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holy shit my girlfriend is right next to me kissing another guy
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OPINION:The Government’s plan for the maritime sector is welcome but not integrating activities in one department is a mistake
YOU COME across a reference to an island nation – the 20th largest in the world – that doesn’t have a marine policy or a marine department, and you think it must be some kind of a joke. It’s a ship of state without a captain or a rudder.
It adds insult to injury to discover that this same island nation moved to the verge of bankruptcy after her inhabitants turned their backs on the ocean and invested too heavily in the land.
So much for living in a smart economy.
Not many people living in Ireland realise that it’s the third biggest country in Europe, by virtue of her seabed territory of 220 million acres.
We have in the past been able to blame a lot of our maritime ignorance on the British, with a little justification. Boat ownership by the “native Irish” was restricted at times, and fishing permitted only by licence. But that was 400 years ago, so we’re running out of excuses.
If you’re searching for a recent symbol of this marine neglect, look no further than Asgard II. At 30 years old, the boat was at the end of her working life when she sank off the coast of France in 2008.
She was our maritime flagship, a national icon that had given 10,000 young people the chance to go to sea. The insurance money paid out and it went into central exchequer funds. The State has no interest in replacing her.
The sail training programme sank with the ship.
Ask any fisherman what EU membership did for our trawler fleet and you will get a quick answer. Ireland has two-thirds of European fishing waters and 3 per cent of the catch. That sell-out, as the fishing community saw it, was the beginning of the end of marine policy in Ireland.
There is the occasional wave of optimism – the return of the Volvo Ocean Race to Galway and the Tall Ships to Dublin this summer was cause for celebration – but these one-off events are no substitute for a marine policy, or a marine department.
After the 2007 general election, responsibility for the marine was broken up over five departments. Today confusion reigns, and there are at least six departments involved.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has responsibility for the Irish fishing fleet, but Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is responsible for some other aspects of fisheries – drift nets, for example.
The Naval Service and its fleet – which in turn monitors fishing – comes under the Department of Defence. But the marine leisure section, responsible for our fleet of 27,500 recreational craft – where did that go? The Marine Industry Federation found that the leisure section was missing and put out its own alert, but it hasn’t been located yet.
If you want to build a marina, to cater for the growing Irish leisure boating fleet, you need to apply to the Department of the Environment. But other water sports activities come under the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
The Department of Transport, which would have no transport to deal with at all if it wasn’t for the ships that bring in fuel to this country, doesn’t refer to “marine” in its title, but it has a marine division.
This is the department containing the Irish Coast Guard management that wants to close the coastal radio stations at Valentia and Malin Head.
Today there is some hope of an awakening to Ireland’s vast maritime potential with the recent launch of Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth: An Integrated Marine Plan for Ireland. Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney even went as far as to admit that we had “turned our backs on the sea”.
The Government’s new marine plan is a welcome commitment, but it is unfortunate that the opportunity to integrate management of Ireland’s maritime activities within a dedicated department with a single brief has been passed over in favour of an interdepartmental marine co-ordination group. One look at Canada, where a similar plan was implemented, shows how development can be impeded by separate departments talking over each other.
When everyone is responsible, then no one is.
What could a single department do to improve the sector? A vital missing piece in the jigsaw is the absence of a way to license space in the ocean.
All the Irish coast is now subject to competing interest from shipping, fishing, port expansion, marine leisure, offshore energy and nature conservation, but the legislation to govern it was drafted 80 years ago when the motive was the removal of sand and seaweed from our beaches.
What business is going to invest in the sea – whether it’s marine leisure, aquaculture or renewable energy – if there is doubt to the rights over the foreshore? Ireland has a chronically underdeveloped marina system. The single marina in La Rochelle, France, for example, has the same capacity as our entire island. There are more berths in north Wales alone than there are in all of Ireland.
Marinas create small hubs of marine enterprise, supplying services to cater for the boat owners gathered there or just visiting, and bringing massive spin-off benefits for the neighbouring coastal communities.
A visiting overseas boat leaves €132 per night in the local economy. A visiting Irish boat leaves considerably more, at over €300 per night. The average spend of a boat owner in a marina berth is more than €8,000 per annum. One full-time job is supported by every 3.7 marina berths.
And what of that other untapped marine resource – energy? With a prime location on the edge of the Atlantic and the continental shelf, the potential for wind, wave and tidal energy from our coastline and territorial waters is as clear as it is neglected.
These energy sources could go a long way towards delivering energy security, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and creating jobs.
A single maritime authority that can make decisions relating to the sea is essential for an island people. This means strengthening the Department of the Marine and returning it to a full ministerial brief. It means putting someone in charge of Irish waters, for this island nation. | {
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Linux gamers shouldn’t buy games before they’re actually released for Linux or SteamOS. Lots of games—including big-name, AAA games—have gotten a wave of good press by announcing forthcoming support for Linux and SteamOS, which then never materialized.
There are lots of great games you can play on Steam Machines and Linux. That’s why it’s so disappointing when developers cancel announced ports or, worse yet, go silent and stop talking about them.
These developers didn’t deliver on their promises
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which Valve announced was “Coming to SteamOS” with a huge banner on the Steam store, was perhaps the biggest tease of all. That banner was taken down just a few hours later, and Valve never said anything further on the matter. CD PROJEKT RED, The Witcher 3’s developer, has refused to comment on Linux and SteamOS ports. Support would’ve seemed natural considering The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is available for SteamOS and Linux, but it doesn’t look like it’s happening.
Batman: Arkham Knight was another huge AAA game promised for SteamOS and Linux. But the SteamOS, Linux, and Mac ports were officially cancelled after a botched Windows release that saw Warner Brothers hand out a lot of refunds to upset PC gamers. “We are very sorry,” a Warner Brothers representative posted on the Steam forums. “If you have pre-ordered Batman: Arkham Knight for Mac or Linux, please apply for a refund via Steam.” Now that’s how to do a cancellation right.
Batman: Arkham Knight barely even ran on Windows when it was released.
Street Fighter V seems missing in action. The last announcement was in February 2016, when Capcom promised it was working with Valve on the SteamOS and Linux version, with an ETA in the spring, and that more news would be coming soon. It’s now more than six months later, near the end of the summer, and Capcom hasn’t said a thing about it since. Street Fighter V could be just another quietly cancelled port.
Multiplayer FPS Evolve also appeared on a Valve-provided list of games headed to SteamOS. But Evolve never materialized for SteamOS or Linux. Again, it’s no big surprise—the game didn’t seem successful and Turtle Rock Studios had to scramble to convert the game into a free-to-play game. That free-to-play game, Evolve Stage 2 , is only available for Windows and the developers haven’t commented on a SteamOS or Linux version.
Perhaps Valve announced Evolve and The Witcher 3 in error. We’ll never know, because nobody’s talking.
Total War: Rome II was promised in Valve’s list of games coming to SteamOS, but a Linux port never arrived. “I thought it came out already”, said the community manager when asked on Twitter. The sequel, Total War: ATTILA, was released for Linux and SteamOS, but Rome II was not. As the community manager who thought it was already released replied: “There’s no updates :/”.
Gauntlet, a reimagining of the beloved old arcade game series, got good press for announcing support for SteamOS and Steam Machines at launch. Arrowhead even sold pre-orders with a Linux icon on the Steam store page. But the SteamOS and Linux version was later officially cancelled so the developer could focus on the Windows PC version. (Yet another reason why you shouldn’t preorder games.)
Driving simulator Project CARS also seems to have given up on SteamOS. The frequently asked questions page on its website used to promise a SteamOS version “later in 2015,” but it was never released, and any mention of SteamOS or Linux is now gone from the current FAQ.
Steam Machines haven’t taken the world by storm
Many developers probably thought Steam Machines and SteamOS would be more successful when they made these promises, although some also thought their own games would be more successful, and had to scrambled when they weren’t.
Still, it’s a shame that developers so frequently back away on their promises. It’s a lesson to gamers everywhere: Don’t buy a game based on something the developer promises to release in the future, especially when it’s something as easily and frequently cancelled as support for Linux and SteamOS. | {
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One of the world's largest logging companies is looking to get into the oil business.
Canfor is in the early phases of developing what would be the first ever commercial-scale biocrude oil plant. The logging company is looking to convert wood waste from its pulp mills into mass quantities of crude oil at a new facility in Prince George.
"In the next few years we'll be announcing a project and building a real facility that will produce upwards of 400,000 barrels of oil a year," said Bret Robinson, president of Canfor Pulp.
The impending project comes after Canfor formed a joint venture with Australian biofuel production start-up Licella to explore the economic possibilities for large-scale biocrude production plants.
The partnership formed after Licella successfully converted wood waste from Canfor's Prince George mill into a stable biocrude that's nearly indistinguishable from traditional crude oil.
Canfor plans to invest funds to integrate Licella's technology into their current pulp mills. The new project would streamline waste directly from their pulp mills, coupled with virgin fibre, into an attached crude oil processing facility that will cost upwards of $70 million.
The biocrude can seemlessly fit into the existing refining infrastructure to produce petroleum products, according to both Robinson and Licella CEO Len Humphries.
A partner from down under
"We spent about $60 million AUD on developing the technology," said Humphries.
Licella has spent the last eight years refining and scaling up the technology, and began trials converting mill waste from Canfor's Prince George mills in 2013.
Current plans are to send engineers from Licella to Canada to train Canfor workers on the technology.
"The whole intent is for us to do a knowledge transfer," said Humphries, adding that the new facility will look to employ local operators.
Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall believes the plant will not only help create jobs in the town, but also define Prince George as a leader in bioenergy.
"We really are, from a community perspective, on the forefront of bioenergy," said Hall. "And not just in Canada, quite frankly, but throughout the world." | {
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: Methods with the same name as their class will not be constructors in a future version of PHP; Smarty has a deprecated constructor inon line | {
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Following the downgrading of Belgium’s credit rating, the Foreign Office is advising its embassies to prepare contingency plans for the possibility of the collapse of the euro.
You would expect the Foreign Office mandarins to be prepared for every eventuality – but here’s a doomsday scenario which might just happen.
British embassies are now taking active steps to prepare for the possibility of the euro collapsing – something that’s no longer as inconceivable as it once was.
The Foreign Office is preparing contingency plans to help expats from the Costa del Sol and the Algarve who could be stranded without cash – or caught up in riots and civil unrest.
In the historic town of Bruge, they are preparing for the annual ice festival. But it is a chill of a different kind that is preoccupying the leaders of Belgium.
The country’s credit rating has been downgraded and that is causing shockwaves throughout the eurozone.
Belgium is no fragile Mediterranean economy. It’s one of the founding members of the European community and to some economists its downgrade makes the collapse of the euro much more likely – and Britain can’t escape the consequences.
“I think we would be talking about defaulting and mass bank runs on a scale unparalleled in human history,” said Dr Andrew Lillico of the Europe Economics. “We’ve never had events of this sort in the period where we have banks of this sort that we have now.”
It’s been known for some time that the Treasury officials have been planning for the possible break up of the euro but it now looks as if other Whitehall departments are doing the same. At the Foreign Office they’ve been reminding embassies that they could have British citizens without access to their bank accounts or in danger of getting involved in civil disturbances.
The crisis has already given a foretaste of what could be ahead with violent protests against Greek austerity measures and similar scenes of the streets of Italy.
The Foreign Office tonight declined to discuss any instructions given to embassy staff, referring inquiries to the Treasury.
A spokesman there said “You would expect every good government to have contingency plans in place to cover a range of eventualities and risks, and this government is well prepared for any eventuality.” | {
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One time. That's it. Mike says all the hospital has to do is plug in the device and they'll take it from there. When a patient arrives they're information can be accessed with their name. The support system is based out of Georgia so all of the legwork will be from them, not physicians or patients. | {
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You must be logged in to contact the campaign owner. | {
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All my luggage, I will send to you.
Actual lyric: All my loving, I will send to you.
(Beatles)
Are you going to starve an old friend?
Actual lyric: Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
(Simon & Garfunkel)
A weenie wack a weenie wack a weenie wack.
Actual lyric: Wee-ooh wim-o-weh. Wee-ooh wim-o-weh.
(Tokens "The Lion Sleeps Tonight")
Baby come back, you can play Monopoly.
Actual lyric: Baby come back, you can blame it all on me.
(Player "Baby Come Back")
Baking carrot biscuits.
Actual lyric: Taking care of business.
(Bachman-Turner Overdrive "Takin Care Of Business") Tape it to a biscuit.
Actual lyric: Taking care of business.
(Bachman-Turner Overdrive "Takin Care Of Business")
Bald headed woman.
Actual lyric: More than a woman.
(Bee Gees)
Four-legged woman.
Actual lyric: More than a woman.
(Bee Gees)
Big girl, small fry.
Actual lyric: Big girls don't cry.
(The Four Seasons)
Big ole Jed had a light on.
Actual lyric: Big old jet airliner.
(Steve Miller Band)
Pick out Jed from the line-up.
Actual lyric: Big old jet airliner.
(Steve Miller Band)
The bride bless the day, the dogs say goodnight.
Actual lyric: The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night.
Bringing in the sheets.
Actual lyric: Bringing in the sheaves.
(Hymn)
Carryin' beans, now we're sharin' the same jeans.
Actual lyric: Carribean Queen, now we're sharing the same dreams.
(Billy Ocean)
Climb every mountain.
Actual lyric: I'm every woman.
(Whitney Houston)
Come and let me tell you 'bout my bed spread.
Actual lyric: People let me tell you 'bout my best friend.
(Theme from the TV Show, "Courtship of Eddie's Father")
Come shave my heart.
Actual lyric: Unchain my heart.
(Ray Charles)
Dirty deeds and the thunder chiefs.
Actual lyric: Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap.
(ACDC) Dirty deeds done to sheep.
Actual lyric: Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap.
(ACDC)
Do a little dance, make a little rum, Italian Ice! Italian Ice!
Actual lyric: Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight, get down tonight.
(KC & The Sunshine Band "Do A Little Dance")
Do the lucky lady.
Actual lyric: Dude looks like a lady.
(Aerosmith)
Donuts make my brown eyes blue.
Actual lyric: Don't it make my brown eyes blue.
(Crystal Gale)
Every time you go away you take a piece of meat with you.
Actual lyric: Every time you go away you take a piece of me with you.
(Paul Young) Ghost man so close to me.
Actual lyric:
Don't stand so close to me .
(The Police)
Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul.
Actual lyric: Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul.
(Dobie Gray "Drift Away")
Goin' to the Jack-O-Lantern, gonna get married.
Actual lyric: Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married.
(Dixie Cups, "Chapel of Love")
Got a lot of lucky peanuts.
Actual lyric: Got a lot of love between us.
(Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons)
Good-bye yellow brick road
There's a dark cloud inside of the house.
Actual lyric: So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl.
(Elton John)
Ham on rye.
Actual lyric: I'm alright.
(Kenny Loggins)
Hang on stupid.
Actual lyric: Hang on, Sloopy.
(The McCoys)
Happy as a rafter in the market place.
Actual lyric: Happy ever after in the market place.
(Beatles "Ob la di")
Hold me closer, Tony Danza
Count the head lice on the highway.
Actual lyric: Hold me closer, tiny dancer.
(Elton John "Tiny Dancer")
Home, where my love lies waiting, Simon, weep for me.
Actual lyric: Home, where my love lies waiting, silently for me.
(Simon & Garfunkel "Homeward Bound")
Hope the city voted for you.
Actual lyric: Hopelessly devoted to you.
(Grease soundtrack)
How's about a date?
Actual lyric: Eyes without a face.
(Billy Idol "Eyes Without a Face")
I can see clearly now the rain has gone.
I can see all life's fickles in the way
Actual lyric: I can see clearly now the rain has gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
(Jimmy Cliff)
I can't climb this ceiling any more.
Actual lyric: I can't fight this feeling anymore.
(REO Speedwagon "I can't fight this feeling")
I, I, I, I sing in the light, sing in the light.
Actual lyric: Stayin' Alive, Stayin' alive.
(Bee Gees)
I shot the Sheriff, but I didn't shoot him dead you see.
Actual lyric: I shot the Sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy.
(Eric Clapton)
I wanna die!
Actual lyric: Oh, what a night!
(The Four Seasons, "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)")
I wanna know
Have you ever seen Loraine?
Actual lyric: I wanna know
Have you ever seen the rain?
(Creedence Clearwater Revival)
I want a new truck.
Actual lyric: I want a new drug.
(Huey Lewis & the News)
I was so mad!
Actual lyric: I'm a soul man.
(Blues Brothers)
I wonder, wonder, who,
who rode the moo-cow now?
Actual lyric: I wonder, wonder, who,
who wrote the book of love?
(The Monotones "Book of Love")
I'll give you diamond Sprite!
Actual lyric: I'll give you diamonds bright.
(The Yardbirds "For Your Love")
I'll never leave your pizza burning.
Actual lyric: I'll never be your beast of burden.
(Rolling Stones) I'm 264 my shirt, 264 my shirt, 264.
Actual lyric: I'm too sexy for my shirt too sexy for my shirt.
(Right Said Fred "I'm Too Sexy")
I'm a pool hall ace.
Actual lyric: My poor heart aches.
(The Police "Every Step You Take")
I'm just a squirrel.
Actual lyric: I'm just a girl.
(No Doubt)
I'm not talking 'bout Bolivia.
Actual lyric: I'm not talking 'bout moving in.
(John Ford Collie "Really Love to See You Tonight")
I've been haulin' ass so long.
Actual lyric: I've been holding out so long.
(Rolling Stones "Miss You") I've got a new pair of shoes.
Actual lyric: I've got a new attitude.
(Patti LaBelle) In-a-gadda-da-vita . . .
Actual lyric: In the garden of Eden, honey.
(Iron Butterfly)
The band, themselves, while drunk in 1968, botched the lyrics, and decided to keep them this way.
I'm the god of Velveeta, honey.
Actual lyric: In the garden of Eden, honey.
(Iron Butterfly)
Jay, Jay, Jay; Jay you're cool
Actual lyric: Chain, chain, chain, chain of fools.
(Aretha Franklin "Chain of Fools")
Jim Dandy ate the red stew
Actual lyric: Jim Dandy to the rescue.
(Black Oak Arkansas)
Jose can you see?
Actual lyric: O, Say can you see?
(The Star Spangled Banner)
Just brush my teeth before you leave me, baby.
Actual lyric: Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby.
(Juice Newton "Angel of the Morning")
Just like a one-winged dove.
Actual lyric: Just like a white winged dove.
(Stevie Nicks)
Knee deep in doughnuts, children at your feet.
Actual lyric: Lady Madonna, children at your feet.
(The Beatles)
Let Milo open the door.
Actual lyric: Let my love open the door.
(Pete Townsend, The Who)
Last night I dreamt of some bagels.
Actual lyric: Last night I dreamt of San Pedro.
Life ain't nothing but a seven dollar fiddle.
Actual lyric: Life ain't nothing but a funny funny riddle.
(John Denver)
Life in the Vaseline.
Actual lyric: Life in the fast lane.
(Eagles)
Look into my butterflies.
Actual lyric: Look into my father's eyes.
(Eric Clapton, "My Father's Eyes"
Looks like tomatoes
Actual lyric: Looks like we made it.
(Barry Mannilow)
Love is a big, fat quivering slug.
Actual lyric: Love is a big, fat river in flood.
(Sting "Love Is Stronger Than Justice")
Maerzee dotes and dozee dotes and little lamsee divey
a kiddle ee iveetoo, wouldn't you?
Actual lyric: Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy,
A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?
(Children's Song)
The "misunderstood" lyrics here are actually correct. The song is gibberish. It is meant to teach a child enunciate when learning to sing/speak.
Maybe I'll play cards and be as fast as you.
Actual lyric: Maybe I'll break hearts and be as fast as you.
(Dwight Yokum)
Michelle, Ma Belle,
Sunday Monkey Play No Piano Song,
No Piano Song.
Actual lyric: Michelle, ma belle,
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble,
Tres bien ensemble.
(The Beatles)
My woman is Okay-O.
Actual lyric: My woman from Tokyo.
(Deep Purple "Woman From Tokyo")
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees,
like Velveeta Cheese.
Actual lyric: A new religion that'll bring you to your knees,
Black velvet if you please.
(Allanah Myles "Black Velvet")
Oh my darling lemon pie.
Actual lyric: Oh my darling, Clementine.
(traditional song) Only the good Tyrone.
Actual lyric: Only the good die young.
(Billy Joel)
Pay for my Chrysler.
Actual lyric: Paperback writer.
(Beatles)
Take the back right turn.
Actual lyric: Paperback writer.
(Beatles)
Please relieve me - let me go.
Actual lyric: Please release me, let me go.
(Englebert Humperdinck) Pretty Woman, won't you lick my leg.
Actual lyric: Pretty Woman, won't you look my way.
(Roy Orbison)
Red, red wine, steak, lobster meat.
Actual lyric: Red, red wine, stay close to me.
(UB-40)
Return da Zenda.
Actual lyric: Return to sender.
(Elvis Presley)
Reverend Bluejeans.
Actual lyric: Forever in blue jeans.
(Neil Diamond)
'Scuse me while I kiss this guy.
Actual lyric: 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky.
(Jimi Hendrix) Searching for my lost singer from Mars.
Actual lyric: Searching for my last shaker of salt.
(Jimmy Buffett "Margaritaville")
Secret Asian man.
Actual lyric: Secret agent man.
(Johnny Rivers)
She loved Cheez-Its, and America too.
Actual lyric: She loved Jesus, and America too.
(Tom Petty, "Free Fallin")
Since she left me there've been owls pukin' in my bed.
Actual lyric: Since she put me down I 've been out doin' in my head.
(Beach Boys "Help Me Rhonda")
She's got a chicken to ride.
Actual lyric: She's got a ticket to ride.
(Beatles)
She's got a tick in her eye.
Actual lyric: She's got a ticket to ride.
(Beatles)
She's got electric boobs, a mohair too.
Actual lyric: She's got electric boots, a mohair suit.
(Elton John "Benny and the Jets")
Slow walkin' Walter.
Actual lyric: Smoke on the water.
(Deep Purple)
Snow covered horses.
Actual lyric: Smoke on the water.
(Deep Purple)
Stand on the rug.
Actual lyric: Band on the run.
(Wings)
Stick your head in lotion.
Actual lyric: I second that emotion.
(Smokey Robinson & The Miracles "I Second That Emotion")
Straight arm, straight arm for you.
Actual lyric: Straight on, straight on for you.
(Heart)
Sugar fried honey butt.
Actual lyric: Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch.
(Four Tops "Can't Help Myself")
Sweet dreams are made of cheese.
Actual lyric: Sweet dreams are made of this.
(The Eurythmics) Sweet tell a lie.
Actual lyric: Sweet Caroline.
(Neil Diamond)
The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind.
Actual lyric: The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
(Bob Dylan) The girl with colitis goes by.
Actual lyric: The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
(Beatles) The heart of rock and roll is in Cleveland.
Actual lyric: The heart of rock and roll is still beating.
(Huey Lewis and the News) Then I saw her face, now I'm gonna leave her.
Actual lyric: Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer.
(The Monkees)
There's a bathroom on the right.
Actual lyric: There's a bad moon on the rise.
(CCR) Through the night, with the light from a bulb.
Actual lyric: Through the night, with the light from above.
("God Bless America")
You and me and Leslie.
Actual lyric: You and me endlessly.
(The Young Rascals "Groovin")
You have lost your gum forever
dreadful sorry, Clementine.
Actual lyric: You are lost and gone forever
dreadful sorry, Clementine.
(traditional song) You made the rice, I made the gravy.
Actual lyric: You may be right, I may be crazy.
(Billy Joel)
You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille,
four hundred children and a crop in the field.
Actual lyric: You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille,
four hungry children and a crop in the field.
(Kenny Rogers "Lucille")
Went to a dance, lookin' for a man,
Saw Barbara Ann so I thought I'd take a chance.
Actual lyric: Went to a dance, lookin' for romance,
Saw Barbara Ann so I thought I'd take a chance.
(The Beach Boys "Barbara Ann")
Wrapped up like a douche.
Actual lyric: Revved up like a deuce.
(Manfred Mann | {
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KYODO NEWS - Dec 19, 2017 - 21:06 | All
(EDS: CLARIFYING 4TH GRAF)
The top U.S. naval officer said Tuesday that forces under his command are "fully prepared" for any further nuclear or missile tests undertaken by North Korea, hinting that further pressure, including from the military, can be applied if needed.
"We are more challenging (to North Korea) if we are less predictable," Adm. John Richardson, chief of U.S. naval operations, said in an interview with Kyodo News and other media at the navy's Yokosuka base near Tokyo.
In the face of growing threats posed by North Korea's nuclear development and ballistic missile launches, the U.S. Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force carried out a joint exercise in the Sea of Japan in November. The drill saw three navy aircraft carriers and three MSDF destroyers deployed.
Richardson said, however, the exercise had "no provocative dimension" as it was a programmed drill.
Earlier in the day, the admiral expressed concern about the current situation surrounding North Korea, calling it an "unprecedented and urgent threat," as he spoke to some 1,500 crew of the U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan at the Yokosuka base.
Richardson underlined the need for keeping "firm and set military options" in order to promote diplomatic resolutions. | {
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Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia has described Pulisic as "one of Europe's most sought-after young players"
Chelsea's new £58m forward Christian Pulisic wants to reach the same level as Stamford Bridge favourite Eden Hazard - and hopes he gets a chance to play in the same side as the Belgian next season.
Pulisic signed a five-and-a-half year contract with the Blues in January but was immediately loaned backed to Germany to finish the campaign at Borussia Dortmund.
The 20-year-old United States international has just spent a couple of days in England getting to know his new surroundings and, in an interview with BBC Sport, made it clear the size of the expectations he places on himself.
"It is incredible to see what Eden can do," he said. "He is a guy to look up to and what I would love to become.
"It is definitely a goal. Any player would be dumb not to want to be in the same team as him."
Pulisic may not get his wish given Hazard's likely move to Real Madrid after Chelsea's Europa League final with Arsenal on 29 May.
USA's most expensive player
Pulisic flew back to the United States on Tuesday for a short break following the end of the Bundesliga season.
He scored four times in 20 league appearances, including nine starts, as Dortmund finished runners-up to Bayern Munich.
Pulisic will link up with the US national team before their Concacaf Gold Cup campaign, which starts on 18 June against Guyana in Minnesota.
He could have the same kind of impact on football in the USA as Landon Donovan, the former LA Galaxy forward who played in Europe with Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Everton.
Pulisic is now the most expensive US player of all time, in addition to the youngest player to captain his country, the youngest player to score for them in a World Cup qualifier, the youngest non-German to score in the Bundesliga and the youngest player to appear for Dortmund in the Champions League.
Pulisic added: "I don't want to be looked at as someone who is the youngest to do this or that.
"I just want to be an established player and someone people respect, who is successful in this league.
"It is completely new to me and something not a lot of American players have experienced. It is a blessing to be in this position, so I can inspire American kids, to show them we can do it too.
"It also shows how much the sport is growing in the USA.
"Major League Soccer is getting much bigger and whilst other sports are not going away, soccer is growing a lot and we have a lot of great prospects in the US."
The Brackley connection
Pulisic played his last home game for Borussia Dortmund on 11 May, scoring the first goal as the team beat Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-2
Pulisic owes his love of football to his father Mark, who played indoor football professionally before moving into coaching.
When his wife, Kelley, got a teaching scholarship in the UK, Mark came over with then seven-year-old Pulisic, and got his Uefa A licence coaching qualification.
For his part, Pulisic played junior football at Brackley Town external-link and soon started to realise how different football was treated in England compared to the United States.
"Initially I was a little bit confused and wondered why my family was going to England. I didn't really want to leave home," he said.
"But I soon realised how much people over here loved the game. To be in that culture and get thrown right in just grew my passion even more. Every day after school I was on the court playing.
"I would go to games with my dad, including one at Chelsea. I don't remember how old I was but it would have been around the time Jose Mourinho was there.
"The fans were screaming and yelling. The atmosphere was fantastic. I had never seen anything like it."
Closing the gap
When Pulisic announced he was leaving Dortmund, he made an emotional post on social media, external-link thanking the club for having faith in him and giving him an opportunity.
He joined the German club from Pennsylvania Classics as a 16-year-old in February 2015, his path smoothed considerably by a Croatian grandparent which meant he qualified for a European Union passport.
He made his Bundesliga debut within 12 months and went on to make more than 100 competitive appearances for Dortmund.
As Chelsea are facing a two-window transfer ban, Pulisic could be the only new face at Stamford Bridge for 12 months.
Nevertheless, he is confident Chelsea will be competitive next season, and does not view the 26 and 25-point gap to Manchester City and Liverpool respectively as being insurmountable.
"We are a confident group of guys," he said.
"Liverpool and City are two great teams who had great seasons but I have seen Chelsea compete against big teams and do well against them this season.
"We want to go in with a winning mentality and compete with them right away." | {
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« Laissons la justice faire son travail ! ». « Et la présomption d’innocence ? ». Le texte qui suit n’a évidemment pas pour vocation à se substituer au verdict judiciaire. On voit vite à sa lecture, d’ailleurs, qu’il est finalement peu question de « l’affaire Tariq Ramadan » en elle-même : ce sont les réactions suscitées par ce nouveau scandale qui m’intéressent et qui m’ont poussée à réagir. Par ailleurs, l’usage abusif de la présomption d’innocence pour suspendre toute pensée critique et verrouiller le débat politique sert un agenda clair auquel je m’oppose fortement, d’autant plus lorsqu’il devient un moyen d’accabler les plaignantes.
C’est un bien triste spectacle qui a accompagné et suivi les accusations de violences sexuelles et de viol à l’encontre de Tariq Ramadan. Les réactions, comme toujours, ont été extrêmement polarisées. Ici, un déferlement de haine, d’insultes sexistes et de commentaires d’une bassesse inégalée à l’encontre des plaignantes ; là, des commentaires racistes et islamophobes qui accablent, à travers un homme, toute une communauté.
Et n’est-ce pas le propre du racisme que de recourir à des procédés essentialistes : un homme musulman est toujours plus qu’un homme. Il est l’arbre qui représente la forêt, faute de la cacher. Il est la forêt. D’autres ont vu dans ces accusations une occasion en or pour faire taire Tariq Ramadan, perçu et fantasmé comme le cheval de Troie de l’islamisme en Europe.
Beaucoup attendent des réactions de la « communauté musulmane » et du monde associatif et religieux musulman. Regrette–t-on l’absence d’une campagne de type #NotInMyName ? Faut-il encore une fois, montrer patte blanche ?
Bien que critique de cette injonction pressante à réagir, je me retrouve là, moi, musulmane de France, militante antiraciste, prise par l’urgence d’écrire sur ce que révèlent les réactions révoltantes suscitées par cette affaire. Il semble primordial de rappeler que des accusations aussi graves doivent systématiquement être prises au sérieux et être reçues avec gravité. On ne prend pas une accusation de viol à la légère, d’autant plus lorsque des personnalités publiques sont concernées et que par conséquent, la violence des réactions de part et d’autre est si prévisible.
La nécessité d’une approche intersectionnelle
Nous voilà aujourd’hui face au problème de l’intersectionnalité vécu et théorisé par les féministes noires américaines. Dans son article fondateur « Démarginaliser l’intersection de la race et du sexe : une critique féministe noire de la doctrine anti discriminatoire, de la théorie féministe et des politiques antiracistes », Kimberlé Crenshaw relate que lorsqu’en 1851, dans le cadre de la convention des droits de la femme, Sojourner Thruth, une abolitionniste noire américaine et fervente défenseuse des droits des femmes, se leva pour prendre la parole, « plusieurs femmes blanches exhortèrent à la faire taire, craignant qu’elle puisse détourner l’attention pour le suffrage féminin [au profit de l’abolition de l’esclavage] ».
L’intersectionnalité désigne la situation de personnes qui subissent simultanément plusieurs formes de domination ou de discrimination dans une société. C’est une théorie qui promeut une approche intégrée des inégalités sociales en faisant lumière sur l’imbrication de différentes structures d’oppression (race, sexe, classe, etc.) et sur leur caractère indissociable. Ainsi, si toutes les femmes sont oppressées en tant que femmes, un mouvement féministe ne pourra prétendre parler pour toutes les femmes qu’à partir du moment où il prendra en considération la situation de femmes qui subissent également du racisme au sein d’une société.
Par conséquent, en insistant sur la nécessité d’une approche inclusive, l’approche intersectionnelle refuse la hiérarchisation des différentes structures de domination sociale. Les féministes noires étaient à la fois critiques du racisme au sein du mouvement des féministes blanches et du sexisme au sein des mouvements antiracistes, et au sein de la société toute entière.
Or, c’est une chose de hiérarchiser les structures de domination sociale. C’en est une autre d’utiliser une forme de domination pour en nier une autre, et c’est ce que l’affaire des accusations à l’encontre de Tariq Ramadan génère à plusieurs égards. On s’indigne autant des commentaires sexistes à l’encontre des plaignantes pour sauver la cause d’un antiracisme androcentré que des réflexions racistes et islamophobes qui nourrissent un féminisme dévoyé à géométrie variable.
Nous, féministes musulmanes, refusons de sacrifier la lutte contre le sexisme et les violences patriarcales au combat antiraciste. Et ce n’est pas faire le jeu de ceux qui nourrissent le racisme dans la société que de dire cela parce que nous dénonçons avec tout autant de fermeté leur féminisme partiel, partial et bien souvent raciste. Le refus de mener ces deux luttes de front ne fait que renforcer le statu quo.
Le racisme nourrit le sexisme, en stigmatisant celles qui sont à l’intersection de plusieurs logiques de domination. Les femmes racisées, et en particulier, dans le contexte français, les femmes musulmanes qui portent un foulard, sont exclues du discours féministe dominant et sont l’objet d’un discours d’injonctions profondément paternaliste, anti féministe et sexiste qui leur nie la possibilité de faire des choix. Le racisme encourage par ailleurs des logiques de défense chez les racisés qui vont jusqu’à la négation des violences faites aux femmes. Dans un climat islamophobe, on préférera croire à un complot plutôt que d’imaginer que « l’un des siens » puisse se rendre coupable de violences sexuelles, qui pourront être instrumentalisées à des fins racistes.
Vers un féminisme inclusif ?
À en croire les réseaux sociaux, la violence des réactions parmi les musulmanes et les musulmans est à la hauteur du choc que ces accusations ont provoqué. Comment est-ce qu’un homme qui n’était pas seulement un homme de pouvoir influent (Harvey Weinstein) ou un intellectuel mais aussi un théologien, dont les écrits et les interventions portaient sur des questions de morale religieuse appliquée et de justice sociale, comment un tel homme peut-il faire preuve d’un comportement en parfaite contradiction avec ses enseignements ?
Pour beaucoup, c’était un mentor, un modèle, non seulement sur le plan intellectuel mais aussi sur celui du caractère voire de la vertu. Nombreuses sont les personnes qui témoignent de l’impact positif que ses écrits ont pu avoir dans leur vie, sur le plan spirituel, intellectuel et politique. Elles se reconnaissent dans la façon dont il articule l’éthique personnelle et l’engagement politique pour plus de justice sociale. Dès lors, on comprend que tout un monde s’effondre. Quelles que soient les conclusions auxquelles parviendra la Justice, cette affaire marque un réel tournant.
Ce qui m’attriste pourtant est quelque chose de bien plus profond. Nous, musulman.e.s français.e.s, serions-nous à ce point fragiles que nous aurions intériorisé la logique essentialiste du racisme et de l’islamophobie qui veut que si l’un des nôtres tombe, nous soyons toutes et tous contaminé.e.s, et que notre monde s’effondre ? C’est en même temps révélateur de la force avec laquelle beaucoup de personnes se sont identifiées à Tariq Ramadan, qui, à bien des égards, a contribué à articuler un discours contre l’islamophobie en France. Aujourd’hui, par cette affaire, il contribue à la nourrir. On observe parfois des réactions très similaires à celles qui ont suivi les attentats terroristes ces dernières années : un ras-le-bol de la récupération politique qui surfe sur l’islamophobie et une peur d’une nouvelle vague de stigmatisation. On aura beau répéter que le patriarcat et les violences sexuelles n’ont pas de religion, la meute est lâchée.
À ce stade, une précision s’impose. Ce texte n’est assurément pas un témoignage, pour autant je ne veux pas prétendre à la neutralité. S’il est sage, face à des accusations aussi graves que le viol, d’attendre que la Justice fasse son travail, je dois avouer que seule la violence des faits relatés dans les témoignages m’a surprise. Comme toute personnalité charismatique, Tariq Ramadan suscite beaucoup de fascination, et cela le place dans un rapport de pouvoir, surtout vis à vis de ses coreligionnaires.
Depuis plus de cinq ans, de nombreuses militantes associatives musulmanes de mon entourage m’ont témoigné avoir été victimes d’insultes, de manipulation et de harcèlement sexuel de la part de cet homme. Et si sentiment de trahison et colère il y a de ma part, ce n’est pas, loin s’en faut, parce que je considérais cette personnalité médiatique comme un modèle de vertu, ou parce que s’est manifesté un contraste saisissant entre le rigorisme moral qui est prôné et le libertinage dont nombre de témoignages se font l’écho – et si les viols sont établis à l’issue du procès, cela prendra une dimension bien plus grande encore, bien au-delà de ce que certains voudraient réduire à une simple « affaire de mœurs ».
Le plus scandaleux, c’est le fait de profiter de la fragilité de ses coreligionnaires. Si les agressions sexuelles sont établies à l’issue du procès, ce seront encore une fois les personnes les plus vulnérables, à en croire le profil des plaignantes au moment des faits, qui auront été victimes de ces abus de pouvoir. Et si elles ne le sont pas, l’affaire aura permis de libérer la parole quant aux abus de pouvoir et manipulations diverses qui ont été relatées par de nombreuses femmes, et de rappeler à quel point, plus que jamais, nous ne pouvons faire l’économie d’une approche intersectionnelle des dominations sociales.
Pour finir, on peut s’interroger sur l’utilisation de l’antiracisme comme seul ou principal argumentaire de défense face aux accusations d’agressions sexuelles, et sur le choix lourd de sens de l’avocat qui représente la famille d’Adama Traoré. Ce choix, manifestement, donne à penser que cette affaire d’agressions sexuelles est une question de racisme et tend à, sinon effacer, du moins minimiser la nature des principaux chefs d’accusation.
Refusons de fermer les yeux sur la violence sexiste et patriarcale au nom de l’antiracisme. Nous ne sacrifierons pas la lutte contre le sexisme et les violences sexuelles sur l’autel d’un antiracisme non inclusif. Malgré la violence et l’humiliation que représente cette affaire pour les musulman.e.s, qui n’ont décidément pas fini d’entendre parler d’elles.eux dans les médias et les débats publics, on ose espérer que cette affaire fera lumière sur le sectarisme et l’aveuglement aux violences sexistes au sein des milieux associatifs et militants, et qu’une introspection permettra de comprendre pourquoi des femmes musulmanes victimes d’agressions sexuelles peuvent être tentées d’aller chercher auprès de Caroline Fourest le soutien que d’autres, plus proches, tardent à leur apporter.
Enfin, je me ferai la défenseuse d’une certaine forme de Made in France (ce qui en étonnera plus d’un !). Nous ne voulons plus être les objets d’études et les fonds de commerce de personnalités extérieures qui vivent à mille lieues des réalités qui sont les nôtres. Avec des amis comme eux, nous n’avons plus besoin d’ennemis politiques. Nous avons suffisamment de ressources locales dans le monde associatif musulman pour pouvoir nous passer des services empoisonnés d’un imam tunisien, d’un journaliste algérien, d’un psychanalyste tunisien, ou même d’un théologien suisse. | {
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The USG Open Source Center summarizes Rafsanjani’s sermon on Friday. Full translation to follow.
FYI — Iran’s Rafsanjani Gives Tehran Friday Sermons
Corrected version; providing updated processing plans for full text in final para
Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Radio 1
Friday, July 17, 2009
Document Type: OSC Summary
Tehran Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Radio 1 in Persian at 0830 GMT on 17 July broadcast live Friday prayers from Tehran University, given by Ayatollah Akbar Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Council.
Rafsanjani had been absent for the past eight weeks from the prayer scene. He dedicated the first part of his sermon to religious issues.
At 0902 GMT, an indistinct noise, that can only be described as shouts by a sizeable crowd of people, was heard in the background. This came to an abrupt end a few seconds later.
The first part of the sermon came to an end with Rafsanjani pleading that the Revolution, achieved by the blood of so many “martyrs,” must be revered and not wasted.
The sermon came to an end at 0920 GMT, and was followed immediately by the second.
He started the second sermon by the customary remembrances in the Islamic calendar, notably for seventh Shiite Imam Musa-Ibn-Ja’far.
He also talked about the killings in China, urging the government there: “We give brotherly advice” to stop the killing of Muslims. At this juncture, people started chanting slogans, and Rafsanjani had to plea for calm.
He then went onto talk about the election, saying that it started very well. He praised the participation of the people. He said that it was the people who have to be thanked for this level of participation.
He lamented the post-election events, and talked about his contribution to the Islamic Revolution and his companionship with Imam Khomeyni, who had urged people not to take up arms.
He added that after 20 years, the people were awakened, and they turned up on the streets to protest against the Pahlavi regime.
He went on to add that Imam Khomeyni accorded great value to the participation of the people. He read out a note that he had prepared earlier, quoting Shiite Imam Ali.
He stressed Imam Khomeyni’s insistence on the people’s role at the beginning of the Revolution. He insisted that according to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, the vote of the people, including the leadership, is determined by the people.
Again huge chants were heard at 0935 GMT, when Rafsanjani insisted that he had been asked to keep his sermon short. In what can only be described as Rafsanjani speaking hurriedly, he insisted on the republicanism of the system.
He went on to add that when campaigning came to an end, a great lack of trust came about. He said that this may have been due to the bad performance of the state broadcaster, calling it a very bitter experience. He insisted that everyone was damaged by the post-election events.
He urged unity and cohesion by all factions and parties, saying that “all of us must find a way to advance our country in a united way.”
He made a few suggestions as a way forward; he said that Iran must restore the lost confidence of the people. He added that all of Iran, including the Majles, the police, and the people, must act within the law.
The second suggestion was that: “We must create an atmosphere in which all sides can come and express their views. And all sides must act rationally and without argument. Of course, the main task here falls on the Voice and Vision (of the Islamic Republic, meaning state broadcaster), as it has greater listeners. And all other media outlets must do the same.”
He went on to point to the results of the Guardian Council recount of the disputed vote, adding: “Unfortunately, good use was not made of the opportunity that the Supreme Leader (Ali Khamene’i) gave the Guardian Council, in which an extra five days was given to them.”
Interrupted again by crowds chanting, he added: “I do not of course want to blame anyone for this lost opportunity.”
He then went on to say that those who are in prison must be released: “Under current circumstances, there is no need for us to have people in prisons. Allow them to return to their families.”
(Chanting of indistinct slogans from the masses in support of the clerics comment were heard)
“Let’s not allow our enemies to reprimand and laugh at us, and hatch plots against us, just because a few certain people are in prison. We should be brave and patient enough to tolerate one another. Sympathy should be shown to the victims of the recent incidents which took place. We should offer condolences to those who mourn, and bring their hearts closer to the establishment.”
The sermons came to an end at 0948 GMT.
(Description of Source: Tehran Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Radio 1 in Persian — state-run radio)
End/ (Not Continued) | {
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At least 280,000 people are currently homeless in England, with tens of thousands more at risk of losing their accommodation, Shelter’s annual report reveals.
This marks an increase of several thousand since last year and 23,000 since the charity’s first report in 2016, with the analysis suggesting one in 200 people are now sleeping rough, or living in hostels and temporary accommodation.
While the report warned the true figures are likely far higher due to “hidden homelessness”, analysis of government data also revealed close to 220,000 people have faced the threat of losing their home in the past year.
London came out worst in the report’s regional breakdown, with an average of one in 50 people suffering homelessness, rising to one in 24 in Newham and one in 29 in Kensington and Chelsea.
“Homelessness blights lives and leaves a lasting imprint of trauma, and yet 280,000 people in England are without a home this Christmas. And many are only days away from joining them,” said Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate.
Milton Keynes youth homelessness Show all 9 1 /9 Milton Keynes youth homelessness Milton Keynes youth homelessness Milton Keynes youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock Milton Keynes youth homelessness MK youth homelessness Alex Sturrock
“As well as those facing serious ill-health or even death sleeping rough on our streets this winter, there are thousands of families trapped in grotty emergency B&Bs, with no space for children to sit and eat, let alone play.
“This is the grim truth our new government must confront and do something radical to change.”
Sarah Martin and her 14-year-old son, Ishmael, from Brent in northwest London, spent a year living in “squalid” and cockroach-infested temporary accommodation after her mother died and they were evicted from the house “before [they] had even had time to grieve”.
The pair were forced to share a bathroom and kitchen with other tenants.
“People would stumble around the corridors wild-eyed on drink and drugs and one poor woman tried to set herself alight,” Ms Martin said. “It was completely terrifying.
“Ishmael’s cheeky smile vanished, replaced by a nervous frown. He had been getting really good grades at school but they plummeted.”
Ms Martin and her son finally moved out of the hostel and into a flat, but it is still “riddled with problems” and a constant leak that leaves the walls and carpets soaking wet.
Shelter recently intervened in Ms Martin and Ishmael’s case and the council agreed the flat was not suitable. They are now waiting to see if they will be moved, and Ms Martin is working full-time as a council’s housing officer.
The charity has used government data detailing the number of people owed “prevention duty” by councils to stop them from becoming homeless, revealing close to 220,000 people have been deemed at risk of losing their home.
Tuesday’s report also found that, outside the capital, rates of homelessness are “stark” in areas such as Luton, Birmingham and Brighton.
The charity also revealed it received a call to its emergency hotline every 44 seconds on average in the past year, with its free webchat service being used nearly 26,000 times.
The Homeless Fund: Cat's story
Shelter is warning Boris Johnson’s government must take “urgent” action to address the “dire lack of social homes at the crux of this emergency, before the situation is likely to get worse”.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said it was supporting councils to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation.
He added: “(We’re) giving £1.2bn to tackle all types of homelessness. Everyone should have somewhere safe to live, and councils have a duty to provide accommodation to those who need it, including families with children.”
Shelter’s Ms Neate added: “Until the government acts to stem this crisis, the work of our frontline advisers remains critical. With the public’s support we will do everything we can to help people find a safe and stable place to live – no matter how long it takes.” | {
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Most things in America today happen and then cause two different reactions like a split drop of water down an arm. Same drop, same molecule of H2O, and same arm yet different paths. It is not chaos theory. This is due to the political mindset of the individual. There is reality, and then there is the progressive view. The progressive view has a monopoly on all of our institutions.
This happens with the most basic of observations and human nature. A mother posts on Facebook how she will not raise her son to embrace toxic masculinity. Another mom you know in the same neighborhood posts what the hell are they trying to do to boys now. Reality backs up the second mom. The system releases signals that the first mom has her antenna set for and has released other signals for her to repeat to display loyalty. This is the best third party analysis to these Janus like situations. What seems like a reaction to reality and what seems like a religious signal? Seek reality.
The progressives want to mold men and boys to a standard of their choosing. The latest salvo in this war on nature is the new APA release of guidelines for work with men and boys. The APA is proud to release these findings and adds in the effort taken as if to legitimize their spitting into nature’s face. They declare, “Thirteen years in the making, they draw on more than 40 years of research showing that traditional masculinity is psychologically harmful and that socializing boys to suppress their emotions causes damage that echoes both inwardly and outwardly“. Being a man is harmful!
The language is not of attack but of care for men because “traditional masculinity—marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression—is, on the whole, harmful“. Men being men in historical ways is harmful. Most men reading this will laugh at it. Many men will not even know this announcement went out. A sliver of left wing men will embrace it and possibly cry while reading it. One aware of male suicide stats by races will be surprised the focus on non-whites in the APA blurb. I read that and learned what John Henryism is, which runs counter to current black achievement in America.
This is a push to make the progressive view of modern masculinity as the preferred expression of masculinity. This is a declaration of their cultural victory. One can pick apart their points as men express emotions often, they just do not weep and show vulnerability like the system wants… or that men of left wing politics might do with greater frequency.
This is the key as the left enjoyed discussing former President Obama’s spin on masculinity, which to everyone else was decidedly feminine. This played to the left’s coalition. The progressives are a feminine organization of consensus and cooperating to win in November. Their men are a barbell of sorts with the underclass machismo types who are over-represented in our prison system yet cannot take care of basic needs for their families. The top portion of the barbell are affluent and intelligent but perhaps shirk from traditional masculine duties. These are the men that in surveys show how political liberal beliefs also mean less upper body strength.
Those upper barbell men are part of the ruling class. Their version of masculinity is what they want to have perceived as superior. They also want everyone to have to adhere to that norm. This could change guidelines for medication. Imagine a slightly more butch man receiving dosages of sedatives and antidepressants or anti-anxiety pills just because of these guidelines. It might not sound like much, but the number of men in court appointed therapy is sizable. Court appointed anger management is a preferred avenue for men to avoid jail time or receive reduced sentences. The number of boys recommended therapy due to divorce is very large.
This is where these guidelines will come into play. The bottom of society will not be affected. It might even be easier now for them to get SSI and some scrips. This will be more for patrolling the ruling class entrants, creating barriers to entry. To be a part of polite society, one may have to be aware of this traditional masculinity problem. To be a part of the game, one has to be invited. To be invited, one will have to conform to norms.
It is not enough for the media, entertainment and schools to push a new norm. It is not enough that plastics reduce sperm counts and there is birth control pill residue in our drinking water. The progressives in America, worried that the liberal messaging has stumbled and possibly failed, are now reaching Soviet levels of control. In their mind, there is no aggressive population that court ordered, doctor prescribed lithium cannot pacify in order to build the shining city on a hill. | {
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Deputy commissioner Arturo Lachica of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) was ambushed in Manila on Thursday night, an official of the Manila Police District (MPD) said.
Supt. Aquino Olivar, head of the Sampaloc police station, said Lachica, who was shot while his car was traveling along España Boulevard, was declared dead on arrival by physicians at United Doctors Medical Center.
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Olivar said Lachica’s identification was provided to the police by the BOC official’s driver and bodyguard who survived the ambush. They were with Lachica inside a black sedan when a motorcycle-riding man shot them around 6:50 p.m.
The three were driving to Quezon City when waylaid. Lachica was headed home from a conference at the BOC headquarters in Manila.
Olivar said Lachica was seated at the back while the bodyguard was beside the driver. Motive has yet to be established, the police added.
Lachica’s body bore two gunshot wounds in the chest.
But Olivar clarified the official report on Lachica’s injuries would come from the scene of the crime operatives.
The incident was reported to MPD homicide section at 8:50 p.m. Investigators Marlon San Pedro and Dennis Turla are currently on site gathering evidence.
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BRUSSELS — After a dramatic security sweep late Sunday marked by the deployment of soldiers in the historic center of the Belgian capital, the authorities here announced early Monday that 16 people had been arrested in a joint police and military operation to try to head off what the prime minister earlier described as a “serious and imminent” threat of a Paris-style terrorist assault.
Belgian security forces conducted 19 raids in the Brussels region on Sunday and three in the southern town of Charleroi, Eric Van der Sijpt, a magistrate and spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office, said at a late-night news conference. Backed by heavily armed soldiers, the police also sealed off at least two areas of central Brussels, including streets around the city’s medieval central square, the Grand Place, a major tourist attraction.
But the main target of the clampdown, Salah Abdeslam, suspected to be one of the gunmen in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, was not among those arrested, Mr. Van der Sijpt said. The raids also uncovered no weapons or explosives, he added.
The Belgian news media reported Sunday that Mr. Abdeslam, a resident of the Brussels borough of Molenbeek whose brother was a suicide bomber in Paris, had been seen in the eastern city of Liège but then vanished again. Mr. Van der Sijpt declined to take questions on that or other aspects of the Belgian investigation into the links between the Paris attacks and Belgium. | {
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Groundbreaking new tech is set to make Aussie police a much more formidable force.
Fujitsu’s IT specialists have teamed up with Kia to produce an advanced prototype of the police car of the future, dubbed Project Koshin.
The promise of the technology in the Australian developed prototype is to make our police cars more user friendly, efficient, safe, cheaper and smarter than any in the world.
For the first time a car maker has allowed the integration of police tech directly into its vehicle. This means that instead of adding masses of third party equipment to the vehicle, all necessary functions can be executed via the touchscreen.
Fujitsu NSW’s Ian Hamer says that the disjointed nature of police vehicle hardware makes it harder for frontline cops to do their job as efficiently as possible.
He says none of the current police tech “talks” to any other database or piece of equipment in the vehicle. For example, number plate recognition fitted in any police car doesn’t communicate with the criminal search database.
Further, there are separate controls for all applications used by police, such as radar speed detection, licence plate scanning and sirens.
But in the vision of Fujitsu and Kia, this will no longer be the case. Soon police could control high-definition video or sirens via the touchscreen and read speeding information from the car’s head-up display.
There would be more information at patrolling officers’ fingertips. They now must search a database to find why a licence plate has been identified — once this is integrated with the criminal database, that detail becomes instantly available.
High-definition cameras in the cars can be used for facial recognition, meaning every vehicle becomes a moving security camera.
Eliminating the need to log in to each computer manually when a vehicle is started, individual officers can get access to their profiles via a biometric fingerprint scanner.
Hamer regards all these steps as fairly logical but they have not been introduced, he explains, because suppliers of police vehicles have locked third party providers out.
Kia has opened up its platforms to allow integration into existing software and hardware.
Beyond connectivity and increased capabilities, Hamer says, there is also vastly improved safety for officers.
“There is a big problem with officer safety. Everything they put in the vehicle is an Australian Design Rules compliance issue. It interrupts airbag deployment zones (and affects) crash protection.
“All the computers and all the stuff they bolt into the vehicle block the aircon control and vents, which means in the middle of summer in 40 degree heat, there is no aircon,” says Hamer.
There is also a huge cost. Multiple mobile computers, routers, radar and installation of various power sources and other hardware can add $60,000 to $80,000 per vehicle.
It also can take up to six weeks to get a Highway Patrol car up to operational capacity — Fujitsu is aiming for two weeks.
Fujitsu won’t divulge the cost per vehicle for its technology but says it will be cheaper than the current set-up, especially when applied to the life of the vehicle.
State police forces are keen and the tech is getting close to readiness to test. When we will see it in the Kia Stinger and Sorento police vehicles you see in your rear view mirror is a matter for each police department.
Hamer says the set-up for general duties vehicles could be ready to go in a few months. For the Highway Patrol, given the increased requirements of those vehicles, it could take 12 months.
For now the technology will only be available in Kia police vehicles, operating in some states. Fujitsu hasn’t ruled out working eventually with other brands globally. Among other agencies, the partners have been in talks with the US Department of Homeland Security. | {
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1 Beach R.A. Case series of oral minoxidil for androgenetic and traction alopecia: tolerability & the five C's of oral therapy. , 2 Sinclair R.D. Female pattern hair loss: a pilot study investigating combination therapy with low-dose oral minoxidil and spironolactone. , 3 Perera E.
Sinclair R. Treatment of chronic telogen effluvium with oral minoxidil: a retrospective study. 1 Beach R.A. Case series of oral minoxidil for androgenetic and traction alopecia: tolerability & the five C's of oral therapy. , 4 Lueangarun S.
Panchaprateep R.
Tempark T.
et al. Efficacy and safety of oral minoxidil 5 mg daily during 24-week treatment in male androgenetic alopecia. To the Editor: Low-dose oral minoxidil (OM) has been successfully used in female hair loss (0.25-1.25 mg daily),but there are scarce reports in male androgenetic alopecia (MAA).The objective of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of low-dose OM (2.5-5 mg daily) in men with MAA.
4 Lueangarun S.
Panchaprateep R.
Tempark T.
et al. Efficacy and safety of oral minoxidil 5 mg daily during 24-week treatment in male androgenetic alopecia. We retrospectively reviewed male patients who had MAA diagnosed clinically and by trichoscopy and were receiving OM in monotherapy or as an additional therapy. Of the patients receiving other concomitant therapies, only those without treatment modifications in the 12 months before minoxidil therapy were included. OM, 2.5 or 5 mg daily, was given for a minimum of 6 months. This dosage was based on a previous report by Lueangarun et al.Therapeutic response was assessed by comparison of pretreatment and post-treatment clinical images by 3 independent dermatologists with expertise in hair disorders (D.S.C., R.R.B., and S.V.G.), using a 4-point scale (worsening, stabilization, mild improvement, or marked improvement). An improvement of 1 grade or more on the Norwood-Hamilton scale was defined as marked improvement.
Table I Clinical and epidemiologic data of the subgroup of 16 patients treated with oral minoxidil in monotherapy Patient Age Alopecia grade ∗ ∗ Alopecia grade according to the Norwood-Hamilton scale (I-VII). Previous treatment and cause of withdrawal Dosage of oral minoxidil, mg Treatment duration, mo Clinical response † † Clinical response according to a 4-point scale: 0, worsening; 1, stabilization; 2, mild improvement; and 3, marked improvement. An improvement of 1 grade or more on the Norwood-Hamilton scale was defined as marked improvement. Adverse effects Withdrawal due to adverse effects 1 23 4 None 5 8 3 Pedal edema Yes 2 33 4 None 5 6 3 Hypertrichosis No 3 42 4 None 5 6 2 Hypertrichosis No 4 27 4 Oral finasteride for 3 mo with sexual adverse effects 5 6 2 None 5 46 3 Topical minoxidil with poor compliance 5 8 3 Hypertrichosis No 6 28 3 Topical minoxidil with poor compliance 5 8 3 None 7 32 3 None 5 8 2 Hypertrichosis No 8 46 3 None 5 6 2 None 9 39 3 None 5 6 2 None 10 20 2 None 5 6 3 None 11 21 2 None 5 12 2 None 12 36 2 None 5 6 2 None 13 30 1 5 8 3 None 14 37 1 None 5 6 2 Hypertrichosis No 15 27 1 None 5 11 2 None 16 23 1 None 2.5 6 2 None Fig 1 A, Androgenetic alopecia grade II in a 28 year-old male. B, Marked improvement after 3 months of treatment with oral minoxidil, 5 mg daily, in monotherapy. A total of 41 men with a mean age of 33.3 years (range, 20-55) were included. They received OM at a daily dose of 2.5 mg (10 patients) or 5 mg (31 patients). In all, 25 patients (61%) had previously undergone other therapies for a mean of 18 months (range, 12-48): oral dutasteride (18 patients), mesotherapy with dutasteride (9 patients), oral finasteride (3 patients), topical minoxidil (2 patients), and topical finasteride (1 patient). A total of 16 patients (39%) received OM as monotherapy ( Table I ). Clinical improvement was observed in 37 patients (90.2%), with 11 of these patients (26.8%) presenting a marked improvement. Four patients (9.8%) showed stabilization, and none of them worsened. All those in the subgroup of 16 patients receiving OM as monotherapy presented clinical improvement, with 6 patients (37.5%) showing marked improvement ( Fig 1 , A and B). Adverse effects were detected in 12 patients (29.3%): hypertrichosis in 10 patients (24.3%), lower limb edema in 2 patients (4.8%), and shedding in 1 patient (2.4%). All of the adverse effects were mild and well tolerated. Only 1 patient discontinued the treatment, because of pedal edema. These adverse effects appeared with the dose of 5 mg daily, except in 2 patients with slight hypertrichosis and 1 patient with shedding (2.5 mg daily).
1 Beach R.A. Case series of oral minoxidil for androgenetic and traction alopecia: tolerability & the five C's of oral therapy. , 2 Sinclair R.D. Female pattern hair loss: a pilot study investigating combination therapy with low-dose oral minoxidil and spironolactone. , 3 Perera E.
Sinclair R. Treatment of chronic telogen effluvium with oral minoxidil: a retrospective study. 1 Beach R.A. Case series of oral minoxidil for androgenetic and traction alopecia: tolerability & the five C's of oral therapy. , 4 Lueangarun S.
Panchaprateep R.
Tempark T.
et al. Efficacy and safety of oral minoxidil 5 mg daily during 24-week treatment in male androgenetic alopecia. 4 Lueangarun S.
Panchaprateep R.
Tempark T.
et al. Efficacy and safety of oral minoxidil 5 mg daily during 24-week treatment in male androgenetic alopecia. OM, 0.25-1.25 mg daily, has been used for the treatment of female androgenetic alopecia, traction alopecia, and telogen effluvium, showing improvement in 61 to 86% of patients and a good safety profile.There are few articles describing the effectiveness of OM in MAA.A previous study reported improvement in 30 men (100%) with MAA who were taking OM, 5 mg, with a higher rate of adverse events than in our cohort: 93% of patients had hypertrichosis, 10% had edema, and 10% had an electrocardiogram alteration.
The study's retrospective design and low number of patients are limitations.
In conclusion, OM at a dose of 5 mg daily was effective and presented an acceptable safety profile in our cohort of male patients with MAA. The optimum dose needs to be delineated in future controlled studies.
Article Info Publication History Footnotes Funding sources: None. Conflicts of interest: None disclosed. Identification DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2019.04.054 Copyright © 2019 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. ScienceDirect Access this article on ScienceDirect | {
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ウィリアム・アンド・メアリー大学、カーネギーメロン大学、カリフォルニア大学リバーサイド校、ニューヨーク州立大学ビンガムトン校の研究者らは、CPUの分岐予測ユニットを利用した新たなサイドチャネル攻撃「BranchScope」を発表した。
BranchScopeは、3月24～28日にかけて、米ウィリアムズバーグで開催された「ASPLOS 2018」にて発表されたもので、1月に発見された「Spectre」脆弱性と同じく、投機実行機能を利用して機密情報を盗み出すことが可能であるという。
分岐予測ユニット(Branch Prediction Unit: BPU)を利用した攻撃のため、Spectreのvariant 2(Branch Target Ingection、以下Sprctre 2)と類似しているが、Spectre 2がBTU内の「分岐予測バッファ(BTB: Branch Target Buffer)」に対するサイドチャネル攻撃であったのに対し、BranchScopeでは、Pattern History Table(PTH)に格納された「方向予測(Directional Predictor)」を利用している点が異なる。
IntelのSandy Bridge/Haswell/Skylakeプロセッサを使った実証実験では、ユーザー空間からの攻撃の成功を確認できたという。
論文によれば、同じ仮想コア上でスケジュールされたプロセス間でのみデータを盗み出せた、Spectre 2のようなBTBベースの攻撃と異なり、ハイパースレッディングされたコア間でも攻撃が成功することを示したとしている。
加えて、Intel SGX(Software Guard eXtentions/ソフトウェア保護拡張)の保護領域への攻撃も達成しており、アドレス空間配置のランダム化(ASLR)の無効化などについても説明している。
脆弱性の緩和についても、ソフトウェア、ハードウェアの両面で言及しているが、ソフトウェアベースではIntel SGXのような隔離された領域に干渉できず、完全な対策にならないため、ハードウェアベースでPTHのランダム化、機密情報を扱うブランチの予測を省く、BPUのパーティショニングといった対策を盛り込むことを推奨している。
なお、今回の論文では実証実験をIntel製CPUで行なっているが、そのほかのプロセッサについても影響があるのかについては不明。 | {
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It was a blockbuster day for Netflix on Monday, as the streaming giant said it added 5.2 million new subscribers in its second quarter, handily beating its own estimates and sending its stock soaring to an all-time high.
And as this chart from Statista shows, the company reached a couple of milestones in the process. First, it surpassed the 100-million subscriber mark. Second, it saw the number of international Netflix subscribers edge past their US counterparts for the first time.
The rise of that international base has been Netflix’s biggest boon for the past couple of years. It’s generally accepted that the company has just about emptied the bottle in its home country, but still has plenty of wiggle room left worldwide. (Its eternal struggles in China notwithstanding.)
The company is still ripping through cash to produce the exclusive shows that differentiate the service — and it will still have to deal with growing competition from Amazon, Hulu, and now Apple — but enough of those shows are hits, cord-cutting should only grow, and Netflix itself expects its current rate of growth to continue. | {
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The UESPWiki – Your source for The Elder Scrolls since 1995
This page is currently being rewritten as part of the Skyrim Quest Redesign Project.
The page is being rewritten and checked in several stages. All users are welcome to make changes to the page. If you make a change that is relevant to the project, please update this template accordingly, and make sure you have observed the project guidelines.
Detail Walkthrough: written by multiple users, not checked
Reward: written by Blackdove86, not checked
Quick Walkthrough [ edit ]
Get the quest from the Alik'r Warriors in Whiterun. Find Saadia at The Bannered Mare. Speak with her or report her to the Alik'r in Rorikstead. Kill Kematu or lure Saadia to the stables. Collect your reward from Kematu or Saadia.
Detailed Walkthrough [ edit ]
A Wanted Woman [ edit ]
After Irileth informs the jarl about the dragon attacking the Western Watchtower during Dragon Rising, you may come across guards looking for a Redguard woman in the city. You may also observe an argument between Whiterun guards and Alik'r Warriors regarding their presence in the hold, or you may find Alik'r Warriors interrogating Redguard women in the Skyrim wilderness. Speak with the Alik'r to start the quest.
Finding the Missing Woman [ edit ]
Go to The Bannered Mare. The Redguard is a woman named Saadia. She will be wandering about the inn and may walk up to you asking if you are hungry. When you mention the Alik'r, she asks you to follow her to her room, where you can speak in private. As you get there, she draws her dagger against you. Tell her to calm down. She claims that she is actually a noble from Hammerfell and the Alik'r have been sent after her because she publicly spoke out against the Aldmeri Dominion. The fact that her true name is not Saadia is the only fact not disputed by either side. The Alik'r Warriors never fully explain why they're looking for her. There is no hard evidence to support either side. Thus, it is up to you to pass judgment and choose who to help during the quest. At this point, you can make a choice:
Speak to the Alik'r warriors in Rorikstead and tell them of Saadia's location.
Follow Saadia's instructions in order to help her.
A third, more treacherous route is to agree to help the Alik'r, then kill them when you're in a better position, stealthily backstabbing them and pickpocketing weapons off of them. This will allow you to go back to Saadia and let her know that she won't be further troubled, and you can complete the quest without turning her in. Saadia will pay you only 500 coins.
Defend a Helpless Dissident... [ edit ]
If you decide to help Saadia, go into the dungeon of Dragonsreach and speak with an Alik'r Warrior that was captured. After paying 100 gold to a guard, the prisoner will tell you that the leader of the Alik'r is in a cave west of Whiterun called Swindler's Den. If you have already cleared out Swindler's Den, a dialogue option will appear when talking to Saadia that will reveal to her that you know where they are, allowing you to skip this part of the quest.
Swindler's Den [ edit ]
Kematu, the Alik'r leader
Upon reaching Swindler's Den, you'll find that it's full of bandits. Make your way through the network of tunnels, killing every bandit in your way until you reach a passage with a waterfall. As soon as you walk through the wall of water, Alik'r leader Kematu should initiate a conversation. He claims that Saadia is wanted for treason, for selling Hammerfell out to the Aldmeri Dominion.
If you still want to help Saadia, you'll have quite a fight on your hands. At least four Alik'r Warriors will assist Kematu, often more. However, use of the Mayhem spell here makes the fight a breeze.
Fighting the host of Alik'r warriors can be made easier by using the bear traps at the mouth of the winding path that leads into the cave where Kematu awaits. The warriors get hung up in the path, allowing the traps to be reset. Success is facilitated by focusing on your high-offense attack while retreating. Once your stamina or magic is depleted, turn and run for the traps, being careful to jump over them as you pass. It is also possible to simply exit the conversation with Kematu (or tell him that you will help lure Saadia away), sneak into the room just ahead, and snipe all the warriors with your bow.
Once the Alik'r are dead, loot Kematu's corpse for bonus gold, then go get your reward from Saadia.
...Or Bring a Traitor to Justice [ edit ]
Saadia and Kematu at Whiterun Stables
If you decide to help the Alik'r capture Saadia, Kematu or the Redguards with whom you spoke in Rorikstead will ask you to lure her to the stables outside of Whiterun. Go back and talk to Saadia in The Bannered Mare and ask her to follow you. Once she gets to the stables, Kematu will use a paralyzing spell on her. Talk to him for your reward.
Alternative Routes [ edit ]
While Kematu and Saadia are talking at the stables, you can still kill Kematu before he casts the spell on Saadia. This will get you the reward from Saadia and the gold that Kematu is carrying, without having to fight the rest of the Alik'r. If you kill him after he casts the spell, however, Saadia will attack you when she gets back up.
Double agent [ edit ]
You can also allow Kematu to cast the spell on Saadia and collect the 500 gold reward, thus ending the quest, then kill Kematu to undo the spell on Saadia. At this point, Saadia will be hostile right away, so use a Calm spell on her, then talk to her, and she will give you the 500 gold reward for killing Kematu. You can then loot Kematu's body to get 200 gold, his attire, and his sword. Once the Calm spell ends, Saadia will become hostile again - this is a permanent state, so even if you leave the area, she will attack the next time you meet her. Kill her and then loot her body (You are legally justified to kill her, so don't worry about a bounty). She will also have gold and jewels. Both characters will be dead, but you will have gained maximum rewards, equaling 1,200 gold plus random jewels.
Notes [ edit ]
The Whiterun guards will not release the Alik'r prisoner even if you pay his fine.
It is outright impossible to tell whether Saadia or Kematu's version of events is the truthful one - or indeed whether Saadia was framed, and both sides are telling what they believe to be true. (However, there are solid arguments to believe both parties) On the other hand, betraying her to Kematu reveals that Saadia is using a fake name, and that her true name is Iman (which she tell you right away after speaking with her first time). This doesn't really prove much, since she's on the run either way.
parties) On the other hand, betraying her to Kematu reveals that Saadia is using a fake name, and that her name is Iman (which she tell you right away after speaking with her first time). This doesn't really prove much, since she's on the run either way. If you kill Saadia after turning her in and receiving your reward, Kematu will leave and say, "All that effort, and you just kill her. You've ruined everything."
Saadia's body will appear in Whiterun's Hall of the Dead if you hand her over to the Alik'r. [ verification needed — is this only if you kill her? ]
If Kematu is resurrected with the dead thrall spell, the dialogue to complete the quest will not appear when speaking to Saadia. To fix this kill the enthralled Kematu and speak to Saadia again.
Bugs [ edit ]
If you do not directly kill Kematu (i.e., Frenzy or Fury on him or the Alik'r), the quest will be stuck on "Kill or talk to Kematu". See Quest Stages and skip to step 160 to progress the quest. This bug is fixed by the Official Skyrim Patch.
You can approach and kill the Alik'r in the cave before speaking with Kematu. Performing a power attack will result in a finishing move on the Alik'r but will not trigger the others to attack. In this fashion, the room can be cleared before engaging Kematu in either conversation or combat. Note that while the Alik'r are being killed, Kematu may comment on someone having been murdered, but there is no murder count increase for these actions. ?
If you kill the Alik'r warriors in the Swindler's Den, two Alik'r warriors will sometimes end up constantly appearing in Whiterun by the entrance. This bug is fixed by version 1.1 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
If you kill the Alik'r warriors in the Swindler's Den, encounters where Alik'r warriors harass a Redguard woman may still occur. This bug is fixed by version 1.1 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
Using the alternative route mentioned above, sometimes killing Kematu after he casts the paralyze spell on Saadia will not cause her to turn hostile but will still allow you to report that the Alik'r have been taken care of, hence getting both rewards. ?
After you hand Saadia to Kematu, sometimes Kematu and the Alik'r keep staying in Swindler's Den. No more conversation options are possible and the dungeon cannot be cleared. This bug is fixed by the Unofficial Skyrim Patch. To fix this last problem manually, one can use the console command SetLocationCleared 00018EE2 1 .
Sometimes when you talk to the Alik'r warrior in jail and go to the guard, they won't enter conversation with you, forcing you to go directly to Swindler's Den. If you have an outstanding bounty in Whiterun, the guards will not enter conversation with you, preventing you from paying the prisoner's fine. You will need to reload the save and clear your bounty prior to entering the dungeon to move forward.
Sometimes Saadia will disappear in Whiterun when you take her to the stables.
Sometimes if you enter conversation with the jailed Alik'r warrior a second time before speaking to the guards to pay his fine, his next dialogue option will come up early. Despite entering the new line of conversation, he will not give you the required information and your quest will not update. Paying his fine will not progress the dialogue further at this point. ? You can reload the save to fix this, or bypass and go to Swindler's Den directly.
Entering Swindler's Den without talking to the Alik'r Prisoner may result in the objective to talk to the prisoner never being removed from your journal. This bug is fixed by version 3.0.10 of the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.
If you choose to betray Kematu after escorting Saadia to the stables the quest log may fail to register "Speak with Saadia" as complete no matter if you talk to her soon after defeating Kematu or once she is back to The Bannered Mare although the game will count the quest as finished.
Quest Stages [ edit ]
In My Time Of Need (MS08) Stage Finishes Quest Journal Entry 10 A group of men calling themselves the Alik'r are looking for a Redguard woman in Whiterun. Objective 10: Find the Redguard woman 20 Objective 20 or 21: Speak with Saadia or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location 25 The barmaid at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun is apparently a fugitive noble from Hammerfell. She claims that she is on the run from assassins sent by rival houses in her homeland and needs someone to stop them before they find her. Objective 25 or 26: Talk to the Alik'r Prisoner or Inform the Alik'r of Saadia's location 50 Objective 50: Find a way to enter the Alik'r hideout 75 Objective 75: Enter the Alik'r hideout 100 Objective 100: Kill Kematu 101 Objective 101: Kill Kematu or talk to him 125 Objective 125: Kill Kematu OR Convince Saadia to meet Kematu 130 Objective 100: Kill Kematu 150 Objective 100: Kill Kematu 160 Objective 160: Return to Saadia 175 The leader of the so-called "assassins" I've been asked to eliminate claims that Saadia betrayed her people to the Dominion and they are here to bring her to justice. I've agreed to lead her into an ambush at the Whiterun stables. Objective 175: Lead Saadia to the Whiterun Stables 190 setstage MS08 199 Objective 199: Speak with Saadia 200 Finishes quest I've helped Saadia escape the clutches of the Alik'r sent after her. With their leader defeated, she believes the rest of them will scatter, affording her some much-needed safety for now. 201 Finishes quest After making arrangements with Kematu, I've delivered Saadia to him. He assures me that she will be taken back to Hammerfell alive, though after that her fate is no longer in his hands. 300 Fails quest Unknown Objective 130: Kill Kematu
The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 255. | {
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Overview:
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Proposed Tweak to Law Would Pull Shield From Generic-Drug Makers | {
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Democrats and their allies in media have been obsessing on Trump University for weeks now while completely ignoring a major scandal involving Hillary and Bill Clinton’s relationship to a for-profit college.
Breitbart reports:
Hillary University: Bill Clinton Bagged $16.46 Million from For-Profit College as State Dept. Funneled $55 Million Back
With her campaign sinking in the polls, Hillary Clinton has launched a desperate attack against Trump University to deflect attention away from her deep involvement with a controversial for-profit college that made the Clintons millions, even as the school faced serious legal scrutiny and criminal investigations.
In April 2015, Bill Clinton was forced to abruptly resign from his lucrative perch as honorary chancellor of Laureate Education, a for-profit college company. The reason for Clinton’s immediate departure: Clinton Cash revealed, and Bloomberg confirmed, that Laureate funneled Bill Clinton $16.46 million over five years while Hillary Clinton’s State Dept. pumped at least $55 million to a group run by Laureate’s founder and chairman, Douglas Becker, a man with strong ties to the Clinton Global Initiative. Laureate has donated between $1 million and $5 million (donations are reported in ranges, not exact amounts) to the Clinton Foundation. Progressive billionaire George Soros is also a Laureate financial backer.
TRENDING: Crowd Begins Chanting "Fill The Seat" at Trump Rally in North Carolina - President Trump Announces He Will Name Nominee this Week - A WOMAN
As the Washington Post reports, “Laureate has stirred controversy throughout Latin America, where it derives two-thirds of its revenue.” During Bill Clinton’s tenure as Laureate’s chancellor, the school spent over $200 million a year on aggressive telemarketing, flashy Internet banner ads, and billboards designed to lure often unprepared students from impoverished countries to enroll in its for-profit classes. The goal: get as many students, regardless of skill level, signed up and paying tuition. | {
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Radical movements in music, art, and fashion were founded in these French capital squats, but the government is clamping down
Text Peter Yeung
Halfway up the hideously steep Rue de Ménilmontant, a hip boulevard in the former working class Belleville neighbourhood of Paris, lies the depressing remains of the legendary La Miroiterie squat. Metal fences block off the entrance to what was once a venue for some of the city’s most radical art and transgressive parties. In 2014, the site was sold to property developers and the squatters were forced to leave. Now, it’s been completely demolished, as if it had been bombed, and the two buildings on each side emphasise the glaring void. Construction work will start soon, and the squat will be turned into a collection of boutiques, a luxury spa, and a concert hall – but under the same historic name of La Miroiterie. “It's a terrible shame what has happened there,” Gaspard Delanoë, a veteran squatter and perhaps the most famous figure in the Paris scene, tells Dazed. “We don’t agree with what the city is doing. It will become something bourgeois.”
Photography Peter Yeung
For some, the snuffing out of La Miroiterie was a watershed moment. Once an ambitious, daring home to the city’s avant-garde underground, the Parisian artistic squat, at least in any meaningful form, is almost dead. Over recent years, the Paris city council has moved to, on the one hand, tame the movement by gradually legalising certain squats as city council-approved “places of collective creation” for exhibitions and artist spaces – albeit with caveats, while on the other, ratcheting up laws against illegal squatters. This is all set to escalate under last year’s “Elan Law” which makes evicting squatters easier than ever before – removing the need for two months’ notice of eviction and a rule giving squatters amnesty over winter. A further proposition tabled earlier this year could penalise squatters from inhabiting any kind of building, rather than just homes. “The direction of travel has been of criminalisation and repression, and the ELAN law in France is just one example of that,” says Alexander Vasudevan, a professor at Oxford University that published The Autonomous City, a book on urban squatting in Europe. “At the same time, gentrification, housing market forces and urban governance have put pressure on people occupying properties. They're facing this double-bind.” Legalisation, however, poses a more subtle threat – and one that could in the end be a greater risk to the future of squatting. Paris now has over a dozen former squats which have been turned into legal cultural centres, with the city capitalising on their cultural capital and accelerating gentrification.
Photography Peter Yeung
Back in 1999, a squat was founded by a group of young rebellious artists at 59 Rue de Rivoli, a six-storey 19th century Hausmannian building right in the centre of Paris. It became an icon, known as Rivoli 59, renowned for wild parties and performances. But in 2006, Paris city hall bought the space. The parties stopped, application processes and monthly fees were introduced, and now legal, it is a heavily-beaten path on the tourist trail, attracting 70,000 visitors every year to its 30 resident artists. Whether this has been positive for the artistic community remains the subject of fierce debate. “Rivoli 59 is the best example of villainous artistic squats, with legalisation, transformation into an enormous gallery for tourists, rents to pay and even invitations to politicians,” said a spokesperson for the Squat! collective in Paris. “It’s no longer a squat, not administratively, spiritually or politically.” “The city wants to legalise squats that are clean, tidy, and that are opened to privileged people, and at the same time criminalise those squatters who don't fit within that ideal” –anonymous Paris squat resident Yet squatter Delanoë, one of the three original founders of Rivoli 59, who continues to be a resident, argues it has been for the good. “We don't lose through legalisation,” he says, speaking from his ramshackle studio full of found paintings emblazoned with provocative slogans. “Before our situation was very precarious. We would find a place and then be evicted a few months later. Us artists need a place to work, to rest and reflect.” As a result, a thick wedge has been driven between the squatting community. “The dividing line is framed as between good squatters, who have some kind of cultural cachet, and the bad, often doing so in a way, in the eyes of the state perceived to be illegal,” adds Professor Vasudevan. “Are they being co-opted by the state? Are they pioneers of a new wave of urban regeneration?”
Photography Peter Yeung | {
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Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said the White House isn’t correct by referring to the shooting of unarmed black men by police as a local matter when such incidents have been relatively prominent around the country.
“It's a national conversation. I actually took the local matter to be, maybe because I'm a prosecutor, that it's a state crime, it's a local law enforcement matter from the criminal justice standpoint but it's a national conversation,” Gowdy said on CBS’ “Face The Nation.”
Gowdy said as a prosecutor he usually understands the point of view of law enforcement officers easily, but his friendship with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who’s black, has made him realize the complexity of the issue.
He said there needs to be a wider conversation between white people and people of color about their experiences with the police.
"He has helped me remarkably,” Gowdy said of Scott. “Not just him but also other people of color in my life have helped me understand every interaction I've had with the police has been because I was speeding. I should have had interaction with them.
“I've never been stopped by Capitol police, I don't wear a member pin. He's been stopped wearing a member pin. I am naive to believe that my life experience covers everyone. I have no idea what he sees when he sees blue lights.” | {
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In order to understand today’s global warming, we need to understand how Earth’s temperatures varied in the past. How does the rapid warming we see now compare with past natural climate changes? Also, how long have humans been having an impact on the climate? These are some questions that can be answered through paleoclimate studies. Paleoclimate research uses natural measurements of the Earth’s temperature. Clever scientists are able to estimate how warm or cold the Earth was far back in time, way before we had thermometers.
Readers of this column are probably familiar with some of these paleoclimate techniques that may use ice cores or tree rings to infer temperature variations. A different method that uses plant distribution was a technique used in a very recent study published in Nature. That technique used pollen distribution to get an understanding of where plant species thrived in the past. Those distributions gave them insights about the temperatures. On the surface, it’s pretty straightforward. Tropical plants differ in major ways from plants that live in, say, the tundra. In fact, plants that thrive where I live (Northern USA) differ from plants that populate landscapes further south.
The authors used the pollen of various plants to help determine where they thrived in the deep past. I communicated with Dr. Bryan Shuman, from the University of Wyoming and I asked him why they used pollen. He responded:
Pollen works well as a temperature recorder because plants have specific temperature ranges that they can tolerate. By combining the temperature requirements for dozens of different plants that we can recognize from their pollen, we are able to narrow down the possible temperatures at the location where the pollen was collected.
We use pollen rather than other plant fossils because pollen is widespread each spring and settles to the lake bottom where it is surprisingly resistant to degradation. We wash the samples of lake bottom mud with acids that can dissolve minerals, but the pollen can tolerate it. It lasts up to millions of years with degrading.
Lead author Jeremiah Marsicek, Bryan Shuman, and others collecting mud cores.
What the authors found was very interesting. Using data from 642 sites across North America and Europe, the temperatures they found closely matched those expected from computer simulations. They found that throughout most of the Holocene period (the last ~11,000 years), the Earth was warming very slightly. Only in the last ~2000 years has the Earth been in a cooling period (which probably would have continued except that human emissions of greenhouse gases have now reversed the cooling).
Temperature in North America and Europe over the past 11,000 years based on pollen reconstruction data. Illustration: Marsicek et al. (2018), Nature.
The authors attempted to put the recent warming (last century or so) into context. They found that the recent temperatures are much higher than temperatures over the past 11,000 years. In fact, according to their calculations, 2016 was warmer than 99.41% of all simulated Holocene years.
This finding is profound. First of all, it means that human greenhouse gas emissions were easily able to overturn what should be a natural cooling trend. Second, the warming we have caused is far outside of the natural range. According to Dr. Shuman:
The major significance here is temperature across two continents over the last 11,000 years. The paper provides a geologically long-term perspective on recent temperature changes in the Northern Hemisphere and the ability of climate models, such as the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) models used in the study, to predict the changes. Climate simulations do a strikingly good job of forecasting the changes. I would say it is significant that temperatures of the most recent decade exceed the warmest temperatures of our reconstruction by 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit, having few -- if any -- precedents over the last 11,000 years. Additionally, we learned that the climate fluctuates naturally over the last 11,000 years and would have led to cooling today in the absence of human activity.
People who deny or try to minimize the importance of human-caused climate change will often argue that climate changed naturally in the past. And while that’s true, we know the climate change is now being dominated by what humans are doing. That’s one clear result of this new paper.
We have now pushed the Earth’s environment outside of where it should be. There are consequences for this disruption. Those consequences will include significant sea level rise, changes to rain/drought patterns, acidification of ocean waters, and a warmer atmosphere and ocean. There is still time to stop some of the coming climate change, but we are rapidly running out of time. The longer we delay, the worse things will get. | {
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The annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), will run from May 22 to May 31 in Geneva. So far Taiwan, led by Tsai Ing-wen’s administration, has not received an invitation. Although the deadline for online registration to attend the WHA is already passed on May 8, Tsai’s administration is — or at least appears to be — still bidding hard for participation.
It is the first time in eight years that Taiwan has not been invited to attend the assembly. Facing the question of why WHA hasn’t invited Taiwan yet, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier explained in a way that couldn’t be clearer:
Cross-strait understanding between Taiwan and China has been the basis for the invitation for the Taiwanese representatives as observers since 2009. To my understanding, the understanding hasn’t been reached until now… To my understanding the ‘one China’ policy is a U.N.-wide accepted policy; Beijing is representing the one China.
At a press conference held on May 12, the head of WHO Governing Bodies Timothy Armstrong repeated that the current situation is because of “the absence of a cross-strait understanding.” But to make things look brighter, Armstrong added: “Negotiations are still ongoing. Anything is possible.”
If the WHO representatives could really speak plainly to Taiwan, they might have said this: “Come on, Taiwan. You know we are innocent; don’t push us anymore. Can’t you just reach an understanding with Beijing now rather than keep torturing us? ”
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Unfortunately, Tsai Ing-wen just can’t. Instead of negotiating with an unwavering Beijing, the Tsai administration keeps pressing the WHO, the powerless scapegoat.
Tsai’s office has issued two announcements to call on the WHO to “recognize the fact that Taiwan is an integral part of the global disease prevention system and that the 23 million people of Taiwan have an inalienable right to equal treatment in health.” The announcement further argues, “Health is a human right, and disease prevention transcends national borders. ”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also published a strong statement, expressing “its strong dissatisfaction and great disappointment” to the WHO and condemning the WHO for “bowing to political pressure from a certain member by excluding Taiwan from the WHA.”
In fact, to anyone who is somewhat familiar with the history and evolution of the Cross-Strait Relations between Beijing and Taipei, the current farce is nothing but frustrating déjà vu.
A similar scene and dispute have been played again and again during Chen Shui-bian’s administration from 2000 to 2008. So when Ma Ying-jeou came into the Taiwanese presidential office and helped gain a ticket to participate in the WHA, the Brookings Institution claimed that “Taiwan’s participation—as an ‘observer’ under the name “Chinese Taipei”—at the 62nd WHA” marked “a significant development in Taiwan’s quest for international space.”
Now, whether the international space for Taiwan will shrink to the size it occupied nine years ago is a big question hanging over Tsai’s administration. Will the latest déjà vu be an overture of a new round of cross-strait confrontation? One hopes not. | {
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“Cryptocurrencies are a bubble!”
Surely you’ve heard someone saying that, whether it is an economist or a non-specialist.
Between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, the world experienced an economic moment that became known as a “dot-com bubble”, a name that referred to the proliferation and overvaluation of Internet companies that, for the most part, were ill-founded and planned. On the Nasdaq stock exchange, this overvaluation is very well seen in the chart below, which shows the Nasdaq Composite Index (one of the indexes that measures the valuation of assets) from the late 1990s to the early 2000s.
The Nasdaq Composite Index variation from 1995 to 2010
What happened? “Dot-com” companies were a nonsense? No! Quite the opposite! Today we see the success of several technology and internet-based companies, such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, just to mention a few examples. What happened was that the investors, enthusiastic about a technological innovation with great potential for growth and therefore for financial profit, invested their money in all companies “dot-com” that appeared. This caused the so-called “bubble”. But over time, badly-grounded companies without a solid business model went bankrupt, which has made many investors fall apart. They were learning to invest in this market that until then was unknown.
What is happening today in the cryptocurrencies market is very similar to the “dot-com bubble”. After the pioneer of the crypto (a short term for “cryptocurrencies”) known as Bitcoin, hundreds of new crypto were developed as this new blockchain-based technology gained investor confidence and attracted the so-called “big money” as shown in the chart below. There, we can observe how the crypto listed on coinmarket.com since mid 2013's until the mid 2017’s have increased.
After the overvaluation of Bitcoin and other crypto at the end of 2017, there occurred a similar effect to the “dot-com bubble”, with a sharp decline in market value. Again, the same process happens: investors are enthusiastic about new technology, investing in everything that appears until they themselves realize that most of the assets they are investing have weak foundations. Again, there is a learning of the operation of a new technology and therefore of the new market generated by this technology, which in this case are the crypto and its framework called blockchain. This is evident in the chart below, which shows the value of some crypto (including Bitcoin) in US dollars in the period from mid-2015 to the end of 2018. There is a trend very similar to that of the Nasdaq Composite Index stock chart.
Price in US Dollars of the main crypto avaiable in the market
We can do a more sophisticated statistical analysis with both phenomena (the “dot-com bubble” and the “crypto bubble”) to get a hint about what to expect from the immediate future. Normalizing the both time series of the Nasdaq Composite Index and the price in US Dollars from Bitcoin, and shifting the time period, we obtain the following and very interesting chart shown bellow. I choose the Bitcoin as a referrence for this study because the other crypto have a good correlation and tends to follow the Bitcoin price trends.
There, we observe both peaks from both time series. The maximum value of the Nasdaq Composite Index occurs in december of 1999, while the max of Bitcoin occurs in december of 2017. The Nasdaq index starts in 1995, while the Bitcoin price in 2013. The resulting chart reiterates what I stated above, concerning the similarities between both market phenomena.
When plotted in a scattered chart for this shifted time period, we observe a strong linear correlation between the Nasdaq Composite Index and the USD price of Bitcoin. Evaluating the correlation coefficient, we obtain a correlation of about 88,40%! This result sustain the hypothesis that both economic moments are pretty similar in nature.
“But then answer me at once: are crypto a bubble, or are they not?”
No! Quite the opposite. What will happen is that, just as many crypto have been created, many will disappear over time because they have no foundations or a consistent business model. There is no way to know exactly which ones will persist in the market and which ones will disappear. However, some analysis may be done to suspect that a crypto is indeed a shitcoin. The fundamentals and principles must always be analyzed before any hasty decision, prevailing rule number one of investments: | {
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Enorme conmoción causó en la Policía la detención de un hijo y un sobrino de un alto jefe policial, a quienes se los acusa de asaltar a una mujer que caminaba por barrio San Jorge y huir en moto.
Se trata de los adolescentes Fabricio Chirichián (19) y Miqueas Andrada (18), hijo y sobrino de Fabián Chirichián, jefe de Seguridad Capital Sur, principal colaborador del jefe de la fuerza, Julio Suárez.
La detención se concretó el jueves a la noche, después de las 23, luego de que una mujer denunciara que fue asaltada por motochoros en bario San Jorge. Los jóvenes iban en una Gilera Smash y los uniformados que los detuvieron secuestraron la cartera arrebatada a la mujer. El fiscal Marcelo Hidalgo confirmó que ambos jóvenes están imputados por “robo”, y al cierre de esta edición seguían detenidos.
El hijo de Chirichián está encerrado en un calabozo de la comisaría 13ª, según confirmó la Policía, que no dio mayores detalles del caso. Sí avisó que el adolescente no tendría antecedentes penales o contravencionales.
De acuerdo con la denuncia, tres mujeres caminaban por barrio San Jorge cuando los dos jóvenes aparecieron en la moto y arrebataron la cartera a una de ellas. Un móvil policial salió en persecución de los arrebatadores, atrapándolos metros más adelante, en calle Joaquín Montaña.
Chirichián hijo fue reconocido en rueda de personas por una damnificado como un presunto “motochoro” y está a disposición de la Justicia.
Se investiga si éste fue el primer robo de los primos o si habían asaltado a otras personas en la zona.
No se informó si el comisario Chirichián tomaría licencia o daría un paso al costado por el impacto que le provocó. | {
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It’s been popular in the past ten years (or so) to describe Jesus as nothing more than a “retelling” of prior “dying and rising” gods such as Horus or Osiris. Skeptics who make such claims typically describe a number of shared characteristics in an effort to highlight the similarities between Jesus and prior mythologies. Perhaps the most persuasive case of potential mythological “borrowing” is found in claims related to Mithras, the ancient mythological deity worshipped in Persia four hundred years prior to Jesus (and worshipped continually throughout the first four or five centuries of this millennia in Rome, right alongside those who worshipped Jesus). Jesus “mythers” claim Mithras was born of a virgin, in a cave, on December 25th, and his birth was attended by shepherds. Mithras was considered a great traveling teacher and master. He had twelve companions (or disciples) and promised his followers immortality. Mithras performed miracles and sacrificed himself for world peace. He was buried in a tomb and after three days rose again. His followers celebrated this event each year at the time of Mithras’ resurrection (and this date later became “Easter”). Mithras was called the “Good Shepherd,” was identified with both the Lamb and the Lion, and was considered to be the “Way, the Truth and the Light,” the “Logos,” the “Redeemer,” the “Savior” and the “Messiah.” His followers celebrated Sunday as His sacred day (also known as the “Lord’s Day,”) and they celebrated a Eucharist or “Lord’s Supper”. Mithras, by this description, sounds a lot like Jesus doesn’t he?
Most young Christians discover claims such as these while surfing the Internet or sitting in classes as university students. Atheists like Richard Carrier and David Fitzgerald have written extensively about such comparisons. But while there are a number of pre-Christian mythologies with dying saviors, none are similar to Jesus in any significant way, including the Mithraic mystery religions of Persia and Rome. A significant portion of what we just described about Mithras is simply false. There are two distinct and non-continuous traditions related to Mithras, one coming out of the areas of India and Iran, and another, centuries later in Roman times. Many skeptics have struggled to try to connect these as one continuous tradition, and in so doing, have distorted or misinterpreted the basic elements of the tradition and mythology. Much of what is presumed about Mithras comes from ancient, caption-less pictures and murals, so the vast majority of scholarly work on Mithras is pure speculation. Let’s take a look at the claims we have already described and separate truth from fiction (for another examination of Mithras and many other alleged Christian precursors, please visit David Anderson’s excellent website. I’ve also done much research on Mithras from the texts listed at the end of this blog post):
Claim: Mithras was born of a virgin on December 25th, in a cave, attended by shepherds
Truth: Mithras was actually born out of solid rock, leaving a hole in the side of a mountain (presumably described as a “cave”). He was not born of a virgin (unless you consider the rock mountain to have been a virgin). His birth was celebrated on December 25th, but the first Christians knew this was not the true date of Christ’s birth anyway, and both Mithraic worshippers and the early Roman Church borrowed this celebration from earlier winter solstice celebrations. Shepherds are part of Mithraism, witnessing his birth and helping Mithras emerge from the rock, but interestingly, the shepherds exist in the birth chronology at a time when humans are not supposed to have been yet born. This, coupled with the fact the earliest version of this part of the Mithraic mythology emerges one hundred years after the appearance of the New Testament, infers it is far more likely this portion of Mithraism was borrowed from Christianity rather than the other way around.
Claim: Mithras was considered a great traveling teacher and master
Truth: There is nothing in the Mithraic tradition indicating he was a teacher of any kind, but he was could have been considered a master of sorts. This would not be unexpected of any deity, however. Most mythologies describe their gods in this way.
Claim: Mithras had 12 companions or disciples
Truth: There is no evidence for any of this in the traditions of Iran or Rome. It is possible the idea Mithras had 12 disciples is simply derived from murals in which Mithras is surrounded by twelve signs and personages of the Zodiac (two of whom are the moon and the sun). Even this imagery is post Christian, and, therefore, did not contribute to the imagery of Christianity (although it could certainly have borrowed from Christianity).
Claim: Mithras promised his followers immortality
Truth: While there is little evidence for this, it is certainly reasonable to think Mithras might have offered immortality, as this is not uncommon for any God of mythology.
Claim: Mithras performed miracles
Truth: Of course this is true, as this too was not uncommon for mythological characters.
Claim: Mithras sacrificed himself for world peace
Truth: There is little or no evidence this is true, although there is a story about Mithras slaying a threatening bull in a heroic deed. But that’s about as close as it gets.
Claim: Mithras was buried in a tomb and after three days rose again, and Mithras was celebrated each year at the time of His resurrection (later to become Easter)
Truth: There is nothing in the Mithraic tradition indicating he ever even died, let alone resurrected. Tertullian did write about Mithraic believers re-enacting resurrection scenes, but he wrote about this occurring well after New Testament times. Christianity could not, therefore, have borrowed from Mithraic traditions, but the opposite could certainly be true.
Claim: Mithras was called “the Good Shepherd”, and was identified with both the Lamb and the Lion
Truth: There is no evidence that Mithras was ever called “the Good Shepherd” or identified with a lamb, but since Mithras was a sun-god, there was an association with Leo (the House of the Sun in Babylonian astrology), so one might say he was associated with a Lion. But once again, all of this evidence is actually post New Testament; Mithraic believers may once again have borrowed this attribute from Christianity.
Claim: Mithras was considered to be the “Way, the Truth and the Light,” and the “Logos,” “Redeemer,” “Savior” and “Messiah.”
Truth: Based on the researched and known historic record of the Mithraic traditions, none of these terms has ever been applied to Mithras with the exception of “mediator”. But this term was used in a very different from how Christians used the term. Mithras was not the mediator between God and man but the mediator between the good and evil gods of Zoroaster.
Claim: Mithraic believers celebrated Sunday as Mithras’ sacred day (also known as the “Lord’s Day,”)
Truth: This tradition of celebrating Sunday is only true of Mithraic believers in Rome and it is a tradition that dates to post Christian times. Once again, it is more likely to have been borrowed from Christianity than the other way around.
Claim: Mithraic believers celebrated a Eucharist or “Lord’s Supper”
Truth: Followers of Mithras did not celebrate a Eucharist, but they did celebrate a fellowship meal regularly, just as did many other groups in the Roman world.
From this quick examination of the Mithraic comparisons, it should be obvious Mithras isn’t much like Jesus after all. It’s not unusual for the characteristics of ancient pre-Christian deities to be exaggerated in an effort to make them sound like Jesus. The first step in refuting such claims is to simply investigate the attributes carefully. Beyond this, we must also recognize the expectations and yearnings people have related to the existence of God. The Bible rightly describes this yearning and the innate knowledge each of us has related to God’s existence (Romans 1:18-20 and 2:12-16). We shouldn’t be surprised ancient people (created in the image of God) would think deeply about the nature of this God. Many alleged similarities between pre-Christian mythologies and Jesus are extremely general in nature and would be expected from anyone considering the existence of a Divine Creator. Primitive cultures interested in God’s nature reasoned He would have the ability to perform miracles, teach humans and form disciples. These universal expectations fail to invalidate the historicity of Jesus. As Paul recognized on Mars Hill (Acts 17:22-31), men thought deeply about the nature of God prior to His arrival as Jesus. Sometimes they imagined the details correctly, sometimes they didn’t.
In the end, similarities between Jesus and mythological precursors fail to invalidate the historicity of Jesus. The historical veracity of Jesus is determined from the evidence supporting the reliability of the eyewitness accounts. Jesus is not simply a retelling of Mithraic mythology. While Mithras is no longer worshiped, Christianity continues to thrive. Why? Because the Christian records are reliable. Skeptics sometimes portray Mithras as something he isn’t in order to keep us from believing in Jesus as something He is. But the reliable Biblical record establishes the Deity of Jesus in a way no other ancient mythological text could ever hope to achieve.
For more information about the reliability of the New Testament gospels and the case for Christianity, please read Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels. This book teaches readers ten principles of cold-case investigations and applies these strategies to investigate the claims of the gospel authors. The book is accompanied by an eight-session Cold-Case Christianity DVD Set (and Participant’s Guide) to help individuals or small groups examine the evidence and make the case.
J. Warner Wallace is a Dateline featured Cold-Case Detective, Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Adj. Professor of Christian Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, author of Cold-Case Christianity, God’s Crime Scene, and Forensic Faith, and creator of the Case Makers Academy for kids.
Subscribe to J. Warner’s Daily Email
Note: For more information about Mithraism, refer to three important volumes related to the Mithraic Cult. These later works are far more reliable than 19th century scholarship (often cited by skeptics who claim Jesus is a retelling of Mithras): The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries (Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World) by David Ulansey (Oxford University Press, 1989), Mithras, the Secret God by M. J. Vermaseren (Barnes and Noble Publishers, 1963), and Mithraic Studies (Proceedings of the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies – 2 Volumes) edited by John R Hinnells (Manchester University Press, 1975).
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An eight-year-old Utah girl required 27 stitches after she had her tear ducts ripped out by the family's pet pit bull after it mauled her for a second time when her mom refused to turn it in to the authorities.
The brutal attack took place on June 13 this year when 26-year-old Kayla Price's pit bull Zeus set upon on her daughter, according to the Sun, and lacerated her cheek, chin, and eyes before he was stopped and hauled away.
The young girl was left needing 27 stitches to treat the damage, with doctors stating that not only were her tear ducts were permanently damaged, but that she was likely to be physically scarred for life as well.
A probable cause statement filed in connection to the case obtained by Gephardt Daily reads, "(The) victim — an 8-year-old girl — was bitten by the family pit bull. She was taken to the hospital where she received 27 stitches on her cheek, on her chin, and around her eye. The injuries have left scarring and possible permanent damage to the tear ducts."
It also stated that this was not an isolated incident of aggression from the pit bull and that the dog had previously attacked another victim as well.
"This is at least the second time that the dog has bitten a victim on the face," the statement said. "The dog has bit other children in the past as well, yet the defendant insists on bringing the dog back into the family home."
Speaking about the case, Springville Police Chief Craig Martinez said, "We felt the evidence showed a little bit of neglect and that this had happened once before and that no plan of action was taken and nothing was changed."
"We respond to dog bites all the time," he continued. "Usually you see it once. It doesn’t usually happen again with the same animal and the same child or children. In this case, the second time was too much."
Zeus has since been euthanized, and Price has been charged with child abuse -- infliction of serious physical injury recklessly, a third-degree felony, and allowing a vicious animal to go at large, a class B misdemeanor -- in connection to the incident.
For reasons currently unclear, her case was moved from one Utah County Courthouse to another, and she will be facing a 4th District Court judge in American Fork rather than Provo.
If you have a news scoop or an interesting story for us, please reach out at (323) 421-7514 | {
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BSV Falls 13% After Binance Reveals Plans to Delist the Coin
On April 15, Binance announced that the trading platform will be delisting bitcoin SV (BSV). The removal follows the tendentious actions of Craig Wright over the last few weeks in which the BSV creator has sent libel lawsuit warnings to well-known digital currency proponents. Since the announced delisting, the price of BSV has fallen by more than 13%.
Also read: Bitcoiners’ Seastead in Deep Trouble With Thai Government
Binance Plans to Delist BSV on April 22
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has decided to delist the BSV cryptocurrency. The news follows recent legal threats stemming from Craig Wright’s team of litigators who are demanding an apology from various prominent digital currency enthusiasts. The first person to receive a letter was an online persona known as Hodlonaut, the creator of the Lightning Torch. According to the letter, Hodlonaut called Wright a fraud and the team is expecting an apology or plans to sue for libel.
The letter claims Wright is Satoshi and that people who are calling him a fraud are participating in slander. Moreover, a Coingeek article details there is a $5,000 bounty for anyone who identifies Hodlonaut. Following this letter, and admission of these legal actions by BSV supporter Calvin Ayre and his publication Coingeek, lots of crypto proponents defended Hodlonaut. Then, on April 11, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted that “Craig Wright is not Satoshi” and promised if there were any more lawsuit threats the exchange would delist BSV.
BSV Price Drops 13% Following the Announcement
Following the Hodlonaut incident, podcaster Peter McCormack was also sent a letter from Wright’s legal team. McCormack published his letter, which read similarly to Hodlonaut’s, including the same demand for an apology. The podcaster replied to Wright’s lawyers with a formal response and stated he hopes to resolve the issue “quickly and efficiently.”
However, McCormack refused to apologize and stated that he does not believe Wright is Satoshi. In addition to McCormack, it is rumored that a letter was sent to Ethereum’s inventor Vitalik Buterin as well. Then, on April 15, Binance published a blog post stating that it would be delisting BSV for various reasons. Following the announcement, BSV dropped by 13.4% in value to a low of $61.37 while most other digital assets have been seeing decent gains. Binance has decided to delist the coin based on the “level and quality of development activity” and “evidence [of] unethical/fraudulent conduct” among other reasons. Binance further stated:
Based on our most recent reviews, we have decided to delist and cease trading on all trading pairs for the following coin on 2019/04/22 at 10:00 AM UTC: Bitcoin SV.
For years now Wright has claimed he is the person behind the Satoshi Nakamoto moniker, an assertion he has emphasized more brazenly in multiple blog posts over the last few weeks. However, Wright’s claims and all of the proofs he has provided have been widely debunked on various occasions. After the BSV delisting announcement, CZ published a long thread of tweets describing why he thinks Wright is “a fraud.”
“The real Satoshi can digitally sign any message to prove it — This is as simple as breathing for him/her,” CZ noted. Meanwhile, the San Francisco exchange Kraken has asked the crypto community if they should delist BSV and Shapeshift CEO Erik Voorhees revealed that Shapeshift will follow Binance and delist BSV within 48 hours.
What do you think about Binance delisting BSV on April 22? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Binance logo, Twitter, and Markets.Bitcoin.com.
Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. | {
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LIMA, Peru — Trade between China and Peru, a key U.S. ally in the regional drug war, is at a new high. Now the Chinese defense industry is getting in on the action.
Military officials from Beijing increasingly are making high-level visits, pushing initiatives to protect Chinese nationals and companies here and, in some instances, undermining U.S. arms deals in order to sell their own weapons to this resource-rich Andean nation.
Last month, for example, the Peruvian Defense Ministry canceled a $114 million contract with a consortium that included U.S. defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman after a Chinese company convinced officials that the deal did not meet technical specifications.
Peruvian officials awarded the contract in February to the Triad consortium consisting of Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Polish Bumar Group and the Northrop Group to provide an air defense system.
Russia’s Rosoboronexport and a consortium of Chinese defense manufacturers also bid for the contract.
Triad won, but the state-owned China Precision Machinery Import Export Corp. (CPMIEC) applied enough pressure to derail the multimillion-dollar deal, according to Defensa.com, a trade magazine that cited unnamed Peruvian officials.
“This contract cancellation shows that the Chinese contractors are becoming more sophisticated players in the Latin America arms market,” said R. Evan Ellis, an assistant professor at National Defense University in Washington. “They are applying tactics such as legal protests against winning bids, long used by sophisticated Western defense contractors in procurement battles over major weapon systems.”
Asked about CPMIEC’s role in derailing the Triad contract, Rafael spokesman Rudoy Ravit said it would be “inappropriate to respond or comment at this time.”
A Northrop Grumman spokeswoman referred questions to the Peruvian Defense Ministry. A person answering the phones in the ministry’s press office said that, because of an ongoing change in defense ministers, no press representative was available to take questions.
Anti-U.S. army leaders
Defense industry analysts in Peru say Russia is the largest overall vendor, but CPMIEC is one of several Chinese companies well known to defense officials.
In 2009, CPMIEC sold the Peruvian army a number of portable air defense systems, according to contracts obtained in 2010 by the Peruvian newspaper La Republica.
Two other state-owned Chinese companies - China North Industries Corp., known as Norinco, and Poly Technologies - helped China sell $34 million worth of arms and equipment to Peru, making it the country’s largest supplier that year.
The contracts show that the Peruvian army negotiated the purchase of a batch of MBT 2000 Chinese-made tanks valued at $1.4 billion and meant to replace T55 Soviet-built tanks acquired during Peru’s military dictatorship.
But the sale, according to a monitor of Chinese defense issues in Latin America, never materialized because a Ukrainian contractor either could not produce needed parts for the tanks or fell under pressure from Russia not to do so.
Luis Giacoma, a former instructor at the Peruvian army’s and navy’s intelligence schools, said the army is more politically powerful and more anti-U.S. than the other military branches. He also said China’s increasing investment and trade influence are likely leading to increased pressure on Peru’s defense officials to look hard at Beijing’s military offerings.
“The navy and air force tend to favor relations with the U.S.,” he said. “But the army leadership is vehemently anti-U.S. and favors links with China and Russia.”
President Ollanta Humala, a populist leader whose father is a communist activist, is a former army colonel. In November, his defense minister, Daniel Mora, signed a memorandum of understanding with Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission.
“The current bilateral relations between China and Peru are at one of the best moments in history,” Gen. Guo told reporters during the meeting in Lima. “We emphasize the development of relations between the two states and between both armed forces.”
Increasing investments
Gen. Guo said the countries’ militaries have deepened ties with “frequent high-level visits.”
Mr. Mora, now a congressman, said he doesn’t think Peruvian officials will start favoring Chinese arms makers because of the communist nation’s growing economic influence.
“Chinese armaments have not had particular prestige internationally,” he said. “But they are improving on them and are eager to put their products out to the world, just like any other country.”
Since a free-trade agreement between the two countries took effect in 2010, China has replaced the U.S. as Peru’s largest export market. It also has become Peru’s largest investor in mining projects, some of which have provoked protests from indigenous groups complaining of social and environmental exploitation.
Mr. Giacoma said that 17 Chinese intelligence officials met last year with their Peruvian counterparts at the Peruvian army’s headquarters.
“I’ve been told they discussed Chinese arms sales and plans on how to ensure the security of Chinese workers and investments,” he said.
Mr. Ellis said in an email that the growing physical presence of Chinese companies in the region “will force [China] to confront challenges that others doing business there have long faced: management-labor relations, negotiations with local governments, opposition by environmentalists and local communities, and physical security, among others.”
He noted that, in Colombia, Chinese officials are working with their security counterparts to secure the release of Chinese oil workers kidnapped last June. He also cited a case in Honduras where the government is using the armed forces to provide security for the Chinese company Sinohydro, which is building the Patuca III hydroelectric project.
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“[I want to be a hunter] because my dad is a hunter. Being a hunter was the most important thing in the world to my dad, and I want to know why.”
– Gon Freecss, Hunter x Hunter (Ep.01)
The Toonami Trending Rundown for April 16-17, 2016. Back in 2002, a little show named Yu Yu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi made its debut on Cartoon Network and during the 4 years it aired (whether it was on Adult Swim or Toonami), it had become one of the most popular and acclaimed anime of its time. Flash forward to today, and Togashi’s next work, Hunter x Hunter, has made its debut on the better cartoon show.
In regards to social media buzz, only 3 shows, Dimension W, Hunter x Hunter, and Samurai Champloo managed to trend this week (though we were able to get tweet counts for every show save for Parasyte). With the NBA and the Stanley Cup playoffs underway among other things, Toonami getting its slice of the social media pie is not easy. On the other hand, #HunterXHunter had trended during a good portion of the block’s duration, including during the West Coast airing, making sure Hunter x Hunter would begin its run on Toonami on a good note.
Many Toonami fans, myself included, have had fond memories of Yu Yu Hakusho back in the day. Can lightning strike twice and will Hunter x Hunter be a Toonami classic in of itself? We’ll find out in the next 147 episodes and possible sequels ahead (the manga is still ongoing and just recently returned from a hiatus). Until next week, stay gold as always.
[divider]
Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.
United States Trends:
#DimensionW [#24]
[#24] #HunterXHunter (Also during the West Coast airing) [#5]
(Also during the West Coast airing) [#5] #SamuraiChamploo [#25]
Tweet Counts:
#Toonami [4,684 tweets]
#DBZKai [1,793 tweets]
[1,793 tweets] #DimensionW [2,404 tweets]
[2,404 tweets] #HunterXHunter [8,175 tweets]
[8,175 tweets] # SamuraiChamploo [1,212 tweets]
[1,212 tweets] Naruto [34.3k tweets]
#OnePiece [6,388 tweets]
We’re Gonna Need Everyone to Win This Fight. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network. | {
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Mining stocks have taken a hammering on world markets after the price of iron ore – Australia’s biggest export – posted the biggest one-day fall in over four years.
Figures showing an 18% fall in Chinese exports in February amplified fears of a slowdown in the world’s No. 2 economy, sending raw material prices plunging.
Iron ore for immediate delivery to China fell 8.3% to $104.70 a tonne, its largest one-day percentage fall in four and a half years, data compiled by The Steel Index shows.
Iron ore is a key ingredient in steelmaking and is the top revenue earner for Australia’s large mining concerns, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
The spot price has fallen 22% this year and the companies took a battering during Monday’s trading sessions in Sydney and London as investors weighed the impact on their profitability.
The Australian listings fared a bit better on Tuesday. After a sharp fall in the morning, Rio was up 1.16% at $61.91 and BHP was down fractionally at $36.14.
The disappointing China trade data weighed on other commodities, including copper and oil, although China’s imports of most were up on the year. The weak exports suggested China’s commodity import demand could shrivel in coming months as end-users draw down swollen inventories.
“Any poor news from China is always going to hit short-term market sentiment, especially in the mining sector, and fears of slower growth will hit base metals,” said IPR Capital director Steven Mayne in New York.
China’s exports fell 18.1 per cent in February from a year ago, when the market had been expecting an increase. The dismal numbers followed a series of factory surveys since the start of 2014 that have pointed to weakness in economic activity as demand has faltered at home and abroad.
Steel demand in China, the world’s biggest consumer and producer, has been weak since the start of the year as a slowing economy curbs demand for the building material.
Construction activity, which typically picks up from March, is unlikely to spur a strong recovery in demand for steel as Beijing pursues economic expansion that is driven less by investment and more by domestic consumption.
The sustained slide in steel prices suggests more downside risk for iron ore, traders said.
“Mills are more reluctant to buy iron ore in this situation, and we will see iron ore continue to drop in the next few days. We may break $100 in a very short time,” another trader in Shanghai said.
A slump in iron ore to a three-year low of $86.70 in September 2012 shut many high-cost mines in China and forced global miners to rethink expansion and focus on cost cuts.
The price slide comes after stockpiles of imported iron ore at Chinese ports rose to a fresh record of 105 million tonnes on Friday, data from industry consultancy Steelhome shows.
In February China’s iron ore imports rose 11.9 per cent from a year earlier to 63.2 million tonnes, but were still down from a record high of 86.8 million tonnes in January.
The sustained increase in stockpiles reflected arrivals of iron ore contracted by Chinese mills under long-term deals, traders said, as well as its growing use as a loan collateral in tight credit conditions. | {
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Cupertino, California — Apple today opened registration for a series of new art-based Today at Apple augmented reality (AR) experiences , called [AR]T, offered at Apple Stores around the world. The three new sessions include an interactive walk featuring works by some of the world’s premier contemporary artists, an in-store session that teaches the basics of creating AR using Swift Playgrounds and an AR art installation viewable in every Apple Store worldwide.
To create the sessions Apple invited the New Museum, a leading destination for contemporary art in New York, to select seven artists — Nick Cave, Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, Cao Fei, John Giorno, Carsten Höller and Pipilotti Rist — to participate in an experiential project that is free to the public.
“Today at Apple offers a window into the creative arts made possible by our products and customers,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People. “We hope attendees are inspired by the incredible AR creations in the [AR]T Walk and in-store installation, and we can’t wait to see what our visitors learn to create in the [AR]T Lab.” | {
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20th Century Fox rolled out four of its most promising film offerings for 2017 — a darker-yet-again take on its “Wolverine” franchise, a terrifying reboot of the 1979 space thriller “Alien,” a “Planet of the Apes” sequel that promises extra pathos and humor, and a psychological horror flick from the maker of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films.
The four films highlight a slate that will be the first under Stacey Snider, the new chairman of the studio’s film operation, though the films were put into production when Jim Gianopulos still headed the studio.
Introducing the latest of the Wolverine films, “Logan,” was director James Mangold, who said that star Hugh Jackman was only ready for another go as the slashing, tormented protagonist if he had a chance to do something really different. The studio showed 42 minutes of the super-charged, super-dark film Wednesday, but embargoed any plot reveals or reviews.
Mangold said that he meant the film to appeal to grown-up audiences, saying adults want more than they usually get from standard comic book fare. “I am feeling a kind of exhaustion” watching most super-hero films, Mangold said. He said he designed the latest film as a mash up of “‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ with Marvel characters and violence.”
Fans in the audience at the Zanuck Theater on the Fox lot, and on social media, seemed mostly won over by what a few dubbed as the “old man Logan” movie, with Jackman protecting a young girl who is a clone of his character, as they are pursued by a secret cabal of evil-doers.
Fox rolled out its latest “Planet of the Apes” offering with a series of clips, the film’s first trailer and an introduction from director Matt Reeves, returning to the franchise for the third time. “War for the Planet of the Apes” is the eighth re-conceiving since the 1968 original and the third reboot of the recent series that began in 2011.
It again features Caesar, played by Andy Serkis, the once kindly ape who has turned increasingly against the humans who have driven their primate cousins to the edge of extinction. Caesar has a crisis of conscious when confronted with evidence of the abundant suffering of both humans and apes, as both species are driven to the brink. Reeves said new characters will be introduced — including Steve Zahn as a chimp liberated from a zoo — who will bring new humor and emotion to what is essentially a war movie.
“The movie has heightened everything and we have a tremendous amount of humor,” said Reeves, “which you haven’t had in either of the previous films.”
The latest “Apes” sequel is set to open July 14 and also stars Woody Harrelson and Judy Greer. Reeves said that Harrelson feared that playing a CGI-generated character meant that he would not have other actors to play against. The actor wondered if would have to run his lines past a “tennis ball.”
But the three clips shown by Fox demonstrated the film in all stages of development, with the actors able to fully-relate as they played out the scenes in their motion-capture suits. The director said the New Zealand-based technology wizards at WETA had improved the technology so much since the last sequel that the ability to convey actors’ emotions was “leagues above” what it was just three years ago.
Fox has high hopes for the third offering in the current cycle, as box office take jumped substantially from 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” to 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” The former made $482 million in worldwide box office on a production budget of $93 million, while “Dawn” brought in a whopping $711 million worldwide, on a production budget of $170 million.
The jump in technological wizardry that aided Reeves was even more evident in director Ridley Scott’s new look “Alien: Covenant,” which arrives May 19, nearly four decades after the 1979 original with Sigourney Weaver.
This generation’s aliens appear to be decades more slippery, relentless and unnerving than the 20th century originals. Katherine Waterston, the actress who takes on the Sigourney-esque role of “Daniels” in the current iteration, credited director Scott with keeping the set loose and giving the actors a lot of rein.
Waterston said Scott generally only wanted a couple of takes and that the actors were aided in imagining the CGI alien creepers by the use of puppets. “Then it was off for dinner,” she said with a laugh.
“Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski brought the most original of the four films featured in the Fox showcase. “A Cure for Wellness,” is based on a story written by Verbinski and Justin Haythe, beginning with a bit of New York corporate intrigue before quickly shifting to a mysterious “wellness center” in the Swiss Alps.
Verbinski said he found the horror genre “very liberating,” allowing a dive into deep themes revolving around the very nature of consciousness. The film — starring Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs and Mia Goth, is due to be released Feb. 17. | {
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My story, posted just now:
President Barack Obama's controversial pick for a top intelligence post blasted the "Israel lobby" on his way out the door Tuesday, intensifying a debate on the role Israel's allies played in the latest failed Obama appointment.
Charles W. Freeman Jr.'s abrupt withdrawal from his appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council came after he drew fire on a number of fronts - including questions about his financial ties to China and Saudi Arabia.
But the most heated opposition came from supporters of Israel - and Freeman's departure shows Obama's reluctance to signal a dramatic change to a U.S. policy in the Middle East that centers on standing beside Israel.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Obama jettisoned aides and backed off statements that appeared to imply a change in the Bush Administration's firm support for hawkish Israeli governments.
As president, Obama dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Middle East last week with a tough message for the Palestinians, saying it was hard for Israel to make peace with people who are hurling rockets into their country.
And the attacks on Freeman, in the end, hinged primarily on the question of Israel, something the Democratic senators who helped break the back of the nomination Tuesday made clear.
"His statements against Israel were way over the top and severely out of step with the administration," said Senator Chuck Schumer in a statement. "I repeatedly urged the White House to reject him, and I am glad they did the right thing."
Hours before the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, expressed his "regret" at Freeman's withdrawal, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) told Blair he was concerned about "statements that [Freeman]'s made that appear either to be inclined to lean against Israel or too much in favor of China."
In particular, Freeman has described "Israeli violence against Palestinians" as a key barrier to Mideast peace, and referred to violence in Tibet last year - widely seen in the United States as a revolt against Chinese occupation - as a "race riot."
Freeman left no doubt about where he places blame in a written statement after his withdrawal.
"The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired, still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in the Middle East," he wrote.
"The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth."
Freeman's departure echoed moments during last year's presidential campaign when Obama - generally willing to ignore the daily political tempests - abandoned aides and advisers who drew strong, persistent criticism on the question of Israel, which became, in the politics of the presidential campaign, a proxy issue for more general toughness on Islamic terrorism.
He forced an informal advisor, former Clinton administration peace negotiator Rob Malley, to resign after he met with Hamas officials on behalf of the International Crisis Group. And he distanced himself from Carter National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, who had been, briefly, a high-profile campaign figure. Later Obama, asked about his views on Israel, dismissed Brzezinski as "not one of my key advisers." | {
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Youth Club Championship Program
Seven Hills Ultimate Club will be adding a summer program that will be competing in August at USA Ultimate's Youth Club Championships. If you have some questions about this or us being a USAU Affiliate, you might find the answers below. If not, email us at [email protected]
FAQ:
What does as USAU affiliation mean?
USAU affiliation means the Seven Hills program gets better and more affordable insurance. Our coaches also get more access to on field and safe sport training. We as program will also be able to apply for the YCC tournament in the summertime.
How does this affect the winter program?
For the most part nothing changes. Players and coaches will be getting USAU memberships, but all is covered in the season fee.
What does this mean for YCC and the summer?
A USAU affiliation gives Seven Hills a higher priority when placing a bid for YCC. Still Seven Hills is a much smaller organization than DiscNW. DiscNW was able to submit 5 bids, provide 3 coaches per team, transportation, food, and many other things to make the YCC experience special. We are working right now with our budget to make sure our athletes have what they need and YCC is accessible.
Do you have to play Seven Hills’ winter program to play YCC?
Nope, we will still have tryouts. The winter program will be a valuable chance for athletes to get strong training and for our coaches to gain good insight to them as players and people. In the future this may change.
Is there a YCC tryout date set? When is the season? How many practices? When is the tournament?
March 22nd, times and locations TBD. We will start practices the week of June 1st. We plan on having two practices a week, with some time off around the 4th of July. The tournament is August 1-3rd in Blaine Minnesota. Here is more information about the tournament: http://usopen.usaultimate.org/ycc-u20/
What does this mean for Seven Hills relations with DiscNW?
We love DiscNW and we are committed to helping grow youth ultimate in Washington. All three of the Seven Hills’ owners grew up playing Ultimate through DiscNW and want to continue collaborating with DiscNW to growth the sport.
How many teams will 7hills send to YCC?
We are submitting bids for 4 teams, U20 boys (open), U20 girls (Gx), U17 boys (open), and U17 girls (Gx). This was a hard decision and tricky as one of our goals in to not grow too fast too soon and to stay within our scope.
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Biden campaign senior adviser Symone Sanders had a heated clash with MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing on Friday about the Democratic frontrunner's sudden reversal on the Hyde Amendment, declaring "we're not going to allow the press the dictate our policy rollout.”
Jansing began by asking Sanders if former Vice President Joe Biden "caved to pressure" in withdrawing his support for the Hyde Amendment, which outlaws federal funding for abortions, late Thursday after his campaign confirmed his support for the amendment on Wednesday. Sanders laughed at the question.
"I think what you heard from the vice president last night was one, the truth, but two, a forceful defense of Roe," Sanders said, "a forceful and very plain understanding and, frankly, cattle call in saying to everyone, broadcasting to everyone not just in that room but across the country, that we have to understand that one- Roe is the law of the land..."
"But that's not the question," Jansing jumped in. "The question was not about Roe v Wade where his position is clear and consistent with the rest of the Democratic candidates, it's about the Hyde Amendment and before this reversal..."
Sanders, a former CNN commentator, then out-shouted Jansing, rejecting the notion that it was a "reversal" by saying she was with Biden "all day yesterday" and that they had a "thoughtful conversation" about access and health care.
"We are not in the business of allowing the press to dictate our policy rollout," Sanders told Jansing. "For weeks, we have been having a thoughtful conversation within our campaign about pending health care policy, a part of that conversation, yes, has to do with the Hyde Amendment...."
Jansing grilled Sanders, telling her "the facts behind this position that [Biden] held for 40 years... have not changed."
"Is your position then that somebody with his experience, his years in the Senate, his years as Vice President did not understand for those 40 years that the Hyde Amendment disproportionately affected poor women and women of color?" Jansing asked.
"Chris, that is absolutely not my position," Sanders responded before reiterating the "thoughtful conversation" has had.
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“We’re not going to preview our campaign strategy and not allow the press the dictate our policy rollout," the Biden advisor continued. "The vice president is not someone that will just go with the wind with my friends on the left. If that's the case, you would have probably heard him come out last night in favor of Medicare-for-all... He is someone who is authentic in his beliefs and I just really think- I'm concerned that folks are editorializing his religious beliefs..."
"I'm not sure how him answering the questions saying he continued to support the Hyde Amendment and less than two days later coming out and saying something different... is the press dictating his rollout," Jansing shot back.
MSNBC isn't the only liberal news network that is hammering the Biden campaign over his jarring shift on the Hyde Amendment. CNN anchor Brianna Keilar grilled Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield with a similar line of questioning. | {
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WikiLeaks' most recent document dump is timed and targeted — once again — to help Donald Trump.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, WikiLeaks played an active role in publishing documents to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump. And with the most recent document dump, it is continuing to help Trump now that he is occupying the White House.
Releasing what it calls "Vault 7 Part 1" on Tuesday, March 7th, WikiLeaks published a number of documents from an unidentified source that is purported to document global surveillance activities and methods of the Central Intelligence Agency:
RELEASE: Vault 7 Part 1 "Year Zero": Inside the CIA's global hacking force https://t.co/h5wzfrReyy pic.twitter.com/N2lxyHH9jp — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017
The timing and the target of the release are far from arbitrary.
Momentum continues to increase with regard to concerns about Trump's ties to Russia and possible collusion between his presidential campaign and the Russian government. Two-thirds of Americans want an independent special prosecutor appointed to investigate the issue, and Democrats are threatening to block the appointment of Trump's nominee for Deputy Attorney General unless the candidate commits to appointing a special prosecutor independent of the Department of Justice and partisan influence. In addition, many Americans and some Democratic lawmakers are calling for Trump's impeachment.
As part of his defense against such an investigation, Trump has engaged in a relentless campaign to discredit the intelligence community of the United States, in particular the CIA. Following revelations in December 2016 that the CIA's secret assessment concluded Russia intervened in the election to help Trump win, Trump stepped up his efforts to delegitimize any and all intelligence entities who might have compromising information on him. He has repeatedly lied about the intelligence community and spoken out in support of WikiLeaks. In addition, he and his surrogates have spoken openly about his plans to "put his own people" in the various agencies.
Immediately after being briefed by the intelligence community about their unanimous consensus that Russia interfered with the election and about the possible possession by the Russian government of kompromat on him, Trump even went so far as to compare the U.S. intelligence community to Nazi Germany:
Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to "leak" into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017
Afterward, Trump continued to mock the intelligence community:
Totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives, both Democrats and Republicans - FAKE NEWS! Russia says nothing exists. Probably... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2017
released by "Intelligence" even knowing there is no proof, and never will be. My people will have a full report on hacking within 90 days! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2017
He also accused the departing CIA Director of leaking information:
.@FoxNews "Outgoing CIA Chief, John Brennan, blasts Pres-Elect Trump on Russia threat. Does not fully understand." Oh really, couldn't do... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2017
much worse - just look at Syria (red line), Crimea, Ukraine and the build-up of Russian nukes. Not good! Was this the leaker of Fake News? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2017
Julian Assange has frequently touted his and WikiLeaks' dedication to "transparency."
But the reality is that WikiLeaks has shown itself within the past couple of years to be an organization with a particularly right-wing and nationalist political agenda. That agenda demonstrably includes supporting and protecting Trump and aiding him in his goal of delegitimizing the U.S. intelligence community for his — and seemingly Russia's — benefit. | {
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The current skill system in Starsector was added quite a while ago. That in itself isn’t a reason to redo it, but as with all first-pass systems, some downsides of the implementation became apparent along the way.
But why update it now, rather than sometime down the line? New features in this release need skills to complement them, and adding more skills to the old system would just be adding more stuff to redo later – it’s more efficient to overhaul the system now, and add the new skills in a hopefully-final form. In addition, it’ll be nice to address some long-standing balance issues, but more on that later.
First, let’s take a quick look at the old system. There are 4 aptitudes – Combat, Leadership, Technology, and Industry – and each aptitude has skills under it. The maximum level of a skill is determined by the level of the aptitude it’s under, and the player gets 2 skill points per level and 1 aptitude point every other level.
Skills have 10 levels, a base effect that increases with skill level (e.g. 2% more damage per level), and two perks – each providing significant and sometimes game-changing bonuses – at level 5 and 10 in the skill.
Now, instead of talking about the issues with this system, what I’d like to do is talk about the new system, and mention the issues in the context of how they’re being addressed.
New System
The basic shape is the same – aptitudes and skills, with aptitude level limiting skill level. However, skill and aptitude level is now capped at 3, and there’s only one type of points – “character points” – instead of separate points for skills and aptitudes. The player gets one point per level.
In addition to simplicity, the benefit of only having one kind of points is being able to max out a skill at a much lower level. This is good because if a skill has bonuses that are required for a playstyle, the player can pick those up quickly instead of having to wait until their aptitude points build up, as they would with the old system.
Unlike with the old system, aptitudes don’t have any beneficial effect aside from opening up higher skill levels. At first glance, that doesn’t feel great – spending points to get nothing tangible right away. So, why?
It’s impossible to balance everything perfectly. What aptitudes do is add an error margin for balance.
Say there’s a great skill in Technology, that you would absolutely pick up for 3 points, every game. But if this game, you’re not investing any points in Technology, the actual cost of the skill is 6 points – 3 to max the aptitude, 3 for the skill. A skill can be almost twice as good as anything else point for point and still not be a must-get, which is a much more realistic balance goal than “everything is perfectly equal”. The same could also be achieved with separate aptitude points, but that has other downsides, as mentioned earlier.
We still want to balance skills as well as possible to minimize must-get skills within a given aptitude and enable more build variety, but if that fails, “must get within an aptitude” is a smaller problem than “must get every game”.
There’s also a level cap of 40, with a total of 42 skill points once the player hits the cap, equating to a combination of 14 aptitudes or skills being maxed out when the player reaches the cap. The goal here is to eliminate excessive grinding and make skill selection more important – if one can eventually level up to gain every skill, or even just most of them, the importance of the earlier choices is much diminished.
Skill & Aptitude Design
Instead of having small gains with every level, skills essentially have perks at every level. Perks were the fun part of increasing skill levels anyway, and now they’re the only part. This means that every point spent on a skill brings a solid improvement.
Compare this to the old system, where player power jumps drastically when they get an aptitude to level 5 or 10 and then quickly unlock a number of perks for all the skills under that aptitude. Much better now, and since there are a lot less points to go around (1 per level instead of 2.5), we can up the power gained per point (more satisfying!) while still having lots of room to tune the overall power of skills.
Now that we’ve got skills in all four aptitudes, it’s also a good time to re-evaluate what sorts of skills belong under each aptitude.
For example, previously Technology was in large part about gaining access to hullmods, but now hullmods are unlocked by getting a “hullmod specification” item and using it to learn the modification. Does this mean that skills should no longer unlock hullmods? It doesn’t – these could still be a convenient bonus if it’s “free” in that the other benefits of the skill stack up if considered without the hullmod. Or, a skill could grant a hullmod that’s not available from items. It does, however, mean that Technology as a whole needs a rethink.
In terms of what kinds of bonuses skills get, we want to make sure that at least the top-tier bonus for every skill is near universally good. Or, at least, it should be always good provided the player decided to spend points in that skill. If they spent points in Surveying and then decide they don’t want to survey planets, there’s not much we can do there. Those cases aside, what we want to avoid is the player finding themselves regretting spending points in a skill, if their playstyle gravitates away from benefiting from that specific bonus.
Something else we want to avoid is making the player have to get a specific aptitude if they want to improve their combat capability. Battles are a key part of the game, and the skills should reflect that. So: each aptitude should have some combat skills, and ideally would enable a different playstyle.
Combat
All about skills enhancing the ship being piloted. Nice and straightforward – put points here if you want to personally maul things.
Leadership
Skills to make a larger fleet more effective, and also skills that improve fighters, both fleet-wide and specifically on the ship being piloted. With skills to increase the number of officers, this aptitude offers a major boost to the quality of your allied ships.
Technology
A few combat skills, a few skills to improve ship loadouts, and then skills that focus on improving the fleet’s performance in the campaign. Bonuses to abilities, sensor stats, movement, etc. In terms of combat, a combination of improved ships across the board, and fairly significant improvements to the ship being piloted.
A side note here – previously, Technology granted a 30% bonus to ordnance points available on each ship to equip weapons, hullmods, etc. This was rather extreme and very “must-get”, more so because enemy ships didn’t have access to this bonus. Now, the maximum bonus is down to 10%, but the base ordnance points of ships will go up some as well – keeping the total maximum points reduced slightly, but more importantly reducing the point difference between your and enemy ships.
Industry
The new exploration-related skills go here. In addition, there’s a number of skills that enable a different combat style, but that should probably be its own blog post – especially given that it’s not quite ready for prime-time. So I’ll just say I’m particularly excited about this.
Outpost-related skills would also go here, when those make it into the game.
Balance
The overhaul offered a good opportunity to rebalance the skill. Or rather, the overhaul meant that the balance of skills would change anyway due to the changes being so extensive, and it’d be worthwhile to steer it in a good direction.
First, let’s identify the balance problems we want to solve. Actually, first let’s talk about what “balance” means – maybe balance is even the wrong word here. It’s more about, “this set of available skills causes these playstyles to be optimal, and there’s more fun to be had than that, so let’s help it along.”
So, what are the current problems?
By the endgame, allied ships are in extreme danger when deployed into battle. This makes it tempting to try and take on as much as possible on with just your own ship to minimize the risk of losing something. It’s further compounded by it being cheaper to only deploy one ship in the first place – less cost, less risk, what’s not to like? But, while soloing large fleets is fun, I think the game has a lot more to offer in larger and more considered fleet actions.
To move in that direction, a two-pronged approach. First, can we do something about allied ships being in a lot of danger? In part, the danger comes due to the current set of skills being both very powerful and having large offensive bonuses. As both sides get more officers on their ships, combat gets more and more volatile – mistakes are punished more quickly, and the time-to-kill gets shorter and shorter.
To fix that, let’s tone down the overall bonuses from skills and at the same time make them more defensive. This helps in two ways: the volatility of combat goes down as the level of the participants goes up, and it makes it a bit tougher for the player to go it alone due to having less offensive potential.
I should add here that nerfs are never fun, but alas – the greater good and all that. On the bright side, the power-gain-per-point-spent still feels better than before, and the combat becomes more tactical with larger ship sizes, as was originally intended but went out of focus due to the too-extreme impact of skills.
The second prong involves more directly making battles difficult for a side that’s heavily outnumbered. While that’s almost always going to be the player, what we also want to do is add ways to interact with that system and come out ahead while being outnumbered, but only if the player deploys multiple ships. They could still try to power though solo, of course, but it’s going to be a much greater challenge. We don’t want to make soloing impossible, just more difficult and with a lower ceiling for what it can achieve.
Coordinated Maneuvers and Electronic Warfare
Enter two new skills, one under Leadership and one under Technology, that both you and AI fleets have access to.
Coordinated Maneuvers increases the top speed of all ships in your fleet by an amount dependent on how many ships you have deployed (“the real-time sharing of nav data allows for more precise tuning of drive fields”, etc etc). The bonus is modest – 1-4% per ship, depending on size – but is capped at a quite-significant 20% total with maximum skill.
Electronic Warfare is very similar, except that the total for both fleets is compared to each other, and the loser has their weapon range reduced by the difference. The sensor jamming is no joke!
Top speed and weapon range are the two most significant stats for a ship: greater speed allows a ship to pick its fights, while greater range allows it to deal damage unpunished. Larger deployments giving bonuses to both of these stats should hopefully encourage those larger deployments, while at the same time adding more difficulty to soloing.
In addition to the base bonuses, there are (well, technically: “will be”, as they’re still on the short term todo list) hullmods that increase the contribution of a ship to CM and EW. These can also be installed on civilian ships, offering a combat-oriented loadout option that’s not centered around running away.
Battle Objectives
I was never quite happy with how these worked, and these skills offered an opportunity to tie them in closer to other game systems and hopefully stop them from feeling so disconnected from everything else. To that end: deploying a Nav Buoy now gives a 5% bonus to CM, while deploying a Sensor Jammer (formerly Sensor Array) gives a 5% bonus to EW.
Which leaves Comm Relays – I finally bit the bullet and re-did how command points work. The number of starting points is increased a bit, and they regenerate at a rate of 1 every 2 minutes. Deploying Comm Relays increases the regeneration rate, as does a Leadership skill and, again, some potential hullmods. The command point gain from capturing objectives is gone.
All in all, the new skill system should be simpler, cleaner, more rewarding to use, and tuned to encourage more interesting gameplay. Of course, there’s still playtesting to be done, and I wouldn’t be surprised if any or all of the numbers cited in this post changed along the way, but I’m optimistic that it will turn out well.
Comment thread here.
Tags: aptitudes, battle objectives, character, design, longest post yet in terms of word count, salvaging, skills, system | {
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In his practice in Bangor, psychologist Will Hafford is seeing something new in his patients, what he terms “climate anxiety.” Centered around the issue of climate change, it’s a problem that hovers over other more typical reasons people seek therapy, and it leads to dread, grief and a questioning of one of the most basic, and hopeful, of human actions.
“‘Did I make a mistake choosing to have children?’ is a common refrain among clients,” Hafford said.
There are other names for this emerging branch of mental health. Solastalgia is one, a term coined by Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe a sort of homesickness that happens “when one is still at ‘home’ ” but that home is under pressure from development and climate change. It’s mourning for the future and an existential dread, overlaid with helplessness. It’s been part of the national conversation for a few years, but Hafford and other mental health professionals say climate anxiety is on the rise, particularly as people grapple with increasingly bad news about the planet’s future.
“It seems like the alarm bells are ringing louder,” said South Portland therapist Karen Fisher.
There was a huge clang in early October, when the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – made up of scientists from around the world – released a report that described a high likelihood of a dauntingly changed world by 2040. Without radical intervention in the form of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the temperatures will be 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels, the report says. Drought will be widespread. So will wildfires, and flooding from rising seas. Already marginalized communities will be suffering. The coral reefs will die.
The report is intended to inform the upcoming Katowice Climate Change Conference in Poland, where world leaders participating in the Paris Accord will discuss ways to slow climate change. But its release in advance of the December meeting also served as a wake-up call for people who knew the threat was real, but didn’t quite grasp how dire – or near – it is.
Oregon-based Thomas Doherty is a clinical psychologist and leading expert in the impacts of climate change on mental health. A decade ago, he served on the first task force established by the American Psychological Association to study the connection between climate change and psychology, and is still deeply engaged in the issue. He described the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report as troubling from a mental health perspective.
“Not so much for the findings,” he wrote in an email, “none of which are really new. But rather that it continues the pattern of dire predictions without clear mechanism for how to deal with them. So it’s really a set-up, psychologically and emotionally.”
The set-up he’s referring to is for something too big to process. As Portland therapist Patricia Reis puts it, “The human psyche is not equipped.”
It’s one thing if you live in a place that is severely affected already, Reis said, say Florida in the fall of 2018, as a hurricane of frightening power has just come through and decimated your whole town. But when it is more distant, a concept still, hovering just outside of lives already overburdened by other stresses, it feels so beyond comprehension that for many, the mind shuts down.
“It is like, ‘I am trying to figure out how to pay for my groceries and rent and how is my kid doing in school?’ ” Reis said. “You are not thinking about how the water is rising or there is drastic drought in Africa. You say, ‘I am sorry, but I have got to go to work. I work 60 hours a week, I have to pack a lunch.’ ”
To handle something so enormous takes a lot of “spiritual stamina,” Reis said. And solidarity. “We need community. We need that kind of collectivity that bonds over certain things.”
CLIMATE HOSTAGES
Bonding? In this political climate? That may seem like a stretch, especially to the climate hostages. That’s the term Doherty coined to describe people who believe in the science and the prospect of a doomsday – or at minimum, a much harder life – for much of the human race, and must also cope with a vocal minority that deny climate change is happening. The deniers include elected and appointed officials, who have the power to lead on things like using less fossil fuel and rolling back the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming temperatures worldwide.
Technically, one could describe Mary Annaise Heglar as a climate hostage. But she’s fighting back. After the recent UN report came out, she published an essay on Medium that got picked up and shared on Vox.com, thousands of times. She wrote the essay in a fever the night the report was released, she said in a phone interview. She works for an environmental group in New York as an editor, and nothing in the report was new to her. But she knew it was sending her less aware friends into a tailspin – a justifiable one.
“For a lot of people, I realized it was their reckoning,” Heglar said. Before the report, she had a harder time getting through.
“When I would bring this up to people, we would talk about the long arc of the moral universe bending toward justice,” Heglar said. “And I would say, but what about the planet? You have never pissed off the planet. You could stop the Holocaust, but at this point, you have got to stop the planet.”
“If you want to get bummed out, I have got you covered,” Heglar said ruefully. She did a lot of grieving herself.
But the point of her essay was to tell people to get angry, rather than depressed. Heglar says in the article that it is the corporations, and their enablers, that are causing climate change, not the person who leaves the lights on too long.
“We need to deal with the supply, not the consumption,” Heglar said. “I do think it is important to cut your carbon footprint. But we overemphasize that at the expense of the actual culprits. The actual bank robbers.”
She avoids depression by spending time in New York parks, and by refusing to give up.
“I do believe that a better world is worth fighting for,” Heglar said. “And even if things get futile, I am not going to down without a fight.”
Under Doherty’s definition, Portland resident Kim Simmons is also a climate hostage. Simmons studies social movements, teaches women and gender studies and sociology at the University of Southern Maine and is a deeply engaged political activist. Translation: she’s got plenty of stressors in her life already. Climate change is another layer in the lasagna of stressors she discusses when she’s talking to a doctor. She has spoken to both her medical doctor and a therapist about climate change.
“It comes up,” Simmons said. “I don’t know how it couldn’t.”
She’s been thinking about mental health and climate change for about five years, she said, inspired in part by interacting with authors Joanna Macy and Mary Pipher, both of whom have published books around the idea of not giving up hope. Macy’s “Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy” was particularly helpful.
“Joanna makes this argument that hope is actually a practice,” Simmons said.
But Simmons admits it is getting harder to practice hope.
“Activism gives people a sense of agency,” Simmons said. “A sense of efficacy. And one of the biggest challenges of climate activism is that we can’t see the changes we’re making. It feels so David and Goliath.”
When her children were younger, she took them to political actions and engaged them in the kinds of sustainability exercises – recycling, composting, moving away from plastics and so forth – that made the family feel better, “like we’re making a dent.”
But as the news piles up – including President Trump’s announced intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Accord in 2020, effectively breaking a worldwide pact to fight climate change – feeling like she is making a dent gets harder. “How do we parent under these circumstances?” she said.
Or engage with friends. Simmons jokes that some of her closest friends don’t want to talk to her about climate change. It’s simply too much.
“The thing I try to say to them is that they are strong enough and smart enough to stay in,” Simmons said. “I wouldn’t say they are activists as much as I am, but they aren’t passive people. There is something about climate change. It is the topic that is the most shut down.”
The way Simmons sees it, responding to it, staying resilient as both individuals and a species will take building a new muscle. “A sociological and emotional muscle that we have to build,” she said.
PATHS TO RESILIENCY
The mental health community is gathering its forces to address climate anxiety. Earlier this year, a group of psychiatrists formed the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. In a call to action on its website, its members declared, “We shall not remain silent when the disavowal of reality is leading civilization toward an inexorable existential crisis.” One of its members, Bangor physician Dr. Tony Ng, is the first president of the caucus on Climate Change and Mental Health at the American Psychiatric Association.
Meanwhile, the American Psychological Association partnered with a group called Eco-America to study the issue, producing most recently a 2017 report called “Mental Health and Our Changing Climate.” The point of that report was to go beyond some of the more obvious health impacts to be expected from climate change, which range from vector-borne diseases, injuries related to extreme storms, heat and drought to worsening asthma and allergies. We already know we’ll have more ticks and Lyme disease, but what about worry? “The tolls on our mental health are far reaching,” the report said. Climate change is already inducing stress, depression and anxiety and as a result is expected to increase aggression, violence and crime (studies link heat to aggression).
It’s important to start developing a psychological resiliency now, the report says. And to stop spinning in an endless loop of despair. Even if it is tempting.
Self-comforting is common, said South Portland therapist Karen Fisher, whether that may be relying more heavily on that glass of wine at the end of the day or “basic stuff like eating a sleeve of Oreos.”
Fisher is in the process of shutting down her private practice in South Portland, but said the level of anxiety among her patients ramped up in the last year. The announcement about pulling out of the Paris agreement was a flash point.
“People aren’t coming to me specifically identifying that their anxiety is because of climate change,” Fisher said. “But their symptoms are increased by things like climate change and the political landscape.
“It becomes lumped into the reasons that they are there in the first place,” Fisher said.
Like most therapists, she tries to help her patients develop a problem-solving approach. “And make sure that they have some self-efficacy to make change,” Fisher said. “The macro piece (of climate change) is that really people feel like they can’t do that. That they really have a sense of helplessness about how they are going to be part of the solution.”
Even those who have been actively involved in looking for solutions, like Bob Klotz, a co-founder of 350 Maine, an offshoot of Bill McKibben’s anti-carbon campaign group 350.org, have struggled.
“It all has undeniable psychological impacts,” Klotz said. “Speaking for myself, as an activist and a person and a health care provider (Klotz is a physician assistant), it has been a pretty depleting time over the last few years.”
Still, the group holds rallies and takes action. Just last week 350 Maine held a candlelit rally in support of Our Children’s Trust, the young climate activists who filed a lawsuit against the federal government for failing to act on climate change. Recently, he had a conversation with a 350 Maine activist: “I said to her, ‘You are 28. How is this affecting you with having children?’ She started crying. Because she wouldn’t want to bring children into this. That just kind of rocked me back on my heels.”
COPING MECHANISMS
For Hafford, who also teaches psychology and adventure therapy at Unity College, this emerging field of psychology is a new frontier. “These problems are perhaps exceeding what culturally we are prepared for,” he said.
But he sees ways to cope. He steers patients toward two areas where they can see a real impact. The first step he urges is getting involved locally.
“Many of these solutions are going to be based right in your community,” Hafford said. “Does your community have a disaster plan? What are the resources in your area? A prepared community is a resilient one.”
If a patient of his finds gaps in the resiliency plan of his or her community, Hafford suggests trying to fill those in through volunteerism or personal action. It could be getting solar panels, or making sure to eat local. Or reaching out to others in the community to talk about what the world is facing.
Step two might not seem like an obvious “treatment,” but getting outdoors is a balm for climate anxiety, experts say.
Related Candy producer Mars turns to science to keep chocolate flowing amid climate change
“Get outside for at least a small amount of time every day,” Hafford said. “It lowers your blood pressure and is restorative in a lot of ways. Being able to spend time in a nature and learn about it is important when you are feeling powerless.”
He teaches adventure therapy to Unity students and in that work, sees almost a training ground for the kind of work mankind will have to do to face the challenges of climate change. “Adventure work is all about facing challenges and embracing discomfort,” Hafford said. “You are voluntarily making yourself uncomfortable to achieve a variety of objectives. When it begins, you don’t know what the solution is, but there is a team you have to work with. That team will succeed if everybody is doing their part. I see a parallel there.”
It doesn’t have to be extreme, no ropes courses or trips up Everest (or even Katahdin) are required, Hafford said.
“There are naturalist programs that run all across the state of Maine that are sometimes free. There are outdoor programs through the Y, local meetup groups to go walking or hiking. Yes, even forest bathing.”
Klotz likes this idea. “The quote from my acupuncturist is, ‘We need to help people to learn to love the world,’ ” he said.
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We collect “Cheffy Tricks” for working magic in our own home kitchen. One secret known by many chefs is the clever addition of anchovy filets or anchovy paste to a braising liquid or pasta sauce. We’ve been doing that for years and no one has ever guessed what made the meal so “extra meaty” and delicious.
One especially effective “Cheffy Trick” is for quickly browning a difficult protein like skinless chicken. By difficult, I mean that the item might overcook before it has a chance to nicely brown. Since Golden Brown and Delicious is always a wonderful thing, you might want to make note of how to brown quickly and even put classy grill marks where you’ve never had them before.
The secret is based upon the science of the Maillard Reaction (The Maillard reaction is what makes the outer layer of cooked meat brown.) The reaction requires amino acids found in protein plus sugars found in carbohydrates. More about the science when you click the links.
Mash an anchovy filet with a drizzle of honey then lightly brush it on your chicken, fish, pork, veggies, etc. just before grilling, broiling, roasting, or sautéing. Use very, very little of this glaze otherwise you might overpower the dish or develop too much char. Anchovy paste is a good substitute for the filet. Be sure to oil your grill or pan so the browning doesn’t stick. I like to use this trick for veggies that I don’t want to overcook, yet which benefit greatly from the char and grill marks.
Try this tip with a broiled or grilled Chicken Paillard.
Maillard a Paillard – I Love it!
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It’s going to be strange watching Ghost Gaming play Rocket League without Treyven “Lethamyr” Robitaille.
All good things must come to an end, and Ghost didn’t really have that great of a thing going with Lethamyr. Their three season long pursuit to break out of the middle of the table now rests on Massimo “Atomic” Franceschi.
The counterargument is that Lethamyr was the only thing keeping Ghost out of relegation. His solo plays and defensive prowess will be missed.
This is Best Case/Worst Case, a Game Haus preview series profiling each Rocket League Championship Series team. With the season just weeks away, now is the perfect time to project each team’s ceiling and floor looking ahead to Season 8.
Either way it’s cut, the move was a positive one. Lethamyr seemed tired of the grind and glare of stardom and moved on to coaching Mousesports. Ghost were sorely in need of a change in identity, and hopefully Atomic can provide that.
Season 7 Results: 5th place in NA (3-4, 12-15). Lost to Rogue in Regional Championship.
Off-season Movement: Lethamyr (0.48 GPG, 0.56 SPG, 1.52 SAPG) essentially retired, and Atomic replaced him.
Off-season Performance: Lost on Day 2 to The Peeps at DreamHack: Montreal, 4th DreamHack: Montreal Closed Qualifier, 13th-16th DreamHack: Valencia, 3rd DreamHack: Valencia Closed Qualifier
Team Stats: 1.70 GPG (7th), 1.30 APG (7th), 4.96 SAPG (3rd), 1.70 GAPG (3rd)
Team MVP: Michael “Memory” Moss
Realistic Team Goal: Make LAN
Background and Team History
Memory, Lethamyr and Braxton “Allushin” Lagarec got off to a slow start in Season 7. The start was so slow in fact that many wondered if Allushin was good enough to play in the RLCS.
He responded and went on a tear in his last three weeks. After scoring one goal through his first 13 games, Allushin scored nine goals in his last 11 games and finished the season strong. After week three the consensus from fans was to kick him, but he outlasted Lethamyr.
Considering how little this team scored in general (Ghost scored 18 goals in that 11 game span where Allushin had nine), Allushin’s production is encouraging and will be worth keeping note of in Season 8.
Leth scored six goals during that span, and the team played better as Leth gave way to his teammates more. The first half of their schedule was brutal (NRG, Splyce, Cloud9, G2), but they still started out 0-4. There were signs of improvement and flashes of upside but the team couldn’t make LAN.
That was, in large part, because they struggled to score. Their season-long goal differential was zero. They allowed as many goals as they scored, but they had the region’s second best defense. A few more goals and Ghost would have finished fourth in League Play.
The biggest thing that Lethamyr takes with him is his individual ability. He created countless chances off of dribbles, flicks and fakes. He would regularly touch the ball three or four times before scoring.
When the going gets rough, they won’t be able to hand the reins over to Lethamyr. Atomic doesn’t have to play like Leth though. They can completely revolutionize their style and change their team identity. If they want to. Maybe they shouldn’t.
Best Case
The iron curtain defensive strategy may continue to work against lower level opponents, but the Big Three always picks them apart. G2, NRG and Cloud9 scored a combined 27 goals against Ghost in just 10 games. No team can win allowing 2.7 GPG.
Atomic gives this team versatility, the quality the team most lacked last season. Defending the net at all costs is a mostly solid strategy, but against teams who feast on space like lions they get stomped. With Atomic they can play fast, pin their opponents in and go for transition plays.
That isn’t to say Lethamyr is a bad player or that he was incapable of playing different styles. It’s just to say that the team derived its identity from its captain’s preferred style.
Lethamyr approached 3v3 like the 1v1 god that he is. In solo duel, over-committing is suicide and the most risk averse play is usually the right one. So Ghost followed his lead. They stated conservative on offense, tried to capitalize on space when it was available and played a lot of defense.
It’s actually a viable strategy when a defensive anchor like Memory is in the back. If they take early leads or face over-aggressive opponents then they should absorb pressure and try to counterattack. The point is with Atomic, they don’t have to do that against everyone.
That could bode really well. Atomic’s path to the RLCS was bumpy. He played under another person’s profile before turning 15 in RLRS qualifying and was suspended for one year by Psyonix. He was RLRS ready before he was eligible. Ghost’s hope is that he’s even better a year later.
Memory is the key to this team, though. He’s very gifted despite not pulling a lot of the spotlight his way. There aren’t Memory montages on YouTube, but he’s not afraid to dunk on unsuspecting backboard clears or slam home a double tap.
Last season Memory led the team in GPG, and if they so choose he could do it again. Allushin is a comfortable defender (spent most time in slow speed and most time as last defender last season), and Atomic is mechanically skilled enough to create chances.
The team has options though. Memory can stay back while Atomic plays attacker with Allushin as the usual second option. Perhaps Memory in an attacking pairing with Atomic. They can try a lot of new things.
All they have to do is maintain a similar defensive prowess and score the ball more. They don’t have to lead the league in goals. If they finish fifth in GPG with the league’s best defense then they can claim the fourth NA LAN spot. Now they just need to figure out how.
Worst Case:
There’s an argument to be made that Lethamyr threw off Ghost’s rhythm and fell into ball chasing too often, but somebody had to do it. He didn’t intentionally slow the game down so he could show off his skills. He did it because that’s what his team needed to do to score.
Leth probably wanted to zip the ball around and flip reset on everybody, but his team may have not been capable of that style. Perhaps Lethamyr’s style was out of necessity and not preference.
Ghost’s worst case scenario can split into two different timelines.
Number one: Ghost try to change up their style and overextend themselves. They didn’t look timid against FC Barcelona, Cloud9 and The Peeps in Montreal, but nearly every time they gave up two goals or more they lost.
Against Cloud9, Ghost scored 10 goals in five games. Two goals a game is pretty solid. C9 scored 12, but scored at least two in each game. Ghost couldn’t match their consistency and only scored more than one goal in the games they won.
It’s easy to say that a team can change their style and try something new, but it can be incredibly difficult in practice. New styles require different skills, and every player has weaknesses. Can Allushin and Memory live on offense?
The danger is that Ghost may get clobbered trying to beat their opponents at their own game. Playing faster seems nice but may be detrimental to their success.
Scenario two is that Atomic tries to be Lethamyr 2.0 and Ghost play defense for three hours in Season 8. Atomic has to embrace his own playstyle and use it to influence how his team plays.
If Ghost wanted to only play defense then they would have kept Lethamyr. They clearly want to score more often and feel that Atomic’s offensive upside outweighs Leth’s defensive prowess. Forcing him to play in a defense-only style would be a waste of his skills.
They key for Ghost is balance. There could be a series where they start Game 1 ultra-defensively, but then in Game 2 they swarm the ball like maniacs. It’s not worth trying to hammer a specific style into a shape it’ll never fit.
TL;DR: Atomic should not try and be Lethamyr. His versatility and the opportunities it creates for the rest of the team will prove to be the key of the season for Ghost Gaming. Spacestation and Rogue will be difficult obstacles though.
Featured image courtesy of Stephanie “Vexanie” Lindgren for DreamHack.
Follow me on Twitter: @connorssanders.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other TGH writers along with Connor!
“From Our Haus to Yours” | {
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Erlaubt ist, was gefällt. Das gilt fürs Leben wie fürs Fernsehen. Und doch gibt es im deutschen Fernsehen eine Hand voll Formate, bei denen man binnen weniger Sekunden von einem schlechten Gewissen regelrecht überrollt wird. "Schwer verliebt" ist so eine Sendung, die man eigentlich kaum ansehen kann, ohne sich ernsthaft schlecht dabei zu fühlen. Das hat gewiss viele Gründe. Aber keiner wiegt so schwer wie der Umgang mit den Kandidaten. In seiner gemeinsamen Talkshow mit Charlotte Roche warf Jan Böhmermann der Moderatorin von "Schwer verliebt", Britt Hagedorn, einmal vor, "Grenzdebile am Rand zur geistigen Behinderung vorzuführen". Hagedorn zeigte sich daraufhin konsterniert und entgegnete Böhmermann im Gegenzug, mit seiner Aussage ihre Kandidaten zu beleidigen.
Doch wer am Sonntag auch nur ein paar Minuten lang den Auftakt der zweiten Staffel von "Schwer verliebt" gesehen hat, der kann vermutlich verstehen, was Böhmermann meinte, als er im März auf die Sat.1-Moderatorin losging. Denn selbst wenn man dem Sender eine gute Absicht unterstellt und dem Liebesglück der chronischen Dauer-Singles doch bloß auf die Sprünge geholfen werden soll, so beschleicht einem beim bloßen Zuschauen das Gefühl, dass hier Menschen vor eine Kamera gezerrt werden, die bis zu einem gewissen Grad überhaupt nicht in der Lage dazu sind, das Ausmaß ihres Handelns überschauen können. Und manchmal sind es schon Kleinigkeiten, die dieser Sendung ihren fast schon ekelhaft-zynischen Unterton verleihen.
Dass die Musik von "Dick und Doof" bei der Vorstellung des ersten Kandidaten als Untermalung verwendet wird, kann wohl kaum ein unglücklicher Zufall sein. Viel mehr ist es Ausdruck einer respektlosen Haltung gegenüber den eigenen Protagonisten. "Dick und Doof" scheint nach Meinung der Macher von "Schwer verliebt" wie gemacht zu sein für Erik, den man als einsamen Kirchgänger bezeichnet. "Der 47-Jährige sucht seit langem eine Frau, die sein großes Hobby mit ihm teilt", sagt Hagedorn aus dem Off. Doch Erik ist nicht etwa passionierter Golfspieler, sondern eigenbrödlerischer Sammler von Kugelschreibern. Und so sitzt er nun also in seinem Zimmer und reinigt mit einem Taschentuch eine Mine. Sage und schreibe 50 Stifte zähle seine Sammlung inzwischen, die täglich überprüft werden müssten, heißt es.
"Es gibt verschiedene Kugelschreiber von verschiedenen Firmen und das finde ich auch sehr interessant", sagt Erik, der offensichtlich ein Problem mit seiner Atmung hat, wie nicht zu überhören ist. Er erzählt, dass er Kugelschreiber nicht nur in den Farben blau und schwarz besitzt, sondern auch in rot und grün. Während er davon spricht, lässt sich beobachten, wie Erik dutzende Male seinen Namen auf ein Blatt Papier schreibt. Später sieht man ihn unbeholfen mit einer Fliegenklatsche durch sein Wohnzimmer tapsen. Das Bittere daran: Es ensteht ein Gefühl von Mitleid. Einerseits mit dem Mann, der in seiner begrenzten Welt mit seinen 50 Stiften lebt. Und andererseits mit den Fernsehleuten, die es zulassen, dieses Mitleid durch unsensible Zusammenschnitte überhaupt erst hervorzurufen.
Doch Erik ist nicht der einzige, den es trifft. Den naturliebenden Nudisten Gerhard begleitet ein Kamerateam an einen FKK-Badestrand. Der geneigte Zuschauer wird also Zeuge, wie sich der korpulente Mann alsdann mit nacktem Hintern in die Fluten stürzt. Beim anschließenden Gang durch seine Wohung erfährt man, dass Gerhard "in Sachen Haushaltsführung noch jede Menge Nachhilfe" braucht. Und dann ist da auch noch Kandidat Bernd, der für seine auserwählten Herzdamen "liebevoll gestaltete Schilder" bastelt. "Kreativ" schwinge er den Pinsel, ist zu hören. Doch auch dieser Kommentar aus dem Off ist natürlich vergiftet. Scheinbar beiläufig wird nämlich gezeigt, dass der junge Mann ganz offensichtlich orthografische Schwierigkeiten hat.
Schon das Schreiben seines Namens bereitet ihm Probleme und was er mit den Worten "Bis Angekommen" zum Ausdruck bringen möchte, bleibt völlig im Unklaren. Für Hagedorn sind das "romantische Wegweiser", die er da kritzelt - andere würden vermutlich von einer bodenlosen Frechheit sprechen. Nicht das Malen der Schilder, sondern das offensichtliche Zurschaustellen dieses Mannes, der zu allem Überfluss nun auch noch hämische Kommentare über sich ergehen lassen muss. Dass man seine Heimat - eine Hochhaussiedlung - als "bezauberndes Bergisches Land" bezeichnet, stinkt zwar zum Himmel, wirkt dagegen aber fast schon harmlos. Unverschämtheiten wie diese gibt es bei "Schwer verliebt" zuhauf und es ist erschreckend, wie verachtend über weite Teile der Sendung hinweg mit den Kandidaten umgegangen wird.
Sicher: Sie alle werden sich freiwillig für die Teilnahme an der Show beworben haben. Niemand hat sie dazu gezwungen, sich einem Millionenpublikum zu zeigen. Ob sie aber tatsächlich abschätzen können, wie sehr sie verunglimpft und der Lächerlichkeit preisgegeben werden, darf angesichts vieler der gezeigten Szenen doch stark bezweifelt werden. Dass genau das von Anfang bis zum Ende billigend in Kauf genommen wird, macht das Format so schwer erträglich. Gewiss muss es erlaubt sein, sich - wie im Dschungel - auch mal über andere lustig zu machen. Wenn es jedoch auf Kosten derer geht, die sich nicht wehren können, ist das einfach nur ein Trauerspiel. Man schämt sich beim Zuschauen. Und man kann nur hoffen, dass das auch für die Macher dieser Sendung gilt. | {
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Raise your hand if you thought the Saskatchewan Roughriders would be 6-3 at the midway point of the CFL season at the start of the season.
The Riders will end the first half of the season as the hottest team in the CFL as they made it five straight wins Saturday night with a 40-18 victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
The defense had not been able to create turnovers through the first eight games of the season, but that changed on a muggy night at Mosaic Stadium as five turnovers resulted in 24 points with three of those turnovers coming in the opening 15 minutes as Dominique Davis threw interceptions to Nick Marshall, L.J McCray and Derrick Moncrief on their first three possessions leading to 17 points and control that would not be given up.
Head Coach Craig Dickenson said it was the start he wanted.
“We wanted to get the crowd involved.” Dickenson said. “We had a great start and we had all the momentum until they got that big touchdown ( a 75 yard touchdown pass to Dominique Rhymes) over (Elie)Bouka and that got them back in the game. We went in at halftime with a 12-point lead and it felt like we were down. I thought in the second quarter we were sleepwalking a little bit.
William Powell ran for 70 yards and two touchdowns while Cody Fajardo threw for 241 yards and a touchdown while running for another.
The Riders will now get ready for their annual September back-to-back games against Winnipeg starting with the Labour Day Classic on September 1 at 1. While the games between the two Western Division rivals always create some atmosphere, the stakes will be high as the Bombers are a CFL best 8-2 on the season.
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Welcome back to another This Week In San Francisco Giants History. After a week off to take care of the present day, we’re back with another peek at a fascinating moment in Giants history.
If you missed any of the previous installments in this series, you can click the links below to check them out.
TWIGH: Opening Day Timmy | Zito Loves Coors | California Baseball Begins | Robby Hits For The Cycle | The Comeback
Willie Mays is the greatest player in the history of baseball. You can’t convince me otherwise. I’m a Giants fan. Always have been, always will be. So, with all due respect to Babe Ruth, Mike Trout and Pablo Sandoval, Mays will always be at the top of the list. I’m subjective, and I don’t care. You try growing up with stories about that man and not feel the same. When my dad talked about Willie, he went to a place of wonderment and joy as he relived the moments he saw in his head from childhood. You could see it in his eyes. I’m biased, and I think I’ve established that.
I mention all this because the realization that Willie had not been featured in one of these trips through the wayback machine yet hit me like a fastball to the face, and it is time to rectify that. Sure, I mentioned him when talking about the first California baseball game. But that was in passing. Willie just happened to be there for that.
On a Tuesday afternoon at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 10,000+ fans, Mays had his first of many great games wearing a San Francisco Giants uniform. It was May 13, 1958 and the Giants had gotten off to a good start in their new home out west. They carried a 16-9 record heading in to this game against the rival Dodgers during a season in which they finished with an 80-74 record, good for 3rd place in the National League.
Life in LA did not start out like a fairy tale for the Dodgers. The Giants took 4 of the first 6 games of the season from them, and they never recovered to have a winning record. They finished the season with a 71-83 record, seventh of eight teams in the NL. It was their first losing season in 14 years. Ha Ha.
This was the 4th game of a home-and-home series for the 2 teams. They played twice over the weekend in San Francisco, and this was the second of 2 games in LA. The Giants took the first 3 games and Willie had just been wearing out Dodgers pitching. He was 7-for-12 with 5 home runs and 6 runs scored over the first 3 games and was ready to inflict more damage as the Giants looked for a sweep.
In the top of the first inning, Mays came to the plate to face Don Newcombe. He was no stranger to Willie as they had faced off plenty back in New York and that day Mays treated him like an old friend. He hit a 2-run shot to left field to put the Giants ahead and get his day started. In his career, Mays hit 7 home runs off Newcombe. Amazingly, that’s tied for 14th among pitchers who gave up the most home runs to the Say Hey Kid. Warren Spahn leads that list with 18 if you’re wondering.
The Giants scored 5 runs in the top of the first but proceeded to give 3 of them back in the bottom half. Willie would have none of it as he came to bat in the top of the 2nd and hit another 2-run home run off old friend Newk. That meant, so far in the 4 games of the series, Mays was 9-for-14 with 7 home runs and 8 runs scored. A one-man wrecking crew. The Giants needed the homer too because Ramon Monzant gave up a 3-run homer to Charlie Neal in the bottom of the 2nd inning to make it 7-6 and then Gil Hodges hit a solo shot in the 4th to bring LA even with the Giants at 7 runs apiece.
And then Willie took over again. He led off the top of the 3rd inning with a triple off Fred Kipp and then scored on an Orlando Cepeda single to left. Daryl Spencer immediately followed that with a 3-run homer to give the Giants an 11-7 lead.
In the top of the 5th, Willie could only manage a measly single to right field off Ed Roebuck. He decided to make that exciting as well because, you know, that’s Willie, and he stole second base. Unfortunately, the only time he ran into an out all day was when he literally ran into an out as Mays was gunned down trying to steal 3rd base with one out and Orlando Cepeda at the plate. It makes sense, he wanted to score on a sacrifice fly. Cepeda homered instead to make it 12-7.
It was 13-8 in the top of the 6th inning when Willie stepped in with runners at the corners and one out. Future Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax was in as a relief pitcher to cover some innings during the blowout as he had yet to become the force who won multiple Cy Young awards and pitched the Dodgers to a title. Koufax got ahead of Mays 0-2 and then suddenly decided he wanted nothing to do with him, walking Willie with 4 straight pitches out of the zone to load the bases. Koufax’s wildness stayed with him as he walked the next batter to force in a run before getting a double play to get out of the inning.
Mays was 4-for-4 on the day heading in to his final at bat in the top of the 8th inning. With one out and nobody on, Willie hit a triple to CF and then scored the Giants 16th and final run of the day on a Willie Kirkland single. The Giants wrapped up the 16-9 victory and set a franchise record that day. Their 50 total bases are the most any Giants team has put together in one game. Total bases is the accumulation of bases gained on a hit, so a single is 1, a double 2, triple 3, and home run 4.
The Giants hit 3 doubles, 3 triples, and 5 home runs and 15! singles off Dodger pitching that day for total of 26 hits. And that’s not even counting the 5 walks. The Giants have had more hits in a game and hit more homers, but this game sets the record for total bases in a game in their history.
Willie’s final line on the day was 5-for-5 with 2 home runs, 2 triples, 4 runs, 4 RBI, and reached base in all 6 plate appearances. It was the first time in his career he had 5 hits in the same game. Mays never had more than 5 hits in any game in his career, but he did match it 4 more times the rest of the way. All 5 instances were bunched together between May 1958 and August of 1962. But none of those games had 4 extra base hits like this May game in LA.
The only thing that comes close to that is Willie’s 4-hr game in Milwaukee.
The Giants swept the 4-game home-and-home series with the Dodgers by outscoring them 42-17 and reaching double digits in 3 of the 4 games. The Giants took 16 of 22 games from the blue team in 1958 to win the battle of California teams.
Willie’s line for the 4-game series: 12-for-17 (.706 BA), 7 HR, 15 RBI, 10 R, 2 3B, 1 2B, 10 XBH, 5 BB, 1 K, .762 OBP, 2.235 SLG, 2.997 OPS
I’d venture to say that is one of the best stretches put up by any player in the history of the game. It’s just one of many examples of why Willie Mays is the greatest baseball player of all time.
We recorded episode 165 on Wednesday. Subscribe to the podcast in all the usual places. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and like the YouTube channel for more content.
-Eric Nathanson | {
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Diphtheria, a deadly infectious disease once thought to have been largely eradicated, has now joined cholera as a public-health scourge threatening war-torn Yemen, where a blockade by Saudi Arabia has impeded emergency aid.
Officials at the World Health Organization said Friday that at least 22 people in Yemen had died of diphtheria and nearly 200 had been sickened since it was detected three months ago.
The disease, which the medical charity Doctors Without Borders said had not been seen in Yemen for 25 years, has now spread to 13 of Yemen’s 22 governorates.
Officials warned that young children were especially vulnerable to the disease, which spreads through the air and could escalate quickly into an epidemic in Yemen if health workers there lack the antitoxins and vaccine to control it. Currently they have little of either. | {
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INDIANAPOLIS – Just days after a tough new abortion law was signed by Gov. Mike Pence, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky filed suit Thursday alleging the restrictions violate a woman’s right to choose.
"The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly stressed that a woman, not the state, is to determine whether or not to obtain an abortion," said ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk. "The State of Indiana’s attempt to invade a woman’s privacy and to control her decision in this regard is unprecedented and unconstitutional." The ACLU is representing Planned Parenthood.
The challenge comes after national attention given to the law that bars women from having an abortion for the sole reason that the fetus has been diagnosed or there is a "potential diagnosis" of a disability. Other prohibited reasons include the sex, race and national origin of the fetus.
Planned Parenthood is seeking an injunction to stop the law from going into effect on July 1.
Pence and Republican legislators have been taking heat – with women calling, posting and tweeting updates on their menstrual cycle. A rally for women’s rights is set for Saturday at the Statehouse that could draw thousands.
Restrictions on abortion prior to a fetus’s viability have been struck down by courts before, but none were specific to disabilities. Only one other state, North Dakota, has similar language in its law.
The bill was pushed by three local Republican lawmakers – Rep. Casey Cox and Sen. Liz Brown, both of Fort Wayne, and Sen. Travis Holdman of Markle.
The measure contained in House Bill 1337 is aimed at women who have an abortion after a diagnosis of Down Syndrome or other fetal genetic anomalies. And supporters have cast it as an anti-discrimination bill.
One criticism of the bill is that a woman can continue to abort a perfectly healthy fetus before 20 weeks without giving any reason at all. But she cannot do so if her motivation is related to a disability.
And opponents say it intrudes on a woman's ability to have an open and frank discussion with a doctor about the risks and costs associated with having a disabled child.
There is an exemption in the law for a fetus with a "lethal fetal anomaly" that with reasonable certainty will result in the death of the child within three months after birth.
The challenge filed in U.S. District Court said the law "imposes an undue burden on a woman’s right to choose an abortion because it bars that choice under certain circumstances, even if the pregnancy is in its early stages and the fetus is not viable."
The suit said women have a right to choose a first trimester abortion for any reason so Planned Parenthood doesn’t ask patients for their reasons. But the group is aware that some of its patients seek abortions for a reason banned by the new law.
A doctor could face disciplinary action or civil suit for performing an abortion knowing the procedure was solely due to disability or sex selection. There are no consequences for the woman.
The new law also requires facilities to bury or cremate the remains of a fetus from a miscarriage or abortion. It does not affect women in their homes.
The lawsuit said Indiana law already allows a woman to assume control of tissue from an abortion. But they aren’t required to comply with the burial or cremation requirements in the new law.
And the court filing said the law mandates that fetal tissue be treated differently than other medical material.
"This has the effect of requiring the abortion clinic or health care facility to arrange, and pay for, disposition of fetal tissue after the abortion, regardless of gestational age, in a manner substantially similar to the burial or cremation of human bodies," according to the suit.
Planned Parenthood would have to obtain a burial transit permit for the fetal tissue, which is not required for the disposal of other medical material, and then make arrangements with a mortuary to receive and handle the fetal tissue."
The purpose behind that portion of the law was to prevent the selling or transfer of fetal parts - something that caused a national uproar last year.
[email protected] | {
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GoogleのMaterial Designガイドラインは、アプリケーションのデザインのさまざまな側面、レイアウトとかアニメーションの効果的な使い方などなどの、統一を指向している。今回はそのガイドラインの一環として、色の正しい使い方が加わった。今日（米国時間4/6）同社がローンチした新しいカラーツールは、デベロッパーやデザイナーが彼らのアプリケーションで正しい色を使うよう、仕向ける。
この新しいツールを使ってデベロッパーはカラーパレットを作り共有できるが、でもたぶんいちばん重要なのは、その配色をユーザーインタフェイスのサンプルに適用したり、あるいは、
Webのフロントエンドを作って（書いて）いるデベロッパーのための、サードパーティ製の“遊び場”CodePenにあるコンポーネント（ページ部品）にも適用できることだ。
この新しいツールでもうひとつおもしろいのは、ユーザーが作った配色ではテキストの可読性がどうなるかを、自動的に評価してくれる機能だ。その評価はWeb Content Accessibility Guidelinesに準拠しており、目に障害のある人にとっても読みやすい、テキストと背景のコントラストを重視している。ライトグレーの背景にダークグレーのテキスト、という配色をたくさん読まされている人も、思いは同じだろう。
[原文へ]
（翻訳：iwatani(a.k.a. hiwa）） | {
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The algorithm leverages how complex neural networks process object recognition to help it rebuild photographs in the style of specific artists. On a very basic level, the network treats the art style of a source image as a "texture," and filters the target image through several layers of computational units to create a representation of it that agrees with the features of the original art. It's a pretty neat trick, but not the actual point of the group's research -- the art project is simply an example that shows that convolutional neural networks are now capable of separating the content and style of an image.
That said, researchers admit that content and style have to be carefully balanced if the output image is to make any sense -- too much focus on style, and the output image won't look anything like the original photograph. The group plans to publish an additional paper on the algorithm in Nature later this year -- but you can read the original report at the source link below. | {
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Visa, Mastercard and a few banks that issue credit and debit cards agreed to pay an additional $900 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over card-swipe fees.
The $900 million will be tacked onto the $5.3 billion paid to merchants in 2012. Visa's share of the additional settlement payment is $600 million, while Mastercard agreed to pay $108 million on a pretax basis, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The rest will be paid by the other defendants in the suit, which include Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup.
Mastercard shares rose 1.7 percent while Visa's stock gained 1 percent.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2005 by merchants who alleged card companies set credit-card fees and card-acceptance rules that benefit the banks. The suit said, for example, Visa and Mastercard would set the fees and banks would then charge the merchants. Merchants said in the suit they would rather negotiate the fees directly with banks.
The settlement, which was signed on Monday, also states that up to $700 million may be returned to the defendants if more than 15 percent of the merchants opt out of the class. It also says the defendants may terminate the amended settlement if more than 25 percent of the class members opt out. | {
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01:43
Redhead Girl With Tiny Tits Giving Blowjob Getting Her Pussy Fucked On The Bed 0% 1490 | {
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20 Minutes of Tesla Model 3 & Tesla Model X External Video Footage, & 5 Things I Love About The Model 3 (Exclusive Video)
April 1st, 2016 by Zachary Shahan
Kyle Field and I found ourselves in an area where no other bloggers/photographers/videographers landed after the Tesla Model 3 unveiling — alongside the test tracks where people were taking turns test driving the Model 3, Model X, and Model S. We spent ~2 hours there filming and snapping photos of the Model 3… and Model X and Model S a bit.
As you can see, Kyle snapped a lot of great photos, capturing the Tesla Model 3 in various lighting and in action. I caught the Model 3 (and Model X) on video from numerous angles and spots along the test track. Once I’m on faster WiFi again, I’ll upload and share lightened/color-enhanced and super-sharp versions of this video, but until then, here’s a 20-minute video of the Tesla Model 3, Model X, and (to a slight degree) Model S:
From the presentation, which I imagine we’ve all seen by now, and my long in-person view of the Model 3 and discussions with others who rode in the Model 3, here are 5 standout things I already love about the Model 3:
1. The car looks like a beautiful mix of a Tesla Model S, Porsche, and Tesla Model X.
This is a stunning vehicle, and has quickly become my favorite-looking vehicle on the planet. I thought almost right off the bat that the Model 3 had resemblances to a Porsche, and I heard several other people at the unveiling say the same. I think that’s some pretty good blood to mix in with Tesla’s… and perhaps also a bit of a taunt.
2. Autopilot hardware on every Model 3.
It seems clear that you will have to choose autopilot (and pay for it) if you really want it, but it’s cool to hear that the hardware will be on every Model 3… which means there’s always the possibility of adding it.
With the base model getting from 0 to 60 mph in under 6 seconds, that’s one quick $35,000 car! And there’s still plenty of home that the top-of-the-line Tesla Model 3 will be able to get to 60 in under 4 seconds. I’m excited!
4. The supersplendulous glass roof!!
Without a doubt, one of the most wonderful features of the Tesla Model X (2016 CleanTechnica Car of the Year) is what I have termed the supersplendulous windshield that makes you feel like you’re in a helicopter. Tesla went one step further and designed an insanely supersplendulous glass roof (from front to back essentially) in the Tesla Model 3. I can’t believe it, but I’m loving it!
5. That nose.
I’m really happy that Tesla has decided to snub the faux grills. When I first saw the front of the Model X during the unveiling, I was not into it. I think that, within a day, I grew to love it and have ever since thought grills (and faux grills) look really weird… and the nosecone on the Model S even more so! 😀 I fully expected the Model 3 to include the Model X nose design language, and actually thought Elon would announced a facelift on the Model S last night. I think that is right around the corner now, but Tesla made a good decision to just focus on the Model 3 and no other updates last night. But yes, I’m very happy with the front of the stunning Tesla Model 3. 😀
Looking forward to CleanTechnica and EV Obsession configuring our 4 (so far) Tesla Model 3s. 😀
Related:
Tesla Model 3 — Exclusive Test Track Photos
Tesla Rolls Out The Red Carpet To Introduce The Model 3
Tesla Model 3 Test Track Video (#CleanTechnica Exclusive From Unveiling Night, Abridged)
Tesla Already Confirming Early Model 3 Orders
Tesla Model 3’s Official Birthday — CleanTechnica’s Day At The Santa
Tesla Model 3 Chat (Cleantech Talk #23… from Before The Unveiling)
Pictures #1 & #3 by Kyle Field | CleanTechnica; Picture #2 by Tesla Motors
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As a token of appreciation to loyal customers, Joe’s Italian Ice in Garden Grove is giving away free Italian ice on Monday, Aug. 31.
The original Harbor Boulevard Italian ice stand is closing Sept. 1, ending a complicated relationship between Joe’s owner, Mike Abeyta, and the city of Garden Grove, which owns the land.
Related story: Popular Garden Grove food stand, Joe’s Italian Ice, closing to make room for luxury hotel near Disneyland
The red, white and green dessert shack is known for serving authentic Philadelphia-style fruit-flavored “water ice.” It has been a fixture on Harbor since it opened 13 years ago.
Abeyta relocated Joe’s to a new and larger space a half-mile away in Anaheim near Disneyland. The location, at 2201 S. Harbor Blvd., cost him about $850,000 to develop, he said.
Get there early. The stand is open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Employees are working over the weekend to ensure they have plenty of “ice” for the crowds. Local TV news is expected to be there.
Joe’s Garden Grove:12302 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove.
Contact the writer: [email protected] and follow the Fast Food Maven on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. | {
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Not too long ago, I had a conversation with one of my uncles about films. We were watching Pixar’s Up at the time, and he said something that caused us to get into a (calm) argument.
“Animated stuff will never make for top-tier experiences.”
It is his belief that films like Schindler’s List and Rain Man will always be better than something like Toy Story or Finding Nemo — simply because the former are “real” while the latter aren’t.
Obviously, I disagreed.
How could I not? While the conversation was geared at computer-generated animation, my mind instantly went to anime. It’s the same principle. Yes, anime about giant, metal balls or high-school kids competing with hover boots may not be the next All About Eve. But anime has the capacity to tell intricate stories. The rationality to explore relatable characters. The ability to simply be downright fun.
I could not change his viewpoint (which I tried to do), but, through our small debate, I grew even more fond of this medium that I have come to adore so much.
So it is that, on this day, we look back on the Winter 2016 anime season to reflect on the best of the best, those that prove anime (and other animated media) can be and are top-tier experiences.
This time around, twenty-two anime showed up to fight for a spot. Ten succeeded, but only one claimed the title of Best Anime of Winter 2016.
Before diving into the list, it is important to know two ideas: what counts and the reasoning behind everything.
First, I am an advocate of an anime counting in the season in which it completed. Meaning, whether it is fantastic or not, something like Assassination Classroom Second Season has no place here despite starting in Winter 2016. On the opposite end, an anime like Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen does have a shot since it concluded in Winter 2016 despite starting the season prior.
Meaning, if you do not see Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen here on my list, that means I either did not see it or it was simply not good enough. (It’s the latter!)
I’m going to repeat this statement one more time: An anime counts if it completed in Winter 2016.
Some of my wonderful readers miss this important detail that I adhere to, so, now having said it twice, I get to call them goofballs should that happen again (here and forever after).
Second, each anime has a personalized review that demonstrates why it deserves to be here in the first place. Simply click on an anime’s name to be linked to its review to read my complete thoughts on it. For every review that I wrote for this season, follow this link to my Winter 2016 Reviews page!
With all of the introductions, formalities, and rules out of the way, it is time to get to my Top 10 Winter 2016 Anime!
Honorable Mentions
The anime listed within this section were watched, completed, and reviewed at a time beyond my original run through of the shows from this specific season. Therefore, they do not have a definitive ranking unlike the others further below and do not technically count towards the overall numbered total. However, to qualify for a spot here, they must also have performed so strongly that they could have potentially made it onto the main list itself had I finished them back then.
Koyomimonogatari
Boasting nostalgia aplenty, Koyomimonogatari delivers for the fans of this quirky series a nice little in-between of in-betweens. Each short episode features at least one of the leading ladies encountered thus far and her interactions with Araragi as they set out to take part in or outright solve a tiny, explainable mystery nearby. While it does not present anything too new or too interesting overall, it has enough comedy bits and stylistic choices to make for yet another worthwhile outing in this odd yet rewarding franchise.
10. Dagashi Kashi
Candy creates cavities. And should that candy be Japanese dagashi, it also happens to attract a bubbly, hyper, and passionate girl by the name of Hotaru. Dagashi Kashi is an anime that centers on both dagashi and Hotaru, looking at the history, make, and forms of the sweets while adding in some sexual flair here and there. While the educational segments can be dull, and the majority of the characters are even duller, Hotaru carries the show as far along as she possibly can. Alongside some nice character designs and musical pieces, it’s certainly more appealing than a trip to the dentist’s office.
9. Musaigen no Phantom World
Hallucinations and spirits run rampant in Musaigen no Phantom World, and it is up to Haruhiko, Mai, Reina, Koito, and Kurumi to quell them. While this slice-of-life anime can have the occasional ecchi moment, its comedy, action, and bittersweet happenings are the norm. The cast is weak — on both an individual and group basis — but the show’s subtle theme on togetherness, the very pretty art and animation, and the good voice-acting performances keep it from falling fully behind. All in all, it’s quite the colorful adventure.
8. Sekkou-Boys
If statues could talk, what would they say? Sekkou Boys lets its audience know that marble wouldn’t just speak; they would sing. Following St. Giorgio, Mars, Hermes, Medici, and their stressed-out manager Miki, the anime focuses on being quirky, silly, and funny. Animation and music (minus the ED, of course) may not be its strong suit, but its varied jokes, fact-based characters, and short length keep this one from being a bust.
7. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2nd Season
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2nd Season marks the return of Shirayuki, Zen, and the rest of the gang, as well as the second appearance of this series on these lists. For this iteration, Raj and Obi take up the majority of the spotlight. To be fair, it gives their characters a lot of strength, but it also disrupts the focus on Shirayuki and Zen’s story. Regardless, the gorgeous visuals, the theme on home, and the heart-skipping romance make this anime an apple worth biting into.
6. Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
For the cast of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar, they struggle in a fantastical world filled with monsters, grief, and pain. The anime makes realism its go-to motif: enemies with emotions, soul-crushing events, and grounded interactions. Its unnecessary sexual content gets in the way, but nice characters, interesting music, and beautiful watercolor backgrounds support the show throughout its run. The reality is that its an anime at least worth checking out.
5. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
As the people on Mars succumb to troubles on both the social and economic scales, a ragtag group of kids joins forces with Kudelia, a stalwart princess who seeks to correct these wrongs. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans follows this unlikely pairing across planets and space itself with a couple of strong main and supporting characters, a story-esque artistic direction, and lots of really cool robots. The narrative may have a few hiccups, but its mettle proves to be as tough as iron.
4. Oshiete! Galko-chan
Anime has more than its fair share of girls, but they, unlike the main trio of Oshiete! Galko-chan, do not usually talk about what happens to an in-use tampon submerged in water. Such topics are the usual for Galko, Otako, and Ojou in this short, girly comedy. The relevant sexual material, its theme on “the inside, not the outside, matters most,” and the colorful art are just some of its positives. And of course, making the private girl talk public gives the anime even more intrigue — especially for the males out there. Periods or no, these girls are a cute bunch to watch.
3. Erased
Sometimes, people look back on life and wonder, “Was there more I could have done?” For Satoru of Erased, this question is the one he seeks to answer. The suspenseful narrative, a theme on believing, and his mother Sachiko are some of its strengths. Particular characters are not that meaningful, and certain choices near the ending are controversial. Yet one cannot deny its interesting artistic direction and wonderful music (especially the ED). It’s a thrilling ride that won’t be erased anytime soon.
2. KonoSuba
KonoSuba does not have purposeful themes, deep characters, or even a meaningful message. But that doesn’t stop it from being absolutely hilarious. Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness are a mishmash of ridiculousness. Parody oozes from each encounter the group faces. And its different brands of comedy (which I investigated in my essay KonoSuba and Comedy Through Theory) demonstrate why the show is so gosh darn funny. The world they live in may not be so wonderful, but the anime certainly has received a blessing or two.
1. Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu
More than earning the title of Best Anime of Winter 2016, Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu reaches a level of execution that is almost unheard of. The writing is dramatic and clever. The visuals are a symbolic treat. The characters are complex in their emotions and layered in their connections. The music is beautiful in its composition. And the maturity in its material, the absurd amount of technical proficiency, and the way in which it challenges how one approaches the medium turn it into an unforgettable experience. While just a man’s life story, it ends up being one of the best anime of all time, making its spot at the top of this list a no-brainer.
And that’s it! As always, I want to thank each and every person who supported me throughout my reviews for this season. From the kind words to the insightful comments, from the people who checked out just the summaries to the people who read every single word. I am and always will be eternally grateful for the constant stream of love delivered my way.
Spring 2016 is just over the horizon! :3 | {
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Tientallen Nederlandse militairen denken dat ze tijdens hun uitzending in Afghanistan kanker hebben gekregen door 'burnpits'. Dat zijn brandende afvalhopen. Met de burnpits werd onder meer medisch afval en werkmateriaal verbrand.
De militairen hebben zich gemeld bij jurist Ferre van de Nadort, die onderzoek naar de burnpits in Kamp Holland heeft gedaan. Kamp Holland was van juli 2006 tot en met juli 2010 een Nederlandse legerbasis in de Afghaanse provincie Uruzgan.
Verscheidene militairen hebben foto's aan de jurist gegeven. Daarop is te zien dat afval in de open lucht wordt verbrand en niet in de verbrandingsovens die in Kamp Holland stonden. "Vanaf dag een hebben die ovens niet goed gefunctioneerd", zegt Van de Nadort.
Voormalig militair Johan Smit diende in de periode 2006-2007 in Afghanistan. Meteen toen hij terug kwam bleek het goed mis te zijn met zijn gezondheid: | {
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Simply The Best
Every time I have difficulties and can't move forward I call upon Affilorama support they come through with flying colors. They have helped me so much that a 5 star rating is well deserved and given. Thanks for all of your help. | {
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Luego de más de dos horas de reunión, el Gobierno llegó a un acuerdo con la CGT para modificar el Impuesto a las Ganancias.
Uno de los secretarios generales de la CGT, Héctor Daer, habló a la salida del encuentro y adelantó algunos detalles del acuerdo. Dijo, por ejemplo, que el nuevo mínimo no imponible para las personas casadas con dos hijos será de $37 mil brutos y casi $28 mil para solteros sin hijos. Además, se modificarán las escalas y se incluirá una fórmula de actualización automática.
"Se hará un nuevo proyecto, que esperamos que se vote el miércoles en el Senado y el jueves en la Cámara de Diputados", adelantó Daer luego de reunirse con funcionarios del Poder Ejecutivo.
También contó que se estableció "una fórmula de actualización que va a modificar el mínimo no imponible, las escalas y los valores de las deducciones" y que quedaron incorporados el cónyuge, las deducciones por horas extras, el plus por feriado, por día no laborable, y que los viáticos tendrán tope de deducción.
Juan Carlos Schmid, otro de los integrantes del triunvirato que conduce la CGT, también celebró el entendimiento gobierno nacional: "Ahora hay una fórmula y todos los años se va a actualizar automáticamente el impuesto", sintetizó.
Luego, en conferencia de prensa, Mario Quintana, vicejefe de Gabinete, Jorge Triaca, ministro de Trabajo y Rogelio Frigerio, ministro del Interior, ratificaron lo acordaron y brindaron más detalles.
"Hemos podido avanzar en un acuerdo, que es una parte de la tarea que tenemos como Gobierno de resolver también con gobernadores que participan de la recaudación y el Congreso que tiene que sancionarlo. Este principio de acuerdo nos ayuda a darle certezas a los trabajadores y no repetir situaciones de los últimos años que por impacto de la inflación se incorporaban trabajadores a pagar Impuesto a las Ganancias. Esas certezas van a colaborar para que estos trabajadores tengan más previsibilidad a la hora de cobrar sus ingresos y respecto al consumo y cuestiones centrales de las decisiones de su vida", abrió Triaca.
Los anuncios de los detalles estuvieron a cargo de Quintana y Frigerio, quienes repitieron que el mínimo no imponible para un casado con dos hijos será de 37 mil pesos brutos y para un soltero sin hijos de 27.941 pesos.
También revelaron que el aumento sobre las escalas vigentes va del 167% a un 300% y de esta manera el tramo más bajo alcanzado por el impuesto en vez de pagar el 9% comienza a pagar el 5% sobre el excedente del mínimo no imponible.
(DyN)
Por su parte, Frigerio manifestó que el acuerdo "pone en valor algunas instituciones" como el federalismo y el Presupuesto: "Es la primera vez que se discute un impuesto coparticipable dándole participación a las provincias que se llevan el 50% de la recaudación. Hemos discutido la importancia de respetar el presupuesto y este camino".
Sobre la creación de nuevos impuestos y el costo fiscal, uno de los principales ejes sobre los que hizo foco la oposición, no hubo anuncios concretos pero explicaron que es una discusión que debe darse con los gobernadores. Sin embargo, Frigerio aclaró: "Vamos a respetar este camino de equilibro fiscal que fijó el presidente y eso indica respetar 4,2% de deficit el año que viene".
Quintana se encargó de detallar los cambios en las deducciones. Al respecto, dijo que las que son por cónyuge "se mantiene" la de hoy y que la intención para aquellas que son por alquileres es "mantener las que plantemos en nuestro proyecto". Sobre el plus que reciben los trabajadores por horas extras en días no laborables y feriados, explicó que "sea exento".
Las horas extras en general, la idea es que "no modifiquen la escala sobre la cual el trabajador está tributando el impuesto" y los viáticos mantendrían la propuesta original del Gobierno: que se contemple un tope de hasta 40% del mínimo no imponible para su exención.
CALCULADORA EN MANO
Según el nuevo proyecto al que accedió Infobae, las nuevas escalas del tributo a pagar por parte de los trabajadores, a partir de enero de 2017, serán las siguientes, siempre considerando los nuevos mínimos no imponibles, equivalente mensual:
Quienes superen el MNI entre $0 y $1.538: 5%, sobre el excedente de $0
de $1.538 mil a $3.077: $77 más 9% sobre excedente de $1.538
de $3.077 a $4.615: $277 más 12% sobre excedente de $3.077
de $4.615 a $6.154: $554 más 15% sobre excedente de $4.615
de $6.154 a $9.231: $923 más 19% sobre excedente de $6.154
de $9.231 a $12.308: $1.754 más 23% sobre excedente de $9.231
de $12.308 a $18.462: $2.831 más 27% sobre excedente de $12.308
de $18.462 a $24.615: $4.985 más 31% sobre excedente de $18.462
Más de $24.615: $ 7.631 más 35% sobre excedente de $24.615 | {
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En un fallo histórico, la Cámara Electoral dijo que hay provincias subrepresentadas porque hace 30 años que no se actualiza la integración según el aumento poblacional
Paz Rodríguez Niell Comentar Me gusta Me gusta Compartir E-mail Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Guardar 6 de julio de 2018
La Cámara Nacional Electoral sostuvo ayer que el Congreso debe modificar la integración de la Cámara de Diputados porque están subrepresentadas las provincias que más crecieron en población durante las últimas décadas.
Con la firma de los jueces Santiago Corcuera y Alberto Dalla Via, el tribunal hizo lugar a un planteo de un elector de Córdoba que se quejó de que su voto valiera menos que el de, por ejemplo, un fueguino o un porteño. Córdoba es una de las provincias que tienen menos diputados de los que deberían.
Se trata de una vieja discusión que el Congreso nunca quiso dar. La Constitución nacional establece que todas las provincias tendrán el mismo número de senadores, tres; pero en la Cámara de Diputados el número de representantes dependerá de la cantidad de habitantes de cada distrito.
El artículo 45 dice que la Cámara baja se compondrá de "representantes elegidos directamente por el pueblo" de la provincias y de la ciudad de Buenos Aires "a simple pluralidad de sufragios", y que "después de la realización de cada censo el Congreso fijará la representación con arreglo al mismo" (originalmente era uno por cada 33.000 habitantes o fracción que no bajara de 16.500).
Actualmente, la Cámara de Diputados está conformada de acuerdo con el censo de 1980.
Desde entonces, nunca más se actualizó y por eso las provincias que más incrementaron sus habitantes (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Mendoza y Salta) no tienen una representación acorde con su nueva población.
Columna de Hugo Alconada Mon 11:41
Video
Si se toma el censo de 2010, un diputado de la provincia de Buenos Aires -la más perjudicada por la falta de actualización- representa a 222.778 habitantes y uno de Tierra del Fuego, a 25.238.
Porque además está vigente una ley de 1983, conocida como ley Bignone, que estableció que todas las provincias sumarían tres representantes extras y que, además, ninguna podría tener menos de cinco.
Tierra del Fuego, sin esta ley, tendría un solo diputado; Santa Cruz y La Rioja, dos.
Pero el fallo de ayer de la Cámara Electoral nada dice de provincias sobrerrepresentadas. No hace ninguna mención de la ley Bignone.
Lo que dice es que al haber desconocido los últimos censos, la "base poblacional" que determina hoy la integración de la Cámara de Diputados "desconoce las variaciones demográficas acaecidas en el país durante casi 40 años" y, por lo tanto, "resulta claramente anacrónica".
La letra de la Constitución
En contra de lo que habían alegado en la causa los representantes del Poder Ejecutivo y del Senado, los camaristas Dalla Via y Corcuera sostuvieron que cuando la Constitución dice que el Congreso "fijará" la representación con arreglo a cada censo, establece "una concreta obligación de actuar" y que, por eso, la actualización "no es una medida opcional para el legislador, sino que resulta un mandato concreto de hacer".
Con la conformación actual, la más perjudicada de las provincias es Buenos Aires, que debería sumar 27 legisladores (30 si se agregan los tres extras de la ley Bignone) para quedar equiparada; la segunda es Córdoba, que debería sumar seis en total.
Los jueces de la Cámara Electoral consideraron que hay provincias con menos representantes de lo que les correspondería de acuerdo a su población Fuente: Archivo - Crédito: Fabián Marelli / LA NACION
Después vienen las provincias de Santa Fe (4), Salta (4) y Mendoza (3).
Pero en su fallo, la Cámara Electoral no dice que el Congreso deba incrementar su número total de diputados (hoy son 257); también podría actualizar su composición con otro método (podría recurrir, por ejemplo, a elevar la base de cálculo).
De acuerdo con la Cámara Electoral, el Congreso tiene la discrecionalidad de decidir cómo ajusta su composición, siempre que la actualice siguiendo el último censo.
¿Cuánto le costaría al Estado la nueva conformación de la Cámara de Diputados? En el tramo final de su fallo, los camaristas advirtieron que no son ajenos "a las dificultades económicas que circundan la realidad de nuestro país" y que, como el número de diputados "no necesariamente habría de variar en mucho", la observación de este fallo "no debería redundar en una mayor erogación para el Estado nacional".
La alternativa: reducir
El problema es que la única alternativa sería reducir la representación de las provincias con menos habitantes, algo que difícilmente estas estén dispuestas a aceptar las propias jurisdicciones.
Las provincias sobrerrepresentadas en total son 16. Tienen menos fuerza en la Cámara de Diputados, pero no así en el Senado.
El distrito más favorecido con la falta de actualización es la ciudad de Buenos Aires, que tiene 25 diputados, cuando le corresponderían 18 si solo se tomara en cuenta su población (21 si se le sumaran los tres de la ley Bignone).
Consciente de la dificultad política que va a suponer la aplicación de su fallo, la Cámara Electoral se limitó a escribir en la parte resolutiva que lo que ordenaba era "poner en conocimiento de la presente [resolución] al Congreso de la Nación, a fin de que, en ejercicio de sus atribuciones, extreme los recaudos para ejecutar el mandato que establece el artículo 45 de la Constitución nacional".
Conforme a los criterios de Más información
ADEMÁS | {
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SHILO, Man. -- Three years after leading a deadly weapons exercise that killed a fellow soldier and injured four others, Paul Ravensdale learned Tuesday he will not have to go to jail.
The former warrant officer was given a six-month suspended sentence, fined $2,000 and demoted one rank to sergeant -- the last a largely symbolic consequence as Ravensdale is now retired.
Ravensdale, 43, stared straight ahead as the sentence was delivered and showed little emotion.
The prosecution had asked for four years in prison, but military judge Col. Mario Dutil said Ravensdale was failed by his superiors when he was put in charge of both leading the exercise and making sure everyone was safe.
"Warrant Officer Ravensdale should not have been put in this situation," said Dutil.
"He was left alone by his chain of command and put in a terrible situation."
The judge also pointed out that Ravensdale was a highly decorated soldier and had had a "stellar" military career with no disciplinary problems.
Ravensdale was leading a test of C-19 anti-personnel mines near Kandahar city three years ago when one went off incorrectly -- it's never been clear why -- and shot hundreds of steel ball bearings backward instead of forward.
Cpl. Josh Baker, 24, was killed.
Ravensdale was convicted on four charges, including breach of duty causing death.
Military prosecutor Maj. Tony Tamburro had argued in his closing submissions that Ravensdale ignored safety rules.
Those rules require soldiers to be at least 100 metres behind a C-19 mine unless they are shielded by a dugout, a vehicle or some other barrier. Video played at the court martial showed some soldiers standing much closer than 100 metres and with no protection.
Dutil said Ravensdale clearly violated the rules, but was given too many tasks by his superiors. Training rules require weapons testing and safety monitoring be given to two separate people.
The judge also spared Ravensdale from incarceration because the retired soldier suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is undergoing long-term treatment with a psychologist, who is helping him overcome anxiety in public places.
"His condition requires a specialized treatment," Dutil said.
"The substitution of his therapist may be counter-productive."
Two of Ravensdale's superiors also were convicted for their roles in the accident.
Maj. Darryl Watts was demoted two ranks to lieutenant and given a severe reprimand on charges of negligence and unlawfully causing bodily harm. He is appealing both the conviction and the sentence.
Maj. Christopher Lunney was demoted one rank to captain and given a severe reprimand after pleading guilty to negligent performance of duty.
Tamburro said any decision on a possible appeal in Ravensdale's case rests with the director of military prosecutions. He said the three convictions should send a message to other soldiers.
"I hope that will reinforce, to members of the Canadian Forces, the requirement that they conduct themselves in accordance with safety regulations."
Maj. Philippe-Luc Boutin, who acted as one of Ravensdale's defence lawyers, said the sentence will let his client continue his recovery.
"Hopefully he's going to continue his treatment and continue to be a (hockey) coach for his kids and other kids in the community. And hopefully, down the road, he will be able to fully reintegrate in his community as a full member." | {
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Black Panther is now in
theaters
and it's breaking countless box office records. The movie feels like more than just Marvel's latest effort to expand its Cinematic Universe too because the cultural importance of the Ryan Coogler helmed release is massive and given the success it's found, it's clear that T'Challa is going to have a huge impact on the genre and could become the face of this world.
To celebrate the movie's release, we're taking a look at some amazing Black Panther concept art and this batch puts the focus on Shuri, a character who stole the show in Marvel's latest blockbuster.
Played by Letitia Wright, the character clearly has a bright future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but we currently have no idea whether or not that's going to entail her suiting up as the Black Panther! It's something Marvel has clearly considered based on this artwork as the youngster can be seen decked out in a variety of superhero costumes, not to mention
alternate | {
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The National Director of the left-leaning Working Families Party said in an interview that aired Monday on "Rising" that it is a "misassessment" to say that the Democratic Party moving too far to the left will ultimately hurt its candidates in elections.
"I think it's a total misassessment of what's happening. It's less about the politics of the left and the right, and it's more about the politics of the grass roots versus elite politics," Maurice Mitchell told Hill.TV's Krystal Ball on Friday.
"If you're in the elite that's always held power in the traditional system, yeah, this is frightening because a growing set of politicians are refusing PAC money, for example," he continued. "A growing set of candidates are no longer connected to the traditional sort of pipelines, and that's scary if you want to hold onto power."
"Then you weave these narratives about how scary it is, and try to get that out there," he continued.
"If you actually care about the Democratic Party, then this is the only thing that would save that institution," Mitchell said. "We're actually really, really excited about the fact that everyday people are just speaking plainly about the issues of everyday people."
Mitchell said the goal of the organization is to establish a "multiracial" populist movement.
The organization has backed winning candidates including Wisconsin Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D) and Lt. Gov.- elect Mandela Barnes (D), along with Rep.-elect Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.).
— Julia Manchester | {
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As the province considers reforms to mining laws, 30 organizations are advocating for increased transparency and more independent enforcement — including an increased role for Indigenous communities to oversee projects approved on their lands
Indigenous-led groups, such as the Indigenous Guardians, should be tasked and funded by the provincial government to keep an eye on mining operations in their territories, the B.C. Mining Law Reform network is recommending to Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Michelle Mungall.
The proposal from the network of about 30 local, national and Alaskan organizations, including community groups, First Nations and environmental groups, is among recommendations on government’s proposed changes to the Mines Act, which the group says do not go far enough and fall short of protecting B.C.’s environment and communities from mining risks.
The reform network, a not-for-profit group, was launched this spring to counter problems caused by weak mining laws and lack of enforcement in B.C.
Among nine specific requests to beef up the province’s proposed mining reforms — including calls for greater transparency in environmental monitoring and a more progressive regime of fines and penalties — the group is also calling on government to “enable and fund Indigenous-led monitoring and enforcement programs for mining activities as well as other forms of independent monitoring.”
Community-based programs should train monitoring staff so information collected on mines in the area can be used to help inform management and decision-making, the letter to Mungall suggests.
Allen Edzerza, member of the Tahltan First Nation and representative of the First Nations Energy and Mining Council, said his organization has recently discussed the possibility with senior B.C. officials of training a network of Indigenous monitors across the province in a range of different skills.
“If the function is to monitor mining projects to make sure they’re complying with their licences that requires certain kinds of training,” Edzerza said. “If you’re looking at monitoring forestry and annual allowable cut, that is going to require a different skillset. If you’re monitoring wildlife and hunting regulations, for example, then you’ll need to know those regulations.”
The goal is to work with communities to ensure they have the basics in place to work effectively with the province.
In their letter to Mungall, the group points to Australia’s Indigenous Ranger’s program, the Coastal First Nations’ Guardian Watchmen in B.C., the Peace-Athabasca Delta Ecological Monitoring Program in Alberta as well as the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency in the Northwest Territories.
Incorporating Indigenous participation within B.C.’s mine management and monitoring would have the added benefit of helping “develop data collection protocols and train community-based monitoring staff so that data generated locally can be used for management, governance, and statutory decision making,” the letter states.
Indigenous guardians are increasing in communities across Canada, through programs designed to protect the land and conducting environmental monitoring.
“First Nation leadership would say that the guardians are viewed as boots on the ground,” Edzerza said, adding that many problems associated with mines, like the leaching Tulsequah Chief mine or the tailings pond collapse at the Mount Polley mine, require regular monitoring, compliance and enforcement.
“We’re saying our communities are right next to these projects. It would make sense that First Nations would perform some of these monitoring and compliance type functions,” he said.
“It’s probably the least expensive and it’s probably the best way to ensure this monitoring is occurring on these projects because we’re the ones who are being impacted. We have the interests and we’re local to it.”
Mining reforms a test case for B.C.’s recognition of Indigenous rights
The reform network’s recommendations are based on a study by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, which found that, “For First Nations, community-based monitoring can be an expression of their territorial jurisdiction and self-governance.”
The centre’s paper points to the “fundamental conflict between Indigenous rights and the mining regime in B.C.” with the provincial government failing to recognize the inherent legal rights of First Nations and lax rules that have allowed mining companies to inflict significant environmental harm in traditional territories.
For example, the Tsilhqot’in National Government is continuing to fight Taseko Mines’ plans to mine for copper and gold in a sacred area in their territory and Imperial Metals — the company responsible for the Mount Polley tailings dam collapse — has obtained mineral rights in the sensitive “doughnut hole” between the Skagit Valley and Manning provincial parks.
Indigenous communities on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border are concerned that any mining in the doughnut hole will affect salmon in the Skagit River, but, in the mine exploration permit application for the doughnut hole, Imperial Metals is asked whether there has been engagement with First Nations — the response is “no.”
And, as The Narwhal recently reported, jade placer mining is occurring in northwest B.C. under a provincial permitting regime that is explicitly opposed by the Tahltan Central Government and its customary laws.
The provincial government, which is also in the early stages of looking at changes to the contentious Mineral Tenure Act, announced last week that it is starting on the process of reconciling B.C. laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and mining rules are likely to be near the top of the list.
Edzerza said guardians are tasked with the responsibility of carrying forward traditional knowledge.
“If you take a look at the new legislation tabled with respect to UNDRIP, it’s our belief that the guardian program is going to be absolutely essentially to truly implement those articles that are set out in that legislation,” he said.
Mines Act overhaul an opportunity for Indigenous rights
So far, the overhaul of the Mines Act, which is likely to be introduced in the Legislature next year, is looking at separating permitting and authorizations from enforcement and inspection duties and creating a new oversight body, but pressure is building for more action and any changes will have to adhere to UNDRIP principles.
According to the articles of UNDRIP, Indigenous people have the right to participate in decision-making processes, using their own laws and land tenure systems and that they must give “free, prior and informed consent” before any activity takes place in their traditional territories.
Joe Foy of the Wilderness Committee, one of the groups signing the submission to Mungall, said it would be hard to understand how the provincial government could move forward in retooling its laws without ensuring mining legislation adheres to UNDRIP.
“You would think it would also be important to the mining industry because the history of current events are showing us that distrust in Indigenous communities is making them resistant to mining,” Foy said.
Organizations representing the mining industry say they are not expecting UNDRIP to be a problem.
A statement from Vancouver-based Association for Mineral Exploration said the sector supports the goal of the legislation “to advance reconciliation with First Nations and the objective to reduce uncertainty for users of the land base.”
The industry expects “minimal immediate change” as most companies “are leaders when it comes to building relationships and early engagement with First Nations,” says the media statement.
The Mining Association of B.C. is also cautiously optimistic that the changes will bring greater certainty on the land base.
Other recommendations in the B.C. Mining Law Reform paper include taking mining compliance and enforcement completely out of the jurisdiction of the Mines Ministry and requiring mining companies to provide security that is sufficient to pay for 100 per cent of the cleanup and reclamation costs in addition to paying into a fund to cover the costs of disasters not covered by private insurers.
The ELC estimates that liability costs for old mines in B.C. are $1 billion, while a report from Mining Watch Canada estimates the figure to be closer to $3 billion. In 2016 Carol Bellringer, B.C.’s auditor general, in a damning report, found that mining companies do not post enough security deposits to cover reclamation costs and estimated the fund is short more than $1 billion.
With files from Carol Linnitt.
Jordan, a Kaska land guardian, conducts water sampling along the Kechika River in northern B.C. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal | {
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Wilson is going to Hershey, and it’s not for a rehab/conditioning stint.
Tom Wilson played 82 games for the Capitals in his rookie season, but he was given remarkably little opportunity to excel. With fewer than eight minutes a night, Wilson scored just three goals and seven assists on the bottom line, though he did rack up 151 penalty minutes.
Things looked bright for Wilson’s sophomore season, but an ankle injury in July set him back significantly. Now, having missed camp and the first two weeks of the season, Wilson is finally ready to return to hockey …but he’ll be doing it with the Hershey Bears of the AHL.
(Wilson was not eligible to play for the Bears last season.)
Caps writer Mike Vogel has pointed out that this is not a rehab stint; Wilson has been re-assigned to Hershey. He will make his debut this weekend.
When will see Wilson back in Caps red? Your guess is a good as ours, though Vogel doesn’t think it’ll be a long-term thing.
Doubt he stays there past weekend. @wamps6789 will Wilson get called back up like a conditioning assignment or will he stay down awhile — Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) October 20, 2014
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TORONTO – Doctors in Ontario are warning that misinformation being spread online is undermining public trust in vaccines.
The Ontario Medical Association, which represents about 31,500 doctors in the province, has launched a public awareness campaign through Twitter, Facebook and traditional media in a bid to combat myths around vaccines.
The group’s president, Dr. Nadia Alam, said increasingly doctors are hearing from patients who say they are afraid to get a vaccine or have their children immunized because of information they’ve encountered online.
UNVACCINATED, Part 1: Pockets of Canada vulnerable to serious outbreaks of disease
“They’re more worried about the vaccines than the illnesses themselves,” she said. “They don’t realize that the risks of the illnesses are actually much, much greater.”
The province’s doctors are joining the growing ranks of health and government officials who are warning of the consequences of not receiving routine immunizations.
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VIDEO: Billboards that question safety of vaccinations removed
2:04 Billboards that question safety of vaccinations removed Wednesday Billboards that question safety of vaccinations removed Wednesday
“A lot of the illnesses we immunize against, a single case can quickly become an outbreak,” Alam said. “Right now, there are measles outbreaks in British Columbia, the U.S., in France, in Ukraine…thousands have been infected and hundreds have died.”
UNVACCINATED, Part 2: How ‘vaccine hesitancy’ became a threat to public health
Alam also pointed to cases in Ontario, including an incident in late March in which the public may have been exposed to a person with measles at the Vaughan Mills shopping mall in Vaughan, Ont. Public health officials in Toronto are investigating a lab-confirmed case of measles in an adult who acquired the disease in another country.
It’s the second time this month the agency has issued a public warning about a measles case. On March 5, the city’s associate medical officer of health said an unvaccinated infant under 12 months of age had been exposed to the virus during a trip abroad.
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Alam said one of the most damaging myths online about vaccines is a debunked study which linked the measles immunization to increased rates of autism in children.
UNVACCINATED, Part 3: Should vaccinations be mandatory for school-aged kids?
“Unfortunately, that mistruth caught on like wildfire,” she said. “It has persisted even though there have been a number of studies since then that have proven that there is absolutely no link between the measles vaccine and autism.”
VIDEO: Cracking down on vaccination misinformation from naturopaths
2:03 Cracking down on vaccination misinformation from naturopaths Cracking down on vaccination misinformation from naturopaths
Vaccination Choice Canada, a group that urges people to get educated about the risks of immunizations, launched an ad campaign across Toronto in February, with four messages set to rotate over more than 50 digital billboards for two weeks. The ads, which were eventually taken down, included messages such as “educate before you vaccinate,” “what are the risks?” and “how many is too many?”
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Health Minister Christine Elliot called the ad campaign “very concerning,” saying the government would continue to urge people to be vaccinated against a variety of conditions.
UNVACCINATED, Part 4: A former vaccination skeptic warns of online misinformation
In January, Canada’s chief public health officer urged her fellow doctors to answer questions from concerned parents about vaccinating their children to head off the spread of measles.
Dr. Theresa Tam said that some parents have come to fear the prevention of measles more than the disease itself, citing seeds of doubt planted by “misleading, or worse, entirely false information” online.
Alam echoed Tam’s request and asked people to talk to their family doctor if they have concerns about immunization.
“Talk to your doctor, get your concerns out and get the facts,” Alam said. “Then make one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make for your child.”
VIDEO: Vaccines… What they are and why you should get them
4:38 Vaccines: What they are and why you should get them Vaccines: What they are and why you should get them | {
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Welcome to
Find Best Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles
Finding top Thai restaurants in Los Angeles is often a tiresome job. Los Angeles is home to people from more than 140 countries speaking 224 different identified languages. Thai represent a small 0.9% of the 3.8 million total population in Los Angeles. However, Thai food is quite popular and the number of Thai restaurants in LA is growing every year.
One Stop Guide to Best Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles
At LA Thai Restaurants, we want to simplify the search for Thai restaurants in Los Angeles, CA and provide relevant information, all in one place:
Listing all best Thai restaurants in LA & Orange County.
& Orange County. Identify Los Angeles Thai restaurants by type of Thai food, customer reviews, etc.
Aggregate and present all the deals and events information.
Offer coupons that save you money.
Better yet, most of Thai restaurants we profile here have online ordering support (powered by Clorder) so you can order food directly from here.
History of Thai Food Thai Cuisine is as diverse as the Thai people, their culture and tradition. It reflects a 5000-year history of various groups and cultures interacting with the subcontinent, leading to diversity of flavors and regional cuisines found in modern-day Thai. Thai dishes are cooked to perfection with a variety of spices that bring the flavor and aroma to the dish. Although the four regions (north, east, west, and south) of Thai have different recipes and methods of preparing food, the spices and seasonings are quite common in all of them. In some preparations, the usage of iron skillet, clay pot, and clay oven brings unique taste and flavor to the food. | {
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Peter Sagal and Craig Mazin discuss the fifth and final episode of Chernobyl. Valery Legasov (Jared Harris), Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård) and Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson) risk their lives and reputations to expose the truth about Chernobyl. On the podcast, Mazin exposes the truth about the finale. He compares the real show trial with the series's depiction, explaining where he took liberties and why. We’ll also hear from production designer Luke Hull about recreating the trial room. And finally, Sagal and Mazin talk about what’s happened since Chernobyl, and what they’ve taken away from this series.
The Chernobyl Podcast is produced by HBO in conjunction with Pineapple Street Media. Original music by Kaan Erbay.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | {
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Forwards Thierry Henry and Corey Hertzog and midfielder Matt Kassel opened their respective scoring accounts, as the New York Red Bulls earned a 3-1 win over a side consisting of Atlante’s Reserves and Under-20 Saturday afternoon.
Playing in soggy conditions, the Red Bulls overcame a bumpy pitch and their feisty, young opponent to earn their second preseason win of the year, improving their record to 2-0.
“I told the players before the game this is the kind of fitness we need at the moment to play games because it is a different rhythm than just doing training sessions,” said Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe.
Playing the same Starting XI that featured in the full first half against the Atlante First Team last Wednesday, New York controlled the opening stanza. Midfielder Dane Richards tested the Mexicans early, forcing the Atlante goalkeeper to make a stop five minutes in after the Jamaican danced through the opposition’s defense. In the 10th minute, the goalkeeper was again called upon when Rafa Marquez’s corner kick swung dangerously towards goal.
After persistent pressure, the Red Bulls drew first blood in the 30th minute. Forward Juan Agudelo had the ball on the right wing and put in a low cross to Henry, who took a touch before sliding his shot off the left post and into the back of the net. Backe said that he has been impressed so far with how the team’s new captain has been training in the first few weeks of camp and said he “looked lively” on Saturday.
“I think for everyone, even if he’s such an experienced player that has won everything, it’s still important for him as a striker to score goals,” Backe said. “But I think the fact that we looked more solid as a team was the key.”
Atlante’s best chance of the half came in the 18th minute, as Andres Toloza raced through and blasted a left footed shot over the bar.
“I think we had another solid game defensively,” said defender Tim Ream. “We’re continuing to build on the foundation that we have staying compact and really working on team defense like we did last year. We’re trying to carry it over into every game and the regular season.”
After the break, the Red Bulls searched for their second goal, trotting out a young lineup for the second-straight game. Forward Conor Chinn dispossessed an Atlante defender in the 51st minute and found John Rooney, who put his attempt just past the left post. Later, Chinn had a good opportunity to score himself, taking an Austin da Luz feed and blasting it high.
Kassel scored the eventual game-winner 10 minutes from full time. After a poor clearance by the Atlante goalkeeper, who was well outside of his area, Kassel slammed a 35-yard attempt from the right wing into the back of the net.
Having more possession in the second half, Atlante pulled one back as Joaquin Vigil raced through the center of New York’s defense and slotted it past goalkeeper Alex Horwath.
However, the Red Bulls quickly retook their two-goal advantage two minutes later. Hertzog gained possession on the left wing and floated a ball into the box that went around the goalkeeper and tucked into the goal.
New York returns to preseason action on Tuesday, Feb. 15 when it takes on Chivas de Guadalajara at Omnilife Stadium.
“I’ve never played with a crowd that big or played this big of a game so I’m just really excited to see what’s going to happen during the game,” said the rookie Hertzog.
New York Red Bulls 3, Atlante FC Reserves/Under-20s 1
February 12, 2011; Riviera Maya, Mexico
Scoring Summary:
NY: Thierry Henry 1 (Juan Agudelo 1) 30’
NY: Matt Kassel 1 (unassisted) 80’
ATL: Joaquin Vigil 1 (unassisted) 83’
NY: Corey Hertzog 1 (unassisted) 85’
Disciplinary Summary:
ATL: Andres Toloza (caution) 33’
New York Red Bulls (2-0-0) – First Half Lineup: Greg Sutton (GK), Carlos Mendes, Rafael Marquez, Tim Ream, Danleigh Borman, Dane Richards, Tony Tchani, Joel Lindpere, Jan Gunnar Solli, Juan Agudelo, Thierry Henry
Second Half Lineup: Alex Horwath* (GK), Billy Cortes (Tyler Lassiter 70’), Stephen Keel*, Tyler Lassiter, Teddy Schneider, Irving Garcia (Marcos Paullo 70’), Carl Robinson, John Rooney (Matt Kassel 70’), Austin da Luz, Conor Chinn (Corey Hertzog 70’), Salou Ibrahim
* - Non-Roster Player | {
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The Coast Guard is searching Florida waters for a man who went overboard from a Carnival cruise ship Friday in what the cruise line is calling an "intentional act."
The 26-year-old man went overboard the Carnival Victory Friday morning while the ship was 35 miles south of Islamorada, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The cruise started in Miami four days earlier and returned there Friday as planned.
"Sadly, all the facts surrounding this unfortunate incident indicate it was an intentional act," a Carnival spokesman said. "We remain hopeful that the U.S. Coast Guard effort will bring positive news."
The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter, a surveillance plane and a vessel to search for the man. In a tweet Friday evening, the Coast Guard said that the search would continue through the night and identified the missing man as Thomas McElhany. | {
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Calls people retarded for the slightest of spelling errors claims to be liberal and tolerant
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As surely as night follows day, one government intervention begets another. In Massachusetts, the 2006 healthcare reform law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney forced every Bay Stater to buy health insurance and every insurer to cover every applicant regardless of preexisting conditions. Not surprisingly, this created an increase in demand for medical care, driving prices and insurance premiums to the highest levels in the nation.
Now, rather than admit their mistake and repeal Romneycare, elected officials are compounding their errors by imposing cost controls on healthcare. A bill doing just that passed the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly (132-20) and the Senate unanimously. Gov. Deval Patrick signed it into law Monday, saying, “This is a commonwealth that has shown the nation how to extend coverage to everyone, and we’re going to crack the code now on cost control.”
The state’s chosen means of decryption is simply to demand that costs be kept below an arbitrary target. Specifically, for each year through 2017 healthcare spending may not increase faster than Massachusetts’ Gross State Product (GSP) — about half the rate at which it is currently rising. Then from 2018 to 2022 its growth is capped at half a percentage point below the rate of GSP increase. Also, instead of paying providers for each service provided, insurers will be strongly encouraged to pay them on a per-patient basis.
And that’s just the beginning. “Joshua Archambault of the Pioneer Institute finds 941 instances in which the [House version of the] bill mandates that something ‘shall’ be done,” writes Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby. “Among these are more than 25 kinds of penalties, fines, and surcharges, for price control and punishment always go hand in hand.” For instance, a healthcare provider that fails to meet the state’s cost-control targets and does not file or implement a plan to meet them could be fined $500,000.
In addition to setting cost targets, the law mandates electronic health records for all patients, increases state Medicaid payment rates (which will surely prove unhelpful in cutting costs), and imposes a tax on hospitals that charge more than 120 percent of the state median price for a given service.
In charge of implementing all 237 pages of the law is a new Commonwealth Health Care Quality and Finance Authority, whose purpose, according to the legislation, is “to set health care cost containment goals for the commonwealth and to foster innovative health care delivery and payment models that lower health care cost growth while improving the quality of patient care.” What’s more, the authority “shall be an independent public entity not subject to the supervision and control of any other executive office, department, commission, board, bureau, agency or political subdivision of the commonwealth except as specifically provided in any general or special law.” In other words, the authority will essentially have untrammeled power to dictate healthcare costs. And despite the nod to the quality of care, as in all government operations, meeting budgetary targets will take precedence over serving individuals. Price controls, after all, can only lead to shortages and concomitant corner-cutting and rationing.
Of course, that assumes that the law actually succeeds in controlling costs, an outcome Forbes’ Avik Roy finds improbable. The “luxury tax” on costly services can, he says, be circumvented fairly easily. First, high-cost providers can exploit “vague definitions” in the law that give the Health Care Quality and Finance Authority plenty of leeway in exempting politically favored providers from the tax. Second, “it will be very easy for high-priced hospitals with significant market power to charge more for other services” to recoup the cost of the surcharge, notwithstanding the law’s express prohibition of passing the cost along to consumers. Third, expensive providers can simply wait for lower-cost competitors to raise their prices, as they almost certainly will do since the law’s transparency provisions will force all providers to make their fees public.
For example, let’s say Mass General charges $32,000 for a coronary angioplasty, whereas the state median is $21,000, driven in part by low-cost Tufts, which is charging $16,000. Now that Tufts knows that MGH is charging $32,000, Tufts knows that it can charge, say, $25,000 per procedure, and still gain favorable status from insurers, without incurring the new “luxury tax.”
Once Tufts raises its price to $25,000, the “median” price for angioplasties in the state goes up, allowing MGH to raise its price further, and the cycle repeats itself.
Moreover, he points out, “global budgeting doesn’t work” because “individual doctors are always capable of outsmarting the bureaucrats,” whether to serve patients better or to protect themselves from lawsuits. Various Medicare cost-control projects since the 1970s have failed; Roy believes Massachusetts’ attempt will likewise flop.
Then again, perhaps the real purpose of the legislation isn’t to curtail costs but to protect the interests of the big healthcare players. “House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Representative Steven M. Walsh, co-chairman of the Committee on Health Care Financing, and Attorney General Martha Coakley … all praised the work that industry executives and advocates did in writing the bill,” the Boston Globe reports. Industry executives returned the favor, heaping accolades on the law they helped author.
Whatever the purpose of the law, one thing is for certain, remarked Joshua Archambault: “The character who should be the hero of this drama, the patient, is nowhere to be found.”
Instead, avers Jacoby, “decision after decision comes not through the voluntary interplay of doctors, patients, hospitals, and insurers, but from government agents who impose them from above.” Furthermore, he explains:
Bureaucrats, no matter how well intentioned, cannot know how much medical services should cost or how insurance premiums should grow. Ham-fisted state intervention is responsible for much of what ails the Bay State’s markets in health care and medical coverage. More ham-fisted intervention isn’t the cure.
The same is true across the country, which is already experiencing the early effects of the Massachusetts experiment writ large, ObamaCare. If Bay State officials have in just six short years felt the need to impose price controls — and some admit this law is just the precursor of a larger crackdown to come — imagine how quickly and forcefully such controls will be imposed at the national level once all of ObamaCare’s provisions take effect.
Perhaps even worse, the man responsible for the Massachusetts mess — and who defends the 2006 healthcare law to this day — is soon to be the leader of the political party that allegedly opposes ObamaCare. At a time when Americans’ continued good health depends on complete repeal of ObamaCare and countless other federal mandates, it is hardly reassuring to know that the person taking the presidential oath next January will have proudly enacted a healthcare law that curtails individual liberty, raises healthcare costs, and will ultimately reduce its quality and supply. As is so often the case in elections, when voters need a choice, they get an echo instead.
Photo: In this Feb. 25, 2003, file photo, then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney delivers his State of the State address in Boston: AP Images | {
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BATON ROUGE, La. – Catcher Michael Papierski had the first three-hit game of his career and drove in three runs Sunday afternoon, and left-hander John Valek III limited Ball State to one run in five innings pitched as LSU posted a series-clinching 10-6 win at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 12-3 on the year, while Ball State fell to 8-9.
The Tigers will return to action Wednesday against New Orleans at 6:30 p.m. CT in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The game will be available online only via SEC Network+ and can be accessed at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. It will also be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network. Fans can also go to LSUsports.net for live stats and audio through the GeauxZone.
Valek III earned his fourth win in four starts for the Tigers after only allowing one run on eight hits and striking out two in five innings pitched.
Ball State right-hander Colin Brockhouse (1-2) suffered the loss after tossing 2.2 innings and surrendering four runs—three earned—on five hits, walking one and striking out one.
“I've known (Ball State coach) Rich Maloney a long time, and I consider him a good friend, but I'm glad his team is leaving town today,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “They have a tough, veteran ball club, and they competed at a high level throughout the weekend. I'm very proud of our players for not hanging their heads and bouncing back after the loss on Friday night to win this series against a very good team.”
LSU took the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after left fielder Beau Jordan legged out an infield single to score shortstop Kramer Robertson, who reached on an error, from third base.
In the top of the third, Ball State right fielder Alex Call ripped a two-out double down the left field line and scored on a single by first baseman Caleb Stayton to knot the score at 1-1.
The Tigers answered in the bottom of the third inning with three runs to give LSU the 4-1 lead. With one out and runners on the corners for right fielder Antoine Duplantis, the freshman placed a single into left field to score Robertson from third. After a base hit by Beau Jordan loaded the bases, designated hitter Bryce Jordan lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to plate centerfielder Jake Fraley from third. Papierksi followed in the next at-bat with a single through the right side to score Duplantis from second.
LSU added to its lead in the fourth inning after Robertson doubled to left center to score third baseman Chris Reid from third. Robertson scored on a single to right field by Fraley in the next at-bat. With two outs and the bases loaded, Papierski singled to right field, which scored Robertson from third and Fraley from second as the Tigers took an 8-1 lead over the Cardinals.
“I thought Papierski's two-run single was the key at-bat of the game,” Mainieri said. “It didn't seem like it at the time because of the scored, but I knew this Ball State team wasn't going to give up and we couldn't relax. Our fans saw evidence again today of why Michael Papierski was such a highly sought-after player. He is a tremendous catcher, and he had a great day swinging the bat to lead us to the win.”
Ball State plated two runs in the sixth to make it 8-3 in favor of LSU after a double by centerfielder Matt Eppers sent a double to right field, scoring designated hitter Zach Pleasac and third baseman CJ Alexander.
In the bottom of the sixth, Papierski notched his first three-hit game of his career after hitting a single up the middle. With a runner on first, first baseman Greg Deichmann sent a home run over the right-centerfield wall to make it 10-3 LSU.
The Cardinals scored three runs on three hits in the top of the seventh to narrow the LSU lead after Plesac singled in Stayton with the bases loaded, and a sacrifice fly by Alexander and a double by Eppers put Ball State within four runs. | {
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Glenn Beck fans and foes, take note: For those wondering if Fox News — which is “contemplating life without Beck” — can survive, last week was a good indicator that it can.
Beck, whose contract is up in December, was on vacation — with Judge Andrew Napolitano filling in on Beck’s 5 p.m. show Monday through Thursday (Friday's show was pre-empted by coverage of the earthquake in Japan, and anchored by Fox’s Shepard Smith).
And the jury is in on the Judge: Napolitano held his own, maintaining roughly the same audience that Beck has drawn in 2011 — and, like Beck usually does, beat CNN, MSNBC, HLN and CNBC combined in total viewers.
Here are the four-day averages for Mon.-Thurs. last week, provided by Nielsen:
>> FNC's Glenn Beck*: 1,851,000 total viewers (412,000 25-54-year-olds)
>> CNN's Situation Room: 581,000 (157,000)
>> MSNBC's Hardball: 661,000 (155,000)
>> CNBC's Fast Money: 203,000 (47,000)
>> HLN’s Showbiz Tonight: 201,000 (65,000)
* With Napolitano
So far in 2011, Beck has averaged 1,904,000 total viewers, and 448,000 25-54-year-olds.
It’s a good sign for Fox News ad sales department, which has seen hundreds of advertisers flee Beck’s show like a bedbug-infested Abercrombie + Fitch.
And it's an even better sign for Napolitano, who ought to be considered on the short-list to replace Beck, should Fox not renew Beck’s contract.
"Fox would be more than happy to take numbers like these,” according to a source close to the show, “given that they would actually be able to sell the program."
Worth noting that when other stars, like Bill O’Reilly, have guest hosts, the viewership slips considerably. On Feb. 1, a Tuesday, O’Reilly’s show drew 3.627 million total viewers at 8 p.m.; the next day, with O’Reilly on vacation, that number dropped to 2.935 million — followed by an O’Reilly-less 2.811 million and 2.522 million on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Also worth noting (as we have previously; see "His Ratings Fizzling, Has Glenn Beck Lost His Mojo?"): Beck’s ratings have been in a free-fall for some time now. He's seen nine consecutive month-over-month declines in total viewers, and seven among 25-to-54-year-olds. Through March 1, Beck's show was down 35 percent in total viewers in 2011 (averaging 1.9 million over the first seven weeks, compared to 2.93 million last year) and 44 percent in the demo (447,000 vs. 793,000 a year ago). | {
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Dear Frank Ocean,
Hey, buddy! Sorry we haven’t been in touch for a minute, but our 2016 has been wild. Everyone running for president is psychotic. So many of our heroes have died this year — Bowie, Phife, Garry Shandling, and now Prince, for fuck’s sake — it’s starting to feel like God is soft-launching the Rapture. Plus, we found out this week that UberEATS delivers doughnuts. We’ve been yo-yoing in and out of a staff-wide sugar coma ever since. It’s part of our grieving process; don’t judge.
Plus, we’re running a music site over here, and apart from all the world-altering legends dropping like flies, 2016 has already been a crazy-amazing (and crazy-making) year for music. It’s like the Illuminati got real turnt at their annual office Christmas party/blood-moon ritual-sacrifice gathering and decided it would be funny to make every major artist on earth put out their much-anticipated new albums between January and May just to mess with music journalists.
Anti, Lemonade, Untitled Unmastered, Views — we’ve basically been deluged with a year’s worth of incredible music within less than six months. Just keeping up with each new version of The Life of Pablo is a full-time job in itself. We’re hearing chatter about Justin Timberlake maybe dropping something that isn’t the soundtrack for a troll movie soon. Even Jay Z’s talking about taking a break from suing the crooked Norwegians who sold him Tidal to spit a few bars in response to his wife’s song cycle about what it’s like when Jay Z cheats on you. Views From the Guest Bedroom Couch, anyone?
Which brings us to the reason we’re writing this. We’ve heard you’re almost done with Boys Don’t Cry, the sophomore album on which you’ve been hard at work for what feels like an eternity. But we’d like you to consider holding it until 2017.
Yeah, we know it’s a crazy idea. Twitter will come for us just for suggesting it. We’re gonna have to move the MTV offices to an off-the-grid farm upstate and run our laptops off bike power the minute this post goes live. But look: Even if the streets are begging for fresh Ocean, and we know they are, do you really want to drop your sure-to-be magnum opus in the genius-glutted artistic traffic jam that is Q2 2016? Do you really want to show up late to this party? Or do you want to wait until 2017, when everyone mentioned above will either be touring, chilling, or working things out in couples therapy, and you can show up and be the party?
I mean, c’mon, Frank, we’re talking about the follow-up to Channel Orange, easily one of the best albums of the decade. You’ve been working on the new one for four years. You may even feel like it’s close to done. But is it really done, Frank? Is it as good as it could be? Is it as good as the first six songs on Lemonade? Because real talk — even the last seven songs on Lemonade aren’t as good as the first six songs on Lemonade. The first six songs on Lemonade are so good we’re a little scared of them. We still feel like we have to ask the first six songs on Lemonade for permission before we leave the crib.
It’s entirely possible the new album is so good it’ll make Channel Orange sound like a Lil Dicky mixtape. But are you sure it couldn’t be better? Are you positive it wouldn’t benefit from a Lauryn Hill feature, or perhaps some trenchant-ass liner notes by Thomas Pynchon? Maybe the songs are great, but would it hurt to have Axl Rose and Dr. Dre team up to remix them all from scratch? Elon Musk will have the Hyperloop up and running any month now — do you really want to drop this album without first checking what it sounds like when you listen to it while commuting from L.A. to San Francisco inside a giant bullet propelled by compressed air? Shouldn’t you fall back for a minute and read all six volumes of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle, just to make sure you guys aren’t covering the same ground? That would be, like, so embarrassing, right? Did you watch Season 2 of Better Call Saul yet? It’s great — we don’t want to spoil anything, but he’s, like, Saul-er than ever.
Look, Frank, we’re gonna level with you here: We’re not sure we’re ready for you to drop something. We need, like, one week without a surprise album by a major artist, just to regroup and recharge. We’re tired and we miss our families and we never have sex. We’re dropping dead in the think piece mines over here, dude, and if we have to process your second album right now, we might not live to hear your third.
Yours optimistically,
MTV News | {
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The founders of the state, Jews of Ashkenazi origin raised on European ideas, viewed ‘Oriental Jews’ as backward and primitive from the moment they began arriving en masse on Israel’s shores.
“An Ashkenazi gangster, thief, pimp or murderer will not gain the sympathy of the Ashkenazi community (if there is such a thing), nor will he expect it. But in such a primate community as the Moroccans’ — such a thing is possible.” – David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, 1959
Israel’s media was abuzz Monday following the release of an overtly racist commercial targeting Mizrahi Jews.
The commercial for the upscale housing development of “Karmei Gat,” planned to be be built in the middle of Kiryat Gat, a working class town largely populated by Mizrahim (Jews from Arab and/or Muslim countries), features a religious Ashkenazi family (Jews of eastern European origin) lighting Hanukkah candles together. All of a sudden they are disrupted by two neighbors — unabashedly portrayed as Mizrahi — who barge in to ruin Hanukkah with their vulgarity and ignorance of authentic Jewish practice.
עדכון לפוסט הקודם: הסרטון הוסר בעקבות המחאה, וטוב שכךכדי שלא נחזה בקמפיינים מהסוג הבזוי הזה בהמשך, הוא מצורף כאן Posted by Elyashiv Raichner on Monday, November 30, 2015
The message? By moving to Karmei Gat, you can live among other real, white Jews without having to worry about those pesky, benighted brown people.
The video, produced by “Be’emuna,” a real estate company that specializes in building “quality housing for the religious public,” was widely panned in the media, and was taken down almost as quickly as it went up. But the bitter taste couldn’t be wiped out, especially since the video was released on the very same day that official Israel commemorates the expulsion of Jews from Arab and Muslim lands.
In 2014, the Knesset passed a bill to commemorate the flight and expulsion of Jews from Arab Lands and Iran. For many Mizrahim, “Jewish Refugee Day” is a form of recognition for their expulsion from Muslim countries, as well as recognition for their second-class status in Israeli society. “This story touches half the residents of Israel, but is almost unknown,” Moroccan-born MK Shimon Ohayon said in February 2014 as the Knesset was getting ready to vote on the bill. “If the story of these communities had been told from the founding of the state, we wouldn’t need this bill today.”
Critics of the memorial day argue that it is part of a cynical attempt by the government to use Mizrahi claims to their properties in countries such as Iraq and Morocco as a means to offset those of Palestinian refugees to the lands from which they were expelled in 1948 — what Professor Yehouda Shenhav refers to as “spineless bookkeeping.”
Those who may be shocked by the blatant bigotry in the Karmei Gat video must remember that racist attitudes toward Mizrahim are part and parcel of Israel’s DNA. The founders of the state, Jews of Ashkenazi origin who were raised on European ideas of nationalism and socialism, viewed “Oriental Jews” as backward and primitive from the moment they began arriving en masse on Israel’s shores, shortly after the founding of the state.
Famed Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban described in 1957 how Mizrahi Jews were, in the plainest sense, a direct threat to the nascent State of Israel: “The goal must be to instill in them a Western spirit, and not let them drag us into an unnatural Orient. One of the biggest fears… is the danger that the large amount of immigrants of Mizrahi origin will force Israel to compare how cultured we are to our neighbors.”
Those same racist sentiments laid the groundwork for racist policies. During the early years of the state, Mizrahi Jews were subject to ghettoization, cultural theft, and medical experimentation. Most disturbing of all was the alleged kidnapping of hundreds of Yemenite babies during the years 1948-1956. Although Yemenite Jews were viewed by the Zionist establishment as being the most “authentic” Jews, they were still seen through the prism of the East, infected with a disease that could only be cured through a dosage of Western acculturation. “Why destroy the diaspora in Yemen and bring these people who will harm us more than help?” asked Yitzhak Grinboim, Israel’s first interior minister. “By bringing 70 percent of ill Yemenite Jews we will harm both us and them.”
To understand the scorn, and at times detestation of Jews from Arab countries in Israel, we must go to the source. I have picked out a number of remarks made by Israeli leaders during the founding years of the state (all of which can be found in Tom Segev’s remarkable book, “1949: The First Israelis”) to demonstrate how deeply-rooted these attitudes really were:
“Even the immigrant from North Africa, who looks like a savage, who has never read a book in his life, not even a religious one, and doesn’t even know how to say his prayers, either wittingly or unwittingly has behind him a spiritual heritage of thousands of years…” – David Ben-Gurion.
“The ancient spirit left the Jews of the East and their role in the Jewish nation receded or disappeared entirely. In the past few hundred of years the Jews of Europe have led the nation, in both quantity and quality.” – David Ben-Gurion.
“This tribe is in some ways more easily absorbed, both culturally and economically, than any other. It is hardworking, it is not attracted by city life, it has — or at least, the male part has — a good grounding in Hebrew and the Jewish heritage. Yet in other ways it may be the most problematic of all. It is two thousand years behind us, perhaps even more. It lacks the most basic and primary concepts of civilization (as distinct from culture). Its attitude toward women and children is primate. Its physical condition is poor. For thousands of years it lived in one of the most benighted and impoverished lands, under a rule even more backward than an ordinary feudal and theocratic regime. The passage from there to Israel has been a profound human revolution, not a superficial, political one. All its human values need to be changed from the ground up.” David Ben-Gurion, on the new Yemenite immigrants to Israel.
“This is a race unlike any we have seen before. They say there are differences between people from Tripolitania, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, but I can’t say I have learned what those inferences are, if they do, in fact, exist. They say, for example, that the Tripolitanians and Tunisians are “better” than the Moroccans and Algerians, but it’s the same problem with them all… The primitiveness of these people is unsurpassable. As a rule, they are only slightly more advanced than the Arabs, Negroes and Berbers in their countries… The [North] Africans bring their ways with them wherever they settle. It is not surprising that the crime rate in the country is rising… above all there is one equally grave fact and that is their total inability to adjust to the life in this country, and primarily their chronic laziness and hatred for any kind of work.” Arye Gelblum, Haaretz, April 22, 1949.
“They are handsome as far as their physique and outward appearance are concerned, but I found it very difficult to tell them apart from the good quality Arab type.” H. Tsivleli, the Jewish Agency emissary in Libya.
“In our opinion, the Sephardi and Yemenite Jews will play a considerable part in building our country. We have to bring them over in order to save them, but also to obtain the human material needed for building the country.” – Berl Locker, Chairman of the Jewish Agency executive, speaking to the Jewish American politician Henry Morgenthau, October 1948.
“I must say that the human material in Germany is better than I had thought, especially after having visited the North Africans in Marseilles” – Itzhak Refael, member of Jewish Agency Executive, following a visit to a camp for immigrants preparing to move to Israel.
“You are familiar with the immigrants from those places… you know that we do not have a common language with them. Our cultural level is not theirs. Their way of life is medieval.” – Shoshana Parsits, MK for the General Zionists Party.
– – –
It would be unfair, however, to portray Mizrahi history in Israel as one of sole victimhood. From the very beginning, newly-arrived Mizrahi immigrants led uprisings against the ghastly conditions in ma’abarot — Israel’s refugee absorption camps — and Israel’s inner cities, where they were often sent to live in the homes of Palestinians who were expelled or had fled just years prior. The most noteworthy of these uprisings came during the 1970s by a group of young Moroccans in Jerusalem who called themselves the Israeli Black Panthers and led a series of mass protests, posing the first real threat to the Ashekanzi establishment by its Mizrahi subjects.
Today there is a flourishing of Mizrahi cultural and political activism, which seeks not only to expose the crimes of the Ashkenazi founders, but to draw a direct line from the abuses of the 1950s to the racism we see in Israeli society today. But the mere fact that there are people who seemingly have no problem with actively promoting an apartheid vision by which Mizrahim are actively kept out of particular neighborhoods means that non-Mizrahim (such as myself) must take an active role in combating these forms of bigotry.
First and foremost we must listen. Listen to the stories of Yemeni Jews who talk about how their children were taken from them and given up for adoption without brushing them off as old wives’ tales. We must listen to the stories of the brutal suppression of nearly every attempted Mizrahi uprising in a country that was never really made for them. We must learn to view the story of the Mizrahi tragedy as one that needs to be told — over and over again — to anyone who believes that Israelis are all racist, colonialist Europeans who came here with the express purpose of usurping Palestinian land. We must tell it to anyone who still believes Israel is the only place on earth where the rights, histories, and safety of Jews can be guaranteed and protected. But most of all, we must tell it for the simple fact that it remains an open wound that cannot heal on its own. | {
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Welcome back for Issue Ten of Your Own Terms, the biweekly comic about Sir Terminus: Crusader of Logic, Manly Valor, and Multilingual Terminology Management. This week we offer you: Four Conversations That Translators Love (NOT!).
For this week’s comic, we thought we’d take a small break from Terminus’ shenanigans and focus a bit on the trials and tribulations of translators, the proverbial lifeblood of everything we do in the translation and localization industry. We hope you enjoy :)
Translators out there… got any other fun ones to share?
Keep up with Terminus and his multilingual shenanigans by subscribing to our RSS feed! | {
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TORONTO, Sept. 14, 2015 /CNW/ - The adidas Group and the Canadian Football League (CFL) today announced a change to their existing Official Partnership. Starting with the 2016 season, adidas will become the Official Outfitter and Licensing Partner of the Canadian Football League, assuming the partnership currently held by Reebok.
As part of the agreement, adidas will supply all Authentic on Field product to the nine CFL teams. The terms and conditions of the agreement remain the same.
"With the shift to adidas on the CFL field of play, we're able to provide CFL players with our best sports performance products, and fans with the authenticity and heritage of adidas as a Global sports brand. It also allows us to sharpen our focus and investment towards building Reebok as Canada's leading fitness brand."
Michael Rossi, President, adidas Group Canada
"This is an important moment in the evolution of our partnership with one of the world's leading companies in sport. It marks an exciting new chapter for our league, teams, players and, most importantly, our fans."
Jeffrey Orridge, Commissioner, Canadian Football League
About the adidas Group
The adidas Group is one of the global leaders within the sporting goods industry, offering a broad range of products around the core brands: adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade and Reebok-CCM Hockey. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the Group has more than 53,000 employees and generated sales of EUR 14.5 billion in 2014. For more information, visit www.adidas-Group.com.
adidas has marketing agreements with the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and Major League Soccer. adidas is the official uniform, footwear and apparel provider for more than 100 collegiate programs including Arizona State, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Texas A&M, UCLA and Wisconsin.
About the Canadian Football League
Today's CFL is more than just our great game of football. It's fans sharing their excitement for what they see on the field, and what they experience off it. Stay up to date on all the non-stop action at CFL.ca. And join all of Canada as we celebrate the 103rd Grey Cup, presented by Shaw, this November in Winnipeg.
SOURCE adidas Canada Limited
For further information: DDB Public Relations, Tushar Bharadia, 416-963-4505, [email protected] | {
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"We did not target any country, India or Pakistan. We only care about the non-proliferation treaty (NPT)," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, reasserting that admitting new members is not on the agenda of 48-nation club as it meets in Seoul.
The Chinese official said "the door is open" for the admission of non-NPT members. "It is never closed. But the members of the NSG should stay focused on whether the criteria should be changed and whether non-NPT members should be admitted into the NSG," she added.
China leads a group of nations opposing India's membership to the NSG, which controls access to nuclear technology. It has also been batting for Pakistan's entry if India is granted any exemption.
In an unusual step, China's state media directly defended Pakistan today saying its former chief nuclear scientist AQ Khan was responsible for its policies in the past and Islamabad had taken action against him.
"While India strives for NSG inclusion, it prevents Pakistan from joining by insisting on the latter's bad record of nuclear proliferation. Actually, it was done by Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's chief nuclear scientist, and was not an official policy of the Pakistani government," an article in China's state-run Global Times said.
On Monday, the US urged NSG members to consider and support India's membership. "We believe, and this has been US policy for some time, that India is ready for membership and the US calls on participating governments to support India's application," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
Apart from China, countries like Turkey, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand are also not in favour of India's entry into the NSG.
Government sources say Foreign Secretary S Jaishanker may visit Seoul for a last push for India's bid. He had visited Beijing last week.
Sources say New Delhi has also pinned hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet in Tashkent. | {
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After Yesterday’s Bloodbath, Losses Continue for Major Cryptos, XRP Overtakes Ethereum
Thursday, Nov. 15: yesterday’s fall in crypto markets continues today, with Bitcoin (BTC) dipping below the $5,400 mark, and total market capitalization dropping as low as $174 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
After an extended period of low price volatility, crypto markets experienced a massive decline yesterday, Nov. 14, with Bitcoin dropping from its average trading price of around $6,400 to as low as $5,506.
Continue Reading on Coin Telegraph
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Aug 9, 2017 By |
Diversity strikes again!
Breitbart:
Seventeen South Asian men and one Caucasian woman have been convicted of involvement in a mostly Muslim sex grooming gang operating in Newcastle, in the largest case of its kind since Rotherham and Rochdale.
The gang was found guilty of nearly 100 offences, including the rape and human trafficking of vulnerable women and girls. They preyed upon teenage girls with drugs and alcohol at sex parties known as “sessions”, Chronicle Live reports.
The police have come under strong criticism for paying almost £10,000 to a convicted child rapist to work as an informant in the case.
The victims were aged between 14 and 22 years old. They were passed around by their abusers and were sometimes said to be too intoxicated to even know what was happening to them.
One victim said she had been to 60 such “sessions”, the BBC reports. She spoke of seeing two older men at one of them with a woman who seemed “frightened and scared, like a slave”. | {
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From staff reports
An undercover, week-long operation has led to the arrest of 15 individuals on prostitution-related crimes, according to a press release from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.
According to the report, the operation conducted by the Escambia Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Unit, took place over the past week and targeted those individuals engaged in prostitution and the clients that sought their services.
Suspects were arrested either offered to perform sexual acts in exchange for money with undercover investigators or sought sexual acts with undercover officers, the release said.
The arrests are part of a larger ESO initiative to target prostitution related crimes, human trafficking, and exploitation of minors.
Six people were arrested for prostitution and nine were arrested for solicitation.
Prostitution
Jeremy Teal
Tina M. Weeks
Alycia McKnight
Patricia Dickinson
Regina L. Lake
Tamar McGee
Solicitors
Alarifi S. Saad
Michael A. Pond
Edgardo C. Garcia-Flores
John O. Gage
Joshua L. Bell
Ramsey C. Coats
Jose R. Santiesteban
Michael C. Bouhuys
Brian A. Lynch (NOTE: Record expunged as of 10/15/15) | {
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Lionel Messi's dreams of winning his fifth UEFA Champions League suffered a major blow following his side's heavy defeat at Anfield on Tuesday, May 7.
Despite going into the second leg with three goals advantage, the Argentine and his Catalan teammates were unable to save their qualification with just one goal.
As two goals each from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum helped Liverpool achieved one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the championship and qualify with 4-3 on aggregate.
Before yesterday's fixture, the 31-year-old had netted 12 times in 10 UCL appearances this campaign, but failed to add to his tally at the end of the match.
READ ALSO: Lionel Messi faces off with angry Barcelona fans after Liverpool demolition
Similar occurrence happened last season when the La Liga giants were bundled out same competition at the quarterfinal stage by Roma after surrendering 4-1 lead after both legs.
Liverpool managed to keep the 31-year-old quiet all game, with The Guardian giving him a rating of just four out of 10.
"No magic this time,” they wrote. "Had a second-half sulk as the dream of another final collapsed around him. “Beaten long before the final whistle.”
However, Messi is said to have failed to find the back of the net beyond the round of 16 away from home since 2013.
After scoring during his side's 2-2 draw against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final according to Give Me Sport quoting Per Squawka.
PAY ATTENTION: Install Pitch Football App for FREE to get the latest football News & Scores
Meanwhile, Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp was able to silence the five time Ballon d'Or winner at Anfield and managed to overturn the 3-0 result from the first leg.
While Barcelona's solution could very well be new additions in the summer, as a deal has already been agreed with Ajax for midfielder Frenkie de Jong, while his teammate Matthijs de Ligt may follow in the summer.
Given Suarez’s return in Europe, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Barcelona splash the cash on a new striker as well. Anything to help Messi out.
Legit.ng earlier reported that two goals each from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum saw Liverpool outclass Barcelona in their Champions League clash
The Reds reach their second straight UCL final after beating the Spanish League side 4-3 on aggregate.
This comes barely one week after the Catalans subjected Jurgen Klopp's side to 3-0 defeat at the Camp Nou.
NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better
Lionel Messi is a game changer and can destroy - Moses Simon - Legit TV | {
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A Craigslist ad by supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' Wisconsin campaign team is offering individuals $15 an hour to protest at Donald Trump's Janesville rally Tuesday.
The undisclosed sponsor of the ad, which has since been removed from the free advertising website, is asking for protesters who can attend the GOP front-runner's pre-rally and main event.
SAD. $15/ hour to protest @realDonaldTrump's Janesville, Wisconsin rally tomorrow-- via Craigslist. pic.twitter.com/U90csUMTcJ — Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) March 29, 2016
Attendees will be compensated for four hours of service at more than double the state's minimum wage of $7.25.
"We are offering this amount because of the current income inequality that we are fighting in America today!" the ad reads.
The protest's organizers said they will supply helpers with signs and even shuttle them to the event.
A Trump rally in Chicago on March 12 was cancelled after hundreds of protesters infiltrated the event. Sanders' campaign team said it did not instruct its supporters to crash the candidate's rally. | {
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GRAND BLANC TWP., MI – Police say a 34-year-old man crashed a truck through a construction zone, drove through the police department's front yard, hitting a "Drive Sober or get Pulled Over" sign before being arrested.
Grand Blanc Township Police say that at about 2 a.m. on Aug. 23, police noticed vehicle stopped in the 2000 block of Lincoln Manor Drive and Frank Avenue, although there was no stop sign.
As it pulled into a driveway on the west side of Frank Avenue, police saw both tires were flat and pulled over the vehicle.
After noticing more vehicle damage to the Ford F-150, police said the driver wouldn't answer what he hit.
When the man exited the vehicle, police saw that he wasn't wearing any shoes and, after initially refusing to answer how much he drank, he eventually told police "he had a lot," according to the report.
After arresting him for operating while intoxicated, he gave a sample of 0.25 blood-alcohol content -- three times the legal limit -- with a breath test.
Nearly 10 hours later, at 12:30 p.m., officers found damaged property in front of the department, 5405 S. Saginaw Road including tire tracks that left the road to strike a "watch for fire trucks sign," a ground flood light and a "Drive Sober or get Pulled Over" sign.
The "Drive Sober or get Pulled Over" campaign is happening in 40 counties across the state and features more than 150 officers enforcing in the area in an effort to look for seat belt or drunken driving violations.
In the process of going into the yard, police say the man hit two sand hills that were in the area for construction and, after hitting the signs, stopped near the broken signs, where police found a receipt with his name on it.
The Ford truck that the man was driving was owned by a Linden resident, who told police the man did not have permission to drive the vehicle and was supposed to be working on it.
Eric Dresden is a reporter for MLive-The Flint Journal. Contact him at [email protected] or 810-285-0650. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook. | {
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Meghan McCain and “Late Night” talk show host Seth Meyers clashed over McCain’s criticisms of Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.
Omar has repeatedly been accused of anti-Semitism, and Meyers brought up McCain’s criticism after a deadly attack at a synagogue shooting at the Poway, Calif., last month, when McCain referenced Omar’s posts on Twitter.
“You do keep bringing up the two tweets she apologized for,” Meyers told McCain, “and I think it’s a little unfair to her, especially because — “
“Are you her publicist?” McCain said. “Are you her press person?”
TRENDING: OUTRAGEOUS! Ohio State University President Sends Ignorant Text Message to Students Following Breonna Taylor Decision -- And a Crazy-Ass Video!
“No,” Meyers said. “I’m just someone who cares about the fact that there’s someone out there who is in a minority, who has had death threats against her, and I think we should all use the same language that you’re asking her to be careful about her language. And I would ask that everyone to be careful about theirs.”
The audience applauded.
Omar (D-MN) was criticized after she retweeted a post describing how she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) faced consequences from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for criticizing Israel. “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby,” Omar wrote in a tweet, which she later deleted. The American Jewish Committee asked her to apologize and labeled her remarks “stunningly anti-Semitic.”
Meyers repeatedly defended Omar.
“I do think it’s fairly dangerous and you brought it up after Congresswoman Omar had some death threats against her,” Meyers said. “Do you think, you know, she has obviously now stated that she needs to be more careful with her language, don’t you think other people who talk about her need to be more thoughtful as well? Or do you stand by those comments of tying her to this, her rhetoric to this synagogue shooting?”
“I don’t think I tied her to it in particular,” McCain said. “I’m calling out what I see as anti-Semitic language and when you’re talking about — “
“But even after, you called her out even after she apologized for it,” Meyers said. “I do want to establish the timeline.”
“I think that Democrats are hedging on this and I think it’s very dangerous,” McCain said. “And I think [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and I are in alignment about Israel’s stance in geopolitical politics. I think it is of the utmost importance and I think she is bringing her party to extremism on this. And I think we have to look to Europe and what’s happening over there and in British politics. Anti-Semitism is very common and I see it happening over there and I worry about it happening over here. I stand by everything that I’ve said and if that makes me unpopular in this room or in front of you, so be it.”
In another exchange, the two discussed Omar’s remarks in a speech when she a Muslim rights group was founded “after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”
“Were you bothered by her language on 9/11?” McCain said.
“I thought it was taken out of context,” Meyers said, “and I think if you watched that whole speech — “
“Would you give President Trump the same leverage if he had said the same thing?” McCain interrupted. “I just think you have to give people the same credence.”
“It’s an interesting thing when we have two Muslim women for the first time, they do have a different perspective on things,” Meyers said. “And I think when we talk about the idea of ‘Let’s all try to meet in the middle on things,’ we have to listen to other people’s perspective.”
“I agree, I work on ‘The View’ with Joy Behar every day,” McCain said. “I listen to other people’s perspectives all the time.” | {
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The doctors of Hindu Rao hospital say they have not been paid salaries for three months
Resident doctors of North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run Hindu Rao hospital went on an indefinite strike Monday over the "recurring problem" of non-payment of salaries, partially affecting health services at the facility.
They said they tried to operate a parallel Out Patient Department (OPD) but the hospital authorities prevented them from doing so.
The doctors wrote to the President of India seeking his permission for "suicide". In the letter, the doctors said, "Our situation has turned pathetic and we are unable to take care of our families. We do not even have money for food... So we seek your permission for suicide."
The doctors say they have not been paid salaries for three months.
They demanded that the hospital be handed over to the central government, if the local government and the municipal corporation are unable to run it.
"Its not just a question of three months' salaries, we are facing this recurring problem. The Delhi government and the NDMC should give up this hospital if they cannot ensure regular payment to the staff. We need a permanent solution of the problem," said Rahul Chaudhary, president of the hospital's Resident Doctors Association.
A senior NDMC official said the salaries of resident doctors were delayed because funds were not released on time by the Delhi government.
"We have learnt that the government may release funds due to NDMC today. As soon as it happens, the salaries will be paid," the official said.
The doctors also complained about poor facilities - non-availability of potable water and accommodation - for them.
Mr Chaudhary said a petition regarding the resident doctors' salaries was filed in the high court. The case is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday.
A senior official of Hindu Rao hospital said, "We are hopeful that the doctors will get their salary in a couple of days."
He added that the problem of accommodation will also be resolved with two new hostels coming up in two months.
"The Emergency department is working without any issue and patient care is our primary objective," the official said.
Facilities at OPD and wards of the 1,200-bed hospital have been affected partially due to the strike, he added. | {
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‘Years ago, when I danced, you did what you were told,” says Northern Ballet’s artistic director, David Nixon. “If you had an idea, they didn’t want to know about it.” In his office at the company’s Leeds HQ, the Canadian-born choreographer and former principal is reflecting on how ballet is shrugging off its autocratic style and becoming more collaborative. Nixon is fast approaching his 20th anniversary in Leeds and the company – originally based in a former church hall in Manchester’s Moss Side – celebrates its 50th birthday this month. The sense of rehearsal-room democracy is, he believes, one of its defining features. Today’s dancers “have a lot that they can personally contribute”, says Nixon. “They are a part of, rather than serving, the art form.”
We meet on a busy morning at Northern Ballet’s purpose-built, six-storey base in the cultural quarter of Quarry Hill. On the ground floor, children fill up the foyer awaiting a performance of Little Red Riding Hood, a sweet introduction to ballet with a colourful design, sprightly live music and a rather soppy wolf. On the floors above, dancers are taking morning class and Nixon has been viewing test footage for the company’s first live broadcast of Dracula, staged at the newly reopened Leeds Playhouse up the road. The camera’s close-ups show off the dancers’ dramatic skills, he enthuses, but the trick is to avoid spoiling the production’s illusions.
Deep in the veins … Javier Torres as Dracula and Abigail Prudames as Mina. Photograph: Emma Kauldhar
These are hectic times for the touring company. “We did Cinderella two weeks ago, had one week back at base to prepare the mixed bill for the Linbury [in London], then in between we’re doing Dracula,” Nixon explains. Juggling this sort of workload means the dancers have to keep several contrasting performances “in their veins” he says, then grins. “That’s a bad choice of words!” His version of Bram Stoker’s novel, with its bloodsucker in a bat-shaped cloak, is a crowd-pleaser that vamps up the gothic and erotic, yet has hauntingly anguished encounters such as Dracula and Mina’s bedroom pas de deux danced to Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel. “Oddly enough, sometimes people come to the ballet thinking everything’s going to be Swan Lake,” observes Nixon. “That Dracula will be Swan Lake with fangs. Well, no, Dracula will be Dracula.”
The company is known for these full-length narrative dances, dating back to founder Laverne Meyer’s Aladdin in 1974, and continuing with Gillian Lynne’s A Simple Man (about LS Lowry), a highlight of the transformative artistic directorship of Christopher Gable, and on to Nixon’s own versions of Madame Butterfly, Dangerous Liaisons and Cleopatra. “The stories give us a clear identity,” says Nixon. “Whether you like Northern Ballet or not, you would be able to say what the company is … Sometimes today, in ballet companies, their identity is very similar to another five or six ballet companies. The same rep, pretty much the same way of approaching it. I like to think that when we take on even abstract work [such as in the mixed bill that toured to the Linbury] we take it on in a Northern Ballet way.”
‘Whether you like Northern Ballet or not, you would be able to say what the company is’ … artistic director David Nixon. Photograph: Joan Russell
Stories are central to the three world premieres that Nixon is unveiling for the 2020 season: Geisha, Merlin and a yet-to-be-named children’s ballet (the latest in a successful line for junior audiences that have had popular CBeebies broadcasts). Geisha and Merlin, he says, are essentially “both original stories. So often we’re doing adaptations but my whole thing has been: can we get to a point where we are creating the stories?” Drew McOnie, the livewire theatre choreographer of King Kong, In the Heights and Jesus Christ Superstar, was commissioned to work his magic on the legendary wizard and the result is “not Merlin as you would have foreseen it” says Nixon. The show will explore how the wizard got his powers and his struggle to determine how to use his magic for good. McOnie has said that he greeted an email from Nixon inviting him for a coffee, years ago, as if it were a marriage proposal. Merlin will be his first professional ballet creation: “The opportunity for a theatre choreographer to be welcomed into a space like this and into a company is incredibly rare,” McOnie acknowledges.
Geisha is Northern Ballet’s second full-length commission for choreographer Kenneth Tindall, who started out as a child dancer with the company, and whose Casanova premiered in 2017. The anniversary celebrations include further tour dates for The Great Gatsby and Little Red Riding Hood, and the launch of a digital archive, to be gradually expanded. Archive manager Hari Jonkers has been steadily sorting through boxes of material charting the company’s history. In original proposal documents, founder Laverne Meyer (like Nixon, a Canadian former dancer), writes: “For too long, areas outside London have been served by touring companies which, although they often inspire great enthusiasm during their visits, can only be present in each centre for a short time. Such visits can only impinge briefly on local life and cannot hope to develop regular audiences.”
The archive has handwritten logbooks of visits to the various theatres and school halls where Northern Dance Theatre, as it was first known, performed. There is promotional material trumpeting “the north’s own ballet company” which comprised 11 dancers – seven women, four men – and now has four times that number. There are glamorous shots of Northern’s illustrious artist laureate, Rudolf Nureyev, in 1986 and desperate campaigning letters from that decade, railing against proposed Arts Council cuts. A look through the company’s posters reveals a striking consistency of vision: the same company that staged dance-drama The Brontës in 1995 went on to perform Nixon’s version of Wuthering Heights in 2003 and recently enjoyed one of its biggest hits with another prestigious literary adaptation, Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre.
From the start, Meyer’s policy for the company stressed the importance of their work being seen on television as well as in theatres and schools. These days, that has expanded to include the cinema, which helps dance reach new audiences but has its own limitations. It’s difficult for dancers to see themselves on screen, says Nixon. “The only way we can [do so] is through looking at a video. But a video is dead compared with a performance. It’s never what the performance was.”
Among its further plans to put performance online and push the art form forward, while also perhaps recognising the habits of its future audiences, the company has commissioned Tindall to choreograph a “direct to digital” creation. Filmed this month, with a working title of Ego, it will premiere online on Northern Ballet’s Digital Dance website and is not designed to be performed in theatres.
On the 50th anniversary of their first official performance, 28 November, the company will, fittingly, be on the road, performing Cinderella in Norwich. “The human exchange is what’s wonderful,” says Nixon. “You’re sitting with other humans and watching other humans and it’s an energy that comes across between you.” | {
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Al Behrman/AP
2010-07-17 09:41:00 PDT -- East Oakland will likely soon see its first national grocery outlet in the area in over 20 years, according to the city's Community and Economic Development Agency.
Kroger, the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer, is poised to open two grocery stores in underserved areas of East Oakland at 66th Avenue and San Leandro Street and at Foothill Square Shopping Center at 10700 MacArthur Blvd., according to the Economic Development Agency. | {
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Apple’s first quarterly earnings reports for 2018 are in, and the company has reported that it sold 77.3 million iPhones in Q1 2018 (which includes the holiday season). That number is down 1.24 percent year over year from last year (78.3 million). But despite the slump in sales, iPhone revenue increased overall year over year, up 11.69 percent from $54.38 billion to $61.58 billion.
While predictions for the average sale price of iPhone units sold during the quarter ranged from $710 to $755, the actual ASP was $796 (compared to $694 in Q1 2017), which directly explains the increase of revenue despite the decrease in sales. That said, despite the record revenue, analysts were still expecting a slight increase of approximately 1.5 percent year over year for units shipped, not a decrease.
My estimate for iPhone units was expecting a lot more iPhone 8 with an average pricing of $710. Actual ASP was $796. A LOT of iPhone X were sold. — Horace Dediu (@asymco) February 1, 2018
Total sales are up 13 percent year over year for the company, with Apple posting quarterly revenue of $88.3 billion. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the “iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November,” which likely contributed to the shift in numbers. Apple may have sold fewer iPhones, but the ones it is selling are the most expensive yet. | {
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These days, everyone is talking about super capitals. The DRF is mass-producing them, the South wishes they had more of them, and the Goons wish they were never put into the game.
These ships have become the single most important factor in determining who controls null sec territory, and they seem to have cornered the market on frustration & butt-hurt at a time when customer satisfaction with CCP is at critically low levels.
Because of the high damage of fighter bombers, which require no ammo or energy from the host ship, super carriers have been firmly cemented as the new bulldozers for sovereignty infrastructure.
Compared to dreadnaughts, super carriers have far better offensive and defensive capabilities, with none of the built-in disadvantages that dreads bring.
Super carriers, like titans, have full e-war immunity at all times. Unlike dreads, they don’t need to siege to obtain this immunity, and therefore it is much harder catch them with their pants down in the same manner that often happened to dread fleets.
While in siege mode, dreads can be killed even by a comparatively small number of sub-capital ships. This is because dreads in siege mode cannot receive remote repair, dock, or jump.
This was a great way to balance the behemoth tower-killers of yore. No such balancing mechanic exists for super carriers. Super carriers are far from helpless against sub-caps thanks to their drone bay, fighters, remote ECM burst, and considerable buffer tank.
And then there are the titans.
There is no other ship class that has caused so many problems in the history of eve. Titans have been broken since release, and every change has simply replaced one game-breaking super-weapon with another game-breaking super-weapon.
Titans have never been fun to fight against. Originally, they could remotely AOE ships from another system through a cyno. In those days, they didn’t even have to jump through to set off the weapon.
Later, they were forced to jump through in order to deliver the doomsday, so people started bring “waves” of titans to ensure it wasn’t possible for anything to survive and tackle the titan.
Now, with titans being something like a super-capital sized battleship, people are not bringing a handful titans in waves before quickly hiding them, they are dropping dozens of them at a time on everything that moves.
And why not? It’s not as if there is any risk involved with dropping 50 titans, unless of course there are 51 titans nearby who are ready to counter you. Some refer to this as the “n + 1” counter.
Titans not only reduce capital fleets to ash, they also have an equally strong impact on key sub-capitals ships. Titans can turn a “sub-cap advantage” into a long list of loss mails rather quickly unless you have obscene odds in your favor.
The common retort when discussing the primacy of supers in 0.0 is a two word reply, “cyno jammers,” as if these were an easy counter to sustain 23/7.
All it takes is an unannounced form-up by the enemy in your weak timezone, and rather quickly the jammer will be gone, usually too fast for a coalition to communicate and respond with sufficient force.
The enemy can jump in their supers and dominate the system from then on. If they need to log, they can log in system, and erecting a new jammer will do nothing to eject the supers who have already made it in.
Once you have hostile supers logged in a system, they will be able to log them in unpredictably to take down any new jammers. They can also cause all kinds of other misery for you.
Even if you could protect your jammers 23/7 and lock-in your own supers to crush invaders, you will have to cycle the jammer eventually to move your own caps into the system. Otherwise, the enemy could simply hit every other system first while you hide under a single jammer.
The bottom line is that a determined attacker will get their supers on-field if they want it badly enough.
To make matters worse, an incapacitated jammer prevents the anchoring of a replacement, so the defenders will have to repair or destroy their own busted jammer before they can re-jam the system.
So when speaking of “jammers,” remember that they are not an invincible on/off switch that the defender can flip at will, it is simply another pos module that can be taken out in a variety of ways.
Currently, supers are getting a ton of attention, and with good reason.
One of the things that makes Eve interesting is the room for creativity and innovation in fleet warfare. At the sub-capital level, this kind of evolution in tactics and fittings has always been alive and well.
Even when carriers and dreads started being used in large numbers, there was a huge space for diversity in tactics and fittings (e.g. – sniper dreads, brawler dreads, pantheon carriers, triage carrier rotations).
In those days, any good capital strategy involved using sub-caps as well, and losing all of your support often meant your destruction.
What made the capital ship class interesting was that – while powerful – they were also very vulnerable. Triage mode and siege mode present a HUGE risk. This is a TRADEOFF you make for more power.
Super capitals are not forced to choose between power and safety. A large group of supers are very safe on any battlefield.
Even against a larger group of supers, inadequate log-off mechanics ensure that you are likely to save the majority of your fleet in the case of a well-executed trap.
Supers represent a dead-end. There is no reason to specialize in anything else, and there are no counters to be found in other ship classes.
I realize people have killed supers with 200-300 suicidal gank-fit sub caps before. This is fun and I cheer along with everyone else when “welp fleet” takes down a super carrier, but this is not a counter that will allow a side with less supers to win a major battle, it’s more like harassment, and it only works under specific conditions.
Instead of a “rock, paper, scissors” situation (example: armor hacs v. alpha BS v. Tengus), or a Achilles heel situation (example: siege mode for dreads), we have a class of ships that have no weaknesses.
When the only direct counter for a ship/class/character/team is more of that ship/class/character/team, this is the essence of a broken game mechanic.
Right now, a majority of the super-cap heavy alliances are part of the same coalition.
This coalition, lead by the Drone Region Russians, was formed for a singular purpose: the destruction of the Northern Coalition.
To this end, Raiden (ex-BoB) and NCdot (ex-Tri) joined hands with the heavily Russian DRF. By this time, the DRF already included Red Alliance, Legion of xXDeathXx, Solar Fleet, White Noise, Intrepid Crossing, Red Legion, The Jagged Alliance, Controlled Chaos, and others.
Pandemic Legion, the largest super-cap force in the game, once again played “king-maker” here, joining the Russians and their comrades in exchange for a hefty sum.
At first, I was cheering for the NC to finally meet their end, as were nearly all of us in MVN, but soon I began to wonder if it really was such a good thing for the game to see a large care-bear oriented bloc that was notorious for welcoming new players removed entirely.
Combined with a null-sec income nerf, and the introduction of high-paying incursions, there was little reason for the bears residing in the North to fight and reclaim their space.
The result was more people playing in empire, which means less targets for everyone other than Privateers & The Orphanage.
It would have been fine if the replacement for the NC were simply a number of smaller coalitions, but what we got was another mega-bloc.
With the NC defeated, PL went back to playing better games than Eve, and they reset standings until they are needed again.
However, the rest of the coalition has remained intact, despite the lack of any existential threat to the DRF or any real re-consolidation of the NC to be found anywhere.
Next, the majority of the coalition that was necessary to pry the NC from the North was leveraged against AAA, and the other “Southern” alliances. Ostensibly, this conflict also involved the residents of the entire Southwest, among whom are several ex-NC entities.
I can say with confidence that very few supers are being built in the South right now. Some corps are crazier than others in this regard, but everyone feels the impending doom of the DRF and their new allies.
It isn’t really a mystery why Raiden and NCdot kept the DRF blue, they want to beat up on a weaker coalition more than they want to worry about defending their own space right now.
Their choices were to attack West into Deklein, attack east into IRC space, or bandwagon with White Noise & RA against AAA in the South. Considering the stomping the Russians took in 46DP, I can only imagine that the Russians were pleading for help at that point.
So, predictably, the groups that once resented the NC for having “too many blues” decided to keep their new mega-bloc standings intact and go South.
Down here, they have been helping White Noise take revenge for the CSAA’s AAA destroyed, and to “reclaim” space that White Noise took from AAA to begin with.
Initially, the war was going well for AAA and friends. Red Alliance + White Noise + xxDeathxx + Controlled Chaos + Ultima Ratio were a good match for AAA + ROL + Nulli + Cascade/Atlas + Nulli.
Relatively even wars are conducive to large battles where super-caps are frequently deployed on both sides. Epic battles ensue, and fun is had by all. The brawl that took place in 46DP is a great example of this.
Victories under relatively-even conditions feel earned, and tend to make for great stories to write about. These are also the kinds of stories that draw new players to the game.
On the other hand, one-sided wars raise the stakes of using supers too high for the weaker bloc. While easier for the conqueror, these wars harm morale on both sides because there is no suspense, and even fewer enjoyable fights.
With the alliances currently tied to the DRF remaining blue, and the power of supers unchecked, we effectively have a uni-polar world on Tranquility right now. This means new coalitions are unlikely to be able to break into 0.0, and the current blocs not-allied with the DRF exist only at their mercy.
This situation does not provide much fun for current players, and worse yet, it doesn’t draw in new players into 0.0 – or even to playing the game in the first place.
The Dominion experiment has failed, perhaps even more spectacularly than the Incarna expansion.
I don’t consider it a stretch to say that a super-capital imbalances between major power blocs are bad for the game itself. Dominance by one power bloc, which is made possible by an ever-growing growing super-capital majority, inevitably contributes to apathy.
This is the super-cap gap that many people, myself included, consider game-breaking.
When people feel that logging in doesn’t matter, they are more likely to move on to other games. This is bad for everyone involved, regardless of who won and lost in their most recent campaigns.
Right now, when all the supers in the game are counted up, the DRF and their allies simply have too many toys, especially if you count PL on their side.
Everything mentioned so far is common knowledge. I think CCP, the players, and even the non-Eve-playing gaming media are aware that there are balance problems with this game right now.
What hasn’t been discussed adequately is how to fix things.
First off, a political solution could be reached that breaks the DRF into at least two smaller parts. This would be a temporary fix to the problems caused by the super-cap gap, but it doesn’t access the root of the problem.
Most importantly, this kind of political solution is something only players could control, since I don’t believe CCP is creative or ballsy enough to come up with a way to penalize players for having large blue lists.
Additionally, any temporary reset between group like NCdot and their Russian comrades is likely to be temporary. Any serious threat to either side would lead to a renewed bandwagon.
Second, supers could be nerfed. This is something CCP has already come to terms with, and I suspect a poll of every player in 0.0 would heavily favor this outcome. The only question is, how.
Right now on singularity, titans cannot doomsday sub-capital ships. This is the first step towards balancing titans, and by far the most needed change.
Titans currently get “rooted” for 30 seconds after firing their doomsday weapon, which is only a minor limitation, but they also cannot cloak or jump out of the system for 10 minutes. These restrictions are still present on singularity, but they have not been increased, which has come as a disappointment to some players.
The real problem with the current “penalties” associated with the doomsday weapon is that they make dropping a single titan on a hostile target (like a ratting carrier or jump freighter using a cyno beacon) hazardous for that one pilot, but they do not make large titan fleets any less safe when deployed together.
In order for 50 titans on grid to worry about their 10-minute timers, they would need to be in danger to begin with. Making them stick around is only a penalty if there is a chance that someone stands a chance of killing them.
So what’s still missing?
Titans need to be more vulnerable to sub-cap fleets. The DD target nerf is a huge step, but turret-based titans need to be unable to chew through hostile battleship fleets like they do. Nerf them all to the level of the Leviathan, which can only harm other capitals with its launchers.
I think that dreads also need a major boost in damage, effectively making them a viable counter to supers if you can resign yourself to losing them in large numbers.
My biggest question is, what about the super carriers?
Super carriers are cheap compared to titans, and they out-class both carriers AND dreads in every way.
I think a dread buff would go a long way to indirectly nerfing super carriers, since they share the role of anti-capital and anti-structure powerhouse. However, that doesn’t seem sufficient to me.
Some have proposed limiting super carriers to fighters and bombers, removing the ability to launch other drones. I don’t think this really gets to the heart of the problem. Having only fighters for killing sub-caps and only bombers for killing capitals would not be particularly limiting.
I personally favor a hit point nerf, reducing them to about 5x the EHP of a carrier instead of their current form (which is around 12-15x times the EHP of a carrier).
As an example, a Thanatos has 125k armor while a Nyx has over a million armor, with more slots to add tank. Supers are usually dead-space tanked as well, while carriers get t2 or faction at best.
There is another more radical change that I support. I am a proponent of removing e-war immunity for super carriers and titans.
What better way to reign in the power of super capitals than to allow well-coordinated teams of e-war specialists to dampen, disrupt, jam, scramble, and web these behemoths.
It only seems fair that titans should be vulnerable to tracking disruption since they can benefit from remote tracking links. It only seems fair that super should be vulnerable to dampening since remote sensor boosting works on them.
I would absolutely love to see a smart group of players beat an over-confident super-cap fleet using ewar and superior tactics. Perhaps a group of sniper dreads supported by dampening from a large sub-cap fleet (all of which fitting a phased muon dampener) would be able to pull off an incredible victory.
Isn’t that kind of scenario the stuff that makes for great player videos and great stories? I think it is, and I also think it’s time to move away from a model where the side with the most supers always wins.
This change would also make it possible to keep supers tackled with sub-capitals, even if they clear away all hostile dictors. Bubblers would still be important though, since it’s hard to individually point a large number of ships.
Finally, I think it’s time for one more major change to the game, longer log-off timers for capital and super-capital ships.
Right now, a side that commits large numbers of supers to a battle can simply log them all off when things start to go south. Sure, they will lose a few of them, as the DRF did in 46DP, but the majority of the fleet will survive.
What we need to do is move from a universal 15-minute log-off timer (before the ship disappears from space after logging) to a tiered system.
I would suggest that all sub-capital ships disappear, as they do now, in 15 minutes. I think that capitals (carriers, dreads, rorquals, etc.) should disappear in 30 minutes. Most importantly, I favor a 60 minute timer for super-capitals to disappear.
If you commit supers, I want logging them off to be suicidal. Your choices should be to clear away tacklers and escape, fight to the end, or defeat the enemy. No more of this “logoffski” crap, it’s a giant source of blueballs and a crutch for bad fleet commanders.
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This was likely the first time a Rosh Hashanah sermon was covered by Iran’s national TV.
“An American rabbi has called for the genocide of all Muslims,” said the announcer on PressTV, Iran’s English language government-run network.
And while this report grossly misrepresented the words of Rabbi Shalom Lewis, his [sermon]( http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/rabbi-schlomo-lewis/ehr-daw-theyre-here/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FrontpageMag+(FrontPage+Magazine+%C2%BB+FrontPage ‘sermon’) on the second day of Rosh Hashanah was explosive enough to explain the national and international attention it brought to him and to his suburban Conservative synagogue just outside Atlanta.
Speaking to nearly 2,000 congregants attending High Holiday services at Congregation Etz Chaim in Marietta, Georgia, the veteran rabbi delivered a 10-alarm warning about the threat that he sees posed by Muslim extremists. He urged, in the harshest of tones, a U.S.-led war against violent Islamist groups, including some that are at war with each other and others that have launched terrorist attacks against Israel on the grounds that Israel has usurped their land, but which have avoided attacks elsewhere.
“They are all the same,” he said. “Hezbollah. Islamic Jihad. Al Shabab. Muslim Brotherhood. Boko Haram. Al Qaeda. Taliban. Iran.”
Lewis declared, “The fury of ultimate evil is upon us and we must act — not to contain it. Not to degrade it. Not to manage it. Not to tolerate it, but to exterminate it utterly and absolutely.”
The rabbi defined this war a “holy crusade,” and referred to adherents and sympathizers of these groups in terms that appeared to place them outside humanity.
“We are dealing with a moral species that eats its own, kills its young and celebrates innocent death as homage to God,” he said. “These Islamist criminals are unlike us in the most basic of ways and we have yet to accept and understand their total immersion in moral debauchery.”
Rabbi Jack Moline, a former Conservative pulpit rabbi who has known Lewis for years, termed Lewis’s call to arms “not helpful.”
“It would be wise for him to walk it back and to make clear he was not calling for any murderous rampage directed at any sect of Islam,” said Moline, who is now executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council. He added: “Terms such as ‘extermination’ shouldn’t be used by a rabbi.”
High Holiday sermons are prime time spots for pulpit rabbis, who have a captive audience made up of almost all their congregation’s members. Their talks, as a rule, are prepared well in advance and carefully crafted to leave a lasting impression on congregants, many of whom will only visit the synagogue once or twice a year.
“It’s a fine art of balancing between speaking your mind and making sure it doesn’t fall on deaf ears,” said Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland. He noted, however, that many congregants appreciate when their rabbi takes a strong stand, even if they disagree with it.
For Lewis, the congregation’s response was no problem. He received a standing ovation and lengthy applause. But once posted on the web, the sermon sparked an Internet firestorm that overwhelmed him. Nevertheless, Lewis made clear he has no intention of retracting a single word.
“Not one word. I regret not one single word,” he told the Forward in an October 6 interview. “Everything that is in there reflects my passion, my feelings and what I believe is the moral truth and so no, I have no regrets.”
He argued that criticism of his speech came from “the evil-doers in this world, the terrorists, the savages in this world,” and said he viewed their attacks on him as proof that his sermon hit a raw nerve, “and I’m proud of that.”
Lewis did add, however, an important caveat. He made clear he was calling for a war against radical Islamists, a group that he estimates represents only 5% of Muslims in the world, not against all Muslims. “Five percent of a billion is 50 million Koran-waving, Allah Akbar-howling Muslim murderers out there planning to slit our throats, blow us up or forcibly convert us,” he said.
But the Atlanta rabbi still had some harsh words for the remaining 95% of Muslims, comparing them to Germans who did not stand up to the Nazis during World War II. “Where are they? A silent partnership is no partnership.”
“They” also include Muslim-Americans. Lewis told the Forward that Americans “cannot ignore the fact that there are insidious evil forces within our borders that need to be acknowledged, recognized and dealt with.”
In fact, many Muslims across the world have spoken out and taken action against radical Islamists, and in the last few months, against the group known as ISIS in particular.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, with some 205 million who claim the religion as their own, has banned any pro-ISIS activity in the country. The government clamped down years earlier on domestic al-Qaeda affiliates, as well. The country’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, called ISIS’s violence “a new wake-up call to international leaders all over the world, including Islamic leaders.”
Several Middle East Muslim states have joined the American-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan. In America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, two of the country’s largest Muslim organizations, have issued repeated condemnations of terrorism, and of ISIS and al-Qaeda specifically.
On September 24, CAIR issued a letter signed by Muslim leaders and prominent scholars rejecting the ideology of ISIS and calling on its supporters to repent.
Lewis’s sermon was first reported by the Mondoweiss website and was quickly picked up by Muslim and Arab sites across the world. Some presented it as evidence of a Jewish wish to rid the world of Muslims. Anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller took issue with these claims, arguing that Muslims have no reason to take offense at being compared to Germans under the Nazis.
Lewis painted in vivid colors a picture of the radical Islamic threat to America and the world, as he views it, warning that Europe is “returning to the dark ages” and is facing a “dystopian future” in which the Sistine Chapel will be demolished, Botticelli’s paintings will be torched and the Guttenberg Bible will be “tossed into the bonfire.”
“This is not a time for delicacy; for tiptoeing,” Lewis said. “It is not a time to parse words nor worry about offending someone with unfiltered vocabulary.”
He faulted Muslims in his speech, among other things, for making airport security a daunting experience. “Who has created a tedious need for us to remove our shoes and belts, empty our pockets, pack only 3-1/2 ounces of Listerine, go through metal detectors and x-ray machines, submit to frisks and wand searches?” Lewis asked, and answered rhetorically: “Not the Italian Mob, not skin heads, not neo Nazis, not Columbian drug cartels, not the Russian mafia, not the Crips nor the Bloods nor the Aryan Brotherhood, not the Ku Klux Klan.”
Radical Islam is not a new passion for Lewis. Three years ago he used his pulpit to warn congregants that “they are coming.” This year, he told listeners, “They are here.”
Despite the online uproar, Lewis’s sermon did not garner any adverse reaction within the walls of Congregation Etz Chaim, or in the broader Conservative Jewish community. One local rabbi noted that he was not surprised by the supportive response, since Lewis is known to hold hawkish views and since his congregation is politically conservative.
Michael Horowitz, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, said the sermon did not seem to stir a debate in the community, which he described as having a “wide range of views and backgrounds.” Horowitz declined to comment on the content of Lewis’ sermon.
Lewis joined Congregation Etz Chaim, which has 600 member families, in 1977, two years after its founding, and later became senior rabbi. Last month he announced his plan to retire in 2017 and assume the role of rabbi emeritus.
His sermons have never shied away from politics. In his Rosh Hashanah address Lewis called President Obama’s response to this summer’s military clash between Israel and Hamas “amateur hour” and said, “the bad guys were licking their chops.”
For Lewis, his sermon this year and in 2010 are attempts to tear down the wall of political correctness that he believes prevents discussion of the problem of radical Islam. “There are limits to multiculturism,” he said. “There are limits to what is acceptable and not everything in every culture is moral, is ethical and is right.”
But is the High Holiday sermon the appropriate setting for issuing an outright call for war in multiple countries against a diverse array of different groups and governments?
Lewis believes it is, while others disagree.
“He raises important questions,” said Weinblatt, “but there was a harshness to it that made it very discomforting.”
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman | {
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Orlando Pirates go into Saturday’s Carling Black Label Champion Cup against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium leading the head-to-head 4-2 in past competitions‚ but are yet to defeat their great Soweto rivals out-right.
All four of Pirates’ previous successes in the pre-season showpiece event have come via penalty shoot-outs‚ while somewhat remarkably they have only managed two goals in the six games.
Buccaneers fans are desperately in need of a lift after a disastrous 2016/17 Premier Soccer League season and are hoping for a good performance against their rivals which will give them hope ahead of the new campaign.
The once-off match‚ that sees the supporters of the two sides select the starting line-up via public voting‚ was first played in 2011 with the inaugural game ending in a 0-0 draw. | {
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A 64-year-old Guelph man is facing multiple sexual assault charges involving children following an investigation by the Guelph Police Service that started in January.
Leigh Taylor was arrested on June 11 and charged with five counts of sexual assault and sexual interference along with three counts of exposure to a person under 16 years and three counts of indecent acts.
The charges are in relation to four additional victims.
Taylor was previously arrested on March 3 and charged with one count each of sexual assault and sexual interference.
Although all of the charges are for incidents that occurred in Guelph, Taylor has lived in several other areas within Ontario, including Windsor, London and Toronto.
According to police, he has been involved in a number of community activities with children.
The investigation is still underway as there is no statute of limitations on crimes of this nature. | {
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