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you're so soft i wish i could cover myself in your skin
12,014 shares | {
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We reported in July there were three shootings in just four months at the gas station. In the body cam video we obtained, officers are seen handcuffing men working at the store and there's marijuana on the counter. | {
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Chris Rock slammed Hollywood as a "white industry" and said when it comes to Mexicans, there is an acceptance "that there's a slave state in L.A."
In an essay written by Rock published in The Hollywood Reporter, the black comedian and actor blasted the entertainment industry for its lack of jobs for black and Latinos.
"But forget whether Hollywood is black enough. A better question is: Is Hollywood Mexican enough? You're in L.A, you've got to try not to hire Mexicans," said Rock, saying while it's the most liberal town in the world, there's "...just an acceptance that there's a slave state in L.A. There's this acceptance that Mexicans are going to take care of white people in L.A. that doesn't exist anywhere else. I remember I was renting a house in Beverly Park while doing some movie, and you just see all of the Mexican people at 8 o'clock in the morning in a line driving into Beverly Park like it's General Motors. It's this weird town."
The Morning Rundown Get a head start on the morning's top stories. This site is protected by recaptcha
"You're telling me no Mexicans are qualified to do anything at a studio? Really? Nothing but mop up?" wrote Rock. "What are the odds that that's true? The odds are, because people are people, that there's probably a Mexican David Geffen mopping up for somebody's company right now. The odds are that there's probably a Mexican who's that smart who's never going to be given a shot."
The story has been generating a lot of buzz on social media.
GOD BLESS CHRIS ROCK: Mexicans in Hollywood http://t.co/6oertGnvUj — Lalo Alcaraz (@laloalcaraz) December 4, 2014
.@chrisrock is NOT holding back. Do you agree with what he just said about Mexicans? http://t.co/JYG5jsivDj pic.twitter.com/LMP7CcQV8X — Latina Magazine (@Latina) December 3, 2014
IN-DEPTH:
Lights, Camera, Struggle? Hollywood Latinos Speak Out
Isabel Allende, Edward Roybal Receive Presidential Medal Of Freedom
Our Cafecito With John Leguizamo
Follow NBC News Latino on Facebook and Twitter | {
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The Mother Remake aims to remake the first game in the Mother series using EarthBound’s engine. Originally started by Tomato in 2007, the project is now being continued by members of the Starmen.net forums, and is progressing smoothly.
Some of this project’s goals include:
To update the graphics to a style similar to Mother 2’s graphics.
To update the gameplay to make it more balanced and easier to access for players. The gameplay will combine aspects of Mother 1 and Mother 2’s gameplay.
Text-wise, to use a translation that is more accurate to the original text, while maintaining references and connections between Mother 1 and Mother 2 and 3.
FAQ
What translation is this hack using?
The script in this hack is based off of Tomato’s Mother 1 translation.
What about town names? And the name of the final boss?
It uses the original town names, and Giygas as the name of the final boss. These have already been decided, so don’t bother asking about it in the thread.
What percentage completion is the project currently at?
I don’t like to give out percentage estimates of project completion, but I will say that a lot of work has been done on this project.
What’s the estimated release date?
The project currently has no estimated release date.
Is there a demo of this hack?
No, there is no demo currently available, and there is no expected release date for a demo. I will announce it if and when a demo becomes available.
Videos hide spoiler
(Note: Some parts of these videos are now outdated) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hSBlsfkgL8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30NSDg-wkng Some test videos showing off changes to game mechanics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab-ukgrvu2w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw8OE1UtEu4
The old thread | {
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Mumbai: ISRO's Mars Obiter Mission (MOM) - Mangalyaan has sent the second full - disc image of Mars. The colour image was clicked by the Mars Colour Camera (MCC) mounted on to the spacecraft.
The photograph was taken from an altitude of 66,543 km, as posted by ISRO's official facebook post. The picture shows the cloud formation on the red planet caused by wind storms. The dark regions to the south of the cloud formation is Elysium - which is the second largest volcanic province on Mars.
Launched of the 5th of November 2013 form India's only space launch facility in Sriharikota; Mangakyaan entered Mars orbit on September 24, 2014. The insertion was conducted by the Spacecraft Control Centre by ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu. | {
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The moment a careless lorry driver caused a fatal accident on the M53. 61-year-old Peter Tootle killed a 51-year-old father in the incident and also left another man needing 24-hour care. | {
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Empresas implantam chips nos funcionários para interagir com sistemas
A reprodução deste formato de vídeo não é compatível com seu dispositivo
Empresas implantam chips nos funcionários para interagir com sistemas
A maioria de nós já se acostumou a usar crachás, cartões ou senhas para entrar no prédio do escritório, pagar o ônibus ou fazer compras. Mas um edifício comercial em Estocolmo, na Suécia, quer que seus funcionários façam essas coisas usando um chip instalado sob a pele.
Elicio da Costa, que tem escritório nesse edifício, já abre a porta da frente aproximando sua mão do leitor de chip na parede. Lá dentro, ele faz o mesmo gesto para entrar nas salas do escritório e até acionar a máquina de fotocópia.
Ele é um dos que instalaram o pequeno chip de pequeno RFID (identificador de radiofrequência) na mão. Outras 700 pessoas que trabalham no edifício serão convidadas a fazer o mesmo. O objetivo é que, no futuro, o chip sirva para logar em computadores e até realizar pagamentos com o mero toque da mão.
O projeto é organizado por um grupo cibernético sueco, e os chips são implantados por tatuadores.
O jornalista de tecnologia da BBC Rory Cellan-Jones resolveu pôr a ideia à prova e instalou um chip em sua mão. Ele conta que a experiência lhe rendeu uma dor semelhante à de uma injeção, mas rápida.
Potencial
Hannes Sjoblad, que está levando a cabo o projeto no edifício sueco, incluiu até seu cartão de visitas em seu chip subcutâneo.
"Já interagimos o tempo todo com a tecnologia", ele disse. "Hoje é meio confuso – precisamos de senhas e códigos. Não seria mais fácil se usássemos apenas o toque das mãos? É bastante intuitivo."
Mas, ao testar o chip, Cellan-Jones descobriu que ele não é tão intuitivo assim. Para fazer a máquina de fotocópias funcionar, ele teve de contorcer sua mão. E muitos colegas de Sjoblad têm dúvidas quanto a aderir à novidade.
"De forma nenhuma", disse um jovem funcionário, questionado se tinha planos de implantar um chip na mão. Outra funcionária vê potencial na tecnologia, mas acha que não faz muito sentido usá-la apenas para abrir portas e ligar equipamentos.
Mas Hannes Sjoblad acha que o objetivo, no fundo, é maior que isso: preparar as pessoas para quando empresas e governos decidirem impor chips à população. | {
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As she explained last week on Fox & Friends, Michelle Rhee onlysupports what Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is trying to do to teachers in his state. Repeated attempts to wholly decertify a union she thinks "may be a little gratuitously anti-union."
But slashing pensions? Fantastic! Limiting collective bargaining to "basic things like the salary"? Why, that's the Michelle Rhee program!
I think that, you know, unions can collectively bargain over basic things like salary but they don't have a place in getting involved in policies and so I think that the move to try to limit what they bargain over is an incredibly important one.
If teachers are restricted to bargaining over salary and pension issues, how long do you think it will take the Michelle Rhees of this world to start screaming about how teachers are only in it for themselves, and all they care about are their salaries? What's that you say? That's already what she and her ilk are saying? Huh. Funny. It's almost like she's suggesting policies that will give her an excuse to do more of what she's already doing.
For generations, teachers—and their unions—have fought for increased education funding, smaller class sizes, and other resources. But so-called reformers like Rhee want to squash teachers' ability to advocate for their students. Her attacks on teachers helped lay the groundwork for what Scott Walker is trying to do. They've helped create the atmosphere that's made talented, dedicated teachers say I don't want to be a teacher any more.
She may have risen to prominence as the appointee of a Democratic mayor. But Michelle Rhee's agenda is just a step or two away from Scott Walker's—and if what he's doing makes her uncomfortable, it seems that's less because she's opposed to his policies and more because she worries he's being a little too blatant about his end goals. | {
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Space Weather reports that satellite watcher Greg Roberts sighted the secret mini-shuttle flying over Cape Town, South Africa, on Oct 12th. An analysis of the sighting by satellite expert Ted Molczan suggests that the X-37B has maneuvered into an orbit 54 km lower than before. This is at very least the second time the orbit has changed.
The Pentagon has strongly denied claims that the X-37B’s mission supports the development of space-based weapons. A group of amateur sky watchers with members around the globe has concluded that the spacecraft’s mission is in support of space-based surveillance and reconnaissance technology; they reported the X-37B’s track took it over North Korea, Afghanistan and other trouble spots. According to them, the spacecraft passes over the same given spot on Earth every four days, and operates at altitude of 255 miles (410 km), which would be typical for a military surveillance satellite.
If you want to have a crack at spotting the X37 B for yourself try the excellent space object spotting site http://www.heavens-above.com/ We have been using Heavens above for many years, its excellent! You will need a clear night and dark sky to spot this craft. Try looking at the International Space Station (ISS) passes to get your eye in first.
Happy hunting.
Quick update 3/12/10 Its landed https://www.suasnews.com/2010/12/2923/x37b-has-landed/
Another update post flight pictures https://www.suasnews.com/2010/12/2948/x-37b-after-landing-photos/ | {
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The case of a Huntsville police officer, who was arrested in connection with an off-duty drunken crash, has been dismissed at the request of Madison County prosecutors, records show.
In a written order today, District Judge Linda Coates dismissed Curtis Mitchell's DUI case. Prosecutors on Friday filed a motion to drop the charge.
"The defendant has completed substance abuse treatment," Assistant District Attorney Emily Carroll wrote in the motion. Mitchell also agreed to pay court costs and a $100 fee.
Mitchell, 22, was off duty when state troopers found open bottles of Crown Royal and Jack Daniels in his personal vehicle at a crash scene, a police report says. The crash happened March 17 around 4 a.m. in Madison.
After Mitchell's arrest, the police department said he would be on desk duty until further notice.
Mitchell currently is on military deployment. But Lt. Michael Johnson said today Mitchell still is employed by HPD in an administrative-duty capacity.
"Any administrative action will be addressed when he returns from his deployment," Johnson said.
Mitchell was heading west on McCrary Road when he ran the stop sign at Wall Triana Highway and pulled out in front of another driver, according to a state trooper crash report. Mitchell was driving a 2008 Honda CRV that collided with a southbound 2005 Chevy Avalanche, the report says.
Lewis Lockett, a 53-year-old from Harvest, was driving the Avalanche. Lockett was taken to Madison Hospital for treatment of "incapacitating" injuries, the crash report says.
Mitchell was taken to Huntsville Hospital because he was unable to walk and vomiting, the report states. Emergency workers at the scene were unable to determine whether Mitchell was injured. Hospital workers said Mitchell had no injuries, "but was unable to walk or function on his own," the trooper report says.
State troopers charged Mitchell with driving under the influence and issued citations for failing a stop sign and open container. Because the case was dropped, Mitchell won't have a conviction on his record.
Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard said Mitchell didn't receive any special treatment.
"As a general rule, if you've never been charged with DUI or have no criminal record, you are afforded the chance for diversion programs," Broussard said. "That's available to anyone in similar circumstances." | {
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Ron Hoskins/Getty Images
When Nikola Mirotic was playing in Europe, everyone wanted to know: Was he the next Toni Kukoc? The next Dirk Nowitzki? Or was he just the next Andrea Bargnani?
Now that he’s with the Chicago Bulls, the only fair answer is he’s the first Nikola Mirotic. There just is no precedent.
There are, however, players who have with things in common with Mirotic. It’s by looking at them and how diverse they are that we can determine just how unique Mirotic is. And from that, we can derive how high his ceiling really is.
The Numbers
First, let’s look how his per 36-minute numbers stack up against the players he was most frequently compared with coming over—those mentioned above. Here they are, as provided by Basketball-Reference.com:
Overall, Mirotic has the best numbers. And it’s rebounding where Mirotic separates himself the most. In fact, if you look at his traditional box score numbers and efficiency, the rookie he most resembles isn’t any of the other European players. It’s Charles Barkley.
Nikola Mirotic vs. Charles Barkley, Rookie Years, per 36 Minutes Player FT TRB AST STL BLK PTS USG% TS% Charles Barkley 4.5 10.8 2.4 1.5 1.2 17.6 20.0 0.599 Nikola Mirotic 4.7 9.1 2.1 1.1 1.2 16.5 20.9 0.551 Basketball-Reference.com
Part of what makes Mirotic intriguing is that he’s able to play with the physical presence of a traditional power forward while maintaining the shooting stroke of a stretch 4.
Mirotic’s rookie year is unprecedented when factoring in rebounding, scoring and three-point shooting. In fact, only two players in history posted his per-36-minute numbers while playing 1,000 minutes. Here are the only instances that match his 2014-15 season:
Players with 2.0 Threes, 9.0 Rebounds and 15.0 Points per 36 Minutes Player Season Age Tm 3P TRB PTS Troy Murphy 2008-09 28 IND 2.3 12.5 15.1 Troy Murphy 2009-10 29 IND 2.0 11.3 16.1 Kevin Love 2013-14 25 MIN 2.4 12.4 25.9 Kevin Love 2014-15 26 CLE 2.0 10.7 17.7 Nikola Mirotic 2014-15 23 CHI 2.0 9.1 16.5 Basketball-Reference.com
So the very short list consists of just Troy Murphy and Kevin Love, but even that has a caveat. When you factor in the free-throw line, the number pares down even more.
Mirotic has been to the stripe 4.7 times per 36 minutes this year. The only one of the seasons above where that’s happened is Kevin Love in 2013-14, when Love averaged 6.7 free throws per game.
Let’s restate that quickly for emphasis: The only time in history a player averaged more points, threes, free throws and rebounds per 36 minutes was Kevin Love, last year. That’s the best year of Love’s career compared to the first year of Mirotic’s.
And while Love makes the best comparison, even that falls short of demonstrating the diversity of talents offered by Mirotic. During Love’s 2013-14 season, only 64 of his 2,010 pints—or 3.2 percent of them—came on drives, per NBA.com/Stats. By comparison, Mirotic has scored 67 of his 567 points (11.8 percent) on drives.
Mirotic is unique because he has a range of abilities we just haven’t seen before. He has the size and strength to contest for rebounds inside. He has the shooting touch to knock down threes. And he has the handles to put the ball on the floor and either get to the rim or draw fouls.
Morey Ball
And, above all, his game is made for the modern era.
There are three principle areas that modern analytics tells us are the most efficient for scoring: outside the three-point line, inside the restricted area and from the charity stripe. I refer to them as the “Morey Zones” because they are emphasized by Daryl Morey, the analytical genius and general manager of the Houston Rockets.
I looked at every player in history who has made at least 50 three-point shots and how many of their points came in the Morey Zones. I used the player pages at NBA.com/Stats to determine points in the restricted area.
Mirotic has earned 91.5 percent of his points from those three areas, which is the most of any rookie, ever. But that’s only the beginning of the intrigue here. What’s compelling is how evenly Mirotic distributes his points.
Rudy Fernandez had the second-highest percent, but the bulk of those—58.5 percent—were from the three-point line. Players who had a high percentage with most of them concentrated in one area didn’t go on to fare so well. Those who were evenly distributed have had much better careers. Here are the top 10.
Top-10 Rookies in Percent of Points from Morey Zones Rk Player Season % FT % 3P %RA %Morey 1 Nikola Mirotic 2014-15 28.4% 36.0% 27.2% 91.5% 2 Rudy Fernandez 2008-09 14.7% 58.5% 17.7% 90.9% 3 Manu Ginobili 2002-03 24.0% 29.1% 35.8% 89.0% 4 Matt Maloney 1996-97 9.3% 60.2% 17.5% 87.0% 5 James Harden 2009-10 25.8% 37.1% 23.6% 86.5% 6 J.R. Bremer 2002-03 16.1% 57.4% 12.1% 85.6% 7 Tim Hardaway 2013-14 12.9% 47.3% 23.8% 84.0% 8 D.J. Augustin 2008-09 24.5% 38.1% 21.2% 83.8% 9 Eric Gordon 2008-09 23.9% 31.4% 28.3% 83.5% 10 Stephon Marbury 1996-97 23.2% 28.9% 31.2% 83.3% NBA.com/Stats
What’s most striking is the next guy on that list (11th) might be the best and most favorable comparison. Only two players have ever had 25 percent of their points in their rookie season come from each the three-point line, the free-throw line and inside the restricted area: Mirotic and Kobe Bryant.
NBA.com/Stats
Warts
According to the numbers, Mirotic is doing things that only franchise-level to Hall of Fame players have achieved. When names like Bryant, Barkley and Love start getting tossed around, though, you have to take things with a grain of salt.
It’s worth mentioning here that these numbers are intended to show the diversity of Mirotic’s abilities more than the level of his play. They are showing what he could do more than they’re emphatically stating what he has done.
Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
There’s an argument to be made that the numbers might not be outright “lying" here, but they could be fibbing a bit. That’s where the eye test and an appreciation of the direction of the NBA are needed. The numbers here are all prorated to 36-minute bites. So it’s fair to wonder whether Mirotic would be able to put up the same numbers with extended minutes.
It’s also fair to wonder if they could be better if he were the first or second option instead of the third or fourth, as he has been much of the season.
It’s also just his rookie year. There’s a whole career ahead of him. Whether Mirotic can hit his ceiling depends on how he adapts and improves, particularly from the area most thought he would specialize from: the three-point line.
Let’s be careful to balance this assessment. The only 6’10” rookie in history to notch more three-point shots per 36 minutes is Bargnani. Ryan Anderson and Vladimir Radmanovic aren’t far behind. So Mirotic can hit from behind the arc.
But of those guys, Mirotic’s 32.9 three-point percentage is the lowest. It needs improvement. There are a combination of reasons that is low.
First, it seems like fatigue might be setting in. Before January, he was shooting 40.4 percent from deep, but since the calendar flipped, he’s hitting 27.1 percent. So, conditioning might be in order.
Form might be part of it too. Watch him on the catch-and-shoot here:
There’s nothing particularly “wrong” in any one step of the process. You could argue he puts the ball down too low on catching it, but Ray Allen would take it down to about the same spot. It’s more of an issue of fluidity. Allen was quick and smooth from catch to release. Mirotic is slow and clunky.
If he can speed up and smooth out his motion, he should be much more lethal from three. And next year, he shouldn’t have fatigue set in as much as he learns what’s entailed in an NBA season. Both of those problems are fixable.
And that makes him even more dangerous, as he uses three-point fakes to set up his drive. He has a bona fide skill set, as you can see in the following clip, but a lot of what he does comes off his fakes. He needs his deep ball to be falling if he’s going to continue to keep the fish biting at the bait.
Defense
Unlike a lot of European players, he’s not a liability on defense, either. His defensive real plus-minus is 1.79, per ESPN.com. And while some might argue that such numbers are impacted by team defense, the fact he is the second-best on the Bulls would suggest that he’s doing the influencing more than being influenced.
He’s able to guard either forward position. He has surprising quickness and is able to stay in front of most 3s. For example, see how he puts the clamps on C.J. Miles twice in this play, first by deflecting the pass, then by denying Miles the straight line to the basket and forcing him to throw up an errant shot.
However, his rim protection needs work. According to Seth Partnow of Nylon Calculus, Mirotic’s giving up an extra 2.61 points per 36 minutes inside the restricted area. And while his opponents shoot .9 percent worse overall against him, they shoot 2.4 percent better within six feet of the basket.
He could stand to not only put on a little muscle, but to learn to utilize his strength. That said, he’s not a “soft” player by any stretch. We’re picking at nits here.
Based on his array of abilities, penchant for scoring in the most efficient areas and defense, Mirotic’s going to have a long and successful NBA career. What his ceiling is depends on how he develops.
This year, in the 10 games he’s played 30 or more minutes, he’s averaged 19.3 points and 9.3 boards with a 59.0 true shooting percentage. That’s his floor, and those are All-Star-caliber numbers. Ergo it’s not unreasonable to conclude that once he starts getting starter minutes, he’ll be an All-Star.
I repeat. He is, at minimum, an All-Star. Barring injury (a necessary qualifier with any Bull), Mirotic will be an All-Star by his third year. I predict this unequivocally and unreservedly. Mock me until I’m proven right.
Yes, Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson are under contract, but I believe that Mirotic will make it impossible for even Tom Thibodeau to keep him down in the rotation. And if that doesn't happen and Thibodeau remains coach, Gar Forman and John Paxson will find a taker for Gibson to give Mirotic the minutes. He's that good.
And considering some of the Hall of Fame and franchise-level stars his rookie season is on par with, it’s not a stretch to think that his future could be of that type. How many guys have had numbers compare favorably with both Kobe Bryant and Charles Barkley? That’s why is ceiling is so high. And why he is such an unprecedented player. | {
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A teacher was arrested in Uttarakhand. She was seen shouting at Trivendra Rawat in a video.
Highlights Trivendra Rawat's wife managed transfer from tough region within 4 years
She has been in Dehradun without a shift for 22 years, RTI reveals
Teacher, who asked Uttarakhand chief minister for transfer, was arrested
A teacher who asked for a transfer to Dehradun after 25 years to be with her children was turned away by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat, suspended and even arrested on charges of shouting and misbehaving at a public meeting. Turns out, Mr Rawat's wife, also a teacher, managed a transfer from a tough region within four years and has been in Dehradun without a shift for 22 years.
An RTI or Right to Information query has revealed that Sunita Rawat started working at a primary school in Paudi Gadhwal in 1992. In 1996, she was transferred to Dehradun and has since never been transferred, even after a promotion in 2008.
Uttara Bahuguna, the 57-year-old teacher who paid heavily for her argument with the Chief Minister at his public interaction on Thursday, has been working at a school in Uttarkashi for 25 years and is desperate to shift to Dehradun to be with her children after her husband's death.
But an official said she can't get an out-of-turn transfer.
"More than 58 people are posted in remote areas for longer duration than her. Her number is only 59th. The transfer is done only turn-wise," said Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh, School Education Secretary of the state.
Ms Bahuguna had met with the Chief Minister once before. Yesterday, she told him after so many years at what she felt was a remote outpost, she wanted to live with her children. "I don't want my children to be orphans in Dehradun. My situation is such that I can't leave my children or the job," she told him.
The back-and-forth grew heated as Ms Bahuguna insisted that the Chief Minister give her justice.
"I never signed up for exile all my life," Ms Bahuguna said. Annoyed, the Chief Minister asked her to "mind her language" and then shouted, "Suspend karo ise abhi (Suspend her immediately). Arrest her."
In a video clip, the teacher is seen screaming at the Chief Minister and shouting "thief, cheats" as she is led out of the meeting.
Uttara Bahuguna was arrested on charges of "disrupting an important gathering". She was let off in the evening.
"I lost my husband in 2015 and my children stay here (Dehradun). I can't leave my children here," Ms Bahuguna said today, breaking down.
"You can see in the video. He got angry when I demanded justice. I feel helpless. Is this what I get for working honestly and diligently for years? So I called them thieves. I will tell the truth even if god comes before me. | {
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So every app will have this new Notification settings screen and those who are not supporting them would see one channel as Miscellaneous. So as apps starts supporting Notification Channels the channels will be listed as shown in the screenshot left. So I have created a Demo app to demonstrate this (Source is available at my Github). Here I have created some channels like Technology, Android, General and you can see those listed down there and each of the channel can have their own customisations, like Importance, and Notification light.
To Develop on Android O API’s now you have to set compileSdkVersion "android-O" buildToolsVersion "26.0.0-rc1" so this is how my build.gradle file look.
Lets see how to create a Notification Channel
Crating a Notification is easy and direct, and the best part is even if create a channel for already existing channel it would not harm, so you can call this more than one time as well.
We have get the NotificationManager by using the getSystemService(); and now we have access to the new Android O method called NotificationChannel(); which accepts a channelId channelName and the importance of the channel. Now that we have created a notification lets see how do we trigger the notification.
How to Create a Notification
Now Notification.Builder() method expects a channelId or you can also use setChannel() method to set the notification’s channel.
Here you can see pretty much same old things for all other parameters. So from now on we have to create the Channel first and then trigger the notification with that channelId .
Updating Channel Settings
Users can update the Notification Channel Settings when ever they want either from the notification itself or from the settings page, you can also redirect the user to the update channel settings page via Intent .
It’s straightforward that you have to give the package name and correct channelId.
Deleting a Notification Channel
Deleting the notification channel is also straight forward, you have to pass the channelId to the method deleteNotificationChannel
Deleting a notification channel will delete and show it on the screen like this.
Creating a Notification Channel Group
There are times where the same set of notification is set for two broad Groups, Example is the user may have want to subscribe to Weekly technology news, but not for the daily technology news. This Notification Channel has covered that as well. You can easily create Notification Channel Group by using createNotificationChannelGroup .
This is how it looks on the Notification Settings page now.
Reading the Channel Settings
It’s easy to get the Channel Settings as well by using the method notificationChannel.getters(); as described below.
I have created a Demo Project to explore all these methods in Github at https://github.com/msomu/AndroidNotificationChannelsDemo | {
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Security staff at Israel's embassy in Uruguay thwarted a terror attack on the embassy Thursday, local reports and witnesses said.
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According to initial reports, security forces found a small explosive device near a building housing the Israeli Embassy, and safely detonated it. L ocal media claimed the "wires and cables" could be seen protruding from the box.
Head of security at the embassy in Montevideo called the police and alerted sappers to the scene after finding the bag.
Security forces outside Israeli embassy in Uruguay (Photo: AFP)
The Interior Ministry says police dogs detected the explosive in a supermarket bag during a routine check Thursday.
The area around the device was evacuated as explosives experts detonated it.
The ministry communique notes that the embassy is located on the ninth floor of one tower in the office complex. But it does not say if the embassy is believed to be the target.
The Foreign Ministry refused to comment, saying "we cannot comment on security issues."
A month ago, shots were fired at the Israeli embassy in Athens; no injuries or damage were caused. According to reports, four people on two motorcycles fired shots at the embassy building in a northern suburb of Athens. Bullets were lodged in the walls and 54 spent bullet cases were found about 40 yards from the building, police said.
Greek police later said a far-left group was likely responsible for the attack.
Two Kalashnikovs used in the attack were used in a similar assault on the residence of the German ambassador last December by the far-left People’s Fighter Group, a police source said in Athens. | {
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Facebook's revenues and profits "soared" in the second quarter of this year, says the BBC.
Revenues at the social networking giant leapt 45 per cent in the three months to the end of June to $9.3bn (£7.1bn), while profits advanced even faster, by 71 per cent to $3.9bn (£3bn).
"Facebook has been adding more advertising as well as more consumers" and it now boasts two billion worldwide users a month. That's "more than a quarter of the world's population".
Demand to get in front of that huge audience on the part of businesses is helping Facebook to manage the biggest obstacle to future growth: the number of ads it can keep adding to its core news feed offering.
Bloomberg reports that while growth in the number of new advertising positions saw a "stunning slowdown" to 19 per cent, the amount paid for each advertisement rose 24 per cent.
"It is a sign that Facebook's revenue growth should be sustainable even as it stops cramming more ads in the news feed."
The company needs this cushion as it is still in the early stages of monetising its wider portfolio of products, including its Messenger app, Instagram and Whatsapp.
Facebook said that Instagram is "making an increasing contribution to growth", the BBC reports, and founder Mark Zuckerberg assured investors that it will get the advertising model for Messenger "right in the long term".
Facebook's shares rose more than three per cent in after-hours trading in New York, to $165.
Facebook fined £95m by EU over WhatsApp data
18 May
Facebook has been fined €110m (£95m) for providing incorrect information before its $19bn (£14.5bn) buyout of WhatsApp in 2014.
The social media giant faces a fine of up to one per cent of turnover, or as much as £145m, after the European Commission provisionally found it had breached takeover rules in December.
At issue was Facebook's claim that it could not automatically match the accounts of WhatsApp users with those on its own platform.
"But two years later it launched a service that did just that," says the BBC, by linking accounts using people's mobile phone numbers.
"Facebook said the errors it had made were not intentional," adds the broadcaster.
The company had maintained that it could not link accounts with enough precision for full cross-platform messaging.
But the commission ruled Facebook knew the capability was there when it made its submission in 2014 and so had provided "incorrect or misleading information".
It added that the fine would not reverse its decision to clear the $19bn purchase of WhatsApp and was unrelated to separate investigations into data protection issues.
EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: "Today's decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information."
Facebook to pay $500m in Oculus VR lawsuit
2 February
Facebook has been ordered to pay $500m (£395m) in damages after a US court ruled it had "unlawfully used" virtual reality technology from rival firm ZeniMax.
Jurors found that Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR, had "violated the terms of a non-disclosure agreement".
In addition, Oculus, which was bought by Facebook in 2014, was found "guilty on charges related to false designation and copyright infringement", TechCrunch reports.
Of the $500m settlement, Luckey himself will have to pay $50m (£39), while former Oculus chief executive Brendan Iribe will pay $150m (£118m). Oculus will be liable for $200m (£157) for breaching its non-disclosure agreement, along with $50m for copyright infringement and $50m for false designation.
ZeniMax alleged Oculus had improperly used its code to build the Rift VR headset and launched its lawsuit months after the company was bought by Facebook.
Facebook said it was "obviously disappointed" by the result would appeal the decision.
The outcome of the three-week trial was announced shortly before the social media giant revealed its fourth-quarter sales results, which were better than Wall Street estimates.
Net profit more than doubled to $3.6bn (£2.8bn), helped by 53 per cent growth in advertising revenues. Facebook added it is on course to hit two billion users in the first half of 2017, says the BBC.
For last year as a whole, net profit increased by 177 per cent to $10.2bn (£8bn).
"Even a $500 million jury verdict that went against the company earlier in the day did little to diminish enthusiasm about its finances," says the New York Times.
Facebook's share price ended its New York trading session up more than two per cent to $1.33.
Facebook could face $179m fine over WhatsApp deal
21December
Facebook could be fined hundreds of millions of pounds after the European Commission accused it of giving "misleading" information ahead of its 2014 takeover of messaging platform WhatsApp.
"If the Commission concludes that it was definitely misled, either by accident or design, it could fine Facebook up to one per cent of its turnover," says the BBC.
Based on global revenues of $17.9bn (£14.5bn), that would equate to a fine of anything up to $179m (£145m), says The Verge.
The EC claims it was given incorrect information on data sharing as Facebook had said it could not match users' accounts on its own platform with their profiles on WhatsApp.
However, this August, the social media giant announced it was linking customers' WhatsApp accounts to Facebook through their phone numbers.
"The Commission believes the ability to link the accounts of the two services' users must have existed in 2014," says the BBC.
Facebook "vigorously denies this" and says it has "acted in good faith".
It also says it still "cannot match accounts with the precision needed for full 'cross-platform messaging'".
Facebook's announcement that it would be able to connect the two accounts has already proved controversial: data protection regulators in Germany and the UK have ruled the company must stop collecting user data and delete any it already has.
European regulators have also asked it to stop collecting new data while it investigates whether users have given sufficient permission for their information to be used in this way.
Facebook argues that linking accounts allows it provide "more relevant friend suggestions" and to better deal with spam. Importantly, it also allows the company to better target advertising on both platforms.
Facebook to hire 500 new staff in UK
21 November
Facebook has joined the list of technology giants committing to the UK with the pledge of a sizeable investment and more jobs.
The social networking giant is redeveloping its new headquarters in London's Fitzrovia to accommodate 1,500 staff, 500 more than the original number planned, European head Nicola Mendelsohn told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) this morning.
"Many of those new roles will be high-skilled engineering jobs as the UK is home to our largest engineering base outside of the US," she said.
The UK is already the base for important Facebook innovations, including "Aquila, a solar-powered, unmanned plane that provides internet connectivity to remote regions", says the BBC.
It adds: "Engineers at Facebook's London office are continuing the development of Workplace, a platform devised to improve communications… within a business, launched last month."
The CBI conference also heard from Prime Minister Theresa May, who announced the government will invest some £2bn in new tax breaks to boost science and research in the UK.
Despite the Brexit vote and the economic uncertainty it has brought, several technology companies have announced big investment plans for London in recent weeks.
Google announced it will invest £1bn in a new headquarters that will up the number of staff it employs in the capital from 4,000 to 7,000, says the BBC, and Apple is to make a major investment in the Battersea Power Station redevelopment to create its new base.
Facebook shares plummet despite bumper profit
3 November
Facebook has announced a huge leap its profits, posting a 59 per cent year-on-year rise in advertising revenue for the third quarter of 2016.
Net income for the social networking site rose 166 per cent from $896m (£726m) in the three months to September 2015 to $2.38bn (£1.93bn) for the same period this year.
Despite those stellar figures, Facebook's shares tumbled as much as seven per cent in after-hours trading in New York. By lunchtime today, those losses had been pared slightly, but it was still set to open five per cent lower.
The negative reaction followed comments from chief financial officer Dave Wehner, who cautioned soaring revenue is likely to slow down "meaningfully" in the next few months.
In particular, he said there was a "limit on the number of ads [Facebook] could put on people's timelines", the BBC reports.
Nevertheless, there were plenty of positives in the quarterly trading update, not least a 16 per cent rise in active monthly users to 1.8 billion, along with "enviable operating margins of 45 per cent", Fortune says.
More than 1.1 billion people log into Facebook on their smartphones each day.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says the company is particularly pleased with how the platform has been used during the US presidential election campaign.
"Facebook is the new town hall and we are proud of the role that we've played in increasing civic engagement," he said.
But it hasn't all been plain sailing, says The Guardian.
Facebook has had to fend off allegations of anti-conservative political bias by editors handling the site's Trending module, plus deal with a replacement algorithm that "promoted fake stories".
In September, the Wall Street Journal revealed the site had "vastly overestimated average viewing time for video ads on its platform for two years", causing outrage among ad buyers and marketers.
Facebook pays £4m in UK tax – but fails to silence critics
10 October
Facebook paid almost 1,000 times more tax in the UK last year than in 2014, but it has failed to quell criticism of its tax affairs the country.
The social network's accounts for the year to the end of December 2015 shows its UK arm generated revenues of £210.7m, more than double the £104m of 2014, says the Daily Telegraph.
On that, it paid £4.17m in corporation tax, a figure well in excess of the £4,327 it paid the previous year, when the firm was the subject of widespread opprobrium.
But this figure still equates to a tax rate of less than two per cent as Facebook's UK business actually generated a loss of £52.5m before tax for the year, a much bigger deficit than the £28.5bn logged in 2014.
As in the previous year, the company would have been profitable were it not for the £71m it paid into a share-based staff bonus scheme, some £104,105 for each employee. Last year, Facebook paid bonuses totaling £35m.
Worse still for angry campaigners arguing the tech giant paid too little tax, changes to HMRC rules allowing payment to be offset against Facebook's tax bill resulted in a credit of £11m, which can be used to reduce tax in future years.
Many are angry Facebook reduces the amount of tax it has to pay in cash by handing out share bonuses to its staff.
Experts say that, as in previous years, no sales were booked in the UK and all revenues are for marketing-based activities, making it hard to assess how much Facebook should be paying.
"The Facebook UK accounts just record the costs it incurs in the UK, with a bit of profit added on to keep HMRC happy," said Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and at City University, told the BBC.
From this year, Facebook has vowed to book sales from its biggest UK customers in their home country, rather than in Ireland. This pledge doesn't cover online sales – and obviously that tax credit will reduce the impact on its bottom line at least initially. | {
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FLORENCE, Ariz. -- In May 2002, Las Vegas resident Adam Gregory went on a business trip to Phoenix. He stayed at the Ritz-Carlton and charged the $1,082 bill to his American Express card -- or so financial records show.
In fact, Mr. Gregory didn't live in Las Vegas, never held a job and wasn't even a real person.
Rather, Mr. Gregory was a... | {
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On the face of it, Lorde’s Melodrama bore all the hallmarks of a disastrous second album waiting to happen. It was the work of an artist whose fame had removed her from the world that inspired her debut, a problem that’s bedevilled everyone from umpteen rappers to the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. “Pretty soon I’ll be getting on my first plane,” she had sung on Tennis Court, a highlight of 2013’s Pure Heroine, shortly before success catapulted Ella Yelich O’Connor away from suburban New Zealand and into a realm where your choice of boyfriend gets you involved in a Twitter spat with Tyler, the Creator and David Bowie takes your hand at a New York party and proclaims you the future of music. Its making involved the singer jettisoning Joel Little, the Kiwi producer and songwriter who co-authored Pure Heroine – he went on to co-write Khalid’s inescapable, platinum-selling Young Dumb & Broke – in favour of a team of more established mainstream pop figures: among them Taylor Swift and Sia collaborator Jack Antonoff; James Ryan Ho, fresh from working on Zayn Malik’s solo album; Kuk Harrell, of Rihanna, Beyoncé and Katy Perry fame.
But if Melodrama looked on paper like the work of an artist who’d had her head turned by success – or worse, a concerted effort to make Lorde a more straightforward, less idiosyncratic pop star – it turned out to be anything but. Whatever other impact success may have had on her life, it hasn’t blunted O’Connor’s observation. The songs on Melodrama that depict the messy entanglements of early 20s life are as incisive, perceptive and shudder-inducingly familiar as the sketches of teenage suburbia on its predecessor. For all their acute drawing of hollow relationships and the fleeting pleasures of hedonism, they’re far too witty and self-aware to fall into that baffling, post-Drake trap of carrying on as if everyone should feel terribly sorry for you because you’re going to parties, taking drugs and having sex.
The music, meanwhile, demonstrated both O’Connor’s classic melodic facility (the shadow of glam-era Bowie hung over Liability’s beautiful descending chord sequence; Writer in the Dark was that rarest of things, a Kate Bush-influenced song that didn’t make you want to listen to Kate Bush instead) and her ability to twist latter-day pop to her own ends. Supercut, Green Light and Hard Feelings used some of the basic sonic building blocks of mainstream pop – sparse R&B rhythms, house beats and jangling pianos, Giorgio Moroder synths, the pillowy electronic textures of tropical house or Frank Ocean’s emo-soul – but they never sounded quite like anything else in the charts because of the strength of the character at their centre. Melodrama sounded like a uniquely talented artist imposing herself on mainstream pop rather than having mainstream pop imposed on her. It’s worth remembering that the woman who made it is 21 years old. It’s fascinating to think what she might do next.
(Buy here) | {
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A Georgia man visiting California died Friday after he crashed his rented electric scooter into a tree in San Diego, making it the city’s first such fatality, officials said.
Christopher Conti, from Woodstock, Ga., suffered serious head injuries last Wednesday night when he lost control of the scooter while making a turn, police said. Conti, who wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time, collided with a tree, FOX5 San Diego reported.
He was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead Friday, police said Monday.
FLORIDA MAN KILLED AFTER CAR HE WAS WORKING ON FALLS ON HIM, DEPUTIES SAY
“This is the first known fatality in the city of San Diego involving a scooter,” San Diego police Sgt. Victoria Houseman said in a statement.
Conti is the president of the fitness company Innovative Fitness Solutions Inc., according to his Facebook page. The company’s Facebook stated its team was in San Diego for a fitness convention that ran from Wednesday to Friday.
CALIFORNIA PSYCHIATRIST'S BODY FOUND IN TRUNK OF CAR, DIED OF BLUNT-FORCE INJURY, POLICE SAY
Conti’s brother, Scott Conti, confirmed the 53-year-old’s death in a Facebook post and warned others about the dangers of riding motorized scooters.
“Surely the government wouldn’t let these scooters exist if they were unsafe,” the post read. “Well here’s the deal... their not safe. In fact their unsafe. Actually, their VERY UNSAFE. According to the medical personnel that I met this week, people are getting hurt, maimed and even killed on these things at an alarming rate all across the country.”
Although it was the first electric scooter death in the city, it was the second one in San Diego County.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Esteban Galindo, 26, was riding an electric scooter in December when he was hit and killed by a car. He was also not wearing a helmet.
San Diego city officials are considering proposing more regulations on dockless electric scooters that include implementing speed limits and more rider education, FOX5 San Diego reported. | {
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Iceland Experiments With A Jubilee Of Debt Forgiveness
A jubilee is an idea that dates back to Biblical times. The idea was that every 50 years or so there would be this moment where debts would be forgiven. The jubilee has not gotten a lot of traction in the modern world, but right now, Iceland is actually trying it.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
A jubilee can be a dessert or a special event. In Biblical times, a jubilee was a year in which debts were forgiven, and that kind of jubilee never got much traction in the modern world. But Planet Money's David Kestenbaum has this story about one country giving it a try - Iceland.
DAVID KESTENBAUM, BYLINE: Heida Dora Jonsdottir got into debt the way most people do. She bought something she loved that she didn't quite have the money for - in this case, a small wooden house in Reykjavik.
HEIDA DORA JONSDOTTIR: I really liked the place because it had such a homey feel. I mean, the floors are wooden, and everything was kind of, like, old style. It was quite cute somehow.
KESTENBAUM: Her friend Baldur Hedinson - same story. His place has a view, kind of.
BALDUR HEDINSON: There are, like, two little holes in between the big houses where I can see the ocean.
KESTENBAUM: So you have an ocean view.
HEDINSON: (Laughter) I have an ocean view.
KESTENBAUM: In Iceland, a lot of people have these odd mortgages that adjust with inflation. And when the financial crisis happened, there was a lot of inflation in Iceland. Heida remembers getting these statements saying she owed more and more. And I don't mean she just owed more that month. The total amount she owed to the bank went up by 30 percent. It's, like, if you'd borrowed $100,000 for your house, all of the sudden, you owed a $130,000.
JONSDOTTIR: It's kind of like you are drowning. That's the feeling.
KESTENBAUM: After the crisis, people were stuck with much larger mortgages than they'd started with. It was this wound that just would not go away. So last year, when Iceland's Progressive Party found itself with very low poll numbers, it proposed the jubilee, though it didn't call it that.
HEDINSON: They call it...
JONSDOTTIR: They call it the correctment.
HEDINSON: Yeah, like, the correction.
JONSDOTTIR: The correction.
HEDINSON: Like there was something, you know, wrongly calculated, and they need to correct it. Or just putting it right - they want to put things right. That's how they frame it.
KESTENBAUM: Say it in Icelandic.
JONSDOTTIR: (Speaking Icelandic).
KESTENBAUM: The party promised to go back and correct everyone's mortgages - basically, forgive the additional debt everyone had built up in 2008 and 2009. It's a beautiful idea that you could go back in time and try to undo this one very painful part of the financial crisis, make it like it had never happened. One problem with the jubilee idea of forgiving debt is that there's always someone on the other side, someone who lent the money.
But there is a plan to make even this part feel painless. The money to pay for the jubilee would come from a tax on three dead Icelandic banks - banks that many people blamed for Iceland's part in the financial crisis. A lot of people were really into the proposal. The Progressive Party ran on the jubilee idea and won.
(APPLAUSE)
KESTENBAUM: This was the scene at a hotel in Rejkavik last April - everyone celebrating. It took a while to sort out the details, but the other week, Heida was finally able to go online and see how much money she'd be getting from the jubilee. It was about $12,000. She was surprisingly subdued about it.
JONSDOTTIR: I don't know if I'm really skeptical or if I'm not this trusting, but if I see the money in some form, then I will be quite happy.
KESTENBAUM: Baldur?
HEDINSON: Yeah?
KESTENBAUM: How much money are you getting?
HEDINSON: Nil, nothing.
KESTENBAUM: This is the other reason Heida was not celebrating. Her friend Baldur also has a mortgage - that apartment where he can kind of see the ocean - but he bought it just after the cut-off for the jubilee. On paper, a jubilee is this nice, simple idea, but in practice, it's complicated. You can't forgive all debt, so what debt exactly are you going to forgive? You've got to pick. And whatever you pick, there are going to be people who benefit from the jubilee living next to people who get nothing.
Baldur, how does it feel not to be getting any money?
(LAUGHTER)
HEDINSON: It doesn't feel great. I mean, I had a student loan during that period, and that went up like crazy. I don't see why they - if they're doing this for mortgages, why don't they do this for student loans, as well? So, I mean, I'm happy for Heida that she's getting it, but the overall thing - it feels very unfair.
KESTENBAUM: Once you get over the thrill of the idea of a jubilee, you realize it's just a government policy. Baldur and Heida have decided it's a bad policy. They wish the government had spent the jubilee money on health care or education - something that would benefit a broader group of people.
Is there something silly about the idea of thinking we could go back and fix something like this?
JONSDOTTIR: We should correct the future and not the past, right?
HEDINSON: Yeah, create an environment that's good for the future.
KESTENBAUM: There you go. You guys have a political campaign now. You can run.
(LAUGHTER)
KESTENBAUM: Correcting the future is, of course, the path that we usually take. It's an easier sell. The future is unwritten. You can dream it will be whatever you want. The past has already happened. It's complicated and surprisingly hard to fix. David Kestenbaum, NPR News.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. | {
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Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin said Amazon's decision to pull out of New York City is "heartbreaking," and the political climate "dramatically" reduced his interest in moving the headquarters of his financial firm to the city, according to a Bloomberg report.
"I'm a bit frustrated by the political winds in the city over the last two months. Amazon opting out of New York is heartbreaking," Griffin said Thursday on Bloomberg Television. Griffin runs Citadel, a giant financial firm with vast trading operations and a hedge fund unit that manages more than $30 billion.
Griffin told Bloomberg after the broadcast interview that Amazon's decision has been "a huge backtrack" in the company's internal planning and the political environment in New York has "dramatically" damped his interest in moving.
"Because when you bring a firm that is such a great user of technology into your city, it's not just about the success story of Amazon, it's about the fact that you now have a tech magnet that creates an entire ecosystem of success stories around it," he said on the TV interview.
The billionaire investor said he has been debating making New York his primary home and moving Citadel from Chicago after buying a $238 million penthouse overlooking Central Park, the most expensive home ever sold in the U.S.
"I'm actually in New York every single week ... we pay the New York investment banks roughly $1 billion a year in revenues. This is my second home in some sense ...The apartment presents the possibility that it might be home for me and Citadel could be headquartered in New York one day," Griffin said.
Amazon reversed its plan to build headquarters in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens following mounting opposition. Local and state leaders had voiced significant opposition after New York City and state had offered the company performance-based incentives amounting to nearly $3 billion.
— Read the original Bloomberg story here.
| {
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39:37 1649
RealityKings - Avery Black So This Is College SneakySex | {
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A Google acaba de anunciar o próximo passo para a destruição total da raça humana. Ou, se você preferir, um grande avanço no campo da inteligência artificial. A empresa divulgou que o seu sistema de machine learning foi capaz de criar códigos com uma eficiência superior quando comparado ao que foi criado pelos próprios desenvolvedores da plataforma.
Batizado de AutoML, esse sistema foi desenvolvido como uma solução para a falta de talentos na área de programação de inteligência artificial. Infelizmente não há muitos programadores experientes nessa área. Foi por isso que o time da Google resolveu criar uma máquina para fazer esse trabalho.
O AutoML é capaz de realizar milhares de simulações para determinar quais áreas de um código precisam ser aprimoradas, fazer mudanças e continuar o processo de forma indefinida ou até que determinado objetivo seja alcançado. Isso é impressionante não somente pelo fato de uma máquina estar fazendo isso, mas porque o que está sendo gerado é melhor do que o próprio ser humano seria capaz de fazer. E tudo isso trabalhando por horas e hora sem reclamar ou pedir um aumento.
Melhor do que humanos
A prova de que o código produzido pelo AutoML é melhor do que o criado pelos seus desenvolvedores ficou claro em um teste de reconhecimento de imagem. O sistema da Google obteve o resultado recorde de 82% na taxa de reconhecimento. Até então, as plataformas de inteligência artificial conseguiam alcançar a taxa de 42%, o que já superava o score de 39% alcançado por algoritmos humanos.
Porém, infelizmente (ou felizmente) ainda estamos um pouco longes de conhecermos a Skynet do mundo real. A Google anunciou o AutoML há apenas cinco meses, o que significa que o sistema ainda precisa de muito amadurecimento no mercado. Contudo, é realmente impressionante ver o que essa plataforma fez em tão pouco tempo de vida. Nem consigo imaginar o que ela fará daqui um, cinco ou dez anos. Acho que aí sim estaremos diante de uma inteligência artificial potencialmente perigosa. | {
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But remember: if you point out that this sort of thing is going on, you’re the problem.
An update on this story. “Violence in Plateau State, Nigeria Escalates with more Muslim Fulani Herdsmen Attacks,” Morning Star News, January 30, 2020:
JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – At least 32 people were killed and a pastor’s house and church building were burned down in two nights of attacks this week by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Plateau state, Nigeria, sources said.
The Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) building and home were destroyed in an attack on predominantly Christian Marish village on Monday evening (Jan. 27), one of three communities in Bokkos County hit in armed assaults that began the previous evening, area residents said. The attacks were the latest bloodshed in an escalation of violence in Plateau state, where herdsmen killed Christians in Riyom and Mangu counties earlier this month.
Herdsmen killed 17 people in Marish and Ruboi villages on Monday after killing 15 people in an attack on Kwatas on Sunday (Jan. 26), Titus Ayuba Alams, former speaker of the Plateau state House of Assembly, told Morning Star News….
Five people were wounded in the attacks and several houses were burned, area resident Theophilus Mancha told Morning Star News.
“A pregnant woman and 16 others have been killed,” Mancha said.
Kwatas, Marish and Ruboi are suburbs of Bokkos town, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) southwest of Plateau State University, Bokkos.
Kelly Kanang, another area resident, confirmed that Fulani herdsmen launched the attacks.
Benjamin Dogo of Kwatas informed Morning Star News in a text message, “Our people have been killed again. About 15 of the dead have been evacuated to the mortuary along with many others that sustained injuries during the attack on Sunday night.”
State police said 13 persons were killed and five injured in the attack on Kwatas. Police spokesman Ubah Gabriel Ogaba on Monday confirmed the attack by “unknown gunmen” on Kwatas in a press statement.
Ruboi and Marish were attacked after police issued the statement, and officers have provided no details on those attacks….
Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan. | {
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Only the finest sick filth, distilled and decanted. | {
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A species of fork-marked lemur believed to be new to science has been found in the forests of Madagascar.
The find is revealed on the BBC documentary Decade of Discovery.
Primate expert and president of Conservation International, Russ Mittermeier, first spotted the lemur during an expedition in 1995, but has confirmed its existence whilst filming the documentary this year, when he and his colleagues captured and took blood samples from the small primate before returning it to its forest home.
Decade of Discovery, a collaboration between Conservation International and the BBC's Natural History Unit, will be broadcast at 20.00BST on Tuesday 14 December on BBC Two. | {
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4/15/15 9:16AM
The children’s rhyme in question, “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” along with “The Hokey Pokey” give kids the important choice of gyrating their bodies or embarking in careful emotional introspection. THAT’S what it’s all about.
(Or Hokey Cokey if you’re from the Britains. Or Cokey Cokey if variance in consonants causes your tongue to twist.[Like Peggy Babcock. Peggy Babcock. Peggy Badcop. Pebby Bagpock. Pegbygabock.])
Nipples Out,
Jesse | {
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Coral Reefer has no problem posting naked pictures of herself on the internet. Neither do Twitter or Vine, where the 26-year-old Alameda woman and internet celebrity has been posting images of herself and some of her 35,000-plus followers taking dabs or pulling tubes in the nude under the #"nakedbonghits" hashtag.
Beyond her willingness to partake au naturel, there are two reasons why Reefer (an alias; her real name is a guarded secret) was able to quit her job waiting tables two summers ago and focus all her time on her personal brand. One is her deep-seated affection for marijuana, which she consumes in some form every day. The other is her willingness to share her cannabis habit with the many dedicated fans following her on social media. That she's an attractive blonde with a famous feature — type "Coral Reefer" into Google and the word "booty" pops up, along with numerous shots of her rear, identifiable by the matching marijuana leaf tattoos on the back of her thighs — also boosts her profile on every social media network.
But not Instagram. The Facebook-owned photosharing utility deleted her account last month as part of a movement to purge weed accounts. Legal cannabis dispensaries, marijuana-smoking musicians, and normal people with an affinity for snapping and sharing filtered photos of weed have all been removed from the app's roll of 200 million users.
This is a big deal in 2015, when media entrepreneurs' livelihoods depend on their ability to connect to fans, business partners, and customers via social media. "[Instagram] definitely took my career to the next level," says Berner, the San Francisco member of Wiz Khalifa's crew and brand ambassador of the Girl Scout Cookies weed strain, whose account was shuttered in December. "Whenever we have a show, we post about it on Instagram — and it sells out."
Coral Reefer still isn't sure why her account was kicked offline. She claims Instagram won't tell her and the company didn't respond to my email seeking comment. She guesses it could be the partial nudity on her account, including the skin flashed during naked bong rips.
But plenty of other fully clothed cannabis accounts, including the accounts of San Francisco dispensaries Barbary Coast and Grassroots and that of Matt Rize, a maker of ice wax rollups, were also deleted.
Berner was told his account was booted because it promoted drug use "and solicited the sale of marijuana, which is not true," he says. "I don't sell marijuana on my page, nor do I promote drug use."
Indeed, Instagram's terms of service ban nudity as well as the promotion or solicitation of drug use. That would be an easy explanation as to why those accounts were removed from the app's servers. But it would not explain why Instagram's war on weed is both selective and erratic. Many other weed-related accounts, including those aimed to connect cannabis businesses with consumers, such as WeedMaps-owned Marijuana.com's @themarijuana, are still freely posting away.
It's entirely possible that Instagram is just responding to feedback from users. It is extremely easy for anyone to flag an account for terms-of-service violations in the hopes that Instagram will shed it. Some belive that the anti-drug group Narconon is spending its time flagging accounts it doesn't like. Others suspect a turncoat from within the marijuana community's own ranks, guessing that a competing cannabis business is flagging prominent accounts in a fit of jealousy.
As of the new year, Coral was still trying to contact Instagram in an attempt to at the very least get an explanation if she's not able to get her Instagram reinstated. As for @berner415, he's back on, thanks to the intercession of a well-connected friend (he won't say who, just that he's a "well-known recording artist") — but with one notable change.
Less weed.
For Berner, self-censorship of his cannabis lifestyle is a worthwhile trade for keeping Instagram as a promotional platform for his other ventures: his music, his Cookies clothing line and attendant store set to open up in the Haight.
"I went through and deleted a bunch of stuff... I'm calming down on it a lot," he says. "Instagram is valuable to a lot of people... all we can do is respect Instagram's terms."
From now on, whenever he has a dab or bud he wants to share, he's doing it on the "Instagram for marijuana," a new social network hosted on WeedMaps' Marijuana.com. As of the new year, the network most closely resembles a Pinterest, with a collage of images showing dab hits, clouds of smoke, and stoned people. This would differentiate it from MassRoots, the first social network to declare itself the Facebook alternative for the cannabis set upon its launch in 2013.
Not that Instagram would ever be able to remove marijuana from its servers even if it wanted to. There are simply too many posts of buds, bongs, and blunts to count, let alone delete. As for whether a cannabis-centric social network can compete for space on users' phones and attention spans, Berner pledges a big push. In the coming weeks, Marijuana.com's network will hire a team of programmers and rent office space in San Francisco, he says. Maybe they could score Instagram's old digs in South Park. | {
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Jonathan Hickman is having a banner year. East Of West is a massive hit from Image and Secret is back, Avengers and New Avengers at Marvel are leading nicely into his big Infinity event…
And now Bleeding Cool's owners Avatar Press are to announce at Phoenix Comic Con the news of a big new book from Jonathan Hickman and Di Amorim, with the entertainingly provocative title, God Is Dead.
Six issues, starting in September, covers by Hickman, variant covers by Jacen Burrows.
God Is Dead tells the story of gods returning to modern day Earth and dealing with what's been happening in their absence. And dividing the place into their respective dominions. And naturally man fights back…
This is the second debut series to launch from Avatar this year by a writer more familiar for higher profile work, after Kieron Gillen and Canaan White's Uber. And you saw what happened with that. Speculators, start your engines, you know there's no chance retailers will order enough of these – or that Avatar will print enough either. | {
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Target: Ryan Zinke, United States Secretary of the Interior
Goal: Protect Alaska’s wolf pups and bear cubs from unwarranted slaughter.
Alaska’s bears and wolves will soon be in danger of needless slaughter. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s plan to roll back protection laws for Alaskan bears and wolves is fast approaching, despite strong opposition from the state itself. The rollback of these Obama-era laws would allow cruel and unethical hunting practices such as baiting, killing hibernating bears, and laying traps for wolves during denning season. This would almost certainly spell the extinction of many different species of bear and wolf, who are already dying out due to unnecessary killings.
The legalization of these practices could lead to the extinction of many species of bear and wolf. Too many of these poor creatures have already been shot with “self-defense” as an excuse, while said creatures were quietly going about their own business and living their lives. Due to their history as predatory animals, bears and wolves have gained an unfair reputation used to justify these killings, and the last thing we need is for such cruelty to become fully legal.
We cannot allow this plan to succeed. Bears and wolves are living creatures that deserve better than to have their lives ended out of human paranoia or for sport. Sign this petition to denand Zinke call off his plan immediately.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Zinke,
Your plan to roll back protection laws for bears and wolves in Alaska is unethical and selfish. Too many of these creatures are ruthlessly killed by humans for sport, or shot while minding their own business with “self-defense” as an excuse. While bears and wolves may have a history as predatory animals, the majority of them would not harm humans unprovoked and are simply trying to live their lives. Additionally, many species of wolf and bear are nearly extinct despite laws set in place to protect them; rolling back these laws entirely would likely result in them disappearing forever.
The state of Alaska firmly opposes these plans to legalize hunting, trapping, baiting, and the killing of hibernating bears. You must respect the wishes of the population and keep protection laws for these animals firmly in place. Do not legalize the wholesale slaughter of innocent creatures for selfish reasons.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Ronnie MacDonald | {
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With some ministers claiming they would set themselves on fire if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, one retired minister did just that last year in hopes of showing support for the LGBT and black communities. A 79-year-old retired Methodist minister, Charles Moore, gave the ultimate price to protest the “injustice” he saw in his hometown in Texas. Moore was a vocal LGBT supporter in the 1990s and spent his life trying to eradicate racism and discrimination of all sorts. Moore’s causes included protecting people from racism, ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, and strongly opposing the death penalty. However, the former minister felt that he “needed to do more,” and his life work came to a head last year. On June 23, 2014, the elderly man drove his car to a local strip mall, exited the vehicle, doused himself in gasoline, and set himself on fire. His suicide note explains that the self-immolation was an attempt to die a martyr for the black and LGBT communities.
The Washington Post reported that the married former Methodist minister Charles Moore was a voice of inclusiveness his entire life. Whether it was speaking out against the racism he had witnessed in Texas to the discrimination faced by the homosexual community, Moore felt that the Bible was a book of “radical inclusiveness” not one of discrimination. Therefore, in the 1990s, before the LGBT community had a strong voice in the mainstream media, Moore went on a two-week hunger strike to promote the removal of discriminatory language against homosexuals.
Moore was also vocal about his experiences with racism while living in small town Grand Saline, Texas, as a child. Moore says that he frequently saw the oppression and horrific acts against the black community in the town that the Ku Klux Klan called home. Moore recounts one instance when he was 10-years-old that a man was bragging about killing black people and putting their heads on a pole.
“When I was about 10 years old, some friends and I were walking down the road toward the creek to catch some fish, when a man called ‘Uncle Billy’ stopped us and called us into his home for a drink of water — but his real purpose was to cheerily tell us about helping to kill ‘n—–s’ and put their heads up on a pole.”
Despite spending his life and position as a religious leader to promote an anti-racism platform and to discourage discrimination of the homosexual community, Moore says he didn’t do enough. He outlined in a suicide letter left on his vehicle the reason for his self-inflicted fiery death.
“I have no significant achievements to offer from that period so that my influence on contemporary issues might have a significant impact so I am laying down my life here today, in order to call attention to issues of great human concern.”
The Tyler Morning Telegraph obtained a copy of Charles Moore’s suicide letter after the former minister died from self-immolation. Moore plainly states that he wished to “join” the victims of past racial horrors by “giving my body to be burned.” Moore stated his wishes that America and Grand Saline would open their hearts to black people and really repent for the past atrocities of slavery.
“I will soon be 80 years old, and my heart is broken over this. America, and Grand Saline… have never really repented for the atrocities of slavery and its aftermath. What my hometown needs to do is open its heart and its doors to black people as a sign of the rejection of past sins. So at this late date, I have decided to join them by giving my body to be burned. With love in my heart not only for them but also of the perpetrators of such horror.”
Though Reverend Charles Moore was willing to set himself on fire to stand with the black and homosexual community, other ministers have promised to set themselves on fire if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage a year later. However, after same-sex marriage was made legal across the United States, at least one minister backed down and says he will not be setting himself on fire anytime soon.
What do you think of the Texas minister’s extreme actions to bring awareness about the plight of the black and homosexual communities? Was Charles Moore’s death an act of madness or that of a martyr?
[Image Credit: The Moore Family via Washington Post] | {
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Classical music composer Krzysztof Penderecki, whose work was featured in films by Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese, has died.
He was 86.
Penderecki passed away on Sunday at his home in Krakow after a long illness.
R.I.P.: Classical music composer and celebrated conductor Krzysztof Penderecki, whose work was featured in films by Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese, has died. He was 86
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, the Ludwig van Beethoven Association called Penderecki a 'Great Pole, an outstanding creator and a humanist'.
The composer and award-winning conductor was best known for his monumental compositions for orchestra and choir, like St. Luke Passion and Seven Gates of Jerusalem.
His work was used on the soundtracks to Hollywood movies The Shining, The Exorcist and Shutter's Island and he also collaborated on rock music with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.
Greenwood tweeted Sunday: 'What sad news to wake to. Penderecki was the greatest - a fiercely creative composer, and a gentle, warm-hearted man. My condolences to his family, and to Poland on this huge loss to the musical world.'
Acclaimed: Penderecki was best known for his compositions for orchestra and choir, like St. Luke Passion and Seven Gates of Jerusalem, and won several Grammy Awards
Across genres: His work was used on the soundtracks to Hollywood movies The Shining, The Exorcist and Shutter's Island and he collaborated with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood
Sad news: Rock musician Greenwood paid tribute to the composer and conductor via Twitter
Penderecki won a number of Grammy Awards and in 1968 the Recording Academy awarded him the special merit National Trustees Award.
In 1988, he won a Grammy for the recording of his 2nd Concerto for Cello and in 1999 he won again for his 2nd Violin Concerto, Metamorphosen.
In 2017, he won another Grammy for best choral performance in recognition of the Penderecki Conducts Penderecki album.
Penderecki was also an educator, opening a music center near his home and mentoring young musicians, giving them the opportunity to play with world-famous masters.
Polish Culture Minister Piotr Glinski tweeted: 'Poland's culture has suffered a huge and irreparable loss.'
He added that Penderecki was the nation's 'most outstanding contemporary composer whose music could be heard around the globe, from Japan to the United States.'
He is survived by his second wife, Elzbieta, who as a girl was a piano student of his first wife Barbara, and by daughters Beata and Dominika and son Lukasz.
His ashes will be buried in the National Pantheon, the crypt of Krakow's St. Peter and Paul Church, according to the head of the pantheon's foundation.
The funeral is being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. | {
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Climbing
The Titan is a calm climber, but the Float X2 does move a bit if you stand up and really start hammering. It doesn't have quite the same level of snap out of the gate as the new Specialized Enduro, or Ibis Ripmo, and on longer climbs I usually took advantage of that climb lever to get a little extra support for those hard efforts. The lever is easy to access, and despite Mike Levy's vehement anti-lever sentiments, I never experienced any guilt when I flipped that switch.On certain trails, particularly ones filled with sections of awkward rocky steps, the Titan felt a bit cumbersome, and I felt like I was working a harder than usual to maintain my speed. Switching the dropouts to the higher position, which steepens the head angle a bit and raises the bottom bracket, is one way to add a little zip to the Titan's manners. Like adding hot sauce onto scrambled eggs, it's not a drastic alteration, but it helps - the bike felt more at home in flatter, chunky terrain in that higher setting. I used the high setting for the trails around Moab, Utah, but preferred the low setting for the steeper trails I frequent in the Pacific Northwest.Depending on what style of climb you're tackling, long chainstays can either be a boon or a bane. Preparing to face off against a rubble-filled straightaway, the type of section where maintaining traction is the key to success? In situations like that the Titan shone, with the longer back end and relatively slack head angle providing plenty of stability to keep on churning up and over the rough stuff. As expected, it was on the slower speed, tighter and twisty bits that the longer back end became more noticeable. It's still possible to get through those sections of trail, it just takes more effort and some advance planning.Overall, the Titan feels most at home when it's used to grind up logging roads and then plunge down a gnarly trail once the climbing is over. The steep seat tube angle combined with the relatively tall front end creates a comfortable, upright climbing position, but it never felt like it was in a hurry on the climbs or on flatter sections of trail. Luckily it's another story once gravity takes over... | {
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Chairlift have announced they will break up following a final run of shows in the spring of 2017. At their headlining show in their hometown of Brooklyn last night, singer Caroline Polachek thanked fans in attendance for their support. “It’s been a wild year—we put out Moth in January and now we’re back home playing for you guys,” she said. “We wanted to announce that in spring of next year, Chairlift is going to be playing our final shows.” She then promised that dates would be officially revealed in early 2017. Read a statement from the band via their Twitter below.
Chairlift was founded by Aaron Pfenning and Polachek in 2005, with Patrick Wimberly joining the group before the release of their debut full-length Does You Inspire You in 2008. Pfenning departed the group in 2010, and the band have remained a duo since. In 2014, Polachek released her debut solo album Arcadia under the name Ramona Lisa. She and Wimberly contributed to Beyoncé’s self-titled album from 2013, specifically working on the song “No Angel.”
Watch Chairlift’s episode of “Over/Under” on Pitchfork.tv: | {
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- Boykot Haribo, nu fjerner de noget af det faste indhold i Skipper mix. Meget fej opførsel.
Sådan skriver svenske Janne Hylander på Haribo Sveriges Facebook-side, i en kommentar til at det snart 100 år gamle tyske slikfirma fjerner de lakrids-masker, Skipper Mix-spisere har gnasket i i årevis.
Maskerne er oprindelig designet for at vise, hvad en sømand oplever på en tur rundt i verden - deraf navnet Skipper Mix - men en gruppe kunder har klaget, fordi de finder lakridserne racistiske, og derfor er maskernes tid forbi.
- Det (kritikken red.) begyndte på nogle sociale medier, og efter det besluttede vi at fjerne de omtalte stykker fra produktionen, siger direktør Ola Dagliden til Nyheter 24:
- Jeg kan ikke se nogen grund til at have nogle slikstykker, der kan opfattes som stødende.
Men hvad mener du? Og har du tænkt på, at du tyggede i en racistisk lakrids, når du spiste Skipper Mix?
Michael Pettersson skriver også på Haribo Sveriges facebook-side, og han mener nej:
- Jeg kan ikke se, at lakridsmasker er racistiske.
Haribo Danmarks svenske direktør Per Henerius bekræfter over for nationen!, at der fremover heller ikke vil være lakridsmasker i Skipper Mix-poserne i Danmark.
- Det er jo et meget gammelt produkt, helt fra 1943, så nu er det tid til at ændre det, siger Per Henerius. | {
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An ex-Labour MP has said it could be 2035 before the party is back in power following its election disaster under Jeremy Corbyn.
Mike Gapes, who was one of Corbyn’s sharpest critics before quitting Labour last year, said the party is facing an even longer spell out of government than it did between 1979 and 1997. It was last in power in 2010.
Gapes, speaking to Yahoo News UK during a conference at the Royal United Services Institute in Westminster on Monday, claimed the next leader may have to commit up to 15 years in order to make Labour electable again.
The former Ilford South MP, who lost his seat as a Change UK candidate in December’s election, said: “Obviously I’m not in the Labour Party right now, but I’m a very close observer of what’s going on at the moment. I just hope it can turn it round, and it may take 10 or 15 years, sadly.
View photos Mike Gapes pictured in April last year (Claire Doherty/In Pictures via Getty Images Images) More
“I was there with Neil Kinnock after Michael Foot was defeated in 1983. It took him nine years to get us back to the verge of winning the election [in 1992] and it was another five years until John Smith and Tony Blair inherited the work Neil Kinnock had done.
“I think the next Labour leader could be facing a similar challenge, except this time it’s even worse. In those days the general secretary of the party, and national executive of the party, weren’t completely in the hands of the far-left.”
Gapes, who jokingly referred to himself as a “recovering politician”, went on: “Whoever becomes Labour leader, assuming they are committed to getting rid of the Corbyn legacy, will have a major task to make the Labour Party electable.
View photos Gapes (back, right) was part of the ill-fated Change UK after quitting Labour (Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images) More
“Labour will need a dedicated, committed leader who is prepared to put in not five years, but 10 or maybe even longer to transform the party. Whether the membership of the party will elect such a leader, I’m not sure.”
Gapes was among a group of Labour MPs who dramatically quit the party in February last year in protest against Corbyn’s leadership.
Read more from Yahoo News UK
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Minister defends deportation of ‘rapists and killers’ to Jamaica as 170 MPs call to stop flight
Work under way on plans for Scotland-Northern Ireland bridge - Downing Street
With a group of ex-Tory MPs, they founded Change UK, which flopped in the subsequent European elections and saw many of its members either become independents or join the Liberal Democrats.
Gapes was one of just three candidates who fought December’s general election under the Change UK banner - and was promptly ousted by Labour from the seat he had held since 1992.
Brexit briefing: 325 days until the end of the transition period | {
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released an official denial of any contacts with Trump election officials on Monday.
Assange said he never provided election information to people in the Trump campaign and specifically named Don Jr., Manafort, Mike Flynn and Mike Flynn Jr and others.
WikiLeaks posted the official denial to its Twitter account Monday with each rebuttal beginning with the phrase, “It is false and defamatory to suggest…”
It is false and defamatory to suggest that WikiLeaks or Julian Assange privately provided information about its then pending 2016 U.S. election-related publications to any outside party, including Nigel Farage, Roger Stone, Jerome Corsi, Donald Trump Jr., Michael Flynn, Michael Flynn Jr., Cambridge Analytica, or Rebecca Mercer [it is defamatory because it falsely imputes that Julian Assange acted without integrity in his role as the editor of WikiLeaks, associates with criminals, or has committed a crime].
TRENDING: Wray Claims "White Supremacists" Make Up the Largest Share of Racially Motivated Terrorists in the US as BLM Burns Businesses to the Ground (VIDEO)
Assange also rejected the fake news Guardian article that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort secretly met with him at the embassy.
These defamation efforts have reached a new nadir with the recent front page fabrication by Guardian newspaper, which falsely claimed that Julian Assange had multiple secret meetings with Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, right down to a made up description of latter’s pants at the fabricated meetings (“sandy coloured chinos”) It is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange has ever met or communicated with Paul Manafort.
The entire Russian collusion hoax and Mueller witch hunt revolves around the fake news that Donald Trump told the Russians to hack the DNC server then give the information to WikiLeaks.
To this day, the FBI has never done a forensic inspection of the DNC servers and WikiLeaks has denied any collusion with the Russian government.
Assange is now officially denying he had any contact with Roger Stone, Jerome Corsi and Donald Trump Jr., the very people Mueller has in his cross hairs.
Read the full statement by Julian Assange here. | {
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The sperm can reach lengths 10 times that of the ostracods A new method for analysing the interior of fossils has shown that millimetre-long mussel-like crustaceans called ostracods used giant sperm to mate. Sperm of modern ostracods can reach 10 times their body length. The technique, known as holotomography, imaged the large sperm pumps and seminal receptacles of well-preserved ostracod fossils found in Brazil. The results, published in Science, show ostracods had already evolved the giant sperm 100 million years ago. The samples came from the Santana Formation, which has already yielded a wealth of perfectly preserved fossils, particularly of fish. Because they are scavengers, ostracods were also found in abundance near some of the fish, with their soft internal organs equally well preserved. New light Renate Matzke-Karasz of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Germany took Harbinia micropapillosa ostracod fossils, part of the collection of the Natural History Museum in London, to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France. There, light from accelerated particle beams was used to image the interiors of the fossils, yielding a detailed picture of their inner structure. What the team found was that the sexual organs of the fossils were remarkably similar to those of modern ostracods. The soft internal organs can be seen between halves of the shell Both males and females have fully separate pairs of organs. The males have two sperm pumps, or Zenker organs, and the females have two vaginas and large seminal receptacles, separated by a lengthy duct that seems optimised to accommodate the sperm. "It was very surprising that these structures were so similar to organs we know from modern ones," Dr Matzke-Karasz told BBC News. "Now we know that it happened at least 100 million years ago - it developed quite early in the freshwater ostracods." Ostracods are not the only animals that use giant sperm as a mating strategy - it has also been seen in the fruit fly Drosophila. However, because it costs a lot of energy to produce long sperm, it is still unclear to biologists why the strategy arises. For Dr Matzke-Karasz, the results open a new avenue of research for palaeontologists. "This holotomography is so helpful; it could bring out much, much more of fossils which are all over the world in museums, buried in the collections," she said.
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Фильмы, сериалы, книги, песни и другие произведения о преступниках, в которых формируется их положительный образ, представляют опасность для нравственного состояния общества, считают в «Справедливой России». И предлагают запретить «пропаганду насилия и преступлений» в публичной сфере. Поправки в закон об информации подготовил зампред комитета Госдумы по энергетике Олег Михеев.
В действующем российском законодательстве отсутствует определение «пропаганды» как таковой несмотря на то, что это понятие всё шире в нем употребляется, отмечает «эсер» в пояснительной записке к своему законопроекту. Предлагаемые поправки призваны заполнить этот пробел. Также он предлагает ввести в правовое поле понятия «пропаганда преступлений и административных правонарушений» и «пропаганда насилия и жестокости», под которыми понимаются распространение информации, формирующей у ее потребителей установок и стереотипов агрессивного, насильственного поведения, побуждающей их к насилию по отношению к людям и животным или к совершению других преступлений, в том числе через романтизацию или героизацию насилия, жестокости и преступного образа жизни. По мнению Михеева, в российском обществе идет полномасштабная пропаганда и героизация насилия и преступного образа жизни через СМИ и продукцию масс-культуры — фильмы, сериалы, песни, книги.
— Исследования специалистов фиксируют чрезвычайно высокий уровень насилия в России. Так, в обнародованной недавно свежей версии глобального «рейтинга миролюбия» за 2014 год Россия оказалась на 155-м месте, уступив по уровню насилия и преступности разве что Сомали и Афганистану. А ведь еще в 2009 году в этом же рейтинге наша страна занимала 136-е место, в 2007 году — 118-е. Регресс налицо, — сетует «эсер». — По числу умышленных убийств из расчета на 100 тыс. населения мы с показателем 10,2 занимаем недопустимое для европейской страны место в мировой статистике — на уровне даже не азиатских, а африканских государств.
Парламентарий уверен, свой вклад в этот всплеск насилия в стране вносит в том числе бесконтрольная пропаганда насилия и жестокости в СМИ, а также романтизация образа жизни преступного мира, благодаря которой в сознании людей, прежде всего молодежи, стирается грань между допустимыми и недопустимыми нормами поведения.
— Принятые ранее Госдумой законы о защите детей от информации, наносящей вред их здоровью, предусматривали ограничение сцен насилия и жестокости. Однако пропаганда, героизация и романтизация насилия могут происходить и без откровенной демонстрации убийств или избиений, — отмечает «эсер». — Так, в 1990-е годы телеэкраны были буквально переполнены фильмами, формирующими положительный образ преступного мира. А музыка? Воровские блатные песни, прославляющие преступные «понятия», раздаются из каждого второго динамика. Это ломает моральные установки не только детям, но и взрослым людям. Подобной романтизации преступников быть не должно ни в СМИ, ни в литературе, ни в кино.
Поэтому он предлагает дополнить закон об информации запретом пропаганды насилия и преступного образа жизни и их романтизации. А за его нарушение налагать штрафы от 2,5 тыс. рублей для граждан и до 500 тыс. для юрлиц. Инициировать рассмотрение нарушений закона смогут полиция и Роскомнадзор, но наказание будет назначать суд, уточняет Михеев. Он поясняет, что подобные ограничения не противоречат Европейской конвенции о защите прав человека и работают во многих зарубежных странах, похожая норма существовала и в законодательстве СССР.
Первый зампред комитета по информационной политике ГД Вадим Деньгин (ЛДПР) уверен, что сейчас проблема романтизации преступников в медийном пространстве неактуальна.
— Сегодня главный пример для подражания — умный адекватный человек с конструктивным подходом к жизни. Никакой бандит рядом не стоит.
Член комиссии по свободе информации СПЧ, журналист Николай Сванидзе с мнением либерал-демократа не согласен.
— Проблема актуальна, несомненно. В обществе очень сильны настроения жестокости, насилия, и так или иначе они пропагандируются через СМИ, в том числе довольно активно общая атмосфера насилия пропагандируется и в ситуации на Украине, поэтому, да, сама по себе идея актуальна, а насколько здесь в плюс пойдет тот текст, который представлен в Думу, я сказать не могу, — заявил он.
Сванидзе сказал, что законопроект составлен грамотно, но важно, как его будут применять.
— Формулировка очень адекватная, меня устраивает. Но нужно посмотреть контекст, — говорит правозащитник. — Видите ли, это зависит от подачи. Потому что с тем же успехом, скажем, американские вестерны можно объявить пропагандой насилия — там главный герой тоже постоянно стреляет с бедра. Но я не считаю, что это пропаганда насилия. Можно считать, что и «17 мгновений весны» или «Место встречи изменить нельзя» тоже пропаганда насилия, и там положительные герои стреляют и кого-то убивают. Поэтому речь идет на самом деле не вполне об этом. Речь идет о том, что мало пропагандируется «ненасилие» — я бы так сказал. Боевики, триллеры, вестерны всегда можно считать так или иначе пропагандой насилия. Это фильмы, которые всегда смотрят люди. Но можно считать и мультфильм «Маугли» пропагандой насилия. И там дерутся друг с другом и кого-то убивают. Поэтому тут речь идет не совсем об этом. Будет очень плохо, если пойдут огнем и мечом по программам телевидения и будут шерстить кино — это можно, а это нельзя. Это приведет к негативному результату.
Зампред комитета Госдумы по культуре режиссер Владимир Бортко, принимавший участие в съемках криминальных сериалов «Улицы разбитых фонарей» и «Бандитский Петербург», думает точно так же.
— Ключевое слово там «запрещается». Так он запретит все фильмы о Великой Отечественной войне и много еще чего, — опасается кинематографист.
Гендиректор радио «Шансон» Владимир Маслов считает, что запретами общественную мораль не улучшить.
— На мой взгляд, запретами мало что можно достичь, потому что разумные запреты помогают в общем воспитании общества или подрастающего поколения в правильном русле. Но никак и никогда они не могут решить проблему. Уже известно исторически, что запреты приводят к абсолютно обратной реакции. А что касается средств массовой информации, то каждый работает в том направлении и создает тот продукт, который та или иная аудитория потребляет — ведь это же рынок, и средства массовой информации — это тоже коммерция. Если есть некачественный продукт и есть на него спрос, значит, проблема в другом. | {
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PRESS RELEASE
APRIL 21, 2016
CONTACT:
Brad Burge
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
831-429-6362 x103
DEA Approves First-Ever Trial of Medical Marijuana for PTSD in Veterans
Non-profit MAPS receives $2.156 million grant from State of Colorado for first clinical trial of whole plant marijuana for PTSD treatment
SANTA CRUZ, CALIF. – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has formally approved the first-ever randomized controlled trial of whole plant medical marijuana (cannabis) as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in U.S. veterans. The DEA’s approval marks the first time a clinical trial intended to develop smoked botanical marijuana into a legal prescription drug has received full approval from U.S. regulatory agencies, including the DEA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled study will test the safety and efficacy of botanical marijuana in 76 U.S. military veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD. The study is funded by a $2.156 million grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to the California-based non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which is sponsoring the research.
The trial will gather safety and efficacy data on four potencies of smoked marijuana with varying ratios of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). By exploring the effectiveness of a variety of marijuana strains, the study seeks to generate naturalistic data comparable to how many veterans in medical marijuana states currently use marijuana. Results will provide vital information on marijuana dosing, composition, side effects, and areas of benefit to clinicians and legislators considering marijuana as a treatment for PTSD.
“We have been working towards approval since we opened the Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with the FDA in 2010,” says Amy Emerson, Executive Director and Director of Clinical Research for the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation. “We are thrilled to see this study overcome the hurdles of approval so we can begin gathering the data. This study is a critical step in moving our botanical drug development program forward at the federal level to gather information on the dosing, risks, and benefits of smoked marijuana for PTSD symptoms.”
Marcel Bonn-Miller, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, will oversee the two separate sites as Coordinating Principal Investigator (PI). Half of the subjects will be treated by Co-Investigator/Site PI Sue Sisley, M.D., in Phoenix, AZ, and the other half by Co-Investigator/Site PI Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Co-Investigator Paula Riggs, M.D., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will oversee the scientific integrity of the study. Blood analysis will be conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder. MAPS will work with the FDA to manage and monitor data, oversee drug accountability, and ensure that the study follows Good Clinical Practice guidelines.
Since its founding in 1986, MAPS has raised over $36 million for psychedelic therapy and medical marijuana research and education. MAPS is working to evaluate the safety and efficacy of botanical marijuana as a prescription medicine for specific medical uses approved by the FDA.
### | {
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So here's Brohoofs United's request: his MLP OC, Stormy, and his girlfriend's MLP OC, Akira, with Anna and Elsa from Disney!!!I really love how this turned out!!Anna and Elsa belong to Disney! Stormy and Akira belong to Brohoofs United and his girlfriend! Artwork belongs to me. Hope you like it!(If some of you are wondering if I'm taking request, sorry, I'm not taking request at the moment, just finishing the ones I already accepted to do!!!) | {
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09 July 2018 Fight against viruses: The origin of specific immune cells revealed
Within the immune system, so called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play a relevant role in the protection against viral infections. However, pDCs have also been associated with auto immune syndromes. In the current issue of Nature Immunology, a research team of the University of Basel could finally solve the puzzle about of their origin. | {
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1. New York Rangers (Last Week: 2)
The Rangers - who have allowed no more than a single goal in regulation over their last seven games - are clear front-runners in the seven-horse race for the Presidents' Trophy.
They are the only team over the 90-point plateau that's won the trophy twice since its 1986 introduction.
2. St. Louis Blues (Last Week: 3)
Pending restricted free agent Vladimir Tarasenko is expected to secure $6-7 million per season in a multiyear deal with the Blues this summer. If his command in the boardroom is as strong as it is in the offensive zone, he's going to be a rich, rich man.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last Week: 1)
Jonathan Drouin was a +225 favorite for the Calder Trophy before the puck dropped on his rookie season, having averaged more than two points per game in his final two years in junior.
He's been sitting on two goals for three months now.
4. Chicago Blackhawks (Last Week: 4)
With all their firepower, the Blackhawks have been middling offensively all season. The difference? A team save percentage quietly coming second in the NHL.
5. Minnesota Wild (Last Week: 8)
Despite their miraculous run, the Wild can't afford to take their foot off the pedal in the slightest. With the Predators, Capitals, Blues, Islanders, Kings, Rangers and Red Wings down the stretch, they own the league's toughest remaining schedule.
6. Montreal Canadiens (Last Week: 5)
Remember when Carey Price and P.K. Subban had the kibosh placed on the triple-low-five win celebration? The dude just took a selfie with a fan midgame.
Go ahead, Michel Therrien. Raise an eyebrow.
7. Anaheim Ducks (Last Week: 9)
Like a rich man's Flames, the Ducks have seized a league-best 11 wins and own a better winning percentage trailing after two periods than the Oilers and Sabres do starting the game tied.
8. Nashville Predators (Last Week: 7)
The Predators swept the three-game season series with Los Angeles and have won five straight contests against the Kings dating back to the fall of 2013.
They wouldn't welcome a first-round matchup with the defending champs, would they?
9. Pittsburgh Penguins (Last Week: 6)
Those bemoaning Daniel Winnik's production really shouldn't - he's the same player. His three points in seven games represent the identical 0.43 point-per-game average he brought to the Penguins, who have maintained their fifth-ranked penalty kill with him on board.
10. Detroit Red Wings (Last Week: 10)
Unlike Winnik, Marek Zidlicky is a new man in Detroit. In his seven games, he's collected more than a quarter of his point total this season, netting three goals and seven points.
11. New York Islanders (Last Week: 11)
Just a single goal off the rookie lead with 23, Anders Lee is generating zero Calder Trophy buzz. Nor is the leader, Mike Hoffman.
And they don't have any business being in the conversation - that's how good this rookie crop has been.
12. Boston Bruins (Last Week: 14)
The Bruins opened the scoring in 11 straight games before being shut out by the Capitals on Sunday, an effective means of locking down that eighth seed, and nothing more.
13. Los Angeles Kings (Last Week: 12)
What's costing Anze Kopitar more sleep: his newborn, Neza, or the very real possibility the Kings miss the playoffs?
"@ismailkidd: #LAKINGS Congratulations to Anze and Ines Kopitar on their new little girl Neza! by lakings pic.twitter.com/7GLR0XKi1V" — Nina (@Nina1DHoran) March 15, 2015
14. Vancouver Canucks (Last Week: 15)
Still waiting for the Canucks to slip? Don't. Vancouver has the highest percentage of home games left and has a very manageable seven-game run before a four-game trip through the Central Division beginning in late March.
And if they can tread water through to the second-to-last game, they'll finish the season with the Coyotes and Oilers.
15. Washington Capitals (Last Week: 13)
Barry Trotz called it. With their backs against the wall, the Capitals played good hockey once more Sunday, controlling the game in a shutout of the red-hot Bruins.
16. Calgary Flames (Last Week: 18)
With Johnny Gaudreau getting all the love, let's extend a warm embrace to Sean Monahan. His 27 goals are more than that of Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Jamie Benn, Pavel Datsyuk and Ryan Getzlaf.
Pretty, pretty good.
17. Ottawa Senators (Last Week: 17)
With two goals in ten games, Matt Puempel's been OK, we guess. This kid seems a touch too easily influenced, though.
Warm-up Pic: Rookie @mpuempel has scored twice in his last 3 games and is also a +4 over that span! pic.twitter.com/A9FrskRcDA — Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 15, 2015
18. Winnipeg Jets (Last Week: 16)
The Jets reduced the Lightning - who control over 54 percent of shot attempts on home ice - to just 15 attempts directed at Ondrej Pavelec in the final two periods Saturday. As such, Pavelec earned his first win in five weeks.
19. San Jose Sharks (Last Week: 19)
Four points out with just three (!) games left at the SAP Center.
The optics (not including the Doug Wilson-Joe Thornton spat) look bad, but it might be oddly beneficial for the Sharks, who have as many wins away from the Tank in seven fewer starts.
20. Colorado Avalanche (Last Week: 20)
Nathan MacKinnon's March:
Broken nose Landlord (Max Talbot) traded to Boston Broken foot Watches team win four of five
Bumpy ride.
21. Florida Panthers (Last Week: 22)
Dan Ellis is the latest netminder brought out of obscurity during their team's health crisis. But his 1.95 goals-against average and .929 save percentage won't be enough, as the Panthers have actually lost ground since his authoring of a 3-1-1 record.
22. Dallas Stars (Last Week: 23)
The Stars are the second-highest scoring team in the league, averaging 3.07 goals per game. But from Benn, Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza down, the next highest-scoring forward (Cody Eakin) has 32 points. Not good.
23. Philadelphia Flyers (Last Week: 21)
In hanging seven, the Flyers put an exclamation point on their tenth straight win over Detroit on home ice. The Red Wings haven't beat the Flyers in Philadelphia since Game 2 of the 1997 Stanley Cup Final and have been outscored 44-17 in the process.
24. New Jersey Devils (Last Week: 24)
Top-six minutes, top-six skill from Jordin Tootoo. This is some expert finish:
25. Columbus Blue Jackets (Last Week: 26)
It wasn't what Scott Hartnell had in mind, but he's finding a way to cope in the fountain of youth.
Since joining forces with rookies Alexander Wennberg and Marko Dano, the trio have combined for 17 points and a plus-9 rating in seven games.
26. Carolina Hurricanes (Last Week: 25)
Bill Peters' special-teams effect on the penalty kill was immediate, and now it's showing up with the man advantage. The Hurricanes are tops on the power play since the All-Star break and have maintained the league's fourth-best kill.
27. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Week: 27)
Phil Kessel is willing, but the rest of the Maple Leafs aren't inclined to stick up for their captain. Check out Brandon Bollig casually turning and gliding away after spilling Dion Phaneuf into James Reimer with a dangerous push from behind:
28. Edmonton Oilers (Last Week: 28)
This couldn't be more accurate. This also couldn't be more sad.
People are talking like the #Oilers are tanking on purpose. That's the funny thing, they're not. They're actually trying to win. #NHL — Derek Van Diest (@SUNdvandiest) March 13, 2015
29. Arizona Coyotes (Last Week: 29)
The Coyotes boasted (!!) of a $16.6-million loss in the fiscal year Friday. This is good, when the initial goal is to lose $20 million.
30. Buffalo Sabres (Last Week: 30)
Anders Lindback has been stopping pucks at a rate landing somewhere in between Cory Schneider and Braden Holtby since joining the Sabres.
This is amazing. | {
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His name is Shi Wanzhong, and he is the Human Resources Director of state-run telecom company China Mobile. Today, he was sentenced to death for taking a share of a middle man's $5.06 million commission in exchange for fixing deals between German firm Siemens and China Mobile, according to Shanghai Daily.
The middle man, named Tian Qu, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. All this was done behind closed doors, and the trial was not open to the public.
Stil no word yet on what will happen to Siemens, but here's what they face (via Shanghai Daily):
According to China's Criminal Law, companies shall be fined if they offer bribes and commissions to government officials or those working in a state-owned enterprise. Company employees guilty of bribery shall be given jail terms of up to five years.
Fines don't sound nearly as bad as a death sentence. | {
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Watch our free webinar on setting up Kubeflow for your needs
Agenda:
In the webinar we’ll shortly introduce the different parts to Google’s Kubeflow project and then set up the project so we can run something on top of it ourselves.
Machine Learning Engineer Ruksi Laine is an experienced ML Engineer that was previously in charge of the San Francisco based startup LeapMotion’s ML Infrastructure and later has built Valohai’s ML Infrastructure platform. Valohai has also evaluated building it’s backend on top of Kubeflow and he thus has vast experience from the scene.
Sign up today, ask your questions and we’ll email you a link to the live webinar (and later the recording) at the time of the webinar!
The webinar will be hosted by machine larning engineer Ruksi Laine and machine learning fanboy Fredrik Rönnlund from Valohai. | {
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Di Martin: On the 9th floor of St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, a patient lies in bed watching a violent spring storm roll in.
Paul O'Grady is a former Labor politician, serving in the NSW Upper House for nearly a decade.
Paul O'Grady: Well, I had cancer about three years ago, anal cancer. I had 32 bouts of radiation, which was the most excruciating pain that I'd ever, ever, ever experienced. And they would give me morphine, which I absolutely loathed, because it was like having a little man inside your head, playing with your head.
Di Martin: Around this time Paul O'Grady received a package in the mail.
Paul O'Grady: And here were two little bottles of liquid marijuana, with instructions, one drop in the morning, et cetera, which I started taking, until they found it in my fridge. And then I just went back to having a bit of a joint.
Di Martin: This is Paul O'Grady's first interview about using medical cannabis. He says it dulls his pain, suppresses nausea and stimulates his appetite.
He has long had HIV, and says after his cancer treatment he continued to use cannabis.
Paul O'Grady: The HIV drugs I take cause nausea and total lack of appetite. And so most days I will just have a couple of puffs of a joint, so it's not about being stoned, it just helps you to think, okay, well, here's lunch, I'll get some of this down.
Di Martin: How important is that for your overall health at the moment?
Paul O'Grady: Well, it's crucial, because it's crucial to get food down, it's crucial to be walking and being active, it's crucial that you get food into you so that you can walk.
Di Martin: Welcome to Background Briefing.
It's estimated thousands of Australians are already using cannabis for medical reasons, risking criminal penalty to ease their suffering. This widespread civil disobedience has finally led Australian politics to its first tentative step towards legalisation.
The states and territories have just agreed on a national approach to cannabis trials, with NSW saying it will take the lead. Details of what is to be trialled, when, and where are due late this year.
But the move has been quickly criticised as unnecessary and expensive. The Victorian ALP, tipped to win next month's state election, says there's already enough science to move straight to legalising medical cannabis. Here's Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews:
Daniel Andrews: Look around the world, there is an enormous amount of literature, there is an enormous amount of peer-reviewed work, where there have been clinical trials in lots of other parts of the world. Now, I think there is an undeniable momentum to make this change because it's changing lives, it's saving lives, it's exactly the sort of law reform that we should be into.
Di Martin: Legislators in more than 20 US states, Canada, Israel and a number of European countries have already legalised cannabis for medical use, citing scores of clinical trials demonstrating its benefits.
David Caldicott: So the reasons that we don't use it are not scientific, they are political and legislative.
Di Martin: Dr David Caldicott runs the Emergency Department at Canberra's Calvary Hospital. He's one of the few senior Australian clinicians who say medical cannabis should be legalised, and that some of his patients are already using it.
David Caldicott: The people who admit it to me are largely the people who have a terminal diagnosis and who frankly don't really care who knows whether they are using it or not.
Di Martin: And what do they say?
David Caldicott: They say that they get some relief from it. They use it to supplement the medications that they're prescribed which don't seem to be working for them.
Di Martin: And what kinds of conditions are they trying to address with medical cannabis?
David Caldicott: Largely issues of pain, the intractable pain associated with terrible diagnoses, and occasionally for the anorexia that is associated with terminal illness. I think this is something that could be probably be prescribed as it was in the 19th century as a herbal supplement to minimise discomfort in a given population.
Di Martin: So the science is in on that?
David Caldicott: The science has been in on this for a long time.
David Caldicott: Dr Caldicott says cannabis should now be legal for the terminally ill and those with profound illnesses that don't respond to conventional medication. He wants to run a tightly controlled trial of current users and how they're using the plant. It's not only being smoked. There are also products like oils and tinctures being sold on the black market.
Advocates for the raw plant are on one side of a deep divide now opening up in the medical cannabis debate. On the other side is the Australian Medical Association, which wants a fully tested medicine.
Tony Bartone: We in no form or process looking at the crude plant and legalising the plant for medicinal purposes.
Di Martin: Dr Tony Bartone heads the AMA's Victorian branch, and agrees that cannabis does appear to have some medical benefit. But he says there are so many different types of cannabis plant, that benefit is not clear from one batch to the next. So Australia should only consider drugs approved at the Federal level by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA.
Tony Bartone: What we are seeking to do is exactly what any other new medicine would be required to do coming onto the market.
Di Martin: So you're only looking at legalised cannabis for medical purposes that is a medicine passed by the TGA?
Tony Bartone: Correct.
Di Martin: What about as a herbal supplement?
Tony Bartone: That is somewhere where we are not going at this stage.
Di Martin: Doesn't any one drug often take 10 years and tens of millions of dollars to bring to market?
Tony Bartone: We are many years already down the track on medicinal cannabis, so it's not going to take 10 years.
Di Martin: Dr Bartone could not say when such a drug may be available.
In Canberra, Dr David Caldicott says taking the pharmaceutical route is time consuming and expensive. Cannabis has hundreds of active ingredients.
David Caldicott: These are complex compounds, difficult to prepare, and that greatly increases the cost of any commercial product. So there is an argument by some people that we should just wait until the pharmaceutical companies take control of this, own it and sell it. But this will be at an enormous cost to the Australian taxpayer and to the poor individuals who need to consume these issues. This is a plant that can be grown. This can be grown like a tomato at roughly the same price.
Di Martin: David Caldicott specialises in illicit drugs and toxicology and he says the side effects of cannabis are benign compared to many of the medicines he now prescribes. He says special cannabis strains for specific medical conditions have been developed overseas, and are available to import or to grow from seed. He also says patients can tolerate small variations in plant chemistry.
But the AMA says there is no hard science behind those different plant strains, just anecdotal evidence. The AMA says there should only be trials of cannabis-based pharmaceutical drugs already on the market. There are two different types, which are not now available in Australia. We'll hear more detail about that a bit later, including objections to that course of action.
Dr Tony Bartone says Australia must proceed cautiously.
Tony Bartone: The safety of our patients is our primary concern. The facts are not clear at this stage, and we need to be sure that we are doing no harm.
Di Martin: Dr Bartone says in the meantime even the terminally ill should stay away from cannabis.
Tony Bartone: And I can understand the frustration and the lack of empowerment some patients would feel in this situation. But that is no reason to then abandon all sense and throw caution to the wind.
Meg McGowan: Yeah, that is advice from someone not facing terminal illness.
Di Martin: Legalisation is getting support from some unexpected quarters. This is former NSW Detective Superintendent Meg McGowan.
Meg McGowan: I think pragmatically if you are facing terminal illness, you will do anything to try and stay alive. And the people that I'm aware of who are taking it are taking it because they see it as their last hope, or they are taking it for palliative care because the alternatives for them are so horrendous in terms of side-effects.
Di Martin: Meg McGowan is also giving her first interview about medical cannabis. As a police officer she played a primary role in keeping a lid on cannabis in NSW.
Meg McGowan: I was a detective superintendent. I had been involved in putting together drug policy and drug law enforcement.
Di Martin: Personally your attitude to cannabis at that time?
Meg McGowan: Personally my attitude to cannabis at that time was that it was a dangerous illegal drug and that nobody should be anywhere near it.
Di Martin: Meg McGowan says it's now time for the lid to come off cannabis, for medical reasons.
Meg McGowan: I have now completely shifted my opinion based on my own research. I believe cannabis should be available for medical use.
Di Martin: So when did your attitude to cannabis start to shift?
Meg McGowan: I was diagnosed last year with triple negative breast cancer. Given my background as a detective I immediately hit the internet and started having a look at what causes it and what treats it.
Di Martin: Triple negative breast cancer is rare, aggressive and doesn't respond to conventional hormone therapy. So Meg McGowan researched what the cancer might respond to, and discovered that she's interested in cannabis not to ease her death but to try and prevent it.
Meg McGowan: And one of the things that turned up was that there had been trials using cannabis that had killed triple negative breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. So in a test tube and in animals, the cancer that I have responded to cannabis. So I am hopeful that we will see legalisation and as a consequence of legalisation we will start to see some of the research that needs to be done to determine what it's best used for.
Di Martin: Are you using cannabis oils or products for your cancer?
Meg McGowan: No, because at the moment I'm cancer free. The mastectomy successfully removed all of my breast tissue. Certainly if I have recurrence of cancer that would be something that I would be prepared to do, because my personal view is that might save my life.
Di Martin: Meg McGowan's claim is not as fanciful as it may first appear once you consider the science. A leading cannabis researcher says the results of early experiments on the anti-tumour properties of the plant are simply remarkable. Sydney University's Dr David Allsop has conducted trials on both the harms and benefits of cannabis. He explains there are more than a hundred molecules in the cannabis plant called cannabinoids.
David Allsop: We're talking about research that has happened in cells, people culturing cancer cells and then applying cannabinoids to them, different cannabinoids—THC, cannabidiol—and seeing how the cells respond. And that research is staggering. It really is amazing. Cannabinoids absolutely kill cancer cells, they stop them from communicating with each other, they stop them from proliferating, they are known to be able to restrict the blood vessels that supply cancer cells with their nutrients and energy. This has been shown for almost all types of cancer.
Di Martin: Dr Allsop makes clear this in no way proves that cannabis cures cancer, and as a rule only a small percentage of laboratory research is confirmed in animal and human trials. But he says successful animal trials have been carried out for some cancers. Dr Allsop explains there's been one human trial, a Spanish study of nine people with terminal brain cancer. The results were inconclusive. While tumour growth was slowed in eight people, all died within the year. You can find a link to that study on our website.
David Allsop says anti-tumour trials started a long time ago, but have been significantly hampered.
David Allsop: They have been happening for a decade or more. Certainly more. People have been very interested in this area for a long time. But of course cannabinoids are illegal. And that means that people, the engines of change in society like pharmaceutical companies and industry, the people who if they can smell a dollar they will generate change, are reluctant.
Di Martin: In Australia, cannabis sits in the highest level of prohibition—a Schedule 9—along with heroin. Drugs in this category are said to have no medical application, and it's very hard for scientists to get access.
David Allsop: If it is a Schedule 9, well, it becomes extremely difficult to justify in a grant application the feasibility of doing this work. You have to then jump through all sorts of regulatory hoops that take years and years to get the medicine on your table and ready to deliver to a patient.
Di Martin: Dr Allsop was funded recently to study one of the few pharmaceutical products containing cannabis extract. He found it a deeply frustrating process.
David Allsop: We were funded to do a 12-month trial, and it took us one year just to get the regulatory approval. And then running the study took another year and a half.
Di Martin: Which had to be paid for…
David Allsop: Which had to be paid for from the generosity of my collaborators who had to find the money to support me and the study from their own meagre funds.
Di Martin: Is it your conclusion that efforts to try and study the benefits of cannabis are just stymied before they begin?
David Allsop: Absolutely, yes, yes.
Di Martin: Leaving ordinary people to take science into their own hands and carry out their own experiments.
It didn't take Background Briefing long to find several people who are using cannabis to treat cancer, including a 20-year-old university student from Melbourne, who we'll call Edward. It's not his real name. Edward's been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer that started in his ankle. He's been through bruising rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.
Edward: And two weeks after the surgery they did a biopsy and scans and came back and said it has metastasised and spread, and there also may have been two masses in my lower torso, and they weren't going to biopsy it, because they said, look, at this point we think your disease is incurable and there is not a heap we can do.
Di Martin: After another four rounds of chemo, Edward started taking one ml of cannabis oil daily for six months. This is his father John:
John: And on 25 August this year, 2014, he had a full body PET scan where they inject him with a glucose, for want of a better word, and the cancer cells take up the glucose. We got the result saying that the PET scan was clear.
Di Martin: No tumours?
John: No tumours. So the findings are there are no abnormality in the right groin or pelvis to indicate progressive nodal metastatic disease, and the distant metastases, none.
Di Martin: That's John reading from his son's PET scan results.
At their ordinary suburban home in Melbourne's south-east, Edward's mum pulls out a bread and butter plate. She wants to be known as Marie. On the plate is an open Cryovac-ed plastic pouch.
Marie: This is the stuff that came in from overseas. So I heat this up each night
Di Martin: Just describe what this is?
Marie: This is the cannabis oil. So it's quite a thick substance, as you can see it's sort of tar-like.
Di Martin: It's like red curry paste.
Marie: It doesn't taste like that! So each night I just heat a little bit of this up and put it onto the spoon and my son then takes it from there.
Di Martin: And then just drink it?
Edward: It depends on its consistency but usually it's so thick and sticky that I roll it into a ball almost and take it like a tablet.
Di Martin: Marie says using cannabis was a last resort, considered only after Edward ran out of medical options. She vividly remembers the day the oncologist delivered that news.
Marie: 'We can't do anything else for you.' That's what we were told. So you have to, you've got no choices, you've got to start looking for something alternative or give in.
Di Martin: So how did you actually even go about accessing a supply of cannabis oil?
Edward: My friend helped me, and he helped set up this meeting, this late night somewhere in some car park by the beach, and we had to go buy them out of the back of someone's car at night-time and spend a lot of money doing it.
Di Martin: Edward's father explains they were guided by a treatment plan sourced off the internet. This is John:
John: It's recommended for cancer patients when they get onto the oil that you should try and consume 60 mls or 60 grams in 60 days. So we went out and purchased a pound of marijuana, which was several thousands of dollars, we ended up, after the extraction process, we ended up with about 45 mls of oil. And as the supplies were drying up we started getting it in from overseas.
Di Martin: John's son has experienced a range of side effects from the cannabis oil. There's mood swings, and some problems concentrating. Edward's also had a frightening episode after stopping his oil regime, and then restarting it a week later.
Edward: I woke up at three o'clock in the morning and straight away I could tell something was not right. I was just all over my head, seeing things, thoughts, like threefold and very powerful. And I can remember I was in Mum's room, I don't even know, I was talking about God and religion and war and screaming 'I'm enlightened' and all of this really crazy stuff. So it's the unfortunate nature of what we have had to go through.
Di Martin: Edward then pulls out a photo of himself taken after his last rounds of palliative chemo.
Edward: When people question me about the side-effects of cannabis use and what it does I just show them the picture that I have saved on my phone of when I was very, very ill in hospital having chemotherapy.
Di Martin: Can you show us?
Edward: Sure…
Di Martin: Look at the colour of your skin!
Edward: I know. I prefer the side effects of cannabis oil to that.
Di Martin: This family don't know exactly what the cannabis oil is doing, and are not sure if Edward's cancer is cured or in remission. They have seen people in online forums die despite their self-medication. But Edward says there are also success stories, and for him, cannabis use gives some hope.
Edward: I don't like to jump on board things unless I can see evidence and stuff. But I see people all across the world through the community and they are posting pictures of their scans and they are completely clear and all they are doing is taking medical cannabis. I'm hoping, I really am hoping that it is fighting and actively combating the cancer and destroying it and clearing my system out. So that's what I can really hope for.
Di Martin: This family's story has had quite an impact on Victorian ALP Opposition leader Daniel Andrews.
Daniel Andrews: Something has worked there. I don't know what. I'm not a doctor, I'm not an oncologist. But again, this is one case amongst so many that I think is adding to the momentum that says we've got to do better, have a better framework, have a legal framework where we get to the bottom of some of these mysteries, well above and beyond the proven benefits.
Di Martin: Daniel Andrews will go to next month's state election on a platform to legalise some forms of medical cannabis now being used by Victorian families, products like oils and tinctures. But he doesn't want to legalise the crude plant. Daniel Andrews says that risks blurring the line between recreational use and medical use.
Daniel Andrews: No one is smoking anything. This can sometimes be mischaracterised or misinterpreted as in some way legalising marijuana in a broader sense, of course that's not what this is about. This is about saving lives, it's not about wrecking lives, it's not about illicit drug use at all.
Di Martin: And he says it's not just a drug to relieve symptoms. Here, unprompted, Daniel Andrews raises the possibility of cannabis as a cure.
Daniel Andrews: We need to clear that up, we need to have a much more solid footing, play our part in developing an evidence base for future products, for other ways, for other conditions where this medical cannabis in all of its different forms might save lives and be curative in the future.
Di Martin: At Sydney University, leading cannabis researcher David Allsop says it's high time Australia investigates the benefits of this plant. He reveals Sydney University wants funding to establish a National Cannabis Research Centre. Dr Allsop says there's great interest in cannabis to treat a range of conditions, including obesity, PTSD and even Alzheimer's.
David Allsop: We are scrambling over ourselves in science to try to work out what the uses are for all of these new compounds that we are finding that seem to be really interesting medically for a whole range of different things. Cannabis has many, many other molecules than THC, the one that gets you high, that are all non-psychoactive. That means they don't affect your cognition or your memory in any negative way.
Di Martin: David Allsop says most objections to cannabis focus on its harms. He's an authority on cannabis dependence. He says its harms should not be underestimated, but need to be put in perspective.
David Allsop: Cannabis can precipitate psychosis. But it's important to point out that it only occurs, as far as we know, in those people who are already predisposed to it. So it's definitely not as black and white as 'cannabis causes psychosis'.
Di Martin: Any other major harms?
David Allsop: Respiratory harms. Same as with cigarettes in a sense, it's smoking. But you can do things about that. You can work out different methods of ingesting the cannabis that don't cause those harms. The other major harm is the risk of developing dependence on cannabis, and dependence comes with spending a lot of your time seeking it out and spending a lot of money on it. But those risks are fairly infrequent when you consider the scale of cannabis use.
Di Martin: Dr Allsop says most of the research on harms is from observational studies of recreational users, people smoking street cannabis which is very high in THC, the only known cannabinoid that's psychoactive. He says medical cannabis strains developed overseas wouldn't have the same side effects.
Cannabis harms were certainly a focus of a pivotal NSW Upper House inquiry last year. Nationals MLC Trevor Khan was part of that inquiry, which heard a range of objections to legalisation.
Trevor Khan: The Department of Health had an extraordinarily negative attitude towards medicinal cannabis. We were being told that it causes sterility and infertility, impotence. We got the full range of exercises. And we said, well look, if you are terminally ill are issues of long-term use a problem if you have got six months to live and what you're trying to do is to re-establish a degree of capacity to eat? And the answer was no.
Di Martin: Trevor Khan recently met with other committee members including its Chair, Nationals Sarah Mitchell, and the Greens John Kaye.
John Kaye: I think it is fair to say that what happened was that Sarah's committee was a kind of turning point in the body of politics. It was a unanimous finding of Nationals, Liberals, Greens, Shooters Party and Labor that we should do something in this space.
Di Martin: That 'something' was to recommend cannabis be decriminalised for terminally ill adults, registering them with the Health Department so they couldn't be arrested. But the NSW government said no.
It was then the Haslam family from rural NSW got involved, with such a compelling story that the debate completely turned around. 24-year-old Dan Haslam has stage four bowel cancer. He uses cannabis both to quell the nausea of chemotherapy, and with the hope he may stall the spread of his cancer. His father was an undercover cop in the drug squad, and his mother Lucy, a former nurse.
Lucy Haslam: We've soul-searched over this. This has been something that we've always taught our kids; it's not great to be involved with recreational drug use. But in this context for Dan it is entirely the right thing to do.
Di Martin: Lucy Haslam speaking on ABC New England. After the government refused to decriminalise, she sought out MLC Trevor Khan to see what more could be done politically.
Trevor Khan: We said, look, the prospect of doing anything before the next election is just about nil. And she said, 'So we do nothing?' And either Sarah or I said something like, well look, you can go out there and try and create some energy in the community, that can force politicians to do something. Neither Sarah nor I had any belief that you would end up with a Change.org petition with over 200,000 people having signed it and all the rest of the things that have been done. They created an energy which is quite extraordinary.
Di Martin: At the same time these Upper House backbenchers started drafting a bill to decriminalise for terminally ill adults. The bill was well advanced, and the backbenchers were quietly confident it would pass parliament this month. Until the Premier Mike Baird gazumped them. Speaking in parliament, here Mike Baird might sound like he's all for legalisation:
Mike Baird: The country has waited too long, this state has waited too long, it's time we got this done.
Di Martin: But if you listen closely to what 'this' is, it has little to do with changing the law.
Mike Baird: The New South Wales government is announcing a clinical trial for medical cannabis that will be established to explore further the role that cannabis can play in providing relief for patients suffering from a range of debilitating or terminal illnesses.
Di Martin: Clinical trials can take years to complete and participant numbers are often limited. At the earliest, trials won't begin until later next year, after the next NSW election. The announcement destroyed the backbenchers' bill.
In St Vincent's Hospital, former Labor MLC Paul O'Grady says many of his former colleagues are afraid to move forward on this issue.
Paul O'Grady: The parliament will get up in about November, it won't sit again until after the election in March, so I don't really see this as going anywhere, and whether he is re-elected or not, who knows.
Di Martin: What do you think is going on politically? What have you learned?
Paul O'Grady: That it has been used to slow something down. I think politicians are more conservative than the electorate on these sorts of issues. I think they are fearful of stepping outside the box.
Di Martin: The NSW government did add a caveat to their announcement; there will be new police guidelines so officers don't have to charge the terminally ill who use cannabis. But again, little detail is known. The police force told Background Briefing they are internal documents and won't be released.
Former Detective Superintendent Meg McGowan says police don't want to legalise medical cannabis because they say recreational use will increase. She says that concern is baseless.
Meg McGowan: Anybody who wishes to use cannabis recreationally is already doing so. It's so widely available.
Di Martin: Meg McGowan has written to her former boss urging a change in law. Here she reveals that in his reply, NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has promised to raise the issue with his commanders.
Meg McGowan: And I'll just read a little bit of it: 'You raise a number of compelling arguments that deserve careful and genuine consideration. I will raise your arguments with the relevant commands and ensure that they are seriously considered.'
Di Martin: The current debate has been firmly focused on legalising for the terminally ill, not for those with chronic conditions. And in NSW, not for children. Yet suppliers of black market cannabis products told Background Briefing they are providing oils or tinctures to more than 160 sick kids. At least two of those families have been visited by government agencies and warned not to speak to the media.
So this NSW family asked us not to use their names. They are not yet using cannabis for their seriously ill six-year-old, but intend to if laws don't change. Here the parents appeal for their child to be included in coming trials.
Father: Reconsider the cohort of people they are targeting here because it's more than the terminally ill. It is cases like our son, and I'm sure there's a lot of other cases just like that.
Mother: You know, the next seizure could be the one that kills him, or damages him permanently.
Father: Better reconsider.
Di Martin: Their six year old son has Dravet syndrome, a profound form of epilepsy.
Mother: He has tonic-clonic seizures.
Di Martin: What does that mean?
Mother: That means that his whole body is consumed with the seizure, he keels over into a fit. They are frying his brain essentially every time they happen and it's important to have them under control.
Di Martin: This couple understands that cannabis can impact on the developing brain. But the father says his son's current medications all have significant side effects of their own.
Father: There's enough side-effects between his three drugs that he takes each day to fill an A3 page. He has got the shaky movements, he has major problems with sleeping, he is very, very unsteady on his feet. And he still doesn't have seizure control.
Di Martin: This couple say they've now exhausted every medicine legally available to treat their son's epilepsy. They want cannabis legalised now, and they want medical guidance on how to use it.
Mother: We're not chemists, we don't know what to measure, we don't know how to administer it, and we don't know how much is enough, how much is too much. It needs to be monitored by a professional who can recognise warning signs.
Di Martin: These are cautious people, who could lose their jobs for giving their son cannabis, which is a risk they say they are willing to take if they can't access trials, or if their son's medications stop working.
Father: If things suddenly declined like they appear to be going for us, then certainly we won't be thinking of waiting.
Mother: We would be trolling the streets or however you obtain it to try and do the best for our son. We have to put his health first.
Di Martin: You're listening to Background Briefing, and a program on the polarised positions on how and when to legalise medical cannabis. I'm Di Martin.
An interesting and wholly unexpected entry to this debate came recently from Prime Minister Tony Abbot. His support for medical cannabis was first revealed by 2GB radio host Alan Jones, who's been lobbying him to legalise cannabis for the terminally ill.
Alan Jones: Mr Abbot replied to me, and the date of the letter is the 23rd of August, in part saying: 'Alan, I have no problem with the medical use of cannabis, just as I have no problem with the medical use of opiates. I was under the impression that personal use of cannabis was no longer an offence in NSW.' Mr Abbot said: 'I agree that the regulation of medicines is a thicket of complexity, bureaucracy and corporate and institutional self-interest. My basic contention is that something that has been found to be safe in a reliable jurisdiction shouldn't need to be tested again here.'
Di Martin: Advocates for legalisation say those comments prove it's time to change the law. But the Australian Medical Association disagrees. It says recently announced national clinical trials won't repeat what's happening overseas. Here's Dr Tony Bartone from the AMA's Victorian branch:
Tony Bartone: No, we are not replicating. Where there is reliable and consistent and robust information already available, that does not need to be required.
Di Martin: By those high standards, there are very few cannabis clinical trials that would make the grade. Certainly not those conducted on the raw plant. The AMA says even the many trials on pharmaceutical cannabis products are not yet enough.
There are broadly two types of cannabis derived medicines now available overseas. There are drugs that contain laboratory-made THC. The generic names are dronabinol and nabilone. They started to come on the market in the 1970s.
The second type has only recently been released. It's a plant extract, containing equal parts of THC and another key molecule, CBD. It's called Sativex. Dr Tony Bartone says Sativex has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the Federal body that approves medicines.
Tony Bartone: There is one TGA approved cannabinoid product on the market at the moment, Sativex. It can be administered on a case-by-case basis as part of a trial.
Di Martin: But it would only be trials of pharmaceutical products like Sativex?
Tony Bartone: Absolutely. On that point we can be absolutely clear, that it will be only be chemically consistent and composition determined products, it will not be the crude plant.
Di Martin: The TGA has only approved Sativex to treat spasticity in multiple sclerosis. So Dr Bartone says those trials would not need to be repeated. But more trials are needed to prove the use of Sativex for other medical conditions.
Clinical trials are an expensive exercise. A recent Australian Sativex trial cost more than a million dollars. It was conducted over just nine days, with 51 people, and the drug was provided for free.
If Sativex needs to be paid for, costs will balloon. In New Zealand, where it is already available, medical cannabis users say an average prescription costs the equivalent of $1,000 Australian a month.
There are also questions about the effectiveness of drugs with one or two isolated molecules. Overseas users report preferring the raw plant with the combined effect of hundreds of molecules.
Advocates for legalisation say the call for more trials is just unnecessary. They point to a 2012 German study reviewing 100 clinically controlled trials on cannabis. The conclusion of that study is: 'There is now clear evidence that cannabinoids are useful for the treatment of various medical conditions.' You can find that study on our website. It not only reviewed trials of pharmaceutical products, but also a score of clinically controlled studies on the raw plant. The AMA even quotes this German review in its fact sheet on cannabis. Yet Dr Tony Bartone says that doesn't provide enough proof to legalise, or even trial the raw plant.
Tony Bartone: And some of those trials, the number of people enrolled in the trials were just too, too few. So it's at the stage now where we are really looking for larger, more multicentre trials, with data coming in from various sources, pooling and getting that information in a much more reliable, meaningful and statistically significant way.
Di Martin: The potential for clinical trials of any drug is endless. Where do you actually draw the line and say there is enough, as this study of 100 controlled clinical trials says there is now clear evidence?
Tony Bartone: What we wish to see is that we basically have the evidence that shows it's safe and effective to use in which conditions.
Di Martin: The problem is people are self-medicating, and they are seeing your members. So are you taking a position that, while safe, is irrelevant?
Tony Bartone: The safety of our patients is our primary concern. We need to be sure that we are doing no harm.
Di Martin: Back at Calvary Hospital in Canberra, Dr David Caldicott strongly disagrees, saying legalising medical cannabis is not a question of more science, but of braver politics.
David Caldicott: I think it's going to require bravery and leadership and a true moral stance rather than a default to the safest position.
Di Martin: You are a clinician supporting legalisation of medical cannabis. Not many of your colleagues are coming out are they?
David Caldicott: I think in Australia particularly a lot of my colleagues are afraid of the consequences of speaking out about this.
Di Martin: What are the consequences?
David Caldicott: The approbation of their colleagues. We are a conservative profession, there is no doubt about that.
Di Martin: Dr Caldicott says medical cannabis should be legalised immediately for a tightly defined group of people, beginning with the terminally ill and those with profound chronic conditions.
David Caldicott: This is an act of civil disobedience that is occurring already all over Australia. There are thousands of people doing this already. And so what we should probably look at is recruiting those who are already using it and seeing what effects it has on them. So an observational study in the first instance to see who is using it, why, to provide them with an amnesty so that they can come forward and not be afraid of prosecution. And I think that is a very good way to start.
What I don't think is useful is to put it in the hands of the pharmaceutical companies and to allow them to make enormous profits out of a product that actually probably can be consumed safely without detriment to the Australian taxpayer.
Di Martin: Background Briefing's co-ordinating producer is Linda McGinness, research by Anna Whitfeld, technical production by Simon Branthwaite, and Chris Bullock is executive producer. I'm Di Martin. | {
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On November 25, demonstrators marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women at Yauzskiye Vorota Square in central Moscow. The two protesters in the foreground of this photograph are holding signs that read, “It’s violence that destroys families, not the availability of protection for victims” and “Bearing it or killing isn’t much of a choice: Pass a law on domestic violence now!” The legal news outlet Mediazona reported that about 250 people joined the demonstration, which took place as a bill to reinstate domestic violence as a criminal offence in Russia enters consideration in the State Duma. About 200 opponents of the bill had demonstrated on November 23. | {
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Rund 5000 Migranten haben in Deutschland Asyl bekommen – wurden aber bislang nicht erkennungsdienstlich behandelt. Das BAMF verweist auf falsche Angaben aus den Ländern. Die SPD hält den Vorgang für „schier unglaublich“.
Wer Asyl beantragt, dessen Identität muss laut Gesetz über erkennungsdienstliche Maßnahmen gesichert sein. In vielen Fällen ist das nicht geschehen, erklärte die Präsidentin des Bundesamts für Migration und Flüchtlinge.
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Rund 5000 anerkannte Asylbewerber wurden bislang nicht erkennungsdienstlich behandelt. Das erklärte die Präsidentin des Bundesamts für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF), Jutta Cordt, am Mittwoch im Innenausschuss des Bundestages, wie die WELT zusammen mit den „Nürnberger Nachrichten“ berichtet.
Eine Sprecherin der Behörde bestätigte auf Anfrage, dass man von einer vierstelligen Größenordnung ausgehe. Die genaue Zahl werde derzeit erhoben. Manche Bundesländer hatten demnach zunächst versichert, dass alle Asylsuchenden erkennungsdienstlich erfasst worden seien. Dies habe sich inzwischen als falsch erwiesen. Manche dieser Personen seien also noch nicht entsprechend registriert.
In der Vergangenheit hatte das BAMF wiederholt erklärt, dass Asylsuchende erkennungsdienstlich behandelt würden, indem unter anderem Fingerabdrücke abgenommen und Fotos erstellt werden. Das Asylverfahrensgesetz schreibt vor, dass „die Identität eines Ausländers, der um Asyl nachsucht, durch erkennungsdienstliche Maßnahmen zu sichern“ ist.
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Der innenpolitische Sprecher der SPD-Bundestagsfraktion, Burkhard Lischka, sagte: „Es ist schlicht unglaublich, dass wir im Sommer 2017 noch immer 5000 Asylbewerber haben, bei denen noch keine eindeutige Identitätsfeststellung erfolgt ist“, sagte Lischka. Er forderte Bundesinnenminister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) auf, dies in den kommenden vier Wochen nachholen zu lassen.
Auch der Obmann der Union im Innenausschuss des Bundestages, Armin Schuster, forderte bessere Sicherheitsvorkehrungen: „Die Sensibilität für Sicherheits- und Gefahrenabwehrbelange sollte über externen Sachverstand gesteigert werden“, sagte der CDU-Politiker. „Dazu braucht das BAMF dringen gezielte Unterstützung durch das Bundeskriminalamt, die Bundespolizei sowie das Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz.“
Dolmetscher müssen künftig Zweifel melden
Am Mittwoch hatte de Maizière nach der Sitzung des Innenausschusses angekündigt: Als Konsequenz aus dem Fall des terrorverdächtigen Bundeswehrsoldaten Franco A. sollen bis zu positive 100.000 Asylentscheidungen vorzeitig überprüft werden. Die Arbeit daran solle ab dem Sommer beginnen. Der Oberleutnant A. hatte sich unter falscher Identität als syrischer Flüchtling ausgegeben und soll gemeinsam mit Komplizen aus einer rechtsradikalen Gesinnung heraus einen Anschlag vorbereitet haben.
Lesen Sie auch BAMF-Verfahren Plötzlich startet in Deutschland die große Asyl-Kontrolle
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De Maizière sagte, die interne Untersuchung beim BAMF zu Franco A. habe keine vergleichbaren Fälle zutage gefördert. In keinem anderen Fall der Stichprobe von 2000 zusätzlich überprüften Verfahren seien Sicherheitsstandards verletzt worden. Die Überprüfung habe aber andere Mängel hervorgebracht, etwa bei der Dokumentation. „Das ist misslich und das muss zu weiteren Konsequenzen führen.“
Dolmetscher des BAMF müssen als Konsequenz aus dem Fall Franco A. künftig Zweifel an der Herkunft eines Asylsuchenden melden. Alle 8000 Verträge der Dolmetscher seien dementsprechend angepasst worden, sagte BAMF-Chefin Cordt am Mittwoch. Alle Mitarbeiter seien verpflichtet, bei den Dolmetschern nach „Unstimmigkeiten in der Sprache“ zu fragen.
Zum Fall des terrorverdächtigen Bundeswehrsoldaten Franco A. sagte Cordt: „Es sind eklatante Fehler passiert, die nicht hätten passieren dürfen. Und zwar in jedem Verfahrensschritt.“ | {
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Dale Steyn has retired from Tests with immediate effect, bringing the curtain down on one of the greatest careers in the longest format and finishing as South Africa's highest wicket-taker. The 36-year-old took 439 wickets in 93 Tests, having overtaken Shaun Pollock earlier this year. He will continue to be available for ODI and T20I selection.
"Today I walk away from a format of the game I love so much," Steyn said. "In my opinion Test cricket is the best version of this game. It tests you mentally, physically, emotionally. It's terrible to consider never playing another Test again but what's more terrifying is the thought of never playing again at all. So I will be focusing on ODIs and T20s for the rest of my career to maximise my full potential and ensure my longevity in this sport.
"I'd like to thank everyone in cricket, no one specific, because everyone has been a part of my journey. And I look forward to continuing to play for the Proteas in the shorter formats. Thank you."
One of the leading Test bowlers of all time, Steyn was ranked the No. 1 Test bowler for a record 263 weeks between 2008 and 2014. He won the ICC's Test Cricketer of the Year award in 2008 and was one of Wisden's cricketers of the year in 2013. In the following year, he was named the almanack's Leading Cricketer in the World. He also featured in numerous ESPNcricinfo World Test XIs over the years.
He overcame a potentially career-ending injury after breaking a bone in his right shoulder during South Africa's tour to Australia in late 2016, returning to Tests 14 months later against India early last year and taking just 14 deliveries to pick up his first comeback wicket.
Another injury - this time to his heel - stalled his progress, but Steyn once again fought his way back to full fitness and, in December 2018, returned to Test cricket. In the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan in Centurion, he became South Africa's leading wicket-taker in the format with his 422nd dismissal, breaking Pollock's ten-year-old record. The full extent of his injury problems was encapsulated on the day - the man with the best strike-rate for bowlers with a minimum of 300 wickets had taken 41 months to go from 400 to 422.
Dale Steyn is carried on Kagiso Rabada's shoulders after his South Africa record 422nd Test wicket Getty Images
The record marked another major milestone for Steyn, who also returned to ODI cricket for the first time in two years, against Zimbabwe. He was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 World Cup, but aggravated an old injury in his right shoulder while turning out for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL before the tournament, and was ultimately ruled out.
Steyn has retained his national contract for the 2019-20 season in limited-overs cricket, however, and remains available for selection in both of the shorter international formats.
But his absence from the Test arena will put a major dent in South Africa's resources for their upcoming engagements - an away Test series in India in October, before they host England this summer. Without him, South Africa's pace attack will be lead by Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada, while there may also be greater opportunities for Lungi Ngidi, and perhaps even a Test debut on the cards for Anrich Nortje.
"Dale is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats of cricket," said Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe. "From the time he made his Test debut against England in 2004 and dismissed their captain, Michael Vaughan, with a superb delivery, he has been one of the standout fast bowlers in world cricket. He has led the South African attack brilliantly and has set the standard for our future generations to follow.
"More than that he has been a wonderful mentor to our next generation of speedsters. We were saddened to hear of his decision, but it is one that management has to accept, and we thank him for his significant contribution to the sport and to the nation and wish him everything of the very best for the future."
In the immediate future, Steyn will play in the Euro T20 Slam, where he was recently picked up as a marquee player by the Glasgow Kings franchise. | {
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Housing affordability will be the No. 1 issue in the upcoming fall municipal elections in Vancouver and across the Lower Mainland. That was the message delivered at a housing forum hosted by CBC in Richmond, B.C.
"I think it's going to be the only issue," said Vancouver real estate developer Jon Stovell on Wednesday, answering a question from the Facebook audience.
The lack of affordable housing in B.C. has created a lot of anger and division between economic classes and age groups.
The City of Vancouver has created the empty homes tax, the first of its kind in the country.
It's also cracked down on Airbnb rentals to discourage property investors and speculators from keeping unoccupied homes or unavailable to locals.
Tell us your housing woes by joining our CBC Vancouver Facebook group
But Josh Gordon, an assistant professor at SFU's School of Public Policy, suggested that several politicians might not be running again because they are worried they might be turfed out.
"Incumbent politicians usually get re-elected but there are a lot of incumbent politicians that might be concerned ... as we saw, Mayor Gregor Robertson didn't run again," Gordon said.
"And that's because of this anger over housing, and so clearly it's a central issue."
Stovel agreed, saying municipal politicians need support from federal and provincial governments to create more affordable housing.
"It's a tough one. The razor-thin margins and the low voter turnout in municipal elections mean that municipal politicians are very nervous to make bold moves, and I can hardly blame them," he said.
Defining housing
The main question posed at the housing forum, held in conjunction with CBC's new podcast on housing, SOLD!, was if housing is a human right or commodity. UBC professor of economics Tsur Somerville said because housing could be considered a human right, it doesn't necessarily mean it should be freely handed out. "There's often this confusion that human rights equals free and I don't think that necessarily has to be the case," said Sommerville. "Now for some people that may well be free because their incomes are so low, but it's not free equals a human right." During the forum CBC also provided translations of the stream in Cantonese and Mandarin. 卑詩省列治文市舉行 國語現場直播 卑詩省列治文市舉行 粵語現場直播
If you are interested in housing affordability, check out CBC's new podcast, SOLD! Host Stephen Quinn explores how foreign investment in real estate divides community, class and culture. Find it at CBC Podcasts or Apple Podcasts. | {
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Phoenix: An Arizona couple is suing the city of Phoenix and its police department for $10 million after a video captured officers drawing their weapons and threatening to shoot the family of four.
On May 29, Dravon Ames and his fiance, Iesha Harper, went on a family outing with their two children, London, 1, and Island, 4.
Unbeknown to them, their 4-year-old took a doll from a Family Dollar Store that they had just visited, according to a notice of claim dated Wednesday, filed by former state Attorney General Thomas Horne, who is representing Ames and Harper.
Dravon Ames, Iesha Harper, and their children at a press conference. Phoenix police officers violently accosted the family whose 4-year-old daughter allegedly stole a doll from a dollar store.
A police patrol unit followed the couple's car, and once the family pulled into their babysitter's apartment complex, an officer approached the vehicle with his gun drawn and yanked open the front door, the claim said. | {
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O soţie furioasă din Bârlad şi-a transformat în fantomă partenerul cu care se certase. L-a declarat mort în timp ce omul era plecat la muncă în Turcia, iar când bărbatul s-a întors în ţară poliţiştii de frontieră l-au anunţat că nu mai există. Judecătorii în faţa căror a apărut cerând să fie anulat certificatul de deces nu l-au putut ajuta: a trecut perioada în care putea face contestaţie, aşa că este imposibil să se întoarcă printre cei vii.
„Toată lumea ştia că e mort. Mort la turci”, spune o vecină.
Vecinii lui Constantin Reliu au aflat de la soţia lui că bărbatul a murit. Ce-i drept, a fost la un pas să piară. Cutremurul din 1999 l-a prins în Turcia. Aproape 18.000 de oameni s-au stins atunci. El a fost unul dintre cei peste 40.000 de răniţi.
„La cutremur am fost jumătate rupt, jumătate rupt, oasele, totul. Jumătate. Nici nu am crezut că mai trăiesc. La cutremur nu a fost atâta emoție, după cutremur, câte emoții au fost când am venit”, povestește Constantin Reliu.
Bărbatul a murit însă de-a binelea pentru soţia lui acum doi ani. Supărată că omul nu mai vine acasă, i-a declarat decesul la starea civilă. Iar când bărbatul a venit în ţară, acum câteva luni, a aflat cu stupoare că nu mai există.
„A venit șeful vămii Otopeni, m-a chemat după birou, mi-a deschis calculatorul și mi-a arătat, uite: Constantin Reliu decedat cu pârâtul Constantin Ioana, soția”, mai spune bărbatul.
Bărbatul declarat mort de soţie mai are căi de atac în instanţă și spune că doreşte să se reîntoarcă în Turcia, unde ar avea o firmă, dar pentru a-şi redobândi identitatea, trebuie să se adreseze din nou instanţei. Problema este că nu are bani să angajeze avocat şi nici să plătească toate cheltuielile. | {
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If you missed the opportunity to buy the original iPod nearly 18 years ago, now is your second chance — but it won't be cheap.
A very rare first-generation iPod factory sealed in its "unopened original box" in "unopened original shrink wrap" has surfaced in a new eBay listing with an asking price of $19,995, over 50 times more than the $399 it cost when it was first unveiled by the late Steve Jobs in October 2001.
Jobs famously pitched the original iPod as offering "1,000 songs in your pocket." The iconic device features a 5GB hard drive, a two-inch grayscale LCD screen, up to 10 hours of battery life, a FireWire port, and a scroll wheel for "simple, one-handed navigation." Its 0.75-inch thickness was slim at the time.
It's hard to say exactly how many factory-sealed original iPods are still in existence, but there are likely not many, and they rarely go on sale. When they do, they often fetch large sums, with the $19,995 price for this listing in line with an original iPod that reportedly sold for $20,000 on eBay back in 2014
Offers are open on eBay. | {
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If we carry on producing plastic – and failing to dispose of it properly – at predicted rates, the plastic waste in the ocean will weigh more than all the world's fish by 2050, says a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
By then, it predicts, we'll be making more than three times as much plastic as we did in 2014 and one third of it will end up in the world's ecosystems.
Why is this happening?
Based on interviews with more than 180 experts in the field, the report found that most plastic packaging is used only once before being discarded. Eight million tons of it ends up in the ocean every year - or "five bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world", says Jenna Jambeck, of the University of Georgia.
What will the impact be?
A carelessly discarded bag can break down in the sea, especially in warmer waters, but the process releases toxic chemicals that may be digested by fish and end up in the human food chain, says The Guardian.
"The fish you may count on to eat is ingesting plastic, getting entangled in it and dying from having stomachs full of it," said Dianna Cohen, the chief executive of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.
What can we do?
"One of the biggest problems [to] focus on is single use and disposable plastic," Cohen says. She also calls on governments to take steps to reduce the waste by forcing producers to take back the plastic used in packaging.
The report also suggests that plastics should be both recyclable and compostable – currently, they are either one or the other.
According to Fortune, attempts to increase global recycling efforts could face a major hurdle in the form of low oil prices. With the collapse of global oil prices, plastic recycling becomes less profitable and the magazine reports that large recycling firms in the US, such Waste Management, have reported steep declines in revenue from their operations. | {
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How should we remember historical figures who we know have done terrible things? It’s a dilemma we face more often, as universities and public institutions critically examine their histories, reassessing the past with 21st-century eyes. And over the last year, University College London has been in the midst of a historical inquiry into its role as the institutional birthplace of eugenics – the debunked “science” that claimed that by selectively breeding humans we could improve racial quality.
We tend to associate eugenics with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but it was in fact developed in London. Its founder was Francis Galton, who established a laboratory at UCL in 1904. Already, some students and staff have called on the university to rename its Galton lecture theatre.
Galton’s seductive promise was of a bold new world filled only with beautiful, intelligent, productive people. The scientists in its thrall claimed this could be achieved by controlling reproduction, policing borders to prevent certain types of immigrants, and locking away “undesirables”, including disabled people.
University College London is investigating its role as the birthplace of eugenics. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
In hindsight, it’s easy to say that only a moral abyss could have given rise to such a pseudo-scientific plan, not least because we have borne witness to its horrifying consequences through the 20th century, when it was used to justify genocide and mass sterilisations. And by the standards of today, Galton does resemble a monster. He was a brilliant statistician but also a racist (not just my assessment, but that of Veronica van Heyningen, the current president of the Galton Institute). He was obsessed with human difference, and determined to remove from British society those he considered inferior.
Yet as our critical gaze falls on Galton, are we losing sight of just how popular his idea was among so many Britons? In the early 20th century, a surprisingly broad roster of public figures aligned themselves with Galton’s vision. It attracted people on the left and right, prominent writers and intellectuals, leading scientists and politicians. Virginia Woolf, TS Eliot, DH Lawrence, Julian Huxley, Winston Churchill, Marie Stopes – all held eugenic views. Churchill was vice-president of the first International Eugenics Conference, held in London in 1912. Although there were notable critics, to be a eugenicist was to be firmly in the mainstream.
This was an age in which it was not unusual for scientists to believe that humans were divided into different species, some more advanced than others. Biologists proclaimed that it would be better for society if disabled and “mentally feeble” people hadn’t been born. Eugenics made it into government policy: the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 institutionally separated those whom the state considered “mentally feeble” or “morally defective” from the rest of society, effectively preventing them from having children.
From our 21st-century vantage point, what do we do with this knowledge? Whom do we keep and whom do we condemn? The moral boundaries may feel clear. A eugenicist is a eugenicist. A racist is a racist. But if Galton is out, where does that leave everyone else? The guilty party isn’t merely Galton, or even eugenic ideology – it’s also the age in which he lived. The sad saga of eugenics teaches us not only that scientists can be wrong, but that the promise of a better, brighter future at the cost of innocent individual lives can be all too tempting to many. Teamed with the prejudices of the time, it can be devastating.
Primo Levi, corresponding with a German scientist he had worked under while imprisoned in Auschwitz decades earlier, wrote that he couldn’t accept the man’s plea that he hadn’t known what was happening around him. To cast Galton as the evil figure pushing eugenics may be to overlook the bigger truth that thousands were freely buying into his flawed theories, and that Britain was remarkably receptive to them. Too many happily ignored, and some even enthusiastically embraced, the implications of his plans – namely, that they might require innocent people to make sacrifices against their wishes.
Tempting as it is to single out Galton for condemnation, that instinct should be tempered by the sober understanding that the slope that sends society towards moral shame is built by many. We must remember Galton as who he really was, and see him in full glare with nothing erased. But dividing the world into good guys and bad guys allows us to wash our hands of moral complexity. The danger lies not just with the bad guys but with every one of us, and it is always there.
•Angela Saini is a science journalist and author. Her two-part documentary series, Eugenics: Science’s Greatest Scandal begins on BBC Four on 3 October at 9pm | {
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South Australia and the Northern Territory are the only states in Australia that do not receive Government funding to support children and families living with epilepsy. 85,000 people live with epilepsy in South Australia and Northern Territory combined.
There are over 52 types of seizures and over 1% will pass away from SUDEP(sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) every year. The Epilepsy Centre continues to provide support and services to those affected funded solely by private donations.
Epilepsy can be a devastating condition to manage and the support The Epilepsy Centre provides to the community is an absolute necessity.
The suicide rate among youth living with epilepsy is 25% higher than the general population, due to difficulties in securing employment, maintaining friendships and holding a driver’s license. It is a life of uncertainty, confusion, isolation and embarrassment which no one should have to endure. Epilepsy can affect anyone at any age.
Epilepsy is not just falling to the ground and shaking. A seizure can kill.
The Epilepsy Centre is a professional organisation committed to providing quality services to people living with epilepsy and improving community awareness and attitudes throughout South Australia and the Northern Territory. The team at The Epilepsy Centre have been helping people for over 40 years and we work continuously to raise awareness of epilepsy in the community to reduce stigma and create a more welcoming and inclusive society.
Our key services include:
Counselling
Advocacy
Epilepsy Management Support
Care Plan Development
NDIS Support
Home and Residential Care Visits
Employment Support
Resources
Workshops
Clinics
Epilepsy Training for Families, Schools and Workplace
In hospital Support
Collaboration and networking with other agencies
Risk Assessments
Epilepsy First Aid Training
Emergency Medication Training
Annual Camps
Epilepsy Education for - Schools, Workplaces, Sports Groups, Disability and Support Workers, Community Organisations, Family and Friends
The cost of service delivery is incredibly high yet we strive to go above and beyond to supply children and families with necessary medical equipment designed to protect people from their seizures. For over two years The Epilepsy Centre has donated almost 60 Seizure Monitors to children in need. These monitors are placed on the child's bed and can detect movements similar to seizures, which then sounds a loud alarm to alert loved ones. Each seizure monitor costs $1000, which most families can not afford. We have also donated equipment such as Oximeters, life jackets, ice vests, helmets and specially designed wheel chairs.
Our mission and vision is to improve the welfare of people with epilepsy and their families in South Australia and The Northern Territory.
We aim to:
Educate the public to accept persons with epilepsy as equal citizens and encourage greater public understanding
Remove any discrimination from persons with epilepsy and/or their families
Advise and help persons with epilepsy, and their families
Represent persons with epilepsy in being accepted with education authorities and all employer organisations
Promote and provide information on epilepsy by way of pamphlets, advertising, films, articles, discussion and lectures to public and professional groups and the community
Support research programmes and seminars into medical and social aspects of epilepsy
Government funding would enable us to employ additional full-time nurses, social workers and counsellors to manage the enormous workload. These workers would help reduce hospital admissions, give families and individuals much needed support, train schools and workplaces and help improve community understanding
- effectively ending the appalling stigma associated with seizures.
It's time to recognise that epilepsy is indeed a Chronic Health Condition and to provide much-needed funding for The Epilepsy Centre.
For more information please visit: www.epilepsycentre.org.au or
Or like us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/theepilepsycentre/ | {
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The most frequently asked question that people ask me about goats is, "What is the difference in each breed's milk taste, and how much milk do they average." And that is always one of the hardest questions to answer, simply because there really aren't any solid answers I can give! Each individual goat is going to have its own amount of milk it's going to give, and it's going to have its own taste. Think of it like a grab bag. You never know what you're going to get.
But that sounds rather discouraging. How on earth is a body supposed to choose a goat breed if they're hesitant about each one? Over the years, I've had the privilege to own almost all the dairy breeds out there, and then try the milk from countless of other goats. Through much experience (read: trial and error as we bought goats that gave horrid tasting milk!), I've gotten to know each breed's quirks and histories, and I've come to realize that it actually is possible to give people an idea of what to expect from each breed.
So I thought I would go through the breeds here and introduce them to y'all. I would like to state again though, that each goat will vary. I know people who swear that Saanens give the best tasting milk above all other goats, and other people who wouldn't touch a Saanen with a 10 foot pole. So this post is going to have a lot of blanket statements, as I try and give you an overview of the dairy breeds. Bear with me here.
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First off would be the Saanen (http://www.nationalsaanenbreeders.com/). Saanens are one of, if not THE, top producers of the dairy breeds. 2-3 gallons per day is not uncommon, although most will average 1 1/2 gallons per day. Their downside is that their butterfat is only 2% to 3%. Now, if you are used to drinking two percent milk from the grocery store, then you would probably do alright with these big gals. But if you've tasted other raw milks like Jersey cow, or Nubian or Nigerian goat milk, you might be disappointed. In plain English, it's rather bland and watery. | {
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ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Three years ago, a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for gay marriage.
After it, the mainstream media had one question: What was next for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement? They had, after all, won the big fight. In addition, many corporations had adopted policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, and two of America’s most watched shows at the time “Modern Family” and “Glee” featured openly gay characters.
“I really do believe [the Supreme Court ruling] is the domino that is going to tip over the rest of the dominoes,” Wilson Cruz, an LGBT activist, told CNN at the time. “Do not get in the way of this train, because it will run you over.”
To ensure things ran full-steam ahead, billionaire George Soros, through his Foundation to Promote Open Society, dedicated at least $2.7 million to the cause that year, according to his tax returns.
Some Republicans at the time mistakenly thought the LGBT movement had reached its pinnacle, that the culture wars had ended. They thought the party could now focus on fiscal concerns, which weren’t nearly as divisive.
But that was foolish — the LGBT movement was just getting fired up, and Soros-affiliated groups were already plotting their next prize.
It took two-plus years, but seemingly out of nowhere to many conservatives, the transgender bathroom debate exploded this summer after North Carolina legislators passed a bill that required people to use bathrooms matching their sex assigned at birth. The Justice Department intervened, calling such a law a violation of the Civil Rights Act, and the media went wild — it was their new civil rights movement.
It was a debate that had been percolating at the state level for years.
So what made North Carolina the tipping point? Well-funded LGBT organizers had success in California, giving them a blueprint to work in other states, and it’s an election year. North Carolina is a battleground state with presidential implications, and liberals love fighting the cultural wars. It was President Obama who lit the match, after all.
The bathroom debate started in California, where the Gay Straight Alliance Network, an organization based in Oakland, has been lobbying hard for transgender rights. The group is a “next-generation LGBTQ racial and gender justice organization that empowers … allied youth leaders to advocate, organize, and mobilize an intersectional movement,” according to its website.
They’ve created Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs in more than 61 percent of California school’s and have advocated for and achieved 11 pro-LGBT laws in the state, including a 2013 bill that allowed students to join sports teams and use the bathroom of their gender preference.
The GSA helped organize groups in North Carolina.
They helped craft LGBT curriculum in accordance with the University of North Carolina’s LEARN NC program to teach and talk about the issue. They helped create an action guide that gave LGBT activists a blueprint for lobbying, including what hashtags to use on social media, and how to file complaints with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights.
In 2013, Mr. Soros‘ gave GSA $100,000.
The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Center also received $130,000 from Mr. Soros that year. Their Leadership Lab was published in the journal Science this spring, that evaluated the impact that door-to-door canvassing can have on reducing transphobia. It’s being used as national model.
The Leadership Lab writes the study has “been able to independently quantify the impact we’re making on voters: The same decrease in homophobia that took fourteen years of incremental change to occur in the past is occurring here, in terms of voters’ transphobia, over the course of a single short conversation with a Lab canvasser. What’s more, their study shows that this approach is beginning to counter the heinous ‘bathroom myth’ that our opposition has spread to scare voters into voting against the trans community in election after election.”
The Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE), headquartered in New York, received $244,000 from Mr. Soros. It’s main purpose is to pull all the LGBT organizations together in order to create a louder megaphone, laying out best practices and fundraising advice.
So what’s next for the movement?
Mr. Soros‘ IRS Form 990 gives us some clues.
He’s funded a Streetwise and Safe organization in New York, with the purpose of supporting a “national project focused on increasing safety for LGBTQ youth during interactions with law enforcement and developing advocacy skills to engage debates around discriminatory policing practices,” according to his 2014 tax return.
Mr. Soros also gave $525,000 to Justice at Stake, a group that’s looking to promote diversity in the courts for people within the LGBT community.
“This lack of diversity on the bench can lead to the appearance of bias, and even actual bias,” the group’s website warns. “A more diverse bench improves the quality of justice for all citizens.”
You see, winning court rulings is not enough, you need to control the courts in order for them to be fair.
Once that’s achieved? I’m sure there will be more demands.
• Kelly Riddell is a columnist for The Washington Times. | {
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On July 26, Channel A’s “News A” reported further details about the businesses in a building owned by BIGBANG’s Daesung.
The previous day, the network reported that illegal entertainment businesses, some of which allegedly involve prostitution services, were being operated on five floors of a Gangnam building owned by Daesung.
Daesung, who’s currently serving in the military, released a statement saying that he purchased the building almost immediately before his enlistment and was unaware of any illegal activities. He added that he will be taking legal action against any illegal activities and apologized.
Channel A’s second report on Daesung’s building on July 26 included an interview with an owner of an entertainment business in Daesung’s building.
The entertainment business owner said, “It’s really appalling to us that Daesung’s side is playing dumb. There’s no way he doesn’t know [about illegal activities] because his representative had a meeting at night with us and they came down to the store and talked with us in the room.”
The owner continued, “There are so many celebrities that come to this building. Many celebrities who are in contact with Daesung also come.”
When Daesung became the owner of the building, the business owners were reportedly worried that there may be more crackdowns because it was owned by a celebrity and they considered moving their businesses. The report states that this idea was turned down by Daesung’s side. The business owner said, “When we were negotiating, we first talked about compensation. To be honest, it costs a lot of money to run a store like this.”
In response, Daesung’s representatives said, “We have to check the facts first.”
Channel A also stated that the entertainment businesses in the building were reported nine times just this year. Even though the police are said to have visited the building after receiving these reports, the businesses continued to operate.
The person who gave Channel A the information about the alleged illegal operations in Daesung’s building (hereafter known as “A”) said that they reported the building to the police many times but it was of no use. “A” said, “I spoke with the police officer who came to the scene. About 40 to 50 women go to work [in the building], but they said they couldn’t find a single one.”
A hostess at one of the illegal entertainment businesses explained, “The police suddenly showed up and asked what our relationship was. I got away with it by saying that we were introduced through an acquaintance and drink together.”
In May, police reportedly heard that Daesung was the owner of the building, but closed most of the investigations without charges. The police also allegedly cracked down and booked eight people, but the illegal business continued operations even up to last week.
The Gangnam District Office also cracked down on the building once in May, but failed to catch the suspects. An employee of the Gangnam District Office’s Food Hygiene Department said, “Because we didn’t have authority to investigate, the [businesses] said we couldn’t come in and blocked us. [It’s hard to catch them] when they block us, clean up, and inform each other through walkie-talkies.”
Channel A also reports that the police will begin an investigation into the taxes paid on the building. The owners of buildings containing entertainment bars must pay up to 16 times as much in property tax as the owners of general buildings.
Channel A states that although there are five of these bars in the building, Daesung has been paying taxes appropriate for a general business license since he purchased the building in 2017. If the Gangnam District Office confirms this during their investigation, they could be collecting additional property tax from Daesung.
It’s also reported that as the entertainment bars falsely registered as general restaurants, it appears they each intentionally did not pay the additional special consumption tax that applies to entertainment bars. In addition, an investigation will be carried out to compare the rental profits officially reported on paper with the real rental fees to see if Daesung underreported rental income.
Source (1) (2) (3) (4) | {
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama starting safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix has been reinstated from his two-game suspension after being notified by the NCAA that he is again eligible to play, the school announced Friday.
Clinton-Dix, a junior, was suspended after accepting a loan of less than $500 from a member of the Alabama strength and conditioning staff, ESPN.com learned. The staffer, Corey Harris, was put on administrative leave for his involvement.
"The NCAA notified The University of Alabama late Friday afternoon that junior safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix has been reinstated and is eligible for competition after serving a two-game suspension," a statement from Alabama said.
Clinton-Dix could play Saturday against Arkansas. Sophomores Landon Collins and Geno Smith had been filling in for him at free safety during the past two games.
A talented underclassman with excellent range and ball skills, Clinton-Dix is No. 18 on Scouts Inc.'s Top 32 for 2014. He was second on the team with 24 tackles and two pass breakups before his suspension. | {
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*
1 .
On average, how often do you check your phone throughout the day? (to check email, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform)
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I’ve been a fan of Kobold Press, and Wolfgang Baur’s work in general for several years now, but this was the first Kobold Press book I purchased that was not part of a kickstarter. The TL;DR of it is this: If you are looking for system-neutral guidance on creating your own world for use in an RPG, or even writing a novel, this is a fantastic resource.
This book features an all-star list of contributors such as Keith Baker (creator of Eberron), Monte Cook (most recently, creator of Numenera), Chris Pramas (Green Ronin Publishing), other old-guard TSR luminaries such as Jeff Grubb, David “Zeb” Cook, and Steve Winter, Kobold-in-Chief Wolfgang Baur, and my favorite fantasy cartographer Jonathan Roberts. The full list is on the cover of the book.
The digest-sized book weighs in at 124 pages. The price at $19.99 seemed a bit steep, but I was willing to give it a go due in large part to the list of contributors, and I was not disappointed. The layout is appealing with essays broken up by subtitles and sidebars, with only a few illustrations as necessary (i.e. the cartography article). Each essay deals with a different aspect or approach to world creation, often detailing common pitfalls and approaches to consider.
Some of my favorite articles are Chris Pramas’ “World Building Inside Out and Outside In,” which explores the pros and cons of adding details as your heroes explore the world, or establishing big-picture elements of the world and how that affects the heroes’ current situation. I also really enjoyed “Here be Dragons: On Mapmaking,” by Jonathan Roberts. It spoke to not only how rivers and mountains should work on a map (rivers generally join, rarely branch and flow out to sea), but also more abstract mapmaking between nations or world powers. What is each nation known for? What are their relationships with their neighbors (trade, war, isolationist)? Another one of my favorites was “How to Write a World Bible,” by Scott Hungerford. I was surprised to find this near the end of the book, as to me it seems like such a great jumping-off point for so many of the other articles. It just touches on considering the over-arching concept of the world, the races, technology levels, currency, pantheon, cartography, notable figures (NPCs) and terminology. If I were to organize this book, I would have had this article a lot earlier, with page numbers to other articles that go in to more detail about each subject. All and all a fairly minor gripe, in what overall is an outstanding resource.
It should be noted that included in the $19.99 price is not only the print, but also a PDF copy. Very convenient for those of us who like to keep our books on tablet-computers for reference. That certainly sweetens the deal, and is something I wish Goodman Games would do, when I purchase DCCRPG modules.
In conclusion, if you are of the mind that published adventures and worlds are for newbies and lazy gamemasters, this will help you flesh out the world you want to create and make it so compelling your players will never want to adventure anywhere else! | {
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The NRA clearly does not do that. It does not advocate, fund or support violence, nor does it try to create “a climate of fear” to advance its policies. It does support an expansive view of gun rights, but that is not a terrorist act — unless political disagreement is now a criminal offense.
But that is exactly what the resolution says. It contends that any use of a firearm with the “intent to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals” is “terrorist activity.” In other words, every murderer is a terrorist if they used a gun, regardless of whether they had any political motives behind their act. It then states that “the National Rifle Association through its advocacy has armed those individuals who would and have committed acts of terrorism.” You can’t get clearer than that: Constitutionally protected speech supporting the private ownership of guns is an act of terror.
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Nor is the resolution isolated to NRA leadership. While it states that the leadership “promotes extremist positions, in defiance of the views of a majority of its membership,” it also states that “any individual or member of an organization” commits a terrorist act by giving support to a group that this person “reasonably should know” gives “material support” to any “individual [who] has committed or plans to commit a terrorist act.” It closes the noose around NRA members’ necks by stating that the NRA “promote[s] gun ownership and incite[s] gun owners to acts of violence.” Congratulations, average NRA member: Your $30 one-year membership makes you a terrorist.
This is McCarthyism, pure and simple. Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy was rightly condemned for trying to stigmatize the American left in the 1950s by labeling it Communist and “un-American.” McCarthy’s witch hunts destroyed the careers of many people whose only “crime” was supporting a larger federal government and supporting a different foreign policy toward the Soviet Union. San Francisco’s policy toward the NRA commits the same sin.
This can only make our already toxic political atmosphere worse. Liberal democracy rests on the idea of the “loyal opposition.” In modern democracies, simply advocating a political position or a change in government is not, as so often was the case in the past, an act of treason. The First Amendment exists to provide citizens with a protected zone in which they can engage in heated political disagreement without fear of government suppression.
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The San Francisco resolution essentially declares that people who back the NRA cannot be a loyal opposition. It then seeks to reduce NRA support by saying that the city should try to “limit those entities who do business” with the city “from doing business with this domestic terrorist organization.” That arguably sets the power of a government against a set of citizens solely on the basis of their politics. This is called “viewpoint discrimination” in First Amendment law and is unconstitutional.
The city’s rhetorical slander against millions of Americans is just as harmful. We cannot have a free republic if one large set of citizens views another large set of citizens as evil and beyond the pale. President Trump is regularly condemned for his harsh rhetoric that some say stigmatizes Americans on the basis of their race, gender or political beliefs. This resolution trumps Trump.
Conservatives are often told they should denounce Republicans such as Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) who make outrageous and vile comments. The shoe is now on the other foot. Democrats should immediately denounce the San Francisco board for its insulting and unconstitutional resolution. Failure to do so will tell gun owners and anyone else who dissents from the progressive agenda exactly where they stand.
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Frank B
*************
"You are not paid for what you do, you are paid for what you may have to do, and when that time comes, you will be highly underpaid." | {
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President Donald Trump deliberately made this election about the alleged threat of immigration rather than his real accomplishments on the economy,
which, apparently, were just "boring" to him. He tried to sow fear and panic in the wee hours of the election about the migrant caravan—going so far as to call this the "election of the caravan." He claimed that the caravan was composed of criminals, and included Middle Eastern terrorists. He deployed 15,000 military troops on the Southern border, threatening to shoot them if they threw stones. He promised to scrap birthright citizenship by executive order. This was so over-the-top that House Speaker Paul Ryan called him and begged him to cool it and talk up the economy instead. To no avail. Trump responded by tweeting that Ryan "knew nothing about" birthright citizenship. Ryan called again and begged again and was ignored again.
So how did hardline Republicans who followed Trump's rather than Ryan's strategy do?
Not well, to put it mildly.
Iowa's Rep. Steve King, who out-Trumped Trump, won his re-election bid but just by a squeaker. FiveThirtyEight had put the odds of King, a shameless racist, keeping his seat at 80 percent for the simple reason that his district is overwhelmingly white and hardline Republican. He made headlines some months ago when he tweeted his support for far-right Dutch candidate Geert Wilders noting that Wilders was right in keeping out non-white immigrants because "you cannot rebuild your civilization with other people's babies." King endorsed white nationalist Faith Goldy for mayor of Toronto and gave an interview to Unzensuriert, a publication associated with Austria's Freedom Party, which was founded by a former Nazi SS officer and is now led by Heinz-Christian Strache, who was active in neo-Nazi circles as a youth. He had previously commented that undocumented Mexicans have "calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert."
In the last few weeks, a la Trump, he'd taken to banning news outfits like the Des Moines Register and The Weekly Standard from his events because he didn't like their coverage.
All of this took toll on his final tally. In the past he'd won this district by double digits. This time? Less than three points!
His other ultra-restrictionist colleagues weren't so lucky.
The four most anti-immigration hardliners were: Kris Kobach (Kansas governorship), Corey Stewart (Virginia governorship), Dave Brat (U.S. House from Virginia) and Lou Barletta (U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania).
Stewart and Barletta never really had a shot. But Kobach and Brat's seats were winnable by the GOP had it fielded the right candidates in these largely conservative districts. Instead, they lost.
Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, readers will recall, was the author of Arizona's notorious "Your Papers Please" law. Subsequently, as Matt Welch wrote, he tried to make a career out of chasing the non-existent problem of illegal immigrant voter fraud, even heading Trump's voter fraud commission before it was disbanded because of Kobach's rank incompetence.
Slate points out, he spent years promoting Crosscheck, a program that ostensibly detected double voting but actually had an error rate of 99.5 percent. He pushed a law that compelled Kansans to provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, then defended it himself at trial—at which point it became clear that he had zero understanding of the basic rules of civil procedure. A federal judge repeatedly reprimanded him during the hearings, then ruled against him and held him in contempt of court. Although a lawyer, he was ordered to take six hours of remedial legal classes. Kobach also built a lucrative legal practice talking cities into passing ordinances that punished landlords and employers who did business with undocumented immigrants, only to then lose in court when the laws were inevitably challenged.
All of his added up to a 4.5 points loss for him. (His career might be dead unless Trump, as per rumor, nominates him to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. That, if nothing else, would make for joyous confirmation theater as Democrats publicize his record of mischief.)
Brat lost by a smaller 1.5 point margin. But the outcome was still stunning given that only four short years ago, Brat, a professor and a political neophyte, ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in an upset victory largely by berating Cantor's support for comprehensive immigration reform. In this round, not only did Trump endorse him but Steve Bannon traveled to Virginia to stump for him. His opponent, Abigail Spanberger, however, made Brat's hardline position a major campaign issue, mobilizing suburban women against him in an open repudiation of his and Trump's anti-immigration agenda.
One last thing, some Republicans are suggesting that Trump's harsh immigration policies and rhetoric delivered for Ron DeSantis in the Florida gubernatorial race. DeSantis' opponent was Andrew Gillum, an arch progressive lefty, whose nomination everyone initially believed meant a sure-shot victory for DeSantis. After all, Republicans have won the governor's race in this state for the past 20 years. But DeSantis eked out a mere 0.7 point victory. Why? Because DeSantis' alignment with the president in a heavily Latino district was major liability. Had he not gone full-blown Trumpist and refused to distance himself from the president's excrescences on the caravan and birthright citizenship, there is a very good chance that he would have won by a far wider margin. Ditto for the Ted Cruz-Beto O' Rourke Texas senatorial race that Cruz won by a mere 1.5 points!
It is hard to see these results as anything other than a repudiation of Trump's hardline immigration nonsense. As Cato Institute's David Bier notes, the House is now the most pro-immigration it has been since at least the 19th century. The last time the Democrats controlled the House, they couldn't even get a majority of the House to support a very restrictive version of the Dream Act. This time, House Democrats are unified on providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, legalization of long-time illegal residents, and doubling legal immigration, while permitting only moderate enforcement measures to be attached. There are no anti-immigration Democrats in the House now. In addition, a contingent of pro-immigration Republicans survived, and they would likely join any effort to improve the legal system.
So the question now is if Trump will get the message and start working with Democrats on sensible immigration reform sans his poison pills like demanding a 40 percent cut in legal immigration in exchange for legalization of Dreamers. Or keep doubling down on a bad bet and do to the Republican Party what he did to his casinos: Bankrupt it with his ill-advised gamble. | {
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Thanks so much. I'm excited most for the following 4 things:
The auto-rotation settings - not because I can't do it on my own but because I simply don't know what each car's steering rate/ratio should be.
The changed FFB (realfeel) vallues - I always felt - although I could be wrong - that the current FFB implementation had software clipping too early or something. A good example are the Brazilian V8s and the Aussie V8s. It's weird, the FFB is relatively light at centre like how it should be, but then when you start turning into a corner, the FFB too quickly ramps up from low to very high or max FFB even though you still have more more left to turn the wheel more (slower corner, not understeering yet, but hit a FFB "max" point extremely quickly and seemingly very disproportionate). This was all just a feeling though and I don't really know how to actually prove it from a technical point of view but regardless, I am very glad Reiza have made some basic changes to the FFB.
Aero and Tyre updates - I'm assuming these are just vehicle changes rather than a core physics engine change, but it's still welcome of course.
Sound updates are always welcome, again, even if it is not a core sound engine update. I'm a huge sound guy (physics 1st, FFB 2nd, sound 3rd, car/track selection 4th, graphics 5th) so thank you.
Thanks Reiza...
One small thing that you probably don't even need to modify the core engine for, please, please, please add the text box to type in notes for our setups. It's one of those small things that can actually make a very big, positive improvement. I dearly miss it from RF1, GTL, Race 07, GTR, RF2, etc. etc. | {
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The long-awaited Bakkt platform will start accepting depositс of funds in the Bakkt Warehouse starting Sep. 6. The futures platform will launch on Sep. 23 and is expected to attract institutional investors because the settlement will be in Bitcoin (BTC) and the platform will offer the same cyber and physical security protections as the New York Stock Exchange.
Telegram Open Network’s (TON) blockchain public testing is expected to start on Sep. 1, according to sources. The blockchain will be integrated into the messaging app, which will be a huge positive because of its large user base of 200 million, many of whom are crypto enthusiasts.
These developments will attract both institutional investors and retail customers alike. With wider adoption, the price of cryptocurrencies with strong use cases will move higher. So, is this a good time to buy or will the price continue to fall? Let’s analyze the charts of the top five crypto performers of the past seven days.
BSV/USD
For the past few days, Craig Wright’s court case with David Kleiman’s estate has been hogging the limelight. Wright lost the case and a Florida court has found that he had submitted false documents as part of an earlier testimony and had lied to the United States judicial system. This is likely to hurt sentiment but still, Bitcoin SV (BSV) has turned out as the best performer among major cryptocurrencies in the past seven days.
The BSV/USD pair is correcting the massive rally from $48.64–$255.62. The failure of bulls to break out of the downtrend line in the past five weeks is a negative sign. This shows a lack of demand at higher levels. The pair can now slide to the strong support of $107.
If the pair bounces off this support with strength, it will indicate that bulls are keen to defend it. This might keep the price between $107 and $188.69. As the range is large, it can offer a trading opportunity. We will suggest long positions when we spot a new buy setup.
However, if bears sink the price below $107, it will be a huge negative. The next support is at $92.933, which is the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level of the rally. If this support cracks, the digital currency will complete a 100% retracement of the entire rally and drop to $48.643.
BTC/USD
Retail investors are increasingly using Bitcoin as a hedge during the trade war between the U.S. and China, according to eToro data. During its rise from the lows in May of this year, trading in Bitcoin futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange hit an average daily volume of $515 million. This is a positive sign, as it shows greater involvement by institutional players. Bitcoin Bull Mike Novogratz remains positive on the prospects of the leading cryptocurrency and believes that it is currently in “a bit of consolidation.” He expects institutions to drive the next leg of the bull phase.
Data from Coin Metrics shows that total revenue of Bitcoin miners continues to grow exponentially. It has exceeded the $14 billion mark and is on track to reach $20 billion in early 2020. Blockchain-based banking startup Bitwala has launched a smartphone app for the residents of the European Economic Area, with which they can open a German bank account with an integrated Bitcoin wallet and trading.
As the fundamentals remain strong, should investors use the current weakness to accumulate or will the price fall further? Let’s analyze the chart.
The BTC/USD pair is correcting the sharp rally from the low of $3,236.09 to the high of $13,973.5. Pullbacks that find support between the 38.2% and 50% retracement levels of the rally are considered healthy. A deeper pullback below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level reduces the probability of a continuation of the uptrend.
If the pair rebounds off $9,080 and rises above the downtrend line, it will indicate the end of correction. The traders can enter a long position on a close (UTC time) above the downtrend line with the first target objective of $13,973.5. The stop loss can be kept at $9,000.
Contrary to our assumption, if bears sink the pair below $9,080, it will be a huge negative. It will dent sentiment and result in a fall to the next support at $7,451. Such a move will reduce the possibility of a quick recovery and resumption of the uptrend.
XRP/USD
PNC, the eighth-largest bank in the U.S., has started to offer RippleNet-based cross-border payments solutions to its commercial clients. Previously, the announcement of a collaboration between PNC and XRP led to a surge in XRP prices. However, this time, there were no fireworks.
XRP has been a major underperformer among major cryptocurrencies in 2019. One of the likely reasons for the underperformance is the consistent selling of XRP tokens by its founders. A few investors in the community are now planning to fight back using ingenious means. However, CEO Brad Garlinghouse has said that XRP sales have reduced “by volume Q/Q and since then the inflation rate of XRP circulating supply has been lower than that of BTC and ETH.”
The XRP/USD pair has slipped to the strong support of $0.24508. If the price fails to rebound from this level with strength, the probability of a fall to the yearly low of $0.225. A breakdown to a new yearly low will start a downtrend that can drag the price to $0.19 and below it to $0.127. The downsloping 20-week EMA and RSI in the negative territory show that the path of least resistance is to the downside.
Contrary to our assumption, if bulls defend the $0.24508–$0.225 support zone, the pair might rise to $0.34229. A breakout of the 50-week SMA can reach $0.50. We will watch the price action for the next few weeks and recommend a long position if we find a confirmation that the bottom is in place at $0.225. Until then, we suggest traders remain on the sidelines.
LEO/USD
UNUS SED LEO (LEO) has turned out as the fourth-best performer of the past seven days. Let’s analyze its chart.
Due to its short trading history, we are analyzing the daily chart of the LEO/USD pair. The failure of bulls to defend $1.20 is a negative sign. The price continues to trade below both moving averages, which are sloping down and the RSI is in the negative territory. This shows that bears are in command.
The next support is at a lifetime low of $1.0075. We anticipate a strong bounce off this level and will recommend a long position if we spot a reversal pattern. Contrary to our assumption, if bears sink the price to new lifetime lows, it will be a huge negative and might attract further selling.
IOTA/USD
MIOTA (IOTA) announced a collaboration with the United Kingdom's largest car manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover, and ENGIE Lab CRIGEN, the corporate Research & Development center for Engie Group, to demonstrate a proof-of-concept for tracing car energy with distributed ledger technology. This is fundamentally positive, but let’s see what the chart projects.
The bounce in the IOTA/USD pair last week did not reach $0.28, hence, it did not trigger our buy recommended in the previous analysis. The failure to sustain a bounce off a strong support is a negative sign. It suggests a lack of demand at higher levels. The pair can now dip to the yearly low at $0.207622. If this support also fails to hold, the drop can extend to $0.14. The downsloping moving average and RSI in negative territory suggests that bears are in command.
However, if bulls defend the $0.244553–$0.207622 support zone, the cryptocurrency might remain range-bound and move up to $0.541 in the medium-term. Buying at the support of a large range offers an attractive risk-to-reward ratio. Therefore, we will watch the price action for the next couple of weeks and suggest a long position if we find that buyers are back in command.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. | {
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RIVERFEST AND THE FOUR CHALLENGES.
For nearly 50 years, Wichita residents have taken time every summer to celebrate their city on the banks of the Arkansas River. This year will be no different as Wichitans take to the river June 2-10.
Riverfest has grown to a nine-day event attracting nearly half a million attendees, while positively impacting both Wichita's perception and its bottom line.
ECONOMIC IMPACT, BY THE NUMBERS.
As the longest-running festival in Kansas, Riverfest has brought tens of millions of dollars into Wichita's downtown. Here's a look at the numbers behind Riverfest:
$25,000,000
The estimated economic impact Riverfest has on Wichita each year.
95%
The percentage of the Riverfest budget that comes from the private sector, through cash-support, in-kind donations or volunteer resources.
200
The number of partners who, in 2016, represented $1.5 million in cash and sponsorships, providing financial support for the festival.
27,000
The number of button sales in 1980, the first year sales were recorded.
104,000
The number of buttons sold in 2015, despite steady increases in button prices — from $1 in the '80s to $5 in 2006 and $10 in 2015.
455,000
The number of attendees at the 2016 Riverfest. Attendance is measured at the gates since buttons could be transferred between family members, co-workers or friends.
SO, WHERE DID RIVERFEST GET ITS START?
Riverfest didn't necessarily begin as the music, entertainment and arts festival we all know and love today. Instead, it debuted in 1970 as the "Wichitennial," a one-day celebration of Wichita's 100-year anniversary.
From there it became the Wichita River Festival and then, eventually, Riverfest. Despite the name change and the festival's overall growth, some tradition has remained.
One example is the annual selection of the Admiral Windwagon Smith, an ambassador for the festival. The ritual was established in 1974, when John Bell represented the third River Festival, and continues today with Wendy Johnson becoming Admiral Windwagon Smith XLIV (44).
Other traditions have been left behind, either out of practicality or simply a change of the era. Antique bathtub races, bed races and raft races have been discontinued because of hard-to-find materials and a large time commitment modern festival-goers aren't able to meet. However, this has opened up the schedule for new events, including hot air balloons and the new Cardboard Regatta.
WHERE IS RIVERFEST NOW?
Riverfest today looks more like a full-fledged music, entertainment and arts festival rather than a small community celebration. It attracts attendees from far beyond the state lines, enhancing Wichita's message and economy.
Progress can especially be seen on the stage. In 2014, Wichita Festivals embraced the music aspect of Riverfest, booking nationally-acclaimed headliners from a variety of genres. This push began paying off in 2015 with Irish rock band Flogging Molly and in 2016 with hip-hop icons The Roots and alt-rock diva Elle King.
This year's lineup may be the most star-studded yet with indie rock staples The Flaming Lips and OK Go, hip-hop legend Common and local stars like The Travel Guide, Jenny Wood, Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra.
This year will also see new events involving comics and collectibles, canoe races, health, virtual reality, karaoke and a teen talent contest.
SO, WHY SHOULD YOU GO TO RIVERFEST?
If music and fun aren't your thing, here are some additional reasons Riverfest should be on your calendar this year:
1) One button is all you need.
That's right, $10 gets you in the gate for all nine days, and to every concert. That means you could go see The Flaming Lips, OK Go, Common, Randy Newman and Flobots for the price of a couple Starbucks coffee drinks. Plus, the button can be used by you, your brother, sister, mother, father, co-worker, second cousin twice removed, or anyone else.
2) Funnel cake.
Need I say more?
3) The people-watching is spectacular.
Festivals bring out all kinds, and watching people come and go could be one of the most interesting parts of going to one. Riverfest is no exception.
4) Learn new skills, like CPR.
The American Heart Association is partnering with Sedgwick County EMS to attempt to train 50,000 Wichitans in hands-only CPR by the end of Riverfest. Drop by the Sedgwick County Care Station during the festival to learn in 15 minutes or less.
5) Fireworks.
Get a taste of Independence Day a full month ahead of time. The reflections in the river make these colorful explosions even better.
6) Get the team together for some dodgeball.
Dodgeball is one of the many fun sports with a Riverfest tournament. So you can get together with your friends, sweatband up and dodge, duck, dip, dive and ... dodge.
7) A county-wide treasure hunt.
If you've always thought you could outwit Sherlock Holmes or the CSI team — pick the city — you're ready for the 2017 Eagle Medallion Hunt. Check the paper each day of the festival for clues that will lead you to a medallion hidden somewhere in Sedgwick County.
8) Floating down the river in a cardboard vessel.
Put your engineering skills to task by building a river-worthy vessel out of cardboard, duct tape and pool noodles. Win awards for fastest time, best design and most spectacular sinking — because there will be sinking.
9) Get VIP tickets to your favorite artists.
With superstars like The Flaming Lips, OK Go and Common, you'll want to get a great view. Maybe from a balcony with access to a private bar. Oh yes.
10) Your kids will never be bored.
School just got out, which means parents are still adapting to their kids having hours free every single day. Luckily, the week of Riverfest will have you covered with magicians, fun science projects and demonstrations, inflatables and so much more to keep your young ones busy and happy.
VITAL FOR OUR FUTURE
Riverfest, and other events with a similar scope, are vastly important to broadcasting a positive perception about our city — one that inspires locals and attracts outsiders.
Ensuring Riverfest's success — and ways to recreate its success elsewhere — will go a long way in tackling our four challenges. | {
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http://micro.soonlabel.com/harmonic_series/20121221_for_harmonic_series_strings_and_percussion.mp3
For Harmonic Series Strings and Percussion uses the un-octave reduced harmonic series starting on C for the strings, bass drum, and symphonic tamtam. The quarternote quantized scoredatura is here as a PDF. The piece was performed after the composition was developed and then refined via editing the recorded midi data. The picture I took on a recent trip to Chicago while driving on Lake Shore Drive.
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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mark Pritchard says No 10 'threatened' him over animal circus ban debate
MPs have defied the government and backed a ban on wild animals being used in circuses in England after a heated debate in Parliament.
Tory MP Mark Pritchard's motion was approved without a formal vote.
Earlier, he said he was "threatened" by No 10 and told the prime minister would look upon it "dimly" if he pressed ahead with the debate in the Commons.
Ministers said they would listen to MPs' views but that a ban was not "an immediate possibility".
The motion is not binding on the government but will increase pressure on ministers to act over the issue.
Downing Street said the government would "recognise the will of the House".
'Not kowtowed'
At the start of the debate, Mr Pritchard used the first few minutes of his speech to draw attention to what he said had been the government's "mysterious" behaviour over the issue.
He said he had initially been offered a "pretty trivial job" if he agreed either to drop the Commons motion calling for a ban, to amend it or not to press for a vote.
Then, on the eve of the debate, he said he had been contacted by No 10 directly.
"I was offered incentive and reward on Monday and then it was ratcheted up until last night when I was threatened," he said.
We hope that this vote is the start of a new era for the tigers, lions and other magnificent animals forced to endure circus life Dr Ros Clubb, RSPCA
"I had a call from the prime minister's office directly. I was told unless I withdraw this motion that the prime minister himself would look upon it very dimly indeed."
Mr Pritchard said he had not "picked a fight" with the government over the issue but "had a message" for Mr Cameron and Conservative whips - who enforce party discipline in the Commons.
"I may just be a little council house lad from a very poor background but that background gives me a backbone, it gives me a thick skin," he said.
"And I am not going to be kowtowed by the whips or even the prime minister of my country on an issue that I feel passionately about, that I have conviction about."
The public wanted their MPs to show "a bit of spine" and he would "not be bullied", he added.
Celebrity letter
Only a handful of circuses in England keep wild animals which includes any non-domestic species, such as tigers, zebras and camels.
The RSPCA estimates 46 such animals are currently used in circus performance in the UK.
Mr Pritchard said this was cruel and outdated - comparing it to outlawed practices such as dog-fighting and badger-baiting - and insisted that the UK should "lead not lag the world" in animal welfare.
He argued there was overwhelming public support for a ban and more than 200 MPs supported the move.
Image caption The RSPCA says seven tigers are among wild animals currently used in travelling circuses
The government's preferred option is to introduce a licensing scheme and a tougher inspection regime for circus animals under the existing Animal Welfare Act.
Such an approach is currently the subject of consultation and has been welcomed by the circus industry which says cases of mistreatment are very rare.
But Lib Dem Bob Russell said circuses featuring wild animals were "barbaric and had no place in civilised society in the 21st Century".
The Conservatives had initially intended to "whip" their MPs to vote against Mr Pritchard's motion but ultimately allowed them a "free vote" on the issue.
Tory MP Zac Goldsmith welcomed the change of heart, saying a whipped vote would have "made a mockery of the relationship between Parliament and government".
Comedian Ricky Gervais and actor Brian Blessed are among celebrities who wrote an open letter recently to Mr Cameron calling on the government to bring in a ban.
The government has argued that it would be unworkable to do this until the outcome of a legal challenge to a similar ban in Austria was known.
'Legal issues'
Environment Minister Jim Paice said the government was "determined to stamp out" cruelty in circuses but there was a "serious risk" of a legal challenge to any UK ban an the "quickest way to reduce and hopefully eliminate cruelty to wild animals would be a robust licensing system".
Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh said the government's handling of the issue had been "confused".
"It is extraordinary that David Cameron used such bully-boy tactics to threaten his own MPs and tried to impose a three-line whip on the vote," she said. "We look forward to a ban being implemented in the next 12 months."
A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "The government will listen to the view of the House and is sympathetic to the motion for a ban.
"We will continue to look carefully at how this could be introduced, but there are unavoidable legal difficulties that we cannot ignore."
The RSPCA said the vote was a "massive step forward" for animal welfare and it "looked forward" to the ban becoming a reality.
"We hope that this vote is the start of a new era for the tigers, lions and other magnificent animals forced to endure circus life, whose welfare needs have been ignored for far too long," the charity's Dr Ros Clubb said.
Jan Creamer, chief executive of Animal Defenders International, said: "The public demands a ban, animal welfare groups demand a ban and now politicians have made it abundantly clear that they demand a ban."
Speaking on BBC One's Question Time, Transport Minister Norman Baker said: "It's not simply the performing humiliation of the animals, it's also the fact you can't keep animals of that nature sensibly when you're a travelling circus.
"I'm delighted it's got all-party support and hope we can go forward as soon as possible with legislation." | {
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When I was in college I spent the spring semester of my sophomore year in Paris. It was an amazing experience and has since led me to traveling out of the USA as much as possible (aka, when I can afford it). But as great as my semester abroad was, there were some things I wish I had known before arriving in the City of Lights. For example, I wish I had known that though being a polite American will help you get around town, being an angry American who can yell at Parisians in their own language will get you even further. There are just certain important facts that the travel books won’t tell you. They don’t tell you that refusing food in Taiwan is a grave insult, but burping loudly is considered a compliment to the chef. So from my experiences overseas, here’s a list of do’s and don’t when spending a semester abroad: *Do bang anything that moves. Even if she’s ugly, she’s still foreign. *Do not bang bareback. Foreign girls tend to be skanks. *Do take advantage of the lowered drinking age and the late night bars. The beer tastes better and has a higher alcohol content.
*Do not do drugs (Amsterdam excluded). If you doubt me, go watch a little movie called “Midnight Express”. *Do say that you are American. Pick the closest big city and say you are from there. *Don’t pretend to be Canadian. You will just get laughed at. *If you go to Italy, do eat everything. Nothing tastes bad in Italy. *If you go to China, don’t order the lobster. They will bring it out slightly alive and moving and even though that’s the freshest way to eat it, it’s still creepy. *Do go out and experience as much of the music, art and culture as you can. *Don’t think you have to like it. Trust me, Europe has as much crap as America. *If you are in Thailand, do get a massage. They are cheap and awesome. *If you are in Thailand, do not get a hand job after your massage. More than likely your masseur is a dude.
*Do spend some time and learn the language of your host country. Even if it’s a couple of swear words – it will make you sound cool. *Do not come back with a fucking accent. Unless you want your friends to beat the shit out of you. *If possible, do take a train to other countries. They have sleeper coaches that are relatively inexpensive and pretty comfy. *Do not share your sleeper coach with a German. They smell and insist on keeping the window closed and you will have to battle them all night (luckily you’re American so you will win…again). And the most important of all the do’s and don’ts when traveling abroad: *Do make sure you get school credit before you leave. Nothing’s worse than having to repeat Freshman Comp. *Do not skip classes. Save that for when you return back to campus. | {
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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Good story, amazing cinematography and a great twist no woody or buzz | {
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PRE-ORDER:
You will get the game when it is released to the public, either by Steam key or the executable of your choice, and your name will be put in the credits
Less | {
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Tell us what do you think about Liquidity Network?
Like our Liquidity Network Facebook page then post a message (max 100 words) on your own Facebook page tag @liquiditynet with hashtag #nowei #liquiditynet and finally send us private message at @liquiditynet on Facebook with your ETH address
As we have always stated the Community is our priority here at Liquidity and we want to get to know you all a little better, for this reason we launched our #2 Community Competition to discover where are you around the globe. Following on from this we now want to know what you think about us!
We like being connected to our community, and listening to you. In order to grow our project better together, we would like to know how much you know about Liquidity Network. You may wish to answer a question such as why do we need Liquidity Network? What problem can Liquidity solve? How will Liquidity’s off-chain be different to other off-chain projects? Which products do Liquidity Network provide? Why do you think Liquidity Network can help to bring blockchain to non-tech users? Which businesses will be disrupted by Liquidity Network’s off-chain technology? Is Liquidity Network agnostic? Besides Ethereum, which other blockchain projects Liquidity Network should collaborate with? What do you think will be the killing product of Liquidity Network? etc.
In the #3 Community Competition, please post on your own Facebook page telling what do you think about Liquidity Network (you can refer to the sample posts below) and then invite your friends to join the competition or just simply Like our page. The more Likes our page receives, the more LQD we will be rewarding. Invite all your friends!
The competition will run from the 19th of November 14.00 GMT to the 3rd of December 14.00 GMT.
Instructions on how to take part
Like our Liquidity Network Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/liquiditynet/
2. Post a message (max 100 words) on your own Facebook page tag @liquiditynet with hashtags #nowei #liquiditynet. Please remember to post the message to Public (not only to your friends) so that we can see your message.
3. PM @liquiditynet on Facebook with your ETH address to receive the prize — LQD tokens. (Attention: do not submit your exchange wallet)
For questions about the competition please join us on Telegram https://t.me/liquiditynetwork/
Eligibility
The Contest is open to all members of the community who are 18 years or older at the time of entry.
Team members of Liquidity.Network and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter the competition.
Multiple submissions are allowed and only the last submission will be considered for the prize.
Each participant will not win more than one prize.
Participants must complete all 3 steps as stated above to be eligible to receive the reward.
Rewards
The total amount of tokens we reward will depend on total Liked at our page after competition:
Up to 1000 Liked -> Reward Pool: 3000 LQD
For each increment of 500 Liked, reward pool will increase 500 LQD accordingly and maximum pool size will not exceed 10000 LQD.
The Liquidity team will select the best top 10 posts and publish the winners in our blog post within 10 days after competition end. The top 3 will also be offered a opportunity to become our very first Liquidity Ambassadors, helping to promote Liquidity Network to their local community.
1 Winner : 20% Reward Pool
: 20% Reward Pool 1 Runner-up : 14% Reward Pool
: 14% Reward Pool 1 Third-place : 10% Reward Pool
: 10% Reward Pool Top 10: 8% Reward Pool | {
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Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme walks off during a live interview with Australia’s Channel Seven, saying it was ‘boring’. While being interviewed on the Sunrise show from video link in Bangkok on Saturday, the Belgian actor complains the media has been asking him the same questions for the past 25 years. He walks away in the end, saying he’s ‘too natural’ | {
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In this blog post, I’ll be taking the community on a tour on how the development team produced XCITE, including the struggles we had and where we are now.
In November 2017, Zoltan and I first started discussing the need for a global application that could be used as a control center for the platform we were creating. However, the only reference I had was the existing wallet written in QT. Aside from that, we had nothing to fall back on.
Clearly, we had a bumpy road ahead. During November, we outlined the basic requirements for the development platform on paper. We wanted a cross-platform development environment that allowed us to compile one source code compatible with multiple devices and operating systems.
After testing several platforms, we selected QT and Visual Studio as potential platforms for our project. Reviewing all the criteria, we later narrowed it down to QT. Since most other blockchain developers are familiar with QT, we believe it will help us recruit experienced developers
Once we selected the platform, we began development of XCITE in earnest. Since we sought cross-platform functionality, we had to resize all screen sizes. This meant creating some very simple grids as shown below.
We eventually made these grids resizable, making it the very first code written for XCITE.
We soon realized the development task ahead of us was far larger than we anticipated. As a result, we rapidly expanded the number of developers and designers on our team. Since the community was growing, we were able to create partnerships with several community members (who later became new team members).
After extensive brainstorming, we produced several designs based on the initial needs and requirements set by Zoltan. We struggled to create our first version, as none of us actually knew what we were building. All we had were some vaguely-descriptive guidelines to follow.
One of the First Designs
Due to the experience of our designers, we eventually came up with several worthwhile mockups. However, the developers found that creating an actual GUI from these designs was somewhat challenging Using Adobe and Figma software, we found a platform that facilitated collaboration between the designers and the developers.
In February 2018, we actually began coding the GUI and testing it on desktop devices. This is also when we started creating the first needed variables/parameters for the backend code.
The screenshot below is an example of how we mapped GUI screens to variables on the backend.
By March, the first GUI-only version was nearly final and contained all the features requested by Zoltan. Unfortunately, we were unable to write backend functions because we lacked an actual backend to talk to due the constraints coming along with the patents.
Consequently, we decided to introduce our Static Simulation System (SSS). Using SSS, the development team could finally create code that would talk to a simulated backend. Its creation was a tremendous leap forward for the project.
Although we continued work on the desktop client, our progress remained limited until we received more in-depth information about the technology. At the time, the founders could not disclose any more information than they already had.
As a result, we’re focusing our efforts on completing the mobile application. By doing so, we’re able to keep our work ongoing until the actual backend is linked.
We definitely believed it would be easier to build the mobile application than it turned out to be. Many more variables come into play with a mobile application than with a desktop application. Developers must choose between several different screen sizes, processor architectures, and operating systems as options.
After exploring several mobile GUI designs, our designers came up with a mobile design compatible with all device types. Some of the designs that didn’t make the cut can be seen below.
Testimonial Danny:
Working on a new application built from scratch required me to employ all of my skills and even extend them (gaining several new skills along the way). In the end, we created a new application that is well-suited to serve as the portal to our platform. I’m very proud of our results and the people who have helped us create it. As stated in this blog-post, a lot of effort has been put forth to make this new application just right.
Testimonial JPilly:
Working on XCITE Mobile for the past few months has been both exciting and challenging. First, we ensured that our mobile wallet was functionally secure by fully protecting all data communication between the frontend and backend. Not only is every transaction to and from the server encrypted, but both the frontend and backend have an extra layer of encryption as well. Next, we made sure that the programming languages used (C++ in the frontend and Python in the backend) could encrypt and decrypt data without any data loss (using RSA-AES hybrid encryption). Resolving this problem and seeing the wallet come together has made all my late night work well-worth it.
Testimonial Tuukka:
As a member of the XCITE development team, I spent the majority of my time creating a proof-of-concept for secure data storage. This pursuit required learning Python so that I could implement server-side functionalities in suitable way. In addition, I spent time implementing a system that retrieved market values from various sources (in a non-intrusive way that was also iPhone-compatible). During my many months working on XCITE, I learned a lot about the QT platform and modern mobile development (despite already having 10 years previous experience building mobile games – although mobile app development has changed a lot since then).
Testimonial JCPBS:
For me, getting involved with the XCITE team has been a never-ending learning process. Many tasks involved compiling libraries for use in frontend and backend development. Since Android, Linux, Windows, macOS, and iOS use different sets of files, we had to find a way to integrate them into a unified XCITE platform. Ensuring that the libraries communicate correctly with the XCITE code was a major challenge. Another challenge involved converting library files in a way that did not present a security risk. In the end, we created all the library packages from the source code.
Testimonial Golden:
My desire to join the XCITE development team was motivated by a desire to help out with the GUI design. After I provided my designs to the devs, they used them as the basis for creating different user interface screens. However, the development team quickly concluded that I should code the interfaces myself. Doing so would allow them to focus on the GUI’s underlying connections. Consequently, I took it upon myself to learn QML, the language we use to create all graphical user interfaces for our applications.
Once we decided how the interface should look and act, we had to determine what operations would go on behind the scene. We knew from the beginning what we wanted with a portable account. An account that would let you log in and access all your user info regardless of what device or operating system you were using. So we chose to set up an account server that would host all the accounts.
Unfortunately, hosting all the accounts and the user data on a server brought with it a certain amount of security risk that couldn’t be neglected. First, we had to ensure that all the data stored on the server was encrypted in a way that only the user could decrypt. Second, we had to make sure that this encrypted data was only sent to the right person. Lastly, we had to prevent others from overwriting this data. Since the current way in which user-account security is handled appears inadequate, we began brainstorming to find alternative solutions. After carefully analyzing various proposals, we came up with a secure process for creating accounts, logging in, and saving data.
Our devs went to work and quickly built the account security system we envisioned. After rigorous testing, we were very pleased with the end result. Once we determined that we could safely store all relevant data, we decided on which account information we wanted to store. As time went by, we added additional elements designed to improve the user experience. In the end, we produced a mobile wallet capable of much more than just checking your balance and sending coins.
After completing the GUI, we had to connect the backend, update all interface values, and ensure that all functions could execute as expected. While our initial idea was to handle most wallet elements locally, we soon realized that we had to implement additional dependencies to make everything work (like most clones of the QT wallets). So we asked ourselves, why centralize everything in the app and deal with all these inconveniences? It would be far better to decentralise and rely less on such dependencies. So we set up an API server that would handle several different tasks for us and that we could query from the application.
And then came the most important part of the backend – the connection to our SSS. This would allow us to talk to the chain and perform various actions on it as well. While this was new to us, Zoltan helped walk us through its operation. Although some parts needed redundancies built in, we were able to get everything working after a collective effort. And it starting working just as we had envisioned the first version of XCITE mobile would.
As result, the application was ready to be handed over to our test group. They could start abusing it in order to find any bugs that escaped our attention. Their feedback will be invaluable to us as we iron out the last glitches and imperfections before its release to the public.
Wallet Features
With the current beta release being out there we were able to build in some features:
Monitor your wallet balances for XBY, XFUEL, BTC & ETH
Live updates of all your balances
No syncing time required
Share your addresses for XBY, XFUEL, BTC & ETH
Create new addresses for XBY, XFUEL & XTEST (our testnet token)
Import existing private keys for XBY, XFUEL & XTEST
Store your wallet keys locally or in your account
Consult the transaction history for XBY & XFUEL
Make transaction with XFUEL
Order your contacts and their addresses
Scan QR codes of both addresses and private keys
Access your phone app directly from XCITE
Access your text app directly from XCITE
Access your mail app directly from XCITE
Select your favorite fiat currency: USD, EUR or GBP
Limit access to critical features with a pin code
Backup your private keys
Receive in-app notifications when your wallet balance changes
As stated above, we took some time setting up a secure way of creating accounts, logging-in, and saving data.
We sought to produce a wallet that doesn’t store passwords for accounts as it prevents others from stealing your account information. As we also sought to avoid visibly linking any personal information in your account, you’ll see no email address, facebook account, google account or any other account info asked by us. The second measure we took was to encrypt all the data stored on the server with an encryption key known only to the user. We came up with this idea after contemplating our inability to provide you with your password or let you set a new one in case you lose it. Thus, you will need to safely store your username and password so as not to lose all access to your account. This possibility is also why users should backup their private keys.
You may be wondering, how it is possible to gain access to your account using your password without us storing it or even ever letting us know what your password is?
What happens when you log in:
Everytime you login, you create a new key-pair (public key & private key). The public key and your username are sent to the account server. The server uses the public key to encrypt a new encryption key for this session. It then sends this newly-created encrypted key (with a string that is encrypted with the user’s password from the previous login) back to the user. The user then decrypts the encryption key (created by the server) with the private key (the one that goes with the public key previously used for the encryption). The user also decrypts the encrypted string and re-encrypts it with the encryption received from the server. The user then sends the newly encrypted string back to the server. By doing so, he is able to prove he has the password to decrypt the password-encrypted string already sent to him.
The server verifies the string with the answer he has from the previous login session. If the result matches up, the server sends the user-data (which is encrypted with the user’s password) and a unique sessionID (encrypted with the encryption key for the session created by the server) back to the user. This allows the user to decrypt and access his user data.
The user also creates a new random string to encrypt, once with his password and once with the encryption key created for the session. Both instances of this encrypted string are sent to the server. The server overwrites the old encrypted string and stores it for the next login attempt. Now, each time the user wants to save new data to his account, he will need to send the session ID alongside to prove he is verified to save data to his account. Thus, all data that is sent between the user and the server is either encrypted with the user’s password or the encryption key created for the session by the server.
And that is how we achieve identity verification without needing to know the password. | {
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Next Friday, March 29, is supposed to be the British people’s Independence Day. But because the elites control London from Brussels, the will of the people is likely to be ignored.
Nearly three years ago, the British people shocked the global power-brokers by voting to leave the European Union. Promises were made, elections were held, and debates over Great Britain’s exit plan from the EU began shortly after, with every politician promising to respect the decision of the people. Britons were told to wait, to be patient and to trust the politicians.
But, was it all a ruse?
Since 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May has promised on more than 50 separate occasions that Britain would leave the EU on March 29 2019. She needs to honour that promise.
But Mrs May ignored advice from my father, and ultimately, a process that should have taken only a few short months has become a years-long stalemate, leaving the British people in limbo. | {
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"You can't use your religious beliefs to get away with harming a child," the mother of two who now lives in Georgia told the paper. "This is so much bigger than myself. This is about not allowing the cover of religion to permit physical abuse in a church, and particularly to a child." | {
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Ministra francesa Amelie de Montchalin 01/04/2019 REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
BRUXELAS (Reuters) - Ministros da União Europeia questionaram a Hungria nesta segunda-feira pela pressão do primeiro-ministro, Viktor Orbán, sobre a imprensa livre, juízes, acadêmicos, minorias e grupos de direitos humanos, o que o bloco teme enfraquecer a democracia no ex-país comunista.
Um ano após o Parlamento Europeu dizer que as ações de Orbán criavam “um risco sério de uma violação clara” de valores centrais da UE, ministros se reuniram em Bruxelas para uma primeira audiência formal a respeito da Hungria.
“A UE é como uma família em muitos aspectos. E em uma família tem que haver um conjunto de regras em comum... senão ela não funciona. E o Estado de Direito é um fundamento disso”, disse o ministro austríaco de assuntos da UE, Alexander Schallenberg.
Orbán, no poder desde 2010, também revoltou a UE com sua retórica anti-imigração ríspida e campanhas agressivas contra o bloco com insinuações antissemitas.
Até agora o líder, visto por muitos como um manipulador maquiavélico e astuto, tem ficado praticamente incólume, com exceção de sua suspensão do maior grupo parlamentar de centro-direita do bloco.
Mas a UE está tentando condicionar sua assistência generosa a membros mais pobres como Hungria e Polônia --onde colegas nacionalistas de Orbán também submeteram a mídia e juízes a um controle estatal mais direto-- à obediência ao Estado de Direito.
“Quando falamos da independência dos juízes, da liberdade de imprensa, da proteção das minorias, da liberdade acadêmica... isso nos lembra nossa identidade, nossos valores”, disse a ministra francesa Amelie de Montchalin.
Com políticos eurocéticos e nacionalistas em vários países da UE surfando uma onda de descontentamento público perpetuado por economias lentas, ansiedade sobre a globalização e imigração para a Europa, o bloco está buscando intensificar as defesas democráticas.
A Hungria, no entanto, rejeita as críticas do bloco. | {
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Bronze Age warriors suffered from atherosclerosis (Picture: PA)
Marauding warriors stalked the land, infectious disease was an ever-present threat and growing enough food to live took hours of back-breaking labour.
And as if all that wasn’t enough to contend with, it seems people in the Bronze Age were just as likely to drop dead from a heart attack as 21st century couch potatoes, living off greasy takeaways.
About one in three had atherosclerosis – the narrowing and hardening of arteries that is the main cause of heart disease and strokes – a study of 137 mummified corpses up to 4,000 years old suggests.
‘A common assumption is that if modern humans could emulate pre-industrial lifestyles, atherosclerosis would be avoided,’ said Professor Randall Thompson of Saint Luke’s Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City, US.
The study looked at 137 mummified corpses up to 4,000 years old (Picture: PA)
‘But our findings seem to suggest it might be inherent to the process of human ageing.’
So, does the study – which included accidentally preserved bodies from around the world as well as wealthy, well-fed Egyptians – mean it’s time to chuck the diet and go back on the fags? No, says the British Heart Foundation.
‘We can’t change the past but lifestyle choices can help to affect our future,’ argued the charity’s senior cardiac nurse Maureen Talbot. | {
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Formula 1 faces a big aerodynamic dilemma and, at every race, a new challenge. The problem can not be solved by brute force there is no single set-up which works perfectly at every track. The true art of modern Formula 1 racing is to come closer to perfection than the competition can. The shape of the cars is honed on the computer, in the wind tunnel and on the racetrack; and the wings and wind deflectors have to conform just as much as the diffuser on the rear underbody of the car. Everything is done to channel the airflow as perfectly as possible and to create the maximum amount of downforce.
Nowadays, aerodynamics is a question of attending to the tiniest detail. An air-duct panel (or barge-board) between the front wheel and the side panel can add more speed than an engine with two or three extra horsepower. The aerodynamics are the most important factor in the design of a Formula 1 car. The path to this discovery is lined with daredevil experiments, revolutionary inventions and new technological developments. Even so, in the early years of motor racing, the term aerodynamics was rather an unfamiliar concept; the front of the car was a bluff obstacle and therefore the cars generated lift rather than
downforce. As a result, many of the early designs were soon gone with the wind...
In the beginning 1968 it was not possible to precisely calculate the forces generated by the oncoming airflow, so the teams had to progress by trial and error; as a result, the front and rear spoilers (or aerofoils), which were fitted on delicate struts, kept breaking off Formula 1s governing body reacted by stipulating that the spoilers would have to be
fitted directly onto the rear of the car in 1969.
A stroke of genius by the great designer and founder of Lotus, Colin Chapman, in 1972 showed the way ahead for Formula 1. Chapman designed the Lotus 72 with a pointed shovel nose and a nose-cone in the form of a wedge, and the radiators were fitted into sidepods. This also had the effect of moving the cars centre of gravity toward the rear. Lotus promptly won both the Drivers and the Constructors World Championships. Thanks to its revolutionary aerodynamics, the Lotus drove 15 kph faster on the straights than its predecessor with the same engine power.
It was Colin Chapman again who introduced another design breakthrough in 1977/78. The Lotus 78 featured inverted wings which generated downforce, so naturally the car was soon dubbed the Wing Car. The side-skirts on the side of the Lotus were virtually flush with the asphalt, this created a vacuum which pressed the car on to the track and allowed incredibly high cornering speeds. Success followed quickly: in 1978 the Lotus driver, Mario Andretti, won the World Championship.
The so-called ground-effect era lasted until 1982. Even before the 1981 season, the FIA had banned for safety reasons the use of movable sideskirts on the underside of Formula 1 cars, in order to increase the ground clearance and thus reduce the cornering speeds. In 1983, the flat-bottom regulation came into force, which prohibited all aerodynamic aids that generated downforce on the underside of the cars. The cars were then given narrower designs again, so the developers began to turn their attentions to small aerodynamic details.
In the 1990s, aerodynamics definitively became the central issue in Formula 1 development. The most significant innovations included, for instance, the front trim of the Tyrrell in 1990; Harvey Postlethwaite succeeded in guiding the air around the underbody and the radiators far more efficiently. In 1987, Team Lotus introduced active suspension, which guaranteed an unchanged, ideal flow angle, but it wasnt until 1991s Williams FW14 that active suspension started to make a real impact in F1.
The FIA reacted to the inventive spirit of the engineers with further restrictions designed to reduce the aerodynamic efficiency and so ensure lower cornering speeds and greater safety. In 1994, all electronic aids, including active suspension, were banned following the tragic San Marino Grand Prix. However, the designers keep on successfully compensating for these restrictions with new innovations and continued development.
By 1998, there had been experiments with numerous different wing variants: for instance, Tyrrell used the so-called X-wings (winglets mounted on stilts on the sidepods) and many teams introduced winglets (small additional wings fitted to the outsides of the rear wings). At the same time, the FIA made drastic changes to the regulations (narrower cars, grooved tyres) which meant that the aerodynamicists had to find new ways to win the battle against the wind.
Most teams now possess their own wind tunnel, where they usually work roughly 3600 hours (150 days) per year. In modern wind-tunnels, the airflows are made visible by laser, because nowadays, it is more important than ever to give the car a perfect balance with a set-up suited to all the features of the race track. The design has to ensure that there is a maximum level of downforce at all times, says Max Nightingale, Head of Vehicle Dynamics at Williams. A sort of dynamic downforce is important to keep the car balanced all the time on fast straights, or in fast or slow corners.
As the 2003 season begins, the occasional unconventional wing has been sighted on the test tracks. However, given the current state of technology, it is unlikely that there will be any revolutionary new developments like in the 1960s and 1970s. The dilemma still exists; the aerodynamicists are now relying on steady evolution rather than revolution because they know that in Formula 1, finding just an extra hundredth of a second or two per lap might be enough to win.
In contrast to Formula 1, there is no need to make production passenger cars a fraction of a second faster, but the air resistance is still a primary concern for passenger car aerodynamicists. It is a fact that a cars driving performance depends on its aerodynamic performance; it influences fuel consumption, top speed and, to a lesser extent, acceleration. All of these are decisive features when buying a car. Passenger cars can certainly learn a great deal from Formula 1, especially in terms of safety.
Dr. Christoph Lauterwasser, a safety expert from the Allianz Centre for Technology says: In general, the driving stability decreases as the speed increases. A force perpendicular to the direction of travel, referred to as lift, results from the airflow over the top and underside of the cars body. As a rule, this lift is in the positive range in passenger cars: it pushes upwards and tries to raise the car, so relieving the stress on the wheels and this impairs the stability of the car in the direction of travel. A car remains easy to control if it has little lift and well-balanced lift distribution. If they are adapted properly to the car, aerodynamic accessories such as front and rear spoilers can help to provide better driving stability and, at times, they can even reduce the air resistance.
Spoilers or wings are fitted as standard above all on super sports-cars, where the generally flat and relatively wide design leads to considerable downforce, but at the expense of the cars air resistance. Strong downforce is a crucial safety aspect, especially when taking on curvy roads, where it can help to stabilise road-holding. But also for normal vehicles, there are special equipment packages for aerodynamic optimisation, which are offered by most manufacturers. These packages include front and rear aprons, side sills or rear spoilers.
Low consumption, more safety; the decisive advantages of good aerodynamics mean that superfluous decorations have very little chance of being featured in the modern design of passenger cars. Elements such as rear fins, which were popular in the USA in the 1950s but also widespread in Europe, have been consigned to the past. In contrast, the development departments of car manufacturers are constantly trying to achieve lower drag values.
Design studies already exist in which the air resistance of current passenger cars has been halved. So the cars of the future will have even less air resistance and lower fuel consumption to the benefit of the customers. Moreover, they will also possess a comprehensive aerodynamic concept, generating downforce to improve driving stability and to increase safety. | {
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First pitch of the 2020 college softball season is scheduled for Feb. 6. Now that most schools have released their 2020 schedules, let's take a look at the schedules of four teams that reached last year's Women's College World Series.
CHANGES TO SOFTBALL: 2020 will include different mandated pitching procedures
UCLA begins the long-awaited season against CSU Bakersfield on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament. Along with the Roadrunners, the Bruins will also face Cal Poly, Pittsburgh and San Diego that weekend.
The 2019 WCWS runner-up Oklahoma starts the 2020 season on Feb. 6 at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. The four-day meet features seven teams, including the Sooners, BYU and Oregon.
NEWS | #Sooners announce 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ schedule.
🔴 Tournaments in Mexico, Arizona and California 🌴
⚪️ More than half of regular season games at Marita Hynes 🏠
🔴 12 matchups against ‘19 NCAA tourney teams, including four Supers and three WCWS teams 💪
➡️ https://t.co/iMLoue1vLz pic.twitter.com/WrJo1CeNqw — Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) December 4, 2019
Last season's Seattle super regional winner, Washington, begins the season a day after its 2019 WCWS counterparts. On Friday, Feb. 7, the Huskies will take part in the Buzz Classic. Ohio will be their first opponent, followed by Georgia Tech, UAB and Furman.
The Gainesville super regional winner, Florida, will follow suit, beginning the season on Feb. 7. Illinois State opens the Gators' season, the first of five matchups a part of the USF Opening Weekend Invitational. Other opponents include Fresno State, Michigan, Georgia State and USF.
SCHEDULE: Dates and times for the 2020 Women's College World Series
The 2019 college softball season concluded with Kinsley Washington's walk-off single to secure UCLA's 12 title in program history. The USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium erupted that night, one half inning after the Bruins gave up a game-tying home run to Oklahoma's Shay Knighton.
#WCWSwednesday: 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣
After being named @USASoftball Player of the Year, Rachel Garcia followed up with one of the most memorable performances in #WCWS history – tossing 10 shutout innings leading up to her walk off home run to send @UCLASoftball into the Championship Series. pic.twitter.com/K2FHqpWS5O — NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) August 21, 2019
After losing to Florida State in the three-game championship series the year before, the Bruins went 5-0 in OKC, including a two-game finals sweep over the Sooners. Rachel Garcia, who hit the walk-off home run in the 10th inning to push the Bruins past Washington into the championship series, was named 2019 WCWS Most Outstanding Player.
RECORDS: College softball's all-time home run leaders
Here are the winners of every tournament since 1982: | {
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RogueGovernment.com
by Lee Rogers
Family Security Matters a neo-conservative based think tank has published an article advocating that George W. Bush should be a dictator for life. The organization has since taken the article down, but is still viewable via this cached link [IFP Ed. Note: The link is defunct].
Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy: By Philip Atkinson
The article written by Philip Atkinson states that Bush would fail his country by becoming an ex-President or can achieve greatness by becoming President-for-Life Bush in order to bring sense to Congress and sanity to the Supreme Court. Atkinson is bluntly advocating that Bush should become dictator for life with these outrageously anti-American statements.
From the article:
President Bush can fail in his duty to himself, his country, and his God, by becoming “ex-president” Bush or he can become “President-for-Life” Bush: the conqueror of Iraq, who brings sense to the Congress and sanity to the Supreme Court. Then who would be able to stop Bush from emulating Augustus Caesar and becoming ruler of the world? For only an America united under one ruler has the power to save humanity from the threat of a new Dark Age wrought by terrorists armed with nuclear weapons.
Atkinson also advocates that Bush should get rid of everyone in Iraq through military force and repopulate the country with Americans.
From the article:
If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestiege while terrifying American enemies.
Although these statements by Atkinson are completely insane and entirely anti-American, the author also shows complete ignorance as to the type of government the United States is supposed to be. The author states that Bush is a victim of Democracy when in fact the United States is not a Democracy.
From the article:
Yet in 2007 he is generally despised, with many citizens of Western civilization expressing contempt for his person and his policies, sentiments which now abound on the Internet. This rage at President Bush is an inevitable result of the system of government demanded by the people, which is Democracy.
The inadequacy of Democracy, rule by the majority, is undeniable ““ for it demands adopting ideas because they are popular, rather than because they are wise. This means that any man chosen to act as an agent of the people is placed in an invidious position: if he commits folly because it is popular, then he will be held responsible for the inevitable result. If he refuses to commit folly, then he will be detested by most citizens because he is frustrating their demands.
Although I do agree that Democracy is a horrible form of government, Atkinson’s argument holds no water since we do not have a Democracy in this country. The United States is in fact a Constitutional Republic, so it is not possible for Bush to be a victim of Democracy.
Unfortunately, Atkinson might get his wish of a Bush dictatorship. The HSPD-20/NSPD-51 directives issued by Bush states that the President is to have complete control over all three branches of government during a catastrophic emergency. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security plans for continuity of government operations have been kept secret from Congress.
Either way, Atkinson the author of this article is clearly an insane individual who hates America. From advocating the colonization of Iraq with Americans as well as a Bush dictatorship, it is clear this individual needs some serious help. It also leaves questions as to the judgment of this Family Security Matters organization considering they openly published this anti-American trash. An investigation by Free Market News Network, found that Family Security Matters is actually a front group for the Center for Security Policy a group that Vice President Dick Cheney is a known associate of. Removing the article was clearly a means of damage control and it shows how rabid and insane the neo-conservative base has become. This article shows that today’s neo-conservative is nothing more than the 21st century equivalent of a Nazi in pre World War II Germany.
(Source) | {
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The Houston Hash has an exceptionally long tradition of supporting the Houston marathon, and I would hope that we would keep up that tradition. The race in 2019 is on Sunday, January the 20th. Let’s do it justice – again.
Quick note – there are 5,500 volunteer “Race Crew” jackets (total) that are first come first serve as far as volunteer registrations are concerned (see below). These will run out approximately December 23rd. Don’t say i didn’t warn ya.
onon, mcp
==================================
Hashers
People have been asking, “How can I volunteer at the marathon?” Well, I’m glad you asked. There are several ways that the Houston hash volunteers at the marathon:
Marathon STAFF : These volunteers put in months of work at positions like Course Director, Sector Captain, Mile Captain and Starting Corridor, and many others – like“Honorary Hasher” MaxiPad (the Marathon’s Big Cheeze). This includes hashers like Sperminator & RollerBalls (Race flow), Scud (Starting Corridor), WowMomWow & HairyPalms (Sector 4), McP & Cums Anyway (Sector 5), and Red Snapper (Sector 6). And probably 10 others I’m missing. You can’t sign up for this directly.
OFFICIAL MARATHON VOLUNTEER – (Hereafter to be called “volunteer”) These are positions that you have to sign up for and are expected to work, and if you are doing it correctly, it is a lot like work. Most hashers who have done this in the past have signed up to be road guards. This is a position designed to keep the runners safe, vigilantly watching the crowd and the runners for potential problems, and solving them before they happen. Some important things about being a Road Guard, or any other volunteer position:
IF YOU SIGN UP TO BE A ROAD GUARD, YOU CANNOT BE DRINKING ALCOHOL WHILE BEING A ROAD GUARD. You can drink after your shift, but you need to remove your “official tshirt/jacket” etc.
You can’t hand out beer while wearing your “official t-shirt/jacket” etc.
You actually have to obey the rules that you are supposed to be enforcing (for example, standing on the curb and not in the street).
Basically, just remember that you are representing the Houston Marathon if you are wearing their “official tshirt/jacket” etc. and signed up to do so. If your shift is over and you want to drink, please remove their logo’ed attire. Most hashers road guard at Mile 24 near the Hash Hoopla station (see below), but some hashers do other miles, like 20 in Memorial park where Pipes is Captain, or closer to their homes and then bike in later. The signup link to be a volunteer in this capacity is:
https://hou.emos1.com/volunteer/RegisterVolunteer.aspx?eid=12&JScript=1
(you would then need to pick “Sector 6 Road Guard,” “Mile 24” to volunteer to road guard near the hash hoopla)
Mile 24 HOOPLA – (Hereafter to be called “Hoopla”) is basically the party for that mile. There are no expectations of anything other than showing up and cheering on the runners. This could include handing them beer (don’t hold it by the rim, that’s fucking nasty, and wear gloves for god’s sakes). This is not an official capacity, you won’t get a t-shirt, you can drink all you want provided you do so legally, and you don’t have to rego. HOWEVER, if you plan on showing up and you want any kind of FOOD or BEER to drink, you should donate to the planning committee. See WHP or ICP for details on this (I know WHP always puts together good information on how to make this a good time).
Hopefully this creates more answers than questions. If I missed something, please ask and I will quickly redirect. Thanks and onon | {
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The RCMP's national security team has arrested and charged an Ontario youth with a terrorism-related offence, the police force said Friday following an investigation in Kingston, Ont.
Police have laid two charges against the young person, who is accused of knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity and counselling another person to "deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal device ... against a place of public use with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury."
The identity of the accused has been withheld by police as the person is a minor and protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
During a press conference Friday, the RCMP said it received a "credible" tip from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in late December 2018 that there were individuals in Kingston planning a terrorist attack, which led to the police raids at two homes in the area Thursday.
A source with knowledge of the investigation said the alleged terrorist activity involved a plan to use an explosive device; no specific target had yet been chosen. The accused had the intent, began acquiring the potential to create an improvised explosive device and formulated a plan, but were arrested before they had chosen a target, the source said.
"There was no specific target identified but there was an attack planned," RCMP Superintendent Peter Lambertucci told reporters. While an attack was considered imminent, the officer said there was no credible threat to the people of Kingston.
A minor, who can't be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, appeared in a Kingston courtroom Friday to face two charges related to an anti-terrorism investigation. (Laurie Foster-MacLeod sketch)
"I want to reassure the citizens of the greater Kingston, Ont., area and all Canadians that during the investigation, our primary focus was the safety and protection of the public," said Michael LeSage, a chief superintendent with the RCMP's "O" Division.
After the arrests, the RCMP found "elements" and "trace elements" of homemade improvised explosive devices in an unspecified residence. The explosive substance was later neutralized, Lambertucci said.
A second individual, an adult male CBC News has identified as Hussam Eddin Alzahabi, was also arrested Thursday but has not been charged. Alzahabi's father told CBC News that police have now released his son.
Hussam's lawyer, Mohamed El Rashidy, told CBC News that his client maintains his innocence and will continue to co-operate with the security services as the investigation unfolds.
"He's exercising his legal rights and he cares about Canada's safety as much as the next person," said El Rashidy. "He's here studying, he's doing everything that he can to be a contributing member to society and there is no reason to malign him or treat him differently than anybody else."
Lambertucci said the investigation is still ongoing. Police had 24 hours to press charges against Alzahabi or release him from custody.
The officer would not comment on the ideological motivations of the people apprehended or say if they had any ties to foreign elements.
RCMP officer Peter Lambertucci speaks to reporters in Kingston on Jan. 25, 2019. (Jonathan Castell/CBC)
Police described the relationship between Hussam Eddin Alzahabi and the person charged as an "informal friendship."
Earlier Friday, the father of Hussam Eddin Alzahabi said he was astounded by the arrest of his 20-year-old son.
"They tell me they search about him about terrorists. I know my son, he didn't think about that. He like Canada. He like the safety in Canada. How could he think about that?" Amin Alzahabi, who has been in Canada since 2017, told CBC News' Philip Ling in an interview from his home Friday morning.
"It's fake news about my son. I trust my son. I know he cannot do anything against any human, humanity.
"They inspected everything from my house. They didn't find anything. I think this is not good."
In carrying out the arrests, the RCMP were supported by both Kingston police and FBI officers with support from the Ontario Provincial Police, Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
On Thursday, officers could be seen carrying bags of evidence out of the homes.
By Friday morning, the police presence was contained to just one residence.
Alzahabi said his family, originally from Syria, has been living in Canada since July 2017, following time spent in Kuwait from 2008 to 2017.
According to a bulletin posted to the website of a Kingston-area Catholic church detailing the journey of the Alzahabi family, an ecumenical group of churches helped bring them to Canada through the private sponsorship refugee program in 2016-17.
The church group established a series of committees, including a hospitality and orientation committee composed of parishioners, and raised more than $30,000 to help support the family's transition to life in Canada.
Alzahabi said he and his family came to Canada to be "liberated" and to avoid being sent back to Syria — which is still in the throes of a multi-year bloody civil war — by the Kuwaiti government.
"I want to save my family from Assad regime in Syria," he said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who's accused of perpetrating war crimes against his own people.
"I wanted to come to Canada and I [succeeded] in coming to Canada because I trust Canada. I trust this country is for the humanity ... freedom," Alzahabi said.
To that end, Amin Alzahabi said his son was completing high school upgrades at Loyalist Collegiate & Vocational Institute with the hope he could then continue his studies at a university.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said police took action Thursday "based on credible information, to ensure public safety."
The RCMP arrested two people following the raids on the two homes in what officials are calling a national security investigation. (Cristiano Vilela)
The minister said the operation has not changed the country's threat level. It remains at "medium," where it has hovered since late 2014.
However, the threat was considered serious enough to involve months of investigation, thousands of hours of police work and the use of a Pilatus PC-12 RCMP surveillance plane that had been circling over Kingston in recent weeks for hours on end, creating a great deal of interest from residents due to the noise.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer commended the work of the RCMP and local police while adding the continuing terrorist threat demands strong national security legislation to help law enforcement.
Scheer also said Canada's "refugee screening process needs to be seriously examined."
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale dismisses Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's comments on refugee screening in wake of arrests, says police should be left alone to conduct investigation free of speculation 0:43
"We've recently learned of several examples of dangerous individuals entering the country due in part to lax screening procedures," Scheer said.
"In 2017, as an audit of the Canada Border Services Agency reported, 39 cases did not receive the necessary security screening and therefore, potential security threats may not have been identified prior to granting admissibility. This is completely unacceptable and must be immediately remedied."
Goodale, speaking to reporters after a meeting with provincial counterparts, said Scheer's comment on bolstering the security of the refugee screening process was premature.
"Somehow he already knows or is presuming the result of a police investigation. I think it's wiser in these circumstances, rather than leaping to conclusions, that the police do their job. Let's get the facts on the table and then we'll determine the appropriate course of action," Goodale said. | {
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Living up to the promise seen in previously released teaser images, the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe has made its much-anticipated debut as promised at Italy’s famed Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. The stunning V12-powered one-off represents the first collaborative effort between the German automaker and one of Italy’s most preeminent design houses whose name is most closely connected to Ferrari.
"The appeal of this collaboration with Pininfarina is that you get another, very different and special angle on facets like luxury and exclusivity," noted Karim Habib, Head of BMW Design. "The Italian company, after all, has always been a byword for these criteria in particular, demonstrating time and again its keen sensitivity and exceptional finesse in these areas. In Pininfarina we have found the ideal partner to lend shape to this vehicle concept."
Fabio Filippini, Head of Design at Pininfarina, echoed that sentiment, observing: "The result of this cooperative venture is far greater than the sum of its parts. When two such tradition-rich and experienced brands join forces to turn a vision into reality, something utterly new and exciting emerges. From start to finish, this project was defined by a mutual respect for the identity of the other company."
Also: 10 Coolest Cars Under $25,000
To that end, the striking bodywork of the Gran Lusso Coupe deftly melds classic BMW heritage cues with an elegant Pininfarina sensibility. Its long nose, short deck, strong shoulder line and sweeping roof create a striking profile that’s set off by prominent side-body detailing punctuated by an Air Breather behind the front wheel, custom 21-inch alloy wheels and the signature Hofmeister kink at the leading edge of the C-pillar. A similar kind of subtle but unmistakable power is evident in the Gran Lusso Coupe’s fascia treatments. Up front, the twin-kidney grilles are canted forward to emphasize the car’s more aggressive character, while slim-line LED headlamps and a single-opening air intake split by a horizontal accent bar help accentuate its low, wide look. That theme carries to the rear, where delicately proportioned wraparound LED tail lamps and prominent dual-paired exhaust outlets complement the equally sleek tail.
The 4-passenger cabin of the Gran Lusso Coupe reflects another meeting of creative minds. While remaining true to BMW’s fundamental driver-focus priorities, it’s equally rich in Pininfarina influences that range from custom-designed seats and door panels clad in premium leather from Foglizzo to wood accent trim made from a single piece of super-rare kauri, sourced from primo furniture makers Riva 1920 and officially carbon dated as being 48,000 years old.
While BMW offered few drivetrain specifics, the V12 engine in the Gran Lusso Coupe Concept is believed to be the same twin-turbo 6.0-liter unit that produces 535 horsepower and 550 lb-ft of torque in the 2013 BMW 760Li. As in the automaker’s flagship sedan, it sends power to the rear wheels via a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission.
Also: 10 Cars that Exude Attitude
The key question that remains about this brilliantly executed exercise is whether it will serve as the precursor to a new production model. If so, it would effectively replace the striking BMW 8 Series, a vehicle that was built in modest numbers from 1989-1999, as the automaker’s top-line coupe offering. While optimists can take some comfort in the official statement that the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe Concept is "a new automotive personality brimming with character and ready to join the high-end luxury class," for the moment there’s no guarantee a volume-build variant will come rolling down the assembly line any time soon.
You’ll Also Like To Know…
• Ferrari’s radical 2014 LaFerrari packs a 950-horse hybrid powertrain
• Jaguar’s new 2014 F-Type is its most important new car in the last 50 years
• Porsche has taken the wraps off of the new 2014 911 Turbo and Turbo S | {
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Did You Write Assemblyman Marc Levine about a Legislative Hearing for Ferrets Yet?
Read the letter we sent to Marc Levine and all the members of the Committee All of our petitioning is about getting a legislative hearing in front of the Assembly's Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. But perhaps we can convince them to hear our issue before we submit our signatures (and at our current rate, we won't have enough.)
Way back when we started Ferrets Anonymous in 1993 we used to be able to generate pretty good letter writing campaigns. Not many people want to send postal mail any more. Go back to the future and please write that letter.
Our letter and package went out to Assemblyman Levine, cc'd to all Committee Members on November 27th. So far, no response. Assemblyman Marc Levine
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Room 2141
Sacramento, CA 94249-0010
Fax: (916) 319-2110
Then let me know you sent him a letter. You can fax it as well. Here is a sample . Be brief. This is a numbers game - the more letters he gets about ferrets the better.Then let me know you sent him a letter. You can fax it as well. Please send me an email after you've sent yours so I get an idea. | {
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WOLF BLITZER (CO-HOST): Pamela, these voters tell you there's a clear winner tonight. What do they say?
PAMELA BROWN: That's right, and they say the clear winner is Hillary Clinton. Eighteen out of the 20 undecided voters here in this key battleground state of Florida say Hillary Clinton won, 2 for Donald Trump. I want to show the crowd here, and just get a word or a phrase in how you would describe Hillary Clinton's performance tonight.
[...]
BROWN: So you actually think Donald Trump won the debate. You thought he had the better performance. Why is that?
FOCUS GROUP MEMBER 1: Well, it's not that he won the debate, but he did what I expected him to do. And Hillary didn't answer any of the questions I have about her, any of the really things that I see as troubling as far as voting for her. Whereas -- I know what I know about Trump.
BROWN: So before this debate, we were talking, and you actually -- you actually were leaning more toward Donald Trump, but now you're leaning toward Hillary Clinton. Why is that?
FOCUS GROUP MEMBER 2: I think she -- like I said, she was very well-prepared. Her attitude seemed to be more in the charismatic side, she took more control of the situation, so I felt that she owned this debate compared to what Donald Trump has done in the past. And he doesn't seem to be solid in what he -- his material. So I feel that this time around, she was -- she just pretty much had solid information compared to what she's had in the past.
BROWN: And I want to go to a Bernie Sanders supporter here, undecided voter. You wanted to come in here today and hear a populous message during the debate. Did you hear that?
FOCUS GROUP MEMBER 3: No, I didn't. I felt that's what Donald Trump needed to do to pick up millennial Bernie supporters at least was to come across as “for the people.” I wanted to hear more talk about campaign finance reform, which neither of the candidates touched on. Which was really disappointing to me. I feel Hillary Clinton did better in getting a more progressive message across with talking about clean energy and health care and affordable college. But it wasn't enough for me.
BROWN: And Cheryl, you really wanted to hear about the issues tonight, you wanted to learn from these candidates what they're going to do for you. Did you hear what you wanted to hear?
FOCUS GROUP MEMBER 4: No, I was very disappointed. I don't know what either one of them plans to do toward medical costs, which are a huge concern in my life right now. Things that affect the single parents. | {
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PHOENIX, March 23 (UPI) -- The reported $25 million lawsuit thought to have been filed by the convicted gunman behind a mass shooting in Tucson in 2011, in which former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head, is likely a hoax.
A federal court official told KPNX 12 News the lawsuit is from a mentally disturbed prisoner in Philadelphia who is impersonating Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner. The court official said the prisoner in Philadelphia has done this before.
Loughner killed six people and injured 13 in the shooting, including Giffords, who had brain damage after being shot in the head. Loughner pleaded guilty in 2012 to 19 federal charges and is serving seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years.
Loughner was diagnosed with schizophrenia after the shooting and was given psychotropic drug treatments.
RELATED Court rejects suit by kidnapping survivor Jaycee Dugard
The hoax lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona on Friday without the apparent aid of a lawyer. According to KOLD-TV in Tucson, the suit alleges Loughner was "framed" and "handpicked illegally to be a sleeper assassin" and claims "the govt. put a chip in my head to control my mind."
The lawsuit goes on to allege "Gabby Giffords never got shot, it was all an act, Giffords watches Ronald Reagan movies and pretened (sic) she was hit." The suit also wrote that Giffords is a member of "the Illuminati," and that he is receiving "microwave testing" and waterboarding "on defendant's direct orders."
The suit also names the Bureau of Prisons and rambles about prison life, complaining that his "water has fluoride that defendants plant parasites in my water, and feed me aspartame by Monsanto."
Other accusations in the suit include: Loughner is being targeted with chemtrails, which have made him sick and delusional; Giffords help set up rancher Cliven Bundy; and Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband and a former American astronaut, planted illegal spy equipment in the skies to spy on Americans.
A note attached to the filing, stated the lawsuit could be tossed for not following correct legal form. | {
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Project: Reverse ArcheologyAs suggested in the project Sand Castles, this piece generates buildings from sand poured from the mouseInstructionTo start, pass the mouse over the landscape rapidly. You will slowly see things form. You can then slowly fill in the detailsFormatFlash / Flex, ActionScript3 / AS3, JPG | {
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An Iowa student's question to Hillary Clinton sparked speculations that CNN planted questions during presidential town hall. Now the student says that the question was his, but the network chose the candidate.
Brett Rosengren, a student described by CNN’s Chris Cuomo as an undecided voter, asked Hillary Clinton, “Which previous president inspired you the most and why?”
However, he didn’t make it through without stumbling along the way...
Rosengren first made a Freudian slip of sorts, stopping up short after calling Clinton “Secretary Sanders.”
He recovered to ask the question, but not before blurting out, “I can see why they gave you this question.”
This immediately got the Twitter commentators going:
"I can see why they gave you this question" aka totally staged @CNN and your dude just proved it. #DemTownHall — Jarrett Seltzer (@JarrettSeltzer) January 26, 2016
@IAStartingLine No, take the tinfoil hats off... They questions are always given to people to read. — Schwa (@HouseOfSchwa) January 26, 2016
@IAStartingLine no they pick who you ask your question too. Cut it with the conspiracy crap. — Branden D S Haralson (@BrandenHaralson) January 26, 2016
Even a Fox News contributor took the opportunity to call out CNN.
oops. "I can see why they gave you this question" says a young man asking a question....was he handed this question? is CNN scripting this? — Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) January 26, 2016
Rosengren explained afterwards that he hadn’t been provided with the question, but was instructed by CNN to direct it to Clinton rather than the other two candidates.
“It was my own question that I had submitted on Saturday night and directed towards any candidate,” Rosengren told US Uncut. “They chose that candidate to be Clinton.”
This is not the first time the words “Iowa,”“Hillary Clinton,” and “plant” have appeared in the same headline, however.
In 2008, Iowa student Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff revealed that she had been given a question to pose to then-Senator Hillary Clinton at a televised town hall event. The student wanted to ask Clinton to compare her energy plan to that of other candidates, but was told to ask another that did not involve discussing the plans of the other candidates.
A statement was issued later by Clinton’s campaign team saying: “On this occasion a member of our staff did discuss a possible question about Senator Clinton’s energy plan at a forum. ... This is not standard policy and will not be repeated again.”
A video of Gallo-Chasanoff being asked about the incident in a CNN interview has resurfaced recently. | {
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A few days ago, I was invited to give a talk at the Munich Kotlin Users Group meetup (check out my slides here) For quite some time, I have had an idea to promote Kotlin as the missing link between software engineering and Data Science. During KotlinConf 2018, I had the chance and the privilege to meet a couple of amazing people, whose talks only helped confirm my thoughts.
Mathematical Modeling with Kotlin | Thomas Nield
Indeed, the future seems full of opportunities for Kotlin, but not before JetBrains and the developer community remove a few of the pending roadblocks.
The following article is the first part of a two-part series based on my talk. After the meetup, I realized that the topic is far deeper than just going through a few slides about what Kotlin as a language can and can't. Therefore, I decided to properly introduce the reader to the topic first. Next time, we will talk about where and how Kotlin can fit into the puzzle.
The Problem with Data
We live in an age of unprecedented data abundance. So much, that our wishful imagination is easy to make us believe that we are on the verge of getting computers to think. Not surprisingly, when speaking about the future, the use of the term "AI" has recently become a favorite topic among company management and technology media alike.
Yet, in reality, we are only touching the surface. The path towards autonomous AI requires more basic human intervention than anything else. In particular, it needs a way for properly communicating data science into the software engineering field, and vice versa.
Aren't We Already There?
Nope, not quite. Bringing data science into the production workflow of established companies is not as easy as one might think. More so, when talking about the JVM, which a vast majority of enterprise software has been built upon.
See, there is a mismatch between software engineering and data science practices:
Software engineering works best when building well-defined systems. Requirements are set at the beginning and ideally, evolve over time, but rarely change entirely. There are traceable boundaries between components, with deterministic inputs and outputs, to help testability and ease extension. Like other forms of engineering, building a piece of software starts with a rough skeleton, which gets iterated over time and again. The goal of every step is to make the software either more feature complete or gradually morph it into a new direction, but keep it compatible with the original requirements.
Data science, on the other hand, deals with supporting or refuting hypotheses. Like other fields of science, it starts with a relatively generic question and goes through a process of data exploration and validation, until either the question can be answered fully, or it needs to be formulated again, due to an insufficiency of the data/selected approach. The exploration phase often involves trying out different approaches and seeing a large portion of them fail. This is why it is so important for the data science field to use tools and technologies that allow for easy exploration and visualization of the underlying data.
Machine Learning | xkcd
Another important difference between software engineering and data science is the interpretation of the outputs of systems at hand. Although, the understanding of distributed systems has almost become a science of its own, interpreting the outcome of a non-deterministic machine learning model is a whole different game. It is not easy to unit-test complex ML models, mainly because of the level of randomness they are built upon. Removing this randomness factor can help test the model in isolation, but might also provide the wrong assumptions when feeding the model with real-world data. Just like with the exploration phase above, it is a matter of having the right tools at hand and a fairly deep level of human interpretation.
AI, ML, and the Role of Data Science in All of This
So, we are back to our favorite term: Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI. AI has had a long history of ups and downs, most notably its birth and early progress during the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the so-called AI winter covering most of the late 1980s, 1990s, and the beginning of the 21st Century. The recent advancement of hardware technology has given researchers the opportunity to dig out the old papers, beat them off the dust, and re-imagine the utopian bright future, in which humans and machines become alike.
The fields of AI and Data Science have been complementing one another for a long time. Yet, while AI still seems rather ephemeral and difficult to grasp (a bit like Virtual Reality), Data Science resembles Augmented Reality, in that it employs technology, but leaves the ultimate decision and interpretation to humans.
Machine Learning (or ML, for short) is just one of the techniques that both rely on, in order to make machines reason about large amounts of data, but by far not the only one.
If you are looking for a more cynical view of the difference between the three you can rather use this one:
AI is what brings the VC Money in.
is what brings the VC Money in. ML (a.k.a sophisticated brute-force) is what gets the job done. ML models are very limited to a given domain.
(a.k.a sophisticated brute-force) is what gets the job done. ML models are very limited to a given domain. DS is the craft of finding which ML model works for a particular case, and which doesn't.
Until next time!
Further Resources
The slides of my talk: | {
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Update: Friday, 6 p.m.
“The Hobbit” is now greenlit and will begin principal photography in February 2011, MGM, Warner Brothers, and New Line, have confirmed.
As TheWrap reported exclusively earlier Friday (below), Peter Jackson will direct the two-part film.
“Exploring Tolkien’s Middle-earth goes way beyond a normal film-making experience” Jackson said in a statement, "It’s an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama. We’re looking forward to re-entering this wondrous world with Gandalf and Bilbo — and our friends at New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers and MGM."
Earlier
EXCLUSIVE
'The Hobbit' has been greenlit and will start production in February, an individual close to the production has told TheWrap.
As TheWrap reported previously, Peter Jackson has agreed to direct the film in addition to producing and writing the two-part project.
In the agreement completed this week, Jackson's deal was finalized and MGM and Warner Brothers agreed to give the project its long-awaited greenlight.
The greenlight means that millions of global fans for the revered J.R.R. Tolkien property can look forward to a prequel to ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ which was one of the most successful movie franchises in movie history.
Read also: "Faces of 'The Hobbit' Movie: Bilbo to Gandalf"
Jackson was already on board to write and produce "The Hobbit." But because of financial turmoil at MGM, which owns half of the franchise together with Warners' New Line Cinema, the project became one of the most torturous in Hollywood history.
Sets have already been built in New Zealand, and actors – including Sir Ian McKellan – have been on hold for months.
Martin Freeman has been rumored to play Bilbo Baggins.
With the logjam finally broken, production will begin in February.
However, the individual said that labor issues related to the production have still not been resolved, and negotiations will continue with the Screen Actors Guild. The union flap involves whether the production would use Screen Actors Guild members or not.
About $30 million has already been spent on the project, the first part of which is scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 19, 2012.
But Warner Brothers was wary about moving ahead at the risk that an agreement with MGM may not hold up over time.
At MGM, the decision about greenlighting “The Hobbit,” a $400 million, back-to-back production of two films, has been hanging between CEO Stephen Cooper, owners-in-waiting Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum of Spyglass Productions and the creditors committee at MGM.
Spyglass has signed a letter of intent to give the production company 4-5 percent ownership of MGM in exchange for taking over the company’s management. That deal would entail a prepackaged bankruptcy, under the supervision of the judge and with the accord of the studio’s debtors and investors.
But just this week, takeover king Carl Icahn threw his weight behind an alternate plan, to have Lionsgate merge with MGM instead. Icahn owns 30% of Lionsgate, and about 10% of MGM's debt.
So that outcome remains in flux, with a vote pending by MGM debtholder on October 22. That may not happen at the appointed time, however, as many of MGM 100 creditors are asking for a 3-week delay on voting, so they can have time to weigh Lionsgate's 11th hour proposal. | {
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Helsingin Sanomissa oli vuoden alkupäivinä kaksi miestoimittajien kirjoittamaa juttua, joita en aluksi tahtonut uskoa vakavasti kirjoitetuiksi.
Toinen juttu käsitteli asevelvollisuutta ja toinen miestä, joka yritti tappaa vaimonsa. Jutuissa ymmärrettiin ja surkuteltiin miesparkoja, joilta oli viety "oma tila" ja "yksilön oikeudet".
Nuori toimittaja vertasi armeijaa palkattomaan pakkotyöhön, joka tuo "voimakkaita rajoituksia yksilön mahdollisuuksiin vaikuttaa omaan elämäänsä". "Oikeuksiin kajotaan erittäin järeästi, vaikka yhteiskuntamme rakentuu muuten yksilönvapauteen". Armeija on Suomen räikein miehiä sortava tasa-arvo-ongelma, toimittaja kirjoittaa.
Armeijaa ei tarvitse käydä, jos on psyykkisesti tai fyysisesti sairas. Nykyarmeija tarjoaa miehille apua, jopa hoivaa. Iso joukko tuhansista vuosittain palvelunsa keskeyttäneistä on kuitenkin terveitä lellipoikia, jotka eivät pysty nukkumaan muiden kanssa tai olemaan erossa äidistä.
Armeija tai sivari olisi viimeinen mahdollisuus kasvaa aikuiseksi, ymmärtää, että oikeuksien lisäksi ihmisellä on velvollisuuksia. Perusvelvollisuus on oppia huolehtimaan itsestään.
Liian moni nuorimies on kasvatettu paapomalla valittajaksi, itsekkääksi viihteen suurkuluttajaksi, jolle arkielämä velvollisuuksineen on helvetti.
Moni asettaa itselleen epärealistisia tavoitteita, pitää tulla rikkaaksi ja kuuluisaksi, kaikkien ihailemaksi sankariksi. Kun harhat haihtuvat, katoaa elämänhalu. Sairaseläkeläisten armeijat kasvavat.
Toisessa koko sivun jutussa kerrottiin nelikymppisestä keskiluokkaisesta Petristä, joka "nauraa herkästi, pistää illalla tulen takkaan ja katsoo tv-sarjoja". Tylsä arki ja melko tuore avioliitto alkoivat ahdistaa Petriä ja "elämästä katosi rentous".
Petri alkoi "kuormittua henkisesti", tuntui, "ettei hänellä ollut omaa tilaa". Miehen ja vaimon välissä oli suuri ongelma, vauva, jota vaimo hoiti ja syötti kaavamaisen päivärytmin mukaisesti, vaikka mies vaati "rennompaa menoa".
Mies teki kovasti töitä ja vaimo jäi hoitovapaalle. Seuraava lause mykistää: "Kaiken he tekivät ilman ulkopuolista apua".
Ajatella, kaksi nelikymppistä ja vauva takkatulen loimussa, aivan yksin! Missä viranomaisapu viipyi! Sanallakaan ei puhuta isyyden ilosta, ei oman lapsen tuomasta onnesta.
"Normimukava elämä" ei peittänyt enää Petrin ahdistusta, vaan hän yritti tappaa yöllä vaimonsa. Pitkän kamppailun jälkeen nainen selvisi. Hän heitti miehen ulos kodista, petivaatteet Petri sai mukaansa - Ikean kassissa. Voiko miestä pahemmin nöyryyttää tappoyrityksen jälkeen! Eikö edes Stockmannin tai Finnairin kassia löytynyt? Nainenhan oli säälimätön peto!
Toimittaja kertoo tunteellisesti miesparasta, joka joutui asumaan kaveriensa nurkissa, kunnes vaimo otti hänet takaisin.
Luonnevikainen olisi tarvinnut ajoissa hoitoa.
Miksi "normielämä" on niin monelle ylivoimaista?
Suomen pahin kestävyysvaje ei ole valtiontaloudessa, vaan aikuisten vauvojen korvien välissä. Eivät he tyhjästä ole syntyneet, olemme kasvattaneet heidät sellaisiksi.
Kari Uusikylä
Kirjoittaja on kasvatustieteen emeritusprofessori | {
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The fields around Grabova and Debaltseve became the focus of international attention as the crash site of Flight MH17. But along the roads leading to the villages are reminders, on the scarred landscape, of another casualty of Ukraine’s civil war which will have a huge impact in the coming months – the coal mines that have been closed down.
Read the story here. | {
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This evening, each of the three broadcast networks aired interviews they did today with vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan. Given the widespread criticism of Ryan's speech to the Republican national convention last night, you would expect the networks to use the opportunity to press Ryan on his many false and misleading attacks on President Obama identified by multiple fact-checking sites and news outlets. NBC and CBS did just that. ABC's Diane Sawyer, however, didn't ask about the speech at all, opting instead to quiz Ryan about childhood photos of himself, get his thoughts on the convention's national debt clock, and discuss his dislike of raisins.
Here's Sawyer's interview with Ryan. She did ask Ryan whether the campaign would offer more specifics on Romney's tax proposal, but the question was sandwiched between several layers of fluff.
By way of contrast, here's the portion of CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley's interview that aired tonight. In it, Pelley pressed Ryan on his claim last night that President Obama was responsible for the downgrading of the U.S. credit rating, noting that Standard & Poor's, the agency that issued the downgrade, laid blame at the feet of Congressional Republicans. | {
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Tillis and his bill’s 17 GOP co-sponsors want badly to look like pioneers on the issue, after Democrats effectively attacked them over preexisting conditions in last year’s elections.
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But that's a hard image to craft as Democrats already blazed that trail back in 2010 when they passed the health-care law.
“Now everyone — Republicans and Democrats — say they support a framework where everyone with a preexisting health condition would be protected,” Kathleen Sebelius, who was Health and Human Services secretary at the time, told me yesterday. “That was not the case prior to the ACA.”
“People talk about that as if that has always been the situation,” Sebelius added. “It couldn’t be further from the truth.”
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Before the ACA, Americans buying insurance on their own without the help of an employer were often rejected by health insurers if they were deemed too risky or expensive to cover. This included people with conditions like diabetes, cancer, heart disease or anything that would make them a less-than-ideal customer.
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“I … have watched people be turned down,” said Sebelius, who served as Kansas’s insurance commissioner from 1995 to 2003. “Today, that is almost a given, the thought that health-care is more a right than a privilege and should be accessible to everyone in the United States.”
Case in point: The country’s four largest for-profit health insurers — Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint — denied coverage to more than 651,000 people over a three-year period due to preexisting conditions, according to a congressional investigation released in October 2010 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Democrats writing the ACA insisted that guaranteeing coverage to everyone must be a core component of health reform. Republicans held mixed opinions on the topic — but an alternative bill offered by House Republicans at the time did not explicitly prohibit insurers from denying coverage to people because of preexisting conditions, instead setting up high-risk pools for such patients. An alternative bill from Senate Republicans did include the protection.
Nine years after the health-care law was passed, it’s inconceivable that any politician would publicly admit they don’t support preexisting condition protections. The ACA has ensconced these protections in the country’s health insurance system, forcing Republicans to jump on board after the fact.
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The issue has been a top political topic over the past year because of the Trump administration’s refusal to defend the health-care law in a lawsuit aiming to knock down the entire health-care law — including its preexisting condition protections. That has put Republicans in a precarious position, walking a fine line between supporting the president while insisting they support that popular part of the ACA.
President Trump, despite directing his Justice Department to oppose the ACA and its consumer protections, tweeted this last year:
Some Republicans in last year’s races even cast themselves as the originators of preexisting conditions protections, neglecting to mention those protections are already guaranteed via the ACA. An ad run by Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) claimed she was “leading the fight…to force insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions.”
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ACA supporters charge that Tillis’s measure is little more than a way for Republicans to defend themselves from Democratic attacks that they would dismantle preexisting condition protections if given the chance.
“It is simply a piece of political CYA for Republican senators who are up,” said Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic operative who now directs the group Protect Our Care. “The law on the books is what Americans need to protect themselves with preexisting conditions.”
AHH, OOF and OUCH
AHH: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has signed one of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country, a "heartbeat bill" that prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, or as early as six weeks into a pregnancy -- and puts prison time on the table for doctors who perform them after.
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“The signing of this bill today is consistent with that respect for life and the imperative to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” DeWine said while speaking at the Ohio Statehouse before he signed the bill, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Jessie Balmert reports.
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The state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed the bill earlier this week. Soon after DeWine's signing, abortion rights activists including the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio vowed to take the measure to court. DeWine’s predecessor, Republican Gov. John Kasich, twice vetoed the heartbeat bill.
"Under the bill, doctors would face a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison for performing an abortion after detecting a heartbeat,” Jessie writes. “The bill has an exception to save the life of the woman but no exception for rape or incest – in line with current state law.”
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From the ACLU and its Ohio chapter:
A statement praising the governor, from antiabortion group Ohio Right to Life, via health reporter Lauren Lindstrom:
— Our Post colleague Katie Mettler writes about how states are continuing to introduce and pass their own “heartbeat bills,” even as lower courts have ruled them unconstitutional and as the Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal.
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“We know that the pro-abortion forces are going to sue, and that’s part of the process,” Lori Viars, an antiabortion activist in Ohio, told Katie. “We want this bill to go to the Supreme Court. It was written for this purpose.”
“Though lawmakers have been introducing six-week abortion bans for years, it has taken nearly a decade of failed attempts for the movement to build the kind of momentum it has seen in the early months of 2019,” Katie adds. State-level abortion restrictions have been introduced in droves, as advocates on both sides are questioning the fate of Roe v. Wade after Trump appointed two conservative justices to the Supreme Court.
OOF: Amid a serious measles outbreak in New York, the city’s efforts to combat the crisis are involving New York’s Hasidic Jewish community, members of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar sect known for their strict religious and cultural traditions, our Post colleagues Lenny Bernstein, Lena H. Sun and Gabrielle Paluch report.
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“[T]he refusal of some parents to vaccinate their children — a decision not based on any religious proscription — and a resulting measles outbreak have brought public health authorities to their doorsteps in a collision of cultures that could turn messy,” they write.
This week, the city sent more than a dozen “disease detectives” into the community to conduct interviews with people who may have been exposed to measles and to check immunization records of those they had contact with. Health Department spokeswoman Marcy Miranda said there are 1,800 unvaccinated Orthodox Jewish students with religious exemptions in the four Zip codes the city has targeted.
“In Williamsburg, the attention is becoming a sore spot for some in a community that would rather be left alone,” our colleagues write. David Oberlander, principal of a yeshiva where measles was discovered in the outbreak, insisted “ninety-seven percent of our students and family are vaccinated.” But John Marshall, chairman of emergency medicine at Maimonides Medical Center in the area said it “certainly can’t be 98 or 99 percent. If there were 90 percent of people immunized in the community, it wouldn’t be spreading.”
OUCH: At the peak of the opioid crisis, sales representatives from Purdue Pharma swarmed the state of New York, making half a million visits to doctors and pharmacies between 2006 and 2017 to promote the company’s painkillers, including OxyContin, the New York Times’s William K. Rashbaum, Roni Caryn Rabin and Danny Hakim report.
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The details of such sales tactics were disclosed in court documents filed yesterday by the state’s Attorney General Letitia James in a lawsuit against opioid makers, distributors and several members of the family that owns Purdue.
The disclosures also revealed Purdue employees were aware as early as 1999 just how much patients were abusing OxyContin, and also knew and shared internal emails about the methods used to abuse the drug.
“In a statement, Purdue Pharma said the new court filing ‘contains factual errors and gross distortions and misrepresentations based on highly selective excerpting of language from tens of millions of documents. The complaint is designed to publicly vilify Purdue and its former directors,’” William, Roni and Danny write, adding the new court filing also reveals Purdue wasn’t the only drugmaker with a similar sales strategy.
A supervisor at another company, Ireland-based Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals that manufactures branded and generic opioids, called on his sales staff to “ATTACK,” the filing finds, and told them “big bonus dollars” were available to representatives who waited at the doors of health care providers.
— A UnitedHealthcare executive’s remarks at an employee town hall sheds light on how the health insurer has been working to weaken support for Medicare-for-all.
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“One of the things you said: ‘We’re really quiet’ or ‘It seems like we’re quiet.’ Um, we’ve done a lot more than you would think,” chief executive Steve Nelson said in response to a question about the company’s efforts in the Medicare-for-all debate, according to a video of his remarks obtained by our Post colleague Jeff Stein. “You want to be kind of thoughtful about how you show up and have these kind of conversations, because the last thing you want to do is become the poster child during the presidential campaign."
As we've written frequently in Health 202, there's a larger push from the health care industry to block Medicare-for-all proposals that could put private insurance companies out of business and reduce payments to providers. “Wary of bringing unwanted political controversy to their companies, some private health-care firms have in part relied on advocacy groups and lobbyists in their fight against Medicare-for-all — joining the push without leaving too many company-specific fingerprints,” Jeff writes.
HEALTH ON THE HILL
— Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the panel’s top Democrat Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are calling on the Health and Human Services’ internal watchdog to probe a pricing practice by pharmacy benefit managers known as spread pricing.
In the letter to HHS’s inspector general, the senators specifically cited concern about “inappropriate profiteering and potential anti-competitive practices in state Medicaid programs.”
The letter refers to reports about PBM profits related to such practices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. “Given the potential vulnerabilities created as a result of opaque drug pricing practices employed by entities like PBMs, we believe additional transparency and oversight in this space is warranted,” they write. “We request your office conduct a federal-level analysis of PBM practices across state Medicaid programs, including practices that may allow for inappropriate profiteering and potential anti-competitive practices in state Medicaid programs.”
The letter follows the committee’s third hearing on prescription drug prices during which they grilled PBM executives over concerns about transparency and pricing practices, including so-called spread pricing.
— The maternal health crisis in the United States has reached the 2020 presidential campaign, as multiple Democratic contenders have embraced plans to address healthcare access as well as the racial gap in the treatment of white and black women, the Los Angeles Times’s Melanie Mason writes.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has proposed providing federal funding to train medical providers about how racial prejudice impacts health care. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) proposed a measure to expand Medicaid coverage to include pregnant women, a measure candidates and Sens. Harris and Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have co-sponsored.
Booker has said maternal health “is an issue of access, but it’s also about correcting for the racial disparities that we see baked within significant systems of our country.”
“There are humanitarian reasons for the surging interest in a long-standing problem. But there are also political considerations,” Melanie writes, adding that black women are a key Democratic voting bloc.
MEDICAL MISSIVES
— The full results of NASA’s “twins study” found astronaut Scott Kelly experienced numerous physiological and chromosomal changes during the almost year he spent on the International Space Station in low Earth orbit, compared with his identical twin brother who stayed on Earth.
“His immune system went on high alert, both when he went to space and upon returning to Earth,” our Post colleague Joel Achenbach reports. “His body acted as if it were under attack.”
The researchers said the study found no health consequences so severe that it would hinder a human mission to Mars, or other long-term mission, Joel writes. But it suggested the human body, adapted for life on Earth, “goes haywire in zero gravity.”
Scott Kelly told Joel when he landed back on Earth, he dealt with flulike symptoms and felt bad for weeks, which altered his cognitive performance. “Imagine going to take the SATs when you have the flu. You probably wouldn’t do as well,” Kelly said.
During a teleconference yesterday, Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut married to former congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D) who is running for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Arizona, praised his twin: “As a citizen of our country, not just as his twin brother, I appreciate the sacrifice he took to spend a year in space.”
— And here are a few more good reads:
AGENCY ALERT
STATE SCAN
OPIOID OPTICS
INDUSTRY RX
DAYBOOK
Today
Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission holds a public meeting
SUGAR RUSH | {
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FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Reports of a planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are not true, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
There are currently no plans for such a meeting, he said. | {
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It’s 2013. I live in Canada. I teach Irish Studies and love that I can talk and think and write about my wonderful, yet complicated, country for a living. I am on a plane back to Ireland where I have been invited to give a talk based on my research. This is a big deal. I am excited and terrified. My period is late.
In the plane bathroom I notice that there is a little bit of blood. This is a huge relief. Back in my seat I feel untethered, loosened from the skein of worry that had been tightening around my muscles. I ask for a glass of wine and search through the movies for something mindless. I try to sleep. I can’t. I stare out the window into the blackness. I think about home, seeing everyone, how it will feel. Going home is always a bit fraught - excitement, guilt, and loneliness all jostling for attention.
In the Paris airport bathroom the tampon is bloodless. I freeze, replacing it anyway - travelling and flying always make everything a bit erratic, I convince myself. The altitude confused my body, my womb needs dry land and a secure geography. That is all. I do not think about what the secure geography of Ireland will mean if blood doesn’t come.
In Dublin I stay with a friend who is seven months pregnant and delighted to be. In her bathroom I remove another bloodless tampon and concentrate on the cramps that stab through my stomach. I’m sure that cramps will lead to blood one way or another.
It’s hard to disentangle jet lag from the exhaustion that drags at my bones, difficult to decipher the spasms that jag between my hips, the feeling that my insides are being dragged into the earth. The nausea could be a hangover. There is a persistent tugging at the centre of me as if something is trying to hook on. I try to work out if I’ve felt it every month. In any case, I decide to ignore everything until after my friend’s wedding. I can be good at denial. Wine helps.
On the phone from New York, a friend is reassuring, as she always is.
- Cramps are definitely a good sign. It’s just delayed. Don’t worry pet. There’s no way you could be. One night?! It’s really not that easy.
I feel terrible for airing my worries to her - she has been trying to get pregnant for two years now. The disappointment is starting to wear her down. My fear would be a miracle for her.
I go to the wedding. It is a slight blur. I drink. Wine and endless martinis, that all seem like incredibly good ideas at the time, each one a revelation. I dance, throwing myself across the floor, making best friends with everyone in the room. I am good at this. Parties. New people. Making the dance floor my home. But I can’t shake the murmurs from the back of my head that my breasts are bigger, and tender, and that my mid-section feels like it’s on loud speaker, announcing itself through my dress.
The hangover is brutal and I have forgotten to pack any kind of pants so I wear my pyjama bottoms to breakfast. I feel the need to explain this to everyone. I have an insatiable thirst for orange juice. The hangover is trying to kill me. I don’t have the energy to be embarrassed by my pyjamas any more. I don’t care what the taxi driver thinks. All I need is to crawl into bed.
The next day I buy a test. I avoid the ones with smiley faces. I skip over the ones with the blue lines. I need the word itself, I need to see the letters spelling it out:
Pregnant
2-3 weeks.
I only need one test to convince me. It seems inevitable and utterly impossible. I am instantly nauseous.
The weirdness of my body makes immediate sense. It is almost as if my body had always known. I had woken in a dead panic a few weeks ago, propelled out of bed to stare at myself in the mirror, convinced in the half-asleep surety that I am 5 months pregnant (instead of just having conceived - which is much more logical, and true). I had scanned Google for confirmation that you could bleed and still be pregnant, which, of course, Google provides in numerous hysterical forums.
I am amazed at the way your body could know and think and remember but that your consciousness would only understand part of the story. It was as if they spoke slightly different languages or that one wasn’t the best listener. How can knowing and not knowing something overlap so completely?
The sudden alignment of these knowledges makes me surprisingly calm. And the decision is clear. I had always thought that this would be a difficult, emotional, and conflicted moment. I had broken up with my long-term boyfriend because he didn’t want children and I did. But my thought process is simple - this is not going to happen. I am not doing this on my own at this point in time. I am not involving someone who lives far away. It would be unfair. Going through with this would make everything unnecessarily difficult. Meeting someone. Work. Life. I am not ready to do this alone.
Decision made. Clear. Certain. No vacillation. Easy.
Not easy. I am home. I am in Ireland. I am here for a month. Ireland doesn’t believe in abortion. Ireland believes in the foetus. Abortion is illegal. It is unconstitutional.
And not only that, it is all over the news. On every radio station, on every Irish TV station, people are having ludicrous conversations on the subject. This will become the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act (which allows an abortion if there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother, including suicide). The debates are mind-numbing - how many professionals need to assess her, what constitutes risk to life - and mainly highlights how little the state trusts women. The debates make me feel insane. I walk out of rooms a lot. I am not suicidal but forcing me to continue with this pregnancy will not be good for my mental health. My life is not at risk but I still deserve to choose what happens to my body.
I need to decide if I travel to England and get it over and done with, or, wait out the month and have it done back in Canada. This current geography would pin my womb to the land.
My friend is amazing. She tells me her miscarriage wasn’t a miscarriage. The pregnancy was not viable. But because she lives in Ireland, and Ireland worships the foetal heartbeat, the doctors tell her that she will just have to wait. To let things happen naturally. It could take weeks, months. Her doctor gives her information about abortion options in England. The Irish health system is done with her. She is alone.
She travelled to Liverpool with her mother, she tells me, back and forth in one day. The return journey is horrendous, she says. Dizzy and bleeding in an airport queue.
I remember a trip to Liverpool a few years ago, to visit a friend. We eat and drink our way up and down Lark Lane. Towards the end of the night a group of incredible local women adopt us. When they hear our accents they tell us about the Irish women who came to Liverpool by ferry for their abortions. “We used to call them the empties”, they say, “when they were on their way back.”
My friend gives me all the information. I sit on the bottom step of the stairs her house, staring at the stained glass in her front door, and dial the number of the clinic in Liverpool. The voice on the other end is kind yet business-like. She asks me a series of questions. Tells me that I am 5 weeks pregnant - explains that it’s dated from your last period, which seems odd to me. But I am now in a world where nothing makes sense. When she asks for my address, there is a slight pause. She explains that there is a separate price list for Irish women. They recognise that we have extra costs so there is a reduced rate. I try not to cry. England doesn’t need to care about us. I concentrate on breathing, listening to kids shrieking on the street outside. I explain that I live in Canada, that it will be covered by my healthcare card, but I would have to wait a month. I love her calmness. The matter-of-factness. She has been through this a million times. Has talked to girls like me before. Nothing shocks her. She thinks that I can wait. The pregnancy will still be very early. I won’t have to travel after the procedure. I can return to the comfort of my own bed. I won’t have to explain anything to anyone. I won’t have to postpone the paper I am scheduled to give. I am slightly relieved with this decision. The thought of booking a flight, finding someone to go with, travelling, all seem like too much. I am lucky. I have other options. Canada will look after me.
But now I have to be pregnant for a month.
My friend and I are sickly pregnant together. We sit together nauseously on her sofa, eating toast and Tracker bars, and watching the entire first season of The Killing. I don’t know what I would do without her. I hide from everyone.
I am fascinated by my body. Everything smells different. My appetites have completely altered. It’s as if a switch has been flicked and everything has been rewired. Alcohol makes me gag, especially wine. Beer is almost tolerable because I am always thirsty. I really can’t drink enough orange juice. I pee all the time. Even my pee smells different. Dense or complicated. If I don’t eat regularly I am nauseous, and I am almost always nauseous. White bread is my saviour, toast is a miracle. I can’t look at vegetables. I can’t even think about fish. I have never known tiredness like this.
The world divides into people I will tell and people I can’t. This isn’t necessarily a judgement on them, more a self-protection strategy. My family fall into this latter category but not because I think they are anti-choice. I just can’t deal with the emotions of telling them. It is too much, too scary. The people I do tell are wonderful.
I stand in front of 30 people at the symposium. I try not to puke. I listen with detached interest to my friend and another woman discuss their pregnancies over the coffee break. I know I won’t get that far so I smile and nod in wonder. I sneakily eat the stash of Tracker bars in my bag. Constant eating of food that I would normally avoid seems to be the key. I am craving a Big Mac - I have not eaten one in about ten years. My pants are already getting tight.
I can manage Dublin. I can hide in my friend’s house. I can talk to the few people I can talk to about this. I maintain a mode of wry humour about the whole thing. Except for when I want to scream at Ireland. Sometimes I want to cry. I want to be as far away as possible. I want my body back. I want to scratch at the walls. I want to be empty.
It gets difficult when I go home to see family. Nobody knows at home. I’ll just have to brave this one out. I’ll have to fool my mum although mums have a sixth sense when something is up. This will be hard.
I want to talk about abortion all the time and I want to ignore it. I am drawn to the demented radio coverage and I can’t bear it. I don’t want to tell my family but I want to know their opinions. So for this I am grateful to the constant debates about it on the news. Mum is a physiotherapist and is practical and medical about it. I wonder how she would feel if she knew my plan. I think she would be ok - I feel sure that had this happened to us in our teens she would have shepherded us to England. She wanted more for us. But now I’m in my thirties. And mum wants grandkids. So I don’t want to worry her. Or complicate her hopes for my future.
She is delighted that I am home. She proudly presents a Jamie Oliver fish bake to me for my first meal. Even the thought of fish is making me gag. I pick around the edges. She notices. She wonders if I have a bladder infection because I pee even more than usual - and usual is a lot at the best of times. She watches me from the side of her eye when I say, “No, I don’t really want a glass of wine. I think I’ll go to bed before you. Jet lag.” I promise to go to the doctor about the bladder infection when I go back.
A member of my extended family is a pro-lifer. She has been campaigning. We go to visit her. My mum and sister are adept at changing the subject. A part of me wants to have this out. I want her to know that this person sitting in her kitchen, drinking her tea, has been failed by people like her. That I’m unnecessarily forced to be pregnant for a month. That my case isn’t even that traumatic. I have not been raped. My life is not under threat. I am not being forced to carry a foetus with a fatal abnormality. I’m having a termination and it will be the best thing for me. And there will be no guilt. No shame. But, of course, I drink my tea and smile blandly at her religion because she is family. I wonder if she would do the same for me, knowing my decision. Inside I’m screaming.
I remember going to the doctor for a morning-after pill in my early 20s, while at university. I remember the barrage of questions about my sexual life, I remember the judgement. I especially remember the female doctor, hesitant to prescribe the pill, asking, “Would you not just take a chance?” “No,” I reply. “No, I will not take a chance. Because if the chance goes wrong, the consequences are too big.” I have always worried about the other girls she might have said this to.
I fly back to Canada after a month of enduring this pregnancy and the abortion debates. I have never been more glad to see the back of Ireland. My abortion is scheduled for the day after I arrive. I go on my own, which is fine. The waiting room is quiet. No one speaks to each other. There is another woman about my age and two younger girls, one of whom is clearly the friend. A young couple come in but there is some complication about their healthcare. They leave. I worry about them.
Everyone in the clinic is lovely. The counsellor that I have to speak to is kind and non-judgemental. She runs through a questionnaire. I am brought into the surgery. It is bright and clean. The doctor is also kind and non-judgemental. I lie on the surgical table, thick with nerves and anticipated relief. There is a map on the ceiling. I feel thankful to the clinic for providing something to look at, even if it mainly makes me look at my small, conservative island whose geography is such a prison.
I worry that I will see the scan. But it is turned away from my view. The doctor tells me I’m 8 weeks pregnant. The nurse administers laughing gas and an intravenous painkiller. Laughing gas is miraculous. I feel nothing. I can hardly remember being escorted to a recovery bed but the bed feels wonderful, until it doesn’t anymore. They give me a cookie and some orange juice. A friend has taken some time off work to collect me - you cannot leave alone. I have left the clinic a bit too early and can’t stand for too long without feeling faint. My friend drops me at a pharmacy. I can’t stand long enough to receive the instructions from the pharmacist. She is strangely unconcerned about my dizziness. The 5-minute walk home takes a long time. But I mainly feel relieved. I do not have to endure airports or check-in queues or travelling. I am lucky.
It is more recovery than I expected. I sleep a lot. I have never been happier to see blood in the toilet. I am fascinated by the blood, its volume, its consistency. The blood is beautiful. It means that this is over. Each clot is a reminder.
I miss my Irish friends. The ones I’ve told understand what having an abortion means in the Irish context. It means, as Tara Flynn wrote, that you don’t talk about it, that you can’t even tell your amazing mother or your amazing family. This landscape of silence and stigma has distanced me from my family and I am not ok with that.
I tell people instead that I have bad jet lag or a bad cold or that I’m vaguely sick. The clinic has given me a sheet of paper explaining my procedure to give to a doctor for a check up. This feels weird. I cannot bring myself to hand this paper to a doctor. The Irish taboo around abortion makes me uneasy to see it written in black and white even though I have no guilt or shame about it. I never go for a check up.
A few months later I find myself teaching Ireland’s reproductive history, which is a regular topic in my courses. I have never been objective about the illegality of abortion and I am always newly angry about the X-case, Savita, and all the other women who have been failed by Ireland’s system. In a horrible irony, the Savita news broke the same day I taught this subject in 2012. Now I try hard not to get emotional. I hold myself together. My Canadian students give me succour - they are always indignant and confused, angry and shocked when they learn that abortion is still illegal in Ireland. They make me feel supported even though they don’t realise how personal this is. My body has lived this history. My body has suffered this geography.
A year later, abortion is all over the news in Ireland again. A suicidal pregnant asylum seeker is forced to have an early C-section as the state refuses her a termination. My reactions to this seem a bit exaggerated. I can’t stop crying.
Two years later I am on a plane home again. I am going home for Christmas. I am going home to meet my new niece for the first time. I am going home to tell my mother about my abortion because I am going to stand on the Abbey stage and tell the audience my story. I carry this annunciation with me through security, baggage claim, and customs. In the past few weeks I have told my sisters and my brother, siblings scattered all over the world. Their responses were all overwhelmingly positive. “We’re proud of you,” they say. “You have all our love and support.”
I don’t know why I couldn’t tell them. I do know why I didn’t tell them. Ireland.
My abortion was not remotely traumatic. But what was traumatic was the month I spent being unnecessarily pregnant in Ireland, feeling trapped and helpless, knowing that my country did not value me at all.
My abortion was absolutely the right decision for me. I have not regretted it for a second. My only regret is that I felt I couldn’t tell my family, ask for their support. Ireland made this impossible.
In one of the essays in her utterly necessary book Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit writes, “The story of Cassandra, the woman who told the truth but was not believed, is not nearly as embedded in our culture as that of the Boy Who Cried Wolf - that is, the boy who was believed the first few times he told the same lie. Perhaps it should be.” In Ireland, we need to listen to the Cassandras.
Hysteria, hysteric, hysterical - those words for Cassandra-like women, all come from the Greek word for uterus, a condition thought to be caused by wandering wombs. In Ireland we still have hysterics, wombs made to wander, women whose stories are not listened to, women who are shamed into silence.
Over 5000 women a year are forced to wander their wombs out of Ireland. In the past 20 years that’s over 100,000 women. My story, and the stories of the wonderful Roisin Ingle and Tara Flynn and the brave women who are starting to speak are just drops in that ocean, that vast wave of Cassandras. It’s time to listen.
Susan Cahill is an Assistant Professor in Irish Literature at the School of Irish Studies, Concordia University, Montreal. She tweets @scahill | {
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On Thursday morning, North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan. This is the second such missile launch in just over two weeks, and as with the previous one, it flew over the island of Hokkaido and landed in the Pacific.
These IRBM test launches have lead to public warnings to seek shelter in parts of Japan, and have fueled fear about the possibility of a war. Today’s launch went an estimated 800km further than the previous one, showing increasing range in their arsenal.
The IRBMs have a shorter range than North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the kind that could hit the US mainland. The ICBMs have been less reliable, however, and there are considerable doubts about North Korea’s ability to direct those missiles accurately.
The IRBM test launches speak volumes on North Korea’s confidence in those successfully flying over Japan, as it would be incredibly risky if there was a chance of failure that led a missile to crash onto Japanese soil. In both cases, the IRBMs went far beyond Japanese territory.
This is likely to prompt some more retaliation on the international scene, of course. South Korea attempted a “show of force” launch of their own missiles, only to have one fail. The US is demanding “direct action” from both China and Russia over the launch.
But with the US having just pushed new sanctions through at the UN days ago, there’s likely not much appetite to tack any more on for either China or Russia, both of whom are increasingly vocal in warning the sanctions and threats strategy the US is taking is not working, and are urging a new diplomatic tack. | {
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Soviet Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin, UK Ambassador Sir Patrick Dean, US Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and US President Lyndon B. Johnson at the signing of the Outer Space Treaty on January 27, 1967 in Washington. (credit: British Pathé The Outer Space Treaty at 50
There is an important anniversary happening later this month, which might be overlooked or even downplayed. Fifty years ago, on January 27, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty was opened for signature. As a successful undertaking in international diplomacy, and one that helped foster the global development of outer space as a realm of humankind’s activities, the importance of this event warrants reflection. Many experts in international law believe that the fundamental provisions of treaty are so well-observed and respected that they exist as an entirely different set of legal rules, outside of the textual treaty, as “customary” international law. At signing ceremonies in Moscow, London, and Washington, 62 countries participated in the political act of signing the Outer Space Treaty. Its full title bears repeating: Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. Rather than a treaty solely about space exploration and human spaceflight, the treaty was principally developed with international peace and security in mind. At the Washington signing event, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke about the security and non-armament aspects of the treaty and how it would help lessen the threat of conflict. 1 The Outer Space Treaty entered into force as a binding legal instrument between signatory states on October 10, 1967. Fifty years later, 104 states of the international political order are now parties to the Outer Space Treaty. These include major space powers like the US, Russia, China, Japan, and the European members of the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as emerging space powers like Brazil and India. States that merely use or benefit from space technologies and capabilities have also signed the treaty in order to avail themselves of its rights. Many experts in international law believe that the fundamental provisions of treaty are so well-observed and respected that they exist as an entirely different set of legal rules, outside of the textual treaty, as “customary” international law. 2 And, as customary international law, the Outer Space Treaty reflects rules that bind even those states who are not formal parties to the treaty itself. As a study in successful treaty-making within the UN system, and especially against the backdrop of Cold War geopolitics, the Outer Space Treaty is an excellent example of skilled diplomacy and negotiation for mutual benefit and for a peaceful outcome. And while the treaty was negotiated within the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), its development was largely a conversation between ideologically-opposed geopolitical rivals in Washington and Moscow, each offering and promoting their own draft treaties to the larger committee. 3 The diplomatic process that lead to the finalization of the treaty was one where the parties agreed to the governance framework for those activities they could mutually agree on, where they refrained from regulating activities where agreement could not be met, and where they remained silent on activities in space they either did not want to legislate on, or perhaps could not envision or anticipate. As a relatively short treaty of 17 articles, it’s also worth remembering that this is a treaty on “principles” (the word is even in the title), and is therefore clearly intended to be neither exhaustive nor comprehensive. Indeed, the subsequent UN treaties on space developed were envisioned to expand, refine, and clarify provisions of the Outer Space Treaty. Perhaps more importantly, and worthy of remembering in today’s still-challenging geopolitical environment, this process clearly shows the negotiating states being resourceful, creative, and pragmatic in their development of rules. It also required offering compromises that involved unique solutions to what must have seemed like intractable divides in worldview between the individualist and enterprising West and the collectivist and state-centric East. Will commercial companies be allowed in space? Many of the ideas in the Outer Space Treaty were adopted from either earlier treaties on newly accessed environments (e.g., the Antarctic Treaty of 1959) or treaties concerning new technologies (e.g., the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty). An earlier product of COPUOS, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 1962 “Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space” from December 1963, also contains provisions that later became articles of the Outer Space Treaty. Among these are the foundational principles of space law including the freedom of access to space, the non-appropriation of space and celestial bodies, the applicability of international law to space, and the direct international responsibility of states for their national activities. This principle, contained in Article VI of the Treaty, reflects a major compromise between the USSR and the US, and a unique innovation in international law. Here, at the dawn of the space era, one side wants to encourage the private sector, while the other wants to prohibit it outright. Could such a divergence in views be solved today? The American approach to space exploration envisioned that private commercial entities would play a crucial role in partnerships with governmental programs. As such, the American position was to allow for private entities to engage in space activities. However, the Soviet approach to international law stressed that states are the final and ultimate responsible entity, and therefore states should be the only actors in outer space (an international zone outside of state territory.) A Soviet draft even required “All activities of any kind pertaining to the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out solely and exclusively by States.” How many other times in the discussion between states would a difference in views as wide and fundamental as this simply result in deadlock? Here, at the dawn of the space era, one side wants to encourage the private sector, while the other wants to prohibit it outright. Could such a divergence in views be solved today? How was this issue solved in the Cold War climate of the 1960s? The negotiators were able to come to an ingenious compromise. The end result was that private enterprise was permitted in space, but the appropriate authorizing state is directly internationally responsible for this commercial (or otherwise non-governmental) activity. States have the affirmative obligation for “authorization and continuing supervision” of non-governmental entities in space and for ensuring their conformity with international law. Article VI of the treaty now reads: States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space…whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervisions by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty. This clever compromise allowed the Soviets to reaffirm the primacy of the role of states in outer space, while simultaneously allowing the Americans to develop a private commercial space sector. Why Treaties? Rather than discussing the other fundamental principles enshrined in the Outer Space Treaty, 4 in light of January 27 being the anniversary of the US offering its signature to a legally binding obligation on the international plane, it may be insightful to consider the usefulness of the treaty as a treaty. In other words, to consider the usefulness and advisability of a binding international legal instrument which explicitly creates rights and obligations, and why a sovereign state would intentionally seek to create and enter into agreements of this sort. The agreement contained in Article IV of the Outer Space Treaty reflects an agreement between the US and the USSR, as obligations restricting their freedom of action. Why would a state intentionally place a restriction on itself? As mentioned, many of the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty were borrowed from previous UN General Assembly resolutions. But as resolutions alone, these documents were non-binding and did not require states to alter their behavior. And while UN General Assembly resolutions are not normally law-making exercises, they do record the commonly-held expression of intentions by the states in the General Assembly, and make political recommendations to UNGA Members (or to the UN Security Council). UNGA Resolutions can also set priorities and mold opinion for inclusion in subsequent treaties. The prohibition on the placement of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in outer space or their installation on celestial bodies was taken from UNGA Resolution 1884 of 1963. The resolution: [s]olemnly calls upon all States… [t]o refrain from placing in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, installing such weapons on celestial bodies, or stationing such weapons in outer space in any other manner. This prohibition was transferred to the Outer Space Treaty, and thereby remade into international treaty law. As President Johnson pointed out in his recommendation to Congress to ratify the Outer Space Treaty, “the realms of space should forever remain realms of peace.” 5 He continued: We know the gains of cooperation. We know the losses of the failure to cooperate. If we fail now to apply the lessons we have learned, or even if we delay their application, we know that the advances into space may only mean adding a new dimension to warfare. If, however, we proceed along the orderly course of full cooperation we shall, by the very fact of cooperation, make the most substantial contribution toward perfecting peace. 6 The agreement contained in Article IV of the Outer Space Treaty reflects an agreement between the US and the USSR, as obligations restricting their freedom of action. Why would a state intentionally place a restriction on itself? Isn’t it better to merely keep outer space as unregulated as possible? Since there were only two states then capable of venturing into outer space, why did either state agree to rules governing its actions? It may seem counterintuitive, but the deeper rationale behind security arrangements like this is that the parties actually benefit in the long-term from placing mutual restrictions on their behavior. Agreeing to restrict your freedom of action has deep links to the usefulness or utility of law itself. Consider driving a car: in order to get a license, you agree to observe certain rules, and the license signals your obligation to obey these rules. However, sometimes adhering to those rules is not only inconvenient (such as stopping at stop signs when there’s nobody else at the intersection), it is also against your short term-interests (you have an appointment or will otherwise suffer from observing the rules.) Today, the current absence of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in outer space attests to the bargain struck in the Outer Space Treaty being a successful one, where security (and the liberty and freedom possible with security) were furthered by the mutual exchange of restrictions that states placed upon themselves. However, agreeing to operate within a system where your freedoms are sometimes restricted can have the effect of actually increasing your freedom over the long term. Wouldn’t you rather live in a state where traffic laws exist, and other drivers agree to observe them? Isn’t that system preferable to living in a state without traffic rules? Indeed, a system with traffic rules increases not just freedom in general, but overall safety and orderliness. Consequently, because the system with rules is preferable to the system without rules, your willingness to use the roads allows you to travel with greater security and ease. You are better assured of the likelihood that you will get to your intended destination without some other driver crashing into you. Knowing that safe travel is likely, you are more willing to take trips more often, and to farther destinations. Your freedom is actually increased over the long term because you are willing to suffer temporary, short-term restrictions such as inconvenient red lights. Long-term rationality warrants adherence to efficient systems of law. Correctly-balanced rules help increase long-term benefits (like safety and security) that would otherwise be unattainable without a system of rules. It is this rationale that also underpins international treaty-making. Today, the current absence of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in outer space attests to the bargain struck in the Outer Space Treaty being a successful one, where security (and the liberty and freedom possible with security) were furthered by the mutual exchange of restrictions that states placed upon themselves. The more than 50 years of peaceful uses of outer space, including cooperation between states who remain rivals elsewhere, are the rich long-term gains resulting from the Outer Space Treaty. Anniversary events in 2017 The occasion of Outer Space Treaty’s 50th anniversary across 2017 will likely be noted at various events around the world, including this summer at the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in Vienna, Austria. In recognition of the signing ceremony held in Washington, the American Society of International Law (ASIL)’s Space Law Interest Group will be hosting an event on Friday, January 27—50 years to the date of the signing ceremonies in Washington, London, and Moscow—at Georgetown University Law Center. Speakers and attendees will use the occasion to tell the US story at COPUOS, consider technical details such as treaty signature, ratification, and acceptance, how to understand and interpret the treaty, and will consider broader security-related issues related to outer space and international governance. Endnotes Lyndon B. Johnson: “Remarks at the Signing of the Treaty on Outer Space” Jan. 27, 1967. Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. See Francis Lyall and Paul B. Larsen, SPACE LAW - A TREATISE, pgs. 70–80, for an excellent discussion. The US draft, dated June 16, 1966, is UN Doc. A/AC.105/32. The Soviet draft, UN Doc. A/6352, also dated June 16, 1966. Briefly, these are the freedoms to access, explore, and use outer space (Art. I); the prohibition on national appropriation of outer space, including celestial bodies (Art. II); the application of general public international law to space (Art. III); the prohibition on the placement of weapons of mass destruction in outer space and on celestial bodies (Art. IV); the status of astronauts as “envoys of mankind” and the duty to render assistance to astronauts in distress (Art. V); international responsibility for national activities, including non-governmental activities in space (Art. VI); the duty of national authorization and continuing supervision of non-governmental entities in space (Art. VI); potential international liability for physical damage caused by launched space objects (Art. VII); national registration as the method to exercise jurisdiction and control (Art. VIII); obligations for cooperation, mutual assistance, due regard, and preventing the harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies (Art. IX); and additional duties regarding transparency and notification of national space activities. “Johnson Treaty on Outer Space” In CQ Almanac 1967, 23rd ed., 20-53-A-20-54-A. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1968. Ibid. Home
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