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Travellers to the U.S. and overseas from Ontario will soon be losing their provincial medical coverage. (Getty)
Starting in the new year, Ontario will no longer pay for basic emergency health care for those from the province who are travelling abroad.
As of January 1, changes coming to Ontario’s Insurance Plan means Ontarians who requires emergency medical attention when visiting another county will have to pay for it out of their own pockets.
Until the end of this month, the province’s current plan will continue to provide coverage for inpatient treatments in other countries. The rate is a maximum of $400 a day, for higher tiers of care, like intensive care. It also covers up to $50 a day for emergency outpatient and doctor services. That can help soften the blow, particularly in the U.S., where basic procedures like ER visits, X-rays and hospital stays can run up to thousands of dollars for those without insurance.
After Dec. 31, the only treatment the new plan will cover is $210 per treatment for kidney dialysis patients, which can cost up to $750 a day in the U.S. All other medical coverage outside of the country is up to the traveller to cover out of pocket.
The program was scrapped as a result of high administrative costs, which was costing the government around $2.8 million a year.
Anne Marie Thomas, an insurance expert with Insurancehotline.com, says a way to bridge that gap in coverage is to get familiar with the different types of travel insurance available. While there’s insurance to cover lost luggage or last minute cancellations, Thomas strongly suggests investing in travel medical insurance when going abroad.
“It’s a lot of coverage to get for a fairly reasonable premium,” she tells Yahoo Canada.
Recently, a Nanaimo man who didn’t have travel medical insurance made headlines after falling off a ladder in Thailand, which resulted in him requiring extensive medical care. Dan Treacher’s ongoing medical treatment is costing his family $2,000 a week and will cost a minimum of $75,000 to bring him back home, since he didn’t have any health coverage.
“If they’d gotten travel insurance, they would have been financially worry free,” says Thomas. “They’ve already got enough stress when they’ve got a family member sick abroad, too.”
While insurance costs range depending on age and medical history, Thomas says for the average senior who spends winters in warmer countries, it would cost around $1,500 up to 120 days.
“It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” she says. | {
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Bereaved UK families who lost sons and daughters in the illegal invasion of Iraq have now threatened legal action against Sir John Chilcot who headed the near two year long, £10m Iraq Inquiry (30th July 2009 – 2nd February 2011) if a date for release of Inquiry findings is not announced publicly within two weeks. Further, suspicions over the reason for the approaching five years near silence from Sir John are raised by a detailed investigation by journalist Andrew Pierce. Writing in the Daily Mail (1) he highlights the seemingly close relationship between Sir John Chilcot and Tony Blair.
Pierce refers to Blair’s first appearance before the Inquiry five years ago when: “the Chairman, Sir John Chilcot treated him with almost painful deference.” What few realized was that Sir John, a former career civil servant: “could, in fact, have greeted Blair as an old friend.”
They first met in 1997 when Blair was still Leader of the Opposition, at the discreet Travellers Club in Central London, founded in 1819 as: “A meeting place for gentlemen who had travelled abroad, their visitors and (for) diplomats posted in London.” It continues to host: “distinguished members of the Diplomatic Service, the Home Civil Service ‘”
The meeting took place just months before Blair became Prime Minister. “John Chilcot, at the time, was the most senior civil servant at the Northern Ireland Office ‘ Civil servants often meet Opposition politicians for briefings (prior to) elections but they are usually held in Whitehall Departments where (official) minutes are taken.” A meeting at the ultra discreet Club ensured “it was not made public.”
On becoming Prime Minister (2nd May 1997) Tony Blair: “worked closely with Chilcot on the Northern Ireland peace process.”
On Chilcot’s retirement he was: “knighted by a grateful Blair ‘ in to the fourth most senior order of British chivalry.”
However, points out Andrew Pierce, Sir John never really left Whitehall, undertaking numbers of roles on public committees: “often at the behest of the Blair administration.”
Moreover, in 2004 Lord Butler was charged with convening an Inquiry: “into the role of the (UK) intelligence services in the Iraq war. Blair chose the Members of the Inquiry’s five strong Committee.”
Foxes guarding hen houses cannot fail to come to mind: ” Surprise, surprise, Chilcot was one of the first asked to serve on it ‘”
Unexpectedly however, the Butler Review as it was named: “Provided devastating evidence that (Blair’s) Downing Street, with collusion of intelligence chiefs ‘sexed up’ the threat” from Saddam Hussein”, yet: “concluded that no one should be held responsible.”
“In short, it let Blair off the hook.”
When Blair’s successor as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown – former Chancellor of the Exchequer who wrote the mega million pound cheques for the illegal invasion, thus also part of the crime of enormity – established the Chilcot Inquiry in 2009, it was originally to be held “behind closed doors.” Uproar from opposition MPs, from senior military figures and the public forced it in to the open.
However Philippe Sands, QC., Professor of International Law at University College, London and barrister with Matrix Chambers, a legal firm established, ironically, by Tony Blair’s barrister wife Cherie, quickly questioned the suitability of Sir John to lead the new Inquiry.
Sands questioned what it was in his: “role in the Butler Inquiry that caused the Prime Minister to conclude he was suitable?” He cited a first hand observer who had described Chilcot’s: “obvious deference to governmental authority”, a view he had: “heard repeated several times. More troubling is evidence I have seen for myself.”
He was also dismissive of Sir John’s questioning of Law Lord, Lord Goldsmith, the former Attorney General, who had ruled that the Iraq invasion would be illegal – only to change his mind when Blair wrote on the top left hand side of the page: “I really do not understand this.”
Professor Sands – author of “Lawless World” in which he accuses former President George W. Bush and Tony Blair of conspiring to Invade Iraq in violation of international law – also cited: “Sir John’s spoon-fed questions” to the former Attorney General: “designed to elicit a response” demonstrating: “the reasonableness of his actions and those of the government.”
In context, in “Lawless World” Sands cites a five page long “extremely sensitive” memo (2) relating to a meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair at the White House on 31st January 2003. The memo was written by David Manning, Blair’s Chief Foreign Policy Advisor at the time, who was also present.
Content included Bush mooting the idea of painting a U-2 spy-plane in UN colours and flying it low over Iraq in the hope of Iraq reacting by shooting it down, providing a pretext for the US and UK to attack and invade.
It also confirms Bush and Blair agreeing to invade regardless of whether weapons of mass destruction were found by the UN weapons inspectors. This contradicts Blair’s statement to Parliament after his return that Iraq would be given a final chance to disarm.
Giving a further lie to Blair’s Parliamentary assurances, Bush is paraphrased as saying: “The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10th March. This was when the bombing would begin.” (3)
In an opinion which should surely be George W. Bush’s epitaph he told Blair he: “thought it unlikely there would be internecine warfare between different religious and ethnic groups” after the invasion.
In spite of the erased and ruined lives in millions, the ruins of Iraq, of much of Baghdad “the Paris of the 9th century”, of many of historical gems that have survived assaults over millennia but not Bush and Blair, it seems likely Chilcot’s Inquiry, if it eventually appears, will prove another dead end.
As Sir Christopher Meyer, former UK Ambassador to Washington pointed out: “When Downing Street set up the Inquiry in to ‘phone hacking (by) newspapers, it was a Judicial Inquiry, led by a Judge (with) powers to compel witnesses to answer all questions put to them.
Chilcot does not have that power. A Judge should be running this Inquiry, not a retired civil servant.”
Prime Minister David Cameron has paid lip service to exasperation, but as commented on before in these columns, regards Blair as a “mentor” and in opposition aspired to be “heir to Blair.” He has also refused Sir John correspondence between Bush and Blair (held in government archives) which Sir John has been reported as regarding as essential to his findings. Current speculations are, unless the families of the bereaved win out, is that the world will see nothing until late 2016.
Another reason for the inordinate delay is the decision of the Inquiry to write to every witness criticized in order to allow them to respond. How very cosy. Imagine that in a Court of Law.
However, if any of the above has you wondering, there is far worse to come.
According to a recent report (4) although: “as many as one hundred and fifty (government) Ministers, civil servants and senior military figures have been sent details of criticism, including draft pages of the Report”, due to the structure of the Inquiry: “Ministers and officials accused of wrongdoing in (the) Chilcot Inquiry will never be named.”
Indeed: ” One former Labour Minister is now said to be going through hundreds of pages of the report ‘with a fine toothcomb’. The ex-Minister has also been offered free legal advice from the Government.”
A ten million pound stitch-up?
Reg Keys, speaking for one of the bereaved UK families threatening action against Sir John Chilcot’s team, who ran as an against Tony Blair in his Durham constituency of Sedgefield as an Independent Parliamentary candidate in 2005, and whose son, Lance Corporal Tom Keys was killed in Iraq in 2003 has had enough. Tony Blair: “should be dragged in shackles to a War Crimes Court” he says (5).
In a memorable speech (6) on the 2005 election night, Blair and his wife standing with frozen faces, as Keys vowed: “I’ll hold Blair to account.” Unlike Blair, Reg Keys speaks the truth.
1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3198799/The-cosy-friendship-inquiry-chief-Tony-Blair.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush-Blair_2003_Iraq_memo
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4849744.stm
4. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11803206/Ministers-and-officials-accused-of-wrongdoing-in-Chilcot-inquiry-report-will-never-be-named.html
5. http://gmmuk.com/tony-blair-should-be-dragged-in-shackles-to-war-crimes-court-father-of-dead-solider-says/
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPj5IhATZ7k
Categorised in: Article
This post was written by Felicity Arbuthnot | {
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Episode 13 "So I just need a bit of help with the O.I.A.A.P." the new Boss blurts, bowling into Mission Control with a folder tucked under his arm.
...
"The Overarching Information And Architecture Project," the Boss says, too green to know whether our blank expressions are genuine or whether we're being obstructive.
"You know you're not suppose to capitalise the A in AND, don't you?" the PFY says, opting for obstructive. "It smacks of desperation. It should just be O.I.A.P."
"He's saying you're pathetic," I say to the Boss. "I'd hit him!"
"He was not!" the Boss says, not picking up the vibe of this conversation at all. "And I WILL not."
"Suit yourself."
"The Overarching Information And Architecture Project aims to determine the systems we have, the systems we need and what systems we will need into the future."
"I'm sorry," I say. "I think I may have temporarily lapsed into a coma - It's a medical condition. I have a note."
"The OVERARCHING INFORMATION AN.."
"No, you lost me again," I interrupt. "I may need a lie-down."
"And Overarching bit is a little redundant too isn't it?" The PFY chips in. "I mean you could just call it the I.A.P and it would still be the same thing."
"Just a quick slap," I urge the Boss. "Then really put the slipper in when he goes down. It's the only thing he understands."
The Boss, however, is maintaining his reserve.
There are five main exercises undertaken by managers who don't have the wherewithal to do their job but want to look like they're contributing:
A. A Review of "lessons from the past",
B. The big push for documentation,
C. An anal-gazing "Look-to-the-future" exercise,
D. Team building and/or Group Dynamics, or,
E. A comprehensive review of something to reach the conclusion they've already thought of.
So we're talking about C or E.
Either way, it's a black hole into which time and energy will be poured whereas the maximum workplace benefit would be derived from nailing the Boss into an airtight soundproof cupboard in the basement with an open drum of calcium chloride for several months.
It's a fairly transparent attempt to get rid of everything we have here that he doesn't understand and replace it with some lame version of the same thing which costs four times as much, does half the job but produces a nicely coloured pie graph. So we're probably talking E.
"What do you need?" the PFY asks.
"I just need the Committee. I emailed everyone but only got one response."
And we all know who the one respondent was - a crawly sycophantic toerag from the Hell Desk who thinks he can suck his way to the top by agreeing with every inane thought which crosses the Boss' mind.
Allegedly.
So it's Catch 22 - If providing input to this process is a drain on your time and will to live, being on the Committee is like being immersed in a jar of turd-scented treacle with a urinal drain as a snorkel. Which accounts for the lack of respondents.
"Anyway, I was wondering if one of you two would li.."
"YOU FAINTED!" I say, kindly, a couple of seconds later "AND HIT YOUR HEAD!"
"Yes!" the PFY says, hiding his throbbing hand behind his back. "Let us help you into a seat."
"Really?" the Boss says. "I thought I was going to ask you if you wanted to..."
"YOU MISSED THE CHAIR!" I say, a couple of seconds even later, "AND BANGED YOUR HEAD ON THIS RUGGEDISED LAPTOP."
You only get a chance to use the old "master reset" on a Boss a couple of times in their career before the deja vu kicks in - and if you've got to play that card you may as well play it to get out of being on a Committee. Especially a committee like this one which a scope so open-ended it could see you through to retirement.
...
As it turns out while we dodged a bullet avoiding the committee we collected a 40 pound shell we got slapped onto the working party. Apparently the first thing the newly-formed two-man committee did was create a list of people who would be on the two-man "working group" - the PFY and myself.
So perhaps one too many master-resets after all.
Now the Committee of an infrastructure and architecture project has the dubious pleasure of scores of seemingly endless meetings to decide upon a project framework, project goals and project champions before getting down to the real nitty-gritty important stuff of deciding the font to use in the survey document, but the Working Group will be the people who'll actually administer the survey.
They'll talk to people individually, collate their responses, analyse those responses against the project framework and present the analysis to the committee so that it can be completely ignored when the Boss does everything he wanted to do in the first place but needed an investigation to support.
...
"...so to give you a bit of background for your questions I thought I'd give you an overview of our EXISTING infrastructure first" I say to the Boss and sycophant. "So you have a better idea of what we have and what we do and what to ask."
"So we've got.... nothing?" the sycophant says sarcastically, gesturing around the mostly empty room.
"Not quite nothing," I say, pointing as I step backwards through the door. "There's that large drum. And this nail gun."
>SLAM<
>CLONKA! CLONKA! CLONKA! CLONKA!< | {
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That evening, H. is sick, as predicted. I go out for medicine, but things are picked over at Rite Aid. Everything left feels a bit off-brand: chewable grape-flavored ibuprofen, a raspberry-flavored vitamin-C mix. Moms with strollers crowd the aisles, all of us looking for things that aren’t there anymore.
Monday, March 2nd
H. running a fever. Hope it’s just a cold. I’d been planning to go to my office this week, to work on my unfinishable novel, but sick kid means I stay home. I reread a draft while H. plays FIFA 20 on the Switch and watches soccer videos. For lunch, I go to the corner deli and get him a bagel with cream cheese and a small Tropicana orange juice. Vitamin C doesn’t do anything against the coronavirus, but maybe it will help with his regular cold. We eat our lunch on the roof, and we talk in the sunshine. He’s happy and I’m happy.
Tuesday, March 3rd
I take Y., my older son, to hockey practice. One night in December, I’d parked the car and walked him to the rink, then went to a coffee shop to work on the unfinishable novel. Half an hour later, my phone rang. I couldn’t recognize the distraught voice on the other end as my son. The head of the program got on the line and told me to come to the rink at once. Turned out that another kid’s father (white) had berated Y. during warmups, claiming he’d slashed his son with his stick. He followed him off the ice, screamed and swore at him. The various accounts are confusing. At some point he said he would call the cops. The coaches stepped in; he was instructed to leave. The dad was banned from the rink until the end of January.
At the beginning of February, I overhear someone at the rink saying in chummy tones, “So you’re finally back.” It’s another dad (white) talking to the guy who must be the dad. I surreptitiously take a photo and send it to my wife, W. This is the guy who screamed at Y.
At the time, I kept thinking, Would he have treated a white kid that way?
Now I think, Does the coronavirus outbreak make it seem O.K. to shout at an Asian kid?
Tonight I see the dad again, from afar. In the past few months, I’ve played over scenarios in my head. I should shake his hand, say, “No hard feelings.” But no—let him make the first move. Watching him, I think, He doesn’t think he did anything wrong.
Wednesday, March 4th
H. is better and back to school. Spring break is coming up. The Delaware tournament looms large in his mind. He’ll be totally healthy by then. My wife will drive him there, while I take Y. to his tournament in Philadelphia. A divide-and-conquer sort of weekend.
Thursday, March 5th
W.’s birthday. I draw her a card, a New York skyline with arrows pointing to the various places we’ve lived over the years. The boys each write a little note, signing off, “your favorite son.”
There’s an article about a staffer at a Brooklyn assemblywoman’s office who shared a message on Facebook advising people not to frequent Chinese businesses in the city, claiming that the proprietors could be carrying the virus from having gone to China for the Lunar New Year. I can’t believe people sometimes.
I spend a few hours decluttering, in anticipation of finally moving to the new apartment. I post four times to Instagram, a series I call “Marie Kondo vs. _____.” Today’s possible victims: my Village Voice reporter’s notebooks, the sheet music to “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” and a copy of an unpublished book I wrote twenty-two years ago—a manuscript that only exists as a printout, not on e-mail, in the cloud, anything but paper. The posts get a hundred and twenty-four, forty-two, and a hundred and eighty-seven likes, respectively.
To judge from Netflix and best-seller lists, clearly a good number of Americans are positively inclined toward Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” In the American mind, then, Japanese are clean, and the Chinese, with their weird, disease-incubating wildlife markets, are dirty. I don’t know where Koreans stand. The sleek, androgynous K-pop groups like BTS scan as “clean.” Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” is a mix of the immaculate (the Parks in their sleek modern house) and grimy (the Kims in their fumigated hovel). When “Parasite” won the Best Picture Oscar, I screamed—never in my life would I have imagined a Korean filmmaker winning the prize, even someone as great as Bong Joon-ho. That was less than a month ago. Now South Korea was grappling with the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China, thanks in part to a secretive Christian cult, and it’s as if all that national pride has been replaced by panic and embarrassment. Somehow “parasite” and “virus” feel related.
My family—including my parents, sister, and her boyfriend—had planned on making a big pilgrimage to Korea at the end of June, when Y.’s school lets out. It would have been the first time there for my wife and kids, and the first time in nearly forty years for my sister. With my dad finally retiring, at eighty-four, the time seemed ripe. The trip is looking less likely by the day.
Friday, March 6th
My college alumni magazine arrives. The cover story is “Pizza! Our undercover experts rate New Haven’s pies.” On Instagram, I caption it “Slow news month.” It gets a hundred and two likes.
E-mail from the director of the day camp where H. will be for part of his spring break. She says that they are excited, but also aware of coronavirus concerns. There will be plenty of hand sanitizer. Anyone who feels sick should stay home.
Saturday, March 7th
Sunshine. Excited to meet some friends, L. and H., for dinner. L. suggested an Indian place in Harlem a few weeks back. At 12:30 P.M., L. touches base, saying she has a slight cough, possibly caught from a colleague who attended a conference out of the country. This is enough of an out for all of us. When to reschedule? We look at April. We look at May. Everything will be O.K. by then.
Sunday, March 8th
Y.’s last indoor soccer game at Chelsea Piers. I drop him off, then go park the car. When I enter the Field House, the guard at the turnstile tells me I have to register with the guy at the computer. I go to tell him my name and a (white) woman hisses, “I’m in line.”
Get an e-mail that H.’s upcoming day camp is cancelled due to “concerns over the COVID-19.”
Monday, March 9th
H.’s school is cancelled for two days. Moving to “virtual learning” on Wednesday. What does that even mean for fourth graders?
I’m anxious about the impending hockey tournaments in Pennsylvania and Delaware. I look up state-by-state statistics on the spread of the virus. Delaware has zero cases. But the teams will be coming in from all over. I wish the organizers would cancel. | {
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india
Updated: Jun 19, 2019 17:28 IST
After the 17th Lok Sabha unanimously elected Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house, Birla was felicitated by the various leaders of the house including Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
After Modi, newly-elected Congress Leader of Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary also addressed the speaker and expressed his party’s commitment towards upholding parliamentary democracy.
Chowdhary further said that as speaker of this house, one needs to be impartial and protect the dignity and spirit of this house as the speaker is the “presiding officer and custodian of the house and according to Nehru, represents the house, the freedom of the people and the nation itself.”
Chowdhary concluded his address by dedicating a poem to Om Birla saying: “Khuda se kya maangu tere vaaste (What do I ask for you from God?), sada khushiyon se bhare hon tere raaste, (May your ways are always filled with happiness and prosperity), hansi tere chehre pe rahe is tarah, (I pray you always keep a smile on your face), khushboo phoolon ke saath rehti hai jis tarah ( just like the beautiful fragrance residing in flowers)”.
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.) | {
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Autor: Lidia Montes
Avanza el despliegue de infraestructuras para hacer del coche eléctrico una realidad. Las compañías energéticas han visto el filón en el despliegue de una infraestructura de carga de las baterías que sea sólida a lo largo y ancho de la península. Así es que Repsol se ha adelantado y ha instalado el primer punto de carga ultrarrápido del país para el coche eléctrico.
Este nuevo punto de carga de Repsol tendrá una potencia de 350 kilovatios y permitirá cargar la batería de un coche eléctrico en tan sólo 6 minutos. Se trata de una potencia que no alcanza ninguno de los puntos de carga del país. No obstante, no existen coches circulando actualmente que sean aptos para esa capacidad y es que la máxima capacidad de carga se sitúa actualmente en los 175 kilovatios. Estos vehículos podrán cargar sus baterías en 12 minutos utilizando el punto de carga de Repsol, según ha avanzado El Independiente.
La energética ha escogido la localidad alavesa de Lopidana para estrenar este nuevo tipo de carga en una de las gasolineras de su red. Este nuevo punto de carga que estará operativo a partir del próximo lunes 1 de abril y, con él, Repsol se adelanta a otros competidores como Cepsa que tiene previsto instalar puntos de carga ultrarrápidos en los próximos meses.
Y es que, precisamente la larga duración de las recargas de las baterías de los coches eléctricos es uno de los problemas todavía por salvar para un despliegue competitivo de este tipo de vehículos. Las grandes compañías energéticas ya han anunciado sus planes de despliegue de nuevos puntos de carga con la avanzadilla del plan de Iberdrola y el plan de Endesa.
Por su parte Repsol se ha aliado con el grupo Ibil para instalar 1.700 puntos de carga, de los cuales tan sólo 200 son públicos y 31 se encuentran en estaciones de servicio de la red del grupo. Los enchufes de las gasolineras de Repsol son de carga rápida y, con una potencia de 50 kilovatios, la duración de la carga es de media hora. | {
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Lätt att få whiplash när S byter åsikter
Publicerad: 08 maj 2018 kl. 05.41
Det gick inte ens fyra månader mellan Stefan Löfvens dagiskäcka ”mitt Europa bygger inga murar” tills regeringen stängde Öresundsbron. Ena dagen hojtade Socialdemokraterna om att Fredrik Reinfeldt var främlingsfientlig för att han talade om flyktingmottagandets kostnader. Nästa dag gör S kampanjer med muskulösa passkontrollanter som ”slår vakt om Sveriges säkerhet” mot mörkhyade tågresenärer, och med en bister statsminister med armar i kors, som förklarar att invandrare inte ska få ta våra jobb. Han som nu inte ens utesluter att sätta in militär i förorterna.
Det är inte riskfritt att vara lojal socialdemokratisk valarbetare: man kan få whiplash-skador.
I fredags slog S fast att de måste bli ännu hårdare och att alla som inte vill halvera antalet asylsökande är brottsligt naiva. Det är politikens chicken race. Man ska bromsa exakt när partiet gör det – både de som gör det en sekund för tidigt och en sekund för sent har förlorat.
Så har det alltid varit. Vilhelm Moberg skrev 1953 att Socialdemokraterna var ett idéparti med två idéer: Att ta makten, och att behålla den. Partiet är en maskin konstruerad för maktinnehav, som osentimentalt gör sig av med det som inte gynnar partiets intressen eller opinionssiffror.
I opposition talade S om arbetarnas förmåga till självorganisation, men vid makten förstatligade de deras organisationer. Partiet ville socialisera storföretagen, men ville sedan vara bästa vän och åka till diktaturer för att marknadsföra deras varor. Partiet gav allt till alla, tills de blev bäst på åtstramningar.
Vissa tänker på Groucho Marx: ”Det här är mina principer, och om ni inte gillar dem så har jag andra”. Men Socialdemokraterna har en mer pompös självbild än så – och en mer moraliserande fiendebild. Partiets unika talang är att framställa de principer det har för dagen som det enda goda och solidariska, och allt annat som egoistiskt och samhällsfientligt – tills de plötsligt byter åsikt och det i stället är de som står kvar på partiets gamla position som är egoistiska och samhällsfientliga. Partiet har alltid rätt, oavsett vad det tycker.
Det är inte bara dåligt. Som få andra kan S ändra sig när omständigheterna så kräver. De kan skapa ATP-systemet, men också avveckla det när det gör bankrutt. På sätt och vis ger det också Sverige stabilitet. Det har gjorts mycket av att Mussolinis Italien tyckte sig se sin egen fascism i Socialdemokraternas nationella statskramande, och att kommunister gladdes åt löntagarfondsidéerna.
Men en socialdemokrat kan invända att partiet genom att inlemma tidens farliga idéer i svensk, demokratisk dräkt också oskadliggjorde dem och räddade Sverige från fascism och kommunism. Själv ogillar jag den SD-politik som S nu för, men jag ser hellre att den genomdrivs av socialdemokrater än av sverigedemokrater, som också vill göra Sverige till Ungern.
Partiets problem är emellertid att kovändningar fungerade som bäst när det fanns röstboskap som lojalt följde med i svängarna. I ett mer utbildat och individualistiskt samhälle låter sig inte väljarna disciplineras lika lätt. Tänk om svenska folket har vuxit ifrån Socialdemokraterna?
Principlöshet som dygd
”Sannolikt är det en förbannad tur att vi är så grumsiga i huvudena att vi inte vågar handla. Tur från ekonomisk synpunkt.” – Tage Erlander i dagboken 14 november 1950.
Moberg om S
Som ung var Vilhelm Moberg socialdemokrat, men han menade att partiet vid makten ersatte det gamla patriarkaliska förtrycket med ”en statsapparat som utövar ett opersonligt, anonymt, mekaniskt fungerande förtryck … där individen utplånas av kollektivet”.
Av: Johan Norberg
KOPIERA LÄNK
Publicerad: 08 maj 2018 kl. 05.41 | {
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After the race, Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff said: "Some you win and some you lose and Ferrari had the quicker car."
But Clear was uncertain about that claim, saying it was impossible to tell from the evidence of the opening round in the Vettel-Lewis Hamilton battle for victory.
"If they'd got into a close battle at some stage we would have seen who was quicker," Clear told Sky Sports F1.
"But, honestly, I can't tell you which was the quicker car today, because I don't think either of them saw the opportunity to really pile on the pressure.
"Early on, Lewis was managing the pace because that was the right thing to do. And once Seb was ahead he was managing the pace.
"We really still don't know the answer to how quick we are in absolute terms. We know that today we won."
Strategy evolved on the pitwall
On the subject of the pitstops, which turned the race, Clear said Ferrari was considering an undercut before Hamilton pitted early on lap 18.
That forced its hand into an overcut, which was aided when Hamilton got stuck behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
"We were always thinking that we probably had reasonable pace the undercut was possible," said Clear. "We were trying to get right up behind Hamilton for the undercut – and he went early.
"From that point you think 'okay we go as long as we can and maybe we attack them at the end', but then he got caught up in traffic and the undercut offered itself effectively.
"Honestly it was sort of fell into our hands when he got stuck behind Verstappen. You prepare for these things, the strategy beforehand understands that that may happen.
"Obviously Seb was pushing as soon as Lewis came in, because if he has a warm-up problem or anything you overcut. Obviously getting stuck behind Verstappen played into our hands." | {
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New Delhi: Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad says Shreyas Iyer can be the solution to India's No 4 problem in the limited-overs line-up given his fine growth as a player in the past two years.
Iyer made his India debut in November 2017 with a T20I against New Zealand and in the following month, played in his maiden ODI series, scoring back-to-back half-centuries in the home rubber against Sri Lanka.
The 24-year-old played three ODIs in South Africa two months later before he was sidelined, only making a comeback in the ODIs against the West Indies in August this year following India's campaign in the World Cup.
"If you recall, we had inducted Shreyas Iyer (when Virat Kohli was rested) 18 months back into the ODI squad and he has done reasonably well. Unfortunately, we couldn't continue with him. Having said that, he has evolved as a player now and he can be the solution to our No 4 slot in both ODIs and T20s," Prasad told PTI in an interview.
The highly-rated batsman kept piling on the runs for Mumbai in domestic cricket and also for India A besides expressing disappointment at not getting enough chances at the highest level. Now he is back in the thick of things and has done well in both ODIs and T20s since the West Indies tour.
Prasad, who was appointed chief selector in 2016 and is now nearing the end of his tenure, said it was unfortunate that Iyer had to miss out in the period leading up to the World Cup.
During the Prasad-led selection committee's tenure, India scaled new heights by winning a Test series in Australia, assembled a world-class pace attack (by giving Jasprit Bumrah a go in Tests), regained the World No 1 ranking in Tests but was not able to win a major global event.
Asked if India's lethal Test attack is the most significant legacy of the selection committee, Prasad said: "The primary duty of the selection committee is to identify right talent, groom them through a systematic process, induct them at an appropriate time into the senior squad and trust them to deliver by backing them.
"Except Bumrah, the other fast bowlers (Ishant, Umesh, Shami) had been in the circuit even before our committee took over. Only thing is that they all have combined well as a unit during our tenure...we have been instrumental in helping Bumrah to evolve into a top-class bowler across all formats," said the 44-year-old former India wicketkeeper-batsman.
In the batting department, opportunities were given to the likes of KL Rahul, Hanuma Vihari, Prithvi Shaw, and Mayank Agarwal in the Test team. Vihari and opener Agarwal have surely repaid the selectors' faith in them.
Only last month Rohit Sharma was tried as a Test opener against South Africa and that move turned out to be a masterstroke as he ended up with three hundreds in the series, including a double ton.
"It was the collective opinion of both the selection committee and team the management. With the kind of form Rohit was in of late in white-ball cricket, we thought our Test team will immensely benefit if he can transform that form into red-ball cricket," said Prasad, who played six Tests and 17 ODIs for India.
"Moreover we had five Tests at home and it couldn't have been a better opportunity to play and cement his place at the top of the order."
The selection committee also had its share of controversies and was constantly reminded of its lack of experience at the highest level. Prasad said constant criticism did not come in the way of his job.
"Pressure is a privilege very few people have and I am very happy to deal with it. I am very happy with my colleagues too who have handled the pressure very well. It was a conscious effort of all of us to ignore what is being written about us and to focus on the job at hand."
"BCCI has reposed faith in us and we have to pay back accordingly which we did with utmost sincerity and honesty."
Talking about the T20 World Cup in Australia next year, Prasad said they are very close to finalising the core of the team for the showpiece event. Experimentation has been going on in the shortest format but one will have to wait till the IPL for the picture to be clearer.
"I think we are very close to finalising the core team. Maybe a couple of slots is what we are looking for in the next few months in the bilateral series and also in IPL," added Prasad. | {
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Since castigating a graduate student as “a slut” for her views on birth control, radio host Rush Limbaugh has apologized in a statement on his Web site and had his remarks briefly chewed over by President Obama in a televised press conference. In a bid to stanch the fleeing of advertisers from his show, Limbaugh has pre-written the following speech, which he will deliver on his radio show today. We obtained an early transcript, and share it exclusively with you.
On this show last week, you heard me talk about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. In the contentious debate over reproductive rights, I may have gone too far: I called her a slut, a prostitute, a whore. And, in the privacy of my own offices, I may have insinuated that I didn’t like her haircut, and that I found her outfit to be more than a little unbecoming. She was appearing in front of Congress, and certainly could have at least Callista Gingrich-ed it up a little—lacquered her hair, spackled on some lips, worn a tasteful necklace, but nothing too expensive. After all, she is in law school, and has to defray the costs of all that progestero—err, tuition.
Listeners, you know that over the years, I’ve distinguished myself as a no-nonsense plain-talker. I don’t allow phony stuff like race, creed, sex, or religion to get in the way of any racist, xenophobic, sexist, anti-Parkinsonian observations about political figures, celebrities, First Daughters, even certain individuals who like to call themselves “the president.”
But I saw the error of my ways, and not just because more than 20 advertisers have abandoned my show like so many rats (by which I mean Democrat congressmen) fleeing from a sinking fiscal-accountability subcommittee hearing. On Saturday night (when we all know everybody’s paying attention to the news), right smack-dab on that most important news medium of all (my Web site), I issued an apology, one that went so far as to not even apologize, but rather to say that my personal attack on Ms. Fluke should in no way be construed as a personal attack. Next, in a swift series of generalizations that would keep a high-school debate team busy for days with a Latin-English dictionary, I laid out my arguments against this preposterous failure of a liberal line of thought—doing so in a way that would fully negate any upcoming expressions of remorse. Then, listeners, I apologized.
Sure enough, some “people” have said that my apology didn’t go far enough. I like to put these “people” in quotes because I can’t put them in prison.Yet.
The point I’m trying to make here is that it’s not our business what goes on in the bedroom. And by the bedroom, I mean my bedroom. And perhaps Newt Gingrich’s bedroom. Trust me, the country does not want to know what goes on in these two bedrooms. Everyone else’s bedroom is fair game. Especially Ms. Fluke’s.
In fact, I have to admit that, even while off the air, I like to speculate about exactly what goes on in Ms. Fluke’s bedroom. Not just the acts that I’ve so graphically rendered on my radio show. It’s the smaller things. The perfume she’s wearing, the term papers spilled across the bed, the music that’s playing ever so softly in the background, the salty sweet taste of her lips against—
And then, the phone rings, interrupting this speculative fantasy. It’s “President” Obama, offering his support to Ms. Fluke in her hour of need, during a time when our country is in a crisis, when he should be doing what all presidents should be doing, namely, listening to my radio show. He’s ruining everything, America! Everything! | {
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Fanboys hoping to don the blue paint and do their best Na'vi impression might as well go into deep-space hibernation for a few more years.
That because, according to Avatar producer Jon Landau, the ambitious plans James Cameron has for shooting his two hugely anticipated sequels means moviegoers aren't likely to see Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 until 2016 and 2017.
That's two years longer than the December 2014 target date 20th Century Fox announced when the projects were officially unveiled. | {
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Stan crawls into the fetal position after enduring a poetry slam and NPR.
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American Dad: Leftist Torture from Honey I'm Homeland - Animation on Fox , American Dad, Undercover Stan from Honey I'm Homeland, Animation on Fox , Fox, only on Fox, Fox series, 2014, HD, HQ, American Dad sneak peek episode, American Dad episode, American Dad promo, coming soon, entertainment, tv, television | {
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Attorney-General George Brandis may have acted corruptly, Labor has said, following reports the federal government agreed to a secret deal allowing the Western Australian government to pursue compensation from the collapse of a company despite legal issues with their plan.
According to a report in The West Australian, the arrangement was scuttled by a High Court submission from former solicitor-general Justin Gleeson, SC, said to be the pivotal moment in the breakdown of his relationship with Senator Brandis and eventual resignation last month.
The Coalition government had agreed to support the WA Liberal government's pursuit of $1 billion from Alan Bond's failed Bell Group, the report says, subsequently instructing Mr Gleeson to reflect this position when WA's legislation was challenged in the High Court. But the Australian Taxation Office, separately seeking to claw back $300 million, also asked him to act for them in the dispute.
It was this submission, contending that the legislation was inconsistent with federal tax law – the line of argument the Attorney-General had promised would be disregarded – which demolished WA's plan and caused them "to think the Commonwealth had acted in bad faith". | {
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First, the Back to the Future Nike Mags came out. Now, Mattel has announced that it'll be making the pink hoverboard Marty McFly made infamous in Back to the Future II. My life is complete. Well, almost.
The Mattel hoverboard doesn't actually hover as it's only a 1:1 replica of the movie version but that's okay! It's still a must have piece for any BTTF fan. The ad for the BTTF hoverboard at Toy Fair claims its "movie accurate" (there's a hole where Marty ripped off the pole) and can "glide over most surfaces" (though it doesn't work on water, heh). I've previously held out on buying unofficial hoverboard replicas because I was waiting for Mattel to come out with an official version. Now that it's finally here, I'm beyond excited.
Mattel will start taking pre-orders for the hoverboard from March 1st through the 20th and will ship the board during the 2012 holiday season. Even if it's not the fairy tale floating hoverboard I dreamed about as a kid, I'm all in on this. But what gives me a bit of pause is this part of Mattel's press release:
Because this is such a high-cost item, there will be a minimum number of orders required to go into production. If we don't receive the minimum orders, won't go into production and customers will not be charged. The price will be announced later this month.
I expect every self respecting BTTF fan to buy a hoverboard to make sure it happens. Don't ruin it for me! Pre-orders will be taken on MattyCollector.com. We'll update you when we find out the price. [ToyArk via SlashGear] | {
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Time is money, and the Bucks only have so much time to decide what to do with their money...and shape the path of the franchise’s future in the process. Much and more has been made of the Milwaukee Bucks and the looming salary cap crunch that will hit this offseason. Their ceiling for the 2018-19 season is sky-high, but once the new league year starts the prospect of maintaining such a high ceiling feels like an order as tall as Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Bucks GM Jon Horst has, in less than two years, turned the franchise into a bona fide contender. He’s earned the nickname Jon Heist. He’s dodged bullets, excised demons, seized opportunities (large and small), and pulled off the impossible...and a franchise-defining task awaits him this summer. This does not – and should not! – take away from the joy that is the present-day Milwaukee Bucks, but for those of us trying to look ahead (which Horst certainly is), we need to steel ourselves for the upcoming crossroads.
Here’s a list of the core roster questions that need to be answered between now and next year’s training camp:
And depending on the answers above, the ultimate question becomes:
Giannis Antetokounmpo is eligible in the summer of 2020 for a supermax extension...y’know, the one that both Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard stated they would not sign, putting the league into a tizzy and fundamentally altering the power structure of the NBA. As loyal as he is, will he see what he needs to be willing to sign that extension, staying in Milwaukee long-term?
There is no indication that Giannis isn’t interested in sticking around. He very well may be the guy to break the current mold, but things change fast in the NBA. For example, maxing Khris Middleton might be the right move, but if you go through the comments you’ll find compelling arguments against such a move.
So today, instead of breaking down what the Bucks should or shouldn’t do, we want to better understand the environment these decisions will be made in. Context is king, so let’s run through the timeline and see if that helps with the larger discussion about the Bucks’ future. Determining who gets signed to what contract is an unknown, so let’s determine what known variables we’re working with. What are the important dates and details of the offseason?
The way things are going, this date will pass with little notice from Bucks fans, since the assumption is that Milwaukee will be playing deep into May, and possibly even June. However, this date matters because it is the effective end of the “trade moratorium” that started on February 7. Per Larry Coon’s always-excellent CBA FAQ (referenced heavily from here on out):
Teams are free to make trades again once their season has ended, but cannot trade players whose contracts are ending or could end due to an option or ETO.
All this means is that, between the end of a team’s season (whether they missed the playoffs before April 13 or are eliminated before the end of the Finals) and July 1, teams can trade players who have at least another season remaining on their contract. Historically, teams rarely do make trades this far away from the NBA Draft, but it’s worth noting that the option is available...if a willing partner is available and interested in someone like Ersan Ilyasova or Tony Snell, and they just can’t wait for the draft.
For the first time in a long time, Milwaukee will not pick in the middle of the draft. Currently with the best record in the league, it’s entirely likely that their pick lands in the bottom-5 of the first round because the order of all non-lottery picks (15–30) are set in reverse order of best record. It’s not impossible to land a major contributor at this spot, just incredibly unlikely.
The reason why this matters for the Bucks is that a player drafted this June will a) be under very inexpensive team control for up to 4 years, and b) take up a roster spot once signed, thus eating away at the team’s salary. A rookie drafted this late will at least be on-par with a veteran’s minimum-level contract, and the placeholder we’re going to work with is $1.934 million for now, and it’s possible that the salary cap hit is as much impact as the player actually has on the Bucks. They could get out from under this obligation if they simply trade the rights after the player is selected (thus circumventing the Stepien Rule), but this doesn’t seem likely or strictly necessary.
It has not been discussed for quite some time, but Malcolm Brogdon is technically still eligible for an extension to his contract. As a second round pick with three years with the same franchise, Brogdon is not subject to the rookie scale and has full Bird Rights (more on that later), meaning the Bucks can try to simply negotiate additional years onto his deal now before the beginning of the next league year. If a deal was struck, it could be as much as 4 years/$46 million, but since it hasn’t happened already, there’s little chance of it happening before July 1, since Brogdon could field offers higher than an $11.5M annual salary.
Here it is, the inflection point of the summer. The early-July period is as fascinating as it is hectic, as there’s a number of events that happen simultaneously once the bell tolls at midnight:
Players on expiring contracts officially become free agents, and negotiations can “begin.” (wink)
Players on multiyear contracts “roll over” to the next year of the deal.
Draft picks can be officially signed to contracts, and players can technically be signed to minimum-level contracts.
Restricted free agents can accept qualifying offers or sign offer sheets with other teams.
Players can be waived and claimed off of waivers, contract options and early termination options can be exercised, and teams can renounce rights to free agents in order to remove their cap holds.
The important thing to consider about July 1 is that non-minimum contracts and trades, as well as the 48-hour “matching clock” for RFA offer sheets, can not take effect until after the moratorium is lifted on July 6, so the NBA rumor mill works overtime over this six-day period. That said, don’t necessarily expect Malcolm Brogdon’s name to come up during the moratorium since his restricted status will likely delay most team’s targeting of his services next season. Why give Milwaukee more than 48 hours to determine whether or not they’ll match?
As it relates to the Bucks, George Hill’s partially-guaranteed contract would need to be waived by this date in order to reduce his cap hit from $18M to a paltry $1M. This is a near-certainty, as the Bucks will need to use that money to retain some of their starters, and Hill’s production is no longer commensurate with an eight-figure cap hit.
I’m glad you asked! The chart below includes the estimated salary cap, luxury tax line, and the tax apron line for the 2019-20 season.
Since the whole point of this exercise is to break down the topics into small chunks, let’s also define how these three things interact.
The salary cap is, simply put, the limit for how much money teams can use to sign players. There are certain exceptions that allow teams to go over the cap, giving franchises varying degrees of flexibility to build their rosters. These exceptions are why the NBA is said to have a “soft cap,” while other leagues like the NFL have a “hard cap.”
Teams are always able to sign their own first-round draft picks (called the Rookie Exception) or sign minimum-level deals (called the Minimum Player Salary Exception) regardless of their distance above the cap. Teams can also accept additional salary in return when making a trade (depending on their taxpaying status), as well as accept another player via a Trade Exception whenever they send out more salary than they take back.
For adding new players during free agency, teams also have the Bi-Annual Exception (which is how they brought in Brook Lopez), which is available every two years (meaning the Bucks won’t have theirs available until the following summer), and the Mid-Level Exception, which is available annually but at different levels for teams that pay the luxury tax and those who don’t. Most importantly, though, is the idea of Bird Rights (which comes in Bird, Early Bird, and Non-Bird varieties), which is an exception permitting teams to go over the cap to sign free agents of their own. It’s also important to note that, when traded, a player’s Bird Rights come with him, meaning that even Nikola Mirotic (who has yet to suit up for a game in Milwaukee) could be retained by the Bucks if they were willing to risk going into the tax.
Ah, yes, the luxury tax. This is essentially a financial penalty for teams that choose to use exceptions to exceed the salary cap, and the monetary penalty is enough to make most owners cautious. Not only does a salary cap figure above the tax line result in sizable payments (basically a giant pot that the league manages and gives up to half back to non-tax paying teams), but the higher you go, the higher the tax rate. Not only that, but if you pay the tax for consecutive years, you then enter into “Repeater Tax” territory, which is even more expensive!
The tax apron is where things get serious. Not only are you still paying into the luxury tax, but there are mechanical consequences too. Teams at this level cannot use the Bi-Annual exception, accept players in a sign-and-trade, and can offer less to restricted free agents (called the Gilbert Arenas Provision) or sometimes even not retain the ability to match an offer sheet at all. To top it all off, if you add a player using the non-tax payer Mid-Level Exception that also puts the team’s salary above the apron, that’s it. The team is effectively hard-capped for the remainder of that season, and cannot exceed that figure by any means.
Milwaukee has not paid into the luxury tax since 2003, and most recently decided to use the Stretch Provision on Spencer Hawes to avoid it in 2017. However, members of the Bucks’ ownership group have gone on record to state that they’re willing to go into the tax for a team that can compete, and this year’s squad is the first iteration of the Bucks that has actually looked capable of contention. Jon Horst has done an excellent job of keeping the roster below the tax line, but that streak looks like it will come to an end this summer.
In the figure below is included the Bucks’ current roster, their 2018-19 salary commitments, and the current commitments for 2019-20. Boxes in gray are “dead money,” yellow are non-guaranteed contracts, and orange are cap holds that only go away if the player re-signs or leaves for another team.
In the short term, things look great. The Bucks are under the tax line by just enough to bring aboard someone from the buyout market (if they choose to), and there is a ton of flexibility going into the offseason. But by looking more closely, we see the true costs of that flexibility, and how fundamentally difficult the front office’s job is in the summer.
Remember when we talked about Bird Rights? With the upside of going over the cap to keep your own guys, there’s the downside of “cap holds,” which are placeholder amount applied to a team’s salary cap for the time period between a player’s contract expiring, and that player either signing a new contract or the team renouncing their claim (cancelling both the Bird Rights and the cap hold). When Khris Middleton opts out of his contract this summer, his cap hit is not “zero dollars,” but the amount listed on the table above, which is determined by his years of service in Milwaukee, his current salary, and the rates detailed in the CBA.
For Khris (with his player option), Bledsoe, and Mirotic, the process is easy: either they get re-signed (and their cap hold is replaced with an actual salary figure), or they get renounced (removing the cap hold and the Bucks’ ability to go over the cap to retain them). The timing, however, is more difficult, especially when you add in the details of the situations for Brook Lopez (Non-Bird Rights) and Malcolm Brogdon (Restricted Free Agent).
Here’s when everything hits the fan. Non-minimum contracts can officially be signed. Trades can go through. The timer starts for restricted free agents’ teams to play the game of “Match or Don’t Match.” It’s going to be crazy, no matter how you slice it, because the Bucks have to decide the fates of five major contributors in less than a week.
Khris Middleton
Middleton is probably getting a max contract offer from someone. It is fair to argue that “Max Money” Middleton is not the best value, but it might end up becoming his worth on the free agent market, and depending on how negotiations proceed between Khris’ agent and the Bucks’ front office, it could become a bitter pill to swallow.
In the meantime, our goal is to simply explore what possible outcomes exist. With his cap hold ($19.5M), renouncing Middleton is only helpful if it’s clear that he will accept an offer that the Bucks are not willing to match, and even then it wouldn’t even bring the Bucks down to the level of the salary cap ($110.2M team salary vs. $109.0M estimated salary cap), resulting in precisely zero dollars’ worth of cap space. If the team decides to retain Middleton instead, his new salary would be slotted in place of his cap hold, and anything over $21.7M would push the team into the luxury tax. If Khris does get a max deal with the Bucks, which could start around $32M, then Jon Horst would have some serious work to do in order to keep the team below the tax apron. But (un)lucky for him, Khris is only one of many variables!
Eric Bledsoe
Described more than once as the Bucks’ second-best player this season, Bledsoe’s career is at an interesting crossroads. Teams enamored with his offensive dynamism and his defensive acumen might give him the “last big score” he’s probably looking for, whereas teams wary of his physical history (which has not been a problem in Milwaukee) and spotty shooting might be tighter with their pursestrings.
He fits in nicely with Milwaukee’s roster, but his cap hold ($22.5M) fits less well. Renouncing his rights would at least put the Bucks below the cap (by only $1.77M), but would create a gaping hole at the point guard position that the team wouldn’t have the cap space to resolve.
Nikola Mirotic
In theory, Mirotic is a perfect addition to the Bucks’ system. However, we have not yet seen how he actually fits in, and it’s possible his stay in Milwaukee is temporary. His cap hold ($18.75M) is not high enough that renouncing it would create any cap space, and while the Bucks have his Bird Rights, the contract Mirotic would command could push the Bucks over the tax apron, limiting their other options. Threekola will likely be in demand with teams looking for a capable floor-spacer, and at 28 years old it’s unlikely he’ll have another opportunity to cash in as much as he could right now.
Malcolm Brogdon
As a second-round pick who took a 3-year deal (instead of the customary 2-year), Brogdon is in an interesting situation financially, if he (as expected) does not reach an agreement to extend his current contract before June 30. As a veteran with full Bird Rights, there is effectively no limit to what the Bucks (or other teams) can offer him, except non-Milwaukee teams would need to use cap space to sign him whereas the Bucks can go over the cap.
However, Brogdon is also bound by the restricted free agency rules, meaning the Bucks have matching rights unless they rescind his qualifying offer (equal to his cap hold, only $3.02M), which they are highly unlikely to do since it would not significantly change the team’s salary structure until after a new deal was implemented.
Brook Lopez
The steal of last summer could be the steal of next summer. Brook Lopez’s puny cap hold ($4.06M) is a result of his surprise availability from Los Angeles, and his single year of tenure with the Bucks present an interesting conundrum for the Bucks. If they are over the cap and try to use his Non-Bird Rights to keep him, they are not able to offer more than his cap hold. Unless they somehow get far enough below the cap to use cap space, the only alternative to keep Lopez is to offer an MLE contract, and given the way things are going it’s likely they’ll only be able to offer up to the taxpayer MLE ($8.64M in 2018-19), which in turn could put them above the tax apron, thus locking in the roster at that exists at the point of signing that deal.
Yes, and given the mechanics of the CBA and the current environment, that may be the best course of action. It would not be easy, here’s how it’s possible.
As of July 1, the Bucks’ likely only action will be to have waived George Hill, which lets Milwaukee start this process just shy of the luxury tax. From there, negotiations with Middleton, Bledsoe, Mirotic, and Brogdon need to progress so that both sides understand what number (in both dollars and years) will get a deal done, while conversations with Lopez need to center around the Bucks’ lack of cap space and willingness to pay up to the full Mid-Level to retain his services. Of course, a priority should be to reach agreements at the lowest feasible figure, especially for Lopez, since the Bucks’ options for bringing him back are more limited.
Once everybody is on board with the plan, Lopez would need to be the first free agent re-signed, meaning that Horst would need to manufacture space below the tax apron if use the MLE is required. This could involve waiving the non-guaranteed salaries of two of Christian Wood, Sterling Brown, or Pat Connaughton, finding a trading partner for Tony Snell or Ersan Ilyasova that would return non-guaranteed money, or even using the Stretch Provision on Ersan’s contract (more on that later). Once the Bucks are roughly $9M below the apron, Lopez could be signed to his deal, and Bird Rights could allow the Bucks to bring back everyone else in virtually any order, provided they do not come to terms with any other teams.
One tricky variable is Brogdon and his status as a restricted free agent. If he signs a lucrative offer sheet, the Bucks may not be in a position to match, and depending on whether it happens before or after the moratorium is lifted, the timing could throw off the rest of the process.
But that’s it, in a nutshell. Stay below the tax apron, use the MLE on Lopez, use Bird Rights for the remainder of the Bucks’ free agents, and fill out the remaining spots with minimum-level deals. There are a thousand different ways that the team could add other players, but if the interest is in keeping this band together for an encore performance, the path to do so is relatively narrow.
The list of notable players likely to switch teams is relatively small, meaning there are a number of dominoes that will cause an avalanche of activity once they fall. Kevin Durant is speculated to be interested in departing Golden State, while Klay Thompson is not. Kemba Walker is largely expected to stick around in Charlotte, while Kyrie Irving has been making noise that Boston may not be for him. Overall, there’s a long list of players who will need new deals, and many of those will end up finding new homes. The Bucks, with their salary cap situation, will be unlikely to add anybody on a non-minimum deal, since they used their Bi-Annual Exception last year, will probably need to use their Mid-Level Exception on Lopez, and creating any meaningful cap space would require turning over at least two of Bledsoe, Middleton, and Mirotic.
If there are any last-ditch efforts to jump the Bucks through the hoops of the collective bargaining agreement for this season, this is the deadline. Players can be “stretched” after this date, but the player’s salary for that season would need to be paid in full, making it a far less useful option. For Milwaukee, the most likely possibility (which is still fairly unlikely) is that Ersan Ilyasova would get waived via the Stretch Provision, which could convert his guaranteed $7M salary in 2019-20 into three years of $2.33M and make him an instant free agent.
“But wait,” you ask, “doesn’t Ersan have two seasons remaining, not one?” Right you are, observant Bucks fan! However, Ersan’s 2020-21 salary is non-guaranteed, and the Stretch Provision only applies to guaranteed money. This is a crucial detail that makes waiving-via-Stretch a possible outcome for Ersan, rather than an unthinkable one, because of the impact it would have on the salary cap. Remember, the team is still paying Spencer Hawes through the end of 2019-20, and Larry Sanders through the end of 2021-22! Stretching a player is a last resort, but in Ersan’s case it could create over $4 million in room, depending on when the Bucks would hypothetically execute this strategy.
If negotiations with Malcolm Brogdon break down this far, both with the Bucks and with every other team in the league (which honestly is only likely if there’s some sort of injury involved), this would be the last point where he could take his $3.02M qualifying offer (same as his cap hold) and simply play out the next season in order to reach unrestricted free agency the following summer. This course of events is extremely unlikely, but technically possible.
D.J. Wilson and Donte DiVincenzo, don’t think we forgot about you! As the only two first round picks on the Bucks’ roster who are still on their rookie scale contracts, Wilson’s fourth year and Donte’s third year options must be exercised by the Bucks by Halloween, else they could reach unrestricted free agency sooner than expected. The odds of either of them not being retained on these deals are even lower than Brogdon accepting the qualifying offer.
If you made it this far, the Brew Hoop staff commends you for your persistence. Not everyone is willing to trudge through an unsolicited 4,000 word FAQ, but then again isn’t the journey it’s own reward?
No, probably not. So here’s what you should do: tell us what you think the Bucks should do in the comments! Is staying the course the right option? Should they find more creative solutions to build a contender? Were there any glaring errors or omissions that simply cannot stand? Tell us below, and stick around for the conversation. | {
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Mario Götze has history with Jürgen Klopp, with the 26-year-old midfielder breaking through at Borussia Dortmund during his time in charge—and abandoning him to join poor, destitute Bayern Munich on a free transfer in a €37M deal as preferred Pep Guardiola’s project.
By the time it became clear his Bayern move had been a major mistake, Klopp had set up shop at Anfield and there was some talk of Götze joining him in England. In the end, though, he headed back to Dortmund, where he’s so far failed to hit his old heights.
Could he move on again, then, perhaps reuniting—finally!—with Klopp in the hopes of belatedly becoming the player everyone thought he could be when he was Germany’s brightest teenage talent? The rumour mongers, not surprisingly, say maybe!
And part of that maybe is based in Götze recently talking a bit about his relationship with Klopp, admitting he continued to talk to his former manager while at Bayern, then before his move back to Dortmund, and that he still keeps in touch with him to this day.
“He knew I wanted to leave Bayern,” Götze told Bild this week. “Of course we talked. He knows me very well and that I am always looking for new challenges. I often speak to Klopp. He brought me to the first team when I was 17 and he made it all possible.”
A smattering of tabloids including the Metro have since taken that quote and framed it in the most salacious way. Because clearly if Götze often speaks to Klopp and is always looking for new challenges, well, two plus two equals transfer. It just does.
Alternately, it could mean nothing more than that Klopp and a former player keep in touch. It could just mean that, as much as the rumour mongers might like to believe otherwise. | {
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New Castle – Delaware State Police Detectives are currently conducting a death investigation in a Hares Corner convenience store parking lot on S Dupont Highway in New Castle.
Troopers have cordoned off an area of the parking lot with yellow police tape and are focusing on a vehicle parked in the northern portion of the lot.
Customers coming and going during the lunch hour were shielded from the scene by a wall of police vehicles.
Although investigators have not released details regarding the investigation we do know that medics responded to the scene just after 10:00 this morning.
At about 10:13 rescue crews from the Wilmington Manor Fire Company, along with Delaware State Police responded to the scene for reports of a person that was not breathing inside a running vehicle.
It appears that the crews made access to the vehicle and attempted to perform life-saving measures and when that was unsuccessful Troopers began their investigation.
We are currently withholding information regarding the vehicle until investigators have had an opportunity to notify the next of kin.
Developing | {
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I actually lurved Fluttershy going vampire bat like that, even though it was far from a correct portrayal of a bat behaviour. We never even saw the actual bats hissing or acting like that, they just spat seeds out at others. But it's a cartoon and they always have to overdo it a bit to ensure it entertains and the audience get the general idea.The bat pony here is based on the design of the show (Luna Eclipsed) where we see these special ponies pull Luna's wagon instead of the usual white pegasi who pulls Celestia's. Faust confirmed the bat ponies to be their own species, mainly named after the bat because of their wings and nocturnal nature. Of course real life bats don't have slit eyes like that, but it's a popular design in the show for creatures like that to make them look extra spooky.And don't worry, I'm not offendedThese things are easy to get up for discussion since a lot is not showed enough in the show and that we get to see ain't necessarily 100% correct to real lifeThis was just a quick joke to make sure people remember that the bat ponies are not to be misunderstood as vamponies, just because they are associated with bats. | {
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David Moyes And Glasgow Football
Why Does Glasgow Produce The Best Managers?
Page 1 of 3
In the last winter of the second world war, a British soldier named Matt Busby received a letter from Manchester United’s chief scout Louis Rocca. It said, vaguely: “I have a great job for you if you are willing to take it on.” The job turned out to be manager of Manchester United. On February 19, 1945, Busby showed up in Manchester in his army uniform and signed his contract.
It wasn’t really a “great job.” United hadn’t won a trophy since 1911, the club was penniless, and the German Luftwaffe had blitzed Old Trafford. But Busby rebuilt United. In 1968, his team won the European Cup. Later, Alex Ferguson took the club back to the heights. And this season, David Moyes is charged with the mission Busby took on in 1945.
There’s something these three men have in common: They are all from the poor city of Glasgow, or its surroundings. So was Jock Stein, manager of the Celtic team that won Britain its first European Cup in 1967. So was Bill Shankly, who made Liverpool into a great club. And so was one of Shankly’s most noted successors, Kenny Dalglish. In fact, Glaswegian managers have dominated English club soccer. The only Englishman who can compare with this tribe is Brian Clough, winner of two European Cups with little Nottingham Forest. Why has the west of Scotland bred such superb managers? And what does this tradition tell us about perhaps its final exponent, Moyes?
When you land in Glasgow, it doesn’t quite feel part of Britain. It’s poorer, the Mars bars are deep-fried and the beer and whisky flow in spectacular quantities in the pubs. And though most of the locals are almost excessively friendly, you are always half on the lookout for what’s known here as a “Glaswegian kiss” — a headbutt.
Life expectancy for men living in Glasgow’s rundown inner city is just 54 (Iraqi men live more than a decade longer). The other Glaswegian peculiarity is football: Though the town has just 500,000 inhabitants, and the entire metropolitan region just 1.7 million, it's the only city in Western Europe with three stadiums that can each hold over 50,000 people.
"Glasgow is incredible,” marvels Mark Wotte, the Dutchman who is performance director of the Scottish Football Association. “Rangers last season were playing in a semi-pro league, the Scottish third division, and they still had 45,000 fans at their games. Celtic has 50,000 fans every week.''
Football has perhaps always been taken more seriously in Scotland than in England, where the game is chiefly about fun, ritual and glamour. Think of Shankly’s most overused quote: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” Those lines make the most sense in their Glaswegian context.
When all these managers were growing up, practically every boy in the west of Scotland played football. Ferguson (below), Dalglish and Moyes all learned the game playing for the Glaswegian boys’ club Drumchapel, where young Ferguson was managed by Moyes’ father. Scotland was then an international force, routinely qualifying for World Cups.
In those days, working-class men in the region still typically worked down the mines or in the shipyards. Busby, Shankly and Stein had all been miners before becoming professional footballers. Ferguson’s father worked as a shipbuilder in the docks, and Moyes’ dad was a draftsman for the same company.
It’s hard now to detach the reality from the leftist nostalgia that has grown up around this lost world, but it does seem that working-class collective loyalty was strong in industrial Glasgow. Together underground, miners were expected to save each other’s lives if the ceiling fell down. As the ex-footballer-turned-author Eamon Dunphy wrote in his biography of his former boss, Busby: “The team ethos that was supposed to exist in soccer really did exist among miners…. You depended on each other.”
There was class solidarity, too. Both Ferguson’s parents were union representatives. Ferguson himself became one, too, as a 19-year-old toolmaker’s apprentice. Left-wing politics were almost a given in Glasgow. Both Ferguson and Moyes have campaigned for Britain’s Labour party (Ferguson had then Prime Minister Tony Blair’s mobile number on his phone) while Shankly said, “The socialism I believe in is everyone working for each other, everyone having a share of the rewards. It's the way I see football, the way I see life.”
These ideals shaped a leadership type that you rarely find in more consumerist, individualist, right-wing England. As Ferguson has written, “Any success I have had in handling men… owes much to my upbringing among the working men of Clydeside.” Wotte says: “I don’t believe that Scots have a better understanding of soccer. It’s more to do with personality. They tell it to you straight, and I think soccer players respond well to that. These aren’t managers who do blah-blah. Scottish managers usually are basic: Don't overreact, and keep things simple.” | {
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Rambling thoughts.....
Faizullah F M remarked “It's OK to learn but I'd like to say that I absolutely hate Islam 100%, and the other religions too.’ From my encounter, there’s many like him too. They really hate Islam and everything associated with it. Thus you see some of them rather upset when... | {
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On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary, Lord Arthur Balfour, wrote a letter that would forever change the course of history in the Middle East. Addressing Lord Walter Rothschild, an influential friend of Chaim Weizmann’s, Balfour wrote that his government looked favourably at the creation of a Jewish Homeland in what was then Palestine. The move was celebrated by Jews in the diaspora who now saw the world’s biggest superpower, Great Britain, support their cause. Today, after 100 years, many Pro-Israel groups are planning galas and celebrating his legacy. Balfour’s career, one that spanned over half a century, including a stint as Prime Minister of Great Britain, will forever be associated with his letter to Lord Rothschild.
100 years later, the aspirations of the Jewish people are still not achieved. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians experience full political rights in their homeland. Neither experience full freedoms of movement within their homeland. Neither side experiences full sovereignty as their economies rely on corporate interests and military aid and are subject to these interests on internal policy decisions. Both sides are subject to a government that demolishes homes on land significant to its residents.
Instead of viewing this as a poor execution of Balfour’s intents, let’s examine this situation as a product of the Balfour Declaration. Contemporary narratives around this document often whitewash its colonial aspirations with liberal desires to give a “poor oppressed people” land. The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Boris Johnson, told Benjamin Netanyahu this week that he was proud of the Balfour Declaration and for the role it played in creating the State of Israel. This view is not an isolated one and is, indeed, the view taken by mainstream pro-Israel activists around the world. In fact, for this year’s anniversary, Netanyahu will be in London to commemorate this historical document.
This understanding of the British involvement in the creation of the State of Israel is a poor reading of history at best and a nefarious attempt at erasure at worst. The narrative that the British gave the Jewish people a state ignores the historical context of the document and the methods of the British Empire’s colonial expansion. It is also a core cause as to why Jewish students are losing a war about Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty rights in progressive universities.
By 1917, the Middle East was a changing landscape. The British, furious that the Ottomans sided with the Germans in the First World War, allied themselves with Arab Nationalists, promising them independence if they could overthrow the Ottoman Empire. In the McMahon-Hussein correspondence (1915-16), the British made their promise and expectation clear. The British had little intention of keeping their promise. As this correspondence was bringing false hope to the Arabs and fruition to the British, with the Arabs revolting against the Ottomans, the British and French were quietly carving up the Middle East for themselves. North of the infamous Sykes-Picot line was for Picot’s French while the South, including Palestine, was given to the British. It was the modus operandi of the British Empire. Conflicting promises helped divide peoples, allowing British colonialism to thrive.
Decades later, in 2002, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had this to say:
A lot of the problems we are having to deal with now, I have to deal with now, are a consequence of our colonial past … The Balfour Declaration and the contradictory assurances which were being given to Palestinians in private at the same time as they were being given to the Israelis — again, an interesting history for us but not an entirely honourable one.
The next myth that must be dismantled is the notion that the Balfour Declaration had anything to do with the creation of the State. The British had little interest in ever leaving Palestine. The British did not give the Jews a land, the Jews fought against the British occupation to liberate their homeland. In their final White Paper, upon stepping away from Palestine, the British did not cite their desire to fulfill their promises made in the Balfour Declaration but rather that “Jewish Terrorism” drove them out.
On campus, telling our narrative like this is essential. The vast majority of students, certainly activists, who will influence tomorrow’s policies recognize that Great Britain never had any legitimate authority to give Palestine to anyone. This is something that we can align ourselves with, not only with college students, but with Palestinians in the Middle East.
When we begin telling our narrative, accounting for historical context, acknowledging the wrongs of our alliance with the Western occupiers, acknowledging that that we were not given Israel but shed blood for her, we will begin winning again. We will be speaking the same language as our perceived enemy and will have a chance to create a true peace, united in one struggle. A celebration on Thursday is not in order but perhaps one day, the 13th of Heshvan 5778 will be known in Hebrew history as a day our people made its biggest stride towards telling our narrative like the other indigenous peoples of the Middle East. | {
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When an election is close, you can blame pretty much anything for your loss. There are dozens of people, events, and movements that can make a difference of 1 percent or so. In this election, you can blame Hillary Clinton, Berniebros, Facebook, Jill Stein, neoliberalism, the DNC, white racism, CNN, Obamacare, or anything else you want. They all deserve a share of the blame, so pick your favorite and go to town.
As for myself, I blame Emailgate. In a purely abstract way, I almost admire the ability of Republicans to elevate a self-evident molehill into a groundless smear on Hillary Clinton for the tenth or twentieth time and still get anyone to pay attention to it. It took dogged persistence and a wide cast of characters to make it happen: Trey Gowdy, Judicial Watch, Julian Assange, a rotating bench of judges, Vladimir Putin, a gullible press corps, Jason Chaffetz, the FBI, and many more. But if we’re going to choose one particular person who managed to hand the White House to a buffoonish game show host, it’s FBI director James Comey, the guy who inexplicably released a letter a week before the election that yet again implied some kind of vague, amorphous wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton. Joshua Green and Sasha Issenberg report that Trump’s comeback picked up real steam only after the letter was released:
Trump’s analysts had detected this upsurge in the electorate even before FBI Director James Comey delivered his Oct. 28 letter to Congress announcing that he was reopening his investigation into Clinton’s e-mails. But the news of the investigation accelerated the shift of a largely hidden rural mass of voters toward Trump. ….After Comey, that movement of older, whiter voters became newly evident. It’s what led Trump’s campaign to broaden the electoral map in the final two weeks and send the candidate into states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan that no one else believed he could win (with the exception of liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, who deemed them “Brexit states”). Even on the eve of the election Trump’s models predicted only a 30 percent likelihood of victory. The message Trump delivered to those voters was radically different from anything they would hear from an ordinary Republican: a bracing screed that implicated the entire global power structure—the banks, the government, the media, the guardians of secular culture—in a dark web of moral and intellectual corruption. And Trump insisted that he alone could fix it.
Comey provided the match that Trump used to light the country on fire. People who decided on their vote during the last week—after Comey wrote his letter—broke strongly for Trump. People who decided on their vote during the last couple of days—after Comey cleared Clinton—broke about evenly. Did that letter make a difference of 1 percent? No one will ever be able to prove or disprove it, but I’ll bet it did.
I would be fascinated to know if Hillary Clinton’s data team picked up the same warning signs at about the same time. | {
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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) is calling on a county sheriff to step down after racist remarks he made about black people and the state’s attorney general were caught on tape.
Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino is under fire for a recording from Jan. 16, obtained by WNYC News, in which he makes derogatory statements about African-Americans while criticizing Murphy’s inauguration speech.
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"He talked about the whole thing, the marijuana, sanctuary state...better criminal justice reform,” Saudino says in the recording. “Christ almighty, in other words, let the blacks come in, do whatever the f--- they want, smoke their marijuana, do this, do that, and don't worry about it. You know, we'll tie the hands of cops."
Murphy called the comments “appalling,” and said in a statement that Saudino should resign, according to WNYC.
"Without question, the comments made on that recording are appalling, and anyone using racist, homophobic, and hateful language is unfit for public office," Murphy said. "If indeed that is Sheriff Saudino’s voice on the recording, he must resign."
Saudino, who is white, is up for re-election next year. He was elected Bergen County sheriff first in 2009 as a Republican, and switched parties to become a Democrat ahead of his third term in 2016. According to WNYC, he is also heard on the recording admitting to violating rules involving corrections officers, and questioning the sexuality of another state official.
In the recording, Saudino also complains that Murphy appointed New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the first Sikh state attorney general in the country, “because of the turban.”
Grewal has been the target of racist attacks in the past, most recently by two New Jersey radio hosts who referred to him as “turban man.”
Grewal also previously worked closely with Saudino as a top prosecutor in Bergen County, and said the comments are “inconsistent” with his experiences with Saudino.
"On a personal level what he said, if it’s true and accurate, is disappointing, because I think having worked with him for two years he would know better than most that I have law enforcement credentials," Grewal told WNYC. "And that’s why I got this nomination, not simply because of the symbol of my religion.”
Saudino did not return WNYC’s request for comment. The Hill has reached out to the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office. | {
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RIO DE JANEIRO — The administration of President Jair Bolsonaro plans to auction seven offshore oil fields in the northeast despite contrary advice from analysts of Brazil's main environmental body, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.
Environmentalists say it's the latest example of how Bolsonaro, who campaigned on promises to revive Latin America's largest economy by cutting red tape, is pushing aside warnings and scientific evidence in the name of progress. It comes at a time when Brazil, one of the world's largest oil producers and energy consumers, is moving toward the privatization of several industries, including offshore exploration.
"There is no need to explore these areas," said Carlos Rittl, executive secretary of environmental group Climate Observatory. "This decision is in line with a government that sees the environment as an obstacle."
Brazil's environment institute, called IBAMA, enforces legislation and aims to promote the sustainable the use of natural resources. IBAMA analysts recommended against the exploration of oil in seven out of 42 offshore fields originally offered for auction in March by regulating body Brazilian Petroleum Agency.
Three of the fields to be auctioned in October are in the Jacuipe Basin and four in the Camamu-Almada region, both in the waters off the coast of the northeastern state of Bahia.
Appointed by Bolsonaro, the new head of the institute, Eduardo Bim, rejected its analysis, which warned that exploration of "highly sensitivity areas" could lead to spills.
The study, dated March 18, also said spills could lead to the destruction of the Abrolhos islands, an area of 353 square miles (913 square kilometers). Four of Abrolhos' five islands are home to a marine national park with rare coral formations, tropical fish, whales, seabirds, turtles and dolphins.
The dispute within IBAMA was first published by daily O Estado de S. Paulo. The documents were obtained and verified by the AP.
IBAMA analysts said the blocks are in regions that have never been tapped, which require more "strategic studies that could evaluate the aptitude of the area." The document said those studies are needed to give investors "more legal protection" in the case of an accident.
The analysts also wrote that a spill could get to the coast and the island chain within two days, and authorities would not be prepared to respond quickly or adequately to protect marine life.
"Add to that the fact the impact of a spill of large proportions over mangroves and corals are in general irreversible, harming the local economy and health," the document said.
In response, Bim said in a letter to the environmental ministry, dated April 1, that he doesn't "see the need of exclusion of the (seven) fields as suggested by technical information." He did not detail why he believed it was fine to ignore the warnings.
In a statement, IBAMA said that it, along with the environmental and energy ministries, agreed the auction was viable. The auction "means neither automatic authorization for tapping oil and gas nor the anticipation of the result of the environmental licensing." The institute said that studies on possible spills will still be required.
The statement also said that previous auctions were made in oil fields that sit closer to the Abrolhos marine park than the ones expected to go on sale in October.
Carlos Minc, Brazil's environmental minister between 2008 and 2010, said he had blocked attempts to explore for oil near Abrolhos because the migration of whales and dolphins in the region would be affected by ships.
"Humpback whales left the list of animals under threat of extinction because of this. How could Brazil be taking this step back?" Minc said. "We have to stop them from destroying our marine biodiversity in the name of profits."
Brazil is the world's ninth largest producer of oil in the world, and the third largest in the Americas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2016, Brazil produced 3.24 million barrels per day of petroleum and other derivatives. Brazil is also the eighth-largest total energy consumer in the world.
Bolsonaro has often said environmental protections should not block business. Before taking office Jan. 1, he promised to remove Brazil from the Paris agreement on climate change. He has since back-peddled, saying Brazil would remain in the agreement.
Earlier this month, the AP reported that Bolsonaro's administration plans to drastically change a council that oversees the country's environmental policy, replacing a broad-based panel with a small group of appointees.
IBAMA's Bim and Environment Minister Ricardo Salles are among the authors of the plan.
According with Bolsonaro's plan, IBAMA would soon absorb the attributions of the federal agency that protects conservation zones such as national parks and biological reserves, including the Abrolhos maritime park that would be endangered by oil fields.
Bim, Salles and the other authors of the study said in the plan that the move was necessary to streamline environmental governance and "avoid international interference" in Brazil.
____
Savarese reported from Madrid. | {
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Amenaza de bomba en el Palacio de Tribunales Archivo
Una amenaza de bomba en el Palacio de Tribunales provocó la evacuación del edificio ubicado en Talcahuano 550 cerca de las 9.30. La alerta indica que había en algún lugar del edificio había dos paquetes con explosivos que aún no fueron hallados.
En el lugar trabaja la brigada antiexplosivos. Por el momento, el personal judicial permanece en las en las inmediaciones de la plaza Lavalle.
La policía denuncia que en las últimas semanas se multiplicaron los llamados por alertas de atentados.
Desde la fuerza señalan que cuando sucede algo así se activan todos los protocolos y que cada vez que se recibe una amenaza se la analiza y se la atiende con todas las precauciones.
Antecedentes
El Senado recibió ayer una amenaza de bomba que resultó falsa, pero obligó a la Policía Federal a revisar algunos salones del Palacio Legislativo.
La semana pasada hubo una amenaza desde el exterior vinculada con la organización Al-Qaeda que señaban posibles atentados contra el shopping Abasto y Unicienter.
Fuentes del ministerio de Seguridad bonaerense indicaron que ya hubo amenazas a la ex ESMA, al Papa, a la Presidenta, entre otras figuras e instituciones.
Amenaza de bomba en tribunales,dan asco, aborrezco esta gente que se dedica a destruir ,arrasar y empobrecer el pais.&— Tiro a la montada (@JaimeArch) noviembre 5, 2015 | {
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BERLIN, Germany — Half a dozen armed police formed a circle around the rubbish bin while one of their colleagues gingerly prodded open the canvas bag that had been dumped carelessly on the bin’s rim.
The police phalanx steered people away from the bag's vicinity at Berlin’s central train station while the officer checked the contents of the bag. It was just rubbish left by a busy traveller. A false alarm.
“If I wasn’t worried before, I am now for sure,” said Carola Bohnert, 26, who was watching the event unfold on Monday night while waiting for a train to Hamburg. “They’re taking it very seriously.”
Like all German transport hubs and tourist attractions, the central station has gone about its business under the watchful eyes of heavily armed police since last Wednesday, when Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced the government had “concrete indications” that a major attack was being planned.
A short distance from the station, the historic Reichstag building, which houses Germany’s federal parliament, had earlier in the day been closed to visitors. News reports in Germany said it was a potential target for an armed siege modelled on the 2008 Mumbai attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based Islamic militants.
The mood in Berlin is, if not panicked, then at least decidedly twitchy. It certainly is a contrast to the reaction in early October when the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert warning of a heightened threat of terrorism across Europe. Then, Germans reacted with a collective shrug, dismissing it as an American overreaction.
This time is different. There is an unavoidable feeling that the German government is deeply concerned, perhaps even holding its breath. The Reichstag on Monday night was sealed off with red and white barriers and police officers gruffly turned away people wanting to pass through the surrounding area, even by bicycle.
“We’re not so much concerned as disappointed because we wanted to go inside the Reichstag today,” said Jan, a 28-year-old Briton on vacation in Berlin. “Actually my mum is concerned. She was telling me not to visit any crowded places. But yes it does seem pretty serious.”
De Maiziere, a man of calm demeanor, has been praised for the level-headed way he has conveyed information about the threat. The fact that he was obviously annoyed seven weeks ago by what he described as the “alarmist” Europe-wide alerts means that the grave tone he is now adopting carries all the more weight.
His remark that Germany was “presently dealing with a new situation” sounded ominous, especially as it was followed by reports that police vacation time was being cancelled. The head of the Federal Police, Matthias Seeger, said that on a scale one to 10, the present threat level was nine.
This sense of concern has filtered through to the public. Several times in recent days, authorities have evacuated trains or station platforms in major cities because of bomb fears. In one instance, last Friday, they cleared part of Hannover’s central station because a commuter reported what was described as a “suspicious plastic bag.”
“I do feel a little bit nervous,” said Sylke Kleindorfer, 61, at the Berlin central station, patting a hand against her chest. “I heard there was supposed to be something today. The station does seem quieter than it usually is.”
According to the news magazine Der Spiegel, the state of alert began when a German jihadist who had travelled to the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan for training, but become disillusioned, called the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) offering information about planned attacks in return for amnesty. One plan that had been discussed, he said, was for a small gang of armed jihadists to storm the Reichstag, take hostages and create a bloodbath.
Two of the attackers were already in Germany, he said, and four more were to follow. The information could be unreliable. But it dovetailed with details passed to the German authorities by the FBI, which said a little-known Indian Shiite group called “Saif” or “sword” had sent operatives to the Waziristan border region to prepare for an attack on German soil.
The warnings come at a terrible time for Germans as they prepare for their popular Christmas markets, where large crowds gather as at no other time of the year.
Of course, not everyone is worried by the latest warnings. On the streets, men generally didn’t acknowledge even a niggling fear. But compared with seven weeks ago, the typical response when GlobalPost asked people about their fears had shifted. Before, the prevailing attitude was that authorities in the U.S. were overreacting. This time, naysayers were more likely to offer fatalistic responses rather than outright dismissals.
“What happens happens. There’s no point in worrying about it because the chances of it affecting me are small and, anyway, there’s nothing I can do about it,” said Michael Siebeck, 51, who was at the train station. “But I know it will feel different after the first attack here.” | {
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The Upshot: Sports Agency Comes To Disc Golf
What could this mean for disc golf?
Charlie Eisenhood and Steve Hill discuss the new DGI Group, disc golf’s first sports representation agency, and talk with founder Sam Hassell and VP Mark Barber about their new venture.
The Upshot: Sports Agency Comes To Disc Golf
Music: Mission Impossible Theme
Want to be the first to know when a new episode is released? Want to make it easy to take our podcasts on the go? Subscribe via Spreaker, iTunes, RSS, Stitcher, or your other favorite podcasting apps! | {
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GETTY•AP Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke about the need for Muslims to lead the fight
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General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said majority-Christian nations in the West should not bear the burden of another war in the Middle East. He told a Swiss newspaper: "Muslims are on the front line in this war. "Most victims are Muslims, and most of those who fight against the IS are Muslims.
"We cannot carry on this struggle for them."
We cannot carry on this struggle for them Jens Stoltenberg
But he added: "This is not a war between the West and the Islamic world, but against extremism and terrorism." Mr Stoltenberg continued that a troop deployment to tackle the barbaric militia group - also known as IS or Daesh - was "not on the agenda". Syria, he said, needed "local fighters" rather than Nato soldiers.
GETTY Protestors in America after the San Bernadino killings
GETTY Syrians walk on the debris of buildings after jets belonging to the Syrian Army launched airstrikes
The alliance is now planning to help Turkey to help improve its air defences after it shot down a Russian military jet last month. Mr Stoltenberg called on Russia to "play a more constructive role in the fight against IS".
He added: "So far, Russia has attacked other groups and focused on supporting the Assad regime. "Now it is important to de-escalate and to develop mechanisms to prevent similar incidents in the future. "We see a significant build-up of the Russian military presence from the far north to the Mediterranean. "There, too, we need to avoid similar incidents such as in Turkey."
Images show the deadly conflict in Syria Mon, March 13, 2017 Devastating images show the horrifying aftermath from the on-going war in Syria Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 98 Still image shows Russian Bastion coastal missile launchers launching Oniks missiles at unknown location in Syria
His comments came as the US President gave a rare public address from the Oval Office. Barack Obama said America would "overcome" the "cancer" of Islamic terrorism that seeks to "poison the minds" of people around the world. But he also faced criticism for failing to announce any significant shift in US strategy in the war on terror.
GETTY US President Barack Obama is seen through the window of the Oval Office
He implored Americans to not turn against Muslims at home, saying ISIS was driven by a desire to spark a war between the West and Islam. Still, he called on American Muslims to take up the cause of fighting extremism. The spread of radical Islam into American communities, he said, is "a real problem that Muslims must confront without excuse". He also reiterated his call for tougher gun control laws, calling it a matter of national security to prevent potential killers from getting guns.
Images show the deadly conflict in Syria Mon, March 13, 2017 Devastating images show the horrifying aftermath from the on-going war in Syria Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 98 Still image shows Russian Bastion coastal missile launchers launching Oniks missiles at unknown location in Syria | {
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I personally can't say that I would because I don't have money for it right now, but I think it's good enough. This picture would be really cool on a postcard or something. | {
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Researchers of the Opto-electronic Materials section of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and Toyota Europe have demonstrated that several mobile electrons can be produced by the absorption of a single light particle in films of coupled quantum dots. These multiple electrons can be harvested in solar cells with increased efficiency. The researchers published their findings in the October issue of the scientific journal Nano Letters.
A way to increase the efficiency of cheap solar cells is the use of semiconductor nanoparticles, also called quantum dots. In theory, the efficiency of these cells can be increased to 44%. This is due to an interesting effect that efficiently happens in these nanoparticles: carrier multiplication. In the current solar cells, an absorbed light particle can only excite one electron, while in a quantum dot solar cell a light particle can excite several electrons. Multiplying the number of electrons results in the enhancement of current in solar cells, increasing the overall power conversion efficiency.
Carrier Multiplication
Several years ago it was demonstrated that carrier multiplication is more efficient in quantum dots than in traditional semiconductors. As a result, these quantum dots are currently heavily investigated worldwide for use in solar cells. A problem with using carrier multiplication is that the produced charges live only a very short time (around 0.00000000005 s) before they collide with each other and disappear via a decay process known as Auger recombination. The main current challenge is to proof that it is still possible to do something useful with them.
Mobile charges
The researchers from Delft have now demonstrated that even this very short time is long enough to separate the multiple electrons from each other. They prepared films of quantum dots in which the electrons can move so efficiently between the quantum dots that they become free and mobile before the time it takes to disappear via Auger recombination. In these films up to 3.5 free electrons are created per absorbed light particle. In this way, these electrons do not only survive, they are able to move freely through the material to be available for collection in a solar cell.
Explore further Cheap and efficient solar cell made possible by linked nanoparticles | {
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The third member of the Guardians of the Galaxy has just been cast. Zoe Saldana, who is well-known to franchise fans for her work in Avatar and Star Trek, is in talks to play Gamora in James Gunn‘s Phase Two Marvel film, set for release August 1, 2014.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the story and say the actress is currently in contract negotiations. That usually means it’s a matter of a few details.
Gamora is a green-skinned, alien assassin who has strong ties to Thanos, the ultimate villain who appeared during the credits of The Avengers. In the comics, Gamora was pretty much raised by Thanos, before eventually turning on him when she saw his true colors.
Saldana joins Chris Pratt as Star Lord and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer in the film, which still has at least two main parts to cast: the likely motion captured Groot and Rocket Raccoon.
James Gunn, who re-wrote and will direct the film aimed at an August 2014 release, is currently in Europe getting ready to film by the beginning of Summer. And from the looks of the concept art and images that have made it online in the last 24 hours, Saldana is going to be part of something very exciting. | {
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Hello everyone !!
The Nighthaunt army is the latest addition to the Mortal Realms,
Atia already covered the Fluff and the Arts I'll do the gaming side.
So how The NH Battletome is going to fair ?
It's one of the first book specially designed for AOS2, It include new wordings like ''wholly within'' for buff and “Unmodified 6” on hit or wound roll it's going to modify the list building for sure. Combine this with the rules modification on unit split in half, nerf to the conga line, command points, beware messire, counter spell range, endless spell, shield/bolt nerf, i am pretty sure the meta is changing !
So what does it mean for the NH ? Let's try to find out by looking at the different aspect of the new Battletome, first the Allegiance powers then Warscrolls
Allegiance powers
First thing first the allegiance abilities and there is a lot to say about them^^
Allegiance
In the recent Battletomes there are usually 2 to 3 abilities linked to the army keywords, and 1 linked to the different sub-factions/clan/cities/fleets/hosts. Here it's not, there is no subfaction, they are 6 allegiance benefits and you get them all !!!
-1 Bravery within 6 of NH units.
-6+ fnp against wound and mortal wounds if you are wholly within 12” of a NH hero. Interesting, it's the same as the Death allegiance with +6” range but now the affected unit need to be wholly within (that mean that all models must be completely inside the radius). Consequence is that heroes must be very close to support large unit and you have to avoid spreading them to much because of the conga line nerf ^^
-50% of your units can be placed in reserve for deep strike at the end of the move phase.
-1W heal if a friendly hero is within 6 of an enemy unit missing a Battleshock test. Not much but still a good power as you heroes have to stay close and work well with the -1Bravery
-Wave of Terror : Extra Fight phase for a charging unit is awesome even if you only have 16,66% chance of rolling a 10+. Consider that with the new command ability in the charge phase you get ~30% chance to get a 10+.
-The last one is an extra command abilities to teleport units near your general and it's very cool ! Could be useful for save unit from being destroyed, reposition on a objectives, save a support hero.
When you think about it, each NH hero get : 3 commands power from the rulebook, this one, and the one they could have on their Warscroll crazy number of options.
-Returning Slain models : NH are a recursion themed army and they get a snippet on how place models.
You can't engage a unit with summoned ghost but you can create a congo line using the last model to gain range (and contest objectives or get extra threat range on a charge). Possibilities are great !
Command traits
As usual there are 6 Command traits for your general.
My favorite is off course restore D3 slain models to a unit. Notice it's 1d3 models and not wounds worth of models. Spirit Host are like 40pts with 3 wounds per model, Hexwraiths and ChainGhasts are 2 wounds and very good target for this Trait.
Spell lores
There is 6 Spells for the NH lore.
Nothing incredible but a few spell have a lot of potential.
My 2 favorites are :
Soul cage
Is good because its a perfect spell to setup a general assassination. The spell allow to fight with multiple small heroes/units before the big bad target and prevent retreat ^^
Spectral Tether
Heal 1d3 wounds on a friendly hero (NH only). Very good with low hp supports hero even better if you have a 4+ ignore rend and a 6+ FNP.
Weapons
Some good options, I really like the Shrieking Blade on a lord executioner to make him a very good tarpit hero (-2 to hit, 4+, 5+ on mortal, 6+ fnp against normal.). But that works on a support hero as well (as they need to stay close).
Relics
The +3 move is a great way to add move speed to different units during the game !
Lanterns
Very cool Category for the Guardian of souls. 3 options here,
The 3 options are really good !
ps: doesn't remove the standard lantern on the guardian of souls.
Battalion
A very good selection of Battalion Do i want a Battalion ?, Endless Spells ? Command points ? so many good options.
I can't spoil everything but these two seem cool enough :D
+1 to charge rolls is super duper good in in this army. Also you can trigger the instant fight on 9 and get deepstrike charge on 8+ (6+ if you have the Cogs endless spell). Only problem is that Hexwraith don't strike too hard but count as battleline & if you support them with the 3+move relic you get 15" of flying move that generate mortal wound and you can charge after ^^ You can affect multiple enemy units.
Another funny Battalion, If you plan to play the recursion. Add d6 models returned by lure spell and temporal translocation. With the right lantern, one lure spell return 2d6+3 chainrasp a turn ^^And with a 24” spell range you can stay out of dispell range !
Warscrolls and Combo
Generality
The strong points of this army are :
-All your army fly !
-All your army ignore save modifier and have a 4+ save (only the chainrasp have a 5+)
-All your non hero models are Summonable (Coach is non hero and non Summonable),
Ignoring rend is huge and the Mystic shield nerf is actually a benefit to you.
Warscrolls
A few Warscrolls for you eyes :D
Interactions
With the new wording on hit/wound the combo potential is lower than before but still they are some cool interactions that deserve a few lines.
Chainghast + Spirit Torments
This Hero/unit combination is really interesting :
-Spirit Torments summon 1d3 wounds worth of models (or heal) if 3 models where slain. You need 3 casualty for each Spirit Torments you want to activate the summon.
-ChainGhast act as a conduit for the Spirit Torments buff,
-ChainGhast have a good ranged weapon (15”, d3, 4+,3+,-2, 1) reroll 1 if they are near a SpiritTorment.
-In melee they murder large pack of models (on small bases^^),
-You can deepstrike them or teleport them with the command ability.
-They are 4 models MAX per units.
I really like them, they are super expensive at 40 pt each but with 2 wounds and the warlord trait that pop 1d3 models per turn they are durable. you get a very nice snipping unit to finish wounded hero, kill wizard, drop an health level from a behemoth.
Summon me an army
Playing the recursion game is super valid even more if you include a Mortarch ally
List of the Way to summon in the Army :
-Lady Olynder command summon 1 model to each unit in 12”
-Any old Mortarch Summon up to 4 x 1d3 wounds/models.(only once per unit)
-Ruler of the Spirit Host command trait summon D3 Slain models
-Guardian of Souls, Spectral Lure spell : return 1d6 wounds/models.
-Beacon of Nagashizzar add +3 to the spectral lure spell from the guardian of souls.
-Spirit Torment : return 1d3 wounds/models in 6” for each 3 enemy models slain on the whole battleground but it's before Battleshock test.
-Black Coach return 1d3 models (with level 1 power, see warscrolls.)
Conclusion
The NH army is going to be very fun with at least 3 synergies axis : Bravery debuff, recursion and Devastating Charge.
The amount of move shenanigan with deepstrike , the teleport command ability and Dreadblade harrow ensure a lot of objectives controlling/contesting.
On the other hand I am disappointed by the new wording on attack/wound roll. It remove a lot depth in the game and reduce the strength of the Lord Execution to a very low level (even if at 80pt he's not that bad)
In the end I really liked this Battletome and with the quality of the Nighthaunt models line, I am super hyped to play NH in AOS2.
At last I am released from my curse of Brayherds being my main army for 15 years. Bye Bye shitty goats you can stay in a box now, the cute ghost are taking your place in my heart and on the Table !!
/cheers.
Bob. | {
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. . . by Lasha Darkmoon
Confessions at Nuremberg were obtained under torture. The grimmest of these tortures, practiced mostly by Jewish operatives on their German prisoners of war, was testicle crushing.
(Left) German defendants at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials, 1946-1949. How many of them had their testicles crushed?
“The Holocaust legend is built on ‘confessions’ obtained by the use of torture.” So begins an article that has just been brought to my attention by an unknown emailer.
At the same time, by sheer coincidence, another correspondent has just sent me some stomach-churning details about testicle crushing. He ends his letter with these words : “This is what Jewish interrogators did to their German prisoners of war after WWII in order to get them to “sing”—i.e., to confess to crimes they never committed.”
I was a bit shocked by these words. To tell the truth, testicle crushing is not something I have thought about a great deal, nor do I wish to dwell too much on this distasteful subject. I am aware of course that a lot of testicle crushing went on at Nuremberg in order to wring confessions out of the prostrate Germans, but I had been unaware that American Jews had been foremost in the ranks of these torturers.
Apparently, as many as three out four interrogators at Nuremberg had been Jewish—and these Jewish interrogators, I was to learn to my horror, had been by far the most sanguinary and sadistic. There was almost no level of human depravity to which these monsters were not willing to sink, including forcing their German victims to eat excrement and to have sex with disinterred corpses. (See below)
Yes, so this is something we ought to bear in mind when watching all those Hollywood movies celebrating the heroic deeds of the Allies in World War Two and lamenting the horrors of the Holocaust : that Jewish interrogators, working for the Americans, are known to have beaten, tortured, and crushed the testicles of German defendants before charging them with war crimes at Nuremberg. Without these confessions, obtained under extreme torture, there is no solid proof that any Jewish Holocaust took place at all. There is only legend, hearsay and “eyewitness accounts” : like those of Elie Wiesel and his kind—accounts that have turned out, in retrospect, to be based on pure fantasy, fiction, and grotesque exaggeration.
Proponents of the official storyline say that some of the strongest evidence that “proves” the Holocaust—i.e. the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews in gas chambers on the instructions of Hitler—consists of the supposed “confessions” of the German officials who were put on trial at Nuremberg. What they neglect to tell you is that most of these confessions were obtained under extreme torture. Indeed, according to Jewish investigator John Sack, torture was often practiced for its own sake, even when there was nothing to find out. It was practiced for sheer pleasure: because it gave the torturers a ‘high’, a feeling of sadistic omnipotence, of orgasmic euphoria.
It has since been openly admitted in the memoirs of the top British official, Colonel Alexander Scotland, who ran the interrogation program, that thousands of Germans were tortured by British Military Intelligence, under the direction of the Prisoner of War Interrogation Section (PWIS). This torture of German POWs occurred during the war to obtain military intelligence. After the war was over, it was used again in order to obtain confessions for convictions of “war crimes”.
German POWs reported that the torture techniques included deprivation of sleep, starvation, systematic beatings, ripping hair from the scalp, menacing with red-hot pokers, threatened use of electrical devices to deliver shocks, and, finally, the worst torture of all, the slow and systematic mangling of the spermatic cords of the testicles—a procedure that had their victims thrashing about and screaming like wild animals for hours.
The prosecutors at Nuremberg accused and convicted the Germans of murdering some 4 million people at Auschwitz. These charges were based largely upon the supposed “confessions” obtained by the torture of German officers, such as the signed “confession” by Rudolf Höss, the commandant at Auschwitz, giving details of how he had personally supervised the murder of 2.5 million jews.
In 1989, however, the Soviet government reduced the claim of the number killed at Auschwitz from 4 million to 1.5 million. (See picture below). This was later reduced to 1 million.
It became apparent at once that if only 1 million Jews had died at Auschwitz, as was now officially admitted, it no longer became possible to state that 2.5 million Jews had been killed there under Höss while he was a commandant there. The “confession” by Höss that 2.5 million Jews had been killed at Auschwitz under his auspices was therefore worthless. It had been a confession clearly extracted under torture.
If, moreover, only 1 million Jews perished at Auschwitz instead of the 4 million originally claimed to have died there, it’s obvious that there has been an overestimate of three million dead Jews. It is no longer possible to assert that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. That becomes a mathematical impossibility. And yet, incredibly, this mathematical impossibility is brazenly asserted to this day in every mainstream media outlet.
We are all expected to pretend that 6 million Jews minus 3 million Jews somehow equals 6 million Jews, just as Winston Smith (in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four) was expected to believe that 2 + 2 = 5. Winston Smith, you will remember, managed to believe this absurdity in the end, with the help of a little extra tuition he received via the famous “rat torture“.
§
The startling revelation that almost all the German defendants at Nuremberg had had their testicles crushed must make us sit up and think. How can testimonies obtained under testicle crushing be regarded in any way as reliable?
Following reports that defendants were tortured at the Malmedy massacre trial, the US Army formed the “Simpson Commission” to investigate the alleged misconduct. Judge Edward L. Van Roden was part of this commission. According to Van Roden’s book, American Atrocities in Germany, out of 139 cases of treatment of alleged German “war criminals” who were investigated by the commission—and who were subsequently put on trial by the American Military Tribunal in Dachau after World War II—”137 of these Germans were tortured by having their testicles crushed.”
Other methods used by the American interrogators included brutal beatings, placing a hood over prisoners and punching them in the face with brass knuckles, breaking their jaws, knocking out their teeth, putting them on starvation rations, and subjecting them to solitary confinement. The prisoners were then presented with prepared statements to sign. Confess or face more torture! It emerged that Jewish prosecutors and interrogators had obtained complete control over the US Military tribunal that was to put German officials on trial for war crimes. This is seldom mentioned, as to do so is regarded as “anti-Semitic”. To state the unvarnished truth—that 137 Germans had their testicles mangled at Nuremberg by largely Jewish interrogators in order to obtain proof for the Holocaust—is regarded as “hate speech”.
Lt. William Perl (pictured left) was an Austrian Jew who had emigrated to America in 1940. He was the chief interrogator of Germans accused of the Malmedy massacre. This was because he could speak fluent German; and indeed many of the interrogators at Nuremberg were German or Austrian Jews who had emigrated to America before WWII and were known as the ‘Ritchie Boys’. There were roughly 9000 of these Jews in America and they specialized in the “interrogation” of German prisoners. (See here).
Perl supervised the torture of the German defendants. He was an ardent and active Zionist and was assisted by other Jews in his endeavors to extract confessions by the infliction of maximum pain. Jews specalizing in torture techniques at Nuremberg included Josef Kirschbaum, Harry Thon and Morris Ellowitz. (See here)
This is what Wikipedia has to say about the interrogation of Germans at Malmedy:
“The accusations [against the German defendants] were mainly based on the sworn and written statements provided by the defendants in Schwäbish Hall. To counter the evidence given in the men’s sworn statements and by prosecution witnesses, the lead defense attorney, Lieutenant Colonel Willis M. Everett tried to show that the statements had been obtained by inappropriate methods.
Note that exquisite euphemism: “inappropriate methods”. That’s how respectable, politically correct Americans refer to confessions obtained under torture. The methods are not described as horrendously cruel. They are not described as morally indefensible. They are described as “inappropriate”.
On Sept. 25, 1945, Thomas Dodd, who was the second in command on the American prosecution team at Nuremberg, made the following observation in which he claimed that three out of four interrogators at Nuremberg were Jewish:
“You know how I have despised anti-Semitism,” he said. “You know how strongly I feel toward those who preach intolerance of any kind. With that knowledge, you will understand when I tell you that this staff is about seventy-five percent Jewish.”
One person who has made a close study of the Nuremberg trial archives in the original German and knows more about this subject than anyone else I know is the multilingual American scholar Carlos W. Porter who is fluent in German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Having renounced his American citizenship in 1984, and having then relocated to Belgium with his wife and children, the Holocaust revisionist author of “Not Guilty at Nuremberg” took the trouble to write to me about the Nuremberg trials in a private communication (July 28, 2015 at 9:55 pm). Porter confirmed what I had always suspected: that most of the American interrogators at Nuremberg had been Jews, and that torture had been freely practiced against the helpless Germans on trial in order to force them to confess to non-existent crimes:
“You can be absolutely CERTAIN,” Carlos Porter wrote to me, “that nearly ALL the interrogators and interpreters in ALL the trials were Jewish, because the Americans stamped out the German language from all American schools during WWI, so German Jewish refugees were almost the only competent people they had. Of course, other “German-Americans” could not be trusted not to be “Nazis”, so they were stuck with the German Jews. That there was a great deal of mistreatment and torture in the minor trials is absolutely certain. I reproduced a couple of accounts of torture at the Dachau trials in “War Crimes Trials and Other Essays”. But I’m sure it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Minor personnel could be tortured with impunity, and 99% of them would be afraid even to mention it. It would be hard to get away with torturing somebody like Goering though. There’s a lot of literature on the subject, more all the time. The Brits appear to have been surprisingly enthusiastic torturers, whether Jewish or not.”
Testicle crushing, incidentally, is a tried and tested method for obtaining confessions. It was used throughout the Middle Ages and particularly in France during the French Revolution. That the Jews, a scholarly race noted for their vast erudition and academic achievements, should have mastered all the techniques of testicle crushing is therefore not surprising. Their talents for acquiring such outré information must not be underestimated.
Though Perl had lots of German blood on his hands, he was nevertheless allowed by the Americans to serve as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg War trials. Another Jew of note at the Nuremberg war crimes trials was Richard W. Sonnenfeldt. He was the chief interpreter for American prosecutors such as Perl. He “interrogated” some of the most notorious Nazi leaders of World War II and died in 2009, age 86, at his home in Port Washington, N.Y. (See here)
The Presiding Judge at Nuremberg was also—coincidence?—a Jew. His name was A.H. Rosenfeld and he was a colonel in the American army. Col. Rosenfeld cheerfully admitted to torturing German prisoners of war as a matter of policy. “We couldn’t have made those birds talk otherwise,” he remarked cynically. “It was a trick, and it worked like a charm.”
In a recent private email to me, in response to some of my queries about torture at Nuremberg, Thomas Goodrich, acclaimed author of Hellstorm : The Death of Nazi Germany (1944-1947), mentioned the names of four well-known Jews in the American zone whom he identified as “torturer-inquisitors” : Harry Thon, William Perl, AH Rosenfeld, and Shlomo Morel.
This last-named individual, Shlomo Morel (pictured right), was a particularly nasty piece of work whom Goodrich describes as follows:
“a vicious monster who drowned men and women in outdoor latrines, who made them eat excrement, who personally beat captives to death, and who forced women to kiss and make love with disinterred corpses.” (For more grisly details, confirming all this, see here)
After escaping from the killing fields of Germany, where he had taken immense pleasure in dancing over mounds of corpses and shedding rivers of human blood, this cruel psychopath “lived out his life in comfort and ease in Israel.” Yes, Israel!—the final bolthole and refuge dump for many a runaway Jew fleeing the long arm of the law, a place described in a prescient comment by Adolf Hitler as early as 1925 as “a haven for convicted scoundrels and a university for budding crooks.” (Mein Kampf, chapter 11, excerpt.)
§
Here now are some grisly details about testicle crushing that the reader may find of some interest. These distasteful details are given here only because they are relevant to our discussion. If you are of a queasy disposition and prone to easy vomiting, you are advised to skip the description and stop reading right here. Remember that all this was done to 137 Germans at Nuremberg in order to extract confessions from them with a view to establishing the “truth” about the Holocaust. Without all that testicle crushing, the Holocaust might have been much harder to prove.
“Standard practice [to obtain castration] in France from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution was to crush the condemned’s testicles in a vise, which burst them as mush from the scrotum, then crunch the spermatic cords with pliers. The condemned was turned upside down in order to maximize the blood flow to his brain, after which he was unable to pass out or enter a state of shock until, perhaps, the last few seconds of his ordeal. The condemned was sure to vomit repeatedly with violent convulsions, even well after he had voided the contents of his stomach, but he rarely screamed except for an initial shriek, which immediately silenced, because the pain overwhelmed his ability to breathe. Most men would hang and thrash wildly during and after the crushing of each testicle, and their thrashing would renew upon the crushing of each spermatic cord. This torture method (accompanied by others) was usually reserved for the crime of regicide or attempted regicide. The condemned was mercifully put to death afterwards, but his torture routinely lasted for the better part of a day, witnessed by large crowds. It is interesting to note that, whereas most crowds were instructed to jeer, mock, and ridicule the condemned, and did so even during a disemboweling, and drawing and quartering, most crowds remained silent and stared with shocked expressions as a castration was carried out in this manner. Onlookers, male and female, are recorded to have vomited at the sight of the spectacle. (See here and here)
Yes, they certainly knew what they were doing at Nuremberg! They were the experts.
Let Thomas Goodrich have the last word:
“A true history of the War can never be written since most of the participants are now dead and those yet living would never admit to their crimes. I am sure that the crimes committed against Germany that we KNOW of are just the beginning.” — Private email to this writer
Key Texts : Selected background reading
— Thomas Goodrich, Hellstorm : The Death of Nazi Germany, 1944-1947
— Mark Weber, “The Nuremberg Trials and the Holocaust,” The Journal of Historical Review (Vol. 12, No. 2), Summer 1992. http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v12/v12p167_Webera.html
— Mark Weber, Part 2 of “The Nuremberg Trials and the Holocaust”, On Torture at Nuremberg
— Giles MacDonogh, After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation (2009)
— Mark Weber (book review of above), “New Book Details Mass Killings and Brutal Mistreatment of Germans at the End of World War Two.” (IHR: 2007). http://www.ihr.org/other/afterthereich072007.html
— James Bacque, Crimes and Mercies: The Fate of German Civilians Under Allied Occupation, 1944–1950 (2007)
— James Bacque, Other Losses: An Investigation into the Mass Deaths of German Prisoners at the Hands of the French and Americans after World War II (2011)
— Ralph Franklin Keeling, Gruesome Harvest : The Allies’ Postwar War Against the German People (1992)
— John Sack, An Eye For An Eye : The Story of Jews who sought Revenge for the Holocaust (2000)
See also : Address by John Sack at IHR conference “Behind An Eye for an Eye : Revenge, Hate and History” (May 2000) http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v20/v20n1p-9_Sack.html
— Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, A Terrible Revenge : The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans (2006)
— Benton L. Bradberry, The Myth Of German Villainy (2012) | {
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Cultural trends evolve the same way as genes, mutating to survive, adopting those traits that give them the most benefit against the hostility of their current environment. Language mimics an ecosystem; some words that stand out for their offensiveness or callousness die of exposure, or unceremoniously at the hands of predators, while other words spring to life almost randomly as young people explore the fertile lands of linguistics, dropping seeds of pop culture as they go. Some words slowly dwindle into obscurity from years of poaching and misappropriation or abuse and overuse. Others, like forgotten floppy discs in the back corner of your closet, disappear through no fault of their own, victims of the inevitable obsolescence associated with an ever-changing lexiconic landscape.
The word “craft” (as related to beer) has picked at my brain like a crow on a corpse, mainly because it always feels sort of tacked-on, overly explanatory, even defensive. On a recent trip out to Annapolis, I heard a waiter declare proudly that his restaurant had “several craft beers available,” really emphasizing the F and T, as if he wasn’t exactly sure what the phrase meant, but it was important that he said it, and that his customers understood that this beer was special by virtue of a single adjective.
Etymologically, all Germanic, Dutch, and Old English roots of the word (kraft, kracht, and cræft, respectively) mean “skill” and “strength” which is certainly appropriate given American beer drinker’s constant flirtation with high ABV. But the contemporary application of the word feels somehow wrong, far too nebulous, relating to something emotional, psychological, that cannot be easily quantified. It took fellow local beer writer Tom Cizauskas commenting on one of my posts for me to finally realize why it always gave me pause when I typed it, like he reached into my brain and solved the long-jumbled Rubik’s Cube for me:
“What is ‘craft’? Homemade? Then the use of stainless-steel and machines would seem un-craft. Size? Then ‘craft’ punishes craft’s success. Taste? Then size doesn’t matter. Quality? Then many small breweries quite often are not ‘craft.’ At their worst, craft’s apostles can sound shrilly solipsistic. The term ‘craft’ has become as meaningless as the term ‘IPA,’ and as irrelevant as mud for the enjoyment of beer.”
“Craft” – as an identifier for beer – has become a suit jacket that no longer fits the swollen mass of our brewing industry. When viewed from an outsider’s perspective, it looks silly and ill-fitting, like an adult trying to hold onto the vestiges of their childhood because they’re not quite ready to grow up. Worse, “craft” – as an identifier for the enthusiast – has been maligned, or at least realigned, to mean “snob,” “elitist,” “trendy,” and “exclusive.” Even if that isn’t personally true for you, it’s a real thing that while great for satire, hurts the entire industry, and keeps potential new fans of less hardy conviction at a cultural sword’s length.
Not, by any stretch, to suggest the word is useless. From a marketing perspective, marrying another word to “beer” proved a brilliant move; it gave enthusiasts a unified banner to rally behind, decorated the heraldry of many a beard-clad revolutionary, and instilled an entire subculture with a sense of identity. “Craft” differentiated the methodologies and approaches of smaller brewers from those of the giants of Budweiser, Miller, and Coors, just enough to give them traction in the market, and stand a chance against the titanic footprint of pale American lager. It is possible these five little letters are to be hugged and kissed and loved for their influence, always looked upon with starry-eyed reverence.
But it’s time to take the training wheels off. “Craft” has served its purpose, and helped the smaller breweries bring their products to the forefront of tap lineups and store shelves, given them a chance to compete for taste-bud real estate. It’s time to compare the apples to the apples, or more aptly, the pints to the pints.
To risk putting forward an ineffective call to action, I propose that beer enthusiasts stop using the word “craft.” I don’t propose they replace it with something else, but simply let it vanish into the fog of human history, to be remarked upon by the historians of some distant generation. I don’t propose we make a big deal about not using it any more, and instead let it slip out of our vernacular like so many other phrases du jour. I don’t propose we do anything except only refer to beer as what it actually is: beer.
Instead of relying on the dubious definitions associated with a made-up prefix, let’s instead judge every beer on how it tastes; every brewery individually for the merits and faults of their recipes and execution; every brewpub on its freshness, atmosphere, and service. If our beer is as good as we all claim it is, we shouldn’t be worried, right? Many in the community are concerned about quality, and unfortunately, the current phrasing gives less consistent breweries a shield to hide behind, a scapegoat for an “off” beer under the guise of the ever-accepting umbrella of “craft.” By not using the word anymore, every brewery – from White Plains to Escondido – can be treated as equals. People can experience any and every beer they want, 12ozs at a time, without fear of being put into any one group, deciding for themselves what beer is good, regardless of what oddly specific definition it falls under.
When beer is just beer, we can look at it more objectively. The cheerleading and cultural gerrymandering will drop off to a minimum, easily picked out instead of easily blending in. The “craft” beer community has done an admirable job of pulling the industry out of the shadow of big brewing, but it’s time to drop the nicknames, let beer be beer, and watch it fly on its own.
(If you liked this piece, go check out John Holl’s much more in-depth and researched version over at All About Beer Magazine!) | {
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La sonda Cassini comincia oggi il suo viaggio attraverso gli anelli di Saturno, l’ultimo della sua missione durata circa 20 anni nello Spazio profondo, che si concluderà tra pochi mesi con un gran finale, tanto tragico quanto prezioso per la scienza planetaria. I responsabili della sonda Cassini hanno deciso di farle compiere una serie di passaggi ravvicinati a Saturno, il pianeta intorno al quale orbita da 13 anni: in seguito sarà attratta inesorabilmente dalla sua orbita e si polverizzerà entrando nell’atmosfera del pianeta. Durante quegli ultimi momenti, i sensori della sonda Cassini raccoglieranno dati importanti sulle caratteristiche atmosferiche di Saturno, che saranno inviati verso la Terra prima del silenzio radio.
La sonda Cassini è stata lanciata nell’ottobre del 1997 e ha raggiunto Saturno nel 2004, dopo un viaggio molto lungo nello Spazio interplanetario. Ora si trova a circa 1,7 miliardi di chilometri da noi, e di recente ha scattato una foto al nostro pianeta, che appare come un minuscolo punto luminoso all’orizzonte. L’immagine è stata diffusa dalla NASA nell’ambito delle iniziative per la Giornata della Terra dello scorso 22 aprile.
Cassini è stata realizzata con la collaborazione dell’Agenzia Spaziale Europea (ESA) e di quella italiana (ASI), con il compito principale di studiare le caratteristiche del pianeta, della sua famosa serie di anelli e delle sue numerose lune. La sonda si chiama così in onore dell’astronomo italiano Gian Domenico Cassini, tra i primi studiosi di Saturno a fine Seicento. È più o meno grande quanto un minibus ed è tra le sonde più grandi mai lanciate nella storia delle esplorazioni spaziali.
Nei suoi quasi 20 anni di carriera, Cassini ha permesso non solo di avere immagini incredibili e dettagliate di Saturno, ma anche di analizzare la polvere interstellare e di scoprire un oceano sotto Encelado, la sesta luna del pianeta per dimensioni, che secondo una recente ricerca avrebbe le giuste condizioni per ospitare alcune forme di vita.
A distanza di molti anni dal suo lancio, la sonda Cassini ha finito quasi completamente il propellente che utilizza per regolare la sua orbita intorno a Saturno, e per compiere manovre per esplorare i suoi dintorni. Per questo motivo, già nel 2010 i tecnici della NASA avevano lavorato a un nuovo piano per sfruttare fino all’ultimo le risorse di Cassini, programmando un suo tuffo verso Saturno. Il progetto, studiato e perfezionato negli ultimi anni, non ha solo lo scopo di raccogliere nuovi dati, ma anche di preservare le lune intorno al pianeta in vista di future esplorazioni. Se Cassini non venisse distrutta, un suo rottame potrebbe staccarsi e causare una contaminazione su una luna. L’obiettivo principale è preservare Encelado, sulla quale ci sono prove sempre più consistenti per considerarla potenzialmente abitabile.
La fine di Cassini può essere considerata una parte rilevante di una nuova, ultima, missione. Le istruzioni per compiere le manovre di avvicinamento a Saturno sono state trasmesse dalla Terra lo scorso 11 aprile e saranno eseguite a partire da oggi. Il piano di volo prevede di ridurre la distanza dal pianeta e collocare la sonda in un’orbita che le consenta di attraversare lo spazio tra Saturno e il punto dove iniziano i suoi anelli, ampio circa 2.400 chilometri. Nel corso di più orbite, Cassini attraverserà questo spazio per 22 volte, fino al prossimo settembre. A ogni passaggio, la sonda raccoglierà dati che dovrebbero consentire di approfondire le conoscenze sulla struttura interna di Saturno e forse sull’origine stessa dei suoi anelli. Cassini avrà anche il compito di rilevare la composizione dei gas che costituiscono l’atmosfera di Saturno. Le fotocamere riprenderanno nuovi dettagli, che potranno essere analizzati sulla Terra.
La NASA ha programmato questo ultimo viaggio con molta cautela, perché c’è la possibilità che la presenza di detriti spaziali possa complicare il passaggio di Cassini tra il pianeta e i suoi anelli. Il primo attraversamento sarà eseguito sfruttando la grande antenna della sonda come una sorta di scudo: valutati gli eventuali danni, la NASA deciderà quali strumenti esporre nei passaggi successivi, e in che modo.
Gli ultimi mesi di Cassini sono attesi con grande interesse non solo dai ricercatori, ma anche dai semplici appassionati di Spazio. In 20 anni la sonda è diventata molto popolare, anche per il fatto di avere studiato il pianeta più semplice da riconoscere e caratteristico del nostro sistema solare. A metà settembre Cassini eseguirà un’ultima manovra di avvicinamento che la porterà a immergersi ad altissima velocità nell’atmosfera di Saturno, dove registrerà e trasmetterà dati fino a disintegrarsi e a non farsi sentire mai più. | {
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2,700 years of history
The heritage of ancient coins is a subject that intrigues and delights collectors and scholars the world over. The oldest coin available today was discovered in Efesos, an ancient Hellenic city and prosperous trading center on the coast of Asia Minor. The 1/6 stater, pictured below, is more than 2,700 years old, making it one of the very earliest coins. Made from electrum, a natural occuring alloy of gold and silver, the coin originated in the area of Lydia. It had a design on one side only, a result of the primitive method of manufacture. This ancient stater was hand struck. A die with a design (in this case a lion's head) for the obverse (front) of the coin was placed on an anvil. A blank piece of metal was placed on top of the die, and a punch hammered onto the reverse. The result was a coin with an image on one side and a punch mark on the other.
The stater is a key exhibit in the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum, which houses one of the world's finest numismatic collections, comprising about 1 million objects. The earliest issues, thought to date from the reign of Alyattes (about 610 - 560 BC) or perhaps his predecessor Sadyattes - both of the Mermnad dynasty - feature the Lydian kings' emblem of a roaring lion, almost always with a curious knob, often called a "nose wart," on its forehead.
Electrum
Lydia does not have many marvelous things to write about in comparison with other countries, except for the gold dust that is carried down from Mount Tmolus. - Herodotus, The History, 1.93
The Pactolus River beside the slopes of Mount Tmolus in the kingdom of Lydia was one of the most important sources of electrum in the ancient world. According to Greek mythology, the river acquired its electrum when King Midas of nearby Phrygia bathed in it to wash away his golden touch, which had turned even his food into gold, a telling parable about the destructiveness of wealth. In actuality, The Paktolos River acquired its electrum from electrum-laden quartz deposits near Mount Tmolos (called Mount Bozdag today).
The alluvial deposits of gold were mixed with as much as 40% silver and some copper; such a gold-silver mix is called electrum. The earliest coins were made of electrum with a standardized 55% gold, 45 silver and 1-2% copper concentration and had either no design or a some apparently random surface striations on one side and a punch impression on the other.
Just as the rulers of the Middle East today have become wealthy from oil, so the ancient Lydian kings became rich by accumulating and minting coins from electrum. The capital city of ancient Lydia was Sardis, and it was a major commercial center linking the Asian kingdoms of the east with the coastal Greek cities of Ionia, including Miletus. It is not an accident that the first coins appeared in the important commercial centers of Lydia and adjacent Ionia, nor that the first system of bimetallic currency - the first system of interrelated gold and silver issues - was also developed there. As the 19th century German historian Ernst R. Curtius wrote, "The Lydians became on land what the Phoenicians were by sea, the mediators between Hellas and Asia."
Electrum Stater Of Miletos
The most famous coin type of ancient Miletus, and one of the earliest of all coins that can be attributed to a particular city, is the electrum stater that features a crouching lion regardant on the obverse, and three incuse punches on the reverse. Although they are not excessively rare, these electrum staters (weighing just over fourteen grams) are understandably very expensive. The fourteen-gram staters, however, represent only one denomination in a complete denominational series that also included thirds, sixths, twelfths, and twenty-fourths of a stater, and perhaps smaller denominations as well. These lesser denominations, not surprisingly, command less stratospheric prices.
Several Greek cities, including Miletos, as well as the Lydian kings began minting these first coins by stamping the badge of their city into one side of a standard weight lump of electrum and various punches into the other. These devices were used to facilitate trade by certifying that the intrinsic value and weight of the metal was guaranteed by the issuing authority. Of these first coins, those of Miletos like the current example (600-550 BC), are probably the finest from an artistic perspective. The lion, cleverly configured with its head reverted and tail curled over its haunch to neatly fit within the rectangular frame, is a masterpiece of Archaic Greek art. The vigor and ferocity of the beast are beautifully conveyed by its snarling countenance and erect mane. Mean Diameter: 21 x 17.5 mm. (0.827 x 0.689"). Weight: 13.91 gm. (0.435 Troy oz.) | {
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A day care teacher in Florida was fired last week because she put a fire out at her school.
Michelle Hammack worked at Little Temples Childcare facility in Arlington, Fla. While her students were napping last week, she smelled something burning in the school. Naturally, she went to check on the problem.
"I just leaned over and peeked around and there was a fire in the oven,” Hammack said. “I ran in there and opened it to try to put it out, and the fire alarm started going off."
Hammack rushed back to her classroom, woke up her sleeping students, and took them outside. All other teachers in the school followed suit. After Hammack did a head count of her students, she went back into the school to make sure the fire had not spread.
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“When I got to the third classroom by the kitchen, I could see that it was just a contained fire in the oven,” she told the local CBS News affiliate in Jacksonville.
Hammack then grabbed a fire extinguisher, opened the oven and put the fire out. The fire department then came to the school, inspected the then-extinguished fire and told staff and students that they could reenter the school.
But instead of being applauded for her handling of the fire, Hammack was fired.
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"I fired her only because she left her room," said owner Olga Rozhaov. “Even though children are sleeping, the teachers are supposed to be there."
Like any one of us in her situation would be, Hammack is mad about being fired.
“It probably would have progressed had it not been put out before that," she said. "I didn’t start the fire. I put it out.”
But Rozhaov is standing behind her decision to fire Hammack.
“It's not acceptable, and if anybody else does the same thing, I will fire again," Rozhaov said. "I will fire them. No question.”
Fortunately for Hammack, The Department of Children and Families is investigating the situation. Unless something we are not being told about happened, you have got to think — or at least hope — Hammack will be getting her job back.
Sources: Daily Caller, Action News Jax
Photo Credit: Action News Jax
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(CNN) It's not an exaggeration to say almost every home in little Sutherland Springs, Texas, was affected by Sunday's shooting at First Baptist Church.
The small church is an anchor in the unincorporated community, which has about 600 residents. Its members help feed the needy and clean up neighbors' property after storms.
So when a gunman opened fire during church services , killing at least 26 people, he wiped out some 4% of the town's population in a matter of minutes.
At least 20 others were injured in the massacre. And Sutherland Springs' surviving residents are left to mourn their slain neighbors and wonder if the town will ever be the same.
"Oh yes. I'm sure they have been," said Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt when asked if virtually every house in the community had been touched by the tragedy. "You can't imagine how (the families) feel at this time."
Tackitt said there was no way for anyone inside the church to escape the hail of bullets.
"I think nearly everyone had some type of injury," he said.
A focal point
The small church is a focal point in the community , which lies about 30 miles east of San Antonio. First Baptist's youth group visits local nursing homes and helps residents in need. The church hosts kids' movie nights and a popular community festival and opens its doors for weekly dinners.
In one of several sermons posted online, Frank Pomeroy -- the church's motorcycle-riding pastor -- used an image of a Harley-Davidson parked near the altar to illustrate his theme for the service, entitled "You Don't Need Training Wheels, You Need Christ!"
"They don't have a lot of money, but they are always willing to give," said Mike Clements, who pastors a church in nearby Floresville also named First Baptist Church. "These people are merciful people. A lot of them will be forgiving with what happened."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott participates in a candlelight vigil Sunday for the victims at First Baptist Church.
'A lot of children died today'
Authorities have not yet released the identities of the victims who died in the shooting. Pomeroy's 14-year-old daughter was among the dead, said his wife, the girl's mother. The couple was traveling out of state when the shooting occurred.
"I think a lot of children died today. And they just wanted to go to church," Clements said.
At least eight of those killed were members of one family, according to a family member and a community leader who both spoke to CNN.
One of the deceased was about 5 months pregnant, and three of her children were killed. The pregnant woman's brother-in-law -- her husband's brother -- and a young child were also killed, according to the community leader.
An additional 3 members of the same family were injured in the church shooting, according to the community leader. The family member tells CNN that one of them was shot in the head.
Sutherland Springs native Tambria Read, 59, a high school teacher who grew up in First Baptist, said two of her students in the seventh and 10th grades were in surgery late Sunday. Parents of other students were among the dead, she said.
Read no longer attends the church, but remains close to the congregation. She said First Baptist opens its doors to the public on Thursday for dinner and worship. Members "hope you stay, but you don't have to," she said.
Last Tuesday, Read dropped off candy for the church's fall festival, scheduled for Halloween, where children usually sing and pray and scamper around in egg-in-a-spoon races "instead of scaring each other," she said.
"It's an alternative to Halloween ghosts and goblins," she said.
A historic church
First Baptist is the oldest church that has continuously operated in the rural community of Sutherland Springs, said Read, chairwoman of the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum.
The community draws its name from Dr. John Sutherland, a doctor who tended to the sick during the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Four years later, he moved his family to what would become Sutherland Springs, according to the Sutherland Springs History Museum's web site.
Sutherland became the community's postmaster, the website said.
These days, weekenders drive along Route 87, the main drag in Sutherland Springs, pulling cruising boats on trailers on the way to the coast.
Dana Fletcher, who owns a business down the road from the church, told CNN that Sutherland Springs is a "very small" but "very tight-knit community."
"There's two gas stations, the church, a community center, post office, a Dollar General, a tire shop," she said. "That's about it."
'My God, my God'
During last week's service, Pomeroy showed a video of a motorcyclist leaning into a turn, before citing a scripture from Proverbs: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
"Lean on the Lord. Though it may not make sense in our finite mind, just as leaning into a turn may not make sense," Pomeroy told the congregation. "Leaning into God is the way we should go, because God's got it figured out whether we do or not."
After the shooting, people flooded the church's Facebook page with messages of condolence.
"My God, my God ... How my heart goes out for this dear congregation," one person wrote.
A woman in Charleston, South Carolina, where a self-described white supremacist killed nine members of a historically black church during Bible study in June 2015, sent prayers to the congregation and the affected families.
"I pray that your community comes together as we did and are still doing here," she wrote. | {
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Click for full Jpost coverage of turmoil in the Middle East
AMMAN - Protesters loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad briefly broke into the US embassy in Damascus on Monday and security guards used live ammunition to prevent them storming the French embassy, diplomats said.No casualties were reported in the attacks but a US official said Washington condemned Syria's slow response and its failure to the prevent the assault on its embassy.The attacks followed a visit by the US and French ambassadors to the city of Hama last week in support of the hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators who have been gathering there despite attacks by Syrian forces."We are calling in the Syrian charge [d'affaires] to complain," said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity."We feel they failed [in their responsibility to protect US diplomats]. We are going to condemn their slow response."Human rights groups say at least 1,400 civilians have been killed since an uprising began in March against Assad's autocratic rule, posing the biggest threat to his leadership since he succeeded his father 11 years ago.In other violence on Monday, Syrian forces killed one civilian and wounded 20 in heavy-machinegun fire on Homs, Syria's third city, and went house-to-house arresting suspected opponents in Hama, human rights activists said.Despite using force to crush the protests, Assad has also called for talks on reforms. But many opposition figures have refused to attend a two-day conference in the capital, saying it was futile as long as violence continued."Dialogue can only work when both parties respect each other and look at each other as equals," said Ayman Abdel-nour, the Gulf-based editor of all4syria.com website. "At the moment, there is no dialogue."Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara told the opening ceremony of the Damascus conference on Sunday that the authorities would open a new page, hinting at allowing political parties, other than the ruling Baath Party, to operate.The meeting was expected to discuss legislation which would allow a multi-party system and constitutional amendments.But independent analysts said reform would remain on paper as long as the security apparatus and Assad loyalists continue to operate with impunity against demonstrators.Hilal Khashan, a Lebanon-based political commentator, said Assad's call for dialogue was not serious and aimed at buying time."If the regime was serious about reforms, they would change their security measures. Nobody in their sound mind would expect anything from Damascus as genuine political reform. The regime is buying time," he added. | {
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Jonah was *not* swallowed by a fish, there was *never* an exodus, and Moses *never* existed, according to atheist and biblical scholar Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou (a Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion in the Theology and Religion department at Exeter University) who appeared on The Weekly on Wednesday evening, making outrageous claims about the Bible.
Eternity asked historian John Dickson to respond to some of her comments.
Stavrakopoulou claimed that Jonah was not swallowed by a fish, there was never an exodus, and that there’s no evidence for Moses being a historical figure.
Should Christians be troubled by her claim that there is no evidence for these events and people?
Um, no! If there’s one thing the media has taught us over the last ten years or so it’s that almost nothing that gets aired to the general public represents what mainstream scholars really believe. I don’t think the media is out to get Christians, or scholarship. It’s just that idiosyncratic and unexpected claims make for better television, especially when they’re delivered with the delight, humour, and intelligence of Prof Stavrakopoulou.
Many important scholars think the book of Jonah is a deliberate parody and not a historical text. We need to confront that possibility. On the other hand, the confident claim that Moses was “just made up,” as Francesca kept saying, is to go way beyond the scholarly view.
There are, of course, scholarly questions about all these things, Moses, Jonah, and so on. I mean, many important scholars think the book of Jonah is a deliberate parody and not a historical text. We need to confront that possibility. On the other hand, the confident claim that Moses was “just made up,” as Francesca kept saying, is to go way beyond the scholarly view.
Professor Stavrakopoulou: “When you take a historical approach [to the Bible], looking at the archaeological evidence for events or people described in the Bible, it is hard to find corroborating evidence to support biblical claims about the past.”
Is the search for archaeological evidence the best way to approach the Bible?
Everyone working in this area knows that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
I often say of New Testament history that today we have less than one per cent of the archaeological and literary remains of the first century; 99 per cent is lost forever. We can make judgements based on the evidence we do have, but we cannot make firm judgements based on a lack of absence.
We might not have corroborating evidence for many Old Testament reports but we do have the Old Testament reports themselves. These count.
This basic principle is even more important for Old Testament history, especially for anything older than 1000BC. For this period there are very, very few literary and archaeological remains. It is true to say that the evidence outside the Bible for Moses and the Exodus is slim or non-existent, but our evidence for almost everything of that period is slim or non-existent.
But more obviously, the Bible itself cannot be dismissed as evidence. We might not have corroborating evidence for many Old Testament reports but we do have the Old Testament reports themselves. These count. To say that these don’t qualify as evidence is to engage in something other than the discipline of history.
Professor Stavrakopoulou: “The God of the New Testament is not interested at all in humanity; he’s not really present in the New Testament. It’s all about Jesus.”
Is this how you would describe the New Testament?
Francesca claimed to “love the Bible” but when asked by Charlie Pickering which bits she would edit out, she replied “the New Testament!”, hardly the words of someone who loves the Bible.
Her specific claim that God is absent in the New Testament is just bizarre, as most Bible readers will agree. The New Testament is where the God of the Old Testament really turns up! Sure, God appears a few times in strange ways in the Old Testament—to Abraham by the great trees of Mamre, to Moses in the burning bush, to Daniel’s mates in a furnace in Babylon—but the New Testament opens with four whole biographies of God incarnate.
Most New Testament scholars would say that Paul, more than any writer in the Bible, develops a doctrine of God’s free grace and love. As an atheist, Stavrakopoulou doesn’t believe any of that, of course, and so chooses to highlight the bad news—which she also doesn’t believe—but I find it a pretty elitist position.
Stavrakopoulou’s further claim that Paul’s letters offer a morbid view of humanity’s sin and wickedness is really unfortunate. Most New Testament scholars would say that Paul, more than any writer in the Bible, develops a doctrine of God’s free grace and love. As an atheist, Stavrakopoulou doesn’t believe any of that, of course, and so chooses to highlight the bad news—which she also doesn’t believe—but I find it a pretty elitist position. It’s okay for comfortable biblical scholars in the West, like her or me, to ‘tut tut’ Paul’s idea that human beings have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but for most people through most of history, this idea has explained so much of the evil surrounding us, from the despotic regimes of Rome to the scourge of human trafficking today, and, yet, within Paul’s doctrine of grace, even the worst sinner found hope of redemption.
Professor Stavrakopoulou: “I’m not a fundamentalist who takes every word of the Bible as fact. I think the truth is much more interesting.”
How do you describe the relationship between truth and the Bible?
It’s almost as though Stavrakopoulou needed viewers to think there are only two options: either you’re a blinkered fundamentalist who takes every word of the Bible literalistically, or you’re a sophisticated seeker after truth, like her, and you dispense with the Bible’s claims as mostly “made up” by “people with daddy issues,” as she said. That’s too simplistic.
Between these two poles there is a world of interpretive options, including accepting that the different literary styles in the Bible—poetry, parable, apocalyptic, and history—all need to be read differently, with due attention to all the relevant historical background. God’s truth comes in many forms. He’s as happy communicating through metaphor in the Psalms as he is through straightforward historical narrative in the book of Acts.
I know Prof Stavrakopoulou was on live television delivering her message with humour and flair, but in my opinion there is no excuse for an informed biblical scholar, which she certainly is, describing the debate in such a two-dimensional way and then trying to pass off her idiosyncratic opinions as representative of the scholarly mainstream. | {
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The question of how long drugs stay in your system is not an easy one to answer.
First, there are thousands of drugs available for human consumption, both legal and illicit, and they all stay in your system for different amounts of time; and,
Second, there are other factors that determine how long a drug lasts, including your metabolism, body mass, hydration, how much of the drug you took, and how often you take it.
While you can find lists that show you how long certain drugs stay in your system, it’s impossible to provide that information for every drug in existence. However, what we can do is talk about the drug half-life, which is influenced by how your body processes different types of drugs — which can help you understand why certain drugs linger longer than others.
What is the Drug Half-Life?
The drug half-life is the amount of time it takes for half the dose of a given drug to clear your system.
For example, if you take 40 mg of a drug as a four-hour half-life, then it will take:
Four hours for 20 mg to clear your system;
Four more hours for 10 mg to clear;
Four more hours for 5 mg to clear;
Four more hours for 2.5 mg to clear;
Four more hours for .75 mg to clear, and so on.
This means that a drug with a four-hour half-life could remain in your system for 20 hours or more. However, as the dosage dwindles, so do the effects of the drug. Which means the drug could still be in your system, even if you no longer feel the effects.
Half-life is only part of the equation. There is also the way your body processes the drug that can determine how long it stays in your body. It can also influence how medications are used in drug detox and to treat certain illnesses.
How Your Body Processes Drugs and Alcohol
All drugs go through four basic stages inside your body: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.
Absorption
The absorption stage is the point at which you take the drug into your body, which can occur in several ways, such as through your mouth, through your nose, through your eyes, through your anus, or through your skin. The method by which you absorb the drug depends on how the drug is packaged.
For example, a steroid nasal spray is usually dispensed as an aerosol through your nose, while a steroid pill is usually ingested. A pain relieving patch is dispensed through your skin, while a pain-relieving liquid could be administered directly into the vein.
The way you absorb a drug can affect how well it works.
For example, the steroid nasal sprays goes straight to the treatment area, whereas the steroid pill has to go through the acid in your stomach, which can destroy some of the drug. The pain relieving patch has to make it through layers of fat beneath the skin, whereas an intravenous injection goes straight into the bloodstream. This is one of the reasons why certain absorption methods work well on some people, but not others.
Some drugs are only effective when absorbed in one way, such as insulin, which is always injected; others can be absorbed in multiple ways, such as opiate pain killers, which can be injected, administered in a patch, or ingested in liquid or pill form.
Distribution
Distribution is the process of carrying the drug to the target area in your body.
Some drugs have a very short line of distribution because they are applied directly to the affected area, like the steroid nasal spray in the example above, stomach medication ingested through the mouth, asthma medications inhaled into the lungs, topical medications applied directly to a damaged area of skin.
Other drugs have to travel through the blood stream to get to the treatment area, such as an aspirin or an IV painkiller taken for pain, an ingested for an allergy, antihistamine taken for an allergy, taken for a headache, or a nicotine patch used to curb cravings.
Drugs that are ingested into your stomach also have to pass through your intestines, and be filtered through your liver before they can reach your blood stream to be distributed to the treatment area.
It’s important to note that even when a drug is administered directly to the treatment area, it’s possible for some of it to end up in your blood stream, which is why some topical drugs can have other side effects. Because once it enters your blood stream, it can affect other areas of your body.
Several factors can influence how quickly a drug is distributed to the treatment area through your blood stream, including the concentration of proteins and fats in your blood stream, and whether or not it has to pass through the blood-brain barrier.
Metabolism
Metabolism is the process where your body breaks down the drug and transforms it into something else. Metabolism can actually occur before or after the distribution process, depending on how the drug was originally absorbed into your body.
Keep in mind that absorption can also occur in multiple ways at once.
For example, when you drink alcohol, some it is absorbed directly into your blood stream through your stomach lining, some of it is absorbed through your intestines, and some enters your blood stream through your liver.
When a drug enters your liver, the enzymes in your liver break down the drug, which alters its nature. Some drugs are designed to be dormant until the processes in the liver make them active; other drugs are designed to be active until the processes in the liver turn them off, which is another reason why some drugs can only be absorbed in certain ways.
The drug itself can also affect metabolism. If a drug, like speed, increases your rate of metabolism, it will also cause you to metabolize the drug faster. If a drug, like OxyContin, decreases your rate of metabolism, it will also cause you to metabolize the drug at a slower rate.
Excretion
Excretion is the process of the drugs leaving your body. Urination is the most common method of excretion, which is why labs use urinalysis to detect whether or not you have used certain drugs in the recent past.
You also excrete drugs through defecation, as well as through respiration and sweat.
For example, alcohol is excreted through respiration and sweat, which is how breathalyzers can detect the presence of alcohol in your blood, and why people sometimes smell like alcohol after a long night of drinking.
List of Common Drugs’ Duration in Your System
Conclusion
The drug’s natural half-life, with the method of absorption, rate of distribution, rate of metabolism, and method of excretion, all determine how long a particular drug stays in your body.
A drug like alcohol, which has a fairly short half-life, and is absorbed and excreted through multiple channels, only stay in your body for a few hours — which is a relatively short time. A drug like an anabolic steroid, which has a fairly long half-life, is are excreted and absorbed through few channels, could stay in your body for weeks or months.
If you the drug on a regular basis, then it will take even longer to clear because you will be constantly increasing the dosage, even as your body works to eliminate it. | {
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Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the likely next speaker of the House, sat down for an interview with Savannah Guthrie of NBC News’ “Today.”
Guthrie asked Pelosi if she is willing to rule out impeachment once the new Congress takes over.
“We have to wait and see what happens with the Mueller report. We shouldn’t be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn’t avoid impeachment for a political reason. So we’ll just have to see how it comes,” Pelosi replied.
“Do you believe the special counsel should honor and observe the Department of Justice guidance that states a sitting president cannot be indicted?” Guthrie asked.
“I do not think that that is conclusive,” Pelosi said about the guidance. “No, I do not.”
After some back and forth about whether a sitting president could be indicted, Pelosi stated, “Well, the sitting president when he’s no longer president of the United States.”
She then elaborated, “I think that that is an open discussion. I think that is an open discussion in terms of the law,”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | {
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PARIS (Reuters) - Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s comments on Wednesday that he hoped the French would not choose President Emmanuel Macron’s party in European parliament elections this year were “unacceptable”, France’s foreign ministry said.
“These unfounded statements should be read in the context of domestic Italian politics. They are unacceptable,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in a daily online briefing.
Italy’s ambassador had been reminded of the “boundaries” that should be observed for Franco-Italian relations to remain friendly and cooperative, the spokeswoman added. | {
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Det har länge tisslats och tasslats om att videotjänsten Youtube, som i huvudsak är annonsfinansierat, är på väg att få en reklamfri prenumerationsmodell. Tidigare i sommar framgick att tjänsten stött på patrull då innehållsskapare som värnade om annonsintäkterna motsatte sig modellen, en konflikt som dragit ut på tiden.
Nu sätter Youtube ned foten och avser tvinga motsträviga upphovsrättsinnehavare att acceptera de nya villkoren. I ett mailutskick framgår att ägarna måste godkänna de nya annonsfria villkoren senast den 22 oktober, annars kommer videoklippen på kanalen inte längre finnas publikt tillgängliga.
Enligt Recode som tagit del av utskicket väntas tjänsten kosta 10 dollar per månad för allt videomaterial på Youtube och i priset ska även musiktjänsten Musik Key ingå. Samma rapport gör dessutom gällande att prenumerationsmodellen lanseras i slutet av oktober. | {
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Chinese researchers are experimenting with a highly radioactive isotope that could be used to dramatically worsen the fallout from a standard atomic weapon | {
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New York’s “hometown newspaper” is taking on President Donald Trump yet again with another absolutely savage front page.
The New York Daily News posted its Friday cover on Twitter late Thursday:
The headline is a reference to former FBI Director James Comey’s claim in his new memoir that Trump had asked him to look into reports that there is a “pee tape” in which he was filmed watching prostitutes urinate in a Moscow hotel suite.
Comey said Trump denied the incident happened but wanted proof to assure first lady Melania Trump.
The anecdote is in Comey’s new book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, which is out next week.
The Daily News has consistently used its front page to burn the president.
In February, it depicted Trump with NRA-branded tape over his mouth on one cover and ripped him for golfing during the funerals of the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting victims in another.
It has also depicted him as Dr. Evil, a clown and a racist, and even called his actions “treasonous.”
Also on HuffPost
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 11: FBI Director James Comey testifies during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee June 11, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on 'Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.' (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost. | {
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21:01 › LA JUEZA NóVILE RESOLVIó QUE LA REVISTA BARCELONA "EXAGERó" EN UNA SáTIRA Y DEBE PAGARLE 40 MIL PESOS A LA DEFENSORA DE REPRESORES POR “DAñO MORAL”
La jueza Susana Nóvile falló a favor de Cecilia Pando, defensora de los represores de la dictadura cívico-militar, en la demanda que entabló contra la revista Barcelona por una contratapa. Ingrid Beck, directora de la publicación, contó en su cuenta de Twitter que “la jueza Nóvile sostiene que Revista Barcelona agravia a Pando porque es una ‘persona privada con actuación pública’”.
La demanda por “daños morales” se inició por un fotomontaje en el que se mostraba a Pando como parte de un acto de sadomasoquismo (acompañada de leyendas como "¡Para matarla! Soltá el genocida que llevas dentro"; "Apropiate de esta bebota"; "Las chicas quieren guerra antisubversiva"; "Las defensoras de presos políticos más hot de plaza San Martín te piden por favor que los sueltes"; "Cadenas, humillación y golpes (de estado)"; "Cecilia Pando se encadena para vos"). Se trató de una sátira a la protesta de 2010 en la que la presidenta de la denominada "Asociación de Familiares y Amigos de los Presos Políticos de la Argentina" se encadenó frente al Ministerio de Defensa para reclamar contra los juicios por delitos de lesa humanidad.
En su fallo, la jueza afirma que "el ejercicio del derecho de expresión de ideas u opiniones no puede extenderse en detrimento de la necesaria armonía con los restantes derechos constitucionales, entre los que se encuentran el de la integridad moral, el honor y la intimidad de las personas". También considera que "la exigencia de una práctica periodística veraz, prudente y compatible con el resguardo de dignidad individual de los ciudadanos no puede calificarse como una obstrucción o entorpecimiento de la prensa libre".
Nóvile sostuvo que Pando demostró que "fue afectada en su honor", por lo que hizo lugar a la demanda y evaluó "exagerado" el nivel de la sátira contra la defensora de genocidas. "A pesar de tratarse de una revista de carácter satírico la foto y las frases allí colocadas exceden un tono sarcástico y burlón y hacen una exposición exagerada de la accionante", justificó. Pando había solicitado un resarcimiento por 70 mil pesos, pero la jueza resolvió que la Revista Barcelona debe pagar 40 mil pesos en el plazo de diez días.
“En ningún caso Nóvile considera que se trata de un caso de libertad de expresión”, remarcó Beck, quien dijo que el monto de 40 mil pesos fijado por la magistrada "hace inapelable la sentencia". “Lo más preocupante de este fallo no es la plata (que no tenemos) sino el precedente. Con esta jurisprudencia, los que hacemos sátira vamos a terminar editando en la clandestinidad”, manifestó la directora de Barcelona. | {
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When I first saw the trailer for the new Surgeon Simulator DLC [official site] I felt a bit queasy. You can watch the trailer below before reading on and, like me, you may end up thinking that Inside Donald Trump is about deciding whether or not you’d kill the possible president if he were lying unconscious before you. Maybe I played too many of those horrid little celebrity torture simulators that used to pop up on Newgrounds back in the day. Turns out, the DLC is actually about deciding whether to give Trump a heart of stone or a heart of gold.
Presumably, you can just pull his guts out though and maybe replace them with silly string?
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All the fake blood and guts in the world are unlikely to make me feel uncomfortable, and I have no love for Trump, but any game that depicts a recreation of a real person suffering for the amusement of the player does make me a little squeamish, I must admit. But then, this all seems to be in good humour, with the heart transplant being the central gag rather than a swift injection of something foul.
Bossa have this to say:
Love him or hate him, you cannot ignore him, and now, you get to operate on him. Inspired by this year’s most talked about political event, we invite you to cast your vote in our FREE update for Surgeon Simulator: Anniversary Edition on Steam. Make your choice, Donald Trump: stone-hearted villain, or gold-hearted hero?
If you don’t have the Anniversary Edition of the game, it’s available for £8.99 or upgrade from Surgeon Simulator 2013 for £1.99. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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Doesn't care that it's a lie if it's entertaining | {
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So being that it was the weekend there is not much to report, not that there is much to report on any other given day so far.
I did have an impromptu interview on Friday and was told to try and keep Monday free, 10:30am and still no call back…I might be out of work, but I can’t sit by the phone all day.
I have come to the rapid conclusion that me at home and not working is very bad for the waistline (not that me at home is ever good for it). Sure the failure was buying the box of cookies in the first place; but then it just turned into the following over the course of 2 days. Walk into kitchen to wash dishes or some other task: “Oh, I’ll have a cookie…”. 10-20 minutes later back into the kitchen: “Oh, I’ll have a cookie…”. An hour later: “Oh, I’ll have a cookie…”
…THERE ARE NO MORE F@#%!#@ COOKIES!
So today being the start of Week 3 with no job seems a tad surreal. I am doing some more of the basic tasks around the house today in case the district manager decides to call about that job. I also went and bought a few books over the weekend to keep myself busy. Since I normally can read a paperback in a day when undisturbed I am reading very slowly as to make them last.
Being home and on the computer far too much has allowed me to win a copy of Myke Coles’ debut novel: Shadow Ops: Control Point , I am waiting for its arrival along with a Challenge Coin he has created for the book. From the reviews it sounds like I will be in for an exciting read. From what I gather from his site and online book reviews if this was a video game title it would be Dungeons & Dragons* – Modern Warfare 4*. (*titles copyright of their respective owners) The modern world wakes to find that old world magic has returned and that such power tends to corrupt. So many of the world powers create their own military versions of Supernatural Operations Corps, and let the mayhem begin. On a side note I wonder how his Meme is coming along… Check out Myke Cole on twitter or read his blog which you can find via the included link above.
Other than that my stint of being unemployed continues, hoping this will not drag on much longer, severance package or not…
So enough for now…as some other sparkly has my attention…till next time…OH SO SHINY…
D. | {
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The W3C SPARQL Working Group
has published a First Public Working Draft of SPARQL 1.1 Property Paths, which
defines a more succinct way to write parts of basic graph
patterns and also extend matching of triple pattern to arbitrary
length paths. The group also published six updates, namely: | {
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By Ken Stone
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Edgar Bergen and Shari Lewis were smiling in Ventriloquism heaven Tuesday when Darci Lynne Farmer wowed “America’s Got Talent.” (Charlie McCarthy, Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse were cheering Darci’s puppet Petunia.)
The Oklahoma youngster, who said she had practiced her craft only two years, got the Golden Buzzer from judge Mel B, and was advanced to a live show in the NBC series.
But what do professional ventriloquists think of Darci, who aims to be the variety show’s third ventriloquist winner (after Terry Fator in 2007 and Paul Zerdin in 2015)?
Does Darci have industry support in becoming the second 12-year-old in a row to win the $1 million grand prize — after ukulele-playing singer Grace VanderWaal?
MyNewsLa.com assembled a virtual panel of veterans to assess the giggly newcomer.
Their verdict? Seven thumbs way up.
San Diego’s Joe Gandelman, with 27 years’ experience, notes how the likes of Darci are good for everyone.
“I just booked a bar mitzvah for November in Northern California,” Gandelman said. “The bar mitzvah boy’s mother noted how she and her son love ‘America’s Got Talent’ and the ventriloquists — so good appearances by one ventriloquist can help business for the others.”
Los Angeles-based Justin Milan wrote: “I saw Darci perform for the first time at the Vent Haven International Ventriloquist Convention (Hebron, Kentucky) last summer. My first thought was, ‘She’s better than many adults who are full-time professionals.’”
Our other critics are Matt Bronsil, an English teacher in Taiwan who also does improv comedy and stand-up comedy as a ventriloquist; Steve Chaney of Sunnyvale, who with Corny Crow has performed for 20 years; David Crone of Ohio, a one-time AOL executive who’s been on stage for 30 years; Chuck Field of Chicago and Scottsdale, Arizona, a 60-year-old comedy ventriloquist since age 10; and Brenda Stelzer of Naples, Florida, a “vent” for two decades who has performed at four Mel’s Diners for the past 14 years.
BRONSIL: Technically, her ventriloquism was amazing. She nailed every line perfectly, and the puppet skills were spot on.
CHANEY: Her technical skills are awesome for someone so young. Her mouth movement (or lack of) was perfect, she was relaxed. Someone who is nervous has to fight a little quivering with their lips, she didn’t. Extremely well done. There is nothing a ventriloquist can do to hide any throat movement except wear a turtleneck sweater. Darci Lynne showed very little to no throat movement.
CRONE: Darci has fantastic technique. Not only is her lip control excellent, her vocal separation (being able to distinguish the character’s voice from hers) and clarity are superb. Also, her physical manipulation of the character is very good. She gets 5s (out of 5) across the board from me on technical skills.
FIELD: I thought Darci Lynne’s lip control, and puppet manipulation was top-notch. All was very natural, not forced and believable.
GANDELMAN: She’s doing an excellent job. She is doing a great job on lip movement. As far as throat movement, you can’t really ever hide that and there’s no problem here.
MILAN: Her technical skills are fantastic. Main things I think could be improved upon:
1) At 1:32 of the video, she acts surprised at the puppet covering her mouth BEFORE the puppet’s hand actually landed on her mouth. Her timing was a little off.
2) Toward the beginning of her puppet’s song, Darci’s mouth is in a fake smile. It doesn’t look natural. Later in the song, her mouth is in a more relaxed-looking position. This tells me she probably knew the right thing to do (keep her mouth looking relaxed), but forgot to initially as a result of being on such a big stage at such a young age.
STELZER: Darci has unbelievable skill, especially for only two years at it. I believe having a great coach, ventriloquist Gary Owen, has channeled her amazing talent in a very short time. Her lip control is fantastic! Being female is a plus too regarding throat movement. Females don’t usually have large laryngeal prominences, aka Adam’s apples.
How do you rate her showmanship?
BRONSIL: I rate her showmanship better than most adults I have seen in any area of performance.
CHANEY: Great showmanship. She seemed very honest in her demeanor.
CRONE: Excellent. Clearly she has loads of experience on stage. She really connects with the audience.
FIELD: Her showmanship was way beyond her years. She was very confident, especially for a girl who says she had to overcome her shyness. Many of the most well-known ventriloquists of all time like Paul Winchell have mentioned that this art was a spring from shyness to being very outgoing.
GANDELMAN: She has excellent showmanship. I routinely do a how-to-do-ventriloquism bit that can go from 5 minutes to 15. Kids are VERY fast learners and extremely creative if given a chance and if their parents and others help nurture this creativity. Her appearance got rave reviews by ventriloquists all over the country (or world) on their Facebook pages and on some ventriloquist-related Facebook group pages.
MILAN: Her showmanship is excellent. Even when the “act” was over, she kept Petunia in character by using lifelike manipulation. That, to me, says more than what she did during the scripted performance. She has most likely put in a lot of practice hours to be able to pull that off. From a comedic standpoint, her facial expression and verbal response at 0:58 when Petunia announces she’s going to sing is perfect. She nailed it!
STELZER: Her showmanship is OUTSTANDING! I also had the privilege of attending last year’s Vent Haven Convention and watching Darci perform. Rumor has it that she will make a cameo appearance at this year’s VHC next month! Her stage presence was simply AMAZING! She seemed to own the stage as soon as she set foot on it.
Is singing a special challenge for ventriloquists? Or was her choice an easy lift?
BRONSIL: Singing is hard for most people. Singing as a ventriloquist is even harder. Singers can generally open their mouth and get out what sounds they need. A ventriloquist makes those sounds without that luxury. Few ventriloquists sing well.
CHANEY: Songs are difficult in that you have to keep your lungs full of air while controlling the air/voice pressure with your stomach muscles, much like a singer does.
CRONE: Singing can be especially challenging for a ventriloquist. I’ve had a number of vocal coaches and each has been completely baffled as to how to teach singing when the mouth position is stationary. Her choice was certainly not an easy one. Listen to the range she exhibited. Wow! Difficulty is not really the issue, although I fully expect Darci to continue to impress us in that regard as she continues along in the competition.
More important is ENTERTAINING. You don’t go to a piano concert to listen to the pianist play scales and arpeggios. You go to hear music. Music should touch your soul. The goal is to convey the power of the music, not the difficulty of performing it. It should look easy. So if it looked easy, and you felt moved by the music, then she succeeded. I’d score her highly on that.
FIELD: Singing is a special challenge for anyone. Anyone can sing, mostly very average. Darci Lynne has a talent that other ventriloquists will never acquire. Mixing the two is not easy as you have to differentiate personalities as well as different voices. Like Terry Fator, she overwhelmed the judges with something totally unexpected from anyone, especially a 12-year-old.
GANDELMAN: I disagree totally with those who say singing is difficult for ventriloquists. I’m not a singer and actually started out with lots of music in my show when I went full-time in November 1990. When you are doing a ventriloquism routine, you’re doing a script or ad libbing with many words. After you learn the basics (how to substitute letters) it’s not hard to do that.
Singing is actually EASIER since you are practicing the same song and lyrics with no ad libbed deviations from it over and over. I still occasionally do some music (my main dummy sings “La Bamba,” I do a nutty lip-sync with volunteers who get up and do “Tuitti Fruitti” wearing ratty wigs while I do the singing which is funny since I am not a great singer).
MILAN: Singing is not a special challenge for ventriloquists. It can be an easy lift. In fact, I use singing in my show when I want to gain instant audience approval. Especially if I use a hit song people are familiar with. People are often blown away when a ventriloquist sings. For some reason, they think it must be harder than just making the puppet talk.
Yes, it’s challenging to make a puppet sing, but no more difficult than making it talk. Songs with a lot of “B” and “P” sounds in them are more challenging. Her choice of “Summertime” is smart because it gives her an opportunity to demonstrate her amazing vocals. As an aside, I’ve heard her make her puppet yodel. That impressed me even more. Maybe she’s saving that for the AGT semi-finals. 🙂
STELZER: Darci was blessed with a beautiful voice. Her routine on AGT highlighted her talent, not to mention her adorable personality. I especially loved when Petunia, her puppet, placed her paw over Darci’s mouth.
Do you agree with her statement: “I would really like to keep ventriloquism alive. Because it’s not common, you know”?
BRONSIL: Largely, that is true. Ventriloquists are a niche item in the performance world. 😉
CHANEY: It is an uncommon ability, only because a person has to practice the technique over and over. I teach all ages, but today’s kids have so many distractions and opportunities for other activities, sometimes it’s difficult to find the time to practice, practice and practice.
CRONE: Each generation needs its own leaders to recharge and renew the interest in an art form. Jeff Dunham and Terry Fator have done wonders for renewing ventriloquism’s popularity. With her age, Darci has the opportunity to continue building on that to inspire a whole new group of young people.
FIELD: I do agree. I have been doing this since the age of 10 in an art where Edgar Bergen was the all-time star of ventriloquism. Although he was amazing, there is nothing there to make people feel like this is contemporary, relevant or event COOL. The future of any art form is getting young people interested and bringing freshness as well as taking something old and putting a new twist to make it modern and contemporary, but most importantly highly entertaining.
GANDELMAN: I don’t quite agree with it not being that common. In the early 1990s, when I quit the San Diego Union newspaper to do this, there weren’t a large number of part-time or full-time ventriloquists around. There were many magicians or family music acts that did a LITTLE ventriloquism. All of this started to change with the emergence of Ronn Lucas and Jeff Dunham.
So if you go to Gigmasters or Gig Salad (I’m on both of these sites) you will see lots of ventriloquists — still not as many as magicians, but there are more around now than 20 years ago. And the number I predict will grow. “America’s Got Talent” has helped give the once-vanishing art a boost.
MILAN: Yes. Although there has been a surge in interest in ventriloquism ever since Jeff Dunham gained prominence (2006), and Terry Fator won “America’s Got Talent” (2007), there are still very few who do it well.
One reason is that it requires someone to be a great: 1) Ventriloquist, and 2) Entertainer.
The novelty of doing “ventriloquism” will keep an audience entertained for only so long. After 5-15 minutes, the ventriloquist needs to be making them laugh (or doing something else that keeps them tuned in and on the edge of their seats) in order to succeed.
For your reference, the V may draw closer to 1,000 attendees each year. In 2005, attendance was probably closer to 350. Even in light of increased attendance, Darci is right: Compared with most hobbies, it may still belong on the endangered species list.
STELZER: I do agree. Our youth today are technological wizards. With more and more technology and less time for the arts, it is exhilarating to see someone like Darci bring so much attention to the art of ventriloquism. She is like a breath of fresh air to the entertainment industry!
What else should readers know about ventriloquism or your view of her place in the profession?
BRONSIL: Ventriloquists get along really well. There is a convention every year. Sadly, since I live in Taiwan, I have not attended in over a decade, but it is a big conference in Kentucky every year.
Her place is a welcome place. She will probably have a lot of people that want to talk to her at the next convention if she attends. Her place in the professional world is up to her. She certainly has the talent to go far, but it is up to her if she wants to continue on that path or not. Either way, her skills in this area will certainly carry over to other areas.
CHANEY: Ventriloquism is fun to watch and to perform with. Kids do love puppets (I use soft puppets, similar style to what Darci Lynne used) and bringing them seemingly alive is great fun. I think she will be fantastic and her character, “Petunia,” is wonderful. I wholeheartedly welcome Darci to the profession. Having the art form so well represented by her is a boost to us all.
CRONE: Ventriloquism is about way more than talking without moving your lips. It is a means to an end – entertainment. It’s the theatrical equivalent to a one-man band. It’s one person playing all the parts. After the first 30 seconds, you should stop caring whether the lips are moving, or how difficult it is. You should only care about being entertained. It is a piece of theater with multiple characters that happens to be performed by one individual.
FIELD: The secret to ventriloquism is “There is no secret.” Like singing, it can be taught and learned. But most people will only be average. With the right training by people like “Gary Owen,” who taught Darci Lynne, encouragement by parents to pursue something that you love and lots of practice the possibilities are endless. Most importantly, the art of ventriloquism with the addition of great comedy material, characters as well as combining singing is a recipe for top-notch entertainment from your living room to Las Vegas.
Since she was on TV and has this credit, she WILL be going wherever she wants to go on ventriloquism. Also, she has “it” — the stage presence you can’t fake. Some try to teach it, but you look at ease or you don’t. She also has a great voice. If you add her stage presence, technique, great voice she’s on the fast track.
As always this will mean that some ventriloquists will now rush to get music to insert it in their act like they did when Terry Fator won “America’s Got Talent.” That’s fine — if you can sing well. There are many talented kids who go to the annual ventriloquists convention (where Jeff Dunham virtually grew up) as she does (one is a high schooler who is making me a great puppet).
I need to stress: Adults somehow get amnesia and forget how creative and talented kids can be and are. She reminds those who forget and she’s going to make some kids want to get into ventriloquism.
MILAN: She’s on the right track if she wants to set herself up for a full-time career as an adult. If this is the case, my recommendation is that her next step be to develop distinguishable characters that people can relate to. This will help her to be able to deliver a long show that is consistently enjoyable and has people wanting to come back for more.
STELZER: Many of us still remember Edgar Bergen, Shari Lewis, Paul Winchell, Señor Wences, but many do not. That is sad to me. By the way, did you know that Señor Wences lived to be 103? Yep! Just shows it pays to talk to yourself😆 Darci Lynne Farmer doing so well is great for all of us!
Ventriloquist 12-year-old Oklahoma girl tops America’s Got Talent: Voice-throwing vets wowed was last modified: by
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St. Georges – Former Delaware Governor and United States Congressman Michael Castle was the honored guest today as Governor Jack A. Markell joined U.S. Senator Chris Coons, U.S. Congressman John Carney, Deputy Secretary Nicole Majeski, Department of Transportation (DelDOT), and Secretary Collin O’Mara, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) in cutting the ribbon on the new Michael N. Castle Trail on the north bank of the C&D Canal.
The approximately $6 million Michael N. Castle Trail, which is part of Governor Markell’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiative, currently stretches nearly nine miles from the southern end of the Branch Canal west to the Summit Bridge. This scenic stretch along the canal bank is a multi-use pathway designed to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, anglers and equestrians, and will be managed by DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife as part of the C&D Canal Conservation Area.
Mike Castle served Delaware for nearly 40 years as a state legislator, lieutenant governor, governor, and U.S. Congressman. While Castle was Governor, the trail was envisioned by the trail user community. Later, while serving in Congress, Castle helped initiate the trail project in 2004, when a group of constituents spoke with him on better ways to utilize the area around the canal. The project was approved and construction of the trail started in mid-2012. When the remaining phases of the Castle Trail are completed, the pathway will extend a full 16 miles from Delaware City to Chesapeake City, Maryland.
“Each time we open a new trail, we are a step closer to our vision of a statewide trails network that will allow residents and visitors to see Delaware’s natural beauty up close, connect local businesses with new visitors, and link our communities,” said Governor Markell. “As a cyclist, I look forward to adding the Michael N. Castle Trail to my list of favorite places to ride.”
“Mike Castle saw the great potential for the C&D Canal to become a destination for families and nature-lovers in Delaware,” U.S. Senator Coons said. “With the completion of the initial phase of the Michael N. Castle Trail, more Delawareans can safely enjoy the outdoor beauty and scenic landscape the canal has to offer. I am thrilled to mark this milestone in the trail’s construction and look forward to seeing future phases completed.”
“I’m very pleased that after many years of planning and construction, the Mike Castle C&D Canal Trail is finally open to the public,” said U.S. Congressman Carney. “This is a beautiful area of our state, and the trail will allow more Delawareans to appreciate it while walking, biking, and enjoying a healthy, active lifestyle. I’m also happy for my predecessor in Congress, Mike Castle. It’s fitting that the trail be named for someone who spent so much time and effort working, along with his state director, Jeff Dayton, to help create it. I want to wish him congratulations and thank him for his tremendous work.”
“Congressman Castle left a remarkable legacy during four decades of service to the First State. We honor his legacy with a trail that will forever bear his name. He has left Delaware a better place,” said DelDOT Deputy Secretary Nicole Majeski.
“Opening this new trail will help support tourism, connect communities, get people outside and help improve their quality of life through healthy activity and enjoyment of nature,” said DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara. “In addition to advancing our plans for a statewide network of trails, the Michael N. Castle Trail also supports Delaware’s Bayshore Initiative in its goal to enhance low-impact outdoor recreation and ecotourism opportunities.”
U.S. Senator Tom Carper, who stopped by the trail earlier in the day said, “This trail – which has been years in the making – is a testament to the vision and hard work Congressman Castle had for outdoor recreation in Delaware. We’ve long waited for this day – a day that bikers, runners, and walkers can enjoy the scenic views along this trail – and I am confident that it will become a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts.”
Construction began in September on the next phase of the Castle Trail, the 0.9-mile Branch Canal Pedestrian and Bicyclist Path. When completed in late 2014, the approximately $1.4 million Branch Canal component will connect the main part of the Castle Trail along the north side of the C&D Canal with Delaware City’s Canalfront Promenade. In addition to DelDOT and DNREC, partners involved in this phase also include the New Castle Conservation District and the City of Delaware City.
Governor Markell’s First State Trails and Pathways Initiative creates a statewide network of new and enhanced trails and pathways for residents and visitors to enjoy walking, biking, hiking and active living. The initiative has far-reaching advantages – boosting Delaware’s economy, benefitting local businesses and promoting the continued growth of the state’s recreation and tourism industries. By offering people a place to walk, run, or ride, trails and pathways allow them to connect with the outdoors and encourages healthier, more active lifestyles as well as offering more choices for active transportation.
First State Trails and Pathways Initiative is a partnership led by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control with regional and local organization and government partners.
For more information, please visit www.trails.delaware.gov. | {
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Once upon a time in Toronto KFC was actually a tasty, gingery golden brown coloured fast food known as Kentucky Fried Chicken and sold at a chain of take away restaurants called Scott's Chicken Villa. Their coleslaw was made with Miracle Whip, sugar and carrots and the gravy was a delicious stew of thick and lumpy goodness.
Master chef and creator Colonel Sanders was a proper old-school eccentric gentleman from small town Indiana who grew so disillusioned with the draconian tax laws of the Internal Revenue Services that he liquidated personal ownership in all Kentucky Fried Chicken chains in America, retired to a feathered red-bricked home in Cooksville Ontario and concentrated on franchising his auric style of deep-fried fowl in the great white north. "In Canada, you don't have to watch for tricksters and shysters," he once said. "You can do things on a handshake."
Scott's was part of the Scott's Hospitality empire, founded by the late entrepreneur George Gardiner, which opened its first Scott's Chicken Villa under the Kentucky Fried Chicken banner in 1962 and who also owned a fleet of school buses, hotels, Black's photography shops, and the Manchu Wok fast-food chain before closure in the 1990s. There were over 100 Scott's Chicken Villas in Ontario, all designed with the same retro style slanted roof buildings (some of these unique buildings still house modern KFC franchises) and catering the original recipe flavour that many Canadians still fondly recall. Amazing to think that even as far back as 30 years ago, disgruntled Kentucky Fried Chicken fans from the United States would cross the border just to re-live the "finger lickin'" glory they had grown up with.
Sanders had bolted from America to Mississauga in 1965, although he continued to serve as the world wide face of Kentucky Fried Chicken in advertising and tireless personal appearances, rather impressive for a man of his vintage. He retained full control of the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand in Canada until his death at age 90 in 1980.
Even though he was complicit in the mass marketing of it, Sanders was openly hostile and extremely vocal about the lack of quality control in favour cost-cutting and money grubbing that he saw sullying the brand he had slaved so hard to build south of the border. He was sued (unsuccessfully) by a group of U.S franchisees when he commented "My God, that gravy is horrible. They buy water for 15 to 20 cents per thousand gallons and then they mix it with flour and starch and end up with pure wallpaper paste. And I know wallpaper paste, by God, because I've seen my Mother make it! To the wallpaper paste they add some sludge and sell it for 65 or 75 cents a pint. There's no nutrition in it and they ought not to be allowed to sell it." One can only imagine the fury of the good Colonel if he saw what a travesty the steroid laced, overpriced KFC menu has since become.
Colonel Sanders was a deeply religious, hardworking promoter who valued quality control over profit, marking him a man out of time in the burgeoning corporate environment of the 1970s. Well liked in Canada (amongst other philanthropic endeavours he helped fund the construction of the Trillium Health Centre, Sanders was more bullish in America. He would personally visit random KFC locations and if service and food were not up to his high standards, he would have their franchise licence revoked. Sanders had over time developed that mythical blend of 11 herbs and spices, the now discarded pressure-cooking process, and most importantly the desire to serve diners' chicken fresh, not frozen.
When Pepsico acquired the Canadian Kentucky Fried Chicken Scott's chain in 1987, global brand uniformity was swiftly implemented and the legacy of dirty bird was cast. In the vacuum created by Sander's absence, gimmicks (Oppee), imitation (Nuggets) and heart attack snacks became the norm, culminating in the Double Down sandwich, an ultimate carny styled glut of empty calories and salt that would make even Chris Farley types think twice.
It wasn't always so bleak. Admitted fried chicken fiend Dan Aykroyd (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000101/) made sure the Colonel's chicken got lots of free product placement in his very first film, the dreary but cheery love story Love at First Sight (1977), which also featured a totally bizarre yet strangely fitting cameo from Sanders himself milling around Niagara Falls.
A recent survey from that stalwart of journalistic integrity USA Today revealed that 61% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 do not know who the bespectacled, goateed old boy on the KFC logo is. Considering that parent company Yum Brands Inc., have claimed in the past that their initials stand for Kitchen Fresh Chicken, who can blame them?
Retrontario plumbs the seedy depths of Toronto flea markets, flooded basements, thrift shops and garage sales, mining old VHS and Betamax tapes that less than often contain incredible moments of history that were accidentally recorded but somehow survived the ravages of time. You can find more amazing discoveries at www.retrontario.com. | {
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In NIS America’s new, localized 3DS release, RPG Maker Fes, players can, well, make their own RPGs! And share them with others. In this first of a three-part video series checking out just what you can do with the title, we jump in blind and see how accessible and user-friendly the game’s tools can be.
Check back for our review tomorrow and the rest of the series between now and the game’s release next Tuesday!
Topics include: Building out a world map, making our protagonist, crafting weapons and special skills, making our first enemy, putting all of the carts before the horse and building out a credits sequence. | {
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Now, a new online forum appearing to be the heir-apparent to a taken-down militant neo-Nazi website called IronMarch , is calling on far-right extremists to attack public infrastructure and kick-off a race war.
“I'm sure most of you aren't going to go tomorrow and bomb a van of n-----s, but what exactly can we do, if we are to do some level of direct action?” he asks, conceding he isn’t yet going to go “Breivik” [an allusion to Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian mass shooter and neo-Nazi].
A user named ‘IronWill’ who identifies as an extremist and believes in “Esoteric Hitlerism”—a mystical take on Naziism—begins a conversation by asking his fellow posters how they could instigate a race war.
‘Fascist Forge’ appeared online in May 2018 and users—many who’ve appeared on other militant sites tracked by VICE—recently began discussing on open forums about “direct actions” or, in other words, terror attacks, advocating for targeting public infrastructure and reflecting a growing trend online from the far-right.
Evidence of more neo-Nazis sharing a collective belief in inciting domestic terror attacks follows in the vein of Atomwaffen Division—a violent neo-Nazi extremist group linked to several hate crimes , an attempted bombing, and a racially motivated killing —coupled with the social network called The Base , shows how the far-right is increasingly looking to organized militancy.
“When it comes to our struggle, we are practically a scattered militia of autonomous guerilla lone wolves,” the user wrote in early January 2019.
Another member writes extensively on the importance of operational security online, in order to continue the site and the broader white power movement without attracting attention from law enforcement. As the anonymous user, who has no handle, explains, everyone on the site is engaging in criminal activities.
“Use partisan tactics from WW2, disrupt communication lines, the electricity grid, infrastructure is a big one seeing how shitty America's infrastructure is at the moment, we should use disruption tactics and then jump off from there,” fires back one user named ‘Reith.’
“Simply put, we want to funnel Fascists to the site, get acquainted with them, and then help them get in contact with other Fascists in their area so they can meet up and form their own local groups & networks,” reads Mathias’ post. “The site will provide these local groups with the ability to communicate among themselves without the worry of censorship or attacks by the enemy in addition to a plethora of online resources.”
Fascist Forge’s founder and frequent poster is a user going by the name ‘Mathias’ who explained the apparent goal of the site in a post, which can only be seen by members.
Moreover, Fascist Forge is directly borrowing from IronMarch—a defunct forum taken down in November 2017, where Atomwaffen Division was first conceived among its members, and openly venerates IronMarch founder, Alexander Slavros. After it was linked to Atomwaffen Division, and the crimes surrounding the group, IronMarch was quietly pulled in 2017 and Slavros went dark. No concrete explanation for its removal has ever been given.
“The site has purposely been modeled after Ironmarch.org, which prior to its shutdown was the foremost Fascist website in the world. Our aim is to continue where they left off," writes Mathias in a post from June 2018.
And one leading expert agrees. Ryan Scrivens, a noted scholar on right-wing extremism, told VICE that IronMarch was a key accelerator in the extremism of the far-right and Fascist Forge is picking up where it left off. | {
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Four years ago, Green Flash Brewing Co. put their barleywine Shaggy in brandy barrels. In 2013, it’s time to wake Shaggy up. Sleepin’ With Shaggy arrives January 28th.
After spending 4 years in Brandy barrels it became time to unleash the dark monster within. Thick toffee aromatics exude with dense layers of fig, molasses, caramel, and a medley of dark fruits. Sweet flavors of toffee and caramel mingle with the warming spice of vanilla, sherry-like notes, and brandy barrel oak tannin. When served above 55 degrees Fahrenheit (highly recommended) more dark fruits like plum, date, raisin, and fig are further revealed.Our CEO/Founder Mike Hinkley has enjoyed pairing this Brandy Barrel Aged Barleywine with a big stuffed “Shaggy” dog that came from the local fair carnies and therefore we now have “Sleepin with Shaggy”.
Tickets on sale here for the release.
Style: Barleywine (Barrel Aged, Brandy)
Availability: 12oz bottles
Arrival: 1/28/13
12.5% ABV | {
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Renault suffered a poor pre-season and lost ground through chasing reliability in the opening races of the season, during which time it suffered a series of high-profile failures as well as heavy criticism from the Red Bull team and its drivers.
Since Barcelona in May, Renault’s V6 has been stable enough to concentrate on making performance steps and scored its first podium finish of the season at Hungary.
Now it is looking for a major leap in performance with the use of engine development tokens. It has yet to use any of its allocation of 12 tokens so far in 2015, and Red Bull boss Christian Horner is expecting it to take until Sochi for the upgrade to arrive.
“We will try to do as much as we can in one go to do the big step,” Taffin told Motorsport.com. “It is not going to be Spa, I guess, not Monza – maybe it will be Singapore or Russia or the race after. Whether it is Russia or not, it will be to have a proper improvement, something you can clearly see with the lap time.
“Either you go into the season and go for big steps, or you go for small steps. And sometimes you find small steps are more costly than the big steps, because you can concentrate on the big upgrade, and that is what we have done.
“Whether we will have the big upgrade in 2015 or 2016, it is because we started later than we would have liked. The fact is we also have some [new] parts on the dyno running, and we can see the performance is there.”
Setting realistic targets
Although Taffin is hopeful of implementing the major step, most likely in October, he does not expect the kind of performance jump that will challenge pacesetters Mercedes.
“I can definitely say we will not be as powerful – I don't think we will have a better engine than Mercedes by the end of the season, but that is not the aim,” said Taffin.
“We know where we are, we know where we want to be next season for example, and this step we want to make later in the season is part of the plan to recover. You have to be cautious and organised whether and where and when you want to close that gap.
“What we use at the end of this year will be something that we keep on using for next year, but this is what we would call the main programme, but there is still some parallel programmes, and there is development you follow and if something looks promising you try to integrate it.”
Small steps continue to be made
Renault continues to turn up its engines gradually, in an attempt to maximize their performance, until the big upgrade becomes available.
“Every single race, we try to put more performance in,” said Taffin. “I think from Spa or Monza onwards, we will be at the full potential of what we have got, but you have to bear in mind that we can use new fuel and stuff like that and we don't need tokens for that.
“It is fair to say we raced [in Hungary] with a new Total fuel, and that is part of the development programme.
“The plan is there. The fact is we’ve got some parts on the dyno, and we see progress, but until we are sure that the big step is there – ready to go – we will not put it on the car.”
Interview by Oleg Karpov | {
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But is that blockbuster battle really accurate? A closer look at the historical feud between Tesla and Edison suggests that how we think of them today says less about the two inventors than it does about ourselves.
That the rivalry has boomed is all new and a bit surreal. For most of the 20th century, Edison was America's greatest inventor and a hero of the industrial age, valorized for his hard work and ingenuity. But lately, it's Tesla who's seen his stature rise as a hero of the big idea and the true symbol of Silicon Valley–style innovation. The two are portrayed as representing completely different ideas of scientific progress, with a rivalry fit for a summer movie.
But the Tesla-Edison rivalry reaches far beyond a webcomic that's a few years old. It's gone from viral image to ever-present meme to pop culture canon. Rather than fizzling in the past couple of years, the feud's hype has only grown. It's shown up on T-shirts , in movie speculation , and even in parody rap battles:
But that enthusiasm has come at a cost — slamming Thomas Edison at every opportunity. In the popular imagination, Tesla and Edison were mortal enemies, and everybody has to pick a side. Inman's famous comic argues that Tesla, not Edison, was "the greatest geek who ever lived," while Edison "was a [censored] idiot" who stole ideas and merely profited off patents.
Today Tesla is a geek icon, credited with pioneering alternating current and radio. He inspires tributes around the world (and occasionally long gardening sessions). That geeky cult is part of the reason the new Tesla Center is being built. Matthew Inman, author of a famous comic strip at the Oatmeal about how Tesla is awesome, kicked off a $1.37 million crowdfunding campaign to help build the new museum.
In 2013, plans were underway to build the Tesla Science Center in Shoreham, New York, where the genius inventor Nikola Tesla's laboratory once operated. But there was a problem. The site had fallen into disrepair since Tesla worked there, and it was overrun by thick, tall weeds. That didn't stop Tesla's fans. They brought their own tools, including those machetes, and spent their weekends hacking away the brush.
In 1884, a 28-year-old Serbian named Nikola Tesla arrived in New York City and quickly found a job with Thomas Edison, who, at 37, had already invented a new type of telegraph, created a pioneering lab, and founded the Edison Illuminating Company that developed Edison's work in electrical light. In his new position, Tesla helped Edison install lab equipment, repair generators, and design new machines.
A year later, Tesla left to start his own electric lighting company. The new system he used relied on alternating currents for induction motors — which set the stage for his famous conflict with Edison.
The dispute centered on which type of electric current should become the universal standard in the United States. Edison preferred direct current (DC), which was already widely used (and which Edison was profiting off of through his patents). But DC had a key drawback: It was difficult to convert the low voltage from power plants into high-voltage transmission lines that could carry electricity long distances. So a DC system would require many smaller power plants built close to users.
Tesla's alternating current (AC) system fixed this problem. Using transformers, the voltages could be raised and lowered, making it possible to have power plants many miles from wherever power was being used. Tesla sold his patents to George Westinghouse, who promoted the new AC system against Edison's.
The resulting "current wars" did turn into a genuine rivalry — at least for a while. Edison launched a publicity campaign to promote DC, which included public displays of AC electrocution in front of a live audience. In 1903, Edison supervised workers as they electrocuted an elephant named Topsy. (The logic wasn't particularly sound: It was like saying drowning cats in vats of soda proves that sugar is bad for you.)
But the spat also ended pretty quickly — and Edison lost. As early as 1893, Westinghouse had won a bid to electrify the World's Fair. By 1896, General Electric had ditched DC for AC, which eventually became the dominant system in the United States. And Tesla, for his part, moved on to new inventions quickly —by 1892, he was already lecturing in London about his plans for radio. Edison's elephant electrocution was an after-the-fact flail at relevance — DC had already lost.
Historians say this feud was a blip, not an epic conflict. And it just wasn't as bitter as today's mythmakers suggest. "Tesla just didn't worry about Edison," says W. Bernard Carlson, who wrote about Tesla in Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. "He actually kind of idolized him when he worked for him. He was annoyed, but there wasn't this lifelong bitter animosity that you see being conjured up." (If Tesla fans are looking for a true rival, every biographer I talked to suggested Guglielmo Marconi, who built off Tesla's work to "invent" radio. Their rivalry actually had the vitriol we imagine in the Tesla-Edison dispute.)
The "current wars" were a fascinating but short-lived business dispute. The tougher question is how this spat got transformed, in our historical memory, into a battle more fit for a Marvel movie than a business textbook.
Tesla and Edison weren't as different as we like to believe
Tesla's biggest fans champion him as an isolated aesthete, focused on creating breakthrough inventions like his ideas for wireless electricity. They also portray Thomas Edison as a cutthroat businessman who wasn't nearly as inventive as Tesla — but was simply better at patenting ideas, relying on truly inventive assistants, and bamboozling the easily impressed media.
The truth is somewhere in between. Tesla was also a businessman who was aware of the importance of the press. To create his great ideas, he needed the money and support to do it. And he often exaggerated his claims. "He had a complicated relationship with the tabloids of the time," Carlson says. Tesla's pitches didn't always pan out — but he still made them with vigor.
Edison, meanwhile, certainly wasn't viewed as a hack by most of his contemporaries — he was hailed a genius, for both technical and business acumen. That was true for the period spanning from Edison's invention of the lightbulb in 1879 to his death in 1931. "He was the inventor with the golden touch, who was like a living god," says Randall Stross, who wrote the Edison biography The Wizard of Menlo Park.
It's true that Edison purchased intellectual property and had a team working for him, but he was also a genius with many accomplishments to his name. Fueled by his workaholic habits (he labored until midnight the night of his wedding), Edison created a device that allowed two messages to be sent in both directions at the same time — a major innovation early on in the telegraph, and something that required a geek's talent and obsession. His innovations ranged from quirky experiments like his battery-powered pen to iconic inventions like the phonograph. And these early strokes of genius can't be entirely attributed to smart assistants or opportunistic patenting. At the very least, even Edison's critics have to admit he's like the best aspects of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs rolled into one.
Modern-day Tesla fans like to argue that Edison simply worked the media better, and that explains his fame. It's true that Edison knew how to tease the press. Journalists recorded every remark he made, newspapers breathlessly reported on the tests he used for potential hires (the same way they do for Google today), and thousands made the pilgrimage to Edison's home base in Menlo Park, New Jersey. "[Edison] was regarded as the preeminent authority on just about anything," says Stross. "I can't think any person today would be regarded in the same way — as an omniscient sage."
But Tesla wasn't a shy shadow of Edison, either — he was a competitor for media attention. They had different pitches to the media, but both men had hooks to offer. "With Edison," Carlson says, "it's about Yankee ingenuity. With Tesla, because of his absence of commercial results, he takes a more utopian vision ... he's sort of the more long-term social vision of what technology can do."
The modern myth about the two inventors is unrealistic. Tesla wasn't an angelic martyr for science, and Edison wasn't a craven businessman who stole all of his ideas. Each of them was a little bit of both, not a total hero or villain.
How we think about them is a reflection of modern values — our beliefs run through them, like current through power lines.
What Tesla's modern-day comeback — and Edison's fall — says about us
Jane Alcorn didn't always know who Nikola Tesla was. She was introduced to him in the mid-1990s by a neighbor with a "TESLA" license plate. After learning a bit about the inventor, Alcorn was hooked. "His life is a very compelling story," she tells me.
Alcorn soon led the fight to restore Tesla's long-lost lab in Shoreham, New York. At first, it was an uphill battle: In the 1990s, few people knew who Tesla was, even in the nearby area. He was a forgotten inventor.
Now that's changed. Everyone loves Tesla. The community around Shoreham even has signs with pictures of Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower, the early wireless transmission tower at the lab.
Biographers have different theories about why Tesla has enjoyed a modern-day revival — and why Edison's become a relic.
Jill Jonnes, author of Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World, thinks that it's become harder to appreciate Edison's contributions because we take them for granted. Today we're so used to available electric light that it's tough to appreciate the breakthrough. But that wasn't true in the 19th and early 20th century: "People loved Edison and worshipped him, because in their own lifetimes they'd seen their lives change because of this one man," Jonnes says.
Meanwhile, most of Nikola Tesla's ideas and visions, barely realized while he was alive, seem more exciting today. We can still get excited about wireless electricity and new forms of communication. It's no coincidence that the hottest electric car company is named after Tesla — Tesla's name evokes the future, while Edison's is covered in dust.
Carlson, the Tesla biographer, argues that the inventor might be a more appropriate hero for Silicon Valley's genius-worshiping culture, where breakthroughs that can change the world are prized over incremental innovations that make the world slightly better. "The central myth of Silicon Valley is that silicon has changed the world," he says. "Tesla, in their mind, is one of those visionaries that said bold changes are going to undergird the future of society. Edison was just building companies."
Stross, the Edison biographer, argues that might explain why Edison isn't likely to make a comeback anytime soon. "In choosing historical figures that we're going to embrace," he says, "we're going to choose one whose defining feature is brilliance. I see Edison as a creature of the past who isn't going to come back in any form."
Tesla himself, at least in one quotation, helped sculpt the myth into the form it's taken today. The day after Edison died, Tesla perfectly articulated what would become each man's public image. "Edison was by far the most successful and, probably, the last exponent of this purely empirical method of investigation," he told the New York Times in 1931. "A little theory and calculation would have saved him 90% of the labor."
The most famous bromide we associate with Edison, about how genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration, doesn't fit with the culture at large today. We prefer to have our epiphanies in air-conditioned rooms. We don't like to sweat.
Is there a better way to think about the Tesla-Edison rivalry?
After Tesla died, his laboratory at Wardenclyffe was used as a photo processing facility. It later became a Superfund site and required significant environmental cleanup. But Jane Alcorn and her team are committed to restoring it. There are plans for a museum devoted to Tesla's work, his laboratory, and his inventions. There will be interactive displays and a theater for presentations, and students will eat in the Neon Cafe (because Tesla pioneered some of the first neon lights).
Yet even Alcorn, whose project has benefited so much from Tesla cheerleading, was reluctant to angrily condemn Edison like so many Tesla fans on the internet. She loves Tesla, and she thinks the rivalry definitely existed. But she also says that "in their later years, they had a begrudging respect."
It might be more accurate to honor Tesla and Edison by recognizing the complexity of their conflict, as well as the virtues and shortcomings each possessed. Both men were geniuses, in their own ways, and both men were fallible, too. Instead of fitting Tesla to our own age or judging Edison selectively, we could try to understand both men better on their own terms. (Even Inman, the author of the Oatmeal comic, long ago conceded that his view of the Tesla-Edison feud was a bit exaggerated, though he hasn't backed off entirely.)
But moderation could be another step in the wrong direction, too — both men never gave up their passion. And without an exaggerated view of Tesla and Edison, the Wardenclyffe lab, overrun by vines and in desperate need of cleanup, might never have been restored.
Sometimes it takes a good myth to get people to bring out their machetes. | {
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Three times it has been clear it is not you or your ideas. He said he was going to do it. He was elected for saying he was going to do it. He has done it. If Ontario didn’t want it, we wouldn’t have elected him.
You are irrelevant. Your party is irrelevant. Seventy-six seats to 40. Ontario couldn’t have made it clearer.
Him not you. Understand yet?
ANDY ABBOTT
HAWKESBURY
(We think she got the message.)
TRUMP THE CONTRARIAN
They say a photo is worth a 1,000 words, and again we see the truth in this saying. The latest NATO leaders photo — a quick Google of “NATO leaders photo 2018” — shows the assembled leaders all looking to their left at probably a flyover whereas U.S. President Donald Trump is looking to the right, maybe looking for the Trump Blimp, even if it is waiting for him in a different country.
The worrying part is the symbolism that most of the world is looking one way, to progress and peace, whereas he is looking at new borders and tariffs to protect his country, and this will sadly be his legacy.
DENNIS FITZGERALD
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
(Let this be a lesson to everyone: Don’t ever get caught looking the wrong way.)
WHAT’S IT ALL MEAN?
I went to high school “back in the day”. I remember being taught something about a fallopian tube, sperm and eggs. What it all meant, I had absolutely no idea, and when I graduated, I was no further ahead.
Truth be told, I don’t think I found out until I was 19, and Betty Ann is probably the one who explained it to me because my mother sure didn’t.
Having said that, I don’t know what Premier Doug Ford’s plans are regarding fallopian tubes, sperm and eggs, but, it would be nice for kids to know what it all means by the time they reach high school.
JILL YOUNG
OTTAWA
(Exactly.) | {
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95-year-old Charles Eugster set a new record in the 200 metres at the indoor British Masters in London.
Our athletics reporter Ed Harry adds commentary to the video, which saw the former dentist record a truly impressive time of 55.48 seconds.
Video courtesy of Silver Grey sports club.
This clip is originally from 5 live Drive on Monday 9 March 2015. | {
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北朝鮮のテレビをインターネット配信で見る方法
世界的に注目を浴びている北朝鮮の情報をダイレクトに収集するために、北朝鮮のテレビ放送を見る方法を紹介しましょう。北朝鮮のテレビはニュースだけでなく、音楽やアニメなどを総合的な放送内容となっています。そして、最も手軽に北朝鮮のテレビを見るなら、インターネット配信を利用するのです。
北朝鮮のテレビを視聴する定番手法
北朝鮮のテレビを視聴するには、北朝鮮政府系の新聞社などの公式サイトやYouTubeの公式チャンネルでの視聴、または非公式サイトでストリーミング配信や録画配信を見るのが定番の手法となっています。
北朝鮮国内のテレビ放送局は「朝鮮中央テレビ」「万寿台テレビ」「竜南山テレビ」の3局があります。その中で、毎日放送しているのは朝鮮中央テレビです。番組はすべて北朝鮮政府によるプロパガンダ放送ですが、ニュース・音楽・アニメ・教育など総合的な放送内容となっています。
そんな朝鮮中央テレビは、Facebookページを開設。以前はストリーミング配信をしていましたが、現在は停止中です。動画をアップしたり、関連するYouTubeチャンネルのリンクが貼られているので、そこから北朝鮮のテレビを視聴できます。
北朝鮮のアニメもアップされている
「rodrigorojo1」は朝鮮中央テレビのFacebookページからリンクされている関連YouTube公式ページ。なぜかメキシコから配信されていますが、レアな北朝鮮映画などが見られます。
「わが民族同士」は、北朝鮮の祖国平和統一委員会が運営するニュース＆広報サイト。Webサイト上から朝鮮中央テレビの動画が見られます。解像度は最大640×360ドットとまずまずです。
「エルファテレビ」は北朝鮮系組織である朝鮮総連が運営するWebサイト。朝鮮中央テレビのニュース以外に、北朝鮮製のアニメや映画、オリジナル動画などが視聴可能です。中でも注目は金正恩の指導の下、製作されているアニメ『少年大将』。現在、87話までアップされています。
■「北朝鮮の放送」おすすめ記事
今も届く北朝鮮の乱数放送の「暗号」を読み解く
北朝鮮が工作員に暗号を送る「乱数放送」が再開
北朝鮮のテレビをインターネットで視聴する方法
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あわせて読みたい記事 | {
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UPDATE: Meteor 1.2 launched with official support for Angular. It’s also clear that Meteor’s Blaze UI layer isn’t being pushed forward as fast as other UI libraries. In that case, Angular may be a good fit for your app. As always, YMMV.
There’s been a lot of chatter lately on Crater.io and the Meteor Google Groups about combining Angular and Meteor.
I too have found Meteor’s UI features lacking from time to time, or have wanted to use any of the great libraries built on top of Angular like Ionic.
Blaze: Meteor’s Angular
While exploring the new Meteor.com site I found this description of the Blaze package to be particularly interesting:
Meteor Blaze is a powerful library for creating live-updating user interfaces. Blaze fulfills the same purpose as Angular, Backbone, Ember, React, Polymer, or Knockout, but is much easier to use.
A pretty bold statement. I had personally never thought of Blaze that way, but once I did I started looking at my Meteor code quite a bit differently.
Component-driven Development in Meteor
I recently attempted to port Ionic’s Angular integration over to Meteor. It’s still very much a work in progress, and I’d love some help (seriously…I have no idea what I’m doing ☺), but I’ve already learned a lot about Blaze, and it made me realize how many similarities Blaze’s Templates have to Angular’s Directives.
Templates as Directives
Just like Angular’s directives (and to a lesser extent web components), Blaze’s templates can be used as self-contained, reusable components. Take this Angular directive from Ionic:
<ion-checkbox ng-model="isChecked">Checkbox Label</ion-checkbox>
You can see the underlying Angular implementation here. Now here’s how the same component would look in a Meteor Template:
{{#ionCheckbox model=isChecked}}Checkbox Label{{/ionCheckbox}}
…and it’s underlying Blaze implementation. As you can see, not only is it possible to implement the same component in Blaze, I’d argue the code is much cleaner and easier to understand (no esoteric `restrict: ‘E’` or `transclude: true` magic, for instance). Here’s a demo of the checkbox in action.
What is Blaze Missing?
I’m still discovering all that Blaze has to offer, but I will say that the main thing it lacks is polish. A lot of features are still undocumented and some tasks are awkward to implement or require custom solutions. I may be wrong, but I get the feeling that all the necessary pieces are in place, they just need to be put together.
The Future of Blaze
Blaze still has a ways to go before it is as robust as Angular or Ember, but I’m confident it will get there. The Blaze README has an entire section on their future plans. This quote is particularly relevant:
Blaze will get better patterns for creating reusable UI components. Templates already serve as reusable components, to a point.
I think it would be great to see the Meteor community try to push the boundaries of Blaze and give the Meteor developers feedback, rather than try to replace Blaze with Angular or other frameworks.
And here’s hoping we’ll see some big improvements to Blaze in Meteor 1.1 ☺ | {
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After the Miami Dolphins lost starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill for the season during training camp, the team decided to lure former Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler out of retirement with a one-year, $10 million deal to fill the spot. The move raised some eyebrows as it was yet another instance of Colin Kaepernick — who was at the center of controversy last season over his refusal to stand during the National Anthem — being passed over by an NFL team in need of a quarterback.
During Monday night’s broadcast of Fox News’ The Five, co-host Jesse Watters wanted it to be known that the Dolphins shouldn’t be knocked as being racist for not signing the black quarterback. Instead, Watters insisted they were just avoiding Kaep because they think he’s an idiot.
After pointing out that some players are able to keep getting signed despite criminal behavior, Watters then came to Miami’s defense.
“The Dolphins aren’t anti-black,” he noted. “They’re anti-idiot. This guy lacks respect. And he’s bad for team chemistry. And he’s bad for the franchise.”
Watters went on to state that it would be pretty difficult for Kaepernick to ingratiate himself to Miami fans based on the previous support he’d shown for former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
“They’re going to boo him out of there!” he exclaimed.
After Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers earlier this year, it was reported that he wouldn’t continue his protest during ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ in the 2017 season. Kaepernick felt at the time that there had been positive changes made on the issues of racial and social inequality.
Watch the clip above, via Fox News.
[image via screengrab]
—
Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] | {
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UPDATE (at bottom): City’s law department tells RAW STORY that a new 9/11 investigation is ‘not a proper subject to be placed before the voters’ …
A lead actor from the popular FX television show “Rescue Me” joined a large group of 9/11 activists and survivors on Sunday in a march from New York City’s Battery Park to city hall.
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During an afternoon rally in the park, Daniel Sunjata, who plays the role of Franco Rivera in the firefighter drama featuring actor Dennis Leary, took the stage with an impassioned call for a new investigation.
The march was held to support the NYC CAN coalition, which is currently engaged in a court battle with city hall over the legality of their ballot measure calling for a new 9/11 investigation.
The group has gathered over 80,000 signatures from New Yorkers in support of its ballot initiative, and even won a recent legal skirmish over a challenge to the validity if its petition’s signatures. The city’s challenge to the initiative’s legality continues, however, with a court referee recently advising the judge to find for the city.
An NYC CAN media advisory, which refers to the 9/11 Commission Report as a “disgrace,” notes that the group’s lawyers were to file a motion for reconsideration on Monday, Sept. 28.
“We have received, for our efforts, a slap in the face and a kick in the mouth,” said Sunjata, speaking at the NYC CAN rally on Sunday. “Although 80,000 New Yorkers have voice their desire, in writing, to include on November’s mayoral ballot the referendum for a new and actual investigation into 9/11, New York City has responded by taking the position that it has no jurisdiction in that matter.”
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“No jurisdiction?!” he shouted. “No jurisdiction into the murder of 3,000 of its own citizens? No jurisdiction or the intent of seeking such jurisdiction. Bloomberg.”
A ruling on the city’s motion for summary judgment on the initiative’s legality was expected today, although the group’s new motion would appear to delay that for at least a little longer. The group says it expects a decision one way or another later this week.
“A favorable ruling would likely be appealed by the City pushing the issue to the Appellate Court,” an NYC CAN advisory predicted. “If the Petition overcomes all legal challenges, goes to November ballot and the referendum passes, it would lead to the creation of a local, independent commission with subpoena power that would be tasked with comprehensively reinvestigating the attacks.”
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“While the specter of 9/11 is raised repeatedly, ghoulishly, dangled before us to justify the dismemberment of our Constitution, the trampling of our civil liberties,” said Sunjata. “Questioning 9/11 itself? Oh, that is strictly prohibited. Do you hear that, New York? Do you hear that, family members? Cops? Firefighters? First responders? Your government has just told you, again, again, that you are good enough to die for them, but that asking questions about the inciting event is un-American, unpatriotic and just quite simply out of bounds.”
Sunjata’s support for a fresh investigation into the attacks is well known to regular “Rescue Me” viewers. Earlier this year, a “Rescue Me” subplot even incorporated his belief that the attacks were an “inside job.”
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Other speakers at Sunday’s rally included “9/11 family members Bob McIlvaine and Manny Badillo, New York University’s Professor of Media Studies [and] Mark Crispin Miller,” noted NYC CAN.
Kate O’Brien Ahlers, New York City’s law department communications director, commented to RAW STORY: “As the legal referee recommended — and the City agrees — the focus of this referendum is not a proper subject to be placed before the voters under applicable law.”
In an initial response, Ahlers attributed the city’s position to the court’s supposed ruling, not the legal referee. It was later corrected in an e-mail. The court has not yet ruled on the ballot initiative.
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A majority of the NYC CAN presentation, which includes Sunjata’s speech (from 18:38 to 23:57), is available here.
This video is from YouTube, broadcast Sept. 27, 2009.
This story was updated from a previous version to reflect the city’s position on the NYC CAN ballot initiative. | {
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"We are delighted to welcome Steve Sarkisian back to the Trojan Family," said Haden. "We conducted a very exhaustive and thorough search, pinpointing about 20 candidates and interviewing five of them. We kept coming back to Sark. He is the only one who was offered the job. I believe in my gut that he is the right coach for USC at this time. "He embodies many of the qualities for which we looked. He is an innovative coach who recruits well and develops players. He is a proven and successful leader. He connects with people. He has energy and passion. He knows how to build a program and create a culture that we value. He is committed to academic success and rules compliance. And he understands the heritage and tradition of USC." | {
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At first glance this looks "good". But when i take another look I once again notice all the extra detail and movement you put into the hair! And even the little detail above the hooves. Very nice ;3 | {
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Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has enlisted the help of high-profile whistleblowers and celebrities for a new video. "Stop Watching Us: The Video" is a call to arms; it sees celebrities, whistleblowers, activists, and politicians speaking out against mass surveillance and the NSA. Among the celebrity speakers on the video are John Cusack, Oliver Stone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Wil Wheaton. It's hoped that the high-profile faces will help persuade people to rally against the NSA's "dragnet surveillance of our communications."
The Rally Against Mass Surveillance will take place October 26th between midday and 3PM. Organized by the EFF, ACLU, and other groups under the Stop Watching Us banner, the rally has also received endorsement from the high-profile whistleblower Edward Snowden. In a statement posted to the Stop Watching Us site, Snowden says "no telephone in America makes a call ... no internet transaction enters or leaves America without passing through the NSA's hands. Our representatives in Congress tell us this is not surveillance. They're wrong. Now it's time for the government to learn from us." | {
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More San Francisco 49ers News
Peter King of TheMMQB joined "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network Monday morning and discussed the future of quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Washington Redskins have until 1 p.m. PST to come to an agreement on a long-term deal with the quarterback. If they do not, the two parties will not be able to reopen negotiations until after the completion of the 2017 season.In February, Washington used the exclusive franchise tag on Cousins, which guarantees the quarterback $23.94 million in 2017 but places 2018 into question. Washington will have an opportunity to try to re-sign Cousins but also risks losing him to free agency.King believes that Washington is still looking for Cousins to prove himself worthy of such a large contract. The Oakland Raiders recently set the market for franchise quarterbacks when they signed Derek Carr to a new five-year contract worth up to $125 million."Kirk Cousins went to Michigan State – 'Oh well, I've got to prove it there,'" explained King. "He was not the big star when he went to college. Then, in the NFL, he gets picked 100 picks after Robert Griffin III so he has to prove it again. And this has been his whole life as a quarterback. 'I've got to prove it. I've got to prove it.' So this is not really that strange to him."Now, having said all that, the big question right now is, 'WWFD?' What will the 49ers do? And the big question there is I believe the 49ers would love to sign Kirk Cousins in 2018. If that's the case and if they don't franchise him in 2018, it's an easy decision. But what happens if they do franchise him again and the 49ers say, 'Well, that's alright. It's worth it to us to go after him and get him.' Would they be willing to pay the great freight to get him under the franchise tag?"These are the kind of questions but I don't expect anything to happen by 4 o'clock (1 p.m. PST) today."King is correct that Washington could use the franchise tag on Cousins for an unprecedented third straight year – but at an excessive cost. Cousins earned nearly $20 million playing under the franchise tag in 2016. The cost to use the franchise tag on Cousins in 2018 will have a cost of nearly $35.4 million. Washington could use the transition tag on the quarterback at a reduced cost starting at $28.7 million but would risk losing Cousins to a higher bidder if it does not match a competing offer. That would be a three-year cost of anywhere between $72 million and $79.3 million.That is a lot of money for a quarterback it could have signed for much cheaper if it truly believed he was a crucial part of Washington's future.Right now, the 49ers have four quarterbacks on the roster with Brian Hoyer, Matt Barkley, and rookie C.J. Beathard being the most likely to make the 53-man roster. The team also signed rookie Nick Mullens, who will have to compete for a spot, as an undrafted free agent.If the 49ers cannot acquire Cousins or another quarterback and do not believe that one of the signal callers on the roster is a long-term solution, the team still has the 2018 NFL Draft. The quarterback class in that draft is expected to be the strongest in recent years.The situation for the 49ers might become clearer by Monday's deadline, but there will still be a lot of questions leading into the 2018 offseason. | {
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Rating: 5 stars this is surprisingly decent. if you are vegan you will think this is the bomb! if you are a regular meat/dairy eater like me you'll say "hmmm tastes alittle like soy". not that bad though. i used the blender and the cake is very smooth & creamy. i also made my own graham cracker crust (crackers/butter/sugar) and i did spread some thinned-out strawberry jam on top. i got a HUGE package of tofu from Costco and was looking for something to do with it. it also makes a great pareve dessert for those that are kosher. Thumb Up Helpful (69)
Rating: 5 stars I've tried this. The trick is to Add REAL vanilla flavoring to the tofu the day before, the sugar, and lemon juice. Blend this together with food processor or super high powered blender. If your blender sucks you wont get a good consistency. Once blended, pop this in the fridge and let it set over night or the next 2 days so the Vanilla flavor can overpower the bean taste. If you like a little kick to your cheesecake, add some other flavoring (rum, coconut, strawberry, almond etc.) and let the tofu marinate in the chosen flavoring over night. Add the other ingredients after the marinating and then bake. Tastes JUST like cheesecake! Thumb Up Helpful (68)
Rating: 1 stars I used the extra firm tofu as suggested and no matter how much I used the blender the consistency wasn't smooth at all and the flavour was awful in fact it was disgusting. Most disappointng!!! I don't appreciate having my review altered. What's the point in doing reviews if they can be changed. Thumb Up Helpful (42)
Rating: 3 stars I followed recipe exactly but it was not cooked for at least another 1/2 hour. It tasted nothing like cheesecake. We topped with fresh strawberries. One daughter said it reminded her of rice pudding. Most adults just said it was "different" but no one got a cheesecake feel from it. Most said it didn't taste bad it just wasn't what they were expecting. I doubt I will try it again Thumb Up Helpful (35)
Rating: 3 stars This is a great recipe for starters but mine was runny and did not really taste like "cheesecake." Remade it with following changes: added two large eggs and two tablespoons white flour plus the grated rind of a lemon and mixed in food processor. THOSE results were very NY Cheese-cake-ish and a great pareve desert with strawberries. Thumb Up Helpful (35)
Rating: 5 stars This turned out really good. My husband who is a serious cheesecake fan even liked this a lot. I did add in a small amount of dairy free cream cheese. But not enough to really change the recipe much. Also for those who are not getting the tofu creamy enough ensure that you are using Mori Nu Silken Firm Tofu. You will know that you are using the right stuff because it will come out of the box very silky and smooth looking to begin with. The other tofu's are not silky smooth even before blending. This is really a good recipe. Thumb Up Helpful (16)
Rating: 4 stars This recipe is definitely a keeper. The consistency was excellent and it held up very well. I'm thinking that maybe those who didn't get a smooth consistency used the wrong type of tofu. My only gripe is that this is a little too sweet for me and I have a sweet tooth... The next go round I'll probably add more lemon juice and less sugar.:) Thumb Up Helpful (12)
Rating: 4 stars This was tastey and very satisfying...although it took significantly longer than 30 minutes to cook. I added a blueberry topping and it tasted great...a definite bonus to my evolving veganism! Thumb Up Helpful (11) | {
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By Utkan Sahin/ [email protected]
With the EuroLeague season over, despite the fact that in most European leagues the playoffs are at full swing, transfers news are already taking the center stage.
While many players who have valid contracts may also change clubs, here’s the list of the Free Agents of all the EuroLeague teams. That includes not only the teams that played last year in the EuroLeague but also those who have already secured their place in the 2019-2020 season. | {
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The latest news, photos and video features from the trusted Sportscar365 web staff. | {
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The designation of Masood Azhar as a terrorist in the UNSCR 1267 list has been blocked yet again by China using its veto power. China has its own economic reasons for doing this.
The Chinese have penetrated into Pakistan on account of recent their CEPC and BRI initiatives. They have invested heavily in Pakistan. There are indeed geopolitical reasons for that. Paramount is the effort to counterbalance Pakistan. The quantum of investment is huge to extend their access to Gwadar Port in Pakistan almost running through the heart of Pakistan.
In addition, there are reportedly 60,000 Chinese workers in Pakistan, which is also a weakling and security of these personnel located in Pakistan is one of the reasons perhaps. This has to be seen in the context that there was a terrorist attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in the recent past. This reaffirms that being a friend and benefactor is no guarantee in a terror-ridden state like Pakistan.
Having said that, even this terror attack on the Chinese consulate might have been a ploy employed by the Pakistani state to leverage China into offer quid pro quo support to their terror entities in exchange for the protection of Chinese works from terror attacks. We don't know. Anything is possible in Pakistan.
Indeed, they have been caught dressing up the Balakot post-attack footprints. If the attack was on a non-state actor's establishment, why should they dress up the scene? A million dollar question.
But as far as student of geopolitics of the South Asia region are concerned, they are well aware that there is little distinction between state and non-state actors in Pakistan, including its head of the state.
All are subservient to the mighty Army, which effectively rules by proxy. They decide who will be the chief of ISI, who will win the election, which terror organisation is to be formed, which ones are to be rechristened (reportedly Jaish-e-Mohammad or some other organisations are being rechristened as Al Madina), amalgamation and merger of these terror organisations, including recruitment policies of the terror organisations and their training modules.
The mighty Army also decides how much opium is to be harvested from their western frontiers, as betrayed by the repeated interjection of their defence personnel(read ISI) in bilateral discussions on subject relating to MOU between our Narcotics Control Bureau and Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force, if I recall from personal memory.
At the same time, I have observed one thing. There is a unity of command. Not just that. In matters anti-India, there is unity and convergence of opinion. This is very important for our politicians to learn.
Let me recall the case of Rehman Malik, who was Interior Minister in 2008 and oversaw the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, recently came out and issued a statement in consonance and echoing the statement of Pakistan government, although he is no longer in any position. This is lesson for our political parties.
Here, the leader of an opposition party is poking fun at the failure of the government to reign in China. Many of their leaders are celebrating this as a failure of the government. Let us get it right. I have already explained China has its own reasons to stand in support of Pakistan and Masood Azhar. It is better economics than politics for them.
In a tweet before China blocked Masood Azhar's designation as a terrorist, I had forecast what Beijing would do. I am not chest thumping. That is not my ilk. It is the ilk of some of the Congressmen. Yesterday, in one of the debates, one Congressman said he had proudly claimed success in enlisting of Hafiz Saeed as an entity in UNSCR 1276 list.
I was at the helm of affairs at that time. If Hafiz Saeed is on the UNSCR list, credit goes to one gentleman. His name is HS Puri. He was India's Permanent Representative to UN posted at New York. He steadfastedly chased with us all the documents and evidences that are required and requested by various nations in support of the proposal. The same officer in fact had also wanted such documents in support proposal of domestic designation by USA under UNSCR 1373, but I have detailed in my book how the same was not provided for a long time. Incidentally, the steadfast and excellent diplomat joined politics in 2014 and is a minister in the present government.
HS Puri's case is not isolated. Let us take the case of another officer. He was Commissioner of Police in Pune when the German Bakery blast occurred. I have explained again in my book as to how the state government was alerted through an advisory, but the same did not penetrate to the Commissioner. He was a celebrated and able officer and had he got the advisory in time he would have averted or pre-empted that attack. Also recall that he is the officer who had sent a report on the anti-national activities of Zakir Naik to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The then government, which was friendly towards Naik, trivialised this report as a communal issue and not fraught with risk to the security of the country. Hence, they sent the report to Human Rights/National Integration Division (HR/NI Division), which concluded as per their policy and perspective that there is no danger to security and closed the matter. Ordinarily, this should have been dealt in the Internal Security Division or least in the FCRA Division as the report had contained certain inputs to place the IRF of Dr Naik, at least on probation.
After his tenure in Pune, he was posted as Commissioner of Police in Mumbai. The investigation into the 26/11 Mumbai attacks were on in full swing at that time. We all know that there were several interventions from the government in the investigation to ensure that local conspirators are not brought to book. This would have exposed many high and mighty and people dear to the establishment.
I am not speculating. I would like readers to also read the reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question no 78 answered on 2.3.2010, where the government has admitted that Kasab had confessed to involvement of locals. Incidentally, he is also a Minister in the present government. The name of the officer is Dr Satya Pal Singh.
Next on the list is a former Union Home Secretary. It is reported that in 2013, when my harassment by Satish Verma was taken up by Secretary of Urban Development with him, he had strongly taken up the case with establishment. Unfortunately, he superannuated in a few days and hence could not take it up further. There were several issues on which he had differences with the then dispensation. His name is RK Singh. He to is a minister in the present government
Next on the list is the former Chief of Army Staff. He was accused of planning to stage a coup against the government. Stupid it may sound, as we all know that there are more than 10,000 army personnel posted at any time in Delhi, and if an Army general wants a coup, it is just a matter of minutes to give shape to this evil design.
But the Indian Army or security personnel on the whole enjoy the trust of the nation more than the politicians. It is sacrilege and preposterous on the part of any political party to throw such allegations. In fact, the powers that be at the time should be prosecuted criminally for this false news and painting the Indian Army in bad light. The name of the Army Chief is General VK Singh, and he too is a minister in the Cabinet.
There are some more instances of people involved in public policy being humiliated and harassed by the previous dispensation. Let us get it right. HS Puri, Satya Pal Singh, RK Singh and General VK Singh are more nationalist than any of these politicians taking swipe at them.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) | {
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Rep. Beto O'Rourke Beto O'RourkeJimmy Carter says his son smoked pot with Willie Nelson on White House roof O'Rourke endorses Kennedy for Senate: 'A champion for the values we're most proud of' 2020 Democrats do convention Zoom call MORE (D-Texas) on Thursday ruled out a 2020 presidential run if he wins in November against incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish Trump argues full Supreme Court needed to settle potential election disputes MORE (R).
The Texas Democrat, whose national prominence rose in recent months, did not however specifically rule out the possibility of running if he is defeated in November during a CNN town hall.
“The answer is no,” he told an audience member who asked if he foresees himself running for president. “Our children are 11, they’re 10, and they’re 7 years old. We’ve told them we’re going to take these almost two years out of our life to run this race, and then we’re devoted and committed to being a family again.”
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“I mean, let me put it this way,” he added when pressed by CNN's Dana Bash. “I promise to you, and most importantly, to the people of Texas, that I’ll serve every single day of a six-year term in the United States Senate and I won’t leave this state to go run for president.”
O'Rourke added that he would be "back in El Paso" if he doesn't win, though not specifically saying if losing would affect his 2020 plans.
Rep. Beto O'Rourke gives @DanaBashCNN a "definitive no" as to whether he would run for president.
"I promise to you and most importantly the people of Texas that I'll serve every day of a six-year term in the United States Senate," O'Rourke said. #TexasTownHall pic.twitter.com/J3pvy8EaKd — OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) October 19, 2018
O'Rourke's popularity following the a video on social media showing him defending NFL players' right to protest led to some speculation whether the 46-year-old could be a potential future contender for higher office in the Democratic Party.
He currently trails Cruz in the state's Senate race by single digits, according to recent polling of the race, but reported a massive $38 million fundraising haul for the most recent quarter of 2018. | {
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It was early 1999 when, like Balboa first glimpsing the Pacific, I happened upon one of the heavily Muslim neighborhoods of Amsterdam and saw the future immediately. Taking in the sight of bearded men in long skirts and women in hijab with three or four small children apiece — and noting the hostile looks I got from the men, and the obvious and deliberate separation of the women from the society around them — I recognized at once the demographic significance of it all. Somehow, moreover, I grasped instantly that this couldn’t just be happening in Amsterdam — why would it? It only seemed logical that there must be such neighborhoods in other Western European cities, too. I had never read or heard a word about this phenomenon. But now here I was in the midst of it, and between one moment to the next my view of the city, and the continent, that I, a native New Yorker, had relocated to because I viewed it as civilized, pleasant, and safe, was utterly transformed.
In the weeks and years that followed, I read a great deal about Islam, discovered Muslim communities in other European cities, and wrote about what I saw happening — and about the direction in which I feared things were going. Almost two decades later, my dire predictions have been proven right. The cities of Western Europe have become steadily more Islamized. And the byproducts of Islamization that I observed all those years ago have been magnified. No-go zones have proliferated. Crime rates have gone up. In one major city after another, the police are either under orders to avert their eyes from Muslim transgressions or have nowhere near the resources necessary to address them efficiently. Yet even as the problem grows increasingly dire, and thus increasingly obvious, authorities whitewash Islam more vigorously than ever and harass and prosecute those who dare to speak honestly about the topic.
As I have said before, there’s one big development about which I was gravely mistaken. If you had told me in 1999 that in 2018, in the small town in the mountains of Telemark in which I now live, I would get on a crowded bus and be surrounded exclusively by women in hijab and their small children, I would have expressed surprise. I expected the Muslim quarters in European cities to grow, but I didn’t foresee the expansion of Islam into the continent’s remote corners. Boy, was I wrong.
I live only two hours west of Oslo. In Norway’s far north, a twenty-four-hour drive from Oslo, is the municipality of Vadsø. It is in the county of Finnmark, on the coast of the Barents Sea, and has a population of about six thousand. It is the sort of place that, even in a continent supersaturated with Islam, you might expect to be an oasis of natives — most of whom, in this case, are not ethnic Norwegians but Sami folk, formerly known as Lapps or Laplanders, whose lives are centered largely on reindeer, which they herd, ride, eat, and have as pets. The kind of place, in short, where you might expect to die of boredom or frostbite (or severe depression during the long, dark winter), but not of cold-blooded murder in the middle of the sunshiny summer.
But no. On July 14, an 18-year-old local, Håvard Pedersen, was knifed to death at his workplace, a Coop grocery store in Vadsø, by a 17-year-old Afghan who came to Norway as an asylum seeker in 2015 and who now holds a temporary residence permit.
A coworker of Pedersen’s told the media that he had warned authorities in Vadsø two weeks earlier about the Afghan, with whom he had had a number of “skremmende” (scary, intimidating) encounters, but that they had brushed off his concerns.
“He knocks on doors and disturbs people, and comes in the store and looks like a sick person,” said the coworker. A spokesperson for the police department told NRK that it had had contact with the perpetrator in the previous month in connection with two examples of “troublesome conduct.” In the first instance, the Afghan teenager had “followed a girl all the way home and knocked on the veranda door.” In the second, he had engaged in behavior (no details) that had made another girl feel “very uncomfortable.” In response, the police had taken the young man aside for what they called a “preventative conversation” in which they explained to him that it was not appropriate to follow young women around.
The acting mayor of Vadsø, Otto Strand, at first refused to talk to NRK about the case (obviously a busy man) but later expressed concern that the murder would “lead to a change in attitude” on the part of the town’s residents. The defendant’s lawyer, Vidar Zahl Arntsen, criticized the authorities for not “doing enough” for his client. The leader of the Green Party in Vadsø, whose name, Farid Shariati, is neither Norwegian nor Sami, insists that the killing was an “isolated incident” and that it is wrong to place emphasis on the perpetrator’s origins. (On July 18, document.no noted that Shariati was fined two years ago on a narcotics violation.) The police, who said that there appeared to have been no relationship between the accused and the victim, also told reporters that so far there was no known motive for the crime. They hoped that interrogation would uncover one.
They seem not to grasp that, when one is dealing with a Muslim suspect, it may be futile to seek a motive in the conventional Western sense of the term. Not to jump to conclusions, but it might help them, if not in this case but in future cases (and there will certainly be future cases), to study the Koran, especially its directives about the proper conduct of faithful Muslims toward non-believers.
But Pedersen’s parents would likely not be pleased with this advice. Three days after their son’s murder, a spokesman for the family said that they don’t want it to lead to “racist speculation about the case in the social media.” In the words of NRK, the killing had occasioned many “xenophobic comments” on Facebook and elsewhere; Håvard Pedersen’s parents apparently wish to distance themselves from that “xenophobia.”
For my part, I have read a good many online comments about the murder by various Norwegians and I would not characterize any of them as xenophobic. I would say, rather, that they reflect a sober and realistic understanding of the vast differences between the culture of a country like Norway, which is built on freedom, mutual trust, and a strong sense of community, and the culture of a country like Afghanistan, where oppression, aggression, and corruption rule the day. The comments I’ve read also reflect a keen awareness of the nature of Islam — for instance, its teaching that the life of an infidel has no value and can be taken by a believer at will. Unfortunately, too many people, not only in little, out-of-the-way places like Vadsø but also in metropolitan centers around the world, still don’t get it, so that every now and then we encounter that most bizarre of spectacles: the grieving parents who, in effect, all but choke out apologies for the very ideology that is responsible for the murder of their child. | {
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Yale is quite discerning; it accepted only 6.27% of applicants last year. But not as discerning as Yale-NUS College—the controversial branch campus that Yale set up with the National University of Singapore in 2011—which last year took only 5%.
The Singapore school revealed its 2016 acceptance rate for the first time last week in response to inquiries from Yale’s student paper. Per the data, Singaporeans comprise the majority of students in last year’s highly selective class (the class of 2020), and the three countries most represented after that are the United States, India, and China. The school’s 5% global acceptance rate makes it technically harder to get into than any of the US’s Ivy League schools, even Harvard.
While Yale-NUS’s student body is much smaller than Yale’s—the school has less than 1,000 undergraduates, compared to Yale’s 5,000—the fact that its acceptance rate has dipped below its originator’s is significant for two reasons. First, it shows that Western universities’ preoccupation with opening branch campuses across the world, and particularly in Asia, seems to be paying off, at least in terms of brand growth.
The second reason is more troubling.
Between 2006, when Yale first considered the idea of international campus expansion, and 2011, when Yale-NUS was officially opened, a number of academics and education experts voiced concerns about Yale having a presence in Singapore in particular—a country whose political conservatism stands at odds with the idea of a liberal arts college. As many predicted, the school is now struggling to reconcile Yale’s individualistic values with the country’s restrictions on free speech; in 2014, it found itself in particularly hot water when it decided to show a film banned by the local government.
Yale-NUS has also been accused of delivering poor academic quality to students; one of the main criticisms is that its course curriculum is superficial and fails to deliver on the promise of meaningful, intimate seminars. If those concerns are well-founded, it raises the question of whether it’s ethical for a prestigious school like Yale to set up a campus in another country, lure students there with its brand name, and then offer a diluted caliber of teaching. In any case, Yale-NUS’s low admit rate last year—which was similarly low for previous classes, though those cohorts comprised fewer students—increasingly pushes the school into the spotlight, both for current students and aspiring ones. | {
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Also I was interviewed by Comic Book Resources! It was the first interview I'd done in a while that was about both Dinosaur Comics and Project Wonderful, the awesome advertising company I programmed! Usually people only ask me about one or the other. NOT THIS TIME!!!
One year ago today: i did the math and it looks like boorishly only send out screeds when he reaches three point nine rages. now you know
– Ryan | {
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Mauricio Pochettino is happy with Southampton's season and hailed the fans' support. Mauricio Pochettino is happy with Southampton's season and hailed the fans' support.
On a day of potential farewells for both clubs at St Mary's, the hosts dominated the first half against Manchester United before Ryan Giggs' side fought back after half-time to earn a 1-1 draw, with Juan Mata's free-kick cancelling out Rickie Lambert's opener.
Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw were both given standing ovations when they were substituted by Pochettino after impressive displays, with rumours rife of summer moves for both England hopefuls.
Boss Pochettino has been linked with the Tottenham job in recent weeks but again refused to be drawn on the speculation, revealing he intends sit-down talks with the club's owners on Monday.
"I want to say that I still have one more year on my contract," he said.
"It is only normal that these rumours will start cropping up. We know the rules with how these things happen in England.
"Tomorrow we will sit down and we will talk. This is the end of a five-year project, we have achieved what we wanted from this project and now a new project has to start.
"I have said that this club now deserves to be in a new project, the board has to decide how that happens, two years, three years or four years - I just want to sit down and talk and we will see what happens." | {
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At the Conservative Political Action Conference, the large annual gathering of right-wing activists and followers, people say a lot of crazy things -- too many, in fact, for me to cram into a single story. So I’ve picked a random 10 -- random insofar as they were among those I came across both in my own time at this enormous conference in Oxon Hill, Md., at the Gaylord National Harbor Convention Center just outside of Washington, D.C., and in reading the work of my fellow journalists and muckrakers. The conference took place March 14 - 16.
Presented, in no particular order, are 10 statements worthy, at least, of an eyeroll.
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1. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana: Torture is funny. A featured speaker on CPAC's main stage, Jindal chose to make light this way of the barrage of political rhetoric CPAC attendees signed up to subject themselves to:
If the choice was to hear 70 political speeches or to gowaterboarding, well, I’d have to think about that.
Video here.
2. Charles Butler, conservative talk show host: Single-parent households the fault of women with an agenda "on the booty call." At a breakout session titled "Fatherless America: The Headwaters of Poverty, Crime & Social Dysfunction," Butler laid the problem of single-parent families squarely at the feet of women, who, he suggested, are essentially tricking men into have children they don't want (because apparently most men have never heard of condoms):
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I’ve had two instances that were very close to me where this fatherless thing comes into play. Michael Jordan is a personal friend of mine -- Michael Jordan the basketball player, and a woman just filed a paternity suit against him for supposedly having this child out of wedlock. You have to understand that this woman that he had this child with, supposedly, was a sex instructor, so she clearly knew how babies got here. But she chose to have a baby because of money: Michael Jordan’s a multimillionaire. How many of you remember the slide on Sports Illustrated with a picture of a little baby and the caption, "Where’s my daddy?" Well, these women chose to have babies on their own on the booty call. I just hate to break it down like that, but that’s exactly what happened. There was not two words mentioned: “love” or “marry.” Now, believe me, black men know how to ask someone to marry them...I’ve seen too many times when they’ve either been forced into marrying a woman they didn’t want to marry, or being an absentee father.
3. Pamela Geller, professional Islamophobe: I am the queen of substance -- unlike you birthers. Her claim to fame is the fearmongering she spearheaded over plans for an Islamic community center that was to have been built in a repurposed department store several blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, whose buildings were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and more recently for hateful, anti-Palestinian ads she placed in bus shelters.
So when Geller was denied a speaking slot on the CPAC stage, she immediately claimed that Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, one of the conference sponsors, was in league with the Muslim Brotherhood, and her absence from the stage was evidence of the spread of Shariah law throughout America. And we haven't even gotten to the real crazy yet.
That happened when Orly 'Queen of the Birthers' Taitz turned up at the sideshow breakout panel to which Geller had been relegated, demanding to know why Geller's panel wasn't addressing the urgent issue of President Obama's birth certificate. Salon's Alex Seitz-Wald was in the room, and captured some of the excitement on video. From Salon's Jillian Rayfield:
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“I think there’s enough substance on this panel, I mean how many topics can you handle?” Pamela Geller, the blogger for Atlas Shrugged, shot back. “Inappropriate, really.”
4. Sarah Palin, former vice presidential candidate, former Alaska governor, former Fox News analyst: Dog-whistling the birthers.So, OK, maybe Palin's remark, delivered during her big speech on CPAC's final day, is more nasty than crazy, but it's notable because of the clever way it shouts out to the Taitz crowd without really appearing to. In the context of her opposition to universal background checks for the purchase of a firearm, Palin had this to say:
"And background checks?" she asked. "Yeah, to learn more about a person's thinking, associations and intentions? Background checks? Dandy idea, Mr. President. We should've started with yours."
5. Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder and CEO, Tea Party Patriots: Obamacare is just like The Hunger Games. Speaking Saturday from the main stage at CPAC, Martin described the Affordable Care Act this way:
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Our country's equivalent to The Hunger Games' tribute will be thepatients who die under this law.
Kyle Mantyla at Right Wing Watch snagged the video. On Friday night, TPP sponsored a Hunger Games-themed cocktail party, and unveiled its Hunger Gamesish video ad.
6. Wayne LaPierre, CEO, National Rifle Association: The government wants to keep records of your guns so the Chinese can hack them. Or something. "And they call us crazy." There was so much crazy in what Slate's David Weigel dubbed the CRAZY WAYNE act that we cannot contain it all here. Although I was in the room at the time, I'll leave it to The Atlantic Wire's Elspeth Reeve to describe it:
Despite portraying the NRA as a beacon of sanity in crazy Washington, LaPierre veered into conspiracy theories. The Second Amendment isn't just an American right, he said, it's the right that protects all other rights: "If you aren't free to protect yourself when the government puts its thumb on that freedom, then you're not free at all." He was not speaking in hypotheticals. LaPierre railed against universal background checks on gun purchases, which justpassed a key Senate committee vote. Universal background checks is a gateway to a universal list of gun owners, LaPierre said. "Why build a list of all the good people? As if that would somehow make us safer from violent criminals or homicidal maniacs! ... What's the point of registering lawful gun owners anyway?" He offered a few theories: So newspapers can print names of gun owners for gangs to access, so the list can be hacked by the Chinese, so the list can be handed over to the Mexican government — "Oh, by the way, they've already requested it!"
At least four times, LaPierre chanted: "And they call us crazy." (If you're a Twitter geek, check out the #theycalluscrazy hashtag.)
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One of LaPierre's rants was over the government's ostensible refusal to prevent people with certain mental illnesses from getting guns. Weigel reveals that LaPierre was one of the people who made sure it would stay that way. (Perhaps he's afraid he'll make the list, with all those people calling him crazy.)
7. Scott Terry, white segregationist from North Carolina: Slaves should have been grateful for food and shelter. All right, so perhaps it's not entirely fair to hold CPAC accountable for every wacko who purchased a ticket, but there's a telling aspect to this outburst from an attendee, and that's that it took place during a breakout session on how Tea Partiers should handle charges of racism. At a session titled "Trump the Race Card: Are You Sick and Tired of Being Called a Racist and You Know You're Not One?", Scott Terry rocked the question-and-answer session this way, according to Scott Keyes and Zack Beauchamp of ThinkProgress:
The exchange occurred after an audience member from North Carolina, 30-year-old Scott Terry, asked whether Republicans could endorse races remaining separate but equal. After the presenter, K. Carl Smith of Frederick Douglass Republicans, answered by referencing a letter by Frederick Douglass forgiving his former master, the audience member said “For what? For feeding him and housing him?” Several people in the audience cheered and applauded Terry’s outburst. After the exchange, Terry muttered under his breath, “Why can’t we just have segregation?”, noting the Constitution’s protections for freedom of association.
8. Dinesh D'Souza, outsted Christian college president, filmmaker and author: One problem with liberalism is the notion that slavery involved the theft of labor from African Americans. Again with the slavery. Sigh.
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Riding high on right-wing acceptance of his theory that Barack Obama's worldview is shaped by Kenyan anticolonial sentiment against Great Britain, D'Souza is expanding his theory to include all of liberal America, which, according to him, imported the anticolonial worldview in the 1960s, and thus came to ostensibly regard all wealth as a form of theft. (This is apparently not to be confused with the good anticolonial worldview of the founding fathers, who decried, in the Declaration of Independence, how King George "plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.")
Given the success on the right-wing conference circuit of his book about Obama's purported Kenyan resentment, and his movie on the same subject,2016: Obama's America, D'Souza showed a film clip from a forthcoming picture in which he promises to make "a moral case" for what he calls "the free enterprise system," one that is designed to counter all this theft nonsense. (Apparently, slavery was just an entrepreneurial exercise on the part of the slave-traders.) From D'Souza's remarks, delivered on the main stage at CPAC on Saturday:
It isn’t just some Kenyan thing, isn’t just some foreign thing. Anti-colonialism has come to American in the ‘60s. It’s part of American liberalism. And if you listen to the liberal story of America, it is a story of what? Theft. How did we get America? We stole it from the Indians. Slavery is, in a sense, seen as stealing the free labor of African-Americans. And so the whole story of America is a story of oppression. This is the liberal argument in its broad scale, and it needs to be answered. And in our film, we intend to answer it. Now this is not just, I should say, about the makers and the takers....so the core idea is that free enterprise is a form of theft. We have to make the moral case for free enterprise and for America. A conservatism that did that would be a conservatism that is viable and powerful again.
Watch the C-SPAN video, and you'll also be treated to the metaphor of Barack Obama as a lion-tamer. In that vein, were D'Souza more enchanting, we might view him as a snake-charmer.
9. Angela Logosmasini, senior fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute: Cloth grocery bags can kill you.This champion of "free enterprise" has a message for you: plastics are under assault, and only you can save them. And if you don't, their replacements might just kill you. Like pod people.
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During a panel discussion on the CPAC main stage titled "How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love Plastic Water Bottles, Fracking, Genetically Modified Food & Big Gulp Sodas" (no, I didn't make that up), Logosmasini made the case that the use of plastic grocery bags saves lives, because if they become contaminated, no big whup, they're getting tossed, in all their contaminated goodness, into a landfill. Meanwhile, she said, people were dying because they weren't washing their cloth grocery bags enough, thereby catching E.coli and other food-borne illnesses from their grocery bags. She did not, alas, call for better regulation of food safety. In her remarks, Logosmasini mentioned a study that a cursory Google search found quoted widely by right-wing writers:
One of the biggest casualties of the nanny state is plastics...Those bags can gather disease, pick up E.coli and other things from your food, and you have to wash them. You’re supposed to be constantly washing these things -- well, people don’t do that. A University of Pennsylvania study just found that in San Francisco, after they banned the plastic bag, hospital admissions for E.coli and food-borne disease went up by a quarter, and so did the death rate.
10. Katie Kieffer, columnist, Townhall.com: Obamacare is sexist because you get free birth control. As part of an anti-feminism panel titled, "The Right View...and the REAL Issues" (apparently meant to be CPAC's answer to the Barbara Walters television show, The View), Kieffer offered a sort of affirmation Charles Butler's "booty call" comments (although Butler apparently believes the birth control he sees as the responsibility of booty-call-mama should be paid for by her). Brian Tashman blogged Kieffer's comments at Right Wing Watch:
Naturally, columnist Katie Kieffer later called Obamacare “sexist” because it expands access to birth control, which she believes lets men get women pregnant or give women STDs without feeling any responsibility. “Obamacare is sexist because it puts guys off the hook,” Kieffer explained, “all he has to do is say, oh, that’s not my fault; you should have been using Obama’s free birth control.”
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So, there you have a mere sampling of CPAC crazy. I'm sure I missed a lot, having chronicled the right for far too long. Spend enough time in these rooms, and you've heard the same crazy things so many times that you cease to notice them anymore. And as the din grows ever louder, the very same phenomenon could numb the body politic. The danger lies not only in the crazy, but in its ceaseless repetition. | {
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Last week, George Bush said:
We can debate Iraq -- and should. There should be no debate about making sure that money gets there on a timely basis so our kids can do the job we've asked them to do.
And today:
Eight more American troops were killed in Iraq, seven of them on a single day, the US military said Saturday, amid raging violence and a desperate search for three captured soldiers.
The only debate we should be having is how to get our troops home. And George? They're not your kids. | {
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Beppe Grillo, fondatore e “garante” del Movimento 5 Stelle, ha detto in un’intervista al giornale francese Putsch di aver «proposto un referendum sull’euro» per poi parlare dell’importanza di permettere al popolo italiano di esprimersi sulla moneta unica, su una sua possibile alternativa e persino sull’uscita dall’Europa. Interpellato dai giornalisti, Di Maio ha detto che Grillo è «uno spirito libero» e ha aggiunto: «La linea sull’Europa resta sempre quella». Nell’intervista, Grillo aveva dichiarato.
All’interno del Movimento 5 Stelle abbiamo riflettuto su sette punti come le regole di bilancio europee, gli eurobond, le euro obbligazioni e anche sulla condivisione del debito. Se siamo un’unione di paese dobbiamo condividere. Perché ci sono due economie… quella del Nord e quella del Sud. E noi, gli italiani, noi siamo dentro il Sud. Per questo ho proposto un referendum per la zona euro. Io voglio che il popolo italiano si esprima. Le persone sono d’accordo? C’è un piano B? Dobbiamo uscire dall’Europa oppure no?
Le parole di Grillo sono state commentate immediatamente e criticate da gran parte dei dirigenti del Partito Democratico. L’ex segretario Matteo Renzi, per esempio, ha scritto che il Movimento 5 Stelle ha rivelato la sua vera natura dopo aver finto per qualche settimana atteggiamenti più sobri e “istituzionali”. Il suo principale rivale interno, il ministro della Cultura Dario Franceschini, dà invece una lettura opposta e dice che la deriva “anti-euro” del Movimento 5 Stelle si deve al fatto che il PD ha respinto le sue proposte di alleanza.
Per due mesi hanno fatto i bravi, "gli istituzionali". Oggi capiscono finalmente di non avere i numeri per Palazzo Chigi… Gepostet von Matteo Renzi am Freitag, 4. Mai 2018
In realtà non è chiaro se la mutevole posizione del Movimento 5 Stelle nei confronti dell’euro è stata ulteriormente cambiata. Il Movimento è stato per lungo tempo favorevole a un referendum che riguardasse la permanenza dell’Italia all’interno della moneta unica, ma da circa un anno ha moderato la sua posizione. Lo scorso dicembre, per esempio, il capo politico del Movimento Luigi Di Maio diceva che il referendum rappresentava un’extrema ratio, anche se ammetteva che avrebbe votato a favore dell’uscita. Lo scorso gennaio il Movimento ha esplicitamente abbandonato l’idea del referendum, che non compariva più tra i 20 punti del suo programma.
Beppe Grillo però è ancora molto importante all’interno del Movimento 5 Stelle. Non solo ne è il fondatore e il proprietario del simbolo, ma occupa anche la carica di “garante”, che lo statuto definisce “custode dei valori fondamentali dell’azione politica” del Movimento. Non è chiaro se quella di Grillo sia una presa di posizione personale oppure se sia una nuova linea politica dettata in quanto “garante” del Movimento. E a dire il vero non è chiaro nemmeno se Grillo stia facendo una nuova proposta o se non si riferisca piuttosto al referendum sull’euro che aveva già proposto in passato e che il Movimento ha accantonato lo scorso gennaio. Nel resto dell’intervista non si fa nessun altro accenno alla questione.
Di Maio, interpellato dai giornalisti, ha ricordato che «Beppe Grillo è il nostro garante», prima di ripetere che la linea del Movimento 5 Stelle non è cambiata. L’intervista di Grillo, inoltre, non viene citata né sul suo blog né su quello del Movimento 5 Stelle, così come l’articolo originale non è stato ripreso da nessuno degli account social solitamente usati dal Movimento 5 Stelle. | {
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Thursday on the radio, LevinTV host Mark Levin alerted listeners to the continued ballot-counting in Florida, which Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, R, called an attempt by "[D]emocrat lawyers" to steal the election.
Florida law requires counties to report early voting results within 30 minutes after polls close, but Broward and Palm Beach Counties in Florida are still counting and refusing to disclose the number of ballots remaining to be counted, Rubio said.
"You see, we not only have to win elections, we have to win them with enough of a buffer that all the cheating that goes on doesn't affect the outcome," Levin said.
Listen:
Levin called out the counties' election commissions for counting late ballots and ballots filled out incorrectly — and doing so behind closed doors, though a judge ruled the process should be open.
"All these things are built into the voting process so the Left can steal it. Tell me, where has a Republican stolen an election? Where has a Republican stolen an election? Nowhere. And how is it when Democrats are behind, they always manage to pick up votes after the fact?" Levin said.
"Every vote should count, as long as they're Democrats' and as long as the Democrats win. This is Florida right now." | {
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read
When writing some speed-critical code, I wanted to use Boost.Any as an attribute in a struct. This struct was small — 2 cache lines — and I knew that all the types that I would store in this Any would fit in 16bytes.
I thought “trivial, let’s use Boost.Any with a stack-based allocator”!
… and then I got disappointed.
Disappointed, because Boost.Any does not offer the possibility to use a custom allocator. To be honest, that would not have solved the story anyway, as Boost.Any does other things that slow down this container, but that was enough to start thinking about another — home-made — solution.
Talk is cheap. Show me the code.
static_any project on my github
Boost.Any implementation
So why was Boost.Any too slow in my case ? And why was I looking for a stack-based allocator ?
Boost.Any is very simple: it erases the type via inheritance, and the few required operations, which are querying the type and cloning the objects, are done via virtual methods. Here is a skeleton:
struct any { struct placeholder { ... }; template <typename _T> struct holder : public placeholder { _T; ... } template <typename _T> any(const _T& t) : m_placeholder(new holder<_T>(t)) {} private: holder* m_placeholder; };
My main issue regarding this implementation was not at all with the costs of calling virtual methods, but with the memory layout that this would imply to my structure.
I knew that my stored types were small, and I wanted them on the same cache line.
To be more concrete, let’s take the following code:
struct foo { int i; long l; boost::any a; }; foo f; f.a = 1234;
The variables i and l are next to each other in memory, but the integer 1234 will be somewhere else — due to the heap-based implementation of Boost.Any — and maybe even on another page.
And of course, you get all the benefits when having these variables located in the same contiguous chunk of memory: better data-locality means less memory cache misses and a better prefetching.
The benchmark
As always when talking about speed, we want to see some numbers. So here you are — it is in nanoseconds, the lower the better:
The reason static_any is faster on assignment is mainly due to the fact that is does not do a memory allocation. On the get operation, it is due to virtual calls and other implementation details.
But the main thing, the reason I wanted to have such generic container, i.e. a stack-based any, is not shown by these numbers. Because when you benchmark a piece of code, you run this one in a loop, and you do not get any cache misses… These numbers are just for raw sppeed and most of the time, instructions per cycle for such operations won’t be your bottleneck, but memory can be one.
static_any
The usage is as simple as Boost.Any:
static_any<32> a = 1234; int x = a.get<int>(); // returns 1234 bool bi = a.has<int>(); // returns true bool bd = a.has<double>(); // returns false double d = a.get<double>(); // throws! a = std::string("hello world"); // moved to a
At the beginning, I only implemented it for trivially copyable types, as I was only using this container with such objects. This super simple and even faster container — but unsafe, as there is no type checking at runtime — is in the same header any.hpp under the name of static_any_t.
Later, after few discussions with my workmate Maciek, he got the awesome idea about the gateway function that allows static_any to go from the erased type — the vector of bytes that is used as underlying in static_any — to the real type T that is stored.
I will describe that in a later post, meanwhile you can grab the code… | {
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Huddersfield: Six arrested on weapons charges after siege Published duration 24 August 2019
image copyright Google image caption Those inside the property refused to leave, police said
Six people have been arrested after a man took to a rooftop as armed police surrounded a house in Huddersfield.
Initially there were reports of a man in the street with a machete in Nowell Place, Almondbury early in the morning.
The man and others inside refused to leave the address and armed police contained the property, West Yorkshire Police said.
A bag was thrown from a window that was found to contain a firearm, the force added.
Three males, aged 16, 19 and 23, and two females, both aged 18, agreed to leave the property at about 08:40 BST and were arrested.
At about 11:00 the last occupant went on to the roof of the house but came down about two hours later and was also arrested.
All six are being held on suspicion of possession of a firearm.
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]. | {
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Microsoft's inclusive design mission is guiding the company in ensuring its products and services are designed from conception forward with every user of all ability levels in mind. Though the company has made admirable progress in this regard, it is still a work in progress. Microsoft's Seeing AI app helps people with blindness, Project Fizzyo supports children with Cystic Fibrosis, the Emma Watch and Project Emma aids people with Parkinson's Disease and Microsoft's Immersive Reader helps children with Dyslexia. There are millions of people with varying levels of abilities who are either excluded from interacting with the technologies of modern society or whose physical limitations prevent their full participation in everyday tasks. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more Microsoft has embraced the challenge of creating specific solutions, like the tremor-halting Emma Watch, which targets a particular aspect of a disability. It has also incorporated solutions that level the playing field into its technologies, like gaze control in Windows, which enables people with immobility to navigate the OS. Given this integrated solution for people with para- or quadriplegia, a similar OS level solution that enables Windows or Cortana to understand sign language for the 466 million people with disabling hearing loss, in a world where "speaking to AI is becoming the norm" seems like a natural goal for Microsoft. And given that a developer "modified Alexa" to do just that we know that it's also possible. If Alexa can do it so can Cortana/Windows
Developer Abhishek Singh created a web application that uses a camera to view and understand sign language which is then translated and spoken and heard by Alexa via Amazon's Echo. A typed response is then provided by the system that can be read by the user after Alexa speaks her response. Using machine learning platform Tensorflow, Singh trained an A.I. to understand American Sign Language and used Google's text-to-speech to translate the signs into spoken words. Singh said, "The project was…inspired by observing a trend among companies of pushing voice-based assistants as a way to create instant, seamless interactions." Given Microsoft's A.I. and machine learning investments, its Cognitive Services that recognize human faces, activities, speech and more and the role of the camera in Windows PCs for biometrics Microsoft has the end-to-end resources to create a system that can communicate with users who use sign language. Inclusion is what Microsoft is about | {
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Fifth-grader Clara Lazen has achieved two major results by rearranging the atoms used in nitroglycerin: a unique new molecule, and making the rest of us feel rather dumb in the process.
There are many ways to discover new molecules and their properties, but I doubt many are more delightful or endearing than a ten-year-old fumbling some balls and sticks together before innocently asking her science teacher, "is this real?" ... and being right. And that's exactly what happened in Kenneth Boehr's fifth-grade science classroom when 10-year-old Clara Lazen approached his desk with a fully constructed tetranitratoxycarbon molecule.
The physical model young Clara had constructed was a somewhat complex combination of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon that Mr. Boehr had never seen before. To his credit, instead of dismissing the creation as mere child's play, he photographed it and sent it to a chemist at Humboldt State University for rigid analysis. His instincts were correct, and soon after, tetranitratoxycarbon was officially recognized as a feasible molecule.
Tetranitratoxycarbon doesn't exist in nature, but based on its unique arrangement of atoms, can be created artificially in a lab. These things take time and funding, however, so an "on-paper analysis" is coming up first. For those interested in a little light reading, you'll soon find a copy of Professor Robert Zoellner's (pictured above) paper on the subject (with a co-author credit given to Clara ... Awwww!) in Computational and Theoretical Chemistry. According to Zoellner, this new molecule has all sorts of possible uses, spanning the gamut from bottling energy to blowing crap up. I can see why a 10-year-old might be subconsciously be drawn to it.
This is all great news for Clara, as she and the rest of her class have shown an increased interest in chemistry and the rest of the sciences since the discovery. And as for the science teacher, Mr. Boehr? We don't know for sure, but I would be willing to bet that the next six months of his life will involve little more than fifth-graders storming his desk with nonsensical molecule configurations hoping that they've stumbled onto something. Poor guy.
Source: PopSci | {
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Over the weekend, the Google Maps app reached 5 billion downloads on the Play Store and we celebrated that momentous occasion with virtual champagne and confetti — well, just a short post really. However, our eyebrows were a little raised when we noticed that the Google app still hadn't made it to that coveted number, but now they're dropping as it has just caught up.
That's right, the Google app now brandishes that special 5,000,000,000+ install number on its listing, and is part of an elite club consisting also of Play Services (doesn't really count), YouTube, and Maps. No third-party app has made it that far, and I wonder whether some will start making the same leap soon or if it will take them a lot more time. Back in 2015, WhatsApp reached 1 billion installs only four months after the Google app, but 5 billion is a different beast altogether. Google has the huge benefit of being pre-installed on almost every Android device out there, and it's tough to imagine that the same number of people would seek out the WhatsApp app and install it. Only time will tell, I guess. | {
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An armed man killed 2 people on Friday at Russia’s FSB Intelligence agency headquarters. It was initially reported that the shooter was a neo-Nazi gang, however; it is now being reported that ISIS has claimed responsibility.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack later today.
The Islamic State’s Amaq News agency released this statement.
ABC News reports:
TRENDING: ANGRY LEFTIST Smacks 84-Year-Old Female Trump Supporter Across the Face at Trump Rally in Aliso Viejo -- Beats Another Senior (VIDEO)
An armed man killed two people and injured another before he was shot dead at the office of Russia’s FSB intelligence agency in the Far East on Friday. The FSB, the main successor to the KGB, said in a statement that the man passed by metal detectors, entered the reception area of its office in the regional capital of Khabarovsk and opened fire. One FSB officer and one visitor were killed on spot and one was wounded. Security fired back, killing the attacker.
The Daily Caller reports:
The Islamic State took credit for an attack on a Russian intelligence agency headquarters Friday, which left three dead. ISIS took credit for the attack via its Amaq new agency, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. The attack targeted an FSB headquarters in Khabarovsk, a city in Russia’s far eastern region. Russian FSB officials claimed that A.V. Konev, an 18-year-old local resident, entered the lobby of the FSB headquarters and immediately began firing on those inside until he was shot dead. An FSB employee and a “visitor” were killed, the identity of the third victim is thus far unknown. The FSB initially claimed Konev was the member of a neo-Nazi group, with ISIS claiming the attack some hours later. Russian authorities responded to the attack by locking down the building and the immediate surrounding area with police cordons and special forces on standby. The attack is unusual, considering most jihadist attacks on Russian security personnel occur in the country’s North Caucasus.
This is the second terrorist attack that ISIS has taken credit for in Russia in the last two weeks. Islamic terrorist attacks are becoming the ‘new norm’ in non-Muslim countries thanks to massive Muslim migration. | {
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Freelance 2D Character Artist.I speak through my art and stories that inspire me. Obsessed with Attack on Titan.Contact: [email protected] | {
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エイプリルフール (パロディJT事件など)
ジャパンタイムズの歴史のうち、(1)エープリルフールでの報道 (2)にせジャパンタイムズの出現(1993, "The Japan Times....Not")を特集したページです。
欧米の新聞では定番となっているエイプリルフール。ジャパンタイムズでは古くから毎年４月１日になると大小のいたずら記事を載せてきました。
逆に、ジャパンタイムズ自身が周到に準備された大いたずらに遭ったこともあります。1993/4/1のパロディJT発行事件です。
目次 Contents:
Part 1： ジャパンタイムズのエープリルフール報道から April spoof stories by The Japan Times
Part 2：ジャパンタイムズのパロディ事件 See the parody Japan Times of 1993, made by an unknown entity
Part 3: にせJT 後日談 Part 4:にせNYT
Part 5: だまされた大新聞社 海外のエイプリルフール
エイプリルフール ベスト集
リンク
メディア研究者およびJT史に関心をお持ちの方用のページです。This page is intended for researchers of media history, and anyone interested in The Japan Times.
●関連ページ ジャパンタイムズ内容紹介 ジャパンタイムズの歴史 ジャパンタイムズ創刊号・その後紙面 英字新聞の歴史
■エープリルフール本
裏帯より
『世界のエイプリルフールジョーク集』では、ジャパンタイムズについても７件取り上げられています。'07資料収集に協力いたしました。中公新書ラクレです。この本は朝日新聞2012/3/31b3で取り上げられました。
Part 1： ジャパンタイムズのエープリルフール報道から
1955(昭和30)年4/1 エープリルフールで「ソ連爆撃機 羽田着陸」 第一面に Russian Multi-Jet Bomber Lands at Haneda Airport
同日朝日新聞夕刊によると「警視庁の係官などは『イタズラにもほどがある』とフンガイしており…｣。米・ソ連の 冷戦時代だった 。
1988/4/1最終版 エープリルフールで「東京ドームを40m移動へ」
スポーツ面p.17でTokyo Dome to be moved 40 metersと報道。完成したばかりの東京ドームについて、「急遽、１週間以内に北方へ40メートル移動させることになった。神主が、この位置ではジャイアンツは今季はリーグ最下位になってしまうと予言したため。方法はドーム内にヘリウムを注入して宙に浮かばせることを検討…｣。→問い合わせが建築会社からたくさんあり、東京ドームを建設した建築会社の株が下落、その会社から苦情を頂きました。
エイプリルフール98/4 'AF通信'
スポーツ面でAP通信社配信のおふざけ記事をのせました。長野オリンピックに出場した米国のホッケー・チームが、オリンピック村の部屋をちらかし放題のまま帰国した罰として、cultural sensitivity classes（他国文化認識研修）を受けることに同意したというもの。東京にふたたび来て、まずはお茶、お花などを受講します。記事後半の「着物と下駄をはき、ラッシュアワーの山手線に毎日２回乗る」あたりまで読み進むと、インチキ記事であることが分かるようになっています。
冷静になって、もう一度記事を読み直すと、冒頭はNEW YORK (AF)と書いてあります。APではなくて、AF (April Foolの頭文字）です。
2000/4/1p2 沖縄サミットをを体長35cmのゴキブリが襲う
2007/4/1エープリルフール記事 第一面で
「渋谷ハチ公像盗まれる｣
ハチ公なき台座の写真付き。かなりの反響があり、やりすぎという電話もいただきました。 JT Online投書
→ＮＨＫ ＢＳプレミアム「世の中はうそと不正でできている？」(2014/１１/２２ １９：３０〜２１：００)放送のため、上記のカラー写真を提供しました
2008/4/1第１面エープリルフール記事
「１万円札裏でおなじみ 絶滅種 『火の鳥』が生存していた 」 JT Online
前年、エープリルフールに不慣れな読者からやりすぎという電話を頂いた教訓から、前夜に編集局内に「明日は『絶滅種の鳥』記事が掲載されるが、エープリルフールなので読者からの問い合わせがあったら丁寧に説明してください」というメッセージが流された。また最終面p.20に念のため、
という注釈を掲載。JT Onlineでも注釈pop-upを付けた。
2009/4/1/p.1 マリリンの忘れ物
Lost and now found at the Imperial proves a celeb trove
"Once asked by a reporter what she wore in bed, the late actress Marilyn Monroe was said to have replied, "Why, Chanel No. 5, of course."
Last week a bottle of Chanel perfume believed to have been owned by Hollywood's famous blonde bombshell was found during repair work in the basement of Tokyo's Imperial Hotel.
The perfume, along with numerous other items, was found during reinforcement work in the housekeeping section, when a worker broke through a false wall, ..."
2010/4/1 p.1 普天間テーマパーク化案が浮上
Groups concoct iffy bid to turn
Futenma plot into theme park (政局の焦点が普天間基地移設問題だった)
毎年、４月１日にはどこかにエイプリルフール記事が隠れていますので、探してみてください。第１面にドーンと大きく出ている場合もあります。また海外でのエープリルフール報道のまとめを、４月３日あたりの紙面で特集することもあります。
Part 2： ジャパンタイムズ自身がパロディされた事件
この日の朝、首都圏のあちこちでジャパンタイムズが配達され、読んでみると大事件、なんと「関西空港が水没」！
でもさらに読んでいくと、アレアレ ......
●1993/4/1 エープリルフールでニセ・ジャパンタイムズ現る 。巧妙かつユーモラス
トップ記事は「関西空港が水没」。新聞協会の日本新聞博物館の永久展示物(伊藤が所持していたもの)に決定。劣化のためか実際は倉庫にある模様。
海外ではThe New York Timesなどのパロディ新聞が出現したことがあります。 日本のエイプリルフール史では最大級の事件 でした。
まるごと一つの新聞を作り、配布することには、大規模な準備、設備、財力が必要です。当時のスタイルやコラムなどを細かく真似てパロディしています。
イタズラのために、ここまでの労力をかけた関係者には尊敬の念を持ちます(編集局長も「感服した｣とのコメントを出した)。
やがて犯行声明がジャパンタイムズに届きましたが、"The itazura aliens"と署名してあるだけでした。その後も、名乗り出て著作権を主張されてはいないようなので、なり代わりまして歴史的資料としてここで公開させていただきます。
*クリックして拡大すると小さな文字も読めます。
■Part 3 にせJT解説:
日本に本格的エイプリルフールがやってきた日
春はエープリルフールの季節。日本人はまだまだユーモアが足りないといわれるなか、いたずら好きな在日外国人たちが欧米並みの本格的エープリルフール事件を起こしたことがあります。何百時間もの準備時間と何百万円ものコストをかけ、本物そっくりのニセ・ジャパンタイムズを製作し首都圏で配布するという大プロジェクトでした。現在にいたるまで、日本エープリルフール史上(?)でこれを超える事件は起きていません。
ジャパンタイムズは毎年4月1日になるとウソ記事を掲載して読者をからかいます。この事件では逆にジャパンタイムズがからかわれてしまったものです。
93年4月1日でした。私が出社すると、ジャパンタイムズでは問い合わせの電話が鳴りっぱなし。NHK, TBS, 時事通信社などが 「あの新聞はジャパンタイムズがエープリルフールのジョークとして自ら印刷したものではないか?」 とコメントを求めてきたのです。一般の方から「ぜひ1部売ってくれ」という電話もありました。
すでにその日の朝日新聞に「イブから盛んエープリルフール、在日外国人らがウソ英字紙」という記事が載っていました。前日の夜から朝にかけて、都内のホテルなどに数千部が配られたとのことでした。
私を始め、ジャパンタイムズの社員たちはまだ実物を見ていなかったので、きょとんとしていました。午前11時になり、警備員が新聞の束を持ってきて、私の机近くにドスンと置きました。「こんなものが通用門の前に置いてありました」
社内のあちこちから、記者たちが飛んできて新聞を持っていきます。私も1部を取りました。いつものジャパンタイムズに見えます。紙面デザイン、記事や広告の外見にいたるまで、 ジャパンタイムズそっくり です。ところが読んでみると内容はパロディの連続で、苦笑してしまいました。
1面トップは大スクープです。見出しはNew Kansai Int’l Airport disappears in heavy rains (関西空港、豪雨で沈没)。大阪府沖合の人工島に建設中だった新空港が海中に沈没したとあります。大きな写真がつけてあり、管制塔の最上部が水中に消えゆく瞬間が写っています。よく見ると、近くでサーフィンをしている人たちがいます! 人工島が沈没した際に大波が起こり、地元のサーファーたちが繰り出した、と説明がついています。もうこのへんでエープリルフールであることが分かりますね。
記事の冒頭は次の通り。Japan Coast Guard patrols are continuing their search for the Kansai International Airport, which disappeared yesterday during unusually heavy rains while the construction crew was at lunch.(海上保安庁は、沈没した関西空港の捜索を続けている。異常な豪雨があり、きのう建設作業員たちが昼食で現場を離れていた際に海面に消えたものだ)
(追記：2018/9に関西空港は、台風２１号の高波によって実際に滑走路などが沈没しました。空港は数日間、閉鎖されました。この一面トップは、まさに先見の明があったことになります。空港の護岸を高さ５メートルを超える高波が越えたと推計されるため、護岸を高く作り替えることになりました。)
↑2018/12/13NHK Worldより引用
この他にも「わいろ受け取り拒否の代議士を捜査、千葉県警」や「カレーライスを厚生省が禁止」など、まさかと思うような記事や広告のパロディが満載。
この新聞は全部で8ページあり、活字の書体やコラムタイトルのデザインに至るまでジャパンタイムズを真似ています。これを作るには英字新聞製作専用のコンピューター・システムと大型の輪転機が必要。こんな大掛かりなことができるのは、英字新聞社しかありません。私も、他の記者たちも、 「社内のどこかの部がこっそり自社施設を使って印刷したのに違いない」 と思いました。
ところが、編集局長に聞いたところ、ジャパンタイムズはまったく関与していないとのこと。社に 犯行声明 の手紙が届けられており、The itazura aliens (イタズラ外人たち)と署名してありました。
局長はマスコミ各社に「内容から見て当社に悪意はないらしい。誰がやったのか分からないが、これほど大掛かりで高価なことをしたのには感服する」とコメントしました。これを受け、報道部デスクだった私は、翌日のジャパンタイムズ(本物)に事件を好意的にみた記事を掲載しました。
数ヵ月後に、ウソ新聞を作ったのは数十名の在日米国人らで、外国人用フリーペーパー会社の印刷機を使ったことが分かりました。
このニセ新聞の題字をよく見ると、末尾に小さく「....Not」がついています。つまり、
「The Japan Times . . . . Not」 (ジャパンタイムズ . . . ジャナイヨ)
ニセ新聞を4月1日に配布するのは、実は英米では古典的なエープリルフールの手法。特に米国のThe New York Timesは過去に何度も「NOT The New York Times」という題字でパロディ版が登場しています。たとえば1999年にバージン社が出版社の輪転機を借りて印刷、ニューヨーク内外で大量に配布しました。
日本で本格的ニセ新聞が登場したのは、ジャパンタイムズが初めてではないでしょうか。私は記念に1部を大切にしまっておいたのですが、のちに日本新聞協会に献上しました。協会から「建設予定の博物館で展示したいので、保存状態のよい現物を提供して欲しい」との要請があったためです。この博物館は2000年の10月にニュースパーク(日本新聞博物館)という名前で横浜にオープンしました。
近年は日本人もエープリルフールには慣れっこになりました。「The Japan Times . . . . Not」のトップ記事については関西空港株式会社が当日のうちに声明を発表、「ただちに係員を現場に派遣したところ、実際は沈没していなかったので喜ばしい」とのことでした。
■後日談 こちらスタジオ (2000年8月)
電話に出ると､イタリア語で若い女性が叫んでいた｡
よく聞くと､イタリア語ではなくて､お国訛りの英語だった｡
イタリア語の発音と抑揚のまま英単語でまくしたてる｡受話器の向こう側はイタリアの空港らしい雰囲気で､パニックが起きている｡「これから日本のカンサイ・エアポルトに飛ぶ｡でも今､新聞を読んだら､エアポルトは海に沈んだっていうじゃないの!」
どうやら､関西国際空港行きのフライトに乗ろうとしたところ､新聞に「日本で空港が沈没」とあり､恐怖に襲われたらしい｡飛行機が着陸したとき､もしそこに空港がなかったら､生きてイタリアに戻ることはできない｡最新情報を求めて､英語が通じそうな日本の新聞社に電話をかけたものと思われた｡
“The airport is sinking! Is it really sinking? It that true?”と返答を要求された｡
関西空港が沈没しつつあるのは誤報でも冗談でもなく､事実だ｡空港は海上に造った人工島なので､どうしても地盤沈下してしまう｡開港した1994年からの6年間で､空港ビルがなんと計12メートルも沈下した､という発表があったばかりだ｡しかし今すぐドボンと海中に消えるわけではなく､200億円をかけた対策工事が予定されている｡
こういったことを説明したら､女性は安心して電話は切れた｡
5分後､ふたたび電話が鳴った｡「じつは私の名前は...といいます｡あなたの名前は?スペリングは?」と返答を要求する｡そして突然､受話器の向こうでなにかが切り替わった｡きれいな英語を話す別の女性に代わり､沈没問題について私をインタビューしはじめた｡
イタリアのラジオ局の英語放送キャスターだった｡なにがなんだかわからないまま､電話を介して私はニュース番組に出演させられていたのだ｡
■Part 4: パロデイ新聞が続出するニューヨークタイムズ
パロディ・ジャパンタイムズのモデルは、時折出現するニューヨークタイムズのパロディ版です。
(1) 1978/10 ：新聞界長期スト開始2ヵ月後に出現した" Not The New York Times "。古典的で最も有名なパロディ新聞。24ページ。ジャーナリストCarl Bernsteinなどが参加したが、ほぼ全員が関与を否定。１ドルで販売十万部(30万部売れたとも)。面白おかしいニュースが中心。TIME Tony Hendra
(2) 1999/4/1 エープリルフールに出現。スポンサーはイギリスの個性的な富豪、リチャード・ブランソン氏(Sir Richard Branson)で題字をよく読むと、 "I Can't Believe It's Not The New York Times"。編集は27歳の人、32ページ、十万部印刷。
(3) 2008/11/12
米大統領選でバラク・オバマ氏が当選した直後、彼が公約を守るようにと、千名のボランティアとThe Yes Menなどが作成・配布(米六都市)。本物そっくりで駅などで無料で 120万部 も配られ、トップ見出しの「イラン戦争終結」を読んで信じた人も多数（アフガニスタン戦争も同時終結、米撤兵へ。国連が両国の平和維持を担当）。しかし日付は翌年の米独立記念日になっている。全14ページ。内容は、イラク・アフガニスタン戦争終結、国民健康保険導入、経済再建、累進課税導入など。同時に本物そっくりのニセサイトも作られた。
準備に6ヵ月かかったとのこと。Poynter
全文を読む (pdf) ニセwebサイトで読む
著作権については、中心人物の1人が"the group looked into the legal issues raised by the use of The New York Times nameplate style and believes it is within the bounds of what's known as 'fair use' under federal copyright law."としている。 APより
タイムズの最高の宣伝になったこともあり、タイムズが目くじらをたてることはないでしょう（「調査中」とのみコメント）。なお、関与したThe Yes Menは自分たちのサイトについては著作権を放棄し、転載自由としています。
■そのほかのパロディ新聞
1983 Off the Wall Street Journal and Off the Wall Street Journal II , The Irrational Inquirer, Playboy the Parody and Not the Bible Tony Hendra
■Part 5 だまされた大新聞社 ― 海外のエープリルフール
4月といえば日本では桜が咲き、入学・就職シーズンですが、英米ではエープリル・フールや納税シーズンのイメージです。
エープリル・フールは家庭でも職場でも楽しまれ、また新聞も毎年4月1日になると、こぞって「大スクープ」を掲載し、読者をからかうのが恒例です。ところが去年のエープリル・フールには珍妙な事件がありました。だまされたのは新聞社の方だったのです。
かつがれたのはなんと、英国の高級経済紙、The Financial Timesでした。ピンク色の紙に印刷されるので"pink paper"と呼ばれることがありますが、「経済のバイブル」とされイギリスのビジネスマン、ビジネスウーマンには必読紙です。
悪事は走る。「フィナンシャル・タイムズがだまされたらしい」という話は、地球の反対側、東京のジャパンタイムズ編集局にもその日のうちに伝わり、「うちも騙されないように、毎年4月は気をつけよう」という教訓として残っています。
★グリニッジからギネスへ?
大英帝国の名残りで、英国は世界の標準時を設定しています。グリニッジ標準時(Greenwich Mean Time、略してGMT)ですね。FT（フィナンシャル・タイムズ）は、GMTが、ビール製造のギネス社とのタイアップにより「ギネス標準時」(Guinness Mean Time、これもやはりGMT)と改名されると報道しました。実はこれ、FTが読者を一杯くわそうとしたのではなく、FT自身がギネス社にかつがれて掲載したものでした。
その記事は、2000年到来記念事業を計画している企業の一つとして、ギネス社を挙げています。この会社はグリニッジ天文台の公式スポンサーに指定され、"The company . . . announces today that . . . promoted as 'the home of world time,' Greenwich Mean Time will be renamed 'Guinness Mean Time' until the end of 1999."（ギネス社は「世界の時間の本家」として知られるグリニッジ標準時は99年末までの間、ギネス標準時と改名される、と本日発表）と書いてあります。そのあとにはギネス社広報部長の「当社はこういう立派な文化事業をすることで2000年を祝いたい」とのコメントが続きます。
ふつう、エイプリル・フールの記事は読者の目につきやすいように大きく掲載され、 末尾まで読むとウソであることが分かるようになっています。しかし FTのものは数社の2000年事業をまとめた記事の中で報道されたもの。記事の途中まで読んで初めて「ギネス標準時」が出てきます。つまり、記事が目立つようには意図されていません。ということは、FTはウソとは気付かずに取り扱ったものでしょう。
一夜あけ、FTはエイプリル・フールの記事に対しては決して行わないはずの行動をとりました。あの記事は間違いでした、と訂正文を掲載したのです。「ギネス社の記念事業にはギネス標準時なるものは入っていません」と書いてありました。"This detail was included in a press release sent to the FT in London by Guinness on March 29. The release was apparently intended as part of an April 1 spoof."（この点は、ロンドンのFTにギネス社から3月29日に送られてきた新聞用発表文に書いてあったもの。これは4月1日の冗談のつもりであろう）。
FT社の苦り切った感じが伝わってきます。4月1日ではなくその3日前に発表文が送られてきたということで、まさかこれがエイプリル・フールだとは思わなかったんです、ということですが、当事者であるグリニッジ天文台には確認せずに記事を掲載してしまった弱みもあり、正直に非を認めて訂正を掲載したのでしょう。
この件を含め世界中の1998年のエイプリル・フール事情を、ジャパンタイムズの4月3日付けの国際面に詳しく掲載しました。ロイター通信のWorld's media go April Fool crazy（世界に四月馬鹿報道あふれる）という記事です。
FTの件については、BBCテレビがニュースで取り上げ、こうコメントしたとのこと。"Unlike most April Fools, this one really did fool somebody and not just anybody; it fooled the country's most serious and most authoritative newspaper."（通常のエイプリル・フールとは違い、これはそこらの普通の人をだましたのではなく、立派なお方がすっかりからかわれてしまったのです。なにしろ、我が国の最もまじめで最も権威のある新聞社がかつがれたのですから）
★遠距離キッス
このBBC自身は、この年の4月1日の放送で「キスを電送する電話が発明された」と報道したそうです。唇の形をしたセンサーにキスをすると、その微妙な感触が相手側の機器に再現されるとしました。
ジャパンタイムズは、スポーツ面でAP通信社配信のおふざけ記事をのせました。長野オリンピックに出場した米国のホッケー・チームが、オリンピック村の部屋をちらかし放題のまま帰国した罰として、cultural sensitivity classes（他国文化認識研修）を受けることに同意したというもの。東京にふたたび来て、まずはお茶、お花などを受講します。記事後半の「着物と下駄をはき、ラッシュアワーの山手線に毎日２回乗る」あたりまで読み進むと、インチキ記事であることが分かるようになっています。
冷静になって、もう一度記事を読み直すと、冒頭はNEW YORK (AF)と書いてあります。APではなくて、AF (April Foolの頭文字）です。
なお、エイプリル・フールを英語で正確にいうと、April Fool's Dayで、単にApril foolというと本来は「四月の馬鹿」つまりエイプリル・フールでかつがれたおばかさん（人間）を指します。
■世界のエイプリルフール ベスト８
サンディエゴにあるMuseum of Hoaxesより。
・第1位
1957年、英BBCが「スイスで木からスパゲティ生える｣。問い合わせ殺到。
・第2位
1985年、Sports Illustrated誌が「時速270キロの球を投げる新人投手｣を14ページにわたり詳報。
・第3位
1962年、スウェーデン テレビ局 「白黒テレビにナイロンストッキングをかぶせるとカラー映像になる」
・第4位
1996年、Taco Bellが「Liberty Bellを買い取り、Taco Liberty Bellに改名する」
・第5位
1977年、英紙The Guardianが「インド洋の国、San Serriffe」記事を7ページ掲載。
・第6位
1992年、National Public Radioが「ニクソン元大統領が再出馬する」
・第7位
1998年、New Mexicans for Science and Reasonというニュースレターが「円周率が聖書に従い3.0に変更された」
・第8位
1998年、Burger KingがUSA Today全面広告で、「左利きのためにLeft-Handed Whopper販売｣ AFP
■エイプリルフールの歴史 日本と世界
1582 エープリルフールの 起源 ＝フランス で、旧暦4/1に、グレゴリオ暦採用で今日は1/1となったのを知らなかった人が馬鹿と呼ばれた。やがて4/1はうそをついてもいい日に（ただし午前中）。これがエープリルフールの起源として「一番もっともらしい説」と『世界のエイプリルフールジョーク集』にある。
1878 米国で新聞 の4/1号にジョーク記事が載り始める。「エジソンが水からワインを作る機械を発明」
海外での「エープリルフール」の習慣は以前から日本でも知られていた。「四月馬鹿」「万愚節」
1952 朝日新聞2012/3/31b3より以下引用：「「サザエさん」が朝日新聞朝刊に掲載された1952年から73年までの４月１日の紙面を見て驚いた。この間に掲載された14本のうち、62年を除く13回すべてがエープリルフールを題材としている」
1955(昭和30)年4/1 日本タイムズ（現ジャパンタイムズ） 「ソ連爆撃機 羽田着陸」 第一面に。朝日が「行過ぎた？四月馬鹿」と報道
1980 英BBCが、「ビックベンがデジタルになる」
ジャパンタイムズでは昔からほぼ毎年掲載、一度に３つのエイプリルフール記事が各部からゲリラ的に載ったことも。4/1はジャパンタイムズ社内でも米国人編集者などがいたずらジョークでまわりをからかいます。
1990/4/1 としまえんが朝日新聞などに全面広告で大きく「史上最低の遊園地。TOSHIMAEN」。一番下に「今日は４月１日です。」。読者が押し掛けた
1993/4/1 エープリルフールでニセ・ジャパンタイムズ現る
1998 朝日新聞 政治家の発言を本音に音訳する機械が発明
1999 朝日新聞、政治面の半分を割いて「閣僚に外国人枠」報道。読者から苦情が殺到、以降は朝日は読者をかつぐ記事は見られなくなった
東京新聞2001/4/1 「きんさんぎんさんは3姉妹」 「どう」さんがいた！
2001〜 東京新聞は毎年 掲載するようになり、名物に。日本の新聞ではエイプリルフールに最も熱心。 他紙はほとんど消極的 。
2008 東京新聞が「（米民主党大統領候補）オバマ氏の弟は日本在住」。ジャパンタイムズは一面で「鳳凰が生存」。朝日、読売、毎日は掲載なし。まとめ
「憲法９条が世界遺産？」 エープリルフールで号外 「新宿や銀座など東京の繁華街で「パリで開催された世界遺産委員会で、日本国憲法９条が世界文化遺産として登録が決まった」とする架空“号外”約１万枚が配られた。配布したのは５月に千葉市で開かれる「９条世界会議」の支援者らで９条の大切さを訴える狙い。号外には「ＥＵ（欧州連合）で９条制定の機運高まる」「（米軍の）思いやり予算半減か」などの記事も」。東京新聞ほか各紙08/4/2報道。写真 この号外の名前は。「卯月新報」、う（そ）つき。
海外では英国で特に盛ん。
2008英Daily Telegraph: 空飛ぶペンギン発見。The Sun:サルコジ仏大統領、背を伸ばす手術へ。The Daily Express: Big Benは修理中でデジタル時計を使用.
■エープリルフール本
エープリルフールジョーク 『世界のエイプリルフールジョーク集』では、ジャパンタイムズについても７件取り上げられています。'07資料収集に協力いたしました。
April fool's
■リンク
★Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes Of All Time(Museum of Hoaxes)
日本インターネット エイプリル・フール協会(JIAFA)
April Fool's World 海外のエイプリルフールなどを紹介
虚構新聞 パロディ満載 滋賀県の個人が運営
エイプリルフールをGoogle検索 April FoolsをGoogle検索
朝日新聞2012/3/31b3「サザエさんをさがして エープリルフール 笑いの文化を楽しむ風土へ」 | {
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Im Cheon-yong says that witnessing mentally and physically handicapped children being used in chemical weapons tests carried out by the North Korean military was the last straw.
An officer in North Korea's special forces, Im had reservations about the nation in which he was living, and the regime that he served to the best of his abilities, but the "special training" he was required to undergo at a military academy in North Pyongan Province for the regime's elite troops helped to convince him that he needed to defect.
"If you want to graduate from this academy, you need to learn how to confuse the enemy without revealing your own forces, how to carry out assassinations, how to use chemical weapons and so on," he told DW.
'The regime does this because it insists to their people that North Korea is heaven on Earth,' says Shigemura
"And then we have what they call 'field learning'. For the biological and chemical warfare tests, we needed 'objects'," he added. "At first, they used the chemical agents on mice and showed us how they died. Then we watched the instructors carrying out the tests on humans to show us how a person dies. I saw it with my own eyes," Im claimed.
He said he got repulsed by what he had witnessed and managed to get over the border into China and arrived in South Korea in the mid 1990s. Now 50 years old, Im is a prominent advocate of the regime change in Pyongyang and president of both the Soldiers' Alliance for Free North Korea and The Fellowship Foundation for Freedom.
Abuse of citizens
Some North Korea experts say that Im's experiences tally with other defectors' tales of abuse of citizens of the world's most isolated state. Some of that testimony was shared with the United Nations' Commission of Inquiry before it issued its damning report on the state of human rights in the North in February.
"There are too many of these stories now for them not to be true," Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University, and an authority on North Korean affairs, told DW. "There were reports in the past but it was difficult to confirm them, but the testimony that is emerging now is consistent and from numerous sources," he added.
"Anyone who goes to Pyongyang will notice that there are no disabled people about at all," he said. "We now know that they are being taken away as children and incarcerated in special camps. The regime does this because it insists to their people that North Korea is heaven on Earth, and there can be no disabled people in paradise," he said.
But Kim Myong-chol, executive director of The Centre for North Korea-US Peace, dismisses Im's claims.
"It is the same nonsense," he told DW. "This guy - and plenty of others like him - are just looking to make money by attracting the attention of South Korea and the US. That is why they make these lies up. People like him know nothing about the real North Korea and all they care about is making money from their lies."
Experiments on humans
'The authorities buy disabled children from their parents for a few kilograms of rice,' claims Im
According to Im, experiments on humans date back to the late 1960s and one of the first facilities used for chemical and biological weapons tests on humans was constructed on the military controlled island of Mayang-do, just off the east coast port of Sinpo, which is also North Korea's most important submarine base. A second facility was subsequently constructed on an island off the west coast of the peninsula, while a third is in operation alongside a political prison camp outside the city of Hyanghari, the defector claims.
"They use anthrax bacterium as well as 40 different types of chemical weapons that the regime has developed itself," Im said. "Through these experiments, they know the effects of the weapons and the amounts to be used."
To give the regime's actions legitimacy, children born with mental or physical disabilities are not taken away by force - although, in reality, few citizens of North Korea have the right to resist the authorities' will, says Im.
"They want to do it 'legally' and they don't want to lose the support of the people, so they buy disabled children from their parents for a few kilograms of rice," he said. "The officials say they will take care of the children." | {
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The human rights ministry is all set to forward the Christian Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2017 to the Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting, while the Hindu Marriage Act will be implemented at the provincial level, representatives of both communities were informed on Wednesday.The bill for Christians has been pending for five years and around four million members of the community in Pakistan are facing issues pertaining to marriage and divorce.Human Rights Minister Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar assured a delegation of Hindus and Christians that the ministry would pursue the approval of the law from the National Assembly.Officials privy to the meeting told The Express Tribune that the Christian members of the delegation expressed concern over the slow progress of the amendments pertaining to marriage and divorce in the community.The draft was forwarded by the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) to the ministry in 2012. They shared some serious issues that the community is facing due to the delay in the legislation. The NCSW worked on the draft in 2011 but the government has failed to present it before Parliament.The Christian representatives recommended that the bill’s provisions should be in accordance with the Bible. The delegation also called for the implementation of the marriage laws for both communities at the provincial level and avoidance of further delay in this regard.Minister of State for Human Rights Barrister Usman Jamali also attended the meeting.The Hindu Marriage Act, 2017 was enacted in March and extends to the capital territory, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, while Sindh has enacted its own law on the subject. | {
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There have been some compelling new studies on global inequality and the impact of growing income gaps in the US and Europe. From these studies we can draw some conclusions about the causes of the rise of so-called ‘populism’ – the mainstream jargon for those elements in society that no longer accept the neoliberal model of globalised free market capitalist development of the last 40 years.
The Global Wealth Migration Review covers global wealth and wealth migration trends over the past 10 years, with projections for the next 10 years. Total private wealth held worldwide amounts to approximately US$215 trillion. The average individual has net assets of US$28,400 (wealth per capita). But there are approximately 15.2 million ‘high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the world, each with net assets of US$1 million or more. And there are approximately 584,000 multi-millionaires in the world, each with net assets of US$10 million or more. Finally, as we go up the wealth inequality spectrum, there are now 2,252 billionaires in the world, each with net assets of US$1 billion or more.
Global wealth has risen by 27% over the past 10 years (from US$169 trillion at the end of 2007 to US$215 trillion at the end of 2017), assisted by strong wealth growth in Asia. Global wealth is expected to rise by 50% over the next decade, reaching US$321 trillion by 2027. This will again be driven by strong growth in Asia. The fastest growing wealth markets are expected to be Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam and China.
The report measured the proportion of wealth controlled by millionaires (HNWIs) – the higher the proportion the more unequal the country is. The most equal countries in the world (based on % of country’s wealth held by HNWIs) were Japan (23%), New Zealand (26%), Norway (27%), Australia (28%), Canada (28%), Germany (28%), Sweden (28%), Denmark (29%), South Korea (29%) and Finland (29%). But remember this means the ‘most equal’ Japan still has HNWI owning 23% of all personal wealth – pretty unequal! Japan has (only!) 35 billionaires which is well below the likes of USA, China, India, Russia and UK.
The most unequal countries in the world are Saudi Arabia (60%), Russia (58%), Nigeria (56%), Brazil (53%), Turkey (52%) – and these are probably the most corrupt (relative to any ‘rule of law’). The inequality wealth ratio is 36% for the US and the UK, 40% for China and 48% for India against a worldwide average of 35%. Yes, HNWIs own on average 35% of all the world’s personal wealth in property, financial assets and cash.
Another interesting measure is the proportion of a country’s wealth held by billionaires. ‘Croney capitalist’ Russia tops this list with 24% of total Russian wealth held by its oligarch billionaires. Japan again is the most equal with billionaires only controlling 3% of total wealth there.
Against this report on global inequality of wealth, there is inequality of income within countries. I have reported on this in many posts but it is really something when the United Nations issues a report on poverty that singles out the US under Donald Trump in deliberately forcing millions of Americans into financial ruin, cruelly depriving them of food and other basic protections while lavishing vast riches on the super-wealthy.
According to Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur who acts as a watchdog on extreme poverty around the world, Trump is steering the country towards a “dramatic change of direction” that is rewarding the rich and punishing the poor by blocking access even to the most meagre necessities. “This is a systematic attack on America’s welfare program that is undermining the social safety net for those who can’t cope on their own. Once you start removing any sense of government commitment, you quickly move into cruelty,” Millions of Americans already struggling to make ends meet faced “ruination”, he warned. “If food stamps and access to Medicaid are removed, and housing subsidies cut, then the effect on people living on the margins will be drastic.”
According to the UN report, in the greatest capitalist economy in the world, 40 million Americans live in poverty. More than five million eke out an existence amid the kind of absolute deprivation normally associated with the developing world. Americans now live shorter and sicker lives than citizens of other rich democracies; t ropical diseases that flourish in conditions of poverty are on the rise; The US incarceration rate remains the highest in the world; Voter registration levels are among the lowest in industrialised nations – 64% of the voting-age population, compared with 91% in Canada and the UK and 99% in Japan. In 1980, the US and Europe stood side by side in terms of inequality – in both cases, the richest one percent earned about 10% of national income. Fast forward to 2017, and in Europe the 1% has edged up to 12% of national income. But in America the same elite now gobbles up 20%. This fits in a broader trend: the share of households that, while having earnings, also receive nutrition assistance rose from 19.6 per cent in 1989 to 31.8 per cent in 2015. 32
At the same time as the UN published its damning analysis, the US Federal Reserve annual economic survey was released. It found that there was large pool of Americans who are vulnerable to any further erosion of their incomes. It found that four out of 10 Americans are so hard up they could not cover an emergency expense of $400 without borrowing money or selling possessions.
Over one-fifth of American adults are not able to pay all of their current month’s bills in full. Over one-fourth of adults skipped necessary medical care in 2017 due to being unable to afford the cost. Over half of college attendees under age 30 took on some debt to pay for their education. Nearly one-fourth of borrowers who went to ‘for profit’ universities are behind on their loan payments, versus less than one-tenth of borrowers who went to public or private not-for-profit institutions. Less than two-fifths of non-retired adults think that their retirement savings are on track, and one-fourth have no retirement savings or pension whatsoever.
Rising inequality and the persistence of poverty and the struggle to ‘make ends meet’ for millions, particularly in the last ten years since the end of the Great Recession has played a role in driving ‘public opinion’ away from mainstream economics and political parties. In a recent article, former World Bank chief economist, Branko Milanovic reckoned there were two curses for European capital: immigration and rising inequality. “The fact that the European Union is so prosperous and peaceful, compared both to its Eastern neighbors (Ukraine, Moldova, the Balkans, Turkey) and more importantly compared to the Middle East and Africa means that it is an excellent emigration destination. Not only is the income gap between the “core” Europe of the former EU15 and the Middle East and Africa huge, it has grown. Today, West European GDP per capita is just shy of $40,000 international dollars; sub-Saharan’s GDP per capita is $3,500 (the gap of about 11 to 1). In 1970, Western Europe’s GDP per capita was $18,000, sub-Saharan, $2,600 (the gap of 7 to 1). Since people in Africa can multiply their incomes by ten times by migrating to Europe, it is hardly surprising that, despite all the obstacles that Europe has recently began placing in the way of the migrants, they keep on coming.”
He reckoned that, given the size of the income gap, migration pressure will continue unabated or greater for at least 50 or more years —even if Africa in this century begins to catch up with Europe (that is, to grow at rates higher than those of the European Union). Nor is that pressure, in terms of the number of people who are banging on Europe’s doors, static. Since Africa is the continent with the highest expected population growth rates, the numbers of potential migrates will rise several-fold. While the population ratio between today’s sub-Saharan Africa and the EU is 1 billion vs. 500 million, in some thirty years, it will be 2.2 billion vs. 500 million.
Other than migration, the second issue fuelling the European political malaise is rising income and wealth inequalities. Switzerland is not only richer than India in terms of annual production of goods and services (the ratio between the two countries’ GDP per capita at market exchange rates is about 50 to 1), but Switzerland is even more richer in terms of wealth per adult (the ratio is almost 100 to 1).
Milanovic summed up the impact: “When one puts these two longer-term trends together: continued migratory pressure and a quasi-automatically rising inequality, that is, the two problems that today poison European political atmosphere, and one contrasts this with the difficulty of moving decisively towards solving either of them, it is not surprising that one might expect political convulsions to continue. They will not be gone in a couple of years. Nor does it make sense to accuse “populists” of irresponsibility or to believe that people preferences have been distorted by “fake news”. The problems are real. They require real solutions.”
Take Italy. The Italians ‘populist’ parties have taken over the government with a program of restricting immigration and reducing inequalities – the Lega wants to kick out all ‘illegal’ immigrants while Five Star wants to introduce a universal basic income to help those struggling to find jobs or are in ‘precarious’ occupations, particularly in southern Italy. The damage that done by the last 40 years of so-called neoliberal reforms designed to raise the profitability of capital at the expense of labour is revealed in another report on weekly working hours and earnings since the Great Recession.
One of the main ‘reforms’ made since the Great Recession under the centre-left Democrat government in Italy was the Jobs Act. Most Southern European mainstream governments introduced labour market reforms with the aim to increase ‘flexibility and competitiveness’, in line with EU requirements. In Italy, the `Jobs Act’ introduced a new labour contract with no protection from firing in the early years of seniority and has made several changes favouring firms over workers. A recent report found that there was “no evidence of the expected boost in employment.” Instead, “an increase in the share of temporary contracts over the open-ended ones is observed; a raise of part-time contracts within the new permanent positions emerges. The ‘Jobs Act’ appears to be ineffective in terms of quantity, quality and duration of the jobs created since its introduction.” No wonder the first proclaimed task of the new populist government in Italy (after kicking out immigrants) is to repeal the Jobs Act.
For capital, the price of globalisation, rising inequality and the Long Depression, accompanied by so-called ‘neoliberal reforms’, is the ‘populist’ threat to the existing order of the so-called ‘centre’ of the political spectrum. But populism too will fail to end the trend of rising inequality, stagnation and the global displacement of millions. | {
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Washington, D.C., September 25, 2019—The Vapor Technology Association (VTA), the industry’s national trade association, Benevolent e-Liquids, Inc., a New York manufacturer, and Perfection Vapes, Inc., a New York retailer, filed a lawsuit seeking declaratory judgment, a temporary restraining order, and a preliminary and permanent injunction in the Supreme Court of the State of New York for Albany County against the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) to nullify the ban in New York State of flavored vapor products and to prevent it from being enforced.
Tony Abboud, Executive Director of the Vapor Technology Association, said, “Not only will the State’s arbitrary and misguided measure do nothing to address the marketing issues about which the State has complained, it is one of the worst examples of government overreach. Banning flavors for vapor products, while leaving all flavored combustible products on shelves can only entice all users to smoke more. In addition, this action completely ignores the fact that the New York State Department of Health has found that the overwhelming majority of the illnesses it is investigating are directly tied to black market THC products and the presence of Vitamin E acetate in those products, something that the NYSDOH said it did not find in any of the nicotine products it tested.”
Abboud continued, “We share the State’s concerns and stand ready to work with Governor Cuomo, the Department of Health and all interested stakeholders on thoughtful and effective laws and regulations that restrict youth access and do not unfairly advantage combustible cigarettes. There are numerous tools that can be deployed to curb youth vaping that also allow legal and responsible vape small business owners the ability to continue to operate in a regulated market selling to adult consumers who rely on access to these life-changing products.”
The VTA in its filing said that the State’s arbitrary and capricious Emergency Rule crosses the line from “administrative rule-making to legislative policy-making.” It violates the clear separation of powers set forth in the New York constitution. Such executive overreach is underscored by the fact that in its last session, the State Legislature considered, and ultimately did not enact, a flavor ban and instead decided to address concerns about youth vaping by raising the minimum age for vapor products from 18 to 21 — legislation that has not yet even had an opportunity to take effect. The State blatantly ignored the Legislature’s efforts and unilaterally usurped its role in making new policy that will devastate an industry.
Vic Canastraro, owner of Benevolent e-Liquids and Perfection Vapes, said, “We have worked hard to build a business that caters to current and former adult smokers, who are asking us to offer a wide variety of flavored e-liquids to help them successfully transition away from cigarettes. I am deeply concerned about what my customers will do without access to our products.”
The State claims the “concern regarding human exposure to nicotine” is equally applicable to substantially more harmful than combustible cigarettes, yet the Rule places no restrictions on the continued sale of these products, which are also illegally used by youth. The State also failed to consider the significant detriment to public health caused by the Rule and ignored the scientific evidence that shows adult ex-smokers rely on flavored vapor products to break their dependence on combustible cigarettes and are at a significant risk of returning to smoking when flavored vapor products are removed from the market.
Abboud concluded, “The Governor of New York, by edict, is criminalizing lawful retail sales and sending pink slips to the more than 3,100 people who wake up every day to their retail jobs created by the small mom and pop vapor industry. This action could amount to a loss of up to $508 million in wages and benefits, direct economic output of nearly $448 million, and some $130 million in New York state and local taxes. Most concerning, however, is that the tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of New Yorkers who had weaned themselves off combustible cigarettes will return to a habit that is the number one cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S.”
A link to the filing can be found here.
ABOUT VTA
The Vapor Technology Association is the leading U.S. non-profit industry trade association whose 1,000 members are dedicated to innovating and selling high quality vapor products that provide adult consumers with a better alternative to traditional combustible cigarettes. VTA represents the industry-leading manufacturers of vapor devices, e-liquids, flavorings, and components, as well as the largest wholesalers, distributors, importers, and e-commerce retailers, in addition to hundreds of hardworking American brick-and-mortar retail store owners throughout the United States.
MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]
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TACOMA, WA. – The Tacoma Stars have announced the signing of Seattle Sounders FC and Major League Soccer veteran Lamar Neagle to a deal. As per team and league policies, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Neagle, a Tacoma native, was a three-year starter for Thomas Jefferson High School in the Federal Way School District. His senior year saw the team post a 16-2-4 record en route to the state’s 4A crown. He also snapped a 31-year state record by netting six goals in one game that season and his efforts for the Raiders landed him on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s All-Star Team.
After high school Neagle played at the college-level for UNLV, and over his four-year span played in every game except one. He led the team in goals during his junior and senior campaigns and was honored as second-team All-Far-West Region in 2008.
Neagle began his MLS career in 2009 when he signed with the Seattle Sounders FC but made his playing debut with the team in 2011. In all, Neagle appeared in 130 games for his hometown team scoring 28 regular season MLS goals for Seattle. Neagle also logged 4 Champions League goals as well as one each in the MLS post-season and U.S. Open Cup. His 34 total goals for the Sounders FC is good for fourth on the all-time scoring list for the club. He also saw playing time with DC United and the Montreal Impact in which he picked up 12 goals in 76 appearances.
The signing of Neagle will help Tacoma remain competitive in the tough Pacific Division of the MASL. Currently, Tacoma is in second place in the division with just a half-game lead over the Ontario Fury for the Pacific’s second playoff spot with seven games yet to play. Stars owner Lane Smith is looking for his squad to hold on to that spot.
“As we head towards the playoffs adding a player with Lamar Neagle’s skill and experience is going to be a nice push offensively for the team. We have an important stretch of games coming up and Lamar should help the team with his leadership and technical skills. We are looking to give Stars fans playoff soccer again this season.” Smith said.
Neagle is expected to join the team immediately and is looking forward to his first game Sunday, March 10th at the accesso ShoWare Center “The Stars are my home town team. Seeing how my game transfers to the indoor style of play and hopefully help the team along the way is a challenge I gladly accept.” said Neagle.
The Stars are on the road this Friday March 8th in Turlock for the front end of a home and home series. Kick off is scheduled for 7:05 pm and you can catch all the action on MASL.tv.
The Stars next home action at the accesso ShoWare Center comes on Sunday March 10th when they host the Turlock Express. Kickoff is set for 5:05 pm. Guarantee your seat to all the action by calling 1-844-STARS-84 or go to www.tacomastars.com.
Mascots from all around the Sound will be battling it out during halftime on March 10th in the Tacoma Stars Seattle vs Tacoma Mascot Game.
Sunday March 10th is bobblehead night featuring Stars goalkeeper Danny Waltman. Score yours by simply purchasing a $25 ticket that comes with the bobblehead. Enter the promo code DANNY at checkout. Hurry! Supplies are limited.
Friday, March 15th, the Stars take on Ontario Fury for the final time this season. With the head-to-head series tied at 2-2, this game is critical for playoff implications. Get tickets and watch these two teams battle it out for the Pacific Division second playoff spot. Get your tickets at tacomastars.showare.com
The Stars’ final regular season home game comes on Sunday March 31st against Landon Donovan and the Pacific Division leading San Diego Sockers. It’s Fan Appreciation Night as the Stars thank the best fans in the MASL.
There’s still time to purchase Legacy Membership with the Tacoma Stars. Guarantee your seat to all the action by calling 1-844-STARS-84, or emailing [email protected], or go to www.tacomastars.com.
Single game tickets to all Tacoma Stars home games are available. Head to tacomastars.showare.com to purchase your tickets.
Stay up to date with the Stars by following them on Twitter (@TacomaStarsSC) or Instagram (Instagram.com/thetacomastars), and by liking the team on Facebook (FB.com/TacomaStars). | {
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Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has claimed that the Uluru Statement From The Heart only offered a "take it or leave it" approach to Indigenous recognition, and has dismissed calls to rethink the government's decision to reject the proposal.
In October, the government announced it would not take on a central recommendation of the Uluru Statement From The Heart, devastating many Indigenous Australians who had participated in and supported the process.
The rejected recommendation was a voice to parliament for Indigenous Australians enshrined in the constitution. It was contained in a report from the Referendum Council following a series of dialogues and a convention of hundreds of Indigenous leaders at Uluru in May.
In rejecting the key recommendation in late October, Turnbull said that the new advisory body made up of indigenous representatives would "inevitably become seen as a third chamber of Parliament".
BuzzFeed News reported in November that the Greens had written to the prime minister asking him to reconsider his rejection of the Uluru Statement From The Heart. In a response sent to Greens leader Richard Di Natale and Greens senator Rachel Siewart, and provided to BuzzFeed News, the prime minister reiterated the government's stance.
"The government does not believe an amendment to the constitution to provide for an indigenous representative assembly is desirable or capable of winning acceptance in a referendum," he said.
"My government does not agree with the 'take it or leave it' approach taken by the [referendum council]. We feel the extensive and valuable work done over the past ten years cannot be wholly disregarded."
Turnbull said he remained committed to recognition but said it was the duty of parliamentarians to ensure that the question put to public vote was simple, easily understood, and overwhelmingly welcomed by all Australians.
Siewart told BuzzFeed News in a statement that claiming the council's approach was "take it or leave it" was "very confronting".
"The Uluru Statement and Referendum Council report was produced after three days of deliberations by 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and a consultation process that took place around Australia — the statement is an eloquent expression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples wishes for the future," she said.
“The prime minister himself needs to consider the stubbornness of his government in asking for the referendum council to consider changes to the constitution to recognise our First Peoples, only to outright dismiss it when they report."
Siewart said the PM's response was "wholly disappointing".
When he was asked about it on ABC's Q&A earlier this month, Turnbull again repeated his assertion that the proposal would amount to being a third chamber of parliament, and would have no prospect of passing at a referendum.
"That means every law that affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ... that would mean that that assembly would have the right to examine every piece of legislation, it would in effect be a third chamber," Turnbull said. | {
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Kansanedustaja Anna Kontula (vas) sanoo käyttäneensä poikkeuksellisia keinoja, koska mikään muu ei ole auttanut.
Saako lakeja rikkoa, jos tarkoitus on riittävän hyvä? Entä kuka määrittelee, mikä syy on moraalisesti hyväksyttävä, ja missä kulkee raja?
Kysymykset heräävät kansanedustaja Anna Kontulan (vas) aikomuksesta tunkeutua Israelin saartamalle Gazan kaistaleelle maanantaina.
HS:n haastattelemat tutkijat pitävät tapausta poikkeuksellisena. | {
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Just a few days after an English private server for Closers launched, Naddic Games, the studio behind the game, confirmed that they're working to get the game launched in North America and are concerned that the private server will negatively impact their official launch.
Naddic asked us to remove our news post about the private servers as they felt we were misleading people about the legitimacy of the server. To remedy this concern we went back and made it abundantly clear that the "CODE: Closers" server is a private server and has no affiliation with Naddic.
This certainly doesn't mean that Closers will be launching officially in the West anytime soon, but it does mean they're in the process of getting it licensed, which is great.
For those that haven't heard of Closers, it's basically an Elsword Online / Dungeon Fighter Online style action MMORPG with persistent hubs and instanced dungeons. See my first look to learn more: | {
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A WOMAN caught masturbating atop a motorcycle has been arrested after the sex act was witnessed by a 13-year-old boy, the child’s mother and another neighbour.
Karen Marie Dilworth was charged with lewd and lascivious exhibition by a person over 18 on a person under 16, on Saturday night.
Dilworth, 50, denied accusations that she was masturbating, telling Ormond Beach police that she was in her garage smoking cigarettes and drinking beers. However, her neighbours say otherwise.
According to the arrest report, the boy and his mother were outside their home on Pine Cone Trail, Florida, when they spotted a half-naked Dilworth facing the street and performing the sex act with her garage door open. The mother shouted to another neighbour who then told Dilworth to shut her garage door.
Police were called and Dilworth was taken to Volusia County Branch Jail but was later released after she posted $1,000 (£615) bail. | {
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Chrome OS started out as an operating system designed to work primarily online, and the dev team has slowly begun adding more offline features. These include offline HTML5 apps such as Gmail or Google Drive, which can take your input as if they were online and then sync the data later to the cloud, to receiving support for C++ applications through the Native Client plugin.
Earlier this year, Google made the major announcement that Chrome OS would start running full Android applications, although only a handful would be supported initially.
Now, we get the news that a Google intern has made it possible to run Linux directly in a Chrome OS window. This will allow users to run any kind of Linux application (such as Skype, for example) from a Chromebook.
Francois Beaufort, a Chromium evangelist, made the announcement in a Google+ post:
"Google Intern has added support to run Crouton¹ in a Chrome OS Window. Thanks to a 4,471 lines patch², fearless people can now run their favorite Linux distributions on their Chrome Devices in a nice window without jumping between Virtual Terminals as before."
There have been ways to either install Linux on a Chromebook machine and dual boot both operating systems, or run both at the same time using a tool called Crouton. The latter is actually being used here as well, but this time setting it up is much simpler than before.
All you have to do is put the Chromebook in developer mode (the equivalent of a bootloader unlock for a Nexus phone), install the new Crouton extension, download the Crouton tool and then type a simple command. After that you'll be able to use any Linux distro you want inside a Chrome OS window.
Chromebooks are already highly popular in the education sector, and they're slowly taking off in the consumer market as well. The growth has been slower in the mainstream market because either Chrome OS doesn't support the apps people need right now, or users believe they might need a certain app in the future that Windows or Mac OS has but isn't available on Chrome OS. The easier support for full Linux applications should make that gap between application support much smaller, and it should thus make Chromebooks more appealing to those reluctant consumers.
Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+. | {
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