text
stringlengths 14
100k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
Icardi's former agent: 'Wanda is hurting him. She only thinks about money'
Mauro Icardi's former agent, Abian Moreno, spoke to Radio Sportiva about the situation of the Inter captain as well as his wife-agent Wanda Nara and her influence on the player.
"Icardi as a striker has given a lot on the field, but he has a negative figure next to him, who thinks only about money. His work on the field is phenomenal, he has grown a lot in Italian football because his mentality and physique are perfect for the league," he said.
"But Wanda Nara thinks only about money and not of his image and values as captain of Inter. An agent can talk about a contract renewal, but it is the way that is very important. You cannot say 'the numbers of Icardi are these' and put everything on social media. She needs to go to Inter and talk and not put everything on the internet and the media," Moreno added. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Norton, in what is apparently a very big chair. Photo: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images
For a person who spends a lot of time making last-minute cross-country trips, Jim Norton is a surprising creature of habit. “It’s so hard for me to not eat badly,” says the Opie & Anthony co-host. “When I find something that’s healthy that I can tolerate, I eat it every day until I’m sick of it.” That means a lot of Weight Watchers Smart Ones when he isn’t flying to L.A. (or back). In fact, this past week saw Norton flying to Los Angeles not once, but twice, to do the Tonight Show to promote Please Be Offended, a new stand-up special airing tomorrow night on Epix. For a look at a life that involves impatient Justin Bieber fans, a dinner-companion-for-hire, and great Middle Eastern food from a comedy club, read on in this week’s New York Diet.
Friday, June 22
Every morning, I have the same thing for breakfast: scrambled egg whites, a medium Starbucks coffee with skim milk, a banana, and a little bit of low-fat cottage cheese. I eat that every morning. An intern from the radio show gets the coffee for me.
Right after the show, I spent most of the day flying to L.A. for the day to do a segment on Leno called “Woulda Shoulda Coulda” with me and two other guests. I did not want the turkey sandwich option on the plane, so I had the prawns. But I also had pumpkin soup because somebody didn’t want their pumpkin soup—which came with the turkey sandwich — so, of course, I took it and shoveled it into my face.
After we taped the show, I did a set at the Improv and went back to the hotel.
Because of the travel, the food on Friday wasn’t that interesting. More interesting is what I had for dinner the night before in New York: grilled salmon with Brussels sprouts. I went to Porter House, my favorite restaurant. I was with a woman who was not with me for free. I think she had a filet with some kind of a salad and no vegetables, and I think she had wine. I don’t drink at all. I just had unsweetened iced tea.
She didn’t charge me for dinner, because I wouldn’t pay somebody to eat with them. But as a part of the night, she was like, “Yeah, we can go out and eat first, if you want,” so I was like, “Oh, okay,” and then we went home and kind of hung out. I had her for technically an hour, but she was cool with doing something else beforehand because she was kind of familiar with me, so she didn’t mind going out and eating. So we spent probably two and a half hours together.
Once you have sex, let’s be honest — she just wanted to get out of there. She had to fake it like she was having the time of her life. And I had to pretend that it didn’t suck — it’s a big acting job that you’re both doing.
Saturday, June 23
I flew back to New York Saturday morning because I didn’t want to lose the Comedy Cellar set that I had that night. I had the regular cheese omelette on the plane coming home.
For lunch, I had a Smart Ones Weight Watchers, one of their six or seven points ones. I’m not obese at all, but I want to lose, like, fifteen pounds, and I just can’t stop eating pretzels with mustard. So I’m trying to eat meals so I know how much I’m eating. You don’t realize, when you’re sitting there shoving pretzels into your face at one o’ clock in the morning, that’s a lot of weight. It’s a low-fat snack, but it’s a lot of weight.
Saturday night at the Comedy Cellar, I had my regular tabouleh salad with grilled chicken and a skewer. I always just eat the tabouleh at the Cellar, because I finally found something healthy. They have a great Middle Eastern menu there.
After my set at the Cellar I went to Anthony’s house — from Opie and Anthony — and I just hung out with him and two other guys. It was really uneventful, but I wound up eating badly: lime Tostitos, Twizzlers, and potato chips. Anthony drank about a keg of alcohol.
Sunday, June 24
I never cook, and I have a great kitchen. I have an amazing kitchen for New York — it’s one of the reasons I bought my condo. But I can’t cook for anything, and now I’m learning that plastic gives you cancer. And all this stuff I microwave, like all these Smart Ones, it’s like, I gotta start to cook because plastic is obviously very bad for me to be eating.
That said, for lunch, I had a Smart Ones. They have a good Salisbury steak. I like all their stuff, honestly. They have this one fettuccine pasta, which I like, but I think it’s, like, seven points.
I did a set at the Cellar, then I went to a place called Gobo on Sixth Avenue and ate vegan. I rarely eat vegan, but I was with a friend. I had Vietnamese stir-fry, some steamed dumplings, and a large veggie juice to drink.
Monday, June 25
I got up at 5:30 and did the radio show for four hours in the morning, where I had my scrambled egg whites, medium Starbucks coffee with skim milk, a banana, and a little bit of low-fat cottage cheese. Then I did a radio interview for the Comedy Channel on Sirius XM.
I was supposed to do Hannity that night, but he canceled because of the impending Supreme Court decision. After I found out I was canceled, I worked on an article for Esquire instead. Then I went to the gym. I go to the gym in my building: I force myself to do the elliptical machine; I can’t do anything else.
For lunch, I had the Smart Ones microwavable Asian sweet-and-sour chicken. Then I had one of their low-fat toffee ice-cream bars. I like their ice-cream snacks. They’re, like, three or four points, and they’re phenomenal. I eat one of those after almost every meal. It’s really, really hard to not eat those.
Then I went to the Comedy Cellar that night, where again I had the tabouleh. You always know where I am by my menu.
Tuesday, June 26
Scrambled egg whites, a medium Starbucks coffee with skim milk, a banana, and a little bit of low-fat cottage cheese.
Did morning radio and immediately got in a car to the airport to L.A. Continental is my plane of choice, but NBC has a deal with American, and their plane is great, so I’m happy to take the American plane back and forth. I had the prawn dish in sauce again, this time with some nuts. I flew all day and landed in L.A.
For lunch, I had Caesar salad, with grilled chicken on the side at my hotel, the London. Then I did a set at the Melrose Improv. Then I did the Jim Jeffries and Eddie Ifft podcast in Venice at 9:30 p.m. after my improv set, then I came back to my hotel, and Jay Mohr came to my hotel at midnight and recorded his podcast with me from 12 to 1:30 a.m.
I had some pretzel nuggets before going to bed. It’s really hard — like, I try to eat healthy, but when you’re in a hotel with a mini bar, it’s really hard not to shove a lot of fattening food into my face. I try to eat healthy, but it’s very difficult.
Wednesday, June 27
I woke up and had a fruit plate and egg whites from room service, with dry wheat toast, fruit, and coffee. Then I was off to tape Leno.
The green room is great — they have potato chips, and liquor, and soda — I’ve been in every green room you could be in because of all the time on the Jay Leno show and stuff. I ate some fruit off a fruit plate when I walked in. I only eat fruit in dressing rooms.
The Friday segment was just a little segment after the monologue. This was actually as a guest to promote my special, so it was Mila Kunis and then me, and then Justin Bieber sang. When they first announced Justin Bieber in the beginning of the show — the screams! These are not Leno watchers, these are 16-year-old girls. So they think the longer I talk, the less they see Justin Bieber. Basically they’re associating me with not seeing Justin Bieber. So I should have addressed that with them. I wanted to tell them, “Guys, they’re not going to bump Justin for me. Relax.”
My manager and I flew to some sushi place and made it right before they closed at 9:45. I had salmon, sea urchin, crab — it was amazing. A lot of people won’t eat sea urchin because it tastes like the ocean, but if it’s a place you trust, it’s actually really good. I enjoy it. Afterwards, we went to a place on Santa Monica Boulevard called the Yogurt Shop, where I had cake-batter-and-Oreo-cookie-dough frozen yogurt. Back to the Smart Ones tomorrow. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The first major update to the NVMe storage interface specification in almost two and a half years has been published, standardizing many new features and helping set the course for the SSD market. Version 1.2 of the NVMe specification was ratified in November 2014 and since then there have been numerous corrections and clarifications but the only significant new feature added were the enterprise-oriented NVMe over Fabrics and NVMe Management Interface specifications. The NVMe 1.3 specification ratified last month and published earlier this month brings many new features for both client and server use cases. As with previous updates to the standard, most of the new features are optional but will probably see widespread adoption in their relevant market segments over the next few years. Several of the new NVMe features are based on existing features of other storage interfaces and protocol such as eMMC and ATA. Here are some of the most interesting new features:
Device Self Tests
Much like the SMART self-test capabilities found on ATA drives, NVMe now defines an optional interface for the host system to instruct the drive to perform a self test. The details of what is tested are left up to the drive vendor, but drives should implement both short (no more than two minutes) and extended self tests that may include reading and writing to all or part of the storage media but must preserve user data and the drive must remain operational during the test (either by performing the test in the background or by pausing the test to service other IO requests). For the extended test, drives must offer an estimate of how long the test will take and provide a progress indicator during the test.
Boot Partitions
Borrowing a feature from eMMC, NVMe 1.3 introduces support for boot partitions that can be accessed using a minimal subset of the NVMe protocol, without requiring the host to allocate and configure the admin or command queues. Boot Partitions are intended to reduce or eliminate the need for the host system to include another storage device such as a SPI flash to store the boot firmware (such as a UEFI implementation). Drives implementing the Boot Partition feature will include a pair of boot partitions to allow for safe firmware updates that write to the secondary partition and verify the data before swapping which partition is active.
The boot partition feature is unlikely to be useful or ever implemented on user-upgradable drives, but it provides an opportunity for cost savings in embedded systems like smartphones and tablets, which are increasingly turning to NVMe BGA SSDs for high-performance storage. The boot partitions can also be made tamper resistant using the Replay Protected Memory Block feature that was introduced in NVMe 1.2.
Sanitize
The new optional Sanitize feature set is another import from other storage standards; it is already available for SATA and SAS drives. The Sanitize command is an alternative to existing secure erase capabilities that makes stronger guarantees about data security by ensuring that user data is not only removed from the drive's media but from all of its caches, and the Controller Memory Buffer (if supported) is also wiped. The Sanitize command also lets the host be more explicit in specifying how the data is destroyed: through block erase operations, overwriting, or destroying the encryption key. (Drives may not support all three methods.) Current NVMe SSDs offer secure erase functionality through the Format NVM command, which exists primarily to support switching the block format from eg. 512 byte sectors to 4kB sectors, but can also optionally perform a secure erase in the process. While the Format NVM command's scope can be restricted to a particular namespace attached to the NVMe controller, the Sanitize command is always global and wipes the entire drive (save for boot partitions and the replay protected memory block, if implemented).
Virtualization
Previous versions of the NVMe specification allowed for controllers to support virtualization through Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) but left the implementation details unspecified. Version 1.3 introduces a standard virtualization feature set that defines how SR-IOV capabilities can be configured and used. NVMe SSDs supporting the new virtualization enhancements will expose a primary controller as a SR-IOV physical function and one or more secondary controllers as SR-IOV virtual functions that can be assigned to virtual machines. (Strictly speaking, drives could implement the NVMe virtualization enhancements without supporting SR-IOV, but this is unlikely to happen.) The SSDs will have a pool of flexible resources (completion queues, submission queues and MSI-X interrupt vectors) that can be allocated to the drive's primary or secondary controllers.
The NVMe virtualization enhancements greatly expand the usefulness of the existing NVMe namespace management features. So far, drives supporting multiple namespaces have been quite rare so the namespace features have mostly applied to multipath and NVMe over Fabrics use cases. Now, a single drive can use multiple namespaces to partition its storage among several virtual controllers assigned to different VMs, with the potential for namespaces to be exclusive or shared among VMs, all without requiring any changes to the NVMe drivers in the guest operating systems and without requiring the hypervisor to implement its own volume management layer.
Namespace Optimal IO Boundary
NVMe allows SSDs to support multiple sector sizes through the Format NVM command. Most SSDs default to 512-byte logical blocks but also support 4kB logical blocks, often with better performance. However, for flash-based SSDs, neither common sector size reflects the real page or block sizes of the underlying flash memory. Nobody is particularly interested in switching to the 16kB or larger sector sizes that would be necessary to match page sizes of modern 3D NAND flash, but there is potential for better performance if operating systems align I/O to the real page size. NVMe 1.3 introduces a Namespace Optimal IO Boundary field that provides exactly this performance hint to the host system, expressed as a multiple of the sector size (eg. 512B or 4kB).
Directives and Streams
The new feature that may prove to have the biggest long-term impact is NVMe's Directives support, a generic framework for the controller and host system to exchange extra metadata in the headers of ordinary NVMe commands. For now, the only type of directive supported for ordinary IO commands is the Streams directive. Defined only for write commands, the streams directive allows the host to tag operations as related, such as originating from the same process or virtual machine. This serves as a hint to the controller about how to store that data on a physical level. For example, if multiple streams are actively writing simultaneously, the controller would probably want to write data from each stream contiguously rather than interleave writes from multiple streams into writes to the same physical page erase block. This can lead to more consistent write performance for multithreaded workloads, better prefetching for reads, and lower write amplification.
Non-Operational Power State Permissive Mode
NVMe power management is far more flexible than what SATA drives support. NVMe drives can declare several different power states including multiple operational and non-operational idle states. The drive can provide the host with information about the maximum power draw in each state, the latency to enter and leave each state, and the relative performance of the various operational power states. For drives supporting the optional Autonomous Power State Transitions feature (APST) introduced in NVMe 1.1, the host system can in turn provide the drive with rules about how long it should wait before descending to the next lower power state. NVMe 1.3 provides two significant enhancements to power management. The first is a very simple but crucial switch controlling whether a drive in an idle state may exceed the idle power limits to perform background processing like garbage collection. Battery-powered devices seeking to maximize standby time would likely want to disable this permissive mode. Systems that are not operating under strict power limits and are merely trying to minimize unnecessary power use without prohibiting garbage collection would likely want to enable permissive mode rather than leave the drive in a low-power operational state.
Host Controlled Thermal Management
The second major addition to the NVMe power management feature set is Host Controlled Thermal Management. Until now, the temperatures at which NVMe SSDs engage thermal throttling have been entirely model-specific and are not exposed to the host system. The new host controlled thermal management feature allows the host system to specify two temperature thresholds at which the drive should perform light and heavy throttling to reduce the drive's temperature. Most of the details of thermal throttling are still left up to the vendor, including how the drive's various temperature sensors are combined to form the Composite Temperature that the thresholds apply to, and the hysteresis of the throttling (how far below the threshold the temperature must fall before throttling ceases). Drives will continue to include their own built-in temperature limits to prevent damage, but now compact machines like smartphones, tablets and ultrabooks can prevent their SSD from raising other components to undesirable temperatures. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The 24-year-old from Bromley hopes to help young people use poetry to ‘celebrate themselves’, as under-34s drive sales to record high
Poet Theresa Lola, named the new young people’s laureate for London, says she hopes to use the role to help the capital’s demonised youth to find confidence in their voice.
The 24-year-old British-Nigerian from Bromley, south London, studied accounting and finance at university before turning to poetry. She is the third young people’s laureate, after Caleb Femi and Momtaza Mehri. The joint winner of the 2018 Brunel international African poetry prize, her debut collection, In Search of Equilibrium was published in February, and was described as breathtaking by author Bernardine Evaristo.
During the one-year post, Lola said she wants to encourage young people to “use the power and the emotion of language to celebrate themselves”.
Profile Learn about poet Theresa Lola Show Hide Biography A British Nigerian writer born in 1994, Lola was joint winner of the 2018 Brunel International African poetry prize. Her debut collection is In Search of Equilibrium. Black Marilyn by Theresa Lola In Lagos, a photograph of Marilyn Monroe watches me
in my hotel room as I scrub my body
like it’s a house preparing for an estate agent’s visit.
I think Marilyn wants to say something to me,
the way her mouth is always open
like a cheating husband’s zipper. My mind carries more weapons
than all war-torn countries combined.
Every day I survive is worth a medal or two.
I celebrate by buying more clothes than I can afford.
I must be rich; my void is always building
a bigger room to accommodate new things. Today I woke up surprised I was still alive,
last thing I remember was my body swinging
from a ceiling of inadequacies.
In my head I have died in so many ways
I must be a god the way I keep resurrecting
into prettier caskets. Marilyn’s photographer, Lawrence Schiller, said
Marilyn was afraid that she was nothing more
than her beauty.
You can call me arrogant, call me black Marilyn,
come celebrate with me,
I am so beautiful death can’t take its eyes off me. From In Search of Equilibrium (Nine Arches)
“It’s easy for us to demonise young people and social media,” she said. “Poetry was instrumental for me, to find my voice and to find my confidence, and hopefully it can do that for other young people too.”
Sales of poetry books have increased over the last three years, hitting an all-time high of £12m in 2018. Two-thirds of poetry buyers are now under 34, with teenage girls and young women identified as the biggest consumers last year. Lola credited the sales boom with a corresponding rise in “bold and unapologetic” young poets finding success – such as 33-year-old Raymond Antrobus and 29-year-old Danez Smith, who won the most recent Ted Hughes prize and Forward prize respectively.
Generation next: the rise – and rise – of the new poets Read more
“A lot of young people are seeing that yes, [poetry] is reflective of their experiences and upbringing. They’re getting to understand that [it] exists anywhere. I’m hoping to meet so many different young people and help them see the poetry in their lives,” Lola said.
“London is so important to me, especially for my craft – it’s such an eclectic city. It inspires me to be a form of myself in every poem, I can experiment with form, language – all of those things translate into my work.”
Intended to promote poetry among youth in the capital, the young people’s laureate title was established by writer development agency Spread the Word in 2016. Lola, who was selected by a panel of arts organisations including the Roundhouse, the Barbican, and Apples and Snakes, will work on four residencies around London and a PoetryLab, which aims to nurture talented young poets in the capital.
Spread the Word director Ruth Harrison said: “At a time of political uncertainty, when young people’s lives, concerns and aspirations are often ignored and dismissed, it is vital that their voices are heard by those in power. This is why Theresa Lola is a fantastic choice – she is unafraid to explore difficult subjects, and with her talent and commitment to opening up conversations with young people, she brings to the role a real sense of purpose.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Surface Laptop is the flagship PC for Windows 10 S (Video) Watch Now
Microsoft pitched today's big product unveiling in New York City as an education event, but it turned out to be much more than that.
Yes, there were plenty of teachers on stage, and the slick videos that showed off its new education offerings were filled with happy students in classroom settings.
But the two products that took center stage, Windows 10 S and the new Surface Laptop, ultimately have a reach that goes well beyond the schoolhouse.
In the run-up to this event, there was plenty of speculation that Microsoft was planning to introduce a competitor to the Chromebook, designed by Google and well supported by PC OEMs. The cheap, easy-to-manage Chromebooks have been surprisingly successful in the US education market.
Microsoft actually did introduce a would-be Chromebook killer today, but not the way anyone expected.
It certainly wasn't the Surface Laptop.
At a starting price of $999, the newest member of the Surface family certainly isn't a competitor to any Chromebook except perhaps the spectacularly overpriced Google Pixel. Rather, it's an extremely worthy option in the 13-inch premium laptop category, alongside the 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro, Dell's XPS 13 9360, and a few others.
I know many IT pros and corporate executives who would kill for a Surface Laptop. And the first thing they would do is upgrade it to Windows 10 Pro.
The real Chromebook alternative is Windows 10 S, a solution that addresses some of the same features, benefits, and pain points as ChromeOS and runs on just about any hardware.
Microsoft said that its PC partners will be selling PCs running Windows 10 S around the same time it begins shipping the Surface Laptop (in June). There was no third-party hardware onstage at this event, but late last week, Acer showed off a line of new portable PCs that includes the Aspire 1.
At roughly 3.7 pounds, the Aspire 1 is hardly svelte. And with a Celeron or Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB or 64 GB of eMMC storage, it's not exactly a powerhouse either. But that's about what you'd expect with a Chromebook-competitive price tag of $219.
The question then becomes: Can that type of system running Windows 10 S overcome the traditional problems of cheap PCs?
Even with those modest specs, a machine like the Aspire 1 running Windows 10 should be able to start up very quickly and resume almost instantly. It also should be able to handle average productivity workloads, although you probably wouldn't want to use it for video editing.
The problem with most cheap PCs starts right out of the box -- when manufacturers load them up with crapware/bloatware that makes the experience miserable from Day 1.
Add in the profusion of janky software that your average consumer can't resist installing, then toss in some aggressive adware or malware that sneaks past security defenses, and pretty soon you have a mess that needs to be cleaned up every six months. That's the classic timeline for "Windows rot."
And then there's the update problem, which Windows 10 S solves fairly neatly. Packaging apps and delivering them through the Windows Store means they can be updated automatically. No more third-party updaters running as background tasks on their own schedule. Hooray!
If that all sounds too good to be true, consider the alternative timeline for Windows 10 S. In the darkest timeline (thank you, Community!), Windows 10 S suffers the same fate as (shudder) Windows RT.
Microsoft unveiled Windows RT (a variant of Windows 8) on the Surface RT in 2012. It seemed like a good idea at the time, for many of the same motivations that are driving Windows 10 S. Sadly, it was a spectacular, colossal flop, leading to a writedown of nearly a billion dollars and scuttling a few Microsoft careers in the process.
The problem with Windows RT is that the selection of available apps was woefully insufficient, and having Office as part of the package wasn't enough to overcome that handicap out of the starting gate.
When the first Windows 10 S machines ship in June, they will inspire some of the same "Wait, it can't run that app?" reactions from the first wave of consumers.
It can't run iTunes. It can't run Quicken. And, most crucially, it can't run Google Chrome.
Systems running Windows 10 S will be locked down so that the default browser is Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft says that default can't be changed.
Now, Edge has improved dramatically as a browser in the past two years, and it's done an impressive job of masquerading as Chrome. But it's not Chrome.
And that might be a deal-breaker for some buyers of Windows 10 S laptops, who will be faced with a difficult decision: Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro and gain the ability to install Chrome while giving up the security/manageability advantages that come with Windows 10 S, or put in an RMA ticket.
It's possible that Google will take a look at Windows 10 S and decide that it needs to adapt Chrome so that it can be installed using the Windows Store. That's probably a nontrivial development effort, but not at all out of reach for a company with Google's development chops.
That effort might be worth it if the new OS is a hit and suddenly represents an installed base of millions of PCs that can acquire apps only through the Store.
After Windows 8 was released, Google jumped quickly into the new Microsoft ecosystem, releasing a "Metro-style browser" that conformed to Microsoft's odd design guidelines. It continued that development for 18 months or so before eventually giving up on Windows 8 around the same time Microsoft did.
Google doesn't have an easy decision here. Do they become one of the most important pillars of support for a competitor's ecosystem? Or do they say no to the Store and risk missing a major inflection point in personal/corporate computing?
And, just as an aside, did anyone else notice that Apple, which once owned the education market, has become a minor player?
This will be an intriguing battle to watch. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I’m reading David Estlund’s new book Utophophobia right now for an symposium at the PPE Society. Estlund’s book got me thinking more about non-ideal theory and the moral status of the state in non-ideal circumstances. While ideal theory asks, “What institutions would we have if everyone were perfectly good and just?,” non-ideal theory asks, “What institutions should we have in the real world, where many people are evil, where people will take advantage of the rules, and where people’s willingness to comply is not a given?”. Non-ideal theory is generally much harder work than ideal theory, because ideal theory imagines away most of the interesting problems and most of the complexity of actual social life. Ideal theory is the arithmetic to non-ideal theory’s differential equations.
Many people believe that under ideal circumstances, we would not have any kind of state. (Gregory Kavka disagrees. I never found his argument persuasive, but see Chris Freiman for a careful refutation.) If everyone were just and good, then the kinds of problems the state could solve would not arise. We wouldn’t need to enforce rights because by hypothesis people would respect each other’s rights. We wouldn’t need the state to collect and redistribute income because people would voluntarily give what they should, using non-coercive coordination methods, and no one would take advantage of others’ generosity or sense of justice. Just as a perfectly just society would have no need for criminal justice courts, it would have no need for a state, period. It would be anarchic. Not Rothbard-style anarchy, with private enforcement agencies, but Mickey Mouse Clubhouse anarchy, with no enforcement mechanisms at all.
But then this leads to a kind of puzzle. Justice requires cooperative anarchy. In an ideal society, it would be wrong to subject me to the authority of the state, to have police officers and politicians lord over me, to tax my income, and so on, because these institutions would not be necessary to people to do what they ought to do.
However, even in unjust circumstances like ours, where the world is filled with moral degenerates, a very large number of people are sufficiently good and just that anarchy would work with them. For instance, while I’m not a saint, if everyone were as conscientious and committed to fair play as I am, and we all knew that, we could easily dispense with governments and instantiate cooperative anarchy. Why, then, should good people be subject to the state’s power? Why shouldn’t the state only apply coercive force to wrongdoers and degenerates and leave the good people alone?
Consider the problem of moral extortion. Make a list of all the things it is generally permissible for you to do. This might include marry an an adult who wants to marry you, read some book, draw a picture of a prophet, buy yourself a new guitar, listen to some music, move to a new town, write a philosophy paper, or whatnot. Let X stand for all the things it is generally and prima facie morally permissible for you to do.
Now imagine someone comes along and makes a credible threat: “If you commit [some particular act in set X], I will respond by doing something awful.” Ask: Are you now obligated not to do that act, simply because someone else has threatened to do something wrong in response?
I’ve asked people about this before, when writing When All Else Fails. Most people initially say no. For instance, suppose a jealous ex-girlfriend threatens to kill people if you marry your new girlfriend. Most say that while this is awful, you are not obligated to stay single. However, most people also change their minds when the stakes become high enough. If, say, Thanos threatens to kill half the universe unless you stop listening to country music, they say you are obligated to give in to his threat. At some point, the heckler gets a moral veto. At some point, the extortionist succeeds in changing the moral landscape, rendering certain previously permissible acts impermissible.
Similarly, the heckler/extortionist can also render certain previously impermissible acts permissible, or at least excusable. If Thanos threatens to kill half the universe unless you steal a car, then you are excused in stealing a car. Stealing isn’t justified, per se, but it at least excusable.
What if we change the story a bit? Instead of having an identifiable person actively threatening such extortion, imagine instead you simply know that if you do some otherwise permissible act X or if you fail to perform some otherwise impermissible act Y, then some significant number of people will react by doing evil things, but you cannot easily identify ahead of time who will do it and what exactly they will do. Again, I suspect most people would say that when the stakes get high enough–when the injustice others will commit becomes sufficiently severe–this can change the moral valence of your actions. It can render X impermissible and at least excuse Y.
Now back to the state. If everyone were as morally good as, say, Chris Freiman, we would live under cooperative anarchy. Unfortunately, some people are significantly morally worse than Chris is. They are willing to exploit others, prey upon others’ kindness, attack and harm them, and/or unwilling to contribute voluntarily to public goods or charitable endeavors.
It’s one thing to justify state coercion against such rotten people. (Presumably, we need a theory of when preemptive coercion is justifiable against them.) But it’s another to defend state coercion against good enough people, such as Chris. What explains that? Some people would predictably do the right thing and avoid doing unjust things, even in the absence of coercive reinforcement. Further, justice requires cooperative anarchy and forbids the state; at most, the state is permitted as a response to injustice.
Here, it seems, the state (or any other kind of pre-emptive coercive enforcement agency) is excusable because of moral extortion. We know ahead of time that some people out there will act like hecklers, some big, some small. We cannot quite tell who will commit injustice and who will not, but we know ahead of time that a significant number of people will. So, enforcement agencies like the state are, perhaps, an excusable pre-emptive response to the threat such people face.
This idea is familiar, of course. But it’s worth noting what the force of the argument is. It looks like the argument on behalf of the state, or any other kind of pre-emptive coercive enforcement agency, takes the same form as the argument for giving in to moral extortion. It would normally be wrong and inexcusable to subject a good person like Chris to threats, to tax his income, or whatnot. However, there are lots of bad people out there who implicitly threaten to act unjustly. We cannot predict ahead of time who the unjust actors will be and what exactly they will do, but we know that a significant enough number of people will do quite bad things. So, the argument goes, it becomes excusable in the face of these “threats” to instantiate the state.
Now, I’m not convinced this kind of argument succeeds at all. However, it seems to me that arguments for the state take this kind of form. The state is not in the first place an instrument of justice, but at most an excusable institution instantiated in the fact of moral extortion.
Published on:
Author: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The tales go beyond the humorous and absurd. They are touching, imaginative, and contain themes that translate into our present day. Loki gains complexity with each tale as his intelligence is both admired and vilified by the other Gods. As a half giant, Loki represents the ultimate outsider. He’s not even supposed to be in Asgard with the others and no one knows how he ascended to their realm. He vacillates between being an agent of chaos and risking his life and dignity to assist those who may never truly accept him. Loki is a villain we can all see within ourselves and thus we too can both admire and scorn his actions.
Watching over these realms is the All-Father, Odin. Odin gave his eye for wisdom and hung himself from the world-tree, Yggdrasil, for knowledge of the runes. Odin understands that knowledge is power and has sacrificed himself many times over to achieve it. His thirst for knowledge is insatiable, and he even enters our world dressed in disguise to see things from our point of view. Odin sends his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn (‘thought' and ‘memory’) to travel the realms far and wide so that they might bring him new knowledge and perspective. It is honorable that the leader of the Norse Gods should have such respect for knowledge and understanding. With each story Odin becomes more mysterious, more complex, and more worthy of our admiration.
Many question why mythology is important and if it still holds value in our modern tech-focused society. I exclaim a resounding ‘YES’ to such questions. We humans are storytellers. The stories we tell define our culture and bring us together in common knowledge. The great myths of the old Gods reference a world we could only dream of, yet their wisdom gives us guidance and comfort. These ‘tall-tales’ illuminate our imagination and kindle our compassion. Such stories are worth preserving and sharing among generations yet to come. With Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman helps these deities maintain their immortality and refreshes their stories for a new collective of storytellers, big-thinkers, and adventurers. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
Serve for a second term with Barack obama? He's become too mainstream | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
But while most people are simply concerned about being able to use their phones while wearing a mask, they may discover a surprising bonus. Baskin says there’s an element of anti-surveillance built in. “[The mask] appears to be working with facial recognition, but it will never actually be your face,” she says. It’s tricking the technology and protecting your biometric information: “The image is something your friends could identify as you but that machine learning can’t, and it shows that face recognition has errors.”
Phone-unlocking face mask. Danielle Baskin
Art against surveillance
Arty anti-surveillance devices and techniques have become more popular in recent years, from anti-facial-recognition face paint to an “invisibility cloak” that can block object detectors; from the Adversarial Fashion line that confuses automated license plate readers to the simple face masks that protesters in Hong Kong and India have used to hide their face from cameras. The media reports breathlessly on each advance, but for the most part, they are more political commentary than useful tactics for the average person. Those projects, in fact, might be less helpful if they went mainstream, because wide adoption could lead to an arms race that enables the invasive technology to route around defenses.
Even when taken simply as performance art rather than a potential solution, these designs can have a downside. Torin Monahan, a surveillance researcher at the University of North Carolina, says such projects risk leading people to believe that surveillance is inevitable and it’s up to individuals to solve the problem. “These kinds of interventions tend to position surveillance as a universal threat to which individuals can respond and maybe should respond—but that misses how the affluent and white are positioned in a much more advantageous way than those who are marginalized and subject to police or state surveillance on a regular basis,” he says. “I worry that by commercializing and aestheticizing surveillance in these ways, we aren’t having a conversation about unequal vulnerabilities.”
Still, Monahan says that the work can also draw attention to the reality of surveillance, which has become an increasing concern. A recent Pew Research report found that most Americans feel they’re being constantly tracked and can’t do anything about it. This tracks with what Kate Rose, the founder of the Adversarial Fashion line, has seen.
When she first debuted her clothing line, “the demand was enormous,” she says, and it has remained consistent since. “People were not only wanting to participate in the conversation around surveillance, but were hungry for expressing their opinion of it and their interest in investing in the future,” she adds. Wearing a certain type of clothes or using a certain type of makeup is an obvious manifestation of that feeling of helplessness, and can be used to spur others too. Individual protest may not be a substitute for collective action, she says, but when collective action isn’t taken, these garments push against the idea that “governments decide everything and I have no power.”
And legal battles are increasingly bringing this conversation into the public eye. In 2018, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a pro bono law firm based in Washington, DC, filed a lawsuit against the small Florida town of Coral Gables for its use of automatic license plate readers. “This is one of the situations where technology moves faster than the law, and it moves more quickly than interpretation of constitutional rights,” says Caleb Kruckenberg, the NCLA’s counsel. “Obviously, from my perspective I’m hoping the courts will intervene,” he says. But if they don’t, he adds, these kinds of countermeasures are one way to continue forcing the system.
Art and life
Monahan, the surveillance scholar, says that his favorite examples of anti-surveillance performance art aren’t necessarily wearable. In Belgian artist Dries Depoorter’s museum installation “Jaywalking,” for instance, visitors watch live surveillance cams to catch jaywalkers and are given the choice to report them to the police. “Those kinds of interventions are good at showing people their complicity in these larger surveillance systems,” Monahan says. “These kinds of artistic works are good because they trouble—they don’t make you feel comfortable and playful.”
For her part, Baskin intended her FaceID masks to do the same; she started the project “entirely as this sort of dystopian joke.” The internet attention has convinced her it can actually be done—that the joke can have real, and even helpful, uses even as it provokes. Baskin isn’t interested in getting everyone to go out in public wearing one of her masks, but given how little transparency there is around who is using surveillance and how, she says, “anything that makes people slightly more afraid is good.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
My post has received a lot of good questions, a lot of good links
https://voat.co/v/pizzagate/2613436
I think it's time to shock the masses into waking up
no matter race, sex, religion, political etc, this subject is an interest to all
I'm tired of hearing about Womens rights, Gay rights, everyones rights
The only rights I want to hear about are CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
The future of mankind depend on it
Child organ trafficking is too big of a subject for one post or for one person
too many articles, too many countries, too many NGO's
need help figure how to do it
need help looking for shocking links to wake people up
we have, Where organs come from, Middleman, Where organs go
3 things but so much in each
mass immigration and how its started is a good one
it's time to start a movement for the Children
they need our help
wary of breaking into series, need a wallop post to get the attention of the masses
I'm dyslexic, I suck at words, if it wasn't for spellcheck you would know how bad it is
I need help, I want to build an army and take this fight to the battleground
we can wake a lot of people up, some of my friends are getting the most attention and questions on this subject
it affects everyone and should involve everyone
1.....Where organs coming from and how
2.. Middlemen, delivery
3 ..Where they are going, to whom
I need links marked, maybe break main subjects with a, b, c
can anyone help how to break it down, how best to present it?
need shocking ones, hard to research I know, found a vid, not in English, didn't have to be, but the pic was graphic, heartbreaking, its what we need to wake people up
NSFW...pic packs a punch, article good
https://sofrep.com/58905/the-underground-world-of-organ-harvesting/
recent news report out of Somalia recounts the journey of a woman and her two children who traveled to Egypt, most likely being trafficked by the East African version of a coyote who shuttles refugees and migrants from sub-saharan African to Europe. By one account, the woman was unable to pay the traffickers so they turned to another way to extract value from their human cargo. All three were murdered and sliced open, their livers and kidneys harvested for retail sale on the black market
While ISIS is well known to be involved in human trafficking, there have long been allegations that the group engages in organ trafficking as well, however hard evidence has not been forthcoming. With large numbers of civilian hostages held by ISIS in Tal Afar and Raqqa, some have speculated that the terrorist group sells organs to wealthy Gulf State Arabs who need kidneys.
what do you think? worthwhile to wake the masses?
will accept all comments, all suggestions
Mods....Yea, I know the rules, but I get 24 hrs right? | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Tags:
Washington, D.C., circa 1901. "View of 13th Street N.W., west side, looking north from F Street showing view of H.F. Bachman & Co. on the corner and other shops on the block." Which include a dealer in Japanese Fancy Goods and Bric-a-Brac. Also note the public water tap under the tree. 5x7 inch glass negative, D.C. Street Survey Collection. View full size. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Apple, over the past few days, has been criticized by many for cracking down on third party apps that monitored a user’s screen time and some specifics of the device usage as well. It was again perceived as the big tech giant stomping on the honest little app developers trying to give Apple’s own Screen Time app a run for its money. Evil vs good, then? Well, Apple has clarified in great detail why it chose to crack down on third party apps that were monitoring and logging how you use your iPhone or iPad and adding parental controls. Privacy. Privacy of your data.
“We recently removed several parental control apps from the App Store, and we did it for a simple reason: they put users’ privacy and security at risk. It’s important to understand why and how this happened,” says Apple in an official statement.
This comes after a report that Apple had either asked certain screen management and parental control apps to alter how they operate, or had booted them from the App Store completely. “Apple has removed or restricted at least 11 of the 17 most downloaded screen-time and parental-control apps,” the report in The Times stated. The direct comparison was with Apple’s own Screen Time app, which is a part of the latest iOS software for iPhones and iPads—and there was a belief that some of the third party apps provided better tools for parents to monitor and eventually block their child’s usage of an iOS device if needed.
“Over the last year, we became aware that several of these parental control apps were using a highly invasive technology called Mobile Device Management, or MDM. MDM gives a third party control and access over a device and its most sensitive information including user location, app use, email accounts, camera permissions, and browsing history. We started exploring this use of MDM by non-enterprise developers back in early 2017 and updated our guidelines based on that work in mid-2017,” says Apple.
While MDM is used by enterprises on the devices they own to better control the devices on the network, it is a violation of the App Store policies for consumer apps to install MDM on a consumer’s device.
The report had also claimed that the developers whose apps had been removed from the App Store were clueless about the reasons. Apple refutes that, “When we found out about these guideline violations, we communicated these violations to the app developers, giving them 30 days to submit an updated app to avoid availability interruption in the App Store. Several developers released updates to bring their apps in line with these policies. Those that didn’t were removed from the App Store.”
Surely we haven’t heard the last of this saga. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Army Captain Matthew Ball, right, hugs his former interpreter Qismat Amin, as Amin arrives from Afghanistan, at San Francisco International Airport. Photo: AP | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Winnipeg plans to put off construction of a $12.5-million bike-and-pedestrian bridge over Pembina Highway and $6 million worth of transit upgrades because it no longer expects the province to help pay for the projects.
The city is no longer planning to ask Ottawa to help build the Bishop Grandin Walk Bike Bridge over Pembina near University Crescent, according to a report published by the city on Friday. The bike-and-pedestrian bridge is intended to complete the Bishop Grandin Greenway and make it safer for cyclists to reach Investors Group Field and the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry campus.
The city is also abandoning plans to ask the Trudeau government for help paying for seven Winnipeg Transit projects, including new buses and shop-equipment upgrades.
The city unveiled this artist's concept of a bike-and-pedestrian bridge over Pembina Highway in April. A report to council recommends shelving the project, due to a lack of provincial funding, a cash crunch and an inability to borrow more money. (Artist's rendering/City of Winnipeg) The bike bridge and the transit projects are off the table because of "uncertainties surrounding provincial funding" as well as the city's limited ability to borrow more money and the cash crunch that's already making it difficult for officials to balance the 2018 budget, Winnipeg capital projects oversight manager Rob Taylor writes in the report, which comes before council's executive policy committee on Wednesday.
In the same report, Taylor recommends council approve $35 million for other projects that would require Ottawa to cover 50 per cent of the cost.
Those projects include $13 million worth of protected bike lanes, $11 million worth of sewer upgrades, a $7-million bike-and-pedestrian upgrade to the bridge over the Red River at Chief Peguis Trail and a $3-million rapid-transit master plan and prioritization study.
The city would have to borrow money to cover half the cost of the transit study, but would pay cash for the other new projects, Taylor writes in the report.
South Winnipeg-St. Norbert Coun. Janice Lukes said while she's disappointed to see the city back away from building a bike-and-pedestrian bridge in her ward, she's more upset most councillors had no input into the decision to abandon eight projects but pursue seven others.
"You're asking council to vote on a $34-million investment and you haven't told half of council why the prioritization is what it is," Lukes said Sunday in a telephone interview.
Another artist's conception. (City of Winnipeg) Council public works chair Marty Morantz (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Whyte Ridge) said the rationale for pursuing some projects and abandoning others was developed by Georges Chartier, the city's chief asset and project-management officer.
"The point of that is depoliticize the choice of these projects, keeping in mind all of them are subject to federal funding," Morantz said Sunday in a phone interview. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Written by: Gene Fitzgerald // Last Updated: Aug 14, 2020
Please note: This page may contain affiliate links. If you buy a product or service through such a link we earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Learn more about our product review process or check our FTC affiliate disclosure .
No Time to Read? Check Our Lead Filter Best-Of List!
PLEASE NOTE The U.S. EPA has set the lead action level to 15 parts per billion (ppb). This is when water utilities are required to take action to lower lead levels in their water. However, the maximum contaminant goal for lead in drinking water is 0. That’s because lead is too harmful to our health even at low concentrations as it can bioaccumulate in the body over time causing irreversible damage. In a nutshell, lead should be eliminated entirely if possible. This is something you should keep in mind when choosing a water filter. One model might be more expensive than another but therefore certified to remove 99.9% rather than 95.9% lead (this is only an example) – a small difference which may have a huge impact.
How to Remove Lead from Water By far the easiest way to remove lead from water is using a water filter. But first you should try to identify the contamination source and eliminate it if possible: Lead can enter our water systems via copper pipes and fixtures connected by corroding lead solder, or via pipes directly containing lead which applies in particular to homes built before 1986. Another adverse factor is acidic water with low mineral content that accelerates corrosion. Now, if you are on city water there usually isn’t much you can do. If you’re on private well water, though, have a licensed contractor check the well itself and the pump. If removing the lead source turns out to be too expensive or is simply not an option for any other reason, the CDC recommends flushing your water system before using any water for drinking and cooking. The longer the water has been sitting in the pipes, the more lead it’s likely to contain. So, if a particular tap hasn’t been used for six hours or more, let it run for 1-2 minutes or until the water is as cold as it gets. Obviously this wastes a lot of water so you might want to collect it for later use, for example in your garden. The CDC also advises against using hot tap water as it dissolves more lead than cold water. Lead Filtration Methods You want to play it safe and install a water filter in your home? These common filtration methods are suited for lead removal: Reverse osmosis purification – Reverse osmosis (RO) is considered one of the best methods to reduce lead in drinking water.
– is considered one of the best methods to reduce lead in drinking water. Activated carbon filters – Activated carbon uses adsorption to effectively remove lead among other heavy metals from water. However, not all activated carbon water filters are capable of removing lead sufficiently. What’s more, some get fed up quickly and lose portions of their removal capabilities after processing a certain amount of water.
– Activated carbon uses adsorption to effectively remove lead among other heavy metals from water. However, not all activated carbon water filters are capable of removing lead sufficiently. What’s more, some get fed up quickly and lose portions of their removal capabilities after processing a certain amount of water. KDF-55 filtration – When water filters through KDF-55 soluble lead is reduced to insoluble lead which is then electroplated onto the media surface. NSF International Standard 53 Certifications Definitely watch out for NSF 53 certifications for lead. NSF International is a not-for-profit organization that develops industry standards. Independent third-party testing agencies such as the Water Quality Association (WQA) or CSA certify specific products on the market to these standards. To get certified, a filtering solution must be able to reduce the amount of lead below the U.S. EPA action level of 15 ppb.
More on Lead Filtration How to Test Water for Lead Lead is colorless and odorless, and if traces of it are dissolved in water they are invisible to the naked eye. So if there’s lead in your tap water how can you find out about it? First of all, you can request a free water quality report, called Consumer Confidence Report, from your municipality. Water quality reports have to be released each year by July 1st. And all public water suppliers have to provide this report for free. The exception are private wells which the EPA does not regulate. Here it’s the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain the safety of the water. Alternatively, you can access the EWG Tap Water Database which provides a browsable collection of water quality reports from almost all suppliers in the country. If you can’t get access to a Consumer Confidence Report, you can contact your local health department and ask for information. Since 1. and 2. don’t take into account possible lead contamination caused by the plumbing system leading water to and through your home, the safest way of identifying a problem is by having a direct sample tested by an independent lab. Cost range from $40 to $150. Your local water authority can help you find a suitable service provider. Or you purchase a test kit at the local hardware store and do the testing yourself. Heads Up! Lead does not distribute evenly in water. You could test your water right now and measure 2 ppb of lead. 5 minutes later you might find 10 ppb. And the next day you suddenly have 1,000 ppb. So even a direct test doesn’t guarantee lead-free water. Does Boiling Water Remove Lead? Does boiling water remove lead? That’s a frequently asked question. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. While boiling kills waterborne pathogens and eliminates volatile chemicals, lead does not evaporate easily and the heating process can actually further increase levels. Distillation on the other hand is a very effective method for removing lead from water. What’s Really Shocking USA Today identified about 2,000 water supply systems in all 50 U.S. states where tests showed severe lead contamination between the years 2013 and 2016. The Detroit Free Press stated that hundreds of major U.S. cities still have 100% lead piping connecting municipal water utilities to homes. And according to The Guardian , at least 33 U.S. cities have been found to use cheats to conceal dangerous levels of lead in their water.
If you have any questions about how to remove lead from water please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below! And don’t forget to come back to this page from time to time as we’re going to continue searching for the best water filter for lead removal. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I’ve been working on Krita for over a year now. This post is a reflection on my experiences.
The view on my laptop when working – several consoles, directories, gitg, quasselclient, database viewer and of course Krita…
Working from home
Part of the deal is that I can work from home. It has a lot of advantages – for example, I don’t need to travel to work (and I always wasted insane amount of hours to get to my school or uni). This is a bit less important to me now since I live closer to the city centre, so the insane amount of hours would not happen anyway since I would find a job somewhere nearby, but still, I don’t even need to go out. I can choose my own hours of work – I don’t need to explain myself if I’m not at work at 8 am. What is also important for me, I’m not, technically, working full-time: I work less than the standard 40h per week.
I still remember dreading asking my interviewers about a possibility to work less than full-time; especially after uni, I wasn’t keen on working for so long and even from the company’s own benefit’s point of view, I believe it’s better for them to have me there for 6h instead of 8h – I will do nearly the exact same amount of work but won’t be too tired to take care of other things in my life. As far as I know, this is the direction the happiest countries in the world are going – to reduce the amount of hours of work per week. Programmers do get paid a lot, so the money I could earn by straining myself is not that appealing to me. However companies often don’t like part-time workers – they don’t fit the spreadsheets too well, it’s fine if they’re students in a special program, but not standard employees. Hence I’m quite happy to find a job that fits my needs better.
After uni and several job marketplace visits on various occasions I expected my work to go one of two ways: either game development (which means working on something fun, but „crunch culture” and regular overtime is not something I wanted to experience myself, read here: https://www.businessinsider.com/video-game-development-problems-crunch-culture-ea-rockstar-epic-explained-2019-5?IR=T), or business application – maybe possibly data mining or some of the more „sciencey” positions. In both cases it’s a bit less exciting. My friends told me it’s easy to get used to and soon I’d be welcoming challenges that unavoidably were waiting for me in that path with the same warmth I welcomed debugging and implementation of red-black trees that made me win a bet with my friend. My internship proved it, I still recall with reverie cleaning dictionaries with a masterpiece of a bash one-liner piping text content through several Perl scripts and sed commands. And that was for an application that the user probably won’t even know they use. I know a job well done doesn’t need to have a deeper purpose and one is able to find fun in the most unexpected places, still, I’m happy Krita has this deeper purpose to get me through the less funny parts.
A much harder task was getting everything right in terms of taxes and other official documents and stuff. In theory I have people dealing with that for me, but… it’s not the same as having an assistant and an accountant that just do everything I don’t want to; there is still a lot I need to do myself and I loathe it. It would be so much easier if Krita, or rather, the company that manages Krita’s money and developers, was located in my country…
On the other hand, no office to go to and not having to get out of the house means both not going out of the house for days at a time and being quite isolated and even a bit lonely from time to time. Of course I have my partner nearby, I visit my parents regularly, and I do get outside for various other occasions, but there is not a lot of people I meet now, especially since most of my friends either moved out or started a family, including getting themselves a little baby, or have other things to take care of – it’s of course not the same as when we were all going to the same uni and meeting every day. One can always talk on IRC where the whole Krita team meets, however it’s not the same either: you can’t see them, hence the interaction is limited; also this is a group chat, and you don’t really get to know your interlocutors. Everything is much less natural. Of course, sprints help getting to know people behind the nicks much better. One sprint is often more productive in bonding than a whole year of being present at the same IRC meetings.
Working on an open source program
Krita Resource Rewrite Sprint, February 2020
I quite like the fact that I’m working on something that everyone can participate in. All my work is visible online, I can talk to users directly. There is one event I particularly like to recall: when working on bugs last year in the early summer, I got told to spend some time on the Clone Brush. I didn’t find a lot of bugs regarding it, but I’ve found a few wishes. I implemented them, I got it reviewed by Dmitry (since back then, I believe, most of my longer patches were reviewed by him) in the evening, and the next morning I’ve got two different people thanking me personally for coding that. That was quite an empowering feeling: seeing people actively waiting for your work and appreciating it.
I don’t think working on Krita helped me get into other open source communities, I don’t interact with people from other projects, I don’t engage much. But I do understand more how it all works, so if I wanted, I could get in. Also I know all the gossips now.
Now I’m thinking about this, well, maybe Krita does make me closer to the open-source community. Since I started working on Krita, I was abroad four times and I have a fifth one already planned: first time for Libre Graphics Meeting, then three Krita sprints (a big one, baptized ”The First Krita Con” since it had over twenty participants, then one for meeting with Intel and going to Blender Con, then the resource management system rewrite sprint that I just got back from), and then another Libre Graphics Meeting with Krita sprint merged in. Libre Graphics Meeting last year was an amazing experience and it did pull me into this wild world of both programming and art, all with the same goal of freedom and accessibility. I’ve heard about a lot of other art open source projects, notably Laid-out from the very maintainer of it. From then on my favourite general purpose program is Laid-out (and probably the only one. I’m pretty sure that’s what NASA is using to make spaceships designs. As far as I know, the main developer is – allegedly – already working on a module that integrates with a toaster to get you your own Mona Lisa morning toasts. But please don’t quote me on that…).
Btw I’ve written a post about the October 2019 Krita Sprint here: https://outsideofinfinity.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/krita-minisprint-2019/
Working on Krita
Well, I’ve been using Krita long before I started to work on it. I loved it, I got quite passionate about it, and I was passionate enough that when I noticed some comments on Youtube from an upset user whose issues could be incredibly easily fixed, I decided to help with answering user questions – and since I already had an account on reddit, I chose that platform to help. I didn’t know how Krita worked internally, I knew names of the people involved but I was a bit scared to do anything else, especially since a proper contribution, with code and everything, would be quite time-consuming and I didn’t have the privilege of big chunks of time while studying. Helping users seemed easier… (It is not easier anymore, see https://outsideofinfinity.wordpress.com/2019/11/20/how-is-user-support-in-krita-organized/)
Because of that, working on Krita is both a blessing and a curse. I have my own ideas how to improve Krita, what to work on – but I need to do what is to be done. What has the higher priority. And since I promised myself to not code on Krita outside of work, because it would be quite unhealthy considering how much time I spend on it anyway, I just cannot work on features I want even if I have some free time. Boudewijn says he wants us to have some time to have fun working after we release the next major release, but come on – a month? For all the, what, seven or eight big features I have in mind? That’s just not enough time! (And never will be…) I think I’d like to start from the most important one – a smart gradient color selector, which would be quite similar to Digital Colors Mixer, but since it has a very different idea in mind, I don’t think just extending Digital Colors Mixer would work.
On the other hand, I do care about what I’m working on, which… is good for me, since it keeps me interested in my work, but it’s not good for anyone who disagrees with me on how Krita should look or behave, even in a very little details. That’s probably good I’m not a volunteer… I cannot just go and fork Krita to make my own tailored version of it. I need to adjust to others.
But in general, both UI changes and code responsible for proper working of algorithms have more importance for me than it would have in a corporate company. I don’t just make a thousandth copy of the same CRM system, I’m making something unique, something needed, something important for people. I want UI and algorithms and every other part of Krita in between usable, because I am using it and I’m using it for fun, so I know I’m going to spend a lot of time in the program itself for years to come. Since I’m still (well, still… I guess it grew even more!) passionate about Krita, I want it to be used, I want it to be valued, I want it to be viewed as a respected tool, something useful and worthwhile. It keeps me motivated, because I know there is a lot of work to do and now, knowing Krita to the very last brooms closet, I see where the work needs to be put in.
What I’m working on
I was working on making sure that creating bundles work in the new version
For fellow programmers who wants to know how working on Krita works in practice: first I was of course focused on fixing bugs. I was a new team member with close to none experience with Krita code, so bug fixes were both a necessity due to the bug fixing mission we have from the last fundraiser, and a method to get me more comfortable with the code. Interestingly, my first (technically, second…) fixed bug was a one-liner (https://cgit.kde.org/krita.git/commit/?id=03db690749bc2481396c510073a773acb6d3d60f), but my next commit was about refactoring the whole class this one little change belonged to – KoUnit: https://phabricator.kde.org/D19537.
Days were flowing uneventful, except for quite a good pace of fixing bugs. At some point Boudewijn asked me to just clean up a bit the mess in the error codes in the file formats import/export part of the code… That was quite a task – it took me over a month, including a week patching xcf, because it turned out that xcf library… was actually a command-line utility, which means it calls exit(x) in case of any problems. So there was no crashes, Krita was just… closing, maybe a bit unexpectedly for a user, but the code was clear, wasn’t it?
After a few more months of bug fixing and fretting over the number of bug reports not stopping to increase after the release of 4.2.0 despite our best efforts, me, Wolthera and Dmitry got finally introduced to the cave of a dragon which is Resource Rewrite. Boudewijn was fighting it alone for two years and got it to the point that getting other people involved was possible. Since then, Wolthera and Boudewijn and I were focusing on that… tasks were reshuffled a few times, but I implemented and cleaned up the whole tagging system. Now it shouldn’t bug out every time you touch it, and a new ”All untagged” category is coming to Krita soon. Recently I started working on bundle creation, but it led me to a mess of UX and broken dialogs… Hopefully I’ll figure out how to clean it up. Other than that, there are a lot of details left: icons of proper sizes, versioned resources (you’ll be able to revert your brush to a previous state, before you changed it!), some bugs with gradients… then we’ll release an alpha version for all to test, fix the bugs that our testers will hopefully find (better alpha testers than regular users), then release a beta version, fix the most dangerous regressions if there are any, then a proper release – either 4.3.0 or 5.0, still to be determined, but the more we work on it, the more we like the idea of making it into the major release.
Future
There must be a “Future” segment, right?
First I’m gonna get well, since I was quite sick last few days. Then… ahh, there is so much! For Krita, we need to finish the resource rewrite, of course, and release the next big version (no matter how it would be called). There will be LGM + Krita Sprint in May/June, which I hope will be at least as successful as the last LGM and as productive as the last sprint (although in a different way). For myself… I want to start a Youtube channel with my artworks. Unfortunately, Between writing fifteen blog posts about everything going on around me at the same time I’m afraid I have a bit less time to paint than I wanted. Also I learned how to edit my videos in Windows Movie Maker, I need to learn to do it in Kdenlive as well… And figure out how to add sound – I believe my Mint cannot find the microphone in my laptop for now, maybe when I update Mint and get an even newer kernel it will work correctly. Otherwise, I’ll need to do it on Windows or another machine.
For this blog, I have quite a lot of ideas as well. I need to finish the Krita Resource Sprint post, but it’s very long (I’ll need to split it up) so I don’t know when I’ll publish it. I want to write a review of a novel I’ve recently read, but I’m not sure if I have enough to talk about. Maybe it would be the only blog post you don’t have to spend hours reading! Then a few posts regarding religion, not exactly religion of course but more like my own experiences with it. I might want to write BITE model breakdown for the flavour of Catholicism I was raised in – of course I know the results already, it wasn’t a cult because it was way too soft, but even for less extreme groups it’s interesting to see how they aligned to the model. I have one blog post about a specific part of storytelling which I have written a lot of already but then I lost quite a large piece of evidence for the second half, so now I cannot finish writing it before I find it. Oh, and a social norms post. Get ready for the rant… If I’ll be brave enough to post it. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Excelsior 50th Anniversary Special was our most challenging episode ever. It took the support of hundreds of people and thousands of dollars to happen. You made this happen, guys. We can't thank you enough. Star Trek fandom owes you one.
About Music
Original music by Sam Gillis.
The extended soundtracks of Star Trek V and Star Trek VI may be purchased from Intrada Records at intrada.com.
Star Treks II and III are available from Screen Archives Entertainment at ScreenArchives.com.
Star Trek Nemesis' soundtrack is available from Varèse Sarabande at varesesarabande.com.
The Star Trek Original Series and Star Trek Deep Space Nine Soundtrack Collections are sold by La-La Land Records at lalalandrecords.com.
All are wonderful products from excellent vendors. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Arsène Wenger says Danny Welbeck’s versatility makes him a strong candidate for England this summer and believes the forward is playing with renewed confidence for Arsenal on the back of a recall to the international stage that “reminded him he is not completely forgotten” when it comes to his country.
Welbeck has endured a largely frustrating season that has pushed to the periphery at Arsenal following the high-profile signings of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the former Manchester United striker starting 10 Premier League games in the current campaign and used more often than not as a substitute.
Recently, however, Welbeck has enjoyed a run in the team, weighed in with some important goals and looked particularly sharp. The 27-year-old has scored five times in his last five club appearances, including the goal that calmed Arsenal nerves against CSKA Moscow in the Europa League on Thursday, when they came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 on the night and seal their passage into the semi-finals of a competition that is keeping their season alive.
With Welbeck missing so much football through serious injuries in recent seasons, Wenger believes that the player is fresher now as a result and in the sort of peak physical condition that enables him to thrive. “Danny shows that at the moment,” the Arsenal manager said.
“For Danny it has been very good recently because he got games. He needed games and what is good with Danny is that he has a combination of power, pace and determination when he is really at his best physically. He looks like that is where he is now. Maybe he would not be there now if he had played all the games. If Danny is injury-free, he is a very good player. We spoke many times about Danny when he was regularly in the national team. He was a very good player.”
Welbeck has been a valued member of the England squad over the years and has an excellent record at international level, registering 15 goals in his 37 caps, yet he did not feature in the October or November internationals this season. Gareth Southgate, the England manager, named Welbeck in his squad for the recent fixtures against Holland and Italy, however, and everything points to the player retaining his place for the World Cup finals in Russia if he can maintain the sort of form he is in at the moment during Arsenal’s run-in.
Asked if Welbeck has taken confidence from that his England recall, Wenger replied: “Maybe. That reminded him that he is not completely forgotten because at the moment everybody is talking about [Harry] Kane and rightly so. But there is room for him [Welbeck]. If you are national coach, what for me is very interesting is that he can play wide – on the right, on the left – and central. He can play with anybody.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Best Role Playing Games 2013
Update: We've added Dark Souls 2 and removed Dragon Age 3. The latter title is only slated for a 2014 release. Dark Souls 2 has a rightful place on this list—read on and find out why we think so.
Death and taxes aren’t the only two things certain in this life, as 2013 will be a fantastic year for roleplaying games—and that much is certain.
It saw the release of Mass Effect 3—a good end to a fantastic trilogy; The Witcher 2 on the Xbox 360 showed that the PC isn’t the only platform out there capable of hosting RPGs of the “thematically rich” and “complex” varieties; Dark Souls gave us a challenge unlike any other; Dishonored—not quite an RPG of the traditional variety, allowed us to have an impact on the world through our actions, with the freedom to choose how we went about it; and Diablo III was out after a decade of heavy anticipation. Not content with giving us just one action RPG to play with, Runic Games released Torchlight II, its sequel to one of the best spiritual successors to the Diablo series ever made. Tactical RPGs were not left out in the cold, as 2012 also saw the release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a game that’s every bit as good as the original XCOM and then some.
In spite of this year’s releases, there’s no such thing as having too many good role-playing games. Thankfully, game developers and publishers alike have promised to release another round of fantastic RPGs in the year to come. 2013 promises to offer even more great role-playing games. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of the ten RPGs we want to play the most—and these are just the tip of what the year has in store. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A day after Robert Mueller’s testimony before Congress, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on supposed Russian interference in the 2016 election at the state and local level. The committee will be releasing four more reports relating to Russian interference over the next month. The heavily redacted report made the claim the Russian government directed extensive activity against "US election infrastructure." The activity was scanning the networks and servers of the "election infrastructure."
The findings section of the report said, "The Russian government directed extensive activity, beginning in at least 2014 and carrying into at least 2017, against U.S. election infrastructure’ at the state and local level." And that, "The Committee has seen no evidence that any votes were changed or that any voting machines were manipulated."
The report lacked any real evidence to link the activities to the Russian government. But of course, that’s not how the mainstream media reported it. Vox headlined their story, "New Senate Intelligence report shows ‘extensive’ Russia 2016 election interference." NBC’s headline read, "Senate Intelligence report finds ‘extensive’ Russian election interference." The Hill said, "Senate Intel finds ‘extensive’ Russian election interference going back to 2014."
None of these mainstream outlets explained how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determined that Russia was behind the activities. Page 11 of the report said, "DHS arrived at their initial assessment by evaluating whether the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) observed were consistent with previously observed Russian TTPs, whether the actors used known Russian-affiliated malicious infrastructure, and whether a state or local election system was the target."
Page 13 of the report said, "IP addresses associated with the August 18, 2016 FLASH (an FBI alert of a potential cyber-attack) provided some indications the activity might be attributable to the Russian government, particularly the GRU:" So the IP addresses only provide some "indications" that the activity "might be attributable to the Russian government."
The next few paragraphs are redacted. The only few sentences that are not redacted do not have the proper context to come to any real conclusion. Those sentences read, "One of the Netherlands-based [REDACTED] ‘exhibited the same behavior from the same node over a period of time. … It was behaving like … the same user or group of users was using this to direct activity against the same type of targets,’ according to DHS staff." Nothing else in the report tries to tie the activity to the Russian government.
Another claim in the report was that all 50 states were targeted, something that most media outlets repeated. That claim is based on an assumption the DHS had since they could not figure out a pattern to the scanning. After a chart explaining the varying degrees of scanning in up to 21 states, Illinois being the only one named, page 20 read, "Neither DHS nor the Committee can ascertain a pattern to the states targeted, lending credence to DHS’s later assessment that all 50 states probably were scanned." Notice the word "probably."
The New York Times headlined their story on the report as, "Russia Targeted Election Systems in All 50 States, Report Finds." The Progressive YouTube talk show The Young Turks titled their video on the story, "Russia Hacks All 50 States."
The rest of the report explains ways in which the states could make their voting systems more secure. It also expresses a desire to respect state’s privacy from the federal government.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote the minority views at the end of the report. Wyden said, "The defense of US national security against a highly sophisticated foreign government cannot be left to state and county officials. For that reason, I cannot support a report whose top recommendation is to ‘reinforce state’s primacy in running elections.’"
Wyden’s almost manic ravings in this report encapsulate the attitude towards Russia that is becoming all too common in the US today. Wyden wrote, "America is facing a direct assault on the heart of our democracy by a determined adversary. We would not ask a local sheriff to go to war against the missiles, planes and tanks of the Russian Army. We shouldn’t ask a county election IT employee to fight a war against the full capabilities and vast resources of Russia’s cyber army. That approach failed in 2016 and it will fail again."
While the claim that Russian hackers infiltrated our election system to observe and scan it could be true, nothing in this report – at least the redacted version – substantiates that claim. Media outlets, politicians and the intelligence community are all still pushing the idea that the Russian government hacked our elections in 2016, even though there is no concrete evidence.
A thing Russia-gaters like Senator Wyden like to say is that Russian cyber-attacks are a "threat to our democracy." But what is a real threat to our democracy is the fact that the establishment can blame any politician’s success on Russian interference or influence. Democrats are still blaming Trump’s victory in 2016 on Russia.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has been the latest victim of this Russia smear. Shortly after she announced her candidacy for the 2020 presidential race NBC ran a story that said, "The Russian propaganda machine that tried to influence the 2016 US election is now promoting the presidential aspirations of a controversial Hawaii Democrat who earlier this month declared her intention to run for president in 2020." The article drew this conclusion from the fact that she was given a lot of coverage by Russian funded media outlets like RT. These media outlets make it no secret that they are funded by the Russian government.
Another hit piece on Gabbard came from the Daily Beast titled, "Tulsi Gabbard’s Campaign is Being Boosted by Putin Apologists." This sorry piece of journalism named three of Gabbard’s donors, two of them have been pushing for better US-Russia relations and the other one worked for a show on the RT network.
On Friday, the Washington Post ran a story titled, "Mitch McConnell is a Russian Asset." The article makes the wild accusation that McConnell is doing "Vladimir Putin’s bidding" since he has blocked some legislation to further secure elections.
Over the next month, the Senate Intelligence Committee will be releasing four more reports on Russian interference. It is almost a guarantee that most media outlets will be reporting the committee’s claims as fact. Unfortunately, the American people cannot count on the media to report on this honestly. Now every reporter and news outlet has a way to delegitimize any election they want if they’re not happy with the results. The real attack on US democracy is not from Russia, it’s from within.
Dave DeCamp is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn NY, focusing on US foreign policy and wars. He recently joined Antiwar.com as an assistant editor. He is on Twitter at @decampdave. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Last updated on .From the section 2014 Fifa World Cup
Suarez scores twice as England lose 2-1 at the World Cup
England should not be ashamed of their early exit from the 2014 Fifa World Cup, says Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
Defeats against Italy and Uruguay meant the national side failed to progress beyond the group stages for the first time since 1958.
"I don't feel comfortable to criticise England because I think they shouldn't be ashamed of this situation," Mourinho, 51, told Yahoo. external-link
"They did not have the football gods on their side."
Mourinho believed Roy Hodgson's men were handed a stiff test when the draw for Brazil 2014 was made last year.
BBC pundits say England need to move forward after World Cup exit
"England were not lucky," added the Portuguese, who has won two league title with the Blues, and Champions League crowns with Inter Milan and Porto.
"For some reason it's possible that you have three world champions and three strong teams like Uruguay, Italy and England in the same group.
"England did well, played well, competed well, started both matches very well, were not afraid of Uruguay, were not afraid of Italy."
Hodgson's side play their final Group D match on Tuesday (kick-off 17:00 BST), against Costa Rica, who have reached the first knockout stage.
For the best of BBC Sport's in-depth content and analysis, go to our features and video page. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
An additional 14 million users were affected more deeply, having additional details taken related to their profiles, such as their recent search history, gender, educational background, geolocation data, birth dates, and lists of people and pages they follow.
AD
Facebook said last month that it detected the attack when it noticed an uptick in user activity. An investigation soon found that the activity was linked to the theft of security codes that, under normal circumstances, allow Facebook users to navigate away from the site while remaining logged in.
AD
The bugs that allowed the attack to occur gave hackers the ability to effectively take over Facebook accounts on a widespread basis, Facebook said when it disclosed the breach. The attackers began with a relatively small number of accounts that they directly controlled, exploiting flaws in the platform’s “View As” feature to gain access to other users' profiles. (The “View As” feature is designed to allow users to view their own profiles as though they are somebody else.)
Facebook said it is cooperating with federal and other authorities on its investigation but said the FBI had advised the company not to discuss who may be behind the attack.
AD
What may have motivated the attackers is still unclear; despite mounting concerns about election security as U.S. officials count down to a highly contested midterm election, Facebook said there was no indication the hack was specifically related to the U.S. electoral process.
AD
“We don’t have a specific indication as to the intention of the hackers,” said Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of product management.
Although the hackers could have used the flaw to steal information belonging to other, third-party apps that use Facebook as a login method, Facebook said Friday that no outside apps appear to have been affected. Neither Instagram nor WhatsApp appears to have been compromised, the company added. Facebook Messenger was also unaffected.
AD
The 29 million affected users, along with 1 million whose security tokens were taken but did not appear to have their data stolen, will be receiving customized messages from Facebook identifying specifically which types of information on their profiles, if any, were involved in the breach. Facebook executives told reporters Friday that the company will also try to reach affected users who have since deleted their Facebook profiles.
AD
Facebook has also established a Web page that will inform users who are logged in whether their accounts were affected.
User messages could have been exposed in one specific use case, officials said. If an affected user had been the administrator of a Facebook page, and the page had received a message from another user, that message may have been compromised, Facebook said.
AD
Facebook’s disclosure puts the company under even greater pressure as policymakers have taken the company to task over its approach to user privacy and data.
“The update from Facebook today is significant now that Facebook has confirmed that the personal data of millions of users was taken by the perpetrators of the attack," said Ireland’s Data Protection Commission — the watchdog agency charged with monitoring compliance with the European Union’s new data privacy law. It said it was continuing an investigation into the breach.
AD
The Federal Trade Commission — which Facebook said it is cooperating with — didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
AD
The spotlight on tech companies intensified further this week as Google said that half a million accounts on its Google+ social networking service could have had information leaked as a result of a software bug. The admission prompted lawmakers to demand answers from the company and call for an FTC investigation. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Vetting Women For Marriage
Choosing the right woman to bear your children is the single greatest decision you will make as a man.
Yet, most men receive nothing more than a, “if you knock her up you marry her.” when it comes to which woman to pro-create with and at that point, the damage has already been done.
It’s fair to say that in recent years technology and social media has changed the landscape and we now have to deal with modern problems requiring modern insights and solutions.
This piece is aimed at addressing that oft asked question, how do you know which women are wife material?
Marriage Quality Women:
– Have their own life
– Want to be mothers
– Make your life easier
– Are complementary to you
– Want to look good for you
– There when you were down
– Have a good relationship with your family (if you do)
Want a strong family?
Find this type of women. — Zac (@ZacSmall_) August 27, 2020
Why your wife needs to have a life.
For any relationship to thrive beyond one year, both individuals within it need to evolve on their own while evolving the relationship itself.
You see these wives lost on their social media, always inadequate compared to the highlight reel Karen shares on Facebook and always in pursuit of appearing great electronically while being absolutely miserable in real life.
Wives who have and maintain lives are too busy to get lost in the gossip, they’ve got things to do.
Should your girlfriend want to be a mother?
This is always where I’m met with the most intense pushback from people (men and women).
I don’t see any reason a man and woman would commit to one another for life if they were not raising kids*.
I don’t feel I should have to say, “this is my opinion” but dammit that’s exactly what it is, an opinion and one I’ve yet to receive a strong counterpoint to.
Now, bring children into the mix and you’re talking about taking on that challenge of keeping a family together until the end of days, something I am doing and hope to do to the grave myself.
Therefore, the marriage is an oath taken before all you hold dear that you will grind with this woman for the sake of the oath and the life you plan to bring into the world.
*EXCEPTION: If you get married then find out she can’t have kids; that’s a brutal fate for that woman, it’s not her fault and if I married a woman who was unable to have children, I’d remain married and likely adopt or travel.
Does your woman make your life easier?
This is self explanatory right?
Who wants a woman who argues every decision you make?
Who wants a woman who challenges everything you say?
Who truly wants to be committed for life to a woman who is just an absolute downer about everything?
Nobody wants that.
I included it as a reminder to men that they don’t have to “settle” for the negative woman who gives them attention.
It needs to be said because nobody is saying it, if your woman is making you stressed out, getting married won’t fix that; get a girl who supports what you do and helps facilitate your life to a point where the two of you are smooth sailing and having a great time promoting one another.
Look, there’s no way I could have gotten to this point in my life without my wife’s support and neither could she without mine.
We work on ourselves as individuals as well as working on our relationship, while at the same time working to help one another reach their individual goals.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Is Your Girl Complementary to you?
This is where it gets very “depends on the man“.
Find a girl who fills the gaps in your strengths.
If you’re a great chef, then having a wife who can cook may not be as much of a priority to you as it is to another man. For me, I can’t cook that well so I wanted a woman who could own the kitchen.
If you’re unorganized, then someone who could help you with organization may be a great fit.
Again, you need someone who is the Yin to your Yang.
If you’re both stubborn and “lone wolf” minded, you’re going to clash; someone has to lead, and it can’t be the both of you.
My wife takes point when it comes to home decor, I do with major movements, she does with kid stuff, I do with yard stuff, etc etc etc.
Your wife needs to fit the mold in your life.
Does your girl want to look good for you?
This will be the shortest description on the list.
If your woman dresses up more for when she goes out alone or when you two are meeting others than she does when with just you or in the home, you’ve got a problem.
You want a girl who cares even when she is in a over-sized hoodie and booty shorts.
She should want you to smile every time you look at her.
Was your girl there when you were down?
You want a legit Ride or Die bitch.
You want to marry a woman who is there during the dark nights and rough times as well as when it’s all sunshine and rainbows.
Any woman can support you when times are good, it takes a strong woman to have your back when you’re pressed against the wall.
My wife held down the home and had my back when I was an E-2 in the Navy and we were poor newlyweds, at one point using an upside down bin with a sheet over it as a TV stand in our apartment.
She was as happy as could be because she was with me and I will always love how on a young military budget, she made it work.
We were poor, but we were happy together.
JOIN THE FAMILY ALPHA NEWSLETTER
Subscribe
Knowing she supported me then lets me know that it isn’t the money I’m making now which keeps her around.
She was there during the bright days and she was there in the blackest of night and that is something you want to know your wife has in her.
Does your girl have a good relationship with your family?
Again, self-evident.
You shouldn’t have to miss time with your parents and siblings because your wife hates them.
Regardless of her family dynamic, if you are close to your immediate family, that shouldn’t change with the addition of a woman; it should amplify it because now the family has grown.
If you change for her, then your family loses their son and your woman gains a man who is not authentic, you’ll hate yourself forever because of it.
Bring her around them and make sure she is a good fit before putting a ring on her finger.
Additional Advice
This list is simply a foundation of things to look for when you consider marrying a woman.
My list is not your list, you make your list and cater it to your needs.
Make sure before you commit to someone for life, you’ve done the work.
A few things to keep in mind:
Sex Life needs to be on point.
Her history (Addiction, Hereditary Diseases, etc.)
Financial burden (Don’t be her cash cow)
A pleasure to be with (Life is a long time)
Life Goals need to align
Don’t ever forget that Your Mileage May Vary, don’t compare your girl to mine (or anyone’s) as all women are different; don’t get caught up in the social media hype that marriage is evil and all women are actively working to destroy your life, that isn’t reality.
Give yourself the best chance at success by making sure your foundation is strong from the onset.
Get to know your girl, maybe you find serious red flags and have to abandon the relationship; maybe you find some minor issues that you can work around or help mold your woman to change for the better.
As with all relationships, they’re unique and you need to ensure you’ve found what works for you.
Vet Well and Take Care,
You can support my work through any of the means below.
For the Crypto Crew:
Bitcoin 159R5cRCRGp1zWx9JHkYZaCjBd1rkQMQgx
BitcoinCash qruuzjt4as849jtnfzzu7szngjywnfpmpc45ttz0vf
Ethereum 0xdfB4C4472283d2133A3f26280B9DA3c3F5DF219B
LiteCoin LcCiwpsYGeCuv6njvxDrmyn73KPUiGW2Vn
Dash XiXnic8p9xk56mBhGwVBZT1UQNxUeJUiGr
Dogecoin DFabnbWiB2ZT4wu21tBmKC2BY241DhYHwq | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
TROY, Mich., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Police in Michigan said a woman squirted a convenience store clerk with ketchup because she was angry about a lack of hot sauce.
Troy police said the Pontiac woman became angry and squirted the clerk with ketchup around 1:22 a.m. Tuesday because there was no hot sauce for her nachos, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.
"When a Troy Officer pulled into the 7-Eleven parking lot the store clerk immediately came outside with a customer," the police report said. "The clerk did not wish to press charges but did want the woman to leave the store."
The woman, whose name was not released, was arrested on a pair of outstanding traffic warrants. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Hi everyone,
in the last post we have played a bit with TargetableUnit(s) and cast some spell over some poor old monster. Now it’s the time to go a step further into the development of our mini system and add another useful piece of gameplay: Items!
With items you can cure altered status and/or restore health and mana points. As you may guess, we are going to model Items just as usual, through records:
import EBS.Target import EBS.Status import Control.Applicative data Item = Item{itemName :: String, itemDesc :: String, itemEffect :: ItemEffect} deriving (Show) data ItemEffect = Restore HitPoints ManaPoints | Cure [Status] deriving (Show) --Use the item i on the target t use :: Item -> TargetableUnit -> TargetableUnit use i t = case (itemEffect i) of (Restore hp' mp') -> t {hp = hp t + hp', mp = mp t + mp'} (Cure rList) -> let newStatus = filter (\s -> s `notElem` rList) <$> (status t) in case newStatus of (Just []) -> t {status = Nothing} _ -> t {status = newStatus} --Some Items potion = Item "Potion" "Restores 100 HP" (Restore 100 0) ether = Item "Ether" "Restores 100 MP" (Restore 0 100) antidote = Item "Antidote" "Cures Poison status" (Cure [Poison])
Ok, so what I have done here? Simply I’ve created a new type, an Item, with name, description and the item effect, i.e. what happens when an item is used upon a TargetableUnit. As you can see, an Item can restore a certain amount of HitPoints or ManaPoints as well as cure some altered status. Let’s take a look to our use function:
--Use the item i on the target t use :: Item -> TargetableUnit -> TargetableUnit use i t = case (itemEffect i) of (Restore hp' mp') -> t {hp = hp t + hp', mp = mp t + mp'} (Cure rList) -> let newStatus = filter (\s -> s `notElem` rList) <$> (status t) in case newStatus of (Just []) -> t {status = Nothing} _ -> t {status = newStatus}
It takes an Item, a TargetableUnit and returns a new TargetableUnit, that will be healed or cured from some status. The most interesting part of this function is the second branch of the first case expression, when we manage the case (Cure rList): Essentially we have a TargetableUnit that can be or not affected by some status (I remember you that status is modeled as status :: Maybe [Status]) but we don’t know a priori if that unit have some altered status or not. We’ll use applicative functors to smartly get rid of cured status: we’re filtering the list of status leaving only those status who are not present into the rList (the list who contains the status cured by that item). We use the fmap alias, <$>, to put our function into the Maybe context: we’ll obtain either the new status list, or Nothing is the unit was not affacted by any status (therefore there wasn’t any status to cure). One special case: if we cure all the unit’s status we’ll obtain an empty list, but we want a Nothing value instead, so we have to handle this case properly (see the last case expression).
Gimme some modifier
One flaw of our Battle System was that every spell dealt always the same amount of damage, ignoring inter-element weakness or strengths. This new version of the cast spell handles this: if some unit is weak against some element, the correspondent spell will deal double damage, converse applies, with only half damage dealt to a unit strong against some element:
--cast function cast :: Spell -> TargetableUnit -> TargetableUnit cast s t = let coeff = getDmgMult t (spellElem s) in case spellEffect s of Damage hit mana -> t {hp = hp t - floor (fromIntegral hit * coeff), mp = mp t - floor (fromIntegral mana * coeff)} Inflict statList -> case (status t) of (Just sList) -> t {status = Just $ nub (sList ++ statList)} Nothing -> t {status = Just statList} --the damage multiplier function --Ugly, can I do better? getDmgMult :: TargetableUnit -> Maybe Element -> Double getDmgMult t e = case t `isWeakTo` e of Just True -> 2.0 Just False -> case t `isStrongAgainst` e of Just True -> 0.5 Just False -> 1.0 _ -> 1.0 _ -> 1.0
Probably I haven’t grasp all the advanced Haskell concept yet, because this function look a little ugly and too pattern matching dependent, but I couldn’t do better. In order to make this works we need to modify our “isWeakTo” and “isStrongAgainst” function in order to accept a Maybe Element: it quite makes sense if you think about it, because no Element translates into a Nothing value:
--If the monster hasn't got any element, the result will be Nothing. isWeakTo :: TargetableUnit -> Maybe Element -> Maybe Bool m `isWeakTo` elem = case elem of Just e -> checkProperty m ((==e) . succ) _ -> Nothing isStrongAgainst :: TargetableUnit -> Maybe Element -> Maybe Bool m `isStrongAgainst` elem = case elem of Just e -> checkProperty m ((==e) . pred) _ -> Nothing
Ok! So we have monsters, we have some spells and some items, we can damage monster or even heal them (such a fool action!).
Let’s give this code a try:
ghci> :l EBS/Main.hs [1 of 7] Compiling EBS.Status ( EBS/Status.hs, interpreted ) [2 of 7] Compiling EBS.Elemental ( EBS/Elemental.hs, interpreted ) [3 of 7] Compiling EBS.Target ( EBS/Target.hs, interpreted ) [4 of 7] Compiling EBS.Item ( EBS/Item.hs, interpreted ) [5 of 7] Compiling EBS.Spell ( EBS/Spell.hs, interpreted ) [6 of 7] Compiling EBS.MonsterPark ( EBS/MonsterPark.hs, interpreted ) [7 of 7] Compiling EBS.Main ( EBS/Main.hs, interpreted ) Ok, modules loaded: EBS.Main, EBS.Elemental, EBS.Target, EBS.Status, EBS.Spell, EBS.Item, EBS.MonsterPark. ghci> piros Unit {name = "Piros", level = 1, hp = 300, mp = 50, elemType = Just Fire, status = Nothing} ghci> let cursed_piros = cast frogSong piros ghci> cursed_piros Unit {name = "Piros", level = 1, hp = 300, mp = 50, elemType = Just Fire, status = Just [Frog,Sleep]} ghci> use remedy cursed_piros Unit {name = "Piros", level = 1, hp = 300, mp = 50, elemType = Just Fire, status = Just [Frog]} --Wake up, Piros! ghci> cast earth piros Unit {name = "Piros", level = 1, hp = 0, mp = 50, elemType = Just Fire, status = Nothing} --The original piros bind, double damage! (Earth deal 150 dmg, 300 to piros since it's weak to Earth) ghci> cast fire piros Unit {name = "Piros", level = 1, hp = 200, mp = 50, elemType = Just Fire, status = Nothing} --Normal damage, 100 hp.
Now we miss only the most important thing: a Player!
Stay tuned!
Ah, I’ve opened yet another git repo here, so you can download the fully working code! Just run ghci into the parent directory and import the module in this way:
:l EBS/Main.hs
Enjoy! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
At the end of a Thursday morning appearance on President Trump’s favorite show, Vice President Mike Pence was asked about this week’s bombshell revelation that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was the subject of a FISA warrant, and hence a wiretap, during during stretches of time both before and after the 2016 election, including early this year — “a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump.”
Not only does CNN’s bombshell report suggest there could be records of communications Trump had with his former campaign chairman during a time when the campaign was involved in shady dealings with Russian officials, but it indicates investigators had good reason to believe Trump’s former campaign chairman was serving as an “agent of a foreign power.”
But during the interview on Thursday, Pence and Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade teamed up to frame the story as vindicating Trump’s reckless accusation that Obama wiretapped him.
I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
“How concerned are you about the revelations of Trump campaign workers?” Kilmeade asked Pence, ignoring that federal agents had to demonstrate probable cause Manafort was acting as an agent of a foreign power to a FISA judge in order to obtain a warrant in the first place.
In reply, Pence refers to Trump’s former campaign chairman as merely “someone,” and suggests news Manafort was wiretapped vindicates Trump.
“Well, all of these revelations are breathtaking to me, including the recent news that there was in fact wiretapping against someone who had a condominium in the Trump Tower,” Pence said.
Pence’s claim is misleading. As CNN reporter Marshall Cohen points out, the wiretap in question pertained to Paul Manafort the person, not Trump Tower, where Manafort reportedly bought a condo with cash in 2006.
Wiretap CNN reported was on Manafort the person, not Trump Tower the building. Though he obviously had some contact with the tower. — Marshall Cohen (@Marshall_Cohen) September 19, 2017
Even Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee acknowledge that the Obama administration did nothing improper when it comes to surveilling Trump associates. Last week, CNN reported that during closed testimony, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice told House investigators that she unmasked Trump associates who participated in a clandestine meeting with United Arab Emirates Crown Price Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahya in New York City late last year.
CNN reported that the crown prince met with several top Trump officials during that trip, including Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner, and Steve Bannon. Later, the UAE was later involved in an effort to set up a back-channel communication between Trump officials and Russia, according to the outlet.
This explanation satisfied Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, including Rep. Tom Rooney (FL), who told CNN that “I didn’t hear anything to believe that [Rice] did anything illegal,” and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who told Fox News, “I’ve been really tough on Susan Rice in the past, I think it’s important that when a witness does a good job, you tell people she did a good job, and when she doesn’t do a good job, you tell them that too — she did a good job.”
But that news didn’t stop President Trump from continuing to lie about Rice. Two days after CNN published its report detailing why Rice unmasked Trump officials, Trump again alleged that Rice did something wrong. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Birger Meling skrev onsdag under en 4-årskontrakt med Rosenborg.
- Det er litt spesielt å være klar for Rosenborg, det må jeg innrømme. Men nå er jeg på plass for å kjempe om titler i Norges største klubb, sier Meling til RBK.no.
Og som alltid vil konkurransen være tøff om en plass i startelleveren i Rosenborg. Det kampen er Meling klar til å ta.
- Jeg er ikke kommet hit for sitte på benken. Jeg har tenkt å spille kamper. Så får vi se i hvilken posisjon det blir, sier han.
Meling er født og oppvokst i Stavanger, og spilte for Viking i ungdomsårene frem til han var 18 år gammel. I 2013 skrev han under for Middlesbrough, men etter ett år i England vendte han nesen hjem til Norge igjen.
Sommeren 2014 skrev han under for Stabæk hvor han har vært blant lagets mest markante spillere siden. Meling har også 6 kamper for Norges U21-landslag. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The salaries of Philadelphia City Council members are among the highest in the nation. At about $130,000 a year, 17 council members are bringing in more than $2 million a year in salaries combined.
For some members of council though, this well-paying full-time job isn’t their only source of income.
Four members of City Council have jobs at for-profit companies, while several others have secondary sources of income ranging from owning properties in the city to pulling in a pension while they’re not actually retired. District councilman Bobby Henon made more than $70,000 last year in his second job with IBEW Local 98. Councilman Brian O’Neill has long worked as an attorney with Fox Rothschild. Freshman councilman Allan Domb is a powerhouse businessman running a real estate business and working with restauranteurs — though he’s donating his entire City Council salary to the school district.
These details and more are spelled out in recently-filed financial disclosure forms required to be completed by city employees. It’s perfectly legal for council members to hold other positions while they’re serving, and one of the people who used this most in the past was former Councilman and now-Mayor Jim Kenney. On top of his job as an at-large councilman, he also worked as a consultant at an architecture firm and served on the board of Independence Blue Cross. He’s left Council, of course, and pulls in a much higher salary as the city’s chief executive… but he’s still pulling in thousands in pension payments.
Most political watchers say there’s nothing inherently wrong with local politicians holding other positions, so long as it doesn’t become a conflict of interest. That’s the whole point of them disclosing these outside gigs. The council members who have had other jobs for years are often asked about how they avoid a conflict, and they’ll say every time that they recuse themselves from a vote that would even look like a conflict of interest.
So in the interest of transparency, we went through the financial disclosure forms of every city council member and the mayor to see which of these elected officials had secondary sources of income. We’re also including the freshman council members whose sources of income in 2015 were their jobs at the time.
Also in those disclosure forms, which can be publicly searched here, are debts owed and the full disclosure of gifts like tickets to sporting events or upscale dinners. Here’s what we found:
Mayor Jim Kenney
Including his City Council salary, Jim Kenney brought in nearly $350,000 last year. On top of his job as an at-large councilman, he worked as a consultant at Vitetta Architects and Engineers, served on the Amerihealth/ Independence Blue Cross board, was an adjunct professor at Penn and brought in hefty pensions from both the city and the state.
We know how much Kenney made last year thanks to the mayoral financial disclosure being more detailed than what’s required by City Council. In this form, Kenney was required to disclose how much he made at each of his other gigs in 2015. Here’s what it showed he made:
Vitetta Architects and Engineers: $ 69,004.52
Amerihealth/ IBC: $43,200.00
University of Pennsylvania: $1,312.50
City Council: $10,833.01
City of Philadelphia retirement: $83,607.51
State retirement: $9,327.12
It’s important to note that when Kenney was elected mayor, he gave up those side jobs he held before. Spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said he quit work as an adjunct at Penn in February 2015 (hence the relatively small salary from the university last year) and his jobs at Independence Blue Cross and Vitetta ended in December before he took office. The City Council salary listed above is because he quit his job on Council at the end of January 2015 to run for mayor.
While Kenney was a councilman, he caught plenty of heat for his work with Vitetta. Former Mayor John Street brought up Kenney’s work with Vitetta and Independence Blue Cross when they were sparring over ethics legislation and how to use the city’s allotted box seats at sports arenas. His job with Vitetta has come up several times since he took the consulting position in 2002 saying he couldn’t support his family on the then-council salary of $82,000 a year. The firm didn’t pursue city work after hiring Kenney, though it was responsible for City Hall restoration, for which it won the bid for prior to Kenney’s hiring.
You also might notice the mayor has a significant pension. He spent 23 years on council, earning him $7,577.72 a month in pension payments, the Inquirer reported last year. He also has a state pension from the time he spent as an aide to former state Sen. Vince Fumo.
District council members
Bobby Henon
Represents: District 6 – Parts of Port Richmond, Tacony, Frankford, Mayfair, Holmesburg and Northeast Philly
Party: Democrat
Other source of income in 2015: In addition to a property he owns that brings in some cash, Henon — the majority leader — has been on the payroll at IBEW Local 98, one of the most powerful unions in the state, since he was elected to council in 2011. A former electrician from Northeast Philadelphia, Henon became the political director of the union and spent time lobbying for legislation that would have impacted its membership before he was elected.
In 2015, Henon made $71,711 from the union which listed his position only as “office” in its filings with the Department of Labor. His office didn’t respond to questions about what exactly the work with IBEW entails and he’s not listed as a top staffer on the union’s website. He has however received a boatload of political support from IBEW Local 98, which is arguably the most politically active union in the state and is run by John Dougherty, the connected union boss and head of the building trades labor groups.
In Henon’s post with IBEW, he reports directly to Dougherty and has praised the union leader as a pivotal person in his career. Without Dougherty, “I wouldn’t be where I’m at,” he told The Inquirer.
Brian O’Neill
Represents: District 10 – Parts of Northeast Philly
Party: Republican
Other source of income in 2015: O’Neill has long been an employee at Fox Rothschild, a large law firm here in Philly. The longtime Republican who represents parts of Northeast Philadelphia was, in 2004, seen as the target of ethics legislation proposed by Street that would have made it difficult for O’Neill to continue working for the firm. Ethics legislation backed by Street and sponsored by then-Councilman and would-be Mayor Michael Nutter had the potential to make it harder for City Council members to hold outside jobs. Some speculated O’Neill was the target of this because of votes he had cast against what Street wanted earlier that year.
O’Neill is still working as counsel at Fox Rothschild and his work there is some of the most controversial in terms of side jobs council members have, largely because the city has frequently awarded contracts to the firm. O’Neill has said he abstains from any vote with even of the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Cherelle Parker
Represents: District 9 – Parts of North and Northwest Philly
Party: Democrat
Other source of income in 2015: Parker is a freshman City Council member elected last year to represent District 9. She is a former state representative, so her source of income last year was her state salary. State representatives make about $85,000 a year (so you’ll note she got a nice pay bump in switching to local politics). Clearly, she’s no longer receiving this salary.
Mark Squilla
Represents: District 1 – Parts of South Philly east of Broad Street, Pennsport, Old City, Society Hill, Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Kensington and Port Richmond
Party: Democrat
Other source of income in 2015: The only secondary source of income listed on Squilla’s financial disclosure form is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. His chief of staff Anne Kelly King said this is his state pension that he receives. The city councilman who was elected in 2011 worked in the state Office of the Auditor General for 25 years prior.
At-large council members
Allan Domb
Represents: Entire city
Party: Democrat
Other source of income in 2015: Allan Domb’s accountant is very, very busy. Most city council members’ financial disclosure forms were a page, maybe two. Domb’s was more than a dozen and he listed every source of income he had last year, down to the unit numbers of the condos he owns. His sources of income included dozens of properties, condominiums, restaurants and firms including Allan Domb Real Estate, AD Mortgage Corporation, Schlesinger’s, Parc Rittenhouse, Pier Five Marina, West Bank Hospitality, Stephen Starr, Starr restaurant organization, Barclay restaurant group, SBI restaurant partners, 1801 Chestnut Associates, the list goes on… and on… and on.
Known as the “Condo King,” Domb was a well-known figure in the city’s real estate and restaurant circles who then spent millions of dollars bankrolling his run to serve as an at-large City Council member. He has vowed to make decisions on Council that are based on what’s best for the city, not his business interests. He’s also donating his entire $130,000 Council salary to the School District of Philadelphia.
Derek Green
Represents: Entire city
Party: Democrat
Other source of income in 2015: Freshman City Councilman Derek Green, a former aide to longtime Councilwoman Marian Tasco, listed two sources of income on his financial disclosure from last year in addition to his city salary. He made some cash last year through investments and also serving as counsel at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell and Hippel, a law firm with locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. A spokeswoman for his office said he’s still “Of Counsel” at Obermayer, a designation usually given to an attorney who has a relationship with a lawfirm but isn’t an associate or a partner. His bio on Obermayer’s website says his practice areas include litigation and government relations.
Helen Gym
Represents: Entire city
Party: Democrat
Other source of income in 2015: Gym is a freshman city councilwoman who was elected last year on a platform largely focused on education and children. Prior to being elected to serve on City Council, she was known in the community as a fierce advocate for public education. Last year, she made $9,600 serving as the interim executive director of Asian Americans United, a non-profit. That position ended Jan. 31 last year and she’s not currently employed with the group.
Gym also was paid by the University of Pennsylvania for leading a single class at the school, according to her spokesman. She no longer holds a position at Penn either.
David Oh
Represents: Entire city
Party: Republican
Other source of income in 2015: A lawyer by trade, City Councilman David Oh listed that he was on the payroll last year at Zarwin Baum Devito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, a lawfirm headquartered in Philadelphia with offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He’s listed as an immigration lawyer at the firm, but Oh said he’s no longer associated with Zarwin Baum and isn’t receiving income from them. He said his relationship with the firm ended at the beginning of 2015. Oh, who was elected to City Council in 2011, led his own firm for the better part of two decades that had merged with Zarwin Baum.
He now has an active license practicing law after there was some controversy that his law license had been suspended because he failed to pay a $200 renewal fee. However, he says he’s not practicing law or working for any entity besides the city.
Blondell Reynolds Brown
Represents: Entire city
Party: Democrat
Other source of income in 2015: The only other source of income for Reynolds Brown, an at-large city councilwoman first elected last year to serve her fifth term on council, is a rental property she owns located on North 33rd Street in West Philadelphia. It’s not clear how much money Reynolds Brown made last year from owning the property.
Al Taubenberger
Represents: Entire city
Party: Republican
Other source of income in 2015: Taubenberger was elected to City Council last year and in 2015 earned incomes from the Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. He served as the executive director at the Chamber, but is no longer on the payroll there, according to a spokesman. In 2014, he made about $67,000 a year at the Chamber, according to its federal tax forms. Taubenberger was receiving a stipend at the PPA for serving on its board, and while he is still a member of the board at the PPA, he’s doing it on a pro bono basis, the spokesman said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
You know how users initially reported all sorts of issues activating the Nexus 7 (2013) LTE and the Nexus 6 on Verizon shortly after they each launched, even though each device was technically fully capable of attaching to Verizon’s network? That whole situation stemmed from Verizon not having certified those devices at the time of the attempted activations. Since they weren’t certified, and likely not in Verizon’s systems, they couldn’t be activated, thus creating the issues. We walked you through all sorts of work-arounds, but it was still a problem. With the Moto X Pure Edition and its fully unlocked self arriving on doorsteps of many this week, we reached out to Verizon to see if customers would run into similar issues.
According to Verizon, “customers who purchase the Moto X Pure Edition from Motorola will be able to activate it fine on our network.” You heard it here first – the Moto X Pure Edition shouldn’t have any issues being activated on Verizon’s network. If you are activating a new line with Verizon or signing-up for new service, you should be able to head into a Verizon store and have your brand new Moto X Pure Edition activated like any other phone.
Now, if you already have Verizon service and a nano SIM, all of this doesn’t really matter to you. With an active line and compatible nano SIM, you can just swap the SIM from your current phone into the new Moto X Pure Edition and move about your day.
We should have our Moto X Pure Edition tomorrow and will be sure to test as many networks as possible, including Verizon’s. While we are running through that process, be sure to let us know if you run into any issues. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Warby Parker is today introducing virtual try-on to let shoppers select a pair of frames and instantly see how they look.
The tech was built on Apple’s ARKit, and the feature is only available to users on the Warby Parker iOS app on an iPhone X or later.
Warby Parker, which launched in 2010, attempted to implement a virtual try-on feature on its website, but pulled the feature shortly after it debuted. The issue?
With something like glasses, virtual try-on needs to be as close to reality as possible. Virtual objects can’t be overlaid “close to” the user’s face, but rather match up with all their facial curves, and the placement of the ears, eyes and nose.
“It was really our first time building out a full AR feature as a company, and there were two things that were really important,” said Sr. Director of E-Commerce and Consumer Insights Erin Collins. “The first was getting fit right, which was a technical challenge that required a bunch of revisions. And the second thing was making sure the frame images looked as photorealistic as possible, which meant getting 3D artists to digital render them and lots of revisions to get it pixel perfect on each pair of frames.”
The technology Warby Parker built uses a proprietary algorithm to perfectly place virtual frames on the user’s face. The feature also allows users to quickly snap a screenshot and share with others to get feedback on the frames.
Since inception, Warby Parker developed its e-commerce brand on the back of a relatively low-tech feature: in-home try-on. The company simply sent users five frames of their choice to try on at home and send back later, once they’d made their purchasing decision.
Collins sees the new virtual try-on as a great complement to that program, while offering a quick and convenient experience for repeat buyers.
“This will make it easier for returning customers to buy glasses without trying them on, but we’re really excited about it as a tool for people to narrow down their home try-on choices,” said Collins.
Warby Parker has raised a total of nearly $300 million in funding from investors such as T. Rowe Price, Tiger Global Management and General Catalyst. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
"The nature of reality is this:
It is hidden, and it is hidden, and it is hidden."
- Rumi, 13th-century Sufi mystic | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Best Place to Buy OSRS Accounts
May, 2020
Although If you Buy OSRS Accounts, you should expect a low chance of becoming a scam victim. Unfortunately, It's the opposite. RSGoCompare will show you the top places to buy accounts with confidence.
Free OSRS Accounts
Cheap OSRS Accounts shouldn't result in fewer safety measures. Ensure the seller is trusted and If you're unsure you can always ask for a second opinion.
OSRS Accounts for Sale
Now discover the Best Places to Buy OSRS Accounts. Read all related documentation and ensure that you're happy with your buy. Remember account safety tips given by Tigeris and shop with the most trusted.
OSRS Pure Accounts for Sale
OSRS Skiller Accounts for Sale
OSRS Main Accounts for Sale
OSRS Services
Original Owners can recover accounts. The entire market is paranoid as a result. Demand for accounts is high. Why not build your very own account from scratch on your terms.
FancyHire OSRS Services offer affordable services for players. Operating with Trusted Venezuelans and thousands of working hours already achieved. You're facing the new step of evolution for Runescape.
OSRS Trusted Gold Sites
RSGoCompare features the Best OSRS Gold Sites 2020 and updates pricing hourly. Find the best rates and payment methods with us.
Some account sellers won't accept your most convenient payment methods. But will accept OSGP at acceptable rates.
Summary
Best Place to Buy OSRS Accounts with RSGoCompare, If you enjoyed the read, please share.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A man linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States has been captured in Syria, according to the Pentagon.
“We can confirm that Mohammad Haydar Zammar, a Syrian-born German national was captured more than a month ago by SDF partners as part of their ongoing operations to defeat ISIS inside Syria,” Marine Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, told Military Times.
“This terrorist was captured during a unilateral operation by the Syrian Democratic Forces,” Rankine-Galloway said. “We are working with our SDF partners to obtain additional details.”
Zammar was named in the 9/11 Commission Report as an "outspoken, flamboyant Islamist" who extolled “the virtues of violent jihad.” He reportedly helped to recruit the lead 9/11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta, as well as other members of the “Hamburg cell,” according to the 9/11 Commission.
The commission identifies Zammar as a German citizen from Syria.
German and U.S. intelligence agencies had been aware of Zammar as early as the late 1990s. He reportedly trained in Afghanistan before moving to Germany, where he convinced members of the Hamburg cell to go to their own al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan, according to the commission’s report.
After the 9/11 attacks, Zammar was detained by German authorities, but ultimately released, according to the BBC.
Zammar was later detained in Morocco and flown to Syria on a CIA-affiliated aircraft in the early 2000s, according to Reuters.
× Fear of missing out? Sign up for the Early Bird Brief - a daily roundup of military and defense news stories from around the globe. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to the Early Bird Brief.
Mohammed Haydar Zammar leaves a mosque in Hamburg, Germany, in 2001. (Knut Mueller/Der Spiegel via AP)
Zammar was sentenced by a Syrian court in 2007 to 12 years in prison, Reuters reported. His lawyer maintained that Zammar was not connected to the terror attacks, and only attended the same mosques as the hijackers.
After the Syrian Civil War began, however, Zammar was used in a prisoner exchange between Syrian government officials and Ahrar al-Sham — an Islamist rebel group with a Sunni Salafist bent.
After the exchange, Zammar eventually appeared to connect on some level with Islamic State fighters, based on a picture of him attending a meeting with them in 2014 that was published by ISIS’ media wing al-Furqan.
“This is a strong reminder of the threat posed by ISIS and its network of foreign terrorist fighters that continue to plot to do harm against the Syrian people and the international community,” Rankine-Galloway said.
“Much fighting remains to defeat the residual pockets of ISIS and to ensure its lasting defeat in the region. With this terrorist leader's capture, the SDF have once again proven their effectiveness and ability to disrupt and degrade the ISIS terrorist network in Syria,” Rankine-Galloway added. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
RT’s interview with the Nordic Resistance Movement’s Swedish leader Simon Lindberg went from migrant talk to a shock endorsement of Adolf Hitler’s policies and blaming of Jews. His party is about to run in the general election.
The Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) held a rally in Stockholm on Saturday, facing off counter-protesters, who decried its members as neo-Nazis. The pan-Nordic group was registered as a political party in Sweden back in 2015 and is now readying for its very first general election in two weeks.
Lindberg described the ultimate goal of the NRM as “securing the existence of our people.” The phrase is an apparent nod to the so-called ‘14 words’ slogan, coined by David Lane – notorious white supremacist and neo-Nazi from the US.
“We want to take back the country from the traitors at the parliament,” Lindberg told RT’s Maria Finoshina, claiming that “between 20 and 30 percent of the inhabitants in Sweden is non-European.” The Swedes are soon to become a minority, the NRM leader believes, and eventually even can “cease to exist” in their own country.
“It’s already too late to just stop the immigration. We must kick them back,” he added.
Read more
Members of the NRM do not like being described as neo-Nazis, branding those who call them so “brainwashed,” but at the same time do not hide their fondness for the policies of National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), better known as the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler. But Lindberg went even further, and didn’t shy away from praising Hitler personally and on camera.
Calling the Nazi leader “a very very good person for German people,” he claimed that Hitler “freed Germany from the globalists and the bankers, that have a grip over Sweden today.”
“He did what was necessary to secure his people’s freedom,” Lindberg went on. “We’re National Socialists, as Hitler was and we do whatever it takes to take our nation back.”
Germany’s infamous Fuhrer is surrounded with “a million lies,” which many “not so [well-thinking]” people do believe, Lindberg claimed. Other extremely controversial statements of the NRM leader included branding the Holocaust “probably the biggest lie in history,” as well as a bizarre claim that “Jews declared war on Germany.”
Following the shock interview, RT reached several counter protesters for comment, who were appalled by Lindberg’s remarks. One protester said that “Hitler took 95 percent” of her family in concentration camps.
“I cannot believe he said that Hitler was a good guy. That must be a cause for police to intervene,” another protester said.
Besides the heated and highly controversial rhetoric though, the rally and the counter-protest ended without any major incidents.
The Scandinavian country, which has a long tradition of welcoming refugees, has seen a rise in far-right and anti-immigration sentiment, fueled by a surge in gang violence. Over the past few years, dozens of Swedes were injured or lost their lives in attacks in suburbs dominated by immigrant communities. An estimated 400,000 people filed for asylum in Sweden since 2012.
The issue of crime and immigration has become a central theme ahead of the September 9 election, where the NRM wants to present 24 candidates to the public, hoping to pass the four percent threshold to enter parliament.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Many of the wonders and buildings you can place Great Works into have slots for more than one work. In such buildings, there is an optional Theming Bonus that will give you extra base tourism; usually +2 in a building with two slots, +3 in a building with three, and +4 in a building with four.
Each building/wonder with a theming bonus available has different requirements to earn it. Sometimes, you need to have all the works be from the same civilization and era, sometimes all from different civilizations and eras, sometimes it may be something as complex as "Must have two Great Works of Art and two Artifacts, all of which are from different eras and civilizations".
You can see all your theming bonuses from the new Culture Overview screen, in the "Your Culture" page which lists all your Great Works and their locations. To see the requirements you'll need to meet for any building that has more than one slot, hover over the large number to the right of the slots; that number is your current theming bonus, and hovering over it should bring up a tooltip with the details needed to get the bonus.
A quick browse through the Civilopedia lists the following as having more than one slot: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A new study in the journal Neuroethics claims that socially conservative views are between 5 to 30 times more likely to be related to anti-social traits than socially liberal views.
Last year Marcus Arvan, of the University of Tampa, came under fire when he showcased his theory in another paper. Now he has returned with even more data which, he insists, shows that socially conservative views are statistically linked to three anti-social personality traits: Machiavellianism (deception), narcissism (overinflated sense of self-worth) and psychopathy (absence of guilt or remorse).
The earlier study linked views on the death penalty, gay marriage, free markets, the right to go to war against UN resolutions and detention of suspected terrorists without trial to “the Dark Triad”. His latest paper replicates his earlier findings and lists 22 more significant relationships, including:
preventing illegal immigration, deporting illegal immigrants, building a fence along the US-Mexican border, making English the official US language, not providing public schooling to the children of illegal immigrants, teaching “intelligent design” in public schools, “enhanced interrogation techniques” (including waterboarding), defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, obeying UN rules, climate change, environmentalism
Dr Arvan insists there is only a 1 in 100,000 chance that his findings are wrong. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Karl Fallenius has been working on getting his Owlbear Barbecue open at 2826 Larimer Street since last summer; the main delays have been from receiving the proper permits from the city, since the overall project doesn't exactly follow the standard out-of-box restaurant model. For one thing, Fallenius has two hand-built smokers made from empty 500-gallon propane tanks in the parking lot in front of the building. Or at least he did until earlier in the week, when two masked criminals stole the doors of one of the smokers, making it unusable.
The incident occurred before dawn on Monday, January 29, but Fallenius didn't discover it until Wednesday morning,when he was visiting the property. Immediately suspecting foul play, he called the police and also checked with his friends at neighboring Our Mutual Friend Brewing Company, which has a security camera on the outside wall of the brewery. After reviewing the recording, Fallenius came to the conclusion that the vandalism may have been an act of intentional sabotage.
A white van was caught on surveillance video. Still from Our Mutual Friend video.
That Monday morning, two men in dark clothing, ski hats and masks pulled up in a white, unmarked van, possibly with the license plates covered. They parked next to Owlbear's smokers and began removing the doors with a cordless tool before pulling out an extension cord, plugging it into the wall just below Our Mutual Friend's camera, and finishing the job with an angle grinder. It's clear from the video that the perpetrators knew exactly what they were doing and were efficient in their actions.
"They didn't damage anything else on the smoker," says Fallenius. "They were pretty quick and clean about it."
A perpetrator plugs an extension cord into Our Mutual Friend's wall outlet. Still from Our Mutual Friend video.
The Owlbear pit master also points out that nothing else was taken (despite the presence of other scrap metal and equipment) and that the doors are only worth a few dollars on the scrap-metal market. And because the doors were made directly from the propane tanks, it would be very difficult to fit them onto another smoker.
That design also makes the doors difficult to replace. "I'm not even sure how I'm going to fix it," he adds. "The doors are part of the tank."
Despite the setback, Fallenius says the difficult permitting process is nearly behind him, and he hopes to open Owlbear in a few months. He'll be contacting some local steel-manufacturing companies to see if they can create new doors, but he really hopes tips or surveillance footage from other neighborhood businesses help locate the stolen ones.
And fortunately, there's still one working smoker, which he'll be firing up on February 10 for a rauchbier (a German-style smoke beer) release party at Bierstadt Lagerhaus just a couple of blocks away. But he'll need both smokers to keep up with demand once the restaurant is ready to open and blow the doors of the competition.
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Lucknow, Jan 4 (Zee News): Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa asking Muslims to avoid families that raise 'haram' (illegitimate) money earned from a banking job and instead look for a "pious" family while considering marriage proposals.
The seminary gave its diktat to a query from a person in which he had stated that he had a few proposals for marriage from families where the father earned money from a banking job in India.
"Obviously, the family is raised on 'haram' money. Is it preferable to marry in such families?" he had sought to know from the fatwa section of Darul Uloom (Darul Ifta).
In its reply, the seminary's fatwa said, "Marrying in such a family is avoidable and not preferable. Those who are nourished with 'haram' (illegitimate) wealth usually they are not good in respect to instinct and morals. Hence, it should be avoided. One should find out a match in some pious family."
The Islamic Law or Shariat prohibits paying any fee for renting of money (called riba) for specific periods of time.
It also prohibits any sort of investment in businesses that are considered 'haram' or against the principles of Islam.
It is largely believed that these principles have been derived from the Quran and have been in practice since then.
In Islam, money has no intrinsic value; money, therefore, cannot be sold at a profit and is permitted to be used as per Shariat only.
Islamic banks work on the principles of an interest-free banking. Riba or interest under Islamic law basically means anything in excess - the investor should not make an undue profit from the hard work of the other.
The banks invest the money collected by them in something that is Shariat compliant, that is not haraam and does not involve high risks. Thus, businesses involving alcohol, drugs and war weapons as well as all other high risk and speculative activities are prohibited.
While Islamic Banking is prevalent and is common in Islamic countries, there are plenty of non-Islamic countries that are now opening Islamic "windows" in conventional banks.
These are departments within the banks and they offer Shariat compliant products to customers. China, United Kingdom, United States, Germany are some of the countries that offer Islamic windows.
In India, introduction of Islamic Banking was mooted by Raghuram Rajan in 2008 in his report on the Financial Sector.
As an honorary economic adviser to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he had recommended that interest-free banking techniques should be operated on a larger scale so as to give access to those who are unable to access banking services, including those belong to economically disadvantaged sections of the society.
The recent proposal of RBI for opening of an Islamic Banking window has received mixed reactions from many especially in the light of the recent Uniform Civil Code debate. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Expert Restoration & Cleaning Services Inc. offers comprehensive water damage restoration in Naples, FL, using high-powered equipment and the latest tools to achieve the best possible results for you. Our primary goal is to restore your home to its original state and appearance while making the entire process less stressful.
We have years of experience in the industry, which has given us the knowledge and the skills to provide outstanding service that you can count on. Our services include:
Completely Structural Drying
Odor Control
Locating Hidden Moisture with Non-Invasive Testing
Moisture Cleaning
24/7 Emergency Service
Our technicians are up to date on all advances in the field, and we use only the most reliable and trusted methods for maximum extraction of moisture. With non-invasive methods, such as thermal imaging, we are able to find hidden moisture without further damaging the structure. If needed, we’ll go in with penetrative instruments, simply to make sure that we get your home or office thoroughly dried and secure again..
Time is of the essence in the event of a pipe bursting, a sink overflowing, or a toilet backing up. In order to reduce costs and contain the damage, we are ready to respond in a matter of minutes, and we are on hand to provide emergency water damage cleaning.
Contact us today, and we’ll be sure to respond quickly so that you can have peace of mind again soon. Call us at 239-641-9953. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
From a former Redditor:
I'm not a doctor, but I'm a nurse. I work with geriatric patients and there was this incident about three years ago. Before I explain, let me say that I DON'T believe in ghosts.
Anyway, this one time I was working the night shift and I was super sleepy so I decided to skip lunch because I wasn't hungry and go to my car and sleep for 30 min. I got inside my car, covered myself with my sweater, set the timer on my phone and immediately knocked out.
I'm dreaming, but in my dream I'm still awake just sitting there. Someone taps on my car window and I see that its one of my patients (we'll call her Dee). Surprised I asked Dee what the hell shes doing outside and she tells me she is looking for her daughter. I tell her to go back inside and that we will call her daughter in the morning. My patient becomes angry and starts banging on my car window. I kinda freak out and try to reach for the door handle to get out and calm her down, but I quickly realize I can't move. Let me add that I frequently experience sleep paralysis, so even though I am asleep, I realize what is happening.
I fight it and try squirming my body in an attempt to wake myself up. I finally manage to wake up and my heart is racing and my forehead is a bit sweaty. I sit there for about a min, realize it was all a dream and roll the window down to cool myself off.
My break is over and I clock back in and see that my supervisor and two other nurses and huddled in front of a room. I am still by the station clocking when they see me and call me over. I walk over thinking maybe something was wrong with the ventilator or the patient fell, but my supervisor tells me Dee died while I was on my lunch break. Since most of our patients are DNR, I was not paged. It took a couple of seconds for the message to register and I freaked out internally. I got goosebumps but didn't mention anything to my supervisor about the dream.
I don't believe in ghosts or anything like that and I mostly likely had that dream because she was the last patient I interacted with before my break, so she was still on my mind and I was mentally going over my patients charts in my head. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Greetings, reading rainbow raiders! It’s a pretty good batch of mail this week, if I do say so myself. We explore the nature of storytelling and the difficulties of religious tolerance, but I also get to talk about poop and fictional characters’ genitals! God I love my job.
Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun
Jason from Battleworld: Being from the future and having no doubt studied the long history of our modern day nerds, could you explain to me what the deal with Squirrel Girl is? And by that, I am referring to that nearly every comment section on any article talking about comics will have between 1 and 15 people say, “They should put Squirrel Girl in this book, she’d beat (insert literally ANY villain name here) no problem.” followed by posts of “Yeah, she beat Galactus/Thanos/etc.” Now, that is all well and good, but aren’t the people who post comments about how Squirrel Girl is AWESOME because her power allows her to beat any villain by being just a little more powerful than they are the exact same people who make complain that Superman sucks because he is too powerful and thus boring? I haven’t read any of her books, but it would sound like there is no real conflict/tension to the stories. Now, no doubt the fanboys of your time have evolved beyond being hypocritical so I wanted your take. I would be fine if people said, “I love Squirrel Girl because of writing/art/quirky character design,” but all I ever hear is “dude, she totally kicked Thanos’ butt and she could beat ANYONE!” Please weigh in.
Well, yes and no. You’re technically correct—the best kind of correct!—that the complaint is the same for both characters, but the expectations of those characters are vastly different. Squirrel Girl is meant to be comedic, and Superman is not. Comedies get a lot more latitude, because you don’t need dramatic tension when you’re providing laughs. But Superman is not a comedy, and thus requires dramatic tension to hold our interest. In this sense, this is purely Superman’s problem, and not SG’s.
Let me put it this way: At the end of the day, we both know that Squirrel Girl, Superman and pretty much any other superhero will end their stories by beating the bad guys (did you really think Batman V. Superman is going to end with Bats and Supes not saving the day or being BFFs? Did you really have any doubt the Avengers would beat Ultron and Loki?). The question is how will they make the story of Superman/Batman/Etc. defeating this foe interesting? For Squirrel Girl, the answer is almost always interesting because her power is talking to squirrels. We know she’s going to beat Dr. Doom, Galactus and Thanos somehow, but we can’t imagine how—and that’s what we want to see.
Where Superman runs into trouble is that most writers don’t know how to give Superman a worthwhile conflict, a problem that he shouldn’t be able to solve or a bad guy he can’t just beat up in about two minutes. Often, writers find ways to depower Superman to make the fight more challenging; sometimes they give a justification in the story, but more often they just ignore or forget the solutions Superman has on hand, and hope you forget or ignore them too.
In that sense, the character has too much power—that writers don’t know how to give him an exciting challenge. But this isn’t an impossible task, by the way. I’ve said it many times, but all you need to do read Superman stories where Superman is at his most powerful, and yet still facing genuinely formidable problems, is pick up Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman. Again, the best Superman stories aren’t where he has to out-punch somebody—that’s practically 85% or every Superman story ever told—but how he has to find solutions to problems he can’t just punch, or heat-vision or freeze-breath his way out of.
But anyways! Obviously, stories where you don’t know what’s going to happen can be fantastic—I don’t have the faintest clue where Game of Thrones is going now, and I love it—but stories that fit into a prescribed form, which is pretty much most superhero stories can also be fantastic, because we want to experience the conflict, not the end of it. “It’s the journey not the destination is a cliché”, but it’s certainly true.
Fear Itself
Daryl’s Crossbow Repairman: I don’t get the point of Fear the Walking Dead. We already know how the show’s going to end – zombie apocalypse. Isn’t the show just going to us watching as these people slowly figure out what is going on? Won’t it be irritating to watch them try and figure out what is happening when we already know its zombies? How is that not completely boring?
Obviously it’ll be irritating to some people—and that’s fine—but I’m still looking forward to it. The reason I believe The Walking Dead has been so popular is because unlike every other zombie story, it doesn’t end, and it’s fascinating to see characters survive, but have to continue to survive in an ongoing nightmare, and how it affects them. I’ve said this before, but George Romero’s zombie movies take place at various time points after the zombie apocalypse, but they’re mostly self-contained stories. In TWD, the characters are unable to escape the world, and thus it changes them and wears on them in ways you never see in zombie movies.
Now it’s true we know the eventual destination of Fear the Walking Dead, but by the same token, I’m really looking forward to seeing a story take its time with the zombie apocalypse. Most zombie movies begin with a quick montage of the world ending in order to establish the setting (e.g. the opening of 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake, which is probably one of the finest things Zack Snyder has ever directed). It’s something that most zombie stories have to get out of the way. But the world doesn’t end it once, it falls apart slowly, over time. I think seeing civilization crumble throughout the course of the show through the eyes of a few otherwise normal families has the potential to be pretty fascinating.
Reason to Disbelieve
3ponin3: This may be a weird question, but your little thing at the ends says I can ask you anything, so here goes: I’m an atheist. I’m not a preachy atheist who mocks religious people (at least I hope not) but I do tend to assume people I like and respect and think are smart are also atheists, or at least agnostic. So when I find out one of these people are really religious, I’m always taken aback — and kind of disappointed. Does this make me a bad person?
I’ve actually had the exact same feelings. I don’t think it’s that unusual. Perhaps you religious people can tell me in the comments if you also tend to assume that people you like and admire are your same religion, or even just religious. I don’t think it’s that weird to project
I had a friend once who actually had the greatest term for that feeling when you get bummed out upon finding a celebrity you like is also super-religious, or a Scientologist, or etc.: “A crisis of faithlessness,” a moment that disturbs you enough to momentarily doubt your own lack of belief. If so-and-so is so smart and funny and believes in such-and-such, could it be possible I’m the one who’s wrong? It’s a great term. Use it in your next conversation! Anyways, unless you’re publicly denouncing these people for their beliefs, or denigrating them to their faces for their “stupidity” in believing in some kind of bearded sky-lord and you just keep it to yourself, you are not a bad person.
In fact, this exact situation has actually made me more tolerant of religious people. I don’t know who knows this, but one of my favorite entertainers in the world, Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax is a very conservative Christian, which blew my mind given the many of not-at-all conservative jokes he’s told over the years. Eventually I came to realize I was trying to condemn him for his beliefs, which is just as awful as someone condemning someone else for their lack of beliefs. So Nelson helped me realize that just like I wouldn’t want someone to stereotype me as an immoral hedonist, I shouldn’t assume one’s faith and politics can mean they can’t be completely tolerant, extremely intelligent, and unbelievably funny. Just something to keep in mind.
Nosferat-poo
BooUrns: Do vampires poop? While watching the hilarious What We Do in the Shadows for about the tenth time the other night, Lady BooUrns and I pontificated this very question of vampire biology. There are moments of the film where Nick the Vampire mentions the downsides to vampirism, such as no daytime TV, and he can’t eat chips. Viago lists drinking human blood as the only real negative. Not pooping would be quite the upside to me. Being able to travel the world over after dark would be much easier if I didn’t have to worry about finding a toilet. That’s one stress in my life I could do without when travelling overseas. I’d argue it would be worth a supernatural life on earth and eternal damnation if I never had to poo again.
I have some very bad news for any would-be vampires out there.
First of all, if you’re a human and drink a lot of blood, you’re going to die. Blood of course has a lot of iron, and the human body only needs a certain amount of it. Any kind of regular blood drinking would give you a toxic level of iron, which is very bad news for your liver, heart and testicles (it’s called haemochromatosis, FYI).
So obviously vampires have a way to avoid iron build-up, and it makes sense to look at the vampire bat, who does drink blood as part of its regular diet and does not live in testicular agony. The vampire bat has a special lining in their intestines which lets the blood pass into the body to nourish it, while keeping out all the extra iron they can’t handle. And how do vampire bats get rid of this iron? They poop.
But this isn’t regular poop. Because blood is a liquid, the poop is also liquid—a black, sticky, gooey liquid which I imagine looks exactly like the goo in Prometheus and smells terrible. And because it’s liquid, vampire bats aren’t able to hold it in particularly well, meaning they poop this disgusting substance mere minutes after they drink blood (obviously it takes very little time for the stomach to digest blood, it’s already almost totally broken down).
Maaaaaybe vampirism also bestows greater control over one’s sphincter, but that’s a pretty big maybe. I think there’s a decent chance that every vampire we’ve ever seen also happens to be wearing an adult diaper under their clothes.
The good news is that you can actually buy that adorable Vampire Poop plush shown above over at CindyMakes. And you should! It’s adorable.
Mantle Peace
Anon.: Hello Mr. Postman! I have two questions. 1) First, why is it that the overwhelming majority of superhero identities are mantles one can pass on to another person? (Besides $$$) Doesn’t that ruin the prominence of the heroes? I’d venture to say that’s the reason Superman/Wonder Woman aren’t mantles that can be passed down and why Dick Grayson was also so reluctant to be Batman. 2) Also, what are the chances we see Martian Manhunter in the DCCU or is his power set too close to Superman?
1) Honestly, any superhero mantle can be passed down, or at least co-opted: Artemis has been Wonder Women for a while, and in the (not good) Future’s End series Shazam masquerades as Superman, although he had to wear a motorcycle helmet on his head to hide his real identity (it was dumb).
Anyways, there are few reasons why heroes pass on their mantles. It’s definitely an easy way to show a character’s larger-than-life status — that the people of the comics need the idea of the hero more than the individual hero him or herself. It’s not Bruce Wayne who scares the pee out of criminals, it’s Batman — so when Bruce Wayne gets his back broken or dies, someone else comes to take him place until he gets better.
Another aspect is that then you get to explore the character and the hero by separating them. What is Steve Rogers like when he isn’t Captain America? How does losing that aspect of his identity affect him? What part is Captain America, and which is Rogers? There are both very popular storylines for a reason.
2) I wouldn’t rule him out of appearing in the Justice League movie, or more likely a second Justice League movie. But he won’t get his own film, because the Justice League cartoon aside he’s a second-tier DC character, as evidenced by the fact that he’s not been part of the JL in comics since the New 52 relaunch. Besides, I think WB/DC will have its hands so full with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern Corps, Flash, Shazam and Sandman that they won’t even bother trying to give ol’ J’onn J’onzz his own vehicle.
Krillin Me Softly
Brad E.: You’ve talked about superhero genitalia all the time, so I thought I’d ask something different – who is the most well-endowed character in anime?
I gotta go with Goku from Dragonball Z, and here’s my reasoning. Goku is married to Chichi, who he met and accidentally promised to marry when they were like eight or so, back in the days before the title gained its “Z” suffix. When Dragonball Z starts, Goku and Chichi have been married for a few years and have a kid.
Now as anyone who’s watched DBZ knows, Chichi hates Goku. Not even just hates—she yells at him constantly for being a crappy dad and husband, without cutting him the slightest bit of slack for saving the world on multiple occasions. She doesn’t like that he fights, and fighting is the core of Goku’s being—it’s almost literally all he does. Frankly, it doesn’t seem like Chichi even likes Goku, let alone loves him. So what else could Goku possibly bring to this relationship, when she doesn’t like him, his interests, or anything he does? What would make her have not one but two children with this man she can barely seem to tolerate?
His dragon and its balls, obviously.
Also, when Goku turns Super Saiyan, his muscles get bigger, his hair gets bigger, and his stamina increases 100-fold. You do the math.
Advertisement | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Pinkie can break the 4th wall and fire herself... LEGIT
also the party cannon is redundant when the aforementioned weapon is already there >_> JUSTSAYING | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Ellison Kelly, an iron man on the offensive line, helped his Hamilton Tiger-Cats win three Grey Cup football championships in the 1960s. He never missed a game in his 13-season Canadian Football League career, suiting up for 175 consecutive games before retiring at the end of the 1972 season.
Mr. Kelly, who died of heart failure on Feb. 11 in Hamilton at the age of 80, was known as a quiet, spiritual man both on the field and in the locker room. Away from the stadium, he worked as a substitute teacher in Hamilton during his playing days and later became athletic director at a jail.
He was a perennial all-star in the Eastern conference, winning honours eight times in 13 seasons. He was also named to the league's all-star team four times. The Ticats were a powerhouse during his tenure with the team, advancing to six Grey Cup games. The team was known for its stingy defence and the fearsome hitting of such stars as Angelo Mosca.
Story continues below advertisement
Football's offensive line is a front-line trench for large men whose job it is to protect the quarterback and open paths for runners. When guards and tackles fail, a quarterback is sacked, or a running back tackled.
When a play unfolds as planned, all eyes are on the attacking player, not on the anonymous behemoth who executed the perfect block. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Mr. Kelly was a stalwart as both a guard and a tackle with a reputation for having excellent technique. It was his burden that The better he was at his job, the less he was noticed by fans.
Twenty years after he retired, Mr. Kelly was at last inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Ellison Lamar Kelly was born on May 17, 1935, in Butler, Ga. He was the first of five children and the only son born to Maggie (née Collier) and John West Kelly, a Baptist deacon. The family moved to Lake City, Fla., where the boy enjoyed a bucolic childhood despite the lack of electricity and running water in the family home and the occasional run-in with Florida's exotic wildlife. One night while visiting the outhouse, he heard a rustling outside. Fearing an alligator, he hid in the outhouse until daybreak, only to emerge to discover his concerned parents had called the police to search for a missing son.
The family later moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where the father worked on the assembly line of a Ford factory before becoming a supervisr. Ellison starred at Sandusky High in the classroom and on the field, earning all-state honours as a tackle for the Blue Streaks. He was also a superb basketball player, boxer and track athlete in the discus and shot put, the latter in which he set a school record that would last 20 years.
A football scholarship took him to Michigan State University in East Lansing, where he played a key role as a two-way player with the Spartans under coach Duffy Daugherty. He became a first stringer toward the end of his sophomore season before being named to the Big Ten all-conference teams at guard in 1957 and 1958. Mr. Kelly also earned academic honours for combining scholarship with athleticism before graduating with a degree in business administration.
The New York Giants of the National Football League drafted the guard in the fifth round (No. 59 overall) of the 1959 draft. He signed an $8,000 (U.S.) contract with a $1,000 signing bonus and saw spot duty in 12 games for the Giants that season. He roomed with Roosevelt (Rosey) Grier and enjoyed some of the entertainments available for a professional athlete in New York, attending shows at Manhattan night spots, where he met the likes of Tina Turner and Louis Armstrong. He also formed a friendship with singer Sam Cooke, both men sharing a background as African-American "PKs" (preacher's kids) from the South.
Story continues below advertisement
The Giants cut Mr. Kelly just before the start of the 1960 NFL season, a decision he felt unfair and the result of an unacknowledged quota on the number of black players on the roster. Four days later, he made his Canadian debut with the Ticats, who were midway through a rebuilding campaign. He became a fixture in the team's bumblebee livery for the next decade.
"I bleed black and gold," he said when his uniform No. 54 was added to the Wall of Honour at Ivor Wynne Stadium in a 1998 ceremony. He was named to the league's all-star team as a guard in 1964 and as a tackle in 1969, 1970 and 1971.
In May, 1971, he was traded to the Toronto Argonauts for linebacker Mike Blum. Mr. Kelly played in his seventh and final Grey Cup title game that fall, a contest settled in favour of the Calgary Stampeders after an untouched Leon McQuay slipped, fell and fumbled on the slick Vancouver turf.
Years later, Mr. Kelly testified in a lawsuit by a football player who alleged that clubs encouraged drug use among players; he said that coaching staffs looked the other way and that "pills were an invisible thing" in team clubhouses (in the end, the suit was settled out of court). In 1972, Mr. Kelly had told a reporter that benzedrine and dexedrine were common in the league in the 1960s, when "everybody was all bennied up."
Even after retiring as a player, Mr. Kelly remained a fixture at home football games in Hamilton. He served for many years as one of the judges in the awarding of weekly CFL awards.
Mr. Kelly was a popular figure among inmates at the maximum-security Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre, where he provided opportunities for recreation and exercise. He loved the job, as the prisoners dared not cross the recreational director for fear of losing their privileges. He played table tennis with violent criminals while telling them stories about his pro-athlete days.
Story continues below advertisement
Mr. Kelly leaves two sons, three daughters, a step-daughter, and extended family. He was predeceased by his first wife Donna (née Bryant), from whom he was divorced and who died in 1989, and by his second wife, Sheila (née Clarke), who died in 2014.
In 1964, Mr. Kelly was invited by Vince Lombardi to try out for the Green Bay Packers. Settled in Hamilton with his children in school, he decided not to take the risk, a decision that haunted him for years. Only his induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame nearly three decades later at long last eased his mind.
"The ghost had been released," Mr. Kelly said at the time. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Article content continued
Gerstein, a senior Conservative senator in charge of the Conservative Fund of Canada, a party fund, is also named in the document as having been in the know about the deal. Gerstein did not respond to requests for comment.
Woodcock joined the prime minister’s office in December 2010 as an issues manager after spending a year as director of issues management at Treasury Board Secretariat, according to his LinkedIn page. That means he would have arrived around the same time as Wright, who joined Harper’s office in November 2010 and became chief in January 2011.
Woodcock became PMO director of issues management in July 2011, according to his LinkedIn page. In that role, Woodcock is in charge of coming up with solutions and troubleshooting politically sensitive issues that may arise.
Van Hemmen was Wright’s personal assistant and reported directly to him. He remains executive assistant to current chief of staff Ray Novak, the longtime Harper adviser who replaced Wright after he resigned.
The RCMP document says that Harper was not aware of the “arrangement” between Duffy and Wright.
“If what the prime minister is saying is true that this all went on under his nose and nobody told him … then what’s he going to do about it?” Angus said. “Right now, he seems to be very lackadaisical about the fact that we’re talking about payoffs, cover-up and potential fraud.”
Harper has denied any knowledge of the deal. On the weekend, he told a crowd in Calgary that he was answering to the best of his knowledge when on June 5 he told the House of Commons that Wright didn’t tell anyone in the PMO about the secret deal with Duffy. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
A man was sitting in a car near Millennium Park in the Loop when a man jumped out of a Porsche, indicated he had a weapon and ordered him out Thursday evening, Chicago police said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
In honor of the historical gig his band played there during the 1994 siege of the city, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson was made an honorary citizen of Sarajevo during a ceremony on the liberation of the city in 1945.
The singer’s famous show, which was the subject of the documentary Scream For Me Sarajevo, took place during the 1992-5 war in Bosnia, a conflict that cost the country over 13,000 lives. The concert was lauded as bringing hope to a wartorn city desperately trying to survive an unfathomable attack.
According to AP, Mayor Abdullah Skaka awarded Bruce with his citizenship at a ceremony in Sarajevo City Hall.
“The arrival of Mr. Dickinson in Sarajevo in 1994 was one of those moments that made us in Sarajevo realize that we will survive, that the city of Sarajevo will survive, that Bosnia-Herzegovina will survive,” says Mayor Skaka.
“It’s a great honor to be given the honorary citizenship of Sarajevo,” said Bruce. “In a world where things only last for about five seconds on social media … people are still remembering it. That’s really quite something. This is a brilliant day, a lovely day and it’s great to be back.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
What if the Supreme Court rules decisively against Harvard in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College? Will racial preferences fade into history as has Prohibition? Or will universities employ legally safe proxies such as social class to admit less qualified minorities?
Let me suggest one resistance tactic not yet on the agenda but, rest assured, it will show up: challenging the definition of “merit” that underlies the SAT, MCAT, GRE’s and similar tests. To be sure, racial and ethnic differences in these scores are probably intractable but developing new tests to replace old “racist” ones might narrow gaps sufficient for judges to conclude “close enough” to escape the verdict of racial discrimination.
For fans of preferences, this quest is relatively simple, and I suspect that woke Education Testing Service (ETS) psychometricians are already at work, given the firm’s financial incentives.
Let me try to predict the possible transformation of “merit.”
[Bow Down to Diversity or Risk Your Academic Career]
First, regardless of opinions regarding racial preferences, we can all agree that no Platonic “merit” exists akin to the precisely defined meter. The Bureau of Standards could hardly be asked to develop such a measure, so the ETS (or anybody else) can freely offer its own, scientifically appearing tests. “Merit” is socially constructed.
Second, test construction resembles sausage-making sans any labeling of ingredients; recipes are constantly being reformulated. Even the federal government once played this deceitful game beginning in 1981 with a tactic called race norming until it was banned in 1991. Here the top scores of blacks were equated with the top scores of whites even when blacks scored substantially lower to give the illusion of zero racial differences. Remember when SAT scores were “re-centered,” a highly technical, almost impenetrable process, and perhaps purposely so. The ETS may insist that their tests are the gold standard, but the value of gold can often be invisibly manipulated, and purity cannot be assumed.
One feature of the SAT is especially rich for fiddling racial gaps concerns incorporating test items heavy on abstract cognitive ability (“g-loaded in psychometric parlance). These items are both excellent predictors of academic success and, critically, award Asians and whites advantages over blacks and Hispanics. That understood, who determines the “correct” proportion of high g-loaded questions to those that measure cultural knowledge disproportionally found among African Americans?
What about adding vocabulary probably unknown to culturally unsophisticated Asians? Recall the almost forgotten debate over the term “regatta” in the SAT since few blacks, allegedly, were unfamiliar with that “Waspy” term. Conversely, there are so-called “black IQ” tests where African Americans outscore whites. It would not take much effort to eliminate questions that show sizable racial/ethnic differences provided everything was done slowly; test-takers, even admission officers, might not notice a radical altering of “merit.”
Even staunch defenders of today’s ETS-supplied “merit” version admit its shortcomings. There are college drop-outs with perfect 800 scores and those who excelled academically though with middling test scores (e.g., President Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law School graduate). While the SAT and similar tests generally predict worldly success, they are far from perfect, so there is always a constituency for making changes.
It is especially important to realize that standardized tests are totally unregulated and while ETS has been sued over the SAT, these suits are about cheating or access for the disabled, not the test itself. No FDA-like government agency certifies validity or that the test is “fair” or meets as credible scientific standard. This hardly gives ETS a free hand, but constraints are market driven—ensuring that schools require it for admission.
Let me suggest a possible intellectual framework that will guide transforming. The coup de grâce to the current definition of merit may well be the introduction of a three-decades-old idea with an excellent intellectual pedigree—multiple intelligences, as explicated by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner. In a nutshell, Gardner argues that other “intelligences” exist (at least eight, maybe nine) besides the cognitive one measured by IQ. These include visual/spatial, linguistic/verbal, musical, interpersonal with logical-mathematical intelligence being the closest to the standard understanding of IQ. (A similar alternative to IQ is “emotional intelligence.”)
[Loyalty Oaths, Diversity Mandates, Faculty ‘Training’ at San Diego State]
To be sure, Gardner’s “intelligences” have been roundly criticized (usually as being just talents) but it has defenders, especially in schools of education, and there is no reason why his ideas cannot be incorporated into the admission process just as Harvard currently employs personality measures to exclude Asian applicants. More to the point, Harvard already uses two of Gardner’s “intelligences”– bodily-kinesthetic that favor admitting athletes while musical intelligence is the standard for accepting band members or those who will study music. And let’s not forget the cousin of Gardner’s approach—the already popular “holistic admissions” in which an otherwise academically unqualified applicant receives credit for a mishmash of non-cognitive talents. Surely it is arguable that the incorporation of at least some of these traits into the SAT itself is hardly racial.
And what if these new tests fail to predict with 100% accuracy classroom performance and that admitted minorities disproportionally flunk out? The rejoinder is simple: ditto for the current tests. Keep in mind that most of the controversy about test construction is about admission and not degrees (including degrees in majors such as Black Studies), and at least those admitted with these new “more encompassing” tests get an opportunity, and who can oppose opportunity? You can always just blame the school and professors for not paying greater attention to wider ranges of “intelligences” and perhaps demand special training for the faculty.
Yes, adding questions tapping Gardner-like multiple intelligences to the new and improved SAT would certainly be criticized as fakery, but as a political matter forget about challenging any test results that narrowed the racial/ethnic gaps (“turning back the clock” on diversity and inclusion). Critics might easily be silenced by cries of “you just don’t want blacks attending Harvard!” Further, add the benefit to schools in escaping litigation resulting from gross race-related disparities in test scores. Nor would judges automatically strike down this “new and improved” rigged test on the grounds that their sole purpose was to help black and Hispanic applicants at the expense of whites and Asians. In short, incorporating multiple intelligence (or something similar) in the admission process via a seemingly scientific instrument would be a political triumph of the first order, require only modest effort, and difficult to oppose on both historical and technical grounds.
The depressing conclusion is that racial preferences may well march on despite a favorable outcome in the Students for Fair Admission case. Why shoot the messenger when he can so easily be forced to lie? Never underestimate the zeal or cleverness of ideologues. Think of it this way: if PC zealots can convince millions that biological sex differences are just socially constructed, corrupting “merit” into something that does not vary by race or ethnic group is a snap. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Doubly Unlucky
Until recently we had believed, except for the FM Radio not coming to the Nokia Lumia 620, that all Nokia Lumia handsets will get more or less the same Nokia Amber update.
Now however on Nokia’s Community Forums a Community Manager has revealed this was far from the case.
If you have a Nokia Lumia 52x, 620 or 720, do not expect the update to bring the Double Tap to Unlock feature.
Similarly is you have a Nokia Lumia 620, 810 and 928 do not expect the update to add FM Radio support to your handset, as it is a new feature only for the Lumia 520, 521, 720, 820, 920 and 925.
The short of it appears to be that the Nokia Lumia 620 is the most short changed, not receiving either of these major features.
Read more at Nokia’s Community Forums here.
Via WinPhoneViet.com | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The powerful Italian duo Merk & Kremont are back with another smashing hit single. Their new track entitled “Now Or Never” featuring vocal works from Bongom is nothing short of epic. “Now Or Never” manages to retain the signature sound M&K are known for while also staying fresh and creative. The track’s main breakdown is rather refreshing, relatively long and takes its time to build atmosphere. It adds an extra element of journey to the song. The drops are powerful and, in some respects, reminiscent of electro house from 2010-2012. Without a doubt, you should expect to be hearing this at festivals all throughout next year. “Now Or Never” comes out Monday on Spinnin Records, but we’re giving you exclusive first access to the track to help kickstart your weekend. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The explosion brought the terror and death of World War I to North America. Some experts say that not until the first atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima did the world witness a man-made explosion that produced more casualties, covered a larger area, destroyed more property and produced more explosive force.
Not by coincidence, scientists on the Manhattan Project studied the Halifax disaster to predict the potential effects of their weapons.
Reminders of the explosion’s centennial were impossible to escape this week. Two more histories have been added to the dozens of other books, including one of Canada’s best-known novels, on the disaster. Plays, special exhibitions, films and events, as well as shop windows commemorating the anniversary, are spread throughout the city. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Jacques Flynn — born in France but raised in America, so he pronounces it "Jack" — is the lead designer for Mazda Design Americas. We sat down with him to discuss Mazda's new MX-5 RF.
Automobile Magazine: What was the reaction on a corporate level when you presented the design for the MX-5 RF because it was so radically different from the retractable hardtop?
JF: It was positive. Very positive. I think it may have caught a few people off guard, but a lot of people pushed for an MX-5 coupe, inside and outside the company. It was well received, especially when they saw what the vision was and how it could be interpreted. We knew we were going to do some sort of retractable hardtop, and we jumped on this idea of blending these two worlds. The 911 Targa came out a little bit before, and that made conversations with corporate that much easier. We said, "Look how stunning the car is, and we can do the same thing."
AM: Why such a big change from the previous car?
JF: The third-gen car was our first retractable hardtop. It was a great measure to see what we could achieve, especially from a cost standpoint. That was a huge learning curve with that car, to be able to offer something like that for very little money. But it didn't feel like a coupe to me. It had all the positives of a retractable hardtop, but when you step back, you say, "That's a convertible." This car, from a hundred yards away, it's a coupe. It's got all the right elements.
See all 73 photos
AM: What were some of your design themes and influences?
JF: Simplicity, really, which comes from the original MX-5 with the soft top. I had the pleasure of working on that car, and there was attention to priority. Get that proportion just right. Get the surfacing just right so that it supports this proportion. So going into the hardtop, it was that same thing: The proportions have to match the rest of the car. If we're trying to do the coupe thing, what do we really want? Pull the cabin farther back, stretch the C-pillar as far back as possible. The surfacing on the hardtop as well—we didn't want it to feel like engineers developed the top and just stuck it on. It needed to feel integrated and very fluid. If you look at the surfacing of the top, the rail into the C-pillar, it's very subtle. We looked at lots of classic sports cars, old Ferraris, some of my favorites like the 250 SWB, where the cabin is pulled far back in the car. The Miata is so well balanced, so we tried to make it feel even more rear-wheel drive while not tipping the scale to where we've got too much weight on the rear. You now have this nice tension over the rear header with the C-pillar pulled all the way back. It feels like there's way more energy and power at the rear wheels compared to the softtop.
AM:What were some of the engineering challenges?
JF: We wanted this very coupe-like profile with a long C-pillar. But then when the top's folded down, where does that go? We worked with engineering from the very beginning to get the top folded up without so many shut lines. The more shut lines you've got, the more it disrupts the design. We were able to design those lines. If you look at the way the C-pillars land on the decklid, it's got a nice line that resonates really well with the hoodline. I think that was the biggest accomplishment with design and engineering. The engineers at Mazda are so supportive. If we do something and we're dead set on it, they'll figure it out. They're brilliant.
See all 73 photos
AM: Which cars influenced your own sense of design?
JF: The 1960s and 1970s were the heyday for car design. I like the classic silhouette of some of the front-engine Ferraris. I own a Volvo P1800. I also really love the whole wedge design thing that was going on, like the early Lamborghini Countach, the Ferrari wedge design, the Lancia Stratos concept that Bertone did. The excitement of those early wedge designs that Gandini and those guys were playing with are undeniably some of the coolest stuff. The Lamborghini LP400 "Periscopio," it's a spaceship, you know? It's a spaceship, and they built it! You could buy one. And that's bananas.
AM: When you drive an MX-5 RF, do you go top down or top up?
JF: Top up. I'd almost glue it shut! I'm all for convertibles, but I've been screaming coupe forever, so it's top up all the way.
AM: Does it bother you to see one with the top down?
JF: No, because usually there's a giant smile on the driver's face. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
It has not been a great day for Samantha the sex robot: The blonde-haired, blue-eyed doll worth over $4,000 was reportedly inappropriately groped by sex-hungry men at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria.
Her inventor, Sergi Santos, shared that “she was heavily soiled” by the men. Santos added that two fingers were broken whilst they were mounting Samantha’s breasts, legs and arms, causing her to break down entirely.
Before being totally destroyed, Samantha was roaming around and talking to visitors at the festival, giving out warm hugs and asking how they were. Artificial intelligence software robots like Samantha are able to respond in a simple manner to several different languages and can sense when they are being touched.
After the wild frenzy, which left Samantha’s breasts destroyed, Santos said the sex robot would have to fly out to Barcelona, where it would be cleaned and fixed. Although the body parts were ruined, the software was fine.
Santos said: “People can be bad. Because they did not understand the technology and did not have to pay for it, they treated the doll like barbarians."
He also added that “Samantha can endure a lot, she will pull through,”
Santos has reportedly been able to sell 15 of these dolls, perhaps in part due to the current sex doll trend in Austria’s sex industry.
Fanny became the most talked about sex robot in Kontakthof, a brothel in Vienna. She was spoken about so often that she became more popular than the actual sex workers.
“Robotics and artificial intelligence is a long way off the technical sophistication of the theme park in Westworld, but we’re already seeing dolls being used in the adult entertainment industry and we can expect robots to join them soon," Professor Noel Sharkey from Sheffield University told The Daily Mail back in August.
Some brothel owners have even decided to add the dolls to their list of services. Peter Laskaris, a brothel owner in Vienna, shared that he thinks other brothels will consider the step – regardless of how expensive the robots are – due to it being a “trendy sex fetish”. Interesting. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
4 Ristoranti Alessandro Borghese, la nuova stagione sta arrivando
TV Show sky uno
Siamo nel post Covid 19 e dunque Chef Borghese sarà da solo sul van, i piatti non verranno... | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I have so many tasty veggies from the garden, so I decided to make a yummy summer soup. You can pretty much throw whatever veggies you have in and puree them. This recipe makes a HUGE batch, so if you don’t want a lot you can cut it in half. I like to freeze extras though.
Step 1
Put a large pot on medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the zucchini, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and leeks and stir.
Step 2
When veggies are sauteed, add broth, potatoes, lemon juice, siracha and pepper. Turn heat to medium-low and let sit until veggies are soft -- about 30 minutes.
Step 3
Use an immersion blender to puree 2/3 of the soup. You can also use a regular blender if that's what you have.
Step 4
Serve hot and enjoy! | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Nathan Chen hasn’t been in the position in nearly two years — trailing at a Grand Prix event.
The world champion fell on an under-rotated quadruple flip in the Internationaux de France short program on Friday, putting him 9.47 points behind surprise leader Jason Brown going into Saturday’s free skate in Grenoble.
Brown, a Sochi Olympian who missed the U.S. team for PyeongChang, skated a clean, quad-less program and totaled 96.41.
Chen’s effort, landing one quad, garnered 86.94 for third place behind Brown and Russian Alexander Samarin. Chen attempted one more quad than he did at Skate America last month, where he tallied 90.58.
GP FRANCE: Full Results | TV/Stream Schedule
Friday marked Chen’s first fall in top-level competition since his disastrous, 17th-place short program at the PyeongChang Olympics. Since, he topped the Olympic free skate with a record six quads (five clean), won the world title by the largest margin in history and, after enrolling at Yale, won Skate America by the largest margin in history.
While Chen’s fall was surprising, to see Brown atop the standings was downright shocking.
The 2015 U.S. champion began his first season under new coach Brian Orser by missing the podium at a lower-level September event. He then placed 11th of 12 skaters in the short at his Grand Prix debut at Skate Canada last month, ending up sixth overall.
Brown’s score Friday ranks him fourth in the world this season in the short.
“Big step,” Orser told Brown just before his score came up, adding after the score, “You did it. This was you that did it.”
Skaters are competing this week for the last spots in December’s Grand Prix Final, which takes the top six per discipline from the fall Grand Prix Series. Brown must win Grand Prix France and have Chen finish outside the top five for any chance at the Final. Chen makes the final automatically with a top-five finish.
Later Friday, three-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron posted the world’s top short dance score this season — 84.13 — in their international season debut. While Papadakis and Cizeron are ineligible for the Grand Prix Final for missing their previous Grand Prix due to Cizeron’s back injury, fourth-place Americans Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker will qualify for their first Final if the standings hold through Saturday’s free dance.
As a reminder, you can watch the ISU Grand Prix Series live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. GO HERE to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season…NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.
OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!
MORE: Ashley Wagner on coaching, TV work, future | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Top News
Trump says no friendship “more important” than India if elected
Posted
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tells the Republican Hindu Coalition that if he is elected, the U.S. and India will be "best friends." Rough Cut (no reporter narration). | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
It was a master class in spin. Internal documents leaked to the press earlier this week indicated that the Trump administration is considering rolling back former president Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity for all federal contractors. Sources within the White House claimed that Trump would announce an order nullifying those protections at this week’s National Prayer Breakfast, scheduled for Thursday.
When asked about rumors that Trump would take aim at LGBT nondiscrimination, press secretary Sean Spicer was mum on the subject. “I’m not getting ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue,” he said during a Monday press conference.
Advertisement:
But in an email to NBC News, Spicer’s deputy press secretary, Stephanie Gresham, appeared to deny reports that Trump would specifically target the LGBT community next. In his first week as president, the POTUS signed orders halting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, vowed to direct federal funding to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and pledged his intent to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would also have a devastating impact on LGBT people, particularly transgender women and HIV-positive individuals.
To the relief of many, Gresham said that LGBT people were not on the White House’s proverbial hit list. “As Sean said in the briefing today — we don’t want to get ahead of the [executive orders and actions] that are coming, but [countermanding new LGBT rights] isn’t the plan at this time,” she wrote.
In a press release, the White House underscored what was described as Trump’s history as an advocate for the LGBT rights. “The president is proud to have been the first ever GOP nominee to mention the LGBT community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression,” the White House press office asserted. “The executive order signed in 2014, which protects employees from anti-LGBT workplace discrimination while working for federal contractors, will remain intact at the direction of President Donald J. Trump.”
Advertisement:
That statement would appear to be a much-needed nugget of good news during a week that’s been extremely devastating for millions of Americans who are worried about their safety and citizenship under the new administration. The problem is that it simply isn’t true: LGBT people have every reason to be terrified of Trump’s presidential pen.
The Trump administration may choose to save face with the LGBT community by refusing to gut protections for federal workers passed under the Obama administration. As Slate’s Ian Thompson reported, Obama’s 2014 executive order protects 1 in 5 Americans from being fired on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and those federal guidelines are supported by a steadily increasing majority of Americans. The Human Rights Campaign found in 2015 that two-thirds of U.S. citizens believe that it should be illegal to terminate workers based on who they are or whom they love.
The executive order of 2014 amounted to merely a step forward from previous administrations. Former president Bill Clinton extended protection to federal workers against discrimination based on sexual orientation and Barack Obama added protection against bias on the basis of gender identity. Although the 2014 order was initially opposed vociferously by those of religious right — who fought for a faith-based exemption — there has been little sustained backlash since it was put into place. Trump may simply elect not to die on a hill that's not even there.
Advertisement:
That will not, however, stop the current president from using his executive position to chip away at other protections for the LGBT community. Numerous stratagems were rumored to be under consideration this week. LGBTQ Nation reported that a Trump order could affect adoption rights for same-sex couples and social service agencies that offer support and care to the LGBT community. Further speculation suggested that the current administration would not restaff the Office of National AIDS Policy and might eliminate the White House’s official liaison for the LGBT community, a position created by the Obama administration.
Another policy that will likely be under attack is the federal guidelines issued by the justice and education departments that mandate equal access for transgender students in bathrooms and locker rooms in schools, from kindergarten through grade 12. Vice President Mike Pence, who passed a law while governor of Indiana making it legal for businesses to deny service to the LGBT community, has claimed that the incoming administration plans to repeal those regulations.
Advertisement:
The real reason that the White House statement is so suspect is that Trump simply doesn’t need an executive order to take aim at federal protections for LGBT employees. The president has already stated his support for the First Amendment Defense Act, a bill that will be reintroduced in Congress this year. Legislation previously co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, would give private employers and individuals the right to deny services, housing and even health care to LGBT people based on personal opposition to marriage between same-sex couples. On his campaign website, Trump pledged to pass this act. Jennifer Pizer of Lambda Legal further pointed out that the POTUS could sign an executive order along these lines while claiming that the policy isn’t intended to harm LGBT people.
“They may present something as a religious freedom order while denying that it’s about anti-LGBT discrimination,” said Pizer, who serves as the national LGBT legal group’s law and policy director. “That is certainly the position that Mike Pence tried to maintain when he was the governor of Indiana, which he did not do effectively. That stance would be a way for the White House to profess that they would be seeking to expand religious liberty for everyone.”
After Pence, as Indiana's governor, signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law in 2015, he appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” a political news show hosted by George Stephanopoulos. The host grilled Pence on whether the legislation, which led to a $60 million boycott of the state, would be used to target the LGBT community for discrimination. Pence refused to answer the question numerous times. Instead he argued that the media had lied about the act’s intent with “shameless rhetoric about my state and this law.”
Advertisement:
“The issue here is: Is tolerance a two-way street or not?” Pence asked. “There’s a lot of talk about tolerance in this country having to do with people on the left. Here Indiana steps forward to protect the constitutional rights and privileges of freedom of religion for people of faith in our state, and this avalanche of intolerance that’s been poured on our state is outrageous.”
Ilona Turner, legal director for the Transgender Law Center, claimed that any executive order along the lines of the Indiana bill, which is a virtual clone of the First Amendment Defense Act, would likely violate “both the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause.” Ratified in 1868 as part of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause guarantees “the equal protection of the laws” for all Americans. (Most famously, that clause led to the desegregation of public schools brought about in Brown v. Board of Education and could apply here.)
“We will be looking for options to challenge" the order, Turner said.
Advertisement:
But in the meantime, any federal attack on the rights of LGBT workers — whether accomplished by executive order or legislative action — stands to have a dire impact on queer and transgender people. Recent estimates from Gallup estimate that 10 million Americans identify as LGBT. Despite surveys showing that a majority of Americans believe it’s already against the law to fire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, that practice remains legal in 28 states, including North Carolina, Mississippi and Texas.
Although Trump billed himself as a “friend to the gays” during the 2016 election, he ran on a staunchly anti-LGBT platform — threatening to discard marriage rights for same-sex couples if elected. Unfortunately, too many people didn’t believe that he was serious about that pledge, and it’s members of the LGBT community who will pay the price.
“We’re now seeing the transition from reality TV to reality,” Pizer said. “Things that many people dismissed as attention-getting, outrageous comments for purposes of dominating the news cycle have been now turned into policy in a way that many voters were not expecting. Mike Pence and [White House senior strategist] Steve Bannon are driving a considerable amount of the agenda, and that has to be alarming for the LGBT community. An enormous number of people stand to be terribly harmed if this isn’t stopped.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Scott Scottdale interviews Prof. John McMurtry for Canadian Challenger John McMurtry is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and his work is published and translated from Latin America to Japan. He is the author and editor of the three-volume Philosophy and World Problems published by UNESCO’s Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), and his latest book is The Cancer Stage of Capitalism/from Crisis to Cure. SS/CC: You have said that “the trick of the endless US-led wars in the Middle East is to control both sides so as to ensure against sovereign states able to defend the common interests of their peoples”. Please explain. JM: Whenever any nation has an independent government with fossil fuel, financial, agricultural or strategic resources not yet subjugated to transnational corporate control, there is a US-led campaign to destroy it. Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Syria have all experienced this over many decades dating from the overthrow of the social-democratic president Mossadegh of Iran in 1953 to Syria’s still mildly independent social state being destroyed to the roots today. Lebanon was a civilized center of the Middle East before warred upon by Israel in 1982 and has been civil-war divided ever since. Iraq’s region-leading social state with universal health-care, free higher education, public water and electricity, local agricultural and food subsidies has been subjected to genocidal destruction and civil war imposition from 1990 to now, with Syria being destroyed by foreign-supported civil war from 2011. Once CIA-agent and coup leader Saddam Hussein could not destroy Iraq’s oil-worker-led society from within after his US-supplied war against Iran was over, Iraq was attacked on contrived pretexts – the constant excuse for non-stop war crimes in the Middle-East – and the state was irreversibly destroyed “because it was floating on a sea of oil” (Wolfowitz’s phrase). Iraq is a model example of controlling both sides of the ever-shifting Middle-East wars to seize the assets of all, and so too the NATO bombing and jihadi overthrow of Gadhafi in Libya whose socialized oil state was even more developed than Iraq’s with public programs and infrastructures, including quasi-free homes for young couples. Libya’s long-time leader was first welcomed into the Western fold after 2000 and his opponents deported and reditioned by British M-15, then jihadis were joined by massive NATO ‘humanitarian bombing’ in 2011 to overthrow his social state, and Libya too is now in civil war chaos. Induced civil wars are the divide-and-rule policy across borders, and especially successful social states like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya where their people are clearly better off than neighbouring peoples under US diktat. A better example of society is always prohibited even by war criminal attacks – as in Yugoslavia and Nicaragua in the 1980’s, and Ukraine today. All are orchestrated into sectarian insanity and internecine wars. At the same time vast new profits, resources, lands, price climbs, markets, agribusiness and – most of all – looting of public resources and finances by private foreign financiers and corporations proceeds more freely with stable social fabrics destroyed, not only in the victim societies but at home. SS/CC: How does ISIL connect to all this?
JM: The historical background is that US-financed Islamic fundamentalism coupled with royal absolutism has come to rule inside and outside governments – Saudi Arabia being the prime example. When I travelled overland through the Middle East including North Africa decades ago, secular ‘Arab socialism’ was the rule led by Nasser and Egypt, and Islam was the background mass religion. Then a great US-led policy turn occurred in which fanatic jihadists were financed and armed across the region to ensure against “communism”, the Great Satan of the US. The massive funding and arming of jihadis as a war machine began with the US-orchestrated civil war in the then quasi-socialist secular state of Afghanistan to bleed the Soviet Union dry. Since the 9-11 construction, the US with local allies has increasingly sponsored jihadists of every kind to take down any remaining social state while also justifying their oil-for-weapons empires producing no life good but only death and destitution. Observe the connections today. Private armaments and military servicing corporations drain the public treasuries of the US and allied royal states trading oil for arms in the trillions, while financed jihadis provide justification for all the death machines and attack target states at the same time. The civil war model of long-term society destruction to feely loot its resources has continued to the present day in a strategic arc of devastating civil wars from Pakistan to Iraq to Muslim Africa – not to mention now in Europe itself in Ukraine after the Chechnya civil war in Russia was ended. ISIL is a supremely atavistic instrument of the civil-war strategy. The US-Israel sponsored split of the originally secular-socialist PLO (Palestine Liberation Army) into warring factions, where the demonized Hamas was itself sponsored by Israel to divide it, is another example of the society-wrecking pattern at the sub-state level. ISIL today continues it at a more diabolical extreme – originally funded and armed by the very US-led forces now dropping bombs on it in Syria. Israel even gives ISIL terrorists hospital service on the Syrian border after Mossad and the CIA trained them as a largely ex-Saddam jihad army. All of this seems quite insanely contradictory. But all promotes civil wars and they render peoples helpless against foreign money control. If one wonders how a desert-crawling line of Japanese open-back trucks gifted by the US filled with countless irregular fighters in plain view could ever have ever made it overnight to the point where Western military and political leaders are saying “the war against ISIL may be interminable”, one begins to see through the game. ISIL is a construction financed and trained by covert US and oil-king allies that ruins every place it enters, like Syria once the regime began to win the civil war. Al-Nusra/Al Qaeda was not enough. ISIL is a step up in the US-led control of the Middle East by terror, chaos and social devastation. “The Salvador option” was the first name for the post-war death squads in Iraq, but “Islamic State” stirs much more apocalyptic passions pro and con. Best of all, the ruling foreign war machines of the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and NATO are now far better justified to “fight the barbaric terrorists”. Saudi Arabia with US support is now even projecting the “terrorist” and sectarian “Shiite” labels on the popular uprising of the poor in Yemen against a corrupt US-Saudi puppet government. One object alone is achieved. Peoples and resources of the region can be predated without sovereign social defences or unity of collective life purpose, the ultimate target of every US-led aggression. As long as all evils can be blamed on an ever-shifting Enemy, there is no overcoming recognition. SS/CC: If someone were to say, this is “another conspiracy theory,” how would you reply? JM: It is the very opposite of a conspiracy theory. Civil war chaos has been instituted across agents, places and times. The underlying pattern of destroying evolved societies and their collective control of life resources is far deeper. The only diagnostic model that fits all the hallmark characteristics is a runaway cancer system at the macro level with no social immune recognition. It is unflagged even as it keeps hollowing out more societies towards social collapse. Look for disconfirming evidence of the objective pattern – for example, a society made better rather than worse anywhere in the Middle East since 1991. The divide and rule reign of civil destruction is now deep into the US and Israel themselves, with civil war or its repression now pervasive in the Arab world. This was not originally gamed as the outcome. US geostrategic planners are social morons by the nature of their game model, as I have explained in my The Moral Decoding of 9-11: Beyond the US Criminal State. But the invariable result of the civil wars they foment and manipulate still forces other societies’ resources open to private corporate control and exploitation without limit until they move onto the next. You do not even need corporate trade agreements to do it. Even if the US people themselves keep being bled dry with their common life bases and interests stripped out by military and financial claws in the trillions every year, not to mention agro-industry, the same private transnational corporations producing no life goods but destroying them keep money-profiting more. Plundering public purses and resources across continents is the unseen means.
As transnational private money sequences alone multiply, everything connects in social and environmental life depredation out of control. There are myriad masks of the disorder, but always the evolved collective life capital bases of societies and their ecological life hosts are devoured and torn apart. Now Kenya and Nigeria too join the jihadi-split nations to open a state of permanent war, looting and profit with no social organization to stop it. In Venezuela and Ukraine peoples fight back, but the same civil war method unfolds across continents with few connecting the dots. Twenty-five years after the dismantling of Yugoslavia into atavistic nationalisms steeped in the Nazi past, the same happens again in Ukraine. One outcome has become predictable across borders. Socially organized development is reversed for a private transnational feeding frenzy on collective financial, agricultural, natural and strategic resources of the victim societies. Only the rule of life-protective law with the force of law works across peoples. But Palestine even seeking protection of international law is openly threatened and its taxes seized by Israel with US support. When Palestine joins UNESCO by invitation, the US defunds UNESCO. This is not a conspiracy. It is a lawless rule of normalized terror, life destruction and tyrannical oppression. SS/CC: How does Harper Canada fit into all this? Canada is very privileged with vast natural resources. It is not historically soaked in blood, and has evolved a civil culture without fanatic ‘isms’. Yet after Alberta Reform swallowed the Progressive Conservative Party with money from Big Oil and the retailer Eaton’s, PM Harper incarnates the divide-and-rule war method. His CEO rule strips Canada of its social life infrastructures and public tax funds in the name of the nation, while serving only private market powers to multiply and pillage across borders. This is his program, and there is no exception to it. Now Canada is aerial bombing in Arab lands from Libya to Syria – also funded by public money –even though the target ISIL beheaders now have been trained and financed by the allied states bombing them. Up North his regime now trains and supplies a violent-coup US-installed regime whose one-way aerial bombing of East-Ukraine civilians and infrastructures has driven two million people from their homes.
Whatever one’s own preferences, the morality in charge means only what serves the transnational corporate system. This is the market God which now dwarfs all world religions in power to dictate and destroy and capture imagination. Its cornerstone of defence for war crimes is to blame another enemy– as with the Nazis “terrorists” are those who block or resist its rule. The differences between Canada and Palestine or Syria are obvious at the level of conventionalized horror and life deprivation. But the underlying value system is the same in principle. The master driver is the solely ruling compulsion to turn private money demand into maximally more private money demand without limit, border or higher purpose at all. This is called “freedom”. No life coordinates ever enter the sequences and equations in this system in its deregulated mutations. Not even eco-genocide can be seen through its prism. Yet few dare recognize the blind war against life itself which spreads the more its fatal disorder is denied and rationalized away. SS/CC: How does Islam fit into this destruction of societies by corporate globalization? JM: The Prophet’s abomination of idolatry above all fits very well to the disorder. Turning money into more money for money controllers is the greatest idol worship of history, and no stationary idol of the past remotely approaches its direct ruin of one society after another – a consequence Mohammed chorally emphasizes in the Koran. No idol can make or breathe life, and here the idolatry goes far beyond anything ever before. It seeks to reduce all that exists into private money value, and devours ever more life and life means to multiply its global demand. Its world-consuming, flesh-eating code is even more deeply at work behind the Middle East holocaust of nations than the US which has become its creature. Civilizing Islam long ago worked – as, for example, in architecture-rich Moorish Spain from the eighth century to 1492 when a rising European imperialism launched its genocidal seizures and destructions of other people’s life bases across continents. Degenerate versions of ‘Islam’ from absolutist oil-kings to jihadist death squads have followed, and whatever their pretences, they serve only the underlying agenda of corporate money-sequence globalization. They keep peoples superstitiously suggestible, and force obedience by violence and threats without understanding. Collective life-serving programs for all – as found in Iraq and Libya before the saturation bombings – have disappeared into the Arab past almost altogether. The corporate state now rules as pseudo-Muslim and suffocating. Even ‘austerity programs’ have been instituted across the Middle East, with life-serving social organization – public health and free higher education, social security of the person, ecological regulation – not funded or stripped out. Islam confined to ritual repetitions and prohibitions without social life standards does not confront the corporate money-sequence idolatry. It allows submission to life-blind rules of oppression as ‘submission to God’s will’. Thus the transnational lootings of the people’s common wealth by oil dealing, weapons, finance, GMO agribusiness, and money-trough military services and reconstruction multiply to more corrupt and private oligarchical control and demand. Mass submission, resignation, obedience, faith without organization beyond faction parallels the dispossessed mass anomie of the West. The ‘Arab Spring’ itself – which never pronounced one public policy – seems to have been a construction without common life-ground dividing the people into even more helpless impotence of collective self-determination. People think “well at least they got rid of Mubarak.” Down the memory hole goes the fact that Mubarak was a marked man after he refused to commit Egypt to the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq which he prophetically declared “would open the gates of Hell”. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Jim Trotter breaks down the news that the Chargers fire Mike McCoy and how it represents a change in management philosophies for San Diego. (1:44)
The San Diego Chargers fired head coach Mike McCoy following a loss Sunday that left the team at 5-11 for the season.
"Mike McCoy is a man of high character, and we thank him for his dedication to the Chargers," team president John Spanos said. "The decision to dismiss Mike was made in the best interests of our franchise. Our team's disappointing performance has not matched this team's potential and has fallen short of the demanding standards that we seek to impose throughout our organization. Our comprehensive search for a new head coach begins immediately."
McCoy had just finished his fourth season, one that ended with a 37-27 home loss to the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. He was 28-38 overall, including 1-1 in the team's only postseason trip during his tenure, in 2013.
The Chargers, though, have regressed under McCoy since then, finishing 4-12 in 2015 and then 5-11 this year, including a loss last week to the previously winless Cleveland Browns.
San Diego considered firing McCoy at the end of last season but instead gave him a one-year extension through 2017 and fired seven of his assistants, including offensive coordinator Frank Reich.
Specifically, under McCoy the Chargers struggled in their division, going 1-13 against West foes since November 2014.
"I want to thank Mike for his tireless work and commitment to this organization," general manager Tom Telesco said in a statement. "He instilled a culture of work ethic and togetherness that we can build on for years to come."
The Chargers were competitive in most games. But they struggled to pull out contests in the fourth quarter, finishing with a 7-17 record in games decided by eight points or fewer dating to the 2015 season. The Chargers lost six games this season when they had led in the fourth quarter.
Mike McCoy guided the Chargers to the postseason just once in his four seasons as their head coach. Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports
San Diego also has had to deal with the loss of several impact players due to injury this season, with a league-high 24 placed on injured reserve.
McCoy has shown he's an innovator and can get his team ready for game day. Players respect him and are willing to put in the work to succeed on the field. And he's credited with helping to turn around the fortunes of franchise quarterback Philip Rivers early in the coach's tenure. Rivers, though, has regressed of late, entering Sunday with 14 turnovers in his past six games.
Ken Whisenhunt, whom the Chargers brought back to serve as the their offensive coordinator this season, could be a candidate as a replacement for McCoy. Whisenhunt has a 48-71 record as a head coach, including an appearance in Super Bowl XLIII with the Arizona Cardinals. He was fired as the Tennessee Titans head coach after one and half seasons, finishing with a 3-20 record.
The Chargers, of course, could be playing in a new location later this year.
Spanos has until Jan. 15 to announce a decision about the franchise's future. The Chargers can stay in San Diego and hope the city can still present them with a workable stadium plan. Or the team can apply to the NFL for relocation and move to Los Angeles, where they would be tenants in the $2.66 billion stadium Rams owner Stan Kroenke is building in Inglewood, Calif.
Information from ESPN's Eric Williams was used in this report. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Complaints about the “Interstellar” soundtrack popped up before the film even opened.
First reporters and bloggers, then ticket buyers, complained that the sound effects were abrasive, the dialogue tracks muddled and Hans Zimmer’s score overpowering.
Sound pros Variety spoke with over the summer were critical. One said: “People felt like they were pummeled during that film. How did they think that was going to serve the film?”
Yet the Acad’s sound branch nommed it for both sound mixing and sound editing.
“One good thing about this is that it’s inspired conversation,” said a multiple Oscar winning re-recording mixer recently. “I’ll always applaud ambitious filmmakers because they’ll do something outside the norm.”
That may be a reason it garnered two noms. “Interstellar” supervising sound editor Richard King thinks so.
“This film is an experience,” says King. “The hope was to surprise people and give them some imaginative sense of what these environments and spaces that no one has yet been to must be like.” | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Novato woman built barbecue pit where body found NOVATO
A Novato woman whose husband disappeared at least five months ago built a barbecue pit in her backyard in the same place where a body was found Wednesday night, neighbors said Thursday.
Evelyn Smith, 55, also began referring to her husband, Dale Smith, 74, in the past tense, said a next-door neighbor, Rebecca Smith, who is not related to the couple. She called police two weeks ago to report him missing.
An FBI evidence response team, asked to assist in the case by Novato police, found a body buried beneath the patio about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday. The cause of death will be determined by the Marin County coroner.
Police described Evelyn Smith as a person of interest in the case. Her attorney said that Dale Smith had been ill and that it was quite possible he died of natural causes.
Rebecca Smith said she last saw Dale Smith, her neighbor of 18 years, in August or September. It was around that time, she said, that his wife and two laborers put in a brick barbecue pit in the patio of the backyard of her home on Rebecca Way.
"We've been suspicious of it since it went in, because Dale was not present," she said.
Evelyn Smith said her husband had gone off to live with his brother somewhere in Northern California, Rebecca Smith said.
As time went by and neighbors kept asking, "the story did not change," Rebecca Smith said. "She just got a little more vague every time we asked."
She said she had waited to contact authorities because "you can't go to the police unless you have serious suspicion or tangible evidence."
Evelyn Smith referred police to her attorney, Hugh Levine. He said she has been cooperative and gave police permission to search the backyard.
The attorney said Dale Smith suffered from congestive heart disease and bladder and esophageal cancer and could have died naturally, and that his wife may simply have disposed of the body. Levine said it is a misdemeanor to dispose of human remains improperly.
"There's no reason to believe that this man died of anything other than the diseases he suffered from," Levine said.
But he said he would not allow his client to be interviewed by police.
"Our job is to represent and protect the interest of our client. She is presumed innocent," Levine said. "If anybody brings forward anything to the contrary, we'll deal with it."
Dale Smith was a Korean War veteran and retired contractor who had two children from previous relationships. He had lived in the Novato home since at least 1970.
Evelyn Smith used to work for the U.S. Postal Service and moved in around 1995. The couple did not have any children together and lived by themselves, neighbors said.
Another next-door neighbor, Phil Olbrantz, said Evelyn Smith was somewhat eccentric and walked her dogs four or five times a day.
Dale Smith could be ornery, demanding that neighbors move their cars if they were parked in front of his home, Olbrantz said.
"It's entirely possible that he could have passed away in his chair and she panicked," Olbrantz said. "But I don't know how she could possibly drag him out back by herself.
"On the other hand, it could be the opposite end altogether. Until the autopsy report comes back, it's anybody's guess." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
A man who was allegedly swinging a weapon -- which turned out to be an electric razor -- and moving aggressively toward deputies in Ladera Heights was fatally shot by authorities Tuesday night.
Deputies initially responded to a customer creating a disturbance call in the 5000 block of West Slauson Avenue about 8:35 p.m., according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities escorted a man out of a 24 Hour Fitness at the location but were called back about 10:45 p.m. when the same man had allegedly returned to the business and was causing another disturbance.
This time the man was outside and acting erratically, the Sheriff’s Department stated.
A deputy attempted the use a Taser on the man, who had become uncooperative and aggressive toward the deputies, according to the news release.
The Taser appeared to have no impact on the man, who began to walk away and then took a "weapon" out of his backpack, the Sheriff's Department said.
“Some type of electronic device on a cord. It appears to be partially metal … possibly a little bit of plastic,” Sheriff’s Department Lt. Joe Mendoza said of the weapon.
Mendoza later told the Los Angeles Times the "weapon" was an electric razor.
A Taser was used on the man again as he began swinging the object over his head, but the Taser did not stop him, the Sheriff’s Department stated.
Eventually the man began to move aggressively toward one of the deputies and a deputy-involved shooting occurred, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The man, who has not been identified, was struck in the upper body. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No deputies were injured in the incident.
KTLA's Melissa Pamer contributed to this article.
33.98715 -118.364938 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Kimi Räikkönen als Punktegarant für Alfa Romeo Fahrer regelt Motoreinstellung und Taktik
Alfa Romeo belegt den siebten Platz in der Team-WM. Der Schweizer Rennstall kann sich bei Kimi Räikkönen bedanken. Der Finne hat in acht von 12 Rennen gepunktet. Teammanager Beat Zehnder schwärmt: „Kimi fährt ohne Anweisungen.“
Alfa Romeo ergeht es im Kleinen wie Red Bull. Der Rennstall aus dem Schweizer Hinwil ist überspitzt formuliert ein Ein-Mann-Team. Kimi Räikkönen hat Alfa-Sauber mit 31 Punkten in der ersten Saisonhälfte praktisch allein auf den siebten Platz der Konstrukteurs-Weltmeisterschaft geführt. Der Weltmeister von 2007 punktete in acht von 12 Rennen.
Eigentlich kam Räikkönen neun Mal in den Top 10 ins Ziel. Doch die verlorenen Punkte nach der Kupplungsaffäre von Hockenheim wird das Team vermutlich nicht mehr zurückbekommen. Verhandelt wird am 24. September. Auch Antonio Giovinazzi hatte in Hockenheim gepunktet. Auch der Italiener flog durch die 30 Strafsekunden aus der oberen Tabellenhälfte heraus. Bislang hat der 25-Jährige nur einen Zähler beigesteuert. Giovinazzi belegte in Österreich den zehnten Platz.
Räikkönen steuert sich selbst
Trotzdem bewahren sie in Hinwil die Ruhe. Das Team schützt seinen Piloten, nimmt ihm den Druck von den Schultern. „Antonio kommt immer mehr. Wir haben ihn am Anfang der Saison etwas im Stich gelassen. Da gab es ein paar technische Probleme mit seinem Auto. Dadurch kam er wenig zum Fahren“, entschuldigt Teammanager Beat Zehnder. Das ist Gift für einen Neueinsteiger. Auch in der Qualifikation zum GP Ungarn erschwerte das Team seinem Fahrer das Leben. Man informierte seinen Piloten nicht, dass Lance Stroll hinter ihm auf einer schnellen Runde ist. Andere werden sagen: Kimi Räikkönen hätte mit seiner Erfahrung in die Rückspiegel geschaut, und erkannt, dass da ein Racing Point rasend näherkommt.
Räikkönen fährt eine gute Saison. Ohne Höhepunkte, aber auch ohne Ausreißer nach unten. Der Iceman liefert ab. Wenn sein Auto gut für Punkte ist, holt er sie. Der 39-jährige Finne ist nicht mehr der schnellste, dafür spielt er in jeder Rennsituation seine Routine aus. Kommandostand und Garage müssen ihn nicht fernsteuern. „Der Kimi macht alles allein“, sagt Zehnder.
Alfa Romeo ist angetan von der Rennintelligenz und der Übersicht seines Piloten. „Kimi versteht alles. Die Ingenieure besprechen untereinander, ob wir die Motoreinstellung wechseln müssen. Genau in diesem Moment ändert Kimi sie von allein. Er weiß genau, was er wann zu tun hat.“ Mit anderen Worten: Räikkönen beherrscht die hochkomplexe Hybridtechnik, und nicht anders herum.
Wilhelm Kimi Räikkönen holte in Ungarn sechs WM-Zähler.
Medium-Reifen gegen Bottas
In Ungarn war Alfa Romeo die fünfte Kraft im Feld. „McLaren hat eine eigene Kategorie aufgemacht. Sie haben sich hinter den drei Topteams festgesetzt. Dahinter kommen wir und der Rest“, sagt Zehnder. Räikkönen konnte im Rennen den McLaren trotzdem folgen. Die Abstimmung passte und der Finne fühlte sich wohl in seinem Auto.
Eine Einstoppstrategie brachte Räikkönen auf den siebten Platz. Alfa Romeo reagierte auf den verpatzten Stopp bei McLaren mit Lando Norris. „Sein Stopp dauerte drei Sekunden zu lang. Das mussten wir direkt nutzen, um Kimi vorbeizubringen. Sonst hätte Norris den Vorteil der frischen Reifen ausgespielt.“
Und dann bewies Räikkönen Voraussicht und seine Qualitäten beim Reifenmanagement. Der Ex-Weltmeister bestellte den Medium-Reifen für den zweiten Rennabschnitt. Der WM-Achte streichelte die mittelharte Mischung über 40 Runden – und war dennoch schnell. Es war der Schlüssel, um am Ende Valtteri Bottas im Mercedes abzuwehren.
„Es war allein seine Entscheidung, auf den Medium zu gehen. Alle anderen um ihn herum haben den harten Reifen genommen“, führt Zehnder aus. „Der Medium hat ihn hinten heraus gerettet. Dadurch hatte er eine gute Traktion aus Kurve 14.“ Die reichte aus, um Bottas keine Möglichkeit auf der Zielgeraden anzubieten. „Auf den harten Reifen hätte er uns geschluckt“, sagt Zehnder.
Wie wird es in Spa & Monza laufen?
Alfa blickt alles in allem auf eine erfolgreiche erste Saisonhälfte. Es gab nur eine Delle. Zwischen dem GP Spanien und GP Kanada fiel die Leistungskurve für drei Rennen ab. Zehnder erklärt: „In Barcelona war einfach der Wurm drin. An diesem Wochenende wollte es einfach nicht klappen. In Monte Carlo lief es bis zur Qualifikation. Die haben wir leider verhauen. Und die Quali zählt in Monaco leider doppelt. In Kanada hat es leider wieder nicht gepasst.“
Das Team entwickelt den C38 in kleinen Schritten. In Ungarn wurde ein neuer Heckflügel für mehr Anpressdruck angeschraubt. Dazu gab es Änderungen unter der Motorabdeckung. Alle Updates haben bislang eingeschlagen. Und wenn nicht beim ersten Mal, dann nach einer Setupanpassung im zweiten Anlauf. So gesehen zwischen Silverstone und Hockenheim. Da hatte Alfa plötzlich das viertschnellste Auto in der Qualifikation.
In Budapest testete Alfa Romeo im ersten Training einen Heckflügel für die Rennen nach der Sommerpause. Mit Spa und Monza warten zwei Hochgeschwindigkeitsstrecken. Darauf zielte der Test ab. Den C38 schmückte ein Flügel für weniger Anpressdruck und weniger Luftwiderstand. In Belgien und Italien zählen Effizienz und Höchstgeschwindigkeit mehr als Abtrieb. Die Teamführung ist vorsichtig. „Eigentlich sollten es zwei gute Strecken für uns sein“, sagt Zehnder. „Das dachten wir aber auch im Vorjahr. Und dann sind wir abgeschmiert.“ Da hatte Alfa Romeo aber noch nicht Kimi Räikkönen: Der Finne ist ein Spezialist für Belgien. Vier seiner 21 Siege feierte er auf seiner Lieblingsstrecke. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Updated at 9:30 p.m. Nov. 13 to reflect that state District Judge Teresa Hawthorne declined to comment.
A Dallas judge seeking re-election to a third term was reprimanded by the state agency that oversees judicial ethics after she intervened in her nephew's criminal case and "shamed" jurors in a separate case when they sentenced a man to 99 years in prison for rape.
The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct said that state District Judge Teresa Hawthorne violated judicial regulations by using "the prestige of her office to help resolve her nephew's pending case" and "failed to treat jurors ... with patience, dignity and courtesy when she shamed and reprimanded them before their verdict."
Teresa Hawthorne spoke during a judicial primary forum in 2010. (File Photo / Staff)
Jurors told the commission that Hawthorne told them after an October 2016 verdict that she would have voted the defendant was not guilty.
"Quite frankly, I am disturbed," one juror recalled Hawthorne saying, according to the reprimand. "I am disturbed by the way you came back with such a harsh verdict and sentence for this man's life in such a short period of time. Did you even discuss the details of this case at all?"
Hawthorne, who took office in January 2011, will remain on the bench. She declined to comment Monday night. The commission issued its reprimand Thursday.
Public reprimands for judges are rare, and it's even more unusual for a judge to receive one for two incidents at the same time. Judges and attorneys typically refrain from criticizing a jury's verdict because they can be admonished for doing so.
Dallas County Prosecutor Raquel "Rocky" Jones has declared that she is running against Hawthorne in the 2018 Democratic primary. It was not clear whether others may also be seeking the office. The filing period to run as a Democrat or Republican is still open. Jones could not be reached for comment.
In 2011, Hawthorne ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. That decision was overturned and the capital punishment case was transferred to another judge.
In the rape case in Hawthorne's courtroom, at least three jurors spoke to the commission, including the presiding juror, who said Hawthorne told jurors after the case concluded that she "did not believe the victim was raped at all."
Hawthorne acknowledged to the commission that she told the jury that she would have found the defendant not guilty but denied other comments attributed to her by jurors.
"Judge Hawthorne stated that the jurors became shocked and angered when they heard she would have not found the defendant guilty," according to the commission. "The judge denied that she shamed or reprimanded the jury for their verdict. She stated that she regrets 'that all of this happened' and that she 'never intended to upset anyone' but she could not lie to the jury when they asked her what she thought of the case."
Another Dallas judge was scolded by the commission in recent years after saying in an interview with The Dallas Morning News that a 14-year-old rape victim "wasn't the victim she claimed to be." That judge, Janine Howard, remains on the bench.
In the case involving Hawthorne's nephew, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct found: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The flight of Apollo 12, the second expedition to the lunar surface, is not as well known as the first mission to the moon, Apollo 11, or Apollo 13, the moon mission that almost didn’t make it home. But it did create one of the great artists of the space age.
Apollo 12 began inauspiciously. Lightning struck the spacecraft twice, once 36.5 seconds into the flight, and again 58 seconds after liftoff. Flight Controller John Aaron’s and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean’s quick thinking enabled them to save the mission by flicking an obscure switch.
Apollo 12’s other major snafu occurred on the lunar surface when Alan Bean accidently exposed a color TV camera to the sun, destroying some of its electronics. Humans on Earth would not be able to witness men walking on the moon in real time until Apollo 14, over a year later.
ADVERTISEMENT
The rest of the Apollo 12 mission was an outstanding success. The lunar module achieved what NASA called at the time a “pinpoint landing,” which meant touching down within 100 yards of the intended spot. The space agency set some store by this capability, remembering that only the skill and steel nerves of Neil Armstrong prevented the Apollo 11 lunar module from landing in a boulder strewn field and possible disaster.
Fellow astronaut Pete Conrad and Bean gathered a lot of rock and soil samples. They set up equipment that would measure the moon’s seismicity, magnetic field and solar wind. They recovered parts of the Surveyor 3 robotic probe for later examination. The two astronauts took copious photographs, though Alan Bean, now no doubt feeling like a klutz, left several rolls of film on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, their crewmate Dick Gordon performed observations from the command module in lunar orbit.
Apollo 12 featured more instances of whimsey than the previous mission. Apollo 11 had already fulfilled President Kennedy’s vow to send a man to the moon and return him safely to the Earth “before this decade is out.” Pete Conrad, a relatively short man, captured the spirit well when he uttered his first words from the surface of the moon. “Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me.”
Conrad and Bean would go on to each command a mission to Skylab. Then both men had the problem of deciding what to do with the rest of their lives. Conrad would take a series of corporate jobs. He was heavily involved in the development and testing of a prototype of a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle called the Delta Clipper.
Alan Bean would take a different path. For years he would wrestle with the idea of how to convey what it was like to walk on the moon. Mere words seemed to be inadequate. Even the many hours of film of men bouncing around on the lunar surface did not quite, in his mind, communicate the meaning of the experience.
ADVERTISEMENT
In 1981, Bean retired from NASA and chose a medium of communication as old as the painted scenes on the walls of Neanderthal caves. Navy pilot and astronaut Bean took up a brush and decided to paint scenes from the first age of lunar exploration.
Stylistically, Bean’s paintings make one think that Claude Monet had been snatched from the gardens and lily ponds of his beloved Giverny to inhabit the body of an Apollo moonwalker. Bean would use color light, shadow and texture to try to make people who had never been to the moon experience what only 12 men in history have done. He used a moon boot and a geologist’s hammer to add touches to his work and then incorporated a little moon dust for good measure.
Most of Alan Bean’s works depict moments in time from the moon walks, Gene Cernan with the American flag or John Young exuberantly leaping from the lunar surface. But his greatest painting is of an Apollo moonwalker entitled, “That’s What it Felt Like to Walk on the Moon.” The background is indistinct, and the legs fade into nothingness as if the man in the moon suit was untethered to any ground. The viewer cannot see the man’s face behind the helmet. But that painting, more than any other, conveys what the artist felt 50 years ago, when for a brief time he explored another world.
Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space and politics, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond.” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Nicholas Parsons, the veteran host of the TV and radio panel show Just a Minute, has died aged 96 after a short illness.
A statement issued by his agent, Jean Diamond, on behalf of his family, said: “Nicholas passed away in the early hours of 28 January after a short illness at the age of 96. He was with his beloved family who will miss him enormously and who wish to thank the wonderful staff at the Stoke Mandeville hospital.”
Parsons hosted Just a Minute, the Radio 4 quiz show, from its inception in 1967. Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and educated in London, he initially began his career as an actor, appearing in West End shows including Boeing-Boeing and films, and later becoming the straight man to comedian Arthur Haynes in the late 1960s. He was also a regular on the Benny Hill Show, and following Haynes’s death helmed the ITV quiz Sale of the Century between 1971 and 1983. In 2018, Parsons made headlines when he missed an episode of Just a Minute – in which contestants must avoid hesitation, repetition or deviation – his first absence in 50 years. Panellist Gyles Brandreth filled in, noting that “after 50 years at the helm [Parsons] quite rightly thinks he should be allowed a day off”.
Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) Oh no. Nicholas Parsons gone? He ruled Just a Minute for Just a Lifetime. A stunning achievement: never scripted, always immaculate. From comedian's sidekick to great institution, via Sale of the Century & much more. Unrivalled continuity, professionalism & commitment. Farewell x
Nick Robinson, host of Radio 4’s Today programme, paid tribute to Parsons on Twitter, commenting that: “Without hesitation, deviation or repetition I’d like to say that Nicholas Parsons was a broadcasting giant who proved that the straight man could be the real star of comedy. Will be hugely missed by all who work at & love BBC Radio 4.”
Just a Minute regular Stephen Fry added: “Oh no. Nicholas Parsons gone? He ruled Just a Minute for Just a Lifetime. A stunning achievement: never scripted, always immaculate. From comedian’s sidekick to great institution, via Sale of the Century & much more. Unrivalled continuity, professionalism & commitment. Farewell x.” Graham Norton described him as “truly the kindest and most generous person I’ve ever worked with”.
Elsewhere, Brandreth described him as a “wonderful role model: always courteous, always good-humoured, always the professional “, adding that he thought Parsons was “immortal because he was always so alive”.
In an interview with the Guardian in 2017, Parsons explained why Just a Minute hadn’t made it into the Guinness Book of records: “When the fanclub phoned them up saying they should put it in, they said that other shows have run longer. And the fans said: ‘Yes, other shows have run longer, such as Desert Island Discs, but not with the same person presenting it from the word go.’ But they hadn’t got a category for that”. He added it that it would be “a nice little accolade, but I’m not concerned about it.”
He is survived by wife Ann, and two children from his first marriage. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Os saldos de verão terminam na segunda-feira, mas estes não serão os últimos com data fixa. Os próximos de inverno, que decorrem entre 28 de dezembro e 28 de fevereiro, ainda serão feitos no âmbito da antiga lei, ainda em vigor. A nova lei, que permitirá fazer saldos em qualquer altura do ano, não deverá ser publicada em “Diário da República” este ano.
De acordo com o Ministério da Economia, a autorização legislativa terá de ser aprovado até 15 de outubro, depois terá de ser aprovada pelo presidente da República, “portanto dificilmente entrará em vigor em 2014”.
O projeto de lei que está em causa quer abolir os períodos obrigatórios de saldo, dando aos comerciantes a liberdade de escolher as datas. Já foi aprovado no Parlamento, em julho, faltando agora os restantes trâmites para entrar em vigor.
No entanto, esta medida não tem o apoio dos comerciantes. A Confederação de Comércio e Serviços de Portugal (CCSP) está em desacordo com esta iniciativa, “e fizemo-lo saber junto do Governo e do Parlamento”, afirmou João Vieira Lopes.
Leia mais Antecipação dos saldos abrandou quebra da inflação em agosto
“Será claramente negativo para os comerciantes mais pequenos. As grandes marcas poderão fazer saldos nas épocas altas para esgotar stocks, mas os mais pequenos não podem suportar essa diferença de preços, o que vai colocar estes em larga desvantagem”.
A Associação de Comerciantes do Porto também discorda da nova lei. “Ao longo de 12 meses, a mesma loja pode estar em saldos durante quatro meses, o que significa que pode depois entrar em promoções em modo continuado”, alerta Nuno Camilo. Defendendo que devia existir “uma diferença entre o que são saldos e promoções”.
Para o presidente da ACP, “a nova lei cria uma burocracia acrescida ao ser necessário comunicar a ASAE cinco dias antes da referida época de saldos”.
E, salienta, “a nova lei vai criar um maior desequilíbrio entre as empresas, pois as pequenas estão dependentes e tem de “acompanhar” as grandes nas alturas em que estas decidirem começar as épocas de saldos”. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
By
On the eve of the NHL lockout getting underway in mid-September Kings captain Dustin Brown gave an exclusive interview to MayorsManor, where he talked about weighing the choices of staying in LA with his wife and three kids vs. entertaining the multiple offers he had received from teams in Russia and Switzerland.
Family and the beautiful weather in Southern California won out for the time being.
Now, skip ahead 45 days into a stalemate without an end in sight between the league and the Player’s Association and things have changed for the rugged power forward.
MayorsManor can announce and confirm that Brown is heading overseas to play for the Zürcher Schlittschuh Club – more commonly referred to as ZSC Lions – in Zürich, Switzerland.
The story has many sub-plots too, including Brown being re-united with former coach Marc Crawford – yes, the same guy the Kings fired in June 2008 after two years behind the bench in LA.
Not that there’s much correlation between the two situations, but it’s at least interesting enough to note that Brown’s best offensive output for the Kings (33 goals, 60 points) came during Crawford’s final year in SoCal.
Since the player and coach parted ways back then, Crawford went on to be fired by the Dallas Stars a few years later and was working as a TV analyst with TSN not that long ago.
Brown, on the other hand, was named captain of the Kings later that same summer and this past June won his first Stanley Cup Championship.
A native of Ithaca, New York, Brown has certainly played the bulk of his hockey on rinks in North America – including three years with his junior club, the Guelph Storm (OHL), prior to being selected by the Kings in the first round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He also played for the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
Yet, international action is nothing new for Brown.
Just last fall, Brown and his Kings teammates opened the season in Germany and Sweden (something they all joked about with us here prior to leaving on the long trip).
Additionally, of the seven times he’s played for USA Hockey, four have come outside North America.
During his early years he participated in the 2002 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, known as the premier gathering of under-20 prospects. Held in the Czech Republic over the two weeks following Christmas 2001, Brown scored a game-winning goal and added three assists in the tournament, where he was the youngest member of the U.S. team.
Two years later he returned to the Czech Republic for the 2004 IIHF World Championship and won a bronze medal.
Brown has also joined USA Hockey for games in Sweden (2006 IIHF World Championship) and Switzerland (2009 IIHF World Championship). In 2006 he led the team with seven points (five goals, two assists) in seven games.
So, wearing the red, white and blue in Europe is nothing new – only this time it will be with the ZSC Lions and not Team USA.
By signing in Zurich though, Brown moves from one championship club to another. The Lions won the Swiss League title last season.
More recently, they’re coming off their worst defeat of the season – a 5-1 road loss to HC Davos on Tuesday. It was their second loss in a row, after dropping a game Saturday 2-1 to HC Ambri-Piotta. Prior to that, the Lions had won six straight games. They currently sit in second place with 34 points after 19 games played, nine back of leader Genève.
ZSC has a game tonight and one more this weekend before the league goes on break for the annual Euro Hockey Tournaments. So, Brown will leave LA next Wedenesday and debut with the Lions on Tuesday, November 13 vs. EV Zug wearing jersey #32.
Before this new deal in Switzerland had been finalized, Brown was scheduled to join fellow Kings teammates like Jeff Carter, Matt Greene and Jarret Stoll for an NHLPA Charity Game in El Segundo, CA next Friday. Now, they’ll most likely have to proceed without him.
Brown will turn 28 years old this Sunday, the day after the Kings were scheduled to play their 10th game of the 2012-13 season. For now though, without a collective bargaining agreement in place between the NHL and NHLPA, all the players remain locked out.
Today’s news marks the fourth member of the Kings Stanley Cup team agreeing to a deal with a club in Europe – Anze Kopitar is with Mora in Sweden, Alec Martinez joined TPS Turku in Finland and goalie Jonathan Bernier is starting for Heilbronner Falken in Germany.
Interviews with all those players – plus Trevor Lewis revealing where he’s likely to sign real soon (and it’s not in Europe) – can be found at the links down below.
UPDATE – We now have an exclusive interivew with Brown posted here.
Follow @mayorNHL
RELATED ARTICLES:
Exclusive: Dustin Brown on KHL contract offer
Exclusive: Anze Kopitar talks playing with his Brother Gasper in Sweden
Exclusive: Jonathan Bernier opens up about his trade request out of LA
Exclusive: Alec Martinez on the joy and pain of signing in Finland
Exclusive: Trevor Lewis tells MayorsManor where he’s thinking about signing during lockout | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The University of New Mexico (UNM) is the latest university to join the long list of institutions that mandate sensitivity training for staff.
The Daily Lobo reports that UNM will now require all faculty and staff to complete “Intersections: Preventing Discrimination and Harassment,” a course aimed at preventing sexual misconduct and gender discrimination, by December 31.
“Support colleagues with psychiatric issues by avoiding the careless use of terms that may stigmatize.”
The one-hour training deals with a bevy of issues, such as advising participants “to support colleagues with psychiatric issues by avoiding the careless use of terms that may stigmatize,” with “crazy,” “psycho,” “schizo,” and “bipolar” all offered as examples of language to avoid.
The training course also tackles gender discrimination issues and mandates that faculty and staff “support gender neutral restrooms and affirm that individuals may use whichever bathroom that aligns with their gender identity,” according to the Daily Lobo.
Faculty must not “announce someone’s transgender identity without their permission, or ask them about their ‘real name,’ or surgical status.” The training also states that identifying a person as “the woman in blue” can be marginalizing, and instead guides faculty to use gender-neutral phrases like “the person in blue.”
According to the training course, everyone has unconscious biases, and “awareness of these biases is not always enough,” so “it is important to take concrete steps to reduce or prevent the negative impact our unconscious biases might have on our co-workers.”
The training also seeks to root out false claims of harassment and allows the university to punish students or faculty for making claims with “reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the claim.”
"The course on preventing harassment has been mandatory at UNM for many years," Heather Cowan, UNM's Title IX coordinator in UNM's Office of Equal Opportunity, told Campus Reform in an email, adding that
"The changes to the course are really just about making it more interactive, interesting and engaging. It uses more multimedia to ensure different learning styles are all engaged. The content is the same--what are the laws, what are the policies, what are the responsibilities of staff and faculty, how to recognize harassment and discrimination, how to respond appropriately, how to report," she wrote.
The course is provided under contract to UNM by LawRoom, a company which creates trainings for colleges and universities around the country. The school has "gotten a lot of positive feedback from staff and faculty who have taken it," according to Cowan
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @ChrisNuelle
This story has been amended since its initial publication. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Washington Post/Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump promised during his campaign that he would not cut Social Security.
WASHINGTON ― President-elect Donald Trump said during his campaign that he did not want to cut Social Security benefits, but the Republicans he has hired to manage the program have made no such commitment.
Tom Leppert, the Trump transition team’s point person on Social Security, has in the past advocated for privatizing and cutting the popular retirement program. Leppert offered detailed policy positions that included raising the Social Security retirement age and partially privatizing the program when he ran for U.S. Senate in Texas 2012.
“Trump’s Social Security transition team is stacked with people who want to cut and privatize the system,”said Nancy Altman, co-director of the group Social Security Works, which opposes benefit cuts, in an emailed statement. Trump said he didn’t support cutting benefits, she noted.
“If he meant what he said, he needs to renounce and replace the Social Security appointees immediately,” Altman said.
Trump repeatedly said during the campaign that he didn’t want to mess with Social Security benefits, which keep millions of older Americans out of poverty.
“It is my intention to leave Social Security as it is,” he said in March at a Republican primary debate.
Social Security will not be able to pay out full benefits in 2034 if Congress does nothing to boost the program’s finances. Broadly speaking, progressives favor raising revenue to close the long-term funding gap, while conservatives prefer benefit reductions.
Trump implied on the campaign trail that reducing fraud and growing the economy would be enough to shore up Social Security’s finances. Experts on all sides agree that neither of those techniques would be nearly sufficient to address the problem.
At least two other figures assigned to manage the Social Security Administration transition are also long-time proponents of privatization and other benefit cuts.
Mike Korbey, who is heading the SSA transition, according to an organizational chart of top transition officials, is a former lobbyist who has advocated privatizing Social Security.
While lobbying for the conservative United Seniors Association in the mid-1990s, Korbey called Social Security “a failed system, broken and bankrupt.’’
Korbey went on to serve as a senior adviser to SSA’s deputy commissioner in the George W. Bush administration, where he promoted the then president’s plan to privatize the program.
Dorcas Hardy, a commissioner of the SSA during the Reagan administration, is on the Trump administration’s SSA transition team, according to an email The Intercept obtained. Hardy called for privatizing Social Security while at the libertarian Cato Institute in 1995.
The Social Security Administration, the federal agency that processes Social Security claims and sends out benefits, does not have the power to reshape the program. It’s up to Congress and the president to make changes such as change benefits.
But as Korbey’s 2005 activism shows, SSA’s political appointees can use their perch to advance a sitting administration’s agenda for the program. Naming officials like Leppert, Korbey and Hardy suggests that the Trump administration does not consider Social Security cuts off limits, no matter how many times Trump promised not to touch it on the campaign trail.
The Trump transition did not respond to a request for comment on whether Leppert, Korbey or Hardy’s roles indicated that Trump would not be keeping his campaign promise.
And Republicans in Congress have long embraced cutting benefits, including by raising Social Security’s retirement age, tinkering with the benefit formula, or privatizing the program. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Vice President-elect Mike Pence both supported George W. Bush’ privatization push in 2005. The effort fizzled amid tepid popular support and Democratic charges that it would leave seniors vulnerable.
For his part, Ryan has said he wants to prioritize privatizing Medicare, indicating that addressing Social Security is less urgent.
That is not stopping Democrats and their allies, however, from sounding the alarm about the threat a Trump administration poses for Social Security as well.
Brad Woodhouse, director of Americans United for Change, an advocacy group that supports Democrats, said in an email the transition team makeup indicated Trump would favor cutting Social Security.
“If Trump’s new ‘point man’ on shaping policy for the Social Security Administration is any clue, the American people will be surprised with a plan they didn’t vote for to privatize the system and let Wall Street gamble away their hard-earned benefits, just as President Bush did in 2005,” Woodhouse said.
Do you work in a federal agency? Email us at [email protected] and let us know what you’re seeing and hearing, and if you’re thinking of staying in government for the next administration. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Punk Rock Is Bullshit?
Find common denominator, reduce to cliché, look up thesaurus and repeat. Find the self-righteous in you, express it in a vacuous bucket full of shit sort of way and rub in vigorously. Essentially, acquire tried and tested techniques of generalisations and stereotypes that you would expect from a right wing tabloid, and dress it in Christopher Hitchens cheese and wine establishment critique. A sort of Everett True genetically modified using John McGuirks DNA. Now I’m starting to repeat myself.
Punk rock did not have a single set of motives. It may not have defeated Thatcherism or Reaganism, but, at what point is this particular music being measured by a standard no other has been held to? It influenced people to think for themselves and challenged the homogenised conservative ideological backwater this inward thinking punch drunk fuck nut just churned out. It was its unhinged confrontation within the medium it emerged kicking and spitting from that made it more challenging and unique for its time and in a historic sense.
The irony I’m sure is not lost on him (or is it?) after putting so much effort into realising it, is that, he is trying to put the boot in on punk. How? In as punk rock a manner as he can. Maybe that’s the point. Only problem is though, Crass beat him to it by 35 years, and did it much more effectively, by declaring it dead. Not like some revisionist historian trying to justify their book by rearranging conveniently defined stats to push their agenda on who was the biggest monster of the 20th century, they redefined the parameters by kicking punk’s teeth in. This pisstaker on the other hand is too self satisfied to give credit to. You can dress up the wording any way you like, you can eviscerate yourself, be as indignant, as passionate as you want but, even with the added horsemeat, it’s still just a burger.
Punk was/is a medium of music built to challenge the prevailing sentiments and expose the fraudulence of its environment; clearly he was listening to something else. In fact, some of what he considers the bullshit punk, I’d agree with, but then that’s because it’s not fuckin punk. Anyway, calling out Courtney Love or The Sex Pistols to take pot shots at Punk is like citing the Sugar Hill Gang in a rant against militant Hip Hop. How do I know what is true Punk? I’m not an authority sure, but then, is it not against all authority? Or is it that the only authority is you? So fuck it I am. Depending on what your criteria of this art form consists defines to what extent you consider something punk. As for John Roderick’s definition? might as well call Will Smith a gangster because he raps.
As for pseudo punk values, there are plenty of examples to contradict that as well as to support it. It’s like the keep it real argument where one person talks keeping it real in a true to the music sense even at the expense of success, another to the lifestyle due to their wealth accrued from it. Clearly his definition of punk is different to others, and I’m not talking his critique. If we are to take such liberties, which is fine by me, the best singer songwriters I have heard are punk in a very real way. It is a challenge to orthodoxy and is embodied by many artists from Dead Kennedys to Chuck D to Temper-Mental MissElayneous to Crass, RIRA/Scary Eire, The Coup, and Jinx Lennon, among countless others. His view of punk is all encompassing and fits his article perfectly like a Jeremy Kyle smile, comfortably on a prick. This toxic social movement may have poisoned John Roderick’s culture but unfortunately it didn’t kill it. And for our penance, repeat after me the chorus
Punk isn’t bullshit, Punk is dead.
Punk Rock Is Bullshit by John Roderick | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
On June 11, Father Michael Pfleger said it is time to “ban high capacity magazines” and to “title guns like cars.”
According to Fox 32, Pfleger was speaking at St. George Catholic Church when he said, “We should ban assault weapons in America. We should ban high capacity magazines in America. We should title guns like cars in America.”
He also discussed his plan for cutting funds to the “gun lobby” by cutting sales for gun companies:
And when the gun manufacturers make less money, the gun lobbyists get paid less money. So that’s why they don’t want responsibility. That’s why they don’t want to stop easy access. Because it’s a business and nobody wants to touch the money. Well, the hell with the money. Life is more important than money.
It should be noted that the “assault weapons” Pfleger wants to ban are already banned in Chicago. It should also be noted that a Virginia Tech review panel that studied the heinous April 2007 attack on that campus determined a ban on “high capacity” magazines “would not have made that much difference in the incident.”
Elliot Rodger proved this in his May 2014 Santa Barbara attack, an attack in which every magazine in his possession held ten rounds or less.
Pfleger’s recent statements came a week after he said the “NRA will pay for the murder” of children in crime-riddled, gun-controlled Chicago.
(h/t Ulysses Arn)
Follow AWRHawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected]. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The map below shows hikes that I have posted. Double click to zoom in on an area. Click on a hiker icon to discover great hikes! Red stars indicate long distance hikes. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Industry giants Ancestry.com, 23andMe, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA market their services online, share test results on websites, and even offer tutorials on how to search for relatives in phone directories, or share results in social media. They often also claim rights to your genetic data and sell access to their databases to big pharmaceutical and medtech companies.
In terms of internet health, it’s part of a worrying trend of corporations to acquire personal data about people and act in their own best interests, not yours. OK, so test results can also lead to important discoveries about your personal health, and can also be shared for non-profit biomedical research in the public interest. But before you give in to your curiosity, here are 23 reasons not to reveal your DNA – one for each pair of the chromosomes in a human cell.
Further reading How DNA Testing Botched My Family’s Heritage, and Probably Yours, Too, Gizmodo, 2018
Ancestry wants your spit, your DNA and your trust. Should you give them all three?, McClatchy, 2018
The Forensic Genetics Policy Initiative – Country Wiki
If you still decide to submit your DNA for testing, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission offers sound advice to consumers: compare privacy policies before you pick a company, choose your account options carefully, recognize the risks, and report any concerns to authorities. To counteract the dominance of commercial companies, you can also contribute your data to non-profit research repositories like All of Us or DNA.Land that are open to public scrutiny.
If you regret a choice you made in the past, you could have your DNA data deleted and request that your sample be destroyed. Consumer DNA testing is an example of why strong data protection laws are so important. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) offers some protections, but elsewhere you have few rights when you hand over sensitive data. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
add your own caption
Guys When did Winnie the pooh start getting so popular | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
WINNIPEG — Andrew Harris is hoping to enjoy two big celebrations at Investors Group Field this weekend.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back is ready to pound out the yards to try for a second straight victory over the Toronto Argonauts Friday night (LIVE on TSN at 8pm et/5pm pt.). He'll then host a wedding social the next night at the stadium for himself and fiancee Carina Fiorentino.
"The biggest thing is getting the win (Friday) and Saturday will just continue the celebrations," Harris said after the team's Thursday walkthrough. "It's just great to have it all in the same place."
Harris heads into his big weekend on a tear, having rushed for more than 100 yards in three straight games. A fourth would put him in second place on the team's list behind Willard Reaves' club-record eight in row in 1984.
"I just want to win the game," said the 31-year-old Winnipeg native, who leads the league with 610 rushing yards off 95 carries. "That's the biggest thing."
Harris was a one-man wrecking crew when the Bombers (3-3) defeated the Argonauts (1-4) 38-20 last week.
His 177-yard output surpassed Toronto's net offence of 165 yards. He rushed 27 times for a career-high 161 yards with one touchdown. He also caught two passes for 16 yards and one TD.
On the flipside, Argos running back James Wilder Jr. was held to three carries for minus two yards as Winnipeg built up an early lead.
There's a chance last season's CFL top rookie might not play. He left Wednesday's practice with a leg injury and is still being evaluated.
"He felt something (in practice)," Toronto head coach Marc Trestman said after the team arrived in Winnipeg. "But he seems, just talking to him last night, taking to the doctors, we feel reasonably confident that he'll be playing."
Running back/kick returner Dexter McCluster also injured a leg in the same practice and was put on the six-game injured list Thursday. Martise Jackson will take his spot.
Trestman said the focus for his team's offence this week is a better running game and pass protection for quarterback James Franklin, who took over after starter Ricky Ray suffered a serious neck injury on June 23.
"We've got to get better play and more efficient play out of our quarterback," Trestman said. "That would be for anybody who's playing. It starts there at the quarterback position.
"I think James has shown himself to be very resilient. He's going through a growing process now in a new system with new verbiage and really his first time playing a lot of football."
Franklin said it wasn't disheartening that Harris had more yards than Toronto's offence.
"It's frustrating to think, 'OK, I wish we would have put up more yards,' " he said. "I think personally I'm not like, 'Oh no, it bothers me that he had more rushing yards than we had total yards.'
"But I mean we definitely need to do a better job of that, help our defence out because they made a lot of plays and they put us in really good positions."
Harris and Fiorentino are getting married next April, and the groom-to-be said the decision to hold the their wedding social at Investors Group Field was easy.
"Because this is my home and no one's ever done it," he said, adding he's footing the bill for expenses such as security.
The social, a Manitoba tradition, is a party marking a special event, with people buying tickets to attend and then dancing, drinking, snacking and purchasing tickets for a prize raffle.
Harris said he expects 1,800 to 2,000 friends, family, teammates and some football fans will party on one of the end concourses. Prizes will include a five-night stay at a Mexican villa and Winnipeg Jets tickets.
———
TORONTO (1-4) AT WINNIPEG (3-3)
Friday, Investors Group Field
POINT GETTERS — Winnipeg leads the league in points scored with 199, an average of 33.3 through six games. Toronto is eighth with 81 points, a 16.2 average through five games.
POOR STARTS — The last time the Argonauts started a season with a 1-5 record was in 2011, when they went 1-6 out of the gate.
CONSISTENT CATCHER — Bombers receiver Weston Dressler has caught a reception in 118 straight games, the eighth longest streak in CFL history after Craig Ellis's 120 games in a row. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Tens of millions of new jobs can be created around the world in the next two decades if green policies are put in place to switch the high-carbon economy to low-carbon, the UN has said.
Between 15m and 60m additional jobs are likely, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep). These are net gains in employment for the world economy, taking into account any job losses in high-carbon industries that fail to transform.
Achim Steiner, executive director of Unep, said: "The findings underline that [the green economy] can include millions more people in terms of overcoming poverty and delivering improved livelihoods for this and future generations. It is a positive message of opportunity in a troubled world of challenges."
As well as generating net new gains in the number of jobs, the switch to a green economy could help to lift millions of people out of poverty.
In the US, there are now about three million "green jobs", in sectors such as wind power and energy efficiency, the study found. In the UK, the number is close to one million and has been one of the few areas of the economy that has been creating jobs. There are about 500,000 people working in green jobs in Spain. In the developing world, too, the number is growing rapidly – about 7% of people employed in Brazil, amounting to three million people, are now in the green economy.
However, realising the full potential of green jobs depends on countries taking action to develop the green economy and bringing in policies that will foster investment, according to the report.
Juan Somavia, director general of the International Labour Organisation, which was co-author of the report, said: "The current development model has proven to be inefficient and unsustainable, not only for the environment, but for economies and societies as well. We urgently need to move to a sustainable development path with a coherent set of policies, with people and the planet at the centre."
He rebuffed claims that greening industry would lead to job losses, because of the changes to some traditional industries such as fossil fuel extraction. He said: "Environmental sustainability is not a job killer, as it is sometimes claimed. On the contrary, if properly managed, it can lead to more and better jobs, poverty reduction and social inclusion."
Some areas are more vulnerable to losses – global fishing fleets, for instance, will probably have to be reduced if overfishing is to be tackled, and fishermen will have to be found new employment. But the report found that long-term sustainable management could avoid job losses. For instance, an estimated one million people in Asia may have lost jobs in forestry because of poor resource management, which could have been largely avoided with better policies and enforcement.
Jobs easily identified as "green" – workers in renewable energy, for instance, maintaining forests or installing insulation – are not the only ones to be touched by the shift to a more environmentally sustainable economy. At least half of the global workforce will be affected in some way by 2030, the study found. This will stretch from people whose industrial processes are overhauled to cut greenhouse gases, to farmers who change their methods to be more environmentally friendly, and workers in the construction industry who begin to install new greener materials.
Some of the sectors identified in the report as being most affected by the changes include: agriculture, forestry, fishing, energy, resource-intensive manufacturing, recycling, building and transport.
Women could benefit – if the shift is managed properly it could provide them with better access to jobs and higher incomes.
The study, Working towards sustainable development: opportunities for decent work and social inclusion in a green economy, has been timed to be published ahead of World Environment Day next week, and to inform discussions at the landmark Rio+20 environmental conference, where nations will attempt to work on a new set of targets and agreements to help halt environmental degradation around the world. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Running a public transit system is not free, but relieving riders of the cost burden would benefit everyone who uses the roads and breathes air. Nearly a hundred cities around the world have abandoned user fees in favor of alternative funding streams that remove financial barriers for residents to access public transit.
Raising the cost of public transit would burden residents who can least afford transportation alternatives and punish commuters who are doing the most to ease traffic and improve air quality. But the heaviest cost is that focusing on whether to raise or maintain fares distracts from what should be our larger goal: free public transportation. We need bold proposals to make public transit the most reliable, convenient, and affordable transportation option.
In Massachusetts, fares from bus and subway riders contributed just over 20 percent in revenues for the MBTA budget in 2018. The agency and elected leaders should be proposing big ideas to reduce and eliminate that burden.
City, state, national, and international reports have documented a dire climate future, where our ability to mitigate intensifying storms, flooding, and high-temperature days depends on aggressively expanding public transit as a baseline, along with larger initiatives such as widespread electrification and transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. The city’s recent Carbon Free Boston report requires dramatically increasing the share of commuters taking the T as a necessary condition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Governor Baker’s Commission on the Future of Transportation highlights building public transit ridership to move more people in fewer vehicles for the sake of our environment and economy by 2040. The United Nations set a deadline to implement transformational reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, or face temperatures that will spiral into climate disaster.
By the MBTA’s own projections, the proposed fare increases would result in additional transit ridership declines, making it harder to meet these aggressive deadlines as well as worsening traffic around the region. Forget fare hikes; let’s seek the sustainable revenue sources to take action on improving service levels, electrifying trains, and speeding up buses.
Eliminating financial barriers must be one of the big ideas we explore, because geographic mobility underlies economic mobility. Access to public transit is more than just a calculus about the number of cars taken off the road. Cities that have adopted free public transportation have benefited from a surge in transit equity, with more low-income residents, seniors, and youth using transit to access opportunities. In a city and region where income inequality and racial disparities reflect our geographic segregation, cost and unreliability of public transportation adds an additional barrier for youth, people of color, and everyone who has been left out of the prosperity of our city. Removing this barrier would unleash the full potential of our workforce and talent from every neighborhood.
Making the investment in fare-free transit would not only nourish our future, but also align with our history. Over the course of nearly four centuries, Massachusetts boldly invested in shared prosperity, including the nation’s first public school, park, and library. By removing financial barriers to access, each of these innovative investments led to widespread recognition of a fundamental right — the right to quality education, the right to open space, the right to our shared knowledge, free and available to all.
Investing in free public transportation would establish a right to mobility — the right of every person to access every part of our city, regardless of income level, race, background, or home zip code.
As we advocate for large-scale sustainable reform, there are many feasible steps toward fare-free transit that could open up opportunity immediately. Massachusetts students (including college students at our public universities) should be the first group to ride fare-free. We should also pilot free resident fares on bus routes where the majority of riders are low-income residents. New fare collection technology should be implemented with a fare-capping policy, allowing riders to ride for free after reaching a monthly threshold, rather than having to purchase a monthly pass up front or accumulate costs ride-by-ride that surpass that threshold.
Free public transportation is the single biggest step we could take toward economic mobility, racial equity, and climate justice. Let’s once again make a historic investment for our shared future in the Commonwealth.
Michelle Wu is an at-large Boston city councilor. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
In blow to US campaign against WikiLeaks, proceedings against alleged CIA whistleblower end in mistrial
By Oscar Grenfell
10 March 2020
The federal proceedings against Joshua Schulte, a former employee of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who was accused by the American government of providing WikiLeaks with a trove of documents exposing illegal spying operations, have ended in a mistrial.
After a week of deliberations, the jury returned on Monday to state that it could not reach an agreement on the most serious charges facing Schulte. The divided opinion centred on eight counts under the Espionage Act, including illegally gathering and transmitting national defence information. The jury had only agreed to convict Schulte on the lesser counts of contempt of court and making false statements to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Schulte will remain imprisoned and likely faces a retrial.
The failure of the prosecution to convict Schulte of the charges relating to WikiLeaks’ 2017 Vault 7 publication, which consisted of leaked documents from within the CIA, is significant. It may mark a hurdle in the campaign of the US government against WikiLeaks and its publisher Julian Assange, who faces extradition from Britain to the US and prosecution under Espionage Act charges over separate 2010 and 2011 releases.
It is clear that if he is extradited, Assange could face additional US charges, possibly related to Vault 7. Three days after closing arguments in the Schulte trial, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials confirmed that it was possible that Assange would face additional counts carrying the death penalty if he was dispatched to the US. The timing of their statements, which contradict the previous claims of US allies, could indicate that there is much at stake for Assange in the attempted US prosecution of Schulte.
The failure of the jury to convict, after a “national security” trial in which all advantages were slated to the prosecutors, underscores the criminal character of the media blackout of the proceedings, which began in late January. For over a month, the most prominent corporate media outlets have remained silent on court hearings which revealed aspects of the politically-motivated witch-hunt of WikiLeaks and its alleged sources.
The publication of Vault 7 in early 2017 was the trigger for a major escalation in the US government vendetta against Assange, culminating in his illegal expulsion from Ecuador’s London embassy last year, his arrest by the British police and imprisonment in a maximum-security prison. Schulte’s trial, moreover, coincided with the first week of the British extradition hearing against Assange, which underscored the similarities in the lawless treatment of the WikiLeaks publisher and his alleged CIA source.
Prosecutors have described the Vault 7 leak, which they accuse Schulte of being responsible for, as the largest in the entire history of the CIA. The disclosure has been compared to the releases of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, who in 2013 exposed mass US government surveillance of the American and world population.
Vault 7 revealed that the CIA was conducting illegal spying operations, including through phones and household appliances such as smart televisions. It exposed the US government as one of the biggest purveyors of malicious computer viruses in the world.
Vault 7 documented the CIA’s ability to hack into computer systems and leave telltale signs attributing the attacks to the adversaries of American imperialism, such as Russia and Iran. It revealed sinister programs aimed at enabling the CIA to take control of the computer systems that operate many modern cars—raising the prospect of political assassinations.
Despite this, the vast majority of the American and world population has been deprived of any knowledge of the proceedings. The effective D-notice has been enforced across the spectrum of corporate publications, ranging from the New York Times to the Washington Post.
The hearing has been held under draconian conditions. Last year, Schulte’s attorney Sabrina Shroff revealed that Schulte’s legal correspondence was being monitored by federal authorities. She stated that defence lawyers had effectively been threatened by the CIA with possible prosecution if they received any material that was classified.
“National security” was used to stymie the defence’s conduct of the case. Prosecutors successfully barred the defence from researching any of the CIA witnesses, imposing a ban even on Google searches of their names with any phrases that could identify them as spies, such as “CIA,” “WikiLeaks” or “Vault 7.”
The CIA personnel testified under false names, with the media barred from even describing their appearance. Reporters from independent publications covering the trial complained that the prosecution sought to delay their access to court transcripts and exhibits.
The Orwellian character of the hearing was summed up by the first expert witness for the prosecution. A government official, he revealed under cross-examination that he had not looked at any of the primary Vault 7 material, despite it being on the public record, because he did not have the appropriate security clearance.
The proceedings largely avoided any examination of the character and legality of the CIA activities exposed by WikiLeaks. In one rare exception, a current CIA employee acknowledged that the hacking he was involved in was directed against foreign states and “non-state actors.” In other words, extrajudicial operations targeting civilians and political opponents of the US government.
Another witness stated that it was rare for the agency’s hacking division to target “friendly nations,” effectively confirming that the CIA does, at least occasionally, target governments formally allied to the US.
The court shielded the government. Last month it blocked defence subpoenas seeking the testimony of current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. As then director of the CIA, Pompeo directly oversaw the agency’s response to Vault 7 in early 2017.
As the defence noted in a February 17 filing, Pompeo “was immediately debriefed about the WikiLeaks disclosure and he was specifically informed that Mr. Schulte was an early suspect.” Pompeo then “approved the substance of the first search warrant application” targeting Schulte, “authorizing the FBI to make various statements therein, some of which later proved untrue.”
Publicly, Pompeo responded to Vault 7 by branding WikiLeaks as a “non-state hostile intelligence service” and its publisher Julian Assange as a “demon.” Behind the scenes, he worked to ensure Assange’s arrest by the British police and the opening up of US extradition proceedings against him.
As Shroff explained in her closing argument, the prosecution’s legal case was in reality a CIA-government “mission” to assign blame for the most damaging leak in the agency’s history. Despite weeks of testimony, the prosecution had been unable to definitively establish that Schulte was responsible for the leak. There was no forensic evidence that he had taken possession of the Vault 7 documents or provided them to WikiLeaks.
DEVLAN, the CIA server on which the documents were stored, moreover, had been described by government witnesses as a “dirty network” and the “wild west.” They repeatedly acknowledged lax security procedures, including shared and easy-to-crack passwords, and an absence of any monitoring of staff activities.
The prosecution had spent an inordinate amount of time establishing that Schulte, who left the CIA in November 2016, had been embroiled in rancorous disputes with many of his colleagues and superiors. They also pointed to earlier instances in which Schulte had allegedly responded to the revocation of his administrative access on separate projects by creating backdoors to enter systems without authorization.
A government image of Schulte allegedly using a contraband phone in the Metropolitan Correctional Center
The prosecution case also focused heavily on Schulte’s alleged activities in the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York, after he had been detained following the FBI investigation into Vault 7. Schulte had conducted a campaign to draw attention to his plight, including through the use of contraband phones, pseudonymous social media pages and by contacting the media. These breaches of prison rules, which are the focus of some of the charges Schulte faces, were used by the prosecution to try and establish his broader guilt.
Shroff argued that Schulte’s actions were those of a desperate but innocent man. He had contacted media outlets to publicise what he considered to be the unlawful and false basis of the repeated FBI raids of his apartment. Schulte had also documented the shocking conditions he confronted, including being bolt-chained to the ground during interrogation, dealing with flooding in the MCC with limited prison assistance and being sensorily-deprived at the facility.
Several incidents in the latter stages of the hearing indicated that the prosecution case was on the verge of collapse.
On February 28, during an emergency session of court, the prosecution dropped the second count of its indictment, which alleged that Schulte illegally transmitted CIA material to which he had lawful access. This appeared to be an attempt to stave-off any suggestion that Schulte had lawful access to some or all of the Vault 7 material.
And on March 5, days after closing arguments, a juror was dismissed after it was revealed that she had looked up one of the lawyers involved in the case online. She promptly went to the tabloid press and stated that while Schulte had been a “naughty boy,” she did not believe the most serious charges against him.
Most damningly, it was revealed late last month that the prosecution had withheld potentially exculpatory evidence. After he had already testified, it emerged that “Michael,” a government witness, had been placed on administrative leave after being non-cooperative with the FBI investigation into the Vault 7 leak.
“Michael,” a close colleague of Schulte, claimed to have seen the irregular transmission of the Vault 7 material on his computer screen in real time. He had even taken a screenshot of the apparent theft. But when questioned by the FBI, he had refused to answer a number of questions and had been assigned to indefinite leave after it was decided that he could not be trusted to work on classified projects.
The defence unsuccessfully sought a mistrial in response to the revelation.
The strange case of “Michael,” however, indicated that the defence was correct when it stated that the government and the CIA still do not know who was responsible for leaking Vault 7. “Michael’s” circumstances indicate that behind the scenes, the CIA is proceeding with a frenzied investigation aimed at identifying the leaker, even while it is seeking to prosecute Schulte.
This supports the defence claim that Schulte is a scapegoat, targeted because of his repeated conflicts with colleagues and the circumstances of his departure from the CIA. The former CIA employee also faces separate child pornography charges, after the FBI claimed to find incriminating evidence during its Vault 7-related raids of his apartment. To those familiar with the sordid record of the US intelligence agencies, this only heightens the likelihood that Schulte is the victim of a state frame-up.
It must be noted, moreover, that whoever leaked the Vault 7 material did a service to the American and world population, exposing illegal government activities potentially impacting on millions of people.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
(Newser) – One of Italy's most-wanted fugitive mob bosses was arrested after five years on the lam Wednesday when police found him hiding in a home bunker built between the bathroom and his son's bedroom. Antonio Pelle, 54, crawled out of his hiding place on his stomach to the top of an armoire that had shielded the bunker at his home in southern Reggio Calabria, the AP reports. Video of his surrender showed at least two dozen police officers surrounding the wardrobe waiting for him to emerge. Pelle is considered the boss of the Pelle-Romeo clan of San Luca, which is part of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mob.
Pelle, known as "Mamma," was three years into a 20-year prison sentence for mafia association and arms and drug trafficking when he slipped out of a hospital in the town of Locri in September 2011. He had been taken to the hospital to be treated for anorexia, Italian news reports said. A police commander said 50 officers had searched the two-storey villa before his recapture, "but it took a very attentive eye to discover his hiding place." (A 'Ndrangheta crime boss who had been on the run for 20 years was captured in bed in July.)
| {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Paradoxical
Mage: The Awakening, Open Development
Paradox
Aaand we’re back! GenCon was a blast as always, and it was great to meet so many of you. Lots of insightful questions about the draft, too, all of which I got down in red pen to look at when we redline.
Before we start, two points.
First, as you’ve by no doubt heard by now, the book formerly known as Mystery Play: The Fallen World Chronicle is now officially Mage: The Awakening, Second Edition. Which is, you know, neat.
Second, thanks to the release schedule until August 2015 getting published at GenCon, I can stop dancing around questions like “are you going to cover the magical materials” (which, seriously, I get asked about once a week.) Our first book for Mage after the new corebook is going by the working title of Shards of Power. It’s about Mysteries of Supernal origin – everything from a chapter on Yantras, expanded magical item crafting, to Artifacts, Supernal Verges and (if we can get them in) ghost mages and other liches.
With a three-vote margin, Paradox has finally won the day.
When we started to put the new edition together, we had a few goals in mind. We knew that Paradox’s function in the game is to give mages enough rope to hang themselves, that it’s the risk they take for overextending themselves. We also knew that the current magic system doesn’t neccessarily get that across – Paradoxes are relatively easy to absorb, and spells are set as either covert or vulgar in their mechanics, for reasons that often had more to do with balance considerations than any in-world logic. It was a progression from Ascension‘s “coincidental” and “vulgar” magick, which depended on how believable a spell was to the consensus. After nine years, knowing what Paradox is in Mage, we can go further.
The new Paradox system – in fact, the new edition – doesn’t contain the words “covert” or “vulgar.” No spell automatically risks Paradox. Instead, the spellcasting system defines whether a character can comfortably achieve a given effect, or if it’s difficult enough to risk the Abyss corrupting the spell’s imago. Mages have a defined gap between what they can achieve and what they can achieve safely. Going beyond those limits tests a mage’s ability to build a spell imago, and risks the Abyss corrupting the spell.
We call this concept Reach. As in “exceeds grasp.”
Reach and Paradox Risk
In the current system, when a mage has more dots in an Arcanum than she needs to cast a spell, she can employ advanced spell factors, use sympathetic range, or access any special mechanics in the spell’s description. For the second edition, we’ve wrapped all of these up together, slightly reduced the effectiveness of spells without using them, and decoupled it from requiring more dots.
By default, spells are cast in ritual time (as defined by Gnosis), on the caster or something the caster is touching, using the basic versions of all spell factors. Casting in combat time (Turns), on something the caster can sense, or using an advanced spell factor all cost Reach. Many spells have additional effects for more Reach.
You get one Reach for free with every dot in the primary Arcanum you meet or exceed the spell’s Practice by. Every additional Reach risks Paradox dice according to Gnosis. You can also risk Paradox in other ways – casting an obviously magical effect in front of Sleepers adds a die, or using a spell that you’ve burned your Wisdom over previously. If you have a Paradox dice pool, you also bag an extra die for each previous paradox roll your character has prompted in a scene. Multiple Sleeper witnesses apply a dice trick to the Paradox roll – a single witness doesn’t, but a handful of people will give it 9-again, light traffic 8-again and a crowd gives it the rote quality.
Witnessing magic like this, provoking Paradox, also makes Sleepers suffer an Integrity breaking point. Which unless you’re particularly hubristic will probably make the mage suffer a Wisdom breaking point. It’s bad all round.
Paradox Risk is reduced by two dice in the Shadow and Underworld. In the Astral Realms, Supernal Verges, and Demesnes, it’s removed entirely – no spells suffer Paradox at all, allowing mages to let loose with the strongest forms of their spells. In Abyssal Verges, however, it’s automatic – every die of Paradox Risk becomes a success with no need to roll.
Once a spell has a Paradox dice pool, you can’t get rid of it entirely. Spending Mana reduces the Paradox pool one-for-one, using your dedicated magical tool as a yantra knocks two dice off. The most you can do is reduce the Paradox pool to a chance die, though – once you’re risking Paradox, the Storyteller is going to roll it.
At this point, you the player haven’t rolled any dice. You can see the size of your spellcasting pool, you can see the size of the Paradox pool that’s coming for you. At this point, you have a decision to make.
Mages can sense the Abyss when it starts to take hold of a spell, as a clammy, icy feeling in their soul accompanying the rush of using magic. They can clamp down on that influx of Paradox, trying to contain it within themselves, or they can let it go, allowing the Abyss to warp the spell.
Containment
If a mage tries to contain a Paradox within herself, the Paradox roll is contested by the character’s Wisdom score. Any Paradox successes cancelled out become resistant bashing damage. If the Paradox roll still succeeds, however, the mage feels the hurt – she gains a Paradox Condition as the Abyss can’t corrupt the spell but gets grounded into her instead. The game has one sample Paradox condition per Arcanum, but we encourage you to think up your own. Here’s one that may seem familiar:
Bedlam
The mage is driven insane by her proximity to the Abyss. If the Paradox roll nets three or less successes, she gains a mild derangement. If it nets four or more successes, she gains a severe derangement (See p. XX).
Paradox Conditions grant Arcane Beats when they cause you problems, but are technically persistant. When a period of time determined by your Wisdom elapses, a Paradox Condition becomes “settled” – it’s fully entered your character’s pattern and will increase any Paradox rolls by a die until you remove it – and finally free yourself from it – by Pattern Scouring it out of yourself: effectively completing the attempt to turn the Paradox into resistant damage.
Whether the Paradox happens or not, the spell roll itself is unchanged.
Release
If a mage chooses not to take the personal risk of containment himself, the Paradox pool’s successes penalize the mage’s casting dice pool. More than that, though, successes on a released Paradox become Reach – Reach that the Storyteller can spend. Paradox successes cancel Reaches that the player wanted, add additional ones he didn’t (your spell to affect one target now affects everyone in sensory range, for example), or even (when the Paradox gets multiple successes) leave an Environmental Tilt behind or summon an Abyssal Entity. No matter what happens, though, the resulting Paradox won’t come after the mage by default — unless you happen to be targeting yourself with your spell, releasing a Paradox is the safer option. For you. Not so much for any bystanders.
Example
That’s a lot of explanation. Let’s look at an example.
Mark is playing Wolsey, a paranoid Silver Ladder Mastigos who is concerned that he’s building up too many sympathetic connections that the Seers of the Throne (or his political enemies in Caucus) could exploit. Wolsey is Gnosis 3 and has Space 3.
He doesn’t need to engage in creative thaumaturgy, as the spell he’s after is described in the rules.
Veil Sympathy (Space ••)
Practice: Veiling
Primary Factor: Duration
Suggested Rote Skills: Politics, Subterfuge, Survival
A magician’s sympathetic connections allow her to reach out beyond herself, but they are also an avenue by which her enemies can attack her. This spell conceals one of the target’s sympathetic links, chosen by the mage from those she is aware of. Any attempt to uncover the link, or to use the target as a Sympathetic Yantra, provokes a Clash of Wills.
+1 Reach: Rather than suppressing a sympathetic connection, the mage may instead make the target appear to have a sympathetic link to someone or something else instead. Attempts to detect the link provoke a Clash of Wills to see through the deception, but attempts to use the target as a Sympathetic Yantra automatically fail.
+2 Reach: The mage may suppress all the target’s sympathetic links. This effect applies in both directions; that is, if the mage casts it on herself, she cannot be used as a Sympathetic Yantra, nor can any Sympathetic Yantra target her, without a Clash of Wills.
Now then. Wolsey has Space 3, so he can manage 2 Reach without risking Paradox. By default, the spell will affect himself or anything he’s touching (that’s fine – he’s aiming at himself), and require a ritual which at his level of Gnosis will take an hour (regrettable, but doable). The real pain as far as he’s concerned, though, is that it will only last for three turns (duration is the primary spell factor, so it moves up the duration chart by his Space dots. That’s still only nine seconds, though).
In order to get the spell to last an appreciable amount of time, he’ll have to Reach. Using one of his two Reach switches it to the advanced duration spell factor, where his Arcanum mastery nets him a week. He doesn’t fancy recasting this spell every week, though, so takes a 2-dice penalty to his casting roll to make it last a month. Using High Speech and destroying a photo of himself in the ritual will give him three bonus dice from Yantras, anyway, putting him on a mighty seven-dice casting pool. He’s feeling confident.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t know which angle the Seers will attack him from. Or even if they exist at all. Suppressing all of his sympathetic connections costs 2 Reach as per the spell’s description – combined with making the effect last, that’s beyond his abilities. If he were an Adept of Space, he wouldn’t have a problem, but now he’s sitting on two (thanks to his Gnosis) Paradox dice.
We’ll take the example through both of Mark’s options here, so you can see them play out.
Wolsey contains the Paradox: Dave (the Storyteller) rolls the two Paradox dice and gets a success. Mark rolls Wolsey’s Wisdom (5) and gets two successes. Wolsey suffers a level of resistant Bashing damage and the spell goes on unaffected – Mark’s seven dice easily get a success, and for the next month any attempts to use a sympathetic connection on Wolsey provoke a Clash of Wills.
Wolsey does not contain the Paradox: Dave rolls the Paradox pool and gets a success. Mark’s pool is penalized by one, reducing it to six. Dave is also feeling mean, so uses the Paradox’s success to add a Reach Mark didn’t ask for (if Dave were feeling particularly vindictive, he’d just undo the Reach for duration and let the spell elapse in a matter of Turns, but that’s boring). He uses it to activate the other function of the spell, to create false sympathies. Mark rolls his reduced dice pool, still succeeds, and instead of being off the grid Wolsey now has a collection of nonsensical sympathies – some of which are noted down in Dave’s chapter notes to come haunt him later…
Next week!
Lots for you to pick over there, I think. Next time, let’s look at something we haven’t had up for vote before. Antagonists or Legacies? | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Rakeem Cato tied a career-high with five touchdown passes as Marshall eviscerated Southern Miss 61-13 on Saturday.
Cato's four scoring throws in the first quarter helped Marshall (5-3, 3-1 Conference USA) open up a 28-0 lead heading into the second.
Cato, however, led Marshall on a 13-play, 70-yard drive culminating with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Shuler, his second receiving touchdown of the afternoon, just 2 minutes and three seconds later and the rout was on.
Cato completed 21 of 28 passes for 262 yards.
Kevin Grooms and Essray Taliaferro each ran for more than 100 yards and Marshall averaged 11.3 yards per rush as a team. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
It has happened in Florida, Illinois, and Massachusetts, just to name a few states. One Republican congressman says that's where federal taxpayers subsidized construction of abortion clinics through multi-million dollar tax exempt municipal bonds.
Now Congressman Robert Pittenger, R-NC, has introduced a bill aimed at closing a loophole that allows abortion providers to use federal tax free bonds to build their abortion clinics.
"Under a loophole in the current law, cities, counties, and states can issue federally tax-free bonds to finance construction of abortion clinics," Pittenger said in a speech on the House floor. "These tax-free bonds are intended to finance schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, not abortion clinics. This legislation applies the spirit of the Hyde Amendment to the tax code, by preventing tax-free bonds from going to abortion providers."
According to Pittenger, these bonds give tax breaks to the investors that end up costing the government billions in revenue and lead to lower costs for the borrower.
The No Abortion Bonds Act would prohibit abortion providers from marketing these tax free bonds. The bill currently has more than 50 members of Congress co-sponsoring it, including Democrat Dan Lipinski, D-Illinois.
It turns out Planned Parenthood has been a big user of these tax loopholes.
"In New York City, they built their National Headquarters selling tax free bonds," Pittenger told CBN News. "That won't happen anymore."
Pittenger lists the following examples on his website:
In 2012, New York City issued a tax-free, $15 million bond for renovation of Planned Parenthood’s national headquarters.
In 2007, Sarasota County, Florida floated an $8 million, tax-free bond to pay for a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.
In 2007, the Illinois Finance Authority approved an $8.05 million tax-free bond to pay for a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Aurora.
In 2006, the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency granted a $5 million tax-exempt bond for a Planned Parenthood clinic in Worcester.
Pittenger says he'd like to see his bill added onto the tax reform plan, but thinks Republican leadership will likely steer clear of adding any extra measures to the bill that could possibly hold up the tax plan.
"I know there's real commitment to make sure the tax reform bill gets passed, so they don't want a lot of whistles and bells added," says Pittenger. "This is more than that, this is very serious, but not withstanding that I think we have good support as a stand-alone bill." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
As announced during tonight’s telecast of ABC’s "Dancing with the Stars," Bobby Bones is set to join "American Idol" as the show’s in-house mentor.
Last season, Bobby joined the top 24 Idol hopefuls as they prepared to take the stage with their all-star celebrity duet partners. In his expanded role this season, the award-winning personality will offer his industry expertise throughout the competition, helping contenders reach the next level of their artistry and performances. Inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame as the youngest honoree ever, Bobby Bones has been dubbed “the most powerful man in country music” (Forbes).
“American Idol” is returning to The ABC Television Network for the 2018-2019 season, after first making its return to airwaves as the No. 1 reality show launch for its inaugural season on the network during the 2017-2018 season. Helping to find the next singing sensations are music industry legends and all-star judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie. Emmy®-winning producer Ryan Seacrest will also return as host. The beloved singing competition series recently completed its open call Bus Tour auditions, visiting 24 cities across the country in a nationwide search for the next superstar. Judge auditions are currently underway in select cities across the country. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
My weed is so sticky I can't get it out of my grinder
6,803 shares | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
15-year-old Mohammad al-Qatta
image credit:
Syrian Observatory on Human Rights
Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
In yet one more in a long list of savage acts, Syrian “rebels” (more accurately labeled “death squads”) have publicly executed a 15-year-old boy in front of his parents and his siblings for allegedly “blaspheming” the prophet Mohammed.
Coffee vender Mohammed al-Qatta was captured and killed for stating that he would not extend credit to an unspecified individual “Even if Muhammad comes down,” a common phrase used by many Syrians. This statement was construed as blasphemy by the death squads who are portrayed as “freedom fighters” by the Western media and government agencies supporting them.
Upon making the statement, al-Qatta was abducted by the death squads and tortured before being publicly executed. UPI reports “When they brought him back, the teen’s head was covered with his shirt and his body bore marks of whipping.”
The death squads then paraded the young man in front of a crowd that included his parents and siblings, announcing that “cursing the prophet” is a horrible act and others committing such crimes will be punished. The death squads then shot the boy once in the mouth and once in the neck.
The Huffington Post writes that the murderers are believed to be “members of a rebel group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front. “
Even the pseudo-organizations like the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have found it impossible to obfuscate the animalistic brutality of the death squads in this latest act. Indeed, death squad supporter Rami Abdul Rahman has been forced to admit the savagery of groups he has supported for at least the last two years.
What is more interesting is that Rahman has been forced to admit that the killers were likely foreign fighters – not native Syrians fighting for freedom against their oppressive government, as Western audiences have been propagandized to believe.
“They spoke classical Arabic, not Syrian dialect,” he said.
“They shot the boy twice, once in the mouth, another in his neck, in front of his mother, his father and his siblings,” he added.
Ironically, it is reported that the 15-year old victim had taken part in protests against the government prior to his “blasphemous” remark, thus proving that the death squads which are now being mopped up by Assad’s forces, are incapable of even the slightest cognitive functions that allow for coexistence.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has criticized the killing as “criminal” and as a “gift to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.”
“This kind of criminality is exactly what makes people in Syria fear the fall of the regime,” Abdel Rahman said.
Yet this kind of criminality and “gifts” to Assad have been taking place ever since the invasion of foreign-backed death squads into Syria two years ago when those efforts began in earnest. Indeed, Rahman and his Observatory have been supporting the death squads throughout the entire ordeal in full knowledge of the atrocities being committed against the Syrian people.
Rahman and his organization are clearly aware of videos showing the death squads machine gunning captives, beheading prisoners (see here and here), and forcing young children to behead them. I, myself, have written an article dealing with reports regarding the death squad’s hanging of a young child after murdering his family in front of him. One can also view the videos of the death squad members beating and humiliating the famous elderly “Yellow Man” in Aleppo.
Indeed, the videos of the torture of prisoners in the hands of the death squads are legion. One need only type the relevant keywords into a YouTube search engine to be greeted with generous results.
Likewise, a number of chemical attacks directed against innocent civilians on the part of the Syrian death squads have taken place over recent months.
Although the mainstream media and Western governments have attempted to blame these attacks (and every other atrocity) on the Assad government, each and every one has, in fact, turned out to be the work of the Syrian death squads, who are themselves funded by Western governments, intelligence agencies, and NATO command structures.
Neither Rahman or any other individual or organization supporting the “rebels” could have overlooked the recent video of Syrian “rebel” leader Abu Sakkar cutting out the heart of a Syrian soldier and then biting it for the camera. Shortly before biting the man’s heart, Sakkar states to the camera “I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers.”
The execution of Mohammed al-Qatta, while tragic, merely stands as one more act of savagery on the part of the Syrian death squads. So long as the Western world continues to support them, it is unlikely to be the last.
Read other articles by Brandon Turbeville here.
Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of three books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, and Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident. Turbeville has published over 200 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
[Update: Due to travel constraints, the speaker from Vectorspace AI will be postponing his presentation to a later date.]
Quadrant Protocol: A blueprint for mapping decentralised data
Quadrant Protocol is a blockchain-based protocol that enables the access, creation, and distribution of data products and services with authenticity and provenance at its core.
For more information, please visit https://www.quadrantprotocol.com/
Location: PayPal Innovation Lab, Level 7
Agenda breakdown:
6:30-7:00pm: Networking, registration
7:00-7:45pm: Quadrant Protocol presentation
7:45-8:00pm: Q&A
8:00-8:30pm: Networking | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
DOVER, Del. (Apr. 11, 2017) – A bill filed in the Delaware House would legalize marijuana for recreational use, taking a step toward nullifying federal cannabis prohibition in practice in the state.
House Bill 110 (HB110) was introduced by Rep. Helene Keeley (D-South Wilmington) and 13 co-sponsors. The legislation would legalize marijuana under a tax-and-regulate system enforced at the state level. The bill reads as follows:
In the interest of promoting individual freedom, generating revenue for education and other public purposes, and allowing law enforcement to focus on violent crime and property crimes, the General Assembly finds and declares that the personal use of marijuana should be legal for persons 21 years of age or older and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol.
Under the provisions of HB110, individuals would be permitted to use recreational marijuana if they followed these rules:
(1) Individuals will have to show proof of age before purchasing marijuana.
(2) Selling, distributing, or transferring marijuana to minors and other individuals under the age of 21 remains illegal.
(3) Driving under the influence of marijuana remains illegal.
(4) Legitimate, taxpaying business people, not criminal actors, conduct sales of marijuana.
(5) Marijuana sold in this State will be tested, labeled, and subject to additional regulations to ensure that consumers are informed and protected.
An excise tax would be placed on lawfully sold recreational marijuana of “$50 per ounce on all marijuana flowers” as well as “$15 per ounce on all part of marijuana other than marijuana flowers and immature marijuana plants” and “$25 per immature marijuana plant.” The revenue would be placed in a Marijuana Regulation Fund to cover administration costs, with the rest of the money allocated to the Department of Health and Social Services, Department of Education, and general fund.
“House Bill 110 creates an entirely new industry in our state,” Rep. Keeley said. “As the only state in a seven-hour drive to have legalized marijuana, we would become a destination that would attract out-of-state sales, which would have a benefit to our Delaware businesses.”
Despite the federal prohibition on marijuana, measures such as HB110 remain perfectly constitutional, and the feds can do little if anything to stop them in practice.
LEGALITY
The federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) passed in 1970 prohibits all of this behavior. Of course, the federal government lacks any constitutional authority to ban or regulate marijuana within the borders of a state, despite the opinion of the politically connected lawyers on the Supreme Court. If you doubt this, ask yourself why it took a constitutional amendment to institute federal alcohol prohibition.
Legalization of marijuana in Delaware would remove a layer of laws prohibiting the possession and use of marijuana, but federal prohibition will remain on the books.
FBI statistics show that law enforcement makes approximately 99 of 100 marijuana arrests under state, not federal law. By mostly ending state prohibition, Delaware essentially sweeps away most of the basis for 99 percent of marijuana arrests.
Furthermore, figures indicate it would take 40 percent of the DEA’s yearly-budget just to investigate and raid all of the dispensaries in Los Angeles – a single city in a single state. That doesn’t include the cost of prosecution. The lesson? The feds lack the resources to enforce marijuana prohibition without state assistance.
A GROWING MOVEMENT
Delaware could join a growing number of states simply ignoring federal prohibition, and nullifying it in practice. Colorado, Washington state, Oregon and Alaska have already legalized recreational cannabis with California, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts set to join them after ballot initiatives in favor of legalization were passed in those states earlier this month.
With more than two-dozen states allowing cannabis for medical use as well, the feds find themselves in a position where they simply can’t enforce prohibition any more.
“The lesson here is pretty straight forward. When enough people say, ‘No!’ to the federal government, and enough states pass laws backing those people up, there’s not much the feds can do to shove their so-called laws, regulations or mandates down our throats,” Tenth Amendment Center founder and executive director Michael Boldin said.
WHAT’S NEXT?
HB110 will need to pass the House Health & Human Development Committee before it can be considered by the full House. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
With today’s release of the Republican tax plan, the debate over tax policy has finally officially begun. The Trump administration’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) has been doggedly campaigning for corporate tax cuts by claiming, unconvincingly, that these cuts will off a cascade of economic changes that lead to higher wages for American workers. Earlier this week the CEA released a second report claiming to marshal evidence showing the benefits of corporate tax cuts for economic growth and wages. This post first notes a key flaw that undermines much of the CEA’s review of this evidence, and then moves on to data from U.S. states that demonstrates (yet again) that there is no reliable link between cutting corporate taxes and raising wages.
The key flaw undermining much of the CEA report from earlier this week is that they completely ignore how their tax cuts will be financed in the long-run. The economic theory relating corporate rate cuts to higher wages rests on these cuts leading to a drop in interest rates (or a related concept, the “user cost of capital”, or UCC) which in turn spurs businesses to invest in productivity-enhancing plants and equipment. The new report cites a number of papers that estimate the effect of a lower user cost of capital (UCC) on economic outcomes.
The first thing to note about these claims is that the size of the effect of a lower UCC on economic outcomes is a contested issue in macroeconomics. But even if it was not, and even if there were universal agreement that a lower UCC significantly boosted growth, there is no reason to believe that enacting the Republican tax plan announced today would result in a lower UCC.
This is because the plan’s architects are silent on how these tax cuts will be financed. Cutting corporate income taxes in isolation would indeed boost post-tax returns to capital, which could lower the user cost of capital. But unless these corporate tax cuts are paired with cuts in federal spending or tax increases elsewhere, the resulting increases in budget deficits would put upward pressure on interest rates and the UCC so long as the economy was near full employment.
Proponents of the Republican tax cut plan could argue that the economy is not currently at full employment, so increases in budget deficits would not push up interest rates but would simply increase overall economic activity. This is a more-than-defensible argument—though not one these proponents typically make. But if they chose to make this argument, it severely weakens the case for a corporate tax cut in the first place. If the economy is not currently at full employment, the overriding policy goal should be to push it there as quickly as possible. And corporate tax rate cuts are about the weakest fiscal tool we have to push the economy towards full employment. Tax cuts targeted at low- and middle-income households, or direct spending on infrastructure and similar investments, would yield a much higher bang-for-the-buck in terms of creating jobs to get us back to full employment.
Finally, if the economy is indeed not at full employment, then productivity-enhancing investment is not constrained by the availability of economy-wide savings, instead it is constrained by a shortfall of spending by households, businesses and governments. In this environment, there will be no downward pressure on interest rates or the UCC from trying to induce more private savings, and even the supply-side rationale for these cuts evaporates.
This debate, and the CEA advocacy for tax cuts, continues to be plagued by a failure to mobilize convincing real-world evidence. I’ve noted before that the economic data clearly indicates that each link in the causal chain of events that must occur for corporate rate cuts to result in wage gains is weak when assessed against real-world data. In a blog post last week, I called out the CEA for falsely asserting that the benefits of corporate rate cuts for increased capital investment are “highly visible” in international data. Instead, evidence I presented shows that large corporate tax rate cuts between 2000 and 2016 were associated with (very slightly) slower growth in capital investment.
Another place to look for direct evidence that could be “highly visible in the data” regarding the effect of corporate rate cuts is across individual U.S. states. These states are in many ways the best possible candidate for lower corporate taxes to actually show up as higher wages. In the jargon of economists, these individual states can be thought of as “small and open” economies—meaning that their wages, prices, and interest rates are highly driven by influences external to the state economy. This is important because economic models that suggest that corporate income tax rate cuts could translate into large wage gains essentially require economies be small and open. If the data show that even individual U.S. states see little correlation between corporate rate cuts and wage growth, it is almost impossible to credibly claim that a cut in the federal corporate rate for the entire—clearly not “small and open”—U.S. economy would deliver wage growth.
Figure A shows the change in state corporate income tax rates from 1980 to 2010 and the change in the inflation-adjusted state median wage in that period. There is no correlation at all visible in the data. This reveals a key truth policymakers should face: boosting wages will require a range of policies, and most of these useful wage-boosting policies will not involve taxes.
Figure A Cutting corporate tax rates is not associated with gains in median wages : Percentage-point change in state corporate income tax rate and annualized growth in median wages, 1980–2010 Corporate rate Median wage Population (weight) 1.5% 0.4% 4.80E+06 0.0% -1.0% 710231 -3.5% 0.2% 6.30E+06 0.5% 0.5% 2.90E+06 -0.8% 0.2% 3.70E+07 -0.4% 0.4% 5.00E+06 -2.5% 0.8% 3.60E+06 0.0% 0.7% 897934 0.5% 0.7% 1.90E+07 0.0% 0.7% 9.70E+06 0.0% 0.2% 1.40E+06 1.1% 0.1% 1.60E+06 0.8% -0.1% 1.30E+07 2.5% 0.1% 6.50E+06 2.0% 0.2% 3.00E+06 0.3% 0.3% 2.90E+06 0.0% 0.3% 4.30E+06 0.0% 0.1% 4.50E+06 2.0% 0.8% 1.30E+06 0.0% 0.5% 5.80E+06 -0.8% 0.9% 6.50E+06 2.6% -0.2% 9.90E+06 -2.2% 0.5% 5.30E+06 1.0% 0.4% 3.00E+06 1.3% 0.3% 6.00E+06 0.3% 0.1% 989415 3.3% 0.4% 1.80E+06 0.0% 0.0% 2.70E+06 0.5% 0.9% 1.30E+06 0.0% 0.7% 8.80E+06 2.6% 0.3% 2.10E+06 -2.9% 0.5% 1.90E+07 0.9% 0.6% 9.50E+06 -2.1% 0.5% 672591 -8.0% -0.1% 1.20E+07 2.0% 0.2% 3.80E+06 -0.5% -0.1% 3.80E+06 0.5% 0.3% 1.30E+07 1.0% 0.8% 1.10E+06 -1.0% 0.6% 4.60E+06 0.0% 0.6% 814180 0.0% 0.3% 6.30E+06 0.0% 0.1% 2.50E+07 1.0% 0.1% 2.80E+06 1.0% 0.8% 625741 0.0% 0.7% 8.00E+06 0.0% 0.1% 6.70E+06 2.5% 0.2% 1.90E+06 0.0% 0.2% 5.70E+06 0.0% 0.0% 563626 Chart Data Download data The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel. The data underlying the figure. Note: Author’s analysis of data on state corporate tax rates from Serrato and Zidar (summary data here). Data on state median wages from the Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Groups (ORG). Data is deflated using the CPI-U-RS. Data points weighted by state population in 2010. Share on Facebook Tweet this chart Embed Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website. Download image
Are we sure that nobody in these states will see any gain from cutting corporate taxes? No. Figure B looks at the same 1980 to 2010 period and shows the relationship between the change in state corporate income tax rates and the change in the share of total state income claimed by the richest 1 percent of households. Here the correlation (evidenced by the downward sloping trend-line) is clearer: a reduction in the corporate rate is associated with an increase in the share of total income claimed by the top 1 percent.
Figure B Cutting corporate rates boosts top 1 percent incomes : Percentage-point change in state corporate income tax rates and top 1 percent income share, 1980–2010 Corporate rate Top 1 percent income share Population (weight) 1.5% 6.7% 4.80E+06 0.0% 7.0% 710231 -3.5% 8.3% 6.30E+06 0.5% 7.4% 2.90E+06 -0.8% 12.1% 3.70E+07 -0.4% 8.3% 5.00E+06 -2.5% 20.5% 3.60E+06 0.0% 3.1% 897934 0.5% 11.4% 1.90E+07 0.0% 7.5% 9.70E+06 0.0% 3.8% 1.40E+06 1.1% 6.2% 1.60E+06 0.8% 10.8% 1.30E+07 2.5% 5.7% 6.50E+06 2.0% 3.9% 3.00E+06 0.3% 6.2% 2.90E+06 0.0% 5.6% 4.30E+06 0.0% 5.1% 4.50E+06 2.0% 4.5% 1.30E+06 0.0% 6.2% 5.80E+06 -0.8% 14.3% 6.50E+06 2.6% 8.0% 9.90E+06 -2.2% 7.8% 5.30E+06 1.0% 6.9% 3.00E+06 1.3% 6.5% 6.00E+06 0.3% 8.0% 989415 3.3% 6.2% 1.80E+06 0.0% 14.1% 2.70E+06 0.5% 9.1% 1.30E+06 0.0% 10.4% 8.80E+06 2.6% 5.8% 2.10E+06 -2.9% 18.1% 1.90E+07 0.9% 5.4% 9.50E+06 -2.1% 5.3% 672591 -8.0% 5.9% 1.20E+07 2.0% 4.8% 3.80E+06 -0.5% 6.5% 3.80E+06 0.5% 7.8% 1.30E+07 1.0% 5.3% 1.10E+06 -1.0% 6.8% 4.60E+06 0.0% 7.2% 814180 0.0% 7.1% 6.30E+06 0.0% 8.3% 2.50E+07 1.0% 7.6% 2.80E+06 1.0% 5.1% 625741 0.0% 7.8% 8.00E+06 0.0% 8.1% 6.70E+06 2.5% 4.9% 1.90E+06 0.0% 7.6% 5.70E+06 0.0% 19.5% 563626 Chart Data Download data The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel. The data underlying the figure. Note: Author’s analysis of data on state corporate tax rates from Serrato and Zidar (summary data here). Data on top 1 percent income shares by state from the Frank-Price-Sommeiller state income data. Data points weighted by state population in 2010. Share on Facebook Tweet this chart Embed Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website. Download image
Essentially, the only thing that seems to qualify as “highly visible in the data” regarding corporate rate cuts is that they send a lot of money to the top of the income distribution. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
More roadwork is happening in Jones Valley before Cecil Ashburn Drive reopens.
On Wednesday, the city of Huntsville announced it's repaving Carl T. Jones Drive from Whitesburg Drive to Four Mile Post.
The work is being done at night. WAAY 31 spoke with drivers on Wednesday who had mixed reactions about another roadwork project getting underway.
"I hate roadwork, but it's for the best," Willie Williams, who lives in Madison, said.
Williams said this was his first reaction when he heard the road he takes will be repaved for the next seven weeks. He said even though the upgrades can be a pain, the work is needed for all the people coming to Huntsville.
"They trying to get Huntsville ready, so many people moving in, moving out and moving in, so you know, I think it will help," Williams said.
The city said work has already started and will go on from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. after peak traffic hours.
People who work on Carl T Jones said the project on Cecil Ashburn has caused them to lose some customers, but they hope this project won't have the same results.
Williams said the project won't stop him from shopping at his favorite stores or seeing his favorite people
"I don't mind driving through traffic. It don't really bother me bad. I just like to drive, so I'll just be careful when driving," he said.
WAAY 31 asked the city why they're doing this work before Cecil Ashburn reopens, and they said it's being done to coincide with the re-opening of Cecil Ashburn Drive on Oct. 31. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Congressional Democrats launched an all-out war against conservative concerns about censorship on social media today, calling the concerns a “conspiracy theory,” even as they defended tech giants’ right to censor content on the basis of political viewpoint.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, made the claim during a hearing Thursday on “Filtering Practices of Social Media Platforms” after accusing fellow Republicans of having “no time for substantive oversight of the Trump administration, or election security, or privacy policy, or even a discussion about the wisdom of regulating social media platforms.”
Calling the invitation of Diamond and Silk to testify on social media censorship a “spectacle,” Rep. Nadler said that the idea of a “Silicon Valley plot to censor conservatives” was “baseless.”
“The notion that social media companies are filtering out conservative voices is a hoax,” said Rep. Nadler.
Nadler takes in a substantial amount of money from the tech giants he was defending. His top donor in 2017 was Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google and YouTube.
Later in the hearing, Rep. Nadler conceded that “maybe Facebook has treated [Diamond & Silk] unfairly, and maybe not, I don’t know” but insisted that even if it were true, it did not establish a “pattern” of discrimination against conservatives.
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) contested this point, stating that the documents he entered into the record of proceedings “do establish” a pattern of discrimination and that he hoped Rep. Nadler would “pay attention to that.”
One of the witnesses at the panel, Rep. Jim Hines (D-CT), also attacked Republicans for talking about censorship.
“Today this committee meets to promote a false narrative,” said Hines. “It meets to continue the hoax, now fully rebutted, that Facebook and other social media have mounted a deliberate crusade to filter out conservative opinion.”
“Assuming that roughly half of Facebook’s users lean right, what possible business logic is there in alienating half of your customers? There is none.”
Hines seems to have missed the rise of the corporate culture wars, which has seen businesses as large as Citigroup deliberately and publicly take positions in opposition to their conservative customers.
Rep. Hines compared allegations of social media censorship to “pizzagate, and stand-down orders at Benghazi, of Obama wiretapping Trump, and the Vince Foster murder, and all of these conspiracies that sprout around here like spring flowers.”
Other Democrats on the committee continued to belittle censorship concerns. “I think there are important issues to be examined when it comes to social media platforms … I don’t know that the topic of today’s hearing is really one of them” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).
She then proceeded, like the Democrats on the committee, to focus on “the influence of the Russians” and “bots” on social media. (Even anti-Trump researchers have concluded that the impact on voters from such activity was virtually nil.)
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) also complained that the committee was “giving a platform to Diamond & Silk” instead of “looking into the manipulation of Facebook by the Russians to help Donald Trump get elected, looking into the Russian interference with the presidential election … [and] Russian hacking into state election processes.”
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) called the hearing “stupid and ridiculous” and said the “notion that social media is somehow censoring conservative folks is ridiculous.”
He went on to call the regulation of social media “unconstitutional,” and said that Facebook and Twitter are “not like UPS or FedEx [but are] like publishers, like the media,” and do not have an obligation to promote certain content.
Even as they mocked conservative concerns over tech censorship as a fantasy, congressional Democrats defended tech companies’ right to do it if they wanted to.
“How do we even write a bill about how we force Facebook to carry certain people or not?” asked Lieu. “I don’t even know how we could write a bill like that. This entire hearing makes no constitutional sense to me.”
“Let’s say that Google has decided, we’re just not going to carry people that talk about PizzaGate anymore. Can the government say ‘you can’t do that’?” asked Lieu.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) compared the regulation of tech giants to the regulation of the press. “Is there anybody on the panel who thinks the government should be compelling Fox News to allow for the use of the words ‘climate change’ or for stories about climate change if they don’t want to run it?”
“Is there anybody who thinks it’s the role of the government to be compelling Facebook to follow some kind of ideological or political policy?” he continued.
He went on to describe Facebook as a “media entity” whose right to censor content is “protected by the first amendment.”
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter, Gab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to [email protected]. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Java with spice!
Xtend is a flexible and expressive dialect of Java, which compiles into readable Java 8 compatible source code. You can use any existing Java library seamlessly. The compiled output is readable and pretty-printed, and tends to run as fast as the equivalent handwritten Java code.
Get productive and write beautiful code with powerful macros, lambdas, operator overloading and many more modern language features. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Cumhurbaşkanı Tayyip Erdoğan'ın Başdanışmanı Saadet Oruç, Fransız gazeteci Jean-Paul Ney’e "Diktatör anandır" dedi.
Başdanışman Saadet Oruç, Twitter'da Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan'a "diktatör" diyen Fransız gazeteci Jean-Paul Ney’e "Diktatör anandır" diye yazdı. Saadet Oruç, daha sonra "Cumhurbaşkanına ‘diktatör’ diyen biriyle ciddi tartışılacak herhangi bir şey yoktur. Hak ettiği dilden cevabı alır. Bu cümle de burada dursun" mesajını paylaştı.
İşte o mesajlar:
Odatv.com | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
I am not suggesting that there is no room for negotiation. That is the job of our elected lawmakers — Senator Chuck Schumer; Representative Nancy Pelosi; Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader; and Paul Ryan, the House speaker — whose responsibility it is to minimize harm and maximize concessions on the way to compromise.
But private sector and nonprofit leaders must no longer take the bait. To work with this administration in any capacity is to normalize it, and all of the hate and bigotry it represents. That is the very real danger we face as the months drag into years, and each successive outrage fades from memory. We will all be tempted — by lucrative contracts, federal grant dollars or flashy ribbon cuttings — to seek a middle ground that does not exist. At times, it will be easier to give an inch than to stand firm.
In those moments, we would be wise to remember the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who, in “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” lamented that “the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”
There is an undeniable appeal to the benefits that could come with having an audience with any president, and conventional wisdom about our divided politics has long suggested that the way to make change is to find common ground. Still, I believe Girls Who Code sends a more powerful message — to the young women we aim to empower, to other organizations making strategic choices and to President Trump himself — by refusing to engage.
Resistance is not futile. Those who have recently taken a knee on the football field showed us — by the national attention they drew back to the issue of racialized police violence and the value of peaceful protest — the power of citizens who refuse to cooperate with injustice. As long as extremists and open bigots inhabit the White House, there is no common ground nor common purpose to be found. We are at war for the soul of our nation, and that is why we must say no, on behalf of our fellow Americans who deserve nothing less than equality. We must not be stumbling blocks. We must draw the line. We must do it here and now. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
こんばんは、おときた駿＠ブロガー都議会議員（北区選出）です。
今日は葛飾区金町にある福祉型障害児入所施設、
金町学園
http://www.kanamachigakuen.com/
の視察に斉藤りえ区議、いとう陽平区議らと共に伺いました。
看板に「ろうあ児施設」とあるように、
ここの最大の特徴は「聴覚障害児専門」の施設であること。
金町学園には、本人や家庭の事情による課題を抱えた児童が入所し、その解決や改善をめざして生活しています。また、聾学校から大学進学をめざす児童や、ろう学校で調理師や様々な資格を取得して社会自立をめざす児童の支援もしています。
（『日本聴力障害新聞』2015年12月1日号より抜粋）
なぜ聴覚障害児だけが、特定の場所に集まる必要があるの？
と疑問に思う方もいるかもしれません。以前から何度か取り上げている通り、
手話は「言語」であり、ろう者たちは独特の「文化」を形成しています。
実は日本には言語が2つある。日本語と、もう一つは…◯◯？！
http://otokitashun.com/blog/daily/8761/
同じ言語や文化を持つ人々が集団生活を営むように、
聴覚障がい児同士の共通のコミュニケーション手段（手話）が確保され、
また彼らに特化した学習方法などが確立されている入所施設は非常に有益です。
わが国では伝統的に「手話」が不当に虐げられてきた歴史があり、
特別支援学校でも充分な手話による教育を受けられない地方などが存在します。
知能にはなんら問題がないにも関わらず、
「耳が聴こえない」
というだけで、進学の機会が奪われることがあるのです。
自分にふさわしいコミュニケーション・文化・学習環境を、「居場所」を求めて、
東京都以外にも全国から多くの聴覚障がい児たちが金町学園に集まっています。
■
ところがこの金町学園、平成30年3月末をもって閉園される方向で進んでいます。
この施設は公立ではなく、あくまでいち社会福祉法人によって運営される民間施設であり、
彼らに「採算が厳しいので、もうやめます！」と言われれば、強制的に止める術はありません…
とはいえ、これまで多額の公金が投入されてきた施設ですから、
おいそれと閉園を認めるわけにもいきません。
「今いる子どもたちに、不利益が被らないように猶予期間を設けて…」
ということで、平成29年度末までということにはなりました。
新規の入所児童の受け入れも、現在は停止しているようです。
しかし、果たしてそれで本当に良いのでしょうか？
施設長からの説明を受けた後、
食堂に集まった入所児童たちとじっくりと意見交換をさせていただきました。
中学・高校の子どもたちが多く、
手話で必死に自分たちの思いを伝えてきます。
「地方出身だが、私の地元には手話で教育を受けられる学校がなかった。
金町学園に入所できたおかげで、東京のろう学校に通うことができている」
「いま中学3年生。平成29年度末で閉園したら、高校3年生で追い出されてしまう…」
「ここで高校卒業まで生活したい。卒業後も、ろうあ者のために存在していて欲しい！」
入所児童の中には、小学生の子どもたちもいます。
緩和期間を設けたからといって、居場所を失う児童が皆無になることはないのです。
■
もちろん金町学園を存続するために、あらゆる手段が検討されています。
当初は別の社会福祉法人に事業を委託するつもりでしたが、条件面が折り合わずに頓挫。
通常は社会性が高い事業・施設は引き継ぎ先が見つかるので、
「移譲先が見つからず、存続できないことはほとんど前例がない」
ということで、東京都も対応に苦心しているようです。
金町学園の関係者や支援者はこの事業を受け入れるための
新たな社会福祉法人立ち上げを模索しているものの、実績のない新社会福祉法人が
施設運営を行う事業で認可・補助を受けるためには、多くのハードルが存在します。
「東京都が引き取って、公立で運営すれば？」
「新たな社会法人に、特例で支援をしてあげれば良い」
と思われるかもしれません。しかし、これにもなかなか難しい理由があります。
平成18年に「障害者自立支援法」が施行されて以来、
三障害の一元化
＝身体・知的・精神の障害種別サービスの一元化
が進められており、「聴覚障害にサービス特化する」というのはむしろ
この法律の方向に反するものであり、行政としては積極的に進められない状態なのです。
確かに障害種別で特定の事業・施設に押し込められるのではなく、
汎用性が高いサービスがすべてをカバーできるのは、
ある意味で素晴らしいことかもしれません。
一方で前述の通り、聴覚障がい者・ろうあ者には独自の「言語」「文化」があり、
音声言語の施設で共に生活し、様々な課題を解決していくことには限界があるのです。
■
「どうして特定サービスにだけ、財源を投資するのだ？」
「法律の趣旨と逆行するではないか！」
という人々の疑問を払拭するためには、
ろう文化・手話言語に対する一層の理解を広げることが欠かせません。
「私たち議員も、学園の存続のために議会や行政に提言をしていく。
でも、実はわれわれ政治家の力だけでは、物事を変えることはできない。
手話言語・教育環境への理解のため、ともに頑張って声をあげていきましょう！」
これから18歳で選挙権・参政権を得る子どもたちも多く、
そんなメッセージを私からは最後に伝えさせていただきました。
とはいえ、残り2年という緊急事態でもあります。
金町学園のなんらかの形での存続・引き継ぎに向けて、
私も関係者の皆さまと知恵を絞り、東京都に協力を仰いでいきたいと思います。
ちなみに入所児童たちは、とっても歓迎モードでした！
やはり斉藤りえ区議は、彼らの中のヒーロー（ヒロイン？）なんですねえ。
斉藤区議は帰りにサイン、写真撮影攻めにあってました（笑）。
そしてTwitterでエゴ・サーチするとこんなつぶやきも。
彼ら・彼女たちのためにも、力の限り頑張ります！
それでは、また明日。
Tags: 児童養護, 児童養護施設, 聴覚障害, 障害者政策 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Share this page: email
reddit
tumblr
pinterest
You're getting old!
Date of birth: February 20th, 1984
You are 36 years, 7 months and 0 days old today.
You are 13,362 days old.
Or, to put that in perspective
I'm exactly the same age today as @JakeTAustin + Benjamin Brady Tweet This changes every day! Come back tomorrow and see the next calculation.
Pisces . Your birth stone is Your star sign is. Your birth stone is Amethyst
The total number of candles on all your birthday cakes so far is 666 .
1336349601 times Your heart has beaten approximatelytimes in total
303983689 breaths You have taken approximatelybreaths in total
The moon has orbited the earth 489 times since you were born.
When you were born there were approximately 4,789,628,305 other people alive on Earth.
There are now about 7705433509 people alive.
You're so old that...
February 20th, 1984:
You were born
13,346 days 13,362 days
August 7th, 1947:
Thor Heyerdahl's raft, the Kon-Tiki, reaches the Tuamotu Islands
Nearer to your birth date than today! 20th Sep 2020:
Today
You're quite the traveller
252921970 miles How far you have travelled around the center of the Earth as it rotates. Based on living in New York City, it varies by location
21521963508 miles The distance you have travelled as the Earth revolves around the Sun.
165001720228 miles The distance you have travelled as the Sun revolves around the center of our galaxy
451961233670 miles As our galaxy is moving relative to the rest of the universe, this is how far you have travelled towards the Great Attractor
With all those miles on your body, it's not surprising you're starting to look a bit rusty.
In your past...
As an infant
As a child
As a teenager
In your 20s
In your 30s
Milestones
You were 500 days old on 4th Jul 1985 You were 1,000 days old on 16th Nov 1986 You were 2,000 days old on 12th Aug 1989 You were 5,000 days old on 29th Oct 1997 You were 10,000 days old on 8th Jul 2011 You will be 15,000 days old on 16th Mar 2025 You will be 20,000 days old on 23rd Nov 2038 You will be 25,000 days old on 1st Aug 2052 You will be 30,000 days old on 10th Apr 2066 You will be 35,000 days old on 18th Dec 2079 You will be 40,000 days old on 26th Aug 2093
Compared to others...
Out of 100,000 people born on the same day as you, approximately 96,396 are still living.
- People born on your birth date who still live. - People born on your birth date who are dead.
Over 71% of visitors to this site are younger than you! The average age of visitors is 33. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.
In “Secrets of the Tax Prep Business,” Gary Rivlin investigates one of the tax industry’s most exploitative services: the refund anticipation loan. Rivlin explains how RALs—short-term, high-interest loans backed by a customer’s pending tax refund—are largely responsible for the rapid proliferation of tax-prep chains throughout working-class America. By disguising the high-priced loans as instant refunds, the tax mills bring in hordes of low-income clients who receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Thus the preparers’ huge profits come at the expense of what Rivlin calls “arguably the nation’s most effective anti-poverty program.” IRS data (PDF) reveals that nearly two-thirds of RAL recipients received the EITC in 2009, compared with just 17 percent of taxpayers overall.
The good news is that RALs might be on their way out. As Rivlin points out, “while bank regulators in Washington have stopped short of outlawing RALs, they’ve managed to make life more difficult—and therefore less profitable—for the banks.” In February 2010, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a set of guidelines for banks involved in RAL lending. Among other requirements, the policy memo (PDF) included the expectation that lenders should clearly disclose to their clients that they can file their refund electronically for no cost, and inform EITC recipients that taking out a RAL loan can “substantially reduce” their benefits.
Then, last August, the IRS got rid of the debt indicator, which alerted lenders if a client was likely to have his refund garnished. It was “basically a free government check” explains consumer advocate Chi Chi Wu. Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC (the bank behind H&R Block) all backed out of the RAL business for the 2010 filing season, leaving only three smaller banks to make the loans.
The bad news, despite the crackdown, is that tax preparers have plenty of ways to milk their most vulnerable clients—not the least of which is the exhorbitant prices they charge for preparing returns. A quick rundown:
1. Refund anticipation checks: With this product, a bank opens a temporary account where the IRS deposits a person’s refund. A RAC costs around $30, and sometimes tax preparers, as Rivlin witnessed firsthand, will sell these to clients who already have bank accounts and thus wouldn’t need this product. RACs brought in around $400 million for the tax-prep industry last year. As one Jackson Hewitt franchise owner remarked: “Yes, we are hurting, but we’ve had surprising success converting RAL clients to [RACs].”
2. Add-on fees: Small chains have been known to charge customers multiple add-ons—such as application, document processing, e-filing, and technology fees—costing customers who qualify for the EITC an extra $37 million during the 2009 tax season. Though the three biggest tax-prep chains (H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Liberty Tax Service) had promised to stop charging add-on fees by 2007, the National Consumer Law Center found that Jackson Hewitt had reinstituted its “Data and Document Storage” fee in 2010 and 2011.
3. “Paystub” loans: This loan, usually $1,000 or less, is made before the customer has received a W-2, and is based on estimated tax returns. H&R Block’s version is the Emerald Advance Line of Credit. “The issue with this is if you don’t get your tax refund, well, how are you going to pay the loan back?” says Chi Chi Wu. The Emerald Advance line earned the company close to $78 million in interest in 2010.
4. Preloaded debit cards: Taxpayers can have their refunds downloaded directly onto a card. In fact, consumer advocates supported a 2011 Treasury pilot program that offered 600,000 low-cost cards to families who didn’t otherwise have a bank account. But consumers need to read the fine print for cards like the E1 Card from EPS Financial and the Get It Card from Advent Financial Services. These cards look and function like debit cards, but they’re not tied to bank accounts and therefore don’t have the same types of consumer protections. Plus, “fees can be high, multiple, and confusing,” writes (PDF) attorney Michelle Jun, of the Consumers Union.
5. Instant cash: H&R Block offers a service called Instant Cash Back, whereby “qualified” candidates can get their refund downloaded onto a debit card right away, minus the card fee and tax prep cost. Block charges $60 for a $600 refund—10 percent—and that doesn’t include the $1.99 it’ll cost you to make a withdrawal—or the $8.95+ “inactivity fee” imposed if you fail to use the card over a three-month period. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
The Witcher 3 has emerged the emphatic winner of a GameSpot poll that asked readers to vote for their favourite game of 2015.
Fallout 4 took second place, while Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was voted third-best game of the year. From Software's PS4-exclusive Bloodborne finished fourth, while indie breakthrough Rocket League took fifth.
However that list doesn't portray the extent of the Witcher 3's dominance in the poll. The open-world opus amassed 62 percent of all votes, which means it accumulated more endorsements than all the other 24 entrants combined. By the final count, its lead over second-placed Fallout 4 was an extraordinary 53 percent.
The top five finalists closely resemble GameSpot Editors' Game of The Year list, in which Witcher 3 took first place above Rocket League, MGS 5, Bloodborne, and Super Mario Maker (Fallout 4 finished in 6th).
Meanwhile, in the individual platform categories for People's Choice Game of the Year, The Witcher 3 took first on all platforms it shipped on (PC, PS4, Xbox One). Xenoblade Chronicles X won best Wii U game, while Fallout Shelter was voted best mobile game.
Upon release in May, GameSpot awarded The Witcher 3 a rare 10/10 review score, with critic Kevin VanOrd eulogising it as "one of the greatest games ever made."
GameSpot's People's Choice Top 25:
Proportion of popular vote in parenthesis. Games ranked by vote count.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (62%) Fallout 4 (9%) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (6%) Bloodborne (5%) Rocket League (3%) Undertale (2%) Rise of the Tomb Raider (2%) Assassin's Creed Syndicate (1%) Super Mario Maker (1%) Xenoblade Chronicles X (1%) Halo 5: Guardians (1%) Dying Light (1%) Until Dawn (1%) Just Cause 3 (1%) Ori and the Blind Forest (1%) Splatoon (1%) Tales From the Borderlands (1%) Cities: Skylines (0%) Kerbal Space Program (0%) Rainbow Six Siege (0%) Heroes of the Storm (0%) SOMA (0%) Project CARS (0%) Evolve (0%) Her Story (0%)
Individual People's Choice Categories
Winner in bold, second place in parenthesis.
Best PC Game
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
(Fallout 4)
Best PS4 Game
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
(Bloodborne)
Best Xbox One Game
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
(Rise of the Tomb Raider)
Best Wii U Game
Xenoblade Chronicles X
(Super Mario Maker)
Best PS Vita Game
Persona 4: Dancing All Night
(OlliOlli 2)
Best 3DS Game:
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
(The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes)
Best Mobile Game
Fallout Shelter
(Lara Croft GO)
Best Reissued Game:
Grand Theft Auto 5
(Zelda Majora's Mask)
Best Game Expansion: | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
india
Updated: Aug 20, 2019 20:56 IST
A team of Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate officers reached former finance minister P Chidambaram’s house on Tuesday evening after the Delhi High Court dismissed his pre-arrest bail requests. The senior Congress leader wasn’t at home.
The move comes just three hours after the Supreme Court registry told his legal team that Chidambaram would have to wait till tomorrow morning to approach the judges. The Delhi High Court, which had heard his request for anticipatory bail in the INX media case, had rejected his request.
Justice Sunil Gaur of the high court cited two factors in declining the request -- that Chidambaram had been evasive in his replies to the court and that the case is of a grave nature.
The judge also said Chidambaram couldn’t be treated on par with other accused in the INX Media case who are out on bail because he was the finance minister when he approved foreign direct investment in the broadcasting company. And he “cannot be given pre-arrest bail simply because he is a sitting MP.”
“Facts of the case prima facie reveal that petitioner is the kingpin, i.e., the key conspirator in this case. Law enforcing agencies cannot be made ineffective by putting legal obstacles of offences in question,” the court order read.
Rejecting the allegations of political vendetta, the court said, “It is preposterous to say that the prosecution of the petitioner is baseless, politically motivated and act of vendetta”. It also said that the “court cannot permit the prose in this sensitive case to end up in smoke like it has happened in some other high profile cases”.
The INX Media case being investigated by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The case relates to alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to the media group for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 307 crore when Chidambaram was finance minister. The CBI had registered a first information report in the case on May 15, 2017 alleging irregularities in the FIPB clearance, the Enforcement Directorate lodged a money laundering case a year later. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
According to a media report, the Pune RTO is forcing applicants who are trained on automatic transmission cars to take their driving tests on a car equipped with a manual transmission. As a result, the number of applicants failing the tests has increased.
In the past few months, there has been an increase in the number of applicants failing the driving tests conducted at Institute Of Driving Training And Research (IDTR), Bhosari.
According to the Maharashtra state transport commissioner, the testing tracks in the state do not have a provision in the 4-wheeler permanent license test, where applicants can be given the option of a dual-control, automatic test car.
Source: Hindustan Times | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.