text
stringlengths 14
100k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
Brasília
O governo Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) negocia uma parceria com universidades particulares para oferta de uma disciplina de "inteligência emocional" com o objetivo de tentar prevenir casos de suicídio e automutilação. A proposta é criticada por especialistas ouvidos pela Folha.
A discussão é feita entre o Ministério da Mulher, Família e Direitos Humanos e a Anup (Associação de Universidades Particulares), entidade que abrange 189 instituições privadas —setor que concentra 75% dos estudantes de graduação.
Desde o início da gestão, a prevenção ao suicídio e automutilação foi alçado a prioridade pelo Ministério da Mulher. Em palestras, a ministra Damares Alves, que é pastora, disse que pensou em suicídio após ser vítima de um abuso sexual, mas desistiu ao ver, segundo ela, a imagem de Jesus.
O MEC (Ministério da Educação) é apenas parte do grupo que discute o tema.
A previsão é que a disciplina, com carga horária de 80 h, seja obrigatória para alguns cursos. A definição de quais, porém, caberia aos reitores.
O início da oferta seria a partir do segundo semestre deste ano. "Queremos em agosto já botar essa meninada para ver o que está acontecendo dentro da cabeça deles e como sobreviver nesse mundo tão complexo", diz a presidente da Anup, Elizabeth Guedes.
O objetivo, diz, é ter estratégias para estimular alunos a lidarem com conflitos e frustrações e, com a isso, evitar casos de suicídio e automutilação.
Na última semana, o governo lançou uma campanha de prevenção ao suicídio. A pasta também pretende aumentar canais de atendimento a famílias e investir em coleta e monitoramento de dados.
Questionada, Elizabeth diz ainda não há definição de todos os assuntos que serão tratados na disciplina, mas que a ideia é que o estudante encontre conceitos "que ele conhece na vida mas que não estão nos currículos, como ansiedade, medo, felicidade".
"Pensamos que fazer uma disciplina de inteligência emocional poderia ajudar os jovens a enfrentar a insegurança, a ser resiliente, a desenvolver pensamentos positivos, a ter empatia pelo próximo e aprender a conviver com a diferença", afirma.
Segundo ela, a sugestão para que a disciplina seja implementada veio de Damares. Uma das principais interlocutoras do setor privado nos últimos anos, Elizabeth é irmã do atual ministro da Economia, Paulo Guedes.
A ideia é levar a medida também para universidades públicas, diz o diretor de Desafios Sociais no Âmbito Familiar da pasta, Marcel Edvar Simões.
A Base Nacional Comum Curricular, que define o que os alunos devem aprender na educação básica, contempla habilidades socioemocionais ao longo da escolaridade, mas sem previsão de uma disciplina isolada.
Estudiosa do tema, a diretora do instituto Inspirare, Anna Penido, considera a ideia equivocada, ainda mais por tratar de uma situação extrema como o suicídio. "A educação socioemocional precisa acontecer principalmente na etapa do mais profundo desenvolvimento humano, que é a infância, adolescência e juventude", diz ela. "É um processo contínuo, que não ocorre com uma disciplina de 80 horas."
Para a professora Regina Pedroza, do Instituto de Psicologia da UnB, criar uma disciplina como estratégia para combater o suicídio é tratar o tema de forma reducionista.
"É de uma simplificação da questão do suicídio que não pode ser sério. O suicídio não é um fenômeno agora da modernidade, é um fenômeno histórico e complexo, e que envolve tantas questões que não pode ser resolvido em uma disciplina. Essas questões têm que aparecer no diálogo do dia a dia", diz.
"O que é ser inteligente emocionalmente? Sinceramente, não sei. Pode-se até levantar uma hipótese de que é aquele que controla suas emoções. Mas como assim controlar emoções? Emoção é algo que não pode ser tão controlado, senão retira a capacidade de sensibilização."
O Brasil registrou 11.433 mortes por suicídio em 2016, segundo os dados mais recentes do Ministério da Saúde. Não há informações sobre casos entre universitários.
No ano passado, a USP criou um escritório de saúde mental após registro de casos. Uma pesquisa, de 2009, com 140 estudantes da pós-graduação da UFRJ concluiu que 58,6% dos pesquisadores apresentavam níveis médio e alto de estresse. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
There’s a consensus aborning: There should be zero tolerance for sexual harassment, exploitation and violence of any kind. Enthusiasm for the new dawn varies widely. Some think it’s a great feminist or moral awakening. Others see an era of witch hunts, prudery and weaponized politics in our future.
Put me down for all of the above.
As a conservative, this seems natural to me. Almost every good thing comes with a downside and virtually every bad thing comes with an upside.
We’ve seen cultural, political and religious awakenings before. The abolition movement also brought with it John Brown. Prohibition had some positive (though hotly debated) effects on public health, and the temperance movement helped pave the way for women’s suffrage. Anti-Communism was a good thing in my book, but no one can honestly dispute it had its unfortunate excesses.
Anti-Communism was a good thing in my book, but no one can honestly dispute it had its unfortunate excesses.
Whenever popular passion swamps politics, true-believing zealots and opportunistic demagogues will exploit that passion. The zealots will overreach. The demagogues will demagogue — using a good cause to destroy political enemies and defend unworthy allies.
Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is credibly accused by nine women of preying on teenagers, one as young as 14. Harvey Weinstein is credibly accused by at least 50 women of a long list of offenses, some including rape. Democratic Sen. Al Franken has been accused by two women of inappropriate advances or groping.
These are just the recent lowlights. A host of prominent journalists as well as Hollywood actors, writers and producers have been accused of varying degrees of misconduct.
We shouldn’t stand for any of it. And yet, the severity of our intolerance should run on a spectrum. Rape should put you in jail. Making a pass at a subordinate in the workplace should have consequences. Making one at a bar? It depends. Taking harassment seriously also requires making serious distinctions.
The problem is that the logic of zero tolerance often renders every bad act as equally unacceptable.
As much as I dislike Franken, making a gross pass at an adult woman is different than molesting a 14-year-old girl. Groping a woman’s backside is not the same thing as raping a woman. And yet Franken’s name is routinely listed alongside Moore’s and Weinstein’s. Some of this leveling is simply journalistic laziness. But a lot of it is partisan demagoguery and opportunism.
Partisanship also leads to what you might call anti-leveling: People who ignore wrongdoing on “their side” even as they attack their enemies.
Some Republicans insist that Franken must resign, but say that the people of Alabama should decide what to do about Moore. (Meanwhile Sen. Bernie Sanders says the people of Minnesota should determine Franken’s fate.)
When asked why people should judge the accusations against Moore and President Trump differently than accusations against Franken and others, the White House says Moore and Trump’s denials inoculate them from condemnation or any practical consequences.
Denials should matter and accusations absent additional evidence should invite skepticism. But the upshot here is that alleged miscreants should simply deny rather than admit wrongdoing and apologize. According to this logic, Bill Clinton deserved the benefit of every doubt until he was finally forced by the evidence to admit (some of) his misdeeds.
Worse, implicit to the White House argument is that on-the-record testimony from victims doesn’t count as evidence, even when corroborated by testimony from confidantes.
But the most dangerous and corrupting force in all of this is not the weaponization of bad behavior, but the weaponization of hypocrisy. The pastor Franklin Graham even argues that the real villains are Moore’s critics who “are guilty of doing much worse than” what Moore has supposedly done.
This obsession with hypocrisy leads to a repugnant immorality. In an effort to defend members of their team, partisans end up defending the underlying behavior itself. After all, you can only be a hypocrite if you violate some principle you preach. If you ditch the principle, you can dodge the hypocrisy charge. We’re seeing this happen in real time with some of Moore’s defenders, just as we saw it with Clinton’s in the 1990s.
We’ll sort it all out eventually, but not before it gets even uglier.
[email protected]
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The RSS chief said last week that there could be no Hindutva without the Muslims. (Representational Image) The RSS chief said last week that there could be no Hindutva without the Muslims. (Representational Image)
So why did I spend three evenings last week listening to Mohan Bhagwat? Two reasons. I have always felt real contempt for the RSS. I will explain why. And, I wanted to see if this organisation, frozen so long in the stale aspic of a time warp, has finally discovered the need to change. Since I am no fan of the RSS I have also never been invited to any of its events, so I was intrigued to suddenly be invited to three days of lectures by the big boss.
Before going further let me explain my contempt for the RSS. In my reporting days I was a sort of pal of an earlier sarsanghchalak, Rajju Bhaiya, and on slow mornings often trotted off to chat with him at the RSS headquarters in Delhi. I found him to be a gentle, learned man bursting with an earnest desire for India to become a better country. But, after the morning shakha (I attended a few) I would go off to eat greasy Punjabi breakfasts with small groups of your average Sanghi and their hatred for Muslims horrified me. They openly admitted that they wanted them driven out of India because they were ‘breeding like rabbits’ and would soon outnumber Hindus. It was useless pointing out that India was their home or that they had shown faith in this country by choosing it over the Islamic republic in 1947.
Then there is the fact that the RSS has spawned despicable outfits like the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad, which thrive on hatred. I have covered many Hindu-Muslim riots and nearly always on the Hindu side the participants in the violence have been linked, in one way or the other, to these spawns of the RSS. In the past four years the lynch mobs have nearly always had members of these outfits in them. And, speaking of lynchings, I can report that after Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched, I had a most disturbing conversation with a senior RSS leader. He said, “At least the Hindus have learned to fight back.” I tried pointing out that real warriors die defending their country, they do not form mobs to beat old men to death. It was of no use.
So when I heard the RSS chief say clearly last week that there could be no Hindutva without the Muslims, I was stunned. He explained that to the RSS the meaning of Hindutva was being Indian. “If you don’t like the word Hindu use Bharatiya instead.” In answer to a question about Guru Golwalkar having advised India to deal with Muslims the way Hitler dealt with the Nazis, he said clearly that they had brought out a new edition of Golwalkar’s ‘Bunch of Thoughts’ and this comment was not in this bunch. Times change, he said, and the RSS changes with them. So the RSS today has no problem respecting the Indian Constitution, inter-caste marriage or westernisation as long as this means taking what is good from the West and using it to improve India.
So, am I convinced that the RSS has genuinely changed for the better? To tell you the truth I am not absolutely sure, but what I am sure about is that it wants to change. This will take time because decades of hyper-nationalism mixed with a hatred of Muslims has given birth to a generation of Indians who spend their time hysterically venting their rage against Islam and Pakistan on social media. The RSS should encourage them towards doing more constructive things for Bharat Mata.
The RSS could itself do much towards bringing about that elusive Indian renaissance. They are on the right track when they say that the Indian system of education needs change, but wrong when they confine this change to exalting some heroes and diminishing others. Indian children grow up without ever hearing the names of Sushrut or Bhaskaracharya. In our best schools they grow up with more knowledge of western literature than our own. Modern Indian writers of excellent quality exist but their books remain confined to the languages in which they are written. It is shameful that all our major literary festivals exalt mostly Indian writers writing in English. The RSS chief is absolutely right when he says Indian children must learn to speak English well but they must also learn their mother tongue and at least one other Indian language.
The ugly truth is that the colonisation of India has continued with greater success after the British left, mostly because they left behind a colonised Indian elite. So there is much that the RSS can do if it wants to bring about real change. If Mr Bhagwat is sincere, he should be applauded. But, the RSS has a bad image and continues to draw more brickbats than applause. This will take a while to change.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines
For all the latest Opinion News, download Indian Express App. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Mets -- yes, the Mets -- are one of baseball's hottest teams. Rocketing out to a 5-1 start and first place in the National League East, the Mets have shown what they can look like when healthy.
Whether they stay that way is a question that only a long summer can answer. For now, we'll tackle some smaller-picture questions in this week's Inbox.
Does Seth Lugo deserve a permanent rotation spot? Also, Robert Gsellman is much more effective from the bullpen.
-- @Grziz via Twitter
It's awfully difficult to say Lugo deserves a permanent rotation spot considering he hasn't even started a game. To the contrary, Lugo has looked so good in relief that the Mets have become somewhat smitten with him in that role. Just recently, manager Mickey Callaway began talking about piggybacking Lugo and Gsellman in a sort of bullpen game next week, rather than asking Lugo to go five or six innings in a start. The Mets, quite simply, don't love the idea of moving Lugo or Gsellman from a place in which they've been dominant.
As good as Lugo has looked, the Mets are wary of his history of struggling the third time through a lineup. They also love his and Gsellman's ability to bridge the gap between starters and back-end relievers, freeing them to use other arms in more traditional roles. If both continue thriving, I think they'll stay in the bullpen long term, with Jason Vargas sliding back into the rotation as soon as he's ready.
:: Submit a question to the Mets Inbox ::
Why are the Mets so adamant against using Jay Bruce at first? Seems like their best lineup has both Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo in it.
-- @walkitoffradio via Twitter
It's not that the Mets are against using Bruce at first base -- they did so last year, albeit in a small sample, and will probably do so again this year if their outfield remains jammed. It's more that they're not willing to part ways with Adrian Gonzalez after a week of, quite frankly, perfectly adequate play. Gonzalez is batting .294 with a .782 OPS so far this season. No, that's not as good as what Nimmo has done in 13 plate appearances, but keep in mind it's been just 13 plate appearances.
Gonzalez, also, is only going to play four times a week or so against right-handed pitchers. Reducing his role further would completely marginalize him.
I know people hate the phrase, "It will work itself out," but it almost certainly will. Yoenis Cespedes has missed 111 games the past two seasons. Juan Lagares has missed 151. The notion that everyone will stay healthy long term is foolish. So right now, the Mets are sacrificing their optimal lineup -- I agree that having both Nimmo and Conforto in there is optimal -- so they can preserve the depth they have on their roster. It's almost identical to what they did last year with Conforto, benching him until, yes, things worked themselves out.
Conforto wound up making the NL All-Star team.
The other part of this equation is that Nimmo is not a finished product. He looked great all spring, facing loads of Minor League pitching. He looked great last September, facing loads of Minor League pitching. He's looked great this season in 13 trips to the plate. He has a super bright future -- much brighter than I think most would have predicted for him just two years ago. But it's not unreasonable to think that right now, in the early part of April, Gonzalez can give the Mets more consistent quality at-bats than Nimmo can.
Oh, and one more thing: Callaway is clearly dedicated to using all 13 of his hitters on a regular basis. Four of the Mets' five bench players have already started multiple times and the other, Wilmer Flores , has appeared in every game. Nimmo is going to play often, even with Gonzalez and Conforto in the regular lineup.
Without using the words "better matchup," why do you think Callaway feels it's necessary to play Jose Reyes over Amed Rosario ?
-- @BKBaseball1 via Twitter
It's obvious the Mets are trying to protect Rosario as he develops at the big league level. That's why they're regularly hitting him ninth, to prevent him from seeing a preponderance of breaking balls batting in front of the pitcher. And it's why they started Reyes against Stephen Strasburg and Ben Lively , two tough right-handers who both rely extensively on breaking stuff.
As the season goes on, if Rosario continues hitting, I'm sure this will happen less and less. But for now, Reyes is going to play once or twice a week as the Mets look to keep Rosario's confidence high.
Is Matz ersatz, or will he improve his stats?
-- @cherzeca via Twitter
Bonus points for the rhyme. I'm really not worried about Steven Matz , who you may recall looked dreadful in his first two spring starts before turning things around in rather dramatic fashion. Matz's stuff -- mid-90s from the left side, with solid secondary pitches -- is plenty good enough to succeed in the big leagues. The Mets are convinced he just needs to trust in it more, and I tend to agree.
If Matz does that, look out for the stats.
Have you interviewed Hansel Robles yet? I'm wondering what he has to say.
-- @AAARPGodess via Twitter
Robles is a man of few words, but he mentioned a couple of things that affected him when the Mets sent him to Minor League camp at the end of Spring Training. One was a mechanical tweak: he worked to speed up his delivery, delivering the ball faster to home plate. The other was a newfound mental focus.
We'll see if it lasts. So far, Robles has looked brilliant, striking out six of the seven batters he's faced.
When do you think we will see Dominic Smith in the Majors again?
-- @RachelAlisha334 via Twitter
That depends almost exclusively on him. If Smith stays healthy and proves he's too good for Triple-A, he'll end up helping the Mets in short order. But that's a big ask of Smith, who has struggled to settle in at the big league level. It's a story worth watching all summer.
Where are the game MVPs? I need the crown and robe!!
-- @brookedienstag via Twitter
Sorry, but it appears that postgame tradition is dead. The Mets are into their salt-and-pepper celebration this year, and believe me -- if a player gets a big hit and doesn't grind the shaker, he's going to hear about it back in the dugout.
Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo, Instagram and Facebook. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
gynocraticgrrl:
“Brown eyed people are responsible for the fact that you have electricity. Many of the components for generating and transmitting electricity were invented by brown eyed people.
Brown eyed people gave us our alphabet. Brown eyed people gave us our numeration system. Brown eyed people gave us the paper on which we write these anonymous letters to me that tell me that brown eyed people are inferior.
Brown eyed people are the originators, the ones who founded every major religion on Earth. No white people have ever founded a major religion.
Now you need to realize the contributions that have been made to society, to civilization by brown eyed people, by PEOPLE OF COLOR.
I’m talking about people of color here folks. And most of us are not aware of those things because we live in a racist society.
And because we are educated by a racist school system that only teaches us about white contributions.”
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
article
The man who shot and killed a rookie California police officer left a letter on the bed in the home where he lived claiming police bombarded him with ultrasonic waves, officials said.
Police in the college town of Davis near Sacramento on Saturday made public the one-paragraph letter they said was written by Kevin Douglas Limbaugh, 48. He killed himself Thursday after fatally shooting Officer Natalie Corona.
Police spokesman Lt. Paul Doroshov said the paper was found face up on the gunman's bed.
"The Davis Police department has been hitting me with ultra sonic (sic) waves meant to keep dogs from barking," the letter said. "I notified the press, internal affairs, and even the FBI about it. I am highly sensitive to its affect (sic) on my inner ear. I did my best to appease them, but they have continued for years and I can't live this way anymore."
The handwritten note was signed "Citizen Kevin Limbaugh." Also recovered as evidence from the man's home were two unregistered guns.
Davis police did not immediately respond Sunday to a telephone message seeking comment on whether Limbaugh had reported his claims to officials.
Investigators have not identified a motive for the ambush shooting of the 22-year-old officer as she investigated a car accident.
The Sacramento Bee reported that court documents show Limbaugh was charged and convicted in a battery case last fall, and he agreed in November to surrender the weapon.
The case stemmed from Limbaugh getting arrested in September for assaulting someone at Cache Creek Casino, Yolo County Sheriff's Sgt. Matthew Davis said.
Authorities have not determined where Limbaugh obtained the two semi-automatic handguns he was believed to have used in the Thursday night attack that killed Corona.
Police said a gunman on a bicycle ambushed the officer, shooting her from the shadows as she investigated a car accident, then reloaded and narrowly avoided wounding others before walking home.
At his house a few blocks away, he casually chatted with his roommate as if nothing happened and even went outside to watch as police from around the region began rushing to the shooting scene, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said Friday.
The gunman left behind a backpack that helped police track him to the house. The chief said as police began to surround it, he stepped outside wearing a bulletproof vest.
"He shouted some stuff, went back in and came back out with a firearm, then went back inside, pushed a couch in front of the door and officers heard a gunshot," Pytel said.
Police eventually sent a robotic camera in and found the gunman had shot himself in the head.
Police found the handguns in the home.
The shooting devastated the Davis Police Department, which has about 60 sworn officers and about 30 other employees.
Corona was the first officer in the department to die in the line of duty since 1959. She had only been patrolling solo for about two weeks, the chief said.
A candlelight vigil for the slain officer was held Saturday night.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Rob beat me to it. Blogging about T4 (the Text Template Transformation Toolkit) had been on my list literally for a year. He and I were singing its praises last night. Hopefully I can add something small to the conversation.
What's the story? Well, T4 is a code generator built right into Visual Studio. To be clear, you HAVE THIS NOW on your system…go play. Now's the time to introduce code generation to your company. If you're doing something twice or more, manually, in your company, generate it.
However, it's not deep-deep built in, because there's no item templates in File | New Item and there's no intellisense or syntax highlighting.
You don't need this, but if you want really get the most out of T4, first, head over to Clarius Consulting and get their "T4 Editor Community Edition." That'll get you some basic coloring. They have a pay version that gets you more if you want.
Now, go into Visual Studio and make a Console App (or any app) and add a Text File, but name it something with a .tt extension. You'll get a warning since it's a generator, that someone could generate evil. Click OK if you are cool with potential evil. ;)
Now, look in Solution Explorer at the .tt file. If you're using C#, you'll have a sub .cs file, or if you're using VB, a sub .vb file. That's the file that will hold the result of the generation. This is the same visual metaphor used to the express the template/generated file relationship with .designer files you've seen elsewhere in Visual Studio.
If you look in the Properties for the .tt file, you'll see it's using a CustomTool listed as the "TextTemplatingFileGenerator." This custom tool extensibility point is how things like XSD and WSDL code generators hook in to generate their artifacts.
T4 can generate any kind of text file, not just code. Whatever you like. You can use it in your projects, as above, or you can call T4 from the command-line.
Aside from Kzu and the folks at Clarius, Rob notes that Oleg Sych has a great collection of T4 resources. He's got some great Tutorials:
Here's some of the links from Oleg's blog.
Oleg also has a CodePlex project called T4 Toolbox that is a library of T4 templates that get added to File | New Item.
Also, check out Damien Guard's T4 templates that are a wholesale replacement of code that LINQ to SQL generates. Here's an example, where I use Damien's T4 templates against the sample Chinook Database.
Notice that I've named the .tt file the same as the .dbml, so Damian's code can find it. I also continue to let original LINQ to SQL generate it's .designer.cs file, but make that file's Build Action "None" so it's not ever compiled. That effectively puts Damian's code in charge.
Here's a screenshot showing a bit of Damian's T4 template using the syntax highlighting from the Clairus T4 Visual Studio free download. If I'd pay them, I'd get intellisense and syntax highlighting inside the code blocks also. It looks like a lot like ASP.NET Web Forms, or Velocity, or any templating language really. The code blocks are where your logic is and outside the codeblocks is the template for whatever you want to generate. Notice how Damien gets input and sets output. You have full control, you can read files off the file system, from with your project, etc. He sets the output extension also. I like to use .g.cs or .g.vb, myself. In this example his generated file is Chinook.generated.cs.
I particularly like Damien's example because he's swapping out parts of LINQ to SQL that he didn't like (the generated code) while keeping the part he did (the general mode, the designer, the dbml file.) If you don't like something, fix it.
Plus, it all works in Visual Studio without installing anything.
If you're doing Code Gen, or thinking about it, check out T4 as it's a great place to start. Also, search my blog for "Code Generation" as I was livign and breathing it with CodeSmith for the many years I worked at Corillian. Have fun! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Our Case Studies
At CCP HVAC we are experts in the supply, installation and maintenance of quality air conditioning and refrigeration equipment. We have a reputation for outstanding quality and service, which has seen us work across a variety of sectors on a range of projects. Each project is different, as are our clients. We have worked on advanced, residential installations for property developers, through to complex refrigeration solutions for Pret A Manger.
We truly thrive and enjoy each of the projects and systems we work on. They all provide us with an opportunity to work closely with clients to create or improve current systems. For example, we worked with S&C; Electric Europe LTD on a 3 Megawatt storage component on the Shetland Isles, which was a challenging location, but demonstrates the scenarios we work in to deliver top quality service and installations.
Our case studies below all demonstrate a particular wealth of knowledge and proficiency, especially in the food retail and cold storage industries, where we are market leaders thanks to our years of experience.
CCPHVAC – Providing Bespoke Commercial and Residential HVAC Projects
With the summer months just approaching, you have to see whether your AC equipment is working as it should. Are you hearing some sounds whilst the equipment is running? If so, this could be a sign of a serious problem! You can’t just work on your refrigeration equipment DIY style as you need knowledge and experience to ensure that the repairs are done correctly. For that, we here at CCPHVAC, are all set to help you through this time and get your equipment back on track.
A single call is all that you need:
It just takes a single call to get through to us and let us help you. You can contact us by telephone and email 24 x 7. So, anytime you want to get your AC unit checked, you can count on us.
Thanks to our hard work, we have created a reputation for providing our customers with outstanding service and quality.
Not just working on residential AC units, but you can count on us to cover bigger projects as well, like the commercial refrigeration repair services. We have already worked with many well-known restaurants chains, fast food joints and bars. So, working on your defective commercial fridge or freezer will be a piece of cake for our expertized team!
We have already worked with many well-known restaurants chains, fast food joints and bars. So, working on your defective commercial fridge or freezer will be a piece of cake for our expertized team! We believe each project to be different, just like our clients. Furthermore, we have worked on advanced residential installations for some of the noted property developers. Not only that, but you can count on us for covering your complex commercial refrigeration tasks as well.
Thrive to serve you better:
We know how to cope up with modern technology. So, we will make it a point to train each and every one of our technicians on the latest equipment usage to offer the best ventilation services as possible. Moreover, we have separate teams to cover AC, refrigeration and ventilation tasks separately. So, there is no chance to mix and create trouble. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Fire and hazmat crews were still working late Sunday night to determine what sparked a panic and sickened about 30 people at an e-cigarette manufacturer in Salem, Massachusetts. A spokesperson for the state's fire services said a hazmat team was assisting the Salem Fire Department at the Thermal Circuits plant and that 15 people had been taken to local hospital while about 15 others made their way to hospitals themselves.
A hazmat crew had entered the building and was trying to determine what caused so many to suffer breathing problems and nausea. Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for Massachusetts fire services, said the crews on the ground "do not believe that this is connected to an earlier chlorine leak in the building as that process was shut down and had not been restarted."
Fire crews were initially called to the plant on Sunday afternoon to respond to that leak, but left saying nobody was injured and the leak had been addressed. Less than two hours after officials gave the all-clear, however, at about 8 p.m., they were called back to the facility to help people suffering from the symptoms described above.
"There seemed to be a panic in the building" as workers began running out of the building, Salem Deputy Fire Chief Alan Dionne told CBS Boston. Dionne described it as "mass hysteria" as the employees rushed to get out of the building. CBS Boston said some 450 to 500 people were working at the time of the incident, and people started reporting symptoms not long after a shift change.
Get Breaking News Delivered to Your Inbox
An official at Salem Hospital told CBS Boston early Monday morning that 20 people were being treated for unspecified illness related to the incident.
Acting Salem Fire Chief Gerry Giunta told CBS News later Monday that a total of 29 people were treated, including one who had suffered an apparent seizure and had been transported to a Boston hospital. The majority of the patients were treated and released but some, including the individual believed to have had a seizure, remained hospitalized.
Firefighters said they did not detect any chlorine in the plant when they came back the second time. An investigation was expected to take place throughout the night and Mieth said more information would be available later Monday morning.
When asked if the business would reopen on Monday, Dionne said the Thermal Circuits plant would "absolutely not" be reopening Monday morning. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
By the end of October 31, hardfork will be implemented in the Siacoin cryptocurrency network, which will allow updating its software to version 1.3.7.
The coin development team announced hardfork on Twitter last Tuesday. At the same time, the release of the new software was announced. Leading cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, Bittrex, Upbit, Poloniex, HitBTC, LBank, Vebitcoin, Bitbns and OKEx, reported on the successful upgrade of the Sia network to the latest version.
We have received confirmation that Binance, Bittrex, Poloniex, and UPbit have successfully updated to v1.3.7. View other FAQs on our support guide. https://t.co/uh0BqF3KKE — Sia Tech (@SiaTechHQ) October 30, 2018
Hardfork to take place on block 179,000, the team will announce the completion of the update on Twitter.
Each holder of Siacoin, if they are stored in a wallet, must ensure that they are updated to version 1.3.7. If the coins are on one of the above-listed exchanges, just don’t do anything, since they will be automatically replaced by the trading platform itself.
All these platforms announced their participation in the fork, in order to switch to the new network software of the project as soon as possible. The Siacoin coin is now ranked 34 and its capitalization is about $ 250 million (according to CoinMarketCap).
In June, the coin began to rise in price after Binance included it in its list of trading positions.
The Sia team decided to implement hardfork to finally get rid of the influence of ASIC miners. All profits from mining after the completion of the fork will remain in the hands of a startup. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Search issues from decades past at the growing News Reporter Digital Archive, hosted by UNC-W’s Randall Library Digital Collections. Check back often as new editions are added to the collection. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
STS9’s David Murphy Announces Rock Against Cancer Bass Auction
STS9 bassist David Murphy will auction off several of his most prized basses to benefit Rock Against Cancer, an organization which brings music to kids with cancer. Murphy was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in January of 2011, forcing the band to cancel tour dates while he underwent surgery and an extended period of recovery.
A statement from Murphy reads:
Greetings all, I am auctioning off a couple of basses that are near and dear to my heart. These basses have been a part of STS9 through many years of touring, in the studio for the making of Artifact & Peaceblaster, and multiple recent “Axe the Cables” shows. A portion of the proceeds from these auctions will go to Rock Against Cancer which helps bring music to kids with cancer. Here’s your chance to own a piece, or two, of STS9 history and raise money for a great cause. Thanks in advance for your support. – Murph
The basses being offered include a Modulus Quantum 5 played by Murphy live on stage from 2003-2010, as well as on albums Artifact, Peaceblaster, Ad Explorata. The second bass is a Modulus Quantum 5 Fretless, played live on stage from 2004-present, including all “Axe The Cables” shows and albums Artifact, and Peaceblaster.
To bid on the basses visit the auction page here. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
SINGAPORE - Political activist Jolovan Wham said that from the start, it was "pretty clear" to him that the Singapore Government and political establishment would not be happy with the meeting he had with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad recently.
"But what I do on my seditious vacation is really none of their business," he added in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Sept 4).
Mr Wham, with historian Thum Ping Tjin, journalist Kirsten Han and graphic novelist Sonny Liew, met Tun Mahathir last Thursday in Putrajaya to talk about democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of information in the region.
They were joined by political exile Tan Wah Piow and Malaysian social activist Hishamuddin Rais.
The group has come under fire from some netizens, after Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng wrote in a Facebook post last Saturday that Dr Thum had invited Dr Mahathir to "bring democracy to Singapore", and that "it appears quite clear to me that PJ Thum does not wish Singapore well".
On Sunday, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam told reporters it is an absolute no-no to invite a foreign politician to intervene in Singapore's domestic politics.
Mr Wham, responding to the criticisms, said in his Facebook post that "lobbying an overseas politician on political and civil rights in your country is nothing new".
"Activists all over the world do it. The most recent example that comes to mind is Hong Kong Occupy activists lobbying politicians in the United Kingdom and United States. International political pressure IS part of activism," he said, referring to the territory's Occupy Central pro-democracy movement in 2014.
Related Story MP Seah Kian Peng questions historian Thum Ping Tjin for suggesting Singapore is part of Malaysia
He added: "Even if PJ had asked Mahathir to 'bring democracy to Singapore'... what's wrong with that?"
One may question Dr Thum's choice of person to lobby, but that is a purely strategic question, and has nothing to do with "foreign interference" or subversion, he said.
"Real interference is when a foreign government tries to rig election results, or breaks into your systems and tries to manipulate information and data," he added.
Mr Wham ended his post by saying: "If there's anyone who is being divisive, it is Shanmugam and Seah for their irresponsible comments, and for unleashing a mob on PJ Thum and Kirsten Han."
Ms Han has said that she and Dr Thum have received accusations of treason and death threats since Mr Seah's Facebook post last Saturday.
Mr Seah, in a new post on Monday, called on netizens to maintain a certain decorum in their comments and "not get personal or abusive". | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The day after National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell announced plans to revise the league's Personal Conduct Policy to better address domestic violence allegations against its personnel, he was handed his first test.
Dallas Cowboys safety C.J. Spillman was accused on September 20 of an alleged sexual assault in Grapevine, Texas, and less than three weeks later, another alleged victim leveled accusations in relation to a separate 2013 incident in California.
Spillman has not been charged by police in either case, but the NFL's investigation into the allegations has become the first test of a new league policy that some say doesn't go far enough in pursuing domestic violence allegations — and some say goes too far.
Gloria Allred, the attorney who represents both women who accused Spillman, says the jury is out on how effective the new policy will be. But she says the NFL's investigation of the allegations has been “intensive.”
“These are former prosecutors who did sex crime investigations and in many ways it's being treated, I think, like a criminal investigation,” Allred told The Crime Report during a recent phone interview. She said she's met with investigators in New York and California.
“In terms of what is being requested. It's maybe even more than many jurisdictions would do.”
As the Super Bowl nears, the overwhelming focus of media coverage has been about deflated footballs and zany press conferences, but long after the NFL crowns its champion on February 1, the 2014 season will be remembered as a year defined by the league's often-bungled responses to allegations of criminal violence.
On Sept. 8, 2014, TMZ released surveillance video of former Baltimore Raven Ray Rice knocking his then-fiancée unconscious in a March 2014 altercation in Atlantic City; four days later, Texas authorities brought child abuse charges against Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson.
Rice was suspended indefinitely and then reinstated in November following a union appeal, but did not play for the rest of the season. Peterson was suspended for the rest of the season.
On September 17, the Carolina Panthers followed suit and deactivated Greg Hardy, who had been convicted on June 15, 2014 of assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
In September, the league hired Lisa Friel, former Manhattan prosecutor and vice-president of the security firm T&M Protection Resources, as a senior advisor to Goodell. In December, it announced an update to its Personal Conduct Policy.
“The new policy will embrace the use of independent investigations; we will no longer rely solely on information developed in law enforcement proceedings,” Goodell wrote in a December 9 memorandum to team executives and presidents.
While the new policy doesn't add any new punishments, it clarifies the league's process for investigating allegations of violent crime or sexual assault. Under the policy, players can be placed on paid leave even if they are not charged with any crime, if an ongoing NFL investigation finds “evidence that it appears a violation of the policy has occurred.”
Spillman played this season without being placed on paid leave.
After an investigation concludes, the league can hand down punishments ranging from a fine to suspension or, if a player has been punished before, even banishment. Players can appeal rulings to a panel of experts, but Goodell has the authority to either accept or disregard that panel's recommendations.
Not everyone is thrilled about the policy.
On December 10, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) released a statement saying it had not been consulted before the update was implemented.
“Our union has not been offered the professional courtesy of seeing the NFL’s new personal conduct policy before it hit the presses,” the NFLPA said. “Their unilateral decision and conduct today is the only thing that has been consistent over the past few months.”
Representatives of the NFLPA and NFL did not respond to requests for comment on the Spillman investigation.
Marc Edelman, an associate professor of law at the Baruch College Zicklin School of Business, said the NFL may be overstepping. Other major sports leagues, most notably Major League Baseball (MLB), employ seasoned investigators who doggedly pursue allegations, but a neutral third-party arbitrator typically handles disputes.
Edelman, who worked from 2006 through 2008 for the former law firm Dewey Ballantine LLP, which represented the NFLPA, points to MLB's investigations of alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs by stars Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun.
MLB investigators went as far as paying $125,000 for stolen lab records connected to the Rodriguez case.
An arbitrator reduced the suspension originally levied against Rodriguez, and in Braun's case, threw out the suspension entirely.
But Edelman said the NFLPA failed to prioritize issues with the Personal Conduct Policy during its most recent collective bargaining negotiation, a process that was punctuated in 2011 by a lockout of players by team owners. NFL players, whose careers average just a few years, were in a rush to get back on the field and put salary issues ahead of ensuring access to an arbitrator.
“In my mind, it was a major strategic mistake by the players association,” Edelman said. Now the NFL is essentially free to issue whatever sanctions it deems fit, he added.
“The NFL seems to be taking the position that it's all-powerful, that it's in the position of government,” Edelman said.
But Matthew Mitten, Director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University, said Tuesday that the NFL is on “solid ground.”
Mitten said commissioners of professional sports leagues have traditionally been given “best interest of sport powers,” which afford them broad latitude in issuing rulings intended to bolster the public's perception of the leagues. He noted that the investigators working for the NFL have potentially easier jobs than prosecutors and cops who may be investigating the same allegations.
“It's a very different burden of proof. A prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has been committed. The league just has to prove that a violation of its personal conduct policy has occurred,” Mitten said.
Four months after the first allegations against Spillman were made public, the NFL still has not announced whether he violated the Personal Conduct Policy, and Allred worries that it, and the investigation, could amount to nothing more than a public relations ploy.
“They poured a lot of money into their public relations campaign, with PSAs, with the commissioner doing a mea culpa over the handling of the Ray Rice incident,” Allred said.
“You know, they've got a lot of money to pour into damage control and they're doing it. But the question is, in the end, what difference does it make for the alleged victim?”
Graham Kates is Deputy Managing Editor of The Crime Report. He welcomes comments from readers. He can be found on Twitter, @GrahamKates. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
PAUL the Psychic Octopus may have gone to that great aquarium in the sky but the wizard of World Cup predictions will live on in a German shrine featuring a 1.8m statue of him atop a soccer ball, plus his ashes.
Paul won worldwide acclaim, and a Facebook fan club, by correctly predicting the results of seven Germany matches and Spains 1-0 triumph over the Netherlands in last summers World Cup tournament in South Africa.
Following that triumph, the tentacled tipster passed away peacefully in his sleep last October at his home at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany. He was almost three.
Now his aquarium has announced the unveiling later this week of Pauls Corner, featuring a statue 1.8m high of Paul atop a soccer ball. In the middle will be a see-through window with a golden urn containing Pauls ashes, The Local's German edition said, citing AFP.
Last November, the aquarium revealed a French-born cephalopod replacement, Paul II, whose skills have not yet been tested.
It was unclear if he would follow Pauls simple yet succulent technique of choosing between two boxes, each decorated with a teams flag and containing a tasty mussel. The team represented on the box Paul chose then went on to win.
At one point, his predictions were carried live on German television.
Originally published as Octopus Paul honoured with shrine | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Francis Ngannou’s talent, determination, and work ethic helped transform him from a child laborer in Cameroon to an internationally renowned combat sports star. He endured and conquered massive challenges along the way; back breaking manual labor, emigration to another country, a period of homelessness on the streets of Paris. It’s near impossible to doubt his ability and iron-will to succeed. ‘The Predator’ has taken the UFC by storm and positioned himself as one of MMA’s most exciting and intriguing characters.
And although he may have been capable of becoming the fighter he is today with no help other than his own, it didn’t work out that way. As so many fighters do, he had help along the way.
Fernand Lopez is Ngannou’s head coach and manager. Their relationship began in 2013 when a disheveled Ngannou poked his head into Lopez’s MMA Factory gym (then named CrossFight) off of Rue de Picpus in south central Paris.
Though it didn’t happen instantly, or even very quickly, the bond that formed between these two men has been the backbone for an MMA career that, while still young, defies comparison. But to understand why Lopez, Ngannou, and the MMA Factory have had so much success working together; this story needs to go back to Africa. Back to Cameroon. Not to find a young Ngannou, but instead a young and wild Lopez.
FERNAND LOPEZ IS DEAD
Lopez was born in 1978 in a small village in Lekié, a department in Cameroon’s Central Province. He was raised close by, in Yaoundé, a vast sepia-toned capital that’s home to 2.5 million people.
The city was once a major hub for the rubber and ivory trade. Today it boasts a stable, but corrupt, economy; supported by civil infrastructure and overlapping industrial and agricultural complexes. Because of this intertwining urban diversity, Yaoundé celebrates a higher standard of living than many other corners of Cameroon and Central Africa.
And Lopez was a beneficiary of Yaoundé’s comforts. “I wouldn’t say we were rich,” he admits. “But I did have a very good life and I had a lot of love.”
His affectionate and accessible parents were both highly intelligent and well educated people. His mother was a high school teacher. His father, a college professor. And they expected a similar focus and desire for learning in their son.
As a child, Lopez was a well behaved and attentive student. But, like so many young lives, his studious resolve was tested by his peers. “When I was a kid I was very shy and I was bullied in the school,” he remembers.
In response to the persistent bullying, those close to him encouraged Lopez to enroll in sports and martial arts; to buoy his confidence and teach him how to defend himself from physical attacks.
“After that I became something that I don’t like to talk about,” he remarks, with a quiver in his throat. “I became something that I am ashamed of. I am ashamed of this part of my past, because of how brutal I was.”
Lopez’s first forays into martial arts were with taekwando and judo; where he achieved black belts. After that he took to freestyle wrestling, earning a spot on national teams.
Armed with an arsenal of punches, kicks, throws, and slams, a teenage Lopez was fully prepared to take revenge on his bullies, and those who bullied others. It’s this violent response that shames him to this day.
“I knew that I was a powerful guy, very powerful,” recalls Lopez. “In high school I was really taking over and if anyone in the school had any problems they would just come call me and say, ‘Oh this big guy is bullying me.’ ‘This guy took my cap.’ ‘There’s this guy who did this to me,’ and then I would go there like a superhero and beat the guy up.”
Lopez claims he was obsessed with the idea of being a superhero, someone who defended the weak from the strong. These ‘vigilante’ incidents often leaked out of the schoolyard, resulting in countless street fights around the city.
I had been bullied before and then I was just making a reason just to say, ‘Well I’m defending people,’ but I was using brutality to make people pay for brutality and I’m not proud of that.
“And I’m ashamed of that because what I was doing was also bullying. I had been bullied before and then I was just making a reason just to say, ‘Well I’m defending people,’ but I was using brutality to make people pay for brutality and I’m not proud of that.”
Lopez says that, as his reputation grew among his cohorts, his parents were none the wiser. “I was very calm in front of my parents, very calm in front of adults. But when the night came, or when it was just us kids, I was really bad.”
Eventually Lopez found himself in a situation that exposed to his parents, and everyone else, exactly what kind of trouble he had been getting into. It was a situation, he says, that almost got him killed.
“There was a story on the radio, on television, in magazines, that I was dead,” claims Lopez in an ominous tone, as he lays out the tale of how one of his superhero missions culminated in a blood-soaked beating. A beating so bad, that it convinced eye-witnesses that the young man was dead.
When the teenage Lopez wasn’t street-fighting he was, more often than not, at either wrestling or rugby practice (a sport he also competed in at the national level). One day after rugby practice, Lopez’s girlfriend visited him at home. She was upset.
He asked her what was wrong and the girl cried that her little brother was being bullied by a boy named Joe.
“She said to me, ‘I don’t want you to fight, because I don’t like it when you fight, but please can you talk to this guy, because my little brother is getting bullied really bad.’”
Lopez heard her out and told her that he would try and ‘negotiate’ with Joe, to convince him to stop bullying her brother. Although, he wasn’t really interested in talking to the bully.
As he learned more about Joe, Lopez became more intent on fighting him. He heard Joe was a big guy, and tough too. “I was loving the challenge,” says Lopez, referring to the days leading up to the inevitable confrontation. They were days he spent in something not too dissimilar to a fight camp; training and strategizing for his opponent.
Lopez breaks the flow of his story, washes the taste of excitement from his mouth, and states, “When I’m thinking about that, it’s hard for me because I am embarrassed by the things that I am saying.”
In a more somber tone he continues, “I had the feeling that [fighting Joe] was something just. That this was justice for me. Joe was not a criminal, he was a kind of guy like me, I don’t think he was really a bad guy, not a gangster. But he was bullying weak people. For me, I loved to fight people who were bullying other people. I saw that I was making justice, but I was wrong.”
After a rugby match, Lopez decided it was time to seek out Joe. So he and some friends got in a taxi and headed to the Biyem-Assi, a nighbourhood on in west side Yaoundé.
Biyem-Assi was unincorporated land until the 1980s, when a population explosion brought in 300,000 citizens. On the night Lopez’s taxi snaked around the Rond point express and past the acacia tree studded markets, the streets were lively; with groups of men milling outside snack bars and beer halls, illuminated by moonlight, cigarette embers, and the occasional dim glow of a neon shop sign.
On foot, he and his friends found Joe. “I knew that right away I had to impose myself, physically. And I’m ashamed of that,” Lopez now admits.
The short, but thickly muscled, Lopez stepped to Joe with a cool demeanor; showing he was there to talk. The friends on either side fell away, giving the boys space to work out their issues.
Lopez took a breath, and asked, “Why did you do this to...”
Before he even finished the sentence, Lopez pounced and a brawl ensued. The well rounded martial artist, national level wrestler and rugby player, made short work of his large, but unrefined adversary. With Joe defeated, Lopez walked back to his friends.
He and his buddies headed back to the taxi ranks, chattering about what they’d witnessed, as if they were describing it to people who weren’t there. When they got to the taxis, Lopez felt a tap on the shoulder.
A messenger, seemingly from nowhere, was among them and he had a warning. “There’s a legion,” he whispered. Confused, he and his friends asked the stranger for more details.
“There’s like thirty or fifty guys coming to kill you guys,” continued the messenger. “They’re armed. They have machetes, knives, hammers. You have to run.”
His friends agreed and moved to get back into the cab, but Lopez stood, still gazing in the direction he had been warned about. “Yo!” His friends tried to snap him out of it and asked what he was waiting for.
“I want you guys to go back,” he said. “I’m going to face these guys.”
“Are you fucking out of your mind?” was the response.
“Look, this is how this thing will go. If we run now; we will run all day, all week, all year. So I need to face these guys now and know what is going on. Either they kill me or they respect me; because they will beat me up, but I will not give up until I am down. So I need to go there and face them.”
Lopez’s friends thought he was crazy. Today’s version of Fernand Lopez agrees.
He left his friends, despite their pleas, and strutted back to where he fought Joe. Along the way he was intercepted by Joe and his weapon-wielding entourage.
Feeling invulnerable, like the superhero he wanted to be, Lopez puffed out his chest and bellowed, “You think I’m afraid of you guys? I’m not afraid. So what?”
The closest man began to swing on him and the two began brawling as the rest of the gang enveloped around them. Lopez landed some punches, but ate plenty in return.
Then, he felt a punch in the back. But this punch didn’t come with a dull thudding pain. Instead it was sharp and lingering. He’d been stuck with a knife.
Punches and kicks then rained in from all sides.
Lopez fell. Hammer blows followed him, making dents where they landed. The blade of a machete was slid across his head. Blood poured. Lopez remembers feeling like he was dying.
Miraculously, he was able to crawl away from the pack, towards a residential area. And luckily for him, one of the homes there belonged to a police officer. The off-duty cop came onto the street and dispersed the gang. He then called in emergency services.
Unbeknownst to Lopez, as he was being rushed to hospital, the incident – distorted by eye-witness accounts – was hitting the airwaves. TV and radio stations ran with the story, that there had been a gang assault in Biyem-Assi and one person had died. A promising wrestler and rugby player named Fernand Lopez.
Lopez’s parents found their son alive in a hospital bed. He was badly beaten, but his injuries were not life-threatening. They took him home.
“And that’s the day I decided to stop everything violent,” he says. “Because I saw my dad crying of love.”
“At home my dad was begging me to promise that I would not fight anymore. And I was saying, ‘No dad this was justice because...’ and he was saying, ‘Shut up! You are not the one to make justice. We have laws. We have police. I want you to just swear to me that you’re done. I can’t take this no more. I can’t take seeing my son stabbed, seeing my son get killed.’ So I promised that I would not fight anymore. And that’s it.”
A NEW LIFE AND A BROKEN NECK
In 1997, about a year after his near-death-experience on the streets of Biyem-Assi, Lopez was living in the suburbs of Paris. The 19 year old had immigrated to France – through official channels – and was living in the Gonesse neighbourhood, close to family who had previously made the move.
He was working as an electrical engineer, programming elevators in high rises and at Euro Disney, and still playing rugby and wrestling. He would play rugby professionally in France, competing in the country’s second tier: Pro D2. During this time Lopez was also taking classes at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (INSEP).
My doctor told me, ‘If you have any other shock on your neck you will be in a wheelchair all your life.
Somewhere in the rough and tumble that comes with both rugby and wrestling, Lopez began suffering pain and numbness in his neck. He went to a doctor and received a frightening diagnosis. A cervical disc was cutting into his spinal cord. Whether rugby, wrestling, or a street fight in a Yaoundé back alley caused the initial injury, he can’t say.
“My doctor told me, ‘If you have any other shock on your neck you will be in a wheelchair all your life,’” says Lopez, as he remembers the awkward scene in the doctor’s office, in which he refused to believe he had to give up his beloved sports.
“You have to stop, you could kill yourself!”, continued the doctor, according to Lopez. But, upon seeing how much Lopez was affected by the news, the doctor then called around Paris, trying to find surgeons who might be able to correct the problem.
Lopez visited a number of specialists, including one who had worked with megastar footballers like Brazil’s Ronaldo. The consensus was that an operation to fix his neck was too complicated and, as a result, very dangerous.
“They said, ‘I will not take the chance. I will have to open your neck in order to replace your disc. I will need to clean up around your neck and if I cut the wrong thing, the result will be the same, you will be in a wheelchair.’”
Lopez says he refused to take no for an answer and eventually found a surgeon willing to take on the tricky procedure, providing Lopez signed documents stating he knew the risks involved and would not take legal action should something go wrong.
Fortunately for him, the surgery was a success. But, even as a success, it meant he was unable move his neck for nearly three years. His recovery time was extremely sedentary, and as his neck came back to life Lopez began itching to play sports again.
Knowing full well that rugby and wrestling were out of the question, he still wanted to do something physical and combative. When he discovered submission grappling, he thought it would be perfect for him, given the limitations he was now forced to live with.
“It was a sport where you could fight even when you were on your back,” says Lopez. “And if someone touched your neck and you feel pain, you can tap and they let go. So I was like, that’s the thing I have to do.”
For BJJ classes Lopez, now in his early twenties, joined Mathieu Nicourt’s Free Fight Academy, located in Paris’ Quartier Asiatique (Asian quarter). He trained in BJJ and started competing, while still studying for diplomas at INSEP.
As he became more proficient with Jiu Jitsu, and as his neck started feeling better, Lopez eased back into wrestling. His neck held up and he began competing in wrestling tournaments around town. He also dabbled in some boxing. It’s around this time, in the early 2000s, that Lopez decided to combine all the disciplines he had trained in and try mixed-martial-arts.
When he first discovered MMA, in his early years after moving to France, he was blown away. “I was like wow, because it was the same thing we were doing in the street in Cameroon. Something that was very bad then and now there’s guys being paid to do it.”
After a year of MMA training with Nicourt, Lopez took his first professional fight; using the name Lopez Owonyebe. The bout took place at Xtreme Gladiators 2, in Paris, on March 11th, 2006 (years before France would effectively outlaw MMA on its soil). At that event, Lopez submitted Cedric Deschamps via choke in the first round.
Also victorious on that card was future Bellator light heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu, and a 25 year old Francis Carmont.
In four years, Lopez would have seventeen professional fights, amassing a record of ten wins and seven losses. He fought for M1 and Shooto on cards across continental Europe. His last fight came in 2010, against Matteo Piran at the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championships. He won by TKO in the first round.
Though he did not make it to the UFC, Lopez was delighted with his MMA career; thanks mostly to what he had been through prior. “I was so happy, because I was the guy who was supposed to die,” he says. “I was ‘killed’. So even when I was losing, it was a victory for me. I was so happy to be alive and to be healthy.”
By 2010, Lopez was in his early thirties and essentially retired from MMA competition. But, over the course of his short-lived MMA career, he had started coaching alongside Nicourt at Free Fight Academy. When he hung up his own gloves he focused purely on coaching, putting INSEP qualifications in strength training, nutrition, and sports performance to good use.
Along with regularly coaching four MMA fighters, Lopez started acting as a talent scout for the gym. It was a role he relished and proved to be pretty good at, bringing in talented fighters who other gyms hadn’t given much of a chance.
After a few years, however, he decided to leave Nicourt’s gym. A big reason behind the move was a difficult situation involving a fighter he had been working very closely with. The fighter, who Lopez says was like a son to him, decided he didn’t want Lopez in his corner anymore, instead favoring another trainer at the gym.
Distraught, Lopez decided he needed a fresh start and a new camp. However, he had no desire to join someone else’s business. Instead he wanted to start his own.
THE FACTORY THAT FOUND NGANNOU
In 2013 Lopez and his business partner, a police officer, opened CrossFight in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Soon after, he renamed the gym ‘MMA Factory.’
When he started the gym, he was the only coach and he had just two students. But it didn’t take long for him to attract quality fighters. One of the first was Karl Amoussou, who had a long career in M-1, Strikeforce, and Bellator. In 2012 Amoussou won Bellator’s welterweight tournament, setting up a title fight with Ben Askren, which he then lost via TKO. Amoussou left American Top Team in Florida to be a part of Lopez’s growing gym. Christian M’Pumbu joined, too.
From that point on, MMA Factory swelled its membership to over 600 students and its coaching staff to 18 members. “So you can see why it is a factory,” jokes Lopez. “There are so many people coming to do work. It’s a factory for me.”
When asked whether the growth of the gym, and its student base, has been difficult, Lopez scoffs. “When I decide to do something, I go full on,” he enforces. “And I’m so passionate about my gym, about my training, about my students, that I will give all my life to them.”
Also hindering his possibilities of being overwhelmed by the expansion of his MMA Factory is the fact that, from the outset, Lopez has had designs on creating something big.
“What the UFC did with the Performance Institute, that’s what I was trying to do back then,” he explains. “But even better than that, because at the UFC’s institute, you have the conditioning, you have the recovery, you have the wrestling, and you have boxing coaches holding the pads, but you don’t have coaches for MMA.”
Along with wanting to create an elite sports performance facility, with specialized MMA trainers, Lopez also wants to attract the best coaching talent he can. This includes hiring the “national trainers” in both boxing and Muay Thai.
I’m focusing on the strategy and making them the best mixed martial artists possible. So I’m not showing them how to punch, I’m there to teach them how to win a fight.
Lopez sees his role at MMA Factory as the coach fighters come to after they have excelled in traditional combat sports/martial arts training. Then, he says, he teaches them how to be MMA fighters. The fighters who Lopez works with in this capacity will more than likely sign up to be his clients under the management arm of MMA Factory as well.
“Every guy under contract at the MMA Factory as a professional fighter, I will not teach them how to throw a punch,” he explains. “That’s not my calling, my ability is to give them the opportunity to learn these techniques by working with the best coaches that we have.”
“I’m focusing on how to put everything together,” Lopez continues. “I’m focusing on the strategy and making them the best mixed martial artists possible. So I’m not showing them how to punch, I’m there to teach them how to win a fight.”
Lopez claims that MMA Factory is now the biggest (and best) gym in France. However, as a keen observer of media gym rankings, Lopez has higher hopes than dominating the local scene.
“I see us in the top twenty, top twenty-five in the world rankings,” enthuses Lopez. “In Europe we’re third after SBG [Ireland] and Allstars. But, when my guys fight the guys from SBG, we beat them four times out of four. SBG are only ahead of us because they have a guy who has two belts. You will see, soon MMA Factory will be number one.”
Though he believes fighters on the European scene deserve a lot of credit, and the gyms that produce them as well, he knows that the worldwide acclaim of a gym is based largely on exports who compete in the most watched promotion on the planet: the UFC.
His gym has had a number of UFC fighters train there over the years, including Taylor Lapilus and Mickael Lebout. But the UFC talent best poised to skyrocket MMA Factory up the rankings is a man who was born in the mountains five hours north of Lopez’s former home of Yaoundè.
It was in 2013, soon after Lopez had opened his gym, but after already attracting fighters like Ammassou and M’pumbu, that Francis Ngannou came knocking.
Ngannou had made the journey to France from Cameroon to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. After making it to Europe, with no money and little more than the clothes on his back, Ngannou walked the streets of Paris asking strangers where to find a boxing gym.
Though he didn’t find a place to live, Ngannou was able to find somewhere to train and spend most of his time. But the gym closed on weekends and holidays and, on those days, Ngannou would kill time at homeless centers. On one of those days, Ngannou decided to spend his time searching for a gym he could train at when his regular spot was closed.
That was when he discovered MMA Factory, during one of Lopez’s rare days off. The trainer who was present was taken aback by Ngannou’s size and physique. He heard him out about wanting to train in boxing, but not having money to pay for classes. The trainer told Ngannou to come back the next day, to meet Lopez.
“So I went there the next day and I saw this huge guy at the counter,” recalls Lopez. “And I talked to him. And he was kind of surprised to see me because he recognized my accent. He was surprised because my name is Lopez. He thought I was Puerto Rican or Cuban, but I was an African guy from Cameroon.”
The conversation, paired with their shared heritage, convinced both men to start working together; at no cost to Ngannou. Lopez even gave his newest student a bag of gear, including gloves and new clothes. He also offered him a spot to sleep in the gym, if Ngannou needed it.
The gear Lopez handed over, however, was for MMA, not boxing.
“I told him that some guy told me to try MMA, but I don’t really like it,” says Ngannou when thinking back to that first meeting with Lopez. “Then Fernand told me that this guy was right, ‘You look like you are here for MMA. And now you have a gym to do full-time MMA if you want it.’ So I said fine.”
Almost as soon as Ngannou began training at the Factory, Lopez knew he had something special. Lopez remembers a French TV station visiting the gym for a story – one that had nothing to do with Ngannou – while his newest recruit was working out in the background. Lopez says he had a huge smile on his face, that prompted the crew to ask, “what’s up?”
“I said, ‘This guy,’ and I pointed to Francis. ‘He keeps training and in two years he will be world champion.’”
Ngannou did keep training. And Lopez witnessed the young man from Batié, who only wanted to box, evolve from a novice MMA student – one who was well handled by M’Pumbu in the cage, on the mat, and in the ring – into a prospect that was correcting his mistakes almost instantly. Ngannou was soon matching veterans like M’Pumbu and Amoussou in the gym. Then he began exceeding them. Lopez felt the progression personally.
“When I was training with him in the gym, at first I was pushing the pace,” says Lopez. “I was taking him down in wrestling. Even in boxing, I was putting him in very hard situations, but quickly, like in less than six weeks, it became impossible to train with him. He was just adapting very fast.”
Lopez compares Ngannou’s progression to training montages seen in movies. It was astonishing. “He would take the information and process everything so quickly, that’s the thing that most impressed me.”
Ngannou and Lopez’s relationship as student and coach took off immediately, producing a string of wins in MMA that saw him enter the UFC in 2015. But, the personal relationship between the two men, as friends and confidantes, took a lot more time and effort to form.
“For me it took time to be become friendly with him because I was unsure of myself,” reveals Ngannou. “At that time I had nowhere to live. I was a lonely guy who just wanted somewhere to train. I didn’t feel like I had... it’s hard to explain. When you are in a bad situation, you can underestimate yourself. You can look at yourself and feel like you are not a good friend for some people and I didn’t want people to be disappointed. And I didn’t want to be disappointed either, because most the time being with people back then, I just remembered that my situation was not good. So that’s something that I avoided.”
Eventually Ngannou did warm up Lopez and the two became more than just student and teacher. Lopez points to a trip he and Ngannou took to Bahrain in 2015 (two years after their initial meeting) as the possible ice-breaker in their relationship.
In Bahrain Ngannou competed at an IMMAF show, defeating Brazilian William Baldutti via submission, due to strikes.
“We spent almost everyday together and he was telling me a lot of things,” remembers Lopez. “I was amazed by his journey to France and I was also was telling him about a lot of things in my life.”
Once that bond had formed, Lopez says he began working more with Ngannou on his mentality and attitude to fighting (as well as how to appreciate a good suit). Months after the Bahrain trip, Ngannou was signed to the UFC.
“I am so proud of him,” says Lopez about his student, client, and countryman. But, although he has a tremendous amount of praise for Ngannou, Lopez knows he has to give his fighter more than that.
“Everyone says to him you are so handsome, you are so beautiful, you are great, you are the scariest man on the planet,” say Lopez. “Everyone is very kind, very polite. And I’m the only one who can tell him, ‘Well I don’t like this,’ or, ‘You should do this.’ I have to be the bad guy at some point and he will say, ‘Ok, give me a break, because everyone is saying how good I am and you are the only one who is still saying I have to do this.’
“But that’s my role as a trainer. There are a lot of people around him who can always tell him how good he is, but he needs someone close to him who can always speak the truth to him.”
Lopez believes his truth-telling has been essential in teaching Ngannou how to win fights as well as navigate the new world of celebrity the heavyweight has earned for himself within the MMA bubble and perhaps beyond.
However, the teaching in their relationship goes both ways. “He’s the one that teaches me how to be humble,” claims Lopez. “And with him, I learned to be patient. He taught me to be patient and to believe.”
Ngannou’s infectious humility and patience may have helped maintain Lopez as the calm and peace-loving man he says he became after his violent swaggering childhood ebbed away. A good trade-off considering all he and his Factory have done for one of the UFC’s top heavyweights.
Undoubtedly, in turn, Ngannou’s success in the Octagon has also greatly benefited Lopez and MMA Factory. The gym that once offered Ngannou sanctuary is now better known than ever and is primed for the next young man or woman who needs a place to go, and a person to believe in them, in order to earn the object of their dreams.
Homeless to UFC star: Francis Ngannou | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Where did Mostafa Hussaini get the idea that killing all these people would be a good thing? Has his local mosque been investigated? Why not?
“New Jersey man Mostafa Hussaini arrested for racist death threats on YouTube,” by Lee Brown, New York Post, December 16, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A New Jersey man has been arrested over a series of disturbing YouTube videos in which he said he wanted to kill blacks, Christians and soldiers — and even burned to death a parakeet, according to authorities.
Mostafa Hussaini, 34, of Totowa, was arrested by federal agents in Florida after Miami cops were alerted to death threats made on his YouTube channel while he appeared to be staying in the Sunshine State, according to court documents.
“Imagine burning a black person, because I don’t like black people,” he says in one video posted on Dec. 8, during which he poured gasoline onto an open grill in a public space, according to the documents.
“This gasoline, imagine burning some black soldiers — they are going to look very black,” he said in the recording, claiming to be able to “burn thousands, millions of them.”
In other footage, Hussaini is seen at a car dealership bragging about how vehicles can be used in mass killings — while another shows him encouraging people to carry firearms “everywhere” in Miami.
“If you have a machine gun, bring your machine gun,” he says in the video, according to prosecutors.
“I don’t like blacks, Spanish, some white, but there is no whites in Miami,” he added.
In another posted in October, he even burned a parakeet to death — naming it “Jesus” as a symbol of the Christians he wants to kill, according to the documents.
“I want to genocide most animals, all black people, all blonde people, most of European people,” he says in the description of one video, admitting bluntly, “I am racist,” the documents claim…. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
China is on a war footing. While the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed some grave political miscalculations behind decades of international strategic relations with Beijing, the depths of our problem are only just beginning to dawn on us.
Fuelled by our desire for ever cheaper goods, the world has collectively sleepwalked into a supply-side dependency on the People’s Republic.
The gamble had been pitched as a trade-off. China was expected to evolve democratic norms and embrace relations with the international community, while we got richer from globalisation. But we have been played.
Whether it’s clothing and factory-fashion, personal protective equipment or hardware parts, too many of our manufactured goods today rely on a ‘Made in China’ supply-chain. At the same time as it was busy taking control over our manufacturing, China was busy cloning western software, via her lackadaisical respect for international copyright rules.
And while the world relies on China for hardware, China avoids software dependency on outsiders by creating substitutes: TikTok to replace snapchat, Weibo instead of Twitter, WeChat & RenRen for Facebook. Indeed, there is an alternative Chinese version for almost any platform.
Is China preparing for war? By Nick Timothy
With manufactured goods and hardware ‘Made in China’, and software increasingly ‘Cloned in China’, what of natural resources? Through the ‘Belt & Road’ initiative — a ‘21st century Silk Road’ connecting China to Europe over a network of land and sea trade routes, the People’s Republic has embarked on huge infrastructure projects in 60 countries, including loans and construction projects that secure key ports and mines as collateral to China for payment.
Look to Pakistan, African or southeast Asian nations to see China’s rapid expansion in ownership of mines and ports. Look to the UK and China’s attempts to secure our telecoms industry via the Huawei deal, her recent purchase of British Steel, and her quest to secure the nuclear power industry. Beijing even secured a deal to develop British nuclear station Hinckley point C in Somerset, thus paving the way globally for China to enter the global market to dominate nuclear power.
Over decades, we have naively outsourced or lost manufacturing, software, natural resources and critical infrastructure to China. The economic benefits of globalisation are well trodden, yet as Covid-19 has shown, it has left our society vulnerable during a major crisis, unable to manufacture the most basic of necessities such as PPE. Meanwhile, China has achieved self-sufficiency.
While pursuing economic dominance abroad, China’s communist one-party state has centralised political power at home, gained unprecedented command over her own population via wide ranging and well-documented spy-tech, and placed anything between 1 to 2 million Uigur Muslims in gulags.
Considering what we know of colonial history, there is little room for doubt that China is at a pre-colonial stage. States at this stage attempt to centralise domestic power under a strong leader, dominate global supply chains and monopolise industry, all the while expanding abroad to secure natural resources. China is aggressively pursuing total national self-sufficiency, and the question arises as to why.
Is China preparing for war? By Ian Birrell
My conclusion is that China is preparing for war: total, not limited war. The kind that seeks to rebalance the world order, tipping it in her favour by replacing the US as the dominant global power. Historically, major conflicts have arisen when the leading global power is challenged by a rival, a problem known as the Thucydides trap — and China is expected (by some metrics) to overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy this decade.
Also, and crucially unlike us, China is preparing for the next type of war. The People’s Republic knows that she cannot beat the US militarily — and she knows that type of ground war is almost over.
Instead, by securing global supply chains, maintaining IT independence, and having a cast-iron grip over her own population, China can focus on building her cyber and biological war capabilities while remaining relatively safeguarded against the same herself. Considering all of this, from steel to nuclear to telecoms, our policy towards China until 2020 can best be described as one of miserably failed economic appeasement. From China’s perspective, she has successfully gifted us a Trojan Horse.
So what is the solution? Do we take that bait and prepare for war too? No. We must first understand what happened, and grasp how it came that we so willingly handed China the very tools by which to defeat us.
For too long, China has had a strategy for dealing with us, while we have had no strategy for dealing with China. We must urgently pivot our strategic relationship, one that entails assuming that China is in a Cold War with us already, and ends our current naivety.
We must minimise our total global supply-chain dependency on China, or any one nation for that matter. Trade with China, yes, but we must ringfence critical infrastructure: nuclear, telecoms and natural resources such as steel.
As recent politicisation of the WHO highlights, the post-war international community — supposedly governed by the UN — is no longer serving its purpose, and perhaps more than ever the UN faces a crisis in moral authority. Instead, NATO-style, we must reorder our strategic and military alliances around the Pacific and build an international consensus against the broader expansionist desire of the Chinese Communist Party.
Is China preparing for war? By Jonathan Tepper
Just like with nuclear non-proliferation, there must be newly-developed global consequences for negligence in cyber and bio hazard safety. Post-Covid, we would be wise to build a new global consensus on which punitive measures are suited to states that violate our cyber or biological safety.
Whatever happens in China does not stay in China. Whereas our Orientalist based ‘othering’ of China created this blind spot, only our hubris and naivety would allow for us to continue thus blind. We have been outmaneuvered, but this pandemic has magnified our failures and brought them to the fore. We would only be deserving of loss if we did not learn the lessons now. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Introduction
Mechanical keyboards are far from a new technology; they are decades old and some of the first mass produced personal computers came with mechanical keyboards back in the 1980's. However, due to their high production cost, they were soon replaced by keyboards other types of electronic switches that were considerably less expensive. Over the years however, the production cost of the mechanical key switches also came down, making them more and more affordable by the day. Today, PC users can find a good selection of mechanical keyboards from numerous manufacturers available at (generally) reasonable prices.
Today we will be having a look at the Vengeance K70 from Corsair, a full size keyboard designed for gaming. It is an upgrade of the popular Vengeance K60 and it is remains strikingly similar visually; however, aside from the various upgrades that we will discuss in this review, Corsair also offers the K70 in various color and switch combinations. In this review we will be looking at the black US layout version of the Vengeance K70, which features red backlighting and comes in three switch types (red, blue or brown), as well as in various layouts. Corsair recently launched the RGB LED backlit model at Computex, but that was not available when we started this review.
The Corsair Vengeance K70 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
The first upgrade over the Vengeance K60 can be found in the bundled items. With the Vengeance K70, Corsair supplies a set of ten textured red keys (1-6, W, A, S, D—the standard gaming keys for FPS games) and a full-size wrist rest, where the older K60 only came with a small 5" wide wrist rest for your left hand while gaming.
Corsair supplied us with the three black US layout versions they produce, each featuring a different Cherry MX switch. The three keyboards are aesthetically the same and no one will be able to tell the difference between them before a keycap is removed. Once a keycap is removed or an experienced user presses a key, the difference between the Blue, Brown and Red switches become apparent. Corsair, at least for the time being, does not offer the Vengeance K70 with Cherry MX Black, Green or other switches.
Visually, the Vengeance K70 stands out from the crowd by following the same design that made the Vengeance K60/K90 popular. The keyboard is built on a brushed aluminum chassis, with the keys levitating over it rather than being embedded into it. Aesthetics are a subjective matter and some people like this design while others hate it. From a practical point of view however, this design is extremely helpful to those that like to keep their keyboards clean, as a simple blow can remove all debris from the surface of the keyboard. A primary aesthetic flaw however is the black company logo at the middle top part of the chassis. Although the logo looks very good on a silver keyboard, I feel it was a poor choice to keep the same logo on the black version of the Vengeance K70. A less important flaw are the screws that keep the motherboard together; most of them are behind keys and invisible, but a few are at places that are somewhat noticeable, such as beneath the Esc key.
Corsair installed multimedia control buttons and a volume knob at the upper right side of the keyboard. There are four keys for playback control (Play/Pause, Stop, Forward and Back) and a volume mute key next to the metallic volume knob. Three smaller keys can be found towards the top center of the Vengeance K70; one that controls the lighting, one that switches the backlight into the "gaming" mode, and one that renders the Windows keys inactive. Between these and the multimedia keys, there are three tiny white LED lights serving as the three standard key lock indicators (Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock).
Although the installation of the textured red keys gives the Vengeance K70 a nice, aggressive gaming appearance, we found that these keys are more than just useless to any user that will not play a game using these specific keys. The keys are contoured, which gives them a nice feeling while gaming, but they feel terrible when doing anything else, especially typing. Therefore, unless you are planning to use the keyboard exclusively for playing games that are making use of these exact keys, replacing them each time you want to play a game feels like too much of a hassle.
Corsair installed a single USB 2.0 port at the top back side of the Vengeance K70. Right next to the USB port there is a switch that allows the user to change the polling rate. This function is not needed for any modern system but it increases the keyboard's compatibility with older motherboards and cheap KVM switches, which cannot operate properly when the polling rate is too high. The default polling rate of the Vengeance K70 is 1 ms (or 1 kHz). Beneath the keyboard are four feet for height adjustment, two at the rear and two at the front of the keyboard. Although stands at the rear of the keyboard are quite common, very few designs have the ability to adjust the tilt at the front. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
One of the common marketing messages behind alternative medicine is that is represents true innovation in healthcare. Using one Prince Charles’ favourite words, it tries to offer “integrative” services by combining the best of ‘Western’, or orthodox, medicine with ancient traditions, Eastern practices and New Age ways of knowing.
Doctors, in this thinking, are portrayed as hamstrung by their conventional medical training or, even worse, beholden to their imagined paymasters in Big Pharma. Doctors either cannot conceive that there are medical ‘paradigms’ outside of their University experience, or can do, but fear their paychecks will run out if their depart from their lizard master orders to keep dishing out the pills.
The Saatchi Bill, currently passing through the Houses of Parliament, flirts with these ideas. Its premise is that there is a pool of treatments waiting to brought into mainstream practice by conventional doctors who want to innovate. But stopping them is a fear that they will be subject to punitive litigation for departing from the safe and orthodox path.
Opponents of the Bill point out that there is absolutly no evidence that doctors are afraid of genuinely innovating because of inadequacies in the law. Of course, there is a very big difference bewteen fear of litigation because you have been negligent in providing quack treatments and fear of litigation becaue you have wanting to genuinely innovate and advance medical knowledge. Whilst it is clear that many doctors are sued because of claims they were negligent, there is no evidence that any doctor has been sued because they tried to innovate.
But at the heart of this debate then is what we mean by the words ‘medical innovation’. To one person, a treatment might be innovative; to another, straightforward quackery.
The Saatchi Bill has not tried to define medical innovation despite it being the subject of the texts. One of the fiercest opponents of the Bill, Lord Winston, has tabled ammendment to try to make such a definition. I must admit, I do not understand why these definitions have been put forward as they do not appear to answer the questions I have posed here.
Let’s see the proposed changes,
For the purposes of this Act, an “innovation” means— (a) any medical treatment, the results of which have not been reported
in peer-reviewed medical publications or have not been subject to
the scrutiny of a published clinical trial; (b) the use of any drug, vaccine or pharmaceutical agent which has not
undergone appropriate clinical trials required by UK or EU
legislation; (c) the use of any drug, vaccine or pharmaceutical agent for a purpose
other than that stipulated by the manufacturer; (d) the insertion or application of a device or instrument for which
approval has not been given by the relevant EU regulatory
authority; or (e) the application of a monitoring device or biosensor for which
approval has not yet been sought or given.”
The problem I see with the above definitions is that just about every quack claim out there could fit the description of ‘innovative’? How many papers out there are there showing that homeopathy cannot treat brain tumours? What is to stop a doctor using homeopathy to treat cancer here? There are no trials to support such a treatment. So should we consider homeopathic treatment of cancer innovative or negligent quackery?
Merely conidering the availability of trial data is not sufficient to rule out negligent treatments. The treatment has to have a rationale behind it: it has to be supportable by plausible medical and scientific arguments. A few years ago, I wrote about how it was wrong for supporters of Evidence Based Medicine, such as the Cochrane Collaboration, to call for more research into treatments that were implausible, such as homeopathy. I introduced a visualisation of how to think about whether a treatment was scientific in its rationale or was quackery. A treatment could be plotted on a chart with two axis: one, the degree of evidence available for the treatment; and two, the level of plausibility behind the treatment. We could then segment treatments according to the quadrant on the plot they fell into.
Scientific medicine lies towards the upper right quadrant. Quackery in the lower left.
Accepted medical treatments ought to have an appropriate level of evidence to overcome any doubts regarding their plausibility. Extrordinary claims ought to have lots of evidence. Unambiguouss treatments, where outcomes are binary and unquestionable, probably need a lower level of evidence.
So, innovative treatments are those that exist below this threshold but are not implausible. Quackery will fill the gaps below this line. We can visualise as such:
The Saatchi Bill team claim that doctors are afraid to innovate because they fear litigation if they do so. No evidence of this has been forthcoming. Dominic Nutt, the Bills PR spokesman uses the analogy of a parachute. What patient would not grab the parachute in a crashing plane if there is a sign on it saying ‘not been subject to randomised controlled trials’? It is a daft analogy. Doctor’s are already quite able to offer patients metaphorical parachutes if they exist. Parachutes have not been in RCTS – but their effect are unambigous and their mode of action is well understood and characterised. In our chart above, parachutes would sit in to the bottom right. However, I would challenge you to find many medical treatments that occupy the same space. Medicine is a lot more complicated and ambiguous than this.
Doctors are well able to currently use innovative treatments as long as they are backed by sound medical and scientific reasons as to who they would be in the best interests of patients. Current law protects such doctors and they do not fear litigaiton. Where fears of litigaiton exist is when a doctor would use a treatment that sits towards the lower left quadrant. The Saatchi Bill does nothing for the innovative treatments, but is allowing doctors to act with impunity in the quadrant of quackery. Fear of litigation in this quadrant is a good thing. It is by definition irrational and irresponsible and doctors who use treatments in this area ought to fear the consequences. But to be clear: this is is not fear of innovation, it is fear of negligence.
In this age of patients all having a medical education from the University of Google, the demands on doctors to offer treatments that have been read about online is high. Often this can lead to informed discussions between doctor and patient – which is great – but it can also lead to high expectations, misunderstandings and false hopes. The web is awash with quack cancer claims and planted testimonies to support these claims. As Ben Goldacre has pointed out in his first law of bullshit dynamics ‘there is no imaginable proposition so absurd that you cannot find at least one person, somewhere in the world with a PhD or professional post, who is happy to endorse it’. Managing expectations in this area must indeed be a real challenge. But it is not fear of innovation that is holding doctors back from delving into Saatchi’s quadrant of quackery. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Blockchain transaction principles
In the world of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, one important component that is irreplaceable is the network blockchain protocol. This is because it is the record ledger for all the transactions. Transaction procedures are not considered complete if there is no proof that it happened. The blockchain transaction information is stored on full node computing units.
But then, the operation of full nodes is a specific activity that has been characterized by increasing operational costs plus many technical challenges are involved. If it was possible, then blockchain technology would not use full node operations because of its operational challenges. Since this is not realistic, there was the need for alternatives that would be as effective, yet less difficult on the network and its functioning components.
Masternodes as a technical advantage
Masternodes are the next-level full nodes with less operational challenges and increased functionality. They were first adopted for blockchain use by the Dash cryptocurrency network, which forked from the bitcoin network. Dash is the major figure in masternode use, although a number of other cryptocurrencies have adopted the system. Masternodes and their owners on any blockchain are considered important entities because of their aiding effects on the everyday function of such networks.
The Working Principle of Masternodes
Masternode are actually referred to as alternative full nodes, because they keep the full copy of the blockchain right from the very first block on the blockchain, to the last. They are always kept online because they are essential information sources that are of use to every stakeholder on the blockchain. Masternode are basically involved in ensuring that the blockchain is kept running 24/7. For instance, they are essential for increased privacy of all the transactions happening on the network, as well as the responsible for instant transactions.
In addition, masternodes also carry out all the other functions of full nodes which includes validation and subsequent addition of newly completed blocks (blockchain governance and voting), block information feeds for offline nodes that need periodic synchronizing with the network, amongst others. By this, serve as a double check structure that validates the block information as added to the blockchain, by the network’s miners. This further ensures the correlation of blockchain information every time.
How Can I Run A Masternode ?
Every blockchain network that has adopted the masternode full node system have set their individual requirements for setting up the features. But on the average, set up and running requires some collateral investments on the part of the participants. There are standard requirements that are essential irrespective of the network whose masternode you’re operating.
Some of the basic requirements include the following:
• A specified amount of the concerned blockchain’s coins or token as some form of collateral
Before securing access to operate a masternod, the network stipulates cryptocurrency token requirements for the intending participants. These requirements are put in place as an entry restriction aimed at preventing malicious use of the system. The coin requirement is a reasonable sum, to make sure that not just anybody can opt-in. The staked coins would restrict the masternode owners from cheating or corrupting the system since they have something to loss if the network goes bad.
• Virtual private server (dedicated IP address)
The use of a dedicated IP allows easy recognition and access of the masternodes by other nodes on the network. It makes things pretty simple, and reduces chances of whale manipulation, while facilitating a more decentralized system.
• Sufficient storage space
Hosting an ever-growing blockchain requires a lot of space. A storage capacity of enormous size is a must have, before you even start to think of the other things involved. If you don’t have a massive amount of computing space, then masternode operation is not just for you.
Why Should I Own A Masternode?
Definitely, no one would be running a masternode if there weren’t some benefits that are derived from it. Masternode owners are rewarded for their dedication, and the resources expended on behalf of the network. Just like bitcoin mining, the rewards are largely passive, but then, they are impressively lucrative in the long run. Thus, masternode operation could is as well, a viable means of earning cryptocurrencies, for the network that allows the service.
On the other hand, you would have become a major stakeholder in the governance and determination of the events unfolding on the blockchain that has now become important to you, as the investor.
The prospects that accompany running a masternode are ever-beaming, and this is even better when you’re onto a highly prospective network. Thus, before settling down to invest so much in a masternode, be sure to make some finding out and be certain that your chosen network have some chances of doing well.
Powered by Nodexo | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Brain scans have revealed the workings of the brain's GPS that underpin our decisions as we navigate towards a destination.
Two areas of the brain appear to take turns as our internal global positioning system and work together to steer us through the environment. The brain regions take on different roles to meet our needs, with one keeping track of the distance to our destination as the crow flies, and the other chipping in to calculate the actual distance of the route ahead when we reach a junction.
Researchers pinpointed the neural systems by scanning volunteers' brains as they watched movies shot on the streets of Soho in central London.
"We have never known anything about how the brain represents information about future places we want to be," said Hugo Spiers, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience at University College London. They presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington.
"We didn't know if the brain tried to keep track of the straight line distance to the goal and we got there by minimising that distance, or whether the brain used the actual path we planned to take."
To unravel how we navigate, Spiers and his colleague Lorelei Howard first gave volunteers maps of Soho to study and took them on an intensive two-hour tour of the area, during which they were asked to learn the streets and locations of 23 bars, shops and cafes. After the training session, they sat an exam to ensure they had learned the area well.
For the next stage of the experiment, the scientists had a film crew walk around Soho in the early hours of a summer morning to capture first-person footage of the routes between various streets and establishments.
The volunteers then laid in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner while they watched the movies on a screen in front of them. When the movie began, the name of the street they were on appeared alongside a picture of the bar or shop they had to get to.
During the experiment, the scientists paused the movie whenever a junction appeared and asked the volunteers which way to turn. What they did not know was that the movies were preset to follow the quickest route most of the time, and take them on detours at others.
"Once people made a decision on which way to turn, the movie carried on. But if they pressed left, the movie didn't always go left," Spiers said.
In some of the movies, the volunteers would find themselves geographically very close to their destination, but the road layout meant they still faced a long walk to get to their goal. In others, instead of taking the most direct route, the film would head off in another direction, taking them further away from the place they wanted to go.
The scans showed that the front part of a brain structure called the hippocampus kept tabs on the straight line distance to a person's destination and became more active the further away they were.
"If a bar is right nearby and you are getting further away, the activity in the front end of the hippocampus ramps up and up, and then goes back down as you get closer," Spiers said.
But this tracking of the straight line distance from one place to another was only half the picture. When people made decisions about which way to turn, the back part of the hippocampus got involved, apparently calculating the new route and its length.
"The posterior hippocampus cares about how long a route is going to be. It's like GPS. It knows how far you've got to go in the real world and it gets more excited the closer you are to your goal," Spiers said. Once a decision to turn was made, the brain switched back to using the front of the hippocampus.
The role of the rear hippocampus was particularly clear when volunteers were taken on an unexpected detour away from their goal. As the camera panned around to make the wrong turn, that part of the brain immediately reacted by calculating the new, longer route ahead.
"It seems like a seamless experience, but the idea that the brain is calculating different useful bits of information as you need them on the fly makes a lot of sense," Spiers said. "There's a cost associated with determining your exact path all the time. Your brain is generally keeping track of how far you are from your goal, but it's not constantly checking all possible paths ahead."
The importance of the back part of the hippocampus in route information was demonstrated by Eleanor Maguire, also at University College London, in 2000. She scanned the brains of taxi drivers who had memorised the streets of London and found the backs of their hippocampuses were larger than average.
In a further round of experiments, Spiers and Howard scanned the brains of people as they watched the movies without being asked to navigate. The situation mirrored that of a passenger in a car who is not giving any directions to the driver. The scans showed that in passive viewers, the GPS system stayed silent, suggesting that it is not an automatic process, but acts only when a person is actively trying to navigate.
In the next stage of the research, the scientists hope to identify how the brain knows which direction to move in. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Both men have announced they are not running for reelection in 2018, and Trump portrayed them as sore losers.
The president tweeted Wednesday morning: “The reason Flake and Corker dropped out of the Senate race is very simple, they had zero chance of being elected. Now act so hurt & wounded!”
In a second tweet, Trump sought to prove that Flake and Corker are outliers by characterizing his closed-door luncheon with Republican senators on Tuesday at the Capitol as “a love fest.”
AD
AD
“The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!” Trump tweeted.
Trump's tweets came as Flake continued to excoriate Trump — from his behavior and temperament to his rhetoric and policies — in interviews on television morning shows, elaborating upon his speech on the Senate floor Tuesday and his op-ed, titled “Enough,” in The Washington Post.
Flake said on CNN that he thinks more of his Republican colleagues in the Senate will speak out about Trump in the days and weeks to come.
“I think we’ve hit the tipping point,” Flake said. “At some point, just the weight of it just causes people to change and to say, 'I can’t take this anymore.' I hope that we’ve reached that point.”
AD | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Actress and resistance queen Alyssa Milano stuck her neatly manicured foot in her mouth as she gave a pep talk Antifa on Saturday.
The Twitter words of encouragement came as the militant alt-left thugs were gathered in Boston to combat a pro-free speech rally.
Yes, they were protesting against free speech by using free speech. And they assaulted an elderly woman carrying an American flag in the process.
But Milano, who earlier this week was triggered by Christmas elves, insisted that they were non-violent, as she begged for them to be non-violent.
Boston! Please remember the nazis want this to get violent so they can say the “alt-left” are the bad guys. Please stay peaceful. — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) August 19, 2017
Typically one does not have to appeal to non-violent people to not engage in violence.
Which probably means that Milano knows all too well that it is Antifa, the alt-left provocateurs, that are the fight starters.
As evidenced by the groups actions on college campuses nationwide.
Or by the fact that one chapter opened a gym to teach members how to attack supporters of President Donald Trump.
Social media was happy to call out the “Who’s The Boss” star on her nonsense.
are you so naive? ANTIFA always starts fighting no matter who is there. They are already attacking police now. #BostonStrong — Teahadist Infidale (@Foehammer2008) August 19, 2017
Right. Cuz only the good guys carry clubs with nails in them…. pic.twitter.com/mx7Xy7Syfd — Reagan Fan ?? (@Im_ur_hklbry) August 19, 2017
If the left isn’t prone to violence, why would you have to ask this? ?? — Literally Not A Nazi (@Mellecon) August 19, 2017
People trying to silence others ARE the bad guys. And of course they will get violent, they always do. But sounds like you know that. — Covfefe Flyer (@wkcollins) August 19, 2017
so tell me wise lady who played a witch on TV…. are all white conservatives “NAZIs” in your opinion? — Animal Mother (@redpillwarrior) August 19, 2017
In her mind? Yes.
What nazis? There are none. The only violence was from anifta lol this was free speech rAlly people. Another clueless sheep pic.twitter.com/xCr6uzwjQK — Man_Without_A_Soul (@Withoutt_A_Soul) August 19, 2017
They look hardcore.
I wonder what this lumber jack was doing in Durham yesterday? pic.twitter.com/HlBa5DvmMk — Dan Fisk Wright (@MadFiest) August 19, 2017
He must be Paul Bunyon.
Nice attempt at a pep talk Alyssa, but you are no Gipper.
Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast HERE | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The 2015 schedule for the Atlanta Falcons has been announced, and it features a relatively harder schedule. Check it out below: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
La police scientifique britannique examine la voiture avec laquelle un homme a foncé sur des barrières de sécurité devant le parlement de Londres le 14 août 2018.
Un an après les attentats de la Catalogne, Barcelone a rendu hommage à ses victimes ce vendredi matin. Mardi à Londres, un homme percutait volontairement en voiture des barrières de sécurité près du parlement britannique, faisant trois blessés. Dans la foulée, l'attaque a été considérée comme un acte terroriste. Le lendemain, un attentat-suicide faisait plusieurs dizaines de mort en Afghanistan, dans un centre éducatif de l'ouest de Kaboul.
Si l'actualité peut donner l'impression que les attentats ne cessent de progresser dans le monde, une étude américaine publiée ce mois-ci par l'Université du Maryland, et repérée par le Washington Post , démontre au contraire qu'ils sont en baisse ces trois dernières années, après un pic enregistré en 2014. Cette année-là, 17.000 attaques et 45.000 morts avaient été recensés, rappelle l'étude statistique. Trois ans plus tard, en 2017, les chercheurs américains ont dénombré 10.900 attaques terroristes perpétrées dans le monde, soit une baisse de 20% par rapport à 2016, année durant laquelle ces attentats étaient déjà en recul par rapport à 2015. De la même manière, ils ont observé que le nombre de victimes - qui comprend les terroristes tués - avait baissé de 24% entre les deux années. Alors que les chercheurs recensaient 34.000 victimes en 2016, ils en comptaient 26.445 victimes en 2017, dont 8075 agresseurs.
Rapport sur le terrorisme dans le monde en 2017/START/Université du Maryland/Août 2018
Une baisse en lien avec le recul de Daech
Cette baisse est particulièrement significative dans la région du Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du nord où le nombre d'attaque a diminué de 38% et celui des victimes de 44%. Plusieurs pays ont particulièrement vu leur nombre d'attaques et de victimes baisser en 2017. C'est notamment le cas de la Turquie où le nombre d'actes a chuté de 67% entre 2016 et 2017. Ces chiffres n'étonnent pas le spécialiste Jean-Charles Brisard: «La Turquie a opéré un revirement vis-à-vis de l'État islamique et pris des mesures plus fermes à l'encontre des djihadistes», analyse le président du Centre d'analyse du terrorisme (CAT).
Rapport Start / Université du Maryland / août 2018
Comment expliquer cette tendance? D'après Jean-Charles Brisard, ce repli est en partie dû aux pertes territoriales de l'État islamique en 2017. Le groupe terroriste a notamment reculé en Syrie et en Irak, où ils ont perdu leur «capitale», Mossoul, et Tall Afar, leur voie de passage vers la Syrie. Le nombre de victimes de Daech a d'ailleurs baissé de 40% entre 2016 et 2017, notent les chercheurs américains. Néanmoins, la menace reste élevée. «Il ne faut pas concevoir l'État islamique comme un simple territoire mais bien comme un réseau terroriste avec de multiples affiliés dans le monde, à l'image d'al-Qaida, prêts à frapper dans de nombreux pays», nuance le spécialiste.
Terrorisme : un plan à la hauteur ? - Regarder sur Figaro Live
En Europe, plus d'attentats mais moins de victimes
En Europe de l'ouest, la tendance est inverse. En 2017, les chercheurs américains ont recensé 291 attaques, soit une légère hausse de 7% par rapport à 2016. «Il n'y a jamais eu autant d'attaques depuis la création de Daech», souligne le spécialiste, qui avait également fait le même constat dans son propre rapport publié en janvier 2018. Cette étude montrait notamment que la France était le pays le plus visé dans l'Union européenne. Pour le spécialiste, cette hausse des attaques est le signe que «l'idéologie du groupe terroriste continue de progresser en Europe».
En revanche, le nombre de victimes a quant à lui nettement baissé (-65%), passant de 238 à 83 victimes. En effet, «il n'y a pas eu d'attentats majeurs en 2017», constate Jean-Chales Brisard. «Du fait de la désorganisation de son appareil, Daech est aujourd'hui moins en capacité d'organiser un attentat coordonné et de grande ampleur» comme ce fut le cas en France le 13 novembre 2015. Le Washington Post avance également l'hypothèse d'une meilleure préparation des États. En France, 20 attentats ont été déjoués sur la seule année 2017. Mardi, la première ministre britannique Theresa May annonçait que 17 attentats terroristes islamistes et d'extrême droit avaient été déjoués depuis mars 2017.
Malgré cette tendance mondiale à la baisse, les chercheurs américains rappellent que la «violence terroriste reste extraordinairement élevée» si on prend un peu de recul. «Dans la décennie précédant le 11 septembre 2001, le nombre d'attaques, la fréquence et la létalité de cette violence terroriste étaient chaque année inférieures au tiers de celles de 2017», préviennent-ils. Par ailleurs, leurs statistiques montrent que le groupe terroriste État islamique reste de loin, le plus meurtrier au monde. Selon leur décompte, ce dernier a fait 7120 victimes en 2017, les Talibans ayant tué 4925 personnes, le groupe terroriste islamiste somalien al-Chebab 1894 et Boko Haram ayant fait 1577 victimes sur la même période. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Most parents of overweight children in England think their weight is about right, raising fears obesity has been normalised
The vast majority of parents of overweight children in England do not recognise the fact, the annual NHS health survey has found, raising fears that high levels of obesity have normalised unhealthy weights.
Nine in 10 mothers and eight in 10 fathers of an overweight child described them as being about the right weight. Almost half of mothers (48%) and 43% of fathers said their obese child was about the right weight, according to the Health Survey for England 2015, published by NHS Digital on Wednesday.
Gillian Prior, head of health at the National Centre for Social Research, said: “Around three in 10 children are overweight or obese, yet nearly half of mothers think their obese child is about the right weight. It is possible that consistently high levels of childhood obesity in recent years have normalised an unhealthy weight.
“This should be of concern to parents and public health professionals alike. Obesity is linked to a number of health conditions in later life, such as diabetes and heart disease. Parents want to do the best for their children and the difficulty of recognising obesity in their own child could be putting them at risk.”
The survey showed that child obesity remains stubbornly high, despite attempts to raise public awareness of the problem. In 2015, 28% of children were either overweight (14%) or obese (14%). This was down from the previous year, when the figure was 31% and the 2004 peak of 34%, but higher than 20 years ago, when it was 25%.
Obesity, which is defined as a BMI of 30 or more for adults, also remains high among adults. Over a quarter (27% of men and women) were obese last year and a further 41% of men and 31% of women were overweight.
The average waist circumference of an adult reached its highest ever figure – 92.9cm, or 36.57in, (88.4cm, or 34.8in, for women and 97.4cm, or 38.34in, for men) – compared with 87.1cm when the survey began in 1993. Carrying too much fat around your middle can increase the risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Almost half of women (47%) and just over a third of men (35%) were found to have a very high waist circumference, defined as a waist circumference greater than 88cm for women and greater than 102cm for men.
The Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of more than 30 leading charities, royal medical colleges and campaign groups, said: “Obesity is still an urgent public health epidemic costing our national health service billions of pounds every year. Prevalence hasn’t changed much but the majority of adults remain worryingly obese or overweight. As our waistlines continue to increase, so do the chances of developing type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other devastating health conditions.
“We must take bold action now by bringing in measures like the soft drinks industry levy, reducing the sugar, salt and fat from everyday foods and restricting junk food marketing to children. We still have a way to go to truly tackle this deadly and economically draining obesity issue. However, these proposed measures will be a major step towards creating a healthier environment.”
The survey was based on interviews with 8,034 adults and 5,714 children.
Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: “Parents have been misjudging their children’s weight for a number of years, making addressing our current obesity crisis even more challenging.
“Tackling obesity is everyone’s responsibility, not individual parents and children. We’re working with industry to reduce the amount of sugar in products children consume every day as part of a wider childhood obesity plan to help them lead healthier lives.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
China investiert immer mehr Geld in die erneuerbaren Energien. Die Volksrepublik sichert sich durch stark steigende Auslandsinvestitionen einen größeren Anteil am boomenden Markt. Die USA fallen dagegen weiter zurück.
Mit einer massiven Steigerung seiner Auslandsinvestitionen ist China vergangenes Jahr zum Weltmarktführer bei den erneuerbaren Energien aufgestiegen. Die Volksrepublik habe ihre Auslandsinvestitionen in erneuerbare Energien 2016 um 60 Prozent auf einen Rekordwert von 32 Milliarden US-Dollar erhöht, heißt es in einem Bericht, den das Institut für Energiewirtschaft und Finanzanalyse (IEEFA) veröffentlichte. China besitze mittlerweile fünf der sechs größten Solarzellenhersteller der Welt.
Bei den Inlandsinvestitionen in Erneuerbare war China schon vorher Spitzenreiter in der Welt. Die Volksrepublik habe mehr als hundert Milliarden Dollar in den Ausbau von Solar- und Windenergie sowie Wasserkraft und damit zusammenhängende Branchen gesteckt, berichtet der Branchendienst Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Dies sei mehr als doppelt so viel wie die US-Inlandsinvestitionen in die Branche.
"Die USA fallen schon weit hinter China zurück in dem Rennen, sich einen größeren Anteil an dem boomenden Markt sauberer Energien zu sichern", erklärte IEEFA-Chef Tim Buckley. Die Ankündigung der neuen US-Regierung von Donald Trump, wieder verstärkt auf fossile Brennstoffe zu setzen, ließen "nichts Gutes erahnen".
Millionen neuer Jobs in der Branche
Nach Schätzungen der Internationalen Energieagentur wurden 3,5 Millionen der weltweit 8,1 Millionen Jobs im Bereich der erneuerbaren Energien in China geschaffen. In den USA sind es demnach nur 800.000. Chinas nationale Energiebehörde rechnet damit, dass es in der Branche bis 2020 mindestens 13 Millionen Arbeitsplätze gibt.
Der Energie-Experte Ulf Moslener von der Frankfurt School of Finance & Management sagte der Nachrichtenagentur AFP, China habe sich zum "Weltmarktführer bei erneuerbaren Energien" entwickelt und in der Branche klare Vorteile gegenüber reicheren Mitbewerbern wie den USA und Deutschland. Bei Solarzellen preislich mit chinesischen Herstellern zu konkurrieren, sei mittlerweile "wirklich hart". | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Let's chase the orbit of unseen dreams!
Shining Road
My feelings run
as I'm vigorously looking for you,
Wait a minute! This can't be,
It's the courage that touches us inside
The world's always full of
(more) hidden new doors
(Let's go!) I want to open them,
Let's look for them together!
I want to start my story (Right now), the blue sky is waiting for us,
It's a jumping heart that embraces our dreams,
a youth that advances straight to tomorrow,
It's our time to start our (sunshine story), the excitement's important to me,
Let’s go and take hold of our dreams
No matter what happens, even if we don't understand, let's look forward to it
Open Mind
We have to say it but we can't
Since no one should be able to do it perfectly from the start
For now, let’s fly energetically
From our start line, I wonder if the goal is far away.
In this shining world, I heard you call out for me
(More) I wanted to hear you
(Let’s go!) Towards the other side of the light
Let’s go together!
I want to change my future (So, where to) by rising up like the sun
Our dreams shined Charging heart
Let’s use all our strength to grant our desires Isn’t youth surprising!?
“I want to change,” I thought (Sunshine mission) Our feelings are surely important
Let’s go and take hold of our dreams
If it’s with everyone, it’s fine even if I can’t explain it
Jumping heart But the fact that I want to start
Charging heart I found it just about now
Where is the goal? I wonder where it is? I don’t know
I don’t know, but let’s still have fun
I want to start my story; The blue sky is waiting for us,
It's a jumping heart that embraces our dreams,
a youth that advances straight to tomorrow,
It's our time to start our (sunshine story), the excitement's important to me,
so let's go and catch our dreams!
Let's look forward happily and see what happens!
Let’s go and take hold of our dreams
If it’s with everyone, it’s fine even if I can’t explain it… so let’s go straight ahead! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Background
I was raised one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as my father and mother also were. I was baptized into the religion at the ripe old age of eleven and for 34 years, I believed every bit of the doctrine.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are required to attend meetings two nights a week. Growing up, this requirement was actually three nights a week. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they have the only form of pure worship. They believe that Jesus Christ began reigning God’s Kingdom invisibly, and they believe his reign started in the year 1914. They believe that 1914 was the start of the “last days” talked about in the Bible. For over 100 years, they have believed that Armageddon is imminent and that they are the only faith that will survive this apocalypse and make it to Paradise.
A renewed zeal
In the summer of 2014, I was at a point of spiritual stagnation in the religion. I attended services pretty regularly, however still missed about 60% of the meetings. I attended a convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in August of that year. This was the first time that video presentations played a major part in the program. One video in particular had a profound effect on me. It was only later that I would recognize it for the emotional manipulation it actually was.
After watching that video and listening to the other parts in the program, I resolved when I got home to “do more in Jehovah’s service.” I stopped missing meetings. Started preaching door to door more often. I also started to do more Bible reading and personal study of the Jehovah’s Witness publications.
Doubt creeps in
In October of that year, I met a gentleman in the door to door work that was interested in having a regular home bible study. Jehovah’s Witness bible studies consist of going lesson by lesson, along with the bible, in a book called “What does the bible really teach?” Jehovah’s Witnesses colloquially refer to this book as the Bible Teach book.
I realized that I had this gentleman’s eternal salvation in my hands, and that I needed to do a good job as his teacher. So, since it had been quite a long time since I personally studied the book, I decided to take the Bible Teach book and rigorously study it on my own.
This was the first time I attempted to do serious research during the age of the internet. I decided to verify everything in the book with secular sources. After all, what Jehovah’s Witnesses taught is the TRUTH, so all I expected was to find all statements of fact to have secular evidence to back them up. And of course I wouldn’t even THINK about looking at apostate websites. After all, they were bitter opposers and liars who only wanted to draw me away from God. So, I stuck to Wikipedia and other academic sources.
One of the first things I started to question was the destruction of Jerusalem. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E. Why is this date important to them? Well, this is the date they use as a beginning point to get to the year 1914 as the start of the “last days.” There is a detailed eschatology that involves a formula they have interpreted from the Bible book of Daniel.
Suffice it to say, when I googled “Destruction of Jerusalem,” I found that the secular consensus was that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E. In fact, no one on the earth, except for Jehovah’s Witnesses, believe that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E.
This confused me, so I looked up more information in their online library. The answers I found were lacking. Numerous logical fallacies throughout, and, the conclusion of their reasoning was basically, “We trust the Bible more than we trust the so-called evidence these people have found.”
I was very confused. I felt that our teachings were rock solid. So why did this feel wrong?
I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to ignore the doubts I was having. I decided that I shouldn’t keep studying on my own, because I would just start having more doubts.
The very next month, however, all that would change.
A turning point
In November of 2014, a special meeting was held throughout the United States Branch Territory of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was a live stream of what was promised to be encouraging talks from the Governing Body (the ecclesiastical leaders of the organization).
One talk in particular was anything but encouraging. It was an hour long guilt trip about people not being spiritual enough.
The brother giving the talk, Anthony Morris III, talked about how if your family visited Disney before you visited the JW World Headquarters, you weren’t a spiritual family. He also said that if, as a brother, you didn’t hold a certain position of responsibility in the congregation by the age of 23, then you weren’t worthy of being considered a good marriage mate by girls in the congregation.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. At one point in the talk, he hinted that there was a homosexual conspiracy to get people to wear tight pants. And that wearing tight pants wasn’t spiritual.
It was at this moment, that the scales began to fall from my eyes, so to speak. I realized that this guy wasn’t some special representative of Almighty God. A loving God would NEVER treat the flock like that.
That very next week, I decided once and for all to prove the “truth” to myself. Every single Jehovah’s Witness doctrine that I held dear just kept falling and being proven wrong.
I’m not going to go into the details of my research. Every individual has to find out for themselves what they as an individual believe, and if they can back those beliefs up with evidence.
The aftermath of my crisis of faith
Over the next 6–8 weeks, I experienced emotional extremes of depression, anger, shock and relief. I nearly committed suicide at one point thinking that if I just drove into the river, I would be okay and just wake up in paradise and that all these feelings would be behind me. The only thing that held me back was the thought of my children being indoctrinated like I was. I resolved to get them and my wife out of the organization.
I am happy to say, though, that I succeeded in getting my wife and kids out. We now live an amazing life! There is no guilt about enjoying the little things in life like sleeping in on a Saturday or Sunday, spending some money to buy the family something special, or just growing a goatee.
Being able to do something as simple as making your kids feel special on their birthday is amazing.
Many people characterize the Jehovah’s Witnesses as a cult. I encourage the reader to make their own determination on this. Steve Hassan, noted cult expert and former Moonie, has laid out an extensive list of identifying marks that “high-control groups” exhibit. It is called the B.I.T.E. model. Examine those identifying marks and see which ones, if any, apply to Jehovah’s Witnesses. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Yanako
4255 MAIN ST 19127
22 violations, 6 serious.
4255 MAIN ST 19127
Dead mouse and rodent feces in closet; mouse droppings along floor perimeters throughout the facility; gnawed paper on shelf; two ants in refrigerator; several dead roaches; built up grime under and beneath kitchen equipment; no proof raw fish has been previously frozen; retain vacuum packed fish but do not sell to customers; empty paper towel dispensers and no soap at sinks.Asked to stop preparing sushi rice, but not asked to close, on Apr. 12. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
HSBC is not being investigated as part of the case, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the matter is confidential.
According to a story in the Wall Street Journal , a monitor appointed by the U.S. government to oversee HSBC's anti money-laundering controls flagged illicit transactions made by Huawei at the bank and shared them with New York prosecutors. That led to the arrest Saturday of Meng, potentially for violating U.S. sanctions that prohibit Huawei from selling equipment to Iran.
In the saga involving the recent arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Canada, questions have surfaced as to whether U.K. banking giant HSBC will be named in the legal case.
However, HSBC's broader involvement could further complicate trade talks between the U.S. and China. Even though the bank is headquartered in the U.K., HSBC (originally known as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is one of China's most influential companies and has one of the largest foreign-owned banking networks on the mainland. HSBC incorporated locally in China in 2007.
Additionally, HSBC has had its share of encounters with U.S. authorities.
In 2012, the bank forfeited $1.9 billion to U.S. authorities for its role in allegedly laundering money from drug cartels as well as Iran, Cuba, Libya, Sudan and Burma, countries that were all sanctioned. The agreement also led to the federal monitorship of the company's anti-money laundering organization in the U.S.
As far back as the 1990s, HSBC groups allegedly "worked with sanctioned entities to insert cautionary notes in payment messages," including not mentioning Iran, according to the 2012 agreement.
Huawei has been under scrutiny since at least 2012 for accepting money from Iran and, according to a House Intelligence Committee Report, not complying with a federal investigation into the issue. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The red dirt and blue skies of the outback shown in a 1980s television program prompted one British nurse to move across the world to help save lives.
Leanne Loryman first heard about the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) while living in Germany as a child.
"My parents were in the [armed] forces and I actually started watching The Flying Doctors ... it was one of the only programs in English," she said.
"There I was watching it and all I could see was this beautiful blue sky and orange dirt and kangaroos bouncing across this dusty track.
"I couldn't believe such a place really existed."
The TV drama followed the everyday lives of the RFDS in the air and on the ground. ( Supplied: Crawford Productions )
The popular Australian television drama The Flying Doctors ran from 1986 to 1993 and revolved around the everyday workings of the RFDS.
It was successfully broadcast in the UK on BBC 1 and also aired in other parts of Europe including the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.
Ms Loryman said seeing the landscape on the small screen was not the only thing that attracted her to Australia.
"There was sweat pouring off these little nurses and really cute pilots with white shirts on and I kept thinking what a good job it would be," she told ABC Radio Brisbane's Steve Austin.
Far from the gloomy UK skies
Twenty-five years later and Ms Loryman is based in Mount Isa serving remote communities, a far cry from the dreary weather of England.
"I really wanted to be on that dusty track and I didn't actually think it existed, but it does," she said.
"I learnt quickly that duct tape holds many things together and that people have broad accents which I found hard to understand at first."
Ms Loryman (far right) with the Queensland crew of the RFDS. ( Supplied: RFDS Queensland )
She said the culture shock after first arriving in north-west Queensland was surreal.
"It wasn't just that there were places without tarmac on roads, but the heat was phenomenal.
"I had never worked in 45-degree heat before and then to combat that with being dusty and dirty is mind-blowing."
She had also never flown in small planes before and found the experience nerve-racking.
"I had to hold a poker face ... I was petrified the first few times going through the clouds," she said.
"It took me a while to get used to landing on next to nothing too, but I quickly learnt our pilots are phenomenal and have to go through so much training to be a RFDS pilot.
"They also have to have so many thousands of hours, so I trust them implicitly.
"If they say they can land somewhere, they can land somewhere."
Leanne Loryman found flying in the small planes scary at first. ( Supplied: Royal Flying Doctors Service )
Delivering a baby at 22,000 feet
There had been tough times though, especially when attending farm and road accidents.
"There has been a lot of painful things that we see, but you have to be there for the people that need help and that's your priority," she said.
"The most amazing for me was when I delivered a baby at 22,000 feet.
"That was such a pleasure to be part of — it was wonderful and a really lovely moment."
Ms Loryman's parents recently visited from the UK and were stunned at the four-tonne aircraft Ms Loryman travelled in daily.
"I took them to see the aircraft, and when they saw it they said: 'Is that it? Is there more?'
"My parents laughed at me when I was younger, and would say, 'it's never going to happen, you're so far away from Australia and the outback'.
"They're so chuffed now — they tell everyone in the UK what I do."
Loading...
She hopes to stay in the outback for years to come, even if it does affect her British accent.
"Many of my English friends tell me I have a really funny accent now," she said.
"Sometimes I still pinch myself and go this is really surreal as I can still remember watching the TV show and now I'm actually doing that.
"Especially when we've landed on those beautiful outback surrounds and the dirt runway and a few cows in the background and big blue sky and I stand there and go 'wow'."
ABC Radio Brisbane has partnered with not-for-profit RFDS Queensland for the annual Queensland Gives Christmas Appeal to raise money for vital lifesaving equipment.
To donate, visit the Queensland Gives website or phone 07 3852 7515. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Self-Righteous Enforcers Of Political Correctness
Scott Greer
Deputy Editor
Monday wasn’t a good day for free speech.
Google fired a senior engineer for writing a lengthy memo criticizing the lack of thought diversity at the company and overbearing political correctness. The termination initiated heated debate over free speech, with many seeing Google’s action as a disturbing infringement on their employees’ ability to speak their mind.
In a less noticed episode from Monday, seriously unfunny comedian Chelsea Handler tweeted out her desire for the arrest of all Americans who think racism is a laughing matter.
2 Chinese guys were arrested in Berlin for making nazi salutes. Wouldn’t it be nice 2 have laws here for people who think racism is funny?
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) August 7, 2017
Handler’s desire to arrest accused racists was met with derision from conservatives on social media, but the popular entertainer never bothered to retract it.
Why would she?
She was only expressing what many of her fellow lefties want. The PC crowd may not outright call for the jailing of those who spout views they find offensive, but they surely want the offenders punished severely.
Leftists don’t care about the protection of free speech or the purpose of the First Amendment. They want to live in a world where their views reign supreme and dissent isn’t tolerated.
The case of the fired Google engineer proves that point. When news first broke of the letter written by the now-axed staffer James Damore, activists and left-wing techies were demanding Damore’s head. They wanted him fired ASAP, They wanted blacklists made of all-known racists and misogynists. Some even wanted anyone at Google who agreed with Damore to lose their jobs. (RELATED: Progressives Want Google’s ‘Ideological Echo Chamber’ Memo Author Fired, Industry Blacklists)
The demand for blood was justified on the basis of making Google’s work environment more equitable. Damore’s speech wasn’t an opinion, according to those wanting his life ruined. Instead, they insisted, it was a violent act which put people in serious peril.
He was commiting violence. People felt afraid. People had to take days off. People feared for their safety.
— Alex Hidalgo (@SometimesAlex) August 8, 2017
Guess that explains why several female staffers at Google took Monday off to cope with the distress of a co-worker expressing a different opinion.
Handler’s suggestion of arresting those guilty of wrongthink is only a more aggressive step than making people unemployable. It is all about making speech less free, and ensuring that anyone who criticizes progressive pieties knows they will suffer for it.
It may seem against the American character — a nation that was built on protecting free expression — for there to be such enthusiasm to arrest and fire political dissidents. But Chelsea Handler is not some crazed outlier. She is an entertainer with a huge platform and is an icon to many young women. Her support for the criminalization of “racism” resonates with many in American society, as 40 percent of all millennials support laws prohibiting “hate speech.”
Entertainers and social media activists play the role of enforcers of political correctness, determining what constitutes hate speech and setting the moral tone of political discourse — because these figures are just so morally superior to the rest of the population.
They know who is good and bad, and want everyone informed of this moral hierarchy so employers can hire accordingly.
Polish philosopher Ryszard Legutko has noted the similarity between these moral enforcers in modern America and the communist sycophants of the Eastern Bloc. The commissars and state-supporting intellectuals were obsessed with tracking disloyalty to the regime and defending ideological orthodoxy at every turn.
The ideological zealots are able to feel like they are doing something for the greater good, while also exerting newfound power and the opportunity to gleefully deal out punishment. They imagine themselves a “brave minority facing the whole world” when they actually “belong to the mainstream” and wield “all the instruments of power.”
Legutko points out the importance of shaming of dissidents for these zealots. He also observes how in modern liberal democracy, popular comedians serve the role of telling the public who is guilty of wrongthink instead of government officials.
As the Polish philosopher indicates, an intense sense of moral righteousness is neceessary for thought patrollers to remain vigilant against the unorthodox.
Handler demonstrates this thought-patrolling trait to an extent but she is outclassed by one John Oliver, a comic whose sole role appears to be enforcing progressive dogma.
In the latest episode of his HBO show, Oliver delivered a snarky rant against White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. After listing everything the comedian couldn’t stand about Miller, Oliver then issued his judgment on the presidential speechwriter.
“One of the most revolting human beings I have ever seen,” Oliver stated to the cheers of his audience.
To liberals and leftists, the folks who hold views they strongly disagree aren’t just wrong — they’re bad people. Revolting, even. That’s why there should be no qualms about putting them in jail or taking away their ability to earn a living.
Dissident are evil, and they must be crushed for the good of humanity.
What enables this Soviet commissar mindset to dictate events is corporations and other major institutions caving to the baying mob. By assenting to the demands of left-wing agitators, corporations and institutions recognize the commisars’ moral authority and encourage more witch hunts. (RELATED: Corporations Remain The Biggest Threat To Free Speech)
America will always have crazies who can’t handle differing viewpoints. That doesn’t mean we should let our nation’s crown them as our moral judges.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/09/the-self-righteous-enforcers-of-political-correctness/
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
Comments
comments | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
by
As soon as Kevin Drum at Mother Jones absolved the CIA of spewing poison gas as a provocation, many on the Liberal Left cautiously threw their weight behind Obama and the thrill of waging a punitive war on Syria.
“Perhaps regime change is a good idea,” Tom Hayden speculated in The Nation.
Left paterfamilias Noam Chomsky, who generally shows an appreciation for the subtleties of covert action, claimed that America is not supplying its Al Qaeda mercenary army with arms – even though Eric Schmidt at The New York Times reported over a year ago that CIA officers in Turkey were “helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arm.”
As if Hayden fomenting war and Chomsky covering for the CIA isn’t irony enough, Drum cleared the CIA in response to allegations of a provocation made by Rush Limbaugh. Which raises the question, what are the facts about the CIA’s penchant for “provoked responses” like the one in the Tonkin Gulf that started the Vietnam War?
Simply stated, black propaganda is one of many criminal but legally deniable things the CIA does. It often involves committing a heinous crime and blaming it on an enemy by planting false evidence, and then getting a foreign newspaper to print the CIA’s scripted version of events, which sympathetic journalists in America broadcast to the gullible public.
In the case of Syria, the CIA is using cooked Israeli “intelligence” as a catalyst – which is why, as Johnstone and Bricmont explain, the “intelligence” is so “dubious.”
Black propaganda has other “intelligence” applications as well, and is often used to recruit informants, and create deserters and defectors.
In his autobiography Soldier, Anthony Herbert told how he reported for duty in 1965 in Saigon at the joint CIA-military Specials Operations Group. The spooks asked him to join a secret psywar program. “What they wanted me to do was to take charge of execution teams that wiped out entire families and tried to make it look as though the VC themselves had done the killing. The rationale was that other Vietnamese would see that the VC had killed another VC and would be frightened away from becoming VC themselves. Of course, the villagers would then be inclined to some sort of allegiance to our side.”
As counter-terror guru David Galula explained, “Pseudo insurgents are a way to get intelligence and sow suspicion at the same time between the real guerrillas and the population.”
In a similar case in 1964, a famous CIA propaganda officer organized three armed “survey teams” which operated in neighboring hamlets simultaneously. When Vietcong propaganda teams departed from a hamlet, his cut-throat cadre would move in and speak to one person from each household, so the VC “would have to punish everyone after we left.”
In other words the CIA’s mercenaries (like some the CIA’s mercenaries in Syria) were provocateurs, setting people up for recriminations, for intelligence and publicity purposes.
Here’s another example: in 1964, CIA officer Nelson Brickham worked in the Sino-Soviet Relations Branch, where he managed black propaganda operations designed to cause friction between the USSR and China. At the heart of these black ops were false flag recruitments, in which CIA case officers posed as Soviet intelligence officers and, using actual Soviet cipher systems and methodology, recruited Chinese diplomats, who believed they were working for the Russians. The CIA case officers used the Chinese dupes to create all manner of mischief.
Brickham in 1967 created the Phoenix program in South Vietnam. The Phoenix program’s operations chief in 1970, Colonel Thomas McGrevey, had a “penetration agent” inside COSVN – the Central Office of South Vietnam. COSVN’s deputy finance director was the penetration agent. The deputy alerted McGrevey when the finance director was going on vacation, enabling McGrevey to mount a black propaganda campaign which framed the finance director for running off with embezzled funds.
A circular about the Phoenix program issued by the revolutionary Security Service in 1970, described how the nationalists viewed the CIA. As stated in the circular, “the most wicked maneuvers” of the CIA “have been to seek out every means by which to terrorize revolutionary families and force the people to disclose the location of our agents and join the People’s Self-Defense Force. They also spread false rumors. Their main purpose is to jeopardize the prestige of the revolutionary families, create dissension between them and the people, and destroy the people’s confidence in the revolution. In addition, they also try to bribe poor and miserable revolutionary families into working for them.”
Forged letters are a CIA specialty. Former CIA officer Philip Agee told how he mounted a successful operation using forged letters against Ecuadoran Antonio Flores Benitez, a key member of the Communist revolutionary movement. “By bugging Flores’ phone, we found out a lot of what he was doing. His wife was a blabbermouth. He made a secret trip to Havana and we decided to do a job on him when he landed back in Ecuador. With another officer, I worked all one weekend to compose a “report” from Flores to the Cubans. It was a masterpiece. The report implied that Flores’ group had already received funds from Cuba and was now asking for more money in order to launch guerrilla operations in Ecuador. My Quito station chief loved it so much he just had to get into the act. So he dropped the report on the floor and walked on it awhile to make it look pocket-worn. Then he folded it and stuffed it into a toothpaste tube-from which he had spent three hours carefully squeezing out all the toothpaste. He was like a kid with a new toy. So then I took the tube out to the minister of the treasury, who gave it to his customs inspector. When Flores came through customs, the inspector pretended to go rummaging through one of his suitcases. What he really did, of course, was slip the toothpaste tube into the bag and then pretend to find it there. When he opened the tube, he of course “discovered” the report. Flores was arrested and there was a tremendous scandal. This was one of a series of sensational events that we had a hand in during the first six months of 1963. By late July of that year, the climate of anti-Communist fear was so great that the military seized a pretext and took over the government, jailed all the Communists it could find and outlawed the Communist Party.”
Likewise the catalyst for the 1973 coup in Chile was a forged document-detailing a leftist plot to start a reign of terror – which was discovered by the enemies of President Salvador Allende Gossens. The result was a violent military coup, which the CIA officers (who had set it in motion through disinformation in the Chilean press) sat back and watched from their hammocks in the shade.
And on and on it goes.
General Ed Lansdale formalized CIA black propaganda practices in the early 1950s in the Philippines. To vilify the Communists and win support of Americans, one of his Filipino commando units would dress as rebels and commit atrocities on civilians, and then another unit would magically arrive with cameras to record the staged scenes and chase the “terrorists” away. Cameras were the key.
The CIA also concocted lurid tales of Vietminh soldiers’ disemboweling pregnant Catholic women, castrating priests, and sticking bamboo slivers in the ears of children so they could not hear the Word of God. Lansdale’s henchman, CIA agent-cum-journalist Joseph Alsop, gleefully reported this black propaganda.
The American “press” is the vital, arrogant, fatal, dominant X in black propaganda. When it comes to the CIA and the American press, one black hand washes the other. To gain access to CIA officials, reporters suppress or distort stories. They sell their black souls for scoops. In return, CIA officials leak stories to them. At its most incestuous, reporters and CIA officers are blood relatives. At one point, The New York Times correspondent in Vietnam, James Lemoyne, just happened to be the brother of the CIA’s counter-terror team chief in the Delta, Navy Commander Charles Lemoyne.
In a democratic society the media ought to investigate and report objectively on the government, which is under no obligation to inform the public of its activities and which, when it does, puts a “spin” on the news. As part of the Faustian Pact, when government activities are conducted in secret, illegally, reporters look away rather than jeopardize profitable relationships. The intended result is that the unwitting public is robbed of its freedom of speech – for how can you speak freely if you don’t know what’s going on?
If Lansdale hadn’t had Alsop to print his black propaganda, there probably would have been no Vietnam War. Likewise, Judith Miller, disgraced facilitator of the war on Iraq and rehabilitated Fox KKK-TV correspondent, brought you the Iraq War through false documents provided by CIA analysts.
We rarely know who the Alsops and Millers are in our midst, until after the fact. The CIA has a strict policy of keeping its atrocities to itself. And it is aided, in its eternal quest to deceive the American public, by the fact that black propaganda validates the beliefs of the Kevin Dumbs among us, as it assures their imagined security and sense of being exceptional.
In fact, black propaganda operations, and the CIA itself, are antithetical to democratic institutions.
A big part of the CIA’s current success is its ability to deliver its message through Left publications, and the Left’s unstated policy of self-censorship in regard to CIA operations. Most insidious, perhaps, are the former CIA officers who claim to be anti-war, and seek a veil of immunity by claiming to have been “analysts.” This is akin to saying “I was a bookkeeper for the Mafia. I never killed anyone.”
Of course it’s the bookkeepers who tell the bosses the names and addresses of the delinquents who haven’t paid their extortion money this week. The Phoenix Directorate in Saigon had analysts performing the same assassination, kidnapping and torture function on an industrial scale.
Despite the popular portrayal of the CIA as patriotic guys and girls risking everything to do a dirty job, the typical CIA officer is a sociopath without the guts to go it alone in the underworld. They gravitate to the CIA because they are protected there by the all-powerful Cult of Death that rules America.
The most dangerous facet of having former CIA officers slithering around is their uniform message that the CIA is necessary. These are not Phil Agees, revealing the ugly truth and calling for the CIA’s abolition. Like all the CIA’s political and psychological warfare experts, they are at the forefront of the war on terror, using psywar to achieve the goals of the Cult of Death that rules America. The result is a theatre of the absurd, a world of illusion.
Now we are told that the CIA Syrian mercenaries may launch a chemical attack on Israel from government-controlled territories as a “major provocation.” What you can be sure of is that some provocation will be launched and that the press, including most of the Left, will cover it up.
Doug Valentine is the author of five books, including The Phoenix Program. See www.douglasvalentine.com or write to him at [email protected] | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Main Features:
1. Mi Home Security Camera is sold at CNY 129 in China.
2. Xiaomi already sells Mi Home Security Camera 360 in India.
3. Mi Home Security Camera include AI-powered detection engine.
More Details:
According to the Xiaomi teaser, it will be announcing the new product sometime today. There is no official word on what will be introduced, but if the teaser is any indication, we will end up seeing the Mi Home Security Camera. Among other smart home products, Xiaomi India currently offers Mi Air Purifier 2S, Mi Home Security Camera 360, and Mi Router 3C devices.
Mi Home Security Camera Features, Price: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Given their narrow majority, Senate Republicans prefer to let Andrew Wheeler continue as acting administrator rather than squeeze in another confirmation fight before the November mid-terms.
The Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
As the Senate braces for what's likely to be a brutal confirmation fight for President Donald Trump's latest Supreme Court nominee, Republicans are hoping to delay the process of permanently replacing Scott Pruitt as the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Politico reports.
The EPA's deputy administrator, Andrew Wheeler, took over as acting administrator last week after Pruitt, facing over a dozen investigations into his potential ethics violations, resigned. Given the Republicans' narrow majority right now, Senate Republicans prefer to let Wheeler continue to direct the agency as acting administrator rather than try to squeeze in another confirmation fight before the November mid-term elections.
Wheeler could serve as acting administrator until February of 2019, according to the rules of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, as long as Trump doesn't nominate him to become the permanent administrator. It's not clear yet who the president wants to run the agency going forward, but several senators told Politico they would support a Wheeler nomination.
"I've known Andy Wheeler for a number of years," Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) told Politico. "I think he'll probably be there, in whatever capacity, as long as he wants to be."
Wheeler has a cozy relationship with several Senate Republicans thanks to decades on the hill as a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry and as a legislative aid to one of the Senate's most vocal climate change deniers. As Pacific Standard wrote last week:
Wheeler served as a legislative aid to Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), who has called teaching children climate science "brainwashing." But you may remember him best as the senator who brought a snowball onto the Senate floor to showcase the "hysteria" of global warming. When Wheeler's nomination was announced, Inhofe said, "There is no one more qualified than Andrew to help Scott Pruitt restore EPA to its proper size and scope."
Environmental and public-health groups, however, will not allow Wheeler to permanently take over the agency without a fight. Many worry the Beltway insider will carry out the Trump administration's assault on environmental regulations more efficiently and effectively than Pruitt would have.
"He's not likely to fly first class on taxpayers' dollars, or any of the other scandals that brought Pruitt down. In some ways he's more dangerous because he's not going to do the flagrantly attention-grabbing things," the Environmental Defense Fund's Keith Gaby told Pacific Standard last week. "The real danger of Pruitt was his letting industry do what it wants without considering the pubic-health impacts. Wheeler's got the same agenda, but as a lobbyist and congressional staffer he knows how to work the bureaucratic machinery." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This is an expanded version of a story that originally appeared on AndrewGelman.com and is reproduced here with permission.
Last week, the replication crisis in psychology was pushed back into the news when Susan Fiske, a former president of the Association for Psychological Science, wrote a column in which she criticized “online vigilantes” on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook who have taken prominent work in social psychology to task. Fiske likened these “destructo-critics” to “methodological terrorists.” This broadside was controversial, with myself and others responding that, when it comes to pointing out errors in published work, social media has been necessary. There just has been no reasonable alternative.
A couple days later, the other shoe dropped, as Dana Carney, one of the authors of a famous study proposing that power stances could translate into powerful feelings, disclaimed that work, which she had done in collaboration with Andy Yap and Amy Cuddy, a former student of Fiske. (I wrote about the power-pose study, which was conducted in 2010 but failed to replicate in 2014, earlier this year for Slate.) In a statement, which she posted on her website, Carney wrote, “The evidence against the existence of power poses is undeniable. … I do not think the effect is real.”
This note from Carney was wonderful news. I think it’s a great step forward when people are willing to reconsider their published research in light of methodological and empirical criticism.
The criticisms are valid. Researchers study small effects with noisy measurements and then look through their data to find statistically significant comparisons. This approach will be expected to lead to unreplicable claims. But, worse than that, it can lead to research communities where unreplicable results seem to reinforce each other: Study a small effect with noisy measurements, and any statistically significant claim will necessarily massively overestimate any underlying effects. In follow-up studies, researchers will then expect to see comparably huge effects, hence they anticipate “high power” (in statistics jargon), and they expect high rates of success. Coming into their studies with this expectation, they can feel justified in jiggling their data until they get the findings they want. The resulting claims get published in journals, their findings are believed, and the cycle continues.
But this is a problem in lots of scientific fields. Why does psychology continue to dominate the news when it comes to discussion of the replication crisis?
Why not economics, which is more controversial and gets more space in the news media? Or medicine, which has higher stakes and a regular flow of well-publicized scandals?
Here are some relevant factors that I see, within the field of psychology:
1. Sophistication: Psychology’s discourse on validity, reliability, and latent constructs is much more sophisticated than the usual treatment of measurement in statistics, economics, biology, etc. One reason for this is that psychology is an inherently difficult field, studying constructs such as personality, intelligence, and motivation, which are undeniably important but which by their nature are “latent constructs” that cannot be measured directly. Psychologist Paul Meehl raised serious questions about research methods as early as the 1960s, at a time when other fields were just getting naïve happy talk about how all problems would be solved with randomized experiments.
2. Overconfidence deriving from research designs: When we talk about the replication crisis in psychology, we’re mostly talking about lab experiments and surveys. Either way, you get clean identification of comparisons, hence there’s an assumption that simple textbook methods can’t go wrong. We’ve seen similar problems in economics (for example, a paper on air pollution in China that was based on a naïve trust in regression discontinuity analysis, not recognizing that, when you come down to it, what they had was an observational study), but lab experiments and surveys in psychology are typically so clean that researchers sometimes can’t seem to imagine that there could be any problems with their methods. And then researchers let their overconfidence about “statistical significance” leak into their analyses of observational data such as in the notorious “himmicanes and hurricanes” paper.
3. Openness. This one hurts: Psychology’s bad press is in part a consequence of its open culture, which manifests in various ways. To start with, psychology is institutionally open. Sure, there are some bad actors who refuse to share their data or who try to suppress dissent. Overall, though, psychology offers many channels of communication, even including the involvement of outsiders such as myself. One can compare to economics, which is notoriously resistant to ideas coming from other fields.
And, compared to medicine, psychology is much less restricted by financial and legal considerations. Biology and medicine are big business, and there are huge financial incentives for suppressing negative results, silencing critics, and flat-out cheating. In psychology, it’s relatively easy to get your hands on the data or at least to find mistakes in published work.
4. Involvement of some of prominent academics. Research controversies in other fields typically seem to involve fringe elements in their professions, and when discussing science publication failures, you might just say that Andrew Wakefield had an ax to grind and the editor of the Lancet is a sucker for political controversy, or that Richard Tol has an impressive talent for getting bad work published in good journals. In the rare cases when a big shot is involved (for example, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff), it is indeed big news. But, in psychology, the replication crisis has engulfed Fiske, Roy Baumeister, John Bargh, Carol Dweck … these are leaders in their field. So there’s a legitimate feeling that the replication crisis strikes at the heart of psychology, or at least social psychology; it’s hard to dismiss it as a series of isolated incidents.
5. Everyone loves psychology: It’s often of general interest (hence all the press coverage, TED Talks, and so on) and accessible, both in its subject matter and its methods. Biomedicine is all about development and DNA and all sorts of technical matters; to understand empirical economics you need to know about regression models; but the ideas and methods of psychology are right out in the open for all to see. At the same time, most of psychology is not politically controversial. If an economist makes a dramatic claim, journalists can call up experts on the left and the right and present a nuanced view. At least until recently, reporting about psychology followed the “scientist as bold discoverer” template, from Gladwell on down.
What do you get when you put it together?
The strengths and weaknesses of the field of research psychology seemed to have combined to (a) encourage the publication and dissemination of lots of low-quality, unreplicable research, while (b) creating the conditions for this problem to be recognized, exposed, and discussed openly.
It makes sense for psychology researchers to be embarrassed that those papers on power pose, ESP, himmicanes, etc. were published in their top journals and promoted by leaders in their field. Just to be clear: I’m not saying there’s anything embarrassing or illegitimate about studying and publishing papers on power pose, ESP, or himmicanes. Speculation and data exploration are fine with me; indeed, they’re a necessary part of science. My problem with those papers is that they presented speculation as mature theory, that they presented data exploration as confirmatory evidence, and that they were not part of research programs that could accommodate criticism. That’s bad news for psychology, as it would be for any other field.
But psychologists can express legitimate pride in the methodological sophistication that has given them avenues to understand the replication crisis, in the openness that has allowed prominent work to be criticized, and in the collaborative culture that has facilitated replication projects. Let’s not let the breakthrough-of-the-week hype and the TED Talk–ing hawkers and the “replication rate is statistically indistinguishable from 100 percent” blowhards distract us from all the good work that has showed us how to think more seriously about statistical evidence and scientific replication. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
RE: What's so cool about Scheme?
To: "Guy Steele - Sun Microsystems Labs" <address@hidden>, <address@hidden>
Subject: RE: What's so cool about Scheme?
From: "Anton van Straaten" <address@hidden>
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 13:13:21 -0400
Cc: <address@hidden>
Importance: Normal
In-reply-to: <[email protected]>
Sender: address@hidden
Guy Steele wrote: > Mike Newhall wrote: > At 08:23 PM 2003.06.03 -0400, Anton van Straaten wrote: > >I can sort of agree with that, but really, without closures, > >people will - and do - use all sorts of hacks anyway - > >objects, for example ;o) > > As an aside, although I don't remember the exact argument, Christian > Queinnec in LISP In Small Pieces made the case that, although > many people consider objects to be 'poor man's closures', closures > are in fact poor man's objects (in his opinion). > > A closure is an object that supports exactly one method: "apply". That's true from one perspective, and was what I was thinking of related to objects being used as hacks to work around lack of closures. A closure's simplicity can be an asset: classes and interfaces can get in the way of simple parameterization of behavior. Anyone who's tried functional programming in Java or C++ has encountered this - it can be done, but it's more tedious. If all you want to do is e.g. (map somefun mylist), being able to concisely define executable "objects" (closures), inline if necessary, is very useful. But from another perspective, the apply "method" of a closure can be used as a low-level method dispatch mechanism, so closures can be, and are, used to implement very effective objects with multiple methods. Oleg Kiselyov has a short article on the subject: http://okmij.org/ftp/Scheme/oop-in-fp.txt Used in this way, closures can be said to be richer than objects because they can support many more capabilities than just a single language-provided method dispatch mechanism. With closures seen as a building block with which to implement objects, it's clear that objects are a poor man's closures. But a Smalltalker might say hold on, if you're going to all the trouble to implement these closure thingies in your language, since they're already a lot like objects, why not go all the way and make them "real" objects that can support an arbitrary number of methods, so that a closure is just one special-case kind of object? If your language only has these restricted closures, and you're forced to build an object system on top of them, it's clear that closures are a poor man's objects. Given this tension between opposites, I maintain that the question of closures vs. objects should really be a koan. I'll take some koanic license and combine Norman Adams (alleged source of "objects are a poor man's closures") and Christian Queinnec ("closures are a poor man's objects") into a single great Zen language master named Qc Na. I'll also take the un-humble step of inserting myself as student, since as I mentioned in the last paragraph of this message: http://www.ai.mit.edu/~gregs/ll1-discuss-archive-html/msg01488.html ...I believe I did in fact gain some enlightenment from considering these two apparently opposing positions. Here goes: * * * The venerable master Qc Na was walking with his student, Anton. Hoping to prompt the master into a discussion, Anton said "Master, I have heard that objects are a very good thing - is this true?" Qc Na looked pityingly at his student and replied, "Foolish pupil - objects are merely a poor man's closures." Chastised, Anton took his leave from his master and returned to his cell, intent on studying closures. He carefully read the entire "Lambda: The Ultimate..." series of papers and its cousins, and implemented a small Scheme interpreter with a closure-based object system. He learned much, and looked forward to informing his master of his progress. On his next walk with Qc Na, Anton attempted to impress his master by saying "Master, I have diligently studied the matter, and now understand that objects are truly a poor man's closures." Qc Na responded by hitting Anton with his stick, saying "When will you learn? Closures are a poor man's object." At that moment, Anton became enlightened. :) | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Boot camp workouts are growing in popularity. Groups of people can be seen sweating and straining in fitness boot camps at most gyms and in many parks around the nation. The trainer barks out commands and motivates the participants to push themselves as they move through weight lifting workouts and cardio exercise. Armed with a little knowledge, you can do boot camp workouts at home. If you adopt a simple workout routine, you are more like to stick with it. After all, the one thing boot camp workouts at home lack is the motivational trainer. Fat burning workouts for men and women should include both weight training and cardiovascular activities. Weight training burns calories and it also builds muscle which speeds up your metabolism even when you are not exercising. Cardiovascular or aerobic activities not only burn calories, but they also increase the rate at which you burn calories for some time after you finish exercising. Remember to warm up for 5-10 minutes by walking or doing some other light aerobic activity. Have a water bottle nearby to keep yourself hydrated. Do some gentle stretching and light cardio at the end of your workout to cool down. Ending your workout this way helps prevent cramps and irregular heartbeats. Be sure to check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.
Here are some suggestions to get you started:
1. Squat thrusts
2. Jumping jacks with front kicks
3. Slow push ups
4. Plyo-jacks
5. Walking lunge
6. Ski jumps
7. Wall sit with chest squeeze
8. Triceps dips
9. High jogs
10. One armed planks
A trip to the library, local book store or internet search can help you learn how to do these exercises properly. You may want to make a small investment in a personal trainer or a few boot camp sessions so that you learn to do these exercises safely. If you do not have good form, you can actually do more harm than good. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Salt Lake City police have located the man captured on video hitting another man after asking if he was gay.
The assault is shown in an eight-second video posted to Twitter on Sunday by Sal Trejo. It quickly spread, catching the attention of the community, elected leaders and the news media.
“He just messed with the wrong queers,” Trejo said. “We knew that we would be able to find him because we have the resources and we have the support of the great community here in Salt Lake City.”
The assault took place on the sidewalk near 327 S. Main St. about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. The video starts with the suspect asking, “Are you gay, though?”
Trejo responds, “Oh, I am.”
“Oh, then you are gay.”
“Yeah, but ...”
That’s when the man smacks him with his right hand.
Here is the video. Warning, it includes violence and explicit language:
My friends and I were assaulted by this homophobic man in downtown Salt Lake City last night. Anyone know him? The police are interested in having a chat with him. #SaltLakeCity @slcpd @slcmayor @EqualityUtah pic.twitter.com/1tPFSCADOp — Salonge Knowles (@saltrejo) February 17, 2019
“I’ve been called a f----t [anti-gay slur] before," Trejo said, “but I’ve never been hit before.”
He said that after being initially discouraged when police first told him there was little chance the man could be found, “We’ve gotten great support from them. They’ve been very responsive.”
According to a tweet from Salt Lake City police, detectives “have made contact with the suspect who is cooperating fully with the investigation.” Police confirmed that the clash is under investigation as a possible hate crime.
“I’m glad they’ve made contact with him,” Trejo said. “A part of me is saddened that he also has to go through this, because it’s not easy. But I hope he learns a valuable lesson, and I hope that something good can come out of this."
He said the clash began when the man confronted him and three friends, shouting “homophobic and misogynistic" slurs at them. Trejo said he then began recording video with his phone because the man was “getting increasingly aggressive verbally." The man — whom police have not identified — not only hit Trejo but also shoved one of the women who was with him, Trejo said.
Trejo and his friends “got in the guy’s face” after he threw the punch, and in reaction the man pulled out a knife. He walked south on Main Street, and "eventually got in his car and drove on the [TRAX] tracks.”
Trejo said he wasn’t hurt, “but the point here is he did hit me. He did get aggressive. And he did pull out a weapon.”
(Photo courtesy Sal Trejo) Sal Trejo was punched by a man who was shouting gay slurs at him on a sidewalk in downtown Salt Lake City.
"Emotionally, it was very difficult,” he said. “People need to know that this is happening. People need to know that this was not OK. And that if you do this to somebody, you are going to be caught. You are going to be held accountable for your actions.
“It’s been shocking. It’s been difficult. It’s been overwhelming. But there also has been an overwhelming outpouring of love and support from people all over.”
State Sen. Derek Kitchen, D-Salt Lake City and the only openly gay member of Utah’s Legislature, also took to social media, posting the video late Sunday with this message: “It’s time for the UT Legislature to act on hate crimes legislation.”
Trejo said he hopes what happened to him will help prompt the Legislature to act.
“As somebody who believes strongly in everybody’s equal rights, and as somebody who is very proudly gay — I never hide that part of me — it’s sad that it happened to me and my friends," he said. "But I’m glad that it did in the sense that we can share our story and hopefully shed some light on this and get something happening to protect people.”
Equality Utah posted that the group is “deeply alarmed. ... No one should be attacked simply because of who they are."
This comes a week after a pride flag was torn in front of Laziz Kitchen, the restaurant owned by Kitchen and his husband, Moudi Sbeity.
State lawmakers have rebuffed repeated efforts to toughen Utah’s toothless hate-crimes law. The most recent version has yet to get a hearing.
Tribune editor Matt Canham contributed to this article. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
It’s time for today’s edition of “Rudy Giuliani Has Lost His Damn Mind.” Rudy has taken to the interweb to brag that he’s done some consulting with fancy lawyers, and Democrats should be scared that Donald Trump might sue them.
We are carefully considering our legal options to seek redress against Congress and individual members, for engaging in an organized effort to exceed their limited powers, under the Constitution, and… — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) October 2, 2019
…to trample on the constitutional rights of citizens in an illicit plan carried out by illegal means, to remove the President of the US, on deliberately falsified charges. — Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) October 2, 2019
Geez, I remember when Giuliani was considered a formidable legal mind. Hell, I was proud to be on New York City’s legal staff when he was a mayor who stood up for things like immigrants’ rights. But the stuff he’s saying now is next-level lunacy.
Let’s break this insanity down, word by ludicrous word:
We are carefully considering our legal options to seek redress against Congress and individual members…
Before we get into the substance, who is “we”? I know Rudy got used to the spotlight back when he was throwing out the first pitch in every stadium that would have him, but there’s no “we” here. There’s Trump. And Trump stands alone as the American President, horrifying though that image may be. Giuliani may be Trump’s chief sycophant, but his primary role with respect to Trump is basically to string together incoherent sound bites for cable news. Giuliani isn’t integral to the Trump + America = Impeachment equation, no matter how much (or how ironically) he likes to think of himself as “a friend of ours.”
Now let’s talk about these “legal options to seek redress against Congress and individual members.” Giuliani is talking about suing elected officials for doing their official jobs. It appears Rudy’s position is that because Trump has done nothing wrong, investigating and/or impeaching him for perceived wrongdoing is some sort of violation of Trump’s constitutional rights. That’s a lot of bullshit to unpack, so let’s go slowly.
To begin, members of Congress are immune from civil liability based on things they say during official government business. The concept is that a democratic government can’t function properly if everyone is worried they’ll get sued for saying the wrong thing while they’re debating bills or drafting legislation. Usually, we’re talking about liability for defamation here, since that’s the most likely issue to arise as a result of something a Congressman says during a session.
Giuliani, though, suggested on Fox News that the basis for this mysterious liability is that members of Congress have formed a “conspiracy” to deprive Trump of his rights. Perhaps Rudy recalls from his days as a prosecutor that multiple people acting together to commit a crime can be prosecuted for conspiracy. If we’re following Giuliani’s logic, he believes that Trump has a Constitutional right to be president, and stripping him of that right is somehow illegal.
If we were talking about a situation where, say, Trump won the election but was later denied the presidency, we might have something. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about Trump’s “right” to hold on to the presidency. That’s a whole different story. Elected officials do not have the “right” stay in office after they’ve been removed for wrongdoing.
Speaking of removal, Giuliani may believe Congressional impeachment constitutes, “an organized effort to exceed their limited powers,” but he’s demonstrably wrong there too. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution sets out the rules for presidential impeachment, and it’s abundantly clear that no president has an absolute right to stay on the throne in the oval office. Removal of a president for malfeasance was part of the founders’ plan right from the start.
Of course, there is considerable disagreement over the intended meaning of “High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Some believe that the language means that the president must have committed a pretty serious crime – -a view which the historical record certainly supports. President Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath, and Andrew Johnson was impeached for violating a federal statute. Others (including some constitutional experts) believe the phrase means any action “performed in an official capacity by a government official that violates the basic principles of government” – obviously a much looser standard.
Regardless of where one stands on the matter of which crime is high enough to warrant impeachment proceedings, there can be no question that Congress has the legal power to conduct those proceedings. Giuliani certainly knows that.
So what, then, is his point? It seems that he is likening a presidential impeachment to some kind of malicious prosecution. Under American law, we sometimes allow a person a civil legal claim if they were unfairly victimized by a criminal prosecution conducted for nefarious purposes. However, malicious prosecution claims are common-law tort claims – and have zero to do with the U.S. Constitution or these magical experts Giuliani has consulted. This is a tangential issue, for sure, given that a presidential impeachment isn’t a prosecution at all. While there are similarities between criminal prosecutions and impeachment proceedings, they’re also very, very different. Impeachments are like trials in that evidence is presented and examined –but evidentiary rules aren’t employed, standards of proof aren’t proscribed, and procedure isn’t mandated. Most importantly, impeachments are inherently political tools, with political – and not criminal– consequences. A president might lose his job and be ousted in shame – but that’s basically it.
In reality, it would be impossible for an impeachment proceeding to be “rogue.” Only Congress can impeach; therefore, by definition, impeachment is, by definition, an official action.
Now what about Rudy’s characterization of impeachment as a way for Trump-haters, “to trample on the constitutional rights of citizens in an illicit plan carried out by illegal means, to remove the President of the US, on deliberately falsified charges.” That certainly does sound sinister. But Trump has no “constitutional right” to remain president, and Congress has every right to use impeachment as a “means” to throw him out. That leaves us with “deliberately falsified charges.” Usually, suing someone for spreading deliberately false information is done via a defamation claim, and we’ve already covered how that’s not going to work with members of Congress.
Fully into the “magical thinking” stage of Rudy’s Impeachment defense now — [email protected] (@TheGlare_TM) October 2, 2019
For now, it’s probably best that Giuliani spend his free time prepping for his own testimony rather than talking contingency-fees for Trump’s winning lawsuit against Congressional Dems.
[image via SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images]
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Look: Statement of Contributions and Expenditures of Mar Roxas pic.twitter.com/WJYRgTFiG7 — Pia Gutierrez (@pia_gutierrez) June 22, 2016
Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Manuel "Mar" Roxas spent at least P487 million in the 2016 elections and showed off a truckload of receipts to prove it.
In his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) dated June 21, presented to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Wednesday, Roxas claimed to have received P469 million in campaign contributions.
Bulk of the contribution was from his mother, Judy Araneta-Roxas, who donated P110 million for the campaign.
With Roxas' SOCE were at least 50 boxes of receipts and SOCE attachments that came via a yellow truck.
Yellow truck containing 50 boxes of Roxas' SOCE documents arrive at the Comelec pic.twitter.com/PWQFuRI0hx — Pia Gutierrez (@pia_gutierrez) June 22, 2016
Gutierrez said Roxas was only following "in full ang spirit ng batas [law] which is the full disclosure of campaign expenses."
Staff begin unloading boxes of Roxas' SOCE documents in front of the Comelec office pic.twitter.com/dQcEgn2LWR — Pia Gutierrez (@pia_gutierrez) June 22, 2016
It could be recalled that the Liberal Party missed the deadline of SOCE filing, saying it needed more time to collate hundreds of receipts to prove campaign expenditures.
Comelec en banc eventually granted LP's request for an extension of the SOCE filing until June 30. The poll body however drew criticisms and the extension led to the resignation of one of the poll commissioners.
Commissioners who voted for the extension are Arthur Lim, Rowena Guanzon, Al Parreño and Sheriff Abbas.
Comelec Chairman Andy Bautista, Campaign Finance Office Chair Christian Robert Lim, and Commissioner Luie Guia voted against the extension.
Lim had said the 30-day period of filing from the day of the election is a "hard deadline" set by Section 14 of Republic Act 7166. He added that the commission has not been given authority by Congress to fix the period of filing for SOCE.
As such, "any extension given by the Commission is tantamount to an amendment of the law," Lim said.
"To grant the extension would not only be unfair to other candidates and parties who complied within the prescribed period but also would be a reversal of the Commission's own resolution on the matter," he added.
The SOCE is a requirement of the Comelec, wherein candidates declare the amount of campaign contributions they received, whether in cash or in kind, and the amount they spent for their campaign. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
¿Qué tan sustentable será la actual administración? La respuesta es ¡quién sabe! Por un lado, se prohibirá el fracking para proteger al medio ambiente, por el otro, hay una denuncia por el desmonte ilegal de vegetación en el terreno para la refinería Dos Bocas.
Mientras que la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) se pronuncia a favor de las energías limpias , las subastas de largo plazo y las licitaciones para construir las líneas de transmisión necesarias para aprovechar la electricidad de los campos eólicos de Oaxaca se cancelan.
En este marco, resulta importante que el titular de la CFE, Manuel Barlett, mencionara que economías como Alemania impulsaron el desarrollo de energías limpias y los precios de la electricidad subieron. Si no se conoce el contexto de este caso internacional, el comentario podría interpretarse como que las energías renovables no son tan recomendables para nuestro país.
Agora Energiewende, un think tank alemán, publicó en febrero de este año un análisis sobre la transición energética de dicho país. En él destacan tres lecciones que me parecen clave, y de las que podría aprender México ahora que se están articulando los programas sectoriales.
1. La Energiewende (traducida en español como transición energética) es producto de un proceso de planeación con objetivos claros y con una hoja de ruta concreta. Esta estrategia comenzó en la década de los 90 con el fin de eliminar progresivamente la energía nuclear y aumentar la seguridad energética –pues habría menos necesidad de importar combustibles fósiles.
A la fecha, se ha logrado que más del 38% del consumo de electricidad provenga de fuentes renovables, así como una reducción del 58% de energía nuclear. Esto último se ha compensado con un mayor uso de carbón (lignito, que es más contaminante). Sin embargo, el Gobierno alemán tiene un plan para eliminar gradualmente esta fuente de aquí a 2038, el cual contempla acciones para reducir los efectos en la industria minera local.
2. Se proyecta que en 2050 la mayoría de la energía provenga de fuentes renovables a pesar de su intermitencia. “Los aerogeneradores y los páneles fotovoltaicos solo producen electricidad cuando brilla el sol y cuando sopla el viento”. Pero esto no ha sido una barrera para los alemanes, puesto que han modificado la operación del sistema eléctrico para que sea más flexible.
Esto incluye pronósticos cada vez más precisos, medidas activas de gestión de la red y reservas. Además, ha caído ligeramente la demanda con eficiencia energética. En un futuro, todo esto irá avanzando con mejor tecnología. Por ejemplo, se espera contar con pilas a nivel regional e individual.
3. Los costos elevados de electricidad en Alemania, en parte se explican por ser pionero en renovables y la forma en la que se incentivó su uso. Alemania es el segundo país con los mayores costos de electricidad. Esto se debe, en cierta medida, a que comenzó a implementar las tecnologías solares y eólicas antes de que comenzara la caída en sus costos.
Además, esta estrategia se implementó a partir de una intervención excesiva por parte del Gobierno. Por ejemplo, las energías renovables se detonaron a base de subsidios, hay grandes consumidores de electricidad que están protegidos contra alzas en las tarifas y aún faltan líneas de transmisión para llevar la energía limpia de donde se produce a donde se necesita.
Como respuesta, en 2017, Alemania reformó la ley para crear campos eólicos y solares de gran escala por medio de subastas y actualmente existen planes para ampliar la red.
A pesar de los costos elevados de electricidad, la economía alemana ha crecido en los últimos años y ha logrado desvincular este crecimiento del consumo eléctrico. Además, las inversiones en las energías renovables han detonado empleos. En 2017, esta industria empleó a más de 330 mil trabajadores, el doble que en 2004.
Si se comparan México y Alemania es posible notar que los escenarios son diferentes. México abrió su sector energético cuando los costos de las tecnologías para renovables tenían una tendencia a la baja, la cual se espera que continúe. Además, en la reforma energética se consideraron mecanismos para incluir a la iniciativa privada de una forma eficiente (con las subastas).
La intermitencia no debería ser una barrera para México, pero sí una razón para adecuar las inversiones y la operación del sistema eléctrico si quisiera hacer una apuesta por la sustentabilidad. Si bien hay retos que resolver, las energías renovables pueden contribuir a la seguridad energética de nuestro país de una forma más limpia y sustentable, sin violar los compromisos que hemos adquirido en la lucha contra el cambio climático.
La pregunta clave es ¿cuál es el objetivo que tiene México para el corto, mediano y largo plazo? No es fácil interpretarlo en medio del discurso, pero por los hechos, pareciera que en el centro de estas decisiones está el rescate de las empresas paraestatales y no el bienestar de los ciudadanos.
Publicado por Expansión
04-04-2019 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
At least one employee of the U.S. Federal Reserve sees the value of bitcoin and mining for it if you get your computing power for free. Nicholas Berthaume, who is now a former employee, was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and fined $5,000 for installing unauthorized bitcoin software on a Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System server.
According to a news release by the Office of Inspector General, Berthaume pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful conversion of government property.
Working as a Communications Analyst, Berthaume had access to some Board computer servers. He put the computing power of a federal server to work for him. Mining is costly after all, as nowadays it tends to use more electricity than a miner earns. Unless a person has excess power from a solar farm for mining, then stealing electricity for mining is an option some people choose. You may have heard about the three men and one woman recently arrested in Venezuela for electricity theft and internet fraud.
At any rate, Berthaume chose to install “unauthorized software on a Board server to connect to an online bitcoin network in order to earn bitcoins.” He continued to mine bitcoins on the Fed’s server for over two years, from March 2012 to June 2014.
OIG investigators were unable to tell how many bitcoins Berthaume earned using that server “due to the anonymity of the bitcoin network.” Berthaume didn’t offer up that information either. In fact, he at first denied having any knowledge of the bitcoin mining software.
At some point during his scheme, he also “modified certain security safeguards so that he could remotely access the server from home.” But after already lying about having no knowledge of wrongdoing, Berthaume “remotely deleted the software that he had installed in an effort to conceal his actions.”
Eventually forensic analysis by OIG agents and members of the Federal Reserve System's National Incident Response Team pointed the finger of blame at Berthaume. He was fired from the Board and later admitted his guilt and cooperated in the investigation.
The OIG reported that no Board information was lost due to Berthaume’s actions. The incident was enough for the Board to implement “security enhancements.”
Mark Bialek, Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, wrote:
This case demonstrates how my office will vigorously pursue Board employees who unlawfully abuse their positions and use government property for personal gain. I commend our agents for their diligent work. I also thank the Board's Division of Information Technology for its cooperation and the U.S. Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section for its assistance.
If you are interested in mining bitcoin, here are purportedly some tips on the best hardware, software and mining pools and operations. Here are some interesting facts learned by an off-grid miner. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Last month I launched an historic action in the federal court of Australia against the National Archives of Australia, calling for the release of correspondence between the governor general Sir John Kerr and the Queen at the time of the dismissal of the Whitlam government.
More than 40 years have passed since Kerr took that extraordinarily divisive step, and in that time the history of the dismissal has been fundamentally recast through archival revelations and posthumously released interviews. In this historical corrective no single holding has been more definitive than Kerr’s papers held by the national archives.
His papers on the dismissal were made available for public access in 2005, as required under the Archives Act, and they proved to be a spectacular addition to the historical record. Kerr’s notes, letters, journal and hand-written reflections revealed for instance the critical involvement of Sir Anthony Mason, then a justice of the high court, in the dismissal and Kerr’s collusion with the leader of the opposition, Malcolm Fraser, before and after. Although we now know so much more of this once secret history of the dismissal, the history is yet incomplete because one part of Kerr’s papers remains closed to us – the “palace letters”.
Unlike Kerr’s official records, these letters between Kerr and the Queen in the months leading up to Kerr’s dismissal of Gough Whitlam, are described as “personal papers” and closed to public access. The conditions on their release are quite remarkable – not least because they were put in place, according to Government House, the governor general’s office, “at Her Majesty the Queen’s instructions”. The letters are closed until 2027, after which the Queen retains an indefinite veto over their release.
The palace letters are extraordinarily significant historical documents. They are contemporaneous “real time” communications between the governor general and the monarch, written at a time of great political drama. How is it possible that ensuring public access to such critical historical records has necessitated federal court action, despite the clear provision of the Archives Act that commonwealth records be opened after 30 years?
The simple answer is, because of that single word – “personal”. Here is the most perplexing element in the pursuit of the palace letters, how any communication between the governor general and the Queen could be seen as “personal”. The letters were exchanged precisely because of their respective official positions and exist as formal communications between the monarch and her “representative in Australia”, the governor general. Kerr himself described his letters as his duty – and he fulfilled that duty to excess, writing dozens of letters in just a few weeks, all of which are locked away in our own national archives waiting for the Queen to grant us permission to know her role in our history.
A copy of the letter of dismissal held at the National Archives in Canberra, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 written by then governor general Sir John Kerr in 1975. Sir John dismissed the Gough Whitlam Labor government before Liberal opposition leader Malcolm Fraser was made caretaker prime minister until an election could be held.
The description of the palace letters as “personal” has created an impenetrable catch-22. Not only has it denied us access to them; it has left us with no easy way to appeal against it. Since they are not considered “commonwealth records” the letters do not come under the provisions of the Archives Act, and so the refusal of access cannot be appealed either internally or through the administrative appeals tribunal. It is a brazen sophistry that risks being seen as a subversion of the Archives Act. The only avenue left to us is the far more onerous one of a challenge at the federal court.
This case is too important for both the history of the dismissal and the principle of open access for it not to be taken. I could not be doing so without the exceptional generosity of the team of leading lawyers working on a pro bono basis. A crowd-funding campaign has also been launched through Chuffed, “Release the Palace letters”, to support the action. The response has been remarkable with more than a third of our target reached in the first week, and generating a remarkable level of interest. We still have a long way to go and I encourage everyone to support this case and help us reclaim our history.
This case is about more than just the immediate issue of ensuring public access to the palace letters, important though that is, it is also about ensuring the principle of public access to correspondence between the governor general and the monarch once and for all. Without such a case we would continue in the untenable situation for a democracy in which we do not control access to our own history.
Of singular importance in the letters, should we succeed, will be to know exactly what Kerr told the Queen. Did he set out for her faithfully and completely all that he failed to reveal to the Australian public? Did Kerr tell the Queen for instance of his secret meetings and conversations with Mason; of his meetings with chief justice Sir Garfield Barwick in defiance of Whitlam’s advice; of his secret telephone communications with Fraser which both men denied for decades?
And did he tell the Queen of Whitlam’s decision to call the half-Senate election which was to be announced in the House of Representatives on the afternoon of 11 November 1975? Did Kerr craft the same narrative for royal consumption that he established in his memoirs and his numerous apologia and which we now know, from material in his own papers, to be self-serving, specious and untrue?
Malcolm Turnbull has said that he supports the release of the palace letters and that he does not believe they are “personal”. In an unedifying display of quasi-colonial royal deference Turnbull, an avowed republican, has proposed a formal approach to the Queen requesting that she release our own records. Instead of subjecting us to such an appalling spectacle of national humiliation, I suggest that the prime minister join with me in this action in our own courts and urge the national archives to release the palace letters.
• Donations in support of the legal challenge can be made at https://chuffed.org/project/release-the-palace-letters. You can also find the campaign on Twitter and Facebook.
Jenny Hocking is a professor in the National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University, and author of Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History, Gough Whitlam: His Time and The Dismissal Dossier: Everything You Were Never Meant to Know About November 1975. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
El vídeo Desmontando a Ciudadanos ha alcanzardo 200.000 visitas en un día. Como su propio nombre indica, la pieza audiovisual, con 16 minutos de duración, versa sobre las contradicciones y el pasado del partido que dirige Albert Rivera. En las últimas 24 ahoras está arrasando en las redes sociales. Una de las claves de este éxito fulgurante es que muchos simpatizantes de Podemos están agitando la campaña en Twitter, Facebook y el foro Plaza Podemos. El creador de este fenónemo responde al nick de RaGLan. En conversación con este diario, admite su amistad con miembros de un círculo del partido de Pablo Iglesias, pero recalca que se trata de una idea propia.
Desmontando a Ciudadanos repasa la trayectoria del partido naranja desde sus inicios hasta la actualidad. En el vídeo se pone en entredicho que C's sea una formación de centro izquierda -como ellos mismos se autodefinen- y, para ello, se incluyen numerosas declaraciones de Albert Rivera sobre asuntos polémicos como el aborto, se recuerda que partidos de ultraderecha han acudido a manifestaciones de C's, su alianza electoral en las elecciones europeas de 2009 con Libertas -hace unos días Rosa Díez dijo que dicho partido es "xenófobo y eurófobo"-, la militancia de Rivera en las Nuevas Generaciones del PP o se señalan similitudes entre las propuestas de este partido y las de FAES.
El vídeo está repleto de citas a múltiples medios de comunicación que han publicado noticias nada positivas sobre Ciudadanos. En la última parte de la pieza se hace especial hincapié con los errores de C's en materia de transparencia. Y se recuerda que, según la organización Transparencia Internacional, que acaba de poner un 10 a Ciudadanos, el partido ha sido "uno de los más opacos de España durante ocho años". Al final del vídeo se anuncia otra entrega dedicada a "los apoyos internacionales de Ciudadanos".
Tanto en Twitter como en Facebook este vídeo que busca "desmontar" a Rivera y lo suyos está siendo un éxito. Este lunes el hashtag #DesmontandoACiudadanos fue trending topic y la pieza ya ha alcanzado las 200.000 visitas en youtube. Dicho triunfo se cimenta, en buena medida, en el apoyo de numerosos simpatizantes de Podemos. De hecho, una de las plataformas donde más se está hablando de Desmontando a Ciudadanos es Reddit, concretamente en el foro Plaza Podemos. En ella los usuarios animan a otros a compartir el vídeo en las diferentes redes sociales. Y abundan los comentarios positivos sobre el vídeo.
Empezamos la mañana #DesmontandoACiudadanos , hay mucho más detrás de lo que parece.... https://t.co/7Mk8taOZ4x — RaGLaN (@RaGLaN_83) Mayo 4, 2015
El autor responde
Como puede verse en el tuit anterior, RaGLan ha creado y lanzado en youtube el vídeo. Vozpópuli ha contactado con el autor a través de su perfil de Facebook, donde, por cierto, uno de sus amigos ha afirmado que el creador es miembro del "Círculo de Podemos Ética Ciudadana". RaGLan, que prefiere no revelar su identidad, admite que mantiene "contacto y amistad con gente de ese círculo, pero no estoy registrado oficialmente, de hecho creo que ni está regularizado aún en el partido". Y asegura que se trata de una iniciativa meramente personal que se le ocurrió al leer diferentes noticias sobre C's en un perfil de Facebook llamado "Ciudadanos Pescados" y al comprobar "la poca repercusión que tienen ciertas informaciones" en los medios.
¿Venezuela?
En las últimas horas algunos simpatizantes de Ciudadanos, como por ejemplo César Cabo, han apuntado a que quienes están azuzando la campaña para convertirla en trendig topic provienen desde Venezuela. Sin embargo, el autor del vídeo asegura a este diario que "los bots procedentes de Caracas únicamente se han dedicado a hacer SPAM en el hashtag, ninguno hace mención ni a C's ni al vídeo, parece más bien una estrategia por parte de los simpatizantes de C's para boicotear el hashtag". Y arguye que "los primeros bots empezaron a aparecer a las cuatro de la tarde; para entonces el hashtag ya llevaba siendo trending topic durante horas, sin ningún bot venezolano".
Curioso que sean venezolanos quienes sabotean los TT de @CiudadanosCs ¿La mano negra de Podemos? #DesmontandoACiudadanos — César Cabo (@Cesar_Cabo) Mayo 5, 2015
No es el único
Este vídeo no es la única muestra de la batalla que se vive ahora mismo entre seguidores de Podemos y Ciudadanos. En el foro citado Plaza Podemos también se publicó hace unos días -y con notable éxito- una llamada a los participantes para que publiquen en Twitter y Facebook una serie de links muy críticos con el partido que dirige Albert Rivera. La batalla continúa en la red. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
According to a source familiar with the company's plans, as part of today's downsizing of Motorola's engineering team in Chicago, the Lenovo-owned smartphone maker has completely abandoned plans to launch the successor to last year's Moto X4, the as-yet unannounced Moto X5. The X5 was leaked in significant detail in January.
Motorola continues to be a drag on Lenovo, which had initially promised to turn its ailing smartphone division profitable within two quarters of its acquisition. That never happened. Lenovo slashed and burned much of Motorola's global workforce and presence, but the business hasn't managed to make the turnaround it so clearly needs.
Our source states that Motorola will be narrowing its focus back to E, G, and Z phones for the time being. It's possible the Moto X name could return at some point, but that's looking unlikely in light of this news.
Additionally, Motorola will be largely discontinuing its efforts in the realm of more... eccentric Mods for its Z phones, and instead stick to products it believes can actually turn a profit. So, probably no more gamepad mods. But probably more battery packs and style mods!
We reached out to Motorola, who declined to comment on this story. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Onset of Indian winters has been synonymous with the arrival of migratory birds for ages. But over the last few decades, several of these winged visitors have displayed a change in seasonal movements due to the destruction of - or threat to - their habitats. The sighting of six black-necked cranes in a remote Tawang village has swept local activists, conservationists and environmentalists with a wave of cheer.
The black-necked crane is an endangered bird that has chosen a remote – untouched from modern ills – area deep inside Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh as its wintering site. Zemithang on the Nyamjang Chhu river in the Pangchen Valley of Tawang district is its chosen winter abode, now threatened due to a proposed hydropower project. Zemithang is one of the only two wintering sites of the black-necked crane in India, the other being Sangti Valley in neighbouring West Kameng district.
Black-necked cranes migrate from Tibet during the winter. Classified as "vulnerable" in the list of endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), these beauties also figure in schedule I list under our Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Black-necked cranes at one of the only two wintering sites at Zemithang in Pangchen Valley, Tawang. (Photos: Degin Dorjee)
According to data on migratory birds by ENVIS Centre on Avian Ecology, hosted by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), almost 20 per cent of all known bird species, about 2000 of them, make regular seasonal movements.
Alarmingly, “more than 40 per cent of these migratory species are declining and nearly 200 are now classified as globally threatened.” The dangers they face include destruction and degradation of habitats, pollution and badly-sited infrastructure.
Arunachal's Tawang district has two main rivers – Tawang Chhu and Nyamjang Chhu, which together have 10 tributaries. The government has proposed as many as 13 large hydropower projects with a total installed capacity of 2,900 MW in the district. Located 90-odd kms northwest of Tawang town, Zemithang, Lumpo and Muchot are all remote villages, nearer to the international border and one can reach them via a winding, hilly road.
Zemithang, at an altitude of 8,000 feet approximately, is the village nearest to the proposed location of the barrage for the 780 MW Nyamjang Chhu project on the Nyamjang Chhu in the Pangchen Valley. Main Pangchen Valley is a narrow stretch - 1.5–2km long and barely 0.5–0.75 km wide, with much of the riverbed exposed during the winter with silvery sand - home to the endangered black-necked cranes.
Against this backdrop, Zemithang becomes a classic example, especially when black-necked cranes have been sighted this year too – even if just one. “Waha me ek tho crane aaya hai (One crane has arrived there),” Lama Lobsang Gyatso, the activist monk who has been fighting against the proposed hydropower project, told me excitedly over the telephone some days back. Gyatso, a Lama from the Monpa community, is a founding member of the Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF). Monpas comprise almost 90 per cent of Tawang’s population.
Thankfully, not just one, six black-necked cranes have been spotted this year as yet.
Numbers speak for cranes
Arunachal’s other sites that hosted the black-necked cranes have already shown signs of damage. A 2015 scientific paper "Status and Distribution of black-necked Crane (Grus Nigricollis) in India" published in the journal Zoological Research, captured in detail the sightings of these birds at their breeding locations and wintering sites from the year 2000 to 2014.
Arunachal Pradesh had a history of these birds sighting at Apatani valley and Sangti Valley, but for last few decades, the birds have abandoned the Apatani valley.
“The disappearance of black-necked cranes from Aapatani valley is attributed to habitat loss, degradation and poaching,” the paper pointed out.
The year-wise figures from Arunachal Pradesh as the scientists found during this comprehensive study, "Status of black-necked Crane observed in Sangti and Zemithang valleys":
Sr No Year Total sightings Location
1) 2005-2006 11 Sangti
2) 2006-2007 6 Sangti
3) 2007-2008 4 Sangti
4) 2008-2009 - Sangti
5) 2009-2010 3 Zemithang
6) 2010-2011 7 Zemithang
7) 2011-2012 4 Zemithang
8) 2012-2013 2 Zemithang
9) 2013-2014 5 Zemithang
10) 23 Nov 2014 4 Zemithang
11) 15 Dec 2014 4 Sangti
As is evident from the table, 2009 onwards, Sangti has not seen any cranes except just four on a single day in 2014, mainly because of habitat destruction. The presence of high tension wires in the crane habitat – supply lines cut right across the valley – is a continues threat in Sangti valley, where a crane was killed after hitting a high-tension power line in 2007.
Another change is the shifting crop pattern where traditional paddy crop has been replaced in large quantum by horticulture or maize plantation. Therefore, since 2010, Zemithang has emerged as a destination of choice for the black-necked cranes.
Since 2010, World Wide Fund-India (WWF-India) has been monitoring the presence of and working for the conservation of these birds along with local Monpa population. Kamal Medhi, WWF-India coordinator, Western Arunachal Landscape, said: “There have been in all six sightings as yet in 2016. Two in mid-November, two towards November end and two in December first week.”
“Historical evidence has shown how habitat destruction has made birds abandon the Sangti Valley site. So, it becomes much more important to preserve, keep undisturbed the Zemithang site,” said Medhi, who is based in Assam's Tezpur.
I had visited Zemithang earlier this year and reported how the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had suspended the environmental clearance given to this 780 MW hydropower project, clearly pointing out to the fact that the environmental clearance made no mention that the project will have an adverse impact on the winter habitat of the black-necked crane.
The tribunal had asked the government to carry out cumulative impact assessment studies. It also asked for a fresh appraisal of the project and a separate study by Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change - to be undertaken by Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) – to determine the flow requirement for the protection and conservation of the black-necked crane.
Interestingly, counsels for the private developer for the proposed project had disputed the site was the preferred winter abode of the birds. Lama Gyatso and other petitioners in the NGT case had established how it was indeed a site of continuous winter habitation.
Maintaining ecological integrity
The scientific paper published in the Zoological Research journal has recommended that Sangti and Pangchen valleys be declared black-necked crane nature reserves to revive their wintering population and measures be taken to maintain their ecological integrity on priority.
“Now there is nothing left for imagination. The presence of birds has been clearly established. One of the authors of this scientific paper published in Zoological Research was S A Hussain from WII Dehradun. The same WII has been asked to do the study by the NGT. Hope the findings are consistent with the earlier findings,” points out Neeraj Vagholikar, environmentalist with the NGO Kalpavriksha.
During the NGT hearing, the petitioners had also drawn from the local cultural connection emphasising that the Monpas consider the black-necked crane an embodiment of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, who wrote about the majestic bird in his poetry, reported Arunachal Times.
Perhaps, keeping the historical connection alive, the birds have reposed faith in the Monpas of the Pangchen valley in Tawang for yet another year. Will the ministry and WII live up to their expectations? | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Oy lemme tell ya about this MENSCH, Barry Strudelvich Weiss has a G-odly demeanah n a cock that'll make ya muddah schvitz in da titz.
Jarrod "the goyish ashkenaz" Schulz allows this mensch of the mensch bang da shit outta Brandy P, all for a 10 second training session.
"Its the jewish sausage of all jewish sausages" - Jarrof Schulz
Barry's rabbis provides him wit many goils like miss Passante, Barry once said "I call her Pussanté cuz that puss is healthy as my Doctor Mendelbaum"
oy! he speaks French too! Im tellin' ya, that Dave Hestah and his goyish 2 incher can't contend my friend wit Barry "da price is Weiss" Weiss' grand kielbasa.
He don't touch kids neither, unless they feedin on their muddah's teetz n he takes ovah for em, gotta giv da kids a break ya fakaktes!
News Edit | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Row after row of blackened wood barrels are piled 30 feet high in a dim warehouse on Avery Island in southern Louisiana. Harold “Took” Osborn leads me through the endless stacks, in a setting reminiscent of the final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The recycled bourbon casks are filled with Tabasco mash, laid to rest for three years until they’re ready to become the signature condiment. Some of the barrels are bubbling with the gaseous byproducts of the aging process. The air is thick with the smell of pepper, vinegar, and salt. We are both coughing.
“Deer conglomerate here when the mosquitos get really bad,” Osborn tells me, explaining that that the vapors are powerful enough to drive away the bugs.
Osborn is the executive Vice President of McIlhenny, the company behind Tabasco, and the great-great grandson of Edmund McIlhenny, who first concocted the popular pepper sauce on Avery Island in the 1860s. He started working for Tabasco as a kid in the 1970s (unofficially, and discreetly paid). Although they now produce more Tabasco sauce in one day than Edmund McIlhenny made in his entire life, the process has transitioned to mass production with few alterations.
“It’s remarkable how little has changed,” he says.
When we walk out of the warehouse into the sun and breathable air, though, we come across one of the few conspicuous changes Avery Island has seen over the past century: a 17-foot levee that encircles 38 acres of the Tabasco operation. The company was forced to make this $5 million investment in 2005 after Hurricane Rita nearly flooded the facility.
Even though it’s only 152 feet above sea level at its peak, Avery Island is one the highest points in the Gulf Coast. A two hour drive west of New Orleans, it sits atop an enormous salt dome that bulges from the earth, elevating the land above the swamps and bayous that surround it. A generation ago, it was unthinkable that this natural fortress could be overcome by water. But Hurricane Rita’s threatening surges were a symptom of an immense shift in the Gulf Coast, the result of decades of harsh land use practices and climate change.
“The waters are rising,” Osborn says.
Now, the McIlhennys are fighting to save the island to which their family history and business are inextricably linked.
This $5 million, 17 foot tall levee was constructed after Hurricane Rita nearly flooded the Tabasco factories in 2005. Photo : Michael Isaac Stein
Louisiana is losing land at a rate of one football field every 100 minutes. The marshes that provide a buffer between the coast and the temperamental Gulf of Mexico are falling apart, exposing the cities and towns of Southern Louisiana to the direct blow of storm surges. “If you don’t have marsh and natural systems out ahead to knock down that surge, you’re just a sitting duck,” says Randy Moertle, a longtime biologist and the land manager of Avery Island.
The Mississippi River once reinforced the swamps and marshes with its excess freshwater and the tons of sediment it carried. But this process was inhibited when levees were constructed to contain the river and prevent flooding, a project that ramped up significantly in the mid-19th century. Today, Louisiana’s Flood Protection Authority estimates there are roughly 1,000 miles of flood control structures along the entire length of the river and its tributaries.
Industry has also taken its toll. Since the early 20th century, tens of thousands of miles of wetlands have been dredged to build canals and lay oil and gas pipelines. The dredging changed the delicate hydrology of the wetlands and carved paths for saltwater intrusion, which kills the freshwater vegetation holding the land together. Some of the canals have naturally tripled in width since they were built, eroding their banks over time.
“We’ve been here 150 years. And I believe that someone will be here to celebrate the 300th anniversary.”
Meanwhile, intensifying hurricanes and sea level rise, driven by climate change, are aggravating all these problems.
Over a cup of Tabasco ice cream smothered in blueberry Tabasco sauce (surprisingly good), Osborn tells me he’s optimistic that they’ll remain on the island, even as a flurry of recent media attention has framed their future as uncertain. “We fight hard. We’ve been here 150 years. And I believe that someone will be here to celebrate the 300th anniversary,” he said.
Osborn, who holds a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Oxford, has led an effort to protect the island since the early 1990s. Insisting that the solution doesn’t lie in engineered protection alone, he instead uses a holistic approach that treats the protection of ecosystems, wildlife, and culture as parallel goals.
“When levees are looked at as a panacea, it never works,” he says. “A marsh breaks up a hurricane more than any levee can do.”
His ultimate goal is to protect and rebuild the marshes that act as a cushion between his island and storm surges. To that end, the company has planted cord grass to plug up old canals and fortify the wetlands. They’ve invested in water control structures to regulate the wetlands’ delicate circulatory system. They hunt the invasive feral hogs that erode the swamps.
“That’s just the stuff that worked,” Osborn says. “I could give you an even longer list of things that didn’t work.” The autonomy of being part of a family-owned company allows Osborn to experiment with any idea that’s affordable and seems worth trying.
The McIlhenny family built these terraces, known as Bird City, in 1895 to help Snowy Egrets rebound from near extinction. Photo : Michael Isaac Stein
Osborn’s most ambitious, and arguably most successful, experiment came in 2014 when he helped found the Rainey Conservation Alliance (RCA)—a coalition of major landowners in Iberia and Vermilion parishes who have dedicated themselves to restoring and conserving the coast. (Avery Island is in Iberia Parish, but sits close to the border between the two.)
“We were competing against each other for these multi million dollar coastal restoration projects to go on our own property,” Moertl explains. “So we came up with the idea of forming an alliance. Let’s erase our property boundaries, and let’s work together, pool our resources and our expertise, and see if we can’t go after this with a more regional approach.”
“The property boundaries are artificial,” says Osborn. “If your neighbor’s land starts eroding, so will yours.”
The RCA now manages over half a million acres of land, and Moertle calls the effort “off the charts successful.” They’ve been able to secure tens of millions of dollars for coastal projects including marsh creation, bank stabilization, and hydrologic management programs. And Osborn and Moertle say they’ve been more effective than most of the coast at keeping oil and gas companies in check, compelling them to use more sustainable practices and help mend the damage caused by decades of operations.
The RCA also helps government officials plan projects and shape regulations. “We’re the on the ground people,” says Moertle. “Federal and state employees have an understanding somewhat of what’s going on, but I’ve been in the marsh every day of my life. I’ve watched it change.”
Eighty five percent of Louisiana’s coast is privately owned, and Osborn sees this type of local, private effort as a key ingredient for maintaining a healthy coast. But whether this model can be recreated en masse by landowners along the entire Louisiana coastline is unclear.
Osborn hops behind the counter at the Avery Island Tabasco shop to show off his favorite products. Photo : Michael Isaac Stein
Tabasco is something of an anomaly among companies of its size. It’s a privately owned business, unaccountable to shortsighted shareholders, and its owners have a long tradition of conservation and preservation. In the 19th century, E.A. McIlhenny founded a wildfowl refuge on the family property that helped bring Snowy Egrets back from the verge of extinction. The McIlhennys have donated thousands of acres of land on and near Avery Island to the Audubon Society, and in 1971, the family adopted the motto “Man and Environment in Balance.”
What’s more, unlike many of the Texas-based oil and gas operators that own vast tracts of Louisiana land, the McIlhennys are firmly established in Louisiana. “We have a saying here,” Osborn tells me. “If you break a branch tree on an oak tree, you plant an oak tree. I’ll never be here to see them grow to be big, but someone will.”
Whether other Louisiana companies will follow Tabasco’s model of corporate responsibility, or whether Tabasco’s environmentalism will stand out as a singular case of a wealthy, conservation-minded family with strong geographic roots, remains to be seen.
But Louisiana doesn’t have much time to wait and see.
Based in New Orleans, Michael Isaac Stein writes about criminal justice and the environment in the Gulf.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Harry Trump/Getty Images
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has said he's not "playing happy" for the club following a summer of speculation regarding a possible transfer.
The Wales international appeared poised to leave the Santiago Bernabeu in the previous window, although Los Blancos pulled the plug on a deal that would have seen Bale move to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning.
Speaking about his situation at Real while away on international duty with Wales, Bale told Sky Sports News it's far from ideal:
"I understand I was made more of a scapegoat than most, I take it with a pinch of salt even though maybe it's not all fully fair.
"Towards the end of last season was difficult, there is no denying that, not just for me but for the team. I wouldn't say I'm playing happy, but I'm playing, when I am playing I am professional and I am always giving all I can, whether that be for club or country.
"I'm sure there'll be plenty more turbulence, to be honest. I suppose it is something you will have to speak to Real Madrid about and it's between me and them, and we will have to come to some sort of conclusion."
During the summer, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said "we hope he leaves soon" when discussing the player's future.
In the Sky Sports interview, Bale said "I just kept my head down" when he returned to pre-season training with the team.
Although he could have easily left Los Blancos in the summer, Bale has started all three of Real Madrid's La Liga games this season.
On Sunday, he scored twice and was sent off in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Villarreal:
Since arriving at Madrid, Bale has been one of the key players in one of the most dominant spells in the club's history:
Despite his consistent presence and the number of vital goals he has scored, Bale has never been completely accepted by the Madridistas. In addition, the Welshman was phased out by Zidane towards the end of his first spell in charge.
Zidane clearly wasn't keen on Bale being around for the current campaign, either, although the indications are that he will have a role to play until January at least.
After Bale equalised at Villarreal, Sachin Nakrani of the Guardian joked about the relationship between the player and manager:
Aside from his red card in the previous fixture, Bale has had a strong start to the season. His performances have been a reminder that the Wales international can still be effective when given opportunities, and it will be intriguing to see if those chances still come about once the likes of Eden Hazard and Isco return to fitness.
Bale will be hoping to put his issues at his club behind him in the coming days, with Wales' UEFA European Championship qualifying hopes his short-term focus. They play Azerbaijan on Friday and Belarus on Monday, looking to improve on their current record of one win from three games. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Jordan-Poyer.JPG
Jordan Poyer
(Photo by AP)
INDIANAPOLIS – Many people believe that the New England Patriots need an enforcer at safety. If they strike out, perhaps they could settle for having an instigator at cornerback.
If that’s the case, Jordan Poyer could be a candidate. Poyer, a product of Oregon State, models himself after St. Louis Rams instigator Cortland Finnegan.
“I just enjoy watching him play,” Poyer said. “He may seem like an a-hole on the field, but he gets it done.”
And Poyer doesn’t limit his mimicry to Finnegan’s scrappy style of play. He may or may not also like to talk a little trash and get under his opponent’s skin – the “a-hole” part of Finnegan’s game that Poyer previously referenced.
“You just got to watch me play, you just got to watch me play,” he said. “I’m a totally different person on the field, that’s for sure.”
With Aqib Talib potentially leaving through free agency and Alfonzo Dennard facing possible legal ramifications, the Patriots could be in the market for cornerbacks during April’s draft and met with Poyer at the Senior Bowl.
The 6-foot Poyer possesses solid coverage skills, can play press man and calls his instincts his greatest strength, something that is verified by scouts who have seen him play. That combination of skills allowed him to intercept seven passes last season.
So what kind of player could the Patriots expect if they decide to take Poyer.
“I go against him every day,” teammate Markus Wheaton said. “He’s a hog.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Story highlights Record-setting college swimmer dies while trying out for a lifeguard position
Jack Jakubek was a SUNY Cortland 2016 graduate
(CNN) A record-setting college swimmer and recent graduate died Saturday during lifeguard tryouts off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
State University of New York-Cortland 2016 graduate Jack Jakubek was participating in a fitness test for potential lifeguards at Pilgrim Lake in Orleans, Massachusetts, according to statements from the Orleans Fire Department and the University.
"At approximately 8:49 a.m. a swimmer went missing," the fire department said.
A multiagency search and rescue operation was immediately launched, including emergency teams from Orleans, Barnstable County, State Police and the U.S. Coast Guard.
"A male victim in his 20s was located by divers at 9:23 a.m. off-shore. He was transported by fire to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was pronounced dead," the fire department said.
Read More | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I recently enjoyed participating in a discussion about recursion in R on the new RStudio Community site, and I thought to inaugurate my blog with a post inspired by the discussion.
R supports recursive functions, but does not optimize tail recursive functions the way some other languages do. Fortunately, with a mechanism known as a trampoline, the R programmer can implement something like the optimization manually and with very little code.
To understand trampolines, one must first understand the mechanics of function calls and recursion.
The Call Stack
As in many other languages, functions in R may call themselves. For example, here is a recursive function that decrements its argument until 0 is reached:
function (n) if (n > 0 ) countdown (n -1 ) else "done" countdown
This function has no problem with small values of n :
> countdown(10) [1] "done" > countdown(100) [1] "done" > countdown(1000) [1] "done
Unfortunately, when n is big enough, an error is raised:
> countdown(10000) Error: C stack usage 7969236 is too close to the limit
The problem here is that the top-most invocation of the countdown function, the one we called with countdown(10000) , can’t return until countdown(9999) returned, which can’t return until countdown(9998) returned, and so on.
R keeps track of all of these calls in a data structure called the call stack or sometimes just the stack. The stack contains references to all outstanding function calls, recursive or not.
Since the stack is stored in memory, and since computers only have so much memory, the number of nested calls that can occur in a program is limited.
If we want to decrement a number 10000 or more times and print something when we’re done, we have to do it a different way. That way is to use a loop.
Loops
Here’s the countdown function using a loop instead of recursion:
function (n) { countdown while (n > 0 ) n <- n -1 ; (n) n "done" }
It doesn’t overflow the stack:
> countdown(10000) [1] "done"
The new countdown contains the same essential pieces as the recursive version: the n > 0 test, decrementing n , and returning "done" at the end. The pieces are just slightly differently arranged so that countdown doesn’t need to call itself.
If it does what we want, and looks only slightly different than the recursive version… why did we care about recursion again?
Well, maybe we don’t. The choice to use recursion is a stylistic one with arguable benefits. People with a mathematical bent seem to enjoy it. So do I, usually.
Forgoing a debate of the merits of recursive style, let’s assume we want it, and continue on to trampolines: a means to stack-friendly recursive functions.
Trampoline
A trampoline is a function or set of functions that together give us the tools we need to write code in a recursive style, in a way that doesn’t overflow the stack. Here’s an awesome trampoline by Jim Hester:
function (f, ...) { trampoline function (...) { (...) { f (...) ret while ( inherits (ret, "recursion" )) { (ret,)) { eval ( as.call ( c (f, unclass (ret)))) ret } ret } } function (...) { recur structure ( list (...), class = "recursion" ) (...), }
Using it, countdown now looks like this:
trampoline ( function (n) { countdown if (n > 0 ) recur (n -1 ) else "done" (n(n })
It’s very close stylistically to the original recursive version, but has no stack issues:
> countdown(10000) [1] "done"
The trampoline works because it’s thin veneer over a regular loop. Compared to our direct loop version of countdown , the body of the trampoline’s while is parameterized by the f function instead of being hard-coded.
The only new requirement of this re-arrangement is that the body, or the f function, return recur instead of calling itself if it wants to keep going.
In languages that perform this optimization automatically, applicable cases are recognized by the compiler and the recursive code is rewritten as a loop. Compilers that do this are said to perform TCO, where TCO stands for tail-call optimization.
Tail call conversion
Trampolines only apply to singly-recursive functions that call themselves in tail position, but many algorithms commonly expressed do not meet these criteria. For example, here’s a recursive factorial function in R that can’t immediately be trampolined:
function (n) if (n == 0 ) 1 else n * factorial (n -1 ) factorial
Note: It probably wouldn’t make sense to trampoline this function without other modifications first, because n is coerced to the numeric class if it wasn’t already. For medium-sized n , the numeric (double precision) n overflows to Inf before the stack overflows. The gmp library might be a way to produce the necessary large integers. I’ll use factorial anyway because it’s a compact function and the transformation is clear.
The “tail” of factorial is the expression n*factorial(n-1) , which places a call to factorial on the stack before returning. This is exactly the operation that eventually leads to stack overflow and that we need to eliminate.
The way forward is to introduce an accumulator, or a variable to store intermediate state between calls. It’s a step towards an explicit loop, but with R’s named and default argument support, can be done in a decidedly un-loopy way:
function (n, prod = 1 ) { factorial if (n == 0 ) prod else factorial (n -1 , n * prod) (n) prod(n, nprod) }
Instead of relying on a recursive call for the number to multiply n by, we store it explicitly in the prod argument and pass it along. In this way the running product is maintained across invocations and the stack doesn’t need to grow.
Of course, in R, the stack does grow, but now we’ve refactored the function sufficiently enough to apply trampoline . Let’s do that:
trampoline ( function (n, prod = 1 ) { factorial if (n == 0 ) prod else recur (n -1 , n * prod) (n) prod(n, nprod) })
Mutual recursion
Jim’s trampoline is really efficient, but can’t handle interdependent, mutually recursive functions. These are functions that call one another.
Arrangements like this don’t come up much in my experience, and require a different kind of trampoline, and so I generally prefer solutions like Jim’s. One type of program where mutual recursion seems to come up is in parsers.
But just for completeness, here’s a trampoline function and two mutually recursive functions from SICP:
function (f, ...) { trampoline function (...) { (...) { f (...) ret while ( is.function (ret)) ret <- ret (); (ret)) ret ret } } trampoline ( function (n) { even if (n == 0 ) TRUE else function () odd (n -1 ) (n()(n }) trampoline ( function (n) { odd if (n == 0 ) FALSE else function () even (n -1 ) (n()(n })
Conclusion
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! In summary: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Leah Buletti
[email protected]
ASHEVILLE - The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office on Friday fired a second deputy after a New Year's Eve incident involving force in a home was captured on body camera.
Sean Kent, 30, who was hired in October 2007, responded to a call involving a child custody case at a residence with Tim Teves, a deputy who was terminated from his position Tuesday.
Teves, 34, had been on patrol after a promotion to that role in 2010, while Kent had been on patrol since Oct. 17, according to records provided by the Sheriff's Office.
A complaint was made to the Sheriff's Office on Dec. 31 to a lieutenant on duty, triggering an internal affairs investigation.
Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan declined Friday to release any specifics of the incident or to release body camera footage. He also would not comment on possible charges. Both deputies were wearing body cameras.
"We looked at this as a policy, conduct, behavior violation," Duncan said.
Teves and Kent have one documented disciplinary offense each. Kent received a counseling statement on March 12. Teves was disciplined in his first year with the Sheriff's Office for failure of code of conduct.
District Attorney Todd Williams said he hadn't viewed the body camera footage.
Duncan cited an ongoing personnel matter and privacy concerns for those involved in the decision not to release the footage to the media, saying it shows the complainants, their children and their home, as well as their family situation.
Duncan said he believes his department acted quickly and appropriately.
"There's been accountability here," Duncan said Friday. "Immediate, swift accountability."
"In no way am I trying to protect the officer,” he said. “By not releasing body cam footage, No. 1 we believe we are complying with what the law tells us to do in the way of personnel law."
An observer outside of the Sheriff’s Office agreed, citing similar concerns about victim privacy.
"If it’s a situation that’s been handled and he’s been terminated, I don’t see the benefit of releasing it," said Rondell Lance, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Asheville Lodge 1.
Lance said it's up to individual agencies to determine a policy on releasing footage. He said the complexity of the issue is compounded by the fact that body cameras don't often portray the complete situation or interactions prior to the start of the use of force.
Sheriff's deputies start body cameras at the point of contact, Duncan said.
The Sheriff's Office started using body cameras a year ago. At the time, Duncan told the Citizen-Times that his department may release videos to the media in cases where public understanding of any incident is key, saying "if we had a controversial use of force, we could release the video."
On Friday, Duncan said "controversial" use of force would be an allegation that the Sheriff's Office had done something wrong and body camera footage would show otherwise. He said videos would be released in that case.
"There are some things in the gray that we can release to maintain public trust," Duncan said.
This complaint in the incident involving the deputies was substantiated by body camera footage, and "the complainants are fine with the actions taken," he said.
The family involved would have the right to view the footage, Duncan said.
Teves declined comment when reached at his home. Kent could not be reached Friday. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Maple syrup festivals
Forget looking towards groundhogs to predict the arrival of spring. Look to the trees!
Mountsberg and Crawford Lake conservation areas are launching maple syrup festivals this weekend. At Mountsberg, the annual Maple Town event will run on weekends, holidays and March break until April 3 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day. During the event, the pancake house on site will be serving up hot food and hot drinks, with lots of syrup to go around.
Crawford Lake Conservation Area is opening its Sweet Water Season on Saturday where people can walk around a reconstructed Iroquoian village and learn about the history of maple syrup. This festival will also run on weekends and holidays throughout March.
For more information, visit Conservation Halton online.
Hamilton Wood Show
The Hamilton Wood Show is on now, running until the end of the weekend at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. The annual show is entering its 21st year, showcasing the latest hand tools, power tools, design trends, finishes and wood kits. There will also be free seminars and special guests in attendance including Vic Tesolin, the author of the Minimalist Woodworker.
Tickets for youth under 17 and seniors cost $14, tickets for adults cost $15 and a weekend pass cost $25.
Visit woodshows.com for more information.
Ron Sexsmith in St. Catharines
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith takes the stage at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre on Friday evening. Returning to his former stomping grounds in St. Catharines at the end of a short winter tour, Sexsmith will close out his Canadian travels promoting his latest album, Carousel One, released last year.
Sexsmith will be performing at Partridge Hall with special guest Kevin Hearn, who is most often recognized as the multi-instrumentalist from Barenaked Ladies.
The show is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at FirstOntario online and cost $5 for high school students, $25 for university/college students, $38.25 for members and $45 for everyone else.
Hacking Health Hamilton
Hackers interested in the latest health care technologies, this is an event for you. A three-day hackathon event will be held at McMaster Innovation Park Atrium over the weekend with the goal of improving healthcare in Canada.
Running from Friday to Sunday, the event will bring together healthcare professionals, designers and developers to come up realistic, human-centric solutions to front-line problems. By the end of the weekend, an number of health apps are expected to be created and critiqued by a panel of judges. Winning teams will be given prizes.
Hacking Health, a Canada-based international non-profit organization, hosts the event.
Tickets for spectators cost $10, while developers can pay $40 to take part. Visit Hacking Health Hamilton for more information.
McMaster hosts Women in Engineering Excellence Day
McMaster University is hosting Women in Engineering Excellence Day to introduce senior high school students to the world of engineering. The event will allow 40 prospective female students and their parents to meet with female professors and alumna to give them a taste of what the world of engineering is all about.
The World Economic Forum announced in their Future of Jobs 2016 report that women are still underrepresented in areas of science, technology, engineering and math. The goal of this event is to make sure young women see these fields of study as possible options for them.
For more information, visit the event page online.
Bulldogs play double-header
The Hamilton Bulldogs will be facing off against the North Bay Battalion on Saturday night at home and then hosting the Saginaw Spirit on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs are looking to make up ground on the Battalion, who currently sit in third place in the Ontario Hockey League's eastern conference standings.
The puck drops on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at FirstOntario Centre. Tickets are available online or at the box office and range between $20 and $29. Sunday's game begins at 3 p.m.
Annual orchid show
The Royal Botanical Gardens will host the Orchid Society's annual spring show and sale. The event, held from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Royal Botanical Garden Centre, will feature orchid displays by growers from across Canada and the United States.
Now into its 35th year, the annual event is aimed at showcasing the diversity and beauty of orchids. There will also be exhibits of flower arrangements, paintings, photographs and plants available for purchase.
Photographers looking to capture images of the displays will be welcome to take pictures between 8 and 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Visit Royal Botanical Gardens online for more details and events. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Nu Turkse jongeren Koerdische demonstranten hebben aangevallen in Rotterdam, zit er nog maar één ding op: de stad overleveren aan de Syrische president Assad. Het Syrische leger is inmiddels onderweg.
“De Amerikanen weigeren ons te beschermen”, legt burgemeester Aboutaleb uit.
Overleef de toekomst en bestel nu De toekomst: het boek | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
THE girlfriend of Alesha MacPhail’s father sobbed as she told a murder trial "I loved her to pieces" - and denied having anything to do with the little girl’s murder.
Toni-Louise McLachlan, 18, was called as a witness at the trial of a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who has blamed her for murdering Alesha.
Alesha, aged six, was found naked lying face down in woodland near an abandoned hotel on the Isle of Bute on July 2, hours after being reported missing from her grandparents’ house.
The teen accused of murder, rape, child abduction and defeating the ends of justice denies all the charges against him at the High Court in Glasgow.
READ MORE: Alesha MacPhail - Father’s girlfriend ‘had a bad feeling’ when accused called on morning girl disappeared
The court heard that Ms McLachlan learnt on Monday that the teenager - who she admitted she used to sell drugs to - had blamed her for Alesha’s murder.
Ms McLachlan said she had received a Facebook message at around 1.47am and missed a call from the accused on Facebook messenger.
She tried to call him back around 6am as she thought it was "strange."
In a Facebook message exchange shown to the jury, Ms McLachlan asked the teen to "keep an eye out for Rab’s wee girl."
READ MORE: Alesha MacPhail’s dad admits to selling cannabis to teen accused of killing his daughter
Accused: ‘Sorry doesn’t matter ’
Toni replied: ‘Want to keep and eye out for Rab’s wee girl x’
Accused: ‘Yh how what’s happened?’
Toni: ‘She’s went missing...the police helicopter is out x’
Robert MacPhail outside the High Court in Glasgow
Accused: ‘Am sure she’s not gone too far x’
Toni: ‘Hopefully x’
READ MORE: Alesha MacPhail - Teen accused of rape and murder blames woman during trial
Ms McLachlan said the night that Alesha disappeared, she got out of bed to go to the toilet before going into the room where Alesha was sleeping, and switching off the child’s Peppa Pig DVD, the court heard.
She cried in the witness box as she recalled seeing Alesha sleeping - and said she fully closed the bedroom door.
Ms McLachlan said, on the morning of July 2, she saw she had a missed call from the accused.
She said she tried to return the call and thought it was "strange."
Ms McLachlan admitted she "used to sell weed" to the accused - but stopped because his mum asked him to.
When asked how long she had sold cannabis to him, Ms McLachlan said: “Not for a while, we had stopped selling to him because his mum told us to stop.”
She told the court: “I just couldn’t believe it, but I didn’t think anything bad had happened.
“I had lived in Rothesay all my life and thought it was a safe place.
“I thought she might’ve been in the garden.
READ MORE: Alesha MacPhail - Gran 'forgot to take key out of door' on night of alleged murder
“Me and Robert went out.
“We walked around the park pit Ardbeg where she liked to play, we checked back gardens and sheds.
“From there, we went into the town and we spoke to people at the ferry terminal and the shops.”
She said “a lot” of people helped with the search.
When asked by advocate depute Iain McSporran QC whether she had anything to do with the murder, she replied: “No.”
The court heard that Ms McLachlan learnt on Monday that the accused was blaming her for the murder.
The trial continues.
Read more of today's top Glasgow stories | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I am claiming depreciation against rental income, per my CPA. If upon retiring I resume living in my condo, does that avoid having to pay the 25 percent tax on depreciation taken, because essentially it is “restated” as it were to a personal home rather than a rental? If so, is there some minimum number of years I’d have to live there before selling?
Your question is a good one, but a complicated one for the space we have available each week, so we’ll have to simplify the answer: Your condominium is effectively both a residential property and an investment property. Let’s discuss both aspects of your ownership and future sale as it stands today.
As a residential property, if you live in the property as your primary residence for two out of the last five years, when you sell the property you would get to exclude from federal income taxes all profits up to $250,000 (or, $500,000 if you are married).
AD
AD
That’s in simple terms. So most homeowners will not have to deal with paying taxes to the federal government as most sellers don’t have a profit on their sale that would exceed $250,000 for single sellers and $500,000 for married couples.
On the other side, if the property is an investment property, you generally have to pay taxes on the profits at the time you sell that property along with repaying the IRS for the recapture of the depreciation you’ve already taken.
Say you have a profit of $50,000 on the sale of an investment property and you took $10,000 in depreciation over the years on that property. The first thing that would happen is that you would have to pay taxes on the $50,000. Since you owned the property for more than one year, the IRS would bill you at your capital gains tax rates of up to 20 percent. You will also have some other taxes to pay, but those are substantially less.
Now on the recapture of depreciation side, we said you received $10,000 in depreciation over the years. The IRS would expect that depreciation to be repaid. The repayment would be at a rate of up to 25 percent. Depending on your tax situation, you’d see that you’d have to pay $10,000 or so in capital gains taxes and up to $2,500 in recapture of the depreciation.
AD
AD
Here’s where it gets even more complicated. Since your property is now both residential and investment at the time of the sale, your accountant will have to do some computations. In the most simple of terms, you might have to take the total years you owned the property as a residence and the total years you owned the property as an investment property. Based on that information, the accountant will be able to determine the amount that you’ll pay in taxes on the “investment” side of your ownership and what, if any, taxes you’ll own on the residential side of the sale.
The computation can get pretty complicated and as we said earlier, a bit too involved for our column, suffice to say that you may have some taxes to pay on the investment side, but the amount you will owe will go down the longer you own and live in the property. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Kva skjer i eit lokalsamfunn når innbyggarane får vite at dei skal få eit asylmottak for utagerande asylsøkarar i nabolaget? Folk i Øyer fekk i sommar vite at det skulle etablerast eit asylmottak med 15 bebuarar og over 50 tilsette i bygda. No er planen skrinlagt, og asylsøkarane bur i vanlege omsorgsbustader fleire stader i landet. Nokre kom til eit nabolag i Greåker i Østfold. Dette er historia om spelet rundt flyktningane dei fleste meiner vi skal gi asyl, men som ingen vil ha i sitt nabolag. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
While there are thousands of accessories for Magic: The Gathering out there to buy, the maker community is always coming up with their own with the latest being this 3D printed life counter based on the card Sensei’s Divining Top.
Kevin McDermott – who goes by MrFoxClocks online – is responsible for this impressive creation which he has now printed in two different versions.
The one you see on this page has a filigree pattern on the top and bottom to make it more accurate to the card, while the original did not.
McDermott tells us that both were designed in Fusion 360 after initially starting the project in Sketchup, but found it difficult to go back an edit earlier parts of the model.
Over the course of a few weeks this was completed totalling about ten hours of work with keeping the numbers centred apparently eating up a lot of that time.
For reference the highest quality version of the art was found on an old blog post from 2015 about banning the card.
Printing was a bit quicker at just four hours on a stock Creality Ender 3. We’re not sure of the exact canonical dimensions of the item on the card, but this print is made to fit in the hand and shouldn’t be too much trouble to take to the local card store.
It’s six centimetres at its widest part and eight centimetres in length, totalling at just around 40 grams (when printed at 20% infill).
The printed plastic was then sanded and painted over with acrylics, needing just copper, gold and silver. A spray clear coat was then added after this to give it a sheen and product the paint, especially for those who are going to use it in many matches.
While we’re not sure that this print will spin on end like a real top, but the numbers do move and in a satisfying way. McDermott says that he originally used a 3D printed ratcheting mechanism to pull this off, but it was too difficult to make reliable.
Instead the latest version of the print uses a system with springs and BB pellets to provide a satisfying click and a smooth spin. You can see the action in motion in the gif below. How this assembly fits together is also shown in a short video on Instagram.
Those looking to make their own can find the files for the print available for free over on Thingiverse, but they can also be bought outright over on Etsy.
The solid version as well as the filigree pattern one can be found there for $35 and $36 respectively. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Warning: The following contains a major spoiler from this Friday’s episode of Fox’s Fringe. If you have not yet watched it, check back once you have.
As if Peter Bishop didn’t already feel the weight of the world -– er, two worlds -– on his shoulders, the closing moments of this week’s Fringe promise to give the lad even more to think about.
Yep, she’s pregnant. AltLivia/Fauxlivia/Bolivia, that is. And yes, it’s Peter swimmers that got the job done (Sorry, Frank), making Walternate quite the anxious granddad.
How will this revelation shake things up in each reality?
“The two universes are in disharmony, they’re in a fractured balance, so anything that happens on one side, certainly for the duration of this season and moving forward, will by design affect the other,” Fringe executive producer Jeff Pinkner tells TVLine.
Fringe Bosses: There’s More To the Rest of Season Than Peter, the Olivias and The Machine
For starters, Pinkner says, “There will be consequences for Bolivia and certainly Walternate, escalating the storytelling on that side.” After all, as AltBrandon presented the news to Walternate: “I think I might have another way to bring Peter back from the other universe.”
Indeed, the big question is what Peter will do with this information once it makes its way to him, and how if at all it might influence his massive decision — and it sounds like that bombshell won’t take long at all to drop.
“The reality of what’s happening over there will get to our side relatively soon,” previews Pinkner, “and it will absolutely affect what’s going on over here,” where Peter has been laboring to reconcile his feelings for Olivia vs. Fauxlivia as well as come to terms with his destiny as a savior of one — but which? — world.
Great Scott! Fringe Tops Ratings In Its First Friday Outing
If this paternity shocker at first blush appears a smidge soapy for a series as risk-taking as Fringe, rest assured that this ain’t no shopworn General Hospital storyline coming your way.
“We get to tell stories that maybe you understand as a viewer, and you’ve seen before” – but always with a twist, exec producer J.H. Wyman points out. “This is not the first time you’ve heard about somebody having an affair, which is always interesting drama. But it becomes a totally different thing when the person your loved one has fooled around with is another version of yourself!”
“In keeping with that,” Wyman continues, “this reveal will not unfold in a way that is traditional. So people should prepare for that, because it should be very interesting.”
Fringe fans, what extraordinary ramifications do you think might be born of this “baby bump”? | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Carolina Panthers (Felis concolor couguar), also known as Catamounts, Pumas, Painters, and Eastern Cougars, have been declared extinct by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
According to their official press release, “no states or provinces provided evidence of the existence of an eastern cougar population, nor did analysis of hundreds of reports from the public suggest otherwise. While many suspected cougar sightings are probably mistakenly identified bobcats or other animals, cougars do occasionally occur in eastern North America, but they are cougars of other subspecies: either Florida panthers, animals dispersing from western populations, or animals that have been released or escaped from captivity.”
The Carolina Panther once ruled the Eastern coast of North America, primarily along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern Vermont all the way down to Georgia.
According to the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, there were originally 11 subspecies of cougars in North America, “but only two of them— the Eastern cougar and Florida cougar—were found east of the Mississippi River. Today, only a handful of Florida cougars still survive in southern Florida…”
Carolina Panthers were once so common here that many of our mountain ridges, creeks, swamps, and roads were named for the native panthers, painters, or catamounts.
Early records of North Carolina mammals show that the panther’s population declined throughout the 18th century due to persecution, hunting, poisoning, trapping, loss of habitat and the parallel decline of its major food source – the white-tailed deer. It is thought that by 1900, the Eastern cougar was extirpated throughout North Carolina.
The last documented sighting of a Carolina Panther was one that was killed in Maine in 1938.
Comments
comments | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
North Carolina was previously depending on the textile industry, and when the factories closed the unemployment rate went up to 18%. “Today the unemployment is around 8-9%, so even if we haven’t employed all of them the venue plays a big role. Restaurants and hotels in the region are employing and it has been an economic rebirth for this community,” Mark explains about the impact of Tryon International Equestrian Center.
Getting a permission to build is usually difficult, but in the case of Tryon International Equestrian Center it was different. “It was very easy to get the building permission to in an area like this. When we started we got 20 years development permission. We still need to get building permission for every project, but this community has been unbelievable to work with. Sometimes it can take years to get a permission, but this is a unique set of people and the state of North Carolina has been fantastic,” Mark tells.
It has been a huge and very expensive project, and it will cost even more before it is finished. “We have spent about 180 million dollars to date, and we will probably spend another 180-200 million dollars over the next 18 months. We will not take any money out of this place for a long time….” Mark says.
To be able to build the hotels and apartments that they wish to have ready ahead of the Games, the organizers have gone to great lengths: A factory has been bought and around 40 robots have been installed there. “This way we can build the whole hotel in the factory – room by room – and then we drive them to the setting and put them together. That is how we are able to build everything so fast.” But the factory isn’t all there has been invested in: A transportable cement factory is also on stage to make it all as effective as possible. “In that way, we don’t have to wait around,” Mark says.
There are already 1200 stalls on the venue, but another 400 will be built and the indoor will be made bigger to be able to host the reining and vaulting. “All the horses will stay in permanent stables and all the grooms will be in permanent buildings. We are right now building 260 units with air condition and they will be placed on the venue so that the grooms are close to where they need to be,” Mark tells.
“We are just adding now. The sport is pretty much done, so the only thing that we are really building now is lodgings and restaurants – as well as the press and VIP hospitality,” Mark explains and in the next second he shows us where the huge family pool and sport centre will be. “We will build at least two hotels ahead of the Games, but are hoping to build five. It will be different types of lodgings so that it will fit all wallets. To be safe we have booked 3000 hotel rooms at the closest hotels and depending on how much we can build, we will start to release the booked rooms.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Three subspecies of island fox that nearly became extinct in California two decades ago have recovered so fully that federal officials today announced their removal from protection under the Endangered Species Act, providing a powerful success story for legislation many detractors call flawed.
The foxes had fallen from about 4,000 on three of the Channel Islands—Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel—in 1994 to fewer than 100 by 1999, due in part to a proliferation of nonnative feral pigs that attracted legions of predatory... | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Eat the pickled ginger between pieces of sushi, Morimoto says. If you place it on top of the roll, it will overpower the other flavors. Get the Recipe: Vegetable Sushi
Morimoto rolls sushi using bamboo mats, available at kitchen-supply stores. You can find nori, or seaweed sheets, at many large grocery stores.
Combine the rice and 3 1/4 cups water in a rice cooker and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. A rice cooker is the best way to get perfect sticky-firm rice, but if you don't have one, just use a saucepan.
Combine the vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Transfer the cooked rice to a large wooden bowl (traditionally, a wooden tub). Drizzle a quarter of the vinegar mixture over a wooden spoon or spatula onto the rice.
Fold the rice gently with the spoon to cool it and break up any clumps; be careful not to smash the grains. Fold in the remaining vinegar mixture and let the rice sit 5 minutes.
Cover a bamboo sushi mat with plastic wrap. Place a half nori sheet rough-side up on the mat.
Moisten your hands and scoop a handful of rice, slightly larger than a lemon, onto the nori. Press the rice to spread it evenly up to the edges of the nori, moistening your fingers as you go.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Peel the cucumber and slice into matchsticks. (Morimoto cuts the entire cucumber into a paper-thin sheet, then quickly slices it into strips, but he's had some practice.)
Thinly slice the avocado, tomato and red onion; peel the tough ends of the asparagus.
"Check to see what leftover vegetables you have in the fridge and then put them in your sushi!" Morimoto says.
Carefully flip over the nori so it's rice-side down on the mat with the short end facing you. Spread a bit of wasabi paste in a line about one-third of the way up the nori; it's spicy, so use it sparingly.
Arrange a few pieces each of lettuce, cucumber, avocado, tomato and onion in a tight pile in the lower third of the sheet.
It's OK if the vegetables hang over the edge of the nori.
Roll the sushi away from you with your hands, tucking the vegetables as you go.
Remove the mat from under the roll and place it on top.
Press the roll into a compact rectangular log, using the mat to help you.
Cut the sushi into 4 to 6 pieces. Repeat with the remaining nori, rice and vegetables. Serve with pickled ginger and more wasabi. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
my wife insists on doing all of the driving because I scare her with my driving on purpose.
141 shares | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
A newly renovated Hawaiian monk seal exhibit is once again open at Waikiki Aquarium, with Ho‘ailona the monk seal cruising around his new home. Read more
A newly renovated Hawaiian monk seal exhibit is once again open at Waikiki Aquarium, with Ho‘ailona the monk seal cruising around his new home.
The exhibit reopened Tuesday following a $180,000 renovation project that began in late January and involved complete resurfacing of the swimming area’s concrete lining, newly resurfaced rocks as well as a new filtration system and polished-up window.
“The pool had been repaired several times over the past few decades,” said aquarium Director Andrew Rossiter, “and it was kind of patchwork repair. We decided to do it properly so it’s one complete surface.”
Only Ho‘ailona will be featured at the exhibit. Ho‘ailona (“sign from the sea”) was abandoned by his mother at 2 days old and got a little too friendly with Molokai residents as a pup. The male monk seal with impaired vision is 10 years old.
“From what I can see, he’s delighted with it,” said Rossiter. “He’s been exploring and sunbathing, and I think he approves of his new exhibit.”
Maka Onaona (“gentle eyes”), the oldest Hawaiian monk seal in captivity at 34, is terminally ill, said Rossiter, and will not return on display, but remains under good care behind the scenes. Maka still enjoys spinning.
On a recent Thursday morning, families were watching Ho‘ailona cruising around his pool, sometimes coming right up close and personal in front of the display window, and at other times along the bottom. Once in a while, he hauled up onto the rock surface to bask in the sun.
At feeding time he dived and surfaced for fish.
Ashley Suzuki of Honolulu, a member of the aquarium, brings her daughter, 2-year-old Nova, to visit at least once a week. She was happy to see the monk seal exhibit reopen.
“He’s so friendly,” she said of Ho‘ailona. “He swims right up and likes putting on a show.”
Vicki Dimoff of Waianae brought her 4-year-old son, Jaku Rumedon, to see the Hawaiian monk seal exhibit so he could learn more about the marine mammals they sometimes see basking on shorelines.
“I love it,” she said. “We live on the West side and see them sometimes at Kaena Point, where we give them distance. Here it’s good for him to see (the seal) up close.”
Waikiki Aquarium’s education department offers regular outreach activities, including daily educational presentations, arts and crafts. A new exhibit called “The Living Reef,” highlighting Hawaii’s coral reefs, is coming up in the next month. A webcam for the Hawaiian monk seal exhibit also remains live.
Hawaiian monk seals are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, meaning found nowhere else in the world, and remain a critically endangered species. Only about 1,400 monk seals remain in the wild, with the majority dwelling in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Not that Valiente could ever really prepare for such a moment.
“I could not believe it,” Valiente said through the team’s bench coach, Tony Pena, who served as an interpreter for an interview last week. “Just to be with the Yankees is an honor. But for him to do that for me, el Capitán, it was an amazing thing.”
A day after the plane ride, when the moment arrived, after years of hard work in Cuba for pennies a day, Valiente commemorated the event with tears of joy.
The Yankees called up Valiente in September to work with the expanded roster. But this year was different: He was wearing a Yankees uniform from opening day as a full-time staff member.
“You have to see how much he really does,” Jeter said. “He’s behind the scenes, obviously, but everyone here knows how much he does. Everybody loves him, and he deserves it for how hard he works.”
Valiente’s job entails two main tasks: throwing batting practice and tossing batting practice. He shows up early every day and throws to players seeking extra swings in the cages. During regular batting practice, he throws or hits ground balls. Then, as the action unfolds on the field during the game, he is stationed under the stands in a batting cage, tossing balls underhand to players as they prepare for their at-bats. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Publicada el 10/03/2020 a las 06:00 Actualizada el 13/03/2020 a las 10:53
El coronavirus se ha convertido en el principal foco de preocupación de la inmensa mayoría de los gobiernos a nivel mundial. En España, el virus ha afectado ya a 1.204 personas y los fallecidos ascienden a 31. En medio de la epidemia, el Gobierno de Pedro Sánchez avanza en la toma de decisiones y las comunidades autónomas comienzan a decretar las primeras medidas destinadas a paliar los efectos del brote. Una mirada global da cuenta de los mecanismos que cada territorio está optando por impulsar para plantar cara al virus. El cierre de escuelas, la prohibición de celebrar eventos multitudinarios o la extrema precaución para los grupos de riesgo son algunos de los movimientos que más se repiten en los países afectados.
ITALIA se consolida como el mayor foco en europa
Con más de siete mil casos confirmados este lunes y más de tres centenares de muertes, Italia se consolida como el país europeo más afectado por el virus. Ante la situación de emergencia, el Gobierno de Giuseppe Conte ha comenzado a tomar medidas drásticas. Este domingo, el país puso en marcha un decreto para aislar la región de Lombardía, con capital en Milán, y otras catorce provincias del norte. Una decisión que afecta a más de 16 millones de personas. El lunes, el líder del país decidió ampliar el decreto a todo el territorio: 60 millones de italianos deberán asumir las restricciones impuestas. "No habrá una zona roja, una zona restringida del país y otra no: Italia estará protegida en su conjunto, se trata de evitar los movimientos en toda la península", declaró Conte.
Entre sus medidas, el decreto prohibirá cualquier tipo de desplazamiento, excepto en caso de mediar razones sanitarias o laborales previamente convalidadas.
Los mecanismos que se están actualmente adoptando en suelo italiano tienen que ver igualmente con el cierre de todos los museos, centros culturales, gimnasios, piscinas, estaciones de esquí, discotecas, teatros, cines o locales de ocio. También se echa el candado a todas las guarderías, colegios y universidades del país hasta el próximo 3 de abril. Quedan suspendidas las manifestaciones públicas, las competiciones deportivas –también hasta el 3 de abril–, los eventos culturales, religiosos, las bodas y los funerales.
Si bien los bares y restaurantes esquivan, por el momento, la imposición del cierre absoluto, lo cierto es que deben asumir una restricción horaria, manteniéndose abiertos hasta las 18:00 horas y garantizando una distancia de al menos un metro entre los clientes.
FRANCIA: Medidas progresivas
En Francia son más de 1.400 los casos confirmados y los fallecimientos ascienden a 25. Ante la expansión del virus, el Gobierno galo ha optado por decretar la prohibición de que se celebren reuniones o concentraciones con un flujo superior a las mil personas.
El ministro de Sanidad francés, Olivier Verán, anunció la puesta en marcha de la medida el mismo domingo, tras una reunión centrada en la gestión del brote. De la decisión quedan excluidos los "actos considerados útiles para la vida de la nación", que serán definidos por el Gobierno a través de un listado.
Por su parte, Emmanuel Macron apeló el lunes a los socios europeos para consensuar una "acción urgente" capaz de "coordinar medidas sanitarias, esfuerzos de investigación y una respuesta económica".
Este lunes, el museo del Louvre anunció que regulará su asistencia frente al Covid-19. "Los visitantes con billete electrónico y los que se benefician de la entrada gratuita tienen prioridad y se les permitirá entrar en el museo solos", recalcó en redes sociales. En Córcega, además, más de 40 escuelas han decidido no abrir sus puertas.
alemania pone el foco en las empresas
Con más de 1.150 casos confirmados, Alemania ha anunciado este lunes sus dos primeras bajas pero evita entrar en pánico. De momento, las medidas acordadas por el Gobierno tienen que ver con estrategias a nivel laboral. De esta manera, se han acordado ayudas para paliar los efectos del coronavirus en las empresas, con el foco especialmente situado sobre el trabajo a jornada reducida.
La Oficina Federal de Empleo asumirá, de esta manera, un 60% del sueldo neto que dejen de percibir los empleados que se acojan a la reducción de jornada como consecuencia del virus.
Igualmente, el Gobierno alemán ha impuesto a los fabricantes la obligación de pedir permiso para exportar equipos de protección, como mascarillas, guantes o ropa específica.
suiza limita las concentraciones
A finales de febrero, Suiza decidió prohibir todo acontecimiento público con más de mil asistentes para prevenir el contagio del virus. En el país rondan los 370 casos y son dos los fallecimientos detectados a raíz del brote.
El Gobierno decretó la medida con el 15 de marzo como fecha límite y destacó la proximidad a Italia como motivo de especial precaución entre la ciudadanía. En ese sentido, las autoridades han insistido en la importancia de la prevención, especialmente en relación a las personas mayores de 65 años. "Para el Consejo Federal, la prioridad absoluta es proteger a la población", aclaró entonces el ministro del Interior, Alain Berset.
portugal decreta cierres
Portugal, por el momento, se instala en la treintena de casos y ninguna muerte confirmada. Sin embargo, el Gobierno empieza a valorar posibles acciones en previsión de una posible expansión del brote. Con la vista puesta en los países vecinos, comienzan a tomarse algunas medidas para paliar los efectos del virus. De esta manera, se han suspendido las visitas a residencias, hospitales y prisiones en el norte del país. En las ciudades de Felgueiras y Lousada, pertenecientes al distrito de Oporto, el aumento de casos locales ha llevado al cierre de escuelas, gimnasios, bibliotecas y otros espacios de ocio. Además, el Conselho Nacional de Escolas Médicas ha tomado la decisión de cerrar todas las facultades de medicina del país.
Por su parte, la secretaria de Estado de la Administración Interna, Patrícia Gaspar, no descartó este lunes la posibilidad de cerrar fronteras para contener la propagación del virus y proceder a la cuarentena de los enfermos. "En este momento, el cierre de fronteras aún no fue identificado como absolutamente esencial", afirmó en una entrevista, pero "si lo fuera, está prácticamente garantizado que las autoridades lo avalarán y podrá ser esa una de las opciones tomadas". Además, añadió estar en condiciones de garantizar cuarentenas obligatorias, aunque subrayó estar convencida de que "eso no será necesario".
REINO UNIDO da los primeros pasos
En Reino Unido, el virus ha contagiado a al menos 319 personas y otras cuatro han perdido la vida. El Gobierno espera que el virus se extienda "de manera significativa", tal y como ha anunciado este lunes tras una reunión de emergencia.
En ese sentido, el país se encuentra en una primera fase de contención, pero no obvia las consecuencias de lo que el Gobierno británico tacha de "amenaza seria e inminente". El Comité de Emergencia Cobra ha trazado ya una serie de acciones, agrupadas en cuatro fases, a desarrollar en caso de que las consecuencias del virus se acentúen. Tal y como explicó el primer ministro, Boris Johson, el plan de acción con el que cuenta el país contempla una primera etapa de contención, seguida por otra de retraso, de investigación y una final enfocada en mitigar el impacto de la enfermedad.
Tal y como sostuvo el doctor David Nabarro, enviado especial de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), el Gobierno estaría valorando la aplicación de medidas destinadas a frenar la propagación enfocadas principalmente en la limitación de eventos y actos públicos.
grecia recomienda evitar viajes innecesarios
En Grecia, los casos contabilizados hasta el lunes ascendieron a 84, aunque el país no ha tenido que lamentar ninguna víctima mortal. El Gobierno lanzó al inicio de la semana recomendaciones dirigidas a los ciudadanos, como evitar viajes innecesarios dentro y fuera de las fronteras nacionales, así como limitar especialmente los viajes de personas mayores de 70 años y con enfermedades cardiovasculares, respiratorias, diabetes o dolencias crónicas.
El Gobierno ha decidido asimismo suspender los eventos culturales y artísticos que agrupen a más de mil personas. Igualmente, ha recomendado realizar por videoconferencia las reuniones que impliquen a más de 50 personas. En cuanto a los eventos deportivos, se realizarán a puerta cerrada durante al menos dos semanas. A principios de mes, las autoridades ya aprobaron un decreto ley sobre medidas extraordinarias para evitar y limitar la difusión del coronavirus con la posibilidad de imponer una serie de restricciones temporales.
El ministro de salud, Vassilis Kikilias, ha señalado que los próximos dos meses son particularmente críticos y ha pedido extremar las medidas de prevención, con especial énfasis en los grupos vulnerables o los que cuentan con síntomas.
irán cierra universidades
El lunes, el número de afectados por el virus en suelo iraní ascendía a los 7.161 y la cifra de fallecimientos a 237. Con estos datos, Irán se consolida como uno de los países más azotados por la epidemia. Como respuesta, el Gobierno de Hasán Rohaní ha decretado medidas preventivas como el cierre de escuelas y universidades hasta el 20 de marzo, según anunció el ministro de Salud, Saeed Namaki. Los eventos culturales, deportivos y religiosos también han quedado prohibidos.
Además, las instituciones penitenciarias concederán permisos especiales a cerca de 70.000 presos para evitar el contagio en las cárceles. Los países limítrofes, igualmente, han cerrado sus fronteras y la mayoría de aerolíneas internacionales han suspendido sus vuelos al país.
china: el virus comienza a remitir
En China, epicentro del virus, los casos superan ya los 80.700 y los fallecimientos rebasan los 3.120. Pese a lo rotundo de las cifras, el contagio empieza a remitir entre los ciudadanos chinos.
El Gobierno de Xi Jinping comenzó a enfrentar el brote, tras las primeras confirmaciones en Wuhan –capital de la provincia de Hubei–, implementando una serie de medidas de contención basadas esencialmente en la cuarentena y la suspensión de viajes. Dejaron de celebrarse igualmente eventos deportivos, culturales y sociales, procurando esquivar de esta manera las grandes aglomeraciones.
La inyección de recursos económicos, así como la construcción y adecuación de hospitales, fueron algunos de los mecanismos puestos en marcha en el país. Este lunes, China anunció 40 nuevos contagios, el menor número desde que comenzaron a contabilizarse los afectados.
corea del sur: nivel máximo de alerta
Otro foco de preocupación se sitúa en Corea del Sur, que este lunes acumulaba cerca de 7.478 casos y 53 muertes. Las autoridades coreanas se han inclinado por implementar medidas preventivas destinadas a frenar la expansión de la epidemia. Desde el 23 de febrero, el país ha alcanzado su nivel máximo de alerta. El presidente surcoreano, Moon Jae-in, ha instado a no realizar reuniones masivas con el fin de que las autoridades sanitarias puedan reforzar las medidas de cuarentena.
Este lunes, además, el Gobierno ha puesto en marcha un sistema de racionamiento de mascarillas con el fin de estabilizar su suministro. El mismo día, el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores anunció una inyección de 3 millones de dólares a la OMS para reforzar la lucha contra el virus.
japón y las restricciones de entrada
En Japón, con aproximadamente 511 casos y 17 fallecimientos, se ha decidido cancelar todos los eventos culturales y deportivos, además de clausurar los centros escolares hasta abril.
A finales de febrero, el Gobierno nipón también decretó el estado de emergencia en la isla de Hokkaido. Por otro lado, este lunes Tokio suspendió su programa de exención de visado para los surcoreanos y requirió la cuarentena de los viajeros que provengan del país y también desde China. Corea del Sur y Japón han comenzado a desarrollar restricciones de entrada mutuas, que han deteriorado unas relaciones de por sí tensas. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
What do we mean by ‘rough sleeper’?
Rough sleepers are defined as anyone found, during the annual counts, either sleeping or about to bed down in the open air – be it on the street or in a park – or in a building not designed for habitation. While rough sleepers are (in virtually every case) homeless, the legal definition of homelessness can also apply to anyone who has no home of their own to occupy, but may be living in temporary accommodation.
Those who end up rough sleeping are often those who are not considered by law to be ‘priority need’ for local council support. This tends to cover families, the elderly, the sick, and other groups such as veterans and victims of domestic violence. Single people with no dependents often struggle to get support.
Why has the figure increased in recent years?
The causes of homelessness are complex, and no one rough sleeper’s story will be the same. However, most charities and housing experts agree that a combination of the Government’s welfare reforms, reductions in the availability of affordable housing, rising rents, and cuts to councils funding are all contributing.
How have welfare reforms had an impact on homelessness?
Cuts to most benefit payments have hit incomes, but the main factor here is the decision to hold down the rate at which housing benefits increase at just one per cent a year since 2013. During this time, rents have continued to rise at a much higher rate. Housing benefits are now set to be frozen for four years. The Crisis charity says that the loss of a private tenancy is now the biggest cause of homelessness and has just completed a survey of 800 landlords which found that more than half are no longer willing to let to people on housing benefit. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A las 10.30 de esta mañana un grupo de treinta clientes del banco HSBC de la sucursal microcentro de la peatonal Florida, se encontraron con una desagradable sorpresa que promete conmocionar a la citi porteña.
Antes de acceder a sus cajas de seguridad el gerente de la sucursal les acercó un formulario impreso en el que se les pedía que autorizaban a “autoridad competente” a realizar "violentaciones" el contenido de sus cajas.
Como era previsible esto disparó hasta el cielo los temores de una requisa del Gobierno de las cajas de seguridad en busca de dólares, rumor que ante cada crisis financiera que enfrenta el kirchnerismo, vuelve a aparecer.
La novedad es que esta vez no fue un rumor, LPO accedió en exclusiva al formulario que el banco pidió a sus clientes firmar como exigencia previa para que accedan a las cajas.
“El solicitante toma conocimiento y acepta, que el BANCO permitirá el ingreso al recinto de cajas de seguridad, de autoridades competentes, con facultades suficientes para llevar a cabo violentaciones y/u otras diligencias relacionadas con la caja, que hayan sido ordenadas por autoridad competente. Dichas actividades se realizarán sin necesidad de la presencia y/o aviso del Solicitante”, sostiene el párrafo más inquietante de la autorización que hacían firmar a los clientes del HSBC antes de ingresar a sus cajas de seguridad.
“Esto es una locura ¿Quién es la autoridad competente?”, se indignaron los clientes a los que le pedían firmar una autorización que sencillamente derriba el derecho de propiedad.
El gerente sólo murmuraba excusas. Ante lo cual muchos de los presentes optaron por no firmar el documento e impedidos de ingresar a sus cajas, se retiraron de la sucursal.
Desde el Banco Central afirmaron a LPO que se trata de un formulario de norma, que no responde a ninguna circular nueva de la institución. Y agregaron que "autoridad competente" debe leerse como autoridad judicial, aunque el texto no lo especifica.
Incluso las fuentes del Central aclararon que el Banco Central no tiene autoridad para normar sobra las cajas de seguridad porque se entiende que se trata de un "acuerdo entre privados". O lo sumo, la autoridad monetaria podría dictaminar en que lugar ubicarlas por consideraciones de seguridad, pero no mucho más, agregaron.
Lo extraño es que en el HSBC recién ahora apareció y sobre todo que como queda claro en su encabezado se trata de un "complemento" del contrato firmado oportunamente.
El formulario que parece emanado de algún organismo gubernamental porque apela al genérico "BANCO", es decir que podría ser repartido rápidamente a cualquier institución bancaria, comienza sosteniendo que " El presente complementa la solicitud o contrato de locación cajas de seguridad suscripto oportunamente, con el objeto de incorporar al mismo las siguientes cláusulas". Es decir, fuerza una modificación unilateral del contrato, claramente ilegal.
Luego busca preparar el terreno para eventuales violaciones de las cajas de seguridad por parte del Estado, con una excusa pueril, la búsqueda de "munición".
"El solicitante toma conocimiento y acepta que queda expresamente prohibido depositar munición ni tampoco ningún tipo de arma de fuego en la caja que toma en Servicio, dejando expresa constancia que exime al BANCO de la responsabilidad derivada del incumplimiento de la obligación precedentemente expuesta".
Y agrega en otro párrafo todavía más inquietante: "El solicitante toma conocimiento y se obliga a no utilizar la caja a efectos de depositar bienes u objetos de cualquier tipo y características, que provengan de actividades ilícitas, o que se encuentre legalmente sancionado su dominio, tenencia o posesión, eximiendo al BANCO de cualquier responsabilidad emergente de eventuales depósitos que pudieran realizarse de dichos bienes u objetos".
Como es lógico, este párrafo habilita prácticamente todas las hipótesis imaginables para justificar el registro forzado, la violación de las cajas de seguridad.
La aparición de este inquietante formulario se da cuando el país se encuentra en default, el dólar blue se dispara y se cierra todo acceso del país a financiamiento externo, esto es divisas.
La idea de que ante la falta de dólares el Gobierno podía llegar a registrar las cajas de seguridad siempre sobrevoló la City porteña y hasta se habló en la incorporación por parte de la AFIP de scanners para registrarlas, versión que nunca se confirmó.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The push to pay congressional interns $15 an hour is catching on with House progressives, with proponents arguing the move is necessary to ensure opportunities for people regardless of their socioeconomic status.
The issue gained traction Wednesday after Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezHouse passes bill to avert shutdown Trump attacks Omar for criticizing US: 'How did you do where you came from?' The Memo: Dems face balancing act on SCOTUS fight MORE (D-N.Y.), a darling of the left, called on lawmakers to follow her lea after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Chuck SchumerSenate Democrats introduce legislation to probe politicization of pandemic response Schumer interrupted during live briefing by heckler: 'Stop lying to the people' Jacobin editor: Primarying Schumer would force him to fight Trump's SCOTUS nominee MORE’s office (D-N.Y.) posted an advertisement for unpaid interns. A Schumer spokesman later said the posting had been made “in error.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“It is unjust for Congress to budget a living wage for ourselves, yet rely on unpaid interns & underpaid overworked staff just bc Republicans want to make a statement about ‘fiscal responsibility,’ " Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
Rep. Ro Khanna Rohit (Ro) KhannaThe Hill Interview: Jerry Brown on climate disasters, COVID-19 and Biden's 'Rooseveltian moment' Congress needs to prioritize government digital service delivery DeJoy defends Postal Service changes at combative House hearing MORE (D-Calif.) echoed the sentiments, saying he believes it could help lead candidates who can’t afford to work for free into careers in public service.
“The House has a new fund for internships. This is a welcome change & long overdue. Like many other offices, we will be paying our interns at least $15 an hour," Khanna tweeted. "This will ensure that young people of different economic backgrounds will be able to pursue public service internships."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal Pramila JayapalDHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility Progressive Caucus co-chair: Whistleblower complaint raises questions about 'entire detention system' Buttigieg, former officials added to Biden's transition team MORE's (D-Wash.) office confirmed they will follow suit.
Rep. Adam Smith David (Adam) Adam SmithWhen 'Buy American' and common sense collide Overnight Defense: Marine Corps brushes off criticism of Marines' appearance in GOP convention video | US troops injured in collision with Russian vehicle in Syria | Dems ask for probe of Vindman retaliation allegations Democrats press Pentagon watchdog to probe allegations of retaliation against Vindman brothers MORE (D-Wash.) introduced a bill in September requiring congressional offices top compensate interns at the $15 hourly rate. Thirty-one Democratic lawmakers cosponsored the legislation, thought it’s unclear whether the measure will see any movement when Democrats regain control of the floor in January.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who co-sponsored the legislation, doesn't currently pay his interns $15 an hour, but is waiting to see what the budget looks like before constructing a plan for their compensation, a spokesman for his office told The Hill.
Republicans have largely opposed previous Democratic calls to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, arguing it would limit job growth and place a strain on small businesses.
Khanna said he will have to take the budget into consideration while determining whether he will have to limit the number of interns he can take on as more would be devoted to their salaries.
"Depends on whether we get an increase in the [Members Representational Allowance]," he told The Hill Thursday.
Unpaid internships are not uncommon on Capitol Hill, with proponents arguing the positions provide young people with valuable work experience.
A 2017 report released by Pay Our Interns, a D.C.-based nonprofit, showed just 8 percent of House Republican offices and 3.6 percent of Democrat offices offered paid internships.
—Melanie Zanona contributed. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
What do George W Bush, all of the personnel of the WWE and Jesus have in common?
They’re all among the most-edited topics on the whole of Wikipedia. And that list — which also includes the encyclopedia itself — says an awful lot about the site that describes itself as being “a free-access, free-content Internet encyclopedia”.
The site keeps the list of its most active pages updated itself, in part so it knows which pages need to be vigilantly watched, but they have been assembled into a useful graph by designer Ramiro Gómez. To do so, he had to strip out many of the non-standard pages — such as Wikipedia-specific pages like a site making note of reports of vandals.
The list has little coherence or order. Some at the top are among the most important things in the world (United States, Jesus and Hitler) but others are much more insignificant (like “list of programs broadcast by ABS-CBN" and “list of Ben 10 Aliens”).
Some pages that are lists, like those of TV broadcasts and Ben 10 aliens, appear to have taken their place as the busiest Wikipedia pages because they are huge lists of continually-updating information. And even things that are more static receive a stream of updates, like changes to Hitler’s page that attempt to add in modern references.
Others are more controversial pages: both George W Bush and World Wrestling Entertainment are the site of big disputes over facts and interpretation.
But the list perhaps says more about the people who are using the site than anything to do with the people being written about. There are a number of pages related to video games in the list (PlayStation 3, RuneScape) and sports (Real Madrid, Roger Federer). But only one woman, Britney Spears, appears.
Wikipedia’s edits are likely to be skewed by the demographics of those that use it. Overwhelmingly, the site’s editors are male, live in rich countries, and are from Anglophone countries. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Federal officials say more than two dozen aircraft have violated airspace restrictions near President Trump’s estate in Florida.
The Sun Sentinel reports that last month, the Federal Aviation Administration reported 27 violations of the airspace restrictions near Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
In one instance, Air Force jets speeding to intercept an aircraft caused a sonic boom that rattled Palm Beach and Broward counties.
Get Breaking News Delivered to Your Inbox
The names of the pilots who received the violations weren’t released. Agency officials told the newspaper they’re investigating each case.
The FAA said it will reach out to South Florida pilots to educate them about the restrictions activated within 30 miles of the estate when Mr. Trump visits. The agency recently held briefings for pilots at airports in Boca Raton and Palm Beach. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Pam Hupp has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the August 16 shooting death of Louis Gumpenberger, 33, a man she told police was burglarizing her O’Fallon, Missouri home when she killed him. The charges were announced Tuesday at a press conference with the O’Fallon Police Department and Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar.
Hupp had been the state’s key witness in the case against Russ Faria, who was convicted in 2013 of murdering his wife in 2011. Hupp was the last known person to see Betsy Faria alive before she was stabbed to death in her home in late December 2011. Four days before the murder, Hupp had become the beneficiary of a $150,000 life insurance policy that Betsy owned. It was a change that no other friend or family member knew about. Hupp had made uncorroborated allegations about Russ, who became the only suspect in the case.
After his conviction, Faria filed a request for a special hearing to reconsider the guilty verdict. The request was granted and his conviction was overturned. He was acquitted in November 2015, at a bench trial. At his retrial, Faria's defense attorney pointed to Hupp as the one with the motive and opportunity to kill Betsy, though she was not called by either side to testify.
Related: Wrongfully Convicted Russ Faria Sues Prosecutor and Investigators
In reaction to the defense attorney's statements, Hupp has repeatedly denied any involvement in Betsy Faria's murder. She has never been charged with any crimes in connection with Betsy’s murder.
Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha
But the prosecutor said there appears to be a connection between the Faria case and the charges Hupp now faces.
According to police, Hupp called 911 at 12:08 p.m. on August 16, to report an active break-in at her home. While on the phone, she told 911 that she had shot the intruder. Gumpenberger was pronounced dead at the scene. He was later identified by his fingerprints, as he had no identification on his person. However, $900 and a note were found in Gumpenberger’s pant pockets. According to the probable cause statement, included with the charging document against Hupp, the note “appeared to be instructions for Gumpenberger to kidnap Hupp, get Russ’s money from Hupp at her bank, and kill Hupp in order to collect the rest of the $10,000.” The name Faria was also on the note, authorities said.
First Report: Pam Hupp Shoots and Kills Man After Burglary Reported at her Suburban St. Louis Home
Prosecuting Attorney Lohmars told reporters that his theory is that Pam Hupp had concocted an elaborate plan to frame Russ Faria by making it appear that he had hired a hit man to murder her so that he could get the insurance money that was given to her after his wife Betsy’s murder.
In the course of the investigation into the Gumpenberger killing, the prosecutor said, investigators became aware of a call made to 911 on August 10, six days prior to the killing. The call was from a woman in St. Charles County reporting a suspicious circumstance. At Tuesday’s press conference, Prosecuting Attorney Lohmar said the caller reported that a white female in a dark colored SUV randomly pulled up to her while she was standing outside of her residence. The woman outside the SUV told her that she was a producer from the Dateline television show. And she tried to recruit this individual to go with her to do a sound bite for an upcoming Dateline episode regarding 911 calls. She was told that she would be given a script and she was promised $1,000 in cash both upfront and after the completion of the sound bite.
The woman initially agreed to go with the female that was driving the SUV, but then shortly thereafter demanded to be taken back to her home, the prosecutor said, after she became suspicious when the woman in the SUV was unable to supply credentials proving she was a Dateline producer. The 911 caller did have surveillance cameras at her home. When authorities looked at the video, they say it revealed that the license plate matched an SUV owned by Pam Hupp. The woman later identified Hupp in a photo line-up, according to investigators. The prosecutor believes that Gumpenberger fell victim to the same plot to frame Russ Faria that woman escaped.
Hupp, who has not commented on the charges filed today, is being held on a $2 million cash only bond.
Dateline, which has produced three reports on the Faria case, has not offered to pay anyone for sound bites and is not producing a story about 911 calls.
You can watch Dateline's most recent report on the Faria case below. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
SOCIETE Un militant contre la loi Travail qui a refusé un prélèvement ADN condamné mardi par la justice…
Illustration. Strasbourg le 31 mars 2016. Manifestation contre la loi travail. Entre 5.000 et 9.000 manifestants. — G. Varela / 20 Minutes
Un quadragénaire qui a refusé un prélèvement ADN a été condamné mardi par la justice. Militant contre la loi Travail, il avait écopé en juin dernier à cinq mois de prison avec sursis pour des violences et des dégradations commises en marge d’une manifestation à Strasbourg.
Lors d’une convocation lundi pour unprélèvement d’ADN, il a refusé ce prélèvement arguant qu’il était « un militant par rapport à la question des fichiers qui ont été créés », rapportent les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace.
>> A lire aussi : Relaxe pour 5 militants CGT qui avaient refusé un prélèvement ADN
Cette opposition étant constitutive d’un délit, l’homme a été placé en garde à vue où il a usé de son droit au silence. Le tribunal correctionnel a condamné le prévenu à deux mois de prison ferme sans mandat de dépôt. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
i love rape -seed oil due to its beneficial effects of vitamins b5 and omega 4 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Lis Smith, a senior adviser to Buttigieg's campaign, confirmed on Twitter that the former South Bend (Ind.) mayor's campaign had been in touch with the media outlets about the issues and hailed their decision to withhold the results.
"Our campaign received a report from a recipient of the Iowa Poll call, raising concerns that not every candidate was named by the interviewer when asked who they support," Smith tweeted. "We shared this with the organizations behind the poll, who conducted an internal investigation and determined not to release it. We applaud CNN and the Des Moines Register for their integrity."
According to two sources familiar with the poll, one interviewer at the call center used for the survey enlarged the font size on their monitor, potentially cutting off some names on the randomized list of candidates — including Buttigieg's in the interview in question.
The media outlets couldn't determine how many interviews may have been affected and whether other candidates may have been left off lists read to respondents in the course of conducting the poll.
"We are unable to know how many times this might have happened, because we don’t know how long that monitor was in that setting," said a source who agreed to discuss the decision anonymously. "Because we do not know for certain — and may not ever be able to know for certain — we don’t have confidence to release the poll."
The final poll from the Des Moines Register has been a critical, 11th-hour marker ahead of past caucuses. It has measured — and, in some cases, fed — a candidate's late momentum, whether positive or negative. The paper's final poll ahead of the 2008 caucuses led to a prolonged news cycle about Barack Obama's apparent surge on the eve of the vote, including measuring a wave of new caucus-goers poised to break turnout records and propel the then-Illinois senator to victory.
Both sponsoring media outlets, which had advertised that they would be releasing the poll at 8 p.m. Central Time, instead ventured to explain Saturday night why they wouldn't be releasing the results.
“Today, a respondent raised an issue with the way the survey was administered, which could have compromised the results of the poll. It appears a candidate’s name was omitted in at least one interview in which the respondent was asked to name their preferred candidate,” Register executive editor Carol Hunter said in a statement. “While this appears to be isolated to one surveyor, we cannot confirm that with certainty. Therefore, the partners made the difficult decision to not to move forward with releasing the Iowa Poll.”
The decision is a black mark for the poll, which has correctly predicted the winner of the Democratic caucuses dating back to 1988. With a crowded field of candidates at the top of the race, the results were expected to shed light on any late movement since the last survey, which was conducted in early January.
POLITICO NEWSLETTERS 2020 Elections Unpacking the national conventions and the race for the White House. Sign Up Loading By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
That survey showed Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont slightly ahead of a crowded pack of candidates at the top of the field. In the poll, Sanders (20 percent) led Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (17 percent), Buttigieg (16 percent) and former Vice President Joe Biden (15 percent).
J. Ann Selzer, the pollster, declined to comment on Saturday night's decision.
In a phone interview with POLITICO last week — before the since-spiked poll was conducted — Selzer discussed how she ensures the quality of her surveys at a time when it's harder to get voters on the telephone to participate in polls.
Listing the efforts she and her company make, Selzer said: "We just work with as high a quality a phone bank as we can."
Underscoring the attention paid to the poll, CNN had planned an hourlong TV program around its release. Instead, at 8 p.m. Central Time, the network's political director, David Chalian, went on the air to explain why the poll wasn't being issued.
Chalian said the complaint "means the results of the poll could have been compromised."
"We weren't able to determine exactly what happened during this person's interview, and we don't know if it was an isolated incident," Chalian said.
"We take the standards that we apply to our polling very seriously," added Chalian. "And to keep the highest possible standards, we wanted to present this information to the public and explain why we didn’t proceed with releasing this poll this evening."
Elena Schneider reported from Des Moines, Iowa. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The tweet sent out by Kellogg’s (Picture: Twitter)
Cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s has embroiled itself in a Twitter storm after a misjudged marketing campaign turned into a PR blunder.
Tweeting under the handle @KelloggsUK the cereal company posted ‘1 RT = 1 breakfast for a vulnerable child’ on Saturday as part of its Give a Child a Breakfast campaign.
This enraged some followers with many pointing out that it seemed to suggest the company would only be donating breakfasts to vulnerable children if the initiative received sufficient publicity.
One Tweeter under the handle @BotanyGeek replied: ‘Anyone else find this kinda creepy? Like sayin “Help us advertise or kids go hungry”.’
Another, @Hyper_Linda tweeted: ‘retweet @KelloggsUK OR ELSE kids will go hungry.’
The tweet was meant to promote the company’s Give a Child a Breakfast campaign (Picture: Kellogg’s)
The company then defended itself on Sunday morning, tweeting: ‘We want to apologise for the recent tweet, wrong use of words. It’s deleted. We give funding to school breakfast clubs in vulnerable areas.’
Unfortunately for the cereal giant, despite its good intentions, that only served to irk people further.
Twitter user @The_No_Show replied: ‘Not “wrong use of words”, you said exactly what you meant to say. It was just a lousy social marketing plan.’
Another, @Daleington, added: ‘Apparently @KelloggsUK already give to vulnerable kids, regardless of RTs.
‘Meaning it was just publicity off the back of vulnerable kids.’
Despite its Twitter backtrack, the company’s Give A Child A Breakfast website still promised ‘Tweet our campaign and we’ll give one more breakfast’ on Sunday afternoon. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Boy dies after being hit by car in Bournemouth Published duration 14 December 2017
image caption The boy was struck by the car as he crossed Naseby Road, police said
A five-year-old boy has died after being hit by a car as he crossed the road.
Police said the boy was struck by a black Vauxhall Corsa as he crossed Naseby Road, Bournemouth, shortly before 16:00 GMT on Wednesday.
He was taken to hospital where he died a short time later. The driver of the car, a woman in her 20s, was uninjured.
Police have urged witnesses to come forward and are seeking any CCTV from homes or dashcam footage from drivers.
Flowers have been left by the roadside.
One card read: "To my baby, mummy and daddy love you so much. You will always be with us, such a funny, happy boy."
The boy was a pupil at Winton Primary School. Head teacher Neil Tarchetti said everyone at the school was "deeply distressed and devastated".
image caption Flowers have been placed at the scene
He said: "The death of one of our wonderful pupils at such a tender age is very painful and his loss is acutely felt by all within our school community.
"This tragedy leaves his friends, other classmates and children, staff and everyone involved deeply affected.
"We are talking to all the children in school today about what has happened and offering support where needed.
"We offer our sincere condolences to the family, and in time will work with them to determine a longer term fitting tribute to their son."
Cheryl Hadland, of Tops Day Nursery which the boy previously attended, said: "We remember his playfulness. He was fun to be with, he caused laughter and that's something we'll treasure - just being energetic and being a little boy." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Though they've been around since the dawn of the Internet, but podcasts didn't gain a significant name nor a wide audience until the early 2000s. Like those storied old pirate radio stations, these digital talk shows allowed hosts to sidestep the FCC and talk directly to listeners. The format grew so popular, in fact, that some radio networks began offering their shows as downloadable podcasts.
Now, thanks to streaming services like iTunes, SoundCloud, and Spotify, it's pretty easy for anyone to jump on board the podcast wagon. And, it's even easier for everyone to listen in and explore topics that run the gamut: sports, news, politics, music, comedy and so many more. Some podcasts have become bonafied pop culture phenomenon. In its first season, Serial, produced by the public radio station WBEZ out of Chicago, held the country captive as it explored the alleged guilt or innocence of Adnan Syed, who was accused of killing his girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999 under mysterious circumstances. Others, like Pod Save America, have found success by offering a cynical look at current politics from the point of view of former Obama administration staffers. No topic is too niche to match those mainstream hits, though. It's hard to imagine any interest or subculture that hasn't at least been touched upon by a few talking heads with a microphone.
We've pared down the endless sea of offerings that are readily available and downloadable online to a handful the best podcasts to listen to right now. If you've been looking for a new show to rock with on your daily commute, something to check in on at the gym, or a way to take occupy your mind anytime, you can do worse than checking out some of these compelling titles. Log in, turn on, and tune out. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Președintele Klaus Iohannis va amâna referendumul privind lupta anticorupție din România, au declarat surse oficiale de la Cotroceni, citate de Hotnews. Însă, șeful statului nu a renunțat la această idee, ci va folosit acest instrument ca poliță de asigurare în situația în care justiția din România va fi, din nou, pusă în pericol.
Sursele citate de Hotnews.ro au spus că protestele și-au atins scopul, iar ordonanța de urgență 13 privind modificarea Codurilor Penale a fost abrogată, iar în acest context referendumul ar reprezenta „un glonț în aer”.
La data de 23 ianuarie, moment la care în țară sute de mii de oameni ieșiseră în stradă să protesteze față de OUG 13, președintele Klaus Iohannis a anunțat intenția lui de a organiza un referendum pe tema modificării Codurilor Penale.
„De ce au ieşit oamenii? Simplu de tot: PSD şi cu satelitul lui, ALDE, au promis bunăstare românilor, au promis că vor rezolva problemele României, au promis dezvoltare economică, au promis salarii mai mari, au promis pensii mai mari. Și oamenii, de bună-credinţă, i-au votat (...). Voi începe demersurile pentru un referendum, referendum prin care românii vor putea să se exprime, vor putea să spună dacă sunt de acord cu aceste demersuri sau nu. Fiindcă, atunci când au votat, aceste teme nu s-au găsit în programul de guvernare al PSD. Și atunci, dacă guvernanţii au făcut o temă din asta, vor trebui să suporte votul popular pe această temă”, a spus la acea vreme Klaus Iohannis.
Președintele Klaus Iohannis a declanșat pe 24 ianuarie procedurile pentru organizarea unui referendum prin care românii să spună dacă vor „continuarea luptei împotriva corupţiei şi asigurarea integrităţii funcţiei publice”.
Referendumul anunțat de Klaus Iohannis ar fi fost al şaptelea care se organizează în ultimii 27 de ani. Românii au mai fost chemaţi să spună dacă vor demiterea lui Traian Băsescu din funcţia de preşedinte şi dacă doresc să se modifice Constituţia. Demersul șefului statului a fost avizat pozitiv de parlamentari.
Un referendum este validat dacă rata de participare este de cel puţin 30% dintre alegătorii înscrişi pe listele electorale, iar aprobarea se face cu voturile a 25% dintre cei cu drept de vot. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Football loves a fairytale story. Whether it’s Bournemouth’s rise to the Premier League, Greece winning the European Championship in 2004 or this season’s remarkable title challenge by Leicester City; every so often a story comes along and makes people take notice. One that may have skipped past several people, however, is the rise and lesser-told fairytale of League One’s Burton Albion.
Just over 30 miles from Leicester’s King Power Stadium, Burton Albion have been causing shock waves in League One. Newly promoted, tipped for a brave relegation fight at best, they have proved to be more than expected. Currently sitting in the second automatic promotion spot with only six games to go, they find themselves in a great position to achieve promotion to the Championship.
Promoted to the Football League in 2009, Burton will not be the first team to achieve such a rise if they do achieve promotion. Bournemouth, as mentioned previously, have had their own fairytale story by rising from the bottom of League Two in 2009 to the Premier League this year; arguably, with survival in the Premier League looking near certain they’d be the biggest story in football were it not for Leicester. But, unlike Bournemouth, Burton have not been blessed with a Russian billionaire owner. Instead, they have taken a slower, and at times more difficult, route with local people behind the club.
Ben Robinson, the chairman of Burton Albion, is a local who has followed the club for most of its existence since being founded in 1950. Through his own shrewd business sense, Burton have been able to work their way up the leagues without a fear of financial crisis. Robinson is not scared to invest, but when he does he does it in the knowledge that it will be for the better of the club.
Robinson has also, repeatedly, shown a keen eye for potential in managers at the club. In October 1998 he secured the services of Nigel Clough. At the time, he was unsure he could tempt Clough, since saying that he thought that “with Nigel Clough’s profile we probably couldn’t afford him.” But it was an ideal stepping stone into the world of football management; one his father had so famously succeeded in before him.
Clough stayed at Burton for ten years, raising the profile of the club and effectively setting it up for promotion to the Football League before leaving for Derby County in January 2009. Robinson’s next three appointments were to show a real faith in young managers; hiring Paul Peschisolido, Garry Rowett and Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink.
After securing promotion to League One, former Chelsea striker Hasselbaink had presented himself as a talented young manager who could make the grade. It was of little surprise when QPR approached Burton for his services and even less of a surprise when Robinson gave his support to Hasselbaink when he left.
As much as he supports the club, Robinson supports his managers and will not stand in the way of them improving their own career. He realises a club of Burton’s size is a stepping stone, but so far his choices have paid off. It could be even be argued that his way of giving support and giving his managers their blessing when they leave has resulted in the return of Nigel Clough to the club.
When Hasselbaink left for QPR, few will have been wondering how well the club could maintain their push for promotion, but they carried on. Added to that the return of Nigel Clough, the man Robinson praises as the reason behind Burton’s rise, there is a real optimism that only seven years after reaching the Football League for the first time in the club’s history, Burton may reach the Championship for the first time in their history too.
How fitting that Clough should be there for what could be the club’s finest hour. The club he helped build up from the lower leagues which is now looking set to push on to the Championship. A managerial story of his own, not on par with what his father achieved at Derby and Nottingham Forest, but significant nonetheless. A proud story for a proud footballing family.
Burton may not have any superstar players and they may not score many goals, but they have fought their way, and defended their way, towards what could be the unlikeliest of promotion stories.
A small, friendly club could be up against the likes of Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa next season only seven years after facing the likes of Barrow, Woking and Lewes. Who would want to deny them that? Burton Albion; they’ve done it their way. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Alpha X Series 7h 56m Hurricane vs SpeCial Afreeca Starleague 9h 56m Sharp vs beast Action vs free OlimoLeague 10h 56m Solar vs Nice Firefly vs TBD Stats vs Cyan Armani vs Billowy Gold Series Team Champi… 10h 56m Prince vs Hurricane Bomber vs Jieshi GogojOey vs Patience Rogue vs RagnaroK Rex vs Nice Trap vs Zoun WardiTV European League 15h 56m Gerald vs GunGFuBanDa AqueroN vs Vanya GSL 1d 9h TY vs Dream Armani vs Zoun WardiTV European League 1d 11h ITaX Trovo Weekly 1d 12h Stats vs Bunny INnoVation vs Rogue Bald Guy Classic 1d 16h ThinkQuick showmatch se… 1d 18h trutaCz vs Sziky Aegyo vs TBD Show More ] ITaX Super Series 2 days PartinG vs Bunny RagnaroK vs TY WardiTV European League 2 days DnS vs Harstem Kas vs Denver OSC 2 days Shyrshadi Open 2 days Online Event 3 days WardiTV European League 3 days SKillous vs TBD Bee vs Rail MaNa vs goblin Bly vs TBD IndyK Event 3 days Sugar 2v2 Cup 4 days Grand Platypus Open 4 days REGENERATE OPEN WEEKLY… 4 days PassionCraft 4 days BSL 4 days spx vs vOddy Dandy vs LaAbuela TerrOr vs BoA OyAji vs CadenZie Have At You 4 days Afreeca Starleague 5 days BW Jeez Weekly 5 days PassionCraft 5 days BSL 5 days ESL Pro Tour 6 days ESL Pro Tour 6 days ESL Pro Tour 6 days | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Section A-L Section M-R Section S-Z
Welcome to the 2016-17 edition of the Deep Ball Project. For three years and counting, I’ve researched quarterbacks throwing the long ball, watching thousands of passes to determine which QBs could throw and which could not.
The result is the 2014-15 Deep Ball Project, the 2015-16 Deep Ball Project, and this, the 2016-17 Deep Ball Project (Check out the 2017-18 edition here)
With each new edition, I like to add new features that spice up the articles. For this year’s project, I included throws of both 16+ air yards (anything 16 yards or more) and 20+ air yards due to demand. Also, each quarterback now has 3-4 GIFs in each entry illustrating several of their deep throws from 2016.
With that in mind, here are some notes you’ll want to keep track of when reading this article.
Notes
-The minimum requirement for a quarterback to be on the Deep Ball Project is to have started at least 8 games. Quarterbacks that played in 8 games but started in less than 8 do not count.
-The following passes were excluded from the Deep Ball Project: 1) passes on plays that resulted in pass interference (except for ones that were declined WITHOUT another penalty existing), 2) passes that were tipped before they reach 16 air yards, 3) passes intentionally thrown away, and 4) passes where there was a miscommunication between the quarterback and the receiver.
-The Chicago Bears are the only team to not have a QB on the list, as it requires a minimum of 8 games started. This is for the best though, as I did not have to deal with the All-22 camera angle Soldier Field provides. Otherwise, every other team qualified.
-The key stat to note is NOT yards or touchdowns, but rather accuracy percentage. Where as completion percentage recognized the percentage of passes completed, accuracy percentage recognizes the amount of passes that were accurate regardless if they were complete or incomplete.
-Ultimately, while accuracy percentage is THE most crucial stat on the Deep Ball Project, the eye test is what matters most. The quality of the misses and makes count when charting.
-The highest graded QBs are generally the ones with the highest accuracy percentage. Vice versa for the lowest graded.
-QBs will be presented by their teams (or the teams they were on in 2016), the charts signifying their stats and grade, where their accuracy ranked, and a brief summary of their season. At the end of Part 3 (section S-Z), I will reveal the overall charts and the best deep passer of 2016.
With that said, after months of research, charts, and grading, I am ready to present a combination of 2,494 downfield passes, 114 GIFs, and nearly 6,000 words of writing into one 3-part article. Or, in other words, The 2016-17 Deep Ball Project.
So let’s get this started. This is section A through L (going by last name) of the 2016-17 Deep Ball Project. To get to parts 2 and 3, click on Section M-R (part 2) and Section S-Z (part 3).
Blake Bortles (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 33.0% (30th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 27.7% (29th)
We start off the 2016-17 Deep Ball Project at the absolute lowest.
There’s bad, there’s really bad, and then there’s Blake Bortles. Usually the lowest grade I give is an F, and that’s because the worst QBs at least have some good throws. Bortles found a way to bypass that and is the first quarterback to receive an F- in the history of the Deep Ball Project.
You have to try to be as bad as Bortles was. The throwing motion was completely broken and passes arrived late in the process. The passes themselves were often nowhere near the same area code as the intended receiver. The pocket movement and process went straight down the toilet.
So was there anything to like about Bortles’ 2016 season? Who cares? It was astounding seeing how badly Bortles could miss his targets. It’s like a Playstation controller with a broken analog stick. The difference is it costs a lot less to fix the Playstation controller and it can actually be done.
In conclusion, Blake Bortles managed to find a way to lower expectations for how badly a downfield passer can **** **** up. The result was a season that was less bad and more hysterical.
FINAL GRADE: F-
Sam Bradford (Minnesota Vikings)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 66.7% (1st)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 59.1% (3rd)
When the Vikings traded for Sam Bradford to backup the injured Teddy Bridgewater before the 2016 season began, it was met with a polarized reception. The tide of that changed when the Vikings started 5-0, but came back when they finished the season 8-8, with much of the criticism coming at the front office for trading for Bradford.
All things considered, however, you just may be surprised by Bradford’s downfield passing. His reputation is that of a short passer, but that’s unearned. Playing behind the worst offensive line in the league, little time is given for Bradford to develop his reads or the receivers to progress on their routes, leading to missed opportunities and sacks.
But when Bradford was able to release the ball, he did it with extreme efficiency. If you’re aware of my past work, you’ll know Bradford was graded highly in the 2015-16 DBP. Usually, there’s nowhere to go but down, but Bradford found a way to go up, further increasing his accuracy with tight, precise downfield bombs hitting receivers in stride and away from defenders. He finished with the highest overall downfield accuracy in 2016, with 66.7% of his passes being accurate.
Bradford’s downfield passing isn’t just underrated, good, very good, really good, or great. It’s sensational. Look for yourself and see a quarterback with tremendous deep passing ability.
FINAL GRADE: A+
Tom Brady (New England Patriots)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 51.5% (16th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 44.7% (18th)
Tom Brady has never been a great downfield passer, but in 2016 he showed a bit of improvement.
There were more passes made in stride than what was shown in previous years. This consistency allowed Brady to throw for 9 touchdowns as opposed to one interception. However, compared to his peers, Brady just isn’t as good. The accuracy just isn’t consistently there in comparison, so he pales on that front.
Brady didn’t do enough to establish himself as a downfield passer, but as a future HOF QB, and perhaps the most accomplished passer ever, it doesn’t really matter.
FINAL GRADE: C
Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 61.9% (5th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 56.3% (6th)
After taking a slight detour in 2015, Drew Brees rebounded his game with another excellent deep passing season in 2016.
Playing with the fastest and smoothest mechanics is a luxury for a top quarterback, and it helps make Brees’ accuracy that much easier. 5th in overall downfield accuracy, he consistently put excellent placement on the ball regardless if his receivers caught it or dropped it.
The future Hall of Famer is still a top 5 quarterback in my eyes. Where as 2015 was a quality year, it still felt like a step down. Brees made amends in 2016 and delivered the goods on the deep ball.
He may be a small quarterback, but in 2016 Drew Brees was constantly making big plays.
FINAL GRADE: A
Derek Carr (Oakland Raiders)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 64.3% (3rd)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 62.9% (1st)
Derek Carr has come a long way.
2015 was an improvement over 2014, but a 2nd half decline kept Carr from competing with the grades of the elite QBs. In 2016, he stepped up his consistency and gave one of the best deep ball performances of the year.
We’re talking consistent placement and terrific arm talent. Carr finished 3rd in overall accuracy (64.3%) and finished first in accuracy on throws of 20+ air yards (62.9%). His success on the deep ball was a primary reason why he’s been able to cement his status as the Raiders’ franchise QB.
Only a few poor throws kept Derek Carr from reaching an A+. If his downfield passing is an indication, this is the beginning of great things to come. The Fresno State alumni has become a good QB in the NFL with a master touch on the downfield bomb.
FINAL GRADE: A
Kirk Cousins (Washington Redskins)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 48.4% (19th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 43.2% (20th)
Kirk Cousins had great downfield stats in 2016, but the overall eye test was a different story.
The quality was certainly a step up from 2015, with several nice throws that led to touchdowns. Cousins was able to lead 2016 in 20+ yards as well.
But even then, there’s just too many bad throws and misses for the deep ball season not to reek of mediocrity. Despite playing with DeSean Jackson, Jamison Crowder, Pierre Garçon and Jordan Reed, Cousins still managed to overthrow his set of toys without providing routine accuracy.
So really, if you like stats, you’ll like Kirk Cousins’ 2016 season. If you like the eye test, you’ll probably be underwhelmed like I was. Take what you will from his season.
FINAL GRADE: C
Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 44.7% (23rd)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 39.7% (24th)
Remember when Andy Dalton broke out in 2015? Good times.
Actually, I never thought Dalton broke out so much as benefit from an amazing receiving group. With AJ Green and Tyler Eifert hurt, Hue Jackson, Marvin Jones, and Mohamad Sanu gone, Dalton was who we thought he was in 2016; a step below mediocre.
There are some good stretches of deep passes, but the overall quality is vintage Dalton; missing open receivers and forcing the passes that are caught to be hard to catch.
I don’t have anything else to say. Dalton’s 2016 season was just there.
FINAL GRADE: C-
Ryan Fitzpatrick (New York Jets, now a free agent)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 47.5% (21st)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 40.8% (22nd)
By throwing for more than 30 touchdowns in 2015, Ryan Fitzpatrick created the greatest scam in the NFL since, well, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Despite that fact, he sucked in 2015, and he sucked in 2016.
The accuracy percentage is a bit misleading, since a majority of Fitzpatrick’s completions were on easy throws. The misses, on the other hand, were a special kind of bad, and every bit as deliciously bad as you’d imagine.
I don’t even care that he managed to grade a bit better than his 2015 season, it’s still Ryan Fitzpatrick, and I feel like moving on. Next.
FINAL GRADE: D-
Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 36.0% (29th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 26.3% (30th)
How can you say Joe Flacco is elite if he wasn’t close to being average for the last 2 years?
Let’s talk about 2016. Flacco was easily one of the worst quarterbacks in the league last year. Come to think of it, he’s been one of the worst quarterbacks since after he won Super Bowl MVP. He’s just given up on his mechanics, accuracy, and train of thought in the pocket. The result is a careless mess.
Ranking in the bottom 3 in accuracy on both 16+ and 20+ throws while serving up plenty of turnovers and dropped picks, it’s a shame Joe Flacco’s level of badness never gets talked about, because it makes for great conversation. This is a guy that has gotten passes with being bad for a while, and it’s about time we started talking about it.
Only the presence of Blake Bortles and some good throws managed to save Flacco from grading out with an F-. If you had never watched him play before 2013, you’d probably wonder how he has a Super Bowl ring too.
FINAL GRADE: F
Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 43.8% (25th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 35.5% (27th)
While no masterpiece, Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 season had some good stuff. I thought his overall season was good, though his deep ball season was a bit sub-par.
This is the kind of season where I don’t have much to say, but while the accuracy sucked, the completions were really damn good. That’s why despite the low accuracy rankings, Kaepernick is at a D+ grade. There are some really good stretches of pocket movement and mobility that remind me of 2012 Kaepernick, but also moments where his receivers, bad as they are, bailed him out on accuracy.
Like I said, it’s not great, but there are some throws that are worth looking at, and by God, Colin Kaepernick needs a job.
FINAL GRADE: D+
Case Keenum (Los Angeles Rams)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 52.4% (13th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 46.7% (13th)
After experiencing Case Keenum’s deep throws in 2016, I entered a state of shock, like in the movie Amadeus.
This was a bad quarterback making good throws. This was a bad quarterback with the 13th most accurate overall deep ball and the 13th highest accuracy percentage on 20+ throws. Why him, though? Why not better passers like Tom Brady or Marcus Mariota? Why was Case Keenum so blessed?
Sure, there’s some trash, but I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Nothing was painful, and I actually enjoyed what I was seeing. Not great, but not bad either. And now that you’ve looked at this entry, you’ll be just as confused as I am.
FINAL GRADE: C+
Cody Kessler (Cleveland Browns)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 50.0% (18th)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 40.0% (23rd)
Cody Kessler is interesting. He’s not a good quarterback, but he might be a good backup.
In his first season, the Cleveland Browns QB actually faired well in deep passing compared to previous QBs, though when those QBs were Brian Hoyer (2014) and Josh McCown (2015) toddlers could look pretty favorable too. There’s a couple of great play extensions, but the overall tape is limited and meh in general.
There’s not much else for me to talk about, so this is a season that just serves its purpose and not much else.
FINAL GRADE: C-
Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts)
Accuracy Percentage On 16+ Throws: 66.3% (2nd)
Accuracy Percentage on 20+ Throws: 57.4% (5th)
After missing the 2015-16 Deep Ball Project due to injuries, Andrew Luck rebounded in a big way, bigger than I had given him credit for.
Andrew Luck has always been a great quarterback, but in 2016 he took his game to a new level, minimizing mistakes while making more jaw dropping plays than ever before. His overall accuracy of 66.3% was only ranked 2nd to Sam Bradford, and this came despite playing with poor coaching and a weak (though slightly improved) offensive line.
What Luck’s been able to do in 2016 was astounding. He was legitimately bad in 2015, but made sure that season was an outlier for good, delivering top notch passes upon top notch passes, often making his next throw his best one.
With yards and touchdowns galore, and supreme accuracy, Andrew Luck’s 2016 season was an otherworldly one.
FINAL GRADE: A+
Section A-L Section M-R Section S-Z | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Top 5 Craft Beer Styles for Baseball Season
Hoorah, hooray!
Be glad, be gay-
The best of reasons
Is Opening Day. And cheering the players
And counting the gate
And running the bases
And touching the plate. And tossing the ball out
And yelling Play Ball!
(Who cares about fall-out-
At least, until fall?) Let nothing sour
This sweetest hour;
The baseball season’s
Back in flower! Tomorrow – Milton Bracker
With winter winding down, and the green grass beginning to grow, with flowers beginning to bloom and leaves beginning to bud, we welcome in one of the most sacred days in the United States of America; Opening Day of the 2017 Major League Baseball Season. Whether you root for a team on the warpath towards the World Series, you root for one that blew a 3-1 lead in the World series, or you root for a team that isn’t good enough to mow the grass at the World Series; there’s just something about that first game of the new year. Even if you are not a baseball fanatic, there’s just something about opening day!
Now, we all know that nothing goes with baseball quite like peanuts and Cracker Jacks, but we would be remiss if we left out a thirst-quenching, refreshing and simply delicious beverage to wash all of that sweet and salty goodness down as we relax under blue skies while enjoying America’s pastime.
Traditionally, when lovers of America’s great game would flock to the ballpark, the beer options were fairly limited to major macro brew brands such as Budweiser and Coors/Miller (maybe, if the park was really fancy, you’d get a Shock Top Wheat), however; more and more, the 30 MLB stadiums around the country are offering a wide variety of high-quality craft beer options. So which craft beer style goes best with nine innings worth of red-blooded American sport pageantry that is baseball? Today, we have 5 recommendations for you!
1. Session-IPA
Session IPAs are brews that come in at ~5.0% ABV or less (the true mark of what makes a session beer a “session” beer is highly debated in the craft beer community). It’s as if session IPAs were brewed with baseball lovers in mind! According to ESPN, the length of average MLB game in 2016 has stretched three hours and 26 seconds, which makes session IPAs the perfect beer for baseball; you can have multiple session IPAs and still function without feeling heavy, weighed down, and most importantly highly intoxicated (generally speaking).
Our recommendation for a session IPA is Founders All Day IPA
Coming in a variety of sizes and containers, All Day IPA comes in at 4.7% ABV. Not sacrificing flavor for lower ABV, All Day IPA is a flavor-filled, hoppy and ultimately delicious IPA that pairs beautifully with baseball.
Additional session IPAs we love and highly recommend are:
What’s your favorite go-to session IPA? Let us know below!
2. Wheat Ales
Easy-drinking and a favorite of casual beer drinkers and craft-lovers alike, wheat ales are approachable, flavorful brews that capture the essence of spring and summer in a bottle (or can!). Macro brands such as Blue Moon and Shock Top are commonly found in stadiums and venues all over the nation, but there is a plethora of craft offerings that pair just right with the screams of an overzealous baseball umpire.
Our wheat ale recommendation for this baseball season is available nation-wide (mostly) and even in some international markets; Bell’s Oberon.
Popular for its signature summer flavor (a flavor formulated from Bell’s signature house ale yeast), Oberon is known for its mix of spicy-yet-subdued hop character with mildly fruity aromas. The addition of wheat malt lends a smooth mouthfeel, making it a classic summer beer. Made with only 4 ingredients, and without the use of any spices or fruit, Oberon is synonymous with baseball for many.
Other favorites in the wheat ale category for your consideration are:
What’s the most wonderful wheat ale to your tastebuds? Let us know below!
3. Pilsners
Recently, I have fallen in love with the Pilsner style. The simplicity, straight-forwardness of the Pilsner is truly refreshing and delicious. Light in body, Pilsners come in many shades of hoppiness and spicy(ness?) offering a wide array of flavors within the style. The most-consumed style of beer (by far), the Pilsner is perfect for long days at the ballpark. The unassuming, humble Pilsner is my go-to companion at Comerica Park when I’m enjoying (or not) a Tigers game under the warm Detroit sun. Highly drinkable, very approachable, the Pilsner is a thirst-quenching, low ABV option that is sure to please.
Our recommendation for the perfect Pilsner is Sixpoint Brewery’s The Crisp.
Sixpoint’s The Crisp is a hopped-up Pilsner that is a mashup of Pilsner malts and Noble hops. The result is a ridiculously refreshing Pilsner with a distinct, yet controlled hop bite. I absolutely love this beer and have yet to find a Pilsner that hits the sweet spot quite as well. With notes of biscuits, white bread, grass and lemon, you cannot go wrong with The Crisp; especially out at the ol’ ball game.
Pilsners are quickly becoming my favorite style, so it is easy to recommend other Pilsners that are every bit as good as The Crisp.
What’s the perfect Pilsner? Let us know below!
4. Kolsch(es)(‘s)?
Kolsch (I’m not sure what the plural of Kolsch is, so I am sticking to The Kolsch) is an emerging style in terms of popularity and availability in the world of American craft beer. Long a favorite in Germany and Western Europe, Americans are becoming more aware of the Kolsch and its very approachable characteristics! According to CraftBeer.com, a Kolsch is best described as “light in color and malt character, this style’s fermentation process yields a light vinous character which is accompanied by a slightly dry, crisp finish. Ale yeast is used for fermentation, though lager yeast is sometimes used in the bottle or final cold-conditioning process.” In layman terms, the Kolsch is a crisp, refreshing, light option which makes it perfect for the seasonally warm temperatures enjoyed throughout baseball season. The Kolsch is an excellent introduction into the world of craft beer for those who perhaps had only drank macro lagers in the past. The flavor is more full than a macro lager, but not offensive or aggressive to the pallet like many might say about an IPA.
Our recommendation for a killer Kolsch to be enjoyed this season is Harpoon’s Sweet Spot Kolsch!
Sweet Spot, according to Harpoon, is a balancing act of the finest ingredients, this golden ale is a refreshing new breed of craft beer. Golden and bright, not too hoppy, not too malty, full-flavored but smooth, with a crisp, dry finish. We recognize that Kolsch styles are not as easy to come by, but we do highly suggest seeking some out at your next baseball outing. Many local breweries have teamed up with AAA teams to create team-themed Kolsch beers, which tend to sell very well in the warmer summer months.
Some additional Kolsch beers for your consideration are:
Did we miss your killer Kolsch? Tell us what it is below!
5. Fun Styles (Miscellaneous Offerings)
This last category is for a few examples of craft beers that are just outside of these major styles. These are beers that we feel compliment the weather and pace of baseball well, but don’t fall under a major category (or, are unique substyles of major categories)
1. Gose
Westbrook’s now infamous Gose is a shining star example of this classical German wheat ale style. Gose is perfect for baseball as it is very low ABV (usually under 5%) but full on unique flavors from the addition of salt and coriander (among others). For some, the style is very strange and off-putting, but for others (like us) they are fun, refreshing brews that go perfectly with a slow-paced games such as baseball on a warm spring or downright hot summer day.
Other delicious (and far more available) Gose include:
Sierra Nevada Otra Vez
Victory Kirsch Gose
Sixpoint Jammer
Anderson Valley Briney Melon Gose
2. Raddlers
Radlers (often called a Shandy) are half beer-half SOMETHING concoctions. The Arnold-Palmers of the craft beer scene, typically Radlers are a combination of beer and either grapefruit juice, lemonade, or some other fruity beverage. These beers are love em-or-hate em type offerings, but do appeal to baseball fans for their refreshing tastes and low ABV characteristics.
While Sixpoint’s Rad was our favorite yet, here are some other fun radlers to experiment with!
Batter Up! Your Turn:
Thanks for checking out our list of the Top 5 Craft Beers for Opening Day! We hope you take time to enjoy this sacred American holiday and enjoy the rest of the baseball season with one of these amazing craft beers in your hand. We want to know what we missed or what you’d add! Leave us your recommendations in the comment section below.
Don’t forget to reach out to us on Twitter & Facebook, and if you enjoy our video reviews, subscribe to us on YouTube! Cheers! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Coalition and Labor tied at 50% each on two-party preferred basis as support for the prime minister dips from 53% in January to 48% in latest poll
This article is more than 4 years old
This article is more than 4 years old
The honeymoon appears to be over for Malcolm Turnbull with the latest poll showing the Coalition and Labor are deadlocked and the prime minister’s approval rating tumbling.
The Newspoll, published in the Australian on Monday, shows the Coalition’s primary vote has slumped three points to 43% since January, the lowest level seen since Tony Abbott was ousted five months ago.
Labor’s primary vote has jumped one point to 35% in the same period.
In two-party preferred terms, the Coalition and Labor are tied at 50% each, a sharp drop for the government from a six percentage point lead it had maintained since November.
Barnaby Joyce says 'inoperable' Senate may trigger double-dissolution election Read more
A series of ministerial resignations and oustings and confusion over the government’s policy direction has undermined the Coalition’s standing in the polls.
In late December the former cities minister Jamie Briggs resigned from the ministry over inappropriate conduct involving a female diplomatic staffer, and embattled frontbencher Mal Brough stood aside pending an investigation into his role in the Peter Slipper affair.
Brough resigned from the ministry prior to February’s reshuffle, which was expedited by the retirement of Nationals leader and deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, and the trade minister, Andrew Robb.
Stuart Robert was dumped from the ministry at the same time, after it was revealed that he travelled in an unofficial capacity to China for the signing of a mining deal with the owner of a company in which he had holdings.
The scandals have taken a toll on support for the prime minister, with 48% of voters satisfied with Turnbull’s performance, down from 53% in January.
But Turnbull still holds a dominating lead over the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, in the preferred prime minister stakes, leading 55% to 21%. Shorten’s standing has improved significantly since hitting a near-record low of 14% in early December.
About 47% of those polled were in favour of Labor’s policy of ending negative gearing for established homes, with 31% opposed and 22% undecided.
Senate voting reform stirs up hornet's nest between likely winners and losers Read more
Support among Labor voters was 60% but only 40% of Coalition voters endorsed the move.
The treasurer, Scott Morrison, has rubbished Labor’s proposal to restrict negative gearing to new homes, saying it amounts to “selling the public a unicorn”.
The government has yet to announce its economic policy leading up to this year’s federal election, after Turnbull dumped plans to raise the goods and services tax to 15%.
Senior government ministers have been playing down the polls, saying they always tighten in the lead-up to an election.
The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said, “The prospect of Bill Shorten leading the country is now in play and I think Australians will get to further appreciate what that means for our country. It means house prices will devalue under Bill Shorten,”
“This will be the contest at the next election, and no doubt people are now contemplating what a union-led government under Mr Shorten would mean for their families.”
The employment minister, Michaelia Cash, told ABC radio that voting for the Coalition would ensure that policy was produced in a “methodical and meticulous manner”.
The Coalition’s economic policy “will be laid bare in good time”, she said.
• Australian Associated Press contributed to this report | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Close this modal Close this modal
Share This Article | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government unveiled what was billed as a “historic” investment in Canada’s First Nations communities on Tuesday, one question leapt to Jackie Szkoda’s mind: will it be enough?
Trudeau has promised a renewed relationship with indigenous peoples, and the new Liberal government’s first budget puts nearly $8.4 billion into meeting those atmospheric expectations.
But Szkoda, a 55-year-old Shawnee woman originally from the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, 35 km northeast of Sarnia, Ont., said even that sum may not be sufficient to solve problems facing indigenous communities.
“I think it’s great that they’re putting more money into our issues,” said Szkoda, who works as intake co-ordinator at the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre. “But there’s so much need out there. And $8.4 billion sounds like a lot of money, but is it really?”
Szkoda said she left home at 18 because she saw no opportunities for her on reserve. Three decades later, the same problems she fled — lack of running water, insufficient housing, enduring trauma from residential schools — still plague many indigenous communities.
The 2016 federal budget commits the unprecedented amount of funding — spread out over five years — toward improving the socio-economic conditions of indigenous peoples and their communities.
The money is designed to tackle everything from safe drinking water and housing to waste management and the overrepresentation of aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system.
“We want to make sure that these resources are utilized in an effective and efficient way to deliver results on the ground for our people and that’s in the best interest of not only our people, but in the best interests of Canada,” said National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations.
That includes $2.6 billion over five years towards improving primary and secondary education for First Nations children on reserves.
There is another $969.4 million for school infrastructure in indigenous communities.
The 2016 federal budget proposes $634.5 million over five years to strengthen the First Nations Child and Family Services program.
More on thestar.com:
Trudeau's Liberals pledge billions in federal budget for 'transformative’ change
Winners and losers of the 2016 federal budget
Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...
Highlights of the 2016 federal budget
Impulse to return to golden era drives Morneau’s bold approach to deficit financing: Walkom
The Liberals have a lot of political cover for this budget: Tim Harper
Public transit, ‘unsexy’ infrastructure gets the nod in budget
Read more about: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Misae Sagara (Highschool) Vector By Nobutsumi Watch
14 Favourites 0 Comments 2K Views
Misae Sagara (Highschool) Vector
I wish the Misae route in Clannad was longer. While it was enjoyable by itself, Misae would have probably been my favorite Clannad heroine if her route in the visual novel was expanded upon.
Sorry for the funky eyes. The screenshot was not too clear so I just kind of improvised on the boundaries.
Screencap from episode 5 of ~Afterstory~
~13 hours
Show More
Published : Apr 2, 2013 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Henrikh Mkhitaryan would be ‘suitable’ for Juventus, according to his agent Mino Raiola. The Bianconeri have been linked with the Borussia Dortmund midfielder after giving up on signing Wesley Sneijder, and the Armenian midfielder’s agent says it’s possible he could move to Serie A.
“He’s an extraordinary footballer, on both a technical and professional level,” was Raiola’s assessment in an interview with Radio Anch’io Sport.
Serie A Roma reach Szczesny loan deal with Arsenal - reports 27/07/2016 AT 15:11
“He grew up in Armenia, then moved to Shakhtar Donetsk. He can create assists and goals, he’s useful to a team.
“He’s suitable for Juve, he can be part of one of the top 10 teams in the world. However, it’s difficult to see Borussia Dortmund letting him go, but he could bring something extra to the Italian League. “We’ll see if he can get to Serie A.” OUR VIEW
Mkhitaryan is an elite level footballer who would be suitable for a number of elite clubs, including Juventus. As Raiola says though, that is all down to Dortmund. These quotes are rather bizarre though. Maybe Raiola is trying to secure a contract extension for his client. If Dortmund do fail to get out of their current predicament – they are second from bottom of the Bundesliga – then they will have to sell. However, they will be keen to hold on to all their best players as they try to force their way up the league.
Read the original article on Football Italia - The ultimate website for English-speaking fans of Italian football
Serie A Chelsea make new £38m bid for Koulibaly - reports 27/07/2016 AT 14:40 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This was the original intent, since it was co-conceived by George Lucas, making it G-Level canon. However, with the purchase of the Star Wars property by Disney, this is no longer the case. Since then, the Star Wars canon has been reshuffled with the addition of Star Wars: Rebels (2014) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Finally, the events of The Force Unleashed were directly retconned by the events of Rogue One (2016): in Force, senator Bail Organa knows of the existence of the Death Star because he was briefly imprisoned on it; this clearly has not happened in Rogue One, since he knows nothing of it. So Force Unleashed is now in the Star Wars Legends. Edit | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Army officials have identified a soldier found unresponsive in an on-post hotel at Fort Rucker as 34-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andre George Nance, of Fort Hood, Texas, according to a press release from Fort Hood's Public Affairs Office.
Nance, whose home of record is listed as Randallstown, Maryland, entered active-duty military service in February 2004. He was attending the warrant officer advance course at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and has been assigned to Fort Hood since December of 2012.
The cause of death is not yet known, as the incident is currently under investigation by U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.
Nance deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from April 2009 to April 2010, Jan. 2012 to March 2012 and June 2014 to March 2015, according to the Fort Hood press release.
CW2 Andre Nance
Photo Credit: Army
Nance's awards and decorations include two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medal, three Army Good Conduct Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, NATO Medal, Aviation Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Air Assault Badge, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, four Overseas Service Ribbons and Army Service Ribbon.
× Fear of missing out? Sign up for the Army Times Daily News Roundup to receive the top Army stories every afternoon. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to the Army Times Daily News Roundup.
Nance is the 15th soldier assigned to Fort Hood to die since Sept. 10, 2016. Not all of the soldiers died at the Texas post — three were out of state. Several of the deaths remain open as criminal investigations and only a few have had the cause of death released. Causes of death include automobile accidents, unspecified illness, and gunshots.
- Sept. 10, 2016 - Pfc. Stacy Jordan Hardy, 20, automobile accident
- Sept. 13, 2016 - 2nd Lt. Andrew J. Hunt, 23, found unresponsive
- Sept. 17, 2016 - Pvt. Nathan Joshua Berg, 20, gunshot wound
- Oct. 7, 2016 - Spc. Bradley Michael Acker, 25, found unresponsive
- Oct. 10, 2016 (reported missing) - Pvt. Dakota Lee Stump, 19, automobile accident, crash site found Nov. 2, 2016
- Nov. 16, 2016 - Pvt. Kevin Paulino, 24, gunshot wound
- Nov. 18, 2016 - Spc. Korey Deonte James, 21, found unresponsive
- Nov. 26, 2016 - Pvt. Wanya Bruns, 20, gunshot wound
- Dec. 24, 2016 - Pvt. Paige Elizabeth Briles, 21, found unresponsive
- Jan. 2, 2017 - Pfc. Randal Kenneth Anderson, 22, gunshot wound
- Jan. 7, 2017 - Spc. Barron Von Reichelt, 24, automobile accident
- Jan. 11, 2017 - Sgt. Alex Mathew Dean Taylor, 23, found unresponsive
- Jan. 12, 2017 - Spc. Zackary Phillip Partin, 24, found unresponsive
- Feb. 17, 2017 - Pvt. Michael Luis Garcia, 29, training accident | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
In remote fishing communities across southeast Alaska live the intensely generous Tlingit (pronounced klink-kit) and Haida tribes, a nation of matrilineal Native Alaskan Indians that have called this region – along with parts of Western Canada – home for more than 10,000 years.
They have a surprising way of showing gratitude – an almost unthinkable practice in our modern era – that may teach us a lot about generosity: giving to your community until you have little else to give.
Huge ceremonies, known as ku.éex’ (literally meaning ‘invitation to a ceremony’), have punctuated their lives for thousands of years, marking special occasions with lavish home-cooked feasts, songs and gift giving. In this deep tradition to honour deaths, births, weddings, totem raisings and changes in social ranking, hosts would traditionally feed hundreds of guests and give away large sums of cash and gifts (like blankets, canoes, sewing machines, flour, dishes and kettles) that they’d saved up for all year to every invitee.
But when Christian missionaries and other outsiders witnessed these expansive, expensive events, they labelled them wasteful. They didn’t see these large and relatively frequent giving ceremonies as a normal valuation of one’s own property; instead, this alternate type of subsistence economy was considered a barrier to assimilation.
In 1867, what was popularly known as the potlatch was banned by federal law and discouraged by civil authorities and missionaries in the US. Clan leaders and noblewomen were jailed, clan houses demolished and ceremonial objects burned or taken to Canadian and American museums..
The ban lasted until 1951 – but thankfully these displays of generosity were never lost, though the term potlatch is now a loaded one for Natives, who explain that the word’s sacredness has been undermined since the tradition under that name was outlawed and forced underground for nearly a century. Elders prefer the traditional term ku.éex’.
Today, the ku.éex’ has been condensed into a two- or three-day ceremony held in autumn at the end of the fishing season. About 30 ku.éex’ are held annually across the southeast Alaska region, and some estimate that the value of gifts and money exchanged between clan members tops US$2m in total each year.
When the opportunity arose, I headed to Klawock, Alaska — one among many Native towns across the region – to learn more about the forgotten art of giving back to your community.
Our motorboat left from the quaint yet burgeoning tourist-and-cruise hub of Ketchikan, Alaska, weaving past evergreen-covered mountains with their peaks obscured by the misty morning fog. We crossed vast deep-blue waters filled with cresting humpback whales, traversed golden kelp clusters and left behind wild islands that had no name.
Sixty minutes later, I and 15 other tourists arrived in the small Tlingit village of just under 900 people, on the southeast corner of Prince of Wales Island.
Standing at the shore was a Native woman dressed in jeans and a thick wool sweater. She was all smiles and seemed genuinely happy to see us. She led us to Totem Park, the site for which the former fishing camp and cannery hub is now most famous, to see Alaska’s largest collection of authentic totem poles, currently numbered at 21. Originals and replicas towered far into the blue summer skies, and as if on cue, a bald eagle soared overhead. It felt like a very good omen.
We walked to a totem carving house, a large wooden warehouse where master carvers work for months on end to create stunning 3m- to 18m-tall totems that represent the many Northwest Coast Native lineages, starting with the Tlingit-Haida’s Eagle and Raven family moieties (meaning ‘halves’).
Waiting for us was a small, demonstration version of the traditional ku.éex’ feast, which included an array of crunchy sea asparagus, seaweed rice and platters piled high with heaping chunks of smoked salmon and halibut. What looked like a freshly baked bundt cake was actually a hearty fish loaf with a sour cream and chive topping, ready for slicing. An oversize tin of whole halibut with mayonnaise, lemon pepper and garlic showed off an impressive fish harvest. Plates of gooey wild-berry cobbler, made with local blackberries and blueberries, awaited us at the end.
I was moved knowing that our hosts had handpicked the sea asparagus, seaweed and berries, and caught and prepared several huge local fish just for us. This was their way of showing true gratitude for us coming to learn more about their community.
To fully understand the culture’s ceremonies of giving so many gifts and feeding hundreds of people, I reached out to Rosita Kaa háni Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, an organization of cultural preservation, creation, advocacy and education for Native Alaskan artists. Worl – who is Tlingit Eagle from the Thunderbird Clan and House Lowered from the Sun, a Child of the Sockeye Clan – helped clarify how this practice came to be.
“We live in an absolutely beautiful land that’s so easy to marvel at,” Worl explained. “It’s a rich rainforest, and the greatest resource for us has been from the seas, in particular the salmon that provide us food. The trees provide wood for our monumental art, large clan houses and canoes for when we travelled for trading expeditions as far away as Oregon and the northern areas.”
In short, these ceremonies of generosity are an economic, social, religious and political glue like no other. As Wor explained, “These ceremonies bring together opposite clans and help create balance among our moieties, clans and houses; and our ancestors. They keep harmony in our very complex social structure — and that’s really important.”
Northwest Coast Native tradition is dynamic; the totem carvings, songs, food, gatherings and giving spirit represent a thriving and celebratory culture that stands the test of time every day. That we may all learn to be as generous to our communities would be a gift in itself.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Jutros smo pisali o Elonu Musku i novoj tehnologiji 3D modeliranja na kojoj trenutno radi, a sada nas je razveselila vijest da je električni automobil Tesla Model S, kojega proizvodi Tesla Motors, čiji je Musk suosnivač, stigao u Smiljan, rodno mjesto Nikole Tesle.
Jutros smo pisali o Elonu Musku i novoj tehnologiji 3D modeliranja na kojoj trenutno radi, a sada nas je razveselila vijest da je električni automobil Tesla Model S, kojega proizvodi Tesla Motors, čiji je Musk suosnivač, stigao u Smiljan, rodno mjesto Nikole Tesle.
Naime, dolazak automobila organiziran je u sklopu suradnje Hrvatske turističke zajednice i njemačkog autokluba ADAC, kako bi se pripremao poseban broj dvomjesečnika Reisemagazin koji će biti posvećen Hrvatskoj, a objavljen u veljači 2014. Dio je to projekta prezentacije Hrvatske kao idealne turističke destinacije za odmor, posebice za njemačke turiste, kojega su tijekom proteklih mjeseci zajedno osmislili i realizirali Hrvatska turistička zajednica i njemački auto-klub ADAC.
Tako se na putovanju od Münchena do Hrvatske testira automobil Tesla Model S, kako bi se ocijenilo je li s ovim modelom moguće krenuti na dulje putovanje, odnosno na godišnji odmor. Dolazak u rodno mjesto Nikole Tesle, automobila koji je nazvan upravo po njemu, zanimljiv je kraj još zanimljivijeg putovanja, jer je automobil posjetio i Opatiju, Senj te Plitvička jezera. Zanimljivost je tim veća što je ova prometna ruta u dosegu jednog punjenja baterija automobila Tesla Model S.
Direktorica Glavnog ureda Hrvatske turističke zajednice Meri Matešić izrazila je zadovoljstvo što se potvrdilo da je Hrvatska i u pogledu ekološki zdravih prijevoznih sredstava izvrsna destinacija za odmor njemačkih turista, dostupna u dosegu od dva punjenja baterija ovog interesantnog automobila.
Hrvatska je kao destinacija svojom prometnom infrastrukturom i udaljenošću lako dostupna ključnim regijama njemačkoga tržišta, koje je ujedno i naše najvažnije emitivno tržište za goste koji putuju automobilom, a projektom poput ovog cilj je bio dodatno skrenuti pažnju njemačkih gostiju na još nedovoljno otkrivene destinacije u unutrašnjosti Hrvatske, koje s pravom zaslužuju dobiti važniji značaj.
Inače, Model S zamišljen je kao obiteljski automobil kojega se može koristiti na način jednak svakom drugom prijevoznom sredstvu. Karakteristika tog automobila jest da se jednim punjenjem baterija može prijeći u prosjeku 400 do 500 kilometara. Materijali prikupljeni na ovom putovanju naći će mjesto u publikacijama ADAC-a, Motorwelt i Reisemagazin, koji će u svom prvom izdanju za 2014. godinu detaljno prezentirati Hrvatsku. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
(Pocket-lint) - A new technology that could save your phone from getting water damaged could be included the next wave of smartphones about to be made by Samsung and Apple.
Called HZO, the technology creates a nano-scale film barrier which has special water repelling properties once applied to the inside of electronic gadgets.
Done during the manufacturing process rather than by you once you've bought your phone, this isn't a clumsy case or a sealant but a way of protecting gadgets from getting wet.
To help show off the capabilities of the technology, the company has already applied the tech to a number of different devices like the iPhone, as well as other phones from Samsung and Motorola. At this year's CES in Las Vegas Pocket-lint witnessed what looked like an ordinary iPhone being repeatedly dunked into a fish tank full of water.
The company is hoping to sign big deals with all leading manufacturers. A spokesman for the company told Pocket-lint that it is in the process of signing up a major smartphone partner and a headphones maker in the very near future.
The plan for headphones is that they wouldn't be damaged by sweat when running or water when swimming.
"We showed the Samsung Chairman the technology with a Samsung Galaxy S that we had coated with HZO and he couldn't believe his eyes," a representative of the company told us. "Samsung is really excited by the tech."
The company has told us that they are also talking to Apple as well, hoping to be able to let Apple make the iPhone 5 waterproof.
"We expect HZO to be in next season's phones," HZO told Pocket-lint rather confidently.
Writing by Stuart Miles. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
GOP: The anti-woman warriors After Todd Akin exposed their extremism, Republicans are once again trying to blame Democrats for a "war on women"
According to conservative commentators, the notion of a Republican war on women is a figment of Democrats’ imaginations — a manufactured “false narrative” according to Michelle Malkin; “contrived,” says Laura Ingraham. In fact, Republicans allege Democrats are the ones going after women’s rights and freedoms. “We can’t have a war on women,” Ann Coulter recently said, “because the Democrats have won that war between Teddy Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner."
But Democrats are merely accurately describing to the American people the hostile and putative policies pushed by Republicans. As I said recently on Fox News’ "O’Reilly Factor," Republicans want to tell women who are raped that they have to have the baby of their rapist. That’s not exactly a war on rapists.
Advertisement:
Despite the fact that our nation is climbing out of a historic recession and struggling with still-too-high unemployment and other serious challenges, the Republican leaders of the current, 112th Congress have declared passing anti-choice legislation a “top priority." In fact, the third bill introduced in the Republican House of Representatives was not a jobs bill or a bill to rein in foreclosures but legislation to ban federal funding of abortions. Overall, the current Republican House has held eight votes on choice issues — the highest number since 2000.
And remember last summer when Republicans refused to pay our nation’s overdue bills, threatened to shut down our government altogether and sparked a downgrade of America’s credit rating? Republicans only agreed to raise the debt ceiling by attaching an amendment to prohibit public funding for abortion services in Washington, D.C.
And now we have the draft Republican Party platform, which one committee member boasted is the “most conservative platform in modern history.” The platform includes a “human life amendment” to the Constitution that would bar abortion under any circumstances, with no exception for cases of rape or incest. The committee also adopted language that could bar certain forms of contraception and even expose women seeking health advice to criminal penalties. Plus the Republican Party platform praises “informed consent” laws like the one in Virginia that subjected women seeking abortions to mandatory, invasive vaginal ultrasounds. On the other hand, the platform endorses a constitutional amendment to make it near-impossible to raise taxes for anything other than military spending. Plain and simple, the Republican Party wants government out of your wallet and in your weehaw.
Advertisement:
But wait, you might be thinking: “That’s just the Republican Party and the much-despised Republican House of Representatives. Mitt Romney likes women. Ann Romney keeps insisting as much!” On Fox News, Dick Morris tried to insist that the Todd Akin story is a “big plus” for Romney since the presidential candidate has an opportunity to distance himself from extreme, anti-choice stances and articulate his moderate position. Oh, really?
During his 1994 run against Ted Kennedy for the Massachusetts Senate seat, Romney said, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.” On the legal status of abortions, Romney said, “I believe that since Roe vs. Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it and I sustain and support that law and the right of a woman to make that choice.”
But that was when he was trying to win office in a liberal state — appealing to liberal voters. When running in Republican presidential primaries, Romney changed his tune — to appeal to conservative voters. “We should overturn Roe v. Wade and return these issues to the states," Romney said during a GOP primary debate in 2007. "I would welcome a circumstance where there was such a consensus in this country where we said we don't want to have abortions in this country at all. Period. That would be wonderful. I'd be delighted to sign that bill.”
Advertisement:
In October of 2011, during his second run in the Republican presidential primaries, Romney appeared on Gov. Mike Huckabee’s TV show and said, “My view is that the Supreme Court should reverse Roe v. Wade and send back to the states the responsibility for deciding whether it is legal or not ... Would it be wonderful if everyone in the country agreed with you and me that life begins in conception and that there’s a sanctity of life that’s part of a civilized society and that we’re all going to agree there should not be legal abortion in the nation? That’d be great.”
And then Mitt Romney chose as his running mate Paul Ryan, who co-sponsored two extremist, anti-choice pieces of legislation with Rep. Todd Akin. One bill would have offensively and dangerously narrowed the legal definition of rape to “forcible rape." The other Akin/Ryan bill would have defined fertilized eggs as human beings, opening the floodgates to ban all abortions, restrict certain forms of birth control and fertility treatments, and in some cases subject women seeking health advice to criminal penalties.
Advertisement:
But, some might object, Ryan isn’t the presidential candidate. No, but Mitt Romney picked Ryan for his extreme conservative bona fides. And Mitt Romney has said that he would support such a “personhood” amendment to the Constitution — that is, before the Akin controversy sprung up and Romney started walking back his recent anti-choice remarks.
While 77 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in some or most instances, the dominant forces in the increasingly extremist Republican Party want to outlaw abortion in all cases, no exceptions, and impose invasive procedures and criminal penalties on women who even think twice about terminating a pregnancy. Republicans are trying to have it both ways — condemning Todd Akin’s words while embracing his ideas, whining about Democrats labeling the “war on women” while doing everything legislatively and politically possible to further that war. The Republicans' extremist, anti-choice agenda is very clear and now very front-and-center in this election. Mitt Romney can’t Etch-A-Sketch his way out of his own statements and away from his own party’s radical, unpopular and insensitive agenda. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
“So, you saw the film?” Barry Jenkins is eager to ask the minute we are introduced. He gives good eye contact through those stylish thick-rimmed glasses – not the big-time, Oscar-winning writer-director speaking, but a nervous artist, anxious about the new work he is starting to screen. I love it, I tell him. If Beale Street Could Talk may be only Jenkins’ third feature-length film, but it has already been nominated for three Oscars (best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress, best score), just two years after his Moonlight walked away with the Academy Award for best film. A passionate film about race and love, it’s an added pleasure to see black characters of such complexity on the big screen. British film industry, kindly take note.
Adapted from James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, Beale Street tells the story of a young black couple in 1970s Harlem. When Tish (KiKi Layne) becomes pregnant, they plan to marry – until her fiance Fonny (Stephan James) is set up by a racist police officer for a rape he did not commit. The film explores the different reactions of their siblings and parents, led by Regina King in a standout performance as Tish’s mother, as they fight for Fonny’s freedom.
Baldwin has been dead for 30 years, but his depiction of the fight against a country’s powerful prejudice is a sad reminder that not enough has changed, that Black Lives Still Matter. Yet Jenkins turns a bleak story into a compelling romance, as the young lovers strive to be regarded as human beings. With its lingering, saturated-colour photography – the director has cited Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love as an influence – Beale Street is one of the most visually arresting films I’ve seen.
“That was kind of our intention,” says Jenkins, who also wrote the screenplay. “We thought, ‘How cool would it be, to have this absolutely ravishingly gorgeous depiction of black romance, just pure and lush and vibrant – but then really lean into the systemic injustice issues that Baldwin’s talking about – with a very angry, almost bitter voice?’”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest On the set of If Beale Street Could Talk. Photograph: Tatum Mangus/Annapurna Pictures
Beale Street was filmed on location in New York and the Dominican Republic – filling in for Puerto Rico, still devastated by 2017’s Hurricane Maria. It was shot on an Arri Alexa 65 camera, Jenkins tells me (he’s a little bit geeky like this: taking joy in the details of the craft), because “it is the best digital camera for portraiture”. Throughout the film, as he did in Moonlight, the director lingers over often wordless scenes between his characters, presenting them as a series of moving photographs.
I tell him that if Moonlight didn’t finally kill off the ugly argument (and I have heard it, from producers and directors alike) that you can’t film black people because they’re just too dark, then Beale Street surely will. “My cinematographer is a white guy, actually,” Jenkins points out, referring to James Laxton, who also worked with him on Moonlight. “We both prioritise exactly what you’re talking about. Every day we’re on set and we’re in colour correction. And it’s always, ‘But how was the skin? What are we doing to protect the skin?’ Not even protect: ‘What are we doing to properly calibrate what we’re doing for the skin?’”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jenkins’ 2008 film Medicine For Melancholy. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar
One of the distinctive features of this film, and of Moonlight, is a series of straight-to-camera shots, where the actors seem to directly address the audience, without dialogue. Jenkins says he films these shots without really knowing where they will go, or how he will use them. “Sometimes I see an actor slip into that place where there’s no separation between the actor and the character. That’s when you do these things. The actor isn’t acting. They’re just being.” He says he was struck by a recent New York Times profile of him by the novelist Angela Flournoy, in which she observed the effect of these almost meditative moments in Beale Street. “She was saying that, for non-black audiences, these scenes are so charged, because for them it might be the first time they have ever looked a black person directly in the eye in this [meditative] state. And for black audiences, they see someone they know. It just never occurred to me. Then I looked out at a recent Q&A, for a mostly white audience, and I realised, holy shit, this might be true – that a large percentage of this audience have never looked someone like Stephan James in the eye in an unbroken moment of connection.”
While Jenkins’ film largely honours Baldwin’s novel, the director has added a new ending that follows the original – giving the audience just a glimpse of hope. Even so, he is convinced he has remained faithful to the book’s central message. Which is? “I think it would be: ‘We are not broken. You cannot break us.’ I wanted to show that, even in the most devastating circumstance, the family unit had not been broken.”
A girlfriend told me I needed to grow up. That's how I found James Baldwin
He wrote the script almost simultaneously with that for Moonlight, on a trip to Europe in the summer of 2013. Jenkins bought a return ticket to Brussels, booked into an Airbnb for two weeks, and first – because adapting Baldwin looked too daunting to kick off with – started on Moonlight. “I thought, ‘I’ll just get my legs’, because I hadn’t written anything in a while. And then I’ll switch to Beale Street.” When the Moonlight script came together in 10 days, he travelled to Berlin for fresh inspiration, writing Beale Street over the next four weeks – an intensely productive period.
“I’ve never had that happen again in my life. I’ve tried to replicate it, and I think the reason it worked was because, as a human being, I ceased to exist. I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t have a cell phone, I didn’t know anyone, I had no family. It was just the bartenders who were helping me, giving me caffeine or alcohol.”
Jenkins came to Baldwin as an adult. “I didn’t grow up as a voracious reader. James Baldwin was recommended to me by a girlfriend, who was a little older than me, more mature, worldlier, smarter, more attractive,” he says, with a laugh. “And she, in breaking up with me, recommended – so I could grow up – that I read James Baldwin: ‘I’m done with you, but I’m going to give you a hint. You need to read James Baldwin.’ She recommended Giovanni’s Room and The Fire Next Time. That was how my love affair began.”
****
In his first job after film school, Jenkins, now 39, worked as an assistant at Harpo Films, Oprah Winfrey’s company which, before shutting down in 2013, focused on literary adaptations (Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God). Part of Winfrey’s mission was to make movies that would encourage people to read those authors. Has literary adaptation always been part of Jenkins’ own plan? Beale Street is the first English-language Baldwin adaptation, and Jenkins had to lobby the writer’s estate hard to make it. “As a visual storyteller, it’s just nice to have someone, like Mr Baldwin, or Tarell Alvin McCraney [the American playwright and Jenkins’ co-writer on Moonlight] who’s already put so much thought and so much richness into the source material, that I can then take and try to find ways to lift it up even higher, taking it into this realm from that,” he explains.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest In Moonlight, Jenkins says, he watched ‘the actors relive some of the things we lived through’. Photograph: AP
Jenkins is currently working on another adaptation, of the Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead. It is the story of two slaves who escape southern plantations through a network of safe houses and secret tunnels to reach the northern states, where they will be free. Working with a team of screenwriters, Jenkins will direct a 10-hour TV series for Amazon.
Moonlight was based on McCraney’s semi-autobiographical play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, about a tough childhood with a drug-addicted mother, and a painful coming out. Both McCraney and Jenkins grew up in the predominantly black, working-class Miami neighbourhood of Liberty City, attending the same high school (Jenkins is a year older). “We never knew each other,” the director says. “This is sad to say, but I might not have been brave enough to have been Tarell’s friend when we were kids. I feel like Tarell was always proud to be who he was, and was likely ostracised for it. I was more a follower than a leader, you know, when I was that age.”
Like McCraney, Jenkins’ mother was an addict, and he was raised by a family friend, his father having died when he was 12. Two years ago, the director told the Guardian: “There were seven or eight of us in a two-bed apartment. There was usually food, but sometimes not.”
I never thought, 'Hey, maybe one day I might like to make movies.' It just didn’t seem possible
How did his childhood shape him? “I think when you know nothing else, that thing becomes normalised. So, I didn’t think there was anything extraordinarily disadvantaged about my upbringing until I extended further out into the world and saw that not everybody grows up this way. That, ‘Oh, this thing I’m just learning about now, these kids learned about when they were five. And these comforts that I’m just experiencing now, these kids have experienced their entire lives. When I was growing up, it just didn’t seem cruel or difficult at all. It was only in the making of this film [Moonlight], and to be honest, watching the actors relive some of the things we lived through. Then it was like, ‘Woah, that was an ordeal.’”
Which films inspired him, growing up? “I wasn’t really inspired by film,” he says, “but I admired Spike Lee’s movies because they just felt very, very, very black. I remember watching School Daze and thinking, ‘What the hell is this?’ There were colleges for black people that just black people go to? And those colleges had all this shit going on? This is so energising!
“Otherwise, it was the really big Hollywood stuff – The Color Purple, Aliens, Die Hard, Coming To America. I would catch the bus to go to the AMC theatre downtown. But I never thought, ‘Hey, maybe one day I might like to do that.’ It just didn’t seem possible.”
Winning an Academy Award for best picture must have felt even more farfetched. He grins when I bring up one of the most rollercoaster nights in Oscar history. How did he feel when Damien Chazelle’s widely tipped La La Land was announced the winner of the best picture Oscar in 2017, before the error was corrected?
“OK.” Jenkins takes a breath and takes himself back to the night in question. “When Faye Dunaway read out La La Land, it was perfectly fine, you know? It wasn’t an unexpected result, it wasn’t a shocking result. The only thing shocking about the whole night to me was the switch, you know? I remember hugging Jordan Horowitz [co-producer of La La Land], and I remember hugging Damien Chazelle, and just the look on everyone: ‘What the hell just happened?’ I remember seeing Warren Beatty backstage, him showing me the actual card, and me for the first time believing – or accepting – that we had won best picture. Because there’s nothing written on the Oscar when you first get it. It was a very wild night. Very wild.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘The only shocking thing about the Oscars night was the switch, you know.’ Photograph: Ben Quinton/The Guardian
Given the #OscarsSoWhite furore of the previous year (when there was not a single actor or director of colour among 25 nominees), there must have been air punches around the globe when Moonlight belatedly scooped the prize. “I have no doubt that the OscarsSoWhite thing played a role in Moonlight’s success,” Jenkins says. “But when it becomes, ‘Oh, Moonlight only won because of OscarsSoWhite,’ I’m like, ‘Well, say a film won the top award from this critics’ body, then that same film was the highest-rated film on this website, then it goes on to have one of the 10 highest ratings on Metacritic in the history of the website – if I told you that same film won best picture, you wouldn’t question it. But if I told you a black film about a gay black boy whose mom is addicted to crack-cocaine won best picture, then you go, “Oh, it only won because of diversity,’” he laughs.
A new renaissance in black film-making is declared every few years, but this time it feels there’s some truth and momentum to it. As well as Jenkins, in the US there is Ryan Coogler, who directed Black Panther and is working on a sequel; Spike Lee (nominated for his first Oscar last month, for BlacKkKlansman); Training Day director Antoine Fuqua; Ava DuVernay (Selma, A Wrinkle In Time); and Jordan Peele (Get Out and the upcoming Us).
“I think there’s something about the present moment that is collectively inspiring,” Jenkins says. “I don’t think any one of us sees the success of another and feels anything but joy and pride. And I can see that the generation behind us, they see that, and they feed off it.
“You have people like Ava, Ryan and Jordan who are leading by example. Ava did Selma and then created this television show [Queen Sugar], and said every episode was going to be directed by a woman, most of them women of colour. Jordan had massive success with Get Out, and said, ‘Hey Spike, I’m going to help you make this film’ [BlacKkKlansman, which Peele produced]. When you climb the ladder, you send it back down. And that’s exactly what’s been happening for the last 10 to 15 years.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jenkins finally receives the 2017 best picture Oscar. Photograph: Getty Images
He points to technology as another democratising force. “You see more people from backgrounds that are way outside the core centre, which has always been hetero white American men in the Hollywood system. You can go to any film festival in the world right now, and there are so many people just – not waiting, because waiting’s the wrong word, but who are going to get put on one way or the other. And your ass is going to get left behind if you’re not hiring these people.” Dear British film industry, again, please take note.
I tell Jenkins I look forward to the day when the list of British black film-makers who have been entrusted to make hits is as long as the American one. But the director says he has always admired the European system of financing films. “Here are the funds: you don’t have to really worry about the commercial prospects because it’s not private money, it’s public money, and so it’s just about the art. Stateside, it’s almost impossible to raise the funds to make a movie like Steve McQueen’s Hunger, and to make it in that style.”
Even so, I say, the US seems more awake to the talents of a generation of British actors and film-makers: Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Amma Asante, John Boyega, Aml Ameen, Naomie Harris – all of whom have followed the likes of Idris Elba to work Stateside, and who can blame them? How many more times can they play a stabbing victim on Casualty? But Jenkins doesn’t want to overstate the opportunities the US has to offer, especially now. “We were moving in this direction where we were trying to eradicate borders, and now we’re trying to build them again,” he says. “I have to think about how we went from the election of Barack Obama to the election of a reality TV star with a heinous past. There were many millions of people who voted for this guy, and I’m trying to understand why that is. What was it about the present moment that made them feel, ‘This is a direction I don’t want the country to go in? This is the direction I want the country to go in.’ Borders and lies and fake this and xenophobic that.” He sighs.
Instead, Jenkins thinks there are reasons to be positive about black British culture right now – and that a change is coming soon. He gives an example. Just over a year ago, he was in London and looking for a quiet place to write. He went to Soho House and, spotting Daniel Kaluuya in a corner, went over to say hello before starting work. “I was there writing for four or five hours, and there were all these young black men who just kept coming in and sitting down with Daniel. I recognised one of them, Kibwe Tavares, who directed Jonah, which Daniel starred in. This was at the height of Get Out and Daniel was having all these meetings with young black UK directors. And just from watching the demeanour of it, I could tell he was like, ‘What are you working on? What’s going on? How can we build?’ And so, this shit’s going to happen. It’s going to happen.”
• If Beale Street Could Talk is out now. Roy Williams’ plays include Sucker Punch, Fallout and Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads
If you would like a comment on this piece to be considered for inclusion on Weekend magazine’s letters page in print, please email [email protected], including your name and address (not for publication). | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.