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Como se fosse fazer um discurso corriqueiro, Renan Calheiros se aproximou, perto das 19 horas da última terça-feira, do microfone central do plenário do Senado. Fitava Davi Alcolumbre, até semanas atrás seu algoz na disputada eleição para a presidência da Casa — aquela em que se alardeou que o Davi da “nova política” derrotara o Golias da “velha”. Com as mãos inquietas, para a frente, para trás e para os lados, sem ordem clara, Renan atacou a instalação da CPI da Lava Toga, que seria uma forma de “chantagem”, como fez “esse tempo todo” o Ministério Público. E, após atacar o Ministério Público, como fez ao longo dos cinco anos de Lava Jato, olhou de novo para Alcolumbre. “Fiquei feliz, satisfeito, com as declarações dadas por Vossa Excelência, que recoloca esse assunto transcendental no patamar em que deve ser colocado, que é o patamar da estabilidade, do equilíbrio e do respeito à Constituição.” Ao falar em estabilidade, os gestos, com a palma da mão virada para baixo, eram de quem tampa ou enterra algo, ou pede para alguém “baixar a bola”, ou abana para se apagar o fogo. Renan e Alcolumbre jogando no mesmo time, sete semanas depois de o segundo derrotar o primeiro, compõem o retrato mais bem-acabado da operação de enterro da Lava Toga, que promete devassar casos de corrupção em tribunais superiores e tem feito até desafetos se aproximarem. Ministros e ex-ministros dos tribunais superiores têm telefonado e mandado recados para senadores, criticando a CPI e pedindo que sejam retiradas assinaturas. E são claros: se é guerra que eles querem, é guerra que eles vão ter.
Um dos que entraram em campo foi o ex-ministro Cesar Asfor Rocha, que presidiu o Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) e cujo nome foi incluído pelo autor do requerimento, Alessandro Vieira (PPS-SE), no texto de abertura da CPI. Asfor Rocha conversou com pessoas próximas a Cid Gomes e a Tasso Jereissati e confirmou à coluna ter manifestado seu desconforto. O documento para a criação da comissão propõe investigar se Asfor Rocha recebeu “pelo menos R$ 5 milhões da Camargo Corrêa” para, em janeiro de 2010, suspender liminarmente a ação penal da Operação Castelo de Areia, a primeira de uma série de decisões tomadas pelo STJ que sepultaram a operação.
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Nas conversas, Asfor Rocha argumentou aos senadores que “seu nome não deveria estar ali”. Disse que a menção se baseia em uma negociação de delação premiada que não existe. “Se existisse”, afirmou, “seria sigilosa e ninguém poderia ter essa informação, nem parlamentares.” Uma reportagem da Folha de S.Paulo, de agosto de 2017, afirmou que, na negociação para uma delação, ainda com o Ministério Público Federal, Antonio Palocci havia dito que Asfor Rocha, após um acordo com o ex-ministro da Justiça de Lula, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, recebera os tais R$ 5 milhões.
Asfor Rocha disse que é estranho seu nome estar ali e voltou a afirmar que não recebera recursos da Camargo Corrêa — que também nega.
Cesar Asfor Rocha, ex-presidente do Superior Tribunal de Justiça Foto: Divulgação / Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ)
Os senadores também têm recebido recados vindos do outro lado da Praça dos Três Poderes. Dias Toffoli, Gilmar Mendes, Ricardo Lewandowski e Alexandre de Moraes são os ministros do STF mais irritados. Mas a Corte toda está fechada no espírito de corpo. Embora só os quatro critiquem a iniciativa com mais desenvoltura, ora em conversas privadas, ora publicamente, os 11 ministros são contra a CPI, por considerarem-na parte de um processo de ataque à Corte. “Tenho uma vida financeira à prova de bala. Do contrário, não seria quem eu sou”, declarou Mendes a ÉPOCA em entrevista no mês passado. “É uma perseguição. O Congresso quer controlar o STF”, queixou-se Lewandowski há duas semanas a um interlocutor. Outro ministro avaliou: “Acho que são as instituições que nos salvam e protegem a democracia. E, nesse momento, há um ataque institucional e destrutivo em relação ao STF”.
A irritação principal do STF é com o Palácio do Planalto. A bronca com o governo é grande. Um senador que tirou sua assinatura após ser pressionado por um ex-ministro do STJ explica por quê: “A grande maioria dos que assinaram e que estão fazendo campanha para isso é da base do governo, são bolsonaristas. O autor do requerimento, Alessandro Vieira, até é um moderado. Mas o que falar do Major Olímpio? E o Onyx (Lorenzoni), que está apoiando?”. Publicamente, Lorenzoni nega apoiar a CPI. Mas também não a critica — o que tem incomodado ministros do STF. No fundo, embora não queira polemizar publicamente com Jair Bolsonaro, o STF nunca esqueceu as palavras de Eduardo Bolsonaro na campanha, de que basta “um cabo e um soldado” para fechar a Corte.
Com munição no cartucho, os ministros já têm até uma argumentação jurídica pronta para eventualmente trancar a Lava Toga no STF. A base é o próprio Regimento Interno do Senado, que, em seu artigo 146, proíbe CPIs sobre “as atribuições do Poder Judiciário”. Outro ponto que será levantado será a própria Constituição, sob a lógica de que essa CPI feriria o princípio da separação dos Poderes. Mas, se chegar a este ponto, é porque a CPI foi instaurada e a articulação em curso, no Senado, não deu certo.
“Davi Alcolumbre está no momento mais difícil de seus dois meses de mandato. Eleito principalmente com os votos dos senadores que assinaram o requerimento, ele havia afiançado ao STF que conseguiria esvaziar a CPI e não instalá-la”
Na terça-feira, pediu à Consultoria Legislativa da Casa que avaliasse os 13 fatos incluídos por Alessandro Vieira, para ver se todos têm objeto determinado, ou seja, se realmente são fatos concretos que possam ser investigados. “A bola está aos pés de Davi Alcolumbre. Tem número de assinaturas suficiente e fato determinado. Na reunião do Colégio de Líderes desta semana, tentaram, mas não conseguiram derrubar, e colocaram a Consultoria Legislativa para analisar. Vamos ver o que acontece”, disse um senador entusiasta da CPI.
Indiretamente, a Consultoria Legislativa é comandada por Luiz Fernando Bandeira de Mello Filho, braço direito de Renan Calheiros no Senado e que, após dois meses da gestão Alcolumbre, segue firme e forte na cadeira de secretário-geral da Mesa Diretora da Casa. “De certa maneira, embora Davi tenha ganhado, tudo continua a ser comandado por Renan”, especulou um senador. Pelos afagos que Calheiros fez na terça-feira a Alcolumbre, a dedução faz sentido.
(Atualização, às 13h20 de 14 de março: Ricardo Lewandowski enviou nota em que afirma não ter dito que "o Congresso quer controlar o STF", e que considera fundamental "a manutenção de um relacionamento harmônico e independente entre os poderes, nos termos da Constituição da República". A coluna mantém a informação publicada.) | {
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THANK YOU!
Receive a downloadable Print and Play version for the 4 player edition of Mothership, complete with 3D printer-ready STL files.
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Loch Ken crayfish dangers explained Published duration 3 July 2014
image copyright Thinkstock image caption The signal crayfish has been blamed for destroying the once-thriving angling waters of Loch Ken
Environmental experts are staging a session to explain the risks posed by a huge invasion of non-native crayfish in a south of Scotland loch.
There have been problems at Loch Ken for a number of years.
North American signal crayfish have been blamed for destroying the once-thriving angling waters.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) is holding a session in New Galloway on Saturday to explain what can be done to deal with them.
As well as Sepa, Scottish Natural Heritage, Galloway Fisheries Trust and Police Scotland will attend the event.
They want to talk to local businesses, residents and regular water users to highlight the threat the crayfish pose to other waterways in Dumfries and Galloway.
image copyright Walter Baxter image caption There have been problems with signal crayfish at Loch Ken for a number of years
It has been estimated that non-native species cost about £244m a year to the Scottish economy due to damage to local infrastructure, leisure and tourism, forestry, horticulture and aquaculture.
The main objective of the New Galloway event is to provide "factual information" and an opportunity to talk face-to-face to organisations who deal regularly with the issue of signal crayfish.
The event will also help to build on the campaign of advice which has been rolled out across the region over the past two months, which encourages all water users to take practical steps to prevent the spread of non-native species between waters they visit.
'Strong concerns'
Anne Connick, planning officer for Sepa's catchment management initiative, said it was aware of the "strong concerns" over the issue in the area and wanted to provide "accurate information" about what could or could not be done to control populations on Loch Ken and elsewhere.
She added: "It is also important, however, that we are able to explain the risks that they pose, and the need for us all to help protect other water bodies that are currently unaffected.
"This event will be an opportunity for people to meet with us, and others who work on this issue across the region, to ask questions and hopefully find out how they can help to reduce the threat that North American signal crayfish pose to Scotland's water environment."
The drop-in session is on Saturday at the Cross Keys Hotel in New Galloway from 12:00 to 15:00. | {
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india
Updated: Jul 23, 2016 12:31 IST
Rights groups have said that Bajrang Dal members brutally attacked a Dalit family in Koppa in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district last Sunday claiming there was beef inside their house, in a grim echo of the Dadri mob lynching of last September.
“Around 30-40 members of the Bajrang Dal came and attacked Balraj and four members of his family claiming there was meat inside their house,” KL Ashok, general secretary of the Karnataka Communal Harmony Forum, said.
“They beat them mercilessly with sticks,”Ashok added.
The 53-year-old’s hand was fractured, and members of his family suffered minor internal injuries. All have since been discharged from a local hospital in the town, which is known as the Kashmir of Karnataka because of its tea estates. Koppa is at least 300 km from state capital Bengaluru.
Local police filed a case against at least 30-40 alleged attackers under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015, after Dalit rights groups insisted that action must be taken against them.
Read: Crimes against Dalits in Gujarat less but conviction record poor: Data
This, however, did not go down well with local BJP MLA Jivaraj, Ashok said.
“He and the Bajrang Dal are planning to stage state-wide protests on the issue tomorrow,” he said, “First starting from Jaipura here.”
But rightwing Hindutva organisations won’t be protesting unopposed: Dalit rights groups and activists alike are planning to hold a “Chalo Jaipura” on Monday as part of their agitations against the attack. | {
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Rating: 8.0.
1. Introduction 2. Asus GeForce GTX 970 DirectCU Mini 3. High Res Gallery (w/ Asus Maximus VII Impact) 4. Testing Methodology 5. 3DMark Vantage 6. 3DMark 11 7. 3DMark 8. Unigine Heaven Benchmark 9. Tomb Raider (1080p and 1440p) 10. Grid AutoSport (1080p and 1440p) 11. Thief (1080p and 1440p) 12. Metro: Last Light Redux (1080p and 1600p) 13. Total War Rome II: Emperor Edition (1080p and 1600p) 14. Thermal Dynamics/ IR Thermometer Readings 15. Acoustics Performance 16. Power Consumption 17. Overclocking 18. Closing Thoughts 19. View All Pages
An increasing percentage of our readers have been building systems for use next to a high definition television set, inside compact cases. Our review product today – the Asus GTX 970 DC Mini is designed for just such a scenario. This diminutive solution is just 170mm long and will fit inside the smallest cases available on the market today.
Above, the Asus GeForce GTX 970 DirectCU Mini is pictured installed on the Asus Maximus VII Impact motherboard. This is a fabulous little mITX motherboard, which we reviewed back in December 2014. You can read our full analysis if you missed it, over HERE.
GPU GeForce GTX 750ti (Maxwell) GeForce GTX 960 (Maxwell) Geforce GTX 970 (Maxwell) GeForce GTX 980 (Maxwell) Streaming Multiprocessors 5 8 13 16 CUDA Cores 640 1024 1664 2048 Base Clock 1020 mhz 1126 mhz 1050 mhz 1126 mhz GPU Boost Clock 1085 mhz 1178 mhz 1178 mhz 1216 mhz Total Video memory 2GB 2GB 4GB 4GB Texel fill-rate 40.8 Gigatexels/Sec 72.1 Gigatexels/Sec 109.2 Gigatexels/Sec 144.1 Gigatexels/Sec Memory Clock 5400 mhz 7010 mhz 7000 mhz 7000 mhz Memory Bandwidth 86.4 GB/sec 112.16 GB/sec 224 GB/s 224 GB/sec Bus Width 128bit 128bit 256bit 256bit ROPs 16 32 56 64 Manufacturing Process 28nm 28nm 28nm 28nm TDP 60 watts 120 watts 145 watts 165 watts
Above, a table detailing Nvidia’s latest Maxwell cards (Titan X – review forthcoming).
Above, an overview of the Asus GTX970 Direct CU Mini. Asus have enhanced the Base Clock speed from 1,050mhz to 1,089mhz. Boost clock speed is subsequently increased to 1,228mhz. The 4GB of GDDR5 memory is clocked at 1,753mhz (7Gbps effective). This memory is connected via a 256bit memory interface.
The GM204 GPU is manufactured on the 28nm process. There are 56 ROPS, 104 Texture units and 1,664 CUDA Cores.
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At SIGGRAPH NVIDIA announced Quadro RTX 6000, world’s first ray-tracing GPU.
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, 6000, 8000 & Turing
NVIDIA released a new series of Quadro products called RTX. Jensen Huang confirmed that new graphics cards feature Turing architecture.
Quadro RTX family will be available in few different variants. It appears that the PCB we saw a few days ago was actually the board of this RTX graphics card.
The RTX family (6000/8000) is equipped with 754 mm2 Turing processor. The new GPU features Tensor Cores, RT Cores (for raytracing) and Shader/Compute cores.
Quadro RTX series are the first graphics cards to support USB-C VirtualLink connector.
NVIDIA announces three SKUs: Quadro RTX 5000, RTX 6000 and RTX 8000. New graphics cards will be available in the fourth quarter for 2,300 USD, 6,300 USD and 10,000 USD respectively.
NVIDIA Quadro RTX Series Quadro RTX 5000 Quadro RTX 6000 Quadro RTX 8000 Architecture Turing Turing Turing CUDA Cores 3,072 4,608 4,608 Memory 16GB GDDR6 24GB GDDR6 48GB GDDR6 Memory Speed 14 Gbps 14 Gbps? 14 Gbps? MSRP 2,300 USD 6,300 USD 10,000 USD | {
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—
Conservative media pundits chafed at Paul Ryan's list of conditions upon which he would agree to the speakership, mocking him as "Emperor Ryan" and "King Paul."
Ryan, the reluctant draftee to one of the most powerful offices … | {
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So one of the top FBI guys investigating the Russia stuff for Mueller hates Trump, as revealed in several text messages published yesterday. Sarah Lee posted about them last night. My first reaction upon reading them was that many of them sound a lot like my own private (and public) statements about Trump:
“I just saw my first Bernie Sanders bumper sticker. Made me want to key the car,” Page wrote in an August 2015 exchange. “He’s an idiot like Trump. Figure they cancel each other out,” Strzok replied.
Whoa. He thinks both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are idiots? Who doesn’t — besides fanbois who are super-impressed that a guy can inherit a lot of money?
In a March 2016 message, Page exclaimed: “God trump is a loathsome human….omg he’s an idiot.” “He’s awful,” replied Strzok.
Someone thinks Donald Trump is awful? Get out!
Of course, Strzok went further than I ever did or would, actively wishing for the election of Hillary Clinton by saying “God Hillary should win 100,000,000 – 0.” But many of his rants about Trump and his idiocy are shared by, well, millions of people in the country. Including people who voted for the guy.
Andrew C. McCarthy says no biggie:
#Strzok & Page texts look like a big nothing – no hint of corruption in their jobs. Lots of people (me included) speak crudely in private about politics. If you’re ok w/ Trump’s outbursts, I don’t see getting whipped over this BS. https://t.co/RJPjXZMO48 — Andrew C. McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) December 13, 2017
Well, I’m not OK with Trump’s outbursts, but I’m not sure I’m OK with this either.
I’m of two minds about this. Before the Strzok texts came out, but after their existence was reported, McCarthy made the case that people in law enforcement can work political cases while holding political beliefs:
People who work in law enforcement tend to be engaged citizens, well-informed about current events. Many of them are passionate in their political convictions. In the New York metropolitan area, those convictions tend not to jibe with mine — although rank-and-file FBI agents tend to be more conservative than their high-ranking superiors, and than prosecutors educated in elite American schools. Political differences are fodder for good-natured ribbing in the hallway or over beers after work. But they get checked at the courthouse door, even in political-corruption cases. Law enforcement is a straightforward exercise: Figure out what the facts and law are, then apply the latter to the former.
I actually agree with this. I have no specific reason to believe that Peter Strzok is anything less than professional at his job. I don’t do political cases, but I think if people could see how the day-to-day operation of criminal investigation and prosecution works, they would have more confidence in the system than they get from Big Media’s often unfair portrayals.
But here, there is an issue that goes beyond whether the work is actually getting done right: the public’s perception. And while having general political opinions should not necessarily render a prosecutor or an investigator unfit for prosecutions of political cases — again, like McCarthy says, they tend to be engaged citizens — a very strong bias against a particular person, as we see here, has a negative effect on the perception of the integrity of the investigation.
At this point, I would like to quote a question from a correspndent whom I respect, who wrote me an email asking in the subject line: “Isn’t Bias Good in a Prosecutor?”
Not corruption, bias. Doesn’t our system demand an aggressive prosecutor who has a jaundiced eye for suspected criminals? The defense is lionized for doing most anything to get a defendant off. Don’t The People need an energetic/passionate person to prosecute? I believe Mueller was corrupted as an FBI Director, and maybe before. I am not defending him. There shouldn’t even be an IC without hard and fast limits as to scope. If an IC learns anything outside that scope, they should/would be free to refer to DOJ just as any U.S. Attorney can. What troubles me is the meme that a prosecutor (or defense counsel, for that matter) is somehow wrong for having a bias. Isn’t that a core trait necessary to the job?
I’d answer this with an unqualified “no.” Yes, you want an energetic and passionate person to be a prosecutor. But their zeal must be for justice —
and it must be tempered zeal. Having a strong pre-existing bias against the target is not the kind of zeal that promotes justice or that gives the public confidence.
So I’m fine with Mueller taking Strzok off the investigation. He should not have been on it. Even though I agree with many of his views of Donald Trump.
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Serendipity
"We were at GDC two years ago and we knew of Genital Jousting, and [Free Lives] brought it to our little space at GDC and they were showing it," Lowrie recalled. "Our guy from Steam, our primary contact from Steam, was hanging out with us just for a meeting. We were having a drink afterward, and we saw this on the screen and everyone's in the crowd laughing and playing this game."
Lowrie turned to the Steam representative and asked, "Hey, is there any reason why this couldn't be on Steam? Because everyone's loving it and it'd be great to release. It's a really fun game." His contact didn't see why not, as long as the proper warnings were posted.
His immediate reaction? "Oh, that's a bummer."
Genital Jousting ended up on Steam Early Access in late 2016 and it was an immediate hit with the YouTube live-streaming community. The same couldn't be said for Twitch -- people started tweeting Lowrie, asking if he knew the game was banned from Amazon's streaming site. He checked out Twitch's list of prohibited games and spotted Genital Jousting sandwiched between Dramatical Murder and Grezzo 1 & 2.
His immediate reaction? "Oh, that's a bummer."
"It's disappointing but also understandable because you have to draw some sort of line, I'm sure," Lowrie said. "I certainly inquired about it, but they pointed to the rules, and the rules are rules."
A Twitch representative told Lowrie Genital Jousting had sexual and adult content, and so it got the ax, simple as that.
"It is what it is," Lowrie said. "We're not changing the game. There's no way getting around it. It's a bummer, for sure, because certainly streaming is a huge part of awareness and promoting a game and people enjoying it with their favorite streamers. And it was a bummer because it did have online play, it would've been fun to do. But we were just happy it got on Steam. We were able to sell it and get it out there to a larger audience."
Despite the Twitch blackout, Genital Jousting sold well in Early Access as Free Lives continually updated the game and added new modes. The ban didn't bother Lowrie again until a few weeks ago, in the run-up to the game's complete launch -- fully narrated story mode and all -- on January 18th.
"It did start to bug me again, I guess, because we just want people to have so much fun with this," he said. "I knew that Steam had an internal broadcasting thing for years where you could broadcast your games to your friend group. They could at any time, if they saw you playing, they could peek in and see what you're playing and watch you play."
This was an in-progress Steam feature, still being tested by a handful of beta players. Lowrie had taken advantage of a similar system in May with the big Devolver publisher sale: The studio streamed its games directly to the sale's landing page, allowing folks to see everything in action before buying.
That live stream was supposed to be a one-off thing -- until Lowrie connected the dots. He asked Steam if it would be possible to stream directly to a game page rather than a special sale hub. As luck would have it, engineers were quietly working on this feature. Better yet, it was basically ready for prime time.
"It just happened to be, I don't know, serendipitous -- or coincidental I guess may be a better word -- that I inquired about this ability and at the same time they had been kind of working on it," Lowrie said. "We tested it a couple times and it was awesome because it worked flawlessly. We could dual stream, if we had a different game, we could dual stream to Twitch and to Steam."
Once he realized Steam's live-streaming technology actually worked, Lowrie took the plunge. He asked if Genital Jousting -- a game featuring clothed penises having anal sex with other penises -- could be the first title to host a live stream directly on its Steam page. Steam said yes.
"Frankly, I could not believe it," Lowrie said. "But they were like, 'That sounds great.' They went out of their way. They had a dedicated engineer -- shout to Adil -- and he sat with us. We went back and forth on technical things, and they asked us how it looks on the page, and should we put up some nice borders, and what it should say and how chat should operate."
The first ever livestream to a Steam game page is for Genital Jousting and it's glorious. https://t.co/pn2nUOtPfB pic.twitter.com/RqKZlE9YHC — Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) January 18, 2018
On January 18th, Genital Jousting went live on Steam. Local streamers and Devolver friends played Genital Jousting for six hours, introducing the solo campaign and playing all manner of multiplayer modes. Everything was beamed directly to the game's Steam's page, where viewers could also chat, browse and buy the game.
Over those six hours, the Genital Jousting live stream earned 350,000 unique views, with an average of 4,000 viewers at a time. Compare that with Devolver's Twitch channel, Public Access, which generally receives 50 to 100 concurrent viewers.
"It was awesome," Lowrie said. "It was a cool way to say, OK, we can finally share this and we're gonna share it in a place where people buy it, which is even better. It was fun."
Steam live streams will be commonplace in the near future, as the company opens up this tech to more developers. Devolver itself hosted a stream for the launch of The Red Strings Club, the new game from Gods Will Be Watching studio Deconstructeam, on January 23rd.
"I know other developers started using it," Lowrie said. "They're getting slowly invited out, and then I think eventually it'll be a public deal that all developers and publishers will be able to do." | {
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Weight to strength ratio along with its aesthetic appearance has always made carbon fiber an attractive material choice. However due to it’s excessive startup costs and molding complexities it has been out of reach for many. Molding carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRP) has mostly been dedicated to the aerospace industry along with other low volume niche` applications. In recent years the automotive sector has joined in on molding CFRP with high-end steel tooling. While high-end steel tooling may prove to be an effective cost model for high volume applications, majority of the vehicles or applications that benefit from the advantages of carbon fiber are currently low volume niche` applications.
Molding CFRP is not new, however due to the lack of innovation it’s still dedicated for being used for low to moderate volume production. Typical methods being either prepreg with very high material and tooling cost — with at best 1 cycle per day in production – or vacuum infusion with similar production speeds but only one smooth finished side.
Requested Solution
We were challenged to create a package that provided low cost entry to CFRP molded class “A” surface panels. The solution had to include low cost tooling, the ability to run in extended daily production, minimum of 1 part per 2 hours, and ultimately meet speeds of 15 minutes or less. All while maintaining a surface quality as though it was molded in match metal tooling on both the “A” and “B” sides of the part.
Solution Provided
Leveraging our 30+ years of experience and using tooling design from the LRTM process in combination with elements from HP-RTM, we developed a packaged solution — far exceeding expectations —, which was used to produce the door skin example shown here. Included in the package was cost effective tooling and equipment, along with complete process training.
The example tool shown here is first part off of the mold without any process refinement! The door skin is shown with “as molded” carbon fiber “A” surface, primer, and finally top coated sections. It should be noted that there is no coating applied to the carbon fiber in the mold. The part contains 1448 grams of Momentive epoxy 035/038 resin system and 1730 grams of carbon fiber. Resulting in fiber volume fractions of 48% and a nominal part thickness of 2mm. Total weight of the door skin is 7 pounds, which far lighter than any comparable steel door outer — averaging 14.38 pounds.
Using the developed package along with the included Infuser Servo® injection system, a precise automated injection of 1448 grams of resin was injected into the mold in less than 90 seconds. The tooling used to create the example part is a “soft” FRP mold set (LRTM) with replaceable “A” cavity side mold surface, allowing for the “A” mold to be replaced at an affordable cost of $710. Complete startup cost for tooling came to $16,729.
As Molded “A” Side As Molded “B” Side
This part and more will be at our booth #3648 during CAMX 2014 in Orlando, Florida! | {
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Okay, I admit. I’m obsessed. OBSESSED with Rainbow Honey’s Tidal Wave and Flower’s Thistle or That? I’ve used this combination several times and they complement each other so well!
Rainbow Honey’s formula is spectacular. Tidal wave is a gorgeous blue jelly with a mix of different size blue and silver glitter. Thistle or That is a minty greenish blueish creme. I fear the day I run out of either of these colors. | {
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A Justiça determinou que o Atlético-MG tem que pagar ao Grêmio por conta da contratação do goleiro Victor quase R$ 8,7 milhões, já considerando reajuste e multas. A cobrança entrou em fase final e o clube mineiro poderá sofrer penhoras. Ainda cabe recurso.
A 17ª Vara Cível da Comarca de Porto Alegre reenviou a chamada Carta Precatória Cível em maio (primeiro envio foi em abril, como consta na imagem, mas o último em 12 de maio) deste ano à Justiça de Minas Gerais ordenando a execução do processo de cobrança. Consta no documento, que a reportagem do UOL Esporte teve acesso, as condições para pagamento e próximos passos na dívida.
Montagem do documento de cobrança do Grêmio ao Atlético-MG Imagem: Reprodução
De acordo com o processo, o Atlético deve pagar R$ 8.696.848,91 (valor do fim de março) ao Grêmio num prazo de três dias a partir do recebimento da notificação - que ainda não aconteceu - sob pena de penhora de qualquer bem que possa ter em seu nome, desde posses ou até renda de partidas ou direitos de televisionamento. Há ainda um prazo de 15 dias para o Galo recorrer.
No mesmo documento, a Justiça apresenta ao time mineiro uma alternativa de pagamento. É possível arcar com 30% do débito imediatamente e parcelar o restante da quantia em até seis vezes.
Procurado pela reportagem do UOL Esporte, o vice-presidente jurídico do Grêmio, Nestor Hein, evitou detalhar o tema e apenas informou que o processo está sendo gerido por um escritório terceirizado.
Outro lado
O departamento jurídico do Atlético-MG alega que o Grêmio também tem uma dívida com o clube. Detentor de um percentual de Werley, os mineiros questionam o empréstimo do jogador ao Santos, em 2015. Conforme informação do departamento jurídico, os gaúchos deveriam ressarcir a agremiação de Belo Horizonte devido à ida do defensor para a Vila Belmiro, o que não teria acontecido. A situação faz com que não haja um acordo referente ao débito contraído na contratação de Victor.
A diretoria atleticana não revela o montante que deveria receber na negociação que envolveu a ida do zagueiro para a Baixada Santista. E questionada sobre a ação, prefere não se posicionar e aguardar a notificação da justiça de Minas Gerais.
Entenda o caso
O goleiro Victor foi contratado pelo Atlético-MG em junho de 2013 por 3,5 milhões de euros (R$ 12,1 milhões pela cotação atual) mais 50% dos direitos econômicos do zagueiro Werley. O pagamento deveria ser feito em três parcelas, mas o valor final de 1,5 milhão de euros não foi pago. Desde então o Grêmio busca receber o dinheiro e ajuizou tal ação para forçar o pagamento e cogitou até procurar a Fifa, algo descartado no momento.
Enquanto isso, o Tricolor já indicou a chance de ser ressarcido através de jogadores. Chegou a tentar usar a dívida como 'poder de barganha' para contratar o centroavante André, que foi para o Corinthians.
O Grêmio mesmo já viveu algo semelhante com a dívida que tinha junto ao Flamengo por conta da negociação de Rodrigo Mendes no ano 2000. Para quitar o débito e evitar penhoras o clube enviou ao rubro-negro o lateral Pará, o empréstimo do zagueiro Bressan, além do restante do valor em dinheiro. | {
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Debuting in 2016, ZCash is a new cryptocurrency that is competing with the Bitcoin user base but has a worldview that incorporates an “ethical” approach to business and cryptocurrency trading. It has both public and private options and hopes to revolutionize the way transactions are conducted on a peer-to-peer basis.
As a decentralized, open-source payment system, ZCash is ideal for transactions with users on the Internet or paying for a product online to a user in another country. It offers an awesome combination of privacy and transparency. Because of its fixed quantity, like Bitcoin, ZCash also has a lot of potential to go up in value in the near future.
That’s what makes it increasingly attractive to traders who would like to get in on the ZCash craze. But, like any cryptocurrency, you need a place to store your ZCash that is secure and reliable. If it is easy to use that could be a plus, but typically users prefer secure and reliable above everything else.
That’s why we’re going to tell you about the 7 best ZCash Wallets out there right now. We know you’re probably shopping around or you might have a preferred choice already in mind. Whatever the case, we hope this article will help you solidify your decision for the ZCash Wallet to use to hold and store your cryptocurrency. We’ll discuss security, ease of use, as well as universality – that is, what other cryptocurrencies does it let you store. Everyone has their own must-haves and sometimes this is among them. That’s why it is important to shop around for your wallet first before buying your cryptocurrency. | {
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This week is scorching with tech activity as the hustle and bustle of SXSW is underway – hell, even President Obama is packing up his Louis Vuitton valise and joining 400k+ tech geeks in Austin. So, it came as no surprise when epic news dropped from the Administration that Atlanta was named 1 of 15 new cities adopting the TechHire Initiative.
The initiative, which launched last March, promises to help fill the gaping sinkhole between the lack of available talent and the proliferation of IT jobs. The purpose of the TechHire Initiative is to help communities find a way out of this gap by partnering with education institutions and tech businesses to effectively train and hire workers at a more rapid rate. And with Atlanta listed as a top 10 U.S. city with the greatest supply-demand gap in IT jobs, now is the perfect time to take action.
TechSquare Labs, The Iron Yard, and The Atlanta Workforce Development Agency are the trifecta behind the TechHire designation, flexing their tech intellect to ensure the initiative will not only train incoming talent at a faster rate, but solidify Atlanta as a leader in innovation, entrepreneurship, and yep, you guessed it – technology.
“We are really honored to work with the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency and the White House on this initiative to execute the goals of TechHire,” stated Lindsey Owings, campus director at The Iron Yard. “It is an opportunity to strengthen Atlanta as a tech hub, as well as help Atlanta shorten the gap in its technology employment needs.”
Chief of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at TechSquare Labs, Rodney Sampson went on to state that, “Atlanta’s designation as a White House TechHire city cements its position as the Technology Capital of the South,” and that TSL is ready to lead the charge in collaboration with Atlanta Workforce Development, and alongside employer partners like Turner, The Weather Company, Luma, Pindrop, and Springbot (to name a few).
Momentum behind TechHire will kickstart this spring, and within the next year, 100 individuals will be trained, with an upward of 400 by 2020.
“In order for our city to be competitive in an ever changing hyper-connected economy, we have to ensure local residents have access and opportunities for training and employment in the growing technology industry, and Atlanta’s designation as a TechHire city is key in our work to create more rapid IT training opportunities.” said Michael T. Sterling, Executive Director, Atlanta Workforce Development Agency. “As the workforce system for the city of Atlanta, we will work in a collaborative and unrelenting fashion with public, private, non-profit, local, state and federal partners to make certain that Atlanta’s workforce is equipped with the tools needed to navigate the innovation and entrepreneurship world.”
Interested in learning all the details of TechHire? Say no more – click here for the official White House fact sheet. And stay tuned for the latest updates on the initiative and its impact on the city which is (undoubtedly) sure to come!
[photo credit]
Written by Kristyn Back. Interview and Production by Kiki Roeder | {
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Controversial Afrikaner rights lobby group AfriForum is looking to partner with Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini to promote agriculture as well as in their shared opposition to proposals by the government to expropriate land without compensation.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel told TimesLIVE on Tuesday that the lobby group believed that there should be cooperation among communities at grass-roots level to promote agriculture to ensure food security in the country.
“We are looking forward to working with His Majesty the Zulu King and the Zulu people as we believe that there should be cooperation at grass-roots level based on mutual intervention and respect among communities‚” said Kriel‚ who was one of the guests at the king's 70th birthday in July.
He said there were many AfriForum members who had farming operations adjacent to land under the Ingonyama Trust and they were already assisting the king with a pilot project to assist emerging farmers with support and farming production.
“We have been helping the king with a pilot project. It’s still in the beginning phase and our members support progress where people want to farm and to build farming production in the area of the Ingonyama Trust‚” said Kriel. | {
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Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station Armed police fired on Jean Charles de Menezes without shouting any warning, witnesses have claimed at an inquest. Passenger Rachel Wilson said she thought the officers were terrorists when they shot dead the Brazilian at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July 2005. Firearms officers have told the inquest there were several warning shouts of "armed police" before shots were fired. Mr de Menezes, 27, was killed by police who mistook him for one of the failed 21 July 2005 London bombers. 'Covered in blood' The inquest has been told a surveillance officer had positively identified the electrician as Hussain Osman. She and her boyfriend Ralph Livock had been sitting opposite Mr de Menezes in a Tube carriage on the day of the shooting when officers boarded, the inquest was told. Ms Wilson said nothing had been said to alert her that the men were plain-clothes officers and that she initially thought they were just messing around. We had no idea whether these were police - whether they were terrorists
Ralph Livock
Commuter "Then I thought they were terrorists and it was only when I left the carriage and somebody moved me gently out of the way that I figured they must be good guys," Ms Wilson added. Nicholas Hilliard QC, counsel to the inquest, asked her: "Specifically, did you ever hear anybody shout 'armed police'?" Ms Wilson answered: "If I had heard that, I would have thought they were police, so no." Only after the shooting, when she saw she had blood on her hands, did she realised how serious the incident was, Ms Wilson added. 'Didn't look frightened' Mr Livock had told the inquest at the Oval cricket ground, south London, that their train was held up for longer than usual when four casually-dressed men with guns got on board. Mr Hilliard asked: "Had you heard anything said about police?" Mr Livock replied: "No, certainly not. "I remember that specifically because one of the conversations that Rachel and I had afterwards was that we had no idea whether these were police, whether they were terrorists, whether they were somebody else. "The thing that made me realise it wasn't a group of lads playing around or something else happening was when the first shot was fired." Mr Livock described Mr de Menezes' reactions when an officer pointed a pistol at his head. "He looked as if he was expecting somebody to say something but he didn't look frightened," said Mr Livock. No passengers were called to give evidence at last year's Metropolitan Police health and safety trial over the shooting. It is the first time they have publicly revealed what they saw. 'Verbal challenges' A firearms officer, codenamed Terry, described to the inquest how he reached the train shortly after the two marksmen who killed the Brazilian. He said: "As I came into the carriage I could hear verbal challenges. I could hear 'police' and 'armed police' being shouted." After hearing the evidence, the Brazilian's mother, Maria Otone de Menezes, 63, said outside the inquest: "None of the passengers heard the police give any warning or described Jean's actions as aggressive. "It has been painful to me when police have implied he acted in a manner that contributed to his death." The inquest was adjourned until Friday.
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Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson acknowledged Thursday that some parts of her new book were not properly cited after multiple individuals raised claims that she lifted material.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Abramson said certain footnotes in her book, "Merchants of Truth," don't match up correctly with the material in the book, and that certain passages should have been cited as direct quotations.
"I was up all night going through my book because I take these claims of plagiarism so seriously," Abramson said in the statement to the Post. "In writing Merchants of Truth, I tried above all to accurately and properly give attribution to the many hundreds of sources that were part of my research.
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"I wouldn’t want even a misplaced comma so I will promptly fix these footnotes and quotations as I have corrected other material that Vice contested," she added. "The book is over 500 pages. All of the ideas in the book are original, all the opinions are mine. The passages in question involve facts that should have been perfectly cited in my footnotes and weren’t."
The statement came less than a day after two individuals raised allegations that Abramson had lifted material for her book, which assesses the state of the news industry.
Vice News correspondent Michael Moynihan posted a series of tweets on Wednesday that noted six examples where Abramson's book appeared to lift material from articles in The New Yorker, the Columbia Journalism Review and a piece in Time Out magazine.
Writer Ian Frisch separately accused the former New York Times editor of taking passages from some of his work. He noted that he was credited in the footnotes of Abramson's book, but suggested that Abramson did not provide an indication of how extensively she used his work.
Abramson was initially dismissive of the allegations, telling Fox News on Wednesday night that "I certainly didn’t plagiarize in my book and there’s 70 pages of footnotes showing where I got the information."
In a series of tweets issued later that night, she pinned the criticism of her book on some Vice News employees' "unhappiness" with her portrayal of the outlet, but pledged to "review the passages in question."
Abramson wrote for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for years before being named the Times's executive editor in 2011. She held that role for roughly three years before being ousted.
She is now a teacher at Harvard University.
Bill Keller, who served as executive editor of the Times before Abramson, defended his former longtime colleague in a tweet on Thursday, writing that it was "distressing that some apparent carelessness in attribution might overshadow her achievement." | {
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Hilton Wroclaw, Poland Hotel Building, Polish Design, Image
Hilton Wroclaw : Hotel Information Poland
Accommodation Building in Eastern Europe – design by Gottesman–Szmelcman
12 Mar 2009
Hilton Wroclaw
2009
Design: Gottesman–Szmelcman Architecture
Local architect: Broadway Malyan Polska
International Competition | First Prize
Mipim Architectural Review Future Project Awards 2008,
Leisure and Retail | First Prize
Hilton Hotel Wroclaw
Faced with a highly fractured urban environment and encased within a multiplicity of multi-lane roads, our aim is to create an architectural landmark that will re-address the importance of this area within its urban context.
The introduction of a bold contemporary building, will act as a generator to the entire area, stimulating development and the re-incorporation of this junction within the urban fiber of the city.
This will be one of Wroclaw’s iconic landmarks, a symbol of the bold spirit which typifies this particular academic city. The project is a multi- faceted and incorporates a five star Hilton Hotel, serviced suites, a conference center, speciality restaurants, a jazz club, retail and multi media exhibition space.
The building itself is envisioned as a free form bridge-like structure that will be clad in Corian. The particular nature of the material enables us to create seamless surfaces and endow the building with luminous and translucent qualities. The project will be completed towards the end of 2010.
Hilton Wroclaw images / information from Gottesman-Szmelcman Architecture
Location: Wroclaw, Poland
New Polish Architecture
Contemporary Polish Architecture
Polish Architecture Designs – chronological list
Polish Architecture Offices
New British Embassy, Warsaw
Tony Fretton Architects
British Embassy Warsaw
Zlota 44 Warsaw
Museum of Contemporary Art Wroclaw
Wroclaw Expo Design
Polish Architecture Walking Tours
Hilton Hotel Buildings
Hilton Hotel Manchester
Hilton Canary Wharf Hotel
Hilton Hotel London
Hilton Hotel Tower Bridge
Hilton on Park Lane
Hilton Hotel Liverpool
Hotel Architecture
Buildings / photos for the Hilton Wroclaw Poland Architecture page welcome
Website: Visit Poland | {
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Panasonic held its Photokina 2016 press conference today and finally spilled the beans on the 4K GH5, the successor to its popular GH4. The big news was 10-bit 4K capture at up to 60 fps, and even up to 6K -- but only for short photo bursts. We also tried out Panasonic's G85, a 4K mirrorless camera for videographers who may not want to splash out for the high-end GH4 or GH5. Finally, there's the LX10, a formidable 4K compact camera that challenges Sony's RX100 IV.
Yes, there's a theme here: 4K video now defines Panasonic's lineup from compact to mirrorless flagship. | {
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The Slider XB pack comes with eight colored ballpoint pens: black, blue, light blue, green, orange, pink, purple, and red. Each one is equipped with Schneider’s proprietary Viscoglide ink technology. The extra-bold points measure 1.4 millimeters, and the barrels are clear with rubber grips. The Slider Edge XB pack comes with the same ink colors as the Slider XB pack, and both pens feature the same Viscoglide technology. The difference here is the smaller triangular barrel, which is fully rubberized to provide better grip for smaller hands. Both the Slider XB and Slider Edge XB pens are filled with quick-drying ink and feature stainless steel tips. | {
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The Making of an F-22 Raptor Pilot
Article and Photos by Todd Miller
September 18, 2016
With the F-35A program generating an abundance of positive news, it is easy to overlook that the F-22A Raptor remains the USAF platform of choice for the Air Superiority role. In a recent interview 1st Fighter Wing Commander, Colonel Pete Fesler paraphrased comments made by the Commander of Air Combat Command, General Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle; “The F-35 is the best air to air (A2A) platform in the world, except for the F-22. The F-22 is the best air to ground (A2G) platform in the world, except for the F-35.” Fesler continued, “So we have two aircraft, one designed primarily for A2G, one primarily for A2A, both with complimentary capabilities to assist each other in either role. Together they create a team that is optimized to simultaneously go after air and surface threats.”
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor has a unique combination of stealth, speed, maneuverability, operational altitude and weapons load that make it the “bar” by which A2A fighters are measured. Seen in the context of the current and emerging threat environment, the capabilities the Raptor brings to the fight drive a paradigm shift in the role of the fighter pilot. Operating the stealthy F-22 in highly contested space with anti access/area denial (A2/AD) systems AND adversaries with their own stealthy aircraft provides extraordinary challenges. These current and anticipated air and surface threats drive an aggressive training regime for Raptor pilots.
On a recent visit to Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) Lt. Colonel Charles “Stab” Hebert, Commander of the 71st FTS (Fighter Training Squadron) and first assignment Adversary Air (ADAIR) pilot call sign “Leeroy” provided insights into the selection and training of Raptor pilots. The 71st FTS flies the Northrop T-38 Talon as ADAIR support for all F-22 Raptors based at JBLE (27th FS, 94th FS & the 192nd FW).
A Raptor pilot benefits from systems that provide tremendous situational awareness. However, they’re wildly outnumbered.”
Raptor Pilot Qualities
During college Leeroy entered the Air Force through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), and subsequently took his Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) at Sheppard AFB. As a student graduating from the UPT, Leeroy was assigned to the 71st FTS “Ironmen” where he has honed his piloting skills flying against the Raptor. After what will be two years of flying as a Raptor adversary (with at least 1 Raptor Kill – more on that later), Leeroy is now uniquely qualified to achieve his goal and become a Raptor pilot. In the short time since graduation Leeroy has become qualified as an instructor in the T-38 ADAIR program. As Hebert explained, Leeroy is making a little history – being the first, first assignment pilot to become an ADAIR instructor. Leeroy applied himself and broke barriers by achieving something extraordinary in just over 18 months at his first assignment. This is precisely the type of high achievement individuals with excellent flying skills that the Air Force looks to fill Raptor seats.
Depending on available slots, some students are assigned to the Raptor B-Course at Tyndall AFB right out of their Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). Raptor pilots also come from the existing Air Force fighter pilot ranks when they move from another “fighter” platform to the B-Course at Tyndall. The approx. 8 month long Raptor B-Course consists of about 400 hours of academics, more than 45 hours of simulator time, and 45-55 hours of actual flight time.
Hebert speaks insightfully, he was one of those originally tasked to transition the T-38s from training support for the F-117 to the F-22. Hebert is qualified in the T-38, F-15C, and F-22 – so he knows what’s involved in excelling as an air combat, adversary and F-22 pilot. With that wealth of experience Hebert notes that not every pilot has the aptitude or the skills to fly the F-22 Raptor. As Hebert says, pilots are graded on many aspects throughout their UPT including; instrument, formation, low level, aerobatics, pattern work, academics, physical condition, and professional conduct. By the end of training, it is clear which students are qualified for the F-22. And as Hebert states emphatically, “it matters, because you have a very expensive single seat platform and one hour of training in the Raptor may involve multiple Raptors, a Tanker, AWACS, and multiple adversaries. Leadership needs to ensure the student has the right aptitude, the ability to learn from the sortie without multiple do overs, and progress to the next step.”
Raptor capabilities include sensor fusion that provides the pilot with superior situational awareness vs. Gen 4 fighters. Coming from the F-15C Eagle, Hebert says, “I used to look at Raptor pilots and think, those guys are so lucky, the jet does everything for you. Then I flew the Raptor for myself, and yes the jet does a lot for you, but much more is expected of you! There are fewer aircraft and the Raptor pilot is addressing a larger mission set. The aircraft has the speed and sensor suite, it can do anything you need a fighter to do and more, however you have to manage your fuel and your weapons. The role of a Raptor pilot is more like a mission commander (even as a wingman) as opposed to the Eagle. One Raptor is expected to do the work of multiple Eagles. It’s not easy to employ the Raptor well, because you have a lot to manage.”
Each step forward in technology drives increased platform capability. The era of platforms dedicated to a specific role are winding down. Platforms like the Raptor now include capabilities that may all be utilized on the same mission; A2A, A2G, electronic warfare/electronic attack (EW/EA), and Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR). A familiar way to understand this is to consider the mobile phone from its inception to what we use today. When first introduced it was “just” a mobile phone, then became a phone with added calculator, notepad, email, and now the mobile phone is a “smart phone” that includes cameras, office assistants and so much more. The F-22 does more, and that “more” translates into a significant increase in the scope of the mission set.
While new mission sets are seldom discussed (due to the classified nature of the capabilities), even traditional mission sets have many variables. The Raptor may be flown in a blended environment with both Gen 4 and coalition (international) jets, or fighting on its own. In a blended group the Raptor often functions as a battlespace manager for the group providing a “god’s eye view” to all participants – even as it keeps the airspace clear of adversaries, and sends volumes of ISR data back to other platforms. In some cases, the mission commander will utilize Raptor driven information and designate the missiles of other aircraft to down adversaries, ensuring the Raptor keeps maximum weapons load for use as a last resort (as we have seen in Red Flag exercises).
In another scenario the Raptor may be driven by a time sensitive window to get a bomber on target and aggressively strike deep into contested space with scores of hostile air and ground threats to evade or neutralize. As Hebert summarized, “the Raptor pilot is called upon to manage each unique environment, and that challenges how you manage your weapons. Do you sling one missile or are you slinging two, ensuring the threat is killed? That affects what weapons you have available on board to support the mission on egress. So there is a lot to think about.”
It goes beyond multi-tasking, to multi-tasking in a fluid, dynamic environment with an uncompromised commitment to survival and achievement of mission objectives. Each circumstance brings a new set of challenges to utilize the available sensor information and deploy the aircraft effectively. Hebert says “the pilot is constantly figuring out how one change affects everything else and what decision has to be made now.”
Adversary Air
While of 1960s vintage, the sleek, black T-38s are effective adversaries for the Raptors and train against them daily. Not to be confused with dogfighting within visual range (WVR) (generally suicidal for a T-38 vs an F-22), the primary training involves taking on multiple bogeys beyond visual range (BVR) that attack in a wide variety of formations.
In the past F-22 pilots used to slip in and out of the T-38s to try their hand against their own aircraft, but that is generally not the case today. Each pilot is focused on their specific craft. Leeroy brings a fresh but disciplined approach to flying as an F-22 adversary. As he explained, he flies the mission while maintaining a series of priorities revolving around the mission and safety; maintaining fuel; staying within the designated airspace; keeping a safe distance from other participants. “The formation (to include my wingman and myself) must be executed correctly, the tactic we have been tasked to reflect must be executed correctly. Not merely flying a profile, ADAIR must replicate a tactic and in some cases an aircraft type. It is the responsibility of ADAIR to drive specific learning objectives for the Raptors.”
For the T-38 pilot, communication is typically verbal (from an AWACS or Ground Controller), and situational awareness is the 3D picture the pilot paints in their own mind. In this respect, there is no help from the aircraft! With aircraft often converging at well over 1000 mph – things are happening fast, leaving lots to think about and little time for decisions and actions.
Hebert comments, “I like Leeroy’s response because it illustrates the difference between what’s happening with the Raptor versus Leeroy. Leeroy is flying in a fast jet, he’s really got a lot of variables; he’s thinking about communication; he is literally building a picture in his mind so that he knows what he’s doing next, where his threats are or how he can affect a mission. That is hard. But his effectiveness is small compared to the Raptor. A Raptor pilot benefits from systems that give him tremendous situational awareness, they’re not having to do as much mentally, however they’re wildly outnumbered. There’s a lot more aircraft out there trying to kill those two or four jets and so they have to figure out how they’re going to complete their mission, preserve their fuel, preserve their weapons and realize it’s not just an air to air threat, there are also built in air to ground threats. The Raptor pilot must stay true to their own limitations associated with that mission set. Our training is very challenging on both sides.”
…if you do get close, right on the Raptors six and you think you are going to get a kill, you quickly learn that the maneuverability of the F-22 is incredible.”
It is clear – Raptor pilots are pressed through a crucible. As has been noted in the USAF Red Flag exercises and USAF Weapons School at Nellis AFB – the objective is to train pilots in environments designed to be equal too, or more difficult than what is expected in combat. While virtual training is utilized, Hebert notes that there is nothing that can train like being in the air. The physical exertion, the actual reality of managing fuel, weapons, the mission set – all escalate dramatically in the air.
Fight’s On
The typical training sortie take one of three forms, involving 2 – 6 or more T-38s vs 2 – 4 F-22s;
Short Range, Low Awareness: This scenario typically involves two to four T-38s vs two F-22s with the focus on ACM (air combat maneuvering). The Talons approach the Raptors quickly from behind. The Raptors turn around with low awareness and attempt to quickly kill all threats. Just like an old western shootout, except the Raptor pilot has to contend with three or four gunslingers at once!
Offensive Counter Air (OCA) and Defensive Counter Air (DCA): In these sorties ADAIR flies as a hostile nation in a scenario that is drawn up by mission planners. ADAIR represents a specific type of aircraft and a particular threat country. A designated “territory” is defended, or attacked. Engagements that end in kills to ADAIR send the T-38s back to a specific location to regenerate and reenter the battle. Given the regeneration those 6 – 8 T-38s might represent a total of 20 – 30 bandits for the F-22s to address during the sortie.
Both OCA and DCA are “missionized scenarios” so the regeneration threat airfields are identified and coordinated with intelligence. The Raptors must typically honor a surface to air threat and they will be penalized if they violate. The surface threats are critical to reflect the A2/AD environment that the Raptor will be expected to fight and prevail in. The problem sets created for Raptor pilots are difficult, and represent a significant step up in sophistication and difficulty from Gen 4 air to air training exercises (that have primarily focused on ACM or specific mission set served by a given platform).
Hebert addresses the question many are asking, “How is that that a 1960s aircraft challenges a Raptor? By volume, size, and speed. It’s the fact that Leeroy is well versed in Raptor tactics. We know how to work the Raptor to the best of our ability, add intelligence and the difficulties associated with their mission sets (such as their escorting someone you know they have to protect at all costs) -and it gets hard, quick.”
Pride must be taken in the execution of the mission, because it must get old always getting killed! Has Leeroy ever “killed a Raptor?” A brief moment of hesitation indicates a reluctance to share, “Yes, I have – it happens from time to time.” Now before readers and armchair fighter pilots lose their minds, there are a number of reasons why a 1960s T-38 may get a Raptor kill, and none of them include the Raptor being out flown by a T-38 in a WVR engagement. As Hebert explains, it was likely a very hard kill. While it could have been a mistake (an overlook) by a Raptor pilot, more likely the Raptor was being tasked to do something very aggressive. We may ask them to achieve the impossible. We have to push them beyond their limits to effect valid training, to hammer home hard lessons. It is a natural if not critical part of the training.
With Leeroy soon to be flying Raptors he reflects on the most impressive things he’s seen from both the perspective of the F-22 and the T-38. “With the Raptor – you constantly die without ever seeing it – that’s very impressive” he both laughs and frowns. “On the other hand, if you do get close, right on the Raptors six and you think you are going to get a kill, you quickly learn that the maneuverability of the F-22 is incredible.” The Raptor turns on a dime, and you are another Raptor statistic. And the most impressive thing about the T-38 Talon? Sounding much like I might expect a B-52 pilot would, Leeroy answers, “to fly a 1960s jet in 2016!”
The situation is ripe with paradox. A 1960s jet flown by a young, very capable pilot is making an invaluable contribution to the creation of pilots for the most lethal air superiority platform of today and tomorrow. What could be more exciting? I looked at Leeroy, and he could not wipe the smile off his face, he’s enrolled in the Raptor-B-course starting this coming January. Now that is exciting!
Aviation Photography Digest would like to thank Lt. Col Charles “Stab” Hebert, Commander of the 71st FTS “Ironmen”; “Leeroy,” T-38 Instructor and soon to be F-22 Raptor pilot; Jeffrey Hood, Media Operations Section Chief, JBLE; and TSgt Katie Ward of the 633 ABW PAO.
Click on an image below to page or swipe through the gallery:
"1st Operations Group" (1 OG) Raptor includes Markings from both the 27th FS and the 94th FS. Low vis markings amplified with effect.
F-22A 1st FW, 27th FS Langley AFB taking on fuel during a Razor Talon Exercise in 2015
F-22A Raptor of the VANG 192nd FW & 149 FS on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).
F-22A Raptor of the VANG 192nd FW & 149 FS on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).
F-22A of the 1st FW, 27th FS undergoing routine maintenance on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).
F-22A of the 27th FS, 1st FW sitting on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.
F-22A of the 1st FW, 27th FS undergoing routine maintenance on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).
F-22As of the 1st FW on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).
T-38 Talon ADAIR of the 71 FTS on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).
T-38 Talon ADAIR of the 71 FTS on the ramp at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE).
T-38 Talon of the 71st FTS lands at JBLE fall 2014
F-22A 325 FW, 95 FS from Tyndall AFB taking fuel during Red Flag 2015-3.
F-22A 1st FW, 94th FS Langley AFB taking on fuel during a Razor Talon Exercise in 2015 | {
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European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi defended the tools that the institution has available on Tuesday, saying that it could cut interest rates again or provide further asset purchases if inflation doesn't reach its target. Speaking at the ECB Forum in Sintra, Portugal, Draghi gave a defiantly dovish tone, saying that if the economic situation deteriorates in the coming months the bank would announce further stimulus. The euro dropped 0.2% against the dollar in a matter of minutes as Draghi delivered the remarks. The German 10-year bund yield hit -0.30% for the first time ever and the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit its lowest since September 2017 at 2.0475%. "In the absence of improvement, such that the sustained return of inflation to our aim is threatened, additional stimulus will be required," Draghi stated. The ECB foresees "lingering softness" in the short term, in particular due to geopolitical factors and trade conflicts, which have weighed on exports and on the manufacturing sector — two important drivers of economic growth in the euro zone.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi arrives for the European Council Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 22, 2019. JULIEN WARNAND | AFP | Getty Images
Earlier this month, the ECB revised its interest rate expectations, adding that its first-post crisis rate hike is unlikely to come before mid-2020. This dovish stance shows the central bank is doubtful about economic recovery in the 19-member region. The ECB also presented new economic forecasts earlier this month, with lower growth and inflation projections for 2020, but marginally higher for this year. During his speech in Sintra, Draghi also tried to reassure market players about the bank's ability to act amid growing doubts on the real effect of monetary policy if a new recession were to materialize. "The (European) Treaty requires that our actions are both necessary and proportionate to fulfil our mandate and achieve our objective, which implies that the limits we establish on our tools are specific to the contingencies we face. If the crisis has shown anything, it is that we will use all the flexibility within our mandate to fulfil our mandate — and we will do so again to answer any challenges to price stability in the future," Draghi told the audience. At the same conference, which began Monday, different policymakers and ECB-watchers raised concerns about the bank's toolkit. "I am nearly sure that the ECB cannot by itself, at this point, fight a recession ... It will need help, it is fairly obvious," Olivier Blanchard, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund told CNBC's Annette Weisbach in Sintra.
He explained that the question is not so much the lack of available tools, but more their actual impact on the economy. Nonetheless, Draghi stated Tuesday the different options that the ECB has available: "We remain able to enhance our forward guidance by adjusting its bias and its conditionality to account for variations in the adjustment path of inflation. This applies to all instruments of our monetary policy stance," he said. "Further cuts in policy interest rates and mitigating measures to contain any side effects remain part of our tools. And the APP (asset purchase program) still has considerable headroom," he added.
Fiscal help | {
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De viser en arroganse som svekker tilliten til dem
Koronasmittet tok båt til og fra Trondheim
Tolv nyheter på Netflix og HBO du bør få med deg i oktober
- Vi tåler en fest i ny og ne. Men det vi opplevde i fadderuken var ekstremt
- Det føles ikke bra å bli presset ut av sin egen bydel
PSV kan stille med fersk spiss til RBK-møtet: – Han vet hvordan man scorer mål
Mia (17) dropper klassefester til fordel for idretten: – Det har vært noen kjipe prioriteringer
Vi synes synd på alle dere som er avhengig av oss, men dette er den eneste måten vi kan si at nok er nok!
Norge må samarbeide med svenskene. Det må skytes langt flere ulv og bjørn
- Dette betyr utrolig mye for høsten vi nå går inn i
Koronasmittet tok båt til og fra Trondheim
Venstre legger fram ny skattepolitikk og vil beholde elbil-fordelen
Haaland med mål og assist, men Bayern München vant supercupen
Saken oppdateres.
Uffa-ungdommen hadde lørdag ettermiddag en demonstrasjon mot bilisme i Trondheim sentrum. Under demonstrasjonen hoppet to av medlemmene opp på en politibil i Innherredsveien og holdt seg fast mens bilen kjørte. Politibilen kom nesten fram til rundkjøringen ved Bakke bru før de ble oppdaget. Da ble det raskt slutt på leken.
Uffa sperret også for trafikken ved å gå midt i veien.
Krever søknad
- 20-30 Uffa-ungdommer var ute og gikk midt i gaten. De gikk blant annet over Verftsbrua og til Dora, men det oppløste seg selv. Det er ikke blitt søkt om å ha demonstrasjon, og dette skal godkjennes på forhånd, sier operasjonsleder Morten Stene i Sør-Trøndelag politidistrikt.
Ingen av deltakerne skal ha fått noen reaksjoner i form av bøter eller lignende under demonstrasjonen.
Konsertbråk
Også fredag kveld hadde politiet en episode med Uffa. Politiet ble gjort oppmerksomme på konsertvirksomhet på tomten ved det nedbrente Uffa-huset, hvor naboer klaget på lydnivået.
- Det kan kanskje bli en samtale mellom kommunen, politiet og Uffa over helga for å klargjøre regler, sier Stene.
Uffa-huset brant ned natt til 29. desember i fjor. Huset var blant annet brukt som konsertlokale. I januar i år vedtok bystyret at Uffa-huset skal gjenreises på samme tomt. | {
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A House bill would require judges to make specific findings before they can award attorney fees in public records lawsuits.
State Rep. Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican and lawyer, filed the measure (HB 163) on Wednesday.
It would require a judge to determine that a public agency “unlawfully refused to permit a public record to be inspected or copied” and that the complainant “provided written notice identifying the public record request to the agency’s custodian … at least five business days before filing the civil action.”
The bill also says attorney fees can’t be awarded if the court finds “the request to inspect or copy the public record was made primarily to harass the agency.”
Burgess’ bill follows a similar bill (SB 80) filed by state Sen. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican and also a lawyer, that changes the word “shall” to “may” regarding courts awarding legal fees when an “agency (has) unlawfully refused to permit a public record … to be inspected or copied.”
Steube backed a version of the bill last session as a state representative. It passed the Senate unanimously but died in the House.
This year’s bill would require a “complainant (to) provide written notice of the public records request to the agency’s custodian of public records at least 5 business days before” suing, like Burgess’. Records requests are not normally mandated to be in writing.
The idea is to cut down on the number of “frivolous” lawsuits at taxpayer expense by eliminating guaranteed attorney fees in cases where public officials made an honest mistake, bill advocates – including the Florida League of Cities – have said.
Open government watchdogs, such as the First Amendment Foundation, have countered that the bill would instead affect legitimate actions against local governments and state agencies that unreasonably refuse to respond to record requests. | {
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VANCOUVER ISLAND, B.C.—On Canada’s remote western coast, the 48-foot Astral Blue tugs gently at her moorings, floating a few hundred metres from the only road out of Ucluelet, B.C.
It’s been a month since her two-man crew sailed up from Panama, tied her to the harbour dock, and stepped ashore after eight weeks at sea.
Dan Archbald and Ryan Daley spent three days in town. Then on a cloudy afternoon, they walked up the harbour gangplank, hefted bulky sea bags over their shoulders and vanished.
That same day, some 235 kilometres away, a work van belonging to Ben Kilmer was found abandoned on a rural road near Duncan, B.C. Its engine was running and there was blood inside.
Police say they consider Daley and Archbald’s disappearance suspicious, but not Kilmer’s.
They also say the cases are not linked, but that hasn’t stopped a fire of speculation from spreading across the island.
The question everyone is trying to answer: how did three men around the same age go missing on the same day?
After a month with no answers, friends and family in both cases now suspect foul play.
Panama to Ucluelet
Daley, 43, and Archbald, 37, and a father of two, are friends from Squamish, both of them accomplished sailors.
Their last-known sighting was in the harbour parking lot. Carrying large bags and looking nonchalant, they crossed through a security camera’s field of view and haven’t been heard from since.
Friends and family say they were planning to find a ride to Jordan River, where Daley owns property. They never made it.
Sitting in his office within arm’s reach of where Daley and Archbald were last seen, Kevin Cortes is the last known person to speak with the pair. The conversation was nothing special, Cortes said.
“No different than it would be with any of my other customers,” he said. “A little bit of superficial talk but nothing of any specifics.”
Friends and family say Archbald bought the Astral Blue in Ecuador two years ago. The pair sailed her to Panama in October to avoid paying steep moorage fees over the winter, according to Daley’s sister-in-law Lindsey Youell.
The friends planned to retrieve the vessel this spring and sail home together. When they arrived in Ucluelet, the only port on the island’s west coast with a call-in station for reporting to the Canada Borders Services Agency, everything appeared normal, Cortes said.
After clearing customs, Archbald wanted to get the boat reappraised, Cortes said, to try to reduce the import tax they’d have to pay for bringing it into Canada.
“CBSA gave them a blue book value on the boat he thought was high,” Cortes said. “I hooked him up with a marine surveyor out of Port Alberni who came down and did his thing.”
Two weeks ago, the RCMP searched the vessel stem to stern. Witnesses at the harbour said they used police dogs and forensics teams.
Despite multiple requests, the RCMP did not answer any of the Star’s questions about either of these cases.
The Astral Blue appears in good shape, save for a string of gouges along the starboard gunwale. Don Kimura, the marine surveyor who inspected the vessel, said Archbald told him the damage happened during a storm while on their journey home.
It was one of the only times during the trip that Youell’s brother-in-law checked in with the family. The pair had just arrived in Hawaii, Youell said, and Daley called to say that, despite the heavy seas, they were OK.
Kimura couldn’t give the exact value of the craft for professional reasons, but said comparable vessels are worth about $100,000. He said the boat is properly registered and his interactions with Archbald were “normal.”
The only road out of Ucluelet winds its way through a rainforest. Dense vegetation covers the forest floor. Mossy fallen trees and broken limbs obstruct anything trying to make its way through.
Aside from nearby Tofino, it’s more than an hour’s drive to the next town, Port Alberni. Youell said when the men first went missing, the family combed the forest along the highway for days.
The search turned up an article of clothing and a pill bottle near Ucluelet, but Youell said no one recognized either item. A month after the two disappeared, both families are beginning to fear the worst.
“He’s gone,” Youell said of Daley. “We know him, we know that if he had wanted to go into hiding or run away or something, he would have gotten some sort of message to us.”
Lean into the waves
An air horn shatters the Saturday morning calm throughout a forest in the Cowichan Valley last week, stopping a search party in its tracks.
Thirteen people are strung out in a line running 150 metres through the bush. Most of them know Ben Kilmer, an electrician and father of two from the Duncan area. Some of them do not, but came from across Vancouver Island to help search for him. Spaced barely 20 metres apart the forest is so dense they can hardly see each other.
On top of a ridge, at the north end of the line, Kilmer’s wife, Tonya, hollers directions to those trying to find any sign of her husband.
“Cover your ears, everybody blow!” she yells, unleashing a barrage of air horns and whistles.
Everyone freezes, careful not to rustle so much as a leaf that could drown out any sound of response. None comes.
“Proceed!” Tonya yells, and they head forward again.
As hard as the past month has been for Tonya, she refuses to give up the search for her husband.
“For me, I just sometimes break down when I’m alone, when I have the time to let those emotions just wash over me,” she said.
When it happens, she leans into the waves, Tonya said, so she can get through them and back to the task at hand.
“It keeps me focused and driven,” she said. “Now is not the time to grieve. Now is the time for action. It is desperate.”
Like Archbald and Daley, Kilmer was last seen on May 16. A security camera picked him up with the van at a job site about 10:30 a.m. His van was found later that day near the intersection of Menzies Rd. and Cowichan Lake Rd., west of Duncan.
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In the days after Kilmer’s disappearance, the ground search for him centred on the area where his van was found. While police and provincial search and rescue teams have moved on to other leads, the area is still being searched with dog teams by experts from the non-profit Search and Rescue Society of B.C.
Meanwhile, the volunteer ground search has shifted to the Skutz Falls area in Cowichan River Provincial Park, and where it will now remain.
The area holds special meaning for Tonya and Ben. It’s amid this lush greenery and chirping birds they first met, and where she believes he might have returned if he were hurt.
But that’s not the only reason the search teams are here.
“I’ve been told there’s a number of clues that have lead to this spot. That’s why we’re organizing here now,” said a professional tracker, who asked that his name not be used.
The searchers are a large group but the hunt is not without its risks. Like most wild places on the island, there are bears in the area, the tracker says. Tonya was charged by one early in the search while hiking far from the main group, a reminder that the search parties are safer together.
Then there are the grow ops. Before setting out, the tracker cautions the group against straying onto any private property for fear of stumbling across one.
Searching along the ridgetop with Tonya and the others is Ross Morrison. He’s known Kilmer since they were in Grade 9.
“We always camped together, I went to his wedding,” Morrison said. “We have a really tight-knit group of friends that have been friends probably since high school.”
Kilmer didn’t have any enemies, no reason to leave everything behind and wouldn’t have “disappeared himself” either, Morrison said.
Three weeks after his friend was last seen, Morrison has come to his own conclusion.
“Seems like foul play to me,” he said. “He’s the type of person that if someone was struggling on the side of the road he would have pulled over to help.”
Multiple missing persons cases unusual
The Kilmer search has shared some information with the families of Archbald and Daley. There are no known links between the cases, but at this point they’re not ruling anything out.
“We’re not all knowing,” Tonya said. “There could be some unknown connection the families are not aware of, but it’s certainly not in any friendship circles.”
Missing persons expert Sasha Reid said the disappearances have occurred against the backdrop of some other cases on the island.
“I don’t like coincidences,” she said. “I don’t really believe in coincidences too much.”
Reid is a developmental psychology PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. She said, from looking at her data, there is a “concerning” number of other men missing on Vancouver Island, and the cases merit a closer look.
In November 2017, 31-year-old Brandon Cairney was declared missing from Port Alberni after failing to show up for an appointment in town. According to police reports, Cairney has a brain injury, and is known to frequently walk the Alberni Valley roads alone.
Daniel MacDonnell was last seen June 20, 2017, after returning to the Port Alberni area from Eastern Canada. According to police reports, MacDonnell’s father said his son planned to work on fishing vessels in either Port Alberni or Ucluelet.
Together with Kilmer, Archbald and Daley, that makes five men in the space of a year who all vanished on southern Vancouver Island.
Plea for information
Back at Skutz Falls, the ground search for Kilmer goes on for hours as the volunteers step over logs, have their feet sucked into bogs and endure swarms of bugs.
Despite the weeks that have passed, Tonya still clings to the hope that Ben will be found alive.
“I know it. I feel it in every fibre of my body,” she says. “He has this incredible will to survive.”
Right now the most pressing need is for more search volunteers, Tonya said, to help scour the park for any trace of Ben.
Last weekend’s search may have uncovered one.
After two days searching the Skutz Falls area, Tonya said they found footprints that could belong to Ben. They’re working to compare them with the boots he was likely wearing the day he went missing, and have trackers following the trail.
They’ve told the RCMP about the lead, but will continue chasing it themselves. They don’t want to distract from the larger police investigation, Tonya said.
While Tonya tries to stay positive, she’s also starting to wrestle with a reality that her mind reels from.
Even if there is foul play at hand, she says she’s not interested in vengeance or laying blame. She just wants to know where her husband is.
“We need him,” she said, between sobs. “We’re desperate, and he needs us. Whatever wrongdoing might be involved, I will forgive. Please don’t stay silent.”
Correction - June 20, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the ages of Ryan Daley and Dan Archbald. As well, the article mistakenly said Daley has two children.
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Instead, Trump spent the day tending to grievances with his critics on Twitter — he called the mayor of London a “stone cold loser” — before visiting with Queen Elizabeth II and touring Westminster Abbey. He mostly avoided talk of Brexit, the contested departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
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Trump’s approach leaves him as the world’s most famous nationalist, but one who is somewhat distant from the debates destabilizing Europe.
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His handling of the visit so far also fits a pattern. He gives candid commentary before he travels abroad on a nation’s political scene and stokes controversy that leaves officials bracing for chaos. But after he lands, he rarely uses the international stage to advance a discernible agenda or to wield his influence to shape world events.
During Trump’s last visit to the United Kingdom, he gave an explosive interview to the Sun tabloid in which he criticized Prime Minister Theresa May for not taking his advice on Brexit. Before the Group of Seven summit in Canada in 2018, Trump launched into a Twitter attack on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him “indignant” amid a trade dispute. And at various NATO and Group of 20 summits, as well as other global gatherings, Trump has crashed into the meetings with Twitter tirades against U.S. allies — complaining about everything from defense spending to pipeline deals to trade concerns.
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By the end, the view of Trump’s trips is usually more focused on the comments he made before he arrived and after he departed than on what he achieved in between.
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“He’s behaving like he does in domestic politics. He’s a chaos agent,” said Brian Klass, who teaches global politics at University College London. “I don’t think there’s an endgame; I don’t think there’s a strategy.”
Trump regularly dismisses any suggestion of tumult or tensions despite prompting them in the first place.
“London part of trip is going really well,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday. “The Queen and the entire Royal family have been fantastic. The relationship with the United Kingdom is very strong. Haven’t seen any protests yet, but I’m sure the Fake News will be working hard to find them.”
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How Trump would handle the political crisis facing Britain was the biggest question heading into the trip, including whether he would seek to buttress the prospects of any of May’s potential replacements.
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But flashes of solidarity with the nationalist and Brexit-linked leaders in the United Kingdom have been scattered and lacking any evident agenda, beyond Trump being appreciative of their warm words for him.
The two leading faces of Brexit — Boris Johnson, the former foreign minister who is the front-runner to replace outgoing May, and Nigel Farage, who leads the Brexit Party that gained seats in the recent European Parliament elections — have not yet been invited to meet with Trump, according to U.S. and British officials. Farage has complained that May and her allies are blocking him from meeting with Trump, and no meeting is scheduled.
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Speaking on Fox News on Monday, Farage said he nonetheless welcomed Trump’s presence and aligned himself with him, even as the president resisted the chance to tout Farage’s nationalist movement, which has surged amid frustrations over immigration and European regulations.
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“Of course, Brexit isn’t just a British issue,” Farage said. “Donald Trump’s election was very much along the same kind of lines as the Brexit vote itself happened.”
Farage is one of several nationalists in Europe who have seen their political fortunes rise as voters have turned to right-wing parties. Matteo Salvini, Italy’s nationalist deputy prime minister, said last month that the European elections have created “a new geography” in the E.U., boosted by his own efforts in Italy, plus the National Rally in France and Austria’s Freedom Party, among others.
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While some Trump supporters, such as former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, have strained to forge a deeper connection between the president and other nationalists, Trump habitually operates through a personal prism. There is no obvious global political project he is building, only a thicket of relationships to navigate.
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“Well, I think I may meet with him. He’s been a friend of mine. He’s been very nice,” Trump said of Johnson on Friday before boarding Marine One. “I have a very good relationship with him. I have a very good relationship with Nigel Farage — with many people over there. And we’ll see what happens, but I may meet with him. They want to meet. We’ll see what happens.”
That uncertainty is a far cry from a hot summer night in 2016, when Farage appeared at a campaign rally alongside Trump in Mississippi and cast himself and Trump as champions of “little people” around the world. “I was very supportive of their right to do it and take control of their own future,” Trump said at the time of Brexit, as thousands of supporters cheered inside an arena.
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Veteran Republican strategist Ed Rollins, a Trump ally, defended the president’s approach to the trip, saying he is “trying to be right down the middle in what he says, due to how hot” the Brexit debate is in Britain.
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“But there is no question that the president sees the value of being associated with nationalism,” Rollins said. “It’s about saying, ‘We want what’s best for our country. We want other countries to have what’s best for them.’ He knows that resonates and it can be effective, here and there.”
For now, Trump is hewing to the traditional playbook of a U.S. president making a formal visit to Britain, albeit with repeated instances of animus that most world leaders take pains to avoid. His Monday was dominated by his meetings with British leaders and the royal family, following battles with reporters over his use of the word “nasty” in remarks last week about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. He also publicly clashed with London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Twitter on Monday, calling him a “stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me.”
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When Trump stepped off Air Force One and was greeted by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the president didn’t use the time to press Hunt on any policy issue or ask him about the Brexit fallout. He vented about Khan.
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“He mentioned some of his feelings about the mayor of London, which I saw subsequently he just tweeted out as well,” Hunt told the BBC on Monday, recounting his conversation with Trump. “He wasn’t exactly saying that he’s going to be inviting Sadiq Khan for royal treatment at the White House any time soon.”
Trump lashed out at Khan after the London mayor wrote an op-ed in the Guardian calling the U.S. president “one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat,” a reference to nationalism.
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Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, but it is still an E.U. member, as May has pushed for an extension to a deadline for the exit. A White House memo released Monday said Trump “supports Brexit being accomplished in a way that will not affect global economic and financial stability while also securing independence to the United Kingdom.”
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Molly Montgomery, a former State Department official who now is a vice president at Albright Stonebridge Group, said Trump “certainly doesn’t shy away from populists and autocrats,” and could still meet with Farage or Johnson to be “supportive of Euroskepticism in general.”
Trump may also still publicly push his views on Brexit while in Britain, something he didn’t hesitate to do in the days ahead of his trip. He and May will hold a news conference Tuesday.
“If you don’t get the deal you want, if you don’t get a fair deal, then you walk away,” Trump said in an interview published Sunday in the Sunday Times. Trump also said he “wouldn’t pay” the $50 billion “divorce bill” to settle Britain’s financial obligations with the E.U.
“I’m only saying this from my standpoint. I would not pay; that’s a tremendous number,” Trump said.
By Monday in London, however, Trump’s attention appeared to be off Brexit and back to Khan and other topics. | {
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Schirra, William Marty Jr. Astronaut/Pilot Enshrined 1986 1923-2007
Walter Schirra began flying his father’s airplane at the age of 15. This marked the beginnings of a man who would eventually become the only astronaut to fly on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.
Schirra, born in 1923 in New Jersey, joined the Navy shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He earned his Naval Aviator wings in 1948 and flew in over 90 combat missions during the Korean War.
In 1952 he participated in the development of the Sidewinder missile, an antiaircraft missile that had an infrared sensor that enabled it to seek out the engine of an enemy plane and then fly up its tailpipe and explode. On one occasion, Schirra fired a Sidewinder and something went wrong. The missile started tracking Schirra’s plane. Schirra’s flying skills and quick thinking saved his life when he literally outflew the missile.
When NASA began recruiting astronauts for its Mercury mission in 1959, Schirra was selected Commander of the program. Also part of the Mercury project was Donald Slayton, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Alan Shepard, Virgil Grissom and L. Gordon Cooper. Mercury was designed to orbit a one-man spacecraft and measure its pilot’s reactions and abilities during flight.
On October 3, 1962, Schirra was launched on the third U.S. Orbital flight in the Mercury-Atlas 8 spacecraft named “Sigma 7”. The Mercury series demonstrated the feasibility of long-range space flights.
Later, in 1964, Schirra began work on the two-man Gemini program. On Gemini 6-A, the mission after the Gemini 6 explosion, Schirra participated in the first rendezvous between two manned spacecraft.
In 1968 Schirra also participated in the Apollo-7 mission with Don Eisele and Walter Cunningham. The Apollo-7 mission was extremely successful because of the use of a camera that permitted daily transmissions from the spacecraft.
Schirra resigned from NASA in 1969 and began pursuing business interests. The former astronaut has received numerous awards, including the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals, the Collier Trophy, the Harmon Trophy and many others. | {
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Workers at three nursing homes in Hudson County are threatening to strike next week after months of what they call "fruitless negotiations" on a new contract with the parent company, Alaris.
Caregivers at Alaris Health at Harborview in Jersey City and Alaris Health at Castle Hill in Union City are set to strike from Sept. 16 to 18, while workers at Alaris Health at Boulevard East in Guttenberg are threatening a three-day work stoppage from Sept. 17 to 19.
Nursing home workers at an Alaris Health location in Rochelle Park are also planning to strike from Sept. 17 to 19.
The 450 workers at the four facilities are members of 1199SEIU and are employed as certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, dietary aides, recreation aides, and housekeepers.
The union alleges that Alaris has committed unfair labor practices and refused to move off unreasonable proposals that call for significant concessions from low wage workers, including higher health premiums and a reduction in paid sick leave and other benefits for new hires.
The current contracts expired over five months ago, according to the union..
"Alaris has a legal and moral obligation to bargain fairly with its employees," said Milly Silva, executive vice president of 1199SEIU. "It is incredibly irresponsible of the company to repeatedly disregard workers' rights and force caregivers into a position where striking is the last option they have. We do not want to strike, but we will not allow Alaris to undermine standards in nursing homes."
In June and July, caregivers held rallies and community outreach events addressing similar concerns in Jersey City, Union City, Guttenberg, and Rochelle Park.
In May, a Hudson County jury awarded $13.2 million to the family of a Jersey City woman who sued Alaris Health at Harborview for negligence after a woman died following her stay there four years ago.
When a call was placed to one of the facilities where workers are threatening to strike -- Alaris Health at Castle Hill in Union City -- a receptionist told The Jersey Journal that administration would not be making any comments at this time.
Meanwhile, Rob Smolin, the administrator of the Guttenberg facility, had no comment on the strike when reached by phone today. | {
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Our Mission
To inform, educate, lobby, support and maintain legislations for the “legal” Medical use of Cannabis within the State of Indiana.
In addition, when we have fought and won for the legalization of Medical Cannabis, HVMC will work with our legislators to continuously review, revise and update legislation as may be necessary from time to time. i.e. recognizing residents from out of State that are Medical Cannabis patients …and so forth.
On a national level HVMC will fight to petition our Federal Government to reduce Cannabis from a Schedule I (fraudulently noted) to a Schedule II rating under the Substance Control Act of 1970 and to petition the Veterans Affairs in making policies to more freely prescribe and recommend Cannabis to our Veterans in lieu of the fatal prescription practices we have been so accustomed too. | {
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Steve Mitchell/US Presswire
Collin Cowgill will be the regular center fielder.
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Terry Collins will not be platooning in the outfield to start the season.
Collins said he will use a regular outfield of Lucas Duda in left field, Collin Cowgill in center field and Marlon Byrd in right field, while trying to find opportunities off the bench for Jordany Valdespin, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Mike Baxter.
Nieuwenhuis likely will be a late-game defensive replacement for Duda.
"One of the things we've got to make sure we do, that's cover ourselves defensively," Collins said. "Be it center field, be it late for Lucas, or whatever it might be, he's the best outfielder we've got, in my opinion. Defensively he can really play center field. So we thought we could take him. Hopefully if he starts swinging, like he did last year, I'm sure he's going to get a lot of playing time. But he does give us a lot of security."
Cowgill, 26, was acquired from the Oakland Athletics on Dec. 18 for minor league third baseman Jefry Marte. He hit .303 in Grapefruit League play.
"He had a pretty good spring," Collins said. "He hit righties as good as anybody. If it doesn't work out, we've got Kirk there. So we've got some options."
The decision to try Cowgill full time in center, as well as the decision to carry Nieuwenhuis, signals the Mets were not comfortable with Valdespin as a fielder -- at least with Duda also playing in the outfield. | {
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Weird Stuff I Do Potoo
i don't have road rage, i have road encouragement
i whisper words of encouragement to cars in front of me to go "you can do it, there you go, good job" | {
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Syria’s Army broke a years-long Islamic State (IS) group siege on the government enclave of Deir Ezzor city on Tuesday as it battles to expel the jihadists from a key stronghold.
The jihadist group has already lost more than half of its nearby bastion of Raqqa to U.S.-backed forces, and the loss of Deir Ezzor city and the surrounding oil-rich province of the same name would leave it with only a handful of isolated outposts.
Russian air support
Syria’s Army and allied fighters, backed by Russian air support, have been advancing towards Deir Ezzor on several fronts in recent weeks, and on Tuesday arrived inside the Brigade 137 base on its western edge.
“The Syrian Arab Army this afternoon broke the siege on Deir Ezzor city after its advancing forces arrived from the western province to Brigade 137,” state news agency SANA said. “This great achievement is a strategic shift in the war on terror and confirms the ability of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies,” the Army command said. A local journalist contributing to AFP on the ground said a minesweeper moved ahead of troops as they arrived at the base.
As they reached the soldiers who have been besieged inside the base and adjacent parts of the city, the troops embraced and shouted patriotic slogans. Others fired in the air and flashed victory signs, as Syrian and Russian warplanes flew overhead.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad congratulated troops in a call to commanders at the base, his office said. “Today you stood side-by-side with your comrades who came to your rescue and fought the hardest battles to break the siege on the city,” he said. | {
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There's a reason why some cyclists ring their bells constantly while riding past parked cars, and it has nothing to do with annoying other people.
That "ding ding ding ding ding" is meant to avoid injury – and potentially death – at the hands of someone who all-too-casually exits a vehicle without checking first to see if the bike lane is clear.
More than 200 people were injured last year by car doors jutting out into bike lanes, according to Toronto Police.
"Dooring," as it's called, is almost always unintentional – but it's not an innocent act. It's a dangerous threat to local cyclists, and some city board members say more could be done to prevent it from happening.
Have you been doored?! Bikers of Toronto tell your story of being hit! @CycleToronto @BikeLawCanada Read more at: https://t.co/bpYExDTSTf — Chris Glover (@trusteecglover) October 7, 2017
A motion set to go before the city's Public Works Committee on Wednesday recommends that City Council ask the province for several regulatory changes in an effort to reduce the number of dooring (or "door-prize") incidents in Toronto.
These changes, originally proposed by Board of Health Education Representative Chris Glover, include:
Making drivers at least partially responsible for passengers who door cyclists
Adding dooring incidents to Ontario's formal collision reporting process
Revising driver education programs and the G1 Knowledge Test to teach new drivers about dooring prevention techniques, like the "Dutch Reach"
Introducing new training requirements for "vehicle-for-hire operators" (ie; Uber drivers)
Requiring that rear view mirrors be installed on all passenger doors in taxis and other for-hire vehicles
Currently, drivers who are convicted of dooring can be fined up to $1000 with three demerit points in Ontario.
When it's a passenger, on the other hand – as might be the case with an Uber vehicle – the driver of that vehicle faces no penalties at all.
If the Board of Health's recommendations are implemented, Uber (and soon, Lyft) drivers would be required to undergo more rigorous training on how to avoid doorings.
A Beck Taxi operations manager told CBC News in an interview this week that city taxi drivers are already required to complete a course at Centennial College that covers warning passengers about cyclists. | {
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Last updated on .From the section Boxing
Josh Taylor reached the World Boxing Super Series last four knocking out the United States' Ryan Martin
Josh Taylor has told IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk he "can't wait to rip the belt off" him after the latter appeared to confirm their world title fight on 18 May would go ahead.
The Belarusian's manager had been quoted external-link as saying the World Boxing Super Series contest at Glasgow's Hydro would not go ahead for financial reasons.
But on Wednesday Baranchyk tweeted: "I look forward to fighting Taylor."
"I'm glad Baranchyk is coming Glasgow to fight," the Scot, 28, replied.
"Can't wait to rip the belt off you and send you homeward to think again."
The bout is the semi-final stage of a tournament to decide the new undisputed world super-lightweight champion and there had been reports that Taylor's compatriot, former world champion Ricky Burns, could be a replacement opponent for the Belarusian.
However, Taylor's trainer, Shane McGuigan, told Boxing Social external-link that 25-year-old Baranchyk would be stripped of his IBF title if he did not box in Glasgow.
Taylor, rated number two in the world, has already knocked out United States' Ryan Martin, while 10th-ranked Baranchyk stopped Sweden's Anthony Yigit.
Top-rated American Regis Prograis, the WBC interim champion who defeated Englishman Terry Flanagan in their quarter-final, faces another Belarusian, WBA champion Kiryl Relikh, in the other semi-final. | {
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Part 1 explained here: 8979y97y.deviantart.com/art/Sc…
Cernunnos is a world of temperate pine forests and damp plains, populated by wealthy traders and known for its powerful empire. Its capital, Georgebrook, is a multiplanetary trade centre, headed by an elected Trade Guild and Trade Minister, while overseen by a hereditary, yet powerless, Trade Mage. It has one moon, a rocky ocean planet named Halfcove, exporting mainly iron and zinc. It declared independence recently, and succeeded.
Cernunnos shares a twin orbit with Odyssea, a more tropical paradise planet, known for its beautiful, continent-sized gardens. It is said to be a headstone of democracy and art, and possessess two independent moons, Muirholm and Ichthya, both bare and desert-like, although Ichthya is somewhat wetter.
The third planet, Grosholm, is predominantly covered in swampy forests and towering stone mountains, and its inhabitants have a reputation for being industrious and hardy. It is currently under the rule of a strict yet popular totalitarian government, headed by Trade Minister Bramus van Kappenzingt, and is at unease with the other powers of the Twin System. It has a mountainous moon, Stavenholm, which is divided into five separate nations.
The fourth planet, Newtown, is made up of many independent colonies, which are frequently at odds with each other. In the Trade Wars, several of these nations attacked each other, and the planet’s borders were drastically redrawn afterwards.
The fifth planet, Schiazapoliti, consists mainly of grassy plains, crisscrossed by many wide rivers. While being invaded frequently throughout its past, the planet has a rich culture and a strong sense of national identity. After the Trade Wars, its monarchy fell and was replaced by a strict military dictatorship. Its moon, Formosa, has two rocky continents, and was historically known for being home to two once-powerful empires, now reduced to poverty and war.
The sixth planet, Elarossa, is known for its dense tropical forest, and is divided into two nations – Elamina and Rossa. Elamina fought a lengthly war for independence from Rossa, and today the two nations remain at odds.
The seventh planet, the gas giant New Venus, has three moons – Claymont, a former Cernunnian colony which broke away to form its own powerful empire and economy, Peterson, a Cernunnian outpost with some autonomy and plentiful resources, and Uilati, the ruins of a Formosan colony which have devolved into a variety of warring primitive nations.
The eighth and final planet is the gas giant Czawiski, which has two moons – Kansam, a warm ocean moon, consisting mainly of kelp harvesting colonies from other planets, and Dalsam, a mountainous world also consisting entirely of colonies, who harvest many resources from the planet. These two moons supply a great deal of the resources which fuel the interplanetary empires.
---------------------
Cernunnos = Britain
Halfcove = Ireland
Odyssea = France
Muirholm = Netherlands
Ichthya = Belgium
Grosholm = Germany
Stavenholm = Scandinavia
Newtown = Balkans
Schiazapoliti = Italy
Formosa = Spain & Portugal
Elarossa = Greece and Turkey
Claymont = US
Peterson = Canada
Uilati = South America
Kansam= North Africa
Dalsam = South Africa
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Neptune: Stay away from her creep!
Jaune: Oh no. I'll show you the meaning of the Yellow Death and the Arc name in general
Weiss: "internal thoughts" Oh shit! I screwed up. I never meant for these two war heads to collide. I mean I like Jaune because he cared for me not as a prize but as a human being but sadly I let my prissiness get the best of me which led to me hurting him but I also like Neptune since he swept me off my feet when he asked me out but Jaune was the one who encouraged him to ask me out. man I feel like a monster for pushing away a good person
background
Ruby,Nora,Yang: Go Jaune! break his legs
Ren: Oh bother!
Sun: GODDAMNIT! NOW TWO OF MY FRIENDS ARE FIGHTING JUST BECAUSE OF ONE ICE QUEEN SCREW THIS I'M OUT OF HERE
Blake: I will have no part in this
Port: ah this reminds me of when I was young
Glynda: can you be quiet for once Port
Ozpin: what a strange and amusing situation.
Oobleck: What is going on? | {
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Last updated on .From the section Rugby League
Toronto were playing in the Challenge Cup for the first time in 2017
Ladbrokes Challenge Cup fifth round Salford Red Devils (18) 29 Tries: Welham, Johnson 2, Dobson, O'Brien Goals: Dobson 3, O'Brien Drop-goal: O'Brien Toronto Wolfpack (16) 22 Tries: Kay, Laulu-Togagae, Brierley, Moimoi Goals: Hall 3
Salford Red Devils beat League 1 side Toronto Wolfpack to reach the last 16 of the Challenge Cup, despite playing most of the match with 12 men.
Salford winger Justin Carney was sent off for dissent before half-time.
But Greg Johnson crossed twice to help the Super League club to victory against their third-tier opponents.
Debutant Ryan Brierley scored one of Toronto's four tries having joined from Huddersfield in midweek, but their first Challenge Cup campaign is over.
It was the first competitive defeat that the Wolfpack, who have won all five of their League 1 matches in 2017, had suffered.
Kris Welham's try put the hosts in front but Liam Kay and Quentin Laulu-Togagae replied, and Brierley touched down for a debut score in between Johnson's double for Salford.
Michael Dobson and Gareth O'Brien, who also landed a second-half drop-goal, were the home side's other scorers, while Fuifui Moimoi crossed late on for Toronto.
Salford coach Ian Watson: "We knew it was going to be a massive game on the back of a very tough Easter period for us. They came here and had a real dig.
"In the first half they caused us a few problems but we fixed it up in the second half, defensively we were a lot better. Losing Justin didn't help, the boys had to dig a bit harder."
Toronto coach Paul Rowley: "The sending-off probably wasn't a good thing for us. It obviously altered our mind set and we stopped playing in the second half.
"I thought we were really good in the first half, we scored some good tries and had two disallowed but it was a game of two halves and probably the old head of Dobson managed the game better in the second half.
"We are bold and brave in our play and to go away from that is disappointing."
Salford: O'Brien; Johnson, Jones, Welham, J Carney; Lui, Dobson; Mossop, Wood, Tasi, Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Flanagan.
Replacements: Bibby, Kopczak, Krasniqi, Walne.
Toronto Wolfpack: Wallace; Laulu-Togagae, Hall, Moimoi, Kay; Worthington, Pownall; Jacks, Beswick, Penkywicz, Bailey, Brierley, Laithwaite.
Replacements: Whiting, Sidlow, Bussey, Wheeler.
Referee: Jack Smith | {
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GEELONG midfielder Tim Kelly remains undecided on his future as he weighs up whether he will return home to Western Australia after a stunning debut season with the Cats.
Kelly, 24, has parked discussions regarding a contract extension beyond 2019, with both West Coast and Fremantle set to monitor his situation during the NAB AFL Trade Period.
The speculation surrounding his future follows a superb maiden season in the AFL, where Kelly averaged 22.9 disposals per game after being drafted as a second-round pick to Geelong as a mature-aged recruit out of WAFL side South Fremantle.
WHO'S LEAVING YOUR CLUB? All the latest retirements and delistings
However, Kelly is yet to make a call on whether he will remain at GMHBA Stadium next season or pursue a move back to his native Western Australia next month.
"To be honest, my future is a little bit undecided at this stage," Kelly said prior to Monday night's Brownlow Medal.
"There's a lot being said about that, but I love the club. I just need to see what comes my way."
Geelong bowed out of the AFL finals during the first week, with the Cats on the end of a comprehensive defeat to the Demons in their elimination final at the MCG.
WHEN DOES TRADE PERIOD START? All the key dates
Kelly said the entire club was still hurting after its premature exit.
"It was very disappointing," Kelly said.
"I think everyone that's part of Geelong would be feeling pretty disappointed right now, but the belief within the group is there. I've got no doubt the group would bounce back." | {
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Because it is preposterous to insist that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel, the political clique opposed to the United States’ recognition of this plain fact—that is, almost all of the western foreign policy establishment, journalists, commentators, former Obama and Clinton administration officials, European politicians and bureaucrats, United Nations cretins, and so on—settled on a different strategy to oppose it.
They fearmongered. In unison, they predicted violence, killing, terrorism, rioting, protests, instability, blowback, and general catastrophe if President Trump followed through on his campaign pledge (and the campaign pledge of many presidents before him).
One sensed that most of these warnings were dishonest—issued not as genuinely believed analysis of what would happen, but as an attempt at scaring the administration out of pulling the trigger. Having spent decades insisting the United States cannot recognize Jerusalem until the Palestinians, Europeans, et al agree, a Trump announcement would not just embarrass but suggest the impotence of an entire political community.
So there was much more on the line than whether the Middle East would plunge into chaos – there was the vanity, prestige, and power of a group of people who have exercised a great deal of control over Middle East foreign policy for decades. The real danger for this group wasn’t so much the announcement itself. It was that Armageddon would not follow it.
Which is exactly what has happened. Yes, there have been protests and a few instances of violence. But nothing close to what opponents presented as the risks of the president merely uttering the words "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel."
This is the same group of experts, of course, that just a couple of years ago reassured the world that the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran would not set the region on fire. Yet the rise of an aggressive, acquisitive, uncontained Iran, fueled by its liberation from sanctions and billions in cash, has been the real story of instability, violence, and blowback in the region. From Yemen to Lebanon, virtually every armed conflict in the Middle East today has one thing in common: Iran.
So the recent record of our foreign policy and media elites is as follows: when they predict catastrophe, there is none; and when they predict harmony and goodwill, there is catastrophe.
To see just how hysterical and wrong they were about Jerusalem, take a look at the tweets below, from the days leading up to Trump’s announcement, and decide for yourself. They’re from a who’s who of journalists, analysts, and former Obama and Clinton administration officials.
Jerusalem is a tinderbox waiting for a match. What's the compelling US interest in recognizing Jerusalem as Usrael's capital? https://t.co/zTur194iVB — Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) December 3, 2017
In order to cater to his political base, Trump appears willing to: Put US personnel at great risk;
Risk C-ISIL momentum;
Destabilize a regional ally;
Strain global alliances;
Put Israeli-Palestinian peace farther out of reach. https://t.co/chbrHUez2Z — Ned Price (@nedprice) December 6, 2017
Can’t think of another warning this dire stemming from an American action—a reckless and crassly political one at that. https://t.co/DlZPeCIVOh — Ned Price (@nedprice) December 6, 2017
Just got this in my in box from Ayman Odeh, leading Arab Israeli member of parliament: "Trump is a pyromaniac who could set the entire region on fire with his madness. — Susan Glasser (@sbg1) December 5, 2017
A dismal week for US diplomacy: First we boycott the UN conference on migration at a time 1 of every 100 people in the world is uprooted; then we change US policy re Jerusalem in a way that could well introduce yet another source of violence in Middle East https://t.co/bGYoBEaLF8 — Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) December 5, 2017
Don’t underestimate Trump’s desire to disrupt the status quo on Jerusalem on the theory that out of crisis can come an opportunity. He should beware: Jerusalem is a dangerous place to test a theory. https://t.co/UPEJI4Mttd — Martin Indyk (@Martin_Indyk) December 3, 2017
Trump seems to view all foreign policy as an extension of a patchwork of domestic political positions, with no regard for the consequences of his actions. https://t.co/uNKfy1vfaG — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) December 5, 2017
Then why cause an international crisis by announcing it? https://t.co/Bvgo6lqtbt — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) December 8, 2017
In addition to making goal of peace even less possible, Trump is risking huge blowback against the US and Americans. For no reason other than a political promise he doesn't even understand. https://t.co/NxJU1NeIDZ — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) December 6, 2017
Worth noting that the consulate is roughly a block from the Old City so even going to work could be dangerous. But diplomats will because thousands of Americans may need their help. https://t.co/Lx2PMlewG0 — Moira Whelan (@moira) December 5, 2017
If there is any nuance to the President’s message on Jerusalem he needs to get out there with it publicly now! This is not a story you want leaking out & dictated by other voices. Otherwise, there will be protests/riots/violence by the time he says anything — Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) December 5, 2017
The President is rolling the dice with the safety of US diplomats because of domestic political concerns. https://t.co/4HNwDqPeDC — Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) December 5, 2017
Looks like something is happening. Hold on tight while the President generates a potential international crisis for no good reason https://t.co/VYuuUZ2sec — Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) December 5, 2017
The President is putting American diplomats at risk because he doesn’t want to sign a piece of paper that contradicts an unrealistic campaign promise https://t.co/nLwROTAU20 — Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) December 5, 2017
Funny – when I testified to Congress last month and warned of the possibility of serious unrest should the embassy be moved absent a final status agreement, a number of congressmen acted as if I was crazy to predict or be worried about such a thing https://t.co/uvTNSDJbGX — (((Michael Koplow))) (@mkoplow) December 5, 2017
I am strongly confident that this embassy announcement will lead to real violence, and just as strongly hopeful that I have never been more wrong about anything. — (((Michael Koplow))) (@mkoplow) December 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/juliamacfarlane/status/938099199501062144
Great takedown by @GershomG of possible U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as capital of Israel. https://t.co/r8clWQgF5p — Rob Malley (@Rob_Malley) December 5, 2017
Striking coda to thread on Trump's Jerusalem move from Mideast expert @Katulis: Pray https://t.co/mEf6KrPVQt — Anne Barnard (@ABarnardNYT) December 5, 2017
Right now there are several good people committed to protecting US national security working hard trying to mitigate the risks of Trump's statement on Jerusalem tomorrow — Brian Katulis (@Katulis) December 5, 2017
And, in fairness, here is someone who got it right – a reporter for Haaretz, the far-left Israeli daily. | {
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Vanessa, a teacher in Washington DC, and her husband Ron are experts now in how trans kids should be treated.
But they had to learn fast, when they realized their four-year-old daughter, Ellie, is transgender.
They are a family rooted in strong values. Vanessa’s parents lived the ultimate love story – meeting young, falling in love and spending their whole lives together.
Ron’s parents were also in love, but the family had to deal with tragedy. When Ron was 10, his dad died of brain cancer.
‘The emotional scars were still deep, knowing my dad was no longer living. So, when I met Vanessa and thought about raising a family, I really wanted to ensure she and our kids were what I focused on – my role as a husband and dad. They came first,’ he told me.
Their son, Ronnie, was born first. Ellie was due 18 months later.
‘We had an amniocentesis and found out the “sex,” but at the time we really didn’t think about sex and gender being different. We pretty immediately formed a family identity as “Vanessa and Ron with two small boys.”’
The amnio did not tell the truth about Ellie, however. The packaging was misleading. As soon as she was able to speak, Ellie set about clarifying who she was to her parents.
‘I’m not a boy. I am a girl. I’m a girl in my heart and my brain. My penis is my only boy part. The whole rest of me is girl,’ she would explain to them out of the blue, without prompting.
Vanessa was disturbed when she witnessed Ellie trying to fight her own inner truth. Ellie would lie in bed at night, unable to sleep, poking her chest and attempting to convince herself of something she was told but did not believe: ‘Boy, boy, boy! I have to be a boy! I have to like Power Rangers!’
Witnessing this struggle, Vanessa and Ron knew it was time for them to transition. Their daughter had spoken, and they had to listen.
Ellie had already rejected the name she had been given at birth. She had been okay with it until she realized people would see her as a boy if she used it. So she informed her parents that she was ‘Ellie.’
The results of Vanessa and Ron’s full acceptance of Ellie was dramatic.
‘She blossomed, became happier and just seemed more herself,’ Vanessa says.
‘We have a happy, silly, strong-willed, outgoing daughter. Before her transition, she was mostly quiet, shy, sometimes angry and certainly not outgoing.
‘At the forefront of parenting is ensuring the happiness and safety of your children. It was clear that by not listening to her, we’d be putting her at risk, and that is not something we were willing to do.’
Ron and Vanessa then did the incredible; not only did they not hide what was going on in their family, they built a new community consciousness around their child.
Ron explains: ‘My concerns were about how society would view Ellie. Ellie is of two different races: Caucasian and African-American. This should not be an issue in modern society in America, but it still is, to a certain degree.
‘Ellie is also a transgender girl, so now we have a really interesting kid and a dynamic on various levels. My concern stems from this convergence – her growing up as bi-racial and transgender – and what she will face as she gets older.
‘Transgender females of color face the harshest treatment of any trans people. In the African-American community, support and acceptance for transgender people have been substantially lacking, and my concern is about how Ellie will be safe and secure.
‘Society has come a long way, in certain regards, to accepting and supporting people with different gender identities, but there is a lot more that can be done to accept and treat them fairly.’
Vanessa and Ron wrote a letter to hundreds of people in their community: Ellie’s teachers, the principal, and everyone who would touch her life. They explained her story in detail and provided eight different resources for people to turn to for further information.
If a friend of Ellie’s asked a question, they answered it and then sent a copy of their letter to the child’s parents.
Ellie’s school has been entirely supportive; the principal and assistant principal co-signed Vanessa and Ron’s letter.
Vanessa says: ‘We’ve been very surprised by the number of people who we were nervous to tell. But reaction has all been positive. 100%… which is surprising.
‘Now, it’s totally possible that it’s not 100% positive behind our backs, but all that really matters is that Ellie is respected, cared for, and that people use the right name and the right pronoun for her.
‘We are realistic, and know that at some point she will confront the hate, the anger, and the misconceptions in the world, and we just hope that it can change fast enough for our daughter to lead her life as freely and proudly as she does today.
‘She tells people she is transgender. We kept this specific word from her initially but in reading I Am Jazz, she heard it once and immediately took it on as her own.
‘Our choice to share so publicly was right for our family, but we know that other families have reasons to remain more private. We are just grateful for the response and support we’ve received. Our dream is for Ellie to move forward in life as proud and safe as she is now.’
And what do Vanessa and Ron think about adults who rant or disparage trans kids?
‘It should be a nonissue. When adults make it an issue, they are not helping anyone; in fact, their views harm children. This happens everywhere. The fact a child is threatening to adults is mind-blowing.
‘A lot of it is fear-mongering. There is a lot wrapped up in sexuality. Children, especially those Ellie’s age, are not sexual people. Her gender identity has nothing to do with sex and won’t be related to sexuality for many years.’
And Vanessa has a message for her fellow teachers about children like Ellie.
‘It is the job of a teacher not only to support our students, but also to value their diversity. It is our job to ensure students are safe, physically and emotionally,’ she says.
‘The well-being of our children is directly linked to affirming families and communities. For children, school is where they spend most of their time. Discrimination and disrespect puts a child at higher risk of self-harm and suicide. A teacher wouldn’t bully a cis student and get away with it.’
We’ve withheld the Ellie, Vanessa and Ron’s family name at their request. | {
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When you dealt it, but - Two others argue over who smelt it
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The Ravens selected 11 players in the NFL Draft over the weekend.
But soon after the draft concluded, the scouts and coaches got right back to work on finalizing the 90-man roster. The second phase of draft weekend is signing all the of the undrafted free agents, and the Ravens have a strong history of finding gems during this process.
Here's an updated list of who the Ravens have reportedly added as undrafted prospects:
(Note: The Ravens have not confirmed these signings and undrafted free agent additions can often change before the team takes the field for rookie minicamp next weekend.)
OLB Victor Ochi, Stony Brook
6-1, 246 pounds; 16.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks | {
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Senegal closed its land border with Guinea on Saturday to try to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, which Guinean authorities say is suspected of killing 70 people in what would be the deadliest outbreak in seven years.
The discovery of 11 people suspected to have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia in recent days has stirred concern that one of the most lethal infectious diseases known to man could spread in a poor corner of West Africa, where health systems are ill-equipped to cope.
Senegal's Interior Ministry said it had closed the land border with Guinea in the southern region of Kolda and the southeastern region of Kedougou.
"The governors of these regions have taken all the necessary steps to implement this decision," it said in a statement published by the official APS state news agency.
A spokesman for Guinea's government said it had not received any official notification of Senegal's decision. The extent of the epidemic is being exaggerated and only 19 cases of Ebola have officially been confirmed by laboratory tests, he added.
"We've taken strict measures to stop this epidemic and there is no reason to panic," Damantang Albert Camara told Reuters.
Senegal announced on Friday it would introduce sanitary checks on flights between Dakar and the Guinean capital Conakry, where eight cases of Ebola have been confirmed, including one death.
West African foreign ministers said at a conference in Ivory Coast this week the Ebola outbreak posed a "threat to regional security".
If the 70 deaths to date are all confirmed as Ebola, it would be the most deadly epidemic since 187 people died in Luebo, in Congo's Kasai Orientale province, in 2007.
The vast majority of the cases in Guinea have been detected in the country's remote southeast, near the border with Sierra Leone and Liberia. It took authorities nearly six weeks to identify it as Ebola, allowing the virus to spread.
The arrival of the disease this week in the capital Conakry, where hundreds of thousands of people live tightly packed in rambling shanties, marked a sharp increase in the population at risk compared with the sparsely populated villages of the forested interior.
Sakoba Keita, head of the prevention division of Guinea's Health Ministry, said there was no cause for alarm in Conakry as the spread of Ebola could be tackled by simple sanitary steps such as regular hand washing and the quarantine of victims.
"There have been delays in applying certain measures in our health system," Keita told a news conference, noting six medical staff were among those killed by the disease. "From today, strict hygiene measures will be observed in our hospitals."
There is no vaccine and no known cure for Ebola, which initially induces fever, headaches, muscle pain and weakness. In its more acute phase, Ebola causes vomiting, diarrhea and external bleeding that carry the virus outside victims' bodies and threaten to infect anyone who touches them.
Ebola has killed more than 1,500 people since it was first recorded in 1976 in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo, but this is the first fatal outbreak in West Africa.
Guinea is deploying a mobile laboratory to the southern region of Gueckedou to speed up identification of the disease and to test samples from Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Reuters | {
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A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, have discovered a new nano-scale thin film material with the highest-ever conductivity in its class. The new material could lead to smaller, faster, and more powerful electronics, as well as more efficient solar cells.
The discovery is being published today in Nature Communications, an open access journal that publishes high-quality research from all areas of the natural sciences.
Researchers say that what makes this new material so unique is that it has a high conductivity, which helps electronics conduct more electricity and become more powerful. But the material also has a wide bandgap, which means light can easily pass through the material making it optically transparent. In most cases, materials with wide bandgap, usually have either low conductivity or poor transparency.
"The high conductivity and wide bandgap make this an ideal material for making optically transparent conducting films which could be used in a wide variety of electronic devices, including high power electronics, electronic displays, touchscreens and even solar cells in which light needs to pass through the device," said Bharat Jalan, a University of Minnesota chemical engineering and materials science professor and the lead researcher on the study.
Currently, most of the transparent conductors in our electronics use a chemical element called indium. The price of indium has generally gone up over the last two decades, which has added to the cost of current display technology. As a result, there has been tremendous effort to find alternative materials that work as well, or even better, than indium-based transparent conductors.
In this study, researchers found a solution. They developed a new transparent conducting thin film using a novel synthesis method, in which they grew a BaSnO3 thin film (a combination of barium, tin and oxygen, called barium stannate), but replaced elemental tin source with a chemical precursor of tin. The chemical precursor of tin has unique, radical properties that enhanced the chemical reactivity and greatly improved the metal oxide formation process. Both barium and tin are significantly cheaper than indium and are abundantly available.
"We were quite surprised at how well this unconventional approach worked the very first time we used the tin chemical precursor," said University of Minnesota chemical engineering and materials science graduate student Abhinav Prakash, the first author of the paper. "It was a big risk, but it was quite a big breakthrough for us."
Jalan and Prakash said this new process allowed them to create this material with unprecedented control over thickness, composition, and defect concentration and that this process should be highly suitable for a number of other material systems where the element is hard to oxidize. The new process is also reproducible and scalable.
They further added that it was the structurally superior quality with improved defect concentration that allowed them to discover high conductivity in the material. They said the next step is to continue to reduce the defects at the atomic scale.
"Even though this material has the highest conductivity within the same materials class, there is much room for improvement in addition, to the outstanding potential for discovering new physics if we decrease the defects. That's our next goal," Jalan said.
###
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and U.S. Department of Energy.
In addition to Jalan and Prakash, the research team included Peng Xu, University of Minnesota chemical engineering and materials science graduate student; Cynthia S. Lo, Washington University assistant professor; Alireza Faghaninia, former graduate student at Washington University; Sudhanshu Shukla, researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Nanyang Technological University; and Joel W. Ager III, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California Berkeley adjunct professor.
To read the full paper, entitled "Wide Bandgap BaSnO3 Films with Room Temperature Conductivity Exceeding 104 Scm-1," visit the Nature Communications website. | {
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Poker machines: Sales are underway in Canberra, with the Raiders the big buyers so far. Credit:Arsineh Houspian Anti-pokies campaigners argue that most machines are designed to keep punters transfixed through the use of sounds, lights and graphics that are specifically designed to keep the attention of players. One design feature that infuriates reformers is losses disguised as wins, where punters who are betting on multiple lines may have a major loss, but a minor win on one of the lines they are betting on. So a $1 bet may yield just a 20 cent win yet the machine will play graphics and sounds to tell the player they have won, despite the 80 cent loss. Monash University public health professor Charles Livingstone said this type of reinforcement plugs into the brain's reward system.
"This tricks people into thinking they have had a win or are close. It stimulates reward," Dr Livingstone said. Maurice Blackburn principal of the social justice practice Jacob Varghese said the industry may be in breach of negligence laws or consumer law for misleading and deceptive conduct. "If machines are being designed in a way that is deliberately deceptive then that is illegal," he said. Mr Varghese, who is working with the new Alliance for Gambling Reform, said studies showed that punters were helpless to addiction because of the deliberate design of some pokies through graphics and sounds. "Litigation in the past has focused on the gambler, but what is coming more and more to light through neuroscience is that players are helpless because of the design of the machines.
"It's time to focus on the behaviour of the gaming machine manufacturers and designers." Australian poker machines are audited by independent testing laboratories and by state and territory regulators before approved for use, the industry body Gaming Technologies Association says. Association chief executive Ross Ferrar said that under Australian laws machines had to inform punters of any payout so the idea of losses disguised as wins was "silly terminology and nonsense." This type of scheme, which was featured in the late Neil Lawrence's documentary Ka-Ching! Pokie Nation that screened on ABC TV on Tuesday, Mr Varghese says, is an example of deceptive conduct. The documentary also spoke to former music composers for the machines, who said the music was also designed to reinforce pleasure and reward.
Every year Australians lose over $12 billion on the pokies – nearly $2.5 billion in Victoria alone, with the government reaping more than $1 billion a year in pokies taxes. The GTA say manufacture and design are heavily regulated and for irresponsible machines to be approved would be "nonsense". The legal action - a specific industry target is yet to be settled on - could provide unprecedented scrutiny and access to the way the industry operates. Another design feature the new alliance takes aim at is what Dr Livingstone says are "close misses". That is where the images on the screen look as if a winning combination is close, but because the games are now digital the reality is a loss is far off. | {
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Hello everyone, just passing by to say hi and also to tell you all that I have now a redbubble account! down here I leave you a link to it www.redbubble.com/es/people/el… so you can look at my art work and see if there's anything there you want to buy to yourselves. I'm also always open to sugestions about future desings, so don't be afraid to leave me a comment in my inbox | {
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Already a member? Sign in Not a member? Member Free 5 Free Articles per month, $6.95/article thereafter. Free newsletter. Subscribe $75/Year Unlimited digital content, quaterly magazine, free newsletter, entire archive.
Editor’s note: This article is part of a new MIT SMR series about people analytics.
“Know thyself.”
— Socrates
I’ve been studying grit for 15 years, but the notion that some people stick with things much longer than others is not at all new. A century ago, Stanford psychologist Catherine Cox studied the lives of 301 eminent achievers. Cox concluded that the artists, scientists, and leaders who change the world have a striking tendency to hold fast to their goals and to work toward these far-off ambitions with dogged tenacity.
Picking up where Cox left off, I wanted to see whether grit — the combination of passion and perseverance toward long-term goals — would predict achievement in the 21st century. I was curious about how this aspect of our character relates to age, gender, and education. I wanted to unpack grit’s motivational, behavioral, and cognitive underpinnings. In short, my aim was to study grit scientifically. To do so, I needed to measure it.
Why are scientists like me obsessed with measurement? In the immortal words of Lord Kelvin: “When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.”
That is, a valid measure illuminates what you’re trying to understand, and understanding is the whole point of scientific inquiry.
Questionnaires are one way to assess personal qualities like grit. Performance tasks, informant ratings, biodata, and interviews are alternatives. But in psychological research, in part because of their low cost and ease of administration, self-report questionnaires are far more common.
The disadvantages of asking people to rate themselves are obvious. You can, if you’re motivated, fake your way to a higher score. You may interpret the questionnaire items differently than other people. You might hold yourself to higher (or lower) standards. The list goes on.
But self-report questionnaires have unique advantages, too. Nobody in the world but you — not your boss, your best friend, or even your spouse — has 24/7 access to your thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
Read the Full Article Already a subscriber?
About the Author Angela Duckworth (@angeladuckw) is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the founder and CEO of Character Lab. For more of her work, sign up for her Thought of the Week email newsletter. | {
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Bernie Sanders Faces Criticism Over Comments On Race
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
Last night on the Democratic side of the campaign, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton met for a debate in Flint, Mich. They talked about the ongoing water crisis in the city, and they talked a lot about race. Some of the ways the candidates talked about race last night have been criticized. We have NPR's Sam Sanders here with us to make sense of it all. Hey, Sam.
SAM SANDERS, BYLINE: Hey there.
MCEVERS: So what happened last night? There was one particular moment that stood out, right? Tell us about it.
S. SANDERS: Yes. So towards the end of the CNN debate in Flint, Don Lemon of CNN asked Sanders and Clinton what their, quote, "racial blind spots" are. And they both seemed to give pretty thoughtful answers, but one part of Sanders' response stood out.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BERNIE SANDERS: When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto. You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or when you get dragged out of a car.
S. SANDERS: So you could tell that he meant well, but it was very clunky. You know, lots of white people are poor, too. And not all black people are poor, and not all black people live in ghettos. And even the use of the word ghetto is seen by some as problematic and a bit racially coded. This was a tough moment for Sanders who is doing all he can to really appeal to black voters ahead of Michigan's primary on Tuesday night.
MCEVERS: I mean, so what do these comments say about where Sanders, as a candidate, stands on race - I mean, where he stands with black voters?
S. SANDERS: So I spoke with Andra Gillespie. She studies race and politics at Emory University. And she says those comments reveal a problem that he's had for some time this campaign. Sanders seems to see the world through an economic prism.
ANDRA GILLESPIE: That's kind of the fundamental problem between some blacks and white progressives - is this notion that white progressives think about class so much that they forget that there's class diversity within African communities and that there are ways that racism affects blacks regardless of their class status.
S. SANDERS: And when it comes to talking about race and politics, Sanders seems to be a bit newer at this. He is from Vermont, a state that is very, very white. And he was active during the civil rights movement, but that was decades ago. Clinton has a longer history in the South and speaking to black voters, and her husband does, too. It's kind of like speaking a language. If you spend lots of time doing it and have been doing it for a while, you'll just be better at it. And I think that when it comes to speaking about race and politics, Sanders is just newer at this.
MCEVERS: Let's be clear. Hillary Clinton got tripped up a bit last night, too - right? - I mean, but in a different kind of way. Tell us about that.
S. SANDERS: Yeah. She faced some policy questions over her support of some of her husband's policies - the crime bill in '94, the welfare reform bill in 1996. Lots of critics say that those two policies hurt black families and sent more black men to prison. She did say in hindsight, some parts of those policies were wrong, but for the last several elections, those bills were either forgotten or seen as wins for Democrats. This issue has been seeming to catch her off guard the entire election.
MCEVERS: And what are we supposed to learn from all this?
S. SANDERS: I mean, so it underscores how important the black vote is to Democrats. They make up a large portion of primary voters in many of these key states. And we have to note how much more this side of the race has been spending talking about race than the GOP side. They don't talk about it that much at all.
MCEVERS: Yeah.
S. SANDERS: And what I found interesting last night - was watching this - it would be hard for me to imagine '08 Obama having as much space to talk about race the way that Clinton and Sanders did. He was so guarded about race and about being seen as acceptable and moderate. He wouldn't have been allowed to have those conversations, I think.
MCEVERS: That's NPR's Sam Sanders. Thanks so much.
S. SANDERS: Thanks, Kelly.
Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | {
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University of Missouri Professor Melissa Click is suspended pending further investigation, Board of Curators Chairwoman Pam Henrickson said Wednesday.
�The Board of Curators directs the general counsel or outside counsel selected by the general counsel to immediately conduct an investigation and to collaborate with the city attorney and promptly report back to the board so the board may determine whether additional discipline is appropriate,� Henrickson said.
UM System spokesman John Fougere said in an email that Click was suspended with pay. Fougere was not sure who will teach Click�s courses during her suspension.
Click, an assistant professor in MU�s Department of Communication, on Monday was charged with misdemeanor assault for her confrontation with student journalists at a demonstration on campus Nov. 9 after former UM System President Tim Wolfe resigned. She pleaded not guilty to the charge, a Class C misdemeanor punishable by as much as 15 days in jail and a $300 fine upon conviction.
Footage of Click�s confrontation with Mark Schierbecker, a student videographer, and Tim Tai, an MU student and photojournalist, during the demonstration went viral. Click can be heard on video ordering Schierbecker and Tai to leave the area and saying, �Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here!�
Henrickson announced Click�s suspension after the curators met in closed session for nearly four hours Wednesday afternoon and evening. Henrickson declined to take questions from reporters. The curators� vote to suspend Click was unanimous, Fougere said.
Interim MU Chancellor Hank Foley said Monday that Click would keep her job at least through the tenure review process, which she is about halfway through. The university will tell everyone who applied for promotion and tenure this year of their decisions by Aug. 1.
Sam Cohen, an English professor at MU, said he and many of his colleagues were upset by the board�s decision.
�Regardless of what you think of what Professor Click did, this is a much bigger issue. We have a policy on this,� Cohen said. �Curators are not supposed to be involved in individual personnel decisions.�
Cohen said the policies exist to protect the university from outside interference. Curators, he said, made the decision under pressure from state legislators.
Ben Trachtenberg, chairman of the MU Faculty Council, said the curators should have given campus administrators a chance to handle the situation.
�You want to use procedures in the hard cases, the controversial cases so people don�t think you�re changing the rules on them,� Trachtenberg said.
More than 100 Republican state lawmakers called for Click�s firing in a letter to university officials. In response, more than 100 faculty members released a letter in support of Click.
State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, was among the lawmakers calling for Click to be fired. He said the board�s action did not change his opinion on the matter.
�At least it is a start that there is a recognition that there�s a problem, but it doesn�t really address the problem,� Schaefer said. �It is leave with pay. It is just a vacation.�
State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, said he trusts the curators to handle personnel matters without input from him or colleagues in the General Assembly.
�I don�t think it will lessen the hostility in this building among Republicans,� he said. �If anything, it may shift the focus to the next topic. I don�t know what that is.�
Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, likened the Click situation to a cloud hanging over the university. Rowden said he signed the letter calling for Click�s firing because he generally believes that�s what the university should do.
�I don�t think we should be making large, broad decisions based on Melissa Click�s employment and I never did,� he said. �I don�t think that needs to be a significant part of the dialogue when it comes to appropriations or anything like that.�
House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, said he does not think the General Assembly will view MU any more favorably if the university takes action regarding Click.
�That situation is emblematic of what we see as some of the problems but not necessarily the problem,� he said. �What we want to see is solid leadership out of the institution and moving the university in a better direction than frankly it has been over the last several months.�
Cohen said the curators� decision decreased morale on campus the same day Foley delivered his State of the University address. Foley�s speech focused on moving forward from events that happened on campus this fall and using what happened to strengthen the university.
�This is a very bad situation for the national reputation of the university,� Cohen said. �We look like a national joke.�
Cohen said he hopes the American Association of University Professors becomes involved. On Twitter, Cohen encouraged others to tweet bylaws and AAUP statements with the hashtag �#IStandWithMelissaClick.�
This article was first published online on Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at 7:58 p.m. | {
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> import Control.Monad.List
> import Control.Monad.State
> import Control.Monad.Writer
> test1 :: [Integer]
> test1 = do
> a <- [1,2]
> b <- [2,4]
> guard $ a+b<5
> return $ a+b
> go1 = test1
> test2 :: WriterT [Char] [] Integer
> test2 = do
> a <- lift [1,2]
> b <- lift [2,4]
> tell ("trying "++show a++" "++show b++"
")
> guard $ a+b<5
> return $ a+b
> go2 = runWriterT test2
a <- [1,2]
ListT (State Integer)
[1,2]
ListT (State Integer)
return x :: [X]
[x]
x ++ y
x `mplus` y :: [X]
[1,2] == (return 1) `mplus` (return 2)
> mlist :: MonadPlus m => [a] -> m a
> mlist = msum . map return
[a] -> [a]
> test3 :: ListT (State Integer) Integer
> test3 = do
> a <- mlist [1,2]
> b <- mlist [2,4]
> lift $ modify (+1)
> guard $ a+b<5
> return $ a+b
> go3 = runState (runListT test3) 0
> test4 :: WriterT [Char] (ListT (State Integer)) Integer
> test4 = do
> a <- lift $ mlist [1,2]
> b <- lift $ mlist [2,4]
> tell ("trying "++show a++" "++show b++"
")
> lift $ lift $ modify (+1)
> guard $ a+b<5
> return $ a+b
> go4 = runState (runListT $ runWriterT test4) 0
> test5 :: StateT Integer (ListT (Writer [Char])) Integer
> test5 = do
> a <- lift $ mlist [1,2]
> b <- lift $ mlist [2,4]
> lift $ lift $ tell ("trying "++show a++" "++show b++"
")
> modify (+1)
> guard $ a+b<5
> return $ a+b
> go5 = runWriter $ runListT $ runStateT test5 0
> test6 :: WriterT [Char] (ListT (State Integer)) Integer
> test6 = do
> a <- mlist [1,2]
> b <- mlist [2,4]
> tell ("trying "++show a++" "++show b++"
")
> modify (+1)
> guard $ a+b<5
> return $ a+b
> go6 = runState (runListT $ runWriterT test6) 0
There is an annual puzzle event that 90 or so people attend. Each designs a puzzle and manufactures 90 copies of it which are then shared with the other participants. All 90 then get to go home with 90 puzzles.Anyway, an ex-coworker attends this event and I had a chance to play with his puzzle. It was one of those fitting blocks together types puzzles. It was ingeniously designed but it seemed pretty clear to me that it required a lot of combinatorial searching. So I decided to write a program in Haskell to solve it using the List monad to enable simple logic programming.But my code had a slight problem. It worked through the puzzle and found solutions, but (1) it didn't log the steps it took to achieve those solutions and (2) I couldn't count how many combinations it searched to find the solutions. Both of these could be thought of as side-effects, so the obvious thing to do is use a monad to track these things. But there was a catch - I was already using a monad - the List monad. When that happens there's only one thing for it - using a monad transformer to combine monads.There are two distinct ways to combine a monad with the List monad and I needed both.Anyway, this is literate Haskell. I'll assume you're vaguely familiar with using the List monad for logic programming. I also assume you're familiar with MonadPlus though that's not something I've written about here. And I couldn't get this stuff to work in Hugs, so use ghc. Here's some code:I'm not going to describe the original puzzle now. Instead I'm going to look at an almost trivial logic problem so that we can concentrate on the monad transforming. The puzzle is this: find all the possible sums of pairs of integers, one chosen from the set {1,2} and the other from the set {2,4}, where the sum is less than 5. Here's a simple implementation.Run go1 and you should get the result [3,4]. But that's just the sums. What were the pairs of integers that went into those sums? We could simply return (a,b,a+b), but in more complex problems we might want to log a complex sequence of choices and that would entail carrying all of that information around. What we'd like is to simply have some kind of log running as a side effect. For this we need the Writer monad.If you cast your mind back, monad transformers layer up monads a bit like layers of onion skin. What we want is to wrap a List monad in a Writer monad. We do this using the WriterT monad transformer. All we have to do is add a tell line to our code, and use 'lift' to pull the items in the list monad out from one layer of onion. Here's what the code looks like:To get the final result we need to use runWriterT to peel the onion:Execute go2 and we get a list of pairs of sums and logged messages.There's an important point to note here: we have one log per sum, so the logs are 'local'. What if we want a 'global' side effect such as a count of how many combinations were tried, regardless of whether they succeded or failed? An obvious choice of monad to count attempts is the State monad, but to make its effects 'global' we now need to make State the inner monad and make List provide the outer layer of skin. We're wrapping the opposite way to in the previous example. And now there's a catch. We use a line liketo exploit the List monad. But now we no longer have a List monad, instead we have amonad. This means thatis not an object in this monad. We can't use 'lift' either because the inner monad isn't List. We need to translate our lists into themonad.We can do slightly better, we can translate a list from the List monad into any other instance of MonadPlus. Remember thatis the same asandis the same as. For example. The latter only uses functions from the MonadPlus interface to build the list, and hence it can be used to build the equivalent of a List in any MonadPlus. To mplus a whole list we use msum leading to the definition:As a function, mlist is just the identity. Now we're ready to go:Run go3 to see the result. Note we had to lift the modify line because the State monad is the inner one.And now we have one more problem to solve: bouth logging and counting simultaneously:That's it!We can carry out a cute twist on this. By swapping the innermost and outermost monads we get:go5 returns a local count of how many combinations were required for each problem, and the Writer monad now records every 'try' in one long log.One last thing: you don't need to explicitly 'lift' things - the monad transformers have a nice interface that automatically lifts some operations. (You may need a recent Haskell distribution for this, it fails for older versions.)It'd be cool to get rid of the mlist too. Maybe if the Haskell parser was hacked so that [1,2] didn't mean 1:2:[] but instead meant (return 1) `mplus` (return 2) like the way Gofer interprets list comprehensions in any monad. (For all I know, Gofer already does exactly what I'm suggesting.)One thing I should add - these monad transformers really kill performance. The puzzle solver I wrote no longer gives me any solutions in the few minutes that it used to...PS I just made up the mlist thing. There may be a better way of doing this that I don't know about. I was surprised it wasn't already in the Control.Monad library somewhere. mlist is kind of a homomorphism between MonadPlusses and I think it might make the List MonadPlus an initial object in some category or other - but that's just speculation right now.Update: I fixed the non-htmlised this . My mlist corresponds to their liftList - and now I know I wasn't completely off the rails writing mlist.
Labels: haskell | {
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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Laurence Fish was recruited by MI5 to design hidden booby trap bombs during the war
Drawings of wartime boobytrap bombs, including an exploding chocolate bar and devices intended to sink ships, have been rediscovered after 70 years.
The drawings were made by a young artist called Laurence Fish for MI5's counter-sabotage unit.
There is an incendiary bomb designed as a Thermos flask, an army mess tin with a bomb hidden beneath the bangers and mash, and a high-explosive device concealed in a can of motor oil.
There is a magnetic limpet mine for a ship's hull which explodes when detached.
And there are timing devices ranging from the highly complex to the remarkably simple - like a test tube full of dried peas which expand as they absorb water and push two contacts together.
All were unpleasant weapons dreamt up by German sabotage experts to spread havoc among their British enemies.
The exploding chocolate bar, it is rumoured, was intended as part of an assassination attempt on Winston Churchill - though how it was supposed to reach him, and how the Germans might ensure that it was Churchill himself who tried to break off a slab, rather than a member of his family or his staff, isn't clear.
Image copyright Antony Thompson/TWN Image caption One of Fish's drawings shows an Army mess tin adapted for nefarious purposes
The 25 drawings, exquisite examples of 1940s draughtsmanship, were commissioned from Laurence Fish by Victor Rothschild.
Rothschild and his secretary (later his wife) made up two-thirds of MI5's tiny counter-sabotage unit.
The third member was a seconded police detective inspector, Donald Fish.
When Rothschild was looking for someone to document the disguised and booby-trapped devices he was uncovering, Fish suggested his son, a self-taught draughstman who had learnt his trade before the war working for Alvis cars.
'Ingenious'
The idea was that the drawings would serve as a kind of manual for anyone who had to defuse similar devices. And there were plenty of them.
The historian Nigel West, who has written several books on espionage, says: "The Germans during the Second World War were very keen on destroying ships and their cargoes leaving neutral ports for the United Kingdom.
"The idea was to starve Britain into submission. And they created some very ingenious devices which could be smuggled aboard ships and placed in the cargo holds with long-term timers: they wanted the ships to catch fire or to sink whilst out at sea."
Image copyright Antony Thompson/TWN Image caption Another of the boobytrap devices documented was a motor oil can with an explosive inside
Rothschild was a larger-than-life character, a scientist and self-appointed expert on many things, who as the fourth Baron Rothschild later became head of Prime Minister Edward Heath's pioneering Think Tank.
He was also brave. He won the George Medal for defusing a booby-trap device concealed by the Germans in a consignment of onions which had come by ship from Spain via Gibraltar.
A Royal Navy lieutenant had lost an arm and an eye tackling a similar device.
Rothschild gave a running commentary over a field telephone as he worked, so that his secretary could take notes and keep a record of every step he took, in case something else went wrong.
'Amazing' partnership
"Rothschild was immensely generous with his family's money," says Nigel West.
"He didn't draw a salary; he almost certainly paid Fish for the illustrations himself; he made his family house up at Tring available to MI5 officers who were bombed out of their houses in central London.
"And when MI5 needed an office in Paris upon the liberation, Victor just simply made available one of his mansions."
Rothschild, who was a lieutenant colonel, commissioned drawings from Laurence Fish, a humble aircraftsman, via letters stamped "Secret". They show evidence of a close working relationship.
"They got on so well together," says Fish's widow, Jean Bray.
"It was an amazing combination.
"Rothschild had very great respect for Laurence... I don't know why, but it worked well."
Image copyright Antony Thompson/TWN Image caption The Germans hoped to starve Britain into submission by destroying supply ships
Fish kept the letters. But the drawings vanished. Rothschild had his favourite framed and hung it on the wall of his study. A couple of others were known from photographs. Otherwise, nothing.
Then a few weeks ago, members of the Rothschild family were clearing out their house in Suffolk when they discovered a sheaf of drawings in "deep storage" in a chest of drawers.
Rothschild's daughter Victoria realised what they were and got in touch with Jean.
Rotating disc
In the 1950s and onwards Laurence became a successful poster artist, graphic designer and landscape painter, putting his wartime work behind him.
"It was interesting work obviously," Jean told me, "and it must have been very concentrated work, but he wasn't going to make any money out of it so as soon as the war was over he'd got to do something that earned him a penny."
In her husband's old studio at the top of their home in the pretty Gloucestershire village of Winchcombe she showed me the pile of drawings, carefully wrapped in brown paper, cardboard and tissue paper, that Victoria Rothschild Gray had sent her.
The exploding chocolate bar may be the most famous, but Jean's personal favourite is an exceptionally intricate 21-day timer involving a rotating disc.
At the top, it says, in especially bold letters, "Do not unscrew here." At the bottom, equally bold, are the words: "Unscrew here first."
Now Jean hopes that a museum or archive will agree to take the pictures: freehand precision drawings made long before the age of computer-aided design, and a fascinating record of fiendish wartime ingenuity | {
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The band tweeted a video of the field goal and asked coach Urban Meyer if he needed a kicker for Saturday’s national playoff semifinal game against No. 2 Clemson in Glendale, Arizona.
The band tweeted a video of the field goal and asked coach Urban Meyer if he needed a kicker for Saturday’s national playoff semifinal game against No. 2 Clemson in Glendale, Arizona. | {
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Anne with an E Season 3 premiered January 3rd on Netflix!
Anne with an E is a show that with grace and consideration addresses topics such as trauma, mental health, abuse, classism, censorship, racism, misogyny, Indigenous Peoples and residential schools, bullying, disabilities, and so many other meaningful topics. In times such as these, a show this capable of sensitively addressing these topics, in a way that anyone can watch, young or old, is incredibly rare.
With the recent news of Netflix’s cancellation of the beloved period drama, fans quickly took to the internet to try and save it. It soon became clear that whether it was beloved or not, Netflix simply did not believe they were making a profit off of it. Netflix has yet to reverse its cancellation, but frustratingly it also seems as though they have no plans to promote the third season of their award winning show.
As fans and long time viewers, we refuse to let this show go unnoticed any longer. With your help, this fundraiser will provide funds to promote advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in an attempt to bring this astounding series to the audience it deserves. If numbers and profit are what is required to keep such groundbreaking television on the air, then that is exactly what we’ll give them.
Every dollar put towards funding an ad on Facebook and Instagram can reach up to 74-210 per day. With every dollar donated, we have the potential to increase this number exponentially.
If any of the issues listed above move you, or if this show has ever impacted you in any way, please consider donating. No donation is too small.
Thank you!
❦ - ❦ - ❦
Would you please share this update to help get the word out, now that the international fans finally joined?
@awaenetwork @annewithanesource @dailyawae @awaedits
@luztapiaart @emeriart @hecksinki @soulforart @kailene-blossom @sowarumnicht @lenle-g @wiznearbi @yellow-sub-marineee @alicer26 @0marm-alade0 @eleanorgrootch @ferdilustra @nikamade @imaridraws @da-imaginarium @marijeem @elmobloop @twibbley @shebsart @mellobird @emilypaik @carolsdrawing @mraeelli @lemkid @annabianca-illustration @inkling12 @choxii-art @filenel @dolphiniscoool @amyydraws @sumi-illustrator @andreluizbarbosa @featherinthemeadow @chiauno @shylock @janasousaart @liliemm @noctefuror @micolabendel @a-perfectly-put-together-mess aka “the artists” list (this fandom has so many talented people, wow!)
@leejordan @shirehobbit @anncshirley @kylos @mrgaretcarter @abrokenslate @castlesbyrs @stydixa @damn-salvatore @thatonekimgirl @zavens @bertwysocki @floraflorenzi @linseymorris @ljcovensky @enchanted-keys @rxmanoff @jonathan-byers @pterparkcr @captnswilson
@perioddramasource @perioddramacentral | {
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Blake Patterson / Flickr, CC Apple has purchased a bunch of web addresses related to cars, including apple.car and apple.auto, according to registration records spotted by Macrumors.
The web domains were registered in Whois records updated on January 8 through sponsoring registrar Mark Monitor with Apple Inc's Cupertino, California contact information listed as the administrator name. The web addresses are the latest nugget of information hinting at Apple's increasing interest in the automotive industry.
Apple has been rumored to be working on an electric, and possibly a self-driving, car and has hired several experts from the car industry over the past year. The secretive car effort is reportedly called Project Titan. In August, Apple representatives met with officials from the California DMV to discuss autonomous car regulations.
Several big tech companies are expanding into the auto industry, including Google, which has been developing self-driving cars for years, and ride-hailing service Uber.
The fact that Apple has registered the domain names does not necessarily mean that Apple is planning to build a car. The company is also developing technology to integrate its iPhone software and services into cars through its CarPlay product. It's also common for companies to purchase domain names with their trademarks to prevent others from using them.
The three names registered to Apple include apple.auto, apple.car, and apple.cars.
We've reached out to Apple and will update if we hear back. | {
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If you smelllll ... what the White House is cookin'?
Dwayne Johnson might be asking that very question one day soon if he follows through with a potential run for President of the United States, something he admitted is now a "real possibility" for him during a recent interview with GQ.
Johnson's name was thrown into the political arena last fall as the race for president was heating up. Many began to wonder whether someone with as electrifying a personality and as big a heart as Johnson would ever consider stepping into the greatest office in the land. What was once a fun thought has now at least become what seems to be a legitimate possibility.
From GQ:
He's given the question more thought. "A year ago," he says, "it started coming up more and more. There was a real sense of earnestness, which made me go home and think, 'Let me really rethink my answer and make sure I am giving an answer that is truthful and also respectful.' I didn't want to be flippant—'We'll have three days off for a weekend! No taxes!'" So, after all that consideration, Johnson doesn't hesitate when I ask him whether he honestly might one day give up his life as the highest-paid movie star on earth—which is unquestionably easier, more fun, and more lucrative than being president of the United States—in order to run for office. "I think that it's a real possibility," he says solemnly.
This after The Rock decided not to endorse either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump a year ago because he didn't want to upset any fans or sway opinion in one direction or another.
As far as how he feels about key issues of the day, Johnson did not get into most of those with Caity Weaver, the author of the feature, though he felt comfortable enough to address the Muslim ban that remains in legal limbo.
"I completely disagree with it," he said without hesitation. "I believe in our national security to the core, but I don't believe in a 'ban' that bans immigrants. I believe in inclusion. Our country was built on that, and it continues to be made strong by that. And the decision felt like a snap judgment. I feel like the majority of, if not all, Americans feel that protection is of huge importance. But the ideology and the execution [of national-security initiatives] is where we really have to be careful of not making those snap decisions, because there's a tail effect... Within 24 hours, we saw a 'tail effect.' It grew to heartache, it grew to a great deal of pain, it grew to a great deal of confusion, and it had a lot of people scrambling."
Johnson singled out proving oneself as a leader who takes responsibility for every citizen of the country as a primary charge. He went on to note that inclusivity is also important, particularly when it comes to those with differing ideologies.
"I feel like one of the qualities of a great leader is not shutting people out. I miss that part. Even if we disagree, we've got to figure it out. Because otherwise I feel, as an American, all I hear and all I see in the example you're setting is 'Now I'm shutting you out. And you can't come.' [Disagreement] informs us. The responsibility as president—I [would] take responsibility for everyone. Especially when you disagree with me. If there's a large number of people disagreeing, there might be something I'm not seeing, so let me see it. Let me understand it."
With three years until the next election and Johnson still rolling as an actor and entrepreneur, President Rock is far from reality at this point. But one wonders what it would be like it if it did transpire one day.
Let's just say 4 a.m. tweets would be drastically different coming from @TheRock. And they'd probably come with selfies. | {
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In the 20th century, tooth decay was finally tamed through advancements in microbiology, which established connections between cavities and diets heavy in sugar and processed flour. Especially in the U.S., as orthodontics advanced and tooth extraction became less common, a proud open-mouthed smile became the cultural norm. From cigarettes to dish soap, television commercials and magazine ads were punctuated with glinting smiles. Sharing a smile with someone wasn’t just good manners, but a sign that the smiler was a willing recipient of the wonders of modern medicine.
* * *
By the early 20th century, Edward Angle, an American pioneer in tooth “regulation,” had been awarded 37 patents for a variety of tools that he used to treat malocclusion, including a metallic arch expander (called the E-Arch) and the “edgewise appliance,” a metal bracket that many consider the basis for today’s braces. Angle sold all of these standardized parts, in various configurations, as the “Angle system.” Other orthodontists could purchase and use Angle’s inventions in their own practices, thus eliminating the need to design and produce appliances for each new patient.
Today’s orthodontic practices rely on equal parts individual diagnosis and mass-produced tool, often in pursuit of an appearance that’s medically unnecessary. Basic advances in brushing, flossing, and microbiology have largely defeated the problem of widespread tooth decay—yet the perceived problem of oral asymmetry has remained and, in many ways, intensified. The choice to leave one’s mouth in aesthetic disarray remains an implicit affront to medical consumerism.
“The smile has always been associated with restraint,” Trumble writes, “with the limitations upon behavior that are imposed upon men and women by the rational forces of civilization, as much as it has been taken as a sign of spontaneity, or a mirror in which one may see reflected the personal happiness, delight, or good humor of the wearer.” And so orthodontics persists to address a genuine medical necessity, but also (and more often) to enable unnecessary self-corrections.
With an often-unnecessary product—the perfect smile—as the basis of its livelihood, the orthodontics industry has embraced the placebo effect. “A great smile helps you feel better and more confident,” argues the website for the American Association of Orthodontists. “It can literally change how people see you—at work and in your personal life.”
In recent years, however, this promise has collided with the high cost of orthodontics to foster a dangerous new subculture of home remedies for teeth straightening. Guided by YouTube videos and homeopathy websites, some people are attempting to align their own teeth with elastic string or plastic mold kits, an amateur approximation of what an orthodontist might do. This practice has become so widespread that The American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics issued a consumer alert, warning that such unsupervised procedures could lead to lesions around the root of a tooth and in some cases cause it to fall out completely. Excessive pressure can wreak havoc on a mouth and interfere with the root resorption necessary to anchor a tooth in its new position. Yet the popularity of the practice is, in some ways, a product of the orthodontics industry’s own marketing history, which has compensated for empirical uncertainty about its medical necessity by appealing to aesthetic concerns. | {
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With an increasing trend towards tablet and mobile devices for enhanced viewing experiences, IMSA is preparing to launch a second-screen app of its own for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship next year.
The app, which pulls together timing and scoring, in-car cameras, social media feeds and a possibility of real-time telemetry into a single platform, has already been in the works for a number of months.
“At the end of 2012, we started looking at what we could do to develop a more robust app,” IMSA VP of Marketing David Pettit told Sportscar365.
“We built the in-car cameras and started building the social media feeds. We have our base app, which is timing and scoring and a little bit more than that. The plan is to build the assets so we can wrap it into a package.”
While the app would have similar functionality of the FIA WEC’s second screen app that launched earlier this year, Pettit said the plan would be to offer it free to fans, with financial support coming from IMSA’s automotive partners.
“We’re working with the automotive manufacturers to [make] it more specific to each of the manufacturers,” he said. “So instead of a paid app, what you could do is get the base app [for free].
“Theoretically, if you want to get the full app, you give your name and information and say, ‘I Like Porsche’ and it becomes a Porsche skin with Porsche information.
“You can still toggle between the different cars and everything else. The manufacturers will help bring this to life instead of having the consumers pay for it.”
Pettit presented the concept to the manufacturers’ advisory council and manufacturers’ working group earlier this month at Road America and is optimistic of having six to seven OEMs on board to support the project.
“We’re 80 percent there,” he said. “We’re going to have something, it’s just a question of how far we’ll take it when it comes down to all of the moving parts. It’s heading in the right way and we’re pretty excited about it.”
In addition to the second-screen experience, Pettit said fans in Europe, Asia and Africa would be able to watch the live race stream in the app as well.
Additionally there’s an initiative under way to provide an enhanced trackside experience for fans, with the possibility of launching a dongle for cell phones that would stream the race feed and provide all other app features via a localized UHF band at each circuit.
“From a second-screen experience, away from the track, we think it will make it better for the fans,” Pettit said.
“For outside of country, you can get the whole thing and stream the race if you want, and if you’re at the track, if we can make the dongle work, it’s pretty exciting.
“We’ve got a lot of commitment in making it happen. It’s just the last little push that we have to work on.”
Pettit said the plan would be to launch the second screen app at the Twelve Hours of Sebring next year. | {
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Firefighters responded to the fire around 10:30 a.m. Saturday. It took about an hour for crews to put out the fire, which had spread to the neighbor's house. Nobody was hurt at either house. | {
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NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Congress national spokesperson
, who was miffed at the reinstatement of some party workers who had misbehaved with her during a press conference in
Mathura
a few days ago, resigned from the party on Friday.
Hours after quitting Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi joined Shiv Sena in the presence of party president Uddhav Thackeray.
"I am thankful to Uddhavji for giving me respect and welcoming me into the party," Priyanka Chaturvedi said after joining Shiv Sena.
"It is not true that I quit the Congress after being denied Lok Sabha ticket," Chaturvedi said in response to a query while addressing a press conference in Mumbai after joining Shiv Sena.
Welcoming her into party fold, Thackeray said that Shiv Sena workers have got a "good sister" in Chaturvedi.
Sharing her resignation letter on
, Chaturvedi said that she felt "overwhelmed and grateful" by the support she received in the past three days.
Chaturvedi in her resignation letter said, "In last few weeks, certain things have convinced me that my services are not valued in the organisation and that I have reached the end of the road. At the same time I also feel that more time I spend in the organisation will be at the cost of my own self-respect and dignity."
Calling out Congress' stance on safety and empowerment of women, Chaturvedi said that the values promoted by the party are not reflected in the action of some of its members.
She further extended her good wishes to the party and thanked her mentors for supporting a "rank outsider like me into the system".
Former Congress spokesperson also changed her bio on Twitter where she had made a clear mention earlier about the posts she held in the party.
The development comes two days after Chaturvedi had alleged that partymen, who had "misbehaved" and "threatened" her, were being let off.
She lashed out at the party in public and accused it of giving preference to "lumpen goons" over those who had given their "sweat and blood" to the Congress.
Chaturvedi had tweeted that it was unfortunate and saddening that those who threatened her have gotten away without even "a rap on their knuckles".
The
Congress had suspended some workers for misbehaving with Chaturvedi during a press conference in Mathura a few days ago.
But, on Monday, the party issued a communication in which it rescinded all actions taken earlier against such workers who "misbehaved" with Chaturvedi in Mathura. | {
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開発ブログをご覧の皆様、こんにちは！
開発担当のIです。
今回は本日発売、
「Figure-rise Mechanics ブルマの可変式No.19バイク」
の紹介をさせていただきます！
まずはランナーからご覧ください。
カラフルな成形品に加え、メッキランナーも入っています。
ゴム成形のタイヤや資材品のバネが付属するなど、豪華な仕様ですね！
組み立てものがこちらです。
素組みに付属のホイルシールを貼るだけでここまでの完成度に仕上がります！
今回はホイルシールを貼りましたが、なんと水転写デカールも付属しているんです！
塗装派のお客様はぜひこちらの水転写デカールもお試しください。
そして3モードの一つ、バイクモードの注目ポイントはこちら！
メッキパーツのマフラーとスポーク、ゴム成形のタイヤなど、異素材を使うことにより、密度感が出ていますね。
さらにバネを使ったサスペンションは飾りではありません。
なんと本物のバイクのようにサスペンションが効くようになっています！
パネルにはドラゴンレーダーがキラリと輝きます。
続いて3モードのうちの一つ、バイペダルモードのご紹介です。
こちらは二輪走行のバイクではいけないような道もラクラク進める二足歩行形態です。
バイクが変形したとは思えないほど、見た目がガラリと変化していますね！
そして3モードの最後の一つ、トライクモードです。
こちらはバイクモードの速さとバイペダルモードの動きやすさを兼ね備えた、
バランスタイプの三輪形態です。
こちらのブルマには目線シールを貼ってみました。
表情を変えることで雰囲気が増しますね！
いかがでしたでしょうか。
スケールモデルの精密感に加え、可変機構を搭載したバリュー満載のキット
「Figure-rise Mechanics ブルマの可変式No.19バイク」は本日発売！
このパッケージが目印です！
「ブルマの可変式No.19バイク」の活躍を描いた妄想ストーリ－、
「メカ不思議アドベンチャー」がドラゴンボールオフィシャルサイトにて連載中です。
キットと合わせてお楽しみください！
dragonball.news
商品情報の詳細はこちらです。
bandai-hobby.net
©バードスタジオ/集英社・東映アニメーション | {
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Police raided the laboratory of Dr. Gatti and Dr. Montanari, a married couple who are devoted to studying diseases, including cancer, heart disease and neurological problems, caused by nano-particles that arise from processes that involve high temperature such as manufacturing, waste incineration and car exhaust. Most nano-particles are expelled by the body when inhaled and consumed, but when injected by way of a vaccine, they are able to stay in the body and cause disease. The couple performed a study and found nano-particles polluted all of the 44 vaccines that they tested.
In the 90’s, Dr. Antonietta Gatti discovered the relationship between micro- and nano-particles as well as a great number of pathologies: cardiovascular diseases, many forms of cancer, multiple neurological diseases, and autoimmune diseases. She’s taken part in many international research projects, including the pathologies induced by depleted uranium, waste incineration, food polluted with inorganic particles, and more.
Currently, she is the coordinator of the Italian Institute of Technology’s Project of Nanoecotoxicology, called INESE.
She is also a selected expert of the FAO/WHO for the safety in nanotechnological food, and a Member of the NANOTOX Cluster of the European Commission and the author of a book titled “Nanopathology: the health impact of nanoparticles,” and on the Editorial Board of Journal of Biomaterials Applications and a member of the CPCM of the Italian Ministry of Defense.
Furthermore, her and her husband Dr. Stefano Montanari founded a laboratory called Nano-diagnostics for the evaluation of the pathological tissues of patients, it’s presently at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Recently, the Italian police raided their home, the police took all digital assets that were owned by the the two nanopathologists, including laptops, computers, and flash-drives, basically years of work and research.
James Grundvig via the World Mercury Project describes what happened quite well:
“Because Gatti and Montanari had taken their research of nanodust and nanoparticles, from in-vivo (performed in a living organism) and in-vitro (performed in a test tube) to what unseen contamination might reside in vaccines in 2016, they came under the microscope of the United States, European, and Italian authorities. They had touched the third rail of medicine. They had crossed the no-go zone with the purported crime being scientific research and discovery. By finding nano-contamination in random vaccines, Gatti and Montanari revealed, for the first time, what no one knew: Vaccines had more than aluminum salts adjuvants, Polysorbate-80, and other inorganic chemicals in them, they also harbored stainless steel, tungsten, copper, and other metals and rare elements that don’t belong in shots given to fetuses, pregnant women, newborns, babies and toddlers developing their lungs, immune and nervous systems.”
The scientists published their work in January of 2017, titled, New Quality‐Control Investigations on Vaccines: Micro‐ and Nanocontamination. If science wasn’t plagued by corruption, an investigation should have started, healthcare agencies would have become involved and vaccine safety policies would have come under intense scrutiny, but that never happened.
Below is a recent interview with the two, done by Surêté Vaccins, the quick description of the video reads,
“Two italian researchers have found nanoparticles are polluting almost all vaccines. The small size of these particles allow them to enter our cells and have a permanent inflammatory effect. Mrs Gatti was about to testify in parliament enquiry on vaccine damages of italian military courses but both researches have been raided by police and all their material has been taken away.”
Nano particles are very small bits of matter, and they can enter into the human body, as the pair of scientist discovered in the 90’s. This is why we have so much published research linking various chemical products, like cleaning agents, to the destruction of human health. These nano particles are produced by waste incinerators, car traffic, and many other different ways. Because they float in the air, we can inhale them, which means they enter our lungs and then enter into the blood within minutes. This leads to a number of problems. These particles are carried by the blood to every district of the body, as they explain in the video below. When they enter into the tissues, the body cannot get rid of them, and so those particles stay there forever and are the cause of various diseases we see today.
They explain how they’ve been analyzing and studying vaccines for the past 15 years.
“Both vaccine and the tissue, which was hit by the particles contained in the vaccines, because we discovered that those vaccines were polluted by particles, those particles were contained equally in the vaccine and in the tissue, so we started to analyze vaccines.”
They go on to explain, with regards to their most recent vaccine study linked above,
“After a while, an Italian University sent us a student for her thesis, and we analyzed 19 different vaccines with her, finding all of them polluted by micro and nano particles. Then we went on analyzing them and now we analyzed about 30 vaccines with many samples of each vaccine, and, we discovered that they were all polluted…”
When all said and done, they analyzed 44 different vaccines. All of them contained these harmful particles, which are foreign bodies entering into the body. Whenever this happens, the body has a reaction, and it’s not good.
“Those foreign bodies, those particles, are like a bullet. If I shoot somebody, and that bullet makes a hole in the heart, it’s not very important if the bullet was made of stainless steel, of titatium, of iron whatever, what’s important is that that they punched a whole in the heart.”
In it, they talk a little bit about the study and what’s currently going on.
Read full article here… | {
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While the holidays are often accompanied by snowmen imagery and freezing weather, in Australia, you'll just experience searing heat. And snakes.
This particular tiger snake was found chillin' on a Christmas tree belonging to a woman in Melbourne, on Sunday morning.
While tiger snakes are known for being shy, it's also highly venomous.
SEE ALSO: Afternoon of casual golf interrupted by a massive python eating a wallaby
"They're probably in the top 10 most toxic animals on the planet. But they're not dangerous unless you poke it with a stick or grab it by the tail, or try to kill it," Barry Goldsmith, from Snake Catcher Victoria, told Mashable.
Goldsmith, who removed the reptile, said it's the first time he's encountered a snake in a Christmas tree. But he did find one lurking at the base of one years ago.
While some people with a feigned sense of bravado might want to kill the snake, it can be a very dangerous manoeuvre, as it's known stay alive for some time even when severed.
Not to mention, it's illegal to kill these guys in many Australian states. The tiger snake is a protected species.
"I'm all about stopping people from trying to hurt themselves," Goldsmith said.
"Usually people cut the head off the snake, and don't realise it that its head is actually still alive for about 15 minutes ... lots of people get bitten while trying to pick up the severed head of the snake."
Always call an expert, wannabe heroes. | {
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I got a sizable package this morning with "Steeped Tea" written on the side, so I knew exactly what this was. MY REDDIT TEA GIFT!!!
I opened it and found three bags of tea- Classic Sencha Green Tea (which I mentioned is my favourite go to tea, in fact I bought a traditional Sencha Japanese tea set to brew it so this is perfect!)
Sweet Licorice Mint Orangic Herbal Tea: this was another perfect pick, I'm in love with the sweet taste of licorice in tea and this has a great mix of citrus peels, cinnamon & mint so I can't wait to try it :)
Vanilla Maple Cinnamon: THIS is going to be perfect for the upcoming cold weather. I live in Canada so it's obviously gonna get cold and this will be amazing for a hot comforting drink. Plus Vanilla Maple Cinnamon... that alone sounds delicious.
BUT THERE'S MORE!!!
My Santa was SUPER generous- they sent a "Green Tea Collection" Box full of different flavours and kinds of Green Tea as well as an envelope full of steeping bags since everything is loose leaf.
Here are the flavours in the box:
-Mango Delight,
-Lime In The Coconut,
-Very Cranberry,
-Lemon Chiffon,
-Tart Granny Green Apple,
-& Hawa-Ya Doin'
I also looked up the company- Steeped Tea- and was thrilled to see they were Canadian :) WOO HOO!
Thank you SOOO MUCH Santa- I didn't find out your name so I hope you leave a comment so you don't remain nameless! Your gift is AMAZING and I won't run out of teas to try for a while!!!
P.S the box is gonna come in handy... my cat has already made a new home. | {
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ABN Amro kijkt mee met de betalingen van klanten om ze persoonlijke aanbiedingen te kunnen doen. Rabobank overweegt, net als ING, om dit in te voeren. Dat blijkt na een rondgang langs banken door de NOS, naar aanleiding van een nadrukkelijke oproep van de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens om een dergelijke vorm van marketing te 'heroverwegen'.
Begin vorige maand ontstond ophef over het analyseren van de persoonlijke data van klanten door banken, toen ING een plan aankondigde om klanten op basis van die data producten te kunnen aanbieden.
Wie studiefinanciering ontvangt, kan van ING dan bijvoorbeeld een aanbieding ontvangen om een studentenrekening te openen. Klanten die niet willen dat de bank hun privégegevens hiervoor gebruikt, zouden zich er zelf actief voor moeten afmelden.
Beter servicen
Het voornemen van ING leidde tot Kamervragen en het regende klachten bij de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens. Sinds de bank het plan naar buiten bracht, gaat de helft van alle vragen en klachten die bij de toezichthouder binnenkomen over ING. "Dat is voor onze begrippen heel erg veel", aldus een woordvoerder.
Ondertussen gebruikt ABN Amro de persoonlijke data van klanten allang om aanbiedingen van eigen producten te kunnen doen. Op basis van een 'opt-out': je moet zelf het initiatief nemen om je af te melden als je dit niet wil.
"Klantgegevens worden gebruikt voor het nog beter servicen van die klanten", zegt een woordvoerder van de bank. Niet om producten en diensten van derden aan te bieden, wel voor eigen bankproducten, "wat niet nieuw is". | {
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A large Bitcoin transfer has set off a notice from Whale Alerts. Nearly 6,000 BTC was moved, valued at around $49.4M at the time of writing.
Bitcoin is on the move upward and it seems that major players are also shifting around their assets in the background. Whale Alerts recently picked up on a transfer between two wallets of 5,957 BTC.
Just Whale Things
Both addresses are unknown, but the recipient address has never received a transaction before. The sending address previously held 6,349 BTC but this appears to have been split between two wallets. Another wallet received the remaining 392 BTC.
Although the transfer will likely have no impact on the rest of the market, it is always interesting to note large transfers during bullish movements in the markets. These ‘wallet consolidations’ and transfers of large amounts to new addresses seem to increase during significant Bitcoin movements.
Bitcoin Slowly Recovers
Bitcoin is currently recovering from a significant double-digit drop recently, just a day after the release of Bakkt. At the time of writing, it is oscillating around the $8,400 price point and slowly picking up steam. It was below $7,800 just two days ago which led to hysteria throughout much of the market, but has since recovered and remained above support.
Could this be the start of a recovery back to $10,000? Given how traumatizing the double-digit drop was, that might take some time. However, some analysts have been charting Bitcoin in a massive bullish triangle which extends until mid-2020. Maybe that might provide us some idea on where the leading cryptocurrency is headed. So, in the short term, we can expect more market choppiness — and a lot more whales consolidating Bitcoin in the background, waiting for the right point to sell.
What could this $49M Bitcoin transfer mean, if anything? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. | {
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Canada is becoming the Austin Powers of economies — increasingly passé and rapidly losing its mojo. Tax and regulatory policies have continued to heap costs onto industries and job-creating entrepreneurs. A recent survey by EY of large Canadian businesses found that more than 61 per cent of executives believe Canadian policies are having a negative impact on their businesses. Roughly the same number said that U.S. tax reform is having a strongly negative or somewhat negative impact on their operations in Canada.
We can’t do much about U.S. tax reform, but we can do something about our own business climate. Canada lost its corporate tax advantage in 2018. Recent federal and provincial policies have also resulted in much higher taxes on skilled labour, with Canada’s top personal tax rate averaging 52 per cent, about eight points higher than taxes on the top American bracket. And ours kicks in at income levels one-third below that of the top U.S. bracket.
Both the IMF and OECD have joined the chorus of businesspeople and investors calling for tax reforms in Canada. Reform is urgently required for both corporate and personal taxes for two reasons: improving the climate here for investment, work and innovation; and stopping the southward flight of investment, profits and skilled Canadians, and the tax revenue that goes with them.
U.S. tax reform, coupled with deregulation, has created a boom in American investment and GDP (with four-per-cent growth expected this quarter). The 14-point cut to the federal corporate tax rate and accelerated, 100-per-cent write-offs for new equipment have been major factors. But so has Washington’s new, much-lower corporate tax rate for intangible activities (such as services, marketing and intellectual property). Also helping are lower small-business and personal taxes. | {
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VIAENE:
To make the same amount of protein as a cow, crickets need 25 times less food, 300 times less water, and they produce 60 times less greenhouse gases.
Viaene says another benefit of breeding crickets is they feed on by-products normally thrown away – like soybean hulls and corn husks.
Breeding and selling crickets for food is so new, different countries have different rules. It's not allowed in Italy, Iceland, or Denmark. It IS legal in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK — and the U-S.
With all that uncertainty, in York, England, scientist Adrian Charlton is studying the use of insects in animal feed as a replacement for soybeans and fishmeal.
The nutritional profile of insects for use in chicken feed, as an example, are absolutely perfect. As you can imagine, chickens have evolved to eat insects.
Charlton says more than two billion people – mainly in Africa and Asia — already eat bugs as part of their diet, but despite the health benefits, he isn't convinced Western taste buds are ready to swallow crickets and grasshoppers like vitamins. Charleton thinks incorporating insects into other products is the place to start. | {
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It’s a well-known fact that most Star Trek games have failed to catch any sort of good critical reviews or have strong mainstream sales. The latest movie tie-in failed to gather either of those, plagued by bugs and a concept that wasn’t fully developed. It had the potential to be a great production that jump-started game developers to consider Star Trek once again, but instead that hope may have been vaporized.
Not all games in the franchise, however, have been terrible. Elite Force, Star Trek: Borg, Bridge Commander, Armada and the Starfleet Command entries stood on their own and were pretty good. Star Trek Online continues to be pretty popular, although I have yet to play it. Other games like Hidden Evil, Legacy, New Worlds and the latest game, Star Trek, fell flat on their faces.
Now that the franchise is somewhat cool, due to the great movies directed by J.J. Abrams, the one thing missing from the picture is a series of strong games that stand on their own. Here are a few suggestions:
1. A “Civilization” game
How many races are there in the Star Trek universe? Hundreds is the easy answer. But we never really get a chance to explore their culture or history or interact with them in a diplomatic setting. “Birth of the Federation” was riddled with bugs, although serves as a good foundation from which to build. Let’s have a game where the Federation and the different major races are able to start from the ground-up, make or break diplomatic ties, engage in battle with each other, or work together to reach a common goal.
The long-standing “Civilization” series is a great template for Star Trek, and could be a great mainstream success if promoted to the right crowd.
2. Starship SimCity
Create the Enterprise in your own configuration and manage different rooms and operations throughout the ship. Just think of it, there are so many different rooms throughout each ship that were never explored in the Trek movies and TV shows. Sure, there were the hallmarks: the bridge, engineering, some crew quarters, the mess hall, the transporter room and shuttle bay. But we never really saw the guts of the ship, let alone had the chance to create one on our own or choose the ship’s leadership.
Back in the ’90s, the game Starship Creator came close, letting gamers customize the look and crew of a starship. It was a good start, but let’s have the starship operate like a city. Instead of roads, there are turbolifts. Instead of homes, there are crew quarters with varying densities, with the potential to refit a starship to have bigger population sizes. There could even be financial disasters using Federation credits. And, of course, it wouldn’t be like SimCity if there weren’t disasters along the way. Warp core breach anyone?
3. A choose your own destiny game
Mass Effect has been heralded as one of the best game series in recent years, and is what many believe Star Trek games should have been. As an officer, you’re able to settle events either through diplomacy or through the barrel of a weapon. For ages, Trek fans have clamored for a game where diplomacy is a viable option, residing in line with the original Star Trek message: the improvement of humanity in the future.
The new “Star Trek” game was marketed in a way to compare it to Mass Effect, but there wasn’t any chance of developing characters on your own. Kirk couldn’t weigh the balance between good and evil, Spock didn’t have a choice to follow logic or go by his emotions. Those two fatal story flaws ruined the game for most people.
4. Star Trek: Section 31
This is practically begging to be made. A first-person shooter using the storyline of Section 31 – a shadow organization in Starfleet that officially doesn’t exist. Little is known about it, but a game series could easily expand on that small background. A first-person shooter game about an officer working for a shadow organization, taking down bad guys across the universe. How is that not a winner? All you need is a decent storyline taking place in a Star Trek setting and this type of game will sell on a massive scale.
5. Trapped in the Holodeck
Just consider it. If you can’t make a Star Trek-themed game, make something else fit inside the Star Trek universe. Star Trek: The Next Generation had the holodeck villain of Moriarty take control of the ship, trying to become a real person. Consider a game like “Assassin’s Creed” with a few Starfleet officers, or even turn it into an educational game for kids, taking them to different eras of history to learn various lessons.
There is so much potential for Star Trek to have a string of great games, and the market is there. We aren’t seeking after games like “Star Trek: Trexels”, although there are elements of the game I like, particularly the ability to build your own ship.
It’s time for a good, high-quality Star Trek game, and the market is eager to see it happen.
Given these suggestions, what type of Trek game would you like to see come to life? | {
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As a means of making bombing, sanctioning or invading other countries palatable to the general population, the US government has consistently used the actions of other governments against their own people as an excuse.
Those actions have included the use of chemical weapons, torture, setting dogs against people, beatings, surveillance, forcibly removing people from their land, jailing them unjustly, holding staged trials, and issuing verbal and physical threats, among many others.
Yet, these same actions have been carried out by the US government, state governments and private security forces working on behalf of a private pipeline company (with the full backing of the US government) against Native people at Standing Rock.
This story is not new.
“The settler state arrives as an armed white man intent on staying,” said Nick Estes, who is Kul Wicasa from the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and is a doctoral candidate in American Studies at the University of New Mexico, in an interview with Truthout. “Second amendment rights were intended to arm the white man. The police and military have always been the arm of the state to facilitate Indigenous dispossession and normalize it.”
Estes, who studies colonialism and decolonization, border town violence, police violence, Indigenous internationalism, Lakota treaties and history, and the history and politics of the Oceti Sakowin, also cofounded The Red Nation, a Native-led coalition dedicated to Native liberation.
Nick Estes of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe is a doctoral candidate in American studies at the University of New Mexico; he studies colonialism and decolonization and cofounded The Red Nation. (Photo: Courtesy of Nick Estes)
What has happened at Standing Rock highlights the fact that the land through which Energy Transfer Partners, the Dallas-based energy company in which Trump has a financial interest, has constructed the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) is contested territory.
“That land is not under North Dakota’s control [since it is Native land] so they [the state] have to deploy themselves and a host of private security firms and resort to violent means, to secure its aim, which also reveals its fragility,” Estes said.
And events at Standing Rock are far from over. Hundreds of court cases against Water Protectors continue. All of them underscore how the state and federal courts in North Dakota are functioning as little more than an adjunct to the repressive machine geared toward punishing those who peacefully stood up and spoke out against an illegal land grab.
Law Enforcement’s Repression of Water Protectors
Rachel Lederman, a civil rights lawyer on the board of the Indigenous-led Water Protector Legal Collective, is leading a civil suit geared towards obtaining an injunction against the use of nonlethal weaponry like rubber bullets and exploding grenades against peaceful Water Protectors. She is thus coordinating the civil response around what she described to Truthout as “the law enforcement repression of the Water Protectors.”
In her interview with Truthout, Lederman said that as the presence of Water Protectors at Standing Rock grew, “the repressive tactics by private security and law enforcement escalated steadily.”
When Lederman arrived at Standing Rock, September 3, 2016, private security hired by DAPL “used attack dogs, mace, and drove trucks into Water Protectors who were simply on a prayer march and were surprised to find DAPL bulldozing through sacred sites.”
She was eyewitness to the incident and described DAPL’s private security as having “brutalized” Water Protectors while law enforcement “stood by and watched.” After this was publicized, law enforcement took over, but Lederman said that she witnessed the pipeline’s private security forces mixed in with them during their activities.
As events continued, law enforcement began making more frequent mass arrests, including one on October 22 when Water Protectors were told, at gunpoint, to get on their knees. During that event, roughly 125 Water Protectors, including two attorneys who were present as legal observers, were arrested.
At that point, law enforcement’s response became “increasingly militarized,” according to Lederman, and North Dakota’s Morton County Sheriff’s Department called in mutual aid from all over the state and surrounding states, as the governor declared a state of emergency.
Lederman, who is also the president of the National Lawyers Guild, S.F. Bay Area Chapter, is representing Vanessa Dundon, who was struck in the eye by a police-fired flaming tear-gas canister. Shortly after Dundon, who will likely lose her eye, was injured, 21-year-old Sophia Wilansky was struck by an explosive device that nearly blew her arm off.
“People have been held in fenced-in areas similar to dog kennels in Morton County Jail, elders have been strip searched and held overnight on cold concrete floors, not fed for long periods of time, shipped around to jails all over the state before being released, often many hours away from Standing Rock,” Lederman said, explaining several of the brutal and repressive tactics used by the state to protect the oil company’s interests. “Phone calls have been denied, and there has been a lot of abuse while in custody.”
After October 22, the militarism continued to escalate with the use of sound cannons, chemical agents and impact munitions. The well-known incident of November 20 on Backwater Bridge included the use of high power water hoses on Water Protectors at night when temperatures were in the 20s, and the shooting of impact munitions, explosive grenades and tear gas canisters indiscriminately into the crowd.
“They were shooting at the medics in the back of the crowd, and hundreds of people were injured that night,” Lederman said. “There were numerous serious injuries from impact grenades. That was the night Vanessa was shot in the eye. It was like a battle zone scene.”
Immediately after this, Lederman became lead attorney in the filing of a class action civil rights lawsuit in federal court against the sheriff of Morton County. It was there that she and other lawyers asked the court to cease the use of what are referred to as “less-lethal weapons.”
In that filing, Lederman and her colleagues presented more than 50 witness declarations, including one from Thomas Frazier, the former police chief in Baltimore, saying that at no point were law enforcement ever overrun by Protectors, and there was never a reason to justify such a high level of force. But the judge, who in a series of rulings has supported the pipeline company and its security forces (including the police), had other ideas.
“Judge Hovland, the presiding judge of the US District Court in North Dakota, denied our request for a preliminary injunction,” Lederman said. “The case seeks both the injunction and damages, so we’ve filed an appeal to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Lederman’s outlook for repression, regarding demonstrations at Standing Rock, is grim.
“The reason there are less protests now is a direct result of the law enforcement violence,” she said. “We believe there is an ongoing chilling of free speech to express both political and religious beliefs in opposition to the pipeline due to the district court basically sanctioning the excessive force of law enforcement.”
Nevertheless, she expects their appeal to move forward, and added, “I think it is fairly important to continue to challenge what we see is a blatantly unlawful use of indiscriminant force.”
She notes that the level of repression has been “frightening,” including the infliction of serious injuries.
“Attorneys in allied groups will continue to fight for people’s right to protest — because Trump or no Trump, it is unconstitutional to shoot people without reason, or to arrest people who are not breaking the law,” she concluded. “So we, as Water Protector Legal Collective and other allied legal groups, will continue to challenge these repressive tactics by law enforcement.”
In a glimmer of hope, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on April 24th denied law enforcement’s motion to dismiss the Water Protector’s appeal from the denial of the injunction.
The Judge Must Go
Jeffrey Haas has been a criminal defense and civil rights attorney for nearly half a century. A member of the Water Protector Legal Collective, he has previously spoken with Truthout at length about the legal issues at Standing Rock.
Haas and cocounsel Bruce Nestor of Minneapolis represent Brennon Nastacio in federal court, where Nastacio is charged under a statute passed in 1968 to allow federal prosecution of mass protests. Charged with “impeding law enforcement” during a “civil disorder,” Nastacio faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years if convicted. Nestor says this rarely-used federal statute “sets a dangerous precedent, allowing federal prosecution of any mass protest where law enforcement makes claims that it constituted ‘civil disorder.'” Haas and Nestor have filed a request for Judge Hovland to recuse himself from presiding over Nastacio’s federal criminal case. In support of the Motion for Recusal, they have cited several instances of Judge Hovland making statements clearly depicting Water Protectors and their motives in very negative ways.
One of the defendants, Red Fawn Fallis, also filed an affidavit requesting that Hovland recuse himself, and the Water Protector Legal Collective recently released a press release on this as well.
Jeffrey Haas is a member of the Water Protectors Legal Collective and author of The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther. (Photo: Courtesy of Jeffrey Haas)Haas told Truthout recently that Hovland’s public statements and judicial rulings have put him in a position where he cannot appear to be acting in an unbiased fashion on any of the Standing Rock cases before him. Speaking to Lederman’s comments on Judge Hovland’s denial of her motion for a preliminary injunction, Haas illustrated Hovland’s continuing support for law enforcement.
“Not only did Judge Hovland deny the motion for preliminary injunction, he did so without a hearing,” Haas explained. “That means he accepted the sheriff and other law enforcement’s affidavits as truthful, despite the fact they were challenged by contrary affidavits submitted by plaintiff’s witnesses and experts.”
In a case like this, with a disputed set of facts, it should be clear that a hearing is necessary, according to Haas.
Hovland, before he was on the bench, worked for the law firm that was hired to defend all the law enforcement agencies, cities and counties in North Dakota. One of the families in that same firm owns a large oil company in North Dakota.
In another example of Judge Hovland’s rulings favoring law enforcement and the government, in the pending federal criminal case against Red Fawn Fallis, a federal magistrate judge allowed Fallis — who was charged in a NoDAPL-related incident — to be released from detention. The government appealed that ruling. “Before her attorney Bruce Ellison even had an opportunity to respond, the judge overruled the magistrate, accepted the government’s position and continued the detention of Red Fawn until her trial,” Haas said. “So he has a history of not only ruling for the government, but doing so without a hearing — or in this instance, [without] even giving the defendant an opportunity to respond.
According to Haas, with regard to the state criminal cases, there have been many instances of overcharging Water Protectors, or mischarging them with things they didn’t do.
Dozens of criminal trespass and riot charges have simply been dismissed. For instance, a group of Water Protectors was charged with riot and trespass for an incident on October 10. Defendants came to court from many miles away, ready for trial. Their lawyers filed motions stating the state could not prove the individuals had been given notice of trespass, nor had it shown any of the defendants had been in a riot.
“The judge said he would dismiss the cases due to the lack of evidence, so instead, the prosecutor dismissed those cases and then filed new charges of interfering with a public officer in his duties, and put out warrants for the same people — who were then forced to choose between coming back in six months for a new trial with new charges, or entering a plea and getting a deferred sentence, which many of them have done,” Haas said.
Many Water Protectors have been forced to take plea deals in cases where charges against codefendants were dismissed, in order to avoid the significant costs and time needed for travel, according to Nestor.
Haas explained what that scenario looks like for Water Protectors who have been charged: “You’ve come 1,000 miles. It’s the day before trial and it’s clear the state can’t prove their case. So they dismiss that case and bring a new charge. So you have to post a new bond, plus there is a warrant out for your arrest until you post that bond. Then you have to come back in six months to face a trial on that new charge. So there is a lot of pressure on you just to get it over, without having to do time, or to not have a record, so a number of people have accepted the deal.”
Who Is the Terrorist?
Haas and Nestor are also representing Brennon Nastacio, a Water Protector from San Felipe Pueblo in New Mexico, in state court on charges related to an incident when he de-escalated a situation involving a DAPL security contractor, Kyle Thompson, who was carrying an assault rifle and pistol as he attempted to enter the resistance camps on October 27. At a point when Thompson was facing Water Protectors with a loaded AR-15 assault rifle, Nastacio resolved the situation by having him hand over the gun and himself to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
The BIA then turned Thompson over to the FBI, who transported him to the Morton County Sheriff, who released him. Shortly thereafter, Nastacio was charged with a Class C Felony for allegedly terrorizing Kyle Thompson despite the fact that ample video evidence — including this video of the entire incident — backs up Nastacio’s account of the events.
Nastacio told Truthout he was truly shocked to find out over Facebook that he was on the Morton County Sherriff’s most-wanted list.
“I kept wanting to wake up and find this all not to be true, but I’ve not woken up yet to that,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. I came upon a tense and fearful situation that day, and acted in a manner thinking I was saving a lot of people’s lives, including the guy with the rifle. I have family in law enforcement, and they were all amazed. They tell me I did nothing wrong.”
Nastacio is now back in Colorado working at his home remodeling business in Denver, awaiting his trial.
He is demoralized by what has happened to him.
“Being Native American, we’ve dealt with racism, but after being at Standing Rock and witnessing what Natives go through on a daily basis for hundreds of years, it’s disheartening,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of injustice.”
Every Sitting President Is a “Town Destroyer”
In addition to all of these strategies, Haas outlined numerous repressive tactics used by the State against the Water Protectors. These included mass arrests as an attempt to deter protests, incarceration and the setting of high bonds, police in riot gear, massive shows of force and federal charges against people perceived as leaders of the protests. Additionally there was a major increase in federal involvement by the BIA, FBI and ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.)
Despite this widespread repression of people nonviolently attempting to keep their water from being polluted, and intensifying criminalization of dissent of any kind, Estes sees Standing Rock as a touchstone of resistance going forward.
“It’s evolved into a more widespread movement and it’s raised the consciousness of people,” he said. “There are more political possibilities now for the movement than there were a year ago.”
And with Trump poised to sign an order that will cause even more pipelines to be built, the stage is set for broader confrontation.
Estes cautions against those who think Trump is acting in a truly exceptional way.
“The Haudenosaunee [Iroquois], who fought George Washington … call every sitting president ‘town destroyer,'” he said. “I think that is apt.”
Estes sees the state violence at Standing Rock as a continuation of state brutality against Indigenous people across the US, which runs alongside tactics like naming cruise missiles “Tomahawks” and helicopters “Blackhawks.”
“These all come from 19th century Indian wars,” he said. “Standing Rock is a continuation of these wars. Since the 1787 Northwest Ordinance, which spelled out the use of ‘just war’ against Indigenous, the message has been, ‘Acquiesce to us, or face the consequences’ — which means negotiate land cessions and concede to the US government or war will be waged against you. And that is exactly what happened at Standing Rock.”
Moreover, Estes believes that during this historical moment, when we are talking about Indigenous decolonization, we need to also be discussing what is happening regarding budget cuts to schools, healthcare and social services.
“All these issues are deeply connected, and Standing Rock was a moment of a larger movement,” he concluded. “The settler state uses police violence for their aims, and out of that, you can violently secure the trespass of a pipeline to continue dispossessing Indigenous land and water. But you cannot dispossess us of our experience of Standing Rock, as that will reverberate far into the future.” | {
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Triangulation disgusted Democratic liberals, but it did the job: Clinton decisively won re-election in 1996, beat back impeachment in 1998-99, and left office a popular, if not always respected, president. Could President Trump perform an analogous maneuver?
Much comment on the administration seems to assume Trump has nowhere to go but further down. He’s wounded, yes—but still dangerous, maybe more dangerous than ever. He’s at least as capable of destroying the independence and integrity of the U.S. intelligence community as that community’s revelations are to destroy him.
Trump may not be as self-critical or as well-informed as Bill Clinton, but the survivor of multiple brushes with bankruptcy has certainly proven himself a canny survivor with a shrewd awareness of his opponents’ weaknesses. How much information is needed to notice that stripping Medicaid from upwards of 10 million people will prove politically challenging? Candidate Trump ceaselessly promised to protect existing health-care guarantees. Surely President Trump remembers why Candidate Trump did it?
Candidate Trump positioned himself as a different kind of Republican, far removed from party’s former identity and policies. He denigrated previous party leaders in Congress and the executive branch. He bent even Fox News to his will. He beat them all. He owed them little or nothing. Then, in office—he capitulated. He accepted Paul Ryan’s benefits-stripping healthcare plan as his own first priority—and promptly suffered a worse beating than he ever inflicted. Isn’t there a lesson here?
Today’s wisdom is that Trump can’t change. “The president is also a 70-year-old billionaire who has been far too rich — for far too long — to know how to adjust his habits to other people’s needs,” writes New York’s Eric Levitz. And it’s surely true that he lacks many of the resources to execute Clinton-style triangulation. His White House lacks policy expertise, to put it mildly. His communications operation has been thrust onto the seemingly permanent defensive. His standing in the polls has fallen to the high 30s: Watergate-levels.
But in politics as in war, “nothing is ever as good or as bad as the first reports of excited men would have it,” in the memorable words of Field Marshall Slim. Clinton was rescued in 1996 as much by the shifty gimmicks invented by his campaign guru Dick Morris as by the substantive policy agenda of the New Democrats.
I challenge all our schools to teach character education, to teach good values and good citizenship. And if it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms.
Trump’s goal is not to be a “successful president” in the usual sense of that term. It’s obvious by now that he doesn’t have much of a policy agenda. He has a personal agenda, and that agenda is going rather well. The Trump brand is thriving. His family is planning a second hotel in Washington, D.C. He is busily promoting his properties. He has paid little political price for violating his promises not to bring his children into government. And while the Kushner family’s hopes for a big payday deal with a Chinese bank have been balked for the time being, Trump still enjoys almost total ethical leeway within Congress, as my colleague McKay Coppins has nicely detailed. | {
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Episode 24: Dream Games
Onyx Pathcast
In which Matthew, Dixie, and Eddy discuss what games they’d love to work on, and the struggles of making such games.
* Starting off with awkward silence!
* We’re all Rich’s children, according to Matthew
* Eddy talks about genre for a while, and Dixie zones out
* The struggle of making a Sherlock Holmes game
* Dixie talks about Saga, Charlotte Bronte, and Kushiel’s Dart
* The Blue Rose RPG!
* Matthew talks about Dickens, Fatale, and Transmetropolitan
* Musing on Scion: God, Dies the Fire, and Broken Runes
* Dixie talks about ElfQuest, She-Ra, and Battle Royale
* Eddy talks about Killer, John Wick, and Space Rat (although he forgot the name at the time)
* “Downton Abbey” LARPs
* Dixie is looking for more to read
* Video games: Ace Attorney, Fallout, Borderlands, BioShock, Metroid, and Legend of Zelda
* Quick Fire: What are the biggest dream projects we DID get to work on?
* Matthew is scary!
Some Links:
* Boyfriend Dungeon: http://www.boyfrienddungeon.com/
* Hatoful Boyfriend: http://clione.halfmoon.jp/hatoful-boyfriend/english.html
* James Bond 007 RPG: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_007_(role-playing_game)
* Doctor Who RPG: https://cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/doctor-who-aitas/
* Saga: https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/saga
* Jane Austen MMO: http://everjane.com/
* Kushiel’s Dart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushiel%27s_Dart
* Blue Rose: https://blueroserpg.com/
* Dickensian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickensian_(TV_series)
* Fatale: https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/fatale
* Transmetropolitan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmetropolitan
* Dies the Fire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire
* ElfQuest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfquest_(role-playing_game)
* She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She-Ra_and_the_Princesses_of_Power
* Battle Royale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Royale_(novel)
* Killer: http://www.sjgames.com/killer/
* John Wick (movie series): http://www.johnwick.movie/
* Space Rat: https://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=13520
* Ace Attorney series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Attorney
* Fallout series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_(series)
* Borderlands series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderlands_(series)
* BioShock series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock_(series)
* Metroid series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid | {
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I only regret that i have but one downvote to give
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An hour before her shift starts in an emergency room at University Hospital in London, Ont., Dr. Allison McConnell has isolated herself upstairs in her home so she can talk without being disturbed by her two young children.
Downstairs, her husband, a firefighter who has just finished a 24-hour shift, keeps an eye on the kids — one, a-year-and-a-half, the other, 4-and-a-half — while she talks.
In a few minutes, McConnell is going to hang up the phone, say goodbye to her husband and children and then head off to work. After that, she’s not sure what’s going to happen.
She doesn’t know if she’ll see another set of young, once healthy COVID-19 patients wheeled off to ICU. She doesn’t know if there will be enough personal protective equipment for herself and her co-workers — so far there has been. She doesn’t know if the hospital’s resources are going to be outstripped by a rush of COVID patients. She doesn’t know if tonight is the night one of her colleagues will be exposed to a coronavirus infection.
She doesn’t know if, by the time she returns home, she might have one too. She doesn’t know if she’ll pass that along to her husband or her children.
“In the back of your mind at all times, home or work, you’re anticipating something bad is going to come out of this and it’s going to be someone close to you. Whether it’s a colleague or a friend or family member — someone is probably going to get sick and may or may not die,” she said.
“I think that’s the most difficult part. Is not knowing what form that’s going to come in as you go to work every day and as you come home every day.”
This is the world that front-line health-care workers live in now. It’s a world filled with uncertainty, anxiety and trepidation, both at work and at home. And history tells us if these aren’t dealt with early, at the end of this road lies more anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
What McConnell and her colleagues are going through has a name: anticipatory grief — that feeling we get about the future when the future is uncertain. Usually that feeling is centred around death.
A recent study conducted in China surveyed some 1,200 health-care workers from 34 hospitals, mostly in Wuhan, close to the peak of the outbreak there.
It found 50 per cent of those workers reported depression, 45 per cent reported some anxiety, 34 per cent reported insomnia and 72 per cent suffered some form of psychological distress.
For ER physicians like McConnell, it can be difficult to leave those worries at work. Ultimately, there’s a toll on family life.
“I feel like (sometimes) I’m not as present as I should be,” said McConnell. “And I definitely see it taking its toll from that perspective in some of my interactions with my kids when I’m stressed, or when I’m maybe not as present as I could be.”
“I can tell it’s always on everyone else’s mind as well that we’re not escaping this. Whether we’re at work or at home, it’s always there.”
To help share the load, the London Health Sciences Centre, where McConnell works, has installed a “buddy system.” Physicians are encouraged to pair up, and check in with their buddy daily to see how the other is doing. The purpose is to make it easier for ER physicians — a group notorious for generally being reluctant to ask for support — to speak with colleagues about their concerns.
It’s one of a growing number of methods — along with social media-based technology, like group chats — that front-line workers use to support each other.
That support, that camaraderie, that feeling “we’re all in this together” amongst health-care workers represents a culture shift, says Dr. Randy Wax.
Wax, a critical care physician at Lakeridge Health in Oshawa, worked through the SARS epidemic in 2003. He says what he’s seeing during this epidemic is something new.
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“One thing that’s very different in 2020 is social media. And it’s been very interesting, the role of social media, not only exchanging medical tips from people experiencing the pandemic all around the world, but there’s a certain ability to connect with others who are fighting the same battle that’s created a whole new source of support for people that they didn’t have,” said Wax.
When ICU staff at Markham Stouffville hospital danced in the hallways after removing a recovering patient from a ventilator, every other front-line worker who saw the video on social media celebrated along with them. When health-care workers see musicians serenading health-care workers in Spain, or applauding from balconies in Vancouver; when lines of fire trucks and police cars drive by hospitals with lights flashing in tribute each evening, it boosts spirits and adds to a newly-thriving esprit de corps.
“For other work cultures, like police, fire, paramedics, and military, there’s a certain supportive culture, brotherhood and sisterhood,” said Wax. “I would say that in the hospital environment, doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, others — I don’t think until now, we’ve really moved into that understanding of how important we are to each other. That change in culture is something that has helped everyone cope with the stress of this pandemic.
“I think the health-care system and health-care workers are never going to be the same in Ontario and Canada after this.”
Other health-care workers have different experiences, however. Each province has its own protocol for dealing with the burdens placed on their health-care workers, and within those provinces, each hospital administration may have different ideas.
What’s needed is a consistent approach across the country to supporting front-line health-care workers.
“Right now in the front lines, it’s very, very quiet,” said Dr. Rodrick Lim, chairperson for the wellness committee at the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. “It’s the calm before the storm. Everyone knows that’s the situation. And in some ways, it’s a harder place to be in. When you’re preparing, there’s things to do, there’s plans to be made. And now we’re sitting, waiting to see how bad it’s going to be.”
There’s a term coined for this too: pre-TSD. The stress caused by waiting, anticipating there will be trauma up ahead. Dealing with it, making sure it doesn’t grow is difficult because, across the country, front-line health-care workers have different kinds of access to different types of help.
What’s needed, says Lim, is policy at a national level.
“I think we need to guarantee that any worker no matter where they are, or who they are, can have access to free, immediate resources through the duration of this crisis and beyond,” said Lim. “I think that someone in the federal level needs to say that this is going to happen.”
Psychotherapist Karen Dougherty is trying to make that kind of easily accessible, widespread support happen. She’s the founder of the Ontario COVID-19 Mental Health Network, a grouping of mental-health professionals supporting front-line health-care workers in Ontario on a pro-bono basis.
Dougherty and some colleagues put together the network three weeks ago after having conversations about a similar network based in New York. Within hours of making the decision, a website (covid19therapists.com) was up and running. Within three days, they had 450 volunteers; two weeks later, that number was up to over 800 Ontario licensed mental-health professionals.
When a front-line health-care worker feels they’re in need of help, Dougherty’s network takes some information through the website, and then matches them with two or three mental-health professionals. The worker touches base with one of the professionals and together they decide how the therapy will work.
“I think people generally speaking don’t ask for help until they reach a level of intolerance for the way things are — they can’t stand it. But if it’s difficult to do or if you need to make a bunch of calls and do your own research or tip your hand to your employer, you’re probably not going to do it.
“I think the fact that this is sort of pro bono, simple, it’s just an email and then you just call the therapist yourself. We’ve already done the selecting for you. I think that’s helping.”
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In the latest tragic turn in the Marlen Ochoa-Lopez case, where a pregnant Chicago teenager was murdered and had her child cut from her womb, her son passed away on Friday.
The child, Yovanny Jadiel Lopez, was in grave condition after the murder of his mother and was being treated in intensive care until his death, as reported by CNN.
“He suffered irrevocable brain damage,” said family spokeswoman Julie Contreras.
“There’s no medicine, there’s no pill that can fix that. Only a miracle.”
This was reinforced by the boy’s father, Yovani Lopez, and his lawyer Frank Avila, who said: “He can’t breathe on his own. He can’t eat on his own. There’s tubes down his throat.”
The young boy had sustained brain injuries during his mother’s murder. Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was lured to her death with the promise of free baby clothing and a stroller.
Ochoa-Lopez had established contact with her alleged murderer, Clarisa Figueroa, 46, in an expectant mothers group on Facebook. Ms Figueroa had given her baby clothing in the past. However, Ms Figueroa allegedly had a much more sinister plot in establishing a relationship with Ochoa-Lopez.
Prosecutors say that, with the help of her daughter Desiree, 24, Ms Figueroa had planned to murder Ms Ochoa-Lopez to steal her unborn child. Ms Figueroa had allegedly planned to raise the child as her own after the loss of her adult son.
After allegedly cutting the child from Ms Ochoa-Lopez’s womb, Ms Figueroa called 911 and claimed she had just delivered a baby who was not breathing.
The child and Ms Figueroa were taken to hospital, although there was no medical indication that the 46-year-old had been pregnant. While in hospital, DNA tests proved that the young boy was the son of Yovanny Jadiel Lopez and had no relation to Ms Figueroa.
48 Hours In: Chicago Show all 2 1 /2 48 Hours In: Chicago 48 Hours In: Chicago chicago.getty.jpg Deep freeze: Chicago’s snowy lakefront Getty Images 48 Hours In: Chicago 48hr.jpg The 48 Hours In... Chicago graphic
Ms Ochoa-Lopez's body was eventually found by investigators in a trash can on Ms Figueroa’s property, three weeks after she was reported missing. Authorities also found burned clothing, the cable used to strangle the teen, and blood on the floor of the home. | {
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Producer reveals plans...
Dr Dre has revealed that he is working on an instrumental gip-hop album about the planets that make up the solar system.
The rapper and producer said he had been thinking about the record for “a long time” and that he wanted to call it 'The Planets'.“It’s just my interpretation of what each planet sounds like,” he said in an interview with Vibe magazine. “I’m gonna go off on that.“Just all instrumental. I’ve been studying the planets and learning the personalities of each planet.”Dr Dre didn't unveil a release date for the record, but said he was working on the album during spare time and that it would feature special surround sound.The rapper is currently putting the finishing touches to his long-awaited album 'Detox'.The follow-up to 1999's '2001' is due to be released later this year after a string of delays.
Dr Dre - Through The Years | {
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Get that dick out this second and be prepared to stroke one out. I'm feeling uber sexy in this new lingerie I purchased and I can't wait to show it off for you.
Published by jerkoffmasturbation | {
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Christophe Morin/Getty Images
Good luck finding some of Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg's old social media posts.
On Friday, Business Insider reported that the social network accidentally deleted some of Zuckerberg's old Facebook posts, including all the ones he made in 2007 and 2008.
"A few years ago some of Mark's posts were mistakenly deleted due to technical errors. The work required to restore them would have been extensive and not guaranteed to be successful so we didn't do it," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said many of Zuckerberg's old posts about Facebook can still be found on the company's blog and in its newsroom.
Screenshot by Queenie Wong/CNET
CNET visited Zuckerberg's Facebook profile and verified that posts from 2007 and 2008 aren't available.
Zuckerberg's comments have gone missing before.
In April 2018, messages Zuckerberg sent to other people mysteriously disappeared from their Messenger inboxes. That's because Facebook removed the CEO's messages for security reasons, applying a self-delete function similar to Snapchat.
"After Sony Pictures' emails were hacked in 2014 we made a number of changes to protect our executives' communications," a Facebook spokesman said at the time by email. "These included limiting the retention period for Mark's messages in Messenger. We did so in full compliance with our legal obligations to preserve messages."
The company, which has been embroiled in a series of scandals about privacy and security, is focusing more on private messaging and ephemeral content. | {
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Expect lots of monsters, ladies, and not much posting.
One of the artists for Summer Rose Court. NSFW so be careful. | {
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UPDATE: Disney has confirmed that Marvel's The Avengers made $56.8M yesterday, taking its total for the weekend up to roughly $207.1M, its foreign total to $447.4M and global to $654.5M.
STARRING:
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Ramanoff/Black Widow
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
RELEASE DATE: Out Now!
Box office results aren't exactly exciting news. I mean, it's not like the debut of a new trailer or the reveal of a new piece of casting information. However, it's hard to deny that following the progress ofat the North American box office this weekend has been something of a thrill.With estimates having the film down as making anything from $150 million to $175 million, the Joss Whedon helmed superhero ensemble has exceeded expectations again and again. Following the announcement yesterday that the film would gross a record breaking $200.3M (although that was by no means a guarantee as it could have ended up falling slightly below that number) Deadline reveals that Disney ended up taking as much as $55 million on Sunday. This takes its weekend total to an amazing $205 million and its worldwide cume to somewhere around the $650 million mark.is now guaranteed to join the $1 billion club, but where on the list of all-time highest grossing films (find it HERE ) do you think it will end up? Can it beat?! Sound off with your thoughts in the usual place. | {
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Tras años de debate y polémica, finalmente el Gobierno porteño anunció que buscará prohibir a los trapitos y los limpiavidrios en la Ciudad. El Ejecutivo presentará este jueves en la Legislatura un proyecto de modificación del Código Contravencional, para sancionar a quienes ofrezcan el servicio de estacionamiento o de limpieza de vidrios en la calle.
Las modificaciones se enmarcan en una serie de propuestas que apuntan a aumentar la autonomía de las mujeres en la Ciudad, para que puedan usar el espacio público en las mismas condiciones de seguridad que los hombres.
Hasta ahora, el Código fijaba sanciones sólo para quienes exigieran una retribución por el cuidado del vehículo en la vía pública sin autorización. Esto presenta un problema: hay que probar que el cuidacoches realmente demandó el dinero, y no que simplemente pidió una propina. Como para eso es necesario que la víctima presente la denuncia y reunir otros elementos como declaraciones de testigos o videos, la mayoría de las causas termina en nada. A partir del cambio en la ley, el solo hecho de ofrecer el cuidado del auto será suficiente para una sanción. De hecho, la Policía podrá labrar actas si encuentra in fraganti a los trapitos en la calles.
“Se pasa de que no se pueda exigir a que no se pueda ofrecer, y la diferencia entre las dos palabras es grande porque en el primer caso se obliga al dueño del vehículo a demostrar que le exigieron de mala manera”, explicó a este diario Fernando Straface, secretario General y de Relaciones Internacionales porteño, durante la presentación del proyecto a los medios. Este cambio atiende a una demanda que los fiscales porteños vienen planteando desde hace años, que se quejaban de que este punto hacía que la mayoría de las causas contra cuidacoches terminaran archivadas.
A su vez, el proyecto crea una figura nueva en el Código: el de limpiavidrios sin autorización legal, que son todos los que trabajen en la calle. Los únicos habilitados son los que limpian vidrios en calidad de empleados de lavaderos o de estaciones de servicio.
El texto también prevé sanciones dobles si el limpiavidrios o el cuidacoches ofrece sus servicios a una mujer. “Es muy difícil para nosotras pararnos y decirles ‘no’, porque nos sentimos intimidadas. Por eso la sanción en este caso es doble”, explicó la ministra de Desarrollo Humano, Guadalupe Tagliaferri.
El proyecto plantea sanciones dobles también en los casos en que los oferentes del servicio de limpieza de vidrios o de cuidado de coches sean dos o más personas. “Esto apunta a algunos escenarios en los que opera una organización y una mafia asociada a esa actividad”, precisó Straface.
Desde el Gobierno también anunciaron que trabajarán en conjunto con la Cámara de Garajes de la Ciudad (CAGESRA) para inscribir en una bolsa de trabajo a los trapitos sancionados, los cuales tendrán prioridad para trabajar cuando se incorpore personal en las playas de estacionamiento. Además, junto a esa cámara les ofrecerán cursos para insertarse en el mercado laboral formal.
Estos cambios no implican la realización de operativos, explicaron desde el Gobierno porteño, pero sí “dar un marco legal para que el policía que ve a un cuidacoches o limpiavidrios in fraganti pueda actuar”.
El Código actual fija sanciones de entre uno y dos días de trabajo de utilidad pública o multas de $ 200 a $ 400 para quien exija retribución por el estacionamiento o cuidado de vehículos en la vía pública sin autorización legal.
El proyecto de su modificación incluye, además de las opciones de penas mencionadas, la de arresto de uno a cinco días. Y duplica las penas si la actividad es realizada en un radio de hasta 30 cuadras de un espectáculo masivo o un estadio.
No es la primera vez que se propone prohibir a los trapitos: en varias oportunidades el macrismo lo intentó, pero nunca consiguió llegar al mínimo de 31 votos necesarios para la reforma. Hoy, en cambio, cuenta con 34 en el bloque oficialista Vamos Juntos.
La propuesta de reforma al Código también pretende prohibir las pegatinas de oferta sexual. Las empresas que figuren en esos stickers podrán ser sancionadas y hasta clausuradas.
El resto de las modificaciones planteadas también apuntan a aumentar la autonomía de las mujeres. Una de ellas es duplicar las penas cuando las víctimas de acoso sexual sean mujeres o niños, o cuando los agresores sean dos o más personas.
También se introduce la figura del ciberacoso, dentro de la cual se enmarca la difusión online de imágenes o grabaciones íntimas sin consentimiento de todos los involucrados, también conocida como “porno venganza”. El proyecto plantea agravar las sanciones previstas por hostigamiento cuando este sea llevado adelante por medios digitales. | {
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An ambitious plan to revitalise Darwin's city centre and boost its ailing economy will see the Charles Darwin University moved from the suburbs to the CBD, as part of a new city deal worth $200 million.
Key points: The deal is touted as the one to reverse Darwin's fortunes
The deal is touted as the one to reverse Darwin's fortunes The focus is on enlivening the CBD by bringing in 1,100 students to live, work, and study
The focus is on enlivening the CBD by bringing in 1,100 students to live, work, and study The NT will become an ideas lab for how to manage tropical living, says Prime Minister Scott Morrison
On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments would invest $200 million jointly into the deal, the centrepiece of which is the creation of a new educational and civic vertical campus in the heart of the city.
"It's a very big deal for Darwin, it's a very big deal for the Territory, and it's a very big deal for Australia," Mr Morrison said.
He said both levels of government, along with the Darwin Council, were united in investing in projects that would enliven the city.
The project would not just be a boost for construction work, but would be a "long-term, viable, sustaining driving force in the heart of the city of Darwin", he said.
NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the deal was an investment in Darwin as the capital of northern Australia.
"We see Darwin as not near Asia, but in Asia," he said.
"We have a vision for Darwin to service the wider region; we see our competition as Singapore, not Sydney."
An artist's impression of Darwin's city centre university complex. ( Supplied )
NT economy flagging
Darwin's economy has flagged in recent years following the wind-down of the construction phase of the massive $40 billion Japanese-led Inpex Ichthys LNG project.
Numerous small businesses have found themselves struggling as the population contracts, and the city centre is dotted with vacant shopfronts that once housed international retail chains, restaurants, and even the city cinema.
In August, the NT Government announced it would pay southern Australians up to $15,000 to move to the Top End to work in "high priority" jobs in an effort to boost the population. Currently around 244,000 people call the Territory home.
According to the most recent CommSec State of the States report, the NT was third-ranked on economic growth but was trailing the nation on five other indicators: retail spending, investment, mixed home lending, population growth, and home building.
It had Australia's lowest wage growth, and the second-highest unemployment rate.
Darwin's deal, featuring $100 million from the Commonwealth, is smaller than that of comparable cities such as Launceston and Geelong.
When asked why, Mr Morrison said that "every city deal is different" and said funding differed for various projects in different locations.
He also said there was the possibility the North Australia Infrastructure Fund could contribute money.
An aerial view of Darwin's CBD as it is now. ( Supplied: Adobe Stock )
'The deal that will change Darwin'
Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said Darwin was the only Australian capital city without a university in the centre — the Charles Darwin University campus is located in the city's northern suburbs, about 20 minutes from the CBD.
"This is the deal that will change Darwin," he said.
The $200 million city deal will help fund: The creation of a new education and civic precinct, featuring a new university campus, and retail, commercial, and community spaces
The creation of a new education and civic precinct, featuring a new university campus, and retail, commercial, and community spaces Construction of a new art gallery in State Square
Construction of a new art gallery in State Square Cooler, greener streetscapes in public spaces
Cooler, greener streetscapes in public spaces A Larrakia cultural centre
A Larrakia cultural centre A CSIRO-led Urban Living Lab which will test and evaluate improvements in Darwin's liveability, sustainability, and resilience
A CSIRO-led Urban Living Lab which will test and evaluate improvements in Darwin's liveability, sustainability, and resilience The beginning of redevelopment of former naval fuel installation site at Stokes Hill
Federal Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population Alan Tudge said Darwin was home to 1 per cent of Australia's entire population, but only 0.2 per cent of Australia's international students.
He said the deal represented a huge opportunity to attract more international students to Darwin.
"That brings people but it also brings money," he said.
Each international student injected about $44,000 each year into the local economy through education fees and living costs, he said.
"You'll have 1,100 students there on a daily basis spilling out into the streets, purchasing food at the local cafes and restaurants, and enjoying life in Darwin and hopefully making it their home forever," he said.
CDU vice-chancellor Simon Maddocks said the new campus would allow residents to interact not just with teaching and research facilities, but would provide galleries and exhibition spaces, bringing business students into contact with small businesses and enabling law students to more easily access the courts during their studies.
"Students are not only a part-time workforce for small business, but they're also a significant customer base," he said.
"These students are coming from high-density Asian cities; they like to live, work, and socialise in the one environment; they're not used to having to travel long distances.
"If we're going to compete [with northern neighbours] then this is essential."
Darwin to become a model for tropical cities
Mr Morrison said the CSIRO-led Urban Living Lab, which is also part of the deal, would help make Darwin the prototype for how to run liveable cities in tropical areas all around the world.
"This is all about making Darwin a more competitive city," he said.
He said Darwin was "one of the world's great tropical cities".
"What we're looking at is the future of this city to be a leading light for other tropical cities around the world," he said.
$5 million would be spent on a tropical city management process, greening the city, and head management — issues faced by tropical cities all over the world, Mr Morrison said.
The 50-metre canopy structure is designed to reduce ambient temperatures in the CBD. ( Supplied: NT Government )
Following the destruction from Cyclone Marcus in March and the loss of hundreds of trees across the city, it was predicted that Darwin's high quota of asphalt and concrete could be creating heat islands, contributing to a rise in ambient temperature.
That would be significant for a city where the annual daily average is around 30 degrees Celsius.
Mr Vatskalis said the plan would invest in heat mitigation strategies to "find solutions for this hot city that's getting hotter".
Country Liberals Party opposition leader Gary Higgins welcomed the signing, saying Darwin was a city of untapped potential.
"Darwin has been crying out for action," he said.
The agreement would also review the current airspace assessment process for buildings over 45 metres in the city, and the decentralisation of appropriate government workers, he said. | {
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Colombia's main gang declares unilateral ceasefire Published duration 14 December 2017
image copyright Colombian Police image caption Police are offering $1m for information leading to the capture of leader Otoniel
Colombia's biggest criminal gang has declared a unilateral ceasefire to help "bring about peace".
The gang, known as the Gulf Clan or Los Urabeños, said it would stop "offensive military actions from 13 December".
The truce comes three months after the gang's leader said it would surrender and he would hand himself in. A framework is still being worked on.
Police have warned that criminal gangs such as the Gulf Clan are the biggest risk to security in Colombia.
Battle for control
The Gulf Clan is estimated to have about 1,500 active members. It controls many of the routes used to smuggle drugs from Colombia to the US and as far away as Russia.
The group also engages in extortion, illegal mining, human trafficking, forced displacements and murder.
image copyright EPA image caption Last month, police seized 12 tonnes of cocaine believed to have belonged to the Gulf Clan
While it was first created in the north of Colombia, in the Gulf of Urabá - hence its names - it has expanded into many of Colombia's provinces and beyond.
But in recent months its number two and 34 other key figures have been killed or arrested in a joint police and military operation.
With his deputy killed and the security forces closing in, the gang's leader, known as Otoniel, announced in September that he was willing to surrender.
The government is currently working on a legal framework for members of criminal gangs to collectively turn themselves in.
In a statement, the gang said that even though that legal framework was not in place yet the gang "remained committed to the efforts which will allow us to contribute to a total, lasting and integral peace".
Last year, Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, signed a peace deal with the government and negotiators are currently holding talks with the second-largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army. | {
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Pushing on 400 kilograms, baby Paichit knows when it’s feeding time.
He lets out an appreciative bellow, a rumbling baby elephant purr from his patch in the Sumatran jungle, as soon as his mahout (keeper) Julkarnaini approaches bucket in hand.
“He’s getting much healthier,” observes Julkarnaini, now using the bucket to give Paichit a bit of a bath. “At first he was very thin, but after a month here he’s putting on weight.”
Earlier this year baby Paichit, one of the critically endangered Sumatran elephants, was found stranded and starving in a palm oil plantation in Aceh, on the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island. Paichit’s father had been shot and the rest of the herd had fled in fright.
When he was discovered, Paichit was so malnourished the shape of his ribs was visible from beneath his sagging skin. On arrival at a centre run by the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), an intravenous drip was immediately fixed to his ear.
“Paichit was really in a bad condition when he first arrived, he was very dehydrated, he was suffering from shock, stress and he was very thin, malnourished, and his skin was in a bad way,” recalls BKSDA veterinarian, Dr Rosa Wahyuni.
And now? Paichit spends his days in his patch in the jungle, about about half a kilometre from the centre, with his devoted mahout Julkarnaini wandering up to see him half a dozen times a day to feed and bathe him and provide his favourite foods, crispy white turnips and buckets of sugar water. An assessment of his progress a month on (no elephant scales, so a long measuring tape is slipped around his growing belly and back instead) makes everyone happy. “We estimate that he has put about 80 kilograms on since he arrived,” says Wahyuni, whose veterinary practice also includes tigers, monitor lizards and crocodiles. “He has started to improve. He has a good appetite, his eating and drinking habits are good, his body weight has increased and the condition of his skin is better too. The priority health signs are all positive so far.”
Julkarnaini gives Paichit a bath. Turnips are his favourite food. Photograph: Gomos Simanjuntak
Paichit is one of a tiny subspecies of the Asian elephant, the Sumatran elephant, which has declined by a devastating 80% in 25 years. At best, there are only 2,800 left. In 2012 the classification of Sumatran elephants was changed from “endangered” to “critically endangered” and the WWF estimates the species are not likely to survive in the long term.
Poaching is an issue, but deforestation and habitat loss is the number one problem. Over the past two decades Sumatra’s rich rainforests have been decimated to make way for timber and palm oil plantations, and the natural habitat of native species such as Sumatran elephants, tigers and rhinos has been gutted. From 1985, Sumatra’s rainforest has more than halved in size – shrinking from 25m to 10.8m hectares (61.8m to 26.7m acres) in 2014.
Unsurprisingly, having lost nearly 70% of their habitat in one generation, the island’s elephants end up tramping through villages and plantations, eating the spiky oil palm fruit, unwittingly guzzling up the local community income and causing chaos and destruction. In the world’s largest palm oil producing nation about 80-90% of the human-elephant conflicts in Sumatra occur in concession areas for timber and oil palm.
“When the elephants come they destroy everything, including people’s houses, so people get angry, right. So many people see them as pests,” explains Wishnu Sukmantoro, an elephant specialist at WWF Indonesia. “There was one case for example, in 2013, when one person died. So then a week later, someone from that community found the elephant and killed it. It was a revenge killing.”
It appears this is what happened to Paichit’s father, who was shot dead in the oil palm plantation in east Aceh where baby Paichit was found. But according to his carers Paichit’s own chances of survival are looking strong. “If it was a drinking competition, he’d be a legend,” jokes New Zealander Murray Munro, or “Muzza”, as he watches Paichit down his bucket of sugar water. “He’s good with his trunk. He can rip grass out with it, so he has had enough time to learn because when they are tiny they’ve got no idea what to do with the trunk,” he says, “It’s all over the place.”
“He’s feisty, he’s got good energy, he’s a pretty relaxed young guy,” he goes on. “He doesn’t make a lot of noise, only when he’s hungry, he will certainly let you know but he’s got good strength. He is putting on weight which is fantastic and has a really good demeanour. He is quite independent, which is a good sign because the males will become solitary when they turn a certain age, they will go out of the herd they have been brought up in and they’ll have to make their own way in life.”
Munro, who works in an elephant conservation centre in Nepal, dropped everything when he heard about Paichit’s rescue and travelled to offer his support and experience, after successfully helping another orphaned baby Sumatran elephant by the name of Bona five years earlier. In that case he’d set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise the $2,000 (£1,640) each month needed to feed her, including money to pay for kilograms of “white powder”, bags of baby elephant supplements and vitamins (which raised eyebrows as they traveled through Indonesian customs). Bona is six years old and thriving now, says Munro, who plans to visit her in Bengkulu, south Sumatra, in the coming weeks.
First though, he is busy working on a similar campaign to ensure Paichit fares just as well. In comparatively better condition than Bona, Munro estimates it will cost about $700 (£573) to feed the orphaned baby elephant each month.
Meanwhile the Indonesians are also focusing on ways of dealing with the broader problem. In Aceh an elephant conservation response unit (CRU) has been running for several years, where captive elephants are trained to memorise a series of commands and then employed in the field to chase wild elephants deep into the forest, and out of harm’s way. (Baby Paichit is named after one of the trainers from Thailand, who came over to share his expertise when the programme was first established.)
To minimise elephant-human conflict the teams of elephant “rangers” and their mahouts respond to reports and sightings by the local community, and well as tracking the movements of wild elephant herds through the use of GPS collars. Across Aceh there are seven CRUs and 34 elephant rangers.
“So far it has been effective,” says Wahyuni, as one of the centre’s fully grown elephants traipses past the wooden coffee stall where she is seated, “But the number of problems has increased too, so we are fighting to protect them.”
Sumatran elephants are now critically endangered and could be extinct in the wild in less than 25 years. Photograph: WWF Indonesia/Rex
Could Paichit become an elephant ranger in the long-term? Wahyuni is not sure, but believes at the moment that releasing him back into the wild would be too perilous. For now, she and Julkarnaini are concentrating on his health and his state of mind. In the last five years two other baby elephants rescued and treated at the centre failed to make it but if he gets through this initial period, they will have to think hard about providing opportunities for him to socialise. Deeply social creatures, the emotional wellbeing of elephants is just as important as it is to humans, says Wahyuni.
Once his health is on track, the centre plans to introduce Paichit to an “auntie” elephant. For now, his mahout plays a critical role. “As an orphan the mahout becomes like a father to the elephant,” says Wahyuni. “If it comes to health problems, I can handle that, but for trauma and stress, the best person to focus on that is the mahouts because they are with them all the time. If the elephant is emotionally well, everything else will be good too. Just like a human.”
Julkarnaini smiles in agreement. He has been at the centre for 20 years, and knows as much about elephants as anyone there. Becoming a mahout was a “decision of the heart”, and as for being a father to Paichit, well the baby elephant is more like his wife, he jokes. “There is no particular way to connect,” he says. “It is kind of like fate. Do you believe you can take care of the animal? It will be like that.”
Paichit has grown healthier and calmer under his watchful care. “The way I see it, this baby elephant has to live,” he tells me as we head out to feed Paichit in the afternoon sun, “We’ve had bad experiences with baby elephants before. So in my mind, this one has to make it.”
This piece is part of a year-long series on Elephant Conservation – email us at [email protected] | {
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“Pascal” is one of those terms that will go down in GPU history as a great milestone – it will be remembered as the moments NVIDIA managed to break its own records and release a family of graphics cards that wrote history. Whether we’re talking about the high-end segment, which used to be dominated by the GTX 1080, the mid-range segmented ruled by the GTX 1070 and 1060, or the low-end segment covered by the equally impressive GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti, the Pascal architecture showed its strength each and every time, providing unparalleled power. We won’t even go into the professional segment, where behemoths such as the Quadro and the Titan push Pascal to its limits with astronomical numbers.
And just when we thought we saw everything Pascal had to offer, there comes the GTX 1080 Ti. To be completely fair, the GTX 1080 Ti’s release was not a complete surprise, as NVIDIA did show a tendency to launch a Ti version of its top-of-the-line consumer cards in the past, and use it to minimize the gap between the consumer and professional segments. To achieve this, NVIDIA opted to go with a slightly scaled-down version of the GP102 GPU found in the Pascal GTX Titan, rather than the GP104 GPU used by the GTX 1080. As a result, the specs of the NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti are remarkable, to say the least: 3584 CUDA cores, 224 texture units, a whopping 11GB of GDDR5X memory with a speed of 11GHz and a bandwidth of 484GB/s, and a TDP of 250W. The best part is that these are the reference values; as usual, manufacturers go with custom implementations that allow them to push the figures even further. Let’s see who did it the best – here’s a roundup of the best GTX 1080 Ti implementations out there. | {
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Ongoing strike action by leading Icelandic academic and nurses unions has been halted by the Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’).
A majority of MPs supported a government bill to legislate against ongoing strike action in a parliamentary vote on Saturday. The bill had three readings in Alþingi and was discussed by the Judicial Affairs and Education Committee.
The Icelandic Association of Academics (BHM) – whose members include vets, radiologist, midwives and lawyers – had been on strike since early April, while the Icelandic Association of Nurses (FÍH) downed tools on 27 May.
“Prohibited by the Icelandic Constitution”
News of the newly passed legislation putting an end to their strike action was not well received by the two unions:
FÍH – “This legislation shows blatant disregard for the inalienable democratic right of nurses to negotiate in their legal struggle to secure necessary and long-overdue pay adjustments. […] Such pay adjustments are vital for Iceland to able to run an effective health service.”
BHM – “This government interference in union’s rights to negotiate and strike is a serious intrusion into trade-union activities.
Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir (BHM): "Legislation contravenes Icelandic Constitution." Photo: BHM
En masse nurse resignations?
Such government and legislative intervention is prohibited by Article 74 of the Icelandic Constitution and Article 11 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.”
Both unions are now contemplating legal action against the State. The Supreme Court has confirmed that the right to strike is enshrined in the Icelandic Constitution but also that Alþingi is authorised to legislate on strike action.
Some nurses have already resigned following Saturday’s vote and more are expected. For instance, almost the entire team of nurses working in the intensive-care unit at two branches of the National University Hospital of Iceland (‘Landspítali’) are said to be contemplating resignation.
“Enough is enough”
The end of strike action and the reopening of negotiations has, on the other hand, been welcomed by others.
Icelandic Director of Health, Birgir Jakobsson, acknowledges the danger of resignations, but considers it preferable to cross that bridge when the time comes, rather than enduring further strike action. “I welcome the end of these strikes,” he states. “As far as I am concerned, i.e. from a patient point of view, this was necessary.”
A view shared by Steinþór Skúlason, Director of the Southern Iceland Abattoir Association, whose operations had been disrupted by strike action by vets. “We have had more than enough.
Birgir Jakobsson, Director of Health: "I welcome the end of these strikes."
What next?
Limits should be placed on the amount of damage strike action can be allowed to cause.” Skúlason estimates that the strikes have cost the Association ISK 70-100 million (approx. €470-670,000).
The bill passed on Saturday calls for all strike action to be halted until 1 July and for the parties involved to use that time to strike a deal. If this does not happen, the case will be sent to a court of arbitration.
No negotiation meetings have yet been convened with either of the two unions. | {
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'This is where I live': Ibrahim Aktgun is grabbed by riot police during the anniversary protests in Istanbul. Credit:Kate Geraghty The prime minister has always dismissed the 2013 eruption of street protest as being "about 12 trees". But in the face of a hugely disproportionate police response, in which 11 protesters died and thousands more were injured, unrest erupted city by city, with angry demonstrations over a range of issues, the common strand in which was the prime minister’s authoritarian tendencies. Silhouette images representing those killed a year earlier are strung above cobble-stoned alleys. The words with them are chilling: "You know our killers – follow them." Word spreads of the death the previous day of Elif Cermik, a 64-year-old housewife who had been in a coma since December [2013], when she collapsed as police teargassed and pepper sprayed sections of the crowd at a rally she had attended with her family. Amid the rising tension, there’s a moment of levity as we depart a cafe, gasmasks swinging from backpacks – the proprietor cheerfully presents each of us with a lemon, the juice from which would be useful in countering the effects of teargas.
"Spray me if you have to": A wheelchair-bound protester confronts the police. Credit:Kate Geraghty The skies become leaden and the police lockdown more intense – at 3pm the ferry service between the European and Asian sides of the city is shut down. As they gather, protesters warn each other of the menace from the large number of cops in civilian garb roaming the city – identifiable by their identical backpacks, from which police batons protrude. When I ask one of their leaders if they are serving police officers, he brandishes a gun as he replies: “I don’t have to tell you. Anyway, how do I know you’re a journalist?” When I pull out my international press pass, he snorts: “I’m not showing you anything.” Police walk past burning debris in Istanbul's Cihangir district during the anniversary protests. Credit:Kate Geraghty A few protesters slip through the police lines and stage a sit-in in Taksim Square. A lawyer with them sits on the curb, engrossed in a Turkish-language edition of Tolstoy’s War and Peace when the police scoop them up as the crowd breaks into a chant: “Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance.’
Finally, hundreds of cops gather in the centre of the square and then start pushing out to the edges, arms linked as they counsel each other "be calm, be calm", pushing the chanting crowds before them: "There is a murderer... There is a thief... This is just the start – we keep fighting." A masked policeman raises his arms in Istanbul's fashionable Istiklal Avenue during the anniversary protests. Credit:Kate Geraghty There’s a lull and 200 cops stare, not sure how to respond as a 40-something man in a wheelchair manoeuvres himself into a space between the police lines. The high-pressure nozzles on two water cannons swivel; now they are trained on the wheelchair. Undaunted, the man opts for the only weapon at his disposal: words. “You can’t humiliate me – spray me if you have to,” he yells at the cops. He then produces a T-shirt bearing the slogan "First Anniversary of Gezi", at which point the police pull a cunning stunt – they ignore the man and charge the crowd, and by the time we stop to draw breath and look back, he and his wheelchair have been snatched away to who knows where. Istiklal Avenue, a broad strip that usually teems with tourists, becomes the focus of the confrontation. There is charge and counter-charge, as protesters surge towards Taksim and Gezi, and the police repel them with gas and water. As both sides draw breath between charges, the police are taking selfies and texting, the protesters are tweeting and the unfortunate who were gassed are streaming.
On a police bus packed with arrested protesters, a single baritone voice recites the name of each of those killed in the previous year’s protests and the other prisoners respond as a chorus: ‘He is alive.’ On the edge of the crowd, 50-year-old Ibrahim Aktgun explains why he risks being in the streets. “This is where I live,” he says, pointing to a nearby apartment building. “I was here for Gezi and I’ve been here ever since. Our main demand is to be allowed to live like human beings – every day the government comes up with new ways to restrict our living space.” Heading back into the ruckus, where I last saw him draped on the front of a water cannon, he called back to me: “Turkey has become a police state.” As police pursued the last of the protesters in through the streets of nearby Cihangir, an old boy eating his dinner at a pavement cafe doesn’t even look up from his meat and veg as a water cannon pauses three metres from where he sits to take aim at the protesters, and an old woman taking it all in from a chair by her front window blows me a kiss. High in some apartment buildings, women are on balconies, beating pans and saucepans in solidarity with the protesters. They yell “Enough! Enough!”.
And from down in the streets, a series of pointed new chants are addressed to the police. Harping on corruption allegations which include accounts of cash-stuffed shoeboxes found in the home of a government-allied bank executive, the protesters cry out: “They have shoeboxes in their houses – we don’t . . . don’t protect the shoeboxes" and “from Gezi to Soma, the murderous state will pay." By early evening it was over – maybe a nil-all draw, but perhaps a points win to the protesters. The cops had succeeded in holding the protesters back from Gezi Park and Taksim Square, arresting hundreds along the way. But by merely stating a desire to meet in the two places, the protesters had goaded the government into showing more of its ugly side. More importantly, in 2013 the protesters showed they were no longer scared of the government; and in 2014, the government showed it was scared of the protesters. In this there has been an important psychological shift, what the Turkish writer Ayşe Cavdar describes as “a taste for what it is like to go out into the street ... a taste of what it is like to challenge our government.” The pro-government Daily Sabah declared the 2014 protests a flop, but this was the same newspaper that in 2013 decided that the protests were not sufficiently newsworthy for its front page – instead, its editors opted for stories on Erdogan’s anti-smoking campaign and on a visit to Turkmenistan by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, where he was presented with a gift of a horse. Similarly, CNN Turk ignored the orgy of police violence in 2013, running back-to-back documentaries on training dolphins and penguins.
As dozens of new arrests were processed in the days after the 2014 protests, trials were getting under way for six people arrested in the 2013 confrontations who, given the reality of what they did, face wildly-framed charges – taking part in ‘unlawful’ protests and ‘founding a criminal organisation'. Absurdly, the charges allege membership of a terrorist organisation, for which some of the suspects face almost a century in jail. In a country in which the national flag is predominantly red, the evidence to be presented in court includes a red scarf worn by one of the defendants – proof of socialist tendencies, according to the prosecution. On the eve of this year’s Gezi protests, columnist Yavuz Baydar wrote in Today’s Zaman: “Gezi has already gone down in history as a breaking point, as people at home and abroad ... saw [the Erdogan government’s] ugly face of intolerance and the brute force in its clampdown.” Loading Trying to put the latest protests in perspective, Hurriyet Daily News columnist Ertugrul Ozkok harked back to 2008, when the Turkish military had mounted one of its biggest operations, sending 10,000 troops over the border into northern Iraq, in pursuit of Kurdish rebels who had been crossing into Turkey to launch attacks. In the days after the 2014 protests, Ozkok wrote: “Imagine that a state is fighting in one of its most important cross-border operations with 10,000 troops, but needs 25,000 people to suppress a celebration being held by a bunch of young people?” | {
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The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case over a Mississippi law that allows public officials and businesses to deny services to LGBT people on the basis of the service providers' religious beliefs, a decision that will keep the law in place for the foreseeable future.
The case, Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant, challenges HB 1523, the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” which was passed by the state legislature in March 2016.
The law allows clerks, registers of deeds or their deputies to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples if it violates their religious beliefs or moral convictions. It also protects private businesses and people from being sued if they deny services to LGBT people.
The law provides protections for three religious beliefs: marriage is between a man and a woman, sexual relations are “properly reserved to such a marriage,” and one’s gender is determined by “anatomy and genetics at time of birth.”
A U.S. district judge struck down the law in June 2016, ruling it violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
But a three-judge panel for the 5 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year the plaintiffs failed to show how they have been or will be harmed by the law, and reversed an injunction that blocked the law from going into effect. The Mississippi law was then allowed to take effect in October.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm that had lawyers on the legal team representing Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, praised the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case.
"We are pleased that the Supreme Court declined to take up these baseless challenges, which misrepresented the law’s sole purpose of ensuring that Mississippians don’t live in fear of losing their careers or their businesses simply for affirming marriage as a husband-wife union," said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. “Those who haven’t been and won’t be harmed by this law shouldn’t be allowed to restrict freedom for others by ensuring dissenters are left open to the government discrimination that has already occurred in states without protective laws like this one."
But opponents of the law worried it would lead to discrimination of LGBT people and vowed to continue working to reverse the Mississippi law.
"We will keep fighting in Mississippi until we overturn this harmful law, and in any state where anti-gay legislators pass laws to roll back LGBT civil rights," said Beth Littrell, counsel in the southern regional office of Lambda Legal. "Unfortunately, the Supreme Court's decision today leaves LGBT people in Mississippi in the crosshairs of hate and humiliation, delaying justice and equality." | {
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Blockchain Capital is a leading venture firm in the blockchain industry. In the last 7 years we have made over 75 investments in companies and protocols in the sector, across different stages, geographies and asset types. | {
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Written on November 09, 2016
At IteratrLearning we love teaching Java courses, and find that a lot of the attendees enjoy coding in Java. One of the things that can irritate about Java, however, is that it’s often overly verbose or ceremonious when it comes to doing the most basic of things. One of the ways that Java 9 helps solve this problem is by providing ways of instantatiating collections from specific values in a very abbreviated way.
Motivation
Let’s start by looking at the problem that this is trying to solve, by instantiating a list with a few String values:
List<String> values = new ArrayList<>(); values.add(“Hello”); values.add(“World”); values.add(“from”); values.add(“Java”);
Let’s face it, this is pretty bulky for such a simple and common thing to do. We admit that this isn’t the only way to to instantiate a List though. Arrays.asList() has been around since before Java 5, and it originally took just an array. In Java 5, it was converted to accept varargs and is in common use.
List<String> values = Arrays.asList(“Hello”, “World”, “from”, “Java”);
Let’s be honest - this is a pretty significant improvement. The List returned by Arrays.asList() is a little strange however. If you try to add an element to the List then it’ll throw an UnsupportedOperationException . That’s ok, you might think - it’s a List that cannot be mutated! Not so fast. It’s actually a list that wraps an array. So the set() operation will modify the backing array, and in fact if you hold onto the array that is wrapped then it can be modified. The following example prints “[World]”:
String[] hello = { "Hello" }; List<String> values = Arrays.asList(hello); hello[0] = "World"; System.out.println(values);
If you want to create a Set or a Queue then you are out of luck as well - there’s no Arrays.asSet() . The normal way of solving this problem is to use the Collection constructor overload:
Set<String> values = new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(“Hello”, “World”, “from”, “Java”));
Again, fairly verbose.
Collection Literals
Some programming languages offer a feature to solve this problem by adding Collection Literals to the programming language. This gives you some syntax that instantiates a collection from some specific values. Here’s an example in Groovy:
def values = [“Hello”, “World”, “from”, “Java”] as Set
Now adding new language features to the Java language is an expensive process. It takes a lot of engineering time and each language feature has huge opportunity cost. That is to say that you could spend that engineering time improving other language features and quite possibly get a bigger win!
Collection Factories
An alternative is to provide some methods that construct collections from values and using a var-args constructor to make them syntactically shorter like collection literals. This is the choice that is being made in Java 9, so we can do the following:
List<String> list = List.of(“Hello”, “World”, “from”, “Java”); Set<String> set = Set.of(“Hello”, “World”, “from”, “Java”);
The way that var-args APIs are implemented in Java is basically syntactic sugar around passing an array as the final parameter to the method, which would mean that these methods have to bear the overhead of instantiating an array. To avoid the performance cost of this operation Java 9 has 10 overloads with a fixed number of elements. When you call the methods you won’t even notice the difference without looking at the overloads in your IDE. The downside of this approach is that more code needs to be maintained by JVM engineers and also the API itself is cluttered. If Java had a more efficient way of allocating var-args parameters that would be nice. A man can dream, a man can dream …
Maps
Maps have also had factory methods added. They work a little differently as Maps have keys and values rather than a single type of element. For up to 10 entries Maps have overloaded constructors that take pairs of keys and values. For example we could build a map of various cities and their populations (according to google in October 2016) as follow:
Map<String, Integer> cities = Map.of(“Brussels”, 1_139000, “Cardiff”, 341_000);
The var-args case for Map is a little bit harder, you need to have both keys and values, but in Java, methods can’t have two var-args parameters. So the general case is handled by taking a var-args method of Map.Entry<K, V> objects and adding a static entry() method that constructs them. For example:
Map<String, Integer> cities = Map.ofEntries( entry(“Brussels”, 1139000), entry(“Cardiff”, 341000));
Safety
The goal here isn’t just to reduce verbosity though, it is to also reduce the scope for programmer errors. All the collections added in recent years have banned the use of nulls as elements within the collections and these collections follow suit. This helps reduce the scope for bugs around referring to null values in collections and also simplifies the internal implementation.
A bigger difference when compared to most collections in the JDK is that these collections are Immutable. Immutability reduces the scope for bugs by removing the ability for one part of an application to cause bugs by modifying state that another component is relying on. In the case of these factory methods no new interfaces were introduced as part of this process. So they will expose an add() method that will throw an UnsupportedOperationException() . This is not ideal, but adding a separate hierarchy of Immutable collection interfaces would have massively bloated the scope of this small API change.
A similar, but distinct feature that Java already has are the collection views returned by Collections.unmodifiableList(), unmodifiableSet(), and unmodifiableMap(). They have similar behaviour to the immutable collections in that they throw an UnsupportedOperationException when you try to modify them directly. They still aren’t the same though, since the unmodifiable views wrap a reference to an existing collection. If that existing collection is modified then that change is visible to readers of the unmodifiable view. However, immutable collections can never be changed at all.
Another safety concept used here is the compile time type-safety of Map.ofEntries() . An alternative implementation, for instance, was to have the ofEntries() factory method take an Object… varargs parameter. This would have been intended to take alternative keys and values. This implementation raises the possibility of new kinds of errors, such as using the wrong type for a key or a value, or having an odd number of elements. These can only be caught at runtime. The Map.ofEntries(Entry…) approach is compile-time type-safe, at the cost of boxing each key and value into an Entry object.
The final safety feature is the randomized iteration order of the immutable Set elements and Map keys. HashSet and HashMap iteration order has always been unspecified, but fairly stable, leading to code having inadvertent dependencies on that order. This causes things to break when the iteration order changes, which occasionally happens. The new Set/Map collections change their iteration order from run to run, hopefully flushing out order dependencies earlier in test or development.
Conclusions
Collection literals are an appealing language feature, adding some easier syntax to perform a common operation. However, the cost-benefit tradeoff is much better for Collection factory methods that are simply a library change. They give us most of the benefits without any language changes. The addition of these factory methods in Java 9 provides Immutable collections that ban the use of null values as elements.
If you enjoy watching conference talks there’s also a good video by Stuart Marks from the Java Core Libraries team on youtube.
If you are interested in an intensive Java course for your team, check out our Java Software Development Bootcamp or Modern Development with Java. | {
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by Keith Kraska | Buccaneers Correspondent | Sat, Aug 15th 8:35am EDT
In his first game action for the Bills, LeSean McCoy ran for 16 yards on six carries and caught one pass for eight yards Friday. He called his performance rusty: "I didn’t really play well today to be honest. Certain reads I make, I didn’t make them today." (Buffalo News) | {
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Yesterday, Ski Mask the slump god wash rushed off of stage by rob Stones squad not appreciative of his behavior and presence at the desiigner outlet tour. Apparently a bit of jealousy has built up in the rapper’s ranks and led to the attack you saw yesterday.
But today some outrageous footage of Ski mask the slump god surfaced on the internet showing him pants down almost unconcious. Apparently the first footage that was shared by fans didn’t show the whole situation as it continued out the venue. Ski mask can be seen buttnaked getting beat up laying down on the ground barely concious. It says long on the evolution of violent behavior in the rap scene as his best friend and him have always surrounded themselves with this extremely violent imagery and music
Outrageous Footage Of #skimasktheslumpgod The Unconcious Surfaced #vr #xxxtentacion Une publication partagée par Drillking Magazine (@drillkingmag) le 11 Avril 2017 à 22h28 PDT
According to Rob, Ski Mask’s L.A. performance was strike three in a series of actions he felt were disrespectful.
“First show, the nigga ran out on my set in Seattle during my third song and started trying to shake hands with fans in the middle of my song,” says Rob. “Pretending to turn up with me, it wasn’t no genuine turn up. The nigga was ruining my spot. So that was the first strike and I told the nigga, ‘Don’t do that. If you’re gonna run on my set, come on ‘Chill Bill’ at the end.’ So he was like, ‘Aight, cool’ and it was straight.
“Then we get to San Diego for my hometown show. His set time is 8:30 [p.m.], mine is 9 [p.m.]. This nigga is acting like he’s not gonna show up, all this weird ass shit. So they push the set times back, they push mine to 9:30 and he was supposed to go on at 9. And then this nigga don’t show up until 9:25, so when it’s time for me to hit the stage, my DJ is onstage opening my set up and [Ski Mask] is trying to run on stage and take the mic from my DJ. My DJ ain’t give him the mic, so this nigga’s gon’ stand in the middle of the stage with his arms folded, wanna act tough with my security and shit.”
Rob says he pressed Ski Mask after the show and claims the South Florida rapper was acting “like a pussy nigga.” He later went back and forth with Ski Mask and the rapper’s friend XXXTENTACION on Twitter. “Let them know whoever the fuck that is getting fucked in they mouth when I go on tour for putting their peasant hands on my brother,” X tweeted, seemingly in response to Rob $tone.
“So then they talk all that shit, and the next day [XXXTENTACION] all on Instagram Live talking about Ski Mask gonna slap the shit outta me, they gonna fuck me up, they gonna do this, they gonna do that,” continues Rob. “So that night [April 10] at the Fonda, I pull up and Ski Mask don’t wanna come to the green room and check in on the bullshit he pulled at my hotel. He don’t wanna say nothin’. He don’t show up to soundcheck.
“[Ski Mask] shows up early for his set and runs straight to the stage like a bitch. He don’t come check in and holla. I wasn’t even trying to run onstage and do bro like that. I was supposed to get at bro behind the scenes, but he wanna run onstage and not holla at me like a real nigga, so I run onstage and take the mic from blood and then we beat his ass from the stage to the street. And that’s how it goes. And I left his ass out in the street with his ass out and his underwear. And that’s exactly what happened, from beginning to end.”
Ski Mask tells a different version of events. According to him, AEG, the touring agency putting on Desiigner’s tour, was trying to get Rob $tone thrown off the tour. Read fulll report at XXL. | {
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According to reports, the late singer wanted a giant Jackson robot to roam the Nevada desert as an advertisement for a 2005 comeback that never was
Years before Michael Jackson agreed to a 50-date residency at London's O2 Arena, the singer was considering a similar run of shows in Las Vegas. According to reports this week, Jackson was working with artists not just on costumes, sets and an accompanying hotel – but on a gigantic Michael Jackson robot roaming the Nevada desert.
Plans for the Las Vegas concerts began in October 2005, just months after the King of Pop was acquitted on child-molestation charges. Fashion designer André van Pier, a long-time friend of both Jackson and Princess Diana, led the work. According to PageSix, his costume designs included "space-age", solar-powered fabric that changed colour in reaction to stage lights.
The team's sci-fi ambitions didn't stop there. Van Pier, partner Michael Luckman and artist Timothy Patterson made plans for a towering Michael Jackson robot, 50ft high and visible from Las Vegas's McCarran airport. The robot would wander in the desert as an advertisement for Jackson's show. "Michael's looked at the sketches and liked them," Luckman told the New York Daily News in 2007.
Funding, however, was a problem. Fresh from his controversial trial, Jackson had trouble securing investors. Though he met with moguls including casino owner Steve Wynne, "he just couldn't raise enough money," Luckman told MTV News.
Eventually, Jackson and his team scaled down their grand ambitions. Instead of a roaming robot, they conceived of a Jackson-themed hotel and casino – with an android at the entrance. "Michael really liked the initial designs and wanted to use them somehow," Luckman said. Patterson described the looming techno-Michael that would have dominated the hotel's proposed facade: "The face would move, shooting laser-beam-looking lights. The whole building would be covered with spotlights."
Money, however, continued to be a problem. Jackson, who had been living in Nevada, moved away. Van Pier died in August 2008, and finally Jackson announced the London concerts in March 2009 – scuppering plans for a Las Vegas run. Though Luckman, Patterson and Jackson were scheduled to have a meeting in November, Jackson died in June.
There are currently no public plans to build the hotel, casino, or the lonely, moonwalking, robot. | {
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Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Can you recognize a lion? How about remembering a list of five words, right away and five minutes later?
President Donald Trump can. He got all the usual tests as part of his annual physical exam as president. But he also added an extra exam — a cognitive screening test for memory loss or early dementia.
It’s not part of the usual battery of tests given to a president and may reflect an outpouring of coverage and commentary questioning whether Trump is mentally fit for office.
Trump insisted on taking the test and passed it with flying colors, Dr. Ronny Jackson, presidential physician, told reporters.
“Many of you may have picked up on the fact that we did do a cognitive assessment,” Jackson said.
“I didn’t feel it was clinically indicated,” he added. “It has been my experience that the president is very sharp and he’s very articulate when he speaks to me.”
Related: Trump insists he is a stable genius
Trump is the first president to undergo the memory screening, Jackson said. The White House medical team chose the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), which was designed as a rapid screening tool for mild cognitive dysfunction — a loss of memory and clear thinking ability that sometimes precedes dementia.
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Examples of the questions on the Moca Test. Courtesy Ziad Nasreddine MD
The 30-point test includes drawings of a lion and a rhinoceros, which patients must name. Test-takers are also asked to copy a simple line sketch of a cube; match the letter A to the number 1, the letter B to the number 2 and so on. They are asked to recall a list of five words and repeat very short lists of numbers forward and backward.
It also includes one of the best-known tests for early Alzheimer's disease -- the clock test, in which patients are asked to draw an analog clock face.
The exam assesses attention, planning, memory and visual skills, all of which deteriorate in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. A score of 26 or lower indicates dementia.
A Cochrane Collaboration review of the test showed it detects 94 percent of people with dementia.
It’s one of several quick tests that can screen people for MCI or dementia.
“We picked one of the ones that was a little longer, a little more involved,” Jackson said.
“It was a more difficult one of all of them. It took significantly longer to complete, and the president did extremely well on it,” said Jackson, who is a rear admiral in the Navy.
Related: Trump isn't mentally ill, expert who wrote the book on mental illness says
If the president had "some type of mental, cognitive issue," Jackson said, the test is sensitive enough to pick up on it. "He would not have gotten 30 out of 30 on the test," Jackson said. "So I’m very confident at this particular stage that he has nothing like that going on.”
Alzheimer’s patients often have trouble drawing or naming objects, and the test can quickly indicate problems with short-term memory. Spatial skills also deteriorate with MCI and dementia, as does attention.
Trump took the test during the annual physical that is customary for presidents at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on Friday.
Related: Trump's Falsehoods are Classic Gaslighting, Experts Say
Jackson, who is the official physician to the president, said he did not see anything unusual — especially not for a 71-year-old American.
Because Trump has blustered about his health before, there had been suspicions among some critics that the White House might conceal evidence that he is mentally or physically unfit for office.
Jackson, who also served as Barack Obama’s official physician, denied hiding anything.
“I can promise you there is absolutely nothing that I’m withholding from this,” Jackson said. | {
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The Islamic State has been all but obliterated from the battlefields of the Middle East.
But it could be making a propaganda comeback.
A spate of recent videos published to ISIS’ social media channels show fighters pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to Voice of America.
The videos aim to prove “that ISIS has not been defeated and that its militants in several parts of the world remain loyal to their leaders,” a US counterterrorism official told VOA.
So far, eight videos appeared as a series titled “The Best Outcome is for the Pious.” They feature ISIS fighters from West Africa, Sinai, and the Philippines, among others. | {
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German defense contractor Rheinmetall has shown off a new two-part laser system with a combined output of 50 kW, capable of shooting down drones and intercepting mortar rounds in mid-flight. The high-energy laser (HEL) weapon consists of a 30 kW primary laser mounted on a rotating turret and a 20 kW secondary beam for targeting stationary objects. In tests conducted in late November, the beams combined to slice through a 15mm steel girder at a distance of roughly 1,000 yards, while the 30 kW laser on its own was able to intercept a drone moving at more than 110 mph.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the system is its ability to lock on to small moving targets. In order to simulate a mortar round, testers used a steel ball of just over three inches in diameter. The HEL was able to detect the incoming projectile, before using two levels of tracking — a rough positioning provided by the mechanical turret and a more accurate fine-tuning by the laser itself — to intercept the target.
This isn't the first time that the company has demonstrated a turret-mounted laser weapon. Last year, a 10 kW version performed similar feats, and Rheinmetall says that it plans to produce a device capable of 100 kW output in the immediate future. Still, it faces competition from rivals in the space — as far back as 2010, US firm Raytheon demonstrated a 50 kW weapon with comparable capabilities, including the ability to shoot down a drone from a moving warship. | {
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São Paulo
A Justiça determinou apuração do caso da empresa fantasma que conseguiu uma decisão judicial barrando a megalicitação bilionária dos ônibus de São Paulo. A decisão judicial também encaminhou ofícios para apuração da atuação do cartório e dos advogados contratados pela empresa.
A empresa fantasma é a Costa Atlântico Brazil Locadora e Transporte Coletivo LTDA, de Itapetinga, que acabou desistindo da ação apesar de seu pedido acolhido pela Justiça. No sábado (26), a Folha mostrou que a Costa Atlântica não tem veículos registrados em seu nome, tem sede em uma barbearia e cuja dona diz desconhecer a própria empresa e a licitação de ônibus em São Paulo.
A decisão judicial faz parte por outro processo para barrar a licitação, movido pela empresa Expresso Brazil Transporte Coletivo LTDA, que também desistiu da ação.
A Costa Atlântico tem vários pontos em comum com a Brasil Transporte, como assinala o juiz Marcelo Sérgio em sua decisão homologando a desistência desta segunda empresa.
"Em consulta pelo 'Google Maps', aparentemente o endereço da sede da impetrante Expresso Brazil, também na cidade de Itapetininga, indica apenas a existência de imóvel residencial, lembrando que a empresa é representada pelos mesmos advogados, com escritório na cidade de São Paulo", afirma o juiz Marcelo Sergio, que também cita reportagem da Folha.
A Costa Atlântico está no nome de Ana Maria Hauber, mas o filho dela, Anderson Hauber, é apontado como o verdadeiro dono da empresa. A Brazil Transporte está no nome da mulher de Anderson, Janaína Aparecida de Paula.
Os defensores contratados por ambas as empresas são do escritório Cordeiro Lima e Advogados. O cartório onde foi assinada a procuração também é o mesmo. Por isso, o juiz mandou ofício para apuração de eventuais irregularidades.
Uma barbearia funciona no endereço que deveria ser a sede da empresa Costa Atlântica Brazil - Fabrício Lobel/Folhapress
"Diante desse quadro, que pode caracterizar patrocínio irregular e/ou uso ilegal da função social da sociedade, para apuração de eventual ilícito (civil e criminal) e apuração de eventuais prejuízos ao erário, determino vista dos autos ao Ministério Público e encaminhamento de ofício à Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil", escreveu o magistrado. "Determino, ainda, seja oficiado ao Juiz Corregedor dos Cartórios Extrajudiciais de Itapetininga para apuração de eventuais irregularidades praticadas no 2º Tabelião de Notas e Protesto de Letras e Títulos de Itapetininga, que atestou a autenticidade das firmas emitidas nas procurações".
A reportagem procurou os advogados Ivan Lima e Amauri Saad, mas não os localizou. A reportagem deixou recado, mas não obteve retorno. Também não localizou nenhum responsável pelo cartório.
Oficialmente, a licitação ainda permanece barrada pela Justiça, uma vez que há outra decisão que suspende o certame.
A outra decisão é de primeira instância, da 13ª Vara da Fazenda. De acordo com o site do Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo, não há nenhuma decisão neste caso desde a liminar concedida para barrar o processo no dia 22. Reportagem da Folha também foi anexada aos autos deste processo.
Neste caso, o autor da ação, o empresário Romero Niquini, que chegou ter concessões de linhas em São Paulo, mas deixou de atuar na cidade.
Ele também ingressou no setor de coleta de lixo e, no início dos anos 2000, suas atividades chegaram a ser alvo do Ministério Público, sob a suspeita de favorecimento da sua atividade em prefeituras governadas pelo PT.
A tentativa de concluir o processo de licitação do sistema de ônibus na cidade se arrasta desde 2013. Hoje, esse sistema funciona com contratos emergenciais, mais custosos e menos exigentes em relação às empresas de ônibus.
ENTENDA AS IDAS E VINDAS DA LICITAÇÃO DOS ÔNIBUS EM SÃO PAULO
2013 - Projeto A gestão Fernando Haddad (PT) iniciou os estudos para elaborar um edital para a nova concorrência das empresas de ônibus em SP
2015 - Publicação Como o edital só foi publicado em outubro, a prefeitura precisou prorrogar os contratos vigentes 3 vezes
Barrado TCM barrou o edital sob alegação de que deixava dúvidas acerca da remuneração do sistema e não permitia a competição de novas empresas
2016 - Liberação Em julho, TCM liberou o edital e fez diversas recomendações a serem adotadas. Haddad, que perdeu a disputa pela prefeitura, deixou para João Doria (PSDB) a responsabilidade de definir as novas regras dos ônibus na cidade
2018 - Novo edital Uma nova versão do edital só ficou pronta em abril de 2018. Dias antes do recebimento das propostas, porém, o texto voltou a ser questionado pelo TCM. Segundo o tribunal, o documento ainda tinha vícios apontados na gestão Haddad
Prorrogação Bruno Covas (PSDB), que assume a prefeitura no lugar de Doria, tentou prorrogar, em julho, os contratos vigentes por um ano. Essa foi a sexta vez que isso aconteceu desde 2013. O TCM, contudo, considerou a prorrogação irregular. Covas então fez um contrato emergencial com as empresas, com vigência de seis meses
Mais uma vez TCM libera o edital em outubro. Em dezembro, prefeitura publica nova versão, mais cara
2019 - Outro bloqueio Justiça barra novamente a licitação, e prefeitura estuda novo contrato emergencial
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Starting Thursday, 11:07PM local time in Turkey, internet users started reporting that Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter had been blocked. Internet users in Turkey were forced to use a VPN to access their social media accounts. The government has started to tighten access to VPNs as well. Unfortunately, PayPal was denied a financial license renewal by the Turkish government and has withdrawn from Turkey. Bitcoin is now the best way for Turkish netizens to buy goods and services securely. The incident, the second attempt by Turkey to block access to Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter this month, reminds us that Turkey’s handful of Internet service providers (ISPs) work with the government to shut down access to parts of the Internet whenever it is deemed necessary. The ISPs then throttle traffic to and from target websites until they are unusable.
Like many other oppressive regimes, the Turkish government has direct control or influence over the actions of the country’s internet service providers and telecommunication companies. Turkey is regressing. For example, In Jammu and Kashmir in India, the internet killswitch is used on more websites than just Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. An internet watchdog group in Turkey, Turkey Blocks, believes that a new law in Turkey is being used which allows the military to bypass the Ministry of Communications to use the country’s Internet killswitch in times of national security emergencies. This internet killswitch is now being used with more frequency and with less provocation. Turkey’s government has not, and likely will not, make any official explanation for the block; the block subsided 7 hours after it started.
Twitter users from Turkey use a VPN to bypass internet censorship
Yes, both Facebook and Twitter seem to be blocked in Turkey once more. Anyone know why?
TT @handekuday: Our generation's gas lamp is VPN. — Ankaralı Jan (@06JAnk) August 25, 2016
Social media websites Twitter, Facebook and Youtube is down in #Turkey. No explanation(s) made on it yet. — Aylina Kılıç (@AylinaKilic) August 25, 2016
Twitter and Facebook are both blocked in Turkey. Always a good sign. — Ali Arikan (@aliarikan) August 25, 2016
This is a clear example of open internet censorship and ignoring its occurrence and reoccurrence allows it to become the new norm. Turkey does this kind of internet censorship all the time. During the July 15 coup, the Turkish government shutdown access to the same three websites. Last week, an explosion in Gaziantep also led to Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter being blocked.
Confirmed: Twitter, Facebook & YouTube blocked by throttling in #Turkey at 00:35AM after massive #Gaziantep blast pic.twitter.com/ZLhzcsofpm — Turkey Blocks (@TurkeyBlocks) August 20, 2016
This week’s episode of unwarranted internet censorship likely stems from a suicide bombing in Cizre, Turkey.
Eventually, Turkey’s Internet killswitch will be broken
An internet killswitch is always a bad idea. Some pundits around the world argue in favor of a government controlled internet killswitch. The world’s governments will always be able to find talking heads that will support their factually wrong view. Just look at the commentary surrounding the “golden key” to breaking strong encryption. Broken has so many meanings.
Meshnet technology is key to solving this problem. Imagine a world where the “main net” or “mainnet” has a regularly archived backup that is served by volunteers running nodes on your local meshnet? The future is coming, and there is no room for Internet censorship. | {
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The International Baccalaureate diploma program is an independent educational course that is taught all over the world. It is designed for high-school students to prepare them for the college level of self-involvement in the study process. It is an internationally recognized course that helps to enter universities all over the world and, of course, in the EU.
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There are several reasons why the IB diploma is valuable in higher academic institutions. For example, in the USA it is regarded as a college standard curriculum. And many UK and EU universities treat an IB diploma the same way. This program is available in the licensed schools in almost 150 countries and Hungary is no exception to that.
Hungarian Schools that Provide IB DP Program
Seven licensed IB DP schools in Hungary ensure the necessary courses and exams. The course is given in English, so it is also great to improve language skills if it is not your first language. Here are institutions where one can get an IB diploma in Hungary:
All of them help students to prepare for higher education and complete the program. IB increases the chances to enter a prestigious institution, but the curriculum is not very easy. It includes the core of the curriculum with the theory of knowledge, creativity, activity, the extended essay, etc. However, there is an opportunity to get help with written assignments like IB IA writing service. It can be very helpful in terms of proofreading to ensure that everything is great with the paper.
There are also high levels of subjects to choose from. It is better to choose high levels according to the future major you consider entering. It will provide extended knowledge and make you a more desirable applicant. It shows motivation and interest in the program as well as an ability to conduct research and activities regarding the topic.
Top EU Universities that you can enter with IB degree
It is worth mentioning that entering process and requirements differ in EU countries, however, the majority of the top universities are ready to take IB diploma holders to their courses. If you are completing this program in Hungary you are open to trying many countries, such as:
– Belgium. Here an IB diploma is equal to Flemish secondary school certificate. It means that you can enter any Belgium higher education institution with no additional efforts or examinations. The top five of them are KU Leuven, Ghent University, ULC, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and University of Antwerp. All of them offer amazing degrees that are highly respected all over the world.
– The Netherlands. Here IB diploma is also recognized to enter any university. The entering process is usually held before the final result, but it is enough to get approximate results confirmation from your school. However, they need to be confirmed when the marks are published. Some universities might provide additional requirements to IB students, it depends on the institution. The top 5 universities in the Netherlands are Wageningen University & Research, University of Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology, Leiden University, and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
– France. IB diploma allows entering French universities without any restrictions. It is one of the foreign certifications that are treated equally with local degrees. The best 5 institutions in France are Sorbonne University, École Polytechnique, University of Paris, Télécom Paris, and École Normale Supérieure de Lyon. They are open to international students to provide deep knowledge and research opportunities.
– Germany. The IB students are welcomed here too, but there are additional requirements regarding performance in a foreign language, Math and Science. It depends on the college you are aiming for. The best ones in Germany are LMU Munich, Technical University of Munich, Heidelberg University, Humboldt University of Berlin, and the University of Freiburg.
– Spain. IB degree is recognized here as equal to a Spanish secondary school certificate and allows entering any local institution. The most respectable of the are Pompeu Fabra University, Autonomous University of Barcelona, University of Barcelona, Autonomous University of Madrid, and the University of Navarra.
– The UK. The UK higher education system recognizes higher levels as A-levels among applicants to universities. It surely increases the chances to enter one of the well-respected UK institutions. Local institutions usually have the required point’s level to enter, which are different for various schools. The most popular and praised institutions are Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, UCL, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
–
– Switzerland. The academic institutions here also recognize IB degree, but they usually have minimum requirements to enter the course. You can enter one of the top-list schools, like ETH Zurich, University of Basel, University of Geneva, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne or University of Bern.
Conclusion
IB diploma offers amazing opportunities to students that are dreaming about EU universities. You can acquire an IB degree in Hungary in one of the seven wonderful schools and enter higher academic institutions almost in any part of the world. | {
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