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Image copyright AFP Image caption Not since the days of Mao Zedong (right) has a campaign on the scale of Mr Xi's been seen
Since becoming China's leader in 2012, Xi Jinping has overseen a vast and ruthless anti-corruption drive in which more than a million officials have been disciplined.
A BBC study has found that more than 170 ministers and deputy minister-level officials have been sacked and many jailed under Mr Xi, accused of charges such as corruption, misconduct and violation of party discipline.
It has been described by some as a massive internal purge of opponents, on a scale not seen since the days of Mao Zedong, in whose Cultural Revolution many top officials were purged.
How extensive is the campaign?
The most noticeable departure from tradition has been the breaking with many unwritten party conventions since Mao's time. The prosecution of so many national-level officials has been notable - in recent decades prominent figures would usually have been quietly retired.
But in the last five years, 35 members (full and alternate) of the Chinese Communist Party's powerful Central Committee have been disciplined. That is as many as in all the years between 1949 and 2012.
Who has been targeted?
Based on official data, a staggering 1.34 million officials at high and low levels - the so-called "tigers and flies" - have been brought down by corruption and disciplinary charges during President Xi's first five years in office.
No walk of life has been spared - those felled range from village chiefs and factory managers to government ministers and generals.
The so-called "great purge" goes right to the very top of government - the biggest scalp so far was once the third most senior leader in China, Zhou Yongkang. He had been in charge of the vast internal security apparatus until he retired.
Sun Zhengcai, who was sacked as Chongqing party secretary, was only the fourth sitting politburo member ever to be expelled from the Communist Party. Promoted before Xi Jinping took office, Mr Sun, 54, was the politburo's youngest member and had been tipped for the very top.
Zhou Yongkang is the most senior official felled so far. Until he retired in 2012 he was the third most powerful politician in China. In 2015 he was jailed for life for bribery, abuse of power and disclosing state secrets.
is the most senior official felled so far. Until he retired in 2012 he was the third most powerful politician in China. In 2015 he was jailed for life for bribery, abuse of power and disclosing state secrets. Abruptly removed from his post in July, Sun Zhengcai is the most senior serving official to be caught by President Xi's purge. Only the fourth sitting politburo member to ever be expelled from the Party.
is the most senior serving official to be caught by President Xi's purge. Only the fourth sitting politburo member to ever be expelled from the Party. Xu Caihou was among highest-ranking military until he retired in 2013. He was investigated as part of a "cash for ranks" probe and ultimately expelled from the party and prosecuted. He died of cancer in 2015.
was among highest-ranking military until he retired in 2013. He was investigated as part of a "cash for ranks" probe and ultimately expelled from the party and prosecuted. He died of cancer in 2015. Guo Boxiong served alongside Xu. In July 2016 he became the highest-ranking military official prosecuted since the end of the revolution in 1949. He was sentenced to life in prison for bribery.
served alongside Xu. In July 2016 he became the highest-ranking military official prosecuted since the end of the revolution in 1949. He was sentenced to life in prison for bribery. Ling Jihua was a trusted adviser of Hu Jintao but was swiftly demoted under Xi. After a scandal that began when his son died "in a state of undress" in a Ferrari crash, he was jailed for life for bribery in 2016.
Nearly 70% of the party's ruling Central Committee members will be replaced with new faces at the current congress although in the majority of cases alleged corruption or other transgressions will not be the reason - age will be.
An unwritten party rule currently sets the retirement age at 65 for Central Committee members.
Has the army been spared?
No area has been more radically restructured under President Xi than the military, which he swiftly set about comprehensively reorganising and modernising.
Image copyright Reuters
More than 60 generals have been investigated and sacked in the drive to introduce a Western-style joint command and promote young officers to top positions.
Even as the delegates started to gather in Beijing for the current party congress, the pace of the campaign showed no signs of slowing down. Two top generals, Fang Fenghui and Zhang Yang, disappeared from public view as recently as last month, and a series of new high-level investigations have been announced.
What is Xi's goal?
The five-yearly congress in Beijing is expected to see the president remain as party chief and bring in a new leadership team, helping to entrench his already considerable power.
If things go to plan for President Xi, he should be able to get many of his loyalists into key positions. Since he took office a number of his allies have been promoted. Here are some of the biggest gainers.
Li Zhanshu was party chief in a county neighbouring Mr Xi's early in their careers. In 2015 he visited Moscow as Mr Xi's "special representative". Has played a leading role in maintaining strong relations with Russia.
was party chief in a county neighbouring Mr Xi's early in their careers. In 2015 he visited Moscow as Mr Xi's "special representative". Has played a leading role in maintaining strong relations with Russia. Chen Min'er is one of the "New Zhijiang Army", the group of now senior CPC figures who worked under Mr Xi when he was party secretary in Zhejiang. Chen replaced the disgraced Sun Zhengcai in Chongqing.
is one of the "New Zhijiang Army", the group of now senior CPC figures who worked under Mr Xi when he was party secretary in Zhejiang. Chen replaced the disgraced Sun Zhengcai in Chongqing. Another of the so-called "New Zhijiang Army" is Cai Qi . Before being summoned to the capital his popular blog had more than 10m social media followers.
. Before being summoned to the capital his popular blog had more than 10m social media followers. Said to be President Xi's top foreign policy aide, Wang Huning has been labelled "China's Kissinger" by a leading South Korean newspaper. He also advised former presidents Hu and Jiang.
has been labelled "China's Kissinger" by a leading South Korean newspaper. He also advised former presidents Hu and Jiang. President Xi described his key economic adviser Liu He as "very important to me" when introducing him to President Obama's National Security Adviser in 2013. Mr Liu has an MA in public administration from Harvard.
Who ends up in the party's Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body which currently has seven seats, will show exactly how powerful he has become. Its members - and those of the 25-seat Politburo - will be revealed on 25 October once the congress ends.
But analysts say Mr Xi, along with anti-corruption chief Wang Qishan, a key ally, has used the clean-up campaign to help shape who China's new leaders will be.
The country's Communist Party has for decades ruled by consensus, but analysts say President Xi is rewriting party rules and concentrating power in his own hands.
Critics accuse him of encouraging a cult of personality. They point to the fact that most of the top officials who have been disciplined have been supporters of his opponents, or former presidents Jiang Zemin or Hu Jintao.
President Xi's supporters say the anti-corruption drive is needed to restore the ruling party's credibility as the president pursues his dream of a more prosperous and powerful China which will soon overtake the US as the world's largest economy.
Research and production by BBC News, BBC Monitoring, BBC Chinese and BBC Visual Journalism. | {
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This is the horrifying moment a thug kicks a woman in the back, sending her flying eight steps down a flight of stairs and landing on her face at the bottom.
CCTV shows the young woman walking through the metro station in Berlin when the man comes up behind her, holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
The yob, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, aims a targeted kick at her back, toppling her down the stairs, and then walks away.
CCTV shows the young woman walking through the metro station in Berlin when the man comes up behind her, holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other
His three companions glance at the woman lying on the floor before leaving. One of them even leans down to pick up a beer bottle and then walks off.
A crowd of people quickly came to help the woman, who was taken to hospital, according to local media.
Police are investigating the footage and the victim - said to be aged 26 - is helping with their enquiries.
A crowd of people quickly came to help the woman, who was taken to hospital. The attack took place on October 27 shortly after midnight.
The yob, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, aims a targeted kick at her back, toppling her down the stairs | {
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A Department of Justice document dump to government watchdog Judicial Watch, made public yesterday, shows former DOJ Spokeswoman and Holder Flack Tracy Schmaler talking to the White House about "out of control" investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson. Attkisson was covering Operation Fast and Furious for CBS News at the time.
An email was sent by Schmaler to White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz on October 4, 2011 and shows she planned to call Attkisson's editor and longtime CBS anchor Bob Scheiffer to get a handle on her reporting.
Emails also show Schultz responding to Schmaler with, "Good. Her [Attkisson] piece was really bad for the AG.”
The specific story by Attkisson that Schmaler and Schultz are referring to was about memos showing Holder was briefed about Operation Fast and Furious nearly one year before he claimed he'd heard about the program under oath in front of Congress in May 2011.
Keep in mind that in 2011, when this email exchange occurred, the White House had denied any discussion about Operation Fast and Furious with the Department of Justice. This email not only proves they were jointly targeting Attkisson, but working together to mitigate the scandal. At one point during her pursuit of Fast and Furious Attkisson was screamed at by Schultz, who used profanity, over the phone.
It seems top brass over at CBS gave into DOJ pressure. Attkisson left CBS News last year after 20 years of working at the outlet, citing difficulty in getting stories critical of the Obama administration on the air.
In addition to going directly to the bosses of reporters for intimidation purposes, during her tenure Schmaler regularly worked with far left smear machines like Media Matters to attack other reporters and DOJ whistleblowers.
Internal Department of Justice emails obtained by The Daily Caller show Attorney General Eric Holder’s communications staff has collaborated with the left-wing advocacy group Media Matters for America in an attempt to quell news stories about scandals plaguing Holder and America’s top law enforcement agency.
Emails sent in September and November 2010 show Schmaler working with Media Matters staffer Jeremy Holden on attacking news coverage of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation scandal.
Holden attacked former DOJ Civil Rights Division attorneys J. Christian Adams and Hans von Spakovsky on Sept. 20, 2010 for what he called an attempt “to reignite the phony New Black Panther Party scandal.”
Throughout the email exchanges TheDC obtained through the FOIA request are numerous examples of Gertz and other Media Matters staff sending the full text of Media Matters blog entries attacking the DOJ’s political opponents in the media.
Among others, Gertz sent Schmaler attack pieces he wrote about Townhall Magazine’s Katie Pavlich, who also authored a book on Operation Fast and Furious; Breitbart.com writers Joel Pollak and Ken Klukowski; Fox News Channel’s William LaJeunesse, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Megyn Kelly, Martha MacCallum, Bill Hemmer, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity; Sipsey Street Irregulars blogger Mike Vanderboegh; DirectorBlue blogger Doug Ross; National Review’s Andrew C. McCarthy; and this reporter.
Schmaler left DOJ in February 2013.
Under a court order, DOJ turned over 42,000 pages of Fast and Furious documentation to Judicial Watch last week. The documentation was held for years under President Obama's claim of executive privilege. Because of the vast amount of information, Judicial Watch is asking the public for help reviewing them and with looking for evidence of wrongdoing and corruption.
Attkisson recently published a book, Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment in Obama's Washington, about her experiences. | {
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This is another guest episode. When Hye Sung was on the show talking about charismatic gifts, we mentioned our good friend Elijah a few times. Elijah is a student at the same Quaker seminary Micah attended: Earlham School of Religion. Through Quaker Voluntary Service, he was a pastoral intern at West Hills Friends Church a couple years ago. Now, he’s working on starting a new LGBTQ+ affirming Friends church in his hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas: Solomon’s Porch. Last time, talking with Micah about centering, Mackenzie said she uses intercessory prayer to center. With Hye Sung, we also touched on intercessory prayer in terms of miraculous healing. Mackenzie has come across someone saying “Quakers don’t pray,” so, this time, we’re going to look at different types of prayer.
A common phrase used especially by Liberal Quakers (but also sometimes others) is “holding you in the Light.” (Or holding someone else in the Light.) Some people really like this phrase because it doesn’t imply that there’s a God. Others use it as simply Quaker-ese for “I’m praying for you.” Some people aren’t a fan of it for strictly theological reasons. Others aren’t fans because so much religious language says or implies “light is good, and dark is bad” and what that can say about race.
Some people hold in the Light by visualizing a glow around a person. Others use words.
Praying out loud seems to be really uncommon for Liberal Quakers. Programmed Friends aren’t strangers to praying out loud. Conservative unprogrammed Friends aren’t either. They have a tradition of kneeling (and men removing hats) when praying during meeting for worship. Elijah is one of Mackenzie’s dearest friends, and she can barely bring herself to say a few sentences of out-loud prayer in front of him. We talk about the upsides of praying aloud in a group.
Elijah gave us fancy seminary vocabulary words. Cataphatic prayer has words or pictures or sounds or feelings. When you envision someone illuminated by the Light, that’s cataphatic. When you pray “God, please take care of my friend,” that’s cataphatic. On the other hand, apophatic prayer is self-emptying. It’s an empty space for God to fill. We think meeting for worship is a type of apophatic prayer.
We discuss the idea that a major effect of prayer is changing the person who’s praying. Kierkegaard said it as “prayer does not change God, but changes him who prays.” The Epistles of James says you have to do the work to help a person when you pray for them. By praying for someone else, we become less self-centered. Elijah talks about praying vulnerably and being able to be more vulnerable with a friend.
If there is anything you would like us to pray for for you, please let us know in the comments.
Mackenzie: Welcome to Quaker Faith & Podcast, where we will explore traditional Quaker beliefs, and the variety of Quaker beliefs found today.Welcome back to Quaker Faith & Podcast. Today, I’m here. I’m Mackenzie. I am here with a guest, my friend Elijah. Say hello.
Elijah: Hey, friends.
Mackenzie: You may recall that I mentioned Elijah a few episodes ago when we had Hye Sung on as a guest. We talked about our good friend Elijah. This is that Elijah. Would you like to introduce yourself?
Elijah: Sure. Like Mackenzie said, my name is Elijah Walker and I’m from Arkansas and I’m currently a student at Earlham School of Religion. I’m working toward my MDiv. I’m doing the online program with them and I’m also in the process of starting a semi-programmed Friends Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas, which is where I [crosstalk]-
Mackenzie: Cool.
Elijah: Yeah.
Mackenzie: Oh, I guess do you want to say the name of the church maybe?
Elijah: Oh, yeah. The church is called Solomon’s Porch.
Mackenzie: Okay. I think when we Hye Sung and I were talking at one point we sort of lightly mentioned intercessory prayer, especially … I think it was when we were talking about healings. Last time with Micah, when we were talking about centering, we … well, I said that the way I center now is that I’m doing intercessory prayer and then when I run out of words, I’m centered. But I’ve also encountered people say … I don’t remember. When I watch social media, Facebook, Reddit, something along those lines. I remember somebody saying that Quakers don’t pray, which made me go, “Huh?” But I realized that could be that they’re talking about a specific form of prayer as being something that at least unprogrammed Friends would not be engaging in.
This time we’re going to talk about prayer and Quakers and intercessions and those fun things, and, look, I found a seminarian to chat about it with. I think for liberal Quakers, the most obvious intercessory prayer thing would be we have a little phrase of, “Holding you in the light,” and that means different things to different people. Do you wanna … ?
Elijah: Yeah. I can … well, I’m not an unprogrammed Friend, but I can …
Mackenzie: That’s true.
Elijah: Yeah, I think it does mean different things to different people. I was a pastoral intern at a semi-programmed Friends’ meeting in Portland, Oregon, for a while.
Mackenzie: I’ve mentioned West Hills Friends on here before.
Elijah: Right. West Hills Friends. And we regularly used that phrase, “Holding you in the light.” For the people that were not necessarily Christ-centered that was definitely a sort of imagery. They would sit in prayer or meditation and imagine the person being illuminated by the light of God or the light of the world. For others, it’s really just a phrase that means they’re praying for you, using words in the way that other Christians might pray.
Mackenzie: I know I’ve seen … Isabel Penraeth, whose website was quakerjane.com. She had a glossary entry for holding you in the light where she said that … well, she quoting somebody else, but she was saying that you can’t just hold somebody there. It’s not a place where you can go and put someone. And then also like Maggie Harrison I know has a rant about how the light is an uncomfortable thing that shows you your imperfections.
Elijah: And then there’s also an argument that I’ve heard a lot in seminary, especially, that says that how we use language around light and dark or good and bad implies a lot to people of color, especially. If we equate light with good and dark with bad, then what are we saying to our Friends of color?
Mackenzie: Right. Yeah. I’ve heard that before too.
Elijah: Yeah. It’s pretty common for people who feel that way to not use the phrase ‘holding you in the light’ but to say, “I’m holding you in prayer,” or, “I’m holding you in my heart,” or, “I’m holding you in mind,” or something else like that.
Mackenzie: I know in my meeting, which does not quite meet the 80% for multicultural, but it’s closer than any of the others in Baltimore Yearly Meeting. We say, “The light of God’s love,” when we’re doing joys and concerns, instead of just saying, “The light,” so that it’s clear that we’re talking about as in what a candle puts out. I guess … okay.
I said that some people say that Quakers don’t pray and I think those sort of form that … I mean, there’s certainly like out loud with words prayer is a form that is just weird to me as a liberal Friend. I mean, every other branch I know does it. The conservative Friends, they’re unprogrammed and they still do out loud prayer. They actually kneel when they pray out loud. In meeting, if somebody’s offering ministry, they stand. But if they’re praying, they kneel, and usually the other men will take off their hats because prayer is happening.
Elijah: Right.
Mackenzie: But for me as a liberal Friend, something that has been weird hanging out with you and Hye Sung and Micah is that you all say prayers out loud.
Elijah: Yeah. Generally, when I’m praying with others, the way that I like to do it is to center in silence and to let my prayers rise from the silence like vocal ministry. But other times, I like … I attend this worship group that’s not Quaker and someone just asks me to pray and … today, when we were closing the meeting together and I felt caught off=guard because someone was just asking me to pray out loud and we hadn’t been sitting in silence for a while and it wasn’t just rising naturally from me. That was a really interesting experience.
Mackenzie: I feel like the only way that I could do that would be just reverting to all the prayers as a Catholic, like reciting the Lord’s Prayer, or like Grace, right? Like, “Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen.” Right? I can rattle off childhood Catholic prayers, but … yeah, if somebody asked me to just say a prayer now, I’d be like, “I … what?” But I think I kind of felt like that when … actually, when you and I first met because … For those listening, I actually know Elijah through Micah, well, and through Hye Sung. Both.
Elijah: Right.
Mackenzie: Because Hye Sung told Elijah and I both about an event Micah was hosting and so that was how we all met. But at that event, there was like a praying time and one of the organizers there was really insistent that we pray out loud rather than just say what we wanted to pray for and letting everybody either visualize a glow around the person, which is what some people do when they say, “Holding in the light,” or use words instead our own heads. It was like, “We wanna pray out loud so that we’re making sure that there’s …” I guess they wanted to make sure that sort of the prayer intention was sort of being sufficiently covered, because I know certainly in my meeting, we have a persistent problem of … that the amount of time left between isn’t really enough to … if you’re actually using words for your prayer instead your head … to like get more than like half a sentence in there.
Elijah: Yeah. That’s totally fair. Yeah. I think that something that’s really pleasant about praying out loud is that it helps us stay focused on what we’re doing. Like you said, sometimes there’s just not enough time between prayer requests that are shared, joys and concerns that are shared, but sometimes when someone shares a request, it’s like we can go off thinking about other things or even just worshiping in another way without really focusing our intention on the person who has requested prayer. Praying out loud kind of directs the attention to that person and their needs. It really, in some cases, I know that it comforts the person who’s requested prayer to be prayed for out loud.
Mackenzie: That’s a good point. Okay. You said that you specifically wanted to talk about two different forms of prayer with really fancy seminary words about them.
Elijah: Sure.
Mackenzie: Whereas at some point in this, I should mention … because we’re focusing on intercessory prayer, but at some point, I should mention the other three types. But go ahead and tell us about apophatic and kataphatic? Are those the words you said?
Elijah: Yeah. Yes.
Mackenzie: So, we’ll go with the A-word and the C-word.
Elijah: So, apophatic and kataphatic prayer. We talk a look about this in seminary. Kataphatic prayer has content. It uses images, words, symbols, ideas, or sounds, and this is primarily how people practice intercessory prayer. We ask God to intervene or intercede on behalf of the person that we’re praying for, and we do that by using words, whether out loud or silently to ourselves. That’s true for people of faith across many branches of Christianity, not just Quakers. In intercessory prayer, we’re asking God to heal or to provide in material ways.
When Quakers say, “We’re holding you in the light,” like I said earlier, it might mean different things. It might mean that we’re praying for you using words or it might mean that we’re imagining you in the healing light of God. But either way, it uses content. It fills us up with something as we’re praying. Generally, that’s what intercessory prayer is used for. But then there’s kataphatic … or, sorry, apophatic prayer, which is self-emptying. It’s generally rooted in silence. It’s not using words or feelings or images out loud or within us. But just simply resting in God’s presence. So, Mackenzie, like you said, you use words until you run out of words and then you’re centered. Well, apophatic prayer is just that silence of being centered. There are no words here. [crosstalk]
Mackenzie: It sounds like we actually do a lot of that one.
Elijah: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Mackenzie: Like [crosstalk] for worship. I mean, that sounds like you’re describing waiting worship or at least, it’s … yeah, that seems like waiting worship maybe is a type of that.
Elijah: Yes. Yeah. I would say that that’s true. That it is a type of apophatic prayer. But I also believe that apophatic prayer can be intercessory prayer. There’s something about sitting with other believers or other Friends with the intent to pray apophatically without images or sounds or words … something about that experience of inviting God to just rest with us that leaves us … well, when we leave that space, we leave changed. Even if we’re not using words and images to pray for the person sitting next to us or for ourselves, just that act of sitting with someone and sitting in God’s presence together, that invites God to change us. I believe that that is a form of intercessory prayer, but it’s more about trusting God to know what we need without using words and images to tell God what we need.
Mackenzie: Okay. I like that explanation and the part about trusting. I’m trying to remember … there was something I thought and then I forgot it.
Elijah: Sorry.
Mackenzie: It’s not your fault. This is the ADHD brain. It thinks of all sorts of things and then forgets them, and … Oh, here’s why I forgot, because earlier I recited the Catholic grace, which is an intercessory one because it’s bless us and bless gifts. And then I thought of the other form of Grace I know, which I learned in Girl Scout camp, and is to the tune of the Addams Family and … and rather than being an intercessory one, it is a thanksgiving one because it’s we … It’s (singing). So, welcome to my childhood.
Elijah: Yeah, I used to go Presbyterian church where they prayed to the tune of the Superman theme.
Mackenzie: It didn’t know it had a theme.
Elijah: Yeah, I could not … I couldn’t sing it again, but … yeah, it was interesting.
Mackenzie: And now I just remembered my mom getting in trouble in Catholic school because she was told to lead Grace and she said, “Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Whoever eats the fastest gets the most.” She got a ruler across the knuckles for that one.
Elijah: Yeah. Yeah.
Mackenzie: Anyway.
Elijah: Obviously, we take prayer seriously. But really I-
Mackenzie: Well, I think actually that might be a good point though is that humor is allowed in prayer.
Elijah: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Mackenzie: If you believe that God made everything, then God made humor too.
Elijah: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. I definitely feel that way. I believe that humor is a symptom of joy and joy is a fruit of the spirit. If we’re laughing with God, then I truly believe that God is pleased with us and that there’s something about being our honest selves even when we’re laughing that … I don’t know. I just think that it creates a deeper connection, or a deeper awareness of who God is with us after we like-
Mackenzie: Oh, what about the idea of how intercessory prayer changes the person who’s praying?
Elijah: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, that’s a great question … a great idea.
Mackenzie: Okay.
Elijah: I don’t …
Mackenzie: So, how about I introduce that?
Elijah: I don’t know.
Mackenzie: And, obviously, I’m editing out the last minute.
Elijah: Yeah.
Mackenzie: Okay. So, obviously, one major critique you can get of intercessory prayer is like that God is not a vending machine into which you insert prayers and get magic back. Or the very common phrase you’ll find a lot of … especially materialist-type atheists use for God is to say sky wizard, and so there’s … I think that that sort of way of thinking of God and prayer ignores the effect that prayer has on the person who’s praying, and I’m not the first person to come up with that. I’m not that smart or old. There’s a common prayer of, “Give me wisdom,” right?
Elijah: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Mackenzie: That’s asking God for advice, basically, and I don’t tend to phrase it that way. I tend to ask God to tell me what I can do about something because … and this is part of … well, you know, but not all of our listeners necessarily do. In the Epistle of James, there’s a bit where James, he’s talking about faith and works and he says, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I’ll show you my faith by my works,” and he gives the example that if someone is hungry and needing clothes, you don’t just say to them, “Peace, be warm and fed,” and walk away, because faith without works is dead. That if you’re going to pray for an improvement in someone’s situation, then you need to be willing to be God’s hands in that.
There’s a poem that is not by Teresa of Ávila. The nuns who study all of her writings, right downtown in Washington, D.C., say it is nowhere in her writings. It doesn’t actually show up until the 19th century. It’s Methodist Guy Mark Pearse and Quaker Sarah Elizabeth Rowntree, but, “Christ has no body on Earth but yours. No hands, no feet …” I can’t recite the whole but … “Yours are the eyes through which God looks out onto the world and is …” encouraging people to do the work as some would phrase it. And especially when you’re praying for someone else that sort of reorientates you in a less self-centered direction.
Elijah: I have a bit of a story to share about a time when I was praying for God to intercede in my own life. I had been waiting for sometime to have a surgery that I really needed to have and I couldn’t afford it, I didn’t have health insurance, but I had been desperately needing the surgery for several years and just had to keep putting it off. I found myself one day feeling so desperate to have this surgery that I just wept in prayer and I pleaded with God to make something possible, to make it possible for me to have the surgery that I needed. About an hour later, I drove to have lunch with a good friend, and I don’t know how we got onto the topic, but she asked me why I wasn’t having the surgery that I needed and I said, “Money’s a factor,” and told her how much it cost and I shared very vulnerably with her that I desperately needed this surgery and that I was just hoping for a miracle.
And just kind of out of the blue, she offered to loan me the money for my surgery. I could say that that was a direct answer to my prayer, but I think … well, I think that that’s true, but I also think that my prayer very vulnerably God and asking God to step in and help reminded me how to be vulnerable and how to share with those around me what I need, because I think in our society, it’s uncommon to just say, “This is what I need right now and …” Not necessarily expecting someone to be able to help, but just being honest about our needs and wants and desires, and then being vulnerable with people. Being vulnerable with God reminded me of how to be vulnerable with my friend and that meant that she saw my need and was able to help.
Mackenzie: Right.
Elijah: Yeah.
Mackenzie: Yeah. I remember that story. I know for a little while there, I … about regarding one of our friends, whose name I will not say. For a little while there, I was asking God each night when I would pray to give me ideas for what I could do for them and it was like there were a few weeks of just lots of new ideas for how to help, like popping up, and that was really nice.
Oh, thank you. Oh, wait. That was right. I wanted to say the four different types of prayer. We’ve mostly been focusing … I said earlier that I wanted to talk about the four different types of prayer. We’ve been generally focusing on intercessory in here, although I did mention thanksgiving prayer with the Addams family version of Grace. And, I mean, one of my daily prayers is, “Thank you, God, for Elijah.” But there’s …
Catholics typically say that there are four kinds of prayer and that all of them are found in the Lord’s prayer. The Our Father. I find the listing of four a little bit weird because … So, they’re adoration, contrition, petition, and thanksgiving. So, adoration is like praising God, like, “God, you are awesome.” Contrition is asking for forgiveness and then the petition or intercession is what we’ve mostly been talking about, and thanksgiving. The fact that contrition and intercession are both asking for, makes me go, “But why isn’t that just one thing?” But all of those types of things are found in the Our Father, which I guess why that’s the form that Jesus gave in the Bible. It kind of hits all the points.
Elijah: Right.
Mackenzie: Actually, I would definitely say that if you were uncomfortable with prayer with word and you want to become more comfortable with it, I think the Our Father is a good one to start with because that’s definitely what I did a couple years ago when I started actually praying again … was like going through the Our Father slowly and actually thinking about what’s being requested in each line or what’s happening in each line.
Elijah: Yeah, absolutely. I think that there’s something really special too about reciting the Lord’s prayer knowing that it’s a prayer that people of faith have spoken for thousands of years, and that it was a prayer that Jesus prayed, and … I don’t know. There’s just something really unifying about that, and it reminds us we’re not alone, in addition to all of the great things that Jesus taught us through that prayer.
Mackenzie: Okay. Let’s close this out by asking whether any of our listeners have any requests to hold in the light or prayer requests, joys and concerns. Whatever it is called in your type of Quakers, we invite you to post them in the comments on quakerpodcast.org and I will make sure to poke Elijah so that we both can remember to include those in our prayer practice this week.
Elijah: Absolutely.
Mackenzie: You can find us on the web at quakerpodcast.org, as QuakerPodcast on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon, and on iTunes. | {
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Isha Datar knows there are plenty of good reasons to stay away from meat. Like the facts that livestock production accounts for at least 14.5 percent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, sucks up massive amounts of water, and drives a heck of a lot of deforestation, just to name a few. But, despite all of this, scores of Americans still can’t get away from another, equally verified truth: Meat is dang delicious.
So what’s a meat lover to do? Datar thinks New Harvest, a nonprofit dedicated to the development of lab-grown meat alternatives (a.k.a. test-tube meat, cultured meat, or shmeat), is working toward the answer. As the group’s executive director, Datar believes that by taking animals out of the picture, cultured meat will allow us humans to get our fleshy fix while putting less of its burden on our planet.
It has now been almost a year since shmeat made its public debut, in the form of a $325,000 hamburger. But, costs aside, there’s still a lot about the concept that sounds less than appetizing: After collecting cells from living animals, the cells are immersed in a nutrient bath, where they are left to grow into a sheet of tissue, which is then processed into a patty. Sounds more clinical than toothsome, right? Given the current romanticism of farm-to-table meals, will Americans be able to embrace a food product that’s made from stem cells?
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Datar knows that the field still has a long way to go before cultured meat becomes a viable solution. But, at the same time, she doesn’t think the challenges — taste, scalability, getting over the “ick” factor — should stop the conversation. Grist grilled her on her love of meat, her beef with factory farms, and what needs to happen if we want to see cultured steaks on our shelves.
Here’s an edited and condensed version of what she had to say:
Q. What’s New Harvest all about?
A. New Harvest’s vision for the future is one where factory farming is made obsolete because we’ve come up with a much better way of doing things. Our focus right now is on how to produce animal products — like meat, leather, and milk — with cell cultures instead of using animals. Because we raise so many animals, they’re treated inhumanely, they contribute to a lot of environmental degradation, and are very resource intensive. So we really advocate for science that takes animals out of the picture, while still allowing humans to have access to the products that we’re used to.
Q. How do you advocate for cultured meat?
A. I’m going to the animal rights conference in Los Angeles with a team of New Harvest volunteers. The New Harvest community also has researchers in Ireland who received $30,000 to produce milk in culture rather than cows, so I’m going there next week to advise and help them grow that project into something that’s viable. We’re always fundraising and applying for grants and growing our awareness, making sure the public is aware of what’s going on.
But I would say my main focus is on creating a community of scientists, and potential scientists. A lot of the people in our network are undergrads, engineering students, or master’s students who just see this as the future and really want to contribute to it. So it’s about bringing opportunities to them. Which is kind of a challenge, because at this time universities don’t recognize that tissue engineers and food scientists could be working together on something, because we’ve never seen that happen before.
Q. So it’s not like we should expect to see lab-grown steaks in our grocery stores anytime soon. What else would need to happen in order to make cultured meat commercially available?
A. One thing that needs to happen is there needs to be much more funding and encouragement for this kind of research. If it becomes more recognized and universities start to set up food engineering facilities that food scientists have access to, I think the science would move a lot faster.
In terms of scientifically what’s required, we’ll need to come up with ways to scale production so that it takes place much more inexpensively. So, the first burger that was tested, consider that like the very first computer. It was really impractical in that it was super-expensive, there was only one, and only three people got to taste it. It was very exclusive and impractical in every sense — it was not something you’ll ever see in a store.
Q. Costs aside, no one wants to chomp down into a flavorless patty. What needs to be done in order to make it taste better?
A. Flavor is another thing that needs to be addressed, but it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. It comes down to how to culture these other cell types [like fat and blood, not just muscle], and get them involved in the actual production of the hamburger.
Q. So why is it worth it to invest in this kind of research — wouldn’t it be better if people just stopped eating meat altogether?
A. Oh, I think it’s extremely important to get people off the meat diet, too. But I think there are already a lot of voices out there saying that we should do that. I don’t think we should consider this one or the other — this is actually a cooperative effort, where to get people to eat fewer animals we have to A) come up with alternatives and B) get people to consume less meat altogether.
Q. Where do you fall along the meat-eating spectrum?
A. I actually fell into all of this because I was a meat enthusiast. I grew up in Alberta, which is like the beef production area of Canada, so that was probably part of it, but I also just really liked eating it. Which is funny, because my dad’s family came from India and is vegetarian, so it’s kind of funny moving from one culture to another.
Q. But, honestly, lab-grown meat just still sounds a little gross, doesn’t it? How do you get past the ick factor?
A. People — especially when it comes to food — can get very nostalgic, and think about tradition and nature and things like that, and say, “Oh, I don’t want to eat anything my grandma wouldn’t eat,” or whatever. But that’s not really a fair way of looking at things. Just because something happened in the past or has some tradition associated with it doesn’t mean that it’s a good way to do things.
I like New Harvest’s approach: Let’s just start from scratch. If we are going to raise a whole chicken only to cut its beak off, pluck its feathers, keep it in one place so it doesn’t even use its legs; only to make it skinless, boneless, trim off the fat; if you’re growing this whole chicken only to come up with a chicken breast — which is basically just muscle tissue — then why not start from the bottom up and start with the smallest unit of life, which is the cell, and create the tissue that way? And then you completely avoid the possibility of inhumanely raising an animal, and you avoid having all the waste that comes with that. So, to me, it seems very sensible to think about food production this way. | {
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Young activists talk about their hopes of unseating an ageing leader and governing elite they see as out of touch
A new generation of Algerian protesters is to intensify demonstrations that have rocked the north African country in recent weeks, as they try to force the veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to abandon his bid to win a fifth five-year term in power at elections next month.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets on Friday across Algeria to demand that Bouteflika, 82 – who has not been seen in public for many years and is currently in Geneva for medical treatment – withdraw from the polls.
In the biggest outpouring of dissent seen in Algeria for many decades, a new wave of young activists has emerged in a country in which more than two-thirds of the population are under 30. They are vowing to keep up the pressure on Bouteflika until he agrees to give up the presidential bid.
Tin Hinane el-Kadi, 26, a member of the protest movement Mouwatana, said: “We’re tired of having this unrepresentative leadership … [The prime minister] recently talked about ‘that dotcom thing I don’t get’, [and] most of our ministers don’t have email addresses. There’s a big generational gap.”
Nourhane Atmani, a 20-year-old student in Algiers, the capital, said: “Everyone is watching and waiting for [the government’s] next move. But we as a people were hoping they would surrender already. We’re ready to cause more pressure.”
Raouf Farrah, from Les Jeunes Engagés (Activist Youth), a collective that has been prominent in the movement, said the scale of the protests had confirmed a deep desire for radical change. “It’s not just one part of society asking for this – we’ve seen men, women, children, families, older people out on the streets,” he said.
So far the protests have been almost entirely peaceful.
In the past the Algerian authorities have relied on social spending and subsidies funded by the country’s oil revenues to quell unrest. However, declining production and lower international oil prices have significantly reduced state revenues.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protesters in Algiers. So far the demonstrations have been peaceful. Photograph: Ryad Kramdi/AFP/Getty Images
Many of the current ruling elite came to power after leading Algerians in a brutal war for independence from France between 1954 and 1962. Bouteflika, a veteran of the conflict, was made a minister at the age of 25 in its aftermath. The ruling party, the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), has long argued that its key role in the independence struggle grants it the right to remain in power.
However, the new generation are reviving a long tradition of popular resistance to authoritarian rule. Slogans shouted by the protesters last week recalled some used by demonstrators in 1962, said James McDougall, a professor of history at Oxford University and author of a book on the history of Algeria.
He said: “There is a deep-rooted radical popular democratic tradition. There has been a collectivity [in the recent protests] that explains their extraordinary atmosphere. There has been a joyous rediscovery of something that was thought to have been lost.”
The early history of independent Algeria – from the struggle against French rule through its role as a leader of developing-world revolutionary activism in the 1960s and 70s – continues to inform public and private conversations. Next week in the city of Constantine, where there were large demonstrations on Friday, there is a screening of Gillo Pontecorvo’s classic 1966 film The Battle of Algiers, portraying the bitter struggle between nationalist insurgents and French troops in the capital.
The protesters have been encouraged by an editorial in the powerful military’s in-house magazine describing how the army and the Algerian people both belong to “a single fatherland” which soldiers had sworn to preserve and defend.
“The history of Algeria is rich with episodes demonstrating the people’s attachment to liberty and independence,” it said, evoking the “glorious revolution of 1954”.
In the early 1990s the cancellation of an election that Islamists had seemed set to win triggered a civil war in which at least 150,000 people died, as extremists and security forces fought for control of the country. Traumatic memories of the violence has until now made many Algerians reluctant to risk further political upheaval.
The president and other top officials have repeatedly invoked the “dark decade” and the instability that followed uprisings across the Arab world in 2011 as a warning to anyone expressing dissent or seeking reform.
But though there has been limited unrest at a national level, there have been many local protests, often sparked by a failure of the state to provide basic services and aggravated by high unemployment and an acute housing shortage.
McDougall said that Bouteflika’s bid to stay in power was the “federating factor for which a subterranean popular movement was waiting”.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Algeria’s president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is now rarely seen in public. Photograph: Sidali Djarboub/AP
Demonstrators have sought to distance themselves from any violence, and there has been almost none. Social media pages told marchers to come equipped only with “love, faith, Algerian flags and roses”, and to take litter away with them.
“We are peaceful – the word you hear most at protests is ‘peaceful! peaceful!’ We had our lessons on this. It doesn’t pay to be violent or have protests turn violent. I’ve never seen one million people be this peaceful – we want people to know it’s more than safe,” said Yasmine Bouchene, 29, speaking after Friday’s protests.
Student Marwa Saïdi, 21, who joined demonstrators in Algiers last week, said it was crucial that women were taking their place in the front rank of the protests. “It’s really important for women to be out in the streets … We want to show we will participate in the changes that will happen,” she said.
Further demonstrations will add to the pressure on the ruling elite in Algeria but also risk fractures among the broad alliance of independent social groups and actors which has so far avoided designating any leaders.
“I’m not sure the movement is ready to designate a spokesperson. We need a mediator. It’s the missing piece. I think we’re reaching a stage where a mediator, a national one, could be useful. The stakes are so high on both sides,” said Farrah.
Nearly 200 people were arrested on Friday after sporadic clashes with police when the main demonstrations had ended.
Hannah Rae Armstrong, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said there was a growing realisation among Algerians that the authorities did not have a “vice-like grip”, as many had thought.
“Algerians are experimenting,” she said. “They are realising that you can open the doors of the cage and step outside, even if you don’t know what it is going to look like or feel like beyond the bars.” | {
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Check this page for the latest information during weather events.
Classes cancelled for remainder of Thursday afternoon
Last updated at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020
Due to expected inclement weather, all classes for the remainder of Thursday Feb. 6 are cancelled. Monitor www.sc.edu/weather, social media and Carolina Alert for updates.
Heavy rain, strong winds
A storm front is expected to bring between 2-4” of rainfall today and strong winds throughout the day and evening. Students, faculty and staff should exercise appropriate caution when traveling and are encouraged to monitor www.sc.edu/weather, social media and Carolina Alert for updates.
Alternate parking available
With anticipated heavy rainfall, Parking Services is allowing campus community to move cars into garages and away from flood-prone areas, which include by Blatt PE Center, and near the intersections of Whaley and Main Streets, and Whaley and Catawba.
Gates are opened at the following garages:
Athletic Village Garage
Blossom St. Garage
Bull St. Garage
Senate St. Garage
As a state agency, the university follows the delay and closing determinations of Richland County government and the South Carolina governor’s office. | {
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A St. Paul organization that houses about 100 poor, elderly people is looking forward to the renewal of what used to be an annual donation: booze confiscated by the police.
The St. Paul Police Department stopped its routine donations to the Holy Family Residence near downtown a few years ago.
Sister Theresa Robertson, who manages the residence, wrote last month to St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith asking him to resume the donations. Sister Theresa called it "such a pleasant treat" for some of the residents.
On Wednesday, the City Council voted to let police ship up to $10,000 in confiscated alcohol to the group each year.
Sister Theresa tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press the donation "will certainly enhance" the group's regular Sunday happy hour.
___
Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press | {
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Stellar is a platform designed to provide access to an affordable and open financial system making it easier for users to achieve financial independence. It's an inclusive initiative that's secure and easy to use. The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) aims to enable access to the platform regardless of geographic location or income level. Stellar will achieve this objective through strategic partnerships and deploying state-of-the-art technology.
The foundation views the platform as the future of banking. It strives to provide a practical solution to key global issues, such as climate change and poverty. To ensure flexibility, users are allowed to transact in their preferred currency, including fiat and digital.
🚀 Curious about @StellarOrg and Stellar Lumens 🌟? Get the lowdown in one minute via the first video of our new series: '60 Second Crypto.' #XLM pic.twitter.com/Fo3R6weW3i — Coin Reviews (@CoinReviewsIO) December 14, 2017
The Basics of the Stellar Network
The Stellar Network enables users to leverage a variety of benefits, including low latency, decentralized control and asymptotic security. Stellar offers the choice of a cryptocurrency known as Lumens ($XLM) and fiat currencies for handling payments. Lumens help facilitate trades between currencies that are less liquid.
When it comes to integration, the platform offers a streamlined process that is straightforward. Users are required to identify use cases that are well suited to their venture. Once the use case has been identified, users can proceed to configure the system before testing the integration.
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) operates as a non-profit entity. For this reason, institutions and individuals are not charged for conducting transactions on the network. The foundation accepts donations and sets aside at least 5 percent of the initial lumens to cover operational costs.
The community owns the technology that handles the transactions and the Stellar Core maintains the local copy of the network ledger.
Using Stellar as a Vehicle to Support Initial Coin Offerings
Reference: https://www.stellar.org/blog/using-stellar-for-ico/
Stellar provides robust security for supporting initial coin offerings (ICOs). It enables users to create custom ICOs by offering base abstractions like payments, tokens, and accounts. In addition, users can take advantage of the network's capacity to handle atomic transactions which is pretty remarkable. The built-in decentralized exchange supports efficient trading and eliminates the possibility of failing to list tokens, making this an option for ICO's issuing tokens who wish to stand apart from the crowd.
Handling ICOs through Stellar is significantly cheaper and faster than other networks. Digital currencies with high valuations, transaction frequencies, and computational requirements, lack the cost-effective benefits associated with the Stellar platform. Users can expect to pay a negligible transaction fee of only 0.00001 XLM.
The last key benefit, a decentralized network allows users to validate transactions by simply running a Stellar Core node.
Making Headlines: Partnership with IBM and KlickEx
The foundation recently announced a partnership with IBM and the KlickEx Group to develop and deploy a cross-border payment system. The solution is based on the blockchain technology. The initiative is aimed at drastically reducing transaction costs and supercharging transaction speeds. Individuals and institutions are expected to benefit from the technology through lower fees and improved system reliability.
The partnership between IBM and Stellar is widely viewed as a crucial validation of the blockchain technology. The two entities are committed to the development of breakthrough international payments technology that helps solve problems in both developed and developing countries. The media has done a fine job showcasing the partnership with coverage on Fortune.com.
A Stellar Team: Who's Who in the $XLM Zoo
Stellar is run by high-powered team of professionals with extensive experience in IT, digital currencies and business.
Advisors Include : Patrick Collison, the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Stripe. He graduated from MIT and has vast experience in various business fields. Collison forms part of Stellar's advisory team, which also includes Matt Mullenweg (founder of WordPress.com), Sam Altman (President of Y Combinator) and Naval Ravikant (founder of Angelist). All around, an impressive advisory board.
Internal Team : Bartek Nowotarski is a developer at Stellar with a Master's in computer science. He brings a wealth of experience in the area of web applications security.
Fundamentals: Why Invest in Lumens or $XLM Tokens?
Investing in Lumens is a viable option for both individuals and organizations. The network offers Lumens through various programs, including the Giveaway program. Individuals receive up to 50 percent of the Lumens while non-profits receive 25 percent and 20 percent is given to bitcoin holders. The platform also offers some of the reserved Lumens via auctions. Employees, partners and anyone formally associated with the foundation are not allowed to participate in the auctions.
For investors looking to buy and trade the tokens using a path of less resistance, check out the list of markets and exchanges where $XLM tokens can be bought and sold.
For investors looking to purchase $XLM we suggest setting up an account with Coinbase first to purchase Bitcoin and transferring Bitcoin to Binance where it can be purchased. Binance has been one of the most reliable exchanges for alt-coin purchases.
Stay Connected with the Company
Interested parties can stay well-informed of new developments by visiting the Stellar network's social media pages. These include:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/stellarfoundation
Reddit – https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellar/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/stellarorg
GitHub – https://github.com/stellar
Stellar Lumens: The Bright Future Ahead
We find the Stellar platform impressive thanks to its robust security and decentralized network. Its features promote transparency and efficiency without inflating transaction costs or excluding non-conforming traditional banking customers. It offers a fixed, nominal inflation mechanism that is integrated into the network infrastructure.
In addition, we are impressed with its team of high-profile professionals, particularly it's advisory board members. The platform benefits from the team's comprehensive knowledge in various aspects, including blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, payment processing and Internet applications. The future undoubtedly looks bright for the Stellar network.
The platform's technology simplifies the process of initial coin offerings while improving transaction speed. On the other hand, the foundation's collaboration with technology giant, IBM is a demonstration of confidence in the team behind the project which is key factor when it comes to influencing our optimistic stance. | {
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This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
SHAWNEE, Okla. — A former youth pastor who is accused of sending inappropriate texts to teenage boys will serve six months in county jail.
Brian Burchfield is accused of sending inappropriate text messages to teenage boys who attend a church he once worked for in Shawnee.
Burchfield was the youth pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church for several years and gained the trust of some teenage boys in the youth group, police told KFOR in July 2015 when Burchfield was arrested.
At the time, police told KFOR at least four boys came forward saying text conversations with Burchfield were starting to make them uncomfortable.
Police said Burchfield would ask the boys for pictures of themselves and talk to them about pornography.
All of the victims were between the ages of 14 and 17.
When authorities questioned Burchfield about the texts, he confessed.
Court documents show Burchfield told police, he’d “just change into the mindset of a juvenile kid when he was around them and would do stupid stuff.”
A concerned parent got the investigation going, police say, when they took extra precautions to look out for their son.
Today, a judge sentenced Burchfield to serve a 10-year suspended sentence with six months in county jail.
Burchfield sentenced to 10 years suspended with 6 months in county jail on all 4 counts to run concurrently. @Kfor — Sarah Stewart (@SarahSkfor) August 24, 2016
This is a developing story. Check back for more information. | {
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Limestone Pavers and Brick Paving Perth
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For more information on our paving services, call today. | {
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Reuters
OSCILLATING between military takeover and civilian disarray, Pakistan often seems consigned to a classical form of governmental perdition. Yet the coup that General Pervez Musharraf, the country's president, launched on Saturday November 3rd, was in fact something new. His first coup, in 1999, was designed to restore order after civilian misrule. Now General Musharraf wants to shore up his own unpopular, and perhaps illegal, government.
He has suspended the constitution—a step the government has inaccurately described as constituting a state of emergency—and sacked most of the Supreme Court's judges. This includes the chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, a champion of swelling opposition to the general. The courthouse in Islamabad is now sealed off by barbed wire and armed police. Private television news channels, foreign and Pakistani, have been hauled off-air. On November 4th the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, suggested that a general election due in January could be postponed for a year though the next day he insisted that it would go ahead as planned in mid-January.
Over 500 lawyers, opposition politicians and human rights activists have been arrested. They include Asma Jahangir, boss of the country's human-rights commission and a former UN special rapporteur. In an e-mail from house arrest, where she has been placed for 90 days, Ms Jahangir regretted that General Musharraf had “lost his marbles”.
General Musharraf's view, expressed in a midnight televised address, is that his intervention is required to prevent instability: “I cannot allow this country to commit suicide.” He identified two urgent challenges: combating Islamist militancy, which is fuelling a small, but disastrous, war in north-western Pakistan; and his urge to “preserve the democratic transition that I initiated eight years back”.
The second motive, properly understood, seems to be uppermost in the general's mind. The Supreme Court's judges had been due to rule on the legality of his recent re-election as president. In a poll boycotted by most opposition parties, he was restored to office in military uniform, though the constitution seems to forbid it, by the same rigged assembly that had already elected him once. Rumours last week suggested that, in a surprising turnaround, the judges were minded to conclude that this was illegal.
Around a dozen of the court's 17 judges, including Mr Chaudhry, condemned the coup as an illegal act, and have been sacked. Five approved it, including Abdul Hamid Doger, an artful ally of the general, who has been rewarded with the job of chief justice. General Musharraf will now hope to restock the court with loyalists.
Once that is done, he may indeed restore the constitution. General Musharraf is right that Pakistan faces serious instability. But in a country itching for democracy and increasingly resentful of his autocratic and pro-America stance, he is partly to blame. Early this year, after the general tried thuggishly to sack Mr Chaudhry, tens of thousands of protesters rallied against him. Last month, in a more ambiguous challenge to the general, 200,000 supporters of Benazir Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), rallied in Karachi to welcome her back from eight years in exile.
General Musharraf's campaign in the north-western tribal areas, an American-ordained policy that has come to symbolise his rule to many Pakistanis, is meanwhile threatened with disaster. The army is demoralised and increasingly suffering defeat at the hands of local zealots. In recent weeks, several hundred troops have surrendered; on November 5th 200 of these were reported to have been released by the militants in exchange for some 25 militants freed by the government. In his address to the nation, General Musarraf admitted that: “the extremists don't fear law enforcement agencies.”
Yet America, and the general's other western allies, have frowned on his intervention. Condoleezza Rice, America's secretary of state, urged General Musharraf to hold the election as planned. She also hinted that American aid to his government—which has amounted to over $10 billion since 2001—might be cut.
Ms Bhutto's response is also likely to be crucial. She had been negotiating with General Musharraf to share power: indeed, her return from self-imposed exile, after General Musharraf issued her with an amnesty from corruption charges, was the sign of a tentative accommodation. In similar fashion, few PPP members have been arrested in the recent crackdown. General Musharraf may hope that Ms Bhutto and her party will offer him support.
Ms Bhutto's dalliance with the general has cost her popularity—even within her fanatically loyal party. Failing to oppose his coup wholeheartedly would be a further blow to her credibility. Which way will she go? So far, Ms Bhutto has roundly condemned the emergency as martial law by another name. But she has not yet rallied her followers against it. | {
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If silicon is, in the words of David M. Brooks, a Harvard University computer scientist, “the canvas we paint on,” engineers can do more than just shrink the canvas.
Silicon could also give way to exotic materials for making faster and smaller transistors and new kinds of memory storage as well as optical rather than electronic communications links, said Alex Lidow, a physicist who is chief executive of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation, a maker of special-purpose chips in El Segundo, Calif.
There are a number of breakthrough candidates, like quantum computing, which — if it became practical — could vastly speed processing time, and spintronics, which in the far future could move computing to atomic-scale components.
Recently, there has been optimism in a new manufacturing technique, known as extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography. If it works, EUV, which provides light waves roughly a tenth the length of the shortest of the light waves that make up the visible spectrum, will permit even smaller wires and features, while at the same time simplifying the chip-making process.
But the technology still has not been proved in commercial production.
Earlier this year ASML, a Dutch stepper manufacturer partly owned by Intel, said it had received a large order for EUV steppers from a United States customer that most people in the industry believe to be Intel. That could mean Intel has a jump on the rest of the chip-making industry.
Intel executives, unlike major competitors such as Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, insist the company will be able to continue to make ever-cheaper chips for the foreseeable future. And they dispute the notion that the price of transistors has reached a plateau.
Yet while Intel remains confident that it can continue to resist the changing reality of the rest of the industry, it has not been able to entirely defy physics. | {
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Abstract Objective To determine energy expenditure in kilocalories (kcal) during sexual activity in young healthy couples in their natural environment and compare it to a session of endurance exercise. Methods The study population consisted of twenty one heterosexual couples (age: 22.6 ± 2.8 years old) from the Montreal region. Free living energy expenditure during sexual activity and the endurance exercise was measured using the portable mini SenseWear armband. Perceived energy expenditure, perception of effort, fatigue and pleasure were also assessed after sexual activity. All participants completed a 30 min endurance exercise session on a treadmill at a moderate intensity. Results Mean energy expenditure during sexual activity was 101 kCal or 4.2 kCal/min in men and 69.1 kCal or 3.1 kCal/min in women. In addition, mean intensity was 6.0 METS in men and 5.6 METS in women, which represents a moderate intensity. Moreover, the energy expenditure and intensity during the 30 min exercise session in men was 276 kCal or 9.2 kCal/min and 8.5 METS, respectively and in women 213 kCal or 7.1 kCal/min and 8.4 METS, respectively. Interestingly, the highest range value achieved by men for absolute energy expenditure can potentially be higher than that of the mean energy expenditure of the 30 min exercise session (i.e. 306.1 vs. 276 kCal, respectively) whereas this was not observed in women. Finally, perceived energy expenditure during sexual activity was similar in men (100 kCal) and in women (76.2 kCal) when compared to measured energy expenditure. Conclusion The present study indicates that energy expenditure during sexual activity appears to be approximately 85 kCal or 3.6 kCal/min and seems to be performed at a moderate intensity (5.8 METS) in young healthy men and women. These results suggest that sexual activity may potentially be considered, at times, as a significant exercise.
Citation: Frappier J, Toupin I, Levy JJ, Aubertin-Leheudre M, Karelis AD (2013) Energy Expenditure during Sexual Activity in Young Healthy Couples. PLoS ONE 8(10): e79342. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079342 Editor: Conrad P. Earnest, University of Bath, United Kingdom Received: July 16, 2013; Accepted: September 29, 2013; Published: October 24, 2013 Copyright: © 2013 Frappier et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This study was supported by grants from The Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and l’Institut Santé et société of the Université du Québec à Montréal. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist
Introduction Health professionals are starting to recognize that sexual activity in humans could be an important aspect on their overall health and quality of life since this activity is practiced regularly by most individuals throughout their lifetime [1-6]. However, due to the intimate and sensitive nature of sexuality, few studies have investigated if sexual activity could be considered as an exercise which involves a significant amount of energy expenditure [7-14]. For example, in 1966, Masters and Johnson [12] were one of the first authors to examine the physiological responses of sexual activity albeit in a laboratory setting. The authors reported 11 years of observational studies that involved 382 female volunteers, 18 to 78 years of age, and 312 male volunteers, 21 to 89 years of age. The authors observed a progressive increase in respiratory rates as high as 40 respirations per minute, an increase in heart rate as high as 110 to 180 beats/min and an increase in systolic blood pressure from 30 to 80 mm Hg during sexual activity. In 1970, Hellerstein and Friedman [9] investigated sexual activity in middle-aged men (mean age 47.5 years) with their wives using 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors. The mean heart rate at the time of orgasm was 117.4 beats per minute with a range of 90 to 144 beats per minute. Of particular interest was their finding on peak coital heart rate, which was usually lower than the heart rates achieved with normal daily activities (mean of 120.1 beats per minute). In 1984, Bohlen et al. [8] studied 10 married couples in a laboratory setting using ECG, oxygen consumption (measured using a fast responding polarographic O 2 gas analyzer), heart rate and blood pressure monitoring before and during 4 types of sexual activity: self-stimulation, partner stimulation, man-on-top and woman-on-top coitus. Results from men aged 25 to 43 years old showed that sexual activity with their partners had minimal effect on heart rate, oxygen consumption and blood pressure during foreplay and stimulation (sexual activity before the onset of orgasm). That is, self-stimulation increased heart rate by 37 % from baseline to orgasm compared with a 51 % increase with man-on-top coitus. Not surprisingly, orgasm was associated with maximal increases in all three of these parameters. The highest intensity was associated with coitus, especially the man-on-top position, where 3 to 4 METS were exerted. In 2007, Palmeri et al. [14] reported that in 19 men and 13 women aged 40-75 years old, the intensity of sexual activity was comparable to stage II of the standard multistage Bruce protocol (moderate intensity) on a treadmill for men and stage I (low intensity) for women. In addition, maximal heart rate and blood pressure during sexual activity was approximately 75 % of that attained during maximum treadmill stress testing of the Bruce protocol. Collectively, based on these above studies, the physiological responses of sexual activity seem to be at a moderate intensity. It should be noted that all of the above studies that were conducted were limited to simple techniques such as heart rate and blood pressure for the determination of intensity during sexual activity. It is also important to indicate that sexual activity is a non-steady-state activity. Thus, the heart rate-blood pressure relationship may not remain linear during sexual activity, suggesting that these physiological parameters might not be primary indicators for the measurement of energy expenditure and/or intensity for this type of activity. In addition, these studies had important environmental and methodological limitations. That is, the experiments, in general, were performed in the laboratory rather than in the couple’s usual and natural environment (i.e. home). Moreover, the equipment that was used to measure exertion in these studies could have affected the ability to perform a sexual activity (i.e. mask placed on the mouth for the measurement of oxygen consumption as well as electrodes, cuffs and cables placed on the body during sexual intercourse). Taken together, performing these studies in the laboratory setting and the potential interferences due to the equipment used, minimize the chances to re-enact the normal intimacy observed in real-life conditions. Furthermore, most of the framework of knowledge of the physiological responses during sexual activity was gathered in studies that were conducted more than a quarter of a century ago. Thus, the conclusions that were made in these older studies may not be as representative in our modern times due to the wider acceptance of sexuality in today’s society. Also, the previous studies used couples that had a wide range of age and did not report the differences between ages from both individuals in the couple, which could be a confounding factor (younger vs. older individuals). Finally, no study, to our knowledge, has investigated the amount of energy expenditure in kilocalories (kcal) during sexual activity and has compared this energy expenditure, using the same subjects, to a regular exercise which could provide valuable clinical information to health professionals. There is even a myth which suggests that energy expenditure during sexual activity is between 100 to 300 kcal per session for each individual involved [15]. However, no scientific data has documented this claim. Collectively, new timely studies on energy expenditure and sexual activity in a natural environment without any methodological interference are needed in order have more conclusive findings. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine energy expenditure in kilocalories as a primary outcome and intensity (METS) as a secondary outcome using a simple, non-obstructive and accurate method for the measurement of energy expenditure (SenseWear armband) during sexual activity in young healthy couples and compare it to a session of endurance exercise. This objective will provide us with new insights on the potential role of sexual activity as a physical exercise. In addition, as a tertiary outcome, we investigated the perception of energy expenditure, fatigue, effort, pleasure and appreciation of the couples after sexual activity using a questionnaire. Our primary goal was not to examine the physiological responses (i.e. heart rate and blood pressure) of sexual activity per se but to get a better understanding of the energy expenditure in kilocalories, which is a unit that is more commonly used today by health professionals and the general public for health purposes.
Methods Participants Twenty one heterosexual couples from the Montreal region were recruited between September 2012 to April 2013 for this study. Volunteers were recruited from the Université du Québec à Montreal and from the Montreal population. To be included in the study, participants had to meet the following criteria: 1) aged between 18-35 years old, 2) born in the province of Quebec and francophone, 3) Caucasian, 4) non-sedentary (>2 hours a week of structured exercise), 5) no sexual dysfunctions, 6) be sexually active (at least one sexual activity per week), 7) in a loving, monogamous and stable relationship with their partner for a duration between 6 and 24 months, and 8) the use of oral contraception for women. In addition, all participants reported no cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or any orthopaedic limitations. Body weight was measured using an electronic scale (Balance Industrielles, Montreal, Canada) and standing height was measured using a wall stadiometer (Perspective Enterprises, Michigan, USA). Body mass index [BMI = body weight/Height (m2)] was calculated. All procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Université du Québec à Montréal. Participants were fully informed about the nature, goal, procedures and risks of the study, and gave their informed consent in writing. Endurance Exercise Session All participants completed one endurance exercise session at the start of the study which consisted of a 5 min warm-up (walking) followed by 30 minutes of exercise on a treadmill (0 % grade) at ~65 % of maximal heart rate, which represents a moderate intensity and ended with a 5 min cool down. The modalities of the endurance exercise session were based on the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association which recommends 30 min of exercise at a moderate intensity 5 times a week to the general population [16]. Our goal was to choose a form of exercise that could be regularly practised by the general population and to be used as a control. Sexual Activity In the present study, sexual activity was defined as the onset of foreplay, intercourse and at least one orgasm by either the man or woman and ended at the couple’s discretion. During a one month period, couples were instructed to perform one sexual activity per week in their homes. Thus, all couples had performed a total of 4 sexual activities. The couples were instructed to perform their usual sexual activities and not to use any drugs, alcohol or medication for erectile dysfunction (i.e. Viagra) before the sexual activity as well as not to perform any paraphilic sexual activities. Questionnaire All participants completed a questionnaire after each sexual activity. The following seven questions were asked: 1) How would you compare your effort between sexual activity and that of the exercise performed on the treadmill? 2) What was your perception of fatigue after sexual activity? 3) What was your perception of energy expended after sexual activity? 4) What was your personal perception of pleasure after sexual activity? 5) What was your partner’s perception of pleasure after sexual activity? 6) What was your appreciation of the sexual activity in comparison to that of the exercise performed on the treadmill? and 7) How many Calories did you think you burned during sexual activity? The participants had a choice of three categories (i.e. low, medium or high) to choose from for the first six questions. As for the seventh question, participants were asked to write down a number. The couples were instructed not to share or discuss their information with each other. In the present study, we presume that the perception of sexual activity is unique for each participant. Thus, the aim of these questions was to explore in detail how participants are making sense of their personal experiences. Measure of Energy Expenditure Free living energy expenditure during sexual activity and the endurance exercise session was measured using the portable mini SenseWear armband (Bodymedia, Pittsburgh, PA). The portable armband uses a 3-axis accelerometer, a heat flux sensor, a galvanic skin response sensor, a skin temperature sensor, and a near-body ambient temperature sensor to capture data. These data as well as body weight, height, handedness and smoking status (smoker or non-smoker) are used to calculate energy expenditure. The armband was placed on the upper left arm (on the triceps at the mid-humerus point) of each volunteer. The net output is a measure of energy expenditure (kcal) and intensity (METS) utilized by the participant across time. Data analysis for energy expenditure and intensity were available minute by minute (SenseWear professional software 7.0). This method of energy expenditure measurement has been validated by several studies and is known to be 92 % accurate compared to the gold standard method of doubly labeled water [17-24]. In addition, a test–retest reliability trial (n = 34) for energy expenditure performed in our laboratory showed an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.97 [25]. It should be noted that mean energy expenditure and intensity were measured during the four different sessions of sexual activity. Couples were instructed to wear the armbands right before the start of the sexual activity and take it off at the end of their sexual encounter. Statistical Methods Results are presented as means ± SD. Normality was verified using the Kurtosis-test. To address our primary and secondary outcomes, paired t-tests were used to identify differences in energy expenditure and intensity between sexual activity and the 30 minute exercise session in both men and women. Moreover, a repeated measures ANOVA using the post-hoc assessment of LSD was used to detect differences in energy expenditure between all four sessions of sexual activity in both men and women. Furthermore, unpaired t-tests were used to detect differences in age, body mass index, energy expenditure and intensity between men and women. To address our tertiary outcome, 1) paired t-tests were used to identify differences in measured energy expenditure and perceived energy expenditure in both men and women and 2) a Chi-square test was performed to analyze differences in perception of effort, fatigue, appreciation and pleasure in men and women. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20 for Windows (Chicago, IL). Significance was accepted at p < 0.05.
Results Mean duration of the relationship of the couples was 13.4 ± 5.5 months (range: 6-24 months) and the mean duration of the sexual activity was 24.7 ± 12.2 min (range: 10-57 min). BMI, absolute and relative energy expenditure during sexual activity, as well as absolute and relative energy expenditure during treadmill exercise were significantly higher in men compared to women (Table 1). When statistically controlling for BMI, significant differences in absolute and relative energy expenditure during sexual activity between men and women persisted. No differences in age, perceived energy expenditure, intensity during sexual activity and intensity during the treadmill exercise were observed between men and women (Table 1). In addition, no differences in percentage (absolute and relative) of the energy expenditure and intensity during sexual activity compared to that of the treadmill exercise were observed between men and women (Table 1). All Participants (n = 42) Men (n = 21) Range Women (n = 21) Range Age (yrs) 22.6 ± 2.8 22.7 ± 2.7 19-30 22.4 ± 2.9 19-31 Body mass index (kg/m2) 22.9 ± 2.8 24.2 ± 2.7 19.5-31.0 21.6 ± 2.3* 16.9-26.6 Duration of relationship (months) 13.4 ± 5.5 Duration of SA (min) 24.7 ± 12.2 AEE of SA (kcal) 84.8 ± 43.5a 101 ± 52a 13.0-306.1 69.1 ± 25.6*a 11.6-164.1 REE of SA (kcal/min) 3.6 ± 1.3a 4.2 ± 1.3a 1.2-7.9 3.1 ± 1.0*a 1.2-8.4 Intensity of SA (METS) 5.8 ± 1.3a 6.0 ± 1.3a 1.4-9.2 5.6 ± 1.2a 1.3-9.6 PEE of SA (kcal) 87.4 ± 54.2 100 ± 63 15.0-300 76.2 ± 43.3 5.0-250 AEE of treadmill (kcal) 245 ± 73 276 ± 68 149-390 213 ± 64.3* 120-381 REE of treadmill (kcal/min) 8.2 ± 2.4 9.2 ± 2.3 5.0-13.0 7.1 ± 2.2* 4.0-12.7 Intensity of treadmill (METS) 8.4 ± 1.6 8.5 ± 1.5 5.7-10.6 8.4 ± 1.8 5.2-10.8 AEE SA vs. AEE of treadmill (%) 37.8 ± 19.9 31.6 ± 11.9 17.2-58.2 44.0 ± 24.2 12.9-98.5 REE SA vs. REE of treadmill (%) 46.7 ± 16.9 47.5 ± 17.5 22.6-87.7 46.0 ± 16.6 16.7-81.9 Intensity SA vs. intensity treadmill (%) 71.0 ± 20.6 73.0 ± 20.1 37.6-114 69.0 ± 21.4 27.4-102 Table 1. Mean energy expenditure and intensity during sexual activity in men and women. CSV Download CSV Figure 1 and Table 1 show mean energy expenditure, intensity and perceived energy expenditure during sexual activity as well as mean energy expenditure and intensity during the 30 min treadmill exercise for all of the participants. We also investigated absolute energy expenditure during sexual activity across all four time points in men (118 ± 65 vs. 98 ± 49 vs. 94 ± 65 vs. 90 ± 74 kcal) and women (83 ± 40 vs. 69 ± 34 vs. 55 ± 27 vs. 65 ± 34 kcal). We observed that energy expenditure in session three was significantly lower than session one in men and women. Also in women, energy expenditure was significantly lower in session four when compared to session one and in session three when compared to session two (Figure 2). These results could suggest that men and women present different patterns of energy expenditure during sexual activity across time. We also calculated the equivalence in percentage of the energy expenditure and intensity during sexual activity with that of the energy expenditure of the treadmill exercise. Results show that absolute and relative energy expenditure as well as intensity during sexual activity represented ~38 %, 47 % and 71 % of the energy expenditure (absolute and relative) and intensity of the treadmill exercise, respectively. Ranges for energy expenditure, intensity and perceived energy expenditure for the sexual activity as well as the treadmill exercise are also presented in table 1. PPT PowerPoint slide
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larger image TIFF original image Download: Figure 1. Differences in energy expenditure in all participants as well as in men (black) and women (grey). Values are the mean ± SD. * Significantly different from men (P < 0.05). a Significantly different from treadmill (P < 0.05). SA: sexual activity. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079342.g001 PPT PowerPoint slide
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larger image TIFF original image Download: Figure 2. Differences in energy expenditure between all four sessions of sexual activity in men (black) and women (grey). Values are the mean ± SD. * Significantly different from the first session in men (P < 0.05). a Significantly different from the first session in women (P < 0.05). b Significantly different from the second session in women (P < 0.05). SA: sexual activity. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079342.g002 Table 2 shows the perception of effort, fatigue, appreciation, energy expended as well as personal and the partner’s pleasure after sexual activity in all participants as well as men and women. Briefly, only 5 % of all participants reported that sexual activity was more strenuous when compared to the 30 min treadmill exercise. Nineteen percent of all participants reported that they were highly fatigued and 7 % reported a high energy expended after sexual activity. Approximately 98 % of all participants reported that sexual activity was more pleasant than the 30 min treadmill exercise. Finally, 81 % reported a high level of personal pleasure and ~79 % reported a high level of their partner’s pleasure after sexual activity. No differences between men and women in all of the above parameters were noted. All Participants (n = 42) Men (n = 21) Women (n = 21) Comparison of Effort Between Sexual Activity and Treadmill Less strenuous (%) 57.5 55.0 60.0 Comparable (%) 37.5 35.0 40.0 More strenuous (%) 5.0 10.0 0.0 Perception of Fatigue Slightly Fatigue (%) 42.9 38.1 47.6 Moderately Fatigue (%) 38.1 38.1 38.1 Highly Fatigue (%) 19.0 23.8 14.3 Perception of Energy Expended Low (%) 28.6 19.0 38.1 Medium (%) 64.3 66.7 61.9 High (%) 7.1 14.3 0.0 Perception of Appreciation of Sexual Activity Compared to Treadmill Less pleasant (%) 0.0 0.0 0.0 As pleasant (%) 2.5 0.0 5.0 More pleasant (%) 97.5 100.0 95.0 Perception of Personal Pleasure Low (%) 0.0 0.0 0.0 Medium (%) 19.0 19.0 19.0 High (%) 81.0 81.0 81.0 Perception of Partner’s Pleasure Low (%) 0.0 0.0 0.0 Medium (%) 21.4 28.6 14.3 High (%) 78.6 71.4 85.7 Table 2. Perception of effort, fatigue, appreciation and pleasure after the sexual activity in men and women. CSV Download CSV
Discussion Sexual activity is an important and relevant activity to human life and appears to impact on the mental, physical and social health as well as on the quality of life of the individual [1,4-6]. In the next decade, we will continue to see advances in the field of human sexuality and its relationship with overall health. Considering that sexual activity may be one of the most regularly practiced activities throughout an individual’s life time, it seems important to conduct research on this topic. Therefore, the the purpose of the present study was to examine the energy expenditure during sexual activity in young healthy individuals in their natural environment and compare it to a session of endurance exercise. Results of the present study show that mean energy expenditure during sexual activity was 101 kcal or 4.2 kcal/min in men and 69 kcal or 3.1 kcal/min in women. Energy expenditure from sexual activity was significantly higher in men compared to women. In addition, mean intensity was 6.0 METS in men and 5.6 METS in women, which represents a moderate intensity according the American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM) (moderate: 3-6 METS) [26]. Furthermore, by comparison, the level of intensity that is exerted from sexual activity could be higher to that of walking at 4.8 km/h but lower to that of jogging at 8 km/h [27]. The level of intensity of sexual activity in the present study may give health professionals a better understanding on the potential risk for myocardial infarction in cardiac patients since this topic appears to be a preoccupation in the field of medicine [28]. Moreover, the energy expenditure and intensity during the 30 min exercise session in men was 276 kcal or 9.2 kcal/min and 8.5 METS, respectively and in women 213 kcal or 7.1 kcal/min and 8.4 METS, respectively. Both energy expenditure and intensity were significantly higher during the 30 min exercise session than the sexual activity. Interestingly, the highest range value achieved by men for absolute energy expenditure during sexual activity can potentially be higher than that of the mean absolute energy expenditure of the 30 min exercise session (i.e. 306 vs. 276 kcal, respectively), whereas this was not observed in women. Also, we noted that the highest range value of intensity in both men and women could be higher when compared to the mean intensity of the 30 min exercise session (9.2 vs. 8.5 METS; 9.6 vs. 8.4 METS, respectively). Finally, it should be noted that the absolute and relative energy expenditure of sexual activity in the present study represented more than one third of the absolute and relative energy expenditure of the 30 min treadmill exercise session, respectively. However, the intensity level during sexual activity represented more than two thirds of the intensity of the treadmill exercise. Taken together, these results suggest that sexual activity may potentially be considered, at times, as a significant exercise. Results of the present study are slightly different from two other studies in which only the level of intensity can be compared [8,14]. That is, in the study of Bohlen et al. [8] the level of intensity during sexual activity (especially the man-on-top position) was between 3 to 4 METS in young (average: 33 years) Caucasian men, whereas in the present study intensity was 6.0 METS in men. In the study of Palmeri et al. [14], the intensity of sexual activity was comparable to stage II of the standard multistage Bruce protocol on a treadmill for men (average: 55 years), which represents a moderate intensity and is similar to the results in the present study for men. However, for women (average: 51 years) sexual activity was comparable to stage I, which represents a low intensity and differs with the results of the present study for women which showed a moderate intensity. Perception of energy expenditure, effort, fatigue, appreciation and pleasure of the participants were also measured. Interestingly, perceived energy expenditure was similar in men (100 kcal) and in women (76 kcal) when compared to measured energy expenditure. This suggests that the perception of energy expenditure at the group level appears to be accurate during sexual activity. Moreover, a very small minority of participants reported that sexual activity was more strenuous when compared to the treadmill exercise and almost a fifth reported to be highly fatigued after sexual activity. Furthermore, almost all of the participants reported that sexual activity was more pleasant than the treadmill exercise and that most men and women reported a high level of personal pleasure and of the partner’s pleasure during sexual activity. Thus, health professionals may want to consider sexual activity as part of their planning of intervention programs for a healthy lifestyle. It should be noted that no differences between men and women were observed for perception of energy expenditure, effort, fatigue, appreciation and pleasure. There are several limitations in the present study. First, since our cohort is composed of sexually active young healthy men and women, thus, our findings are limited to this population. Further research should be performed in other populations and age groups. Second, the characteristics of the cohort reflect strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. However, our results are strengthened by using a simple, non-obstructive and accurate method for the measurement of free living energy expenditure in the couple’s natural environment making this study more representative.
Conclusions The present study indicates that energy expenditure during sexual activity appears to be approximately 85 kcal or 3.6 kcal/min and seems to be performed at a moderate intensity in young healthy men and women. These results suggest that sexual activity may potentially be considered, at times, as a significant exercise. Moreover, both men and women reported that sexual activity was a highly enjoyable and more appreciated than the 30 min exercise session on the treadmill. Therefore, this study could have implications for the planning of intervention programs as part of a healthy lifestyle by health care professionals. Future studies may want to examine the relationship between psychosocial/qualitative factors with sexual activity and energy expenditure which could explain how these variables could affect overall health and quality of life.
Acknowledgments We would like to thank all of the participants for their participation in this study.
Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: ADK MA JJL IT. Performed the experiments: JF IT. Analyzed the data: JF ADK JJL MA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: JF. Wrote the manuscript: JF IT JJL MA ADK. None. | {
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Earthy at canonmills will be closed to make way for flats. Picture: JP
More than 7,000 people signed a petition in a bid to reprieve Earthy at Canonmills Bridge.
But the cafe will shut its doors for the final time next month to make way for a controversial development.
“We have exploited all possible avenues to halt the unpopular scheme, very publicly and behind the scenes,” read a sombre statement from the Save 1 - 6 Canonmills Bridge group.
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“Latterly we worked with a renowned architect to develop an alternative proposal that would have offered more benefit to the community, acknowledging the Water of Leith setting - incorporating a riverside walkway.
“Alas, the owner/developers are making ready to proceed with their redevelopment and Earthy will close after the festival.”
Leith-based Glovart Investments won planning permission in 2013 to build six flats, three townhouses and two restaurants.
Developers had to go back to the council for permission to bulldoze Earthy in 2015 - sparking fierce opposition.
Councillors unanimously blocked the bid only to be overruled on appeal as its value to the conservation area was deemed insufficient.
Campaigners were given false hope last year when a three-year planning directive for work to start on the project expired - only for undertaken minor kerb work to be deemed sufficient.
Plans for the site have been labelled bland, oversized and out of character by opponents.
“This ugly and cramped development would irreparably alter, for the worse, the look and feel of a pleasant corner of Edinburgh,” said Canonmills residents Daniel and Mae Emily Rhodes, previously.
Managers at Earthy announced they would be moving staff to their extended Portobello branch on September 4 to make way for the bulldozers.
“Earthy has been thrilled and delighted with our time on the Bridge,” they said.
“We would like to thank each and every customer, staff member, supplier and neighbour, both business and personal, that have worked with us, visited us and supported us during our tenure.
“This includes Horatio the Heron who has been our constant companion, visiting us daily from the river, as well as many thousands of visitors to the Royal Botanic Gardens.”
Customers and neighbours have taken to social media to rue the demise of Earthy’s at Cononmills.
“So sad,” posted Lynn Currie on the campaign Facebook page. “Thank you for all you and everyone did to try and stop the demolition of the building and closure of a local cafe and shop that has become a local institution.
“Meeting at the Canonmills Clock will never be quite the same.” | {
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Our continent is bleeding at the hands of organized criminals and drug traffickers, destroying thousands of lives every year. All because the US has forced Latin American governments to carry out failed drug policies that only reward the criminal gangs behind the drug trade.
Now, for the first time in history, Latin American leaders are separating themselves from the extremism of the U.S. and demanding policies that deliver results. In 12 hours, Guatemala will bring together the Heads of State of the region to push for a new proposal that gives each of our countries the freedom to buck the US and adopt drug policies like those that have worked successfully in Europe.
It’s urgent -- high level officials have told us that for all the leaders to agree and have the power to stand up to the US, they need to see a groundswell of public support in the next few hours for changing the failed status quo. Click below to sign the urgent petition and share with everyone -- when we reach 100,000 our voices will be personally delivered to the Guatemalan commission that is leading the summit. Join in.
| {
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A video posted to YouTube shows a protester taking a sledgehammer to Baltimore’s 225-year-old Christopher Columbus statue the week after the city removed Confederate statues under the cover of night.
The Baltimore Brew reported on the attack, saying it left the monument “severely vandalized.”
The video shows an individual approach the monument while wearing a hoodie. The individual holds up a sign which says, “The Future is Racial and Economic Justice.” The individual then tapes the sign to the monument, grabs a sledgehammer, and beats a hole in the monument while a faceless onlooker holds a sign that says, “Racism Tear it Down.”
A narrator speaks throughout the video. His opening words are:
Christopher Columbus symbolizes the initial invasion of European capitalism into the Western Hemisphere. Columbus initiated a centuries-old wave of terrorism, murder, genocide, rape, slavery, ecological degradation and capitalist exploitation of labor in the Americas. That Columbian wave of destruction continues on the backs of Indigenous, African-American and brown people. Racist monuments to slave owners and murderers have always bothered me. Baltimore’s poverty is concentrated in African-American households, and these statues are just an extra slap in the face. They were built in the 20th century in response to a movement for African Americans’ human dignity. What kind of a culture goes to such lengths to build such hate-filled monuments? What kind of a culture clings to those monuments in 2017?
Baltimore’s monument to Columbus is reportedly the oldest in the nation.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected]. | {
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FILE PHOTO - Army personnel drive up to their base beside the ski resort in Malam Jabba, Pakistan February 7, 2017. Picture taken February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Caren Firouz
KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan is sending troops to ally Saudi Arabia on a “training and advise mission”, the military said, three years after it decided against sending soldiers to join the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.
The exact role the troops will play was unclear, but a statement from the army’s press wing on Thursday stressed they “will not be employed outside” the kingdom.
Pakistan’s retired army chief, General Raheel Sharif, commands the new Saudi-led Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism, though it was not immediately clear whether the new troops would participate in that coalition.
Saudi Arabia had asked fellow Sunni-majority Pakistan to provide ships, aircraft and troops for the Yemen campaign to stem the influence of Shi’ite Iran in what appears to be proxy war between the Gulf’s two dominant powers.
Pakistan’s parliament voted to remain neutral to avoid being pulled into a sectarian regional power struggle, in part because the country shares a border with Iran and has a sizeable Shi’ite minority.
Pakistani military analyst retired Brigadier Shaukat Qadir said talks involving sending troops to Saudi Arabia had been ongoing for some time.
“Now, apparently, for whatever reason, the decision has been taken,” he said.
There are already about 750-800 Pakistani servicemen in Saudi Arabia, in part to guard Islamic holy sites, but they are not combat troops. | {
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A large group of civilians are still defying and not taking the movement control order seriously following its enforcement yesterday.
Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Mohd Fahmi Visuvanathan Abdullah said most of them had given absurd reasons when they were stopped at roadblocks.
“The directive was issued to curb the spread of Covid-19, but they take it lightly. Some said that they were just having an outing, while there were also some who said that they wanted to buy food, deliver items and many other absurd reasons.
“We prefer to remind the public that the order has been enforced. Rather than we taking action against them, please be aware of it,” Mohd Fahmi said when met by Bernama last night.
Checks by Bernama found that there was an increase in the number of vehicles heading out and towards the federal capital as of 11pm.
Roadblocks have also been conducted in several areas in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Petaling Jaya district police chief ACP Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal said roadblocks would continue to be conducted throughout the movement control order period.
Meanwhile, Cheras district police chief ACP Mohamed Mokhsein Mohamed Zon said they had taken the initiative to make public announcements on the order by using loud hailers.
“The announcements are carried out at several areas in the district to remind the public to stay at home and not leave their homes, except for urgent matters.
“Personnel from the patrol unit will also conduct regular patrols to give advice regarding the order to the public,” he said.
- Bernama | {
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In fact, that was the argument in court of Leslie Klinger, a Holmes scholar and enthusiast who intends to publish a book of original Holmes stories by various authors titled In the Company of Sherlock Holmes in the fall. However, the Doyle Estate argued that copyright protection should extend from the last collection of stories, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1927—which would mean that the character could not be used without permission until 2022. According to them, Holmes continued to evolve, becoming more mellow and closer friends with Watson. To write stories just using the earliest Holmes material is a crime against Holmes and art in general, according to Doyle estate attorney William Zieske. Or, as he put it, "to reduce true literary characters to a cardboard cutout, parts of which can be carved off, I think does literature a great disservice."
Zieske's objection is framed in terms of this particular court case; he's arguing that you can't use Doyle's early stories unless you use all of Doyle's stories. But the argument, if taken to its logical conclusion, actually seems to dismiss the value of any and all adaptations of a work. If it "does literature a great disservice" to carve off bits of it, then how does that not apply to, say, the film version of 12 Years a Slave, which is (inevitably) quite selective in its use of its (public domain) source material? If any literary dicing is bad, then it seems like copyright should be extended as much as possible in order to prevent as many adaptations as possible, carefully preserving the original literary vision from depredations.
There's certainly an appeal to this line of thinking. Bad adaptations can be ugly and depressing. I certainly wish that Brian Azzarello had never gotten his clammy oven mitts on Wonder Woman, and that DC Comics hadn't decided to make a mess of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen. If you love a work of art, it's painful to see it get mishandled and proverbially spit on for profit.
But if you love a work of art, it may also inspire you. Such inspiration can take lots of different forms. If you're Arthur Conan Doyle, for example, you might retool Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin stories to make up your own detective and name him Sherlock Holmes—a process of carving off and rejiggering which you'd think even the Doyle estate would approve of.
Sometimes inspiration can be even more direct, as when creators carve off entire characters from another work and make them their own. This sort of direct lift can make people bristle. Where's the creativity, they ask, in writing up yet another Sherlock Holmes story? Why not be original and make something of your own? (For examples of this line of argument, just scroll down through the comments in this National Post story about the legal battle over Sherlock Holmes.) | {
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After years of walking around under the menacing handle “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” Tito Ortiz has re-fashioned himself as “The People’s Champ.” At UFC 140 in Toronto, Bruce Buffer will call out “Tito ‘The People’s Champ’ Ortiz.” This is what’s known as a juxtaposition.
Not all that long ago, Ortiz proclaimed deaf people had notoriously soft heads. Today, Ortiz rides on our shoulders.
And as with all the people’s champs, the people are the last to know. Chael Sonnen is another of "our champions." Neither of them are actual champions. But it’s a healthy delusion, and, in Ortiz’s case anyway, what’s wrong with a little reinvention? Becoming the opposite of what everyone knows of you makes for blown minds and timely storylines, no matter how far-fetched. Hulk Hogan went to the dark side late in his career; Ortiz steps into the light.
What’s not to admire?
Besides, this new “reimagining” might be more apt. In the last five years, what Ortiz hasn’t gained in victories -- remember that time? -- he’s picked up in maturity (presumably). It wasn’t he who Tweeted that picture of his noose; it was a common coffeehouse hacker.
Cam-pain trail: Tito Ortiz is out to reinvent himself from the ground up. Mike Roach/Getty Images
When Ortiz did return to his winning ways and beat Ryan Bader at UFC 132, the place went into ballistics. Every hater clapped for him, even Chuck Liddell, who showed his affection for Ortiz on the cover of UFC Magazine by sporting a choice t-shirt where a relieved bladder also factored in. For a moment, Ortiz became a live piece of nostalgia for those who remember the halcyon days in the early-2000s, back when he was defending the UFC’s light heavyweight strap again and again.
Right around the time he was doing his grave-digger routine over Bader’s prone body, right when people were smacking their foreheads with goose flesh on their arms, precisely at that moment ... that was when he became our champion.
Next thing you know he accepted a short-notice fight against Rashad Evans -- after first refusing and a quick change of heart -- and declared, “anything for the UFC.” This sent Dana White into raptures. “I like the new Tito,” White said. He rephrased this many times. And since then it’s perpetuated.
Ortiz showed nothing but respect for Evans, even after the loss. Ahead of his bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, he isn’t throwing down any verbal judo. On Twitter, he’s inviting people to play against him on Call of Duty: Black Ops, and welcomes your trash talk as something “fun.” His running refrain has become “just believe.”
Not exactly the iconoclastic figure with the nimble middle fingers, now is it?
But hey, when every bout could be your last, and you’re still a popular fighter that can get by with about anything, why not? This is one title he doesn’t necessarily have to defend, because, whether we like it or not, we are his people. Even if this comes as news to us. | {
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COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Later this year, Hot Chicken Takeover is expected to open its third location in central Ohio.
According to a release from the company, a new restaurant will open in the Easton Gateway in late 2017, located at 4198 Worth Avenue. Hot Chicken Takeover currently operates out of the North Market in the Short North and has a food truck with seasonal availability.
Earlier this year, business owner Joe DeLoss announced a second location opening in Clintonville this spring.
“We’re excited to be a part of the Easton Gateway,” DeLoss said in the release, “this opportunity allows us to serve an even broader cross-section of our community and positions us well for growth and impact.”
The opening date for the new location hasn’t been released but will be announced once construction is under way, according to DeLoss. | {
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We are so used to the boring look of a bar code that our minds cannot even imagine it could look any different than it looks right now. But the guys from vanitybarcodes.com & barcoderevolution.com know a little secret – it can be creatively customized and designed to look really attractive, and in the end even be scannable just like every standard bar code.
So, take advantage of the little-known marketing potential of decorative – yet functional – UPC barcodes on their products. It’s a great way to add brand value and engage customers in a way that no other graphic design can!
Read more
Vanity Barcodes (link)
Barcode Revolution (link) | {
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As if hiding the crimes will change anything. As if pretending that reality is not real, it will change the terrible fate that awaits these countries that opened up their borders to mass Muslim immigration.
Instead of deporting these lawless savages, they hide their crimes. And it’s not just Holland — this is a pattern in countries across Europe. From the massive Muslim child sex trafficking gangs in the UK to the mass sex attacks across Germany and other European countries on New Year’s Eve, law enforcement agencies scrub, censor and sanction the rampant crime of Muslim immigrants.
The report Dutch Police tried to hide: almost 10.000 refugees suspected of (organised) crimes in 2015 and 2016 alone
Vincent van den Born, The Old Continent, June 30, 2017:
A Dutch police report that was supposed to remain hidden from the public now unveils that in 2015 and 2016 there are 104 cases of status-holders suspected of serious crimes, like armed robbery and sex offences. Furthermore, 183 are repeat offenders, while 9300 of them are suspected of committing a single offence.
What makes this worse, is that large groups of asylum seekers seem to be part of organised crime groups, that trek from country to country, stealing on order. One case in the files describes groups of ‘refugees’ leaving their accommodations at 03:00 every night, presumably for criminal activities. Police describe finding lists with orders for things to steal. Over the first nine months of 2016, police reported 663 cases of theft, and 302 cases of crimes against personal integrity, ranging from spitting in people’s faces and insults to sexual assault and rape from this particular group of asylum seekers alone. That is disregarding the 200 incidents every month that require police attention, without leading to charges being made.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) often decides not to prosecute, so the deportation process isn’t interfered with by a court-case. But with asylum seekers not getting deported, or only getting deported after a considerable period of time, this means that crimes go unpunished, while the criminal is allowed to stay.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf today published a bombshell article about the staggering number of crimes committed by so-called ‘status-holders’, asylum seekers seeking refugee status in the Netherlands (original reports here). The newspaper, which the police had previously attempted to bribe to silence the story, says it now has binders full of crime statistics on this specific group.
Reading the documents, journalists were astonished at what they read. Police officers freely tell how big the problem is – and what groups are mostly responsible.
After a tip-off, it took De Telegraaf months to get this information from the National Police Force. It took a court case to get the police to even acknowledge it had collected this information, and the existence of a special taskforce to deal with the situation.
Just on the national level between 2015 and 2016, disregarding information gathered by local police departments, there are 104 cases of status-holders suspected of serious crimes, like armed robbery and sex offences. Furthermore, 183 are repeat offenders, while 9300 of them are suspected of committing a single offence. These are all people that applied for refugee status in 2015 and 2016, 16% out of a total of 60.000 people.
It turns out, most of these ‘refugees’ are actually originating from so-called ‘safe countries’ and have no actual chance of being given refugee status. Yet, deporting them is difficult, if not technically impossible.
To make matters worse, even if the police are able to catch the criminals – which is not a given – the ‘refugee’ is still not guaranteed a sentence. The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) often decides not to prosecute, so the deportation process isn’t interfered with by a court-case. But with asylum seekers not getting deported, or only getting deported after a considerable period of time, this means that crimes go unpunished, while the criminal is allowed to stay.
In a report from the end of 2016, the task force writes that
“The question is if not prosecuting the cases is desirable when the suspect cannot be deported immediately, and will thus freely stay in the Netherlands untill his deportation. “
What makes this worse, is that large groups of asylum seekers seem to be part of organised crime groups, that trek from country to country, stealing on order. One case in the files describes groups of ‘refugees’ leaving their accommodations at 03:00 every night, presumably for criminal activities. Police describe finding lists with orders for things to steal. The numbers point to the size of the problem. Over the first nine months of 2016, police reported 663 cases of theft, and 302 cases of crimes against personal integrity, ranging from spitting in people’s faces and insults, to sexual assault and rape from this particular group of asylum seekers alone. That is disregarding the 200 incidents every month that require police attention, without leading to charges being made.
The article, published early on 30 June, has already gotten the attention of Dutch politicians. MP Maarten Groothuizen (D66) reacted upset: | {
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There are quite a few good Twitter apps for Windows 10 Mobile, and one of the newest members of the stable is Aeries. Offering a robust set of features for $2.99, Aeries maintains a strong 4.4 star rating in the Windows Store. Today, they pushed out an update for their Universal Windows App, which contains a slew of fixes.
This is a pretty long list of new and updated features, along with quite a few fixes, so fasten your seatbelts:
2.0.4
====== General
——-
New live tile choices! Choose between recent tweets, images etc to be displayed.
Added the ability to filter any tweets mentioning a user.
Much improved frequency for syncing between apps (should update within a couple minutes).
Mention notifications now have inline reply.
Support for Spotify rich media (previews playable in app when available.)
Support for Large and medium sized tiles.
Ctrl + Enter to send a DM.
New scrollbar for Accounts side menu when using mouse.
Live tiles now cycle through 5 tweets instead single most recent.
Performance improvements when typing in compose page.
Scrolling performance improvements for when save read position is enabled.
Much improved resume performance + memory consumption.
UI tweaks all over the place.
Lists in sections now save read position.
Added Catalan translation. Fixes
—–
Fixed an issue which would cause a tweet to be selected when viewing an image.
Fixed a potential crash when relaying out sections.
Fixed issue with sections showing twice in settings.
Fixed an activation issue when Likes is the first timeline in a section on second load.
Improvements to the stability of loading timelines with poor connections.
Fixed some issues with unread count indicators updating unexpectedly
Improved data usage on first launch.
Fixed an issue with quoted tweets not showing up in retweets.
Translations updated.
Looks like a load of performance improvements and new features, including new Live Tile options and scrolling performance enhancements, all of which are important to a Twitter client. If you’re looking for Twitter alternatives, then you might want to check Aeries out. If you’re already using the app, then head over to the Windows Store app and get updated.
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Real estate values in Inman Park just received an unprecedented boost.
Built five years ago, as the Eastside Trail was coming together, this 2012 Inman Lane townhome originally sold for $485,799, and has now almost doubled in value thanks to its recent sale for $900,000.
What’s more, that’s a $25,000 increase above the original asking price of $875,000.
From a real estate standpoint, Inman Park has been attractive for decades, but it wasn’t that long ago a townhome this size, at this price, was unfathomable for both home sellers and buyers.
Sure, it counts gray-washed hardwoods, coffered ceilings, and a delightful oversized balcony, but this 2,600-square-foot home is still 51.29 percent more expensive than nearby properties, per Realtor.com.
That didn’t seem to hold buyers back, because, according to listing agent Kirsten Conover of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties, the property received multiple offers.
However, looking back, even she seemed surprised the property garnered such a high price, given the uncertainty surrounding the Beltline in its early stages.
“When I sold my first two homes in this community, the Beltline was just a dusty trail behind a fence,” Conover said. “At that time, many weren’t sure whether it would end up being good for property values or a place you might get mugged.”
Going forward with this new benchmark, it’ll be interesting to see not if, but when these townhomes hit the million-dollar mark, for better or worse.
Below are some highlights from the property’s listing photos. | {
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China’s intelligence and security services play a pivotal role in shaping how China’s leadership views the outside world – but we in that outside world don’t know much about how they provide guidance and direction to diplomats and security officials, or how they help form government policy.
When news breaks of the latest Chinese cyberhack or other espionage activities, analysts mostly focus on each incident as either a singular counterintelligence issue, or a reflection of current U.S.-China relations. This misses the point that each of these acts are part of a much larger and little understood strategy carried out by the Chinese Intelligence Services (CIS).
This gap in our knowledge of CIS activities may have mattered relatively little during China’s inward-looking years. But today, CIS leaders are significant players on the world stage, and understanding how and what they learn about the world, and how they formulate their policy choices, is more important than ever.
Much about CIS remains opaque. We know too little about how the intelligence services digest and assess the multi-terabytes of data they collect electronically, both domestically and from overseas. Nor do we know how that intelligence is provided to decision-makers, and how well the various agencies, both civilian and military, coordinate and cooperate.
We do know that both internal and external security and intelligence services have received significant enhancements in resources over the past 10 to 15 years. Publically available figures indicate that expenditure on internal security systems have even outpaced China’s dramatic military modernization.
A decade or so ago, China’s security state appeared to be eroding as modern communications technology swept across the country. Today, however, domestic intelligence agencies have adapted to the internet, social media and mobile communications. They are capable of blocking unwanted messaging originating overseas and domestically, ensuring the Party’s message is delivered appropriately, and following electronic dust left behind as people move through China’s highly informationalized society.
Consequently, their ability to help shape the state’s message is stronger now than it has been in a generation. And Chinese President Xi Jinping’s determination to silence dissenting voices will ensure continued resources for internal services.
At the same time, there are indications that over the past 10 or so years, Beijing has placed more emphasis on the Ministry for State Security (MSS), and other services with external responsibilities, to develop stronger foreign intelligence capabilities. Not only has MSS received a significant increase in its budget, it appears to have moved rapidly away from its more traditional, and often inefficient modus operandi.
It is also important to understand the role of military intelligence in any competition for shares of the state budget and for influence within the central leadership. Chinese military modernization, however, and the military’s need for more intelligence support has likely required 2PLA to focus more on military requirements rather than satisfying national policymakers.
Despite all of this, China’s leadership isn’t getting the sustained results it hoped for, due to internal limitations like bureaucratic inertia, and the influence of the internal security elements of the Chinese intelligence and security apparatus.
The civilian agencies have substantial portions, probably the majority of their personnel, in provincial departments or local bureaus, which report to the provincial and local party committees, in addition to their home ministries. This encourages the agencies’ local units to focus on provincial, rather than national concerns.
And, despite obvious moves to professionalize its intelligence and security services, China’s civil and military security and intelligence organizations continue to focus on internal security, even those with an external remit. Such internally oriented services tend to re-inforce the leadership’s worst fears about adversaries, the United States in particular.
If U.S. and allied policymakers hope to shape the way China exercises its growing influence in the world, they will require clearer understanding of how Chinese intelligence interprets U.S. statements and commentary.
Will information the U.S. officials share with their counterparts in the intelligence world reach China’s senior civilian and military decision-makers? Even if it reaches them, how it is interpreted will depend on the biases and underlying assumptions about the United States that each of the services have. These are subjects we know too little about. The risk of U.S. statements and actions being misinterpreted will be high without answers to these questions. | {
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Duration: 7min 25sec Views: 53 684 Submitted: 2 years ago
Description: Naked girl takes a big cock in her pussy in doggy style position. Her boyfriend pulled out to cum on her ass. | {
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At 1:15 p.m. Japan Standard Time (04:15 Universal Time) on July 31, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite observed Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean. The wide view (above) shows the breadth of the storm; the second image (below) shows the details within its eye.
At the time, the center of Noru was located about 250 kilometers southwest of Iwo Jima. Maximum sustained winds measured 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour, making it the equivalent of a category 4 storm. The typhoon had weakened somewhat since July 30, when it briefly became a category 5 storm—the strongest so far in 2017 in the northern hemisphere. Some forecasts suggest that Noru could ultimately head toward mainland Japan, but not for several days.
Last week, Noru had a sibling storm nearby in the western Pacific. Satellite imagery captured on July 24 and July 25 showed Tropical Storm Kulap appearing to move in tandem with Noru. According to Oreste Reale, a research meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the imagery suggests that the systems were tangled in a dance known as the “Fujiwhara effect.” The phenomenon occurs when two cyclones are close enough to each other that they both rotate around a common center.
“This occurs much more often than people believe, if we watch at the low-level vorticity fields,” Reale said. Many rotating systems—not just named storms—will tend to rotate around a common center, with the stronger system pulling the weaker one toward it. Occasionally the two systems can merge, though that never happened with Kulap and Noru.
“Albeit common, the Fujiwhara effect is very unstable,” Reale said. “The two vorticity maxima must be at a certain distance and reach some sort of temporary balance. If one of the two has a drastic change—for example the lower levels become affected by drag so that the storm enters a rapid weakening—the Fujiwhara effect rapidly vanishes.”
Noru has produced some beautiful examples of typhoon structure, as revealed in a range of satellite images. Dynamic features in the eye, for example, stand out in an animation of images from Japan’s Himawari-8 satellite.
The structure appears to be typical of a strong storm, according to Scott Braun, a research meteorologist at NASA Goddard. “We’ve seen this sort of structure in other storms with large eyes,” he said. But even if the storm and its structure are not unusual, we can still appreciate the striking imagery.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Story by Kathryn Hansen. | {
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08:07
The discovery that Russian “troll factories” exist was not a surprise to most Moscow correspondents. For some time we had noticed the long list of comments under almost everything we wrote, often in semi-coherent English claiming to be from people with traditional British names.
This is not to say that all the angry comments below the line are from paid trolls, far from it. Over the past two years, the Ukraine crisis and Russia more generally has become one of those polarised issues, such as Israel/Palestine.
One story can simultaneously be denounced as disgusting Russophobic slander ordered up by the CIA and pro-Putin filth written by a Kremlin shill. Both sides never tire of comparing the other to the Nazis. Angry “pro-Russian” feedback is significantly higher than the level of angry “pro-Ukrainian” feedback, but both can be equally baffling.
Salutin' Putin: inside a Russian troll house Read more
Good journalism points out problems, abuses and painful moments, and this will always be controversial. But due to a lack of strong, independent media in Russia, the immediate assumption is that coverage of difficult issues in Russia in the Guardian, for example, is part of a nefarious geo-political conspiracy.
The worst part about trolling is it makes it hard to be open to genuine criticism. Journalists’ articles are by definition a selective compilation of relevant facts and opinions; and there’s almost always room for constructive feedback. But when every genuine engagement is buried between 100 semi-literate insults from paid trolls or partisan readers selectively processing information, the easiest thing to do is ignore it , which is a shame.
Shaun Walker, Moscow correspondent, the Guardian | {
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Welcome to my art blog!
**PLEASE DO NOT POST MY WORK ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!**
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Another prominent Windrush victim has died without receiving compensation or a personal apology from the government. Hubert Howard died on Tuesday, just three weeks after finally being granted British citizenship, 59 years after he arrived in London aged three.
Howard spent much of the last two months of his life still fighting for British citizenship from his intensive-care bed in hospital. He was granted it at the end of October when his lawyer informed the Home Office that he was critically ill, and highlighted the urgency of his case.
Howard had not left the country since he arrived here legally in 1960. He first realised he had problems with his documents in 2005 when his employers, the Peabody housing association, asked him to show that he was in the UK legally. He tried to get a passport the following year so he could visit his sick mother in Jamaica, but the Home Office said it had no record of him and warned him that if he left the UK he might not be allowed back into the country. His mother died before he was able to see her again.
He tried on numerous occasions to apply for a passport. In 2012 he was dismissed by Peabody because he was still not able to prove he was in the UK legally. He died in debt as a result of losing his job.
‘I’ve been here for 50 years’: the scandal of the former Commonwealth citizens threatened with deportation Read more
Tyrone McGibbon, an old friend, described Howard as “one of the nicest people you could meet”.
“But recently we didn’t see that side of him so much. He was stressed out because of what he was going through for the past few years. The Windrush saga made him ill – the non-stop pressure. There is only so much people can take before they can’t take any more,” he said.
“It was just too much for him in the end. I’m very upset with his treatment from the government.”
Howard’s daughter, Maresha Howard, said she felt angry at how exhausted her father had become as he tried to prove his right to British citizenship after a lifetime in the UK. “He was an amazing dad; he gave the best advice. He was very popular, and he had a lovely presence. My dad was a fighter, but the way he was treated caused his illness. Last week he said he was giving up on living. He was so fed up.”
She said her father had been living with leukaemia for a number of years but had neglected his health while preoccupied by his Home Office difficulties.
His lawyer, Connie Sozi, with Deighton Pierce Glynn – who visited him several times in hospital as she assisted him with his fight for citizenship – said: “Hubert should not have died as he did. He was physically unwell but should nonetheless have finished his life on this earth with dignity: the dignity that one has knowing that they live in a society formed of a government that does not seek to do harm. He lived the last 15 years of his life fighting to prove the lawful status he has held since he entered the UK on 16 November 1960, as a three-year old British boy.
“The Windrush scandal is only but beginning to unravel. This calls for more than compensation. A public inquiry is needed to establish the extent of the harm perpetrated by the government, and suffered, by Hubert and others of the Windrush generation.”
The motherland: lost images of the Windrush generation Read more
Several other Windrush victims have died as they tried to rebuild their lives. Last month Jashwha Moses, a reggae musician who had arrived in Britain in the 1960s aged 12, died shortly after securing citizenship, too late to make a long-planned trip back to Jamaica. Sarah O’Connor and the former Middlesex bowler Richard Stewart both died before receiving compensation or personal apologies from the government; their families said they had been worn down by the fight to prove they were here legally. None of them had received compensation.
Of the 88 people the government admits were wrongly classified as immigration offenders and removed from the UK, 14 died before officials were able to contact them, and another 14 have still not been found. | {
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Freud said he owed them everything and even people who have never read a poem in their lives speak their language today. Professor and author Gillen D'Arcy Wood introduces the greatest Romantic poets.
Before we start talking about Romantic poetry, what makes a great poem?
Think of a poem as a verbal work of art. Its draws us in and shapes our thinking like a painting. A ‘great’ poem is one that leaves us different — with a keener sense of ourselves and the world around us. I mean this quite literally. I tell my students about a Modigliani exhibition I once saw in New York City — he of the exquisite long-faced portraits. When I staggered, exhilarated, out of the gallery, the Manhattan crowds were no longer faceless. I could see the bone structure and beauty in every face. That’s what great art does.
When we talk about the Romantic poets or Romanticism, what exactly does that mean? Were they good at taking their girlfriends out for candlelit dinners or surprising them with red roses?
The difference between ‘romantic’ with a small ’r and ‘Romantic’ with a capital ‘R’ is very important. We all indulge a guilty pleasure in the first, but ‘Romantic,’ in poetry terms, means modern. It signals the moment in the early 1800s when poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron began to experiment with writing in a more accessible, conversational way, and to introduce taboo topics to the reading public: everything from the life of poor, illiterate people, to revolutionary politics, to sex. But psychology was their abiding fascination.
Freud admitted he learned everything he knew from the Romantics. These great Romantic poets looked inward, and traced the workings of their minds, memories, desires, and motivations in incredibly moving and courageous ways. Of course, they were pilloried for it by the press of the day, but they’ve had the last laugh. Even if you’ve never read any Romantic poems in your life, you speak their language. They created an entire vocabulary for modern living and being.
Like what?
Shelley believed that “the everlasting universe of things/flows through the mind.” That’s the Romantic poetry revolution right there. For these poets, we are all endowed with amazing mental powers to create new worlds for ourselves, not only in our minds and fantasies, but in the world ‘out there,’ to change society. It’s a new philosophy of the world, with personal human development and growth at its centre. Sure, these ideas have been banalized in our popular selfie culture. All the more reason to go back to the original ‘me’ generation, the Romantic poets, any of whose poems is worth more than a million witty Facebook posts.
Read 1 William Wordsworth: The Major Works by Stephen Gill (editor) Read
So tell me about your first choice of Romantic poem.
Yes, my first pick is Wordsworth’s 1802 poem ‘Resolution and Independence’. I’ve taught Romantic poetry to American undergraduates for more than twenty years and this fascinates my students because the action is all in the young Wordsworth’s mind and emotions. At this time in his life, Wordsworth didn’t have a job or much purpose, and most of his poems are about roaming the countryside and meeting odd people.
The poem begins with Wordsworth in an exultant mood on a beautiful spring day on the moor. Then, as if he’s committed the sin of being too happy, he experiences a kind of panic attack: “fears and fancies thick upon me came.” How can a person be happy one moment then depressed the next, for no apparent reason? That’s exactly the kind of emotional question that fascinated the Romantics.
“How can a person be happy one moment then depressed the next, for no apparent reason? That’s exactly the kind of emotional question that fascinated the Romantics.”
Wordsworth then runs into a lonely figure on the moor. He is an old, very poor man, who ekes out a living gathering leeches to sell to medical men. Not a great profession and, what’s worse, there are fewer leeches on the moor than before. But despite all this, the leech-gatherer is undaunted, even serene. Weirdly, Wordsworth has what we might call an out-of-body experience while conversing with this old man. He receives a ‘strong admonishment’ from the Universe, to find strength in adversity as the leech-gatherer has. A strange, amazing, and utterly Wordsworthian poem.
Famous lines to quote at your next dinner party:
We poets in our youth begin in gladness;But thereof comes in the end despondency and madness.
OK, so explain those lines of Romantic poetry.
This is from the early, anxious part of the story, where Wordsworth is dwelling on the unhappy fates of his poetic predecessors Burns and Chatterton, who both died young and miserable. He’s wondering if the happiness he’s feeling will inevitably give way to doom. It’s the kind of irrational fear you or I could have: he just expresses it better.
Read 2 Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Major Works by H. J. Jackson (Editor) Read
So next up you’ve got Coleridge but, interestingly, not one of his most famous Romantic poems.
Yes, my second choice is Coleridge’s ‘Frost at Midnight’. That might seem controversial to those who have fond memories of ‘The Ancient Mariner’ or ‘Kubla Khan’. Both are great Romantic poems, but I chose ‘Frost at Midnight’, first, because I simply love it, and because it is so radically modern as a poetical self-portrait.
Also, the poem is in close conversation with Wordsworth, with whom Coleridge was in a total mind-meld in their formative years. As in ‘Resolution and Independence’, nothing actually happens. I ask my students to imagine filming these poems. For ‘Frost at Midnight’, we would require only a single shot: a young father sitting up late by the fire, with his little baby boy sleeping beside him. That’s it.
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But what’s happening in Coleridge’s mind would fill a novel of Proustian dimensions. A flicker of blue flame in the fire reminds him of when he was a lonely, wretched schoolboy in London, watching the fire in the classroom and hoping for a visitor from home. He then remembers himself, as that earlier schoolboy self, remembering his childhood, and the reader is taken further back in the poet’s past, to one happy day of the Fair in his hometown.
“ What’s happening in Coleridge’s mind would fill a novel of Proustian dimensions.”
For the Romantic poets, it’s all about childhood. The child is father of the man, said Wordsworth, a statement with which we would all automatically agree today, but which in 1800 was just poppycock. The poem ends with Coleridge’s own anxious hopes that his little baby, Hartley, will have a happier life being brought up in the wild countryside of the Lake District, a student of nature. Sadly, Hartley’s life turned out as miserable as his father’s, which adds some poignancy for us to the buoyant conclusion.
Nothing beats Coleridge’s opening lines for Romantic mood-setting:
The frost performs its secret ministryUnhelped by any wind.
That’s another important aspect of a Romantic poem, isn’t it, talking about nature? Did people not write about nature before?
‘Nature’ and ‘power’ are words that continually come up when we talk about the Romantics. The Romantic poets looked for power in themselves — the power of imagination, the power to write — and also in the world. The majesty and dynamism of the natural world — be it the sea, a storm over a mountain, or here the invisible action of frost — fascinated the Romantics as images of a power with which they might connect.
Poets had extolled natural beauty before, but the stakes were higher for the Romantic poets, who were writing in the midst of a massive demographic shift from the country to the city at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Cities were alienating to them, while England’s ‘green and pleasant land’ seemed to be slipping away — so their poems have a kind of weird nostalgia about them, an elegiac desperation. They were the first environmentalists.
Read 3 Willam Blake: Selected Poetry by Nicholas Shrimpton & William Blake Read
Now we’re onto William Blake. What can you tell me about him?
Well, even the radical young artist-types in London thought he was barking mad. He certainly took the Romantic poet turn inward to extremes, creating a quasi-Biblical inner landscape of the mind through his art and poems. Most people know Blake through his little sing-song poems like ‘The Tyger’ and ‘The Chimney Sweeper’. But his longer works, which fill volumes, are worth tackling. Unlike Wordsworth’s and Coleridge’s poems — so consciously accessible in style — these longer Romantic poems can be hard to read.
“Even the radical young artist-types in London thought Blake was barking mad”
But Visions of the Daughters of Albion is a mind-blowing exception. Straight away the heroine, Oothoon, is raped. What’s worse, Oothoon’s true love, Theotormon, takes no pity on her, but instead ties her and her rapist, Bromion, back-to-back in a cave. The rest of the poem consists of Bromion mocking her while Oothoon pleads with Theotormon not to reject her because she has been sexually violated. As Theotormon ignores her, “conversing with shadows dire” in his own tortured mind, Oothoon’s speeches become ever more desperate and ambitious. She inveighs against the ideology of female purity, against marriage, against jealousy. In her final appeal to Theortormon, she offers to act as a procuress for him, and to watch him fornicate with other women in the spirit of free love. All of this was written at the time when Jane Austen was a teenager and first dreaming up her unforgettable heroines, who barely show so much as an ankle. Forget Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I’d like Elizabeth Bennett to show up in a Blake poem.
Next time you’re tempted to feel jealous on someone’s account, remember this image from Blake:
Such is self-love that envies all! a creeping skeletonWith lamplike eyes watching around the frozen marriage bed.
What does that mean?
Blake was a visual genius, as well as a great Romantic poet, and this is like a scene from a horror movie. Blake’s philosophy was: “if you love someone, set them free.” That is, to quote Sting who is himself, I’ve heard, a great fan of Blake, as were The Doors. Jealousy, possessiveness, emotional cruelty: all spring from “self-love” according to Blake, which is like “a creeping skeleton.”
Some have suggested that the “lamplike eyes” are a code for syphilis, which would make jealousy, marriage, prostitution, venereal disease, etc. all part of one great cancerous sore eating at society and personal happiness. Blake can be bleak. But it’s great fun in class to argue whether he was right: if we want true political freedom, a new society, we have to begin with our personal relationships. Is that true? Blake makes his readers face up to the hard questions of modern life, and to very private fears.
Read 4 Percy Bysshe Shelley: The Major Works by Michael O'Neill (Editor) & Zachary Leader (Editor) Read
Let’s hear about Shelley now.
Shelley was arguably the most ambitious of all the Romantic poets. Certainly, he saw the mission of Romantic poetry in the grandest terms. Poets, he proclaimed, are “the unacknowledged legislators of the world,” by which he meant they write the script for the future (which is essentially what I argued earlier, proving that everything we think and say is touched by the Romantics.). His ‘Ode to the West Wind’ was written after an afternoon’s walk along the river Arno, in Florence, where he watched a tempestuous wind shake the autumn leaves from the trees, and allowed his imagination full flight. As if equipped with a mental GoPro camera and an Iron Man flight suit, Shelley takes us spinning through the atmosphere into the storm clouds, then, in an instant, out over the crystalline blue waters of the Mediterranean, then onto the Atlantic, plunging underwater to ‘the sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear/the sapless foliage of the ocean.’
“Shelley set me free, which was, of course, his intention.”
These superpowers are given, Shelley tells us, to the poet, whose words are like the dead leaves spinning in the air by the Arno, ready to be buried and reborn as a prophecy for mankind, of a future freed from tyranny. The third stanza of this poem, where Shelley describes the sea, is personally very special to me. I read it for the first time in an English class as a teenager growing up in Adelaide, Australia, about as far from Florence and the Mediterranean as you can be. But Shelley’s lines, many of which I barely understood, or could even visualise, set off a bomb in my brain: “Is he really allowed to write like this? If so, then anything is possible.” Shelley set me free, which was, of course, his intention. I always bring this story up with my students when they complain that Romantic poetry, or any other great literature, are not relevant to them. Where are we as human beings if only what is relevant is important, and relevance is defined as only what we already know? Count me out. Shelley was fascinated by everything, especially the world we could not yet see . . .
These are the lines that were like an electrical shock to me:
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreamsThe blue Mediterranean, where he lay,Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams,Beside a pumice isle in Baiae’s bay.
One thing that strikes me: could we accuse the Romantics poets of taking themselves a bit too seriously?
Oh, absolutely. And for that we have the most wonderful antidote, named Lord Byron. He called Wordsworth, ‘Turdsworth,’ and accused Keats of wanking his imagination. His funniest take-down of Romantic poetry navel-gazing is in his magnificent epic comedy, Don Juan. The young hero has the hots for a beautiful married woman but mistakes his horniness for existential confusion: “’Twas strange,” jokes Byron, “that one so young should thus concern/His brain about the action of the sky./ If you think ’twas Philosophy that this did,/I can’t help thinking puberty assisted.”
For Byron, all our precious institutions, marriage, the church, higher learning, etc. are simply screens for sexual drives or what he calls, more poetically, “the controlless core of human hearts.” So, still a Romantic in the end.
“With Chaucer and Cervantes, Byron makes the podium for greatest comic writer of all time.”
I’ve kept this list to the best shorter Romantic poems, but Don Juan deserves special mention. This raunchy, philosophical masterpiece is not taught in schools for the simple, dumb reason it’s so digressively long. They have ‘most underrated’ categories in football, don’t they? Well, Don Juan is the most underread of the great poems. With Chaucer and Cervantes, Byron makes the podium for greatest comic writer of all time. Please do your bit for civilization — and your own personal happiness index — and take Don Juan to the beach this summer. Just be prepared for some stares in your direction when you catch yourself pounding your hand on the sand with laughter.
Read 5 John Keats: The Major Works by Elizabeth Cook (Editor) Read
I love your last choice, The Eve of St. Agnes. That’s really one that for me — I read at school as a teenager — and has hovered in the back of my mind ever since.
Ah yes, Keats. The young Romantic poet upstart who, like Shelley, did not survive his twenties. It’s enough to make you weep to think that Shelley had a volume of Keats’s latest volume of poems in his shirt pocket the day he drowned off the coast of Italy, desolating Mary Shelley. Unlike the other Romantics, who were either grammar-school boys or aristocrats, Keats came essentially from nothing. At fourteen, he left school and apprenticed to an apothecary. But his mind was a sponge for poetry—Spenser and Shakespeare in particular—his ambition was relentless, and his talent simply prodigious. By twenty-four he was dying, so his poetic output is extraordinarily compressed.
“Unlike the other Romantics, who were either grammar-school boys or aristocrats, Keats came essentially from nothing.”
1819 was Keats’s annus mirabilus, in which he wrote his famous Odes: to the Grecian Urn, the Nightingale, etc. But he also wrote the sumptuous ‘Eve of St. Agnes’, which I introduce to my students as ‘the most beautiful poem in the English language.’ Even the ones sleeping off a hangover tend to perk up at that. English literature instructors rarely promise to show off the sheer beauty of the great poems anymore, which is a shame.
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Now, ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ truly is a romance, small ‘r’, with a plot closely resembling Romeo and Juliet. The St. Agnes part is crucial: harking bark to medieval times, Keats picks up on a superstition that young virgins who follow certain abstemious rituals on the eve of St. Agnes’s day will dream of their future husband. Such is the plan of our heroine, Madeline, who is in love with Porphyro, scion of a rival house. But Porhpyro’s plans are different. His heart “on fire” for Madeline, he breaks into the castle to snatch Madeline both from her family but also from the icy grip of St. Agnes’s spell.
“ I introduce this to my students as ‘the most beautiful poem in the English language.’ Even those sleeping off a hangover tend to perk up at that”
Without exactly asking, he makes love to the dreaming Madeline, who wakes to find him in her arms. She is shocked and afraid, but he reassures her, and they escape from the castle together. Now, even this brief plot summary shows how explosive this poem is in terms of today’s gender politics. Is Porphyro a date rapist, or Madeline’s true dream lover? The problem for the rape argument is that Keats believes very strongly in his hero and “the holiness of the heart’s affections” (as he once put it in a letter), and he has set the trap for the reader accordingly. To denounce Porphyro is to embrace St. Agnes and her mind-minions of chastity. And who wants that? ‘The Eve of St. Agnes’ is a very sexy poem, too hot for some to handle.
In this most erotic of Romantic poems, even a description of supper sounds like sex:
Candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd;With jellies soother than the creamy curd,And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon;Manna and dates, in argosy, transferr’dFrom Fez; and spiced dainties, every one,From silken Samarcand to cedar’d Lebanon.
What book would you recommend for readers interested in having these poems collected in a single volume?
The Dover Thrift edition of English Romantic poetry has a good selection of shorter Romantic poems, but does not include Blake’s Visions of the Daughters of Albion or, of course, Byron’s Don Juan. For these I would recommend the Oxford World’s Classics editions of these two poets, which are excellent.
Now, your recent book, Tambora: The Eruption that Changed the World. How does a volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1815 connect to the British Romantic poets?
Well, it was a dark and stormy night… when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. 1816 is the most legendary year of the Romantic poetry era. Mary and Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron, were holidaying that summer by Lake Geneva. Terrific storms and rain kept them indoors, so they entertained each other with ghost stories. The rest is history, as they say.
But I realized that no-one had properly explored why the weather was so bad that incredible year. So I set out to write a book about it. It turns out that Tambora’s eruption in the tropics affected the climate worldwide—that the experience of our young Romantic poets was part of a great global extreme weather event lasting three years. So Tambora tells the global story behind the Year Without a Summer, when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, and Percy Shelley and Byron wrote some of their greatest Romantic poetry. It’s the 200th anniversary this year. What lessons can we draw from the quintessential Romantic year of 1816? First, that climate change is very nasty; and second, wet weather can be inspiring. | {
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During an event at Arizona State University, Starbucks CEO and potential presidential candidate Howard Schultz accidentally attacked the media as fake news.
A student asked Schultz during the Thursday event "if he agrees with President Trump on the existence of a ‘fake media,'" the Phoenix New Times reports.
"When I hear the president say that the media is the enemy of the state, I could not agree with that more," Schultz responded.
A few minutes later, ASU president and moderator Michael Crow asked Schultz whether he had misspoke. "No, no no! I didn't mean to say that," Schultz confirmed. "Did I say that?"
After the event ended, Schultz repeated to a group of reporters, "Of course the press is not the enemy of the state. So, I hope you all get that."
It was not the only time Schultz seemed to backpedal, according to the New Times. After responding to a question about raising taxes on billionaires by saying "everything has to be on the table," he then cautioned that "I'm only four, five days into this. I haven't decided whether I'm gonna run for president or not. There'll be plenty of time for the American people to hear specifics about my policies."
The flub came the same day that Schultz deleted a tweet praising a PJMedia post endorsing the notion that the center-left independent could win the presidency. Liberal critics noted the Roger Simon blog post referred to Sens. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D., N.Y.), both Democratic candidates, as "shrill" and "Fauxcahontas." | {
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Wednesday night’s presidential debate came and went ― again ― with no mention of climate change. That makes three chances for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to talk about the issue, and three missed opportunities where they didn’t.
Moderators made time for questions about what the candidates admire about one another and the sexual trespasses of Bill Clinton (who is not running for office). But there somehow hasn’t been any time to ask about what is arguably the most pressing global issue currently facing humanity.
Climate change has come up, but only when Clinton brought it up. She mentioned the problem in the first debate last month, calling out Trump for dismissing it as a Chinese hoax. Trump denied his denial, even though he’s got a traceable Internet trail.
Clinton made passing reference to the issue again on Wednesday, in her pledge to support clean energy development. She said it would help address the “serious problem” of climate change while creating new business opportunities.
Ken Bone, the internet’s favorite cartoon incarnate, got the closest to asking a climate question, though he didn’t mention the words. He asked the candidates about their energy polices and what they would do to meet energy needs, be environmentally friendly and minimize job loss.
Wednesday’s debate moderator, Fox News’ Chris Wallace, did not bring climate change up at all (despite the promise that the candidates would discuss “foreign hot spots”). This is perhaps surprising to no one, given Fox’s enthusiasm for the subject.
Still, it’s shocking that the country has made it through three presidential debates, and one vice presidential one, without really hearing about the issue.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S. | {
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Binge drinking is on the increase in all age groups from teens to senior citizens. The dangers of binge drinking in teens and adults are many and can even be deadly.
What is Binge Drinking?
Binge drinking used to mean drinking for several days in a row, going on a binge or a bender. The current definition of binge drinking has changed to drinking heavily in a short amount of time for the sole purpose to get drunk. Binge drinking is now defined as, drinking five or more drinks in a row for a male and four or more drinks in a row for a female.
I think the term binge drinking applies to both drinking heavily in a short amount of time and drinking for many days in a row. No matter what the actual definition is, both are binge drinking and both are dangerous.
The Dangers of Binge Drinking Include:
Alcohol poisoning
Blacking out all memory for hours
Death from vomiting
Coma
Seizures
Fainting
High blood pressure
Driving drunk and arrest for DUI
Stroke
Illegal actions, assaults and to say the least, embarrassing incidents
People might laugh at the actions of someone who is drunk, but after continuous drinking, that person’s life could be in danger and that is no laughing matter.
Many times, alcohol is involved in the leading causes of death of teens; car accidents, suicide and murder. Of the teens involved in deadly car accidents, 31% had been drinking.
Continual binge drinking can also cause long term health damage including:
Ulcers
Liver disease
Bladder damage
Nerve damage
Long term memory loss and neurological damage
Who is Binge Drinking and Why
Binge drinking usually doesn’t start out as a drinking binge. It might start out as a few beers, and when the beers don’t seem to be enough, a person could move on to hard liquor. There are drinking games that teen’s feel they have to be involved in to stay a part of their group.
Teens will drink because of peer pressure or believe that alcohol will reduce stress and anxiety. Except in the long run, alcohol increases anxiety and stress.
Adults and senior citizens might be binge drinking because of concerns of finance, loss of spouse and fear of being alone or worries about an illness.
Companies have made liquor seem less like liquor and the advertising is aimed at young adults and it often does seem that these ads are aimed at freshman in college or even younger.
Caffeine-Alcohol Drinks and Binge Drinking
There are new drinks that contain both alcohol and caffeine and by drinking these alcoholic beverages, a person might falsely believe that they will not get as drunk because of the added caffeine. The caffeine is masking the intoxicating effects for the drinker while their blood alcohol levels are rising, in spite of the added caffeine.
As of this writing, there is a commercial drink with the brand name of Four Loko, a fruit flavored malt drink with 12% alcohol and a caffeine equivalent of one cup of coffee. This drink has been associated with binge drinking at several colleges where students ended up in the emergency room with high levels of alcohol poisoning. 12% is about three times more alcohol than a normal can of beer. Four Loko has been banned in several states [1].
Alcohol Poisoning
Alcohol poisoning is one of the biggest risks of binge drinking and it happens all too often. Alcohol poisoning happens when a person drinks too much alcohol and their body’s involuntary functions can start to shut down. Involuntary functions include breathing, the heart beating and what is called the gag reflex. This is how someone can die on their own vomit while passed out.
Alcohol poisoning occurs when the body cannot eliminate the alcohol from the body fast enough. The blood alcohol concentration in the body becomes too high and poisoning occurs. Alcohol poisoning can result in death. For more about alcohol poisoning please read All About Alcohol Poisoning
Impaired Brain Functioning
Binge drinking and alcohol in general can cause disruptions in sleep patterns which affect memory and learning centers of the brain. Students who regularly drink or binge drink are more likely to drop out of school.
Binge drinking can affect moods including increased anger, extreme sadness and depression which can last long after the alcohol has worn off.
Binge Drinking and High Blood Pressure
People with high blood pressure or hypertension are more at risk of having a stroke or heart attack when binge drinking. The study found men with high blood pressure were four times more at risk for a heart attack or stroke if they had six or more drinks on one occasion and twelve times more at risk when the binge drinking was 12 or more drinks on one occasion [2].
Binge Drinking and Injury or Death from Accidents
Binge drinking is responsible for injury and deaths by accidents including falling, bleeding to death and frostbite. A study in Australia found that people who drink alcohol are four times more likely to be injured by accidents.
I remember reading about a man binge drinking and falling through his front plate glass window one night. He passed out and bled to death. Every winter you read stories about someone binge drinking, walking outside only to be found frozen to death the next day.
Impaired judgment, Criminal Actions and Embarrassing Incidents
Binge drinking can take someone from being sober to dangerously drunk in a short amount of time. Impaired judgment can cause even the simplest task like walking to be dangerous. 31% of the pedestrians killed by cars were drunk.
Binge drinking can also lead to fights resulting in murder, sexual assaults, drunk driving arrest (DUI) and or death and unplanned pregnancies.
Impaired judgment can lead to embarrassing incidents, too many to list here.
When it’s Time to call an Ambulance
Another danger with underage binge drinking is when someone does exhibit signs of alcohol poisoning, teens are afraid to call for an ambulance, since they realize they are all breaking the law with underage drinking which might prevent them from calling for help.
Paramedics (911) should be called when any one of these symptoms occurs:
The person has passed out and cannot be woken
Cold, clammy, pale or bluish skin
Slow breathing, fewer than 8 breaths per minute
Erratic breathing, 10 seconds or more between breaths
Vomiting
Low body temperature
Seizures
Confusion, stupor or coma
Trouble breathing after vomiting
Conclusion on Binge Drinking
Teens and adults might read this and say these things won’t happen to me when I drink. Remember, these statistics are full of people who said these things would never happen to them when they end up binge drinking.
Binge drinking causes a person to get drunk fast, which causes the loss of good judgment fast. The do not realize how drunk they are getting when binge drinking. They might throw up and continue drinking getting so drunk they actually think they are sober until it could be too late.
© November 2, 2010 Sam Montana
Resources
[1] NewsOK.com
[2] American Heart Association
College Drinking Prevention | {
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#21 July 2018 : If crypto markets enter a new cycle then there will be a rush to open accounts at the popular exchanges. You can open accounts with these links and in most cases benefit from reduced fees: Binance, Bitmex.
The Tether Problem
A simple Sheet with Traffic Lights indicating the current status of the Tether problem as perceived by the market.
Green means relax. Amber means prepare to exit all of the crypto markets. Red means we’re all screwed.
The Supply of Tethers at 27 November 2017 is $675 million. There are three questions.
A. Are these Tethers fully backed? i.e. Does Tether possess $675 m. of reserves?
B. If so, from where did they get these reserves? Because they sure as hell did not receive them from retail clients in payment for Tethers. Have the exchanges paid 675 m. actual dollars for 675 m. Tethers? If so they are horribly exposed to brutal losses.
C. If Tethers are not fully backed, what happens when the market discovers this and Tethers collapse?
TL DR
Confidence in Tether is as fragile as the plates in the picture. The cupboard door might open any moment, or stay closed for a long time. When the market loses faith, Tethers will gradually lose a bit of value and then suddenly become worthless. (Hemingway: “How did you go bankrupt?” Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”) The USDTUSD exchange rate at Kraken will collapse, meaning a single Tether will buy just a few cents. (Kraken is the only exchange to offer a market for this pair.) The phony USDT price of Bitcoin (and alts) at Exchanges using Tether will explode to ridiculously high prices. Noobs will think they are millionaires until they learn they are rich in Tethers but poor in dollars. The genuine USD price of Bitcoin (and alts) at exchanges that have not integrated Tether will fall as experienced investors flee crypto into USD. There will be a flight of Bitcoin from Tether-integrated exchanges to non-Tether exchanges with fiat off-ramps. Exchanges running fractional reserves will be exposed. The Exchanges might slam the doors shut on Withdrawals. The Exchanges own large balances of Tether (those figures include Tethers owned by their clients), especially Bittrex, Poloniex and Bitfinex, and they might become insolvent and many clients will suffer losses. The Bitcoin market will take a massive hit. But this process will be a lancing of the boil and Bitcoin will emerge, eventually, cauterised and stronger. Select and test your fiat off-ramp for getting fiat out of the system now, don’t wait for the crisis. Kraken is recommended for withdrawal of Euros which usually arrive in 24 hours. How to trade this: Watch the Tether price at Kraken. Watch the Bitfinex Cold Wallet balance and flows. Watch for an emerging premium in the Bitcoin price at Tether exchanges. Watch the Bitfinex USD lending rate (is it spiking to disincentivise withdrawals?). When these indicators show the first traces of shit hitting the fan: Move BTC and Alts out of Tether exchanges if you have crypto there. Sell everything for USD. Move the fiat to your bank. Short Tether at Kraken.
Tether Exchanges refers to Bitfinex, Bittrex, Poloniex, Binance.
Non-Tether Exchanges refers to Kraken, GDAX, Gemini, Bitstamp, CEX. (Kraken trades Tether but crucially all assets are traded vs. fiat and clients can hold USD and EUR balances.)
Tether Will Fail
Almost every statement on the Tether website is false. The stated modus operandi is to create a Tether for every dollar deposited with them. At the time of writing (27 November 2017) there are 678 million Tethers circulating supply, so to be fully-backed Tether the company must possess $678 m. of reserves in its bank accounts. If it has less than that balance then it is running a fractional-reserve scheme. The moment the market concludes collectively that that is the case the value of Tethers will fall hastily.
A. Are these Tethers fully backed? i.e. Does Tether possess $675 m. of reserves?
B. If so, from where did they get these reserves?
It has been impossible for retail clients to deposit USD at Tether since 7 April 2017.
(In that Reddit thread User AtlasRand1 is Bitfinexed. User MrChrisJ is a Bitfinex guy.)
It is still impossible, on 23 November 2017, for retail clients to deposit USD to the Tether client bank account and buy Tethers and cause the issuance of Tethers because Tether refuse to reveal their USD bank account details. This is stated in their announcement on that date. | {
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John Erardi
[email protected]
Billy Hamilton ran a long way for that bases-loaded "dying quail" (might as well use the old-school term, considering what's to come) on Wednesday in San Diego.
It was difficult to tell on TV how far "in" he had been playing at the time, but it looked like he ran a lot farther to his left than he did "in" to try to get to that ball in shallow right-center.
Before the Reds departed for the long road trip to the West Coast by way of Chicago, Hamilton told me that the Reds pitchers, particularly the starters, like him playing shallow.
Mike Leake reiterated that after his gutty performance over Toronto two Saturdays ago .
"If there's a ball hit over his head (especially at Great American Ball Park), it's either off the wall or over the fence," Leake said. "When you have that speed, you can cheat a little bit. He's good at going back on balls."
Over the years, the same has been true with all the great center fielders, from Willie Mays to Jim Edmonds and Andruw Jones and the Reds' Eric Davis.
But it goes back even farther than that.
I related an anecdote to Hamilton that dates back to 1937.
New York Yankees pitching great Lefty Gomez was talking to rookie center fielder Joe DiMaggio one day after a game the Yankees had lost on a deep drive that one-hopped the center field wall at Yankee Stadium.
Gomez: "How come you were playing so shallow on that one, Joe?"
DiMaggio: "I'm gonna make 'em forget Tris Speaker."
Gomez: "You keep playing there, you're gonna make 'em forget Lefty Gomez."
News flash to Lefty: They've already forgotten you -- or at least Hamilton has; he didn't seem to recognize the name, and I'm not sure he even recognized the name of DiMaggio, either -- but he laughed at the story, because he got the point.
Almost four score years later, the Gomez-DiMaggio story still resonates.
Hamilton has gone to most of the Reds pitchers and told them that he'd like to play shallow.
"They've all said, 'Do it,'" recalled Hamilton. "Cueto and Homer (Bailey) have told me point blank, 'If they hit it over your head, it's my fault.' That gives me the confidence to play shallow. The pitchers hate the cheapies. They'd rather give up something hit hard than a broken-bat blooper."
If the Major League Baseball All-Star Game really was -- at its heart -- a battleground to determine which league will get home-field advantage in the World Series, Hamilton would be on the National League team, because he's a potential difference-maker late the game coming off the bench to run the bases or play center field.
Of course, home-field in the World Series really isn't what the All-Star Game is all about. That it partly sells itself as such is going to go down in history as one of the goofier things Commissioner Bud Selig has done on a long list of mostly good things.
But for all of the misplaced emphasis, baseball still has the best All-Star Game of all the major sports. And, as good a year as Todd Frazier and Hamilton are having (I believe Hamilton will end up National League Rookie of the Year, especially if he has as good a second half as he did first half), I'd rather see them make the All-Star Game next year, because next year the All-Star Game is in Cincinnati.
Still, Frazier deserves it this year, and it will be shame if the fallacy of the fan voting winds up keeping him out.
Meanwhile, the Mississippi Kid reminds me of DiMaggio in another way besides playing shallow.
Hamilton so rarely has to dive for a ball, that when he does, you know he's run a country mile to get there. He has his pitchers thinking ''can of corn'' even when the batters hit a bolt into the gap. Anything less than a laser, Hamilton is going to get there.
Another true story…
This from a longtime visitor to Yankee Stadium, circa 1950: ''DiMaggio isn't that great of a center fielder. I been coming here for 14 years and he ain't had a tough chance yet.''
So it is with Hamilton. He makes the difficult look easy, and the next-to-impossible look expected.
But as we were reminded Wednesday, even Hamilton with his speed and instincts can't always get to everything. He has the occasional tough chance.
By his incredibly high standards, he should have had that dying quail last Wednesday -- and he knows it. The ground didn't dislodge that ball from his glove; the ball hit the heel of his glove and was gone before his arm ever hit the ground.
The most interesting thing about that play is that we all thought he could and should have had it – even though for the past 12-14 years, various Reds pedestrian center fielders would have gathered that ball up on the second hop and nobody would have thought twice about it.
"I don't take my at-bats out to the outfield," Hamilton explained. "That's why I'm so aggressive out there. I know the other team is trying to keep me off the bases -- trying to keep me from getting my hits -- so why shouldn't do everything I can to keep their guys off the bases? You get me out, I'm going to do everything I can to get you out."
Hamilton said that being able to contribute so much defensively has calmed him down at the plate a little bit, because he's able to help the pitchers even on days when might not get a hit.
"Me and Hatch (outfield coach Billy Hatcher) talk about it all the time," Hamilton said. "A good defensive center field can play the game a long time. I figure if I can keep improving my defense, good things are going to happen."
Besides, trying to pin the blame for Wednesday's loss in San Diego on Hamilton would be wrongheaded, anyway. The Reds offense was held scoreless for the second time in three days. It wouldn't have mattered who had been pitching for the Reds -- Koufax, Johnson (either of them) or Mathewson. They'd have gone 0-3 with that lack of run support.
OK, I told Hamilton, how about we bring the historical comparisons a little more up-to-date? I told him the Reds center fielder he reminds me of most is Eric Davis.
Hamilton's eyes lit up.
Now there was a "comp" to which he could relate. Davis has been one of Hamilton's mentors. Davis was signed as a shortstop also, but the Reds quickly moved him to center field because of his speed.
And, yet, Davis – just like Hamilton does today -- played center field like a shortstop. Why? Because of his arm and instinct.
I mentioned to Hamilton the play Davis made in Pittsburgh in the 1990 National League Championship Series, when he came out of nowhere (he was playing left field that day), and backed up center fielder Billy Hatcher on a blast to center, taking the carom off the wall like a shortstop and gunning out the runner at third.
"Eric is one of the main guys who has helped me," said Hamilton, smiling. "Soon as they told me they wanted to switch me to center field, I went straight to E.D. He's made it a lot easier for me than I thought it was going to be."
Hamilton admits he didn't like at first being told he was being switched to center.
"I'd been playing shortstop my whole life," he said. "But when they said, 'It will help you get to the big leagues quicker,' I thought, 'OK, that's what I'm here for.' And now I like it.
"It feels good out there. Got a lot of space. But I'll admit it: I miss shortstop every now and then. Who knows, I might get a shot at shortstop in the late innings someday."
If it happens, just hope the hitter doesn't hit a dying quail to right-center. Only one Red has a chance to make the play, and his name is Billy Hamilton. | {
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成年向け漫画家のクジラックスさんが6月15日、公式Twitterに「警察の圧力に屈したわけではない」という趣旨の投稿をした。クジラックスさんと見られる漫画家が、埼玉県警の要請を受けて「少女が性的被害に遭うような漫画は今後描かない」と述べたという毎日新聞の報道を受けて、釈明した格好だ。
■同人誌を模倣して犯行に及んだと供述
埼玉県警によると、強制わいせつと住居侵入の疑いで6月12日、草加市内の無職の男（35）が再逮捕された。男は2016年1月8日、草加市内の民家に「世の中の放射能を調べる調査をしたいから入っていいですか」などと言って侵入。10代女性に対し「身体検査をするね」「死にたくなければ声を出さないで」などと脅して身体を触った疑いがもたれている。
捜査関係者の情報として埼玉新聞が報じたところによると、男は「性的欲求を満たしたかった」などと容疑を認めており、東京都内の男性漫画家が描いた成年向け同人誌を模倣して犯行に及んだという。
毎日新聞は6月14日、埼玉県警がこの作品を描いた漫画家を訪ねて、作品内容が模倣されないような配慮と、作中の行為が犯罪に当たると注意喚起を促すことなどを要請。漫画家は「少女が性的被害に遭うような漫画は今後描かない」と了承したと報じた。これに対して「表現の自由を制限するものでは？」と警戒する声が上がっていた。
■「こんな事件2度と起こらなければいいのに、という気持ちは同じ」
各社の報道では、漫画家の名前は出ていなかったが、該当する同人誌は、クジラックスさんが2013年に発行した成年向け同人誌「がいがぁかうんたぁ」ではないかと推測する声が出ていた。「がいがぁかうんたぁ」は留守番をしていた女子小学生の元に訪ねてきた男が、「放射能レベルの一斉検査」をするという名目で家に上がり込み、少女を鈍器で殴った上、カッターで脅してわいせつな行為をするというものだった。
クジラックスさんは埼玉県警の訪問を受けたことと、「がいがぁかうんたぁ」を模倣したと容疑者が供述していることを明かした上で、15日に以下のような一連のツイートをした。「表現の自由が脅かされた」とか「警察の圧力に屈した」ということではなく、容疑者の供述を受けて類似の作品を「描く気にならないと思う」と述べたと説明した。
その上で、警察も自分も「『こんな事件2度と起こらなければいいのに』という気持ちは同じ」と述べた。
■クジラックスさんの一連のツイート | {
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¡DEVASTADOR! Pradavinci: Consecuencias de las medidas económicas cubanas anunciadas por Maduro
El 7 de septiembre, luego de un mes de haberse instalado la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente (ANC), el Presidente Maduro acudió al Palacio Legislativo para anunciar al país diversas medidas económicas y presentar un conjunto de ocho proyectos de Ley, que espera sean aprobados por la ANC.
Por Anabella Abadi y Carlos García Soto / Pradavinci
Proyectos de Ley no plantean soluciones
En líneas generales, las medidas anunciadas no lograrán resolver o atenuar la crisis económica. Por el contrario, reconocen la profundidad de la crisis y la agravará.
Se profundizará la pérdida del poder de compra del bolívar. En vez de atender el problema de inflación desmedida que atraviesa el país, el Ejecutivo Nacional decide seguir impulsando un conjunto de medidas que han resultado completamente ineficaces para proteger la capacidad de compra del bolívar: aumentos salariales, aumento de asignaciones directas y controles de precios.
Por décimo séptima vez en su gestión, Maduro aprueba un aumento de salario mínimo, acumulando un aumento de más de 6.500% desde que asumió la presidencia en abril de 2013. El bono de alimentación ‒conocido como Cestaticket‒ acumula un aumento de casi 16.000%.
Maduro también anunció un aumento de 40% de la Tarjeta hogares de la Patria y un nuevo bono de Bs. 250.000 que 3 millones de familias podrán usar para la compra de útiles escolares.
Todo esto impulsará aún más el crecimiento de la liquidez monetaria, lo que en el actual contexto recesivo se traducirá en una mayor inflación, pues habrá cada vez más bolívares persiguiendo menos bienes y servicios.
Por su parte, aunque Maduro reconoce que “los sistemas de control de precios que hemos usado en el pasado se han agotado, no son efectivos, no son eficientes, no han sido eficaces”, propone la Ley de Abastecimiento Soberano y Precios Acordados, que pretende crear “un nuevo sistema de fijación de los precios máximos de venta al público”.
No podemos sino inferir que el objetivo de la “nueva” Ley es seguir promoviendo el control del Ejecutivo sobre la economía y no será más que la continuación de un fallido sistema de fijación de precios que en Venezuela cumple 78 años el 9 de septiembre de 2017.
No se atenderá el problema de escasez de billetes. La llegada de billetes de mayor denominación al país resultó insuficiente para atender la creciente pérdida del poder de compra del bolívar. Los billetes, que se supone deberían facilitar las transacciones, son cada vez más escasos y los sistemas electrónicos de pago no logran responder de manera eficaz su creciente demanda.
Para atender el problema, Maduro anunció que todos los servicios públicos serán pagados por medios electrónicos. Además, a partir del 11 de septiembre estará vigente nuevamente la reducción del IVA ‒en hasta cinco puntos‒ a las transacciones que se realicen mediante pagos electrónicos. También se aplicará una rebaja del ISLR a aquellas transacciones que se realicen por medios electrónicos.
Las medidas buscan incentivar el uso de medios electrónicos de pago, cuando en realidad el problema es la baja calidad de los mismos. La falta de divisas para la compra y mantenimiento de cajeros automáticos y puntos de venta, así como la mala calidad de los servicios de Internet y las fallas del servicio eléctrico, hace que el uso de medios electrónicos sea más una complicación que una solución ante el problema de escasez de billetes.
No se plantea una solución efectiva para la escasez de dólares. Sabiendo que los precios de la cesta venezolana no se han recuperado a los niveles deseados de entre US$ 70 y 100, y que la producción del crudo sigue cayendo, el ingreso de dólares al país sigue mermando. No sorprende pues que las reservas internacionales se ubiquen en niveles cercanos a los de 1995.
La inversión extranjera directa permitiría generar una entrada alternativa de divisas y de ahí la propuesta de una Ley para la Promoción y Protección de la Inversión Extranjera en Venezuela. Vale recordar que en 2014, en el marco de la Ley Habilitante, el Presidente aprobó una Ley de Inversiones Extranjeras para supuestamente impulsar la entrada de nuevos capitales, pero la norma se tradujo en mayores controles, restricciones y desincentivos para los actuales y potenciales inversionistas.
Ante una marcada escasez de dólares y usando las sanciones económicas impuestas por Estados Unidos como excusa, Maduro anunció la implementación de una canasta de monedas para la ejecución de transacciones internacionales en monedas como la rupia, el rublo, el yuan y el euro, para así evitar la realización de transacciones con el dólar. Un día después, el vicepresidente Tareck El Aissami agregó: “no vamos a subastar más en dólares, ya se acabó la subasta en dólares”.
Maduro incluso convocó una serie de reuniones con los tenedores de bonos por las próximas dos semanas.
Todo parece reflejar que el Gobierno central no tiene expectativas, al menos en el corto plazo, de lograr aumentar la entrada de dólares al país. Esto, por supuesto, genera particular preocupación entre los tenedores de deuda soberana y de Pdvsa, y los productores nacionales y sus proveedores internacionales a quienes se les adeudan miles de millones.
La ANC ante los anuncios económicos
El Ejecutivo Nacional presentó a la ANC un conjunto de ocho proyectos de leyes económicas. Sin embargo, no corresponde a la ANC legislar en materia económica. Por el contrario, tal competencia corresponde a la Asamblea Nacional, conforme a la Constitución vigente.
Es preciso recordar una y otra vez que si bien la ANC fue convocada y electa al margen de la Constitución, aun si hubiera sido convocada conforme a la Constitución de 1999, su única misión es la de redactar una nueva Carta Magna. Por ello, toda “legislación” que dicte la ANC debe ser considerada como un acto dictado por un órgano que ha sido convocado y nombrado en contra de lo dispuesto en la Constitución venezolana vigente. Toda decisión que dicte la ANC tendrá un problema de legitimidad fundamental.
Lo que parece se pretende desde el Ejecutivo es que con la “aprobación” de esas leyes en materia económica las autoridades estatales comiencen a aplicar sus contenidos. Y por esa vía “legitimar” políticamente a la ANC. En ese sentido, igualmente, el Ejecutivo Nacional intenta apalancar el costo de tales medidas en la propia ANC.
Vale decir, el conjunto de medidas anunciadas distan mucho de los llamados al diálogo realizados a través del Decreto Constituyente mediante el cual se instaura un gran diálogo Nacional Constituyente para el perfeccionamiento del modelo de economía productiva y diversificada que requiere la República Bolivariana de Venezuela (Gaceta Oficial Nº 41.226 del 31 de agosto de 2017).
Por otra parte, la ANC usurparía la función legislativa de la Asamblea Nacional si pretendiera dictar unas leyes que, conforme a la Constitución de 1999, sólo la Asamblea Nacional puede dictar.
Un balance general
Las medidas económicas y los ocho proyectos de Ley presentados por el Ejecutivo a la ANC parten de un mismo supuesto: la creencia de que a través de más controles se superará la crisis económica. Por el contrario, la valoración que cabe hacer de lo señalado por el Ejecutivo acerca de esos ocho proyectos es que agravarán la crisis venezolana, al restringir, criminalizar y hacer más onerosa la actividad económica.
A su vez, el conjunto de anuncios deben ser valorados no sólo desde la perspectiva económica o jurídica. Los anuncios vienen a ser una respuesta a la crisis política que atraviesa al país, y constituyen, además, un instrumento más para el control político de los ciudadanos, precisamente a través de un control aún más arbitrario de la economía.
De hecho, en la misma alocución en la cual fueron realizados los anuncios, el Presidente llegaría a afirmar que “lo quiero hacer por las buenas, pero si tengo que hacerlo por las malas y convertirme en un dictador para garantizarle los precios al pueblo, lo voy a hacer por las malas”.
La aplicación de estas medidas no ofrecerán los mismos pésimos resultados de las casi dos décadas de políticas económicas fallidas. En realidad, ofrecerán peores resultados.
*******************************
Anabella Abadi y Carlos García Soto Anabella Abadi M. Economista egresada de la UCAB y Especialista en Gobierno y Gestión Pública Territoriales (PUJ, 2011). Profesora en la UCAB, y Analista de la Unidad de Investigación y Análisis de ODH Grupo Consultor. /// Carlos García Soto es abogado de la Universidad Monteávila, Doctor en Derecho de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid y Profesor de la Universidad Monteávila. Puede seguir en twitter a través de @cgarciasoto.
¡COMPARTE EN TUS REDES SOCIALES! | {
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More from Scott Clark and Peter DeVries available More fromavailable here
Whatever else Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s budget managed to accomplish, it did manage to set the pool rules for party platforms going into the coming election. The theme is taxes; the platforms all seem to offer variations on the theme.
And so we have the Liberals competing with the Conservatives’ ‘family tax package’ with a broad-based income tax cut of their own; the policy is the same, only the targets have changed. Justin Trudeau wants to jack up taxes on the ‘one per cent’, while Tom Mulcair sees an opening to raise corporate taxes to finance his own platform. All three parties are vowing balanced budgets — the Conservatives’ balance is based on some rather sunny forecasts for the price of oil in the coming years, but that’s another issue.
Nowhere in the noise about tax policy will you hear anyone talking about a program for growing the economy and adding jobs — things which the polling tells us are far more important to the average Canadian than who gets taxed how much. We don’t have a tax problem, or a deficit problem — we have a growth problem. What do the parties propose to do about it?
We already know the Conservatives’ strategy, such as it is: Eliminate the deficit and pray the private sector will step in to drive growth; hope that oil prices rise and remain high; and hope that the U.S. forgets this austerity nonsense and primes the pump. So far, only the third factor seems to be working in Canada’s favour. In his budget, Mr. Oliver allocated only about $9 billion for jobs and growth over the next five years. Most of this money won’t appear before 2019-20 — if ever.
The Liberals say they plan to announce a jobs and growth strategy built around new investment in education and research and initiatives to modernize Canada’s social and physical infrastructure. Good idea. But given their commitment to a balanced budget in the short term, how do they plan to pay for it?
They have three options: reallocations from other spending programs or tax revenues; raising taxes; or introducing new innovative financing mechanisms.
Reallocation is probably a non-starter. The government has been to that well once too often. Since 2010, departmental budgets have been subject to ongoing restraint. The Department of Finance reports direct program expenses have dropped by about $14.5 billion per year since the 2010 budget — a reduction of about 11 per cent, most of it achieved through freezes on operating budgets and cuts to defence and international assistance.
Broadly-based tax hikes are, politically, the kiss of death right now. A more promising option would be to clean up the tax code. The current corporate and personal income tax systems are far too complex, unfair and burdensome. The code is shot through with tax expenditures designed to woo voting blocs — a very bad way of running a tax system. The last auditor general’s report said the Finance Department has no idea whether these tax credits are doing what they’re supposed to do, or how much they cost. They’re distorting economic decisions, misallocating resources and reducing market efficiency and productivity.
A root-and-branch review of the code could save Ottawa billions of dollars a year — money that could be spent on infrastructure and broad-based tax cuts, both of which would boost employment and growth. The proposal by Rachel Notley, Alberta’s new premier, to review the province’s energy royalty regime is a step in the right direction.
And there are innovative funding mechanisms available to support infrastructure spending while maintaining the bottom line. Spending on current goods and services should be paid for by the generation consuming them. Infrastructure spending is different; money spent on infrastructure benefits future generations as well. So it’s fair to expect those future generations to pay for it.
The best thing the federal government could do to support the restoration of Canada’s infrastructure is to provide the provinces with something it can access in vast amounts: cheap debt. The best thing the federal government could do to support the restoration of Canada’s infrastructure is to provide the provinces with something it can access in vast amounts: cheap debt.
Budgets tend to reflect this fact by amortizing the cost of infrastructure work over its service life, rather than solely in the year it’s done. A $50 million bridge, with an economic life of 50 years, would have an impact of $1 million per year for the next 50 years on the budgetary balance, along with the annual borrowing costs.
Alberta and British Columbia have recognized this separation between operating and capital spending by splitting their budgets into two parts: a current goods and services budget and a capital budget. Some countries have also adopted a budgetary “golden rule” — long term borrowing allowed for capital spending, while spending on current goods and services must be balanced over the economic cycle.
It’s a good rule — as long as governments play by it. The risk here is that governments could abuse the capital spending portion of the budget while keeping the operating side ‘balanced’ — so it would be important to establish additional controls on capital spending to keep politicians from playing games with the math.
Part of the problem with pursuing a national infrastructure policy is that the federal government tends to be a bystander. Over 95 per cent of Canada’s infrastructure is controlled by the provinces, territories and municipalities. The federal government already allocates significant amounts of funding through its New Building Canada Plan — a $53 billion plan spread over ten years. These amounts directly affect the federal government’s budgetary balance, as it has no ongoing liability with respect to any of the projects financed through this plan.
In Mr. Oliver’s recent budget, the government announced that it would explore providing a predictable stream of payments for infrastructure projects over a 20 to 30 year period — the useful life of most projects — rather than up-front lump sums. This would minimize the impact on Ottawa’s budgetary balance in any one year.
It’s hard to say how well this would work; it’s clear that it won’t be enough. In fact, the best thing the federal government could do to support the restoration of Canada’s infrastructure is to provide the provinces with something it can access in vast amounts: cheap debt.
The federal government has a low and declining debt burden and sustainable fiscal structure; most of the provinces and territories don’t. So the federal government can borrow at a much lower rate than the provinces. So here’s an idea:
Set up a federal Crown corporation, modelled along the lines of the Export Development Corporation, to manage infrastructure borrowing. The federal government would borrow on behalf of this Crown Corporation by issuing long-term debt (30 years). Right now, the federal 30-year bond is yielding around 2 to 2.3 per cent — at least a point cheaper than the price Ontario and Quebec would have to pay.
So provinces could borrow from this new Crown corporation for specific infrastructure projects at rates below what they’d pay on their own. As long as the Crown corporation recoups its borrowing and administrative costs, there would be no incremental impact on the federal government’s budgetary balance.
Under this plan, the difference between the rate Ottawa borrows at and the rate the provinces have to pay would amount to a federal government subsidy of provincial government infrastructure projects. Ottawa could even increase the subsidy by lending money to the provinces at a rate lower than the federal government pays to borrow; that would affect the federal budget balance, but not by much.
The best thing about this plan is that it’s easy. It funnels something Ottawa has in abundance — access to cheap debt — to the governments that need it, turning it into something the entire national economy badly needs: renewed infrastructure and the economic and employment benefits that come with it.
It doesn’t depend on optimistic predictions of commodity prices that soar or sink week by week. It doesn’t depend on forecasts of revenue or surpluses five or ten years into the future. It’s based on a number we already know: the cost of borrowing.
And it could be put in place tomorrow. It’s not as sexy as tax cuts. But if the next federal government really wants to boost growth and put more Canadians to work, this is one way to do it.
Scott Clark is president of C.S. Clark Consulting. Together with Peter DeVries he writes the public policy blog 3DPolicy. Prior to that he held a number of senior positions in the Canadian government dealing with both domestic and international policy issues, including deputy minister of finance and senior adviser to the prime minister. He has an honours BA in economics and mathematics from Queen’s University and a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Peter DeVries is a consultant in fiscal policy and public management issues, primarily on an international basis. From 1984 to 2005, he held a number of senior positions in the Department of Finance, including director of the Fiscal Policy Division, responsible for overall preparation of the federal budget. Mr. DeVries holds an MA in economics from McMaster University.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics. | {
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Police could not be reached immediately for confirmation. (Representational)
At least two people were shot dead on a street in the German city of Halle on Wednesday, police said, with media and witnesses reporting that a synagogue and a Turkish restaurant were the targets.
"Early indications show that two people were killed in Halle. Several shots were fired," said police on Twitter, urging residents in the area to stay indoors.
Police had earlier said the "perpetrators fled in a car" before saying later that one suspect had been caught.
It was not immediately clear whether there were other assailants.
The central train station has been closed while the area is under lockdown, rail company Deutsche Bahn said.
According to Bild daily, the shooting took place in front of a synagogue in the Paulus district, and a hand grenade was also flung into a Jewish cemetery. Police could not be reached immediately for confirmation.
Jews around the world were marking Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, on Wednesday.
An eyewitness, Konrad Roesler, told news channel NTV he was in a Turkish restaurant about 600 metres (yards) away from the synagogue when "a man wearing a helmet and military uniform" flung a hand grenade at the store.
"The grenade hit the door and exploded," he said.
"(The attacker) shot at least once in the shop, the man behind me must be dead. I hid in the toilet and locked the door."
Speaking to NTV, a police spokesman said the motive of the suspect or suspects was not clear.
"We don't have any indication about the motive of this act."
'Big threat'
Wednesday's shootings came three months after the shocking assassination-style murder of local pro-migrant politician Walter Luebcke in the western city of Kassel, allegedly by a known neo-Nazi.
Luebcke's killing has deeply shaken Germany, raising questions about whether it has failed to take seriously a rising threat from right-wing extremists.
Investigators have been probing the extent of suspect Stephan Ernst's neo-Nazi ties and whether he had links to the far-right militant cell National Socialist Underground (NSU).
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer last month warned of the rising danger of the militant far right, calling it "as big a threat as radical Islamism".
Seehofer said that police had uncovered 1,091 weapons including firearms and explosives during probes of crimes linked to the far right last year, far more than in 2017 when 676 were found.
At the same time, Germany has also been on high alert following several jihadist attacks in recent years claimed by the Islamic State group. | {
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Late in the evening on Jan. 27, 2004, four teenagers broke into an elderly neighbor’s house in the Southern California town of Perris, looking for cash.
One of them, Shawn Khalifa, guarded the back door. Shawn, who had just turned 15, slipped into the kitchen and stole some chocolate candies. He briefly saw that the homeowner was seriously hurt, and he ran back outside.
This story was published in partnership with The New York Times
No one accused Shawn of laying a hand on the victim, Hubert Love, 77, but a jury convicted the teenager of first-degree murder.
Khalifa, now 29 and serving a sentence of 25 years to life, is one of hundreds of people convicted in California under a legal doctrine known as the felony murder rule, which holds that anyone involved in certain kinds of serious felonies that result in death is as liable as the actual killer.
“I knew I didn’t kill anyone,” Khalifa said. “I felt and kind of knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison. It didn’t seem like there was any room to be a human being again. My life was over.”
But the hard doctrine that sent Khalifa to prison may be softening. A bill moving through the California legislature would change state law so that only someone who actually killed, intended to kill or acted as a major player with “reckless indifference to human life” could face murder charges.
The measure, already approved by the California Senate, cleared another important hurdle Tuesday when it won the blessing of the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, despite strong opposition from law enforcement groups.
If the bill passes the State Assembly, California will join a growing number of states in abolishing or severely restricting felony murder. Over the decades, legislatures in Hawaii and Kentucky have abolished the rule, and, last fall, Massachusetts joined Michigan in ending it through the courts. The Pennsylvania legislature is weighing a bill aimed at curtailing the practice.
“Many times in California, if you didn’t commit the murder, didn’t know the murder occurred, you could be charged and have the same sentence as the actual murderer,” said State Sen. Nancy Skinner, who introduced the legislation in part because, she said, felony murder cases disproportionately affect women and young black and Latino men. “They had bad judgment, but they didn’t commit a murder — and when I understood this, I knew we had to fix that.”
The total number of people serving sentences for felony murder in California is unknown because the cases are not tracked separately from other murder convictions. But proponents of the bill estimate that it is between 400 and 800. In 2016, lawmakers rejected a bill that would have required prosecutors to collect data on felony murder prosecutions and report it to the state.
A survey answered by 1,000 prisoners convicted of murder found that the felony murder rule disproportionately affects women and young people. Of the women serving life sentences for murder in California, 72 percent were not the killers, according to the survey, which was conducted by Restore Justice, the Youth Justice Coalition and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, California groups that support criminal justice reform.
The origins of the felony murder rule are murky. Generations of law students have been taught that it is a relic of British common law.
But Guyora Binder, a professor at the University at Buffalo School of Law and a leading expert on felony murder, said he had found otherwise. He traced modern felony murder doctrine to the 1820s, when state legislatures in the United States codified criminal offenses.
England abolished its version of felony murder in 1957, followed by India, Canada and other common law countries, and the United States remains the only country where the felony murder doctrine still exists. A Michigan Supreme Court ruling that did away with it in that state nearly four decades ago called it “a historic survivor for which there is no logical or practical basis for existence in modern law.”
The proposed California legislation would not undo felony murder entirely, but it would carve out the group of people who had very little involvement in the underlying crime and no intent to kill anyone, Binder said. That could make it a model for other states.
“This proposed bill is a very clever reform because it addresses the least popular and the least defensible aspects of the rule,” he said.
But opponents of the bill argue that people will be less likely to commit crimes if they know they will face maximum penalties if someone dies.
“The deterrence value is people are discouraged from participating in serious, dangerous felonies,” said Sean Hoffman, legislative director for the California District Attorneys Association, when he testified Tuesday in opposition to the bill.
Prosecutors and victims’ rights advocates say that the doctrine is justified because people who choose to participate in dangerous crimes do so knowing that an innocent person could die.
“The way the legislation is written, it gives everyone a path out, and only penalizes the actual shooter,” said Eric Siddall, a prosecutor and vice president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County. Siddall said the legislation could make gang prosecutions more difficult.
Critics of the rule say felony murder can lead to absurd results. In some cases, accomplices have been charged with felony murder when the death actually occurred at the hands of the police or even the victim.
In one notorious 2012 case in Indiana, a group of young men who became known as the Elkhart Four, broke into a house searching for cash. The homeowner, who was napping upstairs, awoke, grabbed his gun and fatally shot one of the intruders. The remaining defendants were convicted of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule. The State Supreme Court later overturned three of the four convictions, but the felony murder rule remains.
California courts have criticized felony murder, while leaving the rule intact. In 1983, the California Supreme Court called felony murder a “barbaric” rule of “dubious origins” from a “bygone age,” but concluded that only the legislature could change it.
A killing in California in 1995 drew national attention after a group of young men received life sentences. Five teenagers had gone to another high school student’s house near Malibu to buy marijuana. During an altercation, one of the five fatally stabbed another teen. Four of the five — Micah and Jason Holland, Brandon Hein and Anthony Miliotti — were prosecuted for felony murder.
News Inside The print magazine that brings our journalism behind bars.
“That case still haunts me,” said Robert Derham, a lawyer who represented Micah Holland on appeal. “It’s completely artificial. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”
Tuesday’s committee hearing focused on the human impact of the felony murder rule.
Jacque Wilson, a longtime San Francisco deputy public defender, recounted how in the summer of 2009 he got a call that his younger brother Neko had been accused of planning to rob a couple at a marijuana grow house in the Central Valley. During the robbery the couple, Gary and Sandra De Bartolo, were killed.
According to testimony at one defendant’s trial, Neko Wilson, 27 at the time, never went inside the house, but he was charged with first-degree murder.
“At that point, my world stopped,” Jacque Wilson said. “I had to explain it to my dad, how his son could be charged with murder without killing anyone.”
Wilson eventually took over as lead counsel to represent his brother, who has been in Fresno County Jail awaiting trial for almost a decade.
California has become a kind of national laboratory for prison reform since 2011, when the United States Supreme Court upheld a court-imposed cap on the state’s prison population, finding the prisons so overcrowded that inmates were dying. A series of legislative actions and ballot initiatives has reduced some felony crimes to misdemeanors, earmarked money for alternatives like drug and mental health treatment, and shifted more responsibility to the counties for supervising former prisoners.
The reforms have prompted a backlash from many law enforcement groups, who say the changes have led to the release of dangerous criminals, caused an increase in property crime and removed incentives for people to participate in drug court. Many of these groups are backing a proposed ballot measure aimed at rolling back the reforms.
One of the most contentious features of the felony murder bill is that it is retroactive, meaning that people currently serving life sentences for felony murder could petition the court to have their sentence reviewed.
The prosecutors association has said the bill goes too far, raising concerns that retroactivity would cause “potentially disastrous and costly problems.”
Felony murder convictions in California are not tracked or labeled, opening the gates for anyone with a murder conviction to ask for a re-examination of their case. For those who took plea deals, there may be little on the record to examine. A state fiscal analysis found that it could cost millions of dollars to process resentencing petitions, as well as to transport people to and from courts for resentencing.
Skinner and the bill’s supporters say the costs will be offset by savings from shorter sentences. The average cost to incarcerate an inmate in a California prison is about $80,000 a year.
Shawn Khalifa’s mother, Colleen Khalifa, is hopeful the bill could give her son a second chance. He was tried as an adult and has already served 14 years behind bars for his role as a lookout.
“It would give us our lives back,” she said. “Just the thought that there might be light at the end of the tunnel has given us hope. I already feel the anguish and stress being lifted.”
Shawn Khalifa was released from prison on Feb. 5, 2020, after a judge resentenced him under the California law aimed at people serving time for murder who didn’t take part in the killing. The law went into effect in 2019, opening the way for judges to review cases of prisoners throughout the state. Reached by phone after his release, Khalifa said he plans to finish the college degree he started in prison and wants to become a journalist or a counselor for incarcerated youth. | {
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A group calling itself the ShadowBrokers dumped data online last weekend that it claimed to have stolen from a hacking team widely believed to be linked to the NSA. The data contained vulnerabilities affecting major firewall products and ignited speculation that the NSA had been hacked.
Expert analysis of the data suggested that the NSA and the Equation Group are one and the same, but confirmation came today from The Intercept, which found references to the dumped malware in its trove of documents provided by whistleblower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The Intercept reports:
The evidence that ties the ShadowBrokers dump to the NSA comes in an agency manual for implanting malware, classified top secret, provided by Snowden, and not previously available to the public. The draft manual instructs NSA operators to track their use of one malware program using a specific 16-character string, “ace02468bdf13579.” That exact same string appears throughout the ShadowBrokers leak in code associated with the same program, SECONDDATE.
The Snowden documents show that tools were used in spying operations against Pakistan and Lebanon. The data posted by the ShadowBrokers marks the first time NSA hacking tools have become publicly available, causing concern that the tools could be used more widely.
The Intercept published the documents that reference these Equation Group tools so you can read them for yourself. | {
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Tested for the first time last night. To sum up it is a truly amazing experience!
I won't go over what others have said but add my own observations. With vsync on as I drive everything is buttery smooth when looking ahead etc however I do notice some juddering when I look 90 degrees left or right when a car is next to me. It's not the head movement, that is still smooth. It's the AI car I'm looking at slowly overtaking me that is stuttering slightly. Same goes for fixed scenery but I can only notice it judder when I'm looking out the side windows and staring at the fixed object. Nothing too bad but not seen anyone else mention that.
Having the vrx motion simulator actually helps with my sickness because for example when coming to a stop, my brain is expecting the feeling you get in a real car when coming to an abrupt stop. With motion off I get a bit queasy when I do that but with motion on there is a similar force to real life (no where near as powerful but a force non the less) which helps my brain to accept what I'm seeing. Did about 1 hour and was fine when concentrating but if I start looking at scenery and menus too much while moving then I get ill. Will see how that improves with time. I still believe we need more FOV to help with nausea & immersion although I don't notice it any worse than dk1.
I have had to turn down the motion effects because unlike real life the bouncing of the simulator moves my head and then the goggles kind of rattle on my head which makes it too difficult to focus on anything especially over curbs etc. Got it set up pretty good for a first try now.
For me vysnc on is much smoother than off at 300fps and induces no noticeable lag.
Can't wait to test more tonight & try different tracks / car combos. 3d mirrors will be the icing on the cake. | {
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It's not a blank canvas, but in many ways Detroit is as close to one as a city that's been around for more than three centuries can be. Land is available. Creativity is rampant. Collaboration is the new standard of conduct, and ingenuity remains the lifeblood of the city, as history has shown it always has been. What role do you play?
You don't have to open a new business, buy a loft, or start a nonprofit to be a part of the transformation of the city, although if that's where your passion lies, go for it. What is so great about this time in the city is that whatever skill you have, whatever passion you love, there's a place for it. You just have to decide to partake.
People often say "do what you love and the money will follow." Maybe it will and maybe it won't, but why does doing what you love have to be tied to a job? How about just doing what you love as a way of living life? The opportunities for to live that philosophy are abundant in Detroit.
If you have the gift of artistic talent yourself, there are schools, parks, businesses, and neighborhoods hungry for beautification. Donate a piece of your work, offer to paint a mural, or teach and inspire young artists like Chazz Miller at Artist Village Detroit.
If building structures is more your forté try Habitat for Humanity and help deserving families find a new home. If tearing eyesores down or cleaning up better suits your style join John George's crew at Blight Busters or Tom Nardone and the Mower Gang.
If you're a foodie, become a regular at Eastern Market, where fresh flavors abound, new products are launched, and the dining is sublime. The entire city is chock full of culinary delights. Have you been to Green Dot Stables, Maccabees, la Feria, or Ottava Via yet? When was the last time you stopped by Mexican Village, Roma Café, Traffic Jam, or Rattlesnake?
If gardening gets your juices flowing, there is an urban patch awaiting your tender care. Work on a project with Greening of Detroit or help revitalize and create a sustainable community with Neighbors Building Brightmoor.
If you're lucky enough to already do what you love for a living, then do it in Detroit. Join a growing collaboration of entrepreneurs by opening your own business or mentoring those who seek to open one. Offer pro bono services to a nonprofit whose mission inspires you.
If kids are your passion, you can volunteer in a school, become a mentor, or a tutor. The team at Operation Kid Equip would also welcome your support giving away school supplies to teachers and students in need.
If you want to shop 'til you drop, there are cool, niche retailers awaiting your discovery and your dollars. Check out City Bird, Pure Detroit, Hugh, The Peacock Room, and Detroit Mercantile just to name a few.
If photography lights a fire in your soul, Motown is brimming with opportunities. Document and share the beauty of the city and its people. Volunteer to take family portraits for those who can't afford them or capture the magic at a nonprofit's event on its behalf.
If you love to write then use your words to tell the positive stories and good news happening in this community. That's not to say we don't have bad news, we do like every community, but we have more than our fair share of people from around the world sharing that news. It's time we tell the stories they won't or don't seek to find.
If you can't get enough of social media, use it to brag about what you love in Detroit. You can start by celebrating "the 3-1-3" on 3/13 at 3:13 p.m. in its 313th year. Join the digital party on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as the community unites on March 13th to share its love for Detroit using hashtag #313Dlove.
You can also come down to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on March 13, for an incredibly inspirational afternoon and join the party in person.
Whether you live or work within the somewhat arbitrary boundaries of the city itself, or in a neighboring town, if you care about southeast Michigan, then you are part of Detroit, and it is a part of who you are. There are endless ways to employ your knowledge, talents, and passion in a community that is aching to have your support. Do what you love in Detroit and a fulfilling life will follow. | {
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Lachlan McIntosh Tannery was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia, a extremely rare disease which affects around three out of every million children, when he was just 19 months old. Lachlan underwent a bone marrow transplant and spent much of his time in the hospital with his family, but relapsed at the age of two.
To honor Lachlan’s memory, the Clemson community named a stuffed tiger after him, and Lachlan the Tiger can frequently be seen in photos across Clemson’s beautiful campus.
The Lachlan McIntosh Tannery Foundation was established to help families and raise awareness for the national marrow donor program. | {
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As the city wrestles with recent violence at Pride and ongoing yellow vest rallies, a sociologist says Hamilton has had "very little" response to far-right activity in the city.
Many places are seeing a rise in extreme right-wing movements, said Tina Fetner, a sociology professor at McMaster University who specializes in right wing activism and LGTBQ politics.
But she says Hamilton has had a particularly muted response.
"We're not addressing it as a serious issue," said Fetner, which makes it easier for opportunistic, often-online movements to grow.
"We have all kinds of right wing activity going on, and everyone seems to just shrug it off and not deal with it as a serious concern."
Meanwhile, some people are advocating for Hamilton city council and police to take concerns about hate groups seriously, Fetner said— but there's a "slowness" and "lack of enthusiasm" for addressing their issues.
Hamilton's police and mayor have faced criticism for their response to the recent violence at Pride, involving far-right extremists holding homophobic signs.
Police have charged four people so far following physical confrontations at Hamilton Pride on June 15. (Video Courtesy: YouTube/Facts VS. Feelings) 0:18
Meanwhile, yellow vest protesters have been holding Saturday morning rallies for months outside city hall, and a white supremacist candidate ran for mayor in the last election, Fetner noted.
The city has also taken heat for employing Marc Lemire, the former head of a white supremacy organization, in its IT department (he is currently on leave during a city investigation).
Concerns 'not taken seriously'
Some residents have criticized police and city councillors in the weeks after Pride.
Pride organizers said police responded too slowly to the violence at Pride. Police have also been criticized for not moving more quickly to arrest people after the altercation.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger recently woke up to protesters on his lawn with signs saying "The mayor doesn't care about Queer People."
Eisenberger broke days of silence after Pride with a statement saying the city needs to do better, pledging to organize a meeting with Hamilton's queer community.
The mayor briefly stopped a city council meeting Wednesday after angry residents shouted from the gallery when a councillor said counter-protesters at Pride "gave oxygen" to the far-right extremists.
Protestors outside the mayor's house yelling and playing instruments around 7 a.m. Friday. (Branko Bursac). (Supplied by Branko Bursac)
People are trying to have dialogue, said Fetner, but "Their concerns were not taken seriously."
"When you're written out of the agenda ... your only choices left are to shout."
There are signs city leaders are looking to make up for that lost time.
City staff have been tasked by council to see if there are ways it can shut down the hate protests and the mayor is moving forward with plans to engage with members of the city's LGBTQ community. On Friday he named Deirdre Pike and Cole Gately as two special advisors for a new dialogue.
A moment to make positive change
This could be a time to make positive changes and support LGTBQ residents, Fetner said.
Incorporating LGTBQ residents into governments and police boards is the first step to positive change, she said. There's a lack of diversity in Hamilton city council, she noted, similar to several Ontario cities.
Fetner's colleagues at McMaster's School of Labour Studies recently published a report on the experience of Hamilton's LGTBQ community.
While Canadians might think they've "solved the problems" of LGTBQ equality in Canada, community members still face several issues, Fetner said, like higher rates of violence and more negative heath outcomes.
"These social problems are not the kinds of things that you can just say, oh we're done with that," she said.
Fetner says local institutions like public health, police and city offices, "all need to take a look at what are they contributing to the climate for their LGTBQ community members." | {
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Dobronamjerni hrvatski patrioti poželjeli su nedavno ujediniti sve pravaške stranke, a s vremena na vrijeme javljaju se takvi više od dva desetljeća. “Dosta je, braćo pravaši, da se mi, na radost naših dušmana, svađamo i dijelimo”, zavapili su prvi put još tamo u lipnju 1994. Na političkoj pozornici bile su tada tri pravaške stranke. Ponovno im okupljanje nije, nažalost, pošlo za rukom.
Međutim, oni se nisu predavali. Već u srpnju 1999. na jednom imanju u kutjevačkom vinogorju našli su se ponovno pravaški vođe i bili sasvim blizu. Uz hladne nareske i odličan rizling, dogovorili su gotovo sve detalje, ali kratko iza ponoći nesretno su se porječkali, poletjele su prvo čaše, zatim boce, tanjuri, noževi, viljuške, stolice, na kraju i jedna ručna granata, i osamnaest je pravaških političkih organizacija ostalo razjedinjeno.
Nu, evo ih ponovno u u veljači 2003. u jednom franjevačkom samostanu u Dalmaciji. Ustaju u tri i u tišini prolaze kroz klaustar do kapelice, gdje dobra četiri sata, do svanuća, skvrčeni na ledenom kamenom podu, drhtavih modrih usana mole Svemogućeg da im dade mudrosti i strpljenja da njihovih dvije stotine četrdeset sedam pravaških stranaka opet bude jedna, monolitna politička snaga.
A Svemogući im se ni tada nije smilovao.
Pravaši ipak nisu odustali. Jednog vikenda u ranu jesen 2008. pravaški uglednici ponovno su se našli na neformalnom savjetovanju oko ujedinjenja u jednom istarskom hotelskom poduzeću. U petak popodne na recepciji je pažljivim prebrojavanjem nesumnjivo utvrđeno postojanje devetsto jedanaest stranaka starčevićanskog usmjerenja. Do ponedjeljka ujutro bilo ih je više od tisuću i tristo.
Napokon, u kolovozu 2013. napravljen je veliki kongres. U glavni grad Hrvatske iz svih krajeva svijeta su avionima, vlakovima, autobustima, osobnim automobilima, motociklima, volovskim zapregama, na konjima, mazgama, devama i letećim ćilimima došli svi koji nešto znače na pravaškoj sceni, predstavnici Pravoslavne pravaške stranke, Nezavisnih pravaških dijabetičara, Pravaškog odbojkaškog bratstva, Sunitskog pravaškog pokreta, Bezglutenske stranke prava, Pravaških lezbijki Slavonije i Baranje i drugih sedamnaest tisuća i šesto pedeset pet sličnih organizacija registriranih u Ministarstvu uprave. Ne moram vam, vjerujem, ni opisivati kako je to završilo.
Kad god se pravaši krenu ujediniti, završe još razjedinjeniji. Broj njihovih stranaka raste nezaustavljivo, geometrijskom progresijom. Starčevićanci se razmnožavaju diobom kao bakterije. Prava štvo je smrtonosna epidemija. Već ako ih je troje, dvoje pravaša će se urotiti protiv trećega. Tu se ne smije izaći iz sobe, oni neumorno rovare i spletkare u svim kombinacijama. Tek što su se okupili, krenut će se međusobno optuživati, uzurpirati stranačke prostorije, obnoć dolaziti s šarafcigerom i mijenjati brave, otimati kompjutere, printere, trobojne barjake i velike uokvirene portrete Oca domovine.
Nekadašnji se kolege psuju i vrijeđaju, nazivaju budalama, lupežima, varalicama, razvratnicima, obiteljskim zlostavljačima i, češće nego išta, zanimljivo, suradnicima jugoslavenske tajne policije. Opazili ste možda urnebesni slučaj, od desetero njih za koje je u novinama pisalo da su radili za Udbu, devetero su bili ili još jesu nekakvi pravaši. Nema desničarskog uglednika za kojega se nije najmanje jednom, u Hrvatskom listu, na Dnevno.hr ili u Bujici, kazalo da je nekad u komunizmu besramno denuncirao valjane Hrvate, a to nam je obično kazao drugi desničarski uglednik, koji je s denuncijantom u birtiji koliko do jučer komadao janjetinu, nazdravljao gemištima i znojnim se čelom na njegovo čelo naslanjao promuklo pjevajući Škoru i Thompsona, i koji je, osim toga, krizmeni kum njegove starije kćeri.
Ponovilo se s neumoljivom pravilnošću desetke puta do sada, kad god bi se jednom odani suradnici i nepokolebljivi starčevićanci razdvojili u dvije stranke, otkrilo bi se kako je netko od njih potajice radio za zločinački srbočetnički režim. Ta su užasna saznanja dosad uništila bezbroj pravaških prijateljstava i odlaske cijelih ogranaka iz pravaških stranaka. S druge strane, ovoj pojavi zacijelo je pridonijela i činjenica da pravaši zapravo ne mogu dulje slijediti drugoga, kao obični članovi. U prirodi je pravaša da svi žele biti vođe, odvojiti se od gnijezda i sviti vlastito. Željni da njih netko zove “gospodine predsjedniče” i pobožno šuti dok oni govore, napravit će u garaži svoju pravašku stranku kao što se pravi domaća rakija ili ajvar.
Zgodna je k tome okolnost da je uistinu lako napraviti pravašku stranku. Ona nema mnogo dijelova, sastavi se brže nego Ikeina polica. Na stvari je krasna, izvorna hrvatska ideologija koja vjernije od ijedne druge odražava duh našega naroda. To je nezahtjevno, jednostavno učenje koje i srednjoškolci skromnijih intelektualnih mogućnosti uspješno savladavaju. Ne morate odlaziti na predavanja ni čitati debele knjige o političkoj ekonomiji, Ustavu, ljudskim pravima i sličnim tricama. Dosta je da gajite optimističnu vjeru kako je hrvatski narod u svemu superioran drugim narodima, a onima susjednima, Srbima, Bošnjacima i Crnogorcima specijalno. Program većeg dijela pravaških stranaka može se ustvari čitav sažeti u popularni deseterački dvostih, nije ni trun pametniji od popularnog bećarskog hita: “Mene moja naučila strina, svim Srbima pička materina”.
Kad na televiziji vidite pravaške uglednike i moćnike poput Ante Đapića, Danijela Srba, Pere Ćorića ili Ivana Tepeša, shvatite da možete sve što i oni, pa i vjerojatno bolje od njih. A možda biste i trebali. Uhvatite li slobodno popodne, trebali biste i vi jednom osnovati pravašku stranku. Kroz godinu ili dvije broj pravaških stranaka ionako će biti jednak ili opasno blizu broja stanovnika Hrvatske. Mališani će prelaziti ulice noseći ih kao bocu ulja, kilogram šećera ili kakav komad alata i govoriti susjedima: “Kume Mladene, mama me poslala da vam vratim pravašku stranku koju smo prošli tjedan posudili”, a kum Mladen na to će im odgovarati: “Kaži mami da ne treba, napravio sam ja drugu”. | {
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Getty Images
For years, there have been calls for the NFL to expand instant replay to allow coaches to challenge an uncalled penalty. And for years, the argument against that has been that it’s opening a Pandora’s box where every big play by one team is followed by a challenge from the coach of the other team, who says, “I think there was holding on that play.” And if the officiating office looks closely enough, they can probably find holding on every play.
But a proposal the owners will consider next week allows uncalled penalties to be reviewed — only if the coach can cite a specific penalty committed by a specific player.
“Once a challenge is initiated, the Head Coach must provide the Referee with the specific player (jersey number) and the specific foul that was committed on the play, regardless of whether there was a penalty called by the on-field officiating crew,” the proposal states.
In other words, Saints coach Sean Payton could have challenged the pass interference non-call on Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman in the NFC Championship Game, and that call would have been made in replay. But a coach couldn’t simply challenge a play and tell the referee, “I think you can find a penalty.”
The proposal was made by Washington — not by the Competition Committee, which has put forward a narrower replay proposal for the owners to consider next week. The broad proposal put forward by Washington has previously been proposed by Patriots coach Bill Belichick, so it appears that at least two teams will vote for it. But it takes 24 of 32 votes to change a rule, and in the past other owners have been much more cautious about broadly expanding replay. | {
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Great Lakes. Credit: CC0 Public Domain
Invasive silver carp have been moving north toward the Great Lakes since their accidental release in the 1970s. The large filter-feeding fish, which are known to jump from the water and wallop anglers, threaten aquatic food webs as well as the $7 billion Great Lakes fishery. But, for the past decade, the invading front hasn't moved past Kankakee. A new study, led by scientists at the University of Illinois, suggests that Chicago's water pollution may be a contributing to this lack of upstream movement.
"It's a really toxic soup coming down from the Chicago Area Waterway, but a lot of those chemicals go away near Kankakee. They might degrade or settle out, or the Kankakee River might dilute them. We don't really know what happens, but there's a stark change in water quality at that point. That's right where the invading front stops," says Cory Suski, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and co-author of the study. "And this fish never stops for anything."
The researchers think the fish stall out at Kankakee because they are responding negatively to compounds in the water flowing downstream from Chicago. They formulated their hypothesis after reading a 2017 water quality report from the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS researchers tracked changes in water chemistry in a single pocket of water as it moved from Chicago downstream through the Illinois River. Right near Kankakee, many of the pharmaceuticals, volatile organic compounds, and wastewater indicators dropped off the charts.
Suski says many of these compounds have been shown in other studies to induce avoidance behaviors in fish, but his team didn't look at behavior. Instead, they examined gene expression patterns in blood and liver samples from silver carp at three locations along the Illinois River: at Kankakee, approximately 10 miles downstream near Morris, and 153 miles downstream near Havana.
"We saw huge differences in gene expression patterns between the Kankakee fish and the two downstream populations," Suski explains. "Fish near Kankakee were turning on genes associated with clearing out toxins and turning off genes related to DNA repair and protective measures. Basically, their livers are working overtime and detoxifying pathways are extremely active, which seem to be occurring at the cost of their own repair mechanisms. We didn't see that in either of the downstream populations."
Suski stresses that his study wasn't designed to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between water pollution and silver carp movement, but the results hint at a compelling answer to a decade-old mystery. The researchers hope to follow up to show how the fish are metabolizing the pollutants, which will give them a better understanding of which compounds are having the biggest effects. Right now, it's a black box—the USGS study documented approximately 280 chemicals in the Chicago Area Waterway and downstream sites.
Regardless of which specific pollutants may be responsible for stopping silver carp—if that hypothesis is later proven—the results could have interesting implications for management.
"We're not saying we should pollute more to keep silver carp out of the Great Lakes. That's not it," Suski says. "Right now, things are stable, but that might not always be the case. There's a lot of work in Chicago to clean up the Chicago Area Waterway. Already, water quality is improving, fish communities are getting healthier. Through the process of improving the water quality, which we should absolutely be doing, there's a possibility that this chemical barrier could go away. We don't need to hit the panic button yet, but at least we should be aware."
Explore further Invasive Asian carp respond strongly to carbon dioxide
More information: Jennifer D. Jeffrey et al, Physiological status of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) in the Illinois River: An assessment of fish at the leading edge of the invasion front, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D: Genomics and Proteomics (2019). Jennifer D. Jeffrey et al, Physiological status of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) in the Illinois River: An assessment of fish at the leading edge of the invasion front,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.cbd.2019.100614 | {
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December 17, 2017 – Ottawa – National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces
Canada is committed to helping build long-term security and stability in the Middle East region. We are doing this through an integrated whole-of-government approach to meet the needs of conflict-affected people in Iraq, Syria, and other countries in the region, including in Jordan and Lebanon.
Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan today announced Canada’s intent to support the construction and rehabilitation of a road along Jordan’s northern border with Syria. This project will contribute to the security and stability of Jordan by enabling the Jordanian Armed Forces to better respond to threats along the border.
As outlined in Canada’s Defence Policy Strong, Secure, Engaged, the government is dedicated to working with allies and partners to deter and defeat potential adversaries. This project demonstrates Canada’s commitment to achieving this priority and will help bolster the safety and security of Jordan, its citizens, and the region.
While in Jordan, Minister Sajjan met His Majesty King Abdullah II, the Prime Minister of Jordan and Minister of Defence, His Excellency Hani Fawzi Al-Mulki, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lieutenant General Mahmoud Freihat, to discuss the evolving nature of the Daesh threat, and mutual defence and security challenges. The Minister also commended Jordan for their cooperation and collaboration on key regional issues.
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CNN’s Jake Tapper was unequivocal in his condemnation of the leak that delivered Hillary Clinton a question from a CNN town hall.
As emails released by Wikileaks revealed, Donna Brazille, while still a CNN contributor, had access to a question about the death penalty that Clinton would be asked at the event. “From time to time I get the questions in advance,” she wrote in the leaked missive, giving the Clinton campaign a question about the death penalty which Clinton was asked almost verbatim.
Tapper called the revelation “very, very troubling” in an interview with WMAL Thursday. He continued:
It’s horrifying. Journalistically it’s horrifying and I’m sure it will have an impact on partnering with this organization in the future and I’m sure it will have and effect on… Donna Brazile is no longer with CNN because she’s with the DNC right now, but I’m sure it will have some impact on Donna Brazille.
Brazille left CNN when she took over as interim chair of the DNC in July.
Washington Post writes:
CNN has insisted that it did not lose custody of the question; reports have suggested that the leak came from Brazile through TVOne, whose Roland Martin co-hosted the debate in cooperation with CNN.
Tapper added:
People at CNN take this very, very seriously and to have somebody who does not take it seriously and to have us partner with that person and then they do something completely unethical and share it with Donna Brazile who then shares it with the Clinton campaign… it’s horrifying and very, very upsetting and I can’t condemn it any more than… I condemn it in no uncertain terms, it’s awful.
—
Sam Reisman (@thericeman) is a staff editor at Mediaite.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] | {
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Deprecating packages on nuget.org
Anand
September 30th, 2019
We are excited to announce that nuget.org now supports package deprecation. This has been a long standing ask that will help the ecosystem use supported packages. As a package publisher on nuget.org, you can now deprecate packages that are obsolete, legacy, or buggy. You can also suggest an alternate package to your deprecated package. This lets you guide your packages’ consumers to the latest and greatest package.
Unlisting vs. Deprecating packages
Package deprecation is different than unlisting your package as explained below:
Unlisting a package prevents its discovery by removing it from search results.
a package prevents its discovery by removing it from search results. Deprecating a package lets your package’s existing consumers find out if they have it installed or used in their projects. It also lets them know the reason for deprecation and an alternate recommended package as specified by you (the package publisher). Deprecating a package does not unlist the package. As a publisher, you may choose to both unlist as well as deprecate packages.
Deprecating and Un-deprecating packages
Package deprecation is easy. Just follow the following couple of steps:
Go to Manage Packages… …and select the package to manage: 2. Select Deprecation and provide the following required information to deprecate a package: Select version(s) : You can choose one or more versions to deprecate. If you’d like, you can deprecate all versions of the package if it is now obsolete or legacy.
: You can choose one or more versions to deprecate. If you’d like, you can deprecate all versions of the package if it is now obsolete or legacy. Select reason(s) : You may choose one or more specific reasons or choose a custom reason (select Other ) for deprecation.
: You may choose one or more specific reasons or choose a custom reason (select ) for deprecation. Provide custom message: If you choose Other reason, you must provide a custom message to let the package consumers know the reason. Note: Currently, the custom message is shown only on nuget.org. It is not visible in clients like dotnet.exe and Visual Studio’s NuGet Package Manager . To edit or un-deprecate packages, you can select the versions you deprecated earlier and change or clear the deprecation reasons and save. It’s that simple!
Client experience
Starting Visual Studio 2019 16.3, once a package has been deprecated, you can view the deprecated packages on the Installed tab on Visual Studio’s NuGet Package Manager.
You can also run dotnet.exe list package --deprecated from the command line to get a list of deprecated packages in your projects. | {
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Who will win the final? Who will be the player to watch? Which seeds are most in danger of going out in the first round? A host of darts journalists, pundits and commentators tackle these and other questions on the eve of the 2019 PDC World Grand Prix.
Who will reach the final – and who will win it?
Wayne Mardle: MVG and Chizzy. MVG to win it.
Stuart Pyke: Fancy it may well be van Gerwen v Wright but this tournament is without doubt the most difficult to predict. You only have to look at the raft of upsets down the years with the short format first round. Six legs and it could be all over.
Rod Studd: I’ve backed Nathan Aspinall and Dave Chisnall. I’d expect MVG to reach the final from the top half of the draw.
Dan Dawson: I think that Gerwyn Price will beat Ian White in the final. I maintain that White has all the ingredients to make major finals, but I think Price has the same kind of game as Thornton when he won it… brilliant on double top, and hits loads of 180s. I do think that Price is in the toughest quarter of the draw to call though, with himself, Gurney and Aspinall all looking capable of going all the way.
Chris Murphy: It’s time for Michael van Gerwen to show who’s boss again and (if he gets through the first round lottery) I think he’ll do that in Dublin. From the bottom half I fancy Daryl Gurney to keep up his impressive recent record in the event and reach the final.
Rob Mullarkey: Gerwyn Price has to be one of the most improved finishers in the game and so far in 2019 he’s hit somewhere in the region of 42% of his darts at a double.
Clearly that counts for a lot with this tournament’s format but Price also appears to be coming good at just the right time, just as he did 12 months ago when he kicked off a very productive autumn with a European Tour title at the International Darts Open.
The Iceman retained his title in Riesa last month and with a recent run to the final of a ProTour event under his belt, I genuinely think he can significantly improve on his quarter-final showing in Dublin last year and win a second major title by beating James Wade in the final.
Jay Shaw: Predicting any outcome with any degree of certainty is a thankless task when it comes to the Grand Prix. Just the eight seeds mean that more big names will run into each other in the early rounds and the bottom section of the draw in particular looks to be an absolute minefield.
No player has defended the title since Phil Taylor a decade ago and that task once again falls to Michael van Gerwen. The last time he came to Dublin as defending champion, he was dumped out by Hendo in the first round and I think, naturally, it’s that hurdle where he is most vulnerable again.
Though Jamie Hughes will offer up a stern test, he hasn’t quite kicked on yet on since winning the Czech Open in June, and I would expect MVG to progress and gradually step it up as the week goes on.
The bottom section of the draw is incredibly closely-matched, but I just have the feeling Nathan Aspinall could be the man to come through.
He has reached at least the semi-final stage in three of his last four televised tournaments and looked in fine fettle in Gibraltar, beating Van Gerwen along the way, and it would be fitting if MVG’s first crack at revenge was to be in the final here.
Faria Darting Index: Michael van Gerwen will win against Gerwyn Price. Cross and Mensur also have a good chance to win the bottom half, but their route is brutal.
Listen to episode 122 of the Weekly Dartscst podcast with special guests Jermaine Wattimena and Callan Rydz, plus our preview of the World Grand Prix via the player below
Who will be the player to watch?
Wayne Mardle: Durrant could come through a tough quarter.
Stuart Pyke: I feel Michael Smith and Dimitri in the top half could give it a real go, while the bottom half of the draw again looks favourable. Hopefully we will see the real Adrian Lewis stand up and the winner of Durrant v Ratajski may go well for the week.
Rod Studd: I’m looking forward to seeing how Nathan Aspinall goes on debut in this format. He’s very composed and is learning all the time.
Dan Dawson: Well I’ve just picked two guys to make the final, so I obviously think they’re the main guys to watch, but I think that whoever comes through Durrant v Ratajski in the opening round could have a big impact.
Chris Murphy: All eyes will be on van Gerwen, considering he has not won the last two big ranking titles. Plenty can stop him but a few of those have drawn each other early. In terms of outsiders I think one of Keegan Brown or Chris Dobey will make at least the quarter-finals.
Rob Mullarkey: ‘Player to watch’ can be synonymous with ‘dark horse’ and while Nathan Aspinall definitely doesn’t fall into the latter category, he is well worth watching.
It’s no surprise that the UK Open champion is attracting a lot of money in the World Championship betting. However, I think the Asp could win another TV major before he slithers into Ally Pally in December. He was devastating in his opening two matches in Gibraltar last weekend; against Ryan Joyce he averaged 108 (6/9 on his doubles) and he was breathtakingly brilliant for the first five legs of his eventual 6-3 win against MvG.
Teenager Keane Barry is also worth a watch in the Tom Kirby Memorial.
Jay Shaw: Aside from Aspinall, who is making his Grand Prix debut as world number 13, it’s hard not to be gravitated towards Mensur Suljovic when it comes to this event.
A specialist on the doubles, notably his trusted double 14, Mensur has reached the semi-finals here on three occasions since 2015 and is probably one of the only players who relishes this format.
The Austrian is the highest ranked non-seed and has been unfortunate to draw Rob Cross, though Cross has failed to win in his two previous visits to the Citywest and should Mensur come through that, he will fancy his chances against anyone.
Faria Darting Index: Ian White. The big question again is: Can he do it on stage? His floor (and Euro Tour) form has been absolutely magnificent this year. Aside from matches on TV Ian White is probably one of the three best players in the world. Unfortunately for him the TV events are more prestigious and therefore more important.
How far will the defending champion Michael van Gerwen go?
Wayne Mardle: All the way.
Rod Studd: MVG hasn’t managed to defend this title yet and this is his fourth attempt to do so. I think he can reach the final though he may not fancy a potential meeting with nemesis JDZ in round two.
Dan Dawson: MvG has a tough opening game against Hughes, and in a tournament where he often see first round shocks, I do think he’s at risk – but I have a sneaky feeling that James Wade might just be able to edge him in the quarter-finals.
Chris Murphy: The nature of the tournament is that his most likely departure point is round one. He either gets beaten then or goes on to win the title. I’m plumping for the latter.
Rob Mullarkey: Put it this way, I wouldn’t back him with any confidence but he is the world number one and he’s won this tournament four times before. I’ll climb off the fence and predict he’ll lose in the second round to Jeffrey de Zwaan.
Jay Shaw: Van Gerwen boasts a fantastic record in the Grand Prix, having reached the final in five of his eight appearances, the only blip being that shock defeat to Hendo two years ago.
I think he will be sharp and focused from the off and is housed in the top section of the draw where his main threats look to be James Wade (quarter-finals) and Gary Anderson (semi-finals), or perhaps even his bogey man Jeffrey de Zwaan in round two.
I would expect him to reach at least the semi-finals, by which time the long format plays more into his hands and he can press home his quality and experience.
Faria Darting Index: He will win it. Although he isn’t a clear cut favorite like he has been in recent years. My system has his chances at around 35.2% to win in Dublin.
Which first round match are you most looking forward to?
Wayne Mardle: Like everyone else, Rob v Mensur. Durrant v Ratajski. Price v Chizzy.
Stuart Pyke: Can Big John do it again in Dublin?! Wade should be strong but he hasn’t been immune to struggling in round one. Dobey v Evans will be exciting. Delighted both have made it. Plenty of fireworks in Price v Chisnall and Nathan Aspinall will fancy his chances of making a big splash again.
Rod Studd: With only eight seeds, big hitters can be drawn together as in Cross vs Suljovic and Chizzy vs Price. Those are great match ups but who wouldn’t salivate over the prospect of JDZ vs The Adonis?
Dan Dawson: MvG v Hughes looks brilliant, as does Price v Chizzy and Duzza/Ratajski – but Cross v Suljovic is the standout tie for me. Cross still hasn’t won a game in Dublin, but we saw in Blackpool that once he gets going, he can win anything.
Chris Murphy: Rob Cross v Mensur Suljovic – two genuine title contenders. That’s the stand out tie, followed closely by Price v Chisnall.
Rob Mullarkey: There are plenty of candidates but I’ll go for Price v Chisnall because my title prediction rests on the outcome. The bulk of the darts I watch is on the European Tour and these two have really impressed me during 2019 (they’re two of the five men to hit European nine-darters in 2019). The scoring of Chizzy, armed with his new darts (and wearing a new shirt), and the doubling of Price suggests this could be a classic.
Jay Shaw: There are three obvious ties which stand out to me: Durrant vs Ratajski, Price vs Chisnall and Cross vs Suljovic. On current form, it looks almost impossible to call the winner of each.
I’m particularly interested to see how Durrant and Ratajski both fare on their Dublin debuts, especially coming into the event in such strong format and confidence levels sky high.
Ratajski actually defeated Duzza on the way to winning the 2017 World Masters, a result I know Glen wasn’t too happy about, and I’m sure he’ll have revenge on his mind.
Faria Darting Index: Glen Durrant vs. Krzysztof Ratajski. The two new emerging stars on the PDC stage. But to be fair, there are a lot of ties to look forward to.
Which seeds are most in danger of going out in the first round?
Wayne Mardle: Rob. Price. Smith needs to be on his game against Simon.
Rod Studd: Rob Cross has never won a game at the GP and faces a tough task against three times semi finalist Mensur. Out of sorts Michael Smith could be in danger against former runner up Simon Whitlock and could former conquerer of MVG Big Hendo hand James Wade a fifth straight round one defeat?
Dan Dawson: They’re all in danger… this tournament’s bonkers. I think Cross is the one who looks in most danger, but then Price also has a horrific first round draw. I still think Price can come through it though and claim another major title.
Chris Murphy: All of them! It’s the World Grand Prix. They are all vulnerable in this unforgiving format. I reckon half of the eight are likely to go out. I’ll look good if I give you actual names and turn out to be right though so I’ll say Cross, Price, Anderson and Wade will fall foul of the Russian roulette round.
Rob Mullarkey: Rob Cross was beaten in the first round last year and he wouldn’t have feared too many tougher openers than Mensur Suljović. The Austrian was a semi-finalist at the Citywest in 2018 and he has won five of their last seven including big-stage encounters at the World Series, the Champions League and the Grand Slam.
Jay Shaw: The best of three sets format has paved the way for some mad results down the years so it really wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see any of the eight seeds sent packing early.
However, looking at the draw, I’d say the three most susceptible to an early exit would be Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross and Michael van Gerwen.
Price hasn’t got a great record in the Grand Prix and is facing a revitalised Chizzy, who is a former finalist here and landed the small matter of a nine-darter on his way to the final in Gibraltar.
As mentioned, Cross has crashed out at the first hurdle in both previous appearances and has been handed the toughest possible draw on paper, while MVG will be wary of the threat posed by Hughes and can ill-afford a slow start in such an unforgiving format.
Faria Darting Index: I’d say Rob Cross, because he is playing an in form Mensur. We all know Suljovic can beat anyone on his day and so can Rob. This is a real 50/50 match for me.
Where does the World Grand Prix rank for you in terms of it’s prestige in the game?
Wayne Mardle: Fourth.
Stuart Pyke: The WGP continues to grow in stature. Some of the players hate the double start. Good! It’s a real test and a different test. I like the set format. One addition for me to put even more pressure on the players. If you miss nine darts to get off then you forfeit the leg ! That’ll shake them up.
Rod Studd: The Grand Prix’s unique quirky format makes it fascinating event which will always have an important place on the darting calendar. Ask Michael van Gerwen whose career the Grand Prix relaunched in 2012.
Dan Dawson: Not as highly as the World Championship, but slightly better than Players Championship 17 in Wigan.
Chris Murphy: The Grand Prix is a proper biggie. Not as prestigious as the Matchplay or the Worlds (obviously) but if there was such a thing as triple crown it would be the third jewel in it in my mind. An emerald if you will.
Rob Mullarkey: Nobody can dispute it is behind the World Championship, the World Matchplay and the Grand Slam in terms of prestige but it has the best format in the game and it can be a leveller. I think the Grand Prix is one tournament that might benefit from a change of scene – perhaps rotating where it is held in a manner similar to golf’s Open Championship.
Jay Shaw: With it being the only double-start event, that brings a unique edge and generally it has been the highlight of the Autumn period since it began in 1998.
Personally, I don’t think the Citywest is the most accessible venue from a fans’ perspective and I would like to see it moved on in the near future, perhaps closer to Dublin city centre or somewhere with a smaller capacity but that generates a better atmosphere during the week.
There’s a record £110,000 top prize on offer this year which isn’t to be sniffed at, and I would put the Grand Prix on a par with the UK Open, behind the Worlds, the Matchplay and the Grand Slam.
Faria Darting Index: Right behind the Worlds and the Matchplay. I think it’s bigger than the Premier League because that’s a glorified expo.
Picture: PDC | {
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Literary history is ripe with eloquent attempts to answer the ever-elusive question of why writers write. For George Orwell, it resulted from four universal motives. Joan Didion saw it as precious access to her own mind. For David Foster Wallace, it was about fun. Joy Williams found in it a gateway from the darkness to the light. For Charles Bukowski, it sprang from the soul like a rocket. In Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do (public library), which also gave us Mary Karr’s poignant answer, celebrated Chilean American author Isabel Allende offers one of the most poetic yet practical responses to the grand question.
Allende shares in Kurt Vonnegut’s insistence on rooting storytelling in personal experience and writes:
I need to tell a story. It’s an obsession. Each story is a seed inside of me that starts to grow and grow, like a tumor, and I have to deal with it sooner or later. Why a particular story? I don’t know when I begin. That I learn much later. Over the years I’ve discovered that all the stories I’ve told, all the stories I will ever tell, are connected to me in some way. If I’m talking about a woman in Victorian times who leaves the safety of her home and comes to the Gold Rush in California, I’m really talking about feminism, about liberation, about the process I’ve gone through in my own life, escaping from a Chilean, Catholic, patriarchal, conservative, Victorian family and going out into the world.
Like Mark Twain, who famously instructed a rival to “use the right word, not its second cousin,” Allende advocates for the precision of language as the ultimate resource:
It’s so important for me, finding the precise word that will create a feeling or describe a situation. I’m very picky about that because it’s the only material we have: words. But they are free. No matter how many syllables they have: free! You can use as many as you want, forever.
In fact, her style is deeply reminiscent of beloved French-Cuban writer Anaïs Nin’s — and Allende herself offers a beautiful hypothesis about a common thread:
I try to write beautifully, but accessibly. In the romance languages, Spanish, French, Italian, there’s a flowery way of saying things that does not exist in English. My husband says he can always tell when he gets a letter in Spanish: the envelope is heavy. In English a letter is a paragraph. You go straight to the point. In Spanish that’s impolite. Reading in English, living in English, has taught me to make language as beautiful as possible, but precise. Excessive adjectives, excessive description — skip it, it’s unnecessary. Speaking English has made my writing less cluttered. I try to read House of the Spirits now, and I can’t. Oh my God, so many adjectives! Why? Just use one good noun instead of three adjectives.
She reflects on the osmotic balance between intuition and rationality in the writing process:
Fiction happens in the womb. It doesn’t get processed in the mind until you do the editing.
Though many famous writers have notoriously deliberate routines and rituals, Allende’s is among the most unusual and rigorous. Ultimately, however, she echoes Chuck Close (“Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work.”), Thomas Edison (“Success is the product of the severest kind of mental and physical application.”), E. B. White (“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”) and Tchaikovsky (“A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.”), stressing the importance of work ethic over the proverbial muse:
I start all my books on January eighth. Can you imagine January seventh? It’s hell. Every year on January seventh, I prepare my physical space. I clean up everything from my other books. I just leave my dictionaries, and my first editions, and the research materials for the new one. And then on January eighth I walk seventeen steps from the kitchen to the little pool house that is my office. It’s like a journey to another world. It’s winter, it’s raining usually. I go with my umbrella and the dog following me. From those seventeen steps on, I am in another world and I am another person. I go there scared. And excited. And disappointed — because I have a sort of idea that isn’t really an idea. The first two, three, four weeks are wasted. I just show up in front of the computer. Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too. If she doesn’t show up invited, eventually she just shows up.
Like Neil Gaiman, who famously advised to “keep moving” because “perfection is like chasing the horizon,” Allende shares a cautionary observation:
I correct to the point of exhaustion, and then finally I say I give up. It’s never quite finished, and I suppose it could always be better, but I do the best I can. In time, I’ve learned to avoid overcorrecting. When I got my first computer and I realized how easy it was to change things ad infinitum, my style became very stiff.
But her most profound test of creative resilience came from deeply untethering personal tragedy:
My daughter, Paula, died on December 6, 1992. On January 7, 1993, my mother said, ‘Tomorrow is January eighth. If you don’t write, you’re going to die.’ She gave me the 180 letters I’d written to her while Paula was in a coma, and then she went to Macy’s. When my mother came back six hours later, I was in a pool of tears, but I’d written the first pages of Paula. Writing is always giving some sort of order to the chaos of life. It organizes life and memory. To this day, the responses of the readers help me to feel my daughter alive.
Turning an eye towards the future of storytelling, Allende advocates for medium-agnosticism, reminding us that a great story will always be a great story, wherever it lives — so long as it lives in the heart:
Storytelling and literature will exist always, but what shape will it take? Will we write novels to be performed? The story will exist, but how, I don’t know. The way my stories are told today is by being published in the form of a book. In the future, if that’s not the way to tell a story, I’ll adapt.
She ends with three pieces of advice for aspiring writers:
It’s worth the work to find the precise word that will create a feeling or describe a situation. Use a thesaurus, use your imagination, scratch your head until it comes to you, but find the right word.
When you feel the story is beginning to pick up rhythm—the characters are shaping up, you can see them, you can hear their voices, and they do things that you haven’t planned, things you couldn’t have imagined—then you know the book is somewhere, and you just have to find it, and bring it, word by word, into this world.
When you tell a story in the kitchen to a friend, it’s full of mistakes and repetitions. It’s good to avoid that in literature, but still, a story should feel like a conversation. It’s not a lecture.
Allende’s moving 2007 TED talk will give you an even deeper appreciation for her singular approach to storytelling:
The rest of Why We Write features insights and advice on the craft from such contemporary icons as Jennifer Egan, Michael Lewis, Susan Orlean, and James Frey, among others. Pair it with H. P. Lovecraft’s advice to aspiring writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s letter to his daughter, Zadie Smith’s 10 rules of writing, Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 keys to the power of the written word, David Ogilvy’s 10 no-bullshit tips, Henry Miller’s 11 commandments, Jack Kerouac’s 30 beliefs and techniques, John Steinbeck’s 6 pointers, Neil Gaiman’s 8 rules, Margaret Atwood’s 10 practical tips, and Susan Sontag’s synthesized learnings.
Photograph via The Paris Review | {
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A woman was attacked by a deer and seriously injured Friday morning at a bus stop in Southeast Washington, according to a spokesman for the D.C. fire department. She was rushed to Howard University Hospital for treatment.
The department spokesman, Tim Wilson, said medical crews responded to Alabama Avenue and Naylor Road about 9 a.m. He said the call was for a report of a woman injured by a deer, although the animal had run off by the time help arrived.
Witnesses told WJLA-TV that the deer was walking up Naylor Road when it apparently was startled by the group at the bus stop and tried to leap over them. One witness told the television station that the deer kicked the woman with its hind legs, knocking her down.
The area is heavily traveled by motorists and pedestrians, and it is near an elementary school, a ball field and several retail shops. It is also a few blocks from Fort Stanton Park.
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Meet in the RSLsc2 GROUP
Bo3 until the finals, which is a bo5. Current map pool, players may veto down to 3 maps with the higher seeded player vetoing first.
This event has been pushed back a week. For that reason, the prize pool will double for both points and prize money.
Eligibility Rules:
1) Players must live in a region eligible to qualify for the unified WCS system.
2) Absolutely no barcodes.
3) Players must have not been premiere league in the previous season of WCS. | {
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You know, I used to think I was pretty pessimistic about our future as Americans. But every day I find a new reason to look back and marvel at how naive I was, and realize how screwed we are.
Case in point: this video about American yutes discussing their problems.
Here’s the background – President Trump said during a speech that now is the best time to be a young person in America, because of his presidency.
OK, kind of a spurious claim, but let’s run with it. So, the BBC goes out and talks to American yutes and asks them if they feel fortunate.
Seriously, grab a beer, dump some fentanyl in it, and prepare yourself.
It’s bad…. really bad:
Wow. Like… wow.
It’s unbelievable the level of ignorance you have to operate under to believe that the problems of young people are worse than ever before. And the examples they cite, are the expense of child care, and gun violence, and
I cannot emphasize enough how screwed we are.
CHILDCARE
Do you know why child care is so expensive? Because we have broken homes with single parent families where one parent is trying to raise a kid while also paying for full time care of that child. You know why people didn’t have to worry about that in the past? Because they didn’t have children out of wedlock, and they didn’t get divorced.
So yes, you’re facing a setback prior generations didn’t, BECAUSE THEY WEREN’T ACTING AS STUPID AS YOU ARE.
I want to shoot myself in the brain when I hear stuff like this. Now look, I’m not judging people who happened to be in a bad situation through no fault of their own. Clearly, it would be wrong to put the blame on them.
BUT when you have high rates of children being born out of marriages, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether it’s tough to be in this generation or a past generation. It has to do with stupid people making dumbass decisions.
“Uniquely to us, childcare is sooo expensive” says Priscilla, 26, in the video. I am embarrassed that this generation is so stupid.
GUN VIOLENCE
THEN Tatiana whines about gun violence. GUN VIOLENCE IS DOWN ACROSS THE BOARD YOU IDIOTS. HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS?!?!?
“It’s not something that older generations necessarily had to grow up with, in the back of their mind.”
It’s painful. PAINFUL to see such stupid people say such stupid things.
STUDENT DEBT
I am so sick and tired of this BS about student debt. Yes, it’s difficult, yes, it’s onerous, but again, YOU AGREED TO THIS. This has NOTHING to do with older generations except for the fact that they weren’t STUPID enough to take out a loan for something that they could not pay back!!
The vast majority of outstanding student debt is from people who didn’t complete college. The headlines scream about the PhD idiots who have hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, but thats the fringe. Most of those people can pay it back because a PhD is pretty lucrative education.
Most of those who don’t pay it back are those who didn’t belong in college, went for two or three years and flunked out, and owe about $10k, but will never pay it back. Again, those are bad stupid decisions on your part, NOT anything that the world has imposed on you.
THINK THERE’S A POSITIVE? NOPE IT’S A NEGATIVE.
Oh, and the worst, the absolute worse is when they talk about the best thing about being an American yute. They literally cite Twitter and Facebook as advantages!!! LOL!! WOW. What a sick stupid joke.
“Political motivation is made easy…. like the #MeToo movement!” Hannah the genius.
So screwed. S-C-R-E-W-E-D.
It’s one thing to be stupid. You can overcome that. It’s a whole other deal to be SO stupid that you count your weaknesses and ignorance as strength, and call your strengths weaknesses.
BRB, this beer needs more fentanyl. | {
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Christine O’Donnell, the Republican candidate for Senate from Delaware, has admitted to using campaign funds to pay part of the rent on her townhouse, potentially a violation of campaign finance laws. The Associated Press reports:
[O’Donnell] acknowledges using campaign money to pay part of the rent on her current town house. Her attorney maintains someone with the Federal Election Commission approved the arrangement, although the commission’s rules say candidates can’t use campaign money for their mortgage or rent “even if part of the residence is being used by the campaign.”
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Last month, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington declared that O’Donnell is “clearly a criminal” for allegedly using $20,000 of campaign money for personal expenses.
“Ms. O’Donnell has spent years embezzling money from her campaign to cover her personal expenses,” CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan, said. “Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much these days, but both sides should agree on one point: thieves belong in jail not the United States Senate.”
FULL AP STORY FOLLOWS BELOW | {
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Show caption Blockchain is is a digital ledger that is best known for its use with virtual currencies including bitcoin. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters Cryptocurrencies UK in strong position to be leader in crypto economy, report says Britain has required resources to be global hub for blockchain technology, analysts say Angela Monaghan Mon 16 Jul 2018 06.01 BST Share on Facebook
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The UK is well-placed to become a leader in blockchain technologies and the crypto economy, according to a new report.
Britain has all the required resources, as well as industrial and governmental will, to become a global hub for the technology by 2022, according to analysis by the Big Innovation Centre, DAG Global and Deep Knowledge Analytics.
Blockchain is a digital ledger that provides a secure and public way of making and recording transactions, agreements and contracts; its best-known use is bitcoin, the virtual currency. The database is shared across a network of computers and becomes a long list of chronological transactions that have taken place since the beginning of the network.
Sean Kiernan, the chief executive of DAG Global, said the gap would close in the UK between the traditional financial system and the crypto economy.
“The UK is a major global financial hub and in recent years has become a fintech leader as well. At the same time, it is starting to demonstrate significant potential to become a leader in blockchain technologies and the crypto economy,” he said. “The gap between the two worlds of traditional finance and crypto economy remains, but in the coming years we can expect this to lessen and eventually disappear.”
The report’s authors considered the £500m-plus worth of investments into UK blockchain companies that were made in 2017-18 and concluded Britain had the potential to become a world leader in the digital and crypto economy ecosystem within the next few years. The research was carried out in coordination with the all-party parliamentary group on blockchain.
“Blockchain has been recognised by the UK parliament as a very important and disruptive technology, and it has shown commitment to support the accelerated development of the digital economy via a variety of government initiatives,” said Birgitte Andersen, chief executive of the Big Innovation Centre.
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I remember the first time I heard about the Ice Bucket Challenge. It was a few weeks ago when photos and videos of people dumping water on their heads began appearing on Facebook. Soon, I started to see headlines on twitter mentioning one famous person jokingly challenging another. It sounded fun.
I also remember when I found out the Ice Bucket Challenge was started to combat ALS, the neurodegenerative disease my father died from 18 years ago. That was last Saturday. Initially, I was overjoyed all this attention was now focused on ending a disease that had caused me so much pain. My favorite hockey stars were participating, and Ethel Kennedy even challenged the president to douse himself.
But when I looked closer, I became uneasy. No wonder it took me weeks to learn the Ice Bucket Challenge was linked to ALS. Most of its participants, including Kennedy and Today’s Matt Lauer didn’t mention the disease at all. The chance to jump on the latest trend was an end in itself. In fact, the challenge’s structure seems almost inherently offensive to those touched by ALS. Here’s how the ALS Association describes the rules:
The challenge involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness. Those who refuse to take the challenge are asked to make a donation to the ALS charity of their choice.
That means everyone you’ve ever seen dump water on themselves, per the rules, is not asked to donate. They may choose to, but the viral nature of this fad appears centered around an aversion to giving to money. “Want to help fight this disease? No? Well, then you better dump some cold water on your head.” The challenge even seems to be suggesting that being cold, wet, and uncomfortable is preferable to fighting ALS.
Ice Bucket defenders would argue this is all just meant to “raise awareness,” meaning those who participate are still doing good without donating. ALS needs all the awareness it can get, but somehow I doubt many learned a whole lot from contextless tweets of wet celebs smiling and laughing.
But here’s where my argument breaks down. Problematic elements aside, the Ice Bucket Challenge has raised $2.3 million since July 29th. That money will go towards treating people just like my father, and maybe one day, finding a cure. So do the ends justify the means?
After thinking long and hard about it, my short, reluctant answer is yes. I’m not going to stand here and try to stop a trend that is doing so much good. I’m also encouraged by an increase in the number of participants who I’ve seen at least mention ALS alongside their tweets and Facebook posts. I plan on participating myself, and I urge everyone reading this to join me. You can donate to ALS research here.
But at the same time, I can’t help but feel this challenge could have done so much more good if it were structured differently. Maybe people could dump ice water on friends who haven’t donated as goofy way of encouraging others to give, or dump water on themselves before promising to donate. Maybe helping ALS could at least have been presented as something other than a consolation prize.
Articles like this one, reductively titled “Stop hating on the ice bucket challenge — it’s raised millions of dollars for charity,” miss the point. In an age where hashtag activism and information-free awareness campaigns are becoming more and more common, we should be very conscious of how to make viral trends as useful as possible.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has done a lot of good. Let’s make sure the next one is even better.
Contact us at [email protected]. | {
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For better and worse, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker launched his presidential campaign Monday as a nearly perfect embodiment of the modern Republican electorate.
Begin with the demographics. Walker is well-positioned to appeal to the average Republican voter because he is the average Republican voter.
In 2012, 87 percent of Republicans were white, the average Republican voter was 49.7 years old, and 52 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters were men, according to Pew. The most loyal GOP voting group, outside of the smaller set of Mormons, is non-Hispanic evangelical Protestants. Using slightly older data, half of Republicans live in suburbs or small towns, compared with 27.74 percent in cities and 21.19 percent in rural areas.
And while Democrats hold a 47 percent to 37 percent lead over Republicans with voters whose highest level of educational attainment is a high school degree and a 52 percent to 40 percent edge among those with at least one college degree, the Democratic advantage is narrowest (47 percent to 42 percent) among voters who attended college but did not earn a degree.
Walker, who is white and male, will be 49 on Election Day in 2016. He is the son of a Baptist preacher who points to God's will as the force behind his political career. He lives in Wauwatosa, a city in the suburbs west of Milwaukee that has a small-town feel, and he attended Marquette University but did not graduate.
One Republican to unite them all
But Walker's everyman Republicanism doesn't end at his census form. It's hard to imagine anyone doing a better job than Walker has so far of finding spots on the Republican political spectrum that appeal to grassroots conservatives without alienating the establishment wing of the GOP. And he's done it while winning three times in a politically competitive state — a fact his allies cite in making the case that he would be well-positioned to win back the White House for the GOP.
"He blends both sides of the party," said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who hasn't yet made an endorsement.
Walker's like the Kraft American single of the Republican primary field: solid, but so processed for mass consumption as to lack real flavor
Walker burst onto the national political scene by aggressively busting unions in a blue state on the edge of the Rust Belt. After he cracked down on state employees' collective bargaining rights, Democratic activists collected enough signatures to force Walker into a recall election in 2012. He won with 53 percent of the vote, garnering a national list of donors and supporters in the process.
Voters reelected him in 2014, reinvigorating his crusade to make it harder for Wisconsin workers to organize. Earlier this year, Walker signed legislation making Wisconsin a "right to work" state. That's been a boon for him with corporate leaders, most notably the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, who have pledged to spend nearly $1 billion on the 2016 election and who have signaled he's likely their guy.
As he did with the Koch brothers, Walker's proved himself to be savvy at the art of appealing to other major forces in the Republican policy world. He is expected to announce Monday that his campaign chairman will be Michael Grebe, the president of the Bradley Foundation, which has long underwritten efforts to promote private school vouchers, welfare reform and a variety of faith-based policy initiatives.
Walker's institutional support speaks to an agenda that reflects the interests of both business and religious conservatives — key pillars of the Republican Party that are not always on the same page. Walker's been as reliable an ally to social conservatives as he has to business interests.
At Walker's request, the Wisconsin legislature last week sent him a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy without standard exemptions for victims of rape and incest. He wrote a letter to Wisconsin Family Action during his 2014 campaign touting his opposition to abortion and his defense, as governor, of the state's constitutional prohibition on same-sex marriage. He also signed a prenatal ultrasound law in 2013, and his budget this year redirects funds that would have gone to Planned Parenthood — which he proudly cites as a "defunding" of the women's reproductive health group.
It's tough to find a policy on which Walker doesn't line up with conservatives: He rejected Medicaid money from the Affordable Care Act, has been a consistent supporter of gun owners since withdrawing his co-sponsorship of a gun control bill early in his career as a state legislator, and he's signed on to Grover Norquist's Taxpayer Protection Pledge — a promise not to raise new taxes.
Though his sons disagree with him and his wife, Tonette, says she's "torn" on the issue, Walker slammed the Supreme Court's recent ruling guaranteeing same-sex couples the right to marry. In the wake of that decision, he called for a constitutional amendment allowing states to ban same-sex marriage. Indeed, as his presidential ambitions have grown, Walker's become a more vocal foe of same-sex marriage.
His social conservatism has been particularly helpful in Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus state, where he has consistently led by a healthy margin. Recent polling shows that he's managed to walk a fine line in appealing to Iowa Republicans without disqualifying himself to GOP voters in other states.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal survey released last month revealed that only 19 percent of Republicans say they wouldn't consider voting for Walker. The only candidate with a better percentage was Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 15 percent. That means that even as Walker trails frontrunner Jeb Bush in national polls, most Republicans are still open to hearing his case.
"Walker is definitely trying to offer something to all major factions of the Republican Party," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in the Los Angeles area. "To traditional Republicans, he offers his record as governor of a purple state, which shows that he knows how to handle the practical problems of governing. To economic conservatives, he offers a strong conservative stance on fiscal issues and his epic battle against public sector unions. To religious conservatives, he offers his life story as a pastor's son and his (newly) tough position on same-sex marriage."
Walker's biggest problem: immigration
The issue Walker has struggled with most is, unsurprisingly, the issue that most sharply splits the GOP's corporate establishment from white working-class voters who form the heart of the Tea Party and have been attracted of late to Donald Trump's message: immigration.
Wall Street and major corporations — including the Koch empire — like the influx of cheap labor and of highly skilled workers. And party elders worry that the GOP may wither if it can't find a way to appeal to Hispanic voters. But many GOP activists are motivated by their opposition to comprehensive immigration reform, which they call "amnesty."
Walker has found himself caught in the middle, clumsily signaling at different times that he is sympathetic to both sides.
In March, Walker announced on Fox News Sunday that he no longer supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. "I don't believe in amnesty," he said. "We need to secure the border. We ultimately need to put in place a system that works — a legal immigration that works." By April, he had convinced the Senate's top hard-liner on immigration, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, that he wouldn't go soft.
But earlier this month, Stephen Moore, the chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told the New York Times that Walker had said in a phone call that he was "not going nativist" and is "pro-immigration." When Walker's campaign objected, Moore recanted — not just walking back the specifics of what Walker said but denying there had ever been a phone call.
The positions aren't necessarily irreconcilable. If a Republican president signs an immigration law with a path to citizenship, you can be sure he won't call it "amnesty." Moreover, Walker's change of heart on immigration puts him in good company among Republican primary contenders.
Rubio helped write the so-called Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill that the Senate passed in the last Congress, then backed away from the bill. He says he's never abandoned his support for a path to citizenship, but says that should only happen in a sequence in which the US border with Mexico is made more secure first.
Jeb Bush has navigated a tortuous path on immigration. He was once open to a means for undocumented immigrants to attain citizenship — like the one George W. Bush proposed when he was president — but now says those in the US should be allowed to earn legal status, not citizenship.
Immigration has confounded Walker because there's no clear answer that satisfies both the corporate wing of the GOP and the activist base. On most matters, he's been able to find safe ground that pleases various Republican constituencies, showing an affinity for finesse that is a hallmark of top-flight politicians. On immigration, it's not clear that that safe ground exists.
The three open questions about Scott Walker
So, Walker checks a lot of boxes in the GOP primary: Republican voters can identify with him, he's got significant institutional support, and his positions match up well with those of the Republican primary electorate. But there are still three big questions looming over his campaign.
Does he have the charisma to inspire voters? Would he lose the general election by winning the primary? Can he pass the commander-in-chief test?
Since he's from Wisconsin, perhaps a cheese simile is a fitting way to explain his persona. Walker's like the Kraft American single of the Republican primary field: solid, but so processed for mass consumption as to lack real flavor. Like that staple of the standard American family's refrigerator, Walker lacks the pizzazz of pepper jack or the refinement of Roquefort. He has the natural charisma of the workaday sandwich, and it will be interesting to see whether that will be a hindrance, as some Beltway insiders think, or perhaps even helpful.
A more existential question for Republican voters is whether they actually want to put forward a candidate who represents the current party so well. Republicans lost the last two presidential campaigns. While Walker's three victories in Wisconsin show he's capable of winning in one swing state, he was never on the ballot at the same time as a high-turnout presidential election. It's not yet clear how Walker would expand the party's reach to independents or Democrats.
The third major question facing Walker is one that matters for both the primary, and, if he can win that, the general election: Can he run the country?
Walker's spent his career at the state and local level, as a legislator, county executive, and governor. He doesn't have the kind of foreign policy experience that some of his Republican rivals have gained as members of the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services, and Intelligence Committees, or even the international business acumen of Bush or Trump. Like Obama, he'd have to rely almost entirely on selling his worldview, rather than his foreign policy bona fides, in a campaign against Clinton.
"Most Republicans will see him as acceptable on the issues, but will they see him as presidential?" Pitney said. "That will depend on his performance in the debates. If he stumbles on foreign policy issues, he will start losing support. Voters actually know little about foreign policy themselves, but they expect their president to understand it." | {
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Knowledge provides Best Spoken Classes in Jalandhar. At knowledge icon pupils get one to one lessons which let them know their areas of impr... See More | {
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The biggest wildfire ever recorded in California, which exploded to more than 450 square miles in just 11 days, continued to spread in the northern part of the state Wednesday as firefighters struggled in hot, windy, rugged conditions to contain it. Dubbed the Mendocino Complex fire, it is actually two fires burning near each other that cover a combined swath of land the size of Los Angeles.
Search in the field below to see how much of your hometown would be scorched by a fire as big as the record-breaking Mendocino Complex.
The blazes have torched at least 75 homes and 68 other structures. Firefighters say they expect to contain the twin wildfires, currently 20 percent contained, by the beginning of September.
| {
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Weld's friend Icepick texts him at three in the morning, she can't sleep, and neither can he. So he heads over. While there, he learns more about her than he ever expected. And he gets laid. | {
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In March, Americans United intervened in Lenoir City, Tenn. after we received reports about a public school that openly favors Christianity.
Trouble began when Krystal Myers, a senior at Lenoir City High School, attempted to submit a column in her school’s newspaper in which she outlined how difficult it is to be a non-believer in an overwhelmingly Christian community, and how she feels like something of a second-class student at a school in which sectarian prayers before football games and graduations are commonplace. (Her column was banned from the newspaper because, school officials said, because it might cause a disruption. The piece later ran in the Knoxville News Sentinel.)
Now, in what is beginning to feel like a cliché, Myers is being subjected to hateful rhetoric and threats from a community that claims to be Christian and prides itself on loving God. Here’s a sampling of some of what’s being said about Myers in a thread called “Krystal Myers Should be Excommunicated from the City and County” on a local message board.
“We cant [sic] pray at football games or school board meetings anymore because of the .. Tramp…$lut… Bitch,” said a poster named “Dude.”
“She should be taken outside the city and stoned,” a poster named “Jethro” said.
“She will burn…..,” “Tennessee Boy,” said simply.
Others have taken to more traditional forums, such as the News Sentinel. In a letter to the editor, J.A. Frahme of Knoxville had the audacity to accuse Myers, who stood up for the Constitution and the First Amendment, of being the closed-minded one.
“Krystal Myers' god is herself,” Frahme wrote. “She wants all others to adhere to her belief by removing God from having any place in the public arena. So it is one religion (atheism) telling another religion (Christianity) to get out of public and governmental places. The students have every right to exercise their Christian beliefs as she does her atheism.”
People like Frahme are totally off base. Not only did Myers find it difficult at best to express her beliefs, but Christian educators were expressing their religion in a way that not only offended Myers, but was unconstitutional.
Sadly the community’s intolerance doesn’t end there. In a separate incident, a gay student named Zac Mitchell was featured in an article for the Lenoir City High School yearbook that was called “It’s O.K. to be Gay.”
This sent some in the community into a tirade.
On the Lenoir topix.com board, one angry poster wrote:
“As a former editor of the Lenoir City High School Annual, I am sad and mad that such trash could be part of the yearbook. … See, people, when you ask God to leave our schools … this is what is going to happen.”
But the prize for most extreme overreaction goes to Van Shaver, a board member of the adjacent Loudon County Schools, who said the teacher who oversees the yearbook should be fired and that a full police investigation should be launched “to hold accountable any and all those who had a hand in this despicable act.”
Protestors have called on students to rip the article about Mitchell from their yearbooks, and some are asking the school to prevent Mitchell and Myers, from walking across the stage at their upcoming graduation.
Americans United understands that the school probably won’t cave to protestors, but heightened security, possibly local police and National Guard members, may be needed at the ceremony.
It’s so sad that people who are just trying to live their lives by their own beliefs are shouted down simply because those beliefs don’t conform to the norm in a community. The United States is supposed to be a place where people can live their lives as they see fit, provided they don’t harm anyone else. Myers and Mitchell haven’t hurt anyone.
The only folks causing trouble are the citizens of Lenoir City who seek to demonize these kids because they had the fortitude to be different. Myers and Mitchell are courageous young people, and we commend them for their stand. | {
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I love Secret Santa every year. It's fun to buy for someone else, but also fun to see what others get you. This year my santa got me something I didn't know existed but is perfect. At the beginning of the year I got into playing the tabletop rpg Pathfinder. I love playing and while my kids love to roll the dice and "want to play" they would not yet be able to handle it. My santa found a great gift that I can play with them - probably with a little help still - Munchkin Pathfinder. I've never played Muchkin before, but it seems like a lot of fun. I immediately opened it up to read all about how to play it, so that we can maybe take a try and playing it over the Christmas break.
They also threw in a copy of their band's new CD. While I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, I love music so I'm looking forward to giving it a listen. I have diverse musically tastes, so I'm sure it will fit in somewhere. I love people sharing something they create and enjoy.
Thank you alexrrobo for the great gift exchange this year! | {
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Billionaire hedge fund managers who are backing the campaign to take Britain out of Europe stand to bank millions more pounds a year in the event of a so-called “Brexit”.
Two of the five richest hedge fund billionaires in Britain are already linked to EU exit campaigns, and The Independent understands that other fund managers are planning to throw their weight behind the Out campaign in the coming months.
Tough European rules made in the wake of the 2007 financial crisis would be under threat if hedge fund bosses helped to force the UK’s exit from the EU.
Without the restrictions, hedge funds – which specialise in high-risk, short-term investments – would save about £250m a year, an analysis by this newspaper has calculated. Bonus rules which force hedge fund bosses to reduce the amount of cash they pocket and are designed to stamp out reckless trading would also be at risk if the UK left the EU.
“There are quite a few hedge fund managers who are anti-EU,” said one Mayfair hedge fund boss, who did not want to speak publicly. “Many are generally opposed to it.”
The emergence of an anti-EU hedge fund wing will sharpen the debate over Britain’s role in Europe after the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, waded into the debate on Wednesday by supporting the UK’s continued membership of the EU.
Belgium: Juncker gaffe: 'I don't think Britain needs the European Union'
Divisions in the City are already emerging, with multinational investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup breaking ranks with the Mayfair-based hedge funds to back the UK’s EU membership.
One of the most prominent leave campaigners is Crispin Odey, the founding partner of Odey Asset Management. The Harrow-educated billionaire has thrown his support behind an organisation called Vote Leave, a formidable lobby group campaigning to “end the supremacy of EU law”. Mr Odey has a substantial war chest at his disposal to fund the campaign after paying himself £47.8m last year.
“We joined an economic union, not a political union, and you should give voters a say,” Mr Odey said. “This is nothing to do with hedge funds and the EU. My criticism of the EU pre-dates the regulations which have come in.”
Mayfair, where many hedge funds are based; EU directives have restricted secrecy and bosses’ profits (Alamy)
His spokesman later clarified: “This is nothing to do with self-interest except as a UK national wanting the UK to have the right commercial terms with Europe.”
Sir Michael Hintze, the fourth-richest hedge fund boss in Britain, with a £1.2bn fortune, has also been linked to the campaign, due to his role as a cheerleader for Business for Britain, an affiliate to Vote Leave.
Sir Michael, who runs a hedge fund called CQS, has donated just under £1.9m to the Conservative Party in the past five years and has complained in the past about how EU regulations are stifling financial markets. He declined to comment.
The Vote Leave campaign head, Dominic Cummings, last week said: “No hedge funds have bankrolled us so far.”
Mayfair’s gilded hedge fund community was hit with a wave of new rules after the financial crisis, targeting everything from its secrecy to how much individuals could pay themselves. The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive generated ill will towards Brussels from powerful financiers used to operating outside the system.
Hedge funds’ costs were expected to rise by 5 per cent a year due to the directive, according to a KPMG survey of hedge fund managers in 2011. Based on total expenses of about £5bn a year calculated by The Independent, the new rules are equivalent to a £250m hit to hedge funds a year – which is probably going to be passed on to investors.
Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted, who steered EU policy on the hedge fund sector, said: “It’s very self-interested of hedge funds because they’re saying, ‘To hell with the country, we want to make money and we think we’ll be able to escape regulation.’ Some hedge funds in the UK don’t see themselves as part of Europe because their business is largely transatlantic.”
The hedge fund trade body the Alternative Investment Management Association said it was not possible to estimate how much hedge funds would save through a Brexit.
“It is impossible to conclude that the individual views of hedge fund managers constitute the view of an entire industry, nor is it possible to conclude that an exit from the EU will make it any easier to bypass EU regulations, especially when accessing EU investors or trading on EU markets,” said the chief executive, Jack Inglis.
On Sunday, it was reported that BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, said it may move operations out of London if Britain leaves the EU. According to The Mail on Sunday, Joanna Cound, BlackRock’s head of government affairs and public policy in Europe, told a British Bankers’ Association conference last week: “Our largest single office is in London and we have 14 offices throughout Europe. More than half of our revenues come from clients around the rest of the EU. I am not sure that the balance would remain as it is if the UK left the EU.”
BlackRock later said that to draw any conclusion from Ms Cound’s remarks would be misleading.
Divided: City bankers vs fund managers
The referendum vote is still a long way off but the battle lines in the City are already drawn between investment banks and fund managers
IN
Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs
The South African-born co-head of Goldman’s international arm has said leaving Europe would hurt Britain’s financial sector and Goldman could move staff elsewhere.
Stuart Popham, Citigroup
The former legal eagle is now EU vice-chairman of Citi and has voiced concerns London’s financial district would lose out if Britain left.
Bill Winters, Standard Chartered
The Young Vic board member and boss of one of Britain’s biggest lenders has said a UK exit would be bad for the City.
OUT
Helena Morrissey, Newton
The fund boss warns European regulations are overwhelming the City and creeping into every area of finance.
Luke Johnson, Risk Capital
The entrepreneur and Pizza Express founder has criticised the way the EU is run and supports a vote to decide the UK’s future.
Alexander Hoare, C Hoare & Co | {
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Giovani Lo Celso looks to be Tottenham's second new arrival on transfer deadline day.
There has been plenty of speculation around Spurs on the final day of the transfer window, with Lo Celso, Ryan Sessegnon and Paulo Dybala all tipped to join the club.
And with Sessegnon already through the door, Lo Celso has now joined him, becoming Mauricio Pochettino's fourth summer signing.
Here's how the protracted transfer saga of Argentinian Lo Celso panned out.
Pochettino talks
Lo Celso is believed to favour a move to Spurs despite the reports that Manchester United were interested in acquiring him.
The i report that player wants to play under Pochettino at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next season, with the Spurs boss said to be applying pressure on the club to push through a deal for the player.
The report also states that the midfielder has held informal talks with his fellow countryman over a move to N17.
Spurs' secret weapon
One person that could play a key role in the deal to take Lo Celso to Spurs is Real Betis fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, according to the i.
Fans may remember the Spaniard from his time at White Hart Lane during Juande Ramos' ill-fated spell as manager between 2007 and 2008.
Having worked under the experienced boss at Sevilla, Alvarez made the move to north London before later following Ramos to Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow and Dnipro.
(Image: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Well, it appears that he has already spoken with Lo Celso about Spurs as the i claim that he has played a role in recommending the Lilywhites to the player.
Lo Celso on Spurs move
In an recent interview with Radio La Red, the player confirmed there had been no progress in regards to a summer move to north London as he prepares for the Copa America.
"There's nothing new about Tottenham," he confirmed. "I'm 100% focused on what the national team is.
"We know how strong the English league is, but I'm not focused on that."
Deal almost complete?
Reports from Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo claimed that Lo Celso's transfer to Tottenham was '80% complete', with representatives of the two clubs having met to continue negotiations a few days ago.
Earlier reports claimed that Tottenham were waiting until the conclusion of the Copa America in order to move the deal forward, but Argentina's semi-final loss against Brazil has cleared the path for a deal to be done.
It is also reported that Spurs' full concentration was on sealing the deal for Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, but with that deal now in the bag, the club's attention can go onto other targets, including Lo Celso.
Contract 'agreed'
According to reports in Spain, Tottenham have already agreed personal terms with Giovani Lo Celso.
Tottenham will fork out £150,000-a-week to land the midfielder.
Fekir move boosts Spurs' Lo Celso hopes
Nabil Fekir's completed move to Real Betis could be good news for Spurs.
The midfielder moves for a fee of €20m and a potential €10m in bonuses, and could crucially be seen as a replacement for Giovani Lo Celso.
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Truth about '£45m bid'
Some reports claimed that Tottenham agreed a £45m fee for the Argentina international earlier in the transfer window.
However, football.london understands that while Spurs remain heavily interested in the player, who hails from the same region as Mauricio Pochettino, and are in negotiations, a deal had not been struck for that price at that time.
Betis don't want to sell, but need to fund transfers
According to AS, Real Betis ‘need to get the money’ from the sale of Giovani Lo Celso to cover the cost of signing Nabil Fekir and to fund a potential move for Espanyol striker Borja Iglesias.
However, Betis are reportedly ‘reluctant to accept’ Tottenham’s €50m bid but time is running out given the Premier League transfer window closes on August 8th.
Lo Celso exit key to deal
New Real Betis manager Rubi is believed to have targeted a raid on his former club Espanyol for striker Borja Iglesias this summer.
The 49-year-old only left the Barcelona-based side earlier in the month but he wants to be reunited with the frontman at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
According to Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness), Lo Celso could be key to this deal going through as Borja has a €28m release clause in his contract.
(Image: Alessandra Cabral/Getty Images)
Betis are believed to be willing to pay the fee, but the fact that it has been mentioned that they want Espanyol to accept instalments suggests they don't have it all to pay in one go.
That could mean that Lo Celso is moved on in order so that they can lure Borja to Andalusia.
Betis tour squad omission
Last week Real Betis announced their squad for their pre-season tour of Mexico and it included the likes of Nabil Fekir, Joel Robles, Sergio Canales, William Carvalho, Marc Bartra and Javi Garcia.
But there was no room for Lo Celso.
The announcement has prompted excitement from supporters.
(Image: (Quality Sport Images/Getty Images))
However, Lo Celso not being named might not be solely down to an imminent transfer to Spurs.
One possible reason for him not making the squad is being given extra time off after representing Argentina at this summer's Copa America tournament in Brazil.
Lo Celso expected in London
According to Mucho Deporte, Giovani Lo Celso is expected to arrive in London over the coming days as Tottenham look to accelerate moves for him and Paulo Dybala.
Could there be some major developments this week?
Club 'flatly deny' medical reports
Lo Celso's club Real Betis have 'flatly denied' reports that the player is due for a medical in London this week, according to Estadio Deportivo.
The report also claims that the Argentinian midfielder is due back at training with La Liga side on Wednesday following his break after taking part in the Copa America.
However, it is also reported that Real Betis are desperate for the money in order to balance the books, and the possibility of keeping the former PSG man is 'virtually unfeasible’.
Competition
It seems that if Tottenham want to secure the signing of Lo Celso then they are also going to have to fight off competition from two other Champions League clubs who are turning to the Argentine after missing out on other targets.
Both Napoli and Atletico Madrid are now said to be interested in Lo Celso, meaning that Spurs are going to have to move quickly to complete a deal.
Read about the two clubs' interest here.
Confusion over Lo Celso's future
The future of the Real Betis star remains up in the air after conflicting reports emerged about his future.
The Daily Record reported that Spurs had agreed a £55million deal for the midfielder, while reports from Spain claimed that the Spanish side had broken off talks.
'Talks resumed'
According to Marca, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has now 'resumed negotiations' with Real Betis for the midfielder. It seemed that the two clubs were too far apart in their evaluation to be able to come to an agreement, with talks stalling in recent days.
However, the report claims that Tottenham have now re-entered talks with the Spanish side, with the possible move impacting on Christian Eriksen's future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
(Image: PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images)
It is reported that the Dane is edging closer to a move to Old Trafford, with Manchester United said to be increasingly confident of signing the Spurs man.
Although, BBC journalist Simon Stone claims that the Red Devils have called off talks over Eriksen, because of concerns of the player's wish to move to Spain.
£55.4m bid
With the transfer window closing on Thursday, Tottenham have lodged a €60million bid for Lo Celso on Wednesday, according to Sky Sports News.
The offer equates to around £55.5million and is much closer to Real Betis' €70million valuation of the player.
The Times reported that Spurs had gone in with a new bid, with Sky going one further in reporting that it is worth €60million.
(Image: Alessandra Cabral/Getty Images)
Lo Celso has been a name that has been strongly linked with Spurs for most of the summer. Will the deal get over the line before the window slams shut?
Deal close
Reports coming out of Spain will be music to the ears of Spurs fans and Pochettino.
ABC claim Lo Celso won't feature against Raja tonight despite making the trip to Morocco and this is because he is close to joining the north London outfit.
Finally some light at the end of the tunnel.
Lo Celso in England to undergo medical
It seems that the deal is coming to a positive conclusion for Tottenham, with it looking as if they have got their man.
A breakthrough in negotiations came last night, with reports claiming that an initial fee of £55m has been agreed between Spurs and Lo Celso's club Real Betis.
The player has flown over to England in order to undergo a medical with Spurs, with journalist Fabrizio Romano claiming that the midfielder is now in England and will become a Tottenham player over the 'next hour'.
Deal details
The finer details of the deal that will see Lo Celso become a Tottenham player have been revealed.
According to ABC Sevilla (via SportWitness), the Real Betis midfielder will join the club on an initial loan deal after the clubs failed to come to an agreement on the structure of the payments. The loan will include a purchase option which can be activated at any time.
Diario De Sevilla (via SportWitness), also claim that the deal will see Spurs pay €49m, which is made up of €15m for his loan this coming season and €34m next season.
The report also claims that Lo Celso's desire to move to Tottenham have pushed the deal through.
Although there is a claim that the the purchase option of €41m will see Spurs own 80% of the player, with Betis retaining the remaining 20%, which Spurs will be able to buy should they meet certain conditions.
Deal completed
Tottenham are yet to confirm the deal, but it is understood that Lo Celso has now completed his move to Tottenham on loan, with an obligation to buy if the club qualify for the Champions League.
Sky Sport Italy reporter Fabrizio Romano is reporting that Lo Celso has now signed his contract with the N17 club, having completed his medical.
The deal is reported to be made up by a £15.5million loan agreement, with the purchase option set to £51million. | {
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Burger King's latest plan: Whoppers delivered while you're sitting in traffic
In Burger King's latest pilot program, you don't go to the Whopper, the Whopper comes to you. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
You're stuck in a sea of standstill traffic when it begins: hunger pangs, the kind that unleash a steady stream of fast food fantasizing.
With your grumbling stomach growing louder, your options are limited: You can wait a few hours for the roadways to clear or pull a Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down, leaving your car idling on the freeway while you set off on foot (please don't do this).
Now Burger King, the global hamburger behemoth, is betting that hungry drivers will welcome a third option: a direct to driver delivery concept the company has labeled "The Traffic Jam Whopper."
Using an app developed by the burger chain, the initiative -- which is being rolled out in Mexico City following a one-month pilot program -- allows drivers to order food directly to their car, where it is delivered via motorcycle.
A video released by the company shows a motorcycle delivery driver weaving through slow-moving traffic before knocking on a customer's window and handing over a bag of food.
Reached by email, Gustavo Lauria, co-founder of the advertising agency We Believers, which developed the vehicle delivery concept, said the new approach allows the burger chain to capitalize on a time of day in which the city's nightmarish traffic typically slows business.
"Mexico City has the worst traffic in the world (according to the latest TomTom Global Traffic index)," Lauria wrote. "People spend up to 5 hours in their daily commute -- meaning they are not in their houses or offices to order delivery."
"This was an opportunity for Burger King to generate a new revenue out of those hungry drivers," Lauria added. "In fact, The Traffic Jam Whopper increased deliveries by 63 percent during the month of April in participating restaurants."
Food delivery apps have exploded in popularity in recent years, experts say, with companies like DoorDash, Postmates, GrubHub and UberEats seizing on consumers' desire for customizable meals and convenience. In a recent report, the research firm Cowen and Co. forecasts that U.S. restaurant delivery sales will continue to skyrocket, reaching $76 billion by 2022.
To meet the growing demand, restaurant owners are scaling back their seating and car companies are rushing to create autonomous vehicles capable of delivering food without human drivers.
Despite the influx of innovation, Lauria claims Burger King is the first fast food brand to deliver food to people in the middle of a traffic jam. In Mexico City, the company said, delivery drivers are already is receiving an average of 7,000 orders per day, mostly to homes and offices.
To make the traffic jam delivery process possible, Burger King's Mexico app activates the service after identifying congested areas in Mexico City during periods of high traffic. Customers can only place an order if the app determines that the driver will be locked in traffic for at least 30 minutes and they are within a 1.8-mile radius of a Burger King restaurant, the company said.
Push notifications alert drivers when they've entered a delivery zone and company billboards were used to display information about the status of customer orders. Drivers are prompted to place their order using hands-free voice command.
Early on, Lauria wrote, the initiative was met with skepticism. The challenges were complex: making sure real-time geolocation data was accurate enough to intercept a moving target and creating a hands-free interface to take orders in a country that has adopted stiff penalties for drivers who use cellphones behind the wheel.
"Ultimately, to make sure we could predict traffic density accurately, we analyzed historical Waze data from Mexico -- such as average speed, journey length, possible deviations from main streets and distance from Burger King restaurants -- to identify ideal locations and times of the day where delivery to cars stuck in traffic was doable," Lauria wrote.
Though to company did not offer a timeline, Burger King says it expects to roll out the Traffic Jam Whopper in other cities with high-density traffic, such as Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. | {
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The honeymoon By Merwild Watch
255 Favourites 25 Comments 5K Views
After Bart killed Corypheus, his brother fell ill and passed away. Bart and Dorian then went to Ostwick to visit his family. There, Bart showed Dorian where he grew up and he took him to the Alienage where his mother used to live. I imagine it as a very beautiful place where the elves grow a lot of flowers. People don’t have a lot of money but they are very welcoming and happy. One of Bart’s aunts still lives there. At some point, Dorian says that the Alienage really was a nice place to raise kids. He smiled for himself and this moment is when Bart knew Dorian was the one and he finally said to him “I love you." Dorian had said it long before him and I think he just asked Bart to marry him. I can imagine the wedding in the Alienage, underneath the big tree, with Bart's family.
IMAGE DETAILS Image size 2948x3448px 3.35 MB Show More
Published : Nov 3, 2015 | Mature | {
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Shareholders in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp are asking a US court for permission to sue the firm's board for failing to stop the phone hacking scandal.
The shareholders asked Delaware judge John Noble on Wednesday to proceed with their case against Murdoch, his sons Lachlan and James and the rest of the company's board. News Corp is attempting to have the case dismissed.
In all, 50 people have been arrested in connection with the scandal, News Corp has closed its most profitable newspaper, the News of the World newspaper, and lost a deal to take over the BSkyB satellite broadcast business.
The shareholders, including America's Amalgamated Bank and Central Laborers' Pension Funds, charge the company's executives put their own interests ahead shareholders and treated the firm as a "family candy jar".
The lawsuit was originally filed in March 2011 over News Corp's agreement to buy Shine, a TV production company owned by Elizabeth Murdoch, the News Corp chairman's daughter, for $670m. It was amended after the phone hacking scandal emerged.
"All of this harm occurred because the board chose to protect those close to Murdoch rather than investigate the misconduct when it learned about it," the shareholders said in June in their amended complaint.
"These revelations should not have taken years to uncover and stop. These revelations show a culture run amuck within News Corp and a board that provides no effective review or oversight," the shareholders charged.
Charles Elson, chair in corporate governance at the University of Delaware, said lack of board oversight was a difficult case to bring but that News Corp's dual class share structure could present the Murdochs with some challenges.
News Corp has two classes of shares, and the Murdochs' shares give them 39% of the company votes although the family owns about 15% of the equity.
"The chances of bringing these type of cases are usually pretty slim but here you have independence and conflict of interest issues vis a vis the board so there's more of a shot," said Elson.
Elson said the judges in Delaware, where News Corp and many other US firms are incorporated, were interested in the conflicts that dual class share structures present to shareholders. "In my view dual class share structures cast a shade over a board's independence," he said.
News Corp is under investigation by the US justice department under the foreign corrupt practices act which can impose heavy fines on US firms found to have bribed foreign officials. | {
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — For the tour guides that lead visitors through the Van Ostade Housing Project, Fabrice Schomberg’s sukkah is one of the few signs of the neighborhood’s Jewish roots.
Built in the 19th century for impoverished Jews, the enclave today is surrounded by the largely Muslim neighborhood of Schilderswijk, an area that the Dutch media have taken to calling the “Sharia Triangle,” referring to Islamic religious law. Fewer than 10 Jewish residents remain and, aside from Schomberg’s sukkah, there are virtually no markers of the area’s Jewish past.
Now even the sukkah’s fate is in doubt.
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After weeks of negotiation with the city, Schomberg was informed that he could build his sukkah only on condition that he dismantle it by 9 o’clock each night. According to Schomberg, the police had advised the city against allowing a sukkah at all, since it might invite Muslim vandalism.
To Schomberg and his supporters, the city’s reluctance to allow a sukkah in Van Ostade is emblematic of the Dutch approach to the rise of Muslim fundamentalism — urging targeted communities to keep a low profile rather than standing up for individual freedoms. But others fault Schomberg, alleging that he has used religion to stir conflict at the community’s expense.
‘Resistance to my sukkah is not just about building permits’
“Resistance to my sukkah is not just about building permits,” said Schomberg, a British-born artist who has erected a sukkah outside his door for the past three years. “There’s a wider context.”
That context includes three demonstrations this summer, all featuring flags of the ISIS jihadist group; two included calls to murder Jews. A few dozen people attended each of the rallies. The city has since banned all demonstrations in Schilderswijk.
Schomberg was himself verbally assaulted in Schilderswijk while in the presence of a film crew that he had invited to see what happens when he wears his yarmulke in public.
“Advertising one’s Judaism is dangerous here,” said one Jewish resident who asked to remain anonymous to protect her safety. “I don’t wear any Jewish symbol on the street and I installed my mezuzah on the inside.”
Despite these concerns, she supports Schomberg’s fight to build a sukkah and said she plans to visit the sukkah over the Sukkot holiday, which begins Wednesday at sundown.
“Banning sukkot is like banning Judaism,” she said.
‘I don’t wear any Jewish symbol on the street and I installed my mezuzah on the inside’
Police and city officials would neither confirm nor deny Schomberg’s claim that police had advised the city to deny the sukkah permit, nor would they answer questions about the level of risk facing Jews in Schilderswijk. The city also would not say why Schomberg must dismantle the temporary holiday dwelling at night.
Schomberg, who has appeared several times in Dutch media this summer because of the “kippah walks” against anti-Semitism that he organized in Schilderswijk, says his sukkah helps build bridges to non-Jews whom he invites as guests.
But some Jews who know Schomberg describe him as a troublemaker who is endangering the community, citing the invitation he extended to the stridently anti-Muslim Dutch politician Geert Wilders to visit his sukkah.
In September, the board of the Jewish Community of The Hague informed Schomberg that he was banned from entering any of the city’s Orthodox synagogues until 2016 because “his behavior has endangered the community.” Schomberg said he was told by the Reform community that he was not welcome there either.
In an attempt to reverse the ban, Schomberg launched an online petition that has collected 31 signatures, but it also drew criticism from some of his detractors.
“Mr. Schomberg’s actions, past and present, as well as his constant media-seeking behavior do not reflect any concern for the safety of any [Jewish] groups,” a member of the Orthodox community, Stephanie Baumgarten-Kustner, wrote on his petition last week. “In fact his behavior puts the entire Jewish community in the Hague (and the Netherlands) at risk.”
Other critics say they fear Schomberg will use the sukkah to advance a political agenda, though Schomberg denies having one. He insists that his pariah status is born of the fact that he suffers from bipolar disorder and is intent on countering the community’s desire to keep a low profile. | {
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Editor’s note: ESPN’s X Games host Ramona Bruland got a 180 m.p.h. introduction to NASCAR recently when X Games veteran and NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie, Travis Pastrana, took her on a few laps at Daytona International Speedway. A feature from the ride-a-long will air during the X Games coverage this week as well as in ESPN’s telecast of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway. Pastrana is driving an X Games-themed car in the Iowa event and will then travel to Los Angeles to compete in Global RallyCross at X Games.
In this first-person narrative, Bruland, a native of Australia, tells of her NASCAR orientation:
Travis Pastrana is a nutter to start with, but put him behind the wheel of a NASCAR race car and he’s going to push the limits and ride the edge for as long as possible, as does every good race car driver. I seriously had low expectations going into this ride-a-long with Travis. Fast car, around a track, a bit of fun, but no big deal. Boy was I in for a surprise! Travis was ready to go. He wanted to skip the chit chat and just buckle up.
The X Games graphics on his car were super cool, right down to a copy of each individual medal he’s won. They had modified the inside of the car to accommodate an extra seat. I went to get in but of course there is no door. Can’t remember the last time I climbed in through a car window. That in itself was fun. I strapped in and we were off.
Nothing out of this whole experience surprised me more than lack of traction we had when Travis peeled out. We were fishtailing everywhere and THAT is what freaked me out. As Travis explained to me afterwards, the cars are designed with as little downforce as possible so they are incredibly squirrely when not on the course going max speed. So for those first few seconds I got a shocking experience firsthand of the slicks and the lightness of those cars, and just how volatile they actually are.
After that start to the ride there was no chance of relaxing. I was just waiting for the tires to slip out and slam us into that looming cement wall that was at times just feet from me. I had absolutely no faith in that car on the first two laps, I thought I was going to die. My faith in Travis was minimal too, after all he’s the king of crashing. It took me a lap and a half just to get my cussing under control. But I still kept putting my hands out to brace or hold onto something as if that would help if we did crash going 175 m.p.h. Just as I was starting to be able to see clearly and focus on specific details like which way was up, it was over as fast as it had started.
Talk about an adrenaline rush. I’ve jumped out of planes, I’ve done acrobatics in gliders, I’ve ridden in Baja 500 cars, on dirtbikes, snowmobiles, been paragliding, downhill mountain biking, bungee jumping and deep sea diving, just to name a few, and this experience was a total rush. Loved every minute of it. There is nothing like a little NASCAR ride-a-long to get the blood pumping and heart racing. You’re always more nervous as a passenger than when you’re in control, but I was happily and sufficiently freaked. It was a day I will never forget.
Would I do it again? Absolutely! What would I change? Well maybe they would let me drive and we could put Travis in the passenger seat. Then we’ll see how much he likes that!
As told to Andy Hall | {
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Activision Publishing laid off a number of employees across several companies this week, Kotaku has learned. The publisher let go of staff at Infinity Ward, Beenox, and other internal studios as well as their corporate office, according to sources, despite saying yesterday that they had surpassed their revenue targets for 2016.
From what we’ve heard, Activision Publishing laid off 5% of their workforce, although the company’s other divisions, like Blizzard Entertainment and MLG, were not affected. Activision Publishing, which is a division of Activision-Blizzard, comprises the publisher’s corporate headquarters in Santa Monica as well as a number of studios across North America, including Infinity Ward, Beenox, and Treyarch.
The layoffs, which followed a week of rumors among Activision staff, landed alongside yesterday’s Q4 2016 earnings call, during which Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg was candid about the publisher’s disappointment with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Infinity Ward, developers of Infinite Warfare, laid off around 20 people according to a source.
Activision also reported a “better-than-expected and record fourth-quarter.” Still, the publisher’s slate for 2017 is very slim, with only Destiny 2 and a new Call of Duty planned for this year according to yesterday’s call.
When reached by Kotaku, Activision sent over this statement: “Activision Publishing is realigning our resources to support our upcoming slate and adapt to the accelerating transition to digital, including opportunities for digital add-on content.” | {
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Article content
Increased passenger traffic and lower operating costs are driving profitability at Canadian airlines, with Air Canada and WestJet both posting robust second quarter profits that blew past expectations.
With the launch of 16 international and U.S. routes in the second quarter, Canada’s largest airline reported robust traffic growth of 13.6 per cent, driving passenger revenues up by 11.9 per cent to $3.52 billion. On June 29, Air Canada flew nearly 167,000 passengers, setting an all-time record that chief executive Calin Rovinescu expects will be surpassed over the upcoming August long-weekend.
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“We have increasing confidence that our business plan can indeed deliver what we indeed expect it to, regardless of fuel prices, foreign exchange or other extraneous factors,” Rovinescu said in a conference call with analysts Tuesday.
“Demand continues to be robust in a stable fuel and pricing environment as we move into what has historically been our most important quarter, given the travel demands and patterns of our North American customers.” | {
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The governor of Tennessee has signed a bill that legally recognizes blockchain data and smart contracts under state law.
Governor Bill Haslam signed the measure on Thursday, public records show, capping a months-long process that saw Tennessee become the latest U.S. state to pursue such legislation. According to data from LegiScan, the bill had sailed through the legislature since its introduction in January, passing both chambers unanimously.
As the text of the bill explains:
“As introduced, recognizes the legal authority to use blockchain technology and smart contracts in conducting electronic transactions; protects ownership rights of certain information secured by blockchain technology.”
The law also recognizes smart contracts as having legal power, stating that “no contract relating to a transaction shall be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because that contract contains a smart contract term.”
The law is similar to efforts in Florida and Nebraska to store legal information on a blockchain. However, the Florida bill “died on calendar,” filings show, while the Nebraska bill has not yet been voted on by the full Assembly. It remains unclear if and when the Nebraska legislature will move for a full vote.
Arizona’s governor signed a similar measure into law last May.
Tennessee legislature image via Nagel Photography / Shutterstock | {
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Cuff’d is what happens when “Campus PD” meets “Taxicab Confessions” meets “Cops”. According to the show’s summary, this half-hour block of reality programming “takes an inside look at what happens between the time young offenders are arrested and arrive at the police precinct for booking.” I watched the premiere episode and although the description is completely accurate, I prefer my reality TV with less “cautionary tale” and more mindless fun. Just a personal preference.
You may not have heard of MTV’s newest attempt to avoid showing music videos (they’ve been doing it for years, addressing it won’t change anything, but it’s fun to do it anyway) because it airs at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT….not exactly prime time programming. But if you’re already watching “Ridiculousness” or “Death Valley”, and you’re into documentaries about arrested youth, then hanging out in MTV territory for an extra hour (or less) won’t kill you.
This ‘Public Drunk’ clip from the show will probably help you make a definitive ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ vote for this show. Either way…enjoy!
Vodpod videos no longer available. | {
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A big get with Harvey Weinstein accuser Lauren Sivan wasn’t big enough to pull Megyn Kelly out of her ratings slump.
Her “Megyn Kelly Today” viewership slipped from 0.77 ratings points on Monday to 0.54 ratings points on Tuesday of last week.
“It’s a possible all-time low for ‘Today.’ It may even be lower than her [Fox] cable show. [NBC News president] Noah [Oppenheim] and [NBC News and MSNBC chairman] Andy [Lack] are in big trouble,” a source told us.
Another source added, “That’s a big drop. They have to turn this around.”
Kelly also appeared for the first time on MSNBC earlier this week.
“It’s unthinkable. You don’t see Matt [Lauer] or Savannah [Guthrie] on MSNBC … It’s not a good sign.”
Kelly’s lackluster ratings are also dragging down “Kathie Lee & Hoda,” Page Six reported after Kelly’s hour of “Today” was down 32 percent as compared to a year ago, while “Kathie Lee & Hoda” fell 26 percent, and insiders are blaming that on Kelly’s “weak lead-in.”
But on Friday, an NBC insider insisted: “Megyn’s having a strong week. Her numbers are up double-digits versus last week,” and “NBC News anchors appear frequently on MSNBC.” | {
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A Jeep belonging to a firefighter deployed to combat the Eagle Creek fire was discovered stolen from the Cowlitz Fire District's Kalama Station on Thursday morning.
Jake Sorensen has been with the department for six years and told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he's never had anything stolen from him while on duty.
KATU first reported the theft on Facebook and shared a photo of the stolen vehicle, noting that it's currently without its top canopy. The Washington state license plate is BGP9355.
Jake Sorensen's Jeep, license plate number WA BGP9355. It currently does not have its top.
Another vehicle, this one a county-owned Ford F350, was also stolen from the station. The pickup was later found in Gresham.
Sorensen said that thieves also made off with a $12,000 55-inch touchscreen, parts of the station's server and that a crew member also had his room raided.
"The whole station was ransacked," he said.
But the setback isn't first and foremost on Sorensen or his fellow firefighters' minds.
"Just because our stuff's stolen doesn't mean the fire quits burning," he said.
The Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office has a person of interest in the case, according to a news release, but are not publicly identifying the suspect.
It's also the second such incident firefighting agencies reported this week. In Brookings, a crew from Lane County had thousands of dollars in gear stolen as they slept. Sorensen said it's unsurprising that firefighters are targeted when they're on duty.
"They know we're gone for up to 16 days at a time," he said. "And we're heading back out tomorrow to continue the battle."
The Eagle Creek fire, now 5 percent contained, has so far scorched approximately 31,000 acres of the Columbia River Gorge, as of the latest estimates. Oregon State Police say the fire was started when a 15-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, tossed a firecracker off a hiking trail.
--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344
@edercampuzano
[email protected] | {
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A resolution to repeal the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules passed the Energy and Commerce Committee in a 30-23 party line vote, and is now headed to the full House.
The resolution may not ultimately succeed because it requires President Obama's signature, and he supports the FCC rules.
During the markup session, Democrats, who support the regulations, argued that the repeal process is overaggressive and that the FCC policy is necessary and moderate.
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"Americans overwhelmingly oppose practices which limit a free and open Internet, but Republicans have turned a deaf ear," said Communications subcommittee ranking member Rep. Anne Eshoo (Calif.).
Democrats were miffed that their attempts to amend the resolution were ruled nongermane. Committee Chairman Fred Upton (Mich.) noted that this is the normal process under the Congressional Review Act.
Communications subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (Ore.) pushed back against criticism that the subcommittee is wasting its time on a partisan topic that's unlikely to ultimately succeed.
He said he has told committee members that his subpanel will take on key issues, noting FCC reform in particular.
Pro-net neutrality groups expressed disappointment about the vote.
"It’s a shame that legislators who would nullify the Federal Communications Commission’s Net Neutrality rules ignore that big network providers would be able to block websites, give preference to others and discriminate in traffic management," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. | {
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A dozen or more Government ministers could quit by the end of the month if Theresa May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period beyond March 29, a leading Tory opponent of EU withdrawal has said.
Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said that the next round of Brexit votes on February 27 would be a “high noon” moment when resignations on this scale – which he said could include six Cabinet members – might bring Mrs May’s Government down.
He was speaking as Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt made clear his unwillingness to accept a no-deal departure, telling hardline Brexiteers in a tweet: “We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you’d better agree one. In the next fortnight would help.”
Could any members of the PM's top team be prepared to quit? Credit: PA
Angry Tory loyalists have turned on the party’s Brexiteers after Mrs May’s plans suffered another humiliating Commons defeat on Valentine’s Day.
Business minister Richard Harrington accused the European Research Group (ERG), led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, of “treachery” and said they were “not Conservatives” and should join former Ukip leader Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party.
Defence minister Tobias Ellwood accused the ERG of acting as “a party within a party” and described their behaviour as “provocative”.
Meanwhile, Margot James became the latest minister to rule out remaining in the Government if it allowed a no-deal Brexit.
The Digital Minister told Channel 4 News: “I could not be part of a government that allowed this country to leave the European Union without a deal.”
Tobias Ellwood has accused the ERG of operating as a ‘party within a party’ Credit: PA
Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister would continue with her negotiating strategy, with ministers dismissing Thursday’s vote as no more than a “hiccup”.
Number 10 said Mrs May spoke to the Polish President Mateusz Morawiecki, the Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas and the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Friday afternoon.
Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom acknowledged that Thursday’s defeat had not strengthened Mrs May’s hand in her effort to persuade the EU to change the proposed backstop arrangements to keep the Irish border open after Brexit.
But she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The Prime Minister carries on. She will continue to seek those legally binding changes to the backstop that will enable Parliament to support our deal.
“The one problem with last night’s vote is that it allows the EU to continue with this pretence that they don’t know what we want. They do know what we want.”
Ms Leadsom did not discount the possibility of ministerial-level resignations, telling Today: “Resignations from Government do happen… People have very, very strong, heartfelt views about leaving the EU or remaining within it. That is a matter for them as individuals.”
But she insisted: “The vote yesterday didn’t change anything. The Government’s position remains to resolve the issues of the backstop and then come back to Parliament with a fresh meaningful vote. It’s essential we crack on with that work, and that’s what we are doing.”
There was fury among some Conservative MPs after an announcement by the pro-Brexit ERG moments before the crucial vote on Thursday evening that its members had taken a “collective decision” to abstain.
With some Remainers also failing to vote, and five Tory MPs voting with the opposition, the Government fell to a 303 to 258 vote defeat.
Mr Grieve said the ERG “seem to be completely cavalier about the risks that the country might run if we leave with no deal”, something which he said the “overwhelming” majority of MPs were not prepared to accept.
It starts to bring into question whether in fact the Government is able to operate in the national interest at all Dominic Grieve
He told Today that he understood a number of ministers had already told Mrs May that if she was unable to secure a Withdrawal Agreement which could command the support of the Commons, she should extend the two-year Article 50 negotiating period.
If she refused, he said “a dozen or even more” ministers may resign, including “up to half a dozen” from the Cabinet.
Asked whether this could bring down the Government, Mr Grieve said: “Yes it could, and this isn’t a desirable outcome.
“The irony of all this is that most of us in the Conservative Party are sufficiently united to want to try to operate a coherent Government. But the truth is we’re finding it harder and harder to do.
“It starts to bring into question whether in fact the Government is able to operate in the national interest at all.
“We are facing a great crisis and we are not really looking at all the options for trying to resolve it.”
ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker dismissed the row over Thursday’s vote as a “storm in a teacup”.
Steve Baker has dismissed the furore over the ERG as a ‘storm in a teacup’ Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Brexit-backing MPs who abstained were not prepared to be associated with the “catastrophic and foolish negotiating error” of taking a no-deal Brexit off the table, he said.
He accused Mrs May of “reinterpreting” last month’s vote, which authorised her to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border in Ireland.
“I’m afraid people didn’t want to be treated like that twice,” Mr Baker told Today.
“I really do rather object to being called ‘hardline’ when what we are doing is trying to deliver an exit with a deal which works for everybody, with a transition period. We are making enormous compromises to work across the party.”
Credit: PA Graphics
Greek foreign minister George Katrougalos told Today that Thursday’s vote was “part of the contradictory message that we are receiving as the 27 from the UK”.
Mr Katrougalos said: “It complicates even further the situation. It’s very, very difficult to be optimistic about Brexit under these circumstances.
“I cannot exclude a miracle. Miracles happen, but I cannot see what kind of miracle it is that could save the day.”
It was “not foreseeable” that the EU would reopen negotiations or take the backstop out of the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement, he said. | {
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Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was right to describe half of President Trump's supporters as deplorables, ABC News' chief political analyst Matthew Dowd suggested Tuesday.
"With events over the last few years, and conduct and behavior we have seen, can someone explain to me how Hillary was wrong," he said, tweeting her previous comments. Dowd, who previously served on former President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, has been a vocal opponent of the president.
It was unclear exactly why Dowd asked that question but it came just after he retweeted a Washington Post op-ed claiming that Americans were less tolerant under Trump.
CLINTON SAYS SHE REGRETS CALLING TRUMP SUPPORTERS 'DEPLORABLES'
The op-ed came from controversial writer Jennifer Rubin, who tweeted polling data on Republicans being willing to allow businesses to refuse service to different minority groups.
Clinton, in 2016, famously tried to tie Trump to the "alt-right" and said you could put half his supporters into a "basket of deplorables" that included racists, sexists, xenophobes and homophobes.
On Twitter, Dowd received a flood of responses, including from people who agreed with him:
ABC NEWS DEMONSTRATES 'LEFT-WING' BIAS LEADING UP TO MIDTERMS, CRITICS SAY
One tweeter accused the ABC analyst of the type of "arrogance and self-righteous bloviation" that got Trump elected in 2016.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Dowd previously came under fire when he called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a "sexual predator" before the 2018 midterms -- a knock on Thomas, who faced sexual misconduct accusations from one of his former lawyers. | {
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Allegations of a supposed "illegal dinner party" contributing to Tasmania's coronavirus outbreak, first aired publicly by Australia's Chief Medical Officer, have been quashed by police.
Key points: Tasmania's Premier promises to release an internal report into the north-west outbreak and says there will also be an independent review
Tasmania's Premier promises to release an internal report into the north-west outbreak and says there will also be an independent review Police have dismissed allegations north-west healthcare workers held an "illegal dinner party" contributing to the disease's spread
Police have dismissed allegations north-west healthcare workers held an "illegal dinner party" contributing to the disease's spread Two thirds of Tasmania's cases are linked to the outbreak, as well as 10 of the 11 deaths
In a statement on Monday, Tasmania Police said it had conducted an assessment into an alleged illegal dinner party of healthcare workers on the north-west coast.
Earlier this month, Brendan Murphy told a New Zealand parliamentary committee that most of the people involved in a cluster of cases around the town of Burnie, including in the North West Regional Hospital, went to the dinner party.
He later walked back the claim, with union representatives saying the "baseless" claims had distressed frontline health workers.
Tasmania's Premier Gutwein also criticised the airing of the allegations.
On Monday, police said investigators had "determined that there is no evidence of such a gathering occurring after the relevant Directions by the Director of Public Health under section 16 of the Public Health Act 1997".
Tasmania Police said it "would like to thank the health care workers and general public and community that have assisted in advancing this enquiry".
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 21 seconds 21 s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy warns New Zealand to pay attention to Tasmania's experience. ( Lucy MacDonald )
On Monday night, Tasmania confirmed two more cases of coronavirus, a man and a woman from the north-west.
One is aged in their 20s, the other in their 60s.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Gutwein said an "independent review" would be conducted into the coronavirus outbreak in the north-west.
Mr Gutwein offered few details, saying the review would be conducted by "people with appropriate qualifications".
"The review will happen at an appropriate time but that does not mean we'll wait until the pandemic is over," he said.
"We will time it so our most senior people can remain focused on the task at hand, and that's getting on top of the outbreak."
The Government's own report into the outbreak was handed to the secretary of health responsible for the Tasmanian Health Service at the weekend, Mr Gutwein said.
He said it would be released in full later this week.
Anyone with 'minor' COVID symptoms should get tested
Tasmania COVID-19 snapshot Confirmed cases: 226
Confirmed cases: 226 Deaths: 13, 12 in north-west What do I do if I think I have coronavirus? If you think you might have COVID-19 phone your GP or the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738. Need an interpreter? Phone the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and tell them your language. For more information and factsheets: Visit the Tasmanian Government's coronavirus page here.
Last week authorities said infections associated with the outbreak appeared to be "trailing off".
On Monday the Premier warned people not to let "complacency creep in".
"This is an insidious disease," he said.
Tasmania recorded three coronavirus deaths between Friday and Sunday and four new cases on Sunday night.
So far 132 people have recovered from COVID-19 in Tasmania.
Authorities said there were 726 tests conducted in the state on Sunday and 553 people were already booked in for Monday.
Public Health director Mark Veitch said people should contact public health authorities to get tested for coronavirus "no matter how minor your symptoms".
Stay up-to-date on the coronavirus outbreak Download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest on how the pandemic is impacting the world
The high figures are partially due to healthcare employees in the region being tested so they can return to work.
"Quite a number of those tested in the north-west are healthcare workers participating in the return to work program, but many are members of the community," he said.
"There's a need to increase the testing in the north and south for people who have any respiratory symptoms at all … it's a very important part of community surveillance.
"We really want to see at least several hundred people come forward a day."
New cases in far north-west
Contact tracing is underway relating to three people from the Circular Head area who tested positive for the virus.
Dr Veitch said the new cases in Smithton showed how easily COVID-19 could spread.
"The important thing is, because this is a relatively new location … we're really encouraging people to go get tested if they have even the slightest sniffle."
Dr Veitch also confirmed a resident at the Melaleuca Home for the Aged in East Devonport was among the state's 11 COVID-19 fatalities.
Testing was conducted at three aged care homes in the state's north-west after a worker tested positive earlier this month.
Peter Gutwein says Tasmania will be keeping coronavirus restrictions in place for now. ( ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough )
No infections have been identified at the other two aged care homes.
Mr Veitch said all staff at the Melaleuca home would be retested.
Restrictions unlikely to be lifted early
Tasmania will not be following the lead of other states in relaxing coronavirus restrictions early.
Mr Gutwein said from the outset Tasmania had a particularly vulnerable population with more older people.
"While some states may lift restrictions early, I don't believe we'll be doing that," he said.
"I don't want to have a knee-jerk reaction and take away restrictions too early only to have to bring them back again." | {
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If D’Angelo Russell ends up in Minnesota before Thursday’s trade deadline, Andrew Wiggins will be heading to the Warriors. Multiple league sources say Wiggins is involved in every iteration of a deal being discussed between the two teams. Wiggins has the best contract on the Wolves to match salaries with Russell, and his career could be re-energized in Golden State. It might be the greatest heat check of the year if the Warriors trade for such a notoriously inconsistent player who’s owed $94.7 million through 2022-23.
But there’s a holdup: Minnesota isn’t offering enough draft compensation. As it stands, the Warriors have been offered Minnesota’s 2020 first-round pick and Brooklyn’s 2020 first-round pick, which the Wolves received from Atlanta in a separate four-team trade with Hawks, Rockets, and Nuggets. But the Warriors want future firsts instead of picks in 2020—most importantly, they want an unprotected first-round pick in 2021, which will have a much stronger draft class than the one coming this June. As of now, the Timberwolves aren’t budging on Golden State’s demands. At one point, the Warriors were directly involved in the blockbuster that took place Tuesday night. If the Timberwolves and Warriors follow up with a trade of their own, Wiggins, though, might benefit most of all. The former no. 1 overall pick would find himself in the most stable situation of his career after having had four head coaches in five and a half seasons with the Timberwolves. The Warriors have brought the best out of Russell; could they do the same for Wiggins?
The 2020 NBA Trade Deadline Check out all of The Ringer’s coverage of the 2020 NBA trade deadline
Situation matters. Wiggins has run a heavy dose of pick-and-roll and has performed quite poorly, never ranking higher than the 60th percentile in scoring efficiency since 2016-17, per Synergy Sports. The 24-year-old will probably never be the go-to scoring threat that the Timberwolves need, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a valuable piece in a different environment. In Golden State, Wiggins would operate in a system with more spacing than and play a simpler game. With Steph Curry and Klay Thompson sharing the floor, Wiggins could focus on shooting spot-up 3s, attacking closeouts, cutting, making the simple pass, running the break, and playing hard on defense—which is essentially Andre Iguodala’s old role.
Wiggins has been great at cutting since he was a Kansas freshman, but Minnesota’s system has never emphasized it as much as Golden State’s. The limited designed and improvised cuts to the rim he’s made over the years in Minnesota highlighted Wiggins’s elite athleticism and diminished his need to dribble. He’s savvy at using jukes to fake defenders and can finish lobs with fluidity, as shown in the clips above.
Though Wiggins can handle well enough to initiate a possession, he’s at his best when he doesn’t have to be the creator; he’s more adept as a cutter and shooter. Over his career, Wiggins has hit 36 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s, per NBA Advanced Stats. That’s nothing spectacular, but it’s enough to earn the respect of the defense.
It helps that Wiggins is finally attempting smarter shots—only 11 percent of his attempts this season have come from deep midrange, down from 26 percent over his first five seasons, per Cleaning the Glass. Wiggins has long been an eyesore because of his tendency to jack up 2s early in the shot clock, but now he’s looking to pass. He is making 41 passes per game this season, up from only 24 prior to this season, per NBA Advanced Stats. It’s easy to imagine Wiggins racking up more assists when the guards he’s kicking passes out to are Steph and Klay instead of Shabazz Napier and Jarrett Culver.
I’ve never been a big Wiggins fan. Heading into the 2014 draft, I had him ranked behind Joel Embiid and Jabari Parker. In the summer of 2018, a year after he agreed to a max extension, I tweeted that Wiggins would have an albatross contract “unless he starts passing, rebounding, defending and shooting well.” But it’s undeniable that he’s made improvements on the offensive end this season in Minnesota. And just as Russell has made a leap as an off-ball scorer under Steve Kerr, Wiggins could become a valuable offensive player with the right system and supporting cast in Golden State.
Maybe playing next to future Hall of Famers like Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green in a winning environment with legitimate NBA Finals hopes next season, Wiggins might even start defending with more consistency. At the least, Wiggins is a better defensive fit than Russell, whose effort this season with the 12-win Warriors is about as bad as it was last season when he was winning games with the Nets—his defense may never change. Wiggins, at 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan, would provide more size next to Curry and Thompson. He has shown glimmers of being a high-level on-ball defender over the years. There’s still some hope that he can tap into that with a new team, even if he can’t reach the defensive heights of Iguodala, a former Finals MVP.
Even if Wiggins doesn’t figure it out with the Warriors, he and the rest of the proposed trade package could help Golden State in other ways. The draft assets they receive could end up bolstering their bench with low-cost players. They already have their own lottery pick this year, and the pick they receive from the Timberwolves could give them another. A first beyond 2020 would make up for the protected 2024 first they lost to dump Iguodala on the Grizzlies in order to make room for Russell. By restocking their draft-pick cupboard, they’ll be a rare team that is ready to compete for a championship and is loaded with draft capital. Someday, maybe those young players and draft picks could be used to land the next superstar that finds himself on the trade market. The Warriors would need salary to make those types of big deals work, and Wiggins could be a good contract filler starting in 2021, when he’ll have only two seasons left on his contract, all the way up to the 2023 offseason, when they could sign-and-trade him. We’re a long way from that point, but by then, maybe the Sixers will be looking to break up Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, James Harden will want out of Houston, or Devin Booker will have finally had it in Phoenix; or, ironically, KAT will want to break up with Russell. The only way the Warriors would have a chance to land a star in a trade is if they have the salaries and assets to get it done; it helps to plan ahead.
This is all theoretical. Wiggins’s results haven’t changed much no matter who has been coaching him or what habits he’s revised. There’s a chance that Wiggins’s contract is indeed an albatross. The players the Warriors draft could fail—which is why they are right to ask for a better first-rounder from the Timberwolves. But there’s also sound logic to the proposed trade package for Russell: It could help the Warriors remain in the title chase while also invest in the future.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob said in 2018 that he wants his franchise to have a 20-year run like the Spurs. Draft picks, younger players, and salaries that’ll be tradable during the right year are what they need to keep this thing rolling as Steph, Klay, and Draymond play into their 30s. Trading for Wiggins is a risk, but he could be the risk that keeps the Warriors light-years ahead. | {
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Контекст
Отвечая на вопросы слушателей молодежного лектория, протоиерей Всеволод Чаплин заявил, что считает, что священнослужители имеют право носить дорогие вещи, поскольку эти вещи отражают общественный престиж Церкви. «Люди как правило несут самое дорогое в храмы, священнику, люди совершенно естественно хотят, чтобы их иерархи выглядели не хуже, чем представители светской власти, чтобы храмы выглядели лучше, чем резиденции светских властителей, чтобы церковные торжества были самыми красивыми и самыми торжественными», – сказал отец Всеволод. Слова отца Всеволода были подхвачены СМИ и уже через день оказались на первых полосах светских изданий. В ответ на слова отца Всеволода обозреватель ВГТРК и ведущий еженедельной программы «Церковь и мир с митрополитом Иларионом (Алфеевым)» написал Открытое письмо протоиерею Всеволоду Чаплину, в котором предположил, что либо новостные издания исказили слова отца Всеволода, либо он выразил не вполне то, что думал, и предложил отцу Всеволоду извиниться за слова, вызвавшие столь широкий резонанс. Протоиерей Всеволод отвечает на открытое письмо Ивана Семенова.
Дорогой Иван!
Рад возможности дискуссии и, раз Вы с самого начала развернули ее в публичном пространстве, принимаю этот формат.
Украшение не только храмов, но и одежд священнослужителей, в том числе одежд внебогослужебных, а также предметов, которые окружают священнослужителей в официальной обстановке (у иерархов практически любая обстановка официальная) — это не придуманная мной вещь, это традиция Церкви. Да, одежды, согласно каноническому праву, не должны быть кричаще-разноцветными, но они вовсе не обязательно должны быть бедными и грязными. К тому же мы знаем, что и иерархи христианской древности, и практически все архипастыри Церкви Русской имели и резиденции, не уступавшие или немного уступавшие царским и княжеским, и соответствующие колесницы. Мы знаем, что святой праведный Иоанн Кронштадтский носил шелковые рясы и передвигался на личном пароходе. Мы знаем (или по крайней мере могли бы поинтересоваться), что Патриарх Сербский Павел, позволявший себе иногда погулять по улице и проехаться на трамвае (что не мешало интеллигенции его поругивать), обычно ездил на мерседесе и жил в довольно величественной официальной резиденции. Мы знаем, что Сам Господь Иисус Христос посещал ужины в домах людей, которых нынешние интеллигенты назвали бы «совершенно нерукопожатными» — роскошествующих воров, да и не просто воров, а сборщиков оккупационного налога с собственного народа. Мытаря Закхея, например. Стол при этом наверняка был богатым и оплаченным на нечестные деньги.
Какой ужас для привыкших к диссидентским кухням интеллигентов! Какое разочарование для тех, кто привык любить Церковь только слабой, не говорящей с телеэкранов, одетой в драный подрясник, ютящейся в скрытом от нечистого объектива Китеже, за покосившимся забором полуразрушенного храма. Вот там благодать – ни мерседесов, ни мигалок, ни позолоченного иконостаса, ни «нерукопожатных» спонсоров…
Да, такая Церковь тоже у нас есть. Только ее положение совершенно ненормально. В стране, где миллионы людей именуют себя (кто с большим основанием, кто с меньшим) православными христианами, Церковь должна быть в центре народной жизни. Полуразрушенных храмов у нее быть не должно. Наоборот, ей приличествует обладать современными и солидными зданиями, красивыми облачениями, золотыми иконостасами (что не должно означать – безвкусными). А также достаточными знаками материальных возможностей, чтобы на равных говорить с теми, кто «встречает по одежке» и, быть может, пытается вести себя с позиции силы, опираясь на свое богатство и влияние. Будь то глава инославной либо иноверной общины, чиновник или бизнесмен. Не случайно все христианские сообщества – от Ватикана до самой бедной нашей епархии – стараются, общаясь с подобными непростыми собеседниками, «не ударить в грязь лицом». И так было во все века христианской истории.
Мне самому приходилось и при полном параде входить во дворцы, и в драном подряснике ходить по трущобам. Убежден, что для Церкви нужно и то, и это. Но ни на том, ни на этом не нужно слишком заострять внимание. Когда христиане без конца рассуждают о «блеске и нищете» одежд и часов – это признак духовного нездоровья. Или зависти. Или вечной квази-диссидентской привычки ругать все сильное, дорогостоящее, властное. Привычки, к счастью, уходящей в прошлое вместе с левацким пониманием христианства. Между прочим, тридцать лет живя в Церкви и зная очень многих, подметил одну особенность: все – подчеркиваю, все! – священнослужители, которые, имея возможность прилично одеваться и иметь приличный быт, постоянно подчеркивали свою «нищету» старыми подрясниками и убогими бытовыми условиями – были съедаемы, а часто и съедены изнутри гордыней. Не буду называть их имен. Но многие из тех, кого сейчас интеллигенция именует «святыми бессребрениками», в беседах «для своих» откровенно намекали, за что именно их надо после кончины канонизировать…
Ну и, наконец, о пресловутых мерседесах. Да, Святейший Патриарх ездит на дорогих машинах и живет в дорогих резиденциях. И это неизбежная часть послушания Церкви ее Предстоятеля. Верующие – среди которых чурающиеся богатых вещей интеллигенты (пост)советского типа давно уже не составляют большинство – скорее не понимают и не примут ситуации, когда муфтий или раввин будут ездить на более престижной машине, чем Патриарх. Такой уж у него крест. Помогает его нести, наверное, одно: основное жизненное пространство Святейшего – это небольшая келия в Москве. До недавнего времени была такая же в Смоленске. Больше ему не надо – не как Предстоятелю, для которого нужны внушительные представительские резиденции, а как монаху и человеку. И тем, какие на руке часы, он, по-моему, озаботился лишь после того, как это стало сильно волновать медиазавистников, в том числе (около)церковных.
>>>Автомобили Патриархов
Итак, дорогой брат… Церковь, ее храмы и священнослужители – иконы Христа, Царя царствующих, — всегда будут украшаться драгоценными предметами, которые жертвуют именно на такое украшение верующие люди. Такова традиция Церкви. А логика Иуды: «К чему такая трата? Ибо можно было бы продать это миро за большую цену и дать нищим» (Мф. 26, 8-9) — иудиной навсегда и останется. И извиняться по этому поводу Церкви нечего. Да и мне, наверное, тоже. Разве вот только извинюсь перед Вами за то, что поспорил с вещами, которые Вам почему-то кажутся бесспорными. Что ж, служитель Христа всегда виноват, да и перед всеми… Такова еще одна церковная традиция.
Ваш во Христе
протоиерей Всеволод Чаплин | {
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Introduction
The Nokia Lumia Icon for Verizon Wireless is the most capable smartphone to come out of the Finnish manufacturer to date. A successor to the Nokia Lumia 928, the carrier-exclusive Windows Phone handset ticks all the boxes of a proper flagship smartphone - from the chipset, through the camera and the display, all the way to the premium build and finish.
Nokia Lumia Icon official photos
Despite being fresh on the market, the Nokia Lumia Icon is hardly unfamiliar. The smartphone shares most of its innards with the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet. They include the beefy Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, as well as the capable 20MP PureView camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Here's what else the Icon has to offer.
Key features
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
Quad-band 3G with 21.1 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA support
Tri-band LTE Cat4 support, 150Mbps downlink, 50Mbps uplink
5" 16M-color 1080p ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Nokia Glance
20MP PureView sensor (15MP effective), 1/2.5" sensor size, Zeiss lens, Optical Image Stabilization, dual-LED flash
1080p@30fps video recording; 2x lossless digital zoom
1.2MP front-facing camera with 720p video recording
Windows Phone 8 GDR3 OS with Nokia Black
2.2GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, 2GB of RAM
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS support
Nokia HERE Drive+ with free lifetime worldwide voice-guided navigation
32GB of built-in storage
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
Wireless charging with optional accessories
Built-in accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
microUSB port
Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP and file transfers
SNS integration
Xbox Live integration and Xbox management
NFC support
Digital compass
Nokia MixRadio
Main disadvantages
Mediocre battery life
Somewhat thick for a flagship
No microSD card slot
Over the top carrier branding somewhat spoils the design
Lack of support for Nokia Glance Screen
Only available for Verizon Wireless in the United States
A quick glance at the key features reveals that the Nokia Lumia Icon is almost as well-equipped as a smartphone can be these days. Last year's GDR3 update for Windows Phone 8 opened the platform to the latest available hardware, so Nokia's high-end smartphone is as good any Android powerhouse currently on the market (and not too far behind the upcoming flagship wave, either).
In addition to the beefy internals, the Nokia Lumia Icon relies on the Finnish company's traditional strengths to succeed. They include hugely capable camera, nicely spec'd display, and good looks to go with an array of exclusive and handy services.
Nokia Lumia Icon live photos
All in all, the Nokia Lumia Icon has the making of a solid high-end smartphone proposition. We are not going to waste any more time introducing the smartphone. Head over to the next page where we will kick the in-depth review off with an unboxing of the Windows Phone flagship.
Editorial: You might notice that this review is shorter than usual and doesn't include some of our proprietary tests. The reason is it has been prepared and written far away from our home office and test lab. Still, we think we've captured the essence of the device in the same precise, informative and detailed way that's become our trademark. Enjoy the good read! | {
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Brazilian legend wins for third time in five years
With six losses in his last eight fights heading into UFC 139, it was pretty clear Wanderlei Silva needed a win.
Beyond needing one to keep from any further potential damage to his legacy, he needed one, probably, just to keep his job. Silva’s boss, UFC president Dana White, had not been shy about saying the legendary middleweight should probably hang up the gloves if he lost to Cung Le – and if Silva didn’t retire on his own, the likelihood that White would retire Silva for him was high.
But with a second-round TKO win over Le in the co-main event Saturday, Silva (34-11-1, 1 NC, 4-6 UFC) avoided the “retire now” talk, staving it off for at least one more fight.
But after the post-fight press conference Saturday in San Jose, Calif., White defended his stance on preferring to see a fighter like Silva walk away – same as he preferred for Chuck Liddell last year.
“I just don’t want to see anyone hurt – that’s all I care about,” White told a small group of reporters. “When you get to a point – and in my opinion, I’m no doctor – you start getting knocked out on a regular (basis), that’s it. I don’t want to see that any more. I don’t want to see it.”
White said his opinion has nothing to do with what he thinks of Silva as a fighter. But with four knockouts in his last six losses over the past five years, he’d prefer to see one of the sport’s all-time heroes still able to sensibly talk about his fighting days years from now.
“Wanderlei’s a warrior – he’s been around forever and people love him,” White said. “I love him – he’s been great to (the UFC) and to the sport, and I’m not going to have that stuff happen. People can disagree with me or whatever, but go start your own organization. I’m not doing that. I don’t want to see these guys around past their prime.”
Asked if he thought Silva understood his opinion, even before the upset win over Le, White said he believes that he did – and that if Silva chose to retire now, even without being pushed out the door, he’d be all for it.
“I think he’s gets it,” White said. “I’ve been very clear and open and honest about it. He looked good (Saturday). I’d be cool with (him walking away after the win), too. I would never try to talk somebody out of retirement. Never, ever, ever would I do that. Nope.” | {
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A year after Republican politicians and their media echo chamber claimed that Americans had—with the GOP “wave” election of November, 2010—embraced conservative economic, social and political values, the voters of November, 2011 chose to: Ad Policy
1. Renew Labor Rights.
Ohio voters rejected Governor John Kasich’s assault on collective bargaining protections and public employee unions by an overwhelming 61–39 vote. Said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, “Ohio’s working people successfully fought back against lies pushed by shadowy multi-national corporations and their anonymous front groups that attempted to scapegoat public service employees and everyone they serve by assaulting collective bargaining rights.” The result was not just a win for organized labor. It was a rejection of the crude politics of austerity that would balance budgets in the backs of working families in oder to reward CEO and banksters. “Ohioans from all backgrounds and political parties rejected the crazy notion that the 99 percent—nurses, bridge inspectors, firefighters and social workers—caused the economic collapse, rather than Wall Street.” said Trumka.
2. Reject Anti-Immigrant Demagoguery.
Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearse, the author of that state’s draconian anti-immigrant legislation, was removed from office in a recall election that saw the right-wing Republican defeated by moderate Republican Jerry Lewis. Randy Parraz, the co-founder of Citizens for a Better Arizona, the group that organized the recall drive, said, “This election shows that such extremist behavior will not be rewarded, and will be held accountable.”
3. Restore Democratic Rights.
Maine Governor Paul LePage and his allies eliminated same-day registration rules that made it possible for citizens to register and vote on election day. A petition campaign by Mainers forced a referendum on the issue and, on Tuesday, voters chose by a 61–39 margin to restore same-day registration. “The path of history is clear,” said former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine. “Our country has consistently marched forward, making our elections more accessible and open and encouraging people to participate.”
4. Protect Reproductive Rights (and Sanity)
Mississippi voters were asked to amend the state Constitution to define life “to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.” The general assumption among pundits was that the amendment would be adopted. Instead, it was rejected with relative ease—by a 58–42 margin. “The message from Mississippi is clear,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “An amendment that allows politicians to further interfere in our personal, private medical decisions, including a woman’s right to choose safe, legal abortion, is unacceptable.”
5. Give Democrats Critical Victories in Kentucky, Iowa and New Jersey.
In Kentucky, which voted for John McCain in 2008 and Rand Paul in 2010, Democratic Governor Steve Beshear was re-elected by a twenty-one-point margin as Democrats won down-ballot races in a result that suggested the Republican “wave” of last fall has receded. At the same time, a special-election win in Iowa allowed Democrats to retain control of the state Senate. In New Jersey, voters rejected Republican Governor Chris Christie’s attempt to shift the state Senate from Democratic to Republican control; in fact, they expanded Democratic control of the legislative chamber.
Democrats did not win everywhere. There were setbacks in legislative contests in Southern states such as Virginia and Tennessee. And progressives experienced a disappointment in Mississippi, where a Voter ID law that will erect new barriers to participation in the political process won 60–40.
But the lesson from 2011 is clear: The Republican/Tea Party moment of 2010 was just that: a moment. The new politics of 2011 is progressive. Progressive ideas are winning: in Ohio, in Maine and, yes, in Mississippi. | {
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There are fears for the safety of the LBGT+ community in Tanzania after a senior government official called on the public to report suspected homosexuals.
Authorities have already been handed thousands of names as officials declared a desire to “educate” gay people.
Paul Makonda, the regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam, announced that a 17-strong committee consisting of police, lawyers and doctors had been formed to identify homosexuals.
The committee will scour the internet to identify videos featuring supposedly gay content and warned citizens to delete any “sex pictures” they had stored on their phones or face arrest.
Mr Makonda said authorities had already been handed 18,000 messages of support for the policy from people “disturbed by moral erosion”, many of which also named individuals believed to be homosexual.
“These homosexuals boast on social networks,” the commissioner told Agence-France Presse. “Give me their names. My ad hoc team will begin to get their hands on them.”
Mr Makonda said he expected to receive international condemnation for his hardline approach, but added: “I prefer to anger those countries than to anger god.”
The commissioner is a devout Christian and a close ally of the east African country’s president, John Magufuli, who has ratcheted up anti-LGBT+ rhetoric since taking power in 2015.
Last year, the government threatened to arrest or expel gay rights activists as part of a crackdown on what the president described as “immoral behaviours”.
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Homosexuality is illegal in Tanzania and punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
The Foreign Office warns British travellers that same-sex couples are “not tolerated in Tanzania’s conservative society”. | {
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Spy Tools for Kids is a tool for creative, pretend play. We’ve brought together several exciting completely functional tools for budding spies to use: a disguise kit, identification kit, fingerprint scanner, voice changer, and night vision goggles.
Disguise Kit
Disguise yourself and your friends! Add hats, wigs, glasses, beards and mustaches. You can disguise a new picture or one already saved in your camera roll.
Identification Kit
Create you own spy agency ID and other false identities! Tap the photo to use your real picture or a saved disguise. Edit the text fields to customize, including the driver license state, passport country, spy agency name, security clearance, and more. Share your ID by using a long touch and the sharing dialogue will appear.
Fingerprint Scanner
Scan fingerprints to verify identities for access.
Note: The app does not actually scan fingerprints. The app randomly accepts or rejects the fingerprint.
Voice Changer
Change your voice! Sound younger or older. Impersonate your friends.
The voice changer can record up to 15 seconds. Use the slider to change the voice pitch lower or higher.
Night Vision Goggles
See in dark conditions! Take pictures using the camera button and save to your camera roll.
Note: The app can not see in total darkness. The night vision is simulated using the device’s camera. In very dark conditions, activating the camera’s video light will provide additional brightness.
Disguise Kit
Identification Kit
Voice Changer
Fingerprint Scanner
Night Vision Goggles | {
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NEW YORK CITY -- Throngs of people supporting immigrant rights took to the streets in protest Sunday, just as mass deportation plans from President-elect Donald Trump were revealed during his “60 Minutes” interview.
The marches began in Manhattan on Sunday largely to protest against Donald Trump’s presidential win, but the focus was on his immigration plans.
More than 1,000 people joined the march that started mid-afternoon and extended into the evening.
Demonstrators were holding signs in English and Spanish, saying things like “Hate won’t make us great.” They’re chanting, “We are here to stay.”
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Organizers have said they’re speaking out against Trump’s support of deportation and other measures.
The areas surrounding the president-elect’s Midtown home has become like a fortress, with the Secret Service and NYPD going to extremes to protect the future president, CBS New York reported.
Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s most reliable surrogates, said protesters around the nation are exaggerating the fear of a Trump presidency.
The former New York City mayor said he wishes that Hillary Clinton, the former Democratic presidential nominee, and President Barack Obama would say something to the protesters.
“I just hope it calms down,” Giuliani said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Giuliani said the protesters should respect the democratic process and calls them “kind of like professional protesters.”
Mostly, the demonstrations were peaceful. However, in Portland, Oregon, a man was shot and wounded Saturday morning during a confrontation. Police arrested two teenagers.
Police in Portland say they arrested a total of 71 people late Saturday and early Sunday during the anti-Donald Trump protests downtown.
In a news release Sunday, the Portland Police Bureau said the protesters failed to obey numerous lawful orders to vacate city streets. Most were cited for disorderly conduct and failing to obey an officer.
The bureau called in a public transit bus to transport the arrested to the central police precinct for processing.
Police said protesters repeatedly threw road flares and bottles at officers and that a police sport-utility vehicle was tagged with graffiti.
Several hundred protesters Sunday marched around Philadelphia’s City Hall and then down Market Street to Independence Mall, carrying signs and chanting “Donald Trump has got to go!” and “This is what democracy looks like.”
In Los Angeles, a few hundred people gathered outside CNN’s Los Angeles headquarters, and in San Francisco, hundreds of people, including many families with children, marched from Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach chanting “Love trumps hate!” On Saturday, an estimated 8,000 marched through downtown.
On Sunday, about 800 people marched through the state capital of Sacramento and hundreds others formed a human chain around the nearly 3.5-mile perimeter of Oakland’s Lake Merritt. Rallies in Oakland have at times become unruly, but those who came to the lake held hands and chanted, “We reject the president-elect.”
Demonstrations also took place internationally. On Saturday, a group of Mexicans at statue representing independence in Mexico City expressed their concerns about a possible wave of deportations. One school teacher said it would add to the “unrest” that’s already in Mexico. About 300 people protested Trump’s election as the next American president outside the U.S. Embassy near the landmark Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
On Saturday, demonstrators gathered in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as in smaller places like Worcester, Massachusetts, and Iowa City, Iowa. | {
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STREAM FROM ANDROID AND IPHONE
Get the best of both worlds with BT Sport app and Google Chromecast!
Connect your smartphone to your Chromecast, hit the cast button in the BT Sport app, and stream your favourite sports to the big screen. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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I can't get into Diablo 3 Where's my Karma? | {
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I read this lovely article and thought readers might like this, too
Some choice quotations:
‘Such is the life of a fathlete. First we must overcome the stereotyping, bullying, concern trolling, silencing, disbelief, prejudice, and hostility that start the instant we have the audacity to pursue fitness in a fat body. If we somehow claw our way through that to succeed at our sport, we are often rewarded by an escalation of poor treatment and such fervent denial of our existence that many people think they’re more likely to see a rainbow pooping unicorn than a fat athlete.’
And:
'In addition to encouraging the stereotyping of fat people as un-athletic and unhealthy, the misguided approach of using body size as a proxy for health ignores the research. Matheson, Wei et. al, and the Cooper Institute Longitudinal Studies show that habits are a much better determinant of health than size. It also ignores the fact that health is never completely within anyone’s control. Say any of that out loud and you’ll find yourself shouted down faster than they told Galileo to sit down and shut up.’
In case my link didn’t work: http://msfitmag.com/all-hail-the-fathletes/
(Now where are the tags for 'Surprisingly not rage-inducing’ and 'Writers getting it right’?) | {
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We’ve long since passed the point where it’s noteworthy when polling data shows a Democrat faring better with female voters than a Republican. The partisan gender gap has been evident in every national election since 1980, when Ronald Reagan essentially settled for a tie with Jimmy Carter among women, while crushing him among men by nearly 20 points.
It is news, though, when the male/female split suddenly widens and emerges as the potentially decisive factor in a presidential race. And while it’s still early, that may be where we are in the 2012 campaign.
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A new USA Today/Gallup poll of 12 battleground states shows that Barack Obama actually trails Mitt Romney by 1 point among men. But among women, the president is ahead by 18 – giving him an overall lead of 9 points, 51 to 42 percent, in the battleground venues. This is a dramatic shift from mid-February, when the same poll put Romney ahead of Obama by 2 points. The difference is an exploding gender gap that can be isolated to a specific segment of the female voting universe:
The biggest change came among women under 50. In mid-February, just under half of those voters supported Obama. Now more than six in 10 do while Romney's support among them has dropped by 14 points, to 30%. The president leads him 2-1 in this group.
This is very likely a result of the prominence that contraception and women’s health issues have assumed in the public debate since February, when Republicans revolted against the Obama administration’s efforts to make birth control a mandatory component of health insurance coverage.
The way Republicans conducted themselves during that fight – Foster Friess’ aspirin comment, a GOP-convened House committee hearing made up entirely of male witnesses, Rush Limbaugh’s “slut” attack on Sandra Fluke and the reluctance of top Republicans to loudly condemn him for it – has made it easy for Democrats to claim that they are engaged in a “war on women.” Romney’s own statement last month that “we’re going to get rid of” Planned Parenthood if he’s president and the mandatory ultrasound bill that Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell recently signed after a high-profile battle have had the same effect.
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Nationally, Obama’s support from women has also been increasing. Back in January, a CNN/ORC poll showed him trailing Romney among registered voters by 1 point, 48 to 47 percent. That survey gave Obama an 8-point edge among women, 53 to 45 percent, with leaners included. The newest CNN/ORC numbers, released last week, put Obama 23 points up among women, 60 to 37 percent, helping to push him to an 11-point overall advantage over Romney.
Granted, Obama’s improved political position isn’t purely the result of gender politics. His standing with men has also jumped up; he was trailing with them in CNN’s January poll, but now is ahead. The positive economic news of the last few months has bolstered Obama’s image, just as the ugly nominating process that will apparently end with Romney as the GOP nominee has soured voters on him and his party. But the new battleground data suggests that women are at the heart of Obama’s gains – and that they could make the difference between victory and defeat for him in November.
This may be a case of history repeating itself. The last Democratic president to stand for reelection, Bill Clinton in 1996, owed his reelection to a massive and decisive gender gap. His campaign against Bob Dole is generally remembered as a sleepy, suspense-less affair, one that Clinton led wire-to-wire and ended up winning by a healthy 8-point margin. And yet, among men, Clinton actually lost to Dole by a point, 44 to 43 percent. It was women, who sided with Clinton by 16 points, who accounted for his lopsided victory. Without the 19thAmendment, Dole would have become the 43rdpresident of the United States.
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The gender gap that defined the ’96 results marked a significant shift from the 1992 election, when Clinton won women by 8 points and men by 3. But, as with Obama, his presidency provoked relentless, culturally fueled conservative opposition that had particular resonance with white male voters, especially in the South and rural areas. The “angry white male” phenomenon was key to the GOP’s 1994 midterm landslide, and while some of them ended up returning to the Democratic fold in ’96, Dole ended up improving George H.W. Bush’s 1992 performance among white men by 10 points.
Meanwhile, though, Clinton increased his share of the women’s vote by 10 points. There was no obviously gender-based issue like contraception to account for this, but it seemed that women reacted with particular hostility to the GOP Congress that was elected in ’94 and to the face of that “Republican revolution,” House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In 1995 and ’96 Clinton portrayed himself as the chief defender of the social safety net, attacking Republican efforts to cut Medicare spending and shift federal programs back to the states.
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The lopsided gender gap that Clinton opened up in ’96 has persisted by varying degrees in the three elections since – a 22-point difference between the parties in 2000, 14 in 2004, and 12 in 2008. We’ve always known that it would play a role again this year, and it may turn out to be a decisive one. | {
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April 10, 2006 -- Would-be immigrants to the Netherlands will be screening an unusual video to prepare them for the values of their intended new home.
The video first shows two men kissing in a park. Then a topless woman emerges from the sea and walks onto a crowded beach. The film is intended to test the readiness of any aspiring immigrants to participate in the liberal Dutch culture. If they can't stomach it, no need to apply. If the culture shock isn't enough, the video also includes recent immigrants talking about how difficult life is in the Netherlands.
The video is given to immigrants to help them prepare for a civil integration test. American and European Union residents are exempt from the exam, however.
"The film is meant for people not yet in Holland to take note that this is normal here," said Ayaan Hirsi, a member of the Dutch parliament.
But opponents say the film is really an attempt by the government to stop the growing flow of immigrants from Muslim countries.
Former prison warden and hard-line immigration minister Rita Verdonk received praise from conservatives for the test, which was introduced on March 15 and costs 350 euros ($470). It also tests applicants' knowledge of Dutch language, culture and history. For an additional 64 euros ($75), they'll receive a preparation package -- which includes sample test questions and the controversial 105-minute video.
"What we are trying to do in the film is show the Netherlands in as realistic a way as possible," Verdonk told The Associated Press.
The video also includes shots of slums in the major cities where many immigrants wind up living.
"If you have a low income then this is where you will live. In the past a lot of foreigners came to live here -- Turkish people and Moroccans -- precisely because the housing is cheaper," the narrator says. A lot of people who live on low incomes live here ... there is a lot of unemployment. There are drug problems, noise problems and sometimes fights.
The video also shows Dutch immigrants describing their own experiences in their new country. "When I arrived here it was incredibly cold. I didn't really have a warm coat with me," says one person.
"I got quite a shock, of course. I thought to myself, "My goodness! They really are white!" says another.
"I remember I thought everything was really clean, pretty and organized. But once I got out it seemed very bleak, cold and untouchable."
A Dutch citizen even tries to dissuade people from coming, saying, "If someone from abroad was planning to come here, I would tell them think hard about what you are doing, what you're getting yourself in for. If I were 20 or 35, I wouldn't come here. I'd stay in my old country. Really."
But it's not all negative. "There's lots of different cultures here and we each have our own worth," says one contented immigrant. "But it does get difficult for me when the winter comes and it's cold."
ABC News' Lara Setrakian contributed to this report. | {
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Islamabad will inevitably face a “befitting reply” from New Delhi should Pakistani forces engage in any kind of ‘misadventure’ in the disputed Kashmir territory, a high-ranked Indian general said on Monday.
A tough message to the arch-rival came from Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, commander of Northern Indian Army as he was talking to the media in Kashmir. The official made it clear that any cross-border activity on behalf of the Pakistani military would be regarded as an affront on the Indian side.
“They dare not try and come anywhere across the Line of Control to carry out any kind of actions. Our deterrence, articulation of our military strategy has been absolutely clear. Should there be any misadventure by the Pakistan armed forces, they shall always be given a befitting reply.”
Kashmir is experiencing a lull in fighting since the latest skirmishes that occurred between the two nations in February. India, however, insists Pakistan is continuing its hostile activities, namely cross-border infiltrations, ceasefire violations, and drug trafficking. “All their actions are actually working towards ensuring that the proxy war by them against India is continuing,” the general said.
Also on rt.com Indian Air Force claims tech failures hampered success in aerial battles with Pakistan – report
The official also shared his thoughts on the details of the February flare-up in Kashmir as two neighboring countries clashed in a series of aerial combats following an Indian air-raid on the Pakistani territory. The air strikes, which according to New Delhi targeted a terrorist camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group, were “indeed laudable,” the general said calling the operation “a major achievement.” The general, however, warned that ‘terrorist infrastructure’ on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control remains ‘intact.’
Also on rt.com Treating Pakistan as a friend would be India’s ‘biggest weakness’ – Deputy FM
Meanwhile, there is no shortage of war rhetoric on the other side of the conflict as well. Earlier in May, a high-profile Pakistani military officer praised his country’s actions during the February encounter as local air forces launched several strikes and downed the Indian fighter jet. Labeling the maneuver ‘Operation Swift Retort’, he urged that any further Indian actions will receive a response that “would be even stronger than before.”
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A staggering 59,000 people died of drug overdose in 2016 according to a recent New York Times analysis. Annual overdose deaths in the US have already surpassed those inflicted by Aids at its peak.
Sparked by big pharma’s criminal mismarketing of opioid painkillers, the overdose epidemic rages to new heights with the increasing street presence of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a fully synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than heroin. Without an immediate massive investment in harm reduction and treatment, this toll will only worsen, even if the specter of carfentanil, a synthetic opioid 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, is held at bay.
As a medical student I have seen addiction wreak havoc on my patients’ lives even when it does not kill them. One of the first surgeries I assisted was for a patient whose heroin addiction had, for years, interfered with his diabetes care. Diabetes impairs healing and so when my patient ignored a misplaced snip from a toenail clipper it spiraled into a festering foot sore and then a spreading bone infection. We had to amputate at the knee to save his life.
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Before medical school, I had an even closer look at addiction while, as an ethnographic researcher, I lived for more than four years on an open-air heroin selling corner in Philadelphia interviewing dealers, users and their families.
Over those years, even before the growing presence of fentanyl, dozens of people died of overdoses in the garbage-filled train tracks immediately adjacent to my block. Now those tracks have turned into a veritable mass grave as the body count in Philadelphia continues its precipitous rise, as it does across the country.
Sadly, a month ago, Paul Yabor, a friend and committed harm reduction and HIV/Aids activist, added his life to the tragic count. He was found face down among hundreds of discarded syringes, next to the same tracks that we had so many times walked by together. Struggling for decades with addiction, Paul faced historically unprecedented risk in his last relapse because of the fentanyl increasingly flooding the streets.
But there is no mystery to why fentanyl is taking over. It is the direct consequence of market pressures produced by the war on drugs. Eradication efforts targeting acres of South American poppy fields aiming to cut off the heroin supply have instead encouraged the growth of fentanyl-producing labs with much smaller footprints in China and Mexico.
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A few grams of fentanyl can earn smugglers the same money as kilograms of heroin. Drugs have become stronger and more frequently synthetic because they are easier to smuggle and easier to produce. Imperfect dilutions of these ultra-concentrated synthetic opioids for street consumption lead to dramatic variability in the potency of each dose driving the grim statistics.
This is a pattern that we have seen before. It is sometimes referred to as the “iron law of prohibition” – more interdiction, stronger drugs. In the 1920s alcohol prohibition drove down the consumption of relatively weak beer and drove up the consumption of stronger wine and spirits.
In the 1980s, energetic marijuana interdiction led to a repurposing of trafficking routes towards less bulky and more lucrative cocaine. Even before widespread fentanyl, the potency of street heroin had already been steadily increasing. Each pyrrhic victory of the war on drugs has left us with stronger and more harmful drugs.
A tragic irony of Paul’s death is that he was in the middle of advocating for a supervised injection facility in the neighborhood to replace the filthy, dangerous spaces where hundreds of doses of heroin are injected daily.
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Supervised injection facilities are an evidence-based way to keep people alive by allowing them to inject drugs under medical supervision during this uniquely dangerous time to struggle with addiction. There are already more than 100 of these facilities in 66 cities across nine countries including Canada. None of these countries is facing the scale of the crisis that we in the US face and yet they rightly eschew moralizing for the sake of public health. A facility like this in the US would start saving lives the day it opens.
While pursuing necessary emergency measures, like supervised injection facilities, we need to also make every investment to achieve treatment on demand. Currently, only 10% of those in need of addiction treatment receive it. Buprenorphine and methadone are two evidence-based options for opioid agonist therapy that have repeatedly been shown to reduce death and support recovery and yet we drag our feet in matching access to need.
A crisis of this magnitude demands an energetic, open and scientifically-grounded consideration of every available tool at our disposal and the political will to follow where the science leads. The moralizing punitive logic of the war on drugs helped lead us into this crisis. Only a public health approach can lead us out. | {
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