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Twelve Indigenous Australians have just completed the world-famous New York marathon, thanks to a mentoring program run by Commonwealth Games legend Robert de Castella.
One year ago, the only running that WA participant 30-year-old Adrian Dodson-Shaw did was on a footy field.
But a call from De Castella's Indigenous marathon project marked a turning point in his life.
"To be given the news that I was successful was pretty special," Mr Dodson-Shaw said.
He took up running and lost 18 kilograms, training on Broome's famous Cable Beach — a stark contrast to the cold and windy conditions of New York.
"Basically I gave up drinking for over seven months and changed my thinking. It was good to stick to something and set a goal," he said.
De Castella says since he founded the project four years ago, 42 young Australians have made him immensely proud.
"It's an opportunity to celebrate Indigenous resilience and achievement," he said.
"It's an amazing journey. It's an incredible physical and emotional roller-coaster and challenge for them.
"If they can run a marathon in New York in five months then that translates to them being able to do pretty much anything they set their minds to.
"We talk about them being a rock that we drop in a pond and they're sending ripples out across their families and communities and across Australia."
Program participants had to complete several challenges, including a 30-kilometre run at Alice Springs, and finishing a Certificate 4 in leisure and health, before qualifying for the New York marathon.
Mr Dodson-Shaw said he participated in five camps through the program.
"The way you hold yourself through the year, and conduct yourself is really important," he said.
Mr Dodson-Shaw was WA's only entrant in the project this year and at 30, it was the father-of-two's last chance to get involved.
"Turning 30 in February, it was my last opportunity to give something a red-hot crack," he said.
His journey has not been without hurdles though.
Running the City to Surf in a sling
Mr Dodson-Shaw broke his collarbone playing football earlier this year and had to train with his arm in a sling.
"Two weeks after I did it, the doctors — cause I had City to Surf in Sydney — they said 'you're not going to run in it, there's no way'," he said.
"I ended up running in a sling and I ran the whole way."
Mr Dodson-Shaw says the icy and windy conditions on marathon day were a challenge, especially after training in the tropics.
"The conditions of the day... obviously it was very cold. We had cyclonic winds. It was like two degrees by the time we started," he said.
"The course, was tough. When you cross the line you actually cross it going uphill. It's not this dramatic sprint to the finish like most people think.
"After I rolled my ankle at 28 kilometres and it started swelling up... I started cramping there and everything was getting tight."
But he said it was all worth it.
"I shuffled and I didn't stop, just kept going and just to cross that line was the ultimate feeling of success because it's six months in the making what you've trained for," he said.
"When you finally realised that you've reached your dream, it's just a surreal feeling."
Mr Dodson-Shaw is hoping to use his experience to inspire other Kimberley locals to take on the challenge.
"Anyone can run. Running's so basic but setting goals has really been great for me," he said.
"A lot of people have a lot of potential, like all Indigenous people do. It's just what to do with it. And to have some direction and to have that mentoring.
"My experience it doesn't stop now. I'm a 2014 graduate and I feel like it's my obligation to spread the word about the Indigenous marathon project.
"It's such a great opportunity and you see so many things and at the end of the day you get an opportunity to go to New York and run a marathon." | {
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - David Toscano, the minority leader in the Virginia House, did the math and didn’t like the results.
“All five statewide offices are held by Democrats, and the presidency has been won by Democrats in Virginia for the last three cycles,” he said. “Yet 66 percent of the House of Delegates are Republicans.”
The Democrats do better in the Virginia Senate, where they are outnumbered just 21-19 by Republicans. Almost as lopsided as the state House of Delegates is Virginia’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representative: It has seven Republicans and four Democrats.
Toscano and other Democrats blame that imbalance on gerrymandering - the drawing of political districts to favor the party in power.
“We face a real uphill struggle, and it shows in the legislation that is getting defeated as well as the legislation that they are getting passed,” Toscano said.
Last week, for example, the General Assembly marked “crossover day” - the deadline for bills to pass their chamber of origin or be declared dead for the legislative session. Of bills sponsored by Republican delegates, 59 percent have won House approval and are still alive, according to a Capital News Service analysis of data from the Legislative Information Service. Of bills sponsored by Democratic delegates, just 25 percent survived crossover.
However, many legislators dispute the notion that unfair redistricting practices have disadvantaged Democrats and ensured Republican legislative dominance.
“It has nothing to do with gerrymandering. Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Jeff Ryer, communications director for the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus. He said the Republican majority in the General Assembly simply reflects where people live: Republicans tend to live in rural areas while Democrats tend to cluster in more densely populated areas, such as Tidewater and Northern Virginia.
Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, agrees. In an op-ed this month in the Richmond-Times Dispatch, he discussed what Democrats see as evidence of manipulated districts: “A state in which Republicans have lost seven statewide races in a row has a majority Republican congressional delegation and legislature.”
McDougle wrote, “That is not the result of gerrymandering, but an easy to understand consequence of Democrat voters living in communities surrounded by other Democrat voters.” In other words, he explained, “Democrat voters often reside in clusters, living in localities that vote overwhelmingly for Democrat candidates.”
Last fall’s presidential election was a case in point, McDougle said. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won only 40 of Virginia’s 133 localities. But by winning the most populous localities, often by “staggeringly large” margins, Clinton captured the statewide vote over Republican Donald Trump.
However, Bill Oglesby, an assistant professor in VCU’s Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, says gerrymandering explains why Democrats have so little power in the General Assembly.
“Even a conservative editorial page like the Richmond-Times Dispatch has said in a state that votes blue statewide on a consistent basis, there’s no justification for having two-thirds of the House be Republican,” said Oglesby, who recently directed and produced a PBS documentary titled “GerryRIGGED: Turning Democracy on Its Head.”
John Aughenbaugh, a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said both Democrats and Republicans have used gerrymandering, depending on which party is in the majority when political lines are redrawn every 10 years.
“In Virginia, like a majority of the states in the country, the state legislature controls the redistricting process after every census is taken,” Aughenbaugh said. “It puts a heavy premium on which political party is actually in control of the General Assembly after the census results come out.”
When the Democrats controlled the General Assembly, they drew the lines to benefit their party, Aughenbaugh said. He said no one is innocent, but it is a problem that must be fixed.
“Most political scientists would like to see greater competitive races, whether we are talking about state legislative seats or House of Representatives,” Aughenbaugh said. “We would like to see greater competition.”
The lack of competition is evident in statistics compiled by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. When the 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates were up for election two years ago, 61 of the races were uncontested - with just one name on the ballot.
Despite being in the minority in the House and Senate, Democratic legislators have an ace up their sleeve. They can play it when Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoes legislation, as he has done to 71 Republican-supported bills since taking office in 2014.
Republicans need a two-thirds majority in both chambers - 67 votes in the House and 27 in the Senate - to override a veto. They’ve never been able to muster that. As a result, not one of McAuliffe’s vetoes has been overturned.
But Democrats’ ultimate goal is to change the way political districts are drawn.
At the start of the legislative session, legislators - including some Republicans - introduced 13 bills and proposed constitutional amendments intended to take the politics out of redistricting. All of the proposals originating in the House died in the House Privileges and Elections Committee.
But three redistricting proposals won approval in the Senate and have been sent to the House for consideration:
. SJ 290 is a proposed constitutional amendment that states, “No electoral district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring any political party, incumbent legislator or member of Congress, or other individual or entity.” It is sponsored by Sens. Jill Vogel, R-Winchester, and Janet Howell, D-Reston.
. SJ 231, another constitutional amendment, would create an independent commission to redraw legislative and congressional districts after each census. It is sponsored by a group of Republicans and Democrats.
. SB 846, sponsored by Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, would require Virginia to use an independent commission if a court declares a legislative or congressional district unlawful or unconstitutional.
All of those measures have been assigned to the House Privileges and Elections Committee, the House graveyard for its own bills that would have changed redistricting.
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Release of KDE Frameworks 5.47.0
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English | Català | Galician | Italiano | Nederlands | Português | Svenska | Українська
June 09, 2018. KDE today announces the release of KDE Frameworks 5.47.0.
KDE Frameworks are 70 addon libraries to Qt which provide a wide variety of commonly needed functionality in mature, peer reviewed and well tested libraries with friendly licensing terms. For an introduction see the Frameworks 5.0 release announcement.
This release is part of a series of planned monthly releases making improvements available to developers in a quick and predictable manner.
New in this Version
Baloo
Terminate query execution early if subterm returns empty result set
Avoid crash when reading corrupt data from document terms db (bug 392877)
handle string lists as input
Ignore more types of source files (bug 382117)
Breeze Icons
updated handles and overflow-menu
Extra CMake Modules
Android toolchain: allow to specify extra libs manually
Android: Don't define qml-import-paths if it's empty
KArchive
handle zip files embedded within zip files (bug 73821)
KCMUtils
[KCModuleQml] Ignore disabled controls when tabbing
KConfig
kcfg.xsd - do not require a kcfgfile element
KConfigWidgets
Fix the "Default" color scheme to match Breeze again
KDeclarative
Set kcm context property on the correct context
[Plotter] Don't render if m_node is null (bug 394283)
KDocTools
Update the list of Ukrainian entities
add entity OSD to general.entites
Add entities CIFS, NFS, Samba, SMB to general.entities
Add Falkon, Kirigami, macOS, Solid, USB, Wayland, X11, SDDM to general entities
KFileMetaData
check that ffmpeg is at least version 3.1 that introduce the API we require
search for album artist and albumartist tags in taglibextractor
popplerextractor: don't try to guess the title if there isn't one
KGlobalAccel
Make sure ungrab keyboard request is processed before emitting shortcut (bug 394689)
KHolidays
holiday_es_es - Fix day of the "Comunidad de Madrid"
KIconThemes
Check if group < LastGroup, as KIconEffect doesn't handle UserGroup anyway
KImageFormats
Remove duplicated mime types from json files
KIO
Check if destination exists also when pasting binary data (bug 394318)
Auth support: Return the actual length of socket buffer
Auth support: Unify API for file descriptor sharing
Auth support: Create socket file in user's runtime directory
Auth support: Delete socket file after use
Auth support: Move task of cleaning up socket file to FdReceiver
Auth support: In linux don't use abstract socket to share file descriptor
[kcoredirlister] Remove as many url.toString() as possible
KFileItemActions: fallback to default mimetype when selecting only files (bug 393710)
Introduce KFileItemListProperties::isFile()
KPropertiesDialogPlugin can now specify multiple supported protocols using X-KDE-Protocols
Preserve fragment when redirecting from http to https
[KUrlNavigator] Emit tabRequested when path in path selector menu is middle-clicked
Performance: use the new uds implementation
Don't redirect smb:/ to smb:// and then to smb:///
Allow accepting by double-click in save dialog (bug 267749)
Enable preview by default in the filepicker dialog
Hide file preview when icon is too small
i18n: use plural form again for plugin message
Use a regular dialog rather than a list dialog when trashing or deleting a single file
Make the warning text for deletion operations emphasize its permanency and irreversibility
Revert "Show view mode buttons in the open/save dialog's toolbar"
Kirigami
Show action.main more prominently on the ToolBarApplicationHeader
Allow Kirigami build without KWin tablet mode dependency
correct swipefilter on RTL
correct resizing of contentItem
fix --reverse behavior
share contextobject to always access i18n
make sure tooltip is hidden
make sure to not assign invalid variants to the tracked properties
handle not a MouseArea, dropped() signal
no hover effects on mobile
proper icons overflow-menu-left and right
Drag handle to reorder items in a ListView
Use Mnemonics on the toolbar buttons
Added missing files in QMake's .pri
[API dox] Fix Kirigami.InlineMessageType -> Kirigami.MessageType
fix applicationheaders in applicationitem
Don't allow showing/hiding the drawer when there's no handle (bug 393776)
KItemModels
KConcatenateRowsProxyModel: properly sanitize input
KNotification
Fix crashes in NotifyByAudio when closing applications
KPackage Framework
kpackage_install_*package: fix missing dep between .desktop and .json
make sure paths in rcc are never derived from absolute paths
KRunner
Process DBus replies in the ::match thread (bug 394272)
KTextEditor
Don't use title case for the "show word count" checkbox
Make the word/char count a global preference
KWayland
Increase org_kde_plasma_shell interface version
Add "SkipSwitcher" to API
Add XDG Output Protocol
KWidgetsAddons
[KCharSelect] Fix table cell size with Qt 5.11
[API dox] Remove usage of \overload, resulting in broken docs
[API dox] Tell doxygen "e.g." does not end the sentence, use ".\ "
[API dox] Remove unneeded HTML escaping
Don't automatically set the default icons for each style
Make KMessageWidget match Kirigami inlineMessage's style (bug 381255)
NetworkManagerQt
Make information about unhandled property just debug messages
WirelessSetting: implement assignedMacAddress property
Plasma Framework
Templates: consistent naming, fix translation catalog names & more
[Breeze Plasma Theme] Fix kleopatra icon to use color stylesheet (bug 394400)
[Dialog] Handle dialog being minimized gracefully (bug 381242)
Purpose
Improve Telegram integration
Treat inner arrays as OR constraints rather than AND
Make it possible to constrain plugins by a desktop file presence
Make it possible to filter plugins by executable
Highlight the selected device in the KDE Connect plugin
fix i18n issues in frameworks/purpose/plugins
Add Telegram plugin
kdeconnect: Notify when the process fails to start (bug 389765)
QQC2StyleBridge
Use pallet property only when using qtquickcontrols 2.4
Work with Qt<5.10
Fix height of tabbar
Use Control.palette
[RadioButton] Rename "control" to "controlRoot"
Don't set explicit spacing on RadioButton/CheckBox
[FocusRect] Use manual placement instead of anchors
It turns out the flickable in a scrollview is the contentItem
Show focus rect when CheckBox or RadioButton are focused
hacky fix to scrollview detection
Don't reparent the flickable to the mousearea
[TabBar] Switch tabs with mouse wheel
Control must not have children (bug 394134)
Constrain scroll (bug 393992)
Syntax Highlighting
Perl6: Add support for extensions .pl6, .p6, or .pm6 (bug 392468)
DoxygenLua: fix closing comment blocks (bug 394184)
Add pgf to the latex-ish file formats (same format as tikz)
Add postgresql keywords
Highlighting for OpenSCAD
debchangelog: add Cosmic Cuttlefish
cmake: Fix DetectChar warning about escaped backslash
Pony: fix identifier and keyword
Lua: updated for Lua5.3
Security information
The released code has been GPG-signed using the following key: pub rsa2048/58D0EE648A48B3BB 2016-09-05 David Faure <[email protected]> Primary key fingerprint: 53E6 B47B 45CE A3E0 D5B7 4577 58D0 EE64 8A48 B3BB
Installing binary packages
On Linux, using packages for your favorite distribution is the recommended way to get access to KDE Frameworks. Binary package distro install instructions.
Compiling from sources
The complete source code for KDE Frameworks 5.47.0 may be freely downloaded. Instructions on compiling and installing KDE Frameworks 5.47.0 are available from the KDE Frameworks 5.47.0 Info Page.
Building from source is possible using the basic cmake .; make; make install commands. For a single Tier 1 framework, this is often the easiest solution. People interested in contributing to frameworks or tracking progress in development of the entire set are encouraged to use kdesrc-build. Frameworks 5.47.0 requires Qt 5.8.
A detailed listing of all Frameworks and other third party Qt libraries is at inqlude.org, the curated archive of Qt libraries. A complete list with API documentation is on api.kde.org.
Contribute
Those interested in following and contributing to the development of Frameworks can check out the git repositories , follow the discussions on the KDE Frameworks Development mailing list and contribute patches through review board . Policies and the current state of the project and plans are available at the Frameworks wiki . Real-time discussions take place on the #kde-devel IRC channel on freenode.net
You can discuss and share ideas on this release in the comments section of the dot article.
Supporting KDE
KDE is a Free Software community that exists and grows only because of the help of many volunteers that donate their time and effort. KDE is always looking for new volunteers and contributions, whether it is help with coding, bug fixing or reporting, writing documentation, translations, promotion, money, etc. All contributions are gratefully appreciated and eagerly accepted. Please read through the Donations page for further information or become a KDE e.V. supporting member through our new Join the Game initiative.
About KDE
KDE is an international technology team that creates free and open source software for desktop and portable computing. Among KDE's products are a modern desktop system for Linux and UNIX platforms, comprehensive office productivity and groupware suites and hundreds of software titles in many categories including Internet and web applications, multimedia, entertainment, educational, graphics and software development. KDE software is translated into more than 60 languages and is built with ease of use and modern accessibility principles in mind. KDE's full-featured applications run natively on Linux, BSD, Solaris, Windows and macOS.
Trademark Notices. KDE® and the K Desktop Environment® logo are registered trademarks of KDE e.V. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyrights referred to in this announcement are the property of their respective owners.
Press Contacts
For more information send us an email:
[email protected] | {
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Apple on Tuesday introduced AppleCare+ for iPhone, a new extended warranty service that combines traditional tech support, software support, and hardware support with the addition of the company's first accidental damage plan.
Like the traditional $69 version of AppleCare for iPhone that it replaces, the new $99 AppleCare+ for iPhone extends an iPhone's repair coverage and technical support to two years from the original purchase date but also adds coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to an owner's poor handling of the device.
Each accidental damage incident is subject to a $49 service fee and is available only for the iPhone and its original included accessories. In turn, Apple promises that the replacement equipment it provides to customers taking advantage of the "may be new or equivalent to new in both performance and reliability" — meaning either a new iPhone or a certified refurbished one.
AppleCare+ also bundles standard AppleCare features, such as software troubleshooting and telephone-based technical support, while also offering customers with repair needs the option for mail-in or carry-in repairs, and an express replacement service.
iPhones that exhibit defects in materials, workmanship or see their battery charge fall by 50 percent or more from original specification, remain eligible for a replacement from Apple at no cost under the new plan. Apple also notes that customers must purchased AppleCare+ together with their new iPhone, with the safest bet being to have both items appear on the same receipt (fine print).
For Apple, the new service marks the first time that company has offered accidental coverage for drops, spills, and other incidents caused by the owner. Previously, iPhone customers seeking full coverage of their device were left to seek out pricey third-party alternatives that sell for the same price or more. | {
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As one of the founders of Bitbuy, we are pleased to offer products and services to help facilitate and grow the bitcoin economy. Our passion goes deeper though, as our true love belongs to blockchain technology and its seemingly unlimited potential to solve problems in the Internet age.
At Bitbuy we want to provide access to the emerging world of crypto-currencies and give people a taste of blockchain technology.
It all started a few years ago with our first startup InstaBT, where we learned how how to make things easier for the end user. As exciting as crypto-currencies and blockchain technology was, it was/is still fairly complex, evolving quickly as disruptive open-source technologies tend to.
We realized that there was an obvious need to share this new technology with our family and friends, and ultimately the masses. We felt that once an individual learned about bitcoin and the blockchain, their question was always “How or where can I get some bitcoin?”
To address this recurring question, we created InstaBT.com, Canada’s first ‘online ATM’ for purchasing bitcoin as well as a featured deposit option for Interac funding on Vault of Satoshi, a now defunct Canadian bitcoin exchange. | {
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MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” panelists were eager Monday to undermine the compelling success of the first leg of President Donald Trump’s overseas trip and theorized that any foreign victories for the administration really don’t matter because his “presidency is literally in question.”
The president’s trip began in Saudi Araba Friday and will span nine days and five countries. On Sunday, Trump delivered a highly anticipated speech before representatives from over 50 Muslim-majority countries in which he urged them to join together to defeat violent extremism.
“You can debate [former President Barack] Obama and say he made mistakes, but we’re talking about a presidency that is literally in question at this point.”
More from LifeZette TV
MORE NEWS: Students Calling for College Professors To Be Fired For Attending ‘Back The Blue’ Rally in NY
But co-host Mika Brzezinski dismissed the president’s well-received speech and his overall efforts to reconnect with the United States’ traditional allies, insisting that “the entire conversation is on shaky ground” because of controversies permeating D.C.
“Here is the problem. This entire conversation is on shaky ground with what’s happening in Washington,” Brzezinski claimed. “You can debate [former President Barack] Obama and say he made mistakes, but we’re talking about a presidency that is literally in question at this point.”
Do you agree that protesting is acceptable, but rioting is not? Yes No Email Address (required) By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement Results Vote
Co-host Joe Scarborough attempted some push-back on Brzezinski, insisting that Trump’s domestic controversies and his foreign trip are “two different things” entirely.
[lz_jwplayer video=oSTISGMa]
“But the conversation that we’re having right now really doesn’t — you can debate Obama versus Trump right now but —” Brzezinski began to counter.
MORE NEWS: HYPOCRITE: Joe Biden and Anderson Cooper Push Social Distancing and Masks, Until The Cameras Are Off
“I’m not debating Obama versus Trump,” Scarborough interrupted. “We’re explaining what happened over the last 48 hours and you have to have some context on why he did what he did.”
Brzezinski maintained that the only important context is that “We can’t go a day without this president exploding.” Brzezinski did not explain what “explosions” rocked the president Saturday or Sunday, which together saw historic moments for the president without fresh major controversy.
Although Brzezinski conceded that the leaders in Saudi Arabia and Israel have been “very excited” about Trump and welcoming him to their countries, she couldn’t resist throwing one more barb at Trump’s international efforts.
“They’re very excited about Trump. I think that they also should be very, very nervous,” Brzezinski insisted.
[lz_related_box id=”798733″]
New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters latched onto Brzezinski’s dour tone and warnings, expressing doubt Congress will move forward on the president’s legislative agenda.
“Maybe before the Fourth of July recess there’s something that they do on Obamacare. Tax reform was always going to be hard. Whether or not that gets done, I have no idea,” Peters said. “I don’t hear a lot of optimism about that at this moment. Infrastructure looks like that could be harder.”
“But the overwhelming problem here, as you were getting at earlier here, is, at what point does all … of the scandal — the drip, drip, drip, of this slowly unspooling investigation, multiple investigations on multiple fronts — overwhelm the agenda politically, legislatively?” Peters continued. “And it’s hard to see at this point how it doesn’t when you have such damning revelations coming out almost hour by hour.” | {
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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mr Carney emphasised that any increases in interest rates would be "gradual"
The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has signalled that interest rates may rise this year.
In a keynote speech, Mr Carney said a rate rise "could happen sooner than markets currently expect".
The consensus among economists was that rates would rise in the first half of next year, or even earlier.
BBC economics editor Robert Peston said that although the comments point to an increase this year, any rise "will be small and gradual".
Mr Carney was speaking in London on Thursday at the annual Mansion House dinner attended by City and business grandees.
Mr Carney may be positioning himself at the vanguard of a hawkish consensus to raise rates early
'Gradual'
He acknowledged there was "already great speculation about the exact timing of the first rate hike" from their record low of 0.5%, adding that the decision was "becoming more balanced".
Mr Carney emphasised that there was "no pre-set course" on when to raise rates. There was more spare capacity in the economy that would need to be used up first, he said.
And he also reiterated that the timing of the first rise was less important than the speed at which subsequent increases were made.
"We expect that eventual increases in Bank rate will be gradual and limited," he said.
Speaking at the Mansion House just before Mr Carney, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed plans to give the Bank new powers to prevent the housing market from overheating.
These will include capping the size of mortgage loans compared to income or the value of the house.
The new powers would be given to the Bank's Financial Policy Committee by the end of this Parliament, Mr Osborne said.
He said: "We saw from the last crisis the dangerous temptations for politicians to leave the punch bowl where it is and keep the party going on for too long.
"I want to make sure that the Bank of England has all the weapons it needs to guard against risks in the housing market.
"I want to protect those who own homes, protect those who aspire to own a home, and protect the millions who suffer when boom turns to bust."
Too much risk
Mr Osborne also announced reforms to planning laws designed to increase the supply of housing. These should provide permission for up to 200,000 new homes, the government says.
The chancellor said the housing market did not pose an immediate threat to financial stability, but that if left unchecked, it may do so in the future.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption George Osborne: "There is no immediate cause for alarm"
He said the risks come from homeowners borrowing too much to pay for their houses. This is a problem not just for the borrowers, but for the banks that lend them the money, he said.
There are concerns that when interest rates rise from their current record lows, many homeowners could struggle with their mortgage repayments.
Earlier on Thursday, Business Secretary Vince Cable said he was "appalled" that some banks had been lending five times a mortgage applicant's income, suggesting a "stable level" was up to 3.5 times.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics found prices rising at an annual rate of 17% in London, compared with 8% in the UK as a whole. This has led to fears that an unsustainable bubble is developing in the housing market.
However, last week the Nationwide Building Society said it had seen signs that house price rises were starting to cool, while the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said momentum in the housing market was beginning to slow.
Analysis: Jonty Bloom, BBC Business Correspondent
Mark Carney was headhunted from Canada to be the Governor of the Bank of England.
That is why his speeches are occasionally enlivened with obscure references to ice hockey, moose or, as in Thursday's speech, a rather strained metaphor linking central banking to canoeing.
But it was a much less colourful line in the speech that grabbed the headlines.
The first rate hike "could happen sooner than markets currently expect", he said.
Let me translate from Canadian. Everyone has been betting interest rates won't rise this year. They are wrong.
Until Thursday the consensus was that rates would stay at 0.5% for until at least the beginning of next year and possibly longer.
But the economy is now growing far more strongly than predicted, and that means the Bank is thinking about when to raise rates and calm things down. | {
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Scientists have discovered a new exoplanet just 100 light years away that seems much like a young Jupiter. And its entire solar system may be similar enough to our own to give us a glimpse into the distant past.
The planet 51 Eri b, reported in a study published Thursday in Science, is the first to be discovered by a new instrument called the Gemini Planet Imager, an international project that includes key Canadian contributions.
Unlike the Kepler space telescope, which has found more than 1,000 exoplanets by looking for the telltale dimming of their stars as they pass in front of them, the GPI looks for the glow of the planet itself. GPI’s mechanical structure was built at NRC Herzberg, the astronomy and astrophysics institute in British Columbia, and software components were written by researchers at Toronto’s Dunlap Institute and the Universite de Montreal.
“Since Kepler looks for the shadow of the planet as it passes in front of the star, it’s good at identifying planets really close to their stars,” said study author Rahul I. Patel, a PhD student at Stony Brook University. “To get a good look at a planet that’s the same distance from its star as Earth is from the sun, you’d have to wait, say, three years to see three passes.”
But if a planet has an orbit that takes more than a couple of years, the waiting game to confirm its existence can stretch on for a lifetime.
That’s where GPI comes in: It’s suited for small, distant planets.
“This looks at really far-out planets — no pun intended,” Patel said.
And the younger, the better — since they’re still hot from their creation, young planets will glow more brightly in infrared.
“Finding these exoplanets is difficult,” Patel explained. “You’re basically looking for a firefly that’s really close to a flood lamp, standing about a mile away and looking through a glass of water.”
The water, he said, is the atmosphere, which blurs the light of the host star. GPI has to cancel out the star’s light (turning off the flood lamp) and then correct for the distortion caused by the atmosphere, which blurs the glow of the planet as well.
To confirm the planet, the GPI can then analyze its chemical fingerprint.
In this case, that analysis produced a planet about twice the mass of Jupiter — the smallest exoplanet ever imaged — that orbits at about the same distance as Saturn. It’s also much colder, at -425 C, and has unusually strong signs of methane.
All of that points to a sort of baby Jupiter — a planet much like we believe Jupiter was in its infancy, albeit hotter.
“51 Eri b is the first one that’s cold enough and close enough to the star that it could have indeed formed right where it is the ‘old-fashioned way,’ ” Bruce Macintosh, a professor of physics at Stanford University who heads the GPI project, said in a statement. “This planet really could have formed the same way Jupiter did — the whole solar system could be a lot like ours.”
And there’s more: This solar system, home to a sun just 20 million years old, features a pair of dust belts that could be just like the ones in our solar system.
Our neighbourhood is sandwiched by two dust belts, which contain the remnants of planet formation. There’s a warm dust belt — the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — and the cold dust belt, the Kuiper, which borders the edge of the solar system and is home to mysterious objects such as Pluto.
According to data from the GPI and NASA’s Herschel telescope, 51 Eri’s solar system is sandwiched by hot and cold dust belts as well.
Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...
“This architectural similarity to our own system sort of hints at something that might look like what our solar system did early on,” Patel said. It’s not guaranteed that this younger system will evolve the same way ours did, but it certainly could.
For now, the researchers will work on studying the new planet’s orbit and better pinning down its chemical makeup, as well as keeping an eye out for more planets within the system. | {
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} |
On June 16, 2006, a 16-year-old girl named Bree Avery posted a video to her YouTube account, Lonelygirl15. At the time, YouTube was just over a year old. Wide-eyed and low-res, she sat in front of her webcam, naming her favorite vloggers, contorting her face, and bemoaning her boring hometown. If you watch it now for the first time, the video wouldn’t seem like anything special, but thousands tuned in. Hundreds of thousands more soon joined, as she talked about boy problems, her strict family, and their strange religion.
Things grew captivatingly darker from there: Over 262 video posts viewers discovered that Avery’s parents were actually involved in a secret society know as the Order and that she was being harvested for her life-extending blood. Avery and her friends tried to run away, but the cult chased them. By the time Bree sacrificed herself so that her friends could live free from the Order, her videos had been viewed 60 million times.
Of course, a couple months into that first season of Lonelygirl15, most the viewers knew what they were really watching—a semi-scripted hoax, produced with actors in a Los Angeles bedroom, that nonetheless engaged audiences on a new platform like nothing had before.
Ten years later, five of the show’s key players discuss the legacy of Lonelygirl15.
Miles Beckett (co-creator): I’m originally a doctor. When I dropped out of the surgery program I was in and I moved back to Los Angeles, I was really just obsessed with online video. I discovered YouTube in fall of 2005, and became obsessed. I was was falling asleep one night, when I had the original nugget of an idea around Lonelygirl. I thought about how I didn’t know if any of the videos on YouTube were real or not—you kind of blur the lines of reality and fiction. I thought it’d be really cool if there was a story that could be told from the perspective of a video blogger. Then I connected with Mesh Flinders, a friend of a friend of mine. We met at a karaoke bar in L.A. called the Gaslite, and I told him the idea.
Mesh Flinders (co-creator): We were both just young, ambitious filmmakers. He told me about this thing called YouTube and said he had an idea for a story on YouTube [in which] someone would disappear. I had this character that had been in two different screenplays, and she was a young precocious teen.
Beckett: Over two weeks we wrote out the whole narrative of what would be Lonelygirl15.
Flinders: We quit our jobs in the beginning. We had raised a little bit of money to sustain ourselves over the first six months.
Beckett: The investors were Visa and MasterCard. There were really three of us who created it: me, Mesh, and Greg Goodfried. Mesh and I wrote it together, and Greg and I produced it. Greg and I went, between the two of us, about $50,000 into debt on our credit cards. Film Independent in L.A. gave us free casting space and free resources. We just saw a bunch of actors, and that’s how we ended up finding Jessica and Yousef.
Yousef Abu-Taleb (actor who played Daniel): I was a server at Red Lobster. I saw an audition opportunity on Craigslist of all places. It was called “Children of Anchor Cove” and it was supposed to be a little independent movie. All the other people went in for the audition dressed to impress—wearing Abercrombie, which nobody wears now, but back then it was the thing. I had a totally different take—ripped-up jeans, nerdy shirt, the hair going forward.
Beckett: Our first day of casting we were pretty bummed. Yousef was on the first day, so we were happy about that, but we knew that, obviously, Lonelygirl was the anchor, and we hadn’t seen anybody great. Then Jessica came on the second day. She was amazing.
Jessica Lee Rose (actress who played Bree, aka Lonelygirl15): It was when I first started acting in Los Angeles, so I submitted myself on Craigslist. I submitted two separate headshots and they called me in on one of the younger-looking headshots, and I just auditioned. As I was leaving, I let them know that I had been homeschooled, which worked out really well, because obviously they were looking for someone who wasn’t going to be too well-known in public.
Flinders: I remember both Miles and I looking at each other and saying, “That’s it. That’s her.” We didn’t want to do the show unless we could find the right girl. We need that right blend of naïveté and innocence, but also really ferocious intelligence because she’s been homeschooled. I was homeschooled and I grew up in a very isolated commune, similar to her. So I knew there were some things she would know where she would be very advanced and for some things she would be completely behind. I think Jess really fit the bill because she hadn’t kicked around Los Angeles for very long. So there was still this very fresh, vibrant innocence about her that we weren’t getting from the other actors.
Beckett: We knew we needed someone who had limited social media exposure. At the time that was possible—now it’d probably be impossible. Jessica was from New Zealand and had just moved to the United States. She had a Myspace, but we took it down.
Abu-Taleb: I met Jess and we read together. Man, we had some awesome chemistry. I actually was more excited when I heard what they really wanted to do. Miles and Mesh asked Jess and I to meet them at this café down on Melrose Avenue. They explained to us that they were making the movie eventually but first they were making a series online. It was going to have all kinds of weird little things in it, like cult activities. We were just supposed to be online for a little while and then we’d disappear. Once enough people had wondered where we were and we got enough press, we would actually be filming a movie and we would’ve came out with Lonelygirl15 the movie.
Rose: When we got there, they told us it was actually going to be on the internet, and that it was going to be on this thing called YouTube, and it was going to be called “Lonelygirl15.” My heart just dropped, because, in my eyes, you know, you move to L.A. as a young girl, your parents tell you to be careful. I’d gotten so excited when I booked this movie that when they told me what it was, I was like, “This is one of those scams. This is probably porn, or something really dodgy.” I was really upset.
Beckett: Yeah, it was a problem initially with Jess. She had gotten cast in something before, and the producer was totally sketchy.
Rose: Actually, Miles called me later on, because he could tell that I was not into it anymore, and was like, “It’s not porn! I promise!”
Beckett: I was like, “Look, I know that’s the only context around [online] video you’re aware of right now, but it’s not porn. I’m a good person. You can talk to my parents. There is going to be a big industry around online video, it’s just starting right now.”
Rose: At that time, I did have a Myspace, but I didn’t use it often. I had an e-mail, but I also checked maybe once a week. The internet just… for me, it wasn’t what it is today, where you use it every five minutes. They had us watch a few YouTube channels. I found it really strange and voyeuristic just watching this other person’s life. I watched that and I was like, “Okay, that’s kind of cool. I get it. Sort of.”
Beckett: We did up Mesh’s bedroom like a 16-year-old girl’s.
Flinders: We went to target and we bought about $200 worth of girly things that we thought a teenager would have in their room. That included, like a bedspread, a couple posters, and some stuffed animals. We just rearranged the room to look like it could be this girl’s bedroom in the Midwest or in some small town.
Rose: It made Mesh’s dating life very hard. He had a roommate and everything. Every time we come over, we’d sort of just decorate the apartment out, and cover the big air conditioning unit on the wall with this, what looks like a canopy full of teddy bears and stuff. Eventually we just left it like that.
Flinders: The first episode was called Dorkiness Prevails and it’s was one of my favorite ones. We just set up the webcam and had her say her lines. I don’t remember if that first episode was a lot or a little improv. We always started out with a script and kind of went from there. In the beginning, the trick was getting her involved with the other YouTubers because it was such a small community and so we were trying to captivate that audience before we started telling our story.
Beckett: Basically we were growth hacking YouTube before the phrase “growth hack” existed. Not only was I watching tons of videos on YouTube, I was basically trying to figure out how YouTube worked in the sense of: How did a video get to the front page of YouTube? I discovered there were really three main sections that mattered in YouTube. There was a most-commented section and those videos actually got a fair amount of traffic, and the bar to get into the most-commented section was a lot lower than the bar to get into the most-viewed section. Through the Lonelygirl account, we added friends on YouTube, and we actually did something that a lot of YouTubers do now, which is we did call-outs. We posted a couple videos without the actress in them. Those videos called out to popular YouTubers, and we would comment on their videos, and ask them to check out our video. So that drove comments on those videos, and got them some views.
Rose: The momentum of the first video was massive. At the time, I think it got over 100,000 views, which was insane on YouTube then. That was a lot.
Beckett: Every single comment that somebody would write, we would write back. Through that, we were able to get the videos consistently into the most-discussed section. It worked shockingly well, because by July 4th we had our first video to get half a million views, which was the video My Parents Suck. Other things that worked: really good freeze-frame thumbnails for videos—big eyes, usually a girl, something crazy happening, something that makes people want to click. At the time YouTube would automatically take a thumbnail from the middle of the video. I would obsessively edit the videos, and then test upload them, to get the perfect freeze-frame, because you couldn’t control that in any other way. It was like click-bait before there was click-bait.
Abu-Taleb: In the beginning there was constantly comment wars on YouTube. People would say, “It’s fake” and other people would say, “No, it’s not fake. If it was fake, the production value would be way better.” In the beginning, it was just four of us and a little crappy web camera and a nightstand that was actually broken.
Rose: I had two jobs other than Lonelygirl. I had a job at Abercrombie & Fitch and a job at T.G.I. Friday’s. Yousef was bartending. When it started to get popular they were like, “We don’t want you out.” They took out a loan so they could pay us a very small salary to not go to work, and just do Lonelygirl. I was out at the bookstore once in Santa Monica, just sort of, enjoying stuff. I got home, and one of the comments on the thing was, “I could’ve sworn I saw you at Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica today.” And they were like, “But I knew for sure it couldn’t be you, because there’s no way you’d be in Santa Monica.”
Flinders: Jess was having to wear a hat and sunglasses. She couldn’t go out of her apartment. It was getting to a point where people were writing directly to us—because we maintained the account for Lonelygirl—and saying, “I know you’re a fraud and I’m going to expose you.” People hacked us and that just freaked us out.
Jenni Powell (superfan-turned-crew member): I was working in reality TV at the time, but was really feeling unfulfilled and had just started watching a lot of internet videos. A friend of mine came up to me and said, “Have you been watching these videos from this girl Bree? I’m really worried about her.” He showed me a couple videos, and I went, “This is brilliant, because it’s just scripted, and I want to know who’s doing it.” I started doing research, and I found a lot of the early forums that were talking about Lonelygirl15 and speculating if it was real or not—including one called Anchor Cove. People had found castings on Craigslist for a project called “The Children of Anchor Cove” that sounded oddly similar to what was happening on Lonelygirl. Their whole theory was that this was that production. One of the members of that fan site was John Green, who later went on to become on half of the Vlogbrothers and started VidCon. He was the last hold out. I think he was the last person on the forum who was like, “You’re all crazy. This is a giant conspiracy theory. She’s a real girl.”
Rose: I remember about two months in that, I think it was The Tyra Banks Show, asked Bree to come on her show. Bree—not me—the character. I was like, I absolutely cannot do that. I don’t think I could’ve pulled it off. And I just thought it was too much. It wasn’t in line with the story or anything like that. That was when it started to get kind of out of hand, with the whole press sensation.
Beckett: Richard Rushfield at the Los Angeles Times set up basically a sting operation where he had somebody put a javascript exploit on their Myspace page, because Myspace was totally insecure. Then they wrote a message to Lonelygirl. We clicked on that message, landed on this kid’s Myspace page, and the javascript had an IP tracker embedded in it.
Flinders: The decision was made for us. We were either going to admit to it or the whole world was going to know about it.
Beckett: We were terrified that if the press went the wrong way, maybe people would hate us. But after the press, viewership skyrocketed even more.
Rose: At that point we were like, great, we can get out of this bedroom. We’d been confined to this room for such a long time. I was pretty excited to get Bree on the road and do more fun things. That sort of cultish stuff had been coming in for a while, and that was kind of exciting to be leaking in there. But then it went really crazy once we were allowed to do whatever we wanted and make it as unrealistic as possible.
Abu-Taleb: It was like, now we’re not going to turn this into a movie. Now we actually have to turn it into a story and make the story work. It sort of just turned into this type of show that you never expect and you could never do with any other medium. Anybody can be a part of a movie, but not everyone can be a part of the birth of some new type of entertainment.
Beckett: It was the No. 1 channel on YouTube from subscribers and views, for six months to a year, around when YouTube was bought by Google. We were meeting with every single studio and network in town, and it was really hard to explain to people what the opportunity was, or where it was headed. Our first advertiser was Hersey’s. They took a chance on Ice Breakers Sours gum. We did a little product placement. Neutrogena was our first six-figure sponsor. We actually created a character, Spencer Gilman. He was an “employee” of Neutrogena.
Rose: It was kind of my decision to have Bree die. I was the only way that Bree was going to go down. She just couldn’t be like, “Peace. I’m out. Maybe I’ll come back and maybe not!” She had to die. We went into contract re-negotiations and it just wasn’t going to work. It kind of felt like Bree was up in the air. They were adding in all these new characters, and we didn’t know what to do with her. She sort of had gone a little too far into this whole cult thing. It was very hard to bring her back as the original Bree, as how she’d been in the beginning. I think that made her a bit stuck, and it made it not the Bree that I had enjoyed playing in the beginning. So then they decided, “Yeah, she’s going to die. We’re going to make it, like, epic.”
Jenni Powell: They continued the series with additional girls that were running from the Order. That’s when I started working on the show itself. But prior to that, I was making fan content, because that was the next step of being a superfan. The show was interactive and the whole point is that anybody could be part of the story. There were a lot of people creating their own fan content, either as themselves or character that they built that were trying to interact with the characters. I actually took a completely different route with it. It was Anne Frank video blogging and it was called Lonelyjew15. I was kind of pushing the envelop. The Lonelygirl creators saw it and reached out to me and asked if I would come work on their show.
Abu-Taleb: I went on to be the longest-running character on that show. My favorite thing about playing Daniel was the arc I got to play. I started off as a loser—somebody with no confidence, no anything—and my character got to grow. As things happened to him, he matured and became less uneasy with the world. He got a girlfriend finally. He got a couple girlfriends, to be honest. That was cool.
Beckett: All of the Lonelygirl shows ended by the end of 2008. The primary reason we stopped was there was no money. This was when the economy crashed. I remember when I first had the idea for Lonelygirl I thought to myself: Somebody is going to do this—some other scripted series on YouTube probably would have played around with reality and fiction. I feel like we were part of a movement, part of something that was just seminal to the generation.
Flinders: When I look at YouTube now—and I admit I don’t look at it very often—I don’t see many ongoing stories or larger worlds being explored the way that ours were. I see one-off videos about how to do your makeup, videos about how to cook. It’s much closer to reality television than the cinematic stuff that interests me. Now I’m directing a film called “God of Rain and Thunder” about a teenager who was raised isolated from the rest of the world but wanted desperately to be a part of it; who admires their parents for their religious beliefs and questions them at the same time. I wasn’t satisfied with the way we left the character of Bree. I always knew I would return to that character
Beckett: I bought back all of the rights to Lonelygirl in 2012. I just wanted to preserve the property, and knew that the anniversary would be coming up. I started talking to Jenni Powell about the anniversary. Jenni started as a fan, then worked on the show. Since then, she has become an Emmy Award-winning web series producer. Jenni had always thought it would be cool to produce some new Lonelygirl content. She has a production company, and they have a really cool concept for a way to basically bring the series, or the universe, to life with a new series for a new audience.
Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
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Chinese Police Dub Censorship Circumvention Tools As 'Terrorist Software'
from the nice-social-score-you-have-there;-be-a-shame-if-anything-happened-to-it dept
The Great Firewall of China is pretty well-known these days, as is the fact that it is by no means impenetrable. The Chinese authorities aren't exactly happy about that, and we have seen a variety of attempts to stop its citizens from using tools to circumvent the national firewall. These have included Chinese ISPs trying to spot and block the use of VPNs; deploying China's Great Cannon to take out anti-censorship sites using massive DDoS attacks; forcing developers of circumvention tools to shut down their repositories; and pressuring Content Delivery Networks to remove all illegal circumvention, proxy and VPN services hosted on their servers.
Despite years of clampdown, anti-censorship tools are still being used widely in China -- one estimate is that 1-3% of China's Internet users do so, which would equate to millions of people. However, Global Voices has a report of police action in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, whose indigenous population is Turkic-speaking and Muslim, that may be the harbinger of even tougher measures against circumvention tools. It concerns a leaked police report, which contains the following passage: A netizen in Changji (online account number: XXXXX IP: XXXXX) is suspected of downloading a violent and terrorist circumvention software at 12:42:21 on October 13. The software can run on mobile for sending different types of documents. Once installed, the software can be operated on the mobile management tool set for searching documents, games, backing up photos and sending text messages. This software has been classified by Public Security Bureau as second class violent and terrorist software. What's worrying here is that the unnamed circumvention tool is classed as "violent and terrorist software," albeit only of the second class. As Global Voices points out: Judging by the "function" described in the case report, the circumvention tool is merely giving its user access to overseas search engines and cloud storage. While the document specifically says that the circumvention tool has been classified by the public security bureau as a type of "second class violent and terrorist software", there is no public information describing how it was classified as such, or what other products share this classification. This leaves Internet users with no way to know if their software or other tools are legal or not. Labelling something as "terrorist" is an easy way to justify making it illegal, and to try to head off any criticism of doing so. The Global Voices article notes that this move may be a purely local one, reflecting the continuing state of unrest in Xinjiang. But if it proves a useful way of framing things, it could easily be rolled out across the country.
The Global Voices article points out that there's another way the Chinese authorities might start to make the use of VPNs and other circumvention tools more risky: by making it a part of the "citizen score" system that is currently being developed to spot "pre-crime". A person with no overseas business using circumvention tool to communicate with people outside the country can be viewed as suspicious. And in the case of Xinjiang, where the authorities see 90% of the violent and terrorist crimes are related to getting access to censored information, detecting the downloading and usage of circumvention tool is part of the pre-crime crackdown. That approach would have the advantage that those doing business abroad using VPNs would be largely unaffected -- important for the Chinese economy. But those who are using them purely as circumvention tools to access "forbidden" material beyond the Great Firewall might find that their citizen score drops as a result. Even if circumvention tools aren't classed as terrorist software and banned outright, increasing the social cost of being seen to employ them might be just as effective.
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Filed Under: china, circumvention, freedom, internet freedom, law enforcement, police, terrorist software, vpn | {
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Four teenagers were in custody Friday for allegedly carjacking and kidnapping a law enforcement officer who was on vacation in Florida.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings called the suspects high school students "playing a dangerous game."
Demings announced the arrest of the first three suspects -- ages 18, 16 and 15 -- on Friday afternoon. The final suspect, an 18-year-old, was arrested Friday night.
They are facing charges of armed kidnapping, carjacking with a firearm and aggravated battery with a firearm, the sheriff's office said.
LA Carjacking, Police Chase Ends in Capture
Georgia Father Jumps on Moving SUV to Save Son in Carjacking
A federal law enforcement officer from Texas, who was on vacation with his family, was in a hotel parking lot in Orange County on Wednesday night, when four people forced him into his car at gunpoint, Demings said at a news conference, according to WFTV.
The victim, 44, was driven around for about 1 to 2 hours, Demings said. At least one suspect was armed, Demings said, and the victim was pistol-whipped.
The victim was also bound and restrained in the car, Demings said. The suspects took the victim's wallet, as well, Demings said.
But the terrifying kidnapping soon came to an end.
After the victim's wife hadn't heard from him, she notified the police through the OnStar auto security system, Demings said. An OnStar representative placed a call to the car and heard someone screaming for help, said Demings. When the suspects heard the OnStar operator, they ditched the victim and fled in the car, allowing the victim to free himself, Demings said.
The car was abandoned and later recovered, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
The victim was hospitalized for minor injuries, Demings said, and has since been released.
There's no indication that the victim was targeted because he's a federal officer, Demings said, adding that the victim was not armed at the time.
"Because he was a law enforcement officer, I believe that he was well trained, he had a certain amount of calmness," Demings said.
It's not yet been determined if the teens will face trial as adults, Sheriff's Office Captain Angelo Nieves told ABC News. | {
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IF YOU WEAR HIGH HEELS TO AN AMUSEMENT PARK FOR 12 HOURS you're gonna have a bad time
138 shares | {
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Last September, less than two weeks before Judge Brett Kavanaugh would be confirmed to the Supreme Court, a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct during the 1983 - 1984 academic year - claiming Kavanugh waved his penis in her face during a drunken dormitory party and "caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away."
Specifically, accuser Deborah Ramirez told the New Yorker's Ronan Farrow that she remembered "a penis being in front of my face," and that despite being inebriated, someone encouraging her to "kiss it."
Despite acknowledging "significant gaps in her memories of the evening" due to being incredibly drunk, Ramirez then recalls someone yelling down a hallway "Brett Kavanaugh just put his penis in Debbie's face!"
In response, Kavanaugh said last September: "This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name—and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building—against these last-minute allegations."
And when asked about it during his confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh said that if there were any truth to the allegations, they would have been "the talk of campus."
After making that statement, the New York Times' Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly spent the next 12 months hard at work piecing together accounts of Kavanaugh's alleged Yale dick wavings - which are ostensibly detailed in their new book : "The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation."
NYT's Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly
Per The Federalist's Mollie Hemmingway, however, Porgrebin and Kelly's report contradicts their own previous work on the topic.
Ah... I couldn’t figure out why the NYT ran it as commentary/analysis and not A1 news. This makes more sense. https://t.co/GPiqPBx6ob — John Noonan (@noonanjo) September 15, 2019
According to their report, "At least seven people, including Ms. Ramirez’s mother, heard about the Yale incident long before Mr. Kavanaugh was a federal judge. Two of those people were classmates who learned of it just days after the party occurred, suggesting that it was discussed among students at the time."
What's more, the duo also "uncovered a previously unreported story about Mr. Kavanaugh in his freshman year that echoes Ms. Ramirez’s allegation" in which Kavanaugh's penis was thrust into a woman's hand by onlookers.
A classmate, Max Stier, saw Mr. Kavanaugh with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party, where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student. Mr. Stier, who runs a nonprofit organization in Washington, notified senators and the F.B.I. about this account, but the F.B.I. did not investigate and Mr. Stier has declined to discuss it publicly. (We corroborated the story with two officials who have communicated with Mr. Stier.) -New York Times
Kavanaugh has denied Ramirez's allegations and would not talk to the Times about the new allegation. President Trump, meanwhile, isn't buying any of it.
Can’t let Brett Kavanaugh give Radical Left Democrat (Liberal Plus) Opinions based on threats of Impeaching him over made up stories (sound familiar?), false allegations, and lies. This is the game they play. Fake and Corrupt News is working overtime! #ProtectKavanaugh — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2019
The rest of the Times report revolves around Kavanaugh being a rich white kid, while Ramirez - who "grew up in a split-level ranch house in working-class Shelton, Conn." was a trailblazing female minority who says his penis ended up in her face. You can read the rest here if so inclined. | {
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} |
本日4月22日13時〜17時まで、千代田区一ツ橋の学術総合センターで、「著作権侵害サイトのブロッキング要請に関する緊急提言シンポジウム」が開催されています。この中でブロガー、著作家の山本一郎さんが登壇し、海賊版漫画サイトの「漫画村」についての調査結果を語りました。
山本一郎さんによると、「漫画村」は2017年11月時点で月間6000万円前後の売上があったと推測。収入源の1つはサイトに掲載されている広告で、最も売上として大きかったのは“大手アダルトサイトD社”（山本一郎さんいわく「アダルト系でDがつく会社というとあまり多くはないと思われますが」とのこと）からの月間売上約350万円。掲載頻度が20％に設定されており、アドネットワークでの月間売上はおよそ1900万円とのこと。
海賊版サイトの主な収入について
その他、中堅出会い系サイトC社のタイアップ広告が週間売上80万円／週、別のタイアップ広告の月間売上1400万円／月などの広告収入があったとしています。
なお、以前ねとらぼで、漫画村は“発火型”の広告（サイト利用者が広告の商品を実際に購入するとサイト運営元に利益が入る）を掲載していたと報じました（関連記事）が、実際にはこのタイプはあまり売れないことを見込んでおり、メインはペイ・パー・ビュー型広告（広告がサイトに掲載された回数に応じて収入になる）だったそうです。
さらに別の収入源として、アドテクノロジー会社G社からOEMを受けたY社に対して、ユーザーのアクセスログやクッキー情報の販売も行っていたとのこと。つまり、「漫画村」の利用者データが販売されていたということになります。なお、このユーザー情報の販売売上額については不明です。 | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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I should learn my finals schedule | {
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Join the talks and learn more about NIX.
Since the first development round table has been very well received, we decided to host another one on Saturday December 1st, 2018 at 12:30 PM CDT.
We want to inform all of you about the recent development happenings and breakthroughs, for example:
Delegated Proof of Stake
Ghost Node Fee Scheduling
Mobile Wallets
Upcoming and Planned Developments
and much more!
The round table will feature an initial talk by Lead Developer jackieboy and will then transition into a more casual chat among all present community members.
To be a part of the round table, make sure to first join the NIX Discord Server and then the #round-table text and voice channels!
We are looking forward to a lot of participants and will release the second issue of the NIX Newsletter and Devlog shortly after. | {
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dont worry, jail isn't so bad they let you out for an hour a day
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There’s a particular spot in England that you might not think of as a tourist attraction — until you see it during Christmas.
A plastic tunnel, called the Bude Tunnel, connects a parking lot to an adjacent supermarket in Bude, Cornwall, England. At any other time of year, it’s a fairly innocuous area. However, it’s actually listed as a tourist attraction on TripAdvisor.
In fact, back in September, the tunnel was actually ranked one of the best attractions in the area on the site, with more than 160 comments on it, many of which rated it as “excellent,” according to the BBC. It’s since been nicknamed “Britain’s unlikeliest tourist attraction.”
According to the tunnel’s profile on TripAdvisor, it consists of 36 metal arches and is over 70 meters (nearly 230 feet) long. “Nowhere else in Bude can you walk this far undercover in a continuous straight line,” it says on the profile.
Sounds...great?
Even though it’s a popular spot during most of the year, it’s especially “magical,” according to reviews on TripAdvisor, in December. And looking at the photos, it’s easy to see why.
People have been flocking to the tunnel to ring in the holiday season. The tunnel itself is outfitted with thousands of multicolored Christmas lights, making it a truly Instagram-worthy destination.
Still, there are a few doubters who are puzzled by the tunnel’s popularity, according to Cornwall Live. Many other reviewers don’t seem to understand the tunnel’s hilarious and ironic draw. One reviewer said, “Folks I'm not even sure why this has been created as a place! It's a Perspex tunnel at the side of a supermarket - we did use it as the Sainsbury's car park is free for 90 mins so it came in handy but I wouldn't go out of your way to visit and I certainly don't think it's of any architectural importance,” according to Cornwall Live.
The official lighting of the tunnel took place on Dec. 7, and the lights will continue to be up through Dec. 13, according to the BBC. Hopefully the massive influx of visitors will convince the tunnel owners to keep the lights up for a few more weeks. Maybe even a gift shop is in order. | {
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New Delhi: A Bill in the Lok Sabha seeks to put a limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes to be served in weddings to check “show of wealth" and wants those spending above Rs5 lakh to contribute towards marriages of poor girls.
If a family spends above Rs5 lakh on a wedding, it has to contribute 10% of the amount on marriages of girls from poor families, according to the Bill introduced by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of MP Pappu Yadav.
The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, may be taken up as a private member’s Bill in the upcoming Lok Sabha session. The purpose of this Bill is to prohibit extravagant and wasteful expenditure on marriages and to enforce simpler solemnisation, Ranjeet told PTI.
ALSO READ: Don’t trust BSP, it may join hands with BJP after polls: Akhilesh Yadav
“Great importance should be assigned to the solemnisation of marriage between two individuals. But unfortunately, these days a tendency of celebrating marriages with pomp and show and spending lavishly growing in the country. These days, marriages are more about showing off your wealth and as a result, poor families are under tremendous social pressure to spend more. This is needed to be checked as it is not good for society at large," she said.
The Bill seeks that “if any family intends to spend more than Rs5 lakh towards expenditure on marriage, such family shall declare the amount proposed to be spent in advance to the appropriate government and contribute 10% of such amount in a welfare fund which shall be established by the appropriate government to assist the poor and below poverty line (BPL) families for the marriage of their daughters".
It says that after this proposed legislation comes into force, all marriages shall be registered within 60 days of the solemnisation. The government may fix the limit of guests and relatives and number of dishes to be served to the guests and relatives for solemnisation of marriage or for the reception held thereafter as it may deem necessary or expedient to prevent the wastage of food items, it adds.
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Five people were killed and 32 injured when a coach carrying Cathay Pacific staff to Hong Kong’s airport collided with a taxi on Friday, police said, with passengers thrown from the coach’s windows on impact.
Update: Footage of deadly coach crash emerges, as Hong Kong leader says ‘too early’ to determine cause
The back half of the taxi was completely crushed and both sides of the bus were damaged with traces of blood on the outside following the crash on the island of Tsing Yi.
Photo: Apple Daily.
Police said the collision had happened in the left lane of the main road — the taxi had stopped with its hazard lights on and the coach ploughed into it.
“We believe the taxi was broken down and stopped in the left lane of the road. Around 40 seconds later, a coach hit it from behind,” police superintendent Yip Siu-ming said.
The coach then lost control, Yip added, hitting the right hand side crash barrier and then the left one and throwing three passengers out of the coach. The 62-year-old driver was also hurled from the vehicle and injured.
The taxi driver, two men and two women coach passengers were killed, according to police.
Police investigate at the scene in front of a crushed taxi after a coach (back L) collided with it in Hong Kong on November 30, 2018. Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP.
Hong Kong’s hospital authority said one person remained in critical condition and another in serious condition.
The rest of the injured were either stable or had been released from hospital.
Debris including glass and personal belongings was strewn across the main road, which remained closed early Friday.
Photo: RTHK screenshot.
Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific confirmed “a shuttle bus carrying our employees was involved in a traffic accident this morning”.
“It is a tragic and very sad incident. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who have sadly passed away,” the airline said.
The company later confirmed two fatalities were from its staff. Those involved in the crash came from its airport, catering and ground handling operations it said.
“This is a difficult time for our community and we will do all we can to support everyone affected by this accident,” Cathay Pacific CEO Rupert Hogg said in a statement.
‘Crushed together’
Superintendent Yip said police would look into whether the coach driver — who had been working for 10 hours at the time of the accident — had been tired or affected by alcohol.
Photo: Apple Daily.
“From what we can see, it’s obvious that the driver did not see the broken-down taxi on the road and hit it from behind,” Yip said, adding that his working hours were from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am.
The Kwoon Chung bus company told reporters that the driver had been working for them for 12 years and had not declared any health problems.
Matthew Wong, chairman of the company, told reporters that the driver had had enough rest and had taken eight days off in November.
Within his working day, the driver would have been on the road for six to seven hours, Wong added.
Photo: RTHK screenshot.
Tsing Yi is connected by a freeway to Hong Kong International Airport which is located on neighbouring Lantau island.
Television footage showed the injured being treated by the side of the road before they were taken to four hospitals.
One coach passenger said the bus had been travelling fast before it crashed into the taxi, according to SCMP.
“It seemed to me that the coach did not slow down. I fell onto the floor (when it crashed),” the passenger said.
Photo: RTHK screenshot.
A passenger told local television channel TVB the scene on the bus was “very chaotic, we were crushed together”.
Another said “the bus hit once, then hit left and right, and hit the roadside to stop.”
Television footage showed the crash barrier on either side of the road was damaged.
Photo: Apple Daily.
The accident happened at 5:00 am (2100 GMT Thursday) near the exit of a tunnel.
Hong Kong prides itself on having one of the world’s best public transport systems but deadly bus accidents are not unknown.
A speeding double-decker overturned in northern Hong Kong in February, killing 19 people and leaving more than 60 injured. The bus driver was arrested for dangerous driving.
And in 2003 a double-decker bus collided with a truck and plummeted off a bridge, killing 21 people and injuring 20.
Members of the public who are emotionally affected or in need of any assistance relating to the Tsing Yi crash may call the Social Welfare Department’s 24-hour hotline (2343 2255). | {
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With such an important draft coming up, the Canadiens are looking to solidify this new reset by adding a quality player in the top-half of the first round. The 15th overall pick this year looks to be an excellent spot to pick a high-value player, similarly to the last few drafts. With the possibility of drafting potential top-4 defenseman or top-6 forward, the Canadiens are in a really good place to acquire a very solid piece moving forward. To get familiar with who the Canadiens could pick, we took a few players we ranked around 15th overall to get Habs fans up to speed on their team’s available options:
C/LW – Alex Newhook 5’11/ 195 lbs
Alex Newhook went a little under the radar this season, but he is now considered a darkhorse top-10 pick by virtually everyone in the scouting world. He played for the BCHL’S Victoria Grizzlies, where he put up a staggering 102 points in 53 games; which is slightly less productive than past alumnus like Tyson Jost or Kyle Turris. Newhook really established himself as a top draft pick during the World U-18 Championships this April for Canada, putting up 10 points in 7 games and even leading the team in scoring. His speed, skill and determination were key in helping him drive the offense for Team Canada, while also being tasked with key defensive situations as well!
Team Canada ties it up late in the first period on a nice play from Dylan Cozens. He goes give-and-go with Alex Newhook and beats Spencer Knight glove side. #U18Worlds #NTDP pic.twitter.com/OkEURSYhEo — Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) April 28, 2019
Newhook’s greatest asset is his speed of execution. He is able to do pretty much anything at top speed, whether it’s shooting, passing, checking, stickhandling or deking. He is also extremely fast and can beat defenders one on one with his sharp edge work and great acceleration. He possesses a great shot, which can get high in little time at all. He projects as a top-6 C, but can also effectively play the right wing.
Player Comparable: Kyle Turris
Alex Newhook “Captain Hook” with a short side solo effort for @BCHLGrizzlies vs Alberni. Scotty @BCHLGrizzPxP w/ the call #BCHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/QtSmw1IR27 — Roy Anthonisen (@BCHLGrizzVideo) March 4, 2019
LD – Cam York 5’11/ 175 lbs
Many believed that Cam York was a product of his very productive USNDPT team, but this past April during the World U18s, Cam York silenced those people, or at least made them think twice. York’s game is based on speed and agility up the ice and uses his vision to create offensive chances for his teammates. York was also very effective at stopping the oppositions offensive flow, as he often used his great positional awareness and hockey-IQ to limit zone entries and odd-man rushes.
York uses his speed and his vision to make solid plays in the offensive zone, such as a cross-ice powerplay passes or a one-touch one-timer set-up plays from the slot.
He can unload a very hard and precise one-timer which is very often place in the top corner, where mama hides the cookies!
Cam York with his second of the game makes it a 5-1 Team USA lead. It's another PP tally, off a pretty pass from Trevor Zegras. #U18Worlds #NTDP pic.twitter.com/ljUwR1F0Gq — Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) April 28, 2019
York’s attention to detail and his strong defensive awareness make him a realistic top-4 D prospect and have many comparing him to a young Cam Fowler. Many doubt York’s ability to play as an eventual top-pair D and see him more as a safe bet to be a top-4 D instead. Some scouts see him as a possible #4 down the road with a flair for the powerplay and a general on the blue line.
Player Comparable: Cam Fowler
Cam York sends a pass down the ice to Bobby Orr Bink, who makes it 6-0 USA. #U18Worlds pic.twitter.com/5NdkUeQ4AE — Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) April 25, 2019
LD – Thomas Harley 6’3/188 lbs
Thomas Harley is one the youngest players in the draft (born in August 2001) and has arguably the most amount of untapped potential out of anyone on this list. He has realistic top-pairing upside, but his defensive lapses and decision making have many scouts question whether he can ever achieve his potential. It is worth noting that, although he is not prone to making careless mistakes often, it’s more the fact that they happen at the worst possible moment and thus stay in the back of many scouts’ minds when making a list
I liked this play from Thomas Harley. Recognizes the open ice in front of him and doesn’t hesitate to use it. pic.twitter.com/GDO2Xj9UUn — RAPTORS FAN SINCE BIRTH (@DraftLook) January 24, 2019
His offensive potential is obvious, as he has strong vision and a good overall hockey IQ. Netting 11 goals and 47 assists assist for 58 points in 68 games, Harley proved he was able to make plays and distribute many pucks, especially on the powerplay. He is, by far, the best defenseman available out of the CHL after Bowen Byram and his offensive game, especially his vision, is quite near elite, especially when he has the puck.
Standing at 6’3 and weighing close to 185 lbs, Harley has the build that every scout wants. He possesses good speed and a very good acceleration. He is effective in the defensive zone at limiting shots against and separating the opposition from the puck with his size and long reach. He needs to work on getting stronger and using his shot more often if he wishes to be effective at the next level.
Just finished making Highlights for Thomas Harley's 2018/19 season. Check them out here: https://t.co/pY2XeNCZqX#2019NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/RRzIdT4tbY — Rink Rat Report (@RinkRatReport) May 16, 2019
Player Comparable: Thomas Chabot
With such a high ceiling, he has the potential to develop into #3 D man, capable of quarterbacking a power play and playing big minutes for his team (should he reach his potential). While he is not a sure thing, he would be one of the most high-reward picks the Canadiens could select in this draft.
LD – Ville Heinola 5’11/ 176 lbs
Ville Heinola had one helluva season in the Finnish Liiga this year for the Lukko Rauma, putting up 2 goals and 14 assists for 14 points in 34 games. Standing at 5’111 and 176 lbs, Heinola is not the strongest or the biggest of the bunch, but he is certainly one of the smartest. He often uses his positioning to get himself open for a scoring chance or a zone exit and can be categorised at being in the right place at the right time on a consistent basis, due to his anticipation and high hockey IQ.
Ville Heinola is the consensus number one European defensemen and for good reason. His biggest strength is his hockey IQ, allowing him to play big minutes in Liiga this season. #2019NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/PNnENWatAR — Finlay Sherratt (@FinlaySherratt) June 1, 2019
Heinola was easily the best defenseman for Finland at the U-18 World Championships this April. He controlled the play from the back-end, made great outlet passes, tape to tape, while his teammates were at full speed. His vision is excellent and he was often found to be making the right play at the right time when he had the puck.
#SMLiiga: Outstanding recognition by LHD Ville Heinola (Ranked No. 25), who jumps into an opening and scores in Lukko’s 6-3 win over JyP. Been fighting putting him ahead of Honka all season but he’s been great since his WJC injury. Antti Saarela (Ranked No. 41) had an ENG assist. pic.twitter.com/Tc4QZx93u6 — Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) February 26, 2019
He was however made to look rather silly when put in pressure situations. He needs to shore up his defensive gap control and pass-lane cutting if he wishes to excel at the next level. Nonetheless, Heinola possesses a quality wrist shot, great vision and a passing game that is reminiscent of Andrei Markov. A true PP QB in the making, Heinola plays a very similar game to Henri Jokiharju of the Chicago Blackhawks and would be a solid bet to become a possible top-4 D down the line. Montreal would also be adding to the already insane amount of Finnish players on their roster, which is nice, I guess.
Player Comparable: Andrei Markov
Kappo Kakko to Ville Heinola and a pair of #NHLDraft prospects make it 3-0. #WJC2019 pic.twitter.com/bJ0LG2poP2 — Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) December 30, 2018
C/RW – Philip Tomasino 6’/179 lbs
Tomasino has to be one of the most hidden gems in all of amateur hockey. Playing behind a stacked team for the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, Tomasino was still able to put up 34 goals and 38 assists for 72 points in 67 games. That’s over a Point Per Game playing mostly third line minutes! The last player to do so was picked 5th overall in last year’s draft by the Arizona Coyotes ( Barret Hayton). He projects as a top-6 C, but could easily slot into the right wing should the team need to distribute the talent evenly in the lineup.
Tomasino has great speed and is able to use it to drive the puck into the opposing zone and gain entry with ease. He then uses his elite vision to find a open player in the slot who is coming in as a rover, or he can tap into his relentless drive for the net to take the puck to the danger area to create a scoring chance. He plays a very tenacious game and is often seen mixing it up and driving to the net. His offense looks like it could translate very well in the NHL by the effort and skill he uses.
Was sifting through some Philip Tomasino clippings from this season. This play from February was one of my favourites.
One-handed backhand chip to himself before finishing on the break. *Chef kiss* pic.twitter.com/3HEdcoPiw9 — /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) May 29, 2019
With Tomasino, the real argument is whether her made his team better or if his team made him look better. After multiple viewings this year in the season and playoffs, it became evident that Tomasino was a big part of Niagara’s season and playoff push and he will have a central role in their success next season. Should he continue to improve as drastically as he has, there’s a good chance the Canadiens picking him at 15 could be a very valuable pick.
Player Comparable: Max Domi/ Claude Giroux
LD – Philip Broberg 6’3/193 lbs
Probably the most polarizing prospect in this draft, Philip Broberg is a scout’s wet dream. Standing at 6’ 3 and 193 lbs, Broberg has the size that every scout covets for a young blueliner. His greatest strength is his mobility, as he can often be found cruising from end to end with ease, blowing by the opposition and creating zone entries rather easily. His speed and size often takes the opposition off guard and allows him to enter the zone and make a pass to a teammate.
On the very next shift, Broberg catches the goalie sleeping.
Makes it a one goal game with a shot that’s not too likely to fool NHL goaltenders. pic.twitter.com/CM9nUxzdO6 — Evan (@Shattenkirk) June 1, 2019
Broberg has a rather solid, albeit not spectacular, wrist shot and an accurate slapshot, which he likes to us on the powerplay. Although he was not an offensive force for Sweden’s Division II Allsvenskan this season, Broberg was far more noticeable at both the U-18 Ivan Hlinka tournament in August, the U-20 World Junior Championships and the most recent U-18 World Championships in April. While playing against his own age group, Broberg was able to stretch his offensive instincts by easily gliding along the blue line and creating space for his teammates, something NHL teams love to see in a young defenseman’s game.
Phillip Broberg did what he does best – a big end-to-end rush with the puck to get the puck on net. Oscar Lawner makes it 4-1 Sweden. #U18Worlds pic.twitter.com/OPnSoLvZqW — Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisTHN) April 21, 2019
Broberg’s defensive decision making has been called out at times, but he has greatly improved in this field. He now uses his reach and size far more to try and separate the opposition from the puck. He still over-commits at times, as he is trying to force a turnover and rapid counter-attack, but this can be rectified with good coaching.
Philip Broberg getting a look for AIK at senior level against Brynäs today. He just eats up the ice. pic.twitter.com/aqXqtF77Vo — Alex Nunn (@aj_ranger) August 18, 2018
All in all, Broberg would be a solid gamble to take at this point in the draft, as he has top-4 D man potential and maybe even more, should he unlock all the tools in his rather full toolbox. As far as looking at the Canadiens’ needs on the left side of their defensive corps, Broberg checks off almost every single box, but does he have the growth potential to truly take his game to the next level, or his he just another big player that peaked at junior and will never improve? The vast majority believe that the answer falls somewhere in the middle, but there can certainly be a team, picking between 10 and 20, that believes he has a much higher potential.
Player Comparable: Mattias Ekholm
Broberg is absolutely shot out of a cannon here. This is really what makes him such a tantalizing prospect.
Explodes from his very first stride and didn’t look back. Puts the puck in a high danger area. No teammate on that side of the net. pic.twitter.com/YLcpBGmslZ — Evan (@Shattenkirk) June 1, 2019
C/RW – Raphaël Lavoie 6’4/196 lbs
Now, I know, the majority of Habs fans are going to absolutely freak over this pick, but that’s on the politics surrounding such a player, and not the player himself. Raphael Lavoie is a big winger from just outside Montreal who is known for putting pucks in the net, a direct need of the Montreal Canadiens. Lavoie established himself as a first round pick last year this time when he put up 30 goals and 63 points in 68 games. He followed up that incredible performance with a good, albeit underwhelming progression in output, potting of 32 goals and 73 points in 62 games this season.
I enjoy how Raphaël Lavoie uses his reach + speed to attack space rather than walk through everyone. Deceives defenders by extending his reach to bait a defender's stick into one lane, only to move the puck back across his body and attack the open lane. Deft backhand touch, too. pic.twitter.com/oliOaKXv9v — Mitch Brown (@MitchLBrown) October 3, 2018
Once projected as a surefire top-10 pick, Lavoie has seen his stock fall due to concerns that the oldest player in the draft, having missed the cutoff for the 2018 NHL Draft by just 2 weeks, had possibly begun to slow down in his progression curve. This is not uncommon for big men in junior, as we have seen this happen in the past with guys like Julien Gauthier of the Carolina Hurricanes (who out produced Lavoie at the same age).
Raphael Lavoie with is 18th of the Playoff. Huge PK goal. 3-2 Rouyn. pic.twitter.com/dR3rXfVAFM — DraftDynasty (@livingod1) May 3, 2019
However, Lavoie then exploded during this year’s QMJHL playoffs and finished 2nd in playoff scoring with a staggering 20 goals and 32 points in 23 games. Nobody can say that Lavoie doesn’t have an elite shot capable of scoring from just about everywhere, as he can be one of the most dangerous forwards in the draft. He is also deceptively fast for his size, being able to hit his top speed in just two or three powerful strides. This allows coaches to trust him with defensive missions and key penalty killing assignments. Lavoie has used his size and speed to separate opposition players from the puck and then turn on the jets for a breakaway on more than one occasion.
On the flipside, Lavoie’s compete level and willingness to get physical, or lack thereof, make him a serious question mark for scouts. Is he another Anthony Mantha type player or will be he a Julien Gauthier style flop? Many scouts believe he is closer to Mantha and will thus look at him as a very valuable prospect moving forward. Despite some question marks, he is most certainly a player the Canadiens must study long and hard before making a choice in June.
Player Comparable: Anthony Mantha
For those wondering, @HFXMooseheads Raphael Lavoie's 6 overtime winners is a @QMJHL single season record. Nobody has ever had more than 4. Here's another look at #6 from Wednesday night. pic.twitter.com/iugMMAhpBe — Kris Abbott (@KrisAbbott21) February 22, 2018
Who to draft?
Needless to say, this 2019 NHL Draft is full of very good players, especially in the top-20 or so. The Canadiens have a real opportunity to pick a player that could realistically play a big role for the franchise going forward, as the Canadiens have returned to their mantra of building through the draft. The Canadiens are obviously in need of a top-4 left-handed defenseman now, but this is not a current hole that any of these players can fix, and thus the Canadiens should be picking the best player available here. | {
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From the cultural hub of Lahore down to the bustling ports of Karachi, smog is king in Pakistan, with citizens enduring unhealthy air quality for much of the year. The smog, generated mostly by crop and garbage burning and diesel emissions from furnaces and cars, could get worse by the end of this year when Pakistan opens five new Chinese-built coal power plants, funded by a $6.8 billion venture under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative. These five plants are just the beginning of the Pakistan government’s planned 7,560 MW expansion in coal power, which are CPEC-energy priority projects. “It’s a perfect storm for a pollution crisis,” said Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center’s Asia Program. “The poor will continue to burn a variety of polluting materials to produce fuel, and now you’re also going to be introducing dirty coal into the mix. Combine that with crop burning in the countrywide and car exhaust fumes in rapidly growing cities, and you’ve got a really smoggy mess on your hands—and in your lungs.”
Pakistan is not the only recipient of Chinese fossil fuel investments. Under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese banks, companies, and investors are pouring money into coal, wind, and solar power projects, as well as connectivity infrastructure, such as high-speed rail, expressways, and ports. Energy receives the lion’s share of investment across many of the 69 BRI member countries, with coal and oil making up nearly 60%. These energy projects will deliver much needed electricity, but at a cost. 6 out of the 10 most climate change vulnerable countries in the world are in BRI’s ambit. Xi Jinping has called for a Green BRI, but with such a high percentage of the investments in black energy, Chinese banks, companies, and investors need to wield new green finance tools if they hope to promote truly greener infrastructure.
Growth of the Global Green Bond
According to the Climate Bonds Initiative and other financial analysts, green bonds will likely be one of the prominent channels to mobilise private capital efficiently while making the investment green in BRI countries. Despite controversy over greenwashing bonds, China seeks to mobilize and streamline green bonds, working with its own national banks and other international investment players.
Since 2007, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank launched the green bond market as a mechanism to fund climate-change related finances. More than 10 years later, the global green bond market has grown leaps and bounds, with a market size standing around $463 billion. According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, renewable energy and low carbon transport constitute 58% of the total proceeds allocation.
In China alone, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) became one of the largest influencers in green finance; in the past two years, China’s green bond market expanded to become one of the world’s largest. The rapid growth sent aftershocks from the national level down to the provincial. Following a record-breaking year in 2016, China’s green bond market cultivated a growing momentum at the local level driven by regional commercial banks and local government financing vehicles. By the end of Q3 2018, China became the second largest source for green bonds, a market totalling $61 billion.
Asia requires up to $900 billion of infrastructure investment per year within the next 10 years, indicating a major opportunity for BRI green infrastructure projects. Green initiatives such as wind farms, national passenger high-speed railway, urban mass transit, and building resiliency infrastructure, intrinsically have low carbon features and are well-suited with green financing infrastructure via debt instruments.
Green BRI Not Only a China Project
China’s international collaborations with European markets, such as Luxembourg, London, Dublin, and Euronext, are creating opportunities for funding green BRI infrastructure bonds. In October 2017, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China brought $2.14 billion Climate Bonds Certified green bonds through its Luxembourg branch, marking the first ever dedicated “Green Belt and Road Bond.” All the proceeds are expected to support projects in China’s domestic provinces and in other key BRI countries, such as offshore and onshore wind, solar, tidal, and hydropower, and low carbon transport such as rail tram, metro, bus rapid transit systems, and electric vehicles. In June 2018, Climate Bonds Certified green bonds followed with another $1.58 billion from its London branch, with proceeds financing low carbon projects such as multiple onshore wind and solar farms across different provinces in China and Pakistan, as well as a wind farm project in Scotland.
Despite Potential, Challenges Await
Despite the plethora of opportunities, green bond issuers and recipients in BRI countries face many challenges. In the short-term, one difficulty is to identify and standardize green project qualifications, while in the long-run, it will be challenging to increase financial infrastructure in favour of green bonds, and to attract more international investors. The development of green bond listing rules at stock exchanges and indices can expand and solidify green financial infrastructure. These rules combined with better standards for green qualifications will help wariness of projects that may be considered green in one context, and not in another. For example, retrofits of fossil fuel power stations, clean coal and coal efficiency improvements, and electricity grid transmission infrastructure carrying fossil fuel energy are permissible under China’s domestic green bond definitions; however, such guidelines are not in line with the expectations of international investors. As a critical step next, green bond issuance in BRI countries needs to be scaled up and diversified.
Lastly, strategic green bond demonstration issuance could encourage investors and educate them about asset classes. As a new catalyst to the green finance development, a greener BRI is expected to further accelerate the collaborations among BRI countries and encourage regional development banks, municipalities, national government and well-placed public-private partnerships. “When it comes to emphasizing more clean energy in Pakistan, the incentive structure is a bit out of whack,” said Kugelman. “Green bonds would be a very helpful motivating factor for getting more clean energy investment into Pakistan. And they could go a long way toward helping make the air a bit cleaner.” | {
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In this post I will dive into the Intune policy processing on a MDM managed Windows 10 client. Intune is an MDM system and has the ability to deploy so called device configuration profiles to managed Windows 10 endpoints. We will have a look at the architecture, the settings, and the actual processing including the refresh behavior. I cover the current technology and what has changed with Windows 10 version 1903.
To better understand the processing, we first need to understand the components involved in the process. There is the MDM system (Intune) and the MDM client on the Windows 10 OS. The roots of the MDM client are based on Windows Mobile. Today Microsoft provides us the MDM client also on Windows 10. The MDM system and the MDM client are working together to exchange data based on the Open Mobile Alliance Device Management (OMA-DM) protocol (more from Microsoft here). This is a common defined standard and uses a XML-based SyncML format to push the information to the client. As transport layer HTTPS is used. This is vendor independent and is used for Android and iOS management as well. This builds the architecture to transfer instructions in a standardized way to the endpoints. On the client side there are so called Configuration Service Providers (CSP’s). These components are responsible to read, set, modify, or delete configuration settings on the device.
Interesting, sounds somehow familiar!?
Yeah, right as it is basically the same architecture as we had in an on-premises domain. There was the domain controller (DC) (compare: MDM server) and the DC provided the sysvol folders with policy files. On the client side we had the group policy service (compare: MDM client) which simply used a SMB connection (compare: HTTPS) to get the files from the sysvol folders (okay there was a little bit more involved in that process like authentication, GPC lookup, etc, but for this comparison I simplify it a little bit). The Windows client had so called Client Side Extensions (CSE’s) (compare: CSP) to process the input files and finally do the configuration. So, this is basically the same approach but with MDM it is standardized and designed to work perfectly over the air. You can think of the MDM stack as a logical evolution of the domain group policy processing.
The input files on a domain client may be different depending on the CSE. Often a .pol file, sometimes a .ini, or a .xml file. In the modern MDM stack, this input was standardized (XML) and the instructions are built up in a tree structure.
This makes it possible to transfer commands in so called OMA-URI’s (Open Mobile Alliance – Uniform Resource Identifier) which is basically a path to a specific CSP and setting. For example below, the path to enforce a Logon screen image via the Policy CSP:
./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/DeviceLock/EnforceLockScreenAndLogonImage
The complete architecture is now demonstrated in the figure below:
In Intune the OMA-URI’s are hidden in nice configuration interfaces to make the daily life simpler, but in the background the management interface will use OMA-URI’s to configure the settings on the device. Here the example of an UI build for the specific “Locked screen picture URL” setting:
The same setting can be set directly by using the OMA-URI:
./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/DeviceLock/EnforceLockScreenAndLogonImage
Intune does provide us the ability to configure custom OMA-URI’s, but if a separate UI element is available, I would use that instead of dealing with OMA-URIs. This make it easier for management and review.
The nice thing about the ability to configure custom OMA-URI’s is, that we are able to control settings as soon as they are introduced on the client side (Windows 10) and we do not need to wait for Intune to build an UI explicitly for it.
In addition to native CSP implementations in Windows 10, Microsoft uses a technique called ADMX-backed policies. This is a clever move to make important policies shipped with Windows 10 accessible by compiling them into MDM policies during OS-build time. In addition to that, it is even allowed to ingest new policies and compile them to new MDM policies (e.g. Google Chrome ADMX policies). This allows us and Microsoft to easily make policies available for MDM configuration. During usage of ADMX-backed policies we need to take special care about the configured values, they follow a specific notation. Especially for ingested policies we need to be careful about the OMA-URI’s. To dive into that topic I really recommend to carefully read the article here Understanding ADMX-backed policies, which provides great details on the whole process. For custom ADMX ingestion read carefully this article Win32 and Desktop Bridge app policy configuration. One advice here: ADMX ingestion is not very easy and intended for third party ADMX ingestion. There are a lot of pitfalls in the process (false OMA-URI construction, case-sensitive URI’s, wrong value referenced, etc).
The architecture behind the MDM stack and configuration profiles (settings) in Windows 10 should be clear now, but what about the actual processing of the configuration settings. Let’s have a look into that in the next section.
What about the actual processing?
This is actually very simple process. The client receives the configuration settings via the SyncML document data push and the transferred OMA-URI maps to the corresponding CSP. The targeted CSPs are responsible for configuring the settings. For example, if the setting controls a registry value, the value will be set according to the definition in the policy. Following an example for the Policy CSP configuring the setting AllowDeviceNameInDiagnosticData, which controls the transmission of the device name to Windows Analytics (more regarding this setting in my article Windows Analytics onboarding with Intune). This setting results in a registry value AllowDeviceNameInTelemetry set to 1.
If the policy changes on the MDM server, the updated policy is pushed down to the device and the setting is set to the new value or the old value is enforced. If a setting should be the default value again the setting must be configured to the default value again. Removing the assignment of the policy from the user or device does not revert the setting automatically to the default value (see Update below on this!). If we compare this with GPOs, we would call this tattooing. The setting stays there until it is configured to a different value, even after removing the assignment of the policy.
There are just a few profiles currently, which are removed after the assignment is removed or the profile is deleted. These profiles are:
Wi-Fi profiles
VPN profiles
Certificate profiles
Email profiles
All other profile types are not removed.
Settings will remain on the device, they are tattooed!
More information regarding troubleshooting can be found here: Troubleshoot device profiles in Microsoft Intune
!UPDATE on the tattooing behavior (18-02-2020). Tattooing does not occur in general anymore, the CSP is responsible how to handle the removal:
Quote from Assign user and device profiles in Microsoft Intune:
When a profile is removed or no longer assigned to a device, different things can happen, depending on the settings in the profile. The settings are based on CSPs, and each CSP can handle the profile removal differently. For example, a setting might keep the existing value, and not revert back to a default value. The behavior is controlled by each CSP in the operating system. For a list of Windows CSPs, see configuration service provider (CSP) reference.
To change a setting to a different value, create a new profile, configure the setting to Not configured, and assign the profile. Once applied to the device, users should have control to change the setting to their preferred value.
When configuring these settings, we suggest deploying to a pilot group.
see my follow up article on the new behavior here:
Changed Intune Policy Processing Behavior on Windows 10
What about a policy refresh?
Until Windows 10 version 1809 there is essentially no real policy refresh like we know from the GPO, where security policies are enforced regularly without special configuration. GPO registry policies are enforced every 90+offset minutes (when the group policy registry processing is configured accordingly). So, MDM policies are only enforced when a change occurs on the Intune service side.
Wait, no policy refresh?
What happens if someone changed a value? The answer is simple, it is not enforced and reverted to the configured value, as long as the policy does not change on the Intune service side. As long as an enterprise uses standard user permissions on the clients, this does not introduce a big problem, as the settings can’t be changed by the users. Remember that the MDM stack has its roots back from Windows Mobile. There was no administrative user and the MDM channel was the only authority to change settings on the device. Nevertheless, settings enforcement is something most people want to have. Not every enterprise is running their clients with standard user permissions. Luckily Microsoft addressed this and changed the behavior with Windows 10 version 1903. Starting with Windows 10 version 1903 the policies are regularly refreshed (enforced) on the device.
Windows 10 version 1903 enforces MDM settings regularly!
So, there should be no settings drift anymore after upgrading to Windows 10 version 1903. Currently the Policy CSP is the only CSP which is enforced regularly. This might change in future but that’s the current state.
The interval when the enforcement is done, is the regular 8h device sync interval (see here for more sync interval details).
My test setup was Windows 10 version 1903 July update and I picked two Policy CSP settings. One located in the PolicyManager hive which is the MDM settings hive and the other one in the Policies\Microsoft GPO hive. I wanted to see if settings, located in various places are tracked and reset accordingly.
MDM PolicyManager hive setting – ConfigureTelemetryOptInSettingUx
GPO Policies hive setting – AllowDeviceNameInTelemetry
I changed both values from the configured value 1 to 0. Then I tested the reset behavior.
Restart of the device -> no reset, still values of 0
Manual Sync -> no reset, still values of 0
MDM manual sync via Windows 10 Settings
Triggering the scheduled 8h interval manually via Computer Management > Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > EnterpriseMgmt > GUID > Schedule #3 created by enrollment client, I see instant reset to the policy configured values!
This is really great news, as this is the behavior most people expect.
Some basic troubleshooting advice?
For troubleshooting of MDM policies, I recommend to have a look at the MDM Advanced Diagnostic report. It can be generated via Windows 10 settings and will be stored under: C:\Users\Public\Documents\MDMDiagnostics\MDMDiagReport.html,
This report can give you detailed insights if a policy is received, what the default value is, which value is set (Current Value), and which value should be set (Config Source):
I hope this drives general understanding of MDM policies and processing of them on a Windows 10 device. The change in Windows 10 version 1903 is more than welcome in my opinion. I think Azure AD joined devices, correctly configured to ensure proper cloud and on-premises resources access, is the way forward. For me it has less complexity then hybrid joined devices and taking GPO’s out of the game and moving on to MDM policies is more than a logical step for me. Focusing on “light management” and concentrating on the important settings you really need to configure. These settings are in general the security settings and mostly some corporate identity settings (same lock screen). In the meantime, Microsoft is adding more and more settings to cover all enterprise setting requirements with MDM policies. Lastly they added support for additional 2500+ Windows and Office settings via Administrative templates in Intune.
The idea of zero trust networking, no dependency on any network location, but the ability to configure via MDM and monitor all your endpoints around the globe (in all possible network situations like public Wi-Fi, cellular, home network, corporate network, etc.) is a great thing. As a cloud solution this comes without complex on-premises infrastructure setups. In fact, with Intune we did that for the mobile devices all the time before. Start thinking of your Windows 10 clients like a real mobile device, like an iPhone or Android device. Establish the idea of unified endpoint management and configure them wherever they are.
Happy modern management! | {
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When Jill Falkingham-Thorp first stepped inside Stott Hall Farm her heart sank.
The carpets in the front room were mouldy, the walls damp and every room looked “seriously dated” – hardly the Little House on the Prairie which it is sometimes called.
Fast forward eight years and the famous farmhouse between two carriageways of the M62 near Scammonden has been transformed into a family home for Jill, husband Paul Thorp and their son John-William, four.
There’s still work to be done but the house, which dates back to 1737, is now warm and cosy with a roaring wood burner and a proper farmhouse kitchen.
According to Jill living next to one of Britain’s busiest motorways isn’t much different to living near to any other road.
“Traffic is very close,” she says. “But it’s always windy here, which takes the pollution away. Students from the University of Huddersfield took soil and air samples and actually pollution is surprisingly low.
“We have treble glazing and it’s no different to living anywhere that has a road.”
However, the rumbling from passing traffic can be annoying.
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“The noise does affect me as I am quite noise sensitive. Paul is fine with it but it does grate on me.
“It’s the sort of thing that if you are having a bad day the noise is the last straw. But it’s not going away.”
Jill and Paul threw open their farmhouse to the media today to promote Yorkshire Water’s ‘Beyond Nature’ initiative which is aiming to protect peatland, wildlife and water resources.
The couple were happy to reveal the highs and lows of living on an upland farm at more than 1,000ft above sea level – and only around 40ft from the westbound carriageway of the M62.
Although they both have farming backgrounds in Holmfirth, life at Stott Hall Farm has taken some getting used to.
“It’s got its own climate up here,” said Paul, who has worked at the farm since 1992 and lived there since 2008.
“This is home to us now and is what we are used to. The noise is fairly constant through the day but when it’s a good clear day the noise does seem to drop.
“When it’s wet and foggy you can hear the traffic.”
Jill, who moved into the farm in 2009, is loving life there despite the challenges.
“Working on an upland hill farm is incredibly hard work. The grass doesn’t grow because we are so high up and it’s so cold. Really, the motorway is the least of our challenges.”
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She recalls the early days living at Stott Hall Farm as very testing and difficult.
“When I first came the house was horrendous. It was dated and there was no bathroom upstairs. We had to rip all the flags up as everything was damp. All the carpets were mouldy and I was thinking ‘I can’t have a baby and live in this.’
“Paul had been living here on his own for a number of years. He was living in two rooms, living like a bachelor.
“I remember how cold the house was and there being a hole in one of the walls where you could see outside. A huge amount of work has been done and we are slowly getting there.
“A lot of people say it’s bleak and like Wuthering Heights but I don’t see it like that. I think it’s beautiful.” | {
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Gluten-free vegan food, served with lots of love.
Annie blogs at Kitchen Window Clovers. When she's not cooking, Annie spends her time cuddling her cat, reading her kindle, and running. She and her husband live in central Ohio but plan to one day move to the mountains. Annie loves banjo music and other folksy beats. | {
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For the umpteenth time Bitcoin has dumped double digits in a single day … again. Yet the FUD and panic still pervades the scene like a bleak cloud of despair that will be blown away and forgotten within a week.
A Fourth Dip to Four Figures
Since the big rally begun in early April, Bitcoin has fallen back into four figures four times already. Today’s purge, which bottomed out at just below $9,500 according to Tradingview.com, has already seen the asset start to show signs of recovery.
At the time of writing BTC had made it back over $9,900 and was eyeing a return to five figures already. All of this has happened within the space of a few hours so it is a little strange that the panic and fear returns every time Bitcoin makes a big move to the downside.
As pointed out by co-founder & CEO of Ciphrex, Eric Lombrozo, people are already looking for explanations.
“Bitcoin price dips for the gazillionth time, prompting wild reports of the end of the world and causing pundits to invent explanations. Predictions: In a week, nobody will remember this dip anymore. In a month the same thing will happen again and people will panic again.”
Bitcoin price dips for the gazillionth time, prompting wild reports of the end of the world and causing pundits to invent explanations. Predictions: In a week, nobody will remember this dip anymore. In a month the same thing will happen again and people will panic again. — Eric Lombrozo (@eric_lombrozo) August 15, 2019
Chinese Ponzi Scam Responsible?
One possible factor floating around the crypto sphere this morning is a Chinese Ponzi scam that resulted in the loss of a substantial sum of Bitcoin. Founding partner at Primitive Crypto, Dovey Wan, has been busy on twitter today with news that PLUS Token team members have been arrested.
The likelihood of this having any impact on wider Bitcoin and crypto markets is still being debated. The story is not even being reported outside of China at the moment and Wan appears to be the only source of information aside from a from a six week old SCMP story.
Founding partner at Adamant Capital, Tuur Demeester, has hinted that the sums involved could have wider implications on markets;
“If true, we’re talking about a 200,000 BTC heist here… +1% of circulating supply, worth over $2 billion today.”
If true, we're talking about a 200,000 BTC heist here… +1% of circulating supply, worth over $2 billion today. https://t.co/Kdd4LJ7QwZ — Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) August 14, 2019
Cryptocurrency thought leader, Richard Heart, added that the Ponzi angle seems plausible. While senior market analyst at brokerage eToro, Mati Greenspan, said that many are looking for reasons for the recent price action;
“Many analysts have been doing their best to tie in the latest moves in the crypto market to the uncertainty in geopolitics but it’s difficult to say exactly how much connection there really is.”
Bitcoin appears to be doing what Bitcoin does. Whatever the cause, these movements have been witnessed countless times before and will happen countless times again so the panic is totally unwarranted. It is all just another day on crypto markets.
Image from Shutterstock | {
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Der Beschluss wurde schnell zum Politikum: Seit über einer Woche diskutieren deutsche Politiker und Ehrenamtler über die Entscheidung der Essener Tafel, vorerst keine Ausländer mehr als Neukunden aufzunehmen. Politiker aller Parteien äußerten sich dazu, Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel kritisierte die Maßnahme. Doch wie bewertet die deutsche Bevölkerung die Entscheidung des wohltätigen Vereins?
Eine repräsentative Umfrage des Meinungsforschungsinstituts Civey im Auftrag von WELT ergab: Die Mehrheit der Deutschen (66 Prozent) kann das Vorgehen der Essener Tafel nachvollziehen. Fast die Hälfte (48 Prozent) antwortete auf die Frage „Haben Sie Verständnis dafür, dass der wohltätige Verein „Essener Tafel“ nur noch Menschen mit deutschem Pass aufnimmt?“ sogar mit „Ja, auf jeden Fall“.
27 Prozent der Befragten haben dagegen kein Verständnis für das Vorgehen des Vereins. Ein relativ hoher Anteil von 7 Prozent zeigte sich in dieser Frage unentschieden.
Anhänger der Grünen zeigen mehrheitlich kein Verständnis
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Am deutlichsten ist die Zustimmung für den Beschluss der Essener Tafel unter den Sympathisanten der AfD. 97 Prozent von ihnen zeigten Verständnis dafür, nur 1 Prozent der Befragten hat kein Verständnis. Auch die Anhänger der FDP sagen zu 86 Prozent entschieden: Die Essener Tafel handelte richtig. 65 Prozent der Unionsanhänger sind ebenfalls dieser Meinung.
Gespalten sind die Anhänger der SPD und der Linken. 50 Prozent der Linken- und 44 Prozent der SPD-Sympathisanten können sich mit dem Beschluss der Essener Tafel anfreunden.
Der Chef der Essener Tafel, Jörg Sator, war selbst nach eigenen Angaben sein Leben lang SPD-Wähler. Von den Reaktionen auf den Entschluss seines Vereins enttäuscht brach er nun allerdings mit der Partei. Die AfD sei für ihn aber keine Alternative.
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Als einzige Parteigruppe haben die Anhänger der Grünen mehrheitlich (57 Prozent) kein Verständnis für die Entscheidung, Berechtigungsausweise für günstiges Essen nur noch an Deutsche zu verteilen. Aber auch ein Drittel der Grünen-Anhänger zeigt dafür Verständnis.
In den Altersgruppen gibt es Unterschiede in Bezug auf die Bewertung des Aufnahmestopps für Ausländer. Zwar dominiert bei Befragten jeden Alters das Verständnis dafür. Allerdings steigt dieses mit zunehmenden Alter signifikant. Deutsche zwischen 18 und 29 Jahren haben mit 53 Prozent am seltensten Verständnis, Deutsche im Alter von 65 und älter mit 70 Prozent deutlich am häufigsten.
Bei diesem WELT-Trend lautete die Frage: „Haben Sie Verständnis dafür, dass der wohltätige Verein „Essener Tafel“ nur noch Menschen mit deutschem Pass aufnimmt?“ Das Meinungsforschungsinstitut Civey berücksichtigte für das repräsentative Ergebnis die Antworten von 5078 registrierten und verifizierten Teilnehmern vom 27. Februar bis 2. März 2018. Der statistische Fehler der Ergebnisse liegt bei 2,5 Prozent. Es fließen ausschließlich Antworten von registrierten und verifizierten Nutzern ein, Civey korrigiert Verzerrungen durch ein mehrstufiges Gewichtungsverfahren. Weitere Informationen zur Methodik finden sie auf welt.de oder im Civey-Whitepaper. | {
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In the past several years, Cool Planet has rocketed from inception to the pilot stage to producing commercially available biochar, a product that could have a significant impact on California’s severe drought conditions. Farmers that use Cool Planet’s biochar can use up to 40 percent less water on the same crop surface area and maintain the same yield, or use the same amount of water and harvest a significantly bigger yield.
The enhanced biochar (the commercial name is CoolTerra) is created from biomass, which can include agricultural waste but the preferred source is wood chips, Cool Planet’s Commercial Director, Neil Wahlgren, explains. Living trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere, but when the tree dies, the carbon is released back into the air. Cool Planet’s biochar process uses locally sourced biomass (within 30-50 miles of each plant, reducing transportation) and captures the carbon, keeping it permanently in the soil so it is not released back into the atmosphere. This helps reduce the total amount of greenhouse gases.
Cool Planet has also figured out how to adjust the pH level of the end product, from a level of 8.5 to 9 (which is too alkaline) to 6.5 to 7, which increases water and nutrient retention. Even if raw biochar were put into the soil without adjustments, the soil would eventually reduce the pH on its own, but it would take 3 to 5 years, and the biochar would not be as effective during this time. Cool Planet has refined this process to take 12 minutes, so the resulting biochar is like “move-in ready condos for water and nutrients,” says Wahlgren.
After a stringent rinsing and quality control process, the biochar achieves the CoolTerra name. The enhanced biochar is certified organic and can be blended with compost for good results. Customers can apply it once to their soil and reap its benefits, but if it is applied every few years, the effects are cumulative.
“Biochar is applied on a case-by-case basis,” Wahlgren says. “It will stay intact in soil for years, if not decades.”
Customers can design their own application process depending on what they need. Some customers will use the enhanced biochar to enrich one parcel of land so that they use less water, some will use it to enrich more land than they were previously able to cultivate because they can distribute the water over a larger area. Some will enrich a parcel of land, use the same amount of water and increase their yield. The biochar also enables customers to use less fertilizer, which reduces the amount of fertilizer runoff into stormwater. Fertilizer in stormwater can make its way into the ocean, causing algae blooms. Wahlgren recounted field test results that showed a 61 percent increase in radish and lettuce yield and 56 percent increase in strawberry yield when grown with 40 percent less nitrogen fertilizer.
Along with good results in the ground fruits market, enhanced biochar also has a big impact on permanent crops like vineyards and the tree market (orchards).
“Every year, 3 to 5 percent of trees end up dying due to a poor soil patch. When they are replanted, biochar helps lock up excess salt or heavy metals and protects plants, increasing the health and growth of those plants,” Wahlgren says.
In addition to the agriculture market, biochar can also be used to reduce water use in landscaping. Thousand Oaks, a town in California, piloted CoolTerra in front of their city hall beginning in August 2014. A 6,000 square foot area of grass has flourished with 50 percent less water. It is a visible demonstration of what CoolTerra can do.
Cool Planet is backed by such companies as BP, Google Ventures, Energy Technology Ventures (GE, ConocoPhillips, NRG Energy), and the Constellation division of Exelon.
“We have strong backers that are reputable players that have vetted the product,” Wahlgren says. “That carries a lot of weight.”
In October 2014, Cool Planet opened a plant in California with a capacity of producing 60,000 cubic yards annually, and already, Wahlgren says, demand is overtaking supply. Cool Planet itself is growing as fast as the crops its biochar benefits. The CoolTerra team has grown from 2 people in 2012, to 16 people currently.
Cool Planet has customers in Canada, UAE and Florida, but most of its customers are in California, where its operations are based. This puts the company in the right place to combat drought conditions in a state in its fourth year of record temperatures and water scarcity.
Cool Planet is working on consumer awareness, and has even ventured into the retail market. California consumers can now buy a 10-quart box, so homeowners can reduce their water consumption and still have their gardens. Currently 20 stores are carrying the product and the company is looking to expand, with 30 to 50 lb. bags available by mid-spring 2015.
In a year, perhaps CoolTerra will be available in retail outlets across the country. For now, it will be interesting to see how much they can aid efforts to conserve water and improve crop yields through commercial and residential use in California.
image credit: Lou Gold, Flickr creative commons license. | {
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Oleksiy Pecherov. Vladimir Veremeenko. Tomas Satoransky. Jan Vesely.
Ernie Grunfeld’s European drafting track record is pretty, pretty, pretty terrible, but that’s never deterred him from dipping his toes in the international waters.
Set to pick 19th and 49th at Thursday’s NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards are certainly out of the running for the likes of Kristaps Porzingis or Mario Hezonja, who will likely go in the top 10.
Meanwhile, several top international players, including French shooting guard Timothe Luwawu, Cypriot forward Alexandar Vezenkov, Brazilian point guard George Lucas de Paula and Bosnian Nedim Buza have pulled their names out of consideration for the 2015 draft.
We all like to joke about how Ernie G will burn a pick on a 6-foot-11 point guard from Malawi, but there are still a few international players who are worth a look for this Wizards team.
Here’s a look at four of them. | {
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Fake or real? Apple Insider has reported about the first “leak” for the modular Mac Pro based on an internal Apple document. The document shows some powerful and exciting specs. Let’s dream.
Real or fake?
Apple is known for its secrecy policy and compartmentalization. However, the Mac Pro is under heavy R&D stages for years. Thus it makes sense that some info will be surfaced.
Apple Insider has reported about an image posted to Imgur which looks like an internal slide that is photographed from a document, titled as Mac Pro 7.1. According to the slide, the document was modified on 7 November 2018. The slide shows the design of the Mac Pro and includes some interesting specs:
Intel Xeon W Cascade Lake-X
Apple T2 security chip
Apple X2 accelerator
DDR5 SO-DIMM memory
3x double-wide PCIe 4 slots
Single or dual AMD Firepro-X
NVIDIA Quadro/ RTX BTO
8x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports
Thunderbolt 4
2x HDMI 2.1 port
10 Gb ethernet
Bluetooth 5.1 wireless
There are two fascinating options in those specs related to professional filmmaking and editing. One is the option for Thunderbolt 4 (yet to be announced) that is supposed to deliver the speed needed for native RAW editing and workflow. The other is the NVIDIA GPU.
NVIDIA GPU in Mac Pro
We wrote a couple of in-depth articles regarding the privilege of PC users to boost their ultra resolution workflow because of the NVIDIA GPUs compatibilities. Furthermore, we have written about the new REDCINE-X PRO that is NVIDIA dedicated, but for Windows only, which allows enhancing 8K native workflow, and the fact that Apple is out of this game because not supporting NVIDIA due to a patent war between those two companies. We called it the Mac Pro Hypothesis, which claims that the new Mac Pro will utilize Radeon VII instead. However, according to this leak, it seems that the new Mac Pro will contain the most recent and powerful NVIDIA GPUs. That is a piece of fantastic news to filmmakers and editors who use ultra resolution native RAW files on their workflow.
According to this leak, it seems that the new Mac Pro will contain the most recent and powerful NVIDIA GPUs. That is a piece of fantastic news to filmmakers and editors who use ultra resolution native RAW files on their workflow.
Design
According to the slide, the “new” Mac Pro design reminds us of the old Power Mac G4 Cube which was a small form factor Macintosh personal computer, sold between 2000 and 2001. Just a reminder that the old Mac G4 Cube was designed by Jonathan Ive, its cube shape is reminiscent of the NeXTcube from NeXT, acquired by Apple in 1996. Take a look at the picture below which describes the 2000 Power Mac G4.
Final thoughts
Modulation is the game, and it seems that the new Mac Pro will play and be designed to meet professional needs. We have to sit and wait until the WWDC (June 3rd) as Apple might reveal this long-awaited computer. Till then, let’s dream. | {
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It might have been a good idea for Akron locals to clear out after white nationalist sympathizer Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) boasted in a tweet Saturday that he and Donald Trump Jr. were setting out on a “peasant hunt” in Iowa. The foray sounded even more ominous because King touted Trump’s shooting skill along with his extreme support of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms.
Might wanna keep guns away from these guys, they keep shooting themselves in the foot. #PeasantHunt pic.twitter.com/EbSygesP6G
King quickly corrected the tweet to what he intended to say all along and announced instead an Iowa “pheasant hunt,” — meaning birds, not people — causing peasants everywhere to breathe a sigh of relief. But it was far too late to keep Twitter quiet about the embarrassing gaffe.
Social media users took the opportunity to take shots at Trump and King, who has a controversial history of racist digs, appealing to white nationalist rhetoric. King came under a storm of criticism in March after he spoke up in support of far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders. He tweeted that Wilders understands that we “can’t restore our civilization with someone else’s babies,” apparently referring to immigrants or people of color.
Former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke tweeted in return: “God bless Steve King!” King has also questioned what value nonwhites have contributed to the Republican Party. | {
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Alex Jones hosts this live, Thursday transmission in the early hours of Infowars’ 50-hour special to provide a take on today’s top news that you won’t find on any mainstream network.
Infowars’ 50-Hour Save the First Amendment Broadcast: LIVE NOW
The Alex Jones Show, Thursday, March 21:
The David Knight Show, Thursday, March 21:
The War Room, Thursday, March 21:
Below is the schedule for Infowars’ emergency 50-hour broadcast intended to bring attention to Big Tech censorship in order to save the First Amendment.
– 11:00 AM The Alex Jones Show
– 11:30 AM Mr. Reagan
– 12:00 PM Jack Posobiec
– 1:00 PM Tom Pappert
– 1:30 PM George Noory
– 2:00 PM Doug Hagmann
– 3:00 PM The War Room
– 3:00 PM Alessandra Bocchi
– 4:00 PM Ali Alexander
– 4:30 PM Julia Song
– 5:00 PM Carpe Donktum
– 8:00 PM Laura Loomer
– 9:00 PM Will Johnson
– 10:30 PM Kaitlin Bennett
Friday, March 22
– 12:00 AM Owen Shroyer
– 12:00 AM Will Johnson
– 1:00 AM SABO
– 6:00 AM Paul Joseph Watson
– 8:00 AM The David Knight Show
– 11:00 AM The Alex Jones Show
– 12:30 PM Gerald Celente
– 2:00 PM Tom Pappert
– 3:00 PM The War Room
– 4:00 PM Martina Markota
– 5:30 PM Harrison Smith
– 6:30 PM Tommy Robinson
– 7:00 PM Millie Weaver
– 7:30 PM Mike Adams
– 10:00 PM Harrison Smith
Saturday, March 23
– 12:00 AM Owen Shroyer
– 12:00 AM Tom Pappert
– 1:00 AM Austin Fletcher (Fleccas Talks)
– 8:00 AM Owen Shroyer
This article will be updated with more guests.
Watch live video from infowars_LIVE on www.twitch.tv
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today! | {
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When designing, it’s easy to get hung up on the details in front of us — the mechanics, the theme, the components. But ultimately, the point of designing games is for others to play them.
And why do they play them? In my view, it’s to facilitate a rich human-human interaction, unique from just about anything else. Competitive, fun, a centerpiece for conversation, a reason to get together with people you may not see frequently, and so on.
Because these interactions are fundamentally human in nature, we designers have a responsibility to understand the user experience, or, as I’m going to not exactly coin, (as there is a bit of previous research on this) but to champion the term “Player Experience” or (PX), even if that’s a bit on-the-nose as an adaptation from the software world, where the emphasis by good product teams is the “User Experience” or “UX”.
The board game industry is blowing up. We’re seeing more and more games released continuously: the Kickstarter campaign cycle is now thick enough that researchers can study the seasonality of trends with meaningful outcomes. It can feel like everyone wants to design and publish physical games these days. In online forums, we discuss the meta-mechanics of the process ad nauseum: how much to charge, who to manufacture with, how to balance in-game systems, what mechanics to use, which art looks the best. A concept that I’m seeing as decidedly missing, or at the least, not expressed loudly enough in the conversation is how we, as designers, are crafting the experience for our players.
While traditional UX involves mostly understanding, manipulating, and optimizing the way a human interacts with a piece of software (or other product), almost exclusively as a lone operator, PX involves not only each player’s interaction with your rules and components, but also the other players while they are each in the process of doing the same.
To layer on top of this, every player brings a unique set of personality traits, expectations, and history to the table. This becomes increasingly true as gaming become more and more mainstream.
The Player Experience is, at the core, the value your game is going to bring to your players…customers…audience’s life. It incorporates, but stretches beyond the theme, beyond the mechanics, beyond the physical manifestation of the game itself, and even beyond the time bounds of any individual session.
Does a designer need to think about these things? Probably not. And I’d wager that many many games in the past were not designed with these principles front-of-mind. However, the board game renaissance is forcing everyone to step it up to be heard above the noise — with more board games released in 2015 than in the several previous years combined, and 42 active board games running Kickstarter campaigns in Feb 2016 (not to mention anything the major publishers are currently working on that we have no visibility into), the field is becoming saturated. How will your game stand out?
We see this in the tech world (where my day job is) all the time. The option with the more carefully-crafted experience wins out over the cheaper, the incumbent, the […insert whatever other advantage you want here] option. I have no idea how to hail a cab, and I loathe calling for a pick-up, but I can have an Uber in moments through a few taps on my phone. Linux may be a powerful operating system, but without a pleasant, consistent User Experience, people opt for the more streamlined Windows or OS X. Experience wins.
Mark my words: The most successful and enduring games of the next decade will be those where the designer has intentionally paid specific attention to how they craft not only the rules, mechanics, and theme, but the Player Experience as a whole.
These will be the games that make the inroads in bringing board games to the mainstream, and the games that become ‘game group’ staples in an increasing field of options.
I’ve conducted a research project on PX, in an attempt to explore the aspects of design and development which intersect with this concept. Over the next several posts, we’ll dive deep into:
Conspicuously absent is the topic of “fun” — which I posit is orthogonal to Player Experience — we’re seeing a shift in the video game world with such titles as This War of Mine, Papers, Please, and most notably “That Dragon, Cancer”, where the intent isn’t (just) to entertain, but to make one think. Board games have had a taste of this, especially at the hands of legendary games researcher Brenda Romeo (née Brathwaite), whose “Train” and “One Falls for Each of Us”; we will certainly see more, and already have with titles such as Bycatch. Thus, with or without “fun”, a board game is a crafted Player Experience. For most designers, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, one objective of the Experience will be to optimize for fun, but I don’t want to leave that as a foregone conclusion.
Join me on this journey to explore the concept of Player Experience (PX). This is the future of board game design, I know it.
Continue on to the next installment here. | {
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Thanks to Arthur Shippee, Dave Sowdon, Edward Rockstein, Kurt Theis,
John McMahon, Barnea Selavan, Joseph Lauer, Mike Ruggeri, Hernan Astudillo,
Richard Campbell, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Bob Heuman, David Critchley,
mata kimasitayo, Bill Gebhardt, Don Buck, Richard Miller, Kris Curry, Rick Heli,
Richard C. Griffiths, Frank MacKay, Don Buck, and Ross W. Sargent for headses upses
this week (as always hoping I have left no one out).
================================================================
EARLY HOMINIDS
================================================================
Plenty of press coverage for the identification/find of a 210 000 years bp homo sapiens skullbone from Greece:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-oldest-africa-reset-human-migration.html
https://www.livescience.com/65906-oldest-modern-human-skull-eurasia.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/science/skull-neanderthal-human-europe-greece.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/07/10/enigmatic-skull-suggests-our-human-species-reached-europe-years-ago/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48913307
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/10/piece-of-skull-found-in-greece-is-oldest-human-fossil-outside-africa
http://www.ekathimerini.com/242445/article/ekathimerini/life/greek-find-called-earliest-sign-of-our-species-out-of-africa
https://www.dw.com/en/oldest-human-remains-outside-africa-found-in-europe-researchers/a-49543548
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/greek-skull-oldest-human-homo-sapiens-outside-africa
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/apidima-greek-skull-oldest-human-fossil-outside-africa/593563/
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2019/07/10/the-oldest-known-homo-sapiens-was-greek
https://gizmodo.com/ancient-skull-fragment-pushes-back-date-of-earliest-hum-1836244660
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/07/10/ciencia/1562769513_603529.html
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/deadthings/?p=3569
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7819-1190711-greece-modern-human
… and a related oped:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/14/ancient-bones-should-rewrite-history-but-not-the-present
This week it’s a molar that is being touted as evidence for interbreeding of various hominids in Asia:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/nyu-amp070819.php
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-ancient-molar-interbreeding-archaic-humans.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708154036.htm
https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/a-rare-dental-trait-lives-on
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7815-190710-denisovan-three-roots
… and a feature on the various hominids that may have coexisted:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/?p=12363
Remains of a ‘Neanderthal-era’ horse (possibly hunted) from Iran:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/437843/Remains-of-a-Neanderthal-era-horse-found-in-Iran
https://ifpnews.com/exclusive/remains-of-ancient-neanderthal-horses-found-in-irans-qazvin/
Suggestion that human intelligence may have peaked, evolutionary-wise:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190709-has-humanity-reached-peak-intelligence
================================================================
AFRICA
================================================================
Feature on the excavations at Old Dongola (Sudan):
https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/archaeologists-uncover-secrets-of-18th-century-city-on-banks-of-the-river-nile-6719
More on diving into Sudan’s pyramids:
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07g3cck/the-tomb-diver-revealing-a-pharaoh-s-secrets
================================================================
ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
================================================================
Middle Kingdom finds of various sorts near Amenemhat II’s pyramid:
http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/72744/A-number-of-stone-pottery-and-wooden-coffins-were-uncovered
https://menafn.com/1098755736/Egypt-Late-Dynasty-tombs-unearthed-in-Dahshur
The Bent pyramid has opened to visitors:
https://www.egyptindependent.com/egypts-ministry-of-antiquities-opens-bent-pyramid-of-senefru/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48976265
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/14/egypts-bent-pyramid-opens-visitors/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/egypt-bent-pyramid-dahshur-cairo-sneferu-pharaoh-a9003906.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/14/bent-pyramid-egypt-opens-ancient-oddity-for-tourism
https://www.dw.com/en/egypt-opens-bent-pyramid-to-tourists-unveils-new-archaeological-finds/a-49582817-0
https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-archaeology/egypt-opens-sneferus-bent-pyramid-in-dahshur-to-public-idUSL8N24E0CN
https://abcnews.go.com/International/time-month-egypt-opened-ancient-pyramid-public/story?id=64317683
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/14/c_138224391.htm
… some coverage also mentions the opening of the Alkaa pyramid to the public:
https://egyptindependent.com/gizas-bent-pyramid-alkaa-pyramid-open-to-public-for-first-time-since-1965/
http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/72746/After-54-years-Anany-inaugurates-King-Snefru-Alkaa-pyramids
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/337898/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egypt-antiquities-minister,–ambassadors-inaugurat.aspx
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/Egypt-Bent-Pyramid-Red-Pyramid-512681441.html
https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2019/07/13/egypt-unveils-2-ancient-pyramids-collection-of-artifacts
https://www.yahoo.com/news/egypt-opens-two-ancient-pyramids-unveils-finds-173237651.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/egypt-opens-2-of-its-oldest-pyramids-bent-dahshur-unesco-for-fist-time-since-1960s/
http://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/egypt-opens-two-ancient-pyramids-unveils-new-finds
Feature on ‘smellscapes’ of ancient Egypt:
http://www.asor.org/anetoday/2019/07/Smellscapes-in-Ancient-Egypt
Hyping a new documentary on Egypt’s underwater remains:
https://www.egyptindependent.com/british-documentary-on-egypts-sunken-antiquities-comes-to-national-geographic/
The site of Khirbet a-Ra’i is being identified as the ‘lost city’ of Ziklag:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-say-they-found-town-where-future-king-david-took-refuge-from-saul/
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/archaeology-news/researchers-we-have-found-biblical-ziklag/2019/07/08/
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Biblical-city-of-Ziklag-where-King-David-took-refuge-found-594955
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium.MAGAZINE-biblical-city-where-philistines-gave-refuge-to-david-found-researchers-claim-1.7455800
https://www.jns.org/archaeologists-announce-discovery-of-the-biblical-city-of-ziklag/
https://hamodia.com/2019/07/08/archeologists-say-discovered-ziklag/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265654
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/08/c_138209509.htm
https://news.yahoo.com/biblical-city-where-king-david-sought-refuge-has-been-found-by-archaeologists-190756767.html
https://www.theblaze.com/news/archaeologists-find-lost-biblical-city-connected-to-king-david–and-it-backs-up-scripture
https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/07/08/archaeologists-announce-discovery-of-the-biblical-city-of-ziklag/
https://aleteia.org/2019/07/11/archaeologists-discover-biblical-town-where-david-found-shelter-before-he-was-king/
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2019/07/09/archaeologists-find-ziklag-where-david-fled-from-king-saul_7840175f-f221-4346-8498-e19e6f72c5de.html
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/the-longlost-biblical-city-of-ziklag-has-been-discovered-archaeologists-claim/
… but not everyone is buying it:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-archaeologists-say-theyve-found-king-davids-city-of-refuge-a-debate-begins/
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2019/07/some-archaeologists-think-they-have-found-the-biblical-city-where-david-hid-from-saul-others-disagree/
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5546496,00.html
On archaeology and Palestinian homes in Israel:
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/archaeological-settlements-destroying-palestinian-homes-190708113859297.html
Smuggling concerns in Palestine:
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/07/palestine-police-battles-with-antiques-smuggling.html
Feature on damage to the Old City of Sanaa during the civil war:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/08/c_138207928.htm
Feature on the search for items looted from Iraq:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-archaeology-museum-antiquities-looting-a8996676.html
More on the purple dye factory from Tel Shikmona (possibly paywalled):
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-ideas/2019/07/a-biblical-era-purple-dye-factory-explains-an-archaeological-mystery/
More on the ‘pilgrimage road’ excavation:
https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-zionism/2019/07/the-pilgrimage-road-excavation-which-has-already-uncovered-much-about-jerusalems-history-is-no-threat-to-arab-jerusalemites-or-to-the-al-aqsa-mosque/
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/the-truth-about-jerusalems-city-of-david-the-lies-about-silwan/2019/07/14/
More on heritage status for Babylon:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-city-babylon-among-new-unesco-world-heritage-sites-180972579/
================================================================
ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
================================================================
Very interesting overview of the finds at Dhaskalio:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/ancient-greece-archaeology-keros-aegean-sea-bronze-age-dhaskalio-bible-pyramids-crete-milos-a8997666.html
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/archaeologists-unearth-probable-origins-of-ancient-greece-in-groundbreaking-discovery-a4186531.html
cf: https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/keros
Revelation that there are at least 10 unexploded WWII bombs in Pompeii:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/07/unexploded-allied-bombs-at-pompeii
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/07/unexploded-world-war-two-era-bombs-lurking-beneath-ruins-pompeii/
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/pompeii-site-may-be-at-risk-from-hidden-bombs-left-over-from-war-38291042.html
https://www.newsweek.com/pompeii-vesuvius-naples-ww2-1448012
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/unexploded-world-war-ii-bombs-may-still-be-buried-at-pompeii/
https://boingboing.net/2019/07/09/at-least-ten-unexploded-bombs.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pompeii-home-multiple-undetonated-world-war-ii-bombs-180972626/
Plenty of interesting finds from the bathhouse dig at Silchester:
https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/home/27701/fascinating-finds-at-silchester-dig.html
22 amphoras found off the coast of Albania:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-ancient-amphoras-albanian-coast.html
https://apnews.com/21b38fb90f2e4cb4bec61a91b7488e30
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ny-22-millennia-old-urns-discovered-off-cost-of-albania-20190714-uda4ngoapreq7muvn4pp3vixty-story.html
https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2019/07/12/archaeologists-discover-22-ancient-amphoras-off-albania-coast
https://www.dawn.com/news/1493792/22-ancient-amphoras-found-off-albanian-coast
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7822-190712-albania-ancient-amphoras
A 2nd-4th century CE Roman burial from Plovdiv:
http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2019/07/12/30-year-old-roman-womans-grave-found-in-bulgarias-plovdiv-near-discovery-site-of-tomb-with-jesus-christ-murals/
… I think this Roman dwelling find is from the same dig:
https://sofiaglobe.com/2019/07/11/archaeology-remnants-of-roman-dwelling-found-in-centre-of-bulgarias-plovdiv/
https://www.novinite.com/articles/198487/Archaeological+Finds+Discovered+During+EVN%27s+Excavation+Activities
Also from Plovdiv comes a 3rd century CE inscription related to the cult of Dionysus:
https://sofiaglobe.com/2019/07/12/archaeology-third-century-inscription-with-names-of-dionysus-cult-found-in-bulgarias-plovdiv/
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7821-190712-bulgaria-dionysus-inscription
They’re still digging/restoring at Amphipolis’ Kasta Hill:
https://news.gtp.gr/2019/07/08/restoration-works-amphipolis-kasta-hill-advance/
A late Roman ‘terracotta tomb’ from an olive grove in Bursa:
https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2019/07/12/unique-ancient-terracotta-tomb-found-at-olive-grove-in-turkeys-bursa
A ‘sacred road’ connecting Stratonikeia and the Lagina Hecate sanctuary is being excavated:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-sacred-road-unearthed-144852
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/turkey-ancient-sacred-road-unearthed/1527251
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7811-190709-turkey-sacred-road
Digging continues at Malta’s Tas Silg site:
https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2019-07-11/local-news/Archaeological-excavations-at-Tas-Silg-lead-to-further-discoveries-6736210781
On restoring the Roman road in Okehampton:
http://www.okehampton-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=436208&headline=Restoring%20the%20Roman%20road%20in%20Okehampton§ionIs=news&searchyear=2019
A letter from UBasel’s papyrus collection is being touted as the ‘oldest Christian autograph’:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uob-two070919.php
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-world-oldest-autograph-christian-basel.html
https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/2019/july/i-pray-that-you-fare-well-in-the-lord-what-this-ancient-papyrus-reveals-about-christians-in-230-ad
The Peristera shipwreck will soon be open to underwater tourists:
https://neoskosmos.com/en/140833/the-ancient-past-of-peristeri-is-will-soon-be-open-for-exploration/
… as will a submerged silo in the Piraeus:
https://news.gtp.gr/2019/07/08/piraeus-silo-become-underwater-antiquities-museum/
Some guy in Turkey discovered he had been using a 1500 years bp Roman column as a coffee table:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/1-500-year-old-ancient-roman-column-being-used-as-coffee-table-in-turkeys-kahramanmaras-144794
Greece’s new culture minister is already making plans:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/242395/article/ekathimerini/news/culture-minister-heralds-revamp-of-athens-sites
https://www.thenationalherald.com/253303/greeces-new-culture-minister-plans-archaeological-sites-updates/
Feature on the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190705-the-beautiful-ancient-house-discovered-in-the-ashes
Feature on some ancient Roman treatments for ED:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/impotency-how-the-ancient-world-dealt-with-mans-struggle-to-get-it-up?source=articles&via=rss
… and one on why the Greeks weren’t concerned about ‘size’:
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/why-the-ancient-greeks-didn-t-make-a-big-deal-of-penis-size-1.3953929
Feature on the tunnels in the Baths of Caracalla (didn’t work for me this a.m. though!):
https://news.yahoo.com/inside-tunnels-romes-ancient-extravagant-124736218.html
Feature on the Essex Marbles (probably paywalled):
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/piecing-together-the-essex-marbles-puzzle-z5dwk75c5
Pondering claims of ‘drive throughs’ in ancient Rome:
https://www.truthorfiction.com/were-there-drive-throughs-in-ancient-rome/
Feature on women translators (probably paywalled):
http://plymouthdailynews.com/2019/07/13/women-give-voice-to-a-male-canon-it-happens-to-be-ancient-greek/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/women-give-voice-to-a-male-canon-it-happens-to-be-ancient-greek/2019/07/12/e052eb32-a267-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html
Feature on the Periplus:
https://scroll.in/article/929447/what-a-2000-year-old-greek-merchants-manual-tells-us-about-the-indian-monsoon-and-oceanic-trade
Feature on ‘funny’ ancient mosaics:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-mosaics-make-fun-of-events-144806
Feature on Greek music:
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/ancient-greece-music-1-6142656
An interview with Madeline Miller:
https://weekender.com.sg/w/events_entertainment/circe-madeline-miller-interview/
What Dan Davis is up to:
https://www.news8000.com/news/luther-college-professor-embarks-on-patriotic-underwater-mission/1094174963
Petros Themelis was talking about Messene:
https://neoskosmos.com/en/140869/a-window-into-ancient-messene-and-beyond/
Peter Jones was pondering Pandora and politics:
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/07/politics-pandora-and-the-tender-leaves-of-hope/
On Brexit and Alcibiades:
https://neoskosmos.com/en/141092/brexit-and-alcibiades-populism-demagoguery-and-a-fake-news/
Finding inspiration in Regulus:
https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2019/07/09/we-can-all-learn-from-reguluss-heroic-self-sacrifice/
In case you missed the Dolce & Gabbana classical reception:
https://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/autumn-winter-2019-couture/dolce-gabbana-alta-moda
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dolce-gabbanas-heavenly-couture-has-a-hell-of-a-price-92fn6s07d
… with a spinoff benefit that tourists can now go inside the Temple of Concordia:
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/thanks-to-dolce-and-gabbana-tourists-can-enter-this-ancient-temple-for-the-rest-of-the-summer
A man threatened to jump off the Colosseum:
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2019/07/09/man-scales-colosseum-threatens-to-throw_9aa75433-0c1b-4b1e-8e1b-87e21a4cf243.html
https://www.thelocal.it/20190709/man-climbs-rome-colosseum-and-threatens-to-jump
More on Makronissos being declared an archaeological site:
https://neoskosmos.com/en/140761/makronissos-former-prison-island-in-greece-declared-archaeological-site/
https://www.thenationalherald.com/252891/former-greek-civil-war-junta-prison-island-ruled-archaeological-site/
More on ‘The Stones Speak’ initiative in Athens:
https://neoskosmos.com/en/140974/the-stones-speak-initiative-in-athens-is-getting-people-to-re-engage-with-the-rich-ancient-greek-cultural-heritage/
—–
Latest reviews from BMCR:
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/recent.html
Visit our blog:
http://rogueclassicism.com/
================================================================
EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
================================================================
Searching for evidence/remains of Scotlands mesolithic hunter-gatherers”
https://www.scotsman.com/heritage/in-search-of-scotland-s-ancient-mountain-dwellers-who-lived-more-than-10-000-years-ago-1-4963168
This seems to be a Bronze/Early Iron age hoard of some sort from Poland:
https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/rare-prehistoric-gold-jewellery-dubbed-treasure-of-kuznica-glogowska-found-buried-in-forest-6735
6th century CE ‘Germanic’ burials from a site in Bohemia:
https://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/archaeologists-discover-ancient-germanic-graves-in-east-bohemia
Anglo-Saxon malting sites/structures from Sedgeford:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/saxon-finds-at-sedgeford-dig-1-6158201
A pair of Viking boat burials from Uppsala:
https://www.livescience.com/65892-viking-burial-boats-discovered-sweden.html
https://www.livescience.com/65889-photos-viking-boat-burials-sweden.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/09/archaeologists-uncover-sensational-rare-viking-burial-boats-sweden/
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-man-a-horse-and-a-dog-were-found-in-a-rare-intact-boat-burial-unearthed-in-sweden
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/world/europe/viking-burial-sweden.html
Remains of an 11th century church from Bulgaria’s Misionis site:
https://sofiaglobe.com/2019/07/10/archaeology-ancient-church-found-at-bulgarias-misionis-site/
Probable remains of a Napoleonic general (Charles Etienne Gudin!) beneath the foundations of a dance floor in Smolensk:
https://www.livescience.com/65920-napoleon-general-found-in-russia.html
https://montrealgazette.com/news/world/remains-of-napoleons-favourite-general-believed-found-in-russia/wcm/0b7ba568-a47f-4999-b9d4-2dce55d81011
https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/10/remains-thought-to-be-napoleon-s-general-charles-etienne-gudin-found-in-russia
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-france-discovery/remains-of-one-of-napoleons-1812-generals-believed-found-in-russia-idUSKCN1U420D
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rpt-remains-one-napoleons-1812-065754768.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/remains-napoleonic-general-found-russian-park-180972628/
https://www.archaeology.org/news/7814-190710-russia-french-general
Finds from various periods, including a possible medieval royal tomb, from a dig at Hungary’s Cathedral of Pecs:
https://hungarytoday.hu/tomb-orseolo-hungarian-king-archaeologists/
https://www.ibtimes.sg/two-time-hungarian-kings-tomb-may-have-been-discovered-say-archaeologists-31701
https://www.archaeology.org/news/7818-190711-peter-of-hungary
I think we mentioned this Ottoman-era looting tunnel beneath Bulgaria’s largest Thracian mound:
http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2019/07/04/sealed-16th-century-ottoman-looting-tunnel-for-draft-animals-found-inside-tower-tomb-beneath-bulgarias-largest-thracian-burial-mound/
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7812-190709-bulgaria-ottoman-tunnel
A major study of Malta’s temple culture via assorted coring methods:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-island-cores-unravel-mysteries-ancient.html
A 3000 years bp ring from Herefordshire has been declared treasure:
https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/17769338.centuries-old-ring-qualifies-treasure/
Interesting item on industrial espionage in the 18th century:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48533696
Feature on ‘recycling’ of buildings and building material in Rome over the centuries:
https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/where-have-ancient-romes-buildings-gone.html
Feature on the beginnings of the publishing industry in 15th century Venice:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190708-the-city-that-launched-the-publishing-industry
Funding to protect some carvings at Southwell Minster:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-48886166
The Nebra Sky Disk is going ‘on tour’:
https://www.thelocal.de/20190709/nebra-sky-disk-germanys-greatest-archeological-treasure-goes-on-tour
The Battle of Bannockburn (and others) are apparently ‘overrated’:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/battle-bannockburn-listed-among-most-18004690
Marking the 160th anniversary of Big Ben:
https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-48924345
More on that 33 000 years bp skull injury seen on a skull from a Romanian cave:
https://www.livescience.com/65849-paleolithic-man-murdered.html
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/07/06/ciencia/1562392549_770680.html
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7808-190708-upper-paleolithic-skull
================================================================
ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
================================================================
Possible 12 000 years bp evidence of cranial modification from remains found at Houtaomuga:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-china-oldest-examples-cranial-modification.html
https://www.livescience.com/65901-china-oldest-skull-shaping.html
Kamakura-era (maybe) pieces of a portable shrine from Japan’s Tenmangu shrine:
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201907080025.html
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7809-190708-japan-kitano-tenmangu
A possible pre-Angkor (?) temple find from Kratie (Cambodia):
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/archaeologists-unearth-ruins-ancient-temple-kratie
A piece of a torso of a sandstone statue from the Preah Ko temple:
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50622469/ancient-statue-found-in-siem-reap/
Assorted Jain remains from Bharavathi:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2019/jul/12/jain-basadi-remnants-stone-inscriptions-discovered-in-bhadravathi-taluk-2002725.html
More Latte-era structures found on that naval base dig on Guam:
https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/local/2019/07/11/tenth-discovery-historical-artifacts-made-navy-base/1690166001/
Some ‘new’ menhirs were identified along the Kerala/Tamil Nadu border:
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/pothamala-menhirs-stand-guard-on-ancient-necropolis/article28391940.ece
General security concerns from artifacts in various places in Pakistan:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1493648
Sarah Parcak will be turning her attention to India next:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/solving-india-ancient-mysteries-citizen-archaeologists/
Feature on Muziris:
https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/learning/make-history-fun-again-muziris-fabulous-ancient-indian-port-5825131/
Feature on the Tale of the Genji:
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07gc85k/is-this-the-world-s-oldest-novel-
Feature on Australia’s Moyjil site:
https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2019/07/08/1375658/moyjil-mystery-victorian-site-could-force-a-120000-year-rethink-on-australian-history
More on jars in Laos (possibly some new info in this one):
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-secrets-jars-laos.html
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/saving-the-secrets-of-the-jars-of-laos
More on heritage status for the Liganzhu Archaeological site:
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ancient-chinese-city-ruins-become-093026508.html
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/07/c_1210183903.htm
================================================================
NORTH AMERICA
================================================================
A 6000 years bp Gowan culture point from the Wolf Willow site (Saskatchewan):
https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/usask-student-find-6000-year-old-stone-dart-tip-at-wanuskewin-dig-site
https://www.archaeology.org/news/7823-190712-canada-gowen-point
Suggestion that Chaco Canyon might not have been able to produce enough food to sustain its population:
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/07/10/food-may-have-been-scarce-chaco-canyon
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-food-scarce-chaco-canyon.html
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uoca-fmh071019.php
Finds in the wake of demolition of an ‘unsafe building’ in downtown St Augustine:
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/news/local/archaeologists-uncover-historical-mysteries-after-st-augustine-building-is-demolished/77-107fd751-441a-44c6-8c3a-db138a921a67
Interesting ‘secret pebble’ find from that Brunswick (NC) tavern dig:
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article232283702.html
https://www.greensboro.com/news/state/pebble-found-in-nc-tavern-ruins-was-really-a-coded/article_5e2fabe9-b8bd-565f-bc5a-f2ba0a986746.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-glass-pebble-links-north-carolina-tavern-seditious-colonists-180972585/
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7807-190708-glass-cuff-link
The dig in Boston’s Chinatown has commenced:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-archaeologists-1st-excavations-boston-chinatown.html
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/07/08/archaeological-dig-boston-chinatown-pottery/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/07/12/archaeological-dig-unearths-artifacts-from-past-boston-chinatown/UFZOm0c9xXN2wGwF6rvC4H/story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/archaeologists-begin-1st-excavations-of-bostons-chinatown/2019/07/08/be81a436-a1ad-11e9-a767-d7ab84aef3e9_story.html
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Archaeologists-begin-1st-excavations-of-Boston-s-14079291.php
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/boston-chinatown-archaeological-dig
https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/07/08/chinatown-archaeology-site-boston-immigration-joseph-bagley
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/archaeologists-begin-1st-excavations-bostons-chinatown-64198958
Looking for Revolutionary War reamins on Long Island:
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/history/digging-into-revolutionary-war-history-on-long-island-1.33387593
Reenacting the BAtle of Hubbardton:
https://www.vpr.org/post/hanging-out-camping-out-muskets-reenacting-hubbardton-battle-1777
Protecting the ‘Ghost Fleet’ of Mallows Bay:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-national-marine-sanctuary-will-protect-marylands-ghost-fleet-180972619/
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2019/07/ghost-fleet-sunken-warships-declared-national-marine-sanctuary
Rising sea concerns for Colonial-era homes in Newport (RI):
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/science/historic-preservation-climate-newport.html
================================================================
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
================================================================
Evidence of 6000 years bp use of indigo dye in Peru:
https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-oldest-indigo-dye-20160915-snap-story.html
Feature on the ‘stone spheres of Costa Rica’:
https://thecostaricanews.com/the-stone-spheres-of-dique/
Belize and Suriname are working together to protect Pre- and Post- Columbian sites:
https://www.breakingbelizenews.com/2019/07/10/belize-and-suriname-begin-technical-exchange-for-safeguarding-pre-columbian-and-historic-built-heritage-sites/
More on airport-related Macchu Pichu concerns:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/opinion/machu-picchu-airport.html
—–
Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient Americas Breaking News:
http://goo.gl/1VdeA
Ancient MesoAmerica News:
http://ancient-mesoamerica-news-updates.blogspot.com/
================================================================
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
================================================================
Not sure where to put this study on 1500 years of industrial lead levels preserved in Arctic ice cores:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/dri-lpi070319.php
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708154038.htm
https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth-sciences/arctic-ice-reveals-1500-years-of-progress-and-pollution
https://www.newsweek.com/scientists-think-humans-polluted-arctic-lead-far-back-ancient-roman-times-1448016
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-07-09/arctic-ice-cores-european-history-lead/11282674
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/07/09/ciencia/1562649282_598363.html
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7820-190711-lead-ice-cores
… or this one on grazing animals driving the domestication of grain crops:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/mpif-gad070319.php
Why algorithms are called algorithms:
https://www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/why-algorithms-are-called-algorithms/p07gdlwf
Fears of a mammoth ivory ‘gold rush’ as things thaw in Siberia:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/14/permafrost-thaw-sparks-fear-of-mammoth-ivory-gold-rush-in-russia
Pondering Kipling’s ‘If’:
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/07/03/triumph-and-disaster-the-tragic-hubris-of-rudyard-kiplings-if/
Apparently there are 50 000 works of art missing from French government collections:
http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/vol-d-oeuvres-d-art-a-l-elysee-enquete-sur-les-objets-disparus-de-la-republique-06-07-2019-8111262.php
A project to preserve Hemingway’s estate in Havana:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uota-upl070919.php
On the shortage of smiles in art history:
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/artsy-smiles-art-history/index.html
On the history of chocolate and vanilla:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/delicious-ancient-history-chocolate-vanilla-180972551/
Feature on the power of assorted royal women:
https://aeon.co/ideas/what-big-history-says-about-how-royal-women-exercise-power
Frankincense is under pressure, apparently:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/05/science/frankincense-trees-collapse.html
A Turner painting was ‘saved for the nation’:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-48923965
On DaVinci’s (unfinished) St Jerome:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/arts/design/davinci-saint-jerome-metropolitan-museum.html
https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/07/09/actualidad/1562630418_318163.html
Feature on lunar calendars:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/moon-time-calendar-ancient-human-art
Plenty of items related to the launch of Sarah Parcak’s latest book (not really reviews; interviews and such):
https://www.uab.edu/news/people/item/10599-archaeology-from-space-launches-in-birmingham
https://www.livescience.com/65924-space-archaeology-highlights.html
https://bangordailynews.com/2019/07/08/news/bangor/new-book-from-bangors-famous-space-archaeologist-is-a-thrilling-blast-into-the-past/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/science/sarah-parcak-space-archaeology.html
https://wbhm.org/feature/2019/story-behind-parcaks-archaeology-space/
https://www.themaineedge.com/news/cover-story/where-past-meets-future-a-conversation-with-dr-sarah-parcak
https://www.al.com/news/2019/07/uab-space-archaeologist-makes-you-wonder.html
… an excerpt:
https://www.livescience.com/65868-archaeology-from-space-excerpt.html
In case you’re wondering what they found (or not) in some vatican tombs that were opened this week:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/italian-missing-teen-emanuela-orlandi-is-not-in-vatican-tomb?source=articles&via=rss
Hype for Monica Smith’s book on the history of urbanism:
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-professor-monica-smith-cities-book
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-history-urbanism-archaeological-lens.html
An overview of new Unesco heritage sites:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-48894642
More on the restoration of Rembrandt’s *Night Watch*:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48905867
https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/07/08/actualidad/1562582081_099295.html
More on the reuniting of the halves of that Torah scroll:
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Historic-Torah-scroll-severed-in-half-reunited-after-centuries-595029
================================================================
MUSEUM MATTERS
================================================================
Michelangelo-A Different View:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-48924685
Sorolla:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/07/09/actualidad/1562681725_887321.html
Cycladic antiquities:
https://www.thenationalherald.com/252957/rare-and-unique-cycladic-antiquities-to-be-unveiled-in-exhibition-series-on-the-islands/
https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/culture/36108-rare-and-unique-cycladic-antiquities-unveiled-in-exhibition-series-on-greek-islands.html
https://www.argophilia.com/news/amazing-cycladic-antiquities-exhibition-hits-greek-isles-this-summer/223020/
Picasso and Antiquity:
https://tlmagazine.com/picasso-and-antiquity-line-and-clay/
Plans for a museum in Zerqa/Zarqa:
http://jordantimes.com/news/local/zarqa-get-its-first-museum
https://www.albawaba.com/editors-choice/jordan-plans-open-museum-zerqa-1296585
A couple of new museums in Egypt will be opening:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/9/337695/Heritage/In-Photos–Egypt-New-museums-to-open-in-Sharm-ElSh.aspx
Update on Berlin’s Museum Island renovations:
https://www.economist.com/prospero/2019/07/12/berlins-museum-island-gets-a-much-needed-revamp
================================================================
AUCTIONS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES
================================================================
So in case you missed it, Egypt wasn’t too happy with Christie’s sale of a bust of Tut:
https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/king-tut-sold-at-christies-despite-egypts-outrage-1.1562651870641
… and asked the British government to intervene:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/337622/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-asks-British-government-for-more-cooperation.aspx
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/09/c_138210023.htm
… and Egypt was planning to sue the auction house:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48922555
https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/egypt-vows-legal-action-over-king-tut-sale-1.65121551
https://www.artsy.net/news/artsy-editorial-egypt-will-sue-christies-recover-6-million-sculpture-king-tut
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/egypt-sues-christies-auction-house-over-sale-king-170100775.html
We also read that Egypt is seeking Interpol’s help in recovering that Tut statue that was auctioned off last week:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-asks-interpol-to-help-retrieve-king-tut-statue/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/09/egypt-asks-interpol-to-trace-tutankhamun-relic-auctioned-in-uk
https://www.dailysabah.com/life/2019/07/09/egypt-urges-interpol-to-trace-stolen-tutankhamun-mask-sold-in-london-auction
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/09/egypt-asks-interpol-recover-tutankhamun-statue-sold-christies/
https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/egypt-tries-to-enlist-interpol-to-retrieve-disputed-bust-of-tutankhamun-1.884383
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/egypt-calls-in-interpol-and-lawyers-over-4-7m-tutankhamun-sale-g3dhnxzcz
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/07/stolen-from-karnak-egypt-asks-interpol-to-trace-tutankhamun-mask-over-ownership-docs/
… a related oped:
https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/editorial/tutankhamun-row-reveals-the-vestiges-of-colonialism-1.884824
================================================================
THE TECHY SIDE
================================================================
Haven’t heard about the archaeological application of muon radiography for a while, but it seems to be behind the discovery of one of the oldest Christian churches in Derbent (Russia):
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-d-images-oldest-christian-church.html
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/nuos-npi071019.php
https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-physics-reveal-worlds-oldest-church-1448671
Testing acoustics of/at Stonehenge:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-mini-model-stonehenge-reveals-voices-ancient.html
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/11/scientists-turn-to-laser-accurate-model-to-test-stonehenge-acoustics
Feature on dendrochronology:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/archaeology/how-tree-rings-date-archaeological-site/
… and C14 dating:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/archaeology/radiocarbon-dating-explained/
More on 3d printing the Lion of Mosul:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/3-d-printed-replica-ancient-sculpture-destroyed-isis-goes-view-london-180972577/
================================================================
ON THE DNA FRONT
================================================================
Studying the genomes associated with the Justinianic plague:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/07/max-planck-harvard-genome-study-shows-extent-diversity-of-roman-plague/
A study of the ‘turnover’ of cattle in the Fertile Crescent is rather interesting:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-ancient-genomics-rapid-turnover-cattle.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190711141346.htm
https://gizmodo.com/ancient-dna-helps-trace-the-origin-of-domestic-cattle-1836283020
http://www.archaeology.org/news/7817-190711-cattle-domestication-zebu
OpEd on ‘politicizing’ ancient DNA:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-ancient-dna-gets-politicized-180972639/
More on Philistine DNA:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190703150509.htm
https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/tourism-businesses/thematic-tourism/36131-dna-study-ancient-greeks-related-to-biblical-philistine-enemies-of-jews.html
================================================================
CLIMATE MATTERS
================================================================
Concerns that climate change in Greenland will affect Viking sites and DNA:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/viking-history-is-melting-away-in-greenland/
https://mashable.com/article/viking-greenland-remains-decay/
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/?p=36714
================================================================
TOURISTY THINGS
================================================================
Istanbul:
https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2017/01/26/new-histories-of-istanbul?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/newhistoriesofistanbul
Baalbek:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/baalbek-lebanon-ruins-tour
Ephesus:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4379209
Seven Hills of Rome:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/romes-seven-hills-offer-seven-green-respites-from-summers-crowds/2019/07/11/3dd2e46a-9f4d-11e9-9ed4-c9089972ad5a_story.html
================================================================
PERFORMANCES
================================================================
Odyssey:
http://www.southernminn.com/northfield_news/community/article_8a03e4f3-311d-5aa0-bd4e-11723ed68a28.html
Oedipus Rex:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/242479/article/ekathimerini/whats-on/oedipus-rex–epidaurus–july-12–13
Bacchae:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/theater/the-bacchae-review-classical-theater-of-harlem.html
================================================================
CRIME BEAT
================================================================
Subhash Kapoor is apparently part of a major smuggling ring:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/arts/design/investigators-say-a-ring-smuggled-145-million-in-ancient-artifacts.html
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/art-ring-charged-with-smuggling-143-million-in-antiquities/
https://www.heraldnet.com/business/art-ring-charged-with-smuggling-143-million-in-antiquities/
https://www.artsy.net/news/artsy-editorial-art-dealer-subhash-kapoor-seven-co-conspirators-charged-running-143-million-smuggling-ring
… and this item on missing Asian antiquities seems to be related to the above:
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/gallery/whereabouts-unknown-see-the-antiquities-us-authorities-are-still-trying-to-track-down
Nine sculptures have been stolen in the past three years from ASI managed facilities:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nine-stone-sculptures-stolen-in-three-years-says-minister-prahlad-singh-patel/article28335843.ece
A bust in Denizli recovered a 3-headed Roman-era statue:
https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2019/07/08/police-seize-roman-era-3-headed-statue-in-turkeys-denizli
A bust in Kipoi (Turkey) netted hundreds of ancient Greek coins:
https://greece.greekreporter.com/2019/07/09/turkish-citizen-arrested-for-smuggling-hundreds-of-ancient-greek-coins/
Smugglers were caught in Iran:
https://ifpnews.com/exclusive/3000-year-old-antiquities-seized-from-smugglers-in-iran/
http://www.ekathimerini.com/242391/article/ekathimerini/news/more-than-1000-ancient-coins-seized-from-turkish-man-at-border-crossing
https://ahvalnews.com/archaeology/greek-authorities-catch-smuggler-crossing-turkish-border-over-1000-ancient-coins
On smuggling and social media:
https://hyperallergic.com/508907/how-social-media-is-allowing-for-illegal-antiquities-trafficking/
Azerbaijan is investigating the destruction of an historical monument:
https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/society/3088106.html
conflict antiquities:
http://conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/
anonymous swiss collector:
http://www.anonymousswisscollector.com/
Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues:
http://paul-barford.blogspot.ca/
Looting Matters:
http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/
Illicit Cultural Property:
http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/
SAFE:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/blog/
================================================================
REPATRIATION AND RECOVERY
================================================================
The British Museum is returning some Buddhist heads looted during the war in Afghanistan:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jul/08/british-museum-return-looted-afghan-artefacts-found-heathrow
https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/afghan-antiquities-british-museum-exhibition-black-market-a4184611.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/british-museum-to-send-looted-treasures-back-to-afghanistan-xdhnksp6l
… and items looted from Iraq:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/british-museum-afghanistan-iraq-artifacts-1595683
… some coverage is for both:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-museum-afghanistan-iraq-buddhist-heads-mesopotamian-tablets-artefacts-a8996191.html
https://www.peeblesshirenews.com/news/17755775.british-museum-help-return-ancient-artefacts-looted-iraq-afghanistan/
https://au.news.yahoo.com/british-museum-announces-return-looted-iraqi-afghan-artefacts-135826354–spt.html
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Arts-and-Ent/Culture/2019/Jul-10/487184-british-museum-announces-return-of-looted-artifacts.ashx
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/life-culture/british-museum-announces-return-of-looted-iraqi-and-afghan-artefacts
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hundreds-artifacts-looted-iraq-and-afghanistan-repatriated-180972584/
OpEddish on Ethiopian items in the British Museum:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/why-britain-wont-return-ethiopias-sacred-treasures/593281/
A Kaiser’s heir is trying to get some family items back:
https://www.dw.com/en/german-kaisers-heir-wants-seized-artifacts-back/a-49576011
================================================================
NUMISMATICA
================================================================
Feature on coins of Nero:
https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/ma-shops-ancient-coins-of-the-roman-emperor-nero/
Feature on bees on ancient coins:
https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/bee-all-that-you-can-bee-honeybees-on-ancient-coins/
Latest e-Sylum:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v22/club_nbs_esylum_v22n27.html
… and the one which should appear later today:
http://www.coinbooks.org/v22/club_nbs_esylum_v22n28.html
————————
Ancient Coin Collecting:
http://ancientcoincollecting.blogspot.com/
Ancient Coins:
http://classicalcoins.blogspot.com/
Coin Week:
http://www.coinweek.com/
================================================================
OBITUARIES
================================================================
Colin Palmer:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/education/colin-palmer-dead.html
Brian Jones:
https://www.courant.com/community/glastonbury/hc-news-state-archaeologist-brian-jones-dies-20190709-gyvczk7nfvenhowxpbukz4tdee-story.html
Judith McKenzie:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/judith-mckenzie-obituary-nhwn0nqm2
Robert F. Marx:
https://spacecoastdaily.com/2019/07/renowned-deep-sea-explorer-robert-f-marx-passes-away-peacefully-at-age-82-on-fourth-of-july/
Vivian Perlis:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/arts/music/vivian-perlis-dead.html
================================================================
AUDIO/VIDEO NEWS
================================================================
Audio News from Archaeologica:
https://www.archaeologychannel.org/audio-guide/audio-news/2865-audio-news-from-archaeologica-30-june-6-july-2019
================================================================
CONFERENCES
================================================================
European Association of Biblical Studies Annual Conference (August 2019):
https://www.eabs.net/EABS/Conferences/Warsaw_2019/EABS/Abstract_system/Call_for_papers_Warsaw.aspx
CBA Wessex Annual Conference (November 2019):
https://www.cba-wessex.org.uk/product-category/conference/
================================================================
GENERAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS BLOGS
================================================================
Archaeology Magazine News Page:
http://www.archaeology.org/news/
About.com Archaeology:
http://archaeology.about.com/
Ancient Digger:
http://www.ancientdigger.com/
Archaeology Briefs:
http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/
Past Horizons:
http://www.pasthorizons.com/
Stonepages:
http://www.stonepages.com/news/
Taygete Atlantis excavations blogs aggregator:
http://planet.atlantides.org/taygete/
Time Machine:
http://heatherpringle.wordpress.com/
================================================================
PODCASTS/VODCASTS
================================================================
Archaeosoup:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Archaeos0up?feature=watch
Archaeology Podcast Network:
http://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/
The Book and the Spade:
http://www.radioscribe.com/bknspade.htm
================================================================
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Italian riot police have clashed with refugees occupying a square in Rome, using water cannon to douse their possessions.
The refugees fought back, launching objects at officers, and trying to hit them with sticks.
Police said they intervened because of reports that protesters planned to use gas canisters and Molotov cocktails, and officers claim they were hit by bottles, rocks and pepper spray.
Eviction
About 100 people occupied the square in defiance of an order to leave an office building in which about they, and about 700 others, had been squatting for 5 years. As the riot police advanced, they displayed banners saying “We are refugees, not terrorists”.
#refugees disrupt traffic in Rome central station and shout “Italia, vergogna!” (Italy, shame on you) #Curtatonepic.twitter.com/jNO5If3MQc — Sabika Shah Povia (@sabikasp) August 24, 2017
Most of the squatters were Eritrean and had been granted asylum. However, the authorities claim that many of them had refused to accept the accommodation offered to them by the city.
Italy and the migration crisis
Italy’s on the frontline of the European migration crisis. The Italian Interior Ministry says over 600,000 migrants have arrived there by boat since 2013.
Back in June, Italy’s Prime Minister accused other European countries of “looking the other way” as Italy battled with the problem. | {
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(Image courtesy of Mentor Graphics.)
It may have taken a century for us to get to this point, but it’s no longer a question of if we’ll have autonomous vehicles, but when. Still, the technology needed to put self-driving cars on the road is not a trivial matter—it involves multiple sensor modalities and huge amounts of data.
One way to approach the engineering challenges of autonomous vehicles is from the bottom up: start with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)—like adaptive cruise control (ACC) and lane departure warning systems (LDWS)—and integrate them until you reach the Holy Grail that is Level 5 autonomous driving.
However, from a processing point of view, that approach faces a scaling challenge: the cost, complexity and latency of processing the data from an arithmetically increasing number of sensors increase exponentially because each new sensor comes with its own distributed processing.
According to Amin Kashi, director of ADAS & AD at Mentor Graphics, “If you’re trying to scale up to higher levels of autonomy, the problem you have is that the output of the processed data from various sensors is not identical. For example, processed data from a camera is different from processed data from a radar, and trying to fuse data from two different sensors requires a lot of processing power.”
The alternative is to take a top-down approach when it comes to processing: start with a platform that transmits unfiltered data directly from the sensors to a central processing unit. This centralized system can reduce the latency of data transfer from sensors to processing, with the added benefit of making sensors less expensive by removing the need for them to have individual processing capabilities.
That’s the idea behind Mentor’s DRS360, an automated driving solution that can capture, fuse and utilize raw data from multiple sensor modalities in real time.
“At the end of the day, it reduces the cost by not having a lot of processing required at the edge nodes,” said Kashi.
The DRS360 platform is engineered to meet the safety, cost, power, thermal and emissions requirements for deployment in ISO 26262 ASIL D-compliant systems. DRS360 deploys a Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC device in the first generation, accommodating SoCs and safety controllers based on either X86- or ARM-based architectures. The result supports fully automated driving within a 100-Watt power envelope.
Although Level 5 autonomous driving has yet to be achieved, the DRS360 is designed to be ready for it. “We wanted to see what architecture was needed to achieve the highest levels of automated driving,” said Kashi. “That’s the goal with this platform.”
For more information, visit the Mentor Graphics website. | {
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Thousands of people spend their Christmas vacation at Walt Disney World each year. Nearly 40 years ago, one of those vacationers was John Lennon – and that trip included a historic event.
In 1974, John was in the midst of his 14 month separation from Yoko Ono – a period he called his “Lost Weekend” – and he decided on a whim to take son Julian and assistant/girlfriend May Pang to the Magic Kingdom. He booked a room at the Polynesian Village Hotel, now called Disney’s Polynesian Resort.
Meanwhile, in London and New York, attorneys had finally put the finishing touches on the contractual paperwork that would solidify the Beatles’ breakup. The contract was four years in the making, and the other three Beatles were ready to sign. After years of red tape and millions of dollars spent, the official dissolution papers were drawn up and ready to be signed off on at the Plaza Hotel in New York in 1974. George and Paul had arranged to fly in and be present, while Ringo signed the necessary documents at an earlier time, while still in England. So as George, Paul, Apple lawyers and business managers grouped around a large table to dissolve the partnership, Ringo was on the phone to confirm that he was alive. Meanwhile, everyone in the room was curious about John’s whereabouts. This seemed especially ironic, given Lennon lived within walking distance of the Plaza Hotel.
The attorneys furiously worked to determine John’s whereabouts. May Pang picks up the story:
On December 29, 1974, the voluminous documents were brought down to John in Florida by one of Apple’s lawyers. “Take out your camera,” he joked to me. Then he called Harold to go over some final points. When John hung up the phone, he looked wistfully out the window. I could almost see him replaying the entire Beatles experience in his mind. He finally picked up his pen and, in the unlikely backdrop of the Polynesian Village Hotel at Disney World, ended the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in history by simply scrawling John Lennon at the bottom of the page.
And that’s how Walt Disney World bore witness to rock history. | {
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President Donald Trump is turning the spotlight to video games as part of his attempt to focus attention on mental health after last month’s mass shooting in Florida. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Trump revives familiar Washington debate on video game violence
President Donald Trump's White House meeting Thursday about the interplay between video games and real-world violence will revisit territory already well-trodden by politicians over the decades — including his old foe Hillary Clinton.
Trump is turning the spotlight to video games as part of his attempt to focus attention on mental health after last month's mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. But more than a decade ago, it was former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton waging the crusade against what she called the corrosive effect that violent games could be having on children's mental states.
"I think we should do everything we can to make sure that parents have a defense against violent and graphic video games and other content that goes against the values they're trying to instill in their children," Clinton said in 2005, shortly before introducing a bill to tighten restrictions on selling games to minors.
Lawmakers first raised concerns in the 1990s that violent — and increasingly realistic — video games not only glorify gore but desensitize players to its consequences. The debate tends to flare up in the wake of national gun tragedies, such as the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado and last month's killings in Florida. A former neighbor told the Miami Herald that Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz played video games for upwards of 15 hours per day. "It was kill, kill, kill, blow up something, and kill some more, all day," the neighbor said.
But the video game industry points out that violent crime has dropped since the late 1990s, even as video game sales hit record highs. And though video games are played worldwide, mass shootings are an acutely American problem, the industry's largest trade group has noted.
Industry representatives will trek to the White House on Thursday so Trump can take his turn at the issue.
Morning Education A daily dose of education policy news — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The meeting will pit the top lobbyist and major players from the industry against fierce critics who have long pushed lawmakers to assert more control over violent content in media. Michael Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, is slated to attend, as is Robert Altman, the chairman and CEO of ZeniMax Media. That company, which owns the studios behind hit video games like "Doom" and the "Fallout" series, counts Trump's brother, Robert S. Trump, among its board members.
They'll face outspoken detractors like Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center, and Melissa Henson, program director for the Parents Television Council, who have pointed a finger at video game makers following previous mass shootings.
The ESA spends millions of dollars lobbying Washington each year on a broad swath of issues, including fighting back against efforts to regulate video game content.
"The truth is, there is no scientific research that validates a link between computer and video games and violence, despite lots of overheated rhetoric from the industry's detractors," ESA maintains in an online fact sheet.
Yet after almost every mass shooting, at least some politicians raise the question: Aren't these violent video games corrupting young people?
"The video games, the movies, the internet stuff is so violent," Trump told lawmakers on Feb. 28. "It's hard to believe that, at least for a percentage — and maybe it's a small percentage — of children, this doesn't have a negative impact on their thought process."
Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) was long the face of the anti-video game crusade in Washington. In December 1993, the lawmaker called a now-infamous hearing about violence and sexual abuse in gaming following the release of the fight-to-the-death thriller Mortal Kombat.
"I would like to be able to pass a law saying you can't produce this stuff anymore," Lieberman said then. "We don't do that because we value our freedoms, but with those rights the producers of video games in this case have also come responsibilities." Lieberman called on the video game industry to make a change.
The following year, ESA established a self-regulatory body called the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which to this day scores new releases on a scale from "everyone" to "adults only."
But it's unclear whether the rating system has kept violent games out of kids' hands. More than a decade after Lieberman's hearing, Clinton took up the issue after a "Grand Theft Auto" game included a hidden feature in which characters simulated sex. In 2005, she introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which would have made it illegal to sell or rent "mature" or "adults only" video games to youths under 17.
Clinton's bill failed to advance, but politicians have kept the debate alive as mass shootings have continued unabated and video-game technology has advanced. The two-dimensional bloodbaths of Mortal Kombat seem quaint compared to the graphic nature of some games today. High-definition graphics and immersive technologies like virtual reality allow players to feel more embedded in the action than ever before.
The issue resurfaced in Washington as recently as the 2012 shooting that left 26 students and staff dead at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. The National Rifle Association deflected blame to video games for instigating gun violence and industry leaders found themselves, as they do now, called in for a White House meeting. Then, it was former Vice President Joe Biden who wanted to chat.
"We know that there is no silver bullet" to thwart mass shootings, Biden said as the meeting began.
| {
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This can't be right: A powerful corporation making a risky decision that put costs ahead of environmental safety? That's crazy talk!
About 11 hours before the Deepwater Horizon exploded, a disagreement took place between the top manager for oil giant BP PLC on the drilling rig and his counterpart for the rig's owner, Transocean Ltd., concerning the final steps in shutting down the nearly completed well, according to a worker's sworn statement.
Michael Williams, a Transocean employee who was chief electronics technician on the rig, said there was "confusion" between those high-ranking officials in an 11 a.m. meeting on the day of the rig blast, according to a sworn statement from Mr. Williams reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Williams himself attended the meeting.
The confusion over the drilling plan in the final hours leading up to the explosion could be key to understanding the causes of the blowout and ultimately who was responsible.
What is known from drilling records and congressional testimony is that after the morning meeting, the crew began preparations to remove from the drill pipe heavy drilling "mud" that provides pressure to keep down any gas, and to replace this mud with lighter seawater.
Ultimately, the crew removed the mud before setting a final 300-foot cement plug that is typically poured as a last safeguard to prevent combustible gas from rising to the surface. Indeed, they never got the opportunity to set the plug.
[...] Typically well owner BP would have final say, since it was paying roughly $1 million a day to lease the rig and pay for services from 12 companies that had people on the rig.
What is clear is that workers soon began displacing the mud. Later that afternoon a pressure test provided ambiguous readings, a possible sign of gas seeping in, according to what Rep. Henry Waxman says a BP executive told House investigators. Eventually, in the evening, after further tests, BP made a decision to carry forth in removing more drilling mud. The rig blew about 10 p.m. | {
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Travelling through Chennai, it is not hard to find a row of empty pots dotting the pavements. Deep in the slums of Mylai, a long line collects behind a bright yellow tanker. The driver fills the public tank while people wait their turn to fill four pots of water. Any more than four is considered risky and can provoke clashes.
India heatwave: rain brings respite for some but death toll rises Read more
Geetha is in no mood for a fight and wants to stick to her quota. The 43-year-old stands at a distance from the crowd after filling her pots, undeterred by her youngest daughter chiding her for sending her late to school. “Why does the tanker have to tell me when to go to school and when not to?” she asks.
Geetha and her husband, Sarathkumar, have put their day on hold to wait for the water truck, much like every day for the past two months in Chennai, where water shortages have reached critical level.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Women fetch water from a makeshift well at a dried-up lake in Chennai. Photograph: P Ravikumar/Reuters
India is facing the worst water crisis in its history. A government report estimates that 21 cities will run out of groundwater by 2020.
Chennai, the southern metropolis with a population of 10 million, is the first of them. Despite recent rains, the north-west monsoon has failed to fill the four main reservoirs – which are currently an expanse of cracked soil languishing under the sun – and the city is suffering its worst drought for 70 years.
Political parties are cashing in – the ruling AIADMK government dismisses the crisis as a media creation – while the opposition DMK party has taken to the streets to protest about the government’s inaction. Experts suggest that rainwater harvesting and proper management of groundwater resources could have and still can avert the crisis, but for families like Geetha’s it’s too little, too late.
Back in her home, Sarathkumar’s phone is aflutter with calls from one man: his boss. “He’s saying that I’m late to work again. I’ve been late for the past two weeks. The man doesn’t understand that I need to bathe before I go to work,” he says as Geetha brings out a tray with glasses of water. “I had to pay 38 rupees (£0.43) for this water,” she says.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Indians queue to fill pots from a water tanker in Chennai. Photograph: R Parthibhan/AP
The couple have three daughters: one studying in 12th grade, one training for a bank job and the eldest working in IT. “Sometimes the water comes at 10 in the night, and I have to wake up my youngest to catch water,” Geetha says. “She doesn’t get any sleep after. Her teacher keeps saying she sleeps in class and sometimes she has to pay a fee for coming late to class. Our whole life has been disrupted.”
Indian villages lie empty as drought forces thousands to flee Read more
Sarathkumar says new housing built near the slum two years ago has exacerbated the water crisis. “This is like an add-on. They completely diverted all the water supply from our pipes to the affluent complex, and since then we’ve been accustomed to this ritual,” he says.
Over at Koyambedu vegetable and fruit market, trucks come and go as men haul the produce off. Sitting at his desk, 32-year-old Anbu Kadavul is writing a bill for a customer. Boxes of bananas surround him and his men, who are clearing away the rotten produce. Two months ago a kilogram of bananas was 200 rupees. Today, in the midst of an unending water crisis, it is a whopping 500 rupees. Anbu sets down his pen and reads to himself the numbers of the vehicles that will arrive with bananas for the day. “We used to get 50 vehicles a day. Now it is just 20. No one wants to buy bananas in kilos any more,” he says. He has lost 100,000 rupees this month and says he will continue to do so. “The farmers are complaining to us that they don’t have enough to pay their moneylenders. I don’t have enough to pay myself, what can I do?”
In contrast, 48-year-old Chinnadurai is probably the only happy man in the market. He sells freshly cut banana leaves and caters to hotels and homes. In Tamil Nadu, where it is traditional to eat on a banana leaf, hotels mostly provide food on a thali – a stainless steel or copper set of cups, bowls and a plate. But there is no water to wash cutlery so demand for leaves is up. “The banana leaf is back!” he exclaims, adding: “This is a seasonal business, and it is only during weddings that leaves are in high demand. But today, there is no water, and that has changed my profits for the good, sorry to say.”
However, not everything is good news. “I would never wish for a crisis like this. I have a booming business, but still find it hard to get water to drink.” | {
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A: Answer Nothing in the specifications or user's guide says they are, so I seriously doubt it. But unless you're using an old CRT monitor, where you position the speakers relative to the monitor is utterly irrelevant - LCD displays aren't affected by magnetic fields. (And anyway, magnetic fields don't "damage" CRT monitors, so if by some truly wild chance you're still using one of those and it does cause the display to distort, you could always just move the speaker until the effect stops.) As for positioning it near a PC, don't worry about that either. The whole idea that ordinary magnetic fields will erase or corrupt data on hard drives is basically an urban myth, albeit one at least based in "fact" (of a sort). It would take a VERY strong magnetic field to affect a computer hard drive (and if you have an SSD, it would be, again, utterly irrelevant). And when I say "very strong magnetic field," I mean nothing short of what you might have to worry about if you' were trying to use a laptop with a mechanical HD while having an MRI taken<lol>, or if you lived or worked next door to a high energy particle accelerator. (That's a joke, of course...)
Read more | {
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With all of the cookies crocheted and the ends woven in, the only thing left to do was join them in some fashion.
Using Red Heart Super Saver warm brown, I worked a join not unlike the join I used in the original cookieghan:
It looked great, but about 5 cookies in, I realized that the join was a bit less fluid and forgiving than what was needed for a scarf, so I took some of the cookies that had not yet been joined and tried a variation on my first effort:
This joining resulted in a drape that was more hospitable to wearing as a scarf, so I continued on my merry crochet way, and by this morning, I had gotten this far:
Then with bent-tipped yarn needle in hand, I wove in ends. First one, then another. Finally they were all woven in, but the edge was a bit floppy, so filled in the border with sc stitches. When it still wasn’t holding together the shape as I wanted it too, so I continued and crocheted a round of slip stitches, and then it looked to my eye, just right:
Here is the long view:
and here it is chillaxing on the front porch the afternoon after the fall’s first hard freeze:
Now that I have this cookie scarf done, I have an idea for another completely different join for a second cookie scarf, but I am going to wait to see what project strikes me next, and if you are looking for your next project, you might want to consider joining a crochet-along featuring Lianka Azulay’s crocodile fingerless glove pattern and using her exquisite yarn. It might just be what you need to unleash your crochet mojo. | {
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Подозреваемый был задержан на два месяца.
18 октября 26-летний сержант полиции и боец Росгвардии Сергей Ручкин выстрелил в своего сослуживца, старшего сержанта Никиту Павлутина, которому было 27 лет.Инцидент произошел в районе 20:10 в оружейной комнате отдела вневедомственной охраны Национальной гвардии на Кусковской улице в Москве, утверждают в МВД.
Вечером 19 октября телеканал «360» опубликовал видеозапись с камер наблюдения, на которой видно, как мужчина в полицейской форме подносит пистолет к виску своего сослуживца и делает выстрел, после чего его сослуживец падает.
Павлутин был госпитализирован. Он скончался в больнице от полученного огнестрельного ранения. СКР возбудил уголовное дело по статье «Убийство». Павлутин с 1 марта текущего года занимал должность полицейского-водителя роты полиции 3 ОБП МОВО по ВАО. Всистеме МВД он проработал семь лет. У него остались жена и двое детей.
Ручкин имеет высшее образование (выпускник Российской международной академии туризма), в ОВД трудится с 17 ноября 2014 года. «По службе характеризуется положительно, холост», — сообщил источник телеканала «360» в правоохранительных органах. По данным «МК», мужчина в свободное от службы время выступает в подмосковных клубах в качестве диджея. | {
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Just as predicted, T-Mobile's latest hyped-up plan to change the cellular industry is this: the company will pay your early termination fee if you agree to switch. Starting tomorrow, the company will pay you up to $350 per line to cover early termination fees and release you from a contract with AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few catches. You'll also need to trade in your existing phone, buy a new T-Mobile phone, sign up for a new T-Mobile plan, and even port your existing phone number to T-Mobile — in case you weren't going to do that anyway.
T-Mobile also won't be paying out a lump sum of $350, but rather the actual amount you pay your existing carrier if you break your contract to switch. You'll need to send proof to T-Mobile directly at this website or mail it to the company, and presumably wait for your money. You do, however, get an instant credit for trading in your existing smartphone at the time of the deal, with T-Mobile paying up to an additional $300 depending on the phone you trade in, and you won't have to pay right away for your new smartphone since T-Mobile is making almost all of them $0 down on contract.
"We're giving families a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card.'"
Unsurprisingly, T-Mobile is trumpeting the idea as a bold new idea. "We're giving families a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card," writes Legere in the press release. But in many ways, AT&T just beat T-Mobile to the punch. Last week, AT&T announced that it would pay $200 for every line that T-Mobile customers switched over to its own network, an offer that also requires those customers to buy a new AT&T phone.
"Try the network, try what we're doing, and if it doesn't work, these pricks will pay you to come back!"
At the time, Legere called AT&T's promotion a "desperate move," accusing AT&T of trying to buy customers back, and his own plans aren't that much different. However, as Legere points out on stage, the fact that both T-Mobile and AT&T are paying you to switch could be pretty great.
"Try the network, try what we're doing," Legere asks. "And if it doesn't work, these pricks will pay you to come back!" | {
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A divided Supreme Court ruled last week that the Commerce Department’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census violated federal law. The opinion delivered a setback to the Trump administration’s last-minute attempt to add an untested citizenship question to the census. Here’s what the court said and what it means for the upcoming census.
1. The citizenship question is blocked from appearing on the 2020 census.
The Supreme Court upheld in part the ruling of a lower federal court barring the question. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts declared that the Commerce Department provided a pretextual reason for wanting the citizenship question that was merely “a distraction,” in violation of the legal requirement that agencies disclose the true reasons behind their decisions. The case was sent back to the district court for further proceedings. Then on Tuesday, the Justice Department said that the census forms were being printed without the question, seemingly ending the fight over its inclusion. But the next day, DOJ reversed itself and said that it would still pursue the case.
2. Blocking the citizenship question is the right outcome.
Blocking the citizenship question is the right outcome given the egregious facts of this case. But the justices also unfortunately made many holdings that misconstrue the law. They overturned much of the lower court’s holding that the Commerce Department committed a “a veritable smorgasbord” of violations under the Administrative Procedure Act, the law that governs how federal agencies are allowed to make decisions. The lower court found those violations to include, among others, the Commerce Department’s violating provisions of the Census Act, ignoring uncontested evidence that the citizenship question will lead to an undercount, and lying about the administration’s true reason for wanting to ask about citizenship on the census. The Supreme Court agreed that the administration provided a false reason for adding the question and blocked the question on that basis alone, but its opinion disappointingly sanctioned the other flagrant abuses of power that the Commerce Department undertook in this case.
3. Even without the citizenship question, the federal government must make serious efforts to regain public trust in filling out the 2020 census.
Fear and mistrust of the federal government remain at an all-time high. Discussion of the citizenship question has exacerbated fears of filling out the census, particularly among immigrants and people of color. Experts predicted that the question would have caused almost 9 million people not to complete their census forms.
While the citizenship question cannot now appear on the 2020 census, the threat of the question amplified long-running fears of interacting with the federal government. A recent Census Bureau study revealed that nearly half of the study’s participants expressed some level of concern about the confidentiality of their census responses. What’s more, almost one quarter of participants were “extremely concerned” or “very concerned” that their responses would be used against them.
Given these concerns, the federal government must now do everything it can to reduce fears about responding to the census. For instance, it must double down on its commitment to following the laws that protect the confidentiality of census responses. Those laws are ironclad: census responses must remain confidential and cannot be used against you in any way. The administration should broadcast its commitment to following them across the country.
4. Other challenges to the 2020 census still loom.
The citizenship question was not the only threat to the 2020 census. Although this week’s decision removed one of the greatest dangers, the census is still considered a “high risk program” according to the most recent report by the Government Accountability Office.
The 2020 census is the first that will be conducted primarily online. Concerns about cybersecurity persist, as do concerns over the digital divide — the gap between those with reliable access to the internet, and those with little-to-no access. Outreach to communities that lack internet access will be of paramount importance if the 2020 census is to proceed smoothly. Moreover, the confidentiality concerns discussed above persist. And the Census Bureau is not on course to hire the number of temporary workers it will need to go door-to-door in order to count the people living in households that do not respond to the census after receiving their census forms in the mail.
Advocates need to continue pressuring the administration to get the census back on track. Congress will need to engage in heavy oversight of the Census Bureau. And states and local governments can step up efforts to ensure their residents get counted. In short, the bureau may still have a lot of work to do to ensure a fair and accurate 2020 census, but everyone must do their part to mobilize the count.
(Image: CSA Images/BlackwaterImages/BCJ) | {
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The bulk of free agency has passed with just one big shoe left to drop: Kawhi Leonard. Nobody knows when he'll make his decision, but in the meantime, names big, small and in between are flying off the board. So far, here's a look at 10 reported deals that look like high-value signings.
When the Warriors turned the loss of Kevin Durant into a sign-and-trade for D'Angelo Russell, and reportedly agreed to give him a four-year, $117 million max contract, it hard capped their 2019-20 payroll at $139 million, meaning they can't exceed that number next season under any circumstances -- even to re-sign their own players. In Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Russell alone, Golden State has almost $120 million invested in just four players, leaving them with less than $25 million to fill out the rest of the team.
Everyone assumed Kevon Looney was a goner. Instead, the Warriors get him on a three-year, $15 million deal, which is somewhere between high value and downright unbelievable. People who only pay attention to the glamour of the Warriors have no idea how important Looney has become. He gets them extra possessions on the offensive glass. He defends. He rebounds. It is not an exaggeration to say he is perhaps the difference in them remaining a title contender, and they got him for $5 million a season? It is shocking nobody offered him more than that, or if they did, that he didn't take it. Either way, the Warriors win huge with this one.
The Pelicans are not rebuilding after the loss of Anthony Davis. They're not reloading either, because they weren't loaded to begin with, even with Davis. What they're doing -- which is to say what David Griffin and newly hired GM Trajon Langdon are doing -- is teaching a master class in how to not just recover from the loss of a superstar, but actually somehow come out better in the short term.
We know the Pelicans are stacked for the future with all the picks the Lakers gave them, but look at this roster right now. Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Derrick Favors, Josh Hart, E'Twaun Moore, a quietly useful Jahlil Okafor, rookies Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and now you add Redick's shooting and leadership to the mix? This is a potential playoff team on paper, even in the Western Conference.
Redick is going to thrive in Alvin Gentry's up-tempo offense with transition 3s, and New Orleans suddenly has a plethora of wing options to mix and match lineups. Shooting could've been an issue for this team, but Redick goes a long way in covering that up. Last year Redick got $23 million from Phllly for one season. The Pels get him for two years for $26.5 million.
Forget what Rose used to be or what he was when he looked like he was barely hanging onto a job in the league. What he is right now is a guy who just averaged 18 points and four assists on 48 percent shooting, including 37 percent from 3. He is a reliable jump shooter, as crazy as that sounds, and a lot of his burst is back. He's smart. He's experienced. And the Pistons got him on a two-year, $15 million deal. That's eighth-man money. If Rose does what he did last year, a top-six seed is in striking distance in a deeper-than-you think Eastern Conference for Detroit.
Hood took his game to another level in the playoffs last year, at times carrying the Blazers' offense for stretches and making huge shots. As a result you would've thought he'd be in fairly high demand this summer. Maybe he was and decided he wanted to remain with the Blazers, who either way got Hood in a two-year, $16 million deal. Hood will likely be Portland's starting small forward at an average annual salary of $8 million. He could easily average 15 points a game starting in that system. That's worth more than Portland is paying him.
Utah is out here doing work. First they trade for Mike Conley. Then they sign Bojan Bogdanovic. Then, in the shadow of those deals, they quietly add Davis on a two-year, $10 million deal that is terrific value for a guy who complements this Jazz roster perfectly. For starters, he had the second-best defensive plus-minus in the league last year. The only player with a better mark than him was Rudy Gobert, his new twin-town teammate.
DRPM is a messy stat and Davis only played 18 minutes a game, but that's about what he figures to log for Utah, too. He keeps the Jazz as an elite defensive team when Gobert goes off the floor without having to change the way they operate. Davis also racked up almost nine boards a game, a terrific number on a per-minute basis.
Davis doesn't bring the offense of Derrick Favors, who Utah lost to New Orleans, but suddenly offense is not what Utah needs with the additions of Conley and Bogdanovic. His second-unit defense and rebounding alone makes this a super high-value signing, even if no one is talking about it.
Lamb, who averaged 15 points and five assists as the second option on the Hornets, goes to Indiana on a three-year, $31.5 million deal. Lamb is a good shooter, he's long defensively, and he's a capable secondary creator next to Victor Oladipo and newly signed Malcolm Brogdon. Ten million annually is a good deal for a guy who can score 20 any night and gives you the versatility Lamb can bring, particularly on an Indiana team that needs scoring.
7. Willie Cauley-Stein, Golden State Warriors
Suddenly the Warriors go from the prospect of having Damian Jones as their starting big man to Kevon Looney and now Cauley-Stein, who averaged 12 points and eight boards last season in Sacramento. People will tell you he's all stats and little substance. Don't listen to them. All of this stuff is situational.
In Sacramento, yes, Cauley-Stein never delivered on his No. 6 overall draft spot and the team was never good enough for him to just fill a role with his length and athleticism and be considered valuable. That's exactly what he can do with Golden State. This is JaVale McGee all over again -- cast off elsewhere, freed up to turn his athleticism and size loose with the Warriors.
Cauley-Stein can block shots and catch lobs and just be a size and defensive presence on a team that won't need him to do anything else. He's very talented, and he comes to Golden State for reportedly slightly less than the league minimum. Steal.
The Bulls get Satoransky on a three-year, $30 million deal, and he'll likely be their starting point guard until Coby White is ready. The Wizards were better with Satoransky than they were with John Wall, and while nobody thinks Satoransky is the talent Wall is, the mere fact that you can have that debate tells you Satoransky can play.
He's a total Euro-style player, keeps the ball moving, pushes in transition, knocks down shots. He'll be big in creating flow for Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine and Wendell Carter Jr., and he can play alongside a score-first point guard in White. You wish the Bulls were better, because Satoransky isn't going to lift a bad team. But he'll further steady the ship and allow some of these young Bulls to really see what they can do in a rhythmic setting.
Rivers is reportedly returning to Houston on a two-year veteran's minimum deal at a little over $2.1 million per year. That is couch-cushion money in the NBA for a very solid player. Rivers likely could've tripled this money on the open market, at least. He plays hard. He's a defender. He can create offense off the bounce and is a more threatening 3-point shooter than his low-30s percentage would indicate. To me, Rivers is something of a Marcus Smart light. Incredible value on this deal for Houston.
The Bucks let Malcolm Brogdon go because they flat-out couldn't pay him what the Pacers gave him, and its a loss, no question. But Eric Bledsoe was paid like an All-Star point guard and if he plays that way, Brogdon's loss won't be crippling. Beyond that, Matthews quietly keeps Milwaukee's wing depth intact after Nikola Mirotic also left to return to Spain. Matthews can still shoot it and defend at an All-Star level. He's not going to completely change Milwaukee's fortunes by any means, but he's coming on a two-year minimum deal. He should play way above that.
Honorable mention | {
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An Indian student has been hailed as a heroine for standing up to a man molesting her at a train station in the middle of the day, and dragging him by the hair to the police – while dozens of people did nothing to help.
Pradnya Mandhare, 20, was travelling home after a day of classes at Sathaye College, in the Mumbai suburb of Vile Parle, when she was approached by an obviously drunken man.
Pradnya Mandhare has dragged a drunk man by his hair to the police station after he allegedly attacked her. Credit:Facebook
"This visibly drunk person came to me and touched me inappropriately," she said. "When I tried to avoid him, he grabbed me. I was shocked for a couple of seconds, but then I started hitting him with my bag.
"He was trying to hit me, but I could overpower him because he was stinking of alcohol and I could make out that he was drunk." | {
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Image caption Miranda won three prizes at the awards last year
Miranda Hart and Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner are leading the charge at this year's British Comedy Awards, with four nominations each.
Hart, who won three awards in 2010, is up for best female TV comic, TV comedy actress and the People's Choice award, while her show is up for best sitcom.
Friday Night Dinner is also up for best sitcom and new comedy, with nods for stars Tamsin Greig and Tom Rosenthal.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on Friday.
Harry Hill scored three nominations, including best male TV comic and comedy entertainment programme.
He will go up against Charlie Brooker, Rob Brydon and Stewart Lee in the male TV comic category and face Brooker, Alan Carr and Graham Norton to be named comedy entertainment personality.
Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat and BBC Olympic comedy Twenty Twelve also picked up three nominations each.
They will compete with Friday Night Dinner and Sky series Spy for best new comedy, while Jack Whitehall and Hugh Bonneville are both up for best TV comedy actor for their roles in the shows.
Hart will be up against Jo Brand, Victoria Wood and Sarah Millican for the best female TV comic title, and also Outnumbered's Claire Skinner, Dawn French for Pyschoville and Greig for TV comedy actress.
Former lifetime achievement winner Ronnie Corbett is also up for best sketch show for The One Ronnie, against Come Fly With, Horrible Histories and Sky's This Is Jinsy.
Also up for the People's Choice award, voted for by viewers, are Norton, Whitehall, Brand, Millican and David Mitchell.
Jonathan Ross will host the awards, which will also be broadcast live on Channel 4 from 21:00GMT. | {
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Story
Today the Council approved legislation sponsored by Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles that would waive enforcement of Metro transit fares when Metro activates its Emergency Snow Network to encourage people to use transit and avoid driving during severe snowstorms.
Metro customers will be able to ride without paying the transit fare while the Emergency Snow Network is in effect. The legislation increases accessibility of Metro transit service for those experiencing homelessness in need of shelter and encourages all residents to avoid driving during severe snowstorms.
“Like our policy of free fares on New Year’s Eve, this legislation is about promoting safety,” said Kohl-Welles. “It will encourage people to stay off the roads and get to where they need using a safer mode of transportation – regardless if they have an Orca Card or enough money to pay the fare.”
The measure was proposed earlier this year by Kohl-Welles in response to a massive storm that devastated roads and highways across the region in February and became known as “Snowmaggedon.” This resulted in Metro activating the Emergency Snow Network for the first time. | {
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Earl Weaver's epic tirades will live on
As our Paul White notes in his wide-ranging summation of Earl Weaver's legacy, the irascible Baltimore Orioles manager once said his tombstone should read, "The sorest loser that ever lived."
Or, more accurately, "The sorest $%&! loser that ever lived."
Indeed, Weaver's innovations and approach will endure in the game forever. But many memories associated with the Hall of Fame manager, who died Saturday, will be associated with his, shall we say, creative use of language.
With that in mind, a couple of Weaver nuggets to enjoy.
MAJOR disclaimer: Both pieces contain VERY profane language, and therefore would not be safe for viewing at work, in most homes and around children.
The first: Weaver getting his money's worth after getting tossed from a game at old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
The second: An unedited take of an appearance on "Manager's Corner," where he answers questions from fans in, shall we say, an indelicate fashion.
And with that, we leave you with a line from a YouTube commenter on the ejection video:
"Earl Weaver will never die. Because God won't want to get chewed out by him."
H/T: Eye on Baseball | {
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Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking how you’ll escape one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.
– John Green, Looking for Alaska | {
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After an ugly game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the Wild had a pair of injuries strike the club during practice on Sunday.
Multiple sources at the team’s practice taking place in St. Paul reported that goaltender Devan Dubnyk took a shot off the arm, went to the trainer and then left the ice for the remainder of practice.
Coach Mike Yeo said after practice that Dubnyk suffered a pressure cut on his arm and required stitches, according to The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo.
Yeo did not announce who would be the starting goaltender on Monday.
It was only a few minutes after Dubnyk left the ice that star winger Zach Parise also left practice. Parise’s situation doesn’t appear to be serious though, reports Russo. Yeo said that he expects Parise to be fine and be in the lineup tomorrow.
In practice, Justin Fontaine jumped up into Parise’s spot on the second line, which may be another indication that they don’t think Parise’s situation is that serious. Fontaine had a rough game on Saturday and was set to be a healthy scratch in Monday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
If Parise is in, Fontaine will be the odd man out on Monday, Yeo confirmed. That means Ryan Carter is once again healthy and Erik Haula has done enough to stick in the lineup. He’ll be moving up to the third line with Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter. The fourth line will become Jarret Stoll centering Carter and Chris Porter.
In 26 games this season, Parise has 11 goals and 20 points.
Dubnyk has gone 14-10-2 in 27 games with a .916 save percentage.
UPDATE:
Darcy Kuemper will start against the Detroit Red Wings on Monday. Dubnyk may back-up Kuemper.
Zach Parise is expected to play.
RELATED: Jared Spurgeon Gets 4-Year Extension | {
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Stay on Top of Emerging Technology Trends Get updates impacting your industry from our GigaOm Research Community
The demand for larger phones has risen since 2011, and many wondered how long it would take Apple to join in and offer a comparably larger iPhone. It did so this month, with two new models: The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.
I have one of each — I bought the 6 for myself (starting at $199 on contract, $649 off-contract) and my son got a 6 Plus. I’ve used my new [company]Apple[/company] iPhone for the past week (I’ll talk more about the larger model in an upcoming post) and due to the hardware redesign and Apple’s slightly more open software approach, I’m actually rethinking my typical annual plans to buy a new [company]Google[/company] Android handset this year. Let me explain why.
A new look and a size that’s overdue
Obviously, with each new year, Apple improves the iPhone hardware, and this year is no exception. A few items stand out, however. First is the redesign.
As the leaks and rumors suggested, the iPhone 6 is shaped more like an iPod touch, which is actually one of my favorite devices because it does so much while being so thin. This year’s iPhone 6 is 6.9 millimeters thick and has rounded corners, similar to an iPod touch. I didn’t care for the hard edges of the prior iPhones, so I see this as a big improvement: It’s easier to reach across the display without feeling the edges. However, the thinness can make the phone a bit hard to hold; I haven’t dropped it yet, but there are times when I feel I might.
Then there’s the 1334 x 750 resolution display. It has the same 326 pixels per inch as last year’s iPhone 5s [BUT?] has 38 percent more viewing area, and my eyes have been crying for that extra screen space for a while now. I’m used to a 4.7-inch display, because the Moto X — my primary Android phone for 13 months (a record!) — uses the same size of screen. But even though it only has a slightly higher pixel count, the iPhone 6 display is noticeably better in terms of brightness, contrast and viewing angles. There are times when the screen output looks as if it’s painted on the glass, almost like it’s a still image and not a dynamic screen.
It’s no surprise I quickly got used to the 4.7-inch screen, then, since that’s the size display I’ve been using since last year. I wish Apple had used this size a year or two ago; many people will find it to be a good compromise between size and usability. I do find the overall phone a bit tall, however; that’s due to Apple keeping the top and bottom bezel identical in size. With the Touch ID home button, the bottom bezel can’t be shrunken but the top one could use a little diet. I doubt that will change, though: Symmetry is and has been prevalent in the overall iPhone design.
Moving the power / wake button from the top to the size was a good move; it’s a more natural place for a phone of this size. Little else has changed on the outside, although the new TruTone LED flash fits within a small circle now.
What’s inside the thinner, bigger phone?
Apple says its new A8 chip has a 25 percent faster CPU and 50 percent faster GPU than last year’s phone. It’s also smaller because it’s built on a 20 nanometer process, meaning more transistors are packed in tighter. This can help with battery life, although I’m generally seeing about the same run-time on a charge as I did with the iPhone 5s. Most days, I’m getting by with just one charge but if you use the iPhone 6 heavily, a full day may be tough without a late afternoon recharge. There is a new feature to show you which apps are using the most juice.
I’ve run some basic benchmark tests and the iPhone 6 does test faster than previous versions: The SunSpider test for JavaScript, for example, is a spritely 355.7 milliseconds, compared to 419 milliseconds from my iPhone 5s. Rather than re-create the wheel, I’ll point you to what I think are the most all-compassing suite of tests performed by AnandTech if you’re into benchmarks. More important to me is: How does the iPhone 6 perform in typical use?
Unsurprisingly, it’s generally a step quicker than last year’s phone but there’s not a huge gain in speed. Apps open fast and are very responsive and although I’m browsing the web on a mobile device, it sometimes feels as fast as surfing on a traditional computer. The camera can snap crisp images nearly as fast as you can tap the shutter button. All in all, this phone is as fast as anything out there, if not faster.
Apple also upgraded the low-power chip for sensors: The new M8 keeps the same sensors as last year and adds a barometer to measure air-pressure changes. This comes in handy when counting how many flights of stairs you climb daily, which can be tracked automatically by Apple’s Health app.
Wi-Fi now supports 802.11ac networks and my home router supports this faster Wi-Fi protocol. Wireless speed tests from nearly anywhere in my house on the iPhone 6 consistently show faster speeds, sometimes equalling the 75 Mbps home broadband connection I have with wired devices. I’ve also seen better signal quality in general, although with the latest software update the Wi-Fi doesn’t seem as stable as it was.
The iPhone 6 can work with Voice over LTE on Verizon and Wi-Fi Calling on T-Mobile. I have an AT&T model, however, so I haven’t been able to test either of these services. My voice calls have been no different from last year’s iPhone. Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS are also supported, as you’d expect.
What sounded like a minor camera upgrade is actually impressive
Apple’s choice of camera sensor first disappointed me when I heard about it. The camera is still an 8 megapixel sensor with the same f/2.2 aperture as last year’s model. After using the camera in a range of situations, though, I’m impressed with it and my initial disappointment is long gone.
The new phase-detection autofocus is very fast and generally accurate. Aside from a few times, the camera quickly picked out the object I was shooting and focused in fast. Continuous autofocus when shooting video is excellent to have. And the new 240fps slo-motion capture has created some interesting videos; here are two of me trying to keep up with my dog as he runs around outside in circles — he’s quick! — and another of an outdoor fire that’s mesmerizing.
A professional photographer has already shown the capabilities of the new iPhone 6 camera so if you know what you’re doing, you can capture stunning images. The front facing camera is improved, particularly if you want to take HDR selfies. (I do not, but that’s just me.)
Are there better smartphone cameras on the market today? Certainly. I’d say most of the Lumia handsets will meet or exceed the iPhone 6 in some situations, for example. But for most people, Apple’s phone will take better pictures than they’d expect. Put another way: For a wide range of photos and videos, this is a great camera that’s pretty simple to use. Here are a number of stills I captured using the standard Camera app with Auto HDR and a single type of edit — the auto-enhance feature native to iOS.
Hardware is only half of the story and iOS 8 has some big changes
Some of the aspects of Android that I preferred over iOS are no longer an issue, as Apple changed a few things. Apps in iOS can now work together thanks to extensions. Instead of being able to share web content only with the apps that Apple says you can share with, you can now share with nearly any other app. And in a way, it’s even better than how Android handles this.
So I can now share interesting articles from the web to Pocket, for example, because the newest version of the app supports extensions. That means Pocket automatically appears in my list of apps to share from Safari. Yes, the same happens in Android, but eventually you get an unwieldy list of sharable apps. In iOS you can enable or disable sharing on each individual app, creating a customized list. That’s handy. You can also use image filter apps directly in the native Photos app.
Apple also added widgets in iOS, but they’re a bit more limited. You can’t put them on the home screen; they appear in the Notification Center with a swipe down from any screen. You can rearrange them there and you can enable or disable them, but it’s a limited implementation: fine if you use just a few widgets, not ideal if you want many. At this point, I’m only using the Yahoo Weather widget, which was automatically installed with the weather app.
Apple has also opened up its stance on third-party keyboards even as it improved its own. That’s another Android-only feature that is no more: Most of the top-tier keyboards for Android have quickly made their way to iOS, although I’ve seen some instability on a few. Give them time to work out the kinks for this new platform — new to them, at least — and they’ll get better. For now, I’m using Apple’s own keyboard, which has pretty solid word prediction to save taps and time.
I am a bit disappointed in Siri. Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana provide more robust, contextual information, even though Siri has been on the market longer. If I had to pick one thing I’d miss the most by going all-in on iOS, it would be this area. Siri is helpful for getting information that you ask for, but not for proactively notifying you, something other smartphone platforms are quite good at.
There’s a host of other tweaks and changes in iOS 8 — more than I can cover here and some that will be coming later, such as Apple Pay next month. Suffice it to say that the bigger changes are reflected in Apple opening up the software for apps to work better together. Hardware is more open too as developers can use the Touch ID sensor (which I find is better at reading fingerprints) for app and purchase authentication. Apple did all of this in its own controlled way, of course, but it’s still a step toward more freedom in how you use your iPhone.
Is bigger better, and who is this for?
If you’re simply not a fan of iOS, there’s not much here that’s going to convince you to buy Apple’s latest iPhone. There are plenty of other good choices on the market for you.
Did you leave iOS because the iPhone was too small? That problem is gone with the iPhone 6 and it’s well worth the look. For me, the 4.7-inch screen is super for one-handed use and fitting in a pocket. Even if the screen feels too tall, you can always double-touch the home button and iOS will slide the entire screen down for you.
I’m not sure that iPhone 5s users need to make the jump right now, unless you simply have to have that larger display and rounded edges. If you have an iPhone 5 or below, then this is a no-brainer. Go check out the iPhone 6 and make sure you like the size and feel: You’ll get a nice performance boost in just about every area.
To close the circle on my own decision, I may just keep my older Android phone and not upgrade to the latest that runs Google’s software. (Note: I’m currently reviewing a 2014 Moto X, so I reserve the right to change my mind!)
Apple’s iOS platform works with every app and service I need, and the new phone is the perfect size for me based on my Moto X which has similar measurements. The bigger input to my decision though is the philosophical change Apple made in iOS 8, finally allowing a bit more openness for developers and users.
The only thing I’m really missing on the iPhone is Google Now, which works to a limited degree through the Google Search app for iOS. And there will always be some function or feature that works on Android, or another platform, that isn’t possible on iOS, or is limited in some way. The functions I need are generally available on the iPhone 6, however, and in hardware that’s more than capable with plenty of screen to work with. And I’ve always suggested that people purchase the mobile device that best suits their needs.
Yes, Android is far more customizable and easier to tinker with, but the main aspects I enjoy from it have now come to iOS in a bigger phone. As a result, I just might save myself some money and make the iPhone 6 my only phone purchase this year. | {
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Ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists seeking to reach Gaza is seized by Israeli soldiers on naval vessels.
A ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists seeking to breach Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza has been seized
shortly after being approached by Israeli vessels.
“The Estelle is now under attack – I have just had a message from them by phone,” Victoria Strand, a Stockholm-based spokeswoman for the Ship to Gaza Sweden campaign told the AFP news agency on Saturday.
According to Dror Feiler, another spokesperson, the SV Estelle, whose passengers included five parliamentarians from Europe and a former Canadian politician, was boarded at around 08:15 GMT.
“Five or six military vessels surrounded the Estelle. Soldiers wearing masks are now trying to board the ship. The attack took place on international water: N31 26 E33 45,” Feiler said. The Israeli military confirmed that the ship was boarded.
“A short while ago, Israeli navy soldiers boarded Estelle, a vessel which was en route to the Gaza Strip, attempting to break the maritime security blockade,” it said in a statement.
The military also said no one was hurt when marines boarded the vessel, a three-mast schooner, and that it was rerouted to the Israeli port of Ashdod after it ignored orders to turn away from the Hamas-governed Palestinian enclave.
The Estelle, the latest ship to try to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza as part of the “Freedom Flotilla” movement, had set sail from Naples in southern Italy.
Luigi de Magistris, the mayor of Naples, met with members of the crew during a visit to the Estelle in the city’s port.
The Estelle, whose voyage was organised by an international pro-Palestinian coalition, was carrying humanitarian goods such as cement and books to the Gaza Strip.
There were 30 activists from around the world on board, including passengers and crew from Canada, Israel, Norway, Sweden and the US. | {
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"Cei care dau Volksbank in judecata o fac dintr-un calcul foarte cinic. Toata povestea asta cu clauzele abuzive e o afacere. Si unii dintre avocatii clientilor au in contractele cu clientii lor clauze abuzive", a spus vineri sefa Directiei Juridic din Volksbank, Diana Ciubotariu. Ea a participat la conferinta Finmedia "Un week-end cu presa economica", care se desfasoara vineri si sambata la Sinaia. Ciubotariu conduce din 2009 directia Juridica din Volksbank, adica perioada in care banca a acordat cele mai multe dintre creditele contestate. Sefa Juridicului din Volksbank este printre putinii directori ramasi in functie dupa ce BNR a decapitat vechea conducere, fortand demiterea lui Gerald Schreiner si nu doar a lui. Ciubotariu a mai acuzat presedinti de Tribunale din tara ca dau sentinte defavorabile bancii intrucat ei sau colegi ai lor au credite la Volksbank."In Iasi,Timisoara, Mehedinti, Bucuresti, au fost judecatori presedinti de Tribunal care nu au inteles contractele si au dat banca in judecata. Aceste litigii au fost judecate de catre colegii dumnealor, dupa care au venit la rand rudele, amicii acestora...E greu acum sa mai pui stop unui val care a inceput", a spus vineri Ciubotariu.In prezent, Volksbank are pe rol circa 2000 de dosare din partea clientilor nemultumiti, potrivit Dianei Ciubotariu. Rata de castig a bancii este de 20%, adica din 10 procese, 8 se pierd, a mai adaugat Ciubotariu."Instantele nu permit audierea probelor noastre. Trecand peste etapa probelor, trecem prin unul sau doua termene de judecata in care judecatorul e lamurit cu privire la toate conditiile pe care legea le cere atunci cand el trebuie sa ia o decizie. Motivarea deciziei arata ca banca nu are niciun fel de risc intrucat are o garantie care acolopera sumele imrumutate", a mai precizat sefa Juridicului din Volksbank.In ianuarie, un grup de clienti ai Volksbank a castigat irevocabil in instanta un proces pe clauze abuzive privind comisionul de risc si alte comisioane din contractele de credit, precum si modificarea unilaterala a dobanzii, decizia publicata miercuri de Tribunalul Bucuresti vizand 315 contracte de credit. "Respinge recursul ca nefondat. Obliga recurenta la plata cheltuielilor de judecata catre intimata. Irevocabila", se arata in decizia Tribunalului Bucuresti.Judecatoria Sector 2, prima instanta de judecata, a constatat caracterul abuziv al clauzelor care instituie dreptul bancii sa revizuiasca rata dobanzii in cazul unor schimbari semnificative pe piata monetara, precum si clauzele care instituie comisionul de risc, redenumit, dupa caz, comision de administrare."Credem ca nimeni nu este in masura sa faca aprecieri asupra unor decizii ale instantelor, fie ele negative sau pozitive. Exista atat sentinte favorabile bancii, cat si sentinte precum cea in discutie, ceea ce ne face sa credem ca suntem inca departe de a avea o concluzie pe acest subiect. Ca si pana acum, Volksbank respecta si pune in aplicare toate deciziile instantelor si isi asuma atat esecurile, cat si victoriile", au declarat pentru Mediafax reprezentati ai bancii.Prima instanta, a carei hotarare a fost mentinuta si de Tribunalul Bucuresti, a calificat ca abuzive si clauzele care instituie urmatoarele comisioane, daca sunt incluse in contract: comisionul de administrare garantii, comisionul de rezerva minima obligatorie si comisionul monitorizare polite de asigurare.Totodata, instanta a decis ca sunt abuzive clauzele care stabilesc obligatia imprumutatului de a incheia contractul de asigurare cu o societate de asigurari partenera sau agreata de banca si dreptul bancii de a alege noua societate de asigurari care reinnoieste polita.Judecatoria Sector 2 a considerat ca sunt abuzive si unele clauze privind declararea scadentei anticipate.Curtea a constat nulitatea absoluta a clauzelor enumerate mai sus si, in consecinta, a clauzelor din actele aditionale la conventiile de credit, din notificari sau din comunicarile care au modificat tipul dobanzii din fixa in variabila, in lipsa acordului imprumutatului in acest sens sau care au modificat rata dobanzii."Obliga parata sa restituie reclamantilor sumele incasate cu titlu de comision de risc (dupa caz, redenumit comision de administrare credit), de dobanda majorata si de comision rezerva minima obligatorie, de la data incheierii conventiei de credit la zi. Respinge celelalte capete ale cererii, ca neintemeiate. Obliga parata la plata catre reclamanti a sumei de 217 lei, pentru fiecare reclamant din tabel care nu a renuntat la judecata si nu a incheiat tranzactie, cu titlu de cheltuieli de judecata", se arata in decizia Judecatoriei Sector 2.Volksbank Romania este in curs de vanzare, procesul urmand sa fie finalizat pana in 2016. In ultima perioada institutia de credit a schimbat numerosi presedinti si directori de directii, pe fondul incercarilor de redresare a institutiei. | {
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click to enlarge Matthew Thorsen
Carina Driscoll
An organization launched by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is fundraising on behalf of his stepdaughter, Burlington mayoral candidate Carina Driscoll.Our Revolution sent out an email Tuesday seeking $5 donations. The solicitation by the national organization could open the floodgates for Driscoll , who lags behind incumbent Mayor Miro Weinberger in dollars raised. Campaign finance reports filed this week show that Driscoll drummed up $32,000, a figure that includes $10,000 she loaned her campaign. Weinberger, a Democrat, amassed an $80,000 war chest while independent Infinite Culcleasure raised $5,000.Driscoll applied for — and received — an Our Revolution endorsement last month. At the time, Driscoll said that she would accept fundraising help if the organization offered. Our Revolution, which is based in Washington, D.C., was born in 2016 out of Sanders' failed presidential bid. Vermont's junior senator is not involved in the day-to-day operations, though former campaign staff members and longtime Sanders allies continue to preside over the organization.Tuesday's Our Rev email praised Driscoll's approach to "always put people first.""Carina's message is clear: Burlington is not for sale," the email read, quoting a Driscoll mantra that her stepfather popularized in Burlington in the 1980s.The email, signed by organization president Nina Turner, continued: "Carina's inclusive vision of government is one that listens and works for the people, not just insiders connected to the establishment."Our Revolution doesn't send out fundraising emails on behalf of every candidate that it endorses, spokesperson Diane May said in a January interview. She also said that Our Rev would send "get out the vote" texts for Driscoll before Town Meeting Day. May did not immediately return a request for comment.Driscoll has had a complicated relationship with her stepfather on the campaign trail. Last week, the Progressive Party-endorsed candidate invoked Sanders in a social media campaign ad . Driscoll has said repeatedly that she will not seek Sanders' endorsement, and that she does not consider Our Revolution's support to be nepotism.In a series of local TV interviews last week, Sanders said he'd donate to Driscoll's campaign and urged Burlingtonians to vote for her.The People for Bernie Sanders, another group inspired by Sanders, offered Driscoll an endorsement on Monday. The organization tweeted to its 93,300 followers a link to donate to Driscoll's campaign.Driscoll, Culcleasure and Weinberger traded barbs Monday night during their first mayoral forum at Burlington City Hall. | {
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A Richmond prosecutor has cleared Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli of criminal wrongdoing for failing to initially disclose thousands of dollars in personal gifts he had received years earlier from a Virginia businessman and his company, including a vacation and a catered Thanksgiving dinner.
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Herring said Thursday there is no evidence that Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor, violated any criminal laws with his belated disclosures on his required state economic interest statements. The gifts included those from troubled nutritional supplements maker Star Scientific Inc. or its chief executive, Jonnie R. Williams Sr., whose relationship with Virginia's governor is the subject of a federal-state investigation that has shaken the state capital.
Cuccinelli also held 8,660 of shares of stock in the company, which he sold over the past two years, even as the attorney general's office was responsible for defending the state Department of Taxation in a lawsuit the company filed over a $700,000 tax dispute. At the time, it represented Cuccinelli's sole stock investment.
"Our investigation finds no evidence that the Attorney General in any way promoted, supported or assisted Star Scientific while he had a financial interest in the company,'' Herring, a Democrat, wrote in the conclusion of his eight-page report.
"Although one cannot help but question whether repeated omissions of gifts from Williams are a coincidence or a pattern reflecting intent to conceal, the disclosure of several other gifts and benefits from Williams in his original statements suggests that the attorney general was not attempting to conceal the relationship,'' the report added.
Cuccinelli asked Herring to examine whether he'd committed a crime.
"This review vindicates what I have said all along,'' Cuccinelli said in a statement issued by his spokesman, Brian J. Gottstein. "There was no legal requirement to refer my own filings to a commonwealth's attorney to review, but I did it because I wanted to be completely transparent with the public.''
Cuccinelli omitted more than $13,000 worth of gifts including private jet flights and free vacation lodgings from his required state disclosure forms for a period of four years. In late April, he amended his filings from 2009 through 2012, saying he simply overlooked the gifts earlier.
Among the gifts that Cuccinelli said slipped his mind: a $3,000 summer family vacation last year and a catered $1,500 Thanksgiving dinner in 2010 at Williams' waterside mansion at the Blue Ridge Mountains foothills resort community of Smith Mountain Lake.
State and federal investigators are examining the link between Williams, and his company, and Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, whose family accepted thousands of dollars in unreported gifts from Williams, including a $15,000 check to his daughter Cailin for her 2011 wedding. McDonnell has defended not reporting the gifts on his statements of economic interest because state law requires only that gifts directly to state officeholders -- not their family members -- be disclosed.
Other honoraria added to Cuccinelli's amended forms included a chartered flight for him and his parents to a Virginia Mining Association ceremony at the expense of coal giant Alpha Natural Resources and transportation valued at $795 for a southwestern Virginia rally last year paid by the Federation of American Coal Energy and Security, or FACES of Coal.
Herring's report removes one impediment from Cuccinelli's campaign against Democrat Terry R. McAuliffe in the nation's only competitive gubernatorial contest this year.
The Richmond prosecutor now shifts his focus to a review of gifts to the McDonnells, and whether the governor's decision not to disclose them violates Virginia's conflict-of-interest law for public officials, which is consistently ranked by public interest organizations as among the nation's weakest.
Even if investigators determine that McDonnell deliberately withheld information that should have been made public, an infraction of the economic disclosure law is only a misdemeanor. Herring said that if he finds evidence McDonnell broke the law, he would present it to a grand jury, even if it's not a felony.
Addressing reporters Thursday afternoon, Herring said Cuccinelli appeared to have no strategy to conceal his ties to Williams.
"As I see this whole notion of forgetfulness, I think I've come to frame it as 'Is the lack of memory strategic or is it genuine and sincere?' I don't think the law allows for strategic lapses of memory. If it did, then I could forget disclosures that I did not want to reveal when it was convenient for me to forget,'' Herring said.
Democrats, who have been hammering Cuccinelli on the matter with the election less than four months away, were less forgiving.
Cuccinelli "avoided prosecution for disguising his conflict of interest with Star Scientific and Jonnie Williams because of Virginia's extraordinarily weak ethics laws,'' said Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Brian Coy.
In his report, Herring noted that the scope of his inquiry was limited.
"We did not broadly investigate the attorney general or his office,'' Herring wrote. "This report is in no way intended to offer an explanation for the behavior of the attorney general or any member of his staff.''
Herring also stated clearly that he's not necessarily done watching Cuccinelli.
The prosecutor wrote, "(A)t the risk of stating the obvious, we will continue to review information discovered by the (Virginia State Police) or other appropriate investigative agency.''
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A bipartisan bill was offered in the House on Thursday seeking to circumvent attempts by Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status White House officials voted by show of hands on 2018 family separations: report MORE to encourage stricter enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states where the drug is legal.
Reps. Lou Correa Jose (Lou) Luis CorreaCriminalization that never should have been: Cannabis Man arrested, charged with threatening to attack Muslims in Germany Gloves come off as Democrats fight for House seat in California MORE (D-Calif.) and Matt Gaetz Matthew (Matt) GaetzLara Trump campaigns with far-right activist candidate Laura Loomer in Florida House to vote on removing cannabis from list of controlled substances The Hill's 12:30 Report: Sights and sounds from GOP convention night 1 MORE (R-Fla.) introduced the “Sensible Enforcement Of Cannabis Act,” which would mirror a Obama-era memo that relaxed enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states where the drug is legal. Sessions rescinded the memo last month.
The lawmakers say their legislation would protect people from being prosecuted for legal medical and recreational marijuana use.
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{monads} “To date, eight states have legalized recreational cannabis, and twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia, representing more than half of the American population, have enacted legislation to permit the use of cannabis," Correa said in a statement.
“Attorney General Sessions’ decision to rescind the ‘Cole Memo’ created great uncertainty for these states and legal cannabis businesses, and put citizens in jeopardy for following their state laws," he said.
In rescinding the 2013 directive from then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Sessions did not explicitly call for action, but the move opens the door for federal prosecutors to begin pursuing cases against both businesses that sell weed and residents who use it.
The memo had prioritized other prosecutions ahead of marijuana use offenses.
In a statement, Gaetz called the former memo good policy but bad governance because it was not passed through an act of Congress.
“We are a nation of laws, not department-wide memos. We should not tell prosecutors to ‘pick and choose’ what laws to uphold,” he said. “When federal law conflicts with state laws and the will of the American people, it’s time to change the laws.” | {
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"I cannot predict what's on the President's mind. When they clarified with UK, we are saying there are no new grants… Different countries deal with the different departments so we do not know in the DFA if they (UK) or any other country are speaking with the PNP (Philippine National Police), DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), or the Department of Finance," said Cayetano. | {
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So you're telling me... People order food to eat while they wait for their food?
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Cannabis regulations were finally finalized on March 6 and Massachusetts marijuana enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to in 2018. Medical marijuana patients will be protected from shortages and applicants from communities worst affected by cannabis criminalization will be prioritized for licenses. But unfortunately, the dream of Massachusetts paving the way in America with cannabis cafes and yoga studios has been put on the back burner.
“We’re definitely disappointed,” said Karima Rizk, owner of Cafe Vert in Easthampton and cannabis-cafe hopeful. “But when you’re in the cannabis industry … the regulatory landscape is always rapidly changing.”
On March 6, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) voted unanimously to approve the regulations for the adult-use cannabis industry and will be filing the regulations with the Secretary of State by the March 15 deadline. Once language from the March 6 meeting is incorporated into the final regulations (935 CMR 500.00 as they’re officially called) the debate and public comments on about 150 policies will finally come to an end.
“Today’s meeting was the culmination of months of dogged dedication to an open and collaborative process that embraced the diversity of thought, experience, and perspective of Massachusetts residents, in service of the people’s will,” said CCC Chairman Steven Hoffman in a press release.
The final version of the regulations include nine license categories: cultivator, craft marijuana cooperative, microbusiness, product manufacturer, independent testing laboratory, storefront retailer, third-party transporter, existing licensee transporter, and research facility. Absent from the list are home delivery of recreational cannabis and social consumption. Last week the CCC voted to delay home delivery and social consumption (like cannabis cafes) agreeing to issue draft regulations on those topics by February 2019.
Cafe Vert announced on Facebook that they will be serving CBD (a non-psychotropic and thus less regulated cannabinoid) infused coffee when they open.
“I’m pleased to say that we’re full steam ahead,” Rizk said. “Mostly what I’m focusing on the next few month is legally fundraising and infrastructure.”
On March 6 the CCC passed one measure that is totally unique to Massachusetts: a requirement protecting medical marijuana patients from shortages. The requirement stipulates that Registered Marijuana Dispensaries (RMD) maintain a medical supply of cannabis products for their patients equivalent to 35 percent of inventory or the average sales over the last six months if co-located with an adult-use marijuana establishment. Given that Nevada, Washington, and Colorado all experienced shortages after legalizing recreational cannabis sales, this requirement will protect medical cannabis patients from losing access if the same happens in Massachusetts.
Another win for activists is the provision that Economic Empowerment Applicants will be prioritized, in other words, communities and areas disproportionately impacted by high rates of arrest, conviction, and incarceration related to the criminalization of cannabis will be prioritized when it comes to licensing.
In February, Leverett resident Cecelela Tomi spoke at the CCC public forum in Greenfield about the importance of including diverse voices in the conversation about cannabis, particularly because communities of color have been more affected by the criminalization of cannabis.
“I think we should be careful about leaving people out of the conversation,” Tomi said.
The CCC also voted to include Executive Office of Energy and Environment Affairs’ (EEA) recommendations to reduce cultivator energy use and limit emissions and to establish a flexible fee and licensing structure.
Lastly the CCC released finalized symbols to indicate that a product contains cannabis and is harmful to children. License applications will start to be accepted on April 1.
Meg Bantle can be reached at [email protected]. | {
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SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the Season 8 premiere of “Game of Thrones.”
The final season of “Game of Thrones” began with an episode that does much of the table-setting to which fans have become accustomed — “Thrones,” more than most shows, tends to dole out its big moments deeper into its annual run. But it does something new, too: Hitting the accelerator and delivering major plot developments, hurriedly, in its home stretch.
The scenes in which, first, Samwell Tarly learns of his father and brother’s death at Daenerys’s hands and, then, confronts Jon Snow with the fact of his true identity are nicely done: They’re well-acted (particularly by John Bradley, who, as Samwell, has delivered an increasingly fine performance over the course of the series). They certainly portend change ahead, as Jon, no matter his loyalty to Daenerys, cannot erase from his mind the fact both of his birthright to rule and of his blood relation to the woman he loves. And, on a show that had historically worked differently, they might seem a bit rushed but necessary to deploy information.
“Game of Thrones,” though, had been in its early seasons a show with an elegant ability to, brick by brick, construct stories methodically. The suspense of waiting for moments of chaos, when they inevitably broke out, was part of the joy. Now, perhaps, the conflagration is here — as the Dead march south, there’s not a moment of respite, so perhaps the jarring suddenness of moments towards the end of the season premiere, the inability to let story points breathe or land on their own, makes sense. But it saps the moment of some of its power to have it raced through, and is a reminder of aspects of the show that have fallen away as “Thrones” left behind its published source material, and became something bigger than a hit.
“Thrones,” as the biggest show in the world, has certain obligations to its fans now that it didn’t when it was a smaller surprise hit in its first few seasons. Among them are the need to convey the biggest pieces of information as plainly as possible, as with the Jon and Samwell conversation. (That scene’s clear design to move the story forward is both universally legible and a sign, perhaps, that saving quite this much story for the final six episodes might have been a slight miscalculation.) Another obligation is a growing emphasis on wisecracks, to lighten a mood whose oppressiveness is rather the point; further still is the expedited delivery of dragon footage. The two come together as Daenerys takes Jon for a reptilian ride, telling him, first, that nobody knows how to ride a dragon, “until they ride a dragon.” The sequence that follows, with Jon and Dany’s scaly chariots doing midair flips, is dazzling visually, upping the ante yet again for what the show can achieve as spectacle, even if its presence in the episode makes little sense other than as reward for fans before the more difficult material to come. (Love can change people, sure, but if we’ve established that Daenerys’s beasts hate the cold, snowy north and are physically weary, would someone so protective really risk their health by taking them on a joyride? And where’d her newfound sense of humor come from?)
The show’s broadening out has taken a toll, as the dual Samwell info-dumps indicate. But it has brought with it rewards, too, for those willing to find them. Lena Headey, always among the very strongest performers on the show, has embraced a sort of Disney-villainess grandeur as her character is written more and more delectably evil. “You might be the most arrogant man I’ve ever met,” she tells Euron after bedding him. “I like that.” It’s a line that clomps with unsubtlety, but it’s also carried across with relish. Similarly, Tyrion’s declaration to Sansa that “many underestimated you; most of them are dead now” is tough to take on the page, but is carried across with a thrumming charge of excitement. Tyrion and Sansa are back together again!
That’s an advantage this season of “Thrones,” in its first hour, is capitalizing on amply — even disillusioned fans’ excitement at the prospect of the show clicking into its endgame. If you have been watching this show since 2011, you have a crystalline sense of the ways it’s changed; you’ve also devoted so much time and thought to it that basically any aspect of the endgame will be graded on a bit of a curve by dint of it happening at all. As a viewer who has not always thought the Jon and Daenerys seduction tracked in every particular, I still felt a thrill as the pair rode horses side-by-side in the grand episode-opening procession of what seemed to be hundreds of soldiers, or on their dragon ride. Both sequences existed in part to make the case for the show’s unique ability to make grand visual statements; they achieved that goal. Both, too, help make the case for the relationship currently at the center of the show’s action better than dialogue could. Jon and Daenerys, both, seem (and are) born to power. Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke, cast when they were neophytes, have both grown into talented screen performers over the “Thrones” decade, and their progression rhymes with their characters’ learning how to bear themselves with grace and élan.
The most pointed moment in the premiere may be Varys’s declaration that the young use “respect” as a mechanism to keep their elders at a remove, “so we don’t remind them of an unpleasant truth: Nothing lasts.” It’s a concept that seems to have more applications than solely to goings-on at Winterfell. Not merely will “Thrones” be ending in five weeks — but various shows it has been before its current, hyper-assured, brisk and brusque mode have already ended, too. “Thrones” is doing absolutely stellar work within the bounds set around its current era: Highly burnished entertainment that lingers on no story point a beat more than strictly necessary to communicate the idea. Dwelling on the shows it once was and no longer is seems perhaps beyond the point. After all, this is a drama that, since those early days when episodes stretched out leisurely and when an end was not in sight, has always been about seismic change.
RELATED VIDEO: | {
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Jerry Brown says states should act if Trump quits climate deal
California Gov. Jerry Brown speaks during the joint Netherlands and California Environmental Protection Agency conference called, "Climate is Big Business," at the Presidio Wednesday, May 24, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) less California Gov. Jerry Brown speaks during the joint Netherlands and California Environmental Protection Agency conference called, "Climate is Big Business," at the Presidio Wednesday, May 24, 2017, in San ... more Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Jerry Brown says states should act if Trump quits climate deal 1 / 5 Back to Gallery
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday called on states to forge an alliance to support the Paris climate deal following reports that President Trump plans to withdraw the United States from the landmark international accord.
Although individual states cannot sign the Paris agreement, Brown said state leaders should step up to demonstrate the nation’s support if Trump pulls out of the coordinated response to global warming.
“This doesn’t look so good,” Brown told The Chronicle on Wednesday, just days before he heads to China to meet with climate leaders. “I can’t believe that in the face of science, (Trump) can say black is white.”
The California Democrat’s reaction came hours after a White House official said the president is expected to pull out of the deal. The president later tweeted that he will announce his decision on the Paris accord during a Rose Garden event Thursday afternoon.
The Paris accord is a 2015 U.N. agreement made among nearly 200 nations that committed each country to lowering greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the effects of climate change. The deal was seen as a historic breakthrough when it was signed after decades of international efforts fell short.
Under the Paris accord, President Barack Obama pledged that the United States would strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 28 percent below its 2005 levels by 2025. Obama also pledged $3 billion to help poorer countries reduce their emissions. The United States is the world’s second largest emitter of carbon, after China, so its commitment was crucial. Both countries submitted their carbon-reduction plans under the Paris accord on Sept. 3, in a show of unity.
China, Brown said, is leading the way on climate-change policies after taking over the solar and wind-power industries.
“America, wake up. You aren’t going to get gas guzzlers no matter what Donald Trump says,” Brown said. “You aren’t going to get coal to increase, no matter what Donald Trump says in West Virginia. We have to get with the program. And the program is renewable energy, decarbonizing, and research and development in a way that makes America more sustainable, not less.”
Brown has emerged as a leader in the fight against climate change by urging local governments throughout the world to agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. In all, 170 governments in 33 countries have joined the so-called “Under2 Coalition,” which sets more ambitious goals than the Paris accord. In addition, several nations, including Sweden, Mexico, France and the United Kingdom have endorsed the effort.
The governor leaves this week for China to attend an international climate summit. He is scheduled to visit Chengdu, Nanjing and Beijing to push climate and clean-energy policies.
Brown said that a Trump move to pull the U.S. out of the Paris accord would galvanize activists and push California to double down on its own climate strategies.
“It’s a very big deal,” Brown said. “It’s imperative that other parts of America take action. We can’t take action alone.”
The president’s desire to exit the voluntary agreement is not surprising; he pledged to do so during his campaign. Republicans in the U.S. Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, sent a letter to Trump urging him to live up to his campaign promise and exit the climate accord. Senate Democrats sent Trump a letter saying such an exit would hurt America’s credibility, while West Coast members of the House of Representatives called on Brown and governors from Oregon and Washington to push for the core tenets of the Paris Agreement.
“We strongly disagree with President Trump’s decision to abdicate America’s leadership role, allowing other nations to lead on clean energy and job creation,” the lawmakers, including Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, wrote to the three governors.
The U.N. Twitter account quoted Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying “Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable.”
“California needs to step in to fill the void of American leadership if the president is going to give up on fighting climate change,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, whose bills to increase rooftop solar and expand energy storage both cleared the state Senate on Wednesday.
Another bill, SB100 by state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, would require California to receive all of its power from renewable sources by 2045. It, too, passed the state Senate on Wednesday.
“When it comes to our clean air and climate change, we are not backing down,” de León said in a statement calling SB100 “the most ambitious target in the world to expand clean energy.”
“Now more than ever, it is critical that we double down on climate leadership as we learn that the President intends to withdraw from the Paris agreement,” de León said.
Trump’s potential withdrawal comes after a recent visit overseas, where he met with Pope Francis, a strong advocate in the fight against climate change. Vatican officials urged Trump not to leave the Paris climate accord.
Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez | {
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Publicidade
A Prefeitura de São Paulo estuda aumentar a tarifa de ônibus para quem paga passagem em dinheiro ou no Bilhete Único tradicional e manter o valor atual para passageiros que aderirem ao modelo mensal –bandeira de campanha do prefeito Fernando Haddad (PT) que não decolou.
O anúncio da nova tarifa deve ser feito no início do próximo ano. Hoje, a passagem custa R$ 3 e está congelada desde 2011. Se for aplicada a inflação do período, deveria chegar a R$ 3,70.
Nesta semana, os secretários municipal e estadual de Transportes, Jilmar Tatto e Jurandir Fernandes, respectivamente, irão se encontrar para discutir um valor unificado para ônibus, metrô e trens.
A Folha apurou que a prefeitura estuda aumentar, também, o vale-transporte –pago pelas empresas aos trabalhadores. Assim, o maior peso financeiro do reajuste recairia sobre os empresários.
Uma das principais promessas de campanha de Haddad, o bilhete mensal permite uso livre de ônibus, metrô e trem. Custa, apenas para ônibus, R$ 140 e, só metrô/trem ou uso integrado, R$ 230.
A adesão, porém, não decolou, decepcionando a gestão. Conforme a Folha mostrou em novembro, ela representa apenas 6% do que a prefeitura estimava atingir ao lançar o bilhete, em novembro de 2013, e 1% dos usuários do Bilhete Único tradicional.
Na prática, o modelo mensal não vale tanto a pena. Compensa apenas para quem faz mais de 46 (só ônibus) ou 49 (integrado) viagens por mês. Quem só vai e volta do trabalho geralmente faz 44 viagens/mês.
Com a manutenção do valor mensal, a prefeitura espera que grande parte da população adquira essa modalidade, pois ela se tornaria mais vantajosa.
A medida pode, também, diminuir o impacto político do reajuste. Em junho de 2013, após aumento da tarifa, grandes protestos tomaram as ruas de São Paulo, encabeçados pelo MPL (Movimento Passe Livre).
Pressionados, Haddad e o governador Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB) revogaram a medida e viram suas popularidades despencarem.
TARIFA ZERO
A prefeitura também estuda conceder tarifa zero a estudantes de escolas públicas. A possibilidade foi aprovada na Câmara Municipal na semana passada.
Quanto a universitários, porém, a administração enfrenta um dilema: estudantes de universidade públicas normalmente têm renda maior que grande parte de alunos da rede privada, bastante beneficiada por programas sociais, como Prouni e Fies.
Uma das saídas, segundo Jilmar Tatto falou na semana passada, será dar gratuidade a estudantes com renda per capita de até R$ 1.550.
SUBSÍDIO
Neste ano, a prefeitura pagou R$ 1,7 bilhão de subsídio às empresas de ônibus. Em 2013, o valor era de R$ 1,3 bi.
O subsídio é pago para compensar a arrecadação com a tarifa inferior aos custos do sistema. | {
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I ordered a big meal at a restaurant To avoid looking like a fat ass I took some of it to go and ate the rest in my truck
179 shares | {
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Is Collecting Animals For Science A Noble Mission Or A Threat?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Maggie Starbard/NPR Maggie Starbard/NPR
Behind the scenes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, there's a vast, warehouse-like room that's filled with metal cabinets painted a drab institutional green. Inside the cabinets are more than a half-million birds — and these birds are not drab. Their colorful feathers make them seem to almost glow.
toggle caption Maggie Starbard/NPR
"The birds are showing their beautiful plumages; they're laid out like little soldiers in a row," says Helen James, the curator in charge of the bird division, as she points to some special finds. "We have some of the most amazing hummingbirds. Here is one with a long, straight bill that's longer than the bird itself. Here is the smallest species of a raptorial bird — a tiny little falcon."
Probably every hour, she says, someone reaches into a cabinet here and pulls out a bird. Maybe a visiting scientist wants to know all the places a species has been collected, to understand its geographic range. Or a paleontologist needs help identifying a fossil to reconstruct the evolution of birds. Sometimes a researcher wants to take a bit from a specimen to do a lab analysis that could reveal what the bird ate, or whether it was sick, or if it was exposed to a toxin.
The value of scientific collections like this one — and the constant need for adding new specimens — is so obvious to James that she was alarmed by a recent article that appeared in the journal Science.
It warned that scientific collection has the potential to hurt animal populations that are small and isolated. The article also asserted that "collecting specimens is no longer required to describe a species or to document its rediscovery."
"There was a real concern here that there was an issue of scientific responsibility," says Ben Minteer, an ethicist at Arizona State University and one of the report's authors. "If we're dealing with very small populations, where individuals really matter in these populations, it doesn't take many researchers filling their specimen bags to have an impact."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Maggie Starbard/NPR Maggie Starbard/NPR
Last year, for example, Minteer's co-author, Robert Puschendorf of Plymouth University in the United Kingdom, was doing field work in the mountains of Costa Rica when he heard that a certain tree frog — once thought to be extinct — had just been spotted.
"A colleague of mine was telling us about it and he was really excited," Puschendorf recalls; he and some colleagues went out that night to try to find this frog but couldn't. In the morning, they heard that someone else had found one and collected it.
Puschendorf says the experience was an eye-opener. "I've collected lots of animals in the past and it's incredibly important," he says. But this case left him feeling troubled. "Because why do we actually need to take the animal right at this point in time," he asks, "when they are just starting to show up again in a site ... and you can actually be harming that population?"
If we're dealing with very small populations, where individuals really matter ... it doesn't take many researchers filling their specimen bags to have an impact.
Traditionally, collecting what scientists call a voucher specimen is considered the gold standard for documenting the presence of a species. "It's the ultimate evidence that you've found something, right?" Puschendorf says. "You have the whole animal."
He and a colleague asked Minteer for advice on the ethics of whether this is always the best approach. They concluded that instead of collecting one of the rediscovered frogs right away, scientists could have used alternative techniques to document its existence — like getting some of its DNA, or taking photographs.
After all, this tree frog was already known to science. But even when researchers discover a totally new species, Minteer says, they shouldn't collect if they don't understand the possible impact. To him, this was a no-brainer.
"The surprise for me was the degree to which some [in] the biologist community and the museum community felt that this was an all-out attack on what they do," says Minteer.
More than a hundred researchers from museums and universities around the world signed a letter to Science that defends specimen collection as an essential tool. The researchers noted that an estimated 86 percent of species on the planet aren't yet known to science.
"If we don't have the specimens, then we can't obtain the data that we actually need to conserve the species," says Carole Baldwin, a fish specialist at the National Museum of Natural History.
Baldwin says she, personally, would not be convinced if someone claimed to have a new fish species just based on photos and DNA, because that could be misleading.
We fear it will swing the pendulum toward ceasing scientific collection entirely, and I think that would be a great harm.
And she points out that much of ocean life simply cannot be discovered without collecting it. Baldwin studies deep ocean reefs, for example, that she reaches by diving in a small submarine.
"Most of the diversity on coral reefs, you've never seen," she says. "It's not swimming out above the reef; it's down deep inside. So you're not going to come to me with photographs and DNA unless you've got a specimen."
She worries that this recent criticism of collecting will give the public the wrong idea — which worries her. Before scientists go on a collecting trip, they have to get all kinds of permission from regulators, and Baldwin says "it's getting harder and harder to get approval and permits to collect."
Over in the bird division of the museum, James notes that one recent field expedition to Djibouti in Africa required seven different permits and approvals.
That expedition returned with a big black case that James opens to show a tray of black-and-white birds, pinned down so that they would dry in the right position.
toggle caption Maggie Starbard/NPR
"These three here are crab plovers," James says. "This is a very special addition to our collection because we did not have any modern genetic material of this family." Now the scientists can sequence the DNA of this strange shorebird and figure out how it fits into the family tree.
She worries that Minteer's arguments could create a dangerous slippery slope.
"When it's suggested that you should cease collecting because maybe there's a case when you don't know whether you might collect something rare, then that argues that we should cease collecting generally," James says. "We fear it will swing the pendulum toward ceasing scientific collection entirely, and I think that would be a great harm."
Long ago, some scientists did go out and deliberately collect rare species in a way that would never be accepted today, says James. But she sees no evidence that modern scientific collection has ever made a species go extinct, and says the real culprits are activities like habitat destruction.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Maggie Starbard/NPR Maggie Starbard/NPR
"We're not claiming that scientific collection is a leading driver of extinction," counters Minteer. "That's a sort of absurd, sort of hyperbolic interpretation of what we're saying."
He says all he and his colleagues really wanted to convey is that scientists should be careful and think twice — seriously consider alternatives before automatically grabbing an animal to take home.
"It's one thing for a community to say, 'Look, we have a code of ethics, we abide by it. No responsible biologist would ever do this.' We think that those are all good things, and good statements," says Minteer. "But it's harder to actually create a sort of ethical culture in the field when no one is looking — when no one is watching."
There needs to be more discussion of how scientists can watch over themselves, Minteer says, to make sure their desire to collect a species never delivers the final blow. | {
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ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria on Friday announced a presidential election for April 18 without indicating whether veteran leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika would stand, following calls for his nomination by a loyal ruling caste of businessmen, trade unions and the military.
FILE PHOTO: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is seen in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina/File Photo
The 81-year old leader, who has been in office since 1999 and rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, has now 45 days to say whether he wants to seek a fifth term.
Under the constitution the election date was made necessary by the expiry in April of Bouteflika’s fourth term.
Algeria’s ruling coalition and other leading figures in labor unions and the business world had previously urged him to run again for the presidency.
But there have been concerns about his health.
In December, Boutelfika, who has been wheelchair-bound since 2013, was unable to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when he came to Algiers for a two-day visit due to acute flu.
His last meeting with a senior foreign official was during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sept. 17. An earlier meeting with Merkel and a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte were canceled.
The North African country, an OPEC oil producer, avoided the major political upheaval seen in many other Arab countries in the past decade but has experienced some protests and strikes. Unemployment, especially among young people, remains high.
The economy has improved over the past year as oil and gas revenues have picked up, allowing authorities to ease austerity measures imposed when they halved between 2014 to 2017. Oil and gas revenues account for 60 percent of the budget and 94 percent of export revenues.
ELITE
Analysts said Bouteflika’s announcement of the election date will ease concerns that the vote might get postponed.
In 1991, the army canceled elections which an Islamist party was set to win, triggering almost a decade of civil war that killed some 200,000 people.
“This decision shows that Bouteflika is sticking to the constitution,” said political analyst Arslan Chikhaoui.
Observers say if Bouteflika runs again he is set to win, as the opposition is divided into Islamists and secular parties.
Bouteflika is part of a thinning elite of the veterans who fought France in the 1954-1962 independence war and have run Algeria ever since. Many also credit him with ending the civil war by offering former Islamist fighters amnesty.
Bouteflika’s supporters say his mind remains sharp, even though he needs a microphone to speak. The opposition says he is not fit to run again.
He is unlikely to face competition from within ruling circles. Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, leader of the National Rally for Democracy (RND) allied to the FLN, has already said he will not run if Bouteflika goes for a fifth term.
Nobody has yet said they will run against Bouteflika, even though the president has said he wants more competition. He won with 82 percent of the vote in 2014, 90 percent in 2009, 85 percent in 2004 and 74 percent in 1999.
The government has said it wants to diversify the economy away from oil and gas, which accounts for 60 percent of budget finances, but there has been resistance from those within the ruling elite to opening up to foreign investment.
That has left the economy dominated by the state and firms run by business tycoons. | {
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Several train cars carrying grain derailed and landed on their sides just northeast of Calgary on Friday morning.
The incident happened near the hamlet of Kathyrn, at Highway 9 and Range Road 271.
Emergency crews were alerted just after 10 a.m. MT that 24 cars of the CN Rail train had derailed and ended up in a field, RCMP said.
No hazardous materials were in any of the cars.
There were no injuries and no evacuations were ordered, officials say.
Rocky View County emergency crews responded with assistance from the Crossfield fire department and Beiseker and Airdrie RCMP.
Highway traffic was also unaffected, officials say. | {
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click to enlarge Jessica Durling is a journalist, human rights activist and radical sex theorist.
SUBMITTED
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I’m transgender, which is to say I’ve had my sex misidentified at birth. There are a lot of stereotypes about trans people, especially trans women and girls. People will say we’re “a male that becomes female,” or a “crossdressing male,” which makes dating a bit difficult.Trans women are often seen in the dating world as either something abhorrent or an exotic fetish. We’re sexual adventures, but never serious relationship material. When rapper Real Tyga was revealed in 2015 to be dating a transgender woman it was a public “scandal.” Yet the news about robotics company Realbotix currently making “transgender” sex dolls for male consumption is a “ new and exotic way to spice things up in your bedroom .” The dolls themselves were never misidentified at birth. They’ve never faced hardship or struggles or discrimination. All they do is spread the false narrative that trans women all have penises, reinforcing the idea of trans people as a fetish.Tinder is another story.In December, published an article about trans women being banned from the dating app, despite Tinder’s appearance as inclusive of non-binary people. It’s telling, and a bit of a slap in the face, that Tinder allows multiple gender options beyond “male” and “female,” but users can only search for men and women.I used Tinder, back when I used to date men. During one date I met up with a local match for some frozen yoghurt and a walk through the Public Gardens. Then he suggested we go back to my house.“Do I tell him?” I thought, battling options in my mind. It wasn’t his business to know, but also if he was transphobic and found out, he might attack me.Other trans women have been killed in similar situations. Gwen Araujo, a teenager from California, was murdered in 2002 by two of her sexual partners. The murderers’ reason? She was trans. In court one of the accused used what is now called the “trans panic defence.” They claimed they didn’t know the woman was trans, and that was grounds enough for attacking Araujo. The defence rehashed old transphobic stereotypes in the trial, such as claiming Araujo was actually male. It’s not an isolated case. As a legal tactic the “trans panic defence” has been used in 48 American states, though—thankfully—I can’t imagine it would fly here in Halifax.On my date, I decided to stay quiet—for the moment. Eventually, I told him, at which point he let me know that he already knew. Turns out we had taken a class together in my first year of university.The stress and the worry is one of the reasons many trans people only date inside their own community, with others who understand what they’re going through. But the fear of violence—of being murdered for who you are—never completely goes away.It’s a common fear women have on dates, but amplified by society’s continued permissive violence against trans individuals. The Human Rights Campaign found that in the United States there were 27 violent deaths of trans people in 2017. About 84 percent of those victims were people of colour and 80 percent were female. Overall trans women and girls are four times more likely than cisgender women to be homicide victims.Trans people are under no moral obligation to tell you they’re trans. If they do, they’re letting you in on a part of their lives. It doesn’t say anything about who they are or the parts they have. It only means they had their sex misidentified at birth. It may be a big part of their identity or no part at all. But trust me, most of the time it will be a nerve-rattling experience to tell someone.So listen to your partner. Let them know they can trust you. Remember that they’re not a collection of sex parts or fantasy made flesh, but a person. Be a person too. | {
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I always wanted to build a Raspberry Gameboy but i had no experience in soldering or anything else related to electric ;) My awesome SS pushed me in the right direction and gave me a "Electronical Fun Kit" and a SNES USB Controller. Now i have to learn it, no excuses :)
So at first i have fun with the SNES Controller and when i am ready i can hack the hell out of it and have buttons and a controllboard for my Raspberry Gameboy.
Thank you so much my SS this gift is awesome :)
UPDATE Today i got another suprise from my SS - he also send me a cutting tool for small cables. - VERY VERY USEFULL! Thank you so much SS! | {
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CHINA has assured the Philippines it would not tolerate violations of Filipinos’ fishing rights at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal and would apply the law against violators, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said on Sunday.
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua gave the assurance to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella during a dialogue Friday and to Cayetano himself in an event Saturday night.
“We were assured by the Chinese ambassador that they will apply the law very harshly to violators,” Cayetano told reporters in an interview at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Zhao gave the assurance following the reported harassment of Filipino fishermen by members of the China Coast Guard at the contested Panatag Shoal, located just 124 nautical miles from the coast of Zambales province.
Cayetano noted that the Philippines and China had formally agreed to let Filipino fishers fish freely in Panatag Shoal, except in protected areas like inside the lagoon, which serves as a spawning ground of fish.
He was referring to the agreement between President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was discussed during the former’s visit to China in October 2016.
While Cayetano said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was still verifying the alleged harassment incident, he noted that there were incidents wherein fishermen themselves were selling their catch in Panatag Shoal.
“What is important for us is for fishermen to bring their complaint directly to us so we could act on it right away,” Cayetano added.
‘Lies’
The foreign affairs secretary also appealed to critics, including Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, to help the country find solutions to the problem instead of spreading false information.
Cayetano cited Alejano’s recent claims that Filipino fishermen were “at the mercy of the Chinese forces” at Panatag Shoal.
“That is not true, because if that is true our fishermen will be protesting vigorously already. Our fishermen can see the effort of our government to help them not only for them to fish at Scarborough but also in upgrading their boats,” he added.
Cayeteno also dismissed as a “lie” the claim of Alejano that the President had ordered the military to cease from patrolling the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
“It was a blatant lie. I do not know where he got his information,” Cayetano said.
Alejano’s claims, he said, were also irresponsible and would have an effect on the country’s national security, by making it appear that the Philippines has no forces in the West Philippines Sea.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday backed Cayetano’s statements, saying the military did not stop patrolling over the disputed territories.
“There were no orders contrary to the information of Congressman Alejano and actually, for the record, our maritime and aerial patrolling in the areas are continuous,” said Col. Edgard Arevalo, the military spokesman.
Arevalo said the protection of fishermen within the disputed Scarborough Shoal is not the responsibility of the military but of the Philippine Coast Guard.
“In regard to protection, it’s not up for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The coast guard should be the one to answer that issue,” Arevalo said in an interview over dzBB radio.
No Senate probe
The Senate Committee on National Defense and Security headed by Sen. Gregorio Honasan 2nd is not keen on conducting a Senate probe into the issue.
Honasan said the Senate could invite Cayetano and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to brief senators on the situation instead of calling for a hearing, which might expose sensitive information to the public.
“It is the reason why we have caucus for us to discuss sensitive issues and how to resolve problems quietly without making it public,” Honasan added.
Opposition Senators Paolo Benigno Aquino 4th and Antonio Trillanes 4th have filed their respective resolutions seeking an investigation following reports of Chinese militarization in Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef, Zamora (Subi) Reef, and Panganiban (Mischief) Reef in the Spratly Islands.
Sen. Richard Gordon meanwhile insisted that the government should lodge a protest on the alleged harassment of fishermen in Panatag.
“These are marginalized people. Why are you doing this to the poor people who are just trying to make a living? This is what makes being friends with China nowadays difficult,” he said.
RALPH U. VILLANUEVA, DEMPSEY REYES AND JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA | {
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday ruled out negotiations with Muslim militants still occupying parts of the southern city of Marawi, amid reports that civilians held as hostages are being forced to serve as sex slaves, take up arms against government troops and loot homes.
"For what (the militants) have done, there will be no quarter given, and no quarter asked," Mr Duterte, making his first public appearance after a week-long absence, said at an event to mark the end of the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday.
He spoke of the misery faced by civilians in the conflict.
"I am not happy that you are suffering. I don't see satisfaction even in winning the war. I just want this thing over, and those radicals, extremists out of the Muslim world," said Mr Duterte.
His spokesman, Mr Ernesto Abella, said earlier in the day that the government's policy not to negotiate with terrorists remains.
"Let us continue to remind the public that the gravity of the terrorists' and their supporters' offence is immense, and they must all be held accountable for all their actions," said Mr Abella.
Related Story Interactive: Battle for Marawi
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported yesterday that Abdullah Maute, who led the assault on Marawi last month, told religious emissaries on Sunday he wanted his parents freed in return for Father Teresito Suganob, the vicar- general of Marawi.
Fighting has raged in Marawi since an operation to arrest the militant Isnilon Hapilon went wrong on May 23. Hapilon was designated by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as head of its South-east Asia wing.
Taking advantage of a short truce on Sunday to mark Eid al-Fitr, eight Muslim leaders entered the conflict zone alongside rescue teams and briefly met Maute.
But Mr Abella said these emissaries had no authority to bargain with Maute.
The military said the militants holed up in Marawi were fighting among themselves over money and decision-making. Most of the group's leaders have either been killed or have fled, and some fighters were executed for attempting to withdraw from Marawi, the military added.
Hapilon, who with the Maute brothers and top Malaysian terrorist Mahmud Ahmad plotted to occupy Marawi and declare it an ISIS "province", had already slipped away from the conflict zone, a military spokesman said.
Yesterday, the army reported that civilians held hostage by the militants have been forced to convert to Islam, carry wounded fighters to mosques and marry militants.
"So they are being forced to be sex slaves, forced to destroy the dignity of these women," according to Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera.
He added: "So this is what is happening inside, this is very evident... these are evil personalities."
The army also reported that it has cut off a water route being used as a "logistical and medical highway" by the militants following the arrest of a man who had used a boat to smuggle ammunition into the battle zone and ferry wounded militants out.
Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday said security officials were hoping to retake Marawi before Mr Duterte delivers his State of the Nation address on July 24.
He added that General Eduardo Ano told him the battle would be fierce as the militants had vowed to "fight to the death", but that it should be over in a week or two. | {
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The Liberals have dumped a candidate in Quebec after B'nai Brith Canada accused Hassan Guillet of making a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements.
"The insensitive comments made by Hassan Guillet are not aligned with the values of the Liberal Party of Canada," the party said in a media statement.
"Following a thorough internal review process that has been ongoing for a few weeks, the Liberal Party of Canada has made the decision to revoke the candidacy of Mr. Guillet for the riding of Saint—Léonard Saint—Michel in this fall's election."
Guillet, a member of the Council of Quebec Imams, gained national attention after delivering a speech in Quebec City honouring victims of the Quebec mosque shooting.
In a statement on its website, B'nai Brith Canada said Guillett praised a Hamas-aligned activist, Raed Salah, and had a history of making anti-Semitic comments on social media. The group said it reached out to the Liberal Party more than a week ago to make it aware of their allegations against him.
Guillet responded in a Facebook post on Saturday morning, saying there was more to the story.
"This is not the whole truth and it is not the end. Certainly I will not abandon the thousands of people who have believed in me and want real change," the post begins.
"Soon the truth will be known by all. We have an appointment with history."
In a post on his Facebook account on Friday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to "do the right thing, immediately condemn these anti-Semitic comments, and fire this candidate.
"Anti-Semitism is unfortunately all too real in Canada and threatens the safety and security of Jewish Canadians. As political leaders, we need to speak out and condemn it at every opportunity."
In a previous statement issued Thursday — before being dropped as a candidate — Guillet had apologized for some of his past comments regarding the Middle East, without repeating the comments or detailing what they were.
"If these statements could be considered offensive to some of my fellow citizens of Jewish faith, I apologize. My intention was not to offend anyone. The lack of sensitivity of these statements does not reflect my personality or my way of being," he said in French.
"Since then I have evolved. Everyone who knows me, personally or through my works, knows that I am against hate, racism, anti-Semitism and violence regardless of the identity of the perpetrators or victims." | {
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Florida Guilt, released 11 December 2018, is Bay Faction’s second studio album. Compared to their self-titled debut album released in 2015, it features more electronic elements (e.g. sampled drum kit, pronounced auto-tune, electronic keyboard).
On July 13 2020, it would turn out to be Bay Faction’s final studio album:
Hi Everyone,
There never feels like a good time to say this but here we go:
After much discussion and deliberation we have decided to no longer continue the Bay Faction project.
The last 5 years have been an incredible privilege to get to travel the country sharing our music with you. Whether it was streaming, coming to concerts, or having a conversation we want to thank you so much for your support. It has been such an amazing opportunity to get the chance to meet so many of you and create so many memories.
Love,
Bay Fac | {
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130 million years ago, while dinosaurs still walked the Earth, a pair of dead stars collided. The explosion rattled spacetime and sent waves of light across the universe. On August 17, 2017, light from that explosion appeared as a bright pinprick in the galaxy NGC 4993, then faded to a glowing red ember. Ripples of traumatized spacetime from the distant explosion squeezed and stretched the L-shaped arms of the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Converted to sound waves, the ripples produced a faint rising chirp. Two seconds later, NASA’s Fermi space telescope detected a gamma ray burst. A brief glint of high-energy radiation from one of the most violent events in nature. Astronomers raced to point their telescopes before the precious light faded away. First on the scene was the Swope telescope in Chile. Right on its heels was the nearby Dark Energy Camera. The antennas of the Very Large Array strained to record radio emissions from the fireball. Even the Hubble space telescope turned its peerless mirror toward NGC 4993. Within hours, the distant explosion had become one of the most observed events in recent astronomical history. Astronomers think the story began with a pair of massive stars that were orbiting each other. The larger star ran out of fuel and collapsed into a dense neutron star. Neutron stars are the densest visible objects in the universe, spinning dervishes bristling with powerful magnetic fields. A teaspoonful of this starstuff would weigh as much as Mount Everest. The intense gravity of the neutron star began to steal gas from its aging sister star. The swirl of hot gas dragged the two stars together until the neutron star began orbiting inside its sister, shredding its outer layers into a swirling cloud of elements. But the sister star survived this mutilation, and eventually exploded, too. Collapsing into a second neutron star. The fuse was now lit for one final cataclysm. Twin spheres of incredible density were now locked in an ever tightening dance of doom. Shedding energy in the form of gravitational waves, the two neutron stars spiralled closer and closer, faster and faster. And finally merged in a moment of astrophysical ecstasy. A kilonova explosion. A crucible for cosmic alchemy. The swirling cloud of superheated atoms was bombarded with neutrons, forging new atoms of gold and platinum and other heavy elements. Scientists think most of the precious metals in the universe were created in kilonova explosions like these. When black holes collide there is nothing to see, though LIGO can hear the chirp from their gravitational waves. But neutron stars are visible matter, and collide within a glowing cloud. This was the first gravitational-wave catastrophe that astronomers saw as well as heard. Our first glimpse of the mysterious physics inside neutron stars. And a first fleeting glimpse of a cosmic mint in the sky. | {
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Descendants of the first people to live in the Santa Clarita Valley have begun the process to buy back some of their ancestral land.
The Fernandeño-Tataviam Band of Mission Indians has established the Tataviam Land Conservancy, which primary purpose is to conserve lands within the tribe’s traditional territory for cultural enrichment and educational uses.
The Fernandeño-Tataviam tribe consists of family members who trace their lineage to the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Simi and Antelope valleys prior to the arrival of Europeans in 1769.
President Rudy Ortega Jr. said land conservancies such as the one his tribe has established do two things: bring land back to the tribe that was once historically Indian land; and allow indigenous people to use the designated spaces for ceremonial practices.
Ortega said establishing the conservancy is the first step in what could be a long process.
“We haven’t finalized any agreements,” Ortega said. “We are in the very early stages. But it’s essential for us to try and acquire ancestral village areas or significant sacred sites so we can continue to practice cultural ceremonies and activities with the tribe itself.”
The tribe has a joint partnership with the city of San Fernando where two acres are designated for Tataviam ceremonial purposes. The tribe also has a cultural center off of Highway 2 in the Angeles National Forest called Haramongna.
The conservancy has been actively looking at certain properties in the Angeles National Forest as well in the Simi, Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys. The lands include a 1,100-acre property west of the Chatsworth Reservoir that the tribe has been eyeing for 18 years, as well as 40-50 acres in the Castaic area.
The conservancy’s criteria for land acquisitions include accessibility and cultural significance, Ortega said.
Some sites, such as a more contemporary property in Encino, might have areas used for ceremonies of any type. This particular site has an adobe, which Ortega said has some cultural significance to his family personally: great, great grandfather was one of the individuals who lived there and helped build some of the adobes on the property.
The conservancy also has set its sights on the more prominent San Fernando Mission because of its sentimental value and historical significance; more specifically, the clash between colonists and Ortega’s ancestors, who were forcibly removed from the mission lands.
“Our ancestors’ hands went into that mission to be built,” Ortega said. “It was reconstructed later in time but it was the hands, the sweat, the labor of my ancestors who built that foundation. And that’s why we see its value. And on top of that, it sits on an ancestral village.”
Ortega said it’s difficult to quantify the dollar amount the organization will need to acquire land, as the extent has not yet been determined. The organization is currently revisiting a strategic plan that includes its agreement with the city of San Fernando. Now that the tribe has established the land conservancy, Ortega said it must determine how to transfer the two acres in San Fernando into it. The organization is pursuing funding opportunities by reaching out to other agencies, landowners and individuals for contributions.
“We are looking aggressively at some donors and foundations to funnel some dollars our way,” Ortega said. “We’re also looking at federal and state grants that can provide our organization with a means to protect and preserve the lands.”
Ortega emphasized that the size of the land is not a primary concern for the tribe. What is vital is the accessibility for tribal citizens to carry on their religious and cultural traditions, which can include smoking tobacco – a practice that can present a problem, especially in California where smoking is generally prohibited in public and open spaces.
“That is a religious practice of our tribe,” Ortega said. “But you have a state law that trumps our religious freedom. That’s why we’re so adamant about the conservancy and have reached out to other Native American organizations and conservancies throughout California. We want to have these dialogues and see who’s willing to come on board and help us achieve this objective. And that objective is to preserve the stories and traditions of our people.”
For more information on the Fernandeño-Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, visit https://www.tataviam-nsn.us. | {
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A routine traffic stop in Florida — after police spotted a passenger not using a seat belt — turned into a drugs and weapons bust after officers discovered one of the men hiding marijuana in the folds of his stomach.
The passenger in the car, Christopher Mitchell, 42 — also known as “Biggie” and “Fat Boy” — was arrested for drug possession and for not wearing a seat belt after being pulled over as part of Operation Summer Shield, a crime suppression initiative in Deltona, according to News13 Orlando.
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According to police, Mitchell was a passenger in the car driven by Keithian Roberts, 38, of Sanford.
After pulling the car over, officers noticed that both men seemed nervous as Mitchell explained that he was unable to use the seat belt because of his size. Mitchell was listed by police as being 5’6″ and weighing 450 pounds.
The Sheriff’s Office dispatched a drug-detecting K-9 to the scene which alerted deputies to the presence of drugs.
After exiting the car, Mitchell was discovered to have 23 grams of marijuana hidden between his folds of flesh. Police also recovered cocaine, a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun and more than $7,000 in cash stuffed into a tube sock.
Both men are facing drug possession charges.
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According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Mitchell previously spent three years in prison following a conviction for cocaine trafficking. | {
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News from the spring/summer 2018 catwalks: according to Prada and Gucci, pencil skirts are back at the sharp edge of fashion. But are you a pencil skirt kind of person?After all, there are pros and cons when it comes to pencil skirts. You couldn’t ride a bike in one. You might not have much luck running for the bus. But as a counterpoint to a voluminous top, or a way to feel more pulled-together in the office, they can be pretty handy, as this quintet of pencil skirt patrons prove.
Marlene Dietrich – the history lesson
Marlene Dietrich, and pencil skirt, £19.50 from M&S. Composite: Rex Features & M&S
An early example of the pencil skirt, as designed by Christian Dior as part of the New Look. Dietrich wears it in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1950 film Stage Fright, the peplum on the jacket creating the hourglass shape that was the epitome of the postwar silhouette. Pencil skirts in similar heritage fabrics – wool, checks and houndstooth – were all over the Balenciaga catwalks, paired with striped shirts and plastic-coated blouses.
Shop: M&S
Natalie Massenet – the statement
Natalie Massenet, and pencil skirt, £35, from House of Fraser. Composite: Getty Images & House of Fraser
The fashion industry has no shortage of pencil-skirt icons. Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet deserves a lifetime achievement award for dedication to the cause of outlandish iterations, pairing leopard print with little black tops and leather versions with artfully déshabillé blouses. Type “Carine Roitfeld” into Google images for further inspiration in this category.
Shop: House of Fraser
Marilyn Monroe – the wiggle
Marilyn Monroe, and pencil skirt, £35, from & Other Stories. Composite: Getty Images & other stories
Marilyn Monroe’s walk down a steamy train platform in Some Like it Hot is the archetypal pencil skirt fashion reference, harking back to a time when form-fitting skirts were pretty shocking. (So tightly did they cling to curves that they are said to have inspired “the twist”, the only dance move women could do while wearing them.) The modern equivalent of the va-va-voom look is the stretchy pencil skirt favoured by Kim Kardashian and the Instagram set, usually paired with a crop top.
Shop: & Other Stories
Michelle Obama – the cheerful one
Michele Obama, and pencil skirt, £69, from Arket. Composite: Getty Images & Arket
Remember when Flotus wore J Crew pencil skirts, not $51,000 coats by Dolce & Gabbana? Those were the days. A brightly-coloured pencil skirt says approachable and professional, pulled-together and friendly. This Arket version takes the cosy concept even further, coming long-length and in knitted blue – it’s so casual you could wear it with trainers and a sweatshirt.
Shop: Arket
Meghan Markle in Suits – the power pencil
Meghan Markle in Suits, and pencil skirt, £65, from Reiss. Composite: USA Network & Reiss
Much has been written about Markle’s style since Harry, but what about on set in Suits? Her character, paralegal Rachel Zane, is the epitome of a power pencil-skirt wearer, all tucked-in and pulled-together and professional. For similar IRL, see Reiss.
Shop: Reiss | {
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Britney Spears revealed she still believes in love, despite her rocky past relationships.
Speaking on Australia’s “Rove & Sam” radio show on Sunday, the 34-year-old pop princess spoke optimistically about her love life and the search for Mr. Right.
Related: Britney Spears Says She’d Love To Meet Taylor Swift – Except She Already Has
“Unfortunately, I am [a hopeless romantic]. I’ve been through horrible relationships, but unfortunately I still believe in love,” Spears said. “And you know, I think you should protect your heart and stuff like that. But yeah, I’m a hopeless romantic and I believe in love.”
Spears shares sons Sean Preston, 10, and Jayden James, 9, with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. The couple married in September 2004, but divorced two years later. Before marriage, she dated fellow teen idol Justin Timberlake, her choreographer Wafe Robson, actor and musician Jared Leto, in addition to a few others.
Related: Britney Spears Promises Fans Her New Album Is Coming ‘Very Soon’
In 2009, Spears reportedly courted her agent Jason Trawick, David Lucado, and, most recently, Charlie Ebersol, the son of “Saturday Night Live” co-creator Dick Ebersol and actress Susan Saint James. The two ended their romance in June 2015.
Despite her rocky relationships, Spears has always had her mom, Lynne, and girlfriends for support. “At the end of the day, I mean, I love my father, but I was always a mama’s girl growing up. I’m from the South, so there’s always something about me when I’m just with my girls or even my mother,” she said. “There’s just a strong connection there. No offence, men!” | {
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To some Americans he is the most trusted man in the US since the iconic news anchor, Walter Cronkite, told the country that the Vietnam war was a lost cause.
Yet Jon Stewart, the presenter of the satirical Daily Show who calls the president "dude" to his face and gets away with it, is about to put that credibility on the line with his "rally to restore sanity" in Washington tomorrow.
The comedian, who was recently voted the most influential man in America by a men's magazine, has promised nothing more than "fun" for the tens of thousands he hopes to draw to the National Mall in Washington DC. The fun will include singers such as Sheryl Crow and readings by well-known actors.
But the timing – days before the midterm elections that promise a conservative resurgence – and Stewart's overtly liberal views have some on the left hoping that he can magically inject their cause with the enthusiasm that has been severely lacking in the campaign.
Others are taking the rally at face value and planning to turn up with banners proclaiming themselves part of the reasonable majority, liberal or conservative, against the particular brand of insanity that has swept America since Barack Obama entered the White House.
The president's more extreme but very vocal critics portray him as a communist for promoting universal access to healthcare or Hitler for allegedly planning to impose what Sarah Palin called "death panels" on hospitals. Movements have been built around claims that the president was born in Kenya or is a secret Muslim.
Then there is the Daily Show's battle with Glenn Beck and Fox News and their ceaseless peddling of conspiracy theories involving Obama and the Democrats. It was Beck's own right-wing "rally to restore honour" in August that prompted Stewart's call to fill the mall tomorrow.
Some Democrats hope that the rally will help fire up the supporters who turned out in large numbers to vote for Obama two years ago but who now appear disillusioned.
Stewart says he is merely seeking to reverse the extreme polarisation of politics. Some of his supporters are planning to turn out with banners proclaiming: "Stop it. You are scaring the kids!!", "Be Civil America" and "Team Sanity: I respectfully disagree with just about everything you said".
But the Daily Show presenter, a self-described socialist, is in an unusual position that reflects not only the rapid decline in confidence in traditional sources of news but the inexorable rise of the influence of celebrity in politics, seen when his protege, Stephen Colbert, testified in character as a parody of a rightwing Fox News presenter to Congress last month. Colbert will be at the rally today, leading his satirical "march to keep fear alive".
Where America once looked to Cronkite, it now looks to Stewart precisely because he is not in the traditional news business. Many watch his show not only for a take on the news but for news coverage itself. The Daily Show has twice won the Peabody award for coverage of presidential elections and been nominated for others.
Stewart's credibility is such that the president chose the Daily Show this week for his principal interview ahead of the mid-term elections. It was praised by both Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, and George W Bush's former strategist, Karl Rove.
"Jon Stewart is about as good an interviewer as there is in the public domain right now," Gibbs said.
That has some of his fans worried that Stewart is now, like the reporters he derides, too close to the centre of power. They fear his credibility might be eroding although a similar concern was raised that the Daily Show might lose its bite when Obama was elected and Stewart no longer had such a juicy target in George Bush.
To others, Stewart contributed to the cynicism with the tone of his daily exposure of the failings, lies and hypocrisies of American politicians that can sound awfully like the right's call to fix "broken Washington".
Critics have also emerged from the Washington establishment to question Stewart's audacity in daring to hold the rally at all. Anne Applebaum wrote a critical article in the Washington Post: "Jon Stewart's march is no laughing matter." Her colleague Paul Farhi asked: "Just who does Jon Stewart think he is?"
Yet these are precisely the people who draw Stewart's anger. He has said his show is only necessary because journalists have abandoned their responsibilities through a mix of indifference and a lack of gumption that leaves viewers and readers with no real idea of what is going on.
The eye opener for Stewart came as the Daily Show followed George W Bush's 2000 presidential election campaign.
"The more we got to meet people [in the media], it was 'Oh! You're fucking retarded! You don't care!' The pettiness of it, the strange lack of passion for any kind of moral or editorial authority, always struck me as weird. We felt like, we're serious people doing an unserious thing, and they're unserious people doing a very serious thing," Stewart told New York Magazine last month.
Some American journalists implicitly admit the charge. Brian Williams, the anchor of the NBC nightly news, told the magazine that Stewart "has chronicled the death of shame in politics and journalism".
But the real question of the moment is whether Stewart is going to make any difference to Tuesday's vote. Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor, thinks not.
"It may cause a few young people to get out to vote but I don't think it's going to cause millions of people to suddenly show up at the polls. In fact, I've had Democrats tell me they're worried some of their volunteer labour that they want to be working in the districts will be going to Washington for the fun," he said.
But fun, after all, is all that Stewart is promising. | {
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New York (CNN) Donald Trump has never been one to shy away from speaking -- or more accurately, tweeting -- his mind.
But critics say it took him too long to publicly disavow a shockingly racist speech Saturday by a white nationalist leader whose rallying cry mirrored Adolf Hitler's.
"Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory," Richard Spencer shouted from the podium of the annual convention for his think-tank called The National Policy Institute. Spencer calls himself the founder of the "alt-right" movement, a label that's been applied to far-right extremists advocating for white nationalism.
The scene, taking place less than a mile from the White House, was reminiscent of Nazi-era Germany, with several members of the audience cheering with the straight-arm Hitler salute.
At times speaking in German, Spencer's 30-minute speech included the unmistakable marriage of Neo-Nazi hate and Trump's campaign slogan.
"It is only normal again when we are great again," Spencer said.
A Trump transition spokesman released a short media statement Monday evening, but it took Trump until Tuesday to publicly disavow the group in his own words. And it came only when pressed in a meeting with New York Times reporters, editors and executives,
But Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League, says Trump needed to do it sooner.
"There seems to be a pattern in the Trump administration of waiting until the last moment. And we just don't have the luxury for that. When there are Nazi salutes in D.C., it's important to condemn it at the moment," Segal said.
Segal referred to Trump's weekend tweets criticizing the cast of the Broadway show "Hamilton" when Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended.
"If you have the time to tweet about the theater, you should have the time to tweet about a spate of hate crimes and Neo-Nazis in Washington D.C.," he said.
Similar criticism was lobbed at Trump during the primaries when he hesitated before disavowing David Duke and the KKK on CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper.
"I know nothing about David Duke, I know nothing about white supremacy," Trump told Tapper.
Republican National Committee RNC communications director Sean Spicer came to Trump's defense in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "The Situation Room."
"When is it going to be enough?" Spicer said. He added, "He has said that he refutes that, that's not the kind of movement he wants the support or see energized by him. That's not the kind of people he wants to be associated with. I don't know how many more times Donald Trump can make his position clear, but he's been crystal-clear for a long time and over and over and over again with every tweet, utterance, you name it, Facebook post, he has to somehow respond to it. He has made his position clear. It's time that we accept that position and move on. That's not his focus."
Criticism of Bannon
The hiring of Steve Bannon as chief strategist in the Trump White House has only intensified the criticism of Trump on this issue.
While Bannon once reportedly bragged to Mother Jones that his website, Breitbart.com, was the "platform for the alt-right," he later told the Wall Street Journal that he has "zero-tolerance" for those anti-Semitic tones.
Trump said Tuesday that "Breitbart is just a publication. They're certainly much more conservative, but Breitbart is really a news organization that's become successful."
Regarding Bannon, Trump said, "I've known Steve Bannon a long time. If I thought he was a racist, or alt-right ... I wouldn't even think about hiring him." He later added: "I think it's very hard on him. I think he's having a hard time with it. Because it's not him."
Former Breitbart spokesman Kurt Bardella told CNN the issue will continue to cause problems for Trump.
"(Bannon) has said, Breitbart is the alt-right platform, these are the people that they have played to, that they have tried to motivate to be the base of Donald Trump's election. And it's just going to be more of this."
Spencer threatens to spread his message
Spencer's think tank used to be a small, obscure extremist group operating mostly on the Internet, but its new confidence is apparent. Spencer even told The Washington Post that he has plans to give speeches at college campuses in hopes of gaining more supporters.
But Spencer's message is white supremacism, anti-Semitic, anti-immigration and neo-Nazi. He's been banned from parts of Europe for trying to organize there.
"America was until this past generation a white country, designed for ourselves and our posterity," Spencer told the crowd. "It is our creation, it is our inheritance and it belongs to us."
Video of the event is so alarming, the national Holocaust museum in Washington wrote a letter in response, warning that "The Holocaust did not begin with killing, it began with words," and comparing Spencer's words to Hitler's.
At the Times meeting, Trump said he wanted to look into the reason why Spencer's group feels so energized by his campaign.
"It's not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why," he said.
During the primary season, a self-described "white advocate" explained it to CNN, saying Trump's anti-immigrant campaign promises were appealing to their message.
"He is appealing to people who grew up in the United States and don't want to end their days in what turns out to be an outpost of Mexico or Vietnam or Guatemala or Haiti," Jared Taylor told CNN's Drew Griffin.
The Southern Poverty Law Center put out a statement Tuesday saying it should be no surprise that Trump's campaign rhetoric has given people permission to say these things out loud.
"The reason he's energized the alt-right is simple: He's been playing its tune from the day he announced his campaign and called Mexican immigrants rapists. His proposal to ban Muslim immigration, his talk of mass deportations, his attacks on 'political correctness,' it's all been music to the ears of a movement that envisions a white America -- and that's exactly the America that the 'alt-right' wants to see." | {
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Seven draft picks. Thirteen undrafted free agents. One inside linebacker. I know – the math doesn’t seem to add up. And for many fans, the biggest takeaway of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2018 draft is the lack of an inside linebacker. After all, it was the position they brought in the most in the pre-draft process and was by all accounts, a need for the team.
So what gives? Whether you agree with it or not, and I’m not saying I even agree, here’s my best explanation.
Obviously, what Kevin Colbert said about the inside linebacker class back at the Combine was him being honest. To him, the inside linebacker class wasn’t strong, save for a few playmakers at the top. Last Monday, going more in-depth about the draft, Colbert noted how few four down players there were, how the position has evolved into a group of specialists.
“The inside linebackers are changing as the college game has changed,” Colbert said. “They maybe do one thing really well. Maybe they rush the passer better than they cover. Maybe they’re better zone droppers than they are man defenders. Very few of them are really, what you say, four down type players. Some of them are two down, some of them are three, some of them are one down. They might only be special teamers.”
Translation: better get someone at the top or else you’re stuck with a player who has some obvious weaknesses.
And reportedly, Pittsburgh did. There have been several reports the Steelers made a push to trade up for Rashaan Evans, part of the “big four” of inside linebackers along with Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds, and Leighton Vander Esch. Ultimately, that didn’t happen, Tennessee nabbed Evans and the Steelers were left holding the bag.
The goal wasn’t just to address the inside linebacker position. It was the Mack position. That can’t be a specialized position. The Buck, Vince Williams’ spot, has a different requirement. It can be specialized, Williams gets removed on all dime snaps, meaning there doesn’t need to be as heavy an emphasis on coverage. But the Mack? As we’ve covered, that player has to do it all. After those few four-down players were taken off the board, there wasn’t a good enough fit for someone to fill that role – in their minds, anyway.
Again, feel free to disagree, and I might be right there with you, but I think that’s the rationale. They weren’t going to draft a player who fit that requirement and no one in future rounds carried a high enough grade compared to the players they took.
Instead, they went with a different approach. Adding Marcus Allen, who could play in that dime linebacker role, though probably not in 2018, as the NFL becomes a hybrid-heavy, sub-package world. A guy like that can cover better than most linebackers and what he gives up against the run is mitigated by the fact he isn’t playing on run-oriented downs. He’ll be used on third and medium/long where in 2017, offenses only ran the ball 12.5% of the time on 3rd and 5+, and I’m not even factoring out late-game situations where a team is burning clock.
The Steelers have several options, in the short and long-term, to play in that role. Sean Davis, Terrell Edmunds, Morgan Burnett, and Allen, all either have done it or have the traits to succeed in that role.
Long story short: the position couldn’t have a specialist and that’s all the Steelers were left with. Instead of forcing the issue, they punted.
The other factor? It’s not as significant but the team truly is high on Tyler Matakevich. Again, not about if you agree, just explaining their thinking. Wrapping up the draft, Colbert – who talked about Dirty Red earlier in the offseason – reiterated his confidence in him.
“Tyler Matakevich, he got hurt in the same quarter that Ryan did. Had he not gotten injured, we might have had a whole different discussion going on. Because Tyler is a very highly productive special teams player who hasn’t gotten to play. So between [Jon Bostic] and Tyler, we don’t know what we have in those two. Because Jon is new to us and Tyler will be in the rotation, the competition as well.”
Colbert wrapped the thought up by saying the team didn’t want to reach for a player just to grab a certain position, and obviously, they held true to that.
Jon Bostic is someone who has been in that three down role. Just as importantly, he’s going to be counted on as the signal caller, one of the key communicators, and there are consequences to taking him off the field, especially if he’s being replaced by a rookie.
Time’s going to tell if that’s the right move. It’s fair to be concerned about the position, in the short and the long-term. But the Steelers plan was to address inside linebacker as soon as possible. When it became evident that couldn’t happen, they adjusted and changed their strategy. | {
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Teachers in Jordan plan to hold another mass strike on Sunday, days after plunging the capital into chaos as thousands from across the country took to the streets of Amman to protest against their working conditions.
Nasser Al Nawasrah, deputy head of the Jordan Teachers' Syndicate (JTS), said the strike on Sunday would take place in response to the authorities preventing demonstrators from approaching the prime minister's office on Thursday.
Groups of teachers wearing white caps and carrying placards gathered at various spots in Amman at midday on Thursday to demand a 50 per cent salary increase they say they were promised by the government five years go. The protest was organised by JTS and the white caps worn by participants displayed the words “we’re going to walk our path” alongside an image of the association’s late president Ahmad Hajaya, who died on August 30 in a road accident.
Hundreds of police and gendarmerie were deployed in response to the demonstration and main roads were closed to prevent protesters reaching the prime minister’s office – severely disrupting traffic for several hours. Although the protest was largely peaceful, videos emerged on social media showing teargas being used by the security forces to disperse demonstrators.
Among the protesters was Muneer Wardat, a teacher trainer at JTS and a trainer in media education at the Ministry of Education. He said about 35,000 people took part the protests, although there was no independent verification of the turnout.
“We had an agreement in 2014 that we would receive a further 50 per cent of our basic salaries but we’ve had no pay rise in the five years since then,” said father of two told The National.
He said his basic monthly salary was 182 Jordanian dinars (Dh942) but he received a total of 425 dinars after additions for family support and his level of experience. A 50 per cent pay rise would increase his salary to 516 dinars. He lives in Irbid – a town 90 kilometres north of Amman, where the average monthly rent for a three-bedroom property is 314 dinars, according to the online database Numbeo.
“We’re here because we cannot afford to live on the low salary teachers in Jordan are paid when we have to pay such high living costs,” said Faisal Al Zubi, 25, who has been working as a substitute teacher since he received his degree in electrical engineering degree a year ago.
He said his job teaching industrial design to 17 and 18-year-olds paid just 214 dinars a month, and only for the eight months of the year when the school is open.
“I’m not able to get married because I don’t have enough money to invest in a house or to be able to support a family,” said Mr Al Zubi.
He was forced to take up teaching because he was unable to find a job in his chosen field, but said it was an honourable job despite the low pay.
“I didn’t want to stay at home doing nothing so I found work where I could. Through my work I am empowering young people and that’s the only way to create a change in this country,” he said.
Jordan’s unemployment rate reached 19 per cent during the first quarter of 2019, a rise of 0.6 per cent compared to same period last year, according to the Department of Statistics. The unemployment rate was even higher among university graduates: 78 per cent for women and 26 per cent for men.
The Ministry of Education has said a 50 per cent salary increase for teachers would cost nearly $160 million (Dh588m) per year. The government is already under pressure to address the kingdom’s large deficit – public debt stood at 28.3 billion dinars at the end of 2018.
An attempt to increase taxes and implement austerity measures sparked widespread protests in June last year, with critics saying the poorer classes would be affected the most. The tax reform bill was passed despite this, sparking more demonstrations at the end of the year. | {
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Child activist Greta Thunberg refused to fly back to Europe from her trip to the U.S. and the United Nations, instead sailing across the Atlantic on a yacht rather than emit carbon by taking a plane.
Unfortunately for Ms. Thunberg’s carbon footprint though, the boat’s captain had to fly to the U.S. to reach the boat.
Nikki Henderson, the 26-year-old yacht captain of the 48-foot catamaran La Vagabonde, flew to the U.S. from Britain to sail Ms. Thunberg’s ship 3,500 miles from the U.S. to Portugal.
As a result, multiple British news outlets noted Sunday, the 16-year-old girl’s trip back to Europe — for a Madrid climate summit, no less — had about the same carbon emissions as it would have had if she had just flown herself.
Ms. Henderson took the flight — and burned same amount of jet fuel Ms. Thunberg would have and emitted about 2-3 tons of carbon — specifically for the purpose of supporting Ms. Thunberg and her not-burning jet fuel and emitting 2-3 tons of carbon.
“I decided to help @Sailing_LaVaga and support Greta because she is changing the world — simply by standing up for what she believes is right and staying true to her values,” she wrote on Twitter.
She offered to sail Ms. Thunberg after the teenager solicited help on social media to get back across the Atlantic after a climate summit was moved at the last minute from Santiago to Madrid because of political protests in Chile.
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South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In speaks during a press conference at the presidential Blue House in Seoul.
South Korea's new government announced a 11.2 trillion won ($10.00 billion) fiscal stimulus package on Monday, increasing social welfare subsidies and taking the first steps to deliver on President Moon Jae-in's key election promise - to create 810,000 public sector jobs.
The stimulus package allocates 5.4 trillion won to create public sector and social services jobs, including places for fire fighters, teachers and postal workers, the finance ministry said.
Another 2.3 trillion won will be used to provide subsidies for maternity leave and for elderly people needing medical care.
The government estimates the extra spending will boost economic growth by 0.2 percentage point this year, which may raise its 2017 outlook from the current 2.6 percent.
It expects to the extra budget to add 71,000 jobs to the public sector workforce and 15,000 jobs to the private sector.
"This is the first supplementary budget for jobs purposes," Park Chun-sup, South Korea's chief of budget, told a news conference.
"There are concerns over mass job losses...10 years ago youth unemployment used to be double the overall jobless rate of 3.5 percent, but now it is three times as high," Park said.
Unemployment among those aged 15-29 soared to 11.2 percent in April, even though the economy posted the fastest growth in six quarters in the January-March period.
Addressing a widening income gap and sluggish domestic demand is a major challenge for policymakers, especially as exports have only just begun to turn around after falling for almost two years.
South Korea's average disposable household income fell by 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter, the fastest rate since the 2009 global financial crisis, while private consumption grew just 0.4 percent in the first quarter - well below overall economic growth at 1.1 percent.
"Regarding weak consumption, we believe adding jobs will boost income and affect consumption eventually," Park said.
The supplementary budget will add to the 400.5 trillion won budget for 2017 that was approved by the National Assembly late last year.
The government plans to submit its supplementary budget proposal to the National Assembly on June 7.
About 8.8 trillion won of the extra budget will be financed by excess tax revenue expected for this year, while another 1.1 trillion won will come from government revenue left over from 2016.
The remaining 1.3 trillion won will be financed from public funds managed by state-owned companies, according to the ministry.
"As we propose this supplementary budget, our intention is to best maintain fiscal soundness and we're not issuing more debt," budget chief Park said.
Although the proposed extra budget is only for this year, the government is under pressure to raise taxes to sustain expanded welfare programs and to meet the growing needs of an ageing population.
On Thursday, Lee Yong-sup, the head of President Moon's jobs committee, said South Korea needed to raise taxes broadly on the general population, with the affluent taxed to a greater degree, in order to pay for more jobs and welfare.
Calls for government subsidies will only increase as more than 35,000 workers are expected to be laid off by the end of this year from the shipbuilding industry alone.
From December 2015 to February this year, about 41,000 workers lost their jobs at shipbuilders, according to the labor ministry, as a broad global downturn in demand and plunging commodity prices sapped the industry. | {
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Kavkazcenter.com has been known to carry accurate claims of attacks A North Caucasus Islamist group has claimed responsibility for a bomb that killed 26 people on a Moscow-to-St Petersburg train, a website says. The website claim on Kavkazcenter.com said last Friday's attack was carried out by the "Caucasian Mujahadeen" on the orders of its leader, Doku Umarov. He is described as one of Russia's most wanted rebels, but it was not possible to verify the claim's authenticity. Moscow had earlier described the Nevsky Express attack as an act of terrorism. Doku Umarov, a Chechen, is considered the leader of the Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus. He says he is fighting to expel Russian forces, and to turn the region into an Islamic emirate. Wednesday's web statement said Friday's attack was an "act of sabotage", and part of a series of operations targeting strategic sites in Russia. "Today, we carry out sabotage operations on electricity transmission lines, oil-and-gas-wires. Many of the operations are under preparation status. "We intend to conduct such diversions in future, which are the just acts of vengeance... These diversions will continue for as long as the occupants in the Caucasus will not stop its policy of killing ordinary Muslims purely on religious grounds." Kavkazcenter.com has carried statements before by North Caucasus groups claiming responsibility for attacks on Russia that have turned out to be correct. 'Cold-blooded calculation' Vladimir Yakunin, the head of Russian railways, told the BBC that he thought there were similarities between Friday's derailment and a 2007 attack on the same line which injured 30 people, and for which two men from Ingushetia have been charged. But he said he did not know exactly who was responsible for this latest incident. On Tuesday, the funerals were held of some of the 26 who died on the Nevsky Express - a luxury high-speed train popular with government officials and business executives.
Profile: Doku Umarov Could Beslan tragedy happen again? Among those buried were Sergei Tarasov, a former St Petersburg vice-governor, and Boris Yevstratikov, head of the Federal Agency for State Reserves. Nearly 100 others were wounded after what police called an "improvised explosive device" derailed the train's last three carriages near the town of Bologoye, some 400km (250 miles) north-west of Moscow. A second, less powerful device which went off on Saturday near the site of the first - reportedly triggered by a remote mobile - is said to have injured one of the investigators combing the train's wreckage. Police have identified a house where they believe suspects had been staying, Russian media reports say, and have released a photo-fit of a man they believe is linked to the bombing. The interior ministry circulated the sketch of a man in his 50s with a wig of red hair, who had reportedly been seen by witnesses near the blast scene.
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Roadway crashes decline in the Las Vegas valley
Roadway crashes decline in the valley
Posted at 12:29 PM, Apr 07, 2020
The Office of Traffic Safety PIO Andrew Bennet explains the latest numbers.
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Looks like the new chat-based team collaboration product, Microsoft Teams, has already gotten its first update for Windows 10 Mobile. With version 1.0.2.0, the current store page says that the application has gotten some bug fixes. But NPU reports that the changelog contains a few more features:
Changelog: The ability to classify a message as important.
The ability to send photos.
Improvements in the team and in the channels.
Bug fixes and miscellaneous improvements.
Besides the pinning feature for important messages, Microsoft Teams seems to be wiggling into its debut with some tweaking. With a 3.5 star rating on the store, one user put it best: So far, so good.
Have you tried out Microsoft Teams on Windows 10 Mobile yet? Download it from the link below, and let us know what you think.
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Whether it’s called “suffocation roulette,” “cloud nine,” or simply the “choking game,” it’s a dangerous activity that’s been around for millennia, the Washington Post notes—and it’s just resulted in another teen death. Memphis Burgess, a 13-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., was found by his dad Dec. 10 kneeling against his closet wall with a soft rope nearby, KKTV reports. “I thought he was messing with me and I shook his shoulder,” Brad Burgess tells the station. “That’s when he turned around [and] I noticed he was all blue and not breathing."
STORY: The Dangerous ‘Choking Game’ That Killed Four Kids in One Town
The choking game creates a sense of euphoria by cutting off the brain’s oxygen supply, typically by tightening an item like a tie or scarf around a person’s neck, then loosening it right before the participant passes out. It’s thought to have resulted in at least 1,000 deaths since 1934, according to GASP stats cited in the Post, and was documented in medical journals at least as far back as 1951.
Many of these deaths are thought to be suicides by parents and cops who may never have heard of the game, per the Post. And it’s a type of "recreation” that’s alluring to certain teens, the Post adds: It’s known as the “good kids’ high,” per Salon, appealing to children who wouldn’t normally drink or do drugs. “This is the age where kids are engaging in high-risk behaviors,” an Ontario pediatrician who co-authored a study on YouTube and asphyxiation games tells the Post. “That’s just what they do."
It’s an activity that Memphis’ parents wish he had never heard of. "I [feel] robbed,” his mom, Annette, tells KKTV. “He brought joy to everyone he met.” She adds that her son had a cognitive delay that may have prevented him from realizing the possible consequences, and that she hopes parents broach the subject with their kids so “no other parent has to go through what we’re going through right now.” (Chicago police once issued an alert about the dangerous game.)
Story continues
By Jenn Gidman
(Photo: KKTV)
More From Newser:
Teen Choking Game Goes Viral
Mom’s Last Letter: 'Bad News Is, Apparently, I’m Dead’
Lifeguard Didn’t Know He Was Saving Heir to Throne
How Reuniting With Your Lost Love Can Work
Porn Site’s Scholarship Goes to Middle-Aged Mom
Mom’s Age Affects Child’s Intelligence
This article originally appeared on Newser: Colo. 13-Year-Old Latest Victim of 'Choking Game’ | {
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I often wish I were raising my kids in the '70's or '80s instead of today. It seems that the more we know, the more we worry. And the more kiddie "conveniences" we have, the more our once-elegant living rooms resemble church rummage sales. But maybe I'm glamorizing yesteryear. After all, those poor moms had to cook with avocado-green appliances and dig for their kids' lost retainers in five-inch-high yellow shag carpet. Did parents of Gen Xers really have it better? I decided to compare "modern parenting" with "X parenting" in four key categories. Here are the results!
Telephones.
Modern parents win. We have it made with phones. We can talk on the phone anytime, anywhere. We can dial by saying a name or by pressing a button. We can shut up a screaming toddler with an app of brain chemistry-altering talking dinosaurs. We can watch our kids at the park while ordering crocheted diaper wipe container covers from etsy.com. We can tackle our children to the ground and pull marbles out of their mouths without missing one word our friend tells us about what happened on The Bachelorette via Bluetooth.
I'm amazed that X parents could talk on the phone at all. It took a half hour just to dial. For those of you born pre-1980, do you remember how long it took to dial rotary? Six. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tiiiiick... Four. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tiiiick... Twenty minutes later, when you finally got through the first six numbers and thought you were home-free, the seventh digit was invariably a nine or a zero. You wouldn't push the wheel far enough and would have to start all over again.
Then, when X parents finally did make a call, they were shackled to the wall by a two-foot cord.* If little Roger scaled the china cabinet, the conversation was over. If little Tanya yanked off her pants and then mysteriously bolted for the next room, the conversation was over. We all know that the minute a mom gets on the phone, children find the missing Exacto knife, guzzle play paint, decide to play Kitty Dentist, stick their hand into the ceiling fan and finally get curious about what is in their diapers. Those parents didn't stand a chance. No wonder my Mom sent me to the neighbor's house to borrow sugar and butter. She sure as heck couldn't call them to ask.
Travel.
X parents win big on this one. After giving birth, they stayed in the hospital for weeks, or at least until the horse-grade anesthesia wore off. We're heaving car carriers into SUVs before the placenta has even come out.
When X parents brought babies home from the hospital, they put the babies in some sort of Tupperware container with straps and let them roll around the car. When kids were old enough to sit up, they sat in the front seat. Mothers' right arms were the only safety restraint. This usually caused their cigarette ashes to fly off and burn holes in many a corduroy jumper.
In 1974, my "car seat" doubled as a feeding chair. How convenient!
X parents didn't have to drag a 60-pound Britax across the schoolyard every time their kids wanted a playdate after school. Kids didn't have "playdates" then, anyway. Parents told them to go outside and they'd roam the neighborhood, seeing who was home.
I am in awe of my fellow moms, lugging car seats and baby carriers and strollers the size of golf carts everywhere they go. We don't need to worry about looking good at our 30-year reunions: we'll all be so hunchbacked from hauling around car seats that we'll only see the tops of each others' shoes. So forget cosmetic surgery. Just buy some super-cute Burberry flats.
Food.
X parents definitely had it better. They could nuke a Hungry Man dinner in those newfangled radiation "science ovens," or serve Steak-Umms with green Jell-O and feel good about giving their family a well-balanced meal. Food was getting easier and easier to make. It was also becoming less "food" and more "amalgam of laboratory chemicals" -- but people figured if the FDA approved Spam, it was good for you!
Nowadays, moms know too much. We have to grind our own flax seeds, make our own organic vegetable purees and grow our own lettuce in order to avoid diseases, mutant strains of listeria and arteries so coated with hydrogenated oils that you could bobsled in them. Reading labels and learning all the different words that mean "genetically altered corn and soy" is a full time job in itself.
Equipment.
Again, X parents win. The accoutrements that modern moms deem necessary for child-rearing have chased us out of house and home. After my husband and I set up our exersaucer, pack and play, plastic high chair with safety legs spanning the width of a buffet table, bouncy seat with pinball machine lights and a baby swing, the only furniture we had space for were two folding chairs and a Watchman. When company came over, I set up plates around the perimeter of the exersaucer and filled the middle with pot roast.
All X parents needed were tall, easily-collapsible wooden highchairs that tucked nicely into a corner and a system of trapeze cords that hung from a doorway. The contraption girded up the baby's crotch so the baby could jump up and down. It induced bowlegged-ness and sterility, but it was unobtrusive. As long as no one forgot the baby was dangling there and decided to slam the door, that thing was world class.
So, X parents win 3 to 1. Things just aren't like they used to be. Sadly, my kids will never know the joys of rolling freely around the back of a station wagon or eating Twinkies as part of a healthy lunch.
*You know that theory that if an animal is kept in a cage long enough, they won't come out even when you eventually open the door because they've become accustomed to their prison? My parents proved this theory. When talking on the cordless phone we got in the late '80s, my parents still would not move more than two feet away from the telephone base. | {
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River parecía tener todo cerrado para sumar a Bruno Zuculini a sus filas. La negociación con el Hellas Verona iba viento en popa hasta que apareció un tercero: el Manchester City, dueño del 40% del pase. River estaba dispuesto a desembolsar tres millones de euros al equipo italiano, pero los ingleses reclaman 1.6 millones por el porcentaje que tienen.
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En un principio, el City había dado vía libre para que el Hellas se ocupe de la negociación, pero al ver el dinero que podía recibir, los ingleses decidieron interceder y pedir una importante suma. Desde Italia se negaron a darle una parte del monto que habían acordado con River y la negociación comenzó a trabarse.
De esta manera, la alternativa más viable que le queda a River es desembolsar alrededor de cinco millones de euros por la totalidad del pase del ex Racing. Algo que parece difícil teniendo en cuenta las inversiones que realizó el Millonario durante este mercado de pases. | {
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Donald Trump would make "a terrible nominee and a terrible president" — and The Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol said Wednesday that he would rather have Hillary Clinton in the White House than the Republican front-runner."You have to beat him in Florida and Ohio, the first two winner-take-all states," Kristol told. "There has to be a de facto agreement between the opposition candidates — between the resistance to Trump, which I am proud to be a part of — because I think he'd be a terrible nominee and a terrible president."Kristol said the best way to stop Trump, who won seven states on Super Tuesday, was through a brokered Republican Party convention in Cleveland in July.Party officials would seek to deprive Trump of the 50 percent of delegates needed to win the nomination, Kristol said, therefore granting the prize to an "acceptable" candidate."We have to stop the momentum," he said, acknowledging that this move would most likely lead dissatisfied Trump voters to stay home — guaranteeing the nomination to Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio."The truth is if Trump doesn't win Florida and Ohio, it remains very much of an open race," Kristol said, later adding that under the brokered scheme, Trump "would still lose the election — and shouldn't win the election." | {
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Von Lea Deuber, Peking, und Benjamin Emonts, Berlin
Noch ehe der junge Mann den Raum betritt, rangeln die Fotografen bereits um die besten Plätze. Joshua Wong, der wenig später durch die Tür der Bundespressekonferenz tritt, wirkt umso ruhiger. Beinahe staatsmännisch tritt der 22-Jährige am Mittwoch im grauen Anzug auf das Podium. Er schaut zunächst abwechselnd nach links und nach rechts, damit alle Kameras ihn erwischen. Als er dann sitzt, nimmt er erst einmal einen Schluck Wasser und legt sich einen Zettel zurecht. Dann redet er. 15, 20 Minuten lang, ohne dass es jemand wagt, ihn zu unterbrechen. Manchmal klingen seine Sätze pathetisch: "Hongkong ist das neue Berlin in einem neuen Kalten Krieg," sagt er über die Proteste in der Sonderverwaltungszone. Was dort passiert, geht die ganze Welt an, will er damit sagen.
Seit Wochen gehen in Hongkong Hunderttausende Menschen auf die Straße. Es ist eine Bewegung, die keinen Anführer will, keinen Anführer hat; Wong ist dennoch als eine Art Sprecher der Zornigen nach Berlin gekommen. Die ersten Wochen, als die Proteste um das Auslieferungsabkommen mit China gerade erst begonnen hatten, saß der 22-Jährige noch im Gefängnis. Zwei Monate musste er wegen Missachtung des Gerichts absitzen. Die Vorwürfe stammten immer noch aus der Zeit der Regenschirmbewegung von 2014. Die Prozesse gegen die führenden Köpfe der Bewegung waren damals für viele Menschen das erste Zeichen dafür, dass sich etwas veränderte in ihrer Stadt, im stolzen Hongkong, in dem es lange Freiheiten und Rechte gab, die Peking seinen eigenen Bürgern nie zugestanden hat.
Dicke Brille, strubbelige Haare und ein Gespür dafür, im richtigen Moment die richtigen Worte zu finden: Das zeichnet Wong aus. Mit zwölf Jahren organisierte er erstmals Proteste in seiner Heimat, damals ging es gegen ein neues Schulfach, das den jungen Hongkongern Treue zur kommunistischen Partei vermitteln sollte. Am Mittwoch sagt er: "Wir werden niemals schweigen". Man werde kämpfen bis zum letzten Tag. David gegen Goliath, schreiben die Medien; das Unmögliche möglich machen, nennt Joshua Wong das. An diesem Vormittag wirkt es, als bräuchte die Protestbewegung jemanden wie ihn vielleicht gar nicht so sehr in Hongkong, sondern vielmehr in Deutschland, wo man sich schwertut bei der Suche nach dem richtigen Umgang mit der aufsteigenden Wirtschaftsmacht. China ist ein Land, das viel verspricht, aber wenig hält, das überall mitspielt, aber immer wieder Regeln bricht. Joshua Wong aus dem kleinen Hongkong steht auch für diesen weltweiten Konflikt. Wong sieht sich selber gar nicht als Sprecher der Proteste in Hongkong, in Berlin wird er es zwangsläufig. Außenminister Heiko Maas lässt sich dort mit ihm ablichten. Christian Lindner lädt ihn zum Kaffeetrinken ein. Die Grünen-Politikerin Margarete Bause posiert mit ihm mit passenden grünen Regenschirmen.
Erreicht hat Wong in seiner kurzen Zeit in Deutschland vor allem eins: Peking ist so richtig sauer. Oder "stark unzufrieden", wie man das im chinesischen Außenministerium nennt. Deutschland habe sich mit dem Besuch entschieden, "Separatisten die Einreise zu gestatten", so der Vorwurf. Für China ist das ein "Akt der Respektlosigkeit". Mehrmals soll Peking Berlin dazu gedrängt haben, dem Hongkonger Aktivisten die Einreise zu verweigern. Dort wollte man aber nicht hören. Deshalb hat China den deutschen Botschafter in Peking einbestellt. Der "Zwischenfall", wie es der chinesische Botschafter in Berlin nennt, werde zudem negative Konsequenzen für die bilateralen Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland und China haben.
"Glory to Hongkong"
Die Reaktionen zeigen, wie sehr die chinesische Regierung derzeit unter Druck steht. Vor einer Woche hat die Hongkonger Regierung die Rücknahme des Gesetzesentwurfs für das geplante Auslieferungsabkommen angekündigt. Geholfen hat das wenig. Die scheinbar versöhnliche Geste beeindruckt die meisten Demonstranten kaum: zu wenig und zu spät, sagen die Hongkonger. Sie pochen auf die vier verbleibenden Forderungen, darunter eine unabhängige Untersuchung der Polizeigewalt und eine Reform des Hongkonger Wahlsystems. Außerdem sollen Festgenommene freigelassen und die Demonstrationen nicht mehr Aufstände genannt werden.
Jeden Tag gibt es in der Stadt weitere Demonstrationen. Viele Universitätsstudenten und Schüler streiken. Am Sonntag könnten erneut Hunderttausende auf die Straße gehen. Bei einem Fußballspiel am Dienstagabend buhten die Zuschauer, als die chinesische Nationalhymne lief. Tausende drehten dem Spielfeld ihren Rücken zu. Später sangen die Fußballfans "Glory to Hongkong" - ein eigens für die Bewegung komponiertes Lied, das in der Stadt inzwischen als inoffizielle Hymne gehandelt wird. Es ist diese Art des Protests, die kaum daran glauben lässt, dass sich die Lage in der Stadt bald beruhigen könnte. | {
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Christopher Charles Ingvaldson, 42, a long-term close friend of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, has been found guilty of child pornography charges after being caught directing an international pedophile ring.
Ingvaldson entered guilty pleas in B.C. Provincial Court in Vancouver to accessing child pornography and possession of child porn. He was also initially charged with two counts of importing or distributing child pornography.
Justin Trudeau and Ingvaldson have been closely linked since their days as room-mates at college, and after completing their teaching degrees they were both accepted to teach at West Point Grey Academy, an elite Vancouver private boarding school.
After becoming Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau encouraged Ingvaldson to run for political office as a member of the Liberal Party. Ingvaldson announced his desire to be the Liberal MP candidate in the district of Vancouver-Kingsway, and developed a social media pages announcing his plans to run.
However his arrest and subsequent imprisonment on child porn and pedophilia charges have ended any chance Ingvaldson had of entering politics, even in Trudeau’s liberal Canada.
The revelation that Justin Trudeau’s close friend is a pedophile has come as no surprise to Canadians who have been watching the liberal Prime Minister closely. They point out that Trudeau has many uncomfortable ties to pedophilia.
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Research from Western University concludes that a chemical found in cannabis can be helpful in schizophrenia therapy. Justine Renard, postdoctoral fellow in Western’s Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry who led the study, identifies the neural pathway whereby the marijuana-derived phytochemical cannabidiol (CBD) produces antipsychotic effects that are discovered to ease symptoms of schizophrenia-related psychosis. The study’s authors stated, “These findings have critical implications not only for understanding how specific phytochemical components of marijuana may differentially impact neuropsychiatric phenomena, but demonstrate a potential mechanism for the therapeutic effects of marijuana derivatives in the treatment of dopamine-related, psychiatric disorders.”
Cannabis contains two main chemicals responsible for producing its psychoactive properties: the more well-known tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and CBD. While THC serves to produce the drug’s psychoactive properties, CBD has been discovered to have an opposing, antipsychotic effect that makes it potentially ideal for use in treatment of psychoses such as schizophrenia. The link between marijuana and schizophrenia has been known for some time, as studies have shown that heavy cannabis use increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and that schizophrenics who use marijuana are more liable to have worsening symptoms and further progression of the illness. However, recent evidence including the work done at the Western University lab points to THC as the culprit rather than CBD.
Co-author Steven Laviolette stated, “CBD is acting in a way that is the exact opposite to what THC is doing. Within the same plant, you’ve got two different chemicals that are producing opposite effects in terms of psychiatric effects, molecular signaling and effects on the dopamine pathway.” Researchers injected rats with CBD to study its behavioural, chemical, and neuropathic effects and discovered that it serves to cut back dopamine sensitization, a response that has been linked to schizophrenia-related psychoses. This helps to explain exactly how CBD affects brain functioning. Laviolette stated, “One of the biggest problems in treating schizophrenia is that there hasn’t been an effective new treatment on the market in a very long time. The drugs on the market today have limited efficacy and horrible side-effects. There is a desperate need for safer alternative medications.”
MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | [email protected] | {
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Beauty pageants, rightfully, get a bad rap. From being outdated to reinforcing Eurocentric beauty ideals to the way the question portion (where they are asked to solve incredibly difficult issues in a short amount of time) is designed to set the contestants up for failure, there’s plenty to criticize. But on Miss Perú 2018, the 23 contestants unexpectedly used their platform to speak about femicide in the South American country, a subversive act you might not associate with pageants.
When the women introduced themselves, they were supposed to tell the crowd their measurements – a segment that invites scrutiny of their bodies. Instead, one by one, they rattled off facts about a pervasive problem in their country. “My name is Camila Canicoba,” one contestant said. “And I represent Lima. My measurements are 2,202 cases of femicides reported in the last nine years in my country.” Another contestant followed her up by saying, “My name is Karen Cueto. My measurements are 82 femicides and 156 attempts this year so far.”
The women continued until they presented a heartbreaking and expansive picture of how femicides have affected the country. Just like in others countries in Latin America, Peru has joined the Ni Una Menos campaign. With “Ni una menos, ni una muerta mas,” the late Mexican poet Susana Chávez penned the words that would become a rallying cry across Latin America. After the deaths of Daiana García and Chiara Páez, the words were slightly shortened to Ni Una Menos.
On August 13, 2016, more than 50,000 Peruvians joined the Ni Una Menos demonstrations to speak out against violence toward women. In the first five months of 2016, 29 cases of reported femicide were reported. In the same time period, nearly 6,000 women were victims of domestic and sexual violence. But the light sentences given to the men who violently attacked Lady Guillén, Arlette Contreras, and the late Marielena Chumbimune really set the protests in motion, according to Peru21.
Earlier this month, Maritza García made detestable comments about women provoking femicide. She renounced her position as president of the Comisión de la Mujer days after the comments. With Miss Perú 2018, the contestants put the issue on a national platform once again. Check out the video below:
Las participantes de Miss Perú hicieron algo inesperado cuando les preguntaron sus medidas. pic.twitter.com/XrV8DXM22l — AJ+ Español (@ajplusespanol) October 31, 2017
H/T El Comercio | {
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Easter is traditionally not very veg-friendly, but with a few simple tweaks—and some delicious recipes in your arsenal—you can wow your family and prove that truly anything can be made vegan. Vegan Instagrammers are sharing their recipes for everything from deviled eggs to hot cross buns to supply you with plenty of inspiration to get creative in the kitchen this holiday.
Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars
Creamy and sweet—while still maintaining a delicate lightness—these zesty lemon bars from Minimalist Baker make the perfect addition to any springtime festivities.
it’s #eggsbenedictday but the only thing you need is our smoked tofu benny & #vegan hollandaise ✌🏼️ recipe at LINK IN PROFILE A post shared by hot for food (@hotforfood) on Apr 16, 2016 at 6:59am PDT
Vegan Eggs Benedict
Prove that even the most egg-heavy dishes can be veganized with these egg benny’s from Hot For Food, drizzled with rich vegan hollandaise sauce. Your guests will definitely be asking, “Are you sure this is vegan?” after chowing down on these.
Funfetti Flower Cupcakes
The perfect recipe to make with kids, these simple cupcakes—decorated with Dandies marshmallows and fruity cereal—exude spring with their floral decorations and brightly sprinkled cake.
Spring White Chocolate Matcha Bark
For a more sophisticated addition to your Easter feast, make Vegan Yack Attack’s white chocolate bark loaded with fresh berries, pistachios, and candied lemons.
It’s no secret that a vegetable-based diet is great for the heart. This Garden Vegetable Spiral Quiche by @sporkfoods is proof that it doesn’t have to be boring. Link in our profile. #HeartMonth #VeganEgg #followyourheart #veganquiche A post shared by Follow Your Heart (@followyourheart) on Feb 7, 2017 at 1:03pm PST
Garden Vegetable Spiral Quiche
A beautiful, plant-based centerpiece for your Easter meal, this spiraled vegetable quiche featuring Follow Your Heart’s VeganEgg is sure to be the talk of the meal.
Turmeric Lemon Coconut Chia seed Muffins. #vegan #recipe. So good! ✨👉✨Direct Link in Profile A post shared by Vegan Richa (@veganricha) on Dec 18, 2016 at 10:07pm PST
Turmeric Lemon Coconut Chia Seed Muffins
For a healthier, and slightly less sugary, baked good, make Vegan Richa’s lemony muffins, which get an added boost of color and health benefits from the addition of turmeric.
Hot Cross Buns
Traditionally eaten during Lent, especially in the week leading up to Easter, hot cross buns have been a staple associated with this holiday for centuries. Veganize these traditional baked goods with Delightful Adventure’s simple recipe.
Vegan Deviled Eggs
While these may look just like their animal-based counterparts, they come without any of the cruelty! Your guests will be impressed when you unveil these plant-based deviled eggs.
Vegan Cream Eggs
Cream eggs that are not only vegan, but healthier—made from ingredients including coconut milk, cashew butter, and maple syrup—are all the rage come Easter. Who needs store bought candy, when you can make your own with this recipe from SpamellaB?
Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake
Buttery, sweet coffee cake is always a welcome addition to brunch, but this version from Connoisseurus Veg has had a spring makeover thanks to the addition of fresh lemon and blueberries.
Sarah McLaughlin is the New Products Editor for VegNews who is excited to impress her family with a homemade vegan Easter brunch this year.
Photo credit: hot for food | {
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