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Friday 18th September Championship Coventry Coventry City 19:45 QPR Queens Park Rangers Saturday 26th September Championship QPR Queens Park Rangers 15:00 Middlesbrough Middlesbrough
All times are UK and subject to change. BBC is not responsible for any changes. | {
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How is it all the good creature art always end's up so far down this page list!? | {
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Slovenian ex-PM Borut Pahor wins presidency Published duration 3 December 2012
media caption A number of people were injured during anti-austerity protests in Ljubljana on Friday, ahead of the vote
Former Slovenian PM Borut Pahor has won an emphatic victory in the country's presidential run-off election.
With almost all votes counted, Mr Pahor polled 67% to incumbent President Danilo Turk's 33% in a election that followed protests over the economy and alleged government corruption.
On Friday a number of people were injured as protesters clashed with police in the capital Ljubljana.
Slovenia is facing one of the eurozone's deepest recessions.
The country's economy has shrunk more than 8% since 2009.
Mr Pahor, who was prime minister until last year, won the election on the strength of a poor turnout, the BBC's Guy Delauney reports.
The indifference of the electorate - only one in three eligible voters made it to the polls - reflected popular anger at Slovenia's economic performance, our correspondent says.
image copyright AP image caption Police and protesters clashed outside the parliament building in Ljubljana
But Mr Pahor told supporters that Slovenia would emerge from the gloom.
"The moment when Slovenian men and women, citizens of Slovenia, beat this crisis - and we will beat it eventually - we will again have the confidence we felt when we established our country and we will rise among the stars of Europe."
Thirty-three people were charged with public order offences after Friday's trouble in Ljubljana, police said.
A protest that attracted thousands of people earlier in the week in the second city, Maribor, also turned violent.
Many protesters are angry at what they describe as harsh austerity measures being implemented by the current centre-right government. | {
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First of all, please let me apologise for the lack of recent updates!
Unsurprisingly, we had underestimated the complexity of producing a multi-platform, multi-lingual wallet on bleeding-edge technology. We now have a team of developers working on this project, and a team of translators primed to get to work (thanks to all of you) — we are progressing well.
In the meantime we have been listening to feedback from the community, and I hope we have been responsive to your needs…. Which brings us on to the topic at hand.
Many users have asked for a desktop-specific version of the application, to match the different ergonomics of the desktop, compared to a mobile app. Initially we had planned to keep the design the same on all platforms to minimise delays between updates on different platforms. However, we could not ignore the volume of requests, and have decided to adopt a different design pattern on desktop.
Base pattern for desktop
We wanted to maintain a consistent design language across platforms, and I hope we have succeeded. So I will stop typing and post the initial mockups.. | {
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LONDON (Reuters) - The roaring engines and burning rubber of “The Fast & The Furious” films - one of cinema’s highest-grossing franchises - are skidding off the screen and into the real world, as a live stunt show based on the movies opens in London on Thursday.
“Fast & Furious Live,” held in London’s O2 arena, aims to recreate the elaborate stunts for which the films are known.
“We talked about a live show, but we’d never imagined it in the way that Rowland (creative director, Rowland French) imagined it,” actor Vin Diesel, one of the films’ main stars, told Reuters.
The show features around 40 vehicles, including tanks, trucks, a submarine and dozens of fire-spitting, customized muscle cars. It uses 3D projection technology to help give the illusion that car chases are taking place over distances much greater than the inside of an arena.
“Fast and The Furious,” about a gang of illegal street racers, has spawned eight films since 2001, with two more in development, a forthcoming spin-off film, video games and theme park rides.
The franchise survived the death of one of its main stars, Paul Walker, killed in a car crash in 2013.
“I think he would totally get a kick out of, out of seeing our little movie turn into this show at the O2 arena,” Diesel said. “He’d get a kick out of that.” | {
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By Laman Ismayilova
A concert of TURKSOY folk instruments orchestra was held at the Kyrgyz National Philharmonic hall named after T. Satylganov in Bishkek.
The visually stunning show marked the 25th anniversary of independence of Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The concert featuring the best Turkic folk songs aroused a big interest among the audience.
The folk instruments orchestra of TURKSOY was founded in 2016 on the initiative of the Secretary General of the organization.
The Turkic speaking countries recently implement more joint initiatives and common projects. For many centuries, countries share a common language, culture, religion and history.
TURKSOY is an international cultural organization of countries with Turkic populations, whose speaking languages belong to the Turkic language family.
The organization has its roots going back to the 1992 meetings in Baku and Istanbul, where the ministers of culture from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan declared their commitment to cooperate in a joint cultural framework. TURKSOY was subsequently established by an agreement signed on July 12, 1993 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz | {
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Desde la organización que aboga por los derechos de la diversidad sexual sentenciaron que Vía X debe "dar a conocer las razones por las que invitó a Javier Soto, sin siquiera un contrapunto" y aseguraron que sólo emite discursos de odio.
Luego de la polémica presentación del Pastor Soto en el programa El Interruptor de Vía X, donde el autodenominado líder de la Iglesia Evangélica pisoteó una bandera de la diversidad frente a las cámaras, el Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual publicó una declaración pública dando a conocer su opinión al respecto.
«El pisoteo de la bandera en el marco de una entrevista pública constituye un acto deleznable, gravísimo y sin precedentes, que ofende y denigra gratuitamente a las personas en razón de su orientación sexual o identidad de género», sentenciaron.
Además, agregaron que «Javier Soto es un peligro constante para el respeto a la dignidad de las personas, además de ser merecedor de nuestro máximo repudio por su constante violencia, la cual no toleramos». En esta línea, recordaron también que en noviembre de 2015, Soto fue condenado por injuriar, calumniar, ofender y agredir en razón de su orientación sexual al dirigente de Movilh, Rolando Jiménez.
«En la sentencia condenatoria se declaró culpable a Soto de “delito de odio” y “discriminación”, además de confirmarse que nunca había sido pastor», manifestaron.
El fallo concluyó que «el derecho a la libertad de expresión y de culto, tiene como límite el respeto irrestricto al derecho a la dignidad e igualdad de los seres humanos, entendiendo que la igualdad, así como la libertad, es un atributo del que gozan todos los seres humanos por el sólo hecho de ser tales, con independencia de cuan diversas sean las personas, siendo la igualdad un derecho humano esencial, que les permite a cada ser construir su propia identidad y desarrollarse a plenitud, derecho que por lo demás detenta la más amplia tutela por parte del sistema jurídico internacional de los derechos humanos”.
En este contexto, desde el movimiento aseguraron que para las y los activistas, así como para la causa, «resulta violento e incomprensible que un medio de comunicación dé tribuna a un delincuente sancionado por incitación del odio, a sabiendas de que dicho sujeto no moderaría su discurso, pues así lo ha demostrado en cada una de sus acciones».
Por ello, insistieron en que «animamos a Vía X a dar a conocer las razones por las que invitó a Javier Soto, sin siquiera un contrapunto, en el entendido de que el ejercicio pluralista de las comunicaciones y del periodismo trae consigo la responsabilidad social y el respeto a la dignidad de todas y todos».
El Movilh enfatizó que Soto no es reconocido como pastor en ninguna iglesia, por lo que «si el objetivo era saber su punto de vista sobre la diversidad sexual y de género, es conocido que sólo emite discursos de odio».
«Rescatamos que la directora de contenidos de Vía X hubiese interrumpido la entrevista, aunque ello debió ocurrir apenas el sujeto puso la bandera bajo sus pies y no tras dos minutos de pisotearla», argumentaron.
Del mismo modo, manifestaron que ningún medio puede ser escenario de discursos o acciones de odio y que tras un hecho de este calibre «debiese denunciarse y condenarse con responsabilidad ética antes que simplemente difundirse como un momento de un programa que sale a la captura del rating».
«En síntesis, la violencia, y la publicidad de la misma, sólo incita a la violencia. La responsabilidad nos llama a entender y asumir que todo discurso, por más desquiciado que sea, puede impactar en otros cuando se difunde públicamente, animando a llevar a la práctica pensamientos o ideas homofóbicas o transfóbicas de terceros», cerraron. | {
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While Samsung may be resuming sales of the recalled Galaxy Note7 in its home country of South Korea as soon as next week — September 28 — it will be a full month before American consumers can purchase the replacement handsets. Carriers in the United States are preparing for a relaunch on Friday, October 21, according to a planning document obtained by VentureBeat.
That’s the same day sales of LG’s second-half flagship, the dual-screened V20, are scheduled to begin in the U.S.
The information pertains only to new hardware sales, so customers expecting replacement devices will likely receive those phones earlier. It is also specific to major carriers in the U.S., meaning that the timetable may be different in other markets, as it is for Korea.
Shortly after sales of the Note7 kicked off in late August, reports began emerging of handsets exploding or catching fire while charging. A new Bloomberg report posits that Samsung’s push to beat the iPhone 7 to market was partly to blame for the failure to detect the battery defect at the root of the problem.
The company was quick to publicly acknowledge the issue, caused by short circuits in a battery cell slightly too large for its housing, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the U.S. recall last Thursday. At the time of the company’s global recall announcement on September 2, it had yet to hash out logistics for consumer return and replacement in individual markets, which led to confusion among affected customers.
When sales resume of the refreshed Note7, the handsets will utilize batteries from TDK-subsidiary Amperex Technology, instead of Samsung’s partially owned Samsung SDI — which was responsible for the faulty packs in the initial production run. | {
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Objective: High-risk drinkers who drink in high-risk contexts like bars are recognized as a primary source of alcohol-impaired drivers and motor vehicle crashes within communities. We assess the contributions of drinking in other contexts to these outcomes.
Method: Self-report survey data from 8,553 adults in 50 California cities were used to estimate rates of driving after drinking (DAD; driving within 4 hours of drinking any alcohol) and a measure of alcohol-impaired driving (AID; driving when having had “too much” to safely drive home) associated with drinking in bars, homes, restaurants, parties, and other contexts.
Results: Frequent drinking (b = .0588, z = 2.17, p = .030) and drinking outside the home, χ2(4) = 74.46, p < .001, at bars (b = .1418, z = 1.97, p = .049), and at restaurants (b = .2694, z = 5.60, p < .001) were related to greater DAD; lower risks were associated with drinking at home (b = -.0607, z = -2.16, p = .031). AID frequency was directly proportional to DAD (b = .0863, z = 8.43, p < .001) with no differences observed across contexts. Within a community of 100,000 persons over 6 months, 879 AID events were attributed to drinking at 102 restaurants and 726 AID events to drinking at 15 bars. | {
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Today’s military aircrew are guided to their objectives--such as strike targets, drop zones, reconnaissance orbits--by increasingly advanced onboard mapping displays. Those objectives have been identified by intelligence analysts, approved by the command chain, and then refined by mission planners and weapons targeting specialists. The whole process has benefitted from the ever-more sophisticated science of geospatial intelligence (GeoInt).
U.S. company Esri is the market-leading supplier of geographic information system (GIS) software, web GIS and geodatabase management applications. Although defense sales are only a small proportion of its revenues, the company always makes a major contribution to the annual Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) conference in London. And when Esri talks, it tends to get the attention of defense GeoInt specialists.
At this year’s DGI event, Esri’s director of global national security marketing Ben Conklin referred to the explosion of data that is now available to intelligence analysts, beyond traditional GeoInt. This comes not only from advances in airborne collection, such as wide-area motion imagery (WAMI), but also from cloud computing, consumer devices, and social media. “We can create environments for managing and storing these vast new collections of data and make it available to anyone in the organization, on any device, at any time, and in a manner that is meaningful for them,” Conklin declared.
Using these diverse, multi-intelligence sets, analysts can begin to practice what he called Activity-Based Intelligence (ABI). It differs radically from traditional intelligence methods, but so do many of today’s targets (individuals rather than nation states); signatures (no longer known or fixed); motivations (can be illogical); and required collection frequencies (persistent rather than scheduled). “ABI shifts the focus from intelligence reporting to the discovery of the unknown,” said Conklin. “It is a set of spatiotemporal analytic methods to discover correlations, resolve unknowns, understand networks, develop knowledge, and drive collection using diverse data sets to understand the environment - not just a specific location or facility.”
A GIS provider like Esri can play a key role in ABI, because georeferencing is one of its key pillars. Conklin gave an example from Libya, where the company’s ArcGIS product can reveal the oil-producing infrastructure – such as roads and pipelines--in graphic 3D views. To this foundation, an analyst may add open-source intelligence from a provider like IHS Janes, and perhaps some classified human intelligence. Then the analyst may examine the movement of some people by using inputs from sigint or even social media. Where do they go? With whom do they associate? This all helps to understand the “pattern of life”, and perhaps discover a group that stands out as unusual, that may be planning an attack on a pipeline. It may even be possible to discover the imminence of that attack, for instance by noting that members of the group have stopped communicating by social media.
“Esri is investing heavily in the development of new capabilities to support intelligence functions,” Conklin later told AIN. “Firstly, we have created new cloud computing products for performing spatiotemporal analysis of real-time and big data. We also have a dedicated imagery development team that is building tools for large-scale image analytics, full-motion video processing, and imagery data management. In addition, we have a dedicated research and development team located in Washington, D.C., developing a next-generation intelligence platform on ArcGIS. They are focused on improving the workflows for intelligence analysts trying to leverage GIS capabilities.”
Ben Conklin spoke at the DGI Europe 2017 conference organized by Worldwide Business Research (WBR): www.wbr.co.uk | {
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The GRE PowerPrep II Scoring Algorithm, Demystified.
Many years ago, I was doing some professional research on the GMAT scoring algorithm. I found several webpages on the topic, several of which were extremely informative. The authors would take the official GMAT Prep Software and run a variety of simulations with it, to see what types of strategies yield the best scores. The results were surprising—they showed that the total number of questions correct and incorrect is far from the only factor in determining one’s GMAT score.
Well, the GRE is also a computer adaptive test (CAT), so I decided to do some research on the GRE PowerPrep II algorithm as well (new GRE scoring scale: 130 to 170). To my surprise, I have discovered that this information is nowhere to be found on the internet. So I decided to roll up my sleeves and do the research myself.
First, some disclaimers:
1) I cannot guarantee that the algorithm on the actual GRE is exactly the same as the algorithm on the GRE PowerPrep tests, likely as that may be.
2) Doing these simulations took me forever. OK, not literally forever. But a lot of research (working through the software to double-check the answer keys) and a TON of mouse clicks (the PowerPrep tests don’t have keyboard shortcuts, and you have to start every test with 15 clicks). Every question requires two clicks, and there are 80 questions per test. Thus, there may have been a human error or two mixed in there, because I didn’t have time to double-check all of my simulations. If anyone wants to double-check my work, or to run additional simulations, then please, be my guest—the software is free to use and download—but running all the simulations myself took up too many hours of my life, and I am never doing that again.
3) I only ran simulations on PowerPrep test #1. I would assume that test #2 is the same scoring algorithm, but I cannot guarantee that.
4) Don’t forget that the real GRE (but not the PowerPrep practice tests) includes an experimental section in either Verbal or Quant, and it can be any of the sections. So you won’t necessarily know which sections are your first and second sections on the actual test.
5) If you are among the 2% of GRE test-takers taking the paper-based test, then you don't need to worry about PowerPrep. Instead, you should download the current paper-based GRE as well as the old one. These questions overlap with the PowerPrep II questions.
BRIAN'S GRE POWERPREP 2 TEST SIMULATIONS AND SCORE ANALYSES:
The first sections (Quantitative and Verbal) of the Powerprep CATs have only one version, which is of average difficulty.
The second section has one of three possible versions (Easy, Medium, Hard), depending on your overall performance on the first section.
Quant:
0-7 correct: Easy
8-14 correct: Medium
15-20 correct: Hard
Verbal:
0-6 correct: Easy
7-14 correct: Medium
15-20 correct: Hard
The first section is weighted more strongly than the second section. To get an idea of how you can earn the score you want, take a look at the table below, which lists a myriad of different score scenarios on the GRE PowerPrep CATs.
As you can see, the total number correct is not always an accurate predictor of your score, because a heavier emphasis is put on the first section than the second.
The key to a solid GRE score is to "qualify" for the medium or hard sections on your first scored section--doing so automatically improves your score.
Of course, there is one major caveat to all of this: when you are taking the GRE, you are trying to get every question right, and you don't know which questions you are getting right and wrong. So in many ways, you are operating in the dark. However, this table should at least give you a better idea of precisely how you need to perform on the test in order to achieve your desired score.
In order to easily access the easy, medium and hard second sections of the software, it helps to have an answer key. Here are the answer keys to PowerPrep Tests 1 and 2, with percent correct listed when possible (this information is only available for the PDF tests, not the PowerPrep only questions): PowerPrep Test 1 Answer Key With Percentiles / PowerPrep Test 2 Answer Key With Percentiles
Having now done this research, I am also qualified to address some unverified rumors I had heard about the GRE.
Rumor #1: The GRE only scores your second section—the first section simply determines whether you get an Easy, Medium, or Hard second section.
Verdict: FALSE. When controlling for scores on the second section, first section performance still has an effect on the final score (see table).
Rumor #2: There is a penalty for leaving questions blank and/or not finishing the test.
Verdict: FALSE. I ran some simulations on this (finishing the sections, but not getting any extra questions right vs. leaving half the questions blank) and did not find this to be true. However, you would have to be crazy to leave anything blank, because the GRE scoring algorithm does not care how many questions you get wrong—it only cares how many questions you get right. Which means that you should make sure to give yourself enough time to answer any remaining questions, even if it’s a complete guess, because probability dictates that some of those guesses will be correct and thus lead to a higher score.
Rumor #3: You can get a perfect score even with one question wrong.
Verdict: TRUE. In order to get a perfect score on math, you need to get all 40 questions right, but as you can see from the table, you can get one verbal question wrong (on either section) and still earn a perfect 170. A perfect combined score is 340, but any combined score 330 or above is an extremely elite score and should help earn you admission to nearly any graduate studies program.
I hope this information helps you in your quest for a great score on the GRE computer adaptive exam. Please email me directly with any questions, comments, suggestions, suggested revisions, etc. at [email protected]. And for more information about GRE prep, please check out my GRE Action Plan. Back to Blog Home | {
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Red M&Ms;, banished 11 years ago because of misplaced concern over food dyes, are once again taking their rightful place among the tan, brown, yellow, orange and green.
The return of the red candies that melt in your mouth but not in your hand was prompted by a national outcry that included thousands of letters to the manufacturer and the formation of college campus societies, a spokesman for the Hackettstown-based M&M-Mars; said Wednesday. A few stores already have the red ones in stock now, but most won’t carry them until February. About 20% of the 100 million M&Ms; made each day will be red, the company said. The attachment is purely emotional because M&Ms; of all hues taste alike. “It’s great fun and it’s part of America,” said M&Ms; spokesman Hans Fiuczynski. “That’s our best explanation” for the popularity of red M&Ms;, he said.
The company has received letters from World War II veterans who remembered red M&Ms; in GI rations and from people who learned how to count in grammar school with the candies, he said.
M&Ms;, a hard round coating over a chocolate center, were first made in 1941.
Red M&Ms; were discontinued in 1976 because of “confusion and concern” over Red Dye No. 2, which was banned by federal regulators as a health risk, said Fiuczynski. Red M&Ms; contained Red Dye Nos. 3 and 40, which are considered safe. Correspondence surged during the last two Christmas seasons when M&M-Mars; sold a limited number of packages of green and red candies for the holidays.
People wrote, “Why do I have to buy a whole year’s supply?” Fiuczynski related.
“How great! How wonderful!” was one food and beverage industry analyst’s reaction to the news of the return of red M&Ms.;
“I always loved them and I always missed them,” said Marvin Roffman of Janney Montgomery Scott Inc. in Philadelphia. “As a loyal M&Ms; eater, I welcome the red color. It cheers me up to eat a red M&M.; I’m going out to buy a package right now.”
More seriously, Roffman described privately held M&M-Mars; as the largest candy company nationwide and praised the quality and value of its products. | {
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TO celebrate North Korea’s special children’s day, primary school children threw mock grenades, crawled under frames and threw themselves over fences, — all with imitation AK47s over their shoulders.
North Korean schoolchildren learning military skills to “beat down any enemies” were part of dictator Kim Jong-un’s Korean Children’s Union Day festivities at Pyongyang Number Four Primary School.
As they completed the obstacle course, a teacher said the military drill-style race was intended “to give the children the spirit to defend our country when they are grown up, and to prepare them physically and mentally to beat down any enemies while upholding the Songun (military-first) revolutionary leadership of the respected marshal”.
The “respected marshall” is a reference to Kim Jong-un, who this week laughed and clapped as he watched his fighter jets carry out war games.
Student Myong Hyon-Jong, whose favourite subject is mathematics, said she wanted to join the army when she grows up, to “safeguard the respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un with military power”.
“We have to prepare ourselves to defend our country,” the ten-year-old said.
Nuclear-armed North Korea is technically still in a state of conflict: the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
It considers itself at risk of invasion by the US — its justification for the atomic and missile programs that have seen it subjected to multiple rounds of United Nations Security Council sanctions — the latest of which came last week.
Since the beginning of 2016 Kim has overseen two nuclear tests and scores of missile launches as Pyongyang seeks to develop a missile that can deliver a warhead to the continental United States — something which President Donald Trump has vowed “won’t happen”.
Tensions soared earlier this year as his administration said that military options were being considered.
LESSONS IN LOYALTY
All North Korean children are automatically members of the Korean Children’s Union, whose uniform includes the red neckerchiefs of the Young Pioneers of other communist states.
It is one of the mechanisms through which loyalty to the authorities is instilled from an early age, and the anniversary of its foundation in 1946 is a June 6 public holiday, marked by sports days at schools across the country.
“On this occasion, all the people in the country are recalling with deep emotion the immortal feats performed by peerlessly great men,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported, referring to the North’s founder Kim Il-Sung and his successor Kim Jong-il, the grandfather and father of the current leader.
Under Kim, it said, schoolchildren “are being brought up to be pillars supporting Juche Korea” — a reference to its guiding “self-reliance” philosophy.
Once the contests were over, students danced in formation to songs including “We have nothing to envy in the world”, “Revolutionary Army Games” and “Our Thankworthy Sun”, which lauds Kim Jong-un.
“You should not forget the warm love and care of the great marshal Kim Jong-un,” the school’s headmistress told students and their families.
“Study hard to become great men in the future.” | {
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Au plus bas dans les intentions de vote depuis les élections de 2012: voilà le constat sur lequel le Conseil général du Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ) s’ouvrira ce samedi. Le parti de Philippe Couillard a en effet perdu quatre points en un mois et se serait retrouvé au coeur d’une course à trois si des élections avaient eu lieu cette semaine, indique un sondage Léger.
Réalisé entre lundi et jeudi pour le compte du Devoir et du Journal de Montréal, le coup de sonde accorde 31 % d’appuis au PLQ, à égalité statistique avec le Parti québécois (PQ, à 30 %). La Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) est légèrement derrière, avec 25 %, alors que Québec solidaire est crédité de 10 % d’appuis — l’aiguille ne bouge essentiellement jamais pour ce parti.
Comparativement aux résultats du dernier sondage Léger publié le 1er octobre, c’est donc un recul de quatre points pour les libéraux, un gain d’un point pour le PQ, et une hausse de deux points pour la CAQ. Certains de ces mouvements sont statistiquement non significatifs. Mais le tableau général indique surtout que le Québec aurait essentiellement voté cette semaine de la même manière qu’il a voté lors des élections qui ont porté au pouvoir un gouvernement minoritaire péquiste en 2012.
À ce moment, le PQ avait obtenu 32 %, le PLQ 31 %, et la CAQ, 27 %. « C’est la première fois qu’on peut voir qu’on se dirige vers une course à trois, note Christian Bourque, vice-président de la firme de sondages. Les résultats se resserrent. »
Chez les francophones, le PQ domine avec 38 % d’appuis, dix points devant la CAQ… et 19 points devant les libéraux. Ces derniers ont là aussi perdu quatre points depuis le 1er octobre, que se partagent ses deux principaux adversaires. Quant à la satisfaction envers le gouvernement, elle demeure faible : 26 %, contre 66 % de répondants qui se disent insatisfaits.
Impossible de dire précisément ce qui a pu affecter la confiance des électeurs à l’égard du gouvernement, soutient Christian Bourque. Mais plusieurs éléments y ont assurément contribué, pense-t-il : le rapport interne d’un membre du conseil exécutif très critique du parti ; les allégations de Lino Zambito ; les révélations de l’émission Enquête sur des collecteurs de fonds du PLQ et la Société immobilière du Québec ; tout le dossier de l’espionnage des journalistes, « même si le gouvernement a réagi vite » ; l’affaire Gerry Sklavounos. « Ce sont tous des éléments qui créent un climat plus ou moins positif. »
Pas d’effet Lisée
Pour le PQ du nouveau chef Jean-François Lisée, les nouvelles sont plutôt neutres, pense M. Bourque. « Il n’y a pas d’effet Lisée sur les résultats du parti », remarque-t-il.
Un autre indicateur révèle une certaine tiédeur de la population à l’égard de M. Lisée et des autres chefs : celui de la question de savoir qui ferait le meilleur premier ministre du Québec. M. Couillard (18 %), M. Lisée (17 %) et François Legault (17 %) sont tous à égalité — et tous derrière le score de leur parti. Quatre péquistes sur dix n’accordent par leur vote à M. Lisée à cet égard.
M. Lisée ne se démarque pas non plus dans la catégorie du chef qui représente la meilleure opposition au gouvernement (27 %, deux points devant M. Legault). C’est aussi ce dernier qui représente le plus le changement, estiment les répondants.
Dans les jours suivant son élection comme chef du PQ en 2015, Pierre Karl Péladeau avait été crédité de 30 % d’appuis comme meilleur premier ministre, dix points devant Philippe Couillard. L’effet avait toutefois été bref : moins d’un mois plus tard, M. Couillard obtenait 27 %, et M. Péladeau 25 %…
Pour Christian Bourque, tout le portrait indique donc une division assez complète du portrait politique : trois partis à moins de six points d’écart ; trois chefs également populaires (ou impopulaires, c’est selon) ; Montréal qui est plutôt libérale (39 %), Québec qui voterait CAQ (38 %), et les régions davantage péquistes (34 %).
Médecins et surplus
Deux questions périphériques posées par Léger montrent deux autres formes de division au sein de la population. D’une part, 45 % des répondants estiment que la « rémunération actuelle des médecins au Québec est adéquate », contre 34 % qui la jugent trop élevée. Et en ce qui concerne l’utilisation du surplus budgétaire de deux milliards du gouvernement, 52 % pensent que Québec devrait « d’abord réinvestir dans les services publics », alors que 43 % opteraient pour diminuer les impôts.
Le sondage a été mené en ligne auprès de 999 personnes entre les 7 et 10 novembre 2016. Un échantillon probabiliste de cette taille aurait une marge d’erreur de 3,1 % dans 19 cas sur 20.
| {
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He told Ars:
What happened in court was unbelievable -- I don't know how to describe how I feel about it. Before [the hearing] was 20 minutes old, she dismissed the wanton endangerment charge. She said, 'I don't think anybody's life was in danger, and I'm going to dismiss that.
When I came back in and she was going to make her ruling, she didn't look at the video, she didn't look at the telemetry data, and there were no witnesses called on behalf of the state. She didn't care what the video said. She believed what the neighbor said and that the drone was below the tree line. The judge didn't look at the video, paid no consideration to the video. I'm just shocked, beyond shocked. The police officers were shocked. So in essence what she's saying is that if a news helicopter flies over your house, you can shoot it down, too. There was no regard to the truth whatsoever. None.
Boggs now plans to file a civil lawsuit, due to the shooter "doubl[ing] down on his lies." Merideth, on the other hand, said his neighbors saw the drone making previous flights over his land and believes he "was in [his] right to protect [his] family and [his] property." He also told Ars that the video doesn't show which flight the footage was from. He clarified to WDRB that he doesn't "encourage people to just go out and start blasting stuff for no reason." However, he's well aware that similar cases in the future will refer to this lawsuit -- just like that famous McDonald's coffee case -- as authorities are still figuring out the legal groundwork for drone use.
[Image credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto (edited to add drone silhouette)] | {
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ANKARA, Turkey (ViaNews) – According to the reports from the ministry of health, some cities in the southeast of the country and a facility in Istanbul has been quarantined following the increase of anthrax patients.
Fahrettin Koca, Minister of Health told in a written statement: “48 people, who were in contact with cattle suspected to be infected by anthrax were sent to our facilities for examination. Six of these people were confirmed to develop skin lesions, which is a symptom of anthrax infection.”
According to the Minister of Forestry and Agriculture, two neighbourhoods of Istanbul’s Silivri district were quarantined and more than 3000 animals were vaccinated as a precaution.
There were similar reports from Ankara and Sivas as well.
Authorities detected that cattle imported from Brazil to Meat and Milk Institution were infected with anthrax. After the sudden death of more than 140 animals on a farm in Ankara, authorities detected signs of anthrax, leading them to kill the animals and keep the farm under quarantine.
A few days later a family of three from Sivas was hospitalized for anthrax suspicion after eating an infected animal.
According to Demirören News Agency, the family butchered their animal after its sudden death, before they recognized the symptoms. While the daughter and the father are discharged from the hospital, the son is still being kept in quarantine. | {
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No one knows how the most powerful name in news really distributes the news.
That's why this week's allegations about liberal bias on Facebook are resonating even among people who don't believe the anonymous sources making the allegations.
On Tuesday a top Republican in Washington, Senator John Thune, demanded answers from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
"Facebook has enormous influence on users' perceptions of current events, including political perspectives," he wrote.
And yet the company's actions are often shrouded in mystery.
"The facts seem to be unclear on what Facebook does and doesn't do," digital media executive Jason Kint said. "Black boxes and algorithms" — like Facebook's famous news feed algorithm — "invite concern without years of reputation and trust."
Facebook's power has also stoked fear and envy among many publishers. For many mobile users, Facebook IS the Internet; instead of seeking out news web sites, they click the links that show up in the personalized Facebook news feed.
Related: Senator demands answers from Facebook
Facebook has a unique ability to turn on a firehose of traffic — and the ability to turn it off. Publishers may not live or die by Facebook alone, but they certainly thrive or struggle based on the company's decisions.
So Gizmodo's recent reports about the production of Facebook's 'trending" stories have gained a ton of attention. Journalists, academics and some average users want to understand how and why Facebook does what it does.
Related: Did Facebook suppress conservative news?
"As the No. 1 driver of audience to news sites, Facebook has become the biggest force in the marketplace of ideas. With that influence comes a significant responsibility," Poynter ethicist Kelly McBride wrote.
That's why McBride, a former ombudsman for ESPN, offered what she called a "crazy idea" in a Poynter blog post on Monday: "What if Facebook (and other companies that have clear ability to influence the marketplace of ideas) had a public editor, like The New York Times does. That person would be able to research and write about the company from the public's point of view, answering questions and explaining the values that drive certain decisions."
On Monday Gizmodo cited anonymous former contractors who said colleagues sometimes suppressed news about conservatives and links to right-leaning web sites.
Related: Blocked in China, Facebook still wins
Other anonymous former Facebook workers disputed the account. And a Facebook spokesman said Tuesday that "after an initial review, no evidence has been found that these allegations are true."
To be clear, there is no concrete evidence of systemic bias at Facebook. The "trending" box regularly includes news about conservative news sources.
But it is possible that some individual workers may have rejected specific stories. Monday's report advanced a long-held view among some prominent conservatives that tech giants like Facebook are stacking the deck against them.
Some liberals, in turn, said conservatives were just seizing on another reason to claim victimhood status.
Set that aside for a moment. How does Facebook decide what users see? Should human editors be involved?
"That this is such a big topic today is reflective of Facebook's massive gap in trust as a source of news," said Kint, the CEO of Digital Content Next, a trade group that represents publishers like the AP, Bloomberg, Vox, and CNN's parent Turner.
Related: Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg honors single moms
A Facebook spokesman said the company has "worked to be up front about how Trending and News Feed work."
But outsiders who study Facebook say there's a lot they don't know. "The big problem isn't that a couple of human editors fiddled with the Trending Topics," Fortune's Mathew Ingram wrote Monday. "It's that human beings are making editorial decisions all the time via the social network's news-feed algorithm, and the impact of those decisions can be hugely far-reaching — and yet the process through which those decisions are made is completely opaque."
Facebook frequently runs experiments to change and improve the news feed. Sometimes users see more news stories from publishers, sometimes they see fewer such stories.
Related: Facebook needs more 'human bias'
The "trending" box is produced partly by algorithms and partly by workers called "news curators." In the wake of Monday's Gizmodo report, Facebook said "popular topics are first surfaced by an algorithm, then audited by review team members to confirm that the topics are in fact trending news in the real world and not, for example, similar-sounding topics or misnomers."
The curators weed out hoaxes, spammy stories and other objectionable content. Facebook says there are specific guidelines that "ensure consistency and neutrality. These guidelines do not permit the suppression of political perspectives."
Furthermore, the company says, "We do not insert stories artificially into trending topics, and do not instruct our reviewers to do so."
But even attempting to ensure "neutrality" places Facebook in a quasi-journalistic role, reinforcing its de facto responsibility as one of the world's biggest publishers. | {
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Cop 'p' was born in 1958.
'p' retired in around 2015, I was told this by one cop, but it is not confirmed.
One cop's wife said 'p' was on TV news
in 2007 , talked about subway crimes.
FUNNIST thing is 'p' is
C hristian,
everyday
doing the evil,
anti - Christian
things.
He thinks his crimes and sins will be forgiven and saved, if he repents after he takes money and kills me.
'p' repents and prays everyday for saving, but breaks into my house everyday, talks shit about me in my neihbors, shops, banks,, ets wherever I go.
Cop 'p' is afraid of me going to church, makes me unconscious when I go to chirch.
is
anti - Christian
, the mark of the beast, 666
Everybody! plz pray to God this
anti - Christian,
satan cop 'p' "Go To Hell"
The'p'prays to god for repenting his sins, but right after repening, he keeps | {
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Researcher studying squid-human bacteria connection
by Tim Crosby
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Take a look at the probiotic movement among health-conscious people today -- from fermented foods like yogurt to pills containing bacteria -- and it’s easy to see how far humans’ thinking on bacteria has come.
While we spent many years as a culture thinking of bacteria as one of the “bad guys,” the scientific outlook has begun leaning more and more in the direction of our co-existence being more of a partnership than a battle.
Bacteria and their host animals influence one another in fundamental and profound ways, said Bethany Rader, assistant professor of microbiology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She focuses on the mechanisms that have evolved to establish and maintain this relationship, with special emphasis on the host’s innate immune system and how it negotiates this beneficial relationship.
“All animals have bacteria that live in them and on them, and these bacteria help our bodies function normally and help keep us healthy,” Rader said. “Thinking about them as the good guys is still a new and exciting topic, and in fact has really started to change how we think about health and medical treatment.”
While all higher order animals -- metazoans -- have lifelong relationships with bacteria, Rader and her students use what some might consider to be an unusual platform to study this symbiotic relationship between a host and so-called “good” bacteria: the Hawaiian bobtailed squid, housed in laboratories on campus.
The squid has a specialized organ that houses a dense bacterial culture. In return for a safe nutrient rich place to live, the bacteria, known as Vibrio fischeri, produce light that camouflage the squid from its predators swimming beneath. It’s a perfect example of an animal and bacteria living together in a mutually beneficial way.
It may seem strange, but squid and humans have a lot in common, on other levels. We share what is known as an “innate immune system,” which is sort of the “first responder,” and it is what causes initial inflammatory response during an infection.
Because of those similarities, researchers expect both human and squid innate immune systems to act in similar ways when they are deciding whether to mount a response against symbiotic bacteria.
Another reason for looking at squid is that the symbiotic organ -- or light organ -- of the squid, is similar to organs in the human body that are colonized by beneficial bacteria. The symbiotic relationship that occurs inside this organ is similar to the symbiosis in its gut, as both involve large populations of bacteria residing in the lumen of an epithelia-lined organ.
Squid also are smaller than rodents, easier to house and they can produce a large number of egg clutches containing a large number of hatchlings, Rader said. Her first group of adult research squid, for example, produced about 4,000 hatchlings in four months, which is something that rodent models could not do. The high numbers allow for more experiments and higher confidence in the results of those experiments, Rader said.
“Since it is unethical and impossible do many of the experiments to answer these questions on humans, we mainly utilize the squid as a model for humans in our lab,” Rader said. “It may seem a little weird to use a squid as a proxy for humans, but they share a lot of organs, organ systems and the innate immune system with us that are similar in structure and function, and are simpler than humans.”
Rader also is looking at how enzymes made by the squid can detoxify a substance known as “endotoxin” that is found in the cell walls of the bacteria in its light organ. Endotoxin exists in the gut of both squid and humans, but usually neither host mounts an immune response to its presence. Understanding this non-response may unlock further treatments for gut maladies.
“We can then collaborate with researchers in drug development and clinical work to apply the knowledge we’ve gained from the squid to develop treatments for people who are undergoing inflammatory bowel diseases that are a result of the endotoxin that is not properly detoxified,” Rader said. “So we are hoping that with this particular project and with other projects in the squid, that we can understand the process of correct partnership so we can develop ways to help people where the partnership has turned toxic.”
Rader and her team also are looking at questions such as how our bodies choose our bacterial partners -- or perhaps how our bacterial partners pick us -- when we are born. Another question she is researching -- how our bacterial partners influence our nervous system during development or after injury – is a cooperative effort with Michael Hylin, assistant professor of psychology at SIU.
Most of the research takes place in the basement at Lindegren Hall, where a series of tanks with cubicles house the male and female squid as well as an egg hatching operation. The National Institutes of Health is funding the research with a three-year, $433,650 grant that is renewable. Eventually, the research may expand to the new Aquatic Research Laboratory in the McLafferty Annex on the far west edge of campus, which would provide room for more collaborative study.
Understanding more about our symbiotic relationship with bacteria, including the bacteria found in our digestive systems, can lead to better treatments for conditions associated with that area, and with other diseases not typically associated with our bacteria, Rader said. Altered intestinal bacterial communities, for instance, are associated with diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and cirrhosis, and at least in rodents, associated with elevated stress and anxiety-related behaviors.
Overall, the work also could ultimately help medical professionals develop better treatments for ailments such as inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, and metabolic disease such as obesity and diabetes, among others.
“We are already implementing what we are learning about the microbiome in the clinical setting,” Rader said.
An extreme, slightly disgusting example that has gained some attention lately is fecal transplant, which involves directly implanting a healthy person’s fecal microbiota into an unhealthy person. Fecal transplants are being utilized as a treatment for severe intestinal inflammatory conditions.
Or it can be as simple as following a doctor’s recommendation to eat yogurt to recover from a course of antibiotic treatment, which can negatively alter microbiota community in the gut.
“It’s a really, really exciting time to be a scientist in this field,” Rader said. “Now everyone can love their bacteria as much as I do!”
Rader’s work soon will be featured on a website called bioGraphic, a multimedia magazine powered by the California Academy of Sciences created to showcase both the wonder of nature and the most promising approaches to sustaining life on Earth. | {
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Let’s say that we have an AST that holds integer nodes. We want to print double the value of all nodes. We can do something like this
class IntegerNode def initialize ( value ) @value = value end def double @value * 2 end end class Ast def initialize @nodes = [] @nodes << IntegerNode . new ( 2 ) @nodes << IntegerNode . new ( 3 ) end def print_double @nodes . each do | node | puts node . double end end end ast = Ast . new ast . print_double # => 4 6
Above solution works. Now let’s try to print triple the value. In order to do that we need to change class IntegerNode . And IntegerNode has knowledge of how to print triple value. Tomorrow if we have another node called FloatNode then that node will have knowledge about how to double and triple the value.
Nodes are merely storing information. And the representation of data should be separate from the data itself. So IntegerNode and FloatNode should not know about how to double and triple .
To take the data representation code out of nodes we can make use of visitor pattern . Visitor pattern uses double dispatch .
Before we look at “double dispatch” let’s first look at “single dispatch”.
Single dispatch
When we invoke a method in ruby we are using single dispatch. In single dispatch, method invocation is done based on a single criteria: class of the object. Most of the object oriented programming languages use single dispatch system.
In the following case method double is invoked solely based on the class of node .
node . double
Double dispatch
As the name suggests in the case of Double dispatch dispatching depends on two things: class of the object and the class of the input object.
Ruby inherently does not support “Double dispatch”. We will see how to get around that issue shortly. First let’s see an example in Java which support Double dispatch. Java supports method overloading which allows two methods with same name to differ only in the type of argument it receives.
class Node def double ( Integer value ); value * 2 ; end def double ( String value ); Integer . parseInt ( value ) * 2 ; end end node . double ( 2 ) node . double ( "51" )
In the above case the method that would be invoked is decided based on two things: class of the object ( node ) and the class of the value (Integer or String). That’s why this is called Double dispatch .
In ruby we can’t have two methods with same name and different signature because the second method would override the first method. In order to get around that limitation usually the method name has class name. Let’s try to write above java code in ruby.
class Node def accept value method_name = "visit_ #{ value . class } " send method_name end def visit_Integer value value * 2 end def visit_String value value . to_i * 2 end end
If the above code is not very clear then don’t worry. We are going to look at visitor pattern in ruby and that will make the above code clearer.
Visitor pattern
Now let’s get back to the problem of traversing the AST. This time we are going to use “Double dispatch” so that node information is separate from representation information.
In visitor pattern nodes define a method called accept . That method accepts the visitor and then that method calls visit on visitor passing itself as self.
Below is a concrete example of visitor pattern. You can see that IntegerNode has method accepts which takes an instance of visitor as argument. And then visit method of visitor is invoked.
class Node def accept visitor raise NotImpelementedError . new end end module Visitable def accept visitor visitor . visit self end end class IntegerNode < Node include Visitable attr_reader :value def initialize value @value = value end end class Ast < Node def initialize @nodes = [] @nodes << IntegerNode . new ( 2 ) @nodes << IntegerNode . new ( 3 ) end def accept visitor @nodes . each do | node | node . accept visitor end end end class DoublerVisitor def visit subject puts subject . value * 2 end end class TriplerVisitor def visit subject puts subject . value * 3 end end ast = Ast . new puts "Doubler:" ast . accept DoublerVisitor . new puts "Tripler:" ast . accept TriplerVisitor . new # => Doubler : 4 6 Tripler : 6 9
Above code used only IntegerNode . In the next example I have added StringNode . Now notice how the visit method changed. Now based on the class of the argument the method to dispatch is being decided.
class Node def accept visitor raise NotImpelementedError . new end end module Visitable def accept visitor visitor . visit ( self ) end end class IntegerNode < Node include Visitable attr_reader :value def initialize value @value = value end end class StringNode < Node include Visitable attr_reader :value def initialize value @value = value end end class Ast < Node def initialize @nodes = [] @nodes << IntegerNode . new ( 2 ) @nodes << StringNode . new ( "3" ) end def accept visitor @nodes . each do | node | node . accept visitor end end end class BaseVisitor def visit subject method_name = "visit_ #{ subject . class } " . intern send ( method_name , subject ) end end class DoublerVisitor < BaseVisitor def visit_IntegerNode subject puts subject . value * 2 end def visit_StringNode subject puts subject . value . to_i * 2 end end class TriplerVisitor < BaseVisitor def visit_IntegerNode subject puts subject . value * 3 end def visit_StringNode subject puts subject . value . to_i * 3 end end ast = Ast . new puts "Doubler:" ast . accept DoublerVisitor . new puts "Tripler:" ast . accept TriplerVisitor . new # => Doubler : 4 6 Tripler : 6 9
Real world usage
Arel uses visitor pattern to build query tailored to the specific database. You can see that it has a visitor class for sqlite3, mysql and Postgresql.
You can read more about “double dispatch” in this article by Aaron Patterson. | {
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The destruction of part of a well-known sculpture in downtown Saskatoon was an accident, the City of Saskatoon says.
Around 8 p.m. CST on Monday night, two of the pieces in Leslie Potter's sculpture Visionaries were knocked over and smashed.
"We are somewhat relieved it appears the damage was accidental," Community Initiatives Manager, Kevin Kitchen said in a media release.
"Of course, we would prefer no harm come to public works of art, but we are similarly encouraged the artist tells us he believes it can be restored."
The City received information that police were called after a traffic collision involving multiple vehicles caused damage to the statue.
Kitchen said staff are following up with the City's insurance company and the artist to see what the next steps will be.
The three tall stone figures have stood on the corner of 2nd Avenue and 21st Street since 1994.
Security tape surrounds one of the pillars knocked down last night. (Joshua Lynn/CBC News) Artist Leslie Potter was shocked by what happened but said he believes he can fix the stone pillars.
"I feel better being here and seeing it than I did on the images," he said.
"I think I can do some restoration work."
A plaque on the base of the statues says the sculpture represents the "need to develop peace in our time."
Potter is a well-known artist in Saskatoon, and has been making art since the early 1970s. He said the artwork was important to him because it was one of the few large stone carvings he has done.
Tuesday afternoon, Potter joined crews to pick up the remaining pieces and transport them back to his studio.
"If the City wants it back, they can have it back," he said.
Potter said it will not be restored until at least the Fall.
One of the pieces in the sculpture Visionaries was destroyed last night. (Victoria Dinh/CBC News) Many people stopped by the iconic carvings to take pictures. Kitchen said it is representative of how much the artwork meant.
"People have been walking by, taken pictures and told us how upset they are to see this work smashed like this," he said. | {
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A Democratic state lawmaker in Kentucky last week introduced a bill that would require men to meet with their doctor twice and obtain permission from their wives before obtaining a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction. The bill is designed as a critique to the restrictions on abortion access passed by the state.
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian (pictured above), the lawmaker who introduced the bill, told Louisville paper The Courier-Journal in an interview published on Monday that she wants to protect men and make sure they understand the side effects of drugs like viagra.
“I want to protect these men from themselves,” she said.
The bill, in addition to requiring two office visits and written permission from a man’s wife, directs doctors to “prescribe a drug for erectile dysfunction only to a man who is currently married.” The legislation also requires “a man to make a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible that he will only use a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction when having sexual relations with his current spouse.”
Marzian told The Courier-Journal that she introduced the bill in response to the passage of a bill that requires women to get counseling 24 hours in advance of obtaining an abortion. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Matt Bevin (R) earlier in February.
She said that she proposed the legislation to protest a largely male General Assembly writing legislation about women’s health issues.
“Do we really want a bunch or [sic] legislators interfering in private, personal, medical decisions?” she said, according to the Courier-Journal.
Marzian told Louisville television station WDRB that she proposed the bill to “have government insert itself into the personal, private decisions of men — since we have already inserted it into our personal, private decisions of women.”
“Maybe it will wake some people up in this state to say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, where are they going with seven abortion bills?'” she told WDRB. | {
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Eagles Wake-Up Call: Rookies Riding High
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The early returns on the 2012 draft class are pretty impressive. Here’s a snapshot of some of their accomplishments through three preseason games:
Nick Foles: 63 % completion rate, six touchdowns, two interceptions. He leads all QB’s in touchdown passes and is second to only Matt Ryan in passing yards. Has a 112.2 quarterback rating.
Bryce Brown: Averaging 5.4 yards/carry, has two runs of 20-plus yards.
Damaris Johnson: Averaging 55 receiving yards per game and 24 yards per reception, with one touchdown.
Brandon Boykin: Averaging 28 yards per kick return. Pushing Joselio Hanson for starting nickel corner.
Cliff Harris: Two passes defensed and an interception.
Vinny Curry: Leads team with 14 tackles.
Mychal Kendricks: Second on team with 13 tackles.
Fletcher Cox doesn’t have any statistics that wow you, but he’s been starting at D-tackle and could conceivably have the biggest impact of them all. There’s Dennis Kelly, who started at right tackle in Todd Herremans’ absence Friday, and running back Chris Polk as well.
While some will fade into the backdrop come the regular season, odds are that at least a couple will contribute when the calendar flips to September.
“You’ve got some ballers,” said Kendricks.
WHAT YOU MISSED
Though the Foles excitement is tempered a little more internally, one teammate concedes that the QB is having “times of greatness.” One person responded on Twitter saying that would be his fantasy team’s name this year.
Sheil did a review of the offense’s performance overall. Demetress Bell is still struggling.
The defensive line continues to impress, and the Eagles are facing some difficult decisions with cut-down day right around the corner. Or are they?
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Matthew Berry of ESPN wrote about his experience as a panelist alongside Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy for a fantasy football event hosted by Mike Missanelli. He was able to get a couple good fantasy nuggets out of it.
After explaining how the fantasy scoring worked, I asked Vick point-blank which Eagles receiver I wanted this year. Kudos to Vick and McCoy for answering. DeSean Jackson, said Vick. McCoy agreed. Really, I said? Not Jeremy Maclin? “I don’t know … DeSean’s catching a lot of balls in practice,” Vick said. They had nothing bad to say about Maclin, but Jackson is the one they were talking up.
Here’s a piece from Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer for a Browns perspective. Let’s just say there is not a ton of confidence emanating from the city of Cleveland after Friday night.
If this was the vanilla version of the Philadelphia Eagles, Brandon Weeden could be in for a long afternoon when they return Sept. 9 with their full array of flavors.
Reuben Frank at CSN Philly details Trent Edwards‘ push to claim a roster spot, which would come at the expense of Mike Kafka.
WHAT’S NEXT
Practice at 11:00. Andy Reid will address the media after that. Then it’s Flight Night at Lincoln Financial Field at 7:30. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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has a coexist bumper sticker on car hates religion | {
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On March 19th, the Canadian government released its updated guidelines for legal cannabis, which features strict guidelines for packaging, labeling, and health warnings- but how effective will they be?
According to Health Canada’s press release, the government is taking an “an evidence-informed, public health approach”, after receiving comments from over 3,200 Canadians during its 60-day public consultation period.
Packaging and Labels
The government said that a “clear majority” of respondents supported its packaging and labeling proposals, which include:
tamper-proof and child-resistant packaging
strict limits on the use of colours and graphics
labels that contain health warnings and specific product information (such as potency)
a standardized cannabis symbol.
Those that called the packaging requirements too strict felt that branding was necessary to distinguish products from competitors and the black market, and because of this, the government said it would allow one more brand element in addition to the brand name, such as a logo or slogan, but certain restrictions apply- if it’s a slogan, the text can’t be larger than the health warning, and if it’s a logo, it can’t be larger than the standardized cannabis symbol.
The labels and packages are also required to be one uniform colour (both inside and out) and metallic or fluorescent colours are banned, along with any inserts producers might have wanted to include in the packages.
The proposed packaging guidelines for recreational cannabis are considerably more strict than the current guidelines regarding medical cannabis, and medical cannabis producers are getting a 6-month grace period to bring their labels and packaging in line with the new regulations.
Health Warnings
All packages will be required to have one of six proposed health warnings, included below:
Cannabis smoke is harmful. Do not use if pregnant or breastfeeding. Do not drive or operate machinery after using cannabis. Cannabis can be addictive. Regular use of cannabis can increase the risk of psychosis and schizophrenia. Adolescents are at greater risk of harms from cannabis.
Each health warning also comes with a secondary sentence, and there are sometimes multiple sentences to choose from, such as with “Cannabis can be addictive“, which has three options:
Up to half of people who use cannabis on a daily basis have work, social or health problems from using cannabis. 1 in 11 people who use cannabis will become addicted. Up to 1 in 2 people who use cannabis daily will become addicted.
Will these packaging rules work?
We can’t know for sure until it happens, but in countries that have introduced similar plain packaging laws for cigarettes, the results have been mixed and its effectiveness in decreasing the smoking rate is heavily debated.
Besides, most provinces and territories are deciding to go with stand-alone, age-restricted cannabis stores that only sell cannabis and related products, so the risk of youth seeing these products and enticed into using them is already minimal (as long as parents store and use their cannabis responsibly), and many cannabis advocates see these packaging rules as overkill.
When Australia introduced plain packaging rules for tobacco in 2012, smoking rates had already been in decline for decades, and there are other factors that have a greater influence on consumers’ behaviour such as increased tobacco taxes, which took place around the same time that plain packaging was implemented, and increased public awareness of smoking’s harms. How much credit can be given to plain packaging alone is hard to say because it’s a confluence of all these factors working together.
But one thing that is not up for debate is plain packaging’s effect on contraband tobacco. The market share of counterfeit cigarettes increased by 25% in the first two years that Australia required plain packaging on tobacco. | {
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We had a big cleanout in exchanges. CoinExchange died )sadly), CryptoBridge went scam (WTF), OpenLedger went scam long ago (WTF WTF).
So we had just Bittrex for now since our launch (we had also Cryptys in 2014, went scam).
UpBit was clearing their coins right now but we of course are re-added to the markets and you can trade there.
Other than, this you can trade EXCL on BTCPOP which ois a huge portal for lending and many other things.
We are in works of adding 2 more exchanges (already in tests) and 2 more (not signed yet).
lets see how it goes.
Follow us - https://twitter.com/exclusivecoin | {
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(WJHL) – Summer is starting to wind down, but experts are reminding everyone that ticks are still out in full force.
In 2019 so far, the Tennessee Department of Health has had 37 Lyme disease cases reported, and 275 Spotted Fever cases. In Virginia, there have been 438 Lyme disease cases and 164 Spotted Fever reports.
Jamie Swift is the corporate director for infection prevention at Ballad Health. She said ticks are present year-round and it is imperative to prepare even before you find a tick.
You can find this blood-sucking nuisance in moist, wooded areas.
“It’s really important for people to be aware, to know that they may have been in an area that had ticks, to do the check,” Swift said.
Therefore, it is important to stay protected while spending time outside.
“Long sleeves, long pants. I know it’s hard in the summer months, but as much as you can wear. Long covering so the ticks don’t have a chance to embed in your skin,” Swift said.
Even weeks after removing a tick, take note of possible symptoms.
She explained, “If you see that bullseye rash, absolutely go see a provider, but other than that headaches, fever, rashes in general. It’s really important to relay to your provider that you may have had a tick exposure.
Veterinarians explain you need to watch for ticks on your pets as well.
“We’ve had very mild winters comparatively and I think as a result of that, we saw a very early appearance of ticks in this area, especially in southwestern Virginia,” Dr. Margaret Rucker with Southwest Virginia Veterinary Services said.
The ticks are more subtle in animals than in humans.
“Even though we can test for Lyme Disease sometimes in the peracute stage, when the dog is really sick with it, they may test negative,” Dr. Rucker said. “Ticks can hide anywhere in places on your pet that you wouldn’t think: down in the ear canal is a common place to find ticks. We found them in its mouth, we found them up under the gums.”
Over time, Dr. Rucker has also seen even the most commercialized products become less effective.
“Most of the oral products, if not all of the oral products for dogs are dispensed only through veterinarians just because these are very potent drugs and they have to be, it’s all based on body weight,” Dr. Rucker said.
As for hikers, officials tell me ticks seem to be quite heavy in the area right now so they advise you to cover up and to use products like permethrin on your clothes and gear. | {
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It’s been over a month since the new “cycling safety” rules came into force in New South Wales. Despite the protests of numerous cycling groups armed with a petition of over 10,000 signatures and a disallowance motion tabled in state parliament by Greens MP, Mehreen Faruqi, the government appears intent on punishing two-wheeled human-powered road users.
Scores of cyclists have been issued major fines for minor offences including not having a bell on the handlebars, riding without a reflector, riding while helmet straps are loose and cycling on a footpath.
If social media can be believed, the evidence is that police are actively enforcing the section of the law that targets cyclists and ignoring the only provision that will truly keep bike riders safe – the one-metre distance required when passing a cyclist. Roads minister Duncan Gay can easily respond to these social media criticisms by releasing the figures on the number of cyclists and motorists fined under the new laws. So far, he hasn’t.
According to the Australian Cyclists Party, NSW police have managed to creatively interpret the “riding dangerously” provision. They’ve apparently fined a cyclist for “track standing” – the practise some cyclists can master of staying upright and cleated into the pedals while motionless at traffic lights. Perhaps the cops just don’t like posers?
Meanwhile, Sydney continues to suffer under traffic jams of Duncanian proportions. A bingle on the Harbour Bridge recently resulted in queues stretching back a whopping 12km. There was much antagonism on social media as commuters in buses complained that single-occupant cars were filling the transit lane, so even public transport could not get through. The only people moving were pedestrians and ... those lawbreaking cyclists.
A Fairfax Media analysis of the government’s recent Road Report showed that average commuting times have lengthened on a staggering 124 routes. Yet the NRMA keeps its head firmly stuck in the bitumen, claiming it’s the construction work on the new roads that’s slowing commute times. In transport-nirvana, once the work is complete, everyone will zip into the city at top speed!
Or, as report after report has shown, commute times will drop for a brief period before returning to snail-pace as the road clogs with more motorists, left to sit in a slow-moving car park. In some cases, these car-bound lemmings will be paying a toll for the privilege. No wonder so many Sydney motorists are angry and looking for a scapegoat. Ooh look, there goes another lycra-clad fool zipping past me. Arrest that man!
While Melbourne plans to have one-in-four city-bound commuters on a bicycle by 2020, the NSW government builds even more roads so the traffic jams can extend across the whole tortured city. With a blinkered transport policy that thunders “four wheels good, two wheels bad,” the environmentally-friendly, budget-conscious option of a network of bike lanes is ignored. Even the legendary traffic-snarled city of New York has woken up to the folly of building more roads, and instead installed a comprehensive cycle lane network.
Meanwhile, the NSW government has become guardians of an anti-youth, anti-fun agenda. The simple pleasures of cycling, getting a drink at any hour and protesting for what you believe in have all been subjected to hammer and walnut legislation.
If you’re seething about the daily time-consuming commute, direct your indignation at Duncan Gay, the man in charge of Sydney roads. Or buy a bike, plot a cycle route to the office – on what’s left of the city bike lanes – and laugh all the way to your morning latte. And can someone tell the police that fining cyclists for loose helmet straps won’t really solve a crime wave, fix Sydney traffic, or endear them to the community at large.
Welcome to NSW 2016. | {
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Photo: Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
This morning, the Trump administration rolled out new insurance rules allowing more Americans to use seemingly inexpensive, skimpy health plans. These plans — among their litany of shortcomings — sidestep the ACA’s requirements to cover maternity care.
By extending the legal limit of these short-term plans from three months to 12 months, the administration is encouraging Americans to buy insurance policies that health policy lobbyists have described as a “sham” and “junk insurance.” More important, hospitals and patient advocacy groups have been swift to warn Americans of the plans’ limitations: For example, unlike plans bound by the ACA, short-term plans can charge higher prices for customers with certain medical conditions, deny them coverage, and avoid covering certain preexisting conditions completely. While the plans present lower premiums for patients, they will require higher out-of-pocket costs, in addition to the limitations on coverage. When the Kaiser Family Foundation looked into short-term plans from two private insurance companies this past April, it found none covered maternity care, slightly over one quarter provided prescription drug coverage, and roughly half allowed for mental health benefits.
Since more widespread use of these short-term plans would drive patients away from Affordable Care Act marketplaces, prices would go up for those still covered by the ACA. Despite the “wall of opposition” by health-care professionals in response to the new rules, as described by the Washington Post, experts from conservative groups, like the Heritage Society and Cato Institute, commended the change.
“These plans aren’t for everyone,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a press release. But considering these plans’ incomprehensive coverage, it might be more accurate to say they’re for no one. | {
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Deftones bassist Chi Cheng remains in a “minimally conscious state” since a 2008 auto accident, but a small burst of hopeful vibes emitted from the Deftones stage last night in San Francisco: Cheng’s replacement Sergio Vega turned over bass duties for classic Deftones jam “Root” to Cheng’s teen son, Gabriel.
Video footage (above) shows Cheng the younger — a four-stringer and poet like his dad — rocking wildly (awesome) beneath a shiny spray of long hair (nice) and donning bass-playing gloves (sure) on the encore jam, for which he could kinda put his head down and play the same riff throughout. That’s good cuz in that situation holy shit who’d want to concentrate on more? (Even so, the lad got a moment of tech assistance at 3:35, cute.)
Head over to OneLoveForChi to throw in on Cheng’s healthcare costs.
–ADF
The Deftones’ seventh album Koi No Yokan set for release on November 13 (pre-order). They’re playing like four songs from it on tour now. | {
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The Seattle Streetcar Program remains committed to continued safety and reliability plus additional data collection.
Providing easy access to Metro transit routes, Link light rail, and the Sounder is paying off for the Seattle Streetcar program and its 1.7 million annual riders. In 2018, our Seattle Streetcar program saw an 18-percent ridership increase, which includes a 31-percent increase on the First Hill line.
Streetcar performance + citywide public transit enhancements = MORE transportation options for South Lake Union
While South Lake Union (SLU) ridership has remained consistent over the past three years with a slight four-percent decrease in 2018, we are pleased with overall ridership levels in the area. The Seattle Streetcar program sees the small decline as a direct reflection of the City’s successful efforts to increase city-wide transit service and multi-modal options and the availability of these opportunities to SLU riders.
Moving forward . . . Seattle Streetcar program seeks appropriations to advance Center City Connector
And speaking of more transit options, we are requesting a $9-million appropriation to perform essential engineering and design work for the Center City Connector project.
After Mayor Jenny Durkan issued a robust, independent review of the project in 2018 and revised the capital and operating cost estimates, which placed the project on better financial footing, we are now prepared to move forward with necessary projects activities including everything from platform and maintenance facility modifications, to roadway structure analysis, and essential design work.
All aboard! Next stop: accountability+ strong streetcar management = brand-new transit line
Today, we thrive under strong new leadership and a solid streetcar team committed to sound fiscal program management. We are fully committed to building a system that works financially and programmatically. Program staff is also looking at ways to expand its data collection to better understand ridership trends and demographics and strengthen operations.
In case you didn’t know, the Center City Connector is designed to add a critical link in the Seattle Streetcar network, proving millions of residents and visitors with easy access to dozens of popular local destinations between the First Hill and South Lake Union lines. It also links transit riders to regional bus routes, ferries at Colman Dock, and the continued expansion of the regional Link Light Rail network.
In addition, the project will build on the City’s investments in providing affordable transit opportunities through ORCA Lift, ORCA Opportunity and ORCA Youth to thousands of downtown households who need affordable transit options most.
Thank you Seattleites, Streetcar Supporters, Seattle City Council, and the Sustainability and Transportation Committee
Tuesday, July 30, SDOT Director Sam Zimbabwe, Seattle Streetcar Manager Chris Eilerman and Center City Connector Project Manager Eric Tweit will meet with the Sustainability and Transportation Committee to give a streetcar operation report on the existing streetcar lines, plus request the $9 million appropriation to move forward with essential work to advance the Center City Connector project.
Our leadership and the streetcar team are incredibly grateful for the time, energy and patience Seattle, the Streetcar Coalition and the Council has afforded the Department over the last year as it worked through an organizational re-alignment and adjustments to position the C3 project for success. With new leadership and dedicated program and project teams, we are confident it can responsibly deliver the Center City Connector project. Seattle residents, businesses, and visitors deserve the best. And we are committed to giving its best in service to all.
Learn more about the Seattle Streetcar Program. | {
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The future of public transport? Map reveals how the entire WORLD could be connected using a global underground network
Chris Gray from West Yorkshire created his vision for a global Underground network when visiting Australia and wanting to 'nip home'
His dream is thought to be currently 'impossible' because tunnels would have to be so deep beneath the waves and cross tectonic plates
One expert thinks pneumatic tube systems like the proposed 'hyperloop' and floating tunnels could connect the world in the future
The maps are inspired by Harry Beck's map of the London Underground
Some train journeys feel like they take forever - especially when there are numerous transfers and waits in between flights and trains. But what if you could board a train in Madras, India and travel to Boston with no changes?
One man has imagined the world as a giant London Underground map where people can travel freely between countries and traverse vast bodies of water from the comfort of their seat while vehicles speed through vast tunnels.
While his dream is currently ‘impossible’, engineers are constantly trying to develop new ways to connect countries.
Place cursor on map below to magnify
THE CHALLENGES OF TUNNELLING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC A project to build an underwater tunnel across the Atlantic would need an unlimited budget and new technology to enable tunnels to withstand the pressure exerted by miles of water above.
The idea of tunnelling under the ocean is probably not feasible because of the depth of abysses and tectonic plate boundaries, according to one expert. Engineers currently manage to construct between 20metres and 30metres of tunnel a day using new techniques.
If an underground tunnel could be built in a straight line across the Atlantic Ocean from London to New York - 459miles (5,567km) - at the rate of building 30metres a day, it would take around 508 years to construct.
These range from floating tunnels and pneumatic tubes to routes cutting through mountain ranges such as the Alps.
Chris Gray, 47, came up with his whimsical idea for the map when watching a cricket match in Australia.
‘I was sat in Melbourne after watching England lose another test and thought it would be great to nip over to England for Christmas and New Year and then go back to the sun, so I came up with the idea of a world Underground and started drawing it,’ he told MailOnline.
A web developer by trade, Mr Gray, who lives in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, described himself as ‘quite logical’ and decided to position ‘nodes’ or Tube stops at densely populated cities and worked out the connections from there.
He has also created maps showing an upside down version of his vision and of what a network of multinational companies connected by tube lines would look like, spending approximately 500 hours on his creations.
The style of the ‘Eurocentric’ world Tube map is inspired by the work of Harry Beck, who was the technical draftsman who created the present London Underground map in 1931 – also, initially in his spare time.
Web developer Chris Gray came up with his idea for a global Underground map (pictured) when he was visiting Australia and suddenly wanted to 'nip home'. He picked the stops by picking 'nodes' at densely populated cities and worked out the connections from there
The style of the 'Eurocentric' world Tube map is inspired by the work of Harry Beck, who was the technical draftsman who created the present London Underground map in 1931 ¿ also, initially in his spare time. This segment of the map shows how a person could hop on a train at Birmingham and travel to New York without any changes
‘I was inspired by Beck’s model. Mine has a 1930s feel – I wanted to capture that,’ said Mr Gray, who also explained that he has always had a keen love of geography and is now selling his unusual maps online.
The 'Tri-Continental' line is red, like London's Central Line on the map, while the grey line is the 'U.S.' and the black line the 'Australasia Pan-Pacific'.
While the vision isn't to be taken entirely seriously, bridge and tunnelling expert Robert Benaim, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said more countries could become connected by physical structures in the future – although underground tunnels might be ‘impossible’ in some places.
Although engineers completed the Channel Tunnel 20 years ago and the Bosphorus sub-sea tunnel in Turkey recently, Mr Benaim doesn't believe the technology exists to build vast tunnels across the Atlantic.
‘One could tunnel marginally feasibly within continental shelves but there are extremely deep ocean chasms and tunnels would have to be very deep to avoid them,’ he told MailOnline.
A corporate world: Mr Gray has also created maps showing an upside down version of his vision and of what a network of multinational companies connected by tube lines would look like (pictured), spending approximately 500 hours on his creations
Musk believes it would take just 30 minutes to travel the 381 miles from Los Angeles to San Francisco ¿ half the time it takes in a plane ¿ and likened the passenger experience to Disneyland's rocket ride Space Mountain.
THE AMAZING HYPERLOOP CONCEPT Tunnelling expert Robert Benaim told MailOnline that a network like the hyperloop concept is likely to play a role in a future global transport network as well as underground tunnels.
The high speed transport network for California is the brainchild of Elon Musk, who is also behind the online payment system PayPal.
He claims the hyperloop, which is almost like a giant pneumatic tube, would take just 30 minutes to travel 381miles from los Angles to San Francisco - half the time of a plane.
Mr Musk’s idea is based on the pneumatic tubes that fire capsules of paperwork between floors in offices. In this case, the capsules would carry people – even cars – in low-pressure tubes to minimise turbulence and maximise speed.
Mr Musk described the Hyperloop design as looking like a shotgun, with the tubes running side-by-side for most of the journey, then closing at either end to form a loop.
Trains of capsules would shoot through the almost air-free tube at up to 760mph (1,223km/h), accelerated by magnets which would also keep each pod on a steady course.
Each capsule would float on a cushion of air it creates as it speeds along – similar to an air hockey table.
Capsules carrying six to eight people would depart every 30 seconds, with tickets costing around £13 each way.
Such a project would need an almost unlimited budget and time to create tunnels long enough to cross the Atlantic, he added.
Super high-speed vehicles would also need to be developed in order to make a trip beneath the ocean comparable to taking a flight.
And then there are tectonic plates and enormous underwater mountain ranges to consider.
Mr Benaim said: ‘The idea of tunnelling under the ocean is probably not feasible because of the depth of abysses and tectonic plate boundaries. I suppose you could go round Greenland and the Arctic [to connect Europe with America].
His suggested solution to the Atlantic problem is quite simple, however.
'Why should we imagine this map and network as an underground?’ he said.
He explained that a pneumatic tube similar to the grand plans for a 760mph (1,223km/h) ‘hyperloop’ in California might be more feasible.
He believes that a global connected transport system will one day use a number of technologies including long-distance tunnels and over ground high-speed networks.
Engineers have made incredible progress in tunnelling but they can only manage to construct between 65ft and 98ft (20 and 30 metres) of tunnel per day using the latest techniques, which often involve spraying concrete.
If an underground tunnel could be built in a straight line across the Atlantic Ocean from London to New York - 459miles (5,567km) - at the rate of building 98ft (30 metres) a day, it would take around 508 years to construct.
The pressures on such tunnels under miles of water would be ‘enormous’ and would cave in if built with current technology.
Tiny submarines can currently dive around two miles beneath the waves and maintain normal air pressure inside for passengers, but a large tunnel with train inside is quite a different challenge. Mr Benaim said it is ‘impossible’ at the moment.
New perspective: This map is a whimsical upside down take on a global transport network. 'I was inspired by Beck's model. Mine has a 1930s feel' said Mr Gray
‘But the idea of connecting countries is good and fun. It doesn’t have to be underground,’ he said.
The tunnelling expert suggested that floating tunnels could one day be built to cross oceans – providing there’s enough time and an enormous budget.
‘You would need to find a way of avoiding boats…but at 65ft to 98ft ( 20 to 30 metres) beneath the water’s surface, staying clear from shipping lanes, they could be made buoyancy neutral and tethered to the sea floor, could withstand long distances,’ he said.
‘If I were connecting the world in the future I would use a mixture of different techniques – tunnel under mountains, use a hyperloop and floating tunnels under the sea.
‘The idea of connectivity within continents isn’t outrageous. There could be all sorts of solutions,’ he said.
Engineers have acheived some remarkable tunnelling feats in recent times. An illustration of how an underground railway route linking Istanbul's European side with it's Asian side was created is pictured. After eight years of construction, Turkey recently opened the first rail tunnel under the Bosphorus Strait
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In an interview with Daily Sport, Sandro Rosell expressed his views on the price tag for Gareth Bale's potential move to Real Madrid.
"Time will tell if €120 million for Bale is expensive or not. You have to throw into the mix the number of years he's been playing, the number of minutes he's played, the titles he's won, his salary, his career and how much the manager wants him. That's the only way to find out if he's value for money. Bale always plays so he is much cheaper than others who haven't played at all." | {
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If I got a box with Pinkie Pie in it saying "Hi!" this way, I think I'd be scared. | {
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AWARTA, West Bank — The freshly spray-painted signs in this hamlet outside Nablus are a symbol of the new normal in the West Bank, seven months into a scattershot wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
With the Israeli military having shut down the main road, local teenagers put up signs to coax Palestinian drivers along circuitous routes to Ramallah, the seat of Palestinian government, and Huwara, a neighboring village.
Such pop-up checkpoints and closings lasting several days have disrupted the routines of Palestinian residents, whose ability to move through the occupied territory was already precarious. But the pinpointed strategy targeting mainly individual villages sporadically is a stark departure from the widespread closings and curfews Israel imposed on West Bank cities during the second intifada, making its effect harder for the world — and even people next door — to see and feel.
Palestinian officials and their backers denounce the road closings as collective punishment. They have not, however, gained much traction for protest among their own people, because residents of one village sometimes have no inkling what is happening a few miles away, and Ramallah, the center of West Bank political and civic life, has remained largely immune. | {
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As the 2020 Olympics approach, Sony is demolishing its flagship store to create a temporary park. Is this an attempt to modernise the Japanese electronics brand – or just another nail in the coffin for Tokyo’s postwar architecture?
For half a century, the Sony Building in Tokyo has attracted domestic and foreign tourists to the upmarket Ginza district. The flagship building went up in 1966 at a time when the high-rise megalopolis that would eventually provide the set for Blade Runner and the inspiration for Akira was still in its infancy, and displayed world-changing products such as the Walkman and Trinitron TV.
Now, the consumer electronics company plans to demolish its own flagship store and temporarily replace it with a park. The loss of Yoshinobu Ashihara’s building will be felt in a Tokyo that constantly demolishes and rebuilds, wiping out its architectural heritage. But in a city like Tokyo where public space is woefully lacking – most of it indoors and devoted to retail – an urban oasis could actually help the city, not to mention the once-mighty company’s struggling brand.
Brutal and concrete from the outside, the Sony Building’s interior is something entirely different. Typical of Ashihara’s other buildings from this period, it has multiple-level floors that defy the conventions of the common retail complex. “I made the entire interior space continuous by placing 27 floors on successive different levels,” the architect wrote of the building. The result is a store where floors spiral round, like a staircase.
It was built at a time when Japanese architects were beginning to imagine a new, stronger and more confident city in the aftermath of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Fifty years later, that city has arrived – and seems determined to wipe out all trace of its past.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Critics have derided plans to demolish and rebuild Tokyo’s modernist 1962 Hotel Okura ahead of the 2020 Olympics. Photograph: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty
“The demolition of Yoshinobu Ashihara’s iconic landmark building deals another blow to preservation efforts of important postwar modern architecture,” said Dr Christian Dimmer, professor of urban studies at Waseda University in Tokyo. “It finds itself here in the company of the Hotel Okura, or the endangered Nakagin Capsule Tower, or the Kamakura MoMA.”
Indeed, preservation in Tokyo is a rarity. Ginza itself is a constant whirl of demolition and reconstruction. A short walk up the road is the Kabukiza Theatre, torn down and rebuilt five times since its 1889 opening. Its latest incarnation, designed by Kengo Kuma, has a 145m office tower jutting out of its back. Tsukiji, near the theatre, is about to demolish its gigantic fish market, depriving the city of one of its few Bauhaus-inspired pieces of architecture. Part of the land will now be a new road.
Sony’s decision to replace its building with open space was welcomed. “The choice to temporarily replace it with an actual park rather than a car park is certainly commendable,” said architect LS Peter Philipps of Design Fresco in Osaka. The store will close on 31 March 2017 and be replaced by roughly 700 sq m of wooden decking, seating and trees.
For a city of Tokyo’s size, there are few public spaces where people can relax for free, though of course there are some major exceptions such as Yoyogi park. If you want to sit down for a while, that usually means a cafe or restaurant.
“The problem is public space in Japan has become all about retail,” said Alastair Townsend, director and architect at Bakako Architects. “It is primarily an interior experience – public space is indoors in Japan.” In Tokyo, space for public good almost always loses out to utilitarian aesthetics and construction.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A model of the new Ginza Sony Park
“By making the Ginza Sony Park open to the public, Sony hopes to transform it into an event venue where visitors can enjoy unique Kando [emotionally moving] experiences, delivered by both Sony and others,” the company said in a statement. Today, with the influx of tourists, particularly Chinese, Ginza has become more associated with visitors who are looking to shop till they drop.
Misato Suzuki, a Sony spokeswoman, said the park was not specifically aimed at attracting crowds during the Olympics. “We are not an Olympic sponsor, but there are a lot more foreigners coming to the Ginza area now, so we felt they would appreciate the event space,” she said.
Those tourists, the company hopes, will appreciate the park and become more receptive to the Sony brand. “We are not 100% sure yet, but we envisage the space being used for concerts, movie viewing … things like that,” she said. “After that, in 2022, the new building will go up, and that will be used to showcase Sony products just as the current one is.” Plans for the new building have yet to be decided. In the meantime, Sony will open a temporary store to showcase its products at another Ginza location. The firm’s headquarters will remain in nearby Shinagawa.
Tokyo without ads: Japan's capital stripped bare – in pictures Read more
Pessimists about what will come in 2022 point to Sony’s last major architectural project in central Tokyo: the 25-floor Sony City Osaki. Commissioned before the global financial crisis and completed the month of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, it was sold in 2013; the Osaki area in general is considered an unmitigated disaster. What was supposed to be a flagship business centre in the west of Tokyo has more in common with Milton Keynes than Canary Wharf. Commuters come and go, but the smaller businesses that provide Tokyo so much of its cultural capital have mostly stayed away. At weekends, the area and its myriad skyscrapers are empty.
Regardless of what happens in 2022, for now residents will get to enjoy open space in a retail area, which is a rare treat in Tokyo. “Increasingly, there is a trend to make ‘private’ public spaces in new, large-scale projects,” says Phillips. “These are often skilfully designed into the development and well maintained. But they feel slightly artificial and lack a public quality.”
Perhaps the park will be the trigger for a renaissance in public space. “Sony’s precedent might encourage reluctant local governments to finally think about temporary public space interventions,” Dimmer said. “Why not similarly experiment with vacant public plots across Tokyo, and encourage wider community regeneration? After all, all Tokyo residents should benefit from exciting, inclusive public spaces, and not only affluent shoppers in a central business district like Ginza.”
Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter and Facebook and join the discussion | {
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Personalized Learning
Personalized Learning: from a teacher’s perspective
My definition of personalized learning means making sure you meet the student where she is on the education continuum and give her what she needs to be successful (to move further along the continuum). What does personalized learning look like in a second grade math classroom? Students receiving instruction on a skill and then practicing until mastery is just one part of the picture, especially for struggling students. Students work at their own pace on a variety of strategies to accomplish the same goal, for example, adding two-digit numbers. But what do you do when this is too difficult for a struggling student? Personalized learning can keep that student moving forward.
I recently had a conversation with the math coach at my school that sparked an epiphany. She asked, “What non-negotiables do the teachers in the next grade want students to have when they arrive in their classrooms?” Her question changed my way of thinking about my goals as a teacher. I have a learning disabled student who is never going to master the “number bond” way or “the arrow” way or any of the other methods for solving algorithms. How is my time best spent serving him then? What do 3rd grade teachers want to see from him when he arrives in their classroom?
Personalized Learning Case Study
My plan is to test him with two-digit addition and subtraction to get a baseline. My assessment will cover a variety of skills (e.g. regrouping). Once I find a starting point to begin instruction, his go-to strategy with be traditional vertical stacking. I will still introduce the other methods to him during whole class instruction, but with me one-on-one, vertical stacking will be our one method, which he will also practice independently. He will manipulate objects and practice online to increase his single-digit facility. I will make Quizlet flashcards for him to practice online at his own pace, to avoid the time component of most math games. I want him to have a low affective filter so I will limit stressors like time limits. The answers will be on the back of the flashcard and he will need to show his work and compare it to the flashcard.
The program we use for online practice that accompanies Eureka rotates through all the strategies. So, if I lower the level, it still won’t accomplish what I need for this targeted plan.
I will set incentives for him when he reaches a goal. The goals will be moving targets. So, the first goal might be two correct out of five to start and eventually eight out of ten, for example.
I want to increase engagement for him, so I need to connect it to something real-world. I’m thinking a hero’s journey or even connecting his practice to Pokemon. We could compare/combine achievement points of characters.
More Bang for My Buck
My final consideration is can I take what I’m doing for him and use it for my other students to work at their level? One idea I have is to run with the Pokemon theme and tell them they need to create combinations that will win a battle. I love the idea of having them create their own problems for a specific number I provide. I can set a target number and give them a list of Pokemon and their strengths (as digits). They will have to create a team that has that target number. To add cooperative learning, once a student has reached their target number, they can work with a partner. Student partners could share one of the Pokemon they used and have their partner determine the other member of the team using subtraction. There are lots of possibilities.
Stay tuned for my beginning data, updates, and results.
If you are interested in the documents I am creating or a link to the Quizlet, send me an email.
Get Free Email Updates! Signup now and receive an email once I publish new content. I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information I will never give away, trade or sell your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time. | {
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There’s a new place for New York theater reviews.
Those aren’t words you expect to hear these days, not as traditional media outlets scale back their theater coverage and more and more critics lose their full-time posts. But now a group of longtime reviewers — all veterans of city papers — has banded together to create New York Stage Review, a website that’s pushing back against criticism’s demise.
Launching March 20, just in time to catch the spring wave of big Broadway openings that began last week with “Escape to Margaritaville” and continues this week with “Frozen” and “Angels in America,” New York Stage Review comes online with some 20 pieces of criticism about recent spring openings. Reviews of new shows will post as opening night curtains come down — the same time reviews post at traditional media outlets.
“We want to keep our voice, and we feel that we need to keep encouraging good, interesting theater,” said Steven Suskin, the critic and musical theater historian (“Second Act Trouble,” “The Sound of Broadway Music”) who’s written reviews for Variety and HuffPost.
New York Stage Review is the brainchild of Suskin and Jesse Oxfeld, the former theater critic at The New York Observer, who had the digital publishing experience (at companies like Vox and Tablet Magazine) to oversee development of the site. “We really wanted it to be a well-designed, professional, serious site that takes a group of people who are professional writers and critics and stands out from amateur or enthusiast sites,” Oxfeld said.
There’s no funding for New York Stage Review — at least not yet. The critics on board the project are ponying up for the site’s development costs (in the low four figures) with the intent of figuring out a financial model once it’s up and running. Ad-supported, of course, is one possibility, as is the idea of filing for nonprofit status.
Along with Suskin and Oxfeld, the site’s roster of writers at launch also includes Elysa Gardner, who was the theater critic at USA Today for 16 years; Michael Sommers, formerly of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger; and David Finkle, who’s written on the arts for publications including the Village Voice. Over the years, all of them have found themselves out of a regular criticism job as the media landscape has changed.
“It’s been a remarkable, and a remarkably fast, shift,” noted Adam Feldman, the theater and dance editor at Time Out New York, who is also the president of the New York Drama Critics Circle. “Arts coverage, and especially opinionated arts coverage, looks like an easy cut if you’re a media outlet making budget adjustments under difficult circumstances. So unfortunately a lot of really valuable voices are being lost, and in some cases, decades of experience and perspective.”
“I think the enormous reduction in the number of critics makes it incredibly hard to sell shows, especially plays.”
Scott Rudin
The people who make theater can feel that loss, too. Andre Bishop, Lincoln Center Theater’s artistic director, has voiced support for New York Stage Review, as have playwright Doug Wright and busy stage and film producer Scott Rudin (“Hello, Dolly!,” “The Book of Mormon”).
“There’s a profound need for it,” said Rudin. “I think the enormous reduction in the number of critics makes it incredibly hard to sell shows, especially plays, where you really need them.”
For most productions, New York Stage Review will have more than one critic weigh in. That’s taken from the playbook of The New York Times, back when the paper ran both a first-night critic’s take and then a second-opinion, Sunday review by another critic — a tradition that began when Walter Kerr jumped to the Times after the New York Herald Tribune shuttered.
Each review on the new site will also have a star rating — the better to highlight the shows that score five stars. “It just seems right for expressing enthusiasm,” Suskin said.
Look for the first new reviews to post when incipient Disney blockbuster “Frozen” opens March 22. | {
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Are the Ebola outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal over?
Not quite yet.
If the active surveillance for new cases that is currently in place continues, and no new cases are detected, WHO will declare the end of the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Senegal on Friday 17 October. Likewise, Nigeria is expected to have passed through the requisite 42 days, with active surveillance for new cases in place and none detected, on Monday 20 October.
For Nigeria, WHO confirms that tracing of people known to have contact with an Ebola patient reached 100% in Lagos and 98% in Port Harcourt. In a piece of world-class epidemiological detective work, all confirmed cases in Nigeria were eventually linked back to the Liberian air traveller who introduced the virus into the country on 20 July.
The anticipated declaration by WHO that the outbreaks in these 2 countries are over will give the world some welcome news in an epidemic that elsewhere remains out of control in 3 West African nations.
In Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, new cases continue to explode in areas that looked like they were coming under control. An unusual characteristic of this epidemic is a persistent cyclical pattern of gradual dips in the number of new cases, followed by sudden flare-ups. WHO epidemiologists see no signs that the outbreaks in any of these 3 countries are coming under control.
How does WHO declare the end of an Ebola outbreak?
A WHO subcommittee on surveillance, epidemiology, and laboratory testing is responsible for establishing the date of the end of an Ebola outbreak.
The date is fixed according to rigorous epidemiological criteria based on the last day that any person in the country had contact with a confirmed or probable Ebola case.*
According to WHO recommendations, health care workers who have attended patients or cleaned their rooms should be considered as “close contacts” and monitored for 21 days after the last exposure, even if their contact with a patient occurred when they were fully protected by wearing personal protective equipment.
For health care workers, the date of the “last infectious contact” is the day when the last patient in a health facility tests negative using a real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
For WHO to declare an Ebola outbreak over, a country must pass through 42 days, with active surveillance demonstrably in place, supported by good diagnostic capacity, and with no new cases detected. Active surveillance is essential to detect chains of transmission that might otherwise remain hidden.
Incubation period
The period of 42 days, with active case-finding in place, is twice the maximum incubation period for Ebola virus disease and is considered by WHO as sufficient to generate confidence in a declaration that an Ebola outbreak has ended.
Recent studies conducted in West Africa have demonstrated that 95% of confirmed cases have an incubation period in the range of 1 to 21 days; 98% have an incubation period that falls within the 1 to 42 day interval. WHO is therefore confident that detection of no new cases, with active surveillance in place, throughout this 42-day period means that an Ebola outbreak is indeed over.
The announcement that the outbreaks are over, in line with the dates fixed by the subcommittee on surveillance, epidemiology, and laboratory testing, is made by the governments of the affected countries in close collaboration with WHO and its international partners.
Official announcements for the 2 countries will be made on the WHO website.
WHO recommendations for testing for Ebola virus disease and confirming a case
WHO is alarmed by media reports of suspected Ebola cases imported into new countries that are said, by government officials or ministries of health, to be discarded as “negative” within hours after the suspected case enters the country.
Such rapid determination of infection status is impossible, casting grave doubts on some of the official information that is being communicated to the public and the media.
For early detection of Ebola virus in suspected or probable cases, detection of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) or viral antigen are the recommended tests. Laboratory-confirmed cases must test positive for the presence of the Ebola virus, either by detection of viral RNA by RT-PCR, and/or by detection of Ebola antigen by a specific Antigen detection test, and/or by detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies directed against Ebola. Two negative RT-PCR test results, at least 48 hours apart, are required for a clinically asymptomatic patient to be discharged from hospital, or for a suspected Ebola case to be discarded as testing negative for the virus. Laboratory results should be communicated to WHO as quickly as possible, in addition to reporting under the requirements and within the timelines set out in the International Health Regulations, which are administered by WHO.
Note
WHO recommends that the first 25 positive cases and 50 negative specimens detected by a country without a recognized national reference viral haemorrhagic fever laboratory should be sent for secondary confirmatory testing to a WHO collaborating centre, designed as specialized in the safe detection (at biosafety level IV) of viral haemorrhagic fevers.
Similarly, for countries with a national reference laboratory for viral haemorrhagic fevers, the initial positive cases should also be sent to a WHO collaborating centre for confirmation.
If results are concordant, laboratory results reported from the national reference laboratory would be accepted by WHO.
* Updated 20 October 2014 (corrected terminology). | {
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He can't be serious. That's what all the late-night hosts and lists of ''craziest Kanye quotes'' told us about Kanye West in 2013. And sure, he's the one who said that thing about being a god, and that other thing about hurrying up with his damn massage. But like any human (even one who raps, ''No sports bra/Let's keep it bouncing''), Kanye's got every right to be serious. Asserting that freedom on Yeezus, he exposes the rage of a wildly ambitious artist confounded by the wily shape of racism today. He smashes the atoms of his fears, ego, and sex drive together for tracks like ''Black Skinhead,'' featuring rhymes about ''coon s---'' and a beat decidedly free of Under Armour. (It ended up soundtracking a popular TV spot for smartphones.) Mostly, his sound obsession runs riot, from the blown-speaker fuzz of ''On Sight'' to the abundance of dancehall singers and samples to ''Blood on the Leaves,'' with its unflinching appropriation of Nina Simone's ''Strange Fruit.'' The overriding message: Listen closely. Kanye will never validate anyone's celebrity worship. On Yeezus, though, he throws down serious thunderbolts.
Best Track: ''Blood on the Leaves'' | {
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Mattresses strewn across the street, a child crying, a woman shouting in despair – it was not a pretty scene in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem last Sunday, where two Palestinian families were evicted from the homes they had lived in for the last 50 years. Already a bitter pill to swallow, the sight of religious Jews immediately moving in to the properties can't have made things any easier for them.
However, things are not always what they seem and the eviction of the Hanoun and Ghawi families are an apt example of how an appetite for a certain type of story can create that story regardless of the facts. As an organisation that follows media coverage of the Middle East closely, we gathered from Sunday and Monday's reporting, such as on the BBC, in the Guardian and in the Times that the two Palestinian families were evicted because Israeli courts had found that the land belonged to Jews, not to the Palestinians living there. Cut to religiously clad Jews busting in to the newly vacated houses and the whole thing is just obvious: Israel mercilessly turfs Arabs on to the street to plant more settlers in east Jerusalem.
It turns out that this is simply not the case. In fact, there is nothing simple about this case at all. There is a long legal history pertaining to the dispute between 28 Arab families and Jewish organisations over the ownership of the land in question. However, one crucial point was omitted from all reporting from the British sources named above (bar a small amendment to the BBC article made yesterday following a communication from us): the two Arab families evicted on Sunday were evicted for failing to pay rent in violation of the terms of their tenancy agreements. The Arab families who have kept to the terms of their tenancy agreement have not been evicted.
It is true that the non-payment of rent is tied up with the dispute over who owns the land, but it is still intensely relevant to the story. It's all very well for the Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black, to describe the evictions as "the ugly face of ethnic cleansing" or for Cif contributor Matt Kennard to claim that they represent "a process of racial purification". But without informing readers that the only people being evicted are the ones who refused to pay rent to the landlords they recognised decades ago, they paint a distorted picture.
As a story that has been widely reported and stirs deep emotions, it is vital that crucial facts are not erased from the narrative. There can be no doubt that there are clearly issues of inequality in Jerusalem which need to be addressed but that is no excuse for British journalists and commentators to misrepresent this particular story. Liberal Israeli daily Ha'aretz saw fit to mention the non-payment of rent element in its reporting, as did the Jerusalem Post.
This information was public. Furthermore, Ir Amim, the Israeli organisation supporting the position of the evicted families, is straight about the fact that the families are being evicted for not paying rent; a representative stated: "The legal issues surrounding the Sheikh Jarrah evictions are quite complex. In short, the Israeli courts have accepted the settlers' claim of ownership over the property, but recognised the Palestinian residents to be protected tenants. Some of the 28 families continued to pay the rent, but some did not accept the court's ruling and therefore did not pay the rent. Against those, the court issued eviction orders."
So why the collective exclusion of this key fact from British reporting? | {
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The Gyft app stores all your gift cards in one place
How to add almost any gift card to Passbook
The Gyft app stores all your gift cards in one place
Gyft is a no-frills gift card manager | {
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With the new GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti for laptops you can experience fast, smooth gaming experiences and:
There are 30+ laptop designs shipping in Q1 from the world's leading OEMs. At CES this week alone, models from Acer, Alienware, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and MSI will be on show, with many models available for purchase this week, all of them featuring Intel's newest Kaby Lake platform for laptops. Pricing will vary from OEM, but we expect to see retail pricing starting at around $699 USD. | {
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Getty Images
The Colts have high hopes for this season. How high?
Owner Jim Irsay isn’t afraid to put the Super Bowl out there as the goal.
“This team is one of the best teams that I’ve had the privilege to bring to our fans,” Irsay said Saturday, via Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “It honestly matches some of those days of Peyton [Manning], Edgerrin [James], Reggie [Wayne], all of those guys.”
The Colts’ last Super Bowl title came in Miami when Indianapolis beat the Bears in XLI to end the 2006 season. Super Bowl LIV is in Miami in February.
Irsay knows first hand it takes more than talent to win a Vince Lombardi Trophy, remembering the 2009 team that lost to the Saints in the Super Bowl after going 14-2 in the regular season.
“You have to have confidence, but it’s tempered by the fact that there is so much that has to happen,” Irsay said. “What I’d like to see us do, and it’s not an essential, but it certainly would be helpful, is to see this team get home-field advantage. You’re two games away from the Super Bowl, both games at home. That is a huge advantage.”
The Colts, though, appear built to contend for awhile, with their window wide open. Franchise quarterback Andrew Luck is only 29, and the Colts have other elite, young talent on both sides of the ball.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Irsay said. “Andrew’s in that sweet spot for him, age-wise, and there’s really not a lot of weakness with the roster.” | {
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Language Features
Did you know that you can prove a theorem with Scala? Starting from the Curry-Howard isomorphism, we can turn logical statements into pure Scala code with only a rudimentary knowledge of Scala. Follow along with the exercise for insights into the patterns the compiler forces you into and how Scala works. | {
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We look at some current campaigns by Andy Gullahorn, Wendell Kimbrough, Oceans and Vessels, Verses, Fine China, Kenny Meeks, and Roxx Records. I hope you enjoy the show and find something you can connect with and fund.
Episode 39 Show Notes:
Andy Gullahorn (1:19)
Kickstarter
Facebook
Website
Rabbit Room
Wendell Kimbrough (6:44)
Worship Links
Kickstarter
Website
BandCamp
Oceans & Vessels (12:07)
IndieGoGo
Website
Verses (17:19)
IndieGoGo
Noisetrade
Fine China (19:48)
DownTheLineZine
VelvetBlueMusic Pre-order
Concert Flyer
Kenny Meeks (22:05)
IndieGoGo
Noisetrade
Roxx Records – 80’s Christian metal re-issues (26:08)
IndieGoGo
******************
Theme song, ‘Hypostatic Union’ on the project ‘The Future’ by The X-Structure
creative commons license and used by permission.
Bandcamp page:
The album The Future, featuring Hypostatic Union:
******************
Facebook:
Google+:
Twitter @theotherccm :
Youtube:
Mick Jigger – Crate Digger Tumblr
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Photo : Roy Rochlin ( Getty Images )
Way back in 2014, rumors started to swirl that Kenan Thompson was preparing to leave Saturday Night Live, a decision that was supposedly reversed after Lorne Michaels stepped in and convinced him to stay. The rumor was disputed at the time, and seeing as how it’s 2018 and Thompson is now the longest-tenured member of the SNL cast, it really seems like he’s not in any hurry to leave Studio 8H for good. As it turns out, there may even be a reason for that, with Thompson telling The Hollywood Reporter that he’s actually scared to leave SNL.
“I think about leaving and I fear it,” Thompson said, saying that the show is a “special place” and that you want to make the most of your time there, but that you also want to “make room for people that are coming behind you.” He says this past season was the first time he felt that he could “push out of it now,” saying that Chris Redd in particular is “super-duper strong” and that he was struck with the feeling this season that he might need to step aside and give him “more room.” Thompson said he might be ready to move on because of that, but he doesn’t have any concrete plans for when he’ll step away from SNL, telling THR that he’s “not overly excited about going back to auditioning.”
Elsewhere in the THR chat, Thompson mentions that he felt “a little guilty” when he passed Darrell Hammond’s record for being on SNL the longest, saying that he and Hammond have always been close and that he sees him as a “Yoda” figure who likes to check on Thompson to make sure he’s doing well. Apparently he was “cool about it,” though. Also, speaking of other things that seem like they’ve been on SNL forever, Thompson says that Alec Baldwin “knocked it out of the park like real hard” when he first did his Donald Trump impression, comparing it to the kind of “explosive” response that impressions like Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin have gotten in the past. | {
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England will make the first tentative steps into a new age as they reach the final Test in Sydney with the series long gone and a growing acceptance that the team that has served them so well needs refreshing.
To that end, Scott Borthwick looks set to become the first legspinner capped by England since Ian Salisbury was recalled against Pakistan in December 2000, a brief flirtation with leg spin which also saw Chris Schofield play two Tests earlier that year.
The fast bowler Boyd Rankin and the middle-order batsman Garry Ballance are also pushing for inclusion. If all three play, it will be the first time England have had three debutants in the same Test since Nagpur in March 2006 when Monty Panesar, Ian Blackwell and Alastair Cook all won their first caps.
It would complete a rapid rise to prominence for Borthwick. He had been due to return to the UK on Monday having played Grade cricket in Sydney - he played alongside Brad Haddin in one game - and is still due on the Lions tour of Sri Lanka in March. Now, at 23, he is going to be given the opportunity of filling the rather large shoes of Graeme Swann.
England are asking a great deal. With 28 wickets at 38 apiece in the last Championship season, Borthwick was 14th in the Durham bowling averages. While his batting was a revelation - promoted to No. 3 from No. 8 he scored 1,022 Championship runs - he is being picked more with a view to his spin bowling than his batting. He will, however, stiffen the tail - he could well bat at No. 8 - and improve England's fielding.
The experience of Simon Kerrigan is a concern. Kerrigan, who has a significantly better first-class bowling record than Borthwick (a bowling average of 26.68 compared to 31.29, albeit on generally more helpful Old Trafford surfaces) endured a horrendous debut at The Oval at the end of the previous series after he appeared to wilt in the face of a ferocious assault from Australia's batsmen.
It seems inevitable Australia will target Borthwick in the same manner, with Haddin, described as "a good fella" by Borthwick, suggesting the young legspinner will be "monstered".
"Leg-spin is hard," Borthwick admitted phlegmatically on Wednesday. "You've got to accept you are going to bowl bad balls, and blokes are going to come after you. You've got to a bit of fight, try to get competitive and spin the ball past them. When batters do come at you, it gives you a chance to get wickets."
The England players participate in a sprint at practice on New Year's day Getty Images
Whether he plays as the main spinner or fulfils a role alongside Monty Panesar, who has reportedly been complaining of a tight calf, or even James Tredwell remains to be seen. The days when Sydney offered much turn are gone, so England could utilise Joe Root, who out-bowled Panesar in Melbourne, as the second spinner.
The relative success of Ben Stokes might yet be remembered as the only light amid the gloom of this series for England. While his century at Perth was the most memorable of his achievements, he has also shown burgeoning ability with the ball. Again, it would be a big ask, but he could be used as one of only three seamers if England feel the need to play two spinners.
If Rankin plays it is likely to be in place of Tim Bresnan and if Ballance plays it is likely to be instead of Michael Carberry. That would necessitate Root moving back up to the opening position - his third batting position of the series - and might well see Ian Bell promoted to the No. 3 position. Root has already batted in every position between two and seven in his 15 Tests and the dropping of Carberry, like the dropping of Nick Compton before him, would be an admission of failure on the behalf of the selectors.
Ballance looks a fine prospect. While he arrived on the tour carrying more weight than might be expected from a professional cricketer in this age, he scored 1,251 Championship runs in the 2013 season and has a first-class average of 53.33. The fact that he is Zimbabwe born will provoke some, although he was schooled in England, but of more relevance is the fact that he appears to have a solid game without obvious faults and, aged 24, could play a role for much of the next decade.
There were some raised eyebrows when England opted to skip nets and concentrate on fielding practice on Wednesday. To some, England's performances in this series have underlined how much work they have in front of them, though in reality there is little that one more net session could do to restore the balance of power at this stage.
It may be pertinent to note that when England won the final Test of the 2002-03 series having gone into the game 4-0 down, they spent the preceding days indulging thoroughly at New Year and enjoying games of football instead of nets. Sometimes a break is of more value than another net session.
While England explore new players, it might also prove worthwhile exploring the system and the coaches that are meant to produce them.
Since Jonathan Trott made his Test debut in 2009, England have brought 13 new players into their Test side. While several, the likes of Steven Finn and James Taylor, may come again, there should be a concern that of them all, perhaps only Root and Stokes have adapted to the level with anything like comfort.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that a gap has developed between domestic and international cricket that was not there when Matt Prior, Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Trott were scoring centuries on Test debut or when Bell and Kevin Pietersen were scoring half-centuries and James Anderson was taking a five-wicket haul.
The lack of developing young spinners and fast bowlers is a particular concern. The ECB have employed specialist coaches for several years in such positions but, while national head coaches and captains are subject to great public scrutiny, those operating at developmental level seem to live a somewhat cosy life just below the radar. But it is faults at those levels that eventually weaken the national side. | {
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car behind you too close? Don't change speeds. Swerve a little so they think you've been drinking. They'll back off.
1,362 shares | {
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MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte’s move to lift the suspension on the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) Lotto operations shows his resolve to address the alleged corruption in the agency, Senator Lito Lapid said Wednesday.
Those depending on the Lotto operations for their livelihood and for financial assistance can now also rejoice with the lifting of the suspension, added Lapid, who chairs the Senate committee on games and amusement.
“Ang muling pagbubukas ng operasyon ng lotto sa buong bansa ay patunay na umuusad ang ginagawang imbestigasyon ng Pangulo tungkol sa anomalya sa PCSO,” Lapid said in a statement.
“Maganda ito para sa marami nating kababayan na umaasa sa lotto bilang kanilang kabuhayan pati na rin sa pondong ipinapasok nito sa kaban na siyang pinagkukunan para ibigay sa mga pasyenteng tinutulungan ng PCSO,” he added.
The senator is also waiting to know who is behind the alleged “massive corruption” in the PCSO which led the President to stop the agency’s gaming activities, including Lotto.
READ: Duterte stops all PCSO gaming activities including lotto, STL
“Hinihintay ng nakararami ang direksyon ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Duterte hinggil sa Small Town Lottery (STL), Peryahan ng Bayan at Keno kung nais pa rin nilang ipagpatuloy sa kabila ng mga kontrobersyang bumabalot dito,” he said.
On Tuesday night, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the lifting of the suspension of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) Lotto operations.
READ: BREAK: Suspension of Lotto operations lifted – Panelo
The PCSO officially announced on Wednesday the resumption of its Lotto games.
READ: PCSO resumes Lotto games, draws after Duterte lifts suspension
For his part, Senator Sonny Angara said the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act and other government programs is no longer at risk of having complications due to lack of funds since Lotto operations have already resumed.
“Wala nang panganib na magkaka aberya ang pagsasatupad ng Universal Health Care Act at iba pang mga programa ng gobyerno para sa ating mga kababayan dahil sa kakulangan ng pondo,” Angara said in a separate statement.
“Hindi na din kailangan mamuroblema pa ang mga operators ng lotto outlets at ang libo-libong empleyado nila kung saan nila kukunin ang pang araw araw nila na gastusin dahil sa pansamantalang pagtigil sa kanilang hanapbuhay,” he added.
The senator said the President will push through with his resolve to end the corruption in the agency.
“Suportado po natin ang Pangulo sa giyera laban sa korapsyon at mga katiwalian sa pamahalaan,” the senator said. /je
Outbrain | {
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Labor has renewed its attack on Peter Dutton’s eligibility to sit in parliament, citing an agreement to hire a special needs teacher as the missing piece to make a case against the home affairs minister’s interests in childcare centres.
The shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus said on Thursday it was “extremely significant” that Dutton continues to sit in parliament while the government has a one-seat majority, arguing that he is “quite probably” ineligible.
Although the solicitor general Stephen Donaghue provided advice that Dutton is likely “not incapable” of sitting, Dreyfus said the advice “made it clear that the matter remains in doubt”.
Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey has noted that the advice reveals that payments had been made by the commonwealth to RHT Investments – of which Dutton and his wife are beneficiaries – under the inclusion support program.
The advice states the Camelia Avenue childcare centre, operated by RHT Investments, has received a $15,640 subsidy to hire a special needs teacher.
Section 44(v) of the constitution bans parliamentarians from having a “direct or indirect pecuniary interest in an agreement with the commonwealth”.
Donaghue concluded that participation in the program was likely to constitute an agreement with the commonwealth, but said the “better view” is that Dutton does not have an interest in it because the funding was given for specific purposes to hire a special needs teacher.
“Assuming the Camelia Avenue childcare centre complied with that condition, it therefore appears unlikely that the funding would have generated a surplus for RHT Investments that could have been distributed to Mr Dutton,” he said.
Dreyfus told reporters that it is “now clear … that Peter Dutton must be referred to the high court”.
“This further document that's come to light makes it clear that there is an agreement between Mr Dutton's childcare centres and the commonwealth and that's why … we think it's a clear breach of section 44 of the constitution.”
Dreyfus said the constitutional prohibition is “absolutely clear” regardless of “the question of what the purpose of the commonwealth funds is”.
For the high court to hear Dutton’s case before the next election, the House of Representatives would need to refer the matter.
On 23 August the House voted 69 votes to 68 not to refer Dutton to the court, despite four crossbench MPs Adam Bandt, Rebekha Sharkie, Cathy McGowan and Andrew Wilkie voting with Labor to refer.
With Malcolm Turnbull’s resignation and the vacancy in the seat of Wentworth, numbers will be tight for a further push to refer Dutton. The Liberals and Nationals still have a slim majority of 75 of 149 MPs, suggesting that Liberal MPs would need to abstain to help Labor get the numbers to refer Dutton. | {
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23rd Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 34, Yesh Atid-Telem 16, Joint List 15, Yamina 14, Blue & White 9 Panels conducted a poll of 505 people with a 4.4% margin of error that was broadcast by 103 FM Radio on July 15 2020. It was conducted the day before. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 34 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)16 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)15 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)14 [05] Yamina (Bennett)09 [15] Blue […]
22nd Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 33, Yesh Atid-Telem 19, Joint List 16, Yamina 13, Blue & White 9 Project HaMidgam conducted a poll of 702 people with a 3.9% margin of error that was broadcast by Channel 13 on July 12 2020. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 33 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)19 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)16 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)13 [05] Yamina (Bennett)09 [15] Blue & White/Israel Resilience (Gantz)08 [07] United […]
21st Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 36, Yesh Atid-Telem 16, Joint List 15, Yamina 12, Blue & White 10 Panels conducted a poll of 532 people with a 4.4% margin of error that was published by Maariv on July 10 2020. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 36 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)16 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)15 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)12 [05] Yamina (Bennett)10 [15] Blue & White/Israel Resilience (Gantz)09 [09] Shas (Deri)09 [07] […]
20th Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 36, Yesh Atid-Telem 17, Joint List 16, Yamina 11, Shas 10, Blue & White 9 Direct Polls conducted a poll of 876 people with a 4.2% margin of error on July 8 2020. The poll was released on July 10. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 36 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)17 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)16 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)11 [05] Yamina (Bennett)10 [09] Shas (Deri)09 [15] Blue & White/Israel […]
Poll: Most suited to rescue Israel from Corona – Bennett 34%, Netanyahu 24%, Lapid 12%, Gantz 9%; Right voters Bennett 42%, Netanyahu 37% Direct Polls conducted a poll of 876 people with a 4.2% margin of error. Who is most suited to rescue Israel from the Corona Crisis & the Economy Crisis? 34% Bennett, 24% Netanyahu, 17% Other, 12% Lapid, 9% Gantz, 2% Katz, 1% Edelstein Right: 42% Bennett, 37% Netanyahu, 10% Other, 5% Lapid, 5% Gantz, 1% […]
19th Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 37, Yesh Atid-Telem 15, Joint List 15, Yamina 11, Blue & White 11 Midgam conducted a poll that was broadcast by Channel 12 on July 6. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 37 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)15 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)15 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)11 [15] Blue & White/Israel Resilience (Gantz)11 [05] Yamina (Bennett)09 [09] Shas (Deri)08 [07] Yisrael Beitenu (Lieberman)07 [07] United Torah Judaism (Litzman)07 […]
18th Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 38, Yesh Atid-Telem 17, Joint List 15, Blue & White 10, Yamina 9, Shas 9 Maagar Mochot conducted a poll that was broadcast by 103 FM Radio on July 3. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 38 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)17 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)15 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)10 [15] Blue & White/Israel Resilience (Gantz)09 [09] Shas (Deri)09 [05] Yamina (Bennett)08 [07] Yisrael Beitenu (Lieberman)08 [07] United Torah Judaism […] […]
17th Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 38, Yesh Atid-Telem 16, Joint List 16, Yamina 11, Blue & White 9 Project HaMidgam conducted a poll of 705 people with a 3.9% margin of error that was broadcast by Channel 13 on June 28. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 38 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)16 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)16 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)11 [05] Yamina (Bennett)09 [15] Blue & White/Israel Resilience (Gantz)08 [09] Shas (Deri)08 […]
16th Poll of 23rd Knesset: Likud 41, Yesh Atid-Telem 16, Joint List 15, Blue & White 11, Shas 10 Direct Polls conducted a poll of 547 people with a 4.3% margin of error that was released on June 17. The poll was conducted Jun 16. Current Knesset seats in [brackets] 41 [36] Likud (Netanyahu)16 [15] The Joint List (Odeh)15 [16] Yesh Atid – Telem (Lapid)11 [15] Blue & White/Israel Resilience (Gantz)10 [09] Shas (Deri)08 […] | {
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Karlee Steel Onlyfans Nudes! Karlee Steel is a Canadian Youtuber with 1.2 Million subscribers and 440k followers on Instagram. | {
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Searching for a lawyer for dispute resolution?
Disputes are a fact of the present day business world and understanding and dealing with it in a professional manner has never been more important. Dispute resolution, as self defining as it is, is the process of resolving dispute between two parties. Dispute resolution lawyers help their clients in settling business related disputes in the most favourable way possible, which may or may not include undergoing a dispute resolution procedure. There are three main types of dispute resolution procedures:
(i) litigation: where a verdict is reached in a court by a judge,
(ii) arbitration: where an independent arbitrator helps the party in solving the dispute
(iii) mediation: where the party use a mediator to reach a settlement themselves.
Dispute resolution can also help their clients resolve a dispute without undergoing any of the mentioned dispute resolution procedures.
A lawyer is needed for a dispute resolution since one needs to be aware of the laws and regulations related to the case and the dispute, and its the job of the lawyer to inform you about them. If it’s a case of litigation, and requires legal proceedings, then it requires formation of an effective legal strategy, and formation of necessary legal documents. The lawyer will also guide you through whatever trials or hearings that may happen. Coming to arbitration, most senior lawyers act as arbitrators or mediators and can be hired to resolve the dispute using either methods. Your dispute resolution lawyer will also help you avoid or minimize the effects of potential future disputes among the two parties involved.His job is to guide you through the process of settling your dispute and interacting with the other part on your behalf. The lawyer shall also prepare all the required documents and make sure that the settlement process is as smooth as possible. Upon settlement of the dispute, your lawyer will ensure that the verdict is enforced accordingly.
Being involved in a dispute can be stressful, time consuming and an expensive task, and thus everyone wants a high quality lawyer that can take all the strain without breaking the bank. Visit to find experienced dispute resolution lawyers that hold expertise in a broad spectrum of dispute resolution methods and can strategically assist you according to your needs.
For any Dispute Resolution (ADR) related matter, please Post Your Requirement anonymously and get free proposals OR find the Best Dispute Resolution (ADR) Lawyers and book a free appointment directly. | {
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ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee has decided to scrutinise the expenditures incurred on advertisement in electronic and print media in defence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family's mention in the Panama leaks.
Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Information has summoned a meeting of the body on May 9 in response to the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) demand.
The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting will review the legal status of money spent on the advertisement defending the Sharif family and will examine whether it was from the national exchequer or not.
The PPP had lashed out on Thursday at the federal government for 'misuse' of public funds by issuing newspaper advertisements in defence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose family members are facing allegations of money laundering and corruption in the wake of the Panama Papers leak.
The newspaper advertisement released by the government defending the PM. ─ Dawn
PPP also submitted a notice to the National Assembly Secretariat seeking a justification from the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rasheed over the use of public funds to promote a personal and party agenda.
On Wednesday, the government released half-page colour advertisements in major newspapers carrying excerpts of a news item regarding a correction issued by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The committee will also discuss the federal government's ban on ‘Maalik’ movie in its May 9 meeting. | {
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Beşşar Esad yönetimindeki rejim güçlerinin Hizbullah ile birlikte karadan, Rus Hava Kuvvetleri'nin ise havadan bomba yağdırdığı Suriyeliler'in Türkiye sınırına doğru akın etmesi üzerine Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ve sivil toplum örgütlerinin iş birliğinde Babul Selam Sınır Kapısı içerisinde Türkiye sınırına sıfır noktada çadır kent oluşturulması için çalışmalar hızla sürüyor. Kilis Valiliği koordinesinde Kızılay, AFAD ve İHH tarafından çadır kent kurulması çalışmalarına hız verildi. | {
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In the final weeks of its 2019 session, the General Assembly passed three bills that would help people using cannabis-derived medications.
On Saturday, the House and Senate gave final approval to a bill allowing students who have proper documentation to use CBD oil and THC-A oil at school.
SB 1632, sponsored by Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Richmond, would prohibit schools from suspending or expelling a student for using CBD or THC-A oil with valid permission. The bill also would protect school nurses from prosecution of possessing and distributing the oils in accordance with school board policy.
Earlier in the month, legislators passed:
- SB 1557, introduced by Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico. It would allow physician assistants and licensed nurse practitioners to write a certification for cannabidiol oil and THC-A oil.
- SB 1719, filed by Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax. It would allow patients receiving CBD or THC-A oil to designate a registered agent to pick up the medication on their behalf.
Dunnavant, the only physician in the Virginia Senate, has been an advocate for expanding access to medical cannabis.
“Allowing nurse practitioners to make treatment available will shorten the wait time and suffering for patients dealing with pain,” Dunnavant stated in support of SB 1557. “It is an effective way for physicians to offer low-cost and low-risk remedies to their patients.”
Dunnavant hopes that expanding the use of cannabis-derived medications will help combat the growing opioid crisis.
“Overdose deaths related to prescribed opiates have decreased by 25 percent in states where medical marijuana programs are available. The potential side effects and risks of medically administered CBD and THC-A are far lower than opiates and many pharmaceutical drugs currently requiring a doctor’s prescription,” Dunnavant’s website states.
CBD, or cannabidiol, and THC-A, or tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, are two of the main compounds in the cannabis sativa plant.
Both components interact with cannabinoid receptors in the body that affect mood, pain, and memory. Neither contains the properties that produce a high. When raw, TCH-A has no psychoactive effects; only when burned does it become THC. Hemp, also a cannabis plant, is more widely used for CBD oil for its very low level of THC.
CBD and THC-A oils are used by many people to treat anxiety, migraines, nausea and other health problems. THC-A oils can achieve the same results as CBD oil but are less potent.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not endorse any CBD or THC-A medication with the exception of Epidiolex, used to treat seizures from two rare forms of epilepsy. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it will support further research by the FDA into different components of cannabis.
“DEA will continue to support sound and scientific research that promotes legitimate therapeutic uses for FDA-approved constituent components of cannabis, consistent with federal law,” said Acting DEA Administrator Uttam Dhillon in a press release.
Virginia has moved slowly in allowing access to medical cannabis.
In 2015, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing CBD and THC-A oils only for the treatment of intractable epilepsy. Last year, lawmakers passed a bill sponsored by Dunnavant authorizing medical practitioners to recommend the oils to treat or ease the symptoms of any diagnosed disease or condition.
By expanding the definition of practitioner to include nurses, SB 1557 would make it even easier for Virginians to use the medical treatment.
“Expanding the availability of effective treatment options is both compassionate and practical,” Dunnavant said. | {
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14. oktober gikk lederen for Norsk Studentorganisasjon (NSO) rundt i vandrehallen på Stortinget med tidenes smil rundt munnen.
Jens Stoltenberg hadde lagt frem sitt siste forslag til statsbudsjett som statsminister og studentene var de store vinnerne.
Blant annet fordi budsjettforslaget lovet 11 måneders studiestøtte.
Studentene fra vinnere til tapere
Samme dag sa påtroppende statsminister Erna Solberg følgende til NRK:
– Vi ser at enkelte ting som smaker av at en avtroppende regjering kvitterer ut en del ting de selv ikke har fått plass til, og som en ny regjering skal betale for i 2015, sa Solberg.
Hun sa at påtroppende finansminister Kristin Halvorsen (SV) i 2005 sa at den avtroppende regjeringen ikke burde legge føringer for den påtroppende regjeringen.
– Jeg klager ikke, men en del som i dag jubler bør tenke over at dette må ses nøyere på, for en del regninger kommer på budsjettet først i 2015. Da har man gjort opp regning på en annen regjerings ansvar, sa Solberg.
I dag gjør Solberg ordene sanne.
Etter det NRK kjenner til er nemlig 11 måneders studiestøtte tatt ut av det budsjettet Erna Solberg og Siv Jensen legger frem i dag.
Dette fordi forslaget skal ha blitt for dyrt.
Må sette sin lit til at Stortinget stopper Solberg
Ola Magnussen Rydje i NSO sier det vil være direkte skadelig for kvaliteten på høyere utdanning.
– Dette vil i så fall være en tydelig bortprioritering av studenter som står i skarp kontrast til regjeringens mål om å realisere kunnskapssamfunnet, sier Magnussen Rydje.
Han klamrer seg likevel til et lite håp om at Stortinget kan overkjøre regjeringen i saken.
– Hvis det NRK sier stemmer, så vil det fortsatt være et overveldende flertall for 11 måneders studiestøtte på Stortinget. Da vil det være opp til alle som har dette i partiprogrammene sine om å kjempe dette gjennom, sier Magnussen Rydje.
Frp går inn for 11-måneders studiestøtte i sitt program, men fikk ikke viljen sin i denne saken.
Også samarbeidspartiene Venstre og KrF har tidligere stemt for 11-måneders studiestøtte. | {
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Littleton Votes To Give Police Chief Additional Power Over Licensed Retailers.
10/29/19 Update.
Littleton residents voted at town meeting last night to support Article 16. This gives the Littleton Chief of Police power over the town’s licensed retailers that goes beyond current state law. We will update on this as information develops.
Thank you to everyone who showed up last night in order to stop the article.
Original alert below.
Littleton is trying to force existing firearms dealers to close by adding onerous new fees and restrictions.
Please attend town meeting on October 28th – Vote NO on Article 16!
The Town of Littleton, MA is trying a new tactic in the relentless attack on our Second Amendment rights. This time it’s not gun bans or “red flag” laws or shooting range closures – it’s an attempt to restrict firearms ownership by shutting down firearms businesses through arbitrary fees and restrictions. If this type of infringement is allowed to take hold here, it can and will spread to other municipalities.
We have to stop it now.
The town of Littleton is taking actions directly against the numerous licensed gun dealers that have operated safely and without incident at The Mill at 410 Great Road for years. At the upcoming special town meeting on October 28, 2019, “Article 16” on the ballot that would amend the town’s bylaws to permit the police to set arbitrary “safety” requirements and charge arbitrary “inspection fees”. The notional reason given for this action is to recover administrative costs associated with inspecting the firearms dealers in town.
This direct attack on the Littleton dealers is nothing more than harassment. You can read the article in its entirety here (on page 7): https://www.littletonma.org/sites/littletonma/files/uploads/2019-10-28_stm_warrant_vfinal_fullyexecuted.pdf
We are looking for Littleton residents to attend the upcoming special town meeting. We are asking that non-residents please not attend. The first step in combating this serious attack on our collective rights is to defeat the article at town meeting. Littleton residents are asked to attend the meeting and vote “NO” on article 16. We ask that you dress and behave appropriately for a town meeting as our goal is not to alienate other town residents, but to make people aware of the blatant harassment coming from their elected and appointed officials.
We hope that many of you will take the opportunity to speak out against the Article once the motion has been made. If you are willing to speak out against the article and would like talking points, please contact Randy Dean ([email protected]) or Jim Finnerty ([email protected]).
Please help us defeat Article 16. | {
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Olivier Giroud is keen to play in MLS before the end of his career, the France international revealed in an interview on French television on Wednesday.
"MLS, for my family, my children who speak English, it is interesting. In a year? Two years? I don't know when. But of course, I will be opened to a new challenge," the Chelsea forward told RMC Sport.
Sources told ESPN FC that Giroud, 33, has watched the league and has followed the careers of European players who moved there -- and has already been approached about a move there for himself a few times already.
Giroud will be out of contract next June and the former Arsenal star won't close other doors either and will look at all the options and offers -- including staying at Chelsea, where he is happy.
"It is not only MLS which could interest me," he told RMC Sport.
The Frenchman, currently preparing with Les Bleus for two Euro 2020 qualifiers against Albania and Andorra at home, could have been on the market this summer but Chelsea decided to extend his contract at Stamford Bridge.
"There has been no discussions because the club had an option for an extra year and they took it because they were happy with my contribution to the club. It is even more than that. There is real trust. It was not really my desire to leave anyway so I never asked myself about a possible departure," he said.
Giroud joined Chelsea from rivals Arsenal in January 2018 for £15 million, which allowed to play more and secure his spot in France's 2018 World Cup-winning squad. He was instrumental in helping Chelsea win the the Europa League last season with 11 goals in 12 games, including one in the final in Baku against his former club. | {
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Avoiding the swelling and crashing of the housing tsunami has been a primary cause of Oklahoma City's success. How did they miss the wave? Shirley said the answer goes back to 1982, and Penn Square Bank. Penn Square was a small, risky commercial bank that exploded in the late 1970s and imploded in the 1982 just as falling energy consumption hurt oil prices and slammed the Oklahoma economy. The Savings and Loans Crisis followed, but it was Penn Square took down the energy industry and the banking industry.
"Over 100 banks closed," she said. "The state ground to a halt. And the bankers today remember the crisis. They've developed very safe, very conservative banking practices since that catastrophic event in the early 1980s."
Built on the dependable pillars of local government spending, military (Tinker Air Force Base is the top employer), health care and education, the city is poised for strong and steady growth in the next few years. I asked the Shirley and the mayor what they thought might be the next engine of the Oklahoma economy.
"We don't really care," she responded. "What we're looking at is a balanced economy. We learned from the 1980s that having a one-trick pony just wasn't going to do it. We're looking at creating a more firm foundation."
That's when the mayor offered an fascinating re-casting of the new economy: "The 20th century perspective was that people went where the jobs were," he said. "Today the jobs are going to go where the people are. Highly talented young people are coming to us because of the low cost of living. People want to work here."
The bust revealed a scary truth: we can't afford what very recently passed for the American dream. We cannot run up debt equal to 122 percent of our yearly earnings, as we did during the late aughts. That means Americans will seek out cheaper places to live, where high quality of life goes for a bargain. Today, the cities that can offer that aren't the LAs and NYCs but rather the San Antonios and Oklahoma Cities.
Put another way: In an economy where people follow quality of living, and jobs follow people, cities with low cost-of-living will be the early winners in the recovery.
Indeed, they already are. Eighteen of Brookings' 20 "strongest cities" (all except Washington and VA Beach) have average or below average cost-of-living, according to a new Wall Street Journal story. At a time when Washington can't seem to get employers and employees together, employment has been sticky where wages and living have been cheap.
What's more, Oklahoma has the highest entrepreneur levels of any state, according to a recent report from the Kauffman Foundation. Mayor Cornett says it's easy to see why. "College graduates are moving to the metro area in high numbers because they see how far their money goes in housing and living," he said. "You're raising a generation of people who can't afford their own house. The American dream is alive and well in Oklahoma City." | {
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Chance the Rapper's younger brother Taylor Bennett has released his debut album. Broad Shoulders features collaborations with Chance, Donnie Trumpet, King Louie, Joey Purp, and others. Listen to it below, via Rolling Stone.
Chance appears on the previously shared title track.
Broad Shoulders:
01 Happy Place [ft. Brill]
02 Wasting Time [ft. Simone Bisous]
03 Smile [ft. Logan Parks]
04 Fall Back Fools [ft. MAX and Quechera Jowers]
05 Favorite Drink [ft. King Louie & Joey Purp]
06 Cake [ft. Talia Stewart]
07 H.Y.B.L. (How You Been Lately)
08 You [ft. Jordan Bratton]
09 Dancing in the Rain [ft. Donnie Trumpet, Shay Lewis and Brandon Fox]
10 Broad Shoulders [ft. Chance The Rapper] | {
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Niantic hat in allen beanstandeten Punkten eine Unterlassungserklärung abgegeben.
Das Unternehmen überarbeitet die Nutzungs- und Datenschutzbedingungen bis Ende des Jahres.
Während der Umstellungsfrist darf sich Niantic nicht auf die beanstandeten Klauseln berufen
Niantic, der Entwickler von Pokémon Go, hat eine verbindliche Unterlassungserklärung zu allen vom Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv) geforderten Punkten abgegeben. Damit können Verbraucherinnen und Verbraucher ab 2017 auf rechtskonforme Nutzungs- und Datenschutzbedingungen hoffen. Bereits in der Umstellungsphase darf sich das Unternehmen gegenüber Kunden nicht mehr auf die beanstandeten Klauseln berufen. Der vzbv hatte das kalifornische Unternehmen im Juli wegen insgesamt 15 Klauseln abgemahnt.
„Wir freuen uns, dass sich Niantic einsichtig gezeigt hat. Nutzerinnen und Nutzer von Pokémon Go in Deutschland können nun erwarten, dass sich das Unternehmen künftig an hier geltenden Verbraucherschutzstandards orientiert.“, sagt Heiko Dünkel, Rechtsreferent beim Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv).
Niantic hatte sich in seinen Nutzungs- und Datenschutzbestimmungen weitgehende Rechte herausgenommen, die nach Auffassung des vzbv die Spieler der Pokémon Go-App unangemessen benachteiligten. So konnte das Unternehmen den Vertrag jederzeit einseitig verändern oder fristlos kündigen. Eine Sperrung des Zugangs sollte in vielen Fällen nach alleinigem Ermessen des Unternehmens möglich sein. Die Rückerstattung von mit echtem Geld getätigten In-App-Käufen war ausgeschlossen. Die Weitergabe personenbezogener Daten der Verbraucher an private Dritte ohne gesonderte Einwilligung der Betroffenen sollte möglich sein.
Kein verpflichtendes Schiedsgerichtsverfahren in den USA
Auch Klauseln, die die alleinige Anwendung kalifornischen Rechts vorsahen und Verbraucher im Streitfall auf ein amerikanisches Schiedsgerichtsverfahren verwiesen, soweit sie nicht rechtzeitig widersprechen, dürfen künftig nicht mehr verwendet werden. Auch darauf darf sich Niantic in der Umstellungsphase bis Ende 2016, die der vzbv dem Unternehmen eingeräumt hat, nicht mehr berufen. | {
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Maury Determined That Was a Lie
you said that you were too sick to go to school
the fact that you are running around like a maniac and tormenting the pets determined that to be a lie | {
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MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine military agreed on Wednesday to allow a new cellphone network powered by a Chinese state telecoms giant to install communications equipment on its army bases, despite concerns among some lawmakers about possible espionage.
The military said in a statement it had signed a preliminary agreement with Mislatel, a consortium controlled by Philippine tycoon Dennis Uy, to install communications facilities and towers at its camps and installations.
Uy, a close associate of President Rodrigo Duterte, was awarded the country’s third telecoms license last year, helped by the last-minute withdrawal or disqualification of other bidders.
His two holding companies, which have no prior experience in telecommunications, have partnered with China Telecom, which currently owns a 40% stake, the maximum permitted under an archaic Philippines law that the government has promised to amend to support foreign investment.
The agreement comes despite calls for deeper scrutiny from some Philippine lawmakers concerned that state-controlled China Telecom could be a "Trojan horse reut.rs/2NXdg9g" with the capability to access state secrets.
It comes at a time of heightened cyber security fears surrounding Chinese national icon Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, which has been placed on a U.S. trade blacklist since May.
Washington has been urging its allies, Manila included, not to use Huawei gear, which the Beijing government could use for espionage, an allegation Huawei has denied.
In a statement, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Mislatel “guarantees that the devices, equipment, and/or structures installed at the site provided by the AFP shall not be used to obtain classified information” as a measure to prevent electronic espionage.
It noted that the AFP had a similar arrangement with the other two domestic mobile firms, Globe Telecom and rival PLDT.
The move aims to free-up state land to construct towers to try to address a shortfall that has for years resulted in intermittent signals, patchy coverage and dropped calls, with the country’s two networks inundated with traffic among the country’s 107 million population. Globe and PLDT blame excessive permit requirements for slowing their network expansion.
Once operational, the new player’s network will be called Dito, or “here” in Filipino.
“The roll-out of Dito’s towers is indeed one Herculean feat,” Uy said in a statement. “We are nearer our goal of building a wide and robust network.” | {
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Diving into Intel's X79 Express Chipset
With Intel’s Sandy Bridge platform well integrated into certain areas of the market, we have seen an expanding number of motherboard chipsets which support it. Originally, B65, H61, H65 and P67 motherboards were released with or soon after the initial launch while the recent introduction of Z68 “Cougar Point” brought RST SSD caching into the mix. What we haven’t seen up to this point is an enthusiast level X-series chipset made available but the new Sandy Bridge E platform is about to change that.Called the X79 (code named Patsburg), this chipset is the spiritual successor to the long lasting Tylersburg X58 and finally ushers the PCH era into the high end market. With Bloomfield finally on its way out, X79-based motherboards should be the go to products on Intel’s high end platform for the foreseeable future. Will still be around when the Panther Point platform is introduced in 2012 for Ivy Bridge CPUs and will be compatible with any Socket 2011 processors from now until the launch of Haswell in 2013. This is one of the reasons why Intel decided to go with the 7x moniker instead of sticking with Sandy Bridge’s 6x naming scheme.Some of you may remember the last X-series chipset –the X58- from our original Nehalem review. Back then a 3-chip solution consisting of a processor, MCH and ICH was used but Intel has gradually moved towards a simplified approach by grouping functions into two areas: on the CPU die and within a so called Platform Controller Hub or PCH. This centralization leads to higher performance and increased platform efficiency.The basic functionality built into the Socket 2011 processors closely mirrors that of previous Sandy Bridge chips but the capabilities have been expanded to better suit enthusiasts. An Integrated Memory Controller acts as a backbone for up to four high speed DDR3 memory channels, each rated at 12.8 GB/s while a separate controller takes care of the PCI-E lanes.Speaking of PCI-E lanes, Sandy Bridge E processors support a serious number of lanes; 40 to be exact. These can be configured in a variety of different layouts depending on the number of slots Intel’s motherboard partners implement on their boards. We are told every X79 motherboard will include at least two 16x PCI-E 3.0 slots for a full speed 16x / 16x Crossfire or SLI, a vast improvement over the 8x / 8x supported by P67 and Z68. There is also the option of having a third or fourth graphics slot (running at 8x bandwidth) for triple and quad GPU setups.The X79 Express Chipset incorporates the motherboard’s I/O functions and its features closely mirror those of the P67 and Z68. It includes support for up to 14 USB 2.0 and six SATA 6Gb/s ports (though motherboard vendors can ship products will less) while also including the usual Intel HD Audio module. Many will be disappointed with the omission of integrated USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt support but it seems like Intel isn’t ready to plunge into those waters just yet. Nonetheless, there is an additional 8 PCI-E 2.0 lanes that can be used for more slots or add on-controllers so boards can include USB 3.0 and other non natively supported features.We should also mention that Patsburg-based motherboards won’t support Smart Response Technology or SSD caching at this point.Connecting the processor to the PCH is a second generation Direct Media Interface along with an optional SCSI Controller Unit. However, the Intel FDI (Flexible Display Interface) from P and Z-series boards has been removed since none of the SB-E processors will come with onboard graphics controllers.The Direct Media Interface (DMI) hasn’t changed either. When necessary, it can function with the same peak bandwidth as four PCI-E 2.0 lanes or 5 GT/s (20Gb/s) but most of the time it will be operating at lower speeds ensure optimal efficiency.One thing that we didn’t see on previous chipsets is the SCU Uplink which Sandy Bridge E processors are capable of providing. In essence this link allows for a dedicated path between the PCH and processor in order to speed up storage performance and decrease latency. The only downside to using the SCU function is its need for a portion of the CPU’s PCI-E lanes (in this case four) which in essence limits the secondary PCI-E function to a 4x link down from 8x and eliminates the possibility for native 3-way GPU compatibility.Unfortunately, there is a bit of confusion here since some of Intel’s documentation (including the diagram above) lists the Sandy Bridge processor as having 40 PCI-E 2.0 lanes while most of their other pieces list full compatibility with the upcoming PCI-E 3.0. This is a bit of a slippery slope but after digging much further with Intel and their motherboard vendors, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge.According to our conversations these new processors do indeed have PCI-E 3.0 compatibility built in –at least one paper- but they haven’t been officially certified by the PCI-SIG. The main reason for this lack of the necessary certification is a lack of compatible add-in cards from AMD and NVIDIA to test on the dedicated graphics lanes. So while SB-E is physically capable of providing up to 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes, we likely won’t see anyone make a big deal about it until some additional testing can be done in the near future.With that being said, some motherboard partners feel strongly enough about the upcoming certification for the SB-E chips that they will be including PCI-E 3.0 stickers on their X79 boards’ packaging and marketing materials. We will even see a few instances of PCI-E 2.0 / 3.0 switching options included within the BIOS.Intel themselves are quite confident as well as they say: “The processor features up to 40 lanes of PCI Express 3.0 links capable of 8.0 GT/s…”With all of this additional bandwidth coming their way, graphics card manufacturers are feeling quite confident as well. According to NVIDIA they have seen a substantial increase in overall 3-Way SLI performance when using the native solution on X79 instead of the usual 16x / 16x + NF200 setup some X58 boards used. Remember, this is based off of the exact same drivers being used in each instance and comparable processors so it looks like higher end SLI configurations could finally see better scaling. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Kamerorna är riktade mot huvudingången respektive mot en mindre entrédörr intill men eftersom de är monterade tätt mot väggen är det oundvikligt att en stor del av trottoaren också fångas av dem.
En person som GD varit i kontakt med säger att kamerorna kom upp i förra veckan. Personen bor i området och passerar platsen till fots flera gånger om dagen. Nu upplever hen det som olustigt att göra det.
– När det kommer upp kameror i offentliga miljöer tycker jag att det börjar bli lite obehagligt. Jag vet inte var materialet hamnar, vilka som har tillgång till det, hur länge de har tillgång till det och hur det lagras. Jag har full förståelse för att behovet av säkerhet är större när högerextrema allt oftare verkar gå till handgripligheter men att bli övervakad och eventuellt filmad rutinmässigt upplever jag som obehagligt, säger personen.
På bilder som GD tog av fastigheten i november syns inga kameror.
Moskén har tillstånd hos länsstyrelsen för kameraövervakning men det tillståndet gäller bara inomhus. Ann-Charlotte Nyman, jurist på länsstyrelsens rättsenhet, säger att ett tillsynsärende nu kommer att startas och där blir det första steget att försöka ta reda på vem eller vilka som satt upp kamerorna. Det ska också kontrolleras om det är riktiga kameror. Handlar det om attrapper är de sannolikt lagliga.
– Är de riktiga är de olagliga och ska monteras ner, säger Ann-Charlotte Nyman.
I vissa fall där överträdelser konstaterats förelägger länsstyrelsen även om vite och gör en polisanmälan men det är mindre vanligt, enligt Ann-Charlotte Nyman.
– Men rör det sig om en allmän plats kan det ses det som en allvarligare överträdelse, säger hon.
GD har frågat moskéns talesperson Rague Ali Youssouf om han har någon kännedom om kamerorna men han hänvisar till moskéns beslut att inte uttala sig för Gefle Dagblad.
Läs mer:
Mycket otillåten kameraövervakning inom vården
Övervakades på jobbet med olaglig kamera
Se alltid upp – du kan vara övervakad
Försäkringskassans kameror strider mot lagen
Drönare anses vara kameraövervakning | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Recently Katy Perry has been forced to withdraw from sale her shoes after the blackface controversy. Here is a close up of her shoes with blue eyes, a gold triangle nose, and glossy red lips.
Gucci too has been forced to withdraw its clothing after people complained of depictions of blackface. Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele said that these items were a tribute to Leigh Bowery.
Gucci had a runway show based on satanic ritual abuse.
Here is a tribute to Bowery entitled 'Satan's Daughter'. Boy George wrote a song for Leigh Bowery entitled 'Satan's Butterfly Ball'. Bowery is a gay icon.
Philippine Rothschild wearing one of her Baphomet necklaces
Here is Rothschild wearing a similar image. These necklaces look like the images on Katy Perry's shoes and Gucci's clothing.
I have drawn the conclusion that Gucci and Perry were not doing blackface but were selling clothing and shoes with images of satan on them, pushing them on to the public without our knowledge but with the knowledge of those high up in the know. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Additional resignations from President Donald Trump's administration is one potential catalyst for a stock pullback, closely followed strategist Bob Doll said Monday.
"My view is corrections are non-predictable and random but after the fact we always know why," said Doll, Nuveen Asset Management's chief equity strategist.
"Catalysts could be maybe earnings aren't as good as we think. Maybe some adults leave the Trump administration. Maybe inflation as we saw a hint of the Friday employment report and wages begin to move higher," Doll added in an interview on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange."
Doll said earnings have acted as a stimulus for the stock market's rise to new record highs so far this year, and he doesn't see why that should stop.
"Earnings should be reasonably good along with economic statistics," he said. "We've got, of course, that hurricane effect we saw in the jobs report last Friday. That could affect some earnings. It could be the right excuse when companies don't make it."
Stocks were up modestly in early trading Monday, despite Friday's jobs numbers, which revealed a decline in nonfarm payrolls for September due to the havoc inflicted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. It was the first monthly decline in seven years.
Investors should stick with sectors that have done well because of earnings, Doll suggested.
"We're seeing improvement in financials," he said. "Selected tech — I don't think it's just a blanket. Health care still has a good tail wind in terms of earnings, and valuations are not horribly stretched." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Summary
As global awareness of a Coronavirus pandemic gradually gives way to full out panic, and as governments begin ramping up their efforts to combat the virus and protect its citizens, global news agencies find themselves racing to answer the public’s demand for accurate information about new Corona related infections, deaths, transmissions, etc.
This demand creates a vulnerability that malicious actors have quickly taken advantage of by spreading malware disguised as a “Coronavirus map”. Reason Labs’ cybersecurity researcher, Shai Alfasi, found and analyzed this malware that had weaponized coronavirus map applications in order to steal credentials such as user names, passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive information that is stored in the users’ browser. Attackers can use this information for many other operations as well, such as selling it on the deep web or for gaining access to bank accounts or social media.
The new malware activates a strain of malicious software known as AZORult. AZORult is an information stealer and was first discovered in 2016. It is used to steal browsing history, cookies, ID/passwords, cryptocurrency and more. It can also download additional malware onto infected machines. AZORult is commonly sold on Russian underground forums for the purpose of collecting sensitive data from an infected computer. There is also a variant of the AZORult that creates a new, hidden administrator account on the infected machine in order to allow Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections.
As the coronavirus continues to spread and more apps and technologies are developed to monitor it, we will likely be seeing an increase in corona malware and corona malware variants well into the foreseeable future.
Sample Analyzed
VT:https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/2b35aa9c70ef66197abfb9bc409952897f9f70818633ab43da85b3825b256307/detection
File Name Corona-virus-Map.com.exe
MD5 73da2c02c6f8bfd4662dc84820dcd983
SHA-1 949b69bf87515ad8945ce9a79f68f8b788c0ae39
SHA-256 2b35aa9c70ef66197abfb9bc409952897f9f70818633ab43da85b3825b256307
File Size 3.26 MB (3421696 bytes)
File Type Win32 EXE
First Submission 2020-03-02 16:50:25
Short Summary
The malware has a GUI that looks very good and convincing. When running the malware, the GUI window loads information, which pools from the web.
The malware uses a few layers of packing as well as a multi-sub-process technique to make research more difficult. The malware also uses an information-stealing technique, which was first seen in 2016 and related to the “AZORult” malware family. To make sure the malware can persist and keep operating, it uses the “Task Scheduler”.
Indicators of Compromise:
Created files:
Corona-virus-Map.com.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\aut9BDA.tmp Corona-virus-Map.com.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Z11062600\Corona[.]exe Corona-virus-Map.com.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\aut9DFE.tmp Corona-virus-Map.com.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Z11062600\Corona-virus-Map.com[.]exe Corona.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\RarSFX0\Corona[.]bat Corona.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\RarSFX0\Corona.sfx[.]exe Corona.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\autA83E.tmp Corona.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Z58538177\bin[.]exe Corona.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\autAAB0.tmp Corona.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Z58538177\Build[.]exe Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-console-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-datetime-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-debug-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-errorhandling-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-file-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-file-l1-2-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-file-l2-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-handle-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-heap-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-interlocked-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-libraryloader-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-localization-l1-2-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-memory-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-namedpipe-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-processenvironment-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-processthreads-l1-1-0.dl Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-processthreads-l1-1-1.dl Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-profile-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-rtlsupport-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-string-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-console-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-synch-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-synch-l1-2-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-sysinfo-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-timezone-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-util-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-conio-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-environment-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-filesystem-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-locale-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-math-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-multibyte-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-private-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-process-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-string-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-time-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-c Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-synch-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-synch-l1-2-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-sysinfo-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-timezone-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-util-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-conio-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-environment-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-filesystem-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-locale-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-math-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-multibyte-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-synch-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-synch-l1-2-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-sysinfo-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-timezone-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-core-util-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-conio-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-environment-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-filesystem-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-locale-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-math-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-multibyte-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-private-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-process-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-string-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-time-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\api-ms-win-crt-utility-l1-1-0.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\freebl3.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\mozglue.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\msvcp140.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda
ss3.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda
ssdbm3.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\softokn3.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\ucrtbase.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\vcruntime140.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda
ss3.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda
ss3.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\mozglue.dll Bin.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\2fda\vcruntime140.dll Build.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983 Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\MetaData\EB2C4AB8B68FFA4B7733A9139239A396_D76DB901EE986B889F30D8CC06229E2D Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\autB628.tmp Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.sqlite3.module.dll.2 Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.sqlite3.module.dll Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\MetaData\223DE96EE265046957A660ED7C9DD9E7_EFF9B9BA98DEAA773F261FA85A0B1771 Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\2KY2PE8H\getMe[1].json Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\MetaData\6BADA8974A10C4BD62CC921D13E43B18_74167E25E5476CCA2A5946AAA61BF9E1 Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\1OZ94YX5\json[1].json Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\1\Information.txt Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\autCC51.tmp Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe.2 Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z
Modified registers
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\ProxyBypass
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\IntranetName
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\UNCAsIntrane
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\AutoDetect
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\ProxyBypass
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\IntranetName
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\UNCAsIntranet
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\AutoDetect
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Data\418A073AA3BC3475
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Content\CachePrefix
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Cookies\CachePrefix
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\History\CachePrefix
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\bam\State\UserSettings\S-1-5-21-3887374624-1885671809-3229943349-1001\\Device\HarddiskVoume4\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Data\418A073AA3BC3475
HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\MuiCache\56\52C64B7E\LanguageList
HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\MuiCache\56\52C64B7E\LanguageList
HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\MuiCache\56\52C64B7E\LanguageList
HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\MuiCache\56\52C64B7E\LanguageList
Mutexes Created:
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\A4B6CE24-E72D679B-BE9A182F-D7CE305A-FB62BB342
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\IESQMMUTEX_0_208
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\417087542ENU_FE97A6DDE921C7562535
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\MSIMGSIZECacheMutex
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\GdiplusFontCacheFileV1
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Global\CPFATE_2304_v4.0.30319
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\c:!users!user!appdata!roaming!microsoft!windows!ietldcache!
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\_!MSFTHISTORY!_LOW!_
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\c:!users!user!appdata!local!microsoft!windows!temporary internet files!low!content.ie5!
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\c:!users!user!appdata!roaming!microsoft!windows!cookies!low!
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Local\c:!users!user!appdata!local!microsoft!windows!history!low!history.ie5!
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\A4B6CE24-E72D679B-BE9A182F-DACC8B0F-7324685F3
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\417087542ENU_687FE9797AC054582535
\Sessions\1\BaseNamedObjects\Global\CPFATE_1308_v4.0.30319
Network communication
Process Ip Address Url Bin.exe 104.24.103.192:80 Coronavirusstatus[.]space/index.php Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe 149.154.167.220:443 api.telegram.org Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe 104.26.9.44:443 ipapi.co/json Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe 93.184.220.29:80 ocsp.digicert.com/MFEwTzBNMEswSTAJBgUrDgMCGgUABBTBL0V27RVZ7LBduom%2FnYB45SPUEwQU5Z1ZMIJHWMys%2BghUNoZ7OrUETfACEA%2Fz5hY5qj0aEmX0H4s05bY%3D Corona-virus-Map.com.exe 18.205.183.153:443 gisanddata.maps.arcgis[.]com Corona-virus-Map.com.exe 54.192.87.49:443 https://js.arcgis.com/3.31/dijit/form/_ListBase[.]js Corona-virus-Map.com.exe 54.192.87.49:443 https://js.arcgis.com/3.31/dijit/form/MappedTextBox[.]js
Execution Flow Summary
NOTE: js.arcgis.com is safe to visit.
Full analysis
After receiving the sample, I started first with dynamic analysis, executed the file “CoronaMap.exe”[PID 4280] and opened up a window that showed the following “CoronaVirus” statistics:
Running procmon at the same time revealed a multi-sub process that was created by “CoronaMap.exe”[PID 4280] which is the root process.
“CoronaMap.exe”[PID 4280] starts by creating another binary called “Corona.exe”[PID 7032]. When analyzing this file, it was easy to see that it was an archive, which means that it probably contains execution commands that can execute it.
Simply by using Winrar to view the archive content, I found two files inside it and they were in self-extracted mode (SFX). The two files were “Corona.bat” and “Corona.sfx.exe”, which we can also see in the process tree in procmon. Upon opening the “Corona.bat” file, we could see that “Corona.sfx.exe” was extracted with a hardcoded password (3D2oetdNuZUqQHPJmcMDDHYoqkyNVsFk9r) to the “C:\windows\system32” directory:
The “Corona.sfx.exe”[PID 3552] is an extracting process called “Corona.exe”[PID 9452]. This process creates more processes, but we will be focusing on only three of them: “bin.exe”[PID 8604], “timeout.exe”[PID 5680] And “Build.exe”[PID 6348]
As I started to analyze the“bin.exe”[PID 8604] with Ollydbg, I was able to see that it was writing some Dll’s, one of which was known to me from different actors: the “nss3.dll” :
Going deeper inside with Ollydbg, I saw static loading of APIs related to “nss3.dll”. The code utilized the API functions within the “nss3.dll” to decrypt saved passwords and create output data.
This technique is pretty common. I came across it once before, and after doing some digging around, discovered that this information-stealing tactic came from a malware family called “AZORult”, which was first seen in the wild in 2016. Its behavior is as follows: When the victim gets infected, the malware extracts data and creates a unique ID of the victim’s workstation. It then applies XOR encryption using the generated ID. This ID is used to tag the workstation in order to start C2 communication. The C2 server responds with configuration data, which contains target web browser names, web browser path information, API names, sqlite3 queries, and legitimate DLLs.
Using Ollydbg and keeping a trace on the API calls from the loaded “nss3.dll”, I was able to see the following calls:
Sqlite3_open
Sqlite3_close
Sqlite3_prepare_v2
Sqlite3_step
sqlite3_column_text
Sqlite3_column_bytes
Sqlite3_finalize
NSS_Init
PK11_GetInternalKeySlot
PK11_Authenticate
PK11SDR_Decrypt
NSS_Shutdown
PK11_FreeSlot
The password-stealing operation process is simple because the malware steals the “login data” from the installed browser and moves it to “C:\Windows\Temp”. The “login data” is based on Sqlite3 DB structure. To read the date the malware queries the SQLite data in order to extract the information. Once the extraction is over, the malware creates a file called “PasswordList.txt”, which holds all the information.
As I kept on digging in the code of “bin.exe”[PID 8604], I could see that the malware is also looking for different cryptocurrency wallets such as “Electrum” and “Ethereum”:
Also looking for “Telegram Desktop”:
Searches for “Steam” account:
Takes a screenshot and saves it as “scr.jpg”:
Resolve the public IP address of the victim machine and save it as “ip.txt”:
Collecting information about the system such as the OS system, the architecture, the hostname, the username, etc:
As I continued with “bin.exe”[PID 8604], I found that the malware communicates with its C2 server using the address of 104.24.103.192:80, which we can resolve to http://coronavirusstatus[.]space/. By analyzing the traffic, I found that the “bin.exe”[PID 8604] uses “chunked” transfer encoding, which is also something we see in the wild. When the Content-Length value is smaller than the chunked payload size, the origin server will check the Content-Length header to determine the length of the request, but there will be some leftover payload that will be concatenated to the next incoming request. This is how the malware sends out the information it steals:
Moving on to the “timeout.exe”[PID 5680], it was easy to understand that the malware author used it in order to create a delay execution. This is also a pretty common technique that is used to trick AVs.
As I started analyzing the “Build.exe”[PID 6348], I could see a “Loadlibrary” of “taskschd.dll”, which I was already familiar with this in case of persistence:
The “Build.exe”[PID 6348] creates a subprocess “Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe”[PID 3848] which the persistence runs.
When analyzing the “Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe”[PID 3848], I could see that it was packed with UPX, which is pretty easy to unpack.
After unpacking, I noticed that there was another layer of packing. This time, it was with AutoIT. Moving forward with the analysis, I found that this binary is responsible for enumerating the OS in order to find new browsers and resources that it can steal information from:
The “Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe”[PID 3848] creates a process called “Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.module.exe”[PID 3848] which is responsible for creating the zip file with all the information “bin.exe”[PID 8604] sends out:
C:\Users\shy32\AppData\Roaming\amd64_netfx4-system.runti..dowsruntime.ui.xaml\ENU_64B5614D0F4B35423983.7z
The “Windows.Globalization.Fontgroups.exe”[PID 3848] uses “Attrib.exe”[PID 8832] in order to hide this directory:
Prevention and Remediation
Remediation
Download the Reason Antivirus software.
Doubleclick on the installed executable and follow the prompts to complete the installation.
Once the installation is complete, click ‘Finish’.
Definitions and security patches will automatically be updated.
Once the process is complete, select the ‘Scan Now’ button to start your scan.
When the scan is finished, select all the threats that were detected and then click on ‘Remove selected threats’. When prompted, restart your computer.
MetaData
hashes
2b35aa9c70ef66197abfb9bc409952897f9f70818633ab43da85b3825b256307
0b3e7faa3ad28853bb2b2ef188b310a67663a96544076cd71c32ac088f9af74d
13c0165703482dd521e1c1185838a6a12ed5e980e7951a130444cf2feed1102e
Fda64c0ac9be3d10c28035d12ac0f63d85bb0733e78fe634a51474c83d0a0df8
126569286f8a4caeeaba372c0bdba93a9b0639beaad9c250b8223f8ecc1e8040
203c7e843936469ecf0f5dec989d690b0c770f803e46062ad0a9885a1105a2b8
***
Note
***The original Johns Hopkins University or ArcGIS coronavirus map hosted online is not infected or backdoored in any way and are safe to visit.
About Reason Labs
Reason Labs is the threat research arm of Reason Cybersecurity. We play a leading role in researching and exploring cyber threats and advancing the state of cybersecurity intelligence. Reason Labs collects raw data about existing and emerging threats and analyzes that data to deliver actionable insights in real-time.
We leverage the threat intelligence we gather from always-on active sensors, in order to continuously analyze, organize, and add context to evolving cyber activities, attacks and threats. This powerful intelligence network leaves Reason prepared to meet threats head-on.
For more information reach out at [email protected]
Offline version of the analysis can be found here | {
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Former president Jacob Zuma yesterday filed an application for leave to appeal KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge Dhaya Pillay’s decision his “enemy agent” tweet directed at former tourism minister Derek Hanekom was defamatory and false.
Political analyst Sanusha Naidu said politicians were irresponsible when it came to using social media.
“The findings of the court are less likely to have a personal impact on the former president. His credibility will be left unquestioned and social media platforms will continue being used carelessly because leaders use them irresponsibly,” said Naidu.
Naidu believed politicians tended to have a “so what” attitude towards court rulings, which is one of the reasons they appear in court continuously.
Naidu said the belittling of court rulings by politicians has led to society not trusting the judiciary system.
Zuma’s comment on Twitter on July 25 – “I’m not surprised by @Julius_S_Malema revelations regarding @Derek_Hanekom. It is part of the plan I mentioned at Zondo Commission @Derek_ Hanekom is a known enemy agent” – was found to be defamatory and false by Pillay.
The court found the tweet was unlawful and ordered Zuma to remove it and issue an apology within 24 hours.
The findings could lead to the former president paying damages, the amount of which will be determined at a future hearing, where oral evidence will be delivered.
“Although the dispute is framed as a claim for defamation, a larger conflict casts a long shadow beyond the legal and into the political,” said Pillay in her judgment.
“The ANC, through its highest decision-making structure, its NEC, resolved to recall Mr Zuma as president. Mr Hanekom actively supported that decision. Notwithstanding their common political home, both litigants find themselves on opposite sides of each other, not only in this application but also within the ANC.
“Mr Zuma had a choice. He could have clarified his tweet to say, as he now does in his answering affidavit, that he was not suggesting that Mr Hanekom is an apartheid spy. Mr Zuma chose not to respond to the demand. It follows that Mr Zuma wanted his tweet to remain on his Twitter account.”
Pillay issued an interdict preventing Zuma from again stating or implying that Hanekom is an enemy agent or spy.
Zuma’s tweet was in response to a claim made by Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema that Hanekom had lobbied them to help oust the former president.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android. | {
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The infamous Loch Ness monster, Nessie, seems to have disappeared as no confirmed sightings have been made for over a year.
For the first time in 90 years no confirmed sightings of the Loss Ness monster have been reported, according to BBC.
According to Gary Campbell, who maintains a record of sightings, in the last 18 months no one has spotted the Loch Ness monster. He resides in Inverness and has been maintaining a record of Loch Ness monster sightings for the past 17 years. He has records that date back to some 1,500 years.
Campbell said, "It's very upsetting news and we don't know where she's gone. The number of sightings has been reducing since the turn of the century but this is the first time in almost 90 years that Nessie wasn't seen at all."
News of the monster spotting started circulating less than a century ago, reports LiveScience. It was in 1933 that the world's attention was caught by a story in a local newspaper about a monstrous head. A few years later, the monster was caught on frame by a photographer but was declared a hoax. Earliest records about the monster date back to 565 A.D. and legend has it that St. Columba scared the monster away.
There are several myths surrounding this Loch Ness monster, some claim the water beast is a long-necked aquatic dinosaur. Last year, people noticed a strange curved neck popping up and down off the coast of Magnetic Island, Australia, and related it to Scotland's Nessie. But others said it was just a half sunken boat mistaken as the mythical monster.
Campbell told BBC News, "So far 1,036 reported sightings have been recorded and there were some in 2012. I'm convinced that Nessie has just taken some time out and will be back with a vengeance this year." | {
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We let Apple iMovie and Adobe Premiere Elements battle it out to find out which is the easiest to use, and which Mac video editor gives the best results...
Read next: Best free & cheap Mac video editing software
Interface And Getting Started
Apple just can’t seem to make up its mind about iMovie’s interface, and the new iMovie 10 saw the program receiving another rather untidy makeover. The Project panel that occupies the lower half of the screen now provides a more conventional editing timeline where you can quickly arrange your video clips in a simple linear sequence. That’s simple enough, but the program’s other editing tools are scattered around the workspace almost at random, with audio and video effects activated by the Adjustments button up in the top-right corner of the workspace, while transitions and titles have been moved down into the bottom left corner of the newly expanded Library panel. Users of previous versions of iMovie may feel a little lost at first, and we weren’t impressed by the fact that you need an Internet connection in order to use the program’s Help files either.
In contrast, Premiere Elements started out with a complex and intimidating interface but has gradually improved its ease of use with each annual upgrade. The program now provides three separate editing modes that cater for people with different levels of experience. Its Quick mode displays a simple editing timeline with effects, transitions and other tools neatly arranged along the bottom of the screen. More experienced users can opt for Expert mode, which provides you with a multi-track timeline that allows you to combine multiple audio and video clips and to perform much more complex and precise editing work. There’s also a Guided mode that helps beginners by providing simple, step-by-step help with common editing tasks, such as trimming clips, adding titles and transitions or recording your own voice-over tracks.
The simpler timeline in iMovie is relatively straightforward and easy to use, but the Guided mode in Premiere Elements is very impressive and does an excellent job of introducing video-editing work for beginners.
Read: Apple iMovie for Mac version 10 review
Magic Moments
If you’re new to video-editing work, both iMovie and Premiere Elements also include a number of options that allow you to quickly create simple but slick movie projects without having to master their full range of editing tools.
When you start work in iMovie, you can either create a full-blown movie project or use the New command in the File Menu to create a ‘trailer’ instead. When you select this option iMovie presents you with a series of templates that mimic the style of Hollywood film trailers. There are templates for tough-guy action movies, Bollywood musicals, creepy horror films and many others, and each template includes a storyboard with a series of placeholders into which you can quickly insert your video clips. The template automatically trims your clips to the desired length, and adds music and dramatic titles that suit the style of your trailer. Each template is typically 60-90 seconds long, so you’re not going to create a full-length movie this way, but the trailers option is a fun and effective way of combining some short video clips into something that looks pretty slick and professional. You also have the option of converting the trailer into a proper movie project, which will allow you to insert some longer video clips if you want to.
Premiere Elements actually provides a number of different options here. The new Video Story option that was introduced in version 13 is similar to iMovie’s trailers, as it provides you with a series of storyboard templates into which you can insert a set of video clips. If you want a little more freedom you can use the Instant Movie option instead. This allows you to arrange clips on the timeline first, and then prompts you to select a template that will add music and effects to suit various styles or moods.
Premiere Elements 13 also adds an interesting new feature called Favourite Moments, which allows you to pick the best moments from within a single, longer video clip. The clip you choose opens up in a new window where you can view the clip in detail and then mark the most interesting moments or events that you want to keep. The program then deletes the unwanted sections of the clip and the sections that you want to keep can either be merged together by using crossfade transitions, or placed on the timeline as a series of individual clips to provide greater editing freedom.
Editing Tools
It may take a little while to figure out where everything is in iMovie these days, but at least its main editing tools still retain their admirable simplicity and ease of use. The main innovation introduced by iMovie a few years ago was the ability to ‘skim’ through video clips. You can simply move your mouse cursor over any section of a video clip in order to view it in the main Monitor window. You can skim through a clip as slowly or as quickly as you like, and this makes it really easy to select just the scenes – or even just a few frames – that you want to use in your movie.
Other tools are equally easy to use. Just drag a clip from the Browser window and place it directly above another clip in the editing timeline and iMovie automatically displays its Video Overlay menu. This allows you to instantly create complex picture-in-picture effects, a split-screen effect that plays the two clips side-by-side, or to add green-screen special effects.
Premiere Elements 12 can’t quite match the sheer simplicity of iMovie’s selection and editing features. You can’t skim through clips using your mouse as you can with iMovie, so selecting specific scenes within a longer clip and then trimming the clip to the required length involves a little more work. However, the multi-track timeline that is available in the program’s Expert mode allows you to combine multiple audio and video tracks, along with titles and other effects, in a way that iMovie simply can’t match.
It’s horses for course on this one. The quick and easy editing tools of iMovie are ideal if you simply want to trim a few short video clips together and then upload them to FaceBook or YouTube. However, experienced users who want to produce longer, more complex video projects will really appreciate the greater depth and power provided by Premiere Elements.
Audio/Video Controls
You’ll often need to tweak your video clips to improve the lighting or colour balance, and iMovie works really well here with an automatic ‘Enhance’ tool that can adjust the lighting, colour and sound quality within your clips with just a single click of a button. If you want finer control you can simply activate the Adjustment Bar, which provides additional controls for brightness, colour and contrast settings. Its audio controls aren’t extensive, but they’re easy to use, with simple options for adjusting volume and recording voice-overs. There’s also an extensive library of sound effects built into iMovie, along with the ability to import music and other projects from GarageBand.
The adjustment tools in Premiere Elements work in a similar fashion, with a ‘Smart Fix’ feature that can automatically fine-tune colour and brightness for you, along with additional tools that provide more precise controls over settings such as hue, saturation, and gamma correction. However, Premiere Elements provides more extensive audio controls than iMovie. As well as its built-in library of sound-effects, Premiere Elements also includes more than 50 pieces of stock music that you can use for your movie soundtrack. There are separate controls for treble, bass, gain and balance, and its multi-track timeline allows you to add up to 100 separate audio tracks, along with a mixer that provides precise control over each individual track.
Titles And Effects
Premiere Elements and iMovie both provide a good selection of transition effects, along with templates that allow you to quickly add titles and text to your movies. However, Adobe’s background in design and typography means that Premiere Elements provides much more precise controls for formatting and animating text.
Premiere Elements 13 also added a new Guided Edit that shows you how to place moving video inside titles. This is a complicated effect that would normally require a lot of work, but Premiere Elements does a really good job of guiding you through the process in just a few seconds. That also brings us into the realm of special effects, which is where Premiere Elements really blows iMovie out of the water.
There’s a modest selection of about 20 video effects in iMovie, and they’re all pretty basic – sepia tint, hazy soft focus, that sort of thing. Premiere Elements, on the other hand, includes an extensive collection of special effects that are organised into categories such as blurs, distortion effects, and JJ Abrams lens flare. There’s a powerful ‘time remapping’ option that allows you to speed clips up, slow them down, or even play them backwards. You also have very fine control over these effects, thanks to the ‘Applied Effects’ panel that allows you to fine-tune properties such as the degree of distortion, or even the length of the lightning bolt effects that you can superimpose over a clip.
The Guided Edits in Premiere Elements 13 come to your aid here as well, with a new guide that shows you how to create ‘masks’ that can be used to apply special effects just to specific areas within the video image. But the area where Premiere Elements really scores is with its keyframe controls, which allow you to adjust effects over time. They’re a little tricky to master, but once you’ve got the hang of using keyframes you can gradually lower the lighting in a scene to make it look as though night is falling, or create your own custom special effects by flipping and rotating clips anyway you want.
We compare iMovie to some other Mac video editors in this iMovie alternatives round up.
You can read more iMovie tutorials over at our iMovie Topic Zone, plus: | {
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If you've ever found yourself in the classic position where you want to spice up your tacos but also make sure your blood is flowing for a long night of love-making, then today is your day. This week, adult gaming platform Nutaku released the first-ever Hentai Hot Sauce. There's a lot to unpack in that sentence, but for now, let's stick with the hot sauce.
Named after manga-inspired pornography from Japan, Hentai Hot Sauce is made with shallots, garlic, oak pellets, and some seriously hot peppers. But the key ingredient is actually capsaicin, an aphrodisiac commonly found in chili peppers. Capsaicin is said to increase your metabolism and up your circulation—a.k.a., get that blood pumping for whatever activities you may have planned for the future. In the case of most aphrodisiacs, that means sex. But that could also mean gaming. No, seriously. The hot sauce was created to pair perfectly with what Nutaku does best.
Hentai Hot Sauce XXX Nutaku nutaku.net $14.99 Pre-Order
"This sauce is incredibly unique, developed to enhance the overall gaming experience through the effects of capsaicin," said Julie Hall, communications manager at Nutaku. "By increasing blood circulation and stimulating the nerve endings, gamers can expect a more intense and vivid gaming experience."
Now, to break down this Nutaku business: In 2015, Nutaku was launched to build the largest free-to-play library for adult gaming, including titles with your typical gaming elements alongside some seriously adult content. That information should make the hot sauce's hentai-tentacle-gamer-porn connection make a bit more sense.
If you really want to take it to the next level, get yourself a bottle of the sauce, order in some calamari, and make the whole thing as meta as possible. Because if you like to eat squid while playing your tentacle porn game, why not top it off with some official Hentai Hot Sauce?
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Justin Kirkland Justin Kirkland is a writer for Esquire, where he focuses on entertainment, television, and pop culture.
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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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of state and federal laws governing
immigration by certain governmental entities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 370, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 370.0031 to read as follows:
Sec. 370.0031. LOCAL GOVERNMENT POLICY REGARDING
ENFORCEMENT OF STATE AND FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS. (a) This
section applies to:
(1) the governing body of a municipality, county, or
special district or authority, subject to Subsection (b);
(2) an officer, employee, or other body that is part of
a municipality, county, or special district or authority, including
a sheriff, municipal police department, municipal attorney, or
county attorney; and
(3) a district attorney or criminal district attorney.
(b) This section does not apply to a school district or
open-enrollment charter school or a junior college district, except
that this subsection does not exclude the application of this
section to a commissioned peace officer employed or commissioned by
a school district or open-enrollment charter school or a junior
college district.
(c) An entity described by Subsection (a) may not adopt a
rule, order, ordinance, or policy under which the entity prohibits
the enforcement of the laws of this state or federal law relating to
immigrants or immigration, including the federal Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.).
(d) In compliance with Subsection (c), an entity described
by Subsection (a) may not prohibit a person employed by or otherwise
under the direction or control of the entity from doing any of the
following:
(1) inquiring into the immigration status of a person
lawfully detained for the investigation of a criminal offense or
arrested;
(2) with respect to information relating to the
immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any person lawfully
detained for the investigation of a criminal offense or arrested:
(A) sending the information to or requesting or
receiving the information from United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services or United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, including information regarding an individual's place
of birth;
(B) maintaining the information; or
(C) exchanging the information with another
federal, state, or local governmental entity;
(3) assisting or cooperating with a federal
immigration officer as reasonable and necessary, including
providing enforcement assistance; or
(4) permitting a federal immigration officer to enter
and conduct enforcement activities at a municipal or county jail to
enforce federal immigration laws.
(e) An entity described by Subsection (a) may not receive
state grant funds if the entity adopts a rule, order, ordinance, or
policy under which the entity prohibits the enforcement of the laws
of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) or, by
consistent actions, prohibits the enforcement of the laws of this
state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c). State grant funds
for the entity shall be denied for the fiscal year following the
year in which a final judicial determination in an action brought
under this section is made that the entity has intentionally
prohibited the enforcement of the laws of this state or federal laws
relating to Subsection (c).
(f) Any citizen residing in the jurisdiction of an entity
described by Subsection (a) may file a complaint with the attorney
general if the citizen offers evidence to support an allegation
that the entity has adopted a rule, order, ordinance, or policy
under which the entity prohibits the enforcement of the laws of this
state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) or that, by
consistent actions, prohibits the enforcement of the laws of this
state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c). The citizen must
include with the complaint the evidence the citizen has that
supports the complaint.
(g) If the attorney general determines that a complaint
filed under Subsection (f) against an entity described by
Subsection (a) is valid, the attorney general may file a petition
for a writ of mandamus or apply for other appropriate equitable
relief in a district court in Travis County or in a county in which
the principal office of an entity described by Subsection (a) is
located to compel the entity that adopts a rule, order, ordinance,
or policy under which the local entity prohibits the enforcement of
the laws of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) or
that, by consistent actions, prohibits the enforcement of the laws
of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) to comply
with Subsection (c). The attorney general may recover reasonable
expenses incurred in obtaining relief under this subsection,
including court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, investigative
costs, witness fees, and deposition costs.
(h) An appeal of a suit brought under Subsection (g) is
governed by the procedures for accelerated appeals in civil cases
under the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. The appellate court
shall render its final order or judgment with the least possible
delay.
SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 370, Local Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 370. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO [ MUNICIPAL
AND COUNTY ] HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY APPLYING TO MORE THAN ONE
TYPE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | {
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Agenţia Naţională pentru Integritate în acuză pe primarul Sectorului 5 al Capitalei, Marian Vanghelie, de fals în declaraţii. Acesta nu poate justifica aproape 300.000 de euro.
În 2013, ANI a constatat existența unei diferenţe semnificative, în sensul art. 18 din Legea nr. 176/2010, în cuantum de 787.246, 55 Lei (aprox. 180.300,59 Euro), între averea dobândită şi veniturile realizate împreună cu familia în perioada evaluată, respectiv 2008 - 2011. ANI a sesizat Curtea de Apel Bucureşti.
Ulterior, Vanghelie a angajat un expert pentru a-i evalua veniturile. Expertul a constatat că primarul Sectorului 5 nu poate justifica încă 100.000 de euro. Astfel, suma care nu poate fi explicată a ajuns la aproape 300.000 de euro. Instanţa poate dispune confiscarea averii în acest caz, scrie stiripesurse.ro.
Etichete: ANI, avere, Marian Vanghelie | {
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Adrian Kavanagh, 14th July 2016
The preliminary population by area Census 2016 figures were published earlier today (at 11 am), showing a population level within the state of 4,757,976, marking a notable increase (of 169,724) on the 4,588,252 population level recorded for the 2011 Census. Given that the Constitution explicitly states that the population per TD ratio nationally (this does not apply to individual constituencies) must not exceed 30,000 (or indeed fall below 20,000), this means that the smallest number of Dail deputies, which can be envisaged in the upcoming Constituency Commission review of Dail constituency boundaries, is 159, which is a higher number that the current membership (158 TDs of Dail Eireann). As a result, the extent of the boundary changes that will be required is probably more extensive than would have been envisaged prior to the publication of the preliminary population figures on this day.
This post will review the different scenarios that may emerge, depending on the new number of Dail seats that the Constituency Commission decides upon.
Update: The Ministerial Order of 14th July establishing a new Constituency Commission (as noted in Comments section below) effectively limits the range of seat number options left open to the new Constituency Commission to either 159 seats or 160 seats:
“the total number of members of the Dáil, subject to Article 16. 2. 2 of the Constitution, shall be not less than 153 and not more than 160”
Hence, while this post discusses a range of other seat number options, the discussion of 162, 164 and 166 seat number options here effectively amounts to am academic exercise in the light of the terms of reference set for the new Commission.
This post also now includes an updated discussion of cases where the new Constituency Commission may have the ability to address existing breaches of county boundaries, without significantly compromising the proportionality principle – i.e. the average population per TD ratio in individual Dail constituencies should be within a 5% range above, or below, the national average.
159 Seats/160 Seats: The terms of reference set in the Ministerial Order means that the Commission effectively can only contemplate a minimal level of change as regards overall Dail seat numbers, which would leave the overall number at the smallest number possible (159), based on the stipulations of the Constitution, or the next higher number (160) if the Commission wanted to have an even number of seats. In the 159 seat-scenario, there would be an average population per TD ratio of 29,924 across the state, based on the provisional Census 2016 population figures. In the 160 seat-scenario, there would be an average population per TD ratio of 29,737 across the state, based on the provisional Census 2016 population figures. In both of (or some of) these scenarios, the following constituencies would be under-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% higher than the national average and hence would warrant attention from the Constituency Commission):
Dublin North-West
Dublin Central
Dublin Rathdown (160-seat scenario only)
In the 159-seat and 160-seat scenarios, the following constituencies would be over-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% lower than the national average and hence warrant attention from the Constituency Commission):
Limerick County
Clare
Roscommon-Galway (159-seat scenario only)
Cork South-West (159-seat scenario only)
Due to the Ministerial Order, we are effectively looking at a scenario where only a small number of changes might be required to be made by the new Constituency Commission. For instance, in the 159-seat scenario it would appear to be the case that the extra (159th) seat would probably be awarded to one the Dublin North City constituencies (i.e. Dublin Bay North, Dublin Fingal, Dublin West, Dublin Central and Dublin North-West), with territory transfers between these constituencies to balance out the impact of this extra seat. The most likely recipient of a second extra seat in a 160-seat scenario would probably be one of the (Rest of) Leinster constituencies, although a not-insignificant number of breaches of county boundaries would be required in order to facilitate the allocation of this extra Dail seat to one of these Leinster constituencies. The allocation of an extra seat to the Dublin North City constituencies would address the under-representation of the Dublin North-West and Dublin Central constituencies, while also requiring some territory transfers to be made between the two constituencies and the other North City constituencies (Dublin Fingal, Dublin Bay North and Dublin West) to further balance population levels/the population per TD ratios for all of these constituencies. The Commission could opt to take a more radical approach here. Due to the large level of population increases across Fingal County between 2011 and 2016, the population of Fingal County would now be equivalent to 9.9 TDs in a 159-seat scenario and 10.0 TDs in a 160-seat scenario. This could allow current breaches of the county boundary between Fingal and Dublin City to be addressed, by means of the creation of two five-seat constituencies comprised solely of areas located within Fingal (i.e. Howth would move into Dublin Fingal, the Ashtown/Phoenix Park area would move back into Dublin Central). This would effectively require the allocation of the extra seat to be made to Dublin West, with transfers of territory into this constituency from Dublin Fingal (which would be gaining territory – Howth and surrounding areas – from Dublin Bay North).
Issues to do with the two-four constituencies whose population per TD ratios fall well below the national average could effectively be resolved by means of territory transfers involving other neighbouring constituencies. The over-representation of the Limerick County and Clare constituencies, for instance, could be addressed by means of territory transfers into both constituencies from the neighbouring Limerick City constituency. If the Commission opt for a 160-seat scenario, then the under-representation of Cork South-West and Roscommon-Galway does not need to be addressed. If they opt for a 159-seat number, then the new Commission will have to take the under-representation of Cork South-West and Roscommon-Galway into account. These issues could be addressed by territory transfers (involving relatively small population levels of c.500-600 people) into these two constituencies from neighbouring constituencies.
Thus, if the Commission gives more emphasis to proportionality concerns and continuity concerns in its deliberations, a scenario where very few boundary changes actually ensue could very well emerge when the new Constituency Commission report is published in the Spring/Summer of 2017. But – as hinted in the earlier discussion of Fingal County – the Commission may well opt to make further, more radical, changes in order to address ongoing concerns in terms of county boundary breaches. (On a more positive note, the number of further county boundary breaches would appear to be very much limited in a 159-Dail seat context, but the decision to opt for a 160-seat number could provoke further county boundary breaches in the Leinster region. I’ll briefly discuss some of these issues here – just to note that most of the figures/statistics noted here will refer to a 160-Dail seat number context, unless otherwise stated:
Laois and Kildare: In 2012, the Commission opted to add territory from Kildare South into Laois (the Monasterevin/Kildangan areas) to provide a sufficient level of population to allow for the creation of a new three-seat Laois constituency. Continuing levels of population growth across Laois and Kildare have changed the context somewhat. In a 160-seat context, the population of Laois County would be only slightly outside the 5% variance range in terms of its population per TD ratio (5.02% below the national average) and – in the expectation of future population growth in this county – the Commission could opt to allow for this level of variance. However, the population of Kildare County is too small to allow for the creation of two four-seat constituencies, comprising solely of areas located within that county. (The allocation of eight seats to the Kildare constituencies would result in an average variance level of 6.6% below the national average.) The extent of such variance is not overtly excessive, however, and more extreme levels of variance have been permitted by previous Commissions. (The maximum level of variance involved the Mayo East constituency in the 1983 revisions, when the population per TD ratio stood at 7.89% below the national average – and this precedent has been established as the absolute maximum level of variance than a Commission can countenance in order to preserve county boundaries.) As a 160-Dail seat number would require one Leinster constituency to be allocated an extra seat, the allocation of a fourth seat to Kildare South could prove a means of accommodating this, without the need to countenance any further breaches of county boundaries in Leinster.
In 2012, the Commission opted to add territory from Kildare South into Laois (the Monasterevin/Kildangan areas) to provide a sufficient level of population to allow for the creation of a new three-seat Laois constituency. Continuing levels of population growth across Laois and Kildare have changed the context somewhat. In a 160-seat context, the population of Laois County would be only slightly outside the 5% variance range in terms of its population per TD ratio (5.02% below the national average) and – in the expectation of future population growth in this county – the Commission could opt to allow for this level of variance. However, the population of Kildare County is too small to allow for the creation of two four-seat constituencies, comprising solely of areas located within that county. (The allocation of eight seats to the Kildare constituencies would result in an average variance level of 6.6% below the national average.) The extent of such variance is not overtly excessive, however, and more extreme levels of variance have been permitted by previous Commissions. (The maximum level of variance involved the Mayo East constituency in the 1983 revisions, when the population per TD ratio stood at 7.89% below the national average – and this precedent has been established as the absolute maximum level of variance than a Commission can countenance in order to preserve county boundaries.) As a 160-Dail seat number would require one Leinster constituency to be allocated an extra seat, the allocation of a fourth seat to Kildare South could prove a means of accommodating this, without the need to countenance any further breaches of county boundaries in Leinster. Louth, Meath, Westmeath and Longford: The combined population of Longford and Westmeath counties is too large to allow for the Delvin/Castlepollard area (currently within Meath West) to be included within the Longford-Westmeath constituency. A four-seat constituency involving both counties (in a 160-seat scenario) would result in a population per TD ratio that would be 8.6% above the national average. The population of Louth County is too small to allow it be a stand-alone five-seat constituency (population per TD ratio 13.7% below the national average) and too large to allow it be a stand-alone four-seat constituency (population per TD ratio 7.92% above the national average). The population of Meath County is also too large to allow for the two Meath three-seaters to created solely involving territory from that county (population per TD ratio of, on average, 9.3% above the national average), while it is too small to allow for that county to be divided between a three-seat and a four-seat constituency. If the Commission do not opt to award an extra seat to Kildare South (as discussed above), they could opt to award the second new seat (in a 160-Dail seat scenario) to one of the two Meath constituencies (or alternately award a fifth seat to Longford-Westmeath, with the provision of territory from western parts of Meath County, on top of the inclusion of the Delvin/Castlepollard area).
The combined population of Longford and Westmeath counties is too large to allow for the Delvin/Castlepollard area (currently within Meath West) to be included within the Longford-Westmeath constituency. A four-seat constituency involving both counties (in a 160-seat scenario) would result in a population per TD ratio that would be 8.6% above the national average. The population of Louth County is too small to allow it be a stand-alone five-seat constituency (population per TD ratio 13.7% below the national average) and too large to allow it be a stand-alone four-seat constituency (population per TD ratio 7.92% above the national average). The population of Meath County is also too large to allow for the two Meath three-seaters to created solely involving territory from that county (population per TD ratio of, on average, 9.3% above the national average), while it is too small to allow for that county to be divided between a three-seat and a four-seat constituency. If the Commission do not opt to award an extra seat to Kildare South (as discussed above), they could opt to award the second new seat (in a 160-Dail seat scenario) to one of the two Meath constituencies (or alternately award a fifth seat to Longford-Westmeath, with the provision of territory from western parts of Meath County, on top of the inclusion of the Delvin/Castlepollard area). Carlow, Kilkenny and Wicklow: The population of Wicklow County is large enough to allow for the creation of a stand-alone Wicklow County five-seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 4.3% above the national average – in a 160-seat scenario), without requiring the addition of the part of eastern Carlow that is currently located within that constituency. Furthermore, the combined population of the counties of Kilkenny and Carlow is now just about small enough to allow for the return of eastern Carlow to create a five-seat constituency comprised of the territories of both counties (population per TD ratio of 4.9% above the national average). There now seems to be no reason why the Commission might not address this (Wicklow-Carlow) county boundary breach.
The population of Wicklow County is large enough to allow for the creation of a stand-alone Wicklow County five-seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 4.3% above the national average – in a 160-seat scenario), without requiring the addition of the part of eastern Carlow that is currently located within that constituency. Furthermore, the combined population of the counties of Kilkenny and Carlow is now just about small enough to allow for the return of eastern Carlow to create a five-seat constituency comprised of the territories of both counties (population per TD ratio of 4.9% above the national average). There now seems to be no reason why the Commission might not address this (Wicklow-Carlow) county boundary breach. Offaly and Tipperary: The Offaly population is not large enough to allow for a stand-alone three-seat Offaly County constituency (population per TD ratio of 12.6% above the national average). In a similar vein, the Tipperary population is too large enough to allow for a stand-alone five-seat Tipperary County constituency (population per TD ratio of 7.91% above the national average). With the population levels in the existing Offaly (and north Tipperary) and Tipperary constituencies being almost the ideal numbers for a three-seat and five-seat Dail constituency, respectively, the scenario here would appear to be one that very much edges towards the current status quo being maintained; boundary changes appear unlikely here.
The Offaly population is not large enough to allow for a stand-alone three-seat Offaly County constituency (population per TD ratio of 12.6% above the national average). In a similar vein, the Tipperary population is too large enough to allow for a stand-alone five-seat Tipperary County constituency (population per TD ratio of 7.91% above the national average). With the population levels in the existing Offaly (and north Tipperary) and Tipperary constituencies being almost the ideal numbers for a three-seat and five-seat Dail constituency, respectively, the scenario here would appear to be one that very much edges towards the current status quo being maintained; boundary changes appear unlikely here. Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim: The general sense here is that the Commission is waiting for population trends to, over time, solve the existing breaches of (the Donegal and Cavan) county boundaries, that were brought in by the 2012 Commission’s report. Effectively, my sense is that the Commission are waiting until the combined population of Sligo and Leitrim counties is small enough to allow these to form a stand-alone three-seat constituency (or, alternately, until the combined population of Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim counties is small enough to allow these to form a stand-alone five-seat constituency). At the moment, the combined population of these two counties is just too large to allow these form a stand-alone three seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 9.1% above the national average) and just too small to allow these form a stand-alone three seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 18.2% below the national average). The population of Donegal is too large to allow it form a stand-alone five-seat Donegal County constituency (population per TD ratio of 6.8% above the national average) and the combined population of the counties of Cavan and Monaghan is too small to allow these form a stand-alone five seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 7.61% below the national average). Greater levels of variance than those associated with the Donegal and Cavan-Monaghan cases have been allowed by previous Commissions. However, the problem here has to do mainly with population levels in Sligo and Leitrim, which may warrant the maintenance of the current situation in which parts of south Donegal and western Cavan need to be included as part of the four-seat Sligo-Leitrim constituency.
The general sense here is that the Commission is waiting for population trends to, over time, solve the existing breaches of (the Donegal and Cavan) county boundaries, that were brought in by the 2012 Commission’s report. Effectively, my sense is that the Commission are waiting until the combined population of Sligo and Leitrim counties is small enough to allow these to form a stand-alone three-seat constituency (or, alternately, until the combined population of Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim counties is small enough to allow these to form a stand-alone five-seat constituency). At the moment, the combined population of these two counties is just too large to allow these form a stand-alone three seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 9.1% above the national average) and just too small to allow these form a stand-alone three seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 18.2% below the national average). The population of Donegal is too large to allow it form a stand-alone five-seat Donegal County constituency (population per TD ratio of 6.8% above the national average) and the combined population of the counties of Cavan and Monaghan is too small to allow these form a stand-alone five seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 7.61% below the national average). Greater levels of variance than those associated with the Donegal and Cavan-Monaghan cases have been allowed by previous Commissions. However, the problem here has to do mainly with population levels in Sligo and Leitrim, which may warrant the maintenance of the current situation in which parts of south Donegal and western Cavan need to be included as part of the four-seat Sligo-Leitrim constituency. Mayo, Galway and Roscommon: Some of the most contentious decisions made by the Commission in 2012 involved county boundary breaches involving the transfer of part of south Mayo into Galway West and a large part of eastern Galway (including Ballinasloe) into the new Roscommon-Galway constituency. A stand-alone constituency comprising solely of Mayo County is not likely on present population levels. At the moment, the Mayo County population is just too large to allow it to form a stand-alone four seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 9.6% above the national average), but it is just too small to allow it to once again form a stand-alone five seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 12.3% below the national average). In a similar vein, the population of Roscommon County is just too small to allow it to form a stand-alone three seat constituency (population per TD ratio of 27.8% below the national average) and a two-seat Roscommon constituency is not an option, based on the Constitutional provision stating that Dail constituencies must have at least three seats allocated to these. By contrast, the population of Galway (City and County) would allow for the return of the old five-seat Galway West/four-seat Galway East constituency arrangement: the allocation of nine seats to Galway would result in a population per TD ratio that – on average – is just 3.4 % below the national average. Can the level of county boundary breaches be limited here? Well one option would be to instead move a south-eastern chunk of Mayo County into Roscommon to create a four-seat Mayo constituency and three-seat Roscommon-Mayo constituency. However, the populations of the two counties may not be large enough to allow for such an arrangement, unless the Commission was willing to allow for variance levels of six or seven percent (i.e. population per TD ratios of c.6-7 lower than the national average). Past precedent, as discussed above, does not entirely rule out such a scenario. If this was to arise, the existing breaches of the Galway County boundary would effectively be resolved.
** The rest of this post discusses potential constituency boundary arrangements if the terms of reference set for the new Commission had allowed it the option to choose to allocate a larger number of Dail seats:
166 Seats: The Commission might have decided (if it had been given the power to do so) to have made a more significant increase in the number of Dail seat numbers, based on the expectation that future population increases in future census reports may otherwise require Dail seat numbers to be constantly changing with each new Constituency Commission report. One scenario, if the terms of reference in a new Electoral Act allow for this, might have seen the Commission revert back to the 166-seats level used at each general election contest between 1981 and 2011. In such a 166 seat-scenario, there would have been an average population per TD ratio of 28,663 across the state. In this scenario, the following constituencies would have been under-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% higher than the national average and hence warrant attention from the Constituency Commission):
Dublin North-West
Dublin Central
Dublin Rathdown
Galway East
Cork North-Central
Cavan-Monaghan
Galway West
Laois
Dun Laoghaire
Kildare South
Dublin West
Dublin Bay North
Kildare North
Cork South-Central
Meath East
Dublin Fingal
Cork East
Carlow-Kilkenny
Dublin Bay South
Dublin South-West
Longford-Westmeath
Meath West
Louth
In this scenario, none of the existing (40) constituencies would have been classified as being over-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% lower than the national average and hence warrant attention from the Constituency Commission).
Effectively this would have amounted to a scenario where the level of changes would have been quite dramatic and would be effectively in the same vein as the changes brought in by the 2012 Constituency Commission. Eight extra seats would have been allocated, with three of these awarded to the Dublin constituencies – one extra seat to Fingal, one extra seat to the North City area and one extra seat to South Dublin County (with Dublin Mid-West potentially gaining a seat). There would also have been extra seats shared out between the:
Laois, Kildare South and Kildare North constituencies (with the part of south Kildare, currently located within the Laois constituency, returning to Kildare South (which probably would gain a fourth seat)
Louth, Meath East and Meath West constituencies
The Cork constituencies – with Cork South-Central potentially regaining the seat lost in the 2012 revisions
Cavan-Monaghan – assuming that this constituency also regained the parts of West Cyavan lost to Sligo-Leitrim in the 2012 revisions
The constituencies in the South-East: Waterford, Tipperary and Carlow-Kilkenny.
162 Seats: The Commission might have decided (if it had the power to do so) to have made a more significant increase in the number of Dail seat numbers, based on the expectation that future population increases in future census reports may otherwise require Dail seat numbers to be constantly changing with each new Constituency Commission report. But they might not have wanted to return seat numbers back to the 166-seats level used at each general election contest between 1981 and 2011. If they were to have opted for a “half-way house scenario”, i.e. a 162 seat-scenario, there would be an average population per TD ratio of 29,370 across the state. In such a scenario, the following constituencies would have been under-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% higher than the national average and hence warrant attention from the Constituency Commission):
Dublin North-West
Dublin Central
Dublin Rathdown
Galway East
Cork North-Central
Cavan-Monaghan
Galway West
Laois
In this scenario, Limerick County would have been the only one out of the existing (40) constituencies that would have been classified as being over-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% lower than the national average and hence warrant attention from the Constituency Commission).
Effectively this would have been a scenario where the level of changes would have been fairly dramatic, but not as dramatic as those changes brought in by the 2012 Constituency Commission. Four extra seats would have been allocated, with two of these awarded to the Dublin constituencies – one extra seat to Fingal and the Dublin North City area and one extra seat to South Dublin County/Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area. The other two seats would probably have been awarded to Cork and to the Laois, Kildare South and Kildare North constituencies.
164 Seats: The last scenario to be looked at is one in which the Constituency Commission – if it had been given the power to do so – had decided to make a relatively significant increase in the number of Dail seat numbers, based on the expectation that population increases in future census reports might otherwise require Dail seat numbers to be constantly changing with each new Constituency Commission report. On that basis they might have opted for a more radical approach that that of simply increasing seat numbers to the 159/160 seat level or even to the 162 seat level, but might have opted not to fully revert back to the 166-seats level that was used at each general election contest between 1981 and 2011. In this scenario, namely that of a 164 seat-scenario, there would have been an average population per TD ratio of 29,012 across the state. In this scenario, the following constituencies would have been under-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% higher than the national average and hence warrant attention from the Constituency Commission):
Dublin North-West
Dublin Central
Dublin Rathdown
Galway East
Cork North-Central
Cavan-Monaghan
Galway West
Laois
Dun Laoghaire
Kildare South
Dublin West
Dublin Bay North
Kildare North
Cork South-Central
In this scenario, none of the existing (40) constituencies would have been classified as being over-represented (i.e. the population per TD ratios for these constituencies would be more than 5% lower than the national average and hence warrant attention from the Constituency Commission).
Effectively this would have amounted to a scenario where the level of changes would have been quite dramatic, albeit not to the same extent as the changes brought in by the 2012 Constituency Commission. Six extra seats would have had to be allocated, with at least two of these being awarded to the Dublin constituencies – one extra seat to Fingal and the Dublin North City area and one extra seat to South Dublin County/Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area. There would also have been an extra seat shared out between the:
Carlow-Kilkenny, Laois, Kildare South and Kildare North constituencies (with the part of south Kildare, currently located within the Laois constituency, pontentially returning to Kildare South (which probably would gain a fourth seat, especially if it gained further territory from Carlow)
The Cork constituencies – with Cork South-Central potentially regaining the seat lost in the 2012 revisions
Cavan-Monaghan – assuming that this constituency also regained the parts of West Cyavan lost to Sligo-Leitrim in the 2012 revisions
The constituencies of Louth, Meath East, Meath West and Longford-Westmeath | {
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Who is this for?
Maybe you live in an apartment with thin walls, or perhaps you have kids and could use a break from the sounds of video games blasting through the house. You could also be hard of hearing (or living with someone who is), with a need to crank up the volume in order to understand dialogue. Whatever the reason, you need headphones that allow you to listen to what's coming out of the entertainment center without being attached to a cord. But if none of the above scenarios apply to you, you could save a lot of money and hear audio just as well with our corded over-ear options.
Why not Bluetooth?
While Bluetooth headphones solve the cord problem, many have noticeable latency—a small delay between what you see on the screen and what you hear. This can get annoying. Also, many Bluetooth headphones are meant to be used only a short distance from a device, so their signal strength isn't as robust as that of the RF headphones made for home theater use.
How we picked and tested
Some of the other models we tested for this year's update
For this year's update, we combed through the offerings at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Crutchfield, and the like to see what new products shoppers liked or didn't like. Generally speaking, we didn't find a whole lot to go on research-wise with these new models. From there, we brought the top seven new models in for testing with our panel.
The panelists used a variety of material that they were very familiar with, including music, movies, and TV shows, and compared all seven new headphone models back to back. After we talked about our favorites in terms of sound and fit, we factored in price and overall value to come up with our final pick.
Our pick
The Power Acoustik Farenheit HP-902 RFT: They aren't pretty, but they get the job done.
We recommend the HP-902 RFT, which you can find under both the Power Acoustik and Farenheit brands. These headphones do the job well for the least amount of money, and with the least number of drawbacks. Yes, we know—that isn't a ringing endorsement. But with the discontinuation of our previous pick, the Sennheiser RS 160 (which is more expensive, and we like that model less), we didn't have many fantastic or affordable options. However, we know that home theater headphones are a must for certain situations, and we think that the HP-902 RFT package is the best option out there for now.
If money isn't an issue
The RS 165 is much better sounding than our top pick but way overpriced for what it gives you.
If you're planning on using your headphones for watching TV frequently, and you're willing to spend around $200 on a pair of wireless headphones, we recommend the Sennheiser RS 165, which is that company's current base wireless model. The RS 165 sounds much better than our current top pick, the HP-902 RFT headphones, but no one on our panel was thrilled with its sound in light of its higher price tag. We preferred our previous pick, Sennheiser's cheaper, more-balanced-sounding, and now-discontinued RS 160. If you use this kind of headphones only occasionally, spending $200 or more on a pair is likely not a worthwhile investment.
How to hook these headphones up to your TV
TVs connect to your other audio gear in many different ways, depending on brand, model, year of manufacture, and so forth. So before you buy a pair of home theater headphones, you should look at the side or back of your TV. What kinds of audio ports does it have? Look for a label that says "Out" or "Output," and refer to our full guide for further instructions on how and what you'll need to set up your headphones.
Wrapping up
If you truly need to get wireless headphones for watching TV or movies and playing games, the Power Acoustik Farenheit HP-902 RFT package is the best choice available. The headphones sound pretty good, the set is affordable, and the transmitter isn't massive. Although you can find better-sounding options out there, you'll typically need to pay more than two times the cost of the HP-902 RFT set—and that's just to buy one pair of headphones. So unless money is no object, we'd say to stick with the affordable HP-902 RFT package.
This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here. | {
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The latest Republican iteration of a bill designed to fulfill a major campaign promise for President Trump, the repeal of Obamacare, is likely dead after a fourth major Republican Senator, Susan Collins of Maine, has gone public with her disapproval of the bill. Currently, Senator Collins joins just a select few of her Republican colleagues in public opposition to the bill which is currently just shy of the number of votes needed for passage.
Senator Collins was previously considered to be leaning no on the proposal but now, after a public promise to vote against the bill which she described as “deeply flawed,” she will likely be the determining vote preventing passage of the Republican healthcare overhaul. In particular, the Senator from Maine found the bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid as well as the removal of protections for people with pre-existing conditions to be deal-breakers for her support.
In a statement Collins released, she described the healthcare system as “a deeply personal, complex issue that affects every single one of us and one-sixth of the American economy,” a system that Collins believed should be reformed without haste, but rather with careful planning and thought. Collins continued, “sweeping reforms to our health care system and to Medicaid can’t be done well in a compressed time frame, especially when the actual bill is a moving target.”
The Republican healthcare overhaul, deemed “Graham-Cassidy” after its co-sponsors, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, could only afford to lose two Republican votes in order to garner a 50 vote margin and pass with a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence.
Acting in his capacity as President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Vice President Pence’s tie-breaking vote on major legislation would certainly be an extraordinarily rare tactic, but not one without recent precedent as was the case in the confirmation of Education Secretary Betsy Devos. This would appear to simply be par for the course in pursuit for the passage of a bill that has already defied normal congressional process.
With only a 52 seat majority, the congressional Republicans only have until the end of the month to pass a healthcare bill through the Senate without Democrat opposition being able to filibuster through a legislative process called “reconciliation.” Budget reconciliation is a process that allows some fiscal measures to pass with a mere majority, rather than the usual 60 votes needed to overcome filibuster on major legislation.
Beginning in October, Republicans would need to secure the votes of at least 8 Democrats in order to move forward on healthcare legislation. This is at least part of why congressional Republicans have been acting in such a rush as they hastily press forward on a bill many of their own caucus have described as deeply flawed.
However, despite calls from Republican leadership for unity, the Graham-Cassidy bill has lost the support not only of moderates seeking a return to normal congressional order, like Collins and McCain, but also from a small contingent of the party’s far-right conservative bloc, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
Senator McCain opposition came first, just four days ago in a statement where he said that he could not “in good conscience” support the proposal while urging a return to normal congressional order and bipartisanship. The Graham-Cassidy bill has skirted nearly all of the standard legislative processes that proceed passage including public hearings, congressional debate, town halls to receive public feedback, and a full scoring of the bill, all processes which Obamacare underwent before passage.
With a narrow window of time and a ticking clock for the bill’s passage, the Congressional Budget Office stated that they will not have time to make a full analysis of the measure before a vote would need to take place. Nevertheless, after much congressional scrutiny and public outcry, the Graham-Cassidy bill’s received a “partial” CBO score, which officially arrived on Monday and is available to read in full below.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report concluded that “millions of additional people would be uninsured” under the Republican proposal, compared with the number of people uninsured under current law. It also deduced that “enrollment in Medicaid would be substantially lower because of large reductions in federal funding for that program.”
For some Republican Senators however, the bill’s cuts did not go far enough. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on Sunday that he had not yet been won over, however, he added that he was continuing to advocate for changes to the bill, ultimately hoping to vote in favor of the measure.
Others were less consolable than Cruz, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a core member of the party’s staunchly conservative voting-bloc, denounced the Graham-Cassidy bill as a “fake repeal,” in a public statement and a Tweet.
Good to see @MooreSenate gets it. He won't vote for fake repeal! Roy Moore Speaks Out Against Graham-Cassidy. https://t.co/ii1nTyQFDp — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 22, 2017
Senator Paul opened himself up to the possibility of compromise on a more narrow “skinny repeal” proposal but rejected the bill’s core concept of providing block grands to individual states to use on healthcare. Senator Paul described voting for the bill as putting “your stamp of approval on a trillion dollars’ worth of Obamacare spending,” pushing instead for a more simple pure repeal. Any bill tailored to secure Paul’s vote would likely alienate more moderate members of the party, making passage difficult.
Without their own caucus in agreement, the clock is ticking for Republican leadership as they try to assemble a package that will garner the votes of at least 50 of their members before the October reconciliation deadline arrives. Attempting to win over key swing votes, the bill’s co-sponsors have added “sweeteners” for particular senators, like Alaskan Senator, Lisa Murkowski, who’s state would get 3 percent more funding between 2020 and 2026 in the latest version of the bill, and Senator Susan Collins from Maine, who’s state would net 43 percent more funding during that same time period.
While the sweeteners for her constituencies did not appear to be enough to secure Senator Collins’ vote, it remains to be seen whether they will be for Senator Murkowski, another necessary voter for the bill’s survival. Either way, the Republicans will still need to flip at least two of the Senators who is a public “no” vote in order to secure passage.
With Rand Paul’s staunch opposition to the bill’s current form and McCain’s rebuke of the process by which the bill is seeking to pass, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Maine Senator Susan Collins’ appears the likely targets for Republicans to attempt to sway with added benefits for their states in the next iteration of the bill.
The Graham-Cassidy bill is deeply unpopular in current form, with a mere 20% approval rating and only a plurality of Republicans even supporting it according to a recent CBS News Poll.
With time left for reconciliation dwindling on an unpopular bill that insurers, hospitals, doctors, patient advocacy groups oppose, the challenge for passage of Obamacare-repeal appears colossal.
Regardless, even while acknowledging it might fail, the bill’s architects vowed to “press on,” in a Monday night CNN debate on healthcare. Senator Graham added that “It’s O.K. to vote. It’s O.K. to fall short, if you do, for an idea you believe in.” The Republicans may only have belief at this point as realities have set in that make passage of Graham-Cassidy extremely unlikely.
Senator Graham also took to defending his colleague and friend, John McCain, from attacks leveled at him by President Donald Trump. Eyes brimming with tears, Graham reflected on the former Vietnam War hero who recently received a diagnosis of an aggressive form of brain cancer. Graham quipped that “John McCain can do whatever damn he wants to! He has earned that right.” Even Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a staunch progressive in opposition to the Republican bill who recently introduced his own single-payer universal healthcare solution, added in defense that he could not understand how Trump could attack McCain, who Sanders’ described as “one of the most decent people in the US Senate.”
Aside from the brief migration into the President’s comments, the CNN debate put Graham-Cassidy on public display, in a last-ditch effort to rally support behind the unpopular bill.
If Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republicans in leadership are unable to make inroads and use their clout to change the Senators’ votes, the Republicans’ hopes for Obamacare repeal will likely be dead for now and efforts to reform the healthcare system may shift towards a bipartisan approach to “fix” the flaws Obamacare.
Begrudging Bipartisan Compromise:
If Graham-Cassidy fails, the Senate will likely turn it’s attention back towards a bipartisan bill designed to repair problems in Obamacare and shore up individual state insurance marketplaces, a bill that had gained momentum and bipartisan support before being pushed aside by top Republicans to force through Graham-Cassidy instead.
Earlier in September, with Republican attempts at a Obamacare repeal bill dashed twice already and seeming futile, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and committee ranking member, Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington, worked together to forge a compromise between their two parties.
The result, a small, bipartisan bill attempted to prevent prices from skyrocketing next year and stabilize health insurance markets, which have suffered double digit premium increases across the country as uncertainty in the future of the Affordable Care Act has created doubts among insurers.
In particular, the bipartisan reform bill would see concessions from Republicans, who would agree to continued payment of subsidies to insurance companies to compensate them for reducing deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income people, and from Democrats, who would agree to give states the freedom to soften some of the insurance requirements in the Affordable Care Act. Senator Alexander described the concessions from both parties as something that they “may be reluctant to support,” before adding, “that is called a compromise.”
Several state insurance commissioners, including Mike Kreidler, the state insurance commissioner in Washington, the home state of Senator Murray who is one of the bill’s co-sponsors, urged Congress to establish a backstop measure for insurers under which the federal government would help pay the largest claims. The backstop, commonly called “reinsurance,” would be an effort they claimed would be the kind of “bold action” needed to shore up state insurance markets.
In exchange for support of more federal funding and support of state insurance exchanges, Republicans sought to ease the “cumbersome” process by which federal officials can grant waivers from some of the law’s requirements in order to encourage “innovating” state health insurance programs. Teresa D. Miller, the former Pennsylvania insurance commissioner, added “the more we could streamline that process, the better it would be” for consumers.
However, despite the momentum and cross-aisle support the bill received, it was eventually shelved in order to clear the way to uniformly push Graham-Cassidy instead.
With a bipartisan solution appearing like the only hope left for Republicans who seek to reform healthcare, it remains to be seen whether the bipartisan solution co-sponsored by Republican Senator Alexander and Democratic Senator Murray will be able to pick up where it left off.
Once the reconciliation deadline passes, eyes will be glued across Washington towards the stance of Democratic leadership. With the ball now in their court, time will only tell if the Democrats will return to the negotiating table or, feeling spurned, turn their backs in spite on the very Republicans, now freshly arrived from failure, for their earlier abandonment of a bipartisan solution.
Update – 9/26/17 at 6:30 PM:
It appears the Graham-Cassidy bill may be officially dead with Politico reporting that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not put the bill up for a vote. Below are a series of comments that Senators gave Capitol Hill reporters on the state of the bill.
Cassidy: "We don't have the votes... Since we don't have the votes, we will postpone" vote on Graham-Cassidy bill — John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) September 26, 2017
Sen. Kennedy on Graham-Cassidy: the bills dead. It's deader than a door nail — Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) September 26, 2017
Key Takeaways: • The News: The latest Republican iteration of a bill designed to fulfill a major campaign promise for President Trump, the repeal of Obamacare, is likely dead after a fourth major Republican Senator, Susan Collins of Maine, has gone public with her disapproval of the bill. • The bill will need at least 50 votes to pass, with Vice President Mike Pence acting as an unprecedented tie-breaking vote on major legislation. This means the Republicans can only afford to lose the vote of two senators with their slim 52 vote margin. • While Collins’ becomes the fourth senator to officially speak out against the bill, joining Senators McCain, Cruz, and Paul, she will likely be the determining vote as expectation is that Cruz will ultimately vote for the bill, something he himself stated his desire to do. • The Graham-Cassidy Bill: While the Graham-Cassidy bill keeps much of the Obamacare infrastructure in place, at least immediately, it calls for dramatic shifts in the allocation and distribution of funding and ultimately, phases out federal funding entirely over a period of time. • The Republican plan seeks to shift direct federal funding into “block grants” given to individual states to be allocated as they see fit, it also weakens protections for people with pre-existing conditions and softens requirements on mandatory coverage for so-called “essential health benefits,” which include maternity care, mental health services, and prescription drug coverage. • The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office did not have adequate time before the planned passage of the bill to conduct a full CBO score but in a “partial” score released on Monday, it concluded that “millions of additional people would be uninsured” under the Republican proposal, compared with the number of people uninsured under current law, and that “enrollment in Medicaid would be substantially lower because of large reductions in federal funding for that program.”
• What Comes Next: Healthcare reform is still possible. However, if the Republicans miss the reconciliation window at the end of the month, they will be forced to work out a bipartisan solution like the one Republican Senator Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray developed and gained momentum on just before it was shelved to push Graham-Cassidy.
• The prior bipartisan effort sought to offer insurers guarantees to shore up individual state insurance marketplaces. It required concessions from both Republicans, who would agree to continued payment of subsidies to insurance companies to compensate them for reducing out-of-pocket costs for low-income people, and from Democrats, who would agree to give states the freedom to soften some of the insurance requirements in the Affordable Care Act.
• After their efforts were tossed aside, time will tell if Democrats will opt to move forward on reform with their unpopular colleagues or, feeling spurned, seek to obstruct efforts that do not offer serious concessions.
• Future Problems for the Republicans: With one pair, Senators Collins and McCain and the other, Senators Cruz and Paul, opposing the bill, Republicans face internal dissent from both major wings of their party as both moderates and conservatives face off, with opposing demands. The Republicans will be hard-pressed to satisfy both camps on a compromise bill as shifting to appease one group will likely alienate the other.
• This could prove difficult more broadly for the Republicans as it creates a dynamic that will likely continue on any major legislation, jeopardizing their agenda going forward.
• Republican leadership will either need to find a delicate and precise balance, a “Goldilocks” solution on bills that satisfies both camps, or they will be forced to work with the Democrats to develop bipartisan solutions in order to garner the votes necessary to pass major legislation.
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Summary The latest iteration of a bill designed to fulfill a major campaign promise for President Trump, the repeal of Obamacare, is likely dead after a fourth major Republican Senator, Susan Collins of Maine, has gone public with her disapproval of the bill. The Republican healthcare overhaul, deemed "Graham-Cassidy" after its co-sponsors, could only afford to lose two Republican votes in order to garner a 50 vote margin and still pass with an unprecedented tie-breaking vote on major legislation cast by Vice President Pence. The bill has defied precedent, having skirted nearly all of the standard legislative processes that proceed passage including public hearings, congressional debate, and a full scoring of the bill, all processes which Obamacare underwent before passage. If Graham-Cassidy fails, the Senate will likely turn it's attention back towards a bipartisan bill designed to repair problems in Obamacare and shore up individual state insurance marketplaces. Earlier in September, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, and Democratic Senator Patty Murray, worked together to forge a compromise between their two parties. Despite the momentum and cross-aisle support the bill received, it was eventually shelved in order to clear the way to uniformly push Graham-Cassidy instead. With a bipartisan solution appearing like the only hope left for healthcare reform, it remains to be seen whether the bipartisan solution co-sponsored by Senators Alexander and Murray will be able to pick up where it left off. User Rating 5 ( 3 votes) Sending | {
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Collectors in any field manifest a passion for what they pursue. They will have stories related to the items they most fervently seek, the Holy Grails, the Maltese Falcons, the rare 7-inch record given out at one particular show. And unlike fish stories, these epic yarns for collectors usually describe the ones they got, not the ones that got away.
In the hockey collecting world, at the Holiday Inn in Sterling, Va. on March 16, these epic tales went well beyond the thrill of the chase and the catch. Collectors exhibiting at and attending the 13th annual NoVa Game Worn Jersey Expo told collecting stories that almost always went back to a love of the game and a desire to connect to players or time periods that brought them unsurpassing joy.
For exhibitor and life-long Philadelphia Flyer fan George Arbocus, an intimidating childhood interaction with the legendary Bernie Parent fuels his jersey search.
“I met him when I was 9-years old, and he yelled at me because I wouldn’t look at him,” Arbocus said. He details the entire interaction in this video.
Videos: John L. Moring III
The most expensive or rarest item mattered less to most collectors than the most meaningful one.
Dedicated Bruin fan Francis W. Rady, who first organized the event 13 years ago with just six other enthusiasts, talked a bit about his Don Sweeney collection of about 60 jerseys from 1988 to 2003 and other items as well as his family’s connections to the sport.
Attendees did and could buy many amazing and rare items, such as the Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, and Alexander Ovechkin jerseys pictured below that each cost much more than a year’s wages in most professions.
But the big expensive score also seemed beside the point. Those interested in hockey’s history could benefit from attending this event, which could be renamed the “Game-Worn Jersey and Mobile Museum” because of the encyclopedic hockey knowledge of many collectors.
Tom Coleman (Interviewed here) took us through the various permutations of Baltimore hockey in a jersey retrospective:
He also discussed the stories behind rare programs:
You could learn about current players gear customizations as well. Scott Linn’s prized Winter Classic Alexander Ovechkin jersey shows interior straps and his Tom Wilson jersey includes strings to keep the jersey in place during fights.
Family member edicts to return with fewer items played a part in several trades. Coleman’s success in eliminating elements of his collection involved a big sacrifice, a vintage Baltimore jersey in exchange for a very rare glimpse into one of the Capitals’ early uniform malfunctions: white pants.
This year’s exhibitors came from Alabama, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, UK, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and California.
Any who managed to leave with fewer items than when they arrived definitely had more stories to tell.
By Julia Goodwin from Hockey Cures All Ills
Follow @JuliaKristine
12th Annual Expo
11th Annual Expo
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Sachin Tendulkar smashed 49 ODI and 51 Test centuries while serving Indian cricket for 24 years. Before retiring from all formats of the game in November 2013, Tendulkar had represented India in six World Cup tournaments.
But all of this might have never happened. Because on his debut for India versus Pakistan in Karachi, Tendulkar felt completely out of place, and had almost convinced himself that he’d never play for the country ever again.
On the latest episode of Breakfast with Champions, Tendulkar recalled how he thought it would be his last innings. “First innings of my life, in Karachi, I thought it would be my first and last innings. In the first match, I had no idea. Waqar Younis bowling from one end, Wasim Akram going full-throttle from the other. And they had just started to reverse-swing the ball. To go there and play suddenly, I was completely out of place,” he said.
Tendulkar was then motivated by his seniors in the team, who suggested he should give himself some more time. “I took advice from everyone in the dressing room and they told me to spend some more time on it. They said ‘this is international cricket. You’re playing possibly the best bowling attack in the world. Give them that respect.’ Second innings of my life, I scored 59 runs. I got back to the dressing room and looked at myself and said, ‘You’ve done it',” Sachin told the host of the show, Gaurav Kapur.
Read More:
Suresh Raina celebrates 31st birthday with Sachin Tendulkar
Shaadi ke no effects: We hope Virat shuts down trolls with his bat, just like Sachin and Sourav
Three Virat Kohli things that remind us of Sachin Tendulkar | {
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EFFORT — A West End woman faces criminal charges for allegedly letting her aggressive dogs terrorize her neighbors and their pets. Mary Jo Dredger, 55, of Effort, was charged May 28 with four counts of reckless endangerment.
Dredger’s dogs are accused of killing seven cats, two dogs and seriously injuring at least one other dog in the area of David Lane. Several neighbors also reported being chased by Dredger’s canines between July 2017 and May 2019, with at least one person receiving a bite.
An affidavit from the Pennsylvania State Police catalogues a minimum of 26 separate incidents involving Dredger’s dogs, which were in most cases found roaming unsupervised on neighboring properties. Dredger has been charged previously for several of those incidents.
Here are summaries of some of the most violent attacks, with the victims’ names omitted for privacy.
July 2017
A woman and her two-year-old son were swimming in the pool of their David Lane home sometime in July 2017 when Dredger’s dark-colored dog reportedly charged the mother. The two swimmers fled inside the house to evade the animal and escaped without injury.
The woman told police of the incident in a May 9, 2019 phone interview, though she had not previously reported the attack.
February 2018
On Feb. 19, 2018, a man reported to police around 5:45 p.m. that he and his wife were attacked by three dogs on their Barrys Road property. Dredger was charged with a leash law violation as a result of that report.
May 2018
On May 7, 2018, around 7:45 p.m., a man and a woman alerted police that three dogs had just attacked their own dog outside of their Eastbrook Road home. The couple told police in a later interview that four of Dredger’s dogs — a black one, a brown and white one, a black and white one, and a cream-colored one — had entered their yard.
The brown and white dog and the cream-colored dog were allegedly the ones responsible for biting the couple’s dog, while the black dog had tried unsuccessfully to attack the woman. The couple’s dog required two surgeries as a result of the attack.
Dredger was charged at that time with three separate leash law violations, according to court dockets.
A woman who was previously knocked down by one of the dogs also reported a May 17 incident in which she was bitten by a loose dog outside her David Lane home. That woman told police in a follow-up interview that she was attacked by three of Dredger’s dogs on that occasion. She described the animals as boxers — not pit bulls, as other victims had described them — and that Little Man, the brown and white dog, was the primary aggressor.
Police charged Dredger with a leash law violation for that incident also.
July 2018
A couple living on Barrys Road reported a July 4, 2018 incident in which they discovered their adult cat and its five kittens killed inside a tent in their driveway. Another neighbor later reported seeing two aggressive pit bulls loose in the area on that day.
The couple also reported an incident on July 23 in which three of the dogs were again seen on their property.
October 2018
A mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service contacted state police on Oct. 3, 2018 to report that he was being chased by one of Dredger’s dogs. The carrier, having serviced that route for some time, was familiar with and weary of the animals.
That carrier told police he was unable to deliver mail on that day as a result of the confrontation. The dog purportedly chased his mail truck, biting at its tires and preventing the carrier from safely exiting the vehicle.
Dredger was charged with a leash law violation on that occasion also.
December 2018
On Dec. 12, 2018, a Lower Mountain Drive resident contact police to report that three dogs entered her property and attacked her two-year-old, 30-pound sheltie-German-shepherd mix dog. The sheltie mix died as a result of its injuries. Dredger was charged with multiple summary offenses for dog bites and leash law violations.
April 2019
A man on April 18, 2019, reportedly witnessed two of Dredger’s dogs attack his tiger-striped cat in front of his Cameron Road home. The man told police that a black pit bull was mauling his cat while another brown and white pit bull stood nearby.
The man successfully chased the dogs off his property, but the cat died as a result of the attack. He told police that Dredger’s family later drove by to apologize for the incident. He also said he now keeps his own dog with him at all times and has several baseball bats around his property for defense.
Separately, on April 23, a woman contacted police to report three of Dredger’s dogs running loose on her Lower Mountain Drive property. Another neighbor at that time told police that three of Dredger’s dogs had recently attacked and killed his dog while trespassing on his Westbrook Road property.
Most recent charges
Dredger has a formal arraignment scheduled for August 14 before President Judge Maggie Worthington of the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas. | {
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I have to apologize. When I first published the Jury Voting Results for Album Of The Year 2014, I missed out on one voting. It had come all the way from Indonesia from our friend DJ Yasser and had been lost in the depths of my email account. And as things turned out, his voting gave a new direction to the whole thing. I’m sorry for the mistake.
But the good thing is:
We have a winner now. The only record that received votes from four different jurors and 10 points in the process is:
Brooklyn Attractors, “Good Evil Alchemy.” (Whatevski Records, Jump Up Records)
Congratulations for Album Of Year 2014 – jury’s choice!
Have a look at the complete top 10 that resulted from the jury votes:
1. Brooklyn Attractors – Good Evil Alchemy (Whatevski Records, Jump Up Records) 10 points
2. Skaos – More Fire (Pork Pie Records) 7 points
2. The Talks – Commoners, Peers, Drunks & Thieves (All Our Own Records) 7 points
4. Alpheus – Good Prevails (Liquidator Music) 6 points
4. Buster Shuffle – Naked (People Like You Records) 6 points
6. Ed Rome – Snapshot (self) 5 points
6. El Bosso & Die Ping Pongs (Pork Pie Records) 5 points
6. The Upsessions – Shake It! (Grover Records) 5 points
9. The Aggrotones -10 Reggae Shots (Interrogator Records, Insurgence Records and Publishing) 4 points
9. The Busters – Supersonic Eskalator (Revolution Ska) 4 points
About the voting
We asked experts and enthusiasts from different places to give us their three favourite albums of the year, to accompany our public Album Of The Year poll. We received 18 answers from podcasters, authors, festival organizers.
Thanks a ton to Isaac Miranda, Kaptin Barrett, Oscar Serrano, Peter Clemm, Valérie Desnoyers, Charles Benoit, Matthias Häußer, Paul Williams, Jörg Folta, Oliver Will, Sascha Lichtenstein, Der Dude Goes Ska, Florian Weinknecht, Keisuke, Daiki Spy, Jacob Peterson, Tilmann Ziegenhain and Mochammad Yasser.
They complied to the rule that they would not vote for an album that they were directly involved with. We went through the answers and attributed three points to each juror’s No 1, two points to the No 2, one point to album No 3.
The bottom line
Even after a winner has been found, the impression remains that a whole bunch of absolutely brilliant records were released in 2014, but none received a far wider recognition than some others. Buster Shuffle, The Upsessions, The Talks, Ed Rome, Brooklyn Attractors, Alpheus, Skaos, The Busters, Rhoda Dakar, The Dualers: so many great albums, and the list goes on. And of course the winner of the public voting, the compilation Specialized III – Mad Not Cancer.”
You want to share your own top 3? We’d love to read it in the comment section below.
Read on what podcasters, journalists, organizers and top fans sent in as their answers, some with detailed comments showing their love for ska music. We like to thank them all for their time and words.
Charles Benoit
[one_half]1. The Talks – Commoners, Peers, Drunks & Thieves
2. Skamanians – Ride Again
3. The Brooklyn Attractors – Good Evil Alchemy
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Charles Benoit. Described by friends as “way, way too obsessed with ska,” Charles Benoit is a novelist who plays tenor sax for Some Ska Band in Rochester, New York. Incriminating details and paparazzi-quality photos at charlesbenoit.com. He is also a regular contributor to Reggae Steady Ska, sharing interviews with Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Monty Alexander and his report after visiting the 2Tone museum in Coventry.[/one_half_last]
Comment
The Talks took their A-game to a whole new level with this release, their best to date and, in my opinion, the best, most-danceable album of the year. I put this album on and I can’t stop smiling.
The Skamanians album was a magnificent balance of a Skatalite sound and 2014 energy. They’re a new band to me but with this album they’ve won a new and loyal fan.
Given the line-up, it would be impossible for The Brooklyn Attractors to not create a brilliant album. Good Evil Alchemy shows what happens when world-class musicians hang out and play. Truly epic.
I also have about 80 honorable mentions. The submissions this year were outstanding and picking a top 3 was an impossible task – ask me tomorrow for my top 3 and I might give 3 totally different bands. A few bands had amazing releases that unfortunately didn’t meet the 20-minute requirement (I’m looking at you, Barefoot Basement, and you, too, Smiley & The Underclass) and I couldn’t find Ksandy Industry’s album anywhere (I heard a few singles and loved ’em, so if you know where to find the album send me word, I want to buy a copy). Georgetown Orbits would be my #4 (and in the morning I might say #1). Or maybe Rude Boy George. Or The Interrupters. Or The Dualers. Or Ed Rome. Or Roy & Yvonne. Or Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad. Or Skariginals. You get the idea. It was a tough year to be on the jury, but a great, great year for ska.
Valerie Desnoyers
[one_half]
1. The Brooklyn Attractors – Good Evil Alchemy
2. The Planet Smashers – Mixed Messages
3. The Interrupters – The Interrupters
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Valerie Desnoyers is the founder and artistic director of the Montreal Ska Festival and Montreal Ska Society. Established in 2008, the MSS is a major part of the Canadian ska scene, working hands in hands with everybody involved close and far (aka: the Victoria Ska Fest, Stomp Records, etc) to promote shows locally as well as nationally with major tour bookings. She is as well a facilitator and booker for out-of-town and international ska bands wanting to play in Montreal. A long-time ska fan, Valerie attends close to 200 live concerts every year, tours constantly with bands and travels hundred of miles to go see music shows.
[/one_half_last]
Comment
When I stopped and started to reflect on 2014 releases, I wasn’t even close to thinking this many good records came out during the year. The choice was way harder than I had imagined. I would’ve loved to do a ’10 best’ therefore I had to cut a couple albums that well deserved to be in there as well. I have made my decision upon how much these 3 albums had brought me that’s why I’ve chosen them. These 3 albums are jewels.
Isaac Miranda
[one_half]1. Transilvanians – Echo, Vibes & Fire
2. Atsushi And The Moisties – [same]
3. Los Elefantes – Grandes Exitos De Otros[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Isaac Miranda a.k.a Padrino Ska from Mexico. I have been a Ska fan since I was twelve years old in 1994. Member and founder of SKA RUDE CLUB where we share and spread the music (Ska, Rocksteady & Reggae) anywhere in the world, since 2013.[/one_half_last]
Comment
To name the first three was quite easy for me this year. But then again, it would have also been easy to name ten other albums on the list that are really good.”
Kaptin Barrett
[one_half]1. Clinton Fearon – Goodness
2. Hoffmaestro – Hoffmaestro
3. Hollie Cook – Twice[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Kaptin Barrett: DJ and Head Of Music Programming for BoomTown Fair, a crazy pop up city which currently has the UK’s biggest Ska and Reggae line up amongst its other stages.[/one_half_last]
Comment
1. Clinton Fearon – Goodness. Clinton is like a fine wine, just gets better with age. This album resonates deep in my soul, absolutely first class.
2. Hoffmaestro – Hoffmaestro. So good to see this great album finally getting a proper release outside of Sweden, one of the best live bands around right now too.
3. Hollie Cook – Twice. There were so many great skanking albums in the selection this year but as it’s Winter and i’m in deep hibernation mode, I had to go with this album that makes me feel relaxed and warm inside everytime it plays. Plus she smashed it with us this year.
Jörg Folta
[one_half]
1. Buster Shuffle – Naked
2. The Upsessions – Shake It!
3. Split: The Dualers/The Snails „Back To Paradise“, „Songs From The Hydrogen Jukebox …“
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Jörg Folta ist one of the organizers of various ska festivals (This Is Ska, Ruhrpott Ska Explosion, Berlin City Ska and more) and runs the Beatclub Dessau and the Felsenkeller, Leipzig.[/one_half_last]
Comment
1. Buster Shuffle – Naked: Buster Shuffle are still my no 1, because they managed to add something truly new to the ska genre, i.e. to be innovative in a field where reproduction of the always same is the order of the day.
2. The Upsessions – Shake It!: The Upsessions solve the above-mentioned problem by not taking themselves seriously and presenting reggae with loads of irony and humor. This is why they are my european favorites when it comes to traditional ska styles, alongside The Granadians (Spain).
3. is split: The Dualers „Back To Paradise“ and The Snails „Songs From The Hydrogen Jukebox Vol. 1 & 2.“ Solid, fluffy, beautiful.
Peter Clemm
[one_half]1. Buster Shuffle – Naked
2. Alpheus – Good Prevails
3. Le Grand Miercoles – Ghost Cowboys[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Peter Clemm is organizer of Freedom Sounds Festival Cologne and a long-time and prolific contributor to Reggae Steady Ska.[/one_half_last]
Comment
1: If you like me love well-crafted pop songs, then there’s no way around Buster Shuffle’s third album; 2. Alpheus and his producer Robert Sanchez have created another modern classic, a Rocksteady album with a really positive vibe. 3. Ghost Cowboys is my party album of the year. Even if it sounds impossible in theory, a wholly organic mixture of Reggae, Surf and Western sounds.
Jacob Peterson
[one_half]1. Deals Gone Bad- Heartbreaks and Shadows
2. Alpheus – Good Prevails
3. Yellow Cap – Pleasure[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Jacob Peterson has been listening to ska music since 1996 and tries to catch any show that he can. He enjoys doing full album reviews and sharing ska-related news on his website ska-boom.com
[/one_half_last]
Comment
[To pick the top 3…] … was extremely difficult due to not only the vast diversity of musical styles within the ska/rocksteady genre, but also because of the large number of high quality albums put out this year. It was fairly easy to whittle the list of over 100 titles to about 20 top picks, but then things became really difficult. While there were many albums I truly enjoyed this year, the main criteria that I used to determine by top 3 was the “re-playability factor.” In other words, which of these albums would I want to not only play over and over again upon initial listen, but also, would want to listen to months down the road. Yellow Cap creates a very enjoyable, danceable breed of ska with their “in your face” brass section and prominent organs. On the opposite end of the spectrum comes my number two pick; “Good Prevails” by Alpheus. Prior to this review, I was unfamiliar with Alpheus, but I was pleasantly surprised by this release. While not “hard-hitting” or blaring with horns, each song is crafted nicely with each instrument complimenting the others. The vocals are smooth and soulful and add the extra special magic to this album. I like this album a lot! Finally there is “Heartbreaks and Shadows” by Deals Gone Bad. While DGB has been a band for many years, they really kicked things up a notch by having Todd Hembrook at the helm. This album is full of enough variety, while keeping the soulful-ska sound they are known for. Every song on this release is a winner and makes you want to hit the dance floor.
Oscar Serrano
[one_half]
1. The Rifffs – Can’t Stop The People
2. The Busters – Supersonic Eskalator
3. The Interrupters – The Interrupters
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Oscar Serrano and his brother (PpSka R.I.P.) were the founders and creators of Radioskandalo, the long-running Ska broadcast from Mexico. It’s the pioneer radio show in Mexico city and probably one of the oldest from Latin America. The show is known to have introduced almost all of the ska legends tunes to Mexico. He has continued broadcasting the show after the death of his brother who was the original broadcaster and who has been considered one of the most influential promoters of ska music in Mexico. Oscar is staying on course and tries to record the show in monthly podcast episodes. This year the show will be celebrating its 18th anniversary.
[/one_half_last]
Comment
1. The Rifffs – Can’t Stop The People: Such a perfect job on this album from start to finish. It all begins with a delicious rocksteady and finishes combining all the energy and power of 2tone sounds.
2. The Busters – Supersonic Eskalator: After 5 years they return totally reinvented: Mixing the best of their past and present. “Supersonic Eskalator” reflects this.
3. The Interrupters – The Interrupters: All the strength of SKA and punk, a great debut album that wouldn’t let you stand on your feet without moving them. Plus it was produced by the great Tim Armstrong, so what else could you ask for? And Oscar even gave his Top 10:
4. The Planet Smashers – Mixed Messages: The eighth studio album from the Canadians. Highly recommended from start to finish. Two-Tone, punk, new wave,etc. full of freshness and good humor.
5. Dr. Ring Ding & Kingston Rudieska – SKA ‘n’ Seoul: The mixture of Jamaican sounds and the particular style of German and South Korean ones are present in this well managed EP. 5 tracks where the Asian guys are accompanied by the legendary Dr. Ring-Ding.
6. Rude Boy George – Confessions: Great debut album! Reggae and SKA versions to tribute eighties sounds. From XTC, INXS, to the great versions of Eurythmics and Billy Idol.
7. Mad Not Cancer – Specialized 3: 74 tracks of Madness revisited for a great cause helping the Teenage Cancer Trust. Such a great compilation without any doubt.
8. El Bosso & Die Ping Pongs – Hier Und Jetzt Oder Nie: 12 tracks shining on this comeback album for El Bosso, containing Third Wave, new wave and traditional Jamaican sounds for all of our enjoyment.
9. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra – Ska Me Forever: That pleasant style of Tokyo Ska music. It gets you on a journey through different genres, making their versions of tracks from different tunes that they had probably been influenced by. From Frankie Valli to Beethoven and spreading beyond its borders to some more Asian music including three Japanese Rock bands plus a nice nod to the Mexican culture even on the album cover art and of course their “Cielito Lindo” version to a traditional Mexican song.
10. Skaos – More Fire
Oliver Will
[one_half]1. Brooklyn Attractors – Good Evil Alchemy
2. The Senior Allstars – Verbalized and Dubbed / Barefoot Basement – Storyteller
3. Los Aggrotones – 10 Reggae Shots[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Oliver Will, is the founder and chief-editor of Rocking Steady Ska & Reggae E-Zine and head of Rocking Steady Music – label (Rocking Records/Jamaican Jazz Records), with some great releases in 2014, among them the album “Storyteller” by Barefoot Basement from Austria. Rocking Steady works as a booking agency for Ska/Reggae/World/Jazz/Rock`n`Roll & more, too.[/one_half_last]
Comment
The mix of ska and jazz is one of my favourite passions. There is some great stuff out there, but the actual and debute album of the Brooklyn Attractors is definitely my favourite with its very own quality in songwriting, arrangements and most of all incredible soloing. great artists in a great band did a wonderful record. The senior allstars found a unique sound of high quality within the last few years. To enrich it with voices was a fabulous idea. I love this record. While 10 reggae shots of los aggrotones is such a great reminiscence to the great old early reggae tradition. Great instrumentals coupled with some collaborations with great original singers like pat kelly or derrick harriott – fantastic.
Paul Williams
[one_half]
1. The Talks – Commoners, Peers,Drunks & Thieves
2. Ed Rome – Snapshot
3. Rude Boy George – Confessions
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Paul Williams – Founder of Specialized charitable music project/ Author of The Specials biography / Admin of Specials 2 fansite / The Skapones lead singer
[/one_half_last]
Comment
1. Commoners, Peers,Drunks & Thieves – The Talks: These guys for me, are the real deal. Never written a bad song ever. This album sees them moving forwards in great strides. Full of sharp content with homage to varying ska styles. They remind me of The Specials a lot. Great tunes, angry socially aware lyrics, great imagery and an explosive live performance. The best band in the UK.
2. Ed Rome – Snapshot: Ed Rome is just a very talented guy full stop. Another man with a host of releases since The Big that are top knotch quality and his work with us on Specialized releases are always stand out tracks. Snapshot shows what Ed is capable of in abundance. Inch perfect playing, inch perfect tracks and a distinctive cracking vocal – The arrangements are superior. Love it.
3. Confessions – Rude Boy George: These guys from the USA were on Specialized 3 and what a version of “Driving In My Car”. I love this album because it covers no bread and butter staple ska/reggae tunes but good old 80s classics like you’ve not heard them before and some have top production. Its just something different done very well.
Der Dude Goes Ska
[one_half]
1. DiscoBalls – Dance Like Nobody´s Watching
2. Skaos – More Fire
3. Yellow Cap – Pleasure[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Der Dude Goes Ska has been listening to ska for 32 years. He has been writing for various magazines and runs his own ska site at www.derdude-goes-ska.de (with some guest authors). His goals as a promoter and mentor are to offer upcoming ska bands a platform and to support the local scene. On February 6, 2015, Der Dude Goes Ska will celebrate his 15th anniversary with three live acts and five djs at the Sonic Ballroom, Cologne, Germany.[/one_half_last]
Comment
1. DiscoBalls – Dance Like Nobody´s Watching. Because they play a fresh mix of ska, punk and more. I’m fascinated by the terrific and professional joy of playing that can be felt in every song. The highly recognizable voice reminds me of the young Gwen Stefani. The title speaks for itself: “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching”.
2. Skaos – More Fire: A beautiful sign of life from the south of Germany, after nine quiet years. Respect for that and for the fact that none of the band’s music pleasure has been lost in the mean time. „A haunting mix of predominantly fast offbeat, noisy rock and swinging pop. What began in the bassist’s dark cellar in Krumbach in 1982, is being continued consequently today.“
3. Yellow Cap – Pleasure: What I like about them are the constancy and the social commitment („Schön Daneben“). „With their fifth album, which consists of 12 songs and two bonus tracks, the band delivers a small, consistent piece, that offers little and big surprises every now and then.“ A very good, authentic album, with loads of content, which has to be appreciated.
quotes from: www.derdude-goes-ska.de and www.dynamite-magazine.de
Florian Weinknecht
[one_half]
1. Los Aggrotones – 10 Reggae Shots
2. Roger Rivas & the Brothers Of Reggae – Last Goodbye
3. Roy & Yvonne – Moving On
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Florian Weinknecht has been a fan of The Aggrolites since their first European tour (2004). As a devoted Ska and Reggae fan for the last 17 years he likes to travel around to join every ska and reggae event in the world and support the music everywhere he can.
[/one_half_last]
Comment
1. Los Aggrotones – 10 Reggae Shots: This is one of the best surprise albums from Argentina in 2014. Very groovy tunes and songs which get under your skin.
2. Roger Rivas & the Brothers Of Reggae – Last Goodbye: One brilliant instrumental masterpiece of the famous Aggrolites keyboard player, who also has got Mexican roots.
3. Roy & Yvonne – Moving On: A great comeback album of this legendary duet of the ska era. Nice switching solo tracks of Roy and Yvonne.
Matthias Häußer
[one_half]
1. Ed Rome – Snapshot
2. Crazy Baldhead – Boots Embraces
3. Rhoda Dakar – Sings The Bodysnatchers
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Matthias Häußer, host of the Stuttgart-based radio show File Under Ska, running since 2003. (File Under Ska on facebook)
[/one_half_last]
Comment
1. Ed Rome – Snapshot: Ed Rome creates great melodies and a unique sound that makes it hard to compare him with other bands.
2. Crazy Baldhead – Boots Embraces: I like Agent Jay’s work even more than the Slackers’. And I always enjoy his intelligent and witty Facebook comments.
3. Rhoda Dakar – Sings The Bodysnatchers: Rhoda’s voice is great, and the songs, played by her all-star band, beam you back into the early 80ies.
Sascha Lichtenstein
[one_half]
1. Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad – Steady
2. El Bosso & Die Ping Pongs – Hier Und Jetzt Oder Nie
3. Barefoot Basement – Storyteller
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Sascha Lichtenstein runs the ska-related websites skalovers.com (events) and skalovers.de (reviews) and is part of the ska-boom soundsystem.
[/one_half_last]
Keisuke
[one_half]
1. Skaos – More Fire
2. The Busters – Supersonic Eskalator
3. Jah On Slide – Never Knocked Out
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Keisuke is the frontman of the Japanese ska band Skaff-Links and organizer of Maximum Ska Festival in Tokyo, Japan.
[/one_half_last]
Comment: So many great albums, it is difficult to choose the top 3!! Best regards from Japan!
Daiki Spymaker
[one_half]
1. El Bosso & die Ping Pongs
2. Die Tornados – Young Guns Against Old Rockers
3. The Talks – Commoners, Peers, Drunks & Thieves
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Daiki plays trumpet and sings in his band Spymaker. He also organises the open-air Nagoya Ska Festival.
[/one_half_last] | {
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Sentiments trump sustenance in Madhya Pradesh, it seems.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has asked officials to not include eggs — a high-protein source — in the anganwadi mid-day meals. The decision was taken as he apparently, did not want to hurt the sentiments of the vegetarian Jain community.
The move to add eggs to the diet was to tackle malnutrition, acute in some rural areas. Sources said the ready-to-eat breakfast for children in the age group of three to six years was for anganwadis run under the integrated child development services.
“There might have been some proposal six months ago, but no school or angawadi has eggs on menu,” said S K Mishra, principal secretary to the chief minister.
“The chief minister had then strictly asked officials to turn down the proposal to add eggs to the menu if such a thing was there. There are other sources of protein, like milk, that we have on the menu of anganwadis.” | {
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Presented by: Ran Ribenzaft, co-founder of and CTO at Epsagon.
In this webinar, we’ll discuss several approaches to observability for modern applications built from microservices. Since existing tracing solutions are proving inadequate for debugging microservices, many IT leaders are looking to distributed tracing for fixing microservice problems in cloud environments.
Epsagon’s CTO will lead an analysis of a customer journey leveraging microservices and observability to solve biz-critical technical and business problems.
From this webinar, you will learn:
● Why troubleshooting today’s microservices is growing more complex
● Why logging and log aggregators negatively impact and slow problem solving and developer velocity
● How to create or choose a distributed tracing solution for your business – DIY, open-source, and third-party solutions
● What one customer’s journey says about the steps you can take to gain observability and its outcomes
● How to promote the value of observability to business decision-makers | {
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The map pinpoints locations where supposed incidents or crimes are said to have taken place, noting the date alongside a brief summary. It then provides a link to a subsequent news report in which the claims have been investigated and found to be false. There are 187 points marked across Germany so far, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reports . While sometimes the original stories - which often go viral on social media - are the result of information being taken out of context, often they are completely made up, the website notes. | {
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Rise of the baboon burglars: How swarms of thieving monkeys are terrorising a South African apartment block... and besieged residents are too scared to go outside
Baboons swarm SAS style up the sides of blocks of flats, opening windows
For people, the weapons of choice is paintball guns and pepper sprays
'No-one understands what is happening! This is a complete nightmare'
Baboons infer from people's fear that they rank higher in the pecking order
Those who treat the baboons with respect seem to have few problems
In the street battle for supremacy between man and baboon, it can only be said that both sides are using guerrilla tactics.
For the baboons it means swarming SAS style up the sheer sides of blocks of flats, prising open windows and plundering anything that is inside. Usually they just want food, but sometimes a flapping set of net curtains or a child’s cuddly toy bear can provide some added entertainment.
For the humans, the weapons of choice – given that their enemy is a protected species – tend to be paintball guns and pepper sprays. They have the momentary effect of driving the baboons away, but hunger and sheer nerve always bring them back.
Scroll down for video
Go away! An angry resident at the Cape Town apartment block is trying to scare off the group of Chacma Baboons (Papio ursinus) to no avail - he can be seen here in the centre of the picture shaking his fist at the monkeys from one of his windows
We'll have that: Two baboons have managed to get hold of a teddy bear through an open window into a child's bedroom in the building
As the pictures here show, these are the scenes which regularly affect life in Cape Town, South Africa, where man and baboon share a sometimes uncomfortable existence.
Protected on the Cape Peninsula since 1999, there are now around 500 baboons living in 16 groups, increasingly cut off from their old, native habitats by the sprawling city.
To survive, they trawl through waste bins, loiter at rubbish dumps, steal from shops and markets and prowl around the picnic sites. Some are such practised scavengers that they know exactly when the rubbish carts will be arriving with fresh supplies at the dump.
Sweet tooth: A female baboon with young feeding on a discarded jar of peanut butter - the baboons trawl through waste bins and steal from shops and markets. Some even know when the rubbish carts will be arriving with fresh supplies
While some people don’t give a monkey’s about their vagrant neighbours even leaving out food for them, others go ape just at the thought of them.
In the suburb of Scarborough, a woman screams at the pair of baboons sitting casually on the roof of her house munching hunks of pilfered brown bread.
‘No-one understands what is happening here! This is the complete nightmare’, she yells, explaining that a baboon recently snatched shopping from her daughter’s hands. ‘She is completely traumatised,’ she adds. ‘It is not even safe to leave the house. And no-one does anything about it.’
A neighbour hurls a futile stick at them – but they carry on munching. ‘I hate them,’ he says.
Not far away in Main Street, employees at a safari company have just discovered what happens if you go away for the week-end and leave a window open.
A group of baboons led by a male called Moby has left a trail of destruction in the staff kitchen. First target was the fridge where every packet has been opened, investigated and eaten. The menu runs to bread, pasta, cheese, peppers, eggs, carrots, tuna and corn.
Others preferred the contents of the rubbish bin. Suffice to say, the animals didn’t bother to use the staff toilets.
At the Groot Constantia vineyard, manager Jean Naude laments the loss of vines and grapes he suffers every year because of the 40 resident baboons he is powerless to stop – except by paying for the whole estate to be fenced off.
Fight for life: a hungry baboon tries to steal vegetables from a shopper near the apartment block in Cape Town, South Africa
‘We are sitting on a time bomb. Something has got to happen,’ he says. ‘In the Spring they eat the young shoots, in summer the grapes. If the nature conservation authority would allow it, we would shoot them all. Every one of them.’
But many people admire the ingenuity of the baboons and are prepared to rub along with customers who never pay for anything.
At a small supermarket between the settlements of Welcome Glen and Da Gama Park, a baboon called Quandi calls in once or twice a week. ‘He goes directly to the fruit stand and takes a few kilos of bananas,’ says the manageress. ‘Then he runs past the check out to the shelves with the crisps. He seems to prefer cheese and onion.’
As she speaks, a baboon enters nonchalantly as if on cue, seizes a 5lb bag of apples and exits to a field next door where he proceeds to eat them, watched enviously by other members of the group.
It is said that screaming hysterically at the baboons only makes things worse.
‘Baboons infer from the fear and panic of people, that they themselves rank higher in the pecking order,’ says animal behaviour expert Rachel Noser who studied the Cape colonies for 16 months. ‘And therefore they think are entitled to everything that these people have with them.
One of the baboons found a nice blue blanket in somebody's apartment - the owner forgot to shut the window
‘The baboons have no intention of harming people. They just want to get high quality food in as short a time as possible. So, if you forget to close the door they will smell the food and go and get it. It saves energy by not having to walk miles and it also doesn’t need to worry about being eaten by a leopard or a lion.’
The Cape now spends hundreds of thousands of pounds on schemes to monitor the baboons, including squads of rangers and a help hotline. Although it is illegal to kill the animals, dozens are injured or killed each year – some in accidents, but others from brutal attacks from people who have caught them ransacking their property.
Others have been ‘euthanised’ by the authorities for the crime of being a persistent problem.
Jenni Trethowan, who has earned herself the nickname The Baboon Lady for her support of the animals through her charity Baboon Matters Trust, says the authorities are over-reacting to the problem.
‘For hundreds of years baboons and humans have interacted here on the Cape peninsula,’ she says. ‘Photographs from the 1950s show smiling folk with baboons sitting on their vehicles, and letters describe picnics at the point – with baboon rascals stealing the sandwiches. What has changed from those scenarios? – only our attitudes it seems.
‘Now we live in fear of law suits, fear of safety and security – and we forget that aggression creates aggression, we forget that our attitude is the most important influence we can bring to bear. Those who treat the baboons with respect and understanding, taking all necessary precautions to minimise interactions, seem to have few problems – but those who rage and shoot – well they don’t really achieve too much at all, and certainly don’t resolve any problems.’
Another resident has just lost their pink curtains. The monkeys ripped the fabric from the rails above this open window
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Miami Herald
A man who was accused of putting a 3-year-old girl in a hot oven is behind bars again after deputies say he poured boiling water on a different toddler.
Terry May, 47, of Deltona was arrested Thursday, accused of pouring boiling water on a 3-year-old boy, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
A judge issued a warrant for his arrest last week on a charge of child abuse causing great bodily harm.
Deputies were notified after the boy’s day-care teachers noticed a burn mark on the child’s back and called an abuse hotline, according to a Sept. 27 charging affidavit.
The burn mark took up half of the boy’s back and “ran from the very top of his back all the way to the bottom,” according to the report.
The instructors asked the mother about the mark and were told the boy was pulled across the top of a trampoline, the report said.
But deputies say they learned during the investigation that May poured the boiling water on the 3-year-old after the child accidentally urinated on the floor. The boy lifted up his shirt to show detectives his back and said, “My back hurts,” and that “Terry burned me,” according to the report.
The child was placed with relatives by the Florida Department of Children and Families.
This isn’t the first time May has faced child abuse charges. He was arrested last year in DeLand after his ex-girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter told deputies he would frequently beat her with a belt and put her in the oven.
The state was unable to prosecute the 2018 case, according to the sheriff’s office.
May’s relationship to the 3-year-old boy was not disclosed by police.
Florida’s Department of Children and Families did not respond to a request for comment.
May’s bond is set at $250,000. | {
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The Sporting Club Network, presented by Price Chopper, in conjunction with Heartland Soccer Association is proud to announce the formation of the Sporting Kansas City Academy Affiliate League (SKC-AAL). Sporting Kansas City has always been at the forefront of player development and cultivating a proactive mentality in youth soccer, and this league transmits a direct correlation to this culture and our current evolvement over the last four years with our affiliate programs.
“The SKC-AAL will not only provide a new, unique environment in player development, but it will also deliver our affiliate teams the platform to test their skills against the top competition across the Midwest,” said Betsy Maxfield, VP of Youth Soccer Projects.
This approach will further align the ever-growing Academy Affiliate network of clubs with Sporting Kansas City’s Development Academy. This includes, but is not limited to style of play, training habits, tactical approach, and overall methodology to improving youth development.
Benefits of participating in the SKC-AAL extend beyond just the realm of player development, offering clubs the opportunity to view fellow affiliate markets and witness the broad reach of the Sporting Kansas City family, all the while growing the game of soccer throughout the Midwest. Ultimately, this vision will continue to enhance the Sporting Kansas City player development pathway, providing even more touch points throughout the year for Academy Affiliate players to test themselves and strive to achieve new heights within the game.
Sporting St. Croix Director of Coaching, Nathan Klonecki, echoes this sentiment. “After attending the Region II Tournament this past week & seeing a number of other affiliates, we are excited to play against that level of competition more regularly throughout the year," he said. "Sporting St. Croix is excited to take advantage of yet another great opportunity that Sporting KC has provided its affiliates.”
Participation in the AAL will be restricted exclusively to Academy Affiliates of Sporting Kansas City, with player registrations accepted through US Youth Soccer and US Club. Each fall and spring youth soccer season the SCN and Heartland Soccer Association will host a minimum of three play weekends. The first installment of this league will be hosted during the Fall 2015 Youth Soccer Season in Kansas City, Des Moines, and St. Louis. Registration is open currently to affiliate teams U11 up to U18 now through Friday, July 10. To register your Academy Affiliate team, and to learn more about this groundbreaking new league, visit www.sportingkc.com/AAL.
About Heartland Soccer Association
Heartland Soccer Association operates the largest tournaments in the Midwest and is recognized as one of the largest and most competitive youth soccer leagues in the United States. Their leagues accept players of all skill levels, including recreational and premier level players and teams. Each year, over 170 different soccer clubs compete at Heartland.
Both league play and tournaments are held on synthetic soccer turf at the world-class soccer facilities of Overland Park Soccer Complex and Swope Soccer Village. Grass games are played at Heritage Soccer Park and Lone Elm Soccer Park. To learn more about Heartland Soccer Association, visit their homepage here.
About the Sporting Club Network and Academy Affiliates
The Sporting Club Network, presented by Price Chopper, is a groundbreaking membership of athletes and athletic organizations created to affiliate all interested soccer and other athletic organizations in the Midwest with Sporting Club and Sporting Kansas City. This unique and innovative network opportunity provides exclusive access to a professional soccer organization.
In addition to being members of the Sporting Club Network, select youth soccer clubs may also be eligible to rebrand as an Academy Affiliate of Sporting Kansas City. Sporting Kansas City Academy Affiliates provide their members with a direct connection to Sporting Kansas City Senior and Academy teams, while providing a clear and direct pathway to the collegiate and professional ranks of the game. Additionally, Sporting Kansas City Academy Affiliates enjoy significantly increased benefits from basic SCN membership. To learn more about the Sporting Club Network, or to become a member visit the SCN homepage.
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we are the best barbers in tampa, come let us show you why. we have cold beer and ... One of the best out there, BarrelHouse Barber Lounge sits on top of most ... | {
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Simon Long is a Senior Principal Software Engineer here at Raspberry Pi. He’s responsible for the Raspberry Pi Desktop on both Raspbian and Debian, and his article from The MagPi issue 73 explores the experience of revamping our desktop. Get your copy of The MagPi in stores now, or download it as a free PDF here.
It was almost exactly four years ago when I was offered the chance to work at Raspberry Pi. I knew all the team very well, but I’d had hardly any involvement with the Pi itself, and wasn’t all that sure what they would want me to do; at that time, I was working as the manager of a software team, with no experience of hardware design. Fortunately, this was when software had started to move up the list of priorities at Raspberry Pi.
Eben and I sat down on my first day and played with the vanilla LXDE desktop environment in Raspbian for 15 minutes or so, and he then asked me the fateful question: “So — do you think you can make it better?” With rather more confidence than I felt, I replied: “Of course!” I then spent the next week wondering just how long it was going to take before I was found out to be an impostor and shown the door.
UI experience
To be fair, user interface design was something of which I had a lot of experience — I spent the first ten years of my career designing and implementing the user interfaces for a wide range of products, from mobile phones to medical equipment, so I knew what a good user interface was like. I could even see what changes needed to be made to transform the LXDE environment into one. But I didn’t have a clue how to do it — I’d barely used Linux, never mind programmed for it…
As I said above, that was four years ago, and I’ve been hacking the Pi desktop from that day on. Not all the changes I’ve made have been popular with everyone, but I think most people who use the desktop feel it has improved over that time. My one overriding aim has been to try to make the Pi desktop into a product that I actually want to use myself; one that takes the good user interface design principles that we are used to in environments like macOS and Windows — ideas like consistency, attractive fonts and icons, intuitive operation, everything behaving the way you expect without having to read the instructions — and sculpting the interface around them.
Final polish
In my experience, the main difference between the Linux desktop environment and those of its commercial competitors is the last 10%: the polishing you do once everything works. It’s not easy making something that works, and a lot of people, once they have created something and got it working, leave it and move onto creating something else. I’m really not great at creating things from scratch — and have nothing but admiration for those who are — but what I do enjoy doing is adding that last 10%: going from something that works to something that works well and is a pleasure to use. Being at Raspberry Pi means I get to do that every day when I come to work.
Stu Ayres on Twitter A whole new #computersciences suite of @Raspberry_Pi computers at @MyddeltonCol ! So excited to start teaching some physical computing!
Every time I see a photo of a Pi running at a Jam, or in a classroom, anywhere in the world, and it’s using my desktop — the thrill from that never goes away.
If you’d like to read more about the evolution of the Raspberry Pi desktop, and Simon’s adventures at Raspberry Pi, you can access the entire back catalogue of his blog posts here. | {
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This deck is not legal due to the following reasons:
Deck contains cards not legal in Brawl: ["Deeproot Elite", "Deeproot Warrior", "Giltgrove Stalker", "Jade Bearer", "Jadelight Ranger", "Jungleborn Pioneer", "Jungle Delver", "Kopala, Warden of Waves", "Kumena's Speaker", "Merfolk Branchwalker", "Merfolk Mistbinder", "Merfolk Trickster", "Mist-Cloaked Herald", "River Sneak", "Shaper Apprentice", "Shapers of Nature", "Silvergill Adept", "Swift Warden", "Metallic Mimic", "Tishana's Wayfinder", "Vineshaper Mystic", "Watertrap Weaver", "Forerunner of the Heralds", "Herald of Secret Streams", "Seafloor Oracle", "Spell Pierce", "Deeproot Waters", "Growing Rites of Itlimoc", "Vanquisher's Banner", "Shapers' Sanctuary", "Blink of an Eye", "Harvest Season", "Wildest Dreams", "Dowsing Dagger", "Pillar of Origins", "Throne of the God-Pharaoh", "Botanical Sanctum", "Survivors' Encampment", "Hinterland Harbor", "Woodland Stream", "Aether Hub", "Unclaimed Territory", "Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca"].
The deck will be not publicly searchable until the above errors are fixed. | {
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The mayor of the Texas town where Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school became a conservative folk hero earlier this year when she successfully lobbied City Council to fight back against a nonexistent Islamic threat.
Beth Van Duyne, the mayor of Irving, pushed elected officials to back a state bill banning Sharia law after reading reports about an Islamic tribunal set up in her town to settle personal and business disputes between Muslims based on religious principles.
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READ MORE: Irving mayor defends arrest of Muslim teen with clock
“Sharia Law Court was NOT approved or enacted by the City of Irving,” the mayor posted Feb. 6 on her Facebook page. “Recently, there have been rumors suggesting that the City of Irving has somehow condoned, approved or enacted the implementation of a Sharia Law Court in our City. Let me be clear, neither the City of Irving, our elected officials or city staff have anything to do with the decision of the mosque that has been identified as starting a Sharia Court.”
Her post, and her calls to fight back against the overinflated threat, were promoted by Fox News and Glenn Beck.
Taher El-badawi, a tribunal judge, explained that the Islamic court was entirely voluntary and would not oversee criminal cases, child support, custody issues or the transfer of assets, but would instead settle divorces, workplace disputes and small claims.
The non-binding tribunal acts as essentially as a mediator or arbiter of minor disputes to keep them out of court — and Christians and Jews have long operated similar religious courts.
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But courts based on Sharia law are less well-known, and they have aroused anti-Muslim fears in the decade and a half since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“Our nation cannot be so overly sensitive in defending other cultures that we stop protecting our own,” Van Duyne said in her Facebook post. “The American Constitution and our guaranteed rights reigns supreme in our nation and may that ever be the case.”
Irving’s City Council voted 5-4 in March to show symbolic support for the anti-Sharia legislation — which conservative media outlets gloated had made Muslims “unhappy” and “angry.”
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“It fuels anti-Islamic hysteria,” said Zia Sheikh, imam at the Islamic Center of Irving. “Her whole point was to rile up her supporters (but) the problem is we become the whipping boys.”
This week, in Irving a 14-year-old Muslim teen was arrested after bringing a clock he had built to school.
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A teacher thought the clock resembled a bomb and administrators called police, who found no evidence that ninth-grader Ahmed Mohamed had built an explosive device or intended to scare anyone with it but arrested him anyway.
“Yup, that’s who I thought it was,” said one officer as the Muslim teen, a good student who has never been in trouble, arrived in the principal’s office.
Watch this interview with Van Duyne posted online by The Blaze: | {
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DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 14 (UPI) — President-elect Donald Trump will not have a representative at the gathering of the world’s wealthiest people at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Bloomberg reported Trump’s transition team decided against sending someone to the gathering because it would have betrayed the populist agenda his campaign promised.
The annual gathering in Davos features high-minded forums on world economic and social problems with the most lavish of accommodations. Tickets to the event run into the hundreds of thousands per person and just 100 corporations are permitted to become “strategic partners,” allowing CEOs and four employees all-access passes to the forums.
In addition to weighty social debates, the Davos forum also serves as a prime opportunity for the world’s business leaders to strike deals and form partnerships that have the potential to reshape entire industries.
One indicator of the posh nature of the gathering: Last year, Swiss officials said there were 1,700 private jets flying in and out of the area during the week-long event, and more are expected this year. Air traffic from private jets is so intense, the Swiss government is forced to open up a nearby military air strip to civilian travel.
While the Trump camp will not be represented, other world leaders will be, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will be the first Chinese leader to attend the World Economic Forum. He will be accompanied by dozens of China’s richest and most powerful business leaders.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and former Prime Minister Tony Blair, along with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, are also scheduled to attend.
Celebrity attendees will include pop singer Shakira, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and Academy Award-winning actor Matt Damon, who is scheduled to lead a panel discussion on delivering clean water to the developing world.
Despite it being a gathering of the rich and famous, the leading topic of conversation at the forum will be the perils of income inequality. Six different events will be held to discuss the rise of income inequality and its effects on the poor. Forums will also examine the effects income inequality has had politically. While the world’s economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis has in many instances failed to improve the lives of ordinary citizens, populist political movements have gained momentum across the West, helping lift Trump to the presidency and driving the British vote to leave the European Union. | {
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A special prosecutor should appointed to deal with the leakers plaguing the White House with daily dumps of inside information to the media, renowned civil-rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax TV on Thursday.
"The culture of leaking is so dangerous to a democracy, it just has to stop," Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor emeritus, told host Miranda Khan and Nancy Brinker on Newsmax's "America Talks Live."
"I would actually be in favor of appointing a special prosecutor in charge just of leaks, a special council in charge just of leaks to make sure that anybody who leaks is appropriately sanctioned."
Important: Newsmax TV is available on DirecTV Ch. 349, U-Verse 1220, and FiOS 615. If your cable operator does not have Newsmax TV just call and ask them to put us on – Call toll-free 1-844-500-6397 and we will connect you right away to your cable operator!
For more places to Find Newsmax TV – Click Here Now
Dershowitz said the media "loves leaks, they live by leaks."
"But in a democracy, when you elect an executive, you elect that person to run the executive," he told Khan and Brinker. "You don't elect him or her to run it through leaks, and that's the way not only this administration but several administrations previously have operated.
"So, I am a strong opponent of leaks, and I think we have to take very aggressive action to stop leaks. If you have something to say, say it publically and directly. If you don't want to be identified publically, then don't disclose it."
Asked about incoming White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci's claim he was the victim of a leak of his financial information and his vow to go to the FBI, Dershowitz said:
"I don't know the answer about whether or not that was a leak or wasn't a leak, that would be something for lawyers who know the specific facts, but nothing should be leaked. Even if it's appropriately release to the public, it shouldn't be released through a leak.
"If it's appropriate, then you issue a statement on White House stationery saying here's what we're doing, here's what's coming out, but the idea of having this continuum of illegal leaks, legal leaks, felonious leaks, non-felonious leaks . . ."
Dershowitz also said he believes the media encourages leaks.
"Not only social media, the social media does, but The New York Times does," Dershowitz said. "The New York Times prints anonymously sourced damaging material and encourages leaks. There's a big difference between using leaks that come to you, that's protected by the First Amendment.
"But encouraging people to engage in illegal behavior, that is not journalistically ethical, and I think that journalists from The New York Times down, or up, depending on where you see The New York Times, have to look in the mirror and ask themselves, are they becoming complicit in illegal behavior by encouraging and facilitating the leaks?" | {
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The National Science Foundation keeps track of the doctorates granted by US universities each year. In this post, I’ve mapped recipients of doctoral degrees in 2012 (the most recent data available) by state and country. The top map shows the number of doctorates granted in each state, as well as the 20 universities that graduated the most doctoral students. The bottom map illustrates the citizenship of the students who received their doctorates in the USA. All countries that had at least 50 students are shown.
Both maps are influenced by population density, but there are some interesting outliers. The list of the 20 universities producing the most doctoral students may also surprise you…
Data source: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/2012/start.cfm | {
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Delaware State Police showcased at artificial intelligence conference
Three months ago, the biggest players in the artificial intelligence industry checked out a Delaware State Police cruiser parked conspicuously on a convention floor in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
On the roof of the taxpayer-owned vehicle sat a drone. Flanking it on one side was a large flat screen, which showed what officers would see on the monitor of a company's latest in-car video system – an augmented reality dash-camera feed of a distant vehicle with its license plate information superimposed onto the screen.
The exhibitor, Houston-based Coban Technologies, proclaimed on a sign next to the cruiser, “AI (artificial intelligence) for public protection and safety.”
“We’ve been working with (Delaware State Police) for a long time, so they let us borrow the car and then, of course, we used it for the show” in Washington, D.C., said David Hinojosa, the company's head of marketing and business development.
Two Delaware State Police officers also attended the conference with Coban, Hinojosa said, though he declined to identify them.
The exact nature of the Delaware State Police's work with Coban Technologies is unclear. What is known is that the company used the state police vehicle to market what it calls an artificially-intelligent camera system that alerts officers in real-time to the identities of vehicles and even people caught by the gaze of cameras attached to a vehicle dash, an officer's body or even a drone.
Initially, Hinojosa described the relationship between Coban and the state police as a partnership – one in which officers advise developers about the needs of those on patrol, and how smart camera systems could accommodate them.
The Los Angeles Police Department also consults with the company for its product development, Hinojosa said.
A company official also told a Texas reporter from KPRC news in Houston, that Delaware and Los Angeles police are actively testing the latest incarnation of the artificial intelligence system in a “controlled environment."
Yet during a second conversation with The News Journal, Hinojosa said the KPRC report was false. He was not aware of who within his company gave the reporter such specific, yet allegedly inaccurate, information.
Hinojosa also revised his previous statement, saying his company does not, in fact, have a partnership with Delaware. Instead, the state police informally, and infrequently, offers expertise to Coban developers, he said.
"We just went to them and said, 'Hey, will you help us?' They said, 'Sure, we'll give you input," Hinojosa said. "Every single vendor ... they're always going back to clients and say, 'Hey, is this going to work or is this not going to work?"
More: In 'mythical' agreement, Stingray maker says DSP can't share details with lawmakers
Since 2013, the state police has purchased $1.9 million worth of standard dash camera and other assorted multimedia equipment from Coban. The News Journal requested an interview with Col. Nathaniel McQueen Jr., or an agency official who oversees the use of police video systems, but that request was declined.
In an email, state police Sgt. Richard Bratz explained that the department "provides feedback to vendors to ensure they meet (Delaware State Police) specific needs."
"We will be testing the new (artificial intelligence) system when it becomes available," Bratz said.
A FOIA request with the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security for documents and emails related to Coban Technologies is pending.
STORY: Should Wilmington police share body cam footage?
The adoption of gadgets that use augmented reality or computer facial analysis is accelerating across industries as advances in image recognition prove lucrative for companies –– and advantageous to government agencies.
Pokemon Go, a video game that attracted more than 100 million users last year, superimposes colorful fighting monsters onto the camera feed of the player's smart phone.
Google recently added a lighthearted feature to its Arts & Culture App that analyzes photos to determine which famous museum portrait the user most resembles. The app also links to a user's personal Gmail account.
Apple customers can unlock its latest smart phone, the iPhone X, by simply staring at it. Face recognition is "already becoming incredibly pervasive in ways we don't see," says Clare Garvie, an associate with Georgetown University's Center on Privacy & Technology.
With the release of the new iPhone X, "far more people will experience face recognition" in a public setting.
In the public sector, the FBI maintains a database of at least 30 million photos linked to identities. It uses them to find suspects who are captured by surveillance cameras elsewhere.
The Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles in 2012 signed an agreement with the FBI to provide state license photos for the federal facial recognition database, making the First State one of 13 to support the system. Though there are less than one million people in the state, the DMV has provided four million photos to the federal program, according to a Government Accountability Office report from 2016.
The facial recognition database will "advance active FBI investigations, apprehend wanted fugitives or known or suspected terrorists, and locate missing persons nationwide," stated a memorandum of understanding signed by the Delaware DMV and FBI.
The state police do not have direct access to the database, Bratz said.
"However, DSP can make inquiries through our law enforcement partners," he said.
Many experts and civil libertarians say Chinese businesses and government are at the forefront of real-time facial recognition technology. In December, police in a city within the country's western Xinjiang region told an Associated Press reporter, “there are tens of thousands of cameras here."
"The moment you took your first step in this city, we knew," the officer reportedly said.
Dash cam on steroids
Coban Technologies envisions a future when police can use its in-car video system to identify people near the vehicle and any threats they may pose. It would be "a dash cam on steroids," Hinojosa told an AFP reporter at the Washington, D.C., conference.
The company advertises that its gear is the most advanced model on the market, able to link multiple cameras to a single screen in a police car. It then acts as a hub where artificially-intelligent applications can be downloaded to allow the system to identify “a wide range of objects” in real time on a screen inside a police vehicle.
Those objects include bumper stickers, license plates, vehicle models, weapons, and even faces, according to the company's website.
“Coban is leveraging the most advanced and proven real-time video streaming and edge analytics applications for facial recognition," Coban’s product management director David Kirsch said in a company statement last October.
Hinojosa acknowledged that all of the advertised capabilities, notably facial recognition, are not reliably functional, yet.
Real-time facial recognition technology incorporated onto augmented reality screens still is "in its infancy," he said. Though researchers in China likely have more advanced technology than their counterparts elsewhere, he said.
STORY: Feds support Delaware State Police phone surveillance
Yet in a promotional video produced by computer chip Nvidia, Hinojosa said Coban's video system “is constantly learning.”
The guts of the hardware, he said, are made up of the latest robotic circuitry developed by Nvidia, which also was a sponsor of the Washington, D.C., conference.
“The more information that we feed, the better this system gets. If you look at it from a law enforcement perspective, (it is) strength in numbers,” Hinojosa told Nvidia as he stood alongside the Delaware State Police cruiser on the convention floor.
“At the end of the day, it’s officer safety and efficiency,” he said.
Other attendees at the Nvidia conference included Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense's research division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Office of the Vice President.
Coban is racing with other tech firms, such as the Taser manufacturer, Axon, to win lucrative contracts as police departments across the country adopt smart, predictive policing gadgets.
In the race, many surveillance technology companies have bombarded police departments with promotions for products that may not even provide benefit to officers on patrol, said David Maass, an investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties organization that focuses on technology.
“A lot of this is just snake oil," he said. "A lot of this is just police being dazzled by this stuff."
STORY: Slain trooper's wife: He gave his life to his job
STORY: Frustrated by what he saw, police officer cleaning up Wilmington
License plate reading and more
Since 2013, Delaware State Police has purchased nearly $1.9 million worth of products from Coban.
Hinojosa said Delaware's police car video system is a base model, with cameras that shoot only “evidentiary video,” without any attached AI-based applications.
Listed on the state of Delaware's open checkbook website, the purchases are described as multimedia equipment, communications equipment, multimedia supplies, equipment repair, computer services, or freight.
The state police executive staff, which includes the office of Col.
Nathaniel McQueen Jr., purchased more than $700,000 worth of products, the most of all divisions within the department.
Asked about the department's interest in Coban's artificial intelligence camera system, Hinojosa said, “that’s something that they’ll have to figure out, whether or not they want to utilize those types of technologies."
"I know that they’ve made it very clear to us that they want to be mindful of how the information is used, and so forth,” he said.
State police already use license-plate-reading cameras that can identify vehicle tags in real-time. The so-called automated license plate readers were not purchased from Coban, Bratz said.
"We have ALPR technology as part of our commercial vehicle enforcement program," he said.
New Castle County police also have purchased automated license plate readers.
Too cozy of a relationship?
The relationship between the state police and Coban could become troubling in the future, said Ryan Tack-Hooper, attorney at the ACLU of Delaware.
“I'm worried about sweetheart deals that are happening between companies and the state police," he said. "They don’t seem to think that they are an agency like any other agency in the state."
He said state police a decade ago gave a no-bid contract to Harris Corp., the developers of the Stingray cell phone tracking device. The ACLU learned of the contract after it had brought a lawsuit against the state in an attempt to force the disclosure of details about how officers use Stingrays.
"In our litigation over the Stingrays, one of the things that came out of that was that they had this no-bid contract, and there was no evidence that they followed state guidelines for purchasing this technology," Tack-Hooper said.
The News Journal in 2016 reported that state police had spent nearly $1 million for the boxy mobile devices, called Stingrays, which mimic cellular towers in order to covertly scoop up cell phone information from people within a few-mile proximity.
Stingray maker Harris Corp also was an attendee at the artificial intelligence conference in Washington, D.C.
Hinojosa said categorically that there is no quid-pro-quo with state police, nor any favorable clauses included in its Delaware contracts.
"They're not endorsing anything, and they have made that very clear," he said.
Prior to Coban's contract, the state police had received bids from 16 companies.
Tack-Hooper also expressed a concern over whether the state is effectively safeguarding data it collects from mass surveillance systems and rigorously tracking how it gets access to it.
He said ACLU research has shown that the state police are keeping data collected by their automated license plate readers for five years, "whereas New Castle County was keeping it for less than a year."
"The privacy threat is you have a database of where everyone has been, all vehicle locations for five years," he said.
The database could become problematic, he said, if an unethical officer were to use it to track an ex-spouse, for example, or target the actions of protesters.
"Location data is very sensitive. You can figure out what church someone goes to. What reporters they meet with, what protests they attend," Tack-Hooper said.
The U.S. Supreme Court should settle a pending legal question of whether mass data collection – even of information that is publicly available – is constitutional, he added.
"It's fine to check license plates, but we believe it's problematic to have lists of where everyone has visited in the last five years," he said.
Hinojosa said it is up to police and lawmakers to set clear rules about the use of camera technology that log identities through reading license plates or even individuals' faces. However fears of police collecting identities of every protester at a demonstration through facial recognition cameras are "crazy," he said, at least with today's technology.
Instead, the public should be wary about the use of mass surveillance in the private sector, he said, noting that Coban does not sell its systems to private firms.
“Those companies that are doing the big surveillance now, if anyone needs to worry about anything, it’s those cameras that are mounted all over the city," Hinojosa said.
Contact Karl Baker at [email protected] or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6. | {
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Ferguson is known for his best-selling books, television appearances, and sometimes controversial statements on history and economics. He made the remarks about Keynes at the Altegris Strategic Investment Conference in Carlsbad, Calif., on Thursday in response to a question about Keynes’s oft-quoted warning against thinking too far ahead while making economic policy: “In the long run we are all dead.”
“My disagreements with Keynes’s economic philosophy have never had anything to do with his sexual orientation,” Ferguson said in a statement . “It is simply false to suggest, as I did, that his approach to economic policy was inspired by any aspect of his personal life.”
Niall Ferguson, Harvard professor, sought to defuse a controversy Saturday when he apologized for telling an investors’ conference that the policies of influential economist John Maynard Keynes were short-sighted because Keynes was gay and had no children.
Ferguson said children and grandchildren bear the long-run burdens of economic policies, which, he argued, Keynes did not understand.
In his apology, Ferguson wrote: “This was doubly stupid. First, it is obvious that people who do not have children also care about future generations. Second, I had forgotten that Keynes’s wife Lydia miscarried.”
Financial journalist Thomas Kostigen said he gave Ferguson credit for apologizing, but was “dumbfounded” by the remarks.
“I salute him for standing up and owning it,” Kostigen said. “I just wonder how does somebody’s brain go there . . . especially a smart guy like him.”
Kostigen witnessed Ferguson’s remarks and wrote about them in a blog post for the Financial Advisor.
Speaking by phone on Saturday, Kostigen said Ferguson called Keynes “effete.” He also said that Keynes was married to a ballerina and instead of procreating, the couple probably discussed poetry, according to Kostigen.
“As I tried to lift my jaw up off the table, I didn’t have time to ask any follow-ups,” Kostigen said. He said no one in the room questioned the statements, but he felt there was an awkwardness afterward.
Kostigen was most surprised, he said, that the hypothesis sounded like something Ferguson had thought through and had not just made up on the fly.
“Sometimes you get tongue-tied and you say something stupid, he said. “This was beyond that, and therefore he has apologized.”
Jami Schlicher, a spokeswoman for conference organizers, said she did not have a transcript or recording of Ferguson’s remarks.
Ferguson, who like Keynes was born in the United Kingdom, is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and has written extensively on international history and economic history.
He was an adviser for US Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid and has been highly critical of President Obama, writing in an August 2012 Newsweek cover story that “America under this president is a superpower in retreat, if not retirement.”
Thursday’s remarks were not Ferguson’s first comments on Keynes’s sexuality. In his 1999 book “The Pity of War,” Ferguson wrote that World War I “made Keynes deeply unhappy. Even his sex life went into a decline, perhaps because the boys he liked to pick up in London all joined up.”
Keynes, who lived from 1883 to 1946, was perhaps the most influential economist of the 20th century and the founder of Keynesian economics, a theory that says, in part, that government intervention can help kick-start lagging economies.
Harvard spokesman Kevin Galvin declined to comment on Ferguson’s statements. Attempts Saturday to reach the chairman of Harvard’s History Department and representatives of the Harvard Queer Students and Allies were unsuccessful.
Jeffrey Gundlach, founder of the investment firm Doubleline Capital, said he heard the exchange and “wasn’t offended by it in any way.” It made him think back to how his views changed when his first child was born.
“I thought it was informative and actually sort of insightful,” he said. “I was under the impression that he had been asked that question before and probably given that answer before.”
Ryan Thoreson, president of the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus and a 2007 Harvard graduate, said the organization welcomed Ferguson’s apology. He said the criticism based on Keynes’s personal life was “ill-founded” and “not a scholarly argument.”
“This is just pure homophobic supposition,” said Thoreson, 28. “Professor Ferguson has students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, and I think it’s irresponsible to suggest that their sexuality precludes them from contributing anything meaningful to society and to future generations.”
On Harvard’s campus Saturday, students voiced disagreement with Ferguson.
Ved Topkar, a freshman studying biology, said he was pleased Ferguson’s words generated disagreement and prompted an apology.
“Ten, 20 years ago people would have taken his comments at face value. Given his role and his status at this university, I think no one would have challenged him on that,” he said. | {
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This is the long-long-overdue follow-up to the piece I wrote what seems aeons ago. It was 18 months ago, to be more precise. The original post was a sort of an SEO pep-talk presenting a couple of case studies showing how one-man bands or small businesses take on big corporate sharks and outrank them with pure clever SEO strategy.
But this time I don’t come alone. I’ve got some of the world’s top SEO experts sharing their experiences of tackling the big guys and winning.
You can still read the original post here and meet the good old David who is a proverbial DIY SEO expert. Oh, come on, I couldn’t have called him Joe Blogs, could I. That would’ve been just rude.
So, one of the case studies was of an e-commerce site Rugby Warfare (DA:30,TF:14,CF:22) that was started by a chap from his bedroom. At the time of writing the original piece, his SEO strategy was so solid that he ranked #2 for Rugby Training just by delivering awesome in-depth content. Where do you think he’s now – 1.5 years later? Perished and gobbled up by the big rugby sites? Nah, he’s ranking #1 for Rugby Training and a hoard of other juicy money keywords.
The 2nd example was of a small business website outranking British Telecom, OneDirect and Amazon for some serious B2B equipment keywords. Has best4systems (DA:43,TF:39,CF:37) stood the test of time? You bet! They’re still number one for their most important keywords. And has BT managed to move the dial just a little bit? Nope, still stuck in position #7.
SEO Strategy Roundup
Let’s hear what the SEO experts have to say:
Bill Gassett
Bill Gassett is a nationally recognized Real Estate leader who has been helping people move in and out of the Metrowest Massachusetts area for the past thirty plus years. He has been one of the top RE/MAX Realtors in New England (DA:51,TF:18,CF:27) for the past decade. In 2017 he was the #6 RE/MAX real estate agent in New England.
He enjoys providing helpful information to buyers, sellers and fellow real estate agents to make sound decisions. His work has been featured on RIS Media, National Association of Realtors, Inman News, Placester, RESAAS, Credit Sesame and others.
AL: According to my position tracker tool, his website has achieved more than 450 #1 spots on Google for various local and national real estate keywords. It’s also ranking within Top5 for huge national searches like “house appraisal” and “we buy houses”
“While having exceptional content is the holy grail of ranking online, the next best thing is getting a couple of solid links pointing to your article. The simplest way this occurs is another person freely linking to the content because they think it is outstanding. If you are a newer site it’s far more difficult to get natural links like this though. When you are new your visibility isn’t as great as those sites who already have authority. So what can you do? Find sites in your niche that allow you to post articles that can link back to your money site. For example, in the real estate niche the are a couple of powerhouse sites that allow those in the industry to create real estate related articles. They are Active Rain and Realty Times. By creating articles at these places that link back to your content, you’re establishing your money sites credibility with Google and other search engines. You should always be looking for opportunities such as these within your own niche. Another great way to get some traction is to collaborate with others in your field. Do you know some good bloggers? Do some outreach and see if you can post an article on their site. One word of caution – always make sure the sites you are posting on are reputable. Great links help a lot. Bad links do just the opposite.”
Jason Acidre
Jason Acidre is the author of Kaiserthesage (DA:47,TF:14,CF:25) and the Co-founder of Avaris, an SEO agency based in the Philippines.
“We have quite a few of success stories in which we’ve managed to compete and outrank bigger brands in terms of SEO. The one that I’d probably share is the one where we’ve manage to outrank powerhouse brands/publishers in the web space (such as Godaddy, WordPress, Wix, PCMag, etc…) for the key phrases “how to build/create/make a website” – which is a highly competitive search query. Not only that we’ve managed to get the rich snippet result for this keyword set. But we’ve also managed to secure and maintain the top position for non-rich snippet listings. We’ve worked on the campaign for over a year. And the approach was quite simple and straightforward, wherein the campaign mainly focused on: 1. Developing an evergreen content asset around the search phrases it’s aiming to rank for – that’s being continuously improved/upgraded. The content’s main aim was to purely educate, which made it more attractive to a lot of prospects (through outreach).
2. Building topically relevant links from high authority (and high traffic) websites to the page (I’ve written about our entire link building process here).
3. The page is continuously increasing its strength to sustain its rankings, since it’s already capable of attracting and earning more links over time (since it’s ranking for informational queries).”
Ryan Biddulph
Ryan Biddulph is a blogger, author and world traveler who’s been featured on Richard Branson’s Virgin Blog, Forbes, Fox News, Entrepreneur, Positively Positive, Life Hack, John Chow Dot Com and Neil Patel Dot Com. He can help you become a full time blogger at Blogging From Paradise.
“We ranked on page 1 position #3 on Google for “how to submit a guest post”, ranking alongside Forbes, Hubspot and Venture Beat as we were all Top 4. Here’s the post that ranked: https://www.bloggingfromparadise.com/how-submit-guest-post-12-steps/
(DA:47,TF:14,CF:26) This was in August of 2016.”
AL: Fast forward two years and the article has stood the test of time. In fact, it still ranks #3 only there’s no sight of Forbes or Venture Beat anywhere . This is an awesome example of “pillar content”. Unfortunately, most bloggers treat their articles as perishable goods. They write something good, put it out there, promote it for a couple of days and then forget about it. Yes, that’s how you treat your filler content, however, when it comes to pillar articles, you need to develop an SEO strategy that bears fruit year in year out.
There are three main factors helping this article rank:
it is well structured, with short paragraphs and simple sentences
it’s sitting on a high-authority domain name (DA:47, TF:14, CF:26 )
it’s got a small number of external backlinks pointing to it
The last factor is the least important, and here’s why. It currently has 9 links pointing to it. Four of these can be considered from high authority sources. The remaining five are kind of “meh”. Also, two years ago the article had 19 links pointing to it. So, yes, it’s lost more than half of its external link power, yet it’s retained its position. How great is that?
Steve Wiideman
Writer, scientist, and practitioner of search optimization, Steve Wiideman lives, breathes, and eats SEO, SEM, and inbound marketing. When he’s not an SEO consultant for franchise and ecommerce brands, he’s a cheeseball romantic, entertaining daddy, and world traveler with a passion for life, embracing culture and diversity. Steve’s current projects include a do-it-yourself SEO package and experiments his team is running to better understand the impacts of voice search, featured snippets, and structured data.
“Bob’s Watches (DA:52,TF:19,CF:20) had nothing to do with Rolex when owner Paul Altieri purchased the domain circa 2011. Major jewelers and online Rolex shops dominated the search results and there was very little chance for a small shop in Huntington Beach to go head to head with the national brands with a very limited inventory to start with and zero page history in search results.
We pulled all the insights from competitor strategies, including highest traffic-driving keywords, most intersecting linking websites, as well as content strategies. We knew if our creative wasn’t as impressive as competing pages, we’d always lose. Every month Bob’s Watches is tweaking design elements, call-to-actions and testing mobile experiences. They listen and watch competitors and leading industry websites, and adjust to make sure they are always ahead of the curve. Today, the little shop generates over $20,000,000 per year and appears on the first page of Google for just about every major Rolex brand. I can’t share the traffic stats, but I’ll share the Google Search Console impressions and positions, which you could get yourself from Keyword Planner and a manual Google search:”
Stuart Cooke
Experienced digital marketer working with some of the biggest brands in Northern Ireland and the UK, helping them to achieve their online goals. SEO specialist, owner of Pinnacle Digital as well as being Google AdWords Certified and Bing Accredited.
“I have been working with a client https://www.specifiedby.com (DA:45,TF:20,CF:29) who are competing against RIBA and Barbour who dominate all things architecture and construction in the UK. We have however been able to rank within the Top 5 for the extremely valuable keyword “Building Product Search” and for a range of long-tail keywords such as “building regulations part k” and “underfloor heating upstairs”. We have created a very detailed guide on building regulations https://www.specifiedby.com/building-regulations and a knowledgeable section with lots of information, for example this brick guide section http://knowledge.specifiedby.com/topic/bricks/ which has helped us to achieve this.”
Chris Dreyer
Founder & CEO of Rankings.io, a specialised SEO agency for the legal vertical. Chris Dreyer is a self-taught SEO expert who in a space of a few years went from his first affiliate site to founding one of the fastest growing SEO agencies in the U.S. According to Inc.5000, his agency’s 3-year growth has been a staggering 585%.
“The Levin Firm, Michigan Injury Lawyers, Attorney Guss, Dolman Law Group are just some client examples. All were ranked with a heavy focus on high DA link acquisition and quality, longform content strategy.”
AL: Rankings.io is a surprisingly transparent company. I’d suggest you download their case studies (all available on their homepage). I had a look at Attorney Guss (DA:38,TF:15,CF:36) document and the two things that resonated with me instantly were:
importance of technical SEO and the site architecture – how content is logically structured to give both search engines and users an easy and logical way to find information
emphasis on the local SEO strategy – you don’t have to be located in a city’s business district in order to maximise the free traffic from map searches.
This SEO expert roundup should hopefully inspire people who are reluctant to realise their real online profits potential. A solid SEO strategy is worth more than a 6-figure marketing budget in a corporate boardroom.
The majority of big businesses are less agile than DIY SEOs and smaller companies. I’m sure this writeup won’t do much for the people who have already settled on the thought that SEO is dead, however, those who are hungry for success will probably leap into action very soon… and I’ll have more case studies to write about!
Legend/Technical Jargon: Now about the clever stuff in the brackets. It’s domain authority measurement to try to illustrate the fact that backlinks are a major part of the ranking algorithm (as are various content-related metrics). Domain autohority (DA) is a metric invented by Moz.com. The higher the better. If DA is higher than 20, it’s likely the website’s owner has done some form of link building. TF and CF were introduced by Majestic.com. Trust Flow (TF) is a qualitative measurement and represents authority of the backlinks pointing to a site. Citation Flow (CF) is a quantitative metric. | {
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