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Mecenas Jan Widacki poinformował, że powołani przez niego eksperci, profesorowie katedry kryminalistyki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, podważyli jednoznaczną opinię biegłych z Instytutu Ekspertyz Sądowych, który „kategorycznie i bez wątpliwości” stwierdzili, że na znalezionych w domu Marii Kiszczak dokumentach znajdują się podpisy Lecha Wałęsy.
Obrona Wałęsy
Informacja o nowych ekspertyzach została wysłana do prokuratury Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej prowadzącej śledztwo w sprawie możliwego fałszowania dokumentów w teczce tajnego współpracownika o pseudonimie Bolek. Sam Lech Wałęsa zaprzecza, jakoby kiedykolwiek świadomie i za pieniądze współpracował z PRL-owską Służbą Bezpieczeństwa.
Były prezydent przekonywał również, że dokumenty, którymi zajął się IPN zostały sfałszowane jeszcze w latach 70., a teraz „celowo do nich wrócono”.
Spór o przeszłość Wałęsy
31 stycznia w siedzibie IPN zaprezentowano opinię biegłych, z której wynika, że odręczne zobowiązanie współpracy z SB zostało w całości nakreślone przez Lecha Wałęsę. Tym samym potwierdziły się wcześniejsze doniesienia historyków, m.in. Sławomira Cenckiewicza (obecnie członka Kolegium IPN), który w opublikowanej w 2008 roku książce, której współautorem jest Piotr Gontarczyk, dowodził, że Lech Wałęsa to TW „Bolek”.
Mimo obciążających go opinii specjalistów, które jednoznacznie wskazują na jego współpracę z SB w latach 70., Lech Wałęsa tydzień po upublicznieniu ustaleń biegłych, zaprzeczył, że teczki są autentyczne. – Przysięgam, że nigdy nie przysięgałem po tamtej stronie, ale jednocześnie informuję: ja miałem swoje metody walki – mówił były prezydent i poinformował dziennikarzy, że planuje powołać swoich grafologów. | {
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration has repeatedly assured Americans that it will not use data from a proposed citizenship question on the 2020 Census to target undocumented immigrants. But more than a quarter of Americans don’t believe it, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
FILE PHOTO: An informational pamphlet is displayed at an event for community activists and local government leaders to mark the one-year-out launch of the 2020 Census efforts in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
That skepticism could have serious implications for the accuracy of the decennial count, according to demographers, activists, local governments and corporations who say it will prompt millions of residents reut.rs/2uoFSNK to skip the survey out of fear their participation will result in deportation.
An undercount on the Census could pose lasting problems for communities with high immigrant populations because the survey determines how $900 billion in federal money is allocated reut.rs/2IA8P1k, along with how federal and state electoral maps are redrawn reut.rs/2G9v8to.
Twenty-six percent of Americans believe the government wants to insert the question about citizenship to “help enforce U.S. immigration laws and detain illegal immigrants.” Eight percent believe it is designed to result in an undercount in immigrant communities, according to the poll of more than 2,000 people conducted April 30-May 2.
Thirty percent of respondents, however, view the question as a “standard recordkeeping and reporting procedure,” and 21 percent think it will improve Census tallies.
Full poll results: tmsnrt.rs/2VLfPzz
A substantial majority of Americans generally support the citizenship question, the poll shows. Sixty-seven percent said they approve of its inclusion, with 41 percent saying they “strongly” approve. Republicans view the attempt to gather data on non-citizens much more favorably than Democrats.
Fear of the question could upend the survey by sharply reducing participation, said Robert Shapiro, who oversaw the Census Bureau as U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs during the Clinton administration.
“This is likely to be a very flawed – and perhaps even failed – Census,” he said.
Shapiro, now chairman of the consultancy Sonecon LLC, conducted an analysis that found 24.3 million people may avoid the questionnaire because they worry personal data could be shared with law enforcement.
The Commerce Department declined to comment on the poll, but said that “Census responses are safe, secure and protected by federal law.”
A spokesman for the Census Bureau did not comment.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced in March 2018 that he planned to include the citizenship question to help the Justice Department enforce the Voting Rights Act. It would be the first time the question appears on the survey in 70 years.
But the effort has since been tied up in litigation, with advocates and municipalities arguing that Ross wants to include the citizenship question to scare immigrants out of filling out the Census, thereby costing Democratic regions federal aid and political seats. The Supreme Court heard arguments last month and is widely expected to allow the question.
In an effort to assuage fears among immigrants, government officials, including Ross and Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham, have repeatedly said they have no plans to share Census respondents’ data with immigration authorities.
Legal experts say confidentiality laws clearly prevent any such sharing of Census information on individuals with outside parties, including law enforcement agencies, and any employee who does so could be subject to a fine of as much as $250,000 and up to 5 years in prison.
The last time such data-sharing occurred in a substantive way was during World War II, when the government used Census data to identify Japanese residents and place them in internment camps. Congress later established laws to guard respondents’ data privacy.
Those laws are now so well-established that when the Census Bureau received a death threat against President Bill Clinton scrawled across the top of a survey in 2000, officials were unable to tell the Secret Service who had written it, said Shapiro, the former Commerce official.
The author was a prison inmate, which minimized their concerns, but it would have been illegal to share the information in any case, he added.
KNOCKING ON THE DOOR
The Census Bureau’s chief scientist, John Abowd, has predicted the inclusion of the question would likely reduce response rates by more than the typical amount. It would also significantly boost the cost of the survey because Census workers will hard to spend more time trying to get people to respond, he has said.
All U.S. residents are required to fill out the survey fully and accurately, making it illegal to dodge it, lie about citizenship status or avoid the question – although that law cannot be enforced with any real consequence because of confidentiality requirements.
Advocates for immigrants and other vulnerable communities say their constituents already have a heightened distrust of the government and are unlikely to hand over information that could be used against them.
President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies and rhetoric – including separating immigrant children from their parents at the Mexican border, pledging to build a wall there, and implementing a “Muslim ban” – has further stoked those fears, they say.
“It’s not going to help having men in suits knocking on your door saying, ‘I’m from the government, give me your information,’” Vanita Gupta, a former Justice Department official who now runs the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said at a recent event.
Kelly Percival, counsel with The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, said she hoped U.S. residents feel safe filling out the survey because laws governing data privacy are too strong to be bent on a political whim.
“The protections of the law are ironclad,” she said. | {
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(Fox News) Immigration officers have arrested a Guatemalan national who mowed down and killed an FBI agent and a fire marshal on a Maryland highway last year.
Roberto Garza Palacios was accused of being unlawfully present in the U.S. after overstaying a work visa that expired in 2009, Fox 5 DC reported Friday. He was arrested Thursday in Gaithersburg, Md., where he was living.
Read the full story › | {
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SC Featured: Phoenix Rising
MMA fighter Phoenix Jones has taken on a new kind of fight -- fighting crime on the streets of Seattle. | {
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As Ondřej Surý of CZ.NIC recently pointed out on the dns-operations list, it was 30 years ago this month, in November 1983, that two RFCs that defined what we now call the Domain Name System (DNS), RFC 882 and RFC 883, were published. They make for an interesting read today when you think about how far we've come in those 30 years — and now how absolutely critical DNS is as part of the Internet's infrastructure.
With the days of November dwindling, I think it's important to mark this anniversary/birthday here on CircleID, given how much DNS is a topic of conversation here. For some context about this occasion, I recently wrote a piece on the Deploy360 blog, Celebrating 30 Years Of The Domain Name System (DNS) This Month!, where I pointed out some of the early documents as well as a video of Paul Mockapetris explaining the origins of those first RFCs. My Internet Society colleague Andrei Robachevsky also shared his views in a post, Happy 30th Birthday, DNS!, where he also provides some links to studies and reports around the abuse of DNS.
As we write here at CircleID often about all the newgTLDs, DNSSEC, DNS security or other topics around domain names, I think it's important to step back and realize how far we've come in 30 years. And while we talk now about the "future of identifiers" and have so many other discussions around the future of domain names, the fact remains that DNS is at the core of pretty much everything we do on the Internet today.
Happy 30th, DNS! Let's see where the next 30 years go! | {
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Når Raqqa har falt, den selverklærte hovedstaden til IS, spør mange seg: Hvordan kunne en av verdens mest brutale terrororganisasjoner lykkes i å rekruttere ungdom født og oppvokst i Vesten til å begå terror i sine egne hjemland?
I boka Jihad and Death har professor Olivier Roy, en ledende ekspert på jihadister gjennom tiår, studert over 100 jihadister i vestlige land.
– Brødre
Forklaringen på motivene for radikalisering er basert på klisjeer, mener Roy, og ikke det jihadistene selv sier.
På tvers av ulike land i Europa, samt i USA, finner han flere fellestrekk:
* 60 prosent er andregenerasjonsinnvandrere. 25 prosent er konvertitter.
* Mange er brødrepar.
* 85 prosent dør under terrorhandlingen. 20 prosent får et barn i forkant.
* 50 prosent har tidligere sonet en dom i fengsel. Flere har begått småkriminalitet og ruset seg.
* Siden 2012 tar stadig flere kvinner del i IS og søker aktivt etter en jihadist-ektemann. Det er noe nytt.
Det er noen unntak, ifølge Roy: I Storbritannia spiller moskeer en rolle i radikalisering, mens enkelte land, som USA og Italia, har en høyere andel konvertitter.
Ifølge Roy var Khaled Kelkal, en andregenerasjons innvandrer, den første terroristen i Europa som var oppvokst i landet og samtidig begikk terror der, i Frankrike 1995. Før det kom terroristene fra Midtøsten.
Følg Dagsavisen på Facebook og Twitter!
– Ikke politisk opprør
Terror kommer ikke fra radikalisering av islam, men fra en islamisering av radikalisering, mener Roy, som understreker at han ikke mener at jihadistene ikke er muslimer. Men radikal islam spiller ikke en viktig rolle i radikalisering, sier han.
I motsetning til andre eksperter mener han at radikalisering ikke er et politisk opprør mot Vestens intervensjoner i Midtøsten, sionisme og kolonialisme eller uttrykk for solidaritet med palestinerne.
Ungdommene har ingen politisk grunn til å bli med i IS, sier han.
Ingen IS-krigere reiser til Gaza i solidaritet med palestinerne. Og i praksis kjemper IS mot Hizbollah, palestinernes forsvarere og en av Israels verste fiender. Jihadistene har ikke samme sosiale bakgrunn, og vi kan ikke legge skylda på arbeidsledighet og rasisme, sier Roy til Dagsavisen.
I stedet handler det om to ting, mener forskeren:
* IS spiller på en global ungdomskultur som dyrker og forherliger vold og død. De unge søker døden som et mål i seg selv.
* Islam i Vesten blir «avkulturalisert», og det oppstår et identitetsvakuum.
– Foreldrene til jihadistene klarer ikke å overføre «sin islam» fra hjemlandet. Dermed må barna skape sin egen versjon, basert på det som finnes på «markedet». Men fjerner du kultur fra religion, sitter du igjen med vold, sier Roy.
Tredje generasjon innvandrere utgjør en langt lavere andel av jihadistene. Det viser at det er et generasjonsfenomen, mener Roy.
– Integrert
Han mener dårlig integrering ikke er årsaken til at unge i Europa blir jihadister.
– De fleste er født og utdannet i Europa. Disse ungdommene er integrert kulturelt sett, de snakker språket og er integrert i ungdomskulturen, og de tilpasser seg den perfekt. I Frankrike snakker flere av dem bedre fransk enn andre innvandrere.
Svaret finner man i stedet i en global ungdomskultur, sier Roy.
– I dagens ungdomskultur er det en sterk nihilistisk, suicidal og voldelig tendens, som vi har sett siden Columbine-massakren i USA i 1999.
Jihadistene er radikale før de velger seg islam, mener han. IS gir mulighet for å bli «helt» i en voldskultur og bestemme over andres liv og død.
Las Vegas eller IS?
Det er likheter mellom vestlige massedrapsmenn og jihadistene, sier forskeren. De unge mennene som begikk Columbine-massakren annonserte det på nett i forkant, samlet inn våpen og begikk uforståelige handlinger: det var ikke en hevnaksjon mot lærerne, og de drepte egne klassekamerater. Hadde de ikke blitt drept, ville de ha drept seg selv, sier Roy.
– Det er samme modus operandi som drapsmennene i IS og al-Qaida. Forskjellen er at IS-krigeren vil skrive det inn i en fortelling om et globalt opprør, mens Columbine-drapsmennene forblir i en individuell fortelling.
– Er det det samme?
– Ja, men det har ikke samme politiske dimensjon. Gjerningsmannen bak Las Vegas-massakren og piloten i German Wings har drept titalls på titalls av mennesker. Og det eneste spørsmålet er: Har de sagt «Allah akbar»? Har han sagt det, er det et islamsk attentat. Folk sier: alle terrorister er islamske. Selvfølgelig! Fordi vi definerer som terrorisme det som er islamsk: «De som ikke er islamske, er ikke terrorister».
Definisjonen på en terrorist er å handle for en grunn. Hvis det ikke finnes en årsak, er det heller ingen terror, sier Roy.
– Men da går vi glipp av mange former for vold som ligner på terrorisme, og som man «henlegger» som noe individuelt og ikke politisk.
Selv har Roy fått kritikk for å undertone de Gulf-sponsede salafistiske nettverkenes betydning for radikalisering i Vesten, samt Vestens intervensjoner i Midtøsten.
IS-jihadistene er ikke salafister, sier han, fordi salafister ikke tolerer selvmord og regulerer sex strengt, noe IS ikke gjør. IS lokker fremmedkrigerne med sex.
Det gir ikke mening å se IS i en vertikal, historisk linje, fra hva Koranen sier om jihad, via kjente islamister som Hassan al-Banna og Sayiid Qutb i Det muslimske brorskapet og al-Qaida-grunnlegger Osama Bin Laben.
– Det muslimske brorskapet har ingenting å gjøre med IS!
Det nye ved IS, sammenlignet med andre jihad-bevegelser, er at de iscenesetter henrettelsene av ofrene åpenlyst. Her har de mer til felles med narko-geriljaer i Latin-Amerika, som har publisert videoer av henrettelser siden 2000-tallet, sier professoren.
Foreldre i krise
20 prosent av dem som reiser for å kjempe og potensielt bli drept i Syria og Irak, har brutt med familien, ifølge Roy.
– Det fremste eksemplet her, er en ung, veloppdragen og skoleflink jente som konverterer til islam og går i burka, reiser til Syria, gifter seg med en jihadist og får to barn med ham, før han dør, og hun gifter seg med en ny jihadist.
Moren hennes forstår ikke hva som har skjedd. Det gjør heller ingen andre.
– Bare broren hennes forstår.
Det viser at radikaliseringen er et generasjonsfenomen, mener Roy.
Jihadistenes foreldre sliter i møte med egne barn. Mange av dem kom til Vesten som arbeidsinnvandrere med lite utdanning. Det er særlig mange nordafrikanerne blant jihadistene. Ofte snakket foreldrene nordafrikansk dialekt, mens barna snakket fransk. Dette så Roy under sin tid som lærer på en ungdomsskole. Foreldrene klarte ikke å overføre den islam de kjente fra hjemlandet og landsbygda til egne barn. Barna måtte konstruere islam på egen hånd. De søkte en «ren religion». Det ender med en voldelig variant.
Mange ender med å bryte med foreldre, skråsikre på at de hadde rett versjon av islam. De fleste dør under terroren.
– Men de søker ikke en utopi, som den radikale venstresida gjorde på 60- og 70-tallet. De kjemper ikke for en mer rettferdig verden. Svært få av dem driver med humanitært arbeid. De er nihilister. Døden er et mål i seg selv.
Det er IS - og ikke venstresida - som har skapt den største globale opprørsfortellingen i vår tid, mener han. Det har røtter i en ungdomskultur som forskjønner vold, der folk går fra rap til anashid (arabisk vokalmusikk, journ.anm.), sier Roy.
– Britisk politi oppdaget at mange 16-åringer delte og "likte" halshuggingsvideoer publisert av IS på Facebook. Nå er disse sidene heldigvis blokkert. Men de oppdaget at det særlig var unge jenter som gjorde det.
Mot forbud
– Men hvordan skal vi bekjempe radikalisering?
– Vi kan aldri hindre en ungdom i å bli en del av voldelig radikalisering. Men det er et marginalt fenomen. Dette er ikke «opprøret til muslimene i Europa», i motsetning til det Gilles Kepel mener. Han sier at disse unge uttrykker muslimenes utilpasshet. Men det er et farlig fenomen, fordi de dreper. Noen sier at flere dør i trafikken eller alkohol enn av terror. Problemet er følelsen det skaper i befolkningen, sier Roy.
Kepel er Frankrikes andre ledende jihadist-ekspert og Roys akademiske "rival".
Roy mener integreringen fungerer stadig bedre i Frankrike, og en voksende middeklasse av muslimer inntar stadig viktigere samfunnsposisjoner, med unntak av politikken.
Men Frankrike har kastet bort millioner på avradikaliseringsprogrammer. I stedet må imamer få bedre utdanning i vestlige land, og vi må støtte opp om en voksende middelklasse av muslimer i Vesten som driver reformtenkning og religionskritikk, sier professoren. Forbud mot religøse klesplagg er ikke veien å gå, mener han.
Vesten har sluttet å forstå religionens plass i samfunnet, mener Roy. Den religiøse i dag er enten bisarr eller fanatiker.
– Vi svarer med økt sekularisering og forbud mot religiøse uttrykk, som burka, hijab og minareter. Og vi etterspør reform i retning av en mer moderat islam. Det er absurd. Det stemmer ikke at radikal teologi skaper radikal politikk. Og man må slutte å tro at man skal promotere en feministisk og homovennlig islam, som er på moten nå. De religiøse miljøene blir mer konservative fordi de liberale forlater dem.
Når vi jager det religiøse, overlater vi det religiøse til de radikale, som ikke ønsker kompromisser, sier han.
– I stedet ender vi opp med å jage dem som søker kompromisser. Vi må la det religiøse få sin plass. | {
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Finally finds a relatable Redditor... Too socially awkward to actually try to become friends with them.
121 shares | {
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Standards red pill
Similarly to what was said about HTML many years ago, this is where the standards rabbit hole goes:
Living — Standards will be continuously updated to fix bugs and add/remove/refine experimental features.
— Standards will be continuously updated to fix bugs and add/remove/refine experimental features. Public domain — Standards are a public good and should not be held hostage by any organization. Organizations prove themselves on merit, not standards portfolio.
— Standards are a public good and should not be held hostage by any organization. Organizations prove themselves on merit, not standards portfolio. Public development — Everyone has access to the standard and its repository. Everyone can participate in improving it.
— Everyone has access to the standard and its repository. Everyone can participate in improving it. Asynchronous decisions — Decisions are made via an asynchronous medium, such as email, allowing ample opportunity for people all over the world to contribute.
— Decisions are made via an asynchronous medium, such as email, allowing ample opportunity for people all over the world to contribute. Implementor involvement — Without implementors, it is not going anywhere.
Copyright © 2003-2020 Anne van Kesteren | {
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(Bloomberg) — Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu said he wants the U.S. Ambassador to leave the country after the diplomat criticized the African nation for sentencing a gay couple to 15 years of imprisonment for having a consensual relationship.
Read more: What It’s Like to Be Out in Africa
“We have complained officially to the American government, and we are waiting for their response because we don’t want such people in our midst,” Lungu said Sunday in comments broadcast on state-owned ZNBC TV. “We want him gone.”
U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote said last month that he was “personally horrified” after the high court sentenced the two men and called on the government to reconsider laws that punish minority groups.
Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.
Contact us at [email protected]. | {
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PARENTS could let their children change sex without court permission if a landmark legal bid is upheld.
The family of the youngest Australian to receive sex-change therapy is fighting for the decision to be one made between parents and doctors, not the court.
"Jamie", 11, has lived as a girl for years, dressing in female clothing and using the girls' toilets at school.
The court heard she had been diagnosed with gender identity disorder. Her parents said she first identified herself as a girl at age 3.
The Family Court last year approved drug therapy to stop her going through male puberty, but refused to allow later oestrogen treatment.
The parents are appealing against that decision, claiming sex-change treatments should not fall under special medical procedures that courts must approve.
A "public authority" has asked for the right to be heard, arguing the court's role is important and "a potential change in the law may affect not simply Jamie's best interests but the interests of other children with childhood gender identity disorder".
The Australian Human Rights Commission is also involved.
The Full Court of the Family Court agreed both parties should be allowed to appear, saying: "The appeal raises the possibility of a significant change in the law as it now stands and the overturning of many cases."
The Australian Coalition for Equality's Martine Delaney said she could not see why the court had to be involved. "I don't know why it is considered a necessary step," Ms Delaney said.
"You would have to have a hell of a convoluted, strange combination of parents, child and doctor to have a situation where someone was forcing a child into taking those steps.
"I sympathise with the parents on that, in that no parents or doctor is going to make those sort of decisions without a heck of a lot of consideration."
But the Victorian president of the Australian Family Association, Terri Kelleher, said it was a "fraught area" that should be overseen.
"I am just more comfortable thinking there is an independent body, outside those who are very involved in the case, because sometimes your closeness to it maybe doesn't allow you to see the long-term consequences," Ms Kelleher said.
The appeal is due to be heard next month. | {
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* This is guest post written by Adrian Rawlings
Whoever has been tasked with marketing Selena Gomez in Getaway certainly has their work cut out for them. For most of us familiar with her name, we don’t generally associate her with anything other than Disney Channel pop stardom. Much like Hilary Duff, Raven-Symone and Miley Cyrus – Gomez was just another face in a continuous cavalcade of child actors and, really, that’s all we see her as to this day. That’s just how her image has been sold to the consumer and, in a broad sense, it’s how she’s been typecast.
This is largely why people have been skeptical of the Getaway trailer, in which we see co-star, Selena Gomez, attempting to carjack Ethan Hawke’s ride. For those of you who might not be familiar, the premise of Getaway bears a striking resemblance to a failed Fox TV show that went by the name of Drive – a show where various drivers were being forced to race. In Getaway, Hawke is a racecar driver whose wife is kidnapped, forcing him to be the wheelman for unseen villains – one of whom is voiced by Jon Voight.
Needless to say, it’s a pretty dark premise, and it falls on the marketing team to sell us on that. They have to somehow convince us that this is still something to be taken seriously, despite Gomez having star billing.
So how do you do it? How do you go from this:
To this:
How do you reconcile what the public associates with Gomez and what is expected of her character in the film without losing the audience?
1. One method that seems particularly popular is to simply forego appealing to the generation that grew up with her. Most of you reading this might remember her hokey little show about teenage wizards and her eventual music career, but not a lot of younger people might. In that situation, marketing and media masters don’t have to do so much of a song and dance to sell her image in this film.
2. Another method is to simply omit or limit her from some of the marketing materials. Case in point: this trailer for Getaway. Did you see that? She was barely even featured, never directly referenced and there’s no context for her involvement – it’s all Hawke and Voight who, frankly, market themselves just fine.
Irony is also pretty mainstream. There’s no denying that some people are going to watch this film with every intention of seeing Gomez fail miserably. Regardless of intention, those are ticket sales all the same. No such thing as bad publicity, after all.
The point is that image is everything in the entertainment industry. It’s much easier for Gomez to be taken seriously within the context that public consciousness has placed her in – it’s a little harder to sell her doing anything else. Granted, it’s not impossible. Despite what you might say about his current career, Jim Carrey, of all people, managed to pull off some serious roles – Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind were both films where he successfully convinced us he was more than just Ace Ventura. The problem with Gomez, and the problem marketing specialists will have to contend with, is not letting public perception of Gomez sour the overall experience. It probably doesn’t help that what little film work Gomez has under her belt involves things like Spring Breakers, but we shall see.
———————————
Adrian Rawlings is a TV and entertainment blogger. Look to him for the scoop on hit movies and TV shows, sports, tech reviews, how-to’s, and more.
Andrew’s favorite movie of all time is Avatar, his favorite song by Selena Gomez is probably A Year Without Rain and the most memorable product placement is the use of FedEx in the movie Cast Away. | {
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De Correspondent, the Dutch journalism organization which has gained plaudits for its crowdfunded, reader-centric approach to news, aims to launch an English language site in 2019, its co-founder announced on Wednesday.
Rob Wijnberg, who launched de Correspondent following a crowd-funding drive in the Netherlands in 2013, told the Guardian the English-language version, like the Dutch outlet, would focus on “underlying forces in the world that shape our society” rather than the daily news agenda.
Wijnberg and his colleagues need to raise $2.5m by 14 December for the English version – called the Correspondent – to get off the ground. The Correspondent launched its crowdfunding drive on Wednesday, backed by about 150 “ambassadors”, including the Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, the comedian Kamau Bell and the director Judd Apatow.
People will be able to choose what they pay for a year’s access to the Correspondent. The minimum contribution will be a dollar – enough to cover transaction costs – but it is hoped the average will be higher.
“We want to be as inclusive as possible, so we don’t want anybody to be excluded from the platform just because they can’t afford it,” Wijnberg said.
“There’s not really a price to put on something that we hope will be worldwide. Someone in Lagos might have less to spend than somebody in New York, for example. Or there are people who can spend more – or less – in New York as well.”
Wijnberg, a former newspaper editor in the Netherlands, and his co-founder, Ernst Pfauth, have been based in New York City for a year planning the launch, working with media experts and researchers at New York University. If the Correspondent reaches its fundraising goal, it will hire five to six full-time correspondents focussing on specific beats, Wijnberg said. Instead of a traditional office, the Correspondent’s journalists could be based around the globe – wherever their focus may be.
De Correspondent set a crowdfunding goal of 1m euros to launch in the Netherlands in 2013, which it estimated would take 15,000 members to achieve. Instead 19,000 people joined the site – at a cost of €60 each for a year – as Wijnberg and his colleagues raised €1.7m. Five years later, De Correspondent has more than 60,000 members.
One of the ways de Correspondent differs from traditional news sites is in its embrace of reader input and expertise. Wijnberg hopes that approach can break through at a time when “general distrust of the media is common everywhere”. De Correspondent journalists are expected to spend up to 40% of their working time in conversation with members, asking readers for expertise and seeking sources.
“[It’s about] bypassing the spokespeople and going pretty much straight to the teachers and the students and the principals or the doctors and the patients and the nurses,” Wijnberg said.
“The idea basically is if you want to cover structural everyday reality, you have to involve as many people in those realities as possible.” | {
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Attorney General denies congressional request for waterboarding probe RAW STORY
Published: Thursday February 7, 2008
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Print This Email This (Update: CIA director says waterboarding may be illegal) House and Senate Democrats pressed Thursday for the Justice Department to investigate whether U.S. interrogators broke the law when waterboarding al-Qaida detainees the years after 9/11. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, appearing before the House Judiciary Committee, said he would not. "Are you ready to start a criminal investigation into whether this confirmed use of waterboarding by U.S. agents was illegal?" asked committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich. "No, I am not," Mukasey answered bluntly. "Whatever was done as part of a CIA program when it was done, was the subject of a Department of Justice opinion, through Office of Legal Counsel, that was found to be permissible under the law as it existed then," Mukasey said. He said the Justice Department could not investigate or prosecute people for actions that it had earlier authorized. Waterboarding involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his or her cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning. Critics say waterboarding violates the U.N. Convention Against Torture and U.S. laws outlining legal treatment of detainees. The Bush administration earlier this week publicly acknowledged for the first time the harsh interrogation tactic known as waterboarding was used by CIA questioners on three terror suspects in 2002 and 2003. On Wednesday, the White House said waterboarding is legal, has saved American lives and could be used in the future in certain situations. Meanwhile, Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island sent a letter to Mukasey on Thursday also demanding to know whether the attorney general planned an inquiry of interrogators who waterboarded terror suspects. CIA director says waterboarding may be illegal CIA Director Michael Hayden cast doubt on the legality of waterboarding on Thursday, a day after the White House said the harsh interrogation tactic has saved American lives and could be used in the future. Hayden told the House Intelligence Committee that he officially prohibited CIA operatives from using waterboarding in 2006 in the wake of a Supreme Court decision and new laws on the treatment of U.S. detainees. He said the agency has not used waterboarding for "just a few weeks short" of five years. He officially prohibited it from CIA interrogations in 2006. "It is not included in the current program, and in my own view, the view of my lawyers and the Department of Justice, it is not certain that that technique would be considered to be lawful under current statute," Hayden said. Though now legally questionable, Hayden said waterboarding was legal in 2002 and 2003, a time period when the technique was used to interrogate Al-Qaida detainees. "All the techniques that we've used have been deemed to be lawful," he said. Hayden's comments came just hours after Attorney General Michael Mukasey, in a separate House hearing, said the Justice Department would not investigate whether U.S. interrogators broke the law when waterboarding accused terrorists following the Sept. 11 attacks. (with wire reports)
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UPDATE: I’ve gotten a couple more details on T-Mobile’s HTC 10 launch plans. T-Mo will offer the HTC 10 in Glacier Silver, and JUMP! On Demand pricing will be set at $0 down and $28.50 per month.
T-Mobile has been pretty quiet about the HTC 10 ever since HTC’s new Android flagship was announced one month ago, but today T-Mo is finally breaking its silence.
The HTC 10 will launch at T-Mobile on May 18 at a price of $0 down and 24 payments of $28.34, or a full retail price of $679.99. T-Mo is also offering a free HTC Rapid Charger and HTC Ice View Case to anyone that buys the HTC 10 between May 18 and May 24.
The HTC Ice View Case lets you do things like quickly take photos, read texts, adjust volume, and more without lifting the cover of the case. It also supports third-party notifications from the likes of Instagram, Tumblr, and Google+. Meanwhile, the HTC Rapid Charger does exactly what its name suggests, charging the HTC 10 faster than the standard charger. The combined value of these two accessories is $85.
As a refresher, the HTC 10 features a 5.2-inch 2560×1440 Super LCD 5 display and a 5-megapixel camera with OIS on its face, and around back lives a 12-megapixel UltraPixel camera with OIS, laser autofocus, and a dual LED flash. Inside the HTC 10’s metal body lives a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (expandable with a microSD card), and a 3000mAh battery. Also of note is the HTC 10’s new BoomSound configuration, which ditches the dual front-facing speakers found on past HTC flagships and instead uses a tweeter in its earpiece and a woofer at the bottom of the phone.
So now that we finally know when the HTC 10 will be hitting T-Mobile’s shelves, will you be picking one up?
Source: T-Mobile | {
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The administration reached out to European officials in recent days to assure them that Mr. Obama would implement the new legislation as part of their joint efforts to keep Mr. Putin from driving a wedge among the Western nations. European officials are talking about imposing new sanctions in the coming days specifically related to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, but they almost certainly would not go as far as the new American legislation contemplates.
Some analysts said Mr. Obama had little choice but to sign the legislation since Russia has continued to violate the terms of a cease-fire negotiated months ago in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
“Given Russian military resupply of the separatists in Ukraine during the last month, the U.S. had to raise the economic costs to Putin for his outright aggression,” said R. Nicholas Burns, a former diplomat and undersecretary of state under President George W. Bush. “Combined with the collapse of the ruble, sanctions will hit Putin’s government where it is most vulnerable — its very shaky economy.”
But it is not clear how much of the authority granted under the legislation Mr. Obama will invoke. The bill requires the president to impose at least three sanctions from a menu of nine options on Rosoboronexport, the main Russian state arms exporter, and other military companies accused of fostering instability in Ukraine, as well as in Moldova, Georgia and Syria. But it includes a provision allowing him to waive the requirement if he concludes that doing so would be in the nation’s security interest.
The legislation also authorizes the president — but does not require him — to impose sanctions on international companies that invest in certain types of unconventional Russian crude-oil energy projects and to further restrict the export of equipment for use in Russia’s energy sector. And it authorizes the president to bar investment or credit to Gazprom, the Russian state energy giant.
In addition, the legislation authorizes the provision of lethal arms to the Ukraine government, including antitank weapons, tactical surveillance drones and counter-artillery radar. Mr. Obama has resisted sending weaponry to Kiev on the theory that it would only escalate the fighting in eastern Ukraine, so it is not clear whether he will follow through on the authorization.
The measure went beyond only penalties to authorize $10 million in each of the next three fiscal years to counter Russian propaganda in the former Soviet Union and prioritize Russian-language broadcasting in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. And it authorized $20 million in each of the next three years to promote democracy, independent news media, uncensored Internet access and anticorruption efforts in Russia. | {
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In terms of taxonomical diversity the gastropods are second most diverse class of animals on Earth (outnumbered only by the teeming class Insecta of the other great invertebrate phylum Arthropoda). This means that there are some deeply strange arthropods out there. While we traditionally think of gastropods as snails and slugs there are odd subcategories of these creatures, like the subject of today’s post, sea angels (of the clade Gymnosomata).
Sea angels consist of six different families of pelagic marine opisthobranch gastropod molluscs. Gastropods are named for their famous foot (the name means “stomach-foot”–a misnomer since gastropods all have true stomachs elsewhere) however the name is even more inappropriate for sea angels. In these free-smimming predators, the gastropod foot, so familiar to us as seen on snails, has evolved into a pair of delicate wings for swimming through the water. Sea angels are very small: the largest species only reach 5 cm (2 inches) in length and most varieties are much more miniscule. They prey on other tiny creatures swimming among the plankton—particularly other smaller slower species of gelatinous mollusks.
Adult sea angels lack any sort of shell—which they discard when they metamorphose into adulthood. Their feeding apparatuses can be strangely complicated—pseudoarms and tentacles which recall their cousins the cephalopods. Sea angels are numerous in the oceans but some scientists are concerned that the acidification of the world’s oceans will cause substantial problems for the tiny translucent gastropods. | {
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These shoes fit as expected, are comfortable and have been great to run in.
These shoes fit as expected, are comfortable and have been great to run in.
ASICS have been consistent in their fit and great quality for the price.
ASICS have been consistent in their fit and great quality for the price.
I really like these shoes: fit well, very comfortable and so far have been quite durable.
John Einhorn | Fit: True to size | {
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Long-awaited climate change legislation has completed its passage through the Oireachtas, creating statutory obligations to meet emissions targets.
Ten years after the legislation was first published, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill will now be sent to President Michael D Higgins to be signed into law.
Reaction has been mixed with the Government describing it as a landmark moment while some Opposition parties denounced it as a “charade”.
Since 2007, efforts to get the Bill over the line have been hampered by internal political disagreements within two successive governments as well as the impact of the recession. The current Bill – which replaced the Climate Change Targets Bill – was introduced by former minister Phil Hogan with its passage overseen by his successor as Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly.
Roundly criticised
The law has been roundly criticised by environmental organisations and the Opposition for setting no specific long-term targets, particularly for 2050.
In its defence, the Department of the Environment says there will now be a statutory obligation on Ireland to comply with all EU targets set for emissions reductions.
Mr Kelly said this was a historic day for the country and sent an important message that Ireland was playing its role in the fight against global warming.
“The legislation will show that Ireland is taking climate change seriously. We now have very strong legislation that will be in place for many years to come.”
However, the Green Party was scathing in its criticism, describing it as a “charade” and a distraction. Cllr Malcolm Noonan said: “The Bill has no binding targets . . . and is purely aspirational.”
The new law will make Ireland one of only a handful of States in the EU with climate change legislation.
A key element is the establishment of an expert advisory committee, which is already operating informally. A late amendment to the legislation ensures its independence from government.
The Bill will also introduce a statutory basis for parliamentary accountability on climate change, putting an onus on the minister to account to the Dáil each year on what progress has been made in reducing emissions. It also provides for five-yearly National Low Carbon Transition and Mitigation Plans, which set out a plan for how the State will meet its emissions targets, set by policy and by the EU.
Tensions
On a related matter, Mr Kelly and Minister for Communications Alex White have confirmed there are tensions between their departments over the introduction of draft wind energy guidelines.
The guidelines on the size of turbines, their shadow flicker, noise levels and the setback distance from dwellings, were published two years ago but a final decision has yet to be made. | {
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Dead or Alive Xtreme 3's PS VR update will allow you to bury your face into Kasumi's chest Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 was already quite titillating, but we're going to be in some serious trouble when its PlayStation VR update releases.
Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja are welcoming PlayStation VR’s upcoming release with open arms by preparing an update to its widely titillating game, Dead or Alive Xtreme 3.
Some members of the Japanese press, including Famitsu and Gamer, were invited to check out the PS VR update for Dead or Alive Xtreme 3. As you would expect, there was a lot touching, ogling, and manipulation of various body parts.
In Gamer’s video, which can be seen below, we see one games journalist poking and prodding at Kasumi’s body, viewing her at unique angles, and straight up burying his face into her chest. Kasumi reacts to the player’s advances by clutching onto her body, but it’s after numerous pokes and prods.
PlayStation VR will launch in North America on October 13, and judging by Dead or Alive Xtreme 3’s update, we have a feeling the peripheral has just received its killer app. | {
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This week’s brawl is Special Delivery - Ten Tracers, 20 Pulse Pistols, two Cores, but only one victor! Battle it out on our newest Battleground, Hanamura, with a crazy set of custom rules.
Rules:
Everyone is Tracer on our newest Battleground – Hanamura!
Core Health and payload damage is quadrupled, including all empowered damage from destroying enemy fortifications.
Killing an enemy Tracer deals one damage to that team’s Core, while killing blows from directly landing Pulse Bombs deal two.
Pulse Bombs have no delay before exploding.
All players start at Level 10 and have access to all talents.
Tracer starts with the Total Recall level 20 talent.
Capturing the boss deals 10 damage to the enemy core.
Rewards:
Complete two matches of Special Delivery to earn a Rare Loot Chest!
Find out more about the new Heroes Brawl game mode on our Heroes Brawl site; and as always, you can find more information on this week’s Brawl by clicking the Brawl Info button at the bottom of the play screen when preparing to queue for the Brawl game mode. | {
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Coachella 2018 Live Stream (Eminem, Beyonce, The Weeknd, Migos, SZA & More)
Coachella season has returned and most of this year’s performers have opted to live stream their sets. Peep the schedules and tune in below…. | {
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Since 9 years we have trained several students wo are now working in renouned corporations and MNC’s. Web practicals aims at providing practical trainings in the field of digital marketing. Training method includes working on live projects and taking small steps to improve websites presence in online market and measuring improvements on a daily basis. This way you get trained and gain experience at the same time. You understand how to get targeted visitors, increase sales, increase traffic, improve social media following and much more. | {
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The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
Employing his college degree in fiction writing, White House communications strategist Ben Rhodes wrote deceitful talking points on the Benghazi attack and one-sided Iran nuclear deal – and later bragged about manipulating “clueless reporters.” Perhaps he’s also orchestrating administration climate spin.
Rising ocean tides will bring “waves of climate refugees” to America and Europe, President Obama has declared. “Environmental migrants” are already fleeing shrinking islands in the Pacific, and it is a “dereliction of duty” for military officers to “deny the reality” of dangerous manmade climate change.
Even if we act in accord with the Paris climate “accords” (none dare call it a treaty) and “can stem the increase” in global temperatures, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell insists, “very rapid” climate changes “are expected to force the relocation of hundreds of Alaskans from their homes.”
Manmade climate change is a “threat multiplier,” a Pentagon report asserts. It will “exacerbate” many of the challenges the United States faces today, including infectious diseases and terrorism, destructive extreme weather events, disputes over who has rights to dwindling land areas and basic resources like water and food, and intense disagreements over how to absorb millions of climate refugees.
Echo-chamber journalists disagree only over the identity of America’s first climate refugees: Alaskan Natives in Newtok being inundated by rising seas and melting ice and tundra – or 25 Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw families whose little island in the Mississippi Delta has been eroding away since 1950?
Not to be outdone, ultra-liberal radio talk show host Thom Hartmann told me, “You’ve got five million climate change refugees fleeing into Europe right now because of droughts in Syria.” When I called this nonsense and said they are trying to escape war and ISIS butchers who are beheading little children, for the tenth time in a ten-minute interview, he railed that I “should be in jail” as a “climate denier.”
Unfortunately for Rhodes & Company, inconvenient truths eviscerate manmade climate chaos claims.
Throughout Earth and human history, climate change has ranged from regional to hemispheric, from beneficial to harmful to destructive. It has included Roman and medieval warm periods, little ice ages, and five “mammoth” glacial epochs that buried continents under mile-high walls of ice. Natural climate change inflicted a Dust Bowl that sent millions of Americans scurrying in search of better lives, and decades- or centuries-long droughts that brought entire civilizations to their knees.
Roman, Mayan, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Chinese and other cities and cultures prospered in warm periods and collapsed in cold and drought eras, climate historian Dennis Avery observes. This happened “over and over, in a centuries-long rhythm of affluence followed by long success, followed by long and utter failure.” Entire cities in the eastern Mediterranean were abandoned for centuries.
Storm activity rose by 85% in the second half of the 16th century, during the Maunder Sunspot Minimum, while the incidence of severe storms increased four-fold, writes historian Brian Fagan. British Navy logbooks show more than twice as many major land-falling Caribbean hurricanes during the cold decades of the 1700’s as during the warm years of 1950–2000.
Little ice ages and extended droughts brought crop failures and mass starvation, Avery notes. Rome shrank from a million inhabitants in its heyday to barely 30,000 a century later. The Mayan civilization plunged from perhaps 15 million to one million, as its cities were abandoned in a century-long drought.
Climate mood swings in the past 50 years have been far less dramatic than in previous millennia. Few people will have to flee the tiny portion of future climate change that might be attributable to humans.
The Climate Crisis Consortium ignores these eons, millennia and centuries of natural climate change. It wants us to believe Earth’s climate was stable and benign until the Industrial Age – and humans can now control climate and weather merely by controlling carbon dioxide levels. It’s all Hollywood nonsense.
Oceans have risen 400 feet since the last ice age glaciers melted. Pacific islands rose with them, as corals expanded their habitats with every new inch of sea water. Seas are now rising at seven inches per century – and EPA’s anti-coal Clean Power Plan would prevent barely 0.01 inches of rise over the next 100 years.
Greenland’s icecap is shrinking because of subterranean magmatic activity – not global warming. Arctic regions have long experienced warming and cooling cycles, as recorded by Francis McClintock and other whalers and explorers, dating back some 300 years. Polar bear populations are at an all-time high: 25,000.
Antarctic ice masses continue to grow, and the continent’s average annual temperature of minus-55 F means it would have to warm by 88 degrees year-round for that ice to melt. Even Al Gore in his wildest rants doesn’t say that is likely. So his beachfront home is safe from the 20-foot sea rise he has predicted.
Meteorologist Anthony Watts concludes that the only reliable long-term surface record comes from 400 official US rural thermometer stations that were never corrupted by location changes, airport heat or urban growth. Those stations show no significant warming for the past 80 years. The “record warming” we keep hearing about comes from data that have been “adjusted” or “homogenized” (ie, manipulated) upward to conform to computer model projections, IPCC proclamations and White House press releases.
Other studies have concluded there has been no increase in the severity or frequency of thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes or winter blizzards for decades. Indeed, no Category 3-5 hurricane has struck the United States since October 2005 – a record lull that exceeds any hurricane hiatus since at least 1900.
Malaria was common in the USA, Europe and even Siberia until the 1950s, when window screens, DDT and better medical practices wiped it out. It has nothing to do with global warming or climate change. Its continued prevalence is due to incompetent health ministries that refuse to learn from past successes.
The notion that a warmer world with more atmospheric CO2 will bring crop failures and famines is sheer delusion. Higher carbon dioxide levels are actually “greening” the planet and making crops, forests and grasslands grow faster and better. New hybrid and biotech seeds, combined with modern fertilizers and farming practices, are yielding bigger harvests, even during droughts, as India is proving right now.
There is no manmade climate crisis. Solar, galactic and oceanic cycles rule – not carbon dioxide. The biggest threat to agriculture and humans would come from another little ice age, not moderate warming.
In reality, the enormous amounts of energy packed into coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear fuels create the wealth, and power the wondrous technologies, that give us the greatest advantages mankind has ever enjoyed – to survive, adapt to and deal with climate changes and weather events.
The worst thing we could do is lock up that reliable, affordable, compact energy – and switch to expensive, heavily subsidized, wildly unpredictable wind and solar energy … and to biofuels that require millions of acres of land and billions of gallons of precious water.
Those who control energy control lives, livelihoods and living standards. Allowing climate alarmists and anti-energy zealots to dictate what energy sources we can use, and how much each of us is “permitted” to have, would put all of us at the mercy of their unaccountable whims, ideologies and fraudulent science.
Their callous policies are already killing millions of people every year in impoverished nations, by depriving them of the energy and technologies that we take for granted. Do we really want to be next? Shouldn’t we be helping the world’s poor take their rightful places among the healthy and prosperous?
The only “evidence” the alarmists have for a looming climate cataclysm are Al Gore movies, Mike Mann hockey sticks, computer “scenarios” that bear no resemblance to Real World events, and more spin and scare stories from White House novelist Ben Rhodes.
We need a president who will send the Paris climate treaty to the US Senate, where it can be properly vetted and rejected … overturn EPA and other regulations that are based on manipulated data and falsified pseudo-science … and lead the world back from the precipice of climate lunacy. | {
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http://i.imgur.com/YYxG4MA.gif as if I needed more snacks. Great gifts! Perfect snacking for just about everything I could crave!
The best part was the treats for my cat, which was such a sweet surprise! | {
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Listening to the Better Rivals podcast today I heard an intriguing point being brought up by Oscar, the show's host. He mentioned how the 49ers have had some interesting tendencies in their draft strategy of late, most notably taking two guys who had played in the Air Raid offense of Dana Holgorsen.
Holgorsen was the offensive coordinator for Texas Tech when Michael Crabtree played there, then moved on to Oklahoma State and coached Kendall Hunter, both players the 49ers drafted and have used extensively since Jim Harbaugh arrived. The recent additions of Colin Kaepernick and LaMichael James lead one to ask a valid question:
Are the 49ers building a spread-type offense?
Many scoffed at the notion of LaMichael James with his small stature and limited experience running "between the tackles". After all, the 49ers already had a smaller, quick-footed back in Kendall Hunter. Both played in up-tempo spread offenses in their college career and were very successful, but that wasn't the style of the 49ers when these players were drafted.
Colin Kaepernick surprised many 49ers fans when he was taken in the second round of the 2011 draft after the team passed on much higher-profile (and perhaps "pro-ready") quarterbacks like Christian Ponder and Jake Locker. Kaepernick came from a Pistol offense that mixes elements of option and spread to eat up huge chunks of yards at a time...again, not something the 49ers were known for at the time.
This year has seen elements of both the option and some spread offense added to the playbook. Running backs and tight ends are routinely "flexed" out of the formation and split out wide. We've even seen as many as three guys lined up with Kaepernick in the "Q" formation (James calls it the "bug-eye"), a variation of the Pistol known as "full house". Sometimes the players remain in the backfield, other times some or all of them motion wide.
Even guys like Kyle Williams, Mario Manningham and A.J. Jenkins embody the "quick and shifty" type of receivers that would seem to thrive in a spread offense. Perhaps the 49ers apparent aversion toward drafting a big-bodied "deep threat" wide receiver is by design? Maybe they're building the pieces of a spread-style offense year-by-year?
You could even speculate that perhaps that's another big reason why Colin Kaepernick is now the starting QB for the team, in place of Alex Smith who had grown accustomed to playing under center and handing the ball off on inside runs. Smith is certainly athletic, but he's no gazelle like Kaepernick and is far removed from his days in the spread offense.
Brandon Jacobs was brought in to be a big physical running back in 2012 yet was hardly even dressed on game-day and even when he was active, was rarely ever on the field. Perhaps the 49ers had moved far enough away from the offense in which Jacobs would thrive and he was no longer valuable to them. He certainly wasn't happy with this and also wasn't shy about expressing his feelings on the matter, hence his suspension and eventual release.
Whatever the case, this upcoming draft may give us even more clues as to Jim Harbaugh's plans for the 49ers offense. | {
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An example of power corrupting
Brett is currently with ThoughtWorks and he has numerous years of experience across a number of domains and disciplines including Training (from 1985), solution-based consulting (from 1992) and coaching (from 2000). He likes to both develop and train/coach, changing emphasis between the two every 4 – 6 years.
The positive effect modern mocking tools can have on our ability to work with legacy code and the possible negative implications of using those tools.
In Working Effectively with Legacy Code Michael Feathers defines legacy code as code without automated tests. Sometime in 2010 I was introduced to JMockIt and shown how it allows us to write automated tests that seemingly violate the semantics of Java. For example, it is possible to replace a static method during the execution of a test. If I were to use the "old" style suggested by Michael Feathers, I'd do something like introduce an instance delegator to make it possible to write the test I wanted to write. Now, with a modern mocking tool, I could just skip that step. My initial reaction was amazement as I saw this as a way to open up existing code that is hard to test and get something written faster and with less mucking about in existing code.
Fast forward to late 2011 where I was teaching a class in Berlin and asked to give a presentation at a user's group (you can see that talk here). In that video you can see me fuddle about trying to get some legacy code under test using JMockIt and in the end I manage to do so without actually changing the underlying code. What you don't see in the video is that next day in class we take the resulting code and apply more traditional legacy refactoring techniques to it and then rewrite the JMockIt-based test. The results are staggering and I believe they speak for themselves. What follows is that story recreated in full, which much of the fuddling about, I hope, removed.
The Usual Suspects To get started, here is some code for your consideration: public static BigDecimal convertFromTo(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { Map<String, String> symbolToName = currencySymbols(); if (!symbolToName.containsKey(fromCurrency)) throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format( "Invalid from currency: %s", fromCurrency)); if (!symbolToName.containsKey(toCurrency)) throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format( "Invalid to currency: %s", toCurrency)); String url = String.format("http://www.gocurrency.com/v2/dorate.php?inV=1&from=%s&to=%s&Calculate=Convert", toCurrency, fromCurrency); try { HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient(); HttpGet httpget = new HttpGet(url); HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httpget); HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity(); StringBuffer result = new StringBuffer(); if (entity != null) { InputStream instream = entity.getContent(); InputStreamReader irs = new InputStreamReader(instream); BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(irs); String l; while ((l = br.readLine()) != null) { result.append(l); } } String theWholeThing = result.toString(); int start = theWholeThing.lastIndexOf("<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li>"); String substring = result.substring(start); int startOfInterestingStuff = substring.indexOf("<b>") + 3; int endOfIntererestingStuff = substring.indexOf("</b>", startOfInterestingStuff); String interestingStuff = substring.substring( startOfInterestingStuff, endOfIntererestingStuff); String[] parts = interestingStuff.split("="); String value = parts[1].trim().split(" ")[0]; BigDecimal bottom = new BigDecimal(value); return bottom; } catch (Exception e) { throw new RuntimeException(e); } } Ostensibly this code screens scrapes currency conversion information in a rather obtuse way, however the real purpose of this code is to discuss poor coding choices and their effect on our ability to understand, test, and maintain this code. Challenges to Testing Before delving into the method itself, first observe that this is a static method. In Java, C#, C++ (and many other languages), static methods are always bound at compile (or by link) time. What this means is that code calling static methods is directly coupled to those methods. The selection of the method and the calling mechanism are selected too early to easily allow tests to setup an environment in which they can divert to something the test controls. It is possible to call a different static method at runtime using what Michael Feathers calls a "link seam." In the case of Java, you could make sure a different version of the class with the static method is available in the classpath earlier. There is more on this below. Validation The first thing this method does is perform some basic validation. It confirms that the symbols provided as method arguments actually exist. To do this, it calls another method in the same class. Map<String, String> symbolToName = currencySymbols(); if (!symbolToName.containsKey(fromCurrency)) throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format( "Invalid from currency: %s", fromCurrency)); if (!symbolToName.containsKey(toCurrency)) throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format( "Invalid to currency: %s", toCurrency)); Required The method to get the known symbols is static and in the same class. This makes it impossible within the language to simulate it or otherwise not perform validation. While it may seem a good idea to always perform validation, it does increase the testing burden, which makes tests somewhat more fragile as they depend on a larger number of things that could change over time. That is only scratching the surface. It might seem that always testing validation when testing other things makes the checks on validation more thorough, in fact such testing typically represents duplicated rather than deeper testing; it adds bulk without increasing value. All I want to do is verify that parsing is correct. As written, validation and parsing must be done together, in a particular order. That order seems logical; to have input I need valid currencies. However, while that may seem like a necessary constraint, nothing about parsing depends on valid currencies, nor should it. It just cares that the text to parse follows a form, not that part of that form happens to additionally include valid currency symbols. So the validation's business is bleeding unnecessarily into the next step. I'd say this is an example of unnecessary temporal coupling. While parsing does follow validation in time, it should not therefore follow that validation must be required to allow us to verify parsing. A given test knows what it is testing. It knows, for example, if the input it wants to be parsed is valid or not. So forcing validation before parsing is incidental to how the code was written. It is not essential for parsing. This last point is worth emphasizing as it is a common misconception. In my experience, most people would suggest that validation before parsing is essential. In a sense it is; to get some valid input, I need valid currency symbols in the real system. However, for the purpose of testing, I do not need the real system, so the requirement of passing validation is really incidental. If we check that validation works and we check that parsing works, then is there any likelihood that what we've written won't work? I think not and so I don't see the need for a fully-integrated functional test. Someone might disagree with me. On a real project I'd probably write one because the argument would take more time than just writing an automated check. However, breaking things down into smaller and smaller pieces is both an essential skill and it takes years to learn. However, even if you disagree with me on that point, I hope we can agree on is that if I could verify parsing independently from validation, that would make checking things easier. In An Introduction to General Systems Thinking , Weinberg describes the The Square Law of Computation , which you might be more familiar with as "divide an conquer." This code clearly does not follow any such rules and the unnecessary, incidental coupling is going to make things comparatively difficult. Calls currencySymbols() The call of the static method as mentioned is an issue, but more of an issue is that the method in question makes a call out of the system using the HttpClient, so calling it requires an internet connection. This call is necessary, or at least used by, validation. Is the existence of this static method essentially related to other parts of this method or incidentally related? Don't confuse "as written" with "necessary." Traditional Options To address these issues, we could do a number of things: Extract validation to its own class by usingSprout Class, or Extract Class
Make all methods in this class non-static and non private, and use a testing subclass to make testing easier
Use an instance delegator - where the static methods are left but internally they call an instance method on an object These solutions address an underlying language design issue (non-override-able static stuff is how they are designed but not fundamentally necessary, consider Smalltalk, JavaScript, Self, ...). In any case, which one to pick depends on many factors including the starting point, how much existing code currently depends on the class, etc. HttpClient Next, the code reads a web page using the HttpClient: HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient(); HttpGet httpget = new HttpGet(url); HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httpget); HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity(); Directly Uses This code directly uses the HttpClient, and uses new to boot. Inheritance is the highest form of coupling in Java followed closely by calling new . As this code is written, there is no language-defined way to avoid the use of this class. You can use a link seam by testing with a different jar file (or classpath). In a pinch I'll consider doing that, but not if I have access to the code and can change it, or, as we'll see, access to what I'd call fourth generation mocking tool like JMockIt (Java-Open Source), powermock (Java-Open Source) or Isolator.Net (commercial, .Net) Violates Dependency Inversion In this example, the business domain is currency conversion but the business logic directly uses the HttpClient. This is a violation of theDependency Inversion Principle. In this case, if someone wants to get a currency conversion, as the code is written, trying to do so introduces direct, compile-time coupling to a class that needs a connection to the Internet. High-level stuff depends on low-level details. This code will not age as well as an alternative that tends to invert this kind of dependency. Fixing This Problem The options to address this are the same as with validation: introduce an instance method, sprout a class, etc. There's a deeper problem, however. Not only does this code directly depend on a connection to the internet, as we are about to see, it returns HTML, which must be parsed. We care about conversion rates, not parsing HTML, but to get to what we want we have to go through a number of technology layers and after all of that we have to deal with HTML. File I/O The HttpClient makes an InputStream available, which is then read to completion: StringBuffer result = new StringBuffer(); if (entity != null) { InputStream instream = entity.getContent(); InputStreamReader irs = new InputStreamReader(instream); BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(irs); String l; while ((l = br.readLine()) != null) { result.append(l); } } String theWholeThing = result.toString(); Embedded As with the previous sections, this code is directly embedded in the method, making it harder to ignore it. Complexity & Duplication This code is not terribly complex but to know what it is doing, you have to read it. One way to improve communication is to reduce the need for it and the same can be said for code. As this code is written, you have to read it to understand it. If this were in its own method or class, with a good name, it might be easier to pass over. Since we tend to read code more than write it, anything we can do to reduce the need to read code is time well invested in the life of a project. Required to get through the method This code is embedded and as written, it must be executed every time to exercise the code. This is another example of temporal coupling. As hinted to in the previous section, if this were organized in a way that made it possible to better understand it, then it might also be easier to get rid of it when the thing we are trying to check is not directly related to reading the contents of a stream. Parsing Now that the stream has been converted into a string, it's time to parse the results: int start = theWholeThing.lastIndexOf("<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li>"); String substring = result.substring(start); int startOfInterestingStuff = substring.indexOf("<b>") + 3; int endOfIntererestingStuff = substring.indexOf("</b>", startOfInterestingStuff); String interestingStuff = substring.substring( startOfInterestingStuff, endOfIntererestingStuff); String[] parts = interestingStuff.split("="); String value = parts[1].trim().split(" ")[0]; Third verse same as the first... At this point you might notice that I'm sounding like a skipping record. This code has all of the issues mentioned above: it must be executed as written, it violates dependency inversion, it must be read to be understood. SRP Violation This method is a classic demonstration of violating the Single Responsibility Principle. It does many different things, each of which have different reasons to change at different times. In fact, in the original form of this method, I was hitting one web site, which became unavailable, so I had to change it to another site to get the information I wanted. This broke things in several places, speaking towards the issues with violation of SRP and DIP. Not only did I need to hit a different location (HttpStuff), I was getting back different HTML (parsing) and I had to for a different URL (Http stuff again).
Diving In Modern mocking tools make most of the things I mention above irrelevant; at least on the surface. Rather than try to fix these things in the production code first, let's dive in by trying to get this method executing via an automated unit test. Getting setup - exercise the code One place to start is to simply try to execute the code in question with either null arguments or "reasonable" values. Since the domain is currency conversion, and the method takes in two currencies, that seems like a reasonable starting place. Here is the beginning of an automated unit test to simply exercise the code. My goal is to get through the method. One note, while this code will run with a live internet connection, I've turned off my connection while writing this test to make sure I do not require a live internet connection for my test to work: @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_v1() { CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); } This works if the network is enabled, but if not, the code generates a java.net.UnknownHostException . However, the actual place where it happens is in the method CurrencyConversion.currencySymbols , and not in the method we care about. Using older tools, this is a bit of work, not so with our tool of choice for this article: JMockIt Getting past validation Here is a second version of the test that gets past the first exception: @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_v2() { new NonStrictExpectations(CurrencyConversion.class) { { CurrencyConversion.currencySymbols(); result = mapFrom("USD", "EUR"); } }; CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); } private Map<String, String> mapFrom(String... keyValuePairs) { Map<String, String> result = new ConcurrentHashMap<String, String>(); for (int i = 0; i < keyValuePairs.length; ++i) result.put(keyValuePairs[i], keyValuePairs[i]); return result; } Running this, the same exception is thrown, UnknownHostException , but the exception is now in the method under test rather than a called method. That's an improvement. This allows the code to get past validation, but how? new NonStrictExpectations(CurrencyConversion.class) { { CurrencyConversion.currencySymbols(); result = mapFrom("USD", "EUR"); } }; Notice the creation of an anonymous inner class using NonStrictExpectations? This form tells JMockIt to do something with the CurrencyConversion class (replace a static method in this case). The code in the inner set of {} is a standard Java instance initializer. Code executed in that instance initializer tells JMockIt to replace the method executed, currencySymbols. This is an example of a partial mocking of the class; we replace one of the methods in the class such that any time it is called, it returns whatever is assigned to the inherited field "result". This involve some black magic. JMockIt is doing some Java bytecode magic and this code uses the JMockIt DSL to make this happen. Making this work involves adding the JMockIt jar file into the classpath. If you make sure it is listed before JUnit's jar file, that's enough to make this happen. JMockIt uses a JavaAgent registered in its MANIFEST.MF file to make this all automatic. Dealing with the client Now the code is failing on the part of the code that tries to read a webpage: HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient(); HttpGet httpget = new HttpGet(url); HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httpget); HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity(); This code is a bit more complex since it is embedded in the method, but we can get past this problem. However, to do so will be a bit more work: The first two lines call new . We need to make those uses of the new operator return a class under our control.
. We need to make those uses of the new operator return a class under our control. The next line calls the execute method on an HttpClient , so we'll need to get that under control.
method on an , so we'll need to get that under control. The last line calls the getEntity method on an HttpResponse , which was the return value from the previous line, so this is much more involved overall. Here is one way to take care of these three issues in one fell swoop: new NonStrictExpectations() { DefaultHttpClient httpclient; HttpResponse response; HttpEntity entity; { httpclient.execute((HttpUriRequest) any); result = response; response.getEntity(); result = entity; entity.getContent(); result = bais; } }; In this use of NonStrictExpectations, there is no parameter passed in on the first line, meaning we are working with instances in some way rather than static stuff. This anonymous inner class has three fields: DefaultHttpClient, HttpResponse, HttpEntity. Those classes are wholly replaced in the Java classloader for this test only. This means, for example, calling new DefaultHttpClient will return an instance of the JMockIt-created class rather than the version found in the HttpClient jar. This is an example of what I call a dynamic link seam. It's a link seam like Michael Feathers discusses in his book, which is normally accomplished with build script/file magic. However, unlike using build scripts, this is using a library, which makes it available to Java code "within" the language, rather than outside of the language. This code replaces those three classes but with what? The HttpClient.execute method will always return response, which is an instance of the JMockIt-created HttpResponse subclass.
method will always return response, which is an instance of the JMockIt-created HttpResponse subclass. The HttpResponse.getEntity method will always return entity, which is an instance of the JMockIt-created HttpEntity subclass.
method will always return entity, which is an instance of the JMockIt-created HttpEntity subclass. The HttpEntity.getContent method will always return "bais", which we will see in the next section. Make no mistake, this is powerful stuff. In fact, I have a personal rule of thumb: If I think something is cool, then it may not be appropriate for real development. JMockIt makes my "cool spider senses" tingle on overdrive. Handling File I/O The underlying code needs the contents of a stream. To create this, the test uses some standard Java magic to make an in-memory stream: final ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream( "<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li><b>1 USD = 0.98 EUR</b>" .getBytes()); This creates an in-memory ByteArrayInputStream from a string. How did I know what to put in the string? I had to reverse-engineer the underlying code. Even so, this makes the code execute. Putting it together Here is the test as a single method rather than broken up as it has been so far: @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_v3() throws Exception { final ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream( "<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li><b>1 USD = 0.98 EUR</b>" .getBytes()); new NonStrictExpectations() { DefaultHttpClient httpclient; HttpResponse response; HttpEntity entity; { httpclient.execute((HttpUriRequest) any); result = response; response.getEntity(); result = entity; entity.getContent(); result = bais; } }; new NonStrictExpectations(CurrencyConversion.class) { { CurrencyConversion.currencySymbols(); result = mapFrom("USD", "EUR"); } }; BigDecimal result = CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); assertThat(result.subtract(new BigDecimal(2)), is(lessThanOrEqualTo(new BigDecimal(0.001)))); } On the one hand, this is pretty impressive. We've managed to exercise the code end-to-end without touching it. If we want to write something that uses this class, we now have a way to do it. Often, before trying to touch some code, we need to get it under test so we know if we broke anything after making changes. This is calledCharacterization Testing. Poorly written code like this typically makes doing so very hard. While it is still hard, at least we are able to do so without touching the production code. Having characterization tests around code makes refactoring safer. So we're done, right? Wrong.
Going Old School We've addressed the symptom, not the cause Notice that JMockIt made it possible to accomplish near black magic, but can we do better? If we try, will the time invested be worth the effort? In this section we start with the same method and make a few so-called legacy refactorings to the code to make it testable using more traditional tools, hand-rolled test doubles in this case. Then we'll compare, make an observation and then look at what would become possible. Introduce instance delegator A typical problem with static methods is they cannot be overridden. To fix this, we might simply make the class use all instance methods instead. However, let's assume for this example that we need to maintain backwards compatibility so we need to keep the static methods in place (in my experience this is not contrived). While I might try to do this test-first, in fact, I have an existing JMockIt test, so instead I'm going to simply make the necessary changes. I'll do this by copying CurrencyConversion into a new package with the name v2 added to it (the source for this blog is generated from source code, so I need to keep the original version around). To introduce an instance delegator: Introduce a static instance of the class.
Copy the static methods into instance methods (you'll need to create new method names as static methods and instance methods cannot have the same name and signature).
Change the static methods to call the instance methods on the internal static instance. Here's one way to do that (the lazy initialization of the internal instance is deliberate and if you're concerned about threading issues, we could use double-checked locking or just make the method synchronized): private static CurrencyConversion instance; private static CurrencyConversion getInstance() { if (instance == null) { instance = new CurrencyConversion(); } return instance; } public static BigDecimal convertFromTo(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { return getInstance().convert(fromCurrency, toCurrency); } public static Map<String, String> currencySymbols() { return getInstance().getAllCurrencySymbols(); } Extract a few methods There are several opportunities to extract some methods, so here's a version of v2/CurrencyConversion after a few method extractions: public BigDecimal convert(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { validateCurrencies(fromCurrency, toCurrency); try { String result = getPage(fromCurrency, toCurrency); String value = extractToValue(result); return new BigDecimal(value); } catch (Exception e) { throw new RuntimeException(e); } } protected void validateCurrencies(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { Map<String, String> symbolToName = currencySymbols(); if (!symbolToName.containsKey(fromCurrency)) throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format( "Invalid from currency: %s", fromCurrency)); if (!symbolToName.containsKey(toCurrency)) throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format( "Invalid to currency: %s", toCurrency)); } protected String extractToValue(String result) { String theWholeThing = result; int start = theWholeThing.lastIndexOf("<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li>"); String substring = result.substring(start); int startOfInterestingStuff = substring.indexOf("<b>") + 3; int endOfIntererestingStuff = substring.indexOf("</b>", startOfInterestingStuff); String interestingStuff = substring.substring( startOfInterestingStuff, endOfIntererestingStuff); String[] parts = interestingStuff.split("="); return parts[1].trim().split(" ")[0]; } protected String getPage(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) throws URISyntaxException, IOException, HttpException { String url = String.format("http://www.gocurrency.com/v2/dorate.php?inV=1&from=%s&to=%s&Calculate=Convert", toCurrency, fromCurrency); HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient(); HttpGet httpget = new HttpGet(url); HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httpget); HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity(); StringBuffer result = new StringBuffer(); if (entity != null) { InputStream instream = entity.getContent(); InputStreamReader irs = new InputStreamReader(instream); BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(irs); String l; while ((l = br.readLine()) != null) { result.append(l); } } return result.toString(); } Here is a version of the last test targeting this class (the one in the v2 package). This test passes: @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_v4() throws Exception { final ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream( "<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li><b>1 USD = 0.98 EUR</b>" .getBytes()); new NonStrictExpectations() { DefaultHttpClient httpclient; HttpResponse response; HttpEntity entity; { httpclient.execute((HttpUriRequest) any); result = response; response.getEntity(); result = entity; entity.getContent(); result = bais; } }; new NonStrictExpectations(CurrencyConversion.class) { { CurrencyConversion.currencySymbols(); result = mapFrom("USD", "EUR"); } }; BigDecimal result = CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); assertThat(result.subtract(new BigDecimal(2)), is(lessThanOrEqualTo(new BigDecimal(0.001)))); } Testing subclass Now I'll rewrite this test using hand-written test doubles instead JMockIt. Rather than show all of the intermediate steps, I'll just show a final result: class CurrencyConversion2_testingSubclass extends CurrencyConversion { @Override public void validateCurrencies(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { } @Override public Map<String, String> getAllCurrencySymbols() { return mapFrom("USD", "EUR"); } @Override public String getPage(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { return "<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li><b>1 USD = 0.98 EUR</b>"; } } @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_v5() throws Exception { CurrencyConversion original = CurrencyConversion.reset(new CurrencyConversion2_testingSubclass()); BigDecimal result = CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); assertThat(result.subtract(new BigDecimal(2)), is(lessThanOrEqualTo(new BigDecimal(0.001)))); CurrencyConversion.reset(original); } This test produces the same result as the JMockIt test doing much of the work by hand. Note, to make this possible, we need to allow for the new-created Singleton class to be set and reset: public static CurrencyConversion reset(CurrencyConversion other) { CurrencyConversion original = instance; instance = other; return original; }
Observations Actual amount of time to do this This technique of introducing an instance delegator, with an override-able static singleton and several extracted methods might seem like quite a bit. In practice this kind of change is quick. How quick? For this example, it took me 3 minutes using IntelliJ. Eclipse would have taken the same amount of time. In vi, maybe 1 minute (ok, maybe not, but I do use a vi plugin in Eclipse, IntelliJ and even Visual Studio). In any case, once you've practiced this, it's quick. We could have avoided much of this if the class had not used all static methods to begin with, but that's a common problem so knowing how to handle it is a good general technique to know. Yes, but... A common concern raised is what about making all of those extracted methods protected? It does not bother me because I believe test-ability is more important than design. That's actually a false dichotomy but it sounds controversial so I like to say it anyway. In fact, many of these "protected methods" are complex enough to warrant individual classes. Next, introduce dependency inversion and suddenly I'm wiring in dependent objects that are under my control, with override-able methods and checking individual parts of this overall flow become a snap. Divide and conquer. First test versus second test Here are the two tests again, for comparison: Using JMockIt @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_v4() throws Exception { final ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream( "<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li><b>1 USD = 0.98 EUR</b>" .getBytes()); new NonStrictExpectations() { DefaultHttpClient httpclient; HttpResponse response; HttpEntity entity; { httpclient.execute((HttpUriRequest) any); result = response; response.getEntity(); result = entity; entity.getContent(); result = bais; } }; new NonStrictExpectations(CurrencyConversion.class) { { CurrencyConversion.currencySymbols(); result = mapFrom("USD", "EUR"); } }; BigDecimal result = CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); assertThat(result.subtract(new BigDecimal(2)), is(lessThanOrEqualTo(new BigDecimal(0.001)))); } Using Hand-rolled mocks and Refactoring class CurrencyConversion2_testingSubclass extends CurrencyConversion { @Override public void validateCurrencies(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { } @Override public Map<String, String> getAllCurrencySymbols() { return mapFrom("USD", "EUR"); } @Override public String getPage(String fromCurrency, String toCurrency) { return "<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li><b>1 USD = 0.98 EUR</b>"; } } @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_v5() throws Exception { CurrencyConversion original = CurrencyConversion.reset(new CurrencyConversion2_testingSubclass()); BigDecimal result = CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); assertThat(result.subtract(new BigDecimal(2)), is(lessThanOrEqualTo(new BigDecimal(0.001)))); CurrencyConversion.reset(original); } If you have to support test code, which version do you prefer? Wait, don't answer yet. First test still passes I want to reiterate that even though I made several changes to the production code, the JMockIt test still passes. That's pretty interesting to me. In fact, if you think in terms of how JMockIt manipulates the classloader, it makes sense. Even so, it's still pretty cool. What if we try with JMockIt again Why stop here? What happens if we take the time to rewrite the JMockIt test taking into consideration the changes made to the production code? @Test public void returnExpectedConversion_final() throws Exception { new NonStrictExpectations(CurrencyConversion.class) { CurrencyConversion c; { c.validateCurrencies(anyString, anyString); c.getPage(anyString, anyString); result = "<div id=\"converter_results\"><ul><li><b>1 USD = 0.98 EUR</b>"; } }; BigDecimal result = CurrencyConversion.convertFromTo("USD", "EUR"); assertThat(result.subtract(new BigDecimal(2)), is(lessThanOrEqualTo(new BigDecimal(0.001)))); } Now which one do you want to maintain? Notice, a little bit of refactoring makes the final JMockIt test much better. In fact, the amount of refactoring required to write this version of the test is smaller than the amount I did refactor. Simply extracting methods would have been enough to greatly improve the JMockIt test. Notice, however, that JMockIt did not force this. Not using a mocking tool or using a tool like Mockito would have forced me to do some amount of refactoring to get this class under test.
Closing the Feedback Loop What happens when people workopen loop? That is, you write some code and then tools like JMockIt make it possible to go back in and write tests after the fact without having to suffer for poor decisions? I ask because this example demonstrates such a situation. The original code is a mess, JMockIt allowed me to write a characterization test to exercise the code. That is great. It did not, however, force me to address the original problem. In a sense, it also allowed me to avoid the pain associated with having to fix a mess. If we take away the powerful tool, then we have to clean up the mess to get a test written. Notice when we did clean up the code, it's still a mess but it's better than it was and the refactored code suggests other improvements as well. Also, maybe the next time someone is writing code they might have learned something and maybe, just maybe, they will not make the same mistake again, or at least not as often. While not direclty related, here is a great article to read that relates to this idea of feedback: Secrets of a Mind-Gamer by Joshua Foer . One of the things discussed in this article is what it takes to improve a skill: failure. That is, we need to make mistakes and then learn from those mistakes. What happens when tools allow us to not learn from our mistakes? I'm concerned that powerful tools might loosen or remove the pain associated with failure, which will lead to stagnation. If we are not always striving to make new stupid mistakes, then we aren't really learning, right? | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Верховна Рада прийняла закон, який дозволить розпочати процес заочного засудження екс-диктатора Віктора Януковича . , який переховується в Росії від українського правосуддя. Про це із залу засідань парламенту повідомляє кореспондент LIGA.net За зміни до Кримінального процесуального кодексу України щодо удосконалення механізмів забезпечення завдань кримінального провадження №5610 в цілому проголосували 252 депутати.
Перед голосуванням генпрокурор Юрій Луценко повідомив, що при підготовці проекту до другого читання з нього прибрали всі спірні норми , за якими були зауваження у депутатів, правозахисників і європейських партнерів."Але сьогодні в залі і вчора на комітеті виникло ще одне запитання, до якого можуть бути різні підходи. Чи можна укладати угоди при розслідуванні діяльності терористичних організацій? З одного боку, жінка-навідниця може здати керівників терористичної організації, які їй відомі, і суд може закріпити цю угоду (про визнання провини між прокурором і підозрюваним -. З іншого боку, в суспільстві ще не пройшла дискусія з цього приводу. Тому я пропоную проголосувати за цей закон... прибравши слова "терористичні організації", - сказав він.Генпрокурор зазначив, що ця позиція після дискусії може бути врегульована окремим законом.Луценко також нагадав, що закон дозволить почати розгляд в судах 190 проваджень в порядку заочного засудження "Включаючи екс-президента Януковича, включаючи десятки - а будуть сотні - зрадників Криму, включаючи 20 генералів РФ і міністра оборони РФ", - сказав він.
Читайте также: Слухання справи про держзраду Януковича може стартувати вже в березні
28 листопада 2016 року Луценко оголосив повідомлення про підозру Януковичу в державній зраді . 15 грудня суд дозволив затримати Януковича і доставити його в суд , а 20 січня суд дав дозвіл на заочне розслідування проти екс - диктатора . 30 січня 2017 року ГПУ
завершила досудове розслідування за підозрою Януковича в зраді .
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Soccer teams Manchester United and Arsenal are among groups supporting a new campaign in Britain timed to coincide with a report showing an increase in hate crimes against LGBT people.
The rights group Stonewall started its Come Out for LGBT campaign as part of a public awareness effort aimed to mobilize allies and show that LGBT people still face hatred.
New research from the UK's leading charity for LGBT equality shows abuse and attacks have rocketed by 78% in the last five years. The report from Stonewall found that 21% of LGBT people faced hate crime about their sexual orientation and/or gender in the last year. Four in 10 transgender people experienced hate crime in relation to their gender in the last year.
Even something as simple as holding hands is fraught with peril for many. “Overall, 38% of respondents said they felt scared to hold hands with a partner in public, with the figure rising to 58% among gay men specifically.”
Come Out for LGBT features British celebrities, regular people and organizations who pledge to stand up for LGBT rights. Among them are Manchester United and Arsenal of the Premier League, both which showed their support on Instagram. There are no openly gay players in the Premier League.
Arsenal is for everyone – and we’re proud to support @stonewalluk’s #ComeOutForLGBT campaign in the fight for equality #ArsenalForEveryone A post shared by Arsenal Official (@arsenal) on Sep 8, 2017 at 2:16am PDT
We’re proud to support @stonewalluk's #ComeOutForLGBT campaign in the fight for equality. #allredallequal A post shared by Manchester United (@manchesterunited) on Sep 7, 2017 at 5:55am PDT
In addition to these two teams, other soccer and rugby clubs and athletes have also joined the cause. | {
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Each year WWE, and THQ team up to put out a new Smackdown Vs. Raw, and this year is no different. WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 has now been revealed, and we have the first trailer. Check out the trailer after the jump. | {
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The EU’s plan to expand its External Investment Plan to finance development projects is not backed up by evidence, writes María José Romero and Isabelle Brachet.
María José Romero is Policy and Advocacy Manager at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eroded). Isabelle Brachet is ActionAid International EU Advocacy Advisor.
In recent years, the EU has come to regard investments by the private sector as the silver bullet when it comes to financing development projects. The latest indication of this is the European Commission’s plan to expand the €4 billion European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) as it prepares the proposal for the next EU budget.
The EFSD is a central pillar of the External Investment Plan (EIP), and it aims to support private investments in Africa and countries around the EU border. But so far there is not enough evidence to suggest that relying on private investments is the best way of reducing poverty or inequality. And there are concerns that it may, in fact, benefit private investors far more than the world’s poorest. Why, then, is the EC considering the expansion of the EFSD?
Civil society organisations across Europe agree that the private sector has an important role to play in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But governments should put in place the right framework of legislation, regulation and incentives, to make sure commercial considerations are not to the detriment of sustainability and human rights, and that private investors proactively contribute to poverty alleviation and broader development goals such as gender equality.
We do not believe that the EU should divert increasing amounts of scarce Official Development Assistance (ODA) away from vital services that benefit poor communities without proof that using it to subsidise private investments is actually having a positive impact on people living in poverty. What the EU and its member states should do instead, is to ensure their development interventions do not further exacerbate inequalities. They should also change European policies that hamper development. This would include, for example: tackling tax avoidance by European companies that deprive developing countries of resources they need; capping the scandalous fees charged by the money-transfer industry on migrants’ remittances; and stopping the promotion of massive exports of our agricultural products to the detriment of local food systems and food supply chains in Europe and in the Global South.
We already know about many problems that are caused by the use of ODA to encourage private investment. Firstly, when aid is used to subsidise the European private sector, there is a risk that companies in Europe – rather than people living in poverty – will be the biggest beneficiaries. Rigorous safeguards need to be in place to prevent this. Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) shows that a large share of aid already flows back to companies based in donor countries. In the case where ODA is used to ‘leverage’ private finance i.e. subsidise private investments – the risk of aid being used to offer hidden support to donor country companies is even greater, due to the complexity of the transactions involved. As yet, the OECD DAC has not agreed on safeguards to stop this from happening.
Secondly, an evaluation of European Union blending projects (the trend of using ODA to subsidise loans from public finance institutions or commercial lenders) between 2007 and 2014 found that the design and implementation of these generally did not have strong pro-poor dimensions and “gender was rarely targeted”. What’s more, the same evaluation found that in almost half of the cases examined, there was no clear reason for using blending rather than traditional development cooperation. Moreover, encouraging private companies to invest in public services like health and education – which the EC has not ruled out – may further exacerbate inequality, with the imposition of fees eroding universal access, for example.
Thirdly, if aid has to be used to support private companies rather than the non-profit and public sectors, the focus should be on inclusive business models structured to serve local workers and entrepreneurs and the wider communities in developing countries, such as social enterprises and cooperatives. Domestic micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) could also be supported, in line with national development and industrialisation strategies rather than backing multinationals and global value chains. This guarantees that the long-term benefits of investment will reach the women, men and youth of countries in the Global South, instead of corporates in the North.
Finally, a poorly regulated financial sector has been a major contributor to widening economic, social and political inequality and wealth concentration. It is therefore paradoxical to count on the same actors to improve the livelihoods of people living in poverty without appropriate regulation in place. Increasing inequalities results in stark disparities in access to health, education, and housing and hampers people’s equal access to justice and to political participation. Inequality is also an obstacle to global stability.
Instead of expanding the EFSD to cover more regions and involve larger amounts, our governments and MEPs should ensure that ODA is used for what it is intended. Its effectiveness should be measured by its contribution to improving people’s lives in developing countries and those very people should be in the driving seat to define their needs and aspirations. | {
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It’s Tuesday O’Clock! Time for a deck tech!
If you would like to see this deck in action, I’ll be streaming it on Arena at 12 pm MST October 20th at www.twitch.tv/TuesdayTastic.
Guilds of Ravnica Standard has been shaping up to be one of the coolest standard formats in a very long time. One of the decks that popped up in a recent 5-0 list was, surprisingly, elf tribal. The list looked odd at first, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. Elves have had a lot of powerful cards printed for the tribe in the past few sets. Cards such as Steel Leaf Champion and Thorn Lieutenant are both seeing play purely because of how strong they are individually. How many cards are there that support this archetype, and is it even worth attempting elf tribal? Let’s find out!
Starting off with one of the most iconic cards in Magic we have Llanowar Elves. This unassuming common was once deemed to be too powerful for standard, but is currently on probation. Llanowar Elves is one of the main reasons to be playing green this season, and our deck is no exception. Elves are all about accelerating their mana as early as possible and nothing does it as well as a turn 1 dork. Other forms of acceleration include Marwyn, the Nurturer, Growing Rites of Itlimoc, and Druid of the Cowl. Having a critical mass of mana allows us to get away with playing far fewer lands than we should, and allows us to cast huge haymaker spells such as Beast Whisperer and Vanquisher’s Banner.
Beast Whisperer and Vanquisher’s Banner are notable cards for the elf archetype thanks to the simple keyword of “whenever you cast a creature spell, draw a card”. Elves are infamous for generating far more mana than they have any right to, and being able to effectively use that mana is key to getting the most of the tribe. Legacy elf players have access to the card Glimpse of Nature, a one mana version of this effect, and it is capable of winning the game as early as turn 2. While Vanquisher’s Banner and Beast Whisperer pale in comparison to Glimpse of Nature, the effect is still incredibly powerful 14 years later. Beast Whisperer and Vanquisher’s Banner are pretty similar to Experimental Frenzy, in that if you can untap with it in play, you are likely to win the game.
The cards we are drawing aren’t exactly mopey either. Elves have been blessed with a plethora of good rares in the past few sets, leading to cards such as Steel Leaf Champion, Thorn Lieutenant, and Pelt Collector. All of these cards are powerful in their own right and only become more dangerous when put into a synergistic shell. Putting this much beef on the battlefield leads us to our next card, which while not an elf, is still a respected member of the jungle. Ghalta, Primal Hunger is a natural fit in this style of deck and aims to diversify the way this deck attacks the opponent.
Elves is looking to be the next breakout deck of this standard. While it’s contemporary in Mono-Green Stompy was unable to find a place, elves looks to be on the verge of success. Finding the right balance of synergistic cards and powerful spells is key to the success of any deck in standard, and elves has both fronts covered exceptionally well. Thank you all for reading, I hope you have a great week and an amazing Tuesday!
Link to Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1407486#paper
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Uruguay captain Diego Godin has said that in South America Lionel Messi is marked differently and joked that in Spain players "take photos" with the Barcelona star before playing matches.
EFE
"It's different in South America. There they mark him a lot more. Sometimes we mess around, among teammates, and we say: In Spain before playing the games they take a photo with him, a little joke, but it's the truth," the Atletico Madrid defender said in an interview with Teledoce.
"[In South America], what I see is that people compete a lot more and they mark him a lot more as well. Messi, in truth, plays differently with Argentina than with Barcelona," he added.
In this sense, Atletico's centre-back said that at Barcelona Messi is more "isolated up front" which allows him to "rest more" and means that "when he grabs the ball he is closer to the area and is able to unbalance opponents when he is left one on one.
"[With Argentina] he has to come deeper and he has to break through two lines of players instead of just one, so it is more complicated. The pitches are different, too. It's an accumulation of things that mean Messi's numbers with Barça don't translate to the national team." | {
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Calling Haskell from Lua and Lua from Haskell
April 27, 2014 - Tagged as: haskell, en, lua, hslua.
TL;DR: It’s possible to call Haskell functions from Lua and Lua function from Haskell using hslua. “Callbacks” example in hslua repository shows how to do this.
UPDATE: Also see the follow-up post here.
hslua provides Lua 5.1 C API to the programmer, and using it we can call Lua functions from Haskell and Haskell functions from Lua. In this post, I’m going to give two example Lua function implementations in Haskell. This functions will be mapped to a global name in Lua and one of them will be getting Lua functions as it’s arguments.
Two ways of writing Lua functions in Haskell
There are two ways of writing Lua functions in Haskell using hslua. First is the high-level method, where the Haskell function is just any function, provided that it’s type is an instance of LuaImport (we’ll come to this later). Second method is what I’d like to call the raw Haskell function method. Raw Haskell functions should have the type LuaState -> IO CInt , where LuaState is Lua interpreter state provided by hslua and return type CInt represents the amount of return values(e.g. values that are left on the stack by this function). In raw functions, you need to do Lua stack manipulation using standard Lua 5.1 API.
While first method gives you a nice, abstracted way of writing Lua functions in Haskell, raw function method gives you the maximum amount of flexibility that Lua can provide. First method has lots of limitations when compared with raw method.
Higher-level Haskell functions in Lua
In first method all you have to do is to write a Haskell function with it’s type is an instance of LuaImport . So let’s see what types are instances:
instance ( StackValue a) => LuaImport ( IO a) where instance ( StackValue a, LuaImport b) => LuaImport (a -> b)
So basically every function type where it’s argument types are instances of StackValue and return type is IO a where a is also an instance of StackValue is an instance of LuaImport and thus can be used in this higher-level method of writing Lua functions in Haskell. Let’s see which types are StackValue s:
instance StackValue LuaInteger instance StackValue LuaNumber instance StackValue Int instance StackValue Double instance StackValue String instance StackValue Bool instance StackValue ( FunPtr LuaCFunction ) instance StackValue ( Ptr a) instance StackValue LuaState instance StackValue ()
We have basic Haskell types Int , Double , String , and Bool as instances. Other types are for more advanced use, for example, Ptr a is used for userdata (basically any binary data that you want to pass to Lua stack and later get back, see reference manual for more details).
This two functions are instances of LuaImport :
concat' :: String -> String -> IO String concat' s1 s2 = return $ s1 ++ s2 pow :: Double -> Double -> IO Double pow d1 d2 = return $ d1 ** d2
And we can push this functions to Lua stack using pushhsfunction or directly assign them to a global variable using registerhsfunction . In this post I’ll use register functions:
import Scripting.Lua as Lua main :: IO () main = do l <- newstate openlibs l registerhsfunction l "concat" concat' registerhsfunction l "pow" pow loadfile l "haskellfun.lua" call l 0 0 close l
With 11 lines of code, we can create a Lua state and map this Haskell functions to some names and call them from Lua. This program runs Lua file haskellfun.lua , which you can see in examples folder of hslua repository.
Apart from the simplicity, another good thing about this method is that it handles type checking of Lua values automatically. Internally, this functions are wrapped with another function which gets LuaState as parameter and collects Lua values from stack, checks their types(and throws error in case of a type mismatch), and push return value of the function to the Lua stack again. Here’s an example call with wrong type of values:
print(pow("wrong")) ... bad argument #1 to '?' (number expected, got string)
Major limitation of this method is that you can only get basic Lua types from the Lua stack. For example, you can’t get a Lua table automatically like you get a Lua string. This because Lua needs to keep track of tables and some other values for garbage collection.
Working on more complex Lua types and the registry
The Lua way of using Lua tables, Lua functions etc. in Lua API is to register that values to the Lua table called registry, and refer to that values using their index at registry. Using registry, Lua keeps tracks of references to Lua values that are available for garbage collection. See reference manual section 3.5 for more details.
Raw Haskell function method
We can do this writing raw Haskell functions. Raw functions have type LuaState -> IO CInt and LuaState allows us to run any C API function. raw functions are pushed to Lua stack using pushrawhsfunction and registered as global variable using registerrawhsfunction .
callbacks example in the hslua repository takes Lua callbacks in Haskell functions and later call them in FIFO order and return their return values as a Lua array(table with int keys). You can see the complete program in the repository and here I’ll give only the tricky parts.
Raw Haskell functions should return number of values left on the Lua stack as return values. As an example, addLuaCallbacks function uses this for simple error reporting, it puts the error string to the Lua stack and return 1 in case of an error, and return 0 otherwise:
addLuaCallbacks l = do ... case as of Nothing -> do -- arguments are functions, add them to callback queue and return -- nothing addCallbacks 1 args return 0 Just errArg -> do -- error: argument at `errArg` is not a function, return error -- string pushstring l $ "argument " ++ show errArg ++ " is not a function" return 1
This example program keeps track of passed Lua callbacks in an IORef . Here’s the part that handles getting Lua callbacks from Lua stack:
addCallbacks n max | n > max = return () | otherwise = do -- move nth argument to top of the stack pushvalue l n -- add function reference to registry refId <- ref l registryindex -- add registry index to IORef modifyIORef cs ( ++ [refId]) -- continue adding other arguments addCallbacks (n + 1 ) max
Note how we’re adding the function to the registry and getting it’s index at the registry in Haskell. We can now refer to this functions(e.g. push this function to Lua stack) using this index. Here’s the relevant code:
-- | Call Lua callbacks collected with `addLuaCallbacks`. callLuaCallbacks :: LuaState -> IO CInt callLuaCallbacks l = do ... where iter [] = return () iter (c : rest) = do ... pushinteger l ( fromIntegral c) gettable l registryindex -- call the callback call l 0 1 ... iter rest
We’re pushing the index to the Lua stack, and calling gettable to push actual function to the stack using the index. Complete program is longish, so I’m omitting it here, you can see it in hslua s Github repository with an example Lua program that uses defined Haskell functions to pass Lua callbacks to Haskell.
A note about safety
Lua tolerates some incorrect stack operations and if you do that while writing raw Haskell functions, you can have hard times debugging your programs. Fortunately, Lua also provides a compile time flag to enable checking API usage for safety. If you install hslua using -fapicheck Cabal flag, it compiled Lua with API checking enabled and Lua gives you errors instead of silently doing something not intended. For example, if you refer to a Lua value at stack index -4 while your stack has only 3 elements, you get something like:
callbacks: src/lapi.c:57: index2adr: Assertion `idx != 0 && -idx <= L->top - L->base' failed.
This helps making sure that your API usage is correct.
Using hslua for reading configuration files written in Lua
hslua also provides a module for reading configuration files. As an example, using Scripting.Lua.ConfigFile.getNestedAssocLists , you can execute the Lua file given below and get resulting nested table as Haskell [(String, [(String, String)])] :
someVal = { something = { foo = "aaa" , bar = "bbb" , baz = "ccc" }, somethingElse = { ... } }
Running Lua programs using Lua interpreters
In all hslua examples, we needed to create Lua state in Haskell, register Haskell functions inside Haskell and then run Lua files using Lua C API again in Haskell. I think in theory it is also possible to run Lua programs using standard Lua interpreter executables(instead of running the interpreter using Lua C API inside Haskell) and load Haskell functions compiled to *.so shared library files.
About one year ago, I did something similar using C instead of Haskell. You can see the code here. The library compiled to a .so file and by using Lua’s package.loadlib , you can load functions defined in the .so . | {
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If the lilting and light-of-heart opening notes to "Pure Imagination" tug at your emotions, every single darn time, just know that you're not alone, not in the least.
For many a child, and many a grown-up, grew to adore 1971's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," a whimsical satire-frosted confection made even more magical by a certain actor's impishly epic — or epically impish, if you prefer — turn in the titular role.
That actor, of course, was Gene Wilder, a comedic superstar known for his zanily sophisticated work in a host of flicks, from "The Producers" to "Young Frankenstein."
Mr. Wilder passed away at 83 on Sunday, Aug. 28, according to a family statement. The news brought people to the internet in devoted droves, where they spoke of favorite movies and encounters with the star.
But in addition to expressing admiration for the actor on social media, fans are also looking for ways to watch Mr. Wilder's films in merry en masse, where the laughs might be shared among many.
And while people are asking for Wilder Tributes at local theaters — tributes that are sure to come in the approaching weeks — The Frida Cinema in downtown Santa Ana will offer some sweet levity on Friday, Sept. 23.
"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is up first that evening, followed by "Blazing Saddles" at 8:50 p.m. A ticket is $10, and can be purchased in advance.
Will you arrive in your best Willy-style top hat, or an Old West 10-gallon job? Great idea, but best remove them when you take your seat for the show.
And if you can't make The Frida for the Gene Wilder tribute on Sept. 23, keep an eye on your local cinema in September. Mr. Wilder was beloved by many, and has a comedy-laden catalog to watch again and again (and again). It won't be surprising to see other theaters put up their own tribute nights.
Surely you know a quote from just about every Gene Wilder flick out there? If so, plan to be in downtown Santa Ana to celebrate his life on the first Friday in autumn. | {
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If you’re planning to install Windows 10 and benefit from Microsoft’s free upgrade offer, you might want to hurry up because there are only 100 days left until the promo expires.
Microsoft launched Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, and started offering the operating system completely free of charge for those who were already running Windows 7 or 8.1. In order to make the upgrade as smooth as possible, the company is even offering the so-called “Get Windows 10” app that automatically installs on Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs, scans for compatibility issues and downloads the necessary files for the installer.
Although it’s not supposed to happen, Windows 10 was deployed on a number of PCs without users specifically requesting it. This is how applications that can block the Windows 10 upgrade, such as GWX Control Panel, became increasingly popular with users who simply wanted to stick with Windows 7 or 8.1.
What happens after the free upgrade period ends?
The biggest question right now is what happens once the free upgrade period comes to an end and users are no longer allowed to upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge.
As Myce notes, Microsoft hasn’t dropped any hints as to what could happen after that, but it’s believed that the company might actually extend the offer for a few more months or offer Windows 10 at a special price for customers already having Windows 7 and 8.1 on their devices.
Microsoft has a goal of bringing Windows 10 on 1 billion devices by 2017, and without making Windows 10 free, or at least more affordable, it’ll be a challenge to achieve this. The company said that 270 million devices already run Windows 10, and with enterprises currently piloting the OS, it hopes that this threshold will be reached very soon.
For the moment, Windows 10 continues to be available as a free upgrade, but since the clock is ticking on this offer, you should really start considering your options. | {
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Transport secretary says route could be changed, resulting in lower speeds for trains
This article is more than 7 months old
This article is more than 7 months old
HS2 could run slower north of Birmingham in order to cut costs, Grant Shapps has said as he criticised the project’s “obsession” with cutting journey times.
The transport secretary said a review of the planned line from Birmingham to Leeds and Crewe to Manchester could lead to the route changing slightly, possibly making it less straight and therefore lowering the speed.
The government argues it would be counterproductive to delay the first phase of HS2, between London and Birmingham, by looking again at costs but wants to re-examine parts of the second phase north of Birmingham to help bring down the price tag, which could exceed £100bn.
Asked by the BBC whether the service would be different north of Birmingham, Shapps said: “I think not dramatically different, but you are right. There has been some over-specification.”
He cited the so-called Golborne spur – part of the line near Manchester – as an example of an area that could be reworked, saying it added billions to the cost with little benefit.
Shapps said there had been a level of “gold plating to this project and the obsession with getting time off the journey belies where we are as this country”.
Amid the government’s fanfare about bringing new infrastructure to the north of England, HS2 is not forecast to be delivered to passengers in Manchester and Leeds until between 2037 and 2040.
The government hopes to compress this timetable, in part by integrating the final phase of the project into work on existing and new transport routes, such as a planned higher-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds.
Speaking later at a north of England transport summit in central Manchester, Shapps said a consultation on the Manchester-Leeds rail connection was “ready to go”.
He said: “I’m here immediately – immediately – after the prime minister announced that we’re going ahead with HS2 … Just as important as the spinal connection to London is the east-west northern powerhouse rail to connect towns and cities across the north, and we are absolutely committed to high speed north.
“As a government we are determined to repay the trust of the millions of voters who voted Conservative for the first time last time, and to restore a sense of connection that many communities have lost.”
On BBC Breakfast, Shapps was shown footage of a couple whose family have lived in their street for 100 years and who have been told they must move out within a month so that their property can be bulldozed for HS2.
Q&A How much work has already been done on HS2 - and how much has it cost? Show Hide As of March 2019, £7.4bn had been spent. Much of the work done so far has been on paper: detailed engineering designs of the length of the route, years of public consultation, and legislation. Officially launched by Labour in 2009, HS2 was reviewed and tweaked by the coalition government and green-lighted in 2012. So far money has been spent on detailed engineering designs of the length of the route, years of public consultation, and legislation. Buying land along the route, either for direct demolition or to relieve blighted homeowners, has accounted for a large total of the £7.4bn invested to date. In terms of physical activity, so-called preparatory works have started, although no track or tunnel has yet been built. At the southern end, HS2 has demolished housing estates, parks and office blocks around Euston, and started moving tens of thousands of skeletons out of the way. Train depots and industrial estates have been razed to build another HS2 station at Old Oak Common, while brownfield sites in Birmingham have been levelled for the Curzon Street station and approach. According to HS2, work has taken place at 250 sites, including archaeological digs and tree planting as well as construction. Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent
Shapps said this was “heartbreaking” but he defended the project overall as essential, later saying: “If you believe in the future of the country, you have to do it.”
Shapps toured the broadcast studios to promote HS2 a day after Boris Johnson said he wanted to go ahead with the line. The prime minister had ordered a review to look at the value for money of the scheme and concluded it should go ahead in full.
Play Video 2:51 HS2: Boris Johnson gives go-ahead to high-speed rail project – video
Johnson told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the management of the project must be overhauled and pledged to appoint a dedicated HS2 minister to scrutinise its delivery.
Shapps said the government would approach HS2 like delivery of the Olympics, with a Cobra sub-committee to ensure it is taken seriously by ministers.
Timeline HS2 - over-budget and behind schedule Show Hide High Speed Two Ltd is set up by the Labour government to examine possibilities for increasing high-speed rail capacity in the UK. The project is split into two phases - London to Birmingham forms phase one, with phase two extending the route to Manchester and Leeds. The transport secretary, Conservative Justine Greening, announces the decision to build HS2. A judicial review is called into the HS2 decision. Lord Justice Ouseley upholds one of the 10 grounds for complaint about HS2 in the judicial review – the claim that the government had acted unfairly and unlawfully when consulting on compensation for homeowners affected by the route. The Conservative prime minister, David Cameron, describes the project as "absolutely vital" as MPs approve funding. The high-speed rail (London-West Midlands) bill is formally introduced in parliament. After freedom of information requests, a 2012 Department for Transport viability report into HS2 is released, revealing the department considered it unaffordable. Allan Cook replaces Sir Terry Morgan as chair of HS2, after the latter fails to deliver the opening of the Crossrail project in London on schedule. A report from the New Economics Foundation suggests HS2 will deliver the most benefit to London, and exacerbate regional inequality. A fresh government review begins into HS2 into whether the scheme should be approved, amended or scrapped entirely. The Conservative transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announces that full HS2 services between London and Birmingham will be delayed by up to five years to 2031, and that the final completion of the northern section of the high-speed rail network would likely be delayed by seven years until 2040. He also confirmed the budget had escalated from the official £56bn at 2015 prices to up to £88bn at today’s prices. After a period of review, prime minister Boris Johnson announces that HS2 will go ahead, alongside a package of measures aimed at improving bus and cycling links outside of London.
The decision to go ahead is controversial among many Tory MPs whose constituencies are affected by the line, but opposition in the Commons was muted as the project has been approved so many times before by previous prime ministers.
Environmental groups criticised the impact on ancient woodland and wildlife, while unions and business groups said HS2 should now proceed with no more delays. | {
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It’s almost time for you to set out on your next adventure. Are you ready to catch the very first look at an all-new chapter in Guild Wars 2‘s Living World story?
Join us at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Washington, on Friday, August 30 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) and be a part of the excitement live. If you can’t attend in person, we’ll livestream the announcement with a developer presentation and more on our official Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook channels.
The event will run for approximately forty-five minutes, so you can kick off your PAX West weekend with all your Guild Wars 2 friends!
Attendance is first come, first served, with no entry fee or ticket required. Grab your seat early—the first five hundred attendees will get a Guild Wars 2 swag bag with fun surprises inside. We’ll see you there!
Announcement Event Details
Date and Time: August 30, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7)
August 30, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) Location: Moore Theatre in Seattle, WA
Moore Theatre in Seattle, WA Watch Live: Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook | {
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(@rukhshanmirpk)
The first unmanned launch of the Dragon-2 spacecraft, developed by the US manufacturer SpaceX, has been postponed to the end of January, a source in the Russian space industry told Sputnik on Friday.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2018) The first unmanned launch of the Dragon-2 spacecraft, developed by the US manufacturer SpaceX, has been postponed to the end of January, a source in the Russian space industry told Sputnik on Friday.
"The US side has informed us on the delay of the first launch of Dragon-2, which was expected to lift off for the ISS [International Space Station] in the unmanned mode on January 17, to the end of the month," the source said without specifying the reason for the delay.
After the unmanned flight, the spacecraft is expected to take the manned NASA mission to the ISS in June 2019. | {
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It's almost Christmas and The Crossover is in the holiday spirit, so we're going to give out gifts for all 30 NBA teams.
It’s almost Christmas, and with the NBA starting a couple weeks earlier this year, most teams actually have themselves figured out by what used to be (for many) the unofficial start of the season. The Crossover is feeling the holiday spirit, however, so we’ve put together a wishlist for all 30 teams in the NBA.
Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images
76ers: Bubble wrap
For all the sportswriters hand-wringing over Embiid playing 49 minutes against the Thunder... Let Embiid cook! Is playing him 49 minutes the best long-term plan? Honestly? Probably not. But eventually, the 76ers should treat Embiid like a normal NBA player. I would hate if the team has to walk on eggshells his entire career. I yearn for the day when it’s not a big deal that Embiid plays more than 35 minutes in a game. Hopefully the team won’t have to be so protective forever.
Bucks: An in-his-prime guard who can defend and shoot threes
Oh! They got one already? Never mind! The Bucks are in good shape, as long as Jason Kidd stops employing baffling late-game strategies.
Bulls: A loss
The Bulls are turning into a real-life version of Major League, ripping a seven-game win streak that threatens to derail their tank. All of this is somehow happening with Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic co-existing on the court. The Bulls need a good old-fashioned loss to remind them what they are really playing for.
Are the Bulls Losing Long-Term by Winning Now?
Cavaliers: The LBJ6 Method
Why hasn’t LeBron written a totally self-serving book filled with pseudo-science about how he keeps his body in shape yet? The Cavs, a team as old as dirt, need to be mining James for all his health secrets while they still can. In year 15, LeBron is having arguably the best season of his career. Whatever James is doing is working, and he shouldn’t be stingy when it comes to passing that info to teammates. The Cavs are going to need everyone to be fresh come playoff time.
Celtics: A Nintendo Switch or whatever is cool these days
Gordon Hayward, who last year wrote The Case for Gaming for The Players’ Tribune, told SI’s Lee Jenkins he’s been playing video games during sleepless nights to help him relax after the brutal leg injury he suffered opening night. So what better way for the Celtics to keep their sidelined star happy than with a dope new gaming console? Hayward can take that Switch on the go. He can play from the bench. He can play on the team plane. Let’s throw in a science book for Kyrie Irving, and Boston will be applauded for making its players’ lives better. Oh, and a scorer wouldn’t hurt too. The C’s defense is championship-caliber, but their offense is slipping.
Clippers: Trade calls
The Clippers are in a bad place because of injuries to players who, frankly, are frequently injured. L.A. should wish for calls from other teams for its remaining useful parts. It may even be time to part ways with Blake Griffin. But whether Griffin is part of the future or not, the Clips need to find a way to acquire young talent.
Grizzlies: A really good apology note
For David Fizdale, who wasn’t the problem in Memphis.
Hawks: Spicy tenders from Chick-fil-A
The Hawks basically have nothing going for them right now. But I’m pretty sure some Chick-fil-A locations are testing out spicy tenders...? That’s an absolute gamechanger, and a great way to drown your sorrows if you’re playing for the Hawks.
The Immense Pride and Unspeakable Agony of Gordon Hayward
Heat: Last year’s Dion Waiters
The Heat have been inconsistent this season, particularly on offense, where they sit in the bottom-third of the league in efficiency. Not helping right now is my guy Dion, who has been horribly inefficient for much of this season. The Heat need the Waiters from the second half of last season to help lift their offense, but does he still exist? If Miami (and Dion) find offense, the Heat are capable of making a small run up the standings.
Hornets: Nic Batum’s mojo
What happened to the swaggering Nic Batum who was punching people in the privates during international games? Batum is posting career-worst shooting percentages this season, and his 9.8 points per game are five fewer than what he’s averaged since moving to Charlotte in 2015. The Hornets simply need more from a player in the second year of a $120 million deal.
Jazz: A sneak tank
The Jazz’s four most-used lineups all have negative net ratings. Rudy Gobert keeps getting hurt. And Utah is only two games ahead of the lowly Kings in the loss column. Would a tank be a bad idea here? Donovan Mitchell has been a revelation, and adding another young star to pair with him could be the best for this team’s future. Gobert is a keeper, but outside of him and Mitchell, no one else on this roster should be untouchable. If the Jazz can tank just right, they can be decent again as soon as next season. But Utah has likely reached a ceiling with most of its current core, and one year of bottoming out post-Hayward could have them set up for success as early as next season.
Kings: A youth movement
The Kings possibly have one too many veterans for a team committed to rebuilding. It’s good to have older guys in the locker room to show the younger players the ropes. But guys like Vince Carter or George Hill should be spending these years with contenders, though it remains to be seen if contenders will take them. Either way, youngsters should be seeing even more of the court in Sacramento. Sorry, Z-Bo.
Donovan Mitchell Is the Lifeblood of the Utah Jazz Offense
Knicks: A worldwide tour for J.D. and the Straight Shot
Keep James Dolan as far away from this fun team as possible.
Lakers: Season tickets to the Big Baller League
Just keep making sure Lavar has a hobby and is too busy to tell Luke Walton how to coach the team. Walton has the Lakers playing better than expected, and I’m still a believer in Lonzo.
Magic: Beard conditioner
The Magic have cooled since their hot start, mostly because they can’t play defense. Aaron Gordon is still playing well (and shooting 40% from three), but he’s missed four of Orlando’s last five games. Amidst all these troubles, Frank Vogel’s beard is still going strong. I’m serious—I love the Vogelbeard. I want him to reach James Harden levels one day. The only way to do that is to start taking care of that thing now.
Mavericks: A really good Shark Tank pitch
Maybe somebody can invent something to make this team relevant again.
Nets: A gold star
Sean Marks and the Nets are trying their hardest to dig out of a crater created by the previous regime. They’ve done well to take risks on young players who maybe didn’t get a fair chance on their first teams. So Brooklyn should be happy with a pat on the back, because there’s still plenty of work left to be done. Eventually owning a coveted Nets draft pick will help.
Brian Babineau/Getty Images
Nuggets: Health
Denver’s four most-used lineups all have a net rating of at least 12.0. The issue is their second most-used lineup has played only 69 minutes together. Injuries are killing the Nuggets. Paul Millsap is still out for months. Nikola Jokic missed time with a sprained ankle. Gary Harris has missed three games. Those nicks and bruises are adding up, as Denver can’t seem to find consistency amid all the lineup changes. A good run of health, even without Millsap, could do this team wonders. Defense is still an issue, but the growth the front office wanted to see is there. Jamal Murray has five 20-point games in December and is catching fire from three. Harris recently posted a career high in Boston. Denver just needs more time with all its pieces in place. (Don’t we all, though.)
Pacers: A foam middle finger
For all the writers, myself included, who thought they botched the Paul George trade.
Pelicans: An overhaul
Are we sure Alvin Gentry is getting the most out of Boogie and the Brow? Is the front office really happy with the roster around its two stars? New Orleans really needs to consider changing its infrastructure. Anthony Davis shouldn’t be struggling to get into the playoffs every year. Outside of Cousins and Davis, this team is a mess. I’m not sure the Pelicans can dig out of the E’Twuan Moore/Solomon Hill-sized hole they’ve created on the wing, but the front office needs to be better. (Hill is out for months with a hamstring tear, by the way.)
Pistons: A new point guard
For the second straight season, the Pistons are a better team with Reggie Jackson off the court.
Raptors: A three-point shot for DeMar DeRozan
Whenever I watch the Raptors, DeRozan is hitting ridiculous mid-range look after ridiculous mid-range look, but then he turns into Charles Barkley at the three-point line. It’s 2017, DeMar. Get with the times. If you clam up in another postseason series, you may actually make dinosaurs uncool. For now, though, Toronto has sneakily been one of the better teams in the league.
Kevin Durant's Masterful Job of Moonlighting as Stephen Curry
Rockets: A comfy chair
For Chris Paul, who should rest those legs as much as possible until the playoffs
Spurs: A software update for Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi is slowly but surely getting his legs under him after missing the Spurs’ first 27 games of the season with a quad injury. Gregg Popovich is still being cautious with Leonard, but soon, he will not only need to return to his MVP-caliber form from last season, Kawhi will also need to improve. It’s what LeBron has done. It’s what James Harden has done. Leonard has added to his game every year he’s been in the NBA. This season should be no different. It will be necessary for Leonard to get better, not only to keep pace with his contemporaries, but also to give the Warriors a scare.
Suns: A good friend for Devin Booker
Anything that would make Booker actually want to stay in Phoenix.
Thunder: Reps
OKC has had a bounce-back month of December, climbing over .500 thanks to a welcome regression to the mean in (winning) close games. I still think the Thunder trio can figure out how to work together, but they need time. It’s fair for us to question if Carmelo Anthony was a good fit for this team, or if he’s being selfish by not considering playing off the bench. But the Thunder don’t have time to second guess themselves. They have to decide pretty soon if this experiment can be successful, especially if they don’t want to lose Paul George for nothing next summer. OKC simply needs to focus on its stars playing together as much as possible and see if the tide finally starts to turn.
Jordan Johnson/Getty Images
Timberwolves: A stretch four
I’m sorry, but these are too many Taj Gibson minutes. I’m of the opinion the Wolves are slightly worse than their record indicates. I don’t think anyone in the West is currently scared of facing them in the playoffs. Adding a little more spacing to their offense could help everyone involved, but defense remains an issue here.
Trail Blazers: More offense
It’s crazy to think that an offense with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum can be worse than the Nets, but that’s where Portland stands as we head toward the new year. Dame and C.J. haven’t been the problem, however. The Blazers just can’t seem to get much going from their wings, who aren’t threats to put the ball on the floor and create shots. Portland seemingly never finds any easy buckets, and opposing defenses have found leaving shooters open has become a better gamble than letting Dame or C.J. knife into the paint. Portland is paying this roster a lot of money—and the front office will have a big decision to make with Jusuf Nurkic next summer. More should be expected of this team. The Blazers need to find a way to jump-start their offense, even if it means making a move.
Warriors: A Ferrari, a Gucci jacket, an Off-White uniform collab
The Warriors are the most spoiled team in the NBA, so why stop now? This team doesn’t need anything. They’ll keep coasting until the Finals. They may still be coasting by the time the playoffs are over.
Wizards: One more star
The Wizards have maxed out with their current core. If they want to make the leap within the East and become real championship contenders, they need one more All-Star. Can the Wiz pry Boogie out of New Orleans? | {
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On Monday night, GOP presidential candidate and conservative radio host, Joe Walsh, continued his media apology tour when he sat down with CNN's John Berman to respond to racist tweets from his past. The former Tea Party congressman from Illinois officially announced his run for president Sunday on ABC's "This Week." He then spent most of Monday responding to controversial tweets from his past.
Berman opened the interview by reading a few of Walsh's racially charged tweets, two of which he directed at President Obama. And while Berman noted Walsh's apologies for his remarks, the CNN host wondered why people should look beyond his rhetoric and not Trumps.
"In the last six years, I've tweeted 40,000 times. There are probably a few hundred tweets that you and I would scratch our heads about. I don't apologize for every tweet. When it's warranted, I will," answered Walsh. Walsh continued to defend his controversial tweets to Berman by explaining that he was a "big free speech supporter" and that he "abhors political correctness."
Berman pressed Walsh on comments that he made to MSNBC earlier in the day in which he denied being a racist, despite saying racist things on Twitter. Walsh responded, "I think we're all a little bit racist. We've all said racist things. I'll bet if you and I went through everybody's Twitter feed, we're going to find things that are objectionable and offensive. I think we all have"
The former Illinois congressman claimed he didn't necessarily mean the things he was tweeting. He was simply making the point that in America, you should have the right to say anything. "Yeah, I've tweeted some racist things. On purpose? No," admitted Walsh.
Berman then asked the conservative talk-radio host how his listeners responded to him challenging Trump in the 2020 republican primary. Walsh revealed his show was just canceled before the interview. "80 to 90% of my audience supports the president. I just found out I lost my national radio show, so that's gone," announced Walsh.
On the subject of political policy, Berman asked Walsh why he didn't have any policy positions on his campaign website. "I'm running against Trump because he's morally unfit. Period. It's about Trump. It's not about the issues. It's about Trump." | {
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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith ZinkeTrump extends Florida offshore drilling pause, expands it to Georgia, South Carolina Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention Trump flails as audience dwindles and ratings plummet MORE took to a conservative talk show to slam reporting on his ethics scandals as “B.S.”
Speaking Friday on “Montana Talks,” Zinke took particular issue with Politico’s recent report that he is looking for jobs outside of the Trump administration. But he used that story to criticize mainstream media writ large for its reporting on allegations of coziness with officials in industries he regulates, among other issues.
“They're very angry, and truth doesn’t matter to these people anymore,” Zinke said of mainstream journalists, saying that President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE “nearly [got] assaulted” by CNN’s Jim Acosta.
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“You know what, I do my job, I disregard the B.S.,” Zinke said of the Politico story in a fiery interview in which he repeatedly blamed the left and liberals in the media for his scandals.
“You know, it comes from the same liberal reporters that have lost their ability to tell the truth,” he continued. “Here’s one for you: I think I’m going to probably be the commander of Space Command,” he joked.
He ruled out running for governor of Montana in 2020, saying that despite reporting that he is on his way out of the Trump administration, “I’m going to continue doing this job and doing good things.”
Zinke went on to say that some media organizations “have nothing better to do, the entire organizations are about attacking Zinke … so what happens is, they invent a story, they try to sell it, and it goes all the way up to the Washington Post, the New York Times, there’s truth to it. It’s just a series of allegations.”
The Interior secretary said his department has achieved numerous accomplishments. He took credit on behalf of Interior for the United States becoming the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer and pointed to milestones like Interior law enforcement officers apprehending migrants at the southern border and opening more wildlife refuges to hunting and fishing.
“This is what the liberals don’t want to hear,” he said.
Earlier Friday, Trump said he is not planning to fire Zinke. But he said again that he would review the allegations against the former Montana congressman.
The Department of Justice is investigating whether Zinke broke the law when a nonprofit he used to lead negotiated a land deal with a developer backed in part by David Lesar, the chairman of oilfield services company Halliburton Co.
Zinke is also facing investigations from Interior’s Office of the Inspector General and elsewhere over an American Indian casino he didn’t approve, whether he tried to help a Utah lawmaker in redrawing a national monument and other ethics allegations. | {
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More than 1,300 workers at dozens of public daycares in Montreal and Laval launched an unlimited strike this morning.
The strike, which will affect 57 early childhood education centres (CPEs), will leave the parents of about 3,000 children looking for alternative child care.
The workers have been without a collective agreement since March 2015, and they have held multiple, one-day strikes over the past several months.
Employees demonstrated outside a daycare on Jean-Talon Street in the Villeray neighbourhood Wednesday morning, waving signs and picketing.
Jeanne Bouteaud, whose two-year-old attends one of the affected daycares, told CBC Daybreak that she and her husband are doing their best to come up with an alternative for their son.
"He's going to be spending the morning with a friend of ours who is coming over to keep him entertained and take him out," she explained.
"That's the plan for pretty much the next few days but we can't go on like that for very long."
She said she hopes things will be resolved soon and that the strike action won't drag on beyond a few days.
"We don't really have a plan for next week to be honest," said Bouteaud.
Workers picketed and held signs Wednesday morning, on the first day of the strike action. (CBC)
In mid-May, the union voted in favour of a mandate for an unlimited strike.
Nathalie Fontaine, a negotiator with the CSN-affiliated union, told La Presse Canadienne that both sides "remain very far from an agreement on the major issues."
The workers' main concerns relate to scheduling, seniority and working conditions.
Fontaine said the strike will go ahead, even if negotiations between the workers and their employers continue.
"We are far from postponing the strike. In any case, we've said it from the beginning: as long as there isn't an agreement in principle that satisfies our workers, the strike will go ahead June 6," she said Tuesday.
New contract offer presented Monday
Chantal Bellavance, a spokesperson for the Association Patronale nationale des CPE, which represents the daycare employers, said they want the flexibility to send some casual workers home in exceptional circumstances.
Talks are continuing, and the employers group made a new offer Monday, Bellavance said.
Naomi Romain, an educator at a CPE in Montreal's Ville-Marie borough and the parent of a preschooler, said workers 'had no choice' but to go on strike. (Radio-Canada)
On Tuesday, she asked the union to call off the strike.
"Thousands of parents won't have any service," she said. "The workers won't have any salary, and the daycares won't have any [subsidies]."
It's a no-win situation, she said.
'We had no choice,' CPE educator says
Naomi Romain, an educator at Garderie Idée Fixe, a CPE in Montreal's Ville-Marie borough, is also a parent with a daughter at the daycare.
"We tried everything to not have to get here. We don't want to take parents hostage," Romain told Radio-Canada Tuesday. "But we had no choice."
There are 993 CPEs across Quebec.
After workers at some 400 CPEs held a provincewide walkout last October, the federation representing about 11,000 workers reached a deal with Quebec's Family Ministry at the central bargaining table.
The Association Patronale nationale des CPE was not part of the central bargaining process, however. | {
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However, Wahid Fakhri al-Uksory, the defense attorney of 24 plaintiffs (military and civilian prisoners of war), told Al-Monitor, “I have documentaries — including the Israeli film ' The Shaked Spirit ' [Shaked was an Israeli defense unit] — confirming that Israel murdered hundreds of Egyptian prisoners of war.” He said that these crimes cannot be dropped by pleading the statute of limitations, as per Israeli Law No. 5710 of 1950.
On Jan. 23, Egypt’s El-Watan newspaper published documents that the government had given to the court before the ruling. They read, “Between 1995 and 2007, Egypt called on Israel to investigate the crimes that Israeli soldiers committed during the two wars and tried to regain the rights of the prisoners of war. But Egypt’s Foreign Ministry faced difficulties at the time in getting sufficient evidence to prove the occurrence of the crimes.”
Nasser Amin, the director of the complaints’ office at the National Human Rights Council and lawyer at the International Criminal Court (ICC), said in a press statement Jan. 21, “The verdict forces the Egyptian government to take judicial measures against Israel and reflects Egypt’s slackening in this regard, calling for legal measures to hand over the criminals to justice.”
In 2001, released Egyptian soldiers who survived captivity and the families of deceased soldiers filed a lawsuit with the State Council, asking the Egyptian government to prosecute Israel internationally and give them their wasted rights due to the torture in Israeli prisons in the wake of the wars. Egyptian prisoners of war were caught during the attacks between Israel on the one hand, and Egypt, Syria and Jordan on the other, on Egyptian territory in 1956 and 1967. Today, 16 years later, the court has ruled in their favor.
CAIRO — On Jan. 21, Egypt’s High Administrative Court issued a final verdict forcing the Egyptian government to prosecute Israel internationally for committing acts of violence and torture against Egyptian prisoners of war during the 1956 and 1967 wars. The verdict brought back to the forefront Israel’s crimes against hundreds of Egyptian prisoners of war more than half a century ago and raised questions about whether Cairo will abide by the verdict.
Uksory called for treating Egyptians in the same way that Israelis were treated following the Nazi Holocaust when they received compensation from Germany.
The Reparations Agreement that forced Germany to compensate Jews who survived the Nazi Holocaust from 1933 until the end of World War II was signed between the two countries on Sept. 10, 1952, and is considered the most significant case of prisoner of war compensation.
Spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zeid told Al-Monitor over the phone, “We have not been notified yet to start implementing the verdict.”
He added, “Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and the country’s political administration have to assign the tasks of the Foreign Ministry before the latter can proceed with the implementation” of the court’s order.
Uksory, who heads Egypt’s Arab Socialist Party, indicated that he is waiting to receive the verdict’s final formulation. As soon as that happens, he said he would accompany the families of the prisoners of war to the Egyptian government’s premises to inform it of the verdict and pave the way for its enforcement. He noted, “The government, represented by the prime minister, the foreign minister, the minister of defense, the minister of social solidarity and the public prosecutor — as per the text of the verdict — has to resort to whatever it takes to reach international courts and claim compensation for the prisoners of war who were killed.”
The court’s ruling read, “Israel signed the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war in August 1949. This forces Israel to investigate with and prosecute Israeli criminals of war who committed crimes against detainees and civilians.”
Member of the International Association of Lawyers Khaled Abu Bakr told Al-Monitor that the verdict is legally problematic for Egypt, in case it decides to implement it. He explained that resorting to the International Court of Justice necessitates the approval of the two disputing states. The ICC, for its part, pursues individual war criminals when there is sufficient proof to condemn them and does not accuse or condemn governments or organizations. He added that the political resorting to the United Nations Security Council to form a special international court requires the approval of all the council’s members.
Bakr said, “There are many problematic points at the moment.”
For his part, Amr Hashem Rabih, the deputy head of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor, “International law considers Israel a 'disobedient' state that does not respect international law, and it is difficult to obtain any legal or judicial gains from the US-backed Israeli state in the Security Council.”
He said, “If we were to explore the possibility of Israel paying compensation for the Egyptian prisoners of war due to the Egyptian steps, we would realize it is effectively a far-fetched ambition. Israel has committed many crimes against the Palestinians, and the international community has never been able to stop it from committing more.”
Rabih added, “Egypt might be able to gain moral impetus by internationalizing the case before the Security Council to expose the crimes. The Egyptian government would then prove to its citizens that it is not taking the abuse of their rights lying down.”
The director of the Israeli-Palestinian Research Unit at the National Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Tarek Fahmi, told Al-Monitor, “The issue of prisoners of war between Egypt and Israel falls in the category of affairs kept in the dark.”
He noted that the Camp David Accord stipulates in one of its clauses a financial settlement for the wars between Egypt and Israel. But this still has not happened. Fahmi said, “The verdict has legal and political dimensions, and the political one prevails. Before delving into the legal side and prosecuting Israel, Egyptian political will must be present, but this is not the case now.”
He asserted that the current rapprochement between Egypt and Israel does not allow for internationalizing the prisoner of war compensation case, and he indicated that Israel holds pressure cards also. It can easily bring up the case of compensation for Israeli soldiers who were held by the Egyptian military in the same wars and their release — a point that Bakr had also raised.
Fahmi added, “I do not think that the Egyptian government will prosecute Israel under the current circumstances. Consequently, the verdict becomes symbolic, despite its importance, since it lacks clear methods of enforcement.”
Uksory, who has waited for 16 years for this verdict, insists on the government’s implementation of it. He said, “It is a tough nut to crack. But I will follow up on the implementation of this verdict until my last breath.” | {
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Browsing Battle Royale
Browse the newest, top selling and discounted Battle Royale products on Steam | {
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History being made (up) in Gisborne today – the Brits are going to apologise for Captain Cook arriving on the East Coast and defending his men from the warrior like natives.
I am sure we will learn that Captain Cook was an evil bastard who left England with the principal purpose of finding natives in the south seas he could have murdered. Studying Venus was just a ruse to hide his true intent.[…] Blockhead
So what actually happened that fateful day in Gisborne? The Stuff article leaves out the context and circumstances of the clash completely. It describes what happened as “atrocities” and only describes what happened to the Maori Warriors, not what happened to Cook’s men. Below is a description of what happened, based on written accounts from the journals of Captain James Cook, Botanist Joseph Banks, naturalist Daniel Solander and Charles Green from the Greenwich Observatory.
On 8th October the Endeavour sailed into a bay, and laid anchor at the entrance of a small river in Tuuranga-nui (today’s Poverty Bay, near modern Gisborne). Cook named a peninsula in this bay “Young Nick’s Head” after Nicholas Young.
Noticing smoke along the coast, an indication that the country was inhabited, Cook and a group of sailors headed for shore in two small boats, hoping to establish friendly relations with the natives, and to take on refreshments. Four sailors were left to guard one of the boats, but were surprised by the sudden appearance of four Maori brandishing weapons. When one Maori lifted a lance to hurl at the boat, he was shot by the coxswain.
Cook’s party returned to the Endeavour, and the next day came ashore once again, accompanied by Tupaia. Some Maori were gathered on the river shore, and communication was made possible as Tupaia’s language was similar to that of the Maori. Gifts were presented, but the killing of the day before had left the Maori hostile. When one Maori seized a small cutlass from one of the Europeans, he was shot.
That afternoon Cook would have attempted a further landing, but heavy surf made this impossible. On noticing the appearance of two canoes, Cook planned to intercept them by surprise, with the idea of taking the occupants prisoner, offering them gifts, gaining their trust and then setting them free.
However, the canoe occupants noticed the arrival of one of the Endeavour’s small boats, and attacked as it approached. The Europeans, firing in self defence , killed or wounded three or four Maori. Three other Maori who had jumped overboard were picked up by the Europeans, and taken on board the Endeavour. They were offered gifts, food and drink, and soon overcame their fear. Communication was possible via Tupaia, and the next day the three Maori were taken back to shore, where their armed kinsmen were waiting. There was no violence on this occasion.
Cook however, upset by the killings which had already taken place, decided to leave this area. He gave it the name Poverty Bay, as he had been unable to take on refreshments. history-nz.org/discovery2.html
Compare that historical account of what happened to Stuff‘s version. Do you think that “atrocities” is an accurate description of the deaths that occurred?
Gisborne iwi are set to receive an apology this afternoon from the British High Commissioner for the Maori killed when James Cook arrived in 1769.
Laura Clarke will deliver an expression of regret to Rongowhakaata and other local iwi on behalf of the British government.
Clarke will deliver the apology at Whakato Marae.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page the Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust says the ceremony is to acknowledge the hara or atrocities committed 250 years ago.
A number of Maori warriors including at least one chief were killed by Cook’s men during their first meetings in early October.
[…] Gisborne’s outgoing mayor and the new Race Relations Commissioner, Meng Foon, said an official apology from the British government was very significant and he hoped it would help heal the relationship.
“It’s time for this apology.” Stuff
The background to what happened in Poverty Bay is very important. Today people like Race Relations Commissioner, Meng Foon with little or no knowledge of New Zealand history, make their judgements based on what they are told by people with an agenda.
The very first contact between Maori and Europeans in New Zealand resulted in a bay being named Murderers Bay. The aggression came not from the Europeans but from the Maori.
Massacre at Murderers’ Bay. With lightning speed, the Maoris fell upon the surprised Dutch sailors. In the fight that followed, the crew of the ship’s boat were all killed. Abel Tasman named the place of the massacre “Murderers’ Bay” and, without setting foot in New Zealand, sailed off to discover the islands of Tonga. Original artwork for illustration on p10 of Look and Learn issue no 856 (10 June 1978).
The first encounter between Maori and Europeans took place in December 1642 at what is now called Golden Bay. Tasman named it Murderers Bay after a violent encounter with Maori. As Maori approached the Dutch ships in canoes, one canoe rammed a ship’s boat that was passing between Tasman’s two vessels, killing four Dutchmen. One Maori was hit by a shot from Tasman’s men in response to the attack. […] Lance Donald
There has been no suggestion that any descendants of those primitive, stone-age warrior tribes should apologise to the descendants of Europeans or fellow Maori who were slaughtered, eaten or made slaves in New Zealand, so we can only come to one conclusion: The reason behind this re-write of history that brownwashes the context and circumstances of the deaths in Gisborne, is that it is just another round of blame the white male for everything that is wrong in the world game.
The fact that Gisborne’s outgoing mayor and new Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon approves of this one-sided racist and divisive “apology” shows that it will be business as usual at the Race Relations Commission who seem hell-bent on dividing the country along racial lines. | {
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NEW DELHI: India's total installed solar capacity, including rooftop and off-grid segments, has crossed the 10 GW mark, a consultancy said.India is expected to add new solar capacity of 5.1 GW this year, which is a growth of 137 per cent over last year, consultancy Bridge to India said in a statement.It expects average annual capacity addition of 8-10 GW per annum from next year onwards."The pace of sector activity has picked up tremendously in the last two years because of strong government support and increasing price competitiveness of solar power. India is expected to become the world's third biggest solar market from next year onwards after China and the US," it added.The firm's Managing Director Vinay Rustagi said, "Many people are going to ask the obvious question - if we have taken more than 5 years to achieve 10 GW, can we reach 100 GW in another 5 years? It is a very steep target in our view.""But rather than quibble about the target, the important point is to acknowledge the transformational economic, environmental and social potential of solar technology and to create a conducive environment for its growth," he added.It said Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) aims to strengthen the country's weak distribution sector and has already shown positive results in the short-term.At least eight of the 17 states/union territories, including some of the worst performing states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that have joined the UDAY scheme so far, have reduced the deficit per unit of electricity.Improving financial strength of the offtakers addresses one of the biggest concerns of private sector developers, it added.The solar park scheme has also been instrumental in tackling the two major issues of land acquisition and power evacuation for project development.Some key themes can be observed in the growth of the Indian solar market so far, it said.Among states, Tamil Nadu has the highest installed capacity, followed by Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh , Gujarat, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.These seven states collectively account for more than 80 per cent of total installed capacity as of mid-November, 2016. Some of the larger power consuming states such as Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are way behind in the sector, it added.Utility-scale solar accounts for more than 85 per cent of total installed capacity. Rooftop solar, so far about 10 per cent of the sector, has also been growing at a very healthy CAGR of 98 per cent from 2011 to 2015 and is expected to play an increasingly important role in the sector, it said. | {
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The Southern Decadence Float Parade rolls down Bourbon Street on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015 in New Orleans. Photo: Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP
The Southern Decadence Float Parade rolls down Bourbon Street on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015 in New Orleans. Photo: Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The city hosting this year’s NBA All-Star game has long enjoyed a reputation as a welcoming place for the gay and lesbian community. New Orleans is home to one of the country’s oldest gay bars, the gay celebration Southern Decadence draws nearly 200,000 people yearly, and gay and lesbian authors flock here for the Saints and Sinners literary festival.
All of that acceptance will be on full display this weekend in a not-so-subtle statement about equality.
The city of Charlotte was supposed to host the All-Star game Sunday, but the NBA moved it to New Orleans when North Carolina passed “the bathroom bill,” which limits protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people. It also requires transgender people to use many public restrooms corresponding with the sex on their birth certificate.
Louisiana hasn’t passed laws similar to North Carolina. Gov. John Bel Edwards touted the state’s diversity while lobbying the NBA, saying bringing the game here would reaffirm the league’s “commitment to communities that value fairness and inclusion.”
Just last year, Edwards signed an executive order barring discrimination against LGBT state workers and contractors.
“We were able to recruit and bring the NBA here because of positive pro-equality work that the city and state have been doing,” said SarahJane Guidry, who heads the Forum for Equality, a Louisiana group advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
She said Edwards’ executive order went further than his Democratic predecessors by including transgender people (immediate predecessor Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal did not sign any such order). The order has since stalled in legal wrangling but Guidry still considers it important.
Activists also point out New Orleans passed an ordinance protecting the LGB community in 1991 and extended it in 1997 to the transgender community.
Kathy Behrens, the NBA’s President of Social Responsibility & Player Programs, said a variety of factors went into picking New Orleans. The issue of LGBT inclusion played a role as did the city’s ability to work under a tight deadline and track record of putting on big events; it hosted the All-Star game in 2014.
“It’s important for us to have our All-Star game in a city that’s welcoming to all of our participants and guests,” she said. She said the city and state “know how to manage and put on great big fun events and welcome everyone and treat everyone fairly and equally.”
Beyond the laws, the city has long had a status as a welcoming place for gay and lesbian people — Tennessee Williams, author of A Streetcar Named Desire, called New Orleans home for years.
“Any young gay man or girl from Texas to Oklahoma to all the way to Georgia, when they came out, would come here or if they got kicked out by their parents,” said Frank Perez, author In Exile, about the city’s LGBT community. “You either go to New York, San Francisco, Chicago or New Orleans.”
Perez credits part of the welcoming atmosphere to the city’s French settlers — “puritanical morality” never really took over here.
Mardi Gras — a holiday where people dress in elaborate costumes and mask their identities — also played a key role, said Wayne Phillips, author of an upcoming book about the history of gay Carnival in New Orleans.
The first gay krewe formed in 1958. They gathered yearly for their ball until a 1962 police raid ended with dozens of people arrested. Phillips said some hypothesize it was instigated by someone who didn’t get an invite.
But instead of being cowed, another gay Carnival group — Petronius — decided the key to survival was getting formal recognition like other krewes. So the group got a signed charter with the secretary of state.
Petronius is still in existence today, and its tactic was emulated by other gay krewes in the 1960s. Phillips said the krewes were essential to New Orleans becoming a center for sexual identity diversity in the South.
“They … provided a de-facto family, particularly in the early years — 1960s and 1970s — when many of these men moved to New Orleans, perhaps leaving their own family behind and finding a new family in New Orleans,” he said.
Not to say the city’s LGBT community hasn’t faced challenges. Perez describes raids on gay bars in the 1950s and 1960s and arson that killed 32 people at a club in 1973.
This year’s All-Star game-related activities feature a number of LGBT-friendly aspects. The Forum for Equality is hosting a reception with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans to help kick off the week’s events.
The host group putting on the game created an “inclusion committee” to reach out to LGBT businesses, said Jay Cicero, who heads the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, which led the bid to get the game here.
And the NBA is partnering with organizations including Athlete Ally, which tries to end homophobia in sports, on a forum to educate area coaches on gender and sexuality issues.
Troy Glines, a gay man hanging out one evening outside Cafe Lafitte in Exile, a bar that has operated since 1933, said he’s a football fan and the NBA’s decision isn’t going to make him any more likely to watch basketball. But he praised the league for pulling the game from Charlotte.
“It was absolutely a good thing. Money, that’s where you can put a hurt on somebody,” he said.
© 2017, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | {
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The Indiana dad in the twisted real-life “Orphan” case is speaking for the first time — backing his ex-wife’s claim that their adopted daughter was really an adult with dwarfism who threatened to kill their family.
Michael Barnett spoke to “The Dr. Oz Show” for an episode due to air Tuesday afternoon to discuss Natalia, the girl his family adopted thinking she was a 6-year-old girl from Ukraine but now say was an adult in her 20s.
“It’s obvious that her records were falsified,” he said in a teaser for the episode. “This is an adult masquerading as a child.”
Just like the 2009 movie “Orphan,” Barnett claims Natalia not only tricked them into taking her in — she also threatened to kill their family.
“We took her to the stress center to have her evaluated that she is having thoughts of harming others, and she is stating out loud that she is attempting to kill Kristine,” Barnett said, referring to alleged threats against his ex-wife.
While at the hospital, she started making even more terrifying claims to doctors, therapists and in her notepad, Barnett claimed in a clip given to The Post.
“‘Not only am I trying to kill Kristine, but I’m going to kill the brothers, too. Here’s how I’m going to do it. Here’s what I’m going to do with their bodies,’” he told the show of the alleged threats.
In the teaser, he also said, “She is screaming, ‘I’m going to kill you! You’re going to die!'”
Barnett and his ex-wife, Kristine Barnett, have both been charged with neglect for moving to Canada without Natalia in 2013, when Indiana authorities argue that she was still a child. They are fighting the charges, saying they only left her behind because she was an adult. | {
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Afričani jsou hloupí a líní, muslimové krvelační a teplouši by se měli teplit někde z dohledu. – Sotva se člověk po třicítce smíří s tím, že vždycky bude někdo, kdo si to bude myslet, přichází nová rána: v hlavním politickém proudu už nezůstal nikdo, kdo by proti stereotypům a hejtům viditelně vystupoval. Naopak, i mezi údajnými demokraty je najednou normální tolerovat nebo rovnou šířit názory, které by před lety obstály jen v SPR-RSČ nebo Úsvitu.
Co jsou oni, byli jsme i my – východní póvl
Poslankyně za ODS a starostka Prahy 2 Jana Černochová nejdřív zopakuje pseudofakt, že 90 procent uprchlíků putuje do Evropy za sociálními výhodami, a ještě přisadí: „[O]pravdu není fér srovnávat československého inženýra se subsaharským pastevcem.“ Černochová tím podsouvá dvě věci: že sem míří jakési hloupé opičky a že odtud odcházeli výhradně kulturní vysokoškoláci. Pro obojí má oporu jen ve svých předsudcích. Před válkami v Sýrii a Afghánistánu a tyranií v Eritreji samozřejmě utíkají i lidé vzdělaní a donedávna úspěšní, stejně jako z Československa odcházeli i bačové a hašašíni. A jak ilustruje román Konec velkých prázdnin nebo ještě syrověji film Chladný ráj, pestrá skupina našich čelila na Západě úplně stejným předsudkům vůči pologramotnému póvlu z Východu, jaké teď šíří Černochová. V tomhle ohledu je tedy srovnání naprosto namístě.
Podobnost obou exodů odmítá i pravdoláskařská naděje pro Hrad, Jiří Pospíšil. A přidává úvahu, že jsou levicoví politici k přistěhovalcům shovívavější, protože „druhá či třetí generace imigrantů má politická práva a volí spíše levici“. Sám říká, že je to jen teorie. Dodejme: konspirační, aspoň pokud jde o ten úmysl. Imigranti stejně jako kdokoli jiný volí toho, kdo jim nabídne lepší podmínky k životu a kdo proti nim nešíří nenávist. Může to být levice, ale nemusí: britští sikhové a hinduisté letos preferovali Davida Camerona. A v Česku před pěti lety přemlouvala bábu k volbě pravice (tedy i Pospíšila) syrská imigrantka druhé generace Martha Issová.
Čeští levicoví politici navíc k imigrantům moc shovívaví nejsou. Podle Bohuslava Sobotky (a dřív Jana Kellera) ohrožuje příliv přistěhovalců sociální stát. Trčí z toho předsudek, že tu nebudou pracovat ani podnikat, ale natahovat ruce. Český sociální stát přitom neohrozilo sto pět tisíc ukrajinských ani padesát sedm tisíc vietnamských občanů, neohrozilo ho půldruhého tisíce Indů ani stejné množství Turků nebo Uzbeků – a neohrozí ho ani případné jednotky tisíc imigrantů z aktuální vlny.
Sluníčkář Cameron
Aby to ale nebylo jen o imigrantech, Petr Mach vyrazil minulý týden do boje s dotacemi. To je u pravičáka v pořádku. Z tisíců věcí, na které pražský magistrát přispívá (autobus č. 297, chov leguánů v ZOO…) si předseda Svobodných vybral Prague Pride. Tu magistrát podpoří, uzřete ten tunel, poskytnutím reklamních ploch. Třeba vás napadne: Mach je zásadový frajer, odmítá sebeskromnější veřejnou pomoc i pro akci, kterou osobně podporuje. Vždyť homofobie v Česku dusí statisíce teplých a proti Pride teď rozjeli kampaň fašisté, kterých se přece musí libertarián štítit. Hop na špek: „Sexualita by měla být privátní věcí lidí,“ vyzývá Mach. Většina účastníků Pride přitom nestojí o veřejnější demonstrování své sexuality, než jakého se Mach dopouští, když na veřejnosti políbí svou ženu – beze strachu, že ho za to někdo pomluví nebo hůř.
Výsledkem bezbřehé tolerance k sebeblbějším stereotypům je největší porevoluční vlna nenávistných projevů. Lidé se nestydí pod vlastním jménem a tváří vyzývat na internetu k vraždění, muslimové čelí napadání, agresivní anonymy dostávají i pracovníci neziskovek – a politici mlčí. Buď ze strachu, že jim voliči i docela prostou výzvu ke slušnosti a toleranci spočítají ještě za dva a půl roku, anebo proto, že jsou s tím spokojení. Osamělé tichounké hlasy proti xenofobii zní jen od zelených, z vedení odborů a z rektorátů.
Zmíněný David Cameron každý rok přeje všechno nejlepší účastníkům londýnského pochodu Pride a taky vystupuje s poselstvím na začátku ramadánu („připomínáme si, co je drahé muslimům a co je drahé Británii: komunita, rodina, milosrdenství“). U nás by se tím šéf britských konzervativců zařadil mezi nejnenáviděnější neomarxistické multikulti sluníčkáře. Ničím takovým samozřejmě není. Jenom na rozdíl od svých neumělých českých imitátorů pamatuje na banální pravidlo: demokratický politik nesmí přikládat pod kotel davové psychózy. Bývá jedním z prvních, kdo se v něm uvaří.
Úvodní foto neomarxistického sluníčkáře: Marco Aprile / Shutterstock.com | {
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Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman has been suspended 20 games for cross-checking linesman Don Henderson.
The decision comes following an in-person hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Tuesday afternoon.
Related - VIDEO: Flames' Wideman blasts through linesman on way to bench
Wideman hit Henderson into the boards from behind while skating to the bench during a game against the Nashville Predators on Jan. 27. Henderson was sent to hospital for precautionary reasons as a result of the incident.
Dennis Wideman will forfeit $564,516.13 in salary for his 20-game suspension. #flames — Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 3, 2016
It is unclear if Wideman will appeal the supplemental discipline. It's the first time he has been suspended in his 755-game NHL career.
The 32-year-old has two goals and 17 assists in 48 games this season. | {
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St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie did not participate in line rushes during Thursday's morning skate and remained on the ice for extra work with likely scratches.
As such, Oshie will not play Game 1 Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks, as per the team's official Twitter account.
Oshie recorded career highs in goals (21), assists (39) and total points (60), and his offensive prowess may be sorely missed in the Blues' playoff opener. | {
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A Dark Web website is trying to raise money and gather expert advice with a view to allegedly assassinating President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect Mike Pence.
The site, which CSO reports went live last week, calls for assistance to fund an assassination attempt against Trump, and features an image of the president-elect in crosshairs. The website is located on the Dark Web, and can be accessed only using the Tor browser, which masks IP addresses.
“As you are all well aware, the consequences of having Donald Trump and Mike Pence as the leaders of the free world is extremely dangerous,” the website reads. “The political, environmental and social consequences will change the United States for the worst.”
Pointing to the “rise of several white supremacist movements like the KKK and the neo-nazis,” the site promoting assassination says “trying to eliminate other Americans of different origins cannot be tolerated.”
“We, as a society have come too far to go back to this,” it adds.
The site’s authors claim they are part of a “well-known organization that has always defended and protected the rights of all people against crooked governments and regimes using different cyber attacks.”
It says it now needs to go further, “as it will require much more than cyber attack to defend ourselves to avoid civil war or another world war.”
“We have several assets in different branches of government, security and even some working in secret services,” it claims. “Unfortunately, the plan we need to implement requires a lot of money to pay for equipment, bribes and also to pay those assets.”
The site asks for anonymous donations from those who “wish to see our plan succeed” and asks those with “expertise, intelligence or contacts you consider relevant,” to get in touch.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with the site has received $88,000 since March, but as the website has only been live for about a week, donations thought to be related to the assassination fundraising only amount to $119, CSO reports.
According to the website's source code, a hacker has claimed they know who is behind the site, reported the International Business Times.
Branding the website's host "a little scammer," the hacker says the person is a Canadian citizen.
"I actually planned to send an email to the United States Secret Service about him, but I can't find an appropriate email address of the USSS," the hacker said.
It’s understood the Secret Service has been informed about the website’s existence. | {
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The Atlanta Hawks have commissioned a work of art that will be hard to avoid.
It's a 700-pound 3D billboard of power forward Paul Millsap dunking a basketball.
The 700-pound billboard of Paul Millsap will greet drivers along I-85 in Atlanta and is projected to be seen by 660,000 people each week. Atlanta Hawks
People driving along Interstate 85 North, a highly trafficked stretch in Atlanta, will see the billboard next month. It will encourage them to call **DUNK.
Their phones will then dial a number and a recording of Millsap will take them through a contest that will offer prizes, including spending time with Millsap in Las Vegas at a summer league game, working out with him and a team trainer and playing against him in video games in the Hawks' locker room.
"We've always done a fair amount of outdoor signage," said Peter Sorckoff, the Hawks' senior vice president of marketing. "We're competing against a lot of other options in the entertainment space and our managing partner Bruce Levenson wanted us to do something big to blow people away."
So the team went to Atlanta-based Chisel 3D, which built its Millsap out of steel and foam. It took a month, and at 15 feet tall, the 3D Millsap is more than double the actual height of the 6-foot-8 Millsap.
The 3D image of Paul Millsap is made of steel and foam and is 15 feet tall. Atlanta Hawks
"There's not that many people doing 3D billboard advertising," Chisel 3D CEO Gary Bystrom said. "So this should make an impact."
Sorckoff said the billboard, which is projected by ad agency CSE to be seen by 660,000 people a week, will help grow the personal brand of Millsap, who is making a big splash in Atlanta. He's averaging 18 points per game and recorded his first NBA triple-double in Tuesday's win against Toronto.
Sorckoff said the billboard will also help the team build its mobile database, as entering the contest will include an opt-in to future Hawks events.
Millsap told ESPN.com that he's completely focused on making sure the Hawks (31-35), who occupy the last playoff spot in the East by four games over the New York Knicks, are playing in the postseason.
"But this billboard," Millsap said, "is something I've got to go see." | {
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Last night, I got to see the Samsung Galaxy Tab up close. On my travels back home to New England from the New York City media event, I was thinking about everything I’d seen, trying to collect my thoughts about it.
In a nutshell, here’s what it boiled down to: It seemed like the Galaxy Tab was going after the iPad in a pretty huge way. That much was obvious. At the press briefing, it was made abundantly clear that the GTab does much of what the iPad does, all while filling in some pretty specific gaps that the Apple tablet omits. If this was a military offensive, it could have been considered a “surgical strike.” There’s been a lot of press surrounding the iPad, and in a market that has yet to be dominated by anything else, it makes a lot of sense for Samsung to target the offerings — or failings — of the Apple gadget. It was like the pink elephant in the room, on the mind of pretty much everyone there.
So, since Samsung sort of went into this territory, I’m going to follow this line. But better than try to explain what this tablet is in a nutshell, it might be easier to talk about what it’s not:
It’s (obviously) not from Apple: This tablet is powered by iOS’ number 1 rival right now, the Android platform (version 2.2, or “Froyo”). And even though comparisons have been made about Samsung’s proprietary user interface, TouchWiz, looking like iOS to some degree, there are some distinct differences — like custom widgets and features, such as Daily Briefing and Social Hub. (These put news, weather and social networking updates right on the homescreen. No iOS device does that.)
This tablet is powered by iOS’ number 1 rival right now, the Android platform (version 2.2, or “Froyo”). And even though comparisons have been made about Samsung’s proprietary user interface, TouchWiz, looking like iOS to some degree, there are some distinct differences — like custom widgets and features, such as Daily Briefing and Social Hub. (These put news, weather and social networking updates right on the homescreen. No iOS device does that.) It is not too big for your pocket, unlike the iPad: The GTab has a 7-inch display (vs. the Apple tablet’s 9.7 inches), and the TFT technology renders colors beautifully. The gadget’s form factor is also roughly half the size and weight of the Apple tablet. (The Samsung tablet’s 12-mm thickness may feel thicker, but it’s actually slightly skinnier than the 13.5-mm depth of the iPad. I think this is a trick of design, since the iOS device domes out on the back and gets slimmer at the edges, to make it feel really thin in the hands.) The tablet is 13 ounces, or about the weight of a can of soda, vs. the iPad’s 1.6 pounds (Wifi+3G model).
The GTab has a 7-inch display (vs. the Apple tablet’s 9.7 inches), and the TFT technology renders colors beautifully. The gadget’s form factor is also roughly half the size and weight of the Apple tablet. (The Samsung tablet’s 12-mm thickness may feel thicker, but it’s actually slightly skinnier than the 13.5-mm depth of the iPad. I think this is a trick of design, since the iOS device domes out on the back and gets slimmer at the edges, to make it feel really thin in the hands.) The tablet is 13 ounces, or about the weight of a can of soda, vs. the iPad’s 1.6 pounds (Wifi+3G model). It doesn’t overlook the camera; there are two, in fact: The rear cam is 3.2 MP and the front-facing one is 1.6 MP. Although the rear camera isn’t exactly a powerhouse, it’s still better than none at all (as with the iPad). The big intention with dual cams is clearly video chat. The Galaxy Tab does not have its own native version of FaceTime, but it does work well with Qik, a third-party vid chat app that made huge news for being featured on the HTC Evo 4G and Samsung Epic 4G.
The rear cam is 3.2 MP and the front-facing one is 1.6 MP. Although the rear camera isn’t exactly a powerhouse, it’s still better than none at all (as with the iPad). The big intention with dual cams is clearly video chat. The Galaxy Tab does not have its own native version of FaceTime, but it does work well with Qik, a third-party vid chat app that made huge news for being featured on the HTC Evo 4G and Samsung Epic 4G. It’s certainly not any slower than the iOS tablet: It boasts a 1GHz A8 cortex Hummingbird application processor. In addition to 16 GB of storage space, which is on par with the base model iPad, the Tab also has 512 MB of RAM — twice what the Apple gadget offers.
It boasts a 1GHz A8 cortex Hummingbird application processor. In addition to 16 GB of storage space, which is on par with the base model iPad, the Tab also has 512 MB of RAM — twice what the Apple gadget offers. It doesn’t block Adobe Flash: The Galaxy tablet fully supports Adobe Flash 10.1 for games and videos, which is a point that was mentioned several times at the media presentation. The Samsung tablet actually seems to run Flash pretty well. It wasn’t seamless (the video was a little choppy), but it was far better than those glitchy, laggy usage scenarios we’ve seen of it running on a Nexus One. (Is it that Flash 10.1 is just not a great experience yet on any mobile platform? Or was it the overwhelmed Wifi signal at the press briefing that impacted streaming? Hard to say. We’ll have to keep an eye on this one.)
The Galaxy tablet fully supports Adobe Flash 10.1 for games and videos, which is a point that was mentioned several times at the media presentation. The Samsung tablet actually seems to run Flash pretty well. It wasn’t seamless (the video was a little choppy), but it was far better than those glitchy, laggy usage scenarios we’ve seen of it running on a Nexus One. (Is it that Flash 10.1 is just not a great experience yet on any mobile platform? Or was it the overwhelmed Wifi signal at the press briefing that impacted streaming? Hard to say. We’ll have to keep an eye on this one.) It won’t make you wait to load/buffer vids: The Galaxy Tab has an instant streaming feature that lets users start watching a video, even if it’s not finished loading.
The Galaxy Tab has an instant streaming feature that lets users start watching a video, even if it’s not finished loading. It doesn’t require manually loading multimedia: It hooks into Samsung’s new Media Hub, a cloud-based entertainment resource for renting/buying TV shows and movies. (And, of course, if you’ve got an Amazon account, you can still use that.) So iOS users may have iTunes rentals and purchases, but it looks like GTab users won’t be lacking either.
It hooks into Samsung’s new Media Hub, a cloud-based entertainment resource for renting/buying TV shows and movies. (And, of course, if you’ve got an Amazon account, you can still use that.) So iOS users may have iTunes rentals and purchases, but it looks like GTab users won’t be lacking either. It doesn’t limit your memory: 16GB pre-installed microSD storage via a slot that supports up to 32 GB. (Do I need to say it? Apple iPad has no microSD card slots at all.)
16GB pre-installed microSD storage via a slot that supports up to 32 GB. (Do I need to say it? Apple iPad has no microSD card slots at all.) It doesn’t drain too readily: Samsung says its tablet can offer 7 hours of video playback. (Apple, however, claims the iPad can offer up to 10 hours.)
Samsung says its tablet can offer 7 hours of video playback. (Apple, however, claims the iPad can offer up to 10 hours.) It won’t stop you from using the latest software: Android 2.2, or “Froyo,” will arrive on Samsung Tab. Apple’s iPad, however, will have been waiting for more than 6 months to get the latest software (iOS 4) by the time it finally becomes available to them in November.
Android 2.2, or “Froyo,” will arrive on Samsung Tab. Apple’s iPad, however, will have been waiting for more than 6 months to get the latest software (iOS 4) by the time it finally becomes available to them in November. It isn’t going to tie you down to one carrier: The Galaxy Tab will be offered by all four major carriers: T-mobile, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. (No exclusivities here, unlike other Apple offerings.) However, there won't be a Wifi-only model (at launch, at least), so for the time being, it seems that a carrier-supported tablet may very well be the only way to go.
Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, though that will be at the cellular providers' discretion. (Will there be subsidies? Contracts? Or will it be similar to the iPad/AT&T deal, with monthly á la carte options? These details aren’t yet known.) So far, the numbers that have been tossed around are in the $200 to $300 range.
The one thing that hasn’t been talked about a lot yet is the issue of “fragmentation,” meaning that Android devs have so far been pretty challenged to create apps for all the various smartphones and screen sizes. And now they have a whole new, larger size to contend with? Samsung is confident that devs only need to see the Galaxy Tab before jumping to tweak their wares for this. And those in the bigger dev houses probably will, but all those cool applications put out by the smaller devs — will they be able to jump aboard this train?
Samsung noted that many Android apps, even some that aren’t optimized for this screen, still run fine on the tablet. But admittedly, not all of them do. So now I’m wondering how limited the app selection might really wind up being for this community of would-be users.
I’ll be honest — I really liked this device, at least hardware-wise. But I’m a little concerned about the software side of this. Apps, and all the functionality they bring, are a driving factor of success for mobile platforms. If there are plenty of applications for would-be GTab users, I think this device has a real chance of making a big mark on the tablet industry. But if not, this could be a serious Achilles’ heel, at least from a consumer standpoint.
What are your thoughts on this? Would you take an awesome piece of hardware, and hope that the applications will follow suit? Or would you hold off, in a “wait and see” game? And if you're considering a tablet, definitely weigh in: Which one are you leaning toward? A more pocketable, Flash-running, camera-equipped Android device or the Apple iPad, with its multitudes of proven apps? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. | {
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Burger King is opening the Whopper Bar in South Beach that will serve hamburgers and American beer 24/7. We've seen the people that hang out at Burger King and we'll pass. Call us when Sonic is serving up Jell-O shots. | {
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Readers, beware.
You might encounter something spooky this Halloween.
A zombie? Nah, more frightening than that. Yep, a member of Congress.
Boo! It’s John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi at your door.
"[A] majority of voters actually prefer the blood-hungry creatures of The Walking Dead and Zombieland to the current Congress," state Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, wrote in a press release. "One poll earlier this month found that a plurality of registered voters prefer real zombies over the pseudo variety haunting Washington today. (Even mother-in-laws and the DMV also outpolled Congress.)"
Lindsey even included a picture of one of the menacing creatures (to be clear, we’re talking about the zombies) in the press release.
Despite his disdain for Congress, Lindsey is one of several Republicans running for the 11th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district encompasses conservative-leaning communities to the north and west of Atlanta. The current officeholder, Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, is running for the U.S. Senate.
So who’s scarier? Creatures who have returned from the dead to wreak havoc on the world or the men and women in Washington who recently took more than two weeks to resolve a partial government shutdown?
PolitiFact Georgia thought it would be fun to find out whether Lindsey was using hyperbole in his quest to convince voters he is a less frightening option that the lot that’s currently in Congress.
"The Walking Dead" is a popular TV show that follows survivors of a plague that turns people into zombies. In the show's post-apocalypse Atlanta, the undead stagger through downtown and through the countryside hungry for human innards.
Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina-based firm, recently asked 502 registered voters by telephone a series of questions to determine how disliked is Congress. It was taken Oct. 4-6, a few days after the shutdown began. They asked the respondents "What do you have a higher opinion of: Congress or zombies?"
Forty-three percent of the respondents said zombies, 37 percent said Congress. Nineteen percent said they weren’t sure.
The poll had a 4 percent margin of error. The political party and racial breakdown of the respondents was pretty similar to that of other polls and U.S. Census data. Slightly more men than women answered the poll (53-47 percent), which differs from data that shows the majority of voters are women. There was no breakdown of how many respondents are zombies.
Congress was less popular than a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles, jury duty, toenail fungus and cockroaches. The congressional approval rating was 8 percent, which is nearly identical to most polling. Our political leaders in Washington did fare better than homegrown reality star Honey Boo Boo as well as controversial entertainers, such as Lindsey Lohan and Miley Cyrus.
This is no cause for celebratory twerking, Congress.
Lindsey said he based the claim on the PPP poll, although some of their polls has been said to favor left-leaning candidates.
"Based on my anecdotal conversations, if anything, I think the poll numbers may be higher (in favor of zombies)," Lindsey said.
We found no other polls on this topic.
PolitiFact Georgia had one more question. Why would Lindsey would want to work in a place where his colleagues are so widely despised?
"I’ve seen just about every zombie show and, so far, the humans win," Lindsey explained with a hearty laugh.
We have no reason to question the PPP’s accuracy on this topic.
We rate Lindsey’s statement True. | {
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First, let’s get this out of the way… I don’t want to trade Cody Franson. He’s a handsome man and good hockey player and I’d love to have him stick around Toronto for the forseeable future. That being said, even more than not wanting to trade him do I not want him to walk for nothing at the end of the season.
So what can you get for him? At first, I dreamed of a first round pick, or maybe a second and a good prospect. Or maybe like, a really great prospect? That’d be super.
But I also have to consider that Franson is just a rental (for now), and that the market could be saturated with top four defencemen (Keith Yandle, Zbynek Michalek, Tyler Myers, etc.), and that these factors could hurt Franson’s trade value.
Ultimately though, precedence is king. So let’s take a look at other (perceived) quality defenders who were moved close to or at the trade deadline over the past year years and see what kind of value the Leafs should be looking to extract out of Franson.
Robidas to Anaheim
Don’t laugh. Robidas might be next to useless now, but he was once upon a time a fine player for the Dallas Stars. Last season, in 38 games, Robidas scored 10 points, was a +10, and averaged 20:10 in ice time. That ain’t half bad.
That being said, Anaheim got him on the cheap, only giving up a conditional 2014 fourth round pick to land him on March 4th, 2014. The pick could have become a third round pick based on games played, but an injury caused Robidas to miss significant time and the pick remained a fourth. With it, the Stars selected goaltender Brent Moran of the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs.
Now, Franson definitely has a much higher trade value than a measly fourth round pick, as he’s not injury prone nor is he old as heck. That being said, revisiting the Robidas deal at the very least sets our floor for expectations going forward.
MacDonald to Philadelphia
Like Franson is now, Andrew MacDonald was 27-years old when the New York Islanders traded the pending UFA to the Philadelphia Flyers on March 4th of last year. The Flyers thought they were getting a solid, two-way top four defender. They didn’t really, but still signed him to a six-year, $30M contract this past offseason, which is hilarious.
In exchange, the Islanders received a 2014 third round pick, a 2015 second round pick, and prospect Matt Mangene. The third round pick was used to draft KHL goaltender Ilya Sorokin, while the second rounder has already been dealt, shipped to the Boston Bruins as part of a package for Johnny Boychuk. Matt Mangene, 25, has yet to play an NHL game and is currently hopping between AHL and ECHL assignments.
Bouwmeester to St. Louis
Jay Bouwmeester is definitely the biggest fish on this list, and the St. Louis Blues certainly paid big for him, so that doesn’t make him the best comparable to Franson. That being said, as Robidas set our low, low floor, Bouwmeester can represent the ceiling for our expectations.
The Calgary Flames shipped Bouwmeester to the Blues on April 1st, 2013, and in exchange received a conditional first round pick, defenceman Mark Cundari and goaltender Reto Berra.
Now 24, Mark Cundari hasn’t yet cracked the Flames’ lineup on any consistent basis, but is still in the organization with Adirondack of the AHL. Reto Berra played 29 games for the Flames the following season, but was ultimately shipped to Colorado for a 2014 second round pick (Hunter Smith). The first round pick turned out to be a 2013 selection, and was used to take talented winger Emile Poirier.
Murray to Pittsburgh
If you stifled your laughter for Robidas, you may now howl. I mean, at least Robidas is still in the league in some capacity.
Douglas Murray was traded by the San Jose Sharks to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 25, 2013 for a 2013 second round pick and a 2014 conditional second round pick. The condition was eventually met, so we’re looking at a pair of second rounders for a guy who ended up playing 29 games for the Penguins before signing with Montreal in the offseason. Murray is now playing in Germany.
The Sharks used the 2013 second round pick along with their own 2013 first rounder in a deal with the Detroit Red Wings to move up two slots and select defenceman Mirco Mueller. The 2014 second round pick was used by the Sharks to take forward Noah Rod.
Quincey to Tampa Bay, then Detroit
Kyle Quincey is a unique situation, it that he was involved in two deals in one day on February 21st, 2012. First, the Colorado Avalanche traded Quincey to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Steve Downie. Almost immediately, the Lightning flipped Quincey to the Detroit Red Wings for a 2012 first round pick and defensive prospect Sebastien Piche.
Tampa Bay used the first round pick to select Andrei Vasilevski, who’s now 20-years old and is perhaps the best goaltending prospect in all of hockey. Piche spent some time in the ECHL before jumping the pond and continuing his career in Austria.
Setting Reasonable Expectations
Reportedly, the Leafs are looking for a 2nd round pick if they choose to move Franson.
I think they could do better, but maybe not by much. It wouldn’t be unreasonable, based on the trades mentioned above, that Toronto could also command a mid-level prospect or a mid-round pick in any deal in which they trade Franson to a Cup contender. If you’re feeling really saucy, you could ask for one very good prospect or a first round pick – letting the trading partner work out a contract extension might help make that happen.
So if you’re dealing with Los Angeles? Ask for first round pick, or prospect Adrian Kempe. Why not?
Anaheim? Push them hard for a Franson-for-Shea Theodore flip, or maybe settle for 2015 second and fourth.
For the love of God, do not accept a measly third rounder.
These are the kind of deals you’re looking at (or hoping to) make if you can’t keep Franson around long term.
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Timeline Showing The Increase of Islamic Terrorist Attacks
Featured 03/22/2016 in wow
Starting in 1980 and going up until November 2015, this video shows the increase of Islamic terrorists from around the world. | {
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NASA-funded researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are tapping information found in the cells of all life on Earth, and using it to trace life's evolution. They have learned that life is a master stenographer -- writing, rewriting and recording its history in elaborate biological structures.
Some of the keys to unlocking the origin of life lie encrypted in the ribosome, life's oldest and most universal assembly of molecules. Today's ribosome converts genetic information (RNA) into proteins that carry out various functions in an organism. But the ribosome itself has changed over time. Its history shows how simple molecules joined forces to invent biology, and its current structure records ancient biological processes that occurred at the root of the Tree of Life, some 3.8 billion years ago.
By examining variations in the ribosomal RNA contained in modern cells, scientists can visualize the timeline of life far back in history, elucidating molecular structures, reactions and events near the biochemical origins of life.
"Biology is a great keeper of records," said Loren Williams, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and principal investigator for the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Georgia Tech Center for Ribosome Adaptation and Evolution from 2009-2014. "We are figuring out how to read some of the oldest records in biology to understand pre-biological processes, the origin of life, and the evolution of life on Earth."
The study is scheduled to be reported November 30 in the Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Like rings in the trunk of a tree, the ribosome contains components that functioned early on in its history. The center of the trunk records the tree's youth, and successive rings represent each year of the tree's life, with the outermost layer recording the present. Just as the core of a tree's trunk remains unchanged over time, all modern ribosomes contain a common core dating back 3.8 billion years. This common core is the same in all living organisms, including humans.
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"The ribosome recorded its history," said Williams. "It accreted and got bigger and bigger over time. But the older parts were continually frozen after they accreted, just like the rings of a tree. As long as that tree lives, the inner rings will not change. The very core of the ribosome is older than biology, produced by evolutionary processes that we still don't understand very well."
While exploiting this record-keeping ability of the ribosome reveals how biology has changed over time, it can also point to the environmental conditions on Earth in which that biology evolved, and help inform our search for life elsewhere in the Universe.
"This work enables us to look back in time past the root of the tree of life -- the ancestor of all modern cells -- to a time when proteins and nucleic acids had not yet become the basis for all biochemistry," said Carl Pilcher, interim director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. "It helps us understand some of the earliest stages in the development of life on Earth, and can guide our search for extraterrestrial environments where life may have developed."
By rewinding, reverse engineering, and replaying this ancient ribosomal tape, researchers are uncovering the secrets of creation and are answering foundational, existential questions about our place in the Universe.
By studying more additions to the ribosome, the research team -- with key contributions by Georgia Tech Research Scientist Anton Petrov -- found "molecular fingerprints" that show where insertions were made, allowing them to discern the rules by which it grew. Using a technique they call the Structural Comparative Method, the researchers were able to model the ribosome's development in great detail.
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"By taking ribosomes from a number of species -- humans, yeast, various bacteria and archaea -- and looking at the outer portions that are variable, we saw that there were very specific rules governing how they change," said Williams. "We took those rules and applied them to the common core, which allowed us to see all the way back to the first pieces of RNA."
Some clues along the way helped. For instance, though RNA is now responsible for creating proteins, the very earliest life had no proteins. By looking for regions of the ribosome that contain no proteins, the researchers could determine that those elements existed before the advent of proteins. "Once the ribosome gained a certain capability, that changed its nature," Williams said.
While the ribosomal core is the same across species, what's added on top differs. Humans have the largest ribosome, encompassing some 7,000 nucleotides representing dramatic growth from the hundred or so base pairs at the beginning.
"What we're talking about is going from short oligomers, short pieces of RNA, to the biology we see today," said Williams. "The increase in size and complexity is mind-boggling."
The researchers obtained their ribosomes from structure and sequence databases that have been produced to help scientists identify new species. Ribosomes can be crystallized, which reveals their three dimensional structures.
Beyond understanding how evolution played out over time, this knowledge of the ribosome's development could have more practical modern-day health applications.
"The ribosome is one of the primary target for antibiotics, so understanding its architecture and consistently throughout biology could be of great benefit," said Williams. "By studying the ribosome, we can start thinking about biology in a different way. We can see the symbiotic relationship between RNA and proteins."
As a next step, Williams and colleagues are now using experiments to verify what their model shows.
"We have a coherent and consistent model that accounts for all the data we have going all the way back to a form of biology that is very primitive compared to what we have now," Williams explained. "We plan to continue testing the predictions of the model."
In addition to those already named, the research included Burak Gulen, Ashlyn Norris, Chad Bernier, Nicholas Kovacs, Kathryn Lanier, Stephen Harvey, Roger Wartell and Nicholas Hud from Georgia Tech, and George Fox from the University of Houston.
This research was funded in part by the NASA Astrobiology Institute under grant NNA09DA78A. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NASA. | {
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In case you need a reminder, Donald Trump is a fascist, not just “fascistic,” a plain-old fascist who has been delivering fascist rants ever since he entered this campaign. Trump’s white nationalist rhetoric of racism, religious bigotry and toxic masculinity is now fully wedded to a stabbed in the back mythology and talk about international bankers taken straight from neo-Nazi websites.
The Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure. We've seen this first hand in the WikiLeaks documents, in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors. … It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.
There’s a great reluctance by the media to use this term. The p-word? Yeah, that barrier is gone. But the f-word? They’re not ready to cross that line. Not even when Trump is throwing out things like the above. Not even when he’s saying things like …
A conglomeration of people who feel, think and act according to international ideas.
Oh, sorry. That one’s Hitler. It’s getting very hard to tell the difference.
Donald Trump is a cancer on the American politic, and now he has metastasized.
In many states, any registered voter can request an absentee ballot. Check to see if you can get one and vote early this year. | {
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Maple Leafs prospect Andreas Johnson currently plays for Frölunda, and managed to score this highlight-reel goal against Skellefteå AIK yesterday. Today, Patrik B of Habs Eyes on the Prize translated an interview that Johnson did with Frölundapodden.
If you know Swedish, or want to hear Johnson's voice, you can listen to it here:
The interviewer starts by asking how Andreas' nickname became Mango, due to Gothenburg slang.
Andreas laughs and tells them that his coach (whom he mentions by his first name, "Roger") uses the slang word for idiot instead: "Mongo"...
From there the interview turns more serious and really takes off with a question about whether Andreas is Jonas Johnson's son. (Jonas is hockey royalty in Gothenburg). Andreas says that he and his father had talked about it just a few weeks ago when Jonas had been talked about as Andreas' dad. They both thought it was funny and a sign that things are going the right way.
Q: Was it difficult or inspiring to have a famous dad?
A: Both, I mean a lot of people compare our play as similar, and that's inspring because dad was a really good player. But at the start there was a lot of talk about "he only gets to play because his father is famous." It gave me an extra kick and sometimes became my driving force, I have now shown them all up and they can't really say that anymore. It feels good, but yes there have been pros and cons in regards to growing up like that. But my parents have been great, they have told me that I should just do what's fun and what I like, they have never told me to do certain things in particular, they been very supportive.
Q: Do you miss Anton Blidh? (Now with the Boston Bruins)
A: Yeah I mean sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, it was a love-hate relationship. On the bus I wanted to sleep, but we always sat together and he would wake me up to talk about something or show me something on the phone.
Q: You two were like brothers, fighting and teasing and hugging all the time!
A: Yeah - I do miss him a bit, but I am glad he is doing great over there.
Q: You were signed by Toronto Maple Leafs...
A: Yes it's great that they believe so much in me that they wanted to sign me. It's amazing, but you can't rest on your laurels like that. Now I have to prove them right, and show that their belief is warranted.
Q: One more year in Frölunda...
A: We haven't really discussed any plans (Toronto and I), but my thought is to go over next year to do the whole thing rather than split my time and concentration on doing bits and pieces here and there. I took a year here, and will do the whole year in North America next year instead. It was good to go over to the summer camp, to get to know the organization, talk with trainers, the other prospects and get a feel for everything.
Q: Last season 22 goals and 35 points in total, are there new expectations?
A: I think I set my own expectations harsher than anyone else. 22 goals is great, but this year I really want to develop as a player, I want to add to the assist scores, it's early and it's only been [five] games so far. Of course I want to add more points but I am also looking to my defensive output, work out in the gym, and to increase my VO2(max). I want to become a more complete player. I have always been counted on scoring, now I need to be able to do the other stuff as well. The big difference is now that I have to be more responsible with the puck, as Mattis Olimb has gone to Jokerit in KHL, and he could keep the puck for ages himself in SHL. With my new linemates (Spencer Abbot formerly of Toronto Marlies and Johan Sundstrom, an Islanders' pick), it will take some time before we click.
~
The interview then ends with a discussion of Johnson's favorite tv-show, Paradise Hotel -- it's as bad as you think.
With thanks to Patrik B for the translation! | {
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We’ve been seeing Android (and Ubuntu, for that matter) builds running on the HD2 for a few weeks now, and it looks like an early prototype build is now available for download.
Compared to what it takes to alter your OS on Android phones, it actually seems quite simple:
Android Global instructions: Just extract to Storage Card root directory and run HaRET executable. Android build with HTC sense (tm)
composed by DarkStone1337
http://gamesquare.co.uk/LEO_SENSE.7z Different random build
http://media2a.com/android/Android_Boot_Test_TS.zip
Awesome, right? And better yet, the last few pages of the thread show that most people are booting in just fine, with relatively few problems. (The last post explains that the thread is locked because it has non-dev’s posting; to be fair, the thread is 299 pages long).
Welcome to the best party ever, HD2 users.
[Source: XDA-Devs | {
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It was nighttime. Steven was asleep. He was dreaming. In his dream, he was in the desert. The same desert where Lion was found. He noticed his hands were a bright-peach. He then realized he was having a dream of one of Rose's memories again. She was holding a dying lion. She was crying and her tears landed on that lion. The lion turned pink and got a pink mane. It floated in the air and came back to life. She hugged Lion and stroked his mane. Her hand was inside it. "Wait is my hand inside his mane?" asked Rose Quartz to herself. She then peeked her head inside his mane. "Wow this is incredible!" said Rose Quartz to herself. She went inside Lion's mane. There was a pink tree on a hill. "I can store so many things inside here! This is amazing! I haven't done this in thousands of years!" said Rose Quartz to herself. She then got out of Lion's mane and walked over to a ziggurat shaped structure. She went inside it. Inside, there were two bubbles and a treasure chest. One with pink shards and the bubble Bismuth was in. She took the bubble with Bismuth's gem and walked out of the ziggurat. She took the bubble and placed it inside Lion's mane. She got out of Lion's mane and went back into the Ziggurat to retrieve the pink shards and treasure chest. Steven then woke up sweating. He decided to go back to sleep. *Scene cuts to morning inside the beach house* It was a bright morning, Steven had just woken up from a dream in the form of a memory of Rose Quartz's. Pearl noticed something was troubling him. "Steven, is everything alright?" asked Pearl. "I have a lot of questions. I need answers. When I was asleep, I had a dream of one of my mom's memories. My mom found Lion dying and she healed him. I realized that was how he got his pink color. She put Bismuth's gemstone inside Lion's mane. She took it out from inside a pyramid. There was another bubble in there that had pink shards in it along with a treasure chest. I've seen that treasure chest inside Lion's mane before." said Steven. "Did you say pyramid?" asked Pearl. "Wait you don't think those were Pink Diamond's shards, do you?" asked Steven. "After your mother shattered Pink Diamond, she kept her shards hidden and bubbled in the Ziggurat pyramid." said Pearl. "We have to go find the shards. I could heal her. I could change everything. I can fix my mom's mistakes." said Steven. "They're not there anymore. I just looked into the future and I couldn't foresee you finding Pink Diamond's shards in the Ziggurat." said Garnet as she came out of the bubbling room. "They must be in the treasure chest in Lion's mane." said Steven. "Listen, once gems are shattered, they're shattered forever. They can't be healed." said Garnet. "But we have to try! I need answers!" said Steven. "No! This isn't up for discussion! Pink Diamond was a villain!" said Garnet. "Alright I understand." said Steven. Later at night, Steven was in bed dreaming. In his dream, he saw that his hands were the hands of Rose Quartz. He was having another one of her memories. A pregnant Rose Quartz was at her healing fountain with Lion and the bubble of pink shards. She unbubbled the pink shards and dropped them into the healing fountain. The shards went to each other and formed a diamond shape. "Why won't it work?!" cried Rose Quartz. She went into the fountain and held the shards and cried on them. The shards merged together into the diamond shape and glowed. The diamond became whole again. It was a pink diamond. Steven then woke up. "I need answers!" said Steven. | {
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Official Petition to Defund Sanctuary Cities
Dear President Trump,
I support your order to crack down on sanctuary cities that shield illegal immigrants from the law.
Our nation’s states, cities, and counties must consider the harm they are doing to our citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws.
It’s time to put an end to this flagrant obstruction of the rule of law. | {
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Meet The Woman Who Poisoned Makeup To Help Over 600 Women Murder Their Husbands
With a concoction known as Aqua Tofana, Giulia Tofana found a creative solution for Renaissance women in need of a divorce
By Genevieve Carlton
She’s the most successful serial killer whose name you’ve never heard. Giulia Tofana killed hundreds of men in 17th-century Italy when she turned her makeup business into a poison factory, selling a deadly concoction called Aqua Tofana, thought to have been laced with arsenic, lead, and belladonna.
Tofana made it her mission — and her business — to help aspiring widows murder their husbands. During the Renaissance, in an era of arranged marriages that left no possibility of divorce, the only way out of an unhappy union was death. Women were often forced into marriage by their families without having a say in the matter. Once married, husbands had complete control over their wives, and women were often completely powerless. Husbands could beat their wives without facing any punishment or subject them to all kinds of cruel treatments.
No wonder some women wanted to be widows. Aqua Tofana provided a quick, discrete solution.
Tofana was able to murder hundreds of men over the course of nearly 50 years without being caught — until, in a shocking twist, a bowl of soup caused her downfall.
Giulia Tofana made Italian cosmetics using deadly poisons
So, who was Giulia Tofana outside of being the prolific creator of a widow-maker poison? In many ways, one of history’s most prolific serial killers remains a mystery. There are no portraits of Giulia. During the mid-1600s, Giulia sold cosmetics in southern Italy — and her special recipes for Aqua Tofana contained enough arsenic to kill without leaving a trace. Her goal was to keep her poison secret so that she could continue to sell the potent concoction. And she managed to fool the authorities for nearly 50 years.
Giulia was eventually caught because of a bowl of soup
In the 1650s, one of Giulia Tofana’s clients got cold feet. She’d bought the Aqua Tofana from Giulia and taken it home. She’d even gone so far as to put the poison in her husband’s soup. But suddenly she had been gripped with regret. She stopped her husband from eating the soup, and the suspicious man forced her to tell the truth. Then, he turned her over to the Papal authorities in Rome. She finally confessed and pointed the finger at Giulia as the miscreant who had sold her the poison.
Giulia was warned of her impending arrest, and she fled to a church, asking for sanctuary. It was granted, but when a rumor spread through Rome that Giulia had poisoned the water, the church was stormed, and Giulia was handed over to Papal authorities, who tortured her until she confessed to poisoning over 600 men between 1633 and 1651. It’s possible that the real number was even higher. In July of 1659, Giulia Tofana was executed along with her daughter and three employees. They were killed in Rome’s Campo de’ Fiori, a popular location for execution.
Some of Giulia’s clients were also punished. After her confession, a number of clients tried to feign ignorance and claim their Aqua Tofana was simply for cosmetic purposes. Others were executed or thrown into prison. But the legend of Aqua Tofana continued long after Giulia’s death.
On his deathbed, Mozart said he was poisoned with Aqua Tofana
Aqua Tofana became so famous that in 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart claimed he was being poisoned with Tofana’s invention. The composer was still working on his requiem mass when he fell seriously ill. From his deathbed, Mozart declared, “I feel definitely that I will not last much longer; I am sure that I have been poisoned.” He went on to claim, “Someone has given me acqua tofana and calculated the precise time of my death.”
While poisoning most likely didn’t kill Mozart, the fact that Giulia Tofana’s recipe was still being discussed more than 100 years after her death is clear evidence that her poison was very popular.
Aqua Tofana could kill in as few as four drops
Aqua Tofana could kill a man with as few as four drops of poison, meted out over a matter of days or weeks to avoid suspicion. It was completely tasteless, odorless, and colorless — making it the perfect poison to mix into a glass of wine or any other drink. The recipe was a mixture of arsenic, lead, and belladonna, all deadly poisonous substances.
Tofana’s real genius, though, was in its disguise: as a typical woman’s cosmetic or even a religious healing oil that no husband would suspect. First, she disguised Aqua Tofana as a powdered makeup. Women could set the small container on their dressing tables next to other lotions and perfumes without raising suspicion from anyone. But her second disguise was even more ingenious. She sold Aqua Tofana hidden in small vials with the image of Saint Nicholas of Bari. The vial claimed to be “Manna of St. Nicholas of Bari,” a special healing ointment that looked like a devotional object.
Giulia Tofana’s mother and daughter were also poisoners
Giulia Tofana wasn’t the only poisoner in her family. She was the daughter of Thofania d’Adamo, who was executed in Palermo, Sicily, in 1633 after being accused of murdering her husband. It’s possible that Thofania even used poison. The family connection didn’t stop there. Giulia’s daughter, Girolama Spera, known as “Astrologa della Lungara,” was also part of the family business. She was executed in 1659 along with her mother.
And maybe Giulia herself did more than just sell the substance. When she started her business, she was described as a beautiful young widow, known to spend a lot of time with apothecaries, watching as they made their potions. This may have helped her develop her own potion, Aqua Tofana. Alternatively, maybe the secret was passed down by her mother.
Giulia Tofana and her female relatives weren’t the only women poisoning people in the Renaissance
Poison was known as women’s weapon of choice when they wanted to murder someone in medieval and early modern Europe. Poison was associated with cosmetics: a number of Renaissance cosmetics contained poisonous ingredients like arsenic, belladonna, and cochineal. Belladonna was popular because it dilated pupils, which fit with the Renaissance standard of beauty. But along with dilated pupils, the lethal nightshade could cause blindness.
Historian Annette Drew-Bear has argued that Renaissance plays featured women applying face-paint on stage to reference women’s false and poisonous nature. So Giulia Tofana wasn’t the only woman associated with poisoning people in the Renaissance — not by a long shot. | {
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[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church has heard Presiding Bishop Michael Curry herald the message of God’s unconditional love ever since he was elected in July 2015. In May, his message went global and viral when he preached at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and now it has earned him the title of “religious newsmaker of the year.”
The Religion News Association said that Curry’s sermon had “raised his profile as a progressive religious voice.”
That could be an understatement. Curry’s profile beyond the Episcopal Church began to take off the moment his part in the May 19 wedding was announced. Stories attempting to answer the question “who is Michael Curry” abounded.
Then, he stepped to the ambo at St. George’s Chapel and began to preach. According to media statisticians, 29.2 million people in the United States and 18 million in the United Kingdom viewed the wedding. And then there was Twitter, where 3.4 million social media users tweeted about the royal wedding. They tweeted 40,000 times a minute during Curry’s sermon, more than the 27,000 tweets per minute during the declaration of Harry and Meghan as husband and wife.
That day, “Bishop Michael Curry” was a top “trending topic” on Google with a score of 100 on a scale of 0-100 for daily searches, and “episcopal” was the top lookup on Merriam-Webster.
There was even a spoof of the presiding bishop on “Saturday Night Live” that night, one of the few times that the show has featured a living religious leader.
Since then, Curry has combined his normal travels around the Episcopal Church with a round of media interviews to continue preaching the message of unconditional love. It has been a whirlwind, ranging from multiple appearances on “The Today Show” to “The View” to NPR and more. They were squeezed into an already busy schedule of travel within the Episcopal Church and his more public appearances such as a prayer service and procession of public witness in Washington, D.C., participation in the Dec. 5 funeral for George H.W. Bush and the Dec. 11 commemoration of the Apollo 8 mission.
These days, it is hard for Curry to walk down the street or through an airport without being recognized and stopped, but it is a phenomenon that he welcomes.
“I was surprised by all the attention after the royal wedding,” Curry recently told “The Today Show’s” Voices series, reflecting on what the show called “his viral moment and newfound celebrity.”
“I really didn’t expect that,” Curry said. “But what I’ve been more surprised by has been that what resonated was the message of love. It wasn’t me. I mean, I delivered it. But it was actually the message of love. That’s what people have stopped me on the street or at the airport to talk about — after we take the selfie, of course.”
Nancy Davidge, Episcopal Church public affairs officer, told Episcopal News Service that Curry was “undoubtedly one of the most powerful religious voices of 2018” who deeply touched both Christians and non-Christians. “His message of love transcended political divides and controversies and deeply moved millions,” she said.
“In a year when top religion news stories were about deep suffering and despair, Presiding Bishop Curry’s message of love motivated millions. While some know him only as ‘the wedding preacher,’ his message touched them deeply. As Bishop Curry reminds us, if it doesn’t look like love, it does not look like Christ.”
During 2018, Davidge said, the presiding bishop amassed a global potential audience reach of more than 17 billion and generated around 9,700 media mentions, including by every major media outlet in the United States. This generated nearly 17 billion unique visitors per month online and a print/broadcast audience reach of around 131 million, she added.
Those numbers keep growing. The presiding bishop is scheduled to be on the Christmas morning news broadcasts of ABC, CBS and NBC. He is also scheduled to be on the Dr. Oz Show on Dec. 21.
About two months after the royal wedding, Curry announced that he had prostate cancer and took about six weeks off for what was successful surgery and treatment.
In October, Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House, published “The Power of Love: Sermons, Reflections, and Wisdom to Uplift and Inspire,” which includes the royal wedding sermon, three of Curry’s sermons from General Convention events this past summer, and the sermon he preached at his installation on Nov. 2, 2015. “The world has met Bishop Curry and has been moved by his riveting, hopeful, and deceptively simple message: love and acceptance are what we need in these strange times,” the publisher says in its online description.
Religion News Association members have voted in the annual poll for decades. RNA is an international association for journalists who write about religion in the news media. It offers training and tools to help reporters cover religion with balance, accuracy and insight.
Following Curry in a close race for second and third place for religious newsmaker of the year were famed evangelist Billy Graham, who died this year at age 99, and Pittsburgh Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who emerged as a voice of lament and peace after the Tree of Life shooting.
The other four religious newsmakers were Rachael Denhollander, who emerged as an outspoken advocate for victims of sexual misconduct in churches and whose victim-impact statement — balancing justice with forgiveness — at the sentencing of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar went viral; Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who rocked the Catholic Church with hotly disputed contentions that Pope Francis covered up sexual abuse and should resign; Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who drew strong support from religious conservatives in a confirmation dominated by an explosive allegation of attempted rape as a teen, making it a signature case in the #MeToo movement; and megachurch pioneer Bill Hybels, who retired early from Willow Creek Community Church amid accusations of sexual misconduct.
The poll also ranks the top 27 religious news stories of the year. The Pennsylvania grand jury report accusing 301 Catholic priests of sexually abusing at least 1,000 minors led that list, and the poll notes that probes by the U.S. Justice Department and other states began in the wake of that news. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, faulted for his past role as bishop of Pittsburgh, resigned as Washington archbishop because of the report.
Religion Newsmaker of the Year honors went to Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, whose sermon at this year’s royal wedding "stole the show," according to the British press, and raised his profile as a progressive religious voice. https://t.co/lKvM8FLflB pic.twitter.com/MunLmSo6Rm — Religion News Association (@ReligionReport) December 14, 2018
– The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is the Episcopal News Service’s senior editor and reporter. | {
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Whenever we heard the words of the revolution—sung as we went along our daily lives, drinking our coffee, working, or getting ready to leave—oftentimes, we would find ourselves humming, singing, inadvertently, perhaps emerging from within the depths of our pain and longing for freedom… We do not know much about how they were written, or composed, but we know that hundreds of thousands throats are raw from singing them since the beginning of the revolution.
The Ba’ath party buried five of Syria’s accents in the name of Arabism. There was no institution that dealt with folk songs, especially those sung by children living in remote villages. There was no urgency around studying and documenting them. The Syrian revolution, however, was also a revolution of information. It revived these dialects and diffused them across social media. These dialects were instrumental in birthing songs like, ‘Hanin Lilhurriyeh hanin’, ‘Yalli byiqtl sha’abo khayen’, ‘Ma’alesh, Dara’a, ma’alesh’, ‘Yalla irhal ya Bashar’ and ‘Halabiyeh halabiyeh’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaWtr_yWoss
These songs, though the same, varied depending on neighborhood, city, and province. In Homs, for example, the village of Deir Ba’albeh, came up ‘Ani tale’ itzhar’ in the Bedouin dialect.
Over time, these songs have become part of Syrian heritage. For example, ‘Janna janna’ has matched the popular ‘A'lzozanah, a’alrozanah’. As it is, each song from the 20th century has a legacy and each song in the revolution is developing one too. There exists an intertextuality between the revolutionary songs and traditional songs. The revolutionary songs, which echo the traditional songs, include familiar melodies like ‘Skaba ya dumoo’ il’ayn’, ‘alef ba bubayeh’, and ‘alnadda alnadda alnadda, ya Bashar manak adda'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uio-3L-l-KM
On the Friday of the Revolution Continues, March, 4 2016, these songs resurfaced. The truce allowed Syrians who live in areas beyond the control of the regime and ISIS to go out and protest. The songs and the way they are performed did not change across the country. In Talbiseh, they sang a song famous in 2011, ‘We’re the Homsis, We’re Homsis and we want to send Assad to the nuthouse’. In Hama, children chanted ‘Leave, O Bashar’. In Bosra al-Sham, they chanted ‘O Revolutionaries, we are with you until death’ a throwback to what they chanted 5 years ago, ‘O Homs, we are with you until death.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfo4LU6LDFg
In Naseeb, chanted in their local dialect, ‘O Bashar, you are good for nothing.’ In Saqba, Damascus, rebels sang ‘Janna, janna’. In Aleppo, the protestors sang a song lyrics from Dara’a, ‘long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad… Syria is ours and now the Assads’ and ‘the revolution was peaceful, here is my olive branch. We want to depose Bashar, no matter who he is.’ These songs, and others, had disappeared since 2013. Their return today signals a nostalgia felt by many for the first days of the revolution and its glory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnvZQed4wfc
This return was not spontaneous in all participating areas; in Aleppo, it was coordinated by the revolutionaries, who had established a unified command to organize unified slogans and chants, a member of the network told us. On the Friday of the Revolution Continues, the unified command focused on songs and chants, harking back to the beginning of the peaceful movement across Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqC2AatfYj0 | {
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Revolights are a legal headlight, smart brake light and a dramatic increase in side visibility. A true 360º lighting solution for your night riding safety.See and Be Seen. | {
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Authorities say a man has been bitten multiple times by a shark on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the fifth such attack in the past two weeks.
Multiple media outlets reported that a 47-year-old man was bitten on the back on Friday while he was in the surf off Avon on Hatteras Island.
WVEC-TV in Norfolk, Virginia, reported the man was being transported to a hospital there.
Several children have been the victims of shark attacks along North Carolina’s coast this month including a 13-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy who both lost limbs about 90 minutes apart at Oak Island. An eight-year-old boy suffered minor injuries when he was bitten on Wednesday.
Red flags were raised at Avon alerting beachgoers of a shark attack.
Officials at the National Park Service, which oversees the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, were not immediately available for comment on Friday. | {
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Artemis, meet ARTEMIS: Pursuing Sun science at the moon
NASA’s twin ARTEMIS spacecraft have studied the solar wind’s interaction with the Moon, including the lunar wake that distorts nearby magnetic fields. Credit: E. Masongsong, UCLA EPSS
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By 2024, NASA will land astronauts, including the first woman and next man, on the Moon as part of the Artemis lunar exploration program. This won’t be the first time NASA takes the name Artemis to the Moon though. Two robotic spacecraft orbiting the Moon today were initially known as ARTEMIS—short for Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun. Since 2011, these spacecraft have been sending scientists valuable information about the lunar environment, and laying groundwork critical to returning humans to the Moon.
The mission, now renamed THEMIS-ARTEMIS, uses spacecraft that were originally apart of the mission known as Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, or THEMIS, for short, which launched five spacecraft in 2007 to discover the physical processes that occurred during the events that cause the auroras.
“THEMIS-ARTEMIS has been a pathfinder for technologies that will be important for NASA’s new Artemis program,” said Jasper Halekas, THEMIS-ARTEMIS scientist and researcher at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. “Some of the work we’ve done in terms of navigation and operations will be used by future missions.”
One Mission into Two
The five THEMIS spacecraft were sent into carefully designed orbits that brought them in alignment every four days. After two productive years of discoveries about radiation and particles in the near-Earth environment, the spacecrafts’ orbits had significantly precessed, or drifted. Orbit precession is a natural and expected phenomenon for spacecraft that typically doesn’t affect scientific studies. But in the case of THEMIS, it meant the spacecraft would no longer align every four days.
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Knowing the orbits would eventually precess, the THEMIS scientists, in a joint effort coordinated through NASA and the Space Sciences Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, decided in advance to do something new with two of the spacecraft. Instead of spending the remaining fuel to reset the orbits, they’d send them off in a radically new direction—to the Moon.
“NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center did some wonderful orbit navigation design for us and came up with these very clever orbits that allowed us to get to the Moon,” Halekas said. “And we’re still there.”
Thus, the THEMIS-ARTEMIS mission was born. The mission’s acronym was created to reflect its science and position at the Moon, since in Greek mythology, Artemis was goddess of the Moon. Artemis was also the twin of Apollo. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recently named the new lunar program Artemis for these reasons, plus the fact that the agency will send the first woman to the Moon as part of the program.
“THEMIS-ARTEMIS is NASA’s only long-term monitor of conditions in and around the lunar environment,” said David Sibeck, THEMIS project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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Spacecraft Reborn
With the same instruments it used to look for events around Earth, the new mission uses the two spacecraft to learn about how the Moon interacts with the space around it.
“Before THEMIS-ARTEMIS was at the Moon, most people had the idea that the Moon was just a big rock in the sky and it didn’t interact a lot with its environment,” Halekas said. “The understanding that we’ve built up over the last eight years is that the Moon is really connected to the space environment around it. The space environment affects the Moon and vice versa.”
Over the years scientists have made discoveries about the solar wind and its impact on the Moon’s surface, interplanetary electromagnetic fields, the structure of the lunar interior, and the particles in the tenuous lunar atmosphere and ionosphere.
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Working Together
In addition to furthering our understanding of the Moon, the measurements THEMIS-ARTEMIS has made will be useful for upcoming missions, including the Artemis program.
“When we’re designing robotic systems and systems for humans on the Moon, we have to understand the conditions they’ll be exposed to,” Halekas said. “The measurements from THEMIS-ARTEMIS have helped us find what those conditions are and how they change with time.”
THEMIS-ARTEMIS could provide real-time measurements of highly energetic particles that can be hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts. It will also provide valuable information for instruments placed on the lunar surface. Just like a weather satellite can provide information about incoming storms, THEMIS-ARTEMIS can give information about the space environment to help contextualize discoveries made on the surface.
“THEMIS-ARTEMIS would be a natural partner for any heliophysics mission that is sent to the Moon either on a spacecraft or on the lunar surface,” Sibeck said. “Both spacecraft are working just fine, taking their full sets of measurements, and could last for a very, very long time in that environment.”
As part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative under the Artemis program, NASA will send a suite of new instruments and technology demonstrations to study the Moon ahead of a human return. The first two lunar deliveries on commercial landers are targeted to launch in July 2021. While many of these investigations focus on lunar science, some hark back to THEMIS’s roots in the science of heliophysics, the study of the Sun’s interaction with the solar system. The Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment, or LUSEE instrument, will look at electromagnetic phenomena on the lunar surface. The Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager, or LEXI instrument, will plant a telescope on the Moon to study the Earth’s magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind.
In the coming years, THEMIS-ARTEMIS, like the agency’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, will continue to provide valuable information to NASA as preparations continue to send astronauts forward to the Moon, and ultimately on to Mars.
Join us on Facebook or Twitter for a regular update.
Explore further First ARTEMIS spacecraft successfully enters lunar orbit | {
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Although several studies have pointed out the importance of P sorption in the subsoil, to our knowledge no previous study has attempted to quantify the effect of the subsoil per se on P leaching. The main objective of the present study was thus to determine whether subsoils of four Swedish agricultural soils acted as a source or sink for P leaching in particulate and/or dissolved form. Undisturbed soil columns with and without the topsoil were used for this purpose. The specific objectives of this study were (i) to study temporal and soil‐dependent variations in P leaching from four Swedish agricultural soils with contrasting texture and chemical characteristics (two clay and two sandy soils), with and without the topsoil, and to assess the causes of possible differences; (ii) to quantify the contribution of the subsoil to total P leaching in these four soils; and thereby (iii) to determine whether the subsoil had the potential to act as a source or sink for P leaching from the four soils.
Phosphorus losses from arable fields have previously been considered to occur mainly through erosion and surface runoff ( Sharpley et al., 1993 ). However, leaching of P through the soil has also been shown to be an important pathway for P losses in many areas (e.g., Sims et al., 1998 ; Djodjic et al., 1999 ). This includes several areas of Sweden where most arable land is relatively flat and rainfall intensity is moderate, facilitating good infiltration ( Ulén et al., 2007 ).
Excessive losses of phosphorus (P) from land to water are causing problems with eutrophication in many parts of the world, such as the Chesapeake Bay ( Reckhow et al., 2011 ) and the Baltic Sea ( Boesch et al., 2006 ). Agriculture is the main diffuse source of P transported to the Baltic Sea ( HELCOM, 2011 ), and approximately 40% of the Swedish anthropogenic net P load to the Baltic Sea originates from agriculture ( Brandt et al., 2009 ).
The excavation of the lysimeters created an approximately 10‐m‐long ditch. Soil samples were collected at five places in that ditch. To test the relationships between soil characteristics and P leaching from the lysimeters, each soil core was assigned the soil characteristics from the closest soil sampling spot (maximum 1 m away). Therefore, in some cases, two soil cores were assigned the same soil characteristics. Average values of Olsen P and DPS in topsoil and subsoil, respectively, were calculated for each soil core and transformed with the natural logarithm (ln) to decrease the impact of a few high values. Possible relationships with leaching of DRP from the lysimeters were tested thereafter in a log‐log regression using a Mixed model in which the sampling sites were set as a random effect.
Olsen P was divided by PSI to get an estimate of the DPS (e.g.,):with all concentrations on a molar basis. Phosphorus sorption index gives an estimate of the total amount of free P sorption sites without taking into account P already sorbed to the soil. Degree of P saturation, calculated as the ratio between Olsen P and PSI, should therefore be considered an approximate value. However, Olsen P values in Swedish soils are commonly low, and errors in this DPS calculation were therefore considered small.
Soil samples were taken at five locations per site and at five depths in the pits from which the lysimeters were taken (Mellby: 0–0.1, 0.1–0.4, 0.4–0.6, 0.6–0.8, and 0.8–1.0 m; Nåntuna, Lanna, and Bornsjön: 0–0.1, 0.1–0.3, 0.3–0.5, 0.5–0.7, and 0.7–1.0 m) simultaneously with lysimeter collection in autumn 2009. The topsoil was represented by the 0‐ to 0.4‐m (Mellby) and 0‐ to 0.3‐m layers (Nåntuna, Lanna, and Bornsjön), and the subsoil was represented by the layers below to the base of the soil columns. The topsoil was deeper at the Mellby sand site than at the other sites due to deeper plowing. After collection, the soil samples were air‐dried, crushed, and passed through a 2‐mm sieve. Soil pH was measured in water at a soil:water ratio of 1:5. Texture was determined by the pipette sedimentation procedure ( Ljung, 1987 ). Phosphorus was extracted in ammonium acetate lactate solution at pH 3.75 (P‐AL) according to the Swedish standard method ( Egnér et al., 1960 ). Concentration of P in the extract was determined by inductively coupled plasma analysis on a PerkinElmer Optima 7300 DV analyzer. Phosphorus was also extracted in 0.5 mol L −1 sodium bicarbonate at pH 8.5 (Olsen‐P) according to Olsen and Sommers (1982) , after which the concentration was measured by flow injection analysis (Tecator AB). Iron and aluminum were extracted with ammonium oxalate (Fe‐ox and Al‐ox), and the concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma analysis (same instrument as above).
The first water samples were collected in April 2010. However, water samples collected until the end of August 2010 (89–225 mm) were discarded to reduce the influence of preparation and storage of the soil columns and to ensure that all soil columns were at a similar water saturation level at the start of the leaching experiment. Leaching data reported here refer to the period 1 Sept. 2010 to 31 Aug. 2013, during which water samples were collected on a weekly basis if drainage water was available or after each major drain flow event. One Bornsjön clay lysimeter without topsoil was excluded from further analyses due to disproportionally low drainage amounts, most likely caused by leakage in the water collection device. Total P (TP) concentration was measured on unfiltered samples after digestion with potassium persulfate. Dissolved reactive P was measured on undigested samples after filtration through membrane filters with 0.2 μm pore size (Schleicher & Schüll, GmbH). All samples were then analyzed colorimetrically according to the molybdenum blue method ( ECS, 1996 ). The difference between TP in unfiltered and filtered samples was defined as particulate P (PP), and the difference between TP and DRP+PP was defined as residual P. The residual P fraction was not further analyzed. Mean annual P leaching loads for the study period 1 Sept. 2010 to 31 Aug. 2013 were calculated by first multiplying the concentration of the respective P fraction on each sampling occasion by the leachate volume on the same occasion and then adding up these loads for each year. Mean volume‐weighed concentrations were calculated by dividing total transport of the different P fractions by total leachate volume.
Undisturbed soil columns were collected from the four sites in autumn 2009 using a drilling technique whereby a carved‐out soil column is gently pushed into a polyvinyl chloride pipe (0.295 m i.d.) ( Persson and Bergström, 1991 ). At each site, three soil columns with topsoil and subsoil encased in 1.18‐m‐long pipes (full‐length) and three columns with only subsoil (0.9‐m‐long pipes) were collected. In the latter, topsoil was first excavated manually, after which drilling started directly on the subsoil. After collection, approximately 0.08 m of soil at the base of the lysimeters was removed and replaced with gravel, with a stainless steel mesh (pore size, 0.5 mm) on each side of the gravel layer and a fiberglass lid to facilitate drainage under gravity ( Fig. 1 ). A stainless steel mesh (pore size, 0.5 mm) was placed on top of the subsoil lysimeters to prevent heavy rainfall from having a destructive impact on the structure of the upper surface. The soil surface was set about 0.05 m below the top edge of the lysimeter casing to prevent surface flow to and from the soil columns, giving a final soil column length of 1.05 m (full‐length lysimeters) and 0.77 m (subsoil lysimeters). The subsoil lysimeters were placed on 0.28‐m‐long pipes of the same type as the lysimeter casings to bring the upper surface to the same level as in the full‐length lysimeters, and in March 2010 they were placed in an outdoor station at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden (59°49′ N, 17°40′ E) ( Bergström, 1992 ). To eliminate the effect of crop uptake of water and P, no crop was grown in the soil columns during the experiment. To simulate common Swedish agricultural practice, in April 2011 the lysimeters were fertilized with (NH 4 )H 2 PO 4 at a rate equivalent to 22 kg P ha −1 , which is the recommended application rate to achieve P balance in Sweden ( SBA, 2013 ). The soil surface was manually weeded when required. No additional management of the soil surface was performed.
Four agricultural soils with different physical and chemical characteristics were used in this experiment: two sandy soils (Mellby: 56°29′ N, 12°59′ E; Nåntuna: 59°49′ N, 17°41′ E) and two clay soils (Lanna: 58°21′ N, 13°07′ E; Bornsjön: 59°14′ N, 17°41′ E). For the Mellby sand, Lanna clay, and Bornsjön clay, long‐term data on P leaching following different topsoil management practices are available. The Mellby sand is classified as a Fluventic Haplumbrept ( Bergström et al., 1994 ), the Nåntuna sand as a Typic Udipsamment ( Kirchmann, 1985 ), the Lanna clay as a Udertic Haploboroll ( Bergström et al., 1994 ), and the Bornsjön clay as an Inceptisol (U.S. soil taxonomy) (a more detailed soil classification has not been made). Before lysimeter collection, perennial forage crops had been grown at the Mellby site for 20 yr, at the Nåntuna site for 10 yr, at the Lanna site for 12 yr, and at the Bornsjön site for 5 yr. The Mellby and Lanna sites had not received fertilizer during the respective period, whereas the Nåntuna and Bornsjön sites had received 12 and 13 kg P ha −1 yr −1 , respectively.
Results and Discussion
Soil Chemical Properties Some selected properties of the four soils are presented in Table 1. The chemical and physical properties of the four soils are described in detail elsewhere (Andersson et al., 2013). Table 1. Some general soil properties (from ). Site Depth pH† Clay‡ Olsen P§ P‐AL Fe‐ox Al‐ox PSI Olsen P/PSI cm % mg kg−1 mmol kg−1 % Mellby 0–10 5.8 ± 0.5¶ 7 91.0 ± 4.0 294 ± 10.2 1979 ± 186 1178 ± 67 3.9 ± 0.4 76 ± 6.7 10–40 6.1 ± 0.2 6 77.8 ± 9.3 229 ± 47.0 1996 ± 198 1298 ± 168 4.6 ± 0.2 55 ± 7.3 40–60 6.0 ± 0.1 1 8.0 ± 1.7 15 ± 3.0 1805 ± 513 699 ± 131 3.6 ± 0.4 7.3 ± 2.0 60–80 5.8 ± 0.1 1 5.7 ± 2.4 11 ± 4.8 3960 ± 1994 797 ± 211 4.3 ± 0.5 4.2 ± 1.4 80–100 5.2 ± 0.4 2 10.3 ± 2.8 16 ± 4.9 1727 ± 620 432 ± 134 3.3 ± 0.5 10 ± 3.9 Nåntuna 0–10 7.0 ± 0.2 11 29.6 ± 2.9 164 ± 24.2 1710 ± 203 802 ± 92 2.3 ± 0.7 44 ± 16 10–30 7.5 ± 0.2 9 23.4 ± 2.8 126 ± 11.7 1579 ± 102 768 ± 42 2.3 ± 0.5 35 ± 11 30–50 7.6 ± 0.2 2 15.4 ± 2.1 52 ± 3.8 841 ± 179 491 ± 90 1.2 ± 0.4 48 ± 24 50–70 7.6 ± 0.2 2 16.2 ± 3.0 55 ± 7.2 1049 ± 128 465 ± 92 1.0 ± 0.3 55 ± 16 70–100 7.6 ± 0.1 6 24.6 ± 9.5 76 ± 12.3 2005 ± 426 619 ± 86 1.9 ± 0.2 44 ± 19 Lanna 0–10 6.1 ± 0.2 43 9.5 ± 3.7 33 ± 6.0 3896 ± 475 1798 ± 130 5.5 ± 0.3 5.7 ± 2.5 10–30 6.4 ± 0.1 45 7.7 ± 1.5 31 ± 6.1 3928 ± 361 1848 ± 119 2.7 ± 0.3 4.4 ± 0.9 30–50 6.8 ± 0.1 56 4.0 ± 0.0# 51 ± 24.5 3729 ± 639 2041 ± 259 7.7 ± 0.4 1.7 ± 0.1 50–70 7.0 ± 0.1 58 4.0 ± 0.0# 158 ± 5.4 3076 ± 378 1732 ± 199 6.9 ± 0.3 1.9 ± 0.1 70–100 7.2 ± 0.1 61 4.0 ± 0.0# 207 ± 15.5 2245 ± 654 1694 ± 223 6.0 ± 0.3 2.2 ± 0.1 Bornsjön 0–10 6.0 ± 0.1 60 18.2 ± 1.3 44 ± 5.8 9205 ± 1283 3140 ± 476 7.3 ± 0.4 8.1 ± 0.7 10–30 6.2 ± 0.1 60 16.4 ± 2.6 32 ± 7.5 9430 ± 611 2869 ± 289 7.8 ± 0.3 6.8 ± 0.9 30–50 6.6 ± 0.1 59 4.0 ± 0.0 9 ± 2.7 8805 ± 2770 1919 ± 313 7.3 ± 1.0 1.8 ± 0.2 50–70 6.5 ± 0.1 61 5.4 ± 2.1 12 ± 1.1 10,098 ± 6485 2069 ± 380 7.2 ± 1.4 2.4 ± 0.5 70–100 5.2 ± 0.1 54 21.0 ± 5.3 31 ± 9.5 6562 ± 831 2387 ± 219 10.5 ± 0.6 6.4 ± 1.4 There was no calcium carbonate present in any of the soil profiles. Extractable P measured as Olsen P and P‐AL was relatively high in the topsoil of the Mellby sand and lower in the subsoil but was high in the entire profile of the Nåntuna sand. In the Lanna clay, the P‐AL value increased with depth, whereas the Olsen P value decreased. Ammonium lactate can dissolve Ca‐bound P that may be present in soils with high pH. The contradictory results obtained may therefore indicate the presence of Ca‐phosphates in the soil because no calcium carbonate was detected in the analyses. In a previous study of a similar clay soil near Lanna, P was found to be bound to Ca complexes with increasing P concentrations with increasing soil depth (Ulén and Snäll, 2007). Phosphorus in these forms is much less soluble under neutral and alkaline conditions, and acid extraction with P‐AL may therefore have overestimated plant‐available P in the Lanna clay. However, the deviating extraction results in the Lanna clay were not further studied. The Bornsjön clay topsoil had a higher content of Olsen P than the Lanna clay topsoil. Both clay soils had low concentrations of Olsen P in the subsoil except for the 70‐ to 100‐cm layer in the Bornsjön clay, where Olsen P was high. This probably originated from old marine deposits of gyttja (cohesive old organic material settled in lake or marine sediments) and was thus native P. It may also explain the relatively low pH (pH 5.2) in the 70‐ to 100‐cm layer at Bornsjön. The P sorption capacity, measured as PSI, was high in the entire soil profile of the Mellby sand due to high Fe content. The high P content in the Mellby sand topsoil resulted in high DPS (65%). However, due to low P content and high P sorption capacity, DPS was very low (7%) in the subsoil of the Mellby sand. In the Nåntuna sand, DPS was high in the entire profile (45%) due to low P sorption capacity and high P content in topsoil and subsoil. Both clay soils had high P sorption capacity (PSI) and low DPS in topsoil and subsoil, although PSI was slightly higher in the Bornsjön clay than the Lanna clay, especially in the 70‐ to 100‐cm layer, most likely due to higher Fe content.
Weather Conditions and Drainage During the 3‐yr study period, total precipitation was 1718 mm, and mean air temperature was 6.4°C (Table 2). Long‐term (100‐yr) mean annual precipitation and mean air temperature at the study site are 530 mm and 5.5°C, respectively. Mean temperature was lower (slightly below freezing) in January–April in 2011 and 2013 compared with the same period in 2012 (slightly above freezing). Precipitation during this period was lower in 2012 than in the other years and mainly occurred as rain, whereas the lower temperature in 2011 and 2013 resulted in more snow. The snow cover was therefore thicker and the depth of frozen soil shallower in 2011 and 2013 than in 2012. Hence, drainage amounts at snowmelt increased rapidly in all lysimeters in March 2011 and April 2013 and reached between 80 and 110 mm for 2.5 wk, compared with 40 to 60 mm during 2.5 wk in March 2012 (Fig. 2). Drainage at snowmelt appeared at roughly the same time in lysimeters of each soil, whether with or without topsoil. Table 2. Air temperature, precipitation, and drainage from the lysimeters. Year Month Air temp. Precipitation Drainage Mellby sand Nåntuna sand Lanna clay Bornsjön clay Topsoil+subsoil Subsoil Topsoil+subsoil Subsoil Topsoil+subsoil Subsoil Topsoil+subsoil Subsoil† °C mm 2010 Sept.–Dec. 1.8 197 98 ± 2‡ 117 ± 5 118 ± 1 113 ± 19 101 ± 14 115 ± 2 105 ± 18 108 ± 1 2011 Jan.–Apr. −0.1 79 118 ± 10 128 ± 36 104 ± 43 121 ± 28 124 ± 74 126 ± 20 135 ± 23 85 ± 17 2011 May–Aug. 15.8 217 13 ± 5 101 ± 21 79 ± 2 110 ± 11 67 ± 14 85 ± 2 66 ± 11 80 ± 6 2011 Sept.Dec. 6.9 233 166 ± 9 215 ± 4 191 ± 12 216 ± 6 178 ± 9 211 ± 3 193 ± 15 223 ± 18 2012 Jan.–Apr. 0.4 162 89 ± 6 115 ± 3 143 ± 11 139 ± 9 119 ± 29 133 ± 5 128 ± 26 113 ± 20 2012 May–Aug. 14.3 343 91 ± 9 209 ± 13 167 ± 11 199 ± 14 107 ± 26 184 ± 4 141 ± 23 106 ± 93 2012 Sept.–Dec. 4.1 259 181 ± 1 173 ± 6 188 ± 15 179 ± 28 173 ± 1 200 ± 5 164 ± 34 157 ± 24 2013 Jan.–Apr. −1.6 106 119 ± 7 96 ± 9 128 ± 10 110 ± 9 112 ± 38 95 ± 8 141 ± 17 142 ± 25 2013 May–Aug. 16.0 123 2 ± 0 15 ± 11 5 ± 2 28 ± 6 3 ± 1 3 ± 1 4 ± 1 11 ± 11 Total 1718 876 ± 29 1168 ± 90 1121 ± 31 1214 ± 86 985 ± 190 1152 ± 39 1077 ± 119 1027 ± 44 Figure 2 Open in figure viewer Load of total phosphorus (TP) and drainage amounts from (left) full‐length lysimeters and (right) subsoil lysimeters from Mellby sand, Nåntuna sand, Lanna clay, and Bornsjön clay, 1 Sept. 2010 to 31 Aug. 2013. (Note different scale on y axis for Nåntuna sand.) Water holding capacity differed considerably between the soils used in this study. However, total drainage amounts were not significantly influenced by soil type (P > 0.05) due to variation in drainage volumes from lysimeters of the same soil. Total drainage amounts were higher from subsoil lysimeters than from full‐length lysimeters for all soils except the Bornsjön clay, where the opposite occurred (Table 2). However, the difference was only statistically significant for the Mellby sand (P < 0.01) and not for the other three soils (P > 0.05). The approximately 0.3 m shorter subsoil lysimeters, with lower organic matter content and thus less water holding capacity (Andersson et al., 2013), resulted in more drainage than the full‐length lysimeters. Bergström et al. (1994) reported water contents at 100 cm tension of 0.231 m3 m−3 in topsoil and 0.132 m3 m−3 in subsoil for the Mellby sand and 0.165 m3 m−3 in topsoil and 0.065 m3 m−3 in subsoil for the Nåntuna sand (no measurements at 100 cm tension were made on the clay soils included in this study). Therefore, although the soil columns were similarly water saturated at the start of the experiment, more water was needed to fill up the pore volume to field capacity in the full‐length columns after dry periods. During the study period it was noticed that the Bornsjön clay subsoil lysimeters were often ponded after heavy rainfall. This may have caused more evaporation from the surface, which could have been a contributing factor to the slightly lower drainage volumes from Bornsjön subsoil lysimeters than from the full‐length lysimeters. For full‐length soil columns, the clay soils showed larger variation in drainage amounts than the sandy soils, whereas the opposite was observed for the subsoil lysimeters (Table 2). For the clay soils, this variation can be explained by the more heterogeneous soil structure resulting in variable quantities of macropore flow, which did not occur in the sandy soils. A previous dye‐tracer lysimeter experiment reported extended macropore flow in the Lanna clay (Bergström and Shirmohammadi, 1999). In addition, a recent field plot study on pesticides suggested that macropore flow could be a common flow pattern also in the Bornsjön clay (Ulén et al., 2014). The larger variation among the sandy subsoils is more difficult to explain other than by spatial variability in properties affecting flow rates and water holding capacity.
Seasonal Variation in P Leaching Particulate‐P leaching from the soils was somewhat higher in 2012 than in the other years (Fig. 3) due to higher precipitation (Table 2) and hence higher drainage amounts (Fig. 2). Leaching of PP increased greatly in the Mellby and Nåntuna sand subsoil lysimeters at snowmelt in March 2012 and April 2013 (Fig. 3). From November 2011 to March 2012 and from September 2012 to January 2013, PP leaching also increased in subsoil lysimeters of the Lanna clay and in full‐length lysimeters of the Bornsjön clay (Fig. 3) due to increased drainage amounts (Fig. 2). Higher concentrations during these periods of PP in leachate from subsoil lysimeters than from full‐length lysimeters of the Mellby sand, Nåntuna sand, and Lanna clay may be attributable to exposure of the subsoil to precipitation and freezing/thawing processes. The organic carbon content was much higher in the topsoil (1.0–3.3%) than in the subsoil (0.1–0.4%), resulting in less stable structure in the subsoil (Andersson et al., 2013). However, the Bornsjön clay contains more organic carbon down to 1 m depth (0.7% at 70–100 cm depth) than the other soils (Andersson et al., 2013), which may have increased the stability of that soil. Nevertheless, the Bornsjön clay subsoil lysimeters were often ponded after heavy rainfall, which indicates a lack of preferential flow through macropores in the subsoil. This ponding most likely protected the soil surface from the erosive power of rain and prevented increased loss of particles from subsoil lysimeters compared with full‐length profiles. Ponding conditions in the field could trigger surface runoff, which would possibly increase surface PP losses, but no ponding was observed on any of the full‐length lysimeters in this study. Figure 3 Open in figure viewer Concentration of (left) dissolved reactive P and (right) particulate P in leachate from full‐length and subsoil lysimeters of Mellby sand, Nåntuna sand, Lanna clay, and Bornsjön clay, 1 Sept. 2010 to 31 Aug. 2013. (Note different scale on y axis for DRP in Nåntuna sand.) In contrast to PP, concentrations of DRP in leaching water were rather constant in both the sand and clay soils and thus seemed to be less affected by fluctuations in drainage amounts (Fig. 3). Fertilization with P in April 2011 did not increase P leaching in any of the soils, indicating that legacy P overshadowed the effect on leaching of a single P fertilizer application on these soils.
Comparison of P Leaching from Full‐length and Subsoil Profiles Mean annual leaching load of TP from full‐length lysimeters followed the order: Nåntuna sand > Bornsjön clay > Lanna clay > Mellby sand; the order changed for subsoil lysimeters to Nåntuna sand > Mellby sand > Lanna clay > Bornsjön clay (Table 3). Table 3. Mean annual leaching loads and mean volume‐weighted concentrations of total P, dissolved reactive P, and particulate P in leachate from full‐length and subsoil lysimeters, 1 Sept. 2010 to 31 Aug. 2013. Soil Lysimeter Volume‐weighted concentration† Mean annual load TP DRP PP TP DRP PP mg L−1 kg ha−1 yr−1 Mellby sand full‐length 0.08 ± 0.03‡ 0.04 ± 0.02 0.02 ± 0.01 0.25 ± 0.08 0.12 ± 0.05 0.06 ± 0.01 subsoil 0.16 ± 0.11 0.02 ± 0.01 0.10 ± 0.07 0.62 ± 0.42 0.08 ± 0.05 (70%)§ 0.38 ± 0.25 Nåntuna sand full‐length 1.16 ± 0.06 0.88 ± 0.08 0.06 ± 0.01 4.39 ± 0.34 3.33 ± 0.39 0.21 ± 0.04 subsoil 1.09 ± 0.65 0.81 ± 0.55 0.11 ± 0.05 4.41 ± 3.02 3.29 ± 2.52 (99%) 0.44 ± 0.19 Lanna clay full‐length 0.19 ± 0.05 0.12 ± 0.06 0.05 ± 0.03 0.61 ± 0.27 0.38 ± 0.25 0.18 ± 0.08 subsoil 0.15 ± 0.03 0.07 ± 0.04 0.07 ± 0.01 0.58 ± 0.12 0.27 ± 0.14 (70%) 0.28 ± 0.03 Bornsjön clay full‐length 0.20 ± 0.04 0.05 ± 0.02 0.14 ± 0.02 0.71 ± 0.20 0.19 ± 0.07 0.49 ± 0.11 subsoil 0.10 ± 0.02¶ 0.05 ± 0.01 0.05 ± 0.01 0.34 ± 0.09 0.17 ± 0.05 (94%) 0.15 ± 0.03 Mean annual DRP leaching load was larger from full‐length lysimeters than from subsoil lysimeters for all soils, whereas the opposite was true for PP leaching (both concentrations and load) in the Mellby sand, Nåntuna sand, and Lanna clay. However, differences in leaching of TP, DRP, and PP (concentrations and load) between lysimeters with and without topsoil were not significant (P > 0.05) for the Mellby, Nåntuna, and Lanna soils. The higher concentration of PP in leachate from subsoil lysimeters than from full‐length lysimeters of these soils may be due to direct exposure of the subsoil to precipitation and freezing/thawing processes. Conversely, mean annual leaching load of PP from the Bornsjön clay was significantly larger from full‐length lysimeters than from subsoil lysimeters (P < 0.05), indicating that most PP came from the topsoil. Leaching of DRP (concentrations and load) was significantly lower from the Mellby sand than from the Nåntuna sand (P < 0.01) despite considerably higher Olsen P content in the Mellby sand topsoil (Table 1) and small amounts of preferential flow in both soils (Bergström and Shirmohammadi, 1999; Bergström et al., 2011). Considerably higher sorption capacity in the Mellby sand subsoil due to the presence of Fe‐oxides (Table 1) efficiently functioned as a sink for P leaching. This resulted in low DRP leaching from full‐length lysimeters despite the very high P content in the topsoil and also from subsoil lysimeters. In a study on intact columns of the Mellby sand topsoil (0–0.2 m depth) collected from field plots where P fertilizer had been applied at different rates over 26 yr, Liu et al. (2012b) found that TP concentration in leachate from those columns ranged from 0.30 to 0.57 mg L−1, which is much higher than in this study (0.07–0.12 mg L−1 in full‐length lysimeters). One contributing factor may be that the field plot from which the columns in this study were collected had not been fertilized for 20 yr before lysimeter collection. Despite this, P‐AL values in the topsoil study by Liu et al. (2012b) were similar to those in our study. Thus, the lower TP concentrations in leachate measured in this study were most likely attributable to sorption of P in the subsoil. Although the Mellby sand was found to have very high sorption capacity in the subsoil, it is important to avoid heavy fertilization of this soil for extended periods because DPS in the subsoil may reach levels where P leaching starts to increase. For instance, De Bolle et al. (2013) reported an increase in DPS in 21 acid sandy subsoils in Belgium between 2001 and 2010 and concluded that this increase posed a great risk of P leaching. Similar results have been reported for Denmark, where TP and DPS in agricultural soils increased between 1987 and 1998 due to heavy P fertilization (Rubaek et al., 2013). The Nåntuna sand subsoil, on the other hand, had high P content and low P sorption capacity, which resulted in very high TP leaching from full‐length and subsoil lysimeters. For the Mellby sand, leaching of DRP from subsoil lysimeters was 70% of that from full‐length lysimeters, whereas it was 99% for the Nåntuna sand (Table 3). This clearly shows that the Nåntuna subsoil can act as a source for P leaching losses. However, one of the Nåntuna sand subsoil lysimeters had much higher TP leaching than the other two, indicating large spatial variation at the Nåntuna site. Nevertheless, when this soil column was excluded from the calculations, average TP leaching was still high from the Nåntuna sand subsoil (2.74 kg ha−1 yr−1), resulting in 57% of DRP leaching from subsoil lysimeters compared with full‐length lysimeters. Leaching of DRP (concentrations and load) was higher from the Lanna clay than from the Bornsjön clay in lysimeters with and without topsoil. This was most likely due to higher sorption capacity in the Bornsjön clay (Table 1), leading to reduced leaching losses. Although macropore flow and tile‐drainage flow have been suggested to be common flow patterns in the Bornsjön clay (Ulén et al., 2014), the water ponding observed on Bornsjön clay subsoil lysimeters in this study during wet periods suggests that macropores were not fully captured in the soil columns used for the lysimeter study. Water flow rate was thereby reduced, increasing the contact time between P in percolating soil water and soil sorption sites. This indicates that the variation in spatial distribution of macropores over the field and between seasons is probably quite large at the Bornsjön site. The leaching load of DRP from subsoil lysimeters of the Lanna clay was 70% of that from full‐length lysimeters, whereas in the Bornsjön clay it was 94%. The higher contribution to DRP leaching of Bornsjön clay subsoil than Lanna clay subsoil may be due to the high Olsen P content and low pH at 70 to 100 cm depth in the former. This may enable Ca‐bound P forms to be dissolved (Devau et al., 2011). In addition, anaerobic conditions in the uppermost layer created by ponding on Bornsjön clay subsoil lysimeters may have reduced Fe(III) to Fe(II), causing P to be released to the soil solution. However, although the ratio of DRP load from the subsoil compared with the full‐length lysimeters was greater for the Bornsjön clay than for the Lanna clay, overall DRP leaching (concentrations and load) was lower from the Bornsjön clay subsoil than from the Lanna clay subsoil, presumably due to higher sorption capacity in the former. Consequently, the difference in DRP leaching (load and concentration) between the Lanna clay and the Bornsjön clay subsoils was not significant (P > 0.05).
P Leaching in Lysimeters Compared with Tile‐Drained Plots A comparison of the data obtained for the full‐length lysimeters with long‐term field data from tile‐drained plots with various crops at three of the four sites revealed that the lysimeters and the field plots had similar chemical and physical soil properties. For example, in this lysimeter study, TP leaching averaged 0.25 kg ha−1 yr−1 in the Mellby sand, 0.61 kg ha−1 yr−1 in the Lanna clay, and 0.71 kg ha−1 yr−1 in the Bornsjön clay (Table 3). For the field plots at the Mellby sand site, reported TP leaching on an organically managed field with mean manure addition of 6.5 kg P ha−1 yr−1 averaged 0.23 kg ha−1 yr−1 over 6 yr (Torstensson et al., 2006). In a previous study at the Lanna clay site, TP leaching over 6 yr averaged 0.81 kg ha−1 yr−1 on an organically managed field without fertilizer or manure addition and 0.41 kg ha−1 yr−1 on a field where manure was added at an average rate of 7.3 kg P ha−1 yr−1 (Aronsson et al., 2007). At Bornsjön, average TP leaching measured over 6 yr on a field without P addition was 0.97 kg ha−1 yr−1 (Svanbäck et al., 2014). Hence, TP leaching was of the same magnitude in this lysimeter study as in the field plots. However, there are certain differences between measurements performed in lysimeters and those in tile‐drained field plots that need to be considered. First, no crop was grown on the lysimeters in this study, resulting in more drainage than if a crop had been present, which was the case in the field studies cited. A crop also takes up P during its growth, which would lower the P content in the soil solution and thereby reduce P leaching. In addition, in tile‐drained plots, surface runoff and/or lateral water flow (e.g., on a compacted plow pan below the topsoil) can occur if the infiltration capacity of the soil is exceeded. Moreover, tile drainage bypass can be considerable in field plots (Bergström, 1987). In contrast, in lysimeters all water reaching the soil surface that does not evaporate infiltrates into the soil. In addition, lateral water flow into the soil cannot be properly simulated in lysimeters (e.g., due to truncated macropores). In tile‐drained soils, there is also a risk of water moving directly from the topsoil into drain backfill and down to the drain pipe due to impeding layers below the topsoil, triggering lateral flow (Bergström and Johnsson, 1988). The result is less transport via water flow between the tile drains in the actual soil profile (Øygarden et al., 1997), whereas in lysimeters all water percolates through the soil profile. The moisture conditions in a lysimeter and in tile‐drained plots of the same soil may also be quite different (Bergström and Johansson, 1991), affecting the redox potential and thereby P solubility in the soil. Despite these differences, the ranking of the soils in terms of TP leaching measured in the lysimeters in this study and in the corresponding field plots demonstrate that lysimeters provide a good estimate of P leaching from the soils used here. In fact, there is reason to believe that if the objective is to determine the influence of soil properties alone on P leaching, without the influence of hydrological field conditions, unplanted and undisturbed soil columns such as those used in the present study may be preferable.
Importance of Chemical Subsoil Properties for P Leaching The data in this study were highly clustered due to high P leaching load from the Nåntuna sand. The relationships between DRP and Olsen P and DPS were therefore analyzed after natural logarithm transformation of the data (Fig. 4). This log‐log transformation showed that DRP leaching load increased with increasing Olsen P content and DPS in subsoils in full‐length and subsoil lysimeters, whereas the topsoil features had less impact on DRP leaching load. However, the relationships in full‐length profiles were not statistically significant. This lack of significance might be attributable to the small number of measurements and to the impact of the highly clustered data. Nevertheless, despite the lack of statistical significance for the relationships in the full‐length profiles, the results indicate the importance of subsoil features on DRP leaching load. These results are similar to findings by Djodjic et al. (2004) of no relationship between Olsen P or DPS in the topsoil and P leaching. The lack of a significant relationship between DRP leaching load and topsoil characteristics suggests that determination of topsoil properties is insufficient to assess the risk of P leaching and tile drainage losses from many soils. However, determination of subsoil characteristics such as Olsen P or DPS appears to be useful when estimating the risk of P leaching from soil. Figure 4 Open in figure viewer Relationship between (left) Olsen P measured in topsoil or subsoil and mean annual leaching load of dissolved reactive P (DRP) for (a) full‐length and (b) subsoil lysimeters and (right) relationship between degree of P saturation (DPS) measured in topsoil or subsoil and DRP for (c) full‐length and (d) subsoil lysimeters. *Significance at P < 0.05. | {
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Clare Lanaux
A randomized controlled trial, or RCT, is a simple yet powerful test considered to be the gold-standard for clinical trials. Because of our belief in the power of mHealth to reduce incidences of pre-chronic and chronic diseases, Noom recently completed an IRB-approved RCT comparing the efficacy of Noom’s behavior change platform to the traditional behavioral weight loss intervention, LEARN, a program developed by Dr. Kelly Brownell, a Dean at Duke University. The goal of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Noom as an affordable and accessible mobile alternative to the existing treatments aimed at solving the rapidly growing obesity epidemic.
The study found that 3 times more people lost a significant amount of weight (more than 15 lbs.) using the Noom behavior change platform compared to those who used the LEARN intervention.
These results come at a pivotal moment in the obesity epidemic. More than one-third of adults in the United States are obese and that number continues to climb. Obesity related-illnesses include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, all of which account for some of the leading causes of preventable death. Aside from the harrowing human toll, obesity costs the United States alone $300 billion per year. While these statistics are distressing, there is still hope to combat this disease. Losing 5-10% of body weight can significantly reduce a participant’s risk of heart-disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
During the study, participants were placed in either a digital Noom group or were using the traditional book-based intervention and gold standard for weight loss interventions, LEARN. The study randomized a total of 101 participants with a BMI of at least 25 (considered overweight to obese) into control and treatment groups. Participants in the control group were given the LEARN program, which stands for Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitudes, Relationships, Nutrition. The treatment group received Noom’s behavior change mobile application which included short-form educational content, food-logging, and exercise logging among other low and high-touch nudges via the app.
Additional results from the study found that average weight loss in the Noom group was 6.5 lbs. and 4.7 lbs. in the control group; 20% of participants in the Noom group lost more than 10 lbs. vs. 15% in the control; and 14% of participants in the Noom group more than 12 lbs. vs. 9% in control.
“There is a growing avalanche of pre-chronic and chronic disease incidence, which requires interventions that address the underlying causes of disease. Weight loss and lifestyle modification play an important role in reducing that overall risk,” said Dr. Kit Farr, Chief Medical Officer at Noom. Platforms like Noom offer a significant opportunity to enhance and elevate behavior change programs by delivering meaningful health outcomes across larger populations of people. Noom dynamically leverages a toolkit of clinically validated approaches to guide and support people along a path to lasting behavior change.”
Download the RCT results here. | {
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Wild doesn’t even begin to cover this.
While out on a press run in NYC, Tech N9ne shocked Strange Music fans everywhere when he revealed behind the scenes photos straight from the set of MTV2’s Wild ‘N Out. Posing with Nick Cannon, Tech N9ne can be seen rocking the Wild ‘N Out colors on set during production. Not one to miss out, Krizz Kaliko also threw out his own behind the scenes pic.
The popular Nick Cannon-created improv/comedy show was brought back in 2013 and will see its sixth season in March 2014. Fans may recall Nick Cannon personally presented Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko with their “Caribou Lou” Gold plaques in Kansas City during the Something Else Tour this past October.
Not much else was revealed from Tech’s appearance, but with a reputation for high-profile guest stars that includes Kanye West, 2 Chainz, Snoop Dogg, and Mariah Carey, there’s no telling what kind of stepping stone this could be for Tech N9ne.
Stay tuned for more details on Tech N9ne’s appearance and get ready to Wild Out with the Kansas City King!
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INDEPENDENT GRIND TOUR!
– Would you be excited to see Tech N9ne on ‘Wild ‘N Out’?
– Do you think his team would beat Nick Cannon’s team?
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“I would like to see the hard work and the effort and the vision and the belief of the talented filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who sat across the table from us a few years ago and said, ‘I have been wrestling with questions about my past and my heritage and I think I really want to tell a story within this movie,’” Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told the Los Angeles Times. “And that he did it so unbelievably well and with so much impact … seeing that potentially being recognized is what excites me the most.”
Feige is giving the Black Panther Oscar® push an unprecedented level of support. For the first time ever, Marvel Studios has set aside significant funds for an awards campaign.
Marvel Studios is not on their own here. Parent company Disney is also supporting Black Panther, having secured the services of veteran Oscar® strategist Cynthia Swartz to oversee and maximize the effectiveness of the Black Panther campaign.
The campaign has been underway for a number of months already, but will obviously heat up as we get closer to awards season. Disney and Marvel are undeterred by the Academy’s new category for popular movies. They’re still pushing Black Panther for the top prize of Best Picture, a category in which no superhero film has ever been nominated.
Black Panther may have the best shot any superhero film has ever had at breaking through that barrier. At the very least, it has the best chance since The Dark Knight a decade ago. Black Panther is expected to contend for nominations in several categories including popular film (it can be nominated there and for Best Picture), costume design, and original song. Black Panther could even score two nominations in the latter category. Director Ryan Coogler is also a legitimate contender for a Best Director nod.
If Black Panther piles up nominations in the several other categories, that momentum could carry over to a Best Picture nomination. Even without those potential nominations, Academy voters are going to be reminded many times just how well-received Black Panther was by critics and audiences.
The Academy shouldn’t have much trouble remembering just how much of a cultural phenomenon Black Panther was this year. After all, the Academy name-dropped the film no less than three times during last March’s Oscar® telecast. | {
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T.J. Dillashaw wants Henry Cejudo next. Cejudo is eyeing the same. And it seems that’s the direction the UFC is pointing as well.
That leaves Marlon Moraes — one of the next men up in the bantamweight division — with a bad taste in his mouth. Cejudo is the UFC flyweight champion, while Dillashaw holds the bantamweight gold. Moraes believes he should be next in line for a title shot.
In June, Moraes knocked out fellow contender Jimmie Rivera in 33 seconds. That’s the kind of performance that gets athletes bigger opportunities. But four months later, the former World Series of Fighting champ is still waiting for his next move.
In his estimation, if Dillashaw decides to welcome Cejudo up to 135 with a title shot, it’s because he’s not trying to fight the best competition.
“I feel like [Dillashaw] doesn’t want to test himself,” Moraes told MMA Fighting. “He wants to fight the fights that he can win. I think stylistically if he fights Cejudo, it’s an easier matchup for him. That’s a no-risk fight. What’s Cejudo gonna do to him? Cejudo is gonna take him down, but he’s gonna get up. He’s a way better striker than Cejudo. I see him with the edge. I don’t think it makes sense.”
Moraes (21-5-1) has won three in a row. His lone loss in the UFC came by split decision — a very close one — against another top bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao last year. Moraes, 30, has just that one defeat going back to 2011. Playing the waiting game has not been fun for him, he said.
“I picked this career, because it’s not a team sport,” Moraes said. “Sometimes team sports, you have to wait. Wait for what the guy is gonna do. I don’t like to wait. I like to do. I like to make things happen. If they want me to take another soul out, I’m just gonna go out there and finish somebody else. If it’s not my time, I’m gonna keep doing that. I know I can fight for the title, I know I can be a champion. This is what champions do. They go out there and they beat whoever they put in front of them. I’m ready. I want to get a call and I want to get a fight.”
If the UFC wants Dillashaw to fight Cejudo, Moraes said he’d be more than happy to fight former champion Dominick Cruz. In the UFC’s official contender rankings at 135, Moraes is No. 4, while Assuncao is No. 3 and Cruz No. 2. Cody Garbrandt, the former champ who Dillashaw has now defeated twice in a row, remains No. 1.
“I respect the superfights, but when the superfight makes sense,” Moraes said. “I don’t think that’s the case. We’ve got plenty of contenders in my division. I see a lot of guys fighting for the title and I don’t get guys picking opponents. I just felt the UFC was running everything. This way it feels like the fighters are calling the shots.”
For that matter, Moraes believe Demetrious Johnson should get an immediate rematch against Cejudo for the flyweight belt. Cejudo defeated Johnson by split decision at UFC 227 in August, snapping Johnson’s UFC record of 11 straight title defenses.
“I think automatically Demetrious should get it any time he wants,” Moraes said. “That was the GOAT of the division and the UFC. Give that guy some respect. He deserves that shot. That’s no way to talk about the GOAT of all the divisions when you still didn’t fight that guy again.”
In a Moraes’ ideal world, he’d get Dillashaw next and Johnson would challenge Cejudo. The champions of both divisions would remain separate for the time being. If Dillashaw is trying to be a double champ by going down and facing Cejudo, Moraes proposes fighting him instead. “Magic” said slyly that he’s still the WSOF champion, after all.
“If Dillashaw wants to have two belts, fight me,” Moraes said. “I’m still champion. I still carry the championship belt. I’m still the World Series of Fighting champion. He wants big fights, he wants to fight champions? I’m a big fight, too.
“I’m a risky fight. He knows. If I don’t take this now, I’m gonna keep coming and one day I’m gonna get this.” | {
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During the current day, October 25, Russian-backed militants violated the set truce in the area of hostilities nine times; they used 82 mm mines, grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns and small arms. The press office of the Ministry of Defence reported it.
In Donetsk region, Russian militaries opened fire in the direction of Ukrainian emplacements five times.
The enemy attacked Vodyane twice, using small arms and grenade launchers of various systems; Novomykhailivka was also shelled with 82 mm mines. The mercenaries of the Russian Federation also opened fire in the direction of Krasnohorivka with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and near Lebedynske, using heavy machine guns and small arms.
4 shellings were recorded in Luhansk region.
Attacking Novozvanivka, the illegal armed formations used automatic grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. The combatants also attacked Vilne village with small arms, and Luhanske with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, automatic grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.
In the result of enemy attacks, three servicemen of the Joint Forces got injuries. | {
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Nailing down the motive behind a mass shooting is often difficult. Most shooters tend to be driven by a poisonous blend of entrenched grievances, personal setbacks, depression, rage, suicidal urges, and in some cases, serious behavioral disorders or mental illness. Rarely can their actions be explained definitively by a single factor. However, Mother Jones’ in-depth database of mass shootings reveals a stark pattern of misogyny and domestic violence among many attackers. This factor is already relatively well known in cases where men gun down intimate partners, children, and other family members in their own or other people’s homes.
There is also a strong overlap between toxic masculinity and public mass shootings, according to our latest investigation.
Based on case documents, media reports, and interviews with mental health and law enforcement experts, we found that in at least 22 mass shootings since 2011—more than a third of the public attacks over the past eight years—the perpetrators had a history of domestic violence, specifically targeted women, or had stalked and harassed women. These cases included the large-scale massacres at an Orlando nightclub in 2016 and a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017. In total, they account for 175 victims killed and 158 others injured. Two of the shooters bore the hallmarks of so-called “incels”—a subculture of virulent misogynists who self-identify as “involuntarily celibate” and voice their rage and revenge fantasies against women online. A man who recently planned to carry out a mass shooting in Utah and another who opened fire outside a courthouse in Dallas also appeared to be influenced by incel ideas.
Two recent cases show how violent misogyny and abuse against women can fuel mass shooters’ behavior—and may serve as warning signs long before they strike. As observable indicators of a person’s capacity for escalating violence, this information could help mental health and law enforcement experts who work to prevent mass shootings by using behavioral threat assessment to identify and intervene with potential attackers.
Scott Beierle was a socially maladjusted 40-year-old with a history of arrests for groping women in public. As far back as high school, he’d written detailed fantasies about raping and murdering women. At Florida State University, where he attended graduate school, he alarmed people around him with inappropriate comments and stalking behavior and was eventually banned from campus. In videos he posted on YouTube, he expressed anger toward women and admiration for Elliot Rodger, a suicidal mass shooter who targeted sorority members in Southern California in 2014. By last November, Beierle had hatched a plan to attack a yoga studio in Tallahassee. As an evening class began, he posed as a customer carrying a yoga mat. Once inside, he opened his bag, put on a pair of noise-muffling headphones, and pulled out a handgun. He fatally shot two women and wounded four other people, then used the gun to kill himself after a person in the class rushed him and fought back as others fled.
About three weeks later in Chicago, 32-year-old Juan Lopez approached his ex-fiancé, Tamara O’Neal, outside the hospital where she worked as an ER doctor and demanded that she give him back an engagement ring. At the time, Lopez was still involved in a protracted custody battle with his ex-wife, who had secured an emergency protection order against him after he menaced another person with a gun and threatened to show up at her job to “cause a scene,” according to December 2014 court records. “I fear that my safety is in jeopardy,” she said. Four years later, Lopez fired a pistol at O’Neal from point-blank range, then shot her again as she lay in the hospital parking lot. He then entered the building and killed two more hospital employees before dying in a gun battle with police.
The trail of violent misogyny and abusive behavior in many shooters’ cases dovetails with a key finding from research published by the FBI in 2018: Not only do most shooters give off multiple behavioral warning signs that are observable to people around them, a majority do so starting months and even years before their attacks. The shooters in Tallahassee, Chicago, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, and elsewhere brutalized women long before their gun rampages. These patterns are significant to threat assessment professionals, who are trained to gauge how dangerous a person may be by analyzing a range of possible warning behaviors, including a history of violence, acquisition of weapons, and signs of further violent intent.
Years before he fatally shot O’Neal and two other people, Lopez, like many domestic abusers, had used threats of violence to exert control over his ex-wife. Brandishing a gun and threatening to go after her at work were indicators of Lopez’s capacity to plan and carry out an attack, according to a threat assessment expert familiar with the case. Lopez’s record with women contained other warning signs: He had been kicked out of a fire department academy after inappropriately touching female cadets and roughing them up during training exercises.
In the years before Beierle struck, he expressed his misogyny and grievances in verbose YouTube monologues. He delivered his pseudo-intellectual and narcissistic screeds mostly in a calm, articulate manner. But his smoldering rage against women was not far from the surface: He seethed in moments when he called out several young women who he claimed had wronged him during his school years. As he recounted how one stood him up for a date, he paused briefly for a nonchalant but chilling aside: “Ah, I could’ve ripped her head off.”
In at least 22 public mass shootings, the perpetrators had a history of domestic violence, targeted women, or had stalked and harassed women.
Naming names may have been tantamount to Beierle making a hit list, a common behavior among shooters, though ultimately he targeted women he did not know. “The treachery that a female is capable of…to me is astonishing,” he said. “What comes around goes around, and those that engage in treachery ultimately will be the victims of it.”
According to a Washington Post investigation, Beierle had also written reverently about a trip he made to the site of the Tallahassee boardinghouse where serial killer Ted Bundy once lived, and to the sorority row where Bundy had murdered two women in 1978. Such a pilgrimage-like act, seeking inspiration from a place associated with infamous violence, is another behavior seen among various rampage shooters.
Mass shootings are a small fraction of overall gun violence in the United States, but their steady repetition is grim. Mass murders where men kill their female partners and children occur nearly two dozen times per year, according to a 2013 study in the Journal of Family Violence. The public attacks by men who targeted or brutalized women that we analyzed for this investigation average out to about three per year. Moreover, hundreds of other women are shot to death annually in individual murders or murder-suicides by male intimate partners.
Existing federal law prohibits people convicted of some domestic violence crimes from owning or possessing guns, and some states have passed laws in recent years to strengthen such regulations. The Justice Department has also been cracking down recently on domestic abusers who unlawfully keep guns. But many states with looser gun restrictions still allow misdemeanor domestic-violence offenders to have firearms, including abusive partners who are not spouses, a problem known as the “boyfriend loophole.”
In Florida recently, a woman fearful of her estranged husband was arrested on robbery charges after she took his guns and turned them into the police—even though he had just been jailed for alleged violence against her, was subject to a temporary restraining order and was prohibited from having guns as a condition of his release on bail. A local law enforcement official said that the gun prohibition was difficult to enforce and essentially would have required the husband’s voluntary compliance: “It’s one of those things you hope people do the right thing and surrender their guns.”
Opposing tighter gun restrictions for known abusers of women, the NRA argued that some men are falsely accused and could have their gun rights trampled.
As part of an attempt to reauthorize the federal Violence Against Women Act this spring, House Democrats sought to broaden gun restrictions for domestic abuse and stalking convictions and close the so-called boyfriend loophole. But the National Rifle Association and their allies have stood in the way, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell so far burying the bill in the Republican-controlled Senate. Gun lobbyists have long pursued similar goals in statehouses. Opposing a recent effort in Rhode Island to strengthen gun laws against domestic abusers, the NRA acknowledged that domestic violence is “abhorrent”—but argued that some men are falsely accused of abuse and could have their gun rights trampled.
As the NRA opposed the Violence Against Women Act this April, a spokesperson reiterated the group’s opposition to tighter gun restrictions for known abusers: “The fact that Nancy Pelosi and her minions of anti-gun zealots insist on adding a gun-control poison pill to an otherwise good bill is just another example of the shameful politics Americans hate.”
A week later, a new study based on FBI data revealed that intimate partner homicides in America have been steadily on the rise, increasing 19 percent between 2014 and 2017. In 2017, a total of 2,237 victims were killed. Two thirds of them were women, most of whom were shot to death.
Additional research by Olivia Exstrum | {
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Kerala women’s commission chief MC Josephine said they did not initiate action as a complaint was yet to be filed. (ANI/Twitter)
Kerala state women’s commission chief tried to dismiss the charges of sexual harassment against CPI(M) MLA PK Sasi, saying “mistakes do happen” earlier this week, and refused to take action, citing lack of a formal complaint.
“We are all human beings, mistakes do happen. People inside the party may also have committed such mistakes,” the panel’s chairperson, MC Josephine said on Wednesday, according to ANI, when asked about what action was taken in the case.
Sasi was last week accused of sexual harassment by a woman, but the state women’s commission chief said they did not initiate action as a complaint was yet to be filed.
“We have not gotten any complaint. Even for suo moto case, we at least need the basic details like the nature of complaint which could be revealed either by the media or the victim themselves. In this case, that hasn’t happened. Then how can we register a case?” she asked.
However, the National Commission of Women (NCW) had taken cognisance of the matter and asked the Kerala police to investigate the matter.
Josephine also said that the CPI(M) would deal with the case internally.
“That’s up to the party to decide. The Marxist party will have their own system of dealing with these complaints; it’s not a new thing. Since its inception, the party has handled such complaints,” she said.
On Friday, the CPI(M) had issued a statement saying it had received a complaint against party MLA on August 14 following which an enquiry was ordered into the matter, and promised to take appropriate action in the matter. | {
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Growing up, Donald Wonch was told he was never "going to be this, never going to do that."
But a quick look at the 37-year-old construction worker's fighting resume shows he didn't listen to the naysayers.
Wonch, who lives in Fonthill, has championship belts in kickboxing, boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA).
Earlier this month, he added a bare-knuckle boxing championship to his resume, winning the belt at a match in the Cumbria region of England.
"I went through life proving people wrong time and time again," said from his home gym - Napper's Boxing Club - Wednesday afternoon.
Wonch has been boxing, and taking part in the other combat sports, for 20 years.
"I got into it because I thought I was a tough guy. I was going down a bad path in life . going into all these gyms and messing around with all the coaches. Just not being a really good person."
It wasn't until he met Hamilton martial artist Gordie Gong that his life changed for the better.
"Gordie told me that if I stopped fighting on the streets and stopped being a menace, he'd let me learn how to fight.
"I took him up on the offer and tried to do the best I could . I became a better person. He basically saved my life."
Wonch said as he and his wife, Lenna Rossi-Wonch, looked for a better place to raise their children Donald, Domenic, Wyatt and Cheyanne. The road of life led them to Fonthill.
"I went to a couple of boxing gyms in the area, trying to find the right fit for me. Then I came to Napper's," he said.
"I found that everyone here is like family. I could bring my kids here while I trained, and people would watch over them."
It was at Napper's that he met Doug Dobias, who has been with the club for 35 years as a boxer and trainer.
"Donnie came to the club about three months or so ago. We kind of hit it off right away and had a good rapport. We know a lot of the same people in the fight game," said Dobias.
He said despite Wonch's size and appearance (he has tattoos on his body), he's a great person.
"As soon as you talk to him, you can tell he's a good guy . an old soul and hard-working family man."
Dobias said the bare-knuckle boxing fight came up in England and Wonch accepted the match.
"I've trained professional and amateur boxers, mixed martial artists and kickboxers before, but I've never trained anyone specifically for bare-knuckle fighting," Dobias said, adding he trained Toronto Maple Leafs players how to fight and get fit for five years under former coach Pat Quinn.
Always wanting to challenge himself, Wonch took the fight.
"I wanted to try something new. I'm one of those extreme people . so if there's something that comes to fighting or combat sports, I'll try it," he said.
The pair flew to England for the June 1 fight against the Bare Knuckle Boxing League champion Billy 'Bang Bang' Hawthorn. The two fought at super heavyweight, which sees fighters weigh between 265 pounds and 400 pounds.
"What I didn't know was that 'Bang Bang' wasn't just a clever nickname. The guy was a real warrior and hit like a ton of bricks. He broke my nose in the first round," said Wonch.
He said when someone punches him in the face, his first instinct is to start punching away, which is what he did.
But Dobias didn't want to see his fighter get into a brawl with the shorter Hawthorn.
"Donnie got hit with a good left hook and his first reaction was to brawl," said Dobias, adding he believed that was the only chance Hawthorn had to stay close to his taller opponent.
"I said we can't fall into his fight and told Donnie to use his height and jab. He heard me."
Wonch said he heard Dobias say, "Donny, get back, get back . stand up, stand up . use your jab."
That's exactly what Wonch did. Used his reach and jab to keep Hawthorn away.
"I dropped him four times in the fight," said Wonch, adding he set his own broken nose.
"With a broken nose, you think you want to give up. But I couldn't give up, I couldn't let down the people that care about me, and so I pushed forward."
Each round of the four-round fight lasted two minutes. Unlike boxing, fighters who are knocked down are given a 20-second count to regain themselves.
"Billy used every second of those 20 to recover and he came back very tough," said Dobias.
Wonch said Hawthorn hit him harder than anyone ever has in the fight game, and he had to stay focused and listen to his coach.
At the end of the fight, Dobias said, Wonch was handed the championship belt. It didn't go to a decision.
"They just gave it to us . it was so obvious."
While bare-knuckle boxing is in its infancy as a professional sport - it's only legal in Wyoming, Mississippi and New Hampshire in the U.S. - it has been around longer in the United Kingdom.
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It's legal there, though there is no official regulatory body governing it. It's still not legal in Canada.
"It's a throwback . the three basic sports from Day 1 were running, wrestling and fighting. It's very primitive in nature," said Dobias.
There are critics of the sport, but Dobias and Wonch both believe it will become more accepted as it grows. They think MMA and the worldwide growth of the sport, thanks to the UFC and other promotions, have helped pave the way for bare-knuckle boxing.
Dobias thinks it's a bit more exciting than MMA.
"There's nothing wrong with MMA. I've trained MMA fighters. When it goes to ground and there's all the grappling . it's not as exciting as going toe-to-toe," he said, adding he's taking nothing away from the skill needed to out-grapple an opponent and gain a submission.
Wonch said it's an entertaining, fast-paced sport. Both say when a person is hit with a bare-knuckle punch, they know it, they feel it.
They acknowledge the sport can be bloody, and bare knuckles can easily open up cuts on an opponent's face.
"Any kind of punch does damage if it lands," said Dobias, adding cuts have to be very serious for a fight to be stopped.
Wonch said he or Dobias could have stopped the fight at any time if either felt an injury was too much.
"There was a really good doctor at ringside who said if he felt either fighter was in any danger, he would stop the fight instantly," said Wonch, adding fighters have to keep their hands up and chin down.
"The thing with bare-knuckle boxing is some people are head hunters, so you're going to show damage more," he said.
Dobias said smart bare-knuckle fighters will tuck in their chins and give their opponents the top of their head, which is almost a guaranteed knuckle breaker if hit.
"You have to adjust somewhat from boxing style . be aware of that and come in with more uppercuts," he said.
The trainer added he and Wonch may have butted heads a few times in preparing for the fight.
"Donnie can be stubborn, but that's part of being a good fighter, too. To be a good fighter you have to believe in yourself. But if you gain a fighter's trust, then they'll die for you and you'll die for them," said Dobias, adding the two work well together.
Wonch will head back to England in early August to defend his title in the Cumbrian town of Carlisle.
"It was an honour to go there, meet the people, fight their champion and become their champion," said Wonch.
Asked why he fights at all, he said, "I fight because I like too. Some people fight because they have too. I don't drink or anything like that, and I think fighting puts me on a little bit of a high.
"I want to show people that if I can do this, anyone can do this. I want everyone to do what they believe in and do what they love. Live your dream and do whatever it is that makes you happy," he said.
Wonch said he couldn't fight without the support of his wife and children, Dobias, Napper's and its owner and members.
"I have to thank everyone that's helped me."
[email protected]
905-684-7251 | @DaveJTheTrib | {
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I was greatly heartened to read Paul Gottfried’s excellent essay in The Imaginative Conservative in which he lambasts so-called “conservatives” for their abandonment of all that has always been meant by conservatism. Why he wonders is “nation-building abroad,” which is nothing but a clumsy euphemism for imperialism, a “conservative” value? And why is the sacrifice of American jobs on the altar of globalism a “conservative” value? And why have self-styled “conservative” pundits nailed themselves to the homosexual mast? Why have they abandoned marriage to the enemies of the family? Why do they want war with Russia to protect transgendered people in Ukraine from Russian “homophobia”? What has any of this to do with “conservatism”?
I should confess that I have paraphrased Mr. Gottfried’s words with more than a liberal use of license, lest he should be accused of putting his case in exactly the manner in which I have characterized it. I will, however, quote verbatim the answer that he gives for all of the questions raised by this bogus “conservative” posturing. “Such sea changes,” he states, “are at least partly ascribable to the transformation of the American conservative movement, when it fell under the influence and finally, control of the neoconservatives, who blew in from the left.” The result of this fusion of Trotskyism and neo-conservatism is that the very word “conservative” has, says Mr. Gottfried, lost “any substantive meaning.”
The consequence of such a situation is that the two-party system in the United States offers a “choice” between the radical relativism of the so-called left and the radical relativism of the so-called right. It’s a choice between two forms of idiocy, Tweedledumb or Tweedledumber, with the only question remaining which is which, i.e. which is dumb and which is dumber. It is akin to the proverbial choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, except it is much worse. If forced to choose between drowning and the devil, only an imbecile or a politician would choose the latter.
Switching metaphors, we might say that this situation is attributable to the plutocratic wolf in sheep’s clothing, the Democrats and Republicans serving as the seemingly attractive and therefore electable “sheep” doing the bidding of their lupine donors. This being so, we should rejoice at anything which shakes to its foundations this two-party monopoly, what might be called this twotalitarianism. We should rejoice that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have shaken things up a bit, regardless of what we think of their policies, though it’s a shame that the corrupt Democrat establishment managed to beat down Mr. Sanders and nominate the horrific Hillary Clinton.
Bernie Sanders might be an old-school socialist who still believes that Big Government needn’t become Big Brother, in spite of all historical evidence to the contrary, but at least he’s not an establishment marionette. Mr. Trump might be inept, tactless, and largely clueless, but at least, like Mr. Sanders, he has no strings attached. They show that it’s possible to break out of the asphyxiating grip of the plutocrats.
There is, however, another way that this twotalitarianism can be shaken and that’s through the supporting of other parties. Even if such parties have no chance of winning in this election, their growth might attract a maverick donor or a group of maverick donors to back such an option in the future. They will also serve as a powerful lobbying presence if they can gain enough popular momentum. Since this is so, I’d like to draw attention to the American Solidarity Party and its exciting platform, which bears all the hallmarks of the common sense solutions offered by Catholic social teaching, subsidiarity, distributism, and localism, all of which are so sorely needed in our beleaguered society and economy.
The American Solidarity Party (ASP) believes that political economy (economics) is a branch of political ethics, i.e. that economics is a derivative of philosophy. It, therefore, rejects all models of economic behavior based on greed or naked self-interest. Seeking to build an economy that is “fair, transparent, and democratic,” the ASP advocates models of production and distribution that are “local, responsible, and sustainable.” It supports “the creation of family-owned businesses and worker cooperatives,” opposing macroeconomic political regulations designed to inhibit competition from smaller firms. It calls for “the repeal of subsidies which encourage urban sprawl and discourage local farming and production.”
Having declared its commitment to subsidiarity, distributism, and localism in the aforementioned policy platforms, the ASP also shows its commitment to dismantle corrupt and bureaucratic Big Government in its demand that funds generated by the Social Security program be used solely for the payments out to recipients, rather than the current use of such funds for other purposes. Nor does corrupt and self-serving Big Business escape the ASP’s attention. It calls for “increased oversight of the banking industry and personal accountability for fraudulent behavior.” It also seeks to tackle the corrupt collusion between Big Government and Big Business in its call for amendment of the Federal Reserve Act, enabling direct investment in public works.
The ASP supports the creation of public investment banks and private credit unions at the state and local levels, and seeks to tackle the usurious debt burden carried by those with unmanageable student loans, advocating deflation of the student-debt bubble through partial forgiveness of student loans and the restoration of bankruptcy protection for debtors. In further measures to tackle the evils of usury, the ASP supports “stricter controls on consumer credit, including limits on interest and regulation of credit-card companies and payday-loan and title-loan stores”.
In a radical advocacy of distributist and localist principles, which tackle the problem of Big Government collusion with Big Business, the ASP believes that “the surest path to really free trade is the removal of obstacles to domestic productivity, such as payroll taxes, government subsidies for cheap energy and big agriculture, and the hoarding of productive land for speculative purposes.” It also opposes the hydra-headed evils of globalism, opposing “regulations and loopholes” in trade agreements “that protect special interests at the expense of consumers,” especially those globalist agreements which offer “favorable trade status for countries in which workers are exploited, and to agreements that favor international corporations over local producers.” In similar anti-globalist vein, the ASP calls for “reform or replacement of international trade organizations (such as the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund) in the interest of transparency, accountability, and fairness to all nations,” opposing “the use of international financial pressure to restructure the economies of debtor nations.”
For those of us that are weary of Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber the policies of the American Solidarity Party come as a breath of much-needed fresh air in the stale and suffocating atmosphere of contemporary politics. It will be good for all of us if the ASP prospers. Its voice is that of an all-too-rare common sense in the midst of the present uncommon madness.
Books by Joseph Pearce may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore. | {
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Today a comic appears despite Tony dazzling the world with his mustache while Wes stared at bread until it toasted itself. | {
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Якщо Україна піде шляхом популістської податкової реформи, це може стати на заваді досягненню більш важливої цілі – збалансування державного бюджету. Україна має забезпечити дефіцит державного бюджету в 2016 році не вище 3,75 % ВВП, щоб продовжити співпрацю з МВФ та іншими зовнішніми донорами. Варіанти податкової реформи, які пропонуються сьогодні, мають дещо неправильно розставлені пріоритети. Акцент перш за все повинен бути зроблений на підвищенні якості податкового адміністрування та проведенні структурних реформ, спрямованих на покращення бізнес-клімату.
Останнім часом податкова реформа стала однією з найбільш дискусійних тем в українському політичному та експертному середовищі. Чому НБУ має стояти осторонь цих обговорень?
Національний банк України неодноразово декларував свої цілі – знизити інфляцію на кінець наступного року до 12%, до 2019 року – до 5% і в подальшому утримувати її на такому рівні. Задля цього центробанк налаштований на серйозні зміни у своїх підходах до проведення монетарної політики, що мають на меті перехід до режиму інфляційного таргетування (ІТ) до кінця 2016 року (Стратегія грошово-кредитною політики на 2016 – 2020 роки). Водночас, можливість НБУ забезпечити цінову стабільність нерозривно пов’язана зі стійкою фіскальною позицією держави, на яку має бути спрямована і податкова реформа.
Зв’язок тут достатньо простий. Якщо державні фінанси незбалансовані, це прямо чи опосередковано позначається на ефективності монетарної політики центробанку. Найгірша форма такого домінування фіскальної політики над монетарною – це ситуація, коли уряд може покрити свій дефіцит тільки за рахунок емісії. Зазвичай це загрожує різким прискоренням інфляції.
Цікаво, що цей зв’язок також діє і у зворотному напрямі. Емпіричними дослідженнями підтверджено, що запровадження ІТ зазвичай призводить до посилення фіскальної стабільності, оскільки дисциплінує уряди. Після переходу до режиму ІТ уряди вже не можуть покладатися на фінансування з боку центральних банків. Але реформи в монетарній та фіскальній сферах мають іти паралельно.
Загалом без реформи державних фінансів важко уявити успішне виконання завдань, які ставить перед собою НБУ. Як мінімум через те, що НБУ вже не матиме можливості підтримувати державний бюджет за рахунок своїх прибутків. У 2015 році заплановано перерахування НБУ до Державного бюджету на суму понад 60 млрд. грн., тобто близько 12 % доходів бюджету. Однак уже наступного року ця цифра буде значно нижчою. Та й загалом прибуток центрального банку, який є результатом його операцій, спрямованих на підтримання цінової та фінансової стабільності, не повинен бути стабільним джерелом поповнення державної скарбниці.
Бюджетна загроза
На жаль, сьогодні потреба України в реформі державних фінансів і зокрема в податковій реформі часто некоректно інтерпретується і стає темою для спекуляцій. Необхідність знизити високий податковий тиск на бізнес, який, на думку багатьох експертів, серйозно гальмує економічний розвиток у країні, була взята за основу для різноманітних популістичних концепцій податкової реформи, які нехтують іншими важливими аспектами реформи. Такі концепції наполягають на першочерговому кардинальному зниженні податкових ставок, мотивуючи це тим, що такий підхід забезпечить суттєву детінізацію та збільшення бази оподаткування. Але шанс, що так і станеться в дійсності, незначний, і покладатися на нього при реформуванні державних фінансів не можна. Результати від такої «реформи» можуть стати пірровою перемогою для країни.
Якщо Україна піде шляхом популістської податкової реформи, це може стати на заваді досягненню більш важливої цілі – збалансування державного бюджету. Україна має забезпечити дефіцит державного бюджету в 2016 році не вище 3,75 % ВВП, щоб продовжити співпрацю з МВФ та іншими зовнішніми донорами. При цьому в середньостроковій перспективі має бути досягнутий первинний профіцит сектору загальнодержавного управління в 1,6 % ВВП. Це не тільки мета Уряду, а й зобов’язання України, викладені у Меморандумі про економічну та фінансову політику з Міжнародним валютним фондом. Враховуючи, що альтернанивних джерел зовнішнього фінансування не очікується, припинення співпраці з МВФ загрожує погіршенням макроекономічної ситуації.
Відповідно, майбутня податкова реформа має передбачати надійні компенсатори зниження доходів бюджету для забезпечення вищезазначених параметрів фіскальної політики. В іншому випадку внаслідок проведення такої реформи дефіцит бюджету значно зросте. За окремими оцінками, максимальний негативний ефект від податкової реформи за може досягнути 10% ВВП або близько 200 млрд. грн. Це може похитнути й так слабкий стан державних фінансів нашої країни.
Негативні для країни наслідки багатократно підсиляться у випадку припинення підтримки України з боку МВФ, який навряд чи співпрацюватиме з країною, яка не виконує взятих на себе зобов’язань. Програми співробітництва України з іншими іноземними та міжнародними кредиторами також «прив’язані» до успішної співробітництва з МВФ, тому Україна ризикує залишитися у фінансовій ізоляції.
Дехто може згадати, що інші країни, наприклад, Словаччина та Грузія, ризикнули “поставити на червоне”, тобто кардинально зменшили податкові ставки та досягли успіху, всупереч позиції МВФ. Але між ситуацією в Україні та цих країнах є дві дуже значні відмінності. По-перше, для них МВФ виступав швидше як зовнішній радник, а не кредитор останньої інстанції. А по-друге, що є найбільш важливим, і в Словаччині, і в Грузії податкова реформа була нерозривно пов’язана з масштабними структурними перетвореннями у країні. Адже зниження ставок податків було лише частиною загального пакету реалізованих реформ, в тому числі у податковій сфері.
Реформаторський супровід
Таким чином, запорукою успіху податкової реформи є комплексний підхід. Очевидно, що економіку необхідно стимулювати за допомогою зниження ставок податків. Насамперед, це стосується зниження ставок ЄСВ, який є непропорційно високим в Україні (див. таблицю).
Необхідний «фінансовий маневр» для зниження податкового тягаря має забезпечити часткова відмова від непритаманних ринковій економіці функцій держави. Це зменшить відсоток перерозподілу ВВП через бюджет, який в Україні явно завищений.
Індикатор Україна Європа та Центральна Азія ОЕСР Загальна податкова ставка (% доходу) 52.2 34.8 41.2 Податок на прибуток (% доходу) 9.0 10.8 14.9 Податки на доходи фізичних осіб (% доходу) 43.1 20.4 24.1 Інші податки (% доходу) 0,1 3,1 1,7
Але з іншого боку, податкова лібералізація не спрацює, якщо не буде супроводжуватися іншими реформами, які необхідні для покращення бізнес-клімату, а відповідно, стійкого зростання економіки. Наприклад, в Грузії зниження податкового навантаження супроводжувалось кардинальними реформами судової та правоохоронної систем, спрямованих на знищення корупції, зокрема в податкових органах, захист законних прав та інтересів сумлінних платників податків та невідворотність покарання за податкові злочини.
Такі заходи сприяють підвищенню довіри до державних органів та виходу бізнесу з «тіні». Не останнє значення має зростання співвідношення «ризик санкцій за несплату податків до витрат на чесну їх сплату». Адже у Грузії навіть кур’єри інтернет-магазинів при доставці не забувають взяти з собою портативний касовий апарат. Такі свідомі чи, може, дешевше заплатити податок, ніж потім штраф?
У випадку ж, якщо стимулів до сплати податків немає, то навіть радикальне зниження ставок податків не змусить бізнес виходити з тіні. Крім того, враховуючи катастрофічно низький рівень довіри до органів державної влади та незадовільний темп проведення структурних реформ, підприємці, скоріш за все, не будуть квапитись із легалізацією своєї діяльності, побоюючись, що уряд не дотримуватиметься обіцянок та, можливо, знову збільшить податковий тиск на бізнес.
Крім того, сьогоднішня дискусія щодо рівня податкових ставок точиться лише навколо декількох податків (ЄСВ, ПДВ та податок на прибуток). В той же час, поза увагою експертів та політиків залишається оподаткування пасивних доходів. Наприклад, на думку НБУ, ставка податку на доходи від депозитів фізичних осіб на рівні 20% є зависокою та не сприяє поверненню вкладників до банківської системи, незважаючи на її поступове очищення. Це, в свою чергу, матиме негативний вплив на кредитну діяльність банків. Тому ми пропонуємо знизити цю ставку до 15% з одночасним підвищенням ставок на інші види пасивних доходів, що буде компенсувати негативний ефект від зниження ставки на доходи за депозитами.
Підсумки та пропозиції
Варіанти податкової реформи, які пропонуються сьогодні, мають дещо неправильно розставлені пріоритети. Акцент перш за все повинен бути зроблений на підвищенні якості податкового адміністрування та проведенні структурних реформ, спрямованих на покращення бізнес-клімату.
Тому, з огляду на відсутність швидких перспектив щодо детінізації економіки та слабку фіскальну позицію держави, радикальне зниження податкових ставок не повинно проводитись в екстреному режимі, менш ніж за два місяці до початку нового бюджетного періоду. Питання зниження ставок основних податків, покращення їх адміністрування та пошук компенсаторів у видатковій частині бюджету потребують детального обговорення, в першу чергу, на експертному рівні, а тоді у парламенті. Лише згодом змінена податкова система має стати основою для бюджетного розпису, при чому не тільки для бюджету на 2017 рік, але і для трирічного бюджетного плану, формування якого є важливим фактором підвищення якості середньострокового бюджетного планування.
Отже, Національний банк очікує на проведення відповідальної податкової реформи, яка, з одного боку, полегшила б умови ведення бізнесу в Україні та заклала би підґрунтя для економічного зростання, а з іншого – забезпечила б фіскальну стійкість та макрофінансову стабільність.
Стаття спочатку була опублікована на сайті “Економічної правди” | {
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SANTA BARBARA, California — Mat the accelerator of the 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell and you're propelled into the distance with only a slight whir emanating from an electronic turbo air compressor. It's actually quite remarkable what's happening: Hydrogen and air flow into a fuel cell, which converts the gasses into electricity and heat. The reaction's only by-product is water so pure, you could drink it.
Honda has made a big bet on this propulsion technology, and it shows in the latest incarnation of the company's hydrogen-powered offering. It's a car that has evolved dramatically from a glorified science experiment back in 2008 to one that's potentially on the verge of limited market acceptance.
What's going on under there?
Pop the new Clarity's hood and the setup looks almost like a conventional gasoline engine at first glance. The powertrain is topped by a voltage-control unit that boosts and regulates the electricity created by the hydrogen fuel-cell stack, which is 33-percent smaller than before thanks to cells that are 20-percent thinner (down to a single millimeter per cell). It also uses 30-percent less of them overall compared to the outgoing Clarity's stack. The stack's cells are made from Polytetrafluoroethylene, more commonly known as Teflon. It looks like saran wrap and converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, releasing electricity as it does. The aforementioned air compressor helps boost air to the stack, increasing power in a way similar to a conventional engine turbocharger. Finally, there's the drive unit, which consists of the high output AC synchronized electric motor, transmission, and power control unit. It all fits neatly under the hood and takes up less space than Honda's V-6 gasoline engine.
See all 38 photos
Underneath the Clarity's floorpan is a small 1.7kW lithium-ion battery that can store the electricity generated from the stack but mainly helps with regenerative braking and hard acceleration when combined with the fuel-cell stack's full output. Two aluminum lined tanks of different sizes store hydrogen fuel at 10,000 psi, one behind and one under the rear seats. This packaging arrangement helps make the Clarity the first fuel-cell car able to seat five passengers. At 11.8 cubic feet, its trunk space is adequate but somewhat compromised by the tank.
Even better, using fewer cells doesn't mean sacrificing power. The development team managed to squeeze 1.5 times more overall power from the system, an engineering feat that deserves an attaboy-san. Total system output is 175 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque. More importantly, the Clarity is EPA rated at 366 miles per fill-up, the farthest range of any zero emissions vehicle. And unlike all-electric vehicles, hydrogen fill-ups are now down to the three-to-five-minute range, comparable to a gasoline-powered car. That is, if you can find somewhere to fill it; hydrogen stations are largely limited to the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
See all 38 photos
Get flowing
Advanced aerodynamic technologies are used extensively on the 2017 Clarity. Air curtains route air from in front of each wheel arch, passing it around the outside face of the wheel during cruising, helping to reduce drag (Acura employs similar tricks on its NSX supercar). The car's entire underbody is also flat in order to help smooth airflow and decrease drag, more tactics we're used to seeing in supercar and race applications.
Aerodynamicists working with sedans usually have issues with something called vertical vortexes, when the air travelling over the roof of the car travels at a different speed to the air travelling around the side of the car. When they meet at the trunk, turbulence caused by these vortexes creates instability and drag. The Clarity team mitigated this issue by sculpting the rear fenders to match the side-air speed to the roof line. Additionally, small wheel covers that hide the top portion of the rear wheels help to further reduce turbulence.
Cool, quiet cabin
Unlike Toyota's Mirai fuel-cell vehicle, Honda didn't try too hard to be futuristic with the Clarity, but its cabin is trimmed in eco-friendly materials such as recycled "Ultrasuede" and plant-based "Prime-Smooth." It's actually far better than it sounds and is arguably the most sophisticated, refined, and well-upholstered interior in Honda's lineup. The steering wheel is thick and well weighted, and switchgear is what you'd expect from a luxury sedan. The color head-up display contains speed information as well as navigation prompts, and its intuitive infotainment system can be linked to your cell phone through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
See all 38 photos
Engineers put a lot of effort into reducing interior noise as well. Like EVs, fuel cells are relatively silent in operation and occupants are more likely to notice other squeaks and hums, so Honda deployed a host of insulation and noise-absorption materials including a multi-layered floor carpet and resonators around the wheel rims. The result is a refined and quiet ride.
The Clarity has no options list and comes fully loaded. For $58,490 (though you can only lease one for $369 a month from select dealers in California), you get a host of standard advanced technologies, including road-departure mitigation, lane-keep assist, collision-mitigation braking, and adaptive cruise control.
How does it roll?
We drove a Mirai and Clarity back-to-back, and the differences in philosophy became abundantly clear. While the Honda rides just as comfortably as the Mirai when cruising, it tightens up in the bends, offering more road-holding and instilling confidence when you try to have fun. Chief chassis engineer Yoshihiro Atsumi said, "Our primary goal was to become the number one chassis for this field, and just because the car is eco-friendly, we didn't want it to be boring."
Atsumi-san decided to use an advanced suspension technology called Sensitive Frequency Response Dampers that offers varying damper stiffness without using expensive electronic control systems like the magnetic setups in high-end vehicles. They work by monitoring the road surface mechanically and adjusting the damping to suit the conditions. This gives the Clarity a higher level of body control than the Mirai, while still offering refinement.
See all 38 photos
In order to protect its highly pressurized hydrogen cargo, the Clarity's rear sub-frame — which houses the main hydrogen tank — has a series of plates and struts linking key joints of the frame to provide added support in case of a collision. The extra bracing adds weight, but the car has enough power to adequately propel the mid-size sedan's 4,167-pound mass. Its acceleration is typically electronic with a steady pull and tail-off in normal mode, and more sustained in sport mode. Thanks to its single speed direct drive transmission there is no break in acceleration. Honda also managed to seamlessly combine both mechanical and regenerative braking in the Clarity, with no noticeable step-change in brake effort at any speed.
Getting its fill
We took an almost-empty Clarity to one of California's 26 hydrogen stations, and you fill up in a similar way to a gasoline-powered car. Remove the cover from the filler valve and place the nozzle over the valve. Squeeze the handle to make a firm connection and the gas starts to flow.
Hydrogen fuel-cell technology has had a tough time in coming to market in the past. But Honda shows that an unconventionally powered, environmentally friendly car can be refined, practical, and maybe even a little fun (Honda is further expanding the Clarity line with coming EV and plug-in hybrid models). As its engineers make huge progress with power increases from hydrogen tech, you never know: maybe Honda's next fuel cell propelled machine will be a sports car. We could get behind that.
2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell Specifications ON SALE Now PRICE $58,490 (base) MOTOR Permanent-magnet synchronous AC/174 hp @ 4,501-9,028 rpm, 221 lb-ft @ 0-3,500 rpm TRANSMISSION 1-speed direct drive LAYOUT 4-door, 5-passenger, front-motor, FWD sedan EPA MILEAGE 68/66 mpge (city/hwy) L x W x H 193.5 x 73.8 x 58.3 in WHEELBASE 106.2 in WEIGHT 4,167 lb 0-60 MPH 8.4 sec (est) TOP SPEED 105 mph Show All | {
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Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) has won a legal challenge that means reports and statistics from the Communist-era secret service will be declassified.
The files that were compiled by the infamous Sigurimi (Directorate of State Security) were being kept secret by the present-day Albanian intelligence agency, but not for much longer. Following a ruling by the Administrative Court of Appeals in Tirana, the information that has previously been kept away from the eyes of the public and those who it concerns, will be made available.
The legal challenge was mounted by the BIRN over three years ago. They asked for access to the yearly reports by the Sigurimi covering the period between 1980 and 1989 as well as information relating to how many Albanians were under active surveillance during that time frame. The request was refused by the SHISH (the State Information Service) and they claimed that they did not have the authority to do so.
This claim was rebuked by the country’s Freedom of Information Commissioner, based on the 2014 freedom of information law. The SHISH refused and insisted that the information should remain as a state secret. BIRN then challenged the decision in court and won in November 2016. SHISH appealed the decision stating that the files should remain as “secrets in perpetuity” and stating that they had the exclusive right to decide whether the documents should be declassified or not.
The original decision in support of BIRN was upheld yesterday and the ruling cannot be appealed again.
The ruling sets an interesting precedent as a number of other Albanian state institutions also hold classified information that was collected during the Communist regime. At the moment, parliament has access to certain Sigurimi files but only provides the information within to people who were prosecuted under Communism.
Human rights lawyer Theodoros Alexandritis commented:
“The reluctance of the secret service to disclose any info and hold it under wraps forever shows that a culture of secrecy is still prevalent in that institution and that successive governments have not done anything to counter it.”
He added that “the decision is clearly a brave step by the Albanian courts to bring their approach on this sensitive issue in line with international law standards and the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence.”
The Sigurimi functioned as the secret police, intelligence, and state security between 1944 and 1991, during the time of Communism. It was supposedly in place to protect Albania from danger, but it served to hold the regime in place through suppressing political activity and surveilling citizens.
In 2008, the Albanian parliament discussed opening many of the files, but the Socialist Party contested it. Some members of the party including Gramoz Ruci, and recently appointed President of the Albanian Academy of Sciences Skender Gjinushi were both Ministers during the time of Communism. | {
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BRASÍLIA - O presidente Jair Bolsonaro sinalizou nesta sexta-feira que defenderá o fim da multa de 40% sobre o FGTS, paga a trabalhadores em caso de demissão sem justa causa. Para Bolsonaro, a regra é um peso para empregadores. Ele disse, no entanto, que a ideia de acabar com a gratificação ainda está em estudo. "Está sendo estudado, desconheço qualquer trabalho nesse sentido", afirmou.
Viu isso?Governo avalia acabar com saque automático do FGTS nas demissões sem justa causa
— Essa multa de 40% foi quando Dornelles era ministro do Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Aumentou a multa para evitar demissão, ok? O que acontece depois disso? O pessoal não emprega mais por causa da multa — afirmou o presidente, após um evento organizado pela igreja Sara Nossa Terra.
Mais FGTS: Governo quer saque anual dos recursos, como um 14° salário. Saiba como consultar seu saldo
Para Bolsonaro, é necessário flexibilizar regras trabalhistas para estimular a contratação no mercado formal.
— Acha que eu estou feliz com 14 milhões de desempregados? Como é que eu vou empregar alguém e o cara vai falar: sabe a dificuldade? Conhece a CLT? Você paga outro salário. É difícil. E, olha só, na guerra comercial do mundo, temos uma das mãos de obra mais caras que existem. Qual é a nossa tendência? Continuarmos vivendo de commodities. Até quando? — disse o presidente.
Extrato: Saiba como consultar o extrato de FGTS, antes de governo liberar parte das contas ativas
O ministro da Economia, Paulo Guedes, já disse que pretende mudar as regras do FGTS. A principal medida seria flexibilizar os saques, inclusive de contas ativas, do atual emprego do trabalhador. Havia uma expectativa de que as mudanças fossem anunciadas na quinta-feira, durante a cerimônia de 200 dias de governo, mas o plano foi adiado para semana que vem, após preocupações sobre como a liberação de recursos do Fundo poderia comprometer o financiamento habitacional. Segundo Bolsonaro, ele também compartilha das preocupações do setor.
— Lógico que eles têm a preocupação deles. Eu também tenho, é parecida com a deles. Não queremos que o projeto pare, afinal de contas o meu pai foi comprar a primeira casa na vida dele quando eu tinha 35 anos de idade — disse o presidente.
Leia:Governo quer acabar com o Fundo de Infraestrutura do FGTS para ganhar apoio da construção civil
Bolsonaro disse ainda que pretende pedir à equipe econômica que elabore um plano de reforma tributária em que a carga de impostos seja reduzida. Até agora, o time de Paulo Guedes tem sinalizado que o objetivo da reforma será simplificar o sistema, mantendo a atual carga tributária.
— Vamos ter que dar uma sinalização de que a cada ano se reduza a carga tributária. Nem que seja 0,00001%. Ele (Guedes) apresentou superficialmente a proposta dele e vai reapresentá-la. Falou que no início de agosto já está bastante avançada. (Com o G1)
Confira:Governo deve limitar saque de conta ativa do Fundo de Garantia a R$ 3 mil; saiba como consultar seu saldo | {
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Das Urteil für den Berliner U-Bahn-Treter ist gesprochen.
Svetoslav Stoikov (28) soll zwei Jahre und elf Monate ins Gefängnis.
Die Staatsanwältin hatte zuvor im Prozess am Donnerstag wegen gefährlicher Körperverletzung und Exhibitionismus auf drei Jahre und neun Monate Haft bei verminderter Schuldfähigkeit plädiert. Die Verteidigung war für eine Bewährungsstrafe.
Richterin Sylvia Busch: „Der Angeklagte trat mit voller Kraft zu. Sein arg- und wehrloses Opfer versah sich keines Angriffs.“
Die Richterin weiter: „Eine erhebliche Einschränkung seiner Schuldfähigkeit ist nicht auszuschließen.“ Sie verneinte aber einen minderschweren Fall.
Der Angeklagte habe sich der gefährlichen Körperverletzung schuldig gemacht. Gefährlich – wegen der das Leben gefährdenden Behandlung.
Mit verurteilt wurde ein Fall von Exhibitionismus. Der Angeklagte hatte zwei Wochen vor dem U-Bahn-Tritt vor zwei Frauen masturbiert.
Der brutale Vorfall, der durch ein bei BILD veröffentlichtes Überwachungsvideo bekannt geworden ist, schockte ganz Deutschland.
Die Psychoakte des U-Bahn-Treters
Der Psychologe Alexander Böhle ging wegen unterdurchschnittlicher Intelligenz von einer verminderten Schuldfähigkeit aus.
► Stoikov habe einen IQ von 67 (unter 70 ist intelligenzgemindert). Seine Folgerung: Damit sei der 28-Jährige als geistig behindert einzustufen und könne zusätzlich mit einer nachweislichen Hirnverletzung seine Affekte nur eingeschränkt steuern.
Diese Kopfverletzungen sind die Folge eines Unfalls in Polen von 2008. Seitdem leide er auch unter Stimmungsschwankungen.
Die Einstufung „geistige Behinderung“ relativierte der Gutachter kurze Zeit später wieder, indem er Stoikov Alltagstauglichkeit attestierte. Er fahre sogar Auto, geistig behinderte Menschen könnten keinen Führerschein machen.
Böhle attestierte dem in Bulgarien aufgewachsenen Mann zudem ein missbräuchliches Verhältnis zu Alkohol und Drogen. Bereits mit 13 Jahren habe er Haschisch, mit 14 Jahren Kokain konsumiert. Stoikov sei in großer Armut aufgewachsen, habe nur drei Jahre die Schule besucht und sei mit Gewalt aufgewachsen, denn sein Vater habe ihn geschlagen.
Der Angeklagte leide zudem an einer krankhaften seelischen Störung. Er sprach von einer schwierigen Untersuchung. Der Angeklagte sei dabei freundlich, fast devot gewesen, weinte viel und hatte große Schuldgefühle. Affekte seien bei der bei ihm vorliegenden hirnorganischen Störung sehr ausgeprägt.
►Der Prozess►
Stoikov hatte bereits am vorherigen Prozesstag ein Geständnis abgelegt. Der Bulgare hatte seinen Anwalt vortragen lassen: „Ich räume ein, dass ich sie tatsächlich die Treppe hinuntergetreten habe.“
Dann schränkte er ein: „Ich kann mich aber nicht erinnern.“ Der Grund: Alkohol und Drogen.
Seine Mutter und Schwester hätten das Video der Öffentlichkeitsfahndung im TV gesehen und ihn darauf erkannt. Er selbst habe zum Zeitpunkt der Öffentlichkeitsfahndung auf einer Baustelle in Frankreich gearbeitet. „Ich bin dann nach Berlin gefahren, um mich zu stellen.“ Die Polizei sei ihm mit der Festnahme am Busbahnhof in Berlin-Charlottenburg zuvorgekommen.
U-Bahn-Treter entschuldigte sich bei Opfer
Im laufenden Prozess hat sich Stoikov bei seinem Opfer Jana K. entschuldigt und sagte, er wisse nicht, warum er es getan hatte. „Meine Mandantin lässt sagen, sie habe die Entschuldigung gehört. Sie würde sie auch gern annehmen, kann es aber nicht, solange der Angeklagte nicht bereit ist, die Verantwortung für seine Tat zu übernehmen“, richtete die Anwältin der Studentin aus.
Jana K. sagte einem früheren Prozesstag aus, dass sie nach der Attacke das Studium hat unterbrechen müssen. Den Kontakt zur Außenwelt hatte sie gemieden, außerdem hat sie eine Traumatherapie gemacht. „Danach war erst mal der Alltag weg. Vier Monate war ich neben der Spur.“ Sie hatte monatelang gelitten.
„Geblieben ist eine Narbe an der Stirn. Und ein ungutes Gefühl vor allem nachts und allein. Es ist nicht mehr die Unbefangenheit von früher da“, sagte sie.
Schock-Video aus Berlin Männer-Clique tritt Frau U-Bahn-Treppe herunter
Ehefrau nimmt Täter in Schutz
Svetanka M. (27), die Ehefrau des U-Bahn-Treters, versuchte vor Gericht eine Erklärung für die brutale Attacke und das Verhalten ihres Mannes zu finden.
Sie sagte: „Wir sind zwölf Jahre zusammen, haben drei Kinder. Er war ein ganz lieber Mensch, nett und fürsorglich. Bis zu seinem Autounfall 2008, bei dem er schwer am Kopf verletzt wurde. Er musste zweimal operiert werden.“
Seitdem sei er schnell aggressiv, nehme Drogen und trinke viel. „Und er hat auch uns nicht mehr so gut behandelt.“
Sie versuchte ihren Mann vor Gericht in Schutz zu nehmen und machte sich indirekt verantwortlich für die unverzeihliche Aktion ihres Mannes. Kurz vor der Tat hätten sie und ihr Mann Streit gehabt, sie hätte ihn beleidigt, weswegen er vielleicht so aggressiv geworden war, so dass er die Tat begangen habe.
►►Die Attacke►►
Zu dem Angriff war es in der Nacht zum 27. Oktober 2016 gekommen. Eine Überwachungskamera zeichnete die Tat auf. Zu sehen ist, wie der Täter sich der Frau nähert, ihr einen gezielten, festen Tritt in den Rücken verpasst und die 26-Jährige mit dem Kopf voran mehrere Stufen hinabstürzt. Das Opfer erlitt einen Armbruch und eine Verletzung am Kopf.
► Die Gewalttat hatte eine Debatte über Sicherheit im öffentlichen Raum entfacht. Nach der Attacke waren erneut Forderungen nach mehr Videoüberwachung laut geworden. Der Bund deutscher Kriminalbeamter argumentierte, Überwachungskameras könnten Täter abschrecken.
SIND SIE AUF FACEBOOK? WERDEN SIE FAN VON BILD BERLIN!
Mehr News aus Berlin und Umgebung lesen Sie hier auf berlin.bild.de | {
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Colégio Pedro II, no Rio de Janeiro, é um dos mais tradicionais do país| Foto: Cyro A. Silva/Wikimedia Commons.
Ao avaliar 40 pedidos de retribuição de professores do Colégio Pedro II, escola federal no Rio de Janeiro, a Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU) encontrou irregularidades em diversos documentos. Em um deles, um único professor iria receber uma quantia retroativa a março de 2014 de R$ 178 mil, valor suspenso após a investigação. Ele e outros oito professores já tinham aprovação para receber um total de R$ 811 mil até fevereiro de 2019, dos quais R$ 431 mil já haviam sido pagos em 2018 – e terão de ser devolvidos (veja tabela).
Leia também: MPF acusa PSOL de abrir núcleo partidário no Colégio Pedro II
E também: Colégio Pedro II teme resultado “devastador” após sofrer corte de verbas
A decisão da CGU de revisar os pedidos e as concessões a servidores no Colégio Pedro II deu-se após perceber um aumento expressivo de retribuições “por Titulação” (RT) e por “Reconhecimento de Saberes e Competências” (RSC) na instituição.
Em 2018, no Colégio Pedro II foram R$ 106 milhões só para essas duas rubricas: R$ 58 milhões pagos a 1.366 servidores por RT (média de R$ 42,5 mil para cada um) e R$ 48 milhões por RSC a 667 docentes (média de R$ 71,9 mil para cada um). Em 2018, também foram concedidas 69 novas gratificações por RT e 32 por RSC, mas que agora, após a auditoria da CGU estão suspensas. Como as irregularidades foram expressivas, a CGU continuará a auditar outros processos.
A “Retribuição por Titulação” é dada ao professor que conquistar um novo diploma (em geral, de especialização, mestrado ou doutorado). Já o RSC é uma medida criada no governo de Dilma Rousseff que permite a professores da Carreira do Magistério do Ensino Básico, Técnico e Tecnológico (EBTT) – basicamente professores de institutos federais e de escolas de aplicação, de educação básica federal, como o Colégio Pedro II – subirem de nível salarial mais facilmente.
O espírito da lei do RSC, de 12.722 de 28 de setembro de 2012, era o seguinte: um professor com notório saber – um engenheiro que trabalha há 10 anos com tecnologia de ponta e é convidado a dar aulas, por exemplo –, mesmo que não tivesse curso de especialização, mestrado ou doutorado, pelo conhecimento específico adquirido merecia ganhar como se já tivesse subido de nível - por exemplo, um professor com mestrado teria a remuneração equivalente a de um outro docente com doutorado. O reconhecimento seria necessário para que ele quisesse reduzir sua carga horária em empresas e não desistisse de dar aulas no ensino técnico. Por isso, era preciso criar um mecanismo que permitisse pagar melhor profissionais com esse perfil.
A determinação da lei (12.772 de 28 de dezembro de 2012) foi uma novidade no país. Até aquele momento, os professores progrediam na carreira basicamente por tempo de serviço e titulação acadêmica. Como os professores do Colégio Pedro II são “EBTT”, eles acabaram tendo a possibilidade de pedir o RSC para aumentar o salário, caso tivessem seus “saberes e competências” reconhecidos pela instituição em que lecionam.
“Doutor” sem diploma e comitê “só com colegas” para aprovação do benefício
Nessa primeira análise, a CGU avaliou 20 contratos de concessão por RT e outros 20 por RSC. Os benefícios concedidos por “saberes e competências” apresentaram as irregularidades mais graves, com “impacto financeiro expressivo”, aponta o relatório da CGU. Como a frequência dada também foi grande, o documento afirma que “é factível presumir sua elevada incidência no universo das concessões deferidas no âmbito da instituição”.
As não conformidades começam na banca selecionada para avaliar se um professor merece ou não ter reconhecido notório saber, ou seja, receber o RSC.
Os integrantes das comissões que avaliam os professores devem ser sorteados por meio eletrônico de um Banco de Avaliadores instituído para esse fim. Além disso, 50% da comissão deve ser formada por membros externos.
Nos 20 processos de RSC, apenas 8 tiveram a presença de examinadores externos. Do total, apenas um contou com quatro pareceres, como estava indicado na instituição. Seis foram analisados por três avaliadores e os 13 restantes por apenas dois examinadores.
Outras falhas, desde o preenchimento do formulário, até a concessão do benefício antes de comprovar a titulação acadêmica, apontam que “cerca de metade das concessões [de RSC] não merecia ter prosperado”, aponta o relatório.
No último dia 9 de julho, o Colégio Pedro II informou aos diretores, pró-reitores e chefes de gabinete sobre a suspensão temporária na tramitação dos processos de concessão de RSC. Procurado pela Gazeta do Povo, o colégio não respondeu aos questionamentos sobre o caso. | {
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SUGCON finally arrived! This year it was held in London, U.K. at etc.venues 133 Houndsditch. The venue was modern and beautiful. In this post I'm going to talk about the sessions I attended and a few takeaways I had from each. I stuck to the Sitecore JSS sessions this day so this post will be all about those.
Keynote
Donovan Brown, who is a DevOps Manager at Microsoft, gave the opening keynote. He had this great before/after DevOps meme that he used to frame the presentation with. Donovan gave a run down of the Azure DevOps products and showed us how they utilize these tools at Microsoft. All the tools seem flexible and you only have to use the parts you want to. There's no all or nothing and you should evaluate your needs to see if one of the tools can solve a particular problem that you have. All the tools he showed are free to get started with.
Sitecore Host: Architecture and Plugin Design
After the keynote it was time to talk about Sitecore Host. Sitecore Host is really a foundational feature that Sitecore has developed as a base for all the services that they are releasing these days.
Sitecore Host Conclusions
The NuGet package Sitecore.Framework.Runtime.Build was discussed to help facilitate building your own plugins for Sitecore Host. They showed what development of a plugin would look like and then used a plugin to turn the identity server login screen blue using content overrides.
One non-Sitecore thing that they did during their presentation that I really enjoyed was their usage of a git alias next . Looking around online, it looks like it's this. I might have to try this technique in a future presentation. It essentially let them use git to fast forward between their different demo steps.
Sitecore Commerce & JSS
The first breakout session I attended was the Commerce JSS talk by Pramila Soni and Saurabh Sachdeva. In this session, they presented their headless Sitecore Commerce implementation and gave us a walkthrough on how they implemented a few parts of it. I have no direct experience with Sitecore Commerce but I’ll always be there for a JSS talk. One thing I need to explore after attending this talk is how resolvers work in Sitecore JSS, I had a few people ask about them while I was at the conference and I’ve never had to use them. I’m curious as to what I can do with them. Stay tuned for a future post.
JSS Immersion - Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead
I continued to camp out in Breakout Room 3, which was home to all the JSS talks on this day. Anastasiya Flynn gave a talk that was based on her experiences learning Sitecore JSS when she started in her role at Sitecore as a Javascript Evangelist. She built out an event search page leveraging a lot of popular React libraries. Some of the libraries that she discussed were:
Rebass - One thing in particular she called out was that Rebass lets you specify the element type of a HTML element as an attribute so she was able to easily add fields to her React components that allow editors to customize the tag type (h1, h2) in EE. An example from her repository is here.
styled-components - It's like CSS in javascript. Pretty wild. She has several examples of it's usage.
react-spring - Animations!
Anastasiya integrated her event search site with Sitecore Content Search via GraphQL (some info on that here.) I enjoyed how she organized her presentation into sections and provided a summary for each section before she moved onto the next.
Fun with Sitecore JSS: Exploring GraphQL
And finally, the time had arrived. It was time for me to do my presentation about Sitecore JSS and GraphQL. I started by professing my love for GraphQL..
Sometimes you just need to stand up in front of room of people and profess your love for @GraphQL. Thanks for the photo @ZacharyKniebel. #SUGCON pic.twitter.com/UOIoN6Z8rR — Adam Lamarre (@erzr) April 5, 2019
After that declaration, I went through defining exactly what GraphQL is and then explored syntax. After we had the basics out of the way, I jumped over to some demos that I had prepared and we implemented a query for the global header component from scratch and plugged it into a React component. I showed off the magic that are subscriptions with a real time activity component in one of the more advanced demos. After we explored that some, I showed off a chat component that uses a subscription and a mutation to function. All of these demos were built with built in operations and no custom back end code was needed for them to work. These definitely won't scale but I thought they really demonstrate the functionality well.
Some more in depth posts are coming for the things I talked about during my presentation.
Conclusion
Day 1 was a lot of fun. It was capped with a happy hour event and MVP awards where all the Sitecore MVPs that were attending received their physical awards. This was my first SUGCON and it was great seeing very developer focused presentations. | {
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The Montreal Canadiens had a day off recently, so Max Pacioretty took a nice, long nap.
"I needed it," he said in a phone interview with ESPN.com.
It's been another successful season for the team's leading goal scorer. The Canadiens are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, and Pacioretty is having a career season, with 36 goals and 29 assists for 65 points in 76 games. With the Stanley Cup playoffs only a few weeks away, Montreal is poised for a deep run.
During a conversation about his season, career and future with the Canadiens, Pacioretty, 26, discussed the chemistry and leadership he has with the entire organization, specifically with his teammates.
If the Canadiens can learn and build off their success from last season's playoff run, it could be an interesting spring season in Montreal.
"It's flown by," Pacioretty said of this season. "The reason why I think our team has had success, and so many individuals on our team are having success, we haven't been worrying about the end result. We've been focused on process, and to have that approach you just work harder as a player. We have to go in with the mindset that we have to do exactly what we did last year."
For an American player from New Canaan, Connecticut, who grew up rooting for the New York Rangers and idolizing Mark Messier and Brian Leetch, Pacioretty finally feels like a true Montreal Canadien.
In the long history of the Canadiens organization, there have been only 74 U.S.-born players. Currently, there are six on the roster.
It's his seventh season in the organization since the Canadiens selected him in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2007 draft. It hasn't always been easy for him, but he's become, and should be considered, one of the best U.S.-born players of his generation to wear a Canadiens sweater.
He grew up where baseball, football and basketball are much more popular than hockey. In school, there weren't many kids playing or watching hockey.
"I felt like a bit of an outcast," Pacioretty said.
Canadiens fans have embraced Max Pacioretty regardless of what country he was born in. Francois Lacasse/NHLI/Getty Images
After a stint with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL, Pacioretty played 2007-08 at the University of Michigan before he turned pro. When he first arrived in Montreal, he immediately learned it would be unlike anything else he had ever known in his hockey career.
"It was definitely a culture shock," Pacioretty said. "To come here and have everyone idolize and analyze everything that the Canadiens do was definitely a culture shock at first, but as the years have gone on I've grown to embrace it and really love it."
It loves him back.
Canadiens fans don't hear the New England accent when he speaks. They don't care where he's from. He scores goals -- big goals -- and he's a big reason the Canadiens win hockey games.
"He's obviously an underrated scorer," former Canadierns captain and current Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta said. "Year after year, he's scoring a lot of big goals for that team. Offensively, he's very gifted, but over the last couple of years, he's rounded out his game defensively, too. He's that more all-around player. You look at his speed and power he brings to the game; he's a dynamic guy."
Pacioretty has finally found a comfort level this season. His play and success is evidence of that.
"I might not have been as comfortable playing with the pressure and dealing with the expectations [in the past], but once I had an open mind and realized that top players in this league are expected to be the best players every night, I found that comfort level," he said.
Pacioretty credited Montreal's upper management and the coaching staff for help along the way. He believes he's held to a higher standard and he expects perfection from himself every game.
"Obviously, that's impossible," he said, "but I expect myself to do that, and I think when the expectations are that high ... because you're so motivated to help your team win, moving forward, I'm going to keep having that mindset."
Another U.S.-born player who played for the Canadiens, Chris Chelios, has been impressed with Pacioretty's development on and off the ice.
"Obviously, at this point he's their top guy," Chelios said. "He's the [offensive] leader on that team with P.K. Subban on the back end. He was very noticeable before the [Sochi] Olympics, but after the Olympics, he must have gained a lot of confidence. He's finding himself and he's playing great."
Chelios is considered one of the best American players to have played in the NHL. He played 26 seasons after the Canadiens selected him in the second round (40th overall) of the 1981 draft. In only his second full season in Montreal, the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, in 1985-86. After seven seasons with the Canadiens, Chelios was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Players don't usually concern themselves with nationalities of teammates, but Montreal fans have traditionally felt the Canadiens roster should be filled with French-Canadians. But during his career in Montreal, Chelios said he never felt any animosity.
"The people there were very accepting. I loved it there. I had a great time. People were great to me. The fans were awesome. The organization was great. I have a lot of respect for the people in the way they treated myself and my family," said Chelios, who added he's not surprised the fans appreciate and accept Pacioretty as a player and a person.
"The way [Pacioretty] plays, it doesn't matter if he's American or European. He does his talking on the ice, and he's earned the respect of the fans."
"French-Canadians are proud of their heritage and the tradition and history of the Canadiens, so they like to always see their own succeed, but Pacioretty, again, the way he plays, it doesn't matter if he's American or European. He does his talking on the ice, and he's earned the respect of the fans. He's a great player. It's a tough nut to crack when you're up there."
After Gionta's exit from Montreal following the 2013-14 season, the Canadiens decided to hold off on naming their next captain. Given Pacioretty's success on the ice, and his ability to lead off of it, he was named one of four assistant captains before this season, joining Subban, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov to wear the "A." There's been a lot of discussion this season that Pacioretty should next wear the "C." Gionta and Chelios, who both served as captain during their careers in Montreal, agreed Pacioretty has what it takes.
"Absolutely," Chelios said. "He's got perfect demeanor. I got to spend some time with him over in Sochi, and he has those types of qualities, for sure. I don't know how he is in the room, but just by speaking with and meeting his family, he seems like a professional and eventually, he can fall into that role."
Gionta concurred.
"In the next few years, for sure," he said. "He's going to be in that group of veterans right now, and he's going to emerge as a standout in the next few years."
As humbling as those comments are for Pacioretty, he's you're prototypical team-first player. The leadership division has worked well this season, and Pacioretty believes that's one of the reasons the Canadiens have had success.
"I'm flattered and it's a tremendous honor to even be mentioned in that same category [as Gionta and Chelios]," Pacioretty said. "We have a good system right now with four assistants, and this year it's worked out well. Where we go from here is obviously out of my hands, but this system, to do it this way, has really paid off, and going into the playoffs it will pay off as well."
Added Pacioretty: "I'm at the stage where just being considered from the four [assistants] is obviously a great feeling. Like I said, it's out of my control what happens next, but every year my role with this team has become more and more important, both on and off the ice, and I'm just looking to expand my role as a leader and as a player. If I can keep contributing in other areas, then that's what motivates me."
Pacioretty has already experienced so much in his career. He dealt with the expectations of a top prospect and learned the disappointments of being sent back to the minors on more than one occasion. His name used to be thrown around in trade rumors. He suffered a major injury when he broke his neck and suffered a severe concussion during a game against the Boston Bruins on March 8, 2011.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara checked Pacioretty into the stanchion between the benches at Bell Centre in Montreal. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher and missed the remainder of the season. Canadiens fans had always loathed Chara before that incident, and they despised him even more afterward.
Even though there's a history between the players, both have moved on, and Chara recently said he would take Pacioretty on his team any day.
"He's a great player," Chara told ESPN.com. "He's been so dominant for Montreal. He's such an offensive threat. His ability to skate, shoot the puck, and he's stepped up as a leader. I think he's really getting better and really maturing as a leader. You can always wonder what it would be like [to have him as a teammate], and I'm sure it would be great to have that type of caliber player."
Pacioretty has become a true Canadien. He wears the team's sweater with pride and he exhibits that respect with the way he plays every game for Montreal. As an American playing for the Montreal Canadiens, he has earned the respect from the fans.
When his normal work day is over, he returns home to his wife, Katia, and his son, Lorenzo, both of whom Pacioretty credits for helping him reach his potential.
"They helped me overcome all those adversities and spin them into a positive," Pacioretty said. "That's what has made me the player I am today." | {
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Left-wing pop star Cher cleared former vice president Joe Biden of worries over inappropriate behavior, saying that his touching during a hug didn’t make her feel uncomfortable.
“Once spent time talking 2 Joe Biden In His Office. I asked Point-ed Questions,” Cher said Thursday.
“As Time Passed I Found Him Forthright,Kind,& Smart. At Meetings End He Walked Me 2 The &Gave Me A HUG. I Was Fine With It,But That,Was ‘MY’ Experience. HE MUST COMMIT 2 B’AWARE,& CARE’ABOUT WOMENS SPACE.'”
Once spent time talking 2 Joe Biden In His Office.I asked Point-
ed Questions. As Time Passed I Found Him Forthright,Kind,& Smart. At Meetings End He Walked Me 2 The🚪&Gave Me A HUG.I Was Fine With It,But That,Was”MY”Experience.HE MUST COMMIT 2 B”AWARE,& CARE”ABOUT WOMENS SPACE” — Cher (@cher) April 5, 2019
Biden, who is mulling a run for president, has faced scrutiny over the last week over his past of touchy behavior around women and girls.
Several women have come forward to claim that he made them uncomfortable with his actions like touching, kissing, and smelling their hair. Biden released a video this week to address the allegations, saying that while he had been affectionate in the past, he understood the concerns of his critics.
President Trump mocked Biden with a viral social media post Thursday, saying, “WELCOME BACK JOE!”
Cher’s social media rants frequently veer into the absurd and vulgar.
Last month, the 72-year-old claimed that the president kisses the “asses” of “DICTATORS,CHILD MOLESTERS, MURDERS, WIFE BEATERS, ANTISEMITES, WHITE SUPREMACISTS, HATER OF ANY SKIN NOT LILY WHITE.” | {
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The website for Masjid Omar Ibn El Khattab, just a mile from the Ohio State University campus, proclaims itself “the Muslim Heart of Columbus.” And yet the mosque, described as one of the most ideologically hardline in the city, has grabbed the media spotlight once again: former attendees were recently reported as having joined the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.
As mosque officials struggle to distance themselves from yet another resident terror cell, the recent news raises questions about the extensive history of this Ohio mosque as a turnstile for terrorism.
Just a few weeks ago, I reported here at PJ Media that three individuals who lived just yards from Masjid Omar for two years joined ISIS in Syria in July 2014. Rasel Raihan was killed in Syria in a U.S. airstrike. His older sister Zakia Nasrin and her husband Jaffrey Khan are still in Raqqa, according to internal ISIS documents which NBC News obtained from an ISIS defector.
In that NBC News report, the mosque’s president, Basil Gohar, tried to distance the trio from the mosque. He said that Jaffrey, despite living so close to the mosque for two years, had only attended the mosque for a few weeks and had kept to himself.
When a local TV station caught up with him a few days later, Gohar again tried to distance the mosque from the ISIS recruits — as well as from the previous convicted terrorists who had attended the mosque:
We share the shock and horror of these actions, and we wish that we could have found out or stopped them … It’s quite unfortunate what these people went and did, but the fact they attended has no bearing on their actions. Anyone can come to our mosque. We have an open door policy. It’s not possible for us to screen someone’s ideology.
Gohar’s claims about these individuals — and particularly his claims about the prior al-Qaeda cell that was centered around the mosque — are flatly dishonest.
When one of the previous Columbus al-Qaeda cell members, Christopher Paul, pleaded guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against Americans, Basil Gohar publicly rose to the defense of the longtime al-Qaeda operative and his associates. He defended their innocence and prayed that their imprisonment elevated their place in paradise.
When Paul was arrested in April 2007, the Justice Department noted — in press statements and in federal court filings — that the al-Qaeda operative was conducting training INSIDE THE MOSQUE:
Specifically, the indictment alleges that, in approximately 1990 and 1991, Paul traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan and received military-training at an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. In approximately mid-1991, Paul allegedly joined al Qaeda and stayed at a guest house exclusively for al Qaeda members. Afterwards, he returned to the U.S. and taught martial arts at a mosque in Columbus. Over the next several years, he allegedly provided money and equipment from the U.S. to individuals overseas as part of the conspiracy. He also allegedly provided training to individuals in the U.S. in order that these individuals might be ready to fight violent jihad overseas.
So Masjid Omar president Basil Gohar has serious credibility issues when it comes to being forthcoming about his mosque’s ties to terrorism. Now, here’s a rundown of the known terrorist activity tied to Masjid Omar:
Columbus al-Qaeda Cell
One of the largest known al-Qaeda cells since 9/11, the conspiracy was centered around the mosque. While only three members — Iyman Faris, Nuradin Abdi, and Christopher Paul — were charged, it is known that there were more than a dozen members of the cell.
All three lived immediately near the mosque. Another cell member, Mehmet Aydinbelge, was deported from the U.S. in 2003 on national security grounds. Faris had met with Osama bin Laden and Khalid Shiekh Mohammed in his travels to his native Pakistan.
Abdi had traveled to Ethiopia to train at a terror camp there. And Christopher Paul, who had direct connections to European al-Qaeda operatives involved in the 9/11 terror attacks, was one of the oldest known American al-Qaeda operatives. Both Faris and Paul are still in federal prison. Abdi served his prison sentence, was stripped of his U.S. citizenship, and was deported in 2012. Abdi had helped establish a sister mosque to Masjid Omar in the Columbus area, Masjid Ibn Taymiyah .
Anwar al-Awlaki Funding Cell
Indictments in November 2015 charged four men — who previously lived in Columbus and attended Masjid Omar — with conspiring to send thousands of dollars to al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki between 2007 and 2009. Two of the men were arrested and the other two left the country. The men were formerly Ohio State students. Awlaki, the former imam of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in the Washington D.C. area, was killed in a CIA drone strike in September 2011.
Little Rock Killer Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad (Carlos Bledsoe)
Bledsoe was convicted in Arkansas state court for the June 2009 murder of Army Pvt. Andy Long as he and another U.S. Army recruiter stood outside a Little Rock recruiting station. Bledsoe had previously lived in Columbus, and as reported by ABC News at the time, he attended Masjid Omar during the 2006-2007 time frame.
Dr. Salah Soltan
Previously one of the top Islamic scholars in the U.S., Soltan is currently in prison under a death sentence on terrorism charges in Egypt. As I have reported extensively here at PJ Media and elsewhere, Soltan is a longtime figure in international terror circles.
From 2004 until his departure from the U.S. several years later, Soltan was a resident Islamic scholar for the Islamic Society of Greater Columbus (ISGC), the parent organization of Masjid Omar. For a time, Soltan maintained an office at the mosque. Here is video of Soltan in prison with his fellow Muslim Brotherhood officials in Egypt:
Wael Kalash
As Ohio State student Rachel Decker waited for a bus to take her to school on June 2, 2009 — the very day AFTER former Masjid Omar attendee Abdulhakim Muhammad killed Army Pvt. Andy Long in Little Rock — Decker was approached by Wael Kalash and stabbed in the stomach with a large knife.
As reported at the time, Kalash fled to Masjid Omar and was found by police at the mosque. Local media subsequently played up Kalash’s history of mental illness.
ISIS Recruits
As stated above, in July 2014 Jaffrey Khan, his wife Zakia Nasrin, and her younger brother Rasel Raihan entered Syria and joined ISIS. Masjid Omar president Basil Gohar has claimed that only Khan attended the mosque, and only for a few weeks. And yet the trio lived just yards from the mosque for two years. Further, as I reported here at PJ Media, they lived in the apartment next door to the wife of convicted al-Qaeda operative Christopher Paul.
Nasrin and Raihan grew up in a Columbus suburb and attended an advanced high school program. Khan grew up in a $2 million Silicon Valley mansion in Palo Alto, California, and moved to Columbus when his wife enrolled at Ohio State. Raihan was killed in a U.S. airstrike, while Khan and Nasrin still live in Syria with their ten-month-old baby daughter.
———
Masjid Omar is either very unlucky, or these half-dozen terror cases represent a pattern of ideological indoctrination and recruitment centered on this one Columbus mosque.
As I’ve previously reported here at PJ Media, whether it is Washington D.C., Phoenix, or Boston, there is an identifiable trend of domestic terrorism being centered around certain American mosques.
In my next installment concerning the terror cases centered around this Columbus, Ohio mosque, I’ll present evidence from an ongoing local federal terrorism trial that Masjid Omar president Basil Gohar may be more directly tied to some of these terror cases then he or his recent media appearances have let on. | {
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WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce Thursday that he is directing federal agencies to give their employees up to six weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, a benefit he wants to extend to all American workers.
He will also call on Congress to pass a bill that would allow workers across the United States to earn up to seven paid sick days a year and would create a $2 billion incentive fund to help states pay for family leave programs, officials said late Wednesday.
The president needs congressional approval to require federal agencies to provide the six weeks of paid parental leave. But in the absence of that legislation, the president will sign a memorandum to mandate that agencies advance new mothers and fathers a six-week chunk of paid time off — a benefit that is now only discretionary.
The White House described the plans — the latest in a series that have been proposed in the days leading up to the president’s State of the Union address on Jan. 20 — as part of Mr. Obama’s focus on improving the lives of middle-class Americans. | {
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Honolulu police were asking for the public’s help finding a man who robbed a Kapahulu bank while wearing a yellow poncho.
Police said the man entered the First Hawaiian Bank, 433 Kapahulu Ave., at about 9:25 a.m. Friday, approached the teller and demanded money.
The teller gave the man an undisclosed amount of money, and he ran away.
Police opened a second-degree robbery investigation.
Police described the man as 6-foot-1, 200 to 210 pounds, with dark hair and a medium build. He was wearing a yellow poncho, a black long-sleeve shirt, khaki pants, black sunglasses, black gloves, and a white surgical mask.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or send in anonymous web tips through the CrimeStoppers website. | {
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A new genus and species of flowering plants from the custard apple family, Annonaceae, has been discovered in the jungles of Gabon by French and Gabonese botanists. The extraordinary genus was named Sirdavidia, after Sir David Attenborough to honour his influence on the life and careers of the scientists who discovered it. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.
But what is so special about this new discovery? The new genus was in fact erected to accommodate an unusual new species, found in Monts de Cristal National Park, Gabon during an expedition focusing on the study of Magnoliidae floral diversity in rain forests, to which the Annonaceae family belongs.
It was a great surprise for the researchers to discover an unusual Annonaceae plant not only in one of the botanically best known areas in Gabon, but also very close to a main road. Perhaps its rarity was the reason why no one had stumbled upon it before. Despite the careful study of the area the new species Sirdavidia solannona was only present in two localities, which also led to this species being preliminarily classified as Endangered.
"This new discovery underlines once again the importance of the Gabonese national parks for conserving the wonderful yet incompletely known biodiversity for the country and Africa." indicates Raoul Niangadouma, senior botanist at the Herbier National du Gabon, Libreville.
"The last thing on my mind when starting this expedition was to discover a new species, let alone a new genus!" indicates Dr. Hervé Sauquet, senior author and Associate Professor at Université Paris-Sud. "We aimed for well-known regions in Gabon because we wanted to be sure to find the necessary flowers for our project".
With its unusual flower structure characterised by red petals contrasting with its bright yellow loosely arranged stamens, the flowers of this newly discovered small tree did not quite fit any of the previously described genera.
DNA sequence analyses led by Dr. Bonaventure Sonké, Professor at the Université de Yaoundé I in Cameroon, proved the authors right - the newly discovered plant required the erection of a completely new genus to accommodate it. But what struck the scientists even more was that the closest relative of Sirdavidia was to be found some 3000 km away in an isolated forest in Tanzania.
"It is funny that the new genus is a close relative to Mwasumbia, endemic to Tanzania, a genus I also described a few years ago," explains the lead author Dr. Thomas Couvreur, Researcher at Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France, currently based in Yaoundé, Cameroon. "When I saw the results of the DNA analysis confirming its position I thought someone was pulling my leg. Discovering two new genera on opposite sides of Africa and they turn out to be closely related!"
The authors of the study decided to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime discovery, by naming the new genus after Sir David Attenborough. Sirdavidia is in fact the first plant genus named after him, although several plant species already bear his name.
"Sir David Attenborough has been such a wonderful and important influence in my life and the life of so many," comments Dr. Couvreur. "I was really surprised when I realised that no one has named a genus after him before, so I found this discovery an excellent opportunity to honor him with a genus name."
"I show David Attenborough's The Private Life of Plants BBC series every year to my students" adds Dr. Sauquet. "This will be a nice story to tell them. David Attenborough's legacy is exactly about that: stimulating passion and interest about the natural world around us."
Sir David was "truly thrilled" when hearing about this new genus: "I know very well that such a decision is the greatest compliment that a biologist can pay to another and I am truly grateful," he indicated.
But the wonders of the new discovery did not stop here for the team. Curiously the flowers of Sirdavidia solannona are probably "buzz pollinated", a very specific type of pollination whereby bees use the vibration of their wings to extract the pollen grains onto their bellies. The flowers of Sirdavidia have a striking resemblance with those of the nightshade or Solanaceae family - champions of buzz pollination. This resemblance with Solanaceae inspired the name of the new species.
"What is really special about this is that buzz pollination is unknown in Magnoliideae and early divergent angiosperms in general, which represent around 10,000 species worldwide." add Drs. Couvreur and Sauquet. "If confirmed by our further studies, this will prove to be another very exciting aspect of this discovery!"
A "species page information" on this new species can be found at the World Annonaceae Scratchpad.
###
Original Source:
Couvreur TLP, Niangadouma R, Sonké B, Sauquet H (2015) Sirdavidia, an extraordinary new genus of Annonaceae from Gabon. PhytoKeys 46: 1-19. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.46.8937
Contact:
Dr. Thomas Couvreur
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Hervé Sauquet
Email: [email protected] | {
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Superintendent "appalled (at) players being subjected to unacceptable and embarrassing treatment by other players." Game cancelled, trip to UCLA canceled and players disciplined
Serious misconduct involving apparent hazing, serious enough to warrant a police investigation, prompted the unprecedented cancelation of tonight's Taft Union High football game
Superintendent Blanca Cavazos issued the following statement Friday at 5 p.m.:
Administrators at Taft Union High School were made aware of two serious incidents today involving the school’s varsity football program. The incidents occurred in the past week and involved players being subjected to unacceptable and embarrassing treatment by other players.
As a result of an ongoing investigation, the district has taken the following actions today:
•First, tonight’s varsity football game against Highland has been cancelled, since most of the varsity football team was involved (the JV team will play tonight);
• Second, we have cancelled tomorrow’s trip to UCLA. The football teams had been scheduled to attend a UCLA football game tomorrow;
•Third, appropriate disciplinary measures have been taken with the students who were involved and we are continuing to investigate and evaluate other measures needed to address these incidents and prevent similar future behavior.
“I am appalled that such behavior took place within our football program,” said Blanca Cavazos, Taft Union High School District Superintendent. “The safety of our students is our number one priority and providing a safe, welcoming place for all students is imperative.”
Further details will be provided as the district’s investigation concludes and more information becomes available.
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Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam , *1466/9 1536
Erasmus and Luther engaged in a great debate about the place of human free choice in the process of salvation. In this controversy Erasmus was a fervent defender of free will (De libero arbitrio, 1524) and Hyperaspistes (1526-27). Luther wrote De servo arbitrio (1525), one of his most important theological works, in the course of this debate.
Erasmus emphasised studies in classical and Christian antiquity and became the greatest European scholar of the 16th century. He used philological methods in his historical-critical studies of the past and edited the writings of most of the major Church Fathers in both Latin and Greek. In 1516 he published the original Greek text of the New Testament together with his own Latin translation. This work was intended to stimulate a renewal of authentic Christian faith.
Erasmus was named honorary councillor to the 16-year-old archduke Charles, the future Charles V. For him, he wrote "Education of a Christian Prince" in Latin. Erasmus, the great Dutch humanist, was born at Rotterdam in 1466/9. Both parents died early, and he had to enter a monastery. Thanks to the bishop of Cambrai, he was given the opportunity to study in Paris and travel to England. During these years of study he developped an aversion against the traditional scholastics. His writings criticized and ridiculed ecclesiastical abuses and encouraged the growing urge for reform. He sympathized with the Reformation at first, but he refused to intervene either for or against Luther at the time of the Diet of Worms in 1521. He rejected Luther's self-proclaimed dogmatic mission as well as the papacy's claim to secular power, which made him suspicious to both parties. His supporters were rationalists, opposed to orthodoxy and praised his independent stance in an age of fierce confessional controversy. Erasmus wrote to pope Adrian VI, whom he had known at Louvain: he claimed there was still hope for reconciliation, if only the church would ease the burden of rules, for instance by permitting priests to marry.Erasmus and Luther engaged in a great debate about the place of human free choice in the process of salvation. In this controversy Erasmus was a fervent defender of free will (De libero arbitrio, 1524) and Hyperaspistes (1526-27). Luther wrote De servo arbitrio (1525), one of his most important theological works, in the course of this debate.Erasmus emphasised studies in classical and Christian antiquity and became the greatest European scholar of the 16th century. He used philological methods in his historical-critical studies of the past and edited the writings of most of the major Church Fathers in both Latin and Greek. In 1516 he published the original Greek text of the New Testament together with his own Latin translation. This work was intended to stimulate a renewal of authentic Christian faith.Erasmus was named honorary councillor to the 16-year-old archduke Charles, the future Charles V. For him, he wrote "Education of a Christian Prince" in Latin. Though he himself insisted that his best portrait was to be found in his books, Erasmus commissioned likenesses from some of the greatest artists of his day: Matsys, Dürer, and Holbein. Matsys had already painted Erasmus in 1517. Two years later he created this earliest medal of the famous humanist, who happened to pass through Antwerp that year.
Cast bronze medal 1519, by Quentin Matsys. Ø 105 mm.
The Currency of Fame 157. Piece in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Obv. : THN KPEITTΩ TA ΣYΓΓPAMMATA ΔEIΞEI : IMAGO AD VIVA m EFFIGIE m EXPRESSA "His writings will present a better image: portrait executed from life"
Bust to left, wearing a cap and a coat with a fur collar.
In the field to the left, ER [asmus]; to the right, ROT [terdamensis] "Erasmus of Rotterdam".
Below, the date 1519. Rev. : OPA TEΛOΣ MAKPOY BIOY - MORS VLTIMA LINEA RERV m Cast, by Quentin Matsys.Obv. : THN KPEITTΩ TA ΣYΓΓPAMMATA ΔEIΞEI : IMAGO AD VIVAEFFIGIEEXPRESSARev. : OPA TEΛOΣ MAKPOY BIOY - MORS VLTIMA LINEA RERV "Consider the end of a long life - death is the ultimate limit of things"
On a rocky mound, a bust to left of the god Terminus, set upon a square base.
On the base: TERMINVS . (roman god "Boundary Stone").
In the field, the motto, to be thought of as spoken by the god: CONCEDO - NVLLI "I yield to no one". The Erasmian character of the medal's legends and inscriptions should be noted. The Greek legend on the obverse echoes the philosopher's statement that his truest likeness is to be found in his works. [from "The Currency of Fame, Portrait Medals of the Renaissance", 1994] Hieronymus Hopfer used the medal as model for his etching in 1519 Landesmuseum Münster, Westfalia ]
Albrecht Dürer sketched Erasmus in Brussels in 1520. This drawing in charcoal was not the basis for Dürer's well known engraving of 1526 , where he reproduced the Greek inscription of the medal. Ref.:
• Stephen K. Scher [Ed.]: The Currency of Fame - Portrait Medals of the Renaissance, NY 1994,
p.348-350, 361. | {
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David Mastio
USA TODAY
Over and over during the 2016 presidential campaign, one thought keeps occurring to me: The only way this plot makes sense is if the next scene reveals a huge anti-American conspiracy bent on destroying our country.
On one side, we have Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Islamic State conspiring to place a serially-bankruptbillionaire blowhard (with his own line of neckwear!) into the Oval Office at a key moment in history. On the other, a tireless and patriotic Donald Trump, backed by a band of failed online media entrepreneurs, fights the evil plan in a desperate attempt to put the nuclear launch codes in the hands of a corrupt and dishonest retread who has the virtue of, at least, being relatively sane.
Think about it.
At the beginning of last week, Trump was plunging in the polls as even his most ardent supporters come to realize the guy can only stop groping, kissing and otherwise assaulting women when he is reading the inadvertently-honest emails the Russians hacked from the Clinton campaign chairman's Gmail account or when he is composing new ways to infuriate everyone with a vagina.
Then, BAM!!!, the FBI director writes a letter to senior lawmakers saying that due to an investigation into the skanky hijinks of Clinton's Muslim-American right-hand gal's testosterone-addled ex-congressman soon-to-be ex-husband (named Weiner!), the G-men have discovered a hard drive where potentially Top Secret State Department emails snuggled up next to an archive of crotch-bulge JPEGs used in "Carlos Danger's" perverse Twitter mating rituals with potentially underage girls.
THIS. CAN. NOT. BE. REAL. LIFE.
Clinton needs to reboot with clean slate: Column
But it is. And as a highly-paid Washington journalist, it is my job to make sense of this and explain it to other people. I can't. Some days after work, I sit there and look at my 2-year-old son and try not to imagine the world in 20 years. I write a relaxing column about all the ways Obamacare is doomed to fail.
But then I accidentally pay attention to the presidential campaign and the conspiracy keeps coming back.
An Islamic State-inspired son of an Afghan Muslim immigrant (who thinks he is the Afghan president-in-exile) kills four dozen Americans at the Pulse, an Orlando gay nightclub. As if on cue, Democratic leaders and liberal opinionators make it seem like they are more worried about the killer's homophobia than his hatreds' religious and immigrant roots. If there was a conspiracy, this is exactly what they'd cook up to make Trump's ban on Muslim immigration seem sane.
Trump won't take that lying down so he orders his wife to plagiarize a speech from Michelle Obama while he cooks up a feud with a Muslim couple whose son gave his life to protect America from Islamic terrorism. For some reason, Republicans love Michelle Obama's speech when it comes from the lips of a white chick who, at one point, might have been an illegal alien.
Hillary Clinton can't stand the thought of having to decide whether Winston Churchill's bust should go back on the mantel of the Oval Office, so when the FBI exonerated her in the investigation into her secret email server cover-up, she doubled down on the lies, telling Fox News' Chris Wallace, "Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people."
Don't let Clinton emails dominate debates: Column
POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media
Not one of those words was true. I forget whether she compared herself to a "short-circuited" robot as a preview of the bold move to bolster the Trump campaign or as an excuse afterward.
Every day it's a race to prove who wants to be president the least.
I got an email from HillaryClinton.com in September asking for money. The subject line began, "If I am being honest ..." When I saw it, I thought, "Oh for God's sake, why start now?" If Clinton had started being honest five years ago or even one year ago, the American people would be carrying her to Washington on a flag-draped litter to install her in the White House while they sing old Methodist hymns .
But she didn't. She won't or can't. The only reasonable explanation left is that she will do anything, absolutely anything, to make Donald Trump president. The question is what she and Vladimir Putin have to gain.
David Mastio is the Deputy Editorial Page Editor of USA TODAY. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidMastio
You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check our submission guidelines. | {
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By Paul Emerald
Download PDF Version
Abstract
As systems extend and expand the exploitation of the latest power semiconductors (IGBTs, MCTs, etc.) that manifest the very relentless advance in power output limits, a prerequisite (and parallel) demand for sensing these escalating current levels is (increasingly) very apparent. Hall-effect ICs provide 'non-intrusive' current sensing techniques and safe, isolated detection of high current levels without dissipating the sizable amounts of wasted power (and the resultant heating) associated with resistive current-sensing methods. Further, Hall-effect current sensing provides electrical isolation of the current-carrying conductor; hence, a safe environment for circuitry, operators, etc.
The proliferating current-sensing applications for Hall-effect sensor ICs continue; become even more diverse; plus expand and grow as other designers endeavor to protect systems, create more reliable 'bulletproof' equipment, and reconcile any safety issues. The prime applications for cost-effective Hall-effect sensor ICs for current sensing include:
Current Imbalance
Current Monitoring
Operator/User Safety and Security
Overcurrent Detection/System Protection
System Diagnosis and Fault Detection
Test and Measurement
Background and Introduction
The discovery of the Hall-effect originated back in 1879; however, any meaningful application of this Edwin H. Hall finding awaited semiconductor integration that first occurred in the late 1960s. Subsequently, further advances (particularly those of the 1990s) have evolved further, more fully functional integration plus an expanding series of application-specific Hall sensor IC types. Yet the relentless progress of magnetic sensor electronics continues to proliferate an increasing demand for low-cost, reliable, and 'non-contact' Hall-effect circuitry for sensing/detecting motion, direction, position, and measuring/monitoring current.
Hall-effect sensor ICs (especially the ratiometric linear types) are superb devices for 'open-loop' current-sensing designs. However, there are limits to the operational range, accuracy and precision, frequency response, etc. that may be realized. Because many prospective users are ignorant of and/or oblivious to either the benefits or shortcomings of current-sensing techniques using Hall-effect ICs, this paper endeavors to provide a comprehensive discussion of the essential, basic techniques of 'non-intrusive' current sensing with silicon Hall-effect devices (HEDs) now available.
Most Hall-effect current-sensing requirements do not develop adequate magnetic fields without the use of a slotted toroid to concentrate (and focus) the induced flux field. Low-to-modest currents (<≈ 15 amperes) require winding sufficient turns on the slotted toroid (core) to induce usable flux strength and develop a suitable signal voltage. A higher current level (>15 to 20 amperes) induces field intensities that allow passing the current-carrying conductor straight through the center of the toroid (no turns necessary at these higher currents).
Designs requiring a broad (or continuous) current range mandate utilizing linear Hall-effect sensor ICs. However, overcurrent protection and/or fault detection designs can be accommodated by digital HEDs. Examples and particulars of the essentials of current-sensing techniques, device parameters, temperature stability, and other relevant concerns of Hall-effect current sensing are covered in this treatise on HEDs for sensing AC and DC currents.
Rival, Competing Technologies
Although there are many current-sensing methods, only three are commonplace in low-cost, volume applications. The others are expensive laboratory systems, emerging technologies (magnetoresistive is an example), or seldom used. The commonly used techniques include: (1) resistive, (2) Hall effect, and (3) current transformers.
Resistive sensing is very widely used, low-cost, and understood with little difficulty. However, the shortcomings are its insertion loss (heating and wasted power) and lack of isolation. Also, the series inductance of many power resistors constrains the frequency range with low-cost components; hence, resistive sensing is classed as either a DC or AC application per the categories in table 1. Low inductance, high-power resistors for high frequency are more expensive, but allow operation beyond 500 kHz. Further, signal amplification is (usually) required with resistive current-sensing techniques (either a comparator or operational amplifier is needed).
Table 1: Commonplace, Inexpensive Current-Sensing Techniques Widely Used Sensors Power Consumption
Circuit Isolation Frequency Range Size Accuracy Relative Cost Insertion Loss External Power Sense Resistor + Op-Amp High Low Low DC to 10 MHz Medium ±3 to 5% Low Standard Open Loop Hall-Effect Low Low High DC to 50 kHz Small ±5 to 10% Medium Hall-Effect Closed-Loop Low Medium High DC to 1 MHz Medium to Large < ±1% High Allegro Open-Loop Hall Effect Current Sensor ICs Low Low High DC to 120 kHz Small ±2 to 3% Medium Current Transformers Medium (AC) None high 60 Hz to 1 MHz* Medium to Large ±3 to 5% High * Current transformers usually operate over a limited frequency range but can be designed for use from low to high frequencies.
Hall-effect sensor ICs (open- and closed-loop) represent the next tier of commonplace solutions. Insertion loss (and related heating, etc.) are not an obstacle. However, frequency range, cost, DC offset, and external power represent the potential disadvantages of Hall-effect IC technology when compared to the resistive-sensing methods.
Current transformers close out the last low-cost technology, and (as the term transformer should imply) are only useful with alternating currents. Most low-cost current transformers are designed for narrow frequency ranges, are more expensive than resistive or Hall-effect, and cannot be used for DC currents. However, current transformers avoid insertion loss, offer electrical isolation, do not require external power, and exhibit no offset voltage at the zero (null) current level.
Because this treatise focuses upon Hall-effect ICs, understanding the elements of linear, ratiometric HEDs is imperative to open-loop current sensing.
Linear Hall-Effect Sensor ICs
As the term implies, linear Hall sensor ICs develop an output signal that is proportional to the applied magnetic field. Normally, in any current-sensing application, this flux field is focused by a 'slotted' toroid to develop an adequate field intensity, and this magnetic field is induced by current flowing in a conductor. A 'classic' transfer curve for a ratiometric linear is illustrated in figure 1. Note that, at each extreme of its range, the output saturates.
Figure 1. Linear Hall Sensor IC Transfer Curve
Most recent linear Hall ICs provide a ratiometric output voltage. The quiescent (i.e., null) voltage is (nominally) 50% of the applied, stable supply. This quiescent output voltage signal equates to no applied magnetic field and, for current sensing, is equivalent to zero current flow. A south polarity field induces a positive voltage transition (toward V CC ), and a north polarity results in a transition toward ground (0 V). Output saturation voltages are (typically) 0.3 V (high/sourcing) and 0.2 V (low/ sinking) and are measured at ±1 mA. [Ed. Note. output voltages are now in the multivolt range.]
Each linear Hall-effect IC integrates a sensitive Hall element (also called a 'plate'), a low-noise (bipolar) amplifier, and sink/ source output stage. Any systems problems associated with low-level signals and noise are minimized by the monolithic integration of magnetic Hall element, amplifier, output, and allied signal processing circuitry.
Existing very stable, linear HEDs exploit dynamic quadrature offset cancellation circuitry and utilize electronic switching to change the current path in the Hall element. Switching the current paths, from 0° to 90°, at a high repetition rate offers a new answer to the (intrinsic) DC offset that has long plagued linear sensor IC operation and stability.
Sample-and-hold circuitry and a low-pass filter are exploited to properly 'recondition' the internal dynamic signals of these innovative linear HEDs.
Linear Hall-effect ICs can detect small changes in flux intensity, and are (generally) more useful than digital Hall ICs for current sensing. Linear HEDs are often capacitively coupled to op amps, or DC connected to comparators, to attain system design objectives. Also, microcontrollers (µCs) and microprocessors (µPs) are being exploited to detect small signal changes from linear Hall ICs, and are very suitable (with proper software) for sensing/measuring either AC or DC currents.
Inducing a Magnetic Field
As mentioned, Hall-effect current sensing usually necessitates the use of a slotted toroid (made of ferrous materials). The toroid both concentrates and focuses an induced magnetic field toward the location of the Hall-effect element within the IC package. Figure 2 typifies a classic example of 'non-intrusive' current sensing exploiting a slotted toroid. The conductor current flows through the turns wound upon the toroid, and the induced flux field is concentrated on the sensor IC in the gap (or slot) in the toroid. Usually, this gap is made to closely match the Hall IC package thickness ( approx. 0.060" or 1.52 mm), and this provides optimal magnetic coupling. The current flow (with this 'tight' magnetic coupling) induces a flux intensity per the formula
B (gauss) ≈ N (turns) × 6.9 gauss/ampere
[Ed. Note: 6.9 gauss/ampere is updated from the earlier 6 gauss/ampere.]
Figure 2. Current Sensing with Gapped Toroid
Widening the slot (gap) reduces the flux coupling and can increase the upper current limit, which is predicated upon the Hall sensor IC sensitivity (more to follow). However, decoupling the induced field to extend the maximum current limit may affect linearity, usable range, etc. This 'loose' coupling is under evaluation, but not yet complete; hence, no new formulas for magnetic flux and conductor current (and larger gaps) have been documented.
'Calibrated' Ratiometric Linear HEDs
The two newest [Ed. Note: Article originally presented in 1997.] linear Hall sensors, with dynamic DC offset cancellation, provide a cornerstone for a discourse on linear ratiometric HEDs and current sensing. The A3515 plot (figure 3) and related data (table 2) record the vital characteristics of the most sensitive linear HED; its counterpart, the A3516, properties are in figure 4 and table 3.
Figure 3. Linear, Ratiometric Hall-Effect Device Characteristics (A3515 Output)
Table 2: Linear, Ratiometric Hall-Effect Device Characteristics Measurement Data (A3515),
Measured Over ±250 Gauss Marker V CC
(Volts) V OQ
(Volts) Sensitivity
(mV/G) Non-Linearity
(%) Symmetry
(%) Circle 4.500 2.217 4.450 ≤0.1 99.9 Square 5.000 2.463 5.014 ≤0.2 99.9 Triangle 5.500 2.710 5.704 ≤0.1 99.7
Figure 4. Linear, Ratiometric Hall-Effect Device Characteristics (A3516 Output)
Table 3: Linear, Ratiometric Hall-Effect Device Characteristics Measurement Data (A3516),
Measured Over ±500 Gauss Marker V CC
(Volts) V OQ
(Volts) Sensitivity
(mV/G) Non-Linearity
(%) Symmetry
(%) Circle 4.500 2.232 2.149 ≤0.1 99.9 Square 5.000 2.475 2.481 ≤0.1 99.6 Triangle 5.500 2.723 2.820 ≤0.1 99.9
Presently, though seldom sold, 'calibrated' linear Hall-effect ICs are superb circuits for setting up and measuring system magnetic parameters, and represent an excellent entry to the performance, characteristics, and limitations of ratiometric ICs.
Sensor Sensitivity
The elemental distinction between the A3515 and A3516 is magnetic sensitivity. The nominal data for the two specific sensor ICs depicted in figures 3 and 4 is listed in tables 2 and 3. Sensitivity is specified in millivolts per gauss (mV/G). Three voltages are listed; however, most designs utilize fixed, low-cost 5 V regulator ICs for stability. The nominal sensitivity (and usable range) of the two linear HEDs is as follows (V CC = 5 V):
A3515 Sensitivity: 5.0 mV/G Range: ≥±400 G (≥±2.0 V)
A3516 Sensitivity: 2.5 mV/G Range: ≥±800 G (≥±2.0 V)
Linearity and Symmetry
From these plots (figures 3 and 4) it is apparent that neither linearity nor symmetry (the deviation in the slope from the quiescent (or null) voltage) is a vital design consequence as neither surpasses 0.3% for the A3515. The plots record ±400 G for the A3515, and ±800 G for the A3516, and output voltage swings of ≥±2.0 V for both types.
Linear Current Range(s)
The practical current limit (maximum with 'tight' coupling) is derived using the range and flux per turn in the prior formula per the approximation:
A3515: ≥±400 G ÷6.9 G/A ≈ ±58 A
A3516: ≥±800 G ÷6.9 G/A ≈ ±116 A
Per a prior mention, current values beyond ≈ 115 amperes mandate reducing the magnetic coupling, shunting higher current levels (i.e., pass a portion of the total through the toroid), or other methods that effectively 'desensitize' the circuitry. There are many, growing and expanding applications for 'non-intrusive' current sensing, especially at high currents (>100 A).An ultra-low value resistor (<1 mΩ) dissipates considerable power and heating at these currents, and the 'non-inductive' resistors needed raise costs. I2R losses cannot be avoided; a sense resistor of 500 mΩ and 200 A produces 20 watts. Obviously, this is a situation that a designer would prefer to avoid. However, low-cost options are scarce (or non-existent). [Ed. Note: The Allegro™ ACS75x current sensor IC series is now available, which can accommodate currents up to the ±200 A range.]
Linear, Ratiometric Hall-Effect ICs
The latest linear HEDs incorporating the dynamic quadrature DC offset cancellation are illustrated in figure 5. The Hall element is a 'single-plate,' and designated by its symbol (Χ). Sensor IC current is switched from a 0° orientation (downward) to a 90° path (across the Hall plate) at ≈ 170 kHz. This precludes most of the earlier offset related factors (DC imbalances due to resistive gradients, geometrical dissimilarities, piezoresistive effects, etc.). A low-pass filter and a sample-and-hold circuit are employed to recondition the signal fed to the linear, ratiometric Hall sensor IC output.
Figure 5. Linear Hall-Effect Sensor with Dynamic Quadrature Offset Cancellation
Powering Linear Hall-Effect ICs
Although the power requirements for linear HEDs are small, external power is needed. The source must be stable and well regulated; and with fixed voltage IC regulators (usually 5 V) this design issue is simply (and inexpensively) resolved. The linear sensor ICs specify a maximum supply current of ≤10 mA with 5 V (typical value ≈ 7 mA). Easy, on-board, 'down' regulation from a system supply is simple with low-cost IC regulators.
A listing of absolute maximum limits for the new linear, ratiometric sensor ICs follows in table 4.
Table 4: Absolute Maximum Limits
(T A = 25°) Characteristic Rating Supply Voltage, V CC 8.0 V Output Voltage, V OUT 8.0 V Output Sink Current, I OUT 10 mA Magnetic Flux Density, B Unlimited Package Power Dissipation, P D 600 mW* * 'UA' package rating of 183°C/W. [Ed. Note: Rating is 184.]
Operation beyond the above specified limits may affect device operation, performance, or result in compromising (sacrificing) circuit and/or system reliability and is (absolutely) not recommended.
Maximum Supply Voltage − The recent linear HEDs, with offset cancellation, permit operation at a higher supply than the prior generation (A3506, etc.). These new linear ICs boost the maximum limit to that of table 4.
Maximum Output Voltage − Also itemized in table 4; however, it should be noted that the output must not be connected to a voltage either beyond the supply or below the IC ground. Either might compromise the Hall sensor IC reliability and/or affect system dependability.
Maximum Output Current − The newest linear HEDs specify a higher current than prior devices. However, typical applications rarely involve more than a trivial percentage of the 10 mA maximum listed in table 4. The high-impedance inputs of today's analog or conversion circuitry (usually) necessitates microamperes not milliamperes of Hall sensor IC output current.
Maximum Flux Density − Magnetic fields that exceed the linear range of these Hall-effect ICs neither damage nor destroy the device. However, magnetic fields beyond the usable range force the output into saturation (and non-linear operation) without harm to the HED.
Package Power Dissipation−The maximum package power dissipation limit is based upon operating with safe, reliable junction temperatures. The two package types in use are specified below for their thermal resistance (and maximum power with T A = +25°C).
'U' Package: R θJA = 183°C/W (P D = 683 mW)
[Ed. Note: R θJA rating of 184 is correct.]
= 183°C/W (P = 683 mW) [Ed. Note: R rating of 184 is correct.] 'UA' Package: R θJA = 206°C/W (P D = 606 mW)
[Ed. Note: R θJA rating of 165 is correct.]
The maximum recommended junction temperature is 150° [Ed. Note: Now up to 165°C.] and the dissipation should equal zero at this temperature. However, the newest linears permit infrequent (i.e., transient) excursions up to 200°C (ambient temperature, T A ≤ 170°C).
The internal power (P D ) consists of two factors: (a) the HED supply power (I CC × V CC ) and (b) the IC output power (I OUT × V OUT(SAT) ). Normally, supply power (a) smothers output dissipation (b), and for 5 V operation typical power dissipation is ≤40 mW. With ≤40 mW, the device junction temperature might rise ≈ 8°C above the ambient (T J ≤ T A + [P D × R θJA ]).
Internal power is (usually) not a HED limitation, but designers should comprehend the basic results of device power dissipation and its relationship to elevating the sensor IC junction temperature. IC (and system) reliability is inversely correlated to the temperature of all system components. Higher ambient and junction temperatures reduce the life expectancy and dependability of any system.
Distinctive Linear HED Parameters
Various, numerous linear-HED characteristics are of concern in current-sensing applications, and brief descriptions of these follow. Subsequently, many of these characteristics and parameters will be embodied in a focus on accuracy, temperature effects, linearity, symmetry, etc.
Voltage Output − As mentioned, the ratiometric, linear Hall sensor ICs provide an output voltage that is proportional to the applied magnetic field induced by current as illustrated in figure 2. The output is specified to sink and source ±1 mA at guaranteed limits. Per figures 2, 3, and 4, the usable range is ≥±2.0 V with a 5 V supply. Also previously mentioned, the quiescent output voltage is 1 ⁄ 2 the supply when no magnetic field is present (or current induced). A stable, well-regulated supply is very necessary for proper operation, otherwise the output voltage will fluctuate and follow any variations in supply. [Ed. Note: For latest performance characteristics, refer to the Allegro selection guide.]
Circuit Loading with Hall-Effect Sensor ICs − The linear HEDs present no load to the conductor being sensed. A 'no-disconnect,' 'non-intrusive' technique is based upon forming a 'toroid' around the conductor being sensed. Rather than pass the wire through the toroid (figures 6A and 6B), a soft iron piece is formed around the conducting wire. This permits sensing currents without the need for disconnecting any conductors in the power system ('no-disconnect' formed toroid is shown in figure 6C).
Figure 6A. Toroidal Current Sensing Application(<15 A)
Figure 6B. Toroidal Current Sensing Application(>15 A)
Figure 6C. 'No-Disconnect' Current Sensing Application
Tolerance to Current Overloads − As mentioned, a conductor current that exceeds the range of the linear Hall IC forces the output into a non-linear, saturated condition. Excessive current does not impair or damage the sensor IC. However, extreme, sustained overcurrent could be a fire or safety hazard if the conductor overheats and creates a dangerous situation.
Response Time of Hall-Effect Current Sensors − A review of some of the current sensing devices utilizing Hall-effect-based techniques and toroids reveals a rather broad range of sensor IC response times. A majority of these (those including amplifiers) fall within a range of ≈ 7 ms to ≈ 15 ms, though others are below and above these limits. Testing is (normally) specified with di/dt = 100 A/ms; and the specified linear current ranges vary from rather low (<5 A) to the extreme (>20,000 A). Obviously, the 20 kA variety are expensive and do not exploit any low-cost toroid techniques.
Hall-Effect Sensor IC Bandwidth − Today, the usable bandwidth of most linear Hall ICs is ≥ 20 kHz. Signal voltage changes little up to this frequency. However, noticeable phase shift becomes distinct at somewhat lower frequencies. Some variation is apparent amongst different ICs and vendors, but the rolloff is quite steep beyond ≈ 20 kHz. Although the cutoff frequency for the −3 dB rolloff of all linear HEDs is inconsistent, 20 kHz to 25 kHz is a valid approximation.
Representative oscilloscope plots show the effects of frequency on the Hall sensor IC signal. From DC to 500 Hz (figure 7) no discernible phase shift materializes. The top signal is the HED voltage, and the lower trace is the winding (coil) current.
Figure 7. V OUT (upper) vs. I IN (lower) at 500 Hz
The phase shift becomes quite noticeable with a 10 kHz input rate (figure 8), and very apparent at 20 kHz (figure 9). Note: Testing performed with 20 turns on a gapped toroid; and the voltage scales of the three plots are not identical. Other intermediate-frequency plots exhibit similar phase shifts, but were not included due to space limits. [Ed. Note: Limitations refer to the strictures of the original publication.]
Figure 8. V OUT (upper) vs. I IN (lower) at 10 kHz
Figure 9. V OUT (upper) vs. I IN (lower) at 20 kHz
Also, it should be mentioned that this bandwidth limitation is correlated with the linear sensor IC. The magnetics (and induced coupling) is definitely not a restricting factor to bandwidth within this range of operating frequencies.
Obviously, with such bandwidth limitations, Hall sensor ICs cannot sense high-power PWM circuitry exploiting power MOSFETs or IGBTs at normal, inaudible operating frequencies (>20 kHz), but a linear HED is viable for DC and 'mains' power.
Linear HED Response to Application of Power − Increasingly, systems designers confront stringent power 'budgets,' and seek techniques to conserve current and power. Battery-powered and battery 'backup' designs are particular concerns, and any method capable of curtailing power is scrutinized.
A recurring technique is to (periodically) activate the sensor IC circuitry by switching the power supply on for brief intervals, and then off for longer periods. Average power is related to duty cycle. Thus, for low duty-cycle applications, the power consumed can be decreased substantially. Fixed-voltage IC regulators (with an ENABLE input) are one very viable circuit technique to switch the HED supply and reduce average power.
Clearly, the time required for a linear Hall IC to provide a stable, usable signal is very important, and two different linear HEDs were evaluated to ascertain their power-up response characteristics. The devices exhibit dissimilar properties, and the oscilloscope plots portray their dynamic operation upon applying power to the linears. These plots include a 5% window to compare the settling of the signals as the voltage attains its final value.
The latest linear HEDs (with dynamic quadrature offset cancellation) have a slower response than an earlier generation that exploits the orthogonal Hall element. The previous series (A3506, etc.) settles to above 95% of final voltage in less than 1 ms (per figure 10), and takes approximately 15 ms (per figure 11) to reach its final value. The very obvious tradeoff: speed vs. accuracy and resolution of the signal voltage at power-up.
Figure 10. A3506 Power-Up (0.2 µs/div.)
Figure 11. A3506 Power-Up (2.0 µs/div.)
The newest devices (A3515 and A3516) exhibit a slower response (≈ 25 µs to ≥95%, and ≈ 40 µs for a final, stable voltage level). These plots reveal basic tradeoffs in performance vs. response speed, and the latent potential for conserving power.
Figure 12. A3515 Power-Up (5.0 µs/div.)
Linear Hall Sensor Device/Toroid Hysteresis − Tests executed at ±6 A, which induce a substantial output voltage signal swing, reveal that any error involving hysteresis is rather minor (≈ 1% for the combination of linear HED (A3516) and gapped toroid). Inherently, linear Hall sensor ICs exhibit no hysteresis. However, different slotted toroids (and varied magnetic materials) may possess differing hysteretic properties.
The actual measured voltage differentials ranged from ≈ 16 mV to ≈ 22 mV with >2.1 V changes. Hysteresis is a minor concern when using ferrite cores, but other ferrous cores (such as powdered iron) may exhibit different characteristics.
Thus, a complete, thorough evaluation of specific toroids and the associated linear sensor IC would be a very prudent (and recommended) suggestion.
Core (Toroid) Saturation − Normally, the saturation of a core should not be an issue. A current-sensor application design that employs sufficient turns to drive the output voltage of the HED to nearly full scale (at the maximum design current) first induces saturation of the sensor IC. For optimum accuracy, the number of turns used should induce output voltage transitions that (just) fall short of saturating the sensor IC (more on this).
Zero Crossover − With a linear Hall-effect sensor IC, zero crossover corresponds to a zero magnetic field (no induced flux field as B = 0 with 0 A). The HED output voltage with a zero magnetic field equates to 1 ⁄ 2 supply (i.e., the quiescent output voltage).
Wide-Band Output Noise of Linear HEDs − The wide-band noise of these linear Hall ICs is inconsequential, and its value linked to the device chosen. The testing specifications for the recent, stable linear Hall IC series are:
B = 0
BW = 10 Hz to 10 kHz
I OUT ≤1 mA
Typical equivalent input noise voltage (V n ) values for the two series of linears are:
A3506, A3507, A3508: 125 mV
A3515, A3516: 400 mV
Given that the lowest sensitivity of these HEDs is 2.5 mV/G, plus that accurate measurement is not feasible at very low flux strengths (more on this later), the consequences of wide-band noise is (typically) a very minor consideration. Other factors (particularly quiescent output voltage drift with temperature) are much more significant.
The System Temperature − A crucial constituent to consider, the temperature range must be well understood, properly specified (without inordinate margins), and controlling this very vital design element greatly aids the ability to realize reasonable accuracy. Note: Open-loop designs cannot (easily) resolve small variations in current. A core hysteresis of ≈ 1% precludes this without contemplating the other (and more acute) effects of temperature upon a linear HED output parameters and their relationship to performance.
Quiescent Output Voltage (DC Offset) − Essentially, the DC offset of a ratiometric, linear Hall IC relates to its deviation from the nominal quiescent output voltage (i.e., 1 ⁄ 2 supply). Lacking a system calibration or individual 'look-up' table, this DC parameter very tangibly affects accuracy of any current-sensing system utilizing linear Hall ICs. By referring back to both figures 3 and 4, and tables 2 and 3, the significance of DC offset (V OQ , or quiescent output voltage) is very plain.
The latest ratiometric Hall-effect sensor ICs specify the DC quiescent output voltage limits as 1 ⁄ 2 supply ±0.2 V [Ed. Note: Refer to Addendum.]. The quiescent output voltage drift over the HED operating-temperature range corresponds to ±10 gauss with the newest linear Hall ICs.
A significant facet of the static quiescent voltage is its tolerance limits. Present specifications list ±0.2 V [Ed. Note: Refer to Addendum.] from the nominal, and this translates into a ±8% maximum error without any temperature-induced effects (A3515/3516). Obviously, this latent error factor poses a formidable constraint, and must be given serious deliberation if accurate voltages are prerequisite to system performance.
DC compensation for the quiescent output voltage is feasible by regulating the supply to achieve the 2.5 V nominal, but this also influences sensitivity and any interrelated offsets are likely to prove intolerable in production. Per figures 3 and 4, boosting the supply offsets a low quiescent output voltage, and reducing the supply compensates for a high quiescent voltage. However, such offsets adversely influence sensitivity and counteract the positive aspects of 'nulling' the quiescent voltage.
Because the sensitivity specifications for the newest linears encompass a ±10% tolerance without any temperature effects, 'nulling' the quiescent output voltage (to 2.5 V) to escape a ±8% error in the quiescent output voltage seems rather absurd.
The DC drift of the earlier linears equated to ±20 gauss for the 'premium' type, and ranged to ±50 gauss for a 'limited' temperature unit. Also, the ranges of tolerances for quiescent output voltage of prior ICs was broader (or very much broader) than the newest ICs with offset cancellation.
This impedes the capacity to design an accurate, precise linear sensing system that operates over a broad temperature range. Designs necessitating tight current-sensing tolerances must confront and reconcile any concerns linked to quiescent output voltage (value and drift), and these are discussed in greater detail in the section Accuracy of Open-Loop Linear Hall Sensor ICs.
Applying the drift relationships mentioned above, the maximum quiescent output voltage drift error can be closely approximated. These calculations are based upon the (nominal) linear sensitivities:
A3515: ±10 G × 5.0 mV/G ≈ ±50 mV
A3516: ±10 G × 2.5 mV/G ≈ ±25 mV
A3506: ±20 G × 2.5 mV/G ≈ ±50 mV
A3507: ±35 G × 2.5 mV/G ≈ ±87 mV
A3508: ±50 G × 2.5 mV/G ≈ ±125 mV
Essentially, the list establishes the A3516 as the favored linear when the quiescent voltage drift is an important criteria, and maximum sensitivity is not the primary consideration. In current-sensing applications this entails twice the number of turns (vs. A3515) to attain the same voltage swing.
Over a full-scale voltage swing (≥±2.0 V) the maximum error with the A3516 is ≤±1.3% but, consistently, quiescent voltage drift is <±3 G (≈ ±7.5 mV with the A3516). This error factor is dependent upon temperature; hence, sufficient turns should be employed to drive the output near full-scale. This minimizes the overall effect of temperature-related quiescent output voltage drift. Therefore, operation near full-range is absolutely advised as the ΔV OQ error percentage is lower.
Temperature Influence upon Sensor IC Sensitivity − The nominal sensitivities (and ranges) of both of the new linears was mentioned previously. However, the circuit tolerances were unspecified. The ICs have different nominal sensitivities; however, the temperature-related maximum shifts are identical. Reiterating sensitivity and range, plus adding the tolerances, produces the following Hall-effect IC parameters and device temperature shifts:
A3515: Sensitivity, 5.0 mV/G ±10% ΔSensitivity (ΔT) at T A = Max, -2.5% (min), +2.5% (typ), +7.5% (max) ΔSensitivity (ΔT) at T A = Min, -9.0% (min), -1.3% (typ), +1.0% (max) Magnetic Range, ≥±400 G (≥±2.0 V)
A3516: Sensitivity, 2.5 mV/G ±10% ΔSensitivity(ΔT) at T A = Max, -2.5% (min), +2.5% (typ), +7.5% (max) ΔSensitivity(ΔT) at T A = Min, -9.0% (min), -1.3% (typ), +1.0% (max) Magnetic Range, ≥±800 G (≥±2.0 V)
Temperature Ranges: T A (min), -40°C T A (max), 85°C or 125°C
Essentially, the attainable accuracy of open-loop linear HEDs involves DC offset and sensitivity.
Accuracy of Open-Loop Linear Hall Sensor ICs − In any classic mystery, at this juncture the 'plot' thickens. Because precise, exacting measurement demands are increasing, a concise explanation of the interrelated elements associated with attaining 'accuracy' and dependability is next. Accuracy, repeatability, cost, etc. are very interrelated.
Though parametric maximums can be defined, the cumulative impact on accuracy is quite nebulous. Also, it is improbable that all worst-case errors occur coincidentally. Increasingly, cost-sensitive designs are based upon typical specifications, and this may precipitate a small (although tolerable) failure rate that cannot (easily) be decreased.
Pinpointing the absolute accuracy of 'open-loop' current sensing is beyond this treatise. However, reviewing the essential factors supports analysis.
Hysteresis, hys, ≈ ±1%
Output Quiescent Voltage, V OQ , ±8% [Ed. Note: Refer to Addendum.] A3515 or A3516: 2.5 V ±0.2 V
, ±8% [Ed. Note: Refer to Addendum.] Output Quiescent Voltage Drift, ΔV OQ , ±10 G A3515: ≤±50 mV A3516: ≤±25 mV
, ±10 G Sensitivity at T A = Max, ±10% A3515: 5.0 mV/G A3516: 2.5 mV/G
= Max, ±10% ΔSensitivity at T A = Max, -2.5% to +7.5% T A = Min, -9.0% to +1.0%
Positive/Negative Linearity, ≈ 99.7%
Symmetry, ≈ 99.7%
Wide-Band Noise, e n , 400 µV
Clearly, some of these elements are very crucial to attaining accurate current sensing, while others are rather inconsequential. Fundamentally, errors correlated to hysteresis, linearity, symmetry, and wide-band noise become quite insignificant. The factors linked to quiescent voltage and sensitivity are (absolutely) essential to any implementation of an accurate and precise current sensing design.
Errors linked to quiescent output voltage drift are range dependent and device related. The ±10 G (typically <±5 G) shift correlates to a potential error of 50% with a 10 gauss applied magnetic field. However, the ±10 G drift represents less than 1.5% with a field strength >667 G. Thus, the quiescent voltage error factor is 'non-linear' and is (substantially) diminished with large output-voltage swings of the A3516 linear HED.
The quiescent output-voltage tolerance is listed as a percentage (≤±8% [Ed. Note: refer to Addendum.]). This is predicated upon a nominal ratiometric (1 ⁄ 2 supply = 2.5 V), and the specified limits of ≤±0.2 V [Ed. Note: Refer to Addendum.]. Because the majority of linear Hall sensor ICs are much closer to nominal (≤±0.1 V), the ±8% tolerance represents a very 'worst-case' quiescent output-voltage scenario.
The sensitivity parameters also pose considerable error potential. However, these listings equate to a worst-case analysis. Further, the relationships between sensitivity and the effects of temperature are not (as yet) completely specified. Whether a consistent correlation between devices near either limit of sensitivity and temperature-induced shifts exists is not specified. The temperature-related effects might be nil, or miniscule (temperature cancels any cumulative deviations), or cumulative (temperature further exacerbates the tolerances).
Based upon the published parameters and limits, open-loop current-sensing designs cannot readily expect to attain results below ≈ ±10% to ±15%. However, after reviewing recent plots based upon test data (A3515/16), the prospect for boosting the measurement accuracy (absolutely) improves.
Two plots (figures 13 and 15) delineate V OQ vs. temperature. The +25°C data register an A3515 minimum of 2.468 V; a maximum of 2.512 V; the A3516 spans from a minimum of 2.464 V to a maximum of 2.501 V. This is much tighter than specified. The -3 sigma limits for the ICs are: 2.457 V (A3515), and 2.462 V (A3516). The +3 sigma data limits are 2.520 V (A3515) and 2.509 V (A3516), and these voltages convert to well within the published ±8% tolerances [Ed. Note: Refer to Addendum.] for the quiescent output voltage of these linears.
Data for the A3515 provides the following:
V OQ in volts
with V CC = 5 V Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ 2.448 2.457 2.463 2.472 min 2.461 2.468 2.473 2.481 mean 2.487 2.489 2.493 2.501 max 2.517 2.512 2.520 2.530 +3 σ 2.525 2.520 2.523 2.531
V OQ in volts
as a percentage drift from value at 25°C Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ -4.04 0.00 -1.15 -1.54 min -2.90 0.00 -0.60 -0.60 mean -0.59 0.00 0.74 2.38 max 2.60 0.00 2.40 5.50 +3 σ 2.86 0.00 2.63 6.31
Data for the A3516 provides the following:
V OQ in volts
with V CC = 5 V Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ 2.454 2.462 2.462 2.466 min 2.458 2.464 2.467 2.472 mean 2.484 2.485 2.483 2.485 max 2.503 2.501 2.498 2.499 +3 σ 2.514 2.509 2.504 2.504
V OQ in volts
as a percentage drift from value at 25°C Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ -3.97 0.00 -3.36 -5.13 min -3.60 0.00 -1.60 -2.90 mean 0.12 0.00 -0.14 0.56 max 3.20 0.00 3.08 5.70 +3 σ 4.22 0.00 3.60 6.25
The data and plots of ΔV OQ vs. temperature also record better performance than the specified limit of ±10% (earlier listed in millivolts). Figures 14 and 16 show the V OQ drift is well within range, and the drift is very small in any narrow temperature band about +25°C. Clearly, temperature range affects the output voltage shift tolerances.
Because these plots and data entail characteristics that fall within certain HED specifications, some earnest deliberation on the achievable accuracy is absolutely advised (particularly if the temperature range is limited). Fundamentally, the effects of temperature are the foremost consideration in any endeavor to attain single-digit (<10%) precision without calibration and/or compensation methods.
Figure 13. V OQ vs. Temperature (A3515)
Figure 14. ΔV OQ vs. Temperature (A3515)
Figure 15. V OQ vs. Temperature (A3516)
Figure 16. ΔV OQ vs. Temperature (A3516)
Effects of Sensitivity upon Accuracy − The plots and data for sensitivity confirm that the new linear HEDs are within published limits, and delineate another (albeit secondary) constituent in the resolution of accuracy. The device sensitivity and its interrelated variation over temperature are conservative, albeit without extreme test margins. Figures 17 through 20 depict the sensitivity data.
Data for the A3515 provides the following:
Sensitivity in mV/G Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ 4.408 4.683 4.795 4.842 min 4.454 4.793 4.930 4.927 mean 4.761 4.988 5.109 5.121 max 5.181 5.316 5.392 5.359 +3 σ 5.113 5.293 5.423 5.400
Sensitivity
as a percentage drift from value at 25°C Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ -7.6 0.0 -0.1 -0.7 min -7.1 0.0 -0.9 -1.0 mean -4.7 0.0 2.3 2.5 max -2.5 0.0 3.7 4.4 +3 σ -1.9 0.0 4.6 5.8
Data on the A3516 reveals similar properties:
Sensitivity in mV/G Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ 2.174 2.313 2.393 2.410 min 2.263 2.401 2.465 2.476 mean 2.340 2.457 2.530 2.528 max 2.586 2.700 2.758 2.728 +3 σ 2.506 2.600 2.667 2.646
Sensitivity
as a percentage drift from value at 25°C Ambient Temperature −40°C 25°C 85°C 150°C -3 σ -7.1 0.0 1.1 -0.1 min -6.8 0.0 2.0 0.9 mean -5.0 0.0 2.7 2.6 max -4.0 0.0 3.7 4.3 +3 σ -2.9 0.0 4.2 5.3
Figure 17. Sensitivity vs. Temperature (A3515)
Figure 18. ΔSensitivity vs. Temperature (A3515)
Figure 19. Sensitivity vs. Temperature (A3516)
Figure 20. ΔSensitivity vs. Temperature (A3516)
Clearly, neither data nor plots reflect the overall distribution of the ratiometric linear Hall sensor ICs. This insight into accuracy is intended to advise of a basic necessity to reconcile the attainable limits of precise current sensing with HEDs, but it does not imply any definite constraint. Ultimately, the application of innovative, thoughtful circuit-design techniques determines the essential limits of open-loop Hall-effect current sensing.
Calibration and Compensation − Current-sensing designs endeavoring to realize an open-loop accuracy below ±10% should consider alternatives. Implementing 'hardware' calibration and/or compensation represents a costly, complex option, and (for most designs) should be ignored.
Whereas it is very feasible to establish trip points by using a comparator (or multiple comparators) calibrating, or compensating, for temperature and quiescent voltage to realize a full range of linear operation is a formidable task. The comparators can provide discrete current signals (overcurrent, normal operation, etc.) with useful accuracy, but cannot (easily) distinguish small current changes.
Increasingly, software is the solution to extending the accuracy of HED current sensing. Typically, this involves microcontrollers, µPs, or computers, and a software calibration/ compensation scheme.
Because the linearity, symmetry, and ratiometry of linear HEDs is ≈ 100%, these error factors can (largely) be disregarded. The temperature range is a definite factor if the system requires a wide operating range. However, a benign environment with a narrow temperature span alleviates design difficulties. The use of software (and a µC/µP) to exploit a look-up table necessitates measuring and storing sufficient data points to implement an acceptable (and individual) calibration technique for each current sensor IC. This (usually) involves the following calibration/compensation steps:
Measuring and storing V OQ (the null current),
(the null current), Measuring and storing (specific) current points,
Computing sensitivity from V OQ and data, and
and data, and Measuring/storing temperature drift (if needed).
Determining the current level involves employing the 'look-up' data to calculate the current value via using the stored V OQ and sensitivity data.
Measure V OUT and calculate current value, and
and calculate current value, and Measure system temperature and compensate for its drift effects (if a system requirement).
In essence, the 'look-up' table corresponds to the 'calibrated' linear HEDs already mentioned. This software/look-up table method can easily achieve <±10% accuracy, and its ultimate limit (perhaps ≈ ±1%) is probably constrained by factors linked to software development, the requisite calibration and compensation (including equipment), and the associated costs and time of increased accuracy.
Obviously, the data-storage demands non-volatile memory for the parametric measurements, and an individual, initial calibration program. A look-up table compensates for the variations in quiescent voltage, sensitivity, and temperature effects. The latent errors associated with these constituents to system accuracy can be minimized by a software calibration and compensation technique. Although this may appear to be complicated and costly, the other solutions are liable to be more complex and more expensive than using a low-cost 8-bit µC.
Sorting of Hall-Effect Sensor ICs − Although this approach could tighten device output parameters; presently, only linears with published datasheet limits are available for sale. Some 'value-added' sorting is provided by others, but this procedure and service is neither common nor inexpensive. Despite this, specific customers have elected to solve formidable design issues by outside testing, sorting, and selecting linear HEDs to specific, tightened device limits. Clearly, any improvement in availability of presorted HED ICs is a definite advantage to current-sensing designs, and the availability of 'sorted' HEDs may change.
Size and Form of Sensor Assembly − Because various sizes of toroids with slots expressly cut to fit a HED package are available (Eastern Components, Inc.), a typical size cannot be identified. Figure 21 illustrates one basic configuration that is provided in six different current ranges (peak current ratings sensed are: 1 A, 3 A, 5 A, 8 A, 10 A, and 100 A). The length, height, and width vary somewhat, and the largest version measures 0.950" long, 1.025" high, and 0.500" wide; all versions are PCB through-hole form.
Figure 21. Hall IC Current-Sensing Assembly
Cost of a Current-Sensing 'Sub-System' − Identifying the costs associated with a linear Hall IC-based current sensor is virtually as difficult as the various issues involved with system accuracy. The costs of the indispensable components (linear HED and slotted toroid) can readily be determined, and the prices of the complete assembly depicted in figure 21 start at ≈ $8.00 (1000 quantity). [Ed. Note: Valuations in 1997 USD.]
Slotted ferrite cores (usually) cost <$1.00 (even in modest quantities), and the linear Hall-effect sensor IC costs range from <$2.50 to <$3.25 (1 k pieces). This price span reflects the various Hall-sensor IC types and the different temperature ranges. Obviously, unit costs diminish in higher volumes, and the combined sensor IC/toroid cost could easily fall (well) below $3.00 for volume production. A conversion from ferrite cores to powdered iron toroids with a `cast` gap can meaningfully reduce overall cost. Rather than ferrites with an $0.80 to $0.85 cost, powdered-iron cores are estimated to be ≈ $0.20 to $0.25 in similar quantities.
However, other factors such as engineering time, software programming, assembly labor, etc. vary (considerably) based upon each individual design requirement. Clearly, every system temperature, resolution, and accuracy are prerequisites that affect the system cost. The outlays of developing and implementing a high-resolution, very precise design with a wide temperature range are greatly different than sensing only excessive current. An overcurrent fault detection application may allow a very broad tolerance (perhaps ±20%), and this would not warrant any of the software 'look-up', stringent device and temperature evaluation that a precise, full temperature design mandates.
Therefore, only the essential components (and the assembly of figure 21) can be identified. Costs associated with software creation, system design engineering, etc. are (well) outside the realm of utilizing linear Hall ICs for current sensing.
Protecting High-Power Electronics
A classic example of current-sensing detection and protection for high-power IGBTs is shown in figure 22. This diagram can relate to a single-phase of an adjustable speed drive (ASD) for an AC induction motor or other power circuitry that requires a full-bridge or triple half-bridge drive (for example, a 3-phase PM brushless DC motor). Such a configuration can detect excessive current in the supply rail (upper current sensor). This can result from shorting the power rail to ground, or a shorted output combined with a corrresponding IGBT that is activated. Any combination of either a shorted lower or upper output with an on output in the opposite portion of the same 'leg' can result in an (unsafe) overcurrent fault in the system.
Figure 22. ‘Full-Bridge’ with Current Sensor ICs
Alternatively, the linear sensor IC in series with the winding (center sensor) provides detection from shorted loads, and also monitors the actual coil current. Current sensor ICs in both locations should preclude fire and safety hazards (and protect any personnel); and high-speed 'shut-down' circuitry can prevent damage to the power outputs (if the overcurrent results from an external fault such as improper equipment servicing). Clearly, overall circuit response speed (shutdown time) is critical to protecting the system and providing safety.
Summary and Perspective
The applications for linear Hall-effect sensor ICs in open-loop current sensing continue to evolve and expand. Presently, the devices available are far superior to any earlier linears, and advancements in design, processing, packaging, testing, etc. are incessant and relentless. As mentioned, present-day HEDs have tolerances and temperature drifts that pose formidable challenges to those intending to design, develop, and implement systems that demand dependable, single-digit accuracy over a wide range of system operating temperatures.
Expect further progress in HED performance and temperature stability, more functional integration, and other developments that make linear HEDs more viable for higher resolution current sensing.
Future linears may allow programming the sensor IC after HED packaging. This would permit users to tune the gain (sensitivity), calibrate the output quiescent voltage (V OQ ), and compensate for the issues of temperature variations. Clearly, this involves an innovative, more complex technique in the circuit design and testing. However, the opportunities for applying such Hall sensor ICs expand exponentially.
Hall-effect sensor ICs have undergone revolutionary changes since their integration in the late 1960s. With further advancements and improvements, the applications for new linear HEDs are expected to expand and multiply to satisfy the many emerging needs of future power electronics systems.
Acknowledgement
The symbol for a linear Hall-effect current sensor [Ed. Note: As used in figure 22. The Χ mark is standard for indicating magnetic actuation.] was created by Raymond Dewey [formerly] of Allegro MicroSystems. Presently, no standard or accepted schematic symbol exists for current sensors utilizing Hall-effect technology.
References
Course: P. Emerald, "Open-Loop Current Sensing for Power Conversion and Motion System Applications" in Principles of Current Sensing, PCIM Power Electronics Institute, Chapter six, PowerSystems World '97; Baltimore, MD; plus various contributors of the chapters comprising this one-day professional advancement course.
Workshop: P. Emerald and Joe Gilbert "Integrated Hall-Effect Sensors for Motion Control and Positioning Applications," PowerSystems World '95, Long Beach, CA.
Addendum
Since this paper was written (December 1997), and presented, the A3515 and A3516 ratiometric, linear Hall-effect sensor ICs have been superceded by the A132x series. Information on the newer series is available on the Allegro website, at A1324-5-6.
Also, after the original publication, a change to the specifications for the A3515 and A3516 ratiometric, linear Hall-effect sensor ICs was made. In April 1998, the new, and tightened, limits for quiescent output voltage were changed from the original 2.5 V ±0.2 V to 2.5 V ±0.075 V. In addition to this upgrade in the quiescent output voltage limits, the effective linear current range can be extended by widening the toroid gap (i.e., slot) to 'desensitize' the magnetic coupling.
Per the section titled Quiescent Output Voltage (DC Offset), originally, the specifications listed the ratiometric output as (nominally) 2.5 V. The limits were 2.3 V (min) and 2.7 V (max) with V CC = 5 V over the device operating temperature range. This improvement affects the achievable accuracy of systems applying the ratiometric, linear Hall-effect sensor ICs (refer to the section that is titled Accuracy of Open- Loop Linear Hall Sensor ICs.
As mentioned, this paper shows the following output quiescent voltage limits:
V OQ .................................. 2.48 V to 2.52 V (±8%)
The upgraded specification now shows this as:
V OQ .............................. 2.425 V to 2.575 V (±3%)
This tightened specification significantly enhances the ability to realize more accurate measurements via utilizing these linear, ratiometric Hall-effect sensor ICs. This means that single-digit accuracy is a reality for some designs (especially those with limited temperature fluctuations).
Linear Current Range(s) − Per the original material (page 5) on Linear Current Range, with 'tight' magnetic coupling (»60 mil gap to match the sensor package) the ranges are unchanged:
A3515: ≥±400 G ÷ 6.9 G/A » ±58 A
A3516: ≥±800 G ÷ 6.9 G/A » ±116 A
'Desensitizing' the magnetic coupling can readily be realized via expanding (widening) the slot in the toroid. The first endeavor to desensitize the magnetic coupling involved increasing the slot to 3 mm (≈ twice the package body), and this reduced the flux coupling and increased the upper current limit as follows:
A3516: ≥±800 G ÷ 3.85 G/A » ±210 A
Testing revealed that placement of the sensor IC case had no effect upon the magnetic coupling. Centering the 'calibrated' linear Hall-effect sensor IC case resulted in the same output signal as positioning the case against either face of the slot. Because many users endeavor to attain higher current ranges, another evaluation ensued (after new ferrite toroids were obtained from Eastern Components, Inc.).
The next extension of the current range limit was undertaken with toroids gapped at 6 mm (e.g., more than 4× the package thickness dimension). This (very) 'desensitized' magnetic coupling increased the maximum current limit per the following calculation:
A3516: ≥±800 G ÷ 1.7 G/A » ±470 A
Further evaluations are intended as toroids gapped with differing dimensions become available. This should offer a more complete, albeit overlapping, set of current ranges with an upper limit (as yet) unknown. Also, other toroid materials (powdered iron in particular) are to be evaluated.
Summary
The tightened quiescent output voltage tolerance offers better accuracy for the ratiometric, linear HEDs, and widening the toroid slot increases the maximum current limitation of these devices.
This paper was presented at the International Appliance Technical Conference, Ohio State University, May 6, 1998. Reprinted by permission.
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