isn't 20/20 or 60 Minutes or some other television investigative show taking a look at the outright fraud being perpetrated against consumers? Where are the comedian hosts of the show "B.S." when it comes to exposing the fraud and quackery of the cancer industry?The silence tells you everything: The cancer industry gets a free pass. As long as these organizations run around toting pink ribbons, they can get away with anything... including fraud.It's not just about fried chicken promoting cancer, by the way. By linking up with KFC, Susan G. Komen is also promotingUndercover investigations of KFC chicken suppliers, conducted by PETA ( www.PETA.org ), have shown chickens being beaten, thrown against walls, abused and even spray-painted by malicious workers.The website www.KentuckyFriedCruelty.com reveals the horrifying details of how KFC suppliers treat chickens before they are served up to consumers in pink "Komen for the Cure" buckets:The actions of KFC suppliers against chicken are so unbelievably cruel and inhumane that evenhas spoken out against it. Celebrities like Pamela Anderson have boycotted KFC, saying: "Cruelty is cruelty, and KFC is being cruel in the extreme. I am calling for a boycott of all KFC restaurants until my friends at PETA tell me that you have agreed to be kinder in your practices."Her friends include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Phil Collins, Fall Out Boy, Pink, Paul McCartney, The Black Eyed Peas, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) President and CEO Kweisi Mfume, among others. ( http://edition.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/10/17/a... Here's a more complete list of those speaking out against KFC's cruelty: http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/c-celebs... Undercover investigations of KFC have also exposed some extremely disturbing cases of bizarre cruelty. As explained at http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/u-underc... By allying itself with KFC, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is endorsing animal cruelty. It is promoting an extremely unhealthy product line containing chemicals linked to cancer, and it's doing all this under the fraudulent marketing claim of "raising money to cure cancer."But the story gets even more disturbing when you look at thein KFC foods...Kentucky Fried Chicken is one of the fast food industry's largest users of MSG. This taste-exciting chemical (excitotoxin) is found in so many of KFCs products that it's nearly impossible to eat a typical meal at KFC without ingesting it.KFC has also traditionally used oils containing trans fats, thereby exposing its customers to ingredients that promote heart disease. A few years ago, the CSPI filed a lawsuit against KFC to try to force it to switch to trans-fat-free oils. The result?"In October 2006, KFC announced that it would begin frying its chicken in trans fat-free oil. This would also apply to their potato wedges and other fried foods, however, the biscuits, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes would still contain trans fat. Trans fat-free soybean oil was introduced in all KFC restaurants in the U.S. by April 30, 2007." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFC What's interesting about all this is that even the founder of KFC,, was strongly critical of the way the corporate profiteers altered his original recipe after buying the company. KFC was bought out in 1964, and Colonel Sanders soon said this:(Ritzer, George, 2004. The McDondaldization of Society. New York: Pine Forge Press. p. 64.)What other chemical ingredients might you find in KFC foods? The company actually publishes a list of ingredients for its menu items. I went through that list and found all the following ingredients on the KFC menu:• Partially hydrogenated soybean oil (contains trans fats)• High-Fructose Corn Syrup (linked to diabetes)• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) (linked to cancer)• Titanium Dioxide (used in sunscreen)• Yellow #5 (chemical coloring)• Propylene Glycol (used as antifreeze in RVs)• Rendered Beef Fat (gross)• Red #40 (another chemical coloring)• Sodium nitrite (linked to pancreatic cancer)• Soy Protein Concentrate (may be processed with hexane)• Sugar (refined)• Sodium Benzoate (chemical preservative)• Hydrolyzed Corn, Soy and Wheat Protein (may contain hidden MSG)• Beef Extract (eww)• Corn Syrup Solids (more processed sugars)• Liquid Margarine• Sodium Caseinate• Autolyzed Yeast Extract (another hidden source of MSG)... and lots more. Read the ingredients yourself at:Just so you know how all these chemicals come together, here's an ingredients list from just ONE product on the KFC menu: Boneless Wings. See if you can count: (emphasis added)Wing Shaped White Chicken Fritter Pieces, Seasoning (Salt,, Garlic Powder, Spice Extractives, and Onion Powder), Soy Protein Concentrate, Rice Starch, Sodium Phosphates. Battered With: Water, Wheat Flour, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Salt, Dextrose, and. Breaded With: Wheat Flour, Salt, Soy Flour, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate and Sodium Bicarbonate),, Nonfat Dry Milk, Dextrose, Extractives of Tumeric and Extractives of Annatto. Predusted With: Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Dried Egg Whites, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, and Sodium Bicarbonate),and Spice, Breading set in Vegetable Oil.Gee, just what America needs to be healthy, huh? Fried MSG.As reported about KFC on Wikipedia:• KFC has been accused by Greenpeace of a large destruction of the Amazon Rainforest because the supply of soy used for chicken food that KFC receives from Cargill has been traced back to the European KFC. Cargill has reportedly been exporting soy illegally for several years. ...Greenpeace has called on KFC to stop purchasing soy from Cargill, to avoid contributing to the destruction of the Amazon.According to a press release issued by Greenpeace,• Recent Greenpeace investigations have traced the chain of rainforest destruction directly from the heart of the Amazon, via Cargill's facility, to KFC's European restaurants, which sell bucket-loads of cheap soya-fed chicken to millions of people every day.Add all this up, and you get a frightening picture of what Susan G. Komen for the Cure actually stands for. By aligning itself with KFC:• Komen for the Cure endorses cancer-causing foods.• Komen for the Cure supports extreme animal cruelty.• Komen for the Cure is contributing to the destruction of the rainforest.• Komen for the Cure is destroying health while claiming to protect it.I believe that Susan G. Komen for the Cure isthat actually. It seems to me that the group has no intention of ever curing anything. The word "cure" is just a marketing gimmick used to extract money from gullible consumers. Conventional medicine doesn't even believe in a cure for cancer!Notice, too, how Komen for the Cure absolutely refuses to teach women about vitamin D? Where is the anti-cancer nutrition message that could help women prevent breast cancer? It's nowhere to be found. Instead of teaching women how to be healthy, Komen for the Cure is out thereOf course, it's all good business for the drug companies and medical imaging companies that give money to Komen for the Cure. The organization's biggest sponsors are -- surprise! -- the corporations that profit from cancer through chemotherapy and radiation. To them, Komen for the Cure isn't really abouta cure for cancer; it's aboutso that they can sell more drugs and radiotherapy that keeps more patients locked into a cycle of dependence on toxic cancer treatments.See, if you want to cause cancer, one way to do it is towith mammogram machines. Another way is to promote foods laced with chemicals that cause cancer. Susan G. Komen for the Cure doesYou know who else partners with Susan G. Komen for the Cure from the natural products industry?actually held a Susan G. Komen "fashion show" at Expo West a couple of years ago. Here's the language that was used to describe this:Gee, were they serving greasy buckets of fried chicken there, too?So I wonder if ThinkProducts CEO Lizanne Falsetto still endorses Komen for the Cure now that they're pushing buckets of fried chicken made with MSG? Maybe they'll come out with a "No-Think Bar" laced with MSG and Sodium Nitrite, just like you find in KFC menu items.That's really the whole theme of the pink ribbon cancer industry fraud anyway, isn't it?Just buy crap. If it's pink, just buy it. Don't even think about it. Don't ask questions like "Where is this money going" or "How does this money actually help cure cancer?" Or, relevant to this article, "How does eating fried chicken cure breast cancer?"Because if you ask those question, you'll get some surprising answers: The cancer industry isn't even looking for cures for cancer, folks. The cancer scam is just too profitable. It's a sweet gig and they're raking inof dollars from gullible consumers who continue to be victimized by this fraudulent cancer industry and its dishonest non-profit front groups.This whole idea that you can cure cancer by ordering junk at fast food restaurants is so ludicrous and retarded that when I first saw this, I thought for sure it was a late April Fool's joke. But no, this is no joke. The reputation of Komen for the Cure may be a joke now, but the "Buckets for the Cure" campaign is quite real. These silly people are seriously fronting buckets of fried chicken and claiming that if you keep eating more fried chicken, they will find the cure for cancer.What a con. Just an outright fraud. These people should frankly just be arrested and prosecuted for fraud. This is mass-marketing fraud at its worst. Pinkwashing has a new champion: Buckets for the Cure!Here are some comments on this story from PRWatch.org:Submitted by Anne Landman on April 21, 2010When a company promotes pink-ribboned products and claims to care about breast cancer and while also selling products linked to disease or injury, it's called pinkwashing , and pinkwashing has taken some pretty outrageous forms in the last few years. Ford, Mercedes and BMW have all urged people to buy and drive cars in the name of breast cancer, but exhaust from internal combustion engines contains toxic chemicals that are linked to disease. The Yoplait yogurt company sold pink-lidded yogurt to raise money for breast cancer, while manufacturing products with milk from cows stimulated by the artificial hormone RBGH, which studies show increase the risk of breast cancer. (Some yogurt companies, including Yoplait, have stopped using RGBH.) There's even a breast cancer awareness gun, and we thought that took the cake.Now KFC is offering yet another new example of pinkwashing: selling pink buckets of fried chicken to "end breast cancer forever." In an ironic twist, KFC's "Buckets for the Cure" campaign urges people to buy buckets of unhealthy food to help cure a disease that kills women. The American Institute for Cancer Research says there is "convincing evidence" that excess body fat increases the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Obesity is also tied to shorter survival rates for women who develop breast cancer. Like most fast food chains, KFC has an overwhelming presence in communities known to have poor health outcomes, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation certainly must know that such social inequities effect breast cancer mortality rates. Given all this, "Buckets for the Cure" is a particularly disturbing pinkwashing partnership. | {
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@wholesome-week Day 4 「Game Night 」
I know this have been done before but… I have to do it, when I see the prompt “Game night” This idea pop in my head. This what happend when the thursday night game get out of control xD | {
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I might cut former Sheriff Joe Arpaio some slack on his upcoming criminal contempt trial, if the loser lawman would just go away.
But like a nasty case of ulcerative colitis, Arpaio lingers on, begging for contributions via fundraising e-mails and whining about getting his butt kicked by Democrat Paul Penzone in November by a whopping 13 points.
Meanwhile, the bill for the civil rights case Melendres v. Arpaio continues to balloon, more than $50 million and counting, in part because Arpaio continues to meddle in the case.
Which is galling, considering that in fiscal year 2017, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors was forced to raise property taxes 5.47 cents to pay for 72 new staff members to help implement the various reforms ordered by the court.
That's in addition to the millions the county continues to shell out for a court-imposed monitor and ongoing legal fees, which Arpaio, it seems, is making worse.
Recently, federal Judge G. Murray Snow, the trial judge in Melendres, who found Arpaio and the MCSO guilty of racial profiling in 2013, issued a notice that Arpaio and two of his ex-flunkies want to remain involved in Melendres so they can keep trying to get Snow and his monitor booted off the case.
Arpaio tried and failed in 2015 to get Snow to recuse himself, claiming the judge was compromised because the MCSO had "investigated" Snow and his wife for bogus reasons.
Then in late October, Arpaio hired a fancy Washington, D.C. law firm at taxpayer expense to move that Snow recuse himself — get this — because Snow regularly communicates with his court-appointed monitor Robert Warshaw.
You would think these shenanigans would end once Arpaio was out of power, eating beenie-weenies with wife Ava in Fountain Hills. But no.
And who pays for these futile legal maneuverings? Let's just say that I doubt Joe's reaching into his own pocket. So, look in the mirror.
I'm still trying to find out just how much this is costing us and will update this post when I have that information.
Last year, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery authorized the hiring of the D.C. firm — Cooper & Kirk — despite the Supervisors' refusing to pay for it.
Supposedly, the money was to come out of the MCSO's budget.
MCSO spokesman Mark Casey has referred me to the the MCAO for any comment. I've queried both the County and Montgomery's office on the matter.
Meanwhile, Arpaio awaits his trial for criminal contempt for defying the orders of Judge Snow in Melendres. It's currently scheduled for April 25.
Recently, the federal judge in the criminal contempt case, Judge Susan R. Bolton, rejected an attempt by Arpaio's counsel, Mel McDonald, to have the case tried by a jury. But McDonald conceded that because Arpaio stands accused of misdemeanor contempt, with a maximum of six months in the slammer, he does not have a constitutional right to a jury trial.
So a bench trial it will be.
Fortunately, the taxpayers are not on the hook for Arpaio's criminal defense, which is one reason Arpaio's been hitting up his supporters for contributions to his legal defense fund, blathering on about being a victim of Barack Obama's Justice Department.
Though, of course, it's President Donald Trump's DOJ now.
So far, the Trump administration has yet to help out ol' Joe. I'm told by folks who know and talk with Arpaio regularly that he's hoping for a Gerry Ford-esque pre-trial pardon from The Donald.
My sources also tell me that Arpaio is deathly afraid of one thing if found guilty: the possibility of a mugshot, since he would likely have to be booked by the U.S. Marshal.
It's unlikely Arpaio will get any time, but that mugshot would be punishment enough, seeing that Arpaio dreads it.
On another note, hats off to Mitch Martinson over at Arizona's Politics, who beat everyone to the punch on Arpaio's new 501c4, the Joe Arpaio Action Fund, which is separate from the Sheriff Joe Arpaio Legal Fund.
According to its filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Action Fund exists to "promote social welfare by educating citizens on public policy initiatives."
Riiight. Back his cronies and target his enemies in the 2018 election is more like it.
And guess who the statutory agent is in the filing? None other than Arpaio's former communications director, Chris Hegstrom.
Nice to see Joe's throwing Hegstrom a bone.
The funniest part about the text of the e-mail blast is Arpaio's blaming lefty billionaire George Soros for his defeat last year. (Technically, Arpaio's campaign guru Chad Willems of Summit Consulting composed the letter for Arpaio's John Hancock.)
True, the Soros-backed group Maricopa Strong did drop about $3.4 million targeting Arpaio and promoting Penzone during the race.
But Arpaio spent $12.6 million during the last election cycle to Penzone's measly $1 million. Even with the Soros money, Penzone was woefully outmatched.
And he still spanked Joe hard at the polls.
Maybe that's why Trump hasn't yet lifted one of his tiny pinkies to help the guy who campaigned so hard for him.
Trump, you see, is all about "winning."
And Joe's just another loser.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*
Even though America has been a leader in scientific research and development, this country has an inordinate percentage of the population, and one political party that denies science religiously. That’s what happens when ignorance and stupidity are hailed as uniquely desirable American traits that make the U.S.A. the most exceptional nation in world history. However, it’s one thing when a substantial number of the population and a political party denies science, but it is unacceptable when a crucial federal government agency dependent on science joins the moronic masses and Republican Party to become science deniers.
It was hardly covered anywhere, much less by main stream media, but a couple of weeks ago the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) secretly rejected an appeal to the agency to finally remove cannabis from the controlled substance schedule, or at least remove it from the same Schedule 1 classification as heroin. Remember, a Schedule 1 substance, besides being as dangerous and highly addictive as heroin, has no medical value whatsoever. It’s not as if there isn’t thirty years and thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies showing the medicinal benefits of the weed, but all that research is firmly rooted in science. Since the Food and Drug Administration, a science-based organization, denies science when it’s convenient for the pharmaceutical industry, the DEA said “Hell NO!” And they based their Hell No on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) claim that “cannabis has no medical value;” so it will stay right up there with heroin.
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According to the profit-driven motives of the big pharmaceutical industry folks running the Food and Drug Administration, the DEA decided that cannabis will remain as dangerous and restricted as heroin. They based their decision on the FDA’s “unscientific” claim that, “Marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,” and the agency justified its claim by stating ”because the scientific evidence is not widely available” that marijuana has any medical value whatsoever.
That statement is an even bigger lie than any Donald Trump has told over the past six months and he has told some whoppers. The scientific evidence is widely available and if the pharmaceutical puppets running the FDA had spent 15 seconds looking at the National Institutes of Health website, they would have seen a veritable mountain of “scientific evidence” the federal government put out so every half-wit with a tablet or laptop could have easy access to “scientific evidence” detailing the medicinal benefits of cannabis. Including, by the way, describing in great detail how the weed works it’s magic on a world of diseases, ailments and infirmities with a special emphasis on marijuana’s success at fighting and killing cancer.
There was a small policy adjustment in the DEA’s determination, but it was made just to satisfy the greed of big pharma. The DEA decided to end the University of Mississippi’s monopoly on cannabis grown for research, something President Obama did over a year ago. Now the anti-science agency will “consider applications” for a federal grow license from “any institution that has an approved research protocol and the security measures needed to store dangerous drugs.”
It shouldn’t surprise anyone with half-a-brain that while most universities and research facilities lack anything qualifying as FDA or DEA “approved research protocols and security measures to store drugs,” it is noteworthy that all of the major pharmaceutical companies easily meet those requirements. This FDA and DEA decision was another federal government gift to the pharmaceutical industry and nothing else; it was a slap in the face of millions of Americans suffering a world of infirmities cannabis could relieve.
The DEA claims there are three fundamental reasons for a substance to be place in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substance Act. They have no accepted medical use or benefit, there is a gross lack of accepted safety for use while under medical supervision, and there is a high potential for abuse. According to long-established science and research from at home and around the world, none of those reasons remotely apply to cannabis.
As a matter of historical fact, over twenty-five years ago one of the DEA’s own highly respected administrative judges concurred with common sense and real established science and ruled in 1988 that cannabis should be reclassified After comprehensively studying the issue, the DEA’s now deceased Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young determined “In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling:”
“Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record.
The administrative law judge recommends that the Administrator conclude that the marijuana plant considered as a whole has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, that there is no lack of accepted safety for use of it under medical supervision and that it may lawfully be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule II [of the federal Controlled Substances Act].”
The DEA then, as now, denies established science and the recommendation of its own administrative law judge and asserts that marijuana has no medicinal value and cannot be safely used under medical supervision; so it will remain on Schedule 1 with heroin. It is the decision drug cartels and the pharmaceutical, prison and law enforcement industry demanded and with the FDA’s anti-science assistance, the DEA delivered.
The deputy director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, Michael Collins, said the decision “shows that the DEA continues to ignore research, and places politics above science. In reality, marijuana should be de-scheduled and states should be allowed to set their own policies.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) described the decision as “further evidence that the DEA doesn’t get it.” Oh, the DEA gets it and so does the FDA, but they also get that their agencies exist to aid the pharmaceutical industry and law enforcement agencies, not the people.
One anti-rescheduling advocate certainly doesn’t get it and had the temerity to claim the DEA used science in making its determination. The founder of the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Kevin Sabet said, “They’re looking at the science, taking a nuanced view. It’s a good day for science.” No, it’s a good day for law enforcement and prison guards and their unions, the pharmaceutical industry, and the drug cartels; the groups that benefit financially by keeping weed classified as a Schedule 1 substance.
Science never entered into the picture and the anti-legalization advocates, the DEA and the FDA all know it. There has been, and continues to be emerging, scientific and medical research with empirical data showing that not only does cannabis have myriad medicinal uses, the federal government’s National institutes of Health devoted a section of its government website outlining the benefits of cannabis; particularly in fighting cancer including explaining how it can be consumed or delivered effectively and safely.
It is an abomination that in America alcohol is completely legal and has been deemed safe for human consumption at the same unrestricted level as tobacco products. Although alcohol and tobacco are “drugs,” and do not have any medicinal value whatsoever and certainly have not been studied for their safe use and medical value, they are not considered dangerous enough to be restricted for widespread use. This is in spite of several studies finding that both unscheduled drugs, alcohol and tobacco, pose a significantly deadly risk to public health; it is not the case with the much maligned but medically effective cannabis. Still, both of those potentially deadly substances are completely legal for Americans to consume at their leisure and without restriction.
For the FDA to recommend to the DEA that cannabis should continue to be scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act along with heroin, while tobacco and alcohol remain commercially available, is not just unscientific and unethical, it is inhumane. It is also a decision based on science denial and pharmaceutical industry profits that puts the FDA and the DEA on par with the moronic climate change denying Republicans in Congress and the vicious barbarians in the religious right, and likely in collusion with big pharma. | {
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Its funny how they're actually my mains
But to be honest makung a comic of them would be a lovely idea to try | {
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Digital Track Digital Track Streaming + Download Purchasable with gift card Free Download You own this
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about
This track is an anomaly; it's the first track I wrote for the game, and I had experimented early on with running it through tape. I initially wanted to run everything through tape, but this turned out to be too impractical, because of the way we were syncing audio to things in the game (recordings on tape tend to fluctuate in tempo ever so gradually). Within a few days of meeting Renaud (FEZ evil genius programmer) in Montreal, I wrote this track. It represents my first feeling about how I thought the music in the game might sound. This was before any deliberation with Phil about the music direction, and it was inspired by some of the music concepts associated with FEZ pre-2010. Despite the majority of the music in the game being atmospheric, there are still a few spots where you will find some more upbeat, percussive tracks. If you look.
credits
from FEZ OST , released April 20, 2012
license
all rights reserved | {
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Solar panels don't have to be eyesores. The city of Glasgow is considering the installation of giant, glowing solar "lily pads" on the River Clyde. Designed by Scottish firm ZM Architecture, the circular floats are made of steel and recycled rubber and range in diameter from 15 to 45 feet. Motorized disks covered with solar panels track the sun and angle themselves for maximum exposure. Once panels soak up enough rays, the energy is converted to AC/DC power and transferred to the city's grid, where it will help offset Glasgow's electrical bills. | {
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5.0 out of 5 stars Unparalleled Drinking Technology
By Ryan T on January 28, 2016
This new, unparalleled drinking technology has revolutionized my day and cut 30 minutes out of my morning routine. Now, I never really feel like I have started my day unless I have had a champagne breakfast; preferably a vintage ’04/08 blanc de blanc grower champagne(RM); I try to avoid the maison houses and their high dosages as much as possible….but I digress. Sometimes my wife and I just simply don’t have the time it takes to sit down and imbibe a bottle of champagne from a traditional flute before rushing out the door to drop our kids off at school and then head into the office. I must profess that with our Chambong, I can get 3-4 FULL glasses down in the time it takes to makes microwaved oatmeal for the little ones. God Bless Chambong! | {
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Uganga's President Yoweri Museveni.
Kampala, Uganda: Uganda's government on Wednesday banned one of the country's main television stations from covering presidential events after it aired images which it said showed President Yoweri Museveni having a snooze in parliament.
"The president has habits, he meditates and they know it, and still they go out and say he was sleeping," government media centre manager Dennis Katungi told AFP.
Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo confirmed that NTV Uganda, part of the Nation Media Group and east and central Africa's largest independent media house, would be punished.
"We have suspended their coverage of the president as we reconsider our relationship with them," he said, accusing NTV of a "lack of professionalism and biased coverage".
"The suspension should not be permanent, it's temporary, to make them think," Katungi added.
Museveni, aged 69, is one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, and has led the impoverished east African nation since 1986.
NTV Uganda said they had not been informed of the suspension.
Last year the government shut the country's two main independent newspapers for 10 days after they reported arguments among army generals over whether the president's son should succeed him. | {
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California lawmaker wants labor law for freelancers changed The author of a sweeping new California labor law says she intends to ease its restrictions on freelance journalists and others after months of protests that it is already costing people their jobs
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The author of a sweeping new California labor law said Thursday that she intends to ease its restrictions on freelance journalists and others after months of protests that it is already costing people their jobs.
Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez said in a series of tweets that she already has proposed legislative language removing a requirement that any freelancer with more than 35 submissions to a single media outlet in a year must be considered an employee.
It was just one of many efforts in the law to define which workers must be treated as employees rather than independent contractors. The law sets the nation's strictest test for which workers must be considered employees and could set a precedent for other states.
But the freelancers objected to what they say is an arbitrary limit. SB Nation, owned by Vox Media, announced even before the law took effect Jan. 1 that it was ending its use of more than 200 California freelancers, switching instead to using a much smaller number of new employees.
Gonzalez said her new bill will “more clearly define freelancer journalism.”
“In the next few weeks, we will be rolling out a number of asks, initiatives and bill language to help ease the implementation of AB5 and make clarifications to the law based on hundreds of meetings and discussions with individuals and groups,” she said in one of nearly a dozen related tweets.
A federal judge has set a hearing in March to consider a lawsuit by the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association arguing that the law unconstitutionally affects free speech and the media.
Caleb Trotter, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation who is representing the groups, said he has not seen the proposed changes. “But we hope that the revised law will no longer treat journalists as second-class freelancers,” Trotter said, referring to greater freedoms under the law for other freelance professions.
Removing the limits “would be a step in the right direction,” he said.
Gonzalez's Twitter threads came as she and other lawmakers also announced that they are asking that $20 million be included in the state budget starting July 1 for a grant program to help small non-profit community arts programs that are transitioning their employees under the law .
Beyond the freelancers, she said she is negotiating over language regarding “the unique situation regarding musicians,” and plan to address that as well “in the next round of amendments by March.”
A different federal judge has blocked the law from affecting more than 70,000 independent truckers, saying it is preempted by federal law when it comes to their profession.
The focus of the law had originally been largely on ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft, which are separately challenging the law. A hearing on a lawsuit by Uber and food delivery company Postmates is set for Friday, and they are among those pushing for a November ballot initiative to exempt them from the law.
Gonzalez said in a related tweet thread that “I will fight Uber’s attempt to exempt themselves through initiative."
She apologized to anyone offended by her often blunt defense of the law on social media .
“For the added stress that has caused anyone, or the feelings of not being heard, I am truly sorry,” Gonzalez said. “I am direct & straightforward, passionate about workers’ rights and too busy to directly respond to everyone, but I do listen and I care about getting this right.” | {
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Story highlights Woman feigned terminal cancer to get donations for extravagant wedding and honeymoon
Jessica Vega pleaded guilty last month; indicted on fraud and grand larceny
She was sentenced to 300 hours community service and 5 years of probation
A New York woman who pretended to have terminal cancer to pay for an extravagant wedding and honeymoon has been ordered to give back thousands of dollars she received from sympathetic donors.
Jessica Vega, 25, pleaded guilty last month to the scheme and was indicted on fraud and grand larceny charges as well as one misdemeanor.
After spending eight weeks in jail, Vega was ordered by Orange County Court Judge Robert Freehill to return the $13,368.48 she gained in gifts and donations while posing as terminally ill.
She was also sentenced to 300 hours of community service and five years of probation, according to a statement from the New York Attorney General's Office.
"I am pleased that the community members, who felt so compelled to generously help a neighbor in need, will be given back their hard earned money," Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.
JUST WATCHED Woman arrested for cancer scam Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Woman arrested for cancer scam 01:15
Victims of Vega's scam are expected to begin receiving compensation in the coming weeks.
Officials say the scheme lasted from January 2010 to June 2010 and involved eliciting gifts from a bridal couture shop and a high-end restaurant.
Vega was married in May 2010 after claiming she only had a few months to live. She allegedly "went to Aruba for her honeymoon with expenses paid for by people touched by her story," according to the indictment.
The man Vega married, who was not named in the indictment, is not facing charges.
Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said the man says he was not involved in the scheme. | {
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Image copyright yusaku2020, Instagram Image caption The buyer, Yusaku Maezawa, posted a picture of himself viewing the painting earlier
A painting by the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has sold at auction in New York for $110.5m (£85.4m).
That is nearly double the price of his previous most expensive work, bought by the same person a year ago.
It has broken several other records including becoming the most expensive work by any US artist.
It is also the highest price fetched for any art by a black artist and the first piece created since 1980 to break the $100m mark.
The untitled work was done in oil stick, acrylic and spray paint, and depicts a face in the shape of a skull.
It was sold to Yusaku Maezawa, a 41-year-old Japanese fashion entrepreneur who plans to set up a museum in his home town of Chiba.
Read more from BBC Culture:Jean-Michel Basquiat: The life and work behind the legend
Bidding for the piece during the auction at Sotheby's lasted 10 tense minutes. Cheers and applause erupted in the room when the work was sold to Mr Maezawa by telephone.
He later posted on Instagram that the painting made him feel "so much excitement and gratitude for my love of art", a feeling he wished to share with "as many people as possible".
Mr Maezawa last year set the previous record for a Basquiat piece, when he paid $57.3m for a painting of a horned devil.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A portrait of Basquiat was displayed in 2006 in Milan
Basquiat, a native New Yorker, died in 1988 of a heroin overdose aged 27. He had been an artist for just seven years.
Most of his works depict the problems faced by African Americans in the US, reports the BBC's Laura Bicker in Washington.
Once a graffiti rebel from Brooklyn who sold drawings for $50, he is now in the same league as Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon, she says - part of a rare group of artists whose work has sold for more than $100m at auction.
"Breaking $100m for a work which is that recent is definitely extraordinary," said Gregoire Billault, head of contemporary art at Sotheby's.
"I think it just speaks about the talent of this guy. It's just pure emotion. He's bringing something never seen before."
Jean-Michel Basquiat | {
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Things weren't looking good for the return of Universal's classic movie monster cinematic universe after The Mummy failed to impress either audiences or critics. Several films were on the docket including a Johnny Depp-led Invisible Man and a Creature from the Black Lagoon film with Javier Bardem. However, the next film out of the gate was expected to be Bride of Frankenstein, potentially with Angelina Jolie as the titular character, but the film was pulled off the schedule several months ago. At the time, we were told the film was only being "postponed" and according to Omega Underground that actually was the case, as Bill Condon is tapping a lot of the crew responsible for his last film, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, to help out with this new project. | {
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Link light rail service is temporarily interrupted due to a power outage.
Updates will be provided as information becomes available. | {
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Read: Paul Manafort, American hustler
They might represent foreign governments, but technically do not lobby Congress on their behalf; they make millions, while never subjecting their work to public scrutiny—or themselves to personal embarrassment. (From filings in the Mueller case, we now know that the Justice Department investigated Manafort for brazen disregard of FARA in 1986, just as he was setting out in his career as a lobbyist representing foreign governments. But it could apparently never summon the will to prosecute someone so well connected.)
Or take the more rampant problem of tax evasion. While Manafort will serve time for failing to pay his bills to the government, armies of lawyers and accountants are feverishly devising novel methods of enabling the rich to cheat the IRS, depriving the U.S. of nearly $200 billion in revenue each year. As one old joke holds, the difference between tax avoidance (which is legal) and tax evasion (which is not) is the wall of a prison.
This is the same pattern made visible by the college admissions scandal. The public gets inflamed over a supposedly outrageous piece of behavior that is really not so far from the standard elite procedure. When a wealthy donor contributes $10 million to a university, imagining that their child will someday attend, administrators call it a “gift” and applaud the gesture of philanthropy. But it is, in effect, institutionalized bribery, and it creates new templates of moral behavior. It makes recognizing as wrong under-the-table payments to college coaches harder for parents, when these payment so resemble the gift-giving they see officially sanctioned.
Ken White: 6 reasons Paul Manafort got off so lightly
America never had an edenic period, when the country resided in a state of pristine civic virtue. But the past half century has ushered in an era of rank indifference to the perils of corruption and bribery. Not so long ago, the United States had a far more robust definition of what counted as a bribe. That broad definition constrained the growth of the American lobbying industry. Back in the 1960s, lobbying hardly existed in Washington—at least not in the form and on the scale that we now know it. The ledger of officially registered lobbyists extended into the high double digits. By the 1990s, the population of lobbyists had swelled to well over 10,000.
If Americans are more comfortable living in a world of bribery, perhaps it’s because American jurisprudence has legalized so much of it. One accelerant was Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion in the Citizens United case, in 2010. Kennedy gave the Supreme Court’s official sanction to anonymous campaign contributions, overturning a long trajectory of reforms that prodded the political system in the direction of transparency and rigid limits. Kennedy’s decision made tracing how political giving shapes political decisions nearly impossible. But it was even worse than that. Kennedy’s justification officially circumscribed the legal definition of bribery, constraining it to encompass only the most explicit bribes and quid pro quos. He scrubbed away the Founders’ concern with the corrupting influence of gifts, which had been enshrined in the Constitution. | {
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A traffic stop in Decatur County led to the discovery of 10 kilos of Fentanyl, which is valued at nearly $13 million. It is one of the largest Fentanyl busts in the state of Tennessee.
An agent with the 24th Judicial District Drug Task Force - Interstate Criminal Enforcement Unit made the traffic stop on Interstate 40 Tuesday.
“I commend my officers in the 24th Judicial Drug Task Force for their outstanding work today,” states District Attorney Matthew Stowe. “We are very pleased to announce this afternoon’s seizure of a large about of Fentanyl. This is an extremely dangerous drug and to have taken 10 kilos off the street is a victory for our citizens.”
Richardo Ernesto Gomez, Jr., 26, of Donna, TX and Kristian Lee Torres, 22, of San Antonio, TX. were arrested during the stop.
“At a time when the legislature is considering cutting funds for the Drug Task Force teams, this bust proves that our officers are making a huge difference in finding illegal drug trafficking couriers and getting these drugs off the street and way from our communities,” Stowe continues.
According to DEA spokesman Russ Baer, “That [one] kilo of Fentanyl can produce between 16 and 24 kilos of [other derivative drugs, such as a form of synthetic heroine] ultimately yielding profits of $ 1.3 million after it’s sold on the street.”
Tuesday's bust held the potential street value of approximately $13 Million.
“I have worked for the last three years to put together the best team of agents to combat this rampant problem with drugs and drug trafficking,” Stowe states. “My team and I are committed to keeping our district safe and we will prosecute, to the fullest extent of the law, anyone caught selling, manufacturing or, as in this case, transporting dangerous drugs.”
Both men were being held at the Decatur County Detention Center in Decaturville. | {
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One Tokyo bookshop has taken decluttering to its logical extreme: the Japanese bookstore sells only one book at a time. Morioka Shoten Ginza espouses the philosophy of "Issatsu, Isshitsu," which translates as "A Single Room, A Single Book." The store stocks only one book each week (Tuesday through Sunday) and hosts an event every evening to discuss it.
The store's owner, Yoshiyuki Morioka, is an experienced bookseller, who worked for years in Kanda, Tokyo's famous bookselling district, where he eventually opened his own, more traditional bookshop. He pitched the idea for Morioka Shoten Ginza at a workshop where attendees were challenged to propose a new business with just one page: Morioka's read "Regeneration of a bookseller atom → a bookstore with a single book."
The bookstore opened just this May in a small gallery on the ground floor of the historical Suzuki building. It's remarkably sparse, with little more than a table stacked with books and a counter for the bookseller to stand behind, although some weeks Morioka hangs artwork related to the book selection.
As radical of an idea as "one store, one book" is, it's also kind of genius. Morioka Shoten Ginza is essentially the anti-Amazon: instead of offering unlimited selection and no guidance, Morioka offers nothing but guidance. It's a bookstore designed purely to help you find the best books an interact with them more deeply, through conversations with the author and with other readers.
Even if you aren't planning a trip to Tokyo any time soon, this unique bookstore can serve as a source of inspiration, whether by reminding you that sometimes the best books are found by trusting the judgment of others or by encouraging you to try reading a book a week. Some plans are so crazy they might just work.
Image: Fotolia | {
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I am writing this mostly to express my opinions and views from a gambler who lives in West Virginia. I have provided some facts and estimated numbers based on information that I have read, been told, and experienced. I am not affiliated with any of the industries mentioned. The State of WV should get out of the gambling business. I am not saying to make it illegal; I am merely saying they need to let it be run by someone other than a government body.
Governments notoriously take advantage of the system to use these things as slush funds. WV is no different. If they want more money they simply raise fees or lower payouts.
West Virginia has seen a decline in lottery revenue over the last few years. While you may not immediately make the connection between lottery and slots, allow me to explain.
Lottery has been in WV since 1986. The state needs this money like we need water and air. Nearly every attempt to allow gambling in the state had been met with little success until 1994 when the state allowed video lottery. This act classified “slot” machines as Video Lottery Terminals. This was initially for the states 4 racetracks. However, in 2001 the “Limited Video Lottery Act” (LVL) was passed.
“The machines were legal, the payout’s were not”
Poker machines had been in most bars and clubs in the state prior. The owners may or may not have paid out. The one’s that did pay out were called Gray machines because the machines were legal; the pay out’s were not.
It was common knowledge at this time that the state agencies were aware of them and would occasionally stage raids; so to speak. The bars in good standing (I don’t know what that meant) would receive a warning prior. The bars that were targets would not receive any warning. I believe this was allowed to go on because the state wanted it to become commonplace and thus, get less resistance later when they wanted to swoop in and regulate the criminal activity.
The LVL act of 2001 allowed the state to purchase machines and have a bidding process for the licenses. One license for each machine. I am not sure what it was in 2001. However, in 2011 they re-bid them and the price per license averaged around $16,000 each. There are 10,000 machines total. Quite a hefty amount for West Virginia.
You might be saying, wait a minute; WV has Casinos in the state. Yes, we do, but not until very recently. Prior, they were just racetracks, either horse or dog tracks, and were not allowed to have table games as they do now. It is all still controlled by the WV state lottery regardless. I know there were some “deals” that went on to allow the table games to enter the scene but I do not know many details, yet.
Let’s say that I want to open a place and have LVL machines. I am not allowed to have more than 5 machines in any one location unless I am a fraternal group. Then I am allowed 10. I cannot just call up the state and purchase a license. There are none, remember? I will need to contact a company that won the bid.
The WV lottery commission takes 52% of the revenue leaving 48% for the owner of the licenses/machine. Also, note it is a tradition for WV to raise their amount at will. The remainder (48%) is shared between the owner of the bar or lounge and license/machine owner. There isn’t a lot of meat left on the bone for the owner of a bar. However, most of these are in what is known as a “Lounge”. The lounges are essentially bars but the focus is on gambling.
The profit margin is truly slim, as they can only have 5 in any one location and is lucky to get 22% of the revenue. Not 22% profit; all expenses come out of that amount, rent, utilities, labor, cable, internet, food and drink. Even 22% of the Jackpots. The lounges normally give away Soda, Chips, and some sort of food item. They are not allowed to give beer away, nor are the Casinos. Why? You ask. The state of WV says it is an enticement for people to gamble. I will give you a moment to chuckle…
The lounges are NOT permitted to advertise or display signage that is related to gambling. It cannot say Casino, Lucky 7’s, High Rollers, or even have a depiction of dice on a sign. It can only display a WV lottery sign.
What this structure does is require the lounges to hold an ABC license as well. The more lounges (only 5 Machines in each) the more ABC licenses the state sells.
So, it’s 2014 and the Lottery is crying because the revenue is down. They are quick to blame the legalization of gambling in neighboring states. Mike McKown of the state budget office said this, “the downward trend is due to out-of-state competition by racetracks and casinos in border states, such as Pennsylvania.” McKown also said that the unstable economy is likely keeping fewer people from gambling.
While that is true; it is only a small part of the drop in revenue.
The same article goes on to say, “There was significant growth last year, but it was across the board in a couple of different areas,” said Mark Muchow, deputy secretary of the Department of Revenue. “Non-farm payroll employment actually increased a little bit during the year, and the increases were concentrated in the energy sector.
As a matter of fact, the article says it was 149% above projection. It doesn’t sound like the economy could possibly be the issue.
As a matter of fact according to the 2012 WV Lottery financial report. The WV lottery operated at a 1.9% overall operating expense. It returned $81 million back to the state.
What business or government operates on a 1.9% operating expense? I only wish. This is simply either a lie, or they are taking way more money than they should be.
While the proceeds are supposed to be for education, roads, and the elderly, looking at this report is like reading Swiss cheese.
“The Lottery’s mission is to generate revenue to fund programs
benefiting education, senior citizens, tourism and other programs that
the Governor and the Legislature deem appropriate.”
The public is being sold a bill of goods that doesn’t exist.
The State continues to propagate these lies by only advertising the money that they use for the elderly and education. Most people outside of the government have no idea that the money is being used however the Governor deems appropriate.
We are used to being lied to, the bigger issue is that the LVL machines have been continually tightened making people play them less.
They have not learned that if there is no ass in the chair, there is no chance at the customer’s money. They have furthered the problem by allowing fewer small winners and concentrating on jackpots. You know the magic amount that you have to pay 37% tax on. Again, the state’s accounting is delusional as most of these people fortunate enough to win a jackpot will not have to pay taxes. This is either because they aren’t required to file taxes or they have losses to offset them.
I have personally watched as this happened. I have had many hits that paid high amounts in the past. I usually document my bigger hits by taking pictures and in comparing them, noticed the same hits previously paid more. I have also witnessed the state removing individual games from machines and changing them before re-installing them remotely. You know, if they feel like they are playing well, they probably are. Anyone who sits down in Vegas long enough can usually tell right away those slots are far looser. Yes, it is that obvious.
You may ask yourself; who makes these evil super low-payback machines designed to be manipulated? They are all made by IGT (International Gaming Technology). Who manufactures many of the slots you see today. They are the world’s largest interactive video gambling company.
The point is that the WV lottery configures and bastardizes them however they wish, which is always in their favor, not the players. One example is that IGT’s enchanted Unicorns game is intended to have a possible 3 rows of Unicorns. The machines in my local lounges only have 2 rows. The WV Lottery monitors these games, live. What I mean by live is that they have a direct connection to each of the machines. I have witnessed many occasions where the internet drops out and the machines shut down until the internet is restored, and there is no one else regulating them.
See more at http://www.state.wv.us/lottery/CountyMunDistribution.htm
Doing the Math it All Adds up Right?
No. The total revenue amount is usually around 10% of the amount wagered monthly. So, a location that has $263,000 played, (Average for my area) in a month will produce around $26,300 in revenue. The Lottery keeps $13,676. Leaving $12,624 for the machine owner to share with the lounge. Approx. $5786.00 for the lounge. If you consider that the lounge operates 600 hours a month; that is $4,350 in labor at min wage. Average $1000 for rent. Utilities, insurance, and supplies could easily account for another $2500 per month. You can see expenses $2000+ higher than revenue, or a loss of $2000. The state profits the most from this scenario.
There is also a mysterious skim fund that has alluded many… until now!
It is a fund that is been used to help problem gamblers across the state. It is supposed to have 10% set aside at all times. I have spoken with people who were actually part of the board that set up the problem gambler program. The majority of the fund cannot seem to be found anymore. Money is being set aside for it. Last I heard it was only accessible to the Governor. With only 1 million per year being donated to 1800gambler.net where is the rest? Maybe it is not so legal after all.
The program for problem gamblers is essentially nonexistent. It usually includes a line at the end of a WV Lottery commercial stating “Please play responsibly”. While there is finally a phone number to a hotline established, it is only to refer you to a doctor or therapist. One that you must pay for yourself. | {
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Command /summon Create a spawn egg Create a MobSpawner
Spawn count: entity(ies) Reset (Number of entities spawn each time)
Max count: entity(ies) Reset (Maximum number of entities spawn)
Spawn range: blocks Reset (Mob spawning zone size)
Delay: seconds Reset (Delay before the first spawn)
Delay min/max: seconds Reset (Delay between each spawn (a random value between min and max))
Player Range: blocks Reset (Minimal distance from a player to allow mob spawning)
1.13+ Egg type? Same as mob Creeper Spawn Egg Skeleton Spawn Egg Wither Skeleton Spawn Egg Stray Spawn Egg Spider Spawn Egg Zombie Spawn Egg Zombie Villager Spawn Egg Husk Spawn Egg Slime Spawn Egg Ghast Spawn Egg Zombie Pigman Spawn Egg Enderman Spawn Egg Cave Spider Spawn Egg Blaze Spawn Egg Magma Cube Spawn Egg Bat Spawn Egg Witch Spawn Egg Endermite Spawn Egg Guardian Spawn Egg Elder Guardian Spawn Egg Shulker Spawn Egg Evoker Spawn Egg Vex Spawn Egg Vindicator Spawn Egg Phantom Spawn Egg Drowned Spawn Egg Pillager Spawn Egg Ravager Spawn Egg Hoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Spawn Egg Zombified Piglin Spawn Egg Piglin Brute Spawn Egg Pig Spawn Egg Sheep Spawn Egg Cow Spawn Egg Squid Spawn Egg Wolf Spawn Egg Mooshroom Spawn Egg Ocelot Spawn Egg Cat Spawn Egg Horse Spawn Egg Donkey Spawn Egg Mule Spawn Egg Zombie Horse Spawn Egg Skeleton Horse Spawn Egg Rabbit Spawn Egg Polar Bear Spawn Egg Llama Spawn Egg Villager Spawn Egg Parrot Spawn Egg Turtle Spawn Egg Dolphin Spawn Egg Cod Spawn Egg Salmon Spawn Egg Pufferfish Spawn Egg Tropical Fish Spawn Egg Fox Spawn Egg Panda Spawn Egg Wandering Trader Spawn Egg Trader Llama Spawn Egg Bee Spawn Egg Strider Spawn Egg Zoglin Spawn Egg
None Creeper Charged Creeper Skeleton Wither Skeleton Stray Skeleton Trap Spider Spider Jockey Giant Zombie Zombie Villager Husk Chicken Jockey Slime Slime (Big) Slime Slime (Small) Ghast Cochon-zombie Chicken Jockey Enderman Cave Spider Silverfish Blaze Magma Cube Magma Cube (Big) Magma Cube Magma Cube (Small) Ender Dragon Wither Bat Witch Endermite Guardian Elder Guardian Shulker Evoker Evoker Fangs Vex Vindicator Illusioner Phantom Drowned Pillager Ravager Hoglin Piglin Zombified Piglin Piglin Brute Pig Sheep Cow Chicken Squid Wolf Wolf Wolf Red Mooshroom Brown Mooshroom Snow Golem Ocelot Cat Iron Golem Horse Donkey Mule Zombie Horse Skeleton Horse Rabbit Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog Polar Bear Llama Villager Parrot Turtle Dolphin Cod Salmon Pufferfish Tropical Fish Red Fox Arctic Fox Panda Wandering Trader Trader Llama Bee Strider Strider Jockey End Crystal Zoglin
Type: Tuxedo Tabby Siamese
Type: Random Brown White Black Black & White Gold Salt & & Pepper Toast
Type: Random White Creamy Chestnut Brown Black Gray Dark Brown White with White leggs Creamy with White leggs Chestnut with White leggs Brown with White leggs Black with White leggs Gray with White leggs Dark Brown with White leggs White with White Patches Creamy with White Patches Chestnut with White Patches Brown with White Patches Black with White Patches Gray with White Patches Dark Brown with White Patches White with White dots Creamy with White dots Chestnut with White dots Brown with White dots Black with White dots Gray with White dots Dark Brown with White dots White with dark back Creamy with dark back Chestnut with dark back Brown with dark back Black with dark back Gray with dark back Dark Brown with dark back
Profession: Random Farmer Librarian Priest Blacksmith Butcher Villager
1.9+ Profession: Random Farmer Librarian Priest Blacksmith Butcher Villager
Type: Random Sandy White Brown Gray
1.12+ Type: Random Red Bleu Green Cyan and Yellow Gray
1.11+ Color: No color (Violet) White Orange Magenta Bleu Yellow Lime Rose Gray Light Gray Cyan Purple Bleu Brown Green Red Black
Name: 1.13+ can be a Name of the mob,can be a formatted JSON text
Disable artificial intelligence? (Freeze entity)
Persistent?
1.9+ Glows?
1.9+ Left handed?
1.10+ No gravity? (Flying mob)
1.10+ Flies? (Skygliding with Elytra)
Can pick up loot?
Slime size: blocks Reset (0 is a random size, 1 is a small slime, 4 is a big slime)
Mob-Size: blocks Reset (0 for random size)
1.11+ Aggressive mob ("Johnny")? (Will attack every mobs, except others Illagers)
Health: Reset (Number of half heart)
Fire: Seconds Reset (time while the mob burn, -1 is unlimited)
Follow range: Blocks Reset (maximum distance where a monster can target a player)
Knockback resistance: % Reset (Chance to resist knockback from attacks)
Speed: Reset (Movement speed)
Attack : Half Heart Reset (Damage dealt by attack)
Jump strength: Reset
Spawn reinforcements: % Reset (Chance to spawn reinforcements when attacked)
Silent
Invulnerable
Sitting
Armor: None Iron Horse Armor Golden Horse Armor Diamond Horse Armor
Saddle
1.11+ Saddle: None White Carpet Orange Carpet Magenta Carpet Light Blue Carpet Yellow Carpet Lime Carpet Pink Carpet Gray Carpet Light Gray Carpet Cyan Carpet Purple Carpet Blue Carpet Brown Carpet Green Carpet Red Carpet Black Carpet
Baby?
Tamed?
Temper: % Reset (Higher values make the mob easier to tame, -1 is random)
Owner: (Defines the owner who tamed this mob)
Color of wool: Default White Orange Magenta Light Blue Yellow Lime Pink Gray Light Gray Cyan Purple Blue Brown Dark Green Red Black Rainbow
Color of collar: Default Black Red Dark Green Brown Blue Purple Cyan Light Gray Gray Pink Lime Yellow Light Blue Magenta Orange White
Chested?
1.11+ Strength: Reset (How many stack can be store in chest ? -3 is random)
Sheared?
Can break doors?
Explosion radius: Blocks Reset
Fuse Time: Seconds Reset (Time before creeper explodes)
Creeper ignited?
Explosion power: Blocks Reset (Explosion radius from fireball)
Conversion Time seconds Reset (Time before zombie becomes a villager)
Anger: Seconds Reset (Time while pigman is angry, -1 is forever)
1.9+ This horse is a skeleton trap (If a player come near this horse it transform into 4 skeletons horse mans)
1.9+ Loot table: Customizable here)
Item/weapon in main hand: None Stone Granite Polished Granite Diorite Polished Diorite Andesite Polished Andesite Grass Block Dirt Coarse Dirt Podzol Cobblestone Oak Planks Spruce Planks Birch Planks Jungle Planks Acacia Planks Dark Oak Planks Oak Sapling Spruce Sapling Birch Sapling Jungle Sapling Acacia Sapling Dark Oak Sapling Bedrock Sand Red Sand Gravel Gold Ore Iron Ore Coal Ore Oak Log Spruce Log Birch Log Jungle Log Oak Leaves Spruce Leaves Birch Leaves Jungle Leaves Sponge Wet Sponge Glass Lapis Lazuli Ore Lapis Lazuli Block Dispenser Sandstone Chiseled Sandstone Cut Sandstone Note Block Powered Rail Detector Rail Sticky Piston Cobweb Grass Fern Dead Bush Piston White Wool Orange Wool Magenta Wool Light Blue Wool Yellow Wool Lime Wool Pink Wool Gray Wool Light Gray Wool Cyan Wool Purple Wool Blue Wool Brown Wool Green Wool Red Wool Black Wool Dandelion Poppy Blue Orchid Allium Azure Bluet Red Tulip Orange Tulip White Tulip Pink Tulip Oxeye Daisy Cornflower Lily of the Valley Wither Rose Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Block of Gold Block of Iron Smooth Stone Smooth Sandstone Smooth Quartz Block Smooth Stone Slab Sandstone Slab Petrified Oak Slab Cobblestone Slab Brick Slab Stone Brick Slab Nether Brick Slab Quartz Slab Bricks TNT Bookshelf Mossy Cobblestone Obsidian Torch Oak Stairs Chest Diamond Ore Block of Diamond Crafting Table Furnace Spruce Sign Birch Sign Jungle Sign Acacia Sign Dark Oak Sign Crimson Sign Warped Sign Ladder Rail Cobblestone Stairs Lever Stone Pressure Plate Oak Pressure Plate Spruce Pressure Plate Birch Pressure Plate Jungle Pressure Plate Acacia Pressure Plate Dark Oak Pressure Plate Redstone Ore Redstone Torch Stone Button Snow Ice Snow Block Cactus Clay Jukebox Oak Fence Pumpkin Carved Pumpkin Netherrack Soul Sand Glowstone Jack o'Lantern White Stained Glass Orange Stained Glass Magenta Stained Glass Light Blue Stained Glass Yellow Stained Glass Lime Stained Glass Pink Stained Glass Gray Stained Glass Light Gray Stained Glass Cyan Stained Glass Purple Stained Glass Blue Stained Glass Brown Stained Glass Green Stained Glass Red Stained Glass Black Stained Glass Oak Trapdoor Spruce Trapdoor Birch Trapdoor Jungle Trapdoor Acacia Trapdoor Dark Oak Trapdoor Infested Stone Infested Cobblestone Infested Stone Bricks Infested Mossy Stone Bricks Infested Cracked Stone Bricks Infested Chiseled Stone Bricks Stone Bricks Mossy Stone Bricks Cracked Stone Bricks Chiseled Stone Bricks Iron Bars Glass Pane Melon Vines Oak Fence Gate Brick Stairs Stone Brick Stairs Mycelium Lily Pad Nether Bricks Nether Brick Fence Nether Brick Stairs Enchanting Table End Portal Frame End Stone Redstone Lamp Oak Slab Spruce Slab Birch Slab Jungle Slab Acacia Slab Dark Oak Slab Sandstone Stairs Emerald Ore Ender Chest Tripwire Hook Block of Emerald Spruce Stairs Birch Stairs Jungle Stairs Command Block Beacon Cobblestone Wall Mossy Cobblestone Wall Oak Button Spruce Button Birch Button Jungle Button Acacia Button Dark Oak Button Anvil Chipped Anvil Damaged Anvil Trapped Chest Light Weighted Pressure Plate Heavy Weighted Pressure Plate Daylight Detector Block of Redstone Nether Quartz Ore Hopper Block of Quartz Chiseled Quartz Block Quartz Pillar Quartz Stairs Activator Rail Dropper White Terracotta Orange Terracotta Magenta Terracotta Light Blue Terracotta Yellow Terracotta Lime Terracotta Pink Terracotta Gray Terracotta Light Gray Terracotta Cyan Terracotta Purple Terracotta Blue Terracotta Brown Terracotta Green Terracotta Red Terracotta Black Terracotta White Stained Glass Pane Orange Stained Glass Pane Magenta Stained Glass Pane Light Blue Stained Glass Pane Yellow Stained Glass Pane Lime Stained Glass Pane Pink Stained Glass Pane Gray Stained Glass Pane Light Gray Stained Glass Pane Cyan Stained Glass Pane Purple Stained Glass Pane Blue Stained Glass Pane Brown Stained Glass Pane Green Stained Glass Pane Red Stained Glass Pane Black Stained Glass Pane Acacia Leaves Dark Oak Leaves Acacia Log Dark Oak Log Acacia Stairs Dark Oak Stairs Slime Block Iron Trapdoor Prismarine Prismarine Bricks Dark Prismarine Sea Lantern Hay Bale White Carpet Orange Carpet Magenta Carpet Light Blue Carpet Yellow Carpet Lime Carpet Pink Carpet Gray Carpet Light Gray Carpet Cyan Carpet Purple Carpet Blue Carpet Brown Carpet Green Carpet Red Carpet Black Carpet Terracotta Block of Coal Packed Ice Sunflower Lilac Tall Grass Large Fern Rose Bush Peony White Banner Orange Banner Magenta Banner Light Blue Banner Yellow Banner Lime Banner Pink Banner Gray Banner Light Gray Banner Cyan Banner Purple Banner Blue Banner Brown Banner Green Banner Red Banner Black Banner Red Sandstone Chiseled Red Sandstone Cut Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Slab Spruce Fence Gate Birch Fence Gate Jungle Fence Gate Dark Oak Fence Gate Acacia Fence Gate Spruce Fence Birch Fence Jungle Fence Dark Oak Fence Acacia Fence End Rod Chorus Plant Chorus Flower Chorus Flower Purpur Block Purpur Pillar Purpur Stairs Purpur Slab End Stone Bricks Magma Block Nether Wart Block Red Nether Bricks Bone Block Observer Shulker Box White Shulker Box Orange Shulker Box Magenta Shulker Box Light Blue Shulker Box Yellow Shulker Box Lime Shulker Box Pink Shulker Box Gray Shulker Box Light Gray Shulker Box Cyan Shulker Box Purple Shulker Box Blue Shulker Box Brown Shulker Box Green Shulker Box Red Shulker Box Black Shulker Box White Glazed Terracotta Orange Glazed Terracotta Magenta Glazed Terracotta Light Blue Glazed Terracotta Yellow Glazed Terracotta Lime Glazed Terracotta Pink Glazed Terracotta Gray Glazed Terracotta Light Gray Glazed Terracotta Cyan Glazed Terracotta Purple Glazed Terracotta Blue Glazed Terracotta Brown Glazed Terracotta Green Glazed Terracotta Red Glazed Terracotta Black Glazed Terracotta White Concrete Orange Concrete Magenta Concrete Light Blue Concrete Yellow Concrete Lime Concrete Pink Concrete Gray Concrete Light Gray Concrete Cyan Concrete Purple Concrete Blue Concrete Brown Concrete Green Concrete Red Concrete Black Concrete White Concrete Powder Orange Concrete Powder Magenta Concrete Powder Light Blue Concrete Powder Yellow Concrete Powder Lime Concrete Powder Pink Concrete Powder Gray Concrete Powder Light Gray Concrete Powder Cyan Concrete Powder Purple Concrete Powder Blue Concrete Powder Brown Concrete Powder Green Concrete Powder Red Concrete Powder Black Concrete Powder Oak Wood Spruce Wood Birch Wood Jungle Wood Acacia Wood Dark Oak Wood Turtle Egg Seagrass Dried Kelp Block Stripped Oak Log Stripped Spruce Log Stripped Birch Log Stripped Jungle Log Stripped Acacia Log Stripped Dark Oak Log Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Brick Stairs Dark Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Slab Prismarine Brick Slab Dark Prismarine Slab Tube Coral Block Brain Coral Block Bubble Coral Block Fire Coral Block Horn Coral Block Dead Tube Coral Block Dead Brain Coral Block Dead Bubble Coral Block Dead Fire Coral Block Dead Horn Coral Block Tube Coral Brain Coral Bubble Coral Fire Coral Horn Coral Dead Tube Coral Dead Brain Coral Dead Bubble Coral Dead Fire Coral Dead Horn Coral Tube Coral Fan Brain Coral Fan Bubble Coral Fan Fire Coral Fan Horn Coral Fan Dead Tube Coral Fan Dead Brain Coral Fan Dead Bubble Coral Fan Dead Fire Coral Fan Dead Horn Coral Fan Sea Pickle Blue Ice Conduit Stripped Oak Wood Stripped Spruce Wood Stripped Birch Wood Stripped Jungle Wood Stripped Acacia Wood Stripped Dark Oak Wood Barrel Campfire Cartography Table Composter Fletching Table Grindstone Lantern Lectern Loom Smithing Table Stonecutter Stone Stairs Granite Stairs Polished Granite Stairs Diorite Stairs Polished Diorite Stairs Andesite Stairs Polished Andesite Stairs Red Nether Brick Stairs End Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Cobblestone Stairs Smooth Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Quartz Stairs Stone Slab Granite Slab Polished Granite Slab Diorite Slab Polished Diorite Slab Andesite Slab Polished Andesite Slab Red Nether Brick Slab End Stone Brick Slab Mossy Stone Brick Slab Mossy Cobblestone Slab Smooth Sandstone Slab Smooth Red Sandstone Slab Smooth Quartz Slab Cut Sandstone Slab Double Cut Sandstone Slab Cut Red Sandstone Slab Brick Wall Granite Wall Diorite Wall Andesite Wall Prismarine Wall Stone Brick Wall Mossy Stone Brick Wall End Stone Brick Wall Nether Brick Wall Red Nether Brick Wall Sandstone Wall Red Sandstone Wall Bamboo Bell Blast Furnace Lit Blast Furnace Smoker Lit Smoker Scaffolding Bee Nest Beehive Honey Block Honeycomb Block Ancient Debris Block of Netherite Basalt Crimson Nylium Warped Nylium Crimson Stem Warped Stem Warped Wart Block Soul Torch Soul Lantern Soul Soil Shroomlight Stripped Crimson Stem Stripped Warped Stem Crimson Planks Warped Planks Crimson Fence Warped Fence Crimson Fence Gate Warped Fence Gate Crimson Door Warped Door Crimson Trapdoor Warped Trapdoor Crimson Pressure Plate Warped Pressure Plate Crimson Button Warped Button Crimson Slab Warped Slab Crimson Stairs Warped Stairs Crimson Fungus Warped Fungus Crimson Roots Warped Roots Nether Sprouts Weeping Vines Target Crying Obsidian Crimson Hyphae Warped Hyphae Stripped Crimson Hyphae Stripped Warped Hyphae Nether Gold Ore Twisting Vines Respawn Anchor Polished Basalt Lodestone Blackstone Blackstone Slab Blackstone Stairs Blackstone Wall Chiseled Nether Bricks Cracked Nether Bricks Polished Blackstone Polished Blackstone Slab Polished Blackstone Stairs Polished Blackstone Wall Chiseled Polished Blackstone Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Brick Slab Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs Polished Blackstone Brick Wall Polished Blackstone Button Polished Blackstone Pressure Plate Gilded Blackstone Quartz Bricks Soul Campfire Chain Iron Shovel Iron Pickaxe Iron Axe Flint and Steel Apple Bow Arrow Coal Charcoal Diamond Iron Ingot Gold Ingot Iron Sword Wooden Sword Wooden Shovel Wooden Pickaxe Wooden Axe Stone Sword Stone Shovel Stone Pickaxe Stone Axe Diamond Sword Diamond Shovel Diamond Pickaxe Diamond Axe Netherite Sword Netherite Shovel Netherite Pickaxe Netherite Axe Stick Bowl Mushroom Stew Golden Sword Golden Shovel Golden Pickaxe Golden Axe String Feather Gunpowder Wooden Hoe Stone Hoe Iron Hoe Diamond Hoe Golden Hoe Netherite Hoe Wheat Seeds Wheat Bread Leather Cap Leather Tunic Leather Pants Leather Boots Chainmail Helmet Chainmail Chestplate Chainmail Leggings Chainmail Boots Iron Helmet Iron Chestplate Iron Leggings Iron Boots Diamond Helmet Diamond Chestplate Diamond Leggings Diamond Boots Golden Helmet Golden Chestplate Golden Leggings Golden Boots Netherite Helmet Netherite Chestplate Netherite Leggings Netherite Boots Flint Raw Porkchop Cooked Porkchop Painting Golden Apple Enchanted Golden Apple Oak Sign Oak Door Bucket Water Bucket Lava Bucket Minecart Saddle Iron Door Redstone Dust Snowball Oak Boat Leather Milk Bucket Brick Clay Ball Sugar Cane Paper Book Slimeball Minecart with Chest Minecart with Furnace Egg Compass Fishing Rod Clock Glowstone Dust Raw Cod Raw Salmon Tropical Fish Pufferfish Cooked Cod Cooked Salmon Ink Sac Black Dye Red Dye Green Dye Cocoa Beans Brown Dye Lapis Lazuli Blue Dye Purple Dye Cyan Dye Light Gray Dye Gray Dye Pink Dye Lime Dye Yellow Dye Light Blue Dye Magenta Dye Orange Dye Bone Meal White Dye Bone Sugar Cake Bed White Bed Orange Bed Magenta Bed Light Blue Bed Yellow Bed Lime Bed Pink Bed Gray Bed Light Gray Bed Cyan Bed Purple Bed Blue Bed Brown Bed Green Bed Red Bed Black Bed Redstone Repeater Cookie Shears Melon Slice Pumpkin Seeds Melon Seeds Raw Beef Steak Raw Chicken Cooked Chicken Rotten Flesh Ender Pearl Blaze Rod Ghast Tear Gold Nugget Nether Wart Potion Glass Bottle Spider Eye Fermented Spider Eye Blaze Powder Magma Cream Brewing Stand Cauldron Eye of Ender Glistering Melon Slice Bottle o' Enchanting Fire Charge Book and Quill Emerald Item Frame Flower Pot Carrot Potato Baked Potato Poisonous Potato Empty Map Golden Carrot Skeleton Skull Wither Skeleton Skull Zombie Head Player Head Creeper Head Dragon Head Carrot on a Stick Nether Star Pumpkin Pie Firework Star Redstone Comparator Nether Brick Nether Quartz Minecart with TNT Minecart with Hopper Prismarine Shard Prismarine Crystals Raw Rabbit Cooked Rabbit Rabbit Stew Rabbit's Foot Rabbit Hide Armor Stand Leather Horse Armor Iron Horse Armor Golden Horse Armor Diamond Horse Armor Lead Name Tag Raw Mutton Cooked Mutton Black Banner Red Banner Green Banner Brown Banner Blue Banner Purple Banner Cyan Banner Light Gray Banner Gray Banner Pink Banner Lime Banner Yellow Banner Light Blue Banner Magenta Banner Orange Banner White Banner End Crystal Spruce Door Birch Door Jungle Door Acacia Door Dark Oak Door Chorus Fruit Popped Chorus Fruit Beetroot Beetroot Seeds Beetroot Soup Dragon's Breath Splash Potion Spectral Arrow Tipped Arrow Lingering Potion Shield Elytra Spruce Boat Birch Boat Jungle Boat Acacia Boat Dark Oak Boat Totem of Undying Shulker Shell Iron Nugget Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Kelp Dried Kelp Scute Turtle Shell Trident Bucket of Cod Bucket of Salmon Bucket of Pufferfish Bucket of Tropical Fish Phantom Membrane Nautilus Shell Heart of the Sea Sweet Berries Crossbow Banner Pattern Flower Banner Pattern Skull Banner Pattern Creeper Banner Pattern Thing Banner Pattern Globe Banner Pattern Piglin Honey Bottle Honeycomb Netherite Scrap Netherite Ingot Warped Fungus on a Stick Music Disc Creeper Spawn Egg Skeleton Spawn Egg Wither Skeleton Spawn Egg Stray Spawn Egg Spider Spawn Egg Zombie Spawn Egg Zombie Villager Spawn Egg Husk Spawn Egg Slime Spawn Egg Ghast Spawn Egg Zombie Pigman Spawn Egg Enderman Spawn Egg Cave Spider Spawn Egg Silverfish Spawn Egg Blaze Spawn Egg Magma Cube Spawn Egg Bat Spawn Egg Witch Spawn Egg Endermite Spawn Egg Guardian Spawn Egg Elder Guardian Spawn Egg Shulker Spawn Egg Evoker Spawn Egg Vex Spawn Egg Vindicator Spawn Egg Phantom Spawn Egg Drowned Spawn Egg Pig Spawn Egg Sheep Spawn Egg Cow Spawn Egg Chicken Spawn Egg Squid Spawn Egg Wolf Spawn Egg Mooshroom Spawn Egg Ocelot Spawn Egg Cat Spawn Egg Horse Spawn Egg Donkey Spawn Egg Mule Spawn Egg Zombie Horse Spawn Egg Skeleton Horse Spawn Egg Rabbit Spawn Egg Polar Bear Spawn Egg Llama Spawn Egg Parrot Spawn Egg Villager Spawn Egg Turtle Spawn Egg Dolphin Spawn Egg Cod Spawn Egg Salmon Spawn Egg Pufferfish Spawn Egg Tropical Fish Spawn Egg Fox Spawn Egg Panda Spawn Egg Pillager Spawn Egg Ravager Spawn Egg Wandering Trader Spawn Egg Trader Llama Spawn Egg Bee Spawn Egg Hoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Spawn Egg Zombified Piglin Spawn Egg Strider Spawn Egg Zoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Brute Spawn Egg Water Bottle Awkward Potion Thick Potion Mundane Potion Splash Water Bottle Awkward Splash Potion Thick Splash Potion Mundane Splash Potion Lingering Water Bottle Awkward Lingering Potion Thick Lingering Potion Mundane Lingering Potion Uncraftable Tipped Arrow Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Potion of Slowness Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Potion of Healing Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Arrow of Healing Arrow of Healing Potion of Harming Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Arrow of Harming Arrow of Harming Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Potion of Fire Resistance Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Potion of Water Breathing Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Potion of Invisibility Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Potion of Night Vision Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Potion of Weakness Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Potion of Luck Splash Potion of Luck Lingering Potion of Luck Arrow of Luck Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Potion of Slow Falling Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Default Color Item name: Item lore: Enchantments: Protection Fire Protection Feather Falling Blast Protection Projectile Protection Respiration Aqua Affinity Thorns Depth Strider Frost Walker Curse of Binding Sharpness Smite Bane of Arthropods Knockback Fire Aspect Looting Sweeping Edge Efficiency Silk Touch Unbreaking Fortune Power Punch Flame Infinity Luck of the Sea Lure Loyalty Impaling Riptide Channeling Multishot Quick Charge Piercing Mending Curse of Vanishing Soul Speed Protection
Level:
Fire Protection
Level:
Feather Falling
Level:
Blast Protection
Level:
Projectile Protection
Level:
Respiration
Level:
Aqua Affinity
Level:
Thorns
Level:
Depth Strider
Level:
Frost Walker
Level:
Curse of Binding
Level:
Sharpness
Level:
Smite
Level:
Bane of Arthropods
Level:
Knockback
Level:
Fire Aspect
Level:
Looting
Level:
Sweeping Edge
Level:
Efficiency
Level:
Silk Touch
Level:
Unbreaking
Level:
Fortune
Level:
Power
Level:
Punch
Level:
Flame
Level:
Infinity
Level:
Luck of the Sea
Level:
Lure
Level:
Loyalty
Level:
Impaling
Level:
Riptide
Level:
Channeling
Level:
Multishot
Level:
Quick Charge
Level:
Piercing
Level:
Mending
Level:
Curse of Vanishing
Level:
Soul Speed
Level:
Drop chance (%): Reset Stack size: Reset
1.9+ Item/weapon in off hand: None Stone Granite Polished Granite Diorite Polished Diorite Andesite Polished Andesite Grass Block Dirt Coarse Dirt Podzol Cobblestone Oak Planks Spruce Planks Birch Planks Jungle Planks Acacia Planks Dark Oak Planks Oak Sapling Spruce Sapling Birch Sapling Jungle Sapling Acacia Sapling Dark Oak Sapling Bedrock Sand Red Sand Gravel Gold Ore Iron Ore Coal Ore Oak Log Spruce Log Birch Log Jungle Log Oak Leaves Spruce Leaves Birch Leaves Jungle Leaves Sponge Wet Sponge Glass Lapis Lazuli Ore Lapis Lazuli Block Dispenser Sandstone Chiseled Sandstone Cut Sandstone Note Block Powered Rail Detector Rail Sticky Piston Cobweb Grass Fern Dead Bush Piston White Wool Orange Wool Magenta Wool Light Blue Wool Yellow Wool Lime Wool Pink Wool Gray Wool Light Gray Wool Cyan Wool Purple Wool Blue Wool Brown Wool Green Wool Red Wool Black Wool Dandelion Poppy Blue Orchid Allium Azure Bluet Red Tulip Orange Tulip White Tulip Pink Tulip Oxeye Daisy Cornflower Lily of the Valley Wither Rose Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Block of Gold Block of Iron Smooth Stone Smooth Sandstone Smooth Quartz Block Smooth Stone Slab Sandstone Slab Petrified Oak Slab Cobblestone Slab Brick Slab Stone Brick Slab Nether Brick Slab Quartz Slab Bricks TNT Bookshelf Mossy Cobblestone Obsidian Torch Oak Stairs Chest Diamond Ore Block of Diamond Crafting Table Furnace Spruce Sign Birch Sign Jungle Sign Acacia Sign Dark Oak Sign Crimson Sign Warped Sign Ladder Rail Cobblestone Stairs Lever Stone Pressure Plate Oak Pressure Plate Spruce Pressure Plate Birch Pressure Plate Jungle Pressure Plate Acacia Pressure Plate Dark Oak Pressure Plate Redstone Ore Redstone Torch Stone Button Snow Ice Snow Block Cactus Clay Jukebox Oak Fence Pumpkin Carved Pumpkin Netherrack Soul Sand Glowstone Jack o'Lantern White Stained Glass Orange Stained Glass Magenta Stained Glass Light Blue Stained Glass Yellow Stained Glass Lime Stained Glass Pink Stained Glass Gray Stained Glass Light Gray Stained Glass Cyan Stained Glass Purple Stained Glass Blue Stained Glass Brown Stained Glass Green Stained Glass Red Stained Glass Black Stained Glass Oak Trapdoor Spruce Trapdoor Birch Trapdoor Jungle Trapdoor Acacia Trapdoor Dark Oak Trapdoor Infested Stone Infested Cobblestone Infested Stone Bricks Infested Mossy Stone Bricks Infested Cracked Stone Bricks Infested Chiseled Stone Bricks Stone Bricks Mossy Stone Bricks Cracked Stone Bricks Chiseled Stone Bricks Iron Bars Glass Pane Melon Vines Oak Fence Gate Brick Stairs Stone Brick Stairs Mycelium Lily Pad Nether Bricks Nether Brick Fence Nether Brick Stairs Enchanting Table End Portal Frame End Stone Redstone Lamp Oak Slab Spruce Slab Birch Slab Jungle Slab Acacia Slab Dark Oak Slab Sandstone Stairs Emerald Ore Ender Chest Tripwire Hook Block of Emerald Spruce Stairs Birch Stairs Jungle Stairs Command Block Beacon Cobblestone Wall Mossy Cobblestone Wall Oak Button Spruce Button Birch Button Jungle Button Acacia Button Dark Oak Button Anvil Chipped Anvil Damaged Anvil Trapped Chest Light Weighted Pressure Plate Heavy Weighted Pressure Plate Daylight Detector Block of Redstone Nether Quartz Ore Hopper Block of Quartz Chiseled Quartz Block Quartz Pillar Quartz Stairs Activator Rail Dropper White Terracotta Orange Terracotta Magenta Terracotta Light Blue Terracotta Yellow Terracotta Lime Terracotta Pink Terracotta Gray Terracotta Light Gray Terracotta Cyan Terracotta Purple Terracotta Blue Terracotta Brown Terracotta Green Terracotta Red Terracotta Black Terracotta White Stained Glass Pane Orange Stained Glass Pane Magenta Stained Glass Pane Light Blue Stained Glass Pane Yellow Stained Glass Pane Lime Stained Glass Pane Pink Stained Glass Pane Gray Stained Glass Pane Light Gray Stained Glass Pane Cyan Stained Glass Pane Purple Stained Glass Pane Blue Stained Glass Pane Brown Stained Glass Pane Green Stained Glass Pane Red Stained Glass Pane Black Stained Glass Pane Acacia Leaves Dark Oak Leaves Acacia Log Dark Oak Log Acacia Stairs Dark Oak Stairs Slime Block Iron Trapdoor Prismarine Prismarine Bricks Dark Prismarine Sea Lantern Hay Bale White Carpet Orange Carpet Magenta Carpet Light Blue Carpet Yellow Carpet Lime Carpet Pink Carpet Gray Carpet Light Gray Carpet Cyan Carpet Purple Carpet Blue Carpet Brown Carpet Green Carpet Red Carpet Black Carpet Terracotta Block of Coal Packed Ice Sunflower Lilac Tall Grass Large Fern Rose Bush Peony White Banner Orange Banner Magenta Banner Light Blue Banner Yellow Banner Lime Banner Pink Banner Gray Banner Light Gray Banner Cyan Banner Purple Banner Blue Banner Brown Banner Green Banner Red Banner Black Banner Red Sandstone Chiseled Red Sandstone Cut Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Slab Spruce Fence Gate Birch Fence Gate Jungle Fence Gate Dark Oak Fence Gate Acacia Fence Gate Spruce Fence Birch Fence Jungle Fence Dark Oak Fence Acacia Fence End Rod Chorus Plant Chorus Flower Chorus Flower Purpur Block Purpur Pillar Purpur Stairs Purpur Slab End Stone Bricks Magma Block Nether Wart Block Red Nether Bricks Bone Block Observer Shulker Box White Shulker Box Orange Shulker Box Magenta Shulker Box Light Blue Shulker Box Yellow Shulker Box Lime Shulker Box Pink Shulker Box Gray Shulker Box Light Gray Shulker Box Cyan Shulker Box Purple Shulker Box Blue Shulker Box Brown Shulker Box Green Shulker Box Red Shulker Box Black Shulker Box White Glazed Terracotta Orange Glazed Terracotta Magenta Glazed Terracotta Light Blue Glazed Terracotta Yellow Glazed Terracotta Lime Glazed Terracotta Pink Glazed Terracotta Gray Glazed Terracotta Light Gray Glazed Terracotta Cyan Glazed Terracotta Purple Glazed Terracotta Blue Glazed Terracotta Brown Glazed Terracotta Green Glazed Terracotta Red Glazed Terracotta Black Glazed Terracotta White Concrete Orange Concrete Magenta Concrete Light Blue Concrete Yellow Concrete Lime Concrete Pink Concrete Gray Concrete Light Gray Concrete Cyan Concrete Purple Concrete Blue Concrete Brown Concrete Green Concrete Red Concrete Black Concrete White Concrete Powder Orange Concrete Powder Magenta Concrete Powder Light Blue Concrete Powder Yellow Concrete Powder Lime Concrete Powder Pink Concrete Powder Gray Concrete Powder Light Gray Concrete Powder Cyan Concrete Powder Purple Concrete Powder Blue Concrete Powder Brown Concrete Powder Green Concrete Powder Red Concrete Powder Black Concrete Powder Oak Wood Spruce Wood Birch Wood Jungle Wood Acacia Wood Dark Oak Wood Turtle Egg Seagrass Dried Kelp Block Stripped Oak Log Stripped Spruce Log Stripped Birch Log Stripped Jungle Log Stripped Acacia Log Stripped Dark Oak Log Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Brick Stairs Dark Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Slab Prismarine Brick Slab Dark Prismarine Slab Tube Coral Block Brain Coral Block Bubble Coral Block Fire Coral Block Horn Coral Block Dead Tube Coral Block Dead Brain Coral Block Dead Bubble Coral Block Dead Fire Coral Block Dead Horn Coral Block Tube Coral Brain Coral Bubble Coral Fire Coral Horn Coral Dead Tube Coral Dead Brain Coral Dead Bubble Coral Dead Fire Coral Dead Horn Coral Tube Coral Fan Brain Coral Fan Bubble Coral Fan Fire Coral Fan Horn Coral Fan Dead Tube Coral Fan Dead Brain Coral Fan Dead Bubble Coral Fan Dead Fire Coral Fan Dead Horn Coral Fan Sea Pickle Blue Ice Conduit Stripped Oak Wood Stripped Spruce Wood Stripped Birch Wood Stripped Jungle Wood Stripped Acacia Wood Stripped Dark Oak Wood Barrel Campfire Cartography Table Composter Fletching Table Grindstone Lantern Lectern Loom Smithing Table Stonecutter Stone Stairs Granite Stairs Polished Granite Stairs Diorite Stairs Polished Diorite Stairs Andesite Stairs Polished Andesite Stairs Red Nether Brick Stairs End Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Cobblestone Stairs Smooth Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Quartz Stairs Stone Slab Granite Slab Polished Granite Slab Diorite Slab Polished Diorite Slab Andesite Slab Polished Andesite Slab Red Nether Brick Slab End Stone Brick Slab Mossy Stone Brick Slab Mossy Cobblestone Slab Smooth Sandstone Slab Smooth Red Sandstone Slab Smooth Quartz Slab Cut Sandstone Slab Double Cut Sandstone Slab Cut Red Sandstone Slab Brick Wall Granite Wall Diorite Wall Andesite Wall Prismarine Wall Stone Brick Wall Mossy Stone Brick Wall End Stone Brick Wall Nether Brick Wall Red Nether Brick Wall Sandstone Wall Red Sandstone Wall Bamboo Bell Blast Furnace Lit Blast Furnace Smoker Lit Smoker Scaffolding Bee Nest Beehive Honey Block Honeycomb Block Ancient Debris Block of Netherite Basalt Crimson Nylium Warped Nylium Crimson Stem Warped Stem Warped Wart Block Soul Torch Soul Lantern Soul Soil Shroomlight Stripped Crimson Stem Stripped Warped Stem Crimson Planks Warped Planks Crimson Fence Warped Fence Crimson Fence Gate Warped Fence Gate Crimson Door Warped Door Crimson Trapdoor Warped Trapdoor Crimson Pressure Plate Warped Pressure Plate Crimson Button Warped Button Crimson Slab Warped Slab Crimson Stairs Warped Stairs Crimson Fungus Warped Fungus Crimson Roots Warped Roots Nether Sprouts Weeping Vines Target Crying Obsidian Crimson Hyphae Warped Hyphae Stripped Crimson Hyphae Stripped Warped Hyphae Nether Gold Ore Twisting Vines Respawn Anchor Polished Basalt Lodestone Blackstone Blackstone Slab Blackstone Stairs Blackstone Wall Chiseled Nether Bricks Cracked Nether Bricks Polished Blackstone Polished Blackstone Slab Polished Blackstone Stairs Polished Blackstone Wall Chiseled Polished Blackstone Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Brick Slab Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs Polished Blackstone Brick Wall Polished Blackstone Button Polished Blackstone Pressure Plate Gilded Blackstone Quartz Bricks Soul Campfire Chain Iron Shovel Iron Pickaxe Iron Axe Flint and Steel Apple Bow Arrow Coal Charcoal Diamond Iron Ingot Gold Ingot Iron Sword Wooden Sword Wooden Shovel Wooden Pickaxe Wooden Axe Stone Sword Stone Shovel Stone Pickaxe Stone Axe Diamond Sword Diamond Shovel Diamond Pickaxe Diamond Axe Netherite Sword Netherite Shovel Netherite Pickaxe Netherite Axe Stick Bowl Mushroom Stew Golden Sword Golden Shovel Golden Pickaxe Golden Axe String Feather Gunpowder Wooden Hoe Stone Hoe Iron Hoe Diamond Hoe Golden Hoe Netherite Hoe Wheat Seeds Wheat Bread Leather Cap Leather Tunic Leather Pants Leather Boots Chainmail Helmet Chainmail Chestplate Chainmail Leggings Chainmail Boots Iron Helmet Iron Chestplate Iron Leggings Iron Boots Diamond Helmet Diamond Chestplate Diamond Leggings Diamond Boots Golden Helmet Golden Chestplate Golden Leggings Golden Boots Netherite Helmet Netherite Chestplate Netherite Leggings Netherite Boots Flint Raw Porkchop Cooked Porkchop Painting Golden Apple Enchanted Golden Apple Oak Sign Oak Door Bucket Water Bucket Lava Bucket Minecart Saddle Iron Door Redstone Dust Snowball Oak Boat Leather Milk Bucket Brick Clay Ball Sugar Cane Paper Book Slimeball Minecart with Chest Minecart with Furnace Egg Compass Fishing Rod Clock Glowstone Dust Raw Cod Raw Salmon Tropical Fish Pufferfish Cooked Cod Cooked Salmon Ink Sac Black Dye Red Dye Green Dye Cocoa Beans Brown Dye Lapis Lazuli Blue Dye Purple Dye Cyan Dye Light Gray Dye Gray Dye Pink Dye Lime Dye Yellow Dye Light Blue Dye Magenta Dye Orange Dye Bone Meal White Dye Bone Sugar Cake Bed White Bed Orange Bed Magenta Bed Light Blue Bed Yellow Bed Lime Bed Pink Bed Gray Bed Light Gray Bed Cyan Bed Purple Bed Blue Bed Brown Bed Green Bed Red Bed Black Bed Redstone Repeater Cookie Shears Melon Slice Pumpkin Seeds Melon Seeds Raw Beef Steak Raw Chicken Cooked Chicken Rotten Flesh Ender Pearl Blaze Rod Ghast Tear Gold Nugget Nether Wart Potion Glass Bottle Spider Eye Fermented Spider Eye Blaze Powder Magma Cream Brewing Stand Cauldron Eye of Ender Glistering Melon Slice Bottle o' Enchanting Fire Charge Book and Quill Emerald Item Frame Flower Pot Carrot Potato Baked Potato Poisonous Potato Empty Map Golden Carrot Skeleton Skull Wither Skeleton Skull Zombie Head Player Head Creeper Head Dragon Head Carrot on a Stick Nether Star Pumpkin Pie Firework Star Redstone Comparator Nether Brick Nether Quartz Minecart with TNT Minecart with Hopper Prismarine Shard Prismarine Crystals Raw Rabbit Cooked Rabbit Rabbit Stew Rabbit's Foot Rabbit Hide Armor Stand Leather Horse Armor Iron Horse Armor Golden Horse Armor Diamond Horse Armor Lead Name Tag Raw Mutton Cooked Mutton Black Banner Red Banner Green Banner Brown Banner Blue Banner Purple Banner Cyan Banner Light Gray Banner Gray Banner Pink Banner Lime Banner Yellow Banner Light Blue Banner Magenta Banner Orange Banner White Banner End Crystal Spruce Door Birch Door Jungle Door Acacia Door Dark Oak Door Chorus Fruit Popped Chorus Fruit Beetroot Beetroot Seeds Beetroot Soup Dragon's Breath Splash Potion Spectral Arrow Tipped Arrow Lingering Potion Shield Elytra Spruce Boat Birch Boat Jungle Boat Acacia Boat Dark Oak Boat Totem of Undying Shulker Shell Iron Nugget Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Kelp Dried Kelp Scute Turtle Shell Trident Bucket of Cod Bucket of Salmon Bucket of Pufferfish Bucket of Tropical Fish Phantom Membrane Nautilus Shell Heart of the Sea Sweet Berries Crossbow Banner Pattern Flower Banner Pattern Skull Banner Pattern Creeper Banner Pattern Thing Banner Pattern Globe Banner Pattern Piglin Honey Bottle Honeycomb Netherite Scrap Netherite Ingot Warped Fungus on a Stick Music Disc Creeper Spawn Egg Skeleton Spawn Egg Wither Skeleton Spawn Egg Stray Spawn Egg Spider Spawn Egg Zombie Spawn Egg Zombie Villager Spawn Egg Husk Spawn Egg Slime Spawn Egg Ghast Spawn Egg Zombie Pigman Spawn Egg Enderman Spawn Egg Cave Spider Spawn Egg Silverfish Spawn Egg Blaze Spawn Egg Magma Cube Spawn Egg Bat Spawn Egg Witch Spawn Egg Endermite Spawn Egg Guardian Spawn Egg Elder Guardian Spawn Egg Shulker Spawn Egg Evoker Spawn Egg Vex Spawn Egg Vindicator Spawn Egg Phantom Spawn Egg Drowned Spawn Egg Pig Spawn Egg Sheep Spawn Egg Cow Spawn Egg Chicken Spawn Egg Squid Spawn Egg Wolf Spawn Egg Mooshroom Spawn Egg Ocelot Spawn Egg Cat Spawn Egg Horse Spawn Egg Donkey Spawn Egg Mule Spawn Egg Zombie Horse Spawn Egg Skeleton Horse Spawn Egg Rabbit Spawn Egg Polar Bear Spawn Egg Llama Spawn Egg Parrot Spawn Egg Villager Spawn Egg Turtle Spawn Egg Dolphin Spawn Egg Cod Spawn Egg Salmon Spawn Egg Pufferfish Spawn Egg Tropical Fish Spawn Egg Fox Spawn Egg Panda Spawn Egg Pillager Spawn Egg Ravager Spawn Egg Wandering Trader Spawn Egg Trader Llama Spawn Egg Bee Spawn Egg Hoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Spawn Egg Zombified Piglin Spawn Egg Strider Spawn Egg Zoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Brute Spawn Egg Water Bottle Awkward Potion Thick Potion Mundane Potion Splash Water Bottle Awkward Splash Potion Thick Splash Potion Mundane Splash Potion Lingering Water Bottle Awkward Lingering Potion Thick Lingering Potion Mundane Lingering Potion Uncraftable Tipped Arrow Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Potion of Slowness Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Potion of Healing Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Arrow of Healing Arrow of Healing Potion of Harming Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Arrow of Harming Arrow of Harming Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Potion of Fire Resistance Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Potion of Water Breathing Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Potion of Invisibility Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Potion of Night Vision Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Potion of Weakness Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Potion of Luck Splash Potion of Luck Lingering Potion of Luck Arrow of Luck Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Potion of Slow Falling Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Default Color Item name: Item lore: Enchantments: Protection Fire Protection Feather Falling Blast Protection Projectile Protection Respiration Aqua Affinity Thorns Depth Strider Frost Walker Curse of Binding Sharpness Smite Bane of Arthropods Knockback Fire Aspect Looting Sweeping Edge Efficiency Silk Touch Unbreaking Fortune Power Punch Flame Infinity Luck of the Sea Lure Loyalty Impaling Riptide Channeling Multishot Quick Charge Piercing Mending Curse of Vanishing Soul Speed Protection
Level:
Fire Protection
Level:
Feather Falling
Level:
Blast Protection
Level:
Projectile Protection
Level:
Respiration
Level:
Aqua Affinity
Level:
Thorns
Level:
Depth Strider
Level:
Frost Walker
Level:
Curse of Binding
Level:
Sharpness
Level:
Smite
Level:
Bane of Arthropods
Level:
Knockback
Level:
Fire Aspect
Level:
Looting
Level:
Sweeping Edge
Level:
Efficiency
Level:
Silk Touch
Level:
Unbreaking
Level:
Fortune
Level:
Power
Level:
Punch
Level:
Flame
Level:
Infinity
Level:
Luck of the Sea
Level:
Lure
Level:
Loyalty
Level:
Impaling
Level:
Riptide
Level:
Channeling
Level:
Multishot
Level:
Quick Charge
Level:
Piercing
Level:
Mending
Level:
Curse of Vanishing
Level:
Soul Speed
Level:
Drop chance (%): Reset Stack size: Reset
Head Armor Type: None Hat / Helmet Head / Skull Block Helmet Armor: Leather Cap Chainmail Helmet Iron Helmet Diamond Helmet Golden Helmet Default Color Custom Skeleton Wither Skeleton Zombie Creeper Ender Dragon Steve Blaze Cave Spider Cow Chicken Enderman Ghast Iron Golem Herobrine LavaSlime Mooshroom Ocelot Pig PigZombie Sheep Slime Spider Squid Villager Wither Wither Blaze Spider EnderDragon Snow Golem Wither Villager Sheep Villager Zombie EnderDragon Iron Golem Guardian Head Apple Eye of Ender Jukebox Camera Cactus Cake Chest Melon Log Pumpkin TNT TNT Ice Bedrock Sugar Cane Emerald Ore Redstone Ore Iron Ore Diamond Ore Gold Ore Diamond Block Emerald Block Iron Block Gold Block Redstone Block Obsidian CobbleStone Stone Stone Brick Ice Block Wood Plank Crafting Table Command Block Sponge Leaves Pumpkin Jack 'o' Lantern Ender Chest Ender Pearl Lava Block Water Block Brick Block Bookshelf Redstone Lamp Grass Block Donkey Tiger Troll Face Camera Skin Owner Name: Preview Block: Stone Granite Polished Granite Diorite Polished Diorite Andesite Polished Andesite Grass Block Dirt Coarse Dirt Podzol Cobblestone Oak Planks Spruce Planks Birch Planks Jungle Planks Acacia Planks Dark Oak Planks Oak Sapling Spruce Sapling Birch Sapling Jungle Sapling Acacia Sapling Dark Oak Sapling Bedrock Sand Red Sand Gravel Gold Ore Iron Ore Coal Ore Oak Log Spruce Log Birch Log Jungle Log Oak Leaves Spruce Leaves Birch Leaves Jungle Leaves Sponge Wet Sponge Glass Lapis Lazuli Ore Lapis Lazuli Block Dispenser Sandstone Chiseled Sandstone Cut Sandstone Note Block Powered Rail Detector Rail Sticky Piston Cobweb Grass Fern Dead Bush Piston White Wool Orange Wool Magenta Wool Light Blue Wool Yellow Wool Lime Wool Pink Wool Gray Wool Light Gray Wool Cyan Wool Purple Wool Blue Wool Brown Wool Green Wool Red Wool Black Wool Dandelion Poppy Blue Orchid Allium Azure Bluet Red Tulip Orange Tulip White Tulip Pink Tulip Oxeye Daisy Cornflower Lily of the Valley Wither Rose Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Block of Gold Block of Iron Smooth Stone Smooth Sandstone Smooth Quartz Block Smooth Stone Slab Sandstone Slab Petrified Oak Slab Cobblestone Slab Brick Slab Stone Brick Slab Nether Brick Slab Quartz Slab Bricks TNT Bookshelf Mossy Cobblestone Obsidian Torch Oak Stairs Chest Diamond Ore Block of Diamond Crafting Table Furnace Spruce Sign Birch Sign Jungle Sign Acacia Sign Dark Oak Sign Crimson Sign Warped Sign Ladder Rail Cobblestone Stairs Lever Stone Pressure Plate Oak Pressure Plate Spruce Pressure Plate Birch Pressure Plate Jungle Pressure Plate Acacia Pressure Plate Dark Oak Pressure Plate Redstone Ore Redstone Torch Stone Button Snow Ice Snow Block Cactus Clay Jukebox Oak Fence Pumpkin Carved Pumpkin Netherrack Soul Sand Glowstone Jack o'Lantern White Stained Glass Orange Stained Glass Magenta Stained Glass Light Blue Stained Glass Yellow Stained Glass Lime Stained Glass Pink Stained Glass Gray Stained Glass Light Gray Stained Glass Cyan Stained Glass Purple Stained Glass Blue Stained Glass Brown Stained Glass Green Stained Glass Red Stained Glass Black Stained Glass Oak Trapdoor Spruce Trapdoor Birch Trapdoor Jungle Trapdoor Acacia Trapdoor Dark Oak Trapdoor Infested Stone Infested Cobblestone Infested Stone Bricks Infested Mossy Stone Bricks Infested Cracked Stone Bricks Infested Chiseled Stone Bricks Stone Bricks Mossy Stone Bricks Cracked Stone Bricks Chiseled Stone Bricks Iron Bars Glass Pane Melon Vines Oak Fence Gate Brick Stairs Stone Brick Stairs Mycelium Lily Pad Nether Bricks Nether Brick Fence Nether Brick Stairs Enchanting Table End Portal Frame End Stone Redstone Lamp Oak Slab Spruce Slab Birch Slab Jungle Slab Acacia Slab Dark Oak Slab Sandstone Stairs Emerald Ore Ender Chest Tripwire Hook Block of Emerald Spruce Stairs Birch Stairs Jungle Stairs Command Block Beacon Cobblestone Wall Mossy Cobblestone Wall Oak Button Spruce Button Birch Button Jungle Button Acacia Button Dark Oak Button Anvil Chipped Anvil Damaged Anvil Trapped Chest Light Weighted Pressure Plate Heavy Weighted Pressure Plate Daylight Detector Block of Redstone Nether Quartz Ore Hopper Block of Quartz Chiseled Quartz Block Quartz Pillar Quartz Stairs Activator Rail Dropper White Terracotta Orange Terracotta Magenta Terracotta Light Blue Terracotta Yellow Terracotta Lime Terracotta Pink Terracotta Gray Terracotta Light Gray Terracotta Cyan Terracotta Purple Terracotta Blue Terracotta Brown Terracotta Green Terracotta Red Terracotta Black Terracotta White Stained Glass Pane Orange Stained Glass Pane Magenta Stained Glass Pane Light Blue Stained Glass Pane Yellow Stained Glass Pane Lime Stained Glass Pane Pink Stained Glass Pane Gray Stained Glass Pane Light Gray Stained Glass Pane Cyan Stained Glass Pane Purple Stained Glass Pane Blue Stained Glass Pane Brown Stained Glass Pane Green Stained Glass Pane Red Stained Glass Pane Black Stained Glass Pane Acacia Leaves Dark Oak Leaves Acacia Log Dark Oak Log Acacia Stairs Dark Oak Stairs Slime Block Iron Trapdoor Prismarine Prismarine Bricks Dark Prismarine Sea Lantern Hay Bale White Carpet Orange Carpet Magenta Carpet Light Blue Carpet Yellow Carpet Lime Carpet Pink Carpet Gray Carpet Light Gray Carpet Cyan Carpet Purple Carpet Blue Carpet Brown Carpet Green Carpet Red Carpet Black Carpet Terracotta Block of Coal Packed Ice Sunflower Lilac Tall Grass Large Fern Rose Bush Peony White Banner Orange Banner Magenta Banner Light Blue Banner Yellow Banner Lime Banner Pink Banner Gray Banner Light Gray Banner Cyan Banner Purple Banner Blue Banner Brown Banner Green Banner Red Banner Black Banner Red Sandstone Chiseled Red Sandstone Cut Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Slab Spruce Fence Gate Birch Fence Gate Jungle Fence Gate Dark Oak Fence Gate Acacia Fence Gate Spruce Fence Birch Fence Jungle Fence Dark Oak Fence Acacia Fence End Rod Chorus Plant Chorus Flower Chorus Flower Purpur Block Purpur Pillar Purpur Stairs Purpur Slab End Stone Bricks Magma Block Nether Wart Block Red Nether Bricks Bone Block Observer Shulker Box White Shulker Box Orange Shulker Box Magenta Shulker Box Light Blue Shulker Box Yellow Shulker Box Lime Shulker Box Pink Shulker Box Gray Shulker Box Light Gray Shulker Box Cyan Shulker Box Purple Shulker Box Blue Shulker Box Brown Shulker Box Green Shulker Box Red Shulker Box Black Shulker Box White Glazed Terracotta Orange Glazed Terracotta Magenta Glazed Terracotta Light Blue Glazed Terracotta Yellow Glazed Terracotta Lime Glazed Terracotta Pink Glazed Terracotta Gray Glazed Terracotta Light Gray Glazed Terracotta Cyan Glazed Terracotta Purple Glazed Terracotta Blue Glazed Terracotta Brown Glazed Terracotta Green Glazed Terracotta Red Glazed Terracotta Black Glazed Terracotta White Concrete Orange Concrete Magenta Concrete Light Blue Concrete Yellow Concrete Lime Concrete Pink Concrete Gray Concrete Light Gray Concrete Cyan Concrete Purple Concrete Blue Concrete Brown Concrete Green Concrete Red Concrete Black Concrete White Concrete Powder Orange Concrete Powder Magenta Concrete Powder Light Blue Concrete Powder Yellow Concrete Powder Lime Concrete Powder Pink Concrete Powder Gray Concrete Powder Light Gray Concrete Powder Cyan Concrete Powder Purple Concrete Powder Blue Concrete Powder Brown Concrete Powder Green Concrete Powder Red Concrete Powder Black Concrete Powder Oak Wood Spruce Wood Birch Wood Jungle Wood Acacia Wood Dark Oak Wood Turtle Egg Seagrass Dried Kelp Block Stripped Oak Log Stripped Spruce Log Stripped Birch Log Stripped Jungle Log Stripped Acacia Log Stripped Dark Oak Log Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Brick Stairs Dark Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Slab Prismarine Brick Slab Dark Prismarine Slab Tube Coral Block Brain Coral Block Bubble Coral Block Fire Coral Block Horn Coral Block Dead Tube Coral Block Dead Brain Coral Block Dead Bubble Coral Block Dead Fire Coral Block Dead Horn Coral Block Tube Coral Brain Coral Bubble Coral Fire Coral Horn Coral Dead Tube Coral Dead Brain Coral Dead Bubble Coral Dead Fire Coral Dead Horn Coral Tube Coral Fan Brain Coral Fan Bubble Coral Fan Fire Coral Fan Horn Coral Fan Dead Tube Coral Fan Dead Brain Coral Fan Dead Bubble Coral Fan Dead Fire Coral Fan Dead Horn Coral Fan Sea Pickle Blue Ice Conduit Stripped Oak Wood Stripped Spruce Wood Stripped Birch Wood Stripped Jungle Wood Stripped Acacia Wood Stripped Dark Oak Wood Barrel Campfire Cartography Table Composter Fletching Table Grindstone Lantern Lectern Loom Smithing Table Stonecutter Stone Stairs Granite Stairs Polished Granite Stairs Diorite Stairs Polished Diorite Stairs Andesite Stairs Polished Andesite Stairs Red Nether Brick Stairs End Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Cobblestone Stairs Smooth Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Quartz Stairs Stone Slab Granite Slab Polished Granite Slab Diorite Slab Polished Diorite Slab Andesite Slab Polished Andesite Slab Red Nether Brick Slab End Stone Brick Slab Mossy Stone Brick Slab Mossy Cobblestone Slab Smooth Sandstone Slab Smooth Red Sandstone Slab Smooth Quartz Slab Cut Sandstone Slab Double Cut Sandstone Slab Cut Red Sandstone Slab Brick Wall Granite Wall Diorite Wall Andesite Wall Prismarine Wall Stone Brick Wall Mossy Stone Brick Wall End Stone Brick Wall Nether Brick Wall Red Nether Brick Wall Sandstone Wall Red Sandstone Wall Bamboo Bell Blast Furnace Lit Blast Furnace Smoker Lit Smoker Scaffolding Bee Nest Beehive Honey Block Honeycomb Block Ancient Debris Block of Netherite Basalt Crimson Nylium Warped Nylium Crimson Stem Warped Stem Warped Wart Block Soul Torch Soul Lantern Soul Soil Shroomlight Stripped Crimson Stem Stripped Warped Stem Crimson Planks Warped Planks Crimson Fence Warped Fence Crimson Fence Gate Warped Fence Gate Crimson Door Warped Door Crimson Trapdoor Warped Trapdoor Crimson Pressure Plate Warped Pressure Plate Crimson Button Warped Button Crimson Slab Warped Slab Crimson Stairs Warped Stairs Crimson Fungus Warped Fungus Crimson Roots Warped Roots Nether Sprouts Weeping Vines Target Crying Obsidian Crimson Hyphae Warped Hyphae Stripped Crimson Hyphae Stripped Warped Hyphae Nether Gold Ore Twisting Vines Respawn Anchor Polished Basalt Lodestone Blackstone Blackstone Slab Blackstone Stairs Blackstone Wall Chiseled Nether Bricks Cracked Nether Bricks Polished Blackstone Polished Blackstone Slab Polished Blackstone Stairs Polished Blackstone Wall Chiseled Polished Blackstone Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Brick Slab Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs Polished Blackstone Brick Wall Polished Blackstone Button Polished Blackstone Pressure Plate Gilded Blackstone Quartz Bricks Soul Campfire Chain Default Color Item name: Item lore: Enchantments: Protection Fire Protection Blast Protection Projectile Protection Respiration Aqua Affinity Thorns Curse of Binding Unbreaking Mending Curse of Vanishing Protection
Level:
Fire Protection
Level:
Blast Protection
Level:
Projectile Protection
Level:
Respiration
Level:
Aqua Affinity
Level:
Thorns
Level:
Curse of Binding
Level:
Unbreaking
Level:
Mending
Level:
Curse of Vanishing
Level:
Drop chance (%): Reset Stack size: Reset
Body Armor: None Armor Drop Item Armor: Leather Tunic Chainmail Chestplate Iron Chestplate Diamond Chestplate Golden Chestplate Elytra Default Color Drop stuff: Stone Granite Polished Granite Diorite Polished Diorite Andesite Polished Andesite Grass Block Dirt Coarse Dirt Podzol Cobblestone Oak Planks Spruce Planks Birch Planks Jungle Planks Acacia Planks Dark Oak Planks Oak Sapling Spruce Sapling Birch Sapling Jungle Sapling Acacia Sapling Dark Oak Sapling Bedrock Sand Red Sand Gravel Gold Ore Iron Ore Coal Ore Oak Log Spruce Log Birch Log Jungle Log Oak Leaves Spruce Leaves Birch Leaves Jungle Leaves Sponge Wet Sponge Glass Lapis Lazuli Ore Lapis Lazuli Block Dispenser Sandstone Chiseled Sandstone Cut Sandstone Note Block Powered Rail Detector Rail Sticky Piston Cobweb Grass Fern Dead Bush Piston White Wool Orange Wool Magenta Wool Light Blue Wool Yellow Wool Lime Wool Pink Wool Gray Wool Light Gray Wool Cyan Wool Purple Wool Blue Wool Brown Wool Green Wool Red Wool Black Wool Dandelion Poppy Blue Orchid Allium Azure Bluet Red Tulip Orange Tulip White Tulip Pink Tulip Oxeye Daisy Cornflower Lily of the Valley Wither Rose Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Block of Gold Block of Iron Smooth Stone Smooth Sandstone Smooth Quartz Block Smooth Stone Slab Sandstone Slab Petrified Oak Slab Cobblestone Slab Brick Slab Stone Brick Slab Nether Brick Slab Quartz Slab Bricks TNT Bookshelf Mossy Cobblestone Obsidian Torch Oak Stairs Chest Diamond Ore Block of Diamond Crafting Table Furnace Spruce Sign Birch Sign Jungle Sign Acacia Sign Dark Oak Sign Crimson Sign Warped Sign Ladder Rail Cobblestone Stairs Lever Stone Pressure Plate Oak Pressure Plate Spruce Pressure Plate Birch Pressure Plate Jungle Pressure Plate Acacia Pressure Plate Dark Oak Pressure Plate Redstone Ore Redstone Torch Stone Button Snow Ice Snow Block Cactus Clay Jukebox Oak Fence Pumpkin Carved Pumpkin Netherrack Soul Sand Glowstone Jack o'Lantern White Stained Glass Orange Stained Glass Magenta Stained Glass Light Blue Stained Glass Yellow Stained Glass Lime Stained Glass Pink Stained Glass Gray Stained Glass Light Gray Stained Glass Cyan Stained Glass Purple Stained Glass Blue Stained Glass Brown Stained Glass Green Stained Glass Red Stained Glass Black Stained Glass Oak Trapdoor Spruce Trapdoor Birch Trapdoor Jungle Trapdoor Acacia Trapdoor Dark Oak Trapdoor Infested Stone Infested Cobblestone Infested Stone Bricks Infested Mossy Stone Bricks Infested Cracked Stone Bricks Infested Chiseled Stone Bricks Stone Bricks Mossy Stone Bricks Cracked Stone Bricks Chiseled Stone Bricks Iron Bars Glass Pane Melon Vines Oak Fence Gate Brick Stairs Stone Brick Stairs Mycelium Lily Pad Nether Bricks Nether Brick Fence Nether Brick Stairs Enchanting Table End Portal Frame End Stone Redstone Lamp Oak Slab Spruce Slab Birch Slab Jungle Slab Acacia Slab Dark Oak Slab Sandstone Stairs Emerald Ore Ender Chest Tripwire Hook Block of Emerald Spruce Stairs Birch Stairs Jungle Stairs Command Block Beacon Cobblestone Wall Mossy Cobblestone Wall Oak Button Spruce Button Birch Button Jungle Button Acacia Button Dark Oak Button Anvil Chipped Anvil Damaged Anvil Trapped Chest Light Weighted Pressure Plate Heavy Weighted Pressure Plate Daylight Detector Block of Redstone Nether Quartz Ore Hopper Block of Quartz Chiseled Quartz Block Quartz Pillar Quartz Stairs Activator Rail Dropper White Terracotta Orange Terracotta Magenta Terracotta Light Blue Terracotta Yellow Terracotta Lime Terracotta Pink Terracotta Gray Terracotta Light Gray Terracotta Cyan Terracotta Purple Terracotta Blue Terracotta Brown Terracotta Green Terracotta Red Terracotta Black Terracotta White Stained Glass Pane Orange Stained Glass Pane Magenta Stained Glass Pane Light Blue Stained Glass Pane Yellow Stained Glass Pane Lime Stained Glass Pane Pink Stained Glass Pane Gray Stained Glass Pane Light Gray Stained Glass Pane Cyan Stained Glass Pane Purple Stained Glass Pane Blue Stained Glass Pane Brown Stained Glass Pane Green Stained Glass Pane Red Stained Glass Pane Black Stained Glass Pane Acacia Leaves Dark Oak Leaves Acacia Log Dark Oak Log Acacia Stairs Dark Oak Stairs Slime Block Iron Trapdoor Prismarine Prismarine Bricks Dark Prismarine Sea Lantern Hay Bale White Carpet Orange Carpet Magenta Carpet Light Blue Carpet Yellow Carpet Lime Carpet Pink Carpet Gray Carpet Light Gray Carpet Cyan Carpet Purple Carpet Blue Carpet Brown Carpet Green Carpet Red Carpet Black Carpet Terracotta Block of Coal Packed Ice Sunflower Lilac Tall Grass Large Fern Rose Bush Peony White Banner Orange Banner Magenta Banner Light Blue Banner Yellow Banner Lime Banner Pink Banner Gray Banner Light Gray Banner Cyan Banner Purple Banner Blue Banner Brown Banner Green Banner Red Banner Black Banner Red Sandstone Chiseled Red Sandstone Cut Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Slab Spruce Fence Gate Birch Fence Gate Jungle Fence Gate Dark Oak Fence Gate Acacia Fence Gate Spruce Fence Birch Fence Jungle Fence Dark Oak Fence Acacia Fence End Rod Chorus Plant Chorus Flower Chorus Flower Purpur Block Purpur Pillar Purpur Stairs Purpur Slab End Stone Bricks Magma Block Nether Wart Block Red Nether Bricks Bone Block Observer Shulker Box White Shulker Box Orange Shulker Box Magenta Shulker Box Light Blue Shulker Box Yellow Shulker Box Lime Shulker Box Pink Shulker Box Gray Shulker Box Light Gray Shulker Box Cyan Shulker Box Purple Shulker Box Blue Shulker Box Brown Shulker Box Green Shulker Box Red Shulker Box Black Shulker Box White Glazed Terracotta Orange Glazed Terracotta Magenta Glazed Terracotta Light Blue Glazed Terracotta Yellow Glazed Terracotta Lime Glazed Terracotta Pink Glazed Terracotta Gray Glazed Terracotta Light Gray Glazed Terracotta Cyan Glazed Terracotta Purple Glazed Terracotta Blue Glazed Terracotta Brown Glazed Terracotta Green Glazed Terracotta Red Glazed Terracotta Black Glazed Terracotta White Concrete Orange Concrete Magenta Concrete Light Blue Concrete Yellow Concrete Lime Concrete Pink Concrete Gray Concrete Light Gray Concrete Cyan Concrete Purple Concrete Blue Concrete Brown Concrete Green Concrete Red Concrete Black Concrete White Concrete Powder Orange Concrete Powder Magenta Concrete Powder Light Blue Concrete Powder Yellow Concrete Powder Lime Concrete Powder Pink Concrete Powder Gray Concrete Powder Light Gray Concrete Powder Cyan Concrete Powder Purple Concrete Powder Blue Concrete Powder Brown Concrete Powder Green Concrete Powder Red Concrete Powder Black Concrete Powder Oak Wood Spruce Wood Birch Wood Jungle Wood Acacia Wood Dark Oak Wood Turtle Egg Seagrass Dried Kelp Block Stripped Oak Log Stripped Spruce Log Stripped Birch Log Stripped Jungle Log Stripped Acacia Log Stripped Dark Oak Log Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Brick Stairs Dark Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Slab Prismarine Brick Slab Dark Prismarine Slab Tube Coral Block Brain Coral Block Bubble Coral Block Fire Coral Block Horn Coral Block Dead Tube Coral Block Dead Brain Coral Block Dead Bubble Coral Block Dead Fire Coral Block Dead Horn Coral Block Tube Coral Brain Coral Bubble Coral Fire Coral Horn Coral Dead Tube Coral Dead Brain Coral Dead Bubble Coral Dead Fire Coral Dead Horn Coral Tube Coral Fan Brain Coral Fan Bubble Coral Fan Fire Coral Fan Horn Coral Fan Dead Tube Coral Fan Dead Brain Coral Fan Dead Bubble Coral Fan Dead Fire Coral Fan Dead Horn Coral Fan Sea Pickle Blue Ice Conduit Stripped Oak Wood Stripped Spruce Wood Stripped Birch Wood Stripped Jungle Wood Stripped Acacia Wood Stripped Dark Oak Wood Barrel Campfire Cartography Table Composter Fletching Table Grindstone Lantern Lectern Loom Smithing Table Stonecutter Stone Stairs Granite Stairs Polished Granite Stairs Diorite Stairs Polished Diorite Stairs Andesite Stairs Polished Andesite Stairs Red Nether Brick Stairs End Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Cobblestone Stairs Smooth Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Quartz Stairs Stone Slab Granite Slab Polished Granite Slab Diorite Slab Polished Diorite Slab Andesite Slab Polished Andesite Slab Red Nether Brick Slab End Stone Brick Slab Mossy Stone Brick Slab Mossy Cobblestone Slab Smooth Sandstone Slab Smooth Red Sandstone Slab Smooth Quartz Slab Cut Sandstone Slab Double Cut Sandstone Slab Cut Red Sandstone Slab Brick Wall Granite Wall Diorite Wall Andesite Wall Prismarine Wall Stone Brick Wall Mossy Stone Brick Wall End Stone Brick Wall Nether Brick Wall Red Nether Brick Wall Sandstone Wall Red Sandstone Wall Bamboo Bell Blast Furnace Lit Blast Furnace Smoker Lit Smoker Scaffolding Bee Nest Beehive Honey Block Honeycomb Block Ancient Debris Block of Netherite Basalt Crimson Nylium Warped Nylium Crimson Stem Warped Stem Warped Wart Block Soul Torch Soul Lantern Soul Soil Shroomlight Stripped Crimson Stem Stripped Warped Stem Crimson Planks Warped Planks Crimson Fence Warped Fence Crimson Fence Gate Warped Fence Gate Crimson Door Warped Door Crimson Trapdoor Warped Trapdoor Crimson Pressure Plate Warped Pressure Plate Crimson Button Warped Button Crimson Slab Warped Slab Crimson Stairs Warped Stairs Crimson Fungus Warped Fungus Crimson Roots Warped Roots Nether Sprouts Weeping Vines Target Crying Obsidian Crimson Hyphae Warped Hyphae Stripped Crimson Hyphae Stripped Warped Hyphae Nether Gold Ore Twisting Vines Respawn Anchor Polished Basalt Lodestone Blackstone Blackstone Slab Blackstone Stairs Blackstone Wall Chiseled Nether Bricks Cracked Nether Bricks Polished Blackstone Polished Blackstone Slab Polished Blackstone Stairs Polished Blackstone Wall Chiseled Polished Blackstone Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Brick Slab Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs Polished Blackstone Brick Wall Polished Blackstone Button Polished Blackstone Pressure Plate Gilded Blackstone Quartz Bricks Soul Campfire Chain Iron Shovel Iron Pickaxe Iron Axe Flint and Steel Apple Bow Arrow Coal Charcoal Diamond Iron Ingot Gold Ingot Iron Sword Wooden Sword Wooden Shovel Wooden Pickaxe Wooden Axe Stone Sword Stone Shovel Stone Pickaxe Stone Axe Diamond Sword Diamond Shovel Diamond Pickaxe Diamond Axe Netherite Sword Netherite Shovel Netherite Pickaxe Netherite Axe Stick Bowl Mushroom Stew Golden Sword Golden Shovel Golden Pickaxe Golden Axe String Feather Gunpowder Wooden Hoe Stone Hoe Iron Hoe Diamond Hoe Golden Hoe Netherite Hoe Wheat Seeds Wheat Bread Leather Cap Leather Tunic Leather Pants Leather Boots Chainmail Helmet Chainmail Chestplate Chainmail Leggings Chainmail Boots Iron Helmet Iron Chestplate Iron Leggings Iron Boots Diamond Helmet Diamond Chestplate Diamond Leggings Diamond Boots Golden Helmet Golden Chestplate Golden Leggings Golden Boots Netherite Helmet Netherite Chestplate Netherite Leggings Netherite Boots Flint Raw Porkchop Cooked Porkchop Painting Golden Apple Enchanted Golden Apple Oak Sign Oak Door Bucket Water Bucket Lava Bucket Minecart Saddle Iron Door Redstone Dust Snowball Oak Boat Leather Milk Bucket Brick Clay Ball Sugar Cane Paper Book Slimeball Minecart with Chest Minecart with Furnace Egg Compass Fishing Rod Clock Glowstone Dust Raw Cod Raw Salmon Tropical Fish Pufferfish Cooked Cod Cooked Salmon Ink Sac Black Dye Red Dye Green Dye Cocoa Beans Brown Dye Lapis Lazuli Blue Dye Purple Dye Cyan Dye Light Gray Dye Gray Dye Pink Dye Lime Dye Yellow Dye Light Blue Dye Magenta Dye Orange Dye Bone Meal White Dye Bone Sugar Cake Bed White Bed Orange Bed Magenta Bed Light Blue Bed Yellow Bed Lime Bed Pink Bed Gray Bed Light Gray Bed Cyan Bed Purple Bed Blue Bed Brown Bed Green Bed Red Bed Black Bed Redstone Repeater Cookie Shears Melon Slice Pumpkin Seeds Melon Seeds Raw Beef Steak Raw Chicken Cooked Chicken Rotten Flesh Ender Pearl Blaze Rod Ghast Tear Gold Nugget Nether Wart Potion Glass Bottle Spider Eye Fermented Spider Eye Blaze Powder Magma Cream Brewing Stand Cauldron Eye of Ender Glistering Melon Slice Bottle o' Enchanting Fire Charge Book and Quill Emerald Item Frame Flower Pot Carrot Potato Baked Potato Poisonous Potato Empty Map Golden Carrot Skeleton Skull Wither Skeleton Skull Zombie Head Player Head Creeper Head Dragon Head Carrot on a Stick Nether Star Pumpkin Pie Firework Star Redstone Comparator Nether Brick Nether Quartz Minecart with TNT Minecart with Hopper Prismarine Shard Prismarine Crystals Raw Rabbit Cooked Rabbit Rabbit Stew Rabbit's Foot Rabbit Hide Armor Stand Leather Horse Armor Iron Horse Armor Golden Horse Armor Diamond Horse Armor Lead Name Tag Raw Mutton Cooked Mutton Black Banner Red Banner Green Banner Brown Banner Blue Banner Purple Banner Cyan Banner Light Gray Banner Gray Banner Pink Banner Lime Banner Yellow Banner Light Blue Banner Magenta Banner Orange Banner White Banner End Crystal Spruce Door Birch Door Jungle Door Acacia Door Dark Oak Door Chorus Fruit Popped Chorus Fruit Beetroot Beetroot Seeds Beetroot Soup Dragon's Breath Splash Potion Spectral Arrow Tipped Arrow Lingering Potion Shield Elytra Spruce Boat Birch Boat Jungle Boat Acacia Boat Dark Oak Boat Totem of Undying Shulker Shell Iron Nugget Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Kelp Dried Kelp Scute Turtle Shell Trident Bucket of Cod Bucket of Salmon Bucket of Pufferfish Bucket of Tropical Fish Phantom Membrane Nautilus Shell Heart of the Sea Sweet Berries Crossbow Banner Pattern Flower Banner Pattern Skull Banner Pattern Creeper Banner Pattern Thing Banner Pattern Globe Banner Pattern Piglin Honey Bottle Honeycomb Netherite Scrap Netherite Ingot Warped Fungus on a Stick Music Disc Creeper Spawn Egg Skeleton Spawn Egg Wither Skeleton Spawn Egg Stray Spawn Egg Spider Spawn Egg Zombie Spawn Egg Zombie Villager Spawn Egg Husk Spawn Egg Slime Spawn Egg Ghast Spawn Egg Zombie Pigman Spawn Egg Enderman Spawn Egg Cave Spider Spawn Egg Silverfish Spawn Egg Blaze Spawn Egg Magma Cube Spawn Egg Bat Spawn Egg Witch Spawn Egg Endermite Spawn Egg Guardian Spawn Egg Elder Guardian Spawn Egg Shulker Spawn Egg Evoker Spawn Egg Vex Spawn Egg Vindicator Spawn Egg Phantom Spawn Egg Drowned Spawn Egg Pig Spawn Egg Sheep Spawn Egg Cow Spawn Egg Chicken Spawn Egg Squid Spawn Egg Wolf Spawn Egg Mooshroom Spawn Egg Ocelot Spawn Egg Cat Spawn Egg Horse Spawn Egg Donkey Spawn Egg Mule Spawn Egg Zombie Horse Spawn Egg Skeleton Horse Spawn Egg Rabbit Spawn Egg Polar Bear Spawn Egg Llama Spawn Egg Parrot Spawn Egg Villager Spawn Egg Turtle Spawn Egg Dolphin Spawn Egg Cod Spawn Egg Salmon Spawn Egg Pufferfish Spawn Egg Tropical Fish Spawn Egg Fox Spawn Egg Panda Spawn Egg Pillager Spawn Egg Ravager Spawn Egg Wandering Trader Spawn Egg Trader Llama Spawn Egg Bee Spawn Egg Hoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Spawn Egg Zombified Piglin Spawn Egg Strider Spawn Egg Zoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Brute Spawn Egg Water Bottle Awkward Potion Thick Potion Mundane Potion Splash Water Bottle Awkward Splash Potion Thick Splash Potion Mundane Splash Potion Lingering Water Bottle Awkward Lingering Potion Thick Lingering Potion Mundane Lingering Potion Uncraftable Tipped Arrow Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Potion of Slowness Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Potion of Healing Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Arrow of Healing Arrow of Healing Potion of Harming Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Arrow of Harming Arrow of Harming Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Potion of Fire Resistance Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Potion of Water Breathing Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Potion of Invisibility Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Potion of Night Vision Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Potion of Weakness Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Potion of Luck Splash Potion of Luck Lingering Potion of Luck Arrow of Luck Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Potion of Slow Falling Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Default Color Item name: Item lore: Enchantments: Protection Fire Protection Blast Protection Projectile Protection Thorns Curse of Binding Unbreaking Mending Curse of Vanishing Protection
Level:
Fire Protection
Level:
Blast Protection
Level:
Projectile Protection
Level:
Thorns
Level:
Curse of Binding
Level:
Unbreaking
Level:
Mending
Level:
Curse of Vanishing
Level:
Drop chance (%): Reset Stack size: Reset
Legs Armor: None Armor Drop Item Leather Pants Chainmail Leggings Iron Leggings Diamond Leggings Golden Leggings Default Color Drop stuff: Stone Granite Polished Granite Diorite Polished Diorite Andesite Polished Andesite Grass Block Dirt Coarse Dirt Podzol Cobblestone Oak Planks Spruce Planks Birch Planks Jungle Planks Acacia Planks Dark Oak Planks Oak Sapling Spruce Sapling Birch Sapling Jungle Sapling Acacia Sapling Dark Oak Sapling Bedrock Sand Red Sand Gravel Gold Ore Iron Ore Coal Ore Oak Log Spruce Log Birch Log Jungle Log Oak Leaves Spruce Leaves Birch Leaves Jungle Leaves Sponge Wet Sponge Glass Lapis Lazuli Ore Lapis Lazuli Block Dispenser Sandstone Chiseled Sandstone Cut Sandstone Note Block Powered Rail Detector Rail Sticky Piston Cobweb Grass Fern Dead Bush Piston White Wool Orange Wool Magenta Wool Light Blue Wool Yellow Wool Lime Wool Pink Wool Gray Wool Light Gray Wool Cyan Wool Purple Wool Blue Wool Brown Wool Green Wool Red Wool Black Wool Dandelion Poppy Blue Orchid Allium Azure Bluet Red Tulip Orange Tulip White Tulip Pink Tulip Oxeye Daisy Cornflower Lily of the Valley Wither Rose Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Block of Gold Block of Iron Smooth Stone Smooth Sandstone Smooth Quartz Block Smooth Stone Slab Sandstone Slab Petrified Oak Slab Cobblestone Slab Brick Slab Stone Brick Slab Nether Brick Slab Quartz Slab Bricks TNT Bookshelf Mossy Cobblestone Obsidian Torch Oak Stairs Chest Diamond Ore Block of Diamond Crafting Table Furnace Spruce Sign Birch Sign Jungle Sign Acacia Sign Dark Oak Sign Crimson Sign Warped Sign Ladder Rail Cobblestone Stairs Lever Stone Pressure Plate Oak Pressure Plate Spruce Pressure Plate Birch Pressure Plate Jungle Pressure Plate Acacia Pressure Plate Dark Oak Pressure Plate Redstone Ore Redstone Torch Stone Button Snow Ice Snow Block Cactus Clay Jukebox Oak Fence Pumpkin Carved Pumpkin Netherrack Soul Sand Glowstone Jack o'Lantern White Stained Glass Orange Stained Glass Magenta Stained Glass Light Blue Stained Glass Yellow Stained Glass Lime Stained Glass Pink Stained Glass Gray Stained Glass Light Gray Stained Glass Cyan Stained Glass Purple Stained Glass Blue Stained Glass Brown Stained Glass Green Stained Glass Red Stained Glass Black Stained Glass Oak Trapdoor Spruce Trapdoor Birch Trapdoor Jungle Trapdoor Acacia Trapdoor Dark Oak Trapdoor Infested Stone Infested Cobblestone Infested Stone Bricks Infested Mossy Stone Bricks Infested Cracked Stone Bricks Infested Chiseled Stone Bricks Stone Bricks Mossy Stone Bricks Cracked Stone Bricks Chiseled Stone Bricks Iron Bars Glass Pane Melon Vines Oak Fence Gate Brick Stairs Stone Brick Stairs Mycelium Lily Pad Nether Bricks Nether Brick Fence Nether Brick Stairs Enchanting Table End Portal Frame End Stone Redstone Lamp Oak Slab Spruce Slab Birch Slab Jungle Slab Acacia Slab Dark Oak Slab Sandstone Stairs Emerald Ore Ender Chest Tripwire Hook Block of Emerald Spruce Stairs Birch Stairs Jungle Stairs Command Block Beacon Cobblestone Wall Mossy Cobblestone Wall Oak Button Spruce Button Birch Button Jungle Button Acacia Button Dark Oak Button Anvil Chipped Anvil Damaged Anvil Trapped Chest Light Weighted Pressure Plate Heavy Weighted Pressure Plate Daylight Detector Block of Redstone Nether Quartz Ore Hopper Block of Quartz Chiseled Quartz Block Quartz Pillar Quartz Stairs Activator Rail Dropper White Terracotta Orange Terracotta Magenta Terracotta Light Blue Terracotta Yellow Terracotta Lime Terracotta Pink Terracotta Gray Terracotta Light Gray Terracotta Cyan Terracotta Purple Terracotta Blue Terracotta Brown Terracotta Green Terracotta Red Terracotta Black Terracotta White Stained Glass Pane Orange Stained Glass Pane Magenta Stained Glass Pane Light Blue Stained Glass Pane Yellow Stained Glass Pane Lime Stained Glass Pane Pink Stained Glass Pane Gray Stained Glass Pane Light Gray Stained Glass Pane Cyan Stained Glass Pane Purple Stained Glass Pane Blue Stained Glass Pane Brown Stained Glass Pane Green Stained Glass Pane Red Stained Glass Pane Black Stained Glass Pane Acacia Leaves Dark Oak Leaves Acacia Log Dark Oak Log Acacia Stairs Dark Oak Stairs Slime Block Iron Trapdoor Prismarine Prismarine Bricks Dark Prismarine Sea Lantern Hay Bale White Carpet Orange Carpet Magenta Carpet Light Blue Carpet Yellow Carpet Lime Carpet Pink Carpet Gray Carpet Light Gray Carpet Cyan Carpet Purple Carpet Blue Carpet Brown Carpet Green Carpet Red Carpet Black Carpet Terracotta Block of Coal Packed Ice Sunflower Lilac Tall Grass Large Fern Rose Bush Peony White Banner Orange Banner Magenta Banner Light Blue Banner Yellow Banner Lime Banner Pink Banner Gray Banner Light Gray Banner Cyan Banner Purple Banner Blue Banner Brown Banner Green Banner Red Banner Black Banner Red Sandstone Chiseled Red Sandstone Cut Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Red Sandstone Slab Spruce Fence Gate Birch Fence Gate Jungle Fence Gate Dark Oak Fence Gate Acacia Fence Gate Spruce Fence Birch Fence Jungle Fence Dark Oak Fence Acacia Fence End Rod Chorus Plant Chorus Flower Chorus Flower Purpur Block Purpur Pillar Purpur Stairs Purpur Slab End Stone Bricks Magma Block Nether Wart Block Red Nether Bricks Bone Block Observer Shulker Box White Shulker Box Orange Shulker Box Magenta Shulker Box Light Blue Shulker Box Yellow Shulker Box Lime Shulker Box Pink Shulker Box Gray Shulker Box Light Gray Shulker Box Cyan Shulker Box Purple Shulker Box Blue Shulker Box Brown Shulker Box Green Shulker Box Red Shulker Box Black Shulker Box White Glazed Terracotta Orange Glazed Terracotta Magenta Glazed Terracotta Light Blue Glazed Terracotta Yellow Glazed Terracotta Lime Glazed Terracotta Pink Glazed Terracotta Gray Glazed Terracotta Light Gray Glazed Terracotta Cyan Glazed Terracotta Purple Glazed Terracotta Blue Glazed Terracotta Brown Glazed Terracotta Green Glazed Terracotta Red Glazed Terracotta Black Glazed Terracotta White Concrete Orange Concrete Magenta Concrete Light Blue Concrete Yellow Concrete Lime Concrete Pink Concrete Gray Concrete Light Gray Concrete Cyan Concrete Purple Concrete Blue Concrete Brown Concrete Green Concrete Red Concrete Black Concrete White Concrete Powder Orange Concrete Powder Magenta Concrete Powder Light Blue Concrete Powder Yellow Concrete Powder Lime Concrete Powder Pink Concrete Powder Gray Concrete Powder Light Gray Concrete Powder Cyan Concrete Powder Purple Concrete Powder Blue Concrete Powder Brown Concrete Powder Green Concrete Powder Red Concrete Powder Black Concrete Powder Oak Wood Spruce Wood Birch Wood Jungle Wood Acacia Wood Dark Oak Wood Turtle Egg Seagrass Dried Kelp Block Stripped Oak Log Stripped Spruce Log Stripped Birch Log Stripped Jungle Log Stripped Acacia Log Stripped Dark Oak Log Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Brick Stairs Dark Prismarine Stairs Prismarine Slab Prismarine Brick Slab Dark Prismarine Slab Tube Coral Block Brain Coral Block Bubble Coral Block Fire Coral Block Horn Coral Block Dead Tube Coral Block Dead Brain Coral Block Dead Bubble Coral Block Dead Fire Coral Block Dead Horn Coral Block Tube Coral Brain Coral Bubble Coral Fire Coral Horn Coral Dead Tube Coral Dead Brain Coral Dead Bubble Coral Dead Fire Coral Dead Horn Coral Tube Coral Fan Brain Coral Fan Bubble Coral Fan Fire Coral Fan Horn Coral Fan Dead Tube Coral Fan Dead Brain Coral Fan Dead Bubble Coral Fan Dead Fire Coral Fan Dead Horn Coral Fan Sea Pickle Blue Ice Conduit Stripped Oak Wood Stripped Spruce Wood Stripped Birch Wood Stripped Jungle Wood Stripped Acacia Wood Stripped Dark Oak Wood Barrel Campfire Cartography Table Composter Fletching Table Grindstone Lantern Lectern Loom Smithing Table Stonecutter Stone Stairs Granite Stairs Polished Granite Stairs Diorite Stairs Polished Diorite Stairs Andesite Stairs Polished Andesite Stairs Red Nether Brick Stairs End Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Stone Brick Stairs Mossy Cobblestone Stairs Smooth Sandstone Stairs Smooth Red Sandstone Stairs Smooth Quartz Stairs Stone Slab Granite Slab Polished Granite Slab Diorite Slab Polished Diorite Slab Andesite Slab Polished Andesite Slab Red Nether Brick Slab End Stone Brick Slab Mossy Stone Brick Slab Mossy Cobblestone Slab Smooth Sandstone Slab Smooth Red Sandstone Slab Smooth Quartz Slab Cut Sandstone Slab Double Cut Sandstone Slab Cut Red Sandstone Slab Brick Wall Granite Wall Diorite Wall Andesite Wall Prismarine Wall Stone Brick Wall Mossy Stone Brick Wall End Stone Brick Wall Nether Brick Wall Red Nether Brick Wall Sandstone Wall Red Sandstone Wall Bamboo Bell Blast Furnace Lit Blast Furnace Smoker Lit Smoker Scaffolding Bee Nest Beehive Honey Block Honeycomb Block Ancient Debris Block of Netherite Basalt Crimson Nylium Warped Nylium Crimson Stem Warped Stem Warped Wart Block Soul Torch Soul Lantern Soul Soil Shroomlight Stripped Crimson Stem Stripped Warped Stem Crimson Planks Warped Planks Crimson Fence Warped Fence Crimson Fence Gate Warped Fence Gate Crimson Door Warped Door Crimson Trapdoor Warped Trapdoor Crimson Pressure Plate Warped Pressure Plate Crimson Button Warped Button Crimson Slab Warped Slab Crimson Stairs Warped Stairs Crimson Fungus Warped Fungus Crimson Roots Warped Roots Nether Sprouts Weeping Vines Target Crying Obsidian Crimson Hyphae Warped Hyphae Stripped Crimson Hyphae Stripped Warped Hyphae Nether Gold Ore Twisting Vines Respawn Anchor Polished Basalt Lodestone Blackstone Blackstone Slab Blackstone Stairs Blackstone Wall Chiseled Nether Bricks Cracked Nether Bricks Polished Blackstone Polished Blackstone Slab Polished Blackstone Stairs Polished Blackstone Wall Chiseled Polished Blackstone Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Bricks Polished Blackstone Brick Slab Polished Blackstone Brick Stairs Polished Blackstone Brick Wall Polished Blackstone Button Polished Blackstone Pressure Plate Gilded Blackstone Quartz Bricks Soul Campfire Chain Iron Shovel Iron Pickaxe Iron Axe Flint and Steel Apple Bow Arrow Coal Charcoal Diamond Iron Ingot Gold Ingot Iron Sword Wooden Sword Wooden Shovel Wooden Pickaxe Wooden Axe Stone Sword Stone Shovel Stone Pickaxe Stone Axe Diamond Sword Diamond Shovel Diamond Pickaxe Diamond Axe Netherite Sword Netherite Shovel Netherite Pickaxe Netherite Axe Stick Bowl Mushroom Stew Golden Sword Golden Shovel Golden Pickaxe Golden Axe String Feather Gunpowder Wooden Hoe Stone Hoe Iron Hoe Diamond Hoe Golden Hoe Netherite Hoe Wheat Seeds Wheat Bread Leather Cap Leather Tunic Leather Pants Leather Boots Chainmail Helmet Chainmail Chestplate Chainmail Leggings Chainmail Boots Iron Helmet Iron Chestplate Iron Leggings Iron Boots Diamond Helmet Diamond Chestplate Diamond Leggings Diamond Boots Golden Helmet Golden Chestplate Golden Leggings Golden Boots Netherite Helmet Netherite Chestplate Netherite Leggings Netherite Boots Flint Raw Porkchop Cooked Porkchop Painting Golden Apple Enchanted Golden Apple Oak Sign Oak Door Bucket Water Bucket Lava Bucket Minecart Saddle Iron Door Redstone Dust Snowball Oak Boat Leather Milk Bucket Brick Clay Ball Sugar Cane Paper Book Slimeball Minecart with Chest Minecart with Furnace Egg Compass Fishing Rod Clock Glowstone Dust Raw Cod Raw Salmon Tropical Fish Pufferfish Cooked Cod Cooked Salmon Ink Sac Black Dye Red Dye Green Dye Cocoa Beans Brown Dye Lapis Lazuli Blue Dye Purple Dye Cyan Dye Light Gray Dye Gray Dye Pink Dye Lime Dye Yellow Dye Light Blue Dye Magenta Dye Orange Dye Bone Meal White Dye Bone Sugar Cake Bed White Bed Orange Bed Magenta Bed Light Blue Bed Yellow Bed Lime Bed Pink Bed Gray Bed Light Gray Bed Cyan Bed Purple Bed Blue Bed Brown Bed Green Bed Red Bed Black Bed Redstone Repeater Cookie Shears Melon Slice Pumpkin Seeds Melon Seeds Raw Beef Steak Raw Chicken Cooked Chicken Rotten Flesh Ender Pearl Blaze Rod Ghast Tear Gold Nugget Nether Wart Potion Glass Bottle Spider Eye Fermented Spider Eye Blaze Powder Magma Cream Brewing Stand Cauldron Eye of Ender Glistering Melon Slice Bottle o' Enchanting Fire Charge Book and Quill Emerald Item Frame Flower Pot Carrot Potato Baked Potato Poisonous Potato Empty Map Golden Carrot Skeleton Skull Wither Skeleton Skull Zombie Head Player Head Creeper Head Dragon Head Carrot on a Stick Nether Star Pumpkin Pie Firework Star Redstone Comparator Nether Brick Nether Quartz Minecart with TNT Minecart with Hopper Prismarine Shard Prismarine Crystals Raw Rabbit Cooked Rabbit Rabbit Stew Rabbit's Foot Rabbit Hide Armor Stand Leather Horse Armor Iron Horse Armor Golden Horse Armor Diamond Horse Armor Lead Name Tag Raw Mutton Cooked Mutton Black Banner Red Banner Green Banner Brown Banner Blue Banner Purple Banner Cyan Banner Light Gray Banner Gray Banner Pink Banner Lime Banner Yellow Banner Light Blue Banner Magenta Banner Orange Banner White Banner End Crystal Spruce Door Birch Door Jungle Door Acacia Door Dark Oak Door Chorus Fruit Popped Chorus Fruit Beetroot Beetroot Seeds Beetroot Soup Dragon's Breath Splash Potion Spectral Arrow Tipped Arrow Lingering Potion Shield Elytra Spruce Boat Birch Boat Jungle Boat Acacia Boat Dark Oak Boat Totem of Undying Shulker Shell Iron Nugget Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Music Disc Kelp Dried Kelp Scute Turtle Shell Trident Bucket of Cod Bucket of Salmon Bucket of Pufferfish Bucket of Tropical Fish Phantom Membrane Nautilus Shell Heart of the Sea Sweet Berries Crossbow Banner Pattern Flower Banner Pattern Skull Banner Pattern Creeper Banner Pattern Thing Banner Pattern Globe Banner Pattern Piglin Honey Bottle Honeycomb Netherite Scrap Netherite Ingot Warped Fungus on a Stick Music Disc Creeper Spawn Egg Skeleton Spawn Egg Wither Skeleton Spawn Egg Stray Spawn Egg Spider Spawn Egg Zombie Spawn Egg Zombie Villager Spawn Egg Husk Spawn Egg Slime Spawn Egg Ghast Spawn Egg Zombie Pigman Spawn Egg Enderman Spawn Egg Cave Spider Spawn Egg Silverfish Spawn Egg Blaze Spawn Egg Magma Cube Spawn Egg Bat Spawn Egg Witch Spawn Egg Endermite Spawn Egg Guardian Spawn Egg Elder Guardian Spawn Egg Shulker Spawn Egg Evoker Spawn Egg Vex Spawn Egg Vindicator Spawn Egg Phantom Spawn Egg Drowned Spawn Egg Pig Spawn Egg Sheep Spawn Egg Cow Spawn Egg Chicken Spawn Egg Squid Spawn Egg Wolf Spawn Egg Mooshroom Spawn Egg Ocelot Spawn Egg Cat Spawn Egg Horse Spawn Egg Donkey Spawn Egg Mule Spawn Egg Zombie Horse Spawn Egg Skeleton Horse Spawn Egg Rabbit Spawn Egg Polar Bear Spawn Egg Llama Spawn Egg Parrot Spawn Egg Villager Spawn Egg Turtle Spawn Egg Dolphin Spawn Egg Cod Spawn Egg Salmon Spawn Egg Pufferfish Spawn Egg Tropical Fish Spawn Egg Fox Spawn Egg Panda Spawn Egg Pillager Spawn Egg Ravager Spawn Egg Wandering Trader Spawn Egg Trader Llama Spawn Egg Bee Spawn Egg Hoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Spawn Egg Zombified Piglin Spawn Egg Strider Spawn Egg Zoglin Spawn Egg Piglin Brute Spawn Egg Water Bottle Awkward Potion Thick Potion Mundane Potion Splash Water Bottle Awkward Splash Potion Thick Splash Potion Mundane Splash Potion Lingering Water Bottle Awkward Lingering Potion Thick Lingering Potion Mundane Lingering Potion Uncraftable Tipped Arrow Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Splash Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Lingering Potion of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Arrow of Swiftness Potion of Slowness Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Splash Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Lingering Potion of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Arrow of Slowness Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Splash Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Lingering Potion of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Arrow of Strength Potion of Healing Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Splash Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Lingering Potion of Healing Arrow of Healing Arrow of Healing Potion of Harming Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Splash Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Lingering Potion of Harming Arrow of Harming Arrow of Harming Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Splash Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Lingering Potion of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Arrow of Leaping Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Splash Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Lingering Potion of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Arrow of Regeneration Potion of Fire Resistance Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Splash Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Lingering Potion of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Arrow of Fire Resistance Potion of Water Breathing Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Splash Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Lingering Potion of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Arrow of Water Breathing Potion of Invisibility Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Splash Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Lingering Potion of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Arrow of Invisibility Potion of Night Vision Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Splash Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Lingering Potion of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Arrow of Night Vision Potion of Weakness Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Splash Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Lingering Potion of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Arrow of Weakness Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Splash Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Lingering Potion of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Arrow of Poison Potion of Luck Splash Potion of Luck Lingering Potion of Luck Arrow of Luck Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Splash Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Lingering Potion of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Arrow of the Turtle Master Potion of Slow Falling Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Splash Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Lingering Potion of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Arrow of Slow Falling Default Color Item name: Item lore: Enchantments: Protection Fire Protection Blast Protection Projectile Protection Thorns Curse of Binding Unbreaking Mending Curse of Vanishing Protection
Level:
Fire Protection
Level:
Blast Protection
Level:
Projectile Protection
Level:
Thorns
Level:
Curse of Binding
Level:
Unbreaking
Level:
Mending
Level:
Curse of Vanishing
Level:
Drop chance (%): Reset Stack size: Reset
Boots Armor: None Armor Drop Item Leather Boots Chainmail Boots Iron Boots Diamond Boots Golden Boots Default Color Drop stuff: Stone Granite Polished Granite Diorite Polished Diorite Andesite Polished Andesite Grass Block Dirt Coarse Dirt Podzol Cobblestone Oak Planks Spruce Planks Birch Planks Jungle Planks Acacia Planks Dark Oak Planks Oak Sapling Spruce Sapling Birch Sapling Jungle Sapling Acacia Sapling Dark Oak Sapling Bedrock Sand Red Sand Gravel Gold Ore Iron Ore Coal Ore Oak Log Spruce Log Birch Log Jungle Log Oak Leaves Spruce Leaves Birch Leaves Jungle Leaves Sponge Wet Sponge Glass Lapis Lazuli Ore Lapis Lazuli Block Dispenser Sandstone Chiseled Sandstone Cut Sandstone Note Block Powered Rail Detector Rail Sticky Piston Cobweb Grass Fern Dead Bush Piston White Wool Orange Wool Magenta Wool Light Blue Wool Yellow Wool Lime Wool Pink Wool Gray Wool Light Gray Wool Cyan Wool Purple Wool Blue Wool Brown Wool Green Wool Red Wool Black Wool Dandelion Poppy Blue Orchid Allium Azure Bluet Red Tulip Orange Tulip White Tulip Pink Tulip Oxeye Daisy Cornflower Lily of the Valley Wither Rose Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Block of Gold Block of Iron Smooth Stone Smooth Sandstone Smooth Quartz Block Smooth Stone Slab Sandstone Slab Petrified Oak Slab Cobblestone Slab Brick Slab Stone Brick Slab Nether Brick Slab Quartz Slab Bricks TNT Bookshelf Mossy Cobblestone Obsidian Torch Oak Stairs Chest Diamond Ore Block of Diamond Crafting Table Furnace Spruce Sign Birch Sign Jungle Sign Acacia Sign Dark Oak Sign Crimson Sign Warped Sign Ladder Rail Cobblestone Stairs Lever Stone Pressure Plate Oak Pressure Plate Spruce Pressure Plate Birch Pressure Plate Jungle Pressure Plate Acacia Pressure Plate Dark Oak Pressure Plate Redstone Ore Redstone Torch Stone Button Snow Ice Snow Block Cactus Clay Jukebox Oak Fence Pumpkin Carved Pumpkin Netherrack Soul Sand Glowstone Jack o'Lantern White Stained Glass Orange Stained Glass Magenta Stained Glass Light Blue Stained Glass Yellow Stained Glass Lime Stained Glass Pink Stained Glass Gray Stained Glass Light Gray Stained Glass Cyan Stained Glass Purple Stained Glass Blue Stained Glass Brown Stained Glass Green Stained Glass Red Stained Glass Black Stained Glass Oak Trapdoor Spruce Trapdoor Birch Trapdoor Jungle Trapdoor Acacia Trapdoor Dark Oak Trapdoor Infested Stone Infested Cobblestone Infested Stone Bricks Infested Mossy Stone Bricks Infested Cracked Stone Bricks Infested Chiseled Stone Bricks Stone Bricks Mossy Stone Bricks Cracked Stone Bricks Chiseled Stone Bricks Iron Bars Glass Pane Melon Vines Oak Fence Gate Brick Stairs Stone Brick Stairs Mycelium Lily Pad Nether Bricks Nether Brick Fence Nether Brick Stairs Enchanting Table End Portal Frame End Stone Redstone Lamp Oak Slab Spruce Slab Birch Slab Jungle Slab Acacia Slab Dark Oak Slab Sandstone Stairs Emerald Ore Ender Chest Tripwire Hook Block of Emerald Spruce Stairs Birch Stairs Jungle Stairs Command Block Beacon Cobblestone Wall Mossy Cobblestone Wall Oak Button Spruce Button Birch Button Jungle Button Acacia Button Dark Oak Button Anvil Chipped Anvil Damaged Anvil Trapped Chest Light Weighted Pressure Plate Heavy Weighted Pressure Plate Daylight Detector Block of Redstone Nether Quartz Ore Hopper Block of Quartz Chiseled Quartz Block Quartz Pillar Quartz Stairs Activator Rail Dropper White Terracotta Orange Terracotta Magenta Terracotta Light Blue Terracotta Yellow Terracotta Lime Terracotta Pink Terracotta Gray Terracotta Light Gray Terracotta Cyan Terracotta Purple Terracotta Blue Terracotta Brown Terracotta Green Terracotta Red Terracotta Black Terracotta White Stained Glass Pane Orange Stained Glass Pane Magenta Stained Glass Pane Light Blue Stained Glass Pane Yellow Stained Glass Pane Lime Stained Glass Pane Pink Stained Glass Pane Gray Stained Glass Pane Light Gray Stained Glass Pane Cyan Stained Glass Pane Purple Stained Glass Pane Blue Stained Glass Pane Brown Stained Glass Pane Green Stained Glass Pane Red Stained Glass Pane Black Stained Glass Pane Acacia Leaves Dark Oak Leaves Acacia Log Dark Oak Log Acacia Stairs Dark Oak Stairs Slime Block Iron Trapdoor Prismarine Prismarine Bricks Dark Prismarine Sea Lantern Hay Bale White Carpet Orange Carpet Magenta Carpet Light Blue Carpet Yellow Carpet Lime Carpet Pink Carpet Gray Carpet Light Gray Carpet Cyan Carpet Purple Carpet Blue Carpet Brown Carpet Green Carpet Red Carpet Black Carpet Terracotta Block of Coal Packe | {
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Frank Carter, frontman for UK hardcore-punks Gallows, has announced his departure from the band after singing lead for them for 6 years. Carter released an official statement on his website:
"It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce my departure from Gallows. It seems that Gallows have hit a crossroads in our writing process and unfortunately myself and the rest of the boys have different ideas regarding the sound of Gallows going forward. Gallows have decided they are going to continue on without me and I wish the boys the best of luck for the future. Gallows will be fulfilling all of our current touring plans until August 1st so please come down to a show and help me make each show a total celebration!"
Gallows released Grey Britain in 2009 via Warner Music Group.
Carter is working on a new project called Pure Love with Jimmy Carroll of the Hope Conspiracy and the Suicide File. | {
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White girlfriend fucks and sucks first big black cock from boyfriends friend in hotel. Boyfriend records action. Black boyfriend pounding white pussy and spanking ass giving her what she wanted. Brunette with a nice round ass being filmed in POV by her black boyfriend as he's stuffing her cunt with his big cock from behind. Well-behaved, submissive white slut getting fucked by her well-hung black boyfriend on video camera, and enjoying every second of being used by her black master. It feels so good having such a huge black bone inside her body, she just wants to ride it harder and faster until he has run out of juice. She cheats her boyfriend often with a black guy, because she likes to suck their dicks. After sucking he is ready to burst into her pussy with full power. Black guy banging someone elses cute blonde girlfriend with his 8 inch dick doing the damage to her tight white pussy that needed stretching After moving her hips up and down to get the black cock as deep as possible she is flipped around and filled with cum.
Very hot Asian girlfriend stripping off while being filmed by her white boyfriend, then sucking his dick before getting fucked in missionary position and covered in cum. She cheats on her boyfriend on college with a passionate black guy who will rip her pussy apart with his big black pole in her dorm room. This black dude shows her pussy no mercy as he rams her from behind like an animal. She sucks her husband off while this black cock works around her pussy. She is on her tummy getting her soft, fluffy body hardcore rammed and fucked by her well endowed lover's massive and black cock. Watch my girlfriend getting it well and truly fucked by this solid black fucker with a big black dick! That big black dick needs to be tamed and she uses her mouth to do just that. The way she toys with his snake is arousing and it makes him cum fast. A black man gets his dong super hard while fucking his best friend's wife. She is recorded in multiple poses while the hubby records her spreading her legs wide and moaning loudly. In order to spice up their sex life boyfriend invites over a massive black cock. After his blonde lover gets onto her knees she gets to suck them both while getting cum all over her face. | {
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“You make us look bad.”
“You’re just giving fuel to the fire of anti-Mormonism.”
“You couldn’t possibly have a testimony of the gospel and believe what you do about gay marriage/women’s ordination/green Jell-o with shredded carrot.” (The first two are welcome and the final item is an abomination.)
In my four years as a blogger I’ve heard multiple variations of these statements. Some Mormons complain that any crack in our institutional armor, any whiff of internal dissent, damages our public image and hinders missionary work.
I’ve been reading the new issue of The Mormon Studies Review (which, if you haven’t seen it, is a terrific new journal), and the opening article offers some interesting observations on the value of Mormon dissent. It’s by Professor Laurie Maffly-Kipp, a non-Mormon scholar who pioneered the teaching of Mormon Studies at the university level, first at UNC-Chapel Hill and now at Washington University.
In 15 years of teaching courses on Mormonism her students have come from a variety of backgrounds – mostly “low church” evangelical, but also including Muslims, atheists, and Mormons themselves.
Many, she writes, come into the class with some personal experience of Mormons as people but with little to no knowledge of the institutional LDS Church. And what they do know is negative: “They assume Mormons do not think for themselves and conclude that church members are either gullible or misinformed.” Their encounters with Mormon missionaries and “faith-promoting history” only makes such stereotypes worse.
What shatters the stereotypes is hearing faithful Mormons disagree.
Maffly-Kipp writes that rather than confusing non-Mormon students who are trying to understand the religion, the discrepancies between ideals and lived realities actually cause students to challenge their assumptions:
Students are willing to accept—or at least respect—a surprising variety of beliefs if they are convinced people are thinking for themselves. This is true even of some of the more controversial elements of the tradition. Indeed, airing internal dissent over the history of polygamy, racial discrimination, and women’s issues . . . helps students to see that believers wrestle with difficult issues in a variety of ways.
Maffly-Kipp acknowledges that it may seem counterintuitive that outsiders’ opinions of Mormonism improve when they see conflict occurring within, but that’s precisely what happens. As one student put it, the most significant thing she learned in the course was that “Mormonism is a diverse place.”
As a blogger, I believe that open public debate about issues that affect Mormon life is vital in a healthy religious community. The more controversial the issue, the more important it is to have our discussions about it aloud in the public square.
I’ve found, however, that this argument – that we should welcome internal dissent for our own sake – does little to sway the folks who complain that such discussion is equivalent to airing our dirty laundry for all to see.
What might persuade these people instead -- since we are such a young religion and, like all teenagers, are desperately concerned with how we appear to others – is findings like Maffly-Kipp’s. Mormonism is more appealing and understandable to outsiders when we participate in open debates, revealing the chinks in our armor.
Paradoxically, we improve our public image when we stop being so concerned with appearing perfect. | {
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Wilson Witzel comemora vitória e fala sobre os primeiros passos do novo governo
Governador eleito, Wilson Witzel venceu em praticamente todo o estado – 89 dos 92 municípios do RJ deram a maioria de votos ao ex-juiz. Eduardo Paes venceu em apenas três: na capital; em Niterói, na Região Metropolitana; e em Rio das Flores, no Sul Fluminense.
O candidato do PSC também levou em todas as regiões. Na dos Lagos, três a cada quatro votos foi em Witzel.
1 de 5 Mapas mostram o desempenho de Paes e Witzel nas regiões do RJ — Foto: Infografia: Claudia Ferreira/G1 Mapas mostram o desempenho de Paes e Witzel nas regiões do RJ — Foto: Infografia: Claudia Ferreira/G1
Witzel fez caminhada na manhã desta segunda-feira (29) na Central do Brasil para agradecer aos eleitores. Ele tomou café da manhã num balcão e tirou várias selfies.
2 de 5 Após ser eleito governador do Rio de Janeiro, Wilson Witzel agradece a eleitores na Central do Brasil — Foto: Cristina Boeckel / G1 Após ser eleito governador do Rio de Janeiro, Wilson Witzel agradece a eleitores na Central do Brasil — Foto: Cristina Boeckel / G1
Wilson Witzel tem no currículo as carreiras de militar, advogado, professor e juiz. Mas não tem nenhuma experiência na política. A estreia vai ser no dia 1º de janeiro, como governador.
Até agosto deste ano, ele despertava a mesma pergunta em muitos eleitores: quem é Wilson Witzel? O Ibope mostrava que o candidato era citado por apenas 1% dos eleitores nas pesquisas.
Wilson José Witzel nasceu em Jundiaí, interior de São Paulo, em 19 de fevereiro de 1968. Filho de um metalúrgico e uma empregada doméstica, sonhava ser piloto da Aeronáutica.
“Eu fui buscando aquilo que poderia preencher meu ideal. Não pude ser piloto porque eu tenho problema de visão”, contou o governador eleito.
3 de 5 Wilson Witzel em coletiva após a vitória — Foto: ESTEFAN RADOVICZ/AGÊNCIA O DIA/AGÊNCIA O DIA/ESTADÃO CONTEÚDO Wilson Witzel em coletiva após a vitória — Foto: ESTEFAN RADOVICZ/AGÊNCIA O DIA/AGÊNCIA O DIA/ESTADÃO CONTEÚDO
Ele teve que adaptar o sonho, e, aos 20 anos, concluiu o curso de formação de oficiais da Marinha. No Rio de Janeiro, fez duas faculdades: Processamento de Dados e Direito. E deu os primeiros passos na vida pública. Foi servidor do município no Previ-Rio, defensor público do estado e professor. Fez mestrado e está cursando um doutorado.
No último sábado (27), durante o café da manhã, numa padaria no Grajaú, na Zona Norte, perto da casa onde ele mora com a mulher, Helena, e três dos quatro filhos, ele conversou com o Bom Dia Rio. Assim que ele chegou, o garçom já serviu o que sabe que ele gosta: café, pão com ovo e bacon.
Na conversa, Witzel contou por que decidiu ser juiz, cargo que ocupou de 2001 até o começo deste ano.
“Encontrei na Justiça, no Direito, a forma pela qual eu poderia completar aquele meu sentimento, que é poder ajudar as pessoas”, disse Witzel.
Os primeiros nove anos como juiz, passou em Vitória, no Espírito Santo. Julgou casos de grande repercussão, como a operação "Poeira no asfalto" que levou 56 pessoas à prisão em 2004, incluindo policiais no Rio, acusados de corrupção.
Mas pediu para deixar a Vara Criminal alegando ter sofrido ameaças, e foi transferido de volta ao Rio. Ainda como magistrado, de 2014 a 2016, foi presidente da Associação dos Juízes Federais do Rio de Janeiro e do Espírito Santo.
Em março deste ano, Witzel abriu mão oficialmente da magistratura e se filiou ao PSC, Partido Social Cristão.
4 de 5 Witzel vota no RJ — Foto: Jose Lucena/Futura Press/Futura Press/Estadão Conteúdo Witzel vota no RJ — Foto: Jose Lucena/Futura Press/Futura Press/Estadão Conteúdo
Durante a campanha, enfrentou críticas dos adversários. Num vídeo gravado no ano passado, Witzel explicava aos colegas como driblar as regras para acumular uma gratificação de juiz. Ele se defendeu, dizendo que tinha direito à gratificação e negou qualquer ilegalidade.
Witzel também apareceu num comício ao lado do então candidato a deputado federal Rodrigo Amorim, do PSL, que rasgou uma placa com o nome da vereadora assassinada Marielle Franco.
Wilson Witzel disse que quem praticou o ato é que deve responder por ele. E que nunca compactuou com qualquer episódio de violência. Mas em entrevistas, disse que iria dar permissão para a polícia abater bandidos portando fuzis.
“Aquilo que for possível fazer para prender, vamos prender. Mas se for bandido de arma na mão, surpreendido numa situação que ponha em risco a comunidade, vai ser abatido”, disse ele.
Na última entrevista, o tom foi mais ameno.
“Eu acredito que será um governo de muito trabalho, de muito enfrentamento do crime organizado. Mas até mesmo em relação ao crime organizado, eu acredito que muitos jovens que hoje estão de fuzil na mão, para ser soldado do tráfico vão abandonar essa vida. Nós vamos tirá-los desse ambiente e eles vão seguir um outro caminho. Porque ninguém quer ficar no tráfico, no crime organizado. Estão ali por absoluta falta de opção, e por absoluto abandono. As comunidades estão abandonadas”, disse Witzel.
O combate à violência e à corrupção nortearam toda a campanha. O amigo José Ricardo foi quem coordenou a elaboração do programa de governo.
“A preocupação dele, qual era? Que a gente fizesse no programa de governo, tudo convergisse para o combate à corrupção e melhoria da segurança pública. Então, todas as áreas, saúde, educação, cultura, ciência, o que for, combate à corrupção e melhoria da segurança pública”, disse o amigo José Ricardo.
O programa de governo prevê o fim da Secretaria de Segurança. E um status de secretaria para a Chefia da Polícia Civil e o Comando da PM.
Witzel também associou o nome dele ao de Jair Bolsonaro, do PSL, mesmo com o então candidato à presidência se declarando neutro em relação ao Rio de Janeiro. O ex-juiz recebeu o apoio do filho de Jair, Flávio Bolsonaro, também do PSL.
“Eu estava sentindo na rua o calor humano das pessoas me recebendo. Eu até brincava com as pessoas que estavam comigo: oh, o candidato 1%. A gente passava, por exemplo, em Santa Cruz, no calçadão, Nova Iguaçu, as pessoas estavam vindo, eu não estava mais procurando. A agora, quem dá o rumo sou eu, quem diz para onde a gente vai, sou eu”, disse Witzel.
5 de 5 Wilson Wizel — Foto: MAíRA COELHO/AGÊNCIA O DIA/AGÊNCIA O DIA/ESTADÃO CONTEÚDO Wilson Wizel — Foto: MAíRA COELHO/AGÊNCIA O DIA/AGÊNCIA O DIA/ESTADÃO CONTEÚDO
Ele disse que ainda não escolheu os secretários.
“É um governo técnico, só vai entrar gente capacitada, em todas as áreas, não tenho compromisso com ninguém, ninguém. Vamos fazer um governo com pessoas que conhecem a área”, disse Witzel.
O novo governador não pretende fazer grandes mudanças na vida pessoal. Ele disse que vai continuar morando no Grajaú. E, a pedido da mulher, vai tentar manter a rotina que a família já tem.
“Tenho que fazer adaptações na minha casa para poder ter o alojamento da segurança. A Helena não quer mexer com isso, a Helena quer manter a mesma rotina porque tudo isso na vida é passageiro. Não queremos que meus filhos morem em palácio para achar que o pai deles virou alguma coisa diferente do que é. É tudo passageiro e eles tem que se acostumar com as perdas. Daqui a quatro anos posso não ser nada, voltar a ser advogado, posso fazer outro concurso para juiz e voltar a ser juiz”, disse Witzel.
Se ele era desconhecido, agora é popular. Mas Witzel disse que busca mais do que isso. Ele quer ser diferente. | {
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Taylor Pearson is the author of " The End of the Jobs " and writes about entrepreneurship and blockchain technologies at TaylorPearson.me .
Although cryptographic networks are often compared to private companies, a better analogy is to compare them to cities.
As a city, a crypto network is a community of loosely affiliated individuals who agree on a set of rules for their way of life and work – laws for cities, protocols for cryptographic networks.
Unlike businesses, cities and cryptographic networks are organized from bottom to top rather than from top to bottom.
Individual leaders are more important for business than for cities. Who is the CEO of a company plays a major role in an investment decision, while the mayor of a city plays little role in the choice of a person? move there. Many Bitcoin investors can not name a single main developer, but this only plays a minor role in the investment decision.
Business growth tends to slow as it grows, but city growth tends to accelerate even as the population grows because of network effects. The 18 million people who already live in New York are "a feature, not a bug."
The same goes for crypto networks; the larger and more robust the community, the more valuable the encryption network.
This analogy is important because the way you design a prosperous city and how you design a successful business is very different.
If we take the lessons of how to build successful businesses and apply them to build crypto networks, it will end in failure. We need to study not how successful businesses are built, but how successful cities are built and apply those lessons to cryptographic networks.
Bitcoin is worse it is better
In his essay Bitcoin-is-Worse-is-Better the early bitcoin researcher Gwern argues:
"The long gestation and early opposition of Bitcoin indicate that it is an example of the paradigm" worse it is better " in which a complex and ugly design with few attractive theoretical properties compared to purer competitors.
From the point of view of network design, bitcoin is ugly and inelegant.
It's ugly and inelegant because network security only depends on having more brute-force computing power than your opponents. It's ugly and inelegant because the hash keeps growing.
And with the arbitrary limit of 21 million bitcoins? Could not it have been a rounder number or a power of 2?
Lessons from Brasilia
The paradigm of "Worse is Better" was also studied by Professor Yale James C. Scott in his book " S as a state . "
In his book, Scott asked why so many Utopian projects had failed miserably in the twentieth century. One of the main areas that he studied was the construction of cities, and in particular he compared Paris to Brazil's new capital, Brasilia, which was built from scratch in the 1950s.
The architects and planners in charge of the project thought that they could conceive of Brasilia as the perfect city.
Unlike working with an existing city where they felt congested by the existing infrastructure, they had a completely empty slate without the luggage that cluttered up existing cities like Paris.
If you look at a map of a big city like Paris, it looks, good, ugly and inelegant.
On a map, Brasilia has a look of beauty and elegance. Straight roads and geometric buildings are interspersed with equally geometric parks.
This is the pinnacle of what Scott calls "great modernism", the desire to make a aesthetically pleasing city from the point of view of a central planner.
And yet, the carefully ordered plan in Brasilia against the disorder evolved reality in Paris makes the lived experience of Brasilia soulless and empty while Paris feels vibrant and rich.
From the perspective of the central planner, Paris is a mess with apartments above shops and factories, while Brasilia is tidy with separate residential and commercial areas.
Which of these two cities would you rather live in?
Scott observed that the most popular cities (NYC, Paris, Tokyo Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, and London to name a few) tend to be ugly and inelegant from a modernist point of view from top to bottom. They should be worse, yet they are more popular.
Although Brasilia is beautiful and elegant on a map, the result of a resident is that "the city center feels clearly devoid of life on the squares, where the pigeons are much more numerous than people". From the planner's point of view, it should be better, but it's less popular and worse.
Similar to the best crypto networks, the best cities where people want to live are convincing from an upward and not downward point of view. Despite their ugly appearance on a map, people really want to live there and so cities continue to grow and prosper.
In the case of cities, modern central planners presented a common failure model :
A well-intentioned planner enters and looks at a complex reality from top to bottom.
They do not understand how it works because it's complex and messy. Like the map of Paris, it is difficult to understand from the outside.
Rather than trying to understand why the city looks like a mess and if it serves a deeper purpose, they attribute it to the city planning being "irrational".
They propose an idealized map of what a perfect city should look like in theory.
They use their power to impose this idealized map to the current city and it turns into a disaster.
The planners ignored Gall's law:
"A complex system that works has always evolved from a simple system that has worked.A complex system designed from scratch never works and can not be repaired for the to operate with a simple and functional system. "
Bitcoin and Paris follow Gall's law. They evolved from simple systems. These systems, in their now complex form, can have no meaning and look like a complete mess from top to bottom.
In the same way that it's hard to explain what's so irresistible in cities like Paris, London, or Hong Kong, it's hard to say what's going on. explain what is really fascinating to someone who has never used it. In either case, you must experience from a bottom-up perspective to understand.
These features are essential properties of any complex system of long duration, whether it be a city, a crypto network or a network. tropical forest.
Most new cryptographic projects will fail for the same reasons as Brasilia.
If crypto networks are like cities, then many of the current projects are approached from the same point of view, modernist and upscale, as central planners approach Brasilia and meet again devoid of life and communities.
These projects have the premise that "the bitcoin is so ugly or inelegant to do X, so we corrected it so that it is beautiful and pretty in this white paper"
These arguments are similar to those that urban planners argued by saying that "Paris looks like such a mess on the map, I designed Brasilia to look pretty and pretty on this card."
These crypto networks will have a familiar failure model:
A well-intentioned protocol designer comes in and looks at a complex reality.
They do not understand how it works because it's complex and messy.
Rather than trying to understand why this sounds like a mess and if it serves a deeper purpose, they attribute it to the current conception being "irrational, ugly and inelegant" ]
] They propose an idealized protocol that makes sense on paper
After the initial hype and buzz that fade, protocol users and the community do not like "live there" and migrate slowly.
Many of these projects have raised large sums of money because, like Brasilia, they look well designed and thought out on paper.
However, the cryptographic networks that will survive in the long term will be those that will progressively evolve with a deep understanding of the projects that preceded them. They will simply start and evolve over time, integrating their community of developers, users, investors and miners.
A complex encryption network designed from scratch never works and can not be repaired to make it work. You have to start over with a simple cryptographic network and build from there.
Burning out via Shutterstock
Leader in the blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media that strives to achieve the highest journalistic standards and adheres to a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
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After suffering a heavy fall on Tuesday, cryptocurrency Darkcoin is ending the week on a high, racing past rival digital currency Peercoin to become the world's third largest cryptocurrency.
Darkcoin has jumped 82 per cent in just 24 hours with a market cap close to $60m. Earlier in the week Darkcoin suffered a massive 23 per cent fall after its blockchain split into several forks.
Bitcoin experienced similar problem in March 2013, when the blockchain split into two, with one half adding blocks to one version of the chain, and the other half adding blocks to a different version.
The Darkcoin team temporarily removed masternode payments from the network to restore stability. “This was either due to an intentional attack on the network or an issue with the masternode payments system, in either case we have a solution for masternode payments that will be safe for the network in the future”, said Darkcoin developer Evan Duffield, in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Fortunately for holders of the privacy-centred currency no funds have been lost. The Darkcoin team said stability was restored to the network within hours. Duffield has also made alterations to the rewards for masternodes.
The masternodes conceal users transactions by mixing their Darkcoins with two additional users. Anyone can turn their computer into a masternode, so long as they can prove they've paid 1,000 Darkcoins. So as to incentivise operators, these coordinators will now receive 20 per cent block payments instead of the previous 10 per cent.
The Darkcoin team had wanted to hike the rewards of masternodes for weeks but were unable to since the code was undergoing testing and launch stages. Duffield is hoping to recruit new developers to help facilitate future implementations and work on the Darksend system. | {
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Donald Trump has started punishing Republicans who don't back him — sending the clear message to get in line or get out.The latest issue came to a head when he was openly critical of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez at a recent rally in Albuquerque, the Washington Examiner reports. "The governor has to do a better job," Trump said, the Examiner reports. "She's not doing the job."Martinez had criticized Trump on his immigration policy and, at one point, refused to share a stage with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. And it didn't get unnoticed by Trump."You think I'm going to change?" Trump said. "I'm not changing. If I have a Republican that's not on my side, I'm not going to — why should I be particularly nice to the person?""Now, politically I may be right, I may be wrong, but that's who I am. I'm a very honest person … If somebody is going to say a little bit negative or a lot negative about me and if they happen to be a Republican, I may choose to hit them back," Trump said.But some Republican loyalists predict Trump will move on from his attacks on members of his own party and save them for Hillary Clinton as the election draws closer."Conventional wisdom calls on him to stay above the fray, but Trump wisdom has served him well so far," political adviser Charlie Black said, according to the Examiner. "That said, I expect most of his fire will be trained on Mrs. Clinton between now and November." | {
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Product review: Orlandoo OH35P01 1:35 scale 4x4 F-150 micro crawler
About
Yay! here we go again with another of my continuous micro addiction to ORLANDOO's lines of micro 4x4 crawler and this time i got myself a 1:35 scale ORLANDOO OH35P01 F-150 truck...its another tiny engineering marvel that i need to have. Ever since i got my first 1:35 scale ORLANDOO OH35A01 Jeep last year i got so deep, had some fun, spawned some creativity and enjoyed growth of micro crawler development, also ended up building my own custom track which prolonged further interest in R/C hobby. So you've read my previous review on ORLANDOO OH35A01 the JEEP in February 2017 and now i would like to post my thoughts and review about the 1:35 scale ORLANDOO OH35P01 F150 which luckily manage to grab for $15 during spring season clearance sale...hahahaha!! i just saved my pocket. Then a week later i grab another one; the ORLANDOO OH32A02 PAJERO priced almost half at clearance sale too, i'll put that on separate review article soon. So this year i felt happy that i've own complete collection of micro crawler and the best part was the indoor crawling track that i made months back is all here waiting to be exploited by these 4x4 micro marvel.
The most distinct differences between between F150 packaging vs JEEP and PAJERO is the size of the box, its bigger than i expected almost almost extra 1/3 box size than the latest model. The packaging has the vibe being old and felt 'Beta' version since it decorative information on the box majority are written in chinese character than later version which are in english. The inner contents looks just like any other except it include extra tools; a handy drill tool. Parts tree slightly bigger because it has bigger one piece 'tub' style chassis and parts count also slightly lesser than OH35A01 and OH32A02 because of monocoque style chassis which require less assemble on it. Not much metal gear parts because some b-level gear for axle drivetrains made out of plastics so i've already bought extra metal upgrade just incase i ran into trouble. I'll explain more down below about specs, builds and performance.
Specification (as describe by vendor/manufacturer)
Brand: Orlandoo
Model: OH35P01 (Ford F-150 body replica)
Chassis size and builds: 1/35 scale 'tub' type chassis
Chassis build: Plastic
Drivetrains: 4WD
Drive Motor: micro/nano size brushed motor
Steering servo: nano 1.7g servo
ESC: Brushed ESC + Integrated electronics board BEC and light control
Radio controller requirement: 3 channel 2.4ghz radio
Radio channel assignment: CH1=Steering, CH2=Throttle, CH3=LED light
Play time: 20~35 minutes (Depending on throttle management)
Speed (km/h): Slow crawling
Battery details: 6.0v 400mah (2s Nimh cylinders cell)
Package included:
1x Orlandoo OH35P01 Kit
1x Grease pack
1x Tools
1x Manual book.
Pros: Smallest and scale looking commercial 4x4 crawler on the market.
Optional alloy/metal upgrades such as axle, drive shaft and etc.
Very long runtime on 6.0v 400mah NIMH battery. Average runtime of 20~35 minutes.
Big flat wide 'tub' base chassis means bigger space to put electronics component, battery and additional hardware electronics add-ons.
Huge space open to put battery on the chassis. (Provided you keep the electronics build in compact manner.) Cons: Very difficult to built due to lots of extremely tiny almost microscopic kit parts which is a bit hard to hold on your finger. Ideal for those experience building plastic kits models with good patience in building it.
Microsopic soldering skills and paint works are required.
Plastic quality can be random and some parts struggle to fit in.
OH35P01 is quite big and heavy weight when compare to against OH35A01 (Jeep) model.
Place holder for steering servo only support 1.7g servo size unlike stronger and bigger 2.2g on OH35A01 (Jeep). Most end user reported too fragile to use for steering.
Ball links hole are not pre-drilled from the factory, the package supplied hand drill tools to drill the required holes before assembly
Plastic B-Level gear inside the axle unit. The second generation OH35P01 and later have metal B-level gear.
Tub chassis layout, not as scale as real chassis which is on rail type.
Axle articulation not as flexy as OH35P01 and later models
Quality, performance and builds.
I guess you've heard the article i written last year about the Orlandoo second release JEEP which truly a happy model to build, play and admire about, however it was a huge differences in comparison against the F150 where i'll have to strip few stars out of it because it seems it lost few attributed in build quality and crawling performance. The most annoying thing about building the OH35P01 kit is you'll have to drill bunch of holes to install tit bits of ball linkages all over the chassis where as the latest OH35A01 already have holes and slot for it, plus some holes are easily stripped and loose when screwing in the ball link which prompt me to add plastic cement glue around the threads to secure the ball link into the holes. Don't forget you'll need to drill more holes too on some sets of axles which can be very difficult to hold steady between my thumbs and fingers especially the axle size itself almost as small as your own thumb.
Other than having tub style 'monocoque' chassis another major differences between this truck and latest Orlandoo truck model is that the tiny 1.7g servo is mounted directly on the axle itself while the latest model have bigger size durable 2.2g servo mounted on the rail chassis high above the axle well hidden within the scale plastic bodies. Having servo mounted on the chassis instead on axle allow improve suspension flexing and unobstructed axle articulation at max axle. The suspension struts on OH35P01 doesn't align straight down parallel to each other linking from chassis to axle, it slightly bent inwards toe-in almost rubbing the chassis. Installing the nano LED rear lights provided from the Orlandoo integrated ESC kit can be challenging because there's no holes to route thin wire into the rear light bucket. Fitting some ball bearings into the axle's outer plastic knuckle can be challenging and it took quite a beating for me to fit the bearing into the socket as if the plastic knuckle fitting was poorly made where as on my previous OH35A01 and OH35A02 the bearing fitting on the axle outer plastic knuckle was much easier and effortless.
Here another good point about F150 (OH35P01) chassis, the mid cabin space where mid gear box located are very spacious enough to put bulky battery provided if you are able compact the electronics to smaller size. On my build i stripped out the integrated ESC board's and radio receiver's pins, connectors and cut the wiring short to make a clean electronics build, light and small enough to save space under the cabin. The integrated ESC unit placed under the truck hood or most frontal side of the chassis laying flat and clean stripped radio receiver board placed flat on mid chassis, altogether compacted electronics build resulted more spacious placement for battery pack in contrast comparison to OH35A01/OH32A02 ORLANDOO rail type chassis.
When it comes to crawling performance the F150 had some hit and missed since i could compare it with with my existing 2nd (OH35A01) and 3rd (OH32A02) generations ORLANDOO models . Its hard for me to describe but let's imagine trying to drive a city limousine over mud and over pot holes in country side up the hill that's how the truck perform. The truck is sluggish when doing some tight turns on my custom build "Rubble Wasteland" indoor track, to highlight the issues below are lists of performance issues on my track as opposed to 2x existing ORLANDOO variants:
Wheel base too long
Cornering through tight obstacles are more difficult with OH53P01 F150 when compare against the OH53A01 Jeep or OH32A02 Pajero version. It took huge turning radius no thanks to its long wheelbase and may may not suit for people seeking for serious competitive indoor crawling. Long wheelbase also prone to get stuck easily over small bolder hitting the undercarriage or drive axle a lot.
Too heavy
The F150 version by far most heaviest 1:35 ORLANDOO models every build period when compare against the Jeep and Pajero which makes it harder to climb and tilt properly over steep sideway terrains. The top body shell plastic are heavy, rigid and thicker than its latest models while the base chassis also added to its weight due to 'tub' style construction instead of thin 'railed' chassis.
Poor undercarriage ground clearance
Due to the fact it has longer wheel base when over come boulder or obstacles the under carriage gets bumped causing the truck to see-saw around.
Poor axle articulation
The axle linkages articulation movement are limited by plastic stop tab from the chassis itself rather than using the suspension struts to control and float the articulation.
On the good side, like the Jeep the F150 truck has enormous of torque to climb over steep incline and with extra body weight pushed down giving extra grip on the tire rubber over ridges and slippery slope. For this truck i've upgraded the stock plastic rims to metal alloy because the origin al stock plastic looks pretty ugly. I've tried increased the suspension lift clearance however some linkage movement is limited by the chassis 'stop tab' itself however DIY solution by shredding those plastics will help. As mention before the most frustrated feature about this truck is about big turning radius, unable steer narrow cornering unlike what the Jeep and Pajero capable off due to its long wheel base. So running on my custom 'Rubble Wasteland' track is not ideal for this truck. There was several report in the R/C forum among owner of ORLANDOO OH35P01 F-150 having problem with 1.7g servo plastic gear keep stripping about during crawling however after running mine for several days on my track and on top of desktop through various obstacles i didn't fine any issues mentioned but i do carefully thread the front wheels as i crawl about to avoid unnecessary steering load. Upgrading 2.2g servo on this truck can be a bit challenging without some DIY works because by default the servo place holder is build for 1.7g size only and since its attached on axle i don't see much point putting a bulky 2.2g servo because the size differences between 1.7g vs 2.2g is tremendous. However Orlandoo did release a metal alloy axle upgrade kit for F150 (OH35P01) that claim to support 2.2g servo at a hefty price....yes those alloy axle are sliver and shiny...you'll get extra bling.
I guess with all those flaw the ORLANDOO learned few things and made some improvements which led to the release of 2nd generation OH35A01 (Jeep) as huge improvement over OH35P01 model.
Videos/Medias
Here are sample of video of i posted on my Youtube channel contain test review on Orlandoo OH35P01 F150.
Vendor/seller
Here are list of reputable vendor/seller which i bought from and also verified by community forum discussion groups. Also i've experienced buying from these places that have good support and services:
1. Seller Banggood.com (Kit only): Orlandoo F150 OH35P01 KIT Assemble Climbing RC Car
2. Seller Banggood.com (Kit + electronics combo): Orlandoo OH35P01 F150 1/35 EP Scale Climbing RC Crawler
Spare/upgrade parts:
Support group:
Places where you can find help and resources related to this product:
Topic (Orlandoo collection on track): Rccrawler.com - DIY scale rock crawler track made from foams
Topic (Orlandoo collection on track): Rcuniverse.com - DIY Foamy rock crawler track
Topic (Shared topic with OH35A01): Rctech.net - 1/35 scale Orlandoo OH35A01 Jeep crawler build
Topic: Rcgroups.com - Orlandoo F150 OH35P01 build
Summary
Is 1:35 ORLANDOO OH35 P01 F150 worth buying consider the fact it was the first model release with some assembly flaw? Despite some pain in the ass build spending hours over the work table to complete the assemble it was very rewarding and i did have fun with it seeing how challenging it was to climb over ridges on long wheel base. Driving was challenging took some effort like 3x time to reverse and forward just to do a sharp 90 degree turn after climbing a steep obstacles and also try not to tilt side ways too much due to high CG weight. There was this opinion pop up in my head thinking that this truck meant just for the looks...putting some upgrades and keep it as shelf queen since there are bunch of nice shiny metal alloys hop up parts online to make it look cool than what offered for other latest variant. As for me its worthy buying it just to complete my collection of ORLANDOO crawler series. But if you're new to micro crawlers the i'd strongly suggest you get the Jeep (OH35A01) or Pajero (OH32A02) version. F150 is the largest, heaviest and longest chassis by appearance and sometimes i felt it was slightly out of scale when i put it side by side with my Jeep and Pajero. It felt more like Diecast model by looking and holding it, you'll need to be more careful with the assembly especially when drilling holes and screwing the ball linkages because some plastics are 'chewy' and plastic linkages break more often if you screw in the linkage rods too deep.
The ORLANDOO F150 may not have all the build quality and handling unlike its later models the OH35A01 and OH32A02 version but when it come to having a complete lines variety of 4x4 micro crawler under the roof the F-150 shouldn't be missed as part of complete collection if you're enthusiast of micro marvels. If you wanted to have first taste of 1:32 or 1:35 scale Orlandoo's 4x4 i'd recommend picking up OH35A01 JEEP for serious crawling performance and scale mods value because its easier to build, less hassle to run, more fun to drive around the desktop and motivates you to build a custom track for it. Later then if you have enough financial resources then your last investment will be the ORLANDOO OH35P01 F-150. Hope this article above helps you to go about choose the right Orlandoo's micro, spending more time indoor with explosive 4x4 creativity and being imaginative on your desktop.
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the future of computing december 17th, 2013
bret victor:
I do think that it would be kind of a shame if in forty years we're still coding in procedures, in text files, in a sequential programming model. I think that would suggest we didn't learn anything from this really fertile period in computer science.
That would be a tragedy. But even more of a tragedy than these ideas not being used would be if these ideas were forgotten. If anybody were ever to be shown this stuff and actually be surprised by it. But even that's not the biggest tragedy. The real tragedy would be if people forgot that you could have new ideas about programming models in the first place.
alan kay:
A lot of the problems that computing has had in the last 25 years comes from systems where the designers were trying to fix some short-term thing and didn't think about whether the idea would scale if it were adopted
programmers tend to make tools for programmers. it is much easier to write a program if you can require a high level of technical sophistication of your users. we programmers are also addicted to highly technical problems, we love to build ingenious applications, scalable products, fancy technologies and algorithms. after all this is our home turf, this is what we learned and love.
Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science http://code.org
you've certainly witnessed the strong push from the technology industry to teach everyone how to code. but is this really the problem we are facing right now? because what i see in my environment is people who are struggling presenting their photography portfolio to other people or creating a community of friends to play sports. creating a website or a mobile application isn't really the problem they are trying to solve. for example, they just want to make information available to others, they want to communicate or they want offload repeatable tasks to their computer.
however for many problems, powerful tools like a programming language are too capable: they drain the energy to solve the problem you actually want to solve. after all, a website or a mobile app is just means to and end; and so they fail. then they ask you if you can help them, because you are so good with computers. but actually the difference between you and them is this:
Technologists know too much about too many layers and non-technologists know too little about too few layers to be able to establish effective direct communication Jean-Baptiste Quéru
you, my dear programmer friend, know about tcp, ethernet and iso/osi layers. you know about domains, dns, cname's and redirections. you know about server setups, heroku and git deployments. you know about browser quirks and html standards. you know about fancy css instructions and the impact of hardware acceleration. i could go on. and when you start to explain layer by layer you always run into leaky abstractions:
The only way to deal with the leaks competently is to learn about how the abstractions work and what they are abstracting. They save us time working, but they don't save us time learning. Joel Spolsky
and this is why you spent years and years learning about current and new technologies, about better ways of solving problems, about improving your coding skills and how to build projects. and this is also why you can't teach somebody to become a programmer in just a few months. of course you should try to do so, but that is not the point i am trying to make here.
whenever discussing this topic with friends and colleagues, somebody brings up the story that back in the early decades of the last century, everybody knew how to repair and tune their cars. and if your car broke down and you couldn't fix it yourself, a passing stranger would certainly be able to help you. with the current generation of cars this is not needed anymore and people don't actually need to know how their engine works in order to drive.
while this might be true, i think this is the wrong analogy to make here. more importantly, this story should teach us that cars evolved into a state in which they became a tool to solve one problem, which is getting from a to b.
with our so called general purpose machines this problem is much harder to tackle. but if you look at research projects and prototypes from the mother of all demos to von neumann style liberated programming to flow based programming you will find so many great minds who were and are trying to seize exactly this problem. who were and are trying to bring computing technologies to people and not trying to bring people to technologies.
it looks as if history is filled with two types of people: the ones that want to maintain a comfortable status quo and the ones that want to move humanity forward. i really hope that we can push humanity forward, but not by teaching everyone to code, but by thinking about how we can evolve the currently sad state of computing. by thinking how we can make the power computing technologies give us available to everyone. the rest will follow automatically.
thanks to diego escalante urrelo, nicolas christener and ruben vermeersch for reading drafts of this. | {
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President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, a fast-rising conservative judge with a writer's flair, to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, setting up a fierce fight with Democrats over a jurist who could shape America's legal landscape for decades to come.
At 49, Gorsuch is the youngest Supreme Court nominee in a quarter-century. He's known on the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for clear, colloquial writing, advocacy for court review of government regulations, defense of religious freedom and skepticism toward law enforcement.
"Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support," Trump declared, announcing the nomination in his first televised prime-time address from the White House.
Gorsuch's nomination was cheered by conservatives wary of Trump's own fluid ideology. If confirmed by the Senate, he will fill the seat left vacant by the death last year of Antonin Scalia, long the right's most powerful voice on the high court.
With Scalia's wife, Maureen, sitting in the audience, Trump took care to praise the late justice. Gorsuch followed, calling Scalia a "lion of the law."
President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, a fast-rising conservative judge with a writer's flair, to the Supreme Court on Jan. 31, 2017.
Gorsuch thanked Trump for entrusting him with "a most solemn assignment." And he said, "Standing here in a house of history, I'm acutely aware of my own imperfections and pledge that if I am confirmed, I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the Constitution of laws of this great country."
Some Democrats, still smarting over Trump's unexpected victory in the presidential election, have vowed to mount a vigorous challenge to nearly any nominee to what they view as the court's "stolen seat." President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland for the vacancy after Scalia's death, but Senate Republicans refused to consider the pick, saying the seat should be filled only after the November election.
Trump's choice of Gorsuch marks perhaps the most significant decision of his young presidency, one with ramifications that could last long after he leaves office. After an uneven start to his presidency, including the chaotic rollout last week of a controversial refugee and immigration ban, Trump's selection of Gorsuch appeared to proceed with little drama.
For some Republicans, the prospect of filling one or more Supreme Court seats over the next four years has helped ease their concerns about Trump's experience and temperament. Three justices are in their late 70s and early 80s, and a retirement would offer Trump the opportunity to cement conservative dominance of the court for many years.
If confirmed, Gorsuch will restore the court to the conservative tilt it held with Scalia on the bench. But he is not expected to call into question high-profile rulings on abortion, gay marriage and other issues in which the court has been divided 5-4 in recent years.
President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Antonin Scalia. President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Antonin Scalia. SEE MORE VIDEOS
Gorsuch has won praise from conservatives for his defense of religious freedom. In two cases that involved the contraception mandate under the Obama health care law, he sided with businesses and nonprofit groups that voiced religious objections to the requirement that they provide cost-free birth control to women covered under their health plans.
The judge also has written opinions that question 30 years of Supreme Court rulings that allow federal agencies to interpret laws and regulations. Gorsuch has said that federal bureaucrats have been allowed to accumulate too much power at the expense of Congress and the courts.
Like Scalia, Gorsuch identifies himself as a judge who tries to decide cases by interpreting the Constitution and laws as they were understood when written. He also has raised questions about criminal laws in a way that resembles Scalia's approach to criminal law.
University of Michigan law professor Richard Primus said Gorsuch "may be the closest thing the new generation of conservative judges has to Antonin Scalia."
Gorsuch, like the other eight justices on the court, has an Ivy League law degree. The Colorado native earned his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in three years, then a law degree from Harvard. He clerked for Supreme Court Justices Byron White, a fellow Coloradan, and Anthony Kennedy before earning a philosophy degree at Oxford University and working for a prominent Washington, D.C., law firm.
He served for two years in George W. Bush's Department of Justice before the president nominated him to the appeals court. His mother was Anne Gorsuch, who was head of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Reagan administration.
Gorsuch is expected to face intense scrutiny from Democrats. Some liberals have demanded that Democrats block any Trump choice, underscoring the deep partisan discord surging through Washington.
"Now is not the time for business as usual," MoveOn.org's Ilya Sheyman said in a statement.
Neil M. Gorsuch, a highly regarded conservative jurist best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare, is President Trump's Supreme Court nominee. Neil M. Gorsuch, a highly regarded conservative jurist best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare, is President Trump's Supreme Court nominee. SEE MORE VIDEOS
Gorsuch was among the 21 possible choices for the court Trump released during the campaign. Other finalists also came from that list, including Thomas Hardiman, who serves alongside Trump's sister on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and William Pryor, a federal appeals court judge and Alabama's attorney general from 1997 to 2004.
If Democrats decide to filibuster Gorsuch's nomination, his fate could rest in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump has encouraged McConnell to change the rules of the Senate and make it impossible to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee — a change known in the Senate as the "nuclear option."
A conservative group already has announced plans to begin airing $2 million worth of ads in support of the nominee in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and North Dakota, four states that Trump won and in which Democrats will be defending their Senate seats in 2018.
Associated Press
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Right-to-work has a nice ring to it from a sentimental point of view.
After all, who would deny someone the right to work? And why would a union do so? Unions are pro-work. Right?
Right-to-work, however, is a divisive, potentially explosive political move in which states guarantee a qualified worker who does not want to join a union can work in a union shop. If management, in turn, wants to shed itself of an onerous union contract, it can simply hire workers who will take the job without representation. Over time, the union is phased out. So much for collective bargaining.
It is as anti-union as it can get. Invariably, there are workers in every union around the country that have momentary disputes with their union leaders or complaints about having to hand over part of their pay to a union they feel is not serving them well.
These workers go on lunch breaks forced into place by union struggles, take breaks that would otherwise not be in place had labor not organized to fight harsh working conditions, work in safe environments thanks to unions and work in factories that no longer pull children from school to work alongside adults on assembly lines, a practice that was common until unions spoke up.
The list is nearly endless. Job security, pension plans, healthcare benefits, seniority rules, better than minimum wage pay, healthcare after retirement, vacation days, the right to safely file grievances against a supervisor or a work rule -- the very job itself may be available due to collective bargaining.
Needless to say, it required a collective force to bring about so many radical changes to fruition. And yet, certainly, it is human nature to walk into a union shop and grumble about the union dues that could have been spent on clothes for the kids or family vacations.
What a comeuppance in Michigan, however, for state Republicans to declare war on unions with a right-to-work initiative just a month after the Nov. 6 election in which voters turned down a proposal to guarantee collective bargaining rights for workers.
And how embarrassing is it to hear the argument simplified to the idea that unions are standing in the way of higher employment due to their onerous dues and perhaps at the cost of a worker's political freedom by forcing workers to join the union or work somewhere else. Unions are not a subtraction of political freedom any more than allowing women to vote is a subtraction of a woman's political freedom.
And there is certainly no argument about whether union dues are well spent. Take away the union dues and the union itself and see how fast the math works in a company's favor. Union dues are only affordable because the union forced management to pay living wages.
At the very least, a right-to-work law should include a provision that says if a union forced a company to create the job then the union has the right to expect that job will be taken by a dues-paying union member.
Given Republican insistence in Washington that tax rates for the wealthy remain intact it is not surprising that Republicans in Michigan are champing at the bit to wage war on unions. No surprise whatsoever.
In international markets Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan fell 0.19 percent while the Shanghai composite index in China rose 1.6 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 0.26 percent while the Sensex in India fell 0.32 percent.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.94 percent.
In midday trading in Europe, the FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 0.3 percent while the DAX 30 in Germany slipped 0.02 percent. The CAC 40 in France gained 0.35 percent while the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.29 percent. | {
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Title: The Candidate
Year: 1972
Director: Michael Ritchie
Cast: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas, Karen Carlson, Allen Garfield
Synopsis: It’s election time and the Democratic party doesn’t have a viable contender to run against California Senator Crocker Jarmon. Campaign Specialist Marvin Lucas (Boyle) seeks out Bill McKay (Redford), an outspoken and idealistic son of former Governor John McKay. The upside to running against Jarmon is that McKay is permitted to speak his mind and dare to do what few politicians ever have – be honest! What initially seemed like a burdensome task, McKay’s campaign gains momentum and the seemingly unwinnable election takes an unexpected turn, and McKay finds himself compromised.
Critique: Amid the many politically charged movies from the New Hollywood movement, Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate seems to live in the shadow of films like Network, or Medium Cool. Most likely due to the less exclamatory tone of the movie which, in some ways makes this title stand out from the other films of this period. Instead of clobbering the viewer with the admirable (if on the nose) defiance that permeated the cultural zeitgeist of the time, Ritchie takes a more deliberate approach in articulating the film’s political angst. If Paddy Chayefsky’s catalyst for change in Network was Howard Beale howling “I’m as mad as Hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” then Bill McKay in The Candidate is saying, “I’m pretty mad, I’ll tell you why, but I’m going to get pushed into becoming another bullshitter.” Which is exactly what happens to the once optimistic McKay as he glad-hands his way into being another cog in a system he wanted nothing to do with.
Although The Candidate precedes Network by five years, you can’t ignore the powerful screenwriters that energize these films. Chayefsky’s characters in Network might spit fire in every scene, but Jeremy Larner’s naturalistic eye and ear for politics and dialogue might outflank Chayevsky by unraveling media transparency so well by shouting and not screaming.
Larner’s Oscar-winning script doesn’t come as a surprise considering his chops in politics and screenwriting. Larner was a well-versed speechwriter for Senator McCarthy during the 1968 primaries against the seemingly immovable incumbent President Johnson. Sound familiar? Politics can be engrossing or alienating, but the marriage of Ritchie’s prudent direction and Redford’s assured but vulnerable performance ensure the films fluidity – Redford’s reputation and appearance simultaneously reinforce and mock our perception of the “all American” clean faced politician. Peter Boyle’s comparatively subtle role as McKay’s campaign manager shows his range as an actor, just as Gene Hackman had done so three years prior in Downhill Racer. But it’s Larner’s script that brings everything together. Realism benefits the narrative structure and vice versa. Mckay’s tv panels, interviews and rallies capture a quality of realism thanks to the experienced hands of its screenwriter.
A relatively overlooked director from the New Hollywood, Ritchie consistently explored not just the nature of competition, but the all too human flaws behind the venerable reputations frequently built around athletes as well as politicians. The notion of competition and athleticism would be recurring themes in Ritchie’s work, the ascension from Downhill Racer to The Candidate ironically invert the stakes of politics to comedic, whereas Downhill Racer treated Olympic skiing with stark urgency. But the shared understanding is that contemporary media (then and now) portray politics as a game, an annoying truth for the audience and the protagonist alike.
In some ways, Ritchie’s relative autonomy and controlled direction lend The Candidate its timelessness and relevance. It’s a cliche to say that a movie is “just as relevant now as it was when it was made” but that is the case for The Candidate. Personal cynicism aside, politics matter and this is an outstanding movie; it tells rounded a story, delivers an important message maintains a sense of humor without being self-serious or preachy.
Why it Belongs in the Collection: Criterion’s release of Ritchie’s Downhill Racer was a wonderful surprise; the restoration highlights a film that had the reputation (to a handful of people) as “the movie Roman Polanski almost directed.” Having said that, Ritchie is an excellent director whose unabrasive intelligence yielded to one of the best political satires to come from the early seventies. In concert with the auteur theory, The Candidate would be an all too appropriate successor to Ritchie’s debut feature Downhill Racer in terms of a Criterion release. But, more importantly this is a great film that is yet to receive a Blu-ray release, and, to my knowledge, the rights from Warner Brothers are attainable. As a side note, Tony Stella, an artist whose self-commissioned Criterion (as well as other movie) posters are pretty fascinating put up his poster design for The Candidate on his Tumblr page. Wishful thinking, or a preamble for a future release? | {
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After being initially announced last week during a Japanese live stream, Square Enix has announced that Star Ocean: The Last Hope International 4K & Full HD Remaster will be available in North America and Europe on November 28 as a digital-only title for PlayStation 4 and PC. This marks the first time the Star Ocean series will receive a PC release.
The game will be priced at $20.99 and with 4K and keyboard control support on PC. You can find the Steam page here. Square Enix also released a set of 4K screenshots, which you can find in the gallery below. Those who purchase the game within two weeks of release will receive a 10% discount. Steam buyers during this window will also receive an exclusive downloadable mini-soundtrack featuring music from the game. For PlayStation buyers, those who purchase before January 8 will receive an exclusive PS4 system theme and 12 PSN avatars featuring the main characters.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope originally released on Xbox 360 in 2009 - later getting an 'International' PlayStation 3 port with balance & UI tweaks as well as dual audio support. It is the first game in the Star Ocean timeline, where humanity is looking into the stars to find a new homeworld after World War III. The game features a party-based action battle system, private action events, and in-depth item creation system that the series is known for.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope International 4K & Full HD Remaster Screenshots | {
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September 20, 2020
PIP is a benefit for those who need help with the extra costs associated with disability or long-term illness, but… | {
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Not particularly deadly (Image: Carl Court/AFP/Getty)
You will be exterminated! Or perhaps not, if a group of anti-killer robot campaigners get their way. This week, the United Nations’ Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) is once again hearing from technical and legal experts on the subject of killer robots.
The series of briefings and panel debates is the latest step on the road to a potential treaty on lethal autonomous weapons.
Key to the discussions is the definition of “meaningful human control” – what type of human involvement is necessary in the process of killing someone on the battlefield? Delegates will also consider the possible challenges to International Humanitarian Law presented by lethal autonomous weapons.
Peter Asaro, at Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society and a member of the International Committee on Robot Arms Control, is attending the talks. He says there is growing consensus that it is unacceptable for robots to kill people without human supervision.
Speaking from the first day of the meetings, Asaro reports that Croatia and Japan have made strong statements on this point. In a document outlining its views on the subject ahead of the meeting, Japan wrote: “Japan’s Ministry of Defence has no plan to develop robots with humans out of the loop, which may be capable of committing murder.”
Outspoken opposition
Asaro believes that several countries, such as South Korea, whose statements were somewhat cautious at previous delegations, have become more outspoken in their opposition to autonomous weaponry.
“I think there is consensus around the fact that in its most extreme form you can’t just have weapons out there without any kind of human supervision,” says Asaro. “But there is still disagreement and work to be done on how do we define this as a legal term.”
Meaningful human control, of course, has proved a notoriously difficult concept to agree on. “My own view is that the human should have meaningful control over an attack, whether in initiating it or being able to call it off after it has been initiated,” says Asaro.
Even the most hopeful estimates suggest that a treaty or formalised ban is at least a year or two away. But the fact that the UN agreed to continue discussing the issue last November has been seen as a sign by some that a resolution is on the horizon.
Meanwhile, a report by Human Rights Watch released before the CCW meeting has argued that fully autonomous weapons would make it difficult to attribute legal responsibility for deaths caused by such systems.
As the report notes: “A variety of legal obstacles make it likely that humans associated with the use or production of these weapons – notably operators and commanders, programmers and manufacturers – would escape liability for the suffering caused by fully autonomous weapons.” | {
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Three-year partnership to support industry with proven cloud technology and drive cloud innovation
Innovation around OPNFV (NFV/VNF) and IT cloud
Ericsson to deploy Ubuntu Server OS as Host OS for Cloud offering
Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, today announced a three year partnership with Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), a world leader in communications technology and services, to drive innovation around IT cloud and telecom cloud solutions, the latter in line with OPNFV. The move will help both organizations respond to increasing demand from telecoms companies and enterprises for more flexible, scalable options to meet the ever-growing appetite for new services.
Under the terms of the partnership, Ericsson will deploy Ubuntu as the host OS for Ericsson’s Cloud System platform. Ubuntu Server OS will underpin Ericsson’s offering for its telecommunications network, internal data center and cloud computing customers; giving customers the choice and flexibility they’ve been waiting for, and assisting the global adoption of OpenStack-based cloud technologies.
Communication companies are exploring the benefits open source-based clouds can bring to NFV (Network Function Virtualization) projects. Recent studies have shown that 90+ percent of telecommunications operators plan to deploy NFV to modernize the way telecommunications networks are built and operated.
OPNFV has established itself as the platform of choice for NFV workloads. Currently, Ericsson networks bear 40 per cent of the world’s mobile traffic and connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers globally. The focus of OPNFV is to reduce the estate of hardware platforms in order to dramatically reduce operational expenses, reduce power usage, and create greater flexibility to grow or scale-down to better mitigate market volatility.
According to Ericsson, the partnership will enable them to meet these goals while helping customers bring exciting new services to market more quickly.
Ericsson chose Ubuntu Server OS as the host OS for its Cloud Execution Environment, a core component of the company’s cloud infrastructure, based on Ubuntu’s demonstrated leadership, innovation, and performance as the market’s number one choice for scale-out cloud platforms. The partnership will see Ericsson capitalise on its world class domain expertise and extensive global experience in telecommunications, combined with Canonical’s Ubuntu Server OS, cloud and open source expertise.
Magnus Furustam, Vice President and Head of Product Area Cloud Systems at Ericsson said: “Cloud Platforms for the network have to be secure, resilient, robust and high performing. Partnering with Canonical for carrier-grade operating systems provides an opportunity for innovation to meet stringent telecom requirements in these areas.”
The alliance will help both telco’s and IT enterprise data centers embrace cloud computing with a high performing open source solution. Working together, Ericsson and Canonical plan to align engineering, product, and go-to-market efforts to drive the adoption of OPNFV and OpenStack based cloud technologies broadly across both telecommunication providers, where support for NFV implementations is critical, and large enterprises that are seeking to deploy the latest cloud and virtualization technologies.
John Zannos, VP Cloud Alliances at Canonical said: “Ericsson’s experience in telecommunications and enterprise means we can innovate together around the next generation of cloud solutions for the network. Companies are struggling to automate, reuse and simplify the deployment of applications and services on clouds, our Partnership with Ericsson will work to help customers overcome these challenges.
Ericsson is a critical partner to help bring Ubuntu, cloud and NFV solutions to both our customers.”
-Ends-
About Canonical:
Ubuntu is the leading OS for cloud, scale-out and ARM-based hyperscale computing featuring the fastest, most secure hypervisors, as well as the latest in container technology with LXC and Docker. Ubuntu is also the world’s most popular operating system for OpenStack. Over 80% of the large-scale OpenStack deployments today are on Ubuntu
About Ericsson:
Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society – a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, business and society to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future. Our services, software and infrastructure – especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud – are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.
With approximately 115,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries, we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world’s mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions – and our customers – stay in front.
Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in 2014 were SEK 228.0 billion (USD 33.1 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York. | {
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By By Anne Sewell Nov 15, 2012 in World There were literally millions of people out demonstrating on the streets of Europe yesterday in the largest European general strike ever held. One thing they all agreed on, "We have no future!" Includes videos. "There is a social emergency in the south," said Bernadette Ségol, the secretary general of the Millions of workers walked off their jobs and marched on their Parliament buildings, right across Europe. Many of the rallies were met with police action and some ended up in violent clashes. Italy: Around 300,000 protesters took to the streets all over the country rallying against Prime Minister Mario Monti’s austerity measures. In over 100 Italian cities, workers observed a 4-hour stoppage in solidarity with the Spanish, Greek and Portuguese workers. Milan and Rome witnessed thousands of students clashing with riot police which led to many injuries. In Sardinia, two ministers had to be evacuated after angry protesters stormed a meeting and burned cars. Industry Minister Corrado Passera and Minister of Territorial Cohesion Fabrizio Barca were safely evacuated by helicopter. Rome saw running battles between the police and protesters, as rioting workers and students blocked the streets and confronted the police, throwing bottles, rocks and firecrackers. Police fired teargas and arrested more than 50 people. Around 17 police officers were injured. Rome: Milan: Smaller clashes occurred in Naples and Brescia, with thousands of students blocking railway tracks. In Genoa, they blocked the entrance to the ferry port. Other cities saw banks smeared with eggs and in Bologna, 10,000 students attempted to march through a line of riot police. In Pisa, protesters occupied the leaning tower of Pisa with a banner reading, “Rise Up! We are not paying for your Euro crisis!” Greece: Last week the Greeks had a strong, 48-hour anti-austerity strike, and were relatively quiet on Wednesday with around 5,000 protesting in Athens. Protesters called for a three-hour work stoppage in solidarity with Spain, Italy and Portugal. So far, many have survived the years of austerity and recession in Greece by relying on the support of family or handouts. "But when that dries up, and it will with these latest measures, there will be no reason not to descend en masse on to the streets," said Kostas Kapetanakis, a young sociologist in Syntagma Square. "There will be a revolt because we will have absolutely nothing to lose," he added. President of the National Foresters' Association, Nikos Bokaris, stood with other civil servants outside Parliament on Wednesday. Bokaris fears that Greece was being pushed towards a huge explosion. "Civil servants feel they have been very unfairly singled out," he said. "I am very afraid that the country is heading for a massive social upheaval with huge consequences for public safety and order. All it will take is a spark." France: In Paris, protesters were heard to chant, “Let’s demand solidarity” and “Austerity can seriously damage your health”. François Chérèque, head of the CFDT, said that the protests were directed against European heads of state, telling them: “You cannot impose this type of austerity, it’s too dangerous for the economy and, above all, too dangerous in social terms. It leads to tragedies, a blocked economy. We cannot go further,” he said. Belgium: As railway and air travel ground to an almost total halt in Belgium, workers marched on the European Commission. Eggs and firecrackers were thrown at the Portuguese Embassy in Brussels in solidarity with workers throughout Europe. However it was the Iberian peninsula that saw the most action on November 14. Spain: Spain currently has the highest unemployment rate in the industrialized world. According to the unions, around 9 million workers, or estimated 80% of the workforce, took to the streets across the country on Wednesday. All major cities saw streets filled with protesters, traffic jams and transport halts. Countrywide the most popular slogan was "Rajoy Go Home", regarding the outrage of Spaniards over Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's austerity measures and public spending cuts, which have led to an almost 26% unemployment rate. Madrid, November 14, 2012 ROARmag In Madrid and Barcelona, more than 142 people were arrested and around 74 people were injured, including 43 policemen, as police fired rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse protesters. In Barcelona, protesters set police cars on fire and smeared banks and ATM machines with paint and graffiti. In Madrid, the streets were littered with leaflets, reading “They leave us without future. They are the guilty ones. There are other solutions.” Police helicopters began flying low over central Madrid as soon as the strike started and stayed there all day. In Tarragona, a 13-year-old boy was wounded when a police officer struck him on the head with a baton. Portugal: Portugal saw strike actions in around 40 cities and towns countrywide. Lisbon was worst hit, with transport brought to a halt, the subway shut down, rail strikes left commuters stranded, and half of the flights were cancelled. Thousands protested the record 15.8% unemployment rate. In Lisbon, protesters stormed the parliament building in the event, shouting, "The troika does not rule here!" They were met by a violent crackdown from riot police, leaving many protesters injured. The Lisbon demonstrators were finally dispersed, after more than an hour of standoff. A selection of photos of the various protests Europe-wide can be viewed Sky News kept a running live feed of the action yesterday In total, workers in 23 countries across Europe participated in the European Day of Action and Solidarity. As reported by Digital Journal on Wednesday, some actions were small and others were full-blown strikes. The Europe-wide strike action was coordinated by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and promoted on Twitter under the hashtag “#14N.”"There is a social emergency in the south," said Bernadette Ségol, the secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation . "All recognize that the policies carried out now are unfair and not working." Thanks to the ETUC, European labor unions united for the very first time since the start of the European debt crisis. People have had enough of the austerity measures imposed on them and are attempting to stave off decades of austerity and unemploymentMillions of workers walked off their jobs and marched on their Parliament buildings, right across Europe. Many of the rallies were met with police action and some ended up in violent clashes. In Spain and Portugal, general strikes paralyzed public services and stopped international flights. In Spain, Portugal and Italy, bloody street battles ensued. In France and Belgium, transport links were partially disrupted by demonstrations and strikes, and in Greece and Italy, thousands of students and workers marched through the streets. Small actions were held in Austria, Germany and Poland, with well-attended, union-led rallies.Around 300,000 protesters took to the streets all over the country rallying against Prime Minister Mario Monti’s austerity measures.In over 100 Italian cities, workers observed a 4-hour stoppage in solidarity with the Spanish, Greek and Portuguese workers. Milan and Rome witnessed thousands of students clashing with riot police which led to many injuries. In Sardinia, two ministers had to be evacuated after angry protesters stormed a meeting and burned cars. Industry Minister Corrado Passera and Minister of Territorial Cohesion Fabrizio Barca were safely evacuated by helicopter.Rome saw running battles between the police and protesters, as rioting workers and students blocked the streets and confronted the police, throwing bottles, rocks and firecrackers. Police fired teargas and arrested more than 50 people. Around 17 police officers were injured.Smaller clashes occurred in Naples and Brescia, with thousands of students blocking railway tracks. In Genoa, they blocked the entrance to the ferry port. Other cities saw banks smeared with eggs and in Bologna, 10,000 students attempted to march through a line of riot police.In Pisa, protesters occupied the leaning tower of Pisa with a banner reading, “Rise Up! We are not paying for your Euro crisis!”Last week the Greeks had a strong, 48-hour anti-austerity strike, and were relatively quiet on Wednesday with around 5,000 protesting in Athens. Protesters called for a three-hour work stoppage in solidarity with Spain, Italy and Portugal. As protesters marched on Syntagma Square carrying flags, they chanted “Athens, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon - everyone in the streets!” While there were minor clashes with the police, the rally was mostly peaceful.So far, many have survived the years of austerity and recession in Greece by relying on the support of family or handouts. "But when that dries up, and it will with these latest measures, there will be no reason not to descend en masse on to the streets," said Kostas Kapetanakis, a young sociologist in Syntagma Square. "There will be a revolt because we will have absolutely nothing to lose," he added.President of the National Foresters' Association, Nikos Bokaris, stood with other civil servants outside Parliament on Wednesday. Bokaris fears that Greece was being pushed towards a huge explosion."Civil servants feel they have been very unfairly singled out," he said. "I am very afraid that the country is heading for a massive social upheaval with huge consequences for public safety and order. All it will take is a spark." In France there were 130 strikes and protests in over 100 cities. The French General Confederation of Labor referred to the November 14 strikes as the first “social movement of this scale” in the history of the EU.In Paris, protesters were heard to chant, “Let’s demand solidarity” and “Austerity can seriously damage your health”.François Chérèque, head of the CFDT, said that the protests were directed against European heads of state, telling them: “You cannot impose this type of austerity, it’s too dangerous for the economy and, above all, too dangerous in social terms. It leads to tragedies, a blocked economy. We cannot go further,” he said.As railway and air travel ground to an almost total halt in Belgium, workers marched on the European Commission. Eggs and firecrackers were thrown at the Portuguese Embassy in Brussels in solidarity with workers throughout Europe.However it was the Iberian peninsula that saw the most action on November 14.Spain currently has the highest unemployment rate in the industrialized world. According to the unions, around 9 million workers, or estimated 80% of the workforce, took to the streets across the country on Wednesday. All major cities saw streets filled with protesters, traffic jams and transport halts.Countrywide the most popular slogan was "Rajoy Go Home", regarding the outrage of Spaniards over Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's austerity measures and public spending cuts, which have led to an almost 26% unemployment rate.In Madrid and Barcelona, more than 142 people were arrested and around 74 people were injured, including 43 policemen, as police fired rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse protesters. In Barcelona, protesters set police cars on fire and smeared banks and ATM machines with paint and graffiti.In Madrid, the streets were littered with leaflets, reading “They leave us without future. They are the guilty ones. There are other solutions.” Police helicopters began flying low over central Madrid as soon as the strike started and stayed there all day.In Tarragona, a 13-year-old boy was wounded when a police officer struck him on the head with a baton.Portugal saw strike actions in around 40 cities and towns countrywide. Lisbon was worst hit, with transport brought to a halt, the subway shut down, rail strikes left commuters stranded, and half of the flights were cancelled. Thousands protested the record 15.8% unemployment rate.In Lisbon, protesters stormed the parliament building in the event, shouting, "The troika does not rule here!" They were met by a violent crackdown from riot police, leaving many protesters injured. The Lisbon demonstrators were finally dispersed, after more than an hour of standoff.A selection of photos of the various protests Europe-wide can be viewed here Sky News kept a running live feed of the action yesterday here More about 14n, General strike, Europe, France, Spain More news from Show all 9 14n General strike Europe France Spain Italy Portugal Belgium Strike Protest Demonstration Rally | {
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We are getting back to the War of the Worlds franchise a bit. I have to make up for an old debt of mine. I try to focus on relatively f... | {
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"Inside Amy Schumer" has been lauded for being one of the most outspokenly feminist shows on TV, one that uses comedy to highlight serious issues about body image pressures, gender stereotyping and sexual assault (as she put it at a recent Tribeca panel, "rape is good fodder for comedy because it's the worst thing in the world"). Here’s a look back at 15 times Schumer managed to tackle important topics in her inimitably sharp, fresh and funny way. Here’s to 15 more to come!
1. “Last Fuckable Day”
In this star-studded sketch from the Season 3 premiere, Schumer teams up with feminist icons Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patricia Arquette and Tina Fey to celebrate Louis-Dreyfus’ “last fuckable day” — namely, the day when “the media decides when you're not believably fuckable anymore.” In turn, Schumer and co. brilliantly tackle the absurd and unfair Hollywood beauty standards that older actresses are subjected to.
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2. “A Chick Who Can Hang”
This Season 2 sketch plays on the pervasive (and unattainable) ideal of the "Cool Girl,” and what an implausible male fantasy it represents. An example: One of the men in the sketch describes his ideal girl as “crazy hot; she could recite all of 'Boondock Saints' verbatim while rebuilding a deck.”
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3. "Cool With it"
Schumer’s "Cool With It" sketch from this season similarly riffs on the Cool Girl trope -- a woman attempts to act comfortable with accompanying her male co-workers to a strip club -- before it flips into a surprising PSA about the wage gap. While our own Katie McDonough criticized the sketch's treatment of sex workers, the segment reflects Schumer's skill in highlighting the absurdity of culturally entrenched misogyny — in this case, unequal pay for women — by raising the stakes and spinning the narrative in a wacky and unexpected way. (The sketch isn't online, but you can watch the full episode here).
4. "A Very Realistic Military Game"
In this hard-hitting sketch dealing with rape in the military, Schumer creates a female avatar in a realistic military video game, and things turn dark quickly. As Callie Beusman writes at Jezebel:
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"The sketch is great because [it] manages to do something so few other denizens of Comedy Central (cough, Daniel Tosh) have been capable of: it makes a rape joke that works — one that lampoons our bizarre, fucked up society for overlooking and tacitly condoning a sexual assault epidemic and not the victims of those assaults."
5. "Football Town Nights"
In a similar vein, this season’s sketch about rape in a high school football town perfectly skewers the social attitudes that lead to rape culture, while never blaming the victims.
6. "Compliments"
This much-discussed Season 1 sketch, in which women respond to compliments with extreme self-deprecation, has been lauded by many for its on-point commentary on the wider social pressure that forces women to constantly undervalue themselves, and to respond to praise with insecurity and self-effacement. As one of the women says in response to a compliment about her dye job: "No, I tried to look like Kate Hudson, and ended up looking like a golden retriever's dingleberry."
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7. “POV Porn”
In “POV Porn," Schumer imagines what porn would look like if shot from a woman’s perspective.
8. “Lunch at O’Nutters”
Schumer is great at turning gender roles on their heads — like in this reimagined Hooters aimed at women, called O’Nutters, which features male servers in tight bodysuits, skinny-girl white zin spritzers and plenty of talk about feelings.
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9. “Sex Prep”
In this Season 2 sketch, Schumer shows the effort that goes into getting ready for a sex date, and in the process, lampoons the ridiculous beauty standards depicted in the media. Schumer is confronted with a series of defeating magazine stories with titles like "Hair Down There? Kill Yourself” and "Is Your Pussy Too Loose to Hang Onto the Perfect Guy?”
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10. “Sex Tips”
The expectations engineered by women’s magazines are also the subject of “Sex Tips,” which shows editors at a Cosmo-esque magazine dreaming up bizarre new ways to please men, such as “take a four-hour energy and pour it inside your vagina right before you have sex.”
11. “Focus Group”
Schumer turns to the cultural preoccupation with women’s appearances in the entertainment industry when she conducts a focus group to get feedback about the first season of the show, and it devolves into a bunch of guys objectifying her based on the way she looks.
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12. “Gang Bang”
One of the series' more complex sketches features Schumer throwing a “feminist” gang bang to prove that women aren’t objects, after which she quickly gets called out for wanting to be objectified (as one of the men says, “don’t you find it a little un-feminist that you want to have sex with me just because I’m not that into it?”). The sketch addresses contradictory expectations facing feminists today, as well as the criticisms a woman faces when she attempts to exercise her sexual autonomy in the same ways that men do.
13. “Operation Enduring Mouth”
This spy film parody, in which Schumer plays a character code-named "Butter Face" charged with luring a suspect with a blow job, is all-too reminiscent of how female characters are sidelined or reduced to sex objects in Hollywood action films.
14. “Girl, You Don’t Need Makeup”
In this One Direction-esque boy-band parody, Schumer destroys the dumb, hypocritical trend of male musicians praising women for their “natural beauty” in an industry (nay, a world) known for its unattainable beauty standards.
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15. "Love Tub"
We may not need Schumer to remind us how misogynistic and insane "The Bachelor" is, but as usual, her take on the show -- which results in the winning girl being escorted into a "love tub" -- is delightfully refreshing. | {
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During a press conference on Wednesday, CBS White House correspondent Major Garrett asked President Obama why he was “content” celebrating the current deal with Iran when the release of four American hostages was not included in the provisions.
“As you well know, there are four Americans in Iran – three held on trumped up charges according to your administration, one, whereabouts unknown,” Garrett said. “Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content, with all of the fanfare around this deal to leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation, unaccounted for, in relation to these four Americans?”
Obama responded, saying that he had to give Garrett credit for the way he crafted his questions.
- Newsletter -
“The notion that I am content, as I celebrate with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails – Major, that’s nonsense,” Obama said. “And you should know better. I’ve met with the families of some of those folks. Nobody’s content, and our diplomats and our teams are working diligently to try to get them out.”
The deal, which was announced on Tuesday by Iran, the United States, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom, will limit Tehran’s nuclear ability, in exchange for lifting international oil and financial sanctions.
During Wednesday’s news conference, Obama said that he believes the deal is “our best means of assuring that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon,” and he welcomes a “robust debate” with the “politically motivated opposition” in Congress.
“The bottom line is this – this nuclear deal meets the national security interests of the United States and our allies,” Obama said. “It prevents the most serious threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. That’s why this deal makes our country safer and secure.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKkQaQu6TvM
Following the news conference, Garrett told CBS anchor Contessa Brewer that politicians such as President Obama have a habit of “creating straw men,” or “taking something that they feel rhetorically works to their advantage and using it.”
“My question did not suggest he was content with the captivity of those four Americans,” Garrett said. “My question was about the contentment or the satisfaction or the realization that it was necessary within the context of this deal to leave them unaccounted for was the essence of the question.”
Garrett acknowledged that his question struck a nerve with the President, and said that was his intention.
“The families of those four Americans have heard the President say he’s not content, and he will work overtime to win their eventual release,” Garrett said. “It does not appear to me to be a sideline issue in the whole context of the conversation about this Iran nuclear deal. Was it provocative? Yes. Was it intended to be as such? Absolutely.” | {
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अखिलेश और मायावती की साझा प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस के साथ भारतीय राजनीति में हलचल पैदा हो गई है। उत्तर प्रदेश समेत देश की राजनीति में खासा असर रखने वाली समाजवादी पार्टी और बहुजन समाज पार्टी के इस गठबंधन से बने समीकरण के असर को नकारा नहीं जा सकता।
2019 के लोकसभा चुनाव के ठीक पहले हुए इस गठबंधन से बीजेपी की वापसी की राह मुश्किल लग रही है।
2014 में यूपी की 80 में से 71 सीटें जीतने वाली भारतीय जनता पार्टी के लिए सपा-बसपा गठबंधन बड़ी चुनौती बन गई है।
इसके साथ ही सवाल उठने लगा है कि क्या मायावती और अखिलेश यादव का साथ आना भारतीय जनता पार्टी को 2019 में रोकने के लिए पर्याप्त है ?
सामाजिक समीकरण देखें या आंकड़ों की गणित, सपा-बसपा का गठबंधन बीजेपी को बड़ा नुकसान पहुंचाने वाला है।
उपचुनावों में मिली सफलता के साथ ही सपा-बसपा के पास एक ऐसी मिसाल है जिससे वो गठबंधन की सफलता की दावेदारी कर सकते हैं।
ठीक 26 साल पहले 1993 में होने जा रहे विधानसभा चुनाव में बीजेपी की एकतरफा जीत मानी जा रही थी क्योंकि राम मंदिर को मुद्दा बनाकर भारतीय जनता पार्टी ने सबसे बड़े राज्य में बड़ी पैठ बना ली थी। तब बसपा प्रमुख कांशीराम ने एक इंटरव्यू में कहा कि यदि मुलायम सिंह उनसे हाथ मिला लें तो उत्तर प्रदेश में भाजपा, कांग्रेस सहित अन्य सभी दलों का सूपड़ा साफ हो जाएगा।
इस बात को मुलायम सिंह यादव ने गंभीरता से लिया और दिल्ली में कांशीराम के निवास पर उनसे मिलने गए, सपा और बसपा का गठबंधन हुआ, नए सामाजिक समीकरण बने।
राम मंदिर का मुद्दा और हिंदुत्व की राजनीति की आंधी में भी मुलायम और कांशीराम की जोड़ी ने भारतीय जनता पार्टी की संभावित जीत को रोक दिया और यह गठबंधन सबसे ज्यादा सीटें जुटाने में सफल रहा।
256 सीटों पर लड़ी समाजवादी पार्टी ने 109 सीटों पर जीत दर्ज की और 164 सीटों पर लड़ने वाली बसपा ने 67 सीटों पर जीत दर्ज की थी।
इसी चुनाव में एक नारा दिया गया- मिले मुलायम-कांशीराम, हवा में उड़ गए जय श्री राम।
सपा-बसपा कार्यकर्ताओं को इस तरह की नारेबाजी जनता में जोश भरने वाली थी क्योंकि बीजेपी की हिंदुत्व राजनीति के खिलाफ इतने मुखर स्वर किसी अन्य दल से नहीं थे।
जीत के बाद सपा-बसपा ने मिलकर सरकार चलाई। हालांकि 1995 में गेस्ट हाउस विवाद के बाद दोनों दल अलग हो गए।
इसमें कोई दो राय नहीं है कि बीजेपी को उत्तर प्रदेश में 90 के दशक जैसा जनसमर्थन फिर से मिलने लगा है लेकिन गौर करने की बात यह है कि समाजवादी पार्टी और बहुजन समाज पार्टी तब से अब तक और अधिक मजबूत हुए हैं।
पिछले ढाई दशक में अधिकतर समय ना सिर्फ इन्होंने राज किया है बल्कि यूपी में हर दूसरा वोटर सपा-बसपा का ही है।
इसलिए अगर गठबंधन में सपा और बसपा की उम्मीदवारों की तरफ आपस में वोट शिफ्ट हुआ और गठबंधन की मजबूती को देखते हुए 2014 से पहले के इनके कुछ प्रतिशत वोटर्स भी वापस आए तो यह गठबंधन 50 फ़ीसदी से ज्यादा वोट पाने में सफल रहेगा।
ये वो परिस्थिति होगी जब भारतीय जनता पार्टी को बड़ी हार का सामना करना पड़ेगा।
इसपर समाजवादी पार्टी के नेता सुनील सिंह यादव का कहना है कि 'जब नेताजी और कांशीराम साथ आए थे तो उन्होंने बीजेपी को रोका था लेकिन अब अखिलेश यादव और मायावती मिलकर बीजेपी को खत्म कर देंगे अर्थात यूपी से पूरी तरह से सफाया हो जाएगा।'
गठबंधन क्लीन स्वीप करे या ना करे लेकिन बीजेपी को एक बड़ा नुकसान होना तय है।
तो क्या हिंदुत्व की राजनीति करने वाली भारतीय जनता पार्टी की कमंडल की राजनीति का जवाब फिर से मंडल के समीकरण ही देने वाले हैं?
इसी बात को पुष्ट करते हुए, सपा-बसपा गठबंधन की औपचारिक घोषणा के ठीक बाद तेजस्वी यादव लिखते हैं- यूपी-बिहार से भाजपा का सफाया तय।
विकास के तमाम बड़े बड़े दावे करने के बाद भी सभी को पता है कि बीजेपी की राजनीति का आधार अब भी 'हिंदुत्व' ही है। तो यह कहना अतिशयोक्ति नहीं होगी कि बीजेपी के हिंदुत्व रथ पर लगाम लगाने की सबसे बड़ी जिम्मेदारी सपा और बसपा के कंधों पर है। क्योंकि 80 लोकसभा सीटों वाले उत्तर प्रदेश की अहमियत पूरे देश को पता है
Dailyhunt
Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Janman TV | {
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By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia City Council today signed off on a bill that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana. And there were enough votes to override what could be a veto this fall from Mayor Nutter.
All thirteen of City Council’s Democratic members voted in favor of the pot decriminalization bill, and Council’s three Republicans voted against.
The measure makes possession of about an ounce of pot punishable only by a $25 fine, with the matter never entering the court system.
One of those “yes” votes came from Councilman Bill Greenlee, who said an ounce of pot does not warrant a criminal record.
“It does not seem fair for what most people consider a minor incident to potentially risk people’s future,” he said.
Councilwoman Cindy Bass, who also supported the bill, said the police department’s resources should be focused elsewhere.
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“To spend the time and the amount of money that is really required to prosecute someone with small amounts of marijuana, while we have so many other bigger issues in the city, does seem a little bit not where we need to be headed,” Bass said.
The bill’s sponsor, Councilman Jim Kenney, estimates that the new pot policy could save the police department and the courts $4 million a year.
Among the three no-votes was Brian O’Neill, whose district includes much of the Far Northeast.
“I’ve already heard from parents,” he said. “They’re not concerned about what it’s going to save the city if their kids wind up with drug problems. And I don’t want to legalize a drug like marijuana that most parents fear because they know it is a gateway drug.”
And his GOP colleague, Councilman David Oh, said the marijuana trade should be condoned:
“While people may enjoy marijuana, I think it is also important to understand that people are being killed in the marijuana drug trade.”
The measure now goes to Mayor Nutter, and since Council is now in recess, he has most of the summer to decide whether to sign it or veto it. Today, he said he’s unsure.
“It is obviously a complicated piece of legislation,” the mayor said. “I know concerns have been expressed by Police Commissioner Ramsey, DA Seth Williams, and representatives in our court system. So we’ll read through the legislation.”
The mayor’s public safety director, Mike Resnick, spoke out against the measure when it was debated in committee earlier this month (see related story). Resnick argued that because the bill still gives the police the discretion to make an arrest, it could create an unfair system of enforcement.
He also said officers would not be able to accurately judge whether the pot seized crosses the 30-gram threshold.
Still, the measure passed with enough votes to override a possible veto by Nutter.
Because Council is adjourning until September, the mayor does not have to act on the bill until then. But because of the veto-proof majority, Kenney is calling on Nutter to order the police, through an executive order, to adhere to the policy immediately. That, he says, would spare the city a few hundred pot arrests over the summer.
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On the school funding front, City Council today approved a measure that authorizes the city to borrow $27 million and then gift the money to the school district to help it pay its bills by the end of this month.
Lawmakers then introduced another borrowing bill, this one for up to $30 million, to help the district in the coming school year (see related story).
That proposal will not be debated until the fall, but School Reform Commission chairman Bill Green said he was pleased by the Council action. | {
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Actual Advice Mallard
after buying your new car
make sure the dealership removes their logos from your vehicle | {
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Last September, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson made a deal with Malcolm Turnbull’s government: You give me an inquiry into the ABC and I’ll support the changes you want to make to media ownership laws.
The government agreed to do this in the form of an inquiry into the ABC’s competitive neutrality – and broadened it to include SBS.
It was clear at the time this had the potential to do real damage to the national broadcaster.
Competitive neutrality principles say an organisation should not enjoy an undue competitive advantage by virtue of it being government-funded. It is suitably arcane camouflage for an inquiry whose real purpose is to put pressure on the ABC over its news service, which Hanson had alleged was biased against her.
It was Hanson’s way of getting revenge on the ABC for its pursuit of her over the issue of funding for her senate re-election campaign in 2016.
And now we know the shape of this competitive neutrality inquiry. We know who is conducting it, and last week we got to see the issues paper that the inquiry put out, which tells us what it is going to cover.
Scope of the inquiry
The chair is Robert Kerr, who has a Productivity Commission background and impeccable credentials as a free-market economist. Joining him in the inquiry are Julie Flynn, a one-time ABC reporter who used to be CEO of the commercial TV lobby group Free TV Australia, and Sandra Levy, the former head of television at ABC.
This all seems perfectly reasonable, until you remember this is mainly about online media. In that case, why have two people with television backgrounds on the panel?
Online is where the real action is now. Data from the Australian Communications and Media Authority included in the issues paper show just how dramatic the shift has been from traditional television viewing to digital online platforms for media consumption. In 2017, Australians aged 18-34 spent an average of 9.2 hours per week watching video content online compared to just 3.8 hours watching free-to-air television.
Read more: In the debate about Australian content on TV, we need to look further than the ABC
Mark Scott foresaw this when he was managing director of the ABC and drove the broadcaster hard into the digital sphere. He realised that if the ABC was not a relevant provider of digital content online, it would soon cease to be relevant.
That’s why the other big media players, especially Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, have lobbied relentlessly to have the ABC’s wings clipped in this arena. Hanson, wittingly or not, played right into News Corp’s strategy.
As for the issues paper, the giveaway is on page 11.
There, it refers to the requirement in the ABC Act that the ABC “take account of the broadcasting services provided by the commercial and community broadcasting sectors of the Australian Broadcasting system.” In other words, the ABC is discouraged from just replicating what the commercial broadcasters do.
In that context, the paper then addresses this question to the ABC: How does it apply this requirement specifically to its on-air, iView and online news services? Nothing else. Not its drama or documentaries or narrative comedy or children’s programs. Just its news services.
The reason? That’s the part of the ABC that Hanson detests. So there’s the pay-off.
There are some broader competition questions, as well, but the only part of its vast portfolio the ABC is specifically asked about is its news output. Yet, if there is one category of program content that most obviously and unmistakably distinguishes the ABC from commercial broadcasters, it’s news.
Time for responses
Then the issues paper asks “other stakeholders” – basically the ABC and SBS’s commercial broadcasting rivals - a range of questions about ways in which they think they may have been harmed by any undue competitive advantage enjoyed by the public broadcasters.
There is no indication the answers to these questions are going to be subjected to any cross-examination by the ABC or SBS. Not that there would be time for that anyway, with just three months between the deadline for submissions in response to the issues paper on June 22 and the completion of the report in September.
So, the inquiry is a quickie. And by its own admission, it’s trampling over ground already covered 18 years ago by the Productivity Commission.
Read more: The ABC is not siphoning audiences from Fairfax
It also acknowledges in the issues paper that it has to dance its way between a number of other current inquiries, including the Australian and Children’s Content Review, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry and the broader Treasury review of the country’s overall competitive neutrality policy.
Nonetheless, the inquiry is likely to provide the Turnbull Government with ammunition should it wish to mount an attack on the ABC’s scope of operations (especially online) and give Hanson what she really wants: a rolled-up piece of paper with which to smack the ABC around the head. | {
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FMV. The interactive movie. Shameful to some, guilty pleasure to others. During the ‘90s it seemed as if the future of gaming had arrived, but in what seemed a blink of an eye, the live-action subgenre essentially flatlined and quickly became an oft-shamed era of gaming. Any such titles that came after that, such as 2009’s Yoomurjak’s Ring, were left trying to appeal to a very limited market, and the announced sequel, MIAZMA, seemed destined never to come to light for English speaking audiences.
I personally never stopped being a huge fan of FMV gaming, however, counting the Tex Murphy series and Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within as not only excellent examples of their time, but as fantastic gaming experiences, period, regardless of genre or style. Fortunately, with a stronger focus on cinematic cutscenes and story nowadays, a few more actual FMV games are being produced. One of the beneficiaries of this renewed interest is the long-awaited revival of MIAZMA or the Devil’s Stone (as it’s been partially rebranded), an honest to goodness FMV point-and-click adventure game that I naturally leapt at the chance to play.
As the follow-up to Yoomurjak’s Ring (which, sadly, is no longer available anywhere except on iOS), MIAZMA is a continuation of the Jonathan Hunt mystery series. Although it is billed as a sequel, the game is friendly to newcomers and can be played without any knowledge of its predecessor. Aside from a few slight nods to the previous adventure, and the fact you are playing Hunt again, this is a self-contained story with a completely new cast of characters and at least one very noticeable gameplay difference. As a point of comparison for those who enjoyed the first game as much as I did, I give the edge to that one overall, but what’s on offer here is still a heck of a lot of fun, and well worth delving into.
For anyone new to the series, Jonathan Hunt is a New York journalist with a thirst for adventure, who has now decided to settle down in his family’s native Hungary. Because of his earlier actions, Hunt has gained a reputation for successfully investigating sensitive cases and is preparing to release a book based on his experiences when he’s drawn into another such mystery.
This time around, Hunt is approached by a friend who works for Atomki, a Nuclear Research Institute, to investigate the disappearance of her brother. What begins as a simple missing persons case soon turns into something much more than Hunt bargained for, which sets him on the trail of a piece of ancient meteorite nicknamed "The Devil’s Stone". To crack the case, Hunt must solve puzzles, talk to a variety of interesting and eccentric characters, and stay one step ahead of other parties desperately trying to get their hands on the stone.
While the plot won’t win any awards for originality, there’s a certain lightheartedness that permeates the game that keeps this adventure from becoming overly serious or too dark. Unfortunately, while the story moves along nicely throughout, it stumbles at the denouement, making the finale feel rushed, which does slightly sour the journey.
The underlying sense of whimsy is also felt in the performances from each actor, slotting perfectly into that great “B movie” style that is fun and engaging despite (or even because of) being a relatively modestly-budgeted production. I quite enjoyed the performance of Laszlo Gorog especially, reprising his role as Jonathan. He’s mild-mannered and a bit on the plain side, but there’s a definite charm to his thirst for mystery and adventure that had me taking a liking to him over the course of the game.
Hunt is certainly not alone, though. The labs of Atomki are filled with a diverse range of unusual people, such as Dr. Veress, the head of material science who is obsessed with his kids and has a penchant for awful jokes; Csongor Fekete, an IT tech who doesn’t seem to do any work and has essentially turned his workstation into a music studio; and Dr. Zoldomaldi, head of Radiocarbon, whose responses are vague and give the impression she is not sure how to interact with other humans.
One major disappointment is that the only audio option for dialog is the English dub. While the voice actors do decent jobs, it’s a strange choice not to include the original Hungarian, as there are full English subtitles and the previous game was completely recorded only in Hungarian. While it doesn’t ruin the game, it does put a damper on the performances, as the vocal tone of certain characters doesn’t match up well with their physical appearances, serving to dilute some of the charm. It’s understandable that Private Moon hopes to reach a wider audience this way, but hopefully they will consider patching in the original audio in a later update.
Overall the production values are great, shot on location in Hungary. There’s a completely authentic feeling of being on foreign soil thanks to the distinctly European architecture, and the dynamic camera angles and high definition video cutscenes help drive this point home. While the scope of the adventure isn’t wide, with no globe-trotting or fast-paced set pieces, wandering through the Atomki labs and the surrounding areas of Debrecen, such as a reformed college and museum, an old church on the outskirts of town, and an observatory in a lovely park, made me enjoy the more contained story even more.
Navigation between photographic locations is largely done via a pair of maps, one for the many areas of the lab and one for the nearby town. As you progress through the mystery, more areas open up but there is always a clear objective propelling you to the next destination.
Adding to the atmosphere is the varied soundtrack by Private Moon’s own composer Pierrot. From a strangely upbeat and groovy, ‘70s-styled cheesy track over the main titles, to more sombre piano pieces whilst searching for clues, almost every style of music seems to be covered. I found myself stopping and listening to the score for 30 seconds here and there. While truthfully, some tracks do feel out of place, the pieces are always interesting to listen to and the odd disparity doesn’t hamper the experience at all.
The interface is quite minimal and elegant, being completely mouse-driven. Unlike Yoomurjak’s Ring, however, gone is the first-person perspective in favour of a third-person presentation very similar to The Beast Within. Each screen features Hunt standing in a fixed position, and the mouse can be hovered over items of interest or characters and clicked to interact. There’s no action or verb wheel involved, as the smart cursor changes to show you what action will be performed. Once you click, depending on the action, you’re taken straight to the filmed action without any further animation.
There are items that can be picked up and used or combined to solve logical inventory puzzles, and there are a selection of standalone challenges ranging from figuring out passwords and connecting wires to piecing together torn-up papers and cracking word codes. These range from very easy to quite difficult in certain sections.
The puzzles are, for the most part, straightforward and intuitive save for a couple of instances. Without giving any spoilers away, there is an extended sequence in a cellar that almost reaches Riddle of Master Lu levels of convoluted inventory madness. While many will probably roll their eyes at the absurdity, I had a blast just wondering how much sillier it could get. Special mention also goes to the final puzzle, a multi-layered melding of inventory, scavenger hunting, logic, code breaking and brain teasers that had me scratching my head more than once, harkening back to the old days of adventure gaming. Each clue seemingly led to another more difficult to obtain clue that kept me wondering if it was ever going to stop. When I finally did reach the end, I felt like I gained a few IQ points and a deep sense of satisfaction as it had been a while since I’d solved an extended puzzle of that magnitude!
Apart from its save-anywhere feature (something I truly love and wish more games still had), MIAZMA also has an “Easy Mode” offering options like extra hints, highlighting all hotspots in each screen, and the ability to auto-solve the logic puzzles and simply get on with the story. Although I was tempted a few times, I never needed to use the latter, and while casual gamers will most definitely appreciate this, adventure purists may wish to turn this option off entirely, as it’s an all-or-nothing choice. These user-friendly features will make the overall game length even more variable, but without skipping any puzzles and even solving the optional ones, it took me around seven hours to complete. I got stuck a few times and also took my time to talk completely to each character and really soak in the surroundings.
Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with MIAZMA or the Devil's Stone. It’s a fun throwback to a specific old-school type of adventure gaming, which gave me a healthy dose of nostalgia without losing its own identity. Even though the English dub and the rushed ending took a bit of shine off the polish, it definitely wasn’t enough to detract from the fun mystery to uncover, the nice puzzles and high production values. For adventure fans in general and fellow FMV fans in particular, I very much recommend going on this little journey with Jonathan Hunt. Hopefully the amiable journalist with a penchant for mystery will return for another light, breezy FMV adventure someday soon. | {
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Sony's just pulled the 2.40 PS3 firmware update due to reports of it bricking and causing various other problems. If you're unlucky enough to already have installed it and ran into issues, Kotaku has a few solutions up. If not, just hold off until the fixed release is available soon. UPDATE: Sony has issued an official statement acknowledging the situation, below.
Go download that 2.40 firmware update now for your PS3! It's got trophies, in-game XMB as well as a
[Kotaku, Playstation Blog]
As has been reported on many gaming blogs and websites, we have temporarily taken Firmware v2.40 offline. We've received a limited number of calls from consumers experiencing an issue with installing the system software update on their PS3. While our consumer services department has seen a low volume of calls on this topic, we are committed to providing the PS3 community with XMB access features delivered in the v2.40 update. We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up.
We'll provide further information as necessary here on the Blog. | {
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Rumors that the Eugene Celebration and parade are being canceled this year are true, according to Brendan Releford of Kesey Enterprises, the private organization that runs the celebration along with the McDonald Theater and Cuthbert Theater. A press release is expected to be sent out to media at about 5:30 pm today (Tuesday, May 3)
Releford says the event was financially successful last year for the first time but crowds downtown at evening peak times were a problem. “The size of the event doesn’t fit the core anymore,” he says. “We tried to come up with a footprint this year that makes sense and we’ve hit roadblocks at every turn.”
“We want to come back strong next year,” he says. The parade has also been canceled for now, but doing just the parade is “not out of the question.” | {
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BUT…IS IT SAFE? #Potato sometimes has a look on her face like snake zombies are about to eat her! 😂 #Rats have so many different types of personalities just like humans do. Potato, since a baby, has always been very cautious, insecure, quirky … and DRAMATIC! When I call out for breakfast, she peeks her little head out and looks at me scared, like I might hit her with a pancake. Then when she’s about to eat, she stands in front of her dish and stomps her little feet in place. I never knew what she was doing, but after getting to know her, I realized that’s her sign of excitement! When she’s looking forward to something, she marches in place. It’s the cutest thing! Potato is a mini-rat, so she is a bit smaller than her sisters, so when they play fight, Potato always ends up on the bottom, belly up, squeaking like she is about to be murdered! By the way, she is totally fine …. she’s just very vocal. “No oatmeal this morning? SQUEAK! Please don’t touch my belly, I’m insecure! SQUEAK! Did you move my Treat Pillow??? SQUEAK!!!” It’s a lot of sassiness. But at the same time, she is the gentlest #rattie I’ve ever had! When she nudges for my attention, she softly licks my hand. Or when I give her a treat, she takes it gently so as to not hurt me. Little noises and movements scare her so much, she oftens runs into my shirt to hide when the world is frightening. So every day, I speak to her softly, give her gentle kisses and I let her know there is nothing to be afraid of. Look at that sweet face! It’s okay sweet Potato, you are safe with me… always. Now let’s see how she handles the 4th of July fireworks! Stay safe #rattie friends! ❤️🐭💙🎉 * * https://www.instagram.com/p/CCOyI59gfVz/?igshid=1n5adl0jinifj | {
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Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain on Saturday broke with President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE on his criticism that Amazon hurts the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) with its shipping business, saying "Amazon is not the problem."
"First, Amazon should be left alone, and let the market determine their fate alone with consumers. Secondly, fix the post office. Fix the postal system. It has been losing money for decades and they won't fix the problem," Cain said on Fox News.
Trump lashed out at Amazon on Saturday, renewing his calls for USPS to raise shipping rates for the popular web store that an analysis last year showed receives an average subsidy of $1.46 from the Postal Service for every package it ships.
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While USPS has seen a steady decline in revenue from its mail delivery service over the years, Trump reportedly disputes the fact that the service has made massive profits from Amazon.
"Amazon isn't a problem with the post office, the post office is the problem with itself," said Cain, a retired businessman.
Trump has called the Amazon shipping rates a "scam" while accusing the online retail giant of failing to pay state and local sales taxes and putting smaller companies out of business.
The company does collect such taxes on products sold to buyers in states with sales taxes in place, but does not collect taxes in all states on behalf of third-party sellers who use the company as a marketplace. | {
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The Wizards entered Tuesday night’s road trip finale looking for a positive note to come home to. Unfortunately for Washington, their hosts in Brooklyn had different plans as the Nets used a late-game surge to topple the Wizards, 103-98. Bradley Beal posted another strong performance with 28 points, though not with his usual efficiency on 11-of-33 shooting, and Washington couldn’t find its way offensively as a whole.
Neither team shot well from beyond the 3-point arc on the night, but Brooklyn’s six additional makes from deep certainly played a factor in the end result. Washington hit just four 3-pointers on the night (Beal was 0-for-7) in comparison, a tie for a season-low set in Utah earlier in the road trip.
With just under a minute to play, the Wizards held a narrow one-point lead before Brooklyn’s Allen Crabbe hit a 3 to re-take the lead that the Nets held for much of the quarter. In Washington’s final opportunity to tie the game down three with eight seconds remaining, a costly five-second violation on the inbound put the game on ice for Brooklyn.
Next, the Wizards will finally head home from a long five-game road trip on which they finished 2-3. Tuesday’s loss also moved Washington to 6-7 on the season against teams below .500.
A few additional notes from Tuesday night’s loss…
Game of runs
The Wizards went on an impressive 14-2 run in the third quarter to close what was a 14-point gap in Brooklyn’s favor. They went on to take a brief three-point lead early in the fourth before the Nets found a big swing of their own in the form of a 10-0 run that gave them a seven-point cushion with nine minutes to play
Closing time
Tuesday will serve as another frustrating reminder for the Wizards that they need to improve in crunch time. In the final five minutes of the game, Washington committed four of their 11 turnovers on the night and were outscored 9-3.
Bench play
Scott Brooks turned to his bench heavily to end the road trip, and they did deliver positive +/- numbers across the board and outscored Brooklyn’s second unit, 43-36. Conversely, each of the Wizards’ starters posted a negative ratio. All five of the Wizards’ bench players scored six or more points, with Kelly Oubre’s 12 points (nine rebounds) leading the way. Jason Smith (9 points, 5 rebounds), Mike Scott (8 points, 5 rebounds) and Tomas Satoransky (8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) all put in solid efforts Tuesday. | {
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In a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Christine Blasey Ford wrote, “Mr. Kavanaugh’s actions, while many years ago, were serious and have had a lasting impact on my life.” | Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images Kavanaugh Confirmation Ford to Grassley: ‘My fear will not hold me back from testifying’
Christine Blasey Ford told Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in a personal letter penned Saturday that her sole motivation in bringing a sexual assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh is “to tell the truth” about what the Supreme Court nominee did.
Ford’s letter to Grassley, released Monday, comes as Republicans ratchet up their defense of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee by portraying the multiple sexual misconduct claims against him as part of a Democratic smear campaign. The 51-year-old California-based professor sought to counter any depiction of her actions as politically motivated in her note to the Judiciary chairman.
“Mr. Kavanaugh’s actions, while many years ago, were serious and have had a lasting impact on my life,” Ford wrote to Grassley. “I thought that knowledge of his actions could be useful for you and those in charge of choosing among the various candidates. My original intent was first and foremost to be a helpful citizen – in a confidential way that would minimize collateral damage to all families and friends involved.”
Grassley’s office declined to release the letter when asked on Sunday, although Ford’s legal team had consented to its release. The Iowa Republican responded directly to Ford in a letter released Monday, describing himself as "committed to fair and respectful treatment of you, as you've requested," and adding a handwritten postscript that "I look forward to your testimony."
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Grassley also used his letter to Ford to renew long-running complaints about Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) decision to keep a close hold on the professor's initial letter about Kavanaugh out of what Feinstein has described as respectfulness for Ford's interest in confidentiality.
"I take letters from individuals seriously and over a long period of time have demonstrated a commitment to handling personal or sensitive information in a confidential manner," Grassley wrote.
Republicans and Ford’s legal team conducted talks throughout the weekend on the parameters for Thursday’s remarkable scheduled hearing on her allegation that Kavanaugh tried to force himself on her when both were in high school.
The GOP expects to have the option of using staff attorneys to question Ford, a Grassley spokesman said -- a strategy that could insulate some of their members from the harmful optics of an all-male Republican membership on Judiciary grilling Kavanaugh’s accuser. Ford’s legal team, however, has not publicly commented Monday on the status of those talks.
In her letter to Grassley, however, Ford underscored her desire to testify on Thursday in what has quickly become the most consequential hearing of the Trump administration.
“While I am frightened, please know, my fear will not hold me back from testifying and you will be provided with answers to all of your questions. I ask for fair and respectful treatment,” Ford wrote.
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Updated 6:12 p.m.
MT. WOLF, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf is willing to call a special session on redistricting reform if leadership in the General Assembly can reach a compromise, he said for the first time Thursday.
“Even before I had the honor of being elected Governor, I supported removing politics from redistricting, as well as a true independent commission to draw Pennsylvania’s lines,” Wolf said in a statement. “Though bills have advanced in the legislature to address this issue, I urge leaders in the General Assembly to come together to finalize a compromise before the end of the month. If they do, I am ready to call a special session for a vote on a consensus, bipartisan redistricting reform proposal.”
A bill that would create a citizens commission to redraw Pennsylvania’s congressional and legislative boundaries passed the state Senate in mid-June — but when it was sent to the House, it had an amendment attached that some Democrats considered a “poison pill.” Dems as well as Republicans added even more amendments to the bill, seemingly in order to sink it, and the House left for the summer without casting a vote.
Speaker Mike Turzai, an Allegheny County Republican, could still call members back to Harrisburg, but signaled he would not do so with so many amendments attached. That’s why the demonstrators turned to Wolf, who can per the Pa. Code call a special session “whenever in his opinion the public interest requires.”
Even with Wolf’s call, it’s unclear if House and Senate leadership will be able to find common ground. Earlier in the day, a staffer from Turzai’s office responded to a request for comment on negotiation efforts by citing the hundreds of amendments to SB 22.
“The vast majority of those amendments were filed by Democratic members and leaders,” the staffer said via email. “It would appear that they are not serious about the issue or they would not have filed so many amendments.”
A spokesperson for House Democrats also had no news to report regarding negotiations.
Wolf’s statement came on the same day protesters set up camp outside his home to demand a special session.
“We understand the urgency of creating fair ways of drawing our maps in order to have a voice in our democracy,” Xelba Gutierrez, a March for Harrisburg founding member and organizer, said as the heat index outside Wolf’s home pushed 95. “We are willing to put our bodies, in multiple ways, in some risk in order to push this issue.”
Fair Districts PA didn’t protest outside Wolf’s home, but the group had been emailing, calling, and using social media to reach the governor with its call for a special session.
“Time is of [the] essence,” Wolf continued in his Thursday statement. “I have always been committed to a fair process, and continue to be ready and willing to work with the House and Senate to truly reform our system.”
Wolf is right: Time is — seriously — running out. Redistricting reform that includes legislative boundaries requires an amendment to Pennsylvania’s constitution. In order for that to happen by the next census, both chambers must pass the same bill this session. A bill with the same language has to pass again during the following session. Then the proposed change goes to the voters.
While advocates and some lawmakers have floated this session’s deadline as July 6, that date is arbitrary. If lawmakers pass the bill, the Pa. Department of State will be required to prepare ads that will run in two papers in each commonwealth county in August, September, and October. The ads must begin running three months before the general election, per the constitution.
Advocates for redistricting say they’ll continue to push lawmakers including Wolf on redistricting.
Carol Kuniholm, co-founder of Fair Districts PA, said via email “legislative leaders seem to have made it quite clear that they are incapable of compromising unless called back in a way that puts their conversations clearly in the public view.” She said Wolf should “call a special session and insist that the legislative leaders start over with a clean bill and put that bill to a vote.”
March on Harrisburg plans to pressure leaders from the House or Senate, according to a group member, and has given Wolf one week to call a special session. If he doesn’t, they’ll continue to protest — “regardless of [the] legislature reaching consensus.” | {
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by on
First published on November 24, 2008.
How well I remember that horrible cold morning in early December 1980 when I turned on the radio to hear that John Lennon had been shot the night before.
Lennon was my hero. His musical contributions to the Beatles were among my favorites. Whether he was commenting on the apathy of the masses (“Day in the life”), the latest religious cult (“Sexy Sadie”), the proliferation of guns (“Happiness is a Warm Gun”) or the counterculture (“Revolution”), Lennon spoke to my own dissatisfaction with the status quo or the “establishment,” as we called it back then.
I didn’t like the Beatles when I first saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. They were too teeny bopper-ish. There was little depth to their lyrics. I was a hard-core Bob Dylan fan. I wanted something more than “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.” Where was the poetry and social commentary of “Blowing in the Wind,” or “Desolation Row?”
Two years later, I gained an entirely different view of the Fab Four. During an interview with “Datebook,” a teen magazine, John Lennon boasted that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” He also wondered which would go first–rock’n’roll or Christianity. In England, his words had little impact.
In America, land of looney Christian fundamentalists, they exploded like an atomic bomb. Overnight, “wholesome” teens were destroying Beatle products, including albums. Christian ministers were calling on the young to boycott their concerts. The KKK burned Beatles paraphernalia in huge bonfires.
I suddenly fell in love with John Lennon, then the Beatles as they plunged into new musical depths with “Rubber Soul,” “Revolver,” and finally the rock masterpiece of all time, “Sgt. Pepper.”
Now, 42 years after Lennon’s Jesus comment, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano has decided to forgive him for his alleged blasphemy. The paper, which is a mouthpiece for the Catholic rock star known as the pope, now believes that Lennon’s remarks were merely “showing off, bragging by a young English working-class musician who had grown up in the age of Elvis Presley and rock and roll and had enjoyed unexpected success.”
Lennon doesn’t need to be forgiven.
He was a man of peace. His work to end the war in Vietnam, his passionate political activism and his outspokenness on social injustice and sexism all point to a man who tried to leave the world a better place than he found it. Those who grew up in my generation are all a little better off for his efforts and his songs.
Especially his atheist compositions, “Imagine,” and “God.” I’m sure L’Osservatore Romano is not thinking of them when it lauds what it calls the Beatles “unique and strange alchemy of sounds and words.”
As Lennon might have said: Christianity will one day fade away, but rock’n’roll is here to stay.
Tommi Avicolli Mecca is co-editor of Avanti Popolo: Italians Sailing Beyond Columbus, and editor of Smash the Church, Smash the State: The Early Years of Gay Liberation, which will be published next year by City Lights Books. His website: www.avicollimecca.com
Filed under: Archive | {
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Why Tennessee — The Men! — Could Easily Get A No. 1 Seed The Volunteers haven’t gotten a lot of March Madness buzz, but they’re currently favorites for the fourth No. 1 spot.
With roughly a month left in the college basketball season, three teams already have a tight grip on one of the four No. 1 seeds in this year’s men’s NCAA tournament: Villanova, Virginia and Purdue. But the last top spot is very much up for grabs. And one team that is a legitimate contender to snag it may be a surprise to college hoops fans: Tennessee.
Tennessee, on paper, may seem like a long shot for a coveted top seed: The Vols have five losses and are only ranked 15th in the latest AP poll. What’s more, Tennessee has never been a top seed in the NCAA tournament, has never made it to the Final Four, and was predicted to finish 13th in its conference in a preseason SEC media poll.
But according to ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index, which estimates team strength and is designed to predict future performance, the Volunteers have a 37 percent chance of earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. That gives them the best shot of any of the remaining teams outside the top three.
One last No. 1 seed up for grabs Men’s college basketball teams with the best chances of getting a No. 1 seed according to ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index Team BPI Rank Chance at No. 1 seed Virginia 2 >99% Villanova 1 >99 Purdue 3 94 Tennessee 12 37 Xavier 14 21 Kansas 7 16 Michigan St. 6 10 North Carolina 10 8 Duke 5 6 Source: ESPN Stats & Information Group
One key to BPI’s projection is that it considers not only what Tennessee has done so far but also what it thinks every team will do over the remainder of the regular season and conference tournament. So what makes the Volunteers’ chances so strong? A combination of accomplishment, a front-loaded schedule and tough roads for competitors.
Let’s start with what Tennessee has done so far this year. The Vols rank seventh in Strength of Record — strong, especially for a team with five losses, but not enough to justify making them a No. 1 seed if the season ended today. One reason Tennessee ranks so high in this measure is that those losses are made more palatable by the circumstances (opponent and game location) they came in. The Volunteers lost to the best team in Division I, Villanova, on a neutral court before falling to two top-20 BPI teams in North Carolina and Auburn at home. They have two losses against lesser opponents, Missouri and Arkansas, but both came on the road. And while neither the Tigers or Razorbacks are ranked, both are currently forecast to make the tournament and rank in the Top 50 in BPI, so these losses aren’t complete clunkers (like, say, this one).
Even if the members of the selection committee ignored Strength of Record (though it will now be right in front of them when they perform the selection), they would only see “quality” losses. In its current team sheets, the committee divides games up into quadrants of difficulty according to RPI rank and whether the game was played at home, on the road or on a neutral court. Of the four levels of difficulty, all five of Tennessee’s losses appear in the toughest quadrant at the moment. In addition, the Volunteers have recorded impressive wins against Purdue earlier this season and at Kentucky on Tuesday.
If facing all of those teams already this season sounds difficult, that’s because it is. The Volunteers have faced the fourth-toughest schedule thus far per BPI, but it’s about to get easier, because they have just the 64th-most-difficult regular-season schedule remaining. That’s right in the sweet spot: There’s a 56 percent chance they only take one or zero losses during that stretch, according to BPI, but the games are still challenging enough that they’ll get some credit for the wins. From there, they’ll likely need to win the SEC tournament to land a No. 1 seed, but they are the favorite (36 percent) to do that according to BPI. If the Vols can lose no more than once the rest of the way and win their conference tournament, their projection for getting a No. 1 seed will rise to a 85 percent.
The road gets easier for the Volunteers The chances of Tennessee’s men’s basketball team winning each of their remaining regular-season games Date Opponent Location Chance of Winning Feb. 10 Alabama Away 65% Feb. 13 South Carolina Home 92 Feb. 17 Georgia Away 77 Feb. 21 Florida Home 81 Feb. 24 U. of Mississippi Away 79 Feb. 27 Mississippi State Away 71 March 3 Georgia Home 91 Source: ESPN Stats & Information Group
Part of the reason Tennessee could earn a top seed even without meeting the above criteria is that its competitors have a tough road ahead.
Xavier, for example, currently has the third-best Strength of Record in Division I, but BPI projects it to lose twice more this regular season — the team is an underdog at Creighton Saturday and at Villanova the following Saturday — and is a long shot to win the Big East tournament (17 percent), which all combines to suppress the Musketeers’ chances.
Kansas is a similar story. Though it’s the best team in the Big 12, the conference is so stacked that the Jayhawks only have a 36 percent chance to win their conference tournament. Michigan State is only projected to lose about one more game during the regular season, but it isn’t as good as Purdue, according to BPI, so the Spartans will likely take another loss in their conference tournament. Duke was a serious contender until Thursday night, when the Blue Devils dropped a close game to their rival Tar Heels, reducing Duke’s chances of earning a No. 1 seed from 29 percent to 6 percent.
In other words, the best thing that Tennessee has going for it is that it’s in a slightly weaker conference than most of the other majors and happens to be the best team in that conference, per BPI. Granted, if one of those other teams outperforms its projection, then Tennessee will probably be left off the top seed line. But right now, the Vols have a shot.
Paul Sabin contributed to this story. | {
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EspañolArgentina is home to poverty levels “below 5 percent, and 1 percent severe poverty,” President Cristina Kirchner argued on Monday in a speech before the UN Food and Agriculture Office (FAO) in Rome.
Kirchner further compared Argentina’s poverty statistics with the economies of northern Europe, which boast some of the highest development scores in the world.
According to Kirchner, Argentina’s poverty rate is lower than Iceland (5.9 percent), the Czech Republic (5.9 percent), and Denmark (6 percent), the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with the best indicators in this area.
However, the announcement was picked up back home by Argentinean media outlets, who pointed to the fact that Argentina hasn’t published official statistics on poverty since 2013.
“I don’t have the number of poor people, it seems to me to be quite a stigmatizing measure,” Minister of Economy Axel Kicillof told press when questioned in March.
In December 2006, employees of the National Institute of Statistics (INDEC) denounced alleged interference by the executive, and accused then-President Néstor Kirchner of directing a campaign to distort real poverty figures.
The current president’s reference to poverty rates being lower than 5 percent would seem to be supported by an INDEC publication of 2013, which stated that the rate of homes in poverty was 3.7 percent, and that of individuals at 4.7 percent.
However, private estimates indicate that the situation in Argentina is far from being equal to that of countries such as Norway or Switzerland, with poverty rates oscillating around 25 percent: thus affecting 9.6 million Argentineans.
A report by Argentina’s Universidad Católica revealed in August 2014 that in Buenos Aires Province alone, there were 1.3 million minors under 18 years of age living in poverty, of which 290,000 were in severe poverty — unable to buy enough food to eat.
Source: La Nación. | {
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Despite near-universal consensus that he should not run for president, Bill de Blasio is still flirting with the idea. After reports emerged that pollsters were calling Iowa voters to gauge their opinion on de Blasio, hizzoner admitted that his political action committee had paid for polling in the early-primary state. “I want to look at a lot of information,” de Blasio told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday. “The ultimate decision, as I said, is a personal one and a family one, but of course it makes sense to look at other information.”
It’s unclear exactly what the potential Johnny-come-lately candidate expects to find in Iowa, given that every poll out of the state has him at 0 percent (or not even listed), while high-profile progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren already occupy his hypothetical lane. Moreover, it’s unclear where de Blasio is getting the idea he should enter the crowded race in the first place, considering absolutely no one seems to want him there. Of nearly three-dozen allies and advisers surveyed by Politico in March, only two said he should run, while the rest considered the idea to be, as one adviser put it, “fucking insane.” A Monmouth poll found that, of every single Democratic candidate, both declared and undeclared, de Blasio was the only one with a net negative favorability rating.
But wait, there’s more: an April Quinnipiac poll found that 76 percent of New Yorkers—including a majority across “every listed party, gender, racial, borough, and age group”—thought de Blasio should not run. His own wife, Chirlane McCray, said in March that he should focus on running New York City (where he has a lackluster 42-percent approval rating) instead. Even his pollsters on the ground cannot help but undermine him. According to Iowan Democratic activist John Deeth, who was on the receiving end of one call, they couldn’t get his name right. (”I think he [called him] ‘Didliaso’ or something like that,” Deeth told NY1.)
Evidently blind to these glaring red flags, de Blasio on Thursday promised to announce his decision “in the month of May.” A hard deadline should come as a relief to New Yorkers, who just want someone to fix the subway and pick up the goddamn garbage, please.
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In November of last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed a seemingly subtle change to its policy on marijuana. Citing recommendations from the assistant secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency outlined its plan to reschedule pills containing organic dronabinol from schedule I to schedule III.
Dronabinol is short for tetrahydrocannabinol and long for THC. It’s more commonly known as the thing in marijuana that gets you high.
“This proposed action expands the schedule III listing to include formulations having naturally-derived dronabinol and products encapsulated in hard gelatin capsules,” reads the DEA’s proposed rule. “This would have the effect of transferring the FDA-approved versions of such generic Marinol [a synthetic THC drug] products from schedule I to schedule III.”
Paul Armentano of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws reads the proposal as a way of legalizing marijuana so just Big Pharma can make money from it.
“DEA is taking a shortcut by saying, well, we can reschedule organic THC because it mimics an existing drug on the market,” Armentano said. “Which is ironic given that they are saying the organic substance is derivative of the synthetic substance that is actually based on the organic substance.”
A spokesperson from the DEA told The Daily Caller that the rescheduling of pills containing organic dronabinol is not equivalent to legalizing THC. “Please note that DEA is not ‘rescheduling … organic THC,’” wrote the DEA’s Rusty Payne in an e-mail.
“THC, natural or synthetic, remains a schedule I controlled substance. Under the proposed rule, in those instances in the future where FDA might approve a generic version of Marinol, that version of the drug will be in the same schedule as the brand name version of the drug, regardless of whether the THC used in the generic version was synthesized by man or derived from the cannabis plant.”
In other words, THC in plant form or as an extract, will still be illegal. What won’t be illegal is if a pharmaceutical company buys THC from a government-licensed provider, puts it in a pill, receives the DEA’s stamp of approval, and sells it a price that will likely be far higher than the price of marijuana.
Armentano said such circular reasoning is a product of decades of hostility towards marijuana research.
“This is the insane rationale necessary for banning medical marijuana,” he said. “Take away the prohibition and the political elements, and you would never have the stretching of logic necessary to pass organic THC but only if it mimics Marinol.”
Payne protested the comparison. “Marinol is not the same thing as marijuana; nor is any generic version of Marinol that might be approved by the FDA in the future. Marijuana (the cannabis plant) contains approximately 500 different chemicals; and dronabinol (the form of THC found in Marinol) is just one of those numerous chemicals in the plant.”
The DEA’s proposed rule says that the agency will only entertain abbreviated new drug applications, the process by which most generics are approved when the patent expires on a branded drug. That means requiring an organic dronabinol drug to mimic Marinol may actually help get an organic pill on the market in record time.
Payne declined to say when the rules would pass. “There is no timetable for the publication of the final rule. As with all proposed rules, DEA is required by law to give careful consideration to the public comments in deciding whether to finalize the rule.” | {
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"You can't be serious ... can you?"
How will Romney respond? The Romney campaign has given some broad hints lately. First, the campaign has carefully scrutinized Romney's entire record at Bain and believes it is a strongly positive one overall. But that is the big picture -- there are individual instances in which Bain investments failed. Given that, look for the Romney campaign and its surrogates to counterattack by focusing on an instance in which Barack Obama, in essence, took over a company and laid people off in an effort to save the larger enterprise. That was, of course, the auto bailouts, and while Obama often cites his success in "saving" the car industry, few remember today how many (non-union) workers lost their jobs in the Obama administration's handling of the matter.
"In the general election, I'll be pointing out that the president took the reins of General Motors and Chrysler, closed factories, closed dealerships, laid off thousands and thousands of workers. He did it to try to save the business," Romney said on CBS's "This Morning." "We also had the occasion to do things that are tough to try to save a business," Romney said. "We started a number of businesses, invested in many others and, overall, created tens of thousands of jobs."
Byron York previews how Romneyland will respond to the Obama campaign's Bain attack:As crazy as that argument sounds, York may very well be right. In fact, earlier this year, it's exactly the case that Romney himself made:As Greg Sargent points out , this is a really strange argument for Romney to make: His goal was profit, not job creation. That's not inherently bad; Romney was a private citizen. But it's not at all like what Obama did, which was try to save an industry that had been crippled thanks to a private sector run amok.
The biggest problem with Romney's counterattack, however, is that while everybody agrees that saving the auto industry was a good thing—hell, Romney himself is even trying to take credit for it—nobody in their right mind thinks it was good for the economy when Mitt Romney and Bain Capital made millions of dollars while putting GST Steel out of business. People don't have a problem with successful businessmen: They just don't like it when somebody like Mitt Romney makes huge profits while destroying companies.
To put it simply: The auto industry is still here, GST Steel isn't. Mitt Romney got rich from what he did, President Obama didn't. That's not a contrast that works well for Mitt Romney. And even if it weren't such a bad contrast, even if the core analogy that Romney is trying to make actually held up to scrutiny, he'd still be saying that President Obama did the right thing by saving the American auto industry. And that would raise another question: If Mitt Romney thinks President Obama is doing such a good job, why is he running the first place? | {
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この記事では、デリケートゾーンからイカ臭いニオイがした時の対処法について紹介しています。 デリケートゾーンがイカ臭くなる時ってありませんか？ 私は頻繁にあって、すごく悩んでいました。 でもオリモノが原 ... | {
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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.
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BRONX, NY -- In what can best be described as a bundle of cuteness, Nicole McDonald held her son Jadon alone for the first time in what she calls "one of the most profound moments of my life."
Mom grinned from ear to ear as she cradled the young boy Friday afternoon at a New York hospital, mesmerized by the gaze of his deep brown eyes. The precious moment came shortly after doctors removed Jadon's breathing tube, and it came one week after the 27-hour surgery to separate Jadon and his brother Anias, 13-month-old twins who were born conjoined at the head.
Nicole clutched Jadon for two hours, cherishing every lasting second. She had told CNN before the surgery that holding her two boys was the thing she longed for most. "There's nothing harder than watching your child cry and not being able to pick them up," she had said. "To hear them cry and react to it in a motherly way is something I'm really excited for."
Nicole took to Facebook on Sunday morning, describing to friends and family what it was like to finally hold Jadon.
"For over 13 months, I've dreamed of this moment," she wrote. "I looked down at Jadon's angelic face and saw him in a way I'd never seen him before. He whimpered for almost the whole two hours I held him because he had just been extubated, had the area under his scalp washed out and had been weaned from the good pain meds.
"But instead of wrapping my body around him in his bed, I wrapped my arms around him and rocked. One of the most profound moments of my life."
Nicole's husband, Christian McDonald, was away from the hospital when Nicole first held Jadon, and he rushed back to join. However, once he got there, the father decided Jadon was too upset and fragile to be held again, with so many wires hooked up to his tiny body.
"I was just happy Nicole got to hold him. She's been longing to hold him since the day the twins were born," Christian said. "That's a very special moment for a mother to share."
The McDonalds have yet to share that same moment with Anias, who is progressing slower than Jadon, but still doing well. Anias had suffered breathing issues, seizures and heart problems prior to the surgery, and doctors expected his recovery to take more time. Anias has suffered seizures since the surgery, but they have been held in check with medicine since Wednesday, officials said.
Both boys underwent a touch-up procedure to clean out incisions on their heads on Wednesday. Jadon and Anias were described as doing well after that procedure.
Dr. James Goodrich, considered the world's leading neurosurgeon for what's known as craniopagus surgery, led the operaton at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. It marked the 59th craniopagus surgery in the world since 1952.
Jadon and Anias have captured the hearts of millions across the world, ever since CNN broke the story about the twins' surgery. The hashtag #JadonAndAnias emerged as a trend on social media as people shared their ordeal and clamored for more updates.
The parents continue to be overwhelmed and grateful for the support they've received around the globe. Since the surgery started, their GoFundMe page has swelled from some $50,000 to more than $280,000. The family has asked that anyone wanting to help the twins instead make a donation to a friend whose child is in need of a kidney transplant. | {
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Mike Tyson.
June 30, 1966. 13:40:24 (UT). Rectified by Juan Estadella.
40°N42′ — 74°W00′
“This is the birth chart of Mike Tyson. His explosive strength, not exempt from a certain aggressiveness and violence, is explained by his Ascendant in Leo which contains an explosive generational conjunction between Uranus and Pluto, practically exact in degrees and minutes. This conjunction is found in square (6º orb) to an angular, elevated and powerful Mars in the X house. In addition, Mars is sextile to the Ascendant, an aspect that grants strength and energy. The Sun, ruler of the Ascendant, is found in conjunction with Jupiter, which is in a good cosmic condition (exalted in Cancer). Note also that Saturn is in square to the midpoint between the Sun and Mars, a configuration that reinforces the aforementioned traits.” ~Juan Estadella.
For a walk-through on how Juan Estadella rectified this horoscope, see the book: “Predictive Astrology” p:112.
Events and Directions in the Life of Mike Tyson:
Tyson defeats Hector Mercedes in one round (6 March 1985)
Jupiter (p) 60° Ur. Orb:3′.
Jupiter (p) 60° PL. Orb:3′.
Moon (d) 120° MC. Orb:3′.
Moon (p) 0° Mercury (p). Orb:15′.
Mercury (r) 0° Jupiter (r). Orb:2′.
Mentor and trainer since age of 13 dies (4 November 1985)
Sun (c) 90° VIII. Orb:6′.
Mercury (d) 90° Neptune. Orb:6′.
Moon (r) 90° Mars. Orb:10′.
Moon (r) 120° Neptune (r). Orb:2′.
Sun (r) 90° Moon (r). Orb:9′.
Sun (r) 150° Neptune (r). Orb:11′.
Asc. (r) 90° Venus (r). Exact.
Prize (WBC championship) (22 November 1986)
Asc. (r) 120° Moon. Orb:7′.
MC (p) 180° Moon. Orb:11′.
Moon (r) 120° Jupiter (r). Orb:8′.
Jupiter (p) 0° PL (p). Exact.
Prize (WBA heavyweight title) (3 March 1987)
Sun (p) 30° Asc. Orb:11′.
MC (p) 30° Jupiter. Orb:5′.
Jupiter (p) 60° PL (p). Orb:3′.
Prize (undisputed heavyweight championship) (1 August 1987)
Ur (c) 0° Asc. Orb:9′.
Jupiter (c) 0° Mars. Orb:11′.
Moon (p) 0° PL. Orb:32′.
Moon (p) 0° Ur. Orb:32′.
Moon (p) 60° Jupiter (p). Orb:1′.
Moon (p) 0° PL (p). Orb:15′.
Moon (p) 0° Ur (p). Orb:15′.
Moon (r) 60° MC (r). Orb:7′.
Marriage to Robin Givens (7 February 1988)
Moon (r) 90° NN. Exact.
Breaks a bone in his right hand in a street brawl with professional fighter Mitch Green (23 August 1988)
Sun (p) 0° XII. Orb:4′.
Sun (p) 120° Saturn. Orb:8′.
Tyson is knocked unconscious after driving his BMW into a tree (4 September 1988)
Moon (r) 150° Ur. Orb:5′.
Moon (r) 150° PL. Orb:5′.
Sun (p) 0° XII. Orb: 6′.
Sun (p) 120° Saturn. Orb:7′.
loses heavyweight after being knocked out by James “Buster” Douglas (11 February 1990)
Mercury (d) 90° NN. Orb:11′.
NN (p) 0° MC. Orb:8′.
XII (r) 0° Sun. Orb:4′.
XII (p) 90° Neptune. Exact.
His sister Denise dies of a heart attack (24 February 1990)
Saturn (p) 120° XII. Orb:11′.
VIII (r) 30° Saturn. Orb: 9′.
VIII (p) 120° Moon. Orb:1′.
NN (p) 0° MC. Orb:8′.
XII (r) 0° Sun. Orb:5′.
XII 90° Neptune. Orb:1′.
Asc. (p) 0° PL (p). Orb:8′.
Sun (p) 90° PL (p). Orb:6′.
Rape of Desiree Washington (19 July 1991)
NN (p) 0° MC. Orb:3′.
MC (p) 90° Ur. Orb:11′.
MC (p) 90° PL. Orb:11.
Mars (c) 90° Asc. Orb:6′.
Saturn (p) 120° XII rad. Orb:9′.
Institutionalized – prison, hospital (convicted of rape/imprisoned) (10 February 1992)
Moon (p) 0° Neptune. Orb:32′.
XII (r) 180° Asc. Orb:9′.
Saturn (p) 120° XII. Orb:8′.
PL (c) 90° MC. Orb:2′.
XII (c) 0° Sun. Orb:6′.
NN (p) 0° MC rad. Orb:2′.
Sentenced to six years in prison followed by four years on probation (26 March 1992)
Moon (p) 180° MC. Orb:13′.
Saturn (p) 120° XII. Orb:8′.
NN (p) 0° MC. Orb:1′.
Moon (p) 180° NN (p). Orb:11′.
PL (p) 90° MC (p). Orb:9′.
Jupiter (r) 0° XII (r). Orb:5′.
XII (c) 0° Sun. Exact.
MC (d) 90° Ur/PL. Orb:7′.
His stepfather Jimmy Kirkpatrik dies (28 October 1992)
Moon (p) 120° Saturn. Orb:9′.
Venus (r) 90° Mercury. Exact.
Venus (d) 90° Saturn. Orb:7′.
NN (p) 0° MC. Exact.
Mercury (r) 0° Mars. Orb:2′.
Ur (p) 90° MC (p). Orb:7′.
Daughter Rayna is born (14 February 1996)
Moon (d) 180° Sun. Orb:5′.
Mercury (d) 0° Asc. orb:11′.
Moon (p) 180° Jupiter. Orb:8′.
NN (p) 0° MC. Orb:10′.
Marriage to Monica Turner (19 April 1997)
Mercury (c) 0° Sun. Orb:8′.
Venus (p) 150° Moon. Orb:1′.
Son Amir born (5 August 1997)
Ur (d) 90° Jupiter. Orb:6′.
Venus (p) 0° Jupiter. Orb:1′.
Broke a rib and punctured a lung on his right side when his motorcycle skidded off a Connecticut highway after hitting a patch of sand (29 October 1997)
PL (d) 90° Sun. Orb:2′.
Mars (c) 0° MC. Orb:12′.
VIII (r) 120° Mars. Orb:7′.
Saturn (p) 120° XII. Orb:1′.
Asc. (p) 90° Mars. Orb:3′.
Moon (r) 30° Ur. Orb:11′.
Moon (r) 30° PL. Orb:11′.
Moon (p) 180° Mercury (p). Orb:6′.
Bankruptcy (1 August 2003)
II (c) 90° Neptune. Orb:2′.
Asc. (c) 0° XII. Orb:3′.
Neptune (r) 60° II. Orb:9′.
Saturn (r) 150° Asc. Exact.
Venus (p) 120° Neptune (p). Orb:11′.
Daughter Exodus accidentally strangled (26 May 2009)
XII (c) 0° Mars. Exact.
Mercury (c) 180° V. Orb:11′.
NN (p) 60° VIII. Orb:10′.
Neptune (r) 120° VIII. Exact.
Mars (p) 120° IC. Orb:13′.
Sun (p) 90° Neptune (p). Orb:8′.
Sun (r) 60° Saturn (r). Orb:7′.
Marriage to Lakiha Spicer (6 June 2009)
Mars (p) 0° Jupiter (p). Orb:1′.
Son Morocco Elijah born (25 January 2011)
Moon (d) 120° MC. Orb:11′.
Venus (d) 60° Ur/PL. Orb:2′.
Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (12 June 2011)
P.fort (c) 180° Mars. Exact.
Jupiter (p) 60° MC. Orb:11′.
Sun (p) 0° NN (p). Orb:11′.
Key:
(p): progressed.
(r): regressed.
(p) to (p): progressed to progressed.
(r) to (r): regressed to regressed. | {
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The star of Riverdale was involved in a late-night car crash last week after a grueling 16-hour work day outside Vancouver, prompting the cast and crew of the hit CW show to demand better safety protections during production.
K.J. Apa, 20, who plays Archie in the Warner Bros.-produced Archie Comics adaptation, apparently fell asleep driving the 45-minute trip home after midnight. He was taken to a local hospital for observation and later discharged without serious injuries. His car, however, didn't fare as well. The passenger side was apparently destroyed after striking a light pole, and the vehicle was rendered inoperable.
The crash has ignited a firestorm of protest on the Riverdale set, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. The show routinely requires shoots that last until the early morning hours, and the cast and crew are not provided transportation to and from the set. Cole Sprouse, who co-stars as Archie's pal Jughead and is one of Apa's close friends, had apparently planned to be in the car as well that night but changed plans at the last minute. Sprouse, a leader of sorts of the actors on the show, has asked that the Greg Berlanti-produced series provide transportation to castmembers working late hours.
A call between representatives for the actors and Warner Bros. executives is being set for Friday to discuss the issue, according to three sources. (Warner Bros. Television declined to confirm any such meeting.)
SAG-AFTRA announced Thursday afternoon that the union would investigate the set in Vancouver following the dangerous crash. "This is an extremely troubling situation and we are deeply concerned about the safety of performers on the Riverdale set," the statement read. "We are sending a team to Vancouver to review the circumstances surrounding safety issues affecting performers on this production."
WBTV's policy is that actors are responsible for their own transportation to and from set, particularly when production is shooting outside the U.S. The studio, which makes several shows in Vancouver, declined to comment, but a source notes that actors are told they can call a taxi or stay in a hotel near a set on the studio's dime if they feel it is unsafe to drive.
The crash is the latest in a string of safety-related incidents that highlight what many claim are unsafe working conditions on Hollywood productions. Stunt professionals and others in the industry have been clamoring for improvements to their working conditions, citing long working hours, stringent transportation requirements and early start times as contributors to an unsafe working environment. Apa was in the middle of a 45-minute commute back to his hotel after 16 hours of shooting when he fell asleep at the wheel, sources say.
Several safety-related issues have made headlines recently. In July, 33-year-old veteran stuntman John Bernecker fell 22 feet to his death on the set of The Walking Dead, falling off a balcony during a rehearsal. Less than a month later, professional motorcycle racer S.J. Harris was killed in a crash during filming for Deadpool 2, which was filming in Vancouver. Harris' death is still being investigated. Stunt professionals familiar with the details of the crash have said her death was a preventable tragedy, and that the movie's producers placed undue pressure on the stunt coordinators to use Harris.
Many Riverdale castmembers are friends as well as colleagues, which may have contributed to an increased sense of unease and anger among them around the crash this week and the response to it. "They're working these kids from morning until night," says one person familiar with the production and the circumstances of the accident. "Someone's going to die."
According to a statement Thursday from Warner Bros., the studio refutes any claim that Apa worked a 16-hour work day and that it could have caused his accident.
"First and foremost, we are extremely grateful that KJ Apa was uninjured during his recent accident. Secondarily, we want to specifically address the characterization that conditions on the set of Riverdale are of concern," a WBTV spokesperson said in a statement to THR. "We have a large cast of series regulars, and our actors do not work every day. On the day of the accident, KJ worked 14.2 hours. The previous day he worked 2.5 hours, and the day before that he worked 7.7 hours. KJ has repeatedly been informed about making production aware if he is tired or feels unsafe, and if so, either a ride or hotel room will be provided for him. The accident occurred last Thursday. Additionally, it is untrue that KJ was taken to the hospital. He was treated by first responders on the scene and released by them. We also sent a doctor to his home later that same day for a follow-up to confirm his well-being."
Riverdale became a breakout hit for The CW last season. The younger-skewing network renewed the Twin Peaks-style drama for a second season after airing only six of its first 13 episodes. The cast, too, became fan favorites, earning a Teen Choice nomination for Apa as "breakout star" as well as wins for Sprouse for drama actor and "breakout" TV show, among others.
Given its strong and vocal fan base, The CW will move Riverdale to a fall premiere and use it to help launch its remake of Dynasty. The network and studio see Riverdale as the start of a franchise, with news breaking Wednesday that The CW and WBTV are developing The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as a potential companion series. And the key to that: Apa's Archie.
"The safety of the cast and crew on all of our productions is of paramount importance to the Studio," WBTV said in a statement. "Productions adhere to the Screen Actors Guild–mandated turnaround time of 12 hours from wrap time to next day call time for cast members. In accordance with industry standard policy, if any cast or crew member feels tired or unsafe at any time after working, the Studio will provide a taxi, a driver or a hotel room upon request. This is communicated to all cast and crew, both in writing and verbally, at the beginning of production and is reiterated continuously throughout the duration of production."
Sept. 21, 3 p.m. Updated to include statements from Warner Bros.
Sept. 21, 4:30 p.m. Updated with statement from SAG-AFTRA. | {
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inline planningのiOS/Android用アプリ『生贄は男の娘でした。～放置系サバイバルラブ～』を紹介します。
本作の主人公・悠馬は肝試しにやってきた山の中で、山の神に捧げられるはずだった生贄の美少女と出会います。
少女が生贄として殺されることを悠馬は知り、少女とともに逃げることを決意しますが、とあるハプニングで少女が男の娘＝男性であることを知ります。
本作は、生贄として捧げられるはずだった男の娘を追いかけてくる山神の魔の手から守って逃げのびる放置系アプリです。
遊び方を紹介
本作の遊び方はタップのみで、“進む”ボタンをタップすると体力を消費して、二人は山神から逃げていきます。
特定の地点までたどりつくと、ストーリーが進んでいきます。
体力は、時間の経過とともに回復していきますが、リアルタイムで山神が追いかけてきます。山神に追いつかれるとゲームオーバーとなり、その章の初めから再スタートとなってしまいます。
時間経過で回復する体力は、ものの数分で回復するのでサクサク進めることができました。
山神が追いかけてくるスピードは速くなく、大体追いつかれる前に特定の地点たどりつけます。
しかし、寝る前などに進めておいて、朝起きたときに続きをやるというような長時間間をおいてしまう場合には山神に追いつかれてしまいます。なので時間に余裕がある時にゲームを進めるのが安全かもしれません。
筆者は、アプリを起動するの忘れてしまい、ある程度進んだのにゲームオーバーになってしまうという痛い目を何度か見ました。
逐一というわけではないですが、山神から逃げることを忘れないようにチェックしないとゲームオーバーのループに陥るので注意が必要です。
今回はストーリーで確認できた一部のイラストを掲載しますが、この他にもストーリーでは、かわいらしい男の娘のイラストが登場します。
イラストは“かわいいは正義”ということで、もはや性別など関係ないように思えるほど萌えました！ また、極限状態で展開される二人の関係にも注目です！
(C) inline planning
データ
▼『生贄は男の娘でした。～放置系サバイバルラブ～』 ■メーカー：inline planning ■対応端末：iOS/Android ■ジャンル：ETC ■配信日：配信中 ■価格：無料
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not sure if the sun is getting stronger or if people forgot how to use sunblock
181 shares | {
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The global knee reconstruction devices market is expected to reach USD 7.94 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2015 to 2020. The growth rate of knee reconstruction surgeries is influenced by various factors, such as rise in the aging population and prevalence of arthritis, technological advancements, and well-structured healthcare policies in most of the countries.
Based on product type, the global knee reconstruction devices market is segmented into primary, partial, and revision devices. The primary segment is further subsegmented into primary cemented devices and primary cementless devices. Among these product types, the primary devices are widely used and thus, occupy high market share in the global market. On the basis of geography, this market is segmented into the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions. The Americas led the global market in 2014. It was followed by the European market.
Major players profiled in the global knee reconstruction devices market report include Zimmer, Inc. (U.S.), Stryker (U.S.), DePuy Synthes (U.S.), Smith & Nephew plc (U.K.), Arthrex, Inc. (U.S.), Exactech, Inc. (U.S.), Corin (U.K.), DJO Global (U.S.), Japan Medical Dynamic Marketing, Inc. (Japan), Tornier, Inc. (Netherlands), and United Orthopedic Corporation (Taiwan), among others.
Key stakeholders of this market include orthopedic implant manufacturing companies, distributors of medical devices, healthcare institutions (hospitals, medical schools, and governing bodies), health insurance players, research and consulting firms, and regulatory authorities such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Scope of the Report
Global Knee Reconstruction Devices Market, By Product Type:
Primary
Primary Cemented
Primary Cementless
Partial
Revision
Global Knee Reconstruction Devices Market, By Geography:
Americas
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Customization Options
Along with market data, customize the MarketsandMarkets study to meet specific needs of your company. Customize to get a comprehensive summary of the industry standards and a detailed analysis of the following parameters:
Product Analysis
Usage pattern (in-depth trend analysis) of products (segment-wise)
Product matrix, which gives a detailed comparison of product portfolio of each company, mapped at country- and subsegment-level
Healthcare IT Providers Perception Analysis
Fast turn-around analysis of IT providers in response to market events and trends
Opinions of physicians about various healthcare products manufactured by different companies
Qualitative inputs on knee reconstruction devices by region-specific healthcare consultants
Regulatory Framework
Listing the regulatory issues of major countries, if they are adversely affecting the business/market/industry
Studying the reimbursement schemes and its related impact
Competitive Intelligence
Market share of region-specific players in the global knee reconstruction equipments market
Crucial developments and growth strategies adopted by the key companies in the global knee reconstruction equipments market
The report on the global knee reconstruction devices market analyzes and segments the concerned market on the basis of product type and geography. It analyzes the competitive developments, such as alliances, joint ventures, and mergers & acquisitions in the global knee reconstruction devices market. This market is also studied with an explicit focus on the high-growth applications and fastest-growing market segments.
Joint reconstruction procedures are undergone by the patients experiencing severe knee-related pain and limited mobility, usually resulting from arthritis (both, degenerative and inflammatory). The damaged joint is replaced by an artificial joint that provides the patient significant relief from pain, thus resulting in improved quality of life.
Revision knee reconstruction surgeries can be of three types, which include replacement of one component, two components, or all components. Patients mostly face complications with regard to two component and all component replacements by 11.1% each, which might result in multiple knee replacement surgeries. As such, there is increase in the number of the patients undergoing revision knee reconstruction surgeries, which is expected to fuel the growth of the revision knee reconstruction devices market during the forecast period, 2015 to 2020.
Factors influencing the growth of the global knee reconstruction devices market include rise in aging population, initiatives undertaken by the governments of various countries for allocation of new funds and development of new policies, and technological advancements in the global market.
Technological advancements in the global knee reconstruction devices market, such as newly developed prostheses with improved strength and reliability of joints, are reducing the need and cost of revision surgeries. Additionally, the rising healthcare expenditure is a positive sign for the growth of this market during the forecast period, 2015 to 2020.
The global knee reconstruction devices market was led by the Americas in 2014. It was followed by market in the European and Asia-Pacific regions. China, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam are the countries of the Asia-Pacific market covered in this report. The Asia-Pacific knee reconstruction devices market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2015 to 2020. Some of the Asian countries, such as India, Thailand, and Malaysia, among others are becoming well-known destinations for medical tourism as they offer low-cost knee reconstruction procedures and high quality health care.
The global knee reconstruction devices market is projected to reach USD 7.94 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2015 to 2020.
Major players profiled in the global knee reconstruction devices market report include Zimmer, Inc. (U.S.), Stryker (U.S.), DePuy Synthes (U.S.), Smith & Nephew plc (U.K.), Arthrex, Inc. (U.S.), Exactech, Inc. (U.S.), Corin (U.K.), DJO Global (U.S.), Japan Medical Dynamic Marketing, Inc. (Japan), Tornier, Inc. (Netherlands), and United Orthopedic Corporation (Taiwan), among others. | {
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Says he'd lie for you Tells you that it's the truth
458 shares | {
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Unlike The Simpsons, at least up until their FXX deal, South Park has embraced the Internet with a passion that rivals Eric Cartman’s love of KFC. Every episode (minus two) of the long-running animated series is on South Park Studios. You have to deal with the occasional ad, but whatever, it’s free. That’s all about to change, though: following the season 18 premiere on September 24th, Hulu Plus will become, to quote Variety, the “exclusive online-streaming home” for South Park.
Hulu cut the deal with South Park Digital Studios, a joint venture between Viacom and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. In 2008, the South Park partners launched all seasons of the adult-themed animated show in free, ad-supported format on SouthParkStudios.com — but with the new deal, as of this fall those will be streaming only on the $7.99-per month Hulu Plus. Starting Saturday, July 12, the entire South Park library will be available for free on Hulu, and will continue to be free on SouthParkStudios.com until Sept. 24. At that point, both Hulu and SouthParkStudios.com will have day-after-air access to new episodes from season 18. In addition, each of the sites will offer a revolving selection of 30 free episodes at any given time. (Via)
In other words, we’re going from 244 episodes for free to 30 episodes for free and 214 that you have to pay for. I’m sure this deal is going to add a few more millions to Matt and Trey’s bank account, and they deserve every penny they get for “Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes” alone. That being said:
Via Variety | {
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Companies that see big profits in big data are pushing back against a crackdown. What the government isn't doing
The National Security Agency might be tracking your phone calls. But private industry is prying far more deeply into your life.
Commercial data brokers know if you have diabetes. Your electric company can see what time you come home at night. And tracking companies can tell where you go on weekends by snapping photos of your car’s license plate and cataloging your movements.
Private companies already collect, mine and sell as many as 75,000 individual data points on each consumer, according to a Senate report. And they’re poised to scoop up volumes more, as technology unleashes a huge wave of connected devices — from sneaker insoles to baby onesies to cars and refrigerators — that quietly track, log and analyze our every move.
( Full coverage: Beyond the NSA series)
Congress and the administration have moved to rein in the National Security Agency in the year since Edward Snowden disclosed widespread government spying. But Washington has largely given private-sector data collection a free pass. The result: a widening gap in oversight as private data mining races ahead. Companies are able to scoop up ever more information — and exploit it with ever greater sophistication — yet a POLITICO review has found deep reluctance in D.C. to exercise legislative, regulatory or executive power to curb the big business of corporate cybersnooping.
The inertia — and lack of a serious legislative push — on private-sector data mining has several causes. Many Republicans are averse to any new regulation of business. Many Democrats are skittish about alienating campaign donors in Silicon Valley.
It’s been more than two years since President Barack Obama announced — after two years of deliberation — that he would push for a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. Since then, no legislation has been introduced to implement it, and no regulations have been crafted. White House officials now acknowledge the proposal is outdated and may have been so on the day it was introduced.
Earlier this month, the White House again raised warnings about the erosion of personal privacy, with a report that clearly delineated the risks, as well as the promise, of the big data revolution — before calling for still more study.
Polls suggest that Americans want more protections. A national survey by Pew Research last fall found two-thirds of Internet users said current laws weren’t adequate to protect consumer privacy online.
( Launching today: POLITICO Pro Cybersecurity)
But far from cracking down, the administration has floated several proposals for using data mining to advance its goals. The Pentagon, for instance, is considering tapping into commercial data banks to monitor the behavior of employees and contractors with top security clearances, so it can keep an eye out for bankruptcies, domestic violence charges or other signs of instability.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who has introduced legislation to rein in private data brokers, sounds resigned to the Internet remaining a kind of free-for-all for cybersnooping.
“Once we decided we’re going with the Internet, we gave up our privacy,” he said in an interview. “It’s always the double side: It’s the greatest discovery ever made and also one of the worst things that ever happened.”
Asked if he sees a disconnect between the intense focus on NSA surveillance and the hands-off approach to private-sector data mining, Rockefeller responded: “You better believe it.”
( Also on POLITICO: 'Big data' review spotlights privacy)
Companies that see big profits in big data are pushing back against any talk of a crackdown. Their mantra: Regulation could stifle innovation.
“This is a situation in which technology, new data uses and new approaches are occurring and evolving very rapidly, and so if parameters were engraved in legislative stone, it could easily be the wrong measure, the wrong safeguards … and may very well inhibit the development of useful and socially desirable businesses and technology,” said Alan Raul, a lawyer for technology companies and a former member of George W. Bush’s White House privacy board.
Some tech titans have also tried to point a finger back at government, pushing for the administration to focus on reining in the NSA. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, personally lobbied Obama to curb the NSA after allegations surfaced that the agency may have used social media services to deliver computer viruses that helped it conduct surveillance.
( CHECK OUT: 20 great quotes on NSA spying)
“I’ve called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page in March. The government, he wrote, must be “much more transparent about what they’re doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst.”
‘IT’S KIND OF CREEPY’
The technological advances and cheap data storage have created surveillance opportunities that make logging phone calls look downright quaint.
At the mall, the corner store or the casino, hidden cameras may be snapping photos of your face and relaying them to companies that identify you, note your habits and trace your movements.
( Also on POLITICO: New NSA chief says agency has lost trust)
At home, smart meters can tell whether you have a plasma TV and what time you cook dinner. (Or even, perhaps, whether you’re growing marijuana in the basement.)
If you take more conventional prescription drugs, your pill bottles may soon email your doctor to let him know if you’ve been taking your medication.
Your car may let your mechanic know that your tires need rotating.
Your TV’s set-top box may soon be able to sense what you’re doing while you’re watching a show — snacking? snuggling? mopping? — and broadcast ads appropriate to the situation.
At school, your child’s online textbooks may be tracking his every click to understand how his brain works. Some publishers boast that they can tell when a student is on the verge of forgetting, say, how to multiply fractions — and can then send him a lesson custom-tailored to his learning style to fix that skill permanently in his memory.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who has fought NSA surveillance and is pushing a bill to limit government use of GPS-type data, seemed surprised when told by POLITICO about how much information on individuals is held in commercial databases.
“It’s kind of creepy,” he said. “People have a reasonable expectation of privacy from not only their government but from other individuals as well.”
In talking up big data, companies tout innovations they say will make the world safer, more convenient and more efficient. Automobile companies, for instance, are developing “connected cars” able to communicate with one another — and with stop signs and traffic lights and even nearby pedestrians — in hopes of making driving far less risky.
From a consumer perspective, the possibilities are almost endless. It could be quite handy to have a refrigerator that notes when the milk is expiring and automatically orders more. Some women might love a bra that senses emotions and texts them when stress levels rise.
By 2020, there could be more than 30 billion wireless devices connected to the Internet worldwide, according to ABI Research.
The trade-off: The more data these gadgets collect, the more intimate details they can expose.
“Are they going to be little snitches in our pockets, or are they going to be under our control and serving us?” asked Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Privacy advocates fear all this information will find its way to the commercial data brokers who compile and sell profiles packed with details about individuals’ health, behavior, interests and preoccupations, including education level, political and religious affiliations, and address, phone numbers and email accounts.
Some data brokers slice and dice consumer profiles into categories such as “Ethnic Second-City Strugglers,” “X-tra Needy” and “Fragile Families” for ease of marketing, the Senate Commerce Committee reported last year. One company sold lists of families afflicted by specific illnesses, from AIDS to gonorrhea — and even offered a specialty list of rape victims, until a reporter from The Wall Street Journal inquired about it.
It’s information that privacy advocates fear could be used to discriminate against individuals — or to target them with advertising cleverly designed to exploit vulnerabilities.
“We cannot even conceive of the ways our data is collected and then used to manipulate us at our weakest moments,” said Danielle Citron, a law professor and privacy scholar at the University of Maryland.
The industry responds that such concerns are overhyped.
Jennifer Glasgow, chief privacy officer for the data broker Acxiom, said the industry provides a valuable service by helping companies target their marketing more precisely. She said her company does not collect sensitive health information and sticks mainly to broad categories: Do you like golf? Do you drive a sports car or a minivan? What’s your ballpark income?
“Ferrari doesn’t want to bring people into the dealership for a free toaster oven if they’re in the $30,000 to $50,000 a year income range,” she said.
Acxiom launched a website last fall that lets consumers see their data files. About 250,000 have logged in to look, she said — and only 2 percent have opted to scrub their files from the system. About 20 percent have taken the time to correct the file, which suggests to Glasgow that they like having their information available to marketers.
“If you read a lot of the scare stories about data brokers … and then look at the site, you’ll be pleasantly underwhelmed,” Glasgow said. “You’re going to say, ‘That’s pretty accurate. It doesn’t scare me that they know about that.’”
SLOW GOING IN WASHINGTON
States have started to move on privacy protections, with a dozen passing laws in the past two years meant to safeguard citizens.
Utah has tried to put limits on the storage of license plate data captured by a growing network of cameras. California requires companies to make clear whether they honor the “do not track” signals on some web browsers. And a dozen states, including New Jersey, Colorado and Illinois, ban employers or schools from demanding access to social media accounts held by workers or students.
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State attorneys general have also made several moves to police tech companies’ privacy practices. Among the most notable: a 38-state, $7 million settlement with Google last year over the company’s since-abandoned practice of having cars taking pictures for its Street View service also identify and capture data from nearby Wi-Fi networks.
In Washington, by contrast, things are moving at dial-up speed.
Congress has been unable for years to write any serious privacy legislation. What little there is has fallen victim to partisan bickering, a slew of tech company lobbying and conservative interests fighting any form of regulation over the private sector’s use of data.
In his first term, Obama launched a series of discussions through the Commerce Department that led to the proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, a set of six principles to guide companies when handling personal data, including respecting the context in which it was obtained and allowing individuals to correct erroneous information.
“American consumers can’t wait any longer for clear rules of the road that ensure their personal information is safe online,” Obama said in releasing the guidelines in February 2012.
But the White House never made a follow-up push with Congress. There was some potential for bipartisan collaboration; Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) had earlier worked together on a similar framework. But “the White House was unable to pick up where the story had left off,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “Apparently, they could wait.”
In fact, even as Obama vowed to safeguard consumer privacy, the White House repeatedly portrayed the big data revolution as a modern-day gold rush that could improve lives, boost the economy and create good jobs.
“Big Data is a Big Deal,” blared a March 2012 White House blog post announcing a $200 million Big Data Research and Development Initiative. An accompanying 13-page handout made only a glancing mention of privacy, for health records.
Obama’s political campaign was diving deep into data analytics, too, famously mining consumer databanks, voter surveys and social media to identify likely voters and push them to the polls.
Only after Edward Snowden’s first disclosures about NSA spying did Obama seem intent on reviving the privacy issue. He said on a couple of occasions that he was determined to pair discussions of alleged NSA overreach with a debate about the broader world of data-gathering.
“The challenges to our privacy do not come from government alone,” Obama said in January. “Corporations of all shapes and sizes track what you buy, store and analyze our data and use it for commercial purposes.”
Obama also commissioned counselor John Podesta to spend 90 days studying how data mining has affected privacy in both the public and the private sector. Podesta declined to comment for this story, but one former White House official said the Podesta project was, in part, meant to placate pro-privacy administration aides who had hoped for a tougher crackdown on NSA snooping.
“What comes out as ‘the administration position’ is highly contended internally,” said the ex-official, who asked not to be named. “Part of the reason the whole big data study is happening is as a counterbalance to those who had a sense the NSA really went way, way over the line.”
The Podesta report issued earlier this month called on Congress to take action now to crack down on data breaches, like the lapse that exposed the credit card numbers of tens of millions of Target customers over the holiday season. On privacy, though, the report recommended another round of discussion.
A handful of privacy bills are on the table in Congress, but none has made much headway. Among other things, the languishing bills would require companies to get customers’ permission before collecting or sharing information on their location; give consumers more control over the data collected by their cars; and expand online privacy protections for children.
McCain says legislation to control private-sector data collection would be a tougher lift than when he first proposed it three years ago. “It’s harder now, but one reason why we did it then and why it’s much more needed now is to try to give people some confidence in their ability to maintain their privacy,” he said.
Without a credible threat of legislative action, tech companies are unlikely to move voluntarily to tighten privacy protections, said Peter Swire, an adviser on privacy issues in both the Clinton and Obama administrations.
“Companies can justify expensive new privacy measures, if that’s better than potential legislation. [Otherwise,] it’s hard for them to self-impose strict privacy rules,” said Swire, who also served on Obama’s surveillance review group.
The Direct Marketing Association, an industry trade group, argues that industry self-regulation has worked well for decades. It’s also big business. The association released a study last fall estimating that the use of big data to shape marketing campaigns added $156 billion in revenue to the U.S. economy in 2012 alone.
The Rockefeller bill would give consumers the right to see and correct their files with data brokers or opt out of the system altogether. The DMA opposes the bill, said Rachel Nyswander Thomas, its vice president of government affairs. “It would very much impinge on this data-driven economy we’ve all come to enjoy,” she said.
PEN AND PHONE?
Regulatory agencies can sometimes be more nimble than Congress, and Obama has touted his desire to use his “pen and phone” executive branch power to get things done. But their actions in the privacy arena have also been sparse.
The Federal Trade Commission is way behind schedule on an analysis of commercial data brokers. And the agency is just starting to get up to speed on the universe of wired devices, known as the “Internet of Things.”
Instead of proposing regulation, the FTC is urging companies building connected devices to think carefully about data privacy as they’re developing their products.
“Risk to consumers could be minimized if companies would just give more serious thought to what data they really need and what they don’t,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
The FTC does have some enforcement power as well. In recent years, it has brought legal actions against dozens of organizations for violating consumer privacy rights. Most of those cases have flown under the radar, though the agency made headlines last week when it announced a settlement with the popular app Snapchat over concerns it misled users about the privacy of their communications.
As for the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, the White House’s outside tech advisers now believe that “ubiquitous” data collection may be rendering parts of it obsolete. With so many cameras, smartphones and new devices like Google Glass constantly collecting images, GPS location and other data, it no longer seems plausible that anyone can fully understand, let alone consent to, all the ways the flood of data about them is being used.
In a conference call with reporters earlier this month, Podesta said a “quick round of input” is needed on whether parts of the 2012 policy effort are still viable. “Some of the other elements of the Bill of Rights … may be under severe pressure in light of these new technologies,” Podesta said.
Indeed, even the concept of “consumer” privacy may now be off the mark. Back in 2012, the Obama administration focused largely on how companies treat data entered on a website or acquired during an online purchase. However, some of the trickiest policy challenges now stem from situations where the consumer is unaware of any transaction.
Privately owned license-plate readers capture the locations of millions of cars on public streets or shopping malls and upload that information to massive databases where it is for sale, with no government regulation.
Facial recognition software is approaching the same sophistication, creating the ability to build databases that could be used to track a person’s movements. Retailers, for instance, can use the technology to compare the faces of incoming customers to law enforcement mug shots. Or to flag VIP shoppers and text news of their approach to the store manager.
Some of those promoting and profiting from this technology believe they are protected by the First Amendment, since the courts have generally upheld the right to take and publish photos of scenes in public places. Utah ended up exempting the private sector from its rules on license plate data after two firms filed a lawsuit charging that the controls were unconstitutional.
”You have a recognized right to photograph anything that’s visible. To turn around and legislate how long you can retain those photos or with whom you may communicate that photography is clearly textbook First Amendment infringement,” said Todd Hodnett, chairman and founder of license plate tracking firm Digital Recognition Network. “I can’t imagine a world we would live in in which you get permission to photograph anything you can see with your eyes.”
The companies’ legal arguments might have some resonance with the current Supreme Court. But the Obama administration has also been quick to defend its right to regulate business in order to protect privacy.
Until the legal issues are resolved, private companies are likely to continue trying to find new ways to vacuum up every scrap of data they can find.
“The genius and the fury of capitalism is that everyone is trying to compete with each other about who can collect the most detailed information about consumers,” said Stanley, the ACLU policy analyst. “Where will it end? We have to put some rules in the road.”
Burgess Everett, Erin Mershon and Tony Romm contributed to this report.
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China may raise natural gas prices as soon as September in its latest effort to normalize cheap domestic energy rates, but it treads a fine line in trying to bolster long-term supply while damping short-term demand.
A plant which will produce oil from coal, known as coal-to-liquid (CTL), nears completion in Erdos, in China's Inner Mongolia region, April 2008. REUTERS/Nao Nakanishi
A rise in domestic rates, which are half U.S. prices and less than one-third those of spot LNG imports, will be a boon for top producer PetroChina 0857.HK and peer Sinopec 0386.HK, whose regulated wellhead prices have risen only twice in the past three years.
But it is unlikely to resonate as loudly as last month’s sharp fuel price and rare power tariff increases, as natural gas occupies just 3 percent of China’s energy basket. Beijing aims to double the share of gas by 2020 as part of a high-profile effort to encourage greener economic growth.
To get there, it must increase prices enough to make it economical to produce domestic gas from remote areas or import it, and cut demand to avoid a short-term supply crisis that would force companies to seek other fuels.
At the moment, demand is galloping as natural gas looks an increasingly good choice compared to coal -- the price of which Beijing effectively liberalized last year before freezing again in June -- and to oil, which has surged to highs near $150.
“With coal prices already market driven and Beijing just raised fuel and power prices, people asked me what’s next? I said it should be natural gas,” said Yang Fuqiang of the U.S. Energy Foundation, which advises Beijing on energy policies including pricing.
“Possibly as soon as after the Olympics. Low gas prices are not conducive for demand control.”
Controlling demand without killing it is crucial for policy makers who want to ensure the success of huge projects like the $30 billion Central Asia pipeline.
GAS PUZZLE
China’s gas policy is the most complex and opaque piece of its energy pricing puzzle, as the sector is in its infancy and geared most toward the heavily subsidized fertilizer industry.
Natural gas makes up 3 percent of China’s overall energy use, versus a third in the United States and a quarter in Europe, Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) said in a report.
A surge of enthusiasm for imported LNG has been dulled by escalating global prices and stagnant local rates.
China last raised wellhead gas by a third last November, after a 5-15 percent hike two years earlier, but it only affected industrial and commercial users, sparing more price-sensitive residential consumers and fertilizer makers.
Even after that increase, prices at around 1.40 yuan per cubic meter, or $5.6 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu), are well below U.S. levels <0#NG:> at $10 per mmBtu and versus long-term LNG contracts now hitting $15 per mmBtu.
The timing may also be right for policymakers to raise gas prices, as annual inflation for June was at 7.1 percent, easing
for two-straight months after hitting near 12-year highs.
“The current price level (for inflation) looks relatively modest and is acceptable to the government, which could create a favorable environment for further adjustment of resource and energy prices in the second half,” said Su Chang at China Economic & Business Monitor.
Few analysts were willing to estimate the scale of the next rise, but most agreed that any increase would be another small step towards a long-term market-driven pricing scheme.
A string of recent LNG import deals also seemed to point to Beijing’s growing acceptance of international prices.
PetroChina agreed on surprise LNG purchase deals with Shell RDSa.L and Australia's Woodside WPL.AX last year. CNOOC and PetroChina concluded deals with Qatar in April, likely at $10 per mmBtu or higher.
China had previously clung to hopes of repeating its first LNG import deal sealed in 2002 around $3 per mmBtu.
CHANGE VERSUS STABILITY
Gas producers like PetroChina and Sinopec have long asked the government for market-based pricing to hasten exploration and production, while regulators also hope to raise prices to reflect real value of the cleaner fuel.
But Beijing has yielded to broader economic concerns such as inflationary pressures, or worries that drastic price increases would hit vulnerable users such as farmers and the urban poor.
“The current decision-making process is propelled by a mixture of conflicting policy drivers and is expected to remain so at least in the medium term,” said senior China oil and gas analyst Yan Kefeng of CERA.
A revolutionary approach is not on the cards.
“Stability will be key,” said Catriona Scott, London-based gas analyst with Gas Strategies Consulting. “Prices will be rationalized and increased... But it’s not going to happen in the next six months, it will happen over years.”
Yet changes are underway, as more market-based supplies -- via pipelines from Turkmenistan and through tankers from Algeria, Australia and Qatar -- join the pool, and as expanding webs of pipelines boost gas producers’ pricing powers.
“It is clear that the new market elements are increasingly influencing policymaking.” said CERA’s Yan.
Lagging prices risk exacerbating shortages. The annual supply of 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) in China’s first West-East pipeline, a fifth of the country’s total output, was taken up faster than expected by users lured by low rates.
China started building its massive second West-East line in February, which will eventually pipe in 30 bcm a year of gas from Turkmenistan to China’s eastern and southern seaboards.
PetroChina, the country’s largest pipeline operator, has targeted urban users -- residential and commercial -- to take up over half of supplies from the second West-East line, industries some 28 percent and power about 16 percent by 2015.
“If the first West-East is any precedent, it’s a case of supply constraint,” said Gas Strategies Consulting’s Scott.
(Editing by Ramthan Hussain) | {
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As part of its fast and profitable growth strategy Ethiopian Airlines Group is planning to become a USD 25 billion company by 2035, it was learnt.
The management of Ethiopian is under preparation to unveil a new development plan dubbed Vision 2035- a revised version of Vision 2025-the 15 year growth plan launched in 2010.
In an exclusive interview with The Reporter, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said that after achieving most of the targets set in Vision 2025 a head of schedule his management has drafted the new growth plan.
“As you know Vision 2025 is still going on but fortunately we have accomplished most of the targets we planned to accomplish in 2025-eight years a head; so there is no point of talking about Vision 2025. Because the targets are already achieved. We have discussed with our board and agreed to come up with a new strategic road map. In Ethiopian Airlines we are always expected to have a 15 year strategic plan. When we calculate it from next year it will be Vision 2035,” Tewolde said.
The management of the airline is now finalizing the new 15 year growth plan which aims at transforming the national flag carrier into a 25 billion dollars company. “In a couple of months we will unveil Vision 2035. It will be by and large scaling up our fast, profitable and sustainable growth. We will not have business model change but we will be scaling up the growth.”
According to Tewolde, in about eight years, Ethiopian Airlines has grown by three fold. The management and employees of Ethiopian have been able to triple the size of the airline in terms of revenue, number of passengers, fleet size, number of international destination, and cargo. When the airline started implementing Vision 2025 in 2010, it was a 1.3 billion USD company. This year, the company may be closing around 4.1 billion USD. “That is more than three fold. This is exponential growth by any standard,” Tewolde said. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the annual average industry growth is 5-6 percent.
Though the figures have not yet been finalized,Tewolde disclosed that by 2035 Ethiopian plans to have more than 200 airplanes, and to generate more than 25 billion USD annual revenue. “Ethiopian Airlines is one of the fastest growing airline in the world. We will continue to be African based global airline,” he said.
In addition to its mainline business,Ethiopian has started venturing into new investments. Travel and tourism, logistics, aerospace manufacturing, and airport management are some of the new line of businesses that the airline is investing in.
Ethiopian Airlines recently inaugurated a five star hotel built at a cost of 65 million dollars at its main hub in Addis Ababa. It has embarked up on the construction of the second phase of the hotel with an out lay of 150 million USD.
“Travel and tourism is a vast industry. As we all know though Ethiopia has a lot to offer to tourists the sector remains untapped. We want to help the nation fill the vacuum,” Tewolde said.
As a national carrier Ethiopian wants to be a catalyst in the tourism sector. Beyond transporting tourists from 120 cities,Ethiopian wants to enter the hotel and tourism business. “We might invest in the regional states if there is a vacuum where the private sector is not able to fill. We will be focusing on promoting Ethiopia as a major tourist destination all over the world through our extensive network. We will be packaging air ticket and hotel services for international tourists. We will also promote conference tourism.” By 2035,Ethiopian plans to transport more than 15 million tourists to Ethiopia.
With the view of supporting the local manufacturing sector,Ethiopian has established a joint venture cargo and logistics company with DHL, the giant global forwarding company, to provide a full-fledged cargo and logistics services in Ethiopia. The airline is also striving to develop an aerospace manufacturing industry. | {
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The news that an al-Qaida recruitment video prepared in Somalia refers to anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States and includes footage of Donald Trump shows the profound damage that the Republican front-runner is doing to America’s international image. Trump’s bearing is all swagger, but he and his zealous supporters project a weak and defensive stance to the world. They have redefined the United States as hostile and fearful.
Unwittingly, these right-wing champions of American exceptionalism have brought about the end of the American century. They announce the end of an era in which America offered a positive image of openness, possibility and the potential of the individual.
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The “American century” names an intimate connection between the international reach of American culture and the global power of the United States in economic, political and military terms. It is based on the idea that the popularity and attractiveness of American culture has positive political benefits for the United States.
But because of the global reach of U.S. culture and media in the digital age, Trump and his disaffected supporters’ message of rage and intolerance has become the new face of America.
How did we get here?
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Over the past decade, from basements and home offices, alienated American voices took shape online. The Internet was the battleground. The skirmishes seemed petty: hostile comments and ad hominem verbal attacks. Some referred to these disgruntled Americans as “trolls,” because their manner is nasty and they seem to work best at night.
Conspiracy theorists, racists, anti-Semites, haters of Islam, and misogynists, these Americans are fueled by a combination of disorientation and resentment. The world has left them behind. They do not speak its languages and barely recognize their new surroundings. The familiarity of stereotypes and hate-filled slurs is their comfort.
They fashion themselves as a cultural right wing and defenders of American values. They support Trump, but other Republican candidates would like their endorsement. Marco Rubio panders to them when he calls liberal arts colleges “indoctrination camps” of the political left.
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How could these disorganized and disempowered individuals take down such an edifice? Bringing down the American century is not something you can do by yourself.
This militia of the marginal used the greatest creation of the American century to bring about its downfall—the Internet. They relied on what has been called Web 2.0, the second generation of the Internet, which allowed users to generate content, whether through comment pages, social networking media, or blogs, GIFs and uploaded home videos. While champions of Web 2.0 laud its democratic potential and potential to spur creativity, this was a destructive group, whose manner was negative and goals were to tear down.
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The American century was built on a positive aura, not hate. From the romantic comedies of classic Hollywood to Coke’s “I’d like to teach the world to sing,” America exported the promise of love.
In Henry Luce’s influential 1941 essay “The American Century,” the publishing magnate argued that American culture had a crucial role to play in world politics. Luce argued against the isolationists and the nativists when he suggested that we were already an international power: “American jazz, Hollywood movies, American slang, American machines and patented products, are in fact the only things that every community in the world, from Zanzibar to Hamburg, recognizes in common.”
During the 20th century, those cultural products did work for both the United States and its corporate class, expanding markets on a global scale. There was a downside: the promise of the American dream was frequently but a mirage for minorities and foreigners who found a way to these shores. What’s more, that dream was propagated in large part by corporations who exploited the same world they sold these empty promises to: “Just do it.” “You deserve a break today.” “It’s the real thing.”
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But the ingenuity of American creativity and the positive message could inspire and empower too. And some of our greatest corporations, including Google, Yahoo and eBay, were founded by immigrants to the United States.
Luce’s sense that the international reach of American culture had a role to play in creating and maintaining the conditions for the political supremacy of the U.S. was soon taken as a truism. During the Cold War, the State Department funded cultural tours by the so-called jazz ambassadors and exhibits of abstract expressionist paintings in countries where they feared communism might hold sway.
As the Cold War wound down, much of the state-funded cultural apparatus was dismantled. The U.S. Information Agency, which had been created in 1953 to prevent cultural programs from seeming like propaganda, was dissembled finally in 1999. The Cold War was over. We thought we had won.
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In the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, some commentators argued that we should bring back our Cold War cultural diplomacy, that in the battle for hearts and minds, we had a great tool.
So, Hillary Clinton could be found championing the hip-hop initiatives that looked a lot like the jazz tours of a half-century earlier. In 2011, commenting on a state-sponsored trip of a hip-hop artist to Damascus, she said: “Hip-hop is America. . . . I think we have to use every tool at our disposal.” As secretary of state, she was early to embrace what was called digital diplomacy, with young staffers leading the charge.
Over the past decade and a half, I have been charting the fate of American cultural products in the Middle East and North Africa, with extensive research in the region during a remarkable time. From Fez to Tehran, young Arabs and Iranians are intimately familiar with American popular culture. As I argue in my new book, “After the American Century: The Ends of U.S. Culture in the Middle East,” a newer generation across the Middle East and North Africa made a distinction between America as a creator of cultural products and the United States as a geopolitical entity. That meant that through the 1990s and 2000s, they could continue to enjoy and consume our attractive culture without contradicting their increasing dismay regarding our policies in their region.
But as the Internet has developed as a space where comment boards and hate speech flourishes, that gap is closing.
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As I reported in Salon last month, Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim comments —and the massive support they are receiving—are heard loud and clear in Muslim majority countries. Whether it is Trump’s, Rubio’s or those of the American governors who deny Syrian refugees entry to their states, these voices wipe out State Department efforts to convince the world that the war on terror is not a war on Muslims.
Supplemented by thousands of hateful comments by the militia of the marginal, and paired with massively influential products such as the hateful “Innocence of Muslims” video from 2012, the new American discourse of hate and fear wipes out decades of more hopeful and inspiring American cultural products.
Ironically, we have the greatest technological success of the American century to blame for the demise of the American century itself. Can we still harness the positive attitude of optimism, hope and ingenuity that represents the best of the previous era and restart a new relationship to the world based on respect, trust, and partnership? | {
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In the last days of June 1941, Nazi Germany drove the forces of the Soviet Union, its former ally, out of eastern Poland. By 10 July the Russians were gone from the small town of Jedwabne. On that day, hundreds of Jewish people whose families had lived there for centuries were killed.
The younger men were clubbed to death. Older people, and mothers with children, were driven into a barn that was set alight, burning them to death. When the Soviet Union regained control of the area an investigation into the massacre was ordered and a memorial was erected, announcing that 1,600 Jews had been killed there by the German Gestapo.
It wasn’t until 2000 that this version of events was challenged publicly by the Polish-American historian Jan Tomasz Gross in his book Neighbours. “One day, in July 1941,” Gross wrote, “half of the population of a small east European town murdered the other half.” The killers, in other words, were not the German invaders, but the Polish inhabitants of Jedwabne.
His book triggered a furious controversy. The Polish president went to Jedwabne and led a service of commemoration and atonement: the people of the town stayed away and the mayor, who had planned the ceremony, was forced to resign.
The Polish Institute of National Remembrance investigated. Four years later, it concluded that the German authorities had, at least tacitly, signalled “permission to commit the crime”, that there were probably Germans present on the day of the massacre – most likely only three or four of them – but that the perpetrators were local Polish people. The number of victims was probably nearer to three hundred than sixteen hundred. But the substantial fact remains that at least 40 Polish men, from Jedwabne and areas nearby, had assembled in town on that day, of their own free will, with the clear and premeditated intention of killing the town’s Jews. The rest of the townspeople stood by and let it happen.
When Gross’s book came out Anna Bikont, a journalist with one of the leading newspapers in Poland, determined to go to Jedwabne to find out more. Her editor was not enthusiastic. A friend of Bikont’s, a poet, asked her what she thought she could add to a story that Gross had already so sensationally revealed. This book, first published in Poland in 2004, is an answer to that question.
Its form is idiosyncratic. There are stand-alone essays (on anti-Semitism in the pre-war Polish church, on the Soviet occupation) and there are individuals’ stories, based on interviews. At least half of its bulk, however, consists of entries from Bikont’s journal, kept during the four years of her work. They are as bitty and unguarded as a private journal usually is.
Any researcher, starting work on a project, amasses information that initially makes no sense. Beginning in ignorance, you are easily fooled. You come across stories presented as factual, which are in fact parables whose significance becomes evident only as your understanding of the political and cultural context deepens. If, as in Bikont’s case, you are talking to frightened, senile people who were children at the time of the sixty-year-old events you are trying to understand, the narratives you glean will be unreliable, and mutually contradictory.
As Bikont gives us much of her material in the order in which she found it, without recasting it in the light of what she eventually learned, readers stumble through this book as confused as she was. One cannot comprehend what went on in Jedwabne without knowing the chronology of the district’s wartime occupations by Soviet Russia and then Nazi Germany; Bikont does not provide that framework.
Poles alleged that during the Soviet occupation their Jewish neighbours had denounced them to the NKVD (in fact, only a handful of Jews collaborated): it is not until nearly a third of the way through the book that Bikont tells us about this. Nor does she directly describe the town’s social structure; it is only by inference that readers will gather that many of the Jews’ killers were their employees or their debtors. There are repetitions. Characters appear and reappear without ever being introduced. Inconsistencies are passed over unremarked. Important themes emerge too late to illuminate our reading – the place of property in this story, for instance. Polish people took over the houses of the dead Jews; now their heirs fear being asked to hand back those houses, or to pay compensation. It is as though Bikont, in a hurry to get the book out, had simply handed over her raw material. Cooking would have improved it.
An advantage of her unmediated account, however, is the directness with which we sense how alive this story still is. Visiting Jedwabne, Bikont finds people hovering threateningly around the houses of those who have talked to her. Many refuse to open the door to her. Discovering that she is Jewish, some recoil; others, meaning to be kind, promise not to tell anyone. She parks her car in shadowy corners and waits between appointments with the windows wound up and the doors locked. Her heroine, a Polish woman who hid seven Jews in a dugout beneath her pigsty, worked for many years afterwards as a cleaner. She never told her employer that she had been invited to Israel to be honoured as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations”. Better, in Jedwabne still, not to talk about such things.
Bikont’s journal makes her a character in the story – a likeable character, but all too human. She candidly confesses to her failings as a reporter. She allows interviewees to ramble on self-justifyingly for hours. She cannot bring herself to ask the crucial question: “What did you [or your father] do on 10 July 1941?” She notes down testimony and her own impatient responses: “Idiocy!” “This is ridiculous!” She is sarcastic about those with whom she disagrees. A finished text would have to sound authoritative, judicious. Because so much of this book is presented as unrevised jottings from her private notebook, she allows herself to be intemperate in her snap judgements and shrill in her indignation.
The author intervenes in the story she is reporting. She attends the funeral of Stanislaw Ramotowski, an old man who saved a Jewish family. The priest’s eulogy is bland. Bikont takes the microphone and pays tribute to the dead man for his courage. Afterwards his nephew says to her, “You seem not to understand the situation. Stanislaw was a respected and liked person here . . .” Now, because of her insistence on telling the truth, the nephew is jeered at as he walks down the street – “Jew”. Bikont is undeterred. It is she who urges the mayor to take a stand, thereby causing him to lose the office. People who have helped her get anonymous phone calls late at night: “Dirty Jew!”
She goes to America and visits Rabbi Jacob Baker, a co-editor of the Jedwabne Book of Memory. She doesn’t have the heart to tell him that the accounts he presents of victims embracing and kissing each other as the flames rose around them are “no more than edifying and moralising fairy tales”, but she concurs with his view that the facts must be told – that to connive in a cover-up is to murder the murdered a second time.
There are horrors here. Women drowning themselves and their babies in muddy puddles rather than fall into the hands of persecutors. Heads and limbs hacked off. Children thrown into the fire. The weird, theatrical pathos of the procession to the barn on that awful day in July 1941, when the Jewish men of Jedwabne were forced to smash the town’s statue of Lenin and then carry its fragments to the place where they would be killed, their rabbi in the lead, carrying his hat on a stick, all singing “The war’s our fault”. These are terrible images, and in Bikont’s incoherent narrative they recur, with variations, which gives them a disturbing extra quality, like a nightmare from which one cannot wake up. But the main value of her book lies not in what it adds to what her sometimes unsure translator calls “the Holocaust business”, but what it has to say about anti-Semitism in Europe seventy years later.
There may be many more such stories to be told. At the Worlds Literature Festival in Norwich this summer I heard the Lithuanian writer Sigitas Parulskis talking about his novel Darkness and Partners (not yet published in Britain). It tells of the massacre of Jews in rural Lithuania, instigated by the occupying German Nazis but largely carried out by local, anti-Semitic collaborators. Some Lithuanians have accused Parulskis of “obscenity”. They do not want to think about such things. Like the Poles, they particularly do not want it said that their own compatriots were at least partly responsible.
It is hardly possible to exaggerate the guilt of the Nazi regime, but not all of the wartime crimes committed in eastern Europe can be laid at its door.
The Crime and the Silence by Anna Bikont is published by William Heinemann (544pp), £20 | {
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