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It is time to rekindle our political spirits in this new year, and to take stock of the subjects of encouragement.
First, the takeover of the House of Representatives by the Democrats was, on balance, not as jarring to the vital organs as was feared. As a figure of horror, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has become almost like Bette Davis, one can believe she just acts the part, though she acts it convincingly. And she has earned her spurs as a Democratic legislator with staying power, the first speaker to serve non-consecutive terms since Sam Rayburn (D-Texas). She certainly didn’t get much back-talk from all those bushy-tailed Democrats who were going to send her off to knit antimacassars for her grandchildren. She does not, however, appear to be an effective spokesperson as leader of the opposition, and is strangely inarticulate for someone who must have spent more time in public speaking for the last 40 years than almost anyone in the country.
A second source of happiness, despite the Democrats’ window-rattling ululations of joy, is that they have no mandate to do anything, and they have taken the bait the president dangled to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Pelosi at the White House three weeks ago. The Democratic leadership seems to think they can convince the country that the well-being of 800,000 federal employees, which could be ameliorated without capitulating on the spending bill, is more important than dealing with the protracted shambles in immigration, which most Americans acknowledge to be the country’s greatest problem.
Third, the official debut of Schumer and Pelosi as leaders of the opposition where one of them is actually at the head of part of a branch of government, following the president’s address from the Oval Office on Monday, was a hilarious fiasco. They made an American Gothic apparition with forked tongues rather than a pitchfork and looked like an off-duty pantomime horse doing straight-up. They aren’t making it. They failed to convince anyone that a few weeks of furlough for government employees is more worrisome than the unarmed invasion of the United States by millions of unskilled foreigners.
Fourth, Speaker Pelosi is shutting down her caucus-members who were calling for impeachment of the president, the surest sign that the whole idea is made of straw and hot air. Jerry Nadler, congressman from Liberty Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, Greenwich Village, and the World Trade Center (a supreme gerrymander), who had everything but a panel adhering to his forehead illuminating the words “Impeach Trump” for the last two years, has suddenly become almost as judicious as the chairman of a judiciary committee should be.
Fifth, the conduct of the Chinese indicates that the tariffs are sobering their aggressive trade strategists and some sort of rebalancing of what was a ludicrously one-sided arrangement is in sight, with the reduction of the deficit and of the industrial espionage and piracy which the Chinese perfected. No one would know this from the American national political media, but all China’s neighbors, led by Japan, are cheering President Trump’s efforts, as he gives the regional bully his comeuppance.
Sixth, Michigan U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib’s outrageous reference to the president with a particularly vulgar bit of slang must backfire, even if imperceptibly. The Democratic Party chairman, the singularly ill-favored Tom Perez, frequently has been exceedingly vulgar about the president, and there is an implicit attempt to create a general attitude that this president is so gauche and illegitimate that it is in order to deluge him with four-letter words, unlike any of his 43 predecessors in his great office.
Of course, this is preposterous and this president is an impeccable Edwardian gentleman compared to some of his predecessors. This coarsening of public discourse is partly the consequence of a general relaxation of the use of once-unacceptably crude expressions in public, and partly an escalation of the informality of public life in which this president has played a role, but clearly not the leading role. In general, it is lamentable. The country will be relieved when a change of personalities and of the political times makes more civil discourse fashionable again. But even in this contentious atmosphere, the country will not approve degrading the political process by gratuitous denigration of high office-holders. Those who civilly dissent from it and maintain decorum will be rewarded.
Mattis Deserved Better from Trump
Before getting to my clinching point of why we should, in the words of the Christian liturgy, “lift up our hearts,” a thought commends itself more generally about the political ambiance of the times.
The president had no business saying of former Defense Secretary James Mattis that “President Obama fired him, and so, in effect, did I.” The implication was that they were both right to have fired him. But when Trump engaged Mattis in that extremely important post, and he was unanimously confirmed, there was no thought then that Obama was right to fire him: that was rather implied to be an excellent commendation.
Mattis is an outstanding citizen who has served the nation with the utmost distinction in modest and great positions, in war and peace. He was right that the president deserved a defense secretary who agreed with him in vital matters, and he deserved a dignified leave-taking.
The president would jump appreciably in public esteem if he were just a little more gracious to distinguished dissenters; his dismissal of the asinine comments of Meryl Streep at a Hollywood self-reward gala two years ago would have been more effective if he had just said her remarks were bunk, as time has shown. She is a brilliant actress and a political moron; there is plenty of precedent for that. She doesn’t have to raise her game after 21 Academy Award nominations; in this area, Trump does. He is the president, not Mrs. Gummer (Meryl Streep). He is a good president and should demonstrate the confidence of one.
Illustrative of the Republican side of this degeneration of public political discussion is the description of the Democrats as “the Democrat Party.” This use of a noun as an adjective was first popularized politically by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wis.), as he portrayed “the Democrat Party” as an infestation of Communists and traitors in the 1950s. It is like British anti-Semites referring to “the Jew question.” It is all very distasteful, and even lamentable, and while no one is asking for priggishness, and Trump’s deflation of the pomposity of the system is often refreshing, I believe that most Americans, even those quite dissatisfied with one or both parties, do not wish the public dialogue to be conducted at the level to which it has now descended: of a piece with harassing cabinet members and senators in restaurants and bandying about outrageous suggestions of treason.
Hidden Political Blessings
Finally, in this catalogue of hopeful facts for our Januarial delectation, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the hyperactive socialist motormouth, though acoustically and ideologically grating, has her good points. She deserves some credit, if only by accident, for causing Anderson Cooper to blink as if being attacked by flies when she called for confiscatory taxation on “the tippy top of the rich.” Cooper is a descendant of William H. Vanderbilt, the son of the Commodore, who bestowed on America one of its greatest socio-economic insights: “The public be damned.” More important, and vastly transcending her ignorance, the new congresswoman babbles nonsense about the Middle East and thinks that universal health care will eliminate funeral expenses—everyone will live forever, like Swift’s Struldbrugs; but she proclaims her religious faith.
Readers may think this irrelevant, and Ocasio-Cortez’s religious practices are irrelevant except to her, but she believes in a divine intelligence and the existence of spiritual forces, which means that she does not believe in the perfectibility of man, or that the possible occupation of the vacuum vacated by the expulsion of religious belief can be filled by humans, i.e. that men become Gods, as in ancient Rome. Readers may wonder, too, what earthly or unearthly relevance the congresswoman’s otherworldly views, unlikely to be more penetrating than her mundane thoughts, may have. The point is that her unembarrassed references to her Catholic religiosity implies that ultimately she will dissent from any notion of totalitarianism. The hot chick of the new Democratic Left believes in worshiping God, confessing bad conduct, repenting sin, and respecting life. For this, we may be thankful. I wish her well. In her way, she is one of us.
And a sorbet, or digestif, has been offered by an unlikely source of political reassurance: Joe Biden has said publicly that he can’t find anyone better qualified to be the Democratic presidential nominee than himself, and presumably he knows all these ciphers milling and jockeying about and portentously thinking about it. He may well be right.
America is truly blessed in unsuspected ways. Sleep soundly, Mr. President.
Content created by the Center for American Greatness, Inc. is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a significant audience. For licensing opportunities for our original content, please contact [email protected].
Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images | {
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Douglas Rodrigues, who was recently promoted to executive chef at Clio after serving as chef de cuisine there, has been arrested for assault and battery and has subsequently been fired from Clio, the 15-year-old crowning jewel in chef-owner Ken Oringer's empire. The Phoenix reports that Rodrigues was arrested at the Back Bay bar Crossroads on February 17 following a stabbing. The Back Bay Patch reports that Rodrigues identified himself to police and confessed to having stabbed a fellow bar goer after showing someone how to handle a small pocket knife, but makes it sound like the incident may have been accidental:
The suspect then showed her how to open the knife and how to make a stabbing motion. While demonstrating the stabbing motion, the suspect stabbed the victim in the thigh, just above the knee.
The Patch also describes the victim as a friend of Rodrigues, but it wasn't a pretty scene: "Officers observed a pool of blood on the floor of the bar and the victim's jeans, which were soaked... The victim was pale and clammy and started to slip into unconsciousness." The ensuing charge is for assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The Phoenix hears that Rodrigues' firing from Clio was indeed "tied to the knife incident."
· This Is Not The Knife That Ex-Clio Chef Douglas Rodrigues Allegedly Used [TP]
· Man Teaching Woman How to Open Folding Knife at Bar Stabs Friend [Patch]
· All Coverage of Clio on Eater [~EBOS~] | {
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Many Hondurans, including, rumor has it, President Roberto Micheletti, see Mr. Llorens as the principal architect of a U.S. policy that has caused enormous Honduran hardship.
Yet many risks remain, starting with the fact that though the U.S. said it was going to butt out of Honduran affairs, old habits die hard. Referring to Mr. Zelaya's bid for reinstatement, Thomas Shannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric affairs, said last week, "That's the issue that's the most provocative and the one we will be watching most closely." Mr. Shannon should try watching the World Series instead. | {
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My goodness. CNN, McClatchy, HuffPost, Politico — there sure are a lot of media outlets fielding calls from unhappy Hill staffers about Stephen Miller and the DREAM deal over the last few days.
To congressional Republicans, what Miller’s trying to do is sabotage a deal by stuffing it so full of politically toxic poison pills that Democrats will choke and half the GOP caucus will walk away. To you and I, what Miller’s trying to do is extract truly meaningful enforcement measures as the price of amnestying DREAMers. Right now the GOP’s ask is “border security,” which deals with one limited facet of illegal immigration and can be undone later to some extent by a Democratic White House. Miller’s thinking bigger picture, knowing that this may be the last shot at any sort of immigration deal for years.
But is it true that his demands would kill a deal if Trump backs him up? Sure. No way will Democrats consider them unless amnesty for *all* illegals inside the U.S. is on the table, which would make this the mother of all comprehensive reform deals. Here’s Miller’s wish list, via CNN:
Among the White House “principles” in exchange for a DACA fix that Miller and the White House are asking for include making it more difficult for legal residents of the US to bring in family members from their counties of origin. This measure is opposed by Democrats and divide even Republicans. There are also principles outlined in a rebranded version of the proposed SAFE Act, a highly controversial bill from 2013-2014. These measures would give state and local law enforcement boards authority to enforce immigration laws, allowing states to craft their own immigration rules and potentially criminalizing anyone who is here without legal status… The White House has also discussed requiring Congress, not the Department of Homeland Security, to handle designating Temporary Protected Status for immigrants. TPS is a a provision of immigration law that allows the government to grant temporary work authorizations and protection from deportation to immigrants, including otherwise undocumented ones, from certain countries where life remains dangerous. Conditions that could merit the status include armed conflict and civil war, natural disasters, epidemics and “other extraordinary and temporary conditions.”
Miller also wants Democrats to agree on caps to annual legal immigration, per Tom Cotton’s RAISE Act, as well as to put up the border security money the GOP is already asking for. There’s no chance Schumer and Pelosi will sign on to all that; even a demand that DREAMers’ parents be barred from applying for residence under chain-migration rules once their children are naturalized will be toxic to the Democratic base. How does this sausage get made if all of Miller’s ingredients are part of the recipe? It doesn’t, as John Cornyn told HuffPost:
“Once we start getting into the legal immigration debate and what the appropriate fixes are there, we’re in danger of getting into the comprehensive immigration reform debate, which leaves us basically empty-handed,” Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told HuffPost on Thursday. “We ought to be narrowly focused on the DACA fix that the president’s asked us to consider,” Cornyn said. He added that once Congress had taken care of DACA and border security, then lawmakers could turn to “these other issues in the next legislation.”
“Next legislation”? Who does he think he’s kidding? A DREAM-for-border-security deal will be sufficiently nauseating to both sides’ bases that the two parties’ leadership won’t have the appetite to revisit the subject for years. Said GOP Sen. James Lankford to HuffPost, “As many things that need to be addressed, should be addressed, because we won’t do it again for three decades probably.” If he’s serious about that, he’d better start thinking of an amnesty much bigger than the DACA kids.
What about Trump, though? You get the sense reading the stories about Miller over the past few days that Republicans and Democrats on the Hill are trying to signal to POTUS through the media, probably assuming that (a) he has no idea what Miller’s up to because he’s disengaged from the negotiations and (b) his policy grasp of immigration and the treacherous politics surrounding it in Congress is so weak that he might not realize Miller’s demands would kill the deal he’s hoping to strike. “We use to joke about President Bannon,” said one senior lawmaker to McClatchy. “Now it’s President Miller.” That’s as heavy-handed an attempt to turn Trump against one of his own aides by playing on his mammoth ego as you’ll ever see.
*If* Miller’s demands reflect Trump’s own thinking rather than an attempt to “hijack” the negotiations, it’s hard to explain why Trump was on the phone with Schumer last night trying to make a deal on — gulp — health care. Schumer would have no reason to chat with him if Trump was already trying to blow up the immigration deal they made. It also makes no sense that Trump would set a six-month deadline for Congress to act on legalizing DACA kids and then make demands that he knows, or should know, are bound to wreck a deal on the Hill. The point of the deadline was to force Congress to solve this problem for him. Setting terms that make a deal impossible will only end up putting the ball back in his court on DACA. Maybe Miller really has gone rogue.
One irony of pitting Trump against Miller on immigration, though, is that it might please both sides of the Republican intraparty divide. For establishmentarians, having Trump knock Miller back and abandon his demands on enforcement might take some steam out of the populist engine. Many Republican voters are loyal to Trump above party or principle and plenty of GOPers support a DREAM deal in the abstract. Trump might peel away some populists from the party’s Bannon wing by making this deal. (The broader population likes it too, which may improve Trump’s polling and help the GOP in the midterms.) On the other hand, the ones he fails to peel away are apt to see him as a sellout to populism and to side with Bannon and Miller as true warriors for the nationalist cause against the pretender Trump. That may intensify support for challengers to GOP incumbents in next year’s primaries, where a smallish but highly motivated contingent can sometimes defeat a larger but more tepid one. For their own reasons, both Paul Ryan and Steve Bannon might pop the champagne if Trump drops Miller’s terms and agrees to a straightforward DREAM-for-border-security deal. | {
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BCB president Nazmul Hassan hopes that Bangladesh's security situation will improve and that England's tour will go ahead as scheduled. Following Friday night's terrorist attack in Dhaka, the ECB had said it will follow the UK government's security advice regarding the tour, which is set to start on September 30.
Hassan said he expected the ECB to remain cautious, but cited the example of the Euro 2016 football tournament being held in France seven months after the Paris attacks.
"It is a very unfortunate incident for Bangladesh," Hassan said. "We never imagined such a thing could happen in this country. I don't know how to describe my feelings in words. I have seen England's reaction, which is quite normal. We would have done the same thing if we were in their position.
"[But] you would have noticed that after the Paris attacks, the game didn't stop. Sport will go at its pace. England are coming after three months, by which time the situation in Bangladesh will get better. It is hard to say which place is safe now. Safety can be an issue in England after three months. We will strengthen our security. If we can ensure that, cricket should not be a problem."
Last year, Australia had postponed their tour of Bangladesh based on their government's security advice. Earlier this year, Australia had pulled out of the Under-19 World Cup that was hosted by Bangladesh as well, for the same reasons. | {
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大島大橋 貨物船衝突の瞬間を地元ＣＡＴＶ局が公開
山口県の離島・周防大島町と本土側を結ぶ大島大橋（１０２０メートル）にマルタ船籍の貨物船（２万５４３１トン）が１０月２２日未明に衝突した事故の映像を、同県岩国市のケーブルテレビ「アイ・キャン」が５日、公開した。
アイ・キャンが周防大島町側から橋を２４時間定点撮影している生活情報カメラの映像。
柳井海上保安署などによると、海面からの… | {
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But it will never happen, and for this we can blame the dizzying array of choice that modernity has provided us. In this cash-poor, time-poor, post-Olympic landscape, every sport claims to be the best possible use of our time. This has benefits. Never has it been easier to find sport. But by the same token, never has it been harder to discern the indispensable from the inessential; to tell the difference, as it were, between minced beef and minced horse. | {
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G’s Fresh
These days, the headquarters of G’s Fresh — a large farming complex on the outskirts of Ely, East Cambridgeshire — is oddly quiet. In the office building, administrative staff work in open-plan spaces and walk through bluish-carpeted corridors, rubbing elbows with the occasional truck driver just in from Spain with a fresh load of broccoli or tomatoes. Internal windows show unloading bays dominated by towers of crates filled with supermarket-ready salad bags. The nearby residential building, which can accommodate hundreds of vegetable pickers during harvesting season, is almost empty. Only a few people helping with planting operations dawdle around between shifts. In a couple of months things will look very different. Hopefully.
All around is a green expanse of celery and lettuce fields. Right now, the fields are empty. But in June – G’s Joshua Pugh Ginn tells me as we walk through the building – they will be where all the action happens. There will be harvesting rigs – wheeled, tarpaulin-covered moving storehouses equipped with conveyor belts – trogging across the land, like oliphaunts constantly fed by teams of workers laying neatly cut vegetables on the conveyor belts. “People would be inside the rigs, under the tarpaulin roof, or walking in front, and on the sides,” Pugh Ginn says. If you were there on the field, you probably wouldn’t hear much English being spoken: the near totality of G’s seasonal workers, the ones taking care of the harvesting, are from Eastern European countries, with Romanians and Bulgarians making up the biggest cohorts. That is not an isolated case: according to the National Farmers' Union, less than one per cent of seasonal workers in British farms are UK-born – a drop in the ocean of workers from Romania, Bulgaria and the so-called EU8 countries.
But there is a problem, Pugh Ginn – a young Cambridge-educated history PhD who takes care of Brexit-related matters for G’s – tells me. Following the 2016 referendum, and the government’s decision that freedom of movement from the EU will stop at the end of 2020, Eastern European migrant workers have already started shunning the UK. For the harvest, G’s needs around 2,000 workers, 600 of them in Cambridgeshire alone. The company is currently grappling with a gnawing question: come June, will the fields crawl with people deftly cutting heads of iceberg and romaine, or will the company find itself in the unenviable position of not having enough pickers? More importantly, when the UK leaves the EU for good, how will farmers across the country have their fruits and vegetables picked?
Labour shortages in agriculture are not a recent problem – nor a specifically British one: farmers from Canada, to Australia, to California, have been complaining for years about recruitment pains. In wealthy countries, less and less locals are willing to toil in the field on seasonal contracts: G’s attempts to recruit seasonal workers from the UK’s most high-unemployment areas have proved routinely unsuccessful.
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Problem is: as the global economy grew more prosperous, people in countries that were previously a reliable reservoir of seasonal workers are also becoming less keen on embarking on short-term fruit-picking expeditions to richer countries. “The problem with labour started before the referendum,” says Sharon Cross, who, as G’s ethical working director, is in charge of recruiting seasonal workers. “The labour supply was getting shorter, as unemployment levels in Eastern Europe, and in the UK, had been going down and down and down.” That was particularly marked in Bulgaria – where unemployment levels have dropped from 12.3 per cent in 2012 to 6.2 per cent today. In the same period, joblessness in Romania dropped from seven per cent to five per cent. “We saw this coming,” says Alison Capper, the chairman of National Farmers' Union’s (NFU) horticulture and potatoes board, and a grower of apples and hop in Stocks Farm, Worcestershire. “But Brexit has exacerbated it.”
In 2015, there was a waiting list of 750 people who wanted to come to work at G’s over summer; in 2017, there was no waiting list G’s Fresh
On June 24, 2016, when it had become clear that the country had voted to leave the EU, Cross walked to G’s hostel – a 400-people residential structure right next to the firm’s main office – pondering the situation. “I was thinking: ‘Flip, what does this mean? What on Earth does it mean?’” It was harvesting season: workers coming back after eight hours of veggie-picking still had the energy to pump iron in the structure's gym, or to play ping-pong in the common room, or tennis and basketball on nearby pitches. Others were cooking their meals in a massive brushed aluminium kitchen (G’s used to have a canteen, but it was shut down as it struggled to cater to the workers’ variegated gastronomical tastes.) Others went to rest in their six-bed rooms. Initially, Cross says, nothing happened: workers had not yet zeroed in on Brexit’s possible repercussions on their lives. “After a couple of days, with conversations, and stuff in the press, more and more people came forward with more and more questions about what was going to happen,” Cross says. “And that was really difficult because nobody knew.”
The first problem was the pound’s freefall compared to the Euro, which took a toll on workers’ savings practically overnight. “Some guys here said that from when they arrived in May to when they left in October the value of their earnings had dropped by a third because of the exchange rate going down,” Cross says. (In 2017, G’s raised wages from £7.50 to £8 per hour.) Some decamped: according to NFU’s statistics, 42.9 per cent of the seasonal workers left earlier in July 2016, compared to 14 per cent the previous month. Seasonal workers usually go fruit-picking for two to three summers in a row, putting aside the money and coming back the following year, until they reach a certain goal – they might want to earn enough money to buy a house, or fund their university studies back in Romania. But amidst a weakening pound, perceived anti-immigrant hostility, and a lot of uncertainty regarding whether they will be able to come back working in the UK over the next years, some of them resolved to build relationships with growers in places that are not in the throes of hazy divorce with the world’s largest trading bloc. Put simply, people now prefer veggie-picking in Germany.
Since the referendum, G’s has needed to work thrice as hard – with an intense campaign of recruitment drives in Eastern Europe’s high-unemployment areas – to get a lower number of seasonal workers than it did pre-2016. Returnee workers, which in 2015 made up 72 per cent of the company’s seasonal workforce, accounted for 42 per cent of the whole in 2017. In 2015, Cross says, there was a waiting list of 750 people who wanted to come to work at G’s over summer; in 2017, there was no waiting list. Even if Cross thinks they might have managed to recruit enough workers for this year’s harvest, she will have to wait until May to see whether that is true.
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“Last year we had a higher no-show rate than we'd ever had before,” she says. “We expect the same impact this year but we're preparing for it and we got a little bit of extra people.” But as hard, no-free-movement Brexit gets closer every day, Cross is bracing for reckoning. “We will start our recruitment for 2019 in July. I am hoping that between now and then we'll have some clarity about what's gonna happen in terms of hiring foreign seasonal workers,” she says. “We can't say ‘Everything will be okay, you'll be able to come back’, because we don't know.”
Many in the farming sector pine for the good old days of Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) – a system that, from 1948 to 2013, allowed growers to recruit migrant seasonal workers for up to six months. It was binned in 2013, on the grounds that UK growers could simply access EU labour. Stocks Farm’s Alison Capper says that, with the UK’s farming industry needing some 80,000 seasonal workers every year, a SAWS-like scheme would be of crucial importance to stave off a Brexit-triggered crisis. Otherwise, she says, crops will rot unpicked in the fields.
And it’s already happening: last year, she had to send 100 bins (or about 35,000 kg) of eating apples to juice, because they were too ripe. That cost her £30,000. ”I know of several growers – of blueberries, strawberries – whose crops are going to waste because of lack of labour,” she says. “They don’t want to say it publicly, to stick the head above the parapet, as they fear that would spoil their reputation.”
Most farms have already automated washing and packaging, but picking remains the preserve of human workers G’s Fresh
So far, the government has not come out in favour of any new migrant-labour schemes. Although, according to Pugh Ginn, ministers have been quite understanding in private conversations, public declarations tend to not even acknowledge that the UK has a labour shortage problem. In a document published by parliament’s select committee for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in early 2017, government ministers were quoted saying that there were only “anecdotal stories” supporting claims of a labour shortage issue. “Certainly, to date, there is no suggestion that there is a problem,” the then immigration minister Robert Goodwill said.
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More or less in the same period, leading Brexiteer and then secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Andrea Leadsom suggested that a possible solution might come from technology: in the future, berries would be picked by robots. The government, and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), now under the stewardship of Michael Gove, seems to be quite into the idea: the government recently earmarked £90 million for a ‘Transforming Food Production’ programme, aimed at harnessing AI, robotics and satellite data to innovate the agri-food industry; Defra itself has announced a £40m grant for farmer investing in new technologies, such as robotics. “The government has commissioned advice from the Migration Advisory Committee to better understand the reliance on EU migrant workers across the economy and we will be working closely with our food and farming industry to consider their needs,” a Defra spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. “For the longer term, Defra is working with industry to explore the potential for innovation and automation in contributing towards meeting future labour needs.”
Whether turning to robots is or is not a viable fix depends on whom you ask. G’s Pugh Ginn says that operations such as packaging and washing have been effectively automated over the last few years, whereas the actual harvesting – the hunkering, the judging the right size and ripeness, the clean cutting or delicate picking – is still the bailiwick of human pickers.
Alison Capper, who has also turned to automation to speed up some aspects of apple-picking, is similarly sceptical. “Picking soft crops is so difficult to automate, and there isn’t even a field-trialled robot ready for deployment yet,” she says. “I think the timescale is five to ten years.”
That is a view shared by most farmers who deal in soft vegetables and fruits – such as lettuce, asparagus, apples, berries, broccoli; cereals are hardier, and much more easy to reap automatically. They either say there is no working technology, or fret about the potential costs of buying a platoon of automata.
Researchers are slightly more optimistic. A small number of projects in the UK and elsewhere have built prototypes able to pick various crops – from strawberries, to cauliflowers, to apples, to broccoli – with some accuracy. Among roboticists, the general view seems to be that the technological pieces of the robo-farmer jigsaw are all there. Computer vision, to spot crops and decide whether they are ready to be harvested; 3D sensors, to create digital images of a robot’s surrounding; AI, to give the machine autonomy; and advanced robotics, to avoid that the robot’s arm squish the fruits by exerting too much pressure. It is all about combining them all in an effective way – and that is no easy feat. That the fate of British farming might hinge on scaling up a bunch of prototypes to a feasible workforce is exciting or terrifying, depending on your penchant for futuristic ordeals.
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Martin Stoelen, who teaches robotics at the University of Plymouth, and has developed robots for picking raspberries and cauliflowers, is confident picking robots will hit the market soon. Although his raspberry-plucking robot only picks one berry every 10-15 seconds – much slower than a human – Stoelen is confident that speed will improve as the machine gets more training.
“It'll get faster. And the key thing when we look at comparing performances, is that this systems may be able to operate for much longer maybe 20-22 hours a day,” he says. “If they work at night it could be even easier because you can control the lighting. And each robot might have four to eight arms, so you can multiply the yield.”
Cost, in Stoelen’s opinion, is not an issue: even if each robot would cost “tens of thousands of pounds”, he thinks that the most convenient mode of use would be robots as a service – with farmers outsourcing harvesting to robot-owning companies during the picking season. As of today, of course, no such service exists. “I am pretty confident that we'll get systems that are commercially and economically viable within a couple of years” he says.
Not everybody agrees on that. Duncan Robertson, the founder of strawberry-picking robotics firm Dogtooth believes that jump-starting mass robot production is nearly impossible. “We would need to manufacture many tens of thousands of robots to meet the demand for picking,” he says. “It's unlikely we're gonna be able to do that in time for the next few years in which the effects of Brexit are gonna be felt.”
Timescale is not the only issue about which there is no consensus. Robertson, for instance, thinks that robots must be designed to operate on our oft-messy, cramped farms, not the other way around. Simply put: make the robots work in our world, don’t change farms to accommodate. Stoelen, on the contrary, sees this as an opportunity to rethink farming as a whole. It could be about minor tweaks – placing a dark background behind strawberry plants, so that berries are easier to spot for computer vision algorithms; but it could also lead to more radical moves. “When we talk to farmers about picking vegetables, they want to keep the big tractors and instead of having people picking the vegetables, they just want robot arms,” he says. “That might still give them a benefit, but once you take the person out of the machine if might make sense to just scale that down and have multiple systems moving around in the field and spread themselves out.”
How heavy you want to go on robots also says something about what kind of farming sector you think one should be promoting. Kate Pressland, programme lead at non-profit farmer networks Innovative Farmers, fears that ditching migrant labour in favour of automation could end up penalising smaller farms. “Smaller producers don't necessarily have the investment levels for robotics – yet there is some evidence that smaller farms have a higher productivity. They could potentially lose out even if they are run very well as farms,” she says. “Technology is being given the strongest focus, but that way you could end up with fewer, massive farms.”
What everyone seems to agree on, though, is that robots will not be able to replace every single fruit-picker. Even in the best-case scenario — Robertson and Stoelen concur — robots could “alleviate” the labour shortage crisis to come, by enhancing the capabilities of human workers. And according to Robertson, to some extent the question is whether throwing technology at the problem is a solution at all. “People provide a lot of benefits – robots are very bad at lateral thinking, at communicating. The interface growers have now is the one they want: they want to speak with their workers, they want to talk face-to-face with them,” he says. “I am not sure that doing without people is the right goal.”
That is certainly not the goal that growers across Britain — their crops tumefying in the fields — are trying to reach; but it is the goal the government seems to have set for them, in order to stick to its immigration red lines. Either that will change, or farmers will need for a robot-revolution to happen before the harvest of 2021.
Updated 19.04.18, 09:35: Martin Stoelen’s robot picks raspberries, not strawberries. | {
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Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke’s son Josh Kroenke has apparently arrived in London on a 3 month review of the clubs activities on and off the field adding fresh impetus to the ‘catalyst of change’ that had been promised to the supporters after last seasons difficulties on the field.
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It is certain that senior Kroenke, the much maligned and universally criticized majority shareholder of Arsenal will hand over the ownership reins of the club at some point in the future to his son Josh who has already been made the president and governor of the family’s Denver Nuggets basketball team and Colorado Avalanche ice hockey team along with being on the board of members at Arsenal Football club.
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And now in an exclusive report by Daily mail, it is being reported that Kroenke jr has taken a flat in London for the next three months and is visiting every section of the club in an attempt to get clue about how to run a football club because judging their other sports investment and this club it quite clear that none in the family have any sort of clue about how to run any club at all.
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While is it quite a departure from the Kroenke family’s usual methodology of running clubs with their hands-off approach being what the club and its fan base have been used to seeing for years now. It also seems high time than an actual owner takes atleast an minuscule amount of interest in the club that they have been leaching on for years.
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Even though the recent transfer activities have somewhat marked a departure from the parsimonious nature of our dealings in the transfer window, it is also worth noting that the club actually spends what it earns and at no point of time have there been any reports of the ownership actually investing a single penny from their own pockets rather than using the clubs coffers and revenues to finance its activities which means its not their credit if the club has spend what it has on Aubameyang and Ozil contract renewal.
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Meanwhile there is also another significant development in the our commercial revenue making department with the news that Arsenal are set to significantly revamp their jersey for the 2019/2020 season by including a sleeve sponsor for the first time ever in their history.
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In an attempt to compete with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City off the field if not on the field, the club will look to emulate the deals secured by their counterparts in an attempt to bridge the gap with them commercially atleast.
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Arsenal’s big financial challenge is to bridge the commercial annual gaps to the two Manchester clubs that have been calculated at more than £100 million. Sleeve sponsorship is generating around £8m for Chelsea and Manchester City and Arsenal have a huge opportunity in trying to bridge that revenue gap with both their t-shirt sponsorship with Puma and stadium and shirt sponsorship with Emirates coming to a close at the end of next season.
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While both the deals are not expected to be market changing the least the club could hope for is something similar to what is being offered to Manchester United and Chelsea. Chelsea, by comparison, now have a £60m Nike deal while Manchester United lead the field with their £75m Adidas contract. Both the clubs have an enormous world wide popularity and fan base which has been a factor in the deals being secured by them and that is exactly what Arsenal will look to capitalize on when negotiating new deals with potential sponsors.
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At this stage the only way in which Arsenal can compete with their rivals is by beating them first off the field and then look to use that on the field. That bald inept sloth-like CEO of ours is presently the highest paid CEO in the entire Premier League and we wonder what it is that he is paid to do. The entire club is virtually run by the Boss unlike all other clubs in the league and you would think that the least he could do would be to do his job in running the commercial side of things.
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It is only now that the entire hierarchy is realizing how far back commercially and out of competition we are from the rest of the top 4 competitors when we are unable to compete with them on the field. This has quite clearly resulted in that massive clearout in the summer that we witnessed and the recent few new commercial deals that the club has struck this season. It makes you wonder why it only took a season without champions league and another potential one to realize that we have fallen behind and really need to get the big bucks from somewhere if not from the owners.
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“All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” – Helen Keller
Right now, typing this, I am feeling so small. For quite awhile, I have been mulling over and thinking on the idea of writing a blog about my experiences with the calling(s) I feel on my life and right now I’m going through a season of “if not now, then when?” SO…here we are! I’m planning on covering several topics including teaching, fostering/adopting, and parenting within the realm of both, but I want to start with a story that is near to my heart and brings me to tears nearly every time I take time to process it. Most of you know, Ben and I recently adopted our son, Abel. I shared a very brief version of his story on the day of his adoption, but the full tapestry Jesus has woven is too overwhelming to keep to myself.
From February 2018 to June 2018 Ben and I worked on becoming licensed to foster. This had been on our hearts since long before we were married, but we always assumed it would be a calling we would pursue much later into our marriage. Despite our intentions, we clearly felt God tugging on our hearts to begin the journey and to begin it now. Once we moved out of our apartment and into a home, we were all out of excuses to offer up. It was time to act.
After spending several months fulfilling licensing requirements such as training classes, background checks, and a home study, we found ourselves fully licensed, fully excited, and fully panicked. Our phones were turned up to the loudest volume setting and we carried them with us everywhere, knowing that the next call we received could change our lives. (That’s a lot of pressure, by the way. Never have so many telemarketers been greeted with such excitement and anticipation.) Because we received our license in the summer, school was out and I had nearly nothing to occupy my time with. As the saying goes, a watched pot never boils and similarly, a stared-at phone never rings. After a couple of weeks of NOTHING, our nerves were frazzled. We could think of nothing else.
Finally, FINALLY, my phone rang. Ben and I were sitting in a movie theater (because, of course, if you want your phone to ring, do something in which your phone ringing would be an inconvenience) and I annoyed everyone there by immediately answering. We were given minimal details about a child who needed a placement and without hesitation, we agreed. We dreamed. We planned. We called our parents. Then my case manager texted me to let me know that the placement had fallen through. We felt crushed.
Fast forward to a few weeks later. Ben and I are pulling into the Wal-Mart parking lot. Another call for a placement. Another acceptance on our part. More dreams. More plans. More calls to parents. $100 spent in Wal-Mart on things we would need. Another text letting us know that the placement had fallen through.
A week later. Another Wal-Mart trip. Another call for placement. More money and dreams and plans and calls to parents. And…ANOTHER text that this dream was not ours. Y’all, after that much money and dreaming and planning and disappointment, you start to doubt that you heard God correctly. At this point, I was totally certain that this was all some heavenly episode of Prank’d and that we had collected boxes of diapers and clothes for no other reason than to take up space in our closet. I felt angry and cheated and abandoned. My husband, forever the more level-headed piece to our partnership, told me he wanted to call his mom and ask her to pray. I was totally content to throw my hissy fit and let it be, but I agreed anyway.
When she picked up, Ben poured out our collective heart to her. He shared our frustration and anger and fear. She listened. She considered. She told us she needed to pray and would call us back. We waited. We sat in our car. Ben hung his head. I cried. We grieved what we believed was our chance to foster. The phone rang. Ben answered. “Hope,” she said. “I prayed for you and God gave me the word hope. I don’t know what it means, but that’s what He told me. Maybe you’ll get a little girl! Maybe her name will be Hope.” We thanked her, not very encouraged, but too tired to do much else. Essentially, we all but gave up.
A few days later, I was sitting in our living room, not doing much of anything, when my phone rang again. My caseworker told me of a boy, two and a half, who needed a home. Not a foster home. An adoptive home. A forever home. Of course, I agreed. She told me that our names would go into a pool of families who were also interested in adopting him. My heart sank a little, knowing that the likelihood of being chosen was low. I called Ben and let him know and we prayed a little prayer together that this little boy could come and become a part of our family. Within a day (world-record speed for CPS) we got another call. A life-changing call. A call that WE HAD BEEN CHOSEN. And then…I heard his name. “Congratulations, guys!” our case manager said, “I”ll call you again later so we can schedule a time for us to drop Hopian off.” Instantly, I began to cry, as I remembered the word spoken over us. Hope. Suddenly, all my doubts and fears and fits made my cheeks burn red. I understood and am still humbled by the fact that I know NOTHING of the plan God has for me.
From the day we met Hopian, we fell in love. God paved the way for him to join our family in such a holy, sacred way. We made the choice to change our son’s name to Abel because, as God does so many times in the Bible, we wanted to give him an opportunity at a new identity. Simon became Peter. Jacob became Israel. Abram became Abraham. And our little Hopian became Abel Shepherd Bacon. We will honor his past and be totally transparent with him about how his story began, because that is a piece of his history that is valuable. We will also rejoice with him in his future and support him as he walks through life, inevitably viewing things through different lenses than we have viewed it ourselves. I pray every day that God will give me the grace to parent Abel in the way that no other mother could; that He will make me exactly the mother that our son needs.
There are so many elements of Abel’s story that I could go into detail about. I’m sure I could write a book of all the ways in which I have seen God’s hand on our lives through this process. Instead of doing that here, I’m choosing to close this story with a letter I wrote to Abel a few weeks before his adoption was finalized. Someday, he’ll be old enough to read it and process it himself. Until then, I pray that my testimony to him as his mother will translate to him what words cannot.
Abel Bacon,
From the moment we knew you were coming into our lives, Daddy and I have prayed for you. Since long before then, actually, but even more so once we could put a name and a face to this child we had so desperately hoped for. We prayed that you would be healthy. We prayed that you would flourish and grow and feel loved and welcomed in our home. We prayed that, by God’s grace, this wild system that we call foster care would bring you justice. More than all of the other prayers that we prayed, we prayed, through tears and baited breath and sleepless nights, that you would become a member of our family forever. We prayed that you would become a Bacon. In the 6 months you have been with us, we have seen God confirm for us in ways unimaginable that you are where He created you to be. With us. And now, in our hearts AND on paper, you are OURS. Our son forever.
In John 14:18, God makes us a promise. He says, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.” I have seen the truth of this promise in my own life, and now, above all other prayers, this is my prayer for you, Abel. Your time in the world without physical parents is over. You have a mommy and a daddy who love you with a love that is unconditional. But our love could never compare to the love of the One who created you. I spent so many months praying that you would be welcomed into our family, leaving behind the pain of orphanhood. Now, baby boy, I will spend the rest of my life praying and believing that you will be welcomed into the family of Christ. My hope for you, surpassing all other hopes, is that you would come to know the love of Jesus in your life in a real way and that you would surrender you heart and your life in service to Him. My ultimate job as your mother is to point you to Jesus and that is the vow I make to you now.
I cannot promise you that I will have all the answers. I cannot promise you that the way I parent you will make you happy all of the time. I cannot promise you that you will have all that you want. But Abel, I promise you that I will pray for you every single day of your life. I promise you that I will love Jesus first, Daddy second, and I will be a better mother to you because of that. I promise that nothing you could ever do will make me stop loving you. I promise that when you are with Daddy and I, until it is time for you to have a family of your own, that you will be home, as much as you can be on this side of Heaven. And lastly, I promise you that every day of my life, I will point you to the One who knit us together as a family, so that on the other side of Heaven, I will see you there, too.
Abel Shepherd Bacon, I am so blessed to be your mama. I love you with my whole heart. Forever and ever.
Love,
Mama
1/29/19
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GETTY Employers can read private messages sent over the internet by workers during office hours
If you send messages to your friends and family via WhatsApp, Facebook, or any other online chat client – you should probably make sure its safe for work. The European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, has ruled that employers are allowed to read private messages sent via chat software and webmail accounts during working hours. The move comes after judges sitting in the ECHR in Strasbourg ruled a company was well within its rights when it read an employee's Yahoo Messenger chats. Bogdan Barbulescu – a Romania worker – was sacked in 2007 after his employer discovered he was accessing private messages during work hours.
GETTY The ruling affects all EU countries that have ratified the ECHR, including Britain
Mr Barbulescu had asked the court to rule the employer had breached his right to confidential correspondence when it accessed his messages – he used the app to chat to his fiancee and brother as well as professional contacts. He lost his case in Romania's domestic courts and had appealed to the ECHR. But judges have ruled Mr Barbulescu breached company rules – which prohibited the use of the messaging app for personal conversations – and therefore his employer had every right to check what he was up to. Check out the best money and time-saving WhatsApp tips and tricks from Express.co.uk, below –
This ruling now applies to every country that has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights – which includes Great Britain. In a statement, the ECHR judges said: "The employer acted within its disciplinary powers since, as the domestic courts found, it had accessed the Yahoo Messenger account on the assumption that the information in question had been related to professional activities and that such access had therefore been legitimate. "The court sees no reason to question these findings." In passing down the ruling, the judges also said that unregulated snooping on employees would not be acceptable, and called on a set of polices to be drawn up by employers that would clearly state what information they could collect and how. | {
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Welcome to the LRC Store!
Thanks so much for stopping by the LewRockwell.com store. With even Google, Twitter, and Facebook targeting LRC—as “fake news,” that is, for dissenting from the lying left and the establishment—you help us grow in outreach and influence.
The powerful can be circumvented and even defeated by truth guerrillas. It’s heartening to have you in our band!
With gratitude, Lew | {
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The mother of a child featured in a decades-old meme called "Success Kid" is demanding that Rep. Steve King Steven (Steve) Arnold KingGOP leader: 'There is no place for QAnon in the Republican Party' Loomer win creates bigger problem for House GOP Win by QAnon believer creates new headaches for House GOP MORE (R-Iowa) stop using the image in his fundraising appeals on social media.
BuzzFeed News reported Monday that attorneys for Laney Griner, whose infant son appeared — clenching his fist in apparent triumph — in the image first posted in 2007, sent a cease-and-desist letter to King demanding that he refund any money raised using the meme.
"I recently learned that Iowa Representative Steve King is using my copyrighted photograph of my minor son Samuel known as 'Success Kid' to raise money in a 'Fund our Memes' online campaign, also implying that he has some kind of ownership in it," Griner tweeted.
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"Representative King and his campaign staff appropriated 'Success Kid' without my permission. 'Success Kid’s' is about positivity and celebrates achievement. Neither I, my son, nor 'Success Kid' have any affiliation with Representative King," she added. "Representative King should remove 'Success Kid' from his webpages immediately, issue a statement to acknowledge that the image was taken without our permission and endorsement, and refund the money his campaign received from misusing ‘Success Kid'."
2/5 Representative King and his campaign staff appropriated “Success Kid” without my permission. “Success Kid’s” is about positivity and celebrates achievement. Neither I, my son, nor “Success Kid” have any affiliation with Representative King, — Laney Griner (@laneymg) January 27, 2020
4/5 was taken without our permission and endorsement, and refund the money his campaign received from misusing ‘Success Kid”. — Laney Griner (@laneymg) January 27, 2020
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The post in question, originally posted on King's Facebook page and website, encouraged donors to "fund our memes." The Facebook post was removed as of Monday evening, and the corresponding page on his website could not be reached.
A request for comment from The Hill was not immediately returned.
King, who was first elected to the House in 2002, has a long history of making offensive and controversial statements, including questioning during an interview with The New York Times last year how the terms "white supremacist" and "white nationalist" had become offensive.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Cheney asks DOJ to probe environmental groups | Kudlow: 'No sector worse hurt than energy' during pandemic | Trump pledges 'no politics' in Pebble Mine review Cheney asks DOJ to probe environmental groups Press: The big no-show at the RNC MORE (Wyo.), the No. 3 GOP lawmaker in the chamber, said in August that it was "time for him to go" after King said there would hardly be "any population of the world left" if rape and incest had not occurred throughout history. | {
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Another attendee at last night’s Donald Trump rally in Chicago provides some first-hand insight into what took place.
[…] I voted in my first election in 1996 straight R ticket for Dole. In 2000, I understood the uniparty and supported, donated and voted for Patrick J. Buchanan because he was a great man and the uniparty sold out the United States on immigration, trade and foreign policy. Since this time I have been an America First Nationalist.
I have not cast a single vote since and totally gave up following politics until I happened to turn on Faux and see Donald speaking at Laredo in early July. I knew his views on trade and foreign policy and seeing him come out strongly on immigration sealed the deal. I have watched nearly every rally since and been totally engaged like all of you for this great journey. Now on to today’s rally.
My mom and I arrived at noon and the lines were beginning to form. There was a mix of young and old, rich and poor, blue collar and white collar. There were many, many blue collar and union former democrats who were 100% supporting Trump, understood the Nationalism vs. Globalism war and everything discussed on this site. I also talked to several Middle Eastern UIC students who supported Donald and shared the sentiments expressed on this site.
A busload of police were dropped off to begin duty and we all applauded and cheered them. As they filed past, you could see them smiling and appreciating our support. There were only a handful of thugs across the street at this time, and we, in unison chanted “Trump, Trump, Trump”, “Build that Wall”, “Blue lives matter”, etc. We were a vocal and united front against the Marxist filth.
When we went inside my mother and I were able to get on the floor about ten feet away from the podium. I met a woman who has read the Treehouse since the Zimmerman case, a lawyer all-in for Trump who was a Milton Friedman advocate, and other wonderful people. There were many young people and some families.
We began noticing some obvious BLM thugs and Bernie type people (maybe about 15-20) behind us. We spread the word to those around us, so everyone knew. Periodically, we all did pro Trump chants and were anxiously awaiting our President. Several times the crowd erupted as protesters were carted out behind us on the floor as we chanted “Build that Wall” or another patriotic chant.
Around 7 pm, an announcer came to the stage and said the rally was cancelled. The trash behind us unfurled anti-white, pro illegal alien signs and shirts with anti-white slurs. We all began calling them scumbags and taping them. They tried chanting, but we drowned them out. They were basically pushed to the back of the floor area. A taller, well dressed man single handedly ripped a banner from the hands of five Bernouts.
At this point, we could see that a large contingent of Marxists were filling the back end seats of the arena. Some unveiled Bernie signs and chanted “Bernie), but they were once again drowned out by proud Nationalists. We advanced all the way to the back of the arena. Someone supportive of Trump took to the podium and led us in chants of “USA, USA”. We were strong, loud, proud and infuriated.
Then a black thug tried taking the microphone but was restrained and shoved away by two campaign people. He tried throwing punches at someone in the stands and a middle aged white working class guy knocked him to the floor. The State Police and Chicago cops arrived and walked down the stairs as an announcement for everyone to leave played.
The protesters were ignorant, vulgar, vile scum who were insulting Trump people as we left, but we gave it back in spades in unity and strength. Outside was a huge mob of BLM, communists, Bernouts, illegal aliens and other assorted scum. In the parking deck, I met three college kids who understood cultural marxism and told me about the indoctrination of white guilt in our schools today. One thing was certain, everyone there was even more united and energized in their support for Donald and in despise for the leftist scum who took away our right of assembly and free speech.
As we pulled out of the parking garage, we ran a gauntlet of anti-white, anti-American trash cursing us, flipping us off and calling us racists. All I can tell you is that my mom said she had not seen anything so disgusting since the King riots in Joliet in 1968.
Folks, I think Nationalism is out of the bag, its here to stay and the marxists wll soon be on the run. The whole world can see that we have lost our right to assemble peacefully and stand up for our nation.
The Silent Majority is silent no more and we are going straight to the White House. | {
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Siis mitä, onko uutinen kenties mennyt ohi? Eihän eduskunta ole myöntänyt edes uutta periaatepäätöstä! Eikä Otaniemeen suunniteltu laitos tarkkaan ottaen edes nouse vaan se laskee – aina seitsemän kilometriin syvyyteen saakka.
Kyseessä on tietysti paljon myönteistä huomiota herättänyt ST1:n ja Fortumin yhdessä toteuttama ”geolämpölaitoksen” prototyyppi. Esimerkiksi YLE uutisoi hiljattain, että koeporausten tulokset ovat olleet hankkeen toteuttajien mukaan myönteisiä, joten hankkeessa edetään seuraavaan vaiheeseen.
Laitoksen toimintaperiaate on hyvin yksinkertainen. Maahan porataan seitsemän kilometrin syvyyteen reikä (noin syvällä kallioperän lämpötila on jo reilusti yli sata astetta). Poraamisen jälkeen kallioon tehdään paineen avulla säröjä, jonka läpi vesi voi virrata. Porataan toinen reikä jonka kautta säröjen läpi kulkeva vesi palaa kuumenneena takaisin maan pinnalle. Kierroksen jälkeen lämpö otetaan talteen ja syötetään Espoon kaukolämpöverkkoon. Tietääkseni sama vesi jatkaa sen jälkeen kiertoaan takaisin maan uumeniin.
Vaikka kyseiseen hankkeeseen liittyy vielä epävarmuuksia, on se mielestäni hieno esimerkki uusista innovaatioista kaukolämpöalalla, jonka hyödyntämisessä Suomi on muutenkin yksi maailman johtavista maista.
Luomuydinlämpöä?
Oletko tosin koskaan miettinyt mitä hankkeessa hyödynnettävä ”geolämpö” on? Se syntyy enimmäkseen, kun maankuoressa olevat radioaktiiviset aineet hajoavat ja tuottavat ”sivutuotteenaan” lämpöä. Prosessi on täysin ”luonnonmukainen” ja tapahtuisi itsestään, hyödynsimme siitä syntyvää lämpöä tai emme.
Prosessi on periaatteessa sama, jolla tavallisissa ydinvoimalaitoksissa (kaiketi sitten ”tehotuotettu”) fissiolämpö syntyy. Ydinvoimalaitoksella lämpöä synnyttävää radioaktiivista hajoamista ainoastaan vauhditetaan ylläpitämällä hallittua ketjureaktiota.
Toivon kovasti, että lämmön alkuperä ei saa kaupunkilaisia suhtautumaan tähän päästöttömään energiaan epäillen. No, ehkä pelkoni on liioiteltua. Onhan nykyään muodikasta suhtautua tehotuotantoon epäluuloisesti ja suosia luomua. Voisiko Espoon geolämmölle hankkia jopa joutsenmerkin tai luomuleiman? | {
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Police seize property and cash in questionable raids
Thomas Williams was alone that November morning in 2013 when police raided his rural St. Joseph County home, wearing black masks, camouflage and holding guns at their sides. They broke down his front door with a battering ram.
"We think you're dealing marijuana," they told Williams, a 72-year-old, retired carpenter and cancer patient who is disabled and carries a medical marijuana card.
When he protested, they handcuffed him and left him on the living room floor as they ransacked his home, emptying drawers, rummaging through closets and surveying his grow room, where he was nourishing his 12 personal marijuana plants as allowed by law. Some had recently begun to die, so he had cloned them and had new seedlings, although they were not yet planted. That, police insisted, put him over the limit.
They did not charge Williams with a crime, though.
Instead, they took his Dodge Journey, $11,000 in cash from his home, his television, his cell phone, his shotgun and are attempting to take his Colon Township home. And they plan to keep the proceeds, auctioning off the property and putting the cash in police coffers.
More than a year later, he is still fighting to get his belongings back and to hang on to his house.
"I want to ask them, 'Why? Why me?' I gave them no reason to do this to me," said Williams, who says he also suffers from glaucoma, a damaged disc in his back, and COPD, a lung disorder. "I'm out here minding my own business, and just wanted to be left alone."
The seizure was allowed under Michigan's Civil Asset Forfeiture laws, which allow police to take property from citizens if they suspect a crime was committed, even when there is not enough evidence to charge them. Homeowners like Williams have to prove they did not purchase their property with proceeds from criminal activity and then sue to get the property back.
Such laws are currently under attack nationwide by critics and legislators who say it is ripe for abuse. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced earlier this month that he was tightening federal forfeiture laws to stop abuses. Michigan, with its own forfeiture laws, was ranked in a 2010 national study by a private, nonprofit group as among the worst in the nation for abuse.
"It's straight up theft," said Williams' Kalamazoo attorney, Dan Grow. "The forfeiture penalty does not match the crime. It's absurd. They grow an extra plant and suddenly they're subjected to forfeiture. A lot of my practice is made up of these kinds of cases — middle-aged, middle-income people who have never been in trouble before. It's all about the money."
Police targeted Williams because he had been on the board of directors of a "compassion club" in Battle Creek, an hour away, and his name had turned up in records in a raid there, Grow said, even though he had not been involved with the club since 2011. The seizure, Grow contends, was particularly vicious.
"He is disabled and lives alone. They took the man's cell phone and his car, and left him out there alone. He doesn't have a landline. He was stranded out there for three days until somebody stopped by."
The agency that conducted the raid, the Southwestern Enforcement Team, operated by the Michigan State Police, declined to discuss the case, except to say forfeitures are an important tool in fighting crime.
That team, which operates in southwest Michigan, seized $376,612 in cash and assets that year.
Not enough safeguards
The seizures in southwest Michigan were just a fraction of the at least $24.3 million in property and cash Michigan law enforcement seized from residents in 2013. The police agencies used those seized assets to buy equipment, train officers and beef up task forces.
"Michigan's asset forfeiture program saves taxpayers money and deprives drug criminals of cash and property," Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, the director of the Michigan State Police, said in her last annual report to the governor and legislators on forfeiture revenue. "Michigan's law enforcement community has done an outstanding job of stripping drug dealers of illicit gain and utilizing those proceeds to expand and enhance drug enforcement efforts to protect our citizens."
But others say there are not enough safeguards to prevent abuses. They say there is an inherent conflict of interest because police agencies profit from the assets they seize.
"These forfeitures set off fundamental constitutional alarm bells," said Democratic state Rep. Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor. "It's a perversion of our right to due process."
Irwin has drafted legislation, which he plans to introduce this spring, that would require a criminal conviction before assets can be seized.
Irwin said he has been working on asset forfeiture reform since he took office in 2010, motivated by "horror" stories he was hearing from constituents, many of them medical marijuana patients and growers.
"The police were breaking into caregivers' homes, showing up in riot gear, with guns, and then walking off with all the stuff," Irwin said. "And the homeowners were being told if you mess with us, we're going to mess with you. If you want to escape without a charge, just shut up and walk away."
Saginaw Township resident Ed Boyke says he was a victim of just such a "shakedown."
The 69-year-old retiree from General Motors obtained a medical marijuana card to help with pinched nerves in his neck following brain surgeries to correct epilepsy and remove a tumor. He also obtained permits to grow for two other patients.
In April 2010, Saginaw County Sheriff's deputies and Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided his home. The DEA left, but deputies took his 2008 car, $62 from his wallet, his wide-screen television, his two lawn mowers, a leaf blower, a dehumidifier, an air compressor, "and a bunch of other stuff, some of it junk, right out of my garage," he said in a recent interview.
Police said he was 12 plants over his legal limit of 36 plants, plus another 30 or so in the process of being cloned, but with no root systems. Boyke, a father of four and a Vietnam veteran with no criminal history, said he had just started cloning new plants because recently licensed medical marijuana users had inquired whether they could become his clients. "I just wanted to make sure I would have the inventory."
Like Williams in Van Buren County, Boyke was never charged with a crime. But police came the day after the raid, he said, and warned that if he didn't give them $5,000 in cash, they would put a lien on his house. He drove to the credit union, got the cash and handed it over.
"I was afraid," he said in his small ranch house on Duane, where he has lived for more than two decades. "I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to lose my house."
Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel, who conducted the raid, said, "There are two sides to every story," when contacted by the Detroit Free Press seeking records on the Boyke raid. He did not respond to subsequent calls.
The financial incentive
The idea of civil asset forfeiture, under which the government can seize private property even if a crime has not been committed, dates to the 17th Century and British Admiralty Law. Unable to prosecute absentee owners, the English used the law to seize ships containing contraband. The laws came over to America with the settlers but were seldom used.
The federal government and most states ramped up their civil forfeiture laws in the 1980s as part of the War on Drugs, targeting drug kingpins. But over the years, the laws have been used to target citizens accused, but not charged, with minor drug trafficking, soliciting prostitution, money laundering, visiting an unlicensed facility to drink alcohol, and other crimes.
Michigan ranks among the worst when it comes to protecting innocent people from government forfeiture, according to the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Arlington, Va., that fights unfair seizures. The firm commissioned a study of all 50 states in 2010 and ranked Michigan among the five most likely to abuse forfeitures, giving the state a "D-" grade.
"Michigan has two primary problems," said Scott Bullock, a senior attorney at the institute. "First off, the government's burden is very light, but the primary problem in Michigan is the direct and perverse financial incentive at the heart of the laws."
Bullock said the federal asset forfeiture laws have been used to abuse Michigan residents as well.
The institute most recently represented Terry Dehko and his daughter Sandy Thomas, owners of Schott's market in Fraser. The family has owned the business since 1978 and made frequent cash deposits at a nearby bank to avoid keeping a lot of cash on hand. Their insurance policy would cover only $10,000 in the event of theft or robbery.
The federal government requires that banks report cash transactions over $10,000 as a means of detecting money laundering, and it is illegal to structure cash deposits to avoid this requirement. Despite a government audit of the store's books in 2012 that showed no violations, federal agents seized $35,000 from Dehko's bank account in January 2013.
The seizure nearly devastated the business, with the Dehko family struggling to make payroll and pay vendors. The Institute of Justice sued the government on behalf of the Dehko family, and amid wide publicity, the Internal Revenue Service agreed to return the money in November 2013, nine months later.
Dehko told the Detroit Free Press earlier this month the experience forever traumatized his family, and that he was putting the business up for sale.
"I worry all the time it's going to happen again, that they're going to fire back at me," he said. "I'll sell the business, but I'll keep fighting for what's right, for justice. The laws have to change."
The Dehkos' plight caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican representing Michigan's 7th District. Walberg has been leading the charge to change federal forfeiture laws, which, like state laws, allow the seizure of property even when there are no criminal charges levied.
Earlier this month, Walberg teamed up with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, to draft new legislation to revamp federal forfeiture laws and provide greater protections against abusive seizures. The law, which is receiving bipartisan support, would prohibit law enforcement from receiving proceeds from forfeitures and would, instead, require that the money go into the general fund.
And it would require that police show by "clear and convincing evidence" that a crime was committed, as opposed to the much lower standard of a "preponderance of evidence."
"The Dehko case was egregious," Walberg said in a recent interview. "This is not how forfeiture laws are supposed to work. I want to make sure innocent people don't get hurt by these laws."
The rules invite abuse
Michigan's civil forfeiture practices have caught the attention of both civil rights and libertarian groups nationwide.
"There are a number of bad anecdotes coming out of Michigan," said Andrew Kloster, who studies civil forfeitures nationwide for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank for which he serves as a fellow. "And I think when there is smoke, there is fire."
Michigan's practice of handing over all forfeiture proceeds to the very police agency that seized them sets the scene for abuse, he said.
"If you get to keep the money you seized, that gives you the incentive to seize for the wrong reason," he said, "and you'll put your thumb on the scale. If your job is informally reliant on how much you bring in, you're going to have an incentive to cut corners and seize as much as you can."
Among the cases tracked by the Heritage Foundation: Krista Vaughn of Detroit was working for the American Red Cross in 2004 when she dropped a fellow worker off at a local bank and promised to swing back around and pick her friend up once the friend finished her banking. They were both wearing their Red Cross badges, according to published reports.
A Detroit police squad working on prostitution in the area determined that Vaughn's friend was "making eye contact" with motorists in an attempt to solicit them.
Police ticketed the friend and confiscated Vaughn's 2003 Sebring, claiming that it was being used as part of a prostitution ring. They eventually dropped the charges against her friend, but Vaughn had to pay $1,800 in fines, towing and repairs to her car in order to get it back.
The American Civil Liberties Union has intervened in Michigan cases as well. In 2008, a Detroit Police Department SWAT team, dressed in black and with guns drawn, raided the city's Museum of Contemporary Art, where 130 patrons were celebrating Funk Night, a well-attended monthly party of dancing, drinking and art gazing. The patrons were forced to the ground and, in some cases, purses were searched. All of the patrons were issued tickets for "loitering in a place of illegal occupation," because the museum had failed to get a permit to serve alcohol.
Then police began confiscating their cars, having them towed away under the city's "nuisance abatement" program and insisting that patrons pay $900 apiece to get them back. The ACLU filed suit and the city agreed to drop the criminal charges but refused to return the cars.
The ACLU filed a second suit in 2010, demanding that the cars be returned, and U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts agreed in 2012, noting that illegal search and seizures were a "widespread practice" and a "custom" of the Detroit Police Department.
Citizens at a disadvantage
Citizens doing battle with police agencies over forfeitures face distinct disadvantages. Among the worries: If the property owner complains too loudly, or hires an attorney, a criminal charge may follow.
Wladyslaw Kowalski, 60, with a PhD in engineering from Penn State, specializing in ultraviolet light technology, obtained a medical marijuana card for a heart condition, and immediately became fascinated by the process of growing superior strains of marijuana, devising intricate light systems in his 170-year-old farmhouse in rural Bloomingdale in southwest Michigan.
He became licensed to provide marijuana to other patients and began supplying for free two terminal cancer patients who lived locally.
He then began experimenting growing the plants outside in a large, fenced garden, using complicated light reflectors to extend the growing season by several weeks. "I basically created the same environmental conditions as southern California," he said. "The plants just grew and grew."
A police helicopter spotted the garden from above, and police raided the farmhouse in September. They cited him for failing to keep a cover on the garden, for it being visible from the road, and for having too much marijuana on the premises.
Kowalski said he was growing extra plants to ensure that he and his three clients would have adequate supplies throughout the year. "I'm dealing with a shorter growing season than if I was growing indoors. This is a math issue."
Police froze his bank accounts and destroyed his plants but did not arrest him at the time.
Three months later, he shared his plight with the Mackinac Center, which posted an article online about it. Hours later, Kowalski was arrested and charged with two felony counts of drug manufacturing and a misdemeanor charge of giving marijuana away for free. And police have filed paperwork to take away the 20-acre farm, which has been in his family for more than 50 years. A trial date has not been set. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
"I was interested in the technology, that's all," he said. "I never made money selling marijuana and never planned to. I was going to make money introducing this new technology. And now I may lose everything."
Contact L.L. Brasier: 248-858-2262 or [email protected]
Cashing in on forfeitures
Civil asset forfeitures are big business for police agencies in Michigan. Of the 635 law enforcement agencies in the state, 277 reported seizing citizens' assets worth $24.3 million in 2013. The assets included homes, commercial property, cash, guns and other items.
Among those agencies with the biggest hauls in 2013:
Wayne County: Sheriff $633,893, other police agencies $6,052,871
Macomb County: Sheriff $158,832, other police agencies $2,717,538
Oakland County: Sheriff $361,163, other police agencies $1,402,635
Ingham County: Sheriff, $16,596, other police agencies $2,394,212
Kent County: Sheriff, $666,897, other police agencies $427,664
Source: Michigan State Police | {
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For years, the Innocence Project at the UVa School of Law has taken on cold cases from across the state, investigating possible discrepancies in the legal proceedings and attempting to exonerate falsely convicted inmates. Syed, currently serving time in a Maryland prison, read about the case of Justin Wolfe, a death-row inmate in Virginia who had a case chillingly similar to Syed’s. Wolfe’s conviction was vacated in 2011, and when Syed saw that the Innocence Project had been one of Wolfe’s defenders, Syed asked Koenig to reach out to Enright, who was ready to dive head first into the murder mystery with her team last March.
After Koenig’s initial contact, the eight-student team was aware that the investigation would be part of a small radio show, but never imagined that the podcast would grow into the sensation it has become.
“We thought, at the very most, that if this case went anywhere at all, it’ll be [at most one] story,” Enright said. “To have all of this, a 12-episode podcast — those words were never uttered.” | {
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Adell has been out of the lineup for Double-A Mobile with a jammed right thumb, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.
Adell has only appeared in two Double-A games since earning a promotion July 30. The injury is not reported to be a serious one and he is expected to return to action soon. | {
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When early humans mastered the use of fire, their immediate rewards were warmth, light, and protection from nocturnal predators.
Investigators have assumed that our ancestors also quickly realized the advantages of flame-cooked food — easy chewing and digestion — though clear evidence has been hard to find. A new study bolsters that idea, showing that we share our fondness for cooked grub with our wild cousins, the great apes.
Victoria Wobber and her graduate advisor at Harvard University, Richard Wrangham, along with a third colleague, gave a choice between cooked and raw food to a number of captive apes.
Chimpanzees clearly preferred cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, and beef over the raw alternatives. They did not express any preference in the case of white potatoes and apples — perhaps, the scientists say, because both remain relatively unchanged by cooking. A few bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans were also tested, and except for a penchant for cooked beef, not many expressed a preference, but those that did agreed with the chimps.
The findings concur with research showing that cats favor cooked meat and rats opt for cooked starch.
If animals with no regular access to cooked food nevertheless prefer it, it is plausible that our ancestors would have readily roasted their own victuals once they got the chance — a fine story to tell your guests around the barbecue this evening.
The findings were detailed in the Journal of Human Evolution. | {
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A predominantly Muslim county in western China has banned children from attending religious events during the winter holidays, as authorities step up control of religious education.
School pupils in Linxia county in Gansu province, home to many members of the Muslim Hui ethnic minority, are prohibited from entering religious buildings over their break, the district education bureau said in a notice posted online.
Students must not read scriptures in classes or religious buildings, said the notice, which also ordered pupils and teachers to work to strengthen political ideology and propaganda.
A picture of the notice was shared online by Xi Wuyi, a Marxist scholar at the state-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an outspoken critic of rising Islamic influence in China. In a post on the social media platform Weibo, she welcomed the apparent move by authorities.
A man who answered the telephone at the Linxia education bureau hung up when asked by Reuters to verify authenticity of the notice, while a woman at the district education bureau declined to comment.
New regulations on religious affairs, announced by China in October last year and due to take effect in February, aim to increase oversight of religious education and provide for greater regulation of religious activities.
Last summer, a Sunday school ban was introduced in the south-eastern city of Wenzhou, sometimes known as “China’s Jerusalem” due to its large Christian population. But Christian parents found ways to teach their children about their religion regardless.
Chinese law officially grants religious freedom for all but regulations on education and protection of minors also say religion cannot be used to hinder state education or to “coerce” children to believe.
World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 11 August 2020 French Prime Minister Jean Castex is helped by a member of staff to put a protective suit on prior to his visit at the CHU hospital in Montpellier AFP via Getty World news in pictures 10 August 2020 Locals harvest their potatoes as Mount Sinabung spews volcanic ash in Karo, North Sumatra province, Indonesia Antara Foto/Reuters World news in pictures 9 August 2020 Doves fly over the Peace Statue at Nagasaki Peace Park during the memorial ceremony held for the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing EPA World news in pictures 8 August 2020 Anti-government protesters try to remove concrete wall that installed by security forces to prevent protesters reaching the Parliament square, during a protest against the political elites and the government after this week's deadly explosion in Beirut AP World news in pictures 7 August 2020 A protester throws a stone towards Israeli forces in the village of Turmus Aya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, following a march by Palestinians against the building of Israeli settlements AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 August 2020 A woman yells as soldiers block a road for French President Emmanuel Macron's visit the Gemmayzeh neighborhood. The area in Beirut suffered extensive damage from the explosion at the seaport AP World news in pictures 5 August 2020 Damage at the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon Reuters World news in pictures 4 August 2020 A large explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The blast, which rattled entire buildings and broke glass, was felt in several parts of the city AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 August 2020 A general view shows the new road bridge in Genoa, Italy ahead of its official inauguration, after it was rebuilt following its collapse on August 14, 2018 which killed 43 people Reuters World news in pictures 2 August 2020 Empty stall spaces are seen hours before a citywide curfew is introduced in Melbourne, Australia EPA World news in pictures 1 August 2020 People take part in a demonstration by the initiative "Querdenken-711" with the slogan "the end of the pandemic - the day of freedom" to protest against the current measurements to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Berlin, Germany AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 July 2020 Pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the Grand mosque in Mecca. Muslim pilgrims converged today on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat for the climax of this year's hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years Saudi Ministry of Media/AFP World news in pictures 30 July 2020 The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission lifts off at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The mission is part of the USA's largest moon to Mars exploration. Nasa will attempt to establish a sustained human presence on and around the moon by 2028 through their Artemis programme EPA World news in pictures 29 July 2020 A woman refreshes herself in a outdoor pool in summer temperatures in Ehingen, Germany dpa via AP World news in pictures 28 July 2020 Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak speaks to the media after he was found guilty in his corruption trial in Kuala Lumpur AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 July 2020 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses for a photograph after conferring commemorative pistols to leading commanding officers of the armed forces on the 67th anniversary of the "Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War". Which marks the signing of the Korean War armistice KCNA via Reuters
Authorities in troubled parts of China, such as the far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Turkic-speaking Uighur Muslim minority, ban children from attending religious events.
But religious communities elsewhere rarely face blanket restrictions.
Fear of Muslims influence has grown in China in recent years, sparked in part by violence in Xinjiang.
The Chinese-speaking Hui, who are culturally more similar to the Han Chinese majority than to Uighurs, have also come under scrutiny from some intellectuals who fear creeping Islamic influence on society.
In 2016, the government of Gansu banned religion in nurseries after a video of a young girl reciting the Quran was posted online.
The province is home to around 1.6 million Muslims, the third largest Islamic population among China’s regions.
Chinese authorities are wary of the influence of religion and the threat it could pose to the officially atheist Community Party’s rigid political and social control. | {
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If you’ve been in the tech or finance industry for any period of time, odds are you’ve heard of Acorns — an app that rounds up your everyday purchases to the nearest dollar, and invests that spare change into an investment portfolio at regular intervals. This method of investment is referred to as “dollar cost averaging.”
Acorns.com homepage
If you’re not in the tech or finance industry you still may have heard of Acorns from one of Ashton Kutcher’s endorsement ads.
Acorns has been successful because they understand that investing these days takes a lot of time, effort, and it’s expensive: fees add up when you’re just getting started!
Millennials and Gen Z currently account for slightly over a third of the workforce (38 percent). In the next decade, that figure is set to shoot up to 58 percent, making the youthful generations the most dominant in the workplace. — CNBC, March 5, 2019
Given that a majority of the workforce will be Millennial or younger in the next 10 years, Acorns caught an early wave of business, by simplifying the investment process for customers who had previously considered investing in the stock market next to impossible. This lack of faith displayed by younger generations extends past the stock market though, to larger retirement institutions like Social Security.
Indeed, according the Pew research, as reported in the Motley Fool, “94% of millennials don’t believe Social Security will be paying out benefits commensurate to those of today’s seniors once they retire.”
Here is yet another wave Acorns was rightly able to ride early: providing a venue of easy wealth diversification for an entire generation of distrusting citizens. The adage “don’t keep all your eggs in one basket” barely covers the younger generations’ need to diversify financially, according to their own belief.
Enter RoundlyX — Acorns for Cryptocurrencies
A poplar up-and-coming method of financial diversification for younger individuals is cryptocurrencies. While many thought Bitcoin et al. deceased after the bull run of 2017, cryptocurrencies have been gradually recovering, posting gains upwards of 3x since recent lows. With fewer and fewer individuals believing the Fed has their best interests at heart, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are viewed as a long-term safe haven from inflationary fiscal policy. The price of one Bitcoin as of writing is ~$9,300.
RoundlyX recently entered the cryptocurrency scene and is to crypto what Acorns is to stock — and it isn’t limited to just Bitcoin! Many cryptocurrencies are available for investment through Coinbase and Voyager, the two exchanges currently partnering with RoundlyX.
RoundlyX takes your everyday purchases, rounds them up to the nearest dollar, and invests that spare change into cryptocurrencies.
Dollar cost averaging into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies used to be difficult. Before Coinbase recurring buys (which come with steep fees), one had to manually make cryptocurrency purchases at regular intervals, which takes time, effort, and more fees! RoundlyX simplifies this process just like Acorns, by investing a few cents at the gas pump, a few more at the grocery store, and again when your Sling subscription renews.
Another appealing advantage of a dollar cost averaging investment strategy is that it protects you from FOMO (fear of missing out) when the market (crypto or stock) fluctuates. Acorns helps people DCA into stocks when they may otherwise hold off buying because “it will go lower soon”…but it hasn’t yet.
The DOW Jones 10 year chart
In much the same way, RoundlyX helps individuals DCA into a cryptocurrency market that is volatile and unpredictable. Without RoundlyX, perhaps one would sell off their Bitcoin for fear of its imminent doom, and perhaps that fear originated from said someone investing more than they could afford to lose in cryptocurrency. Sad day. :(
But, suppose said person had been using RoundlyX to dollar cost average into their favorite cryptocurrency, little by little, and over a longer period of time? One would suppose in this scenario said someone would be much happier.
But what if our hero had used Acorns and RoundlyX together? One would suppose then, that person would be capitalizing off of both a successful stock market, and said person wouldn’t have lost cryptocurrency profits due to weak hands!
The moral of this story is that both Acorns and RoundlyX should be an investment weapon in your overall financial plan. I have used and enjoyed both — give them a try and let me know what you think! I would love to see your own reviews of RoundlyX —
If you’re on Twitter, you can find RoundlyX here or through the tweet below — note they are still producing referral links for a limited time, so DM quick to get yours! | {
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Danas podnosim ostavku na mesto predsednika Demokratske stranke Srbije, izjavila je Sanda Rašković Ivić navodeći da postoji veliki broj lokalnih stranačkih odbora i ljudi koji se zalažu za koaliciju sa Srpskom naprednom strankom, čemu se ona protivi.
Foto:Fonet Nenad Đorđević
Sanda Rašković Ivić je na konferenciji za novinare na konferenciji za novinare u Skupštini Srbije, najavila skupštinu stranke na jesen na kojoj će se raspravljati o statutu i programu stranke, birati rukovodstvo i odrediti njen put.
Bilo bi nedemokratski raspusiti odbore i previše bi ih bilo, moramo da se odlučimo kojim ćemo putem ići, da vidimo ko hoće da bude opozicija vlastima, rekla je Rašković Ivić.
Na pitanje da li će biti kandidat za predsednika stanke, ona je rekla da će se videti, ali da ona ostaje poslanik u Skupštini Srbije, gde će zajedno sa drugim poslanicima DSS biti oštra, državotvorana opozicija.
Ivić je kao odbore koji su napravili vlast sa SNS navela Vračar i Voždovac ćemu se ona protivila, ali je bila nadglasana.
Postoje odbori, kao što odbori na Kosovu i Metohiji i gradski odbor u Nišu koji su odlučno protiv koalicija sa SNS, ja se pridružujem toj grupaciji ljudi, rekla je Rašković Ivić.
“Dosta je bilo”: Principijelna političarka
Odluka Sande Rašković Ivić da podnese ostavku na mesto predsednika Demokratske stranke Srbije (DSS) zbog ulaska pojedinih lokalnih odbora te stranke u vlast sa Srpskom naprednom strankom (SNS), primer je principijelnog ponašanja političara, saopštio je danas Pokret „Dosta je bilo“.
Retkost je da u Srbiji političar ispolji doslednost principima i integritet, pogotovo kad je cena odstupanje sa neke rukovodeće funkcije, navodi se u saopštenju.
Pokret Dosta je bilo od početka ističe da neće sarađivati ni sa jednom strankom koja ulazi u koalicije na bilo kom nivou sa SNS, pa ni sa DSS sve dok je ta stranka u koaliciji sa SNS na Vračaru i Voždovcu.
Ulazak u vlast sa SNS, na bilo kom nivou, znači prelazak iz opozicije u poziciju, podjednako za Srpsku radikalnu stranku, Liberalno demokratsku partiju, Zukorlića i Ligu Socijaldemokrata Vojvodine, kao i za DSS, ukazuje Dosta je bilo.
Snažno se zalažemo za jačanje principa doslednosti i integriteta u političkim strankama, jer je to osnova na kojoj može da se izgradi zdrav politički sistem, dodaje se u saopštenju.
Podržite nas članstvom u Klubu čitalaca Danasa U vreme opšte tabloidizacije, senzacionalizma i komercijalizacije medija, duže od dve decenije istrajavamo na principima profesionalnog i etičkog novinarstva. Bili smo zabranjivani i prozivani, nijedna vlast nije bila blagonaklona prema kritici, ali nas ništa nije sprečilo da vas svakodnevno objektivno informišemo. Zato želimo da se oslonimo na vas. Članstvom u Klubu čitalaca Danasa za 799 dinara mesečno pomažete nam da ostanemo samostalni i dosledni novinarstvu u kakvo verujemo, a vi na mejl svako veče dobijate PDF sutrašnjeg broja Danas. Učlani se | {
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Mahatma Gandhi is widely respected in China and the world, Chinese official said.
China on Saturday said the Indian embassy in Beijing was advised to shift the venue of an event to mark Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary on October 2 due to celebrations in the capital city on the occasion of 70th anniversary of the founding of the country.
Spokesperson of Chinese embassy Ji Rong, responding to a query on the issue, said the reason for the advice was "purely" technical, adding that Mahatma Gandhi is an important historical figure who led India to shake off colonial rule.
An event organised to mark Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary was shifted to the Indian Embassy premises last minute on Wednesday after the Chinese government "denied permission" to hold the event, according to Indian embassy officials.
The event was being organised at a public park in Beijing since 2005.
"I have noted the relevant report. We have learned that due to the celebration activities of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Indian embassy in China has been advised to hold this year's 150th birth anniversary celebration of Mahatma Gandhi somewhere else," Counselor Ji said.
"It's purely for technical reasons. Mahatma Gandhi is an important historical figure who led India to shake off colonial rule and win independence. He is widely respected in China and the world. The Chinese side welcomes the hosting of relevant events in China to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi," the official added.
Ji was responding to a query about reports of China "denying permission" to hold the Indian embassy event at Chaoyang Park of Beijing.
On October 1, China organised a mega celebration at the heart of Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country. | {
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The Greens are in chaos after the party’s manifesto launch was overshadowed by a series of stumbling interviews by leader Natalie Bennett including one she herself admitted was “excruciating”.
Reaction to the series of media appearances, organised to promote the Greens general election programme, was heated, with many comparing the series of interviews to a “car crash,” while others suggested she had given the “worst interview ever”.
<noframe>Twitter: Nick Ferrari - If you missed one of the worst interviews ever by a political leader tune in after 9 <a href="http://www.twitter.com/LBC" target="_blank">@LBC</a> for a reprise <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23greenparty" target="_blank">#greenparty</a></noframe>
She repeatedly failed to answer questions about the party’s economic policy, stumbling when asked for basic details about the Green platform.
Following a particularly bungling appearance, with LBC Radio, when she went silent for long periods, Miss Bennett admitted to suffering from “mind blank,” and confessed her “excruciating” performance had been impaired by a “huge cold” after she struggled to explain the party’s housing policy.
In one exchange with presenter Nick Ferrari, she was asked several times how much the Green policy of removing tax relief on mortgage interest for private landlords would bring in, responding: "Erm ... well ... that's part of the whole costing."
<noframe>Twitter: Tim Stanley - Incredibly Awkward Interview With Natalie Bennett | LBC <a href="http://t.co/0NnFc5WQWz" target="_blank">http://t.co/0NnFc5WQWz</a> via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/lbc" target="_blank">@lbc</a></noframe>
Pressed on the cost of building 500,000 social homes, which the party has promised, she went on: "Right, well, that's, erm ... you've got a total cost ... erm ... that we're ... that will be spelt out in our manifesto."
Mr Ferrari responded: "So you don't know?" To which Miss Bennett said: "No. Well ... er."
At one point, Miss Bennett, who is standing as a candidate in Holborn and St Pancras, sought to explain her below-par responses, saying: "As you can probably hear I've got a huge cold."
Mr Ferrari said: "I'm terribly sorry to hear that ... You don't actually know what this is going to cost, do you? Do you think you might perhaps have genned up on this a little bit more Natalie Bennett?"
He went on to describe the interview on Twitter as one of the worst ever by a politician.
<noframe>Twitter: Owen Jones - Unbearably awful interview. Green supporters will be exasperated that a great political opportunity has been trashed. <a href="http://t.co/ha0hqXRez0" target="_blank">http://t.co/ha0hqXRez0</a></noframe>
In an earlier interview, with the BBC’s Radio 4 Today Programme, Miss Bennett also appeared unclear about the details of her party's economic programme.
She added that Britain should deal with the threat from Russian planes approaching UK airspace by offering “concessions” to President Vladimir Putin.
During a press conference to launch the manifesto, Miss Bennett was asked if her weak performance had overshadowed the event.
Baroness Jones, the chair, tried to stop her responding before Miss Bennett insisted on answering, saying: "It was absolutely excruciating in the studio. All I can say is occasionally one just has a mind blank, that happens.
"I've been presenting the Green Party's policies up and down the country. I've been delighted to do that. I'm delighted with the response they get and I'm delighted to have the backing of all 54,000 Green Party members."
Miss Bennett later told the BBC's Daily Politics Show she was "sorry" for letting down Green Party members by failing to represent the party's policies properly in the LBC interview.
Natalie Bennett v Nick Ferrari: the worst ever interview by a politician?
Here is part of the interview between Miss Bennett and Mr Ferrari:
The radio presenter challenges the Green Leader over her claim that social housing would be funded by removing tax relief from private landlords. Asked several times how much it would bring it:
NB: "Erm ... well ... that's part of the whole costing."
NF asks for the cost of expanding social housing.
NB "Right, well, that's, erm ... you've got a total cost ... erm ... that we're ... that will be spelt out in our manifesto."
NF: "So you don't know?"
NB: "No. Well ... er."
After some time NB says the total cost would be £2.7 billion.
NF "Five hundred thousand homes, £2.7 billion - what are they made of, plywood?"
Long pause.
"Um ... At a cost of £60k per home ... What we are talking about, what we want to see is the possibility of homes being built."
NF Suggesting £60,000 would not pay for "much more than a large conservatory," adds: "How are you going to pay for the land?"
Pause followed by coughing.
NF: "Are you all right?"
NB: "Yeah. As you can probably hear I've got a huge cold."
NF: "I'm terribly sorry to hear that ... You don't actually know what this is going to cost, do you?"
NB says the party had a "fully costed programme" that would be published before the election before coming up with the figure of £6 billion without saying what it related to. "We're also looking at investing ... (silence) ... we've got the fully costed figures here."
NF: "You've said that on several occasions."
Coughing.
NB: "Basically we're talking about an overall saving of £4.5 billion."
NF: "Do you think you might perhaps have genned up on this a little bit more Natalie Bennett?"
Coughing
NB: "We're talking about a whole range of ... what we're talking about is a whole range of issues ranging from the economy, from the NHS, homes, climate."
NF: "Yes, I've only time for two unfortunately. I wish we had more time." | {
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(Photo: Yong hian Lim/Dreamstime)
The government threatens to close a religious school if it doesn’t teach progressive dogma on sexual ethics.
An English private school for Orthodox Jewish girls aged three to eight is facing closure because it does not teach its students about gender reassignment or homosexuality.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Standards in Education has cited Vishnitz Girls School three times and will not relent in its application of the 2010 Equalities Act. If enforced broadly, the government’s actions would effectively prevent religious families from educating their children in accordance with their faith.
The act states that “the responsible body of such a school must not discriminate against a pupil . . . in the way it provides education.” With that passed into law, it took only a hop, skip, and a jump in logic for British bureaucrats and inspectors to force prepubescent girls to learn about sexual orientation. And if that violates the teachings of their faith, the bureaucrats maintain, the faith shall have to change. If it won’t, the kids will have to lose their school. This, we are told, is what justice looks like.
The inspectors spin a fantastic tale. While they acknowledge that the pupils are “well-motivated, have positive attitudes to learning and are confident in thinking for themselves,” and that the teachers’ “good subject knowledge and high-quality classroom resources inspire pupils with enthusiasm for learning,” the inspectors maintain that the school is inadequate.
Even though it appears to excel at teaching secular subjects — a challenge for many Orthodox schools — the school does not “teach explicitly about issues such as sexual orientation” and thereby “restricts pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and does not promote equality of opportunity in ways that take account of differing lifestyles.” Consequently, the inspectors conclude, “pupils are not able to gain a full understanding of fundamental British values.” It is important to remember that they are writing about girls under the age of eight.
This is nothing short of the imposition of secular dogma. The government’s arrogance is astounding; how exactly do they presume to know what is necessary for the “spiritual” and “moral” development of these Orthodox Jewish girls? In that realm, bureaucrats are simply out of their depth and unfit to dictate rules to parents who know well enough how to raise their own children. Indeed, why should we presume that the bureaucrats’ fashionable dogmas about “lifestyles” are any wiser than the dogmas of the rabbinic or Christian traditions?
Orthodox Jewish children will be fine, productive members of society even if they do not approve of gender reassignment.
Simply put, religious liberty is an empty promise if it does not extend to the education of children. That is the issue here. Orthodox Jewish children will be fine, productive members of society even if they do not approve of gender reassignment. Far more important than crushing all dissent on issues of sexuality and gender is preserving the bedrock right to peaceably express one’s religion. Is this any less of a “fundamental British value” than teaching about gender reassignment to prepubescent children?
The inspectors follow a speech by Amanda Spielman, the head of the Office of Standards in Education. Placing our current situation in the context of the Westminster, London Bridge, Manchester, and Finsbury Park terror attacks, she emphasizes the need for “young people [to] have the knowledge and resilience they need to resist extremism.” I would not disagree, but in classic bureaucratic, politically correct fashion, her agency proceeds to accomplish that end by teaching seven-year-old girls about sexuality.
Spokesmen for the Office of Standards in Education have released specious statements about the Jewish school. One said, “The law expects schools to demonstrate that they are encouraging pupils to take a respectful and tolerant stance towards those who hold values different from their own.” But surely the spokesman should be telling that to his own agency.
Where is their respect for “those who hold values different from their own?” After all, it is the government that is expressing its intolerance of a different “lifestyle.” It wants traditional communities to adopt its own lifestyle and is willing to coerce them into doing so and to shut down their schools if they don’t.
“Children in England deserve the best,” said the government spokesman. He’s right. They should be allowed to learn in accordance with their faiths.
READ MORE:
Puberty Suppression and FGM
Chelsea Manning and the Problem with Pronouns
Jordan Petersen: YouTube’s New Father Figure | {
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Well, I’ll give credit that Microsoft’s people, and AoE Media Sites are showing interest in Age of Mythology again.
But seriously, stop diddling around, and please give us actual substantial fixes, beyond these obvious cheap, and basic fixes that you are only making to act as if things are being fixed, despite it only being done slightly so.
Fix the ambient sounds, makes the game world sound dead, they were in the original game, so it’s a downgrade! NEVER TAKE OUT (deliberately or accidentally) FEATURES FROM THE ORIGINAL GAME!
Same goes with Alpha transparency, Water Lillies look ugly and blocky, fish can clearly be seen floating above the water in EE, when in the original, the alpha transparency helped hide the trickery going on. All units that used Alpha Transparency have been butchered, one way or another, especially the Phoenix! (RenderAfterWater isn’t a fix! It’s a cheap work around!)
I’m not sure if Pathfinding can be fixed (considering unit selections have gone up), but if Skybox changed it, you ought to revert it back to how ES’ had it.
Same goes for performance, whoever in Skybox played with the renderers, adding those fancy shaders, and that dogturd .mrtl system obviously had no idea what they were doing, and managed to screw up the performance. Not to mention water ripples looks worse! It was beautiful in vanilla/aomtt!
AoMEE needs more than just cruddy balance changes, workarounds and cheap bug fixes, after AoE2DE drops there shouldn’t be an excuse, heck you could pitch an Aztecs DLC if you really need the budget to fix the game! | {
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Oh please do! I've been tempting getting the omnibuses on Amazon (though IDK if the prequel novella is needed though. I can't find that thing anywhere.)
The Blood Angels look awesome too......but the pricing is atrocious. | {
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Uhuru Kenyatta sworn in as Kenyan president Published duration 9 April 2013
media caption In his inaugural address, Mr Kenyatta said he would govern for all Kenyans
Uhuru Kenyatta has been sworn in as Kenya's new president, following his victory in March against Raila Odinga.
Dignitaries and tens of thousands of people witnessed the inauguration at a stadium in the capital, Nairobi.
Mr Odinga did not attend the ceremony after his attempt to overturn Mr Kenyatta's victory in court failed.
Mr Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, face charges at the International Criminal Court relating to post-election violence five years ago.
They were on opposite sides at the time and both deny the accusations.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces an ICC arrest warrant over the conflict in Darfur, was not in Nairobi for the inauguration.
Mr Kenyatta is the son of Kenya's founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, and is heir to one of the largest fortunes in Kenya.
'Laptops promise'
He served as deputy prime minister, minister for trade, and finance minister under outgoing President Mwai Kibaki
The crowd, waving Kenyan flags, burst into rapturous welcome as the 51 year old took the oath of office, becoming Kenya's youngest president.
In his inaugural address, Mr Kenyatta said he would govern for all Kenyans.
"We will leave no community behind... Where there's disillusionment, we'll restore hope," he said.
The new government would abolish maternity fees in its first 100 days and children starting school next year would be given laptops, he added.
In an apparent reference to the ICC case against him, he said: "I assure you again that under my leadership, Kenya will strive to uphold our international obligations, so long as these are founded on the well-established principles of mutual respect and reciprocity."
US and European diplomats attended the inauguration, despite warning before the election that they would have limited contact with Mr Kenyatta if he is voted into office.
'Blackmail'
Among the African leaders present for the inauguration were South Africa's Jacob Zuma, Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni.
Mr Museveni told the cheering crowd that he wanted to applaud Kenyans for rejecting the "blackmail" of the ICC.
He supported the ICC when it was formed, but it was now being used by "arrogant actors" who were trying to "install leaders of their choice in Africa and eliminate those they don't like", he said.
Mr Odinga - the outgoing prime minister - did not attend the ceremony, choosing to be on holiday in South Africa instead.
Other senior members of his Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) party have also stayed away to signal their opposition to Mr Kenyatta's presidency, correspondents say.
According to official results, Mr Kenyatta beat Mr Odinga by 50.07% to 43.28% in March, avoiding a run-off by just 8,100 votes.
Mr Odinga challenged the result, but said he would respect the Kenyan Supreme Court's ruling in Mr Kenyatta's favour.
media caption The BBC's Anna Soy: "Over 60,000 people in this stadium"
The election was Kenya's first after a disputed poll in 2007, which led to violence that left more than 1,200 people dead.
Mr Kenyatta is due to appear at the ICC for his trial in The Hague later this year, accused of crimes against humanity. He denies the charges.
Kenya is a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the ICC in 2002.
But like most African countries, it has refused to enforce the ICC warrant for Mr Bashir's arrest.
Earlier, Kenyan government spokesman Muthui Kariuki told the BBC that Mr Bashir had been invited and would not be arrested if he accepted the invitation.
After Mr Bashir visited Kenya in 2010, a Kenyan court ruled that the government must arrest him if he returned, in line with its international obligations under the Rome Statute. | {
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Abdi and Angella have ‘possibility’ to make cut but doubts over Vydra and Forestieri
Quique Sanchez Flores has suggested there could be a future for Gabriele Angella and Almen Abdi under his watch and admitted that the difficult process of trimming his squad and releasing players troubles his conscience.
Angella told one fan after Sunday’s game with Southampton that he had been told his immediate future lies away from Vicarage Road but that situation is likely to have been revisited after a rusty Miguel Britos was sent off on Tuesday in a Capital One Cup game where Angella was arguably the pick of a poor bunch. Abdi, meanwhile, was an unused substitute against Southampton and the fact scouts turned up at Deepdale, on a rainy Tuesday night, to specifically watch him suggests they had been made aware of his availability. One source told us this morning he had been told the Hornets were receptive to offers for Abdi, Fernando Forestieri and Matej Vydra.
Sanchez Flores extolled the virtues of both Angella and Abdi this morning but when asked to confirm if their names will be officially submitted to the Premier League next week as part of Watford’s squad, the head coach said:
“We have to think how many players we have in this position. Good players are always in my mind. They have the possibility to go to the list.”
It seemed like a no-brainer that Abdi would be one of the 17 designated foreign players, especially after he signed a new three-year contract last month, but doubts still linger, despite the head coach heaping huge praise on the Switzerland international. Sometimes these decisions are not in the hands of a coach, particularly the model Watford use and particularly with three more foreign players on the way.
“I love Abdi,” he said. “I like this kind of player and I would like to have him in the squad. I watch him during pre-season and the matches of last year and this is kind of player who understands the play and who can play different positions. He can play in the middle, he can play on the side, he can play in the diamond. I need this kind of player.”
Angella, meanwhile, could have been been thrown a lifeline through a combination of Britos being sent off and him performing well at Deepdale.
“Angella was really, really good,” said the head coach. “This is a good example of what we want. He’s one of the players not playing but he is learning everything and when he goes to the pitch he shows he is ready to play in this system.”
The well-mannered and extremely polite Sanchez Flores is a hard-nosed coach who is very clear, sometimes stubborn, on his principles and his beliefs. However, he showed his softer side this morning when discussing the possibility of having to tell more than half-a-dozen players they are not part of his plans and are free to find another club.
“I suffer a bit for the players as it is difficult to train with the 30 players one week before the market finishes,” he said. “There are a lot of players in the squad who we are not certain we will keep. They need to solve their futures. It is not comfortable for me, I’m not happy at the moment but we expect this situation. I hope everything is solved this week: the players we can keep, the players who stay and that the players who come, come in finally, and the players who have to go, go to a good team and try to carry on with their career. It is important. It is not a good moment for me. The person is as important as the player; they have family, they have kids. We have to solve this as soon as possible. Some could go on loan but I want to solve this as soon as possible. They are training well, training like professionals but is it not fair. But this is football.”
Is it any easier for Gino Pozzo, who showed his ruthless streak several times, not least when jettisoning Sean Dyche, Beppe Sannino, Billy McKinlay and not renewing the contract of Slavisa Jokanovic?
“It is uncomfortable for Mr Pozzo, too, because he has the best relationship with some of the players,” said Sanchez Flores. “Mr Pozzo is working with these players for four years, in some cases. I am talking about them not as their coach but as human beings. We need to solve this situation.”
We told you exclusively on July 28 that Lloyd Dyer was free to find another club while the futures of Daniel Pudil and Essaid Belkalem have been known for some time.
“They are players we are trying to put in other teams as soon as possible,” confirmed the head coach.
The situation has been less clear on Vydra and Forestieri. Doubts about exactly where they feature in the plans of the former Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Benfica coach have grown by the day and, as we revealed last week, they will be sold if the club’s valution is met and a replacement for Vydra, in particular, is found.
“Everybody knows they are in this situation,” Sanchez Flores said. “Maybe we can keep them, maybe they can go out. I don’t know what the final situation is with these players. They are training very well and we will see in one week if they will be here with me.”
Vydra looks set to be replaced by a striker more suited to Sanchez Flores’ system. Read more below.
TRANSFER LATEST: 'We need a striker & I know the France U21 midfielder' says #watfordfc coach http://t.co/8xLvJhPioK pic.twitter.com/m45wHoYUWx — WD Sport (@WDSport_) August 27, 2015
More Watford related news | {
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Updated to reflect memorial service information.
T. Boone Pickens, legendary energy executive, philanthropist, ardent Oklahoma State University supporter and one of America's most famous entrepreneurs, died peacefully Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Dallas. He was 91.
Pickens had an energy career that went from laborer to corporate takeover raider to tycoon to business soothsayer. He was among the few business elites granted "dual citizenship" on both sides of the Red River.
L.A. movie producers would have been hard-pressed to create an exaggerated Hollywood version of the real-life man.
"Ralph Waldo Emerson said: 'Do not go where the path might lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.' That was Boone," said retired banker Alan White, one of Pickens' closest friends. "Boone was always going someplace where there was no path. He left trails all of his life. Many of us had the good fortune of being able to follow along with him."
Pickens is the third Dallas business icon to die this year — following the deaths of Herb Kelleher in January and Ross Perot Sr. in July.
"Herb, Boone and my father were members of our society who will never be replaced," said Ross Perot Jr. "They were unique, quality, driven men who had larger-than-life personalities and who made a huge, positive impact on our community and our country.
"I feel so blessed that the Lord allowed me to know a man like Boone Pickens."
A memorial service will be held next Thursday at 2 p.m. at Highland Park United Methodist Church. Pickens will be buried at Karsten Creek Golf Club, home to the OSU golf team.
Born in Holdenville, a small town in eastern Oklahoma, Pickens spent his adult years as a longtime resident of Dallas and his Mesa Vista Ranch in the Panhandle.
1 / 2Three-year-old Boone Pickens is a newspaper boy in training at his home in Holdenville. Throwing his hometown newspaper gave Dallas' iconic oilman his entrepreneurial itch.(T. Boone Pickens Archives) 2 / 2A 13-year-old Boone Pickens holds his cat, Sandy, in 1941, the year after he started his newspaper route.(T. Boone Pickens Archives)
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Nancy Reagan, Ted Turner and George Strait were among the notables Pickens hosted at his beloved 68,000-acre ranch, which is miles upon miles of mesas, manmade lakes and rivers, and pristine wildlife habitat.
Bush praised Pickens for being "bold, imaginative, and daring."
"He was successful — and more importantly, he generously shared his success with institutions and communities across Texas and Oklahoma," the former president said in a statement. "He loved the outdoors, his country, and his friends and family."
In late 2016, Pickens suffered the first of a series of small strokes that affected his speech. In mid-July 2017, he had what he called "a Texas-size fall" that landed him in the hospital and sidelined him from most public appearances.
It was quite a setback for "the Oracle of Oil," who was known for his verbal soothsaying. But he continued to make his opinions known, using Twitter and LinkedIn as his bully pulpits.
Pickens' closest cronies were three fellow Dallas transplants who became local powerbrokers: retired PlainsCapital chairman White, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and beer distributor Barry Andrews.
"Boone was stubborn. He was tough," said White. "He had more charisma than anyone I've ever known."
White, Jones and Gov. Greg Abbott are scheduled to speak at next week's memorial service.
"The fourth quarter of his life was arguably Boone's finest hour," Jones said. "At a time when many might think that the best days are behind you or certainly you're at the end of them, Boone had to fight depression, he fought physical and financial setbacks, he basically took all of the things that sports teaches you about when you get knocked down, get back up. But he did it in the fourth quarter of his life.
"At the same time that he was doing that with his right hand, he was giving money away with his left hand."
Large-scale downscaling
Troubled by his health issues, Pickens began to downsize in the fall of 2017, when he put his Mediterranean-style Preston Hollow estate up for sale, asking $6.5 million for the 8,906-square-foot home. It sold for an undisclosed sum the following March.
Two months later, he put a $250 million for-sale sign on Mesa Vista, saying he wanted to make sure it was sold to someone who would carry on his conservation efforts there.
But he didn't try too hard to sell it. He continued to spend most weekends there, entertaining friends and family or holding political and nonprofit conferences.
In January 2018, he announced that he had stepped away from his hedge-fund business, BP Capital Management, and other investment entities, which had combined assets of under $1 billion at year-end 2017.
Didn't go gently
Pickens was known for mixing humor with the most serious of topics.
In 2017, he said he had switched back to the United Methodist Church after having become a Presbyterian along with his first marriage.
"Dad told me, 'Before you try to get into heaven, get back into the Methodist church. You won't be viewed as favorably as you think in heaven if you show up as a Presbyterian,' " Pickens said at the dedication of the T. Boone Pickens Hospice and Palliative Care Center owned by Presbyterian Communities. "So this will be my last gift to Presbyterians. I've now moved over to Methodist. So I'm prepared to go."
That was a lie.
He fought vigorously to improve his speech, memory and his mobility.
His last big celebration was in May 2018, when nearly 500 well-wishers showed up for his 90th birthday. The guests were asked to wear OSU orange, transforming the Dallas Country Club into a sea of his beloved alma mater's color.
Jim Moeller (left) greeted Pickens at his 90th birthday party at the Dallas Country Club on May 19, 2018. They went to junior high together in Holdenville. (Rex C Curry / Special Contributor)
Jerry Jones wore an orange tie despite his allegiance to the University of Arkansas Razorbacks' red.
Even White, a diehard Texas Tech Red Raider fan, wore an orange sports shirt that he had made just for the occasion.
"I'll never wear it again but for him," White said at the party. "I've got a pair of orange socks on that I didn't know I had. It really pains me. But it's only once every 90 years that I have to do this."
White said he plans to pull the ensemble out of the back of his closet for Pickens' memorial.
'Greenmailer' becomes icon
He was born Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. but grew up as Boone at his mother's insistence, even though he disliked his middle name. As an adult, he reattached the T. to his moniker.
During his seven decades in the energy industry, Pickens' face was featured on the cover of just about every significant business publication in America.
He was a regular on CNBC's Squawk Box and MSNBC's Morning Joe.
While getting spruced up to go on TV, Pickens would tell the makeup artists that he'd fork over $100 if they could guess his age. They always undershot. The only time he had to pay off was when he tried it on the same person twice.
When T. Boone Pickens spoke, people listened.
But that wasn't always the case.
During the 1980s, Pickens became a well-known corporate raider — a term he despised — making a string of losing but profitable takeover runs at Gulf Oil, Unocal and Dallas-based Diamond Shamrock.
1 / 2Pickens and two investors started Mesa Petroleum, which he took public in 1964 and turned into one of the U.S.' largest oil and gas companies.(Evans Caglage / The Dallas Morning News) 2 / 2 T. Boone Pickens in his Amarillo office in 1984.(Evans Caglage / The Dallas Morning News)
In 1986, Pickens founded the nonprofit United Shareholders Association to help shareholders fight what he saw as rampant corporate abuses.
Bobby Stillwell, his attorney for 50-plus years, recalled how Pickens was shunned by business establishment — most notably by the Business Roundtable and its major corporate CEO members throughout the country.
"They convinced their commercial and investment bankers not to do business with us," said Stillwell, who retired as BP Capital's general counsel in 2013 but still helps with Pickens' philanthropy and personal estate. "They made it very hard for us to finance a deal. They just dogged Boone all over the country. Any place where he gave a speech, they'd give an anti-Boone one."
One group tried to get Pickens booted from Augusta National Golf Club, home to the Masters Tournament, which Pickens joined in 1982. But Pickens' powerful friends came to his defense.
"Otherwise, they would have thrown his ass right out of there," Stillwell said with a laugh. "They did everything they could to derail Boone Pickens, but he won. He was on the right side of the issues. He was a very focused, dogged guy who said, 'By God, I'm right, and I'm going to keep going.' "
Pickens' reputation as a "greenmailer" made him an outlier in Dallas establishment circles when he moved here from Oklahoma in 1989. Many local bankers refused to loan him capital. Others refused to socialize with him.
He had the last laugh. His proclivity to make money, lose some of it and bounce back, along with his homespun wit and remarkable generosity, won over the town and media everywhere.
90% Club
Pickens wasn't a billionaire when he died, with his last reported net worth standing at a mere $500 million. That's because he'd given away more than $1 billion to philanthropic and educational causes.
"I like making money. I like giving money away. Giving money is not as fun as making it, but it's a close second," Pickens liked to say.
Just as Pickens loved to leverage business deals, he used matching initiatives that doubled his philanthropic gifts to more than $2 billion.
1 / 2T. Boone Pickens with his second wife, Bea Pickens, with Laura and Gov. George W. Bush at the Gridiron show benefiting the Press Club of Dallas. (Joe Laird / The Dallas Morning News) 2 / 2Ross Perot Sr., T. Boone Pickens and Ross Perot Jr. at Perot headquarters in 2018.(Courtsey Ross Perot Jr.)
A good example of that was when he and his troops hatched a plan in 2007 for his foundation to give $50 million each to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center — for a total of $100 million.
But there were strings attached. Both institutions had to multiply his gift tenfold to $500 million in 25 years from earnings on the original principal and new outside donations. They both met that deadline with a decade or two to spare.
In an article in Forbes, Pickens pledged to leave 90% of his net worth to charity when he died, said Jay Rosser, his longtime chief of staff.
"Bill Gates called asking him to be a member of the Giving Club [where rich people pledge to bequeath at least half of their wealth to philanthropy]," Rosser recalled. "Boone said, 'Happy to do it.' Then he invited Bill to join him in his 90% Club. Bill said, 'No, I'm fine with doing what I'm doing.' "
It could have been A&M
Over the years, the largest chunk of Pickens' philanthropy — $652 million — was bestowed to OSU, almost evenly divided between academics and athletics at Stillwater, where the football stadium bears his name.
1 / 4T.Boone Pickens Jr. shook Dez Bryant's hand as he made the rounds greeting all Oklahoma State University players before their game against The University of Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., in 2007.(Nathan Hunsinger / The Dallas Morning News) 2 / 4Oklahoma State Cowboys fans sported large cutouts (from left) of actor Chuck Norris, actor Zach Galifianakis and OSU alum T. Boone Pickens before a game with Oklahoma at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwate in 2011.(Tom Fox / The Dallas Morning News) 3 / 4Pickens, center, arrives for a town hall meeting at Oklahoma State University's Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater in 2009. Pickens was promoting the Pickens Plan, a grass-roots alliance that promotes the use of wind and natural gas power to reduce dependence on foreign oil.(Shane Bevel / Bloomberg) 4 / 4T. Boone Pickens took his first selfie at an OSU homecoming game in 2015.(T. Boone Pickens)
Pickens' largesse to OSU prompted Texas A&M's 12th Man Magazine to label A&M's decision not to renew Pickens' $25-a-month freshman basketball scholarship as one of the top 10 mistakes in Aggie history.
Because of that tuition slight, Pickens transferred to OSU (then Oklahoma A&M), where he earned a degree in geology in 1951.
Talk about a self-inflicted Aggie joke.
In 2006, Pickens formed his T. Boone Pickens Foundation to focus on health and medical research and services, at-risk youth, and educational, entrepreneurial, political and athletic initiatives.
Over the years, Pickens gave $2 million to the VNA Dallas' Meals on Wheels. He spent many Christmas and Thanksgiving days delivering dinners to recipients who had no clue who the delivery guy was.
Today Pickens' name is on more than a dozen buildings and facilities in North Texas, including the YMCA in downtown Dallas, the biomedical building at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Texas Woman's University's Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center, the dinosaur floor of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and Baylor Health Care System's cancer center.
Pickens tried out a machine in the new weight room at Oklahoma State in 2009. Through a series of donations, Pickens provided the bulk of the funding for a $286 million stadium overhaul. (Sue Ogrocki / AP)
The T. Boone Pickens Virtual Learning Center at the Center for BrainHealth honors his $11.5 million in donations since his first gift in 2006.
But just as important to the fledgling center was Pickens' influence on other powerbrokers. He hosted CEOs from around the country at periodic BrainHealth Summits at Mesa Vista — vastly increasing the center's visibility, said Sandra Bond Chapman, founder and chief director of the University of Texas at Dallas' cognitive research institute.
"Boone told me, 'This is one of the greatest investments I have ever made in terms of ROI to humanity and new discoveries,' " she said.
Pickens was among the first guinea pigs for its BrainHealth Physical — allowing the center to assess how his brain was functioning.
Chapman wasn't the least bit surprised by the findings about the then-79-year-old's gray matter. "It showed that Boone had an ultimate brain — a younger working brain with vast cognitive prowess combined with the expertise and wise decision-making of a mature brain and a retained penchant for innovation and risk-seeking," she said.
Tossing with both hands
Pickens credited his early days as a newspaper boy for the Holdenville Daily News for giving him a leg up in the world of entrepreneurism.
As a teen, he expanded his newspaper route by acquiring surrounding routes, one by one.
"I ended up with 154 papers before I was through," Pickens said in 2016. That came to about $38 a month since the paper didn't publish on Saturdays. "Let me tell you, when I was 12 years old, that meant real money in my pocket. This was during the Depression."
But his proudest accomplishment was his ability to throw from either hand.
Some would say he did that in the energy business, too.
Pickens once told The Dallas Morning News that his father gave him the best piece of advice: A fool with a plan can beat a genius with no plan. "I was dragging my feet in life and taking my time in college. That's when he sprung that line on me," he said in 2017. "Hit me so hard I almost didn't hear the last part of it: 'And, son, your mom and I are concerned we have a fool with no plan.' "
He got the message.
While at OSU, Pickens worked as a roughneck and in a Texaco refinery. After graduation, he worked as a geologist for Phillips Petroleum for three years but got crosswise with the oil company's bureaucracy.
With $2,500 of borrowed money, Pickens and two investors formed an oil and gas firm that eventually became Mesa Petroleum, which he took public in 1964. Pickens built Mesa into one of America's largest independent natural gas and oil companies.
In 1996, Pickens was pushed out of Mesa in a messy power play after having served nearly four decades at its helm.
1 / 3T. Boone Pickens at his ranch northeast of Amarillo.(Brad Loper / The Dallas Morning News) 2 / 3Pickens was photographed in his Dallas office in 2008 after he gave the Museum of Nature and Science $10 million. (Lara Solt / The Dallas Morning News) 3 / 3Pickens delivered a keynote address during the National Clean Energy Summit at the Cox Pavilion at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2008. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Rather than retire, the 68-year-old launched a new career.
"Walking out, I had a goal headline: 'The Old Man Makes a Comeback,' " Pickens recalled in 2017.
It was prescient. Pickens became a billionaire six years later.
Pickens was a bit of a wildcatter when it came to his personal life, too.
All five of his marriages ended in divorce. His most recent, to Toni Chapman Brinker, widow of legendary Dallas restaurateur Norman Brinker, ended in 2017 after less than four years.
In recent years, Pickens rekindled his relationship with his third wife, Nelda Pickens.
Despite his marital issues, Pickens was a devoted family man with five children: Deborah Pickens Stovall, Pam Pickens, Michael Pickens, Tom Pickens and Liz Pickens Cordia; 11 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Swift Boat misstep
Pickens took politics personally, mostly with a Republican point of view.
He was Texas' finance chairman for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign and donated $10 million to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in 2005 to underwrite its Air Force One Pavilion.
Pickens' most notorious political foray was as a leader of the Swift Boat attacks — along with fellow Dallas billionaires Sam Wyly and the late Harold Simmons — against Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004, which was discredited as a smear campaign. It attacked Kerry's military record as a Swift Boat commander in Vietnam through a tax-exempt organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Pickens would later publicly endorse climate-change legislation authored by Kerry, but he never really apologized for his participation in Swift Boat.
Pickens wrote two New York Times best-sellers: his 1987 biography, Boone, and The First Billion is the Hardest, his treatise on how the United States could free itself from its dependence on OPEC oil, published in 2008.
Pickens was photographed in his Amarillo office in 2005 for a High Profile piece in The News.. (Michael S. Wirtz / The Dallas Morning News)
That same year, Pickens launched his self-funded, $100 million grass-roots campaign aimed at reducing America's crippling addiction to OPEC oil by boosting the U.S. adoption of wind, solar and especially natural gas power.
"In 2008, when Boone was 80 years old," Rosser said, "he stress-tested and launched the Pickens Plan, wrote and published a book, and, at the company, somehow weathered one of the greatest financial collapses in American history.
"That was a pretty big year."
When BP Capital's stock crashed along with oil and gas commodities in 2008, Pickens shored up his commitment to OSU with cash from his pocket.
"That's when we really, really found out who Boone Pickens was," said OSU athletic director Mike Holder. "Not only did OSU have catastrophic losses, but he personally had catastrophic losses.
"He was there in the best of times. Sure, everybody is. But in the worst of times, that's when he stood tallest," Holder said.
"Jerry Jones once said, 'If Boone Pickens tells you that a goose can pull a wagon, start loading the wagon.' That pretty much sums it up."
Eternal optimist
After his big fall in 2017, Pickens reflected on his life on LinkedIn in what was his own eulogy of sorts.
"Just a year ago I felt immortal, wearing my age with pride, even joking about it. Last year I opened a speech with this: 'The other day, I turned 88 and realized my life was half over.' I refused to call my 2008 autobiography Life in the Fourth Quarter because, well, hell, I wasn't in the fourth quarter. But things have changed for me since the strokes. I clearly am in the fourth quarter, and the clock is ticking and my health is in decline, much as it is with others in my stage of life.
1 / 3Pickens kicked back on his almost weekly plane ride to Mesa Vista Ranch, a 68,000-acre piece of property he turned into a bird hunting sanctuary in the panhandle of Texas near the town of Miami. (Tom Fox / The Dallas Morning News) 2 / 3Pickens had his Holdenville, Okla., boyhood home moved and restored to Mesa Vista Ranch. In 2017, he donated it and moved it to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.(Tom Fox / The Dallas Morning News) 3 / 3Pickens posed in 2017 at a spot overlooking a series of manmade lakes leading from The Lake House to The Lodge on his Mesa Vista Ranch in the panhandle. The ranch took nearly 10 years to build, including the stone aqueduct shown in the background. (Tom Fox / The Dallas Morning News)
"Now don't for a minute think I'm being morbid. Truth is, when you're in the oil business like I've been all my life, you drill your fair share of dry holes, but you never lose your optimism.
"There's a story I tell about the geologist who fell off a 10-story building. When he blew past the fifth floor, he thought to himself, 'So far so good.'
"That's the way to approach life. Be the eternal optimist who is excited to see what the next decade will bring ... I'm fond of 'Boone-isms.' Number 15 on my list is this: 'Don't ever let age be an obstacle.' And I won't."
And he didn't.
Boone-isms
“Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader.”
“Don’t fall victim to what I call the ‘ready-aim-aim-aim-aim’ syndrome. You must be willing to fire.”
"Show up early. Work hard. Stay late. Work eight hours and sleep eight hours, and make sure they are not the same eight hours."
"I told a friend, 'This is the kind of market that builds character.' He looked at me and said, 'If it gets any worse, you'll have more character than Abe Lincoln.' "
"My mother once told me, 'Son, you talk too much. You should listen more. You don't even know who the enemy is.' "
“If you’re on the right side of the issue, just keep driving until you hear glass breaking. Don’t quit.”
"Play by the rules. It's no fun if you cheat." | {
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Police: No charges to be filed against Milwaukee Bucks rookie Sterling Brown
No charges will be filed against Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown after officers arrested and used a Taser on him last week, Milwaukee police said Monday.
After an internal review and viewing police body camera footage, police officials decided not to refer Brown to prosecutors for criminal charges, police spokesman Sgt. Tim Gauerke said in an email late Monday.
"Furthermore, the Department is reviewing the police response including supervisory oversight," Gauerke said.
The matter has been sent to Internal Affairs and when that investigation is complete, the findings and camera footage will be released, he said.
Brown had been arrested on a tentative misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing an officer during an encounter that began with a parking violation.
Mayor Tom Barrett said last week he knew police were investigating the situation and that he wanted a "transparent process."
RELATED: Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown arrested, Tased by Milwaukee police during parking incident
The incident began about 2 a.m. Friday when officers doing a business check at the Walgreens near W. National Ave. and S. 26th St. saw a vehicle parked across two handicap spaces, according to Milwaukee police.
Officers spoke with a 22-year-old man about the situation and "an electronic control device was deployed" during the encounter.
The arrest and subsequent reaction from local officials have raised the ire of the police union that represents rank-and-file officers.
"To be clear, the offender was not arrested solely for illegally parking a vehicle — his action determined the outcome," Mike Crivello, president of the Milwaukee Police Association, said in a statement calling for city officials to support the officers.
Crivello also alleged Brown received "special treatment" during the booking process. In a follow-up email, Crivello said Brown did not spend time in general population and was seated with a deputies' captain who "tended to his needs during his entire stay."
The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, disputed that Brown got special treatment.
"Any high-profile, self-bailing subject is kept separate from the general population," Fran McLaughlin, the office's spokeswoman, said in an email.
"To avoid disruption in the booking area, their booking is expedited," she said.
Self-bailing means a person can pay bail immediately using cash, cashier's check, money order or any major credit card.
Brown spoke to the media before Friday's game vs. Brooklyn at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, calling the situation a "personal issue." He displayed some bruises and marks on his face.
"It’s being handled," he told reporters. "I’d appreciate if y’all would respect that right now.”
Bucks interim coach Joe Prunty said he was confident the situation would be resolved quickly.
"We do support Sterling completely," Prunty said Friday.
The Bucks signed Brown, 22, a 6-foot-6 guard out of SMU, last summer in a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers after that team had drafted Brown with the 46th overall pick.
Brown is averaging 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game this season. | {
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What I remember the most about that show was the overall enthusiasm for the TNA product at the time. This was before Kurt Angle and the Hogan/Bischoff era of TNA. Samoa Joe got the biggest pops with the crowd chanting "" for most of the night. Local NJ wrestling hero Jay Lethal was there (with his mom working an angle). AJ Styles was met with a mild reaction. Some Attitude Era stalwarts like the New Age Outlaws played well with this crowd. I snapped a few pics that night with my favorite being Jeff Jarrett getting heckled by a dude in a Joe Montana jersey. Here is the card: | {
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"Het lijkt eigenlijk allemaal op een storm in een glas water", zegt Drayer. "Normaal als de overheid zo'n waarschuwing geeft, komt er ook wel een orkaan, maar het lijkt rustig te blijven." Wel is er veel regen in aantocht, die tot wateroverlast kan leiden.
Bonaire, Aruba
Ook Bonaire is om 05.30 uur nog niet bereikt door de storm. "We zitten er helemaal klaar voor, maar we hebben nog weinig gemerkt", vertelt de gezaghebber van het eiland. "Iedereen zit binnen, dat heb ik ze ook aangeraden. Als er over een uur nog steeds geen overlast is, gaan we weer naar een update van het KNMI luisteren."
Op Aruba is het allereerste Koninkrijkstoernooi afgelast. Jongeren uit alle landen van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden zouden van 3 tot 6 oktober op het eiland tegen elkaar sporten. Omdat de gevolgen van Matthew niet duidelijk waren, werd het evenement afgeblazen.
Binnenblijven
Veel bewoners van de eilanden hadden voedsel, brandstof en batterijen ingeslagen om het een tijdje vol te kunnen houden. De bevolking werd aangeraden binnen te blijven.
In 2010 werd Curaçao voor het laatst getroffen door een orkaan. Daarbij kwamen twee mensen om het leven. Matthew heeft aan zeker één persoon het leven gekost: op Saint-Vincent werd een 16-jarige jongen geraakt door een rots toen hij een verstopte afvoer schoonmaakte. | {
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Scotland Yard has refused to disclose the number of times it has seized journalist phone and email records without their consent.
Pressure on the Metropolitan police is mounting to reveal why they chose not to invoke the law which guarantees confidentiality of journalistic sources when investigating a police mole in the Plebgate saga.
It emerged earlier this week that the police had ordered Vodafone to hand over the phone records of the Sun’s political editor using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa), which does not offer journalistic privilege protecting names of sources.
The first Tom Newton Dunn and his bosses at the Sun knew of the disclosure was when the Met’s report into Plebgate, which included a paragraph disclosing the fact they had analysed his phone records, was published on Monday.
Normally police are required to go to court using a different law under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace) to request journalistic material.
Unlike Ripa, under Pace the police are required to notify journalists or their media organisation of the court application.
Asked how many times they have used Ripa to seize telephone or email records belonging to journalists, Scotland Yard said: “We are not prepared to discuss.”
Asked why they did not use Pace to seize Newton Dunn’s records, a spokesman said: “We use the most appropriate legislation. Ripa was the most appropriate and lawful means of obtaining this data that was essential to progressing a criminal investigation into allegations of corruption, specifically that police officers were conspiring to bring down a cabinet minister.”
The Met added that “in order to obtain such an authority under Ripa officers must demonstrate that it is proportionate, legal and necessary” and that in this case the authorising officer, who must be of superintendent rank or above, was “independent from the investigation team”.
Newton Dunn had resisted requests to reveal the sources behind his Plebgate story of September 2012 and had been threatened with arrest.
The Sun has said it was “concerned” to learn that the police had then gone on to seize his records through this secret means.
The Sun said it was writing to Sir Anthony May, the interception of communications commissioner, to examine how many times the police had sought authorisation for journalistic records this way. | {
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A Tory MP told an autistic man not to comment on public affairs due to his mental health issues.
Insensitive Guto Bebb also dismissed Dylan Barlow’s Asperger’s syndrome as a “sob story” in a series of emails after his constituent raised questions on foreign matters.
The MP for Aberconwy, North Wales, wrote: “If you have mental health issues then you should possibly refrain from commenting in the public domain since it might create problems for you.”
Mr Barlow, 27, later said the MP was living “in the dark ages” and fumed: “We live in an age of free speech and for a politician to believe otherwise, goes to show the problems we face in our daily struggles.”
Mary Wimbury, Labour’s general election candidate for Aberconwy, said the Tory MP’s comments were inexcusable.
She said: “This lack of courtesy and respect towards constituents is clearly an inappropriate way for any MP to behave - he should think long and hard about his future behaviour.”
Mr Bebb denied his comments were derogatory.
He said: “If Dylan claims that some of his online comments should be understood in the context of his mental health issues then I think it was a generous piece of advice for him to think twice before he posts such comments.
“I do have a close family history of mental health issues and find the idea that I would be derogatory of such an illness highly offensive.” | {
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The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said seven Houthi prisoners will be released after a Saudi soldier was freed and arrived in Riyadh in a rare exchange of goodwill between combatants in the devastating three-year war.
Saudi prisoner Mousa Awaji returned on a Red Cross plane from Sanaa on Tuesday with the rebels saying he was freed because of an illness, Houthi TV channel al-Masirah reported, citing Abdulqadir Murtada, a Houthi official.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the exchange came because the Houthis did not provide Awaji with proper medical treatment and efforts were under way to end the detention of other prisoners, state media reported.
Murtada said the release came as an "initiative" by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, according to the Houthi-run Saba news agency.
The United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, helped coordinate the release. In a tweet, he welcomed the gesture and said he looked forward to the implementation of a prisoner-exchange agreement.
The SE welcomes the unconditional release by AA of the sick Saudi prisoner, whom the ICRC will transfer from Sanaa to Riyadh today. The SE hopes to see more similar humanitarian gestures from the parties. #Yemen — OSE_Yemen (@OSE_Yemen) January 29, 2019
Afrah Nasser, a Yemen political analyst, told Al Jazeera it was important for the international community to pressure both sides to release more prisoners of war. She added the rebels' move also had symbolism.
"It's very remarkable that they released a sick Saudi captive in order to send a message about the destroyed or devastated healthcare system. The Houthis are really playing it clever at this moment," Nasser said.
Yemen's warring parties have yet to agree to full terms of a prisoner swap - one of the least contentious confidence-building measures agreed at UN-sponsored peace talks held in December amid Western pressure to end the bloody conflict.
The UN is pushing for the exchange and the implementation of a ceasefire in the main port city of Hodeidah to pave the way for a second round of discussions to end a war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed in almost four years.
Agreement in peril
While the prisoner swap was a positive sign, a humanitarian group warned on Tuesday that a ceasefire agreed in Hodeidah is on the verge of collapsing, after a retired Dutch general in charge of the truce stepped down from his role.
190129123045611
The US-based International Rescue Committee said recent clashes in the city between Houthi rebels who control it and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition have increased dramatically since last week.
"In recent days, with clashes erupting inside Hodeidah and both parties accusing each other of violations, the agreement is increasingly in peril," Frank McManus of the group said.
The developments threaten to unravel a ceasefire and prisoner swap signed in December, the group said, urging the international community to step up pressure on the warring parties to stick to their commitments.
A demining team came under fire while trying to clear access to grain silos in Hodeidah on Tuesday.
The Houthis said one of its members died when Saudi-led forces fired on a demining team. The internationally recognised Yemeni government said Houthis attacked a UN-backed team heading to the mills.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has since September been unable to access the Red Sea Mills, where 51,000 tonnes of UN wheat is stored - enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month.
UN officials were not immediately available to comment, while WFP only said it was aware of the reports.
The grain facility is at a front-line flashpoint on the eastern outskirts of the city. Last week, two silos were damaged by fire caused by suspected mortar shelling.
The Houthis said the incident was a violation of the UN-sponsored ceasefire for Hodeidah.
"The other side's audacity has reached the point of targeting an operation to clear the road and in the presence of the UN team overseeing it," the rebels said in a statement on Houthi-run media. | {
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ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Aug. 14 successfully placed the JCSat-16 commercial telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit and landed the rocket’s first stage on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Satellite builder Space Systems Loral reported the satellite was healthy in orbit and sending signals after separation from the Falcon 9 some 33 minutes after launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
The launch appeared as a repeat of SpaceX’s May 4 liftoff of the JCSat-14 satellite, also owned by Sky Perfect JSat of Japan, which successfully landed the first stage. That stage has since been test-fired three times at SpaceX’s Texas facility as the company accumulates data on how its first stages perform after reentry and landing.
Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX hopes to reuse a first stage this year, although the company has not announced a customer. SES of Luxembourg, which has two satellites scheduled for SpaceX launches late this year, is the most logical inaugural customer for a reused first-stage engine.
For Sky Perfect JSat, the JCSat-16 launch carried an unexpected importance. Intended as an in-orbit spare, the satellite will now be deployed to 162 degrees east in geostationary orbit to replace the aging Superbird-B2 satellite, launched in 2000.
JSat’s Superbird-8/DSN-1 satellite, carrying a Ku-/Ka-band commercial telecommunications payload and an X-band payload for Japan’s Defense Ministry, was damaged during transit to Europe’e spaceport and will require more than a year of repairs and retesting. Superbird-8/DSN-1 had been the intended Superbird-B2 replacement.
For unclear reasons, Sky Perfect JSat did not want the launch mass of JCSat-14 or JCSat-16 to be made public. But industry officials said JCSat-16, carrying an all-chemical propulsion system, weighed around 4,600 kilograms.
A very crowded SpaceX manifest to the end of the year
The launch was the eighth of the year for Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, which is confronting a list of at least nine missions whose owners in recent weeks have confirmed that they expect their launches to occur by December.
SpaceX officials said early this year they hoped to conduct 18 launches in 2016 from both Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, which is used for missions to high-inclination low-Earth orbit.
The following list of satellite owners who have informed their investors of scheduled 2016 launches is subject to change and does not include the inaugural SpaceX Falcon Heavy vehicle.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Aug. 9 in a presentation to the Small Sat 2016 conference that Falcon Heavy, originally scheduled for launch in 2013, was proving to be “actually a harder problem than we thought.”
Falcon Heavy more challenging than expected
After apologizing to customers for the delays, Shotwell said: “I’m president: There’s three [Falcon 9 first stage] rockets. You glue them together. How hard is that? Well, according to my team, it’s really hard.” She did not specify an inaugural-flight date.
The 2016 manifest assumes that London-based Inmarsat moves its Inmarsat-5 F4 to an International Launch Services Proton rocket to assure a 2016 launch. But Proton, like SpaceX, has faced delays in recent months and its next launch is now set for October. How many missions it can fit in before the end of the year is unclear.
Some of these satellite owners are more worried than others about any further delays at SpaceX because of business issues including current in-orbit capacity, customer in-service expectations or regulatory deadlines.
Nine missions awaiting SpaceX launches this year
Customers expecting a launch this year on Falcon 9 vehicles:
— Spacecom, Amos-6. Launch is currently scheduled for Sept. 3-4. An in-orbit failure of a Spacecom satellite has put pressure on the company to shore up its revenue base and customer set and to launch Amos-6 as soon as possible. It’s already late.
— EchoStar Corp., EchoStar-23. EchoStar told investors to expect a launch in October.
— SES, SES-10. The Luxembourg fleet operator was an early SpaceX supporter and has two satellites slated for launch on Falcon 9 this year. SES-10 is set to go first, and has substantial incremental capacity that SES is counting on to drive revenue growth late this year.
— SES, SES-11/EchoStar-105. This satellite, part of commercial agreement with EchoStar, is perhaps the most likely inaugural customer for a reused Falcon 9 first stage because it is intended to replace capacity in orbit.
SES has said it wants a substantial discount on SpaceX’s already low price in exchange for being the first customer. But SES has made clear to investors that regular use of partially reusable rockets is a key component of SES’s strategy for reducing capital spending. SES insurance underwriters have said they will not insist on major premium increases to cover a launch with a reused first stage.
— NASA, Dragon CRS-10 cargo-transport mission to the International Space Station, now scheduled for November.
— KT Corp. of South Korea, Koreasat-5A. The company has told investors the launch should occur before the end of this year.
In addition the above launches from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX has three launches scheduled from Vandenberg.
— Iridium Communications, Iridium Next 1-10. The first 10 satellites for Iridium’s second-generation constellation is now scheduled for mid-September.
— National Space Program Office (NSPO) of Taiwan, Formosat-5; and Spaceflight Inc.’s Sherpa small-satellite tug. Repeatedly delayed, this launch is scheduled for late this year. But in a launch manifest crowded with customers whose businesses depend on mission timing, NSPO may find it hard to maintain its slot.
— Iridium Communications, Iridium Next 11-20. For insurance and satellite-validation reasons, Iridium needs to wait three months from the first launch to the second. Assuming a successful launch of the first 10 satellites, a slip into early 2017 would not do damage to the company. | {
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James Comey fired back this week at Hillary Clinton after the former secretary of state cited the Justice Department inspector general report on her email case to challenge the premise of the investigation itself.
Clinton did so in a terse, snarky tweet following the release of the nearly 600-page report, which accused the former FBI director of defying the chain of command during the email probe. It also said he, too, used a personal email account for some government business.
“But my emails,” Clinton tweeted, in response to a reporter tweet about Comey’s use of a “gmail” account -- a slap at the outrage over her private email server and the FBI probe itself.
But during an interview in Berlin this week, Comey was asked whether he would apologize to Clinton -- and refused. He stressed the difference between his personal email use, which involved unclassified information, and hers and said she still doesn't understand why she was investigated.
COMEY USED PERSONAL EMAIL TO CONDUCT FBI BUSINESS, WATCHDOG REPORT FINDS
“No. And here’s why. I don’t want to criticize her, but it shows me that even at this late date, she doesn’t understand what the investigation in her case was about,” Comey said during an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit.
“It was not about her use of a personal email system, and she didn’t get that during the investigation, because she used to say ‘Colin Powell when he was secretary of state used AOL,’ that was not what it was about,” Comey explained. “It was about communicating about classified topics on that system when those topics have to be done on a classified system.”
He added: “Which she never did. It would have been a problem if she was using AOL, or gmail, or Clinton.com—or the State Department’s [unclassified] system.”
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found that Comey used a personal email account to “conduct unclassified FBI business,” which he found was “inconsistent with Department policy.” Horowitz cited what he called “the absence of exigent circumstances the frequency with which the use of personal email occurred.”
Comey defended his use of a personal email account—but said he understood why Horowitz put it in the report.
“What I would do, is when I had to write speeches—I would write my own speeches—I would type them at home and then gmail them into my government account,” Comey explained. “Or, if I still had to work on the draft, I would send it home so I could work on it on my laptop.”
“I was not talking about anything remotely classified and the inspector general didn’t say that as well,” Comey said. “But I get why the tweet, and I get why people are focused on it, but it’s a totally different thing.”
Comey first broke his silence on the inspector general report last week in an op-ed for the New York Times.
The former FBI boss, separately, is facing IG scrutiny over his handling of classified information in memos memorializing conversations with President Trump. | {
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British legislator Matthew Offord said on Tuesday that new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will withdraw the United Kingdom from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the United States left in May 2018, reimposing sanctions lifted under it alongside enacting new financial penalties against the regime.
“We’ve now got to face that the nuclear deal is all but dead,” Offord told i24 News after Johnson won the Conservative Party leadership race, which also made him prime minister with his party in the majority.
However, Offord said that a new agreement “can be a way forward by looking at what we can provide the Iranian regime without them losing face, but ensuring that they ratchet down their actions.”
Late last week, Iran seized two U.K.-owned oil tankers amid ongoing tensions in the region.
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Earlier this month, Johnson warned Iran to “cease this madness” over violating the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, adding that he’s “prepared” to reimpose sanctions on the regime. | {
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PCDJ DEX 3 is a powerful tool for DJs, VJs and KJs that includes everything and the best part, beside the simplicity, low-resource usage and easy to use, is that you can customize the appearance to suit your needs, meaning you can add or remove buttons, sliders, jog wheels, info boxes etc. just according to your liking and needs, by creating your own skin using Skin Designer for DEX 3. | {
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小型犬の小ささ自慢。大型犬を飼えるオレ自慢【大型・小型】
空前のペットブーム。モンスターペアレンツならぬ、モンスター飼い主も現れる。“我が子”のかわいさを媒介に、犬＆猫親たちが互いを格付けしあう、ペットの癒しとは対極にある現場をのぞいてみた犬についての報告が多かった、サイズをめぐるマウンティング。 「トイプードル飼いの小ささ自慢は『小さいでしょ～？』と同意を求めてくるのは、ひたすらウザい」（35歳・アパレル） 同じような例が、チワワや豆柴などの小型犬でも見られた。 「ウチもトイプードルだが、公園でトイプードル連れのマダムと世間話をしたときのこと。『これだけ大きいといいですねー。ウチの子は小さいから体が弱くって』と言われ、『お前が小さいの選んでんだろ！』と思ったのは私の僻みか？」（32歳・主婦） 僻みかどうかはともかく、小ささへのこだわりは伝わってくる。 こうした傾向を快く思わない良識派はカウンターの立場として、一定数存在する。 「知人の犬好き男性はティーカッププードルに過剰に反応する。曰く、『そんな犬種はない。マーケティングの都合だ。病気のリスクもあるので褒められたものではない』。ティーカップの飼い主さんの前でもやったときは、さすがに気まずかったし、気の毒になった」（36歳・パート） 一方、大型犬の飼い主はマッチョな価値観をぶつけてくるらしい。 「同僚が一戸建て庭付きを買い、ラブラドールも飼いはじめた。そこまでは微笑ましかったのに、『家が広くないと小型犬しか飼えないよな～』の一言に嫌なものが透けて見えた」（37歳・SE）「ボルゾイとかいう兵器っぽい大型犬を飼いはじめた友達。『ドッグランに連れて行くと、他の犬がビビる』と嬉しそうだった。なんだかなあ」（29歳・飲食店） その友達はオラオラ系ということだろうか。そこも気になる。 ― 愛犬＆愛猫家たちの（爆）マウンティング事情 ― | {
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Cross-Data Photographer Kevin Boydston Airline Japan Airlines - JAL Version Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Generic Type Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Basic Type Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Manufacturer Boeing MSN 34853 Line No. 252 Reg. JA839J Location Dallas / Fort Worth - International (Regional) Region Texas Country USA Date Photographed May 4, 2016 Cancel Search
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Repairing damaged hearts with healthy cells derived from stem cells is a promising approach to tackling cardiovascular disease, but it does have its limitations. Difficulty in getting the young, freshly implanted cells to integrate and beat in-synch with the surrounding muscle has so far held the technique back. Now scientists are reporting an important advance in this area, demonstrating for the first time that electrically stimulating the new cells can give their development a critical boost.
Restoring human hearts to regular function in the aftermath of an injury like a heart attack has provided quite the challenge for biomedical researchers. While sufferers may survive the actual event, permanent damage to the organ by way of scar tissue impedes its ability to pump blood and leads to further complications down the track.
One possible way forward is using human stem cells to engineer new cardiomyocytes, or heart muscle cells, and then inject them into the organ. In a study at the University of Washington last year, researchers reported a breakthrough in this area by developing a technique whereby they could produce and and inject amounts of these cells on an unprecedented scale, an advance they claimed satisfied the number required for human therapy.
But like others doing work in this area, the team encountered some complications once the engineered cells were implanted. In the weeks following the injections, occurrences of irregular heartbeats (known as arrhythmia) were observed. This was the result of the inability of the new cells to synchronize with the surrounding muscle.
Now researchers at Columbia University have developed a method of training these cells prior to implantation to make for a smoother transition. The team engineered cardiomyocytes from human stem cells and exposed them to electrical signals that mimicked those found in a healthy heart over a period of one week. They found that this both boosted the connectivity between the cells and served to regulate the heartbeat.
"We've made an exciting discovery," says Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, professor of biomedical engineering and medical sciences at Columbia. "We applied electrical stimulation to mature these cells, regulate their contractile function, and improve their ability to connect with each other. In fact, we trained the cell to adopt the beating pattern of the heart, improved the organization of important cardiac proteins, and helped the cells to become more adult-like. This preconditioning is an important step to generating robust cells that are useful for a wide range of applications including the study of cardiomyocyte biology, drug testing, and stem cell therapy. And we think that our method could lead to the reduction of arrhythmia during cell-based heart regeneration."
The researchers will now investigate how an immature heart develops its beating function and how these trained cardiomyocytes might be safely integrated into real-life heart muscle.
The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: Columbia University | {
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Conservative ministers and MPs have been ordered to stay in the House of Commons until midnight on Tuesday amid fears of an “ambush” vote by pro-Remain MPs during the Article 50 debate.
The Government has ordered a “running whip” tomorrow and into Wednesday for the two-day debate on triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and starting the process of Brexit, sources have confirmed.
This means that ministers and MPs will have to stay in the Commons until midnight when the House rises after the first late night sitting for five months. | {
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Morph
When Kheru Spellsnatcher is turned face up, counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner’s graveyard. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost for as long as it remains exiled.
Kheru Spellsnatcher Full Art | {
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شركه مكافحه حشرات بجازان
شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان مع الضمان(خصم 30%) ابادة فورية وامنة تعتبر شركة الابداع بمدينة جازان هي الأفضل من الشركات الأخرى في الإبادة الفورية وهي امنه جدا لجميع الأشخاص، ولذلك هي الأفضل لكل من يعاني من انتشار الحشرات التي تسبب الأمراض الخطيرة، وتتميز شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان الأفضلية والمصداقية التامة عن غيرها من الشركات الأخرى وهي المتخصصة في مكافحة الحشرات بجميع أنواعها المختلفة والمتعددة، ولذلك يوجد ب شركه مكافحه حشرات بجازان أفضل الطرق والأساليب الحديثة في مكافحة الحشرات.
عزيزي العميل الحشرات هي مشكلة كبيرة تواجه كل منزل وهي من أكثر المشاكل التي تسبب القلق الانزعاج للكثير من الأشخاص، لأن الحشرات هي تنتشر كثيرا خصوصا في فصل الصيف مع ارتفاع درجة الحرارة، وتزداد معدلات النمو والتكاثر وهذا ما يسبب في خطورة انتشار الحشرات بشكل سريع ومستمر.
مكافحة الصراصير هي ليس أمر سهل بل من أهم العمليات التي تحتاج إلى خبره ورعاية وتدريب في أحدث الآلات والوسائل المستخدمة في مكافحة الحشرات.
عزيزي العميل لا داعي للقلق بعد اليوم مع انتشار الحشرات، مع شركة مكافحة حشرات انت دائماً بأمان، فنحن نقدم أفضل الخدمات المتميزة بالجودة والكفاءة التي لا مثيل لها على الإطلاق.
أهم الخدمات التي تقدمها شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان
عزيزي العميل شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان هي أهم وأفضل من الشركات الأخرى في مكافحة الحشرات، لأنها هي تقدم مجموعه مميزه من الخدمات في رش و إبادة جميع الحشرات بجميع أنواعها المختلفة، داخل الفلل والقصور والمنازل والمنتزهات والحدائق، والمكاتب والشركات، وكل ذلك بأسعار خيالية لا تقبل المنافسة.
ولذلك خدمات كثيرة تحرص الشركة على مكافحتها وهي:
نقوم مكافحة النمل الأبيض بجميع الطرق واستخدام أحدث الوسائل الحديثة بجودة عالية في المكافحة.
نقوم باستخدام اقوي المبيدات، للإبادة الفورية الصراصير .
نقوم بصيد الفئران وطردها.
نقوم بخدمة مكافحة بق الفراش.
نقوم بمكافحة للناموس والذباب.
نقوم بمكافحة الزواحف والثعابين.
أهم المميزات التي تتميز بها شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان
تتميز شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان بأنها هي الأفضل عن جميع الشركات في مكافحة الحشرات، وتعتمد الشركة على مجموعه كبيره من العمالة وهم مدربين علي اعلي واحسن مستوي مميز، باستخدام أفضل وأحدث الآلات الحديثة وهي التي تستخدم في رش وإبادة الحشرات وبمستوى عالي في الخبرة والكفاءة والجودة والاحتراف في مكافحة الحشرات بوقت قياسي.
بأنها هي الأفضل عن جميع الشركات في مكافحة الحشرات، وتعتمد الشركة على مجموعه كبيره من العمالة وهم مدربين علي اعلي واحسن مستوي مميز، باستخدام أفضل وأحدث الآلات الحديثة وهي التي تستخدم في رش وإبادة الحشرات وبمستوى عالي في الخبرة والكفاءة والجودة والاحتراف في مكافحة الحشرات بوقت قياسي. تتميز شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان بأنها تستخدم أفضل المبيدات ذات الجودة العالمية والفعالة والمستوردة من الخارج، بالمواصفات الأمريكية المطابقة للمعايير الكفاءة والجودة والسلامة وهي الحاصلة على تصريح وزارة الصحة لكي نحافظ على سلامة أفراد الأسرة والعائلة.
بأنها تستخدم أفضل المبيدات ذات الجودة العالمية والفعالة والمستوردة من الخارج، بالمواصفات الأمريكية المطابقة للمعايير الكفاءة والجودة والسلامة وهي الحاصلة على تصريح وزارة الصحة لكي نحافظ على سلامة أفراد الأسرة والعائلة. تتميز الشركة بأفضل الأجهزة الحديثة التي توجد لديها وتستخدم في رش ومكافحة الحشرات وبأحدث المعدات والتي يمكنها الدخول إلى أضيق الأماكن التي يختبئ بها الحشرات وكل ذلك بكل احتراف ومهارة وبمستوى عالي من الدقة والكفاءة.
تتميز شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان ، بأنها تمنح لكل عملائها أطول مده ضمان لكي يتم القضاء علي الحشرات بشكل نهائي.
، بأنها تمنح لكل عملائها أطول مده ضمان لكي يتم القضاء علي الحشرات بشكل نهائي. تتميز شركة بجازان بالصدق والأمانة والمصداقية التامة والالتزام بالمواعيد التي يتم بها الاتفاق مع العميل، ونقدم لكل عملائنا الجدد أرخص الأسعار والمخفضة.
شركه مكافحه النمل الأبيض بجازان
شركه مكافحه حشرات بجازان هي أفضل شركة من الشركات الأخرى في مجال مكافحة النمل الأبيض، وتستخدم الشركة أحدث الطرق والوسائل الحديثة، وأحدث المبيدات الرش في مكافحه النمل والقضاء عليه نهائيا، حتي لا يمكنه العودة مرة أخرى لهذا المكان.
النمل الأبيض هو من أخطر الحشرات الموجودة على الأرض، وهو يتغذى على الأخشاب والأثاث التي يوجد بالمنزل، و أخشاب النوافذ والمكاتب،والأبواب، كما أن النمل الأبيض يتغذى على الألياف التي توجد بالموكيت والسجاد ولذلك قد يسبب العديد من الخسائر.
النمل الأبيض يعيش في المستعمرات وقد يسبب السقوط في المبنى أو الانهيار، لأن النمل يعيش تحت الأرضيات وفي الجدران، ولذلك يجب أن نجد حل سريع لكي يمنع حل هذه المشكلة ومنع السقوط.
عزيزي العميل شركة مكافحة النمل الأبيض هي تستخدم اقوي وأفضل أنواع المبيدات التي يمكنها القضاء علي النمل بسرعة فائقة ومن أول استخدام، ومن الطرق الهامة في مكافحة النمل التالي:
عزيزي العميل قبل ان تتم عملية البناء أو التبليط يجب إن يتم استخدم أفضل المبيدات وهي المتميزة في القضاء علي النمل بشكل عام لأن يوجد لديها رائحة قوية تدوم لأكثر فترة من الوقت.
نحن نقوم عزيزي العميل بحقن الأرضيات بعد البناء مباشرة، باستخدام أفضل وأقوى المبيدات، ثم يتم الرش علي النوافذ والأبواب وجميع زوايا المنزل، ثم نقوم بسد الشقوق وجميع الفتحات التي يمكن للنمل الطلوع منها، ثم يتم الرش والحقن لكي يتم إبادته تماما.
شركة مكافحة صراصير بجازان
شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان هي أفضل شركة من الشركات المتخصصة في المكافحة وهي متميزة في الإبادة للصراصير وبشكل فوري، باستخدام أحدث الأجهزة لرش الصراصير، وقد تصل الأجهزة إلى أضيق الأماكن التي يمكن أن تختبئ بها الصراصير.
عزيزي العميل الصراصير هي من أكثر المشاكل التي يعانون منها ربات المنازل كثيرا، لأن الصراصير تزداد كثيرا في فصل الصيف مع ازدياد وارتفاع درجة الحرارة، لأن الحرارة هي تزيد من تكاثر الحشرات، وهي تساعد بذلك على انتشار الصراصير، وهي خطيرة ومضارة على صحة الإنسان.
ولذلك نحن نقدم أفضل الخدمات لمكافحة الصراصير المنتشرة، باستخدام أحدث المبيدات والأدوات الحديثة، وهي التي يمكنها القضاء علي الصراصير .
الصراصير لها أنواع وأشكال متعددة ويوجد منها صرصار كبير الحجم ويسمى الصرصار الشرقي، وهو يوجد بكثرة داخل بالوعات الحمامات والمصارف الصحية، والمطابخ وبذلك يتم القضاء عليه بأفضل أنواع المبيدات.
والنوع الآخر هو الصرصار الألماني وهو صغير الحجم ويوجد كثيرا في زوايا المطبخ ويوجد أيضا في عل بالمطبخ، واحرف الأبواب وقد يوجد أيضا في الغرف، ولذلك يتم القضاء عليه باستخدام وضع معجون بين زوايا المطبخ وهو خاص لمكافحة الصراصير.
عزيزي العميل شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان هي الأفضل في تقديم رش المبيدات وهي الخاصة بـ الصراصير والتخلص منها تماما.
شركة مكافحة بق الفراش بجازان
بق الفراش هي من أخطر أنواع الحشرات، التي تسبب الكثير من المخاطر على حياة الإنسان، وهي تعرضه للإصابة بعدة أمراض خطيرة في الدم، لأنها تتغذى على دم الإنسان، وهي تعيش في الملابس أو المراتب أو المفروشات أو الأغطية، ولذلك يمكننا التخلص منها بأي طريقه، ونفكر كثيرا في بعض الحلول لكي نتخلص منها تماما بشكل نهائي.
تنتقل حشرة بق الفراش من الحيوانات إلي المنزل ومع دخول الغبار والأتربة من النوافذ وتزيد حركة البق كثيرا في فترة الليل، لكي تتغذى على دم الإنسان، ولذلك لكي نتخلص من بق الفراش، وبذلك يجب أن نلجأ إلى شركة متخصصة في مكافحة الحشرات، لأن بق الفراش هو خطير جدا لصحة الإنسان ، ولذلك نبحث عن أفضل شركة لكي توفر أفضل وأحسن أنواع المبيدات التي يتم بها القضاء علي الحشرات الضارة.
عزيزي العميل شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان هي الأولي عن الشركات في مكافحة بق الفراش، ويوجد لديها أفضل المعدات الحديثة التي يمكنها أن تصل إلى أضيق الأماكن.
تمتاز شركة مكافحة بق الفراش بأنها نستخدم أقوى المبيدات الحشرية وهي متخصصة في القضاء علي بق الفراش.
شركة مكافحة فئران بجازان
الفئران هي تعتبر من أكثر المشاكل التي تواجهنا في حياتنا وهي تثير الفزع والرعب في الكثير من ربات البيوت وخاصة الأطفال هم أكثر عرضة لذلك، وتنتشر الفئران في البيت كثيرا وهي عدة أمراض خطيرة، مثل أمراض الربو والجهاز التنفسي والحساسية الضارة.
ولذلك نحن نتخذ الإجراءات السريعة لكي نجد حل لهذه الفئران وهي انتشرت كثيرا وسببت بعض من الخسائر في الحقول والمزارع للفلاح.
عزيزي العميل شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان هي قدمت لكل عملائنا الكرام أفضل الطرق والحلول لاصطياد ومكافحة الفئران، باستخدام أفضل وأحدث أنواع أجهزة الصيد للفئران وهي تعمل بالكهرباء، ويتم استخدام اقوي المبيدات الحشرية التي تقضي على الفئران بشكل سريع.
هي قدمت لكل عملائنا الكرام أفضل الطرق والحلول لاصطياد ومكافحة الفئران، باستخدام أفضل وأحدث أنواع أجهزة الصيد للفئران وهي تعمل بالكهرباء، ويتم استخدام اقوي المبيدات الحشرية التي تقضي على الفئران بشكل سريع. تتميز شركة مكافحة الفئران بأنها تتخذ عدة إجراءات وقائية لكي يتم الفتحات والشقوق لكي يمنع الفئران من الدخول في هذا المكان مرة أخرى.
شركة مكافحة عقارب و ثعابين بجازان
عزيزي العميل شركه مكافحة حشرات بجازان هي أفضل شركه يمكننا أن نعتمد عليها في جميع خدماتنا لكي تتخلص تماما من الحشرات السامة، مثل العقارب والثعابين، ولذلك تقدم الشركة هذه الخدمة لكل عملائها الكرام.
مكافحه الثعابين والعقارب هي مهمه صعبه جداً على أفراد الأسرة، ولكن عزيزي العميل مع الاستعانة بخبرات الكثيرة ومع عماله مميزون يمكنك القضاء على الثعابين والعقارب بكل سهولة ويسر، ويمكن التخلص من الزواحف القاتلة بوسائل متعدده وإمكانيات مناسبه، التي يمكنها القضاء علي الزواحف وهي التي تسبب الكثير من المشاكل والأضرار.
عزيزي العميل العقارب هي من أخطر الكائنات التي توجد بكثرة في جميع الأماكن الصحراوية، وتظهر العقارب كثيراً في فصل الصيف، وبعض من الحشرات الطائرة والزاحفة تظهر كثيرا، وتدخل إلى المنازل وتهددنا لأنها خطيرة جدا في لدغتها وقد تؤدي إلى الوفاة أو الإصابة بأمراض خطيرة.
عزيزي العميل يجب أن تهتم كثيراً لكي تتخلص من العقارب وتقضي عليه نهائيا، ولكن هذه المهمة تحتاج إلى خبراء متخصصين، ولابد من الاستعانة بأفضل شركة متخصصة في هذا المجال وهي شركة القضاء على العقارب، وهي مميزة عن باقي الشركات الأخرى.
أفضل النصائح للتخلص من عقارب بالمنزل
يجب أن نتخلص من جميع الحشرات التي توجد في المنزل، لأنها هي غذاء العقارب ولذلك يجب أن نتخلص منها أولا.
يجب أن تتخلص من القمامة أول بأول لأن بقايا الحشرات هي تجذب الحشرات، وتؤدي إلى مجيء الحشرات.
يجب أن نبحث جيدا على مخابئ العقارب، ثم نتخلص من جميع الكراكي التى توجد بالمكان، ثم يتم تطبيق الهذوم في الدولاب بترتيب، لأن العقارب هي تختبئ داخل الملابس.
يجب سد جميع الشقوق والفتحات في النوافذ والأبواب، والشبابيك، لكي لا تستطيع العقرب أن تدخل المنزل بسهولة.
عزيزي العميل عندما تجد عقرب تأكد جيدا من التفتيش في الأحذية ومفارش السرير والسجاد لأنه احتمال كبير تكون موجودة عقرب أخري في هذا المكان.
أفضل طرق مكافحة العقارب وطرق القضاء عليها
نقوم بتجهيز أدوات الصيد والمعدات اللازمة ليلاً، لأن العقارب تكون نشطة مثل المصباح بالليل ثم يتم القضاء عليها ويجب أن نحرص أن نلبس حذاء كبير للأمان.
ثم يتم اصطياد العقارب بالمبيد الحشري، ويتم أيضا استخدام الضوء الأسود لكي تتم عملية القتل.
ثم نضع العقرب في كيس بلاستيك ويتم التخلص منه بعيدا عن المنزل.
نقوم باستخدام القرفة لأنها هي مادة طارد للعقارب، ثم نقوم برشها حول المنزل وجميع الأماكن المظلمة وحول الأبواب والنوافذ.
شركة مكافحة ذباب بجازان
الذباب يوجد كثيرا في جميع الأماكن، ولكن يوجد به جراثيم كثيرة، وهي تنقل الأمراض بكل سهولة من مكان لآخر وتسبب الكثير من الأمراض الخطيرة للبعض من الأشخاص.
ارقام و اسعار شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان
عزيزي العميل شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان هي الأفضل من الشركات الأخرى في مكافحة الحشرات وهي متخصصة في هذا المجال، وتقدم أفضل الخدمات بأقل الأسعار، فهي توفر العديد من الخصومات والعروض المميزة لأصحاب الفنادق والشركات، عزيزي العميل بادر فورا بالاتصال على أرقامنا المتاحة ولا تتردد كثيرا
عند التواصل مع شركتنا فسوف تحصل علي أفضل الخدمات في التخلص من الحشرات من أجهزة ومعدات وعماله مدربه وكل ذلك بأسعار بسيطة.
شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان 0550213164 مع الضمان(خصم 30%) ابادة فورية وامنة
شركة مكافحة الحشرات بجازان
شركة مكافحة الحشرات بجازان يوجد العديد من شركات مكافحة الحشرات في جميع أنحاء العالم وفي المملكة العربية السعودية على وجه الخصوص.
كثير من الناس يتصلون بشركة مكافحة الحشرات في مدينة جازان بالمملكة العربية السعودية لتنظيف المكان الذي يستهدفون الحشرات الضارة الأخرى وتنظيفه.
نقدم لكم من خلال هذا المقال أفضل خدمات التنظيف على الرغم من عدد الشركات العاملة في مجال التنظيف ومكافحة الحشرات في المملكة العربية السعودية.
شركة مكافحة الحشرات والتنظيف توفر لك خدمات التنظيف ومكافحة الآفات بجميع أنواعها.
على مستوى جدير بوجودك يعمل على مستوى عالٍ ولدي أيضا شركة مكافحة الحشرات كل الوسائل الحديثة للتخلص من الحشرات الضارة في وقت أقل.
شركة مكافحة الحشرات بجازان
العديد من الشركات لمكافحة الحشرات في مدينة جازان :
في الواقع هناك العديد من شركات مكافحة الحشرات في المملكة العربية السعودية وفي مدينة جازان على وجه الخصوص ، فهناك العديد من الشركات المهتمة بالنظافة وتعمل على مكافحة الحشرات ورش المبيدات بأسرع وقت ممكن من خلال أيدي مدربين ومهرة.
وخبير في العمل المنجز ، وهناك عدد كبير من الشركات التي يمكنك الوصول إليها من خلال مواقع الويب الخاصة بكل شركة من شركات مكافحة الحشرات في جازان .
تعمل شركة مبيدات الآفات في مدينة جازان بالمملكة العربية السعودية على قتل الحشرات المزعجة ، حيث تتكاثر الحشرات في الصيف بسبب توافر البيئة المناسبة لنمو الحشرات الطائرة والزحف بسبب ارتفاع درجة الحرارة. وبالتالي ، تبدأ ربات البيوت في المعاناة بشكل كبير بسبب انتشار الحشرات خارج السيطرة في جميع أنحاء المنزل.
الحشرات التي تنتشر في جميع أنحاء المنزل هي مصدر للأمراض التي لا يمكن تجاهلها.
الحشرات التي تنتشر في جميع أنحاء المنزل تسبب أضرارا للمنزل ، والأثاث والأجهزة المنزلية في المنزل نفسه أو صحة أصحاب المنزل حيث تتسبب في العديد من الأمراض الجلدية والأمراض الأخرى.
لذلك لدينا في مدينة جازان في المملكة العربية السعودية شركات مكافحة الحشرات حيث تتخصص هذه الشركات في مكافحة جميع أنواع الحشرات والتخلص منها ليس فقط في المنزل ، ولكن الشركة تقوم بهذا العمل في أي مكان ، على سبيل المثال في المطاعم الكبيرة والصغيرة المحلات التجارية والشركات العامة والخاصة أيضا.
الشركات المتخصصة في مكافحة الحشرات في جازان لاستخدامها عدة طرق آمنة وليس لها تأثير سلبي على صحة الإنسان حيث تعمل الشركة ثم تذهب وتترك المكان آمنة ويمكن أن تستمر في العمل في نفس المكان بعد ذلك ، والشركات المتخصصة في مكافحة الحشرات عدم ترك أثر أو رائحة مبيد حشري مزعج تستخدمه لمحاربة أنواع مختلفة من الحشرات بعد أن تذهب الشركة لإنهاء عملها المقرر.
سواء كان ذلك باستخدام مبيدات حشرية عديمة الرائحة ، ستعمل الشركة بعد ذلك على تهوية المكان ورش المطهرات في الهواء بحيث يكون الهواء خاليًا من أي شوائب أو روائح ضارة قد تزعج الشخص أو تضر بصحته.
أفضل شركة مكافحة الحشرات في جازان
أفضل شركة مكافحة الحشرات في جازان مدينة جازان من مدن المملكة العربية السعودية ، حيث يعيش الكثير من الناس ، ولكن تنتشر عن طريق العديد من الحشرات التي تسبب لك الإحراج ، كما تسبب لك الكثير من المضايقات والاشمئزاز ، وانتشار الحشرات و القوارض في مكان ما يعني أن الأمراض بدأت تنتشر لأن الحشرات والقوارض تنشر الأمراض كثيراً .
ولا ننسى مرض الطاعون ، الذي انتشر نتيجة حمل ثلاث فئران لمرض الطاعون والانتقال من الصين إلى أوروبا من طريق سرفس إن الحل لجميع هذه الحشرات والقوارض المنتشرة .
أفضل شركة مكافحة الحشرات في جازان ، ويقوم على التحكم في الحشرات في كل مكان في جازان ، والقضاء على أي درجة انتشار ، سواء كانت الحشرات تمص الدم أو الحشرات العادية ، لأن النتيجة في النهاية واحدة من انتشار المرض.
شركة مكافحة الحشرات بجازان
لذلك ، إذا كنت تبحث عن شركة مكافحة الحشرات في جازان ، فإن الحل الخاص بك هو أفضل شركة مدنية مع أفضل الحلول على الإطلاق.
وتكثيف جميع جهود مكافحة الآفات في جيزان لتدريب العمال والفنيين في التدريب المكثف والعالي ، مما يجعلها متوافقة مع المهمة المقدمة بإشراف قوي.
من قبل المهندسين المتقدّمين ، أصبحت الشركة أفضل حشرة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان ، لأنها تعمل بسرعة كبيرة ، وتعمل من قبل أفضل المبيدات الحشرية التي تحارب الحشرات في جيزان ، وتدمّرها جميعًا .
لذا إذا كانت لديك أي مشكلة انتشار الحشرات في المنزل المصنع الخاص بك أو المبنى الخاص بك ، يجب عليك الاتصال بنا ، حتى نقوم بمساعدتك ، لأننا نعرف في شركة مكافحة الحشرات في جازان مدى سوء الحشرات التي تسببها الحشرات لدى الأفراد.
نصائح من أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جيزان
الحشرات لها العديد من الطرق التي تبدأ في الانتشار داخل الأماكن والمباني.
لذلك ، تقدم لك شركة ابداع بعض النصائح التي تقلل من انتشار الحشرات:
– أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان تنصحكم بتنظيف أماكنكم باستمرار ، وقد تسبب عدم النظافة في انتشار الحشرات.
– شركة ابداع توصي أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان بتنظيف الحمامات والمطابخ والآلات التي تنشر الحشرات والقوارض.
– أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جيزان تنصحكم بإغلاق الثقوب وأيضاً سد الثغرات في مبانكم ، حيث أنها عبارة عن ممر هادئ لانتشار الفئران إلى منزلك.
– أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان تنصحكم برمي الطعام وتلف الطعام وكذلك رمي القمامة في الأماكن المخصصة لها دون أن تصبح كريهة الرائحة ، لأنه في الحشرات الطبيعية مبعثرة في أماكن القمامة ، إذا كانت رائحة القمامة سيئة ، انتشرت الحشرات عليها أكبر.
نظرًا لأن هدفنا ليس هو المال ، فإن هدفنا هو إرضاء العميل لذلك قدمنا جميع هذه النصائح بشأن مكافحة الآفات في جيزان.
أضرار انتشار الحشرات في جيزان
الحشرات لها الكثير من الضرر الذي يجعل الناس الذين تراهم يبدأون من الاشمئزاز الناجم عن ، ومن ثم إلى الإحراج ، حيث معنى ظهور بعض الحشرات لديك ، وهذا يعني أن منزلك ليس نظيفًا على الإطلاق الضرر بانتشار الحشرات جازان التالي:
– تؤدي الحشرات عموما إلى انتشار العديد من الأوبئة والأمراض التي تقضي على البشرية دون مبالغة.
– النمل الأبيض يسبب تآكل الخرسانة والخشب والأثاث والملابس وقطع الأثاث ، فإنه يهدم المبنى.
– تسبب القوارض انتشار بعض الأمراض اللعينة ، فضلاً عن أنها تسبب التآكل في الطلاء والطلاء ودهان منزلك.
– جميع الحشرات تسبب تلوث الطعام والأكل لذا من الضروري مكافحة الحشرات في جازان.
إن انتشار الحشرات داخل مكان ما يسبب الكثير من الأمراض المعروفة وغير المعروفة ، لذلك عليك رمي وحارب الحشرات في جازان.
أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان
العديد من الشركات تحظى بشعبية كبيرة في جازان لمكافحة الآفات في جيزان ، ولكن لا يعمل الجميع بنفس المستوى العالي الجودة. لأن العميل يبحث عن الجودة والسرعة والسعر المناسب ، ستقوم شركة المجتمع المدني بإنتاج أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان ، والتي تعمل مع أحدث مبيدات الحشرات ، وتعمل أيضا على مكافحة الآفات. بطريقة كبيرة ، ولأن لدينا العديد من المزايا ، سنوضح لك بعض المزايا التي جعل عملائنا يختارون ابداع .
مميزات شركة مكافحة الحشرات بجازان
شركة ابداع هي أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان.
وهو يعمل من قبل أفضل أنواع المبيدات الحشرية والمساحيق التي تقضي على الحشرات في وقت سريع ، كما يستخدم أحدث أنواع الآلات في مكافحة الآفات وطرد جميع أنواعها ، مما يسبب خللاً كبيراً في الجهاز العصبي.
شركة ابداع تعمل أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات فى جيزان بواسطة معدات حديثة نسبيا وبعض الأدوات الجديدة التى تسرع من عملية التحكم فى الحشرات.
شركة ابداع هي أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان. لديها الكثير من خطط الأسعار الجيدة التي تناسب العديد من المواطنين والأفراد. أسعارنا هي الأرخص في جازان ، وجودتنا هي الأعلى في المملكة العربية السعودية.
شركة ابداع هي أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان. يوظف فريق من العمال والفنيين المدربين على أحدث أساليب مكافحة الآفات.
والتي يتم تنفيذها في وقت قياسي ، بالإضافة إلى أمنها العالي ، وكل ذلك تحت إشراف هندسة متكاملة للقضاء على الحشرات والقوارض.
شركة ابداع إن أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جيزان لا تترك أي أثر لأي حشرة أو أي نوع من القوارض.
وأيضا لا تترك أي أثر لتأثيرات الرش ، سواء رش المبيدات الحشرية وأيضا رش المساحيق التي تقضي على الحشرات.
شركة ابداع قامت أفضل شركة لمكافحة الحشرات في جازان بتزويد عملائنا بفريق حديث للغاية وخبرة في عالم خدمة العملاء.
للإجابة على جميع الاستفسارات والأسئلة الخاصة بك ، وكذلك للاستماع إلى آرائكم حول تطوير الشركة ، وإبلاغك عن أحدث العروض وتجديد خطط الأسعار.
ماذا تنتظر الآن ، هل تحب انتشار الحشرات الآن في منزلك؟
دعونا نتصل والتخلص من الحشرات بسرعة.
إذا كان لديك مشكلة في نشر الحشرات في الثلاجة ، أو نشرها في الحمام أو المطبخ.
هل ما زال لديك الكثير من القوارض في منزلك؟ | {
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SAGINAW, MI -- Eighteen people from three states were arraigned Tuesday afternoon, March 21, on accusations they violated the state's medical marijuana law.
The sound of jail chains clinking against wood pews filled the courtroom as the Spanish translator motioned 18 people charged with marijuana distribution to be seated for their arraignment Tuesday, March 21.
They range in age from 21 to 58 but all face the same amount of time in prison if convicted: 15 years.
In total, 19 people, including one arraigned earlier Tuesday without the translator, were arrested in a series of eight house raids across Saginaw County and one in Flint Township on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.
The names, ages and areas of residence of those arraigned are as follows:
Orestes J. Rodriguez, 39, Saginaw area
Yoan Luis Roque-Caballero, 31, Saginaw area
Alfonso Valdes Yadian, 32, Miami, Florida
Isbel Encarnacion Romero, 34, Saginaw area
Obet Angel Santana-Garcia, 26, Saginaw area
Anay Milan-Pupo, 26, Saginaw area
Erlen Bosch, 34, Miami, Florida
Orlando Granados, 58, Miami, Florida
Denis Alvarez-Diaz, 33, Flint Township
Teddy Lazaro Ruiz-Rojas, 42, Saginaw area
Arabel Machado-Pedraza, 40, Saginaw area
Michel Fonseca Alvarez, 47, Miami, Florida
Lizandra Garcia-Jimenez, 29, Saginaw area
Pedro Yasser-Alvarez Perez, 34, Miami, Florida
Adalbento Santana Rodriguez, 42, Saginaw area
Aliria De-La-Caridad Garcia, 44, Saginaw area
Daniel Guillen-Mendez, 46, Saginaw area
Eduardo Gil, 46, Colorado
Odelin Santana-Garcia, 21, Saginaw area
Officials say the group was abusing the state's medical marijuana law.
It's alleged the group of 19, along with two others with outstanding warrants, conspired to sell more than 100 pounds of marijuana and were growing numerous plants, said Assistant Saginaw County Prosecutor Chris Boyd.
While undisclosed federal agencies are looking into the citizenship and immigration status of those charged, the marijuana they allegedly grew or sold was homegrown, Boyd said.
"As far as I know, everything was being produced locally for sale locally," Boyd said.
The marijuana grown and distributed is suspected to have been furnished by some of those accused being caregivers or patients of medical marijuana, Boyd said.
Medical marijuana is legal under Michigan law, but there are limitations to what one can do, and Boyd said the group transgressed that.
"We're alleging they violated those (state medical marijuana) statutes and violated them substantially," Boyd said. "If you have that card to only service five people, you can't service 10, and that's what this is all going to come down to."
The whole group is charged with one count of manufacturing or distributing more than 45 kilograms of marijuana or more than 200 plants and one count of conspiracy to commit that crime.
Both are felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
A guilty plea or conviction on such a charge could have consequences on the a suspect's immigration status, such as deportation, District Judge M. Randall Jurrens told the group during the arraignment.
"Would they deport us before we were condemned or afterwards?" one man asked through the use of the Spanish translator.
It's not clear how many, if any, of those accused are not U.S. citizens. It's "definitely suspected at this point" that some aren't, Boyd said.
It's possible the federal government will prosecute those in violation of immigration law in a parallel court case, Boyd said.
Boyd said he's been in discussion with agencies of the federal government on a regular basis but did not specify which ones.
As far as Saginaw County prosecuting any violators, that's not their jurisdiction, Boyd said.
"We don't prosecute federal crimes and whether they're in violation of federal statutes," he said.
Jurrens set the bond for all 18 arraigned Tuesday afternoon at $1,000,000. The man arraigned earlier in the day also had a $1,000,000 bond but was released on tether.
The group is due back in court for a preliminary examination on April 4 before District Judge David Hoffman. | {
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A rematch of the most important fight of Season 21 of “The Ultimate Fighter” has been booked for the UFC’s return to Florida in December.
Hayder Hassan (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), from American Top Team, will meet the Blackzilians’ Vicente Luque (7-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout at UFC on FOX 17. UFC officials announced the fight booking after an initial report from the South Florida SunSentinel.
UFC on FOX 17 takes place Dec. 19 at Amway Center in Orlando. The event’s main card airs live on FOX following expected prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. UFC on FOX 17 is headlined by a lightweight title match between champ Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone.
On “TUF 21,” Hassan beat Luque by split decision on the show’s final regular-season episode, giving ATT a come-from-behind victory in the team-vs.-team competition.
Hassan was chosen by his team to fight for the “TUF 21” crown at the live finale in Las Vegas. But there, he was submitted by the Blackzilians’ Kamaru Usman in the second round of his official UFC debut. Now he’ll try to get his first official win for the promotion against Luque. Prior to the loss in July, Hassan was on a four-fight run, including three wins by knockout.
Despite losing to Hassan in their pivotal end-of-the-season bout, Luque got a shot at the TUF 21 Finale, anyway. But there, he dropped a unanimous decision to Michael Graves. Prior to that, he had won three of four fights before signing on for “TUF 21,” and overall, six of his seven wins are by stoppage.
With the addition to the card, UFC on FOX 17 now includes:
Champ Rafael dos Anjos vs. Donald Cerrone – for lightweight title Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem Nate Diaz vs. Michael Johnson C.B. Dollaway vs. Nate Marquardt Tamdan McCrory vs. Josh Samman Danny Castillo vs. Nik Lentz Hayder Hassan vs. Vicente Luque
For more on UFC on FOX 17, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site. | {
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Amy McRary
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Knoxville businessman and gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd and his wife, Jenny, have given Zoo Knoxville $5 million, the largest private contribution to the park.
The Boyds' gift was announced Wednesday night during a ceremony at the zoo east of downtown Knoxville.
The money goes to the zoo's ongoing "Dream Wilder" capital campaign that will help fund construction in a master plan that will renovate or rebuild large sections of the zoo.
“Jenny and our family have always loved the zoo, so it’s personal," Boyd said in an announcement about the gift. "The economic impact on the region is over $34 million annually, but what children learn when visiting the zoo about care and love for animals is priceless.”
As part of the gift, the zoo has named its newest animal exhibit area, Asian Trek, after the Boyds. The 4-acre habitat is now called the Boyd Family Asian Trek. Asian Trek includes Tiger Forest, a 1.5 acre, $10 million exhibit opening April 7 for endangered Malayan tigers. Its other exhibits for gibbons and languor monkeys, as well as a 40-foot treehouse overlook, are now under construction and scheduled to open in 2018.
The Boyd Family Asian Trek and a planned reptile/amphibian education building and river otter habitat make up a $30 million first phase of the zoo's master plan. The park has raised $21.4 million of the projects' $30 million budget.
"The legacy of the Boyd family’s commitment to our zoo started many years ago. It was Randy’s vision while serving as the chair of our facilities committee that challenged us to think beyond anything we had ever done,” Zoo President and CEO Lisa New said. “Their gift will transform the experience we give our guests, the care we provide our animals and the impact we can have in saving animals from extinction.”
“This takes our zoo to the next level,” said Eddie Mannis, chair of the Zoo Knoxville Board of Directors. “It is our goal to be the ‘must see attraction’ in Knoxville and the ‘most talked about’ destination in the region. The Boyd’s’ generosity is the catalyst for these aspirations. We intend to welcome 800,000 visitors annually by 2025, and a majority of those will be tourists contributing to our local economy. The Boyd commitment benefits not just Zoo Knoxville but our entire community.”
Randy Boyd is a Knoxville businessman, former Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development commissioner and current Republican gubernatorial candidate. The Boyds are longtime zoo supporters; a past contribution helped construct the Boyd Family Red Panda Village habitat. | {
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Faith in a Film
What makes this globally sought-after music director say yes to a film?
It was as if he’d been waiting for this question to be asked. “It’s a great question! And I have a great answer for it. Once I heard an actress answering a similar question. She said that if filmmakers can make a film without her, let them make it. This answer is good for music also. Do you really need AR Rahman?” he loops a question in. With some of the finest film and music collaborations to his credit, Rahman enjoys working with people whose projects really need his music.
The Clashes of Faith
It is easy to ride atop an ego horse when you have possibly the greatest awards and honours to your credit. What does it take to not let ego come in the way of one’s passion?
“When you are passionate, it’s difficult to be humble. You get angry and raise your voice. However, ultimately it’s all about destroying your ego. That’s what sufism has taught me. It’s about going the sufi route,” Rahman says. Incidentally, for the next two years, he’s associated with a sufi project called The Sufi Route – Concerts for Peace. The inaugural concert happened in Delhi at the Qutub Minar complex on 18 Nov. The curators, Friday Filmworks, INvision Entertainment and Invloed Matrix, plan to take The Sufi Route to the iconic Blue Mosque in Turkey next year.
He adds, “As a film musician I’m not supposed to have an opinion. I give what the director asks me to. My job is to make the filmmakers’ job easier and not cause them trouble. Ultimately, the film has to work. It’s a big gamble.”
His response steered the conversation towards films running into trouble due to offended sensibilities, Padmavati being the latest. On growing intolerance, Rahman’s response remains measured and positive. Likening the country to a big family where members fight with each other he says, “It will all settle down. When people have power it easily corrupts them.”
Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar
Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
Production Assistant: Sai Sethu
(This article is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 20 November 2017. It is now being republished to mark AR Rahman’s birthday.)
(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT in partnership with #MyRightToBreathe to find a solution to pollution. Send in your suggestions to [email protected] or WhatsApp @ +919999008335) | {
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[12/8 @RogueAles Twitter Update: moving from ceramic bottles to glass bottles. Depending on prices set by stores and distribs price will be pretty similar per oz.]
(Newport, OR) – As I alluded to in my piece on Rogue Double Mocha Porter and John John Ale, Rogue Ales is moving the XS Series to 7 oz. bottles. These bottles will begin to see shelves nationwide around February 1st when the brewery releases Russian Imperial Stout (which will also be available on tap).
Last week, the brewery got label for two such bottles: Imperial Younger’s Special Bitter and Imperial Red Ale. According to President, Brett Joyce, the brewery will also package Imperial IPA, Old Crustacean Barley Wine, and the new McRogue Scotch Ale in 7oz bottles.
With Nogne O also moving its Dark Horizon beers to 8.5 oz. bottles, could this be the start of a new trend? | {
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Good news: Preliminary research indicates that a common vaccine, called the BCG vaccine, may offer significant protection against COVID-19. Here’s what you need to know: | {
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The call has drawn heightened attention in recent days amid revelations that an intelligence official filed a whistleblower complaint that involved communications with a foreign leader and that the communication centered on Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.
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In May, Giuliani canceled a controversial planned trip to Ukraine that he had admitted was intended to apply pressure on its government to investigate Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his work for a Ukrainian gas company that had previously been of interest to investigators in the country.
Asked Friday if he had discussed Biden with Zelensky, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “It doesn’t matter what I discussed.”
Trump then referenced allegations that Biden, as vice president, had inappropriately pressured Ukraine to dismiss the prosecutor who investigated his son, adding that reporters should pursue the matter.
Biden did urge Ukraine to fire the prosecutor, with the threat of withholding U.S. aid, but his position reflected that of the U.S. government and several other Western countries more broadly for other reasons.
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Trump maintained that his conversations with world leaders are “always appropriate . . . at the highest level, always appropriate,” and he said his phone call with Zelensky had been “a beautiful conversation.”
Trump also labeled the whistleblower “partisan” but said he did not know his or her identity.
“I don’t know the identity of the whistleblower. I just hear it’s a partisan person, meaning it comes out from another party,” Trump said.
His comments at the White House came after morning tweets in which Trump freshly denied having had a “dicey” phone call that is central to the potentially explosive whistleblower complaint and blamed the controversy on “Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Media partners.”
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The whistleblower complaint was filed 2½ weeks after Trump’s call with Zelensky.
Democrats and journalists “think I may have had a ‘dicey’ conversation with a certain foreign leader based on a ‘highly partisan’ whistleblowers statement,” Trump said. “Strange that with so many other people hearing or knowing of the perfectly fine and respectful conversation, that they would not have also come forward. Do you know the reason why they did not? Because there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!”
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The whistleblower complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” that Trump made, which so alarmed a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House that the person went to the inspector general of the intelligence community, two former U.S. officials said.
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The Democrats’ investigation was launched earlier this month, before revelations that an intelligence official had lodged a complaint with the inspector general. The Washington Post first reported on Wednesday that the complaint had to do with a “promise” that Trump made when communicating with a foreign leader.
In his morning tweets Wednesday, Trump singled out one of the Democrats key to the investigation, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (Calif.).
The president asserted that the “Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Media partners, headed up again by Little Adam Schiff, and batting Zero for 21 against me, are at it again!”
On Thursday, Schiff warned of possible legal action Thursday if intelligence officials did not share the whistleblower complaint.
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Speaking to reporters, Schiff called acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire’s refusal to share the complaint with Congress “unprecedented” and said he understood the Justice Department was involved in that decision.
“We cannot get an answer to the question about whether the White House is also involved in preventing this information from coming to Congress,” Schiff said, adding: “We’re determined to do everything we can to determine what this urgent concern is to make sure that the national security is protected.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) weighed in with a statement on Friday saying Trump and Maguire’s “stonewalling must end immediately.”
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“The Administration’s blocking of Acting DNI Joseph Maguire from providing Congress with the whistleblower complaint violates the federal statute, which unequivocally states that the DNI ‘shall’ provide Congress this information,” Pelosi said. “If the President has done what has been alleged, then he is stepping into a dangerous minefield with serious repercussions for his Administration and our democracy.”
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On Friday, House Republicans cautioned against a rush to judgment about what had occurred, with several predicting the story line would later change.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) stressed that, despite lots of speculation, the content of the whistleblower’s complaint remains publicly unknown.
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“We don’t know, obviously, what the dispute is, we just literally don’t know, so I’m not in a position to speculate what the president did or didn’t do, what the whistleblower blew a whistle on, so until we know more, I think it’s hard to do much.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform committee and a stalwart Trump backer, compared the allegations to the previous accusations Trump faced that he had colluded with Russia to swing the results of the 2016 election.
“It’s not like we haven’t seen this movie before: Democrats come out, they’re all spun up, Adam Schiff makes all kinds of statements, and then when the facts come out: Whoa, different story!” he said. “This seems to be the same kind of deal.”
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Asked whether he would urge Trump to tell Maguire to share the whistleblower allegations with Congress, he declined to do so: “That’s up to the president, and the president’s got to look at what’s in the best interest of the United States. He’s got to look at the big picture, and I trust him to do that, and he’ll make that decision.”
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), another Trump loyalist, called it “typical Adam Schiff: Make it a big problem until finally, two years from now, everybody says, ‘Oh, it was a nothingburger.’ ”
But he, too, declined to call on the White House to allow Congress to review the allegations: “It would have a real chilling effect on dialogue between important leaders if they think that every time someone who overhears a conversation that wasn’t even party to the conversation is going to file a whistleblower complaint, and it’ll end up on the front page of periodicals across the country.”
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Democrats, meanwhile, pledged to investigate what had transpired.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) said he was troubled by reports that the whistleblower’s allegations concerned Ukraine and doubly troubled that Giuliani openly admitted during a television interview Thursday night to trying to get Ukrainian leaders to investigate Biden’s family.
Engel said his panel is “going to be looking into that kind of behavior” and that it is “something that a lot of members including myself are very concerned with.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), a member of the Intelligence Committee, expressed concern that the Trump administration’s handling of the whistleblower’s complain could discourage others from coming forward.
“If when somebody blows the whistle, the only person that hears it are the people about whom the complaint is being lodged and they can shut it down, that completely defeats the purpose of the whistleblower statute,” he said.
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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the Intelligence and Judiciary committees, said the whistleblower’s allegations have “paramount” urgency for Democrats.
“A lot of the issues the president faces in Congress are of the past, and this is an upcoming election where they are essentially saying they are actively trying to get a foreign government to affect the outcome,” he said. “If we learned the lesson from 2016, we have to stop that now.” | {
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While we regularly hear the likes of Lionel Messi referred to as 'The GOAT' (as in, the Greatest Of All Time) it's not often that his literal counterparts make their presence felt on a football pitch.
However, in what must surely be a world first, an actual goat did manage to bring play to a shuddering halt during the Sudan Premier League match between Al Shorta and Al Hilal Omdurman.
Meanwhile in the Sudanese League.. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/yiXlAdMVi0 — Wael Jabir (@waeljabir) April 26, 2018
Understandably, both sets of players looked on utterly bemused as the security staff desperately attempted to round up the be-hoofed interloper and remove it from the pitch.
For the record, Al Hilal went onto register a narrow 1-0 victory that moved them to within one point of the top of the table.
Al Shorta were presumably left blaming their scapegoat. Sorry. | {
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BMC officials monitor the movement of people on the roads inside a "war room" in Mumbai.
Highlights Mumbai is home to around 12 million people, nearly 65% live in slums
Coronavirus cases in city ticked up above 1,900, including 113 deaths
In Dharavi, experts fear the numbers could climb quickly
In an air-conditioned government building in Mumbai, a dozen officials are glued to a giant screen showing live drone and CCTV footage of crowded slums, the frontline in the city's battle to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
When cameras captured dozens of shoppers thronging a market in Mumbai's Dongri area last week, violating the countrywide lockdown begun on March 25, officials called in the police to disperse the crowd.
Twenty minutes later, the footage from Dongri showed only a handful of people still milling around. To help enforce a lockdown in what is one of the most densely populated areas on earth, authorities are using drones, re-oriented traffic cameras, and heat maps, but these can fall short when it comes to maze-like slum alleys.
"Hundreds will fall through the cracks, thousands but as long as it is not in millions we are safe," Praveen Pardeshi, who heads the city's main civic body, told Reuters in an interview.
Mumbai is home to around 12 million people, of which some 65% live in slums.
A further six million people are estimated to live in peripheral districts. Confirmed cases in the city have ticked up above 1,900, including 113 deaths, making up around 15% of India's more than 12,000 known cases. Dharavi, often considered Asia's biggest slum with an estimated 1 million residents, has reported 71 cases and experts fear the number could climb quickly. Authorities stress that part of Mumbai's high rates stem from more aggressive testing.
The city has conducted 2,374 tests per million, versus 448 per million in New Delhi, according to a Mumbai government report reviewed by Reuters on Thursday.
Around 82% of coronavirus patients in Mumbai are stable, with just 2% requiring critical care, the data shows.
"If this percentage remains of stable cases, then we are through," said Pardeshi.
Authorities have cordoned off parts of the slums, set up special fever clinics and created massive quarantine centres in a stadium and empty government buildings. But the restrictions are hard to observe when living at such close quarter.
On a recent afternoon in a narrow passage encumbered by goats and electrical wire, police officers pleaded with a dozen Dharavi residents to go home.Asif Siddiqui, a construction shop worker who lives in a one-room apartment with six family members, stayed put."They ask us to keep one meter distance, but my home is two meters long.
"We are trying to co-operate, but it is impossible to stay home in a place like this," said Siddiqui. | {
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WALDERDBEEREN - KRäUTER - PORNÖS
»Man müsste mal 'nen Pornfelder machen«. Ein Cuvée aus PORtugieser und dorNFELDER - der ewige Kalauer unter Winzern. Getraut hat sich keiner. Doch da gibt's ja noch den Mann mit Hut - Lukas Krauß aus der Pfalz. Das Ergebnis? Ein geiler Rotwein. Walderdbeeren, Kräuter = pornös! | {
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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt faces allegations of excessive spending on travel, vehicles, raises and luxe security features such as a $43,000 soundproof phone booth. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo Gowdy expands probe into EPA’s Pruitt The development is a further sign of the deepening bipartisan scrutiny facing President Donald Trump’s environmental chief.
House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Friday he’s expanding his probe into the alleged ethical and spending abuses by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt one day after his staff met for several hours with a former EPA aide who was pushed out of the agency.
Gowdy’s latest letter is a further sign of the deepening bipartisan scrutiny facing President Donald Trump’s environmental chief, whose critics accuse him of excessive spending on travel, vehicles, staff raises and luxe security features such as a $43,000 soundproof phone booth.
The committee’s new request focuses on the decision to increase Pruitt's security to round-the-clock protection, contracts to sweep Pruitt’s office for electronic surveillance, his trips to Italy and Morocco, the hiring of an Italian security firm, and travel by Pruitt’s security chief, Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta.
The letter comes after the committee interviewed ousted EPA employee and former Trump campaign aide Kevin Chmielewski, who is being treated as a whistleblower. A committee spokeswoman said the information he provided is consistent with allegations laid out in a letter released Thursday by House and Senate Democrats who had also spoken to him.
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The committee also asked for sit-down interviews with four senior EPA officials: Perrotta; Ryan Jackson, Pruitt's chief of staff; Millan Hupp, a scheduling and advance aide; and Sarah Greenwalt, a senior counsel to Pruitt. Gowdy requested the agency schedule those interviews and provide a litany of documents by April 27. Gowdy also requested an on-the-record interview with Chmielewski, who spoke more informally with lawmakers this week.
Hupp and Greenwalt, both of whom have worked for Pruitt since he was Oklahoma’s attorney general, are the two staffers who received raises via a special authority granted Pruitt under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Pruitt told Fox News last week he was not aware of the raises, although Chmielewski told Democrats this week that the raises were “100 percent Pruitt himself.”
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said the agency had “responded to Chairman Gowdy’s inquiries and we will continue to work with him.”
EPA’s inspector general is also investigating complaints about Pruitt’s travel spending and other practices. The inspector general’s office said it will release an interim report Monday afternoon on one of its probes, which involves whether Pruitt misused special hiring authority provided by the Safe Drinking Water Act to bring some key aides into the agency.
It’s unclear whether the IG has expanded that probe to include a recent controversy around EPA’s use of the same water law to grant raises to the two Pruitt aides despite the White House’s disapproval.
Chmielewski told Democrats this week that EPA fired him after he refused to sign off retroactively on first-class travel for one of Pruitt’s closest aides, Samantha Dravis. Gowdy’s letter does not request an interview with Dravis, who has announced her intent to leave the agency.
During congressional interviews earlier this week, Chmielewski outlined a detailed litany of seemingly unethical behavior against Pruitt. He said the EPA chief insisted on staying at expensive hotels while traveling even if they exceeded permissible federal spending limits, directed staff to book him on Delta Air Lines so he could accrue frequent flier miles, made a close aide “act as a personal real estate representative” and then retaliated against staff who questioned his behavior, among other allegations.
EPA has previously dismissed Chmielewski as one of a “group of disgruntled employees who have either been dismissed or reassigned.” The agency did not immediately comment on the latest letter.
Gowdy’s probe into Pruitt’s activities has been in contrast to his GOP colleagues, who have adopted a “wait and see” approach toward the EPA chief’s ethical woes. Lawmakers this week expressed discomfort with Pruitt’s spending when asked and vowed to press him about it at future hearings. But they’ve stopped short of demanding documents or issuing subpoenas to investigate the alleged ethics lapses.
Pruitt last appeared before Congress in late January before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Unlike his fellow Cabinet members, he has yet to appear before any congressional committees to defend his fiscal 2019 budget request. And he’s not scheduled to return to Capitol Hill for another two weeks, when he is scheduled to attend an April 26 session with the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“The Republicans are absolving themselves of all oversight responsibility even in the face of the most egregious conduct. They may as well stop calling committees oversight,” Melanie Sloan, senior adviser at American Oversight, told POLITICO. “What would it take? Would he literally have to kill somebody before they say it’s a problem?”
GOP lawmakers were less patient with Obama EPA officials. Senate and House lawmakers questioned former Administrators Lisa Jackson and Gina McCarthy, as well as other senior brass, on issues ranging from the use of nonofficial email accounts, whether they used texting to avoid record-keeping requirements, whether they allowed a senior staffer to commit time fraud and why they hadn’t fired employees who spent hours watching pornography at work more quickly.
EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has said he planned to await the results of a White House review of Pruitt’s conduct and would not comment on multiple occasions this week on when the administrator would return to his committee.
“He was just here earlier this year and answered questions for 2½ hours, but I expect him to come back again,” Barrasso told reporters.
| {
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Alberta's new education act is proposing changes that include free high school education for students up to 21 years of age.
Currently, students have to pay for courses once they reach the age of 19.
This is the last year Attila Harmath, 18, can complete or upgrade high school courses for free at Chinook Learning Services in Calgary.
"It's pretty expensive. I mean with the low wages that teenagers make it would be problematic," said Harmath.
For many adults, a high school class worth five credits costs more than $500.
Calgary public school trustee Carol Bazinet called the proposed change a good first step, but said she believes school should be free.
"If they figure they need high school for whatever it is, for their work or if they need it to go on to further education, I just think we really shouldn't put obstacles in their way," said Bazinet.
Alberta Education says it could take until 2014 or 2015 to implement the change | {
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As you may have seen in previous blog posts, we have a Warboard in our office which shows the current status of the servers we manage. Most of our customers are using our new alerting stack, but some have their own monitoring solutions which we want to integrate with. One of these was Prometheus. This blog post covers how we transformed raw Prometheus values into percentages which we could display on our warboard and create alerts against.
Integrating with Prometheus
In order to get a summary of the data from Prometheus to display on the Warboard we first needed to look at what information the Node Exporter provided and how it was tagged. Node Exporter is the software which makes the raw server stats available for Prometheus to collect. Given that our primary concerns are CPU, memory, disk IO and disk space usage we needed to construct queries to calculate them as percentages to be displayed on the Warboard.
Prometheus makes the data accessible through its API on "/api/v1/query?query=<query>" . Most of the syntax is fairly logical with the general rule being that if we take an average or maximum value we need to specify "by (instance)" in order to keep each server separate. Node Exporter mostly returns raw values from the kernel rather than trying to manipulate them. This is nice as it gives you freedom to decide how to use the data but does mean we have to give our queries a little extra consideration:
CPU
(1 - avg(irate(node_cpu{mode="idle"}[10m])) by (instance)) * 100
CPU usage is being reported as an integer that increases over time so we need to calculate the current percentage of usage ourselves. Fortunately Prometheus has the rate and irate functions for us. Since rate is mostly for use in calculating whether or not alert thresholds have been crossed and we are just trying to display the most recent data, irate seems a better fit. We are currently taking data over the last 10 minutes to ensure we get data for all servers, even if they’ve not reported very recently. As total CPU usage isn’t being reported it is easiest use the idle CPU usage to calculate the total as 100% – idle% rather than trying to add up all of the other CPU usage metrics. Since we want separate data for each server we need to group by instance.
Memory
((node_memory_MemTotal - node_memory_MemFree) / node_memory_MemTotal) * 100
The memory query is very simple, the only interesting thing to mention would be that MemAvailable wasn’t added until Linux 3.14 so we are using MemFree to get consistent values from every server.
Disk IO
(max(avg(irate(node_disk_io_time_ms[10m])) by (instance, device)) by (instance))/10
Throughout setting up alerting I feel disk IO has been the “most interesting” metric to calculate. For both Telegraf, which we discuss setting up here, and Node Exporter I found looking at the kernel docs most useful for confirming that disk “io_time” was the correct metric to calculate disk IO as a percentage from. Since we need a percentage we have to rule out anything dealing with bytes or blocks as we don’t want to benchmark or assume the speed of every disk. This leaves us with “io_time” and “weighted_io_time”. “weighted_io_time” might give the more accurate representation of how heavily disks are being used; it multiplies the time waited by a process, by the total number of processes waiting. However we need to use “io_time” in order to calculate a percentage or we would have to factor in the number of processes running at a given time. If there are multiple disks on a system, we are displaying the disk with the greatest IO as we are trying to spot issues so we only need to consider the busiest device. Finally we need to divide by 1000 to convert to seconds and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
Disk Space
max(((node_filesystem_size{fstype=~"ext4|vfat"} - node_filesystem_free{fstype=~"ext4|vfat"}) / node_filesystem_size{fstype=~"ext4|vfat"}) * 100) by (instance)
As Node Exporter is returning 0 filesystem size for nsfs volumes and there are quite a few temporary and container filesystems that we aren’t trying to monitor, we either need to exclude ones we aren’t interested in or just include those that we are. As with disk IO, many servers have multiple devices / mountpoints so we are just displaying the fullest disk, since again we are trying to spot potential issues.
It’s worth noting that newer versions of Node exporter have slightly updated the metric names. For example, instead of node_cpu you’ll now want node_cpu_seconds_total, you can see some of our other updates to the above queries in this code.
If you are looking to set-up your own queries I would recommend having a look through the Prometheus functions here and running some ad hoc queries from the "/graph" section of Prometheus in order to look at what data you have available.
If you need any help with Prometheus monitoring then please get in touch and we’ll be happy to help. | {
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Hemohills Shots – Ayurvedic Blood Purifier Syrup to Fight Health Ailments
Herbal Hills wholesale club has an experienced research team, which works 24/7 to develop novel products to suit daily health need of today’s generation. And now, they have come up with the Ayurvedic blood purifier syrup; “Hemohills Shots”. Additionally, according to the research, it is suggested that these Ayurvedic blood purifier syrup bypasses the digestive tract and directly enters the blood stream to showcase the most targeted and quick effects.
It is 100% Sugar Free and Preservative free for better health. Additionally, it is infused with a goodness of Pineapple flavor to help people consume it with ease.
Major Herbs of Ayurvedic Blood Purifier Syrup: Aloe vera Juice, Triphala, Guduchi, Haridra, Manjishtha & Neem
Nutritional Fact and Medicinal Properties: This herbal blood purifier syrup from the trusted Ayurvedic medicine manufacturer is a rich source of folic acid, vitamins, beneficial enzymes, zinc, niacin, chlorine, minerals etc. Additionally, this Ayurvedic medicine for blood purification may possess anti-microbial, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and strong blood-purifying properties to improve the overall health.
As mentioned above, we have seen how Neem, Manjishtha and Triphala works on our body. Now let’s focus on the other herbs present in this Ayurvedic Blood Purifier syrup.
Aloe Vera Juice – Basically Aloe vera juice is beneficial for healthy digestion. With an anti-inflammatory property, it showcases soothing effect on the stomach linings. It is also useful to reduce heartburn, constipation and acidity. By removing the toxins from the body, this one of the ingredient of the Ayurvedic blood purifier aids in healthy weight management. Additionally, it also helps to reduce the level of stress and thus enhances the overall health. With the elimination of toxins from the body, this aloevera juice helps to support a skin health. Basically Aloe vera juice is beneficial for healthy digestion. With an anti-inflammatory property, it showcases soothing effect on the stomach linings. It is also useful to reduce heartburn, constipation and acidity. By removing the toxins from the body, this one of the ingredient of the Ayurvedic blood purifier aids in healthy weight management. Additionally, it also helps to reduce the level of stress and thus enhances the overall health. With the elimination of toxins from the body, this aloevera juice helps to support a skin health.
Guduchi – The main role of Guduchi is to remove the toxins present in the body due to access consumption of Alocohol and tobacco. Additionally, this Guduchi balances the three doshas on the body and thus cleanses the blood. It is also beneficial in controlling the uric level in the blood. Moreover, it strengthens the urinary system, which then promotes elimination of toxins from the blood. Individual guduchi available in powder form – The main role of Guduchi is to remove the toxins present in the body due to access consumption of Alocohol and tobacco. Additionally, this Guduchi balances the three doshas on the body and thus cleanses the blood. It is also beneficial in controlling the uric level in the blood. Moreover, it strengthens the urinary system, which then promotes elimination of toxins from the blood. Individual guduchi available in powder form – guduchi powder
Haridra – The common name of harida is Turmeric, which is an ancient herb to fight with various health ailments. It helps to reduce inflammation and thus promote healthy liver functioning. Additionally, by removing the toxins from the body, it helps to support healthy skin care.
Get this 100% pure and Sugar Free Ayurvedic Blood Purifier Syrup to improve your overall health.
All these products are available at Wholesale rate! Grab the best deal now! | {
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Scientists use laser technology to uncover more Mayan ruins New technology revealed an ancient civilization in Central America may have been several times bigger and much more complex than archaeologists believed. Scientists say they used lasers to expose previously unknown Mayan cities and thousands of structures in Guatemala. David Begnaud reports. | {
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Barack Obama was spotted in Manhattan on Friday, marking the first time the former president has been seen since he took his wife on a post-White House vacation to the Caribbean.
The former president was treated like a rock star, with a crowd of hundreds cheering him on as he left a meeting at an office building in the Flatiron District.
Mr Obama looked to be in full retirement mode, forgoing a tie with his black suit.
Scroll down for video
Former President Obama was spotted in Manhattan on Friday, leaving an office building in the Flatiron District
Hundreds gathered outside the building and cheered Mr Obama on as he got into his car
It's still unclear what Mr Obama is doing in the city.
The Simons Foundation, an organization that funds research in mathematics and basic sciences, has an office in the building.
The foundation's founders, Marilyn and James Harris Simons, have donated $670,000 to the Obama Foundation and were invited to several events at the White House during his time in office.
Photos surfaced last night, showing the former president having dinner with his daughter Malia at Emilio's Ballato, an Italian restaurant in Soho.
Malia is currently living in the city while she interns at the Weinstein Co.
On Thursday night, Obama (third left) was spotted getting dinner with his daughter Malia (second right), at an Italian restaurant in Soho
The eldest Obama daughter is currently living in the city while she interns at the Weinstein Co. Above, another picture from the daddy-daughter dinner Thursday night
Malia looked to be in good spirits when she showed up to her internship on Friday morning
The restaurant is a hot spot for celebrities such as Rihanna, Billy Joel, Naomi Campbell and David Bowie.
The restaurant is known for its club-like feel, and a New York magazine reporter said that newcombers are 'scritinized' by owner Emilio Vitolo from his corner table.
Michelle Obama does not appear to have joined her husband for this trip. On Thursday, the former first lady was pictured leaving a Soul Cycle class in Washington, DC.
The Obama family have chosen to remain in DC so that their youngest daughter Sasha can finish high school.
Malia, 18, is set to start at Harvard this fall. She has spent the past year on a gap year, traveling South America and taking on this new internship.
Last weekend, she was spotted partying in Aspen with a cohort of fellow rich kids. | {
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Duration: 8:49 Views: 18 024 Submitted: 2 years ago
Description: The need to fuck caught this teen couple naked in the bathroom. So she bends over the counter and takes it deep into her pussy along with a creampie. | {
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An in-depth look into how two leading time-series databases stack up in terms of data model, query language, reliability, performance, ecosystem, operational management, and company/community support.
Note: This study was originally published in August 2018, updated in June 2019 and last updated on 3 August 2020.
Time-series data is emerging in more and more applications, including IoT, DevOps, Finance, Retail, Logistics, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, Automotive, Aerospace, SaaS, even machine learning and AI. In the past, the focus of time-series databases has been narrowly on metrics and monitoring; today it’s become clear that software developers really need a true time-series database designed for a variety of operational workloads.
If you are investing in a time-series database, that likely means you already have a meaningful amount of time-series data piling up quickly and need a place to store and analyze it. You may also recognize that the survival of your business will depend on the database you choose.
How to choose a time-series database
There are several factors to consider when evaluating a time-series database for your workloads:
Data model Query language Reliability Performance Ecosystem Operational management Company and community support
In this article, we compare two leading time-series databases, TimescaleDB and InfluxDB, to help software developers choose the time-series database best suited for their needs.
Typically database comparisons focus on performance benchmarks. Yet performance is just a part of the overall picture. It doesn't matter how well a database performs in benchmarks if it lacks the data model, query language, or reliability required for your production workloads. With that in mind, we begin by comparing TimescaleDB and InfluxDB across three qualitative dimensions, data model, query language, and reliability, before diving deeper with performance benchmarks. We then round out with a comparison with database ecosystem, operational management, and company/community support.
Yes, we are the developers of TimescaleDB, so you might quickly disregard our comparison as biased. But if you let the analysis speak for itself, you’ll find that we stay objective .
Also, this comparison isn’t a purely theoretical activity for us. Our company began as an IoT platform, where we first used InfluxDB to store our sensor data. However, owing to most of the differences listed below, we found InfluxDB unsatisfactory. So, we built TimescaleDB as the first time-series database that satisfied our needs, and then discovered others who needed it as well, which is when we decided to open source the database.
Today, just over 3 years later, the TimescaleDB developer community has come a long way, with tens of millions of downloads and over 500,000 active databases all over the world. This community includes organizations like AppDynamics, Bosch, Cisco, Comcast, Fujitsu, IBM, Schneider Electric, Samsung, Siemens, Uber, Warner Music, and thousands of others.
In the end, our goal is to help you decide which is the best time-series database for your needs.
Data model
Databases are opinionated. The way a database chooses to model and store your data determines what you can do with it.
When it comes to data models, TimescaleDB and InfluxDB have two very different opinions: TimescaleDB is a relational database, while InfluxDB is more of a custom, NoSQL, non-relational database. What this means is that TimescaleDB relies on the relational data model, commonly found in PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, etc. On the other hand, InfluxDB has developed its own custom data model, which, for the purpose of this comparison, we’ll call the tagset data model.
Relational data model
The relational data model has been in use for several decades now. With the relational model in TimescaleDB, each time-series measurement is recorded in its own row, with a time field followed by any number of other fields, which can be floats, ints, strings, booleans, arrays, JSON blobs, geospatial dimensions, date/time/timestamps, currencies, binary data, or even more complex data types. One can create indexes on any one field (standard indexes) or multiple fields (composite indexes), or on expressions like functions, or even limit an index to a subset of rows (partial index). Any of these fields can be used as a foreign key to secondary tables, which can then store additional metadata.
An example is below:
An example relational data model for time-series data
The advantage of this approach is that it is quite flexible. One can choose to have:
A narrow or wide table, depending on how much data and metadata to record per reading
Many indexes to speed up queries or few indexes to reduce disk usage
Denormalized metadata within the measurement row, or normalized metadata that lives in a separate table, either of which can be updated at any time (although it is easier to update in the latter case)
A rigid schema that validates input types or a schemaless JSON blob to increase iteration speed
Check constraints that validate inputs, for example checking for uniqueness or non-null values
The disadvantage of this approach is that to get started, one needs to generally choose a schema, and explicitly decide whether or not have indexes.
Note: In the past several years it’s been popular to criticize the relational model by claiming that it is not scalable. However, as we have already shown, this is simply not true: relational databases can indeed scale very well for time-series data.
With the InfluxDB tagset data model, each measurement has a timestamp, and an associated set of tags (tagset) and set of fields (fieldset). The fieldset represents the actual measurement reading values, while the tagset represents the metadata to describe the measurements.
Field data types are limited to floats, ints, strings, and booleans, and cannot be changed without rewriting the data. Tagset values are indexed, while fieldset values are not. Also, tagset values are always represented as strings, and cannot be updated.
An example is below:
An example tagset data model for time-series data
The advantage of this approach is that if one’s data naturally fits the tagset model, then it is quite easy to get started, as one doesn’t have to worry about creating schemas or indexes.
Conversely, the disadvantage of this model is that it is quite rigid and limited, with no ability to create additional indexes, indexes on continuous fields (e.g., numerics), update metadata after the fact, enforce data validation, etc.
In particular, even though this model may feel “schemaless”, there is actually an underlying schema that is auto-created from the input data, which may differ from the desired schema.
Data model summary
The tagset data model in InfluxDB is more limiting and thus might be easier to get started with for some. However, the relational model in TimescaleDB is more versatile and offers more functionality, flexibility, and control. This is especially important as your application evolves. When planning your system you should consider both its current and future needs.
Note: It’s also possible to create relational schema that are equivalent to the tagset model for specific use cases, such as Prometheus metrics. For more on this, see the Timescale-Prometheus GitHub repository.
Query language
Generally in the world of database query languages, there have been two extremes: full SQL support on one end, and completely custom languages (sometimes known as “NoSQL”) on the other.
SQL and Beyond: Timescale embraces SQL and extends it with special time-series functions. For more, see our detailed comparison on SQL vs Flux.
From the beginning, TimescaleDB has firmly existed at the SQL end of the spectrum, fully embracing the language from day 1, and later further extending it to simplify time-series analysis. This has enabled TimescaleDB to have a minimal learning curve for new users, and allowed it to inherit the entire SQL ecosystem of 3rd party tools, connectors, and visualization options, which is larger than that of any other time-series database.
In contrast, InfluxDB began with a “SQL-like” query language (called InfluxQL), placing it in the middle of the spectrum, and then made a marked move towards the “custom” end with a new query language from InfluxDB called Flux. (Read the Flux announcement on Hacker News, and our comparison of SQL vs. Flux.)
At a high-level, here’s how the two language syntaxes compare, using a Flux query that performs math across measurements as an example:
TimescaleDB (SQL)
SELECT time, (memUsed / procTotal / 1000000) as value FROM measurements WHERE time > now() - '1 hour'; SQL query
InfluxDB (Flux)
// Memory used (in bytes) memUsed = from(bucket: "telegraf/autogen") |> range(start: -1h) |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == "mem" and r._field == "used" ) // Total processes running procTotal = from(bucket: "telegraf/autogen") |> range(start: -1h) |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == "processes" and r._field == "total" ) // Join memory used with total processes and calculate // the average memory (in MB) used for running processes. join( tables: {mem:memUsed, proc:procTotal}, on: ["_time", "_stop", "_start", "host"] ) |> map(fn: (r) => ({ _time: r._time, _value: (r._value_mem / r._value_proc) / 1000000 }) ) Flux query
For most use cases, we believe that SQL is the right query language for a time-series database. SQL has a rich tradition and history, including familiarity among millions of developers and a vibrant ecosystem of tutorials, training, and community leaders. In short, choosing SQL means you’re never alone.
While Flux may make some tasks easier, there are significant trade-offs to adopting a custom query language. First, new query languages introduce significant overhead and reduce readability. They force a greater learning curve onto new users and possess a scarcity of compatible tools and community support.
And they may not even be a viable option: rebuilding a system and re-educating a company to write and read a new query language is often not practically possible. Particularly if the company already is using SQL-compatible tools on top of the database, such as Tableau for visualization.
This is also why SQL is making a comeback as the query language of choice for data infrastructure in general. Indeed, SQL is well-documented and is the third-most commonly used programming language among developers.
From the 2020 Stack Overflow Developer Survey
Reliability
Another cardinal rule for a database: it cannot lose or corrupt your data. This is a dimension where there is a stark difference in the approaches TimescaleDB and InfluxDB have taken, which has implications for reliability.
At its start, InfluxDB sought to completely write an entire database in Go. In fact, it doubled down on this decision with its 0.9 release, which again completely rewrote the backend storage engine. With InfluxDB 2.0 (currently in beta at the time of publishing), it’s (at least) the second complete rewrite attempted by the InfluxData team.
These design decisions have significant implications that affect reliability. First, InfluxDB has to implement the full suite of fault-tolerance mechanisms, including replication, high availability, and backup/restore. Second, InfluxDB is responsible for its on-disk reliability, e.g., to make sure all its data structures are both durable and resist data corruption across failures (and even failures during the recovery of failures).
We made a dramatically different architectural decision when building TimescaleDB: build on PostgreSQL. TimescaleDB relies on the 25+ years of hard, careful engineering work that the entire PostgreSQL community has done to build a rock-solid database that supports millions of mission-critical applications worldwide.
In fact, this was at the core of our co-founder’s launch post about TimescaleDB: When Boring is Awesome. Stateless microservices may crash and reboot, or trivially scale up and down. Actually, this is the entire “recovery-oriented computing” philosophy, as well as the thinking behind the new “serverless” design pattern. But your database needs to actually persist data, and should not wake you up at 3am because it’s in some broken state.
So let us return to these two aspects of reliability.
First, programs can crash, servers can encounter hardware or power failures, disks can fail or experience corruption. You can mitigate this risk (e.g., robust software engineering practices, uninterrupted power supplies, disk RAID, etc.), but not eliminate it completely; it’s a fact of life for systems. In response, databases have been built with an array of mechanisms to further reduce such risk, including streaming replication to replicas, full-snapshot backup and recovery, streaming backups, robust data export tools, etc.
Given TimescaleDB’s design, it’s able to leverage the full spectrum of tools that the Postgres ecosystem offers and has rigorously tested: streaming replication for high availability and read-only replicas, pg_dump and pg_recovery for full database snapshots, pg_basebackup and log shipping / streaming for incremental backups and arbitrary point-in-time recovery, pgBackrest or WAL-E for continuous archiving to cloud storage, and robust COPY FROM and COPY TO tools for quickly importing/exporting data with a variety of formats.
InfluxDB, on the other hand, has had to build all these tools from scratch. In fact, it doesn’t offer many of these capabilities even today. It initially offered replication and high availability in its open source version, but subsequently pulled this capability out of open source and into its enterprise product. InfluXDB backup tools have the ability to perform a full snapshot and recover to this point-in-time, and only recently added some support for a manual form of incremental backups.
That said, InfluxDB’s approach of performing incremental backups based on database time ranges seems quite risky from a correctness perspective, given that timestamped data may arrive out-of-order, and thus the incremental backups -since some time period would not reflect this late data. And its ability to easily and safely export large volumes of data is also quite limited. We’ve heard from many users (including Timescale engineers in their past careers) that they had to write custom scripts to safely export data; asking for more than a few 10,000s of data points would cause the database to out-of-memory error and crash.
The pain of trying to export data out of InfluxDB gave rise to Outflux, a tool to migrate data from InfluxDB to TimescaleDB with a single command.
Second, databases need to provide strong on-disk reliability and durability, so that once a database has committed to storing a write, it is safely persisted to disk. In fact, for very large data volumes, the same argument even applies to indexing structures, which could otherwise take hours or days to recover; there’s good reason that file systems have moved from painful fsck recovery to journaling mechanisms.
In TimescaleDB, we made the conscious decision not to change the lowest levels of PostgreSQL storage (even in implementing hybrid row/columnar storage in TimescaleDB native compression), nor interfere with the proper function of its write-ahead log (WAL). The WAL ensures that as soon as a write is accepted, it gets written to an on-disk log to ensure safety and durability, even before the data is written to its final location and all its indexes are safely updated. These data structures are critical for ensuring consistency and atomicity; they prevent data from becoming lost or corrupted, and ensure safe recovery. This is something the database community (and PostgreSQL) has worked hard on: what happens if your database crashes (and will subsequently try to recover) while it’s already in the middle of recovering from another crash?
InfluxDB had to design and implement all recovery, reliability and durability functionality from scratch. This is a notoriously hard problem in databases that typically takes many years or even decades to get correct. Some metrics stores might be okay with occasionally losing data, but we see TimescaleDB being used in settings where this is not acceptable. InfluxDB forums, on the other hand, are rife with such complaints: “DB lost after restart”, “data loss during high ingest rate”, “data lost from InfluxDB databases”, “unresponsive due to corruption after disk disaster”, “data messed up after restoring multiple databases”, and so on.
These challenges and problems are not unique to InfluxDB, and every developer of a reliable, stateful service must grapple with them. Every database goes through a period when it sometimes loses data because it's really, really hard to get all the corner cases right. And eventually, all those corner cases come to haunt some operator. But, PostgreSQL went through this period in the 1990s, while InfluxDB is still figuring these things out today.
Performance
Now, let’s get into some hard numbers with a quantitative comparison of the two databases across a variety of insert and read workloads. Given how common high-cardinality datasets are within time-series, we will first take a look at how InfluxDB and TimescaleDB handle this issue.
Note: We've released all the code and data used for the below benchmarks as part of the open-source Time Series Benchmark Suite (TSBS) (GitHub, announcement).
Machine Configuration
For comparing both insert and read latency performance, we used the following setup:
Version: TimescaleDB version 1.7.1, community edition, with PostgreSQL 12, InfluxDB version 1.8.0 Open Source Edition (the latest non-beta releases for both databases at the time of publishing).
1 remote client machine, 1 database server, both in the same cloud datacenter
Instance size: Both client and database server ran on DigitalOcean virtual machines (droplets) with 32 vCPU and 192GB Memory each.
OS: Both server and client machines ran Ubuntu 18.04.3
Disk Size: 4.8TB of disk in a raid0 configuration (EXT4 filesystem)Deployment method: Database servers were deployed using Docker images, using images pulled from the official Docker hubs of Influx Data and Timescale respectively.
Insert performance
For insert performance, we used the following datasets and configuration:
Dataset: 100-10,000,000 simulated devices generated 10 CPU metrics every 10 seconds for ~100M reading intervals. Intervals used for each configuration are as follows: 31 days for 100 devices, 4 days for 4,000 devices, 3 hours for 100,000 devices and 3 minutes for 1,000,000 and 10,000,000 devices.
Datasets used to benchmark insert performance between InfluxDB and TimescaleDB
The datasets were created using Time-Series Benchmarking Suite, using the cpu-only use case.
Batch size: Inserts were made using a batch size of 10,000 which was used for both InfluxDB and TimescaleDB
Additional database configurations: For TimescaleDB, we set the chunk time depending on the data volume, aiming for 7-16 chunks in total for each configuration (more on chunks here). For InfluxDB, we enabled the TSI (time series index). All other parameters were kept as default.
Insert Rate Comparison: TimescaleDB outperforms InfluxDB as number of devices and cardinality of data increases.
Performance comparison: Timescale is gives ~3.5x the performance of InfluxDB for high cardinality data
On insert performance as the cardinality of the dataset increases, the results are fairly clear:
For workloads with extremely low cardinality, like the configuration with 100 devices, InfluxDB offers better insert performance than TimescaleDB.
However, as cardinality increases, InfluxDB performance drops dramatically due to its reliance on time-structured merge trees (which, similar to the log-structured merge trees it is modeled after, suffers with higher-cardinality datasets).
This of course should be no surprise, as high cardinality is a well known Achilles heel for InfluxDB (source: GitHub, Forums). In comparison, TimescaleDB actually sees better performance as cardinality increases, with moderate drop off in terms of absolute insert rate, very quickly surpassing InfluxDB in terms of insert performance for the configurations of 4,000, 100,000, 1 million and 10 million devices.
That said, it is worth doing an honest analysis of your insert needs. If your insert performance is far below these benchmarks (e.g., if it is 2,000 rows / second), then insert performance will not be your bottleneck, and this comparison becomes moot.
Insert performance summary
For workloads with extremely low cardinality, the databases are comparable, with InfluxDB outperforming Timescale.
As cardinality increases, InfluxDB insert performance drops off dramatically faster than that with TimescaleDB.
For workloads with high cardinality, TimescaleDB has ~3.5x the insert performance as InfluxDB.
If your insert performance is far below these benchmarks (e.g., if it is 2,000 rows / second), then insert performance will not be your bottleneck.
Read latency
For benchmarking read latency, we used the following setup for each database (the machine configuration is the same as the the one used in the Insert comparison):
Dataset: 100–4,000 simulated devices generated 1–10 CPU metrics every 10 seconds for 4 full days (100M+ reading intervals, 1B+ metrics)
10,000 batch size was used for both on inserts
For TimescaleDB, we set the chunk time to 12 hours, resulting in 8 total chunks (more on chunk time here).
We also enabled native compression on TimescaleDB, a new feature introduced in Timescale 1.5. We compressed all data older than 12 hours, resulting in 7 chunks compressed and 1 chunk (data from the last 12 hours) uncompressed. This configuration is a commonly recommended one, since raw data is kept for recent time periods and older data is compressed, enabling greater query efficiency and ability to handle out of order data (see our compression docs for more). The parameters we used to enable compression are as follows: We segmented by the `tags_id` and `hostname` columns and ordered by `time` descending and `usage_user` columns.
For InfluxDB, we enabled the TSI (Time Series Index)
On read (i.e., query) latency, the results are more complex. Unlike inserts, which primarily vary on cardinality size (and perhaps batch size), the universe of possible queries is essentially infinite, especially with a language as powerful as SQL. Often, the best way to benchmark read latency is to do it with the actual queries you plan to execute. For this case, we use a broad set of queries to mimic the most common query patterns.
The results shown below are the average from 1000 queries for each query type. Latencies in this chart are all shown as milliseconds, with an additional column showing the relative performance of TimescaleDB compared to InfluxDB (highlighted in orange when TimescaleDB is faster, in blue when InfluxDB is faster).
Results of benchmarking query performance between TimescaleDB and InfluxDB
SIMPLE ROLLUPS
For simple rollups (i.e., groupbys), when aggregating one metric across a single host for 1 or 12 hours, or multiple metrics across one or multiple hosts (either for 1 hour or 12 hours), TimescaleDB generally outperforms InfluxDB at both at low and high cardinality. In particular, TimescaleDB exhibited 460% the performance of InfluxDB on configurations with 100 and 4,000 devices with 10 unique metrics being generated every read interval.
AGGREGATES
When calculating a simple aggregate for 1 device, performance is comparable between both TimescaleDB and InfluxDB across any number of devices. But TimescaleDB significantly outperforms InfluxDB when it's necessary to aggregate more than 1 metric. In our benchmark, TimescaleDB demonstrates 168% the performance of InfluxDB when aggregating 8 metrics across 100 devices, and 156% when aggregating 8 metrics across 4000 devices. Once again, TimescaleDB outperforms InfluxDB for high-end scenarios.
DOUBLE ROLLUPS
For double rollups aggregating metrics by time and another dimension (e.g., GROUPBY time, deviceId): When aggregating one metric, InfluxDB shows better performance than TimescaleDB with TimescaleDB only 54% as good as InfluxDB for the 4,000 device config. However, as the number of metrics being aggregated increases, TimescaleDB achieves 188% the performance of InfluxDB.
THRESHOLDS
When selecting rows based on a threshold, TimescaleDB outperforms InfluxDB. Timescale demonstrates between 350-860% the performance of InfluxDB when computing thresholds for a single device and 175-258% the performance of InfluxDB when computing thresholds for all devices for a random time window.
COMPLEX QUERIES
For complex queries that go beyond rollups or thresholds, the comparison is much more clear cut: TimescaleDB vastly outperforms InfluxDB here (in some cases over thousands of times faster). The absolute difference in performance here is actually quite stark: While InfluxDB might be faster by a few milliseconds or tens of milliseconds for some of the single-metric rollups, that difference is mostly indistinguishable to human-facing applications.
For complex queries that go beyond rollups or thresholds, there really is no comparison: TimescaleDB vastly outperforms InfluxDB here (in some cases over thousands of times faster).
Yet for these more complex queries, TimescaleDB provides real-time responses (e.g., 10–100s of milliseconds), while InfluxDB sees significant human-observable delays (tens of seconds).
It’s worth noting that there were several other complex queries that we couldn’t test because of lack of support from InfluxDB: e.g., joins, window functions, geospatial queries, etc.
Notice that Timescale exhibits 340-7100% the performance of Influx on these complex queries, many of which are common to historical analysis and monitoring.
Read latency performance summary
For simple queries, TimescaleDB generally outperforms InfluxDB.
For aggregates and double roll ups, TimescaleDB also generally outperforms InfluxDB. However, when simply rolling up just a single metric, InfluxDB can sometimes outperform TimescaleDB.
When selecting rows based on a threshold, TimescaleDB outperforms InfluxDB by a significant margin, being up to 414% faster.
For complex queries, TimescaleDB vastly outperforms InfluxDB, and supports a broader range of query types; the difference here is often in the range of seconds to tens of seconds, with Timescale 344-7100% the performance improvement over InfluxDB.
Stability issues during benchmarking
We had several operational issues benchmarking InfluxDB as our datasets grew, even with the Influx Time-series Index (TSI) enabled. In particular, as we experimented with higher cardinality data sets (100K+ tags), we ran into trouble with both inserts and queries on InfluxDB (but not on TimescaleDB).
While we were able to insert batches of 10K into InfluxDB at lower cardinalities, once we got·to 100k devices we would experience timeouts and errors with batch sizes that large. The most common errors were write errors caused by exceeding the maximum cache memory size, timeouts and fatal out of memory errors, which all occurred during runtime.
An example of the fatal errors we encountered while benchmarking InfluxDB
Solving these errors required a combination of increasing the maximum cache size, from the default 1GB to between 4GB and 64GB as we went from 100,000 to 10,000,000 devices, as well as decreasing the batch size from 10,000 to between 5,000 and 1,000 and using client side code to deal with the backpressure incurred at higher cardinalities. We had to force our client code to sleep for up to 30 seconds after requests received errors writing the batches.
In contrast, with TimescaleDB, we were able to write large batches at higher cardinality without issue and with no additional configuration.
Moreover, starting at 100K cardinality, we also experienced problems with some of our read queries on InfluxDB. Our InfluxDB HTTP connection would error out with a cryptic ‘End of File’ message. When we investigated the InfluxDB server we found out that InfluxDB had consumed all available memory to run the query and subsequently crashed with an Out of Memory error. Since PostgreSQL helpfully allows us to limit system memory usage with settings like shared_buffers and work_mem, this generally was not an issue for TimescaleDB even at higher cardinalities.
High-cardinality datasets
High-cardinality datasets are a significant weakness for InfluxDB.
InfluxDB and the TSI
High-cardinality datasets are a significant weakness for InfluxDB. This is because of how the InfluxDB developers have architected their system, starting with their Time-series Index (TSI).
The InfluxDB TSI is a home-grown log-structured merge tree based system comprised of various data structures, including hashmaps and bitsets. This includes: an in-memory log (“LogFile”) that gets periodically flushed to disk when it exceeds a threshold (5MB) and compacted to an on-disk memory-mapped index (“IndexFile”); a file (“SeriesFile”) that contains a set of all series keys across the entire database. (Described here in the InfluxDB documentation.)
The performance of the TSI is limited by the complex interactions of all of these data structures.
The design decisions behind the TSI also leads to several other limitations with performance implications:
Their total cardinality limit is around 30 million (although based on the graph above, InfluxDB starts to perform poorly well before that), or far below what is often required in time-series use cases like IoT and IT Monitoring.
InfluxDB indexes tags but not fields, which means that queries that filter on fields can not perform better than full scans. For example, if one wanted to search for all rows where there was no free memory (e.g, something like, SELECT * FROM sensor_data WHERE mem_free = 0 ), one could not do better than a full linear scan (i.e., O(n) time) to identify the relevant data points.
), one could not do better than a full linear scan (i.e., O(n) time) to identify the relevant data points. The set of columns included in the index is completely fixed and immutable. Changing what columns in your data are indexed (tagged) and what things are not requires a full rewrite of your data.
InfluxDB is only able to index discrete, and not continuous, values due to its reliance on hashmaps. For example, to search all rows where temperature was greater than 90 degrees (e.g., something like SELECT * FROM sensor_data WHERE temperature > 90 ), one would again have to fully scan the entire dataset.
), one would again have to fully scan the entire dataset. Your cardinality on InfluxDB is affected by your cardinality across all time, even if some fields/values are no longer present in your dataset. This is because the SeriesFile stores all series keys across the entire dataset.
TimescaleDB and B-trees
In contrast, TimescaleDB is a relational database that relies on a proven data structure for indexing data: the B-tree. This decision leads to its ability to scale to high cardinalities.
First, TimescaleDB partitions your data by time, with one B-tree mapping time-segments to the appropriate partition (“chunk”). All of this partitioning happens behind the scenes and is hidden from the user, who is able to access a virtual table (“hypertable”) that spans all of their data across all partitions.
Next, TimescaleDB allows for the creation of multiple indexes across your dataset (e.g., for equipment_id, sensor_id, firmware_version, site_id). These indexes are then created on every chunk, by default in the form of a B-tree. (One can also create indexes using any of the built-in PostgreSQL index types: Hash, GiST, SP-GiST, GIN, and BRIN.)
This approach has a few benefits for high-cardinality datasets:
The simpler approach leads to a clearer understanding of how the database performs. As long as the indexes and data for the dataset we want to query fit inside memory, which is something that can be tuned, cardinality becomes a non-issue.
In addition, since the secondary indexes are scoped at the chunk level, the indexes themselves only get as large as the cardinality of the dataset for that range of time.
You have control over which columns to index, including the ability to create compound indexes over multiple columns. You can also add or delete indexes anytime you want, for example if your query workloads change. Unlike in InfluxDB, changing your indexing structure in TimescaleDB does not require you to rewrite the entire history of your data.
You can create indexes on discrete and continuous fields, particularly because B-trees work well for a comparison using any of the following operators: <, <=, =, >=, >, BETWEEN, IN, IS NULL, IS NOT NULL . Our example queries from above ( SELECT * FROM sensor_data WHERE mem_free = 0 and SELECT * FROM sensor_data WHERE temperature > 90’) will run in logarithmic, or O(log n), time.
. Our example queries from above ( and will run in logarithmic, or O(log n), time. The other supported index types can come in handy in other scenarios, e.g., GIST indexes for “nearest neighbor” searches.
Ecosystem
The database can only do so much, which is when one typically turns to the broader 3rd party ecosystem for additional capabilities. This is when the size and scope of the ecosystem make a large difference.
TimescaleDB’s approach of embracing SQL pays large dividends, as it allows TimescaleDB to speak with any tool that speaks SQL. In contrast, the non-SQL strategy chosen by InfluxDB isolates the database, and limits how InfluxDB can be used by its developers.
Having a broad ecosystem makes deployment easier. For example, if one is already using Tableau to visualize data, or Apache Spark for data processing, TimescaleDB can plug right into the existing infrastructure due to its compatible connectors.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of 1st party (e.g., the components of the InfluxData TICK stack) and 3rd party tools that connect with either database, to show the relative difference in the two database ecosystems.
Official support refers to when tool makers themselves support the database – for example, the visualization tool Grafana has official support for both TimescaleDB and InfluxDB.
Official support is given 3 checkmarks.
Unofficial support refers to when toolmakers do not support the database natively in the tool, but a connector or library is available.
For tools which give either database unofficial support, we differentiate the quality of those tools based on the number of GitHub stars they’ve received. Unofficial tools with less than 100 GitHub stars are given 1 checkmark, but those with 100 stars or more are given two checkmarks.
For the open-source projects below, to reflect the popularity of the projects, we included the number of GitHub stars they had as of publication in parentheses, e.g., Apache Kafka (9k+). For many of the unofficial projects for InfluxDB, for example, the unofficial supporting project was often very early (very few stars) or inactive (no updates in months or years).
Ecosystem Comparison: InfluxDB vs TimescaleDB
Operational Management
Even if a database satisfies all the above needs, it still needs to work, and someone needs to operate it.
Based on our experience, operational management requirements typically boil down to these categories: high availability, resource consumption (memory, disk, cpu), general tooling.
High availability
No matter how reliable the database, at some point your node will go down: hardware errors, disk errors, or some other unrecoverable issue.
Thus, high availability of your database goes from a value-added feature to a requirement for production deployments. At that point, you will want to ensure you have a standby available for failover with no loss of data.
While InfluxDB high availability is only offered by their paid enterprise version, TimescaleDB supports high availability for free in both its open source and Community editions, via PostgreSQL streaming replication (as explained in this tutorial). This is yet another benefit that Timescale inherits as a result of the rock solid foundation of PostgreSQL.
Resource consumption
Disk usage
InfluxDB offers native compression using a variety of techniques: Snappy for strings, delta encoding, scaling and simple-8b with run length encoding for timestamps, Gorilla delta encoding for floats, bits for booleans and delta encoding for integers.
TimescaleDB offers native compression using a novel hybrid row/columnar storage approach, using Gorilla compression for floats, delta-of-delta and simple-8b with run-length encoding for timestamps and integer like types, whole-row dictionary compression for a few repeating values, with LZ compression on top and lastly LZ-based array compression for all other types. (See here for more on how TimescaleDB’s native compression works.)
Using a combination of datasets for the insert and query benchmarks above, and compressing all chunks for TimescaleDB, here’s how the two databases fared at varying cardinalities:
Disk Usage Comparison: InfluxDB vs TimescaleDB
Note: Numbers do not include WAL size, as that is configurable by the user.
Thanks to its column-oriented structure, InfluxDB is able achieve better compression ratios overall. However, the gap is on the order of megabytes on the low end, and narrows at higher cardinalities. Considering the low memory usage of TimescaleDB compared to InfluxDB, and the fact that memory is often an order of magnitude more expensive than disk, we have found that this gap in storage to not be an issue.
CPU usage
According to an external comparison by DNSFilter, using TimescaleDB resulted in 10x better resource utilization (even with 30% higher requests) when compared to InfluxDB:
General tooling
When operating TimescaleDB, one inherits all of the battle-tested tools that exist in the PostgreSQL ecosystem: pg_dump and pg_restore for backup/restore, HA/failover tools like Patroni, load balancing tools for clustering reads like Pgpool, etc. Since TimescaleDB looks and feels like PostgreSQL, there are minimal operational learning curves. TimescaleDB “just works”, as one would expect from PostgreSQL.
For operating InfluxDB, one is limited to the tools that the Influx team has built: backup, restore, internal monitoring, etc.
Company and Community Support
Finally, when investing in an open source technology primarily developed by a company, you are implicitly also investing in that company’s ability to serve you, whether you’re a paying customer or not. With that in mind, let’s note the differences between Timescale and InfluxData, the companies behind TimescaleDB and InfluxDB.
Timescale continues to invest in the community with its free self-managed versions, while also actively developing its hosted and managed offering, Timescale Cloud. In recent months, Timescale folded many Enterprise features (like automated data retention policies) into its "Community Edition," making them free to download and run on-premises, or in your own cloud infrastructure. Timescale also announced that multi-node scale-out will be available for free. (See this post to learn more about TimescaleDB multi-node design and availability, as well as more ways Timescale is investing in its community.)
In contrast, while Influx does have an open-source offering alongside its licensed InfluxDB Enterprise, its more advanced features like clustering, remain gated behind an enterprise license. The company also appears to be de-prioritizing its open-source product and instead focusing on their SaaS offering, Influx Cloud.
Moreover, for technical products, support and resources often come not just from the company building the technology, but the community of developers who use it. InfluxData is building their community from scratch, while Timescale is able to inherit and build on PostgreSQL’s community. This means that InfluxData community support is a walled garden: inherently more closed, less varied, and smaller, compared to the open diversity of expertise present in the vibrant 20+ year old PostgreSQL ecosystem.
Furthermore, because TimescaleDB operates just like PostgreSQL, much of the knowledge base relevant to PostgreSQL is also relevant to TimescaleDB. So if you are new to TimescaleDB (or SQL or PostgreSQL), there are many resources available to help get you started. Alternatively, if you are already a SQL or PostgreSQL expert, you will already know how to use the majority of TimescaleDB (save for a small learning curve of optimizations built specifically for time-series data, like SQL functions for complex analysis).
Cloud services
Both databases have cloud offerings. Timescale Cloud, Timescale’s hosted and managed service, is available on AWS, GCP and Azure, in over 75 regions and over 2000 different region/storage/compute configurations. By comparison, Influx Cloud, InfluxData’s hosted service, is available on all 3 major clouds, but only in 4 regions.
Cloud coverage comparison between InfluxDB and TimescaleDB as of July 2020
Summary
No one wants to invest in a technology only to have it limit their growth or scale in the future, let alone invest in something that's the wrong fit today.
Before making a decision, take a step back and analyze your stack, your team's skills, and your needs (now and in the future). It could be the difference between infrastructure that evolves and grows with you and one that crumbles to the ground and forces you to start all over.
In this post, we performed a detailed comparison of TimescaleDB and InfluxDB. We don’t claim to be InfluxDB experts, so we’re open to any suggestions on how to improve this comparison. In general, we aim to be as transparent as possible about our data models, methodologies, and analysis, and we welcome feedback. We also encourage readers to raise any concerns about the information we’ve presented in order to help us with benchmarking in the future.
We recognize that TimescaleDB isn’t the only time-series solution and there are situations where it might not be the best answer. And we strive to be upfront in admitting where an alternate solution may be preferable. But we’re always interested in holistically evaluating our solution against that of others, and we’ll continue to share our insights with the greater community.
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Associated Press
We have fewer than 50 days until the 2018 NFL draft, and post-combine there is starting to be clarity about who the best players in the class are. That makes this a great time to update my top 50 players overall and the top 10 at each position.
As you'll see, this class has more depth than was originally thought. The quarterback position has six players inside my top 60. At running back, there are seven players inside the top 100. And while the wide receiver and offensive tackle groups lack top-end depth, there is great depth in the second tiers. And if you need an interior offensive lineman, this is the year to get one early in the draft with Pro Bowl potential.
Defensively, this is a good draft. There's an elite edge-rusher (Bradley Chubb) as well a ton of talent at linebacker and cornerback that will tempt teams in the first round. The group at defensive tackle mirrors that offensive tackle class in that there are several with Round 1 grades but not a clear top player.
A lot can still change as players get to their pro days and private workouts with teams, but the picture is starting to come into focus. | {
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Photo: Demetrius Freeman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Author’s note: I don’t want anyone to take this piece to suggest that things are not very bad, and will not remain very bad for a substantial period. This outbreak is not yet under control and won’t be fully under control until new medical therapies are available. Many people’s outlook on this outbreak remains too optimistic. My main point in this piece is that the suite of social measures we use to control this outbreak — which will be central to controlling the spread and limiting the death toll — can be expected to evolve over time as circumstances change and our institutions develop new competencies. Extreme social-distancing measures — including mass closures of workplaces and cessation of most social contacts outside families — may not be sustainable for as long as it takes to develop a vaccine. But they nonetheless are necessary now, will remain so for a significant period, and are likely to require periodic reimposition even after the acute outbreak recedes to the point they can be relaxed where you live.
The epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, the lead author of the Imperial College study that appears to have shifted U.S. and U.K. policy responses to treat the outbreak with much greater urgency, writes on Twitter: “I would comment that this is the time for innovative thinking about how we can practically maintain long-term suppression of transmission of this virus at a lower societal and economic cost than the world faces for the next few months. We still don’t know how successful measures adopted by China and Korea will be long term, but what happens in those countries will undoubtedly inform strategy elsewhere. Large scale readily available testing, combined with case isolation and contact tracing — perhaps assisted by technological solutions — may be key. But the first priority is to get case numbers down (R<1). There will then be a (limited) breathing space to assess less disruptive longer term solutions.”
The idea is setting in this week: We’re not going to be done with this coronavirus thing in a month or two. If you lock down society to beat the epidemic, and succeed in drastically slowing new infections, but then go back to what you were doing before, the epidemic can just come raging back. In that scenario, society would remain full of people without antibodies who remain vulnerable to COVID-19, and they would be engaging in the social contacts that allowed the virus to spread so rapidly in the first place. That beating this epidemic will not be a one-and-done thing is an important realization; it’s good that the president leveled with people on Monday in saying he expected disruptions to persist into July or August. People should be prepared to deal with a lot of change to their lives for a long time, with significant economic and social costs.
But, for the first time in a while, I think part of the coronavirus conventional wisdom has become too pessimistic. Yes, the fight to stop the spread of the virus is going to have to be ongoing unless, and until, we develop a vaccine or highly effective medical treatments, which is to say for at least several months. But the nature of the disruption does not have to stay constant. It is necessary now to close schools and businesses, and tell people to drastically reduce social contacts in a way that is economically devastating to many businesses and workers. But there is a trade-off: The better we get at interventions to identify and isolate specific people with the virus, the less we should need to rely on interventions that isolate the entire population. That’s a reason the ramp-up of widely available testing remains such an important goal for the U.S.: More testing should, in time, allow for more normal living.
We are seeing this already in other countries: South Korea and Singapore have been successfully addressing their coronavirus epidemics with less extensive social-distancing measures than are currently seen in Italy, France, and parts of the U.S., in part because of their effective testing and surveillance regimes. The Financial Times reports today on the town of Vò, Italy, which successfully stopped its local outbreak though a strategy that involved widespread testing of the population and isolation of those who tested positive, even as the rest of Northern Italy did not fare so well.
If an outbreak becomes widespread enough, it becomes impractical to conduct effective surveillance and isolation of an infected population that is simply too large to track. So my suggestion is not that if you dropped a massive testing capability into New York City today, it would be fine to reopen the Broadway theaters. But at some point, the massive shutdowns we are undertaking in much of the U.S. (and ought to be undertaking in more of it) should make it possible to sharply reduce the rate of new infections to a point where widespread testing and monitoring can become a cornerstone of a strategy to prevent uncontrolled outbreaks — if we actually have the capability to do such testing and monitoring. This would not mean a complete end to the need for social distancing measures, but it could allow for a reduction in their intensity.
It is also possible that effective antiviral treatments to treat the sick will be available much sooner than a vaccine that protects the healthy. This is partly because ongoing trials are testing whether already existing antiviral drugs, approved and on the market to fight other viruses, can reduce the severity of COVID-19 and save lives. Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, one of the public-health experts I spoke with for my story in our current print magazine, told me he thought widespread availability of effective antiviral drugs could come as early as late spring or early summer. This would be another important tool to save lives and reduce the burden on our hospitals, giving us additional space to rely less on societywide behavior changes.
The economic, social, and psychological effects of extended, societywide isolation measures are going to be severe, and I worry about the public’s long-run willingness to comply with them. Extensive testing, monitoring, and isolation related to specific coronavirus cases would not be a trivial imposition either, but it would be much less painful and disruptive. There is a reason the World Health Organization is pushing a mantra of “test, test, test.” Ramping up a more effective testing capability is likely to help us avoid the worst-case scenarios for the length and severity of coronavirus-related social disruptions, on the way to defeating the virus more soundly.
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NEW DELHI: The number of coronavirus cases touched 114 in the country on Monday after fresh cases were reported from several states, including Odisha as the government imposed fresh travel restrictions, prohibiting entry of passengers from the EU countries and the UK from March 18.
The country is slowly moving towards a complete shutdown as governments across the states ordered the closure of schools, colleges, malls, cinema halls and dissuade people from attending large public gatherings.
Here is a look at all the latest development on the outbreak of coronavirus in India and around the world —
'Test every suspected case' of COVID-19: WHO
The World Health Organization on Monday called for countries to test every suspected case of COVID-19, as the rest of the world registered more cases and deaths in the pandemic than China.
"You cannot fight a fire blindfolded," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva, saying the WHO recommended that countries "Test, test, test. Test every suspected case."
"In the past week, we have seen a rapid escalation of cases of COVID-19," he said, describing the pandemic as "the defining global health crisis of our time."
Three new cases in Kerala, monitoring strengthened
Three more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Kerala on Monday, taking the number of affected cases to 24, as the government decided to strengthen surveillance by monitoring all passengers reaching the state, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
While two people tested positive in Malappuram, one positive case was from Kasaragod district.
"The total number of people under surveillance are 12,740, of whom 270 are in hospitals and the rest under home quarantine," he said.
Italy reports 349 new virus deaths
Italy on Monday reported 349 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking its total since last month to 2,158, the most after China.
The number of official COVID-19 fatalities has more than doubled since Thursday, when Italy's toll topped 1,000 for the first time. Italy now has 27,980 infections, compared to 15,113 four days ago.
India bars travellers from UK, EU, Turkey from March 18
India has temporarily barred entry of travellers from United Kingdom, European Union, Turkey and European Free Trade Association from Wednesday (March 18).
In addition, those either coming from or transiting through UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait will need to be quarantined for at least two weeks.
Both these additional measures are temporary and will be in force till March 31, when it will be reviewed, in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, the government said.
MEA launches helplines for those seeking assistance
The ministry of external affairs has launched helplines for those seeking assistance in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The MEA has set up a special cell to coordinate with Indians living abroad on issues related with the response to the pandemic that has claimed more than 5,000 lives worldwide.
"All hands on deck! @MEAIndia's helplines for COVID-19 Control Centre are open. Control Room: 1800118797 (toll free), +91- 11- 23012113, +91- 11- 23014104, +91- 11- 23017905," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
He also shared a fax number -- +91- 011-23018158 -- and an email address -- [email protected] -- for those wanting to reach out to the ministry in connection with issues related to the outbreak.
Number of coronavirus cases rises to 114
The number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 114 with one new case each in Ladakh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala, health ministry officials said on Monday.
The number includes 13 people who have been discharged after they recovered and two fatalities, they said.
Iran reports 129 new virus deaths, taking total to 853
Iran said on Monday that the novel coronavirus had killed 129 more people, a new record high for a single day in one of the world's worst-hit countries.
"Our plea is that everyone take this virus seriously and in no way attempt to travel to any province," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
The latest deaths bring the overall toll to 853 fatalities since February 19, when the government announced Iran's first two deaths from the COVID-19 disease.
McDonald's, Domino's Pizza introduce contactless delivery
McDonald's and Domino's Pizza have introduced contactless delivery, with state governments taking measures to avoid gathering of people in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Westlife Development, owner and operator of of McDonald's restaurants in west and southern India, on Monday said it has launched contactless delivery to ensure food reaches customers without being touched by bare hands and delivered safe with adequate social distancing measures.
Similarly, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL), the licensee for Domino's Pizza in India said it has introduced zero-contact delivery all 1,325 restaurants of Domino's Pizza in India.
In a regulatory filing, Westlife Development said it has provided riders with sanitizers to sanitise hands before and after each delivery and has instructed them to sanitise delivery bags every two hours of use.
Odisha reports first coronavirus case
The first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in Odisha was reported on Monday after a researcher who recently returned from Italy tested positive for it, a senior official said.
The 33-year-old man is being treated at Capital Hospital, the official said.
"His condition is stable and he is not showing any other complications," said Subroto Bagchi, the state government's chief spokesperson on COVID-19.
Covid-19 cases to be discharged only after 2 negative tests in 24 hours: Govt
The government has issued a discharge policy for Covid-19 cases under which a positive case shall be managed as per protocol and discharged after only two samples test negative within 24 hours and there’s evidence of chest radiographic clearance and viral clearance in respiratory samples.
Time to collaborate, not grow apart: PM Modi to Saarc
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered a collaborative approach to dealing with Covid-19 in South Asia with shared data, expertise and a fund to which India will make an initial contribution of $10 million even as Pakistan sought to muddy waters by raising Kashmir at a conversation of Saarc leaders over video conference on Sunday.
Chairing the unique video-conference of Saarc heads of government, Modi suggested a fund; rapid response teams of Indian doctors, specialists and testing gear for use by Saarc nations; online training for emergency response staff of participating nations; and video-conferences by doctors for distance diagnosis.
Hockey India postpones all junior, sub-junior national championships
Hockey India on Monday postponed all its junior and sub-junior national championships, which were scheduled to start from April 10, in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to resume by the end of next month should the situation improve.
"Keeping in mind the safety of the players, Hockey India has taken a decision to postpone the annual National Championships for Junior, Sub-Junior Men and Women categories," Hockey India President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said in a statement.
Australian PM lauds Modi's G-20 link-up effort to combat COVID-19, promises all support
PM Scott Morrison has lauded and promised his support to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's efforts to organise a link-up among G-20 leaders to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
"And one of the things I should mention that I spoke to Prime Minister Johnson is when it comes to the G20, I'm also aware that Prime Minister Modi is keen to organise a link-up between all the G-20 leaders. I think that's, I think that's a commendable initiative. Australia obviously supports that. I've communicated that," Morrison said.
Fourth batch of 53 Indians arrive in India from Iran, says Jaishankar
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on early Monday said that the fourth batch of 53 Indians has arrived in India from Tehran and Shiraz in Iran. Out of the 53 Indians, 52 are students and one is a teacher. With this, a total of 389 Indians have returned to India from Iran.
Pompeo, Jaishankar discuss Covid-19 developments over phone
US secretary of state Michael Pompeo held a 'productive' conversation with India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar over the phone to discuss ways the two countries can cooperate to address the challenges arising due to global outbreak of coronavirus.
"Productive conversation with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on ways the US and India can collaborate to fight the global coronavirus outbreak," Pompeo tweeted.
Malls, cinemas, clubs closed in NCR as UP and Haryana tighten curbs
Several states ordered the closure of educational institutions, and others imposed a virtual lockdown by extending restrictions to other public places like cinema halls, malls, gyms and swimming pools.
The most populous state in the country, Uttar Pradesh, directed indefinite closure of all multiplexes, cinemas, clubs and gymnasiums in 10 districts, including state capital Lucknow, and Noida and Ghaziabad in NCR.
Infected Brit, 17 others leave Munnar resort, stopped at Kochi airport
A British national who had tested positive for Covid-19 was among a group of 18, all from the UK, that was stopped from boarding an Emirates flight to Dubai at Kochi airport on Sunday morning following an alert from Munnar about the tourists allegedly fleeing the resort where they had been quarantined since Wednesday.
China industrial output contracts for first time in decades
China's industrial production, retail sales and investment all contracted in the first two months of the year after the coronavirus epidemic wreaked havoc on the economy, official data showed Monday. Industrial production for January and February shrank 13.5 per cent, the first contraction since the early 1990s.
US moves nearer to shutdown amid coronavirus fears
Officials across the country curtailed many elements of American life to fight the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, with health officials recommending that groups of 50 or more don't get together and a government expert saying a 14-day national shutdown may be needed.
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The St. Louis Progressive Students Organization is organizing major disruptions at Donald Trump’s rally at the Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis.
One thousand people have signed up as interested in attending the disturbance.
317 have committed to attend the rally and raise hell.
From their Facebook page:
The fascist Donald Trump is coming to our city this Friday. It is our job and our duty to unite to #ShutItDown. UPDATE: **Buying tickets and then not showing up WILL NOT BE EFFECTIVE. Peabody Opera House will be filled with overflow crowd if people with tickets do not show up. Make sure to spread this as well.** If you would like assistance from us to help protect your safety, please feel free to message us and we will be making the proper connections as needed in the near future. If you got a ticket and would like to attend the actual Trump Rally, get there early! His website says doors open at 9AM, with the rally starting at noon, and we’re sure others will be there even earlier than that. TRENDING: RUTH BADER GINSBURG DEAD! Supreme Court Justice Dies at Home Surrounded by Family The safety of everyone either at the rally or part of our efforts is our top priority. Several measures will be taken to ensure this is upheld.
There is also a sit-down protest planned by protesters tomorrow at the Trump rally.
78 protesters have signed up to participate. | {
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Party leader says renewal of nuclear deterrent would go ahead if party wins election but there would be a review
Jeremy Corbyn has declined to say he is in favour of keeping Trident, despite a commitment to renewing the nuclear deterrent in the Labour manifesto.
In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil, Corbyn said he respected the party’s decision to commit to the weapons system, but there would be a defence review to “look at the role of nuclear weapons” if Labour wins power.
“I voted against the renewal, everybody knows that, because I wanted to go in a different direction. That decision has been taken, I respect that decision,” he said.
“It’s there in the programme, it’s there in the manifesto, it will be carried out ... It’s the position we are adopting as a party and we will take into government.”
But his comments about the defence review cast doubt on whether a Labour government would proceed with the replacement of four nuclear warhead-carrying Vanguard submarines at a cost of about £41bn.
“I want to achieve a nuclear-free world through multilateral disarmament, through the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,” he told Neil.
Labour’s position on Trident has caused some tension within the party during the election campaign, over whether the commitment to renewing the continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent would be reviewed if Corbyn were prime minister.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary – who is “sceptical” about Trident – was asked in an LBC radio interview to guarantee that backing for the missile system would definitely remain Labour policy after the review.
She replied: “Well no, of course not, if you are going to have a review, you have to have a review.”
However, her remarks were firmly disputed by Nia Griffith, the shadow defence secretary, who told BBC2’s Newsnight last week that the review was “not about actually questioning whether we would have a Trident nuclear deterrent, because we settled that last year.”
On the Manchester attack, Corbyn strongly disputed criticism from Theresa May and other senior Conservatives that he was blaming the bombing on the UK’s foreign policy.
“The attack on Manchester was shocking, appalling indefensible wrong in every possible way,” Corbyn said. “The parallel I was drawing this morning was a number of people ever since the interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have drawn attention to the links with foreign policy, including Boris Johnson in 2005, two former heads of MI5, and of course the foreign affairs select committee.
“The point I was making was we have to make our streets secure, our population secure. Any sensible government has got to look at what’s happened in Libya, a huge ungoverned space and apparently a source of support for extremism.”
Pressed again on whether he was saying the Manchester attack was a consequence of UK military interventions, he said: “Manchester was a consequence of one person going into a music event and killing a very large number of people. There can be no defensive whatsoever of that. I do not in any way change that view. That is just a vile, horrible event ... I made the point that if we are to have a secure future we have got to look at ungoverned spaces around the world and the consequences of our wars and interventions. It is not just me as I said. It’s MI5, the foreign affairs committee.”
When asked about divisions within Labour, including 180 of his MPs who supported a motion of no-confidence in him, Corbyn pointed to the party’s manifesto which all his parliamentarians have agreed.
“This manifesto has been agreed by everyone in our party,” he said. “This manifesto has enormous levels of public support. This manifesto has been campaigned for day in day out on the streets of this country, and do you know what, people like the contents of it because it offers them hope. It offers them opportunity.
“It offers our young people an opportunity to get the education they want, to get the skilled jobs that they want and it offers hope in the sense of community cohesion. And I invite everyone to have a look at the policies and decide what they are.”
Earlier, Neil challenged the Labour leader about his previous description of Nato as a “very dangerous Frankenstein of an organisation” and argument that it should have been “wound up”.
Corbyn said he wanted to “work within Nato to achieve stability ... and to promote a human rights democracy and under a Labour government that’s exactly what we’d be doing”.
Asked whether he thought it was a “Frankenstein”, and whether he had changed his views, Corbyn said: “No. What I’ve done – no, no ... Nato exists. It was a product initially of the Atlantic Charter in 1942, it then became ...”
Neil interrupted to say: “We know the history, Mr Corbyn. I’m trying to work out if you would be a committed supporter of Nato as every previous prime minister of this country has been?”
Corbyn replied that he would want the UK to be a “committed member of that alliance in order to promote peace, justice, human rights and democracy and I believe that we can make a positive contribution on that”.
The Labour leader was also questioned repeatedly about his past association with the IRA, though he denied he had ever supported the group and distanced himself again from supportive comments made by key allies John McDonnell and Diane Abbott.
“I never met the IRA. I obviously did meet people from Sinn Féin as indeed I met people from other organisations, and I always made the point that there had to be a dialogue and a peace process,” he said.
Challenged by Neil with comments from former IRA leader Sean O’Callaghan and negotiator Seamus Mallon that Corbyn had only ever supported “victory for the IRA”, Corbyn denied he had wanted a continuation of the violence.
“People were killed by loyalist bombs as well. All deaths are appalling, all deaths are wrong. There isn’t a military solution to a conflict between traditions and communities. There has to be a better way and a better process of doing it.” | {
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The Trump administration has proposed a radical plan to open nearly all U.S. coasts to oil and gas drilling. This plan threatens marine life, coastal communities, and our climate. Here’s what you can do to fight back.
Type in your state, coastal governor, senator, or representative to find out where they stand on Trump's reckless offshore drilling scheme. | {
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President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE on Thursday attacked Vanity Fair for apologizing for a video in which a writer encouraged Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonFox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio Trump, Biden court Black business owners in final election sprint The power of incumbency: How Trump is using the Oval Office to win reelection MORE to take up knitting.
The president cited the apology as the latest example of what he sees as the news media’s bias in favor of Clinton and Democrats.
“Vanity Fair, which looks like it is on its last legs, is bending over backwards in apologizing for the minor hit they took at Crooked H,” he tweeted.
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Trump also took a shot at Anna Wintour, the artistic director of Vanity Fair publisher Condé Nast.
“Anna Wintour, who was all set to be Amb to Court of St James’s & a big fundraiser for CH, is beside herself in grief & begging for forgiveness!”
Wintour, however, is best known for editing the fashion magazine Vogue, which is published by the same company.
Vanity Fair, which looks like it is on its last legs, is bending over backwards in apologizing for the minor hit they took at Crooked H. Anna Wintour, who was all set to be Amb to Court of St James’s & a big fundraiser for CH, is beside herself in grief & begging for forgiveness! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2017
Vanity Fair faced a major backlash from Clinton supporters on Wednesday after it published a video containing “New Year’s resolutions” for the former Democratic presidential candidate.
The video suggested she should quit politics to take up knitting or take “more photos in the woods.”
“It was an attempt at humor and we regret that it missed the mark,” the magazine said in a statement.
Wintour, a major Democratic donor, has feuded with Trump since the 2016 campaign.
She said in October she would never invite the former business mogul back to the Met Gala, the famous New York City social event she chairs.
Trump tweeted while at his West Palm Beach, Fla., golf club, where he has spent several days during his Christmas vacation.
Thursday marks his 87th visit to a golf club as president, according to a count compiled by NBC News. | {
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Image credit: USA Today Sports
Between now and Opening Day, we’ll be previewing each team by eavesdropping on an extended conversation about them. For the full archive of each 2018 team preview, click here.
Minnesota Twins PECOTA Projections:
Record: 83-79
Runs Scored: 796
Runs Allowed: 780
AVG/OBP/SLG (TAv): .255/.329/.433 (.257)
Total WARP: 26.7 (9.9 pitching, 16.8 non-pitching)
Aaron Gleeman: Lance Lynn, Logan Morrison, Addison Reed, Jake Odorizzi, Fernando Rodney, and Zach Duke, all acquired without giving up a single top-10 prospect or a contract longer than two years. I think the Twins had a great offseason. However, having also previewed the Indians earlier this week, I’m hoping that everyone in Minnesota realizes there are probably still a few stops on the hype train between “had a great offseason” and “will seriously challenge the Indians in the AL Central.”
I’m certainly not saying the Indians are unbeatable, or that the Twins don’t have the upside to blow past their PECOTA projections on the way to 90-plus wins, but … well, Cleveland is really good and really deep and won the division by 17 games last season. Where are you at in terms of balancing offseason success vs. season-long expectations?
Parker Hageman: There’s no question that you have to look back on the moves this offseason and consider it a success. And, like you said, the results of it will probably set the Twins up to be a postseason contender and have an outside chance to challenge the Indians in the AL Central—you know, if the Indians’ entire rotation gets a season-long case of food poisoning or something.
It was probably a very opportunistic offseason for the Twins and it’s possible the blueprint changed from the beginning to the end. The Twins would make a move, like signing Morrison, and then chief baseball officer Derek Falvey would tell the media “this is it, this is our squad, ride or die” … and then turn around and sign Lynn a week later.
Consider where the Twins were at in December. Back then they targeting Yu Darvish—which seemed strange given the status of the team. No doubt Darvish is sexy af, but he’s also on the wrong side of 30 and wanted more than five years. Plus, the Twins did not feel one starter away from being the Indians’ equals. They still may have added Reed, Rodney, and Duke to the bullpen regardless of whether they added Darvish, but it’s likely they wouldn’t have targeted either Odorizzi or Lynn. Morrison may have also been a casualty of a Darvish contract. What ultimately happened—Darvish opting for the Cubs and turning down the Twins’ offer—allowed them to be more creative with that money.
And by the way, you didn’t even mention Michael Pineda, whom I felt was a very savvy signing with eyes to the future. Going over that list of offseason additions, this front office has to be thrilled by what they paid for their makeover.
Gleeman: I still think Darvish for $135 million or so would have looked damn good in Target Field, but I agree the fallback plan worked out just as well. It does, however, offer considerably less upside, at least in terms of the pitching staff. There’s no doubt that the Twins’ pitching is better than last season, and miles better than the 2011-2017 staffs as a whole, but I’m not sure there’s much upside beyond Jose Berrios. At least on the Opening Day roster, that is.
Top prospects Fernando Romero and Stephen Gonsalves figure to debut at some point this season, and guys like Tyler Jay, Zack Littell, Gabriel Moya, and even Adalberto Mejia could provide midseason boosts, but the rotation is long on solid third or fourth starters and short on guys you’d want taking the mound in a playoff game. Gotta walk before you can run, though, at least after Darvish didn’t let you catch him.
Hageman: It does feel better than last year when the rotation’s cavalry was Nik Turley and Dillon Gee. With Ervin Santana being out for a while following finger surgery, if you can go through the rest of the season with Santana, Berrios, Lynn, and Odorizzi, you have to be happy with the improvements. And, since you didn’t give anything up this winter, you probably have the opportunity to add an arm if necessary at the deadline. Or, hell, maybe Bartolo Colon will want to come back.
I think Falvey has been pretty open about his beliefs when it comes to developing pitching in order to be a successful franchise. It’s a slow burn in that regard. They made some good hires on the player development side and have instituted new practices that should help some of those arms you mentioned make quicker leaps—whether it’s focusing on using a superior pitch or tinkering with others. For instance, I’ve been told they are installing a Rapsodo pitch tracker in the Rochester bullpen for the pitchers to utilize.
Gleeman: I actually like the Twins’ pitching depth. In the bullpen and the rotation, they have tons of decent options. Solid quasi-prospects like Mejia and Alan Busenitz are destined for Triple-A, they aren’t tempted to promote the real prospects ahead of schedule, and they should have Trevor May back in the mix by midseason. Like you said, it’s so much less hideous than the next-man-up options they’ve had in recent years. I just think they’re still lacking 1-2 impact arms, but that’s a hard problem to solve in one offseason and it might solve itself eventually if Berrios and Romero both pan out fully.
Also: It’s a good feeling to have confidence that the people making decisions are not only up to speed on modern baseball analysis and technology, but are probably several steps ahead of the public. Twins fans are, uh, not used to that. But man, after talking to their new director of baseball operations, Daniel Adler, for 90 minutes last month, it’s hard not to feel like things are in good hands.
Let’s switch to the offensive side of things. Was there a role you felt they should have looked to upgrade during the offseason? Or did you think they were pretty much set as a lineup, and thus the Morrison addition was just icing on the cake?
Hageman: I didn’t see any glaring need from the offensive side. You could go get a veteran bench bat (which they did, sort of, in Morrison) or improve at the backup catcher spot. I like Mitch Garver and his potential, but he’s still sort of raw. The front office and coaching staff have raved about his defensive improvements in regard to pitch framing and throwing out runners, but Garver doesn’t seem elite on that side of the ball. His bat, on the other hand, complements Jason Castro’s well. He’s got pop but he got chewed up a bit in his appearances last year. It seems like he might benefit from consistent playing time versus being a two-or-three-games-a-week guy.
There does seem to be a lot riding on young hitters to make the next steps forward or carry over 2017 hot steaks into this season. Guys like Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario, and Byron Buxton all had hot and cold spells. Even Miguel Sano’s production was up and down. That’s half the lineup. What if Kepler can’t handle lefties? What if Rosario’s free-swinging approach sinks him? What if Buxton can’t remember if he should leg kick or toe tap? What if Sano balloons to 500 pounds like many in the local media think he will? What if a meteor falls on Target Field?
Are you confident in this lineup’s ability to score runs?
Gleeman: PECOTA’s projections for the Twins’ offense are interesting, because no hitters are expected to have big, breakout seasons—in fact, nearly every regular is projected to be slightly worse than last season and only Sano is projected for a True Average above .270—yet the lineup as a whole is projected to score the fourth-most runs in the league. There are so many young, talented possible breakout candidates—including Buxton, Rosario, and Polanco, who already had monster second halves last year—that it’s hard not to start dreaming on this offense as a potentially great one.
PECOTA sees it as a good, solid, deep lineup with no superstars but also no major weak spots, but there’s more upside there. And like you noted, there’s probably more downside, too. Aside from Brian Dozier, Joe Mauer, and Jason Castro, we just don’t have a firm grasp on what each hitter’s true talent level is yet. That’s exciting, but also kind of scary.
I’m been driving the Buxton bandwagon from Day 1, even when it was empty and people were throwing tomatoes at us as we drove by, so I’m obviously betting on him as the big breakout. Who do you see as the best breakout bet?
Hageman: The Byron Buxton Breakout has been several years in the making, that’s for sure. We’ve been teased a bit over the last two seasons with some offensive production, but he’s had stretches of looking completely lost at the plate. PECOTA shows him staring down a .252/.311/.444 line in 2018, which is probably a low target. Maybe it’s because I’ve been lusting after him since he was described as a “Super Magic Unicorn Good” prospect by former BP staffer Jason Parks, but I’d take the over on that projection. How far over that line is dependent on his ability to make contact—even when things were going swimmingly, Buxton still was whiff prone.
As far as breakout bets go? It’s hard to say with this lineup considering a lot of them had decent 2017 seasons. Buxton has the highest ceiling, so he’s capable of doing a lot more damage. Kepler still has to prove he can hit lefties, but he’s a supreme athlete. He has been working with hitting coach James Rowson on some swing tweaks this spring—which worked well for Buxton, Rosario, and Polanco last year—so I would look for Kepler to have a breakout year.
Gleeman: In terms of collapses, I don’t see many strong candidates aside from 41-year-old Fernando Rodney, but even he pitched a lot better than he got credit for last season. I’m a little worried about Trevor Hildenberger having lingering issues stemming from last season’s heavy second-half workload, because if healthy he has a chance to be a late-inning weapon. I’m also a little worried that if Sano can’t play third base regularly coming off leg surgery, then he’s taking at-bats from either Morrison or Mauer. Which is fine, except not being able to get all three of them into the lineup together would ruin a lot of plans. With that said, Eduardo Escobar is a damn good fallback option at third base, and also gives the Twins some cover for other injuries.
This is probably more about 2019 and beyond than about 2018, but whatever: If you had to guess, will Dozier and Mauer be on the Twins’ roster this time next year? I’ll predict that Dozier won’t be—they’ll let him walk and take a draft pick—but Mauer will re-sign on a one-year deal worth around $8 million.
Hageman: If Paul Molitor is forced to use Sano at designated hitter more it does present a challenge, but I can also see a positive slant. In theory, you could match Morrison/Sano against lefties where you want more pop and give Mauer a rest, or Mauer/Sano versus others when you need to get guys on base. Against right-handers you could use Mauer/Morrison and give Sano some rest. Yes, not having three of your better bats in the lineup everyday hinders the production, but there’s something to be said for maximizing each hitter’s attributes as well as necessary days off during the marathon of a season. And, like you said, Escobar is a decent fallback. After all, #Ed hit 11 home runs over the last two months of the season in Sano’s absence.
In regard to Dozier and Mauer, I’m inclined to agree with you. I do think there are still scenarios where Mauer simply walks away at the end of the year (maybe some more injuries or something stupid happens like the Twins win the World Series), but all things being equal, and because we live in a reality-based world, I agree that the Twins’ front office seems to think they could replace Dozier’s production either internally (a prospect like Nick Gordon) or on the free agent market. Second base is not the premium position it once was. It would hurt to lose Dozier’s power production and clubhouse leadership, though.
Gleeman: OK, final prediction time! PECOTA has them at 83 wins, which I think is reasonable except for two things. First, as we discussed earlier, there are so many young, upside-filled hitters in the lineup coming off big second halves seemingly fueled by legitimate approach changes, that I see at least a couple of them breaking through to take the offense even higher. Second, the fact that three teams in the division are barely trying to be competitive and project among the very worst teams in baseball can’t help but inflate the Twins’ win total. It won’t necessarily help them in the division race, because the Indians get the same benefit, but it should help them in the Wild Card race and I think it will get them to 88 wins.
Hageman: If I were the betting type, I would hammer the over on that 83-win PECOTA projection as well.
I expect this team to allow fewer runs in 2018. Last year, they surrendered 788 runs to rank ninth in the AL. They have a lot of ground to make up if they’re going to even approach the Indians in run prevention—a team that allowed 224 fewer runs than the Twins a year ago–but I can see them moving the needle enough that it impacts their record. The very good defensive unit returns intact from last year, and with the additions to the rotation and the bullpen, unless something goes seriously pear-shaped you have to anticipate a reduction there. Let’s say they get that down to around 700. The offense, on the other hand, seems like it will stay in the same ballpark–800 runs. That Pythagorean recipe gives them about 90 wins. I honestly feel comfortable saying that: The 2018 Twins could win 90 games.
Of course, I still wouldn’t overlook the possibility of a complete Homer At The Bat-type roster meltdown either. | {
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I told him that the last time we had sex I didn't have an orgasm "After further review... you did."
225,183 shares | {
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A new Yale study analyzing monkey brains during competitive activity may help scientists better understand strategic and social reasoning in human beings.
In a September study published in the journal Science Express, Yale School of Medicine researchers analyzed the single-neuron activity of three rhesus monkeys engaged in competitive behavior. The researchers monitored several regions of the monkeys’ brains while they played a game against a computer program. By using brain monitoring equipment, researchers identified the region of neurons that is responsible for complex cognitive strategy in the monkey.
“The unique thing about our study was that we found that the activity of single neurons in a region of the brain … was responsible for the switch between complex and simple cognitive strategy in the monkeys,” the study’s lead author Daeyeol Lee said.
Researchers had the monkeys play a simple, reward-based game against a computer program. While the monkeys performed token-based tasks that required them to choose between two identical objects on the computer screen, researchers monitored several different regions of the animals’ brains.
Every time the monkey selected the same object as the computer, the animal won a token. After accumulating six tokens, the monkey received juice as a reward. When the monkey chose a different target than the computer, it lost a token.
According to researcher Hyojung Seo, the monkeys’ object choices were first informed by “operant conditioning,” in which a subject’s behavior is modified by the consequences of its actions.
However, the researchers programmed the computer to exploit the reinforcement and punishment learning processes of the monkey, which disrupted the success of the monkey’s heuristic algorithms.
In a competitive environment, operant conditioning is not the best approach, Lee said.
But to the surprise of several of the researchers, the monkeys were still able to increase their payoffs over time by deviating from their simple operant learning reactions and countering the computer’s own strategy. The monkeys began to employ more complex decision-making by trying to understand the computer’s own actions. This ability to understand the thought processes and motives of others is called “theory of mind.”
“There is a controversy as to whether monkeys actually have full blown theory of mind or they only have very primitive precursors,” Lee said. “But it is clear from this particular experiment that they have at least some primitive form of theory of mind if not the equivalent of human theory of mind.”
The monkey’s deviation from simple learning strategy was specifically reflected by neurological activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. The researchers found that neurons in the dmPFC region allowed for the switch between heuristic learning algorithms to a more complex strategy. Seo said that, in the future, the team might consider conducting similar research with two monkeys instead of a monkey and a computer. But Yale psychology professor Steve Chang — who reviewed the paper and has studied social cognition in monkeys — said he recognizes the scientific advantages of using a computer opponent.
Through the study of monkeys’ strategic reasoning and decision-making, the researchers hope to learn more about social cognition of humans.
“The part of the monkey brain that is responsible for switch signals between simple and more complex strategy is probably analogous to the part of the human brain that is also involved in social computation,” Lee explained.
The study may give the scientific community insight into the human cognitive processes responsible for complex decision-making strategies, researchers interviewed said. Future research on the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex may also be central to the treatment of psychiatric disorders in humans, Seo said.
The research was conducted over the course of almost a decade. | {
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From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
This article is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: More general information and ORAS information; ORAS image as a "powerless" man; missing quotes.
Mr. Bonding (Japanese: キズナおやじ Old Man Kizuna) is an expert on O-Powers who will give the player an O-Power every time he is encountered in Pokémon X and Y. He received the O-Powers from Hoenn's old guys when they wanted to retire, a process which transformed him from a "powerless" man into Mr. Bonding. He appears as an adult man with dark purple hair in a light pink suit.
In the games
Pokémon X and Y
Mr. Bonding is first encountered in the gatehouse between Lumiose City and Route 5, where he offers an explanation of O-Powers and gives the player Attack Power and Defense Power. Afterwards he appears in every new city and town that the player visits.
Getting all of the O-Powers from Mr. Bonding will earn the player the "O-Power Pro" medal on the Pokémon Global Link.
Locations and O-Powers
Whenever Mr. Bonding appears in a hotel (other than Hotel Richissime), he is in the east room on the upper floor; in Hotel Richissime, he is on the ground floor. When he appears in a Pokémon Center, he is facing the corner in front of the television on the west side.
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Mr. Bonding makes a brief appearance in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire after the old guys join together with another man (known as "a powerless man") to create him. He gives the player Hatching Power.
Quotes
Pokémon X and Y
Route 5 Gate "Hey!" "Nice to meet you, friend! They call me Mr. Bonding. Have you heard about O-Powers? That expression of yours tells me you haven't! Don't worry--I'll tell you all about it. O-Powers are mysterious forces that have all kinds of useful effects. They can make your Pokémon stronger or even help you get more money! Any friends you have nearby will also benefit from them. They truly are mysterious powers! Let's get started, shall we? It's bonding time!" "Attack Power increases the Attack stat. And Defense Power increases the Defense stat! That's not all--the powers can gain levels the more you use them! Take a look at the instructions if you want to know more. Remember--you can activate an O-Power using the PSS. Well then, I do believe I shall take my leave right about now. Hope to see you around!"
Subsequent Meetings "Hey!" "Hey, how's it going, friend? I'm Mr. Bonding, the expert on O-Powers. Let me ask you just in case! Do you need to hear an explanation about O-Powers?" Yes: "O-Powers! They're mysterious forces! If you use them, good things will happen. For example, Pokémon will get stronger or you will get more prize money. Some O-Powers allow you to share good things with friends around you. They're wondrous things that nurture bonds!" No: "Hey! That's my friend! Let's get started, shall we? It's bonding time!" "Sp. Atk Power increases the Sp. Atk stat." "Sp. Def Power increases the Sp. Def stat." "Prize Money Power increases prize money from battle." "Speed Power increases the Speed stat." "Critical Hit Power increases the critical-hit ratio." "Befriending Power makes Pokémon grow friendly more easily." "You can buy items cheaply at PokéMarts with Bargain Power." "Encounter Power increases the chance of encountering wild Pokémon." "Accuracy Power increases accuracy." "Exp. Point Power increases the Exp. Points from a battle." "Stealth Power decreases the chance of encountering wild Pokémon." "PP Restoring Power restores the PP of the lead Pokémon when you use it." "You can use O-Powers from the PSS, and the more you use them, the higher they level up! So use them as often as possible! Well then, I do believe I shall take my leave right about now. Hope to see you around!"
Café Introversion "Hey!" "Finally, the time has come! The time for me to give you the last power! Let's start the last one, shall we? It's bonding time!" "Use Hatching Power, and you can reduce the number of steps you need to hatch an Egg! Well, then, I do believe I shall take my leave... Hope to see you around!"
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Mauville Hills "HEY! This...this power! This power is incredible! I feel tied to these old men with such strong bonds now! I feel like a totally different man! Hey, my friend! I'm Mr. Bonding, the expert on O-Powers! I'm a new man with a new mission! Please give my powers a try! Let's get started, shall we? It's bonding time!" "Hehe... Thanks, my friend! Now, I'm going to set off on a journey to give O-Powers to trainers around the world! Well then, I do believe I shall take my leave. Hope to see you around! Adieu!
Appearance
Trivia
Coumarine City is the only location that has a hotel where Mr. Bonding is instead found in the Pokémon Center. This is because the hotel room where Mr. Bonding would appear is occupied in the Coumarine Hotel by the game director.
Names
Language Title French Pierce Hanlov German Mr. Miteinander Italian Mr. Fratellanza Korean 유대아저씨 Yudae ajeosi Spanish Mr. Buen Rollo
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By Emerging the Visual and physical strategies into one space | {
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Mauricio Macri reestructurará el gabinete (Federico Lopez Claro)
Mauricio Macri decidió eliminar 13 ministerios y estudia designar a Carlos Melconian como super ministro de Economía para tranquilizar a los mercados que en la última semana pusieron en jaque a su programa de gobierno.
El jefe de Gabinete, Marcos Peña, es el único funcionario confirmado por Macri, que hoy en Olivos terminará de definir los ministerios que quedarán en pie y los ministros que abandonarán la Casa Rosada o se transformarán en secretarios de Estado. El presidente también evalúa la posibilidad de nombrar a Alfonso Prat Gay como canciller, quien como Melconian renunció a su cargo en el gobierno por diferencias internas con Peña, que ya no contará con la colaboración de Mario Quintana y Gustavo Lopetegui: ambos vicejefes de Gabinete no sobrevivieron a la profunda reforma política que impuso el presidente a su Poder Ejecutivo.
Serían inevitables las renuncias de Dujovne, Faurie, Etchevehere y Aguad
Si Macri no cambia de opinión en las próximas horas, Nicolás Dujovne (Hacienda), Jorge Faurie (Relaciones Exteriores), Luis Etchevehere (Agroindustria), Sergio Bergman (Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable), José Lino Barañao (Ciencia y Tecnología), Pablo Avelluto (Cultura), Oscar Aguad (Defensa), Germán Garavano (Justicia y Derechos Humanos), Andrés Ibarra (Modernización), Adolfo Rubinstein (Salud), Jorge Triaca (Trabajo) y Gustavo Santos (Turismo) dejarán sus cargos como ministros, aunque alguno de ellos continuarán en el gobierno con rango de secretarios de Estado.
En este contexto, y con la dinámica que impone la crisis económica y política, serían inevitables las renuncias de Dujovne, Faurie, Etchevehere y Aguad, mientras que Ibarra, Triaca, Avelluto y Bergman, continuarían como secretarios de Modernización, Trabajo, Cultura y Desarrollo Sustentable.
Ibarra, Triaca, Avelluto y Bergman, continuarían como secretarios de Modernización, Trabajo, Cultura y Desarrollo Sustentable.
Macri nunca creyó en los super ministerios y desplegó una estructura burocrática que era engorrosa y lenta frente a la velocidad de los mercados y las exigencias políticas. El Presidente también se mostraba reacio en achicar la planta de ministerios, pese a que ese despliegue institucional era criticado afuera y adentro de Cambiemos. Frente a los constantes cuestionamientos, Macri exhibía a su interlocutor de turno un listado de países modernos que tenían tantos o más ministerios que su propio gobierno.
La defensa argumental del Presidente encalló cuando el dólar trepó a cuarenta pesos y el riesgo país se acercó a los 800 puntos básicos. En este escenario, Macri se reunió a solas con Melconian –por segunda vez en dos semanas—y lo sondeó como ministro de Economía. Melconian está muy cerca de aceptar y en principio solicitó tres condiciones básicas, recordando sus legendarias refriegas con Peña: acceso directo al despacho presidencial, las renuncias de Quintana y Lopetegui y la creación de un Super Ministerio para liderar un programa económico que restaure la confianza del mercado y satisfaga las metas propuestas por el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI).
Carlos Melconian
Con la aceptación de Melconian como super ministro –un hecho que debería confirmarse hoy en Olivos-, Macri avanzó en su estrategia de vincular su nuevo plan económico con una fuerte ofensiva diplomática que profundice la presencia de las exportaciones de la Argentina alrededor del mundo. Entonces, el presidente decidió reemplazar a Faurie y ofrecer el puesto a Prat Gay, que contestaría en las próximas horas. Macri está conforme con la actuación de Faurie, pero apuntó a Prat Gay por sus vinculaciones con las finanzas internacionales, en un momento en que los mercados golpean a la economía nacional y afectan la estabilidad política del gobierno.
Alfonso Prat-Gay
Aunque la nómina de ministerios aún estará sujeta a una última revisión en la quinta de Olivos, adonde Macri se reunirá con Peña y sus aliados de Cambiemos – gobernadores y líderes parlamentarios -, el nuevo gabinete estaría integrado de la siguiente manera:
Economía: Carlos Melconian
Cancillería: Alfonso Prat Gay
Producción: Dante Sica
Energía: Javier Iguacel
Transporte: Guillermo Dietrich
Interior: Rogelio Frigerio
Desarrollo Social: Carolina Stanley
Educación: Alejandro Finocchiaro
Macri debe resolver una interna política antes de determinar cómo quedarán las carteras de Defensa y Seguridad. El presidente le propuso a Ernesto Sanz ocupar el ministerio de Defensa, en reemplazo del ministro Aguad. Y Sanz replicó que le gustaría sumar Seguridad a Defensa, un pedido que transforma a Patricia Bullrich en secretaria de Estado. Bullrich ha trabajado 20 horas por día, y Macri lo sabe. Bullrich no quiere ser secretaria de Seguridad y el Presidente no quiere que abandone la Casa Rosada. Hoy a la tarde se sabrá si Macri optó por la interna radical o por la capacidad de trabajo de Bullrich.
El Presidente le propuso a Ernesto Sanz ocupar el ministerio de Defensa
El diseño del nuevo gabinete privilegia el peso político de los futuros ministros. Macri necesita gestión política y ministros que privilegiaron el proyecto de Cambiemos frente a cualquier adversidad en la coyuntura. Por eso, el presidente rescata a los ministros Finocchiaro y a Stanley, que aumentaran su poder institucional con la nueva composición del Gabinete Nacional.
Durante la larga jornada que Macri protagonizará en Olivos, se terminará de ajustar la fusión de los ministerios que pasarán al rango de secretarías de Estado. Está previsto que Ibarra será secretario de Modernización en la Jefatura de Gabinete, y que Triaca actuará como secretario de Trabajo a las órdenes del ministro de la Producción Dante Sica. En definitiva, se trata de un bordado burocrático que estará sujeto a las presiones de la interna de Cambiemos y a las necesidades de enfrentar a los mercados y a las exigencias del FMI.
Macri no quería achicar su gabinete, ni forzar un ajuste violento del gasto público. El Presidente creía en el gradualismo y en el éxito de su programa económico. Un shock externo inesperado y la mala praxis para manejar la inclemente suba del dólar y el riesgo país, terminó con las aspiraciones programáticas de Macri. Ahora está en juego su reelección presidencial, y no le quedó otra alternativa que demoler su gabinete y probar con un esquema de poder inestable: Peña zamarreado por la crisis y Melconian y Prat Gay –si finalmente asumen—ocupando espacios de poder que achicaran los márgenes de maniobra del jefe de Gabinete.
Todo en medio de una crisis económica y financiera que aún no concluyó. El gabinete será anunciado el lunes a la mañana, antes que abran los mercados en Buenos Aires. Y ese mismo día se conocerá el programa de ajuste que ya se negocia con el FMI. Sin dudas, ese lunes quedará registrado en la historia moderna de la Argentina.
SEGUÍ LEYENDO:
Las horas más dramáticas de la presidencia de Macri
Se endurece el FMI: exige que no se sigan usando reservas para frenar al dólar
Preocupación por el impacto social que tendrá la escalada del dólar | {
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Matt Furie/ Tumblr
The controversial legacy of the Pepe the Frog meme won't die -- despite the best efforts of its creator.
Artist Matt Furie filed a lawsuit against Alex Jones and Free Speech Systems LLC, the company behind his "Infowars" show. Furie's lawsuit claims that Jones and his show is violating his copyright for Pepe.
Ars Technica first reported on the suit.
The legal action is the latest step Furie has taken to wringing back Pepe the Frog from white supremacists, who co-opted it into a hate symbol. He even killed off the comic-book character in a single strip.
A spokesman for Infowars was not immediately available for comment. | {
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California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Monday signed a bill aimed at increasing transparency in prescription drug pricing.
The new law requires drug manufacturers to notify insurers before they raise the price of a prescription drug by more than 16 percent over a two-year period. Drug companies would also have to explain why the price is increasing.
“This is, I believe, the first measure of its kind nationwide, but it’s the best of its kind as well,” state Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León (D) said. “It’s our hope that we can export these policies nationwide and that other states will follow suit and look at how sensible transparency makes sense for everyday consumers throughout the country.”
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An insurance CEO, a consumer advocacy coalition, a union group and more lauded the bill at a news conference on Monday. They described the difficult road to the bill’s passage and offered hope other states would take up similar measures.
The bill’s author, state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D), called the legislation “one of the most comprehensive bills in the country.”
“This has been a hard-fought bill,” he said.
Since January 2015, drug companies have spent $16.8 million in lobbying efforts aimed at killing various drug measures in the state, San Francisco's KQED reported. California had a drug-pricing initiative on its ballot last November, but it ultimately failed.
A powerful drug industry trade group on Monday called the bill's signing “disappointing,” saying it’s “based on misleading rhetoric instead of what’s in the best interest of patients.”
“There is no evidence that SB 17 will lower drug costs for patients because it does not shed light on the large rebates and discounts insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are receiving that are not always being passed on to patients,” Priscilla VanderVeer, a Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spokeswoman, said in a statement.
“Nothing in SB 17 will help patients get the benefits of the savings that insurance companies and PBMs are getting.”
Capitol Hill lawmakers and President Trump have harshly criticized some pharmaceutical companies for the skyrocketing prices of some drugs.
In his first news conference as president-elect, Trump said the pharmaceutical industry was “getting away with murder.”
In June, details of an executive order Trump was preparing in an effort to lower drug prices leaked. Critics felt it was friendly toward the drug industry, and it hasn't been finalized.
Lawmakers have berated drug company CEOs at hearings, introduced bills and launched investigations in an effort to examine why companies increased the price tag of their drugs.
But there has yet to be any real legislative movement on drug pricing | {
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The Argentinean painter Isabel Mackinlay on Wednesday revealed her part in helping the former treasurer of the ruling Popular Party (PP) to allegedly launder 560,000 euros, which he claims was obtained from the sale of four paintings, judicial sources said Wednesday.
Speaking from Buenos Aires, Mackinlay told the judge investigating secret ledgers kept by Bárcenas — which include illegal donations and cash payments made to top PP officials — that Edgar Patricio Bell, ultimately a frontman for Bárcenas, gave her $1,500 to sign false contracts on the sale of works of art. In exchange for the payment, Mackinlay agreed to pass herself off as an intermediary between Bárcenas' wife, Rosalía Iglesias — the supposed seller — and an unknown buyer. This allowed Iglesias to deposit 560,000 euros in her bank account that in reality belonged to her husband.
The judicial sources said Bell got in touch with her because his nephew and the son of the painter went to the same school in Buenos Aires.
The fictitious sale of the paintings was carried out in two phases. The first contract signed in Bell's office in Buenos Aires involved the sale of two 16th-century paintings by an unattributed author for which Mackinlay received $1,000.
Mackinlay said Bell later got in touch with her again and asked her to sign a new contract removing the two 16th-century paintings and replacing them with another painting for which she received a further $500.
Bárcenas worked in the PP’s financial office for almost 20 years. The party said he had been removed from his post as treasurer in 2010 with the onset of the Gürtel kickbacks scandal. But it has since emerged that the PP was still paying him regular amounts and his Social Security contributions until January of this year. | {
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What did the bystander say when he saw two guys load up stolen artwork and drive away? "Look at that van go!"
3,410 shares | {
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Week 14 of the season is here and for many teams, this is the start of the final stretch to the playoffs with the second third of the season beginning.
And this week already there are three teams that should be desperate for victories and one team looking to make a major statement.
Let’s start off with who needs a win the most this week.
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes enter this week with a 3-9 record, and with the East Division looking like seven or eight wins will be mandatory to make the post-season, there is no room for the Alouettes to stumble.
Oh, and to make it more desperate, they play Toronto. The season series is also on the line for the Alouettes with a split of the first two games between these two division rivals.
The Alouettes already have lost the season series to Ottawa, the other team above them in the standings. Montreal NEEDS this win.
They also need this win to boost the confidence of their leader, Darian Durant. He could also be desperate to keep his job as the No. 1 quarterback in Montreal after being benched earlier last week.
The new head coach Kavis Reed stated immediately that Durant would retain the starting job for this week’s game, likely with the thought in the back of his mind that a loss eliminates them from a real shot at the playoffs.
Elimination also means Kavis Reed, also the general manager, could get a look at Drew Willy at quarterback with Durant pushed to the sideline.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Tiger-Cats may not be as desperate as Montreal this week based on the fact that not many people believe they have much of a chance anyway.
But don’t believe for a second that a win for Hamilton to give them a 3-3 record in the middle third and a 3-1 record over their last four games wouldn’t be a significant boost, giving that locker-room a thought at the unthinkable.
Getting to 3-9 would be the same mark Montreal is currently sitting at and I haven’t counted the Alouettes out yet, so why would I count out Hamilton?
2-10? Well, a 6-0 or 5-1 record in the final third of the season is highly unlikely for the Tiger-Cats.
Could you imagine the changeover to some of the roster if they fall out of the playoffs? Yes, it is more than just the quarterback trying to ensure they have a spot on the roster in the final few weeks of the season.
BC Lions
Yes, this game for the Lions is just as big as it is for the Tiger-Cats. The Lions are currently in the same spot Hamilton is and that is last in their division.
Do you know what fifth place in the West gets you?
Squat! Nada. Zilch.
It gets you an extended winter vacation.
A loss to Hamilton and the BC Lions will feel like they lost two to the teams they are trying to keep pace with.
Right now, the BC Lions’ 6-6 record is just one off the Edmonton Eskimos (7-5) and a half a game back of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-5).
It’s still a close race with six games left for the Lions, but the tiebreaker comes into play for BC. They lost the season series to Saskatchewan and Edmonton.
The Lions have to clear both of those teams outright and still have two games on the road in Winnipeg.
All of a sudden you start to see how much a win is needed on Friday night.
They need this win to also gain some confidence back after losing five of their last seven games.
BC started the season 4-1 and had some believing they could challenge for top spot in the West Division. Boy, were we wrong.
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Saskatchewan isn’t desperate for a win like the other three. They are the team looking to prove a big point in their home game Sunday against Calgary.
A win and the Riders will close out their middle third of the season with a 5-1 record. They have already defeated BC, Edmonton and Winnipeg in this stretch of six games. Add Calgary to that list and they knock off all four West Division rivals. Only Calgary has been able to beat all four western counterparts this season.
In fact, the Riders would be the first Western team to beat Calgary this season.
Statement made if they get a ‘W’ on Sunday.
While Toronto, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Calgary shouldn’t feel totally comfortable with where they are positioned going into this week, they certainly don’t have to feel pressure these other teams do. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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No Plans? No shower. Plans? ...still no shower | {
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Michael Wernstedt lives in the future, in the center of Stockholm. It is a “co-living space,” a former hotel now inhabited by fifty people who share five kitchens and a variety of common spaces on four floors; each tenant also has a bedroom with a private bathroom. All of it is breathtakingly well-designed and meticulously clean. While Wernstedt and I talked, sitting on one of several giant gray couches in one of the common spaces, about a dozen people of different genders and skin colors (though all roughly in their mid-thirties) shared a casual meal in another. During a recent house meeting, Wernstedt told me, someone asked those present to recall the happiest time of their lives—and they all said that they were happiest right now. Wernstedt’s vision for the future of Sweden, and democratic politics in general, resembles this house: it is happy, healthy, sustainable, and co-created.
Last week, the co-living space hosted a press conference, during which Wernstedt and two co-organizers announced the formation of a new political party, the Initiative. Few people in Sweden have heard of the new party yet, though its older sister, Denmark’s the Alternative, has assembled an impressive constituency in just four years. To register as a party in Stockholm, the Initiative had to collect fifty physical, pen-and-ink signatures; it will take another fifteen hundred to get on the national ballot. The Initiative plans to meet the national threshold by August, the deadline for next September’s parliamentary election. Getting into parliament would require winning at least four per cent of the vote. There are about three dozen nationwide political parties in Sweden, but only eight are represented in parliament. The youngest party to break the four-per-cent barrier is the Sweden Democrats, an ultranationalist, anti-immigrant party that was founded in 1988 and has been seated in parliament since 2010.
Wernstedt interprets the rise of the Sweden Democrats, like the election of Donald Trump in the United States, as an opportunity of sorts: “This is scary, but it shows that people want something new. And we have to take responsibility for democracy.” Better yet, Wernstedt wants to reinvent politics. The Initiative’s most important innovation is launching a party without a program but with two lists. One is a list of six values that the Party espouses: courage, openness, compassion, optimism, co-creation, and actionability. The other is a list of three crises that the Party must address: the crisis of faith in democracy, the environmental crisis, and the crisis of mental health. Last year, according to Wernstedt, Swedes missed more workdays for being mentally unwell than they did for being physically unwell; the leading cause of death among people under thirty-five is suicide. Starting next week, the Initiative plans to begin holding workshops around Sweden to develop a political program to address the three crises in ways consistent with the six values.
Wernstedt, who is thirty-five, used to work as an international lawyer. Five or six years ago, he told me, he realized that he found his outwardly successful life deeply unsatisfying. He started casting about for a meaningful project. One happened to be handy: Wernstedt’s grandmother is Nina Lagergren, the half-sister of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Budapest before vanishing into the Soviet Gulag. Lagergren had spent several decades working to find out what happened to Wallenberg and to publicize his plight. When Wernstedt was having his crisis of purpose, Lagergren had recently founded the Raoul Wallenberg Academy, a human-rights and leadership school for teen-agers. Wernstedt took over the enterprise and, in just four years, he said, expanded it from fifty to ten thousand students. Then he travelled the world with his partner, Lemarc Thomas, looking for new ways to apply himself. When the couple suggested organizing for L.G.B.T. rights in Kenya, local activists told them to stand down. But when they made it to Thomas’s home island of St. Helena they volunteered their services for a referendum on same-sex marriage; when that failed, they filed a test case, which is currently pending before the island’s Supreme Court. Then they returned to Sweden, and Wernstedt decided to start a political party.
Philosophical inspiration for the project came from the work of Emil Ejner Friis and Daniel Görtz, who together created Hanzi Freinacht, an imaginary “philosopher, historian, and sociologist” who lives in seclusion in the Swiss Alps. Freinacht blogs at metamoderna.org, where he puts forward ideas of a society based on the principles of metamodernism, a school of thought that purports to succeed postmodernism. Metamodernism combines the hope of modernism with the critique of postmodernism. It is both questioning and visionary, and it believes in the future. Most important, Freinacht writes, a metamodern politics moves beyond liberal ideas toward shared responsibility for maximizing the happiness and health of everyone in the world. Welfare, in metamodern politics, must not merely guarantee material well-being and physical health but also “a listening society, where every person is seen and heard.”
A political party born of this philosophy cannot claim to tell people what’s good for them. It is a vessel for their needs and desires; otherwise it must be, as Freinacht puts it, “a party about nothing.” Wernstedt and about forty allies began the Initiative expecting only to design a new way of creating a party. They quickly discovered, though, that there is nothing more difficult than collectively devising a process for collective decision-making. They scrapped the blank slate in favor of a few basic starting points: a party leader (Wernstedt), a governing board of seven, and the lists of values and crises.
Everything else about the Initiative is expected to emerge from the workshops. The Danish Alternative has followed the same process, eventually involving about a thousand people in a series of twenty-five-person workshops led by about seventy party facilitators. Facilitators are to the Alternative what field organizers and political consultants are to conventional political parties: everything. Few observers in Denmark took the Alternative seriously when it launched, in 2013, but just two years later the new party was seated in parliament; this year, it turned in a respectable performance in local elections.
The facilitated-workshop process does not end with the drafting of a party platform: the process is ongoing, and it is very much the point of the Initiative’s existence. Wernstedt hopes that the process might inspire or engage other parties, eventually transforming the very perception of how democracy works. In his vision, Swedish politicians will then stop “talking about whether we need to lower taxes by one per cent or increase taxes by one per cent,” he said, and start talking instead about a future in which only about half the population has a job but everyone receives an income, in which technological advances and behavioral adjustments have transformed consumption and revolutionized education, and in which politics is continuously co-created.
For now, this vision of the future may be confined to the fanciful corners of the Internet and the too-beautiful co-living space in Stockholm. Then again, the Sweden Democrats, much like other far-right European parties, seemed marginal, even laughable, just a few years ago, and now they are polling third among Swedish parties. Established, conventional political parties seem utterly incapable of addressing the gaps in well-being that the far right is so rapidly filling. If an effective response to a party like the Sweden Democrats is possible, it will come from those who dare to think differently—and even strangely—about politics, the future, and the future of politics. | {
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Poster of ‘Demi Tuhan Aku Bersaksi’ telemovie. — Picture via Facebook
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — The producer of RTM telemovie Demi Tuhan Aku Bersaksi has denied any attempt to paint a negative perception of tahfiz schools, where students learn Quran memorisation.
Fadzil Zahari was reported as saying that it is unfair for the public to judge his work before it is even aired, insisting that the show is about a transwoman who find “repentance” in a tahfiz school instead.
“The drama is not promoting LGBT, but instead is about the journey of a ‘mak nyah’ who repents and finds a way to get closer to God. The place [she] headed for to better [herself] is a tahfiz school,” he was quoted as saying by Malay tabloid Kosmo!
“Mak nyah” is the Malay term for a transwoman. LGBT refers to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
RTM had previously defended the film, saying it is laden with positive message and reflects the reality faced in Malaysian society.
The Department of Broadcasting Malaysia was also quoted as saying the film is under review.
This comes as several Muslim groups are urging federal Islamic agency Jakim and the National Fatwa Council to watch the film before it is aired, claiming it is part of an attempt to smear Islamic institution.
“Their action has spread hatred and inflamed the anger of certain race and religion,” said a group calling itself the Islamic Education NGO Action Committee.
Mohd Zahid Mahmood from tahfiz school alliance called PINTA has also urged such screening, claiming that Islam must be protected due to its position in the Federal Constitution.
Produced by Prokuya Studios, the film stars Syafie Naswip, Fezrul Khan, Ismail Yaacob, Taiyuddin Bakar, Sheila Mambo, and Arman Graseka.
Syafie is said to play a “former transwoman” who enters a tahfiz school, only to be harassed and verbally assaulted as a sinner for her past.
Sexual abuse in tahfiz schools are frequently reported in local media. Most recently in May, a tahfiz hostel warden was sentenced to 228 years in jail and 42 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to 25 counts of sodomy and gross indecency against five students. | {
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President Trump called Turkey President Recep Erdogan to congratulate him and his ruling party on a narrow win for a constitutional referendum that will change the country's system of government from a parliamentary to a presidential one in a way that will also leave the presidency with fewer checks and balances—reinforcing Trump's preference for an authoritarian style of government while also illustrating why he was correct not to treat NATO as a sacred cow during the 2016 election, even though he's come to do so as president.
American presidents call dictators all the time—U.S. foreign policy has gone a long way from George Washington's warning against "permanent alliances" and Thomas Jefferson's promise of "honest friendship with all nations—entangling alliances with none," arriving in the opposite place, with all kinds of entangling alliances with dishonest friends, while NATO is as permanent alliance as it gets. There is not even a formal mechanism to eject a country that, say, is sliding toward authoritarianism or pursuing an aggressive foreign policy that increases its risk of the kind of attack that might trigger Article V, the mutual self-defense guarantee.
Turkey's transformation into an authoritarian government did not start with the results of Sunday's election, which was highly criticized by election monitors on the ground. The Turkish government's crackdown on a free press had been ongoing for years, and accelerated last summer after a failed coup attempt. During the referendum campaign, Erdogan likened his European NATO allies to Nazis for not permitting his government to electioneer in favor of the referendum in their countries.
More worryingly, Turkey has been repeatedly accused of providing support for ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria, especially those fighting the Kurds, with whom the U.S. and other NATO members involved in the war on ISIS have allied. Earlier this year, Turkey lobbied the U.S. unsuccessfully to drop Kurdish forces from the forces organized to take Raqqa from ISIS.
Turkey is just an Article 5 invocation away from throwing the kind of monkey-wrench into NATO's mechanics that observers worried Trump would when he refused to say that the U.S. would come to the aid of a NATO country that was under attack.
Article 5 has only been used once, in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Since then, the U.S. has embarked on a foreign policy that has helped put it and its allies at risk. ISIS, a self-styled state, emerged from the chaos fueled by an ill-advised invasion of Iraq in 2003 and has taken advantage of the conditions created by U.S. interventions from Afghanistan to Libya to set up shop. ISIS-aligned fighters have carried out a number of high profile terror attacks in Europe, including France and Belgium. Both are NATO members.
Article 5 wasn't invoked after the ISIS terrorist attack in Paris on November 15, 2015, despite France President Francois Hollande calling the attacks an "act of war" and the use of Article 5 offering, as Ilya Somin pointed out in The Washington Post, a legal justification for the war the Obama administration was already waging on ISIS.
Trump's appropriation of non-interventionist stances on issues like NATO, U.S. alliances with authoritarian regimes like Saudi Arabia, and military interventions in places like Libya and Iraq was unconvincing, in part because of the general fluidity of every other political position he took, in part because of his consistent admiration for authoritarian leaders, and in large part because of his expressed, genuine-seeming desire to "blow the shit up out of ISIS."
In this context, Trump's heel-turn on NATO shouldn't be surprising. It's a lot easier to escalate the U.S. wars he inherited, and start his own, without also trying to challenge the international status quo.
But recent developments in Turkey show why just such a challenge is important. U.S. foreign policy is guided by decisions made after World War 2 and during the Cold War, of which Turkey's membership is a relic. During the presidential campaign, Trump promised serious reflection on the U.S.'s role in the world. His promise was false, but that reflection continues to become more necessary by the day. | {
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Don’t hesitate to ask us something. Call us at 262-599-6401 if you're a new patient looking for some answers. If you're an existing patient looking to change your appointment time, have questions or concerns, call 262-599-6402. At Mantality Health, we respect your privacy and none of your information will be shared outside of our office. Feel free to fill out the form below and we will be sure to contact you in a timely manner! | {
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Charlie Hatch
[email protected]
Futbol Club Cincinnati's first offseason signing is complete.
FC Cincinnati has signed Maccabi Haifa captain and center-back Dekel Keinen, the Israeli Premier League club announced this morning.
Keinan is a 6-foot, 33-year-old defender who plays for the most notable club in Israel. He has also appeared for the national team.
Israeli media outlet One said the deal is reportedly worth $150,000 per season for two seasons.
He will join Cincinnati in January.
The move to FC Cincinnati isn't surprising. Head coach Alan Koch just returned from a 13-day trip to recruit players for the upcoming 2018 season. Before Keinan, the team only had nine players on its roster.
Koch did visit Israel.
FC Cincinnati is currently looking to bolster its center-back position. The two regular starters for the past two seasons, captain Austin Berry and Harrison Delbridge, remain unsigned. Delbridge was named to the United Soccer League First Team on Wednesday afternoon.
Keinan began his career in the Maccabi Haifa youth system, then joined the senior team. Beginning in 2010, the center-back joined various clubs in England, playing on loan deals or signed on free transfers. He played in the Championship, the second-tier of English soccer.
"To leave a home is always difficult, but it is an opportunity that will not be repeated," Keinan told the Maccabi Haifa website. "I am facing a new and unique challenge. Green and Maccabi Haifa will always be in my heart." | {
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監視カメラの映像は人々の安全を守るうえで、大変重要な働きをしている。いつ何時、いかなる場所でも、監視カメラはその時、その瞬間を雄弁に語る証人となるものだ。
そのことを証明する貴重な映像を紹介したいと思う。ただし食事中の方は閲覧注意である。なぜならあまりにも劇的な瞬間であるからだ。夜中にひっそりと見た方が良いかもしれない。監視カメラの映像は、ひとりの女性の驚愕の行動を見逃さなかった……。
・エレベーターを待つ人々
今回ご紹介する映像は、トルコ・イスタンブールの病院のものだ。画面向かって右側、エレベーターを待つ人でごった返している。そこにひとりの女性が姿をあらわす。周りを窺うようにして柱の前に静止した。
・もう一度見てみると……
ほどなくその場を立ち去った。ただそれだけの映像なのだが……。実はカメラは彼女の大胆な行動を見逃さなかった！ 公開された映像にしたがって、もう一度見てみると、彼女はただ立ち止まったわけではない。おわかり頂けただろうか？ 立ち去ったその場を良く見てみると……。便が置き去りにされていたのである!!
・神業の域
なんということだろうか。彼女はなんと立ったまま排便していたのである。まさに妙技。あまりにもさりげないため、周囲の人もほとんど気付かない様子。映像を見ても、一度ではなかなかわからないほど自然な挙動である。しかし彼女はこのとき踏ん張っていたのである。それを感じさせないとは、まさに神業。
言うまでもないことだが、猛烈な便意に襲われたときには、できるだけ速やかにトイレに行くことを強くおすすめする。今後もカメラが見ていた劇的瞬間をお伝えしていきたいと思う……。
参照元：YouTube、Metro（英語）
執筆：佐藤英典 | {
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London (CNN) Britain's Brexit journey has been plagued by uncertainty -- but on Wednesday we might get the answer to these two questions: Firstly, can Prime Minister Theresa May put her deal and the stability of the country ahead of her political career and pledge to step down as leader to secure those two things? Secondly, can the UK Parliament find an alternative plan to help Britain leave the EU under different terms?
On the first, as part of a political plea bargain, Conservative Brexiteers will this evening urge the Prime Minister to set a timetable for her departure from Downing Street in exchange for their votes.
May has so far insisted she will not announce her resignation -- a position in keeping with her steadfastness and, at times, intransigence in office.
But should May decide to hint at her resignation, she could gain majority support in Parliament for her Brexit plan, nearly five months after it was agreed with Brussels and after weeks of argument and successive defeats.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London on March 25, 2019.
Parliament's next move
Read More | {
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Embrace your Heritage
Quality. Precision. Performance.
The P210 target pistol embodies the virtue and craftsmanship of SIG SAUER.
Introducing the new P210. Aimed specifically to deliver unparalleled target shooting performance and precision, this model embodies all of the heritage of the classic P210 ― now equipped with updated ergonomics and a target trigger. | {
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SSB4 dashdancing: Inputting a dash in the opposite direction in the first few frames of a dash. In SSB4, any dash inputted this way has no initial momentum, allowing you to make your dash however short you want by timing your release of the stick. If you let go of the stick after only a couple frames, you do a stationary dash. If you let go of the stick after only one frame, you do a Perfect Pivot.
Perfect Pivot: In the first few frames of a dash, inputting the opposite direction for only one frame (can be done by flicking the stick) will perform a regular, lagless standing turnaround animation that can be instantly cancelled with any move. You keep some momentum from the direction of the initial dash.
Fox Trot: Inputting a second dash in the same direction during a specific window towards the end of the initial dash animation. Combined with a perfect pivot, you can do anything out of a fox trot.
Turnaround tilt: Inputting a forward tilt during the run turnaround animation.
These techniques apply to every character, but because Little Mac has by far the best fox trot and FTilt, this is particularly noteworthy for him. Essentially, the combination of fox trotting, Brawl dashdancing and turnaround tilts give him ground options on par with Melee dashdancing and wavedashing.Applications, starring Little Mac (the last two are particularly noteworthy):Foxtrot + Brawl dashdancing:Extended dashdancing:Input: →, →←, ←→, →←, ...Because it gives you no initial momentum, the dashdance length can be reduced to nil with fast enough fingers/a GC controller.Perfect Pivot:Input: →[single frame ←]Fox Trot -> Pivot JabInput: →, →[single frame←]Retreating FTilt (Fox trot, -> Dashdance -> Turnaround tilt):Input: →, →← [wait for the dashdance window to end], →AYou can adjust the sliding distance with how long you hold left.Foxtrot->FSmash (not pictured because this isn't new, but you'll do it a lot when trying the next one so I might as well point out there's an easier way)Input: →, →A"Dash-Canceled" FTilt (Foxtrot -> Dashdance -> Perfect Pivot -> FTilt):Input: →, →[single frame←] [soft→] AThis is hard. You need to both do the input fast enough to do a perfect pivot, without hitting the stick so hard that you perform a FSmash. Possibly a good reason to wait for the Wii U version to play Little Mac, as I feel like this move will murder your opponents and your 3DS alike. | {
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This morning I started my day seeing this in my twitter feed:
Your identity ≠ Your job — Kyle Steed (@kylesteed) March 16, 2012
I’ve been thinking about this idea a lot lately. And I think it’s a trap that developers (myself included) easily fall into. To make this idea a little more specific to developers: Your identity ≠ Your code.
As developers, we like to solve problems and get a kick out of that feeling that seemingly comes out of nowhere: “Yes! I solved it. I am all that is awesome!” (maybe I’m the only one who says that out loud). But at the same time we attach ourselves tightly to our code and will equate criticisms of our code as criticisms of us as a person. And lets be honest, while we all want to improve, it is difficult not to equate “this could be better” with “you should have been smarter”.
I don’t think it is entirely due to criticism either. There are developers that I look up to, and I still get geeked out when I’m lucky enough to talk with them. For most of my geek-heroes, I also see prominent projects that they are part of, and it is difficult to separate “they are awesome because they wrote x”. I know when I first began, I cared a lot more about how people would perceive the code I wrote rather than how well it solved the problem at hand. It is more important to view your web heros as people who ship working software. If you think they are the authority on how software should be written, you’re in for an awakening.
This idea also affects open source. It is rare to see a young developer submit bug fixes to existing projects. Most developers have the talent to fix outstanding issues, but don’t due to the fear of rejection and criticism. And again it isn’t the specific criticisms of the code they write, which in all likelihood would only accelerate their learning, it’s hearing those criticisms and taking it personal.
It is hard not to take these criticisms personal, especially when you read someone else’s code and say “What the hell was this fella thinking? That moron.” Believe it or not, I’ve caught myself saying that only to run a `git blame` and discover I was the “moron” who wrote the code. Early in my career, after uttering something similar, I was told by another developer “Criticize the code, not the developer.” And that has stuck, though at times I have to remind myself.
We will look at a piece of code and think “This is God-awful. This dev is terrible”. And it’s important to remember there is a lot more context around why code is written a certain way. The original developer’s experience does have an effect, but think back to the hacks you have written and why they were necessary. Even if it can be written better, you’re not doing anyone favors by slamming the dev.
But then we wonder why we get defensive when we hear people sharing ideas about the code we write. “Yeah, they’re saying it politely, but I know what they’re really thinking.”
Cut the ego. Stop equating bad code with bad developers. Stop equating code criticisms as a knock against you as a person. We could use more people submitting ideas and less animosity around existing code. | {
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Git clone the WordPress develop repository somewhere on your hard drive:
git clone [email protected]:WordPress/wordpress-develop.git
Open wordpress-develop/tests/phpunit/includes/phpunit6-compat.php in a text editor.
PHPUnit version 5: Comment out the class_alias() functions in phpunit6-compat.php because these break PhpStorm code completion. (These files aren’t actually used by the testing framework, we only downloaded them so they could be included in the Project Configuration’s Include Path.)
PHPUnit version 6 and up: Do the same thing as PHPUnit 5, the paragraph above, except leave this line uncommented:
class_alias( 'PHPUnitFrameworkTestCase', 'PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase' );
In PhpStorm, go to: Settings -> Languages & Frameworks -> PHP and add wordpress-develop/tests/phpunit/includes to your Include Path.
Use WP-CLI to generate the tests scaffolding. | {
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Ammon Bundy and his followers occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County as a "base for political operations'' to stake claim to the federal property, his attorney Marcus Mumford and brother Ryan Bundy argue in newly-filed court papers.
"The specific steps and lengths to which these defendants endeavored, including the establishment of a perimeter, the changing of the sign and renaming of the facility, the taking over of routine maintenance and cleaning, and the managing and control of the property all show that this was no random or spontaneous act of dangerousness or recklessness, but that it was a careful attempt by citizens acting in good faith... and in lawful protest of their government's actions,'' the attorney wrote.
Mumford described his client Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan Bundy as political activists known for their strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and views challenging federal control of public land.
The 28-page motion is a request for the pretrial release of Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy, who have been in custody for five and a half months. But it could very well serve as their defense brief for trial, set to start Sept. 7.
Attached to the brief is 58 pages of statements from supporting witnesses. Among those are a Burns bartender who said business was good in town during the refuge takeover; a fifth-generation Harney County rancher who visited the refuge and said he heard Ammon Bundy lead prayer services, even calling for the safety of FBI agents and other federal officers; and the former Harney County fire chief who resigned during the occupation and stood in support of the Bundys.
Read Ammon Bundy/Ryan Bundy's motion for pretrial release
Read Ammon Bundy's declaration
The Bundys are among 26 defendants indicted on a charge of conspiring to impede federal officers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from carrying out their work at the refuge through "intimidation, threats and force.'' The occupation lasted 41 days, from Jan. 2 through Feb. 11.
Shortly after the Bundys' arrest, a federal magistrate judge rejected their argument that the refuge takeover was a peaceful protest and ordered them detained. The judge found they were among the key players who took over the federal property in Harney County with a show of force, breaking the law from "day one,'' and then ignored orders to leave the refuge for nearly a month.
Prosecutors have described the heavily armed guards that were posted at the entrances to the refuge during the takeover, and the seizure by FBI agents of more than 50 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition left behind after the occupation ended.
The Bundy brothers have pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charge. Seven of the defendants have pleaded guilty to the federal conspiracy charge; an eighth is scheduled to enter a guilty plea Tuesday.
The Bundy brothers admit they were part of the occupation, and, contrary to Ammon Bundy's recent balking in court, acknowledge their roles in setting up, organizing and leading it, Ammon Bundy's lawyer wrote. But the Bundys contend their actions were not criminal, since they were "engaged in a deeply important and passionate political dispute.''
One of the statements included as an exhibit to Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy's joint motion for pretrial release in the Oregon standoff case. This signed statement was from the owner of The Narrows RV campground near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. (Court document)
The Bundys' "lawful exercise of constitutional and statutory rights'' cannot be an unlawful conspiracy, Mumford wrote, as they were exercising their rights to free speech, assembly, and the right to bear arms.
Ammon Bundy, according to his lawyer, never carried a personal firearm during the refuge occupation, and "consistently advocated for civic involvement, speech, and responsible protest.''
The statement directly contradicts federal court documents, in which an FBI agent said a .40-caliber handgun was seized from Ammon Bundy when he was taken into custody on Jan. 26.
Mumford quoted from President Barack Obama's speech in Cuba in March, in which he said, "citizens should be free to speak their minds without fear - to organize, and to criticize their government and to protest peacefully.''
The Bundys were attempting what's called an "adverse possession claim'' to the refuge - the occupation of land to which another person has title with the intention of possessing it as one's own, the motion said.
Ammon Bundy never became a member of any militia group and does not consider himself part of the "sovereign citizen movement,'' his attorney said.
He claims that Ammon Bundy began visiting with the Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and son Steven Hammond independently, and then participated in the Jan. 2 protest in Burns of the Hammonds' return to prison for arson.
After the protest, Ammon Bundy did propose there should be an "organized and focused'' expansion of the demonstration at the refuge, and it should be "principled, non-violent and lawful,'' Mumford wrote. A local sheriff's deputy was present at the Jan. 2 gathering in the parking lot of the Safeway in Burns where Ammon Bundy proposed the idea of occupying the refuge, his attorney wrote.
Ryan Bundy was among the group that first traveled to the refuge on Jan. 2, not Ammon Bundy, according to the document. After the initial group made sure there were no federal officers present, the two brothers and others began "staking a claim'' to the property, the lawyer wrote.
Part of a statement from former Harney County fire chief Chris Briels in support of the Bundy brothers, included as an exhibit to Ammon Bundy's and Ryan Bundy's motion for pretrial release. (Court document)
Under Ammon Bundy's leadership, the occupiers called themselves the "Citizens for Constitutional Freedom,'' the motion said.
Before his arrest on Jan. 26, Ammon Bundy contends he never received any "formal demand'' by anyone claiming ownership of the refuge property, or learned of any criminal allegations or warrant issued against him, his lawyer wrote.
Part of the motion criticizes the courts' continued detention of the Bundy brothers. Mumford argued that there's no evidence the Bundy brothers would be a danger to anyone if released.
Both have strong ties to their local communities, and their families are involved in church, school and extra-curricular activities.
In his own words, Ammon Bundy wrote that he'd never spent a night in jail before he was charged in the refuge case and doesn't travel out of the country. He's owned a fleet maintenance business since he was 23 years old, but has lost over half of his clients, and half of his employees since he's been in custody, he said. He lives with his wife of 15 years, and six children , ages 1 to 13, in Emmett, Idaho. They have an apple orchid of 250 apple trees, and run a "you pick'' operation in the fall.
If released before trial, he said he has no reason to flee.
"I refuse to be a fugitive,'' he wrote. "I love my family, my life, my country and my freedom too much.''
He said the refuge prosecution case is his "great opportunity'' to show the overreach of federal agencies.
"The exposure in this case will bring to light how federal agencies are discrediting and disregarding all three (government) branches' powers and usurping their powers as their own,'' Ammon Bundy said.
Any concern that Ammon Bundy or his brother Ryan Bundy would engage in future protests while on release pending trial also is baseless, the motion said. Both are among seven Oregon standoff defendants also charged with federal conspiracy, assault and other charges stemming from the 2014 standoff with officers outside their father's Bunkerville ranch in Nevada.
"This is the first time they have been held to answer for serious criminal charges, and all evidence indicates that they take these charges and this controversy seriously, that they respect this Court and the law and that they have a strong desire to defend themselves and vindicate their principles through legal process,'' the motion said.
-- Maxine Bernstein
[email protected]
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian | {
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Oh, by the way, this huge thing is happening in a hour. Familiar friends, foes, and random celebrities will be debating the drug war like never before. It will be delicious. | {
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Resta um O governo quer enviar ao Congresso uma proposta para impedir o acúmulo de benefícios sociais. Pelo projeto que está sendo estruturado no Executivo, uma mesma pessoa só poderá obter, no futuro, um tipo de auxílio federal. Hoje, é possível receber, simultaneamente, repasses do Bolsa Família, do abono salarial e do seguro-defeso (dado a pescadores). O tema, apesar de polêmico, motiva a área técnica do governo a racionalizar despesas em momento de forte queda de receita.
O filho é teu Presidente do Supremo, Ricardo Lewandowski avisou ao Planalto que não concorda com a gratificação para os ministros da corte. O que quer é a manutenção do acordo para aumentar o salário dos servidores.
Dá mais? O Judiciário pode ter de pedir mais dinheiro à União para bancar suas despesas. Os tribunais entraram no contingenciamento linear determinado no início do ano e reduziram gastos. Mas, com orçamento inicial menor, está difícil fechar a conta.
Bicudo Depois de ter levado pânico ao Planalto quando se recusou a substituir Waldir Maranhão (PP-MA) na votação da DRU na quarta, Giacobo (PR-PR) foi afagado. Recebeu convite para participar da reunião de líderes da base na semana que vem.
Cara de mau Michel Temer chegou a se exaltar quando reclamou do comportamento do PT no Congresso, em almoço com sindicalistas. Disse que não iria “se calar”. “Só não deu soco na mesa porque estava em pé”, afirma um dirigente.
Bebê-la-ei No encontro, Paulinho da Força (SD-SP) ofertou uma cachaça mineira ao presidente. Aos colegas, advertiu: “Só espero que ele não se transforme no Lula!”.
Pra fora Temer quer aproveitar a passagem pelo Rio na semana que vem para chamar estrangeiros à Olimpíada. Nas entrevistas, vai se esforçar para tranquilizar visitantes sobre violência e zika.
Veeenha! Integrantes do governo, aliás, estão tensos com a ainda reduzida confirmação de autoridades na abertura dos Jogos.
‘Indignaldo’ Em petição a Teori Zavascki, a defesa de José Sarney criticou o vazamento dos áudios de Sérgio Machado. Diz que fora motivado por “interesses escusos que assaltam a República”.
Trava O Planalto recebeu recomendação para vetar ao menos dois pontos da medida provisória 707, que estabelece regras para refinanciamento de produtores rurais.
Escambo não vale A sugestão é bloquear a permissão de pagamento dos débitos com produtos e de expandir o abatimento de dívidas para fora da região do semiárido.
Implicância Depois de limitar as viagens da FAB, cortar o “cartão alimentação” e reduzir pela metade o número de servidores, palacianos brincam que a próxima medida será furar o pneu da bicicleta da presidente afastada.
Ficou sem Como decidiu não prestar assistência a outros países na recuperação de dívidas, o governo brasileiro não poderá solicitar ajuda para caçar caloteiros do fisco, diz o Itamaraty. Mas acordos bilaterais, como o feito com a Suíça, seguem valendo.
Man of the people João Doria, pré-candidato à Prefeitura pelo PSDB, diz que fará, neste domingo, sua 100ª visita à periferia. Vai se reunir com moradores de Itaim Paulista para discutir habitação.
Cofrinho à parte O bloqueio das contas do PSDB não afetará as andanças do tucano. A equipe de Doria diz que a pré-campanha está sendo bancada com dinheiro do fundo partidário.
Visita à Folha Moreira Franco, secretário-executivo do Programa de Parcerias de Investimentos (PPI), visitou ontem a Folha. Estava acompanhado de Ugo Braga, assessor de imprensa.
TIROTEIO
Não entendi a celeuma sobre o pagamento da comida de Dilma. Ela se orgulha tanto de ter emagrecido… Vai querer engordar de novo?
DO DEPUTADO LÚCIO VIEIRA LIMA (PMDB-BA), sobre os protestos da equipe da petista diante da suspensão de recursos para compra de comida no Alvorada.
CONTRAPONTO
Flagrado pelo bigode
Na véspera da decisão que anulou a tramitação do impeachment, Waldir Maranhão (PP-MA), presidente interino da Câmara era esperado por Michel Temer no Palácio do Jaburu. Aliado do vice, Heráclito Fortes (PSB-PI) foi encarregado de levá-lo até lá. Mas já passava do horário combinado e Maranhão sumira. Fortes, então, foi avisado de que um grupo tinha sido visto entrando em um dos prédios de apartamentos funcionais.
— Subiram José Eduardo Cardozo, Silvio Costa e um outro que parece o Tiririca — disse o informante.
Do outro lado da linha, Fortes levou as mãos à cabeça:
— Meu Deus, é o Maranhão! Ele está do lado deles! | {
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The corpse that stood up and danced
Marion Hillitz’s dancing days were behind her. So too, alas, were her breathing ones. At least, that’s what the doctors believed.
On a Saturday night in June 1878, in the Virginian hospital where she’d stayed for several months in the care of nuns, Mrs Hillitz died.
She was a popular patient; wealthy too. But all that could have been done for her, had been done. And so, according to the customs of Richmond’s Hospital of the Little Sisters of the Poor, she was wrapped in a shroud, and laid out in the parlour.
The good sisters, who had watched faithfully by the bedside, were gathered mournfully by her body when the clock struck midnight.
Suddenly, her sunken eyes seemed to flash, and the blood rushed to her wan cheeks. “As though imbued with superhuman energy,” reported the Edinburgh Evening News, “the dead body rose up from its resting place, which was draped with a black pall, emblematic of mourning, and spoke to the affrighted watchers, saying, ‘I am not dead yet, but I will die soon’.”
Cue consternation. Mrs Hillitz then reportedly danced around the room, singing and shouting as the thunderstruck nurses stared in disbelief.
“As soon as the nurses recovered from their fright, they placed the old lady in bed, where she lingered until about nine o’clock, when she again apparently died,” said the Evening News.
“The affair has created the most intense excitement, and thousands of persons visited the hospital.”
An actor stabbed to death during a play
It was the performance of a lifetime: a stage death that oozed realism. The crowd applauded, the curtain came down, the theatre cleared.
But as they drifted away from London’s Novelty Theatre that August night in 1896, the audience wasn’t aware just how realistic the final act had actually been.
“The exigencies of the play demanded that the chief villain should be stabbed,” reported The Yorkshire Evening Post, “and this operation was so realistically carried out that the instrument employed – unhappily an actual dagger of particularly sharp quality – penetrated the breast of the unfortunate gentleman.”
The unfortunate gentleman was Temple E Crozier. His killer was his friend, a fellow member of the cast of Sins of the Night. “I did it,” Wilfred Franks told the police. “It was an accident. It is a terrible thing.”
The play was a sensational melodrama of greed, murder and revenge. Crozier played the part of Ramez, a dastardly Spaniard who seduced and killed Abimahad, the sister of Franks’ character Pablo. In the final act, the plot called for Pablo to drive a knife into Ramez, exclaiming “now my sister is avenged”.
Everything had been going just fine until that moment. Alive to the risks of wielding a blade, Franks had calculated exactly where he needed to stand for his dramatic lunge to be believable but safe, and hadn’t budged in the scene. But Crozier leaned in. Maybe that wouldn’t have mattered too much if Franks had used a harmless stage knife from the theatre’s props department. Unfortunately he used his own – a sharp and slender stiletto with a jewelled handle.
The actor stumbled, turned twice from the blow and fell on his back with the dagger sticking in his chest. “Don’t worry, I’m alright,” Crozier told his unwitting killer.
Three surgeons were speedily on the scene, but to no avail. “Deceased moaned and expired,” concluded the Evening Post.
A man choked by a billiard ball
As stunts go, it left a little to be desired. But it was Walter Cowle’s party piece, and he was going to stick to it.
The 24-year-old was in the pub with his pals in November 1893, when talk turned to the tricks they could perform.
Eager to show off, Walter asked the landlord of the Carlisle Arms in Soho for a billiard ball, then placed it in his mouth with a flourish, and closed his mouth.
Ta-da!
Uh-oh.
“He evinced signs of choking,” reported the Grantham Journal. “His back was slapped and his head held down, in the hope that the ball would fall forward and out of his mouth. It did not, however and Cowle was at once conveyed to Middlesex Hospital, where he was found to be dead.
“It was only when the post-mortem examination was made by Dr Sidney Bulke, resident surgeon, that the ball could be extracted.”
His friend told the inquest he’d seen him do the trick dozens of times before, without any mishap. The coroner, rather superfluously, pointed out that sticking a billiard ball in your mouth to impress your mates was “silly and dangerous.”
Animal revenge
In Jaws the Revenge, a Great White Shark hunts down the family of the man who killed its relative. Preposterous, you may think, and pretty much everyone who saw it would agree with you. But the plot, ludicrous as it may be, is not entirely without parallel in the animal world.
In 1894, a stablehand in the Welsh village of Dyserth, near Rhyl, came to an unpleasant end when he was kicked to death by a horse.
His employer, said The Citizen, “at once got rid of the brute”. Not just that, but as a display of goodwill, he hired the son of the dead man as a groom.
“News has come to hand that the son has himself been kicked to death by the foal of the mare that kicked his father to death,” reported the paper in March the following year.
The condemned man who bought more time
Robert Blanks didn’t have long, the court had seen to that. It may have been little more than a legal lynching, but the verdict stood. Blanks would hang.
It was a spring day in 1899 when he was led to the gallows in Maysville, Kentucky. But before he drew his final breath, Robert Blanks was determined to squeeze every last remaining second out of what was left of his life.
First he made a speech from the scaffold. It lasted 40 filibustering minutes. Then he requested that all those present at his execution bid him a personal goodbye. Each and every one of them, in a crowd that numbered more than 1,000.
When there were no more farewells to be made, he asked for a collection to be held on behalf of his poor family.
“The sheriff then told him to get ready for death,” said the Sheffield Evening Telegraph, “but he begged fervently for still more time, which he occupied in praying on his knees, and afterwards singing hymns.”
Tired of the shilly-shallying, the sheriff tried to place the black cap on Blanks’ head. He tore it off. Back on it went. Back off it came. Three more times they struggled with the cap before Blanks was finally pinned down.
As the noose went round his neck and the trapdoor fell, reported the Evening Telegraph, Blanks yelled his frantic last words. “Wait a minute…”
The father killed by joy
It was the news he had been longing for; the words he’d prayed to read. His son was safe.
There was the evidence, at last, in his hands: a letter with a Bloemfontein postmark, telling Peter Kitchen that his lad was alive and well.
Some time before, his son – a member of Armley Ambulance Corps in Leeds – had signed up for service in South Africa with No 9 Field Hospital. The year was 1900. The second Boer War was in full swing. Nothing had been heard from Kitchen’s son for a long while.
Like any parent, Mr Kitchen, who was in his 80s, was beside himself with worry – until that day. From then on in, he wouldn’t have a care in the world.
“Mr Kitchen was so overcome with joy on at last receiving news of his son’s safety that he expired without warning,” reported The Edinburgh Evening News.
The man murdered by a monkey
It was the clown who found him. When Signor Rovelli missed his cue for the big finale in the show, the circus joker went to see what was up.
What he discovered that night in Mexico was far too gruesome to be mollified with a comedy honk of the horn.
Rovelli was seated in his chair, with his menagerie of performing dogs and monkeys around him. His throat had been cut from ear to ear. His dogs whined pitifully at his feet. In the corner, one monkey was brandishing a razor.
“He had evidently fallen asleep,” said the Illustrated Police News in September 1876, “and while in an unconscious state, one of the monkeys had become possessed of his master’s razor, which [it] drew across the throat of the sleeping man.
“It is said that the acrobat had been seen to behave very cruelly to his monkey on many occasions, as the latter, from some cause or other, would not do as his master wished, and at times, when Rovelli was shaving, he used to go up to the monkey, razor in hand, threateningly, and imitate the movement of cutting himself. This was a most imprudent thing to do.”
As they say: monkey see, monkey do.
The girl who worried herself to death
Thirteen words. That’s all it took to kill Kate Weedon. Thirteen words strung together in a sinister rhyming couplet.
Poor Kate was a worrywart. Like a moth drawn to a flame, the 10-year-old Londoner began reading the prophecies of 16th-century soothsayer Mother Shipton, and was quickly fixated on two apocalyptic lines:
The world to an end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eighty one
It was already 1881 – the tail end of the year at that. And as the days passed, she became more and more anxious.
One day in November, Kate returned home from school in floods of tears. “Her mother told her it was all nonsense,” reported the Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, “but this had not the least effect upon her, and when she went to bed at half-past 10 she was still crying and wringing her hands, saying she knew the end of the world would come in the night.
“At about half-past three on the following morning the mother was awakened by hearing her cry, and on going to her bedroom found the child in a fit. A doctor was immediately sent for, but his services were of no avail, and the child died two hours later.”
An inquest found death was due to convulsions and shock to the system, brought on by fright. An entirely needless dread, at that. Almost 10 years before, the author Charles Hindley had admitted to fabricating the prophecy – to liven up his 1862 book on Mother Shipton.
The servant who died re-enacting the death she had just witnessed
Some folks are wise, and some are otherwise, observed the author Tobias Smollett. Proof, if it was required, was to be found in Widnes in 1881.
On an October evening that year, a wholesale draper named Birchall asked an employee called Hague to go to his lodgings and fetch his four-chambered revolver, which he intended to hand as a gift to a policeman who was leaving for Australia.
When Hague got the house, he contrived to shoot himself through the mouth while examining the gun.
When a neighbour hurried to the scene, a servant picked up the revolver to show what had happened. “The firearm again went off,” said the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, “and shot her through the mouth. Both are dead.”
The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton, published in paperback by Icon Books, is now on sale. Find out more here.
You can follow Jeremy Clay on Twitter @ludicrousscenes, and read more at www.ludicrousscenes.com | {
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発売前や発表されたばかりのインディーゲームから、まだ誰も見たことがないような最前線の作品を紹介してゆく「Indie Pick」。第259回目は『Kologeon』をピックアップする。
『Kologeon』は4人組のゲーム開発チーム「ChillCrow」が開発を進めている2Dアクションゲーム。プレイヤーは不滅の魂であるという謎のキャラクターを操作し、悪魔と霊魂が存在する奇妙な世界を探索してゆく。世界観の設定や物語に関する詳細はほぼ伏せられているが、トレイラーやgifイメージからはスタイリッシュなアクション性が確認できる期待作だ。
『Kologeon』はアクションRPGにローグライクの一部要素を加えたような内容となっている。プレイヤーは自動生成される世界を探索し、悪魔と戦ったり霊魂と対話しながら物語を読み解いてゆく。
死亡してもそれまでの進行度はリセットされず、また経験値やレベルの概念も存在しない。「マップを覚えたり同じことを何度も繰り返したりする必要はない」と、開発陣は”非反復性”を強調している。さらに本作は一度進んだら元いた場所には後戻りできないような構造になっているそうだ。同じような体験は二度と存在しない片道キップの冒険が、本作における1つのアピールポイントとなっている。
『Kologen』の2Dアクションは一見するとかなり複雑そうに思えるが、キーとなるシステム「幽体離脱（Realm Travel）」を理解するとそれほど難しくはない。ゲームの主人公である不滅の魂は、自身の身体から一時的に離脱することが可能。幽体離脱をすると、「バレットタイム」のように時間をゆっくりと進めたり、敵の悪霊にとり憑いたりすることができ、戦闘をより楽に進められる。
ただし幽体離脱中は身体が無意識下に落ちるほか、秒ごとに幽体の勢いは弱まっていくため、使いどころには注意しなければならない。また時間をゆっくりと進める能力は、身体に負荷がかかりダメージを受ける仕様になっているという。通常状態と幽体状態を上手く切り替え、スピーディに敵を殲滅するという戦い方が、プレイヤーには求められる。
『Kologeon』はPC/Mac/Linux向けにリリース予定。発売時期は明らかにされていないが、現在は3万5000ドルの獲得を目指すKickstarterキャンペーンが実施されており、各種リワードの提供は2017年12月になると表記されている。Steam Greenlightにも登録されているので、気になる読者はそれぞれチェックしてみよう。 | {
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