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With Zeguro, SMEs can secure bespoke insurance against cyberattacks, QBE said in a release.
“The risks of cyberattack are significant for any business. They can be hugely disruptive and extremely costly, so it is vital that companies have systems and processes in place to prevent or mitigate any kind of attack,” said QBE Group chief operations officer David McMillan.
McMillan added that many SMEs “lack the resources to invest in high levels of IT security or risk management,” which leaves them exposed.
“Zeguro allows our SME customers to take control and oversight of their cyber exposure through an easy to use interface that automates cybersecurity processes and provides ongoing recommendations to reduce their overall cyber risk.”
QBE’s partnership with Zeguro was made possible through the investment of the former’s venture capital arm – QBE Ventures. QBE Ventures makes “targeted investments in start-ups that provide QBE with access to technically advanced and industry changing technology solutions,” a release said.
“Phishing, ransomware, and crypto-mining are becoming all too common and small and midsize businesses typically do not have the resources to protect themselves from such expensive breaches. Zeguro provides the continuous monitoring and management tools for this segment to manage their environment,” said Zeguro CEO Sidd Gavirneni.
QBE will work with Zeguro on an initial rollout of the platform in North America. | {
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india
Updated: Jul 23, 2019 00:35 IST
A plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre to give Vande Mataram equal status like the national anthem—Jana Gana Mana. The plea filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, has sought that ‘Vande Mataram’, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, be equally propagated like the national anthem.
In his plea, Upadhyay has said that the national song played a vital role in the Independence movement and was first sung in a political context by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress.
“Both the ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ have to be equally respected. The sentiments expressed in ‘Jana Gana Mana’ have been expressed keeping state in view…… the sentiments expressed in ‘Vande Mataram’ deserves similar respect,” the plea read. The petition sought that a declaration be made that ‘Vande Mataram’ shall be honoured equally with the song ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and shall have equal status with it. | {
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No one told us life was going to be this way – or that a much-hyped special about TV’s best sitcom would be so awful
On 21 February in the year of our lord 2016, five former co-workers sat on a sofa on national television and nothing happened. Not even one chuckle was had. I am talking about the much-touted “Friends reunion” (minus Matthew Perry) that happened on Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows. It was one of the most intensely boring two hours I have ever endured.
The special, commemorating the 1,000th episode of TV that Burrows has directed, reunited the stars from his most famous shows – Taxi, Will & Grace, Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Cheers and, of course, Friends. I have no idea what people were expecting to happen. Just like all the other casts, the five Friends sat on stage looking older and shared a few favourite moments and behind-the-scenes stories. But there was nothing more insightful than the Oprah Winfrey interview the cast did 12 years ago, before the groundbreaking sitcom went off the air. They didn’t reveal whether or not they had to sign contracts saying they wouldn’t sleep with each other – although it did appear that Lisa Kudrow was the only one who had to audition for her part.
There was one good moment, when the five were trying to find their seats on the couch and did a little rearranging dance, with Matt LeBlanc eventually shoving Jennifer Aniston to the fore. It seemed unrehearsed and lighthearted, showing the dynamic that made this team so famous (and rich) decades ago. It was one of few funny moments in a show that was otherwise like attending the retirement party for someone you’ve never met. Here are some of the worst moments:
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Back to the 90s ... the cast of Friends. Photograph: NBC via Getty Images
1 The one with the Friends reunion
We learned the near-interesting tidbit that Aniston, Kudrow and Courteney Cox had lunch together on set every single day for 10 years, and that they always ate the same thing: a “Jennifer salad”. We know Aniston made it, but what was in it? The host, Andy Cohen, never followed up, so we’ll always be left wondering. We did learn that Burrows got LeBlanc to let a hockey puck fly in his face. Glad we got that priceless morsel! Oh, and Burrows let the cast play poker in his dressing room. Thank God we found that out!
2 The one with the pre-taped messages
Debra Messing, Matthew Perry and Kelsey Grammer couldn’t make it, so they sent special messages. These are comic actors sending praise to one of the greatest comic directors of all time – and not one of them bothered to write a single joke. Instead, they rambled on with earnest platitudes that could have been said about anyone.
3 The one with the ill-advised impersonations
Many of the people on stage decided to do impersonations of Burrows. That might have been touching, but for the fact that the audience at home had absolutely no idea what the guy sounds or acts like.
4 The one with the chronic-sitcom syndrome
This was supposed to be a comedy special – so why was it so spectacularly unfunny? The worst offenders were the bits that occasionally broke up the casts talking about their shows. There was the smile-free opening in which Will & Grace star Sean Hayes got all the old stars together; a fake public service announcement about “chronic sitcom name confusion syndrome”, in which everyone still screams “Norm!” at actor George Wendt; and Kelsey Grammer trying out roles from other sitcoms.
5 The one with the shameless plugs
Halfway through the show Patrick Warburton, the star of the upcoming NBC sitcom Crowded, told everyone that Burrows’ 1,000th episode of TV would come on this as-yet-unreleased series; the trailer then played. To get into the spirit, Perry took the time in his message to awkwardly plug The End of Longing, the play he wrote and directed in London. The worst part of watching any TV show is the commercials – especially when those commercials are inside that very TV show. | {
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Every day of the week for many hours a day | {
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Exilösterreicher: Propagandakampf gegen Nazis
300 bis 400 österreichische Exilanten kämpften im Zweiten Weltkrieg in US-Propagandainstitutionen mit Worten und Bildern gegen das NS-Regime. Aktionen wie die „Operation Sauerkraut“ hatten dabei vor allem moralische Bedeutung, wie ein neues Buch dokumentiert.
Im Krieg gegen die Nationalsozialisten setzten die USA auch auf die Unterstützung durch Journalisten, Diplomaten, Autoren, Juristen, Schauspieler und Sänger, die mit der Sprache, Denkweise und Kultur des „Feindes“ vertraut waren. Sie schufen Propaganda mit speziellen Inhalten für ein österreichisches Publikum, ihr Wirken kann laut Florian Traussnig „durchaus zu den Formen des ‚leisen‘ Widerstands gerechnet werden“. In seinem Buch „Geistiger Widerstand von außen“ nennt der Historiker etwa die als „verführerische Radiostimme“ eingesetzte Sängerin Vilma Kuerer oder der Kriegsgefangeneninterviewer und Multiagent Oliver Rockhill-Schneditz.
„Operation Sauerkraut“
„Eine der spektakulärsten Episoden in der Geschichte der psychologischen Kriegsführung“ war aus Traussnigs Sicht die von Sommer 1944 bis zum Kriegsende durchgeführte „Operation Sauerkraut“, die über das Amt für Strategische Dienste (Office of Stragegic Services, OSS) des US-Kriegsgeheimdienstes abgewickelt wurde. Dort wurden nach dem Konzept der „schwarzen Propaganda“ gezielt Desinformationstexte kreiert, die als Produkte der Deutschen bzw. Nationalsozialisten ausgegeben wurden.
Buch „Geistiger Widerstand von außen. Österreicher in US-Propagandainstitutionen im Zweiten Weltkrieg“ von Florian Traussnig, Böhlau Verlag
Moralische Bedenken bei der Wahl der Mittel gab es beim OSS nicht: Mit unorthodoxen Methoden wie Übertreibungen, Lügen, Fälschungen und Einschüchterungen versuchten hier die österreichischen Propagandakämpfer, „ihren Gegner zu demoralisieren, zu brechen und kampfunfähig zu machen“. Beispiele waren explizit pornografische Bildgeschichten, in denen Nazis als behaarte Affen bei Übergriffen auf „unschuldige Ehefrauen“ dargestellt wurden, oder eigens gedichtete Wiener Schlagerlieder mit hochgradig ideologischem, antinationalistischem Gedankengut.
Geheimdienstliche Vermittlung
Anders als die offen amerikanische und idealistische „weiße Propaganda“ wurde das OSS-Propagandamaterial nicht einfach per Flugzeug abgeworfen, sondern durch „geheimdienstliche Penetrationstrupps“ aus übergelaufenen Ex-Kriegsgefangenen, die als gewöhnliche Wehrmachtssoldaten getarnt waren, unter hohem persönlichen Risiko direkt „an den Mann gebracht“. Spionage gehörte zu den weiteren Aufgaben der Propagandabriefträger.
Auch an der Verbreitung von „weißer Propaganda“ durch das Office of War Information (OWI) waren österreichische Exilanten beteiligt, so etwa der in die USA geflohene Sozialdemokrat Julius Deutsch oder der dem Holocaust entronnene österreichische Jude Henry Koerner, der ästhetisch anspruchsvolle Propagandaplakate schuf.
Moralische Bedeutung
Die Auswirkungen der spektakulären Subversionsunternehmen will Traussnig nicht gering schätzen. Auch wenn diese auf den Kriegsverlauf „keinen nennenswerten Einfluss“ hatten, seien sie „in symbolischer, politischer und moralischer Hinsicht aber von hohem Wert“ gewesen, nämlich dank einer über Monate und Jahre andauernden „erst auf den zweiten Blick erkennbaren und schleichenden Unterminierung feindlicher Moral und der Desorientierung des nationalsozialistischen Gegners“.
Die USA mit ihrem schnell wachsenden Militär-, Geheimdienst- und Propagandaapparat habe außerdem dem zerstrittenen österreichischen Exil ermöglicht, als eine „Art Arbeitsgemeinschaft gegen Hitler“ ein Bild des „anderen Österreichs“ zu zeichnen und geistigen Widerstand gegen den NS-Staat zu leisten.
science.ORF.at/APA
Mehr zum Thema | {
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ANN ARBOR, MI -- In a couple weeks, residents 21 and up will be able to walk into a store and purchase marijuana, a plant that’s long been illegal in Michigan and that remains illegal federally.
Read more on Mlive | {
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The book’s third section, “The Defender,” is about the love affair between a 32-year-old Brooklyn-based landscape architect named Lorri Davis, “who spent her days thinking about the gradations of rich people’s backyards, figuring out the optimal placement for Oscar de la Renta’s pool,” and Damien Echols, a high school dropout and Wiccan, convicted of murdering three kids in Arkansas. Lorri was educated and well off, while Damien grew up without “running water, heating or air-conditioning.” She admired that as a teenager he had changed his name from Michael to Damien, in honor of “a 19th-century priest who treated lepers in Hawaii.” She learned of his plight in 1996, at a screening of a documentary at the Museum of Modern Art. Three years later, after a robust prison correspondence, they married in a jail wedding. (Early on, “they speculated about whether they’d known each other in a past life.”)
Instead of pathologizing the allure of violent criminals to lonely women, Monroe focuses on the hurdles Lorri faced in getting Damien, whom she and many others believed to be innocent, out of prison. Lorri was aided in large part by the support she received on internet message boards. Monroe cleverly juxtaposes this positive story about the internet’s role in freeing a possibly innocent man with the most mind-boggling account in the book: that of a teenage girl who is radicalized by murder fantasies online.
[ A popular true crime podcast, “Crime Junkie,” removed episodes after allegations of plagiarism. ]
“The Killer” tells the story of two lonely teenagers — one rich, one less so — who meet online and plan, poignantly, a Valentine’s Day massacre at a mall. In just seven weeks, “Lindsay and James would come to feel that their meeting was part of some great cosmic plan.” Both were active in a Columbine-shooter-focused Tumblr forum. (“I could be your Eric,” Lindsay writes to James, referring to one of the Columbine shooters.) “Girls who’d been toddlers at the time of the massacre in Colorado had an easier time metabolizing the tragedy as an aesthetic: trench coats, violent video games, industrial techno, semiautomatic weapons … cute, misunderstood boys,” Monroe explains, a conclusion she draws after reading the couple’s voluminous chat record. Lindsay flies to Canada happy to go along with any plan, as long as she can wear high heels during the attack. She gets arrested at the airport.
By the end of the book, I found myself almost admiring the emotional plasticity of women who consciously scramble the logic of the predator-prey relationship in order to escape their unsatisfying lives. “Relationship” seems to be the key word. Throwing your lot in with the living embodiment of lethal peril — and swapping out the label “predator” for “boyfriend” — seems a surefire way to change your life. And isn’t that what we all want? Our lives to change? | {
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Twitter on Monday said its co-founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey will continue as the chief executive at the microblogging site. He served as Twitter’s president and CEO from May 2007 to October 2008 as well. When asked about the board’s prior statements about the CEO position being a full-time job, Currie said that Dorsey has a “particular gift for this role”. His other company, Square is also at a very critical stage having filed for IPO; hence it might be difficult for him to efficiently manage both the companies.
At present, Dorsey is interim CEO of Twitter, and Wall Street is wondering if he can realistically lead two companies that face plenty of challenges in their respective sectors. Dorsey will continue to serve on the Twitter board, but will no longer act as chairman. Dorsey is expected to take Square public in the coming weeks.
In a Tweet, Dorsey said they were “working to change the composition of the board”.
Twitter quickly become a global sensation after its launch in 2006, but the social media platform’s growth has slowed and it has yet to turn a profit.
Dorsey was Twitter’s first ever chief executive.
Dorsey has must ensure that Twitter’s steadily rising revenue begins to produce profits relatively soon.
Dorsey took to his own Twitter to break the news, saying his focus is to develop teams that move, learn and work fast, and that the plan is to focus Twitter’s “roadmap on a few things we can make really great”. Additionally, Costolo has resigned from the Twitter board, the filing said. That included making management changes to the company’s product team and a new initiative exploring how to extend Twitter’s messaging beyond 140 characters.
Jack Dorsey has announced that he is re-taking the reins of the social network that he helped build. Dorsey had been the interim CEO since it was announced that previous CEO Dick Costolo was stepping down in June of this year.
Problems possibly reached a breaking point amid the last earnings announcement in April in which the first quarter report released early before the markets closed, apparently sourced from the company’s investor relations website.
Jack Dorsey to Lead Both Twitter and Square | {
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The time for a rise in interest rates is not now, given "anaemic" wage growth and Brexit uncertainty, Bank of England governor Mark Carney says. | {
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Thousands of years ago, glaciers covered much of the planet. Oceans receded as water froze in massive sheets of ice blanketing the North American continent. As the ice age ended, glaciers melted. Massive river deltas flowed out across the continental shelf. The oceans rose, and fresh water was trapped in sediments below the waves. Discovered while drilling for oil offshore in the 1970s, scientists thought these “isolated” pockets of fresh water were a curiosity. They may instead prove to be a parched world’s newest source of fresh water.
As told in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, scientists from Columbia University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution spent 10 days on a research ship towing electromagnetic sensors from New Jersey to Massachusetts. By measuring the way electromagnetic waves traveled through fresh and saline water, researchers mapped out fresh-water reservoirs for the first time.
It turns out the subterranean pools stretch for at least 50 miles off the US Atlantic coast, containing vast stores of low-salinity groundwater, about twice the volume of Lake Ontario. The deposits begin about 600 ft (183 m) below the seafloor and stretch for hundreds of miles. That rivals the size of even the largest terrestrial aquifers.
Gustafson et. al / Nature The estimated extent of undersea fresh-water reservoirs.
“We knew there was fresh water down there in isolated places, but we did not know the extent or geometry,” said lead author Chloe Gustafson, a PhD candidate at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, according to Phys.org. “It could turn out to be an important resource in other parts of the world.”
The size and extent of the freshwater deposits suggest they are also being fed by modern-day runoff from land—and may exist elsewhere with similar topography.
Gustafson et. al / Nature Conceptual illustration of aquifers extending off the US Atlantic coast.
The water is not pure terrestrial fresh water, which contains salt concentrations of less than one part per thousand. Near land, the undersea aquifer has concentrations close to pure fresh water. Toward its edges, it may reach 15 parts per thousand (about half that of seawater). That’s still valuable. Desalination plants could easily turn that into drinkable water. | {
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Les collections en Python sont organisées autour de la philosophie du langage, notament EAFP, et la manie de l’itération.
Les dictionnaires
Valeur par défaut
Une fois à l’aise en Python, on utilise souvent les dictionnaires. Et on fait souvent ça:
>>> def get ( d , key , default ) : ... try : ... return d [ key ] ... except KeyError : ... return default ... >>> d = { 'a' : 1 } >>> get ( d , 'foo' , 'bar' ) 'bar' >>> get ( d , 'a' , 'bar' ) 1 >>> def get(d, key, default): ... try: ... return d[key] ... except KeyError: ... return default ... >>> d = {'a':1} >>> get(d, 'foo', 'bar') 'bar' >>> get(d, 'a', 'bar') 1
C’est parfaitement superflux, puisque Python le propose en standard:
>>> d. get ( "foo" , 'bar' ) 'bar' >>> d. get ( "a" , 'bar' ) 1 >>> d.get("foo", 'bar') 'bar' >>> d.get("a", 'bar') 1
Plus tordu encore:
>>> def get_and_set_if_not_exist ( d , key , default ) : ... try : ... return d [ key ] ... except KeyError : ... d [ key ] = default ... return default ... >>> d = { 'a' : 1 } >>> get_and_set_if_not_exist ( d , 'foo' , [ ] ) . append ( 'wololo' ) >>> d { 'a' : 1 , 'foo' : [ 'wololo' ] } >>> get_and_set_if_not_exist ( d , 'foo' , [ ] ) . append ( 'oyo oyo' ) >>> d { 'a' : 1 , 'foo' : [ 'wololo' , 'oyo oyo' ] } >>> def get_and_set_if_not_exist(d, key, default): ... try: ... return d[key] ... except KeyError: ... d[key] = default ... return default ... >>> d = {'a':1} >>> get_and_set_if_not_exist(d, 'foo', []).append('wololo') >>> d {'a': 1, 'foo': ['wololo']} >>> get_and_set_if_not_exist(d, 'foo', []).append('oyo oyo') >>> d {'a': 1, 'foo': ['wololo', 'oyo oyo']}
Python le propose aussi en standard:
>>> d = { 'a' : 1 } >>> d. setdefault ( 'foo' , [ ] ) . append ( 'wololo' ) >>> d. setdefault ( 'foo' , [ ] ) . append ( 'oyo oyo' ) >>> d { 'a' : 1 , 'foo' : [ 'wololo' , 'oyo oyo' ] } >>> d = {'a':1} >>> d.setdefault('foo', []).append('wololo') >>> d.setdefault('foo', []).append('oyo oyo') >>> d {'a': 1, 'foo': ['wololo', 'oyo oyo']}
Clés des dictionnaires
Les clés des dictionnaires n’ont pas à être des strings. N’importe quel objet hashable fait l’affaire, par exemple, des tuples:
>>> positions = { } >>> positions [ ( 48.856614 , 48.856614 ) ] = "Paris" >>> positions [ ( 40.7143528 , - 74.0059731 ) ] = "New York" >>> positions { ( 48.856614 , 48.856614 ) : 'Paris' , ( 40.7143528 , - 74.0059731 ) : 'New York' } >>> positions [ ( 48.856614 , 48.856614 ) ] 'Paris' >>> positions = {} >>> positions[(48.856614, 48.856614)] = "Paris" >>> positions[(40.7143528, -74.0059731)] = "New York" >>> positions {(48.856614, 48.856614): 'Paris', (40.7143528, -74.0059731): 'New York'} >>> positions[(48.856614, 48.856614)] 'Paris'
Les sets
Les sets sont un type de structure peu connu: ils représentent un ensemble non ordonné d’objets uniques. Il n’y a donc pas d’ordre évident dans un set, et le résultat est garanti sans doublon:
>>> e = set ( ( 3 , 2 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 ) ) >>> e set ( [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] ) >>> e. add ( 1 ) >>> e. add ( 1 ) >>> e. add ( 14 ) >>> e set ( [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 14 ] ) >>> e = set((3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)) >>> e set([1, 2, 3]) >>> e.add(1) >>> e.add(1) >>> e.add(14) >>> e set([1, 2, 3, 14])
Les opérations du set acceptent n’importe quel itérable. Y compris les opérations ensemblistes:
>>> e. update ( 'abcdef' ) >>> e set ( [ 'a' , 1 , 2 , 3 , 'e' , 'd' , 'f' , 'c' , 14 , 'b' ] ) >>> e = set ( 'abc' ) >>> e. union ( "cde" ) set ( [ 'a' , 'c' , 'b' , 'e' , 'd' ] ) >>> e. difference ( "cde" ) set ( [ 'a' , 'b' ] ) >>> e. intersection ( "cde" ) set ( [ 'c' ] ) >>> e.update('abcdef') >>> e set(['a', 1, 2, 3, 'e', 'd', 'f', 'c', 14, 'b']) >>> e = set('abc') >>> e.union("cde") set(['a', 'c', 'b', 'e', 'd']) >>> e.difference("cde") set(['a', 'b']) >>> e.intersection("cde") set(['c'])
Vérifier la présence l’un élément dans un set (avec l’opérateur in ) est une opération extrêment rapide (compléxité O(1) ), beaucoup plus que dans une liste ou un tuple. Le set reste pourtant itérable (mais on ne peut pas compter sur l’ordre).
Les opérateurs binaires sont overridés pour les opérations entre sets. De plus on peut utiliser une notation littérale pour décrire un set à partir de Python 2.7:
>>> { 'a' , 'b' , 'c' } | { 'c' , 'd' } # union set ( [ 'a' , 'c' , 'b' , 'd' ] ) >>> { 'a' , 'b' , 'c' } & { 'c' , 'd' } # intersection set ( [ 'c' ] ) >>> { 'a' , 'b' , 'c' } - { 'c' , 'd' } # difference set ( [ 'a' , 'b' ] ) >>> {'a', 'b', 'c'} | {'c', 'd'} # union set(['a', 'c', 'b', 'd']) >>> {'a', 'b', 'c'} & {'c', 'd'} # intersection set(['c']) >>> {'a', 'b', 'c'} - {'c', 'd'} # difference set(['a', 'b'])
Les listes
Pop() prend un argument
La raison pour laquelle il n’y a pas de unshift sur les listes en Python, c’est que l’on en a pas besoin:
>> >>> l = [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] >>> l. pop ( ) 5 >>> l [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] >>> l. pop ( 0 ) 1 >>> l [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] >>> l. pop ( - 2 ) 3 >>> l [ 2 , 4 ] >> >>> l = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] >>> l.pop() 5 >>> l [1, 2, 3, 4] >>> l.pop(0) 1 >>> l [2, 3, 4] >>> l.pop(-2) 3 >>> l [2, 4]
Le slicing accepte un 3eme argument
Le slicing, que l’on peut appliquer à tous les indexables (listes, tuples, strings, etc), est la fonctionalité bien pratique qui permet de récupérer une sous partie de la structure de données:
>>> l = range ( 10 ) >>> l [ 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] >>> l [ 2 : 8 ] [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ] >>> l [ 5 : ] [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] >>> l [ : 5 ] [ 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] >>> l = range(10) >>> l [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] >>> l[2:8] [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] >>> l[5:] [5, 6, 7, 8, 9] >>> l[:5] [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
Ca vous connaissiez sûrement. Mais cette syntaxe accepte un 3eme nombre: le pas.
Le premier nombre dit d’où l’on part. Le second où l’on s’arrête. Le dernier dit de combien on avance (par défaut de 1).
>>> l [ 2 : 8 : 2 ] [ 2 , 4 , 6 ] >>> l [ 2 :: 2 ] # chaque paramètre est optionel [ 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 ] >>> l[2:8:2] [2, 4, 6] >>> l[2::2] # chaque paramètre est optionel [2, 4, 6, 8]
Et le pas peut être négatif, ce qui est plutôt sympas si vous voulez parcourir une liste ou une string à reculon.
>>> l [ ::- 1 ] [ 9 , 8 , 7 , 6 , 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 , 0 ] >>> l[::-1] [9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0]
extend() accepte n’importe quel itérable
extend() permet de mettre à jour une liste. On l’utilise souvent en lui passant une autre liste:
>>> l = [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] >>> l. extend ( [ 4 , 5 , 6 ] ) >>> l [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ] >>> l = [1, 2, 3] >>> l.extend([4, 5, 6]) >>> l [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Mais comme la plupart du code la bibliothèque standard, extend() accepte n’importe quel itérable.
>>> t = ( 42 , 666 , 1024 ) # un tuple >>> s = '456' # une string >>> d = { '3.14' : 'pi' } # un dico >>> l = [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] >>> l. extend ( s ) >>> l [ 1 , 2 , 3 , '4' , '5' , '6' ] >>> l. extend ( d ) # >>> l [ 1 , 2 , 3 , '4' , '5' , '6' , '3.14' ] >>> l. extend ( t ) >>> l [ 1 , 2 , 3 , '4' , '5' , '6' , '3.14' , 42 , 666 , 1024 ] >>> t = (42, 666, 1024) # un tuple >>> s = '456' # une string >>> d = {'3.14': 'pi'} # un dico >>> l = [1, 2, 3] >>> l.extend(s) >>> l [1, 2, 3, '4', '5', '6'] >>> l.extend(d) # >>> l [1, 2, 3, '4', '5', '6', '3.14'] >>> l.extend(t) >>> l [1, 2, 3, '4', '5', '6', '3.14', 42, 666, 1024]
Ca marche aussi avec les set, les fichiers, les expressions génératrices. Attention cependant, sachez que l’itération retourne: par exemple itérer sur un dico retourne ses clés, pas ses valeurs (car on peut récupérer l’un avec l’autre, mais pas l’inverse).
Les tuples
Ce qui permet de créer un tuple ne sont pas les parenthèses, mais la virgule:
>>> 1 , 2 , 3 # ceci EST un tuple ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) >>> 1 , # tuple ( 1 , ) >>> 1 # int 1 >>> 1,2,3 # ceci EST un tuple (1, 2, 3) >>> 1, # tuple (1,) >>> 1 # int 1
La raison pour laquelle il est recommandé d’utiliser presque TOUJOURS les parenthèses, c’est qu’elles permettent d’éviter les ambiguïtés, et qu’elles autorisent la définition sur plusieurs lignes:
>>> type ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) # tuple ou paramètres ? Traceback ( most recent call last ) : File "<ipython-input-62-5be61417b8a3>" , line 1 , in < module > type ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) TypeError : type ( ) argument 1 must be string , not int >>> type ( ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) ) < type 'tuple' > >>> ( 1 , # un gros tuple s'écrit sur plusieurs lignes ... 2 , ... 3 ) ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) >>> type(1,2,3) # tuple ou paramètres ? Traceback (most recent call last): File "<ipython-input-62-5be61417b8a3>", line 1, in <module> type(1,2,3) TypeError: type() argument 1 must be string, not int >>> type((1,2,3)) <type 'tuple'> >>> (1, # un gros tuple s'écrit sur plusieurs lignes ... 2, ... 3) (1, 2, 3)
Mais il existe des rares cas où il est acceptable de ne pas mettre de parenthèses:
>>> def debut_et_fin ( lst ) : ... """ ... Retourne le début et la fin d'une liste ... """ ... debut = lst [ 0 ] ... fin = lst [ - 1 ] ... # donner l'illusion de retourner plusieurs valeurs ... # alors qu'on retourne en fait un tuple ... return debut , fin # ... >>> debut , fin = debut_et_fin ( [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] ) # unpacking >>> debut 1 >>> fin 4 >>> debut , fin = fin , debut # variable swap >>> debut 4 >>> fin 1 >>> def debut_et_fin(lst): ... """ ... Retourne le début et la fin d'une liste ... """ ... debut = lst[0] ... fin = lst[-1] ... # donner l'illusion de retourner plusieurs valeurs ... # alors qu'on retourne en fait un tuple ... return debut, fin # ... >>> debut, fin = debut_et_fin([1,2,3,4]) # unpacking >>> debut 1 >>> fin 4 >>> debut, fin = fin, debut # variable swap >>> debut 4 >>> fin 1
Le module collections
En plus des collections built-in, la bibliothèque standard de Python propose un module collections avec plein d’outils en bonus.
Des dictionnaires qui conservent l’ordre d’insertion (comme les Arrays en PHP):
>>> from collections import OrderedDict >>> d = { } # l'ordre d'un dico n'est pas garanti >>> d [ 'c' ] = 1 >>> d [ 'b' ] = 2 >>> d [ 'a' ] = 3 >>> d. keys ( ) [ 'a' , 'c' , 'b' ] >>> d = OrderedDict ( ) >>> d [ 'c' ] = 1 >>> d [ 'b' ] = 2 >>> d [ 'a' ] = 3 >>> d. keys ( ) [ 'c' , 'b' , 'a' ] >>> from collections import OrderedDict >>> d = {} # l'ordre d'un dico n'est pas garanti >>> d['c'] = 1 >>> d['b'] = 2 >>> d['a'] = 3 >>> d.keys() ['a', 'c', 'b'] >>> d = OrderedDict() >>> d['c'] = 1 >>> d['b'] = 2 >>> d['a'] = 3 >>> d.keys() ['c', 'b', 'a']
Un compteur qui a une interface similaire à un dictionnaire spécialisé.
>>> from collections import Counter >>> score = Counter ( ) >>> score [ 'bob' ] 0 >>> score [ 'robert' ] + = 1 >>> score [ 'robert' ] 1 >>> score [ 'robert' ] + = 1 >>> score [ 'robert' ] 2 >>> from collections import Counter >>> score = Counter() >>> score['bob'] 0 >>> score['robert'] += 1 >>> score['robert'] 1 >>> score['robert'] += 1 >>> score['robert'] 2
Comme vous pouvez le voir il gère les valeurs par defaut, mais en prime il compte le contenu de n’importe quel itérable:
>>> Counter ( [ 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 3 ] ) Counter ( { 1 : 6 , 3 : 2 , 2 : 1 } ) >>> Counter ( 'Une petite puce pique plus' ) Counter ( { 'e' : 5 , ' ' : 4 , 'p' : 4 , 'u' : 3 , 'i' : 2 , 't' : 2 , 'c' : 1 , 'l' : 1 , 'n' : 1 , 'q' : 1 , 's' : 1 , 'U' : 1 } ) >>> Counter([1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 3]) Counter({1: 6, 3: 2, 2: 1}) >>> Counter('Une petite puce pique plus') Counter({'e': 5, ' ': 4, 'p': 4, 'u': 3, 'i': 2, 't': 2, 'c': 1, 'l': 1, 'n': 1, 'q': 1, 's': 1, 'U': 1})
Des tuples qui ressemblent à des structs en C, mais itérables:
>>> from collections import namedtuple >>> Fiche = namedtuple ( "Fiche" , "force charisme intelligence" ) >>> f = Fiche ( force = 18 , charisme = 17 , intelligence = 3 ) >>> f Fiche ( force = 18 , charisme = 17 , intelligence = 3 ) >>> for x in f: ... print x ... 18 17 3 >>> f. force 18 >>> from collections import namedtuple >>> Fiche = namedtuple("Fiche", "force charisme intelligence") >>> f = Fiche(force=18, charisme=17, intelligence=3) >>> f Fiche(force=18, charisme=17, intelligence=3) >>> for x in f: ... print x ... 18 17 3 >>> f.force 18
Des dicos dont la valeur par défaut est le résultat de l’appel d’une fonction: | {
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De Partij voor de Dieren gaat opnieuw een wetsvoorstel indienen om ritueel slachten te laten verbieden.
Dat zegt de nieuwe PvdD-senator Christine Teunissen zaterdag in het AD.
Een eerder plan van de partij voor een verbod op ritueel slachten sneuvelde in 2012 in de Eerste Kamer. Het zou de vrijheid van godsdienst te veel inperken.
Deze keer kan het wetsvoorstel het wel halen, denkt Teunissen op basis van de gewijzigde stemverhoudingen in de Eerste Kamer. Om aan de bezwaren van destijds tegemoet te komen, wordt het plan iets aangepast. | {
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The idea being pitched to Long Beach by a small Las Vegas entertainment company is extraordinarily ambitious, if not downright outlandish: Renovate and restore the Queen Mary and return her to sail the oceans of the world.
Cairngorm Entertainment Group is backing the Queen’s Project, an organization that is soliciting funds for the proposal it estimates could cost as much as $1.5 billion and require at least four years of dry-dock restorations.
It would be a new venture for Cairngorm, which specializes in distributing vintage movies and television shows such as “Ozzie and Harriet” and “Love That Bob!” for broadcast on cable channels.
Surveying the ship, which has been docked in Long Beach Harbor for nearly 42 years, Robert Sides III, president and chief executive of the project, asked, “Can you imagine the grandeur of seeing her sail into harbor?”
Sides said he believes the ship is worth tens of millions of dollars, adding, “With that money, the city could pay off its deficit and then some.”
That kind of talk has attracted considerable attention at Long Beach City Hall, where some regard the Queen Mary -- a floating tourist complex featuring an on-board hotel, restaurants and exhibits -- as a questionable city asset.
The city bought the Queen Mary in 1967 from Cunard Steamship Co. Ltd. But the ship and roughly 45 acres of contiguous, undeveloped oceanfront surrounding it are controlled by New York-based Garrison Investment Group under a 66-year lease agreement.
Garrison officials declined to comment on its plans for the Queen Mary and surrounding property.
But Councilman Patrick O’Donnell, who met with Sides’ group a month ago, said, “I’m not dismissing any potential revival of the ship.
“It is clear that there is a perception that the asset is not as viable as predicted,” he said. “So I’m open to change.”
Josh Butler, chief of staff for Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, said, “Everyone knows the Queen Mary is not in the condition she used to be.” Schipske met with Sides’ group two weeks ago.
In an interview, Tim Cook, president and chief executive of Cairngorm, said: “The Queen Mary is in disrepair. She is at that stage in life when she could implode at any moment. Instead of rivets, nuts and bolts, she is held together by crustaceans.”
Cook said his assessment was drawn from city-sponsored surveys of the ship’s condition conducted in 1992, which identified numerous problems, including serious corrosion to hull plating, rivets and structures.
However, a marine engineering survey conducted at the time indicated that “no structural failure was observed and the ship is not in imminent danger of catastrophic failure.”
Still, there are many formidable hurdles to fulfilling what Sides, 26, called his lifelong dream of making the Queen Mary luxurious and seaworthy again.
They include an agreement between Long Beach and Cunard prohibiting the Queen Mary from being used for trade at sea or as a commercial cruise line, according to Deputy City Atty. Charles Parkin.
Beyond that, “we anticipate that our tenant, Garrison, will come forward with plans of its own for improvements on the ship and on the property,” Parkin said. “Therefore, I’m not saying it is impossible for the Queen Mary to sail again, but . . . “
Cook dismissed those concerns. “Yes, this is a brand new venture for us,” he said. “But remember, Google started out in a garage.”
--
[email protected] | {
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Last month, when Glenn Ford was released from prison for a crime he didn't commit, the state of Louisiana "gave him a $20 debit card for his troubles." That, plus the four cents he had left in his prison account, was all he had.
How do you build up the material accumulations of a lifetime overnight? How do you do it with no money? Where do you even begin?
Ford's friend John Thompson had a clever idea: Do what millions of Americans do when they are hoping that other people will buy them a whole bunch of stuff. Build an Amazon registry.
So Thompson and Ford sat down and started putting together a wish list. Soon they were joined by Danielle Mickenberg, an investigator with the Capital Post Conviction Project of Louisiana, who had more experience navigating the Amazon site. "Typically what I do is not this at all," she told me. "This is kind of ... extra."
They began with the basics: household goods, such as toilet paper and paper towels, and clothes, lots of clothes. "That was the biggest thing he wanted and needed, because all he had was his prison clothes. That's all he's been wearing for 30 years," Mickenberg explained.
According to Mickenberg, the response has been overwhelming. She and Ford are continually having to meet to come up with more items to add to the registry because everything keeps getting bought up. "Every day, I come back and I'm like, we have to talk again. Because I don't want to get too low that people don't think that there's not much available for them to purchase." She says that around 300 items have been posted and at the moment there are only about 16 left (many of which are gift cards, which don't come down once they are bought up since Ford can use many of them, unlike, say, a dumbbell set, one of which will suffice). | {
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In episode one hundred and fourteen we talk to registered dietitian Jessica Turton on how to change our relationship with food. Many of us struggle with dieting, which often leads to disordered eating, but there is a way to change that vicious cycle. This is a great listen for everyone looking to better their health through food!
Check out our collaboration with KetoBar on the new chocolate covered strawberry bar!
Order our second cookbook now - Keto Made Easy: Fat Adapted 50 Day Guide! | {
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The Club have contacted Nile informing him of this meeting. Meanwhile, an investigation is being carried out. The Club have provided Nile with reasonable notice of this disciplinary meeting to allow him the opportunity to state his case.
The Club will make a further statement following Thursday's hearing. | {
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Jeremiah Wright was White House guest
The recent coverage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright has often cast him as a marginal, almost fringe figure, but Trinity Church is a major Chicago institution, and Wright has long been a prominent pastor on the American scene.
And an anonymous blog set up to defend his church offers some compelling photographic evidence of this: A photograph of Wright and President Clinton, which it says was taken on Sept. 11, 1998 — the date of a White House gathering for religious leaders.
[UPDATE: The blog seems to have taken that item down; here's the full image that was posted.]
Hillary Clinton, according to her recently released schedule for the day, was present at the gathering. Al Gore also appears in the picture.
"In the course of his two terms in office, Bill Clinton met with, corresponded with and took pictures with literally tens of thousands of people," Clinton spokesman Jay Carson told Politico.
That's where Clinton reportedly told the assembled clerics, at the depth of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, that he had "repented."
As CNN reported at the time:
"I have been on quite a journey these last few weeks to get to the end of this, to the rock-bottom truth of where I am," Clinton said in his most emotional and dramatic statement since the affair with Lewinsky became public. "I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned." Agreeing with his critics that he was not "contrite" enough during his initial Aug. 17 statement, Clinton said, "It is important to me that everybody who has been hurt know that the sorrow I feel is genuine. First and most important, my family, my friends, my staff, my cabinet, Monica Lewinsky and her family and the American people. I have asked all for their forgiveness." His comments were the first time the president has publicly apologized to Lewinsky. Clinton went on to describe the journey he has been on during the weeks since his first public admission, saying that he has finally repented. "I have repented," Clinton said. "I must have God's help to be the person that I want to be. A willingness to give the very forgiveness I seek. A renunciation of the pride and the anger, which cloud judgment, lead people to excuse and compare and to blame and complain."
UPDATE: The New York Times later this evening posted the same photograph and said it had been provided by the Obama campaign. And here's a screenshot of the photo on the anonymous blog, before it was removed. Curious things, these anonymous blogs. | {
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Die nächste Marke ist geknackt. Erstmals kostete ein Dollar am Mittwochabend mehr als fünf türkische Lira – so wenig war die Währung noch nie wert, seit sie 2005 das alte, von Inflation zerfressene Geld abgelöst hatte.
Und am Donnerstag beschleunigte sich der Absturz noch, schnell war die Marke von 5,05 Lira erreicht, kurz danach sogar 5,08 Lira. Unmittelbarer Auslöser war der Beschluss der US-Regierung, Sanktionen gegen zwei türkische Minister zu erlassen.
Diese Maßnahmen sind zwar ökonomisch bedeutungslos, sie setzen jedoch ein verheerendes Signal. Denn offenbar sind die USA bereit die Konfrontation mit dem Nato-Partner eskalieren zu lassen. Zudem bereitet Washington bereits weitere Sanktionen vor.
Quelle: Infografik WELT
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Das lässt die Währung schon jetzt abstürzen. Doch sollte der türkische Präsident Erdogan nicht einlenken und sollten die zusätzlichen Maßnahmen in Kraft treten, dann wären die Folgen noch weit dramatischer – bis hin zum Staatsbankrott.
USA frieren Vermögen von zwei Ministern ein
Die jetzt beschlossenen US-Sanktionen sehen vor, das Vermögen von Justizminister Abdülhamit Gül und Innenminister Süleyman Soylu in den USA einzufrieren sowie US-Bürgern Geschäfte mit diesen zu verbieten. Die beiden hätten „führende Rollen bei der Inhaftierung und Festnahme von Pastor Brunson gespielt“, sagte die Sprecherin des Weißen Hauses.
Andrew Brunson lebt seit über 20 Jahren in der Türkei und war 2016, nach dem gescheiterten Putsch, festgenommen worden. Ihm wird die Unterstützung der Gülen-Bewegung, eine Nähe zur PKK sowie Spionage für die USA vorgeworfen.
Lesen Sie auch Geldpolitik Die „America first“-Politik der Fed wird zum Fiasko für die ganze Welt
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Präsident Erdogan hatte jedoch schon im September angedeutet, dass Brunson vor allem in Haft sitze, um gegen den Prediger Fetullah Gülen, der in den USA lebt, ausgetauscht zu werden. Dies bestätigte der Innenminister nun auch indirekt. Unmittelbar nach Verkündung der Sanktionen twitterte er auf Gülen gemünzt: „Den werden wir nicht dort lassen. Wir werden ihn holen!“
In den USA wird Brunson daher schlicht als Geisel gesehen. US-Präsident Trump hatte sich nun vor rund einer Woche entschlossen gezeigt, Brunson zu befreien und harte Sanktionen angekündigt. Das sind die jetzt beschlossenen Maßnahmen noch nicht. „Die tatsächlichen Folgen der erlassenen US-Sanktionen gegen die Minister halten sich für die türkische Wirtschaft bislang sicherlich in Grenzen“, sagt Sören Hettler, Devisenexperte bei der DZ Bank.
Investoren fürchten weitere US-Sanktionen
Dennoch wirken sie bereits, lassen die Lira, die seit Jahresbeginn bereits ein Viertel ihres Werts verloren hat, weiter abstürzen. Die Angst der Investoren: Schon bald könnten weitere Sanktionen folgen. „Schließlich scheint keine der beiden Seiten bereit, einen Kompromiss einzugehen“, so Hettler.
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Tatsächlich hat der Auswärtige Ausschuss des US-Senats bereits ein Gesetz beschlossen, dass es den US-Vertretern bei der Weltbank und bei der Europäischen Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung untersagen würde, weiteren Krediten an die Türkei zuzustimmen. Das wäre ein schwerer Schlag für Ankara, denn das Land gehört zu den größten Kreditnehmern bei diesen Institutionen.
Lesen Sie auch Vetternwirtschaft Erdogan zieht einen Familienbetrieb auf - und die Anleger flüchten
Von der Internationalen Finanz-Korporation der Weltbank (IFC) erhielt die Türkei im vergangenen Jahr 927 Millionen Dollar an Darlehen, bei der Europäischen Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung war sie sogar größter Kreditnehmer überhaupt mit 1,8 Milliarden Dollar im Jahr 2017.
Die Blockade weiterer Kredite an die Türkei müsste zwar erst noch vom Senat beschlossen und vom Präsidenten abgesegnet werden. Aber alleine die Aussicht sorgt schon jetzt dafür, dass die Währung immer weiter abstürzt. Dies geschieht, weil die Lira ohnehin stark angeschlagen ist, bereits seit zwei Jahren verliert sie rasant an Wert, seit Mitte 2016 sind es inzwischen über 40 Prozent.
Kreditfinanzierter Aufschwung treibt Inflation in die Höhe
Hintergrund ist, dass Regierung und Zentralbank nach dem gescheiterten Putsch massiv Geld in die Wirtschaft pumpten, um eine Rezession zu verhindern. Dies gelang, doch danach wurden die Maßnahmen nicht wieder zurückgefahren. Als Folge boomte zwar die Wirtschaft und erreichte Wachstumsraten von über sieben Prozent. Gleichzeitig entstand jedoch eine Kreditblase und die Inflation galoppierte davon.
Inzwischen geben sogar offizielle Stellen diese Probleme zu. Die Zentralbank hob Anfang der Woche ihren Ausblick für die Jahresinflationsrate von 8,4 auf 13,4 Prozent drastisch an.
Lesen Sie auch Paul Krugman Turbulente Tage für den türkischen Trump
Im Juni hatte die Teuerung allerdings bereits 15,4 Prozent erreicht, und für Juli deuten erste Indikationen sogar auf einen Wert über 16 Prozent hin.
Gleichzeitig liegt der Leitzins aber gerade mal bei 17,75 Prozent, Präsident Erdogan verhindert mit aller Macht weitere Erhöhungen. Das bedeutet jedoch, dass ausländische Investoren nach Abzug der Inflation nur eine minimale Rendite erhalten. Die Folge: Sie ziehen ihr Kapital ab.
Türkei braucht ständig neue Investitionen aus dem Ausland
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Kein anderes Land der Welt ist allerdings so abhängig von ausländischem Kapital wie die Türkei. Diese Abhängigkeit ist sogar stetig gewachsen, seit Erdogan regiert. Denn das Land importiert konstant mehr als es exportiert, wodurch das Leistungsbilanzdefizit immer weiter stieg, 2017 betrug es 5,5 Prozent der Wirtschaftsleistung. Dieses Leistungsbilanzdefizit kann nur ausgeglichen werden, wenn permanent Kapital ins Land strömt, derzeit rund 200 Millionen Dollar pro Tag.
Quelle: Infografik WELT
Dies ist daher die verwundbarste Stelle der Türkei, und die US-Regierung nutzt dies offenbar ganz bewusst. Denn die Sanktionen des Senats, so sie denn umgesetzt würden, zielen genau auf diesen Kapitalzufluss. Würde er verebben, würde es Sören Hettlers Meinung zufolge, nicht bei einer „einfachen“, weiteren Lira- Abwertung bleiben.
„Vielmehr würde das Risiko einer Zahlungsbilanzkrise zunehmen“, sagt er. Es käme dann zu Pleiten und Zahlungsausfällen, möglicherweise auch auf Seiten des Staats, Banken könnten ins Trudeln geraten, die Menschen ihr Erspartes verlieren.
Wollen die USA die Türkei zerstören?
Doch können die USA wirklich wollen, dass ein Nato-Verbündeter von ihnen in eine solche Krise getrieben wird? Aslı Aydıntaşbaş vom European Council on Foreign Relations glaubt, dass genau diese Gefahr die USA zögern lasse. „Der Preis der Handlungen wäre so groß, dass die Türkei einen psychologischen Vorteil hat“, sagt sie.
Erdogan könne daher in der Konfrontation weit selbstbewusster auftreten, als es seiner realen Position entspricht. Das sei zwischen den beiden Ländern in der Vergangenheit immer wieder so gewesen – die USA wollen den Partner am Ende schließlich nicht zerstören. Die große Frage jedoch ist: Gilt das auch in Zeiten noch, da der US-Präsident Trump heißt? | {
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MDG Momentum: 1000 Days of Action
The Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs), are the most successful global anti-poverty push in history. Governments, international organizations, and civil society groups around the world have helped to cut in half the world’s extreme poverty rate. More girls are in school. Fewer children are dying. The world continues to fight killer diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. There are about 500 days to accelerate action on issues such as hunger, access to education, improved sanitation, maternal health and gender equality. Get involved and join the global conversation on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtags: #MDGMomentum | #EndPoverty
Share these updated facts about the MDGs!
Check out these new MDG infographics showing the world's progress and the challenges that remain (click on the images to enlarge).
We Can End Poverty: MDGs and Beyond 2015
MDG #1: Poverty
MDG #2: Education
MDG #3: Women’s Empowerment
MDG #4: Child Mortality
MDG #5: Maternal Health
MDG #6: HIV/AIDS
MDG #7: Environmental Sustainability
MDG #8: Partnerships for Development
Let's Step Up #MDGMomentum
As we approach the 2015 target date for the MDGs, there are about 500 days to accelerate action on issues such as hunger, access to education, improved sanitation, maternal health and gender equality. To build a better world, let's together drive #MDGmomentum.
Video produced by the UN Millennium Campaign and Department of Public Information
Explore how the UN and partners are accelerating MDGs progress | {
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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (WHDH) — Racist fliers were found posted on Boston College’s campus Friday, the same day as a previously planned rally against hate.
The fliers feature a picture of Uncle Sam and the words, “Don’t apologize for being white.” They were found on a kiosk near the rally.
About 1,000 students and staff members attended the rally Friday, marching together to condemn racist incidents on campus. Earlier this month, two “Black Lives Matter” posters were vandalized in a residence hall to say “Black Lives Don’t Matter.” A writer for the BC Heights school newspaper said two other signs were also defaced Thursday night in a freshman dorm.
“I’m upset, I’m disappointed. I think that’s what you’ll hear from any student of color here,” said BC junior Naya Joseph. “We want better. We expect better.”
A spokesperson for BC said police are investigating but they believe the fliers were put up by a white supremacist group that is not affiliated with the campus.
Friday’s rally comes after another rally was held on Monday and a walk-out took place on Wednesday.
Some students told 7News they were upset the college’s president did not attend Friday’s rally. BC’s spokesperson said the president had a previously scheduled meeting in California.
(Copyright (c) 2020 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.) | {
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Lawyers for the union representing UC Irvine Medical Center resident doctors will present their case this week to try to persuade a state mediator that first-year residents, fellows and doctors on rotation should be allowed to join the resident union.
UC Irvine Medical Center administrators are challenging the request by the union, the Patient and Physician Safety Association.
Administrators argue that the three groups of residents at the UC Irvine School of Medicine are not employees for purposes of collective bargaining under state law and thus, should not be allowed to be included in the Patient and Physician Safety Association union, which is an affiliate of the Committee of Interns and Residents, CIR/SEIU Healthcare. SEIU is Service Employees International Union, which counts janitors, security officers and lab technicians among its 2.1 million members.
The residents’ request will be decided by the Public Employment Relations Board’s hearing officer Ellen Wu, who is expected to rule in the fall.
A victory could bolster the newly-formed UC Irvine resident physicians group who want a collective voice in bargaining for pay and procedures in patient care. Residents typically earn about $50,000 a year and sometimes work 80 hours a week, the physician union says.
Although the Patient and Physician Safety Association is established and received the necessary signatures to form a union, it cannot be formally recognized by the Public Employment Relations Board until the board determines who can be included in the union.
Discussions to resolve that question prior to the hearing were unsuccessful, the union said.
UC Irvine resident physicians formed the Patient and Physician Safety Association in 2011. The union is trying to represent about 600 members comprised of resident physicians in all pay-scales, fellows and doctors on rotation. “Doctor on rotation” refers to physicians who work at multiple hospitals.
Erich Shiners, an attorney at Renne Sloan Holtzman’s Sakai, the law firm representing UC Irvine Medical Center, said administrators just want to make sure the appropriate people are included in the union.
Shiners urged PERB to uphold its previous ruling that doctors on rotation are not employees of a specific hospital.
The two parties met twice last week at the PERB (Public Employees Relations Board) office in Glendale and are scheduled to meet again later this week.
Lawyers for UC Irvine Medical Center administrators last week closed their case.
Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin. associate dean for Graduate Medical Education School of Medicine at UC Irvine, testified that new changes in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which is responsible for accrediting post medical doctorate programs, led to the new classification of first-year resident physicians as students rather than employees.
Le-Bucklin said the accreditation council has limited the amount of time first-year resident physicians can work and has increased their supervision. She said fellows should be classified as students because although fellows have finished medical training, they are studying a specialty, such as coronary care.
Lawyers for the Patient and Physician Safety Association union are expected to argue that first-year residents, fellows and doctors on rotation are still categorized as employees of the university, and work under the same conditions as other doctors.
Contact the writer: [email protected] or 714-796-7977 | {
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“We have repeatedly sought out the delegated individuals to no avail. And after many weeks, months, and now a year of waiting, our issues and questions remain unresolved. Reared in the institution we represent, we abide with our principles of honor and integrity, and stay true to our word of foregoing with the competition, should the same organizers be hired to handle the event again.” | {
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A First Coast High School chorus director accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with a former student of the school has been arrested.
Christine Dennard made her first appearance in court Saturday morning. Her bond was set at $7,515. By Saturday evening, jail records showed she had been released on bond.
Jail records show Dennard, 32, was charged with five counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor between ages of 16 and 17. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 16.
According to an arrest report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, an investigation into unlawful sexual activity began Nov. 21.
The alleged victim, a 16-year-old female student at the school, told investigators that she entered into an “intimate relationship” with Dennard, her teacher, from April to October of 2018. The student said she had sex with Dennard both off and on the campus of First Coast High School. Investigators were able to corroborate the student’s statements, according to the arrest report.
Parents of students received an email from Justin Fluent, the school’s principal, on Friday telling them of Dennard’s arrest. Fluent said the Duval County School District’s professional standards office is investigating.
Fluent said that everyone is deeply disappointed about the accusations, but those who know Dennard personally say Dennard is innocent.
“My heart goes out to whomever the victim is, my prayers go to them and their family, but I just believe in all heart of hearts they got it wrong,” a friend of Dennard’s for four years told News4Jax.
News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said though Dennard is innocent until proven guilty, other parents could begin to question the safety of their child.
“This basically compromises the trust between the student and the teacher when this sort of thing happens because now parents are concerned if this is predatory behavior, will my child be a victim of this sort of thing next,” Jefferson said.
According to a news release from the school, Dennard began teaching at the school in Aug. 2015 and First Coast High is her only school of employment in the district.
A statement from the Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene reads:
“We have nearly 7,000 teachers in this district that go above and beyond the call of duty to help students achieve. It is deeply disappointing when any individual’s actions cast a shadow over the outstanding work of so many. However, we will always fully cooperate with law enforcement and other agencies to ensure that adults alleged to harm children are brought to justice."
News4Jax has requested Dennard’s arrest report and mug shot from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Dennard is not the first teacher at First Coast High School to be accused of sexual misconduct. In an unrelated case, Jeremy Clark was arrested by the FBI in 2018 for possessing and exchanging child porn and admitting to molesting a student. He is now serving seven years in federal prison. | {
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Illustration by Marina Muun
Welcome to February in America. You’re no doubt aware that this is HIV/ AIDS awareness month and Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. February also includes Singles Awareness Day, American Heart Month, AMD/ Low Vision Awareness Month, National Children’s Dental Health Month, International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month, African Heritage & Health Week, Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, Condom Week, Eating Disorders Awareness and Screening Week, National “Wear Red” Day for women’s heart health, World Cancer Day, and Give Kids a Smile Day, to mention just a few.
Unsure what to do with all your awareness? You’re not alone. Or maybe you’re still catching up on all the calls to action from January’s days of awareness: What with it being Co-dependency Awareness Month, Glaucoma Awareness Month, National Mentoring Month, Poverty in America Awareness Month, Radon Action Month, Self-Help Group Awareness Month, Stalking Awareness Month, Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Volunteer Blood Donor Month, and Weight Loss Awareness Month all at the same time, your to-do list is probably full.
For those working on a cause they care about, the first instinct is often to make sure that as many people as possible are aware of the problem. When we care about an issue or a cause, it’s natural to want others to care as much as we do. Because, we reason, surely if people knew that you’re more likely to die in an accident if you don’t wear a seat belt, they’d wear their seat belt. And if people only knew that using condoms is critical to preventing the spread of disease, then they would use one every time.
That instinct is described by communication theory as the Information Deficit Model. The term was introduced in the 1980s to describe a widely held belief about science communication—that much of the public’s skepticism about science and new technology was rooted, quite simply, in a lack of knowledge. And that if the public only knew more, they would be more likely to embrace scientific information.
That perspective persists, not just in the scientific community but also in the world of nonprofits, marketing, and public relations. Public relations texts frequently cite awareness, attitude, and action objectives. Marketing students learn that awareness precedes action. And many of the foremost public relations and advertising agencies still report results to clients in the form of impressions—the number of people who were exposed to the message.
If the goal is solely to increase knowledge of an issue, then an awareness campaign can work just fine. But is it ever enough for people to simply know more about something? If, for example, the goal were to raise awareness among new parents of the importance of immunizing their children, you wouldn’t be satisfied if parents were simply aware. You’d want to be sure that they were also having their children immunized for the right diseases at the right age.
Or say you want people to be aware of the importance of being prepared for a hurricane. There’s a potentially life-threatening gulf between being aware of the importance of being prepared for a hurricane and actually having several cases of water set aside and an escape plan that your entire family knows and understands. Maybe your awareness goals are attached to something more abstract or where the solutions are less clear—such as the effect of implicit bias on workplace diversity or the growing threat of global warming. But in each of those cases, specific actions are available that can overcome both of those threats.
Because abundant research shows that people who are simply given more information are unlikely to change their beliefs or behavior, it’s time for activists and organizations seeking to drive change in the public interest to move beyond just raising awareness. It wastes a lot of time and money for important causes that can’t afford to sacrifice either. Instead, social change activists need to use behavioral science to craft campaigns that use messaging and concrete calls to action that get people to change how they feel, think, or act, and as a result create long-lasting change.
How Awareness Campaigns Fail
Making the public more aware of an issue can, of course, be a critical step in creating an environment where change is possible. Would there have been so much discourse around income inequality this past US presidential election if the Occupy movement hadn’t stirred up national attention in 2011? Would we have known the meaning behind #blacklivesmatter if there hadn’t been a consistent effort to make known racialized police brutality? Or would there be a discussion about transgender rights without exposure to stories through television shows such as Orange Is the New Black and Transparent?
Raising awareness about something that wasn’t known before can be a useful tactic when it’s part of a larger effort to drive social change. But to truly drive change, we have to consider the science that shows there is a more strategic, effective, and focused way to drive social change. In fact, research suggests that not only do campaigns fall short and waste resources when they focus solely on raising awareness, but sometimes they can actually end up doing more harm than good.
Before exploring the most effective ways to create awareness, it’s important to understand the ineffective and even harmful effects that awareness can have. When done wrong, an awareness campaign carries four specific risks: it might lead to no action; It might reach the wrong audience; it might create harm; and it could generate a backlash. We will examine each of these risks in turn.
When Awareness Campaigns Lead to No Action
It’s easy to assume that sharing information in an engaging way is enough to motivate people to adopt new behaviors. However, research suggests that this is not the case. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Zombie Apocalypse campaign provides an instructive example.
In May 2011, Dave Daigle, who leads communications for some of the CDC’s preparedness work, released a campaign to raise the public’s awareness about the need to prepare for a potential emergency, such as a terrorist attack, flood, or earthquake. He was frustrated that the CDC had used the same messages every year to promote awareness of the importance of being prepared with little effect. “We have a great message here about preparedness, and I don’t have to tell you that preparedness and public health are not the sexiest topics,” he said in an interview with The Atlantic at the time.1 So he took a bold and creative approach to gain attention for a serious problem: humor.
The CDC started with a blog post, “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse,” that made the case that if you can protect yourself from the living dead, you can also survive a fire or earthquake.2 It was smart, funny, relevant, and connected—all the things a great campaign aspires to. Within minutes of its publication, more than 30,000 people tried to read the post, causing the CDC’s website to crash. The post trended on Twitter worldwide and was covered by CNN and The Wall Street Journal.
Following its viral success, the CDC launched a social media campaign informing people of how to prepare for a disaster by creating an emergency kit. The campaign had the tagline “Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Prepared.” In this case, the CDC wasn’t simply trying to raise awareness. There was a clear call to action—to make a kit. Using comedy and pop culture, the CDC was able to reach hundreds of thousands of people, and it certainly raised awareness—at least about the campaign.
But did extensive awareness and exposure lead people to actually make a kit? Julia Fraustino, a strategic communication and public relations scholar at West Virginia University, would say no. Fraustino wondered whether a campaign like the CDC’s could change behavior, so she designed a study to see whether campaigns that used humor to get people’s attention and increased awareness would also get them to act.3 Fraustino discovered what she called “a zombie dilemma.” In her paper, Fraustino wrote, “The CDC health communicator … and secondary campaign evaluation materials revealed that the campaign aimed to create buzz and awareness rather than behavioral change. Consistent with this goal, the campaign was found to facilitate a sense of community and support, be effective in garnering viewership, and be cost effective.”
Not only do campaigns fall short and waste resources when they focus solely on raising awareness, but sometimes they can actually end up doing more harm than good.
But in her experiment, Fraustino found that people exposed to similarly humorous messages were less likely to get prepared than those who saw messages that weren’t funny. Fraustino believes that may be due to the very thing that made the campaign so popular: comedy. She believes that the zombie messaging actually led people to take disaster preparedness less seriously. Hence the “zombie dilemma”: The very humor that made the campaign popular may also have diluted its effectiveness.
When Awareness Campaigns Reach the Wrong Audience
The second risk that poorly devised awareness campaigns have is that they reach a different audience than the one that was intended. This might be an audience that is unsympathetic to the campaign’s goals or one that might already be convinced of its goals.
In the paper “The rise of seafood awareness campaigns in an era of collapsing fisheries,” Jennifer Jacquet, an environmental studies professor at New York University, and Daniel Pauly, a marine biologist at the Institute for the Ocean Fisheries at the University of British Columbia, examined the effectiveness of seafood awareness campaigns that used food labels to reduce consumers’ consumption of certain overfished seafood.4
Food labels that help buyers determine when they are making an environmentally conscious choice seem like a smart way to help consumers make better choices at the time they are purchasing the item. Unfortunately, in this instance, labeling certain fish as ecofriendly had little effect on most consumers. The labels did not diminish the demand for overfished seafood. In fact, the only people who were found to be influenced by the labels already belonged to environmental organizations.
What’s even more troubling is that eco-friendly labeling has produced an economic incentive for seafood companies and fishermen to deceive consumers by changing the names of their products and co-opting the eco-friendly label. “Sharks, considered undesirable in Ecuadorian city markets, are filleted, relabeled and sold instead as weak fishes or even tuna,” wrote the authors. “Using DNA testing, [researchers] found that three-quarters of the fish sold in the US as ‘Red snapper’ belong to a species other than Lutjanus campechanus, ‘the’ Red snapper (in the United States).” The researchers also found that more than 50 percent of environmental advertising on seafood products is misleading. In this instance, the awareness campaign reached consumers who were already likely to avoid overfished species, and it actually created an incentive for unethical fisheries to mislabel their products.
When Awareness Creates Harm
If the aim of a campaign is to encourage people to behave in new ways, it is important to take a look at behavioral science that can lend insight into how a particular audience might perceive a message, lest you do more harm than good. Take, for instance, the Dumb Ways to Die campaign in Australia.5
In November 2012, it seemed like the lyrics “Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die” were leaking out of the iPad of every teen. The song was created for the campaign by Victoria Rail to reduce the number of people who died by stepping in front of Metro trains out of Melbourne. The video and accompanying game are charming, with an indie-style earworm and characters that make macabre deaths adorable. The strangely cheerful and catchy song topped iTunes lists of most-downloaded songs in 28 countries, and the video has more than 144 million YouTube views. That’s impressive reach by any standard.
The campaign is also one of the most awarded in the history of advertising, receiving five Grands Prix at the 2013 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The strategy was to create an ad that was entertaining and didn’t repel people with a sad message as so many public service announcements do. In terms of awareness, the campaign knocked it out of the park. Advertising Age reported that the campaign earned more than $60 million in media impressions and that millions signed a pledge to be safer around trains. Metro said the campaign resulted in a 21 percent drop in deaths the following year.6
But there’s one coveted award the campaign didn’t earn: the one for creative effectiveness. The Cannes judges weren’t convinced that the campaign was responsible for the decline in rail accidents that followed the campaign’s launch. Those millions of views may not have translated to specific behavior change. In fact, only one of the campaign’s four stated objectives included any specific change in behavior, which was to “See a reduction of near misses and accidents at level crossings and station platforms over 12 months by 10 percent.”
One juror in the effectiveness category told Mumbrella Asia, “The numbers the case study put forward, including ‘extraordinary views on Facebook,’ didn’t really correlate with the period they were measuring against or have anything significant against people around that vicinity.”7
This campaign was explicitly focused on reducing the number of rail accidents by raising awareness of safety and getting people to be more careful around trains, but accidents account for only 25 percent of the deaths associated with heavy rail in Victoria. The Melbourne newspaper The Age reported that between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011, there were 46 rail deaths in Victoria, the majority of which were suicides. A 2010 article in the journal Injury Prevention cites a rate of rail suicide in Victoria that was higher than the rate for the rest of the population in Australia, and The Age reported that from 2012 to 2014, more than one person was struck by a train every week.8 The TrackSAFE Foundation, an advocacy group focused on reducing rail-related deaths throughout the country, reports that there are 150 rail suicides in Australia each year, and nearly 1,000 attempts. In June 2014, The Age reported, “Suicide by train has become so common Metro plans to build a dedicated train wash, called a ‘biopit,’ to clean train exteriors after a person is hit.”
It is worth considering that the video’s charming figures and catchy hook may have actually made death seem more appealing or normal to those already at risk. Death in cartoon form is certainly temporary and painless. At a minimum, the campaign does little to address a context that included an already abnormally high suicide rate, much to the concern of public health and mental health officials in the country.
In fact, one Metro official’s comments about the campaign suggest that concerns about suicide weren’t among the risks that she and her team contemplated pre-launch: “Before the ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ concept was presented, there was a pre-sell phone call. ‘We’re doing a song,’ said our group account director. My response: ‘I’m hanging up.’ Fearing a tacky jingle, I was pleasantly surprised that this ‘song’ concept was exactly what we were looking for. Sure, it was different and had the words ‘dumb’ and ‘death’ in the headline, but it just worked, the warmth of the creative balanced out the negativity of the consequences,” Leah Waymark, general manager, corporate relations for Metro told Advertising Age a year after the campaign launched.
This is worrisome given that communications science scholars, public health officials, sociologists, and psychologists have reported on the influence that media can have in normalizing death, suicide, and violence as something common, cool, or even charming, but most important, not permanent. A much-cited paper by David Phillips in the American Sociological Review supports what scholars call the “Werther Effect”—that newspaper coverage of suicide is associated with higher suicide rates in their communities.9 Later work shows a clustering of suicides after television news coverage of suicide.
Unfortunately, it is uncommon for practitioners to conduct a review of academic literature as part of the early stages of any effort. Campaigns rooted in research are far more likely to conduct new research by testing their messages or surveying a target audience about their likelihood of acting. The gulf between scholarship that could help practitioners avoid harm, reduce risk, or increase the effectiveness of their efforts and practice is common and wide.
When Awareness Leads to Backlash
Raising awareness also gets dicey when issues have the potential to generate controversy. When issues are complicated by partisan politics, for example, the message may be vulnerable to backlash and slow down or halt progress on an issue. This was the case in a public policy initiative in support of the HPV vaccine.
In 2006, the CDC recommended a national requirement that adolescent girls get vaccinated against human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer. The recommendation, and the national lobbying campaign that followed, pushed for a state mandate that required the HPV vaccine for school enrollment. It followed US Food and Drug Administration approval earlier that year for Gardasil, an HPV vaccine. Gardasil, produced by Merck, was the first drug to hit the market, due to a concerted and highly public effort to fast-track the drug so that it could establish Merck’s dominance in the market.
A mandate that preteen girls be vaccinated against HPV became a political battleground because some social conservatives believed that the legislation was a gateway to sexual promiscuity. Prior to the controversy, 90 percent of children received the vaccine, but in the years that followed, only 33 percent of girls received it, and just 7 percent of boys did.
Research tells us that people believe information about vaccine risks and benefits that supports their cultural and political values. Political polarization increases as the news media report on the topic and advocates raise its profile. When this happens, people are exposed to cues that signal “sides” of the issue and that either resonate with their beliefs or threaten how they see themselves and the world. So it’s not surprising that a public campaign for a government-mandated vaccine to protect adolescent girls from a sexually transmitted disease would create cultural controversy. Government regulation, check. Reproductive rights, check. Children and sexuality, check and check.
Could this story have turned out differently? Yale University professor Dan Kahan, who researched the program, says yes. If there had not been a high-profile lobbying campaign to fast-track Gardasil, the vaccine would have slowly been introduced to boys and girls through their personal physicians and existing programs that provide access to childhood vaccinations, a more traditional path for introducing new vaccines, similar to the introduction of the hepatitis B vaccine (HBV).10 In the end, the HPV campaign probably did more harm than good by leading to a reduction in the number of children who received the vaccine.
Creating Awareness That Leads to Action
To move the needle on the issues we care about the most, research and experience both show that we must define actionable and achievable calls to action that will lead a specific group of people to do something they haven’t done before. That is the approach that the communications consulting firm Spitfire Strategies takes when working with its clients.
In every consulting project that Spitfire works on, Spitfire President Kristen Grimm and her team work to get nonprofit leaders to identify concrete goals for their work. Grimm is convinced that by focusing on what you want changed, you can identify a call to action whether you are working to make teens stop texting and driving, helping people make healthier choices, or working on issues where solutions are less obvious, such as addressing implicit bias or income inequality.
Here at the University of Florida College of Journalism, we’re building an academic discipline called “public interest communications,” which we define as the development and implementation of science-based, planned strategic communication campaigns with the goal of achieving significant and sustained positive behavioral change or action on an issue that transcends the particular interests of any single organization.11
There are four essential elements to creating a successful public interest communications campaign: target your audience as narrowly as possible; create compelling messages with clear calls to action; develop a theory of change; and use the right messenger. We will explore each of these four elements in the following sections.
Target Your Audience as Narrowly as Possible
One of the most important tasks in crafting a public interest communications campaign is to identify your target audience—the individuals or groups whose action or behavior change will be most important to helping you achieve your goal. One of the best examples of this approach is a case that didn’t begin as public interest communications but certainly had lasting implications for freedom of speech.
In 1932, Bennett Cerf, cofounder of Random House Publishing, acquired the rights to publish James Joyce’s Ulysses in the United States, believing that the book would be as successful as it had been throughout Europe. But Cerf had a problem. The book was banned in the United States and would be seized as soon as it came off the printing press, which would lose Cerf millions of dollars. And because of the ban, there were several pirated versions of the books floating around that threatened the original text.
Cerf and his attorney, Morris Ernst, could have launched a campaign to raise Americans’ awareness of the literary significance of the book or the harms of censorship. They could also have printed the book in the face of the ban, which might have generated headlines. But that would have brought them no closer to getting the ban removed. They chose a different path.
To move the needle on the issues we care about the most, research and experience both show that we must define actionable and achievable calls to action.
Ernst identified a US District Court judge in New York City, John Woolsey, who was known for his support of the First Amendment and who had struck down several rulings on obscenity. Then Cerf and Ernst hired a man to board the Aquitania ocean liner in Europe with a copy of Ulysses in his bag and disembark in New York City, where the book would be impounded by customs, and the smuggling case would make it to Woolsey’s courtroom. Cerf and Ernst knew that no additional documents would be considered in the case and that only what was contained between the book’s covers would be admissible as evidence. So they stuffed a copy of the book with every piece of literary critique they could find—including an essay by writer Ezra Pound—citing the book’s contribution to literature.
As expected, the man and his copy of Ulysses were detained at customs, and the case went to court in fall 1933. In his decision, United States v. One Book Named Ulysses, Woolsey wrote, “Each word of the book contributes like a bit of mosaic to the detail of the picture which Joyce is seeking to construct for his readers.” Cerf and Ernst won the case, and the book was on the press within 10 minutes of the ruling. Their sophisticated approach to the problem not only brought one of the world’s most important pieces of literature to the United States, but also resulted in what Ernst called “a bodyblow for the censors.”
Cerf continued to fight against censorship of important literature, and Ernst went on to become one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Their story provides a critical lesson for social change: When you are clear about your goal and find the right strategy, your target audience may be as narrow as a single person.
Create Compelling Messages With Clear Calls to Action
It’s important to develop a comprehensive understanding not only of the audience you are trying to reach and what will resonate with them, but also of the complexity of the issue you are trying to affect and its context. It is particularly important to craft campaign messages, stories, and calls to action that do not threaten how an audience sees itself or its values. Research into how your target audience forms opinions and who influences them will also drive your communication strategy, directing you toward potential partnerships, messages, and stories.
For Cerf and Ernst, focusing on their audience meant identifying and swaying a single judge. It’s easy to look at that case as an outlier, but consider social issues that have a much larger audience. Take the “Let’s Move” campaign, launched by former first lady Michelle Obama.12 This highly strategic campaign is rooted in the deep body of research about the causes of childhood obesity and driven by the social science about how to communicate effectively on health issues. A campaign that could have focused solely on getting kids to eat less instead looked at research on the underlying causes of obesity.
The first lady started with policies that would ensure that kids got healthier meals at school. Rather than promoting the health dangers of soda and sugar-sweetened beverages, she focused on getting kids to drink more water. Rather than vilifying the food industry, Obama worked with industry to reduce fat, sodium, and sugar in foods such as breakfast cereal and macaroni and cheese. And she’s changing how people see what they eat, with new food labeling laws that will increase transparency and will start appearing in 2018. It appears that the campaign is working. Childhood obesity is no longer increasing, and among children between the ages of 2 and 5, it’s dropped by nearly half.
Compare that approach with the “Just Say No” campaign launched by former first lady Nancy Reagan.13 Just Say No was essentially an education program, as solid an example of a campaign rooted in the information deficit model as one could hope to find. Just Say No supported programs like DARE, which brought police officers into schools to educate kids about the dangers of drugs. Today the program is effective because it emphasizes helping kids role-play the kinds of conversations they might have when confronted with the opportunity to use drugs. But in its original version, which was more focused on generating fear of the consequences of using drugs, evaluations showed that kids who went through the program were actually more likely to use drugs and alcohol as they got older, not less. Fortunately, external evaluation made it possible to course-correct the program.
Part of the reason Let’s Move is working is because of the specific calls to action for each audience. Telling people what you want them to do is critical, but an effective call to action is not just a restatement of an overarching goal. Denver Water’s “Use Only What You Need” campaign did this brilliantly. The purpose of that campaign was to get residents to reduce their water use. Dozens of groups have tried and failed to get people to conserve water. But Denver Water’s call to action to “use only what you need” doesn’t feel like a sacrifice. It’s a positive way to urge people to avoid waste. And they backed their campaign up with precise calls to action, such as “Water two minutes less.”
In addition, the city of Denver created a context for success by replacing 10,000 public school toilets with more water-efficient ones and moving to tiered pricing to reward lower water use. After nine years, Denver residents’ water use dropped to a 40-year low, equaling what people were using in 1973 when the city had 350,000 fewer residents.14 While we were unable to find any external evaluation of the campaign, we can see why it might have worked: a clear and compelling call to action delivered in an appealing way to a carefully considered target audience.
Develop a Theory of Change
Identifying the right target audience and delivering a clear call to action that people will act on isn’t dark magic. It requires having a theory of change—a methodology or road map for how you will achieve change that includes objectives, tactics, and evaluation— and knowing the issue well enough to know where change will have its greatest effect.
Tying a communications strategy to a theory of change helps ensure that your communications efforts are tied to overarching goals, not simply focused on promotion or awareness. Building a strong theory of change requires the same elements that a solid, action-oriented communications plan does: a clear goal, a clear understanding of what will be different and what will cause it to change, and an understanding of what will influence people to act.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott provides just such an example. Most people know about Rosa Parks’s role in that story. But there was another woman behind the boycott whose understanding of strategy, message, and messengers was critical to the boycott’s effectiveness. Jo Ann Robinson was a faculty member at Alabama State College in Montgomery. Just before Christmas in 1945, Robinson boarded a Montgomery, Ala., city bus to head to the airport to visit family up north for the holidays. The bus was nearly empty, and Robinson chose one of the seats toward the middle of the bus—seats that were designated for white riders if the bus was full, but that blacks could use when the bus was empty. As she sat, the driver came toward her with his arm raised. Humiliated, Robinson ran from the bus.
Robinson never forgot the pain of that day. When she became president of Montgomery’s Women’s Political Caucus, she wrote a letter to the mayor, urging him to address three specific issues faced by black riders. “Mayor Gayle,” Robinson wrote, “Three-fourths of the riders of these public conveyances are Negroes. If Negroes did not patronize them, they could not possibly operate. More and more of our people are already arranging with neighbors and friends to ride to keep from being insulted and humiliated by bus drivers.”
Identifying the right target audience and delivering a clear call to action that people will act on isn't dark magic. It requires having a theory of change.
Robinson’s letter went unanswered, and so she waited for the right moment for the threatened boycott. It seemed as though the moment arrived in spring 1955 when 15-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested for refusing to surrender her bus seat, but Colvin swore at the police as she was arrested, and Robinson feared that the community would not rally around her. Later that year, another young woman was arrested for the same offense, and still Robinson waited. But on Thursday, December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks quietly declined to give up her seat, Robinson knew the moment had come. Parks was highly regarded in Montgomery, and her long history in the civil rights movement had won her both credibility and affection.
Identifying the right target audience and delivering a clear call to action that people will act on isn't dark magic. It requires having a theory of change.
As soon as Robinson heard that Parks had been arrested, she went to her office and typed up a flyer calling on blacks to boycott the city’s buses. Robinson and her students made 50,000 copies of the flyer and stayed up most of the night cutting and bundling them. The next morning, she and her students got the bundles into the hands of influential and well-connected blacks throughout the city. On Saturday, Martin Luther King Jr., released his own flyer. The boycott on the following Monday was so successful that civil rights leaders voted to continue the boycott until a US Supreme Court case on the topic was decided. The boycott lasted 381 days, starting the day of Parks’s court hearing and ending the day that the Supreme Court decided in favor of ending segregation on public transportation.
Robinson had a theory of change: She knew that a boycott would provide critical pressure because blacks made up 75 percent of bus riders, and that if she could get all of them to participate, the company would have to accede to their requests or suffer huge financial losses. She also understood that the boycott had to have the right emotional impetus—one that would be powerful enough to sustain the protests for months. Because Parks was known and beloved, Robinson knew that her arrest for failing to give up her seat would inspire others to boycott in a way that Colvin’s would not. It was a theory of change that worked.
Use the Right Messenger
Robinson intuited something else that research would bear out decades later. Successful public interest campaigns need a narrowly defined audience, clear calls to action, and a theory of change. But they also need one more thing—the right messenger. Robinson knew that the community would support Parks in a way that they would not support Colvin. In order to inspire and persuade people to adopt a new behavior or a new way of thinking, having the message come from people who have authority and credibility in your audience’s world matters.
Who is influential in a community is tied to whom people trust for information. And whom people trust is very much connected to how people see themselves, their values, and their identities. Social psychology tells us that if a call to action asks someone to do, believe, or represent something that runs counter to how they see themselves, or poses a risk for maintaining that vision of themselves, then they are not going to even entertain the idea.
David Sleeth-Keppler, a social psychologist at Humboldt State University, and his colleagues at ecoAmerica conducted a study to examine whom people turn to for information on climate change.15 They found that participants who were more skeptical of climate change or who had little trust in official messengers, such as scientists or politicians, turned instead to informal communicators for information about climate change. Skeptics placed their trust in religious leaders, coworkers, family, friends, and neighbors for information and solutions for climate change.
Chasing Ice, the Academy Award-winning climate change documentary that is dressed up as an action-adventure film, understood this and utilized community influencers to reach skeptical audiences. Following the release of the film, director and producer Jeff Orlowski and his team at Exposure Labs worked with a team of strategists to launch the Chasing Ice Ohio tour, a social impact campaign, in spring 2014.
The campaign sought to shift the political conversation in two ways: First, it encouraged audience members to use their voice through social media to influence friends, family, and community. Second, the campaign sought to foster a national social media campaign targeted at the Ohio congressional district of Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi, who openly denied climate change, with the goal that he would change his position on the issue (which he eventually did).
From the beginning, the team targeted a particular segment of Ohio residents: constituents from Tiberi’s district, faith leaders, the agricultural community, recreational sports enthusiasts, and politicians. They understood that they would need to partner with community influencers to reach audiences that would otherwise not see the film and participate in the campaign. They held 90 screenings and Q&A sessions across Ohio with Orlowski and the Chasing Ice team. These sessions sought to connect the dots between climate change worldwide and the impact of these changes on Ohio communities.
A report on the film’s impact notes, “Faith-based groups such as the Evangelical Environmental network, Catholic Climate Covenant, and Interfaith Power and Light were extremely important strategic partnerships due to their large number of conservative members.16 Cultivating these partnerships meant getting the film to members of the district who might not normally have been open to a film on climate change. By working with these faithbased groups, the team members were able to collaborate with local religious leaders who already had established language to reach out to congregations in order to share the film and the local call to action. One screening movingly resulted in a pastor leading a prayer for Tiberi to acknowledge the science of climate change.” By working with influencers in these traditionally skeptical communities, the campaign was able to reach a new audience and saw success in shifting climate beliefs.
Put Accelerant on the Fire of Change
Effective and strategic communication is fundamental to any effective campaign. It’s a bit like gasoline poured on a flame. The fire flares, and you can no longer separate the flame from its fuel. But the flame becomes large enough to spread. If your idea, your goal, or your plan is a flame, effective and strategic communication will make that idea spread.
How lucky the world is that Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and the suffragettes recognized the role that strategic communications plays in driving change. And how lucky we are to be alive in a moment when we can bring together the best of what we know from academic research and behavioral science, along with an extensive history of practice to craft campaigns that move beyond simply raising awareness of an issue to getting people and organizations to drive lasting change and build a better world. | {
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Marlins Director of Amateur Scouting, D.J. Svihlik, joins the show to discuss Bleday and Misner, the upcoming 2020 MLB Draft, and how his department has changed in his time with the Marlins. Plus, Jeremy and Craig discuss Miguel Rojas' extension, and Austin Dean is back to talk some College Football! | {
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Mating Season is a TMNT visual novel and It’s a quickie, but a good one. Instead of the trainer set up that we had with Witch Trainer, Akabur went for a more simpler visual novel approach with reading through texts and the occasional choices. This isn’t a bad thing, the art and dialogue is on point as for usual with his stuff, so just because it isn’t the same as Witch Trainer doesn’t mean it’s bad. You get to follow all four turtles and Master Splinter as they take turns raping April O’ Neil. Everyone gets a piece of that ass...well actually, only Master Splinter gets an actual piece of that ass but I digress. Oh also, there’s no Casey, so he got cucked. There’s 6 scene to unlock and enjoy. The game uses an old school videotape filter which adds to the game nicely. Mating Season is still that good ol Akabur you know and love, and it was a cowabunga of a time.
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England are the early leaders in Group A of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship following a 3-0 win against hosts Malta.
UEFA final tournament debutants, Malta could not match the physical and technical prowess of an England team in their ninth U17 finals alone. John Peacock's side moved straight to the top of Group A, sending out an ominous warning in the process, thanks to two goals from the sensational Patrick Roberts and one from Adam Armstrong.
The Young Lions had a handful of players with Premier League pedigree to call upon – and how it showed. Roberts, of Fulham FC, was the pick, but captain Ryan Ledson, on the bench for Everton FC last weekend, and Armstrong of Newcastle United FC also stood out. England's No9, seven-goal top scorer in qualifying, took no time to make his mark, brushing the outside of a post inside the first minute.
England were immediately through the gears, none more so than Roberts, whose searing pace terrorised Malta throughout. It first paid dividends after a quarter of an hour when he skipped in from the right and unleashed a meticulous low drive which nestled in the bottom corner. Ten minutes later, England's tormentor-in-chief turned provider, pulling the ball back from the byline for Armstrong to slot in.
Malta's travails in possession were magnified by England's confidence on the ball, epitomised by their unflappable fulcrum Ledson. The deep-lying midfielder's influence was more low key than that of Roberts, who made it 3-0 just eight minutes after the break. Once more he cut in from the right, on this occasion icing the cake with an unstoppable strike into the roof of the net from outside the area.
Sergio Soldano's team, hitherto restricted to long-range attempts, had their best chance before the hour, but Kyrian Nwoko missed the target. Substitute Callum Cooke squandered two opportunities and Armstrong rattled the woodwork late on, but England had long since done enough. | {
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All the Arab and Muslim people should support Palestinians in their "blessed intifada" against Israel, an official Hamas spokesman has told RT. The resistance should last until Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israeli capital is "dropped."
"The Hamas movement has called on the Palestinian people to face the Israeli occupation and adopt the blessed intifada option against it and against the American decision on Jerusalem," Abdullatif Al Qanoua said in an interview with RT on Wednesday. Palestinians have long been in a continuous battle to defend their territories, the Hamas official added, saying that the movement now calls for "escalating intifada in the West Bank, occupied Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip."
Since Washington has partnered with Israel in pronouncing such a decision, it now too bears full responsibility for its consequences on all levels. The fight should continue until the US' decision on Jerusalem is turned around, Al Qanoua said.
"Without a doubt, American president Trump didn't know the outcomes of his racist and hateful decision, and didn't expect the anger situation that would sweep the Arab, Islamic and Palestinian streets... This racist decision doesn't target Jerusalem city only – it targets all the Arabs and Muslims," he added.
Read more
Saying that Jerusalem is a place symbolic "for the entire Arabic and Muslim world," the official said Hamas "calls on all the Arab and Muslim people to support the Palestinian people" in their fight for the city. "It's the compass for the nation towards victory and liberation," Al Qanoua said.
Last week, the Arab League nations rejected the US's decision. "It deepens tension, ignites anger and threatens to plunge the region into more violence and chaos," the 22-member organization said in a joint declaration. On Wednesday, Trump's decision was also condemned by Muslim leaders gathered in Istanbul, Turkey for an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Having branded the controversial move "an attack" on the rights of the Palestinian people, the OIC formally recognized East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Speaking to RT, the Hamas official also denounced reports of Israel's successful raids targeting his organization members in the West Bank. "The Israeli attempts and the arrest campaign targeting Hamas's leaders and members last night are failed attempts seeking to break determination of the Palestinian people and to prevent them from continuing the blessed intifada," he claimed.
Earlier in the day, Israeli media reported that Israeli troops had conducted raids in the West Bank overnight on Tuesday and arrested dozens of Palestinians for suspected involvement in terrorism activities and violent rioting. Among the detained was Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas leader in the West Bank and one of the group's founding members, according to the Shin Bet security service.
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Following the White House announcement last week, Hamas has called for "an intifada until the liberation of Jerusalem and all of Palestine." The armed group, which controls the Gaza Strip warned that Trump's decision "opens the gates of hell on US interests in the region." The Islamist movement added that the US declaration would not change the status of the Holy City.
Lebanese Hezbollah has backed calls by Hamas to launch a new uprising against Israel. "We support the call for a new Palestinian intifada and escalating the resistance which is the biggest, most important and gravest response to the American decision," the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has said. A wave of protests has swept the Muslim world after US' recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital. While the move has been decried internationally as being dangerous and counterproductive to a peaceful settlement of the protracted conflict, hundreds have already been injured in new clashes.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has stated that Jerusalem remains the "eternal capital" of Palestine, having pointed out that Washington's deplorable and unacceptable measures deliberately undermine all peace efforts in the region. Abbas announced he would not meet with US Vice President Mike Pence later this month and there would be no contact between US and Palestinian officials, as his state is now seeking a new mediator in peace talks with Israel. | {
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ACT Health is warning Canberrans not to pick and eat any wild mushrooms as death cap mushroom season begins.
There have been four deaths and 12 reported cases of poisoning in the ACT due to death cap mushrooms in the past 14 years.
Death caps are the world's deadliest mushroom and ACT Health Protection Service director John Woollard says they can easily be mistaken for edible mushrooms.
"We do live in an area where we get seasonal growth of death cap mushrooms and the message is for people just to take care and be aware of that risk in the environment.
"We recommend that people don't harvest wild mushrooms themselves, they get them from the store instead."
Death cap mushrooms grow mainly near established oak trees in autumn.
Key points: Most poisonous mushroom in the world
Most poisonous mushroom in the world One mushroom is enough to kill an adult
One mushroom is enough to kill an adult Four people died, 12 sick in ACT in 14 years
Four people died, 12 sick in ACT in 14 years Death caps look similar to edible mushrooms
Death caps look similar to edible mushrooms May be white but usually pale-green to yellow in colour
May be white but usually pale-green to yellow in colour Feature white gills and white or pale-green stalk
Feature white gills and white or pale-green stalk Mainly found in the ACT and parts of Victoria
Mainly found in the ACT and parts of Victoria Commonly found near established oak trees
Commonly found near established oak trees The entire mushroom is poisonous
The entire mushroom is poisonous Cooking or peeling does not remove toxicity
Cooking or peeling does not remove toxicity Symptoms occur six to 24 hours after eating
Symptoms occur six to 24 hours after eating Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, seizures
Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, seizures If consumed seek immediate medical attention
"It can be extremely difficult for even experienced collectors to distinguish the small button death cap from an edible mushroom," said acting chief health officer Dr Moira McKinnon.
"The fully-grown death cap mushroom cap is silky smooth, and its colour varies from white to greenish-brown.
"The gills are white, unlike the pink or brown gills of the common field mushroom. The stem is white to pale yellow-green."
The mushrooms contain a toxin that attacks the liver and can cause death through liver failure.
"Even a small piece of a single mushroom can be enough to do a lot of damage, it's a very poisonous substance," Mr Woollard said.
"Cooking has no effect on the toxin at all."
Mr Woollard says symptoms of poisoning can begin within six to 24 hours after eating them.
"Symptoms include violent stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea and if people have got any symptoms like that they're better to get checked out - rather be safe than sorry," he said. | {
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Reading Time: 3 minutes
As readers of WhoWhatWhy know, our site has been one of the very few continuing to explore the fiery death two years ago of investigative journalist Michael Hastings, whose car left a straight segment of a Los Angeles street at a high speed, jumped the median, hit a tree, and blew up.
Our original report described anomalies of the crash and surrounding events that suggest cutting-edge foul play—that an external hacker could have taken control of Hastings’s car in order to kill him. If this sounds too futuristic, a series of recent technical revelations has proven that “car hacking” is entirely possible. The latest just appeared this week.
Hackers, seeking to demonstrate the vulnerability of automobiles to remote attacks, were able to largely take over the Jeep Cherokee driven by a writer for the tech magazine Wired:
Their code is an automaker’s nightmare: software that lets hackers send commands through the Jeep’s entertainment system to its dashboard functions, steering, brakes, and transmission, all from a laptop that may be across the country.
They were able to make his car decelerate suddenly, causing the writer to “narrowly avert death” at the hands of a semi-trailer coming up behind him.
In an earlier demonstration, they had been able to do similar things with other vehicles:
In the summer of 2013, I drove a Ford Escape and a Toyota Prius around a South Bend, Indiana, parking lot while they sat in the backseat with their laptops, cackling as they disabled my brakes, honked the horn, jerked the seat belt, and commandeered the steering wheel.
All of this is increasingly drawing the attention—and action— of the authorities. U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), members of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday seeking to establish federal standards for security and privacy of drivers in today’s computer-laden cars.
What we do not hear is any discussion about whether the risk has gone beyond the realm of possibility…to a reality.
What About Hastings?
Back when Michael Hastings died, former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke—by all accounts a sober, no-nonsense man—said that the Hastings’s crash was “consistent with a car cyber attack” and that it was likely that intelligence agencies knew “how to remotely seize control of a car.”
It is worth noting, too, that the day before his death, Hastings had “urgently” requested to borrow his neighbor’s car—he wanted to get out of town, but he feared his own car was being tampered with.
How is it then that “mainstream” publications, including even Wired, do not talk about the very odd circumstances surrounding the death of a journalist who had made powerful enemies? Did the fact that he had caused a famed general to be fired, that he was investigating the CIA chief, that he told colleagues he himself was being investigated by the FBI—did none of this at least raise the slightest suspicion on the part of our journalistic community? How about the fiery explosion when his car hit a palm tree—which automotive experts say should not normally take place; what about the fact that the engine flew out of the vehicle and landed a considerable distance away–which, again, we are told, is highly unusual?
As with so many of these things, the authorities raced to conclude that it was all an unfortunate accident and that there was no more to the story. And virtually the entirety of journalism—Left, Right and Center, Mainstream and “Alternative”—accepted this conclusion without so much as a hint of skepticism.
So, now that it has been dramatically demonstrated that accidents can be caused remotely by those targeting a driver, will we see other media stepping up to take a good hard look at the key question: What really happened to Michael Hastings? We hope so, but we aren’t taking any bets.
Where else do you see journalism of this quality and value? Please help us do more. Make a tax-deductible contribution now.
Our Comment Policy Keep it civilized, keep it relevant, keep it clear, keep it short. Please do not post links or promotional material. We reserve the right to edit and to delete comments where necessary. Related print | {
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Liberal Wikipedia defines "conspiracy theory" as the fear of a nonexistent conspiracy. By that definition, the theory that Donald Trump conspired with the Russians to steal the 2016 election has to be ranked as the biggest conspiracy theory of all time.
As Robert Mueller closes the books on his two-year reign of terror against Trump supporters, we should pause to consider the collateral damage Mueller caused. Mueller's conspiracy theory about collusion with Russia caused unfathomable harm to many people, most of whom are totally innocent.
Mueller's team burned through at least $25 million in its own costs, at taxpayer expense. But far greater costs were imposed on Mueller's innocent victims and the American people.
In his four-page letter to Congress, Attorney General Bill Barr reported that the special counsel and his team "issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, and obtained more than 230 orders for communication records." They executed "almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses."
500 witnesses? Witnesses to what? There was never any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as Mueller finally admitted in his report, so there was no crime for anyone to witness.
TRENDING: Growing list of white liberals caught pretending to be black
But the targets of Mueller's subpoenas, the victims of his search warrants, and other innocent individuals were compelled to waste enormous time and money in responding to the frightful demands by the out-of-control investigation.
Each of Mueller's subpoenas probably cost an average of $25,000 to comply with. The D.C. rates for attorneys' fees are among the highest in the country, and this field of law is particularly specialized.
So the wasteful expense caused by Mueller's subpoenas alone racked up $70 million in costs, but even that is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of the "witnesses" pursued by Mueller necessarily hired attorneys for themselves, which easily incurred more than $100,000 in fees apiece.
Jerome Corsi was one of those witnesses, and he spent many days being interviewed by Mueller's team. At the end of all that cooperation, Mueller's prosecutors demanded that Corsi plead guilty to lying to the government, even though he had been candid.
Corsi then went public and exposed the Mueller investigation for what it was: a political hatchet job stacked with enemies of Trump. Corsi expected to be unfairly indicted and put on trial, but he courageously stood his ground and refused to cave into wrongdoing by Mueller's team.
Corsi was right to call Mueller's bluff. Andrew Weissmann, Mueller's highly partisan lead prosecutor, subsequently announced his return to teaching in New York City, which is preferable to his being given so much power to impose such high costs on many innocent people.
Mueller has some explaining to do about the unfounded threats by his team to indict Corsi if he did not agree to a plea. Mueller apparently allowed the anti-Trump prosecutors whom Mueller hired to run roughshod with impunity over Trump supporters.
"I consider this entire investigation to be fraudulent," Corsi observed. "I'm glad it's over."
But it's not over for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, even though his persecutors have left the Mueller investigation for other high-paying jobs. Gen. Flynn still faces sentencing from the deal he agreed to in order to save his family.
For spending a mere 24 days as President Trump's national security adviser, Gen. Flynn has been forced to incur $5 million in legal fees. Adding insult to injury, the federal judge presiding over his case accused Flynn of being a traitor to the United States, before walking back those comments.
"Waiting for all of those apologies from journalists and left-wing politicians who slandered Gen. Flynn, calling him a traitor after serving his country heroically for 33 years," his brother Joe Flynn tweeted after the Mueller report found no collusion. The Department of Justice, post-Mueller, should move to dismiss the case against Lt. Gen. Flynn now.
On top of these massive costs is the time lost by the American public and President Trump. Overzealous prosecutions are a distraction, to say the least, and it is to Trump's credit that he has not been completely distracted by this.
Trump could have accomplished even more in his first two years in office without the constant disruption caused by this Grand Inquisition by the left. At one point Trump spent several days answering questions for Mueller despite no evidence for asking them.
The liberal media and Democrats who egged on the fiction of Russian collusion should be labeled as conspiracy theorists for falsely insisting that there was coordination by Trump with Russia in order to be elected. This liberal conspiracy theory harmed many innocent victims and the American people, to whom the left should apologize. | {
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Ai Weiwei
Day Job: Carpenter, Blackjack Player, and House Painter
Following his time at Parsons, Ai Weiwei worked a series of odd jobs, from being a professional blackjack player, carpenter, and house painter. Obviously, this was just the beginning for the artist, who soon returned home to become one of China's most outspoken artists and political activists.
via | {
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on Mexico are set to take effect Monday as planned, the White House said Friday, even as negotiators continued to meet to try to stave off his latest push to force the U.S. ally to stem the flow of Central American migrants into the United States.
“Our position has not changed. The tariffs are going forward as of Monday.” — White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders
“Our position has not changed,” spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters in Ireland before Trump headed back to Washington from his European trip. “The tariffs are going forward as of Monday.”
Talks resumed meanwhile at the State Department, and Trump has received regular updates from Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his trip to Europe. Sanders said officials had “made a lot of progress” but not enough.
The initial 5% tax on all Mexican goods, which would increase every month up to 25%, could ultimately have enormous economic implications for both countries. Americans bought $378 billion worth of Mexican imports last year, led by cars and auto parts. Many members of Trump’s Republican Party and business allies have urged him to reconsider — or at least postpone actually implementing the tariffs as talks continue — citing the potential harm to American consumers and manufacturers.
Related Story: Talks Resume as Trump’s Mexico Tariff Deadline Looms
Trump has nonetheless embraced tariffs as a political tool he can use to force countries to comply with his demands — in this case on his signature issue of immigration.
White House officials appeared to deliver mixed messages as they awaited Trump’s return to the White House. Economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump could delay the tariffs, while Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, stressed that “there’s still a long way to go.”
Mexico Offered Small, Undisclosed Concessions
“When the president lands, they’re going to present him with, basically, the state of affairs and then the president’s going to make a judgment about next steps,” Hassett told Fox Business Network. He cited “a lot of positive movement” in recent days.
Either way, Trump appears poised to invoke an emergency declaration that would allow him to put the tariffs into effect, according to people monitoring the talks.
“You should anticipate that happening today,” Short told reporters, adding that, “if negotiations continue to go well,” Trump “can turn that off at some point over the weekend.”
During the first round of talks Wednesday, the gulf between the countries was clear. Mexico offered small and so far undisclosed concessions; the U.S. demanded major action. The U.S. once again pressed Mexico to step up enforcement on its southern border and to enter into a “safe third country agreement” that would make it difficult for those who enter Mexico from other countries to claim asylum in the U.S. Mexico has long resisted that request.
Trump officials have said Mexico can prevent the tariffs by securing its southern border with Guatemala, cracking down on criminal smuggling organizations and overhauling its asylum system. But the U.S. has not proposed concrete benchmarks to assess whether Mexico is complying, and it is unclear whether even those steps would be enough to satisfy Trump on illegal immigration, an issue he sees as crucial to his 2020 re-election campaign.
In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador would not say whether he would accept his country agreeing to be a “safe third country.” But unlike on previous occasions, he didn’t rule it out.
Republicans in Congress Ready to Stand up to President
“That is being looked at,” López Obrador said Friday morning during his daily news conference, where he held out hope a deal could be reached before Monday’s deadline.
“There is time. … It is still Friday. I am optimistic that an agreement will be reached.” — President Andrés Manuel López Obrador
“There is time. … It is still Friday. I am optimistic that an agreement will be reached,” he said.
In addition, Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday his country had agreed to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops to its border with Guatemala to help control the flow of migrants as part of its concessions.
Beyond Trump and several White House advisers, few in his administration believe the tariffs are a good idea, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. Those people worry about the negative economic consequences for Americans and believe the tariffs — which would likely spark retaliatory taxes on U.S. exports — would also hurt the administration politically. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Republicans in Congress have warned the White House that they are ready to stand up to the president to try to block his tariffs, which they worry would spike costs to U.S. consumers, harm the economy and imperil a major pending U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
Related Story: GOP Senators Line up Against Trump’s 5% Mexico Tariff Plan
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions of migrants illegally crossing the border hit the highest level in more than a decade in May: 132,887 apprehensions, including a record 84,542 adults and children traveling together and 11,507 children traveling alone. | {
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GENEVA — Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov tested positive for cocaine at the world championship and has been banned from the Russia team for four years.
Kuznetsov failed a doping test after a sample was taken on May 26, the day Russia won the bronze medal game against the Czech Republic in Slovakia, the International Ice Hockey Federation said on Friday.
The previous day, Russia lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Finland.
The ban does not stop Kuznetsov playing in the NHL, which classifies cocaine as a drug of abuse rather than a performance-enhancing doping product.
”I feel absolutely terrible for letting you down,” Kuznetsov said in a statement published by the NHL addressing Capitals owners and fans.
”I realize that the only way I can win you back is to take ownership of my situation and my actions from this point forward,” said the 27-year-old player, who has six years left on a $62.4 million contract signed in 2017.
The NHL said Kuznetsov agreed to meet with commissioner Gary Bettman before training camp, and will undergo regular testing.
”Here, we understand that Mr. Kuznetsov has voluntarily sought help through the education and counseling program provided for in the NHL and (players’ union) collective bargaining agreement,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement.
Kuznetsov faced allegations of drug use at the world championship after a video posted on social media showed him talking to someone while lines of white powder and American dollar bills could be seen on the table. However, it was unclear when the clip was filmed.
Kuznetsov, who did not touch the powder in the soon-deleted video, said it was from 2018 in Las Vegas after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup with a standout performance from the Russian. He said it was a friend’s hotel room and he soon left after seeing drugs there.
”I never took drugs, give me a drug test and I’ll pass it,” he told Russian media outlet Sport Express in May.
The NHL closed its review of the incident within days, saying it found no reason to question the player’s explanation.
Russia’s sports minister suggested the United States should take some blame for drug use by Kuznetsov, who made his Washington debut at age 21.
”It’s not possible for us to control athletes who at a young age leave Russia for places with a completely different culture,” minister Pavel Kolobkov said in a statement.
Kuznetsov’s ban expires on June 12, 2023, the Zurich-based IIHF said.
The two-time world champion said he would “accept this penalty.” He could have pursued an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
He is currently excluded from the 2022 Beijing Olympics and the next three world championships.
Though the NHL did not release players for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, the next Winter Games in China’s capital city is a more attractive marketing prospect to justify shutting down league play for most of February. | {
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Oh boy, where do I start? (By apologizing that this is so long I guess.)
“Hekapoo, as best girl can you make it possible for me to put my half-thought out plan into motion? It’ll also probably kill you.”
“Sure, let me just cement myself even further as best girl by helping you kill me for the greater good.”
“But Hekapoo, if something happens to you who will be best girl? (And what will happen with all my weird 30s feelings?)”
“Don’t worry muscles, there’ll always be fan art to fill that itch.”
“See, here I am as a butterfly. Being awesome like I do.”
And that was where I stopped caring. But it’s not like I stopped watching because how would I rant otherwise.
Tom always has the best looks.
Marco’s spells are…unique.
Yes, unique.
And a very particular section of the fandom finally got to see Marco stuff something in Tom’s mouth.
Unfortunately that same section of the fandom had to settle for a horse poking Marco before Tom could.
Eclipsa proving she’s still the best butterfly and giving Tom a run for his money in the looks department.
And that fandom niche get’s to see Marco riding Tom too, what a day for them.
Never have I been so annoyed to see two dead jerks. Because it makes me think that back at the tavern there must be a black tiara and hair strap serving as the only evidence that H-Poo ever was (besides the fan art).
“I’ll just slide on in now that I’m the only option left”
Careful where you put those hands, Janna, it’s still a kids show.
“Like what you see?”
More than what happens next.
And sigh, I’ve never been so annoyed by the inclusion of a character that I actually like. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care that she’s bi/pan, that’s fine and I think even fits, but her whole return and usage was just even more of a plot device than she was when she was actually a recurring character.
I know I’m in the minority when it comes many of my thoughts about this show, and I won’t be going anywhere with my thoughts on Cleaved. And those thoughts are that it wasn’t that good. Perhaps I’m too much of a grumpy realist, but before we get to that let’s just look at narrative. The entire finale was made up of “and then”/”just because” moments. It more or less works up until the four butterflies start chanting “and then” forceghost-Solaria is mad when Mina tries to interrupt (when just the episode before she appeared mad that Star was going to destroy the magic) “and then” the evil horse attacks Mina (the one person there who would have helped stop the magic destruction, even if just as a side effect of her real goals) and so on. We’re not given reasons for why most things that are happening are happening, but because they’re “good” we’re supposed to just like that they are indeed happening. Marco gets stabbed but it means nothing. A portal formed and seemed to be closing, but that was just to build tension because it combined two worlds just so a pair of teens could date without them doing anything.
And I know it was their “love” that made the last of the magic bring their worlds together or whatever, but I really feel that the lesson shouldn’t be that the feelings you have in high school are the most important in the world(s). But of course that’s probably mostly the realist in me. Which is also the part of me that has to point out that hundreds of thousands of humans and creatures of other races are basically screwed. Mewmans come from a (mostly) medieval corn-based society and now they’ve been thrown into modern day with technology and an economy (just to be brief) that they have no basis to use/participate in. The humans now have dangerous creatures and races they never thought were real to deal with and don’t get me started on the problems that bringing a cloud kingdom and demon realm to earth would cause.
“But Caden,” I hear you start, “it’s not that kind of world so just go with it.” No. Screw that line of thought. The show just spent a season and a half trying to drive home some kind of a point about racism and you want to ignore the fact that things could go so much worse for so many Mewni-residents now that they’re on Earth? That’s a bad takeaway.
What’s more is that so much as been left unanswered about “why” from a story point. Based on what we know from the show and books I can only surmise that Glossaryck has spent his time since coming into existence (something his own future actions caused) coming up with a way to kill himself. Which essentially means the whole show and history of an alternate reality has been one long suicide plot that required pulling the strings to get four butterflies of a certain power together at the same time. And I guess that wouldn’t happen unless he laid the ground work for a race war with the natives and created a bunch of dumbass sons to make things worse (along with one amazing daughter just to get my hopes up). I really don’t mean to be negative, but this whole ending was happy for the sake of being happy. There was a great opportunity to demonstrate how sometimes tough choices with unhappy outcomes need to be made, but that was cast aside because high schoolers need to be together.
Sorry again that this was so long. | {
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French lawmaker Valerie Oppelt on Wednesday called for calm after police shot and killed a 22-year-old man in Nantes, triggering unrest in several neighborhoods across the western city.
Shortly after news of the man's death emerged, groups of young protesters gathered in the Breil neighborhood. The protesters threw Molotov cocktails and torched at least three vehicles and a shopping center during clashes with police.
Read more: Can Emmanuel Macron's banlieues plan reach the poor?
"Nantes was the scene of violence last night. I appeal for calm. An investigation is under way to learn the circumstances of this tragedy," Oppelt said in a tweet. "My thoughts go out to the residents of the Breil neighborhood."
Local police chief Jean-Christophe Bertrand said the 22-year-old man, whose car had been under surveillance as part of a drug-trafficking investigation, was pulled over during a traffic check, but his identity was "not clear and officers received orders to bring the driver to the police station."
The man, Aboubakar F., then attempted to reverse the vehicle, in the process hitting a police officer in the knee. "One of his colleagues then fired, hitting the young man who unfortunately died," Bertrand said. Local residents dispute official accounts of the incident, calling the shooting "scandalous."
Nantes police later announced that colleagues in the city of Creteil, near Paris, had issued an arrest warrant for the man in June 2017 for robbery and other crimes.
Protesters torched a shopping mall in the Dervallieres neighborhood
Police: 'We expect the worst'
Groups of protesters also clashed with police in the Dervallieres and Malakoff neighborhoods, known as sensitive areas in Nantes. "We expect the worst in the coming days," police said, according to the Nantes-based Presse-Ocean newspaper.
Authorities said Nantes police will receive reinforcements to ensure security in the affected neighborhoods.
The protests resembled the civil unrest that erupted in Paris' "banlieues" – low-income migrant neighborhoods on the outskirts of the capital – in 2005 and which has flared up several times since then.
Read more: Emmanuel Macron leaves France's suburbs in the lurch
In 2005, the banlieu of Clichy-sous-Bois became a focal point of violent protests, which erupted in response to the deaths of two boys killed while fleeing police. They highlighted the country's broader difficulties integrating minority groups and ultimately paved the way to the presidency for then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
js,ls/msh (AFP, dpa) | {
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Cheaters of the world, rejoice. Science has found a new scapegoat for you to blame your lack of a moral compass on. Turns out that cheating, and other unethical behaviors, could be a product of hormonal reactions, according to a new study.
Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Texas, Austin, decided to explore unethical behavior in greater depth in order to uncover what role our hormones play in our decisions to do what we know is wrong. They were interested to discover what exactly motivates us to cheat, as cheating scandals become a growing issue on college campuses and financial fraud amounts to $3.7 trillion in annual costs for businesses. Specifically looking at two hormones — the reproductive hormone testosterone and the stress hormone cortisol — researchers found they played a two-part role in encouraging and enforcing cheating.
The study found that this dual role the hormones play is key to committing an unethical act. First, hormone levels will increase, predicting the likelihood of cheating, and then these hormone levels will change to reinforce the behavior. “Although the science of hormones and behavior dates back to the early 19th century, only recently has research revealed just how powerful and pervasive the influence of the endocrine system is on human behavior,” said Robert Josephs, UT Austin professor of psychology, in a press release.
In order to test how hormones can influence cheating, the researchers asked 117 participants to complete a math test. Then, once they were finished, they were asked to grade the test themselves and report how many problems they got correct. They motivated participants to cheat even more by telling them that the more problems they got correct, the more money they would earn.
The researchers then collected salivary samples from participants after they took the test, finding that those who had higher levels of testosterone and cortisol were more likely to lie about how many problems they got correct. “Elevated testosterone decreases the fear of punishment while increasing sensitivity to reward. Elevated cortisol is linked to an uncomfortable state of chronic stress that can be extremely debilitating,” Josephs said. “Testosterone furnishes this courage to cheat, and elevated cortisol provides a reason to cheat.”
Interestingly enough, those who cheated also reported feeling a reduction in stress after the test, accompanied by a lower level of cortisol in their system. It’s as if cheating had given these participants a feeling of relief.
“The stress reduction is accompanied by a powerful stimulation of the reward centers in the brain, so these physiological psychological changes have the unfortunate consequence of reinforcing the unethical behavior,” Josephs said.
Now that the researchers better understand what mechanisms are motivating the unethical behavior, they hope to explore how to eliminate this hormonal response and its subsequent reinforcement. Because they did not observe a similar response when these hormones acted independently of one another, they believe that lowering levels of both testosterone and cortisol could potentially prevent cheating.
Researchers have also observed in previous studies that when a group is rewarded for good behavior, as opposed to an individual, the effects of testosterone could be eliminated. As far as the stress hormone cortisol goes, Josephs says he’s seen people relieve distress through certain techniques, like yoga and meditation.
“The take-home message from our studies is that appeals based on ethics and morality (the carrot approach) and those based on threats of punishment (the stick approach) may not be effective in preventing cheating,” Josephs said. “By understanding the underlying causal mechanism of cheating, we might be able to design interventions that are both novel and effective.”
Source: Josephs R, et al. Hormones and ethics: Understanding the biological basis of unethical conduct. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2015. | {
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The financial crisis that began late last summer, then took a brief vacation in September and October, is back with a vengeance.
How bad is it? Well, I’ve never seen financial insiders this spooked — not even during the Asian crisis of 1997-98, when economic dominoes seemed to be falling all around the world.
This time, market players seem truly horrified — because they’ve suddenly realized that they don’t understand the complex financial system they created.
Before I get to that, however, let’s talk about what’s happening right now.
Credit — lending between market players — is to the financial markets what motor oil is to car engines. The ability to raise cash on short notice, which is what people mean when they talk about “liquidity,” is an essential lubricant for the markets, and for the economy as a whole. | {
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China is refusing to guarantee that it won't censor the Internet during this summer's Olympic Games, but insists that the international media will still be able to function normally. Officials from China's Technology Ministry took a somewhat odd opportunity to speak about its censorship plans during a press conference after the Olympic torch relay crossed Mount Everest. They said that while the government would be able to "guarantee as much [access] as possible," there's no way that China would turn off the Great Firewall entirely during the Games.
"China has always been very cautious when it comes to the Internet," Technology Minister Wan Gang said, according to Reuters. "I've not got any clear information about which sites will be shut or screened. But to protect the youth there are controls on some unhealthy web sites."
Wan's statement comes just over a month after the International Olympic Committee reminded China of its obligations as an Olympic host city to allow the press to report as freely as they have in the past—which usually includes full, unfettered access to the Internet. The IOC insisted to the government that the Internet be "open at all times during Games time," and commission vice chairman Kevan Gosper appeared optimistic that China would comply. "On all issues where that's been concerned they've lived up to the (host city) agreement so we don't see any reason why they'd step back from that now," he said at the time.
The IOC may have little recourse on China's decision to maintain some degree of filtering. One option for the organization is to insist on a list of things that would be blocked, such as porn sites, to ensure that the international media has free access to all of the sites it needs. However, China's vague description of "unhealthy web sites" gives it plenty of wiggle room.
China defends its decision by pointing out that it's not the only country to filter the Internet. "Every country limits access to some web sites. Even in developed countries not every site can be accessed," Wan said. Translation: "Everyone else does it!" It's true that some countries do restrict the free flow of information to a degree, but very few do it as strictly as China. And, China did agree to open up the 'Net as part of its agreement with the IOC.
Finally, officials said that they would not be able to guarantee that the Beijing Olympic trademark would not be ripped off and that unlicensed items would not be sold on the streets. "The law enforcement authorities are not able to guarantee that infringement never happens. What we are trying our best to do is combat it and crack down when we find it," Beijing IPR Bureau head Liu Zhengang said.
Just a few weeks ago, the State Intellectual Property Office said that it was cracking down on intellectual property infringement in anticipation of the Games. Is China now trying to give itself some wiggle room? Maybe, but it's not reasonable to expect that authorities will be able to nab every single violator. But given China's long and checkered history with IP enforcement, the IOC will likely be satisfied with visible, high-profile, and frequent crackdowns. | {
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Todd Kirkland/Associated Press
Point guard Mario Chalmers had spent his entire eight-year career with the Miami Heat, but the 29-year-old veteran has reportedly changed conferences after being traded to Memphis.
Continue for updates.
Heat, Grizzlies Reportedly Finalizing Trade
Tuesday, Nov. 10
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported the Heat and Grizzlies are finalizing a trade that would send Chalmers and James Ennis to Memphis in exchange for Beno Udrih and Jarnell Stokes.
Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald confirmed the deal.
Chalmers Comments on Trade Rumors
Tuesday, Nov. 3
"It goes how it goes," Chalmers said when asked about the rumors, according to Ethan Skolnick of the Miami Herald. "It's the nature of the business."
Chalmers Brings Championship Pedigree to New Team
Memphis is off to a disappointing start to the 2015-16 season, and while it has a strong point guard in Mike Conley, the depth behind him is suspect. The team's shooting guard situation is questionable as well with Courtney Lee and Tony Allen splitting time.
Chalmers will likely be a big part of the backcourt rotation in Memphis, and he will bring a championship pedigree to the table with two titles under his belt.
The former University of Kansas star has averaged at least 26 minutes per game in each of the past four seasons, but his playing time is down thus far in 2015-16.
That is due largely to the fact that he is stuck behind Goran Dragic on the depth chart. Tyler Johnson's emergence as a quality backup guard has limited Chalmers' minutes as well.
Chalmers is due to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season. It's difficult to tell if Memphis plans to keep Chalmers past this season, but his veteran presence should add some stability to a Memphis team that has struggled out of the gate this season.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter. | {
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Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon declared Saturday that far-right "patriots" are the "new elite" of Europe as he brought his push for a trans-national, anti-European Union drive to Italy.
The ex-aide to U.S. President Donald Trump addressed a forum in Rome organized by a small far-right Italian opposition party.
Bannon was asked if there should be a new "elite" in growing, far-right populist movements.
His reply? The "new elite in this populist movement are the patriots" in society.
He heaped praised on populist leaders, pitting sovereignty movements against Brussels-based European Union influence on the continent.
Among the models he cited was one in Italy's six-month-old populist government, which includes hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who leads the right-wing, anti-migrant League party.
Salvini, who addressed the forum earlier Saturday, said the far-right political spectrum includes "the true defenders of European values."
The Italian, who is also a deputy premier, said the European Parliament elections in May across the continent offer right-wingers "the occasion to send a force into government in Europe that's not socialist."
Bannon, in his comments, encouraged Italy's populists to push their sovereignty-focused agenda to counter EU policies. He is working to help form a united trans-national front to push politics in Europe far to the right.
British parents Tom Evans and Kate James were honored at the forum for their unsuccessful legal battle to keep their toddler son, Alfie Evans, on life support in a British hospital. Far-right figures had focused on the case as an example of the wishes of one family against a "socialist" state.
The 23-year-month-old child died in April after British judges agreed with doctors that more treatment was futile. He had a degenerative neurological disease that left him with almost no brain function. Pope Francis was among those championing the cause of the parents.
Tom Evans told the forum that a foundation has been set up to help people in a difficult stage of life like Alfie's parents had endured, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The political event was organized by the Brothers of Italy party, whose political roots come from a descendent of a neo-fascist party.
Sardinia's far-right governor, Paolo Truzzo, a Brothers of Italy leader, gave the award to the father, who recounted the drama of his son and who thanked, among others, the pope and the party's leader, Giorgia Meloni, for their support. | {
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Police say man wearing white mask grabbed woman from behind while she was walking home
SURREY — Police are warning the public about a sexual assault that happened in North Surrey Monday night.
Surrey RCMP say they were called at 10:25 p.m., after a woman had reportedly been grabbed from behind by an unknown man wearing a white mask. It happened while she was walking home in the 12700 block of 113A Avenue.
Police say the victim screamed after she was grabbed, causing the man to run away before police arrived.
Surrey RCMP say the victim believes she was followed home prior to the incident. The victim describes the suspect as a 5’9” Asian man, slim to medium build and short, black hair that is spiked in the front.
At the time, the suspect was wearing a dark hoodie under a black vest or jacket. He was also wearing black-framed eyeglasses, a white mask, and dark baggy pants. The suspect may also have been carrying a backpack, according to the victim.
Surrey Corporal Scotty Schumann said police don’t have further details about the mask to share at this point.
On Wednesday, Schumann said police are “actively” investigating this incident and “are following up with the results of the neighbourhood canvass today.”
“To reduce the likelihood of being victimized, pedestrians are encouraged to walk with confidence and be aware of their surroundings,” Schumann said in a press release. “Trust your instincts and call police if you feel your safety is in jeopardy at any time. Stay visible, stick to well-lit areas, and don’t wear dark clothing at night.”
Surrey RCMP’s Special Victims Unit (SVU) is leading the investigation.
Anyone with more information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.
If you wish to make an anonymous report please contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or solvecrime.ca.
[email protected]
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sexual assaultsurrey rcmp | {
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padarnaalat:
people who have the audacity to mention the PTSD that U.S. soldiers’ face as a result of their actions in Afghanistan but conveniently leave out the large number of Afghans that develop PTSD as a result of those actions.
Your fucking husband’s PTSD, brought about after he “accidentally” killed a little girl, will be treated in time and given all the attention. My family members will never be accorded that opportunity. | {
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Update 22 Dec: Winners announced here.
Update 01 Dec: Finalists have been announced here.
Update 26 Nov: Voting round now closed, semifinalists announced here.
Update 20 Nov: Voting round now open, will close on 25 Nov 11:59 pm EST. Go here to vote.
Dear Readers, Writers, Bloggers,
We are very honored and pleased to announce that Huw Price has agreed to be the final judge for our 5th annual prize for the best blog and online-only writing in the category of philosophy. Details of the previous four philosophy (and other) prizes can be seen on our prize page.
Huw Price is Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy and a Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He was previously ARC Federation Fellow and Challis Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, where from 2002—2012 he was Founding Director of the Centre for Time. In Cambridge he is co-founder, with Martin Rees and Jaan Tallinn, of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.
His publications include Facts and the Function of Truth (Blackwell, 1988; 2nd. edn. OUP, forthcoming), Time's Arrow and Archimedes' Point (OUP, 1996), Naturalism Without Mirrors (OUP, 2011) and a range of articles in journals such as Nature, Science, Philosophical Review, Journal of Philosophy, Mind and British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. He is also co-editor (with Richard Corry) of Causation, Physics, and the Constitution of Reality: Russell's Republic Revisited (OUP, 2007). His René Descartes Lectures (Tilburg, 2008) have recently appeared as Expressivism, Pragmatism and Representationalism (CUP, 2013), with commentary essays by Simon Blackburn, Robert Brandom, Paul Horwich and Michael Williams.
He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow and former Member of Council of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and a Past President of the Australasian Association of Philosophy. He was consulting editor for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy from 1995–2006, and is an associate editor of The Australasian Journal of Philosophy and a member of the editorial boards of Contemporary Pragmatism, Logic and Philosophy of Science, the Routledge International Library of Philosophy, and the European Journal for Philosophy of Science.
As usual, this is the way it will work: the nominating period is now open. There will then be a round of voting by our readers which will narrow down the entries to the top twenty semi-finalists. After this, we will take these top twenty voted-for nominees, and the editors of 3 Quarks Daily will select six finalists from these, plus they may also add up to three wildcard entries of their own choosing. The three winners will be chosen from these by Huw Price.
The first place award, called the “Top Quark,” will include a cash prize of 500 dollars; the second place prize, the “Strange Quark,” will include a cash prize of 200 dollars; and the third place winner will get the honor of winning the “Charm Quark,” along with a 100 dollar prize.
(Welcome to those coming here for the first time. Learn more about who we are and what we do here, and do check out the full site here. Bookmark us and come back regularly, or sign up for the RSS Feed.)
The schedule and rules:
November 10, 2014:
The nominations are opened. Please nominate your favorite blog entry by placing the URL for the blog post (the permalink) in the comments section of this post. You may also add a brief comment describing the entry and saying why you think it should win. Do NOT nominate a whole blog, just one individual blog post.
Blog posts longer than 4,000 words are strongly discouraged, but we might make an exception if there is something truly extraordinary.
Each person can only nominate one blog post.
Entries must be in English.
The editors of 3QD reserve the right to reject entries that we feel are not appropriate.
The blog entry may not be more than a year old. In other words, it must have been first published after November 9, 2013.
You may also nominate your own entry from your own or a group blog (and we encourage you to).
Guest columnists at 3 Quarks Daily are also eligible to be nominated, and may also nominate themselves if they wish.
Nominations are limited to the first 100 entries.
Prize money must be claimed within a month of the announcement of winners.
November 17, 2014
The nominating process will end at 11:59 PM (NYC time) of this date.
The public voting will be opened soon afterwards.
November 25, 2014
Public voting ends at 11:59 PM (NYC time).
December 1, 2014
The finalists are announced.
December 22, 2014
The winners are announced.
One Final and Important Request
If you have a blog or website, please help us spread the word about our prizes by linking to this post. Otherwise, post a link on your Facebook profile, Tweet it, or just email your friends and tell them about it! I really look forward to reading some very good material, and think this should be a lot of fun for all of us.
Best of luck and thanks for your attention!
Yours,
Abbas | {
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A victim came forward and said that Young was involved in inappropriate activity with a 3 to 4-year-old child between 1995 and 1997. Another victim recalled incidents involving Young that happened between 1994 and 1995, when she was 3-years-old. Police say that both victims reported similar stories that occurred in the same part of the former day care. | {
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[Poster] Blue Pearl By StellarknightDelta Watch
19 Favourites 0 Comments 583 Views
Seen quite a few drawings of blue pearl wearing this type of sweater so i thought i'd draw her in it too.
IMAGE DETAILS Image size 1065x900px 71.39 KB Show More
Published : Apr 30, 2017 | {
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Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (ET) September 4, 2020. Statement of William W. Beach Commissioner Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday, September 4, 2020 Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 1.4 million in August, and the unemployment rate declined by 1.8 percentage points to 8.4 percent. These improvements reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. In August, employment rose in several major industry sectors. A gain in government largely reflected the hiring of temporary workers for the 2020 Census. Notable job gains also occurred in retail trade, in professional and business services, in leisure and hospitality, and in education and health services. The August payroll employment increase of 1.4 million followed gains of 1.7 million in July, 4.8 million in June, and 2.7 million in May. As of August, total nonfarm employment is 11.5 million, or 7.6 percent, lower than in February, before the pandemic crisis unfolded in many parts of the United States. Although unemployment fell for the fourth month in a row in August, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed people are up by 4.9 percentage points and 7.8 million, respectively, since February. The response rate for the establishment survey was above normal for August, and the rate for the household survey, while still well below normal due to pandemic-related issues, ticked up over the month. The impact of the pandemic on the household and payroll surveys is detailed in the August Employment Situation news release and accompanying materials (available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm). For both surveys, we were able to obtain estimates that meet BLS standards for accuracy and reliability. Taking a closer look at the August payroll data, employment in government increased by 344,000, accounting for one-fourth of the over-the-month growth in total nonfarm employment. Federal government employment rose by 251,000, reflecting the hiring of 238,000 temporary workers for the 2020 Census. Local government added 95,000 jobs over the month. Despite these gains, employment in government is 831,000 lower than in February. Employment in retail trade increased by 249,000 in August. Job growth occurred in most retail industries in August, although almost half of the gain occurred in general merchandise stores (+116,000). Other notable job gains occurred in motor vehicle and parts dealers (+22,000), electronics and appliance stores (+21,000), miscellaneous store retailers (+17,000), and health and personal care stores (+15,000). In August, retail trade employment was 655,000 lower than in February. In August, professional and business services added 197,000 jobs, with more than half of the gain occurring in temporary help services (+107,000). Elsewhere in the industry, architectural and engineering services (+14,000), computer systems design and related services (+13,000), and business support services (+13,000) added jobs over the month. On net, employment in professional and business services is 1.5 million below its February level. Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 174,000 in August, after gains of 621,000 in July and 2.0 million in June. However, employment is 4.1 million lower than in February. Within the industry, food services and drinking places added 134,000 jobs in August, but employment is 2.5 million lower than the February level. In August, education and health services added 147,000 jobs. Health care employment increased by 75,000, with gains in offices of physicians (+27,000), offices of dentists (+22,000), hospitals (+14,000), and home health care services (+12,000). Elsewhere in health care, job losses continued over the month in nursing and residential care facilities (-14,000), with declines totaling 229,000 since February. Employment in private education rose by 57,000 in August. Overall, employment in education and health services is down by 1.5 million from February. Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 78,000 in August but is down by 381,000 since February. In August, notable job gains occurred in warehousing and storage (+34,000), transit and ground passenger transportation (+11,000), and truck transportation (+10,000). Employment in the other services industry rose by 74,000 in August, with gains occurring in membership associations and organizations (+31,000), repair and maintenance (+29,000), and personal and laundry services (+14,000). Since February, employment in the other services industry is down by 531,000. In August, employment in financial activities increased by 36,000 but is 191,000 lower than its February level. Over the month, job gains occurred in real estate and rental and leasing (+23,000) and nondepository credit intermediation (+10,000). Employment in manufacturing rose by 29,000 in August, with most of the gain occurring in the nondurable goods component (+27,000). Since February, manufacturing employment is down by 720,000. In August, wholesale trade added 14,000 jobs, with an increase in nondurable goods (+9,000). Employment in wholesale trade is 328,000 lower than its February level. Construction employment changed little in August (+16,000) but is 425,000 lower than in February. Within specialty trade construction, residential contractors added jobs in August (+25,000), while nonresidential contractors lost jobs (-16,000). Average weekly hours for all private-sector workers rose by 0.1 hour in August to 34.6 hours. The average workweek for manufacturing rose by 0.3 hour in August to 40.0 hours. One should continue to be cautious when interpreting changes in the workweek at the total private level. In particular, large employment changes in industries with shorter- or longer-than- average workweeks can complicate monthly comparisons of average weekly hours. Similarly, changes in average hourly earnings in recent months must be interpreted with caution. Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 11 cents in August to $29.47, following an increase of 4 cents in July. Turning to the labor market indicators from the household survey, the unemployment rate declined by 1.8 percentage points to 8.4 percent in August, and the number of unemployed people decreased by 2.8 million to 13.6 million. Both measures have decreased for 4 consecutive months, but remain much higher than in February, before the pandemic. As in the prior 3 months, the decrease in unemployment in August was driven by a decline among people on temporary layoff (-3.1 million). The decline was partially offset by an increase in the number of permanent job losers, which rose by 534,000 to 3.4 million. The number of unemployed reentrants to the labor force decreased by 263,000 in August to 2.1 million. The unemployment rates fell in August for adult men (8.0 percent), adult women (8.4 percent), teenagers (16.1 percent), Whites (7.3 percent), Blacks (13.0 percent), and Hispanics (10.5 percent). The rate for Asians (10.7 percent) changed little. Among the unemployed, the number of people searching for work for less than 5 weeks declined by 921,000 to 2.3 million in August. The number of unemployed people who were jobless 5 to 14 weeks fell by 2.0 million to 3.1 million. The number of people who were jobless 15 to 26 weeks was essentially unchanged at 6.5 million; these individuals accounted for 48.1 percent of the unemployed. The number of people searching for work for 27 weeks or more also was little changed, at 1.6 million. The labor force participation rate increased by 0.3 percentage point in August to 61.7 percent but is 1.7 percentage points below its February level. Total employment, as measured by the household survey, rose by 3.8 million over the month to 147.3 million. The employment-population ratio increased by 1.4 percentage points to 56.5 percent but is 4.6 percentage points lower than in February. The number of people who usually work full time rose by 2.8 million in August to 122.4 million, and the number who usually work part time increased by 991,000 to 25.0 million. In August, the number of people at work part time for economic reasons (also referred to as involuntary part-time workers) decreased by 871,000 to 7.6 million, reflecting the continued decline in the number of people whose hours were cut due to slack work or business conditions. The August decline in involuntary part-time workers follows decreases of 619,000 in July and 1.6 million in June. The number of workers affected by this type of underemployment was 3.3 million higher than its February level. The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job declined by 747,000 in August to 7.0 million. This measure is 2.0 million higher than in February. Among those who were not in the labor force in August but wanted a job, 2.1 million were considered marginally attached to the labor force, little changed over the month. (People who are marginally attached to the labor force had not actively looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, were available for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 months.) Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed no jobs were available for them, numbered 535,000 in August, down by 130,000 over the month. As has been the case since March, household survey interviewers were instructed in August to classify employed persons absent from work due to temporary, coronavirus-related business closures or cutbacks as unemployed on temporary layoff. BLS and Census Bureau analyses of the underlying data suggest that there still may be some workers affected by the pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on temporary layoff. However, the share of responses that may have been misclassified was much smaller in July and August than in prior months. For March through July, BLS published an estimate of what the unemployment rate would have been had misclassified workers been included. Repeating this same approach, the overall August unemployment rate would have been 0.7 percentage point higher than reported. However, this represents the upper bound of our estimate of misclassification and probably overstates the size of the misclassification error. BLS continues to conduct research on this issue. Additional information is available online at www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq- august-2020.htm. Beginning in May, questions were added to the household survey to help gauge the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the labor market. The data from these questions shed more light on how work and job search activity have been affected by the pandemic. In August, 24.3 percent of employed people teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic, down from 26.4 percent in July. These data refer to employed people who teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the coronavirus pandemic. In August, 24.2 million people reported that they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to the pandemic. This was down from 31.3 million in July. Among those who reported in August that they were unable to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost business, 11.6 percent received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not worked. About 5.2 million people not in the labor force in August were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic. This is down from 6.5 million in July. (To be counted as unemployed, by definition, individuals must either be actively looking for work or on temporary layoff.) These supplemental data are not seasonally adjusted. Tables with estimates from the supplemental questions for all months are available online at www.bls.gov/cps/effects-of-the- coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic.htm. Summarizing the major labor market developments in August, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 1.4 million, and the unemployment rate declined to 8.4 percent. | {
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Top 12 Debunked Climate Scares of 2018
January 2018: Worst-case global warming scenarios not credible: Study
PARIS (AFP) – Earth’s surface will almost certainly not warm up four or five degrees Celsius by 2100, according to a study released Wednesday (Jan 17) which, if correct, voids worst-case UN climate change predictions.
A revised calculation of how greenhouse gases drive up the planet’s temperature reduces the range of possible end-of-century outcomes by more than half, researchers said in the report, published in the journal Nature.
February: ‘Sinking’ Pacific nation Tuvalu is actually getting bigger, new research reveals
The Pacific nation of Tuvalu — long seen as a prime candidate to disappear as climate change forces up sea levels — is actually growing in size, new research shows.
A University of Auckland study examined changes in the geography of Tuvalu’s nine atolls and 101 reef islands between 1971 and 2014, using aerial photographs and satellite imagery.
It found eight of the atolls and almost three-quarters of the islands grew during the study period, lifting Tuvalu’s total land area by 2.9 percent, even though sea levels in the country rose at twice the global average.
March: BBC forced to retract false claim about hurricanes
You may recall the above report by the BBC, which described how bad last year’s Atlantic hurricane season was, before commenting at the end: “A warmer world is bringing us a greater number of hurricanes and a greater risk of a hurricane becoming the most powerful category 5.” I fired off a complaint, which at first they did their best to dodge. After my refusal to accept their reply, they have now been forced to back down
April: Corals can withstand another 100-250 Years of climate change, new study
Heat-tolerant genes may spread through coral populations fast enough to give the marine creatures a tool to survive another 100-250 years of warming in our oceans.
May: Climate change causes beaches to grow by 3,660 square kilometers
Since 1984 humans have gushed forth 64% of our entire emissions from fossil fuels. (Fully 282,000 megatons of deplorable carbon “pollution”.) During this time, satellite images show that 24% of our beaches shrank, while 28% grew. Thus we can say that thanks to the carbon apocalypse there are 3,660 sq kms more global beaches now than there were thirty years ago.
June: Antarctica not losing ice, NASA researcher finds
NASA glaciologist Jay Zwally says his new study will show, once again, the eastern Antarctic ice sheet is gaining enough ice to offset losses in the west.
July: National Geographic admits they were wrong about notorious starving polar bear-climate claims
The narrative behind the viral photo of a polar bear starving, reportedly thanks to climate change, has been called into question by the National Geographic photographer who took it in the first place.
August: New study shows declining risk and increasing resilience to extreme weather in France
This risk factor for French residents of cities stricken by a disaster has been falling with every passing decade.
September: Coral bleaching is a natural event that has gone on for centuries, new study
Coral bleaching has been a regular feature of the Great Barrier Reef for the past 400 years, with evidence of repeated mass events dating back to well before European settlement and the start of the industrial revolution.
October: Climate predictions could be wrong in UK and Europe
Current climate change predictions in the UK and parts of Europe may be inaccurate, a study conducted by researchers from the University of Lincoln, UK, and the University of Liège, Belgium, suggests.
November: Number and intensity of US hurricanes have remained constant since 1900
There’s been “no trend” in the number and intensity of hurricanes hitting the continental U.S. and the normalized damages caused by such storms over the past 117 years, according to a new study.
December: Alarmist sea level rise scenarios unlikely, says climate scientist Judith Curry
A catastrophic rise in sea levels is unlikely this century, with recent experience falling within the range of natural variability over the past several thousand years, according to a report on peer-reviewed studies by US climate scientist Judith Curry. | {
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LANSING -- A local TV station's general manager defended a meteorologist's decision to interrupt Saturday night's NBC prime time broadcast of the Michigan-Notre Dame football game for about 20 minutes.
WILX-TV's audience needed to be informed about tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings in parts of mid-Michigan, Debbie Petersmark wrote Tuesday in an email.
"Our severe weather policy allows the meteorologist on duty the discretion to interrupt programming based on their expert opinion of weather conditions, and the risk to people’s safety," Petersmark, who is also WILX Media's vice president, said.
The live weather alert from meteorologist Dustin Bonk appeared on viewers' screens at 7:47 p.m. and continued until 8:07 p.m. during the first quarter of the game broadcast from Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish beat the Wolverines 24-17.
Petersmark said WILX's weather alert Saturday evening gives the station "an opportunity to evaluate best practices," including the appropriate length of warnings that interrupt programming.
The National Weather Service's office in Grand Rapids confirmed Tuesday that a tornadoes touched down Saturday night in Bath Township and Jackson, both WILX coverage areas, and caused property damage.
The tornadoes had winds of up to 80 mph, according to information released by the weather service.
Dukesherer said officials are also investigating whether a tornado touched down Saturday night in Clinton County in Bath Township, where property damage occurred.
“Many of the storms on this night were rotating," Dukesherer said. "There were a lot of storms in those TV station viewing areas (in the Lansing region) that were rotating.
"I understand what (the WILX-TV staff) were doing, and it was in the vein of public safety.”
Bonk apologized early Sunday morning to football fans for his interruption the previous evening, but said the storms merited the interuption.
"I had a job to keep our viewers informed across all Mid-Michigan," Bonk wrote on Twitter, and also explained his decision on Facebook. "Thank you our many supportive viewers that extended their gratitude for our weather coverage!"
Saturday marked the second time in less than a year that a Lansing-based TV station cut into a nationally-televised college football game that involved a team from Michigan.
On Oct. 8, 2017, Lansing's WLNS-TV 6 interrupted the live ABC broadcast of the Michigan State-Michigan football game for several minutes with a severe weather alert.
The game was played at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor and broadcast in the Lansing region on WLAJ-TV, an ABC affiliate. WLAJ station broadcasts WLNS news and weather coverage.
News anchors at WLNS, including meteorologist Emily Wahls, defended the station's decision last fall to cut into game coverage.
"We have one job," Wahls wrote on her Facebook page. "It’s to keep you informed and warn you when there is dangerous weather that could threaten life or property."
Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy. | {
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Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Maine health officials are prepared to "pursue legal authority" to enforce a quarantine Tuesday as reports surfaced that Kaci Hickox, a nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and shows no symptoms of the virus, doesn't intend to obey the quarantine.
"We do not want to have to legally enforce in-home quarantine," Mary Mayhew, commissioner of the state Health and Human Services Department, said at a news conference. She wouldn't comment on Hickox's case specifically, but Hickox's attorney told the Bangor Daily News that his client — who was quarantined against her will in New Jersey upon her return to the U.S. — "doesn't want to agree to continue to be confined to a residence" beyond two days.
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Hickox spent the weekend in an isolation tent at a Newark hospital after she flew back from West Africa, even though she tested negative for the virus. She was released Monday and drove back to Maine after she threatened to sue.
"We're confident that selfless health workers who were brave enough to care for Ebola patients in a foreign country will be willing to take reasonable steps to protect residents of their own country," Mayhew said Tuesday. "However, we are willing to pursue legal authority if necessary to ensure risk is minimized for Mainers."
Robin Pinette, a resident of Fort Kent, Maine, where Hickox had originally planned to self-quarantine at her boyfriend's apartment, told NBC station WLBZ of Bangor that the situation is "completely terrifying."
"I feel bad for Kaci, because I know that it's got to be hard feeling ostracized somewhat," Pinette said. "But we're dealing with the whole community, not just one person here."
IN-DEPTH
SOCIAL | {
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Here are some key video excerpts of an interview this afternoon with Thomas Homan, acting Director of ICE. Homans is a career ICE officer, back to its predecessor organizations. Despite being a career employee he’s turned out to be an ardent Trumper. Blitzer does an excellent job, continually coming back to press the key points, repeatedly with government statistics on hand to refute claims by Homans which are either deceptive or outright lies.
ICE Chief on Family Separation Policy: "This president is letting [ICE officers] do their job, which the last President did not do." pic.twitter.com/K67HUEUJV4 — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 19, 2018
ICE Chief: "You put your child in that position so you want to blame somebody — If you want to blame somebody, blame the parents." pic.twitter.com/2AEsZVoaTm — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 19, 2018
ICE Chief: "The parents are making a choice … they are taking it upon themselves to enter illegally and have their children taken away." pic.twitter.com/fHAdRj7nJk — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 19, 2018
ICE Chief on family separations: "They don't have to commit a misdemeanor!" pic.twitter.com/skmGR5Xlgx — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 19, 2018 | {
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“We make a family, yes?”
My attempt at making a family tree for Orphan Black after the confusing revelations of 3.09. Let me know if you find any errors. I’m sure there are many, this was so confusing to make. Full sized version at my blog.
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Price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) was on Tuesday hiked by Rs. 16.50 per cylinder and that of jet fuel by over half-a-per cent after international oil prices surged due to the ongoing Iraq crisis.
The increase in rates of non-subsidised LPG and ATF accompanies the Rs. 1.69 a litre hike in petrol and 50 paisa a litre in diesel announced on Monday.
The price of non-subsidised LPG, which customers buy after using up their quota of 12 subsidised cylinders, was raised by Rs. 16.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder, the first hike in six months.
Each non-subsidised 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder will now cost Rs. 922.50 in Delhi, up from Rs. 906, according to Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s largest oil firm.
Non-subsidised LPG rates were last month cut by Rs. 23.50 per cylinder. A subsidised LPG cylinder in Delhi costs Rs. 414.
Tuesday’s hike breaks the declining trend that started in February with a Rs. 107-cut in rates to Rs. 1,134 per cylinder.
It was followed by a Rs. 53.5-per-cylinder-reduction in March to Rs. 1,080.50, by Rs. 100 to Rs. 980.50 in April, by Rs. 52 in May and by Rs. 23.50 cut last month.
IOC said losses on LPG have risen to Rs. 449 per subsidised cylinder from Rs. 432.71 in the previous month. The loss was Rs. 762.50 in January.
Separately, the price of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF), at Delhi was increased by Rs. 413.78 per kilolitre (kl), or 0.6 per cent, to Rs. 70,161.76 per kl.
The increase follows three straight monthly reduction, the last one of Rs. 1,285.89 per kl, or 1.81 per cent, which came into effect on June 1.
In Mumbai, jet fuel costs Rs. 72,411.21 per kl as against Rs. 71,940.36 per kl previously, IOC said. The rates vary because of differences in local sales tax or VAT.
Jet fuel constitutes over 40 per cent of an airline’s operating costs and the price hike will increase the financial burden of cash-strapped carriers.
No immediate comments were available from airlines on the impact of the price increase on passenger fares.
The three fuel retailers — IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp — revise jet fuel and non-subsidised LPG prices on the first of every month, based on the average international prices in the preceding month. | {
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#1 Amazon Best Seller
"If you are tempted by the awakening of your own long-dormant wanderlust, Going Gypsy can serve as a primer. . . . The questions [Veronica] poses about 'what next' are relatable ones for all empty nesters." —PBS's Next Avenue | {
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He said: "I'm very happy to display my work at a place where people who don't have an interest in arts can come and see it. | {
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Bitcoin meant to reinvent money. It turns out to be reinventing commerce itself.
It’s easy to think of blockchain technology in the context of cryptocurrencies. After all, blockchains and Bitcoin were invented in the same gust of genius. But although cryptocurrencies can’t exist without blockchains, the reverse isn’t true. Blockchains, it turns out, can keep track of anything of value: money, real estate, art, stocks, plane tickets, and even medical records. And that changes pretty much everything.
A blockchain is an openly accessible but anonymized database of electronic transactions—similar to a ledger. Each transaction is time-stamped and reported to the shared database; each record is checked and added to a chain of data blocks that let people see a history of each user’s transactions.
Once you start seeing blockchain as a transaction ledger and currency as only a commodity, it starts to become apparent that blockchain technology might apply to nearly any business at all.
Managing transactions
Let’s say there is a commodity called a Zorkmid (ZM). If I wanted to sell you five ZMs, for instance, we would both need anonymous identities on the ZM blockchain. The blockchain would register our transaction so everyone else could see it. Importantly, the blockchain checks to make sure I’m not selling the same ZM twice, any more than I could spend the same dollar bill twice or sell the same land twice. Once I give you a ZM, I can’t give it to the babysitter.
The blockchain ledger is duplicated across many different computers. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand the communications and computational cost of those updates, particularly with the high volume an electronic currency might require.
The size of the Bitcoin blockchain, for instance, has surpassed 140 GB, and there are about 5,000 nodes online full time that need to be updated constantly. With a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, the computation that authenticates the chain is performed by “miners,” who are paid in bitcoins. For other blockchains, with fewer transactions, a central authority might charge a transaction fee, usually called a “token,” to maintain and distribute the ledger, in addition to paying miners.
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Trust, but verify
Blockchains can be used to establish a chain of trust for any transaction at all, from real estate to art to stocks to content. Any market that requires transparency might benefit from using blockchain. Bitcoin, it’s turning out, is the test case for something much more interesting.
“It looks to me like Bitcoin was sort of an experiment in feasibility,” says Bert Fry, co-head of the fintech group at New York law firm Pryor Cashman. “Can you create an authoritative ledger essentially by agreement of all the nodes on a distributed network? The answer that Bitcoin has provided us is yes.”
One leap forward is the idea of a blockchain-based “smart contract,” or programmable money. The 2-year-old digital currency Ethereum supports smart contracts, which transfers money only when certain conditions are met: a physical good is delivered, a stock reaches a certain price, the clock strikes 12. Those contracts, enforced by blockchain, allow for interesting applications.
Take, for example, the Ukrainian real estate market. In an attempt to stimulate property prices and foreign investment, the Ukrainian government is building a blockchain-based database of real estate, which can then be bought and sold through an Ethereum blockchain. A U.S. company called Propy acts as a digital title registrar and go-between among the buyer, seller, notary, and property registrar. When all parties agree and the money—Ethereum or bitcoin—is transferred, the electronic title deed is sent to the buyer.
Fine art sales can work the same way, with the added problem of authenticating the underlying physical asset. “The way people typically do that,” says Fry, “is to show the line of ownership. Then if you can show the chain of control, you can be comfortable with that piece of art—it really is that thing that was created by Gauguin, Picasso, etc. There are different art houses that keep track of these records. There are what, to my mind, look like title companies that specialize in doing the diligence before an art transaction is consummated, to really make sure that art is authentic.”
Fry points out that a lot of art is never displayed but just sits in a box on a shelf in a warehouse. “In a weird way, the art stuff kind of starts to look a little like the securities transactions," he says. "An enormous amount of art is sitting in warehouses in Geneva. People transfer that art without really seeing it. The lot identified by this row and that height now belongs to me. I may or may not be interested in displaying it. If I want to loan it out to a museum, that's how they would go get it, but if I want to transfer it, it may never leave that spot before I transfer it.”
Guarantee uniqueness
A San Francisco startup called Chronicled has experimented with putting a permanent ID tag on artwork. The tag’s number is registered on a blockchain, which contains information about the artwork and lets people buy and sell it.
Once a blockchain can contain programmatic logic or content, all sorts of things become possible. Walmart is experimenting with using blockchain to track parts of its global food supply chain through China. Enthusiast publisher TEN has discussed placing content on the blockchain, unlocking it for a reader when it’s paid for by the reader or an advertiser. Advertisers like the idea because the blockchain can tell them exactly when a piece of content is bought.
Credit card companies, however, are worried about blockchain, Fry says. “I think that people can see that you could set up something that was really parallel to the business of Visa and MasterCard that allowed transactions to occur on a completely immediate basis, totally reconcile each transaction, and where you can be assured that people aren't going to spend money they don't have.” There would be costs in maintaining a blockchain of that size and speed, but it may well be below the 2 percent to 3 percent that existing credit card clearinghouses take.
Transactions that trigger only under certain conditions sound a lot like a stock exchange, and the financial technology community is thinking hard about those implications, Fry says. “Regulators are very interested in this idea that the blockchain might facilitate transactions in securities and the recordation of those transactions. I think blockchain that's being run by an exchange is going to look just like any other infrastructure that exchange uses.”
In fact, Fry says, the very idea that a blockchain transparently tracks all transactions makes for a more orderly market. “You could have a public blockchain, a blockchain the regulators would have access to, which is where the transactions are happening. You can make whatever statistical analysis you want of it. You can ask people about trades that you're seeing, because you're seeing them. They're anonymized, but you're the SEC—you can find out who; you can ask and get information about who matches onto those accounts.”
Nasdaq already uses blockchain to operate a market for shares in private companies and is reportedly testing a system to operate proxy voting on the Tallinn Stock Exchange in the technology-forward country of Estonia.
“I think there was this notion early on that regulators didn't like Bitcoin because it's so anonymous,” Fry continues. “Actually, what the FBI and others have found is, it's really not. Right now, the model we have is, people in the market do stuff and they report it to a regulator, who has to then figure out what to do with that data. Here, if you got to a model where the transaction is the report and allows a regulator to be more immediately involved in transactions and less involved in the paperwork, collecting data about transactions—they're pretty excited about it.”
When the blockchain was invented, it was meant to underpin a specific electronic currency: Bitcoin. But the idea of value exchange goes much deeper than cryptocurrency, and while we may not be on the verge of commonplace blockchain commerce, it sure looks like the world is headed that way.
“One of the things I think is going to happen if the blockchain continues to go in the direction it's going,” says Fry, “is we probably won't have this conversation again about the blockchain, any more than we currently have long conversations about the cluster of servers that are used to make the Internet work. It's basically invisible to us. We just use the Internet. We talk about typing stuff in and getting answers from Google. There's a huge process that underpins that, but we don't care about it. We just use it.”
Blockchain: Lessons for leaders
It's not about currency anymore; it's about value.
Guaranteeing contracts will be the next step for blockchain.
Blockchain will disrupt the way the financial world works.
Related links:
With Labs' help, IEEE Computer Society has released its list of top 10 technology trends of 2018
Game Changing Blockchain Innovations
Will banks be replaced by blockchain technology?
Blockchain – What’s In It for Your Business?
How blockchain makes you rich
Mining the Blockchain for the next big thing | {
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President Donald Trump is enjoying himself, showing off “Made In America” goods on the White House South Lawn Monday as his competitors the Chinese are suffering punishing economic numbers.
Meanwhile…
MarketWatch reports Monday: “President Donald Trump on Monday took credit for a slowdown in the Chinese economy that he says will lead to more favorable trading terms with the world’s second-largest economy.
Trending: REPORT: Trump Plotted Clinton-Epstein Takedown For Years, Knew About Clinton ISLAND PHOTOS
China on Sunday night reported second-quarter GDP growth of 6.2%, the worst showing in at least 27 years.
Over two tweets, Trump said China wants to make a trade deal and insisted that U.S. taxpayers aren’t paying tariffs.”
MarketWatch passage ends
President Donald Trump optimistically returned to negotiations with China in late June, stressing that he is not going to raise tariffs against the Chinese while talks are in progress. Trump is fighting to reverse the decades-old trade imbalance between the two superpowers, because China has been grossly taking advantage of the United States for a very long time.
I reported on March 29:
President Donald Trump’s envoy finished talks in Beijing with Chinese leaders as the United States and China come closer to reaching a massive trade agreement that would re-shape the economies of both nations.
Now, the series swings back home to the United States for the final round of negotiations.
Steven Mnuchin and Robert Lighthizer flew to Beijing and did not experience any difficulty — at least in public — but President Donald Trump still holds all the cards.
For decades, China has taken advantage of the United States in trade deals, exploiting the weakness of past Republican and Democrat administrations. But Trump changed the game.
American tariffs struck a decisive blow to the Chinese economy, forcing the business-savvy Communists to come to the table. In 2018, China posted its worst economic growth figure — 6.6 percent — since 1990, when then-president George Bush used the collapse of the Soviet Union to push through a globalist America Last foreign policy imitated by his successors Clinton, Bush, and Obama. China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 spelled doom for American manufacturing. The Midwest, battered also by NAFTA and the more than $1 trillion taxpayer tab for the Iraq War, fell into deep economic decline.
But Trump is bringing it back, aided by Mnuchin and his economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who is more than willing to play ball with tariffs in order to correct the massive trade disparity enjoyed by the Chinese regime.
The two sides have already agreed on one major point: China is going to purchase about $1.2 trillion in additional American goods over a six-year period, enough to wipe out the trade imbalance by the year 2024.
But the devil is in the details. The American people deserve 5G technology without fear of Chinese companies spying on us, even more than they do now. And the Chinese shamelessly rip off our tech innovation with intellectual property theft. Inventors — like content creators — don’t like being ripped off.
Trump has the upper hand because he can always call the deal off and impose more tariffs on China. Who can stop him? Not the well-funded but misguided Koch political network, which fought tooth and nail against tariffs (they like so-called “free trade” because they like cheap overseas labor). The Kochs were completely incapable of stopping Trump’s tariffs, which must really make them mad. Some people just don’t want to see America do well. Sad!
Now the Chinese vice premier is gearing up for a trip to Washington, D.C. Has he read “Art of the Deal”? Perhaps the North Koreans can lend him their copy, gifted to them by America’s informal ambassador Dennis Rodman.
Good work, Lighthizer and Mnuchin!
Have a hot tip for Big League Politics? Got a hot news tip for us? Photos or video of a breaking story? Send your tips, photos and videos to [email protected]. All hot tips are immediately forwarded to BLP Staff. Have something to say? Send your own guest column or original reporting to [email protected]. | {
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The House voted Thursday against banning the Pentagon from providing transition-related medical care to transgender troops.
The body rejected the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on a 209-214 largely party-line vote. Twenty-four Republicans joined with Democrats to defeat the amendment.
The amendment outraged Democrats, who called it ignorant, mean-spirited and denigrating, while Republicans argued the Pentagon should not be spending its money on such medical care.
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Transgender troops currently in the military have been able to serve openly since last year. The policy also allows them to receive any treatment deemed medically necessary, including surgery and hormone therapy.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s (R-Mo.) amendment would have barred Pentagon funding from going to any transition-related medical care, except for mental health services.
Hartzler claimed the cost of surgeries alone could reach $1.3 billion over the next 10 years.
“This is about addressing [North] Korea, Russia, ISIS,” Hartzler said, holding up pictures of each. “We need every defense dollar to go to meeting those threats, not anything else, and we need to make sure our troops are ready and can be deployed.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) added the opposition to the amendment was “silly” and said people should “figure out if you’re a man or a woman before you join up.”
The RAND Corporation last year found all medical costs for transgender service members would be about $2.4 million to $8.4 million annually.
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Democrats argued the true intent of the amendment was to discriminate against transgender troops, as not being able to receive medical care would effectively prevent transgender people from being able to serve in the military.
Even if the service members themselves aren’t transgender, immediate family members who are would not be able to get the care they need, making it untenable for their spouse or relative to serve in the military, Democrats said.
“Make no mistake, the effect and the intent of this unjust and mean-spirited amendment is to ban patriotic Americans from serving our country,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said. “It is designed to throw transgender service members out of the military.”
Rep. Adam Smith David (Adam) Adam SmithWhen 'Buy American' and common sense collide Overnight Defense: Marine Corps brushes off criticism of Marines' appearance in GOP convention video | US troops injured in collision with Russian vehicle in Syria | Dems ask for probe of Vindman retaliation allegations Democrats press Pentagon watchdog to probe allegations of retaliation against Vindman brothers MORE (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, said the amendment was based on “ignorance of what transgender truly is.”
This is the second year in a row the NDAA has been caught up in LGBT issues. Last year, a provision was added in the House Armed Services Committee that Democrats contended would have allowed federal contractors to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
When Democrats could not successfully remove the provision when the bill came to the House floor, they largely voted against the NDAA. But the provision was eventually stripped out of the bill during House-Senate negotiations, leading to bipartisan final passage.
Updated at 6:09 p.m. | {
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Watch UFC Fight Night 52 press conference video replay from Japan feat. Dana White, Roy Nelson, Mark Hunt & more
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is kicking off its pre-fight media campaign for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 52 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on Fight Pass, which takes place on Sat., Sept. 20, 2014, from inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan (latest fight card and rumors here). UFC President Dana White was on hand with a handful of stars featured on the overseas event and while the audio can be a bit tricky to decipher, there are still plenty of quoteworthy moments during yesterday's presser, as well as one Japanese reporter who loves shouting at White. For more on UFC Fight Night 52 click here. | {
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With his approval rating at an all-time low, Gov. David Ige has his work cut out for him if he is going to win a second term in office next year.
Most people who responded to a new Civil Beat poll say they want someone else to take the reins of state government in 2018. And there’s no shortage of people considering the possibility, from island lawmakers to business leaders.
For the first time since Ige took office in December 2014, more poll respondents have a negative opinion of him (38 percent) than positive (35 percent). His approval rating was only slightly higher than that of President Donald Trump and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who were each viewed favorably by just 32 percent of respondents.
Cory Lum/Civil Beat
In a Civil Beat survey of 956 registered voters statewide, 57 percent said they wanted someone else to be governor. Only 20 percent said they wanted Ige to continue in that role.
If those numbers hold, the governor would be vulnerable next year, even in a primary. Several names have been circulating as possible Democratic challengers, such as Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, state Sen. Jill Tokuda and Hawaii News Now General Manager Rick Blangiardi.
How We Did It Civil Beat surveyed 956 registered voters in Hawaii via landline (67 percent) and cellphone (33 percent). The survey took place from May 18-24. The statewide margin of error is 3.2 percent. The poll included 629 respondents from Oahu. The margin of error from that sample is 3.9 percent.
“The two toughest positions to hold are governor and mayor — you disappoint more people than you please,” said Matt Fitch, executive director of Merriman River Group, which conducted the poll.
“It’s just a reflection of the overall mood I think,” Fitch said. “Executives often have lower approval ratings.”
Ige, 60, was unable to muster even a majority of Democrats to support him, according to the poll.
“The two toughest positions to hold are governor and mayor — you disappoint more people than you please.” — Matt Fitch, pollster
Forty-four percent of Democrats viewed the governor favorably, while 26 percent had a negative opinion and 30 percent were unsure. He fared far worse with independents and Republicans.
When broken down by race, Ige, who is of Okinawan descent, is getting the most support from Filipino voters. The poll found 51 percent had a positive view of Ige, which is significant since Filipinos represent the fastest-growing population of immigrants.
White and Japanese voters both had 37 percent approval ratings for Ige, followed by Hawaiians at 31 percent and Chinese at 19 percent. The state’s small but growing Hispanic population gave him a 38 percent favorability rating.
While Ige has not faced any major scandal — his biggest political hits have come from the Senate rejecting two of his appointments — he also has not produced many tangible results to please voters.
That’s partly a product of who Ige is, a soft-spoken engineer who spent 20 comfortable years in the Legislature before making a run for governor. His priorities include important objectives that don’t make for easy sound bites or snappy headlines, such as eliminating unfunded liabilities and updating the tax system.
Ige got off to a rocky start with issues that resonate with voters, such as improving the state’s struggling public school system and protecting the environment.
Teachers and parents — an important voting bloc — have complained for years about how hot classrooms are hampering learning, which spurred Ige to set a goal in early 2016 of cooling 1,000 classrooms at a cost of $100 million. But a year later, only about 200 classrooms had air-conditioning units installed.
The governor has since worked to transform the education system by replacing the superintendent and Board of Education chair. It’s too early to know how well those moves will pay off.
Ige’s predecessor, Neil Abercrombie, lost the support of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, a 13,500-member union, in the months leading up to the 2014 Democratic primary, which Ige won despite a 10-to-1 fundraising disadvantage.
“His challenge is he wasn’t that well known and wasn’t that well liked when he got elected,” Fitch said of Ige. “People were so disappointed and disillusioned by Abercombie. He was the not-Abercrombie candidate.”
On the environmental front, Ige did not fill several key posts for almost two years and the Senate shot down his first choice to head the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Carleton Ching. The Environmental Council, which advises the governor on issues affecting the state’s natural resources, was unable to meet due to lack of quorum.
To his credit, Ige has also since found people to guide land and water use policy, environmental protection, longterm planning and development. And the 15-member Environmental Council is fully staffed for the first time in 10 years.
The governor has also launched his Sustainable Hawaii Initiative, which lays out broad environmental goals for the state.
He is also planning to sign two significant environmental bills into law Tuesday, including strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accord with the Paris climate agreement and a measure to establish a task force to identify agricultural and aquacultural practices to boost soil health and sequester carbon.
Ige has generally rebounded well from setbacks. After the Ching debacle in early 2015, he switched political gears and with the appointment of Suzanne Case, the former head of The Nature Conservancy, to head DLNR.
And when the Senate earlier this year rejected Ige’s appointment of Tom Gorak to the Public Utilities Commission, he quickly responded with his choice of Jay Griffin, a University of Hawaii faculty member who many expect to be confirmed with little difficulty.
The governor’s approval rating peaked at 49 percent shortly after he took office. It dipped to 36 percent over the following year, crept up slightly then fell to its current spot at 35 percent.
Over the same time period, the voters who viewed him negatively soared from just 22 percent in 2015 to 40 percent in mid-2016 before leveling to the current 38 percent.
With the Democratic primary still more than a year off, Ige has sufficient time — and opportunity as the incumbent — to boost support.
He’ll also likely be looking to raise more campaign funds. As of January, he only had $280,928 in his campaign account, which isn’t much to fend off what appears to be a crowded field of candidates.
Coming Wednesday: Medical aid in dying came close to passing the Legislature this year before falling short. Where do voters stand on the issue? | {
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Credit Suisse has upgraded Nintendo (7974.JP) to outperform from neutral as the broker now expects the Japanese video games maker to sell more of its Switch consoles over a longer sales cycle.
The broker also hiked its target price from JPY40,000 a share to JPY55,000, implying almost 44% upside. Credit Suisse now forecasts Nintendo to sell 130 million Switch consoles through to 2022, up from 70 million, as it says the device sells like a handheld console rather than a traditional console. Here's Credit Suisse analyst Keiichi... | {
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This is the latest post in Ian Knauer's Farm to Table series. Ian will be checking in weekly throughout the season with recipes and stories from his family farm in Knauertown, PA.
If you haven't brewed your own beer, I bet you know someone who has. Thanks to the craft-brewing boom of the past 20 years, just about everyone has access to great microbrews--even people who have no interest in making them. But I'm the kind of guy who likes making things, so a few years ago I ordered some hop plants to use in my home brew.
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The hops grew so quickly and vigorously that I could barely keep up with the trimming and training they require (like ivy, they are climbers and are usually grown on twine or wire). The literature I received with the cuttings warned me not to expect any hops the first year. I ended up with about a gallon of them anyway.
If you've got rich soil and lots of sun, you will find that hops are incredibly easy to grow, and if you have a few square feet of dirt in your backyard I recommend you plant some next spring--even if you don't plan on making beer (more on that later). Here are some tips:
* You'll need to plant rhizomes instead of seeds because the plants are either male or female. Only the female plant produces the flowers, which are the actual hops. (If this sounds familiar to some of you, it may be because hops are part of the botanical family Cannabaceae; so is marijuana.) Like the other members of that family, hops contain complex (and volatile) chemical compounds. Some of these, like dimethylvinyl carbinol, may have a calming effect on the human nervous system. They may relax you. Of course, alcohol also has this effect. That's why when you drink too much beer, you get sleepy.
* Order your hops so they'll arrive in the spring, after the chance of frost has gone. Form a small hill for each rhizome. Plant with the buds pointing up, and cover with an inch of loose soil. The hills should be spaced at least three feet apart if the hops are of the same variety and five feet apart if they are different. Mulch well. Within two to four weeks you'll start to see hop shoots rise up out of the ground.
* Stake a length of twine on each hill, securing the top to a building, fence, or pole, and when young vines are about a foot long, wrap them around the twine in a clockwise direction. They will grow. And grow. And if you're lucky, you'll get some hops that first year. Cut them down to nothing in the fall. Prune the weaker vines after they sprout again the following spring.
As I said, hops aren't just for beer. The shoots that corkscrew up out of the ground in the spring are quite tender and can be sauteed like asparagus. And the hop flowers themselves add a sharp, bitter herbal punch to anything they touch. Some forward-thinking chefs, like Pat Combs at the Paws Up resort in Montana, have even been cooking with hops. Combs stuffs hop leaves with hop flower petals, cheeses, and aromatics before tempura-frying them to make a cheesy-herbal beggar's purse. In a review of the dish, one writer claimed they were so delicious that she would have forgone all other food that evening in exchange for more of the crisp-fried hop purses.
The recent heat waves have left me feeling a little lazy compared with Chef Combs. I'll keep his recipe tucked away for some cooler weather. Instead, this week I'm folding my plant's flowers into a hopped-up bruschetta made with the garden's first tomatoes.
Hopped-Up Bruschetta
3-4 servings
If you have trouble finding fresh hops, basil flowers make a worthy substitute. Once the basil plant has gone to flower, its pungency increases and its herbaceousness becomes slightly bitter and hoplike.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 small garlic clove
Kosher salt
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 small onion, sliced
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 fresh hop flowers (not pellets) or basil flowers, torn
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6-8 pieces toasted country bread
PREPARATION
Mince and mash the garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt. Combine garlic paste with 1/2 tsp. salt, the tomato, onion, oil, hop flowers, and pepper. Top the toasts with the tomato mixture and serve.
Photographs and text by Ian Knauer
Ian Knauer is a cook/writer based in Brooklyn, NY and Knauertown, PA. He has written for Bon Appetit, Gourmet, The Atlantic, Men's Health and other publications. His cookbook, based on his life at Knauer Farm, is due out in the spring of 2012. Follow him on Twitter @iknauer. | {
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New Zealander pleads guilty to sharing mosque shooting video A man has pleaded guilty to sharing a livestream video that was recorded by a gunman as he began killing 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A Christchurch businessman has pleaded guilty to sharing a livestream video that was recorded by a gunman last month as he began killing 50 people at two mosques.
Philip Arps pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing the mosque video and will remain in jail until he's sentenced on June 14. He faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
Prosecutors accused the 44-year-old of sending the video to an unknown person and instructing that person to insert crosshairs and to include a kill count. Prosecutors say he then forwarded the entire chilling 17-minute video to 30 associates.
New Zealand's Chief Censor David Shanks banned both the video and a manifesto written by the white supremacist accused of the attack, making it illegal to view, possess or distribute them. | {
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Steven Petrow
Special for USA TODAY
“I don’t really need to worry about online privacy,” I used to think. “I’ve got nothing to hide. And who would want to know what I’m up to, anyway?”
Sure, I’m a journalist, but I’m not an investigative reporter, not a political radical, not of much interest to anyone, really.
That was last week, when the standoff between the FBI and Apple seemed much more about principle than practice to me. That’s when I thought I’d write a column on whether this legal fight matters to regular folk — people like my mother, a retired social worker; my best friend, who works in retail; or even my 20-year-old niece in college. That was before I found out — in a chillingly personal way — just why it does matter. To all of us.
How not to get hacked on a plane
Latest: U.S. vs. Apple over San Bernardino iPhone
Just before midnight last Friday, my plane touched down in Raleigh after a three-hour flight from Dallas. As usual, I’d spent much of the flight working, using American Airlines Gogo in-flight Internet connection to send and answer emails. As I was putting on my jacket, a fellow in the row behind me, someone I hadn’t even noticed before, said: “I need to talk to you.” A bit taken aback, I replied, “It’s late … need to get home.”
“You’re a reporter, right?”
“Um, yes.”
“Wait for me at the gate.”
[I didn’t answer, but I did wait.]
“How did you know I was a reporter?” I asked while we started walking.
“Are you interested in the Apple/FBI story?” he responded, ignoring my question.
“Kind of. Why are you asking me that?” I thought he was some kind of creepy mind reader.
Then he dropped the bombshell.
“I hacked your email on the plane and read everything you sent and received. I did it to most people on the flight.” He had verbatim detail of a long email that he repeated back to me essentially word for word.
In fact, as Steve Nolan, Gogo’s vice president of communications, told me, the service is “public” and “operates in the same ways as most open Wi-Fi hotspots on the ground.” He cautioned against “accessing sensitive materials while in flight.”
How to safely use free Wi-Fi
Gogo recommends that anyone sending sensitive information over any public WiFi network, including Gogo, use a virtual private network, or VPN, to protect their data, said CEO Michael Small.
One of my emails was pretty explicit about the focus of my story and I had emailed Bruce Schneier, a security expert who had previously written in the Washington Post about this very issue.
"The current case is about a single iPhone 5c, but the precedent it sets will apply to all smartphones, computers, cars and everything the Internet of Things promises," Schneier wrote.
American Airlines sues to exit Gogo inflight Wi-Fi
The danger is that the court’s demands will pave the way to the FBI forcing Apple and others to reduce the security levels of their smart phones and computers, as well as the security of cars, medical devices, homes, and everything else that will soon be computerized. The FBI may be targeting the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, but its actions imperil us all."
That’s what my privacy-busting stranger had read. Back to my conversation:
“That’s how I know you’re interested in the Apple story,” he continued. “Imagine if you had been doing a financial transaction. What if you were making a date to see a whore?” My mind raced: What about my health records? My legal documents? My Facebook messages?
And then the kicker:
“That’s why this story is so important to everyone,” he told me. “It’s about everyone’s privacy.”
Then he headed down the escalator and I headed out the front door. I may have been wearing my jacket, but I felt as exposed as if I’d been stark naked.
With a newfound personal interest in the topic, the following day I called Alex Abdo, an attorney in the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, to talk about why ordinary Americans should care about the Apple case. At first he told me some of what I knew. If the government wins it would set a “dangerous legal precedent … that would force companies to build back doors into their products. It will be used hundreds and hundreds of times if it becomes lawful.”
Abdo made it clear why this matters to ordinary consumers like me — to all of us. “The risk is that it makes it more likely that individuals’ devices with no connection to any investigation will become less secure because companies will have established back doors …. that will fall into the wrong hands.” For emphasis, he added: “No back door is secure.”
But really, I pushed him, who is in actual danger here? The answer, apparently, is pretty much all of us. “Anyone who relies on the security of their devices,” he told me.
It should be up to each of us to decide what to make public, and what to keep private, he continued. For me, I felt as though the stranger on the plane had robbed me of my privacy—as was explicitly his intent. He took the decision of what to share out of my hands. He went in through the back door of the Gogo connection.
THE TAKEAWAY:
I asked Abdo what we could to do protect our privacy. This is what he told me:
Call your representatives in Congress and on a statewide level and express your support for Apple in this case. Here’s a list of all U.S. members of the House and Senate. https://www.congress.gov/members Make sure your devices are using their built-in encryption features. That’s FileVault for Apple devices and BitLocker on Windows products. Use a password manager to help you create and store different — and strong — passwords for all your accounts. Don’t use the same password repeatedly, and don’t ever use passwords like “password” or “123456.” Some popular ones include DashLane, LastPass, and Sticky Password. Download WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal, messaging apps that go great distances in encrypting voice and electronic messages. Keep in mind that even they are not 100% secure.
Agree or disagree with my advice? Let me know in the comments section below.
USA TODAY columnist Steven Petrow offers advice about living in the Digital Age. Submit your question to Steven [email protected]. You can also follow Steven on Twitter:@StevenPetrow. Or like him on Facebook atfacebook.com/stevenpetrow. | {
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We were proud to host on our own #YouTube channel @ETHKL1's 1st meetup video. They now have their own channel:… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1029282350352322561 2 years ago
Our Monthly Update covering July is out! https://bit.ly/2lxma8x #FinancialFreedom #Blockchain #HelloGold #cryptocurrency #Gold 2 years ago
Join @rcfl1967 & company tonight. A first step towards stronger cooperation between like minded #blockchain for… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1019491095913291776 2 years ago
Join @rcfl1967 & company tonight. A ifrst step towards strongr cooperation between like minded #blockchain for… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1019427488827469824 2 years ago
Tune in for the live #AMA with @AppletonDave here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbfeqydp2z8 2 years ago
Missed the last $HGT #airdrop ? Watch and com… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1017333464570343426 2 years ago
“Blockchain is gonna pervade all systems and will see lot and lots of growth in this ecosystem. The Blockchain can… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1016925929283567616 2 years ago
Find out about our #ERC20 fully allocated tokenised #gold solution, $GOLDX here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2pwr2uztry&feature=youtu.be Bridging t… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1016215041811464193 2 years ago
Our Monthly Update is out!! https://bit.ly/2nuxref Strong push in #gold sales and new automated exchange for $GOLDX on the menu... 2 years ago
Next AMA with HelloGold's lead blockchain developer, @AppletonDave, July 12th at 12pm UTC. link to YouTube live fee… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1014895603631808513 2 years ago
Next AMA with HelloGold's lead blockchain developer, @AppletonDave, June 12th at 12pm UTC. link to YouTube live fee… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1014711723947798528 2 years ago
We're thinking tokenized assets, easily stored and transacted through mobile-phone wallets. The end of fiat monopol… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1013633009830879232 2 years ago
Glad to see our #HGT token getting some well-deserved recognition!! Supporting affordable, fully allocated investme… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1012622599040348160 2 years ago
Great launch to @ETHKL1 ! Glad we could help set the ball rolling, see you all at the next next session! https://twitter.com/masturaishak1/status/1009412496174735360 2 years ago
Anyone interested in following live the first Kuala Lumpur Ethereum meetup can do so through this YouTube live. Ta… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1009353822399938561 2 years ago
And while we're on the topic of awesome #meetups in #KL, @AppletonDave will be speaking on the 27th about… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1008916143111716865 2 years ago
#ETHKL first meetup is happening tomorrow ! https://www.meetup.com/ethmalaysia/events/251584118/ @rcfl1967 and the @FoundationHG team will be there! 2 years ago
Great conversation yesterday at #BCIsummit about the Tokenisation of #Commodities. https://t.co/ZSI688Tiyt 2 years ago
Forget the scams, the only official $HGT #airdrop is here: https://airdrops.io/hellogold/ claim your free $HGT and stand… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1005459810077143041 2 years ago
Proud of our partner stealing the show at @pitchatpalace #Asean!! Well done #KLEAN!! https://bit.ly/2kwip3c https://twitter.com/rcfl1967/status/1004918804449816576 2 years ago
Time to vote and show some support for $HGT !! https://www.okex.com/vote/index. @OKEx_ 2 years ago
We’re happy to announce that @OKEx_ has approved our $HGT application for listing! We need to win the community v… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/999536769346387968 2 years ago
And that's a wrap! Was cool seeing so many teams from South East Asia: @zcoinofficial, @blockasset, @coingecko,… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/997842895423131648 2 years ago
Was great to hear compliments on Malaysia's #GE14 at #Consensus2018 #BlockchainWeekNYC. Here are Malaysian citize… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/997076696988901377 2 years ago
Fun party organised by @MetaCert and @myetherwallet last night. Great to finally meet @Paul__Walsh and @kvhnuke_'s… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/996733432746119168 2 years ago
Today we're at #consensus2018, last month we were @Blockchain_Expo in London, here's the highlights of our trip to… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/996293223218790400 2 years ago
Robin opened his visit to #Consensus2018 with a very special announcement for all $HGT holders and gold enthusiasts… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/996214849435664385 2 years ago
Another scam pretending to give free HGT! please help us report the video and the telegram group! https://twitter.com/appletondave/status/994539548209172482 2 years ago
Our latest monthly update is available on our Medium blog page: https://medium.com/hellogold/hellogold-foundation-update-11-4th-may-2018-ddad7ce09943 #HGT #GOLDX 2 years ago
In-depth report on the market in Q1 2018 by our friends at @coingecko https://twitter.com/coingecko/status/988326849242525696 2 years ago
The #HelloGold team rocking it at @Blockchain_Expo in #London Olympia today! https://t.co/6fXIhNGpFG 2 years ago
AMA with Robin is going on right now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bn4_4l235c 2 years ago
Have burning questions on the gold industry for the former CFO of @GOLDCOUNCIL? Join https://t.me/hellogoldofficial … to… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/984360600674304000 2 years ago
And that's a wrap for Season 1 of Isabel and Harith! #13 covers #AMA with @rcfl1967 (today!), the new $HGT feature,… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/984291545779093504 2 years ago
If only there was a way for the non-North Americans/those without access to #gold ETFs to start saving their wealth… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/981910397648162822 2 years ago
If only there was a way for the non-North Americans/those without access to #gold ETFs to start saving their wealth… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/981910397648162822 2 years ago
Is it me or it’s getting hot in here? 🔥🔥 Announcing the first of HGT’s upcoming features! 🚀🚀… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/981894197811671041 2 years ago
Is it me or it’s getting hot in here? 🔥🔥 Announcing the first of HGT’s upcoming features! 🚀🚀… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/981894197811671041 2 years ago
#12 is out! Where we cover the #Beijing trip, getting namedropped by @mightmalaysia (jk!), developments in… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/981416174637539330 2 years ago
#12 is out! Where we cover the #Beijing trip, getting namedropped by @mightmalaysia (jk!), developments in… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/981416174637539330 2 years ago
Don't know about you but I find this incredibly hypnotic. #HelloGold # KLEAN #recycling #plastic #gold https://t.co/nswAt6U3Ih 2 years ago
#11 is out! We cover how we're turning plastic into #gold with KLEAN, the @MOFmalaysia Open Day, upcoming podcast w… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/978626815559327744 2 years ago
#11 is out! We cover how we're turning plastic into #gold with KLEAN, the @MOFmalaysia Open Day, upcoming podcast w… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/978626815559327744 2 years ago
Our Big Up Promo is ongoing until 16th April. The larger the group gets, the more rewards for everyone! Join the T… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/977106569002274816 2 years ago
Our Big Up Promo is ongoing until 16th April. The larger the group gets, the more rewards for everyone! Join the T… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/977106569002274816 2 years ago
Episode #10 is out! We cover the #BigUpPromo, events such as #bangkokfintechfair2018, and @Twitter banning… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/976465291638026241 2 years ago
Robin explains how you can check HelloGold's reserves of #gold: https://youtu.be/y_r2sw77ngg 2 years ago
Blockchain Applications Beyond Coins with @rcfl1967, @etherscan, @NeurowareIO, and @OwlTing. Thanks @techinasia fo… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/973897870771236866 2 years ago
Favourite talks at Day 2 of #EthCC were @jbaylina and @jacquesdafflon introducing ERC777 and @srolondon on using… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/972348124017709056 2 years ago
Favourite talks at Day 2 of #EthCC were @jbaylina and @jacquesdafflon introducing ERC777 and @srolondon on using… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/972348124017709056 2 years ago
Smiles that shine bright like gold. The HelloGold team is gearing up for this weekend's Women's Fiesta! https://t.co/592gnMHMOS 2 years ago
Episode #8 where we cover the #Malaysia fintech expo, @TrakInvest partnership (congrats on the successful ICO btw!)… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/971988316554805248 2 years ago
#HelloGold Foundation update #9 is out! Click on the link to read up on it! https://medium.com/hellogold/hellogold-foundation-update-9-7th-march-2018-c487ee52019 2 years ago
HelloGold has won the award for Prominent in Wealth Asset & Investment Management of the Year at Malaysia Fintech E… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/971049862648090624 2 years ago
Robin with one of the gold bars that HelloGold holds on behalf of customers! Full video coming up next week 😄 https://www.facebook.com/myhellogold/videos/1869665963331392/?hc_ref=arsi5uldumvdez_oyawnskojd_kq5cftrhiyreby2dzrcl0d2zzgkiwvbrs4ub4otai 2 years ago
We vote for @AmelieArras and #Bitcoin to win #M2020Race too! Passing this on to @coingecko, @zcoinofficial,… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/969593037524365313 2 years ago
#7 includes an homage to #Community, shoutout by Malaysian Sec Gen of Treasury, hope for $HGT on @hitbtc, supportin… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/969127331632578566 2 years ago
"Democratising entrepreneurship" Press conference with TenxClub, an initiative of the Malaysian ministry of financ… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/967042228844576768 2 years ago
May you have a paw-fect new year! #GongXiFaCai https://t.co/Qu9rCRqLqg 2 years ago
This Week #5 is out! We cover our recent trip to #Dubai, @effectaix, @coinbase, BitGrail, and @CityofBerkeley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9nz8xrofgq 2 years ago
At the press conference for Malaysia Fintech Expo 2018. @rcfl1967 has been nominated for FinTech Personality of the… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/963335121108484097 2 years ago
$HGT listed on 2 new exchanges today! @lykke @Funcoin001 https://medium.com/hellogold/hgt-now-listed-on-lykke-and-funcoin-b1600bbf7011 2 years ago
$HGT listing on @lykke next Monday! Get your accounts set up now 😊 https://t.co/c14kRhzs7n 2 years ago
Update #8 is out! https://medium.com/hellogold/hellogold-foundation-update-8-7th-february-2018-1c9e9087ab02 2 years ago
We're here in #Dubai for the Blockchain Middle East Forum: https://blockchainme.iqpc.ae/ and to meet potential partners.… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/960081703493566469 2 years ago
Week #4 - updates featuring #HGT, @stripe, and @opera! https://t.co/FNtGWap1iL 2 years ago
"Gatecoin has partnered with HelloGold to host a trading competition on our platform. The first 400 users to buy an… https://t.co/8v1kbZMipZ 2 years ago
#HGT listing on @Gatecoin! Get your accounts set up now at https://t.co/AlsXFLYkRG https://t.co/eWM7GmCLic 2 years ago
#HGT listing on @Gatecoin! Get your accounts set up now at https://t.co/AlsXFLYkRG https://t.co/eWM7GmCLic 2 years ago
1,000% rise in HGT and 1,000 followers 😄😄 Not taking our foot off the pedal anytime soon, more important announcements coming up! 2 years ago | {
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President Donald Trump says Apple CEO Tim Cook “made a very compelling argument” that tariffs on China will hamper Apple’s ability to compete with Samsung. The pair had dinner on Friday night at the president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Trump described the conversation to reporters from publications including Bloomberg, CNBC, and Fox News on the way back to Washington.
“I had a very good meeting with Tim Cook,” Trump said. “I have a lot of respect for Tim Cook, and Tim was talking to me about tariffs. And one of the things, and he made a good case, is that Samsung is their number-one competitor, and Samsung is not paying tariffs because they’re based in South Korea.”
“And it’s tough for Apple to pay tariffs if they’re competing with a very good company that’s not. I said, ‘How good a competitor?’ He said they are a very good competitor. So Samsung is not paying tariffs because they’re based in a different location, mostly South Korea but they’re based in South Korea. And I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I’m thinking about it.”
Most of Apple’s products are assembled in China and will be subject to an additional 10 percent import tax later this year. This is due to go into effect on September 1st for products like the Apple Watch and AirPods, though the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook lineup won’t be hit until December 15th after a delay to accommodate the holiday shopping season.
Samsung has a more diversified supply chain, with much of its manufacturing located in South Korea and Vietnam. As such, the company won’t be hit as hard by the Trump administration’s ongoing trade war with China. Apple is said to be looking at moving more of its manufacturing elsewhere.
Trump gave advance word of the dinner with Cook on Twitter Friday evening, saying Apple “will be spending vast sums of money in the US. Great!” though he doesn’t appear to have mentioned any details of further US investment in his comments to reporters. | {
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Back when my writing career was booming, I got invited a couple of times to do readings in Amsterdam, a bad gig for a pot addict. Once, after ingesting a couple of THC pills, I dumped a pitcher of water over my head and insulted the Iraqi representative to National Poetry Day Amsterdam. Another time, I pulled down my pants and flashed a crowd of several hundred. If I had any boundaries, weed erased them thoroughly. The boom ended fast.
My son was born in 2002. I didn’t have an office job, so I was around a lot to get high and enjoy the cartoons. I opened a packet of Reefer’s peanut butter cups at his preschool fund-raiser and stunk up the place. But pot wasn’t just an occasional funny thing for me to do on weekends. I got stoned the day my son came home from the hospital and stayed that way, with few breaks, for a decade and a half. Of course I put him in danger because I couldn’t stop getting high. I was a drug addict.
In 2016, I became the Texas correspondent for a national marijuana newspaper, which gave me lots of excuses to get up to Colorado, America’s new weed utopia. With legalization upon us, I started saying things like: “Imagine if you loved coffee but it had been illegal your entire life. That’s what I feel like!” I began to refer to Colorado as “Free America.”
In March of 2017, my mother died. The hour before she passed, I was outside the hospital, getting a shipment of medical gummies from a friend. I was high when I watched her die, I was high at her funeral, and I was high every day for the next eight months. To say I was “self-medicating” to deal with grief would be too kind. My addicted self took grief as a no-limits license to get stoned.
In early November, I had the chance to fulfill my lifelong dream of attending a Dodgers World Series game. I spent way too much money on a ticket that turned out to be fake. So high that I couldn’t remember where I’d parked, I started screaming outside the stadium. If I’d been sober, I would have just called the vendor and gotten a refund. That’s what I ended up doing, eventually. But not before security guards surrounded me.
I looked into a car mirror and saw an old man, sobbing over a baseball game. That was the moment I accepted that I had a problem. Three weeks later, I quit.
I’ve been sober for 11 months. I do the same things with my time that I did before, except that 75 percent of my life doesn’t revolve around obtaining or consuming weed. It’s incredible what you can accomplish when you’re not high. | {
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Nuestro problema no es el paro ni la corrupción ni los desahucios ni la pobreza ni la desigualdad ni las subidas de impuestos y de la luz o el gas ni el independentismo catalán ni los recortes sociales y de libertades ni la emigración de los españoles al extranjero ni siquiera la crisis de los refugiados, nuestro problema es Venezuela. La derecha española ha empezado la campaña para elegir al gobierno de España hablando del gobierno venezolano que es la forma de hablar mal de Podemos sin esforzarse. Aún no han conseguido que los españoles lo incluyan en la lista de sus preocupaciones, pero no será porque no lo estén intentando.
Primero salió Rajoy a hacer un alegato por las libertades de los opositores venezolanos perseguidos por Maduro y, aunque es un presidente en funciones, les prometió concederles la nacionalidad española por procedimiento de urgencia. Es de un cinismo atroz que hable de derechos humanos y libertad de expresión el presidente que ha promulgado las leyes mordaza en España y sólo ha acogido a 18 de los 17.000 refugiados a los que se comprometió a dar asilo ante la Unión Europea. Al PP le importan tanto los derechos humanos en Venezuela como en Siria, o sea, nada, pero le conviene utilizar a los opositores venezolanos, como a las víctimas de ETA, para sacar tajada electoral y atacar a Pablemos. Vomitivo pero cierto.
No se ha querido quedar atrás Albert Rivera, que ve cómo pierde comba en su disputa por el voto de derechas, y ha anunciado que se va a Venezuela a defender a la oposición del régimen chavista. Aquí en España, sin embargo, el pasado abril Ciudadanos votó junto al PP en contra de derogar las leyes mordaza y pidió sólo reformarlas. No le hemos visto manifestarse contra la represión de la protesta en nuestro país, tampoco contra la cárcel ilegal de Guantánamo o en defensa de los miles de presos políticos en todo el mundo, pero allá que se va a Caracas en plan libertador.
Aunque ahora tiene un perfil bajo con esta cuestión, el PSOE también entró al trapo, si bien dividido, como de costumbre, por sus distintas almas. Pedro Sánchez siguió la línea marcada por Felipe González de defensa de la derecha opositora venezolana, pero Zapatero que va por libre, se ha ofrecido a Maduro, en plena campaña electoral española, como mediador del conflicto en Caracas, metiéndose en un charco que Ferraz ahora no quería pisar. Éste es el caso. Venezuela es un charco en el que chapotear para salpicar a los podemitas y tapar las vergüenzas de aquí con el barro de allá.
No comparto la admiración casi mesiánica de algunos fundadores de Podemos por Chávez pero mucho menos la demonización del chavismo, que redujo drásticamente la pobreza, la desigualdad y el analfabetismo, como reconoce hasta la ONU. Es cierto también que hoy Venezuela tiene graves problemas de inseguridad y suministro y que organizaciones de Derechos Humanos han denunciado violación de libertades del gobierno de Maduro, pero no lo es menos que la derecha antichavista está removiendo las ascuas para provocar un incendio, incluso una guerra civil, ayudados por el fuelle que azuzan partidos y medios españoles que intoxican todo lo que viene de allí.
Este mismo fin de semana, el opositor Henrique Capriles, decía en El País, que la conflictividad en las calles podría obligar al ejército a derrocar al gobierno elegido democráticamente en unas elecciones legitimadas por observadores internacionales. No es la primera vez que llama a un golpe de Estado en un país en el que –recordemos- la oposición ganó la Asamblea Nacional también en las urnas. Venezuela tiene una situación crítica pero como tantos países que aquí no interesa denunciar porque no sirven como arma arrojadiza contra la confluencia.
Por eso se ha redoblado la estrategia venezolana, porque ahora sí que temen que la izquierda pueda gobernar en España. El fantasma de Stalin queda demasiado lejos, así que la nueva amenaza roja es Maduro. Es el mantra con el que nuestro régimen atemoriza y adormece al votante. Cuando a usted le preocupen la corrupción, el paro, la desigualdad, la pobreza, los refugiados o la emigración en España, repita conmigo: Venezuela. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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the big bang never happened? that's adorable | {
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Streaming Audio: A Confluent podcast about Apache Kafka
Magnus Edenhill on librdkafka 1.0
Apr 03, 2019 Season 1 Episode 26
Confluent, original creators of Apache Kafka®
After several years of development, librdkafka has finally reached 1.0! It remains API compatible with older versions of the library, so you won’t need to make any changes to your application. There are, however, several important new features like the idempotent producer, sparse broker connections, support for the vaunted KIP-62 and a complete makeover for the C#/.NET client.
EPISODE LINKS
| {
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Action Dinosaur has been tweeting with the caps lock on for over a year now! For all backers at this level, Action Dinosaur will slide into those DMs (Dinosaur Messages) and tweet a special message directly @ you. You can request a topic for the message, though Action Dinosaur will honor or ignore those requests at his discretion. Nothing overtly offensive or inflammatory, please - if you're looking for that, might we suggest the rest of Twitter?
(Plus previous rewards)
Includes:
Action Dinosaur will tweet at you! (@akshundinosaur)
Action Dinosaur Wallpaper
Updates from the Action Dinosaur Team!
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Ebola virus disease, West Africa – update
Guinea
As of 18:00 on 20 April, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Guinea has reported a cumulative total of 208 clinical cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), including 136 deaths. To date, 169 patients have been tested for ebolavirus infection and 112 cases have been laboratory confirmed, including 69 deaths. In addition, 41 cases (34 deaths) meet the probable case definition for EVD and 55 cases (33 deaths) are classified as suspected cases. Twenty-five (25) health care workers (HCW) have been affected (18 confirmed), with 16 deaths (12 confirmed).
Clinical cases of EVD have been reported from Conakry (53 cases, including 23 deaths), Guekedou (122/87), Macenta (22/16), Kissidougou (6/5), Dabola (4/4) and Djingaraye (1/1). Laboratory confirmed cases and deaths have been reported from Conakry (37 cases, including 19 deaths), Guekedou (60/38), Macenta (13/10), Kissidougou (1/1) and Dabola (1/1). These updated figures include 3 new cases isolated on 20 April from Conakry and Guekedou, 2 of whom are laboratory confirmed. Five new deaths have also been reported among existing cases; all 5 of the deaths were patients with confirmed EVD. Twenty-one (21) patients were in isolation in Conakry (12), Guekedou (8) and Macenta (1), while 16 patients who recovered from their illness were discharged from hospital.
Contact tracing activities continue in all affected areas. A total of 217 contacts are currently under medical observation and 92 have completed their 21 days of follow-up.
The numbers of cases and contacts remain subject to change due to consolidation of cases, contact and laboratory data, enhanced surveillance and contact tracing activities and the continuing laboratory investigations. As the incubation period for EVD can be up to three weeks, it is likely that the Guinean health authorities will report new cases in the coming weeks and additional suspected cases may also be identified in neighbouring countries.
Liberia
From 13 March, the date of onset of the first laboratory confirmed case in Liberia, to 21 April, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Liberia has reported a total of 34 clinically compatible cases of EVD; 6 confirmed cases, including 6 deaths, 2 probable cases and 26 suspected cases. The date of onset of the most recent confirmed case was 6 April and the date of admission of the last confirmed case was 10 April. The confirmed and probable cases were reported from Lofa and Margibi Counties, while suspected cases have been reported from Bong, Grand Cape Mount, Montserrado and Nimba Counties as a result of enhanced surveillance and contact tracing activities.
The number of confirmed cases in HCWs has been adjusted down from 3 cases to two as data are reviewed against case definitions and laboratory results. The total number of deaths has also been revised from 13 to 11 as one of the deaths has been counted in the EVD statistics for Guinea and one death occurred in a discarded case. As laboratory tests have been conducted on 32 clinical samples overall only 6 of which have tested positive for ebolavirus to date, it is anticipated that most of the suspected cases currently reported by Liberia will be reclassified as discarded and removed from the case count in the future.
Following data review, the number of contacts now stands at 162 in total; Foya district, Lofa County, the epicentre of the EVD outbreak in Liberia accounts for 72% (116) of the total contacts followed by Margibi County (17%, 28 contacts). Fifty-nine contacts (36% of the total) have completed 21 days follow up and have been discharged from medical observation.
Sierra Leone
As of 22 April 2014, clinical samples from 19 clinically compatible cases of EVD have been tested at the Kenema Government Hospital. All 19 samples tested negative for ebolavirus. As part of enhanced surveillance activities, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone also decided to test for the presence of ebolavirus in samples from patients referred to the Lassa Fever Isolation Ward of the Kenema Hospital for the investigation of viral hemorrhagic fever-like illness who tested negative for Lassa fever virus infection. The additional 24 blood samples collected from 16 March 2014 onwards were analysed and all tested negative for ebolavirus.
WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Guinea or Liberia based on the current information available for this event. | {
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High-tech companies have turned Harbin, the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in China, into a center for research and development in automated machines.
It might seem more like science fiction than science fact, but a Chinese company has been developing a range of “robo chefs” for cafeterias and restaurants.
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The Haiying Robot Manufacturing Company turns out more than 1,000 automated “cooks” annually, which cost 100,000 yuan (US$15,748) each, at its factory in Harbin.
A weird-looking device, the robotic chefs have two high-tech arms that can each whip up 40 different Chinese dishes, including sweet and sour chicken, fried potatoes with green peppers, noodles and dumplings.
Liu Hasheng, who comes from Harbin and is the founder of the company, created the automated arms.
His plan as general manager is to export robo chefs to the United States, Germany, and Singapore.
“We plan to take the robotic components to the United States, and assemble the spare parts there,” Liu, 53, said. “Some of the robots are designed to cook Americanized Chinese food with sweetened flavors.”
Apart from the US, other potential markets are Germany and Singapore, according to Haiying Robot Manufacturing.
“The company is currently looking at an American operation, since Chinese food is extremely popular in the US,” Liu said. “Our robot chefs will help to standardize the flavors, and make those dishes perfect for American tastes.”
Liu is part of a growing breed of innovative entrepreneurs in the robotics industry that are setting up shop in Harbin. Indeed, the city has become a center for research and development in automated machines.
Last year, annual revenue from the robotic industry was 1.25 billion yuan. From 2008 to 2013, the industry witnessed a 20 per cent annual increase in revenue, data from the city government showed.
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With the help of the Harbin Institute of Technology and the city’s robot industrial park, the sector has grown considerably, and there are now 57 companies working in the business.
Last year, China overtook Japan to become the largest buyer of industrial robots after purchasing 57,000 automated machines, an increase of 55 per cent compared to 2013.
This accounted for a quarter of global sales, according to China Robot Industry Alliance, an industry body based in Beijing.
Under the “Made in China 2025” national plan, which is designed to turn the country into a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse, the automated machines industry has expanded quickly.
For innovators such as Liu, this has been great news after working in the sector for 28 years. Previously, he was involved in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.
But his life really changed in 2008 when he came up with the “robotic chef” idea. He even opened up his first restaurant with an automated cook in Harbin in 2012.
“Back then, one of my friends who owned a restaurant said it was difficult for him to hire qualified staff and keep them, due to high labor costs,” he recalled. “I started to consider if I could create a ‘robot cook’ that would be able to do simple, repetitive kitchen jobs.”
It was a moment of inspiration and it paid off. In the past three years, Haiying Robot Manufacturing has taken off with a steady stream of orders from restaurants across China.
“So far, I have sold robot chefs to more than 60 restaurants nationwide, including areas in western China, such as Gansu and Ningxia Hui autonomous region,” Liu said. “The labor-saving devices are designed to speak different dialects and cook local cuisines to cater for various regions.”
But Liu has not stopped there. His company plans to roll out “robo waiters”, which cost 40,000 yuan each. They usually have a “working life span” of about eight to 10 years. “They are built to last,” he said.
Next year, he plans to manufacture between 6,000 to 8,000 robots annually, worth more than 100 million yuan, although he has yet to disclose detailed financial figures for the company.
Other projects include turning out “family robot chefs” for consumers in the near future, as well as launching a central processing factory to produce processed food materials for supermarket chains. These products can then be popped into the oven by robot chef.
Still, Haiying Robot Manufacturing will have to stay on its toes as the competition is fierce.
Discoverer Robot Co Ltd is based in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, and was founded in 2012. It now sells a few hundred robotic chefs a year to college cafeterias, companies and the People’s Liberation Army.
“There is a huge market potential for robot chefs at home and abroad,” Ge Wenhua, chairman of Discoverer, said. “Many senior citizens are in a bad health and can’t cook, while the younger generation don’t know how to cook. They will all need robot chefs.”
Cost-saving is also a major incentive for cafeterias and companies looking to buy Discoverer’s automated chefs.
“A robot cook can help save operational costs of about 200,000 yuan annually, according to our research of college cafeterias,” Ge said. “And a robot can be more efficient and environmentally friendly,” he added.
They also never take a lunch break.
How robot cook works
– The robotic cook has highly precise movements.
– It can put together an entire dish, step-by-step.
– The automated arms can place food in fryers, add water and measure ingredients and condiments.
– It can interact with other electrical kitchen equipment, such as pancake turners and blenders.
– It can speak different dialects and cook local cuisines.
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dude, we're lonely. we need a girlfriend dude, we can't be tied down like this
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This post won't debate whether Trump or Obama are good or bad guys. It will simply ask a historical question ...
The Daily Mail claims:
Barack Obama is turning his new home in the posh Kalorama section of the nation’s capital – just two miles away from the White House – into the nerve center of the mounting insurgency against his successor, President Donald J. Trump.
Obama’s goal, according to a close family friend, is to oust Trump from the presidency either by forcing his resignation or through his impeachment.
And Obama is being aided in his political crusade by his longtime consigliere, Valerie Jarrett, who has moved into the 8,200-square-foot, $5.3-million Kaloroma mansion with the former president and Michelle Obama, long time best friends.
***
According to the family source, Obama was at first reluctant to assume the role of leader of the opposition.
‘No longer the most powerful man in the world, he was just observing Trump and not liking what he saw,’ said the source.
‘He was weary and burned out after eight years in office. But Valerie convinced him that he didn’t have any choice if he wanted to save his legacy. And, as usual, he bowed to Valerie’s political wisdom and advice.’
***
‘He had hoped to write his memoirs, golf to his heart’s content. and bask in the glory of his eight years in power and the progressive achievements he brought about. Instead, he is going to be leading the fight and strategy to topple Trump.’ says the insider. | {
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why is she wearing the element of laughter if they gave the elements to the tree of harmony?nice gif by the way | {
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Article content continued
Justifiable limits of free speech is something that any government should be looking into
Speaking on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting, Lametti declined to say whether he personally wants to see Section 13 revived, but pointed out the courts ultimately found it was constitutional, and said he’s taken note of suggestions on how the former law could be updated and improved.
“The justice committee has suggested (reviving it), a number of stakeholders have suggested it,” Lametti said. “What I will say is that I’ll take a look very carefully at what the committee had to say.”
Later, during question period, Maxime Bernier — the former Conservative leadership candidate who now leads the People’s Party of Canada — said the justice committee was proposing to “censor free speech on the Internet.”
“As (Bernier) well knows, free expression is something that we value in this country,” Lametti said in response. “He should also know … in the current context, with online platforms, that the limits of free speech, justifiable limits of free speech, is something that any government should be looking into — as the prime minister did when he was in Paris and looked at the Christchurch declaration.”
Lametti was referring to a meeting last month that had world leaders vow to take action against the spread of extremist content online. It was organized in response to a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 people.
I’ll take a look very carefully at what the committee had to say
The government has been considering for some time whether to bring back Section 13. The National Post reported in January 2018 that the justice department sent correspondence to a hate speech activist in B.C., telling him that reviving it was possible. | {
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"Write review for Grateful Dead Live at Oakland 7-24-87", so I'll skip Dylan (which was way better in person).The official release goes in and out of mono through the whole 1st set (a set that's all about the bookends). This one isn't as well known/regarded as the next show (or the next month) but still has big highlights. They hadn't played the stadium side of the complex since '76 with the Who!First Set.tuning - their best ever? Some people track this stuff!is an attacking version.is hot, too, but the rest is yr average '87 Dead until the last two, which are ace versions., though is very upbeat and burns a lot of energy considering they have to play 3 sets and two different encores.Second Set. Starts with an averagebutis notable. It's hot and it's a stand-alone and the 1st of 4 '87 Scarlets sans Fire.starts uptempo - and it takes a minute for some to catch up, but the jam section benefits. The whole rest of the set is above average - fired by their hero Dylan. Except there's a stumble finding the key onand a lyric flub on a shaky(w/Dylan on guitar), but they were so animated this set that Jer moonwalked (I'm remembering this correctly, right? Ah fuck it - you kids don't even know what that is).: B: B-Overall = 3¾ stars (Dead show + Dead encore)Highlights:Jack Straw - one of best of '87Cassidy - tightDeal - big dealScarlet Begonias - clean and strongSOURCES: Pretty much have to getfor the two Dead sets; and you want the schoeps.painoman.17353 for the encore (Touch of Grey). The DVD version is missing FotD, MaMU, Big River.Thanx for review, koch
favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite
Shit, even the Funiculi Funicula tuning is great, being video recorded for posterity. Another tuning, Tico Tico, follows before they tear into Jack Straw. Jerry bungles the lyrics at the start, but everything else is solid, with a gainy Jerry taking charge instrumentally and crushes the jam. On a dime trans into Half-Step keeps things flowing down the rio. Esau skates into the setlist to my delight, nearing the end of his career selling real estate this one is funky as they get. Jerry then turns in a stellar solo during Friend of the Devil, which inspires Bob to hit the cowboy medley. Uncle is at a sprint and Big River flows with great teamwork, Brent throws in a smashing solo, and Jerry throws down the gauntlet at the end, energy is through the roof! Jerry doesn't let the momentum stop, pulling a great Push Comes to Shove out. Recognizing the prowess of Jerry's crunchy tone, Brent throws Far From Me into the mix. A soaring solo makes Cassidy fly, again the team is on it, Phil is especially heavy here, and X factor is achieved during the extended jam. Never egotistical, but not to be outdone, an immediate transition into a rocking Deal finishes off the set.
Hell knows no fury like the Bucket to open the 2nd, energy through the roof, punctuated by Phil bombs and serious Jerome solos. Scarlet is played with no quarter, it simply doesn't have time to consider mercy at this tempo! The transition jam starts taking unusual turns, all while within theme, then they stop... to immediately transition to Playing in the Band! Speaking of finding the light in the strangest of places, the tempo drives like the autobahn! The jam slows things down, as we head for poignant Jerry. The ensuing jam reminds me of Terrapin 93, at a faster pace, and before the haters hate, that was a great year for Terrapin. Scales abound, then 6 minutes in, things slowing down, delay guitar steps in to add a dose of psychedelia to the otherwise rocking show. Brent's playing becomes pleasantly anxious to accent the madness.
Uncle John emerges out of a space I thought surely was headed to the Wheel, and the energy hasn't dipped. Mr. Fantasy abruptly ends the UJB, with a zealous Brent singing, the band is all over it with Jerry nailing his solos and Bob playing tough behind him. Bobby keeps it rocking with a fantastic Miracle, once again featuring crunched Jer. Jerry then opts for Bertha, indicating more rockin' and no ballad in a show where FOTD is the slow option back in the 1st set. No need for the ballad, as Dylan's set waits in the wings. Jerry makes his audible count with serious solos in this A+ Bertha, before Bobby calls out old reliable Sugar Mags to close the set before Dylan gets his shot on the mic.
Third set is Dylan's, Times They Are A-Changin' his first offering, sets the mood nicely. While in predictably ridiculous voice his acoustic guitar is nice, and Jerry has some nice leads on unfamiliar turf. Maggie's Farm makes the set, and no wonder they kept this simple rocker. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight slows things down in country style, then the juices get flowing in I Want You. Most of the Dylan & The Dead tour left something to be desired, I believe this show is the exception. Highway 61 drives nicely, great bass rhythm by Lesh. Baby Blue is a bit sloppy as the boys liked jamming it out more, but Dylan cuts off Jerry. A true musician, Jerry figures out how to operate within tighter confines. Memphis Blues, always a winner to me, stuck after this tour. This version is a little sloppy, but fun on its 5th live rendition. With Dylan singing the guitarists both got space to see what they could do instrumentally, though again Dylan goes back to the verses prematurely, this version a few minutes shorter than the typical GD version. Thin Man, unfortunately, would not stick in the repertoire, despite being awesome. This is the most psychedelic thus far, with Jerry nailing a delay solo and Brent providing an eerie undertone. Shelter from the Storm is fun, and then a foreboding Slow Train chugs eerily through. The set is "Knockin'", another keeper, which ends the set in its simplistic, sun-setting beauty.
Double encore for the TKO, Touch is fun, but Watchtower brings sizzling solos and adds another keeper to their rotation. SQ issues mar the Tower a bit, but it's amazing.
Performance Summary
Wow! For a band rightfully accused of blowing the big ones, they didn't blow this show recorded for posterity in video. Energy levels are through the roof, with little exception. The pre-drums is through the roof, and while the post-space does its best to keep up it is outclassed. Dylan's set caps off the long evening, and though his voice leaves something to be desired, the backing band is fantastic.
Sound Quality
The 2 Dead sets are from the video official release, heavy SBD with a touch of AUD, a mix I more prefer than the 60/40 that seems to be the order of the day. 70/30 seems better...
The Dylan set has B+ quality sound. I may be a bit harsh having been spoiled by the perfect mix of the first two sets.
- February 15, 2014Best of Tour (Review via View from the Vault) | {
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The Government’s asking the RBI for money, and saying it has too much capital. The conversations around this are of this sort:
Oh man the government is undermining the RBI independence by taking away its money
The government will steal all the reserves from RBI.
This is a <insert political party> ploy to reduce the fiscal deficit
But let’s look really at what it all really is. In a simplified format.
What’s the funda?
The Government wants a piece of what RBI has been squirelling away for years out of its profits. We’ll examine why.
RBI makes a profit. It invents money. Mostly out of thin air, but given it’s in Mumbai, the air is more likely to be thick.
Haha. But really, how does it make money?
It makes money when banks take rupees from it through the “repo” window, for an overnight transaction. So, technically it prints money and earns interest on it, and then takes that money back in. This is called Seigniorage but if we’re changing city names can we please do something about such terms also. It might lose money as well, if banks don’t borrow from it and instead, park money with it and ask for reverse-repo interest.
Every rupee printed is a liability for the RBI – even in rupee notes, you’ll see the “We promise to pay the bearer the sum of…” – it’s a note saying the RBI owes you money. An asset for you, a liability for the RBI.
Wait. If the printed rupee is a liability, where are the assets?
Now the asset side contains, partly, government bonds – they pay interest. That interest is a profit for the RBI. (FY 18 – they had about 6.9 lakh crores worth of government bonds, and made about Rs. 48,000 cr. as interest from that alone)
Also on the asset side is the massive set of forex reserves. There’s also interest from “foreign” sources – they own US treasury bills/bonds as their forex holdings. Even if that pays 1%, they have $400 billion, so they’ll made around $4 billion a year. Last year they made about Rs. 23,000 cr. from that too.
This adds up to a lot of money – in FY18, they made Rs. 78,000 cr. in income.
How much of that is profit?
The RBI doesn’t really need to spend money. It does pay salaries of about 3800 cr. and spends on printing of notes (about 5000 cr.), and then pays some commissions. If you add all of that up, it’s not too much in comparison.
In FY18, RBI spent about Rs. 14,000 cr. in the year.
And then they added some “provisions” of 14,000 cr. more. So they spend 28,000 cr. including provisions. And then said the profit after that was 50,000 cr. and paid it out to the government.
Why’s the Government Cribbing? It got its 50,000 cr. no?
Because it’s not apparent why the RBI should be putting so much in “provisions”. But first, let’s take a look at the RBI Balance Sheet:
As you can see, the forex assets, gold and rupee government bonds are on the asset site of the balance sheet, which is about Rs. 36 trillion or Rs. 36 lakh crores.
The liability side consists of
all the rupees ever printed (about 19 lakh crores)
bank deposits as banks are required to keep CRR with RBI (Rs. 6.5 lakh crores)
and then a set of “provisions” (Rs. 10 lakh crores)
It’s the provisions that are the niggling problem.
Why? What’s in the provisions?
See this.
Basically the provisions are for:
a) Shit happens to the US Dollar which we hold in massive quantities and the rupee appreciates so we have this Currency and Gold Revaluation Account.
b) Shit happens to Gold in terms of its falling in price so much that we need a reserve, so look at a) above.
c) Interest rates in India go up big time and rupee bonds have losses – so the IRA-RS account applies.
d) India owns some US Bonds which can lose money if marked to market. Those losses should be in the IRA-FS account but are actually put inside of the Contingency fund. (Weird accounting)
Oh So It’s Just A Provision Against Losses? Why Is That A Problem Then?
Abeyaar.
Just saying it’s a provision against potential losses doesn’t mean you can keep putting money in that thing forever and make it balloon to a ridiculous size.
I can tell you that you need to have something for a rainy day. That doesn’t mean you buy an umbrella factory.
This is like an RBI Umbrella Factory?
Think about it. Why do you need 10 lakh crores set aside for provisions? That’s just ridiculously high.
Look at the Contingency fund. It has 232,000 crore rupees.
This gets hit when there are losses on the foreign bonds we hold, for example. But how much is that? In the last year, as the US raised rates, the loss was a miniscule 17,000 crore rupees. Even if we tripled that, the loss would be 50,000 cr. at most.
This also gets hit in some cases when rupee interest rates rise, hurting rupee bond prices that the RBI holds. This is perhaps a larger amount, say Rs. 75,000 cr. required as a provision. At best, these two add up to about Rs. 130,000 cr. as provisions.
Then why do we have a massive Rs. 232,000 cr. in it?
We actually added Rs. 14,000 cr. to this fund this year. Why?
Sounds large. But There’s Also Nearly 700,000 cr. in some Currency Revaluation Account too?
Yeah. That’s because if the RBI buys a dollar at Rs. 70 it records the dollar as Rs. 70 on the asset side, and Rs. 70 is the “rupees issued” part of things.
But if the Rupee goes back to Rs. 65 to a USD, what happens? On the Asset side, the dollar is worth Rs. 65.
On the liability side, we have Rs. 70 issued (RBI can’t just take it back because the dollar fell against the rupee) so instead have, on the liability side:
Rs. 70 issued
MINUS Rs. 5 as part of “provisions” in the Currency Revaluation Account (CRA) .
. Adding up to Rs. 65, equals the dollar on the asset side.
If the Rupee goes to Rs. 75 to a USD, the CRA is increased.
The increase of CRA – because the dollar has gone this far – has been so much that the CRA has nearly Rs. 700,000 crore in it.
Do we really need that much? We have about $400 billion in reserves. The reserve would make sense if the rupee rose 25% in a very short time, which is reasonably unlikely. (It’s fallen that much – hasn’t been allowed to rise anywhere close)
We could easily do with much lesser. Even taking 10% off, that would be excess provisions of Rs. 70,000 cr. on this account.
What else?
There’s an asset development fund of Rs. 22,000 cr. It’s not apparent what the RBI might want to build, but holding 22,000 cr. as a provision against that sounds a little excessive.
Wait, So How Much Excess Does The RBI Have?
Depends on who you ask.
Wha…?
Because if you ask RBI, they get all antsy and say there is no excess.
If you ask the government, they start cribbing about how RBI is getting antsy.
If you ask me, I’d say around Rs. 300,000 cr. seems to be excessive – from various provisions.
So Can The RBI Give It Back?
Of course. But it can’t just give it back by printing rupees. That would be silly. Because printing rupees means you increase your liabilities. We want to REDUCE them.
So what you do is:
On the liability side, you reduce the provisions by a certain amount
On the asset side, you cancel out some government bonds. What the government owes the RBI (as interest and principal) goes away into thin air.
This gives the government the ability to issue more bonds (since it just saved a truckload on interest costs) and thus use that additional money to do different things.
There’s a simpler way of course. Just take money out of reserves (a liability account) and put it into the government account (the government has an account with the RBI which is the asset of the government but a liability of the RBI)
But its unlikely to happen in a year. At best, there would be a Rs. 30,000 cr. to Rs. 50,000 cr. extra payout every year for a few years. That’s also decent enough.
Note: The RBI decided to give back Rs. 176,000 cr. in 2019 itself.
You’re Saying This is Good?
It is good.
Because the government is the real contingency owner here. When banks are in trouble the government has to bail them out, not the RBI.
Why should the RBI hold all those reserves then? It’s excessive, and almost irrational to do so. This money is better off with the government, even though many people think no money is ever better off with the government.
You could compare this with other countries too – but even the US Fed has $66 billion of losses in its holding of US government bonds, which would completely wipe out its capital (of $39 billion). But it chooses to not mark to market. There are countries that limit the size of the central bank balance sheet. Many say that if the net worth turns negative, the central government should recapitalize the central bank immediately.
These are definitely options, but it’s best if we limit the “contingency” and “Revaluation” reserves to a much lower number than the current 28% of balance sheet. All tax payers must demand this – if institutions like RBI hoard excess capital, that means the government will keep increasing our taxes for revenue.
So We Can Expect A Cut In Taxes If RBI Pays?
That’s a whole different ball game. Let’s just put it this way: the pecking order is:
Priority 1: PSU banks that need recap
Priority 1: Farmer loans that must be forgiven
Priority 2: Air India and other loss making PSU thingies.
…
Priority 647: Cutting taxes.
So yeah, you could expect it if you want.
Abeyaar. | {
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# 1 Sexiest Artist - Male
Voting ended Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6PM ET. Find out which fella was named the Sexiest Male Artist of 2013!
Every day is full of tedious, boring decisions—what to wear, what to eat for lunch, which movie in your Netflix queue should you fall asleep halfway through (again)?
But not today. Today, you get to make a very important decision: Who is the sexiest male and female in music?
First up: the dudes. Whether you skew toward the Harry Styles/Justin Bieber end of the spectrum or you prefer the more mature Jay Z/Adam Levine brand of hotness, we need your vote!
Take a look through Fuse's 15 Sexiest Male Musicians photo gallery and VOTE BELOW for your fave. Then, click over to the next slide to cast your vote for sexiest female musician. (Psst! Don't forget that many of these sexy singers are also battling for top honors in Fuse's Top 40 of 2013—so vote away!)
And don't forget to check out Fuse's Top 100 Sexiest Videos countdown, hosted by some VERY sexy ladies.
Voting ends Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6PM ET, so get those final votes in ASAP! We'll announce the winner on Thursday, Nov. 14 right here on fuse.tv. | {
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Disabilities caused in babies by epilepsy drug a 'scandal' By Zack Adesina
BBC Inside Out, London Published duration 22 January 2018
media caption Bridget Buck was born with severe brain damage and spina bifida
An MP has said the harm caused to children after their mothers were given the epilepsy drug sodium valproate is an "extraordinary scandal".
It is thought about 20,000 children in the UK have been left with disabilities caused by valproate since the 1970s.
Sodium valproate, also known as Epilim, can be prescribed by doctors as a treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder.
It carries a risk of causing physical abnormalities, autism, low IQ and learning disabilities if babies are exposed to the drug while in the womb.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the drug is "kept under constant review", while the Department of Health said it expects the MHRA to take further action if a review finds more can be done to highlight the risks associated with it.
media caption My kids 'struggle' because of epilepsy drug
Sue Jenkinson, from Liverpool, took the drug while she was pregnant and both of her two daughters developed foetal valproate syndrome.
They have since had their own children and they believe they are showing signs of the condition, despite neither taking valproate during their own pregnancies.
"It's because I took that medication, that's why my kids haven't got a normal life and they struggle every single day of their lives," Ms Jenkinson said.
Her grandson Ryan has medical problems including dyspraxia, learning difficulties and a bowel condition, and is being monitored by Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology Gus Baker.
Prof Baker said he is currently identifying Ryan's "strengths and weaknesses" and "trying to map them on to what we understand about sodium valproate and how it affects children".
"I'll probably be in a good position to provide a formulation of what I think has happened to him and what we might be able to do to ameliorate those difficulties that he is clearly having," he said.
image caption Sue Jenkinson believes foetal valproate syndrome has been passed through three generations of her family
Mr Lamb, a former minister for care and support, is part of a campaign calling for the government to back compensation claims.
"We are in a good dialogue. The minister, Lord O'Shaughnessy, appears to be completely conscious of the need to stop this scandal continuing," he said.
In France, a charity-led campaign is being supported by the government and Mr Lamb has called for something similar "to happen here without delay".
The drug's maker Sanofi said valproate had been "made available to physicians to treat epileptic patients in the 1970s".
"It was and still is one of the most effective treatments for epilepsy, a serious and complex disease that can be potentially fatal to patients," it added.
The firm said it was "aware of the challenging situations faced by families with children with conditions that may be related to their mother's treatment with antiepileptic drugs".
However, they said the drug "has at all times been supplied in the UK with a warning of the risk of malformations in babies".
image caption This warning has been on the outside of valproate pill packets since 2016 in Britain
Research from Konkuk University in South Korea involving mice has also suggested disabilities caused by valproate could afflict successive generations within families.
Professor of Pharmacology Chan Young Shin said he found evidence "the compound could cause autism spectrum disorder trans-generationally".
The MHRA has said the study had "many limitations", but some families believe this has happened to them.
Mr Lamb said the research into whether the syndrome can pass between generations showed the consequences of taking valproate during pregnancy must be "extraordinarily distressing for the families affected".
image caption Karen Buck has been told her daughter Bridget only has months to live
Any potential help for affected families will probably be too late for Bridget Buck.
The 19-year-old, from Stanmore in north-west London, was born with severe medical problems including brain damage and spina bifida after her mother was prescribed sodium valproate.
"I do all Bridget's overall care. I think for Bridget, I talk for Bridget, I walk for Bridget. I live for Bridget," her mother Karen said.
Yet she has been told the speed her daughter is deteriorating means she will probably only have months to live.
"Mothers shouldn't have to bury their daughter, no mother should do that," she said.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Patient safety is always our priority. We want to make sure doctors give women the right information when prescribing these drugs — that's why the medicines regulator is already reviewing how effective measures to highlight these risks have been.
"We expect them to take further action if they find that more can be done."
An NHS Resolution spokesperson said: "Where claims for clinical negligence are made they will be handled in the normal way and compensation paid where appropriate." | {
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Há apenas quinze dias, pela primeira vez em duas décadas, os Estados Unidos fizeram um anúncio preocupante: houve uma queda na expectativa de vida de seus cidadãos. Entre as mulheres, a idade média caiu de 81,3 anos, em 2014, para 81,2 anos, em 2015. Entre os homens, de 76,5 anos para 76,3 anos. É pouco, apenas uma questão de meses, mas a reversão da tendência de crescimento da expectativa de vida é um tremendo sinal vermelho. Um dos motivos para a queda, que ainda pede novas rodadas de investigação, está nos pratos que vão à mesa e, sobretudo, no que há entre duas fatias de pão de hambúrguer e gergelim. Some-se à constatação dos anos subtraídos a epidemia de obesidade infantil que assola os Estados Unidos, e eis então um quadro delicado.
O excesso de peso acomete cerca de 30% das crianças americanas — taxa equivalente à do Brasil. Diz David Ludwig, diretor do programa de obesidade no Children’s Hospital Boston: “A obesidade entre crianças e adolescentes é tão evidente que esta geração poderá ser a primeira na história americana a ter vida mais curta que a de seus pais”. Estudos recentemente divulgados não deixam espaço para dúvida: a culpa é dos pais. A forma como eles se comportam à mesa e como educam seus filhos em relação à alimentação é o atalho mais curto para um dos males de nosso tempo.
Para ler a reportagem na íntegra, compre a edição desta semana de VEJA no iOS, Android ou nas bancas. E aproveite: todas as edições de VEJA Digital por 1 mês grátis no Go Read. | {
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Iz Autotransa te tvrde kako način komunikacije i ponašanje njihovih djelatnika prema putnici nije prihvatljivo
Zadranka Stanka Vitlov bila je toliko razočarana ponašanjem vozača Autotransa da je odlučila svoju priču podijeliti s novinarima Novog lista. “Dana 17. veljače u 10 i 30 sati trebala sam putovati iz Zagreba u Zadar busom Autotransa, registracijskih oznaka RI 783-TV. Dan prije sam na kolodvoru rezervirala sjedalo (6 kn ) i dobila broj 3. Oko 10,15 sati ušla sam u bus, potražila sjedalo broj 3, odmah iza suvozača, i stavila torbicu i jaknu na to sjedalo, odmah iza suvozača.
Istog trenutka me vozač grubim tonom upozorio da se maknem od tamo i da odem iza u kabinu. Nisam imala ništa protiv, mjesta je bilo, ali sam upitala zašto. Odgovor vozača ulazi u anale Autotrans pristojnosti: ‘Zato jer ja mogu prdnuti, pa to vama može smrditi, a možete prisluškivati moje privatne razgovore’.
Sadržaj se nastavlja...
Zapanjena, pokupila sam stvari, maknula se tri reda niže a dok sam ustajala u mom neposrednom prisustvu vozač je rekao suvozaču: ‘to su one babe koje nisu dobile jednu stvar, pa se sad iživljavaju. Ali, ja sam sad iznerviran, ne mogu i neću voziti, vozit ću vam osmice po cesti i sad izvlačim karticu. Ni ja, niti moj suvozač vas neće voziti’. Na to je stvarno izvukao karticu iz volana i napustio bus.
Dok sam razmišljala hoće li me možda i na silu izbaciti (mladi momak, a ja imam 65 godina) te da li da zovem policiju, on se vratio i krenuo. Suvozač je pri sakupljanju karata dao i neke reklamne letke, a na moje pitanje ima li na njima kontakt telefon firme odgovorio da ima tu njegova veličina cipela i još jedne druge stvari.
Nemajući povjerenja u ovu i ovakvu firmu za suvisao odgovor i traženu ispriku i sankcije, ovo upućujem na sve medije i Ministarstvo prometa i tražim da se ovakvog prijevoznika i osoblje makne s ceste”, napisala je putnica.
Kako piše Novi list, oglasili su se i iz Autotransa te tvrde kako način komunikacije i ponašanje njihovih djelatnika nije prihvatljivo. “Budući da nam je gospođa priložila dokumentaciju, znamo identitet obojice vozača i oni će biti sankcionirani, i to sasvim sigurno adekvatno. Zbog nas i naše tvrtke, ali prvenstveno zbog naših putnika kojima uvijek izlazimo u susret i razmatramo sve njihove reklamacije”, poručili su iz Autotransa. | {
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Rika Dhar watched as her husband, two brothers and countless neighbours were hacked to death with machetes by masked men who stormed their Hindu village in western Myanmar and frogmarched the terrified inhabitants to the hills.
"After the killing, they dug three large pits and threw them inside. Their hands were still tied behind them and their eyes blindfolded," said 25-year-old Dhar in a Hindu camp inside Bangladesh where she fled with her two children.
Eyewitnesses said the bloodshed occurred outside their small Hindu village in Kha Maung Seik in northern Rakhine state, where Myanmar authorities have exhumed 45 corpses from mass graves since Sunday.
The army says the grim discoveries are evidence of a massacre by Muslim Rohingya militants on 25 August, the same day the insurgents launched coordinated raids on police posts that unleashed a surge of communal bloodshed.
The military's sweeping reprisal has left hundreds dead and sent nearly half a million Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh, where they have described a campaign of army-led violence the United Nations says amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar's army has rebuffed the accusation and defended its operation as a proportionate crackdown on the Rohingya "extremist terrorists", while highlighting the plight of other groups, such as Buddhists and Hindus, swept up in the unrest.
On Wednesday, the army lifted its tight net over the conflict zone to fly reporters to the area in northern Rakhine where the mass graves of Hindus, including many women and children, were exhumed earlier this week.
It is the first time the military has organised a press trip to the area, where media restrictions have made it difficult to verify a whirlwind of accusations over who is driving the violence.
Displaced Hindus in Bangladesh and Myanmar, unable to contact their families, fear the worst as search efforts continued Wednesday for around 50 other villagers.
Witnesses from Kha Maung Seik, known locally as Fwaira Bazar, said black-clad attackers stormed their community on the morning of 25 August, beating and binding the men before driving everyone into the forest.
"After they took us to the hills, they butchered everyone. I saw it with my own eyes," said Promila Sheel, 15, at a small Hindu village in Cox's Bazar near the sprawling Rohingya camps.
She said more than 100 people were killed - including her husband and three other family members. The corpses were unceremoniously dumped in freshly-dug pits, Sheel added.
The latest convulsion of violence has deepened already bitter hatreds between various ethnic groups in Rakhine, where tensions have simmered for years.
The women who survived the massacre did not identify the masked attackers as Muslim militants but said they were targeted because they were Hindus. Rohingya sympathetic to the militant cause reject allegations their fighters were responsible for massacring civilians.
In a tent near Kutupalong refugee camp, an alleged Rohingya militant flanked by supporters accused Buddhist mobs of carrying out the attacks and pinning the blame on the fledgeling Muslim movement.
"They are just trying to tarnish our image," said the man, requesting anonymity to protect his identity from Bangladesh authorities.
"We never give the moghs (ethnic Rakhine Buddhists) or the non-Muslims a hard time without any valid reason. They are lying to make us look like the bad guys."
But that brings little solace to Modhuram Pal, a Hindu who has not heard from anyone in Kha Maung Seik since escaping with his family to Bangladesh weeks ago.
"I don't know the whereabouts of my relatives and friends in Fwaira Bazar," the 35-year-old told AFP, using the Rohingya name for the village area.
"I heard about the bodies found in the village. God forbid, maybe some of my relatives are in there too." (PTI) | {
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El delantero del Barcelona agregó que "me voy sin poder ganar nada. Me tocó perder otra vez en los penales, en un partido muy igualado, pero qué sé yo. ya tomé la decisión. Ya está, ya lo intenté mucho, me duele más que a ninguno no ser campeón con Argentina".
"Es una lástima, pero es así. no se da. lo buscamos y ya está. Es difícil, es un momento muy duro para analizar. son cuatro finales. Lamentablemente la busqué, era lo que más deseaba, no se me dio pero ya estaba. Es una tristeza grande lo que nos volvió a pasar y más encima me toca errar el penal a mí y era importante para agarrar diferencias", continuó el astro. | {
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In archived NASA data, researchers have discovered "super spiral" galaxies that dwarf our own spiral galaxy, the Milky Way, and compete in size and brightness with the largest galaxies in the universe. The unprecedented galaxies have long hidden in plain sight by mimicking the appearance of typical spirals. Three examples of super spirals are presented here in images taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Credit: SDSS
A strange new kind of galactic beast has been spotted in the cosmic wilderness. Dubbed "super spirals," these unprecedented galaxies dwarf our own spiral galaxy, the Milky Way, and compete in size and brightness with the largest galaxies in the universe.
Super spirals have long hidden in plain sight by mimicking the appearance of typical spiral galaxies. A new study using archived NASA data reveals these seemingly nearby objects are in fact distant, behemoth versions of everyday spirals. Rare, super spiral galaxies present researchers with the major mystery of how such giants could have arisen.
"We have found a previously unrecognized class of spiral galaxies that are as luminous and massive as the biggest, brightest galaxies we know of," said Patrick Ogle, an astrophysicist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and lead author of a new paper on the findings published in the Astrophysical Journal. "It's as if we have just discovered a new land animal stomping around that is the size of an elephant but had shockingly gone unnoticed by zoologists."
Ogle and colleagues chanced upon super spirals as they searched for extremely luminous, massive galaxies in the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), an online repository containing information on over 100 million galaxies. NED brings together a wealth of data from many different projects, including ultraviolet light observations from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, visible light from Sloan Digital Sky Survey, infrared light from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey, and links to data from other missions such as Spitzer and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.
2MASX J08542169+0449308 contains two galactic nuclei, instead of just the usual one, and thus looks like two eggs frying in a pan. Credit: SDSS
"Remarkably, the finding of super spiral galaxies came out of purely analyzing the contents of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database, thus reaping the benefits of the careful, systematic merging of data from many sources on the same galaxies," said George Helou, a study co-author and the executive director of IPAC. "NED is surely holding many more such nuggets of information, and it is up to us scientists to ask the right questions to bring them out."
Ogle, Helou and their colleagues expected that humongous, mature galaxies called ellipticals—so named for their football-like shapes—would dominate their search within NED for the most luminous galaxies. But a tremendous surprise lay in store for the scientists.
In a sample of approximately 800,000 galaxies no more than 3.5 billion light-years from Earth, 53 of the brightest galaxies intriguingly had a spiral, rather than elliptical, shape. The researchers double-checked the distances to the spiral galaxies and saw that none were nearby—even the closest lay some 1.2 billion light-years away. With the correct distance estimates in hand, the stunning properties of this newfound batch of whirlpool-shaped galaxies came to light.
A super spiral designated 2MASX J16014061+2718161 also contains the double nuclei. Credit: SDSS
Super spirals can shine with anywhere from eight to 14 times the brightness of the Milky Way. They possess as much as 10 times our galaxy's mass. Their gleaming, starry disks stretch from twice to even four times the width of the Milky Way galaxy's approximately 100,000 light-year-wide disk, with the largest super spiral spanning a whopping 440,000 light-years. Super spirals also give off copious ultraviolet and mid-infrared light, signifying a breakneck pace of churning out new stars. Their star formation rate is as high as 30 times that of our own run-of-the-mill galaxy.
According to established astrophysical theory, spiral galaxies should not be able to attain any of these feats because their size and star-making potential are limited. As spiral galaxies grow by gravitationally attracting fresh, cool gas from intergalactic space, their masses reach a tipping point in which any newly captured gas rushes in too rapidly. This headlong gas heats up and prevents subsequent star formation in a process known as "quenching." Bucking this conventional wisdom, though, super spirals remain unquenched.
A vital hint about the potential origin of super spirals is that four out of the 53 seen by Ogle and colleagues clearly contain two galactic nuclei, instead of just one as usual. Double nuclei, which look like two egg yolks frying in a pan, are a telltale sign of two galaxies having just merged together. Conventionally, mergers of spiral galaxies are destined to become bloated, elliptical galaxies. Yet Ogle and colleagues speculate that a special merger involving two, gas-rich spiral galaxies could see their pooled gases settle down into a new, larger stellar disk—presto, a super spiral.
"Super spirals could fundamentally change our understanding of the formation and evolution of the most massive galaxies," said Ogle. "We have much to learn from these newly identified, galactic leviathans."
A huge galaxy with the moniker SDSS J094700.08+254045.7 stands as one of the biggest and brightest super spirals. The mega-galaxy's starry disk and spiral arms stretch about 320,000 light years across, or more than three times the breadth of the Milky Way. Credit: SDSS
Explore further Hubble finds misbehaving spiral | {
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Lucien Favre ist Vergangenheit bei Borussia Mönchengladbach. Am Sonntagabend erklärte er seinen Rücktritt, eigenmächtig ging er an die Presse. Am Montag erklärte Sportdirektor Max Eberl auf einer eigens einberufenen Pressekonferenz, dass U-23-Trainer Andre Schubert übernimmt - und dass Eberl über Favres Entscheidung "sautraurig" sei. Einen Plan B hatte Eberl für den Fall eines Favre-Rücktritts nicht parat, wie er einräumte.
Das Wichtigste aus der Gladbacher Pressekonferenz zusammengefasst
- Andre Schubert, der bisherige U-23-Coach, übernimmt interimsmäßig für Lucien Favre
- Favre hatte das Gefühl, "keine Lösungen mehr zu finden"
- Sportdirektor Max Eberl kennt Favres genauen Beweggrund nicht
- Eberl hatte "keinen Plan B" - trotz mehrerer Rücktrittsgesuche Favres in der Vergangenheit
+++ Ratgeber Heynckes +++ Wäre Jupp Heynckes einer für die Borussia? "Ich würde immer einen Rat von Jupp Heynckes annehmen", sagt Eberl nur.
+++ Van Lent übernimmt U 23 +++ Arie van Lent wird übrigens die U 23 von Andre Schubert vorübergehend übernehmen. "So werden wir die nächsten Wochen agieren", sagt Eberl.
+++ Der perfekte Trainer ist weg +++ "Ich bin Sportdirektor eines Klubs, der einen Trainer gefunden hat, der perfekt zu dem Klub passt. Und der Klub hat perfekt zum Trainer gepasst", erklärt Eberl. Einen Plan B habe er deshalb nicht gehabt. Es zeigt: Eberl hatte überhaupt nicht mit dem Rücktritt gerechnet.
+++ Favre, der Unbefleckte +++ In die Relegation 2011 sei Favre "unbefleckt" gegangen. "Jetzt war es zum ersten Mal so, dass wir gemeinsam wo reingerutscht sind", so Eberl. Und da hätte man eigentlich gern zusammen wieder rauskommen wollen.
Wenn wir den Kader komplett gehabt hätten, würden wir heute nicht hier sitzen. Da bin ich mir 100 Prozent sicher. Max Eberl über die Verletzungssorgen der letzten Wochen
+++ Eberl: "Ich bin sautraurig" +++ "Was tatsächlich der auslösende Grund war, vermag ich nicht zu sagen", sagt Eberl noch einmal. "Erwartungshaltung, schlechter Start - all das wird eine Rolle gespielt haben. Manches mehr, manches weniger." Er sei "sautraurig", sagt Eberl. "Ich bin sehr traurig, wie es zu Ende gegangen ist. Punkt. Alles andere möchte ich nicht bewerten."
+++ Transfers nicht das Problem +++ "An den Transfers wird's nicht liegen", stellt Eberl klar. Vielmehr sei die Problematik, dass Favre den Kader nicht komplett zur Verfügung gehabt habe. "Wenn wir den Kader komplett gehabt hätten, würden wir heute nicht hier sitzen. Da bin ich mir 100 Prozent sicher."
+++ Favre nicht ausgebrannt +++ War Favre ausgebrannt, müde, ideenlos? "Wenn er so gewirkt hätte, hätte ich sicher nicht so vehement mit ihm gesprochen. Aus der Erfahrung der letzten viereinhalb Jahre waren wir überzeugt, dass, wenn er sich wieder überzeugen lässt, wieder 100 Prozent mit der Mannschaft arbeiten wird", sagt Eberl.
+++ Fohlen behalten Philosophie bei +++ Borussia Mönchengladbach hat eine Philosophie und wird diese beibehalten", betont Eberl. "Wir haben eine fantastische Entwicklung genommen, die wird sich nicht ändern. Wir werden weiter mit Spielern arbeiten, die wir entwickeln können. Das ändert sich nicht dadurch, dass uns Lucien verlassen hat."
+++ "Die Mannschaft ist intakt" +++ Eberl über die Verfassung der Mannschaft: "Ich habe das Gefühl, dass die Mannschaft dran glaubt, sonst hätte sie in Köln nicht gespielt, wie sie gespielt hat. Die Mannschaft hat Lucien zugehört. Die Mannschaft ist intakt, sie ist sauber."
+++ Schubert hat "Bock drauf" +++ Andre Schubert habe sich "sofort bereit erklärt, das zu machen", so Eberl. "Er wird eine neue Ansprache haben, du hast dementsprechend neue Reize in der Truppe. Nach den ersten Stunden habe ich ein sehr gutes Gefühl. Er hat Bock drauf."
Es wird eine juristische Klärung geben. Max Eberl über die arbeitsrechtlichen Folgen von Favres Rücktritt
+++ Eberl zum Zeitpunkt des Rücktritts +++ Eberl: "Ich bin sehr traurig, dass der unfassbar tolle Weg so zu Ende gegangen ist. Lucien Favre ist ein Mensch, vor dem ich allergrößten Respekt habe - der jetzt eine Entscheidung konsequent durchgezogen hat." Der Zeitpunkt sei nie passend. "Es ist jetzt so, wie es ist", sagt Eberl. "Dass es uns das nicht leichter gemacht hat, kann jeder nachvollziehen."
+++ Die Juristen müssen ran +++ Wie sieht die Situation arbeitsrechtlich aus? "Da wird es eine juristische Klärung geben", sagt Eberl. "Da sind die Juristen dran, die es gerade prüfen."
+++ Kein Angebot an Klopp +++ Eberl: "Gute Trainer, viele Trainer stehen unter Vertrag. Wir werden in keine Hektik, keine Sorglosigkeit verfallen. Ich möchte mir jetzt kein Zeitfenster geben." Und noch etwas: "Ich habe kein Angebot für Jürgen Klopp abgegeben", lächelt Eberl. "Wir werden natürlich mit vielen Namen konfrontiert."
+++ Andre Schubert übernimmt vorerst +++ "Jeder, der uns verfolgt hat, weiß, dass die Fußstapfen, die Lucien Favre hinterlassen hat, groß sind", sagt Eberl und verkündet: Der bisherige U-23-Trainer Andre Schubert werde "übergangsmäßig" übernehmen. Wie lange ist der Übergang? "Das kann ich heute noch nicht sagen. Wir haben Dinge im Kopf, die ich noch nicht in epischer Breite kundtun möchte."
+++ Eberl will keine Tränen sehen +++
Eberl: "Lucien Favre hatte immer einen guten Draht zur Mannschaft, das hat sich nicht geändert. Natürlich waren die Spieler ein Stück weit überrascht gestern. Natürlich ist da auch Traurigkeit und Enttäuschung dabei. Wir müssen nach vorne gucken, dürfen uns nicht in Schockstarre begeben. Wir können uns nicht in den Armen liegen und weinen. Bei aller Verbundenheit zu Lucien Favre wird es am Mittwoch um Punkte gehen."
+++ Der Perfektionist geriet ins Zweifeln +++ "Ich kenne ihn sehr, sehr gut. Er hatte die Sorge, keine Lösungen mehr zu finden. Wir haben versucht, ihm diese Sorge glaubhaft zu nehmen. Ich denke, es ist total menschlich, dass ein Perfektionist wie Lucien Favre" auch mal Zweifel habe. Vielleicht habe ihn der Fehlstart "ein bisschen ratlos gemacht. Er hat nur gesagt, dass er nicht weitermachen möchte." Die wirklichen Beweggründe kenne er nicht, gesteht Eberl. "Er glaubt, nicht mehr die Lösung zu finden" - nur das habe er gesagt.
+++ Keine verhärteten Fronten +++ Eberl stellt klar: "Es gab keine verhärteten Fronten. Es gab einfach einen Trainer, der gesagt hat, er möchte diesen Weg nicht weitergehen. Wir haben um einen Trainer gekämpft, von dem wir überzeugt waren. Das ging den ganzen Tag. Bis zum gestrigen Tag haben wir diese Situation immer wieder lösen können. Gestern war es eben so, dass wir es auch im zweiten Gespräch nicht geschafft haben. Es gab keine Fronten, es gab Gespräche."
+++ Favre wollte schon zuvor zurücktreten +++ Es stimmt, Favre habe schon öfter zurücktreten wollen. Eberl: "Ja, es gab Momente in der Vergangenheit, wo wir schon diese Gespräche geführt haben - nicht in der aktuellen."
Gehen getrennte Wege: Trainer Lucien Favre und Gladbachs Sportdirektor Max Eberl (r.). imago
+++ Eberl überrascht von Erklärung +++ Vormittags gab es ein Gespräch, nachmittags erneut, jeweils hätten die Verantwortlichen gesagt, dass sie den Rücktritt nicht annehmen. Eberl: "Lucien hatte seine Meinung manifestiert. Wir waren davon überzeugt, die Ansätze waren positiv. Aber die ganze Argumentation hat er nicht an sich rangelassen. Dann sind wir auseinandergegangen. Und haben gesagt, dass wir die Kündigung nicht akzeptieren. Dann gab es die Erklärung, die uns schon überrascht hat."
+++ Auf den Hund gekommen +++ Nach dem Spiel in Köln sei man noch "sehr aktiv" in der Spielanalyse gewesen. Am Sonntag dann der Knall: "Ich war gerade mit dem Hund draußen", sagt Eberl, da rief der Berater an - Favre wollte zurücktreten.
+++ Solo für Eberl +++ Wie erwartet: Max Eberl stellt sich als einziger sportlicher Verantwortlicher heute den Fragen. Es geht direkt los mit Fragen der Journalisten. "Die Gefühlslage kann sich jeder vorstellen: Ich bin sehr, sehr traurig, dass so eine unfassbar tolle Zeit so zu Ende gegangen ist."
+++ Eberl kommt wohl alleine +++
Gleich geht es los in Mönchengladbach. Erwartet wird, dass nur Sportdirektor Max Eberl vor die Presse tritt. Er wird noch einmal die Geschehnisse vom Sonntag Revue passieren lassen und sagen, wie es kurzfristig auf dem Trainerposten weitergehen wird. Wir sind gespannt!
+++ Was der kicker-Experte, Fachleute und kicker-User sagen +++
Die Reaktionen auf den Rücktritt waren unterschiedlich: Manche loben Favre für seine Konsequenz, andere halten seinen Abgang für wenig sauber. Favre war eigenmächtig an die Presse gegangen, nachdem Sportdirektor Max Eberl sein erstes Rücktrittsgesuch energisch abgelehnt hatte. Das sagt der Gladbach-Experte des kicker zum Rücktritt, das Fachleute aus der Fußball-Branche - und das die kicker-online-User .
+++ Favre schmeißt kurz vor der englischen Woche hin +++
Weil er nicht mehr das Gefühl habe, "der perfekte Trainer für Borussia Mönchengladbach zu sein", erklärte Lucien Favre am Sonntagabend seinen Rücktritt. Kurz nach der sechsten Pflichtspielniederlage in Folge - kurz vor der englischen Woche. Wie reagiert die Borussia jetzt? Ab 14 Uhr ist eine Pressekonferenz anberaumt. | {
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Why the fuck would you do that?
137 shares | {
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india
Updated: Jul 19, 2017 18:05 IST
The government has banned the sale of cows and buffaloes for slaughter through animal markets, rules that will hurt millions of poor farmers and squeeze supplies to the country’s meat industry.
The new rules do not amount to a blanket ban on cattle trade or their slaughter, and license breeding remains legal. But the move will crimp supplies to the country’s Rs 1-lakh crore meat and allied industries that source about 90% of their requirements from animal markets.
The worst hit, however, will be the mostly Muslim meat and leather traders who face mounting violence by increasingly assertive cow vigilante groups. Farmers will also be hit because they will be deprived of a traditional source of income from selling non-milch and ageing cattle.
Read: Centre’s notification banning cow sale for slaughter a fascist move: Kerala
The central regulation for cattle business notified this week allows only farmland owners to trade at animal markets. The notification covers bulls, bullocks, cows, buffaloes, steers, heifers and calves, as well as the camel trade.
To be implemented in the next three months, the move introduces lots of paperwork for cow traders who are mostly poor and illiterate. For instance, before the trade, both seller and buyer will have to produce identity and farmland ownership documents.
After buying a cow, a trader must make five copies of proof of sale and submit them at the local revenue office, the local veterinary doctor in the district of the purchaser, animal market committee, apart from one each for seller and buyer.
“Take an undertaking that the animals are bought for agriculture purposes and not for slaughter,” reads a directive to committees overseeing animal markets in the rule notified under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 that gives the Centre powers over animal welfare.
The new rules were approved by former environment minister Anil Madhav Dave before his death last week, ministry sources told HT. The ministry drafted the rules on Supreme Court directions aimed at improving condition of animals in these markets.
Considered holy by many Hindus, cows are a sensitive political topic and have gained in importance since Prime Minister Narendra Modi stormed to power in 2014 as several BJP-ruled states enacted strict laws to punish cow slaughter.
But many say the expanding protection for bovines is a proxy war against Dalits and Muslims – as exemplified by the lynching of dairy farmer Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan in April or the flogging of Dalit men in Gujarat’s Una last year. Slaughter of milch cows is banned in all states except in Kerala and in parts of north-east India.
The annual meat business in India is estimated to be around Rs one lakh crore with exports worth Rs 26,303 crore in 2016-17. Uttar Pradesh is the market leader followed by Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Telangana. Most states in India hold weekly animal markets and many states operate them near borders to attract traders from neighbouring states.
The meat industry worries it will come to a “standstill”.
“We are shocked,” SN Sabbarwal director general of All India Meat Exporters Association told Hindustan Times. “Only a few slaughter houses get animals from breeders.”
Regulating cattle trade is a state subject but animal welfare is overseen by the Centre. So the environment ministry notified the rules under the animal welfare law but gave district administrations the power to enforce them.
The environment ministry’s eight-page rule also bans setting of animal markets within 50 km of an international border and 25 km of a state border. Taking animal outside the state will require special approval of the state government nominee.
The rule also prescribes about 30 norms for animal welfare in markets, including water, fans, bedding, ramps, non-slippery flooring, veterinary facility and separate enclosure for sick animals. The rule says “young” and “unfit animals” cannot be sold.
No animal market will now be able to run without approval of district animal market committee to be headed by a magistrate and having two representatives of government-approved animal welfare groups.
The regulation makes it mandatory for veterinary inspector to certify proper loading and unloading of animals to ensure they are not cramped inside trucks. The inspector can mark any animal unfit for sale. | {
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Conan Exiles is an addictive game which still suffers from some serious performance issues on Xbox One X and other platforms. However, that hasn't stopped it from becoming quite the sensation. Recently, Funcom announced that Conan Exiles is now the best-selling and fastest-selling game in the company's history.
Following that success, it seems like Funcom has a number of Conan games in development. According to a report by Only Single Player, there's a single-player Conan the Barbarian title in development, alongside another project by Petroglyph Games. You can read parts of the company's Q2 2018 report below.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden will launch on December 4, 2018 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The game has had significant pick-up in social media and gaming press in Q3 2018.
Petroglyph's Conan game to be released in Q2 2019.
Rock Pocket's Funcom IP game to be released for the Halloween season of 2019.
Funcom North Carolina's cooperative online shooter.
Funcom Oslo's single-player Conan game.
Funcom Oslo's open-world multiplayer game.
It's great to see that new Conan titles are in development. Hopefully the focus on single-player will allow the game to be more polished than Conan Exiles.
In our review, we said, "Conan Exiles is a good game which seems like a much more substantial experience than when it first appeared on Xbox One. If Funcom can perfect the console frame rate and eliminate the stuttering, then there's a chance that the title might be one of the most popular survival games on the system."
Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews! | {
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed in on the United States’ airstrikes in Syria Friday, saying it was hypocritical to lament the loss of innocent Syrian children in chemical attacks while simultaneously forbidding those those children from entering the United States.
Clinton criticized President Donald Trump’s attempts to ban Syrian refugees from the U.S. She also emphasized the attacks need to be accompanied by a plan to end Syria’s civil war, which the country has been embroiled in since 2011, when she was Secretary of State.
“I hope this administration will move forward in a way that is both strategic and consistent with our values,” she said at a luncheon in Texas. “And I also hope that they will recognize that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close America’s doors to them.”
Clinton was referring to President Trump’s executive order banning Syrian refugees from entering the United States for three months.
MORE: This Map Shows Where the Syria Chemical Attack and U.S. Missile Strikes Took Place
Clinton had expressed support for bombing Syria Thursday, before Trump announced them. “I really believe that we should have and still should take out his air fields and prevent him from being able to use them to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them,” she told New York Times Columnist Nick Kristof at the Women in the World conference.
Clinton was speaking at an event for Annie’s List, an organization that aims to prepare progressive women for office, in Houston Texas.
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Write to Alana Abramson at [email protected]. | {
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Driving on a four lane highway with no traffic Tailgates you in the slowlane
184 shares | {
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T his site contains everything you need to know about baroque music... well, not quite. Because there's so much to be learned, so much pleasure to be gained not by reading about it, but by listening! For a start, click the two images below, the Barocophile and the Bachophile, to download 150 minutes each of Baroque (all major composers) and Bach (every aspect of his work). W hat is the essence of baroque music? Baroque music expresses order, the fundamental order of the universe. Yet it is always lively and tuneful. Music reflects the mood of the times, then as now as always. Follow the development of music through this brief outline, from the earliest times to the present day, with baroque music in historical context.
BAROQUE MUSIC DEFINED
A Double CD Album
Baroque Music Sampler
A Double CD Album
Bach's Music Sampler
Antonio Vivaldi
Biography | CD | {
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If you followed our blog series on Autoscaling on Kubernetes, you should already be familiar with Kubernetes’ Cluster autoscaler and the Vertical Pod Autoscaler used with Java 10 applications. This post will show you how to use the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler to autoscale your deployments based on custom metrics obtained from Prometheus. As a deployment example we’ve chosen our JEE Petstore example application on Wildfly to show that, beside metrics like cpu and memory , which are provided by default on Kubernetes, using our Wildfly Operator, all Java and Java Enterprise Edition / Wildfly specific metrics are automatically placed at your fingertips, available in Prometheus, allowing you to easily autoscale deployments.
The Pipeline platform supports and configures all these autoscaling options for you - with out of the box monitoring and metrics.
For custom metrics we open sourced Helm charts to deploy Metrics Adapter for Prometheus and Metrics Server in our Banzai Cloud Chart repository.
How Horizontal Pod Autoscaler works 🔗︎
Before we start, let’s recap the basic idea of autoscaling in Kubernetes. Autoscaling has two dimensions:
Cluster Autoscaling, which deals with node scaling operations
And the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler, which automatically scales the number of pods in a deployment or replica set
Cluster Autoscaling, together with the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler, can be used to dynamically adjust computing power, as well as the level of parallelism that your system needs to meet SLAs. While Cluster Autoscaling is highly dependent on the underlying capabilities of the cloud provider that’s hosting your cluster, the HPA operates independently of your IaaS/PaaS provider.
The HPA is included in Kubernetes by default, and is implemented as a control loop, with a period controlled by the controller manager’s --horizontal-pod-autoscaler-sync-period flag, whose default value is 30 seconds. The controller manager queries resource utilization against the metrics specified in each HorizontalPodAutoscaler definition.
Note that the Vertical Pod Autoscaler is a special case - for further information about VPA read this post
There are three kinds of metrics:
per-pod resource metrics - like cpu , memory whose metrics are fetched from the resource metrics API for each pod targeted by the HorizontalPodAutoscaler, then compared against a targetAverageUtilization value or a raw targetAverageValue value.
metrics - like , whose metrics are fetched from the resource metrics API for each pod targeted by the HorizontalPodAutoscaler, then compared against a value or a raw value. per-pod custom metrics - like per-pod resource metrics, but which are fetched from the custom metrics API and for who you can’t specify targetAverageUtilization values, only raw targetAverageValue values.
metrics - like per-pod resource metrics, but which are fetched from the custom metrics API and for who you can’t specify values, only raw values. object metrics - a single metric that is fetched (which describes the object in question), and compares it to the target value
Metrics are fetched either from the resource metrics API (for per-pod resource metrics), or custom ones from Custom Metrics API. The latter was introduced in Kubernetes 1.6, and enables HPA to access arbitrary metrics. Kubernetes 1.7 introduced the aggregation layer that allows 3rd party applications to extend the Kubernetes API by registering themselves as API add-ons. The Custom Metrics API, along with the aggregation layer, make it possible for monitoring systems like Prometheus to expose application-specific metrics to the HPA controller.
A Pipeline deployment will automatically install and dynamically configure Prometheus to collect metrics in a centralized (or federated Prometheus) cluster
To start autoscaling your deployments, all you have to do is to create a HorizontalPodAutoscaler resource, like the one below, which is an example of how to scale replica count for a wildfly-example deployment based on average cpu and memory usage.
apiVersion: autoscaling/v2beta1 kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler metadata: name: wildfly-example spec: scaleTargetRef: apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1 kind: Deployment name: wildfly-example minReplicas: 1 maxReplicas: 5 metrics: - type: Resource resource: name: cpu targetAverageUtilization: 80 - type: Resource resource: name: memory targetAverageValue: 1000Mi
As we’ve said, HPA is included by default in Kubernetes, while in order to use custom metrics you have to deploy Metrics Adapter for Prometheus so that the Metrics Server is able to query Prometheus.
You can find Helm charts to deploy Metrics Adapter for Prometheus and Metrics Server in our Chart repository.
It’s important to check your relabel rules in Prometheus for kubernetes-pods , because Metrics Server searches by pod and namespace , so they should be targeted as follows:
- source_labels: [ __meta_kubernetes_namespace ] action: replace target_label: namespace - source_labels: [ __meta_kubernetes_pod_name ] action: replace target_label: pod
Example of scaling an example JEE application using custom metrics from Prometheus 🔗︎
As usual, our starting point requires that we have a cluster up and ready. To create a Kubernetes cluster in any of the supported cloud providers with Pipeline, follow the steps described in our previous post about Cluster Autoscaler.
Since Cluster Autoscaler and Horizontal Pod Autoscaler are complimentary, we advise that you enable autoscaling for your node pools, so that they are automatically expanded.
Aggregation API is enabled by default on AKS from version 1.9.0 onwards, and the same is true for GKE clusters from version 1.7.0 onwards, so make sure you use at least version 1.9. When utilizing Amazon clusters, Pipeline takes care of enabling Aggregation API for you.
The below HTTP request examples are from our Postman collection described here. Use Postman collection Create Deployment requests to deploy Helm charts.
Deploy our Prometheus chart for Monitoring and Prometheus Adapter POST {{ url }} /api/v1/orgs/ {{ orgId }} /clusters/ {{ cluster_id }} /deployments { "name" : "banzaicloud-stable/pipeline-cluster-monitor" } Get release name from response and set in the url for Prometheus Adapter deployment: POST {{ url }} /api/v1/orgs/ {{ orgId }} /clusters/ {{ cluster_id }} /deployments { "name" : "banzaicloud-stable/prometheus-adapter" , "values" : { "prometheus" : { "url" : "http://{PROMETHUES_RELEASE_NAME}-prometheus-server.default.svc/prometheus" } } } TLS certificates are disabled by default. If you want to enable them, you have to set tls.enable=true and generate your certificates, and set tls.key & tls.certificate. Install Metrics Server if you’re using Amazon or Azure (on GKE you have it by default) POST {{ url }} /api/v1/orgs/ {{ orgId }} /clusters/ {{ cluster_id }} /deployments { "name" : "banzaicloud-stable/metrics-monitor" } Make sure you’re able to query custom metrics from Metrics Server so the connection to Prometheus Adapter works fine: kubectl get --raw "/apis/custom.metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1" | jq . Deploy Wildfly operator and JEE 7 Petstore Application wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/banzaicloud/wildfly-operator/master/deploy/rbac.yaml wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/banzaicloud/wildfly-operator/master/deploy/operator.yaml wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/banzaicloud/wildfly-operator/master/deploy/cr.yaml kubectl apply -f . Wildfly Operator starts the Prometheus JMX exporter as a Java agent and attaches annotations necessary for Prometheus to scrape your pods. If you’re using other Java applications, you can use the Prometheus JMX Operator to get all these out of the box. Generate load for Application To this end we will use a simple Go load generator app, which makes number GET requests concurrently to a certain URL. First obtain the Application endpoint: kubectl describe WildflyAppServer Status: External Addresses: Application: 35.225.18.78:8080 Management: 35.225.18.78:9990 Nodes: wildfly-example-65c687d55f-fr4g7 Install and run load test: go get -u github.com/rakyll/hey hey -n 10000 -q 15 http://35.225.18.78:8080/applicationPetstore/shopping/searchresult.xhtml List available POD related metrics from Metrics API kubectl get --raw "/apis/custom.metrics.k8s.io/v1beta1" | jq . | grep "pods/" Alternatively, you can open up the Prometheus UI to check all the available metrics and choose the right ones. For demonstrative purposes, and to simulate a realistic use case, we inserted a random sleep time in our Petstore Application code. As a result of the load test we see that org_xnio_Xnio_BusyWorkerThreadCount has increased sharply, and so we choose this metric. Create HorizontalPodAutoscaler resource apiVersion: autoscaling/v2beta1 kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler metadata: name: wildfly-example spec: scaleTargetRef: apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1 kind: Deployment name: wildfly-example minReplicas: 1 maxReplicas: 5 metrics: - type: Pods pods: metricName: **org_xnio_Xnio_BusyWorkerThreadCount** targetAverageValue: 10 After some time, if you describe your HPA you should see something like the below: kubectl describe hpa wildfly-example Name: wildfly-example Namespace: default Labels: <none> Annotations: <none> CreationTimestamp: Wed, 27 Jun 2018 01:19:35 +0200 Reference: Deployment/wildfly-example Metrics: ( current / target ) "org_xnio_Xnio_BusyWorkerThreadCount" on pods: 17 / 10 Min replicas: 1 Max replicas: 10 Conditions: Type Status Reason Message ---- ------ ------ ------- AbleToScale False BackoffBoth the time since the previous scale is still within both the downscale and upscale forbidden windows ScalingActive True ValidMetricFound the HPA was able to successfully calculate a replica count from pods metric org_xnio_Xnio_BusyWorkerThreadCount ScalingLimited False DesiredWithinRange the desired count is within the acceptable range Events: Type Reason Age From Message ---- ------ ---- ---- ------- Normal SuccessfulRescale 2m horizontal-pod-autoscaler New size: 4; reason: pods metric org_xnio_Xnio_BusyWorkerThreadCount above target
At Banzai Cloud Prometheus is one of our favorite tools. It’s no surprise that we’re very enthusiastic about autoscaling based on metrics obtained from Prometheus, and we’re continuing to explore possibilities that will allow us to autoscale based on, not just simple metrics, but more complex Prometheus queries, so stay tuned. | {
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I am lying on the sand at Sydney’s Cobblers beach in the early 00s, half-asleep in the sun. A friend hands me her Discman and says, “Listen to this band. The guy keeps singing about streetlights and girls, but in a good way. And apparently everything is about New York.”
The CD was Interpol’s Turn on The Bright Lights, a post-punk album throbbing with inspiration from Joy Division and the Psychedelic Furs. From the opening of reverb-soaked guitars on Untitled, I was transported to a world far from my sunny outlook – the New York night. I had passed through the looking glass into a noirish atmosphere of alienation and ennui. But among the bleak textures there was also a sense of romance, conjured by the lush production and Paul Banks’s haunting vocal style. I was able to form images of New York that belonged more to a mythology of the city than any real experience.
Interpol review – gothic post-punkers grow old gracefully Read more
In songs like Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down, with its dreamy character portrait and driving bass line, Interpol echoed what F Scott Fitzgerald and Patti Smith had already suggested to me about New York. It is a place of quick and restless adventure, where the blinkers of taxis hold the restless eye in a pause; where it is possible to follow poor lovers along 13th street and watch them disappear under eaves into unknown rooms; where conversations take place until dawn, wild conversations about how all of the world’s art belongs to the New York night, where every creative act can somehow be understood beneath the enchanted streets.
If that sounds a little much, maybe Interpol aren’t for you. Their vision of New York asks you to suspend knowledge of the wholesale destruction and clinical real estate development of what were once artistic enclaves. Today, in the Trump era, aspiring musicians are unlikely to encounter the likes of Lou Reed or Klaus Nomi in a downtown bar. Instead they’ll have to shield themselves from trust fund kids pretending not to flash their Patek Philippes and Wall Street types telling incomprehensible jokes about quaaludes.
In the post-9/11 world, the song NYC expressed the detachment and vulnerability of trying to navigate the new century, one in which suicide bombers could murder thousands in a city that housed the United Nations, and the growth of digital media meant the reconfiguring of relationships. I listened to it on repeat, on the beach at 3am, and then later sprawled out drunk under blue gums in Gundagai, far from New York itself. When Banks sings, “I’m sick of spending these lonely nights / Training myself not to care / The subway is a porno,” it felt like a window onto that city’s subterranean soul. Underground, the city is stripped of its sheen, naked and dirty. The song captures the particular melancholy that accompanies being lost among millions of other restless lives.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Interpol are currently playing in Australia. Photograph: Jamie James Medina
Over the last 16 years, Interpol have released five other albums, including the recent Marauder, which they are currently touring in Australia. Their songs have continued to evoke images and moods of New York City, some more explicit than others. On Next Exit, the opener on Antics, an eerie church organ swells to the point where the drums kick in, as if banging on a grand old door: “We’re goin’ to the city / Goin’ track this shit around / And make this place a heart / To be a part of again.” The melodies on No I in Threesome and Pace is the Trick, both from Our Love To Admire, capture storied midnights of whisky and valium, where figures seem to stumble from Central Park onto the Upper West Side to catch a glimpse of neon. On Same Town, New Story, from El Pintor, Banks sings that it “Feels like the whole world’s coming down on me / Wide eyed, venture so slowly.”
In a 2014 interview, the band was asked about their relationship to New York in the 21st century, with its glassy condominiums and cookie-cutter architecture. Drummer Sam Fogarino said that although the city had changed dramatically, “there’s still something about New York. As soon you step on the sidewalk, you’re fucking in New York. It’s still pure. Everywhere you look, everywhere you walk … It’s still the best fucking city in the world, no matter what phase it’s going through.”
Interpol: Marauder review – relaxed if variable post-punk stylings Read more
Even at a vast distance, covered in a mask of sea-spray, Interpol allow me to inhabit the world of old New York, as if I was behind the camera with David Wojnarowicz in the late 1970s, or shooting hoops with Jim Carroll on the Lower East Side. Listening to their cinematic hooks, I become an anonymous figure in a great dark metropolis.
• Interpol are playing in Melbourne on Friday 4 January at Sydney on Saturday 5 January | {
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been best friends for 20 years have to practice for hours before asking him to be the best man
15,143 shares | {
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Paul Singer and Jenny Ung
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Senate Ethics Committee released its annual report this week declaring that for the ninth straight year, it imposed no disciplinary sanctions against anyone in 2015. Since 2007, the committee has received 613 allegations of wrongdoing and has summarily dismissed more than 90% of them. Only 75 have had even a preliminary investigation.
The total of the committee's discipline during the nine-year period is a half-dozen letters the committee has written to senators saying, basically, "you should not have done that." The committee did not issue activity reports prior to 2007, and did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
The committee's activity reports indicate that in nearly every case, allegations are dismissed because there are not enough facts to prove wrongdoing (13 of 55 cases last year) or there is no Senate rule governing the alleged activity (36 of 55 cases). In seven cases last year, the Ethics Committee carried out "preliminary inquiries;" five of those were dismissed as inadvertent or minor technical violations. None of those cases was made public by the committee.
These results raise "all kinds of red flags," said Meredith McGehee, policy director at the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center. "It begs credulity that there have been no ethics violations worthy of disciplinary sanction since 2007 in the entire Senate. The fact is the Senate Ethics Committee has become the 'dead letter' office."
The lack of public punishments may simply reflect that the committee has not found any violations that rise to that level, said Stanley Brand, an ethics lawyer who has advised the committee and also advised lawmakers under investigation. "You don't start out saying we have a quota of members of the Senate that we are going to prosecute," Brand said. "There has to be a probable cause for every investigation." Ethics watchdog groups "want every peccadillo to be investigated like a federal crime and I don't think that's the way it should work."
A coalition of government watchdogs, including the Campaign Legal Center, sent letters to Senate leaders in 2014 urging them to reform the committee and create an independent ethics office modeled after the House Office of Congressional Ethics, which reviews ethics allegations and makes recommendations to the House Ethics Committee for further action. OCE reports become public even if the Ethics Committee rules that there was no violation, which has made the office wildly unpopular among lawmakers.
The last time the Senate Ethics Committee issued any kind of public scolding was a May 2012 letter to then-Sen. Tom Coburn, saying that he should not have held an official meeting with Doug Hampton, a former aide to then-Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who had become a lobbyist but was still barred from lobbying the Senate. The incident was part of Ensign's messy affair with Hampton's wife; Coburn had intervened to counsel Hampton on his departure from Ensign's office and the committee concluded it should have known he was still under a lobbying ban. Ensign resigned while the Ethics Committee was investigating him.
"Senate Ethics has a reputation of being a black hole for allegations," said Jordan Libowitz of the left-leaning watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "Information tends to go into the committee and nothing comes out of it."
Libowitz said the committee tends to be "more interested in protecting the individual senators and staffers instead of the institution."
The committee serves both as the ethics cop and the ethics adviser to the Senate. In 2015, the Ethics Committee "handled approximately 10,265 telephone inquiries and 2,784 inquiries by email for ethics advice and guidance" and wrote 930 advisory letters on how to avoid conflicts of interest or improper gifts, according to the new activity report.
By comparison, from January 2013 through December 2014, the House Ethics Committee launched 53 investigations, created four subcommittees to probe specific matters and issued 19 "publicly disclosed resolutions" as well as 43 resolutions that were confidential, according to an activities report it issued a year ago. | {
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Ein verhaltensauffälliger Wolf ist am Wochenende im Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg östlich von Mölln in eine Schafsherde eingedrungen. Vier Schafe wurden verletzt, zwei davon starben. Der Rest wurde der Herde auseinandergetrieben.
Das Ungewöhnliche: Im vorliegenden Fall zeigte der Wolf keine Scheu vor dem Menschen. So war es laut Agrarministerium schwierig, das Tier aus der Schafherde zu vertreiben. Obwohl sich die vor Ort befindlichen Personen dem Tier auf unter zehn Meter näherten, gelang es erst nach einiger Zeit, den Wolf von den Schafen zu trennen und zu vertreiben. Aggressiv gegenüber den Menschen zeigte sich das Tier aber nicht. Dies nährt Gerüchte, dass in Deutschland auch Wölfe ausgesetzt wurden.
Der Schafhalter hatte kurzfristig den ehrenamtlichen Wolfbetreuer aus der Region benachrichtigt. Als er eintraf, war der Wolf noch vor Ort. Er half, das Tier zu verscheuchen. Das ebenfalls benachrichtigte Wolfsinformationszentrum Schleswig-Holstein im Wildpark Eekholt nahm unverzüglich Kontakt zum Umweltministerium auf.
Aufgrund der beschriebenen Verhaltensauffälligkeiten und der hierdurch zu befürchtenden Gefahren, die von dem Tier ausgehen könnten, erteilte das Ministerium dem zuständigen Wolfsbetreuer Genehmigung, das Tier gegebenenfalls mit Gummigeschossen zu verscheuchen oder es in letzter Konsequenz zu töten.
Wie hoch der entstandene Schaden letztlich sein wird, kann derzeit noch nicht abschließend beurteilt werden, da noch nicht alle Tiere wieder eingefangen werden konnten. Um weitere Übergriffe auf Schafherden in der Region zu verhindern, wurden die betreffenden Schafhalter im Umfeld des Vorfalls durch das Wolfsinformationszentrum mobile Elektrozäune versorgt. Darüber hinaus wurden von den verletzten Schafen Abstriche genommen, um im Rahmen genetischer Untersuchungen weitere Informationen über den Wolf zu erhalten.
Derzeit untersuchen Fachleute des Landes, warum der Wolf nicht die für diese Art ansonsten typische Scheu vor Menschen gezeigt hat und wie diesem Problem entgegengetreten werden kann. Bewohnern der Region Mölln wird durch das schleswig-holsteinische Umweltministerium zudem geraten, ihre Hunde nicht unangeleint laufen zu lassen.
Lesen Sie auch:
Niedersachsen: "Abschuss des Wolfes kommt nicht in Frage" (24.2.2015)
Wölfe verfolgen Spaziergängerin (14.2.2015) | {
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This is the story you know:
Last summer as the Los Angeles Lakers built their team around new star LeBron James, they loaded up on ball handlers who were light on shooting ability and passed on adding reliable big men, assuming James would play more in that role. It was a plan, ratified by James, that included playing up-tempo and taking playmaking pressure off him as he moved into the later stage of his career.
It did not work. The Lakers couldn't shoot and the floor shrunk on James. They ended up going on a monthslong quest for big men. Point guards Lonzo Ball and Rajon Rondo got hurt. James took over the majority of the ballhandling anyway; he played the fastest pace of his career at age 34; and two months in, he suffered the worst injury of his career. The Lakers finished 37-45 and missed the playoffs.
Now, the Lakers want to write a new story. It goes like this:
James will be the primary playmaker -- as he has been on his teams for the past 16 seasons, planned or not -- with Rondo back as a probable backup making $7 million less. The roster now has a spate of 3-and-D players, with Danny Green, Avery Bradley and Jared Dudley joining a re-signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Editor's Picks 2019 NBA free agency: Latest buzz, news and reports
A blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis, the return of Kyle Kuzma and the addition of DeMarcus Cousins will give the Lakers a dramatically more robust front line, with Davis there to share James' scoring and playmaking load.
Put James and Davis in a pick-and-roll, spread the floor with those shooters (who also will work hard at the other end) and let the magic happen. Throw in the possibility of adding a champion such as Andre Iguodala and another veteran role player along the way -- perhaps even another shooter such as Kyle Korver -- and the formula is there.
"There's no question this is a much stronger team that fits around LeBron better," said one league executive.
"They started backups a lot last season, and they had some guys on their bench that shouldn't have been in the league," said one scout. "If they stay healthy, they have a playoff lineup now."
"They added Anthony Davis; if they did nothing else, they were going to be way better," said another league executive.
Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY
So after last season's false start/bad luck experience, just how good are the Lakers? In a Western Conference in which a number of teams -- including their Staples Center co-tenant, the LA Clippers -- have loaded up, it's a fair question.
A key factor, scouts believe, will be health. Davis has a checkered injury history, though he has avoided major injury over the past three seasons. He played only 56 games last season, skipping numerous games in the second half of the season in a quasi-exile because of his trade demand. James played all 82 games in 2017-18 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but last season, he was derailed by a groin injury.
If either player suffers another significant injury, the margin for error could get narrow quickly. The depth of the West means that a bad 10-game stretch could be costly.
"Kuzma will need to prove he can be a reliable third scoring option," said a Western Conference scout, "because AD and LeBron will miss games and they have mostly specialists now. Kuzma is going to have to carry the load at times." More Than An Athlete The eight-part docuseries, produced by UNINTERRUPTED and airing on ESPN+, will follow LeBron James and Maverick Carter's improbable journey from Akron to the global stage. Watch on ESPN+
In surveying the league, the other issue rivals will be watching is how the Lakers handle early-season pressure. James is famous for his ability to deliver, but he also is known for making plans in July that get discarded by January; last season was just one in a long line of examples.
For everything he provides, James also frequently outsources duties that zap energy, such as guarding bigger players, guarding the opposition's primary scorers throughout the game or bringing the ball up the floor. Last season, by just about any measure, was the worst defensive season of James' career.
"AD is going to earn his money on defense," one scout said.
When the Lakers go with their most talented lineup, which likely will have James at point guard, it will create a defensive challenge. All of this can mean an extra burden on the coach to manage lineups and assignments, especially early in the season, when roles are still being defined and there's a search process for rhythm. Which means even with the influx of talent, new coach Frank Vogel might have his hands full while under a microscope.
James' first seasons with coaches haven't exactly gone well over the past decade. He and Erik Spoelstra grated on each other for a while with the Miami Heat; the David Blatt relationship in Cleveland was a complete failure almost from day one; and last year, a gulf quickly opened between James and Luke Walton. James even had issues with Mike Krzyzewski during their first summer together with Team USA back in 2006, before a bond developed.
That Jason Kidd, who has a previous relationship with James from when they were teammates on Team USA a decade ago, is on the Lakers' bench could only amplify the scrutiny.
"Frank is nonconfrontational, which may actually work well with that group long term," said one executive. "But it's a completely new team, and it may get choppy early; that could make it tougher."
In canvassing more than a dozen scouts and executives, the consensus is that the Lakers should surge up the standings to the high 40s or low 50s in wins and be in strong contention for home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason.
That's a true step forward, most seem to believe, in what will be a rebound season -- though maybe not what the Lakers were hoping for a week ago when they were trying to land Kawhi Leonard. Without Leonard, those scouts and executives don't see an immediate championship in this particular group's future.
"Had they gotten Kawhi, we'd all probably be playing for second," an executive said. "I'll never rule LeBron out, and I'm interested to watch him and AD play together. But a lot of things would have to fall in place for them to win it." | {
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Devious Journal Entry
Feb 8, 2014
Hello friends! I don't ever advertise, but all my prints are on sale for 20% off through this weekend. Check them out, they are awesomely hi-res and vibrant. It would mean a lot if any of them sold. Thanks for your support pals! Here's the link: http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/chrstphrwest/elf-jumper/ | {
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