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"If I’ve got to be the bad guy longer, I'll be the bad guy longer, but I'm not going to participate," Braun said of his unwillingness to publicly debate Swift, in a summit Q&A with Variety's Shirley Halperin.
Scooter Braun hasn’t publicly spoken about the battles between Taylor Swift and the Big Machine Label Group in the nearly half-year since his Ithaca Holdings purchased her former record label. He broke his silence Thursday in a Q&A at the 2019 Entertainment Industry Conference, co-sponsored by Variety and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, in which he acceded to addressing the inevitable.
That didn’t mean he was going to address the specifics of the mega-squabble or even say Swift’s name out loud. But he did make his message loud and clear: Let’s talk.
Talking about the charitable efforts of SB Projects clients like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Dan + Shay, Braun said, “My grandpa used to say, when your glass keeps getting poured full, you better pour it in other glasses or it makes a mess. And that’s a philosophy I have. And I know she’s gonna ask me soon,” he said, smiling, looking toward moderator Shirley Halperin, the executive editor for music of Variety. “It’s hard, when you’ve tried to live your life that way, when other people are trying to say that you don’t live your life that way… Because you can’t make everyone like you. You can’t get all the facts straight. But I think the only thing you can do is hope for communication… And I know where you’re going to go. I’m kind of getting ahead to it. Ask the question!”
Halperin asked how Braun “wraps his head around” having so many Swift supporters casting him as the villain in the situation, which has culminated — so far — in a very public debate about whether the singer can perform hits from her Big Machine catalog on Sunday night’s American Music Awards.
Braun nodded to a camera he saw filming the conversation and acknowledged a touch of awkwardness, knowing he was about to issue his first public statement on the contretemps. “I haven’t talked about this in six months. Not once. I haven’t made a statement about it,” he said. “When there’s a lot of things being said and a lot of different opinions, yet the principals haven’t had a chance to speak to each other, there’s a lot of confusion. I’m not going to go into details here, because it’s just not my style. I just think we live in a time of toxic division, and of people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out on each other and not have conversations. And I don’t like politicians doing it. I don’t like anybody doing it, and if that means that I’ve got to be the bad guy longer, I’ll be the bad guy longer, but I’m not going to participate.” (A rep for Swift did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.)
Braun alluded to Big Machine’s official statement saying that the company and Swift had effectively been negotiating to negotiate before, by their account, she broke it off with her social media declarations about the AMAs imbroglio last week.
“What I’ll say is, people need to communicate, and when people are able to communicate, I think they work things out,” Braun said. “And I think a lot of times things are miscommunications, because I believe that people are fundamentally good. I think there are a lot of real problems in the world, and I think that these problems that are being discussed can be discussed behind closed doors and figured out pretty easily, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for six months. And it’s hard, because I can handle it pretty easily, but when it gets to a place where there’s death threats and there’s offices being called and people being threatened… it’s gotten out of hand. And I think people need to come together and have a conversation, because that’s not what we got in this industry for.
“And the only good thing for me is that when you get knocked down on some stuff, you get to find out who your real friends are real quick. And watching some people in the industry who might smile in your face, and then suddenly you’ve got a little dent in the armor and they come trying to kick it in even more, it doesn’t bother me, but it lets me know where I stand. The truth is, I have no ill will for anybody. And the moment people want to have a conversation with me, I’m ready to have that conversation, and I’m not going to add to the narrative. I disagree with it, but I’m not going to add to the narrative. I just want to fix things and set a better example for people.
“I’ll just say it on a grander scale. I don’t like it watching it in politics. Right now we’re in a scary time where people say things and then people might not be in the right mindset and do really horrible things. And we’re inciting all of this by continuing these arguments in public. We just need to go behind closed doors and see if we can have a conversation. And if we’re not having conversations, then I don’t think we’re going to find resolution.”
Braun seemed to allude — again, without naming names or situations — to Swift’s condemnation of snark that his flagship client Bieber had addressed toward her in the past; the singer subsequently apologized.
“I know this is going to be the most controversial thing I say. I don’t know where we got messed up along the way that we decided being politically correct is more important than having conflict resolution. … People are allowed to grow as human beings. They’re allowed to have conversations. They’re allowed to change their mind. They’re allowed to go from not liking to each other to liking each other, and vice versa. But you don’t find that out just yelling at each other. You find that out by showing each other respect and having a conversation.”
At the close of the interview, Halperin asked — with completely ironic intent — “What are you doing this Sunday? Are you going to the AMAs?”
“Thanks, everybody,” Braun said, standing to leave with a laugh as his answer. | {
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It sounds as if something is amiss when patients with the Community Health Assist Scheme (Chas) card, which entitles them to government subsidies at private GP and dental clinics, are charged private rates when those same clinics refer them to a polyclinic for tests.
Was this a considered decision or an oversight that has become entrenched? | {
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The Libyan rebels' chief of army staff, Abdel Fatah Younis, has been killed in an assassination by pro-Gaddafi agents, according to the rebel authorities.
The president of the ruling National Transitional Council, Abdul Mustafa Jalil, made the dramatic announcement of the death of Younis at a chaotic late-night press conference at a hotel in Benghazi.
He told reporters that Younis had been called back from the frontline near Brega to Benghazi for questioning on the progress of the campaign, and suggested he had been killed by "pro-Gaddafi" forces on the route early in the morning.
But questions remain over the lack of detail over how Younis died or who killed him. The general usually travels inside an armoured car in a multi-vehicle convoy with 30 armed guards, posing problems for any potential assassination team.
Jalil said two senior rebel officers were killed alongside Younis, and demanded that what he called pro-Gaddafi elements he said were operating in Benghazi surrender or join the rebel forces.
The shock announcement came after a day of heated speculation that Younis had been arrested on the orders of Jalil. Younis was Gaddafi's former interior minister until he dramatically changed sides to join the revolution in February.
The rumours were still swirling late on Thursday night, with armed men declaring their support for Younis appearing on the streets of Benghazi, claiming they would use force to free him from NTC custody.
Soldiers loyal to Jalil from the 17 Brigade, Benghazi's elite unit, had surrounded Younis's house in the late afternoon.
Then in the evening, Jalil said at the press conference that "with regret" he had to announce the death of general Younis. Jalil called him "one of the heroes of the 17th of February revolution".
Minutes later, gunfire broke out in the street outside the Benghazi hotel where the announcement was made, with machine gun bullets smashing windows.
The press conference, which ended abruptly with the NTC president refusing to take questions, failed to explain how the general could have been ambushed in a highly guarded convoy.
Younis has been a controversial figure as head of the rebel forces because – until the uprising – he was Muammar Gaddafi's Interior Minister, one of his most trusted officials and confidants. The general's friendship with Gaddafi dated from 1969 when he joined a group of fresh-faced army officers in deposing Libya's king.
But when riots came to the streets of Benghazi in February, he dramatically switched sides, joining the rebels and bringing the city's interior ministry military brigade with him.
That brigade was crucial in helping the under-armed rebels fight off the attacks by regime forces in the first days of the fighting, and command of this unit is believed to have been the key to the decision of rebel leaders in appointing him army commander.
But his tenure as commander was stormy: he reportedly nearly came to blows with his rival for the army command, Klalifa Hefter, during a meeting in late March.
For much of that month both men claimed to be in command of the ragtag rebel forces as they raced west towards Tripoli, only to be thrown back towards Benghazi in chaos and confusion.
By April, Younis had won the political battle inside the National Transitional Council and was confirmed as chief of staff but he failed to use his new position to bring victory on the battlefield.
Since April, the frontline has remained largely in stalemate, despite heavy Nato bombing of government forces around the key oil town of Brega.
Younis launched an attack on Brega in June, only to see it beaten back.
Two weeks ago, aided by some of the heaviest Nato tactical bombing of the war, he tried again, with a three-pronged attack on the town.
Rebel military spokesmen repeatedly insisted that Brega was on the point of falling but, after a fortnight of fighting, the town remains in government hands.
The rebels in the besieged city of Misrata have conspicuously refused to accept orders from Younis, to the extent of insisting that their fighters are not part of the Benghazi-controlled National Army.
Many rebels were shocked by the news of the killing. "We respect him because he left Gaddafi; when he left a lot of colonels saw what Younis did and they defected also," said Farouk Ben Ahmeda, a rebel fighter in Misrata.
But few think that his military skills will be irreplaceable.
"I don't think that he was really a professional soldier; he didn't command the soldiers well," said Ben Ahmeda.
The assassination will cause embarrassment and concern for the Foreign Office in the UK, as it comes just a day after the foreign secretary, William Hague, said that Britain would recognise the NTC as the legitimate government of Libya and expelling Gaddafi's diplomats.
London had hoped that after months of work, the NTC was now fit to govern. Unless Jalil can provide a full and public account of the assassination and the circumstances around it, that opinion may need to be revised. | {
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Taylor Swift, BTS, Billie Eilish and the Jonas Brothers are just a few of the artists that will be rocking around the Christmas tree during the 2019 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball tour, the company announced today.
The 12-city arena tour will feature different lineups in markets like Tampa; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Philadelphia; New York; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Atlanta and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.
K-Pop will be well represented on both coasts, with BTS in Los Angeles and Monsta X, who made history in 2018 as the first K Pop act to perform at a Jingle Ball, returning for a set on the main stage at Madison Square Garden.
Swift — who will only appear in New York — is not touring the U.S. extensively behind her new album, “Lover,” and has only announced a four-date self-created stateside festivals, dubbed “Lover Fest,” in Los Angeles and Massachusetts, along with overseas dates. The NYC will be what seems to be a rare opportunity for East Coast fans not able to attend those shows to hear songs from the album performed live.
The New York lineup at Madison Square Garden, which takes place Dec. 13, features Swift, Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello, Halsey, 5SOS, Niall Horan, Lizzo, Dan + Shay, Monsta X, Lewis Capaldi and Fletcher. The show be carried live across the country on 100 iHeartRadio CHR stations and will livestream exclusively via The CW App and CWTV.com. In addition, The CW Network will broadcast the event as an exclusive nationwide television special at 8 p.m. December 19.
The Los Angeles lineup, featuring Katy Perry, BTS, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Camila Cabello, Halsey, French Montana, Lizzo and Normani, will land at The Forum on Dec. 6. The tour kicks off at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida, Dec. 1 with Sam Smith, Lizzo, Normani, French Montana, Why Don’t We, MAX and AJ Mitchell.
Other artists on the tour include Charie Puth, Khalid, Lil Nas X, Why Don’t We, Zara Larsson, Lauv, and more.
Tickets for the Jingle Ball go on sale next month. The Capital One Cardholder Pre-Sale begins on October 7 at a.m. local time and runs through October 9 at 10 a.m. Sales go on sale to the general public Oct. 11. Tickets will be available at iHeartRadio.com
2019 Jingle Ball Tour Dates:
Tampa Bay, Fla. – December 1, at 7 p.m. EST – 93.3 FLZ’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Amalie Arena
(Sam Smith, Lizzo, Normani, French Montana, Why Don’t We, MAX and AJ Mitchell)
Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas – December 3 at 7:30 p.m. CST – 106.1 KISS FM’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Dickies Arena (Camila Cabello, Sam Smith, Charlie Puth, Lizzo, Lauv and Why Don’t We)
Los Angeles, Calif. – December 6, at 7:30 p.m. PST – KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at The Forum
(Katy Perry, BTS, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Camila Cabello, Halsey, French Montana, Lizzo and Normani.)
San Francisco, Calif. – December 8, at 7:30 p.m. PST – WiLD 94.9’s FM’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at The Masonic (Charlie Puth, Lil Nas X and Quinn XCII)
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. – December 9, at 7:30 p.m. CST – 101.3 KDWB’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul: (Katy Perry, Camila Cabello, 5SOS, Why Don’t We, Monsta X and Lauv)
Philadelphia, Pa. –December 11, at 7:30 p.m. EST – Q102’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Wells Fargo Center
(Halsey, 5SOS, Niall Horan, Lizzo, Monsta X, Why Don’t We and Lewis Capaldi)
New York, N.Y. – December 13, at 7 p.m. EST – Z100’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Madison Square Garden
(Taylor Swift, Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello, Halsey, 5SOS, Niall Horan, Lizzo, Dan + Shay, Monsta X, Lewis Capaldi and Fletcher)
Boston, Mass. – December 15, at 6 pm EST – KISS 108’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at TD Garden
( Halsey, 5SOS, Niall Horan, Charlie Puth, Lizzo and Why Don’t We.)
Washington, D.C. – December 16, at 7:30 p.m. EST – Hot 99.5’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Capital One Arena
(Halsey, Khalid, Charlie Puth, Niall Horan, French Montana and Lewis Capaldi)
Chicago, Ill. – December 18, at 7:30 p.m. CST – 103.5 KISS FM’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at Allstate Arena (Jonas Brothers, NF, Niall Horan, French Montana, Why Don’t We, Zara Larsson and Lewis Capaldi)
Atlanta, Ga. – Friday, December 20, at 7:30 p.m. EST – Power 96.1’s Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at State Farm Arena (Jonas Brothers, Khalid, Niall Horan, French Montana, Why Don’t We, Lewis Capaldi and Zara Larsson.)
Ft. Lauderdale/Miami, Fla. – December 22, at 7 p.m. EST – Y100 Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at BB&T Center, Ft. Lauderdale (Jonas Brothers, Khalid, Niall Horan, French Montana, CNCO, Why Don’t We and Zara Larsson.) | {
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About this talk
American culture is obsessed with the idea that we need to “find our passion” in order to be happy and successful. But there’s a problem: “It’s astonishingly bad piece of advice,” says best-selling author Cal Newport. We have no pre-existing passion. Instead, passion is found by first building a rare and valuable talent and using it to take control of your career path. In other words, be so good and work so hard that no one can ignore you. | {
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Former presidential couple Barack and Michelle Obama announced a production deal with Netflix in which they will produce television shows and films for the streaming service. What do you think?
“I was worried American politics had changed forever, but I’m glad to see ex-presidents can still make ludicrous amounts of money.” Aaron West • Comic Book Censor
“Good for them! FDR only got a radio show.” Greg Shure • Vinculum Demarker | {
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Rinad S. Beidas, PhD
PHILADELPHIA—We all hope—and probably expect—that clinicians use only mental health therapies that are scientifically proven to improve symptoms. A new study from Penn Medicine and Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS) shows that, unfortunately, evidence-based therapies to treat youth with mental health problems are slow to catch on. Specifically, researchers found that over a five-year period in Philadelphia, use of evidence-based therapies—practices backed by scientific data showing that symptoms improve in response to treatment, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—increased only modestly, despite the city and researchers’ substantial efforts to showcase the value of these approaches and to provide training to community clinicians. The results were published this month in Implementation Science.
This finding is of critical importance because clinicians who use evidence-based practices (EBPs) as part of their routine care obtain much better outcomes for children with depression, anxiety, trauma, and disruptive behavior disorders compared with clinicians who do not.
“Evidenced-based therapies are effective for treating a wide range of psychiatric conditions, but there is still a gap in widespread use,” said the study’s lead author Rinad S. Beidas, PhD, an associate professor of Psychiatry and Medical Ethics and Health Policy in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and founding director of the Penn Implementation Science Center at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (PISCE@LDI). “While findings showed a modest increase in use, the data point to a clear need for finding better ways to support clinicians and organizations in using EBP therapies. This research-to-practice gap is a historically intractable problem, which exists not only in behavioral health but all across health care specialties.”
Researchers identified two factors driving the observed increases of EBP implementation in publicly funded clinics that could inform future strategies to increase EBP use. First, the more city-sponsored EBP trainings clinicians attended, the more likely they were to apply evidence-based techniques in their practices. Second, use of EBP was more likely among clinicians who worked in a practice with a “proficient culture,” meaning the organization expects clinicians to place the well-being of their clients first, to be competent, and have up-to-date knowledge.
Over the last decade, cities from Philadelphia to Los Angeles have placed an increased emphasis on implementing EBP into care, from building EBPs into contracts to initiating new policies that support their use in an effort to help improve outcomes for vulnerable youth. In 2007, Philadelphia’s DBHIDS began large-scale efforts to increase EBP use. The department created the Evidence-based Practice and Innovation Center (EPIC) in 2013, a city-wide entity intended to provide a centralized infrastructure to support EBP administration. Despite a national focus on EBP use, very few EBP implementation efforts around the country have been systematically and rigorously evaluated, which ultimately limits the ability to understand the effects of said efforts.
The researchers surveyed clinicians from 20 different publicly funded Philadelphia clinics that treat youth at three different points from 2013 to 2017. Sixty percent of the 340 clinicians contacted completed the survey. All of the clinics had the opportunity to receive system-level support provided by EPIC, but only half of the clinicians participated in city-funded, EBP training initiatives. On average, use of CBT techniques increased by six percent from the first data collection to the last, compared to no change in psychodynamic techniques, a frequently used type of “talk therapy” that has less evidence of effectiveness in children. The researchers also found that each EBP training initiative predicted a three percent increase in CBT use, but no change in use of psychodynamic techniques. In organizations described as having a more “proficient” culture at the beginning of the survey, clinicians exhibited an eight percent increase in CBT use, compared with a two percent decrease in organizations with less proficient cultures.
“Philadelphia is a leader in making EBP available to its most vulnerable citizens with mental health and substance abuse problems. This study represents an opportunity to learn from an exemplar system encouraging EBP implementation,” Beidas said. “To build upon Philadelphia’s and other cities’ deep commitment to increasing this implementation, we need further studies to test and evaluate strategies that increase use of EBP to guide our understanding of the best ways to use and how to implement them.”
Additional Penn authors include Emily M. Becker-Haimes, Frances Barg, Trevor Hadley, Steven C. Marcus, Kelly Zentgraf, and David S. Mandell.
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (K23 MH099179). | {
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Jared Taylor, American Renaissance, November 14, 2019
Jared Taylor and PK marvel at the news that 800 children are known to have been recycled across the border — one as many as eight times. They also discuss the 2019 Glamour magazine awards, how Harvard exploits blacks, NYT gloating over the great replacement, the latest Finnish hate hoax, San Francisco’s fully pedigreed new DA, racism on the rise in Italy, and how the poppy brought down Don Cherry.
Download
YouTube
RSS | {
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(Image credit: Cisco)
Cisco has settled a lawsuit over claims that it sold video surveillance technology that it knew was vulnerable to a four-year-old flaw. The vulnerability could have allowed malicious parties to hack into cameras that Cisco had been selling to U.S. hospitals, airports, schools, police departments, state governments and federal agencies.
According to a settlement unsealed Wednesday with the U.S. Justice Department, 15 states and the District of Columbia, Cisco learned about the vulnerability for the first time back in 2008, when whistleblower James Glenn came forward and revealed the flaw. However, Cisco waited four years before doing anything about it. In the meantime, the company kept promoting its vulnerable product.
Cisco’s surveillance technology was also connected to door locks and alarms, and those could have also been bypassed due to this flaw.
Michael Ronickher, one of Glenn’s attorneys, said that the flaw was easy to exploit:
"It was like the moment in the heist movies when a person types on a laptop for 30 seconds and says 'I'm in.'"
Cisco said that there was no evidence that the flaw has been abused. Ronicker agreed with that statement but also noted that it’s possible hackers abused the flaw without being detected.
For its first time, Cisco had to settle under the whistleblower law for not having adequate security protections. The Justice Department learned about the flaw as it was reviewing many of the multi-billion dollar contracts that may not have prioritized cyber security. With the rise of ransomware and it disabling and holding hostage hospitals and police departments, cybersecurity issues have become a much more pressing issue for the U.S. government.
The federal government and the state governments that joined the settlement with Glenn will get 80% of the $8.6 million, while Glenn and his attorneys will get 20%. This should leave Glenn with more than $1 million for his whistleblowing act after fees and expenses, which is still significantly more than what most bug bounties would pay. | {
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And in contrast to Gorbachev’s glasnost—openness to ideas—Xi has demanded ideological conformity, tightening control over political discourse. At the same time, Xi has moved to cement the party’s centrality in China’s governance. Deng sought to separate party from government, and strengthen China’s state bureaucracy vis-à-vis the party. Xi has flatly rejected that idea. Shortly after Xi took power, an op-ed in the state-run People’s Daily crystallized his position: “The key to running things well in China and realizing the China Dream lies in the party.”
Second, Xi must continue to make China wealthy again. He knows the Chinese people’s support for CCP rule still depends largely on its ability to deliver levels of economic growth no other nation has achieved. But continuing China’s extraordinary economic performance will require perpetuating a unique high-wire act. Xi is acutely wary of the middle-income trap that has ensnared many developing countries as rising wages erase their competitive edge in manufacturing, and his unambiguous promise of 6.5 percent growth per year through 2021 demands what some have described as “sustaining the unsustainable.”
However, there is general agreement about what China must do to continue growing at that pace for many years to come. The key elements are stated in China’s most recent five-year economic plan, including: accelerating the transition to domestic consumption-driven demand; restructuring or closing inefficient state-owned enterprises; strengthening the base of science and technology to advance innovation; promoting Chinese entrepreneurship; and avoiding unsustainable levels of debt.
Given the scope and ambition of Xi’s plan, most Western economists and many investors are bearish that he can deliver. But many of these economists and investors have lost money betting against China for the past 30 years. As the former chair of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, Martin Feldstein, puts it: “Not all of these policies have to succeed. ... If enough of them succeed well enough, 6.5 percent growth over the next few years might not be out of reach.”
Third, Xi is making China proud again. Economic growth alone is not enough: Even as Deng’s market reforms broadened rapid economic growth after 1989, the party struggled to articulate its raison d’être when its titular communism was in name only. Why should the Chinese people allow it to govern them? The party’s answer is a renewed sense of national identity that can be widely embraced with pride among a billion Chinese.
Where once Mao’s Cultural Revolution tried to wipe out China’s ancient past and replace it with communism’s “new socialist man,” Xi has increasingly portrayed the party as the inheritor and successor to a 5,000-year-old Chinese empire brought low only by the marauding West. The phrase wuwang guochi (勿忘国耻), or “never forget our national humiliation,” has become a mantra that nurtures a patriotism grounded in victimhood and infused with a demand for payback. As the Financial Times’s former Beijing bureau chief Geoff Dyer has explained, “The Communist Party has faced a slow-burning threat to its legitimacy ever since it dumped Marx for the market.” Thus the party has evoked past humiliations at the hands of Japan and the West “to create a sense of unity that had been fracturing, and to define a Chinese identity fundamentally at odds with American modernity.” | {
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Article content continued
“If we can make it so that an ‘a-ha’ moment occurs, it’s going to save a lot of heartbreak, a lot of hostility between couples.”
It’s a seductive idea — that somewhere in the near future failing marriages and partnerships can be rescued by manipulating our brains to keep us from falling out of love.
In Canada, 40% of marriages are expected to end in divorce before couples reach their 30th anniversary. Across the Western world, the divorce rate hovers around 50%.
Along with oxytocin and the related bonding hormone vasopressin, researchers are also taking a second look at the possible therapeutic uses for MDMA, better known as the illegal party drug ecstasy.
But could a drug really rescue us from a life of heartache? And even if it could, should we take it?
It’s a new and polarizing set of questions for ethicists who are increasingly wrestling with the collision of technological advances and modern values and mores — questions that were wrestled with during a debate at the University of Manitoba this week.
The debate, titled “Love Drugs: An Ethical Way to Achieve Intimacy,’ squared on whether these drugs are a good or bad idea. Would it would rob a relationship of its authenticity or could it help people achieve their relationship goals if used in a safe, controlled setting?
While proponents say some couples may even have a moral obligation to take the drug to keep a family together, skeptics worry society has become overly quick to medicalize personality traits or social behaviours that have long been considered natural — for example, the recent firestorm over the inclusion of social anxiety disorder (shyness) and major depressive disorder (a lengthy grieving period) in the new DSM-5, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which comes out in May. | {
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Title
The Ladies Book of Useful Information
Compiled from many sources | {
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Story highlights An elaborate tunnel was discovered near Pan Am Games venue in Toronto
Nothing so far suggests criminal activity or terrorist intent, police say
Police Deputy Chief Mark Saunders: "There is no criminal offense for digging a hole"
(CNN) A big hole in the ground discovered near a venue for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto has stumped authorities looking into it.
The mysterious tunnel measured more than 6 feet in height, nearly 3 feet in width and about 33 feet in length, Toronto Police Deputy Chief Mark Saunders told reporters Tuesday.
Plywood walls were reinforced with wooden supports. The tunnel was 10 feet underground, with a ladder leading down to the chamber.
A rosary with a Remembrance Day poppy hung from a nail on the wall. Remembrance Day honors Canadian veterans who died in combat.
"What does that tell you?" a reporter asked the deputy chief.
Read More | {
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The Ontario Board “still poses a significant threat to the safety of the public” and “holds some of the same delusions, that he experienced at the time of the (attack).” “Delusions?” Islam.
Montreal-born Ali, 27, was heard saying “Allah told me to come here and kill people” during the incident. Three soldiers were wounded before a group of six to eight soldiers managed to subdue him. “One soldier is all it takes, just one.”
During the attack, he punched, slashed and stabbed a corporal at the entrance to the recruiting centre.
He chased a sergeant who rushed out of her office and narrowly missed slicing the back of her neck. He then tried to slash and stab at another sergeant who’d slipped and fallen to the ground.
With his first attempt, the blade hit the floor. As Ali resumed stabbing the soldier.
Mental illness blamed. Why has the mentally ill community (like the “Asians”) been forced to carry the responsibility for jihad terror?
Related: Canada: “Mentally ill” Muslim returned to community, found “not criminally responsible” for STABBING three soldiers in army recruiting centre, “ALLAH told me to do it”
The mentally ill man found not criminally responsible for trying to kill three soldiers at a Toronto recruiting centre will be allowed to attend Mohawk College across the street from the secure psychiatric unit where he’s currently being detained, the Sun has learned. And while Ayanle Hassan Ali will be supervised initially, the Ontario Review Board’s plan is that he will eventually be allowed to attend classes on his own over the next year. Yet in its own reasons for decision, the board also found Ali, who suffers from schizophrenia, “still poses a significant threat to the safety of the public” and “holds some of the same delusions, that he experienced at the time of the (attack).” He also “continues to express concerns about the Canadian government and its interactions with Muslim countries.” Ayanle Hassan Ali arrives in a police car at a Toronto courthouse on March 15, 2016. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press) So naturally, let him go to college “indirectly supervised” in just his first year since being found NCR. How does that protect the public? “These passes will only be granted by the hospital on a gradual basis and on a “when and if” basis Mr. Ali is ready to exercise them,” the board wrote in its decision, almost sensing the questions that should rightfully be asked. “Otherwise, they will not be granted.” Ali, 30, has been held in the secure forensic unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton ever since the terrifying March attack in 2016 when he burst into the North York recruiting office on Yonge St. wielding a large kitchen knife. He later told psychiatrists that he believed soldiers were a “legitimate target” due to Canada’s military action in Muslim countries. “I have a licence to kill, I have a green light to kill,” Ali had written in his diary. “One soldier is all it takes, just one.” According to the ORB reasons, Ali was hearing voices at the time through the TV and radio and believed he should “martyr himself.” In an initial interview after his arrest, he said he was disappointed he hadn’t been killed. During the attack, he punched, slashed and stabbed a corporal at the entrance to the recruiting centre. He chased a sergeant who rushed out of her office and narrowly missed slicing the back of her neck. He then tried to slash and stab at another sergeant who’d slipped and fallen to the ground. With his first attempt, the blade hit the floor. As Ali resumed stabbing the soldier, the mentally ill man was fortunately using the wrong end of his knife.
Have a tip we should know? Your anonymity is NEVER compromised. Email Email [email protected] | {
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While not churning out chart-adjacent hits, Emin is an executive at his father's company, and was formerly married to the daughter of Azerbaijan's long-serving president. He's not afraid to pull strings to help his pop career, and is one of the few artists able to boast a song "ft. Donald Trump," although you'll be sad to learn that the Donald merely says his "You're fired" catchphrase rather than breaking into verse.
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Emin met the future president when his father and Trump partnered to host the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Part of the deal was that Emin got to sing during the ceremony, much to the horror of NBC executives, who were apparently unimpressed by a quaver-voiced trust fund baby fighting a losing battle with his own backing track for what feels like seven hours. Despite that grueling performance, Emin still allegedly found time to offer Trump prostitutes while he was in Russia for the pageant. What a pro!
Emin would probably have remained an embarrassing footnote in a whole museum of embarrassing footnotes, but Trump is president now and the ripple effects have made everything stupid. Emin, you see, is the guy who arranged the infamous Trump Tower meeting where Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Don Jr. met with some shady Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. This became a major subject of the Mueller investigation, and Emin responded with all the grace and dignity you'd expect. He hired Donald, Stormy Daniels, and Ivanka Trump impersonators and made a music video parodying his role in the whole affair. | {
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Sweden has stationed troops on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea Thursday, September 15, 2016 8:20:25 AM
The supreme commander of the Swedish Armed Forces gave an order to permanently deploy 150 soldiers to the island of Gotland. The decision entered into force on September 15 at 7 a.m., the Local reported.
Swedish leaders had previously agreed to permanently deploy soldiers on the strategically located island in the Baltic Sea beginning in late 2017, but early in the morning of Wednesday, September 14, about 150 soldiers from mechanized infantry forces taking part in military drills on the island today received the order not to leave the island.
“The external factors in the world have deteriorated over time and I decided on a permanent presence and deployment of combat groups here,” the supreme commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, Micael Bydén, said. Bydén noted that Sweden isn’t under threat, but the political and security situations in the region have changed over the past few years.
The troops will remain on the island of Gotland and will later be replaced by other soldiers until the main division is created. Creation of the division is planned for the middle of 2017. “The divisions from different parts of Sweden will stay and work on the island and around Gotland until the combat group is created,” the statement from the Swedish Armed Forces says.
The island of Gotland was demilitarized in 2015. Last year, political parties from Sweden agreed to return servicemen there and increase the Swedish defense budget by SEK 10.2 billion (USD 1.2 billion) from 2016 to 2020. The leadership of the Swedish Ministry of Defense plans to expand the army and create an additional mechanized battalion (approximately 800 servicemen). A segment from this battalion (approximately 130 servicemen) will be stationed on the island of Gotland on a regular basis.
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World-Class Underground Discharge Channel
A huge pressure-controlled tank is reminiscent of an underground temple.
© EDOGAWA RIVER OFFICE
A world-class underground discharge channel has been constructed on the outskirts of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The tunnel, dug about 50 meters below ground, extends 6.3 km in total. The underground construction, comprising vertical shafts to store floodwater – which look more like gigantic tanks – and a mammoth water tank supported by towering pillars weighing 500 tons each, is far beyond anyone's wildest imagination. It was planned as an anti-flood scheme for local residents and completed in 2006. The underground discharge channel, having employed a variety of new technologies, is the very best of Japan's state-of-the-art civil engineering technology.
Gigantic Underground Shaft
A schematic of the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel that drains flood water below ground, stores it and eventually discharges it into rivers. Enlarge photo
Japan is a long ribbon of islands stretching north to south, divided by a spine of steep mountains occupying 75% of the land. Steep rivers flowing into the ocean easily overflow when heavy rain falls. So, Japan's effort to develop flood-control technology dates back to the ancient past. The Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, an underground discharge channel constructed in Saitama Prefecture adjacent to Tokyo, represents technological innovations accumulated over many centuries.
The discharge channel is a mechanism to drain water from flooded residential areas into five gigantic vertical shafts built below ground and then discharge it into rivers through an underground tunnel connecting the shafts.
The cylindrical shafts are about 70 meters tall. The large shafts measure about 30 meters in diameter, spacious enough to park a space shuttle.
The connecting tunnel 50 meters below ground measures about 10 meters in diameter. The tunnel stretches for 6.3 km, including a sharp curved line with a minimum radius of 250 meters.
Before being discharged into rivers, the drained water is stored in a huge pressure-controlled tank. The tank is designed to perform multiple functions, including abating the force of running water and adjusting water pressure that could change sharply if a water pump breaks down. Measuring 177 meters long and 78 meters wide, and lying about 22 meters below ground, the water tank is larger than a soccer pitch. The ceiling of the water tank is supported by 59 pillars which are 18 meters tall and weigh 500 tons each. An inside look at the tank structure conjures up the image of a “temple” below ground.
An underground vertical shaft receives water flowing in from a river.
© EDOGAWA RIVER OFFICE Enlarge photo A tunnel built 50 meters below ground measures 10 meters in diameter and
stretches 6.3 km in total. © EDOGAWA RIVER OFFICE Enlarge photo Water stored in a pressure-controlled tank
© EDOGAWA RIVER OFFICE Enlarge photo
Developing New Construction Method
Left: A shield tunneling machine drills an underground tunnel with a diameter of about 10 meters. © EDOGAWA RIVER OFFICE
Right: The smooth wall of a tunnel made of joined concrete plates
© EDOGAWA RIVER OFFICE Enlarge photo Enlarge photo
The underground tunnel for drainage, dug with a gigantic shield tunneling machine, employed an improved segment technology. Segments, which are concrete plates, used to be bolted together to form the outer wall of a tunnel. It consumed a lot of time to bolt them.
In constructing the underground channel, however, segments were joined together with a wedge method developed on the principle of wedging instead of bolting. Unlike bolted walls with an uneven surface, joined walls have a smooth surface and are instrumental in greatly reducing construction time. The segment-joining method was jointly developed by six Japanese companies, including general contractors, and it became possible to reduce the time to build walls so much so that it has emerged as a standard method for large tunnel construction work.
Rapid & Massive Water Discharge
Pumps capable of draining a 25-meter swimming pool full of water in a second
© EDOGAWA RIVER OFFICE Enlarge photo
Flood water stored in the channel can be discharged into rivers at a maximum rate of 200 cubic meters per second. In other words, a 25-meter swimming pool full of water is drained in a second. Under this mechanism, each drainage pump has a high-speed impeller that gives flowing energy to water, discharging it rapidly.
The impeller is powered by a gas turbine engine, a modified version of the high-performance engine used in jetliners. Hot, strong wind generated by burning fuel revolves the impeller, which in turn makes the water flow. The impeller is compact and generates less vibration and noise, saving much needed space below ground.
After the underground discharge channel was completed, a torrential rain hit the area in August 2008. The facility was able to discharge into rivers about 12 million cubic meters of water, a record high, or the equivalent of 25,000 25-meter swimming pools.
Flood control using an underground discharge channel has attracted worldwide attention and draws visits by flood control experts from many countries, including China and South Korea. Japan has a small land area and cities are densely populated, making it difficult to build large water discharge channels on the surface. Japan has solved this dilemma with its civil engineering and flood-control technologies.
(March 2013) | {
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President Donald Trump told ABC in an interview that he hopes to get construction underway for a border wall as soon as possible, although getting Mexico to pay for it may be "complicated." CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports. | {
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A suspected drug importer who allegedly used bitcoin to pay his Mexican suppliers has been arrested in Japan, police said Friday, in reportedly the country's first case of its kind.
Police forces in Tokyo and Fukuoka teamed up for the operation to arrest Ayumu Teramoto, 38, on suspicion of buying a "stimulant drug" from abroad, a spokesman for Tokyo Metropolitan Police said.
It was not clear what the drug was, but the phrase is often used to describe substances such as cocaine or methamphetamine.
Media, including national broadcaster NHK, said it was the first time someone had been arrested in Japan for a drug transaction that involved bitcoin.
While the virtual currency is yet to gain broad-based acceptance in Japan, its profile has been given a boost by the recent collapse of Tokyo-based Mt Gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchange.
Teramoto used bitcoin to buy some 50 grams of the drug, worth 3.5 million yen, NHK said, citing police sources.
The package arrived at Narita airport near Tokyo, concealed inside a tablet computer, NHK said.
Tokyo police declined to discuss financial and other details of the suspected deal, only confirming that Teramoto used an online service to import the drug via the United States and was arrested on Wednesday.
The arrest will likely give support to critics of the virtual currency movement, who say its anonymity and lack of regulation make it ideal for use by criminals.
Bitcoins were used by dealers on the underground Silk Road website, where U.S. prosecutors say buyers could use it to purchase drugs and even to organize assassinations.
Bitcoins are generated by complex chains of interactions among a huge network of computers around the planet and are not backed by any government or central bank.
Mt Gox is going through bankruptcy proceedings after it admitted that it had lost 850,000 coins, worth nearly $500 million at the time due, in what it blamed on security lapses.
The Japanese government has banned banks from brokering bitcoin transactions or opening accounts holding the virtual unit.
© (c) 2014 AFP | {
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Distributed systems are like 3D brain teasers: easy to disassemble; hard to put together. | {
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Koch tells donors in desert: Conservative political network can increase tenfold
Fredreka Schouten | USA TODAY
Show Caption Hide Caption Trump: 'Now is the time to invest in America' President Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that his administration is taking measures to promote security for American allies around the globe, saying "America is roaring back," and now is the time to invest. (Jan. 26)
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Fresh off a string of victories in 2017, the powerful political and policy network aligned with the billionaires Charles and David Koch plans to grow tenfold in the years ahead, Charles Koch told hundreds of donors gathered for a three-day retreat.
The network, the most influential conservative group in politics outside the Republican Party, already plans to spend a record $400 million to shape policy and politics in the midterm election cycle, a 60% jump from the $250 million Koch groups spent in the two years leading up the 2016 presidential race.
“The capabilities we have now can take us to a whole new level,” Koch told the 550 network contributors who assembled at a luxury resort in the California desert for their annual winter retreat.
“My challenge to all of us is to increase the scale and effectiveness of this network … by another tenfold on top of all the work and progress we’ve already made,” the 82-year-old industrialist said. “If we do that, I’m convinced that we can change the trajectory of this country.”
His remarks came as top Koch officials touted a slew of wins during the first year of the Trump administration, ranging from the passage of a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul that gives corporations a permanent 40% tax cut to President Trump’s moves to nominate dozens of conservatives to lifetime positions on the federal bench.
“We’ve got momentum,” Brian Hooks, a top Koch lieutenant, said of the network’s policy gains. “We feel like we have the wind at our back.”
On Sunday, the largest group in the Koch network, Americans for Prosperity, announced a new initiative to mobilize conservative activists for the next Supreme Court vacancy and to speed confirmation of judges to lower courts around the country. Sarah Field, a former official with the conservative Federalist Society, will oversee the new push.
The Koch groups spent heavily to advance Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation last year and have lobbied to help Trump nominees advance through the Senate.
Koch groups spent $20 million to help push the tax overhaul through the Republican-controlled Congress and on Saturday, announced plans to spend another $20 million this year to sell the plan to voters. Early polling showed public skepticism of the plan’s benefits, and network operatives view the tax plan as a key part of the strategy to help Republicans retain their hold in Congress in November’s midterms.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told the Koch donors he’s grateful for the assist.
“I’m delighted the network is going to be committed to helping us tell that story because we’re going to have to continue to combat the misinformation and the naysayers and the people who want this to fail,” Cornyn said during a panel discussion with other Republican lawmakers to talk about federal policy.
At least nine elected officials, all Republicans, are expected to attend the Koch gathering and mingle with the network’s wealthy conservatives. They include Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who is running for his state’s governorship.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., addressed the donors by pre-recorded video on Sunday afternoon, lauding them for their help in passing a tax bill he said would “unshackle” businesses and fuel job growth.
“We would not be in this unique position without the hard work and devotion from everyone within the Koch network,” Ryan said.
Ryan said this year the House would do more to tackle overhauling the welfare system, along with criminal-justice changes the Koch groups advocate.
The Koch brothers, with a combined net worth that tops $100 billion, are among the richest people on the planet, and their ambitions far exceed politics as they look for long-lasting ways to expand their libertarian-leaning agenda to all corners of American society.
The weekend’s events are highlighting some of those broad policy initiatives.
Mark Holden, a top Koch aide, is working with the White House to craft a prison reform plan to reduce rates of recidivism; the network last year sent $100 million to colleges and universities to promote free-market ideas, and Koch groups are rapidly expanding their reach into local communities with anti-poverty programs.
Two network donors, Salen Churi and Brian Tochman, are unveiling plans this weekend to start a venture capital firm, Trust Venture, to find and fund startups whose products and services would otherwise be thwarted by what they call government’s “burdensome public policy barriers.”
More: Koch network to spend $20M selling GOP tax overhaul ahead of midterm elections
More: Vice President Pence implores Koch donors for 'every ounce' of support on tax cuts
Churi oversees an “innovation” clinic at the University of Chicago’s law school and previously worked for the Institute for Justice, a conservative litigation group that has challenged government licensing requirements for small businesses, such as food trucks and makeup artists.
In another high-profile venture for Charles Koch, the investment arm of his Kansas-based conglomerate, Koch Industries, recently put up $650 million to help Meredith Corp. buy Time Inc. and its flagship news magazine, Time.
The Koch donor retreats, now in their 15th year, are not open to the public. Journalists who are invited to attend must agree several restrictions, including limiting photography and not identifying donors.
In all, about 700 contributors give at least $100,000 annually to the network, and many give millions more to the affiliated Koch groups.
More: Why the Koch brothers want to kill an obscure Senate rule to help shape the federal courts | {
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Police in Lebanon have raided a hammam – or ‘Turkish bathhouse’ – and arrested 27 men after a report it was a meeting place for gay sex.
The raid took place on 9 August and was carried out by the Internal Security Forces, or national police, of the Mediterranean country.
It took place at the privately-owned Agha Hammam baths in the Hamra-Concord area in Beirut.
According to Colonel Tony Haddad from the Hbeish police station, the raid followed the arrest of an individual who pointed to the Agha Hammam as a gathering place for men who are seeking sexual encounters with other men.
Details of the arrest and what has happened to the men have only just emerged after work to uncover the facts by a group of LGBTI and gay-friendly organizations in Lebanon.
Colonel Haddad has apparently assured them none of the detainees were subjected to any physical or verbal violence or abuse.
He also said the police did not use the discredited anal probe test to examine whether they had gay sex. This test is considered a form of torture but was once common in Lebanon although it is now, technically, banned.
However activists told Gay Star News this evening they were still concerned about the threat or possibility of anal probe tests.
But Haddad did reportedly tell the activists that some of the detainees confirmed to investigators that they are gay.
The leading LGBTI and gay-supportive groups, Helem, Arab Foundation for Freedom and Equality (AFE), M-Coalition, Marsa Sexual Health Clinic, and the Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH) gave this statement to GSN within the last few minutes.
‘The incident came to our attention on Monday night (11 August) and we initiated an investigation of the reasons behind the raid and the status of the detained.
‘We were able to confirm the arrest of 27 men who were present at the venue.
‘Among the arrested men were the owner of the Hammam, the employees and several clients. All the men were still held in custody at Hbeish police station at the time this press release was written; four days following their arrest.
‘According to the information that Col Haddad provided us with (and which we cannot confirm beyond his words), Hbeish personnel investigated the detainees and their files have been transferred to the General Prosecutor awaiting charges.’
Based on this, the campaigners contacted Lebanon’s General Prosecutor Bilal Dinnawi to ask if he will press charges.
He apparently told them he is not interested in charging the detainees under article 534, the cover-all law which criminalizes homosexuality in Lebanon.
However he reportedly said he may charge them with public indecency, under article 521 of the penal code.
The non-governmental organizations working on the case expect any charges to be confirmed tomorrow morning.
The statement from the campaigners continues:
‘We made contact with the detainees who expressed their discomfort and confusion regarding the process of the investigation and the charges.
‘It has also come to our attention that at the time of the raid no public sexual act was taking place at Agha Hammam, and the investigation at the police station revolved mainly around the detainees’ alleged (homo)sexuality.
‘We denounce this incident as a case of homophobic practice that aims to police the sexual rights and liberties of the individuals involved and we call on the General Prosecutor and Hbeish police station to respect the dignity of the detainees and their rights to their (sexual) bodies.
‘We also specifically denounce the use or the implication of use of anal tests and we want to stress the physical and mental harm that such treatment could cause.
‘We call for the immediate release of all the detainees from under charges which violate their sexual and bodily rights and integrity. We will follow up on the cases as needed.’
While homosexuality remains criminalized in Lebanon a small gay scene operates with relative openness. | {
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This tool is reliable and most recommending tool because of it doesn’t lose the original mailbox folder hierarchy and data integrity while the conversion of OST to PST files. It maintains the internal hierarchy of emails, Meta properties and folders.
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Ans: Yes, this tool is capable to maintain the mailbox files/folder hierarchy and data integrity during the conversion process. | {
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We finally made it! Opus is now standardized by the IETF as RFC 6716 . See the Mozilla hacks post and the Xiph.Org press release for more details. Of course, feel free to help spread the word around.We're also releasing both version 1.0.0, which is the same code as the RFC, and version 1.0.1, which is a minor update on that code (mainly with the build system). As usual, you can get those from http://opus-codec.org/ Thanks to everyone who contributed by fixing bugs, reporting issues, implementing Opus support, testing, advocating, ... It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. | {
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“A whole galaxy of central rabbinic and spiritual leaders … has been affirming vegetarianism
as the ultimate meaning of Jewish moral teaching.”
Rabbi Isaac Ha-Levi Herzog,
Former Chief Rabbi of Israel
“We should make all our consumption as holy as possible…
The more we live as if this were the messianic age the closer we are to it.”
Rabbi Rami Shapiro
“There is no question that the Torah’s ideal is vegetarianism.”
Rabbi Bonnie Koppell
“I see vegetarianism as a mitzvah.”
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb
The mass production and consumption of meat contradicts many Jewish teachings
and Jewish values, gravely harming people, animals, communities, and the environment.
Consumption of animals – and the ways in which meat is produced today –
conflicts with Judaism in at least ten important ways.
Each way is important, each implies the others, and all are necessary.
Table of Contents :
1. Personal Health & Safety
2. Compassion for Others
3. Protecting the World & Environmentalism
4. Conservation & Efficiency
5. Knowledge & Spirituality
6. Charity & Righteousness
7. Peace & Justice
8. Concern for the Community
9. Keeping Kashrut
10. Fighting Fascism
11. Myths & Realities Regarding Judaism & Vegetarianism
12. Bonus Quotes
13. Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA)
14. Jewish Vegetarian Articles
15. Jewish Vegetarian Books
16. Jewish Vegetarian Cookbooks
17. Jewish Vegetarian Recipe Web Sites
18. Jewish Vegetarian Cooking Video
19. Jewish Vegetarian Videos
20. Related Jewish Organizations
21. Kosher Vegetarian Organizations
22. Miscellaneous Jewish Vegetarian Resources
23. Kosher Vegetarian Restaurants
24. Kosher Vegetarian Caterers
25. Free Vegetarian Starter Kits
26. English-Hebrew
27. Translations?
1. Personal Health & Safety:
Health and the protection of life are repeatedly emphasized, and even prioritized, in Jewish teachings. While Judaism teaches that we should be very careful about sh’mirat haguf, preserving our bodies and health, and pekuach nefesh, protecting our lives at almost any cost, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets directly to heart disease and heart attacks (the #1 cause of death in the U.S.), various forms of cancer (e.g., lung, colon, breast, prostate, stomach, and pancreas) (the #2 cause of death), stroke (the #3 cause of death), high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, asthma, atherosclerosis, aneurysms, rheumatoid arthritis, impotence, endometriosis, gallstones, gout, Alzheimer’s, and various other very serious ailments. About 2/3 of diseases in the U.S. are diet-related—and vegetarians are much less afflicted. Dayeinu.
Further, since more than half of all antibiotics in the U.S. are given to livestock (plus immense amounts of chemicals, steroids, hormones, and other drugs), resistant bacteria are increasing at an alarming rate, creating untreatable superbugs, like MRSA , that kill tens of thousands of people per year. And don’t forget mad cow disease, bird flu, foot and mouth, e. coli, salmonella and food poisoning. Fish often contain mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and toxic POPs, including PCBs, DDT, and dioxin, which can’t be removed from the fish and which bio-accumulate in consumers. “If there were no poultry industry”, concludes Neal D. Barnard, M.D., “there would be no epidemics of bird flu”. And if there were no cow industry, there would be no E. coli outbreaks. Dayeinu.
The meat industry is unhealthy and unsafe. Eating meat is more dangerous and more destructive than even smoking cigarettes. A vegetarian diet (one that does not include any animals) or a vegan diet (one that does not include any animal products, including meat, dairy, and eggs) can help prevent, and sometimes reverse, many of these health- and life-threatening conditions, while also protecting animals and the environment. “Since nutrition is the main determinant of health and the heart of preventive medicine”, according to Jay Levine, M.D., “becoming a vegetarian is the best way to fulfill these mandates” of preserving one’s health and avoiding things harmful to health. Dayeinu.
Take care of your lives… Guard yourselves most diligently.
Deuteronomy 4:9, 4:15
A danger to health takes precedence over ritual obligations.
Talmud, Chulin 10a
“One must avoid that which harms the body and accustom oneself to that which is helpful and helps the body become stronger.”
Moses Maimonides (the Rambam), 12th century rabbi and physician, Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Deot 4:1
“It is forbidden to eat anything that leads to any disease.”
Lomzha Rav, Divrie Malchiel 2:53
“While treating sick people is certainly a Torah obligation, Judaism puts a priority on the prevention of disease.”
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen and Richard H. Schwartz
“All new infectious diseases of human beings to emerge in the past 20 years have had an animal source.”
Lancet, 24 January 2004 , 363(9405):257
“Nothing will benefit health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
Albert Einstein, nominated to be the 2nd President of Israel
“As it is halachically prohibited to harm oneself and as healthy, nutritious vegetarian alternatives are easily available,
meat consumption has become halachically unjustifiable.”
Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, “Vegetarianism: An Orthodox Jewish Perspective”
2. Compassion for Others:
While Judaism forbids tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, inflicting unnecessary pain on animals, and encourages people to be a mentsch, a good, kind, and compassionate person, most farm animals – including most certified organic, most so-called “free range”, and most animals raised for kosher and other consumers – are raised on “factory farms”, where they suffer in cramped, confined, and cruel places, and are often drugged, mutilated, raped, tortured, and denied fresh air, water, sunlight, exercise, and any enjoyment of life, whether on Shabbat or any other day, before they are slaughtered on dis-assembly lines. Dayeinu.
Further, workers as well as animals are exploited in the production of meat and other animal products, yet Jewish tradition has various teachings against oshek, labor exploitation and types of stealing. Dayeinu.
Just as we were strangers in Egypt and freed from our slavery, animals need to be freed from their slavery, suffering, torture, and untimely death, in order to feed the whole world with the spirit of compassion, love, life, and liberation. Meat begins with violence; meals don’t have to! Animals should not have to suffer and die for our pleasure. Vegetarianism offers compassion, respects the stranger, reduces suffering, and saves lives everyday. As Rabbi Rami Shapiro says, “Vegetarianism is not simply a dietary ideal. It is a practice designed to enhance your capacity for compassion.” Dayeinu.
In the Torah, Jacob, Moses, and David were all shepherds who cared for animals. Moses is specifically praised for how he showed compassion towards animals, such as a lamb, as well as people. Abraham and Sarah were notorious for their hospitality and kindness toward others. Rebecca was acceptable as a wife for Jacob based on the concern she showed for animals, giving water to camels in addition to the thirsty person who asked for it. Noah is considered righteous and he cares for the lives of his many animals. In contrast, two hunters mentioned in the Torah, Nimrod and Esau, are represented as villains. Further, according to legend, Rabbi Judah the Prince, compiler and editor of the Mishnah, was punished with years of pain for his insensitivity to the fear of a calf on the way to slaughter (Talmud, Bava Mezia 85a). Dayeinu.
Vegetarianism is an easy and effective way of putting one’s values into action, practicing compassion with every meal, every day, thereby reducing pain, suffering, and death for those who can’t speak for or defend themselves. Dayeinu.
“Blessed is He who has mercy on the Earth; blessed is He who has mercy on the creatures.”
Artscroll Sidur
“It is forbidden, according to the law of the Torah, to inflict pain upon any living creature.
On the contrary, it is our duty to relieve the pain of any creature.”
Schulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law, literally the Set Table], bk. 4, ch. 191, p. 84
“Jews are rachmanin b’nei rachmanin [compassionate children of compassionate ancestors] and
one who is not compassionate cannot truly be a descendant of our father Abraham.”
Talmud, Beitzah 32b
“Those who have the capacity to eliminate a wrong and do not do so bear the responsibility for its consequences”.
Talmud, Shabbat 54b
“People should consider themselves, and the worms, and all creatures as friends in the universe,
for we are all created beings whose abilities are God-given.”
Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, founder of Chasidism), Tzava’as HaRivash 12
“It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the existence of humananity.
On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes and not for the sake of anything else...
There is no difference between the pain of humans and the pain of other animals.”
Rabbi Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), Guide for the Perplexed
“In the killing of animals, there is cruelty.”
Rabbi Joseph Albo, Sefer Ha-Ikarim, Vol. III , Ch. 15
“To make animals suffer is forbidden by the Torah.”
Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Haifa , Israel
“The dietary laws are intended to teach us compassion and lead us gently [back] to vegetarianism.”
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat
“It’s hard for me to understand how any Jewish people, but particularly religious Jewish people,
who are talking in terms of compassion and love for God’s creation, at the same time can sit down and eat animals that have been slaughtered
and in most cases have been kept in disgustingly cruel conditions.”
Phillip Campbell
“Being compassionate toward animal life is not just a matter of being responsible for animal life,
which we have very clearly laid down in the Torah, expounded by our sages,
but is a matter of imbuing ourselves with the right kind of values. If we are insensitive towards animal life, then we desensitize ourselves as human beings.
And therefore a truly sensitive human being, compassionate towards other human beings, should be compassionate towards animals.”
Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland
“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion
to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature.”
Albert Einstein, nominated to be the 2nd President of Israel
“I am a vegetarian for health reasons - the health of the animal.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Yiddish author and Nobel Prize laureate
3. Protecting the World & Environmentalism:
While Judaism teaches that we are to be shomrei adamah, partners in tikun olam, re-creating, preserving, and healing the world (Talmud, Shabbat 10a), mass production of meat contributes substantially to air and water pollution, overuse of chemicals and fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emission and global warming (what Rabbi Arthur Waskow calls “global scorching” and what many describe as possibly the biggest social, political, economic, environmental, and moral problem we face), the destruction of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, mangroves, and other habitats, soil erosion, deforestation, desertification, species extinction, loss of biodiversity, and various other forms of global environmental degradation. Vegetarianism is a form of eco-eating that protects the world. Dayeinu.
A spiritual view of the world recognizes the awesome power and beauty of creation, while it abhors destruction, embracing what Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel described as “radical amazement” in the presence of the divine. We are to be creators, not destroyers; holy, not profane; compassionate, not cruel; acting godly in imitation of the divine, not devilishly. Dayeinu.
Vegetarianism is more sustainable because vegetarians tread much more lightly on our precious but imperiled planet, thereby protecting the world and its inhabitants from unnecessary harm, while guarding it for future generations. Dayeinu.
“The environmental destruction caused by the animal-agriculture industry, by the amount of dung produced,
by the amount of sewage that gets poured into our waterways and our systems,
there’s no doubt that it’s damaging our world and it’s … in violation of the Jewish mandate to protect and observe and care for the Earth. …
We are ignoring things that are essential and that are critical to the character of Judaism, in order to meet our selfish desires and wants.”
Rabbi Adam Frank
“Those rabbis who really believe in tikkun olam should actively discourage their congregants from eating meat of any kind at any time for any reason.
That is possibly the greatest tikkun that we can try to do at this time in our history….
Rabbis, if you really believe in tikkun olam - stop eating meat and start pushing a vegetarian diet among your congregants.”
Rabbi Simchah Roth
“The burning of gasoline and the raising of cattle are two of the most planet-scorching actions that we take.”
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
“There’s no doubt about it from an ecological point of view, simply even I’d say mathematical point of view,
vegetarianism is a much more calculated way to manage this world.
And there is indeed a direct ideological connection between responsible stewardship and vegetarianism.”
Samuel Chayen, Director of the Environment at Mifal Chayim
“Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources.
If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms,
and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know.
Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about.”
“World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” (November 1992),
signed by about 1700 scientists, including the majority of living Nobel laureates in the sciences
“The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage
now threatening the human future --- deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change,
biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.”
Editors, World Watch, July/August 2004
4. Conservation & Efficiency:
While Judaism teaches bal tashchit (concern for the environment, based on Deuteronomy 20:19, 20), that we should not waste or unnecessarily destroy anything of value (conservation), and that we should not use more than what is necessary to accomplish a purpose (efficiency), meat production requires the very wasteful use of land, topsoil, water, fossil fuels and other forms of energy, labor, grain, and other vital resources, in addition to various toxic chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones. For example, it can require approximately 78 calories of non-renewable fossil fuel for each calorie of protein obtained from factory-farmed beef, but only 2 calories of fossil fuel to produce a calorie of protein from soybeans. Dayeinu.
The meat industry is exceptionally wasteful, inefficient, costly, and destructive, even while better alternatives are plentiful, easily obtainable, and healthier for consumers, workers, animals, and our environment. The world and its inhabitants can’t afford animal-based diets. Dayeinu.
Vegetarianism preserves the resources necessary for life, as well as the healthy and sustainable conditions that support life, for this and future generations. Dayeinu.
"This is the way of pious and elevated people... they will not waste even a mustard seed,
and they are distressed at every ruination and spoilage they see, and if they are able to save,
they will save anything from destruction with all of their power...”
Rabbi Aaron HaLevi of Barcelona, 13th century, Sefer HaChinuch 529
“Eating meat is not an ecologically efficient way to feed ourselves or the world.”
Deborah Kellman, founder of Milk & Honey, a kosher vegetarian catering company
5. Knowledge & Spirituality:
Judaism often emphasizes the interplay between the thinking and the doing, highlighting the vital role of kavanah, spiritual intention and concentration, as a precondition for action. That is a motivation behind the blessings, of which there is none specifically over meat. As it says in the Shulchan Aruch, “It is not fitting to bless God over something which He created and which man has slain.” According to custom, meat-eating was permitted after the Flood of Noah as a temporary concession, with elaborate restrictions, to human weakness for those with a “lust for meat”. Unlike for grains, fruits, and vegetables, and much else, for instance, there is no special blessing over meat and no mitzvah to eat it. Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D. concurs, saying that “Judaism is so rich in blessings.… [yet] there’s no special blessing [over] meat, it’s just not there.” Dayeinu.
In our creation story, the term nefesh chayah, living being or living soul, is applied to people and animals. Eating meat can be considered a Chilul HaShem, a desecration of God’s name, due to the destruction of life and spirit entailed, while eating plants could be considered a Kiddush HaShem, a blessing and sanctification of God’s name, due to the protection of health and life of both animals and humans. We are said in the Talmud to be rachmanin b’nei rachmanin, compassionate children of compassionate ancestors, but only if we act so. And when we do, we can be a “light unto the nations” and a light unto ourselves. Dayeinu.
While some argue that “flesh” is necessary to properly enjoy Shabbat and our other holy days, we can follow the Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, founder of Chasidism), who said that “flesh” could be meant in the Biblical sense and that one could enjoy the physical touch of another living human being instead of the meat of a dead animal. For those who erroneously think it might be a mitzvah to eat meat during holy days, it is a mitzvah haba’ah al y’dei aveirah, a mitzvah that derives from a sin; it is the fruit of a poisonous tree, and therefore no mitzvah at all. Dayeinu.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son Rabbi Eleazar hid in a cave for thirteen years after Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was condemned to death by the Roman conquerors for speaking out against them, following the destruction of the Second Temple and the murders of Rabbi Akiva (c. 50-135 CE) and many of his students. They were sustained by their cave, a nearby carob tree, a local stream, and their studies of the Torah. Rabbi Shimon taught that our world and the unseen “higher” worlds are unified, as manifestations of the Divine Soul, and that the meaning of life is to reunify Creation with the source of Creation. He also affirmed that the “crown” of a good name is the most important thing and within the reach of everyone. Dayeinu.
It is also part of our teaching, from Hillel’s disagreement with Shamai over lighting of the menorah in the Talmud, that ma’alin bakodesh v’ayn moridim ,“in sacred matters we must increase holiness rather than decrease it”. Dayeinu.
Further, it is believed by Maimonides, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, and other Chief Rabbis and Torah scholars that in the messianic age of the Third Temple, when “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb… and the lion shall eat straw like the ox” (Isaiah 11:6-7), Temple sacrifices as well as all other food will be vegetarian. Dayeinu.
Vegetarians live closer to the messianic age in the present, while also hastening it for the world. As Rabbi Rami Shapiro reminds us, “Vegetarianism is central to holy living as Judaism has understood it for thousands of years.” Vegetarianism is a mitzvah, a sacred duty and good deed. Dayeinu.
“Aside from the cruelty, rage and fury in killing animals, and the fact that it teaches human beings the bad trait of shedding blood for naught;
eating the flesh even of select animals will yet give rise to a mean and insensitive soul.”
Rabbi Joseph Albo, c. 1380-1444
“The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses:
Eating meat is not essential to one’s nutrition; rather, it is a matter of gluttony, of filling one’s belly and of increasing one's lust.
Meat also gives rise in human beings to a cruel and evil temperament. ....
Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, did not tell Moses that He would give the Israelites meat, rather bread,
which is a fitting food and essential for the human temperament.”
Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508), commentary on Exodus 16:4
“It [eating meat] is an overall moral shortcoming of [hu]mankind, in that it does not promote good and lofty sentiments”
Rav Abraham Isaac ha-Cohen Kook (1865-1935), 1st Chief Rabbi of Pre-State Israel, Hazon ha-Tzimhonut ve-ha-Shalom me-Behinah Toranit
“There is no question that the Torah’s ideal is vegetarianism.”
Rabbi Bonnie Koppell
“I am a vegetarian precisely because I am a believing Jew who strives to live in accordance with the ethical teachings of my heritage….
I believe that if you follow the most sublime and noble values in our tradition, in this day and age,
then there is an imperative to live a vegetarian lifestyle. … It is a halachic imperative.
Compassion for animals is a halachic imperative. And being responsible also for your environment and for your globe,
which also have ramifications coming out of the whole question of the meat industry and meat consumption, are all fundamental Jewish questions.
So I, simply put, am a vegetarian because I am a religious Jew.”
Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland
“There is plenty in the Torah that resonates with vegetarianism. God says to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,
‘I give you all these plants and fruits to eat.’ Eating meat doesn’t come up.
I find that the way I eat is in keeping with my Jewish practice…I don’t think Judaism tells you ‘you have to be a vegetarian’,
but there is a whole variety of clues in the literature that tell us it is a good thing.”
Rabbi David Small
“Vegetarianism is a response to today’s world... Meat-eating, like polygamy, fit into an earlier stage of human history.”
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
“And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘I now establish My covenant with you and your offspring to come,
and with every living thing that is with you—birds, cattle, and every wild beast as well—
all that have come out of the ark, every living thing on Earth…”
Genesis 9:8-10 (the first covenant in the Torah, which suggests that animals also have souls and rights as they are included in this covenant)
“I became a vegetarian … after serious studies of the book of Genesis, particularly the earliest chapters.”
Rabbi Stephen Fuchs
“When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Yiddish author and Nobel Prize laureate
6. Charity & Righteousness:
While Judaism stresses the importance of tzedakah, that we be kind, assist the poor and weak, and share our food with the hungry, about 3/4 of major U.S. crops - e.g., corn, wheat, soybeans, oats, alfalfa - are fed to the tens of billions of animals destined to be slaughtered for meat, while millions of people worldwide die from hunger and its effects each year. Dayeinu.
About one billion poor people chronically suffer from hunger, malnutrition, and their debilitating effects, tens of thousands of them consequently dying each day, about one every few seconds, while millions of affluent people die from the ill effects of over-eating and over-consumption, primarily of animal products. Dayeinu.
The way of the tzadik is the way of chesed (lovingkindness), compassion, charity, and righteousness for all living beings. Vegetarianism is a major form of tzedakah, on a daily basis, which can do as much for the giver as the receiver. Dayeinu.
“Righteous people regard the lives of animals.”
Proverbs 12:10
“If a [person] aspires towards a righteous life, his [or her] first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.”
Albert Einstein, nominated to be the 2nd President of Israel
“Tzedakah is equivalent to all the other religious precepts combined.”
Rabbi Assi, Talmud, Baba Batra 9a
7. Peace & Justice:
While Judaism repeatedly stresses that we must always seek and pursue shalom v’tzedek, peace and justice, and that moral degradation and violence results from unjust conditions, animal-centered diets - especially by wasting valuable resources and desensitizing us to violence - help to perpetuate the widespread poverty, hunger, environmental destruction, and despair that lead to mass suffering, social insecurity, ethnic hostilities, violence, genocide, and war. Dayeinu.
Our sages note that the Hebrew words for bread (lechem) and for war (milchamah) come from the same root and are therefore related, since shortages of food and instances of wars are correlated, with each contributing to the other. Dayeinu.
Vegetarianism is a protest against injustices and the mitzvah of vegetarianism brings peace and justice to and through every meal and shares it with the world. Dayeinu.
“Seek peace, and pursue it”
Psalm 34:14
“Justice, justice shall you pursue...”
Deuteronomy 16:20
“Thou shall not kill [murder]”
6th Commandment
“He who kills an ox is as if he slew a person.”
Isaiah 66:3
“One who destroys a single life is considered to have destroyed an entire world,
and one who saves a single life is considered to have saved an entire world.”
Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:5
“The sword comes into the world because of justice delayed, because of justice perverted,
and because of those who render wrong decisions.”
Pirkei Avot [Ethics of Our Sages] 5:11
“I think that eating meat or fish is a denial of all ideals, even of all religions.
How can we pray to God for mercy if we ourselves have no mercy?
How can we speak of right and justice if we take an innocent creature and shed its blood?
Every kind of killing seems to me savage and I find no justification for it.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Yiddish author and Nobel Prize laureate
“As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people.
Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Yiddish author and Nobel Prize laureate
“Love peace, pursue peace, love all creatures...”
Hillel
8. Concern for the Community:
Concern for the Jewish community (Klal Yisrael), as well as the wider community (Klal Ha’Olam), is integral to Jewish ethics and requires personal and communal responsibility. Eating meat endangers community members and endangers the world: Eating meat contributes to ill health, cruelty to animals and the hardening of the human heart (literally and figuratively), destruction of the environment, global warming, and the waste of precious resources, increased inequality and social divisions, hunger, injustice, and the potential for more violence, warfare, and genocide. Dayeinu.
Vegetarianism is an antidote to all of these unnecessary tragedies. Vegetarianism helps us to preserve and protect our health, environment, culture, community, society, and spirit l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation. Judaism encourages us to be involved with the community and vegetarianism allows us to have a positive impact on the community with every meal. Dayeinu.
A shift toward vegetarianism can also be a major factor in the rededication and renewal of Judaism, as it would further demonstrate that Jewish values are not only relevant but essential to everyday personal life and global survival. Dayeinu.
“The fate of men and the fate of animals, they have one and the same fate.
As one dies, so does the other, and they all have the same spirit.”
Ecclesiastes 3:19
“I don't want my food choices to condone the suffering that occurs in the animal food industry.
Judaism takes seriously the idea of personal responsibility.
Communal change for the better and improved societal ethical behavior starts with the individual.”
Rabbi Adam Frank
9. Keeping Kashrut:
The practice of kashrut, or keeping kosher, is the specific way of applying Jewish teachings and Jewish values to our consumption of food. Jews are called upon to eat consciously, to be compassionate and peaceful, and to bring our spirituality and ethics to the necessity of nutrition. Besides being life-sustaining, satisfying, and often joyous, eating is a holy act. Vegetarianism, as a form of eco-kashrut, is an easy way to keep kosher and to be more holy. Indeed, Rabbi Arthur Green states that “Vegetarianism [should be] a kashrut for our age.” Dayeinu.
“The laws of kashrut come to teach us that a Jew’s first preference should be a vegetarian meal.”
Rabbi Pinchas Peli, Torah Today
“Vegetarianism offers an ideal mode for preserving the religious and ethical values which kashrut was designed to concretize in human life.”
Rabbi Robert Gordis
“A higher form of being kosher is vegetarianism.”
Rabbi Daniel Jezer
“We should make all our consumption as holy as possible…
The more we live as if this were the messianic age the closer we are to it.”
Rabbi Rami Shapiro
“If we look at the way in which kosher meat is produced today, it is difficult to see any holiness there.”
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom
“In countries like the United States , more chicken is eaten than any other meat. To avoid bruising of their flesh, these ‘broiler birds’ are kept in huge warehouse-like sheds, never to see the light of day. [Thousands of] birds are jammed into areas like this. Even those ultimately killed according to the laws of kashrut, to make them kosher, endure miserable lives in these huge factory farms.”
A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World (one-hour film)
“Mrs. Kalechofsky, all meat prepared for the commercial market, whether it’s kosher or not, comes from the same place. We just kill the animal different.”
Roberta Kalechofsky’s former butcher
“The laws of schechitah, the Jewish laws of kosher slaughter, are very specific. And they apply to the moment of slaughter.
They don’t apply to the conditions in which the animal is raised. They don’t apply to the method in which the animal is being restrained before the slaughter.
And they really don’t apply to anything that happens after the slaughter takes place.”
Rabbi Adam Frank
“Sadly, ‘kosher’ means nothing when it comes to how animals are treated on farms,
and the largest kosher slaughterhouse in North America was caught horribly abusing animals
—ripping the tracheas out of live cows’ throats and worse—and defending the abuse as kosher.”
Kathy Freston, “A Few More ‘Inconvenient Truths’”
“What may have once made sense, now can no longer be justified….
Let us realize today, in the vast majority of cases, ‘kosher meat’ is an oxymoron.”
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb
“The current treatment of animals in the livestock trade definitely renders the consumption of meat as halachically unacceptable as the product of illegitimate means.”
Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland
“Kashrut becomes a snap when you are a vegetarian—kashrut is only hard if you eat milk and meat all of the time.”
Rabbi David Small
“By not eating meat, I am much more certain to never violate, even accidentally, the Biblical and rabbinic prohibitions concerning non-kosher meat.
The traditional production of kosher meat never envisioned mass slaughterhouses or factory farms.
It is questionable whether most meat or poultry produced in this country that is sold as kosher is actually in compliance with the traditional rules of kashrut
as well as the prohibition against cruelty to animals.”
Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen
“The simpler way [of maintaining kashrut], which is the better way in the eyes of the tradition, is to be vegetarian.”
Rabbi Michael Cohen
“I’m a vegetarian and I stay milchik all the time.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the [British] Commonwealth, “The Messianic Idea Today”
“If you don’t eat meat, you are certainly kosher… And I believe that is what we should tell our fellow rabbis.”
Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Israel
10. Fighting Fascism:
Historically, and unfortunately still presently, Jews have been common targets of authoritarian, fascist, and genocidal policies and actions, whatever their names and places. Jewish ethics, Jewish values, and even the method of the Talmud (as well as U.S. Supreme Court decisions), respects and protects minority opinions and minority groups. Dayeinu.
We Jews have too often been the victim of genocide (including enslavement in Egypt , The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust/Shoah, and numerous pogroms throughout history) and therefore have a vital personal and communal interest as well as a social responsibility to fight fascism and genocide in all forms and in all places. Dayeinu.
The livestock industry is a form of enslavement, torture, and genocide, while vegetarianism is a powerful way of actively yet non-violently opposing the daily and brutal outrage of meat production and consumption. Dayeinu.
“In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The Letter Writer”, Yiddish author and 1978 Nobel Prize laureate
“Auschwitz begins whenever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals.”
Theodor Adorno, Ph.D., Jewish philosopher
“The Nazis explicitly structured their industrial destruction of the Jews [and other peoples] on the model of animal slaughter.
This is not to compare the suffering of animals and humans, but shows that the way we treat animals is similar to the way the Nazis treated us.”
Rabbi Hillel Norry
“The domestication/enslavement of animals was the model and inspiration for human slavery…
the breeding of domesticated animals led to eugenic measures as compulsory sterilization, euthanasia killings, and genocide, and…
the industrialized slaughter of cattle, pigs, sheep, and other animals paved the way, at least indirectly, for the Final Solution.”
Charles Patterson, Ph.D., author of Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust
“Just as the Nazis dehumanized the Jews in their propaganda and in the atrocities they committed,
the apologists for meat consumption and the exploitation of animals have stereotyped and degraded the animal kingdom for their own purposes,
declaring animals to be devoid of cognitive functioning and even of pain.”
Jay Lavine, M.D., She’elot Uteshuvot (Questions and Answers) on Jewish Vegetarianism
“In the course of his development towards culture, man acquired a dominating position over his fellow-creatures in the animal kingdom. Not content with this supremacy, however, he began to place a gulf between his nature and theirs. He denied the possession of reason to them, and to himself he attributed an immortal soul, and made claims to a divine descent which permitted him to annihilate the bond of community between him and the animal kingdom.”
Sigmund Freud, “A Difficulty in the Path of Psycho-Analysis”
“No one can deny seriously, or for very long, that [people] do all they can in order to dissimulate this cruelty [of animal slaughter]
or to hide it from themselves, in order to organize on a global scale the forgetting or misunderstanding of this violence
that some would compare to the worst cases of genocide.”
Jacques Derrida, Jewish philosopher
“My ancestors did not belong to the hunters as much as to the hunted,
and the idea of attacking the descendants of those who were our comrades in misery goes against my grain.”
Heinrich Heine, Jewish writer
“Unless you believe in fascism - that might makes right - we do not have a right to harm others.”
Henry Spira, Kristallnacht survivor and animal rights advocate
“I've noticed that quite a lot of people who are prominent in the animal liberation movement are Jews.
Maybe we are simply not prepared to see the powerful hurting the weak.”
Peter Singer, ethicist
“Hitler was not a vegetarian. Even if he had been, what difference would it make?
Does that negate the overwhelming evidence of harm caused by the consumption of meat?
If Hitler loved art and music, should we all refrain from going to the museum or the philharmonic?
[Instead of] ‘pass the meat’, I say: ‘Meat? I’ll pass’.”
Rabbi Hillel Norry
“ The end user of a product knowingly derived by cruel means is a participant in the cruelty.”
Rabbi Adam Frank
“Modern, secular thinking allows for sentient creatures to be treated like inanimate objects, but Jewish tradition does not....
My decision to abstain from the consumption of animal products is an expression of my adherence to Jewish law,
and it expresses my disapproval and disdain for the cruel practices of the industry.”
Rabbi Adam Frank
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
Elie Wiesel , Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, 10 December 1986
“There has been enough killing in the world.”
Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, Founding Dean of New York’s Mesivta Torah VoDaath, on why he became a vegetarian after the Holocaust
Clearly, Jewish values and meat consumption are in serious conflict.
In view of these ten important Jewish teachings and values, among others, to
(1) preserve human health, (2) have compassion for and attend to the welfare of animals,
(3) protect and repair the world, (4) conserve resources, (5) have deep spiritual intention,
(6) help feed the hungry and assist the weak, (7) pursue peace and justice,
(8) have concern for the community, (9) eat consciously, and (10) fight fascism
– and since meat production and consumption
violate each and all of these sacred and social responsibilities (mitzvot) –
we believe that Jews (and others) should eliminate (or sharply reduce) consumption of animals.
We need to end the modern plagues that damage us, our health, our spirits,
our communities, our society, the workers, the animals, and our environment.
Dayeinu!
The Vegetarian Mitzvah
“Don’t let your cravings delude you,
don’t become alienated,
don’t let your cravings become your gods,
don’t debase yourself to them.”
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, V’haya Im Shamoa
11. Myths & Realities Regarding Judaism & Vegetarianism:
Eighteen Reasons Jews Think They Should Not Be Vegetarians (And Why They Are Wrong) by Richard H. Schwartz
1) Myth: The Torah teaches that humans are granted dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26 ), giving us a warrant to treat animals in any way we wish.
Reality: Jewish tradition interprets “dominion” as guardianship, or stewardship: we are called upon to be co-workers with God in improving the world. Dominion does not mean that people have the right to wantonly exploit animals, and it certainly does not permit us to breed animals and treat them as machines designed solely to meet human needs. In A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace, Rav Kook states: “There can be no doubt in the mind of any intelligent person that [the Divine empowerment of humanity to derive benefit from nature] does not mean the domination of a harsh ruler, who afflicts his people and servants merely to satisfy his whim and desire, according to the crookedness of his heart. It is unthinkable that the Divine Law would impose such a decree of servitude, sealed for all eternity, upon the world of God, Who is ‘good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works’ (Psalms 145:9).” This view is reinforced by the fact that immediately after God gave humankind dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26 ), He prescribed vegetarian foods as the diet for humans (Genesis 1:29 ).
2) Myth: The Torah teaches that only people are created in the Divine Image, meaning that God places far less value on animals.
Response: While the Torah states that only human beings are created “in the Divine Image” (Genesis 5:1), animals are also God’s creatures, possessing sensitivity and the capacity for feeling pain. God is concerned that they are protected and treated with compassion and justice. In fact, the Jewish sages state that to be “created in the Divine Image”, means that people have the capacity to emulate the Divine compassion for all creatures. “As God is compassionate,” they teach, “so you should be compassionate.”
3) Myth: Inconsistent with Judaism, vegetarians elevate animals to a level equal to or greater than that of people.
Reality: Vegetarians’ concern for animals and their refusal to treat animals cruelly does not mean that vegetarians regard animals as being equal to people. There are many reasons for being vegetarian other than consideration for animals, including concerns about human health, ecological threats, and the plight of hungry people. Because humans are capable of imagination, rationality, empathy, compassion, and moral choice, we should strive to end the unbelievably cruel conditions under which farm animals are currently raised. This is an issue of sensitivity, not an assertion of equality with the animal kingdom.
4) Myth: Vegetarianism places greater priority on animal rights than on the many problems related to human welfare.
Reality: Vegetarian diets are not beneficial only to animals. They improve human health, help conserve food and other resources, and put less strain on endangered ecosystems. In view of the many threats related to today’s livestock agriculture (such as deforestation and global climate change), working to promote vegetarianism may be the most important action that one can take for global sustainability.
5) Myth: By putting vegetarian values ahead of Jewish teachings, vegetarians are, in effect, creating a new religion with values contrary to Jewish teachings.
Reality: Jewish vegetarians are not placing so-called “vegetarian values” above Torah principles but are challenging the Jewish community to apply Judaism’s splendid teachings at every level of our daily lives. Vegetarians argue that Jewish teachings that we must treat animals with compassion, guard our health, share with hungry people, protect the environment, conserve resources, and seek peace, are all best applied through vegetarian diets.
6) Myth: Jews must eat meat on Shabbat and Yom Tov (Jewish holidays).
Reality: According to the Talmud (T.B. Pesachim 109a), since the destruction of the Temple , Jews are not required to eat meat in order to rejoice on sacred occasions. This view is reinforced in the works Reshit Chochmah and Kerem Shlomo and Rabbi Chizkiah Medini's Sdei Chemed, which cites many classical sources on the subject. Several Israeli chief rabbis, including Shlomo Goren, late Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel , Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth , and Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Haifa , have been or are strict vegetarians.
7) Myth: The Torah mandated that Jews eat korban Pesach and other korbanot (sacrifices).
Reality: The great Jewish philosopher Maimonides believed that God permitted sacrifices as a concession to the common mode of worship in Biblical times. It was felt that had Moses not instituted the sacrifices, his mission would have failed and Judaism might have disappeared. The Jewish philosopher Abarbanel reinforced Maimonides’ position by citing a midrash (Rabbinic teaching) that indicates God tolerated the sacrifices because the Israelites had become accustomed to sacrifices in Egypt , but that He commanded they be offered only in one central sanctuary in order to wean the Jews from idolatrous practices.
8) Myth: Jews historically have had many problems with some animal rights groups, which have often opposed shechita (ritual slaughter) and advocated its abolishment.
Reality: Jews should consider switching to vegetarianism not because of the views of animal rights groups, whether they are hostile to Judaism or not, but because it is the diet most consistent with Jewish teachings. It is the Torah, not animal rights groups, which is the basis for observing how far current animal treatment has strayed from fundamental Jewish values. As Samson Raphael Hirsch stated: “Here you are faced with God’s teaching, which obliges you not only to refrain from inflicting unnecessary pain on any animal, but to help and, when you can, to lessen the pain whenever you see an animal suffering, even through no fault of yours.”
9) Myth: The restrictions of shechita minimize the pain to animals in the slaughtering process, and thus fulfill Jewish laws on proper treatment of animals.
Reality: This ignores the cruel treatment of animals on “factory farms” in the many months prior to slaughter. Can we ignore the force-feeding of huge amounts of grain to ducks and geese to produce foie gras, the removal of calves from their mothers shortly after birth to raise them for veal, the killing of over 250 million male chicks immediately after birth at egg-laying hatcheries in the U.S. annually, the placing of hens in cages so small that they can't raise even one wing, and the many other horrors of modern factory farming?
10) Myth: If Jews do not eat meat, they will be deprived of the opportunity to fulfill many mitzvot (commandments).
Reality: By not eating meat, Jews are actually fulfilling many mitzvot: showing compassion to animals, preserving health, conserving resources, helping to feed the hungry, and preserving the earth. And by abstaining from meat, Jews reduce the chance of accidentally violating several prohibitions of the Torah, such as mixing meat and milk, eating non-kosher animals, and eating forbidden fats or blood. There are other cases where Torah laws regulate things that God would prefer people not do at all. For example, God wishes people to live in peace, but he provides commandments relating to war, knowing that human beings will quarrel and seek victories over others. Similarly, the Torah laws that restrict taking female captives in wartime are a concession to human weakness. Indeed, the sages go to great lengths to deter people from taking advantage of such dispensations.
11) Myth: Judaism teaches that it is wrong not to take advantage of the pleasurable things that God has put on the earth. Since He put animals on the earth, and it is pleasurable to eat them, is it not wrong to refrain from eating meat?
Reality: Can eating meat be pleasurable to a sensitive person when he or she knows that, as a result, their health is endangered, grain is wasted, the environment is damaged, and animals are being cruelly treated? One can indulge in pleasure without doing harm to living creatures. There are many other cases in Judaism where actions that people may consider pleasurable are forbidden or discouraged - such as the use of tobacco, drinking liquor to excess, having sexual relations out of wedlock, and hunting.
12) Myth: A movement by Jews toward vegetarianism would lead to less emphasis on kashrut (dietary laws) and eventually a disregard of these laws.
Reality: Quite the contrary. In many ways, becoming a vegetarian makes it easier and less expensive to observe the laws of kashrut. This might attract many new adherents to keeping kosher, and eventually to other important Jewish practices. As a vegetarian, one need not be concerned with mixing milchigs (dairy products) with fleichigs (meat products), waiting three or six hours after eating meat before being allowed to eat dairy products, storing four complete sets of dishes (two for regular use and two for Passover use), extra silverware, pots, pans, etc., and many other considerations incumbent upon the non-vegetarian who wishes to observe kashrut.
13) Myth: If everyone became vegetarian, butchers, shochtim (slaughterers), and others dependent for a living on the consumption of meat would lack work.
Reality: There could be a shift from the production of animal products to that of nutritious vegetarian dishes. In England during World War II, when there was a shortage of meat, butchers relied mainly on the sale of fruits and vegetables. Today, new businesses could sell tofu, miso, felafel, soy burgers, and vegetarian cholent (Sabbath hot dish). Besides, the shift toward vegetarianism will be gradual, providing time for a transition to other jobs. The same kind of question can be asked about other moral issues. What would happen to arms merchants if we had universal peace? What would happen to some doctors and nurses if people took better care of themselves, stopped smoking, improved their diets, and so on? Immoral or inefficient practices should not be supported because some people earn a living in the process.
14) Myth: If everyone became vegetarian, animals would overrun the earth.
Reality: This concern is based on an insufficient understanding of animal behavior. For example, there are millions of turkeys around at Thanksgiving not because they want to help celebrate the holiday, but because farmers breed them for the dinner table. Dairy cows are artificially inseminated annually so that they will constantly produce milk. Before the establishment of modern intensive livestock agriculture, food supply and demand kept animal populations relatively steady. An end to the manipulation of animals’ reproductive tendencies to suit our needs would lead to a decrease, rather than an increase, in the number of animals. We are not overrun by animals that we do not eat, such as lions, elephants, and crocodiles.
15) Myth: Instead of advocating vegetarianism, we should alleviate the evils of factory farming so that animals are treated better, less grain is wasted, and less health-harming chemicals are used.
Reality: The breeding of animals is “big business”. Animals are raised the way they are today because it is very profitable. Improving conditions, as suggested by this assertion, would certainly be a step in the right direction, but it has been strongly resisted by the meat industry since it would greatly increase already high prices. Why not abstain from eating meat as a protest against present policies while trying to improve them? Even under the best of conditions, why take the life of a creature of God, “whose tender mercies are over all His creatures” (Psalms 145:9), when it is not necessary for proper nutrition?
16) Myth: One can work to improve conditions for animals without being a vegetarian.
Reality: Certainly, animal abuse is a widespread problem and there are many ways to improve conditions for animals. However, one should keep in mind that factory farming is the primary source of animal abuse in this country. According to FARM (Farm Animal Reform Movement), “The number of warm-blooded animals brutalized and slaughtered each year is approximately 70 times the number of animals killed in laboratories, 30 times the number killed by hunters and trappers, and 500 times the number killed in pounds.” They also reported that almost ten billion farm animals are killed annually to produce food. A typical meat-eating animal welfare advocate is personally responsible for the slaughter of twenty-two warm-blooded animals per year, 1,500 in an average lifetime.
17) Myth: If vegetarian diets were best for health, doctors would recommend them.
Reality: Unfortunately, while doctors are devoted to the well-being of their patients, many lack information about the basic relationship between food and health, because nutrition is not sufficiently taught at most medical schools. Also, many patients are resistant to making dietary changes. The accepted approach today seems to be to prescribe medications first and, perhaps, recommend a diet change as an afterthought. However, there now seems to be increasing awareness on the part of doctors about the importance of proper nutrition, but the financial power of the beef and dairy lobbies and other groups who gain from the status quo prevents rapid changes.
18) Myth: I enjoy eating meat. Why should I give it up?
Reality: If one is solely motivated by what will bring pleasure, perhaps no answer to this question would be acceptable. But Judaism wishes us to be motivated by far more: doing mitzvot, performing good deeds and acts of charity, sanctifying ourselves in the realm of the permissible, helping to feed the hungry, pursuing justice and peace, etc. Even if one is primarily motivated by considerations of pleasure and convenience, the negative health effects of animal-centered diets should be taken into account. One cannot enjoy life when one is not in good health.
12. Bonus Quotes:
The Torah repeatedly refers to Israel as a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8, 3:17; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 13:27, 14:8; Deuteronomy 11:9, 26:9, 26:15, 27:3, 31:20; Baruch 1:20; and Ezekiel 20:15). God further describes Israel as a “garden land”, saying He brought His people there to “eat its goodly fruits” (Jeremiah 2:7).
“ Israel was promised bread to the full, but not flesh.
Their cry for bread was reasonable, but not for meat, for one can do without it.”
Rashi (11th Century Rabbi and the Talmud commentator), commentary to Exodus 16:8
(after receiving and eating quail, over 12,000 Israelites died from a plague in a place known as the “Graves of Lust”)
“The Torah teaches a lesson in moral conduct, that people shall not eat meat unless they have a special craving for it…and [then] shall eat it only occasionally and sparingly.”
Talmud, Chulin 84a
“Be kind and compassionate to all creatures that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, created in this world.
Neither beat nor inflict pain on any animal, beast, bird or insect.
Do not throw stones at a dog or a cat, nor should you kill flies or wasps.”
Sefer Chasidim [Book of the Pious]
“One does not ask for forgiveness of sins while wearing articles made from the skins of slaughtered animals.”
Shulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law, literally the Set Table]
“The enormity of challenges that we face, in terms of health, in terms of environmental impact, in terms of the waste of resources,
in terms of the way animals are treated today,
should all naturally lead a thinking sensitive Jew to question whether it is legitimate today…
to maintain a diet in which animals are being treated in a manner that contravenes halachic Jewish legal requirements,
in which we are treating ourselves in a manner that contravenes Jewish requirements,
in a manner that is insensitive towards the ramifications of our actions and our behavior towards other segments of society,
and where there are scandalous suffering of humanity that we could help alleviate if we were to follow a different diet.
So, all of these factors should make compelling arguments for any informed educated and responsible Jew to lead a vegetarian diet.”
Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland
“Perhaps the most powerful argument in favor of vegetarianism today more than ever before ... is the prohibition against ‘chillul HaShem’, the desecration of God’s name.
Surely it is precisely such a desecration when observant Jews eat animals produced under conditions of cruelty that flagrantly violate Jewish teachings and prohibitions...”
Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland
“I did not want to become a vegetarian. The world demanded that I be one."
Rabbi Paul Steinberg
“There are probably no creatures that require more the protective Divine word against the presumption of man than the animals, which like man have sensations and instincts, but whose body and powers are nevertheless subservient to man. In relation to them man so easily forgets that injured animal muscle twitches just like human muscle, that the maltreated nerves of an animal sicken like human nerves, that the animal being is just as sensitive to cuts, blows, and beatings as man. Thus man becomes the torturer of the animal soul, which has been subjected to him only for the fulfillment of humane and wise purposes ... Here you are faced with God’s teaching, which obliges you not only to refrain from inflicting unnecessary pain on any animal,
but to help and, when you can, to lessen the pain whenever you see an animal suffering, even through no fault of yours.”
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, Chapter 60, Verses 415, 416)
“I am vegan because I cannot justify saying I believe in the values of social justice, human rights and caring for the environment
and continue to participate in something that is a core representation of exploitation and pain in the world.”
Boris Doan, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Student and Coordinator of ShalomVeg.com
"It appears that the first intention of the Maker was to have [people] live on a strictly vegetarian diet.
The very earliest periods of Jewish history are marked with humanitarian conduct towards the lower animal kingdom. ...
It is clearly established that the ancient Hebrews knew, and perhaps were the first among [people] to know, that animals feel and suffer pain."
Rabbi Simon Glazer
“It is not necessary for any human benefit to consume the flesh of animals.
In fact it is harmful to human health, destructive of the environment, and wasteful of valuable resources
that could be better used to feed the hungry and provide for the needy.
All of these are Torah values.”
Rabbi Hillel Norry
“I grew repulsed by the idea of killing and eating animals, so I stopped.”
Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen
“The staples of life do not include meat.”
Rabbi David Golinkin
“My decision to abstain from the consumption of animal products is an expression of my adherence to Jewish law.”
Rabbi Adam Frank
“Even the Torah itself recognizes that eating meat is not an ideal thing for the human being.
It’s not the ideal diet for the human race.”
Rabbi Simchah Roth
“Land, if it were used for growing, purely for growing food for vegetarian and vegan diets would feed many, many more people, and therefore for that reason also,
Judaism would say that in this modern age, this is something that we should very, very carefully consider.”
Rabbi Simchah Roth
“‘I can’t change the whole world’ you can say. My answer to that is:
You’re right, but you certainly can personally change your whole world.”
Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg on vegetarianism
“We need to think about how the food we eat advances the values we hold.”
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism
“Changing to a plant-based diet or, short of that, reducing our consumption of meat drastically is the most important way we can each directly contribute to repairing the ecosystem
upon which we depend for our survival as a species. The “inconvenient truth” is that meat-based diets are unhealthy and unsustainable for the planet.”
Rabbi Leah Sudran
“The primary and self-sufficient basis for mandatory Jewish vegetarianism is tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, the Torah principle of animal welfare.
A vegetarian lifestyle is supported by a variety of other Jewish mandates, including preservation of human health and the environment, conservation,
and potentially reducing starvation and armed conflict in lesser developed nations.”
Phineas E. Leahey, J.D., Jewish Ethics and Mandatory Vegetarianism
“If we want the Earth to survive and if we want to greatly reduce the amount of hunger and starvation, and diseases related to hunger and starvation all over the world,
one of the most important things we can do is reduce or eliminate the consumption of meat. …
Jewish tradition and Jewish values want us to feed hungry people, want us to preserve and protect God’s natural world, want us to preserve and strengthen our own bodies,
and eating meat interferes with and reduces all of those possibilities.
If we want to care for the world and develop ourselves and help people in need, becoming vegetarian is a small thing that we can do that helps contribute to that,
and that symbolizes and expresses our concerns for those things.”
Jonathan Wolf, founder of JVNA
“You may love your individual dog, your individual bird, but animals are being slaughtered b y the billions… around the world for people who eat them.
So those animals don’t have such a good life. They’re not pampered pets, they are kept in cramped, unpleasant, unhealthful conditions
and when they’re shipped off to be slaughtered, they’re often exposed to terrible heat or terrible cold for days at a time. They live very unhappy, brutalized lives.”
Jonathan Wolf, founder of JVNA
“The [kashrut] rule of not being able to eat animals that eat other animals
is another strong argument for why humans themselves should not eat other animals.”
Rebecca Namm
“Humans - who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals –
have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.
A sharp distinction between humans and ‘animals’ is essential if we are to bend them to our will, wear them, eat them
- without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret.”
Carl Sagan, Ph.D. & Ann Druyan, Ph.D., Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
“Put most simply, when I choose not to eat meat, I feel that I am choosing life over death.”
Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything Is Illuminated, winner of National Jewish Book Award
“Now I can look at you in peace; I don’t eat you anymore.”
Franz Kafka, Jewish author (looking at fish in an aquarium)
“Nothing will benefit health and increase the chances for survival
of life on Earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
Albert Einstein, Jewish scientist and philosopher; Time’s “Man of the [20th] Century”
“This is my protest against the conduct of the world. To be a vegetarian is to disagree—to disagree with the course of things today.
Starvation, world hunger, cruelty, waste, wars—we must make a statement against these things.
Vegetarianism is my statement and I think it’s a strong one.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer
“’Meat’ is a euphemism. ‘Meat’ is a word we use to partially shield ourselves from the fact that we are eating a dead animal.”
Nigel Savage, founder of Hazon
“Scripture does not command the Israelite to eat meat.”
Rabbi Elijah Judah Schochet, Animal Life in Jewish Tradition
“Jewish tradition does not command carnivorous behavior.”
Rabbi J. David Bleich, Yeshiva University
“Judaism emphasizes good deeds because nothing else can replace them.
To love justice and decency, to hate cruelty and to thirst for righteousness—that is the essence of the human task.”
Rabbi David J. Wolpe, Why Be Jewish?
“There is simply no spiritual defense in either the Western or Eastern religious traditions for eating meat.”
Rabbi Marc Gellman, “The First Hamburger”
“Look into the heart of your religion’s teachings on compassion, and look into your own heart,
Put aside your old habits and selfish appetites, and be honest with yourself.
Animals are beings like us, sentient, conscious, and fully able to experience suffering and joy. They love life and fear death.
And yet every year we murder them by the billions for food that we do not need to live long, healthy lives.
Can we honestly call this holocaust anything but evil?
There is no way that people of faith can be true to the deepest values of their religion and still eat animal products.”
Norm Phelps, founding member of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians
“The rabbis explain that meat-eating is a punishment to a Jew, not a reward.”
Janet Barkas, The Vegetable Passion
“It is far more appropriate for man not to eat meat; only if he has a strong desire for meat does the Torah permit it,
and even this only after the trouble and inconvenience necessary to satisfy his desire.”
Solomon Efraim Lunchitz, author of K’lee Yakar
“Vegetarianism [i]s the logical next step after kashrut — the proper extension of the laws against cruelty to animals.”
Rabbi Everett Gendler
“I relate vegetarianism to Judaism in several ways…
the torture of animals and the suffering that they go through, to be raised on these large factory farms and then eaten is really forbidden by Judaism.”
Adam Stein, rabbinical student
“Keeping kosher is Judaism’s compromise with its ideal vegetarianism.
Ideally, according to Judaism, man would confine his eating to fruits and vegetables and not kill animals for food.”
Dennis Praeger and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism
“The important Hebrew term nefesh chaya (“living soul”) was applied to animals as well as people (Genesis 1:21 and 1:24).
G-d even made treaties with animals as well as with people (Genesis 9:9, 10; Hosea 2:20).
Judaism has beautiful and powerful teachings with regard to showing compassion to animals.”
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
“Jewish values are served by a vegetarian diet, especially in view of the many problems related to factory-farming.
Rather than rejecting Torah values, Jewish vegetarians are challenging the Jewish community to apply precisely these values to their everyday diets.
We are respectfully challenging Jews to live up to Judaism’s splendid teachings.
It is not enough that a religion should have beautiful teachings; it is essential that these teachings be put into practice.”
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
“Rabbi Yochanan stated ‘Jerusalem was destroyed because the residents limited their decisions to the letter of the law of the Torah, and did not perform actions that would have gone beyond the letter of the law’ ('lifnim meshurat hadin') (Baba Metzia 30b). In the same way, perhaps, many people state that they eat meat because Jewish law does not forbid it. Vegetarians believe that in this time of factory farming, environmental threats, widespread hunger, and epidemics of chronic degenerative diseases, Jews should go beyond the strict letter of the law and move toward vegetarianism.”
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
“The great spiritual leader and first Chief Rabbi of Palestine, Rabbi Abraham Kook, famously wrote,
‘hayashan yithadesh, v’hehadash yitkadesh, the old shall be made new, and the new shall be made holy’.
In this spirit, the practice of eco-kashrut seeks to build upon the reverence for life that is central to Judaism’s dietary laws
by testing our consumption against the four-part test
of bal tashchit (excessive waste and environmental impact), tsa’ar ba’alei chayim (cruelty to animals), shmirat haguf (health) and oshek (labor exploitation).
All indicators point to a vegetarian diet as the highest expression of an eco-kashrut ethic.”
Rabbi Barry Schwartz
“Jews will move increasingly to vegetarianism out of their own deepening knowledge of what their tradition commands...
Man's carnivorous nature is not taken for granted or praised in the fundamental teachings of Judaism...
A whole galaxy of central rabbinic and spiritual leaders...has been affirming vegetarianism as the ultimate meaning of Jewish moral teaching.”
Rabbi Isaac Ha-Levi Herzog,
Former Chief Rabbi of Israel
“The vegetarian mitzvah includes many of the other mitzvot, both religious and secular, in one.
As Hillel says: ‘Do not do unto others what is hateful unto you. All the rest is commentary’.
Vegetarianism offers respect to one’s body and spirit, to our community, to the animals, to workers, to our environment, and to the world,
thereby creating the conditions for healthy people, healthy spirits, healthy communities, and a healthy Earth to live in peace.
Do a mitzvah—choose vegetarian!”
Dan Brook, Ph.D.
“No other creature should lose the joy of living on our account.”
1945 Reconstructionist Prayer Book [Siddur]
“It is not your responsibility to complete the task [of perfecting the world],
but neither are you free from engaging in it.”
Rabbi Tarfon, Pirkei Avot [Ethics of Our Sages] 2:21
Make a mitzvah of every meal !
(According to Ben Azai in Pirkei Avot 4:2, “mitzvah goreret mitzvah” – one mitzvah leads to another!)
B’te-avon! L’chayim!
====================================================================
13. To learn more about Judaism & vegetarianism,
please visit
Jewish Vegetarians of North Americans (JVNA) at JewishVeg.com
and the related Schwartz archive of articles at JewishVeg.com/schwartz,
which contains over 150 articles, interviews, and entries on Judaism and vegetarianism,
by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. (author of Judaism and Vegetarianism and Judaism and Global Survival,
who inspired the creation of this web site and to whom it is dedicated)
on a wide variety of topics and about all the Jewish holidays.
JVNA newsletters are archived at JewishVeg.blogspot.com.
*** Write to [email protected] to request a free e-mail subscription to JVNA newsletters or for any questions or comments. ***
Humane Kosher is the PETA-sponsored Jewish vegetarian web site.
Also visit ShalomVeg.com, a “community for a compassionate world”, with its many resources.
These and other Jewish vegetarian links can be found at
http://www.godandanimals.com/PAGES/judaism.html
14. Jewish vegetarian articles:
“The Planet-Saving Mitzvah:
Why Jews Should Consider Vegetarianism”
Daniel Brook, Ph.D., Tikkun, July/August 2009
“A Case for Jewish Vegetarianism”
can be downloaded and read here (pdf)
or a free hard-copy can be ordered here, by writing [email protected],
or by calling (toll-free) 1-888-VEG- FOOD .
To read or print a Jewish vegetarian leaflet,
go to http://jewishveg.com/jewishvegleaflet3.pdf.
For more on Jewish vegetarianism,
check out Jewish Vegetarianism – Theological Perspectives and
Questions & Answers on Jewish Vegetarianism
by Jay Lavine, M.D.
Jewish Ethics and Mandatory Vegetarianism is written by Phineas E. Leahey, J.D.
Rabbinic Teachings on Vegetarianism
edited by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D.
“Judaism and Vegetarianism” by Ted Altar.
“Jewish Philosophy of Vegetarianism” by Philip L Pick.
They Shall Not Hurt or Destroy: Animal Rights and Vegetarianism in the Western Religious Traditions, Ch.1
by Vasu Murti
“What’s Jewish About a Vegan Diet?” and “Why I Became a Vegan”
by Rabbi Adam Frank.
“Food for Thought on Judaism and Vegetarianism”,
written by Rabbi Michael Skobac, was published in the Canadian Jewish News.
“Kosher Vegetarians”,
written by Stacey Dresner, was published in the Jewish Ledger.
“Ten Commandments Regarding Animals”, written by Dan Brook,
is published in Vegetarian News and on All-Creatures.org
“Killing for Food: Mitzvah or Sin?: Jews Debate History, Ethics of Vegetarianism”
written by Tami Bickley, was published in the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix.
“Meat Your Morality”, written by Rabbi David Aaron,
was published in the Jewish World Review.
“No Meat Today”, on Jewish vegetarianism, written by Simon Rocker, is from the Jewish Chronicle.
“A Holocaust-Inspired Vegetarian”, written by Noam Mohr, is in the Jewish Journal (LA).
“Judaism Requires Us to Protect the Planet and Its Creatures”, by Lewis Regenstein, on EVANA
“Vegetarianism as Feminism: Meat as a Symbol of Male Domination”,
written by Naama Harel, is on Anonymous for Animal Rights.
“Eco-Conscious Day Schools Offer Students New Takes on Kashrut”,
written by Loolwa Khazzoom, was published by the JTA.
“Eat Your Vegetables!”, published by The Jewish Week,
is written by Rachel Gross, a first-year Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School student
“Eco-Kosher: More than Milchik and Fleishik”,
written by Alexandra Wall, was published in the September 30, 2005 issue of J.
Check out the humorous Top Ten Reasons to be a Kosher Vegetarian (or here) by S. Sloman.
“Passover and Veganism – A Great Complement” is by Jennye Laws-Woolf.
“Miracles of Chanukah”, by Dan Brook and Richard Schwartz, is on VegSource
and the somewhat updated
“Another Miracle of Chanukah”, by Dan Brook and Richard Schwartz, is on Tikkun.
A 2007/5768 updated version is in The Gantseh Megillah.
“Pork – It’s What’s for Purim”, by Aaron Gross, in Jewsweek.
Aaron Gross, M.T.S. has also written “When Kosher Isn’t Kosher” for Tikkun (March/April 2005).
“Should Jews Still Eat Meat?”, by Richard Schwartz, referring to Tu B’Shvat (The Jewish New Year of the Trees),
is in the San Diego Jewish Journal.
“Is Milk Kosher?” is written by Robert Cohen.
Noam Dolgin on “Treif Tomatoes – Biotechnology, Judaism and the Food We Eat”
Michael Green on “Why GM Food Isn’t Kosher”
Read an interesting March 19, 2004 cover story by Dan Pine from J., the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California,
on “Veggie Jews: Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat”.
Another story by Dan Pine from J., the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, this one personal from 2008:
“This Time, I’m Quitting Cold Turkey---and Chicken, and Steak…”
“Don’t Have A Cow: It Will Help in Fight Against Global Warming”,
by Dan Brook, Ph.D. and Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., published by JTA, 22 January 2007 .
“Global Warming Isn’t Kosher” by Dan Brook, Ph.D. and Richard Schwartz, Ph.D.
“ Forget a Prius, Eat a Felafel ”, written by Nimrod Halpern,
appears in Ha’aretz , 8 February 2007.
Rabbi Shammai Engelmayer has written “ The Meat of the Matter ” for the The Jewish Standard .
Two interesting articles on genetic modification (GM, GE, or GMOs) and Judaism are:
“ Treif Tomatoes – Biotechnology, Judaism and the Food We Eat ” by Noam Dolgin, Associate Director of Teva Learning Center , on Hazon
and
Michael Green, “ Why GM Isn’t Kosher ”, published in the Jewish Chronicle .
15. Jewish vegetarian books:
Louis Berman, Ph.D., Vegetarianism and the Jewish Tradition (1982);
Noah Cohen, Ph.D., Tsa’ar Ba’ale Hayim: The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1959);
Nathan S. David, ed., The Voice of the Vegetarian (Yiddish) (1952);
Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals (2009);
Aaron H. Frankel, Thou Shalt Not Kill, or, The Torah of Vegetarianism (1896);
Joe Green, The Jewish Vegetarian Tradition (1969);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., A Boy, A Chicken, and the Lion of Judah: How Ari Became a Vegetarian (1995);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., ed., Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb (1985, 1988);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., ed., Haggadah for the Vegetarian Family (1993);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., The Jewish Vegetarian Perpetual Book of Days (2000);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., ed., Journey of the Liberated Lamb: Reflections on a Vegetarian Seder (1995);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., ed., Judaism and Animal Rights: Classical and Contemporary Responses (1992);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., ed., Rabbis and Vegetarianism: An Evolving Tradition (1996);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., Vegetarian Judaism: A Guide for Everyone (1998);
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook , A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace (Hebrew, with partial English translation, 1961);
Charles Patterson , Ph.D., Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust (2002);
Philip Pick, ed., The Tree of Life: An Anthology of Articles Appearing in The Jewish Vegetarian, 1966-1974 (1977);
Rabbi Dovid Sears, ed., The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism (2003);
Richard Schwartz , Ph.D., Judaism and Global Survival (2002);
Richard Schwartz , Ph.D., Judaism and Vegetarianism (2001) (free pdf version at www.jewishveg.com/JudaismAndVegetarianism/JudaismandVegetarianism2001.pdf ); and
Mark Weintraub, Guide to Vegetarian Restaurants in Israel (1996);
16. Jewish vegetarian cookbooks:
Nancy Berkoff, Ed.D., R.D., Vegan Passover Recipes (2002);
Lena Brown, Cooking for Health (Yiddish) (1931);
Michael Brown, Jewish Gardening Cookbook: Growing Plants & Cooking for Holidays & Festivals (2000);
Rose Friedman, Jewish Vegetarian Cooking (1985);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., Vegetarian Pesach Cookbook: Feasts for Freedom (2002);
Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D. & Rosa Rasiel, Jewish Vegetarian Year Cookbook (1997);
Roberta Kalechofsky, Ph.D. & Roberta Schiff, The Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook (2010);
Rabbi Gil Marks, Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World (2004);
Debra Wasserman, Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook: Healthy Traditions from Around the World (1994); and
Debra Wasserman & Charles Stahler, No Cholesterol Passover Recipes (1986).
17. Jewish vegetarian recipe web sites:
JVNA’s Jewish Recipes ;
Jewish Holidays Vegetarian Recipes;
Zahava Koren’s Vegetarian Fat-Free Passover Recipes ;
Vegetarian / Jewish (Sephardi) Recipes;
Healthy Kosher Recipes;
The Jewish Daily Forward’s Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes;
rec.food.cuisine.jewish – vegetarian (unfortunately, not exclusively veg, but mostly).
Also check out the online Kosher Vegetarian recipes at Recipe*zaar .
18. Jewish vegetarian cooking video:
Roland (Ruvn) Millman, No Schmaltz! (Yiddish with English subtitles, with Shifra Lerer & Hy Wolfe, 30 min., 1998)
19. Jewish vegetarian videos:
A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World (one-hour film by Lionel Friedberg, 2007)
If This Is Kosher (author, narrator, and director: Jonathan Safran Foer, 30 min., 2006)
(also as a short version / trailer , 4:45 and a long version , 25 min. on YouTube )
Jonathan Safran Foer on Being a Veggie (author of Everything is Illuminated, 9 min.)
5 Good Reasons to Eat Your Dog (6 ½ min., Hebrew with English subtitles)
20. Related Jewish organizations:
One can visit Jews for Animal Rights
for information about that organization and their list of Micah Publications books related to Judaism & vegetarianism,
including the prolific writings of Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., such as Vegetarian Judaism and Rabbis and Vegetarianism .
“Meat today... violates the most fundamental of Jewish concepts:
concern for health, for the environment, for the animal, for the Jewish community, for the human race.”
Roberta Kalechofsky , Vegetarian Judaism: A Guide for Everyone
VeggieJews maintains a web site and listserv to share news and views, to discuss and debate issues, to give and get advice, to exchange recipes and ideas, and to plan meetings and events in vegetarian restaurants and homes in a variety of cities.
SERV is the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians .
IVU is the International Vegetarian Union (in Hebrew , English , and other languages ).
JVS is the Jewish Vegetarian & Ecological Society , which publishes The Jewish Vegetarian ,
and can be contacted via [email protected] .
Am Kolel Judaic Resource and Renewal Center
is an inclusive Washington, D.C. chavurah, resource and renewal center, organic farm, and sanctuary.
Mazon is “a Jewish response to hunger”.
Jewish Farm School
The Jew and the Carrot, a project of Hazon , is a blog about “Jews, Food & Contemporary Issues”
COEJL is the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life .
The Big Green Jewish Website aims at “connecting Judaism and the environment”.
The Green Zionist Alliance is “working today for Israel tomorrow”.
JGEN is the Jewish Global Environmental Network .
FoEME, or Friends of the Earth Middle East , focuses on “Eco-Peace”.
Green Action for “Eco-Social Change” is in Hebrew and English .
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is a multicultural teaching and research program.
Green Action (Peula Yeruka) in Hebrew and English .
LINK to the Environment in Hebrew .
Green Course (Megama Yeruka) (Students Movement)
Greenpeace Mediterranean
Israel Union for Environmental Defense
The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning for a “sustainable society in Israel” in Hebrew and English .
The Eco Kosher Network focuses on “responsible consumerism, the Jewish way”.
Canfei Nesharim (“The Wings of Eagles”) is an Orthodox Jewish environmental organization.
The Shalom Center is a “prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious, & American life”.
Teva Learning Center is a “North American Jewish environmental education institute”, “engaging mind, body, and spirit”.
In Israel, Anonymous for Animal Rights is the leading animal rights group in English and Hebrew .
CHAI is the Concern for Helping Animals in Israel in English , Hebrew , and Arabic .
ALI is Animal Liberation Israel in English and Hebrew .
Let the Animals Live (Israel) in English and Hebrew .
One Struggle (Ma’avak Ehad) is an “anarchist group for animal rights” in English and Hebrew.
SPNI is the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel in Hebrew and English .
Moshav Amirim
Bikat Beit Hakarem, Carmel 20115 Israel
The only vegetarian / naturalist village in Israel, Moshav Amirim is located in the upper Galilee, near Safed.
Most of the foods and herbs are organically grown on the premises.
People are welcome for visits and vacations:
[email protected]
“Ohn-Bar” Guesthouses: 972-4-698-9803
Amirim Atmosphere: 972-4-698-9508
The Land of Galilee Vacation: 972-4-698-0434
Mountain Air: 972-4-698-9316
and others
21. Kosher Vegetarian organizations:
The Kosher and Vegetarian Team is about selling products.
KEROV, Kosher Ethical RawFoods Organic Vegans is a Los Angeles-based group.
Kosher Vegetarian Food B Chez Alaine may be worth a look.
Likewise with Beit HaChatulim – A Jewish Vegetarian Homeschool .
22. Miscellaneous Jewish vegetarian resources:
There are also four Green Mitzvah Booklets :
Booklet #1: Richard Schwartz , Ph.D., Judaism, Health, Nutrition and Vegetarianism ;
Booklet #2: Richard Schwartz , Ph.D., Judaism and Animals ;
Booklet #3: Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., Judaism and Animal Research ; and
Booklet #4: Roberta Kalechofsky , Ph.D., Vegetarianism and the Jewish Holidays .
Also, see the Jewish Encyclopedia entry on Vegetarianism .
Further, there is a useful Judaism and Ecology Bibliography ;
Richard Schwartz’s Bibliography of Vegetarian Material ; and
Richard Schwartz & Norm Phelps’ Religion and Vegetarianism Bibliography .
The heeb’n’vegan is a hip Jewish vegan blog. So is Kosher and Humane .
There’s a little used JewishVeg Discussion Board on VegSource that could certainly be more used.
Here’s Jewish Vegetarians/Vegans on Tribe.net.
Also, one can explore the (limited) JewishVegan and Jewish Vegetarian and Ecological Society sites.
23. Kosher Vegetarian restaurants (very incomplete):
Singapore Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant (Chinese) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Cherry Street Chinese Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant (Chinese) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Shangri-La (Chinese) (San Francisco, California)
Pongal (South Indian) (Manhattan, NYC)
Madras Mahal (Indian) (Manhattan, NYC)
Great American Health Bar (American) (Manhattan, NYC)
Kingdom of Vegetarians Restaurant (Chinese) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Maccabeam (Sephardic Israeli) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Denver Woodlands (Indian) (Aurora, Colorado)
24. Kosher Vegetarian caterers (very incomplete):
A Woman Called Sam is a kosher vegetarian catering company in the East Bay Area (Albany) of San Francisco;
Milk & Honey is another one in the South Bay Area (Foster City).
25. Vegetarian Starter Kits:
To receive a free vegetarian starter kit,
go to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s Vegetarian Starter Kit ,
to Mercy for Animals’ Vegetarian Starter Kit ,
to Animal Protection Institute’s Vegetarian Starter Kit ,
to Compassion Over Killing’s Vegetarian Starter Guide ,
to FARM ’s Veg Kit ,
to PETA’s Vegetarian Starter Kit ,
to the Guide for Veg Living ,
to the Vegan Starter Pack ,
to Vegan Outreach’s Guide to Compassionate Living ,
to Animal Place’s Veggie Starter Kit for Teens ,
take the VegPledge and receive a free booklet,
call (toll-free) 1-866-MEAT-FREE,
and/or call (toll-free) 1-800-MEAT-OUT.
25. English - Hebrew
vegetarian (male) – tzimchoni vegan (male) – t’ivoni
vegetarian (female) – tzimchonit vegan (female) – t’ivonit
Thank You! Todah!
For related albeit secular information, please visit Eco-Eating at www.brook.com/veg .
This Vegetarian Mitzvah web page is located at: www.brook.com/jveg
If you would like to make a donation to support this work, please click here.
! Thank You !
Any amount will be appreciated and acknowledged!
Please send any other comments, concerns, contributions, or constructive criticism to Vegnik .
27. Translations?
If you are willing and able to translate this page
(or are willing to sponsor a translation),
especially into Hebrew, but also into Yiddish, Ladino, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, French, German, Korean, Hindi, or any other language,
please send a message to Vegnik .
Thanks! Todah! | {
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A congressional leadership PAC tied to Speaker Paul Ryan says its pro-second amendment ad about Democrat Conor Lamb helped Republican Rick Saccone in the race that may end up going to Democrat Lamb by a hair’s margin.
Lamb held a 627-vote lead over Republican Rick Saccone in the Pennsylvania 18th congressional district special election as of Monday afternoon, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State unofficial ballot count in the March 13 special election. That’s approximately one-quarter of one percent.
The first television ad that Lamb ran touted his time in the Marines and that he “still loved to shoot,” according to the Washington Post. After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Lamb walked a line between support for stricter background checks and hesitation about new gun laws.
Just one week later, the Congressional Leadership Fund sent some Democrat voters in Allegheny County ads painting Lamb as “supporting our second amendment rights” and “opposing gun restrictions.”
The Post report didn’t detail the full reach of the ad. A spokeswoman with CLF told Breitbart News that “These mailers went to 12,000 anti-gun Democratic women who were 90% less likely to support Conor Lamb after hearing his views on gun restrictions.”
The mailer was message tested before distribution and claims that it definitely cost Lamb votes, according to the PAC. The PAC also maintains that it was the first to go into the PA-18 race and spent over three and a half million dollars there.
“Our job was to make sure voters in Pennsylvania knew where Lamb stood on important issues and that’s why this mailer was sent to those who would find his second amendment stances of note,” CLF spokeswoman Courtney Alexander told Breitbart News on Friday.
Many locally elected Democrats in the district oppose abortion and gun control, according to the Post. While there are more registered Democrats than Republicans, President Donald Trump won the district in 2016 by 19 points.
Due to redistricting, whoever ultimately comes out victorious in the PA-18 race will not run for re-election, but would have to run again in a different district.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana | {
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1 Aetherflux Reservoir (KLD) 192 1 Alhammarret's Archive (ORI) 221 1 Arbor Elf (WWK) 160 1 Asceticism (SOM) 110 1 Avenger of Zendikar (DDP) 152 1 Beast Within (NPH) 168 1 Birds of Paradise (6ED) 92 1 Chord of Calling (M15) 158 1 Citanul Woodreaders (PLC) 4 1 Cloudstone Curio (RAV) 10 1 Collective Unconscious (MMQ) 187 1 Concordant Crossroads (CHR) 114 1 Craterhoof Behemoth (MM3) 285 1 Creeping Renaissance (ISD) 137 1 Crop Rotation (ULG) 161 1 Deserted Temple (ODY) 1 Devoted Druid (SHM) 162 1 Doubling Cube (10E) 1 Dryad Arbor (FUT) 1 Elvish Archdruid (M10) 391 1 Elvish Mystic (000) 7 1 Elvish Pioneer (ONS) 1 Farhaven Elf (C14) 146 27 Forest (ODY) 381 1 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury (C14) 43 1 Fyndhorn Elves (ICE) 26 1 Genesis Hydra (M15) 172 1 Genesis Wave (SOM) 164 1 Gilt-Leaf Archdruid (MOR) 1 Glimpse of Nature (CHK) 1 Grave Sifter (C14) 44 1 Green Sun's Zenith (EMA) 169 1 Ground Seal (ODY) 149 1 Harmonize (MM3) 173 1 Harvest Season (AKH) 170 1 Helix Pinnacle (EVE) 1 Homeward Path (C16) 301 1 Honored Hierarch (ORI) 182 1 Joraga Treespeaker (ROE) 1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa (ONS) 1 Karametra's Acolyte (THS) 160 1 Krosan Grip (TSP) 181 1 Krosan Wayfarer (JUD) 1 Leaf Gilder (ORI) 408 1 Ley Druid (2ED) 114 1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary (AER) 244 1 Llanowar Elves (7ED) 46 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx (THS) 223 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood (C14) 296 1 Paradox Engine (AER) 169 1 Planar Bridge (AER) 171 1 Praetor's Counsel (C14) 209 1 Priest of Titania (USG) 136 1 Primordial Sage (RAV) 422 1 Regal Force (EVE) 22 1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade (AER) 425 1 Scavenging Ooze (MM3) 204 1 Seedborn Muse (LGN) 179 1 Seton, Krosan Protector (ODY) 1 Shamanic Revelation (000) 179 1 Slate of Ancestry (ONS) 25 1 Soul of the Harvest (W16) 432 1 Summoner's Pact (MMA) 164 1 Sylvan Library (EMA) 187 1 Temur Sabertooth (FRF) 159 1 Thousand-Year Elixir (C13) 1 Tooth and Nail (MMA) 170 1 Vitalize (6ED) 1 Voyaging Satyr (THS) 182 1 Werebear (ODY) 191 1 Worldly Tutor (6ED) 6 1 Yavimaya Elder (UDS) 166 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald (M13) 27 1 Zendikar Resurgent (OGW) 160
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Cum sa folosesti in siguranta lentilele de contact? Care sunt avantajele lentilelor de contact cu ingrjire zilnica? Te-ai hotarat deja să renunți la grija ochelarilor de vedere si vrei sa incerci lentilele de contact?
MatHaus dă startul campaniei “Șantierul Ofertelor” cu reduceri consistente la materiale de construcții, acoperișuri sau finisaje Magazinul de bricolaj MatHaus, parte din grupul Arabesque deschide sezonul reducerilor de toamnă la materiale de construcții, acoperișuri, finisaje și amenajări printr-o nouă campanie “Șantierul Ofertelor”
Află aici care sunt secretele ținutei perfecte pe care orice clujeancă trebuie să le cunoască Multe femei consideră, în mod eronat, ca expresia ”a avea stil” se referă strict la o vestimentație sofisticată și elegantă, care atrage toate privirile și pune în valoare calitățile fizice
TOP 3 reguli pentru a asorta cravata cu model Paisley la ținuta de birou Există foarte modele de cravate, pe care un bărbat le poate purta la birou, însă cea cu model Paisley nu … | {
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Dennis Jensen, the Liberal federal MP who attracted headlines last week for his unpublished racy novel, has missed out on preselection for the Western Australian seat of Tangney.
His challenger, former state Liberal director Ben Morton, was the victor at a meeting on Sunday, but the decision will still need to be ratified by State Council next weekend.
Jensen was backed by the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who recommended he be re-endorsed for the federal election, but preselectors still chose to dump him from the safe Liberal seat of Tangney, which he has held since 2004.
There have been two previous attempts to oust Jensen – he was saved once by the former prime minister John Howard and another time by State Council, but they are unlikely to do it again.
On Sunday Jensen conceded it was unlikely a challenge against this preselection decision would succeed given it was such a strong vote against him.
Jensen made headlines last week after it was revealed that several years ago he pitched a novel, involving graphic sex and a fictional war between Australia and an Indonesia-China coalition, to a publisher using his parliamentary letterhead.
He admitted it was a mistake but questioned the timing of the leak.
After the meeting on Sunday, Jensen said the story, published in the Australian newspaper, “absolutely” affected his chances of being re-endorsed and was part of a “deliberate strategy” to put his supporters offside.
Jensen said he had enlisted defamation lawyer Martin Bennett to commence proceedings against the newspaper in the WA supreme court on Monday.
Morton told reporters on Sunday he was proud and humbled that the Liberals had put their faith in him and thanked Jensen for his contribution to the party and the community.
The WA premier, Colin Barnett, said Morton had an “enormous amount of ability” and did not doubt he would succeed.
Controversy has followed Jensen recently after he lashed out over Indigenous welfare programs, saying taxpayers should not fund “noble savage” lifestyle choices of remote communities.
He is also an outspoken climate change sceptic and opposes same-sex marriage. | {
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Authentication has remained vastly unchanged on the surface. A user must enter a username or email address, then a password. The methods of transmitting and securing that data is non-constant. A game of chess is constantly occurring between the entities trying to secure the personal information you have divulged to them and those wishing to do harm.
End-users entrust service providers to protect the information entered into their systems. They expect due diligence: that the systems and processes put in place to protect them are working, and that they are periodically reviewed. Even with the best potential security processes put in place the game of chess continues. It is impractical as an end-user and consumer to lay the blame completely with providers.
We are humans who are predisposed to creating and repeating patterns. A username used in multiple, allowing actors to trace your activities. Passwords are widely simplified and/or repeated across numerous services, allowing for multiple-account compromises. It is imperative for users to be able to control their digital identities. This starts with a better means of authentication.
A Blockchain.info wallet displaying it’s current address.
To create a better authentication method a user needs to have a simple to understand, use, and implement method. A best-case scenario has a user managing a public and private key-pair to manage their authentication process. This requires some technical skills and is far from mainstream.
Bitcoin and it’s blockchain have been around since 2012, relaying and securing hundreds of thousands of transactions annually. A Bitcoin wallet is easy to use, widely available for many platforms, and makes use of public and private keys. To-date the network is mostly used for relaying Bitcoin itself, a store of perceived value, between users a.k.a users. What if we could tap the potential of Bitcoin wallets and the blockchain to power this authentication method? | {
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5 sparkling wines that you should always have in the house
5 sparkling wines that you should always have in the house by Cristine Struble
NBA All-Star Menu highlights some of the best bites from around the league
NBA All-Star Menu highlights some of the best bites from around the league by Cristine Struble
Mia Castro made her mark on Hell’s Kitchen Season 18. This year’s finalist proved that her culinary talent is a force in the kitchen.
Throughout Hell’s Kitchen Season 18, Mia Castro, part of team rookies, proved to Gordon Ramsay that she has the talent, drive and determination worthy of earning herself a spot in the final two. While that final dinner service didn’t earn her the win, her accomplishments throughout the season were astonishing.
In this season, Castro became the most winningest contestant on Hell’s Kitchen. Astonishing her fellow chefs with her impeccable palate, many of her winning dishes made foodies at home drool. With layered flavors, robust combinations and impeccable plating, each dish was truly impressive.
Although she had much success on the show, Castro did face some struggles. Sometimes she was portrayed as arrogant. Other episodes had her feeling slightly undervalued by louder, potentially intimidating male chefs. Still, she stayed true to her culinary point of view.
While Hell’s Kitchen fans know her from the show, Castro has a long, varied culinary career. Beyond training at the Culinary Institute of America, Castro had the pleasure of apprenticing with chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Thomas Keller and Jose Andres. Now, a private chef, Castro uses those experiences to dishes that are elevated yet still stay true to her roots.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bstv0p1BRtm/
Now that Hell’s Kitchen Season 18 has ended, Mia Castro took the time to answer some burning questions that I had regarding Hell’s Kitchen, her culinary career and a delicious recipe that I could make at home.
Below is a transcript of that interview.
Cristine Struble: Why did you want to be on Hell’s Kitchen?
Mia Castro: When I learned about the opportunity I immediately jumped on it. I knew Chef Ramsay was a world-renowned and well respected Chef and I figured I had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain: experiences, knowledge, exposure. I always aim to better myself, and I saw this as a chance for self-improvement and growth. And that’s exactly what I gained and more.
CS: Did you have a challenge on this season? Why was it your favorite?
MC: The first challenge was the best one. I was able to prepare my signature dish which was reflective of my upbringing in Puerto Rico and my formal culinary training. Winning that right off the bat established me as one of the strongest in the competition for those that may have underestimated me.
CS: You were extremely successful showcasing your amazing palate and cooking creativity. At any point did you feel that the Hell’s Kitchen menus were contrary to your personal culinary style?
MC: Definitely. The Hell’s Kitchen menus were all about Chef Ramsay’s culinary style, and that’s what made them unique and amazing. Executing that food to the best of my abilities is what I did during services. I used those services as an opportunity to showcase my leadership skills and ability to adapt. I used the challenges to show MY personal culinary style, which is when I believed it was appropriate.
CS: Women chefs walk a very fine line in the culinary industry. Women chefs are sometimes overlooked, sometimes called “bossy,” and occasionally bullied in the kitchen, do you feel that your appearance on Hell’s Kitchen can help forward the conversation about women’s role in the culinary industry?
MC: I believe that I represented myself and women well in the kitchen. Often underestimated (throughout my career) I was able to prove that what some call “bossy” others call leaders and that what some call “arrogance” others call confidence. I went in it fearless, confident and I didn’t let anyone put me down (though they tried) or walk all over me.
CS: Thomas Keller, who you worked for, is known for mentoring and promoting the chefs in his various restaurants, how can you use your role to mentor aspiring women chefs?
MC: I try to lead by example and though I don’t currently work with a team (I’m a private chef), I want other women to watch me and be inspired. I have a niece and I want her and other girls to know that the sky’s the limit, that hard work pays off, and that the only one who can stand between you and your wildest dreams is you. Always humble, but confident, aware of your roots, with integrity, and without walking over anyone to get there. Just do your best and let your work speak for itself.
CS: Many home cooks watch Hell’s Kitchen and other culinary shows for inspiration in their own kitchen, what are some easy cooking tips that any home cook can master?
MC: -Keeping your knives sharp reduce prep time, makes for beautiful cuts, and are safer than dull knives.
-Seasoning food at every stage (rather than just at the end) is key to develop flavor.
-Splurge on good ingredients. It’s easier to produce delicious food when you have high quality ingredients because you just need to let them speak for themselves. Less is more.
CS: If I wanted to make one of your top dishes from this season of Hell’s Kitchen, what would it be and why?
MC: The Hamachi tiradito (Peruvian-style sashimi) with Cucumber leche de tigre I made for my final challenge and for my final HK service. If you have access to hamachi, it’s very easy to re-create, it’s visually appealing so it can be impressive to make for guests, and it’s light and refreshing.
For those foodies ready to push their culinary creativity, Castro has shared her recipe for Hamachi Tiradito with Cucumber Leche de Tigre. While this title might sound intimidating, this recipe is quite approachable and extremely delicious.
Hamachi Tiradito with Cucumber Leche de Tigre, photo provided by Mia Castro
Here’s how to make Hamachi Tiradito with Cucumber Leche de Tigre by Mia Castro.
Hamachi Tiradito with Cucumber Leche de Tigre
Yield: 4 servings
8 oz. hamachi, fresh (never frozen) sushi-grade, cleaned, sliced into 1⁄6“ pieces, (reserve white scraps) – ALWAYS KEEP VERY COLD
*For leche de tigre:
• Hamachi scraps (white, no blood line)
• 3⁄4 ea. English cucumber
• 1 ea. Lime, zest and juice
• 2 ea. Scallions, chopped
• 1⁄2 ea. Jalapeno (no seeds)
• 2 ea. Garlic cloves
• 1 T honey
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• Salt (to taste) *For garnish:
• 1⁄2 C – 3⁄4 C leche de tigre
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1⁄4 ea. english cucumber, sliced paper-thin
• 1⁄2 ea. Jalapeno, sliced paper-thin
• Flaky sea salt (to taste)
• 1⁄2 C salted cancha corn or plain, salted corn nuts, coarsely crushed
• Mild tasting mico greens (ex. Micro cilantro, micro broccoli, micro basil, etc.)
Directions:
*For leche de tigre:
1. Place all ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend on high until completely smooth (30 sec – 1 min.). Adjust flavor with salt and acidity level with honey. Use your judgement.
2. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Chill.
*Assembly:
1. On a cold, round plate, assemble 2 oz. of hamachi slices flat.
2. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of chilled leche de tigre directly over the hamachi and spread it evenly with the back of your spoon.
3. Drizzle droplets of olive oil onto the leche de tigre (so it’s visibly suspended over it).
4. Arrange 5 slices (each) of cucumber and jalapenos flat over the hamachi.
5. Sprinkle flaky sea salt over every piece (to taste).
6. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of crispy corn over everything.
7. Garnish with 5-7 micro green leaves.
8. Serve cold.
I would like to thank Mia Castro for taking the time to chat with me and for sharing her recipe.
While I am not a professional chef, I think that Castro is a great example of a strong woman chef who can push the culinary industry forward. By blending strong culinary techniques with her personal flair and cultural influences, her culinary point of view should be celebrated. More importantly, it is refreshing to see a woman chef who is confident that that her voice is heard.
Mia Castro was a contestant on FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen Season 18. She is a private chef. For more information about her please visit her business site, Chef Mia Castro, LLC. | {
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ALL FREEBIES / Free Videos
Distill
http://www.wedistill.io
Curated HD stock video footage free for your personal and commercial use. 10 new videos every 10 days. Videos are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. free HD video, stock video, hd stock video, creative commons, stock footage, free stock footage, b-roll, video for websites, video for commercials | {
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Bob's Burgers/Fallout Crossover By purpleparrotfish Watch
222 Favourites 16 Comments 5K Views
It all began with the thought of what if they had pink bunny hats in future Fallout games as a Bob's Burgers reference.
Wouldn't it be cool if you could put your character in a pink bunny hat?
IMAGE DETAILS Image size 420x659px 626 KB Show More
Published : Jan 15, 2013 | {
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CNN is trying really hard to pin the horrific shooting of the Tree of Life Synagogue on the right, and specifically President Donald Trump.
Appearing on the network, Rabbi Jeffery Myers was interviewed by CNN’s Alisyn Camerota about the shooting. One of the first things Camerota asked was who Myers blames for this shooting other than the gunman.
“Do you blame anyone for what happened there at the Tree of Life beyond the gunman?” asked Camerota.
After a long pause, Myers shot down the idea that any one person is to blame.
“I don’t really foist any blame on any person,” answered Myers. “Hate does not know any religion, race, creed, political party – it’s not a political issue in any way, shape, or form.”
“Hate does not know any of those things. It exists in all people,” he added.
Camerota was not going to give up so easily and pressed Myers for a soundbite that would implicate anything associated with Trump as the reason the atrocity happened.
“But can hate be cultivated?” asked Camerota. “I mean, what we’re struggling with today is – maybe hate’s in all people, maybe it’s dormant. What lights the match of hate?”
Again, Myers disappointed Camerota by noting that God acknowledges that hate resides in all of us, but good will win out in the end if we let it in. He went on to tell Camerota that he’s seen so much good as a response to the atrocity his synagogue suffered, including messages from complete strangers of every religion reaching out and offering support.
Camerota dropped the issue for a moment, but later on, in the interview dropped all pretense and asked the Rabbi if he wanted Trump to come to the Synagogue.
“The President of the United States is always welcome,” replied Myers. “I’m a citizen, he’s my President. He’s certainly welcome.”
In one last attempt to get him to nail Trump, Camerota tried again by noting that anti-semitism has increased since 2015 (when Trump’s journey to the Oval Office began) and if Myers was afraid something like this was going to happen. Myers, of course, said he didn’t think it would and talked about how security at synagogues would have to look going forward.
Nothing that blasted Trump.
This is disgusting on two fronts.
Not only is CNN’s bias on full display here, which is bad enough, but CNN is attempting to use the tragic shooting of 11 people as a foothold for their political aims. That there is innocent blood on the ground isn’t a tragedy for CNN, it’s an opportunity.
It’s utterly disgusting to watch. While CNN has done a lot of gross things in its past, utilizing the victims of atrocious violence as a way to push the left’s political agenda has got to be one of the absolute worst. As families are struggling to cope with what happened and the nation is mourning, CNN is trying to make this political.
Death should not be political, and it’s sad that it continuously has to be due to the narratives being pushed by outlets like CNN. | {
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Nearly a week after being struck in the head with a bullet that fell out of the sky in Hammond, Indiana, 13-year-old Noah Inman died this weekend, the Hammond Police Department announced on Sunday.
According to the Hammond Police, the boy was outside playing basketball with a group of children around 9:30 p.m. July 1 when he suddenly fell. Witnesses believed the boy was having a seizure and immediately called for an ambulance.
At the hospital, doctors found the boy was struck from a falling bullet.
"The Hammond Police Department would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to the Inman family. We wish you peace to bring comfort, courage to face the days ahead, and loving memories to forever hold in your hearts," Hammond Police Chief John Doughty said. "Our hearts go out to you in your time of sorrow. When reason fails, pray for peace. We will be praying with you."
It is believed that the gunfire came as part of a pre-July 4 weekend celebration.
"Unfortunately, this is a common action by many people who own guns in our city and they need to know this action has consequences and will be dealt with severely by the Hammond Police Department," the department said in a statement. "If you own a firearm, it is not to be used as part of a celebration."
A Go Fund Me page has been started to help the family with medical and burial expenses. Nearly $20,000 has been raised as of Sunday afternoon.
The boy's injury is not an uncommon one. On Jan. 1, a Texas legislator was hospitalized after being wounded by a falling bullet just after midnight. The bullet fractured Armando Martinez's skull, forcing doctors to perform a risky procedure to remove the bullet. | {
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Labour leader hopes to embarrass PM, who has refused to say whether he would stop award of £1.3m payout
Ed Miliband is turning up the pressure on David Cameron in the escalating row over "crony capitalism" by demanding that the prime minister intervene to block a seven-figure bonus for Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive, Stephen Hester.
Before a week in which the government will announce plans to curb excessive pay deals in Britain's boardrooms, the Labour leader is calling on Cameron to match his tough talk with action in what is now seen as the key test case of the government's resolve.
Last week, after delivering a speech on "popular capitalism", the prime minister refused to say whether he would block a bonus for Hester, who is widely seen as having done a good job at RBS, after taking over from the much-maligned Sir Fred Goodwin in 2008. The board of RBS, which is 83%‑owned by the taxpayer, is said to be considering a bonus of £1.3m to £1.5m for Hester, on top of his £1.2m annual salary. A final decision from the company's remuneration committee is expected on Wednesday.
But Miliband, who is determined to define his leadership around the issue of "fairer and better capitalism", said it was entirely wrong for a bank, majority-owned by taxpayers, and which is making thousands of people redundant, to pay its boss a £1m-plus reward in such circumstances.
The Labour leader told the Observer that the public would not regard it as "fair or right" for the head of a company whose share price had halved in the past year and which had missed its target for lending to small businesses to cash in when so many hard-working people were struggling to make ends meet. Miliband said the case would show whether Cameron was as good as his word. He said: "David Cameron has said on numerous occasions that he would stop banks paying out big bonuses. He has also called upon shareholders to stop excessive executive pay.
"The best thing that could happen is that top management at RBS recognises the need for restraint. But if it doesn't happen, Cameron should act to stop Stephen Hester being paid a bonus of this scale.
"David Cameron will be judged by his deeds, not his words. And he should adopt Labour's plan for another bank bonus tax to fund 100,000 jobs for young people."
Ministers are expected to speak to Hester in the run-up to the RBS remuneration committee meeting on Wednesday, amid reports that he may quit if his bonus is not paid.
The RBS chief executive, who was brought in to clear up the chaos left by Goodwin, is entitled to up to 6m shares – worth about £1.5m at today's prices – under the contract he agreed when Labour was in power.
Hester is highly regarded in the industry and in government and is credited with cutting RBS's sprawling investment banking arm down to size, and selling off "non-core" parts of the bank, such as its aviation leasing business. After waiving last year's bonus, he is said to be keen to receive his entitlement this year.
Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling was determined that the bailed-out banks should be run at arm's length by UK Financial Investments, the body set up to manage the government's stakes in them.
David Cameron has taken a more hands-on approach, and is insisting this year that any cash payouts at RBS be capped at £2,000. But after his speech on "popular capitalism" on Thursday, he refused to say whether he would block a bonus for Hester.
The row over top pay at the taxpayer-backed bank comes as Vince Cable, the business secretary, prepares to announce new rules aimed at taming the culture of excessive pay.
In a speech on Tuesday, Cable will attack the remuneration consultants who are paid by boards to compare bosses' payouts with those at rival firms, and set stricter guidelines for how they should operate.
He is also expected to hand new powers to shareholders to vote down lavish pay deals, and tighten reporting rules, so boards have to reveal in simple terms to shareholders and employees exactly how much executives are paid.
After a difficult few weeks for the Labour leader, Miliband sees the issue of executive pay as one on which Labour can embarrass Cameron and expose the Tories' closeness to big-business interests.
The shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, said the Tories were backing away from the tough action called for by Labour: "On excess pay and rewards for failure in the City and the boardroom, the government is refusing to take the action needed to meet the tests Labour has set on transparency, accountability and fairness.
"Ministers are ducking out of matching Labour's call for the proposals of the independent High Pay Commission to be implemented in full and, despite claiming they wish to promote employee engagement, won't support the proposal to put employees on company remuneration committees." | {
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Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The majority of the Buffalo Board of Education would like to be rid of member Carl Paladino, who, in addition to acting as the New York chair of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, recently told a local newspaper that, among other things, he’d like to see President Obama catch “mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a Herford,” while Michelle Obama “[returns] to being a male and [is] let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.” On Thursday, the board voted 6-2 to demand Paladino’s resignation, with members calling him “unambiguously racist,” “morally repugnant,” and a person with “a pattern of racist and negative behaviors” whose words would have an “incalculable” impact on the children of color who constitute the majority of Buffalo’s public-school students.
The two board members who voted against the measure called on Paladino to publicly apologize instead. One of those detractors, a Paladino ally and board member, Patti Pierce, also managed to stir up her own controversy in trying to defend him. Per the Huffington Post:
Pierce said she hoped the people in Buffalo could show Paladino some forgiveness for his comments and “take a page out of the horrific massacre that happened in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine innocent people in a house of worship were slain by a hateful, hate-filled man.”
The comparison drew gasps from the audience and was too much for one woman, who left shouting that it was offensive to use the murdered African-American congregation members in this situation.
Earlier this week, Paladino (who didn’t attend the vote) unsuccessfully tried to explain away his remarks, which appeared in a survey of people’s wishes for 2017, by saying that he’d been “wired up” and “made a mistake” by trying to “say something as sarcastic and hurtful as possible about the people so responsible for the hurt and suffering of so many others.” He then admitted that he’d only intended to forward his rantings to some friends, not the newspaper’s editors. “I certainly am not a racist,” he added, laughably.
If Paladino doesn’t comply with the resolution’s demand that he resign within 24 hours — he’s already said that he won’t step down — New York’s education commissioner, MaryEllen Elia, will have to decide whether to remove him. According to the Buffalo News, that process could take up to eight months, as Elia will have to “weigh the board’s arguments against Paladino’s First Amendment right to free speech.” “Once we receive an application for removal, we will review it as quickly as possible. We continue to review all of our options,” said an Elia spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Paladino issued a statement saying, “The Board of Education’s action today is certainly not an illustration of a profile in courage or leadership.” He went on to accuse his colleagues of seeking his ouster in order to prevent him from “exposing [their] corruption.” “It’s going to be a very combative year,” he added. Oh, we know.
This post has been updated throughout. | {
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ROME — Luigi Di Maio, the political leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, looked giddy as he led the rest of Italy’s new populist government into a frescoed room in Rome’s Quirinal Palace on Friday to be sworn in by a president whose impeachment Mr. Di Maio had demanded only days earlier.
“I swear to be faithful to the republic,” Mr. Di Maio said under the crystal chandeliers and vaulted ceilings before shaking the hand of President Sergio Mattarella. And, he added, he pledged “to loyally serve the Constitution and the laws and to carry out my functions in the exclusive interests of the nation.”
After a long electoral campaign in which Five Star and their governing partners, the anti-immigrant League, riled up anger and electoral support with vitriolic attacks on the European Union, illegal migrants and their rivals in the Democratic Party, the question turned to how they would actually govern.
Despite the doubts demonstrated by Italy’s president and the global markets over their anti-euro tendencies and worries among European Union leaders about an erosion of liberal values and the bloc itself, the leaders of the alliance seemed intent on renegotiating Italy’s relationship with Brussels and cracking down on migration. Their early statements in power do not indicate a sudden change of heart. | {
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Ronald Reagan was president when Michael Madigan, a Democrat, became speaker of the Illinois House in 1983. Reagan served two terms and died in 2004, and his name adorns schools, roads, parks and an airport. A generation has passed since he left the White House.
And Madigan? He is still speaker, and has been for all but two years since he started. He appears to be as permanent a feature of the Illinois landscape as the Mississippi River.
Illinois is a blue state, voting Democratic in the past seven presidential elections.
But the Democratic Party's control of the state House is not the simple result of its ability to satisfy the citizenry. Democrats have also had the help of district lines drawn to help them at the expense of Republicans.
In 2012, Democratic House candidates got 52 percent of the votes statewide but captured 60 percent of the seats, report political scientist Kent Redfield of the University of Illinois Springfield and policy consultant Cynthia Canary. In 2014, Democrats got 50.5 percent of the vote and 60 percent of the seats. This year, Madigan's party again won 60 percent of the races.
That's why Illinois Republicans may side with Wisconsin Democrats on one issue: partisan gerrymandering. In November, a federal district court struck down Wisconsin's legislative map on the ground that it unfairly favors Republicans, who dominate the Legislature. It had been more than three decades since a federal court invalidated a reapportionment plan for partisan bias.
In that case, the justices upheld an Indiana redistricting plan but affirmed that a gerrymander could be so biased toward one party as to violate the Constitution. The district court said the Wisconsin plan fits the bill.
Republicans captured the Wisconsin Legislature in 2010, just in time for the decennial reapportionment. They made the most of the opportunity. In 2012, GOP candidates got 48.6 percent of the statewide vote—but 60 of the 99 seats in the lower house, the Assembly. In 2014, they got 52 percent of the vote and 63 seats.
A scholar they had asked to analyze the plan before its adoption said Democrats would need at least 54 percent of the statewide ballots to regain control of the Assembly. It was a recipe for Republican control in good times and bad.
In 1986, the Supreme Court noted that when legislators are entrusted with redistricting, the results are bound to have a partisan tilt. But it concluded there is a limit to what is permissible. "Unconstitutional discrimination occurs," it said, "when the electoral system is arranged in a manner that will consistently degrade a voter's or a group of voters' influence on the political process as a whole."
Wisconsin Republicans insist they have a natural advantage: Democrats are concentrated in cities, limiting the number of districts in which they enjoy majority strength, while Republicans are more scattered.
But the federal court said these facts don't explain the GOP's formidable edge. It is instead the product of efforts to dilute the votes of Democrats by "packing" large numbers into a few districts, where they can't lose, and "cracking" the rest into many more districts, where they can't win.
The Supreme Court (which will get this case on direct appeal) has hesitated to intervene in such matters because of a knotty question: how to separate the acceptable and unacceptable types of partisan gerrymandering. The Democrats in Wisconsin offered a formula, devised by Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a University of Chicago law professor, and Eric McGhee, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, that permits simple assessments.
What they refer to as the "efficiency gap" is enough to lock in GOP control in Madison for a full decade under almost any realistic conditions. The court found that the reapportionment violates the First and 14th amendments by intentionally hobbling Democratic voters. Every affected citizen, it said, is "an unequal participant in the decisions of the body politic."
Illinois Republicans know how that works. For the moment, partisan gerrymandering favors the GOP because it holds power in more states. But Republicans have been its victims just as often as Democrats—and, if the Supreme Court doesn't curb the practice, will be again.
In the end, partisan gerrymandering is not really aimed at frustrating the party that is out of power. It's aimed at foiling voters who might want to remove politicians from office. As Michael Madigan can attest, it really works.
© Copyright 2016 by Creators Syndicate Inc. | {
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forest
Aarey Milk Colony
Metro rail car shed
Sanjay Gandhi National Park
Borivali
Greater Bombay Milk Scheme
NGO
Metro line III
Colaba
Bandra
Seepz
Mumbai Metro Railway Corporation
Kalina
MMRC
Kanjurmarg
From cats to civets, Aarey bio-reserve is home to all
Greens get the government’s goat again, unearth an official letter which says Aarey land was transferred to thedepartment.Environmental activists have upturned the state’s long-held contention that, which is being considered for raising a, is a green zone by arguing that almost all of it is in fact forestland — one with theatIf they are adjudged to be right, then no inch of the land can be used for construction or commerce under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.Their assertion is based on a 37-year-old internal memo of the forest department which says that barring 575 hectares, the entire Aarey land of 2,000 hectares or 20 sq km had been transferred from Aarey, known then as, to the forest department in 1969.The memo, written in 1980 by divisional manager of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra to the regional manager, was procured recently under the Right to Information Act by environmentalist D Stalin, whoseVansant is at the forefront of the campaign against the shed proposed on the wooded land.Stalin said the activists will spare no effort to uncover the truth about the land’s reservation “which has been so cleverly hidden” for nearlyfour decades. “Going by the evidence it is a clear example of how the fence is eating the farm,” he said.The proposed car shed for the fully undergroundfromtotohas faced steely resistance from citizen and activist groups since it involves axing around 2,300 trees on a 30-hectare plot at Aarey which is being sought to build the shed.Activists claim denuding the land of the trees will damage the region’s biodiversity permanently. The National Green Tribunal is hearing their case against the state’s car shed plan, and has for now stayed construction activity within Aarey. “It is very sad and intriguing that the forest department remained silent on this for over two years in a court of law,” Stalin said.Aarey Milk Colony’s chief executive officer Nathu Rathod said, “The Aarey Milk Colony land is in possession of the state dairy development department since the 1950s, but I will need to check the records whether it was transferred to forest department or not, and that will be possible only on Wednesday.”When Mirror tried to contact forest department officials to seek comment on the activists’ claim, we witnessed elaborate buck-passing. Forest secretary Vikas Kharge directed us to SGNP director Anwar Ahmad, who pointed us to assistant conservator of forests, D J Singh, who did not respond any of our calls and text messages.The activists, meanwhile, say they do not comprehend why the, the project’s implementing authority, rejected their suggestion for alternative sites for the car shed.The activists had proposed plots of land atand Kanjurmarg.rejected the Kalina land citing that its shape was unsuitable and that it belonged to the University of Mumbai. Theplot was rejected on the grounds that it is marshy and caught in litigation of ownership.-----------------------------------------------------------According to a study carried out by ecologists Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan Mirza, Aarey Colony is home to 76 species of birds, 86 species of butterflies, 13 species of amphibians, 38 varieties of reptiles, 19 varieties of spiders and 34 different types of wild flowers. The study also found that Aarey has big cats like leopards and other animals like spotted deer, civets, Sambars, barking deer, rusty spotted cat and jungle cat. Activists have said all of these will be affected if a Metro car shed comes up at the site. | {
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"Ooohhhh ffffuck Shiny!! W-Whose my gay c-captain?! H-Huh? W-Who loves c-cocks and cums more than I do?!" You spoken in a demanding yet not cruel tone to your husband, wanting to hear his answers come from his whore moaning mouth. Shining's eyes were rolled up to the top of his head and his mouth still open to let the covers on his bed be drooled on. He managed to hear his lover's questions… and being so submissive he couldn't help it."I-I am A-Anon! I'm y-your gay captain! I-I love s-sucking long cocks and love drinking sweet cum from other horny stallions! I love to snuggle with every ball sacks I can get to, I love being cummed inside and being fucked by hot stallions like you b-baby!! M-Make me y-yours!" The way Shining answered his sexual fantasy was so overwhelmingly arousing, but the way he said it just made your heart aflutter. Now ready to deliver what he desperately wanted, you grasp both of his ass cheeks, spread them wide apart and started to slam dunk his ass. Your balls swung up and down between your legs, now slapping lewdly on his lower ass cheeks. The sound of his moist anus squelching grew louder and wetter as pre-cum just leaked out of your cock like a broken faucet. And the noises of you both moaning and panting filled the room with intense love making that other stallions and possibly mares would listen onto this hot action behind the walls.A minute of ramming your hard cock in and out of your husband's anus, you feel a powerful surge of pressure emanating in your groin. Judging how much it was building at a short amount of time could only mean that your load was gonna be a big one. Now being compelled by the overpowering stimulation, your body automatically thrusts faster and harder for you. You were no longer in control of stopping your body… but why would you? Cont~ | {
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Issa Valley in Tanzania is a mosaic habitat made up mainly of gallery forest and woodland savannah. Credit: Adam van Casteren
Chimpanzees are generally known as the ripe fruit specialist among the great apes, but also incorporate other food items such as leaves and seedpods into their diets. Savannah chimpanzees are thought to rely on these non-fruit resources more than their forest counterparts. The mechanical properties of plant foods can vary substantially, but to date, there were no comparative data available for chimpanzee populations living in distinct habitat types.
Adam van Casteren of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology went out to compare the material properties of various plant foods eaten by chimpanzees in a tropical rainforest (Ngogo, Uganda) and a savannah woodland (Issa Valley, Tanzania). Using a portable mechanical tester, he measured the physical properties of plant tissues and found that some plant parts from the mosaic savannah woodland habitat, such as the outer casing of the strychnos fruit, had much higher toughness and stiffness values than the plant tissues he tested from the rainforest. "I was surprised to see that some values even exceed those recorded for orangutan foods, as they are generally considered to consume the most mechanically challenging diet of all the great apes," says van Casteren.
The scientists also combined their plant food mechanical data with data from a stable isotope analysis from both plant and chimpanzee hair samples. Carbon stable isotopes are commonly used to reconstruct dietary ecology and habitat use of living and extinct primates. Although the carbon isotope values of plants were remarkably similar in both habitats, the isotope data obtained from chimpanzee hair suggested that savannah chimpanzees frequently feed on plants growing in open canopy areas. These likely include those plants that are particularly demanding for chewing. The authors believe that the consumption of such tough foods is facilitated by the large front teeth of chimpanzees. "While some chimpanzee populations are using tools to crack open nuts, others like these savannah chimpanzees still rely on their teeth to get access to nutrients. Such differences in selection pressures acting on the teeth are likely to have played a key role during the evolution of hominins," says Kornelius Kupczik, co-author and Track Leader of the Max Planck Weizmann Center.
Outer casing of the Strychnos fruit had much higher toughness and stiffness values than the plant tissues the researchers tested from the rainforest. Credit: Adam van Casteren
Dental morphology, food mechanical properties and carbon stable isotopes are all highly relevant for reconstructing past diets of our early ancestors in Africa. "If we better understand the foundations and interactions of food material properties, dental wear processes and isotopes in extant chimpanzees this opens a window into the past and helps to interpret the data obtained from fossil specimens of the African savannah from several million years ago," concludes co-author Vicky Oelze from the University of California in Santa Cruz and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, who conducted the stable isotope analysis.
Explore further Markers of diet and behaviour in chimpanzee dental calculus
More information: Adam van Casteren et al, Food mechanical properties and isotopic signatures in forest versus savannah dwelling eastern chimpanzees, Communications Biology (2018). Adam van Casteren et al, Food mechanical properties and isotopic signatures in forest versus savannah dwelling eastern chimpanzees,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0115-6 | {
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Courtesy of Gil Sanchez Remee Jo Lee miscarried after her boyfriend gave her pills she was misled to believe were simple antibiotics.
A Florida woman who had a miscarriage after her boyfriend tricked her into taking pills that can cause abortions is now suing the pharmacy where the drug was dispensed.
The woman, Remee Jo Lee, 27, says in the suit that she thought she was getting amoxicillin, an antibiotic, when she accepted the pills in March from her boyfriend, who falsely said they'd been prescribed by his father — an obstetrician who'd confirmed her pregnancy.
Instead, she was given misoprostol, a stomach ulcer medicine that can cause abortion and birth defects.
A few days later, Lee had a miscarriage, according to the suit, which was just filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court and was first reported Monday by The Tampa Tribune.
The boyfriend, John Andrew Welden, 28, pleaded guilty last month to federal charges that he forged his father's signature on the prescription and conspired with an employee of the pharmacy to order the misoprostol. He faces almost 14 years in prison when he is sentenced in December.
Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com
Police found text messages showing that Lee, who met Welden in 2012 at the gentlemen's club where she worked, wanted to keep the baby but that Welden didn't.
In the plea agreement, Welden said he asked an employee of Sunlake Pharmacy and Compounding Lab in Lutz, north of Tampa, to fill the fake prescription and provide a fraudulently labeled pill bottle. The plea agreement said the Sunlake employee knew Welden was up to no good.
Lee's suit accuses Sunlake of negligence, arguing that "a reasonably competent, concerned and safe pharmacist would have recognized the prescription ... was grossly in error."
Related: Fla. man tricked pregnant girlfriend into taking abortion drug, feds say | {
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County wants out of lawsuit
An attorney for Blair County has filed a petition asking a U.S. district judge in Johnstown to dismiss a federal civil rights complaint in which a former student intern with the Hollidaysburg Area School District says he was falsely arrested last year for allegedly leaving threatening voicemails at several of the district’s schools. Scott M. Vinosky was in the process last November of completing a Master of Education program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The curriculum included a six-credit, 600-hour internship with a school district. His training was split between the ... | {
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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has tapped Craig Carpenito, a white-collar defense and securities lawyer who represented outgoing Gov. Chris Christie in matters related to the "Bridgegate" lane-closure scandal, as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor on an interim basis.
In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Carpenito, a partner in the firm of Alston & Bird, on Friday will replace Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick, who has led the office since Paul Fishman resigned in March at Sessions' request along with 45 other Obama-appointed U.S. attorneys.
The appointment of Carpenito came in a sweeping announcement naming 16 other interim U.S. attorneys across the country, including the top federal law enforcement officers in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The timing was apparently necessitated by a statutory deadline that was about to run out with just a day left on the clock. The acting U.S. attorneys they replace had served the maximum amount of allowed in that role by law.
Carpenito's appointment will last 120 days, or until President Donald Trump appoints and the U.S. Senate confirms a permanent replacement for Fishman. If no formal nominee is announced and confirmed within that timeframe, the U.S. District Court would be able to appoint a replacement, according to a Justice Department official. Such a move would be unprecedented.
Carpenito previously defended Christie against a since-dismissed criminal complaint brought by a North Jersey activist, who alleged the governor knew about the lane-closure plot -- a charge Christie has repeatedly denied. Carpenito also previously represented Matt Mowers, a former Christie aide since hired by the White House, during state Legislature hearings over the lane-closure scandal.
Congrats to great friend (and superb lawyer) Craig Carpenito on his appointment as the new US Attorney for the District of New Jersey! He'll do the Garden State proudhttps://t.co/1ovLaYuBoU — Matt Mowers (@mowers) January 3, 2018
In a statement, the governor said he commended Sessions for choosing Carpenito. "Craig is an outstanding lawyer and the type of decisive leader the office really needs," Christie said. "I am confident he will be a U.S. attorney that everyone in New Jersey will be proud of in the years ahead."
A source with knowledge of the process told NJ Advance Media in May that Trump was deciding between Carpenito and Geoffrey Berman, a law partner of Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, as Fishman's replacement.
But the Justice Department on Wednesday announced Berman had similarly been named as interim head of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, where he spent four years as a federal prosecutor in the 1990s. Berman fills the U.S. attorney position vacatated by Preet Bharara, who refused to resign at Sessions' request and was fired.
Trump has yet to announce his own nominees for either the New Jersey or Manhattan posts.
A graduate of Rider University and Seton Hall Law School, Carpenito previously worked under Christie at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office from 2005 to 2008. He also previously served as senior counsel for the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission's enforcement division in New York.
Fitzpatrick, a career prosecutor, will continue in the office as Carpenito's first assistant U.S. attorney, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Ted Sherman and Claude Brodesser-Akner contributed to this report.
Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips | {
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Members of pop group Duran Duran are to renew their legal battle over US rights to some of their most famous songs, including Hungry Like the Wolf and Girls on Film.
In December, they failed to fight off a bid by publishers Gloucester Place Music, ultimately owned by US business Sony/ATV, to prevent them terminating copyright agreements related to their first three albums.
Mr Justice Arnold in the high court ruled that English laws of contract barred them from seeking to reclaim rights over their own works.
On Friday, the same judge gave permission for an appeal against his decision. No date has yet been set for the hearing.
The group said they were particularly pleased to get the go-ahead as the ruling had an impact on the wider creative community and particularly their songwriting peers around the world.
Founding member and keyboardist Nick Rhodes said: “It was enormously disappointing that Sony/ATV decided to mount this aggressive and unexpected action against us to try to prevent the simple principles and rights afforded to all artists in America regarding their copyrights after 35 years.
“We are relieved and grateful that we have been given the opportunity to appeal this case because the consequences are wide-reaching and profound for us and all other artists.
“In his judgment Mr Justice Arnold stated that his decision was not made without hesitation; we were heartened by this sentiment because we felt it was an acknowledgement that something was truly flawed about the premise and reality of what is at stake.
“We remain hopeful that the ultimate outcome will be fair and measured to take into account and support our case and all artists’ rights.” | {
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No. Reddit is quite open and pro-free speech, but it is not okay to post someone's personal information or post links to personal information. This includes links to public Facebook pages and screenshots of Facebook pages with the names still legible.
Posting someone's personal information will get you banned. When posting screenshots, be sure to edit out any personally identifiable information to avoid running afoul of this rule.
Public figures can be an exception to this rule, such as posting professional links to contact a congressman or the CEO of a company. But don't post anything inviting harassment, don't harass, and don't cheer on or upvote obvious vigilantism.
To report a Personal Information violation, please visit this page. | {
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Basically me, but only if they go of campus, lets keep this un-canon show, at least relatively canonical, i dont Raven & Vernal walking around Beacon xD (Well ok maybe but only if they interact with just qrow for example & definitely not Yang) | {
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Daniel Tso addresses the crowd in Navajo at a Bureau of Land Management meeting Thursday about drilling in the Greater Chaco area. | {
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The Department of Interior’s fast-tracked approval of several major solar projects in California and Nevada has raised questions over negative environmental impacts and the agency’s adherence to environmental regulations.
On March 11, 2009, the Department of Interior [DOI] issued a secretarial order to fast track the siting of renewable energy projects on public lands managed by the agency.
The move was part of the administration’s larger green energy initiative, which has pumped billions of dollars in stimulus money into renewable energy.
Seven solar companies received fast-tracked approval by DOI to lease federal lands in a no-bid process: Abengoa Solar, BrightSource Energy, First Solar, Nevada Geothermal Power, NextEra Energy Resources, Ormat Nevada, and SolarReserve.
Those seven companies all received loan guarantees worth billions from the Department of Energy under its renewable energy loan program, as well as renewable energy grants from the Treasury Department.
The federal government has dedicated 21 million acres to these renewable energy projects in the three years since the secretarial order. That is more land than it has set aside for oil and gas exploration over the last decade.
The speed with which the projects were approved, coupled with the fact that the companies had already received Energy Department loan guarantees with strict timelines attached, has raised questions as to whether Interior’s actions were predetermined.
Federal agencies are required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to consider all environmental outcomes of an action before proceeding with it. Federal decisions can be overturned if a court finds they were predetermined.
"The question is, are these basically pre-cooked outcomes?" a former Bureau of Labor Management (BLM) employee told the Free Beacon. "And when you really start thinking about it, does the fact that these companies had loan guarantees put them at the top of the pecking order?"
The BLM defended the process.
"Clearly these were not pre-decisional determinations on these projects," Ray Brady, Chief of Lands and Realty Division at BLM, said. "These were projects that were farthest along in their process work. The companies had submitted complete development plans and had already initiated NEPA compliance."
The Institute for Energy Research, a group that supports increased oil and gas production, said the divide between how the Obama administration treats oil and renewable energy is striking.
"It’s amazing because at the same time the administration’s been pushing renewable energy, it’s been going the opposite direction on conventional oil and gas, adding delays and speed bumps," Senior Vice President for Policy at IER Dan Kish said. "The biggest delay with doing business on federal land is litigation hooks. Everybody and their brother has the right to weigh in and appeal, which puts capital and investment at stake."
The Congressional Research Service recently released a report revealing 96 percent of the increase in domestic oil production since 2007 has occurred on non-federal lands.
Kish said the fast-tracked process shields the projects from regular scrutiny.
"The entry points for appellants and litigants have been wiped out, so they don’t have to put up with the things everyone else does with when dealing with the federal government," he said.
However, the Bureau of Land Management says it was making the process simpler for both the companies and the public. Typically, oil companies must go through environmental review for both the lease and the drilling project.
"It’s really kind of a streamlined process that brings those decisions into one document," Brady said. "That makes it easier for the public as well."
Critics say that the close to 20 years the Army spent trying to expand its base at Fort Irwin, located near a Brightsource solar project in the Mojave Desert, is an example of just how much easier the fast-tracked process was for the green energy companies.
Planning for the Fort Irwin expansion began in 1988, but the final supplemental environmental impact statement was not completed until 2005.
A former Fish and Wildlife Service official who worked on the Fort Irwin expansion said the roadblocks faced by the Army were extensive.
"I had at least two generals at the office of Interior begging us to get the biological opinion completed," the source said. "You should see the requirements placed on army."
The Mojave is home to the endangered desert tortoise. Parties leasing federal lands in the Mojave are allowed to "take," or kill, only a certain number of tortoises per year.
The army was allowed to kill only three tortoises per year on their 75,000-acre project.
Yet the four solar projects located in the same area were approved to kill roughly 15 of the animals a year on projects collectively affecting only about 12,000 acres.
Environmental and cultural problems have arisen at other projects as well.
NextEra Energy’s $1-billion, nearly 2,000-acre Genesis solar energy project, backed by $852 million in Energy Department loans, has run into concerns that it is killing the sensitive desert kit fox population, as well as possibly desecrating an ancient Native American burial site.
According to California Energy Commission records, the Genesis project was approved despite "significant environmental impacts" that were deemed to be outweighed by "overriding economic, legal, social, technological or other benefits."
Despite these concerns, major environmental groups were silent on the projects or actively lobbied for them. The national office of the Sierra Club sent out a memo to all local chapters announcing it would not pursue litigation against the Brightsource project.
The Center for Biological Diversity, a notoriously litigious environmental group, signed a confidential agreement not to oppose the Ivanpah project in exchange for increased protections for the desert tortoise, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The National Resources Defense Council characterized the decision as part of a broader, more pragmatic strategy by environmental groups to work with companies and the government.
"Our greatest challenge today is to make the hard choices that will provide the greatest environmental benefit for all and result in the fewest impacts to wildlife and wild lands," wrote Johanna Wald on the NRDC blog.
Policy expert Kish questioned the choices environmental groups and the administration made in backing the fast-tracked projects.
"If one was a cynic or understood how this town worked, it would become pretty quickly apparent the collective enforcement of laws from the administration is based on who their friends are," Kish said. "It comes down to: Do they or don’t they believe these laws are important and should be followed?"
The environmental impacts of the solar projects will be felt for long after the Obama administration.
"If these companies pull out and attempt to restore the land—if they can—it will take a long time," Dennis Schramm, a former superintendent at the Mojave National Preserve, told the Los Angeles Times. "It will be 100 years. It might be 200 years. That's how long it would take to restore the desert."
A former official who worked at the Bureau of Land Management for more than 30 years and described himself as a conservationist said: "To see the department bend over backwards and do everything they can to put up these solar farms, it doesn’t seem like the same yardstick is being used, but they really do believe this is the tech answer to fossil fuel. They’re true believers." | {
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Mikä maksaa?
Mikä maksaa? etsii vastauksia tavallista kansalaista askarruttaviin talouden kysymyksiin. Minne rahamme menevät? Ja kuka rahan kulkusuunnan lopulta päättää? Entä mitä kansalaisen pitäisi tietää kansantaloudesta ja globaalitaloudesta? Toimittajana Juho-Pekka Rantala.…
16:00 16:55 | {
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The former vice-chairman and managing director of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) Hari Sankaran was arrested by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) on Monday and remanded in police custody till April 4.
Mr. Sankaran was arrested in connection with the ongoing investigations into the affairs of IL&FS and its group entities, an official spokesperson said. “He has been arrested on the grounds that he abused his powers in IL&FS through his fraudulent conduct and in granting loans to entities which were not creditworthy or have been declared non-performing assets (NPAs) and caused wrongful loss to the company and its creditors,” the spokesperson added.
Trouble surfaced at IL&FS in the July to September quarter of 2018, when two of its subsidiaries started defaulting on repayment of loans and inter-corporate deposits to lenders. A subsequent series of defaults caused a systemic problem with many non-banking finance companies running into financial issues.
On October 1, 2018, the Central government took steps to take control of the company through a directive by NCLT and arrest spread of the contagion to the financial markets. A new board under the leadership of banker Uday Kotak was constituted. as the earlier board was deemed to have failed to discharge its duties.
At that time, the SFIO was asked to probe the procedural lapses at the firm and its subsidiaries. as the top management was believed to be involved in diverting money for ulterior motives.
The SFIO counsel Hiten Venegavkar sought Mr. Sankaran’s custody for five days “for ascertaining all the fraudulent activities carried out under him, to prevent him from influencing any witnesses and destroy the evidence, to examine him about the loan and advances approved without proper collaterals.”
The remand copy, reviewed by The Hindu, says: “SFIO examined details of the funds raised by IFIN (IL&FS Financial Service Limited) from different public sources. Approximately ₹17,000 crore has been raised by IFIN from the public through bank loans, debentures, commercial papers and corporate deposits, etc. The amount borrowed by these means has been used by IFIN to advance both short and long term loans. The company is said to have advanced 80% to 85% of the total borrowings as loans and advances.”
It was also argued that IFIN had also provided loans and advances to group companies, which have no financial capacity to service the debt. The group companies, which were given loans, were having heavy operational losses and were heavily debt-ridden. IFIN had funded the group companies to avoid the defaults of loans taken by them from banks. The quantum of loans and advances given by IFIN to the group of companies of IL&FS Limited has been continuously increasing, both in quantum as well as percentage of total borrowings. | {
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SF Gate-
Eighteen people serving life without the possibility of parole for murder in California will have a chance at freedom after Gov. Jerry Brown agreed to commute their sentences.
The 18 are among 31 prisoners granted clemency and 36 ex-convicts pardoned by the governor Friday.
Read More | {
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Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Aloha Towing Inc. at 275 west High Avenue is one of the four new locations for proposed ho Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Employee Michael Abouzelof takes a break from remodeling the Metro Music Hall on 100 south Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Wasatch Community Gardens at 648 west 100 south is one of the four new locations for propo Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune Aloha Towing Inc. at 275 west High Avenue is one of the four new locations for proposed ho Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Wasatch Community Gardens at 648 west 100 south is one of the four new locations for propo Steve Griffin / Tribune file photo Aloha Towing Inc. at 275 west High Avenue is one of the four new locations for proposed homel Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Jen Enniss, manager of the Sherman Kendall Academy, reacts to the announcement of a homeles Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Carolyn Pryer, an employee at Dancing Cranes Imports, reacts to the announcement of a homel Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Patricia Thomas reacts to the announcement of a homeless shelter moving in at 653 E Simpson Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Patricia Thomas reacts to the announcement of a homeless shelter moving in at 653 E Simpson Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski announced the sites of four planned homeless shelters Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski on Tuesday, Dec. 13, announced the sites of four planne Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City Council chairman James Rogers speaks at the announcement of sites of four pl Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Gail Miller, who served on the Homeless Services Site Evaluation Committee, speaks at the a Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City Council chairman James Rogers speaks at the announcement of sites of four pl | {
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A Liberal MP ramped up a testy running debate with former Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier Monday, dismissing Bernier's latest tweets on the subject of systemic racism in Canada as "nonsense."
The dispute, which kicked off in early March, bubbled up again this past weekend when Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes gave an interview to the Globe and Mail. In it, Caesar-Chavannes criticized Bernier for not recognizing his "privilege" or recognizing the challenges faced by people of colour.
"You sit there and say you don't see it. Well, good for you, because you've never had to experience it, sweetheart," the newspaper quoted her as saying.
Bernier hit back on Twitter, saying Caesar-Chavannes was too focused on personal matters and not enough on policy.
"That's the main difference between us. You think the world revolves around your skin colour. My goal is to bring better policies to all Canadians. That's an MP's job," Bernier said. "And by the way, I'm not your 'sweetheart.'"
On Monday, Caesar-Chavannes reacted to the tweet and her own comments in the Globe, saying "there is a bigger issue there than 'sweetheart'."
"I think it's nonsense," Caesar-Chavannes said of Bernier's tweet. "I don't think everything revolves around my skin colour. I think that there are race issues that we need to deal with and, again, for someone like Mr. Bernier to not see that is foolishness.
"I think him saying that I focus on my skin colour, and making things personal, is ridiculous."
"He votes on laws that impact millions of people and some of those millions of people face significant barriers in our society that need to be addressed, and our government addresses them and he diminishes them."
Bernier's office has yet to reply to requests for comment.
Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes responds to tweets from Conservative MP Maxime Bernier that say she thinks 'the world revolves around' her skin colour. 1:27
Conservative MP Erin O'Toole said that difficult debates about topics such as systemic racism in Canada should be held in Parliament and not on Twitter.
"I think certainly if any MP, whether it's Celina or anyone else, has concerns about racism, or stereotypes, or a whole range of things, this is the place to debate it," O'Toole said. "People should be willing to debate on both sides of things and if they have disagreements, don't do it just on Twitter, do it in the House of Commons."
This isn't the first time Bernier and Caesar-Chavannes have crossed swords over social media.
Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen tweeted Feb. 28 that the federal budget was historic for "racialized Canadians."
Debating racism
The budget included money for a national anti-racism plan, mental health supports for at-risk black youth and funding to collect better data on race, gender and inclusion in Canada.
On March 2, Bernier responded to say "racialized" was "awful jargon" and accused the Liberals of using it to create division.
"I thought the ultimate goal of fighting discrimination was to create a colour-blind society where everyone is treated the same," Bernier said on Twitter.
Hussen responded that the budget was about equality and growth for all Canadians and that the idea of not seeing colour may sound great in theory but wouldn't address the realities of racism.
"At best, it allows the (Conservative Party) to continue to wipe their hands of playing an active role in the work that must be done to eradicate racism (and) at worst it means you are supporting the status quo by denying the very real experiences of people who live with racism every day," he wrote.
Caesar-Chavannes chimed in after that, telling Bernier "do some research, or a Google search, as to why stating colour blindness as a defence actually contributes to racism. Please check your privilege and be quiet."
She later apologized for the tone of her tweet and offered to meet Bernier to discuss the issue. Bernier refused the invitation. | {
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Late last year, the Daily Mail identified Ralphie Waplington as Britain’s “youngest social media ‘influencer.’ ” Ralphie, who is two, has twenty thousand Instagram followers. For most of his life, he has been an unknowing model of baby clothes and other infant paraphernalia. His parents photograph him according to briefs they receive from commercial partners; members of his extended family must seek approval before posting their own photos of Ralphie, lest an off-message picture harm his brand.
Ralphie is undeniably cute. But his cuteness only compounds the sense of unease we feel whenever we contemplate influencers and their craft. On one level, “influencer” is an anodyne, commercial label, describing someone who monetizes an online following by endorsing products or services—a celebrity spokesperson for the social-media age. And yet “influencer” also sounds slightly sinister; the Influencer could be a Batman villain, alongside the Joker. It’s no accident that the term has entered the lexicon at the same moment that influence of a different sort has become a geopolitical weapon of unprecedented proportions. The social-media influencer has an eerie double in the hacker who covertly shapes political discourse. Both flourish in our increasingly networked world, in which digital influence is sharply double-edged—a salable commodity and a threat to democracy, a commercial dream and a political nightmare.
Connectivity is the basis for the heightened role that influence now plays in our lives. Digital technologies soften the borders between people and create a porousness upon which influence depends. In a fairly undisguised etymology, the word “influence” comes from the Latin for “inflow,” which provides an image of the way that, every second, our thoughts now stream into one another’s pockets. The same image evokes our anxieties about hostile foreign states penetrating our defenses. Influence is a challenge to sovereignty, both political and personal; to admit to being influenced is to give up the attractive idea that, as individuals or societies, we are entirely self-contained.
The elusive quality of influence—the difficulty we encounter when we try to identify its sources or measure its effects—is equally destabilizing. Influence works best when it’s wielded obscurely, in the shadows and behind the scenes, and this has clear social consequences for a society engaged in building a digital-influence economy. Based on the available evidence, it seems that we can’t construct an influence economy without stoking a culture of skepticism and paranoia.The fear of being influenced affects our sense of reality and our ability to trust our own judgments about what is true. Election hackers and commercial influencers have wildly different aims, but both contribute to the unreal, distrustful tenor of our times, in which a language of fakery, deception, and inauthenticity has become fundamental to how we interpret the world.
Influence was worrisome long before it was digital. The word “influence” appears in a quarter of William Shakespeare’s plays, in which the condition of being influenced is rarely happy or dignified. Almost without exception, Shakespeare gives influence a darkly astrological cast. In “Measure for Measure,” Vincentio argues that it’s misguided to fear death, since human life is so inescapably “servile to all the skyey influences” that “hourly afflict” this earth. Influential mortals, meanwhile, often mock those who are susceptible to influence. Parolles, the vulgar, unreliable soldier in “All’s Well that Ends Well,” encourages the young Count Bertram to exploit his position in the court, which is populated, Parolles says, by those who “eat, speak, and move, under the influence of the most receiv’d star.” (Today, as we know, the word “star” still describes someone who possesses extraordinary influence.)
Shakespeare’s portrayal of influence may seem outmoded, but it has an unsettling echo in the fact that, in many ways, online influence isn’t directed by human agents. The algorithms that dictate which videos are recommended by YouTube, or the hidden engines that prioritize certain social-media posts over others, are the digital equivalents of Shakespeare’s remote, “skyey” influences. Their agendas are unknowable and changeable; even social-media influencers are subject to the whims of the algorithms, as if they were serving capricious deities.
In Shakespeare, being influenced is linked to a kind of irrational servility. Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” from 1890, takes an even more alarming view. The novel’s irresponsible influencer, Lord Henry, who convinces Dorian of many “wrong, fascinating, poisonous, delightful theories,” also admits that “all influence is immoral. . . . To influence a person is to give him one’s own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed.” In Wilde’s novel, to be influenced is to be dominated—to experience an eclipse of personality.
Among other things, “Dorian Gray” invites us to think about how influence, as it grows more pervasive, can create a broader atmosphere of inauthenticity. Lord Henry describes the influenced person as someone who no longer has a genuine identity; such a person’s motivations are unreal and unnatural because they originate with someone else. But the intimate dynamic that unfolds between influencer and influenced means that both parties become, in some sense, unreal. The influenced person may burn with someone else’s passions, but the influencer’s authenticity becomes questionable, too. It’s theoretically possible for a popular YouTube skateboarder to love and advertise a certain brand of skateboard simultaneously—but, in practice, the mere existence of financial motivation can’t help but modify any genuine enthusiasm that may exist. In this sense, influencers influence themselves.
In 2017, the Federal Trade Commission released guidelines calling for social-media influencers to become more transparent about their corporate relationships. “Avoid ambiguous disclosures like #thanks, #collab, #sp, #spon, or #ambassador,” the Commission suggested. “Clarity counts.” Unfortunately, clarity is at cross-purposes with influence, which is powerful precisely because it’s ambiguous. In both the political and commercial spheres, this ambiguity has an unsettling effect. We begin asking ourselves questions such as: Was that story I glimpsed in my news feed from a credible source? Was that product recommendation written by a genuine consumer or a paid spokesperson? Why do I want what I want? Why do I hold the political beliefs that I do? These unknowables, in turn, prompt an even more vexing question: What does it even mean to have an unadulterated and authentic opinion? The knowledge that influence is such a major animator of public life increases our cynicism about others and ourselves.
Lately, the influencer phenomenon has been mutating in surprising ways. In December, The Atlantic reported on people who style their social-media content to make it seem as though they are sponsored by businesses. They stage their photographs to create the illusion of product placement, hoping that fake relationships with brands will help build the status needed to secure real ones. Their posts imitate the influencer’s unique tone of contractual enthusiasm, which injects an air of surprised gratitude into a carefully negotiated product promotion. One example from The Atlantic article is the aspiring life-style influencer Sydney Pugh, who describes taking a picture of the coffee she had just bought, then captioning it with a jaunty declaration of love for Alfred Coffee.
Meanwhile, last year, news reports began to appear about hackers locking influencers out of their social-media accounts and charging them ransoms. The blogger Cassie Gallegos lost control of her Instagram profile in one such attack. Instagram was unable to intervene, so she paid a little more than a hundred dollars to the hackers, who then disappeared, along with her account and its almost sixty thousand followers. Historically, influence has been seen as a mysterious and intangible force, but, for social-media influencers, it is surprisingly concrete. It resides in an archive of pictures, videos, and text, to which valuable followers are digitally tethered. The technologies that have facilitated the boom in influence have also crystallized it, turning it into a digital jewel that can be stolen. | {
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Everything helps to bring +port into existence. We will put your name on our website as a special mention to all those that helped bring +port to market and keep you up to date as the project moves forward. We really appreciate the help!
Less | {
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A Conservative MP says anti-bullying initiatives popping up across the country should also apply to fetuses.
Maurice Vellacott of Saskatchewan says the most common bullying of all is the bullying and ultimate death of unborn children.
Vellacott says there is research that proves fetuses feel pain, and there should be a law to protect them from what he refers to as bullying.
He said abortions are far worse than any case of schoolyard or neighbourhood bullying.
Vellacott is a longtime, outspoken opponent of abortion.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has repeatedly said he will not reopen the abortion debate, and he voted against another Conservative MP's recent bid to have a Commons committee study the legal definition of when a fetus becomes a human being. | {
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With that other major news event out of the way, it's time to move on to more interesting news – Google app updates. Late last night brought us a version bump to Google Photos. While there haven't been any notable changes popping into view yet, a teardown does present some pretty interesting revelations for the future. Fans of the free original storage promotion might soon have some options to enjoy that with other phones. If you've felt like SD card support wasn't up to snuff, there's reason to think that might be getting better soon. And finally, Austin has reappeared with the most curious of features yet.
Teardown
Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information. It's possible that the guesses made here are totally and completely wrong. Even when predictions are correct, there is always a chance that plans could change or may be canceled entirely. Much like rumors, nothing is certain until it's officially announced and released. Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information. It's possible that the guesses made here are totally and completely wrong. Even when predictions are correct, there is always a chance that plans could change or may be canceled entirely. Much like rumors, nothing is certain until it's officially announced and released. The features discussed below are probably not live yet, or may only be live for a small percentage of users. Unless stated otherwise, don't expect to see these features if you install the apk.
Redemption codes for free original storage
If you're keeping your pictures safe with Google Photos, you've probably gone through the consideration of whether or not to store everything at "high quality" for free, or take the hit to your Google Drive storage by keeping everything at its original level of quality. Of course, with the entrance of the Pixel phones and their offer of free lifetime storage for images uploaded from that device (term limits may apply), some of us haven't had to make that decision.
But what about people with other phones, or maybe those that buy a Pixel 2 and plan to keep it as our main shooter beyond 2020? It looks like Google is going to begin handing out some of that free storage to more people. Hey, why not, it's obviously a popular perk that people love.
Google Photos will be adding an option to redeem codes that give free storage at original quality. The rules of this deal appear to match those of the Pixel promotions, even down to the detail that the uploads must come from the same device that redeemed the code. As with the Pixel 2 promotion, there is a cutoff date for uploading photos for free, but anything uploaded from that device before the time limit will get free lifetime storage at original quality.
strings Redeem code</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_code_dialog_confirm">Redeem</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_code_dialog_hint">XXXX - XXXX - XXXX - XXXX</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_code_dialog_info">Redeem code to get free storage for original quality content uploaded from this device. %s</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_code_learn_more">Learn more</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_expired_code_dialog_info">This code is no longer active</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_expired_code_dialog_title">Code expired</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_invalid_code_dialog_info">This code is either incorrect or already in use</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_invalid_code_dialog_retry">Retry</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_invalid_code_dialog_title">Invalid code</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_need_sign_in_dialog_info">To redeem code, sign in with your Google account</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_need_sign_in_dialog_title">Sign in to Google Photos</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_network_error_dialog_info">You need an internet connection to redeem code</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_network_error_dialog_title">Unable to connect</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_successful_dialog_info">Photos & videos uploaded from this device before %s will be stored in original quality for free</string>
<string name="photos_devicesetup_redeem_successful_dialog_title">Free storage activated!</string>
The usual bits apply – Codes can only be used once and they won't work for anybody else or on any of your other devices. It sounds like each redemption is only valid between a device and an account, so the benefits don't travel with the phone if you sell it to somebody else. It also seems that there will be expiration dates, so you won't be able to hoard codes to use indefinitely.
There aren't any details or clues about how these codes will make their way into the world. We might see codes sold in the form of gift cards or given away as contest prizes. I would almost bet that Google support staff will be free to hand them out as tokens to disgruntled customers or to solve certain issues. We may even see them appear as payouts for contributions to Google Maps, responses to Opinion Rewards, or perhaps even the Crowdsource app (which now has rewards, btw).
SD Card support
SD card slots in phones are hardly a common feature anymore, but they're certainly not dead and gone, yet. And if you read comments around here or poke around reddit for a little while, you'll certainly notice that a lot of people aren't too happy with the support of SD cards by Google Photos. Things are looking up, though, as some additional support for SD cards appears to be on the way.
<string name="photos_localmedia_ui_sd_card_info">SD Card</string>
<string name="photos_localmedia_ui_sd_card_info_dialog_title">SD Card folder</string>
<string name="photos_localmedia_ui_sd_card_info_dialog_done">Done</string>
<string name="photos_localmedia_ui_sd_folder_desc">SD card folder</string>
I tried a couple of things with the one phone with an SD slot I could get to at the moment, but there was no sign that anything had become functional yet. However, regular users of SD cards should absolutely poke around to see if anything jumps out at them.
Beyond the basic ability to support SD cards and expose folders specific to them, I'm not really sure if this will impart any additional advantages. Obviously it will have some things in common with the current "Device Folders" group for locally stored images, but it's hard to speculate beyond that.
Austin has a new, even my mystery-er feature!!!
Many moons ago – well, more than a handful, but fewer than a dozen – a secretive project was initiated by a ruggedly handsome (I assume) Googler by the name of Austin (may or may not be his real name). It was only known as Austin's Mystery Feature. Unfortunately, even that wasn't secret enough, and the evil lord manager forced our hero Austin to strike his name from the record, or at least remove his name from the strings and hope the Internet forgets it happened. So went our tale, and Austin's name was to be left out of the history books...
But wait!!! On the eve of...umm...today, a new chapter was to be written! Austin's name was not to be forgotten! He has returned, and this time with a new-er, more mysterious-er feature. He also sends an aetherial message from beyond the mountain which we view. It comes to me like the opening crawl of a space opera.......
Hello
Android
Police
No, really, he totally snuck in three lines with the name "austins_mysteryer_feature" and the words, "Hello Android Police." Come on, that's pretty cool. Cheers to the awesome dev team, and especially to Austin for waving at us from across the virtual seas!
<string name="photos_photoeditor_adjustments_austins_mysteryer_feature">Hello</string>
<string name="photos_photoeditor_adjustments_austins_mysteryer_feature_sub1">Android</string>
<string name="photos_photoeditor_adjustments_austins_mysteryer_feature_sub2">Police</string>
So, that might not be all, there might actually be an easter egg attached to this. Unfortunately, I've been up for too many hours and I'm exhausted, plus I've got at least one more teardown to write before I go to sleep. So, I will put this one out there for others to dig into. I've already checked and all three lines have been used in the code, though I haven't traced them back to be sure that they weren't just placed there to fool an optimization process. If anybody feels like wasting 10 minutes (or probably more likely a few hours) looking for an easter egg (or possibly a mysteryer feature), start digging around the source files named pou, pov, and pot.
Download
The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.
Version: 3.12.0.181804071 | {
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Amazon dropped the bomb today by announcing its DRM-free music store. The previously-rumored store will be launched sometime "later this year" and offer unprotected MP3 files for purchase. The Amazon music store, which does not appear to have a name yet, will offer "millions" of songs from over 12,000 record labels.
Predictably, EMI has offered its own catalog to Amazon. Just last month, the music label announced that it would begin selling DRM-free tracks through the iTunes Store, making EMI the first major label to forego file protections. At that time, EMI emphasized that the DRM-free deal wasn't iTunes-exclusive and that the company was looking to expand its partnerships to other music sites as well.
"Our MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement. "We’re excited to have EMI joining us in this effort and look forward to offering our customers MP3s from amazing artists like Coldplay, Norah Jones and Joss Stone."
With this move, Amazon is beating iTunes to the punch by offering an entirely DRM-free store to the public. However, aside from EMI, the other three major labels won't be launching DRM-free tracks with Amazon just yet. Steve Jobs has reportedly been pressuring the other labels to follow EMI's lead by offering unprotected, higher-quality tracks through the iTunes Store, but no deals have been struck yet.
We will keep you updated with developments on this story as they come in. | {
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SOMETIMES a single word can capture a moment in politics. In 2008 it was Hope that carried Barack Obama to the White House. A bleaker noun seems to hold voters in its power just now: Fight. The country’s combative mood helps to explain the huge crowds, some exceeding 28,000 people, that have been turning out to cheer Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a pugnacious underdog in the contest for the next Democratic presidential nomination. Mr Sanders has risen in the polls all summer, closing fast on the front-runner, Hillary Clinton and even overtaking her in one August survey of New Hampshire voters.
It is not sunny optimism that explains this surge. A typical Sanders speech resembles a 90-minute sermon on modern America’s ills, delivered in the growling tones of his native Brooklyn. Hunched over a lectern, snowy hair aquiver with emotion, the 73-year-old’s usual targets include the “greed, recklessness and dishonesty” of Wall Street bankers, the malign influence of billionaire political donors, and the “abysmally low” wages that blight the lives of working families. Change will be hard, Mr Sanders warns audiences, and will require a “political revolution”. He is not joking (the senator rarely jokes). His proposals include moving towards a Canadian-style health system with publicly funded care for all, free tuition at public universities and a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan intended to create 13m jobs.
Mr Sanders’s supporters have been disappointed before. As one told the senator in Boone, Iowa on August 15th, in a sharp rebuke of Mr Obama: “I voted eight years ago for hope and change and I am still waiting.” By way of reassurance, Mr Sanders tells left-wing Democrats that he and they share a common loathing of the establishment, and a common willingness to engage it in combat. Though Mr Sanders has served in Washington since 1991, he sees himself as an outsider: a self-described democratic socialist from an ornery mountain state, who sits in Congress as an independent. His only executive experience was as mayor of Burlington in the 1980s, a city whose modest size did not preclude him from engaging in foreign policy—highlights included visits to the Soviet Union and a mayoral apology to Nicaragua for the policies of Ronald Reagan. Now Mr Sanders detects a chance in 2016 to lead a national uprising, drawing strength from the millions of working Americans who loathe mainstream politicians, news outlets and the economic status quo. Paraphrasing Franklin D. Roosevelt, he told the rally in Boone: “If the Koch brothers and the billionaire class hate my guts, I welcome their hatred.”
Sanders fans know that others struggle to see their hero in the White House, given the radical nature of his policies. But they point to new forces surging through American politics, and to the rise of non-traditional candidates, notably the property magnate Donald Trump, who leads the Republican presidential field.
Cornelia Flora, a retired sociology professor and one of the first Sanders activists in Iowa, senses a discontent that transcends left-right labels. She says the senator is “kind of like Trump, but he makes sense.” She calls Trump fans “silver-bullet thinkers”, looking for magical solutions like border walls to fix an American job crisis. In contrast, the professor suggests, organising for Mr Sanders will be a more “discursive” process, by which unhappy voters will be led to contemplate why the country is in its current state.
At Sanders headquarters, tucked away in a dowdy shopping centre on the edge of Des Moines, his Iowa campaign co-ordinator, Pete D’Alessandro, hails his boss as a “collective” populist looking to unite the oppressed, in contrast with those (the name Trump hovers, unspoken) who tell the poor to blame rival groups for their plight. Bernie-fans dream of awakening the more than one third of voting-age Americans who seldom cast ballots (even the presidential election of 2008, which set many records, saw just 64% turnout). Mr Sanders agrees, predicting that if he wins the Democratic nomination, he will inspire young and working Americans in a way that establishment politicians cannot.
Sanders Claus
But something old and problematic lurks beneath this vision of a new populism of the left. A central argument of the senator and his fans is that the poor have been voting against their own economic interests. They blame wicked billionaires and the corporate media for lulling the masses into this confusion. As the senator told supporters in Boone, they can help him by making working-class Republicans see that it is not in their interests to give tax breaks to the super-rich. “Our job is to educate and organise and when we do that, profound change will come,” Mr Sanders said. That mission to explain inspires Sandernistas, who are disproportionately white, well-educated and politically engaged.
Alas, there is nothing new about affluent lefties nagging angry voters to see that they are cross about the wrong things. And there is nothing new about these efforts causing offence. This is already happening. Activists from the Black Lives Matter movement have twice interrupted speeches by Mr Sanders to complain that he talks more about economic injustice than about racism, which they call the country’s most urgent crisis. Some Bernie-fans chided black activists to see that Mr Sanders is their ally: in return they found themselves dubbed “white supremacist liberals”.
Deep down, most people in Bernie-world are more pragmatic than might be supposed. At the rally in Boone and at a gathering for Democratic presidential candidates in Clear Lake, most Sanders supporters conceded, after much prodding, that their hero might not win the presidential nomination. As a result, they are glad that Mr Sanders has not launched explicit attacks on Mrs Clinton and her own armies of wealthy donors. She might not be their favoured champion—indeed a general lack of grassroots excitement towards Mrs Clinton is another reason why Sanders rallies are packed. But if she is their candidate in 2016, they want her fighting-fit. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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Oh meme dad You're not a very good meme | {
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The gap in physical health between rich and poor young people is higher in Ireland than in almost every other country in Europe or North America, major international research shows.
Ireland ranked worst of 34 countries for socioeconomic inequalities in the amount of exercise taken by young people, according to the data.
It ranked second worst for body mass index, meaning the difference in size between poor adolescents and their better-off peers is greater in Ireland than almost anywhere else.
When life satisfaction was measured according to socioeconomic background, Ireland ranked third worst, after Greenland and the Netherlands.
The research was led by Prof Frank Elgar of McGill University in Canada. This was the second study and it was based on data collected in 2010 from almost 500,000 11-to 15-year-olds across Europe and North America. The first survey was carried out in 2002.
Gap in physical health between rich and poor
Income-based differences in life satisfaction and physical activity among Irish adolescents grew between 2002 and 2010.
There was better news for Ireland in the area of mental health, with Prof Elgar’s analysis showing young Irish people from poor backgrounds were at little or no disadvantage to their wealthier peers. Ireland ranked as the most equal country after Austria for psychological symptoms and seventh for “somatic symptoms”.
“Ireland is relatively unequal in terms of inequalities in body mass, physical activity and life satisfaction between most and least affluent youths. However, it has moved up the rankings – became more equal – in inequalities in mental and physical health symptoms,” Prof Elgar told The Irish Times.
Overall, the findings, published in The Lancet, reveal that socioeconomic differences across areas of adolescent mental and physical health are increasing.
Young people from the poorest socioeconomic groups are more likely to be in worse health, less physically active, with larger BMI and reporting more physical and psychological symptoms such as irritability or headaches.
Improvements were noted between 2002 and 2010, including increased physical activity and life satisfaction, as well as declines in health such as increased body mass and physical symptoms.
“A strong international focus on reducing child poverty and mortality in children under five years has not been matched by a similar response in older age groups, resulting in widening socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health,” according to Prof Elgar. | {
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Rahul Gandhi announced his decision to quit as Congress President after the election results
Several leaders of the Congress have resigned from their posts to give Rahul Gandhi a free hand to choose a new team in the wake of the Lok Sabha election disaster although he is adamant on giving up the presidency.
Hours after Vivek Tankha quit as the party's Chairman for Law and RTI cell, many others from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana too gave up their posts.
Tankha resigned on Thursday night saying the Congress cannot afford a stalemate for too long and urged Gandhi to revive the Congress as "a fighting force".
In a series of tweets on Friday, Tankha said: "We all should submit our resignations from party positions and give Rahulji a free hand to choose his team... Party cannot afford a stalemate for too long."
He added: "Rahulji, please make drastic changes to revive the party as a fighting force. You have the commitment and determination. Just cobble a good, acceptable and influential nation-wide team."
On Friday afternoon, Rajesh Lilothia, who was also a party candidate from North West Delhi, resigned as the Delhi Congress Working President.
Besides Tankha and Lilothia, Haryana Women Congress chief Sumitra Chouhan, General Secretary Netta P. Sangma of Meghalaya, Secretary Virender Rathore, Chhattisgarh Secretary Anil Chaudhary, Madhya Pradesh Secretary Sudhir Chaudhary and Haryana Secretary Satyavir Yadav also gave up their posts.
The Congress this week dissolved all district committees of its Uttar Pradesh unit and formed a three-member disciplinary committee to look into acts of gross indiscipline and anti-party activities during the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress suffered a major defeat in the elections, winning just 52 seats. Gandhi himself was defeated in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh although he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala.
Gandhi announced his decision to quit as Congress President after the election results but the Congress Working Committee (CWC) wants him to continue.
On Thursday too, Gandhi made it clear to General Secretary K.C. Venugopal that he was determined to give up the presidency.
At the same time, Gandhi has said that he will chair crucial meetings until a new party chief was found.
Gandhi has reportedly told some leaders in private that he was disgusted with those who cling on to their posts despite the election rout.
According to party sources, a meeting of CWC will be called to decide on a new party chief.
Ahead of the meeting, more resignations are likely in the country's oldest political party. | {
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Scott Dixon didn’t lead his first lap of the year until June; Will Power was nowhere until May; Alexander Rossi is yet to have a bad outing; Ryan Hunter-Reay made it back to Victory Lane; Josef Newgarden looked untouchable in April; Graham Rahal is steady but needs spectacular; Robert Wickens could have two wins but has none; Simon Pagenaud finally came to life; Tony Kanaan needs a result and James Hinchcliffe is trying to overcome his double-points disaster at Indianapolis.
Other than that, not much to talk about halfway through 2018.
It’s time for RACER’s annual mid-season IndyCar report card, and for past 34 years yours truly has pissed people off, made a few smile and prompted successful icons like Roger Penske to cancel their subscription.
Remember, this is a subjective process, but A.J. Foyt never gets the grade he deserves because he smacked me once and I know he’s itching to do it again. And if you don’t agree with what you are about to read, you’re not alone.
GRADE A
Dallara’s universal aero kits have breathed some new life into street and road course racing and they look like an Indy car should. Ovals are still a work in progress, but drivers are lifting again and that’s a great sound.
GRADE B+
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT: Rossi’s performance almost pushed this to an A because a win, four podiums, a fourth and a fifth are the results championships are built on. He’s still kicking himself for throwing away 22 points at Detroit, but in three years he’s gone from a driver we didn’t know much about to a factor in every race. RHR’s charge to first at Detroit ended a couple years of frustration but he’s still as formidable as ever. Zach Veach has been the pleasant surprise of 2018, and Marco had one shining moment in Motown with a pole and 22 laps led but continues to fight inconsistency.
GRADE B
CHIP GANASSI RACING: We knew everyone was in trouble because after the Indy 500 Dixie had yet to lead a lap and was still fourth in the standings. Now he’s won the last two races, led 158 laps and owns the point lead heading to one of his favorites – Road America. Yikes. Ed Jones has recovered from throwing away a podium at Phoenix and looks more comfortable every race.
TEAM PENSKE: It would have been criminal if a guy with all Will’s wins, poles and laps led never won Indy, and he took care of that in his rousing May sweep that put him right back in the title picture. Newgarden won at Phoenix and Barber to get his hands around no.1 again before a five-race run of mediocrity. Pagenaud scored his first podium for the year and led his first laps at Texas, so expect him to be right back on pace in the last seven weekends.
GRADE B-
DALE COYNE RACING: If there’s ever a case of the points not telling the story it’s Seabass in 2018. A gift win at St. Pete wasn’t even his best drive, as he led 60 laps from the pole at Phoenix and wound up 13th after a bad pit stop, and would have finished no worse than third at Long Beach before getting hosed by a yellow and finishing, yep, 13th again. He’s led six of the nine races and is driving his skinny French ass off, only to be ninth in the standings. His revolving teammates Zachary Claman De Melo, Pietro Fittipaldi and Santino Ferrucci have all given a nice account of themselves under the circumstances.
GRADE C
ED CARPENTER RACING: Winning his third pole, leading 65 laps and finishing second at Indy was almost good enough to get Ed a B, but he’d probably be the first to admit the rest of the season has been disappointing to this point. Jordan King impressed everyone instantly at St. Pete and shows the kind of potential worth hanging on to, but hasn’t been able to put it all together in a race. Spencer Pigot had a good month of May, but is still teasing us for that breakthrough performance.
A.J. FOYT RACING: Kanaan was going to be a factor in determining who won Indy before his flat tire, and he was a rocket at Texas in practice before grazing the wall in the race. The 2013 Indy 500 winner is doing exactly what we expected – strong on ovals and decent everywhere else, but not a threat to win. Teammate Matheus Leist has had flashes of brilliance (he qualified third in his debut) but it’s steep learning curve for anyone – let alone a teenaged rookie. ABC Supply just needs a couple of good results to stay invested.
RAHAL/LETTERMAN/LANIGAN: I’ve started calling Graham Rahal “Vuky” because he reminds me of the Mad Russian’s son. He never qualifies very well on ovals but always goes forward at the green flag. That perseverance serves him well and has him sixth in the points, but he’s not yet put it all together like the past three years. Teammate Takuma Sato hasn’t shown his 2017 form and still seems to be learning with engineer Eddie Jones.
CARLIN MOTORSPORTS: It’s about what anyone could expect from a new team in this series – some major growing pains, but three top-10s between Charlie Kimball and Max Chilton. But give Trevor Carlin a couple years, and then let’s talk.
SCHMIDT PETERSON MOTORSPORTS: Robert Wickens is right there with Rossi in terms of being on pace everywhere, and he’s only an IndyCar rookie. From his debut at St. Pete to his leading role at Texas, he’s as close to an A as possible, and it’s obvious why The Captain is interested. Seventh is the absolute worst he could be in the standings because he’s had zero luck. Fellow Canuck Hinch is responding to his teammate’s challenge and yet to finish outside the Top 10 except, of course, for the Indianapolis 500. And missing the Indy 500 should be an automatic F but the drivers have raised it to a C, so quit bitching.
GRADE C-
HARDING RACING: The reality of a one-car team is hitting home after a Cinderella story in 2017. Gabby Chaves is a good little peddler but could use another set of eyes and a voice from a veteran. Let’s just hope these guys find a sponsor.
PART-TIMERS
JUNCOS RACING: Rookie Kyle Kaiser did a fine job at Phoenix and Indy, while Rene Binder seems overmatched but necessary to keep Juncos on track.
MEYER SHANK RACING: It’s tough to be consistent in three starts in three months but you get the feeling if Shank can put a full-time program together, Jack Harvey is one of those guys who can flourish. | {
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You suppose you are choosing Rio up, however young woman’s in fact choosing you up. Dickens’s like a spider looking ahead to an virginal fly to get tangled in her internet so young woman duff inhale all of the mayo out of it. Congratulations, you are the successful fly. “I simply take penis once I need it,” young woman stated. Rio’s wished for perpetrating fuck-fest crimes, however the one factor we expect must be unlawful is how insane young woman is. Dudes simply do not stand a opportunity when young woman’s at the liberate. | {
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/9/2014 (2193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Tribe Called Red has issued an official statement about its decision to pull out of Saturday night’s Concert for Human Rights as part of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opening weekend.
"Human rights are great for society. We appreciate the work the museum has been doing to bring attention to global issues. Unfortunately, we feel it was necessary to cancel our performance because of the museum's misrepresentation and downplay of the genocide that was experienced by Indigenous people in Canada by refusing to name it genocide. Until this is rectified, we'll support the museum from a distance," reads the statement from the band.
CRYSTAL SCHICK / FREE PRESS FILES A Tribe Called Red receives the 2014 JUNO for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
A Tribe Called Red was not available for interviews.
The CMHR issued a press release late Thursday night confirming that the Juno-winning Ottawa act would not be performing as part of Saturday night’s Concert for Human Rights, over "concern around the way Indigenous issues are presented in the Museum."
The statement went on to say, ""We know that building dialogue and earning trust is a long-term process, and we hope this will again be an opportunity for respectful conversation on issues that historically haven't been easy to talk about."
CMHR officials said that they extended an invite to A Tribe Called Red to tour the museum at its convenience so it could see "the full breadth of exhibit content dedicated to Indigenous perspectives and issues." | {
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Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
November 1, 2012
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released a report demonstrating the growth of police in the United States.
The survey was conducted with agencies that participated in the 2008 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies and the results were released by the Justice Department this month.
Between 1992 and 2008 the numbers of police grew by 25 percent. In 2008 there were 705,000 full-time sworn officers employed in the United States. The number was 564,000 in 1992.
This represents an annual growth rate of 1.6 percent, which exceeds the 1.2 percent population growth rate in the United States, according to the survey.
Law enforcement grew its ranks despite a significant decline in crime. According to FBI statistics, murder, rape and robbery went down in the United States in 2011 for a fifth consecutive year. Compared with 2010, the new figures show violent crime down 3.8 percent overall and property crime was down 0.5 percent, CNN reported on October 29. Justice Department figures show the crime-rate fell to an all-time low in 2011.
Despite the decline in crime, police departments around the country are rapidly transforming into paramilitary organizations. Forbes reported last year that the Department of Homeland Security granted local cops $3 billion that was spent on “necessary tools” like BearCats and armored personnel vehicles.
In 2011, 17,000+ federal, state and local agencies accepted more than $2.6 billion in donated military equipment, much of it used in Iraq and Afghanistan. The combat equipment and lavish funding from the federal government are intended for all-inclusive counter-narcotics and -terrorism enforcement activities, Forbes notes.
The massive presence of militarized police at the establishment’s presidential conventions this year – and as a now-routine fixture at globalist confabs – reveals the real reason for the militarization and growth of the police despite falling crime rates – the United States is a police state and the enemy is not al-Qaeda, anarchists (many who are police and FBI agents provocateurs), or even violent drug gangs.
Americans opposed to a government long ago captured by transnational corporations and their bankster and one-world government globalist overlords are the enemy.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today! | {
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I have! I really didn't think of that possibility, buuuuuttttt Korra IS the Avatar so I guess anything's possible. And I think she should be rewarded in some way by the spirits for defeating Vaatu, and letting her and Asami have bio kids together (making her an even more baddass Avatar than she already is!) would be a fitting reward imo. | {
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“I really believe that if we could vote to remove the HMR restrictions that our city would see new growth and economic benefits,” said Sarah Jacobs. “I just saw a hole in our community. All of our friends who like to do this go to Asheville or Morganton. I really believe it would help our community.”
Other people in the audience were there to show their support as well. They included McDowell Chamber of Commerce Director Steve Bush, Tegan Strautmann and Joey Sacco of Turtle Laboratories and Rachel Withrow of the Crooked Door Coffee House.
“No one is going to downtown Marion,” said Myers. “We’ve got to change that.”
Jacob Blair, one of Withrow’s employees and a craft beer enthusiast, voiced his strong support as well.
Councilwoman Juanita Doggett said she was happy to see the support of not only local business owners but younger adults who want to make Marion more vibrant and exciting.
“It’s great to see the younger people here come to support this,” said Doggett. “We need to tap into our younger people.”
After hearing this request, the City Council voted unanimously to ask for a public vote that will allow the full on-premise sale of beer and wine in Marion. This action also drew applause from the audience. | {
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More than 30 years ago, the Mormon church participated in the cover-up of the sexual assault of several young girls in southern Alberta, instructing the abuser not to go to police, according to an Alberta judge who has rendered a decision in the case.
These findings are laid out in the decision of Lethbridge Justice Johnna Kubik, who convicted the now 51-year-old man on two counts of sexual assault.
The abuse took place over a seven-year period between 1986 and 1993 when his victims were between the ages of eight and 13 years old.
The assaults included touching, oral sex and digital penetration.
A publication ban is in place on the man's identity in order to protect his victims. CBC News will call him M.
1987 confession
While on a mission with the Mormon church in 1987, M said he became overwhelmed by guilt regarding the abuse and confessed to a mission president as well as a bishop.
The two church leaders directed M to write letters of apology.
"The Accused was specifically advised by church authorities not to report the matter to police," Kubik wrote in her decision.
Eventually, M became a bishop in southern Alberta but never disclosed the sexual assaults to his stake president "because he had already dealt with these matters previously and had been told to forget them and to move on."
M "had no doubt in his mind that he was worthy to be a bishop," the judge wrote.
"His testimony in court demonstrated his view that the matter was closed for discussion; that he had paid the price already."
Victim reports M to police
But in 2016, when she learned M held a leadership role within the church, one of the women feared he would victimize other children and reported him to police.
At that time, he was removed as a bishop.
Earlier this year, M was convicted of similar offences for committing crimes as a youth against three child victims. He was sentenced to two months in jail to be served on weekends.
This summer, M was tried as an adult for further crimes.
In finding him guilty of sexually assaulting two victims, Kubik said she was left with reasonable doubt and acquitted M on a charge relating to the third woman.
M admitted to the abuse of one of the victims, denied all abuse in connection with another and denied he'd assaulted the other after he turned 18.
Kubik will hear sentencing arguments from prosecutors Erin Olsen and Dawn Janecke as well as defence lawyer Robert Bissett in the new year.
M remains out on bail. | {
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"He was an innovative man and generous in the conservation of the environment," Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday. "It's true that he lived in Chile 25 years, but his work is of a global importance and his real vocation was philanthropy, something that is still relatively unknown and rare in our country." | {
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It looks like Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), has been putting pressure on cryptocurrency exchanges in the country to delist privacy-focused coins such as Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH), which tend to be popular with criminals since transactions involving such currencies are much harder (if not impossible) to trace.
According to a report in Forbes, their sources, which apparently have a close connection to the FSA, are saying that the FSA is taking all possible steps to discourage the use of such currencies. In the early days of Bitcoin, it was thought by many that Bitcoin transactions were more or less untraceable, and so tech-savvy criminals started using it for illicit activities. Then, in October 2017, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known as Europol, released a report that said that although Bitcoin was still being used by criminals, “monero, ethereum and zcash” were “gaining popularity within the digital underground.”
Understandably, the Japanese authorities are frustrated that they can’t easily identify the recipient in a transaction involving a privacy coin “via a blockchain or other public ledger.” In crimnal investigations, one of the golden rules is “follow the money” and when you have anonymous money transfers, it makes the job of the poor investigators much harder.
Coincheck, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, which lost more than $500 million (around 523 million NEM coins) in a hacking attack on 26 Jan 2018, decided to drop Monero, Zcash, and Dash around the 17th of March 2018, presumably to co-operate with the FSA because it is believed that the hackers took the stolen NEM and converted it to some privacy coins on an underground crypto exchange, which then made it much easier for them to launder the stolen money.
The Forbes article says that since Coincheck got hacked, the FSA has been increasing its inspections on all crypto exchanges operating in the country, telling them that they need to apply to be registered, and that dealing with these privacy coins would make it harder for them to get registered. It goes on to say that on 10 April 2018 , in a working group meeting of cryptocurrency experts organized by the FSA, Monero and Dash were specifically named as being potential tools for money laundering, and that one member commented that they should discuss “whether any registered cryptocurrency exchange should be allowed to use such currencies.”
Of course, if the FSA decides to go ahead and ban trading of privacy coins on crypto exchanges in Japan, this could prompt the regulatory bodies in other countries to do the same to their local exchanges, which could could have a significant negative impact on the prices of these cryptocurrencies.
Featured image credit: “P2110099” by “Zengame” is licensed under CC BY 2.0 | {
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Questa settimana deve essere la settimana dell’orgoglio nerd, sono spuntati come funghi articoli e discussioni che parlano delle frustrazioni della professione dell’informatico in Italia, sia nella società, che nel mondo del lavoro.
Secondo Google Trends l’ “informatico” è ancora una parola tremendamente popolare in Italia, ma secondo Google Translate non esiste.
Ma che professione è l’informatico?
Secondo Wikipedia la definizione di informatico racchiude una serie di professioni che spazia da chi cambia gli hard disk ai computer a chi pianifica quali attività debba fare un sistema informativo all’interno di un’azienda.
Praticamente come se esistesse la categoria dell’esperto di benessere della persona, che spaziasse dal medico o soccorritore fino al comico intrattenitore.
Il punto è che oggi i computer sono ovunque e vengono usati in qualsiasi professione, per analizzare, memorizzare, comunicare, costruire e svolgere attività che in passato venivano svolte da altri strumenti fisici, quindi il fatto di saper usare il computer e sapere un minimo come funziona non caratterizza assolutamente le tue competenze e il tuo lavoro!
L’utilizzo di questo termine generico/fuorviante ha creato delle distorsioni che creano dei danni incredibili a tutta una serie di professioni legate al software:
Guru tuttologo dei computer : la mitica figura in grado di aggiustare lo smartphone rotto, darti consigli sull’hosting e costruirti il clone di Facebook per i gattini in 24h (a prezzi modici). Ovviamente senza nessuna specifica, basta fornire un logo e automaticamente il layout del sito si adatterà a desktop, tablet e app su smartphone secondo le esigenze del cliente
: la mitica figura in grado di aggiustare lo smartphone rotto, darti consigli sull’hosting e costruirti il clone di Facebook per i gattini in 24h (a prezzi modici). Ovviamente senza nessuna specifica, basta fornire un logo e automaticamente il layout del sito si adatterà a desktop, tablet e app su smartphone secondo le esigenze del cliente Stipendi bassi : vista la difficoltà nel trovare la figura precedente, sicuramente si tratterà di una persona incapace. Non a caso gli stipendi IT in Italia sono tra i più bassi in Europa. Anche più bassi di Paesi i quali lavoratori non specializzati preferiscono emigrare in Italia.
: vista la difficoltà nel trovare la figura precedente, sicuramente si tratterà di una persona incapace. Non a caso gli stipendi IT in Italia sono tra i più bassi in Europa. Anche più bassi di Paesi i quali lavoratori non specializzati preferiscono emigrare in Italia. Stress e salute: il fatto che molti sviluppatori e altri professionisti siano coordinati da manager o figure che non distinguono chiaramente le professionalità, rende molto difficile l’ambiente lavorativo… e no, lo screenshot di un form non permette di definire API e validazione tra frontend e backend.
Per concludere, anche il barbiere e il dentista erano la stessa professione, poi ad un certo punto si è capito che era meglio che ognuno si focalizzasse sulle proprie problematiche.. beh, quel momento è arrivato anche per l’informatico, non utilizzare più quel termine e lasciamolo tranquillamente all’oblio.
Grazie
Pubblicato anche sul mio blog. | {
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In 1996, two Israeli musicians began producing electronic music under the pseudonym Infected Mushroom. At the time, Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani probably didn’t know how much success they would find with their new project. Eisen, 26 at the time, had more than two decades of musical experience and had started electronic music production in 1981. Duvdevani first dabbled in classical piano, heavy metal, and punk rock before attending his first trance party in 1991.
More than 20 years later, the duo known as Infected Mushroom continues to stretch genre limits, reshape live music expectations, and tour the world. Having recently released their 11th studio album, Return To The Sauce, we caught up with Erez and Duvdev during the northeast leg of the RTTS world tour. We got to explore the new Mushroom stage setup in both New York and Philadelphia, as well as the ups and downs of maintaining the Infected brand for 21 years…
“New album came out, Return to the Sauce, which is more of a psy-trance album. We’re going back to where we started. People are super happy about it. Me and Erez didn’t know how to approach it after doing so many years and going back to do a proper psy-trance album. It was fun for us because we haven’t done it for years. People accepted it really well. Now we’re back in the psy-trance business.” -Duvdev
“So many fans come to us and say they grew up with Infected Mushroom. It’s weird for us. These 20 years, it was so fast. I remember working on the first album. (The Gathering, 1999) Me and Erez have been having as much fun making music as we did at the beginning. Being on the road is easy. We have each three kids, that’s hard. Traveling the world is easy.” -Duvdev
In 2017, finding a musical team who have been working together for as long as Infected Mushroom has is rare. Although we didn’t ask the guys about any specific struggles that they’ve had, we talked about the music industry as a whole and why some teams seem to fall apart, despite finding success. Erez and Duvdev credit their resilience to sticking with their principles and core beliefs… music and family…
“99% of bands fighting is either about money or there’s a woman involved. Me and Erez, we have both, so we just keep it to the side. We’re good friends. We like doing music, we don’t care about money. When you see Infected Mushroom, it’s a big band, but technically, it’s just me and Erez.” -Duvdev
Several years ago, Infected Mushroom was at a crossroads when the influential psy-trance band decided to step their toe into the world of dubstep. What started as a taste of half-tempo bass, has quickly infused itself into the band’s entire live performance. Songs such as “U R So Fucked“ and “Nerds on Mushrooms“ feat. Pegboard Nerds have become staples in the everyday setlist. Breaking genre barriers is always a challenge. This can sauce tension in a group as some may be focused on financial success, while others are more interested in individual growth and being limitless…
“We like heavy metal. The first time we heard Skrillex, before it was anything, we thought it was amazing. The sound design is crazy. We don’t call it dubstep, we call it half-tempo. It’s very heavy-metalish. We love it, so we went there. To do psy-trance all the time is just fucking boring. To do a genre change, you always get shit for it because your fans don’t like it. After a few years, they’ll revisit it, and they’ll get it. We don’t care about how people perceive it. If we like it, we’re going to do it. There’s nothing commercial about Infected Mushroom, if people think there is, then they’re dumb. If I was going to do commercial, I’d drop 4 chords and bring a girl in to do the vocals. I know the drop of EDM and we just don’t care about that shit. We do what we like, and if some people don’t like it, that’s fine. “
With more than twenty years, 11 albums, and hundreds of live performances, we can safely look forward to more new music and mushroom-themed stages from this ’90s, Israeli psy-trance band. Upcoming Infected Mushroom live shows and DJ sets can be tracked on their official website.
“He (EDMT photographer) has a picture of me flying today, I didn’t know that this obese person could fly so high.” -Duvdev
So, what’s next?
“We’re working again on a new album. We don’t know how or when it’s going to be, but it’s started… Everybody like Avicii. He’s just a likable person” -Duvdev
That’s all… for now. | {
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Father, I must confess: I have made comments on social media.
There is at least one thing that social media illuminate, and that is the unwillingness or the incapacity of people to reason. I attribute it in part to “critical thinking,” which turns otherwise intelligent people into perpetual sophomores, ready to play what they think is the ace of trumps, but what is actually a dog-bitten Monopoly property card for Marvin Gardens when the game is bridge. It is a plexiglass Cone of Silence over the brain; nothing gets in and nothing gets out.
A case in point. The subject today was abortion. A woman burst out, “What century are you living in? Do you actually believe”—and let’s stop right there.
The person’s implicit premise is that people grow wiser, nobler, more righteous, and kinder to puppies with each passing generation. Otherwise why bring up the business about a century?
Let us ask this person, call her Missy, to tell us about other peoples and other centuries. “Missy, are you saying that Athenians of the fourth century B.C. were better than Athenians of the fifth century B.C.? Or, to bring things closer to us, are you saying that Italians in the 1400s were better people than were Italians in the 1300s?”
Missy can now make one of several moves. She can flounce out of the room. She can say, “I am not talking about Athenians or Italians.” She can say, “I guess that they were better.”
If she flounces out of the room, you return to reading The Brothers Karamazov while you take a sip of gin and tonic.
If she says she is not talking about Athenians or Italians, you may ask what she has against Athenians and Italians, seeing as she seems to have exempted them from her rule, which is that moral progress in human affairs is smooth and inevitable, like the flow of water down a hill, with fish bones and paper wrappers and other dead things floating along with it. Were the Italians during the age of the Medici crime family, the popes with bastard children, and warlords such as Gattamelata or mercenaries such as John Hawkwood, better than the Italians of a century before?
Of course she will not know about the Medici crime family. She may at this point say, “I don’t know enough about Athenians and Italians to give you an answer.” At which point she has surrendered; the principle is established. You cannot tell by the clock whether Nation X is better or worse than it was before. You have actually to know things—you have to know how the people live.
But she may say that they must have been better, sticking to her quaint and childlike trust in inevitable progress. So you say, “All right then, let me ask about the length of time in question. You know that we group years into centuries for the wholly accidental reason that we have ten fingers and not twelve.” This may require some explanation, but press on anyway. “So why should one hundred years matter? Why not ninety years, or eighty years?”
She may now tilt her head like a Labrador retriever, suspecting a trap, sniffing, curling the lip just a bit to show the end of one tooth, like a hook.
“Why not twenty years? After all, people will say, What decade are you living in?”
“All right,” she says. “So?”
“So was Germany in 1930 a better place than Germany in 1920, just because it was 1930 and not 1920? Was the Soviet Union in 1920 a better place than Russia in 1910, just because it was 1920 and not 1910?”
“You are trying to confuse me.”
“No, I am not. You are already confused. I am trying to establish a principle. There is no inevitable moral progress in human affairs. This is a principle you yourself accept, although you do not know it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you say that if we outlaw abortion, which we could well do, we would be, according to your way of looking at things, a worse people than we had been before. We would have regressed in private morality and public justice. Now, you are wrong in that evaluation, but the very fact that you make it shows that you fear that moral progress is hard-won and is always under threat.”
“But what difference does all of this make? Why do you oppose a woman’s right to choose? This isn’t the Middle Ages, you know!”
“There you go again. What time is it?”
“Three o’clock.”
“Did the moral law just change when the clock struck three?”
“That’s stupid.”
“You are, I wager, an admirer of the American Indians.”
“Yes, and why not? Are you a bigot also?”
“Far from it. I admire them too. They do not live the same lives they used to.”
“No. A lot of them live on reservations. That’s another crime of white males”—but you cut her short.
“Let us assume then that we can learn a lot from the way the Indians used to live. Would you agree?”
“Of course I agree!”
“But they no longer live that way.”
“No, they don’t, because we robbed them of their land and we,”—and again you cut her short. You have to, because eventually the world will come to an end.
“My point is that we can learn from people who do not live as we live now. If that is the case, then when they lived is of no consequence. Do you believe that we have nothing to learn from, say, the natives of Kenya or Tanzania?”
“Of course not! I’m not a racist.”
“So it’s not important, where people live. They could be Inuit living on the shores of Baffin Island, or aborigines living in the Australian outback, or natives of Borneo living in the jungles. The point is not where they live, but how they live.”
“So what?”
“So, what applies to place applies also to time. It does not matter.”
“But we know more than we used to know!”
“Yes, about, let’s say, how electrons can be made to move in a wire. By the way, can you explain to me how we can use the flow of water over a dam to make electrons move in a wire?”
“No, not really.”
“That’s all right. Not many people can; our schools aren’t what they used to be. But let’s say that John over there knows how we can use the flow of water over a dam to make electrons move. Will you now trust John with the keys to your home? Will you give him the password to your bank account?”
“Of course I wouldn’t. I don’t know what kind of a person he is.”
“Ah, so then knowing how electrons move in a wire is not the same as knowing what is good.”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“You have said that we know more than we used to know. I am saying that we do not necessarily have a better idea of what is good and what is bad. After all, you yourself have admitted that we might learn plenty from people who not only did not know how electrons would move through a wire, but had no wires for them to move through, and no dams either.”
“I’m tired of this. All this is just a lot of words.”
“No. It is a lot of thought. What you put forth at first was nothing but words, meaningless words. You are the one who said that we have nothing to learn from people who do not live as we live now. You didn’t put it that way, because you are a nice person and you probably have a good digestive system, or you’d have walked out on me by now, but that is what your words implied, and that, as you yourself have said, is nonsense.”
“Then where are we?”
“We are where we started. You wanted to argue for the moral permissibility of abortion. Go ahead and try.”
Make people make an argument. Don’t let them wriggle away. Make them think. | {
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HIS real name is Joshua Milton Blahyi. But this Liberian mass murderer became famous using the name "General Butt Naked".Don't laugh, because there is nothing funny about this man's past. Blahyi is a uniquely monstrous war criminal. By his own admission, General Butt Naked was responsible for the deaths of "no fewer" than 20000 people during the First Liberian Civil War in the early 1990s. And they weren't clean deaths.Blahyi was a cannibal who practised human sacrifice on infants to earn himself protection during battle. He recruited child soldiers, made them hack other people to pieces and ate the live hearts of his enemies. r eports his soldiers used to bet on whether a pregnant woman was carrying a boy or a girl before slitting open her belly to see who was right.Blahyi earned that falsely comical nickname, General Butt Naked, for his favoured practice of running into battle wearing sneakers and nothing else. He thought it made him invincible.Now Blahyi is a priest who believes he'll go to heaven. He has never been punished for his crimes, because the International Criminal Court was founded in 2002 and has no jurisdiction over atrocities that occurred before then.SOURCE: news.com.auRead more at http://www.news.com.au/world/africa...d-is-now-a-priest/story-fnh81gzi-122675246111 | {
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Baton Rouge - Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards will travel to Washington, D.C. to lobby for additional flood relief for Louisiana. The state remains $2 billion short of the additional request to provide flood relief to more citizens impacted by the floods in March and August of 2016. To date, Congress has appropriated $1.6 billion in flood relief. Gov. Edwards’ travel expenses are not being paid for by taxpayers.
"Once again our state has faced another round of severe weather that has destroyed homes and communities, but we will rebuild,” said Gov. Edwards. “The recent tornadoes throughout South Louisiana have only added to the ongoing hardships our people are suffering from following the March and August floods. Now more than ever we need Congress to make the relief dollars available to help Louisiana so that the rebuilding process can continue. I will make this case to our congressional leaders this week, and I look forward to working with them as we continue to rebuild and help the people of Louisiana."
This morning, Gov. Edwards participated in a briefing with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regarding the severe weather that struck Louisiana on Tuesday. As of today, FEMA teams are on the ground in Louisiana and will begin their preliminary assessments of the storm damage. Gov. Edwards also spoke with the White House to discuss the destruction caused by the seven tornadoes that touched down in South Louisiana.
On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Edwards will meet with the entire Louisiana Congressional Delegation to discuss the state’s outstanding request for $2 billion in flood recovery. Last week, he sent a letter to the delegation and President Donald Trump outlining how the additional funds would be spent. Gov. Edwards also asked the delegation for assistance in making changes to federal disaster recovery laws and regulations that currently delay the process for getting help to the people who need it most.
On Thursday, Gov. Edwards will speak to the Committee of 100 to outline tax reform proposals for the upcoming regular session of the Louisiana legislature. The Committee of 100 is a private non-profit organization serving as Louisiana's Business Roundtable made up of the top CEOs of leading private and public companies in Louisiana and University presidents of Louisiana’s institutions of higher learning. Last month, the Task Force on Structural Changes in Budget and Tax Policy released their recommendations to the governor. Those recommendations are available here.
Later in the morning, Gov. Edwards will meet staff with House Democratic leadership to discuss the state’s outstanding flood recovery request. He will also meet with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies to discuss the state’s request for additional assistance.
In the afternoon, Gov. Edwards will meet with incoming senior staff of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to update the agency on our flood recovery. Gov. Edwards will also meet with U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee staff.
Meetings with various other cabinet-level officials are pending, including a meeting with the Department of Transportation Secretary Elana Chao.
On Friday, Gov. Edwards will deliver remarks at the Washington Mardi Gras Louisiana Economic Development Luncheon to discuss flood recovery and the state’s efforts to bring business to Louisiana.
In Fall 2016, Gov. Edwards made five trips to Washington, D.C. to lobby for flood relief with the Louisiana Congressional Delegation. Those meetings resulted in two separate appropriations for disaster funding. | {
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NBA Has Not Received Kings’ Sale Agreement by Eric He
Giants Sign Blanco to One-Year Deal, Avoid Arbitration by Eric He
Sep. 14, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence (8) at bat during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the eighth inning at Chase Field. The Giants defeated the Diamondbacks 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco Giants signed Hunter Pence to a one-year deal worth $13.8 million to avoid arbitration, as reported by CBS Sports.
Pence was acquired mid-season via trade from the Phillies, and his emotional leadership helped the Giants win their second World Series in three years.
He wasn’t a huge force swinging the bat, hitting a meager .219 with seven home runs and 45 RBI in 59 games for the Giants.
Pence made $10.4 million last season, but the Giants feared that he would get even more via arbitration.
The Giants will have one more season to “evaluate” Pence until he hits the open market in 2014. | {
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Об сообщается в Twitter Администрации президента.
В @APUkraine відбулася офіційна церемонія зустрічі Президента України та Президента Республіки Польща pic.twitter.com/zQzTrW2zUB — APU (@APUkraine) April 8, 2015
Возле здания Администрации президента Украины Бронислава Коморовского и его супругу встречал президент Украины Петр Порошенко с супругой.
Прозвучали государственные гимны обеих стран. В честь польского гостя выстроилась Почетная стража.
Читайте такжеПрезидент Польши посетит Украину 8-9 апреля
Коморовский в рамках официального визита в Украину вместе с президентом Украины Петром Порошенко примет участие в мероприятиях по чествованию памяти жертв тоталитаризма. В четверг, 9 апреля, с 10.00 до 10.20 президент Республики Польша Бронислав Коморовский выступит в Верховной Раде Украины.
Читайте последние новости Украины и мира на канале УНИАН в Telegram | {
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Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has given a green light to a restricted version of the so-called “loyalty in culture” bill initiated by Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, the Justice Ministry announced Wednesday.
The bill, an amendment to the Culture and Arts Law, would give the culture minister the authority to retroactively suspend funding for cultural activities that “contravene the principles of the state,” similar to the authority already granted to the finance minister.
Mendelblit, however, did not agree to allow works to be reviewed in advance as a condition for obtaining government funding; nor is he allowing the ministry to deny full funding to groups that refuse to appear in certain locations such as the West Bank settlements.
The bill will be brought before the Ministerial Committee on Legislation in three weeks, and Regev intends to have it pass its first reading before the Knesset breaks for its spring recess at the end of March.
Mendelblit agreed to an arrangement very similar to Section 3b of the Budget Foundation Law, which permits a retroactive budget reduction for “actions against the principles of the state.” That section lists the following grounds: “Denying the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; incitement to racism, violence, and terror; support for an armed struggle or terror act by a hostile country or terror organization against the State of Israel; marking Independence Day as a day of mourning; an act of vandalism or physical degradation that dishonors the country’s flag or state emblem.”
Currently the Culture Ministry has no authority to condition support for cultural institutions on the content they present. For example, when Regev appointed a panel to examine whether the films at the Nakba Film Festival at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque were violating the law, Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber told her she had no authority to make recommendations to the Finance Ministry to withhold funding or fine the cinematheque.
However Mendelblit did not okay the text that Regev wanted. He denied her initial proposal to allow the culture minister to review the work of an artist or institution before it was allotted funding, saying such sanctions could only be applied after the fact, and that the Culture Ministry would have to consult with the Israel Council for Culture and the Arts before making any such decision.
The Justice Ministry announcement also stated that Mendelblit had rejected the ministry’s request for an arrangement to prevent “discrimination based on geographic location,” which would permit a full denial of funding to institutions that refused to perform in specific places. Mendelblit did, however, agree to allow the criteria for support to include “a small and limited” funding reduction to any group that refused to perform in the Negev, the Galilee, or the settlements.
“In accordance with the attorney general’s position, this reduction will not apply if the refusal to appear stems from exceptional security circumstances, the lack of a proper space to stage the performance, or any other relevant and justified reason,” the Justice Ministry announcement said, adding that the reduction could be no more than 6 percent, and even that was subject to the institution being given a chance to present its reasoning first.
Regev, in a press statement, said she’s “proud and happy to announce that a cultural institution that subverts the state will not enjoy its support. For the first time, the Culture Ministry, which is responsible for funding cultural institutions, also gets the required authority to assure that cultural institutions are not above the law. I thank the Justice Ministry for allowing me to implement my policy under which the voice that permits is also the voice that forbids. It’s a great achievement for democracy that the elected government has freedom of funding, the freedom to choose what the State of Israel will finance, based on its laws, principles, and policy.”
Adalah, an Israeli Arab legal rights NGO, said the bill would harm numerous artists, “but particularly those from the Arab population, whose political opinion does not match the minister’s views or the political line of the government. The minister’s proposal essentially gives heavy and preferred weight to the ideological and political views of the artist requesting support, over the content of the work itself.” | {
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イメージ画像（Thinkstockより）
母乳に赤ちゃんの免疫力を高める効果があるということはよく知られているが、64歳になる英国人男性が、がんの治療の一環として、娘の母乳を飲んでいると、英「メール・オンライン」が伝えている。
それによると、ウォリックシャー州のラグビーに住むフレッドさんは2015年に大腸がんと診断され、治療のため入院。完治したと思われていたが、昨年4月に再発していることがわかった。
9月に再度がん摘出手術を受け、その後は化学療法を続けているが、完全にがん細胞を取り除くことはできていないという。
なんとか父親の治療を助けたいと思った娘のジルさんが、いろいろと調べたところ、母乳にはがん細胞を殺すのを助ける作用があるという研究報告を発見。しかも、健康なほかの細胞には影響を与えないのだという。
そんな中、10月にジルさんは男児を出産。まずは夫の皮膚炎に母乳を塗ってみたところ、症状が和らいだ。さらには、生まれたばかりの赤ちゃんがかかった結膜炎も、母乳を点眼すると、たちまち良くなったという。
そこで、父親にも飲ませたいと考えたジルさん、それを提案したところ、フレッドさんは最初こそためらったものの、それで失うものもないのだからと、飲み始めることにした。
母乳を飲むといっても、赤ちゃんのようにおっぱいから直接飲むわけではない。フレッドさんは、搾乳して保存したものを飲んでいる。
さすがにコップに入れてゴクゴクと飲み干すほどの量はなく、モーニングコーヒーのミルク代わりに母乳を入れているのだという。
母乳療法を始めて1カ月。数週間後には検査を受けることになっており、どこまでがんが後退しているか、その結果を楽しみにしているようだ。
実際にイギリスでは09年、末期の肝臓がんと診断された67歳の男性が、娘の母乳を飲むことで回復していったという報道もある。
その一方で専門家は、母乳にがん治療の効果があるという科学的根拠はまだ見つかっておらず、逆に母乳にはさまざまな雑菌や病原菌も混ざっており、かえって健康に被害を及ぼす可能性もあると警告している。
果たして、フレッドさんの検査結果はどう出るのか――。
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Report: Patrick Kaleta appealing suspension
Mike Brehm | USA TODAY Sports
Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta is appealing his 10-game suspension, TSN reports.
The double-digit penalty was handed down on Tuesday for Kaleta's head hit on Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson, who wasn't hurt.
But NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan had taken into account Kaleta's status as a repeat offender.
"The fact that it was delivered by a player who has been fined or suspended six times in the last four seasons, the last just 21 games ago, factors heavily into the severity of the decision," he said.
Kaleta's previous longest suspension was for five games for shoving Brad Richards into the boards in March, causing the New York Rangers center to miss two games. The latest suspension will cost him $152,439 in lost pay.
Under the appeals process, Commissioner Gary Bettman would hear the case again and make a ruling.
If Kaleta is unhappy with that result, he can have a hearing before an impartial arbitrator, who, according to the collective bargaining agreement, would "determine whether the final decision of the League regarding whether the Player's conduct violated the League Playing Rules and whether the length of the suspension imposed were supported by substantial evidence."
The arbitrator's decision would be binding. Kaleta will remain suspended during the appeals process.
Phoenix Coyotes tough guy Paul Bissonnette recently appealed his automatic 10-game suspension for leaving the bench to join an altercation during the preseason.
Additional video evidence showed that Bissonnette left on a legal line change, and Bettman ruled that a three-game suspension was appropriate. | {
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You’ve heard all of the adages when it comes to approaching a challenge: there’s more than one way to skin a cat, different strokes for different folks, or you could put those aside and look at it like bowling. You can get a strike by putting some “English” or “backspin” on the ball and arcing it in from the left or right. You can get a strike by bowling straight down the middle or you can “granny roll” it slowly down the middle. But what works best for one person won’t work best for another, and a misstep always puts you in the gutter.
Certain things remain constant: the ball has to be moving forward, it has to hit the pins, it has to stay out of the gutter, but there is more than one route to a strike. It’s the same with marketing. Now the status quo leads many marketers to believe certain tropes genuinely define successful marketing, but this just isn’t true. They may define it for some businesses but it is not one-size-fits-all.
In this blog, I’ll cover seven common marketing “truths” and the lessons to learn from them.
It’s All About the Sizzle
Sizzle sells the meat because it gives off a smell which acts as an olfactory appetizer. If it doesn’t smell delicious, the sizzle means nothing. For it to smell delicious, the steak itself must be worth eating. The lesson here is that no amount of sizzle (or creative marketing) can offset a lousy product in the long run. The product itself must be substantive. As marketer’s it’s critical that you understand where your product does and doesn’t excel, and that you work with your teams (often product marketing, and product teams) to make sure those concerns are addressed in any future development/iteration.
Benefits Over Features
This is a “bowling ball” situation. You could arc in from the left or right to make a strike; there’s a lot of play. Often a product has previous iterations, and all that differentiates one product from another is features. Features don’t matter if they aren’t a benefit to anyone, however, so your strategy should focus on the benefit of your product or service instead of the features of it. Consider many of the lifestyle companies out there, like Nike and Red Bull. They’ve been selling the same products for years, but their brand story and marketing focus on the benefit of living their lifestyle and that has helped them become successful.
Tell and Sell
If you don’t shut up, you won’t give clients a chance to think about what you’re selling and come to a decision. Savvy buyers will tune you out and put a block up. Telling more doesn’t always sell more. Maybe it can, perhaps it has, but if this is your only strategy, you lose clients. Instead, tantalize them into exploring for themselves by giving just enough information and equip them with the tools to ask the right questions and do helpful research.
Sex Sells
Here’s the thing: with sensually-central marketing, people don’t remember the product, they remember the ad. Switch this for humor. It’s got a broader range, and people remember what the ad was about. Just be sure you’re actually funny and not offensive. If you take risks but get a laugh, it can make you more relevant and relatable to your core audience. Like I mentioned in my first point, be careful not to use humor or sexuality as your sizzle and a proxy for actual value.
Visibility=Profitability
Visibility won’t turn a profit unless visibility comes conjoined with utility, navigability, and desirability. One of the best ways to do this is through technological solutions.
It turns out an appropriate and responsive design of your website is essential as responsive design can respond to a user’s device, screen size, and orientation in real time to provide a fully functional version of a website regardless of whether they’re using a computer or mobile device to access the website.
With over eight billion mobile internet devices out there, such responsivity is integral to profit in the modern age. If your site is merely visible but not navigable, no one will buy anything. To see a profit, you’ve got to have something potential clients can connect with—that means more than simple visibility.
Just Sell Yourself
What if that which constitutes “you” isn’t that sellable? What if you encounter a customer with pointed questions about your products or services? You definitely want to be personable, but such gregariousness should be metered with professionalism and knowledgeability. This is especially true in marketing. A logo and a pithy new slogan may build brand awareness, but it won’t do much to attain new clients or inspire ongoing loyalty in your current ones.
You’ve got to sell value. Demonstrate to clients how what you do can and does save them money. Geico does it in one line: “Save 15% or more by switching to Geico.” It’s a common example because it’s easily illustrative. Find an example in your business that sells value in a similar way.
Worry About Product, Not Tech Trends
This one is slippery. Yes, your products or services must be at the top of their game. But without proper technology utilization, you lose your competitive edge. You want to ensure your marketing efforts have been successful and will be in the future. Don’t just accept common pithy marketing aphorisms based on where they come from, investigate for yourself to find those strategies which best fit your business then employ those strategies.
A great example known to many gamers is the Sega Dreamcast. They made an exceptional product. The Dreamcast was a console gaming system that boasted 128-bit graphics in 1999, a year ahead of Sony’s PlayStation 2. The Dreamcast also came with internet connectivity built in. Today, these things are assumed. Then, they were new.
But because Sega wasn’t properly appraised of the market, or even because they disregarded the data they had collected in that regard, they released the Dreamcast too early, and it essentially flopped. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 2, which was essentially the same thing but built by Sony, is still purchased to this day despite it now being in its fifth generation. Sega no longer makes consoles, they only make games. Questioning themselves and the status quo around the time of the release may have saved them from this fate and changed the gaming landscape as we know it.
I’d love to hear what marketing truths you ignore. Tell me about your experiences in the comments! | {
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What to Know Four passengers on Friday were taken to a hospital after their cruise ship arrived in New Jersey for evaluation of coronavirus
The outbreak, which began in mainland China, has sickened more than 20,000 people and killed more than 600 to date
The CDC has confirmed just 12 cases in the United States, mostly in California; there have been no cases in New Jersey or New York
Four passengers traveling on a cruise ship that returned to New Jersey have tested negative for the new virus that has sickened tens of thousands in mainland China and killed more than 800.
Governor Phil Murphy said all passengers tested negative and "New Jersey currently has no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and the risk to residents remains low."
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis tells NBC New York that one of the four travelers who had come from China for the Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas cruise through the Caribbean had a fever on the ship. The person was given Tylenol and the fever went away.
Three others were under close observation and they were taken to University Hospital in Newark, which has negative-pressure isolation rooms, the mayor said. Gov. Phil Murphy added that the hospital was following proper infection control protocols while evaluating the travelers.
Royal Caribbean on Saturday said the four passengers were tested by the CDC, adding that none of them "showed any clinical signs or symptoms of coronavirus."
"One had tested positive onboard for Influenza A," the company noted.
The cruise ship left Bayonne on Jan. 27, according to the itinerary, and returned Friday morning. It was supposed to depart again Friday, but Royal Caribbean announced shortly before noon that trip would be delayed. The company initially said the cruise would depart at 5 p.m. Saturday with a shortened itinerary, but on Saturday said the departure would be pushed to Monday, Feb. 10.
"After the evaluation at the hospital, the Center for Disease Control permitted the four individuals who arrived Friday via a cruise ship to be discharged," Governor Murphy said. "Three of those individuals who stayed in the same cabin were diagnosed with the flu. The other individual stayed in a separate cabin and did not have any symptoms."
The cruise said passengers who decide they no longer want to sail will receive "a full refund."
There's no indication anyone has the coronavirus but the CDC and health officials took 23 others, all Chinese nationals, off the ship after it docked in Bayonne. They will be taken to Newark Airport for a flight back to China.
The mayor said he was told none of the 27 are from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, or have traveled there since the outbreak was first identified.
In a statement, Royal Caribbean spokesperson Melissa Charbonneau said the company is participating in "elevated levels of guest screening to check the spread of coronavirus."
Those heightened measures became clearer Friday: Royal Caribbean said its entire fleet would prohibit any guests holding a Chinese, Hong Kong or Macau passport from boarding until further notice, regardless of when they were last in the country.
Regular surgical face masks are not effective in protecting against the coronavirus. A more specialized face mask known as N95 respirators are thicker than surgical masks and are fitted to a person’s face to keep out any viral particles.
"We are closely monitoring developments regarding coronavirus and have rigorous medical protocols in place onboard our ships. We continue to work in close consultation with the CDC, the WHO, and local health authorities to align with their guidance and ensure the health and wellbeing of our guests and crew," Charbonneau continued.
Meanwhile, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn have been both designated as an emergency camp to quarantine potential patients in the event an outbreak occurs in the U.S.
To date there have been 12 confirmed cases in the United States, mostly in California. The other states where patients have tested positive are Arizona, Washington, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Illinois, the CDC says.
No one in New Jersey or New York has been found with the virus but one patient with symptoms was awaiting test results in New York City as of Friday. Four previous tests from Manhattan and Queens were negative.
The third person under investigation for novel #coronavirus is NEGATIVE. 🎉 We are still waiting for results for the remaining two people under investigation. Check back for the latest: https://t.co/AKpJIDztv1 pic.twitter.com/EzkqCpHCnp — nycHealthy (@nycHealthy) February 6, 2020
Officials said it typically takes up to 48 hours for results because samples have to be taken and sent to the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia.
However, Mayor de Blasio said that the CDC "has given localities the tools, but we still need our labs to be granted the authority" to test for the illness. The mayor also added that the city is "pushing to speed up this process."
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the majority of foreign nationals who traveled in China within two weeks of their arrival will be denied entry. Exceptions will likely be made to immediate family of U.S. citizens, permanent residents and flight crew.
Confirmed Coronavirus Cases
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In general, updates take place very quickly. In our benchmarks, the time from when a program first signals that an update is required, to the time the program transfers control into Kitsune, to the time when the new version of the program has taken over and finished initializing all state, is generally less than 200ms, and less than 500ms in the worst cases.
In general, the time for a dynamic update depends on the structure of the program, and the nature of the change. Some programs are very easy to update with Kitsune because they either have little in-flight state, or have data structures that are quick for Kitsune to traverse. Memcached, for example, updates quickly regardless of how full its caches are. Update times for Redis scale nearly linearly with database keys, on the opposite end of the spectrum. That said, a small change to Redis makes its updates essentially constant-time too. See our paper for details. | {
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Een basisinkomen voor alle Nederlanders en eens in de twaalf jaar een referendum over de koning. Dat zijn twee punten uit het verkiezingsprogramma van de Vrijzinnige Partij van Kamerlid Norbert Klein.
Klein was korte tijd fractievoorzitter van 50Plus. In 2014 werd hij uit die partij gezet, sindsdien vormt hij een eenmansfractie in de Tweede Kamer.
Hij presenteerde vandaag op het symbolische tijdstip 11.55 uur (vijf voor twaalf) het verkiezingsprogramma Fix the Basics van zijn nieuwe partij.
Wifi-vrije coupé
Het belangrijkste punt van de Vrijzinnige Partij is het basisinkomen. Dat betekent dat iedereen zonder tegenprestatie 800 euro per maand krijgt, zodat mensen vrij zijn om hun leven in te delen zoals zij willen en de ruimte hebben om zich te ontplooien. | {
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This is, I suppose, a legal question so I should point out that I'm most interested in US and European law.
I made a payment to a company for a product more than a year ago in bitcoin. The amount that I paid then was equivalent to $75. Now the company has failed to provide the product and they and I both agree that I'm owed a refund. However, we disagree on the means.
The company wants to refund me - in bitcoin if I wish it - to the value of $75 of today's money. It seems to me though that I should be refunded what I paid: i.e. the same BTC value that I paid. The value of bitcoin has increased substantially since I made my original payment, meaning that the BTC amount I paid then is now worth 5-6 times more.
I happen to know (through their blog posts) that the company in question does keep stocks of bitcoin rather than converting them to a fiat currency, so they have benefited from this. That said, I don't think it should matter either way.
My logic
You can consider bitcoin in one of two ways: a) a currency or b) not a currency. The conclusion is the same either way. Let's explore both:
a) BTC is a currency
If BTC is a currency then this is an easy question. I should be refunded what I paid, in the currency in which I paid it.
b) BTC is not a currency
If a bitcoin is not currency then is it unarguably an asset. Surely in this case I have given a valuable asset to the company as my end of an implied contract for them to provide the goods. Given their failure to provide the goods, they must return the asset: not a fraction of it.
Fairness
I think that, regardless of the legal side, it's fair for me to receive a full refund. Given that bitcoin has increased in value, one of us has to profit from this. It seems very unfair to me that the company should profit from their failure, whilst at the same time preventing me from making that profit myself.
I appreciate that I'm not exactly neutral in this, so I'd like to know what others think. Am I being reasonable? If I am, do I have a legal leg to stand on?
Edit:
Having read through the responses, they seem to have one or both of two themes.
"The price wasn't in BTC, it was in dollars with the option to pay this via bitcoin." "Being able to claim a refund of the original BTC amount would open the door to risk-free speculation."
For the first, this is open to interpretation. If I was being pernickety, I'd probably say this was down to the wording of the sale. However I agree that - practically - it's pretty obvious that $75 was the price and BTC was a payment method, along with Visa, Paypal etc.
The concept of "legal tender" is one that was raised too. For something to be "legal tender'' means that one may not refuse an offer to pay a debt with that currency. It doesn't talk about refunds though: if I'm owed €1000 by someone in the US then I must accept the dollar equivalent even if I'd rather Euros. This is still €1000 though, not "whatever €1000 was worth when I entered the agreement.''
For the second, that is indisputable and probably represents the biggest flaw in my position. I would point out that the refund is not my doing: I would rather have received my order but the company cancelled it. However, that probably makes no difference ultimately.
Thanks for all the opinions. It looks like the overwhelming consensus is that I am being unreasonable, so I'll give up on my demands and accept the refund. | {
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Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is demanding to haul Attorney General Bill Barr in front of Congress to testify about the details of the Mueller report.
Americans deserve to know the truth now that the Mueller report is complete. The report must be released immediately and AG Barr must publicly testify under oath about the investigation's findings. We need total transparency here. — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 22, 2019
Senator Cory Booker, who is also running for president, is also piling on.
This report should be made public immediately. https://t.co/Q2JCExqYaA — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 22, 2019
The Trump Administration shouldn’t get to lock up Robert Mueller’s report and throw away the key. Taxpayers funded this investigation, and we deserve to know the outcome. Let me know if you agree: https://t.co/nYgagcL429 — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 22, 2019
They're also using the situation to fundraise and farm emails.
Robert Mueller’s finished his report. He’s delivered it to Attorney General William Barr. The American people deserve the full report. Sign our petition to make the Mueller report public—immediately. https://t.co/kxhNh7GBWk — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 22, 2019
Barr sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, in addition to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and Ranking Member Doug Collins late afternoon. He plans to brief them on the report over the weekend.
"I am reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise you of the Special Counsel's principal conclusions as soon as this weekend," Barr wrote. "Separately, I intend to consult with Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and Special Counsel Mueller to determine what other information from the report can be release to Congress and the public consistent with the law, including the Special Counsel regulations, and the Department's long-standing practices and policies. I remain committed to as much transparency as possible, and will keep you informed as to the status of my review."
During his confirmation hearings in January, Barr repeatedly pledged to be as transparent as possible regarding the release of the Mueller report. | {
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Controversial US Military Video shows Camera watching Terrorist Plant an IED, then allowing a US Vehicle to Drive Over it Killing All in the Vehicle | {
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A few years ago, I asked Liberty Caucus founder Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., which member of the House might have a more libertarian record than many realize.
He didn’t hesitate: Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who served in the House from 2009 to 2016.
When it was reported recently that Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., would not seek a fifth term, many speculated which Wyoming politician might gun for his seat, with all eyes on Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
Cheney challenged Enzi in his Republican primary in 2014, portraying herself as the outsider and him as Washington “establishment,” which was stupid because she’s a Cheney. Nobody bought that.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., endorsed Enzi in that primary, making it somewhat of a proxy war between the libertarian and neoconservative factions within the Republican Party.
Thankfully, Cheney did not become a senator that year, but she did become a congresswoman two years later when she won the House seat vacated by Cynthia Lummis in 2016.
Lummis couldn’t have asked for a worse successor. While Liz Cheney predictably continues to be every bit her father’s daughter , proudly carrying his pro-war and anti-civil liberties torch, Lummis once cast votes that would stop the 2001 Authorization Use of Military Force from being a blank check for war, supported amendments restricting U.S. aid to Pakistan and Syria, and joined libertarian hero Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in wanting to protect American citizens crossing the border from warrantless searches.
Needless to say, these are not votes Cheney would have cast .
Lummis did not have a liberty voting record as stringent as members of Congress like Amash or Massie (with the exception of former Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., few if any Republicans did), but she was often an ally on key libertarian issues when most Republicans simply weren’t. Amash mentioned her to me for a reason.
In 2016, Lummis became the national co-chairman of Rand Paul’s presidential campaign. “She and I move in some of the same circles, I would say, as far as the libertarian movement,” Paul said at the time. “These are representatives and senators who believe in the Constitution, limited government, balanced budgets. We’ve probably known each other since I came up here.”
This is not surprising, considering that Lummis was not only a member of Amash’s Liberty Caucus but also is a member of the House Freedom Caucus , where she never minded challenging Republican leadership . She reportedly has a good relationship with current Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and, not surprisingly, was being considered at the beginning of the year for Interior secretary.
Lummis already has a strong statewide election record, considering that Wyoming only has one congressional district. Roll Call notes: “Lummis was a state representative, state senator and state treasurer before being elected to Congress in 2008. She won a four-way primary for the open seat with 46 percent over now-Gov. Mark Gordon and two others. She defeated Democrat Gary Trauner (who might run in 2020) by 10 points in the general election. Lummis explored but declined to run for governor last cycle.”
Though most current Washington discussion about who might fill Enzi’s vacant seat has centered on Cheney (most House Republicans expect her to run ), Lummis has been mentioned along with prominent names.
Needless to say, we don’t need another neocon -tinged warhawk in the Senate. Sens. Marco Rubio , R-Fla., Lindsey Graham , R-S.C., and Tom Cotton , R-Ark., are doing just fine, unfortunately, and their fellow Republicans more often agree with them than not.
But Rand Paul could use some help. After Paul, the most reliable Senate libertarian is Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who together do what they can to corral other Republicans into following the Constitution, cutting spending, and limiting government. It’s never easy.
Paul has done a good job aligning with President Trump on issues where they agree , particularly regarding some of the president’s “America First” foreign policy positions . At the same time, Paul has also voted against Trump more than any other Republican .
Similarly, Lummis was generally a Trump ally but still retained her independence, while Cheney has lashed out at the president, particularly on foreign policy issues where Trump finds himself in agreement with Paul and presumably Lummis.
It would be refreshing to have another senator who could work with Trump on some of the foreign policy and other issues where libertarians and the president agree instinctively , especially considering that the overwhelming majority of Republicans disagree, with Cheney epitomizing these longstanding Washington sentiments .
In 2020, Wyoming will elect a new senator. Rest assured, everyone in Washington will be backing the daughter of the former vice president. That doesn’t mean she’s an automatic anointment.
Cynthia Lummis should seriously consider running for Senate. It’s not hard to imagine Enzi giving her his endorsement. Most importantly, maybe Wyomingites want to give liberty a chance?
Rand Paul could use the help.
Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul. | {
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It appears Donald Tump is not satiated with flexing his military muscle in Syria nor with threatening to strike North Korea.
He’s continuing to up the ante. While nobody was paying attention, the United States Air Force just conducted its first test of a brand new nuclear bomb.
The National Nuclear Security Administration announced the news:
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) and the U.S Air Force completed the first qualification flight test of the B61-12 gravity bomb March 14 at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. The non-nuclear test assembly was dropped from an F-16 based at Nellis Air Force Base. The test evaluated both the weapon’s non-nuclear functions as well as the aircraft’s capability to deliver the weapon. This event is the first of a series that will be conducted over the next three years to qualify the B61-12 for service. Three successful development flight tests were conducted in 2015. […]The B61-12 consolidates and replaces four B61 bomb variants in the nation’s nuclear arsenal. The first production unit is scheduled to be completed by March 2020.
President Trump has pledged to modernize the US nuclear forces, though he has also expressed concern at the danger posed by nuclear weapons.
Though there was no actual nuclear detonation in this test – that would violate the nuclear test ban treaty – this will definitely be seen by US strategic opponents Russia and China as a provocative move, and a reason to push ahead with modernization of their own nuclear arsenals.
It is also sure to be noticed by another country currently in American crosshairs – North Korea.
It is highly ironic that this test comes exactly at the time when Washington is threatening a military attack on North Korea over worries it may be preparing its own nuclear test.
A perfect case of the pot calling the kettle black or rather, the world’s most aggressive state calling others a threat to global security.
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“Baseball is a fascinating and useful lens to examine the complex history of the U.S. While it has primarily been deemed a sport for men and boys, women at different points in the past 150 years have also claimed it for themselves. I think these important chapters of history also illustrate how women used baseball as a tool to further their rights as citizens,” Mazik said. | {
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As the time of this writing, the Ripple is currently the fourth in cryptocurrency rankings based on the market capitalization of over $27.96billion, and there are also 99.99billion Ripples in existence. See XRP Charts for current statistics.
Ripple is not a minable cryptocurrency; only it’s originators hold the rights to create or take out of existence the number of Ripple tokens at any point in time. Despite this, Ripple has continued to grow in value as we’ve seen a high demand of the cryptocurrency over time.
Ripple is to be more than just a digital currency but to be the world’s first open transaction network. It will serve as a decentralized, shared record of accounts and transactions of any kind. By creating this global ledger, Ripple does for money what the Internet did for all other forms of information.
Like any other cryptocurrencies, Ripple likewise is stored in wallets, and there are quite a couple of wallets for the Ripple cryptocurrency.
Here are top recommendation wallets for Ripple.
Gatehub.net
Gatehub is an online wallet. It’s a great place to start but make sure you don’t leave too many Ripples in there. You can have enough for just your regular day-to-day transactions or enough for exchange for other cryptocurrencies.
Gatehub.net has made signing up for a wallet pretty quick and easy. After a successful registration, you are required to enter some information about you to fill their KYC requirements. You will need an identification document uploaded alongside a utility bill or bank statement that holds your residential address for full verification.
Security on the Gatehub platform is good enough. You have your account level password which you can use alphanumeric words which are difficult to guess and make sure you don’t allow your browser save the login details. You also have the 2FA Google Authentication option which you can enable for an extra layer of security on the Gatehub platform.
Rippex
The Rippex wallet is a desktop wallet for the majority of operating systems out there. You can download the wallet here on the Rippex Official Website. Downloading and installations is straightforward and needs no super techy knowledge to complete the process.
After successful installation, the application guides you through creating a new wallet address and generates a passphrase and a secret key which you would have to write down and keep in a safe place. You don’t want this information getting into wrong hands.
Note that before you can activate your wallet, you need a 20 Ripples deposited. You can send this from an exchange like Bittrex or Poloniex, and you are good to go using your Ripple Desktop Wallet.
Security tips for the Ripple Wallet Desktop application are to have your password for the application hard to guess. Also make sure you have your keyphrase and secret key written out on a piece of paper. Don’t save this on your PC, if your PC gets compromised, you risk your Ripple coins.
Ledger Nano S
The Ledger Nano S remains the most secure way of storing cryptocurrencies and having support for Ripple; it’s a good choice if you intend keeping Ripples for investment and also a means of monetary transactions.
Setting up the Ledger Nano S is easy and having to generate your passkey phrases on device levels makes it an excellent choice as your security information cannot be exposed. Transactions are also verified using the double buttons on the device so anyone who hasn’t got your device at hand can’t transfer any of your Ripple coins.
Guarda Wallet
Guarda is a multi-currency, multi-platform and non-custodial wallet that allows XRP holders to easily store their funds. One of the main advantages of this wallet is that it allows users to deal with a large number of digital assets in the same platform.
At the moment, there are over 40 different digital currencies supported by Guarda wallet besides XRP. Some of these cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Binance Coin (BNB), and many others. Several ERC-20 tokens are also supported by this wallet.
Individuals can start using this wallet through a Google Chrome extension, using a mobile wallet, a desktop application or their website. That means that they will have a user-friendly method to handle their virtual currencies. Users can send, receive, hold or exchange their XRP (and other cryptos) through the Guarda wallet.
According to data provided by Trustpilot, 80% of Guarda’s users considered that the wallet offers “Excellent” services. Just 10% of the reviews related to the wallet were considered “Bad.”
Although Guarda is not a hardware wallet, it provides enhanced security to users. One of the reasons is that it does not hold or request any information about crypto holders. The information is held by the user and they hold their private keys. That means that users will be able to control their funds and be the real owners of their assets.
Cryptocurrency exchanges around the world have been affected by different hacks and attacks that resulted in the loss of funds from users. This is why holding virtual currencies in a non-custodial wallet is always the best thing to do. XRP holders will know they have a recognized, easy-to-use and secure wallet to store their funds.
Transaction Costs On The Ripple Network
The standard transaction fee required by the Ripple network for a standard transaction is 0.00001 Ripples (XRP), and this sometimes increases due to highly unusual load on the network.
Now you know how to take full control of your Ripple cryptocurrencies and best practices for keeping them safe. | {
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Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a news conference, to announce that she will run again for the Chancellorship.
BERLIN, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Angela Merkel announced on Sunday she wants to run for a fourth term as German chancellor in next year’s election, a sign of stability after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president.
Despite a voter backlash over her open-door migrant policy, the 62-year old conservative said she would stand again in the September election, ending months of speculation over her decision.
“I thought about this for an endlessly long time. The decision (to run) for a fourth term is - after 11 years in office - anything but trivial,” Merkel told a news conference after a meeting of senior members of her conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) party convened to prepare for the election.
Some 55 percent of Germans want Merkel, Germany’s eighth chancellor since World War Two, to serve a fourth term, with 39 percent against, an Emnid poll showed on Sunday, highlighting that despite setbacks, she is still an electoral asset.
Merkel has steered Europe’s biggest economy through the financial crisis and euro zone debt crisis and has won respect internationally, for example with her efforts to help solve the conflict in Ukraine. U.S. President Barack Obama last week described her as an “outstanding” ally.
With Trump’s victory in the United States and the rise in support for right-wing parties in several European states, some commentators see Merkel as a bastion of Western liberal values.
“Angela Merkel is the answer to the populism of this time. She is, as it were, the anti-Trump,” party ally Stanislaw Tillich, premier of the state of Saxony, told the RND newspaper group, adding she stood for reliability and predictability.
However, her decision last year to open Germany’s borders to around 900,000 migrants, mostly from war zones in the Middle East, angered many voters at home and dented her ratings.
Her party has slumped in regional elections in the last year while support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) has swelled.
In September, after a heavy defeat for the CDU in a Berlin state election, a humbled Merkel surprised the country by saying she wished she could turn the clock back on the migrant crisis, though she stopped short of saying her policy was a mistake.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Germany, November 17, 2016.
BIG TASKS AHEAD
If re-elected, her responsibilities will range from helping lead talks with Britain on its withdrawal from the EU, soothing tense relations with Turkey, a crucial partner in the migrant crisis, and developing a relationship with Trump.
Domestically, her biggest challenge will probably be managing the integration of refugees in an increasingly divided society and keeping Europe’s powerhouse economy on track.
An Emnid poll on Sunday put Merkel’s conservative bloc down one point at 33 percent, nine points ahead of her nearest rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD), with whom she shares power.
In a system where coalition governments are the norm, many pollsters see another ‘grand coalition’ as the most likely option after the election, although the rise of the AfD makes coalition arithmetic more complicated.
The SPD has not decided whether its chairman Sigmar Gabriel, Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister, will run against Merkel.
One of the SPD’s deputy leaders, Ralf Stegner, said it would be a mistake to underestimate Merkel but that the “myth of invincibility” was over.
Merkel, who grew up in Communist East Germany, is a physicist who only became involved in politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. She is seen as a talented negotiator but has also shown a ruthless streak.
A Protestant woman in a mainly Catholic and male-dominated party, at least when she became its leader in 2000, Merkel never built up a regional power base but over the years she has sidelined her main male rivals and has no obvious successor.
She still requires the official backing of her Christian Social Union (CSU) allies in Bavaria, who have fiercely criticized her open-door migrant policy. CSU head Horst Seehofer welcomed her decision on Sunday.
“We now want the trust of the population for another four years and therefore it is good that we have clarity,” he said.
Germany has no limit on the number of terms a chancellor can serve. By standing again, Merkel, who said she wanted to serve the full fourth term, could end up matching the 16 years in office of her former mentor, Helmut Kohl. It was Merkel herself who broke with Kohl and told her party in 1999, in the midst of a funding scandal, that it should move on without him. | {
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Im Altmühltal bei Ingolstadt Forscher entdecken neue Urvogel-Art
Der Archaeopteryx gilt als ein Urahn der Vögel. Aber der gefiederte Dinosaurier war nicht allein in der Luft unterwegs. Ein neu entdeckter Urvogel konnte wohl noch besser fliegen. | {
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Ever since Mr Nemtsov, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down at night while walking close to the Kremlin, his relatives and close friends have been adamant that a senior official must have been responsible for ordering the killing. | {
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XSEED is on a roll with setting up new localization projects for the new year, as we’ve learned they’re going to localize the highly anticipated Corpse Party: Blood Drive.
The confirmation is somewhat of a premature leak via a domain for the game being registered. To be clear, this is usually how XSEED (and most companies for that matter) handle their reveals, they set up the website domain first and then follow up with the official announcement.
Corpse Party: Blood Drive was released in Japan on the Playstation Vita back in July of last year, and its story takes place roughly two months after the events of Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. | {
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Shadows of the Damned begins with a lengthy tutorial, but the game needs it. The actual shooting elements are bog-standard, but since you're taking a trip to the very bowels of the underworld to save your girlfriend, you're going to need to know how things work down there, and it's not very intuitive. Why do you shoot goat heads on the wall to dispel the darkness? Who knows, but you do. Is there a reason the damned will only eat strawberries, brains, and eyeballs before they'll let you through a door? I assume there is, but you never learn it. This doesn't take away the need to find strawberries, brains, and eyeballs to move through the world.
There are rules in the underworld, you see, and you have the help of a floating skull named Johnson who will explain them to you. He knows that there are very important people in hell, and their reward for dying with style is the ability to keep their genitals. All this may be fascinating, but you're only job is find your girl, and she's being killed and resurrected countless times in front of you, just for the sake of everyone's misery. This isn't a game for the lighthearted.
Shadows of the Damned xbox*, ps3 Release Date: now
now MSRP: $59.99 Official site * = platform reviewed
It is, however, very funny. In one section Johnson, who also transforms into your many weapons, dials a sex phone line in order to get... erect. This turns him into an even longer, more powerful weapon that you use like a turret. Your character's name is Garcia Hotspur, but he usually places a curse in the middle, just for good measure. He's covered in scars and tattoos, and he's not in the business of taking crap from anyone.
This is a game that stands proudly in the grindhouse tradition, and even your saved game is referred to as a "road movie." The music adds a lot to the mood, and the game exhibits a certain style that makes it feel very different from the third-person action games we're used to. The tension between light and dark is a major gameplay mechanic, and if you stay in the inky blackness for too long, you lose energy. You can collect hearts to temporarily protect yourself against the dark, and if you need more energy, you have to drink a bottle of booze. To return an area to the light, just find and shoot the aforementioned goat's head. Barrels filled with "pressurized" light are a good way to take out groups of the bad guys.
Through all this you learn the stories and the ways of the underworld, and even with all the penis jokes and humor in the dialog between Hotspur and Johnson, it's a fascinating place, filled with creepy demons to meet and kill. The boss battles are also something to experience, with some large, crazy-looking undead enemies to destroy. You'll have to use all the weapons at your disposal to fight your way to your goals, and they sound and feel great. After killing each boss or finishing each chapter you're given a blue gem, which is used to automatically upgrade your weapons. By finding red gems you can choose how to upgrade the damage, reload speed, or capacity of your guns.
The weapon system is interesting: each weapon is created by Johnson as he transformed, and as you switch between them, the torch you hold when not holding a gun changes color. It's a neat way of showing what gun you have equipped, even when you're not aiming it.
The shooting is wonderful, the enemies are diverse enough to keep your interest, and the weapons all feel powerful—wait until you see the fully upgraded machine gun—but the game does have some problems.
Was this not quite finished?
While the game plays very well, you'll find some disappointing issues with the presentation. Screen tearing is a problem, and textures sometimes take way too long to fill in. Sometimes the voices don't match the flapping lips at all, and at one point Johnson seemed to be saying a line that was meant for Hotspur.
At one point I ran into either a bug or a terribly designed puzzle, and I had to reload from a previous save to advance. There were a few places that sound dropped out entirely. None of these things were enough to hurt my enjoyment of the game, but they were still annoying occurrences.
The game's ending does seem to drag on for a bit, but the final scenes are worth the wait. This is very much a game that's about the journey, not the destination, and it's very exciting to be playing a new IP with a character that's much fun, and written by people who know how to make middle-school humor funny.
Verdict: Buy | {
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Having any traumatic medical condition is devastating. Humans are constantly evolving and we are learning to deal with different conditions. Several of these conditions can sadly be terminating illnesses. We all know and understand that human life is mortal. Yet, watching a loved one pass away is always very sad. It is hard to accept the truth. Several of the other conditions may not be terminating but equally traumatic. How do we deal with the condition bestowed upon a human? Do we hide it, lie about it or say the truth? There is a science behind lying and how one lie can turn into a thousand lies.
“We often talk about moral values, justice and trust, but the important thing is to put them into effect in our everyday lives.” – Dalai Lama
Ever since growing up as a child, my parents always instilled to say the truth no matter what. While learning US history, the story of honesty as told by George Washington was always highlighted and he went on to become the first US President.Here are some reasons why saying the truth is especially important for people with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) or intersex. Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) is a condition that affects sexual development before birth and during puberty. People with this condition are genetically male. They may have female sex characteristics or signs of both male and female sexual development.
1) Honesty is the best policy. Everyone knows this. Not to state the obvious, but saying the truth is in everyone’s best interest. No matter how bitter.
It is best to say the truth for the patient. While having a genetic condition is not in anyone’s control, choosing to lie or say the truth about it is in their control. In the long run, it is best to be truthful. It is better for your heart, mind, and soul. Freedom is an innate human feeling irrespective of gender and by saying the truth, we free ourselves.
2) Truth is what the intersex community is advocating. A first hand account of an intersex person and also community advocacy group want a stop to the concealment-based approach and move to a patient-centric approach when dealing with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome going forward.
Since the condition was discovered last century, the modus operandi has been a systematic method of secrecy and lying involving the patients, their families, and others. There are several personal stories from first-hand AIS patients where they felt lied to and the lie was actually more devastating than the condition itself. It has long-ranging effects on self-esteem, attitude, psychosocial issues and several other complex issues. Most of these complex issues are issues of the heart or mind and NOT physical like a heart attack or fractured leg. For the surgical treatment in AIS patients, please read further in the article. The point is, it would take a long-term treatment plan to work towards a solution for the psychosocial issues. And whatever the solution, it can only work if based on truth. What good did the institutional and systemic concealment-based approach do for anyone? Clearly, this approach has failed because fundamentally it is based on lies. And anything based on lies does not stand the test of time. It is time to change. Will we ever be able to undo what the lies have already done?
3) Treatment should be truthful. Like any other traumatic medical condition, having an honest diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment plan are essential to the well-being of the humans.
It is well-documented that the treatment plan for AIS patients is part physical where a surgery is needed to remove the male testes and subsequent Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). In the best interest of medicine, there should be a feedback mechanism to collect information from the caregivers instead of shutting them out citing privacy. It is a normal practice when treating other traumatic medical conditions where caregivers have more knowledge of the symptoms than the patients. It is also recommended that due to the severe trauma and crisis, and to deal with other psychosexual issues, appropriate therapy be included as part of the treatment plan. Historically, the modus operandi based on the concealment-based approach, is to perform the surgery at a young age and conceal facts from patients and/or family. The family is also “coached” to go along with the concealment in the “best interest” of the patient. The intersex community today is advocating a rethinking to this approach. They want a patient-centric model where the patient decides at an appropriate age whether to have the surgery or not. This questions the medical treatment itself whether the surgery is needed at all to have a fruitful, decent life. Obviously, there are two sides to this debate and too big an issue to get into this article.
If the AIS patient chooses not to have the surgery, then the treatment plan simply is about dealing with the psychological issues and there is no “physical” treatment. And the basis for treatment is simple, the truth! Truth for the patient and truth for all those who love the patient.
4) Truth and support for the caregiver. A caregiver can only be provided the equally needed support if they are allowed to say the truth.
Like any other traumatic medical condition, usually, a family caregiver steps up to care for the loved one. Finding out the truth for the caregiver can be equally traumatic and shocking. The well-documented treatment of this condition is part physical in nature and part psychotherapy. While certainly very traumatic for the patient to find out the truth, is there any trauma for the caregiver who is finding out the truth for the first time? Should the caregiver also be a recipient of the treatment portion of psychotherapy? Or should we call the caregiver a “patient” and that is the ONLY way to get their needs recognized? The only way a caregiver can get the needed treatment and support is if the caregiver is allowed to disclose the truth.
5) Say the truth for a healthy relationship. Like any other relationship, truth is fundamental. Without truth, there is NO relationship.
While the concealment-based approach may have regularized brainwashing, propoganda, falsifying medical records by patients, their loved ones, institutions, systems, it is still not OK in a relationship. Trust is the DNA in a relationship and regardless of the traumatic condition, it is never OK to lie in a relationship. Having this condition is traumatic but putting someone else through it without their knowledge is equally traumatic or worse?
What if the caregiver happens to be the spouse who was not informed about the condition before the marriage. We will not delve into issues such as “same-sex” marriage as it is out of the scope of this article. As you have been educating yourself about AIS, the question must come up at what point does the caregiver become a patient too? Imagine from a spousal caregiver perspective:
a) Just found out the traumatic condition but no help or treatment for the trauma. This not exactly a condition that most people are aware of.
b) Just found out they have been betrayed and lied to.
The typical spousal caregiver is a young, male caregiver. Statistically, a minority within a minority. And a young, male, spousal caregiver of AIS is probably countable on your finger-tips out of a population of 7 billion in the world.
6) Truth in the family. A family is a fundamental unit of the society.
As parents, we are always trying for a better life for our children. Even a slight fever is a cause for concern then one can imagine how a parent may feel given this medical condition. Once they have had the chance to recoperate both as a parent and a caregiver, what would be there next steps? Will they choose the traditional, stereotypical path of concealment-based approach or will they rise above and say the truth? After all, as a parent and a caregiver, they would want the best for their child and having an honest, open discussion with the spouse would foster a good life for the AIS child.
7) Truth about the child.
It is a medically accepted fact that AIS patients are infertile. While very unfortunate, today with help of great doctors and medicine, it is possible to have children through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). Adoption is also another route and an overwhelmingly preferred route by AIS patients. It would better if counselors would also provide these alternate routes instead of making a blunt and blanket statement to an AIS patient that they cannot be a parent. It has severe, long-term devastating effects and frankly, the counselors are doing more harm than help. And worse, the same counselors will not be around to pick up the pieces when the trauma of their misplaced counseling unravels. In addition to shouldering the responsibility of a caregiver, the young, male, spousal caregiver has been given the additional burden of now convincing the traumatic AIS patient to have a child. Is that fair to the innocent child or the young, inexperienced, unprepared, innocent caregiver? Shouldn’t there be instead support for the caregiver first before increasing their burden? The only way we can provide support and care is by accepting the truth so that everyone’s needs are met. Adoption is a preferred approach of AIS patients to have kids. There is so much regulation involved when adopting. Why is there NO regulation provided to the caregiver when making the same choice at a young, inexperienced, vulnerable stage in wanting to have a biological child?
8) Truth for the child.
Human beings like to procreate. It is a very natural feeling. Like any expert parenting resources will state that taking care of an infant is both very nurturing and takes time and patience. It is well-documented both medically and first-hand accounts of AIS patients that knowing the truth and the subsequent surgery (if elected) is very traumatic and patient is in a crisis. How then can a person struggling through their own personal trauma and crisis be able to take care of an infant requiring patience and nurturing? Physically, an AIS patient gets on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) after surgery to remove testes. What are the effects of this HRT physically in the body, mind, emotions? Will they be able to care for an infant at the same time? Are there any medical studies to evaluate a waiting period? Because this situation is so rare and never talked about does not mean it does not occur. Does the medical community have enough scientific data and/or the interest in pursuing a research study?
How would it be for the caregiver at the same time to see a loved one go through this heights and valleys in emotions and the resulting actions. Do you forgive the insulting actions or leave as a caregiver? How does a caregiver balance between the emotions of caring for a loved one, a spouse Vs. caring for their own biological new born child? Is the caregiver in a double whammy situation? These are areas probably hardly ever been visited before from a young, male, spousal caregiver perspective.
It is a brave and honest person who can stand apart from the masses and openly challenge its most treasured beliefs. ~ Donna Evans
And most importantly, what is in the best interest of the child? If the truth were allowed to be said, the caregiver would have more support, the patient would have more support and ultimately, the innocent child would have a better life. In rushing to caring for the patient, have we forgotten about an innocent infant life? | {
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