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Get the Recipe Pickled Grapes with Citrus and Spice
Pickled grapes have been in the back of my mind for a long time now. I love salty, briny pickles and I love sweet, juicy grapes. Plus, I'm always on the lookout for something easy, unusual, and delicious to serve as hors d'oeuvre or alongside a cheese plate. Plus, pickled grapes are relatively healthy. You'll feel much more virtuous popping them in your mouth than say, a handful of roasted nuts or high-calorie olives.
The first recipe for pickled grapes I looked at was in Toni Lydecker's cookbook, Serves One. It involves a simple brine of white wine vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, and minced onion, simmered together and then poured over red grapes.
It looked easy enough, but I wanted something with a bit more spice.
Next, I consulted Molly Wizenberg's book, A Homemade Life, and the blog Smitten Kitchen, which features an adapted version on Molly's recipe. It includes mustard seeds and black peppercorns along with the cinnamon, but again, it seemed a little ho-hum. Plus, the procedure called for trimming the stem end of every single grape with a pairing knife. Who has time for that?
I rooted around in my pantry and kitchen for inspiration and came up with a jar of fennel seeds, a lemon, and an orange. The fennel seeds offer a hint of licorice (almost like throwing a star anise in each jar), and a few strips of lemon and orange peel gave the grapes a citrusy zing. After simmering all the ingredients for my brine together in a pot, I let the whole thing chill out for an hour before pouring it over the grapes. That way they pickled instead of cooked, and retained their crunchy-firm texture.
After a night in the fridge my grapes were ready to eat. I unscrewed the lid from one jar and speared a nice fat one. The flavor was an amazing combination of sweet and sour, unlike any other pickled-thing I've tasted before. The sugar and white wine vinegar created a syrup that lightly coated the grapes and infused them with a mellow tanginess. I could definitely taste the cinnamon and citrus, but the fennel, black pepper, and mustard kept the grapes from being too fruity.
These are not the sort of salty, dilly pickles you serve with sandwiches. Rather, I fantasized about serving them with funky microbrews at a craft beer tasting. The complex flavors and the play between sweet and savory would lead to some awesome pairings.
This recipe yields two pint-sized jars of pickled grapes. They will keep for one month in the fridge. One jar and a six-pack of different beers would make a great gift.
Get the Recipe Pickled Grapes with Citrus and Spice View Recipe »
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Related Content The Science Behind Our Search for Waldo
In London, Benjamin Franklin once opened a bottle of fortified wine from Virginia and poured out, along with the refreshment, three drowned flies, two of which revived after a few hours and flew away. Ever the visionary, he wondered about the possibility of incarcerating himself in a wine barrel for future resurrection, “to see and observe the state of America a hundred years hence.” Alas, he wrote to a friend in 1773, “we live in an age too early . . . to see such an art brought in our time to its perfection.”
If Franklin were alive today he would find a kindred spirit in Ken Hayworth, a neuroscientist who also wants to be around in 100 years but recognizes that, at 43, he’s not likely to make it on his own. Nor does he expect to get there preserved in alcohol or a freezer; despite the claims made by advocates of cryonics, he says, the ability to revivify a frozen body “isn’t really on the horizon.” So Hayworth is hoping for what he considers the next best thing. He wishes to upload his mind—his memories, skills and personality—to a computer that can be programmed to emulate the processes of his brain, making him, or a simulacrum, effectively immortal (as long as someone keeps the power on).
Hayworth’s dream, which he is pursuing as president of the Brain Preservation Foundation, is one version of the “technological singularity.” It envisions a future of “substrate-independent minds,” in which human and machine consciousness will merge, transcending biological limits of time, space and memory. “This new substrate won’t be dependent on an oxygen atmosphere,” says Randal Koene, who works on the same problem at his organization, Carboncopies.org. “It can go on a journey of 1,000 years, it can process more information at a higher speed, it can see in the X-ray spectrum if we build it that way.” Whether Hayworth or Koene will live to see this is an open question. Their most optimistic scenarios call for at least 50 years, and uncounted billions of dollars, to implement their goal. Meanwhile, Hayworth hopes to achieve the ability to preserve an entire human brain at death—through chemicals, cryonics or both—to keep the structure intact with enough detail that it can, at some future time, be scanned into a database and emulated on a computer.
That approach presumes, of course, that all of the subtleties of a human mind and memory are contained in its anatomical structure—conventional wisdom among neuroscientists, but it’s still a hypothesis. There are electrochemical processes at work. Are they captured by a static map of cells and synapses? We won’t know, advocates argue, until we try to do it.
The initiatives require a big bet on the future of technology. A 3-D map of all the cells and synapses in a nervous system is called a “connectome,” and so far researchers have produced exactly one, for a roundworm called Caenorhabditis elegans, with 302 neurons and about 7,000 connections among them. A human brain, according to one reasonable estimate, has about 86 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses. And then there’s the electrochemical activity on top of that. In 2013, announcing a federal initiative to produce a complete model of the human brain, Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, said it could generate “yottabytes” of data—a million million million megabytes. To scan an entire human brain at the scale Hayworth thinks is necessary—effectively slicing it into virtual cubes ten nanometers on a side—would require, with today’s technology, “a million electron microscopes running in parallel for ten years.” Mainstream researchers are divided between those who regard Hayworth’s quest as impossible in practice, and those, like Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University, who consider it impossible in theory. “The brain,” he says, “is not computable.”
And what does it mean for a mind to exist outside a brain? One immediately thinks of the disembodied HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. But Koene sees no reason that, if computers continue to grow smaller and more powerful, an uploaded mind couldn’t have a body—a virtual one, or a robotic one. Will it sleep? Experience hunger, pain, desire? In the absence of hormones and chemical neurotransmitters, will it feel emotion? It will be you, in a sense, but will you be it?
These questions don’t trouble Hayworth. To him, the brain is the most sophisticated computer on earth, but only that, and he figures his mind could also live in one made of transistors instead. He hopes to become the first human being to live entirely in cyberspace, to send his virtual self into the far future—a journey as fantastic as that of those two flies that fell into a wine bottle in America and came back to life in England. | {
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A week ago we published a guest post from David Galland of Casey's Daily Dispatch in which Galland presented his view on what the consequences of the upcoming introduction of a 1099-filing requirement for gold transactions over $600 would be. "Can’t a person just keep their gold purchases under $600? With the price of gold heading higher, that will increasingly require buying smaller-denomination bullion coins – which typically carry a higher premium. More importantly, a large body of case law gives the government license to charge people for “structuring” – i.e., taking active measures to get around a particular law. Thus, two $500 gold purchases could be construed as active evasion and carry additional penalties." The topic is suddenly red hot once again, this time with ABC finally getting on the bandwagon.
Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year. Precious metals such as coins and bullion fall into this category and coin dealers have been among those most rankled by the change.
This provision, intended to mine what the IRS deems a vast reservoir of uncollected income tax, was included in the health care legislation ostensibly as a way to pay for it. The tax code tweak is expected to raise $17 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Pat Heller, who owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Mich., deals with around 1,000 customers every week. Many are individuals looking to protect wealth in an uncertain economy, he said, while others are dealers like him.
With spot market prices for gold at nearly $1,200 an ounce, Heller estimates that he'll be filling out between 10,000 and 20,000 tax forms per year after the new law takes effect.
"I'll have to hire two full-time people just to track all this stuff, which cuts into my profitability," he said.
An issue that combines gold coins, the Obama health care law and the IRS is bound to stir passions. Indeed, trading in gold coins and bars has surged since the financial crisis unfolded and Obama took office, metal dealers said.
The sudden interest into gold tax reporting requirement is occurring as gold selling companies are increasingly being put under a regulatory microscope:
The recently revealed investigation by California authorities into consumer complaints against Goldline International, which has used Beck as a pitchman, and Superior Gold Group (which has not) has put a spotlight on what one liberal leaning politician, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., calls the "unholy alliance" between gold coin sellers, such as Goldline, and conservative talk personalities, such as Beck.
Beck, who through his spokesman, Matt Hiltzik, declined to comment for this story, and Goldline marketers portray gold coins as a better alternative to owning bullion in the event that the U.S. government ever decides, as it did under FDR in 1933, to make it illegal for private citizens to own physical gold. At that time, the U.S. dollar was still pegged to the price of gold; the gold standard was abandoned during the Nixon administration.
Several legal responses have already been drafted in opposition to the proposed "healthcare" law:
Rep. Daniel Lungren, R-Calif., has introduced legislation to repeal the section of the health care bill that would trigger the new tax reporting requirement because he says it's a burden on small businesses.
"Large corporations have whole divisions to handle such transaction paperwork but for a small business, which doesn't have the manpower, this is yet another brick on their back," Lungren said in a statement e-mailed to ABCNews.com. "Everyone agrees that small businesses are job creators and the engine which drives the American economy. I am dumfounded that this Administration is doing all it can to make it more difficult for businesses to succeed rather than doing all it can to help them grow."
Yet while the escalating surveillance over the gold market can not infuse one with confidence that gold transactions will not be increasingly regulated in the future, as David Galland pointed out last week, the implications are more substantial than just in regulating the gold market:
The implications of this move transcend just the precious metals. Rather, this is a deliberate step in the direction of implementing a VAT – once the government has everyone reporting essentially every transaction, taking the next step is a snap..
And for those that may have missed it, here is David's previous conclusion: | {
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Garnet: She must be upset that her son was taken into space by those Homeworld Gems.
Steven: You mean Onion? He isn’t in space.
Garnet: Sorry, I must be thinking of a
different timeline
.
From the episode Pool Hopping:Because of that I did this XDI'm surprised I haven't seen anything like this yetAnd yes, I know if he or any of the other humans got stuck in space like Lars, they wouldn't have ended up the same way as Lars. It's just a joketumblr: imaplatypus-art.tumblr.com/pos… made on ibispaint xOnion belongs to Cartoon Network | {
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Stefano Denswil moest maandagavond even flink door het stof bij Sportgala van Amsterdam waar Ajax als Ploeg van het Jaar op het podium mocht komen. Toen Denswil werd gevraagd naar zijn verdere doelen antwoordde hij met een stalen gezicht: 'Om vanuit Ajax uiteindelijk naar een mooie club te gaan.'
De aanwezigen in de zaal en de spelers op het podium (Ricardo van Rhijn, Davy Klaassen, Lasse Schöne, Frank de Boer en Niklas Moisander) lachten zich rot om de gewaagde uitspraak, die niet helemaal over kwam zoals hij waarschijnlijk was bedoeld. 'Een club in het buitenland, ja', corrigeerde Denswil. 'Natuurlijk is Ajax een mooie club, maar je hebt ook bijvoorbeeld FC Barcelona en dat is voor iedere jongen een droom. Dan zeg ik Barcelona, ja.'
Na een nieuw lachsalvo vanuit de zaal poogde presentator Peter Heerschop de boel wat te lijmen. Dromen van FC Barcelona is namelijk best logisch. Denswil moet uiteindelijk lachend beamen dat het in zijn carrière Ajax of FC Barcelona wordt, waarop Heerschop gevat grapt: 'Jij speelt nog wel een tijdje bij Ajax.'
Bekijk de hilarische beelden van cameraman Reinand Visscher hieronder, app-gebruikers kunnen hier kijken.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoQa3dTeM2I[/video]
T/m 18 december geen verzendkosten bij besteding van meer dan 50 euro in de officiële fanshop. | {
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Get Bounty to Find Data-Abusing Android & Chrome Apps
"If data abuse is identified related to an app or Chrome extension, that app or extension will accordingly be removed from Google Play or Google Chrome Web Store," Google says in its blog post published today.
"In the case of an app developer abusing access to Gmail restricted scopes, their API access will be removed."
Bug Bounty On All Android Apps With 100 Million+ Downloads
"These apps are now eligible for rewards, even if the app developers don't have their own vulnerability disclosure or bug bounty program," Google says.
"If the developers already have their own programs, researchers can collect rewards directly from them on top of the rewards from Google."
In the wake of data abuse scandals and several instances of malware app being discovered on the Play Store, Google today expanded its bug bounty program to beef up the security of Android apps and Chrome extensions distributed through its platform.The expansion in Google's vulnerability reward program majorly includes two main announcements.First, a new program, dubbed 'Developer Data Protection Reward Program' (DDPRP), wherein Google will reward security researchers and hackers who find "verifiably and unambiguous evidence" of data abuse issues in Android apps, OAuth projects, and Chrome extensions.Second, expanding the scope of its Google Play Security Rewards Program (GPSRP) to include all Android apps from the Google Play Store with over 100 million or more installs, helping affected app developers fix vulnerabilities through responsibly disclosures.'The data abuse bug bounty program aims to avoid scandals like Cambridge Analytica that hit Facebook with $5 billion in fines for failing to identify situations where user data is being used or sold unexpectedly or repurposed illegitimately without user consent.Google has not yet announced any reward table for the DDPRP program but ensured that a single report could net up to $50,000 in bounty depending on the impact.On the other hand, the GPSRP Program, which was initially launched in 2017, was until today limited to only reporting vulnerabilities in popular Android apps in Google Play Store.With the latest announcement, Google will now work with developers of hundreds of thousands of Android apps, each with at least 100 million downloads, helping them to receive vulnerability reports and instructions on how to patch them over their Play Consoles.Part of Google's App Security Improvement (ASI) program, this existing initiative has already helped over 300,000 developers fix more than 1,000,000 apps on the Google Play Store.Hopefully, both measures will now allow Google to prevent malicious Android apps and Chrome extensions from abusing its users' data, as well as to beef up the security of apps distributed through Play Store. | {
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Paul Rudd's EXCLUSIVE "Anchorman 2" Clip
Paul is filming the "Anchorman" sequel in Atlanta and brought an awesome clip with him. | {
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Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York City
By Phil Corso
While readers of the satirical news source The Onion may be tearing up with laughter, one Bayside native said he wanted to take that reading experience one step further.
Last Thursday night, 25-year-old Adam Gassman took to Manhattan to celebrate the launch party of newsmakeup.com, his own satirical news network with a twist. According to Gassman, News Makeup takes stories from a range of subjects, including politics, media, entertainment, sports and more and presents them in ways that leave readers both entertained but also informed and aware.
“We are a fact-based satire that walks that middle ground between real news and comedy,” Gassman said. “Hopefully, people will read our articles and think about an issue in ways they never have before, and maybe want to find out more.”
Though the news articles are written to make jokes out of real-life stories, Gassman said News Makeup strives to create a relevant political conversation through a nonpartisan voice that plays off what he called the absurdity that dominates American news media.
Gassman said he was unhappy with what was being discussed in mainstream news and wanted to find his own way to go after partisan media, which he said has become partly responsible for political polarization in the United States.
“While the primary goal of a comedy website is entertainment, newsmakeup.com is also dedicated to providing insightful assessments of political developments and promoting thoughtful discussion among its readers,” he said. “For this reason, newsmakeup.com generates stories that forces people to confront the disturbing realities of politics and culture.”
The site also features satirical blogs and recurring segments, Gassman said, including the “Weekly Fast Forward,” which reveals news stories one week before they happen.
As the site grows, Gassman said important political and social issues would be discussed through satirical, but fact-based, news stories that also include additional interactive videos and links so users could learn more about what they read.
“If we can do this, our other hope would be that businesses see this as a way to do a lot of good work with different charities and groups,” Gassman said.
Newsmakeup.com, based in Bayside, currently operates with about 14 writers Gassman hired from different parts of the country, Vice President Conor Biller and a small team handling the technology end. The writers, Gassman said, possess a healthy mix of both journalistic and comedic prowess with a passion for shedding light on the things mainstream media neglect.
“In starting this, we wanted to figure out a way to have a good time while going after partisan media and political hypocrisy while still informing people,” Gassman said. “This idea would be worthless without the people who have helped execute it and there is much more to come.”
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 718-260-4573. | {
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AP
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — When Case Keenum sat down at his locker, Teddy Bridgewater flashed a smile and said he was talking trash about his fellow Vikings quarterback.
Bridgewater had nothing but glowing reviews of Keenum, who has led Minnesota on a five-game winning streak to sit atop the NFC North at 7-2. But now that Bridgewater is healthy and active 14½ months after a career-threatening knee injury, coach Mike Zimmer has a decision to make at the QB position.
He's not ready to reveal anything just yet.
"I've got a plan, and we'll just see how it goes," Zimmer said. "Sometimes plans change but we'll see how it goes. We'll sit down this week and we'll visit about it and kind of go from there."
With the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams up next, the Vikings could stick with the status quo after Keenum threw touchdown passes to four different receivers in a 38-30 victory Sunday over the Washington Redskins. Bridgewater said a silent prayer to himself, let out a scream and cried during the national anthem in his first game in uniform since Jan. 10, 2016. Then he watched Keenum put on a solid performance with the four scores and two interceptions.
"He's awesome," Bridgewater said. "He's the ultimate competitor, he fights hard. He has great energy. It's what you want in a quarterback."
If the Vikings were losing, the clouds of a QB controversy could hang over them. But there doesn't seem to be any animosity between Keenum and Bridgewater.
"I'm a big fan of Teddy Bridgewater," Keenum said. "I may have a Teddy Bridgewater jersey at home. He's a great dude, great teammate."
Wide receiver Adam Thielen heaped all sorts of praise on Keenum, who replaced injured veteran Sam Bradford as Minnesota's starter and has thrived after a rough start. Thielen also thinks it's a huge positive to have Bridgewater back, especially after the 25-year-old came back from a complete tear of the ACL in his left knee in August 2016.
"I knew if there was one person that was going to do it, it was going to be Teddy," Thielen said. "It's fun to see him just prepare. The way that he practices, he gets a lot of reps. It's just fun to have him out there because he loves it."
___
Some things learned in the Vikings' 38-30 victory over the Redskins:
SO-SO SKINS
So much for building a little momentum. Now the Redskins (4-5) need to try to stay within shouting distance of the NFC playoff race, and they'll have to beat a rising New Orleans Saints club to do it. Washington travels to New Orleans next weekend to face a host that is leading the NFC South at 7-2 thanks to a seven-game winning streak. The Redskins, meanwhile, haven't won more than two in a row all season. "It seems like we've got this roller-coaster right now, where we're up, down," cornerback Josh Norman said.
'TRASH' SECONDARY
Washington has to hope its defensive backs put on a better showing against Drew Brees and Co. than they did against Keenum. "We played trash in the secondary," Norman said. "We really did." The Redskins allowed completions of 51, 49 and 38 yards, as well as four TDs through the air. "We failed on the back end," Norman said.
THIELEN-DIGGS DUO
Thielen and Stefon Diggs give the Vikings quite a 1-2 punch — no matter who their QB is. Each caught a TD against the Redskins, and Thielen finished with eight catches for 166 yards, while Diggs finished with four receptions for 78 yards, including a tone-setter that went for 51 on Minnesota's third play. Keenum loves throwing to Thielen, saying: "He continues to find ways to get open and make catches — and make catches even when he's not open."
GRIFFEN OUT: Despite DE Everson Griffen missing two practices with a foot injury, Zimmer thought he'd be able to play against the Redskins. Instead, he was a late scratch.
"We worked him out before the game and he just couldn't push off at full speed," said Zimmer. "The smart, prudent thing to do was to not play him because we didn't want to lose him for more than one week."
Griffen was the third player since the NFL began tracking sacks in 1982 to have one in each of his team's first eight games of the season. He has 10.
___
AP Pro Football Writer Howard Fendrich and freelance writer Bobby Bancroft contributed to this report.
___
More AP NFL: http://pro32.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | {
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WARNING: The above report contains images some may find distressing.
At least 58 people, including 11 children, have been killed in a "toxic gas" bombing raid on a rebel-held Syrian town, doctors and a monitor said, in an attack the United Nations quickly said it would investigate as a possible war crime.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province caused many people to choke or faint, and some to foam from the mouth, citing medical sources who described the symptoms as possible signs that gas was used.
The Edlib Media Centre, a pro-opposition group, posted images that were widely shared on social media, showing people being treated by medics and what appeared to be dead bodies, many of them children.
It would mark the deadliest chemical attack in Syria since sarin gas killed hundreds of civilians in Ghouta near the capital in August 2013. Western states said the Syrian government was responsible for the 2013 attack. Damascus blamed rebels.
Locals said the attack began in the early morning, when they heard planes in the sky followed by a series of loud explosions, after which people very quickly began to show symptoms. They said they could not identify the planes. Both Syrian and Russian jets have bombed the area before.
READ MORE: Syria's civil war explained
Russia's defence ministry denied it was responsible, telling the state-run RIA news agency that it carried out no bombing runs in the area on Tuesday.
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using such weapons in the past. On three previous occasions, though, United Nations investigations have found it guilty of using chemical weapons.
The Observatory monitoring group, which tracks the war through a network of contacts on the ground, was unable to confirm the nature of the substance used.
In a statement, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said the use of chemical weapons, as well as any deliberate targeting of medical facilities, "would amount to war crimes and serious violations of human rights law".
"It is imperative for perpetrators of such attacks to be identified and held accountable," said the independent panel led by Brazilian expert Paulo Pinheiro.
'Fainting, vomiting'
The attack came from the air, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday at an international conference in Brussels aimed at shoring up ailing peace talks.
The European Union's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, said: "Obviously there is a primary responsibility from the regime because it has the primary responsibility of protecting its people."
Opposition activists and the AFP news agency, citing one of its journalists on the scene, said a rocket later slammed into a hospital where the victims were being treated, bringing rubble down on medics as they struggled to deal with victims.
Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Beirut, said locals on the ground expected that the number of dead would increase and that many of the wounded were children.
"There were people fainting, they were vomiting, they were foaming at the mouth," Fisher said.
READ MORE: Air raid destroys hospital in Idlib's Maaret al-Numan
"In that situation, the treatment tends to be to try and strip people off, to get the chemicals away from their bodies, to hose them down as quickly as possible. But even then some of the pictures that have been posted on social media in the last couple of hours show very young people struggling for breath, many people dead where they fell."
'Disgusting act'
Fisher reported that hospitals in the area were overwhelmed with the scale of the apparent attack and that footage showed them struggling to cope with the number of victims.
"Al Jazeera has no way of independently confirming the stories that are coming from there but the reality is there are a number of sources who are saying so many similar things," Fisher said.
"It appears that what we're being told is a fair reflection of the current events in Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province in Syria."
A member of the White Helmets, a rescue group that operates in rebel-held areas, told Al Jazeera that up to 300 people had been injured.
READ MORE: What next for Turkey in Syria?
Reaction to the attack was swift as it drew outrage from both Syrian and foreign groups, governments and members of the public on social media.
The White House called it "reprehensible" and said it could not be ignored.
"A new and particularly serious chemical attack took place this morning in Idlib province. The first information suggests a large number of victims, including children. I condemn this disgusting act," France's foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said in a statement.
"In the face of such serious actions that threaten international security, I ask for everyone not to shirk their responsibilities," he added.
Britain's foreign minister, Boris Johnson, said if it were proved the government had carried out the raid, President Bashar al-Assad would be guilty of a war crime.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the "inhuman" attack could endanger peace talks, AFP reported, citing sources.
Hospitals bombed
On Sunday, suspected Russian fighter jets bombed a hospital in another city in Idlib, wounding several people, the White Helmets said.
At least ten people were wounded when three air raids targeted the main hospital in Maaret al-Numan, destroying the building, a White Helmets official told Al Jazeera.
READ MORE: US says Assad's overthrow no longer a priority
"For the past week, Idlib has been targeted by ongoing air strikes, and after yesterday's attack, one of its main hospitals has been mostly destroyed and can no longer function," Majid, another member of the group, also known as the Syrian Civil Defence, said.
Over the past year, Doctors Without Borders has received reports of at least 71 attacks on at least 32 different health facilities which it runs or supports in Syria.
With reporting by Diana Al Rifai. | {
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Enlarge Image Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET
Sthenaster emmae is a bit of an oddball. The starfish species was first described in 2010 based on three museum specimens, two dried and one preserved in ethanol. It's one thing to look at a dead sea star, and another to finally behold it alive and snacking in its natural habitat.
The science team on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Okeanos Explorer got a thrill when they spotted sthenaster emmae in the Atlantic Ocean.
"This was the FIRST time it's been seen alive!" enthused Smithsonian starfish expert Chris Mah in a NOAA blog post on Thursday.
Enlarge Image NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Windows to the Deep 2019
The video footage will help biologists learn more about the sea star.
"This species was hypothesized to be a coral predator when I described it, based on fragments found in its gut, but now we have solid evidence of this species feeding on a primnoid octocora," said Mah. This pretty much confirms the star's soft-coral-munching predilections.
The NOAA Windows to the Deep mission is focused on documenting largely unexplored deepwater areas off the southeastern US coast.
Sthenaster emmae wasn't the only fascinating starfish found by the mission's remote cameras. The team also documented a sea star nicknamed the "cookie" or "ravioli" star thanks to its resemblance to stuffed pasta.
Windows to the Deep is scheduled to continue through July 12. It has truly been a star-studded mission so far. | {
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Devlin Barrett, national security reporter for The Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow on another busy news day about new reporting that the Trump-Russia investigation has moved to a White House adviser close to Donald Trump. | {
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Reports from Kenya say that the results of Rita Jeptoo’s “B” drug test sample should be made public later this week, which should provide the final word on whether the 2013 and 2014 Boston and Chicago Marathon champion took the blood-boosting substance erythropoietin (EPO).
Capital FM is reporting that the “B” sample analysis will take place December 17-19, while Sports News Arena is reporting that Jeptoo will know the result by December 19, followed by a public announcement on December 20.
Isaiah Kiplagat, president of Athletics Kenya, reportedly told Sports News Arena, “We will have a press conference on December 20th to make a major announcement after we have received her sample result.”
Jeptoo tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition urine test in September. When samples are taken, they are divided into two equal parts and are stored separately. One is considered the “A” sample, and the other is considered the “B” sample. “B” samples are tested only when the test of the “A” sample produces an adverse analytical finding, as was the case with Jeptoo’s “A” sample.
Jeptoo could have accepted the positive test of her “A” sample, which would have meant accepting a ban from competition, and forfeiting her titles and earnings, including the $500,000 she was scheduled to receive for winning the 2013-14 World Marathon Majors title. Instead, Jeptoo requested that her “B” sample be tested.
If Jeptoo’s “B” sample tests negative for banned substances, Jeptoo will theoretically be able to proceed with her career, though there is some question as to whether her reputation within the sport has already been irreparably damaged, and whether major races would welcome her back. Her estranged husband, Noah Busienei, says that she began doping in 2011.
It is uncommon for “B” samples to test negative when an “A” sample tests positive, but it does happen. In 2003, Olympic and World Championship medalist Bernard Lagat had an “A” sample that tested positive for EPO, but his “B” sample cleared him.
Sports News Arena is also reporting that Athletics Kenya has announced that two other female marathoners, Viola Chelangat Kimetto and Joyce Jemutai Kiplimo, have failed drug tests. Neither is among the top tier of Kenyan marathoners. Both tested positive for norandrosterone, the metabolite of the steroid nandrolone.
Sports News Arena also reports that Athletics Kenya’s Medical and Antidoping Commission is investigating six other runners—Philip Kibiwot Kandie, James Maunga Nyankabaria, Alice Ndirangu, Elizabeth Jebet Chelagat, Isaac Kimaiyo Kemboi, and Bernard Mwendia Muthoni—for possible doping violations. None are among Kenya's top distance runners.
Related:
World Marathon Majors Ceremony Postponed
Rita Jeptoo's Coach, Manager Profess Ignorance of Reported Drug Use
Sports Gene Author Reacts to Rita Jeptoo Drug Test News
Rita Jeptoo Requests Analysis of Her Drug Test "B" Sample
Rita Jeptoo's Husband Says She Began Doping in 2011
Can Races Get Prize Money Back After Winners Fail Drug Tests?
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io | {
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I got an AWESOME Casio Keyboard and a lovely note! My gifter stalked me and saw where I mentioned (I think maybe even last winter???)that I wanted to learn how to play piano and was asking what keyboard is best etc.
She, as a musician, took this chance to spread the love of music. I only hope I learn well enough to make her proud!
Thanks so much Marshmallowblues!!
PS the kids saw it and tried to attack it immediately. I had to give them their kid keyboard to fend them off! | {
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Kellokosken sairaalan ylilääkärinä 1990-luvulla toiminut Ilkka Taipale haluaisi pitää psykiatrisen sairaalan Tuusulassa Kellokoskella. Taipaleen mielestä liikuntamahdollisuudet sekä potilaiden työmahdollisuudet ovat aivan eri luokkaa Kellokoskella kuin vaikka Meilahdessa ja muualla Helsingin keskustassa.
– Yksi Kellokosken lakkautusperuste on, että mielisairaaloiden pitäisi tulevaisuudessa olla muiden sairaaloiden yhteydessä, eli Meilahdessa – mikä on järjetön ajatus.
– Tavallisessa sairaalassa (kuten Meilahdessa) potilaita pidetään sairaalassa kolme päivää ja sitten heidät heitetään ulos. Meidän alallamme potilaat ovat hoidossa usein viikkoja, oikeuspsykiatriapotilaat kymmenenkin vuotta. Silloin on kyse potilaiden koko elämästä: viikonlopuista, päivätoiminnasta, Lapin-matkoista ja harrastuksista. Ihmiset tulevat hulluiksi, jos ympäristössä ei ole mitään tekemistä, Taipale perustelee.
Kellokoski suljetaan 2019?
Helsingin ja Uudenmaan sairaanhoitopiirin HUSin johtoryhmä on esittänyt psykiatrisen hoidon lopettamista Kellokoskella vuoteen 2019 mennessä. Päätöstä asiassa odotetaan syyskuun aikana. HUSin toimitusjohtaja Aki Lindén kommentoi aiemmin Yle Uutisille, että tarve vuodeosastopaikoille pienenee noin kymmenen prosenttia vuodessa, koska avohoitoon on satsattu.
Kellokosken sairaalan entisen ylilääkärin Ilkka Taipaleen mukaan päätös Kellokosken lopettamisesta ei ole yksistään HUSin sisäinen asia.
– Päätöksentekoon kuuluvat Keski-Uudenmaan kunnat ja Helsingin kaupunki. Tämä on ennen kaikkea poliittinen kysymys, Taipale sanoo.
– Nytkin Helsingin vihreät, perussuomalaiset ja vasemmisto kykenevät päättämään, että Aurora ja Hesperia suljetaan ja Lapinlahti pelastetaan, Taipale lisää.
Ilkka Taipale uskoo, että Helsingin keskustassa sijaitseva Lapinlahden sairaalakin voidaan vielä pelastaa psykiatrian potilaiden käyttöön, jos vain poliittista tahtoa asiaan löytyy. Yle
Uudet psykiatrian osastot usein epäonnistuneet
Entinen ylilääkäri, SDP:n kansanedustajanakin toiminut, Ilkka Taipale ymmärtää, että jostain HUSin pitää säästää, koska potilaita on tulevaisuudessa vähemmän.
– Meillä on kolme mielisairaala-aluetta: Aurora, Hesperia ja Kellokoski. Mielestäni on ihan selvä, että Aurorasta pitää luopua. Auroran lähellerakennetaan suuria uusia asuinalueita, kuten Keski-Pasilaa. Auroran sairaala-alueella on näin ollen suurin käyttö asunnoiksi. Hesperiakin voidaan rakentaa vaikka vanhusten huoltoon tai vastaavaan. Mutta Kellokoski tulee säilyttää, Taipale kiteyttää.
Auroran sairaala-alueella on paljon rakennuksia. Psykiatrisen osaston lisäksi alueella hoidetaan muun muassa infektiosairauksia. Yle
– Kaikki psykiatrian osastot, jotka on rakennettu tavallisten sairaaloiden sisälle, ovat epäonnistuneet. Esimerkiksi Tampereen keskussairaalan ja Vantaan Peijaksen psykiatrian osastot ovat täysin epäonnistuneita. Myös ulkomailla kaikki ovat epäonnistuneet, Taipale summaa.
– Ei tarvise olla tutkimusta siiitä, miten kaikki 80 potilasta viihtyvät esimerkiksi Peijaksen kahdella pitkällä käytävällä, jossa ovet ovat aina lukossa. Verrattuna, että on hieno kartanomainen ympäristö ja taidetta – kuten Kellokoskella, Taipale sanoo.
Kellokoskelaiset, lähikuntien asukkaat sekä Kellokosken sairaalan potilaat ja henkilökunta ajavat Pelastetaan Kellokosken sairaala! -kampanjalla sairaalan säilyttämistä. Tänään sunnuntaina Kellokosken sairaalan Prinsessa-puistossa järjestetään Picnic-konsertti sairaalan säilyttämisen puolesta. | {
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Following PQube’s announcement for Europe this morning, Aksys Games has announced that it will release for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PS Vita in North America day and date with Europe on February 9, 2018.
The French-Bread-developed fighting game will be playable at PlayStation Experience 2017 in Anaheim, California from December 9 to 10.
Here’s an overview of the game, via PQube:
About Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] is the sensational new fighting game by developer French Bread, creators of Melty Blood, the fan-favorite fighter that’s been a staple of Japanese arcades and community events for years. Hailed as a game that truly nails the perfect balance between traditional 2D fighter gameplay and the over-the-top action of ‘anime’ fighters, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] features an electrifying cast of 20 characters, 19 gorgeous stages to battle on, and a Chronicle Mode that will delight fans and newcomers alike with an all-new UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH single-player story. Key Features Thrilling cast of characters – A varied cast of 20 characters, including series newcomers Phonon, Mika, Enkidu and Wagner!
A varied cast of 20 characters, including series newcomers Phonon, Mika, Enkidu and Wagner! 19 glorious stages – Including 4 beautiful new areas, Cafeteria, Children’s Playground, Momiji Alley and the Cathedral of the Far East.
Including 4 beautiful new areas, Cafeteria, Children’s Playground, Momiji Alley and the Cathedral of the Far East. Re-balanced gameplay – Old favourites have new abilities and new gameplay elements have been added, including the ‘Veil Off’ system that opens up new combo opportunities.
Old favourites have new abilities and new gameplay elements have been added, including the ‘Veil Off’ system that opens up new combo opportunities. Mission Mode – Learn new skills in a dedicated combo challenge mode and take on some of the hardest challenges in the game.
Learn new skills in a dedicated combo challenge mode and take on some of the hardest challenges in the game. Tutorial Mode – An expansive tutorial mode has been added to the game that teaches all the skills necessary to level up your game.
An expansive tutorial mode has been added to the game that teaches all the skills necessary to level up your game. Chronicle Mode – Discover the narrative of Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] in a dedicated story mode experience.
If you missed it earlier, catch a new trailer here. | {
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Today the New York Toy Fair kicks off and we are about to see plenty of new Funko products coming this year including a wide variety of new Harry Potter products. Today MuggelsNet have been able to reveal a look at the upcoming figures including new Pop Vinyls, Pocket Pops, Mystery Minis and Pop Ride figures.
Here is a look at the new Toy Fair catalog images of the upcoming Harry Potter Funko products:
What do you think of these Harry Potter Funko Figures? Comment Below: | {
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Jorginho ‘amazed’ by Chelsea change
By Football Italia staff
Jorginho says he is ‘very happy’ and ‘amazed’ by how he has won the Chelsea fans over in recent months.
Jorginho’s position has remained the same during the transition from Maurizio Sarri to Frank Lampard, but Chelsea supporters are no longer on his back.
“It’s amazing because last season it was impossible,” the Italy midfielder told The Sun.
“I’m very happy how they have changed their mind about me. I have worked a lot.
“I never said anything, I just work and work and work and I think the results are coming — and I am very happy with that.
“It is an opportunity for me to show I’m here not just for the Coach. I’m thankful of what we did together because it was amazing.
“We worked four years together and I’m very thankful for what I learned from him. But I’m here also for my quality — but the people could not see that last season.
“[The criticism made me] a little sad. I just had to work hard and change their minds — and to make them know they had made a mistake about me.
“This season, we are playing with more long balls, so less short passing. It has changed a little bit but the mentality is the same, to press the other team and try to have control of the match.
“I have to be there to control all the team. If I leave my position it is a big problem for everybody because there will be too much space in the midfield.
“I try to do what the Coach wants so I can adapt myself. He wants the ball forward quicker and not have too much short passing, so I am trying to do that. Yes, it is simple.”
The 27-year-old is now default penalty taker at Stamford Bridge and considered one of the Blues’ leaders.
“That is not new for me because I always tried to play like this — but nobody was talking about it. I was trying to help my mates.
“It is a thing not everybody sees but when someone like Frank Lampard talks about it, then maybe people look for it.”
Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £9.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://www.premiersports.com/subscribenow | {
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama have ordered the chiefs of their respective security agencies to find a way out of the impasse caused by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden’s stay in a Moscow airport, a senior official said on Monday.
“Of course (Putin and Obama) don’t have a solution now that would work for both sides, so they have ordered the FSB director (Alexander) Bortnikov and FBI director Robert Mueller to keep in constant contact and find solutions,” the head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said in an interview with state television channel Rossiya 24.
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Hey, could everyone stop posting really bad memes around here? It'd be a lot cooler if ya did...ah ah ah...
262 shares | {
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As Republicans in Washington continue to cave into acceptance of Obamacare, and Democrats are openly flirting with a single-payer system, the British National Health Service (NHS) is issuing new directives rationing care to its citizens. There is no better example on Earth of the failure of socialized medicine than the NHS, which has been plagued by chronic shortages, substandard care, and dangerous rationing. Last week we witnessed the heart-wrenching death of little Charlie Gard, who was left to die by the NHS, and this week the U.K. Telegraph is reporting that the NHS is now cutting-off access to surgical procedures depending on a person’s body mass index (BMI).
Denying surgical access to obese persons and people who smoke embodies the concept of death panels. According to the Telegraph “Hospital leaders in North Yorkshire said that patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above- as well as smokers – will be barred from most surgery for up to a year amid increasingly desperate measures to plug a funding black hole. The restrictions will apply to standard hip and knee operations.” Wowzer! That puts into print what we already intuitively knew about socialized medicine: the group that pays determines who stays. If you are not politically connected, in perfect health, or wealthy, you may as well get your last will and testament in order. A single-payer system is too expensive to maintain without rationing, and rationing puts a price on human life.
I understand and agree that there should be incentives for making good health choices, but it should not be a matter of life or death. In a free-market system, persons who have high BMI numbers, or who have a proclivity to smoke a pack a day, will pay a higher health insurance premium than those who do not. This sort of system would economically incentivize better health decisions, without denying people medical care. Healthcare is, like most things, a limited commodity that has to be allocated in some form or fashion as supply will always struggle to keep-up with demand. The two ways it will be allocated are by price point, in a free market system, or by rationing in a socialized system. In short, in a free-market system bad health choices will just cost you more money, in socialized medicine they may well cost you your life.
For Republicans, with regard to Obamacare, failure is not an option. If Obamacare is not repealed, a future Democrat President and Congress will likely move our country to a single-payer system like the NHS in England. The result of single-payer healthcare in America would be the loss of personal autonomy, personal responsibility, and the concept of the inherent dignity of every individual. This is too high a price to pay for the false sense of security socialized medicine may provide. Just ask people in England who like to eat cheeseburgers how that “free healthcare” is working-out for them. | {
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The Bears dealt Marshall via trade to the Jets in 2015. In his first season with the team, he recorded franchise-record-setting numbers in receptions (109) and receiving yards (1,503) and matched the team's all-time mark in receiving touchdowns. In 2016, Marshall's numbers slid considerably. He totaled 788 yards receiving and three touchdowns. He also posted career lows for receptions (59) and receiving touchdowns (3). | {
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Former junior welterweight and welterweight world titleholder Devon Alexander (27-4-1, 14 KOs), 31, of St. Louis, and former two-time welterweight titlist Andre Berto (31-5, 24 KOs), 34, of Winter Haven, Florida, will fight June 16 in Dallas, a source with knowledge of the plans told ESPN. The bout will be on the Showtime telecast headlined by welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr. (23-0, 20 KOs) making his second defense in a homecoming bout vs. Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo (22-0, 13 KOs), the mandatory challenger. The Alexander-Berto winner probably puts himself in line for a shot at Spence should he also win. Alexander is coming off a draw with Victor Ortiz that virtually everyone thought Alexander won Feb. 17. Berto's last fight was a ninth-round knockout loss to Shawn Porter last April. | {
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Durante las acciones del rescate de federales retenidos, maestros fueron heridos con balas de goma
Un muerto fue el saldo de una jornada electoral violenta en Tlapa, Guerrero. Con al menos 77 incidentes, unos 20 que pusieron en riesgo el desarrollo de la jornada electoral de este domingo, se efectuaron los comicios en Guerrero. En Tlapa de Comonfort, la Policía Militar rescató a policías federales retenidos, luego de la detención de profesores de la CETEG. Durante la acción hirieron a varios maestros con balas de goma. El docente muerto fue Antonio Vivar Díaz, quien falleció en la trifulca en Tlapa. Minutos antes de las 21:00 horas, luego de que maestros de la Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores de la Educación Guerrero (CETEG) y otros activistas retuvieran por casi seis horas a policías federales, unos 500 policías militares los rescataron con el uso de la fuerza. cjem | {
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Princess Celestia doesn't need research on friendship She just wanted to push Twilight into getting out and making friends
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But most of the debates over the contours of the school year are premised on the historical myth that summer break stems from a time when children needed to work on the farm — a myth that biases these debates and ignores the challenges that prompted the introduction of summer vacation and that still exist today.
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In the early 1800s, agrarian communities generally operated public schools for a winter and a summer term of two to three months each. The spring and fall, labor-intensive times for farming, featured no school. During the summer — no less important an agricultural season — older children were typically absent from school, since families counted on their labor.
At the same time, urban school systems were developing with different needs driving the calendar. New York, for example, reported 49 weeks of schooling in 1842, a figure similar to the 11 months in Baltimore and the 251.5 days in Philadelphia. These and other cities divided the school year into four quarters, and summer terms attracted comparable numbers of students to the others. But as in rural areas, the need for labor and the absence of compulsory education laws kept vast numbers of school-age children from attending classes all year.
For both rural and urban districts, these patterns changed by the end of the 19th century.
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In many cases, officials never formally set out to rethink the school calendar. Rather, year-to-year exigencies — ranging from fiscal limitations to popular pressure to have holidays off — led to school-year reductions that, once undertaken, were difficult to undo. While reformers worked hard to increase overall student attendance, school officials grew weary of opening schools on days when large numbers of students were not present, driving the length of the school year down.
A push for standardizing school calendars also contributed to a shift toward summers off. Nineteenth-century urban school systems were not yet centralized, and the school year varied maddeningly from ward to ward. In New York, for example, ward schools ranged from 231 to 244 days of school in 1844. Citywide figures who wanted uniformity between local wards often had to settle for the lowest common denominator when it came to school-year lengths.
The summer was the obvious place for most of these cuts. Wealthy urban inhabitants had traditionally vacated American cities during the hot summer months, a practice that expanded to the middle class in the 19th century. School buildings with poor ventilation were especially unbearable during the summer, and attendance did tail off toward the end of the quarter. In response, cities such as New York gradually extended the August break until it included all of July as well.
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There were also handy ideological reasons for prolonging summer vacation. Foremost were medical and popular beliefs about the frailty of the human mind and body that translated into real fears of overexertion by students and teachers. Summer vacation was heralded as an opportunity for mental and physical rejuvenation, and school officials hastened to reassure taxpayers and parents that teachers would benefit professionally from additional training during the summer.
In rural areas, reformers such as Horace Mann wanted lengthier but also standardized school calendars. They aimed to make the school year longer, for example, than the five-month average found in Michigan in 1840.
But they too agreed that a longer school year did not require a summer term. They viewed the summer term as inferior to the winter one because it attracted younger students and was commonly taught by young women, as opposed to older men, whose quality also ranged widely. Using legal, financial and bureaucratic mechanisms, they prodded districts to add school days and to reconfigure the school year.
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By the onset of the 20th century, then, urban and rural public schools were both converging on the now standard 180-day school year with a sizable summer vacation. Concerns about the potential for urban youth’s idleness and mischievousness without school, particularly as they increasingly arrived from Eastern and Southern Europe, gave way to budget realities. Year-round public education seemed too expensive.
It is easy to misconceive summer vacation as a simple product of agrarian needs rather than this more complicated story of demands for standardization, teacher professionalization, budget problems, lax attendance and fears of overburdening students. And this historical inaccuracy matters. The misperception leaves today’s reformers fighting the wrong battle, while conceding that the school calendar is something that deserves deference as if it was carefully constructed with best practices in mind.
By misidentifying the roots of the current calendar, reformers fail to grapple with the fact that the same factors — budget crunches, demands for time off, concerns about over stressing students — still exist today. And absent addressing them, efforts to change the school year are likely to fail.
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The push for year-round school is often based on the desire to ease overcrowded urban systems or to make more efficient use of school facilities. But it is also supported by 40 years of research that corroborates what teachers have long known: students lose knowledge over the summer. This dynamic, however, actually compounds the difficulty confronting reformers.
Wealthier parents regularly exercise options such as enrichment programs, summer camp and travel abroad for their children, ultimately making summer learning loss highly correlated to socio-economic status. But since summer school costs money, it requires an investment in the public sector, something policymakers seem reluctant to do in our current climate.
But the cultural hurdle might actually be reformers’ biggest challenge. One hundred twenty years of summer vacation have encouraged rich and poor, white and people of color all to participate in activities centered on summer vacation and warm weather: Fourth of July fireworks, baseball games, outdoor concerts, amusement parks, summer camps and camping, barbecues, hours by the pool, days at the beach, weekends at the shore and months abroad.
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Earlier today, TMZ reported that Frank Ocean filed a cease-and-desist demanding Travis Scott remove him from Astroworld track “Carousel,” alleging that Frank was unhappy with how his vocals sounded. Now, Frank has issued a statement clarifying the reports. “I think the song sounds cool, I did it in like 20 minutes and the mix sounds the way Travis wanted it to sound for his record,” Frank writes in a Tumblr post. “I also approved it before it came out so the cease and desist wasn’t about 🔊 it was about 🏳️🌈. Me and Travis resolved it amongst ourselves weeks ago. 💖”
Travis Scott seemingly responded to the reports as well by posting a picture of a Frank Ocean t-shirt alongside his own merchandise. “Someone I call family and always will,” Travis wrote. “Has taught me a ton. And a true inspiration in an out of the Stu.” | {
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Dopo che il Congresso ha bloccato per quasi un anno Merrick Garland, il giudice che era stato scelto da Barack Obama, ora Trump sostituisce lo scomparso Antonin Scalia con un altro magistrato di vedute radicalmente conservatrici: antiabortista, contrario a ogni ipotesi di suicidio assistito per i malati terminali anche con patologie particolarmente dolorose, favorevole all’obiezione di coscienza delle imprese che si sono rifiutate, per motivi religiosi, di fornire ai loro dipendenti polizze sanitarie che includono anche la fornitura di contraccettivi, come previsto dalla riforma sanitaria di Obama. Nominato a vita, Gorsuch, che ha 49 anni, è destinato a partecipare per decenni alle decisioni della Corte Suprema. Non solo: da ex assistente e amico personale di Anthony Kennedy, il giudice conservatore ma aperto che spesso ha votato coi magistrati progressisti diventando di fatto l’ago della bilancia nella Corte, potrebbe influenzarne le decisioni. Inoltre Kennedy - che ha 80 anni, è stanco e qualche volta ha accennato a un suo possibile ritiro - potrebbe essere incoraggiato dalla scelta di un giudice giovane e suo amico ad accelerare i tempi della sua uscita di scena.
L’incognita del Senato
Per ora, comunque, c’è da superare lo scoglio della ratifica da parte del Senato della scelta di Trump. Una nomina che stavolta ricompatta i repubblicani - Gorsuch poteva essere la scelta di qualunque presidente dell’establishment conservatore - mentre mette in una condizione molto difficile i democratici. Umiliati dai colleghi repubblicani che per un anno si sono rifiutati addirittura di concedere un hearing parlamentare al giudice scelto da Obama, e davanti a un magistrato con caratteristiche conservatrici e integraliste molto nette, il partito della sinistra dovrà probabilmente usare l’unico strumento che gli è rimasto: l’ostruzionismo per superare il quale i repubblicani avrebbero bisogno di 60 voti, otto in più dei senatori del Grand Old Party. Ma il ricorso al filibustering è rischioso da due punti di vista: lo è per la decina di senatori progressisti che tra meno di due anni dovranno cercare la rielezione in Stati a maggioranza conservatrice appena vinti da Trump, e lo è per il partito nel suo complesso perché, dopo aver rinunciato nel 2013 alla possibilità di bloccare con l’ostruzionismo le nomine di governo, ora questo strumento potrebbe essere eliminato anche per l’ultimo caso rimasto: la Corte Suprema, appunto. I repubblicani hanno, infatti, la possibilità di modificare il regolamento parlamentare sull’ostruzionismo con un voto a maggioranza semplice al Senato. Fin qui il capo della destra in questo ramo del Parlamento, Mitch McConnell, ha evitato di fare ricorso a questa misura - chiamata dagli addetti ai lavori “opzione nucleare” per i suoi esiti dirompenti - consapevole che domani potrebbe toccare al suo partito trovarsi in minoranza e bisognoso di uno strumento per bloccare le decisioni degli avversari. Ma Trump è scatenato e gli ha già chiesto di schiacciare con tutti gli strumenti disponibili l’opposizione democratica. Si delinea una battaglia dura e incerta: le nomine di giudici progressisti fatte negli anni scorsi da Obama non erano state bloccate con l’ostruzionismo dai repubblicani, che ora chiedono reciprocità, anche perché Gorsuch è sicuramente un magistrato di alto profilo dal punto di vista della competenza e della preparazione accademica. Ma brucia ancora l’umiliazione per l’ostracismo senza precedenti opposto al giudice Garland. | {
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Words: Steve Brown
A man has been jailed after punching a man who was dressed as a woman which left him with skull fractures and a blood clot.
Adil Ali smacked the 61-year-old victim with a “marital arts” style punch after getting into a confrontation with the man outside a club in Manchester’s Gay Village, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Ali was lingering outside AXM bar’s smoking area and was already moved on from a bouncer after approaching several woman as they queued to get into the club.
Prosecutor Simon Barrett said: “The victim came over because the defendant had been arguing with other females.
“The complainant was making aggressive comments and the defendant told him to shut up or he would knock him out.”
CCTV shows the victim – who was dressed in women’s clothes – approach Ali before punching the man.
The victim fell to the ground and banged his head on the pavement. He was transferred to the high dependency neurological-unit at Salford Royal Hospital where he suffered a blood clot and skull fractures.
Barrett continued: “The victim continues to suffer from cognitive impairment and struggles with daily tasks.
“He remains on a rehabilitation ward and will require 24-hour support when he leaves hospital.”
According to Ali’s defence barrister, Gillian Kennaugh, he prayed his victim wouldn’t die.
Kennaugh said: “It is clear they are both intoxicated – it is 4.30am. Clearly that will have clouded his judgement.
“The defendant had an injury to his face already and when this person got in his face, he overreacted to the situation. He reacted with one strike.
“Within 30 seconds, he realised the complainant has gone to the floor and checks to see if he is OK.”
Ali was jailed for 27 months but will serve half his sentence before being considered for parole. | {
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AMD is preparing a massive update for Radeon drivers yet again in the form of the Crimson ReLive Edition. The new driver software are designed for the latest Radeon and Radeon Pro graphics cards with a huge emphasis towards performance and additional features.
AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition Going To Be A Massive Update For Red Team - Launching on 8th December
The new Crimson ReLive Edition update brings a number of new features and enhancements to a wide range of AMD Radeon GPU and APU products. The latest update is an accumulation of all Radeon Software Crimson releases into one package, offering a dramatic increase in performance through software optimization. AMD RTG has done a great job with the new Crimson drivers and their dedication to support their customers with excellent drivers for their products has really paid off.
Since its inception, the Radeon Software division has released 29 drivers of which 8 were WHQL releases, supporting and optimized for over 28 gaming titles and have been downloaded over 85 million times. This means that users have developed a trust for AMD Radeon software due to their consistent improvements along with rapid deployment of software optimizations.
DirectX 12 performance is tuned for the AMD cards which is a direct result of the constant improvements in Radeon Drivers. DirectX 12 technologies such as low CPU overhead and asynchronous compute have been a shining example of AMD's lead. With AAA gaming, VR and deep pixels being the highlight of PC Gaming, AMD is offering added support in the form of hardware and software to leverage user experience on their products.
AMD Crimson Relive - A Combination of The Most Advanced Radeon and Radeon Pro Software Set
In 2014, AMD released Catalyst Omega followed by Crimson Edition in 2015. 2016 marks the launch of the new Crimson ReLive Edition which is a combination of both Radeon Software and Radeon Pro Software. Just like before, AMD is focusing on GPUOpen which is their initiative to help developers collaborate with them by using open standards allowing them to create, share and collaborate.
One of the new OpenGPU features is Radeon Loom which is kind of AMD's answer to NVIDIA's Ansel tech. Though not entirely the same, the feature lets you stitch photos in real-time in a 360 degree view. You can use 4K x 2K or 8K x 4K modes which is pretty nice for the Radeon guys, given that games are actually starting to use this tool.
AMD Radeon ReLive Edition - Radeon Side Updates
First of all, we have the usual bug fixes and there are a ton of them within the new drivers. These fixes are mentioned below:
Current Issues that will be fixed for Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition launch:
Radeon Software Installer may get stuck indefinitely during an update from task scheduler
Titanfall2 may experience black square corruption when the player is inside a titan
Radeon Settings shows software is up to date using Radeon Settings updater when it is not
Invalid video files may be created when recording on the first reboot after installing Radeon Software in Windows 7
Audio stream may not be released after disabling Instant Replay which can prevent idle to S3/S4
Recorded video clips can sometimes be longer than the Radeon ReLive timer indicated
Opening the Radeon ReLive Overlay in Microsoft Office applications slows system down considerably
Battlefield1 may experience green textures or flickering during gameplay and menu in AMD CrossFire configurations
Mouse cursor may experience corruption on video playback when recording The Division
Radeon Settings and ReLive crash may occur after enabling/disabling AMD CrossFire mode in Radeon Settings
On the performance side, Radeon cards such as the RX 480 see up to 8% performance increase with ReLive. AMD also highlights that we are entering into the era of deep pixels with gamers shifting to 8K resolution monitors with HDR and FreeSync support. AMD is also adding a signal detection utility in their drivers which allows users to detect bad HDMI cables and signals for diagnostics.
There's also new VP9 decode acceleration offering seamless and fluid 4K 60 Hz video streaming. This enables better visuals for consumers to enjoy. Radeon cards also get support for Dolby Vision and HDR 10 which offer increased brightness, contrast and color. AMD's FreeSync support is as good as ever with up to 24% lower click-to-response time with borderless full-screen mode. Support for the latest DisplayPort HBR3 has been added in the drivers which allow single-link 4K 120 Hz, 5K 60 Hz and 8K 30 Hz rates.
AMD Radeon Chill Feature Helps Improve Power Efficiency and Temperatures
One of the new features to slide their way into Crimson ReLive Edition is Radeon Chill. This is a new power saving feature that dynamically regulates framerate based on in-game movement. In tests, the Radeon Chill features up to 31% lower average GPU power.
HOW DOES RADEON CHILL WORK?
The Radeon Chill algorithm monitors user inputs in order to determine whether or not quick motion is happening on the screen during a game. If the user is standing still and the display is mostly static, Radeon Chill quickly scales down frame rates to a lower threshold in order to save power. As soon as the user begins moving or interacting with the scene, Radeon Chill responds by instantaneously increasing frame rates to preserve a sense of fluid motion and responsiveness.
Meanwhile, at all times, Radeon Chill avoids running the game at excessively high frame rates that would waste power with little to no end-user benefit.
Because Radeon Chill’s responses are very quick, gamers may not notice that anything is happening as they play. The Radeon Chill algorithm has been designed to avoid having any perceptible negative effect on the gaming experience.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF RADEON CHILL?
Radeon Chill has the potential to reduce the GPU’s power consumption, heat production, temperatures, and cooling noise without perceptibly altering the gaming experience.
The benefits of Radeon Chill will vary depending on the game and on the performance of the system in question and your experience and your experience with Radeon Chill may differ across game titles, so we encourage you to test it for yourself.
RADEON CHILL PERFORMANCE
Again, the benefits of Radeon Chill will vary depending on the game and on the performance of the system in question. In cases where frame rates are very high, with relatively easy GPU workloads like eSports games, Radeon Chill has the potential to pay the biggest dividends.
In World of Warcraft on an 8GB Radeon RX 480, Radeon Chill did the following:
Decreased average GPU power consumption by 31%, from 108W to 75W
Decreased average GPU temperature by 13° Celsius
Decreased 99th percentile display time by 51%
Audibly lowered fan noise and speeds
WILL USING RADEON CHILL REDUCE THE RESPONSIVENESS OF MY GAMING SYSTEM?
Radeon Chill actually has the potential to decrease the amount of input-to-response lag compared to a system running without Radeon Chill.
By not running the game loop as fast as possible at all times, Radeon Chill doesn’t keep the GPU’s queues as full. When Radeon Chill does decide to dispatch a frame, the GPU can be ready and waiting to produce that frame very quickly, with little or no work scheduled ahead of it. As a result, Radeon Chill can sometimes reduce input lag.
Here’s one example taken from World of Warcraft. In this case, the FPS average is measurably higher with Radeon Chill turned off—125 FPS versus 62 FPS with Radeon Chill enabled. In spite of that fact, the time to display each frame with Radeon Chill enabled (as measured with PresentMon or OCAT) is actually lower for the reasons described above. In cases with the most potential for lag, at the 99th percentile, the system with Radeon Chill enabled delivers frames in substantially less time than the system without Radeon Chill.
RADEON CHILL FAQ
Q: What API’s does Radeon Chill support?
A: Radeon Chill currently works for DirectX™ 9, 10 and 11 applications.
Q: Will Radeon Chill support other API’s like DirectX®12 and Vulkan™ in the future?
A: Not for the initial public release, however we’re looking into developing its functionalities for future releases.
Q: Does Radeon Chill work with FreeSync?
A: Radeon Chill is an excellent match with a FreeSync capable display.
Q: Does Radeon Chill work with any game?
A: No, currently Radeon Chill only works for a set of games that have been tested by AMD.
Q: Does Radeon Chill replace FRTC?
A: No it currently does not however Radeon Chill does have similar behavior for capping FPS at maximum limits when set per game.
Q: Will Radeon Chill add more games in the future?
A: As more games release we hope to expand Radeon Chill support to a broader set of apps and APIS.
Q: Do I have to enable Radeon Chill for games that are supported?
A: No Radeon Chill is a completely optional feature with toggles for both enabling the feature globally as well as per game.
RADEON RELIVE - Capture. Customize. Share
Capture, stream and share your greatest moments and gaming wins with Radeon ReLive Edition. Modify settings quickly, conveniently, and play seamlessly with the easily accessible in-game toolbar. Express yourself in bold new ways with custom scene layouts. Upload your latest highlights and let them be a conversation piece. It’s never been easier to build and grow your online community at anytime, anywhere.
Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition will introduce a brand new feature set into Radeons for enhanced digital video recording like capabilities on your graphics product.
Radeon ReLive Edition contains the following major features:
Radeon ReLive Overlay/Toolbar
Instant Replay
Record
Stream
Screenshot
Radeon ReLive Edition and its features have many configuration options within its own navigation tab on the home page for Radeon Settings once it has launched.
RADEON WattMan - Support Extended To More GCN Products
While Radeon WattMan initially supported the new Radeon 400 series cards, the latest updates allows support for even more GCN products. These include the Radeon 200 series, Radeon 300 series and Radeon Fury series products that are listed in the slide below.
AMD Radeon Relive Edition - Radeon Pro Side Updates
AMD isn't stopping at consumer products and are extending the software suite to their Pro series. The Radeon ProRender software already adds several plugins and native integration with a wide range of 3D content creation tools such as 3DS MAX, MAYA, Blender, SolidWorks, Rhino and Maxon Cinema 4D. AMD is also working with game developers, incorporating their Radeon technologies into professional workloads such as Unity and Sting Ray.
A year over year performance leap shows up to 30% improvement of Radeon Pro graphics cards. This is all due to the commitment to updates for the enterprise made by AMD.
The AMD Crimson ReLive Edition will be officially available on 8th December at 9 A.M EST and AMD users should look forward to them for increased performance and optimization. Once again, the AMD Radeon Technologies Group has blown away their users with superb quality drivers that offer the best support for the graphics cards and APUs. | {
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When Roger Avary, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Pulp Fiction, was last month sentenced to a year behind bars for his role in a fatal car crash, it seemed that a promising writing career had come to an abrupt end.
But a string of posts on social networking site Twitter has revealed that he is apparently still chronicling the underbelly of American culture.
In a series of 140-character takes, Avary has built up a vivid portrait of life in Ventura county jail where he is currently being held. "Sickness spreads throughout the facility like brush fires," he writes in his latest tweet from November 22, "and #34 [his identification number in prison] is helpless to avoid the outbreak and inevitable infection."
Though there has been no official confirmation that the Twitter feed is Avary's, there are various clues to its authenticity, including the fact that his professional website avary.com links to it.
The film-maker was sentenced in September to a year in jail and five years probation after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his role in a fatal crash in January. Prosecutors said he had driven while drunk at speeds over 100mph, eventually hitting a telephone pole.
Andreas Zini, 34, who was visiting California on his honeymoon, was killed, and Avary's wife was seriously injured.
The crash appeared to have put an end to Avary's Hollywood career. In 1995 he won an Oscar with Tarantino for the script they wrote for Pulp Fiction. He also directed Killing Zoe and The Rules of Attraction, and co-wrote and produced Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf (2007).
His time inside has been hard, judging from his tweets. He admits to having been "so afraid" at the start, and intimidated by the guards. "Nightly, every few hours like clockwork, a guard's flashlight beam strikes #34's face, perhaps to ensure lack of proper rest and exhaustion."
The "clean" sheets reek of the sweat of a thousand men, breakfast porridge is made with oats from sacks with a picture of a horse on them labeled "Not intended for human consumption", the windows let in little light and he is subjected to random strip-down and cavity searches by a "leering, rotund officer".
On the upside, there is the kindness of his cellmates, occasional books to read and lessons from other inmates in how to slimjim and hotwire a car.
Night is the worst. "Night falls, and the only real activity is an endless recounting of the terrible and pointless events that brought us all to this sad place."
The puzzle is how Avary is managing to update his Twitter feed from jail. The Los Angeles Times points out that most of the entries are through a Web browser, suggesting he may have regular computer access, while others are through Twitterific, an iPhone app.
Another theory is that he is reading out his 140 characters down the phone to a friend, who is updating Twitter for him. | {
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Dozens of Southern California facilities, including oil refineries, aerospace plants and metal factories, will face new requirements to reduce toxic emissions or notify their neighbors of the health risks from their operations under rules approved Friday by air quality officials.
The move by the South Coast Air Quality Management District governing board follows new guidelines from state environmental officials that estimate the cancer risk from toxic air contaminants is nearly three times what experts previously thought.
While air pollution has declined sharply in California in recent decades, new research shows that breathing toxic compounds poses greater health risks to young children than scientists had estimated.
Southern California business groups had objected to the more stringent rules, which would affect as many as 90 facilities across the region. The changes will cost businesses about $1.9 million a year in new health studies, notification requirements and pollution controls, according to the South Coast air district.
Environmentalists supported the measures.
“We need the government to update their regulations to better protect our communities, families and children,” said Adrian Martinez, a lawyer for the environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice.
The air district’s current rules govern about 400 facilities across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties that emit pollutants such as arsenic, benzene and toxic metals that put surrounding residents at increased risk of cancer and other health problems. For 25 years, those facilities have been studied and monitored under the state’s Air Toxics Hot Spots program.
When cancer risk at one of those facilities exceeds 10 in 1 million, the operator is required to notify neighbors and hold public meetings. If the risk reaches 25 in 1 million, the facility must take steps to reduce emissions. A level of 25 in 1 million means that air pollution from the facility could result in 25 cancer cases per 1 million people over a 30-year period.
Under the new rules, about 87 of those 400 facilities will have to complete additional health-risk assessments, 42 will have to issue public notifications and 22 may have to reduce cancer risk by cutting their emissions, according to air district estimates.
Earlier this year, many Southland business groups urged the air district to relax its requirements and reduce the burden on companies. The rules, they said, will force businesses to notify surrounding communities that health risks from their operations are on the rise even if their facility’s emissions have stayed the same or decreased.
In a February letter, the Los Angeles County Business Federation urged the air district to “avoid unnecessarily alarming the public while harming local businesses and our economy.” At the air district’s public hearing Friday, only a few business groups criticized the proposal.
The state’s revised air toxics guidelines resulted from scientific studies over the last decade that show young children and infants are more sensitive to toxic air pollutants than previously thought. Past estimates were based on adults and did not account for how breathing the same pollutants early in childhood might raise the risk of developing cancer later in life.
More than 30 other pollution-control districts in California are making similar changes to air toxics rules to implement the new health-risk guidelines. Several hundred facilities across the state could face additional pollution-control and notification requirements, according to the state Air Resources Board.
The new rules come amid a decades-long decline in air pollution in California as a result of years of emissions-cutting regulations. A report last fall by the South Coast air district found cancer risk from air pollution in Southern California has dropped 65% since 2005, largely because of plummeting emissions from diesel trucks, ships and other soot-belching vehicles.
Despite that progress, Southern Californians still contend with the highest cancer risk from air pollution in the state, with the worst levels in communities near industrial zones, ports, rail yards, freeways and other freight corridors.
The rules approved Friday also extend to businesses seeking new permits from the South Coast air district. About 28 of those facilities each year, most of them metal-cutting operations, will have to cut emissions, air district officials said.
The rules exempt gas stations and spray booths, which are used at auto body shops and other small businesses. For now, the air district will allow those facilities to operate under existing guidelines, giving them more time to install new pollution controls.
[email protected]
Twitter: @tonybarboza | {
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Photo : Sony
Sony, the company that unseated Bose as the king of noise-canceling headphones, just announced a new set of noise-canceling headphones that are $100 cheaper than its flagship set. They’re called the Sony XB900N. (XB stands for Extra Bass, by the way.) “Uh oh,” is probably what Bose is saying right now. “Whoa,” might be a more appropriate response from the average audio enthusiast.
Recent Video This browser does not support the video element. The Origin of the Screen Name
The new $250 Sony XB900N wireless noise-canceling headphones look an awful lot like the $350 Sony WH-1000XM3, and that’s probably intentional. We’ve always been impressed by Sony’s noise-canceling marvel, and now, the company appears to be expanding the reach of its technology. At first glance, the XB900N look exactly like the 1000X. The headband, for instance, looks the same, but there are some meaningful differences in the guts, as the new, cheaper Sonys lack the noise-canceling chip developed for the latest generation of the 1000X line. They also lack the ability to adjust for atmospheric pressure, which will affect how they perform on flights.
Image : Sony
The Best Waterproof Bluetooth Speakers, According to Our Read on The Inventory
Sony is billing the XB900N as an affordable noise-canceling headphone for bass lovers. So you might get a little less noise canceling, but you get a lot more bass! I spent approximately 12 minutes trying the new headphones at a meeting with Sony in New York, and I can say that they have pretty good bass. The noise canceling performance seemed fine, although sitting in a quiet room with a pair of headphones and a couple of reps from the Sony PR team is not the best way to test noise cancelation.
Sony clearly wants to sell noise-canceling headphones to all those folks who can’t or won’t pay over $300 for noise-canceling headphones. Its WH-1000X cost $350, as do the Bose QuietComfort 35 II and the Beats Studio3 wireless. You can get the new Jabra Elite 85h for $300, which is the same price as Sony’s well-reviewed H900N noise-canceling headphones. So $250, for a set of Sony Headphones that look just like the really good $350 Sony headphones? That seems like a deal.
It also sounds like good marketing. While I was able to spend a few minutes with the new XB900N, and I did enjoy the thump of that extra bass, I don’t know how they’ll hold up to their more expensive counterparts. The XB900N will be available online and in stores by late June. We’ll do a full review as soon as we can. | {
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Microsoft today announced that it has partnered with Oracle. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Now our customers will be able to take advantage of the flexibility our unique hybrid cloud solutions offer for their Oracle applications, middleware and databases, just like they have been able to do on Windows Server for years.
– Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft.
Very recently, Microsoft also partnered with Skype to enable the Lync-Skype connectivity.
As per the official blog post, the key elements of partnership are:
Customers can now run supported Oracle software – including Java, Oracle Database and Oracle WebLogic Server – on Windows Server Hyper-V and in Windows Azure.
Oracle now provides license mobility for customers who want to run Oracle software on Windows Azure.
Microsoft will now add Infrastructure Services instances with popular configurations of Oracle software including Java, Oracle Database and Oracle WebLogic Server to the Windows Azure image gallery.
Microsoft will offer fully licensed and supported Java in Windows Azure.
Oracle will offer Oracle Linux, with a variety of Oracle software, as preconfigured instances on Windows Azure.
The partnership is especially beneficial for Java developers, IT professionals and businesses who can now will benefit from the flexibility to deploy fully supported Oracle software to Windows Server Hyper-V and Windows Azure.
Oracle Support policies as they apply to Oracle software running in Windows Azure or on Windows Server Hyper-V are covered in two My Oracle Support (MOS) notes which are shown below:
“Microsoft is deeply committed to giving businesses what they need, and clearly that is the ability to run enterprise workloads in private clouds, public clouds and, increasingly, across both,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft.
“Now our customers will be able to take advantage of the flexibility our unique hybrid cloud solutions offer for their Oracle applications, middleware and databases, just like they have been able to do on Windows Server for years,” he added.
“Our customers’ IT environments are changing rapidly to meet the dynamic nature of the world today,” said Mark Hurd, President, Oracle.
“At Oracle, we are committed to providing greater choice and flexibility to customers by providing multiple deployment options for our software, including on-premises, as well as public, private, and hybrid clouds. This collaboration with Microsoft extends our partnership and is important for the benefit of our customers,” he added.
For more information on Oracle software licensing in Windows Azure, click here. | {
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Are you kidding me? The US government is claiming that Sea Shepherd’s tactics are dangerous yet the Japanese whaling fleets who slaughter weak whale populations is somehow fine? You really have to wonder about the fights this administration likes to take on. Whether it’s this or the Michael Vick story, there’s a complete lack of common sense. Americans really aren’t in favor of the brutal Japanese whale hunts so move on. Besides, haven’t we see enough caving to last a lifetime?
Japanese and American officials discussed taking action to weaken a prominent anti-whaling group, with Tokyo insisting that Sea Shepherd’s confrontations on the high seas actually hurt efforts to reduce whaling, U.S. diplomatic cables show.
The U.S. representative to the International Whaling Commission, Monica Medina, discussed revoking the U.S.-based conservation group’s tax exempt status during a meeting with senior officials from the Fisheries Agency of Japan in November 2009, according to the documents released by WikiLeaks on Monday.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s yearly protest campaigns — which chase Japan’s whaling fleet in boats trying to disrupt the hunt by fouling fishing lines and throwing rancid butter at whalers — have drawn high-profile donors and volunteers, and spawned the popular Animal Planet series “Whale Wars.” In Japan, the harrassment is seen by some as foreign interferance in national affairs, making politicians wary of getting involved. | {
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Shame on Layton, Duceppe & Harper: May should be in the debates
Earlier today the capitalist television networks announced that Elizabeth May, leader of the federal Green Party, would be barred from attending the leaders’ debates.
Contrary to some of the analysis I have read in the blogs and elsewhere, in the strict letter of the regulations, the networks did not do anything inconsistent in refusing to grant Elizabeth May a seat at the leaders’ debates for the 2008 election. In 1993, the relatively new Reform and Bloc Québecois Parties had each elected their first MPs (Deborah Grey and Gilles Duceppe respectively) rather than obtaining their first MPs as a result of floor-crossing as is the case this year with the Green Party.
Thus, while I strongly disagree with the entire convention of allowing only parties that elect one MP into the debates, the blame for today’s patently anti-democratic decision cannot be laid entirely or even primarily at the doorstep of the capitalist networks (regardless of how much every Marxist bone in my body would like to do so).
The blame, it is clear, rests primarily on the shoulders of the NDP’s Jack Layton, the Bloc’s Gilles Duceppe and the Conservatives’ Stephen Harper. For being the sole party leader of the 4 main parties to advocate for May’s presence, the Liberals’ Stéphane Dion rightly deserves praise today from democrats of all stripes ranging from radical Marxist like myself to the bluest Tory.
The sort of reactionary, petty, anti-democratic inclinations exemplified by the pressure from the NDP, Bloc and Tory leaders to close off access to the debates is simply shameful. I expect this sort of behaviour from the Tory leader who has regularly demonstrated his contempt for democracy in his draconian attitude towards the press and public ethics committees. However, this an exemplar of hypocrisy on the part of the Bloc and the New Democrats.
Both parties claim to be social democrat, even though both parties have sadly long since forgotten that ‘socialism’, throughout its long and rich history from the Diggers of the English Revolution onwards, has always entailed radical democracy and the radical expansion of the democratic franchise. This is an especially bitter irony for the New Democrats since they still proudly consider themselves to be the party of Tommy Douglas, a genuine and honourable democratic socialist who never forgot what that term entailed. Without realizing it, time and time again, the NDP continues to demonstrate with their current pathetically-weak policies and their bourgeois behaviour, that if Tommy Douglas could see what his party had become, he would be spinning in his grave.
Now, let me be clear: This should not be taken as an endorsement of May. May and her predecessor’s policies which deliberately dragged the Greens to the right and away from the parts of the proud Green tradition that I most respect, is for me simply unforgivable. However, one’s personal opinions of the Greens are immaterial here. This is an attack on democracy just as much as is the silencing of other party leaders such as Miguel Figueroa of the Communist Party of Canada, Dennis Young of the Libertarian Party of Canada, Connie Fogal of the Canadian Action Party and Sinclair Stevens of the Progressive Canadian Party to name only a few. And as this is an attack on democracy, it must be the duty of every democrat to stand in solidarity with Elizabeth May and the Greens on this issue and pressure whomever they’re supporting in this election to allow May into the debates. | {
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Description
Ned’s background in sound design has put him in good stead to create a range of MaxforLive devices that can glitch, twist, destroy and rebuild your audio stream. As part of the Glitch Pack & Ned’s Audio Collection, Knobulator remains one his most popular to date!
KNOBULATOR – The Knobulator is a MaxForLive device for mashing up audio in realtime. Turn the knob and the effect comes on, stop turning it and it turns off. Fantastic for live performance as well as audio productions.
It’s parameters automatically map with the Blue Hand control of supported Live MIDI controllers like the AKAI APC40. Turn your beats into wabbly crunchy glitches, run some synths through it for instant wobble.
The Knobulator is a performance based multi effects device for performing beat based, quantized effects with minimal fuss and complete ease of use. What makes it unique from any device like it is the way effects are triggered. You simply turn the knob, from any position, and the effect is active, keep turning to adjust the effect, then stop turning to disable. Simple. You can set the qunatize for not only the timing the effect is launched, but also the sweep of the knob thats modulating it.
You can change the effect in realtime whilst turning the knob too, to create exciting glitch effects that will explode. Beat repeats, stutters, reverse, tunrtable effects, filters, bit reduction, delays, grains, they’re all there, ready go to without mappinh anything. Great for djs looking for intersting things to throw into their mixes, or mashup dudes looking for something quick and easy with still loads of control. A popular choice! | {
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It was 25 years ago this November that an eccentric prop comic first started gluing junk drawer items together to make robot puppets in his basement. That man was Joel Hodgson, and his brainchild was called Mystery Science Theater 3000. Initially airing on local Minneapolis independent station KTMA before runs on early-cable Comedy Central (then called “The Comedy Channel”) and SyFy (then the much more sensible “Sci-Fi Channel”), MST3k perfected the entire pop culture sub-genre of movie riffing.
In the process, MST3k shone a light on some 176 largely forgotten feature films, many of which would have been lost to history. Titans of B-movie filmmaking like Roger Corman were represented, of course, but other disasterpieces such as the iconic Manos: The Hands of Fate found entirely new audiences they never would have seen otherwise.
There’s no getting around it, though—the movies were bad, and purposefully chosen for that reason. On a scale beginning at “almost entertaining” and ending at “the worst thing ever filmed,” this list gathers the very worst of the worst, those movies difficult to appreciate even as a joke. View the non-MST3k versions at your own risk.
The film: Most films earned their way onto this list through sheer powers of boredom, and The Starfighters is a prime example. Remember those early scenes in Pearl Harbor that took place during the characters’ Air Force training? If Michael Bay had stretched those out to create an entire movie and then done away with all the special effects, it would still be better than The Starfighters, which is also about Air Force pilots and not spaceship pilots as the title might suggest. More specifically, it’s about Air Force pilots flying, landing, refueling, drinking and wearing “poopie suits.”
Single worst moment: Refueling. The movie is absolutely obsessed with mid-air refueling—it’s a legitimately major plot point. For the audience, this means multiple long, tedious scenes composed entirely of stock footage, as hoses are inserted into planes. There are only so many dirty jokes one can make before they’re all exhausted and there are still 10 more minutes of refueling to go.
The film: Coleman Francis quite simply, was the worst director of all time, far worse than the likes of Ed Wood. He completed three feature films in his career, and all three of them are on this list. The Skydivers is probably the “best” of his movies, in the sense that one can almost get a faint impression of an overall plot centered around a husband and wife running a ramshackle skydiving facility. And boy, you definitely get to see some skydiving. Coleman Francis evidently thought plotless skydiving segments were much more important than story, so skydiving is to this film what refueling was to The Starfighters. Factor in the listless performances, lack of conflict and chaotic editing, and there isn’t a single feature to make The Skydivers watchable.
Single worst moment: Hard to pin down, but you could insert any of the Coleman Francis standbys, such as entire scenes dedicated to drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. You really can’t stress Francis’ amateurishness enough. Give a high-schooler an iPhone in 2013 and they’ll produce a much better feature than this.
The film: Superhero movies tinged with science fiction were all the rage in 1960s Japan, but Invasion of the Neptune Men is horrendous even by this genre’s standards. This one has all the hallmarks of the genre: A scientist with a secret identity, hostile aliens and model rocketships going “pew pew” at each other. What it doesn’t have is a budget, judging from the excessive use of WWII stock footage and lack of plot. Thanks to its cheapness, the more “exciting” it’s supposed to be, the more boring it becomes.
Single worst moment: The 20-minute air battle that concludes the picture feels like multiple lifetimes. It’s just little rockets shooting at each other by scratching the film, intercut with shots of men in helmets fiddling with knobs. The highlight is when, out of absolutely nowhere, one of the ships vaporizes a building that for some reason has a huge picture of Adolf Hitler on it.
The film: If you visited IMDB or Wikipedia and read about The Creeping Terror, you would likely come away with the belief that there’s a storyline occurring within the film, but it would be difficult to tell by simply viewing it. This super cheap monster flick about a crashed alien features some of the darkest and ugliest black-and-white cinematography ever committed to celluloid. Many of the scenes look like they were lit by nightlights or actors outfitted in miner’s helmets.
Single worst moment: The film has narration throughout that is both pervasive and mystifying. Long, silent passages go by with no sound at all, and then as soon as the characters start speaking, the narrator talks over them. Legend has it that portions of the soundtrack were physically lost at some point and never made it into the final film.
The film: It’s your garden variety drive-in monster trash: A race of subterranean reptilian slime dudes venture up to the surface and create a wall of “solidified fog” that engulfs L.A., somehow stopping people from entering and exiting the city. It sounds like it might actually be a clever commentary on smog and environmental pollution, but really, it’s just pure idiocy. The movie is as slapdash as they come, full of one-note characters, terrible acting and a totally unsatisfactory deus ex machina conclusion.
Single worst moment: The thing that bumps The Slime People up from “terrible” to a spot on the all-time bad list is the fog itself. The fog … oh my god, the fog. The fog machines rented for the film were deployed to ridiculous excess, which results in a second half that is literally impossible to see in some scenes. Many of the most important scenes take place in huge blankets of white fog that completely obscure everything happening on screen. It’s as if the director totally forgot that film is a visual medium. | {
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Sony Z Ultra Google Play edition sees Android 4.4.3 KitKat certified
The Bluetooth SIG has certified the Android 4.4.3 KitKat firmware update for the Sony Z Ultra Google Play edition. The certificate below shows the “Togari GPE” (Togari is the Z Ultra’s codename) certified with software version KTU72.S1.3013. The KTU72 part of the build is widely believed to a reference to Android 4.4.3 KitKat. Obviously there’s no timeline for release, but given the certification it shows the update will roll very soon after it hits Nexus devices.
Via Blog of Mobile.
Thanks Ben! | {
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State bill 168 designed to speed up removal of ‘bad criminals’ from US but ordinary families say they are at increased risk
Five-year-old Roxana Gozzer hasn’t seen her father for weeks and does not know the next time she will. Walter Gozzer-Sing never returned home from a “routine” check-in with immigration officials in February. After a month in detention, he was placed without notice on a flight from Miami to Peru. His sudden deportation left the family – including two US citizen children – without their only source of income.
Under the bridge: migrants held in El Paso tell of dust, cold and hunger Read more
Roxana has become a face of a titanic battle in Florida over a “racist” bill that has united activists, Democrats and some police chiefs in opposition. If state bill 168 passes, they say, many more families will face separation.
Under the proposed law, sponsored by a hardline Republican who was Donald Trump’s state chair in 2016, local authorities and law enforcement agencies would effectively become federal immigration agents with a responsibility to report and detain undocumented migrants.
The intention, according to state senator Joe Gruters, is simply to enhance public safety by speeding up the removal of violent or “bad criminals” and outlawing so-called sanctuary cities that do not comply with existing immigration laws.
Opponents insist that far from targeting only criminals and those who Trump considers to be “bad hombres”, families like Roxana’s, with undocumented but working parents, would be at increased risk of deportation. They say a simple traffic stop could lead to an arrest and detention that law enforcement would be compelled to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement before keeping that person in custody for up to 48 additional hours, to await collection by federal agents if Ice issued a detainer request.
“I don’t understand why they get angry with families like ours that just want to have a better life,” said Lily Montalvan, who has looked after Roxana and her son Ronnie, 16, alone since her husband, a construction worker, was deported.
“I had a beautiful family, always together. For my husband, his life was his work and us. This has destroyed us and I do not know how we are going to continue.”
‘It is horrible’
Montalvan and Roxana met Gruters in Tallahassee last week as part of a hundreds-strong delegation from groups including the Florida Immigrant Coalition (Flic) and United We Dream. She said she told him her husband was not a criminal but a hard worker with valid US government labour certification whose only goal since arriving from Peru in 1988 was to raise and support his family. She said Gruters, also the chair of the Republican party of Florida, was unmoved.
“I asked my daughter how she felt leaving the senator’s office and she said, ‘It is horrible,’” Montalvan said.
I don’t understand why they get angry with families like ours that just want to have a better life Lily Montalvan
Also among the delegation was 19-year-old Nataly Chalco, a student of political science and economics at Florida State University who grew up in south Florida after her family moved from Peru when she was six.
“Politicians claim that this bill is strictly to take criminals of the streets, but it doesn’t make anyone feel better when you realise the definition of criminals includes people who are undocumented,” she said.
“Things like a broken taillight or driving to work can lead to the separation of families. Undocumented means that every time a loved one gets behind the wheel you get scared. We deserve to live in communities where we aren’t treated like criminals simply for existing.”
Chalco, whose status remains uncertain while the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) is decided, said fear of being stopped prevented her parents helping her move to college.
“I had to do it alone,” she said. “It was too big a risk for my mom and dad to drive eight hours. One more stop and it could become a felony that could lead to deportation.”
Tomas Kennedy, political director of Flic, said the bill passing Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature, possibly in the next two weeks, would leave almost 900,000 undocumented migrants wary of interacting with law enforcement.
“People are afraid, people have anxiety, kids are frightened their parents are going to be sent away,” he said.
“The bill is apocalyptic, with racist language. It deputises police officers to cooperate with Ice [and] apart from the humanitarian and physical perspective, we end up paying for that bill. Domestic violence victims are already scared to go to the police: imagine the climate of fear of these proposals would foment. The trust between public and law enforcement would just be shattered. People would be very afraid to cooperate with law enforcement.”
I don’t care if you have papers or don’t have papers, where you came from or who your parents are. That’s not my job Jorge Colina, City of Miami chief of police
Jorge Colina, chief of the City of Miami police department, is also concerned.
“I’d prefer not to have this job if I had to ask fellow officers to go check where someone is from before helping them,” he said in a Spanish-language interview on Actualidad Radio. “I don’t care if you have papers or don’t have papers, where you came from or who your parents are. That’s not my job. My job is to make sure everyone in this city is safe.”
Opponents claim the law would harm Florida’s economy. A study by New American Economy calculated a loss of $3.5bn in gross domestic product and a drop in tax receipts of more than $100m if just 10% of the state’s undocumented workers were to leave, the same percentage that fled Arizona’s workforce following the passage of the since-repealed “show me your papers” law of 2010.
“The economy in Florida is powered by immigrants,” Kennedy said. “These people work in construction, in tourism, in the hospitality industry. They’re taking care of people’s kids, they’re cleaning homes, they’re serving in restaurants.
“When Georgia passed a similar law in 2011 workers fled to neighbouring states and crops were literally rotting because nobody was picking them. We’re sure we’ll see a similar effect in Florida, it’s a huge agricultural state, a citrus-growing state among other things, and it would be an economic catastrophe.”
‘We’re trying to enforce the law’
Democratic opposition to the bill centres on its “sanctuary cities” provision, which would prevent resisting cooperation with federal immigration authorities, specifically over detainer requests. They argue no such law is needed because there are no sanctuary cities in Florida.
The small Texas town where Trump's wall will destroy families and livelihoods Read more
“There are no jurisdictions in Florida that are out of compliance with information sharing laws at the federal government level,” said Jose Javier Rodriguez, state senator for Miami. “Why does this bill create the phantom of sanctuary cities? Frankly it’s to keep the issue of immigration alive. It is for political purposes.”
In a phone interview, Gruters accused detractors of “fearmongering and misinformation”.
“The only people who will be impacted by this are criminal illegals who are going to jail,” he said. “It has nothing to do with anybody else. If you are an illegal alien here in Florida and you’re trying to be a contributing member of society, your kids are going to school, and you’re not breaking the law, you have nothing to worry about.
“We’re not trying to change immigration law, all we’re trying to do is define it by saying that local governments cannot prohibit cooperation with existing laws. It’s common sense.
“Here in Florida we’re going to try to enforce the law and get rid of some of these bad criminal illegal aliens.” | {
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The OKGD was founded with a goal of bringing the game development community of Oklahoma to not only learn from each other, but to get to know each other and connect with like-minded people who are also interested in making games. That is the spirit of this first (of what will become a regular meeting a few times a year) hangout at McNellie's in Midtown OKC.
We've reserved the Red Room, so come with an appetite for fantastic pub food, drinks and game development discussion! Also, don't forget about our amazing sponsors that make all of this possible: Techlahoma (http://techlahoma.org), GoldFire Studios (http://goldfirestudios.com) and Unity (http://unity3d.com).
PS: Don't forget that we also have a Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/okgamedevs/) that is great for sharing! Anyone is welcome to join. | {
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Heritage High School was locked down for two hours Tuesday afternoon after a receptionist received a phone call threatening a bomb.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies searched the campus while students remained in a shelter-in-place response, but found nothing suspicious.
The phone call came in about 1 p.m. Tuesday, prompting the lockdown and law enforcement’s response to the school, 7825 N.E. 130th Ave.
Deputies set up containment and swept the campus, but ultimately did not find anything suspicious.
“The threat they were looking for was outside the building,” Evergreen Public Schools spokesman Kris Fay said. “That’s where (deputies) were doing their initial sweep. When they were done with that, they also checked the interior of the building.” | {
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ATHENS — The Greek police say they have arrested a suspect in the 1985 hijacking of a flight from Athens that became a multiday ordeal in which an American sailor was killed and dozens of Americans were held hostage.
A 65-year-old suspect was being held in the hijacking and a 1987 abduction, the police said Saturday. They did not release the name of the suspect, a Lebanese citizen, who they said was arrested on the island of Mykonos on Thursday.
The hijacking involved TWA Flight 847, which was commandeered shortly after takeoff from Athens on June 14, 1985, according to a police spokesman, Lt. Col. Theodoros Chronopoulos. The flight originated in Cairo and had San Diego set as a final destination, with stops scheduled in Athens, Rome, Boston and Los Angeles.
The hijackers seized the jetliner and forced its crew to make three stops in Beirut and two in Algiers. The hijackers killed a 23-year-old Navy diver, Robert Dean Stethem, and released the other 146 passengers and crew members in stages, the last after 17 days. | {
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Alors que la Banque de France inaugure ce mardi 13 novembre le "Fort Knox à la française" à la Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis), le plus grand centre de traitement de billets d'Europe, l'institution a dévoilé lundi une nouvelle étude sur les usages des espèces. Le cash reste "le moyen de paiement privilégié dans les points de vente de la zone euro", à hauteur de "trois paiements sur quatre et plus de la moitié de la valeur des achats", relève cette étude, qui exploite les données françaises d'une enquête sur l'utilisation des espèces dans la zone euro, publiée fin 2017 pour le compte de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE).
En nombre d'opérations, 68% des achats en magasins sont encore réalisés en espèces dans l'Hexagone (contre 79% en moyenne en zone euro), ce qui place la France parmi les pays où la part du cash est la plus faible, derrière les Pays-Bas (champions à 45% seulement), l'Estonie, la Finlande, la Belgique et le Luxembourg.
--
[Part moyenne des paiements scripturaux et des règlements en espèces dans la zone euro, en volume, en %. Crédits : Banque de France]
--
En revanche, la France creuse l'écart si l'on raisonne en montants payés.
"En valeur, les paiements en espèces représentent en France 28 % des dépenses au point de vente, soit la part la plus faible en zone euro derrière les Pays-Bas (27 %), alors que la moyenne européenne s'établit à 54 %" pointent les auteurs de l'étude publiée dans le Bulletin de la Banque de France.
Lire aussi : Carte, virement, chèque ou cash : comment paie-t-on en Europe ?
90% des achats de moins de 5 euros
Plusieurs raisons expliquent ces chiffres : d'une part, les paiements en espèces sont plafonnés en France (maximum de 1.000 euros à un professionnel), et d'autre part, la carte bancaire s'est imposée depuis 2003 dans l'Hexagone comme le premier moyen de paiement.
"Au sein de la zone euro, les Français se démarquent par une préférence forte accordée aux moyens de paiement scripturaux, incluant carte et chèque : 66% les privilégient (proportion la plus élevée avec la Belgique), contre une moyenne de 43% en zone euro. A contrario, seulement 17% d'entre eux préfèrent payer en espèces" souligne l'étude.
Billets et petite monnaie restent en effet privilégiés pour les achats de faible montant : les Français y ont recours à 90% pour un paiement de moins de 5 euros, à 78% pour 5 à 10 euros. La carte sans contact a encore de la marge de progression pour concurrencer les espèces ! Le taux tombe à 30% quand on dépasse les 25 euros et à 5% au-delà de 100 euros.
--
[Répartition des moyens de paiement en France, en volume, par intervalle de valeurs de transactions valeur. En euros, part en %. Crédits : Banque de France]
--
Cette moindre appétence pour monnaies papier et métalliques se reflète dans une autre statistique, au quotidien :
"La France est également, après le Portugal, le pays de la zone euro où le montant moyen d'espèces détenues sur soi est le plus faible (32 euros, contre 65 euros en zone euro)" détaille l'étude.
Si les hommes sont légèrement plus utilisateurs de cash que les femmes (72,2% de leurs achats en volume contre 67,4%), ce sont les 55-64 ans qui dominent les autres classes d'âge (73,4%).
--
[Crédits : Banque de France] | {
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File-hosting service FileServe has been sued by the production company behind the independent movie American Cowslip. In a lawsuit filed at a federal court in California the movie producers accuse FileServe of several copyright infringement related charges and are demanding more than a million dollars in damages.
FileServe is the latest cyberlocker to run into trouble in court. This week the Virgin Islands-based company was named in a lawsuit filed in a California federal court by Cowslip Film Partners, the makers of the indie movie American Cowslip.
The movie producers accuse FileServe of a wide variety of copyright related offenses, including inducement and contributory infringement. According to the complaint FileServe’s business is based on selling subscriptions to pirated material.
“FileServe is a website that sells access to large amounts of unauthorized intellectual property to the public, including California residents, without paying the rightful owners of that property,” the filmmakers write.
“FileServe is aware that its websites are being used as a vehicle to illegally copy and distribute large amounts of infringing materials. Because it charges membership fees for immediate access to the copyrighted materials stored on its servers, it is a distributor and seller of pirated materials.”
Under this general characterization pretty much every cloud hosting service could be branded a ‘pirate site’. The producers add, however, that they have advised FileServe that it was offering infringing copies, but that the infringements continued nonetheless.
“Between March 31, 2011 and February 7, 2012 Cowslip sent FileServe notices by letter and email advising FileServe that it was infringing upon Cowslip’s copyright in the work. Despite such notices, defendants’ infringements did not cease,” they write in the complaint.
Whether these notices where in the form of proper DMCA takedown requests and whether specific files were pointed out is unknown.
Cowslip Film Partners believes that FileServe is responsible for the distribution of the pirated copies and demands a jury trial. The movie producers want to see $1,000,000 in damages as well as the maximum $150,000 in statutory damages for each infringement.
The current lawsuit does come as a surprise considering that the cyberlocker no longer allows users to share files in public. Immediately after the Megaupload raids last year the company changed its policy to only allow users to download files they have uploaded themselves.
Whether this will change anything for the pending case has yet to be seen. | {
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Luxembourg will host the 8th Islamic Financial Services Board annual summit in 2011. Luxembourg is the first European Union country to host the annual summit, as it became the first and only EU member country to be a member of the Board since last November.
What exactly is the Islamic Financial Services Board? It serves as the supervisory standard setting body for global Islamic finance. It is an international organization that issues guiding principles and standards within the banking, insurance and capital market sectors in order to promote stability in the Islamic financial services industry. (investopedia.com)
Luxembourg is already a major place for sukuk listing and the registration of Islamic funds. Currently, there are some 16 sukuk listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange with a combined value of € 5.5 billion; and over 45 Islamic investment funds, largely equity funds domiciled in Luxembourg. There is significant potential for Luxembourg to become a major Islamic finance hub.
The Luxembourg tax authority in January 2010 introduced measures facilitating sukuk and Islamic finance products in the country. | {
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MSNBC uncritically ran footage of a North Korean official calling President Trump “mentally ill” Friday.
WATCH:
MSNBC ran a segment showing North Korean officials talking with reporter Keir Simmons asks an official, “What do you think of President Trump?”
Through translation, the guard answers, “Trump is mentally ill,” adding “if there is a war with America, we will win.”
Keir continues, “In this closed-off country, the people are hard to read. Some officials we talked to still hope for peace. All seem braced for war.”
NBC News also also ran the segment Thursday during its “Nightly News” program.
Simmons also described the demilitarized zone (DMZ). “So here along the front line to the North, there was a permanent sense of danger. They call this the demilitarized zone. It is anything but. Every day these North Korean troops stare down their American and South Korean counterparts, both sides today on a hair trigger. That is the border between North and South. This side–socialism, there is where the capitalist world begins. It’s not very long. In a war, this would be ground zero.”
Follow Justin on Twitter | {
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What is a TTY?
TTY stands for Text Telephone. It is also sometimes called a TDD, or Telecommunication Device for the Deaf. TTY is the more widely accepted term, however, as TTYs are used by many people, not just people who are deaf.
A TTY is a special device that lets people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired use the telephone to communicate, by allowing them to type messages back and forth to one another instead of talking and listening. A TTY is required at both ends of the conversation in order to communicate.
To use a TTY, you set a telephone handset onto special acoustic cups built into the TTY (some TTY models can be plugged directly into a telephone line). Then, type the message you want to send on the TTY's keyboard. As you type, the message is sent over the phone line, just like your voice would be sent over the phone line if you talked. You can read the other person's response on the TTY's text display.
If you don't have a TTY, you can still call a person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or speech-impaired by using the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS). With TRS, a special operator types whatever you say so that the person you are calling can read your words on his or her TTY display. He or she will type back a response, which the TRS operator will read aloud for you to hear over the phone. Toll free TRS services are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
You can visit the Ultratec website for information about a wide range of TTYs for home, office and personal use. Or, visit WCI for all your assistive device needs, including the CapTel (Captioned Telephone). | {
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Some years ago I was asked to design a framework for the implementation of minimum wage system in South Africa as part of an ILO project my research group was involved. We were evaluating the first five years of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South Africa, which was a cut-down employment guarantee program (limited by supply-side constraints on public expenditure largely conditioned by the bullying of the South African government by the IMF). One of the issues I had to deal with was the belief among many economists that the existing cash transfer system introduced by the South African government after 1994 should be expanded into a full-blown Basic Income Guarantee and that any notion of employment guarantees should be rejected. Our work demonstrated quite clearly (in my view) the flawed logic in this argument. The cash transfer system was productive as it stood but was no reasonably extensible into a widespread income guarantee without significant negative consequences. The creation of an employment guarantee scheme to absorb the social transfers and leave them as supplemental to cope with varying family structures was a much better option. That conclusion holds for less developed nations and advanced nations alike.
The post-apartheid South African administration, unfortunately, adopted a neo-liberal economic understanding of the world and the policy apparatus that is concomitant with that understanding.
The most explicit example of this is seen the transition from the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to the Growth, Employment and Redistribution Programme (GEAR). The RDP was envisaged to be the cornerstone for building a better life of opportunity, freedom and prosperity.
In 1996 RDP was superseded by GEAR, which adopted explicit economic growth strategies that were oriented towards private sector investment and assumed the role of the public sector and government programmes to be minimal.
The GEAR strategy pursued fiscal discipline by minimising deficits and maintaining high real interest rates, which constrained economic and employment growth.
The failure of GEAR was never more evident than in the discrepancy between the economic modelling, which predicted that a 6 per cent growth rate would create an average of 270,000 additional jobs annually in the formal sector, and the outcomes, which saw formal sector employment, stagnate and fall.
The IMF had their hands all over GEAR.
It was no surprise to me when I started working in South Africa that the richness of real resources that the nation possesses were not being (and have not been) used to benefit the greater population.
The neo-liberal economists who had the ear of the government continually emphasised the primacy of the private market place and uses ‘private costs and benefits’ as the basis of resource allocations, largely ignoring the broader and more inclusive concept of ‘social costs and benefits’.
In the case of South Africa, this translated into the hard to understand combination of a government running fiscal surpluses and more than 60 per cent of the population without adequate housing or income.
The surpluses were justified by the erroneous claim that they are fiscally responsible management, a central misnomer of neo-liberal thinking which remains stuck in a time when fixed exchange rates and commodity money was the norm.
In a flexible exchange rate world and where the government maintains sovereignty over its currency, these notions are clearly inapplicable. The application of them results in dysfunctional outcomes which we see in the stark reality of the South African situation.
I attended meetings where various well-dressed and full-of-bling (expensive watches, rings etc) officials, reading from the IMF and World Bank bible, told me that the massive unemployment in South Africa is a complex and manifest problem.
A lot of head shaking was common – complex, manifest – too hard basket.
The mass unemployment was constructed by these officials as being ‘structural’ in nature, and that view dominated the political awareness and the sort of policies that might be brought to bear.
I argued that by any standards, the unemployment problem in South Africa was a demand deficiency situation rather than a structural problem. There was scant evidence that the South African economy was generating enough work in areas unsuited to the skills of those who are seeking work in those areas.
This means there is not sufficient demand for labour being generated overall.
The South African economy was clearly not producing enough jobs and, in those situations, the labour queue then reflects the distribution of skills with the least skilled in the most disadvantaged position in the face of job scarcity.
I also considered that there was not a shortage of meaningful job opportunities that could be pursued in South Africa if there was a willingness to fund the employment. The private sector was (and is) clearly unable to generate the level of employment commensurate with the willing labour supply.
This chronic state is a prima facie justification for a direct public sector job creation.
It is a state common to all countries without exception.
The EPWP is an on-going scheme in South Africa that aimed to reduce poverty and unemployment. It was an excellent idea, being effectively an employment guarantee.
However, the job targets have been too modest to do anything but put a small dent the dual problems of poverty and unemployment.
The work duration is too short and/or irregular, and while daily wages vary considerably, the low monthly/annual wages detract from programme impact.
The work opportunities are short and thus provide no continuity of income for EPWP participants.
One of my commissioned tasks as an outside consultant was to evaluate the role that EPWP played in reducing income insecurity and promoting employment, and how it interacted with the existing system of social grants (cash transfers), and to design the improvements or changes in programme design that would enhance the impact of the EPWP wage income on poverty alleviation.
In part, I was to come up with a framework for assessing the appropriate minimum wage for a minimum level of employment.
So I got to know a fair bit about how cash transfers play out in poor communities and the role they have to play in poverty reduction.
I concluded that while cash supplements could improve the fortunes of a poor citizen, they were not to be prioritised over the provision of meaningful work by the state.
In another context, this discussion plays out in the conflict between basic income and employment guarantee proponents.
Cash transfers and Basic Income Guarantees
Cash transfer programs have been a popular way for less developed nations to alleviate poverty and support economic development. However, they have always been resisted by policy makers in favour of in-kind transfer programs because of the fear that if an impoverished family is given cash they will (especially the male members) immediately squander the funds on non-essentials including booze, gambling, drugs etc.
These so-called ‘temptation goods’ (or ‘demerit goods’) are considered to be damaging, which is one reason why economists argue they should be regulated.
There was an interesting 2014 study by two World Bank economists (David Evans and Anna Popova) – Cash Transfers and Temptation Goods A Review of Global Evidence – published as Policy Research Working Paper 6886, May 2014, which received recent attention in the media.
The World Bank paper examined the role of cash transfers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia in the light of criticisms by economists and others who claimed that such public handouts only end up buying “alcohol, tobacco, or other ‘temptation goods'”.
They performed a meta analysis of 19 quantitative research studies “on the impact of cash transfers on temptation goods, as well as 11 studies that surveyed the number of respondents who reported they used transfers for temptation goods.”
The conclusion:
Almost without exception, studies find either no significant impact or a significant negative impact of transfers on temptation goods … concerns about the use of cash transfers for alcohol and tobacco consumption are unfounded.
What does that mean?
That poor people use extra cash resources (whether provided conditionally or unconditionally) to improve their life’s chances by spending more on nutrition (where available), education and health care.
In fact, the research points to the conclusion that spending on demerit goods declines as people have more cash.
There was a recent Yahoo Finance article (December 10, 2016) – Here’s what happens when you give cash to the extremely poor – which drew on these findings.
The journalist (Ethan Wolff-Mann) argued that a major constraint limiting the use of cash transfers was the:
… visceral reactions in people, as it runs contrary to the values in society—that people should earn their money, and anything else is unfair. This fetishization of self-reliance, however, is only one part of why people chafe at giving money directly to those in extreme poverty. A more common refrain: They’ll squander the money on booze, cigs, and drugs.
Clearly, the research evidence does not support the latter claim as discussed above.
The Yahoo Finance article believes these research findings, which come from studies of poor nations:
… could be vital for the new economy.
Where is that heading? Into the mire of Basic Income in all nations, that’s where!
The point is that the research does not support a case being made against cash transfers on the basis that the recipient will squander the funds.
But to then generalise those results to claim they justify a full-blown Basic Income is a step too far.
The Yahoo Finance author chooses to get on board the ‘second machine age’ wiping out all jobs bandwagon and chooses to quote the not to be relied on Lawrence Summers “by mid-century about a quarter of men between 25 and 54 will not be working at any moment.”
The answer is – why haven’t I seen it already! – “to provide a basic income for everyone to supplement income from low-paying jobs that have become the hallmark of a shrinking middle class.”
Apparently, there are now a US study (Economic Security Project where involves “a few dozen people getting $2,000 per month for a year” to see what they do.
Well, that is just $US24,000 per annum.
There was a Gallup Poll (July 1, 2013) – Most in U.S. Have Enough to Get by, but Many Lack Cushion – which concluded that:
About seven in 10 Americans, including a majority of those making more than $24,000 a year, say they have enough money to do what they need to do. However, it is not until Americans reach $48,000 a year in annual income that a majority say they can handle a substantial purchase or unexpected major expense.
Only 43 per cent said that they had enough to “buy things you need” if they earned less than $US24,000 and only 21 per cent claimed they would be able to make a major purchase.
The study concluded that “most Americans … do not have much cushion for financial emergencies”.
The amount is above the Federal minimum wage, which is hopelessly low in the US. So I don’t see an annual income of $US24,000 where a person cannot deal with a major expense as being anything to build a new progressive and prosperous society upon.
I have written a lot about Basic Income and employment guarantees in the past. I do not support a Basic Income. For past blogs go to the Job Guarantee category.
Back to South Africa, where this debate has been playing out for years now.
In the period after 2000, there was a dramatic increase in provision of social grants (cash transfers) in South Africa, which targeted the poor and disadvantaged have been effective in reducing the burden of poverty.
Many researchers and policy commentators seized on this type of data as the basis of their advocacy for the introduction of a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) as the primary policy weapon against poverty.
They have highlighted the fact that there is a lack of employment alternatives available to most poor South Africans and that the social assistance grants system has demonstrated an ability to reduce poverty in that country.
These advocates note that the current social assistance schemes in South Africa provide no support to able-bodied people of working age who do not have children and who have never been able to build any unemployment insurance credits.
The myths propagated by the BIG proponents include:
1. Full employment is now unattainable – the ‘second-machine age, robots are taking over’ paranoia is just the latest iteration of this claim.
An earlier iteration was that the state can no longer afford to guarantee jobs.
A BIG is a palliative at best.
It is based on a failure both to construct the problem of income insecurity appropriately and to understand the options that a government which issues its own currency has available to maintain full employment.
There are no economic constraints in South Africa or elsewhere to achieving full employment. Only ideological and political constraints exist.
In fact, each policy response (BIG or Job Guarantee) requires that the same ideological and political barriers, relating to philosophical notions of citizenship and individual rights, be confronted and overcome.
But when compared to a full-scale public sector employment programme, the BIG is a second-rate option and is inherently inflationary.
BIG advocates construct the problem of income insecurity incorrectly – full employment can be achieved.
But, on top of that, the mainstream BIG literature advocates the introduction of a BIG within a ‘fiscal neutral’ environment, presumably to allay the criticism of the neo-liberals who eschew government deficits.
Another, probably more reasonable conclusion, is that the BIG advocates actually believe that governments that issue their own currency have financial constraints.
It is clear that much of the debate about the viability of the BIG is conducted on the false premise that a currency-issying government is financially constrained.
Once we recognise that there is no financial constraint on government spending, many of the problems created by BIG theorists can be avoided.
The payment of a BIG to all citizens would signify a further withdrawal by the State from its responsibility to manage economic affairs and care for its citizens.
It is a dire future where young people are seen as passive recipients of a social security benefit (BIG) rather than be encouraged to develop skills and engage in paid work.
The failure to engage in paid work cannot be narrowly construed as an inability to generate disposable income which can be addressed through a benefit, but entails a much broader form of exclusion from economic, social and cultural life, which has highly detrimental consequences.
BIG advocates fail to explain how its availability will promote meaningful engagement on the part of the disadvantaged, who have limited income earning opportunities.
The universal availability of the BIG, does not overcome the stigma associated with voluntary unemployment of the able-bodied, who do not have caring or other responsibilities.
Work remains central to identity and independence, and persistent unemployment remains the central cause of income insecurity.
While the introduction of an BIG has superficial appeal – by allowing individuals to subsist without work – the model fails to come to grips with the failure of macroeconomic policy to provide paid employment opportunities and secure incomes for all.
In short, a BIG:
1. Creates a dependency on passive welfare payments;
2. Creates a stigmatised cohort;
3. Does not provide any inflation buffer.
4. Does not provide any capacity building. A BIG treats people who are unable to find adequate market-based work as ‘consumption’ entities and attempts to meet their consumption needs.
However, the intrinsic social and capacity building role of participating in paid work is ignored and hence undervalued.
It is sometimes said that beyond all the benefits in terms of self-esteem, social inclusion, confidence-building, skill augmentation and the like, is a priceless benefit of creating full employment is that the “children see at least one parent going to work each morning”.
In other words, it creates an intergenerational stimulus that the BIG approach can never create.
So while social grants (cash transfers) have proven useful in alleviating the worst of poverty they should not be seen as being extensible into a full blown BIG.
Social grants should supplement employment guarantee income to allow for family structure – so that no individual, no matter what family structure they live in – faces poverty.
In general, a properly calibrated Job Guarantee wage will ensure that anyone who works is able to avoid poverty.
That wage would be made available to all those who are able and willing to work irrespective of whether the State is in a position to provide immediate work.
I have always recognised that the duration of planning processes, administrative inefficiencies or other factors may lead to there being difficulties in providing enough immediate employment opportunities across all regions to absorb the number of workers who would take up the offer.
This is particularly the case in the less developed nations (such as South Africa) that I have worked in. Less so in advanced nations with sophisticated infrastructure.
But where the work was not immediately available and consistent with the poverty alleviation objectives of the Job Guarantee, the minimum wage should still be paid upon the person signing in for work.
Cash transfers could then supplement the Job Guarantee income in addition to social wage supplements (public transport access, housing support, health care, child care etc) to cater for different family structures.
Conclusion
The World Bank research is important because it can be used to dispel myths about alleged vicarious spending habits of impoverished people who might enjoy extra income via state assistance.
The myths are really just one of many used to disabuse governments of running deficits and doing something about poverty.
But in finding that the poor do not go on drunken, gambling, smoking binges with extra cash they receive does nothing to support the introduction of a BIG.
The advantages of being involved in work in our current society are massive and we can be sure the income security that is generated by the introduction of a Job Guarantee would go to advancing personal and family capacities rather than advancing the profits of breweries or, worse, the proliferation of gambling products that are constantly being advertised these days.
That is enough for today!
(c) Copyright 2016 William Mitchell. All Rights Reserved. | {
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The Senate passed legislation Wednesday to give President Donald Trump $4.5 billion dollars in new border funding to fight the crisis at the border, setting up a battle with the Democrat-controlled House.
Senators voted 84-8 on their $4.5 billion bill, which includes nearly $3 billion in humanitarian aid, not long after the Senate failed to pass the House version of a $4.5 billion bill Wednesday after Democrats added a number of changes to the bill reportedly to garner more support from far-left Democrats.
The House measure did not pass the Senate after 37 senators voted in support, while 55 opposed it. It needed 60 votes to pass. This comes after the House passed the $4.5 billion immigration package Tuesday night following the additional changes.
This all comes amid apprehension concerning immigrants that has increased every month since January. There have also been more than 100,000 encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border in both March and April, setting the border crisis on track to be the worst it has been in a decade. (RELATED: Senate Rejects Border Funding Bill That Passed The House)
The White House request includes $3.3 billion for humanitarian assistance, $1.1 billion for border operations, and another $377 million for the National Guard and Pentagon to be able to function on the border. | {
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My Secret Santa got me an AWESOME Donatello TMNT T Shirt!!!!!! It's going to be disgusting how much I wear that shirt. And to top it off, he throws in THE DADDY! #4 on my Bucket List was to spend Christmas with Shaquille O'Neal. And now I'll be living that dream. Thank you SO MUCH. This was super thoughtful and made my year! | {
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Slideshow ( 3 images )
BERLIN (Reuters) - German police temporarily stopped an open-air weekend “Rock am Ring” concert near the Nuerburgring race track on Friday due to a possible terrorist threat.
“Due to a terror danger situation, we told the organizer to temporarily stop the concert as a precaution,” police in the nearby town of Koblenz said in a statement.
Der Spiegel magazine said that all those attending were asked to leave the concert and head to nearby camping grounds “in a controlled and orderly fashion.”
“The organizer of Rock am Ring, working closely with the security authorities, have ended ahead of schedule the festival today,” the police said. “The background to this was a concrete warning that made it impossible to rule out a terror threat.”
“We cannot provide any further details on the background information,” the statement added.
The suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, England on May 26 led to changes in the security planning for the German concert and the number of security officials was increased substantially to 1,200, the police said.
“We take all tips and suspicious incidents extremely seriously and investigate closely,” they added.
Last year, the third and final day of the “Rock am Ring” was canceled after lightning strikes injured 80 people, some seriously. | {
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River barriers that North Korean authorities built to help irrigate crops affected by a recent drought may have contributed to the destruction caused by floods in certain parts of the country, sources inside the isolated nation said.
The barriers constructed by authorities in spring blocked the flow of water through gorges, so that torrential rains which fell in parts of the country at a high elevation in early August overflowed, destroying farmland and houses, said a source in North Hamgyong province, one of the affected areas.
“Despite strong opinions that the barriers to enable irrigation should be eliminated to prevent flood damage, nobody took any action,” he said. “Since the barriers were set up under [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un’s order, no executive order could bring them down.”
Before the river barriers were built, some North Koreans pointed out that building them could cause greater flood damage, he said, but the warning fell on deaf ears.
The city of Hoeryong in North Hamgying province experienced downpours from late July to early August, and authorities declared Hwadea, Kiljou, and Myongchon counties flood-affected areas, he said.
They also declared the city of Tanchon and Heocheon and Riwon counties in South Hamgyong province flood-affected areas, he said.
The drought damage has become worse because of Kim Jong Un’s inflexible instructions, the source added.
Ryanggang province
From early spring to early summer, North Korea suffered a severe drought, except in the mountainous area of the northern region, where heavy rains fell, a source in Ryanggang province said.
“In Ryanggang province, torrential rains caused loss of life in June, and dozens of deaths and damaged assets in July,” he said. “The heavy rain continued in August.”
Casualties occurred in the towns of Chun-dong, Tapseong-dong and Hyehwa-dong and the heavily populated city of Hyesan, while many houses were destroyed in Weiyan-dong, he said.
Beakam county in Ryanggang province also recently had heavy rains, the source said.
“More crop damage was caused by the torrential rains than by the drought,” he said.
Torrential rains left 21 dead and nine missing between Aug. 1 and 5, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The floods affected more than 3,400 people in North Hamgyong, South Hamgyong and South Hwanghae provinces, and damaged about 4,000 hectares (9,884 acres) of cropland, according to the OCHA. They also destroyed nearly 700 houses and toppled roads, bridges and dams.
All North Korea’s provinces have experienced less rainfall this year than they usually do annually, but the difference in the level of rainfall was most severe in May and June, OCHA said, with North Korea’s southernmost provinces being affected the most by the drought.
The South Korean government is examining the degree of damage from the floods that occurred in North Korea in early August to decide whether to provide humanitarian assistance, Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday.
Reported by Sung-hui Moon for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Ahreum Jung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. | {
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A 47-foot long blue whale was rescued from a beach in Maharashtra and successfully put back into the deep waters on Sunday, after locals and fishermen came together to help.
The whale, weighing around 20 tonnes, had drifted into shallow waters, and washed ashore near near Madban village, close to Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Ratnagiri district.
"It appeared emaciated and must have drifted some days ago. But since this is an isolated spot, it was spotted on Saturday and we were informed by the locals," said N Vasudevan, chief conservator of the mangrove conservation cell.
50 ft. Beached Blue #Whale rescued by village in #India. Team work & #compassion save the day. Great Job pic.twitter.com/3PZGsU7Xbg Daniel Schneider (@BiologistDan) September 11, 2016
Vasudevan believes that considering the "sheer size of the mammal," Sunday's rescue is "the biggest rescue of beached mammal in history."
Rescue operations began early Sunday morning, and boats and fishing nets were used to lead the whale back into deep seas. The operation involving 50 people lasted six hours.
This is the second successful rescue of a blue whale in the same region. A 40-foot long whale was rescued in Ratnagiri in February this year in a nine-hour long operation. Here's a video of the rescue:
Not all rescue operations have been successful, however.
In August last year, a 42-foot long blue whale washed ashore in Mumbai's Alibaug, but didn't survive despite an 18-hour long operation. The whale collapsed on its body weight (their bodies cannot support their weight on land) and died a few hours after beaching.
In January this year, a 40-foot long whale was beached for 17 hours and could not be rescued. Its carcass washed up at Juhu beach, where it was ultimately burnt and buried.
The blue whale is the largest mammal in the world. It falls under the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1986.
Last year, researchers identified 569 dolphins in Sindhudurg during 2014 and 2015, adding that the numbers could be even higher. Later, in February this year, Maharashtra announced plans to set up rescue centres for whales and dolphins in coastal districts after increasing cases of beached whales along the state's shores.
(With inputs from PTI)
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President Trump's school safety commission will not be looking at role of guns, chair says Its first meeting was held in Maryland last week without most of its members.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, chair of President Donald Trump's Federal Commission on School Safety, said Tuesday the group would not look at the role of guns in their examination of school safety.
“That is not part of the commission’s charge per se,” DeVos said at a hearing on education funding.
"So you're studying gun violence, but not considering the roles of guns," Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont responded.
"We're actually studying school safety and we can ensure our students are safe at school," DeVos said.
"The Secretary and the commission continue to look at all issues the President asked the committee to study and are focused on making recommendations that the agencies, states and local communities can implement," U.S. Department of Education Press Secretary Liz Hill told ABC News. "It’s important to note that the commission cannot create or amend current gun laws—that is the Congress’ job."
President Trump established the group of four cabinet secretaries — Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Kristen Nielsen, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar — on March 12 to "recommend policy and funding proposals for school violence prevention."
The commission held its first "field visit" on May 31 at a Maryland elementary school. Three of the four secretaries who make up the school safety commission, Nielsen, Azar and Sessions, did not go and sent surrogates to the meeting.
The Department of Education declined to comment on the secretaries' absences. Other departments did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
Earlier this month, Sessions, Nielsen and Azar all opted out of another planned meeting due to "unforeseen scheduling conflicts" and DeVos met with stakeholders, including officials who have dealt with the fallout from the shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech, as well as parents of victims from Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland, alone.
The full commission last met as a full group in March where they discussed logistics, staffing, timeline, and scope, according to an Education Department readout.
DeVos says she hopes to have an interim report before a "year's end" findings are released.
ABC's Erin Dooley contributed to this report. | {
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FBI Counterintelligence Agents Don’t Forgive or Forget
President Donald Trump wasn’t content with merely firing James Comey from his position as FBI director. He also attacked his credibility, competence, and integrity for pursuing the counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and the potential collusion of the Trump campaign. We now have reason to believe this came after the president tried repeatedly to shut down that investigation, including requesting directly that Comey do so.
Only Comey knows how he reacted to the insults that accompanied his firing. But it’s worth noting that a subset of the FBI almost certainly felt implicated in Trump’s bullying: the FBI special agents who conduct foreign counterintelligence investigations, known within the intelligence community as FCI cases. These agents are their own breed within the FBI, spending their careers working silently on cases of immense national security interest. And Trump may soon regret picking a fight with them.
First, a disclaimer: I am not privy to any of the facts of the Russian investigation underway by the FBI other than what has been published in the media. But I have served in the FBI for 28 years, for the most part working counterintelligence and counterterrorism cases under what is now known as the National Security Branch, so I have a good sense of how those agents working on the Russian investigation must feel.
Ever since Comey confirmed to the House Intelligence Committee in March that the FBI is investigating the Russian role in the election, including “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts,” there have been indications that the president wants the investigation closed. On May 16, the New York Times reported that Trump had asked Comey in February to end the FBI investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, an offshoot of the original investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. (It won’t come as a surprise to FBI agents that Comey immediately noted this conversation in a memo. As a new agent, I was taught to contemporaneously document all sensitive conversations because “if it’s not on paper, it doesn’t exist.” It’s not a tape recording, but it’s the next best thing.)
But Trump’s private pressuring of Comey has always been accompanied by public disparagement of the Russia investigation. When former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates testified on May 8 before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the investigations into Flynn’s contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Trump tweeted, “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?” Tweeting on May 12, the president wrote, “Again, the story that there was collusion between the Russians & Trump campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse for losing the election.”
The president may have calculated that he can afford to make disparaging public comments about the investigation Comey was overseeing, because the FBI and its rank and file are reputed to be more conservative than the public. But this will probably prove a fateful mistake.
First, the FBI is not politically monolithic and the political views of agents rarely line up neatly with partisan political categories. Generally, FBI agents may lean conservative, but, above all, they tend to reflect the politics of the regions in which they choose to live and work. Agents in the Midwest and South are more conservative than those in Seattle, where I spent my last eight years in the bureau. In any given FBI field office, you’re liable to hear in private the same types of political conversations around the water cooler that you would hear in any large, diverse, multinational company. Some agents support Democrats, others back Republicans, but few in such rabid or ideological fashion that it interferes with their work.
But FCI officers, who are concentrated in Washington and New York, are different. Tasked with investigating national security matters, these FBI agents are mission-driven in a unique way. Almost without exception, they are extraordinarily sensitive — perhaps more than anyone else in the U.S. government — about the national security threats posed by Russian and other hostile foreign intelligence services. They tend to subordinate their political beliefs to a mindset that revolves around defending the country from external enemies that wish Americans harm.
They are also under extraordinary psychological strain. They defend the most valuable secrets of the nation from theft, abuse, misuse, and accidental disclosure while making no public judgment about the political motives of the Americans they are sworn to protect, including those they investigate. These cases, in which the primary goal is to gather intelligence about the objectives and capabilities of the foreign or domestic target and prevent the disclosure of U.S. secrets to foreign agents, are generally very slow to develop and investigations can last for years.
FCI case agents are well aware that they are fated to seldom get the accolades and publicity that their colleagues working criminal cases do. FCI cases are by their nature classified, even when they involve criminal violations like espionage, so agents working FCI matters don’t ever talk about their work with family or friends, or even to other agents with the same level of clearances. Finally, even when prosecuted, FCI cases are often dealt with covertly with guilty pleas offered in closed hearings with many caveats and agreements between the parties, so as not to reveal any government secrets unnecessarily.
Russian cases are particularly closely held, primarily because Russian intelligence has a large presence in the United States, especially in Washington and New York, and those cases are among the most sensitive in the bureau. During the time I worked FCI cases for the FBI, the intelligence community referred to Russia’s various intelligence services collectively as hostile intelligence services, or HOIS. They are considered the most hostile of all HOIS, in fact, and among the best in the world at what they do, which is to collect intelligence and subvert other countries in the interest of the Russian Federation’s long-term goals and objectives.
Because of the hostile intent Russia and certain other nations have toward the United States, FBI agents of the National Security Branch working FCI cases take great pride in their work, which is conducted without acknowledgement, except among the members of the intelligence community. How they feel about the latest Russian faux paus by the president and the firing of Comey is something we may never know completely, but it’s certainly possible to imagine. The same is true for how they are likely to respond to the president’s consistent interference in their work.
FCI agents won’t use the president’s actions as justification to unethically undercut his administration. The men and women working on the investigation will “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” as they promised on the day they entered service with the FBI. That includes following all internal rules and regulations ensuring the integrity and secrecy of any facts they uncover during their investigation. Revealing that information to the public is not the role of the FBI, but rather now rests with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
But one thing is certain: The Russian investigation will continue unabated. The president may think the power still lies in his hands, since he still has the power to name Comey’s replacement. But the agents have the power of their own principles and integrity, and they now have the added fuel of not just public opinion, but personal anger and professional pride.
Photo credit: ZACH GIBSON/Getty Images | {
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(CNN) Conservative TV host Sean Hannity opened his interview with President Donald Trump on Wednesday night by touting the various -- and allegedly underplayed -- successes in the economy over the first nine months of Trump's tenure.
Yes, you're right in thinking this isn't the usual way an interview between a journalist and a politician goes. ("Boy, you're doing great. Talk more about that!")
But, Hannity's "question" is actually beside the point. What matters is Trump's answer. And here it is:
"The country, we took it over in 20 trillion you know the last eight years they borrowed more than it did in the whole history of our country. So they borrowed more than $10 trillion. Right? And yet we picked up $5.2 trillion just in the stock market. Possibly picked up the whole thing in terms of the first nine months. In terms of value. So you can say in one sense, we are really increasing values and may be in a sense, we are reducing debt. We are very honored by it and very, very happy by what's happening in Wall Street."
What Trump is suggesting here is that because of the gains in the stock market -- which have absolutely happened -- the national debt is being reduced.
That's, um, not how this works. This, from CNN's financial expert Christine Romans, makes that point well:
"In no sense does the stock market rally wipe out the national debt," said Romans. "In zero sense does a stock market rally, which enriches corporations and investors and shareholders, translate into American taxpayers and the national debt."
The stock market and the national debt have, quite literally, no direct connection.
The stock market, broadly speaking, measures wealth being created (or lost) by large corporations and investors in those companies.
The national debt, which sits at $20 trillion and counting, is the debt owed by the federal government. There are two ways to reduce the debt: Raise taxes or reduce government spending. A bull stock market is not one of those two options.
Trump seems not to know any of that. (Or at least he didn't seem to know it in his interview with Hannity.) That's concerning, particularly because Trump ran on his business savvy -- and his ability to make America rich because he could work the markets and the financial sector better than anyone.
He also touted his understanding of debt during the campaign. "I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me," Trump said on CBS in June 2016. "I've made a fortune by using debt, and if things don't work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean, that's a smart thing, not a stupid thing."
Um, OK. | {
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Not sure if i should upvote so more people can see how crazy they are Or downvote because they are crazy
113 shares | {
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EduPristine has been in the financial training industry for the past 5 years now, and it has been a great and exciting journey for us. Apart from conducting classroom training in India and online training across the world, we are also offering a Free CFA Course for anyone who wants to get a primer on the CFA Syllabus. Thus, we have created a 10-day Free CFA Course which you can sign-up for. The way this course is structured is that every day you will receive a link to a new video on one particular topic in CFA. Here is the schedule that we are covering.
Day 1 This study session presents a framework for ethical conduct in the investment profession by focusing on the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct as well as the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®).
Day 2 CFA Quantitative Methods: This introductory study session presents the fundamentals of some quantitative techniques essential in financial analysis. These techniques are used throughout the CFA Program curriculum. This session introduces two main tools of quantitative analysis: the time value of money and probability and descriptive statistics.
Day 3 CFA Economics: This study session focuses on the microeconomic principles used to describe the marketplace behavior of consumers and firms. The first reading explains the concepts and tools of demand and supply analysis—the study of how buyers and sellers interact to determine transaction prices and quantities.
Day 4 CFA Financial Reporting and Analysis: The readings in this study session discuss the general principles of the financial reporting system, underscoring the critical role of the analysis of financial reports in investment decision making.
Day 5 CFA Corporate Finance: This study session covers the principles that corporations use to make their investing and financing decisions. Capital budgeting is the process of making decisions about which long-term projects the corporation should accept for investment and which it should reject. Both the expected return of a project and the financing cost should be taken into account.
Day 6 CFA Portfolio Management: This study session provides the critical framework and context for subsequent Level I study sessions covering equities, fixed income, derivatives, and alternative investments. Furthermore, this study session also provides a basis for the coverage of portfolio management at Levels II and III.
Day 7 CFA Equity: This study session explains important characteristics of the markets in which equities, fixed-income instruments, derivatives, and alternative investments trade. The reading on market organization and structure describes market classifications, types of assets and market participants, and how assets are traded.
Day 8 CFA Fixed Income This study session presents the fundamentals of fixed-income investments, one of the largest segments of global financial markets. The first two readings introduce the basic features and characteristics of fixed-income securities and their associated risks. The third reading describes the primary issuers, sectors, and types of bonds. The final reading of the study session introduces yields and spreads and the effect of monetary policy on financial markets.
Day 9 CFA Derivatives Derivatives financial instruments that derive their value from the value of some underlying asset I have become increasingly important and fundamental in effectively managing financial risk and creating synthetic exposures to asset classes. As in other security markets, arbitrage and market efficiency play a critical role in establishing prices.
Day 10 CFA Alternative Investments Investors are increasingly turning to alternative investments seeking diversification benefits and higher returns. This study session describes the common types of alternative investments, their valuation, their unique risks and opportunities, and their relation to traditional investments.
I hope all of you benefit greatly from this free CFA Course and we would like to know your feedback on how to improve the same.
All the best for your CFA Preps! | {
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BEIJING — One Chinese activist died after the authorities ignored pleas to treat her liver disease while she was in detention. Another was left with years of chronic pain after prison doctors misdiagnosed a problem with his pancreas.
Accusations that Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate who has late-stage liver cancer, has not received proper treatment have brought new scrutiny to what human rights advocates say is a pattern in Chinese prisons: the denial of health care to dissidents to intimidate and punish them.
At some prisons, requests for health checkups and medicine are refused, human rights experts and former prisoners say. At others, ill prisoners suffer physical abuse and malnutrition. In some cases, chronic ailments and serious diseases are left untreated, or medical care is repeatedly delayed.
“There is a real fear amongst prisoners of conscience and their families that authorities aren’t afraid to let them die from lack of adequate medical care,” said Frances Eve, a researcher at Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a coalition of advocates. | {
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H.R. McMaster. AP
President Trump is looking at shifting CIA Director Mike Pompeo to the White House as national security adviser, according to a report Wednesday evening.
The move would bump H.R. McMaster, the current national security adviser. McMaster, a three-star Army general, would in turn be sent to Afghanistan to command U.S. forces in that country, the New York Times reported, citing several unnamed administration officials. The move could help McMaster earn his fourth star.
Trump has reportedly expressed frustration with Gen. John Nicholson Jr., the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, because the U.S. and its allies are not "winning" the war there.
The White House shuffle, if it came to pass, would be the latest in a string of staffing changes, including the exit of Reince Priebus as chief of staff. He was replaced by John Kelly, a retired general who had been serving as secretary of homeland security.
McMaster too has overseen a National Security Council that has recently seen some people ousted.
McMaster was named national security adviser in February, replacing Michael Flynn after it was revealed he misled the administration about his communications with a Russian envoy. Pompeo, a former congressman from Kansas, was sworn in as CIA director in January, days after the inauguration. | {
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Liam O'Brien. Picture: Joe Pepler
The out-of-contract goalkeeper yesterday joined Coventry City on a two-year deal.
Paul Cook had told the 25-year-old he wanted him to remain with the Blues, yet no contract was ever tabled.
Instead of waiting over the summer, O’Brien decided to settle his future early, agreeing a switch to the Sky Blues.
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David Forde was ever-present in goal for the League Two title-winning campaign, restricting O’Brien to three Checkatrade Trophy outings.
Now the former Pompey Academy graduate is eyeing pushing for a spot in Coventry’s starting line-up.
He said: ‘I spoke to Cookie and he said he wanted to sort a deal out but nothing was actually put on the table.
‘There was nothing for me to take back to the family to have a look at and decide what was best for me.
‘I was told something would be offered but the phone call never came.
‘I’ve been in that position a few times. The season has finished, I’ve a holiday planned but don’t know where I’m going to be when I get back.
‘I couldn’t wait around forever – and there was an opportunity to go to Coventry and get into the team and play games.
‘Living in Gosport, Portsmouth is ideal for me and a club close to my heart but it just feels right to move on.
‘Without playing games this year and then stepping up to the next level, I could see myself being in the same position again.
‘I’d had a season, played some reserve games, played some cup games but this happens in football.
‘It’s time to go somewhere else and make a name for myself.’
Following his arrival on an initial month-to-month deal in August, O’Brien was an unused substitute in 45 of Pompey’s 46 league fixtures.
Although, he was granted outings in the Checkatrade Trophy.
The keeper was also a regular in the reserves’ Premier League Cup campaign which reached the semi-final stage.
And O’Brien enjoyed his second Fratton Park spell having initially been released in October 2010.
He added: ‘When I left the first time I never thought I would get the opportunity to come back.
‘It ended up being a great year and one I will always remember.
‘It’s just a shame I cannot be there for longer but things change.
‘I’ve got a young daughter and a baby on the way, so stability is a massive thing.
‘A longer-term deal at Coventry means we can settle in the area and try to kick on.’ | {
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Matthew Daneman
Staff writer
Eastman Kodak Co.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy cost its retirees company-provided health-care benefits and life insurance.
But on the upside, they can get cheaper funerals or discount tickets to Mary Poppins.
A pair of Monroe County funeral homes this week rolled out an offer to former Kodakers: Start financially planning and pre-paying for your funeral now and receive a free casket.
"We've been hearing from people, they're having a tough time with the financial part of funerals because they'd always anticipated their life insurance from Kodak would be the vehicle to pay for the funeral," said David Perotto, co-owner of Bartolomeo & Perotto Funeral Home and Walker Brothers Funeral Home. "Growing up in this community my whole life, it's painful for a Rochesterian to watch. It's not a small thing."
The two funeral homes are the latest in a string of businesses that have turned their eyes particularly on Kodak retirees. Around the time Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2012, a variety of businesses approached Kodak retiree group EKRA Ltd. about special discounts or offers aimed at that population, said EKRA President Art Roberts.
And after Kodak announced that fall it was eliminating all spending on retiree health care, numerous insurers hosted seminars locally about signing up for coverage.
Rochester Association for the Performing Arts CEO Jim Vollerstsen said the dance and theater group is creating a Kodak retiree night, with 10 percent ticket discount, to opening nights of its summer Broadway series at the Kodak Center for the Performing Arts. RAPA last year took over operation of Kodak's massive, 1,964-seat Theater on the Ridge venue, renaming it the Kodak Center.
An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Kodak retirees live in the Rochester area, Roberts said. And the company's once-massive Kodak Park and Elmgrove operations mean that today there is likely a particularly high concentration of them living in Greece and in the Gates/Spencerport area, he said.
What Spencerport's Walker Brothers and Greece's Bartolomeo & Perotto are offering is a 20-gauge steel casket or the equivalent — "It's not the most basic, but it's entry level," Perotto said. Today, such a casket goes for roughly $2,200, he said. So a retired Kodaker who starts planning and pre-paying a funeral now will eventually receive that casket free, or the future equivalent of whatever that type of casket costs at that point. The offer is limited to 500 Kodak retirees.
According to National Funeral Directors Association data, the median cost of a funeral in 2012 was roughly $7,000 — a metal casket, at $2,400, is the single largest expense.
" We're trying to get people to talk about it now, rather than a stressful environment," Perotto said.
[email protected] | {
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An Israeli court Monday sentenced a firebrand Islamic cleric to 28 months in prison for incitement to terrorism in connection with deadly unrest at a Jerusalem holy site in 2017.
Raed Salah had been convicted by Haifa magistrates' court of "incitement to terror" for "praising, sympathising or encouraging terrorism" in remarks made after attackers killed two policemen on the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
Watch: Israel's counter-terror policy in a nutshell
The deadly July 14, 2017 attack, at the Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem site, was carried out by perpetrators from his hometown of Umm al-Fahm.
His group, the radical northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was outlawed in 2015 for incitement linked to the Jerusalem holy site.
Also read: Israel troops wounded in Jerusalem car-ramming as violence flares
Salah was also found guilty of "supporting an illegal organisation" in Facebook posts from 2015 and 2016, in which he called his supporters to commit "acts of violence or terrorism" while speaking in favour of his movement.
The Haifa court on Monday also noted that 61-year-old Salah made the criminal remarks on three separate occasions following the Jerusalem shooting.
The prosecution was quoted in the ruling as saying that Salah's deeds "harmed the security of the state and its citizens," and considering the preacher's prominence, "have high potential to cause damage".
Salah, an Arab Israeli, can appeal the sentence within 45 days, the court said.
His arrest in August 2017 followed his release from prison the previous January after serving a nine-month sentence on similar charges. | {
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The Roma had arrived on Sunday in Landen, some 50 km (30 miles) east of the Belgian capital of Brussels. They agreed with a landowner to park 14 caravans there until Tuesday, according to Gino Debroux, the Landen mayor. | {
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Functional extracellular mitochondria revealed in the blood circulation. ©Alain R. Thierry/Inserm
Does the blood we thought to know so well contain elements that had been undetectable until now? The answer is yes, according to a team of researchers from Inserm, Université de Montpellier and the Montpellier Cancer Institute (ICM) working at the Montpellier Cancer Research Institute (IRCM), which has revealed the presence of whole functional mitochondria in the blood circulation. These organelles that are responsible for cellular respiration had hitherto only been found outside cells in very specific cases. The team’s findings, published in The FASEB Journal, will deepen our knowledge of physiology and open up new avenues for treatment.
Mitochondria are organelles that are found in the eukaryotic cells. A place of cellular respiration, they are the cells’ “batteries” and play a major role in energy metabolism and intercellular communication. Their particularity is to possess their own genome, transmitted solely by the mother and separate from the DNA contained in the nucleus. The mitochondria can sometimes be observed outside the cells in the form of fragments encapsulated within microvesicles. Under certain very specific conditions the platelets are also capable of releasing intact mitochondria into the extracellular space.
The work of a team led by Inserm researcher Alain R. Thierry at the Montpellier Cancer Research Institute (Inserm/Université de Montpellier/Montpellier Cancer Institute) has now revolutionized knowledge of this organelle by revealing that whole functioning extracellular mitochondria are in fact found in the bloodstream!
The researchers used previous findings which showed that the plasma of a healthy individual contains up to 50,000 times more mitochondrial DNA than nuclear DNA. They hypothesized that for it to be detectable and quantifiable in the blood in this manner, the mitochondrial DNA had to be protected by a structure of sufficient stability. In order to identify such a structure, plasma samples from around 100 individuals were analyzed.
This analysis revealed the presence in the blood circulation of highly stable structures containing whole mitochondrial genomes. Following examination of their size and density, as well as the integrity of their mitochondrial DNA, these structures observed using electron microscopy (up to 3.7 million per ml of plasma) were revealed to be intact and functional mitochondria.
Throughout the seven-year research period, the scientists used as many technical and methodological approaches as possible to validate this presence of circulating extracellular mitochondria in the blood.
“When we consider the sheer number of extracellular mitochondria found in the blood, we have to ask why such a discovery had not been made before, notes Thierry. Our team has built up expertise in the specific and sensitive detection of DNA in the blood, by working on the fragmentation of extracellular DNA derived from the mitochondria in particular”, he adds.
But what is the role of these extracellular mitochondria? The answer to that could be linked to the structure of the mitochondrial DNA, similar to that of bacterial DNA, which gives it the ability to induce immune and inflammatory responses. Based on this observation, the researchers hypothesize that these circulating mitochondria could be implicated in many physiological and/or pathological processes requiring communication between the cells (such as the mechanisms of inflammation). Indeed, recent studies have demonstrated the ability of certain cells to transfer mitochondria between themselves, such as the stem cells with damaged cells. “The extracellular mitochondria could perform various tasks as messenger for the entire body”, specifies Thierry.
In addition to its importance to our knowledge of physiology, this discovery could lead to improvements in the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of certain diseases. In fact, the research team is now devoting its attention to evaluating the extracellular mitochondria as biomarkers in non-invasive prenatal diagnosis and cancer.
This research is supported by the Montpellier Integrated Cancer Research Site (SIRIC) (Inserm/CNRS/Université de Montpellier/Montpellier Cancer Institute/Montpellier University Hospital/Université Paul Valéry), funded by Inserm, the National Cancer Institute (INCa) and the Directorate General of Health Care Provision (DGOS). | {
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According to a 15-year study, pesticides could be having a profound impact on the health and brain development of the children of farmworkers in the Salinas Valley, known as America’s salad bowl. The study and the current regulatory framework for organophosphates and other pesticides are the subject of the latest story by reporter Susan Freinkel for FERN, “Warning Signs: How Pesticides Harm the Young Brain,” which appears on the cover of The Nation magazine.
The study–called Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas, or CHAMACOS–began in 2000 with 601 pregnant women, nearly all of whom had signs of exposure to organophosphate pesticides in their urine, and then tracked the health and development of their children. Over the years, chief investigator Brenda Eskenazi, a professor of maternal and child health and epidemiology at University of California Berkeley, and her team have broadened their investigations to look at the effects of fungicides, fumigants, bisphenol A, and flame retardants.
“As it turns out, these chemicals can pass through the placenta, gaining access to the baby’s bloodstream and, eventually, its delicate, developing brain,” reports Freinkel. “From infancy on, the children of the mothers with the highest levels of organophosphates were at the greatest risk for neurodevelopmental damage.”
Freinkel reports that the average 7-point drop in IQ experienced by children in the study could have a significant impact on the economy, including an increased number of school kids needing special education and fewer workers capable of complex tasks or high-level decision-making.
Her story sheds lights on the unusual relationship between the farmworkers and the researchers: “Even as the researchers have been trying to unravel the tangled effects of pesticides and other chemicals on children’s development, they’ve been devising practical ways to help the study’s participants reduce their risk of exposure—a rare example of community engagement by academic scientists,” Freinkel reports. “In a place that’s often sharply polarized between those who own the fields and those who work in them, CHAMACOS researchers have insisted on involving all sides. They’ve worked with growers and farmworker advocates to explore ways to mitigate exposure and have spun off studies to answer questions and concerns in the local community.”
Examining the regulatory framework for chemicals at the EPA, Freinkel notes that the process for reviewing new or already approved chemicals doesn’t sufficiently take into account the subtle impacts showing up in CHAMACOS and other studies, such as learning deficits or behavioral problems.
“The EPA is not empowered to act quickly when new evidence shows chemicals are more harmful than was understood,” says Kristin Schafer, Policy Director at the Pesticide Action Network, whom Freinkel quotes in the story. “That’s what we’re seeing with organophosphates. There is such a compelling body of evidence, and the EPA is slogging through this long, slow process of evaluating this new science, while these chemicals are being used every day and every season and little kids are being exposed.”
You can read the full report here at The Nation or on our Web site. | {
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Parents in Washington and Oregon are angry at American Airlines, claiming the airline did not notify them of a 13-hour delay on a flight from Charlotte, N.C., to Portland, Ore., that their children were on Friday.
AIRLINE APOLOGIZES FOR LEAVING WHEELCHAIR-BOUND ELDERLY WOMAN AT THE WRONG GATE, CHARGING HER EXTRA
Kristie Hoyt, a mother of one of the unaccompanied minors returning home from a summer camp for children with a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis, claimed she had to contact the airline crew to find out what was happening with the flight – and that no one contacted her.
“I just talked to your flight attendant #1 Bailey on flight number 1736 (after the first one rudely yelled at me and passed the phone off) she states they aren’t informed of the policy for unaccompanied minors! That fee we pay extra per child, she said no one is specifically assigned to be with the kids,” Hoyt wrote on Facebook.
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“First she says the flight is delayed because the catering service wasn’t delivered. On time. You have starved our children! Then she proceeds to say the waste levels are too high and maintenance is there to fix it. What is wrong with you? When will you actually contact the parents and do your job and follow your policies?” the post concluded.
Hoyt said the children on the flight were not given dinner and were unable to take their medications, as they are required to take them with a meal. She also shared that some of the children did not have access to their medication, which was stored in a checked bag under the plane, KATU reported.
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Kelly Phillips, one of the children on the flight, said the group looked after each other after they were brought into a room for unaccompanied minors to wait during the delay.
“One of the older kids... it’s harsh for him to deal with a lot of stress,” she said, KATU reported. “He could end up having a seizure if he gets over-stressed. His seizure medication was on one of the carry-ons we had to put under the plane, so we tried to keep him calm.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
American Airlines told Fox News in a statement that the flight experienced a “mechanical delay that caused it to remain in Charlotte overnight.” The flight departed for Portland Saturday morning.
“Our team is in the process of reaching out to the families involved and sincerely apologizes for this travel experience. We will be reviewing with our teams internally to understand how we can do better next time,” the statement read.
Hoyt did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. | {
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Joaquin Phoenix takes a bad spill while filming a new scene for his upcoming Joker movie on Sunday (October 21) on Park Avenue in New York City.
The actor was filming that day with actor Brett Cullen, who plays Thomas Wayne in the movie. If you don’t know, Thomas Wayne is the father of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, in the DC Comics.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of the Joker movie
If you missed it, check out the set photos from last weekend that seemingly show a big plot point for the film. | {
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It wasn’t even a verdict. Just a decision by New York Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan in one Lehman failure case Ernst & Young is fighting. A decision to allow substantially all of the allegations against Lehman executives and at least one of the allegations against Ernst & Young to move forward to discovery and trial.
That is, if there’s not a settlement first.
Yesterday I wrote up my analysis of the decision by Judge Kaplan for my column, “Accounting Watchdog”, at Forbes. In the interest of time and space, I stuck to commenting on the Ernst & Young portion of the decision.
Judge Kaplan dismissed the majority of the allegations against Ernst & Young. The same things auditors are always dismissed for. The only thing that’s new about the judge’s opinion is an indictment of the accounting standards themselves.
The Third Amended Complaint points to several General Standards (“GS”), interpretive Statements on Auditing Standards (“AU”), and Statements of Fieldwork that allegedly are part of GAAS and that E&Y allegedly violated. Many 288 of those standards are couched in rather general and in some cases inherently subjective terms. They require, for example, that the auditor plan the audit engagement properly, use “due professional care,” exercise “professional skepticism,” and “assess the risk of material misstatement due to fraud” – all matters as to which reasonable professionals planning or conducting an audit reasonably and frequently could disagree. Bearing in mind that E&Y’s GAAS opinion, just like those rendered by all or substantially all accounting firms, is explicitly labeled as just that – an opinion that the audit complied with these broadly stated standards – more is necessary to make out a claim that the statement of opinion was false than a quarrel with whether these standards have been satisfied.
Or is this really news?
Judge Richard Posner during oral arguments in Fehribach v. Ernst & Young LLP, 2007 WL 2033734 (7th Cir. 7/17/07) (pdf), “Posner: The auditor’s responsibility … so far as the company is concerned … is to make sure the [numbers] are accurate…. You don’t need an auditor to tell you your market is collapsing…. The auditors are not supposed to have business insight. They’re counters. They’re not supposed to make predictions about how your markets are doing. They’re supposed to reconcile your books and indicate you’re not a going concern because your debt is too high and so on…. Do you think the auditor is supposed to know about market power?… An auditor is not an economic consultant who goes out and figures out what the market trends in an industry are!…Your trends? That’s what the company knows. [Plantiff’s Attorney: You’re right. Here’s what the auditor’s responsibility under SAS 59…] Posner: That is too vague for me…”
To his credit, Judge Kaplan does leave one important one allegation for Ernst & Young to defend:
Ernst & Young had reason to know that Lehman’s 2Q 2008 financial statements could be materially misstated because of the extensive use of Repo 105 transactions.
John McDermott of FT Alphaville does a good job explaining why:
Kaplan dismisses the majority of the specific allegations against the auditors but writes that one particular incident means that the case against them cannot be thrown out [when] he stops to ask another question on Repo 105: In other words, have plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that E&Y knew enough about Lehman’s use of Repo 105s to “window-dress” its period-end balance sheets to permit a finding that E&Y had no reasonable basis for believing that those balance sheets fairly presented the financial condition of Lehman? The answer: yes, in one case. Plaintiffs rely for this purpose on precisely the same alleged red flags discussed previously in connection with E&Y’s GAAS opinion – the “true sale” opinion, the netting grid, and the Lee interview. The first two are no stronger in this context than in that. The Lee interview, however, is a different matter. The “Lee interview” pertains to warnings allegedly made by Matthew Lee, Lehman’s SVP for Global Balance Sheet and Legal Entity Accounting, that Ernst & Young were told of a $50bn repo 105 move in June 2008 but did not pass on the full information to Lehman’s board. Thus, it failed to fulfill GAAP requirements as part of its Q2 2008 auditing.
I’ve been saying for a while that there’s too much deflective focus on the accounting for Repo 105 and not enough on the disclosure. And I took particular exception early on to Ernst & Young’s handling of the Matthew Lee “whistleblower” situation:
Ernst & Young failed to follow professional standards of care with respect to communications with Lehman’s Audit Committee. Ernst & Young failed to follow professional standards of care with respect to an investigation of a whistleblower claim Lehman’s own Corporate Audit group led by Beth Rudofker, together with Ernst & Young, investigated allegations about balance sheet substantiation problems made in a May 16, 2008 “whistleblower” letter sent to senior management by Matthew Lee. On June 12, 2008, during the investigation, Lee informed Ernst & Young about Lehman’s use of $50 billion of Repo 105 transactions in the second quarter of 2008. At a June 13, 2008 meeting, Ernst & Young failed to disclose that allegation to the Board’s Audit Committee. (Bankruptcy Examiner’s Report V3 page 945) As the lawyers would say, the optics are bad here. The Audit Committee asks EY to support Lehman’s internal auditor in investigating a “whistleblower’s” allegations of balance sheet improprieties. The auditors interview the “whistleblower” and then don’t say anything at any of the Audit Committee meetings. Turns out what Mr. Lee, the “whistleblower”, was alleging is what the examiner believes is the fundamental problem and grounds for “colorable claims” against top officers and EY. The word “whistleblower” is tainted with tons of emotion post-Enron. We now look at those called “whistleblowers” and see heroes. But let’s look at what I think may have actually happened. Lehman’s Internal Audit department “naturally” asked their trusted, all-things-to-all-people advisor, EY, to help with the investigation of the “whistleblower’s” claims. The Internal Audit Department, not EY, was in charge of the investigation. That was their first mistake. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: The external auditor should not be conducting or assisting with internal investigations of potential fraud or illegal acts by top executives. I wrote about it atSiemens, subject of the largest ever FCPA settlement in history. KPMG, their auditor, got sued. The external auditor should stay the hell away from internal investigations because they may get caught up in something they would rather not know. They may want to claim plausible deniability. And a company should not engage the external auditor to support internal investigations especially involving fraud or illegal acts by top management. Do they do it to be cheap or to keep dirty laundry inside? The external auditor is too often part of the problem, an enabler, instead of part of the solution. If Lehman had hired another firm – a law firm or anyone except their external auditor – to perform the investigation, the investigation would have been covered end to end in privilege, the external auditor may or may not (in this case EY would have been better not to) have been included in the “circle of privilege,” and the investigation would have been completed professionally. However, by supporting this investigation, EY was essentially doing internal audit work, a prohibited service under Sarbanes-Oxley for independence reasons. It’s shocking to me that the EY audit partners did not at least turn over the investigation to EY’s Forensic Accounting and Investigations Practice in order to provide some semblance of independence and professionalism. Even though EY may have been an unwilling party to knowledge of an ugly situation right before an audit committee meeting, they got stuck. They had an obligation under AU 380, as the external auditor – not as an investigator – to inform the Audit Committee. They could have been on the other side being informed – or not – instead of being the one supposed to be doing the informing. AU 380, the rules for auditor communication with the Audit Committee, are very clear. But they relate to the auditors’ role as an auditor not the role of an auditor who is lent as muscle to an internal investigation. By playing the “trusted advisor” they screwed themselves. Stoplight? Yellow. Looks bad, but EY may be able to talk their way out of this one once it gets to court. They need to explain how they were still looking into the issue, doing their “auditor” work and make sure their full but limited role and responsibilities for the process are explained. If they lose on this chalk it up to another case of audit partners wanting to be supermen to their clients, the corporation’s executives, rather than looking out for their own best interests. Unfortunately in this situation, the shareholders were probably going to lose either way.
For a few dollars more… Or, more likely, no additional fee for helping with the internal investigation, Ernst & Young got stuck. Unfortunately, Berkshire Hathaway ignored this lesson in the Sokol case. They used a non-independent attorney and his law firm to investigate Sokol’s suspicious Lubrizol trades. And News Corp. is ignoring it, too. They also are using insiders to investigate the phone hacking allegations.
Despite what some columnists are saying…
Floyd Norris, The New York Times, July 28, 2011: The company misled investors and its officers and directors may be held liable. But the company’s auditor seems likely to escape any responsibility for an audit that wrongly concluded the company’s financial statements were completely proper. That, anyway, is the conclusion a federal judge has reached regarding Lehman Brothers. The judge said this week that it appeared Lehman had violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, even if it was in technical compliance with accounting rules. But he threw out a claim against Ernst & Young, whose 2007 audit certified that Lehman had followed GAAP.
…I believe Ernst & Young has not escaped anything. Here’s what I emailed Lynn Turner, former Chief Accountant at the SEC, after he circulated Norris’ column to his newsletter subscribers:
They are on the hook for something, it allows discovery, and this is not the only case against them.
This Lehman suit over a securities offering is not Ernst & Young’s biggest worry. They are a bit player. The New York Attorney General’s case against them, the one about fraud, is where they star.
Nevertheless, this dangling allegation is serious – scienter regarding their client’s deliberate material misstatement of a quarterly financial statement filing and public disclosure.
Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote on March 31, 2010 after the Lehman Bankruptcy Examiner’s report came out and EY defended itself with a letter to Audit Committee members:
EY: General Comments EY’s last audit was for the year ended November 30, 2007. Our opinion stated that Lehman’s financial statements for 2007 were fairly presented in accordance with US GAAP, and we remain of that view. We reviewed but did not audit the interim periods for Lehman’s first and second quarters of fiscal 2008. Although technically correct, EY is not yet off the hook. In fact, EY did something that seems odd to me – issue an actual report of their review of the 10Qs in 2008 that were included in Lehman’s regulatory filings. I credit Jonathan Weil of Bloomberg for bringing this potential Achilles’ heel in EY’s defense to my attention. However, he incorrectly used the term “opinion” in his most recent commentary to refer to EY’s reports of their review that were included in Lehman’s 10Q’s. It’s an oddity that investment banks insist on a report for the 10Q review from their audit firms. A review is required. A report is not. I still don’t know why Lehman requested reports to be included in quarterly filings. I certainly can’t, for the life of me, figure out why the auditors would do it. Post- Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, auditors (and law firms) have escaped liabilities for misstatements in quarterly reports because they do not make “explicit” statements. That is, their review is done in the background, they provide no written report and their review is not technically, or in their opinion, an “opinion.” But providing an actual report of the 10Q review, one that is included in the regulatory filing, may be what opens EY to liability for Lehman’s 2008 financials. Auditors also provide reports documenting their 10Q reviews for Goldman Sachs (PwC) and Morgan Stanley (Deloitte). Deloitte also provided reports of their 10Q reviews for Merrill Lynch prior to their absorption by Bank of America and for Bear Stearns prior to their bankruptcy and absorption into JPM Chase. The auditor’s report of their review for Bear Stearns’ 10Q as of February 28, 2008 actually had a “going concern” warning. Bear Stearns agreed to be bought by JPM Chase in early March.That was crucial but too little too late. The actual 10Q was not issued until April, after the JPM purchase had been proposed. Notably, EY does not provide these reports of their review of 10Qs for UBS, PwC does not do this for JPM Chase or Bank of America, and KPMG does not do so for Citigroup. Cases such as Lattanzio v. Deloitte & Touche LLP, 476 F.3d 147, 154 (2d Cir. 2007) make it clear that an explicit statement by the auditors is necessary to hold them liable. I have not been able to find any cases where auditor reports of their 10Q reviews made the difference in auditor liability. It may difficult to find case like this since so many complaints of malpractice against the auditors settle rather than go to trial. I have the distinct impression Jonathan Weil thinks that provision of a report of the auditor’s 10Q review may strengthen the possibility of liability for EY. I agree, but recognize I have nothing but hope to base this conclusion on.
In addition to the New York Attorney General’s case against Ernst & Young, they still have to worry about the SEC and Department of Justice. Serious sanctions against Ernst and Young by the SEC, or criminal charges from the Department of Justice for Lehman executives possibly fraudulent Section 302 certifications, are unlikely. However, the SEC and PCAOB would be remiss if they did not eventually sanction some individuals at least, if not the firm as a whole.
What I wrote October 31, 2010: | {
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By Sarah Klein
Winnipeg police have seized several emulsion explosives in the city, which they say are being trafficked and sold.
Police executed a search warrant at a home in the 800 block of College Avenue on January 6 as part of their investigation.
They say the explosives are described as flex tubes with metal crimped ends, approximately one inch thick and 12-14 inches long. They are usually used to blast rock in mines and contain a high level of explosive power.
Police ask anyone who comes across such items to not touch or handle them and to contact police immediately.
Anyone with further information is asked to call investigators at (204) 986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477). | {
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Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, the Tory leader praised Labour‘s Ben Bradshaw for using the “English” pronunciation of the Ukip leader’s surname.
PM calls on Corbyn to SACK Labour MP at centre of anti-Semitism row
Ted Cruz says Britain would be 'FRONT of queue’ for post-Brexit deal
During Prime Minister’s Questions, the Exeter MP had pronounced the name as ‘Farridge’ as he asked Mr Cameron: “With the UK facing its most momentous decision for a generation in eight weeks' time, does the Prime Minister think it makes more sense for us to listen to all of our closest friends and allies around the world?
"Or to a combination of French fascists, Nigel Farage and Vladimir Putin?"
In reply, the Prime Minister said: “I'm glad he takes the English pronunciation of Farage rather than the poncey foreign-sounding one he seems to prefer.
“I think that's a thoroughly good thing.” | {
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Captive Egyptian vulture adult. Photo by: Carlos Delgado/Creative Commons 3.0.
The hunt
Around 11 AM on Thursday, 27 February 2014, Angoulou Enika was lying hidden in the tall grass on the side of a large water hole in the Sahel region of Niger. He was staying as quiet as he could while aiming his custom-made rifle at an Egyptian vulture which had landed nearby to drink from the water. He took a breath, held it and fired. The large bird fell to its side.
Content with his haul, he jumped up, grabbed the animal and started skinning it. He piled the feathers to one side, carefully separated the eyes and the brain, cut and laid out the meat to dry and cleared the skull and skeleton. He found a strange cell-phone like devise attached to its back but put it aside also planning to sell it. The only piece he threw away were the intestines. Every body part of the vulture is valuable where he comes from—Nigeria.
Rich people in Niger’s southern neighbor are willing to pay a lot of money for vulture body parts. They believe that keeping a vulture’s head or feather in their home would bring them an even better fortune. Some even eat their eyes and brains to obtain clairvoyant powers to, for instance, predict who to bet on for winning the World Cup.
This month’s hunt has been really successful for Enika. He managed to killed eight vultures and 42 crows (another bird considered a valuable fetish). He was ready to head back to his village in Nigeria—84 miles south.
Little did he know that the bird he killed that Thursday was Paschalis—an Egyptian vulture tracked via satellites by scientists in the LIFE+ “The Return of the Neophron” project—a $3.4 million conservation initiative funded by the European Union. Unaware, he had removed the still functioning transmitter from the back of the bird and carried it along all the way to his home country, triggering a two-month long international investigation into his tracks.
The investigation
The juvenile Egyptian vulture fitted with transmitter. Photo by: Petros Babakas/Lifeneophron.eu.
Hundreds of miles north from Niger, in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia, ornithologist Volen Akumarev from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds first noticed that Paschalis’ signal had stopped moving. Akumarev and his colleagues from LIFE+ are used to losing birds and quickly recognize what the stationary signal meant. Only one of ten newly-hatched Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) survives to adulthood.
The rare vulture species has an interesting lifestyle: they hatch in Europe and as juveniles make their way to Africa where they spend the winter season. True cosmopolitans, they fly back to their summer homes in Europe and spend the rest of their lives migrating hundreds of miles between the two continents.
“They are not just ours,” often says Stoyan Nikolov, manager of the LIFE+ conservation project. “They spend half of their lives in Europe, half in Africa. They are black and white after all.”
Paschalis was only seven months old when he was killed. He had hatched in Dadia National Park in Greece and the ornithologists from WWF Greece had fitted him with a leg ring and a satellite transmitter on the back.
Paschalis was only one out of eight young Egyptian vultures tagged with satellite transmitters that tried to cross the Mediterranean along its migration to Africa. The other seven either drowned (because they didn’t have an adult to show them the right route to fly over the sea), or fell prey to predators. The sole survivor of the long trip, he had settled by a water hole near Damou Kadi village in Niger—the same waterhole where the hunter’s bullet finally reached him.
The LIFE+ project team (by BSPB, HOS, WWF Greece and RSPB) observed on their computer screen as the signal from the detached satellite transmitter travelled from the hunter’s hide out, to a house in the nearby village, and finally down the main road crossing the border into Nigeria. They contacted colleagues from two local NGOs: Sahara Conservation Fund in Niger and A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute in Nigeria.
In March, just a few weeks after the incident, the NGOs dispatched their staff to the last-received satellite coordinates in the two African countries. The ensuing investigation revealed an extensive commercial network for trading wild animal body parts worth thousands of dollars.
The network
Migration journey of Paschalis. Photo by: Lifeneophron.eu.
Sahara Conservation Fund investigators found out that Enika hunts near Damou Kadi village in Niger every three months. Very few vultures remain in his home country Nigeria where locals have pursued them to near-extinction.
“This hunter is small fish,” said Nikolov. “We should aim to get to the heart of the problem, reveal the entire illegal network.”
Egyptian vultures are listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red Book. National laws and international conventions such as CITES signed by both Niger and Nigeria protect them on paper. These are rarely enforced, though, as prices of body parts have tripled in past few years.
“There is a spike in the market demand for vulture brains during sports competitions,” said Nikolov. The conservation scientist explains that years ago only shamans performed traditional ceremonies for seeing into the future on special occasions. “Now it’s just fashionable to do it for self-enriching reasons.”
Many Nigerians also consume the vultures’ meat and even their excrement hoping that these will cure disease.
The broken transmitter of Paschalis. Photo by: APLORI/Lifeneophron.eu.
“Some African cultures believe that vultures have magical powers because they are in touch with death daily yet get away unharmed,” added Nikolov.
There is no scientific prof, however, that vulture body parts have any healing effect whatsoever.
The Bulgarian scientists believe the most valuable body parts are exported to European countries as expensive fetishes. The African diaspora in England, Netherlands, and other places still maintains traditional beliefs and may provide a market for the fetishized body parts.
“Importantly, though, these people can afford to pay a lot higher price than local shamans,” said Nikolov.
The investigation continues.
“I feel like a hound dog,” noted Nikolov. “I want to make sure Paschalis didn’t die in vain so we are trying to use this case to learn as much as we can about the threat and how to counter it.”
The future
The wetland where cattle and vultures concentrate during the dry season in Sahel zone. Photo by: SCF/Lifeneophron.eu.
“Forbidding vicious practices is not sufficient,” said Nikolov. “Such problems can only be resolved by offering alternatives.” Consequently, law enforcement is the last priority on the conservationist’s mind.
One idea LIFE+ scientists want to pursue is organizing informational campaigns in Sahel countries targeting nomads and farmers. Many of them do not realize what an important role vultures play in the local ecosystems. Vultures eat dead livestock and in that way help prevent the spread of disease. Without them, the herders could lose their animals.
“The elders know that,” said Nikolov from his interviews with locals in Chad and Djibouti. “The young generation has lost this wisdom though.”
Another idea is to organize healthcare campaigns offering vaccinations and basic treatment to families. Access to modern medicine would hopefully deter people from the practice of eating vulture body parts recommended by dubious healers.
Conservationists do not have sufficient funds, though, to work remotely in Africa.
“Our project spends millions to protect 75 vulture couples on the Balkan peninsula,” said Nikolov. “Yet there are thousands of vultures in Africa. It would be a lot more cost-effective to invest conservation funds directly there.”
The Bulgarian scientist emphasizes that only a very small part of the money goes into the birds themselves (for tracking devises, supplementary food etc).
“Practically all the money is invested in people offering environmental education and conservation jobs to locals along the way of the vultures’ migration,” he said.
The name of the hunter has been changed while the investigation is still ongoing.
Hand made fire guns of the vulture hunter. Photo by: SCF/Lifeneophron.eu.
The site where Paschalis was killed and the village where transmitter was kept for several days. Photo by: Lifeneophron.eu.
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The Egyptian Vulture on the Balkans – a hopeful but perilous conservation story
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Feather forensics: scientist uses genes to track macaws, aid bird conservation
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Camera trap captures first ever video of rarely-seen bird in the Amazon…and much more
(06/17/2014) A camera trap program in Ecuador’s embattled Yasuni National Program has struck gold, taking what researchers believe is the first ever film of a wild nocturnal curassow (Nothocrax urumutum). In addition, the program has captured video of other rarely-seen animals, including the short-eared dog and the giant armadillo.
Colorful bird on remote Indonesian islands should be classified as distinct species, say scientists
(06/04/2014) A colorful bird found on the Wakatobi islands south of Sulawesi in Indonesia is sufficiently distinct from birds in nearby areas to be classified as a unique species, argue scientists writing in the current issue of the open-access journal PLoS ONE.
Saudi Prince kills two percent of global population of endangered bird
(05/01/2014) In a three week hunting safari between January 11th and 31st of this year, Saudi Arabian Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his party allegedly shot down 2,100 Asian Houbara bustards (Chlamydotis macqueenii) in Balochistan, Pakistan. Scientists aren’t certain how many Houbara bustards survive today, but their best estimate is around 100,000 and declining. | {
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2019
CONTACT: Jordan Libowitz
202-408-5565 | [email protected]
CREW Exposes Dark Money Donors including Thiel, DeVos and Adelson
Washington — Following a historic victory against dark money by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Americans for Job Security (AJS) has released its donors from 2010 through 2012, including major contributions from Peter Thiel, Richard and Helen DeVos, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, and Robert McNair, as well as contributions from Trump appointees like Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former SBA Administrator Linda McMahon and former-Labor Secretary nominee Andy Puzder. Other major donors included major players in the dark money world such as the Wellspring Committee, the Koch-connected Center to Protect Patient Rights, Crossroads GPS and Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, major corporations like Wynn Resorts, Bass Pro Shops and Quicken Loans, PR firms like the DCI Group and government contractors like Hensel Phelps Construction.
“This is a major victory for transparency and the rule of law,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “This is the first major release of dark money sources in the post-Citizens United era, a rare and long overdue victory in the fight against the illegal use of dark money in politics.”
Notable donors include:
Peter Thiel – $500,000
Richard and Helen Devos – $2 million
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson – $500,000
Robert McNair – $1,000,000
Notable corporate donors include:
Continental Resources – $1 million
Devon Energy and Devon Energy Production Corp – $3 million
Hensel Phelps Construction – $2.93 million
Penn National Gaming – $737,000
US Sugar Corp – $750,000
Wynn Resorts – $500,000
Bass Pro Shops – $50,000
Quicken Loans – $250,000
Previously known donors include Anthony Pritzker, Eli Broad, John Fisher and Charles Schwab. Schwab was known to have given millions to AJS, but the new information shows that he gave an additional $2.15 million.
“It’s not a surprise to see that AJS’s donors included some of the richest people in America, major political players, corporations and PR firms, but it is still shocking to see them all listed out,” Bookbinder said. “These people tried to get around the law and keep their massive political money secret. It took a long time, but transparency and the rule of law prevailed.”
In 2012, CREW filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against AJS alleging it failed to register as a political committee despite AJS’s extensive campaign activity. More than two years later, after the FEC’s general counsel concluded that AJS had likely violated the law, three Republican commissioners still blocked enforcement by deadlocking the Commission. The deadlock led the FEC to dismiss CREW’s complaint. CREW then sued the FEC, and a court ordered the FEC to reopen the case in 2016. Over the next two years, CREW filed two additional lawsuits due to the FEC’s inaction. Last month, CREW received notice that the FEC reached a conciliation agreement with AJS, requiring them to register as a political committee and disclose their donors, which they did today.
Click here for the list of names and donations, as well as AJS’s expenditures
-30-
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions. For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Jordan Libowitz at 202-408-5565 or [email protected] | {
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Keisuke Honda is quoted on the Italian media, briefly talking about his current time with the Rossoneri.
Honda is perhaps the biggest star in the Japanese national team but has fallen from grace at Milan and is no longer a first-choice for coach Sinisa Mihajlovic.
Adriano Galliani denied that Honda had asked to leave the club but Miha said that if a player is unhappy then he’s free to go and it seems that Honda is going through a rough patch at the Aldo Rossi club.
“The situation is not easy,” Honda said this week according the Italian media. “To be on the bench for so many matches is something that has never happened [to me before]. I’m beginning to understand how it feels to be on the outside. My position with the national team group, fortunately, is different.”
Honda is linked with a number of Premier League clubs and it remains to be seen if he will stay at Milan past this January. In any case, his contract with the 7 times UCL winners expires in 2017. | {
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Cyclists argue that more discretion should be allowed in deciding when and where to wear a helmet. PIC: Aleksandra Bliszczyk
The 100 or so protestors, who rode the three kilometres from Green Park in Carlton to the Abbotsford Convent, have urged governments to allow cyclists more discretion in deciding when to wear helmets.
Australia is one of just three countries worldwide that enforces helmet laws.
“One hundred and ninety-six other countries have looked at what Australia has done and said, ‘no way’,” said protest leader Alan Todd, president of the lobby group Freestyle Cyclists.
“To date, only New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates have followed Australia’s lead.”
“I’m with the rest of the world,” he added. “Australia has not got this one right. Wear a helmet if you want to; it should be a matter of personal choice.”
The organisation’s website and Facebook page, which boasts more than 7000 followers, claims: “The health benefits of riding a bike are many times greater than the risk, with or without a helmet.”
“Forcing people to wear helmets reinforces the perception that cycling is dangerous,” it continues, adding that improving infrastructure by building a network of protected bike lanes would make cycling more attractive.
The mandatory helmet law was introduced in July, 1990. It applies to cyclists riding on roads, bike paths and shared paths, in recreational parks and car parks. Police have the right to stop bike and scooter riders and issue a fine or a warning for not wearing a securely-fitted, approved helmet.
The current penalty for not wearing a helmet is a $185 fine.
After the law was introduced, helmet wearing increased from 31 per cent of cyclists to 75 per cent between 1990 and 1991. Over the following two years, the number of head injuries from all accidents recorded across Victoria fell by 26 per cent.
However, Troy Parsons, a Freestyle Cyclists member and leader of the weekend’s ‘helmet optional’ ride, argues that the reduction in head injuries correlates with a reduction in cycling more generally.
“Most people would say, pro rata, that actually the injuries increased for cyclists,” he said.
The number of cycle rides originating in the City of Yarra increased by 130 per cent between 2001 and 2011. The 2011 Census recorded 3651 people cycling to and from Yarra for work – more than for any other municipality in Melbourne.
“In a city that’s bursting at the seams with polluting vehicles, a huge population and a transport network that’s breaking down, the idea of putting a barrier [compulsory helmets] in the way of a humble bicycle, is ridiculous,” said Mr Todd. “I can think of nowhere else in the world that would encourage healthy, active transport by fining the people who do it.”
“Riding a bike is a safe activity when carried out at sensible speeds in decent conditions. A crash helmet for all occasions is overkill. The practice of fining people for this healthy and benign activity makes no sense.” — Alan Todd, president of Freestyle Cyclists
“[We’re] really about removing any barriers,” added Mr Parsons. “Busy roads are a barrier. High levels of traffic are a barrier. Having to wear something on your head in hot weather is a barrier for some people.”
However, according to the The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), “peer-reviewed studies conducted in Australia and overseas have repeatedly found bicycle helmet use to be associated with a significant decrease in brain injury and brain injury severity.”
The AHPPC cites one review from 2015 that found bicycle helmet use was associated with a 35 per cent reduction in the odds of sustaining a head injury, a 64 per cent odds reduction in serious head injury and 66 per cent odds reduction of fatal head injury.
Another cyclist on the weekend ride, who gave his name simply as “Rick”, suggested a horses for courses approach.
“If you’re riding on a road in between traffic, a helmet’s fine,” he said. “I live about 100 metres from a park and I have two [young] boys who love bikes, and I find it absolutely insane that when they’re riding on a sidewalk they need to wear a helmet on a 30-plus degree day, just to go to a park.”
Under Victoria’s road safety laws, Vicroads can issue a certificate of exemption from wearing a bicycle helmet to people with neck injuries or those with a history of skin cancer who require a hat, according to Mr Parsons.
TheAustralian Health Protection Principal Committee says “peer-reviewed studies conducted in Australia and overseas have repeatedly found bicycle helmet use to be associated with a significant decrease in brain injury and brain injury severity.”
Rick agreed that a helmet could save a cyclist’s life, just as it could save a pedestrian and even car passengers.
“You’re eight times more likely to get hit as a pedestrian, and 30 times more likely to get your head hit in a car,” he added.
Another participant in yesterday’s protest, said: “When I commute to work in and out of traffic, I wear a helmet. I don’t think it’ll actually save me if a car goes over me . . . I think I might have a better chance, but that’s my choice.”
He added: “We have normalised car crashes so much. People die every day in cars . . . But the car industry will never lobby to make drivers wear helmets.”
Mr Parsons said he rarely rides on roads.
“I have kids now and I take them to day care, so I’m always seeking out the quietest routes. The irony is I would probably wear a helmet more if the laws weren’t in place, because now I protest them.”
According to Mr Todd: “Riding a bike is a safe activity when carried out at sensible speeds in decent conditions. A crash helmet for all occasions is overkill. The practice of fining people for this healthy and benign activity makes no sense.” | {
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* What's new in v.2.7.6
- Added Assist info in monster detail page
- Added Killer Awoken info in monster detail page
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.7.3
- Added New Limited Dungeon Settings in JP Version
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.6.7
- Added Bomb Drop
* What's new in v.2.6.5
- Added 6th Awoken Skill
- Added New Awoken Badge
* What's new in v.2.6.1
- Improved monster's portrait image
- Added Awoken Badge in Team Management
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.5.7
- Added PAD Image Viewer
* What's new in v.2.5.1
- Added Search by Skill Inheritance in Monster List
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.5.0
- Added Sort by Skill Turn in Monster List
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.4.8
- Fixed bug in Material Management
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.4.7
- Added Push Notification (Setting > Push Notification)
- Improved Material Management (Util > Monster > Material Management)
- Fixed Crash bugs
* What's new in v.2.4.2
- Improved Advanced Search in Monster List (Search by Awoken Skill Count)
- Added Monster Compare (Monster Detail / Util > Etc)
- Improved Skill Finder (Util > List > Skill Finder)
- Improved Dungeon Interface
- Improved Swipe Sensitivity
- Improved performance
- Improved interface
- Fixed bug in Monster Management
- Fixed minor bugs
* What's new in v.2.3.8
- Added Zoomed Mode in Settings (iPhone6/6+)
- Updated Rank-Up Chart
- Added Sort by Sub Att.
- Added Report Function in Boards
- Improved Leader Skill information in Monster Detail
- Added Rank-Up Calculator
- Added Swipe Back
- Improved Alarm Setting
- Fixed bugs (Skill Rotation, Friend Finder, Team Management, Monster Management, In-App-Purchase, etc)
- Fixed Critical bugs
* What's new in v.2.3.0
- Fixed Stamina Recovery Time in JP
- Added Normal Dungeon's Bonus Schedule
- Supported iPhone6/6+
- Added Starter Dragon Setting
- Improved interface
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.2.5
- Improved interface
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.2.4
- Improved interface
- Fixed bugs
* What's new in v.2.2.1
- Supported iOS9
- Added Skill Rotation (Util > List, Left bottom of Monster List)
- Fixed bugs
Check events and dungeon schedules of Puzzle & Dragons. You can also set alarms!
Compatible with all servers around the world, no matter which server you log into.
Features
1. Multi-region support: you can check dungeon schedules of all countries
2. Multi-language support: English, Japanese, and Korean
3. Special dungeon support: including guerrilla dungeons and events
4. Auto-update of dungeon information
5. Alarm support: you can check schedules and set alarms instantly
6. Multiple Account Support - See all events of multiple countries in one screen!
***** Including Features *****
Guerrilla, Event, Monster, Dungeon, Evolution, EXP&Stats Calculator, Alarm, Profile, Collection, Friend, BBS, Team, Party, PAD, Material
****************************************
PadGuide is an unofficial app and has no connections with Puzzle & Dragons and GungHo Online Entertainment.
Use PadGuide with your own risk. PadGuide doesn't take responsibility for accuracy of the contents.
**************************************** | {
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This 1976 Triumph TR6 is still wearing the protective (?) wax coating it was given over 30 years ago when it was garaged. After purchasing it and pulling it out of the garage, the seller has listed it for sale here on eBay. Bidding at this point is up to $5,100 without a reserve and you’ll have to relocate the car from Milford, Michigan if you are the winning bidder.
My hope is that the wax has protected the finish, but I do wish the seller had at least re-polished one small area to show us what the paint could/does look like under the wax. It’s encouraging that the exhaust shows effectively no rust and I’m hoping that’s an indicator of the rest of the car and how dry its environment has been.
Being the 1976 version of “the last of the hairy-chested British sports cars” (per Road & Track) this car benefits from some minor improvements made through the 1969-1976 life of the TR6 but it also has the heavier bumpers with “5 mph” over-riders.
That odometer is showing 27,536 miles. Given how original the car looks it may just be right. The cracks in the wooden dash finish on the glove compartment door aren’t unusual after this amount of time even with proper storage. I’m hoping that what looks like a rope hanging down under the steering column is just that, and that it’s attached to the original ignition key (that is the proper location).
Under the hood surprised me; I can’t remember the last time I saw a TR6 with an air pump in place that wasn’t in a concours show! Green spark plug wires are original for the car as well, along with green hoses. I can’t figure out what the large hose in front of the battery is for, though — it’s not original spec as far as I know. Overall this looks like a great car, especially if it is as nice as it looks! What do you think is under the wax? | {
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How you can help those on the front line of the fight against coronavirus and how they can best protect themselves.
“How many times do I need to tell you to keep away from me?” That was what my husband shouted at our six-year-old who just wanted to hug his daddy, something that was a normal thing to do before.
With his voice shaking, the pain palpable, I watched my husband walk upstairs and close the door of his room. Yes, his room: segregated not through choice but through need.
So, I scooped up my little boy, hugged him tightly and explained to him for what felt like the 100th time why daddy has to keep away from us just now.
This is the reality for many front-line healthcare professionals right now as they put everything aside to honour the commitment they made when they chose to dedicate their lives to medicine.
My husband and I are both GPs working in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. I have recently started my maternity leave. However, my husband continues to work full time on the front line, battling the coronavirus outbreak every day.
He also does extra hours for our “out of hours” service in order to help meet the demand as the number of cases of coronavirus continues to rise. Sadly, not only are we practically living apart, due to the level of risk he has of contracting COVID-19, he may not even attend the birth of our baby, a moment precious to all parents.
I still recall my interview at the University of Glasgow medical school in 2001, where I was asked why I wanted to be a doctor.
My answer was simple: “Because I want to help save lives.” For those who opt for a career in medicine, it is more than just a job – it is a vocation. It is a real, guttural calling that cannot be articulated as you always strive to do good, do no harm and provide a duty of care to your patients.
As I proudly accepted my medical degree 14 years ago, I appreciated there would be some tough times when I would need to make some really challenging decisions but never did I think my job could put me in a position where I could potentially risk the lives of others, of my family or even my own.
Fast forward to the present day and healthcare professionals across the world find themselves working under immense pressure, feeling anxious and fearful of what lies ahead, to do their bit in the fight against one of the greatest challenges of our time; the fight against COVID-19.
What we are being asked to do is necessary but it is incredibly tough on many levels.
Here, in the UK, we are just at the beginning of our uphill struggle. We have been closely monitoring trends across the world so we are fully informed about the impact that coronavirus will have on our citizens, our economy and the future once it hits us properly.
We have seen the pressures that our healthcare colleagues around the world have been put under and it paints a very bleak picture.
As we get ready for work every day, we read the headlines about more doctors dying from coronavirus, but we try to shield our loved ones from this and we try to block out the noise in our heads.
Our anxiety levels are high but knowing that our healthcare systems need us – now more than ever – compels us to push our emotions to one side as we take things one day at a time, stretched beyond our limits.
Why are clinicians so vulnerable?
There have been several issues that have made doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers feel more vulnerable and unsupported.
A serious delay in the issuing of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the UK as well as in other countries around the world has seen front-line workers delivering care to coronavirus positive patients without any consideration for their safety.
You only need to take a scroll on social media to witness some of the desperate lengths doctors and nurses are going to in order to protect themselves – these are far from danger proof, but we are trying to do our best in order to not compromise care.
The virus is spread via close contact through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Without any PPE, the risk of transmission to a clinician is very high. The implications of this are monumental in the spread of the pandemic because once exposed, the clinician could be at risk of getting unwell themselves – something the NHS and other healthcare systems around the world cannot afford.
These clinicians are also at a higher risk of transmitting the infection to other people and members of their community as they commute through the city to get home, and then expose their families to it.
In trying to save one life, we are potentially compromising the lives of many others at the same time. Carrying this burden hinders our ability to work and deliver care effectively, and potentially compromises the quality of clinical work.
Nobody is a winner here. The UK, where I am, has entered a lockdown as cases and deaths continue to rise but many doctors are still working without adequate PPE. How can we delay the spread when we may well be contributing to it in the first place?
Another significant issue compromising us and our patients is the lack of testing. We are trying to fight a pandemic without knowing the magnitude of the problem.
In the UK, for example, only those who are hospitalised are being tested. In primary care, we are running on presumptions. More critical, perhaps, is the lack of testing of front-line healthcare workers. We are facing sleepless nights as we have no idea if we are carrying the virus or not.
How can others help?
People can help us by self-isolating if at all possible, but I worry that lockdown – such as that enacted at last in the UK and already enacted in many other countries – has been an action taken a little too late.
We all have to make tough decisions about whether we really should be out and about. After finding myself in a confined space, travelling with a patient with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 a week ago, I decided enough was enough.
At 34 weeks pregnant, sitting in a small consultation room without any PPE and with limited knowledge about how coronavirus might affect my unborn baby or my child at home, I realised it is just not a risk I am willing to take.
There was no option for me to explore other ways of working, nor was there any guidance so I started my maternity leave.
Many female healthcare workers are in the same predicament and it is causing us to make some difficult choices. However, my husband continues to work. He only received PPE this week but the worry remains – could he already be a carrier?
How can healthcare workers protect themselves?
There are measures that doctors and healthcare workers can take to minimise their risk of exposure and therefore their risk of passing it on to their families who may also be vulnerable.
Have dedicated work clothes which you only wear at work and wash them at a high temperature as soon as you get home.
When you get home, have a dedicated plastic box where you put your coat, shoes, etc. Keep everything you take outside segregated from the rest of your family.
Immediately shower and keep a distance of more than 2 metres from your family members at all times. No cuddles with anyone, just say hello.
Avoid touching any door handles and surfaces until you and they are clean using normal disinfectant or detergent. This includes your phone, which you should have locked away when at work.
If you are travelling by car, wipe down the steering wheel, controls and door handles. Have in your bag some wipes or a disinfectant spray and kitchen roll as well as gloves. Dispose of these in a sealed bag immediately once cleaned.
None of these measures feels normal because the situation we are facing is far from normal.
In the UK, as in other countries, many retired doctors and nurses are returning to work to help alleviate the burden on healthcare workers, which goes to show just how much this vocation means to us.
Those of us who are on maternity or sick leave are using media or social media outlets to help deliver public health messages.
We are all putting our vulnerabilities, our anxieties and even our family lives to the side right now to do our bit and serve our society. I just hope that we remain protected, healthy and supported to continue to keep on doing so. | {
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日本マイクロソフト株式会社は、障碍者向け支援技術製品の利用者を対象としたWindows 10無償アップグレードに関するウェブページを公開し、アップグレード用プログラム「Windows 10アップグレードアシスタント」の提供を開始した。一般向けのWindows 10無償アップグレードは7月29日で終了したが、障碍者向け支援技術製品を利用中のWindows 8.1/7ユーザーは、同プログラムを使うことで、今後も無償でWindows 10にアップグレードできる。
プログラムは「Windows10Upgrade24074.exe」というファイル名で、ウェブページにある「はい。支援技術製品を利用しており、Windows 10への無償アップグレードをする準備が整っています。」という文章の下にある「今すぐアップグレード」をクリックすると、ダウンロードできる。
ダウンロードした実行ファイルをWindows 8.1/7で実行すると、PC環境の互換性がチェックされ、続いてアップグレードプログラムのダウンロード、続いてWindows 10のインストールが開始される。
これまで一般向けWindows 10無償アップグレードで提供されていた「Windows 10アップグレードアシスタント」では、7月29日の期限を過ぎてから実行すると、すでにWindows 10へのアップグレードを終えたWindows 8.1/7のプロダクトキーの入力が求められる。
これに対して今回公開されたプログラムでは、現時点ではアップグレードを見送ったWindows 8.1/7ユーザーでも、任意のタイミングでWindows 10へ無償アップグレードし、障碍者向け支援機能が強化された「Windows 10 Aniversary Update」（8月2日リリース予定）を利用できる。 | {
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LAS VEGAS — Every July, as teams and media and fans roll into the city for NBA Summer League, we are reminded of a well-worn aphorism: It’s just Summer League. For every star performance, there is an equal swell to temper excitement. It is almost a form of basketball nihilism — nothing really matters in Las Vegas in July — as it is expectations-setting.
In truth, however, Summer League is more like high school prom: what happened doesn’t actually matter later but you’ll always remember it anyway. For Kevin Knox, that will likely be true. From his first rim-smashing game against the Hawks or the third quarter against the Lakers that left ESPN announcers giddy, he has been the breakout star here.
It would be unfair to label Knox a revelation. He is a former five-star recruit who went ninth overall in the NBA draft last month after just a year at Kentucky. But he has been a mild surprise — a rookie who already has the Knicks and... | {
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Celebrations for Manitoba's 150th birthday next year were almost given the slogans "Revel The Heart" and "Love Your Manitoba, Explore Someone Else's."
The two phrases were among three options advertising firm McKim Communications Group presented last fall to a committee organizing the celebrations, say documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the province's freedom of information law.
The committee ended up picking "United in Celebration" as the official slogan and unveiled it at a ceremony earlier this year.
"It's a very robust process. You look at all three, you evaluate them," Stuart Murray, co-chair of the committee, said in an interview.
"When you look at 'United in Celebration,' we want all people — everyone that lives in the province of Manitoba — to celebrate the great province we have, and more importantly, to celebrate what a great future we can (have) working together."
McKim also developed the logo for the anniversary, Murray said — the outline of a heart bookended by two objects that look like crocuses, Manitoba's official flower.
It's a stylized logo, open to interpretation, he said.
"It could be two hands reaching up, it could be two crocuses, it could be two fish."
The logo is also versatile, Murray said, because the outlines allow different photographs to be inserted, depending on the specific message of each ad. Some ads will focus on historical events and places, while others will highlight cultural aspects or nature.
Full list of 150th events to come after elections
Year-long celebratory events are being planned across the province to mark the 150th anniversary of Manitoba's entry into Confederation.
Manitoba was the fifth province to join, and the only one to do so under Indigenous leadership, Murray said, pointing to the work of Louis Riel.
The provincial budget for the celebrations has not been finalized, but Premier Brian Pallister committed in March to $5 million as a starting amount.
One of the major events is expected to mark the 100th anniversary of the Manitoba legislature, which opened its doors on July 15, 1920.
The full list of events will be revealed in the fall, after the provincial and federal elections slated for September and October. | {
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Era nato a Corato ma, da sempre, il maestro Domenico Tota aveva vissuto a San Severo. Era un amante della terra in cui viveva, per questo – a dieci anni dalla sua scomparsa - nei giorni scorsi la Giunta Comunale presieduta dal Sindaco avv. Francesco Miglio ha deliberato la realizzazione di un busto in bronzo a lui dedicato da collocare in Via Tiberio Solis.
«All’unanimità abbiamo deliberato questo giusto omaggio al Maestro Mimì Tota a 10 dalla sua scomparsa – dichiara il Sindaco avv. Francesco Miglio – recependo anche un’istanza dell’Associazione Fondazione Terra Mia presieduta da Armando Niro. È un doveroso atto di stima della Città di San Severo nei confronti di una persona che si è spesa molto per la nostra comunità, soprattutto per i bambini, sia nel suo prezioso lavoro di insegnante, che durante i tantissimi eventi ai quali prendeva parte. Mimì Tota ha rappresentato un pezzo importante della storia recente della nostra San Severo. Ancora oggi la sua pubblicazione (postuma) “A spasso per San Severo” ci mostra il suo amore infinito per la nostra città».
Il progetto deliberato dalla Giunta Municipale prevede una fusione in bronzo di un busto in creta raffigurante il maestro Tota realizzato dall’artista Mauro Cipriani.
Nato a Corato il 14 marzo 1930, Domenico (Mimì) Tota ha risieduto a San Severo dal 1933, anno in cui la sua famiglia vi si trasferì per esigenze di servizio del padre Vito, agente di custodia alla locale casa di reclusione. Ha insegnato per 36 anni nelle Scuole Elementari del 3° Circolo Didattico “Umberto Fraccacreta” di San Severo. È stato ideatore e Presidente per 13 anni del Carnevale Sanseverese. Per oltre 20 anni regista, presentatore e conduttore di trasmissioni televisive a Teleradio San Severo di quiz a premi con lo scopo di valorizzare usi, costumi, tradizioni, dialetto, storia e personaggi locali con la presentazioni di foto caratteristiche e particolari di monumenti, chiese e piazze della città. Per 35 anni concertatore e direttore del coro scolastico composto da oltre 100 ragazzi che, alle prime luci del mattino del Venerdì Santo, cantava “A questo fiero tronco” al momento dell’incontro fra il “Cristo alla colonna” e la “Vergine Addolorata".
Presso la Biblioteca Comunale Minuziano, si possono consultare 44 volumi per complessive 7.000 fotografie, catalogate con numerazione progressiva e riferimenti ai negativi, con le relative didascalie, scattate da Tota nel corso di 25 anni. Sono stati ripresi fotograficamente edifici pubblici, vie, chiese, piazze, cimitero, particolari interessanti, panorami, usi, costumi, feste, personaggi della nostra città. Ci sono anche resoconti fotografici di viaggi all’estero: Lourdes, Fatima, Santiago de Compostela, Ungheria, Repubblica Ceka, ecc. Collaboratore volontario nella “Caritas” diocesana come formatore prima degli obiettori di coscienza e poi dei volontari del servizio civile. Per oltre sei anni ha offerto al Comune di San Severo, la sua disponibilità, completamente gratuita, per insegnare, nelle scuole di ogni ordine e grado, toponomastica e storia di San Severo, corredando le lezioni con la proiezione di oltre 400 diapositive. Il 15 marzo 2006 ha organizzato la “Festa del Tricolore” e della ricorrenza del 1° anniversario della morte in Iraq del concittadino Salvatore Marracino presso il 1° Circolo Didattico “De Amicis”. | {
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The New York Philharmonic’s season doesn’t officially start until next week. But the feeling at David Geffen Hall on Wednesday, when the orchestra accompanied Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 film “There Will Be Blood” with a live soundtrack, was every orchestra’s fantasy for opening night: an overflow audience full of young people, the sense of a singular event, a huge ovation.
Most of the movies the orchestra has presented in its popular Art of the Score series have been classic films with compelling scores, like Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” and “The Godfather.” Under the excellent 32-year-old conductor Hugh Brunt, in his Philharmonic debut, Jonny Greenwood’s hauntingly strange and inventive score for “There Will Be Blood” made the movie seem both stunningly new and an instant classic. (The series continues with another screening of “There Will Be Blood” on Thursday, followed by “2001: A Space Odyssey” on Friday and Saturday.)
Mr. Anderson’s “epic American nightmare,” as Manohla Dargis, a critic for The New York Times, called it, follows three decades in the life of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis in an Academy Award-winning performance), a mining prospector who discovers oil in California in 1902 and establishes a thriving drilling company. Plainview distrusts everyone, and his success makes him increasingly maniacal and isolated.
The score is central to the film, and the Philharmonic players reveled in its belching and mysterious moments. Every passage reveals the broad tastes and impressive skills of Mr. Greenwood, who is also the lead guitarist of Radiohead. He conceives his film scores as a series of pieces; on the soundtrack album, he organizes the music into a suite, with each piece titled and presented out of narrative order. You hear hints of Messiaen, Penderecki, Indian music, modal jazz and Bachian counterpoint, but the music speaks in Mr. Greenwood’s own voice. | {
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Dissociation can be an involuntary coping mechanism to help with an overwhelming experience such as trauma or loss. Dissociative behaviour is usually a diagnosis given to an individual, but an analysis of the state of Nunavut today suggests that it is a concept that may assist in understanding the character of the territory’s political system.
Eighty-five percent of Nunavummiut (the people of Nunavut) are Inuit. Settlement of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) in 1993 resulted in the creation of a suite of Inuit representative organizations, the most important being Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI). The NLCA also resulted in the division of the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, and the creation of a new territorial government — the Government of Nunavut (GN). The GN is a public government representing all residents of the territory regardless of their ethnicity.
Implementation of the NLCA has set the territory on a trajectory towards the development of non-renewable resources — mining, and oil and gas. The land claim entrenched constitutionally how resource development projects will be reviewed and approved, how impact benefit agreements are to be negotiated. The underlying assumption is that there will be mining and other development. The Inuit leadership supported this in principle, and saw the land claim as the way to ensure that it would take place responsibly — and that there would be a sustainable balance between harvesting and development, with guaranteed benefits to Inuit.
Twenty years after the NLCA was signed, and fourteen years after Nunavut was created, it is becoming clear that there are aspects of the territory’s extractivist trajectory which had not been anticipated. Nunavut appears to be on the cusp of large-scale non-renewable development, but with the society experiencing intense social suffering — and the territorial government too overwhelmed and weak to address it.
Dark statistics, with a message
Nunavut’s “bad numbers” are no longer newsworthy in southern Canada. The appalling results of the “Nunavut Community and Personal Wellness” section of the 2007/08 Inuit Health Survey received not a single word of coverage in the southern media when they were released last fall. If research documented that 48 percent of people in Saskatchewan had thought about suicide at some point during their lives, and that 29 percent had attempted suicide at some point during their lives, it would likely make the Globe and Mail. If 41 percent of people in Nova Scotia reported suffering severe sexual abuse as children — 52 percent of all women and 22 percent of all men — it might make the New York Times. And if 13 percent of Torontonians said they felt “serious psychological distress” in the 30 days before they answered the questionnaire, even the federal Minister of Health might feel the need to comment. But these data are for Nunavut, and they do not result in headlines outside the territory.
Other telling indicators:
A suicide rate among the Inuit population more than 10 times the national rate, and 40 times higher among young Inuit men.
A rate of sexual violations against children more than 10 times the national rate.
A homicide rate more than 10 times the national rate.
A rate of violence against women nearly 13 times the national rate.
In a population of 32,000, 40 percent of whom are under 15 years of age, 1,700 people on probation.
High rates of marijuana use from early teenage years through adulthood.
A school attendance rate that is low by national standards, and which has actually declined several percentage points over the past decade.
70 percent of Inuit preschoolers living in food-insecure homes.
By far the most overcrowded social housing in the country.
There are of course also positive statistics that could be listed, including a high rate of retention and use of the Inuktitut language, a great number of talented artists and musicians, and rising numbers of high school graduates. Community cohesion, collective economic activity and cultural persistence remain strong, despite rapid social and environmental change (brilliantly expressed at www.peopleofafeather. com).
As a worried mother recently wrote in a letter to the editor in the Nunatsiaq News: “There are many Inuit families living together in peace. It does feel like they are outnumbered by rebellious citizens dwelling in anger, although peaceful families are more numerous than dysfunctional ones.”
The source of the Inuit “anger” she referred to? The report of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, authored by Justice James Igloliorte, found that “levels of suicide, addiction, incarceration and social dysfunction… are in part symptoms of intergenerational trauma caused by historical wrongs.” These historical wrongs include dispossession through coerced relocation into settled communities, abuse at residential and day schools, and the imposition of the values, laws and language of the dominant society.
Social suffering
In a recent article in Northern Public Affairs, Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox wrote that “social suffering” in the Northwest Territories “is the deliberate and sustained policy choices of successive governments that continue to marginalize and dispossess Indigenous peoples of their lands, and so their spirituality, culture and way of life, resulting in profound psychological and material impacts. Those policy choices create circumstances where the root causes of suffering are reinforced rather than removed.
“And when government provides assistance to communities, its policies are directed in ways that do not change the fundamental circumstances that give rise to suffering. Instead the programs and services offered are meant to deal with the symptoms of those policies. Such programs focus on initiatives relating to education, training, addictions treatment and more. While they are needed and necessary, there is also a glaring absence — government does not go beyond providing band-aids to the wounds that its own policies inflict. In this way the state positions itself as a savior while in reality it continues with policies perpetuating suffering. So the expectable outcome is that suffering will continue. It will continue despite land claims agreements, despite self-government deals, despite jobs and training offered by resource extraction projects.” Irlbacher-Fox’s conclusions beg the question of whether the institutions arising out of settlement of the NLCA (including the Government of Nunavut) are part of the problem or part of the solution — and if they are part of the solution, when social suffering among Nunavummiut will begin to decline.
Welcome to the nuclear family
When the Nunavut Inuit leadership flipped its position on uranium mining in 2007, NTI soon received shares “for free” in a uranium junior called Kivalliq Energy Corporation, which some saw less as NTI being “gifted” than NTI being “bought.” The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) is conducting a review of the French nuclear giant Areva Resources Inc.’s proposed Kiggavik uranium mine, which would open the territory to the nuclear industry. NIRB’s procedures have been repeated challenged by the Baker Lake Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO) and the environmental NGO Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit (“Makita”).
The Baker Lake HTO has raised a range of issues, starting with NIRB’s failure to translate critical documents into Inuktitut. Makita has also raised a wide range of issues including the possibility of environmental contamination, the location of the proposed mine in post-calving caribou habitat, and the possible cumulative impacts of the other uranium mines likely to follow if this one is approved — something that the NIRB has ruled out of consideration in its review.
Pressed by Makita to call a public inquiry into uranium mining, the GN instead held three carefully constrained public meetings and hired the industry consulting firm Golder and Associates to help it develop its uranium policy. Golder had previously been hired by Areva to write parts of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for their proposed Kiggavik mine. To no one’s surprise, the GN came out in support of uranium mining.
The story of how Nunavut was opened up to the nuclear industry stands as a warning to Indigenous peoples elsewhere: the settlement of Indigenous rights claims can result in the emergence of a managerial and petty bourgeois elite whose class instincts are to cozy up to capital.
Dysfunction on display
Telling moments from the March 2013 sitting of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut included: Economic Development Minister Peter Taptuna reaffirmed his confidence in the NIRB, and described the GN’s role as “unofficial interveners” (rather than “regulators” or “authorities”). NIRB issued a public letter slamming the GN for having failed to respond to all the information requests submitted to it by organizations participating in the Kiggavik review process. “Although the NIRB is disappointed that the GN failed to respond … within the timeframe it had committed to, the Board has no ability to compel the GN to respond and cannot suspend the review because the GN has not done so.”
Also at the March sitting, the Minister and Deputy Minister of Education were grilled about “social promotion” — the practice (if not formal policy) of allowing students to advance a year even if they had hardly attended or were incapable of doing work at that level — and about the real academic levels of students graduating from high school. The Deputy Minister deflected criticism by noting that, on average, a Nunavut student misses three years of schooling due to absence before graduating. Nunavut’s new Education Act places full responsibility for attendance matters on the shoulders of the community- level education authorities, thereby absolving the Department of Education of responsibility for addressing a serious territory-wide problem.
The Minister of Health and Social Services tabled a lame “draft framework” on family violence which commits the GN to little more than a public awareness campaign. No funding or timelines. Completion of an actual family violence prevention strategy “by the end of this calendar year … is a goal to which the Minister of Health and Social Services and I are fully committed,” Premier Eva Aariak had said — in July 2011.
The Assembly voted to defer a decision on a longawaited Representative for Children and Youth Act, ostensibly to allow additional time for community comment. The bill had already been the subject of extensive consultations across the territory, NTI had expressed its support in writing, and the Cabinet was on board — but most of the regular MLAs (i.e. those Members of the Legislative Assembly not in cabinet) just couldn’t bring themselves to be the ones who created an office which might result in parents being held responsible for not providing adequate care for their children.
Beyond the politics of personalities
Such is the dissociative state of Nunavut as the territory nears its fourth general election this October.
Nunavut’s two Conservative representatives in Ottawa, MP Leona Aglukkaq and Senator Dennis Patterson, orbit serenely above the dysfunction they left behind by escaping territorial politics. They studiously avoid both the territory’s social problems and NTI’s $1 billion lawsuit against the federal government for its failure to fully implement some key provisions of the NLCA.
The prospect of Nunavut obtaining a devolution agreement with the federal government similar to the one that the Northwest Territories just signed seems like a distant dream — the GN simply doesn’t have the capacity to take on the additional responsibilities, even with the additional revenues such a deal would generate.
In hindsight it is not surprising that Nunavut’s first crop of MLAs chose the territory’s first Inuit lawyer, Paul Okalik, to be premier over ineffective former Liberal MP Jack Anawak. It is not surprising that Okalik was elected to a second term, as there was no credible alternative on offer. And it is not surprising that, having wearied of Okalik’s authoritarian style, the third crop of MLAs voted for a much nicer person: the current premier, Eva Aariak. Alas, that hasn’t worked either. Public disenchantment with the Legislative Assembly is such that there could be a big turnover of MLAs come the next election. Almost any outcome is possible — including chaos.
In the absence of political parties, MLAs are elected as individuals. They then select first the premier and then the other members of cabinet. They are not required to hold any common political perspectives, and… they don’t. The result is fractious infighting, especially in the run-up to an election.
There is nothing historically “Inuit” about the non-party system of government that Nunavut inherited from the Northwest Territories. Greenland, Nunavut’s equally Inuit neighbour to the east, developed its own unique mix of political parties in the process of obtaining home rule within the Danish state. There is nothing stopping political parties from forming in Nunavut, nor a slate of candidates from committing to a common set of principles.
The only way out of the current morass may be a movement of younger, educated Nunavummiut willing to challenge, at least to some degree, the neoliberal policies of the current GN and NTI leaderships. The essential task of such a movement would be to end the political dissociation by naming and addressing the collective historical trauma and sense of loss which underlies Nunavut’s present social suffering. The most important priority of the next Legislative Assembly must be the socio-emotional well-being of the children.
Jack Hicks was the Government of Nunavut’s first director of evaluation and statistics, and is a founding member of Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit. The opinions expressed in this article are his own, and are not necessarily held by other members of the organization.
This article appeared in the May/June 2013 issue of Canadian Dimension (The Battle for Canada’s North).
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While the updated ribbon will eventually roll out to all Office apps, Microsoft knows the sudden change can impact your work. That's why it's taking things slow: the redesigned version is making its way to Word on Office.com today, and then to Outlook for select Insiders in July. It doesn't have a schedule for the rest of the Office apps just yet.
Since people tend to rely on muscle memory for Excel and Powerpoint, those two aren't getting the redesign anytime soon. Word on Windows will also have to wait as Microsoft collects feedback from a broader set of users. The tech giant assures, however, that you can still go back to the old ribbon after the new one arrives on those applications.
In addition, Microsoft has also redesigned its icons for the sake of those with low visibility. It cranked up their contrast and made them crisper and sharper in order to prevent them from blending into the background. Like the new ribbon, these more visible icons will also make their debut in the web version of Word at Office.com. They'll then make make their way to Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Windows later this month, to Outlook for Windows in July and then to Outlook for Mac in August.
Finally, Microsoft is turning Search into a more powerful tool. It can now bring up recommendations powered as soon as you place the cursor in the box, based on what its AI and the Microsoft Graph knows about your habits. That may sound like old news for some commercial users who can already see the behavior, but it's still bound to surprise some people when it rolls out to all commercial users of Outlook on the web in August. | {
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「カメラを止めるな！」興収30億円分捕り合戦 製作ゼミ代表が明かす“内訳” | {
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For a music fan, few experiences rival listening to a new artist and recognizing their potential for greatness — or, in some special cases, witnessing someone capture that magic completely the first time around. We at Stereogum aim to be ahead of the curve — it’s our job! — and every fall we highlight the new artists we’re most excited about in our Best New Bands list. This list acts as both recognition for musicians that have thrived in the past 12 months and as an investment in them for the future. We expect that the 40 artists below will continue to provide us with great new music for a long time to come.
“New” is a tricky term, especially as the internet has allowed artists to develop and thrive in niches before they make their way across our headphones. Some of the acts below have been around for a little while — a few are even on their sophomore albums — but we collectively agreed that everyone included has reached new heights as of late. And “band” is undoubtedly an antiquated term, as you’ll see from some of the selections below, but we’ve stuck with the longtime designation out of stubbornness and a love of alliteration. Plus, you will find that many of the artists we’ve picked are bands in the traditional sense, and that just speaks to how exciting fresh rock talent has been over the last couple of years.
Many of these names will be familiar to regular Stereogum readers. Between our Band To Watch series and our daily music posts, we try to track an artist’s development as comprehensively as we can. And, in our humble opinion, we have a pretty good track record with picking artists that go on to be the next big thing. Revisit our lists from 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010 if you want some proof of that. Get acquainted with Stereogum’s 40 Best New Bands Of 2017, presented in alphabetical order, below. You can also listen to a playlist of our picks on Spotify. Enjoy! –James Rettig
Alex Lahey
CREDIT: Giulia McGauran
LOCATION: Melbourne, Australia
From the jump, Alex Lahey was going to draw comparisons to Courtney Barnett. She’s a young singer-songwriter from Melbourne who, initially and somewhat incorrectly, comes across like a witty slacker-rocker similar to Barnett. Lahey’s recent debut I Love You Like A Brother boldly underscored the fact that she’s onto something very different. Songs like “Lotto In Reverse” and “I Haven’t Been Taking Care Of Myself” burst into huge, cathartic choruses more akin to ‘90s and ‘00s alt-rock than anything in today’s indie sphere. Lahey’s got a way of capturing the particular anxieties and frustrations of the listless years of post-college life. And while her songs convey all that, those giant hooks tell a different story: the triumphant and defiant part where you kick the door down to life’s next phase. –Ryan Leas
Amber Mark
LOCATION: New York, NY
“I’ve got a lot to express,” Amber Mark sings at the beginning of her song “Can You Hear Me?” It’s true. And she’s got a lot of different ways to express what she’s got to express. The young New York singer has a rich, supple voice, and while it’s been scarcely more than a year since she started posting music on SoundCloud, she’s already shown that she can handle spacious, architectural futuristic R&B and warm, jazzy, traditional soul. But she might be at her best when she’s howling over state-of-the-art dance tracks like DJDS’s “Trees On Fire” or her own “Heatwave.” Lots of singers can express heartbreak or euphoria; Mark is the rare one who can do both at the same time. –Tom Breihan
Aminé
LOCATION: Portland, OR
“Caroline,” Aminé’s big breakout hit, had horny sex talk, exuberant energy, and goofiness to spare. And with Good For You, the 23-year-old Portland rapper has managed to keep that endearing underdog charm going for the length of a full album. There are some contemplative blues mixed in with all that cheerful yellow, but Aminé’s #blackboyjoy is as irrepressible as it is infectious. He invites everyone from Offset to Girlpool to join his sunny pop-rap party, and you’ll want to be right there with him, sipping Stellas with his fellas. –Peter Helman
Bedouine
CREDIT: Polly Antonia Barrowman
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
Bedouine is the moniker of Azniv Korkejian, a Hollywood music editor turned recording artist who released her self-titled debut this year. Bedouine was made with the help of Spacebomb session musicians, and though it’s primarily a folk album, this collection of songs shapeshifts and collects new influences along the way. These are plainspoken songs written for quiet moments alone and long walks home, and though the entanglements Korkejian sings about don’t lead to huge, mind-bending revelations, they do leave you feeling a bit more grounded. –Gabriela Tully Claymore
Bedouine by Bedouine
Brockhampton
CREDIT: Ashlan Grey
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA / San Marcos, TX
Brockhampton have been at it for awhile, but they truly broke 2017. The rap pack out of LA bring energy, excitement, and unbridled joy to a world that gets darker by the day. By the end of this year, Brockhampton will have released three albums, and they show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. On their standout single “Junky,” group ringleader Kevin Abstract defines himself as an out, queer rapper and his wordplay is so sickeningly clever that you’ll have to rewind the track two, three, four times in order to appreciate its poetry. “You know like closet niggas, masc-type/ Why don’t you take that mask off?/ That’s the thought I had last night.” Lines like that sting, and there are so many of them on Saturation I and II. Abstract is the group’s crown jewel, no doubt, but Brockhampton’s music is a testimony to the fact that sometimes, collaboration gets you farther than going it alone, and it’s nothing short of a pleasure to watch a bunch of friends bring out the best in each other. –Gabriela
Saturation 2 by BROCKHAMPTON
Cardi B
CREDIT: Raven Varona
LOCATION: The Bronx, NY
Cardi B got her start as a social media personality, a funny woman who preached self-acceptance and made backhanded jokes about shitty men. She was a stripper, then a contestant on Love & Hip Hop, and now she’s on top of the world. Against all odds, “Bodak Yellow” made it to #1, and in turn, Cardi B became a beacon of hope, the embodiment of this elusive idea that sometimes shit goes the way you want it to and sometimes the person who deserves the crown gets it. Long may she reign. –Gabriela
Carla Dal Forno
LOCATION: London, UK / Melbourne, Australia
Before she started putting out music under her own name, Carla Dal Forno cut her teeth on scratchy lo-fi punk and murky experimental soundscapes. On her debut full-length, You Know What It’s Like, and its follow-up EP, The Garden, she plays with a fusion of the two, marrying pointed urgency with an atmospheric foreboding. Her music is characterized by a pervasive haunting, unfurling in smoke wisps and snaking base lines. Songs like the creeping “What You Gonna Do Now?” and the bruised “Make Up Talk” explore not the unsettling unknown but the sort of everyday monsters that surround us, those whose demons we know all too well. –James
Club Night
CREDIT: Joanna Samuel
LOCATION: Oakland, CA
The collectivist spirit is alive and well in Club Night. The band’s members are spread out across the Oakland music scene, but on their debut Hell Ya EP, they come through like a gale-force storm. They sound like 10 different bands mashed up into one, but there’s a practiced exactitude that keeps their improvisational looseness from careening off the rails into disrepair. Their two most tightly-constructed songs are “Well” and “Rally”; both feel like the crackling of fireworks, the guttural utterances of a massive snake coiled and ready to bite. Club Night’s frenetic ping-ponging across genres feels like the work of a band with many distinctive voices, all shouting over each other. That they’re able to harness that discordant energy into songs as eminently listenable and likable as the ones on Hell Ya is a testament to their strength. –James
Common Holly
CREDIT: Sean Mundy
LOCATION: Montréal, Quebec
New album Playing House may only hint at the full scope of Brigitte Naggar’s talents. The Montréal musician known as Common Holly counts few common threads from song to song besides her mesmerizing voice and distinct sensibility. Album closer “New Bed” amounts to little more than that (and that’s all it needs), while on opener “If After All,” acoustic guitar and orchestral accompaniment give way to booming drums and gnarly alt-rock power chords. Her array of cinematic ballads make diverse use of minimal arrangements, venturing into chamber-pop, country, post-rock, and other styles in service of compelling narration about a romantic relationship falling apart. (From the title track: “I’ll play mama, you’ll play daddy, and we’ll ruin us beyond repair.”) Ultimately it’s a singer-songwriter album that plays with an auteur’s vision, one that suggests Naggar’s horizons are broad. –Chris DeVille
Playing House by Common Holly
G Perico
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
In the hands of a truly great rapper, throwback sounds won’t sound like throwback sounds. And G Perico is a truly great rapper. The young up-and-comer, from South Central Los Angeles, has a slick-but-deranged nasal chirp of a voice that recalls prime DJ Quik, and he prefers funky, melodic, synth-heavy beats that call back to early-’90s G-funk. He even has one of the best perms that music has seen since dudes stopped wearing perms. But his music has an urgency that keeps it from sounding like revivalism or nostalgia. Perico’s debut album All Blue is hard, vivid rider music, and when you’re playing it loud enough on a half-decent sound system, it exists out of time. –Tom
Girl Ray
CREDIT: Neil Thomson
LOCATION: London, UK
The three members of this London band were in their teens when they released Earl Grey, their excellent debut album, but you couldn’t tell. The album comes steeped in history from its ’90s twee aesthetics to the cinematic ’70s ways that it uses strings to the Nico/Young Marble Giants deadpan blankness in frontwoman Poppy Hankin’s voice. And Earl Grey does more than artfully hodgepodge the styles from the past. It’s also a triumph of songwriting, a warm and bittersweet and melodically rich piece of music. And again: This is the work of teenagers. Imagine what they’ll be able to do after they’ve been around a little longer. –Tom
Earl Grey by Girl Ray
Great Grandpa
CREDIT: Nick Dinatale
LOCATION: Seattle, WA
This ain’t your great grandpa’s Great Grandpa. Despite the name, Great Grandpa are planted firmly in their 20s, with all of the attendant disaffection, indecision, and general ennui that that entails. But, like a few other famous musicians from Seattle, they’ve turned the gray fog of youth into searing, lopsided guitar music, with the capacious depths of Alex Menne’s voice sounding just at home over the fiery squalls of “No Hair” as it does on the tender balladry of “All Things Must Behave.” Oh, and also, there are zombies. –Peter
Harmony Woods
CREDIT: Emily Dubin
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
Sofia Verbilla adopted the Harmony Woods moniker when she began releasing music last year, allowing for a deflective distance from her vulnerable and big-hearted songs. Her debut full-length, Nothing Special, is demarcated by a series of numbered vignettes that split up the songs “proper,” but really all of her songs are vignettes of a sort, snapshots of worry and distance and ache. Verbilla’s smoky and powerful voice belies the insecurities she lays bare in her writing as she confronts the unstable ground that life is built on. It’s a contrast that works wonders, and Nothing Special’s title even begs you to contradict it, to assert that, of course, she’s certainly doing something very special indeed. –James
Nothing Special by Harmony Woods
Hater
CREDIT: Ludvig Hedlund
LOCATION: Malmö, Sweden
The guitars chime; the vocals soar; the rhythm section surges with the weary heaviness of an elongated sigh. It’s all so gorgeously melancholy, Hater’s version of hard-charging indie-pop — like a mirage just visceral enough that it must be real life. On this year’s impressive full-length debut You Tried, the quartet sounded something like reigning genre champions Alvvays tilting ever so slightly into classic rock. The upcoming Red Blinders EP further expands on that sound, exploring trip-hop beats and borrowing tics from ‘90s sophisticates like Stereolab and Yo La Tengo. All the while Caroline Landahl exults and laments with a trace of friction in her voice, a weathered quality that lends these Swedish dream-pop songs some extra rock’ n’ roll kick. –Chris
Jay Som
CREDIT: Ebru Yildiz
LOCATION: Oakland, CA
Jay Som takes time to figure it out. And with Everybody Works, she’s figured out that bedroom-pop doesn’t have to sound like it was recorded in a bedroom. Melina Duterte constructs songs with a painterly eye, augmenting her homespun indie with splashes of horns and piano and accordion. Over the course of the LP, billed as her official debut following last year’s Bandcamp release Turn Into, she moves from candy-coated fuzz-pop and slinky funk to subtle synth-pop and experimental soundscapes. And all of it, like everybody, works. –Peter
Everybody Works by Jay Som
Julia Michaels
CREDIT: Catie Laffoon
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
Julia Michaels was inoculated into the major label songwriting camp system at an early age, and before she could legally drink she had racked up credits on songs for Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Fifth Harmony. At the beginning of this year, Michaels made her solo debut with “Issues,” a song that spins magic out of syncopated rhythm, negative space, and an undeniable hook. It proves a worthy blueprint for the other six songs on her debut EP, Nervous System, which lands like a breath of fresh air. These songs have staying power not only because of their intense catchiness but because of Michaels’ adept grasp of the messy relationship dynamics that make a song … well, dynamic. She eschews big break-up anthems or cutesy first date butterflies for something that feels more real, exploring the tiny seesaws that actually make a relationship tick, and that’s refreshing as hell in pop music. –James
Katie Ellen
CREDIT: Jessica Flynn
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
Teenage Retirement, the first and last album from magnificent Brooklyn pop-punks Chumped, proved Anika Pyle was a songwriter with much to say and an electrifying way of saying it. She’s extremely good at writing about her personal life in a way that feels vital and universal. Fortunately, although Chumped are dearly departed, Pyle and former Chumped drummer Dan Frelly have relocated to Philadelphia and reemerged as Katie Ellen, a new project for a new phase of life. On their debut album Cowgirl Blues, her old charged-up tales of quarter-life romantic longing and disillusionment give way to more measured tempos and an overall more bleary disposition, Pyle literally slowing down and taking stock of what it means to be a woman in our 21st century hellscape. Despite the darker shading, her songs remain remarkably catchy and alive — perhaps painfully so, depending on who’s listening. –Chris
Cowgirl Blues by katie ellen
Kelly Lee Owens
CREDIT: Kim Hiorthøy
LOCATION: London, UK / Wales, UK
Initially, the music on Kelly Lee Owens’ self-titled debut comes across a certain way. Owens has already proven herself adept at chilly, claustrophobic electronic arrangements that nevertheless still move. But her record is a deeper and more paradoxical work than first impressions might suggest. Her background includes both childhood choirs and young adulthood stints in the indie-rock world, and you can hear the lingering influence of both in the music she makes now: choir vocals in the ghostly or cooing way she sings and produces vocals, a songwriter’s eye applied to the limitless boundaries of dance music. Kelly Lee Owens feels removed and hypnotizing as much as it feels intimate and emotive, a personal work abstracted and reconstructed to the point where listeners can find their own way in no matter which direction they’re coming from. –Ryan
Khalid
CREDIT: Kacie Tomita
LOCATION: El Paso, TX
Khalid’s 2017 release, American Teen, documents the trials and tribulations of adolescence, and this 19-year-old sings with the kind of deadpan honesty that is hard to laugh at even if you’re of an older generation that might be inclined to. Songs with titles like “Another Sad Love Song,” “8TEEN,” and “Young Dumb & Broke” all allude to that particular brand of sad-kid malaise that is timeless no matter how of-the-moment the references get. It’s no wonder Lorde’s a fan. –Gabriela
Lily And Horn Horse
LOCATION: New York, NY
Lily And Horn Horse is the collaboration between Lily Konigsberg (of the New York deconstructionists Palberta) and Matt Norman (who makes experimental music as Horn Horse), and together they make alluring and delirious sound collages. On the two releases they’ve put out this year — spring’s Lily On Horn Horse and fall’s more polished Next To Me — their ideas are largely confined to minute-long bursts of inspiration that allow them to get weird but stay accessible. They make syrupy auteurist pop nuggets that feel inviting despite their unconventional structures. Right now their calling card is “Next To Me,” a glitchy proto-R&B jam that is endlessly repeatable. You get the sense that there’s even more ingenuity like that up their sleeves. –James
Lomelda
CREDIT: Laura Lee Blackburn
LOCATION: Silsbee, TX
Silsbee, Texas is a two-hour drive from Houston, a four-hour drive from Austin, and a four-hour drive from Waco. Hannah Read is keenly aware of that distance, and on Thx, her latest album as Lomelda, she turns years of solitary late-night drives into 34 minutes of solitary late-night music. Roads connect us, and so does music, and while the dusty folk-rock behind her twinkles like a distant star, Read uses her searching voice as an instrument to collapse the space in between, forging a connection as intimate as a whisper in your ear. –Peter
Madeline Kenney
CREDIT: Cara Robbins
LOCATION: Oakland, CA
When we first heard of Madeline Kenney, there was always a preface summarizing her curious range of expertise aside from music — modern dance, baking, neuroscience. Then more new music kept arriving, and though those biographical facts remain curious trivia, the songs overshadow everything else. Produced by Toro Y Moi, Kenney’s full-length debut Night Night At The First Landing arrived at the end of the summer. True to its nocturnal name and cover, it’s an album for solitary, meandering nights, flitting between painterly dreamscapes and ‘90s alt-rock catharses. Songs like “Rita” and “Always” are big distorted guitar monuments that drown rather than pummel (in the best way) and the album as a whole is frequently gorgeous. It’s a promising beginning: Kenney’s built her early career on taking well-worn touchstones and managing to wring something new out of them, making them her own in the process. –Ryan
Miya Folick
CREDIT: Maya Fuhr
LOCATION: Santa Ana, CA
There are many echoes of rock’s greatest women in Miya Folick’s new Give It To Me EP. “Trouble Adjusting” is basically a Hole song. “Woodstock” is literally a Joni Mitchell song. Folick can smolder like Sharon Van Etten and wail with the startling fury of Corin Tucker. Yet once you’ve beheld the LA musician’s latest recordings you won’t mistake them for anyone else. The EP leaves a profound impression even before you read the fascinating tidbits in her bio (raised Buddhist, reluctant former basketball player, met her band on Tinder). An in-your-face intensity animates these songs — a sense of deeper passion and higher stakes. Folick has grown from an enjoyable singer-songwriter with adventurous tendencies into an artist whose every disparate creation seems to be summoning elemental forces. When she screams, “Give it to me!” you feel compelled to comply, whatever “it” may be. –Chris
Moor Mother
CREDIT: Bob Sweeney
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
The experimental music Camae Ayewa makes as Moor Mother is designed to be confrontational. Often loud and hellish, the songs on Fetish Bones confront white hegemony, the police state, familial trauma, and the legacy of slavery with unabashed forwardness. Ayewa is a poet, and her prose cuts through the sonic chaos like tiny daggers made to punish you into thinking a little bit harder. Her work is visceral when you listen to it through your headphones, and her live show will leave you quaking. –Gabriela
Fetish Bones by Moor Mother
Nation Of Language
CREDIT: Marina Labarthe del Solar
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY
Ian Devaney had been through this already. His previous band, the punk-leaning alt-rock outfit the Static Jacks, had made it out of New Jersey and seemed to be on course, touring and releasing albums. Then, somewhere along the line, things simply ran out of steam. He found himself back home, regrouping, riding in the car with his father, who put on “Electricity” by OMD, sparking an epiphany for Devaney: He wanted to make synth-pop. A few years and a move to Brooklyn later, Devaney has already amassed an enviable collection of complete earworms under his new moniker Nation Of Language. And, yes, it sounds like the early ’80s, but what makes Nation Of Language so special is that you might recognize the aesthetic, but you can’t reduce them to obvious forebears: Devaney’s harvesting the past, writing bulletproof songs, and staking his territory in a decades-deep lineage of alternative music. –Ryan
I've Thought About Chicago by Nation of Language
Nervous Dater
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY
In Rachel Lightner, Nervous Dater boast one of the finest emerging lyricists in indie rock, one whose every neurotic couplet could be a self-contained story. Consider the chorus from “Bad Spanish,” the anthemic opener from debut album Don’t Be A Stranger: “It’s hard to ask for help if you don’t really want it/ Passed out on the train in your own vomit.” Or the many layers in this line on “Fun Dumpster,” the subsequent track: “I wore a dress for you/ ‘Cause you’re nicer when I do.” Or the breathlessly vulgar “Stockton Syndrome” climax: “Jackie’s got the drugs, and holy fuck he’s gonna take ‘em!” Lightner deploys these turns of phrase with a wide-eyed gusto that amplifies Nervous Dater’s prevailing feeling of barreling ahead while barely keeping it together, elevating their tremendous guitar-powered songwriting to ridiculous heights. Take the album title’s advice and get to know this band. –Chris
Omni
CREDIT: Sebastian Weiss
LOCATION: Atlanta, GA
Omni might be a trio of indie-rock survivors from the likes of Deerhunter and Warehouse, but they come across like a post-punk band straight out of the early ’80s, from their wiry, jumpy rhythms to the technical appearance of their new album Multi-task’s cover art. That corner of classic alternative music is not mined too often these days, at least not to this extent, and Omni go all in on it — their songs are infectious, bright series of sharp guitar licks and sing-speak vocals. It’s not quite reinventing anything, but if you’re the kind of person who has proclivities for the less brooding strains of post-punk, Omni are new masters of it. –Ryan
Partner
CREDIT: Colin Medley
LOCATION: Windsor, Ontario
Listening to Partner is like hanging out with your best friends, assuming your best friends are queer Canadian stoners with hooks for days. For Josée Caron and Lucy Niles, that’s actually true, and their easy chemistry is evident on the excellent In Search Of Lost Time, both on the album’s 12 songs and in the goofy skits threaded throughout. What’s even more evident is their musical chops, the kind of righteous riffage that can turn anything from wandering around a grocery store high to discovering your roommate’s sex toy into a slyly subversive guitar-rock anthem. –Peter
In Search Of Lost Time by Partner
Phoebe Bridgers
CREDIT: Frank Ockenfels
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
Phoebe Bridgers has already picked up some noteworthy fans and collaborators like Conor Oberst, Julien Baker, and Ryan Adams in the short time that she’s been around. And it makes sense that they would be interested because her full-length debut, Stranger In The Alps is nothing short of a revelation. Its understated, subtly orchestrated rootsiness suggests something like the monumental grandeur of its titular mountains, but the feelings contained within these songs are all devastatingly human-sized, vulnerable and sad and, yes, beautiful. –Peter
Primal Rite
CREDIT: Angela Owens
LOCATION: San Francisco, CA
Primal Rite came together after the members of the unsung Bay Area hardcore band Scalped fractured apart, and there’s plenty of DIY-hardcore intensity in what Primal Rite do. But with all the juddering hardcore riffs and breakdowns that Primal Rite bring, they’ve also absorbed the speed and flash and virtuosity of ‘80s thrash and death metal. And in Lucy Xavier, they’ve got a frontwoman capable of raw face-punch fury. Together, all those elements make for an enormously satisfying rush of aggression. After a couple of stellar EPs, Primal Rite’s debut album is coming early next year. Look the hell out. –Tom
Antivenom by PRIMAL RITE
Rata Negra
LOCATION: Madrid, Spain
Rata Negra make post-punk that communicates a sense of urgency without getting overly complicated. Their lyrics, sung in Spanish, often border on simple descriptions of day-to-day life pressed up against a realization or affirmation. Their new album, Oído absoluto, is a marathon of tightly-knit and catchy melodies. Songs like “El autómata” and “Dientes sobre el metal” confront the doldrums of daily existence with an exuberance that could brighten the shittiest day. Rata Negra give you that same burst of energy you got way back when you heard a punk rock song for the very first time. –Gabriela
Oído absoluto by Rata Negra
Slaughter Beach, Dog
CREDIT: Jessica Flynn
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
As Modern Baseball headed towards an extended hiatus, Jake Ewald — one of the band’s primary two primary songwriters — was investing more energy into his Slaughter Beach, Dog side project. He started it a couple years ago to release a handful of demos but picked it up in earnest last fall with Welcome, a charmingly low-stakes concept album about a fictional town called Slaughter Beach inhabited by characters that shared Ewald’s familiar sense of suburban disillusion. The project’s freedom from pressure and more freeform aspirations blossomed with the Motorcycle.jpg EP and Birdie LP this year. His newer tracks take cues from folk standards and confessional diaries, and they rival the great work he did with his main band, solidifying him as one of this generation’s most talented and adaptable young songwriters. –James
Birdie by Slaughter Beach, Dog
Snail Mail
CREDIT: Bryan Regan
LOCATION: Baltimore, MD
At age 18, Brooklyn-based Baltimore kid Lindsey Jordan has already been through a whirlwind word-of-mouth rise through the underground, a round of breathless media exaltation, a SXSW star tour, and a label bidding war that landed her band Snail Mail on historical indie-rock pillar Matador Records. So what does everybody see in her? Debut EP Habit is pretty much all we have to go on so far, but it presents Jordan as a natural, a songwriter capable of spinning magic from a few guitar chords and howled phrases. Her lo-fi guitar ballads glimmer in their grime, wringing uncommon beauty from indie rock’s basic toolkit. Imagine Waxahatchee under the influence of both Sonic Youth and actual youth, and you’ll begin to understand what all the fuss is about. –Chris
Habit by Snail Mail
Superorganism
CREDIT: Steph Wilson
LOCATION: London, UK
Superorganism are a group born on the internet, and they sound like it. The international collective started through messages between a string of friends who are now mostly based out of a single house in London. The handful of singles they’ve released so far blend warm plunderphonics that feel like a dozen tabs open at once with the captivating presence of lead vocalist Orono, who speaks in wordy circulars that border on emo confessional. “Something for Your M.I.N.D.,” their debut single, is a sparkling pop gem that lesser bands have built entire careers out of, but luckily Superorganism’s follow-ups have all been just about as dynamic and lovely as their first, downcast but not downtrodden songs that suggest that they’re no one-hit-wonder. –James
Thunder Dreamer
CREDIT: Morgan Martinez
LOCATION: Evansville, IN
One of the first things you need to know about Thunder Dreamer is that they are from Evansville, Indiana, of all places. That’s not a town with any current or past music scene; that is a town that, like small towns across the country, stands on the remnants of once-robust industry. It’s right there in the name of Thunder Dreamer: filling your head with big ideas, visions of life elsewhere. Their music comes from that perspective, expansive songs built to both conjure and fill wide-open spaces, loud and rambling enough to echo through the countryside. In terms of 2017 releases, Thunder Dreamer’s new album Capture is an outlier: It’s an indie-rock record of a classic breed, jangly and autumnal. But there’s also a ragged classic rock charm underpinning songs like “Living Like The Rest,” an urgency that speaks to ambitions too big for a humble hometown. –Ryan
Capture by Thunder Dreamer
Trophy Dad
LOCATION: Madison, WI
Trophy Dad are a band based around dichotomies: between their dual lead vocalists who entangle with ease, between the jammy deconstructions and warm harmonies they dole out in equal measure, through the messy and complex power relationships they explore in their lyrics. This year’s great Dogman EP features five songs that highlight the dynamism of this young band in full force, from the theatrical swings of “Addison” to “Louis Sachar”‘s blown-out approachability. The energy and inventiveness they display are infectious, and the strength of their songwriting structure suggests they’ve only got room to grow. –James
Dogman by Trophy Dad
UV-TV
LOCATION: Gainesville, FL
There’s not really a word for what kind of music the Gainesville, Florida band UV-TV play. It’s fast and feverish, like punk. It’s raw and rickety and hooky, like garage rock. It has a sense of beauty and playfulness and immediacy, like pop music. And its focus on jangly sha-la-la melodies connects it to ‘60s folk-rock, as well as to a half-dozen ‘90s DIY indie scenes that drew on all those things. But it doesn’t really matter if UV-TV don’t have a genre. Their debut album Glass is a joyous, shattering hookfest, and it moves so fast that you don’t have time to worry about meaningless distinctions anyway. –Tom
GLASS by UV-TV
Vagabon
CREDIT: Daniel Dorsa
LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY
Lætitia Tamko’s first album as Vagabon is called Infinite Worlds, and it does a great job demonstrating the multitudes she contains. That’s true of the music’s stylistic makeup, a genre mishmash that includes electrifying roughshod indie-rock, warmly skittering electronic pop, and piercing singer-songwriter balladry — sometimes all at once, as on “Fear & Force.” And it’s perhaps even truer of Tamko’s passionate trembling and wailing, which embodies the broad scope of her richly diverse life experience. Tamko has lived on multiple continents, mastered the disparate disciplines of music and computer engineering, and thrived as a black woman in a predominantly white, male space. Our own Gabriela Tully Claymore called Infinite Worlds “an affirmation that you can always be everything at once,” and frankly so is Tamko’s life. We look forward to hearing how that multiplicity manifests itself next. –Chris
Wild Pink
CREDIT: Andrew Dominguez
LOCATION: New York, NY
Wild Pink have been kicking around for a few years — they first popped up on our radar in 2015 with their Good Life EP. Back then, they crafted scuzzy and rousing indie anthems, with frontman John Ross’ voice working as a scratchy vehicle for conversational expressiveness. Two years and an additional EP later, the band arrived with their self-titled debut LP. In the interim, they had established another part of their identity: Wild Pink are as adept at rough-around-the-edges rockers as they are at dreamy, sighing folk atmospherics. Their debut finds them sliding between the polarities, the consistency between it all being the sharp attention to craft this young band’s already displayed and their ability to make small interactions and emotions feel momentous. –Ryan
Yaeji
CREDIT: Jake Naviasky
LOCATION: New York, NY
The singer and producer Yaeji is based in New York but spent a good part of her childhood in Seoul, and she sings in Korean as much as she does in English, but there’s nothing K-pop about what she does. Instead, Yaeji taps into an old, instinctive strain of deep-house burble, her deadpan voice floating above the oceanic bass tones and precise drum skitters. There’s feeling in what she does, and her lyrics are more politically pointed than they’re given credit for being. But the blank, breezy swoon of that voice over those beats is what sticks with you. –Tom | {
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Aung San Suu Kyi has called for calm after an MP in her opposition party was wounded by a sword while canvassing in Yangon before the general election in Myanmar.
Naing Ngan Linn, a sitting MP for the National League for Democracy, suffered injuries to his head and arms when he attacked late on Thursday as his campaign group toured Tharketa township in his constituency.
The NLD urged its members to focus their campaigns with “continued momentum” as the party prepares to contest nationwide elections for the first time in a quarter of a century on 8 November.
“We call on all NLD members around the country not to respond in any way to the violence in Tharketa to ensure that the coming elections pass peacefully,” the party’s election committee said in a statement.
Naing Ngan Linn and another party member continued to receive treatment late on Friday at Yangon general hospital, where they were visited by Suu Kyi and other party officials who have called the assault the worst incident of the campaign.
Political tensions are high in former junta-run Myanmar, with the opposition likely to make major gains in the vote, potentially tipping the balance of power away from the military and its ruling party allies for the first time in generations.
Witnesses described a terrifying attack on members of the NLD by a man brandishing a sword who appeared drunk.
“Naing Ngan Linn tried to stop him ... that’s why he sustained many injuries,” said Thet Htar Nwe Win, another NLD candidate, who witnessed the incident. He said several other unarmed men attacked the group but it was not clear what motivated the violence. New Win said at least two people had been arrested.
Khin Sandar Win, the injured MP’s wife, said he suffered wounds on his forehead, hands and wrists and had undergone an operation on Thursday. His condition was not life threatening.
“It happened in front of my eyes. The man who attacked was shouting abusive words against NLD when our vehicle arrived,” she said.
Myanmar’s elections are set to crown more than four years of reforms that have seen the nation open its doors to the world under a quasi-civilian regime that replaced junta rule in 2011.
Campaigning has largely been calm, although the NLD has complained that its rivals have used religion as a political tool – concerns that carry weight in a nation that has seen waves of anti-Muslim violence in recent years.
The attack comes just days before Suu Kyi is due to speak at a major rally in Yangon on Sunday to end weeks of energetic campaigning around the country by the veteran activist.
A party spokesman who was overseeing preparations at the rally site on Friday said there would be “normal” security for Sunday’s event. | {
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Papua New Guineans are warning the Federal Government that its new asylum seeker plan will create hostility and add to problems in the developing country.
Local politicians have questioned how the plan will be financed, and say resettled refugees may face hostility from locals.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the plan to send asylum seekers to PNG fulfils Australia's "legal and compassionate obligations", but the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's own website details a litany of social problems in the country.
It says anyone travelling to PNG should exercise a high degree of caution, warning of high levels of serious crime including violent assault and rape, as well of high rates of HIV/AIDS, endemic levels of cholera, and poor health facilities.
PNG's former opposition leader Dame Carol Kidu says the country already has too many displaced people.
"We have not heard the technical details being developed I'm sure by the bureaucrats of exactly how this going to operate," she said.
"But you know, we're a developing country. We don't have the developed systems like Australia.
"We are facing many problems ourselves, and to me I think it could be an increased problem.
"It's called the PNG solution but I think it's more of an Australia solution."
The governor of Oro province, Gary Zuffa, has told 702 ABC Sydney the decision to settle refugees in Papua New Guinea could be very divisive.
"Who's going to finance that re-settlement? I'm assuming that Australia is," he said.
"If Australia is going to finance that re-settlement, then that's going to create a bit of hostility from the local population because these people will be given funds to start a new business, start a new life.
"You know this is going to raise some questions in these economies as well."
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has also hit out at the Government's policy, warning that PNG cannot fully look after its own people.
"I think this is more about the politics of an election than about the humanitarian crisis we have on our borders," he said.
Papua New Guinea's prime minister Peter O'Neil has defended his deal, saying it is nothing new and will benefit his country.
In his first public comments since the deal, he said the recent agreement was an extension of programs begun under the Howard Government.
Mr O'Neil said refugees could be resettled "any day" but there was no detail on where they might live.
"We'll get there when we start processing them," he said.
He assured Papua New Guineans the agreement was good for PNG and outlined the highways, universities and hospitals that will be built with Australian money.
Burke flags possibility of indefinite detention in PNG
This morning Immigration Minister Tony Burke confirmed asylum seekers sent to PNG could be held in detention indefinitely if they are not found to be refugees.
He says they will have three options.
"One, they remain in detention. Two, they return to their home country. Three, they get settled in another country where they have a right of residence. They don't have a right of residence in Australia, but any of those three options are open," he told AM.
Asked if that meant people could face "indefinite" detention in PNG, he replied: "Potentially. But I would say it would be an odd choice if you don't have a well-founded fear of persecution".
"If you're not someone who is being persecuted ... and you then choose [to] remain in detention in Papua New Guinea, rather than return to [your] country, that would be a very strange choice for someone to make.
"It's really pushing the grounds of credibility to think people would be making that decision."
Mr Burke said work to expand the capacity of the Manus Island detention centre had already begun, and added that other detention facilities could be opened.
"We're looking at a number of sites; they're not yet confirmed," he said.
"But at the moment, we're in a situation where we'll make sure the capacity that is required is there."
Abbott renews attack on deal
The Opposition continued its attack on the Federal Government's two-page deal with Papua New Guinea this morning.
"The trouble is this particular deal is unravelling before our very eyes," Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told reporters in Melbourne.
"It is not legally binding and it doesn't say what Mr Rudd says it said.
"It doesn't say that everyone who comes to Australia illegally by boat will go to PNG. It doesn't say that no-one who goes to PNG will ever come to Australia. Mr Rudd is being misleading to the point of dishonesty."
But former Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull has voiced cautious support for the plan, describing it as "cruel" but saying it has the potential to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat.
"It is a very cruel policy," Mr Turnbull said in an interview on SBS last night.
"What Kevin Rudd is proposing is extremely cruel, but all the policies to deal with the people smuggling problem are to some extent cruel.
"This policy is the consequence of his unpicking of a much more measured approach back in John Howard's day."
Mr Turnbull also raised questions about his own party's policy of turning back boats, describing it as difficult and potentially dangerous.
"There are many risks with turning back boats," he said.
"I think what you want to do from an operational point of view is keep all your options open.
"Why would you deprive yourself of any one option? Because what if the PNG solution, if that's the right term, turns out to be no solution?" | {
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The federal government is hiking tariffs on 72 countries in order to help retire the deficit faster – a measure that will cost Canadian consumers $330-million more per year in higher prices.
The measure, contained in the 2013 budget, will mean higher prices for a variety of goods. It will take effect in 2015.
For some consumers, this hike will be partially offset by a measure that offers parents and sports enthusiasts a break by eliminating import tariffs on athletic equipment and baby clothes.
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The government is raising tariffs on more than 70 developing countries because, it says, it believes they do not need the break on import duties anymore. The tariff increase will not apply to apparel or textiles. It expects to reap $330-million annually as a result of the change.
On the sports and baby clothing tariff cuts, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty served notice that he expects retailers to pass on the savings, calling the move a "test case." He wants to see whether Ottawa can reduce a price gap between U.S. and Canadian retail prices where consumers in Canada end up paying more.
But the Conservative government's new enthusiasm for free trade in sports gear has its limits.
The Tories are keeping in place a tariff on assembled bicycles to protect domestic bike assemblers and manufacturers. It's an industry with a relatively large presence in Quebec including Minister of State for Small Business Maxime Bernier's riding.
Most other imported sports equipment – and baby clothes – will be tariff-free as of April 1, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Thursday. This is estimated to cost Ottawa $76-million in foregone annual revenue.
This includes tariffs on hockey equipment – which are 18 per cent for skates – as well as golf clubs, ski poles, clay pigeons, archery gear and snowboard boots. The rates of duty applied currently range from 2.5 per cent to 20 per cent.
The Conservatives are trying to demonstrate they're sensitive to consumer anger over the fact retail prices remain stubbornly higher in Canada than in the United States despite the strengthened Canadian dollar.
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A Senate committee report last month examined the price gap between Canada and the U.S. retail prices and urged Ottawa to cut tariffs that contributed to this differential. A Bank of Montreal study last year found that retail prices in Canada are about 14 per cent higher than those in the United States.
Asked why he limited the reductions to sports equipment and baby clothes, Mr. Flaherty called this a first step.
He described the tariff cuts as a pilot project to see whether retailers pass on the reductions to consumers. "The government, in consultation with the Retail Council of Canada and consumer groups, will monitor the impact of these tariff reductions on Canadian retail prices," the government said.
The Conservatives say they could slash more tariffs if they like what they see. | {
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Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter was arrested on Sunday night, only hours after the team's 30-12 victory against the Miami Dolphins. On Monday, the Steelers placed him on leave.
"We are continuing to gather information concerning Sunday night's incident involving Joey Porter," said general Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert in a statement. "We have been and will continue to be in communication with the NFL as is required by the Personal Conduct Policy. Pending further review, Joey Porter has been placed on leave. At this time, we will move forward with our preparations for the Divisional Round playoff game at Kansas City."
A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson told KDKA, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, that Porter was detained late Sunday after getting into an altercation outside a local bar. According to a police statement obtained by WPXI.com in Pittsburgh, police were called to the bar after it was reported that an unruly customer was "in the process of assaulting a doorman."
After being taken into custody, Porter was hit with a total of five charges, including aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest, public drunkenness and making terroristic threats.
The 36-year-old Porter is in his third season as a Steelers assistant, and in his second year as the team's outside linebackers coach. Porter also played 13 years in the NFL, with eight of those coming in Pittsburgh.
Porter is famously known for coming on the field during the Steelers-Bengals playoff game in January 2016. His presence caused a melee, which led the NFL to enact the "Joey Porter rule" for the 2016 season. Under that rule, assistant coaches are not allowed to enter the field of play at any point during a game. | {
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It all depends on the classes that you attended. Some are worth listing, some are best not to mention. Here I review of few of these data science curricula, and the impression it can make on hiring managers, depending on your profile, work experience, and strength (or lack of) of these programs.
Three categories of data science programs
Type 1: cheap
The cheap version, is usually based on a monthly subscription model. It typically costs less than $30 per month and gives you access to a wide array of online classes. An example is DataCamp. Topics cover introduction to Python, R, or some algorithms such as regression. Instructors are usually not leaders in their field, after all, who would want to teach these classes and be paid peanuts? An old adage says that if you can't succeed as a professional in the business world, you write books instead. And if you can't succeed in writing books, you teach. So the risk here is to have instructors with little business experience. Also, what their teach is NOT data science, despite claims to the contrary: read this article to find out what real data science is. While these programs can be useful for a quantitative professional, say a physicist or industrial engineer, who want to learn more programming skills, it is better to not include them to your resume. Besides, these skills are easy to learn on your own, by reading articles or cheat sheets posted on various websites, for instances, here. And by using platforms such as StackExchange to get your questions answered.
Type 2: expensive
The expensive non-academic version costs more that $15,000 for a two to three months program, usually with onsite classes, and requiring you to pass a test to be admitted. It is critical to check the professional background of the instructors, and the type of projects, platform (software) and data that you will be working on (small, academic-type or enterprise big data?) Also, it is worth checking with former graduates to learn about their experience and how it helped them either getting a job or progress in their career. These programs compete with academic programs offered, sometimes online / part-time, by respected universities. Examples of such programs are are offered by General Assembly and Galvanize. You will find many professionals listing the certificates their earned from these organizations, on their LinkedIn profile. However, I advise not to include them to you resume, despite the temptation to do so after spending so much money.
Type 3: respected
The third category consists of online programs such as Coursera, with high caliber instructors, and low cost or even free. Yet, they don't provide a full data science education. After all, data science is mostly learned on the job, and sometimes quantitative professionals with no formal data science training have an advantage over people who learned poor data science practices at school, and now need to un-learn them to become efficient in the corporate world. That said, training from Coursera, especially if the instructor is well known, is worth adding to your resume, along with the name of the instructor in question. If you have attended 20 classes and earned 10 (dubious) certificates, it is best to only mention the top two ones. Beyond that, it makes the job candidate look desperate or under-qualified. One training (or as in my case zero as I am a self-learner) is much better in your resume, than a long list of pseudo-diplomas or certificates from questionable institutions. Experience always prevails over education, when looking for a job that is not entry-level. And even if you start from scratch, you might want to combine Coursera classes with some internship.
Other options
An alternative, especially to cheap training, is reading a modern book or notebook. Many come with source code that the author or publisher make available online. Some, even some of the best, are free and self-published. Some are written by top experts in their field, who made so much money that they can now devote their time helping others. For examples, see here. I will go as far as to say that including these books to your resume, creates a better impression to hiring managers, than mentioning a cheap data camp.
I have tried myself to offer an apprenticeship in the past, but due to the very high demand, it is now mostly a self-service program, see here. I may offer a doctorship in data science in the future, for experienced professionals interested in becoming a data science executive, see here for details. Finding great instructors is always a challenge though, because being a top enterprise data scientist, and being a great instructor, require skill sets and personalities that are opposite (not to mention time conflicts), and rarely found in one individual. One way to solve this issue is designing a program that involves both business people, and professors.
Finally, we are now working with Ajit Jaokar, to create an accelerated program to get jump-started with Python and data science. You can check it out here. See also here and here.
To not miss this type of content in the future, subscribe to our newsletter. For related articles from the same author, click here or visit www.VincentGranville.com. Follow me on on LinkedIn, or visit my old web page here.
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Remember the ladies?
Recently, I began a quest to re-watch Trigun, spurred on by the impending removal of the series from Hulu, as well as a previous decision to re-watch it… at some point. It has been about eight years since I first saw the show, and it seemed that a new viewing of it was in order; after all, I’m in such a vastly different place now versus then, and I was curious to see how my own attitudes and beliefs had shifted. As a fourteen year old, Vash’s extreme pacifism had appealed to me strongly. But would his idealism now strike me still as admirable, or merely stupid? And, actually, did the show even ultimately support his stance? Enough time had passed by that I could not longer precisely remember what happened in the final episodes of the show, beyond that Vash is forced to kill Legato, that Wolfwood dies, and that Milly may or may not have slept with him. But, mostly, I was curious – did Vash’s killing of Legato constitute a repudiation of his personal code to that point or not? I would have to re-watch.
I haven’t completely finished re-watching Trigun yet. The episodes have expired on Hulu, although I can watch it on Netflix fairly easily. I managed to plow through twenty-three episodes over the course of three days, but was unable to bring myself to watch the twenty-fourth episode. I stalled. I stuttered. I did not want to see what happened next. Why? Well, very simply, I am apparently too… well, I’m not sure what term would describe it adequately. Put into more words, I did not want to see Nicolas D. Wolfwood die.
However, I’m not exactly interested in delving into that in this post. No, rather, I wish to address one of the major problems I had with the series upon re-viewing it: the women and the attitudes the series held towards women. Because, quite frankly, it ain’t all that hot.
First off, I want to say that problematic attitudes held by characters towards women are not inherently bad. For example, it would be strange if, in a show about the Shinsengumi, everyone was a raging feminist. It just wouldn’t make sense for the historical context. For another example, if a bad attitude about women is depicted as a flaw in the character possessing those beliefs, that is also fine. What I do have a problem with, however, is when these misogynistic ideas are presented as being correct. *That* is what I have a problem with.
And, oh, does Trigun love its patriarchal beliefs about women.
Vash, our hero, condescends to women many, many times throughout the show. When he is cornered by a bunch of women who are attempting to catch him, he doesn’t simply try to flee or try to outsmart them. No, he berates them for brandishing guns while wearing aprons, and admonishes them for their actions – after all, what would their children think? Later on in the show, when confronted with the sole female Gung-Ho Gun, he starts off the fight by plucking buttons off of her shirt, treatment that, mysteriously enough, none of the male Gung-Ho Guns receive. He also tells her that what she really should be doing is working hard to please her man at home, not fighting him at all.
And this, all of it, coming from our esteemed hero of the piece.
Of course, the larger problem is that the women and girls of Trigun are sketched so lightly as to barely be present at all. When they do appear, it is most often as objects to be saved or lusted after. Prostitutes are common, as are damsels-in-distress. A female engineer appeared in two early episodes, a very encouraging sign, although her dress served to highlight her hefty breasts. There was also a female government agent who was largely competent, although apparently not competent enough to not require Vash’s savior routine. But women like this are gone within five episodes, and none that come after come anywhere near them in terms of breaking with the usual tropes and stereotypes.
At this point, it is an excellent time to bring up Meryl and Milly, our insurance “girls”. Just the language used to refer to them is telling enough – they are “girls”, not women. They are continuously in over their heads, trying to use doughnuts to cajole criminals they believe to be Vash, forever playing catch up. Ultimately, they are the running gag of the show; what would really change were they removed from the narrative? Less jokes about people disbelieving Vash’s identity, less of an awareness that Vash really loves doughnuts… Not much else.
Put another way: do you notice when Meryl and Milly aren’t around? Do you care? Does anyone walk away from the show wishing we’d spent more time with their antics?
No – because the two do not matter in the grand scheme of the show. Why is there a forced romance angle from Meryl toward Vash or Milly toward Wolfwood? What on earth does this add to the show? Maybe if it were even executed at all one could make an argument for the inclusion of both. But it feels more obligatory to have any hint of romance at all rather than organic, as if someone looked at the cast and said, well, there are two guys and two women, so obviously…
I take especial issue with the entire Milly and Wolfwood thing. I quite frankly find the idea that Milly does sleep with Wolfwood gross. Milly for the entirety of the show has been played as an innocent, as an overgrown child. She loves pudding and speaks and thinks in simplistic ways. She does not know her limits on alcohol. Meryl essentially plays the role of her mother, ensuring everything from making sure she wakes up on time to that she remembers to pack everything. Milly demonstrates little to no ability in caring for her own self.
Someone who is functionally a child should not be having sex with someone. And someone who is an adult should know better than to have sex with someone who is functionally a child.
Of course, it also doesn’t help that there has been nothing to really build up to this. Why does Milly sleep with Wolfwood? Why does Wolfwood sleep with Milly? There are some one-liners from Wolfwood about Milly’s attractiveness (and by some, I mean perhaps three at most), but these are thin at best for supporting evidence of attraction between the two. The better answer for why they sleep together? Because the writers wanted some insta-drama. Better writers would’ve at least actually bothered to give some pretense for the incident, even if the base dynamic remained downright creepy. Add in the fact that Wolfwood has a lot of affection for children (which, taken alone, is wholly innocent), and it all just gets more and more distasteful.
Moving along, I wish to consider Mary, a woman who exists solely to have the violence of the men around her projected upon her. Mary is sexually harassed several times by one of her fellow co-workers on the spaceship, a man who then goes on to rape her. Another of her co-workers kills her rapist, but murders Mary when she rejects his marriage proposal. She is fully the victim of male violence. She has no other identity. The only time we spend with her at all is right before she is raped, when she is supposing that it isn’t so bad to have two guys interested in her. (Of course, it is disappointing in and of itself to see unwanted physical advances in the form of groping to be thought of as not so bad given that the man is signaling his interest in her. Curiously enough, I myself nor anyone I’ve ever met has taken unwanted physical advances as a positive sign.)
And then the madonna to Mary’s whore (after all, she did admit to enjoying the attention!), Rem. Rem is basically an ideal. She exists as the reason behind Vash’s beliefs. She spends much of her screentime tending to children (another strike against Mary, it would seem, is that she doesn’t spend any of her time taking care of Vash or Knives). Her final act is heroic, and Vash may base his life around her vision, but that doesn’t alter the fact that she is, as I said before, an ideal.
So we come back to the same problem: the women in Trigun aren’t depicted with any depth. If you take away most of them, it makes no difference to the core plot of the show (Rem is our exception in that regard). The poor quality of the female characters renders any romance within the show contrived at best, unsettling at worst. Vash is an interesting character; Wolfwood, a fascinating one. Surely they could’ve remembered the ladies? | {
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"Nie przejmujemy się konstytucją”, "zamkniemy sędziów TK w Berezie Kartuskiej” - przekonywał na Uniwersytecie Wrocławskim poseł Kukiz'15 Jakub Kulesza. Jego słowa wywołały oburzenie. Sam zainteresowany tłumaczy jednak, że... nie mówił na serio.
Kulesza wygłosił płomienne przemówienie dotyczące systemów wyborczych w Polsce i na świecie. Wychwalał promowane przez jego klub JOW-y. W sieci pojawiło się nagranie z wydarzenia, na którym poseł mówi, że jego klub "nie przejmuje się konstytucją" i gdyby miał większość, wprowadziłby wybory większościowe, a jeśli sędziowe TK mieliby z tym problem, to można "zamknąć ich w Berezie Kartuskiej".
Przypomnijmy, że Bereza to obóz, w którym zamykano politycznych przeciwników sanacji. Działał on w latach 1934-1939 i znalazało się w nim wielu komunistów, endeków i ukraińskich nacjonalistów. Na świecie ciągle toczą się spory o to, czy miejsce odosobnienia w Berezie Kartuskiej można nazywać "obozem koncetracyjnym".
Żeby studenci nie zasnęli
- Przecież to naturalne, że trzeba mówić takie rzeczy jak się mówi do studentów. Żeby nie zasnęli, żeby ich jakoś zaciekawić. Możemy się teraz śmiać z tych, którzy to wzięli na poważnie - tłumaczy swego kolegę z klubu Błażej Parda. A co z wypowiedzią na temat konstytucji? - Chodziło o to, że ogólnie politycy się nią nie przejmują. A konstytucja jako dokument w pewnych miejsach przeczy sama sobie. My się nią przejmujemy i dlatego chcielibyśmy ją zmienić - objaśnił nam Parda.
Co na to sam Kulesza? - Tylko sobie żartowałem. A moja wypowiedź na tym filmiku w internecie została pocięta i zmanipulowana - powiedział Wirtualnej Polsce. Na swojej stronie na Facebooku dodał też oficjalne oświadczenie w sprawie. Napisał w nim, że "stwierdzenie o Berezie Kartuskiej było oczywistą szpilą w odwołujące się do tradycji Sanacji środowisko PiS", a jego przemówienie było ironiczne. Poza tym przeprosił i zapewnił, że "bierze pełną odpowiedzialność za wypowiedziane słowa".
Wolnościowy poseł | {
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HaberTürk'ten Düzgün Karadaş'ın haberine göre Kılıçdaroğlu, 23 Eylül-27 Eylül arasında İsviçre, Fransa, Belçika, Hollanda, Almanya ve Avusturya’da partisinin düzenleyeceği etkinliklere katılacak. CHP Lideri, bu ülkelerdeki sosyal demokrat ve sosyalist parti liderleriyle ve devlet yetkilileriyle de görüşmeler yapacak. Kılıçdaroğlu, yurda döndükten sonra 30 Eylül’de Ankara Ticaret Odası Kongre Merkezi’nde partisinin adaylarını tanıtacak.
CHP’nin seçim bildirgesi açıklanacak. 7 Haziran’dan bugüne yaşanan siyasi ve ekonomik olayların ışığında revize edilen CHP’nin 1 Kasım Seçim Bildirgesi’nde, ekonomik vaatlerin yanı sıra terör ve güvenlik sorunları ile hak ve özgürlüklere ilişkin vaatler yer alacak. “Merkez Türkiye” projesi de ayrıntılarıyla bildirgeye konulacak. CHP’nin AK Parti ile yürüttüğü istikşafi görüşmelere ilişkin partinin tutumunu ortaya koyan bir broşür de bu süreçte kamuoyuna sunulacak. | {
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La jefa del grupo municipal de Ciudadanos en el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, Carina Mejías, presume de un máster y un posgrado que no ha realizado. Según consta en la biografía oficial que aparece en la web municipal, Mejías cursó un máster en Derecho Concursal en la Universitat de Vic (UVic) y un posgrado en Derecho de Fundaciones en la Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC), aunque se trata de dos cursos de cinco y tres créditos, respectivamente.
Carina Mejías atribuye la información falsa en su currículum a "una persona que ya no forma parte de Ciudadanos" Saber más
En el caso de la UVic, la universidad nunca ha impartido un máster con este nombre, según confirma el centro a eldiario.es, sino que se trata del curso de extensión universitaria sobre Administración Concursal. La diferencia entre lo uno y lo otro es que un máster son unos estudios a partir de 60 créditos, mientras que el curso, que Mejías completó en 2012, fue de tan solo cinco. Tampoco es correcta la información que incluyó en la web del Parlament, en el que fue diputada hasta 2015, donde se refería al curso de la UVic como un "posgrado de especialización".
Ciudadanos ha remitido un comunicado este martes en el que aclara que Mejías "delegó" la redacción de su currículum en una persona que ya no forma parte de su equipo y que, en realidad, fueron dos cursos complementarios de 5 créditos y 30 horas.
Algo parecido es lo que ocurre con los estudios en Derecho de Fundaciones en la universidad privada UIC, a los que Mejías se refiere en su currículum en el consistorio como "posgrado". En realidad, se trata de un seminario sobre esta temática de tres créditos, cursado de septiembre a diciembre de 2009. Mejías ha aportado a este diario los certificados de la titulación correcta de ambos cursos.
Ante la información recabada por eldiario.es, la líder de Ciudadanos en Barcelona ha afirmado que se trata de "errores" que atribuye al equipo del partido que se encargó de facilitar su información biográfica al Ayuntamiento. Afirma asimismo que los asume como propios y que ha pedido al consistorio que modifique esta información. De hecho, detalla que pidió que corrigieran su currículum en los últimos días, coincidiendo con la polémica por másters como el de Cristina Cifuentes o Carmen Montón.
El máster y el posgrado inexistentes que se adjudica Mejías incumplen además el Compromiso por la regeneración democrática que aprobó Ciudadanos en 2015. Según el texto, el partido se compromete a "apartar de cualquier cargo público o de partido" a quien haya "falsificado o engañado en relación a su currículum o su cualificación profesional o académica". La formación de Albert Rivera deberá decidir ahora si cumple con sus reglas, elaboradas en el contexto de negociaciones posteriores a las elecciones municipales y autonómicas de 2015, o acepta las explicaciones de Mejías.
Mejías se afilió a Ciudadanos en el 2013, después de que un año antes hubiese formado parte de la lista a las autonómicas como independiente. Actualmente está pendiente de saber si podrá encabezar la candidatura del partido naranja a las municipales porque su futuro depende de que el exprimer ministro francés Manuel Valls acepte ser el cabeza de lista de esta formación en Barcelona.
Además de su liderazgo en Ciudadanos a nivel municipal, Mejías es desde el 2014 miembro del Comité Ejecutivo Nacional del partido que preside Albert Rivera, de quien fue mano derecha como diputada en la Cámara catalana durante la legislatura 2012-2015.
Mejías recaló en Ciudadanos proveniente del Partido Popular (PP), en el que militaba desde su juventud. Con los populares fue también concejal en el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona de 1999 a 2003 y diputada en el Parlament de 2006 a 2010.
Otro error, confundir la UOC con la UAO
Las incorrecciones en su currículum del Ayuntamiento no acaban en los inexistentes másters de la UVic y posgrado de la UIC, sino que afectan también a otro máster, el de Estudios Humanísticos y Sociales que aparece como cursado en la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Lo cierto es que Mejías si tiene esta titulación, pero no en la citada universidad –que no lo imparte–, sino en la privada Universitat Abat Oliba (UAO). Así consta por ejemplo en la web oficial de Ciudadanos, aunque de nuevo con un error, puesto que allí aparece como Máster en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales.
Mejías confirma que el nombre es Estudios Humanísticos y Sociales y que los ha completado con el correspondiente Trabajo de Fin de Máster (TFM). Atribuye en este sentido la incorrección como otra equivocación. | {
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You want new memes? Y U NO USE OLD MEMES?
148 shares | {
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Counter Logic Gaming's dreams of making Top 8 at the 2015 World Championship are officially over.
After losing all three of their games on Thursday and finishing the Group Stage with a 2-4 record, AD Carry Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng spoke with theScore eSports about CLG's collapse, their champion select difficulties, and what the future holds.
Note: this interview contains explicit language
For more videos and interviews, be sure to subscribe to theScore eSports on YouTube. | {
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We’re living in an incredible age of technology. Self driving cars, smart AI computers, crazy scary robots, and… pet cameras. Ok maybe the last one isnt quite as cool. But a few bright minds have created fun and unique ways for us humans to interact with our beloved kitties and puppies.
iPet Companion provides shelters with live streaming video which can be controlled by the viewers in addition to interactive toys. Petcube is a growing startup that revolutionized pet cameras for consumers (check out our hands-on review). More recently, they began partnering with shelters to integrate cameras which can be viewed by anyone in the world.
While a few of the live streams in this list are from simple webcams, others are from a new form of pet cameras, some of which were featured on CES and IndieGoGo.
Let’s get right to it. The following list of shelters, provided by iPet Companion, have live streaming video and interactive toys that can be controlled with your arrow keys. Sort by state to find one near you.
iPet Companion Shelter Cameras
Interact with animals awaiting adoption, in real-time, right from your computer.
Petcube Public Streams
The following shelters have live streaming through Petcube’s free app. Note: you do not need to purchase the Petcube pet camera to use their app!
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