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Billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is reportedly willing to give Donald Trump as much as $100 million for his presidential campaign -- a purported record-setting amount for the wealth casino magnate.
Adelson pledged the amount to Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, during a meeting last week in New York, two GOP sources told The New York Times, which first reported the story.
Trump will indeed need the support. Much of the billionaire businessman’s success in the primary race came from his ability to fund his own campaign and tell voters that he is not beholden to corporate, Wall Street or lobbyists’ interests.
However, his own wealth and small-donor contributions would be no match for those of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic machine behind her if the front-running Clinton becomes Trump’s general election opponent.
Trump has since being declared the presumptive nominee on May 3 met with Washington Republicans to begin coordinating fundraising efforts for his general election bid and those of other Republican candidates on November ballots.
The Times reports that the Las Vegas-based Adelson’s commitment to Trump will result in Adelson scaling back his contributions to congressional Republicans, who are in a tough fight to keep control of the Senate.
Trump says he has already loaned his primary campaign $50 million and would need as much as a $1 billion for a White House bid.
Exactly how Adelson would contribute to Trump’s effort is unclear. But such a large sum would require him, after giving directly to the Trump campaign, to donate through a super PAC because they allow unlimited donations. (Trump so far has been outspoken about the amount of influence super PACs have in politics.)
In 2012, Adelson contributed at least $98 million to Republican efforts, according to a study by ProPublica cited by The Times. But that money went to 34 separate campaigns and groups.
Adelson publically endorsed Trump last week, after having backed Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s failed GOP primary bid. |
A former Arkansas police officer, who was fired after he exposed an undercover officer’s sex acts with a prostitute, has filed a lawsuit to get his job back.
A lawsuit filed in Sebastian County Circuit Court on Monday, which was obtained by KFSM, explains that former Fort Smith Police Department Sgt. Don Paul Bales received a photo of an affidavit in April of 2014 which indicated that an undercover officer with the Street Crimes Unit had engaged in misconduct.
According to the affidavit, the undercover officer — who was identified only as “J.B.” — had met a suspected prostitute through the Backpage.com website. He arranged to meet the woman at Season’s Inn motel in Fort Smith, and the two agreed on a rate of $150 an hour for her services.
The affidavit stated that the officer took off his clothes, and he allowed the woman to perform sex acts on him. The undercover officer then arrested the woman on suspicion of misdemeanor prostitution. The affidavit explained that the officer felt that it was necessary to take off his clothes and engage in sex acts “because he believed that such action was necessary to gather the proof needed to convict the person for violating the prostitution statute.”
Bales reported the conduct of the officer to his superiors, and turned over the photo of the affidavit to his lawyer. Following an investigation, Fort Smith Police Department Chief Kevin Lindsey determined that Bales had violated department policy by allowing his lawyer to see the name of the undercover officer on the affidavit.
However, Bales asserted that his communication with his lawyer was covered by attorney-client privilege. Although a copy of the affidavit was eventually published on the attorney’s blog, the identity of the undercover officer was redacted.
In all, the department said that Bales was fired for violating eight rules, including not being truthful, giving false testimony, revealing confidential information, releasing a confidential report and not respecting his superiors.
The department also found that the undercover officer acted in accordance with department policy when he took off his clothes and allowed the woman to perform sex acts on him before he arrested her. In fact, the department accused Bales of revealing police tactics, arguing that most people did not know that officers were allowed to get naked.
Bales’ firing has twice been upheld on appeal by the Fort Smith Civil Service Commission.
(h/t: Reason) |
THE HISTORY Of computers is often told as a history of objects, from the abacus to the Babbage engine up through the code-breaking machines of World War II. In fact, it is better understood as a history of ideas, mainly ideas that emerged from mathematical logic, an obscure and cult-like discipline that first developed in the 19th century. Mathematical logic was pioneered by philosopher-mathematicians, most notably George Boole and Gottlob Frege, who were themselves inspired by Leibniz’s dream of a universal “concept language,” and the ancient logical system of Aristotle. Listen to the audio version of this article: Feature stories, read aloud: download the Audm app for your iPhone.
Mathematical logic was initially considered a hopelessly abstract subject with no conceivable applications. As one computer scientist commented: “If, in 1901, a talented and sympathetic outsider had been called upon to survey the sciences and name the branch which would be least fruitful in [the] century ahead, his choice might well have settled upon mathematical logic.” And yet, it would provide the foundation for a field that would have more impact on the modern world than any other. The evolution of computer science from mathematical logic culminated in the 1930s, with two landmark papers: Claude Shannon’s “A Symbolic Analysis of Switching and Relay Circuits,” and Alan Turing’s “On Computable Numbers, With an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem.” In the history of computer science, Shannon and Turing are towering figures, but the importance of the philosophers and logicians who preceded them is frequently overlooked. A well-known history of computer science describes Shannon’s paper as “possibly the most important, and also the most noted, master’s thesis of the century.” Shannon wrote it as an electrical engineering student at MIT. His adviser, Vannevar Bush, built a prototype computer known as the Differential Analyzer that could rapidly calculate differential equations. The device was mostly mechanical, with subsystems controlled by electrical relays, which were organized in an ad hoc manner as there was not yet a systematic theory underlying circuit design. Shannon’s thesis topic came about when Bush recommended he try to discover such a theory. “Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about.” Shannon’s paper is in many ways a typical electrical-engineering paper, filled with equations and diagrams of electrical circuits. What is unusual is that the primary reference was a 90-year-old work of mathematical philosophy, George Boole’s The Laws of Thought.
Today, Boole’s name is well known to computer scientists (many programming languages have a basic data type called a Boolean), but in 1938 he was rarely read outside of philosophy departments. Shannon himself encountered Boole’s work in an undergraduate philosophy class. “It just happened that no one else was familiar with both fields at the same time,” he commented later. Boole is often described as a mathematician, but he saw himself as a philosopher, following in the footsteps of Aristotle. The Laws of Thought begins with a description of his goals, to investigate the fundamental laws of the operation of the human mind: The design of the following treatise is to investigate the fundamental laws of those operations of the mind by which reasoning is performed; to give expression to them in the symbolical language of a Calculus, and upon this foundation to establish the science of Logic ... and, finally, to collect ... some probable intimations concerning the nature and constitution of the human mind. He then pays tribute to Aristotle, the inventor of logic, and the primary influence on his own work: In its ancient and scholastic form, indeed, the subject of Logic stands almost exclusively associated with the great name of Aristotle. As it was presented to ancient Greece in the partly technical, partly metaphysical disquisitions of The Organon, such, with scarcely any essential change, it has continued to the present day. Trying to improve on the logical work of Aristotle was an intellectually daring move. Aristotle’s logic, presented in his six-part book The Organon, occupied a central place in the scholarly canon for more than 2,000 years. It was widely believed that Aristotle had written almost all there was to say on the topic. The great philosopher Immanuel Kant commented that, since Aristotle, logic had been “unable to take a single step forward, and therefore seems to all appearance to be finished and complete.”
Aristotle’s central observation was that arguments were valid or not based on their logical structure, independent of the non-logical words involved. The most famous argument schema he discussed is known as the syllogism: All men are mortal.
Socrates is a man.
Therefore, Socrates is mortal. You can replace “Socrates” with any other object, and “mortal” with any other predicate, and the argument remains valid. The validity of the argument is determined solely by the logical structure. The logical words — “all,” “is,” are,” and “therefore” — are doing all the work. Aristotle also defined a set of basic axioms from which he derived the rest of his logical system: An object is what it is (Law of Identity)
No statement can be both true and false (Law of Non-contradiction)
Every statement is either true or false (Law of the Excluded Middle) These axioms weren’t meant to describe how people actually think (that would be the realm of psychology), but how an idealized, perfectly rational person ought to think. Aristotle’s axiomatic method influenced an even more famous book, Euclid’s Elements, which is estimated to be second only to the Bible in the number of editions printed. Although ostensibly about geometry, the Elements became a standard textbook for teaching rigorous deductive reasoning. (Abraham Lincoln once said that he learned sound legal argumentation from studying Euclid.) In Euclid’s system, geometric ideas were represented as spatial diagrams. Geometry continued to be practiced this way until René Descartes, in the 1630s, showed that geometry could instead be represented as formulas. His Discourse on Method was the first mathematics text in the West to popularize what is now standard algebraic notation — x, y, z for variables, a, b, c for known quantities, and so on.
Descartes’s algebra allowed mathematicians to move beyond spatial intuitions to manipulate symbols using precisely defined formal rules. This shifted the dominant mode of mathematics from diagrams to formulas, leading to, among other things, the development of calculus, invented roughly 30 years after Descartes by, independently, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. Boole’s goal was to do for Aristotelean logic what Descartes had done for Euclidean geometry: free it from the limits of human intuition by giving it a precise algebraic notation. To give a simple example, when Aristotle wrote: All men are mortal. Boole replaced the words “men” and “mortal” with variables, and the logical words “all” and “are” with arithmetical operators: x = x * y Which could be interpreted as “Everything in the set x is also in the set y.” The Laws of Thought created a new scholarly field—mathematical logic—which in the following years became one of the most active areas of research for mathematicians and philosophers. Bertrand Russell called the Laws of Thought “the work in which pure mathematics was discovered.” Shannon’s insight was that Boole’s system could be mapped directly onto electrical circuits. At the time, electrical circuits had no systematic theory governing their design. Shannon realized that the right theory would be “exactly analogous to the calculus of propositions used in the symbolic study of logic.”
He showed the correspondence between electrical circuits and Boolean operations in a simple chart: This correspondence allowed computer scientists to import decades of work in logic and mathematics by Boole and subsequent logicians. In the second half of his paper, Shannon showed how Boolean logic could be used to create a circuit for adding two binary digits. By stringing these adder circuits together, arbitrarily complex arithmetical operations could be constructed. These circuits would become the basic building blocks of what are now known as arithmetical logic units, a key component in modern computers. Another way to characterize Shannon’s achievement is that he was first to distinguish between the logical and the physical layer of computers. (This distinction has become so fundamental to computer science that it might seem surprising to modern readers how insightful it was at the time—a reminder of the adage that “the philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.”) Since Shannon’s paper, a vast amount of progress has been made on the physical layer of computers, including the invention of the transistor in 1947 by William Shockley and his colleagues at Bell Labs. Transistors are dramatically improved versions of Shannon’s electrical relays — the best known way to physically encode Boolean operations. Over the next 70 years, the semiconductor industry packed more and more transistors into smaller spaces. A 2016 iPhone has about 3.3 billion transistors, each one a “relay switch” like those pictured in Shannon’s diagrams.
While Shannon showed how to map logic onto the physical world, Turing showed how to design computers in the language of mathematical logic. When Turing wrote his paper, in 1936, he was trying to solve “the decision problem,” first identified by the mathematician David Hilbert, who asked whether there was an algorithm that could determine whether an arbitrary mathematical statement is true or false. In contrast to Shannon’s paper, Turing’s paper is highly technical. Its primary historical significance lies not in its answer to the decision problem, but in the template for computer design it provided along the way. Turing was working in a tradition stretching back to Gottfried Leibniz, the philosophical giant who developed calculus independently of Newton. Among Leibniz’s many contributions to modern thought, one of the most intriguing was the idea of a new language he called the “universal characteristic” that, he imagined, could represent all possible mathematical and scientific knowledge. Inspired in part by the 13th-century religious philosopher Ramon Llull, Leibniz postulated that the language would be ideographic like Egyptian hieroglyphics, except characters would correspond to “atomic” concepts of math and science. He argued this language would give humankind an “instrument” that could enhance human reason “to a far greater extent than optical instruments” like the microscope and telescope.
He also imagined a machine that could process the language, which he called the calculus ratiocinator. If controversies were to arise, there would be no more need of disputation between two philosophers than between two accountants. For it would suffice to take their pencils in their hands, and say to each other: Calculemus—Let us calculate. Leibniz didn’t get the opportunity to develop his universal language or the corresponding machine (although he did invent a relatively simple calculating machine, the stepped reckoner). The first credible attempt to realize Leibniz’s dream came in 1879, when the German philosopher Gottlob Frege published his landmark logic treatise Begriffsschrift. Inspired by Boole’s attempt to improve Aristotle’s logic, Frege developed a much more advanced logical system. The logic taught in philosophy and computer-science classes today—first-order or predicate logic—is only a slight modification of Frege’s system. Frege is generally considered one of the most important philosophers of the 19th century. Among other things, he is credited with catalyzing what noted philosopher Richard Rorty called the “linguistic turn” in philosophy. As Enlightenment philosophy was obsessed with questions of knowledge, philosophy after Frege became obsessed with questions of language. His disciples included two of the most important philosophers of the 20th century—Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
The major innovation of Frege’s logic is that it much more accurately represented the logical structure of ordinary language. Among other things, Frege was the first to use quantifiers (“for every,” “there exists”) and to separate objects from predicates. He was also the first to develop what today are fundamental concepts in computer science like recursive functions and variables with scope and binding. Frege’s formal language — what he called his “concept-script” — is made up of meaningless symbols that are manipulated by well-defined rules. The language is only given meaning by an interpretation, which is specified separately (this distinction would later come to be called syntax versus semantics). This turned logic into what the eminent computer scientists Allan Newell and Herbert Simon called “the symbol game,” “played with meaningless tokens according to certain purely syntactic rules.” All meaning had been purged. One had a mechanical system about which various things could be proved. Thus progress was first made by walking away from all that seemed relevant to meaning and human symbols. As Bertrand Russell famously quipped: “Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.” An unexpected consequence of Frege’s work was the discovery of weaknesses in the foundations of mathematics. For example, Euclid’s Elements — considered the gold standard of logical rigor for thousands of years — turned out to be full of logical mistakes. Because Euclid used ordinary words like “line” and “point,” he — and centuries of readers — deceived themselves into making assumptions about sentences that contained those words. To give one relatively simple example, in ordinary usage, the word “line” implies that if you are given three distinct points on a line, one point must be between the other two. But when you define “line” using formal logic, it turns out “between-ness” also needs to be defined—something Euclid overlooked. Formal logic makes gaps like this easy to spot.
This realization created a crisis in the foundation of mathematics. If the Elements — the bible of mathematics — contained logical mistakes, what other fields of mathematics did too? What about sciences like physics that were built on top of mathematics? The good news is that the same logical methods used to uncover these errors could also be used to correct them. Mathematicians started rebuilding the foundations of mathematics from the bottom up. In 1889, Giuseppe Peano developed axioms for arithmetic, and in 1899, David Hilbert did the same for geometry. Hilbert also outlined a program to formalize the remainder of mathematics, with specific requirements that any such attempt should satisfy, including: Completeness: There should be a proof that all true mathematical statements can be proved in the formal system.
Decidability: There should be an algorithm for deciding the truth or falsity of any mathematical statement. (This is the “Entscheidungsproblem” or “decision problem” referenced in Turing’s paper.) Rebuilding mathematics in a way that satisfied these requirements became known as Hilbert’s program. Up through the 1930s, this was the focus of a core group of logicians including Hilbert, Russell, Kurt Gödel, John Von Neumann, Alonzo Church, and, of course, Alan Turing. “In science, novelty emerges only with difficulty.” Hilbert’s program proceeded on at least two fronts. On the first front, logicians created logical systems that tried to prove Hilbert’s requirements either satisfiable or not.
On the second front, mathematicians used logical concepts to rebuild classical mathematics. For example, Peano’s system for arithmetic starts with a simple function called the successor function which increases any number by one. He uses the successor function to recursively define addition, uses addition to recursively define multiplication, and so on, until all the operations of number theory are defined. He then uses those definitions, along with formal logic, to prove theorems about arithmetic. The historian Thomas Kuhn once observed that “in science, novelty emerges only with difficulty.” Logic in the era of Hilbert’s program was a tumultuous process of creation and destruction. One logician would build up an elaborate system and another would tear it down. The favored tool of destruction was the construction of self-referential, paradoxical statements that showed the axioms from which they were derived to be inconsistent. A simple form of this “liar’s paradox” is the sentence: This sentence is false. If it is true then it is false, and if it is false then it is true, leading to an endless loop of self-contradiction. Russell made the first notable use of the liar’s paradox in mathematical logic. He showed that Frege’s system allowed self-contradicting sets to be derived: Let R be the set of all sets that are not members of themselves. If R is not a member of itself, then its definition dictates that it must contain itself, and if it contains itself, then it contradicts its own definition as the set of all sets that are not members of themselves. This became known as Russell’s paradox and was seen as a serious flaw in Frege’s achievement. (Frege himself was shocked by this discovery. He replied to Russell: “Your discovery of the contradiction caused me the greatest surprise and, I would almost say, consternation, since it has shaken the basis on which I intended to build my arithmetic.”)
Russell and his colleague Alfred North Whitehead put forth the most ambitious attempt to complete Hilbert’s program with the Principia Mathematica, published in three volumes between 1910 and 1913. The Principia’s method was so detailed that it took over 300 pages to get to the proof that 1+1=2. Russell and Whitehead tried to resolve Frege’s paradox by introducing what they called type theory. The idea was to partition formal languages into multiple levels or types. Each level could make reference to levels below, but not to their own or higher levels. This resolved self-referential paradoxes by, in effect, banning self-reference. (This solution was not popular with logicians, but it did influence computer science — most modern computer languages have features inspired by type theory.) Self-referential paradoxes ultimately showed that Hilbert’s program could never be successful. The first blow came in 1931, when Gödel published his now famous incompleteness theorem, which proved that any consistent logical system powerful enough to encompass arithmetic must also contain statements that are true but cannot be proven to be true. (Gödel’s incompleteness theorem is one of the few logical results that has been broadly popularized, thanks to books like Gödel, Escher, Bach and The Emperor’s New Mind). The final blow came when Turing and Alonzo Church independently proved that no algorithm could exist that determined whether an arbitrary mathematical statement was true or false. (Church did this by inventing an entirely different system called the lambda calculus, which would later inspire computer languages like Lisp.) The answer to the decision problem was negative.
Turing’s key insight came in the first section of his famous 1936 paper, “On Computable Numbers, With an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem.” In order to rigorously formulate the decision problem (the “Entscheidungsproblem”), Turing first created a mathematical model of what it means to be a computer (today, machines that fit this model are known as “universal Turing machines”). As the logician Martin Davis describes it: Turing knew that an algorithm is typically specified by a list of rules that a person can follow in a precise mechanical manner, like a recipe in a cookbook. He was able to show that such a person could be limited to a few extremely simple basic actions without changing the final outcome of the computation. Then, by proving that no machine performing only those basic actions could determine whether or not a given proposed conclusion follows from given premises using Frege’s rules, he was able to conclude that no algorithm for the Entscheidungsproblem exists. As a byproduct, he found a mathematical model of an all-purpose computing machine. Next, Turing showed how a program could be stored inside a computer alongside the data upon which it operates. In today’s vocabulary, we’d say that he invented the “stored-program” architecture that underlies most modern computers: Before Turing, the general supposition was that in dealing with such machines the three categories — machine, program, and data — were entirely separate entities. The machine was a physical object; today we would call it hardware. The program was the plan for doing a computation, perhaps embodied in punched cards or connections of cables in a plugboard. Finally, the data was the numerical input. Turing’s universal machine showed that the distinctness of these three categories is an illusion. This was the first rigorous demonstration that any computing logic that could be encoded in hardware could also be encoded in software. The architecture Turing described was later dubbed the “Von Neumann architecture” — but modern historians generally agree it came from Turing, as, apparently, did Von Neumann himself.
Although, on a technical level, Hilbert’s program was a failure, the efforts along the way demonstrated that large swaths of mathematics could be constructed from logic. And after Shannon and Turing’s insights—showing the connections between electronics, logic and computing—it was now possible to export this new conceptual machinery over to computer design. During World War II, this theoretical work was put into practice, when government labs conscripted a number of elite logicians. Von Neumann joined the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos, where he worked on computer design to support physics research. In 1945, he wrote the specification of the EDVAC—the first stored-program, logic-based computer—which is generally considered the definitive source guide for modern computer design. Turing joined a secret unit at Bletchley Park, northwest of London, where he helped design computers that were instrumental in breaking German codes. His most enduring contribution to practical computer design was his specification of the ACE, or Automatic Computing Engine. As the first computers to be based on Boolean logic and stored-program architectures, the ACE and the EDVAC were similar in many ways. But they also had interesting differences, some of which foreshadowed modern debates in computer design. Von Neumann’s favored designs were similar to modern CISC (“complex”) processors, baking rich functionality into hardware. Turing’s design was more like modern RISC (“reduced”) processors, minimizing hardware complexity and pushing more work to software. |
June 3, 2008. It's an important date in American history.
On June 3, 2008, Sen. Barack Obama clinched enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.
On June 3, 2008, General Motors chief executive officer Rick Wagoner announced that, due to shifting consumer purchases, four of their auto plants would close by 2010 or "sooner if demand dictates." On his list was the SUV plant in Janesville, Wis.
On June 3, 2008, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said about that plant closure: "Growing up and living in Janesville, this is something we've always feared." The workers at Janesville expected this. As early as December 2007, GM had announced a production cutback, and by spring was offering employees buyouts.
On June 3, 2008, Obama, who had visited the plant earlier in the year, released this statement: "Today's news is a painful reminder not only of the challenges America faces in our global economy, but of George Bush's failed economic policies." He then proposed that we fund the automakers to retool their factories for the fuel-efficient cars that America was starting to purchase.
For Janesville though, Obama entered the White House too late.
Ryan certainly knows the actual history of the GM plant in Janesville.
More than four years later, on Aug. 16, campaigning as the VP pick of the party that would have let GM be liquidated, Ryan told a crowd, "One of the reasons that plant got shut down was $4 gasoline. You see, this costs jobs. The president's terrible energy policies are costing us jobs."
That was a lie. Ryan knows this. Obama's energy policies had nothing to do with the price of gas in 2008.
It didn't matter.
On Aug. 29, as Ryan accepted the nomination for vice president, he knowingly lied again to the entire nation:
"My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory. … Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: 'I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.' … Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day."
Candidate Obama was right. Eventually he saved that entire company and more than 1 million auto jobs. But he could not reverse a corporate decision made well before he took office.
Ryan knows this.
But for Ryan and the Romney campaign, the truth doesn't matter. Their campaign pollster admitted it: "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers," Neil Newhouse said this week.
That's painfully obvious. Fact checkers should take the weekend off after going through Ryan's lie-larded speech on Wednesday. Factcheck.org; PolitiFact; Glenn Kessler from the Washington Post — all must be exhausted from labeling as untrue the lies flowing from Ryan's mouth.
From the "We built it" quote that was deliberately taken out of context, to the continuing lie about welfare and spending, to the speeches from many candidates that contained some variation of all the above — this entire GOP convention has been one continuous lie.
But the display by Ryan was one for the record books.
The "we built it" theme lie. The Medicare lie. The Simpson-Bowles lie. The credit rating downgrade lie. The Janesville lie. Not to mention the "misleading" statements like that the Republicans would "protect the weak," when 62 percent of Ryan's budget cuts target poor families. Or that health care, not the economy, was the president's first order of business when the stimulus was passed first. Others have catalogued the lies ad nauseum.
My question is: Are the American people going to give Ryan's serial lying a pass? Is it okay to voters that the GOP vice presidential nominee delivered the speech well but his content was pure poison? Have we become so immune to lies that it's the new normal?
Please tell me no.
"We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead," Ryan promised Wednesday night. He mentioned leading and leadership eight times in his speech. But he'd better bone up on what leadership is all about. More than anything, "leadership" is about honesty.
The No. 1 quality people look for in leaders, James Kouzes and Barry Posner state in their iconic book, The Leadership Challenge, where they cite more than 40 years of extensive surveys across six continents, is honesty. People want to trust that their leaders will do what they say they will do. Of course we want to believe we will not be duped. Of course we want to be led honestly.
I couldn't help thinking that Wednesday night we have been sold a bill of goods by a slick-haired, earnest-looking, fast-talking salesman. Harold Hill, move over. Apologies to Meredith Willson of The Music Man fame, but if these guys win — we surely got trouble, my friends. Trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for Paul.
Jennifer Granholm is the former governor of Michigan, serving from 2003 to 2011. She is now host of "The War Room" on Current TV. She is also a visiting public policy and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
© 2012 Politico |
(NaturalNews) It turns out that there is another globalist player at the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiating table –– and if things go the industry's way, all competition will be crushed, and the world will be at its mercy.According to, which cited newly leaked annex documents, the Obama Administration is no longer seeking protection for Big Pharma prices under the 12-nation deal, folding to pressure and resistance from the industry and the other nations involved in the talks. At the same time, U.S. negotiators are pressing negotiating partners to open up the process that establishes reimbursement rates for drugs and medical devices.But the way the deal is being structured, the largest pharmaceutical firms will essentially be put in a position to destroy much of their competition, which is why public health officials, generic drug makers and others are opposing the deal. They "contend that it will empower big pharmaceutical firms to command higher reimbursement rates in the United States and abroad, at the expense of consumers," the paper reported, adding that the TPP could also expose international markets to direct-to-consumer advertising that Americans have suffered."It was very clear to everyone except the U.S. that the initial proposal wasn't about transparency; it was about getting market access for the pharmaceutical industry by giving them greater access to and influence over decision-making processes around pricing and reimbursement," Deborah Gleeson, a lecturer at the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University in Australia, who has seen the leaked document, told the. And despite the fact that it has been toned down somewhat, she still added, "I think it's a shame that the annex is still being considered at all for the T.P.P."Other opponents have said the Pharma annex, if allowed to stand, will permit Big Pharma giants – most of them based in the U.S. – to protect profits over the best interests of public health, especially in the poorest of countries where neither governments nor consumers can afford to pay what the West pays for medicines.The agreement "will increase the cost of medicines worldwide, starting with the 12 countries that are negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership," Judit Rius Sanjuan, a lawyer at Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian organization that provides medical care in more than 60 countries, told theBut none of that seems to matter to the industry, which is taking its typical fall-back position: "Weto charge outrageous prices for our medicines because of all the time and money it takes to develop them" (all while earning record profits and receiving funding from taxpayers).What's more, judging by the newly released annex, it appears as though U.S.-based Pharma companies are seeking to extend their monopolies around, so they can earn even more. After all, that's the keep people dependent on the industry for their "livelihood" as opposed to actually curing disease and alleviating suffering.And of course, the drive is being supported at all levels of the federal government, especially at the "regulatory agencies" in charge of "overseeing" Big Pharma. That would be the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, the former of which has gone to great lengths to bury data and obscure Big Pharma's misdeeds, and the latter of which punishes natural health advocates who champion alternative treatments for common ailments.But few want to speak publicly about this collusion and corruption, which, as stated by then-Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who was running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination at the time, was akin to being "in bed together.""The insurance companies and the drug companies, whether it's Democrats or Republicans reforming the medical care system, these corporations run the show," he said during a press conference . "You know, they support it, it's because the government doesn't take it over. It's the corporations that end up taking over. So, it's well intended but I think it always backfires on us and that the people we're wanting to regulate end up writing their own regulations."Now we have TPP, theexpansion of the Medical Mafia. |
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Nov. 11, 2015, 11:37 AM GMT / Updated Nov. 11, 2015, 1:29 PM GMT By Fazul Rahim
KABUL, Afghanistan — Thousands of angry protesters attempted to enter Afghanistan's presidential compound as a march over the brutal murders of seven minority Hazaras briefly turned violent.
Presidential palace guards fired in the air in an attempt to block protesters from entering the palace. Police told NBC News that two people had been injured, but Afghanistan's TOLO News reported eight people were wounded.
The protesters were demanding government action to halt sectarian violence following the beheadings of seven Hazaras by suspected ISIS-linked militants.
Broadcasts on Afghan TV showed protesters clambering on top of the walls of the compound and security forces with riot shields moving into position. Local broadcaster Ariana News later said Afghan police forces had cut its live feed from the scene.
The protest ramped up after the bodies of victims — three women, a child and four men — were carried through the streets of Kabul by thousands of angry demonstrators on Wednesday calling for justice and bearing grisly images of the dead. |
March 9, 2015
Twitter: @mattdesl
Drawing lines might not sound like rocket science, but it’s damn difficult to do well in OpenGL, particularly WebGL. Here I explore a few different techniques for 2D and 3D line rendering, and accompany each with a small canvas demo.
Source for demos can be found here:
https://github.com/mattdesl/webgl-lines
Line Primitives
WebGL includes support for lines with gl.LINES , gl.LINE_STRIP , and gl.LINE_LOOP . Sounds great, right? Not really. Here are just a few issues with that:
Drivers may implement the rendering/filtering slightly differently, and you may not get a consistent render across devices or browsers
The maximum line width is driver-dependent. Users running ANGLE, for example, will get a maximum of 1.0, which is pretty useless. On my new Yosemite machine, line width maxes out at about 10.
No control over line join or end cap styles
MSAA is not supported in all devices, and most browsers do not support it for off-screen buffers. You may end up with jagged lines
For dashed/dotted lines, glLineStipple has been deprecated and doesn’t exist in WebGL
In some demos, like the one above, gl.LINES might be acceptable, but in most cases it’s inadequate for production quality line rendering.
Triangulated Lines
A common alternative is to break a line into triangles or triangle strips, and then render them as regular geometry. This gives you the most control over the line, allowing for end caps, specific joins, unions (for overlapping transparent areas), and so forth. This can also lead to some more creative and interesting line rendering, as in the above demo.
A typical way of achieving this is to get the normals for each point along a path, and expand outwards by half the thickness on either side. For an implementation, see polyline-normals. The math behind the miter join is discussed here.
More advanced meshes may need to emit new geometries for end caps, bevel joins, feathering, and so forth. Handling these edge cases can get fairly complex, as you can see in Vaser C/C++ source.
For anti-aliasing, you have a few options:
hope that MSAA is supported and that you will never need the lines rendered to an off-screen buffer
add more triangles for the feathered edges of a stroke (as in this image)
use a texture lookup to gradate the alpha; very easy but does not scale well
in the fragment shader, compute the anti-aliasing based on the projected scale of the stroke in screen space
render prefiltered gl.LINES as a second pass, around the edge of your stroke
Note: a drawback that comes with miter-joined lines is sharp edges. When the angle connecting two segments is very sharp, the miter length grows exponentially toward infinity, and causes huge artifacts in rendering. In some applications this may not be a problem, in others you might want to limit the miter or fall back to another join (i.e. bevel) when the angle is too sharp.
The above Triangles demo uses extrude-polyline, a small work-in-progress module for building a triangulated mesh out of a 2D polyline. Eventually it aims to support round joins/caps and proper miter limiting.
Expanding in a Vertex Shader
Triangulation can add a fair amount of complexity to your code, and the mesh needs to be re-constructed when the stroke and join style changes. If you just want simple thick lines in WebGL, it can be a bit overkill.
This demo above expands the stroke in the vertex shader, where the thickness is a uniform. We submit two vertices for each point in our path, and pass the line normals and miter lengths as vertex attributes. Each pair has one normal (or miter) flipped, so that the two points are pushed away from the centre to form a thick line.
attribute vec2 position; attribute vec2 normal; attribute float miter; uniform mat4 projection; void main() { //push the point along its normal by half thickness vec2 p = position.xy + vec2(normal * thickness/2.0 * miter); gl_Position = projection * vec4(p, 0.0, 1.0); }
The inner stroke effect on the left (click the canvas to animate it) is created in the fragment shader using the signed distance from centre. We can also achieve line dashes, gradients, glows, and other effects by passing distanceAlongPath as another vertex attribute.
? For a ThreeJS implementation of this approach, including line dashes, see three-line-2d.
Screen-Space Projected Lines
The previous demo works well for 2D (orthographic) lines, but may not fit your design needs in 3D space. To give the line a constant thickness regardless of the 3D view, we need to expand the line after projecting it into screen space.
Like the last demo, we need to submit each point twice, with mirrored orientations so they are pushed away from each other. However, instead of computing the normal and miter length CPU-side, we do it in the vertex shader. To do this, we need to send along vertex attributes for the next and previous positions along the path.
In the vertex shader, we compute our join and extrusion in screen space to ensure the constant thickness. To work in screen space, we need to use the illusive homogeneous component, W . Also known as “perspective divide.” This gives us Normalized Device Coordinates (NDC), which lie in the range [-1, 1] . We then correct for aspect ratio before expanding our lines. We also do the same for previous and next positions along the path:
mat4 projViewModel = projection * view * model; //into clip space vec4 currentProjected = projViewModel * vec4(position, 1.0); //into NDC space [-1 .. 1] vec2 currentScreen = currentProjected.xy / currentProjected.w; //correct for aspect ratio (screenWidth / screenHeight) currentScreen.x *= aspect;
There are some edge cases that need to be handled for the first and last points in a path, but otherwise a simple segment might look like this:
//normal of line (B - A) vec2 dir = normalize(nextScreen - currentScreen); vec2 normal = vec2(-dir.y, dir.x); //extrude from center & correct aspect ratio normal *= thickness/2.0; normal.x /= aspect; //offset by the direction of this point in the pair (-1 or 1) vec4 offset = vec4(normal * direction, 0.0, 1.0); gl_Position = currentProjected + offset;
Notice there is no attempt to join two segments here. This approach is sometimes preferable to miter since it doesn’t deal with the problems of sharp edges. The twisting circle in the above demo is not using any miter joins.
On the other hand, the hourglass shape in the demo would look pinched and deformed without a miter join. For this, the vertex shader implements a basic miter join without any limiting.
We could make some slight variations to the math to achieve a different design. For example, using the Z component of the NDC to scale the thickness of the lines as they fall deeper into the scene. This would help give a greater sense of depth.
? For a ThreeJS implementation of this approach, see THREE.MeshLine by @thespite.
Other Approaches
As with most things in WebGL, there are a dozen ways to skin a cat. The above demos were implemented with rather low-level abstractions so you can get a sense of what is going on, and decide for yourself the most suitable approach for your next application. Some other approaches that might be viable:
Modules Used
The demos were composed of dozens of open source modules on npmjs.org. Some of the path-related modules:
Further Reading
3,837 Kudos |
WOAH! DUDE! Okay sorry my initial shock is gone. Alright just because your daughter has condoms in her purse does not mean she has a penis. It might mean she is sexually active or it means she considering being sexually active. But in either case she should be applauded because she is being careful and smart. Guys don't always have a condom and she is taking that into mind and being safe about it. I am very, very, very sure she does not have a penis. If you really want to know bring up the discussion of sex and have conversation about it. Once again I DOUBT she has a penis.
Source(s): I've had 5 years of Sex Ed. and I know A LOT about sex and the human body parts that have to deal with your question. Rachel B · 9 years ago 1 Thumbs up 0 Thumbs down Report Abuse |
Call it the Bannon Test: If Steve says you’re crossing a line, then you should absolutely take a step back and reconsider how you got to this point. This is exactly what happened when Trump made the snap decision to fire James Comey earlier this week. Bannon, and many others in the White House, told Trump to wait until a more opportune moment, but Trump, whose impulse control is somewhere between beagle and 5-year-old, couldn’t wait. He fired his FBI director and kicked up a shitstorm that could be an existential threat to his administration.
The Trump administration’s initial case for firing Comey—that he had badly mishandled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails—fell apart in less than twelve hours. Instead, it became clear that Trump was firing Comey because he did not like how Comey was handling the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. According to The New York Times, the decision to fire Comey was most likely made after the FBI director’s most recent stint before Congress:
Mr. Comey’s fate was sealed by his latest testimony about the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s efforts to sway the 2016 election and the Clinton email inquiry. Mr. Trump burned as he watched, convinced that Mr. Comey was grandstanding. He was particularly irked when Mr. Comey said he was “mildly nauseous” to think that his handling of the email case had influenced the election, which Mr. Trump took to demean his own role in history.
Trump appears to have fired Comey because he had simply grown tired of the Russia story undermining his presidency. He was reportedly furious when Russia once again reared its head, killing whatever momentum he had on the American Health Care Act.
Trump fired Comey to make the Russia investigation go away, but the irony is that he’s almost certainly made the situation much worse. The White House and the intelligence community are leaking like crazy. He’s in a full-fledged war with the FBI. Republicans in Congress are once again eyeing him warily, and may be forced to set up some sort of independent commission to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia. Even if there is no cover-up, the optics of firing the guy investigating you are insanely bad.
Trump insists that he has nothing to do with Russia and yet acts as if he has something incredibly damaging to hide. Before Comey was fired, Republicans in Congress seemed more than happy to run interference for Trump by turning the investigation into a referendum on the surveillance state. Trump has made that task infinitely more difficult. “I’m a very instinctual person, but my instinct turns out to be right,” Trump has said. But the master of instinctual politics keeps punching himself in the face. |
The defender returned from a thigh tear in November but has suffered another injury set-back that could rule him out for the remainder of the season
Injury-plagued Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber could be out for the rest of the season after fracturing his ankle in training on Saturday.
Badstuber has already undergone surgery on the injury and is expected to be ruled out of action for the next three months.
The Germany international's career has been blighted by a series of injury problems, having suffered cruciate ligament damage on two occasions.
Bad news: Holger @Badstuber fractured his ankle in training today. He's already undergone surgery and is out for 3 months. Get well soon! — FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) February 13, 2016
The 26-year-old only returned from a thigh tear which kept him out for more than six months last November, and the news is another bitter blow for the centre-back.
Badstuber has made seven Bundesliga appearances this season following his return and started the last four games for Pep Guardiola's team. |
Canada is falling behind the developed world in women's equality, as poverty rates climb for elderly single women and for single-parent families headed by women, says an internal report by Status of Women Canada.
According to the report, this country is in the bottom ranks in terms of the pay gap between men and women; support for child care and parental leave is well below average; the country registers 57th for gender equality in Parliament's elected members; and it lacks a national strategy to halt violence against women.
"Canada has no comprehensive national strategy to address violence against women, lagging behind several comparable countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand," says the draft document marked "secret."
The candid assessment, never intended for public release, is dated Feb. 10 this year and was ordered by the Privy Council Office to alert deputy ministers across many departments about issues facing women and girls in Canada.
A copy of the 35-page presentation — with five pages of "policy implications" blacked out entirely as "advice" — was obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act.
Minister declines comment
An expert on the ways women are affected by public policy said she was surprised by the accuracy and completeness of the analysis, given the federal government's "limited approach to gender issues."
"I'm really disappointed that this document didn't make it into the public sphere," said Kathleen Lahey, law professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.
A spokesman for Kellie Leitch, the minister responsible for Status of Women, said Leitch "doesn't comment on draft slideshows."
"This was prepared by public servants for a committee of public servants and not shared with the minister's office," Andrew McGrath, Leitch's director of communications, said in an email. He declined further comment.
The report's assertion that Canada has no national strategy on violence against women appears contrary to Leitch's announcement on Sept. 15, 2014, of an "action plan" to address family violence and violent crimes against aboriginal women and girls.
However, a spokeswoman for Status of Women Canada said the $25-million announcement was targeted to respond specifically to violence against indigenous women and girls. "On the broader issue of violence against women and girls, the government has taken a broad range of actions," Leonie Roux said, without elaborating.
The document does note some positives: Canadian women are better educated, and are entering the work force in greater numbers. But men are paid 20 per cent more than their female colleagues, a "pay gap" that puts Canada fourth from the bottom of 34 OECD countries, with only South Korea, Japan and Germany scoring worse.
"When it comes to the salary gap between the sexes, women have hit a brick wall," says the report.
And "while rates of male-on-male violence in Canada have diminished over time, rates of violence against women have not, and reporting has not increased." Rural, immigrant and indigenous women are cited as particularly vulnerable.
Fallout from recession
The report notes that poverty rates rose slightly between 2009 and 2011 for one-parent families headed by women, and for unattached elderly females, likely fallout from the 2008-09 global recession. (Figures for 2012 and beyond were not available.)
"A huge number of women have just been washed out of the whole safety net and pushed into part-time, self-employment [and] contract work," said Lahey, in validating the findings.
"And the two groups that have really taken it the hardest are single parents and older women."
The Status of Women spokeswoman called the report a "diagnostic document" intended to "facilitate discussion."
"As in all societies, we can always find areas for improvement such as addressing violence against women," said Roux. "All levels of government have a responsibility for, and are working on, addressing women's labour market participation, including salary gaps where they exist, and addressing violence against women."
Plans for a women's-issues debate in the current federal election campaign collapsed after Prime Minister Stephen Harper declined to participate and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair later chose not to participate without Harper's attendance.
Organizers instead plan one-on-one recorded interviews with leaders of the NDP, Liberals, Greens and Bloc. They are expected to air on Sept. 21.
Also on HuffPost: |
The Bad, The Good, and The Cloud
The Bad
This weekend I was working on a little project that involved manipulating a fairly large (1.8 gB compressed, 17 gB uncompressed) 7zip archive. I don’t have 17 gB to uncompress to on my laptop and a significant amount of the archive was uninteresting to me. I thought it would be sortav fun and worthwhile to remove the files that are not needed, so I ran a man 7zr and started reading.
Reading the manpage, it seems like one could do:
7zr d foo.gz file/to/delete.txt
Alas, for no obvious reason, that does exactly nothing. Instead, after some googling, the recommended method is:
7zr -d foo.gz -r delete.txt
Of course the manpage (which the document idiotically parrots) says:
-r[-|0] Recurse subdirectories (CAUTION: this flag does not do what you think, avoid using it)
So fine, we have a way to do that, but with an archive this big it takes minutes to delete a single file, and my archive has something like eleven thousand files. I think I did the math and my computer would take nearly two weeks to delete the files assuming a linear rate that decreased as files were deleted.
The manpage also mentions the -si flag:
-si Read data from StdIn (eg: tar cf - directory | 7zr a -si directory.tar.7z)
I’m not totally clear what that is telling me. I figured I’d try what was obvious to me:
echo file/to/delete.txt | 7zr d -si foo.7z
That replaces the entire archive with an empty archive. Worthless.
The Good
So while that is all terrible, Unix is pretty great. To delete (some of) the files I don’t care about I can do:
7zr l foo.7z | \ grep 'yawn' | \ cut -b60- | \ xargs -d '
' -n1 -I{} \ 7zr d foo.7z -r {}
This writes a temp file in the current directory (instead of $TMPDIR , wah wah), so copying it to /run/shm so that it’s 100% in memory helps a tiny bit, but not enough to be sensibly fast.
On top of the command above, I wrote a couple other commands to see my progress:
megs() perl -E'printf "%0.02f mB
", (((stat "old.7z")[7] - (stat "new.7z")[7])/1024/1024)'
newcount() { 7zr l $HOME/tmp/new.7z | grep 'yawn' | wc -l } new() { local old=5365; local new=$(newcount); echo $(( $old - $new )) }
Those were really handy when I was checking my deletion progress. Unfortunately I defined them in the shell so I had to make sure to only run them from the window I defined them in. I then decided to write this tool, which allows definition of new commands almost as simply as defining a function in the shell.
Usage:
fn dumb-echo perl -E'say "dumb"' fn dumb-count 'ls | wc -l'
The code is here; feel free to let me now if you have ideas on improvements.
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while, so that was pretty fun and rewarding.
Sadly, even after all of that, it was still too slow on my laptop.
The Cloud
So instead of leaving my laptop running at circa 50% CPU for two weeks, I figured out a better solution: use AWS to extract the entire archive, delete the files I don’t want, and recreate the archive. On top of that I suspect that it would be worth it for me to use something like tgz instead of the poorly interfaced and implemented 7z.
So in the course of 2 hours I both got a new free tier AWS account (I lost the credentials for my other one), spun up a machine, and started the upload of the archive. I had to get a larger than default (but still free) EBS volume or the extracted archive wouldn’t fit. After that it was almost literally:
scp foo.7z $mymachine:foo.7z ssh $mymachine sudo apt-get install p7zip 7zr e foo.7z rm *yawn* tar c foo.tar foo gz foo.tar exit scp $mymachine:foo.tar.gz foo.tgz
Sadly and maybe unsurprisingly I discovered that gzip was terrible for these kinds of binaries. I ended up just using rsync with compression to get the remaining 5 gB of files after cleaning them up.
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Posted Mon, Sep 7, 2015 |
Anti-World System 5 button set of 1″ buttons
This is a 5 button set of quality American handmade 1″ pinback buttons from the Christian punk band Anti-World System. Designs include:
Anti-World System Jesus menorah logo
“Expel the Immoral Brother” from 1 Corinthians 5:13 (also a song from Anti-World System)
“Killed for Cash”, a pro-life song from Anti-World System, and a slogan for the push to defund Planned Parenthood
The Arabic letter ن (which sounds like “noon”) and is the first letter of the word “Nasrani” (Nazarene, or Christian) in Arabic. It’s what Isis is spray painting on the houses of Christian families, who are suffering murder, crucifixion, rape, kidnapping, theft, special taxation and intimidation under the fierce hand of the Islamic State group. This pin is a tribute to them.
Chi-rho, a monogram of chi (Χ) and rho (Ρ) as the first two letters of Greek Khristos Christ, used as a Christian symbol. |
Should probably rewrite the recipe,but the one given here is a great base and probably worthy of the 4 forks on it's own. As many of the reviewers I used a combo of white and dark bone in/skin on chicken. For spices I used 1 1/4 tsp sweet paprika, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/4 tsp cayeene pepper, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. coriander and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Followed the recipe prep but added 1 Tbsp. honey, cup of carrot coins and several quartered small turnips from my CSA bag along with the broth, wine and olives (combo of green and kalamata because it was what I had on hand). Served it with couscous cooked in chicken broth with dried cranberries and toasted almonds tossed in during fluffing. Absolutely yummy!! Only change I would make for next time would be to increase slightly the amount of preserved lemons (homemade of course)! |
Footbrawl Playground is a Physics Playground and in fact the most pointless Game in the world. So I came up for the Idea of "Footbrawl Playground". Its actually just a Physics Playground where you can goof around with a Friend, spawn NPCS, Place Traps and some more stuff. Don't expect a Game of the year but rather have 5 minutes of fun without thinking too much.
If you wanna know more about the current status of the Game, Visit my Blog or follow me on twitter.
Decide if you wanna play a round of Football...
...or just try to be the nicest Stuntman in the world!
you are able to place all traps freely AND it has Local Multiplayer (Keyboard only for now)
... or play a round of car soccer like in this other car soccer Game... i forgot the name...
Fully customizable Physics Playground
Drivable Cars
Low Gravity Mode
Slow Motion Mode
Car Soccer
Local Multiplayer for 4 Players
Placeable Traps like Bounchers Human Pinball Explosive Barrles Ramps Spinner you want more? looking forward to new requests!
Basic Soccer Mode
Spawn as much NPCs and Cars as you want and enjoy the madness
Gamepad Support
Multitrack Camera (so that all players are always on screen)
Minimum:
OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7 or newer
Processor: 2.4GHz Dual Core
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 / ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
DirectX: Version 10
Storage: 2 GB available space
Recommended:
OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7 or newer
Processor: 2.4GHz Dual Core
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: 1 GB NVIDIA 460 / AMD Radeon 5870
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 2 GB available space
please read this manual before you start playing
Website: playground.pixelpizza.de
twitter: https://twitter.com/Der_Kevin
facebook: phttps://www.facebook.com/Footbrawl
subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Footbrawl/
Newsletter: phttp://eepurl.com/b1lUV9
All paying customers of Footbrawl playground on itch.io can obtain a steam key when they click the request key button on their purchase page!
You can also do this if you if you bought the Game in the past! |
SING BURI — A van which police said was carrying foreign workers crashed into a truck early Friday morning in Sing Buri, killing all 14 aboard.
A van collided into a 10-wheeler truck and was engulfed in flames at about 3am on Friday on the Asian Highway in Sing Buri province, killing 14 people including the driver. The rescue team took about 20 minutes to put out the fire.
Col. Picha Rujinam of Mueang Sing Buri Police said the 13 passengers were migrant workers from Tak province but said they couldn’t verify their nationalities since their ID were burnt. The van driver, Pathompat Panpol, 47, is thought to be the only Thai among the dead.
Picha said Pathompat might have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Sunthorn Fukthong, the truck driver, told police he was driving when the van crashed into the back.
Earlier this month, four Japanese tourists and one Thai guide died in a van crash in Ayutthaya province. Only one day after New Year’s Day, 25 people died in a collision between van and truck in Chonburi. |
What happens when police meet citizens who don’t tolerate their rights to be infringed? Watch for yourself.
The altercation was videotaped back in 2013. It shows two Detroit police officers inside a Coney Island restaurant fist fighting Naibon Miller, 28, and Tywonn Mitchell, 23. Both men had to spend three days in jail for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. However, all the charges were dropped by a Wayne County Prosecutor after watching this video. You can clearly see that one of the cops initiated the fight poking one of the men in the chest.
The story got a new turn last week when Detroit paid out $120,000 settlement to Miller and Mitchell for the incident. It is great that the right of Americans to self-defense was recognized. It’s a pity taxpayers have to pay for the police mistakes again! PD says neither of the cops involved are currently employed with the Detroit PD, although they are allegedly working for agencies in the Metro Detroit area. I wonder how many more criminal cops continue to work for the Force? How much more meaningless brutality do we have to face before PDs start firing criminals in blue? |
Bill Gates presents his seven top reads in 2013 Commenting on the lack of novels on the list, Gates writes:
"It’s not that I don’t enjoy fiction. I’ve read The Catcher in the Rye a bunch of times—it’s one of my favorite books ever (and I enjoyed Salinger, the documentary that came out this year). I did read Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story, which was entertaining though it didn’t have as much science fiction as I expected. But I read mostly nonfiction because I always want to learn more about how the world works. And reading is how I learn best."
1.The Box, by Marc Levinson
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger is a non-fiction book by Marc Levinson charting the historic rise of the intermodal container (shipping container) and how it changed the economic landscape of the global economy.The New York Times called it "a smart, engaging book".The book inspired the name for the "The Box" project run by BBC News from September 2008 onwards, in which the BBC were tracking a container for a period of one year. The Box won a bronze medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (2007) in the "Finance/Investment/Economics" category.The Box was shortlisted for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award (2006). The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger is a non-fiction book by Marc Levinson charting the historic rise of the intermodal container (shipping container) and how it changed the economic landscape of the global economy.The New York Times called it "a smart, engaging book".The book inspired the name for the "The Box" project run by BBC News from September 2008 onwards, in which the BBC were tracking a container for a period of one year. The Box won a bronze medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (2007) in the "Finance/Investment/Economics" category.The Box was shortlisted for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award (2006).
2.The Most Powerful Idea in the World, by William Rosen William Rosen, seeks to answer these questions and more with The Most Powerful Idea in the World. A lively and passionate study of the engineering and scientific breakthroughs that led to the steam engine, this book argues that the very notion of intellectual property drove not only the invention of the steam engine but also the entire Industrial Revolution.first sustained era of economic improvement. To do so, Rosen conjures up an eccentric cast of characters, including the legal philosophers who enabled most the inventive society in millennia, and the scientists and inventors;Thomas Newcomen, Robert Boyle, and James Watt;who helped to create and perfect the steam engine over the centuries. With wit and wide-ranging curiosity, Rosen explores the power of creativity, capital, and collaboration in the brilliant engineering of the steam engine and how this power source, which fueled factories, ships, and railroads, changed human history.
3.Harvesting the Biosphere, by Vaclav Smil The biosphere -- the Earth's thin layer of life -- dates from nearly four billion years ago, when the first simple organisms appeared. Many species have exerted enormous influence on the biosphere's character and productivity, but none has transformed the Earth in so many ways and on such a scale as Homo sapiens. In Harvesting the Biosphere, Vaclav Smil offers an interdisciplinary and quantitative account of human claims on the biosphere's stores of living matter, from prehistory to the present day. Smil examines all harvests -- from prehistoric man's hunting of mega-fauna to modern crop production -- and all uses of harvested biomass, including energy, food, and raw materials. Without harvesting of the biomass, Smil points out, there would be no story of human evolution and advancing civilization; but at the same time, the increasing extent and intensity of present-day biomass harvests are changing the very foundations of civilization's well-being.
4.The World Until Yesterday, by Jared Diamond The World Until Yesterday provides a mesmerizing firsthand picture of the human past as it had been for millions of years—a past that has mostly vanished—and considers what the differences between that past and our present mean for our lives today. This is Jared Diamond’s most personal book to date, as he draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. Diamond doesn’t romanticize traditional societies—after all, we are shocked by some of their practices—but he finds that their solutions to universal human problems such as child rearing, elder care, dispute resolution, risk, and physical fitness have much to teach us. A characteristically provocative, enlightening, and entertaining book, The World Until Yesterday will be essential and delightful reading.
5.Poor Numbers, by Morten Jerven One of the most urgent challenges in African economic development is to devise a strategy for improving statistical capacity. Reliable statistics, including estimates of economic growth rates and per-capita income, are basic to the operation of governments in developing countries and vital to nongovernmental organizations and other entities that provide financial aid to them. Rich countries and international financial institutions such as the World Bank allocate their development resources on the basis of such data. The paucity of accurate statistics is not merely a technical problem; it has a massive impact on the welfare of citizens in developing countries. Where do these statistics originate? How accurate are they? Poor Numbers is the first analysis of the production and use of African economic development statistics. Morten Jerven's research shows how the statistical capacities of sub-Saharan African economies have fallen into disarray. The numbers substantially misstate the actual state of affairs. As a result, scarce resources are misapplied. Development policy does not deliver the benefits expected. Policymakers' attempts to improve the lot of the citizenry are frustrated. Donors have no accurate sense of the impact of the aid they supply. Jerven’s findings from sub-Saharan Africa have far-reaching implications for aid and development policy. As Jerven notes, the current catchphrase in the development community is "evidence-based policy," and scholars are applying increasingly sophisticated econometric methods—but no statistical techniques can substitute for partial and unreliable data.
6.Why Does College Cost So Much?, by Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman This book offers a different view. To explain rising college cost, the authors place the higher education industry firmly within the larger economic history of the United States. The trajectory of college cost is similar to cost behavior in many other industries, and this is no coincidence. Higher education is a personal service that relies on highly educated labor. A technological trio of broad economic forces has come together in the last thirty years to cause higher education costs, and costs in many other industries, to rise much more rapidly than the inflation rate. The main culprit is economic growth itself. This finding does not mean that all is well in American higher education. A college education has become less reachable to a broad swathe of the American public at the same time that the market demand for highly educated people has soared. This affordability problem has deep roots. The authors explore how cost pressure, the changing wage structure of the US economy, and the complexity of financial aid policy combine to reduce access to higher education below what we need in the 21st century labor market. This book is a call to calm the rhetoric of blame and to instead find policies that will increase access to higher education while.
7.The Bet, by Paul Sabin The Bet weaves the two men’s lives and ideas together with the era’s partisan political clashes over the environment and the role of government. In a lively narrative leading from the dawning environmentalism of the 1960s through the pivotal presidential contest between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and on into the 1990s, Paul Sabin shows how the fight between Ehrlich and Simon—between environmental fears and free-market confidence—helped create the gulf separating environmentalists and their critics today. Drawing insights from both sides, Sabin argues for using social values, rather than economic or biological absolutes, to guide society’s crucial choices relating to climate change, the planet’s health, and our own.
Reference:
http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-best-books-2013-12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Box:_How_the_Shipping_Container_Made_the_World_Smaller_and_the_World_Economy_Bigger http://www.amazon.com/The-Most-Powerful-Idea-World/dp/0226726347 http://www.amazon.com/Harvesting-Biosphere-What-Taken-Nature/dp/026201856X http://www.amazon.com/The-World-Until-Yesterday-Traditional/dp/0670024813 http://www.amazon.com/Poor-Numbers-Development-Statistics-Political/dp/080147860X http://www.amazon.com/Why-Does-College-Cost-Much/dp/0199744505 http://www.amazon.com/The-Bet-Ehrlich-Julian-Earth%C2%92s/dp/0300176481 |
SINN Fein’s seven MPs will fly into London today to take up their Commons offices - sparking Tory fears they may try to wreck the Prime Minister’s wafer thin majority.
The Sun can also reveal the Irish Republican party have refused to rule out taking their seats for the first time to vote through a Labour Queen’s Speech if Jeremy Corbyn offered them a referendum on unifying Ireland.
PA:Press Association 6 Seven Sinn Fein MPs including Barry McElduff (left) and Michelle Gildernew (right) will fly to London to take up their Westminster offices after celebrating with leader Michelle O'Neill (centre)
PA:Press Association 6 The backing of seven Sinn Fein MPs would reduce the Tory majority to just four
The party confirmed that its MPs will travel to Westminster for the House of Commons induction day for newcomers and will sign up for office space, register for staff allowances and expenses - despite their century-long policy of abstention in the UK Parliament.
Their presence at Westminster will spark fears in No10 that they are plotting to break their boycott to join other opposition parties in opposing Theresa May’s Queen’s Speech.
Mr Corbyn has already unveiled his plan to present an alternative Queen’s Speech next week - including pledges to keep the winter fuel allowance, protecting the pensions triple lock and scrapping the bedroom tax, which he hopes will entice enough Tory MPs to deliver a government defeat.
The backing of seven Sinn Fein MPs would reduce the Tory majority to just four - which would bring the Government to the brink of collapse.
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A defeat for Mrs May would topple her premiership and give Mr Corbyn the chance to form a minority Labour government himself.
Labour would have two weeks to get a Queen’s Speech through the Commons and a Sinn Fein insider refused to rule out taking the historic step of taking seats if Republican-supporting Mr Corbyn offered a referendum on Irish unification.
A Sinn Fein insider said: “It’s entirely speculative - we shouldn’t get into the realms of what if, what if, what if.”
Reuters 6 Sinn Fein's president Gerry Adams said a referendum on Irish unity was inevitable
News Group Newspapers Ltd 6 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced he was planning on giving an alternative Queen's speech next week
It came as Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said a referendum on Irish unity was inevitable as rival parties reconvened in Stormont yesterday to restore power-sharing talks following the six-months deadlock.
He said: “One thing we can say for certainty, there is going to be a referendum on Irish unity,” he said.
“I can’t say when it’s going to be, but there is going to be such a referendum.”
The parties face a deadline of June 29 before direct rule is imposed on Northern Ireland.
Former Irish Taoiseach John Bruton warned Sinn Fein that the prospect of direct rule should scare Irish Republicans given the DUP’s enhanced influence on the UK Government. The unionist party is today set to strike a deal with Mrs May’s government to prop up her minority government.
Getty Images 6 DUP leader Arlene Foster is set to strike a deal with Theresa May to give the Conservatives a majority
Reuters 6 James Brokenshire said he believed a deal to restore power-sharing is possible
Mr Bruton was echoed by DUP leader Arlene Foster, who told Sinn Fein: “If others decide that they are not coming back into the devolved administration here in Northern Ireland then those issues will have to be dealt with at Westminster.
“It is really for Sinn Fein to decide where they want those powers to lie.”
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire - who flew into Belfast to chair talks yesterday - said he believed a deal to restore power-sharing before the end of the month was possible.
And he insisted the DUP-Tory arrangement in Westminster was an “entirely separate” issue.
Corbyn 'key factor' in talks with Tories
ULSTER unionists have vowed to prop up Theresa May’s enfeebled government for as long as Jeremy Corbyn runs Labour, it was claimed yesterday.
Sources at the DUP said their fierce opposition to the Labour leader – given his IRA sympathies – was a key factor in the talks with the Tories.
Asked how long the "confidence and supply" arrangement could stay in place, the source said: “For as long as Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the Labour Party.”
DUP chief Arlene Foster last month branded Mr Corbyn “abhorrent” in a scathing attack on the leftie for repeatedly refusing to condemn the IRA.
She said: “There were many fine people who reached out to the IRA and asked them to desist. He actually supported them, he wanted them to win!”
DUP MPs were flying to London last night ahead of the reopening of Parliament today.
Labour yesterday attacked the DUP’s “abhorrent” views on gay rights and women’s rights.
But Shadow Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner was forced to admit former Labour PM Gordon Brown held talks about deals with the DUP in the run-up to the 2010 Election – which resulted in a hung parliament.
Tory MPs were yesterday told by the party’s high command to boast about the Conservative record on gay rights.
In a media briefing, Tory MPs were told to make clear the Tories would continue to champion equality.
The briefing revealed by the Guido Fawkes website said: “Conservatives in Government introduced same sex marriage and earlier this year passed ‘Turing’s Law’ to remove historic convictions for consensual acts.
“As we work with others to govern in the national interest and provide the certainty and stability the country needs as we embark on Brexit and beyond – we will continue to promote and champion the equal rights we believe in.” |
Croatian freediver Goran Colak this past weekend broke the Guinness World Record for the longest pure oxygen-aided breath hold at 22 minutes and 30 seconds.
According to a post on Colak‘s Facebook page:
Crazy evening today, main square in Zagreb, with rain and cold weather, I manage to hold my breath on pure O2 for 22:30min in front of live audience and live TV broadcast. And brake Guinness WR in this discipline! Thanks to all that help with organization, the city of Zagreb and my coach!
Goran was gracious enough to answer a few emailed questions from DeeperBlue:
DeeperBlue: How long did you train for this event? What did that training entail?
Goran Colak: I did not have special preparation for this event, I am on my normal training routine and schedule and I was just lucky enough that this kind of event fitted perfectly at my current training regime.
Training at this point in season for me is mainly focused on my [Dynamic No Fins] and prolonging my static times, so that was basically what I was doing the whole time, specific training for that.
DB: During the event, did you ever feel strange or out of place? Were there any challenges during the attempt?
GC: Event was held at the main square in Zagreb, in front of live audience ant with live TV broadcast in prime time. Like that alone was not enough there was heavy rain during the whole day and the temperature dropped to 10 degreases Celsius. So overall it was quite a challenge to do it under this conditions in a 3mill suit.
DB: How did you overcome those challenges, if any?
GC: No special trick how I manage to overcome all that, just kept my head under the water.
DB: What is your next goal?
GC: My next goal, well I hope to advance my DNF distance for a bit till the end of the year. After that, I’ll take few weeks of rest and travel around before we start everything all over again.
Photo credit: marjanradovic.com |
Wilderness Words: Broadcasting Jan 20, 2019 Snowshoe, WV: When you’re cooking dinner or washing dishes at camp, you’re going to have dirty water. Broadcasting is a quick way to dispose of that grey water, dispersing the impact across a wide area. Just strain, stroll and... : When you’re cooking dinner or washing dishes at camp, you’re going to have dirty water. Broadcasting is a quick way to dispose of that grey water, dispersing the impact across a wide area. Just strain, stroll and... Read More How To Leave No Trace On The Crag Jan 16, 2019 Reno, NV: Climbing areas can receive significant use and so significant impacts. Practicing Leave No Trace ethics while climbing can aid in the conservation of these areas, keep climbing access available, and promote a positive... Climbing areas can receive significant use and so significant impacts. Practicing Leave No Trace ethics while climbing can aid in the conservation of these areas, keep climbing access available, and promote a positive... Read More
5 Leave No Trace Tips for Winter Trips Jan 11, 2019 Reno, NV: Winter is a great time to get outside and enjoy nature, but it can also make your favorite outdoor spaces even more susceptible to harmful impacts. Here are 5 things you should always consider on a winter trip to help... Winter is a great time to get outside and enjoy nature, but it can also make your favorite outdoor spaces even more susceptible to harmful impacts. Here are 5 things you should always consider on a winter trip to help... Read More Leave No Trace Guidance During Government Shutdown Jan 09, 2019 You’ve read the disturbing stories reported from our national parks, now that the partial government shutdown has moved into January. The situation is serious: Wildlife picking through bins piled high with trash, latrines overflowing with waste and... Read More |
History Edit
Etymology and terminology Edit
Wi-Fi certification Edit
Versions Edit
There are many different versions of Wi-Fi: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4[40]), 802.11h, 802.11i, 802.11-2007, 802.11-2012, 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5[40]), 802.11ad, 802.11af, 802.11-2016, 802.11ah, 802.11ai, 802.11aj, 802.11aq, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6[40]), 802.11ay. Generation IEEE Standard Maximum Linkrate Wi‑Fi 6 802.11ax 600–9608 Mbit/s Wi‑Fi 5 802.11ac 433–6933 Mbit/s Wi‑Fi 4 802.11n 72–600 Mbit/s Equipment frequently support multiple versions of Wi-Fi. To communicate, devices must use a common Wi-Fi version. The versions differ between the radio wavebands they operate on, the radio bandwidth they occupy, the maximum data rates they can support and other details. In general, lower frequencies have better range but have less capacity. Some versions permit the use of multiple antennas, which permits greater speeds as well as reduced interference. Historically, equipment has listed the versions of Wi-Fi that it supports, but the Wi-Fi alliance has now standardised generational numbering so that equipment can indicate that it supports Wi-Fi 4 (if the equipment supports 802.11n), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax). The alliance have stated that the generational level 4, 5, or 6 can be indicated in the user interface when connected, along with the signal strength.[40]
Uses Edit
Wi-Fi radio spectrum Edit
Main article: list of WLAN channels The 802.11 standard provides several distinct radio frequencies ranges for use in Wi-FI communications: 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 4.9 GHz, 5 GHz, 5.9 GHz, and 60 GHz bands.[56][57][58] Each range is divided into a multitude of channels. Countries apply their own regulations to the allowable channels, allowed users and maximum power levels within these frequency ranges. The ISM band ranges are also often used.[59] 802.11b/g/n can use the 2.4 GHz ISM band, operating in the United States under Part 15 Rules and Regulations. In this frequency band equipment may occasionally suffer interference from microwave ovens, cordless telephones, USB3.0 hubs, and Bluetooth devices. Spectrum assignments and operational limitations are not consistent worldwide: Australia and Europe allow for an additional two channels (12, 13) beyond the 11 permitted in the United States for the 2.4 GHz band, while Japan has three more (12–14). In the US and other countries, 802.11a and 802.11g devices may be operated without a license, as allowed in Part 15 of the FCC Rules and Regulations. A standard speed Wi-Fi signal occupies five channels in the 2.4 GHz band. Any two channel numbers that differ by five or more, such as 2 and 7, do not overlap. The oft-repeated adage that channels 1, 6, and 11 are the only non-overlapping channels is, therefore, not accurate. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the only group of three non-overlapping channels in North America. However, channels that are four apart interfere a negligible amount, much less than reusing channels.[60] In Europe and Japan where channel 13 is available, using Channels 1, 5, 9, and 13 for 802.11g and 802.11n is recommended. 802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax can use the 5 GHz U-NII band, which, for much of the world, offers at least 23 non-overlapping 20 MHz channels rather than the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band, where the channels are only 5MHz wide. The 5GHz bands are more strongly absorbed by common building materials, and usually give shorter range. As the 802.11 specifications evolved to support higher throughput, the bandwidth requirements also increased to support them. 802.11n can use double the radio spectrum/bandwidth (40 MHz- 8 channels) compared to 802.11a or 802.11g (20 MHz). 802.11n can also be set to limit itself to 20 MHz bandwidth to prevent interference in dense communities.[61] In the 5 GHz band, 20, 40, 80 and 160 Mhz bandwidth signals are permitted with some restrictions, giving much faster connections.
Communication stack Edit
Performance Edit
Multiple access points Edit
Increasing the number of Wi-Fi access points for a network provides redundancy, better range, support for fast roaming and increased overall network-capacity by using more channels or by defining smaller cells. Except for the smallest implementations (such as home or small office networks), Wi-Fi implementations have moved toward "thin" access points, with more of the network intelligence housed in a centralized network appliance, relegating individual access points to the role of "dumb" transceivers. Outdoor applications may use mesh topologies. An Extended Service Set may be formed by deploying multiple access points that are configured with the same SSID and security settings. Wi-Fi client devices will typically connect to the access point that can provide the strongest signal within that service set.
Hardware Edit
Network security Edit
Health concerns Edit
Alternatives Edit
A number other "wireless" technologies provide alternatives to Wi-Fi in some cases: Bluetooth, short distance network
Bluetooth Low Energy, a low-power variant
Zigbee, low-power, low data rate, and close proximity
Cellular networks, as used by smartphones
WiMax, provide wireless internet connection from outside individual homes Some alternatives are "no new wires", re-using existing cable: G.hn over existing home wiring, such as phone and power lines There are also several wired technologies for computer networking which in some cases will be viable alternatives, in particular: Ethernet over twisted pair
See also Edit
References Edit |
Gogigz - stop searching and start teaching. Make it easy for music students to find you by joining our free online music teacher directory.
Gogigz is an online platform that enables music students to connect with music teachers instantly.
Our mission is to organize all music teachers from any geographic area in one accessible online platform so that music students can find and connect with teachers based on the criteria that matters to them most.
FAQ:
What happens after I fill out this form?
- You'll be entering a directory of music teachers which will be available online -- students looking for music lessons will be able to find and contact you.
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- Of course, we'll be publishing it all over social media/craigslist and other outlets. You can stop searching and start teaching.
What's next for Gogigz?
- As of November 2017, we are participating in TheHive Accelerator program and plan to have an app available to the general public within the next 1-2 months. Stay tuned!
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I’m currently in the UK, and while there is plenty of history and culture to take in, naturally I’m all about the full bust bra offerings. Top on the list of UK retailers for me is Bravissimo. Whenever I’m in the UK, I try my best to figure out a way to visit one of their stores. Yes, this is a brick and mortar store that sells a wide range of fuller bust brands, including their own house brand. Luckily I have been able to shop there about once or twice a year for the past few years. This week I returned to the Bravissimo store in Cheltenham for the second year in a row and thought it would be a good time to write up a store review regarding my experience there, which was an overall positive one.
Location
The Bravissimo store in Cheltenham is a combined Bravissimo (D+ bras) and Pepperberry (bust-friendly clothing) store in the Regent Arcard, an indoor mall in a convenient city center location. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I had just about 45 minutes to shop and only got through one set of try-ons at Bravissimo in my limited time window. Boo. I didn’t have time to look in the Pepperberry store at all, which is located downstairs from the Bravissimo. It was a dedicated trip just for bras, but dependent on my partner’s patience, which wears thin after about 20 minutes … but I digress.
As an aside, Cheltenham is actually worth a visit in itself. I find it to be one of the better appointed shopping destinations in the area, with interesting architecture and a comfortable bustle characteristic of university towns.
Now, on to Bravissimo …
Selection
The Cheltenham store is fairly large and very well-stocked. The bras on display are organized largely by type and color, with all brands mixed in together. The center of the store has a wide variety of bras of all brands, colorways and cuts. A wall to the side has all blacks in one panel and nudes beside it. There is also a small stand for bridal-type bras in whites and creams. Not pictured is a section at the rear of the store with sports bras, swim and sleepwear. I wish I had time to venture in there, as I’m curious to try some of their shelf-bra sleep tops. But that will have to wait for another day.
Great selection Black bras
In terms of stock and selection, it far exceeds my local Nordstrom – a comparatively large flagship store – with the size availability (including 28-bands on the rack!) and variety. Lightly padded half cups, unlined plunges, balconettes, demis, strapless, longlines, and the latest styles from Freya, Panache, Curvy Kate, Lepel, Gossard, and Bravissimo’s own brands and more abound, all neatly hung and easy to browse. It’s a candy store for bra lovers. Since I like discovering new bras, it’s great to see such a varied selection. If I were local, I could see visiting the store often to check out what’s new.
I think there are maybe half a dozen fitting rooms in a short corridor to the side of the store. There is also a small but comfortable seating area with sofas and armchairs outside for those who might be waiting while the boob magic happens behind closed doors.
Apologies for the cell phone photos and that I didn’t get to take that many interior shots because I wanted to spend more time trying on bras!
Shopping Experience
I always have a mental list of bras that I’d try on if only I could find a store that carried them. It was great to see many of these hanging in the window as I stepped off the escalator. That’s the most satisfying part of the Bravissimo experience. They have the bras! Maybe not all of them, but usually a good few from the top of my wishlist. It’s such a relief from the daunting prospect of buying online, having to order multiple sister sizes, pay for return shipping, re-ordering, waiting and so on. Since my local Nordstrom doesn’t even carry 28s, I literally haven’t shopped for everyday bras in person outside the UK in over a year. At Bravissimo, I’m not sized out, and no one bats an eye when I ask for a 28. It’s a beautiful thing.
Now, last year when I first visited the Cheltenham store, I had one or two bras in mind that I wanted to try on, but mostly I let the sales associate pull some styles for me based on my specifications since I was wasn’t at all sure what to get. This didn’t work out so well with the associate bringing me tons of bras that I had already tried elsewhere and were mostly shape mismatches. I was a 30G/GG then and am wearing a 28FF/G now. Given that I had less than an hour on this trip, I decided to go in with a specific shortlist and only deviate if I had the time. I almost kept to this plan, which is fairly amazing given the selection. To be honest, the number one reason I just had to go to Bravissimo while I was in the UK was to try on the Etta Longline (review coming soon!). I have been dying to try it since it was released.
When I entered the store and began looking around, within less than a minute, a friendly sales associate greeted me and asked if I needed any help. I wanted to browse first, so she told me to let someone know if I needed any assistance. Simple. No pressure to get fitted off the bat or pushy sales bumph. I had a quick walk around, checking to see if they had the bras on my list. I really wanted to look at every. single. bra. I spied a few Bravissimo house brand ones that I didn’t know about and wish I had the time to try on, like the cheerful Esther longline. Unfortunately, I could feel the time ticking away, so I chose carefully and still ended up with too many.
While there are a lot of bra and panty sets hanging up around the store, only a limited size range is actually on the rack, which makes sense due to limited space. I think ettiquette-wise it’s fine to pull your own size if you see it, but generally it seems to be the case that you ask a sales associate to get what you’re interested in and bring it to the fitting room for you. I also recommend asking for any additional styles that might not be on the rack. For example, only one Freya padded half cup bra was on display – Kiyoko – which didn’t interest me, but the associate was able to bring me two different ones from the back – Strawberry Fields and Utopia.
Once I had confirmed my selections, I asked a sales associate for help finding them in my size. When she saw that I was on a longline kick, she recommended the new Cleo Piper unlined longline. I mention it here because I know a lot of people have been anticipating it and the cobalt blue truly is gorgeous in person. It absolutely does not disappoint. I didn’t try it on, though, as it’s not a bra that interests me. I don’t really wear anything unlined. However, Bravissimo is one of the few places where you’ll see one in the flesh. Here she is:
When asking for my chosen bras to be brought to a fitting room, I explained that the 28Gs I am currently wearing have started getting loose in the cups, so I wanted to try most of the bras in a 28FF. A few minutes later, the associate appeared with my selections and took me to the fitting room.
The “Fitting”
When we got to the fitting room, she explained that she brought everything I asked for in a 28G to start with. Okay, no big deal I guess, but I know that my 28Gs at the moment are gaping due to recent weight loss, which I had explained when requesting 28FFs. I felt like that was a bit of a waste of time. That said, the fitter might have considered that my current bras were just worn out and not the wrong size and wanted to check for herself. Regardless, I had never tried a padded Bravissimo bra and nothing from them in size 28G, so when she handed the bras over, I went straight for Etta to get started.
Before I had even finished scooping and swooping, there was a knock on the door asking how I was getting on. It couldn’t have been more than a minute and a half after I closed the fitting room door. Truth be told, unless I’m having a fit issue or I’m really unsure and want a second opinion, I don’t need a fitter’s help at this stage in the game. I am also still not 100% comfortable with standing in a bra in front of a stranger. But I wanted to get a full experience for the purpose of this review and to compare it to last year’s trip to the same store. So I let her have a look at Etta in 28G and she agreed to bring a smaller cup size in that bra while I tried the others.
Before I had the straps up on the next bra, there was a knock on the door again. That was really too fast for me, but she had the next Etta, so again I let her in to see how I was getting on. She checked the fit of the bra that I had hastily pulled on and helped me to adjust the straps, checking that the band size was right and the cups were lying well, before determining that a smaller cup might help with some gaping. Full points to Bravissimo for a well-trained fitter. She was professional, thorough, quick and listened to my concerns.
When she left to fetch me another smaller size, I went for bra #3. The knock came before I even had my boobs in the cups. Even though I had limited time, I began to feel too rushed between bras, so I let her know that I just needed a few more minutes. If anything, my only criticism of my experience this year and last year alike was the timing of the sales associate when I was in the fitting room. The store wasn’t crowded or anything. It takes me some time to get a bra on and then see and feel how it fits. I can’t do that if I only have 1-2 minutes to try on a bra and then the fitter comes back and removes the bras I tried for a mere 30 seconds.
I can be a little shy in customer situations, so asking for more time was my attempt at being more vocal. It may have backfired, though, as for the rest of the time I was in the fitting room, she didn’t come back to check on me. At all.
That said, this is exactly the same thing that happened last year with a completely different fitter: a lot of quick knocks at the beginning, then nothing for ages. On this visit, I was there for another 25 minutes and no one ever came back to help me. At one stage, I had to peek my head out of the fitting room door and get another associate who was helping a different customer to chase down my fitter. Then, when I wanted a final opinion on the fit of the bra I was definitely going to buy, she had disappeared again. I couldn’t wait for her any longer and had to get dressed and go out onto the floor to try to find someone.
In the end, I discussed my options with the associate at the checkout desk since they didn’t have the bra I wanted in the colorways and/or sizes I needed and left empty-handed (much to the dismay of my partner for whom the 45 minutes had felt like enough time to manufacture my own bras from scratch). For me the time flew by and there were tons more bras I wanted to try.
I ended up ordering on their website to pick up the bra I wanted in the store a few days later using their Click & Collect service. My purchase turned out to be my first fitting Cleo bra ever. I’ll be posting a review shortly!
Update: Since I started writing this post, I went back to pick up my order. That process went smoothly except that I ended up exchanging the item I ordered for another colorway. More on that soon.
Conclusions about Bravissimo in Cheltenham
I consider Bravissimo to be probably the best full bust shopping destination in the UK. Even though I am sure that there are competent local boutiques around the country and I know that there are a lot of UK-based websites with great prices and a lot of stock (because I order from them all the time), the fact that Bravissimo is a chain with so many brands and styles in-store all the time makes it super accessible. The fitters are knowledgeable and their stores are a pleasure to browse and shop in. I have no hesitation to recommend Bravissimo in Cheltenham if you happen to be in the area.
In my experience, the way that they “fit” you at Bravissimo is to put you in a bra at or near to the size that you say fits best and then to troubleshoot by eye from there. This suits me fine as I prefer not to be attacked with a tape measure. So far, I have found the fitting knowledge of all the fitters I’ve had to be very good. They recognize the signs of a good fit, like a tacking gore, cups lying flat against the skin across the top, a band that is snug but not overly tight, straps not digging in, and so on. If I mention gore and wire widths and cup heights and other common issues that I have, they listen and take it all in.
When I shop for bras in person (admittedly a rarity since hardly anyone carries 28-bands), I am reminded that not everyone is as bra obsessed as myself and other denizens of the online bra fitting community. Having researched hundreds of bras online, I come into a fitting knowing most of the bras on the rack inside-out. I tend to call all the bras by their names and of course know which recommendations won’t work because I’ve tried so many of them already. The sales assistant that I asked for the Etta longline had to check the tag to confirm the name and another mistakenly called it the Satine longline (because it’s based on the popular Satine plunge by Bravissimo). We got there in the end, but I realized afterwards that just because I know every Freya half cup that is a 3-part vs. 4-part, or a Patsy-clone vs. a Lauren-clone, doesn’t mean that’s part of everyone’s repertoire.
Still, given the really wide selection of bras, I would say the fitters and employees are the most knowledgeable of any other b&m lingerie store I’ve been to. On top of that, everyone at Bravissimo in Cheltenham is really very nice, friendly, patient and accommodating. When present, my fitter was helpful and right on point about the bras and sizing. When they sadly didn’t have the Etta Longline in my size, she let me try one cup below just to confirm a likely fit and informed me about how to order it. (I later found out that the Etta in 28FF was hanging right on the shelf, but the fitter had overlooked it. Sadness.)
For all of these reasons, I would definitely recommend stopping into a Bravissimo store if you’re in or passing through the UK. It’s certainly worth it. In the meantime, for my fellow Americans, I will continue pestering them to open stores in the US (which they have no plans to do, no matter how often I ask). |
Nearly half of Albertans are living paycheque to paycheque, according to a national payroll survey that paints a grim economic picture for many people in this province.
Both nationally and in Alberta, 48 per cent of people say it would be difficult to meet their financial obligations if their paycheque was delayed by a single week, according to the survey by the Canadian Payroll Association.
Alberta also has the largest percentage of people who say they are not saving enough for retirement.
A whopping 81 per cent of residents say they have put aside less than a quarter of what they will need in retirement — higher than the national average of 75 per cent.
And 25 per cent report they probably could not come up with $2,000 if an emergency arose within the next month.
Emergency savings account important
Mark Kalinowski, who works with the Credit Counselling Society in Calgary, sees many who are sinking under the weight of their debt.
"If I were going to make a suggestion to people, I would definitely suggest that they start emergency savings accounts," he said.
Kalinowski sees clients from every economic bracket, but has also seen a recent jump in middle-income workers.
But the report says the economic outlook is bleak, as many employees do not expect their financial situation to get better any time soon. Just 33 per cent nationally and 36 per cent in Alberta expect the economy to improve over the next year.
Meanwhile, 40 per cent say they feel overwhelmed by debt. The survey covered 3,600 workers nationally, including 447 from Alberta, and was conducted in July. |
Generation of autoimmune-prone mice with a B cell–specific deletion of T-bet. B6.SLE1,2,3 mice (referred to hereafter as SLE mice) were used as a model of spontaneous lupus-like autoimmunity. These mice express intervals of chromosomes 1, 4, and 7 derived from NZM2410 animals on the C57BL/6 background. These genetic intervals have been shown to drive lupus-like disease since SLE, unlike B6, animals contain activated lymphocytes, autoantibodies, and develop glomerulonephritis, with a female bias (21–23). We confirmed that, like other mouse models of SLE, SLE mice accumulate T-bet+ ABCs (Figure 1 and ref. 7).
Figure 1 Generation of SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice. Representative FACS plots and quantification of the frequency of T-bet+ B cells in spleens of 4-month-old C57BL/6, SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate controls. Numbers represent the percentage of cells in the gates. B cells were gated as live, B220+CD19+CD4–CD8–. n = 4 mice per group. Data are presented as mean ± SEM and are representative of more than 5 independent experiments. *P < 0.05 by unpaired 2-tailed Student’s t test.
To study the effect of T-bet expression in B cells in autoimmunity, we intercrossed CD19Cre/WT and T-betfl/fl with SLE mice, generating SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice. This strain contains all of the intervals (from chromosomes 1, 4, and 7) necessary for predisposition to autoimmunity and lacks T-bet expression in B cells. The successful transfer of all intervals specific for SLE mice was checked by PCR (see Methods). B cell–specific T-bet deletion in the SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice was confirmed by both PCR and intracellular staining (Figure 1). We confirmed that the T-bet deletion was B cell specific and that T cells continued to express normal levels of T-bet (data not shown).
Thus, we have successfully generated autoimmune-prone mice with a B cell–specific T-bet deletion.
In these animals Cre is driven by the CD19 promoter with concomitant deletion of CD19; thus, B cells in such mice are heterozygous for expression of CD19. To check that this did not affect disease onset, we confirmed that autoimmunity occurred similarly in SLE × CD19WT/WT and SLE × CD19Cre/WT animals (data not shown), so SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate controls were used for all experiments.
In the absence of T-bet in B cells, SLE mice demonstrate improved kidney function and better survival rates. First we asked whether T-bet expression in B cells was required for the development of kidney pathology, a definitive measure of organ pathology in lupus. First, we measured proteinuria levels in SLE mice with or without T-bet expression in B cells. SLE mice in our facility develop proteinuria by 7 months of age; therefore, we tested 7-month-old mice for the presence of proteinuria. The data indicate that the proteinuria score was significantly reduced in the absence of T-bet–expressing B cells (Figure 2A). The mice were subsequently tested again until they were 12 months old. Only one additional SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mouse (out of 9) developed proteinuria during this time frame, indicating that development of proteinuria was prevented rather than delayed in SLE mice with B cell–specific T-bet deletion (Supplemental Figure 1; supplemental material available online with this article; https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI91250DS1).
Figure 2 B cell–specific T-bet expression is responsible for the development of kidney pathology and rapid mortality in lupus-like autoimmunity. (A) Proteinuria scores of 7-month-old mice (1 = trace, 2 = 30 mg/dl, 3 = 100 mg/dl, 4 ≥ 500 mg/dl). (B–D) Kidney sections from 12-month-old mice were stained with periodic acid–Schiff from SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT (B), and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT (C), and C57BL/6 (D) mice. A representative glomerulus is shown in each section. Arrowheads indicate glomeruli. Hypercellularity and endocapillary proliferation were seen in most glomeruli from the SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT mice. Original magnification, ×400. (E) Twenty-five glomeruli for each mouse were evaluated in a blinded analysis in kidney sections. The percentage of affected glomeruli is shown for each individual mouse. (F–H) Five kidneys of 12-month-old mice per genotype were analyzed by immunofluorescence histology (IFH). Representative IFH staining of kidney glomeruli stained with anti-IgG (red) and anti-C3 (green) is shown for: SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT (F), SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT (G), and C57BL/6 (H) mice. Scale bars: 50 μm. (I) Survival of SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate control mice was followed over the same 12 months (n = 10 mice per group). Comparison of the survival curves and statistical analysis were performed using Prism software. *P < 0.05. Significance determined by Student’s t test (A and E) or Gehan-Berslow-Wilcoxon test (I).
To further evaluate kidney disease in the mice, the kidney glomeruli of SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate controls were evaluated by a blinded expert observer. The kidneys were obtained at the time of sacrifice when the mice were 12 months old, or earlier if the mouse exhibited high proteinuria and/or lost 10% of body weight. The results, shown in Figure 2, B–E, indicate that approximately 80% of glomeruli demonstrated hypercellularity and endocapillary proliferation in SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate controls. In contrast, less than 30% of the glomeruli were affected in the SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice.
To confirm that the kidney pathology was associated with immune complex deposition, immunofluorescence histology was performed. Kidney sections were stained with anti-IgG and anti-C3 antibodies to detect immune complex deposition. Our results indicate that, in the absence of T-bet expression in B cells, SLE mice contained less immune complex formation in the kidneys since the size and/or intensity of IgG/C3 stained glomeruli were significantly reduced (Figure 2, F–H).
Together, these data indicate that T-bet expression in B cells plays a critical role for the development of kidney pathology during lupus-like autoimmunity.
Improved survival of SLE mice with B cell–specific T-bet deletion. Since kidney failure is the major cause of death of SLE mice, we asked whether the improved kidney function in SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT animals also affected their mortality rates. As demonstrated in Figure 2I, the survival of SLE mice was dramatically improved in the absence of T-bet expression in B cells when compared with littermate controls. Only 25% of T-bet–sufficient SLE mice survived until 12 months of age when, in contrast, 90% of SLE mice with B cell–specific T-bet deletion survived until the same age (Figure 2I). This finding demonstrates that T-bet expression in B cells plays a critical role in the development and the consequences of lupus-like autoimmunity.
Overall our data demonstrate that T-bet expression in B cells is essential for the development of kidney pathology and rapid mortality in SLE mice.
B cell–specific T-bet deletion leads to reduced titers of serum IgG2a in SLE mice. Next we asked which changes in the immune system lead to the improved kidney function and reduced mortality in SLE mice that lack B cell–intrinsic T-bet. Multiple groups have previously reported that T-bet expression in B cells is critical for switching B cell isotype expression to IgG2a/c (described herein as IgG2a) (24–26). Therefore, we measured the presence of different IgG subclasses in the sera of SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice compared with SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate controls. Figure 3A demonstrates that the serum concentrations of total IgG were comparable between the experimental and control animals; however, the isotype distribution was altered in the absence of T-bet expression in B cells. In particular, as predicted by previous reports (25–27), in the absence of T-bet+ B cells there was a significant reduction in IgG2a levels, such that it decreased to levels seen in normal C57BL/6 animals. This was accompanied by increased levels of IgG2b and IgG1 in SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice compared with their Cre-negative littermate controls.
Figure 3 B cell–specific T-bet deletion delays the appearance of autoantibodies in SLE mice. (A) Concentrations of total or different subclasses of IgG in the serum of 4-month-old C57BL/6 or SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate controls (n = 5). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 by 1-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls analysis. (B and C) Titers of anti-chromatin total IgG (B) or IgG2a (C) in the serum of SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT (red) and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT (black) littermate controls at different ages as indicated (n = 10–12 mice per group). P values for B and C were calculated using 2-way ANOVA. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. NS, not significant.
B cell–specific T-bet deletion leads to reduction of autoantibodies in SLE mice. The presence of high titers of autoantibodies is essential for the development of kidney failure during the development of lupus-like autoimmunity. Therefore, next we evaluated how T-bet expression in B cells affected the development of autoantibodies. We monitored the appearance, over time, of serum anti-chromatin IgG levels in the SLE mice in the absence or presence of T-bet expression in B cells. The appearance of anti-chromatin total IgG autoantibodies (Figure 3B) and of anti-chromatin IgG2a in particular (Figure 3C) was significantly delayed in the absence of T-bet expression in B cells, when compared with littermate controls. The difference was most marked when the mice were 5 months old. However, later in life, the difference between the SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT control mice lessened, although the titers in T-bet–deficient animals were still significantly lower than those in mice containing T-bet+ B cells. This suggests that another transcription factor (or a combination of transcription factors) can compensate for the lack of T-bet expression in B cells, leading to the activation of autoreactive B cells and their production of autoantibodies. One of the obvious candidates for such a transcription factor is EOMES, which has been reported to compensate for lack of T-bet expression in T cells (28). However, we were unable to detect EOMES expression in T-bet–deficient B cells (data not shown), suggesting the involvement of some other yet unknown transcription factor.
B cell–specific T-bet deletion affects both B and T cell compartments during autoimmune responses. To find out why the absence of T-bet expression in B cells led to the delayed appearance of autoantibodies and reduced kidney damage, we compared the B cell compartments of SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT littermate control mice. Our data indicate that the absence of T-bet expression in B cells correlated with a reduction in frequencies and numbers of CD11c+ B cells (Figure 4A). Surprisingly, we detected significantly lower frequencies and numbers of GC B cells in mice with a B cell–specific deletion of T-bet (Figure 4B).
Figure 4 Reduced appearance of CD11c+ ABCs, GC B cells, and early plasmablasts in SLE mice with B cell–specific T-bet deletion. Representative FACS plots and quantification of the frequency of (A) CD11c+ B cells, (B) GC B cells, and (C) early plasmablasts in the spleens of 4-month-old C57BL/6 (white bars), SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT (red bars), and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT (black bars) mice. B cells were gated as live, B220+CD19+CD4–CD8–. Bar graphs represent mean ± SEM (n = 4 mice per group, representative of 3 independent experiments). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 by 1-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls analysis. NS, not significant.
Our data also demonstrate significant reduction in frequencies and numbers of early plasmablasts in SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice compared with littermate controls (Figure 4C).
Together these data indicate that, in the absence of their T-bet expression, B cells fail to facilitate the formation of GCs during spontaneous autoimmune responses and do not differentiate into plasmablasts, a failure that probably results in decreased autoantibody production.
Antigen (Ag) presentation by B cells plays an important role in spontaneous T cell activation during autoimmune responses (29). Moreover, it has been previously demonstrated that T-bet+ ABCs are potent Ag-presenting cells (14); therefore, the absence of T-bet expression in B cells might affect T cell activation in autoimmunity. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the T cell compartments in SLE mice in the presence or absence of T-bet expression in B cells. Our data indicate that there was a significant reduction in the percentage and numbers of activated/memory CD4+ T cells but not of CD8+ T cells in the absence of T-bet–expressing B cells (Figure 5, A and B). On the other hand, the percentages and numbers of IFN-γ–producing CD4+ T cells were not affected by the absence of T-bet–expressing B cells, whereas the percentages (but not absolute numbers) of IFN-γ+CD8+ cells did drop significantly (Figure 5, C and D).
Figure 5 Reduced T cell activation in SLE mice with B cell–specific T-bet deletion. Representative FACS plots and quantification of the frequency of (A) activated/memory CD4+ T cells, (B) activated/memory CD8+ T cells, (C) IFN-γ+ CD4+ T cells, and (D) IFN-γ+ CD8+ T cells in the spleens of 4-month-old C57BL/6 (white bars), SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT (red bars), and SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT (black bars) mice. T cells were gated as live, B220–, CD19–, CD4+ (or CD4–), CD8+ (or CD8–). Bar graphs represent mean ± SEM (n = 4 mice per group, representative of 3 independent experiments). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 by 1-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls analysis. NS, not significant.
GC B cells, preplasmablasts, and activated T cells do appear in aged SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice (>7 months old) (Supplemental Figure 2), which is in line with our observation of the delayed appearance of autoantibodies in these mice (Figure 3), suggesting that the autoimmune response is substantially delayed in SLE mice in the absence of T-bet–expressing B cells.
Overall, these data indicate that T-bet expression in B cells during spontaneous autoimmune responses is critical for B cell activation and generation of GC B cells and early plasmablasts (CD44+CD138+). Moreover, T-bet expression in B cells is also required for the efficient T cell activation during an autoimmune response, perhaps via its effect on B cell Ag-presenting abilities. These changes in B and T cell activation ultimately lead to the reduced titers of autoantibodies and reduction in immune complex formation and deposition in kidneys, which in turn improves the survival of SLE mice.
B cell–intrinsic T-bet expression is critical for the development of spontaneous GCs during autoimmunity. The low frequency of GC B cells in SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice (Figure 4B) suggests that the animals might have impaired formation of spontaneous GCs. To test this, we confirmed by histological analysis of spleens that SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice exhibited a defect in the formation of spontaneous GCs when compared with littermate controls (Figure 6, A–C).
Figure 6 T-bet expression in B cells is required for the formation of spontaneous GCs, but is dispensable for the formation GCs following deliberate immunization. (A–C) Representative immunofluorescent staining of 5 spleen sections obtained from (A) SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, (B) SLE × T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT, or (C) C57BL/6 mice. (D) Percentage of GC B cells identified by FACS as B220+CD19+CD4–CD8–GL7+CD95+ and (E–G) representative immunofluorescent staining of spleens sections obtained from (E) T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT, (F) T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT mice immunized with NP-CGG and alum (day 11) (n = 4 mice per group), or (G) naive C57BL/6 mice. n = 4 mice per group, representative of 3 independent experiments. Scale bars: 100 μm. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 by 1-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls analysis. NS, not significant; PNA, peanut agglutinin.
A requirement for T-bet expression in B cells in the formation of GCs was unexpected. Therefore, we wondered whether this requirement was common to all circumstances leading to the creation of GCs, or applied only to their appearance in spontaneous autoimmunity. To answer this question we immunized T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT and T-betfl/fl × CD19WT/WT mice with a conventional protocol involving nitrophenylated chicken γ globulin (NP-CGG) with alum, and analyzed for the presence of GCs in spleens 10 days after immunization. As demonstrated in Figure 6, the absence of T-bet expression in B cells did not affect the appearance of GC B cells (Figure 6D) or GCs (Figure 6, E–G) in response to deliberate immunization with Ag plus an adjuvant.
Together, these data indicate that T-bet expression in B cells is required for the formation of spontaneous GCs during autoimmune responses, but is dispensable for the formation of GCs in response to deliberate immunization, at least with an alum-adjuvanted Ag. These findings are in line with recent reports indicating that IFN-γR expression in B cells is required for the formation of spontaneous GCs during autoimmunity (30, 31) and indicate differential requirements for spontaneous and deliberate GC formation. This finding should be further examined in the future.
T-bet expression in B cells is required for the appearance of autoantibodies in Mer–/– and B6.Nba2 mice. Our data concern the role of T-bet+ B cells in the SLE model of lupus-like disease. However, other mouse models for this malady exist, so we asked whether the effects we observed were confined to SLE mice or were also apparent in other mouse models of SLE. To approach this question we used 2 other mouse strains that are known to develop lupus-like autoantibodies: B6 mice lacking MerTK (Mer–/– mice), which have a defect in the clearance of apoptotic cells and generate autoantibodies with age (32), and B6.Nba2 animals (referred to hereafter as Nba2 mice), which express the autoimmune-predisposing chromosome 1 locus of NZB animals (33). Both Mer–/– and Nba2 mice produce autoantibodies, but do not develop kidney pathology (32, 34). We intercrossed these mice with T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice, generating Mer–/– × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT or Nba2 × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice with B cell–specific T-bet deletions.
As demonstrated in Figure 7A, Mer–/– animals with a B cell–specific T-bet deletion had significantly decreased titers of anti-chromatin antibodies in comparison with their Mer–/– littermate controls that contained T-bet+ B cells. B cell–specific T-bet deletion in Mer–/– mice also resulted in a reduced frequency of GC B cells (Figure 7B). The appearance of spontaneous GCs in such animals was also significantly reduced (data not shown). Similar effects on autoantibody production were detected in Nba2 × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice (Figure 7C).
Figure 7 Mer–/– and Nba2 mice with B cell–specific T-bet deletion exhibit reduced titers of autoantibodies, and reduced frequency of CD11c+ and GC B cells. (A) Titers of anti-chromatin IgG in the serum of Mer–/– and Mer–/– × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice at different ages (as indicated) assessed by ELISA (n = 10 mice per group). (B) Quantification of frequency of T-bet+CD11c+ B cells, GC B cells, and early plasmablasts in 4-month-old Mer–/– × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT versus Mer–/– mice. Bar graphs represent mean ± SEM (n = 4 mice per group, representative of 3 independent experiments). (C) Titers of anti-chromatin IgG and IgG2a in the serum of Nba2 and Nba2 × T-betfl/fl × CD19Cre/WT mice assessed by ELISA (n = 10 mice per group). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 by 1-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls analysis. NS, not significant.
Since, as mentioned above, Mer–/– and Nba2 mice do not develop kidney pathology, we could not assess the effects of B cell–intrinsic T-bet deletion on the development of these clinical features using these models of SLE. Nevertheless, these data show that our findings about the need for T-bet+ B cells for the appearance of autoimmune symptoms in SLE lupus-like disease is extendable to 2 other models of spontaneous autoantibody production. In combination with the recent discoveries of similar B cells in human patients (16, 17), discussed below, our data suggest that ABCs may be targets of interest in treatment of such diseases. |
China should prepare for 'military confrontation' in South China Sea, newspaper declares
Posted
China should prepare itself for military confrontation in the South China Sea, an influential Chinese paper has reported, a week ahead of a decision by an international court on a dispute between China and the Philippines.
Key points: China locked in territorial dispute with five other nations
Newspaper calls on China to be ready for conflict with Philippines
Philippines minister says 'nobody wants conflict'
Tensions have been rising ahead of a July 12 ruling by an arbitration court in the Dutch city of The Hague.
About $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year though the energy-rich, strategic waters of the South China Sea, where China's territorial claims overlap in parts with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
In joint editorials in its Chinese and English editions, the state-run Global Times said the dispute, having already been complicated by US intervention, now faces further escalation due to the threat posed by the tribunal to China's sovereignty.
"Washington has deployed two carrier battle groups around the South China Sea, and it wants to send a signal by flexing its muscles: As the biggest powerhouse in the region, it awaits China's obedience," it said.
China should speed up developing its military deterrence abilities, the paper added.
"Even though China cannot keep up with the US militarily in the short-term, it should be able to let the US pay a cost it cannot stand if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force," it said.
"China hopes disputes can be resolved by talks, but it must be prepared for any military confrontation. This is common sense in international relations."
The newspaper is published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, and while it is widely read in policy-making circles, it does not have the same mouthpiece function as its parent and its editorials cannot be viewed as representing government policy.
It is also well-known for its extreme nationalist views.
China, which has been angered by US patrols in the South China Sea, will be holding military drills in the waters starting from Wednesday.
China's Defence Ministry said the drills were routine, the official China Daily reported.
Manila has sought to dial down tensions with its powerful neighbour ahead of the decision, but resisted pressure to ignore the ruling.
"The reality is that nobody wants a conflict, nobody wants to resolve our conflict in a violent manner, nobody wants war," Philippines Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay told ANC television.
"It is my understanding that the President would like to maintain stronger, better relationships with everybody, including China, including the United States, including Japan and all," Mr Yasay said, adding that a "special envoy" was needed to help resolve the dispute.
US officials have expressed concern that The Hague court ruling could prompt Beijing to declare an air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did over the East China Sea in 2013, or step up the pace of reclamation and construction on its holdings in the disputed region.
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Vietnam, China, Malaysia have eyes on the prize
*
Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping, the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region.
At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups - the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China.
*
Both chains are essentially uninhabitable, but are claimed by no fewer than seven countries, eager to gain control of the vast oil and gas fields below them, as well as some of the region's best fishing grounds.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have made claims to part of the Spratlys based on the internationally recognised Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from a country's coastline.
*
Based on the EEZ, the Philippines has the strongest claim on the Spratlys and their resources, with its EEZ covering much of the area.
However the lure of resources, and prospect of exerting greater control over shipping in the region, means that greater powers are contesting the Philippines' claims.
*
China has made extensive sovereignty claims on both the Spratlys and the Paracels to the north, based largely on historic claims outlined in a map from the middle part of the 20th Century known as the 'Nine Dash Map'.
Taiwan also makes claims based on the same map, as it was created by the nationalist Kuomintang government, which fled to Taiwan after the communists seized power in China.
*
Vietnam also claims the Spratlys and the Paracels as sovereign territory, extending Vietnam's EEZ across much of the region and bringing it into direct conflict with China.
There have been deadly protests in Vietnam over China's decision to build an oil rig off the Paracels.
One Chinese worker in Vietnam was killed and a dozen injured in riots targeting Chinese and Taiwanese owned factories, prompting 3,000 Chinese nationals to flee the country.
*
EEZ can only be imposed based on boundaries of inhabitable land, and this has prompted all the countries making claims on the region to station personnel, and in some cases build military bases out of the water, to bolster their claim.
Building and protecting these structures has resulted in a series of stand-offs between countries in the region, each with the potential to escalate.
China has been leading the charge with these installations, and has deployed vessels to the region to protect their interests.
Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.
Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping, the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region.At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups - the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China.Both chains are essentially uninhabitable, but are claimed by no fewer than seven countries, eager to gain control of the vast oil and gas fields below them, as well as some of the region's best fishing grounds.Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have made claims to part of the Spratlys based on the internationally recognised Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from a country's coastline.Based on the EEZ, the Philippines has the strongest claim on the Spratlys and their resources, with its EEZ covering much of the area.However the lure of resources, and prospect of exerting greater control over shipping in the region, means that greater powers are contesting the Philippines' claims.China has made extensive sovereignty claims on both the Spratlys and the Paracels to the north, based largely on historic claims outlined in a map from the middle part of the 20th Century known as the 'Nine Dash Map'.Taiwan also makes claims based on the same map, as it was created by the nationalist Kuomintang government, which fled to Taiwan after the communists seized power in China.Vietnam also claims the Spratlys and the Paracels as sovereign territory, extending Vietnam's EEZ across much of the region and bringing it into direct conflict with China.There have been deadly protests in Vietnam over China's decision to build an oil rig off the Paracels.One Chinese worker in Vietnam was killed and a dozen injured in riots targeting Chinese and Taiwanese owned factories, prompting 3,000 Chinese nationals to flee the country.EEZ can only be imposed based on boundaries of inhabitable land, and this has prompted all the countries making claims on the region to station personnel, and in some cases build military bases out of the water, to bolster their claim.Building and protecting these structures has resulted in a series of stand-offs between countries in the region, each with the potential to escalate.China has been leading the charge with these installations, and has deployed vessels to the region to protect their interests.Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.
Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, print-media, china, philippines |
And now for something expensive and amazing. Swedish progressive metal troupers, Freak Kitchen, just put out the most expensive prog metal music video this year… actually, probably many years.
It all began with their quest to crowdfund an ambitious music video at $90,000. Well, they probably ended up laughing at that original goal when they hit $142,000… Laughing all the way to Dreamworks and Disney that is. And the results are stunning.
Here's what the band had to say:
Combining the talents of Eisner-Award Winning Artist Juanjo Guarnido (Blacksad) and the face-meltingly awesome sounds of Freak Kitchen, a spectacular animated music video presented in World Premiere at NYCC, brought to life by an amazing team including Animators whose credentials range from Dreamworks to Disney and the brilliant 3-D studio Fortiche Prod. The video blends traditional 2-D character animation with 3-D computer graphics in a way you’ve never seen before. Come and see for yourself!
The proof is in the pudding and DAMN does the pudding taste good. Take a look at the "Freak of the Week".
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Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores based in Monrovia, California. By 2015, it was a competitor in "fresh format" grocery stores in the United States.[4][5] As of October 12, 2017, Trader Joe's had 474 stores nationwide in 43 states and in Washington, D.C.[1]
The first Trader Joe's store was opened by founder Joe Coulombe in 1967 in Pasadena, California.[6] Starting in 1979, it was owned by German entrepreneur Theo Albrecht,[7] until his death in 2010, when ownership passed to his heirs.[8] Trader Joe's is a subsidiary of German supermarket chain ALDI Nord.[9] The company has offices in Monrovia, California, and Boston, Massachusetts.[10]
History [ edit ]
Trader Joe's is named after its founder, Joe Coulombe. The chain began in 1958 as a Greater Los Angeles area chain of Pronto Market convenience stores.[11] The original Pronto Markets were so similar to 7-Eleven that Coulombe felt the competition with 7-Eleven would be disastrous.[12]
Coulombe is said to have developed the idea of the Trader Joe's South Seas motif while on vacation in the Caribbean.[13] The Tiki culture fad of the 1950s and 1960s was fresh in the cultural memory, and Trader Vic's was at its height with 25 locations worldwide. He had noticed that Americans were traveling more and returning home with tastes for food and wine they had trouble satisfying in supermarkets of the time.
The first store branded as "Trader Joe's" opened in 1967. This store, on Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena, California, remains in operation to this day. In the first few decades since opening, some of the stores offered fresh meats provided by butchers who leased space in the stores. Trader Joe's at one time had sandwich shops, freshly cut cheese and freshly squeezed orange juice all in-store.
Germany's Theo Albrecht (owner and CEO of Aldi Nord) bought the company in 1979 as a personal investment for his family.[8] Coulombe was succeeded as CEO by John Shields in 1987. Under his leadership the company expanded beyond California, moving into Arizona in 1993 and into the Pacific Northwest two years later.[2] In 1996, the company opened its first stores on the East Coast in Brookline and Cambridge, both just outside Boston.[2] Shields retired from his position in 2001. Dan Bane succeeded him as CEO after working as President of the Western Division. When Bane became CEO in 2001, there were 156 stores in 15 states.[14]
BusinessWeek reported that Trader Joe's quintupled the number of its stores between 1990 and 2001, and multiplied its profits by ten.[8] Supermarket News estimated Trader Joe's sales for 2015 at $13 billion, and placed Trader Joe's 21st on the list of "SN's Top 75 Retailers for 2016."[15]
In February 2008, BusinessWeek reported that the company had the highest sales per square foot of any grocer in the United States. Two-and-a-half years later and in 2016, Fortune magazine estimated sales to be $1,750 in merchandise per square foot—more than double the sales generated by Whole Foods.[2]
In February 2016, due to customer feedback, Trader Joe's announced their goal "to have all the eggs they sell in western states (CA, OR, WA, AZ, NM and CO) come from cage-free suppliers by 2020 and all the eggs we sell nationally to come from cage-free suppliers by 2025."[16]
The May 2009 issue of Consumer Reports ranked Trader Joe's the second-best supermarket chain in the United States (after Wegmans).[17] In June 2009, MSN Money released its third annual Customer Service Hall of Fame survey results. Trader Joe's ranked second in customer service.[18] Although Ethisphere magazine listed Trader Joe's among its most ethical companies in the United States from 2008 to 2010, Trader Joe's did not make the list in 2011.[19][20][21] In 2014, Consumer Reports again ranked Trader Joe's a top-scoring supermarket chain.[22]
Locations [ edit ]
As of October 12, 2017 , Trader Joe's had 474 stores in the United States with stores being added regularly. In 2017, Trader Joe's opened 14 new stores nationwide.[23] Most locations averaged between 10,000 and 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2).
Each location is designed to represent its respective area. Every store has its own crew members that create artwork to represent the surrounding neighborhood. Some store locations have their own "find the mascot" and kids can obtain a prize when they tell a crew where it is "hiding".
Trader Joe's is a tiki-nautical themed establishment but locational stores may include props to blend into the local area; for example, a surf theme for a store near the beach.
Up until the early 2000s, Trader Joes advertised their toll-free hotline, 1-800-SHOP-TJS in their radio ads, to help customers find their nearest store. As of 2018, this number is no longer in service, and the ability to find the nearest store has been supplanted by more modern technology such as their web site.
Products [ edit ]
While a typical grocery store may carry 50,000 items, Trader Joe's stocks about 4,000 items, 80% of which bear one of its own brand names.[2] Trader Joe's describes itself as "your neighborhood grocery store". Products include gourmet foods, organic foods, vegetarian foods, unusual frozen foods, imported foods, domestic and imported wine and beer (where local law permits), "alternative" food items, and staples such as bread, cereal, eggs, dairy, coffee, and produce. The company sells its bananas for 19 cents each instead of by the pound. Non-food items include personal hygiene products, household cleaners, vitamins, pet food, plants, and flowers.
Many of the company's products are environmentally friendly.[24] In October 2007, amid customer concerns, Trader Joe's began to phase out foods imported from China, and from February to April 2008, Trader Joe's phased out single-ingredient products from China because of customer concerns.[25] Between 2012 and 2013, Trader Joe's moved from 15th on Greenpeace's CATO (Carting Away the Oceans) scale to third by removing six unsustainable species of fish from its shelves and getting involved in efforts to protect the Bering Sea Canyons.[26]
Trader Joe's discontinues individual products based on customer reactions more often than larger grocery chains to free up space for new items.[27] Some products are exclusive to certain regions (e.g., midwest, east coast) of the United States depending on availability and popularity.
"Two Buck Chuck" for sale at Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's sells many items under its own private labels, at a significant discount to brand-name equivalents, and requires its brand-name suppliers not to publicize this business relationship.[2] Trader Joe's labels are sometimes named in accordance with the ethnicity of the food in question, such as "Trader Jose's" (Mexican food), "Baker Josef's" (flour and bagels), "Trader Giotto's" (Italian food), "Trader Joe-San's" (Japanese food), "Trader Ming's" (Asian food), "JosephsBrau" (beer), and "Trader Jacques'" (French food and soaps). By selling almost all of its products under its own labels, Trader Joe's "skips the middle man" and buys directly from both local and international small-time vendors.[28]
Trader Joe's is the exclusive retailer of Charles Shaw wine, popularly known as "Two Buck Chuck"[24] because of its original $1.99 price tag in California (local prices vary). Of the wine selection at Trader Joe's, Coloumbe has said, "We built Trader Joe's on wine first, then food. I tasted 100,000 wines, and most weren't wonderful. They were submitted to us by desperate vintners". Along with Charles Shaw, Trader Joe's is known for stocking a very large selection of California and New World wines.[29]
Trader Joe's has said its private-label products contain no artificial flavors, no artificial preservatives, no colors derived from anything other than naturally available products, no genetically modified ingredients, no partially hydrogenated oils (adding trans fat), and no MSG. In addition, its private label dairy products use milk from cows not given the artificial growth hormone rBST.[citation needed]
Trader Joe's also has a "Fearless Flyer" that showcases new products or highlighted products of the month. The flyer is sent out periodically to homes upon request with no charge, and is available in-store. The company sends out "E-Flyers" that are only accessible online. Both flyers include stories about new products, a description, and even recipes.[30] On May 1, 2018, Trader Joe's launched their first podcast, "Inside Trader Joe's". This podcast has five episodes and features crew members, store captains and executives. Listeners can learn about the way the retailer does business, where and how they discover new products, get answers to frequently asked questions, and more.[31]
Criticism [ edit ]
February 2012 protest at Trader Joe's Headquarters in Monrovia, California
From an article titled “Trader Joe’s Gets it Easy?”:
The chain ranked low on Greenpeace’s sustainable seafood report card. The packaging is excessive, with even the produce sealed in plastic. The business model forces consumers to buy in quantities large enough to encourage waste. And most of Trader Joe’s products are made on equipment shared with everything you might be allergic to (dairy, nuts) or philosophically opposed to eating (dairy, meat). Cameron Scott, San Francisco Chronicle, 2013[32]
The retailer has been characterized as “notoriously secretive” [33] and has been criticized for a lack of transparency by management about the sources of products such as organic milk. [34] [35] [ needs update ]
and has been criticized for a lack of transparency by management about the sources of products such as organic milk. In September 2013, in response to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Trader Joe's explained that it would require part-time employees to work an average of 30 hours per week to qualify for medical insurance (with free coverage for basic dental and vision care still available for all Crew Members who work an average of 15 hours or more per week). Part-time employees not qualifying would now be eligible for plans available under the ACA (but available only to those whose employers do not offer them an insurance plan). Those working full-time were unaffected. [36]
In June 2017, Trader Joe's launched the “puff dog”, a roll of spiced sausage meat wrapped in puff pastry, which it claimed to have invented.[37] Social media and British and Commonwealth media pointed out that the sausage roll was a traditional British savory snack,[37] where bakery-chain Greggs sells around 2.5 million sausage rolls per week.
See also [ edit ] |
Sony's No Good Deeds was the top film on Friday, as the Idris Elba/Taraji P. Henson home invasion thriller earned a pretty terrific $8.8 million on its first day of release. The $13.5m thriller courted a bit of controversy this week when Sony decided at the last minute to pull all scheduled press screenings, citing their desire to keep secret a climactic plot twist. The critics did get their hands into the picture on Friday and as expected they were pretty brutal. Did Sony merely decide to not screen the film for critics because they knew it was a critic-proof movie anyway (they went through a period in early 2006 where they released a bunch of movies sans-press screenings to relative box office success)? Or did the scenes of Idris Elba stalking, beating, and (no spoilers) possibly killing women gave executives worry after the Ray Rice domestic violence situation? I'll leave you to speculate, but audiences didn't care and the end result is still a rock-solid debut weekend for the Will Packer-produced thriller.
Will Packer is having a pretty terrific year, having produced Ride Along and Think like a Man Too thus far this year. He thus-far only one project set for 2015, the Kevin Hart romantic comedy The Wedding Ringer (about a guy who provides "best men" to grooms with no male friends). No Good Deed is breaking out for the simplest of reasons: It's a straight-up genre picture that just happens to feature two very popular black actors in the lead roles. Idris Elba is one of the biggest heartthrobs around and Henson has a strong following as well. As I've said before and will say again, black audiences don't necessarily want every film aimed at them or starring actors of color to be brutally depressing dramas about the various outrages of and/or struggles against racism. Sometimes they too just want to watch a ridiculously good looking black man chase a damsel-in-distress around a location until she (I presume) kills him at the last minute. If you build it, they will come. And this weekend it looks like they came to the tune of around $25 million.
The next new release was Warner Bros. (Time Warner Inc.)'s kid-centric sequel A Dolphin Tale 2. The first Dolphin Tale opened three years ago this weekend with $19.1 million and had a leggy run that ended with $72.2m domestic and $95m worldwide on a $37m budget. The sequel, which like the original was produced by Alcon, cost about the same, with pretty much all of the original cast (Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Winter the Dolphin, etc.) returning. As such, A Dolphin Tale opened last night with $4.262m, compared with the $5m earned by the first Dolphin Tale over its first Friday. If the multiplier is similar, and I see no reason why it shouldn't be (Are there that many die-hard Dolphin Tale fans that rushed out to see the sequel?), then Warner Bros. is looking at a $16m debut weekend.
I'm sure I'm supposed to tell you how sad it is that it won't open as high as the first film, but I won't. The original isn't exactly a family classic. There are no real "added value elements," no kid-friendly celebrity like Ariana Grande showing up as a darker and scarier villain who planned to get caught and makes the kids and adults question the moral simplicity of the first film ("Look out behind you, Harry Connick, Jr.! Noooooooo!") to make the sequel stand out. The fact that it will open pretty close to the original while costing the same counts as a win in my book. I'll be seeing this with the whole family on Sunday, despite not having seen the first one. If anyone wants to catch me up on what I'm sure is an incredibly complicated web of world-building established in the first Dolphin Tale, that's what the comments section is for.
There was a semi-wide new release as well, as Fox Searchlight debuted The Drop on 800 screens. The Dennis Lehane adaptation is notable for containing the last performance from the late James Gandolfini. The film cost Chernin Entertainment $10 million to produce and, I'm guessing from the almost non-existent marketing campaign, didn't cost too much more to advertise. As such, the film's $1.46m Friday gross and projected $4m opening weekend on just 809 screens ($5,218 per-screen) isn't too bad. The film, which stars Tom Hardy, Naomi Rapace, and a cute dog of some kind which every critic is talking about (I'm a cat person myself). Anyway, it's the kind of small-scale, star-driven, mainstream genre entre that would have a been a mainstream release ten years ago... which means I'm thrilled that it ended up in semi-wide release right off the bat. Kudos to Fox Searchlight on giving it a go. I have not seen the picture, but if you're curious check out this review from friend and colleague Aaron Neuwirth.
Also opening in uber-limited release is The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. The romantic drama, starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy opened on four screens and earned $20,992 for the Weinstein Company. The interesting thing about this picture, which is about the slow death of a romantic relationship, is that it is the cobbled together version taken from two separate pictures (Him and Her) which basically tell the story from the point-of-view of each participant respectively. It will be interesting to see what valued this stand-alone version has once the separate cuts become more readily available. The third Atlas Shrugged installment, a franchise which keeps getting sequels despite market forces telling them that there is no demand, earned around $190k last night for a projected $590k weekend. As always, theaters love these films because none of the moviegoers will share their refreshments.
The rest is holdover news, and I will be brief today. Walt Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy earned $2.09 million yesterday, setting the stage for a $7m weekend and propelling the film over the $300m domestic milestone (it's at $299.98m). It should also top $600m worldwide this weekend as well. Paramount's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should earn around $5m for the weekend, after earning $1.17m yesterday, bringing its cume up to $181m. 20th Century Fox's Let's Be Cops, another mainstream film that overcame terrible timing in terms of real-life horrors, should bring it around $4m for the weekend, after earning $1.27m yesterday, which will bring its total up to $73m. Warner Bros.' If I Stay earned 1.16m (-27%) bringing its total up to $42m while Into the Storm earned $0.235m (-37%) and brought its domestic cume to $45.1m. Sony's When the Game Stands Tall earned another $0.715m and should earn around $2.6m for the weekend which will bring its cume to $26.8m. The November Man earned another $0.84m on its third Friday, bringing the Pierce Brosnan spy thriller over the $20m mark. Finally, The Giver should pass $40m by the end of the weekend, while The Hundred-Foot Journey should end the frame with around $49m domestic.
Join us tomorrow for more holdover news and weekend estimates. |
By Alexis Simendinger - August 9, 2014
President Obama warned Americans Saturday that the U.S. military operation in Iraq is open-ended, and he did not discount that it could be years before the Iraqi government is able to independently thwart terrorists who seek a permanent foothold there.
“I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks,” Obama said. “I think this is going to take some time.”
Responding to questions after delivering a statement about Iraq, Obama stressed that U.S. military airstrikes in the near term are protecting American diplomatic and military personnel and defending thousands of Iraqis cornered by terrorists atop a mountain. But he suggested U.S. military defenses from the air and U.S. counterterrorism assistance may be needed for a prolonged period.
“I’m not going to give a particular timetable,” he said following remarks regarding the two days of what he called successful airstrikes and humanitarian airdrops of food and water to tens of thousands of people trapped on Mount Sinjar.
The president outlined a U.S. military operation that is providing humanitarian assistance first, to be followed by an effort to bring the Yezidis and other ethnic and religious minorities down from where they fled from by extremists known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The refugees will then be relocated to a safe place.
“That may take some time,” Obama said, noting that defending and escorting tens of thousands of frightened families to new locations will be an international operation requiring planning and coordination.
“They’re in the thousands, and moving them is not simple in this kind of security environment,” he said.
Obama stressed that the timetable most on his mind is not Iraq’s near-term defense challenges, but the long-term task of seeing the Iraqi government complete its selection of leaders and commit to inclusive governance that can eventually become an antidote, as he sees it, to militant extremists such as ISIL (also known as ISIS).
“I think part of what we’re able to do right now is to preserve a space for them to do the hard work that’s necessary,” the president said. “If they do that, the one thing that I also think has changed is that many of the Sunni countries in the region, who have been generally suspicious or wary of the Iraqi government, are more likely to join in the fight against ISIS, and that can be extremely helpful. But this is going to be a long-term project.”
The president described a U.S. goal of containing ISIL rather than defeating the terrorist army, which is operating in both Iraq and Syria. When asked if the solutions he envisioned for Iraq would take years rather than months, the president did not dispute that timeline.
“We can assist and our military obviously can play an extraordinarily important role in bolstering efforts of an Iraqi partner as they make the right steps to keep their country together, but we can’t do it for them,” he repeated.
He reiterated his vow that U.S. combat forces would not return to Iraq during his presidency. But he described ongoing U.S. military, counterterrorism, and political engagement that may endure as long as conditions on the ground in Iraq demand them -- and as long as the Iraqi government remains weakened.
“The Iraqi security forces, in order to mount an offensive and be able to operate effectively with the support of populations in Sunni areas, are going to have to revamp, get resupplied -- have a clearer strategy,” he said. “That’s all going to be dependent on a government that the Iraqi people and the Iraqi military have confidence in. We can help in all those efforts.”
Obama conceded U.S. intelligence underestimated ISIL’s abilities to capture territory swiftly, mobilize with efficiency, and launch assaults the Iraqi people and the country’s security forces could not combat.
“There is no doubt that their advance, their movement over the last several months has been more rapid than the intelligence estimates and I think the expectations of policymakers, both in and outside of Iraq,” he said.
The president bristled when asked whether the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq contributed to ISIL’s rise and its violent rampage, and whether Iraq offers lessons as U.S. forces prepare to exit Afghanistan at the end of the year. Obama also sidestepped his renowned criticisms of the Iraq War, as well as his campaign promises to end it, as he declared he did at the end of 2011.
“What I just find interesting is the degree to which this issue keeps on coming up, as if this was my decision,” the president said. “In order for us to maintain troops in Iraq, we needed the invitation of the Iraqi government and we needed assurances that our personnel would be immune from prosecution.”
The new Iraqi government would not sign such an agreement, which compelled the removal of troops, he said, arguing that as president he could not force a sovereign nation to keep U.S. military forces in place.
“Let’s just be clear,” Obama said. “The reason that we did not have a follow-on force in Iraq was because … a majority of Iraqis did not want U.S. troops there, and politically they could not pass the kind of laws that would be required to protect our troops in Iraq.”
With clear irritation, the president said “that entire analysis is bogus and is wrong.”
The U.S. military mission, at least for the time being, will not require new appropriations, the president added. Late Friday, he formally notified Congress of operations in Iraq under the terms of the War Powers Resolution. On Saturday he said existing appropriations and U.S. “assets” already in the region should be sufficient. If new requests are necessary, he said he would consult lawmakers. Congress will return to Washington from a month-long recess in September.
“Right now, at least, I think we are okay,” Obama said.
Dressed in a blue sport coat and without a tie, the president ended his remarks and walked into the White House residence, returning moments later to board Marine One, which was parked and waiting for him on the South Lawn.
With him were wife Michelle and daughter Malia, as well as National Security Adviser Susan Rice and national security spokesman Ben Rhodes. The Obamas on Saturday began a two-week vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, which will be interrupted by a fundraiser there on Monday and a return to Washington by the president Aug. 17-19 for what has only been described as “meetings” with staff.
Asked if he was ready for his vacation, Obama paused and smiled.
“I’m ready to not have a suit on for a while,” he said. |
LeBron James will open a public school for at-risk children in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, according to the Associated Press.
The LeBron James Family Foundation has partnered with Akron Public Schools to charter the “I Promise School,” dedicated to students who might otherwise be left behind. The school is set to open for third and fourth graders in the fall of 2018. The school will expand to grades 1-8 in 2022.
"This school is so important to me because our vision is to create a place for the kids in Akron who need it most — those that could fall through the cracks if we don't do something," said James, a four-time MVP and three-time NBA champion, via the Associated Press.
This isn’t LeBron’s first rodeo
James partnered with the University of Akron to provide full scholarships for students in his program who qualify. His foundation’s Wheels for Education and Akron I Promise Network programs have helped expose students to multiple career paths they may not have otherwise discovered.
In all, the Cavaliers star’s programs have helped more than 1,100 kids over the past six years. Those experiences have helped James prepare for his biggest challenge yet.
“We've learned over the years what works and what motivates them, and now we can bring all of that together in one place along with the right resources and experts,” he said. “If we get to them early enough, we can hopefully keep them on the right track to a bigger and brighter future for themselves and their families."
He also has a mold to follow.
Ex-NBA star Jalen Rose opened a school in his hometown of Detroit. The Jalen Rose Leadership Academy has produced two graduating classes since its inception in 2011, and 100 percent of those graduated have gone to either college, technical school, or the military. |
For months now, Tesla has been saying that their cars would soon pick up a whole new trick: autopilot.
Later this week, the first of those features will hit Tesla’s fleet — but we’ve already taken them for a spin. We went hands-on (hands-off?) with a pre-release version of the autopilot software, letting the car steer itself down the highway at 70 miles per hour.
One big thing to make clear: these features don’t turn the Model S into a full blown self-driving car. You won’t be punching in your destination and laying back for a nap; instead, these features are meant more to make your long highway commutes less painful.
Elon Musk says he sees full automation coming within about 3 years; this is just a big first step.
So what can it do for now?
Once you’re on the highway, an autosteering feature can maintain your speed, keep an appropriate distance from the cars around you, and keep you in your lane — even around big bends and turns. It doesn’t just let out a loud beep when you start to drift out of your lane; it physically controls the wheel.
It’ll also change lanes for you — just pop on your turn signal, loosen your grip on the wheel, and it’ll merge over as soon as the way is clear.
The autosteer features will work on city streets — but given that the car currently doesn’t recognize things like stop lights, it’s not advised. You’d be taking over manually every few seconds… or, you know, blasting through stop signs. Tesla is being pretty careful to caution that the features are really meant for the highway only, right now.
Tesla’s autopilot/autosteering stuff works by combining data from four sources: ultrasonic (SONAR) sensors to look for cars around you, a forward-facing radar that can see through fog and rain, a forward-facing camera that handles computer vision voodoo like looking for speed limit signs, and high-precision GPS mapping data that acts as something of a second layer for when the built-in vision system needs a sanity check.
Oh, and it’ll parallel park for you, too. That feature has made its way into other cars, of course — but it works well in the Model S. It’s fast, and perfectly smooth. It doesn’t feel like you’re being parked by a robot; instead, it feels like you’ve got a really talented human parking the car.
We’d need to spend more time with the autopilot features before we really gave it that good ol’ TC stamp of approval — but in our short test period with it, I can say it seemed to work well. Once I trusted the car to do the steering and loosened my grip, it was a pretty mindblowing experience.
There were times when the system tripped up, but it did so gracefully. At no point during our test did it feel like the car was doing anything unsafe, nor did I ever feel like I couldn’t immediately retake control. A few times, though, things that I was expecting to happen just… didn’t. I’d tell the car to switch lanes; instead, it just stayed its course, keeping me perfectly in the lane I was already in.
A Tesla rep tells me that this may have been due to the lighting conditions at the time; if the car’s AI isn’t 100% confident that it’s safe to change lanes, it just won’t. Better to have a driver take over than to autosteer into something it somehow missed, right?
Tesla’s autopilot features will work on Model Xs and Model S built after September 2014, though a one-time fee of $2,500 (generally paid at time of purchase) is required to turn the features on. These features should start rolling out, along with some visual/UI changes to the car’s in-dash touchscreen interface, tomorrow. |
Attorney general Loretta Lynch (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Like Newton’s or Mendel’s or Rothman’s, an incontrovertible law seems to govern the reaction to acts of Islamic terrorism in the U.S. It runs something like this: If the perpetrators of terrorism are Muslims, the most pressing problem American authorities face is not Islamic terrorism; it’s anti-Muslim rhetoric/crime. Thus, as the nation reeled from the deadliest act of Islamic terrorism on American soil since September 11, Loretta Lynch declared her “greatest fear” to be the “incredibly disturbing rise of anti-Muslim rhetoric” in the U.S., and promised that her Justice Department would “take action” (though how, precisely, is a matter of dispute).
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But just how common are crimes against Muslims?
According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, there were 1,014 hate-crime incidents motivated by religious bias in 2014. Of those, 154 — 15.2 percent — were anti-Islamic, a slight uptick from 2013’s 135 incidents (13.1 percent).
How alarming are 154 anti-Islamic crimes? Consider this: Last year saw 609 anti-Jewish incidents, and anti-Jewish attacks accounted for 60 percent of religiously motivated hate-crime incidents. This would be uninteresting if the Jewish population in the United States were four times the Muslim population — but it’s not. In fact, the Jewish population (6.8 million) is only about 1/3 larger than the Muslim population (4.5 million, extrapolating from various estimates). That means that not only are anti-Muslim crimes lower in the aggregate; they happen at a lower rate per capita, i.e., There is one anti-Muslim crime for every 29,221 American Muslims; there is one anti-Jewish crime for every 11,166 Jews.
RELATED: The Attorney General of the United States Is Disgracing Herself
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Where is the outcry about the epidemic of anti-Jewish violence?
Of course, just because anti-Muslim hate-crime incidents are comparatively few in a given year does not mean that they are rare historically. Those concerned about the ever-present threat of an anti-Muslim “backlash” constantly point out that, prior to 2001, anti-Muslim hate crimes numbered about two dozen annually.
#share#But, in fact, anti-Muslim hate crimes have been comparatively rare since 2001, too, even if they have not receded to pre-2001 levels. The 154 incidents in 2014 are in line with the historical, post-2001 data, which shows an average of 139 incidents per year, with a low of 105 in 2008 and a high of 160 in 2010. Even in 2010, when numbers spiked, anti-Islamic attacks accounted for less than 2.5 percent of all hate-crime incidents.
RELATED: Dispelling the ‘Few Extremists’ Myth — the Muslim World Is Awash in Hate
And in 2001 itself? There were 481 anti-Islamic incidents — but that accounted, still, for less than 5 percent of all hate-crime incidents, and was still less than half of the anti-Jewish incidents that year.
More and more it seems that this administration has trumpeted a fabricated threat because it is unwilling to face up to a very real one.
Conservatives have been chastised for their condemnation of Loretta Lynch’s remarks. Writing shortly after last month’s attacks in Paris, The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf preemptively defended the attorney general: “Urging people against turning their anger against innocent people is not an unserious priority. It is a reasonable, pragmatic, decent act.”
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With that no reasonable person is in dispute. Every threat and assault committed against a Muslim on account of his or her religion is a reprehensible act. One hate crime is too many.
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But Lynch and her ilk go further, playing down the threat of Islamic terrorism while playing up the threat American Muslims face from their own countrymen. That is a narrative that has no basis in fact. The notion that American Muslims face a unique, outsized threat of violence is simply not true, while the notion that the Islamic State is far from “contained” is tragically obvious.
More and more it seems that this administration has trumpeted a fabricated threat because it is unwilling to face up to a very real one.
— Ian Tuttle is a William F. Buckley Fellow at the National Review Institute.
Editor’s Note: This piece originally stated that Jews were “four times more likely” than Muslims to be victims of hate crimes. That number failed to account for victimization per capita. The revision above reflects this change. Also, a comparison to “anti-white” hate-crime incidents has been excised. |
Kody Brown shown on the TLC show 'Sister Wives' (Screenshot)
The polygamist family featured in the reality television show “Sister Wives” lost its bid to overturn parts of Utah’s anti-bigamy law under a federal appeals court ruling issued on Monday.
The case, filed after the show’s popularity prompted a criminal investigation into whether star Kody Brown was illegally married to four women, drew international attention and raised questions about whether the state could bar consenting adults from living together as a family.
Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states. But Utah’s law is unique in that a person can be found guilty not just for having two legal marriage licenses, but also for cohabiting with another adult in a marriage-like relationship when already legally married to someone else.
Brown is legally married to one of his wives, and “spiritually” married to the others.
In 2013, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups struck down part of the state’s law, saying it criminalizes intimate relationships among consenting adults.
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit overturned that ruling on Monday. The court said because the Browns had not actually been charged under the law – and the state said it would not prosecute multiple marriage cases unless there were allegations of fraud or criminal activity – the case was moot.
“Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction,” the court wrote. “They lack power to decide issues – however important or fiercely contested – that are detached from a live dispute between the parties.”
Utah is the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, which abandoned polygamy in 1890 as Utah was seeking statehood. Some sects and breakaway groups, however, follow the early doctrine of plural marriage.
The Brown family and their 17 children are members of the Apostolic United Brethren, a Utah-based church which follows a plural marriage doctrine.
The family’s attorney, legal scholar Jonathan Turley, said in a blog post Monday he would appeal the decision.
“The Brown family is obviously disappointed in the ruling but remains committed to this fight for the protections of religion, speech and privacy in Utah,” Turley wrote.
But Utah Federal Solicitor Parker Douglas said the state had a legitimate interest in prosecuting abuses that can arise in polygamous relationships.
Shortly after Waddoups struck down the law, a woman alleged that her polygamous husband had shunned her and planned to “sell” their daughter and a niece, and he was not able to use the bigamy law in prosecution, Douglas said.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Leslie Adler) |
Duck Dynasty, the show that gave a platform to unlikely Christian evangelists and not-so-subtle bigots, is finally going off the air. The Robertson family announced this week that the current season of the show would be its last.
… the cable network said: “After five years, 130 episodes and one of the biggest hits in the history of cable, the Robertson family and A&E jointly decided that Duck Dynasty, the series, will come to an end after this season.”
Whether it was truly a joint decision from both sides is anyone’s guess. But the show won’t be missed by atheists or anyone else who cares about LGBT rights.
The patriarch of the family, Phil Robertson, made very clear over the years that he found homosexuality disgusting (and LGBT people unworthy of equal rights). He wanted to “rid the earth” of gay marriage supporters and infamously compared homosexuality to bestiality. He also assumed atheists were so immoral that rape, murder, and violence would never faze us since morality was subjective.
Liberals obviously weren’t the target audience — I can’t recall ever watching it on purpose — but in a nation where Donald Trump can become president, and people care about the Kardashians, I guess it only made sense that millions of people cared to watch this family.
And besides. When it comes to bigotry and homophobia, it’ll be hard to top coverage of the Trump administration. |
Amid all the noise about new satellites and maiden launches, there is something interesting quietly taking place at the Indian Space Research Organization. It is building and nurturing the private industrial capabilities in the country to support its activities. Other than making some big announcements like outsourcing manufacture of an NAVIC satellite to the private sector or privatization of PSLV operations by 2020, ISRO is also making focused efforts to consolidate and enhance participation of Indian industries for production of hardware required for satellites and launch vehicles, such as rocket engines, propellant tanks etc.
Only recently ISRO chief A.S. Kiran Kumar had pointed out that India’s space capacity of 34 working commercial communications satellites is capable of serving barely half of India’s current needs. He said the space agency is severely constrained to meet the ever-increasing demands from over 60 central departments, 29 states, and thousands of private sector companies, while urging the domestic industry to come forward and help augment the manufacture and launch of satellites.
ISRO chief A.S. Kiran Kumar has urged the domestic industry to come forward and help ISRO augment the manufacture and launch of satellites.
“Our current strength is around 16,000 people, which is not enough to achieve the throughput we have aimed at,” Kumar said. “We need the help of industry players to achieve our goals. We are open to startups and smaller companies that meet our requirements. An example would be Bellatrix.”
Around 80% of the development work on launch vehicles had been outsourced, with ISRO doing just the supervision work. Even Chandrayaan II, scheduled to be launched in early 2018, had many sub-systems developed by private players.
“ISRO is encouraging a lot of private industry to come up, as we believe in indigenizing technology and its transfer,” Uday Raj, General Manager RRSC – South and Associate Program Director, Space applications, ISRO, told Geospatial World on the sidelines of a seminar on location based services, organized in New Delhi by Ficci. “We are allowing private players to join hands with us to develop some product and services. For instance, as part of collaboration, MapMyIndia is sharing its huge geospatial database on our Bhuvan platform.”
Private NAVIC satellites
In April this year, ISRO announced that for the first time ever it has partnered with a private player for manufacturing two of its satellites. A consortium led by Bangalore-based Alpha Design Technologies is building two backup satellites for its satnav system. NAVIC has seven satellites in orbit, and the ISRO wants the two additional ones to be launch-ready in case any of these malfunctions.
The move to outsource was taken to expedite the various missions ISRO is working and it was finding too taxing the efforts to make everything in-house. “There is a gap between what we are capable of doing now versus what we are supposed to make. That gap we want to fill up with support from the industry… 16 to 17 satellites we have to make every year. So it is a really-really quantum jump and to fill that gap…, we thought the industry could come in,” M. Annadurai, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, had said.
READ: ISRO’s Top 5 Upcoming Innovative Programs
Privatization of PSLV operations
Last year the ISRO chief said the agency was in discussions with the government as well the private sector towards formulating a plan and strategy to enhance the capacity and capability of managing the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) program on an end-to-end basis. The integration and launch of the rocket will be handled by an industrial consortium through Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO. The tentative date of implementation is 2020.
PSLV-C37 goes up carrying a record 104 satellites from Sriharikota on February 15.
Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, had said in a written reply in Parliament that ISRO is in the process of exploring the possibility of involving Indian industry in a greater role to meet the increased national requirements and possible commercial demand for launch services.
The main advantage of privatizing the PSLV operations is to increase the rate of launches from 12 to 18 per year.
Private satellites for Digital India
Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has also suggested that ISRO ropes in the private sector to launch satellites in low and medium orbits to expand broadband penetration in the country to further the government’s vision of Digital India.
India had about 31% Internet connectivity and it was estimated that only 450 million of India’s of 1.25 billion people would have internet connectivity by June, a report from the Internet and Mobile Association of India and market research firm IMRB International had said in March. It added that there are potential approximately 750 million users still in rural India who are yet to become Internet users. But currently this is not possible given the status of data penetration in the country, especially the Northeastern parts where laying optic fibre cables is difficult given the rough terrain.
One must mention here that there exists a provision for private players to operate communication satellites on their own in India through an established mechanism called Committee for Authorising the establishment and operations of Indian Satellite Systems (CAISS). Under a policy approved by the Government of India in 2000, only Indian registered companies with FDI not more than 74% may be allowed to establish and operate such a satellite system.
Why this is necessary?
First and foremost, ISRO’s frugal budget. ISRO’s this year’s annual budget stands at around $1.4 billion even after a substantial hike, which are peanuts when compared to NASA’s 19.1 billion. Earlier in the year, the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests had asked for a 50% hike, while ISRO chairman stressed on the need for “for manpower for producing various satellites and also bolster the R&D set up to develop new generation satellite and launch vehicles”.
There was two pressing reasons for an increase in ISRO’s budget. With the Indian government’s aggressive focus on geo-enabling of various sectors, there is pressure on ISRO’s downstream services, which again translates into newer satellites and launch vehicles. Additionally, the tremendous success of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) globally, especially after the record 104-satellite launch, has led to further launch demands.
A written reply by the Department of Space to Parliament acknowledges this: “Considering the enhanced national requirements for launching satellites for earth observation, communication & navigation, the present capacity of launches is a constraint.” In order to step up the launch capacity within the country, ISRO is in the process of exploring the possibility of involving Indian industry in a greater role towards producing integrated systems/subsystems, including assembly and testing by vendor as per ISRO’s design, the statement adds.
Secondly, the move to commercialize is also keeping up with the global trends. There is a concerted move to open up the space sector across the world. While NASA has for long supported private players, under the Trump administration it has taken bold steps towards further commercialization of the sector through legislations like the NASA Transition Act and the recently introduced American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act of 2017. The European Space Agency (ESA) has also been a great proponent of public-private collaboration in space, which according to it is capable of bringing diverse advantages. Under a ‘Space 4.0’ policy, which fosters the transition of ESA from a government-run laboratory in orbit to a commercially driven human and robotic spaceflight economy, a step-wise approach is nurturing new commercial services led by European private companies that strengthens the competitiveness of the space and non-space industrial base, stimulates R&D, and integrates innovative solutions into ESA space exploration missions.
Even in countries such as Canada or Japan, there has been move towards commercialization of the sector. Among the big space powers, perhaps only China can be compared to India in terms government controls and monopoly of the state agency.
The last but not the least is global technology innovation. The launch costs aboard a PSLV is currently the lowest, at a paltry $15 million. In comparison, it currently costs SpaceX about $60 million to send each rocket into space. NASA’s launches cost more than $100 million. Those by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ariane-5, Japan’s H-IIA, and the Chinese Long March also cost about the same. A Russian Proton costs $68 million to launch.
However, the PSLV can launch only up to a weight of 1,800 kg. ISRO’s recently launched GSLV MK- III (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III) put a satellite weighing 3,136 kg in the orbit on June 6. But for anything heavier ISRO doesn’t have a solution yet. SpaceX claims its Falcon Heavy, scheduled for launch later this year, is capable of launching 54,000 kg in space, more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost. Delta IV Heavy, manufactured by United Launch Alliance, is the world’s highest capacity rocket (25,000 kg) currently in operation and costs $435 million per launch (calculated from an Air Force contract of $1.74 billion for 4 launches).
Also, where SpaceX is miles ahead of ISRO (and any other competitor at this moment) is how it has perfected the reusable rocket technology, which allows for a soft-landing of its rocket’s first stage after a launch, which enables re-use of a rocket the second (and possibly third or fourth or nth time) time as it recently proved on March 30. Once the company perfects this technology, the cost for launching a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket would come down to $612,000, or lower. With Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin close on the heels, the day is not far when ISRO could find it difficult to maintain its current USP — low launch costs.
And this is just launch costs. If we add innovation in satellite technologies, hardware costs etc, it would be not only more cost efficient for ISRO to outsource, but also get things faster, better and on time.
The road ahead
Privatizing PSLV operations and outsourcing hardware manufacturing will not just free up ISRO to focus on more nation-building missions, but also create a vibrant Indian space market.
This is very much in keeping with the global trend. Premier national space agencies such as NASA or ESA or JAXA do not engage in commercial manufacture of communications satellites or leasing transponders. They instead focus on building next generation R&D capabilities and possibilities, leaving the private sector to take care of commercialization.
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Microsoft wrapped up its big event in New York this morning and left most Microsoft fans in awe. A flurry of announcements for both hardware and software in Microsoft’s future gave us all something to look forward to. It wouldn’t be a good Microsoft conference, however, without some incredible videos to give these announcements that extra bit of flair. Here are our favorites.
Microsoft’s conference revolved around creators – not just painters and musicians, but people who create anything. Whether you sit down at your computer to compose a symphony or create a great spreadsheet, Microsoft wants to celebrate your identity as a creator. This video does a great job of showing off their plan to empower creators of all kinds.
A lot of us tuned into this event to get some hardware news, and Microsoft delivered. While what we ended up getting wasn’t named the Surface Book 2, it might as well be. The Surface Book i7 does everything that made the original Surface Book great and does it all with bigger and better hardware. This clean-cut, nice-looking video gives us a look at one of the prettiest laptops that are on the market today.
This video can give you chills. Personally, I watched it about ten times after the conference. This serves as a fantastic introduction to the Surface Studio while giving a subtle nod to the new Surface Dial. The haunting rendition of Pure Imagination in the background ties the whole thing together, giving you a genuine feeling of artistry. This video might go down as one of the best ones that Microsoft has ever put out.
This takes a break from the more theatrical nature of the other videos and opts to give you a few testimonials. Hearing professionals talk about how the Surface Studio helps them do wonders to sell the device. Mix this praise with some upbeat instrumentals and a few great shots of the Studio at work, and you’ve got a solid ad.
If you don’t feel like dropping the money on any new hardware this year, you can still get excited about the Windows 10 Creator’s Update. The update is all about empowering creators of all kinds, and this video does wonders for that. From showcasing Groove Music Maker, to taking a look at the new streaming function from the Xbox Game Bar, to exploring Windows 10’s new fascination with 3d, this ad helps you get an idea of what the update is all about.
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Further reading: Microsoft |
The fourth round of this year’s US Open Cup kicks off tonight with three matches, as the MLS teams enter the competition.
All eyes will be on the standout match of the round. Not the Sounders hosting the Timbers, there’ll be no Clint Dempsey tantrums to entertain us this time around. Not even the rather tasty looking clash between San Jose Earthquakes and San Francisco Deltas, or Alan Koch’s FC Cincinnati hosting Columbus Crew. The game we’re talking about will be played out tonight at the Maryland SoccerPlex, as D.C. United played host to Baltimore amateur side, Christos FC.
A giantkilling awaits. The ‘Magic of the Cup’ and all that. But the whole story of Christos FC and their cup run to the fourth round, is what cup football is all about. Or should be anyway.
I can’t even pretend to do the Christos FC story justice. This excellent article from the Washington Post will do that. In short, this is an amateur club that are named after a discount liquor store, meet at the store, don’t train, and play for the love of the game and the beers afterwards. They’re also the reigning USASA National Amateur Cup champions.
Playing in the Maryland Major Soccer League, an affiliated league of the United States Adult Soccer Association, Christos FC play in what is the fourth/fifth tier of the US soccer pyramid. They’re the lowest ranked team left in the competition, and have already won three matches on the road to get to this point, and without conceding a goal in the process.
Now maybe coming up against MLS opposition will be a step too far. Or maybe it will be a footballing fairytale we love to see play out in the F.A. Cup ala Sutton United and Lincoln City this season. However it ends, it’s a great story to follow and epitomises why I’ve always love cup football so much.
Sadly, as the money takes over the game and league football is primarily all that matters any more to the big teams around the world, cup games have taken a back seat, with the top teams fielding weaker sides full of younger and fringe players. We see it ourselves here in Vancouver every year with the Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship. Something that cost us big time in the second leg against Montreal last month.
But for me the lure and magic of cup football still shines brightly. That’s been ingrained to me from an early age. As an East Fife supporter, cup games provided some of the rare excitement and success in recent season for a club with a rich cup history. We were the first club from outside the top flight to win the Scottish Cup in 1938, a record which was only matched last year, and won three Scottish League Cups in a seven year span in the 40’s and 50’s. Slim pickings since, but a lot of memories from giantkilling games in both competitions over the years.
That’s why I hate to see cup competitions devalued by clubs. Teams who see it as an annoying aside rather than a meaningful chance to win silverware. In the States, it feels that the vast majority of the clubs and soccer fans simply don’t appreciate what a wonder competition they have in the shape of the US Open Cup. The nature of the beast of the game here in North America, where playoffs are king.
Some do, and that warms my heart. It’s a competition with a 104 year history, that is open to amateurs clubs and professional ones alike. A Cup that this season kicked in September of last year with qualifiers featuring 64 teams and will see a record 99 clubs compete from the first round proper.
It’s everything I dearly want the Canadian Championship to be. I want the Voyageurs Cup to be lifted by a club that’s had to battle against the best all across Canada, at every level of the game, in a truly national cup competition. Not one that’s contested by only five clubs every season.
The US Open Cup isn’t perfect. There’s still some flaws, but they’ve addressed some too in recent seasons with the regionalisation of matches to cut down travel and costs and to try and get MLS clubs to field stronger line-ups. It hasn’t worked, but they’re trying.
The US Open Cup is the benchmark that the Voyageurs Cup should aim to become.
I’d much rather see the Whitecaps playing BC Provincial Cup winners Club Inter, VMSL champs Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves, or PDL side TSS Rovers to kick off their cup campaign, than another match against MLS opposition and only entering at the semi-final stage. It may not draw huge numbers to the match, or see the ‘Caps field a particularly strong side, but it would be great for local soccer and the game in general in Canada to have these teams involved.
Change is at least on the way.
Canada Soccer announced in March that the Canadian Championship will be getting a long overdue reboot from next season. The 2018 battle for the Voyageurs Cup will be expanded to include both the League1 Ontario and Première Ligue de soccer du Québec champions. Canadian Premier League side are expected to all take part in the competition once that gets underway in 2019.
That’s great but it just doesn’t go far enough.
It would be nice to see Canada’s Provincial Cup champions get included in the mix, or at the very least the winner of the Challenge Trophy at the nationals. The huge omission though are Canada’s six PDL teams – Calgary Foothills, K-W United, Thunder Bay Chill, TSS Rovers, Victoria Highlanders, and WSA Winnipeg.
“I’ve talked to somebody back east that has been a very big proponent and is deeply involved in the League1 scenario,” TSS head coach Colin Elmes told AFTN. “I said to him, please give me a rational argument as to why PDL has been left out of this model. He did clear a couple of things up for me.
“Only the League1 champions will be eligible. Down in the US, 21 PDL teams took park in this year’s US Open Cup. There are 70 teams in PDL. 21 of them have qualified to become eligible to be in the US Open Cup. Now that environment has been functioning for a very long time.”
It’s something that hasn’t sat well with the PDL teams, especially Calgary Foothills and TSS Rovers who have been vocal about it on Twitter. And rightly so. You also have the likes of K-W United, who won the PDL Championship in 2015.
But as irked as they are at being left out, Elmes is at least happy that the CSA have started to open up the tournament beyond the current five participants. He would just love his team, and others, to be a part of it.
“It’s a step in the right direction, I believe,” Elmes told us. “I’ve always said, and made comments like, Coquitlam Metro-Ford Wolves, why are they not able to find some way to be in a challenging environment to be part of that? So they’ve opened it up [with a view] to the Canadian Premier League set up.
“Clearly they’ve made a statement here to suggest that PDL is not on the radar, at least not right now. Some people have actually said things to me like ‘oh it’s an American league’, and I’ve countered in about 1.2 milliseconds so are all the leagues of everybody.”
But it does appear that the PDL is certainly looked at differently than MLS, USL, and NASL by the powers that be in Canadian soccer.
“It would be interesting to get into a room, and stay calm, and talk through the reasons why,” Elmes said. “One of the reasons I was given, by this person who will remain unnamed, was that the CSA is not that big on PDL.”
Disappointing, but perhaps not unsurprising with the push to get existing and new Canadian clubs to be part of the Canadian Premier League or a regional Tier 3 league.
“They’re not that big [on PDL] now because of League1,” TSS’ Will Cromack added. “It’s a carrot perhaps for people to join RT3… We always feel that clubs should be allowed to participate if they so like. In anything. Whether that be leagues or otherwise. Meet the standards of the league and you enter. You earn your way in. It should be a meritocracy. It should be, we’re here and we’re paying to exist.
“We’re actually the only club that we know of, including League1, that we’re only here for Canadians. So why wouldn’t be allowed in our own Canadian Championship? For me, it’s just systematic of a broken system that wants to be controlled, when the only way to free and to create and to develop players is to open it up, so clubs can be free to develop their clubs how way that they want them.”
Part of the reason we’ve heard on the grapevine for the omission of PDL clubs from an expanded Canadian Championship is down to the length of the PDL season, which only runs from May to July.
“It’s interesting the excuses and stories that come out,” Elmes told us. “I’ve had someone say to me, oh the [PDL] league is only 10 week’s long. So I’m like, okay, is there some kind of goalline that says that it needs to be 11 weeks? League1 is 16 weeks. So the litmus test is somewhere inbetween 10 and 16 weeks in whether that particular group is eligible and stuff.
“It’s been interesting because clearly not many people have said anything publicly, but the comebacks privately have been very, very weak. The reality is unfortunately that there is a level of protectionist for a situation occurring here. The people that make these decisions want certain environments to thrive.”
For Elmes and TSS Rovers, the issue isn’t much more than sidebar right now as they get on with the business of getting through their first PDL season. But it’s the principle of the whole issue for some of the other highly respected clubs that adds to his feeling of unfairness to it all.
“Let’s look at it a bit deeper,” Elmes said. “TSS is obviously this group that has rattled a few cages over the years, but how do you explain this to Calgary Foothills? Seriously. One of the best clubs in the country.
“A member of the Alberta Soccer Association. A women’s team now. A men’s team. Multiple national championship involvement over the years at club level. How does one go to them and say you know that team that you’ve got at under 23, well they’re in the wrong place?”
There’s no doubting that the Canadian Championship will continue to grow and expand in the coming years. That is only good for the competition, the clubs, and the game here. Will it eventually end up as a Canadian Open Cup? Truly accessible to every sanctioned Canadian club that meets the qualifying criteria? No matter the league. No matter whether professional or amateur.
We hope so, but won’t be holding our breath. For now, at least we can enjoy the US version.
If you want to watch Christos FC’s bid for a massive cup upset, you can find a stream for that match and most of the others at the excellent TheCupUS site, when confirmed. |
FORTUNE -- To be a successful forecaster, the wise man said, pick a number or a date -- but don't pick both.
I only wish that seers into the future of the electric vehicle and its cousins, the plug-in hybrid and the standard hybrid, followed such sensible advice.
With investors and the media displaying an inexhaustible appetite for news about the next new thing in automotive propulsion, there has been an irresistible temptation to feed the beast by conjuring up dates and numbers to quantify the speed and volume of adoption. Invariably, they fail to properly assess the reluctance of the American car buyer to shift into an alternative-fuel vehicle, except when spiking gasoline prices cause extreme budgetary pain.
Even professional forecasters have fallen victim to EV fever. In 2008, J.D. Power's veteran powertrain expert Michael Omotoso looked ahead to 2009, when a more powerful and fuel-efficient next-generation Toyota Prius was scheduled to debut, and declared, "In 2009 we see hybrid sales going over 600,000 units." It was a bold forecast but way off the mark. Hybrids finished the year with sales of 290,272.
Undaunted, Omotoso didn't stop there. He went on to say, "We see the hybrid unit continuing to grow to over 1 million units by 2012 so long as gas prices grow." Gas prices moderated for a time, and hybrid sales actually fell in 2010 to 236,000.
Ever so gradually, Omotoso has been moderating his outlook. In a report published in April, 2010, he stretched his million-unit bogey out by a year to 2013 -- still an optimistic target. Later in the year, after more disappointing sales, 2014 became the million unit goalpost. But he was still looking for hybrids and pure electrics to grab 4% of the market in 2011; a year later, the actual run rate this year has been closer to 2.4%. Consumers want better mileage but they are still wary of hybrid technology and the price premium that goes along with.
Nobody would accuse Bill Ford of hyping Ford Motor's (F, Fortune 500) prospects. But he is an ardent environmentalist who would like to align his family's auto company more closely to his own interests. In a speech before the National Press Club in 2005, he talked about Ford's intention to build "up to 250,000 hybrids by 2010." "Up to" is the operative phrase here -- Ford never came close. Ford sold exactly 35,496 hybrids last year.
To his credit, Ford came to realize the folly of trying to forecast sales in such a volatile environment. In a 2009 interview at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference, he admitted, "One thing I'll tell you for sure: Our ability to forecast has been just horrible," he was quoted as saying. "[We] might just as well have tossed darts."
Ford must think that the company's accuracy has improved because he's been forecasting again. He's been articulating the company line that it expects that 10% to 25% of its 2020 global sales will be comprised of electrified vehicles. Based on last year's volume, that would equate to 1.3 million vehicles at the high end. That's a mighty leap from last year's performance. Moreover, Ford believes the number could go even higher if "major affordability and limited infrastructure issues" are overcome. We'll see, but past performance isn't encouraging.
Confidence in the accuracy of forecasts isn't improved when key facts get lost in translation. No one is immune. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn was once asked about the capacity of its Tennessee plant to build the Leaf EV. Ghosn replied, "We start production in Smyrna at the end of 2012, at which point there will be capacity for 150,000 annually." When that statement was picked up by Reuters, it became "Nissan will build more than 100,000 electric vehicles a year when it starts U.S. production of the zero-emission vehicles at its Smyrna, Tennessee plant in two to three years' time. " As any student of the auto industry will tell you, there is a huge difference between the capacity of a plant to build cars and the number it eventually builds. Ghosn, who is extremely bullish about the EV outlook, was made to look more bullish than he actually was.
While he was victimized in this case, Ghosn is the father of one of one of the industry's boldest predictions: that sales of pure EVs will reach 10% of overall sales by 2020. Ghosn doesn't even make that goal conditional on gasoline prices. Ghosn is a smart man who has accomplished the impossible before and has staked his legacy on the success of the EV. But given the failure of the electrified car to live up to many of the expectations that have been set for it, you hope he has a set of very accurate darts. |
By Andrew Liszewski
It seems more people are getting tattoos these days to show loyalty to a particular brand or product than for traditional rebellious reasons. We’ve all seen our share of Nintendo, Apple or even Zune tattoos, but none of them come even close to the ink that one Spiderman fan had done. The tattoo is designed to look like the guy’s skin is actually being torn away to reveal the Spiderman costume underneath. While I personally think having the Superman logo revealed on his chest would’ve been slightly cooler, this tattoo is still an impressive piece of work.
You can check out the thread that this tattoo spawned on Emptees.com, but I have to warn you that some of the other tattoos are definitely not safe for work.
[ Emptees – Craziest Tatoo I’ve Seen (NSFW) ] VIA [ Geekologie ] |
"It felt like an opportunity I couldn't say no to," said Pedrie, 23. "It's something I worked my whole life to get to, and I couldn't say no to that."
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- When opportunity knocks, you answer. Just ask New York Rangers defenseman prospect Vince Pedrie, who gave up his final two years at Penn State University for a chance to play in the NHL.
The opportunity came the day after the Nittany Lions were eliminated from the NCAA championship by the University of Denver on March 26.
"I talked to [the Rangers] through my adviser a little bit through the year and I didn't know if they were seriously interested or not," Pedrie said. "After the season ended when we lost to Denver, the next day they contacted me and made me an offer. I felt like it was the perfect place playing for an Original Six team. It's something that I've dreamed of."
After signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Rangers on March 28, Pedrie had five assists in nine games with Hartford of the American Hockey League.
"I thought Vince came in and showcased himself well," Hartford coach Keith McCambridge said. "He showed good poise with the puck and possessed strong attributes that you usually don't see right away in defensemen who are just getting a feel for the pro game. For a player who just joined us at the end of his season, he came across as very motivated and professional. He left a good impression on us."
Said Hartford general manager Chris Drury: "He's super competitive and has a lot of polish. He does a lot of things well that you look for in a D-man in this day and age."
Pedrie attended Rangers development camp last month and is expected to be at training camp in September.
"As usual, there will be a learning curve for a young D-man like Vince," McCambridge said, "but it was a good step in his development to come in at the end of last season and just get a feel for where his game is and where it needs to be in order for him to play for the Rangers."
During his two seasons at Penn State, Pedrie had 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 71 games, helping the Nittany Lions, who began Division I play in 2012-13, win the Big Ten tournament.
"Vince has a way of making the game a lot more exciting," said Erik Autio, Pedrie's defense partner at Penn State. "Playing defense with him is really easy because he uses his offensive instincts to move the puck out of our zone really quickly. He also has an absolute cannon on the blue line, so setting him up for a one-timer is always a good idea."
Pedrie, who grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, says he sees himself playing for the Rangers when they feel the time is right.
"My goal is to win a Stanley Cup in New York," he said, "and do whatever I can to contribute."
Main photo credit: Chris Rutsch/Hartford Wolf Pack |
The Seattle Seahawks talked Tuesday about their plans for veterans Chris Clemons and Brandon Browner, each players recently re-signed to the team.
Tuesday offered the first official words from the Seahawks about the recent re-acquisitions of cornerback Brandon Browner and defensive end Chris Clemons — each members of the team’s Super Bowl XLVII-winning team before playing the last two seasons elsewhere.
And confirming what had been speculated, the Seahawks said each veteran player is likely going to be used in a more situational role than during their previous stints with the team. Each was a starter on the defense that helped Seattle beat Denver 43-8 in the Super Bowl before departing — Clemons was released in a salary-cap move while Browner was not re-signed after becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Browner, 31, played last season with New Orleans and in 2014 with New England while Clemons, 34, played the last two seasons with Jacksonville. Each recently signed one-year contracts that represent a small investment and little risk for the Seahawks.
Here’s how general manager John Schneider described the plans for each player when asked during the team’s annual pre-draft press conference Tuesday:
“With Chris, last year they wanted him to be a little bit more of a situational pass rusher. They ended up playing him more than they wanted to. We recognized that, you could kind of see it on tape. But he’s been here, he’s got a specific attitude about him. Losing Bruce (Irvin in free agency), some of those reps that Bruce was taking as a situational rusher, that’s really kind of how we see Chris. With Brandon, it was really a situation where the last two places he’s been — New England and then New Orleans — he’s been a strong leader for them. When you have to make those decisions to move on from a guy because you can’t afford him and then yet they still want to come back to your family, your team, your organization, that’s big for us. So it was a way for us to accentuate that. Now how we use him, that’s still to be determined.”
Said coach Pete Carroll:
“Both guys are really special competitors and they’re really tough-minded guys and we loved them when we had them, we hated when we had to lose them. So the opportunity arose and John figured it out and jumped at it. Both guys come back, and they bring something special to us. Clemons is a really adept rusher, and he’ll be good to help our young guys learn, too. If we can keep it in the mode that we want to and the numbers of plays we want to, we think we can really keep him effective. Brandon’s got some special skills as we know, and he’s very aggressive coverage-wise and makes things happen. So we’re going to do some different things with him you’ll see in the future. We have a nice plan for it. So we’re excited about both those guys coming back. Fun to have in the building.”
Schneider added that continued enhancements in how the team monitors the conditioning of players makes it easier to bring back veterans and know how to get the most out of them.
“When you get those guys, guys like this, I would say four or five years ago we wouldn’t be able to do something like this,’’ Schneider said. “But with Sam Ramsden and his staff on the sports science group working with our coaches and the trainers and strength and conditioning guys, we’re able to track them a little bit better and monitor how we’re using them, how they’re practicing, and can we help them where they are at physically.” |
Protesters at a May Day march in Seattle, Washington clashed with police during what law enforcement called "a riot" on Friday. Officers deployed flashbangs and pepper spray to try and get the crowd under control.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets Friday to participate in pro-worker, anti-police-brutality rallies, as well as one that was billed as anti-capitalist. According to the Seattle Times, one protester broke a window and others threw rocks at police before law enforcement responded with flash bangs.
Pepper spray flash bangs craziness. Police took back the street #MayDaySea#Videopic.twitter.com/jY9XF1ANZ7 — Lauren Frohne (@laurenfrohne) May 2, 2015
"As we continue to witness acts of violence from protesters, we urge folks on Capitol Hill to exercise caution," said Mayor Ed Murray in a statement. "Seattle Police are advising that businesses on Broadway and other Capitol Hill streets should take reasonable precautions to protect their employees and customers. Police will continue to work to protect people and property in the area, and will make arrests when necessary."
Seattle police officer injured in May Day violence. #Q13FOXpic.twitter.com/Vbmfai6aeb — Thomas Brock (@Q13FoxNews_Tom) May 2, 2015
Three officers have been injured at the scene of a melee at Broadway and Howell, the Seattle Police Department tweeted, two of which were hurt seriously. A total of fifteen people have been arrested across the city, police said.
One protester has reportedly thrown a burning object into a vehicle. Police said fires have been ignited at Seattle Plaza and that 25 vehicles have been damaged.
Anarchists light a flag and spray paint the silver sculpture outside Seattle Central #MayDaySeapic.twitter.com/TfA6CVtvNr — Bettina Hansen (@bettinahansen) May 2, 2015
Police tweeted that an "explosive device" was thrown at officers and said the situation has escalated into a riot.
"This is no longer demonstration management, this has turned into a riot" -Captain Chris Fowler. #MayDaySea — Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) May 2, 2015
Meanwhile, video surfaced of individuals breaking windows as they made their way through the city.
The Seattle Times reported that earlier in the day, a Black Lives Matter march planned to meet up with the May Day March for Workers and Immigrants Rights. Earlier in the day, police said they were concerned about a third group of self-proclaimed anarchists who might try to cause chaos in the city.
The line has been drawn at Broadway and Pine. Flash bangs and pepper spray dispersing crowd. #MayDaySeapic.twitter.com/INoM3K3vY4 — Jon Humbert (@jonhumbert) May 2, 2015
In this video, some of the masked protesters can be seen marching and chanting.
NOW: Broadway at Thomas, anti-capitalists on the move and chanting. pic.twitter.com/3TPmlmu0Iz — Janet Kim (@JanetKimTV) May 2, 2015
For most of the day, the marches were peaceful even though protesters disrupted traffic at times.
When confrontation first broke out between police and protesters, officers were reportedly hit with flags and sticks.
Rewind: the moment the police moved in. Dropped bikes. Protesters hit cops with their flag sticks #MayDaySea#Videopic.twitter.com/dwLyIOLtYF — Lauren Frohne (@laurenfrohne) May 2, 2015
Seattle Police Captain Chris Fowler explained the situation to a reporter on the ground.
Amid the chaos, some helped clean up what others made a mess of. |
index 1edd8fc..2b1181d 100644
--- a/
+++ b/ diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSIONindex 1edd8fc..2b1181d 100644--- a/ VERSION +++ b/ VERSION @@ -1 +1 @@ -10.7.0-devel +11.0.0-devel
index 92ae20f..1b63331 100644
--- a/
+++ b/ diff --git a/docs/relnotes/10.7.0.html b/docs/relnotes/11.0.0.htmlindex 92ae20f..1b63331 100644--- a/ docs/relnotes/10.7.0.html +++ b/ docs/relnotes/11.0.0.html @@ -14,19 +14,19 @@ <iframe src="../contents.html"></iframe> <div class="content"> -<h1>Mesa 10.7.0 Release Notes / TBD</h1> +<h1>Mesa 11.0.0 Release Notes / TBD</h1> <p> -Mesa 10.7.0 is a new development release. +Mesa 11.0.0 is a new development release. People who are concerned with stability and reliability should stick -with a previous release or wait for Mesa 10.7.1. +with a previous release or wait for Mesa 11.0.1. </p> <p> -Mesa 10.7.0 implements the OpenGL 3.3 API, but the version reported by +Mesa 11.0.0 implements the OpenGL 4.1 API, but the version reported by glGetString(GL_VERSION) or glGetIntegerv(GL_MAJOR_VERSION) / glGetIntegerv(GL_MINOR_VERSION) depends on the particular driver being used. -Some drivers don't support all the features required in OpenGL 3.3. OpenGL -3.3 is <strong>only</strong> available if requested at context creation +Some drivers don't support all the features required in OpenGL 4.1. OpenGL +4.1 is <strong>only</strong> available if requested at context creation because compatibility contexts are not supported. </p> |
YouTube has been told to stop playing about 20,000 songs, but Irving Azoff's clients are finding the takedown process to be frustrating.
There are songs, and then there are dances. Here's a song-and-dance routine that, according to one of the lawyers involved, could amount to a billion-dollar lawsuit against YouTube.
Through a new outfit called Global Music Rights, music industry heavyweight Irving Azoff manages the performance rights of some 20,000 songs including works composed by the Eagles, Pharrell Williams, John Lennon and others. Many of the songs were previously handled by ASCAP and BMI, which thanks to consent decrees with the Justice Department, were subject to blanket licenses anytime a digital outlet like YouTube requested one. Not anymore.
And now the dance.
Why Irving Azoff's New Company Has (Some) Leverage Over YouTube
Azoff has informed YouTube that it lacks performance rights for these 20,000 songs -- including ones by Smokey Robinson, Chris Cornell, and George and Ira Gershwin. Since November, when YouTube announced the coming launch of a subscription service to compete with Spotify and Pandora, Azoff has kept up the pressure to license, but Google isn't backing down.
That's quite upsetting to Azoff, who is prepared to launch an all-out legal war if negotiations don't prove fruitful and if YouTube refuses to remove the works. Why YouTube and not, say, Spotify? "Because they are the ones that have been least cooperative and the company our clients feel are the worst offenders," Azoff tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It's also their attitude."
The dance, whether this be a tango or waltz, is more than a basic two-step.
For example, maybe YouTube actually has rights to perform these 20,000 songs. PROs like ASCAP and BMI often issue multi-year licenses, and just because a songwriter withdraws in the middle of a licensing term doesn't mean that the licensee loses rights until the expiration of the term. But neither YouTube nor ASCAP are letting Don Henley, Pharrell Williams and their reps know the situation, according to GMR attorney Howard King.
In a letter sent earlier this month to YouTube, King writes, "Without providing a shred of documentation, you blithely proffer that YouTube can ignore the Notices because it operates under blanket licenses from performing rights organizations other than Global. However, you refuse to provide the details of any such license agreements, presumably because no such agreements exist for YouTube's present uses of the Songs in any service, but certainly with respect to its recently added Music Key service."
Proving rights would hardly end this dance.
Although YouTube has enacted anti-piracy measures since the video site's early days a decade ago, some things haven't changed much at all: Copyright holders insist that it's Google's responsibility to get a license while Google respond that the onus is upon rights-holders to tell it what specifically to remove. In other words, is the use of copyrighted works online opt-in or opt-out?
On Dec. 4, Google lawyer David Kramer responded to King'sletter with one of his own attacking a "misguided" legal position. "This is now your third attempt to circumvent the straightforward DMCA notice-and-takedown process that Congress devised to handle situations like this," writesKramer, a partner at Wilson Sonsini
According to Kramer's letter, GMR must not only submit a statement under penalty of perjury that it is authorized to act on behalf of the owner, and not only identify the works at issue, but also identify URLs where infringing material resides. That would mean sending lots of takedown notices over some 20,000 songs being used in probably hundreds of thousands of videos.
"It is disingenuous that they can keep their hands over eyes until we tell them the URL," King tells THR. "They know where it is. We don't want this to become whack-a-mole."
King points to ContentID, YouTube's digital fingerprinting technology that advertises itself as a system by which copyright holders can "easily identify and manage their content on YouTube," a system where "copyright owners get to decide what happens when content in a video on YouTube matches a work they own."
ContentID has paid out more than a billion dollars since inception, but is it purely a monetization tool or can it be used by songwriters like Pharrell Williams to remove unlicensed material? King believes that YouTube has been holding ContentID out to be the latter -- which he says means that YouTube "can find sound recording by The Eagles and program it [to remove] in a millisecond."
In the absence of doing so, King asserts that YouTube loses its safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because it has actual knowledge of infringing activities, or at least, awareness of facts or circumstances where infringing activity is apparent. YouTube disputes this position — it previously went several rounds with Viacom over the matter, and so-called "red flag awareness" will also be addressed again soon by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the meantime, both sides will continue their posture until someone decides to end the pre-litigation dance.
"This will result in someone blinking, and if it is not them, there will be a billion dollar copyright infringement lawsuit filed," says King, still hopeful that it won't end up in court, but warning that YouTube's "music service will be adversely impacted if they let this go to adjudication. It seems silly that they would let this be test case."
The back-and-forth letters by the lawyers involved in the battle are below.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter. |
Story
Song of the Deep is a metroidvania-style action-adventure game following a young girl’s quest into the unknown to find her missing father. Merryn waits all night for here father to return from the sea, and he never does. Fearing the worst Merryn constructs a submarine to explore the deep sea, making friends and enemies along the way. Merryn must brave the waters fending off monsters, and solving puzzles to accomplish her quest.
Gameplay
Your main weapon throughout the game is a grappling hook, which is also your main tool for solving puzzles. The hook is used to pull, break, and drag objects to complete the puzzle or move on to the next area. Combat was fun, however the occurence of enemy encounters was sub-par. There are two big elements to the game which is combat, and solving puzzles. They both subtract from an enjoyable experience when together. When you are solely exploring and killing off squids, it was nice and enjoyable adventure. Enemies largely became a giant nuisance while trying solve puzzles. Solving puzzles was a unique and fun experience, but I quickly became very annoyed when enemies came to interrupt.
A shop keeper helps you along the game to upgrade all your equipment. The map stays true to the metroidvania style allowing many areas to only become further explorable, upon acquiring an item pickup elsewhere. There are health and missile upgrades vastly spread upon the map as well.
Graphics
The visual design of Song of the Deep is very well done. The narrative is presented in a "child's storybook" type of way. Turning pages of color pencil drawn illustrations. The gameplay itself is gorgeous and immersive. There were times when I was in completely open water, and I had an extreme sense of anxiety as if I was drowning or claustrophobic. Swimming through vibrant patches of seaweed was an incredibly pleasing experience. The artstyle is point where Song of the Deep definitely stands out. You will be able to see for yourself the gameplay graphic style in a few gifs posted on this page.
Sounds
Hand in hand with the visual design, sounds and music were brilliant. The soundtrack created an immersive underwater experience. The music efficiently accompanied the gameplay giving a sense of panic, darkness, beauty etc.
Difficulty
The entire play through took me just under 6 hours. If you go for a 100% it would probably take double that to 12 hours. Definitely worth it at the $15 price point. That's actually so good for the quality of game it is. I played on the intermediate difficulty, and would not say that was any challenging. It was very comfortable. The puzzles were not too hard nor were the enemies. A big complaint I have is that the enemies would become so annoying while trying to solve the puzzles. I believe the puzzles were so very well done that this could have been only puzzles and no combat. Fighting enemies while exploring and not solving puzzles was much more enjoyable.
Summary
Song of the Deep is definitely worth giving a play and especially at only being priced $15. Underwater games have always been a tough setting for anyone to enjoy a game, but Insomniac Games did a great job with this one. I'll credit this game as "The best underwater game since Bioshock". I would recommend this game for its beautiful design, and cute storyline. Overall I really enjoyed this game despite the frustrating enemy encounters. The story is simple yet enticing, causing me to be really determined to go on and solve puzzles. As far as the puzzles go, they were just excellent (If you have patience for puzzles). If I had to give it a score I would go with 3.5/5. If you are expecting fast paced action you may be let down, however if you are a player with patience and enjoy puzzes, Song of the Deep is recommended for you.
I played Song of the Deep using a free press copy! Thanks Insomniac Games and Gamestop. Played on steam. |
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The music was a little louder in the Texas clubhouse, and there was the faint smell of champagne.
Otherwise, the Rangers were still waiting on a bigger celebration -- for winning the AL West.
Texas clinched a wild-card spot and moved to the cusp of the division title, with Adrian Beltre's three-run double backing Derek Holland in a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
Editor's Picks Thursday's Top 5: Rangers can surprise in October The Toronto Blue Jays will be the clear AL favorite, but the Texas Rangers are a playoff sleeper.
Adrian Beltre fuels Rangers' improbable playoff run The Rangers were three games under .500 and trailed Houston by eight games on Aug. 1. Thursday night, they locked down a playoff spot. Who knew? 1 Related
"We had a toast, yes," first-year manager Jeff Banister said. "We still have a mission to accomplish. And something that as a group of players we all talked about in spring training, when nobody else was talking about it but us."
The Rangers (87-72), in the playoffs for the first time since 2012 after an AL-worst 95 losses last season, are a win or a Houston loss away from their first division title since winning two straight and going to the World Series in 2010-11.
Texas, which fell to Tampa Bay in a playoff for a wild-card spot in 2013, lost ace Yu Darvish to season-ending elbow surgery in spring training and went 7-14 in April.
The Rangers were still eight games out on Aug. 2 but are now on the verge of becoming the fifth team in 40 years -- and the first since the Twins in 2006 -- to win a division after trailing by that many games in August.
"We knew it was going to be a chance," said shortstop Elvis Andrus, who had a couple of tough plays among five straight balls late to help preserve the lead. "We talked to everybody, we've got 60-something games ahead. Baseball is so crazy. You don't know what's going to happen."
The Angels can't defend their AL West championship, but still have a shot at the second wild card with three games left. Los Angeles (83-76) is a game behind the Astros and tied with Minnesota, which beat Cleveland 4-2.
Beltre, who had the second-most RBI in the majors in September with 29, broke a 1-all tie with a bases-clearing double off Andrew Heaney (6-4) in the fifth. Beltre scored an insurance run after a leadoff single in the seventh.
"We obviously knew coming in we needed to win every game," said Heaney, who walked a career-high five and has just one win since July 26. "Obviously, that's frustrating for me to feel like I didn't give the team a chance to win."
Holland (4-3), who missed most of the season with a left shoulder strain, allowed three hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings for his first win since Sept. 5. The left-hander struck out six, including Kole Calhoun three times.
Calhoun also grounded out to Andrus against reliever Jake Diekman with the tying run at third to end the seventh.
Sam Dyson pitched a perfect eighth with help from two strong defensive plays by Andrus, and closer Shawn Tolleson did the same in the ninth for his 35th save in 37 chances.
Albert Pujols hit his 39th home run off Holland in the sixth. He doubled and scored the first run in the second.
HOW ABOUT HAMILTON
Josh Hamilton made a running over-the-shoulder catch in left field as he went to his knees and crashed into the wall. The Texas slugger had arthroscopic surgery to clean up the meniscus in his left knee Sept. 11. It was his third game in the outfield since surgery.
The second-inning play turned what looked like an extra-base hit into a sacrifice fly for Shane Victorino, and Hamilton scrambled to his feet to get the ball back in. Pujols had to run back to third to tag up and barely beat the relay throw.
"It hurt, but it's fine," Hamilton said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: Manager Mike Scioscia said closer Huston Street (groin) was still unavailable.
Rangers: Chirinos (left shoulder strain) made his second straight start at catcher for the first time since late July.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Jered Weaver (7-12, 4.76 ERA) makes his second start of the season against the Rangers. He allowed one run on four hits in six innings in a no-decision when Texas won 2-1 on Sept. 5.
Rangers: LHP Martin Perez (3-6, 4.77) has three straight wins over four starts at home, with a 2.28 ERA in those starts. He gave up two unearned runs in six innings of a 4-2 loss at Houston in his last start. |
Pirates have found a new loophole that allows them to copy 4k movies and TV-shows from Netflix and Amazon. Up until recently these high quality 4K resolution rips were nonexistent, but a flurry of new releases from various groups show that something has changed.
While the average consumer is generally not equipped to play 4K content on their TV or computer, many video geeks are looking forward to every new release.
Thus far the physical offerings have been limited to adult content mostly, with just a handful of mainstream productions. However, with the adoption of a Blu-Ray standard for Ultra High Definition video more releases will follow soon.
4K streaming releases have been available for a while already though, with Netflix and Amazon as the two key vendors in this market.
These online streams were always well protected against pirates. The High-Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection (HDCP) version 2.2 or higher is still believed to be secure today, but there are signs that pirates have found a way to bypass the protection.
Earlier this year the first 4K Netflix leak surfaced. After that it went quiet. However, a few days ago something changed, as many more releases started to appear online.
TorrentFreak spoke to a release group insider who confirmed that this is a significant change.
“Many groups started releasing 4K rips recently and they are working perfectly. I expect that 4K resolution releases will become more popular now,” TorrentFreak was told.
The new 4K leaks come from both Netflix and Amazon, suggesting that there’s a general loophole that allows pirates to circumvent the copy protection on both services.
Up until recently this was impossible to do. There were a handful of upscaled releases floating around with a lot of pixelation and low bitrates, but these don’t come close to real 4K.
The new releases are true 4K and include Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle as well as the recent pilots Edge, Good Girls Revolt, Highston, One Mississippi
and Patriot.
Amazon’s 4k leaks
Another series of high-profile 4K leaks that came out this week are of Netflix’s Jessica Jones. As with the other rips the file-sizes are much larger than traditional HD-releases, well over 10 gigabytes for a single episode.
Netflix’ Jessica Jones 4k leaks
The media info for one of the Jessica Jones leaks show that it’s 4K, at a 32.5 Mbps bitrate. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the video quality is always exceptional.
“For example for Marvel’s Jessica Jones new TV series from Netflix the 4K captures look bad, because the master from Netflix is probably bad,” we were told by an insider.
Jessica Jones 4k (large)
Downloading a 4K release from Amazon or Netflix and getting a pirated copy out is not something that’s easily done. The original rips are often well over 100 gigabytes in size. Still, many groups are jumping on the 4K bandwagon.
The main question that remains is how the groups are able to circumvent the copy protection. Our source says that Amazon’s Fire TV and Roku 4K are likely sources, as they may not be as well protected as some believe.
Amazon’s Fire TV uses the weaker HDCP 1.4b protection and 23.976 frames/s, which only supports Amazon 4K releases and not Netflix.
Roku recently released their new streaming player with 4K support and native refresh rate switching, which can play Netflix’s 4K library. It arrived in stores early November, just before the 23.976 frames/s 4k rips started coming out.
Whatever the source is, the stream of new releases is unprecedented and marks the start of a new era of high quality video releases.
In recent years many people have been downloading higher quality rips already, but it will probably take a few years before 4K becomes the new standard. Overall, however, pirating video geeks will be happy with the news. |
Sheila Payton barrels down I-85 in her silver Chevrolet Sonic.
Her daughter Britney just texted four words that sent her scrambling: "On the Plane Train."
Sheila is only days away from a moment she's dreamed of for decades.
"When the doctor said it was a girl," she says, "I immediately started praying for her mate. … And I remember as she started to grow and started to date and everything, I just kept praying."
Today, Sheila's home is full of invitations, goody bags and gifts. Her cell phone is chirping with calls and texts. And her mind is racing.
This weekend, Britney is marrying her fiancé, Philip. And their flight from Columbus, Ohio, just arrived.
More than 200 people are coming to the wedding, but Sheila can't stop thinking about the one person who won't be there.
Wendell, her husband of 27 years, died of a heart attack in March.
Sheila's trying to hold it together, but she's been tearing up all week.
She knows Wendell won't walk their daughter down the aisle.
He won't dance with her at the reception.
He won't see Britney wear the wedding dress she picked out after shopping at stores in three states.
This bittersweet blend of joy and heartache is all too common at the world's busiest airport, where moments of love and loss are carried like precious cargo and unwieldy baggage.
Knowing her daughter is doing what Wendell wanted helps Sheila keep going.
"One thing I know that he would want her to do is live," she says. "This is her life, a new chapter."
As Sheila waits for Britney and Philip to pick up their luggage, she prepares herself for the first thing she knows Britney will say ("I'm hungry") and the food she'll want to go out to eat (Italian).
Circling the airport, she thinks about how amazing her only daughter is.
How, at age 2, she toted a mini-suitcase and took her first flight alone to visit an aunt in Arizona.
How she's been fearless and loved traveling ever since.
How her straight A's got her a full ride from Spelman College.
How she joined the military to pay for medical school so her family wouldn't have to.
At the curb near baggage claim, Sheila squeals when she sees Britney and Philip coming.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Look at my babies!" she says, shouting so loudly about the wedding that strangers waiting nearby congratulate them.
Britney quickly tosses her luggage in the trunk and says she's ready to go.
She tells her mom she's starving, and that she wants to get Italian food.
Sheila smiles knowingly, hands Philip the car keys and gets into the back seat. |
MEATIRIE, La. >> New Orleans Saints defensive end Hau‘oli Kikaha often maintains the pleasant disposition of someone kicking back on the north shore of Oahu, even when fielding questions about his ability to bounce back from a third reconstructive knee surgery.
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MEATIRIE, La. >> New Orleans Saints defensive end Hau‘oli Kikaha often maintains the pleasant disposition of someone kicking back on the north shore of Oahu, even when fielding questions about his ability to bounce back from a third reconstructive knee surgery.
Kikaha appreciates why many would wonder if he can regain peak form following a third left anterior cruciate ligament tear since college, so he doesn’t take offense to the skepticism surrounding his comeback.
The Hawaiian and former Washington Husky also relishes the underdog role.
“When you’re the underdog, you always have to come from behind and take what’s yours,” Kikaha said. “Hopefully, it all plays out perfectly and it will be a great story.”
The Saints defense could use some good fortune. The unit has ranked 27th or worse each of the past three seasons. During that time, New Orleans has struggled to consistently apply pressure on quarterbacks, something at which Kikaha thrived at Washington, racking up a single-season school record 19 sacks in his senior season in 2014.
While the Saints were keenly aware of Kikaha’s injury history at Washington — where his first two ACL tears occurred — his ability to come back from those and set sack records convinced New Orleans that he was worth a 2015 second-round pick.
Kikaha had a promising rookie season, starting 10 of 15 games in which he played — all at outside linebacker in what was then a 3-4 defensive front. He was in on 50 tackles with four sacks, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. New Orleans was eager to see his growth in his second season, only to lose him for the year during a voluntary offseason workout last June.
Now New Orleans has Kikaha lining up as a pass-rushing defensive end in a scheme that currently features four down linemen and three linebackers in its base formation. During practice in full pads Monday at Saints training camp, Kikaha, who’s been wearing a protective brace on his left knee, received snaps with the first-team defense.
“He works his butt off every day. The whole offseason he was up here nonstop,” said Saints defensive assistant Brian Young, who oversees New Orleans’ pass rush. “There’s no doubt in his mind he’s going to be better than what he was before the injury.
“We’re super glad he’s back,” Young added. “We love having him around because he’s always got a smile on his face. He has fun out there. Guys respond to him.”
Coach Sean Payton also has praised Kikaha’s work ethic, recalling an instance this offseason in which he ran into Kikaha at team headquarters when the building was virtually empty at 9:30 on a Sunday night.
“The first battle is just getting the snaps and getting on the field, so he’s doing a good job there,” Payton said.
Fellow defensive end Cam Jordan said Kikaha, “looks great,” complimenting a spin move Kikaha exhibited during a recent practice.
“He wants to be on the field so bad and you can feel it,” Jordan said.
Asked how close his knee is to being fully healed, Kikaha said, “I don’t think very far at all.
“Really, it’s just proving it,” Kikaha said. “I feel like I can do things physically I’ve done in the past and might be a little better at some things mentally.
“I’ve experienced this before with this same exact injury,” Kikaha continued. “I feel great. And I felt great in the past (after rehabbing the previous two). I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything. In fact, each time I felt like I gained a little.”
To Kikaha, ACL repairs are now routine for top surgeons. The real issue, Kikaha said, is the lengthy and painful rehabilitation, and the mental commitment required to get through it.
“I’ve just noticed the difference in guys that were successful regaining form and guys that were not,” Kikaha said. “It all depends on the individual circumstances and how they feel mentally.”
Kikaha said he draws motivation from reflecting on his love of football, along with his desire to help his team and family.
“I’ve got to keep focused on that,” he said, “or I will be out, like a bunch of guys have ended up.” |
A number of migrants died after being attacked by sharks while attempting to cross into Italy from Africa, the Libyan Navy has claimed.
At least 31 people died - including three children - and more than 40 are missing after two boats attempting to cross into Europe via Libya sank. The coastguard conducted two rescue operations off the city of Garabulli, around 40 miles (60km) east of Tripoli, spokesman Colonel Abu Ajila Abdelbarri said.
The Libyan navy said that they managed to rescue 60 people from one of the boats and 140 from the second. Migrants from Somalia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Pakistan were among those that were rescued.
In a series of Facebook posts detailing the incident, the Navy added that "a number of bodies were devoured by sharks during the rescue".
Captain Nasser Al-Gammoudi told Italian newsapaper Il Giorno: "When we arrived in the area, off the town of Garabulli, [one] dinghy was semi-submerged and still had 44 people clinging on to it, whom we saved.
"There were lots of bodies all around and we saw there were four or five sharks swimming among them, large blue sharks, a very aggressive species. When we brought the bodies on board we noticed that some of them had been bitten, so it's possible that among the missing some may have been eaten."
However, the claims have bene dismissed by experts. Ezio Amato, a marine biologist, said that while white sharks and tiger sharks "have been known to attack lone swimmers" they have never been recorded attacking in large groups, reports The Times.
Italy's coastguard, which coordinates the rescue effort in international waters, reported that a total of 1,500 people had been rescued from the oceans in the two days before the 31 migrants died.
The 200 people rescued in the latest double operation brought back to a naval base in Tripoli and provided them with water, food and medical care. |
Criminals that perpetrate fraud online are creative if nothing else. Whenever a new event happens that might cause someone to possibly get money somewhere, they use it to their advantage. After Hurricane Katrina hit, there were phishing emails that tried to get you to donate to help victims of the Hurricane, but the money didn’t go to the victims, it went into the pockets of criminals. When Congress recently passed the stimulus package, a wave of emails was sent out telling consumers that they could qualify for all sorts of new government grants, if they paid a sum of money to get the “inside information.”
Now, it’s tax season. There’s a fresh batch of fraudulent emails making the rounds allegedly from the Internal Revenue Service telling consumers that they have an refund of about $150.00 waiting for them. If you were to click on the link, you would be sent to a website that looks suspiciously like the IRS website, but the URL is something entirely different. If you were to actually fill out the form, you would find unauthorized charges on your credit card very soon after.
Here’s a copy of the email that recently showed up in my inbox:
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tax refund value is $189.60. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to IWP the data received. If u don’t receive your refund within 9 business days from the original IRS mailing date shown, you can start a refund trace online. If you distribute funds to other organization, your records must show wether they are exempt under section 497 (c) (15). In cases where the recipient org. is not exempt under section 497 (c) (15), you must have evidence the funds will be used for section 497 (c) (15) purposes. If you distribute fund to individuals, you should keep case histories showing the recipient’s name and address; the purpose of the award; the maner of section; and the realtionship of the recipient to any of your officers, directors, trustees, members, or major contributors. To access the form for your tax refund, please click here This notification has been sent by the Internal Revenue Service, a bureau of the Department of the Treasury. Sincerely Yours, John Stewart Director, Exempt. Organization Rulings and Agreements Letter Internal Revenue Service
Remember, that the internal revenue service does not contact tax payers via email. I would also wager to guess they know how to spell the words “you”, “whether”, “relationship”, and “manner” as well. |
Civil wars eventually come to an end, even in the Middle East. Lebanon’s civil war began in 1975 and ended after 15 years, with 120,000 deaths. But Syria’s conflict is still raging. It is now in its fifth year with at least 300,000 people dead. Millions more have become homeless, trying desperately to flee. But, incredibly, we may be witnessing the first signs of a breakthrough. As horrific as the Syrian drama has been — will we ever forget the lifeless body of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi lying face down on a Turkish beach? — history may very well remember this week as the moment when the road leading to a compromise emerged.
Refugees and migrants arrive at the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey earlier this month. Europe is grappling with its biggest migration challenge since the Second World War. ( ARIS MESSINIS / AFP/GETTY IMAGES )
There have been two significant developments in recent days. The growing threat of Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq — by threatening the interests of the U.S., Russia, Iran and others — seems to have pushed traditional rivals together. For the first time, Iran has been invited by the United States to join talks in Vienna with the U.S., Russia and several other nations on a possible political resolution to the Syrian impasse. These talks were expected to start on Friday and extend through the weekend. There were also increasing signs this week from American officials that they would allow the despised Bashar Assad to stay on as Syrian president in an interim role if that led to an eventual solution. Both Iran and Russia are Assad’s most powerful backers, and no breakthrough is possible without their support.
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These developments are occurring not long after the groundbreaking nuclear agreement between Iran and the world’s leading industrial powers. They raise hope that Iran can emerge as the “solution,” rather than the “problem,” in dealing with the region’s many crises. But they come as tensions increase on all sides. Many conservative Republican leaders in the U.S. are agitating for more direct American military intervention in Iraq and Syria, as if the lessons of the disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and Britain were completely forgotten. In an interview this week with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, former British prime minister Tony Blair offered a qualified apology for the Iraq war. He was asked whether the invasion of Iraq was the principal cause of the rise of Islamic State extremists, and replied: “I think there are elements of truth to that. Of course, you can’t say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015.” It is widely believed now that the chaos created by the 2003 invasion enabled the Islamic State extremists to organize. They drew on disaffected members of the former regime and supporters of the al-Qaida faction. But Blair, who many in Britain now regard as a war criminal, was only limited in his apology. Blair felt the decision to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was a correct one, although he apologized “for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime.” By any measure, those are some of the obvious lessons of the Iraq invasion.
In 2003, the Canadian government was notable in its opposition to the invasion. Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien resisted pressure from Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush. According to polls at the time, the government’s opposition to the invasion was supported by 70 per cent of Canadians. Stephen Harper, who was leader of the official Opposition, supported the invasion. Do you remember two years ago when the newly elected leader of Canada’s Liberal Party wondered about the “root causes” behind the bombings at the Boston Marathon? He created an uproar within Canada’s conservative echo chamber.
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Editorialists and columnists huffed and puffed about Justin Trudeau’s “diplomatic maturity,” while Prime Minister Harper accused Trudeau of trying “to rationalize or make excuses” for those responsible for the bombings. A year later, in October 2014, Trudeau spoke about the 2003 Iraq invasion at the “Canada 2020” conference, saying it was sold to the public “with overheated, moralistic rhetoric that obscured real flaws in the strategy and the plan to implement it.” He went on: “It was a mission that destabilized the region, sowed further conflict, cost our allies three trillion dollars and cost thousands of people their lives. The world is still dealing with the consequences of that mistake.” Well, he was right, and we should learn from it. Hopefully, “root causes” in this new Trudeau era may again be in vogue. Tony Burman, former head of CBC News and Al Jazeera English, teaches journalism at Ryerson University. Reach him @TonyBurman or at [email protected] .
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An uproar over lapses by U.S. air traffic controllers will spill into Congress where critics of organized labor see an unexpected opening to push their agenda into sweeping aviation legislation.
Embarrassing disclosures of controllers sleeping on duty — even allowing first lady Michelle Obama’s plane to fly too close to another jet — have heightened scrutiny of the Federal Aviation Administration and raised questions about the agency’s ability to manage its workforce and ensure safety.
Republicans see the furor as a way to force certain proposals into a final version of a $59 billion aviation bill that lawmakers will thrash out when Congress returns in May.
These include proposals to privatize more airport towers, consolidate facilities and give FAA management more flexibility in running the sprawling air traffic system. All are part of a larger Republican effort to cut FAA spending by $4 billion.
“Sleeping on the job, near misses – those give me more ammunition when I go into negotiations,” John Mica, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee, told Reuters in an interview.
“I think this will affect it,” Mica said of the air traffic control controversies, adding that he may seek new provisions in the bill on disciplinary remedies for the worst types of mistakes made by controllers.
Lobbying on the $59 billion aviation bill will heat up in coming weeks. The legislation is already under a White House veto threat due to a provision that would to make it harder for airline and railroad unions to organize.
The House and Senate have approved different versions of the bill and will try to reconcile them in negotiations. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association and its Democratic supporters believe Mica’s cost-savings agenda is anti-union.
IMPORTANT LABOR ISSUES
Bill Voss, a former FAA controller and now an aviation safety advocate, said the air traffic lapses have undercut the union’s position on issues important to labor.
“It makes them look unprofessional,” said Voss, noting that NATCA’s influence in Congress also was weakened when Mica’s Democratic predecessor, James Oberstar, lost his bid for re-election last November.
Controllers will lean on Mica’s counterpart in the Senate, Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, a Democrat.
A NATCA spokesman declined comment on whether the tumult over controllers would affect negotiations on the aviation bill, or whether a new legislative strategy was necessary.
The union’s political action committee, however, is deemed a “heavy hitter” by the Center for Responsive Politics, a lobbying watchdog. NATCA gave more than $2 million to candidates, mostly Democrats, in last year’s congressional elections, according to the center’s fund-raising data.
To counter the bad publicity, the 15,000-member union has run ads promoting controllers as sentinels of safety. Although critics agree aviation is safe, controller errors are up and there are questions about training and glitches in the transition to a software-driven system for monitoring 9 million flights a year.
Edward Wytkind, the pointman on transport lobbying for the AFL-CIO labor group, urged policy leaders to learn from recent events, which he described as “unfortunate byproducts” of an imperfect system that leaves controllers chronically tired.
Mica, who shepherded the aviation bill through the House, believes the union is too powerful. In a recent meeting with FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, Mica discussed the agency’s performance and steps to address errors and training.
“I would favor zero tolerance” in certain situations, Mica said, noting that some controllers simply receive suspensions or transfers if they make a serious mistake.
Babbitt fired two controllers this week for sleeping on the job and the FAA is investigating other related cases and reviewing policies to reduce fatigue and improve performance.
(Editing by Christopher Wilson)
Source: Reuters US Online Report Domestic News |
Twenty eight years ago Russian army has entered Afghanistan. They stayed there for 9 years and more than 15,000 Russian soldiers were lost dead, much more were wounded or had psychological problems in their civil life later. The troops that were fighting against Russian army at that times were actively supported by Pakistan and Western World as an opposing effort of the Free World against the Evil Empire – USSR.
One of the most notable leaders supporting the rebels against the “Russian oppression” in Afghanistan was a Western supported Osama Bin-Laden. A few years later, when there were nobody to fight against in Afghanistan he found new victims for his fight. Now in the Free Western World that supported him before, with all the tactical skills his people were studied by Western instructors. In Russia there is a proverb, something like “Don’t dig a hole for someone else, as you will fall into it yourself”, some Russian soldiers found that it was true in this occasion, after learning that those guy they fought for years, took over the Afghanistan after they left and started to fight now against his supporters.
These are photos from that time when the Russian army was still there, mainly from private archives. |
The only way to consistently get stuff on the home page was to work at it like a job. And so, some people began to work at it like a job, and then it became their jobs. While some really thought of themselves as an important part of the journalistic enterprise, many others contracted out their services to entities of all kinds. Stripped of any institutional sense of editorial ethics, many Digg power users ended up promoting all kinds of crap along with good stories from legitimate writers and sites.
Meanwhile, everyday users were realizing that nothing they submitted ever even had a chance in hell of going to the front page. They weren't empowered netizens visiting from the future, but chumps who were being played by Digg and a bunch of "social-media consultants."
In short, the community broke. And the community, remember, is also the content machine. Without that, Digg was revealed to be just a bunch of computers waiting for people to add value to the thin offering of a social network. The site still gets a substantial amount of traffic, but that Myspace/Friendster smell of death hangs in the pixels.
There is one clear lesson from Digg's sale: the technology that powered a once-massive social network is worth about $500,000. All the rest of the value derives from the people that use it. Though scaling is tough, any developer in the world can build some profiles and let people connect up. It's an act of genius -- or an act of God, by which I mean luck -- to design a site constitution that makes people want to build their online lives at your URL (or in your app). Social networking companies are not technology companies as much as they are community companies.
To be honest, I don't know why anyone tries to start these things. No one has much of a competitive advantage, the space is crowded, you can't compete on price, and no one wants to join a Reddit for hermit crabs. Then I remember how social networks function: users produce the product and they *are* the product. Now that's some kind of good hustle. |
One of Miami’s most treacherous roads may get a serious safety upgrade, in the form of a ten-foot protected path for use by cyclists and pedestrians.
The Julia Tuttle Causeway, a six-lane divided freeway (part of Interstate 195) that connects midtown Miami and Miami Beach, posts a speed limit of 55 mph and has been the scene of plenty of deadly accidents over the years. In April of last year, 25-year-old Eber Vasquez was killed near the western section of the highway when a speeding car swerved into his bicycle from behind, sending him and his bike into the water.
“We’ve gotten a lot of requests for a protected path,” says Zak Lata, the FDOT bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for District 6, which includes Miami. “We’ve come to realize we really need to address every mode of transportation — not just cars. Mixing high-speed traffic with bicycles is intimidating, and there should absolutely be a barrier.” |
The first of three parts. Part two here. Part three here.
In the latest scandal which is getting millions of upvotes and front-page views today and will be forgotten tomorrow, Digg.com is shocked - shocked - to discover that political astroturf is going on on their very website!
Maybe it's a generational thing. You can say "email has a lot of spam" and not even raise granny's eyebrow any more. Knowledge of 419 scams is becoming so common, they even tape signs on the monitors at Internet cafes forbidding them. Malware certainly gets a lot of ink... heck, it's half the reason some people come to Linux.
But buying votes and opinions on social linking websites is exposed again, and again, and again, and again. And people go right on just believing that Digg, Reddit, or StumbleUpon front page like it was gospel.
The latest story at Alternet is considered news because this time it's political astroturfing. Big whoop. Conservatives, tea partiers, and religious organizations have been found in the past to use "think tanks" and special interest groups. It's all funded. It's all money that originally came from a corporation somewhere.
But anyway, Alternet is scandalized because Digg is being rigged by conservatives. And I always thought this was a clue.
That's from what, two and a half years ago?
This goes into some of my reasoning as to Why Social Bookmarking Will Always Suck.
This needs spotlighting. I know that I'm preaching to my own small choir here, but this needs to be trumpeted way out to the world. I think that 95% of web users just don't realize what a big business this is. I've been Googling phrases like "buzz marketing," "word of mouth marketing," "social media marketing," "influencer marketing," and "front page service," and there's just... no end to this. It involves the top, richest, biggest corporations in the world, and they really care about where your mouse is going to click next enough to fabricate a whole world of lies for it.
UPDATE ESPECIALLY FOR THE RON-PAULTARDS: I thought this went without saying on this website, but on my site I delete all comments supporting Ron Paul immediately. Why? Because I am a good person, that's why. I'd throw my own mother out in the snow for spamming Paultard propaganda on my site. And then delete it and disown her. So no, don't think you can talk me out of it.
You don't like it, you need to take it up with the University of Alabama-Birmingham's computer forensics research department. They proved - PROOOOOOVED - that the Ron Paul campaign for the 2008 election was spamming the Internet in 2007.
That's three years old, it's thoroughly documented, it's thoroughly established, it is incontrovertible, set in concrete, established fact, accepted dogma, gospel, carved into the face of the moon - a cliche. |
It’s a huge relief knowing that no one is truly unique. Everyone out there has a thousand counterparts who act basically the same, think basically the same things, and like basically the same stuff. Maybe they have a different faces, names, and jobs, but they’re entirely interchangeable. Everyone expects the same from all of them.
And that’s great! You never have to live up to the pressure of “being yourself.” There’s no real “you.” It’s just “be everybody else.” Just act accordingly to your approximate personality and upbringing bracket. You can use your peers to gauge your own success in life, and get really hopelessly mad at yourself when you don’t have everything they have that you want.
And when you scream and cry out to the vast, empty, unhearing cosmos, you get to know everyone else is doing that too! The universe won’t even let you revel in your misery. So, basically, there’s nothing ever worth worrying about.
T |
President Barack Obama is a well-known fan of the Chicago Bears, but even his day job as leader of the free world hasn't kept him from knowing what's good for Michael Vick.
Brooks: Asomugha vs. Samuel The Bucky Brooks examines.
The Eagles chose to keep Nnamdi Asomugha and trade Asante Samuel. Who's the better overall corner?examines. More ...
According to Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the president on Monday chatted football with Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who spoke at an Obama fundraiser in Oakland, Calif.
Said Obama about the Eagles' QB: "Tell Vick to slide."
The president apparently is aware of Vick's struggles to stay healthy during his NFL career. Vick has played a full 16-game season just once in nine seasons.
Don't do it for Andy Reid, No. 7. Do it for America.
UPDATE: It looks like Vick might take the president's advice to heart. On Wednesday, Vick tweeted this in reply: |
Jason Kidd is searching for answers after his team's 3-10 start. (Brock Williams-Smith/Getty Images) Jason Kidd is searching for answers after his team's 3-10 start. (Brock Williams-Smith/Getty Images)
The Nets lost their fifth straight game on Sunday - 109-97 to the Pistons - and were booed off the court by their own fans as the season they had such high hopes for continues to go awry.
And now there are some shots being taken in the locker room.
Rookie head coach Jason Kidd benched his starters to begin the fourth quarter on Sunday, and he said he should have let the second team finish the game.
MAHONEY: Bulls, Grizz, Warriors face uncertainty with stars out 'indefinitely'
“They deserved to play. I should have let them play the whole game or the whole quarter,” Kidd told the New York Daily News about his second unit. “They’re playing, you know, for one another. It’s not perfect but that group that gave us an opportunity by cutting it to eight.”
Paul Pierce took a shot back at Kidd, saying the coach needs to make better halftime adjustments. The Nets, who led by seven at the half, lost the third quarter 34-15 and have been outscored by a combined 96 points in the third quarters of their 10 losses.
“We got to understand teams aren’t going to play the same way they did in the first half as they did in the second half because teams make adjustments, especially when they are down,” Pierce said. “And we got to realize that and adjust with that.”
However, Kevin Garnett understood why Kidd benched the starters.
“If we’re not carrying our weight, then obviously [Kidd] is going to put somebody in that is. It’s tough times right now. “I think everybody here is embarrassed."
The Nets visit the Raptors on Tuesday before hosting to the Lakers on Wednesday. |
How do you top off a week at SXSW in front of a massive live audience? With Bill Murray. And if you think you’ve heard so many Bill Murray stories that he can’t possibly do anything new that would surprise you, you’re wrong because here comes Bill Murray. On a Horse. In a Dress. Escorted by a mariachi band.
There may never be an entrance to top Bill riding in sidesaddle, with some very shapely looking legs. Seriously are those stunt double legs? Wax em Bill? Only for special occasions apparently. The massiveness of Bill can not be contained so here are all seven clips of pretty Bill Murray on Jimmy Kimmel live. You’ll get Bills Bracket Talk. You’ll get Bill the Basketball Coach. Bills Swag Empire. Bill the Bartender complete with hydration advice. Bill’s Rick Ross story. And to top it all off, a story from the movie Meatballs. You may be shocked to know Bill did his own wardrobe and his own makeup for the movie. Find out why.
Watch more late night tv comedy clips. |
Courtesy
Toyota Field could one day be the home of a Major League Soccer team.
As San Antonio's new pro soccer team starts to grind through its inaugural United Soccer League season (San Antonio FC is undefeated through three games , by the way), the looming potential of Major League Soccer coming to town is the backdrop.Those big-league dreams got a little boost yesterday, when MLS Commissioner Don Garber officially confirmed that the league will expand to 28 teams at some point in the future.Although MLS' expansion to 28 teams had long been a widely accepted rumor, Garber's speech in Sacramento made the plan gospel. The league currently has 20 teams, and plans to add four more clubs by 2020 (in Minnesota, Miami, Atlanta and Los Angeles).San Antonio is scrambling to claim one of the four future slots, one of which may have already been claimed by Sacramento. During his speech yesterday, Garber said he "hopes and expects" California's capital to eventually land an MLS club, according toOther cities vying for a franchise include St. Louis, Phoenix, Nashville and Austin. MLS prefers sites with soccer-specific stadiums and proven soccer markets, both of which San Antonio boasts. Any city selected for MLS would have to pay an expansion fee, which could exceed $100 million. |
The 15th of August would mark the 45th anniversary of the most iconic music festival in history, the one where it all started – Woodstock ’69. Ladies and Gentleman, here are some eye-brow raising Woodstock ’69 trivia courtesy The Sherp.
1.The Beatles weren’t there.
Yes, this is very true. There are however, varying theories about why they ditched the festival. John Lennon (the vocalist) informed organizers that he was refused a U.S Visa at the time. Although a lot of people believe the reason behind their absence was because John Lennon’s wife’s – Plastic Ono Band was refused an invitation by the promoters. Ouch.
2. Bob dylan, didn’t attend Woodstock because he didn’t like hippies.
I bet he regrets that now.
3. Three days of music and no crowd violence.
It truly was a magical festival. During the three days of constant music and love with around half a million people at the venue, there were no reported incidents of violence. Pot, hashish, hallucinogenic drugs and drug paraphernalia were available to buy which lead to around 400 reported bad LSD trips. There were a few arrests, the traffic jams were particularly hellish, there was a shortage of food and STILL no crowd violence.
4. Babies were born.
There were various reports of heavily pregnant women being rushed to nearby hospitals to deliver. John Sebastian, vocalist of Lovin’ Spoonful even announced from stage, “Some cat’s old lady just had a baby, a kid destined to be far out!”
5. Ravi Shankar found Woodstock ‘terrifying’.
Apart from being one of the only Indian musicians to perform at Woodstock, renowned Sitar player Ravi Shankar did not share his contemporaries’ excitement about the festival. He once said it was a terrifying experience, where the large crowds lounging in the mud reminded him of water buffaloes in India.
6. There was a shortage of food.
‘Shortage of food’ is an understatement. Because of what we’re assuming was a serious lack of planning or an underestimate of attendees, the festival ran out of food on the very first day. After appealing to neighborhoods around the venue, members of the Monticello Jewish Community handed out sandwiches made out of 200 loaves, 40 pounds of meat & two gallons of pickles. Some attendees also resorted to drinking milk straight out of cows.
7. The festival was named Woodstock, but didn’t actually take place in Woodstock.
Although it was supposed to be held in Woodstock, New York the organisers had a harm time finding a suitable location that was available (especially because the amount of hippies the festival was going to pull in). They finalized on having it at Bethel Woods on some good Samaritan’s farm – Max Yasgur. God bless his soul.
8. There have been four attempts to recreate the festival on different sites.
In 1979, 1989, 1994, and the disastrous 1999 festival, which was shut down because of rapes, arson and overall violence – many called it the day music died.
9. Iron Butterfly wanted the organisers to fly them in on a helicopter. The organizers replied with an anagrammed “Fuck you”.
Iron Butterfly were stuck at the airport in New York and were unable to get to the festival by ground transportation, so they demanded the festival promoters send a helicopter for them. According to many a storyteller, the promoters sent the band’s manager a telegram, the first letter of each line spelling out the words “Fuck You.” So, no. Iron Butterfly didn’t show up.
10. The venue was filled with hippie-tastic signs like these.
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11. That’s what 400,000 people at a festival looks like.
12. Jimi Hendrix’s performance of The Star-Spangled Banner (The American National Anthem) has been often called ‘the single greatest moment of the Sixties’.
Even though, it was only witnessed by a fraction of the crowd. Most attendees had gone home by the time Hendrix took stage at 9 am on a Monday morning.
13. Nevermind The Beatles, British musician Joe Cocker played the most beautiful rendition of The Beatles’ song “With A Little Help From My Friends”. Another iconic performance in Woodstock history. |
I'd argue that making them too specified with that Covenant of Primus book was a mistake since it only ended up ditching accepted facts about the few defined Thirteen Primes up to that point anyway for the worst reasons. The most offending of them of course being how The Fallen went from basically the Transformers equivelent of Satan (always on fire, turned to evil from Unicron's temptations of power, etc.) to essentially a carbon copy of Prime Megatron who turns evil because of a love triangle. And then Optimus Prime being a reincarnated member is just completely stupid as well.
The Thirteen as a general concept works, but the full roster should never, EVER be filled out completely. Leave some members defined if only barely anything more than a name (Vector, Fallen, Maximo, Nexus) but leave it open for the various mythologies to fill in the blanks in their own way. These are mythological beings we're talking about, they should be defined just as much by untrue fantasy as hard facts.
Click to expand... |
"Take a bow, capitalism." That's from the Economist, a business-happy publication that has every reason to perpetuate the myth that a world run by free enterprise is improving people's lives. Its story continues with an astounding claim: "The world now knows how to reduce poverty." Perhaps by presenting questionable data that seems to support what the business community wants us to believe.
Other super-capitalists are similarly exuding hyperbole in defense of their shaky beliefs. Said a spokesman for the American Enterprise Institute: "It was the American free-enterprise system that started to spread around the world. They looked at you and said, 'I want to have their life, their freedom, and their stuff, and they threw off their chains of poverty and tyranny.'" But it's clear, when the facts are checked, that the chains of poverty are being wrapped around more and more human beings.
Extreme Poverty Has Increased, in Terms of Wealth
According to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2016, the median wealth of the world's adults is $2,222, down from $3,248 at the end of 2007. While the rich people of the world have taken more than their share of the $35 trillion wealth gain since the recession, the world median has dropped by over $1,000!
There are other recent indications of rising poverty. Based again on Credit Suisse wealth data, in just seven years the world's Gini Coefficient, the most widely accepted measure of inequality, has surged from 88.1 to 92.7. Wealth inequality between countries has grown dramatically. It's a stunning rise, further evidence of a world splitting into two.
A widely held misconception is that global inequality between countries is declining because of growth in China and other developing countries. But that claim is generally made with respect to income inequality, and it is only partially true. Global income inequality is down only in relative terms, in the sense that an income boost from $1 to $2 a day is greater in percentage than an income boost from $1,000 to $1,500 a day.
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The Poverty Threshold Is Absurdly Low
The world poverty threshold was recently increased by the World Bank from $1.25 to $1.90 per day. Numerous sources have recognized the absurdity of this dollar amount for day-to-day survival. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development argues for a $5 minimum; ActionAid says $10; even the World Bank admits that the $1.90 poverty line is "too miserly for middle-income countries," and that"more than 50 percent of the population in IDA [the world's poorest] countries live on less than US $6 a day and are considered at high or moderate risk of relapsing into poverty."
In addition, the poverty threshold has not kept up with inflation. The World Bank set the first poverty threshold to $1.01/day using 1985 purchasing power parity. It eventually raised the threshold to $1.90/day at 2011 purchasing power parity. But with inflation, $1.01 in 1985 is equivalent to $2.10 in 2011. The World Bank's most recent threshold adjustment falls far short of realistic human needs.
Taking Credit for China, and Further Fudging the Numbers
Most of the so-called "escape from poverty" has occurred in China, where starting in the 1980s millions of residents of farming communities moved en masse to the cities for jobs in the factories of technology and in service-related positions.
The UN's Millennium Development Goals took advantage of this in the year 2000, calling for a halving of poverty, but backtracking to the year 1990 to include the income gains across China. The UN also revised statistical and caloric standards to ensure that its poverty reduction goals were reached.
An Extra $1 a Day, but is it Worth It when You're Living in These Conditions?
China may have pulled millions "out of poverty," but in reality they've gained a few dollars a day while the country has become increasingly unequal in terms of wealth. The new Chinese "middle class" has in many ways gone backwards. According to China Labor Watch, weekly working hours in Apple's factories surpass 60 hours, much of it without compensation. Toy builders labor in the factories 11 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, earning minimum wage, while at night 10 workers share a small dormitory room that may not even have hot showers. In the factories making products for Walmart and Home Depot, there are hundreds of underpaid student workers who labor in workshops that are hot and dusty, with volatile chemicals in the air, but with few health safeguards.
Numerous surveys and studies h ave made it clear that the Chinese people, despite their nation's unparalleled economic growth, are no happier than they were 20 years ago, and have generally experienced a loss of well-being in their daily lives.
It goes well beyond China. BBC journalist Paul Mason writes that the developing world middle class is characterized by life in a "chaotic mega-city, cheek-by-jowl with abject poverty and crime, crowding on to makeshift public transport systems and seeing your income leach away into the pockets of all kinds of corrupt officials.." In a review of Mike Davis' "Planet of Slums," urban areas are described as "horizontal spreads of unplanned squats and shantytowns, unsightly dumps of humans and waste, where child labour is the norm, child prostitution is commonplace, gangs and paramilitaries rule and there is no access to clean water or sanitation, let alone to education or democratic institutions." And, ironically, this is caused in great part by the policies of neoliberal institutions such as the World Bank, which would have us believe that conditions are steadily getting better.
Conditions getting better? Only in the minds of capitalists who don't want their comfortable lives disrupted by a rebellion among their billions of victims. |
Here comes another mega funding round in the bitcoin space. The world’s largest bitcoin wallet provider, Blockchain, has been a bootstrapped startup so far. But the startup eventually accepted VC money, raising a little bit over $30 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Wicklow Capital and others.
Richard Branson, Mosaic Ventures, Prudence Holdings, Future Perfect Ventures, and angel investors, such as Rafael Corrales of CRV, Amit Jhawar of Braintree and Nat Brown also participated in the round. Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Jeremy Liew will join the board.
“We are going to scale our product engineering team, we are going to build new features,” co-founder and president Peter Smith told me in a phone interview. “And for the first time ever, we are going to spend money on marketing.”
That’s the crazy part. Blockchain now manages 2.3 million bitcoin wallets, and didn’t take any outside funding so far — it was all organic growth and staying lean.
Back in May, Smith commented on the company’s bootstrapping strategy at TechCrunch Disrupt NY. “People ask ‘when are you going to raise money?’ We make money every single month,” he said. “We are a revenue-positive business. We manage a team of 20 people solely on that revenue stream.”
The company only stores encrypted files on its servers as a backup, but it doesn’t actually hold your bitcoins
Blockchain faces serious competition from multiple companies who raised mega rounds of funding. BitPay raised a $30 million Series A round, Coinbase raised a $25 million Series B round, Xapo raised $20 million in March and another $20 million in July, Circle has raised $26 million since its inception, and the list goes on.
Given Blockchain’s footprint, the company has been talking with VCs for a while. “This time we were sharing a vision and it’s not just cash. We found partners that we were comfortable with, and were adding value,” Smith said. But the funding will also be a key asset when it comes to keeping up with the competition and convincing the next 10 million bitcoin users.
Blockchain recently updated its two core open source wallets on Android and iOS. “Overall our growth on mobile is very strong,” Smith said. The startup wants to make it as easy as possible to manage your bitcoins without relying on a central service like Coinbase or Circle.
The company only stores encrypted files on its servers as a backup, but it doesn’t actually hold your bitcoins. When you log into a Blockchain wallet, the wallet fetches that file and decrypts it. It means that Blockchain is immune to hacker attacks and can’t take transaction fees.
Instead, Blockchain relies on its very popular services, starting with its wallets. Hundreds of millions of people also visit Blockchain’s websites every month (Blockchain.info, Zeroblock and Bitcoin.com). The startup’s revenue comes from ads.
With today’s funding round, the company will work on improving its core services and may launch a few new things in the coming months. It remains to be confirmed whether Blockchain’s decentralized way of handling bitcoins will eventually win compared to its competitors’ strategy.
Bitcoin conversions with traditional currencies are slowly becoming a commodity industry, especially for B2C services. For example, Circle doesn’t take any fee when you transfer USD from your bank account to its service. Many bitcoin startups will have to find alternative revenue streams, and Blockchain already has a head start. |
BUFFALO NARROWS, Sask. – An undercover operation by Saskatchewan conservation officers has resulted in over $50,000 in fines for four men. Officers launched the investigation in 2011 after a complaint was made about illegal outfitting and the abuse of walleye stock in the Buffalo Narrows region.
The undercover officers discovered illegal outfitting was taking place without a licence.
The abuse was found to be on such a large scale that it had the potential to affect the local walleye population.
“Left unchecked, entire fish populations can be decimated such as what happened to walleye populations at Big Peter Pond Lake several years ago,” said Ken Aube, an enforcement director with the Ministry of Environment.
“This impacts sport anglers, subsistence fishermen and commercial fishermen, who rely on the lake fishery to make a living.”
During their investigation, officers were also approached by subsistence fishermen who illegally sold fish to them.
Officers laid a total of 15 charges against four men under The Fisheries Act and Regulations.
The first of the four men pleaded guilty to four charges in May 2014. Leon Morin, from Buffalo Narrows, received fines totalling $19,360, a two-year commercial fishing licence ban and is also prohibited from helping anyone who is commercial fishing for two years.
READ MORE: Illegal fish sales net Saskatchewan man fine, ban
The other three were recently found guilty in Buffalo Narrows provincial court on the remaining charges.
Richard Hansen, from Buffalo Narrows, was convicted of unlawful outfitting, unlawful marketing of fish caught by subsistence fishing, providing subsistence fish to someone other than a family member and unlawfully setting a gill net. He was fined $18,510.
Maurice Billette, from Dillion, was fined $11,200 for unlawfully marketing fish caught by subsistence fishing.
Danny Billette, also from Dillion, was handed a $1,750 fine for unlawfully marketing fish caught by subsistence fishing.
Ministry of Environment officials say fish can be purchased for personal consumption only from a licensed commercial fisherman or a fish dealer. When buying fish this way, vendors are required to provide a receipt that includes the following:
seller’s name, address, and licence number;
the body of water where the fish were caught;
the fish species;
the form it was purchased;
quantity; and
sale price and date.
Officials say anyone who is approached to buy fish and believes the sale is illegal should contact their nearest Ministry of Environment office, the province’s turn in poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-667-7561 or online. |
Mitt Romney did not back down from his feud with Donald Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE at a GOP dinner Tuesday night.
The former Republican presidential nominee joked about the billionaire’s foreign-born wives.
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“Donald Trump has had several foreign wives. It turns out that there really are jobs Americans won’t do,” Romney reportedly quipped at the annual dinner hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
Mitt Romney at @NRCC dinner: "Donald Trump has had several foreign wives. It turns out that there are really are jobs Americans won't do." — Kris Hammond (@KrisHammond) March 23, 2016
Trump’s first wife, Ivana, was born in Czechoslovakia. Melania, his third wife, is from Slovenia.
Romney also touched on Trump’s questioning of his faith.
“He could have just asked my wives,” Romney said.
Mitt on Trump at NRCC dinner on whether he's actually a Mormon: "He could have just asked my wives." — Keith Urbahn (@keithurbahn) March 23, 2016
Trump bashed Romney at a rally in Utah last week, asking his supporters if Romney was really Mormon.
“Are you sure he’s a Mormon? Are we sure?” Trump said.
The billionaire has since said it was joke. |
It is a common misconception that the modern flush toilet was invented by a 19th-century British plumber named Sir Thomas Crapper. Crapper (1836–1910) most certainly did exist, and he was a plumber. He also improved the functionality of the early flush toilet (or "privy," or "water closet," as it was then called). But he did not, contrary to popular lore, invent the pseudo-eponymous bathroom appliance from scratch.
Why We Call It the “John”
Credit for inventing the toilet goes to 16th-century courtier Sir John Harington, who not only came up with the idea but also installed an early working prototype in the palace of Queen Elizabeth I, his godmother. Harington, a noted wit, entitled his description of the device "A New Discourse of a Stale Subject."
It consisted of a large pan ("stools pot") with a seat, the contents of which could be flushed out down a pipe and into a cesspool below with water from a cistern or holding tank above. Except for the turning of a handle to initiate the flush, gravity did all the work.
"If water be plenty, the oftener it is used and opened, the sweeter," Harington wrote of his contraption. But if water was scarce, he continued, "once a day is enough, for a need, though twenty persons should use it...And this being well done, and orderly kept, your worst privy may be as sweet as your best chamber."
Crapper’s Contribution
The first patent for a flushing water closet was issued to watchmaker and inventor Alexander Cumming in 1775, 60 years before Thomas Crapper was born. But Crapper was in the right place at the right time and knew an opportunity when he saw one.
The son of a Yorkshire steamboat captain, young Tom Crapper's destiny was set when he was apprenticed to a master plumber in Chelsea, London, at the age of 14. By the time he was 25, he had owned his plumbing shop. As the business grew, Thomas realized that in addition to making money as a plumber he could meet the growing demand for bathrooms featuring functioning toilets. This led him to open one of the very first bathroom showrooms, in 1870. An industrious sort, Crapper was awarded nine patents for plumbing innovations during his lifetime, three of them consisting of improvements to the flushing water closet, or toilet, as it came to be known.
Another Myth Debunked
Though he made his name as a sanitary engineer to blue bloods, his company supplied plumbing fixtures to Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey, among other royal estates. Crapper himself was lowborn and was never knighted. So, it's a mystery why storytellers insist on awarding him the title "Sir,” although that misconception might account for why we sometimes call our bathrooms "throne rooms." Compounding the error, Crapper is sometimes referred to as "Sir John Crapper." |
Ridgefield’s Prospector Theater a haven for those with disabilities
Prospector Theater Director of Development Mike Santini talks about the theatre and it's employees. Friday, March 24, 2017, in Ridgefield, Conn. Prospector Theater Director of Development Mike Santini talks about the theatre and it's employees. Friday, March 24, 2017, in Ridgefield, Conn. Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Ridgefield’s Prospector Theater a haven for those with disabilities 1 / 18 Back to Gallery
RIDGEFIELD—Even though the Prospector Theater is the best-performing independent four-screen movie theater in the tri-state area, the movies are only a side attraction of the business.
The most important product of the nonprofit theater, said Director of Development Mike Santini, is the community of empathy it creates for both staff and moviegoersf. The Prospector, refurbished in 2014 to its original purpose as a movie theater, was created by Valerie Jensen with the mission of providing meaningful employment to adults with disabilities.
Today, 70 percent of the 107-person staff identify as having a disability. The staff members, called “prospects,” are responsible for running all parts of the theater—making popcorn, greeting customers, cleaning the theater and even creating advertisements and promotional videos to show before each screening.
“It’s not just going to the movies,” Santini said. “We’ve built a community here…the movie theater is our vehicle to do that. It brings people into the doors, but in turn they have the opportunity to interact and engage with our prospects and see the talent, the passion and hard work and shatter those expectations of what it means to have a disability.”
Jensen, Santini said, grew up with a sister with Down syndrome and dedicated her life to helping those with disabilities. She had worked as the executive director of a nonprofit that provided arts experiences for those with disabilities before realizing that many friends with disabilities didn’t have jobs, despite trying to find employment. She decided to create the Prospector.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 17.5 percent of people with disabilities were employed as of 2015.
The Prospector, with 107 employees, hires about 10 times more people than other theaters of its size, Santini said, but the focus is on making each job meaningful.
“We don’t create jobs just for the sake of creating jobs,” he said. “It has to fit into what already goes on here.”
The theater works with prospects to tap into their “sparkle,” their inner passions, to find the most appropriate job. Each employee is allowed to try several jobs at the theater before committing to one, or a few, that suits him or her.
Training is also tailored to individual learning needs, Santini said.
Daniel Conille, who works as an usher and makes promotional videos for the theater, said he discovered a passion for hip-hop since being hired three years ago.
When Conille started working, Santini said, he was nonverbal.
Through working one-on-one with Santini, who used to work for a hip-hop nonprofit, Conille grew confident enough to star in promotional rap videos that show before the movie screenings. Conille has since won awards for his raps and even performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for the World Hip Hop Conference.
The theater also offers a variety of services to moviegoers with disabilities. Each month the theater holds a sensory-friendly screening with lights up and volume low so the audience can dance, sing, talk or walk around during the show. Sensory-friendly films are promoted by the Autism Society as a way for those living with autism to enjoy a movie in a safe and accepting environment.
For standard showings, Prospector offers narrative descriptions through headphones for those with impaired vision, closed-captioning glasses for deaf audiences, and regular headphones for those that are hard of hearing.
“Our goal is to not only bring in audiences that may have been excluded from movie-going,” Santini said. “Our prospect staff works specifically with the individual, their caregiver and families to show tips and strategies to make normal movie-going an everyday occurrence.”
The goal, Santini said, is to fully integrate adults with disabilities into the community and workforce.
The employment model at the theater differs from other employment opportunities where adults with disabilities are isolated from others, he said. He added that allowing them to integrate is beneficial for both the adults with disabilities and the community they live in.
“We often find that accommodating people with disabilities is an afterthought,” he said. “What we want to show the world is that it should be at the forefront. Once you include, engage and employ this population who has long wanted to be a contributing member, the benefits are tenfold.” |
My gift arrived via post yesterday, but as nobody was in the house when it arrived, there was a 'sorry we missed you card' waiting for me. My local post office depot is open quite difficult hours, so I ran there at 8am this morning as it's my last chance to get there before Saturday and I didn't want to keep my Santa waiting for a gallery post!
This is such a thoughtful gift. The coolest colouring book I've ever seen, and some fancy watercolour pencils to use with it! They're the nicest pencils I've had in a long time, this isn't usually the kind of luxury I can spring for!
You're right Santa, the theme of book does hit the escapism nail on the head. It was so nice to get me something that my niece can enjoy too. I may wait until she's a bit better at colouring (she's terrible :| even for a four year old) to let her colour it in with me, but she can certainly colour in her My Little Pony books next to me, and will love helping with the searching activity!
What you won't know is that at the moment I'm very jittery and anxious, and constantly need something to keep my hands and and that distract-able part of my brain busy, even when doing things like watching TV and films - so this will make a lovely and soothing alternative to my usual cubing :)
Thanks so much Santa! I can't wait to get started.
(I would have included a photo of them in their lovely wrapping paper, but I realised once I'd taken the photo and then opened them that I took the photo on my unsightly bedroom floor and then moved them to the bed... Sorry!) |
WASHINGTON — Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC), who won one of three contracts from NASA in January to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, said July 11 that it is has completed the first milestone under that award.
The company said that NASA approved of its program integration plan for the design, development, test and evaluation of SNC's Dream Chaser vehicle. The company did not disclose the value of any payment it received from NASA for completing the plan.
The milestone is the first in the company's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) 2 contract it received from NASA in January to transport cargo to and from the ISS. SNC was one of three companies to receive CRS-2 contracts, along with Orbital Sciences Corp. and SpaceX, who won the original CRS cargo contracts in 2008. Each company is guaranteed at least six cargo flights though the mid-2020s. [Dream Chaser: A Private Space Plane in Pictures]
"The accelerated completion of the first milestone under the CRS-2 contract award marks significant progress for SNC and the Dream Chaser program," Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC's Space Systems division, said in a statement announcing the milestone.
The CRS-2 contract breathed new life into Dream Chaser, a lifting body design that SNC had been working on as part of NASA's commercial crew program. The company lost to Boeing and SpaceX in a 2014 competition for contracts to complete development of those vehicles and perform initial crewed flights to the ISS. SNC filed a protest, which the U.S. Government Accountability Office denied in January 2015.
SNC still has work to complete under an earlier commercial crew award it received from NASA in 2012. Sirangelo, speaking at the Space Frontier Foundation's NewSpace 2016 conference in Seattle June 22, said the Dream Chaser engineering test article, which SNC compares to the prototype space shuttle Enterprise, would be shipped to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California "somewhere in the August timeframe" for a new phase of unpowered flight tests.
Those tests, which will include at least one glide test to a runway landing similar to what the test article performed in October 2013, will help test the design for the cargo version of Dream Chaser under development. "We're testing a lot of the stuff for the orbital vehicle now," he said. "We don't know how many tests we'll do, but it will be as many as we need."
SNC is also currently building the first Dream Chaser orbital vehicle that will fly those cargo flights. The first flight of that vehicle is planned for the second half of 2019, Sirangelo said, depending on NASA's schedule. He added he expected NASA to start making decisions on cargo mission manifests for the CRS-2 contract awardees by the end of the year.
This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry. |
For several years, [Jim] has wanted to construct a fully-mechanical universal Turing machine. Without the help of any electronic circuits or electrical input, his goal was to build the machine using simple hand tools and scrap materials.
If you are not familiar with the concept of a Turing machine, they are devices that manipulate symbols or input from a strip of tape, according to a set table of rules. By definition, a Turing machine should be adaptable to simulate the logic of any computer algorithm, albeit in a much slower fashion than you would see from a computer.
He has replaced the strip of tape with a wire grid, and the symbols have been implemented in the form of ball bearings placed on the aforementioned grid. His hand-cranked machine uses magnets to lift the input symbols from the grid, processing them according to the rules table he routed out of a wood block.
The implementation is definitely clever, though [Jim] admits it is not without its problems. He took it to Maker Faire UK, and most people didn’t quite understand what they were seeing without a full explanation. The machine is not quite as reliable as he would like it to be, and he would like to make it a bit more powerful as it currently would take months to add two numbers together.
Keep reading to see a brief video demo of his Turing machine in action, and check out his blog if you want to see more information on how the machine was built.
Interested in seeing more Turing machines? Check out these two machines we featured a while back. |
RALEIGH – Sponsors of new legislation that would increase Medicaid eligibility for about 375,000 low-income North Carolinians say their plan is a new way forward on a complicated and often politically charged issue.
North Carolina is one of 19 states that has not expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. After recent attempts to repeal the ACA faltered, many of those states are taking another look at Medicaid expansion.
Four Republicans introduced the new legislation in North Carolina, House Bill 662; they included Rep. Josh Dobson, R-McDowell. Like a bill that a group of Democratts previously introduced and a plan Gov. Roy Cooper put out earlier this year, the proposed Carolina Cares plan would take advantage of federal funding of expansion under the Affordable Care Act. But unlike the other attempts, the new effort comes from a key segment of the House caucus.
Along with Dobson the co-chairs of the House Health Committee, Reps. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, and Rep. Greg Murphy, R-Pitt, are sponsors. They’re joined by Rep. Donna White, R-Johnston, a nurse. Another backer is House Appropriations Chair Nelson Dollar of Wake County.
Reaction so far has illustrated the difficulty of any change in the status quo. Both House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said over the weekend that they are still opposed to Medicaid expansion.
The legislature officially prohibited both a state-operated exchange and Medicaid expansion under the ACA in 2013 with the passage of Senate Bill 4. The legislation put final say on changing Medicaid in control of the legislature, a provision that made it unlikely that Cooper’s recent push to expand Medicaid without legislative approval would succeed.
At last week’s news conference announcing the bill, HB662 sponsors were keenly aware that after years of strong opposition, the new plan would have to carry a label other than “expansion.” Instead, the proposal is being pitched as a new type of insurance option for low-income residents.
“This is an option, not a requirement,” Lambeth said. “It’s designed like many insurance products. Participants who fail to keep up with their premiums or coverage requirements lose coverage.”
The plan would require a waiver from the federal government to allow the state to set up its own system for raising eligibility to include people aged 19 to 64 who earn less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s about $16,000 for a single person, $21,500 for a couple and $33,000 for a family of four.
For those able to work, the plan requires employment or job-training. All recipients would pay premiums equal to 2 percent of the annual incomes and would have to agree to schedule routine preventive care.
Lambeth said the commitment to preventive care was a key difference.
“This product is unlike any other state in the nation,” he said. “It establishes a new health care paradigm in North Carolina rooted in consumerism and personal responsibility.”
Lambeth added that the plan is an economic win for the state. By providing coverage to low-income workers, demand for health services will increase, he said, adding jobs and shoring up rural health centers.
“This influx of health care services will benefit rural areas of North Carolina where many providers are already under a great deal of stress,” he said.
Dobson said the bill would help struggling rural areas.
“We have a lot of hard-working individuals who are uninsured,” Dobson said.
“This bill seeks a common sense solution to increase coverage in rural areas, rational accountability measures and finally just be able to increase access to care in underserved areas of the state like mine.”
Although the exact eligibility requirements could affect the total number of participants, the plan could affect as many as 375,000 residents.
Sponsors said they expect enrollment in Carolina Cares to be between 300,000 and 350,000.
A recent analysis of the various Medicaid plans by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine said HB662 would increase eligibility to roughly 375,000 residents. A snapshot by the institute of the eligibility based only on a slightly higher 138 percent of the federal poverty level put the total number in eligible 630,654 with the breakdown for WNC counties as follows: |
Last week the London Review of Books published an article by the respected Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, The Red Line and the Rat Line, in which he details the alleged involvement of the Turkish government with the Syrian opposition group Jabhat al-Nusra in last August's sarin attack in Damascus. Between 1,000 and 1,400 people are estimated to have died.
The US, Britain and other western governments have pinned the blame on the Syrian government; Russia has accused the rebels. Hersh describes this as part of a "false flag" operation designed to draw the US into a conflict with Syria.
In his 6,000-word article Hersh relies heavily on single, unnamed sources for each of his claims, and constructs a narrative in which the Turkish government was responsible for the largest chemical attack since the one carried out by Saddam Hussein on Halabja in 1988. But Hersh's story is full of holes, and it brings the reliability of his sources and conclusions into question.
Hersh makes no mention of the munitions used on 21 August, something that is key to understanding the attacks. In an interview for Democracy Now! he states that the weapons were both homemade and not in Syria's arsenal. Both these claims are wrong.
Two types of munitions were used on 21 August and are linked to the dispersal of sarin gas. Both were recorded in a report by the UN and the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and tested positive for signs of sarin. One was a Soviet-era M14 140mm artillery rocket, certainly not a "homemade" munition, and the second was a munition that was widely unknown.
Studying videos and photographs posted by opposition and pro-government sources has allowed researchers to piece together a great deal of information about these rockets. We know they are referred to as "Volcano" rockets and come in at least three sizes: 107mm, 122mm (as used on 21 August), and a much larger type based on a 220mm rocket motor. It is also clear that there are both explosive and chemical versions, as well as evidence of their use by the Syrian military from late 2012.
Videos and photographs from 21 August show at least eight examples of the chemical type of Volcano rockets. There are three videos from an alleged chemical attack in Adra, Damascus, on 5 August showing the same type of Volcano rockets; one video from Adra in June showing a chemical Volcano rocket; and videos and photographs from December 2012 to January 2013 showing the remains of chemical Volcano rockets. In all examples the rockets have been fired at the opposition and appear to share an identical design, down to the smallest details.
Photographs and footage going back to November 2012 filmed by opposition activists shows Volcano rockets being launched. Eight videos from Mezzeh airbase, near Daraya, from December 2012 show Volcano rocket launches; and from October 2013 the rockets and their launchers began to show up from videos posted by the Syrian government's National Defence Force. Eventually, even pro-Hezbollah sources started posting images of Volcano rockets in action. It is quite clear that no matter how "homemade" Hersh believes the rockets to be, they have been used by the Syrian military for more than a year.
When questioned about this in a recent interview with the Turkish website Diken Hersh dismissed the Volcano rockets, seemingly because he believes a range of "a mile" somehow means they should be discounted as important to his narrative. Hersh refers to the work of Ted Postol and Richard Lloyd who believe the range of the rockets is about 2km. But this range issue isn't the problem Hersh appears to think.
Video footage from both sides of the conflict has allowed researchers to accurately find the positions of government controlled areas on 21 August. The Russian-language news site ANNA News posted two dozen videos showing "Operation al-Qaboun", a Syrian government military operation running from June to August 2013. Embedded with Syrian forces, they were able to film the progress of the operation to clear positions between Jobar and Qaboun, a strip of land about 2km away from the 21 August impact sites.
Videos from opposition groups show the other side of the fighting, including attacks on checkpoints and government movements. Based on this information it appears that the front lines were about 2km away from the furthest impact sites of rockets used on 21 August. Only two rockets landed at the 2km maximum range described by Lloyd and Postol, with the reported impact sites of the remaining rockets being between 1.5km-1.8km away. It has been possible to confirm the precise impact locations of some of the rockets by a combination of GPS information, satellite map imagery, photographs and videos, and around a dozen impact sites were reported by local groups in eastern Ghouta. Hersh's belief that the 2km rocket range is enough to dismiss them from his narrative is clearly misguided.
Despite Hersh's claims we can clearly see that the rockets were used by the Syrian government, and within range of government controlled territory.
Seven issues to address
But what about his claim of Turkey helping Jabhat al-Nusra, which is linked to al-Qaida, to produce sarin in Aleppo? Seven issues need to be addressed: difficulty of manufacture, quantity, choice of weapon, economics, logistics, concealment, and the specificity of the product.
Firstly, sarin is difficult to make. Anyone who claims otherwise is oblivious to both history and chemical engineering. Germany, the US and the former Soviet Union took years to perfect the process. Its production requires a number of complex steps and the ability to handle highly dangerous chemicals at very closely controlled high temperatures and pressures. There is no evidence anyone has come up with any sort of streamlined method to manipulate the molecules to make sarin.
Second, quantity. Perfecting the process isn't enough – there is a difference between making a spoonful and enough for the August attacks, which would have needed about half a ton. This assumes a scale only reached by big state production programmes. To put it in perspective, the one verified example of non-state production of sarin was the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan. Their many millions of dollars, very large purpose-built manufacturing facility and highly qualified staff got them the ability to make single batches of perhaps 8 litres of short shelf life Sarin. The alleged Aleppo plant wouldn't need to be the size of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in the US, but it would have needed to be closer to that than the size of a house.
Third is the choice of weapon. Of the panoply of chemical warfare agents available to modern science and engineering, sarin is one of the hardest to make. So why was this one chosen? Even its nerve agent kin, Tabun and VX, are arguably easier to produce; mustard or lewisite are easier and use less technology. Numerous toxic industrial chemicals which might "fly under the radar" of non-proliferation regimes could be used as weapons. So why pick the hardest?
Fourth, economics. To make this operation work it is going to take a lot of highly trained people, raw materials, and specialised equipment, as well as a facility. It would cost many tens of millions of dollars. When the rebel factions are so stretched for resources, does it make any sense to spend, say, $50m on a weapon of limited utility? Lavish expenditure must raise a paper trail somewhere; there would be order books and receipts. Let's see them.
Fifth is logistics. You don't turn precursor material magically into sarin: you need about 9kg to end up with 1kg of sarin. This stuff has to come from somewhere, but where? Hersh omits these details, as do most of the alternative narratives. It is simply assumed that things like phosphorus trichloride and thionyl chloride just get summoned up in vast quantities without someone noticing. Most commentators on this issue have also forgotten about something called conservation of mass. If you use 9kg of material to synthesize 1kg of sarin you end up with 8kg of waste, rather a lot of which is very dangerous, smelly and corrosive. This waste stream has to go somewhere, and someone will notice. There are also the logistics of getting a lot of sarin into rockets and getting those rockets from Aleppo to Damascus.
Sixth, concealment. How do you hide all of this? The building, the supply chain, the people, the money, and the very smelly waste stream. Where are they? They need to be concealed not just from the Syrian regime but from other rebel factions, western intelligence agencies, the Russians, and perhaps even your own people who might desert, get captured or say silly things on YouTube videos. There is deathly silence from Aleppo and we only find out about it from Hersh?
Lastly is the specificity of the product. There are important physical clues found in the traces of sarin at the impact sites of the 21 August rocket attack. One of these is the presence of hexamine, a chemical with no history of use in nerve agent production. But hexamine can be used as an acid scavenger, and thus its presence could be explained due to its use as an additive to the sarin. This idea has been reinforced by both the admission of the Syrian regime that they used hexamine as part of their formula, and by Syria's declaration to the OPCW of an inventory of 80 tonnes of hexamine, specifically as part of their chemical weapons program. Surely, as an uncontrolled substance, they could have omitted it from their declarations. But they didn't. Hexamine in field samples plus hexamine in Syrian inventories, plus an admission that hexamine was in their recipe, seems a compelling case for tying the Sarin in the field to the Syrian regime. How would an Aleppo-based rebel factory somehow come up with the same exact idea?
Taken cumulatively, all these points add up to a very high degree of improbability. Isn't it more probable that the Sarin came from the people who confessed to having a Sarin factory, fired from areas controlled by the government 2km away from the impact sites, in munitions the government had been using since 2012? |
MyHDL Interfaces Example
With the next release of MyHDL, version 0.9, conversion of interfaces will be supported. In this context an interface is any object with a Signal attribute. This can be used to simplify connection between modules and port definitions. For example, if I want to define a simple memory-map bus, the Signals for the bus can be defined as follows:
class BareBoneBus: def __init__(self): self.wr = Signal(False) self.rd = Signal(False) self.ack = Signal(False) self.rdat = Signal(intbv(0)[8:]) self.wdat = Signal(intbv(0)[8:]) self.addr = Signal(intbv(0)[16:])
The interface definition can be used to connect the bus between different modules (interface the modules). To demonstate the above as an interface, I am going to invent a convoluted example. The example is a small system that contains some buttons and LEDs (majority of FPGA dev boards have these). When a button is pressed a BareBoneBus (bbbus) bus cycle will be generated to read the LED register and invert the value and write the inverted value back to the LED register.
Obviously, this system achieves its goal: invert the LEDs, the hard way! This is ok, the example is pedagogical.
Often it is advantageous to write a test before implementing the module (test driven design, TDD). Before jumping to the interface usage, here is the meat of a test.
@instance def tbstim(): reset.next = reset.active yield delay(10) reset.next = not reset.active yield delay(10) buttons.next = 1 for _ in range(8): yield clock.posedge assert leds == 0xFF buttons.next = 0 yield delay(10) buttons.next = 0x1F yield clock.posedge buttons.next = 0 for _ in range(8): yield clock.posedge assert leds == 0 print("*** TEST PASSED ***") raise StopSimulation
The test verifies the LEDs invert when the button is pressed. For this example I did not simulate an “actual” button press (with the signal bouncing around like a two-year old after a nap) but the design does debounce the buttons a little. If you load the design on a board you will see it acts as expected.
On a side note, this design can easily be loaded on a board, simply clone (or fork) the example repository and run the compile_design.py script. This requires the myhdl_tools pkg and currently only supports a small number of boards. Board definitions are easy to add, feel free to submit pull requests with additional boards.
Four components are needed: memory-mapped bus (defined above), register based LED driver, button state-machine to drive a bus cycle, and the top-level. The following are the different modules.
Top-Level and LED
Button
The interfaces remove the complexity (and carpal tunnel) involved to connect (interface) modules. Instead of having to list the bus signals individually for each module they are encapsulated in the interface. This is similar to SystemVerilog (SV) interfaces but a magnitude of order improved (and this is an under statement). My experience with SV interfaces has ranged from no synthesis support to incomplete and incompatible support in the various tools.
Because the MyHDL interfaces convert to standard Verilog and VHDL the interfaces are supported by the tools.
This example is trivial, those in search of advanced examples see the modules in this project. One of the great features with cores defined in the mentioned project is they are bus agnostic, a bus (as long as it meets the minimum requirements) can easily be swapped out (depends only on which bus is passed to the module). This is truly reusable cores.
The MyHDL interfaces simplify the development of complex digital systems and are powerful for designing reusable IP (i.e a big win). This example is available @EDAPlayground. It is easy to experiment with different interfaces in MyHDL. |
Pop-punk stalwarts YELLOWCARD have faced more than their share of adversity as of late, from band turnover to health scares to heartbreaking personal tragedy. Down but never out, their ambitious new album Lift A Sail (iTunes | Amazon | Google Play) documents these trials—and rocks hard.
It’s been a trying few years for Yellowcard, to say the least. First, while in the midst of a career recovery/upswing that initially began with 2011’s When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes, violinist Sean Mackin was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Then in April 2013, singer/guitarist Ryan Key’s wife (Russian Olympic snowboarder Alyona Alekhina) was paralyzed in a tragic accident. And then this year, founding member Longineu Parsons (a.k.a. “L.P.”) called it quits, after 17 years with the group. Through it all, Key kept writing.
Back with a newfound fire, the group—also including guitarist Ryan Mendez and bassist Josh Portman—crafted Lift A Sail, their boldest, most exploratory work to date, fusing their familiar West Coast-inspired pop-punk with a wide palette of previously unused textures including heavy splashes of ’90s alt rock and electronica. Intrigued, we caught up with Key to find out how Yellowcard arrived at their radical new sound.
Before you dive into our interview with Key, we have “Crash The Gates,” an exclusive new track from Lift A Sail, here for your listening pleasure!
Lift A Sail has much more of a ‘90s alt-rock vibe than your previous records. Was that intentional?
RYAN KEY: We feel like there were two groups of bands for us growing up. There was a group of bands that first inspired us to become musicians, play guitar and write songs, which are a whole separate group of bands from the groups that really made us want to be in a band and tour and be on the Warped Tour. I think I was 15 when the Nirvana record [Nevermind] was coming out, and the first Weezer record was coming out, the Smashing Pumpkins record… all those ‘90s alternative grunge or whatever-you-want-to- call-it bands who made us pick up a guitar and want to play music. For whatever reason, that’s the path we tended to go down on this record.
The bands like No Use For A Name, Lagwagon, Strung Out, Bad Religion, NOFX and on down the list, that was a time later in our teens or early 20s, when we decided to start touring and form bands, so those bands heavily influenced us, even now. I don’t know if there’s a specific reason why, but I feel like we gravitated toward [the first group] on this record.
What personally inspired these new songs?
I feel like every song is independent and standalone, but then they fit collectively together. I was feeling quite inspired to write music; I went through the most tumultuous year. I met my now-wife [Alekhina] a couple of years ago. She’s a professional snowboarder from Russia, and we were engaged in December of 2012. She was in California in April of last year, training, shooting some videos and stuff, and she broke her back, and is paralyzed below the waist. She’s been making progress, and it’s been a huge inspiration to me, but I’ve been going through that—we’ve been going through that—and as a songwriter, something like that, it’s impossible to not put it down on paper and write about it.
We were really comfortable with the way we wanted the songs to sound, and the structure of the songs we wanted to write. We write the music before we put the lyrics together; we’ll use the music to create the inspiration for the direction to the lyrics and it will determine the way I write. So I did a lot of that on the record, taking home the demos and sitting there with them. Obviously, I have a lot to write about and I felt really good about it, really confident the whole time. I didn’t have writer’s block. I didn’t get hung up on anything.
We wanted to make a genuine rock record and I hope that’s where we ended up. We don’t want to alienate anyone—we’re not trying to push away anyone who’s gotten us to where we are today—but it is important for us that we’re continually growing and evolving as musicians and songwriters and not making the same record over and over again. I don’t know if we set out at the beginning to make it as different as it ended up being, but when all was said and done, we were all really, really impressed with it. I think it’s the best songwriting we’ve ever done as a band.
I’m so sorry for what you’ve both endured. Were you there when Alyona was hurt?
No, I was recording Ocean Avenue Acoustic, and I hadn’t talked to her all day. Her manager called and said, “Hey Ryan, it’s Drew. Alyona has fallen and she can’t feel her legs. We’re on our way to the hospital. Call you when we get there.” I got home, packed my bags and was at the airport. I got the call at 1:30 and I made it to the airport and was on a flight by 4. It was crazy. It’s been a wild ride.
How is your wife doing now?
She worked really hard to get into this rehab center in Russia that’s a retreat type thing—it’s kind of a log cabin up in the woods-type place where the doctors live and work there. It’s really hands-on, really detached from the world, so you can just focus. She’s been really happy with it. She’s amazing, it’s been a year and a half, and she’s still doing 6 to 8 hours of therapy every single day. I’m so proud of her. Her first session of that just ended. She’s taken a lot of the work home with her, and she’s with her parents now. They have a nice country house. In a few weeks we’ll be together, and I think after Florida she’s going to go back to the program there for a couple months. Seeing her work as hard as she does, it’s hard for me to complain about anything… I don’t think she has any drive to do athletics anymore, but she has the same drive to walk again; she has the same passion and athletic spirit to focus toward her therapy.
Will she walk again?
It’s hard to say. I’m trying to learn all there is to learn. They rate these injuries A to E, and B to E are an incomplete injury. Unfortunately, she has an A rating, and it was hard for her to take at the beginning, but she was like, “I’m not going to let these doctors tell me what to do,” or let any rating tell her. She still doesn’t have any sensation below the waist. Sometimes she feels things happening in her legs—they’ll get hot or cold—but there’s not what you’d classify as sensation. We’re going to have to wait and see. I know she’s not going to give up.
With so much stress in your personal life, didn’t you find it hard to sit down and focus on music?
We lived in Denver for a year at the hospital in-patient rehab, so when it came time to make the record, I was in L.A. while she was in Denver. I just tried to focus on the record, and I had most of it done when she got to Los Angeles. It was good to have the time to myself to work on it, but it’s certainly been tough being away from her.
I can imagine it would be so heavy to write about the experience you’ve both been through.
I feel happy I was able to pull so much from the same experience but make so many different songs and ideas. To me, it doesn’t feel like the whole thing is about the same experience, although all the songs evolved from the same experience. There are songs that are unrelated, but most are pulled from the one experience. There are all kinds of emotions you can pull and write about and have a different feel.
You also wrote a song (“My Mountain”) about your grandfather, William Alexander Speir.
My grandfather passed a couple months before we started working on the record. I was home in Florida to see him, and my grandmother passed recently, too. It’s very common for two people who have been together for a number of years to pass soon after the other, and it totally happened with my grandparents. It’s amazing because depending on your belief [system], it makes you think they couldn’t be without each other.
So when I went home to see my grandfather, they’d put him in hospice, and he ended up hanging on and doing okay for another month or so. He was 94 years old, but didn’t have any sickness or disease; he was just 94 and tired. In October of 2012, my aunt Stephanie, who is the middle sister in my mom’s family, she passed due to brain cancer. So I wrote some music in honor of that.
We have this property in North Carolina—this mountain house—and we scattered my aunt’s ashes there by the house and did a service for the family. My grandparents asked to do the same, so when I was visiting my grandfather, I remember hearing him ask my mom over and over again if he was there yet, and my mom would say, “Where dad? Where do you want to be?” He kept saying, “Am I on the mountain yet?” My mom would say, “Not yet, but you’ll be with Stephanie and it will all be perfect.” Since my grandmother also passed, when it says, “I’ve found my mountain, I can be with her,” that also applies to my grandmother. I’m really proud of that song.
My grandfather wrote a lot of poetry his whole life; we have a cool book that my mom and brother made for him once, where they collected all his poetry. He did a voiceover on a Yellowcard song in 2007 on Paper Walls called “Dear Bobbie,” and he got a writing credit. It was cool because it immortalized us, writing a song together. He was a really special man to me. I always looked up to him, and he’s definitely missed, but I feel really happy I have the ability to write songs and do something like write a song for him.
You also wrote about your aunt in “Sing For Me,” from When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes. Your family story has really become interwoven in the songs over the years.
The fans who’ve been with us since the beginning are very aware of that, and I wanted to put it out there, including the story of my family. I feel like I should be proud of the way I write, pulling directly from life experience. It’s kind of unavoidable, and I have such an amazing family, it’s easy to write about.
Were there any other things you were compelled to write about on the record aside from your wife and family?
Yeah, when you get to be our age, really at this point, just trying to figure out who’s moving forward in your life and who is not, and who’s going to be with you for the rest of the way, and who isn’t. I think I covered a little bit of that, separating yourself from negativity so you can be in a better place without it. There are a couple songs that go that way. It pulls from what I’ve been through with my wife, the concept of what that was like. She and I have grown a lot—her family is in Russia, mine’s in Florida—so going through that together, the two of us, having it be challenging to have a real support system there, and calling out for help. So that was one different take on that experience.
How’s Sean doing with his bout with cancer?
He’s doing well. He’s trying to take care of himself, eating gluten-free, taking some meds. His last scans are really good. He’s not officially cancer-free, but it’s good to be contained and do everything you can do. I don’t think there are any red flags for now and that’s all you can ask for. Onstage, it’s not holding him back in any way.
On this new record, his playing seems a little different in terms of his contribution to the overall mix.
I think he was definitely challenged to find his way through the beginning of this process. While you may not hear what you can identify as a solo violin part in all the songs, there’s a ton of violin on the record, it’s just used in very different ways. There’s a lot more electric violin. There’s a lot of percussion stuff. He’d play a part with the back of his bow to create a percussive sound. Sonically, there’s some crazy stuff going on as far as production and programming, and there are a lot of electronic elements in it.
Coldplay is my favorite band of all time, and the guy who programs for them is Jon Hopkins. Ryan Mendez opened my eyes to him, so I started listening to [Hopkins’ solo material] and learned a lot about how he does what he does, and a lot of the stuff he does on his own is a lot more aggressive and kind of grittier than what he does on the Coldplay records, and we took a lot of inspiration from that. A lot of bands we love do interesting stuff sonically that we’ve never done before. I think I found a really cool marriage of programmed electronic elements to use on the record, but keeping everything sounding super-organic with the instruments going along with it, and the violin is a part of that. We used it in so many ways to create cool sounds and a balance, where sometimes you don’t even know it’s a violin.
I’m sure we’re going to run into people who are like, “Oh, where’s the violin?” But it’s funny, because it’s all over the record. We used it in different, new ways, and then there are songs like “MSK” and the intro ["Convocation”] that are completely driven by strings. There are string moments on each song, but you have to listen for [t[them]I think the solo he wrote in the song “Fragile And Dear,” that shit rips your heart out, and I think he was, like we all were, making something new. I was hoping my voice worked over these new-style songs. I think Sean had the same challenge to make the violin work, and I think we all pushed ourselves to the limit.
What was it about your vocals that you didn’t think was working with the new music?
I didn’t necessarily think they weren’t working, but I don’t have that grit. People think my voice is on Autotune when it’s not. It’s such a pure, clean note that comes out. It was interesting to approach it and see where my voice was going to fit. What I did was really immerse myself in the song and do what I’d never done before as far as dynamic and falsetto. I used a lot of my falsetto on the record, and I love it. I can’t wait to do it live. There were a lot of times where we were like, “The melody’s high, it’s going to be really straining to sing, but it’s the right melody, so why don’t we just do it falsetto?” People will probably be a little taken aback when they hear it for the first time, but it’s a completely comfortable way for me to sing and get the melody out.
Then, dynamically, this time I could choose my moments to let up and then really hit it hard, and Neal [A[Avron, producer]orked really closely on the programming, electronics and with vocals. He worked really hard with me. He pushed me.
This is the sixth album you’ve done with him. Was it any different working with him this time?
He was a big part of why this thing turned out the way it did. At the beginning, he was like, “I think you guys are ready to step out of the box a little more. You never have before.” I think in the end, there were probably more raging rock guitars on it than he would have liked, but he helped us find a good medium. He never just lets you do things, even though we’ve made so many records with him over the years. He doesn’t just press “record” and let it go. He’s deeply invested in what we do, and that’s why we keep going back to him. It feels really good when he tells us we’re doing something good. We had a lot of fun with it. We weren’t holding back. We weren’t worried about who was going to think what about what; we just had fun and did what we thought sounded rad.
Yellowcard co-founder L.P. [d[drummer Longineu Parsons]eft earlier this year, and since then you’ve had Nate Young from Anberlin temporarily filling in on drums. Have you found a permanent replacement?
I wish so much that we could keep him. But he’s heading home to Florida and starting a coffee brewing company with his brother-in-law. It is a bummer though, because there’s magic in playing with him. He really stepped in and made it amazing. We have a few guys in mind, but we’re definitely not anywhere near making a final decision as to who gets the full-time gig.
Did L.P. leaving have anything to do with the band’s new direction?
It was an internal thing, and it’s one of those situations where we’re not going to say too much and he’s not going to say too much. We honestly wish him the best, and he’s starting a new project. That’s what he wants to do now and I think everyone’s moving on.
What made you pick “One Bedroom” as the first single?
I went into that with the philosophy that I’m not going to have a philosophy; I’m not going to try to tell the label what to do. I want the label to pick what they believe in to go to radio and it’s on their shoulders to make it work. I love this song; I can’t wait. If we’re able to put a minute-long, raging ’90s filter guitar [s[solo]hing on the radio, it will be a major accomplishment. But if we’d put a song forward as a band and it didn’t work, I think they’d say, “Well, it’s not the one we’d have chosen.” So I really went into it thinking, “You guys decide. Whatever song moves you the most and you’re the most excited about.” It was an interesting choice; it was a super-different song for us.
That song seems to be the apex moment on the record.
When those lyrics started coming out, it was heavy. It’s a song that’s related to my life and my wife’s life and our experience, but anyone can grab onto that song. I love the lyrics, and that guitar solo is maybe my favorite moment on the record. It’s so big: It’s like 1993, the vibe of that solo. I’m so stoked we did that. I just think we made a lot bolder choices this time.
How about bassist Josh Portman settled in as your newest permanent member?
He and I talk about it a lot, because he’s not playing on the record and he’s not writing right now, either. At the time he came into the band, there were so many changes and we’ve been through that so many times, that we decided to keep the writing side of it Ryan [M[Mendez]Sean and I. Josh is an incredible musician, so I have full confidence in his playing, but it’s a transitional thing and it’s still the way it was when we made the transition.
He’s like, “What do I say when fans ask me?” and I said it’s an acceptable answer, it’s not crazy: “I’m in the band, I’m just not a writing member.” So we’ll see what goes on, how that pans out in the future. I’d be happy to have him as part of the writing process, but it just hasn’t been neatly done.
You’re also on a new label again, Razor & Tie.
Our contract was up with Hopeless, and we had kind of entertained the idea of seeing what was out there. We got pretty close with the guys who run [R[Razor & Tie]We feel really comfortable there and we feel like they really believe in our band. We had a great run with Hopeless; there was no bad blood, there was no real reason behind why we didn’t re-sign. We just wanted to try something new for several reasons on our end and Hopeless’ end. It will be an amazing accomplishment and another dream come true, but [R[R&T]re trying to present us with a radio opportunity again. They have a radio department, and I don’t even know what radio means anymore, but a couple of their bands are doing really well on the radio, and they’re excited about this record. They’re going to go for it, and that’s one of the things we wanted to try, simply because we’re not ready to give up on that. There are some songs that potentially could have a place on the radio. We should go after that if we have the ability and somebody who wants to do it, spend the money and get behind the songs and the band. We look forward to seeing what they may be able to pull off.
What are your expectations? Another Ocean Avenue?
On our end, we want to tour and tour some more, so if they can pull off a marketing miracle and get the band up to another level, we’ll be so grateful and we’ll roll with it and keep going. But if that doesn’t happen, we’re not in any kind of trouble. I have a lot of hope for this record to open up a lot of great opportunities for us. We don’t want to be running in place—we really want to grow. I hope the record is going to help us on our path, on our way toward those goals. ALT |
It is now a week on from the election and it's clear voters have delivered a firm rebuff to the Greens' campaign that farmers were not doing enough to protect the environment.
It seems the message has finally got through – farmers are working hard to clean up rivers, keep their stock out of streams, and to plant more trees.
Hopefully, this will mean the mainstream media will pay less credence to the Greens' antifarming claims – and those from their cohorts Fish & Game, Forest & Bird and others – in future.
In fact, the media were shown by the election result to have been well out of touch with what New Zealanders regarded as the main issues of the campaign.
Dirty politics, while not to be condoned, was seen to be secondary to the more important issue of maintaining the country's economic progress. Increased taxes on the wealthy and on hardearned capital gains were firmly rejected.
And when patronising outsiders tried to tell us we were being spied on and that our leaders were lying to us – at the same time as Australia discovered terrorists in its midst – we punished the people who brought them here.
Some in the new National Government must now feel they have a mandate for some of the policies that failed to make traction in the last term.
But they should heed the prime minister's caution against showing arrogance. That will be hard for some.
It's true the win was a recognition of the Government's sound economic stewardship as well as the calm air of capability, with a touch of patient worldweariness, displayed by John Key as he found himself at the centre of a media maelstrom.
But it was also a rejection of people who tried to hijack the elections. And it was a rejection of the unimpressive alternatives to a National Government.
So, the mandate is not as strong as some might think.
Voters might think well of farmers now, but a move to change the Resource Management Act, for example, to make it easier for controversial water schemes, has to be carefully thought through.
The economic advantages may be obvious, but the environmental gains less so. Taking the frustrations out of a scheme like Hawke's Bay's Ruataniwha would be rewarding, but at the risk of alienating a large section of the community.
It has taken a lot to turn the environmental tide in farmers' favour.
It wouldn't take much to turn it back.
* Jon Morgan is the editor of the NZ Farmer print edition. |
Trans people in Tamil Nadu will have access to free education after one university committed to waiving fees for them.
The Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) waive the fees for trans students to help transform their lives.
MSU officials claimed it was likely they were the first university in India to give trans people fee-free places.
‘After getting neglected by the society and even by their parents, the transgenders are forced to beg on the streets,’ MSU vice-chancellor K. Baskar told The Hindu.
‘If we can create a favourable condition for acquiring better educational qualifications, it will enable them to occupy enviable positions in government or private institutions, and hence, the MSU has taken an initiative in this direction.’
The restroom debate settled
MSU’s constituent colleges have been told to build facilities that include separate restrooms for trans students.
‘A transgender from Salem has become the first Sub-Inspector of Police in Tamil Nadu to prove that providing right opportunity is important for them to come up in life,’ Baskar said.
‘We, by giving the fee waiver, have announced in an unequivocal manner that MSU is for the upliftment of the third gender. We should ensure a respectable life for them.’ |
Introduction
The Battle of Jutland took place between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet on the 31st May 1916 in the North Sea, off the mainland of Denmark.
Although it was the only major naval battle of World War I, it became the largest sea battle in naval warfare history in terms of the numbers of battleships and battlecruisers engaged, bringing together the two most powerful naval forces in existence at that time.
You can follow the events of the Battle of Jutland step-by-step using maps, graphics, photographs and animations on how the battle unfolded. As well as a description of the events that took place, we will also be trying to explain the actions of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, commander of the British Grand Fleet.
Why - despite leading the most powerful naval force in the world - did Admiral Jellicoe turn away from the German High Seas Fleet at the Battle of Jutland? |
Firstly, I would like to treat this short but impressive book as "autofaction", a creative narrative that nevertheless closely follows a real life arc. So it is neither fiction nor autobiography, but somewhere between the two.
This is a good picture of many of the trials and tribulations with which everyone, whoever they may be starts off. If you are black and gay or approximately gay anyway, you have alot to contend with than many people starting out in life. We expect a sense of completeness, and indeed salvation with the arrival of Michaela.
This is a hard, gritty story in parts. There are some experiences that are I hope no longer a part of our European world, and his young companions often came to dispiriting ends, Nathan for example. This is besides being a moving personal story, a document of social history.
We are privileged to share in a background and an upbringing that was difficult but not all bad by any means. The author is a good observer and storyteller. The book is full of lively incidents, effective character sketches and vivid recall.
The author is an effective and communicative writer. He invites the reader to share in his experiences; he lays out life for us, he does not hold back. The book needs some textual editing, yes, but it is important to keep the authentic tone of voice exactly as it is. |
Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC, confirmed today the formation of a new investment initiative, Rocket Fiber LLC, a Detroit-based high-speed Internet provider.
Rocket Fiber will provide Internet in downtown Detroit that is up to 100 times faster than the current residential average, Rock confirmed. Rock Ventures called the initiative a community investment that is "game-changing."
Construction is underway on the advanced fiber-optic Internet network that will serve residents, local government and businesses in and around downtown Detroit. Access then will be expanded to other areas of the city.
Matt Cullen, president and CEO of Rock Ventures, called the the new network "the generational leap forward" and leapfrogging where the city is at this point. It's starting in the downtown and hopefully spreading out to the neighborhoods. There is some interest along the riverfront.
The network originates west of downtown Detroit, and the initial scope covers the central business district from M-10 to the west, I-75 to the north, I-375 to the east and the Detroit River to the south.
After initial installation in downtown Detroit, Rocket Fiber will expand services to residents and businesses in Midtown along the Woodward corridor.
The system will operate on hard-wired fiber-optic lines that will be connected to buildings. Users will connect devices in their homes or businesses by either an ethernet cable or Wi-Fi. An outdoor Wi-Fi offering also will be available, Rock Ventures said.
Rocket Fiber was founded in 2014 as part of the Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans family of companies. More information on the rollout is expected to be released in the coming weeks and months. |
Norway's one of the most expensive countries in the world, and house prices have remained at a record high this September, which is why the same article gives a list of fourteen places with the cheapest house prices in Norway. No information is given on how interesting they are to live in though, so we'll have to turn to other sources for that.
The average price nationwide is 24,900 kroner per square metre (one square metre is about ten square feet), or $4300 USD, and the most expensive part of the country is Oslo and Bærum with average prices at 33,800 and 33,000 kroner ($5825 and $5690). Outside of Oslo the most expensive locations are Stavanger and Sandnes with 30,600 ($5275) and 27,000 ($4655).
And now for the fourteen cheapest parts of the country.
#14: Sandefjord - average price 19,900 kroner ($3430 USD) per square metre
Population 42,333 and seems to be famous for having Viking ships, spas, and whaling. There is also a brewery and a chocolate factory here.
#13: Møre og Romsdal - average price 19,400 kroner ($3345 USD) per square metre
The largest city in this region is Ålesund with a population of 41,385, and is famous for its large concentration of Jugendstil architecture. The region uses Nynorsk as its official linguistic standard (as opposed to Bokmål, which is what most people learning Norwegian learn).
#12: Agder outside Kristiansand - average price 19,400 kroner ($3345 USD) per square metre
That's Vest-Agder - Kristiansand is the capital of this region, so everywhere but that. Vest-Agder has a population of 166,976 and Kristiansand is about half that. Besides that the largest settlement seems to be about 13,000 people or so.
Next to it is another region with Agder in the name called Aust-Augder - total population is 106,842 of which 41,241 is in the capital called Arendal, which looks like this.
Arendal is a port town with a large jazz festival and some other yearly music festivals. Seems to have a large number of churches too.
#11: Buskerud outside Drammen - average price 19,100 kroner ($3290 USD) per square metre
Buskerud has a population of 253,006 of which 60,145 live in Drammen.
This is the town of Hurum along the coast, with a population of 9,011. Kongsberg is another town in the region with a population of 23,997.
#10: Rural Vestfold - average price 19,000 kroner ($3275 USD) per square metre
Vestfold is located fairly close to Oslo with a road leading directly into Oslo and thus real estate in the cities there would be expensive, but apparently the areas outside the cities aren't that bad. The picture above is of Holmestrand, population 9,949 and thus probably one of the places to which the list is referring.
#9: Fredrikstad - average price 18,900 kroner ($3260 USD) per square metre
Fredrikstad is a relatively large city (by Norwegian standards) with a population of 72,935 and located to the southeast of Oslo, pretty close to the Swedish border. It has an old town which is Northern Europe's best preserved old town. A blog post here seems quite impressed with Fredrikstad. Fredrikstad is right next to Sarpsborg (#5 on the list).
#8: Larvik - average price 18,400 kroner ($3,170 USD) per square metre
Larvik is located within Vestfold, right along the southwestern edge. It's a ways out of Oslo but it still lies on the road leading directly into the city. Bottled water is produced here.
#7: Northern Norway outside Tromsø - average price 18,300 kroner ($3,155 USD) per square metre
This is Bodø, population 46,049. It lies just north of the Arctic Circle so you can see the sun 24 hours a day during the summer, and 24 hours of darkness during the darkest part of the winter, each for about a month at a time. It's also a very windy city.
#6: Trøndelag outside of Trondheim: average price 18,000 kroner ($3,105 USD) per square metre
Trøndelag is where you start to get into the northern part of the country and has a total population of 418,453 of which 168,257 live in Trondheim. Outside of Trondheim the largest city is called Stjørdal:
with a population of 20,616. Stjørdal is quite close (35 km) to Trondheim which gives it a growing population as a satellite city, and it has a lot of birds and an interesting castle.
#5: Sarpsborg - average price 17,300 kroner ($2,985 USD) per square metre
Remember Fredrikstad (#9)? This city is in the same region, and located even closer to the main road that goes northwest to Oslo and southeast into Sweden (eventually to Gothenburg/Götenborg). Sarpsborg has a population of 51,813 and together with Fredrikstad they form the fifth largest urban area in Norway. Sarpsborg is the home of the brewery Borg Bryggerier, which produces these beers. Bethlehem (yes, the Bethlehem) is one of its sister cities.
#4: Rural Østfold - average price 16,300 kroner ($2,810 USD) per square metre
Østfold is where Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg are located, and you can see how prices fall even further when getting out of the cities altogether.
That's Rakkestad, population 7,232. It's basically located in the same area as the other two cities mentioned but smaller and a bit more out of the way, as it's off the main road that leads into Oslo to the northwest and Gothenburg to the southeast in Sweden. Rakkestad has a lot of farming and forestry. Though not related to Rakkestad in particular, the Wikipedia page on the community has the following: "Everyone in Norway has a right of access to and passage through uncultivated land in the countryside, regardless of who owns it...You may also put up a tent for the night, but you must keep at least 150 metres (492.1 ft) away from the nearest house or cabin. If you want to stay for more than two nights in the same place, you must ask the landowner's permission."
#3: Oppland outside of Lillehammer - average price 16,300 kroner ($2,810 USD) per square metre
Oppland has a population of 183,851 of which only 25,070 live in Lillehammer, but Lillehammer was the site of the 1994 Olympics.
Just next to Lillehammer though is Gjøvik, which actually has a larger population (28,627).
It's also located alongside the same lake and is further south so less out of the way than Lillehammer and closer to Oslo.
#2: Telemark - average price 15,800 kroner ($2,725 USD) per square metre
This is Skien, the largest city in Telemark with a population of 50,595. It's fairly close to Larvik (that's #8) but is a bit farther away from Oslo. The page on Skien on the Norwegian Wikipedia is more detailed than most other cities its size, with quite a few pictures.
And now we get to the cheapest part of Norway:
#1: Hedmark outside of Hamar - average price 15,300 kroner ($2,640 USD) per square metre
Hedmark is located northeast of Oslo, and just east of Oppland where Lillehammer is located. Total population is 189,586 of which 27,593 live in Hamar.
This is Elverum, the next largest city with a population of 19,665. There is a forest museum here. Elverum also happens to be extremely close to Hamar, which looks like this.
So there you have it, the fourteen cheapest places in Norway in terms of real estate. When living abroad it's important to choose a location that balances cost of living with opportunity, so simply finding the cheapest place to live is no help if opportunities to work are severely restricted. Norway also has a lot of linguistic variation, so keep in mind that people living in places off the beaten track will likely be incomprehensible at first, even if you've put in the time to learn a lot of Bokmål before going.
Personally my favourite from looking at the list alone would probably be #9, Fredrikstad. Seems to have a nice old town, is fairly close to Oslo, also next to Sarpsborg, Sweden is easily accessible too. Ålesund also seems to be quite interesting for those that are interested in Nynorsk and/or architecture and enjoy the cool weather. Here's another nice image of Ålesund either at dawn or dusk. |
Traditional bush medicine finds new life as Gulbarn tea
Updated
In the remote Roper region of the Northern Territory, the chance snapping of a branch has had incredible ripple effects for the community who live there.
It was 2013, and Samara Billy was showing off her community to representatives from Indigenous business facilitator Enterprise Learning Projects (ELP).
The community of Minyerri was keen to start an arts centre, but in doing so, stumbled upon an opportunity to bring one of their traditions to the tea market.
"I took them out bush, and we picked a bit of Gulbarn and I told them how we use it," Ms Billy said, outside the now up-and-running arts centre.
"You have to just boil it up and wait for it to cool, or you can just have a shower with it.
"It's good to relax your body, if you're feeling a bit stressed."
Gulbarn grows wild in and around Minyerri, about 580 kilometres south-east of Darwin.
For generations, Gulbarn has been primarily used as a comforting drink to soothe coughs and colds.
It does not contain caffeine, but with the same kinds of properties and flavonoids as green tea, it is now taking on new life as a drink for any time of day, and is attracting interest from buyers across Australia, China and Taiwan.
"I think Gulbarn is a really good example of the intersection of western market knowledge, and traditional Aboriginal knowledge, and the possibilities that come about when people from different walks of life have the chance to explore enterprise opportunities," Laura Egan, founder of ELP said.
"There's demand from across Australia, from existing tea companies and tea entrepreneurs that let us know that this is gold really, and it's just a matter of how they want to grow the business." - Laura Egan, Founder ELP
Ms Billy said she initially did not think anyone would be interested in a little bush plant.
Now, her sights are set on growing the business, little by little.
"I mean it's been there the whole time, but nobody wanted to use it," she said.
"I'm hoping that we can sell more, but I want to start small first - then we can build it up little by little."
The tea is picked, dried and packaged in Minyerri with the help of the community.
Packing days are an all-in community endeavour, and Ms Billy laughed that many could not wait until packing day on Thursdays.
"When it's Monday they come in and say 'oh when are we going to do Gulbarn packaging?'"
The business is not without its challenges though. Internet access is an ongoing issue, and at this stage the online sales are managed by ELP from Katherine.
"Internet access in the community is a challenge, and the business would be really well supported by having access to internet services which would enable us then to Skype, and maintain regular contact from our base here in Katherine," Ms Egan said.
ELP enterprise facilitator Lillian Tait, said that while Gulbarn tea had exceeded expectations, it was also moving at a pace that was directed by the community.
"So if people don't want to package, then there's no tea, and that's fine too," she said.
The business is not exclusively run by women, but it is being spearheaded by the women in the community.
"Samara is hugely inspirational, she's a real trailblazer within Minyerri community and she's showing all of the qualities of a brilliant entrepreneur and is a real role model for the young women in Minyerri," Ms Egan said.
The success is also giving others in the community the motivation and confidence to come forward with other business ideas.
"Gulbarn is just one of their many bush plants that's delicious as tea, and so lots of people have been coming out of the woodwork saying 'have you tasted this?' So that's really exciting - we're hoping to explore the other options soon," Ms Tait said.
"Gulbarn is a great example, but it's really just scratching the surface of what's possible in terms of grass-roots Aboriginal enterprise."
Topics: small-business, environmentally-sustainable-business, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, mataranka-0852
First posted |
Hillary Clinton promised at a fundraiser Friday evening that her economic agenda would not add a penny to the national debt, which currently stands at $19.7 trillion.
"When people ask me, 'So how are you going to pay for infrastructure jobs and paid family leave?', I say, 'Well, I'm telling you how I'm paying for everything," she said at a campaign event in Seattle, drawing a contrast with GOP nominee Donald Trump.
"I am not going to add a penny to the national debt," she vowed. "We're going to go where the money is. We're going to make the wealthy pay their fair share, and we're finally going to close those corporate loopholes."
The Democratic nominee often promise on the campaign stump that she will fund her White House agenda by going after the very wealthy.
"I'll tell you how we're going to pay for it," she said in August, referring specifically to her proposed economic policies. "We're going where the money is. We are going after the super wealthy, we are going after corporations, we are going after Wall Street so they pay their fair share."
Despite her pledge, a study out this week said Clinton's plan to tax more and spend more may in fact increase the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars. That study said she wants to $1.4 trillion in new tax revenue over a 10-year period, and spend about the same amount. But when dynamic scoring is used, her tax hikes could slow the economy down to the point that only $663 billion is collected, not enough to offset her spending plans.
Clinton has been under pressure from Democrats to pursue a more progressive agenda, especially after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., gave her a close primary race with a platform of higher taxes and an expanded federal government.
Her promise to go after the very wealthy and crack down on Wall Street has drawn criticism from those who've noted she made millions of dollars giving closed-door speeches to top financial firms, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
A review of the Clintons' 2015 tax returns show they took in a combined $6.72 million from paid speeches. Their 2015 tax returns, which were released last week, also showed they paid an effective federal tax rate of 34.2 percent, and that they had an adjusted gross income of $10.6 million. Much of that came from paid speeches, and many of those speeches were to wall Street firms. |
The U.K. town of Milton Keynes isn't waiting for Google or General Motors to bring autonomous cars to the masses. Instead, it's enlisting a fleet of 100 self-driving pods to run between the city's central train station, shopping center, and office parks beginning in 2015.
The autonomous pods will carry two passengers, plus shopping bags, luggage, or a baby stroller, and will travel up to 12 mph in dedicated lanes inside the city.
The first 100 pods are set to take to the streets in 2015 as part of a £65 million infrastructure investment by Milton Keynes, with a full roll-out of the pods coming in 2017, when passengers will pay £2 per trip and summon their rides through a smartphone app.
The pods – similar to those used at Heathrow airport since 2011 – will be fully electric, with motors mounted at each wheel and charging handled by an inductive system set up along the route.
Like Google, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz' autonomous vehicles, the pods will use a combination of GPS, sensors, and high-definition stereo cameras to navigate the city and avoid pedestrians, but according to the Daily Mail, the initial plan is to have specific lanes for the vehicles and a joystick to control the pod if something goes awry.
However, the town's pub crawlers should take note that during the first tests, passengers will be responsible for the vehicle during the ride, so loading up on a few pints before heading back to the train station isn't allowed. |
December 10, 2011 - L4D Team
Looking around at holiday decorations and sales, we noticed an alarming lack of zombies.We need to fix that.To help you spread the zombie cheer through the holiday seasons, we have put the games on sale today for 75% off. This includes Left 4 Dead Left 4 Dead 2 , the bundles, the four packs – everything is 75% off today!We also put all our L4D & L4D2 merchandise on sale at the Valve store . This includes the holiday cards at 75% discount! ( L4D1 L4D2 ) We also have shirts, posters, mouse pads and more on sale.One of the most requested gift items we see is the health kit back pack. We don’t sell them but Glitch Gaming Apparel does. If you use the coupon code “I Love L4D2”, you will get $4 off any order.I know what some of you are thinking, you are NOT a last minute gift kind of person. You are a preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse kind of person. You prepare early. Your 2011 gifts were delivered last June. You are picking out your Halloween decorations this week. You're thinking about your 2012 gifts already. We respect that. For you we have an articulated action figure boomer . It was created by NECA and will go on sale early next spring for under $20 at major retailers. Just in time for your 2012 holiday gift buying. |
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney says Canadian officials revoked the passport of John Maguire, an Ottawa-area man who joined ISIS in Syria and who is calling for Muslims to carry out lone-wolf attacks in Canada.
In a video released over the weekend, Maguire urges his fellow Muslim countrymen to carry out attacks on Canadian targets. The 23-year-old is identified in the video as Abu Anwar al-Canadi and speaks in English.
Maguire was already reportedly under investigation by the RCMP. It's not clear whether his passport was seized or when it was revoked, although one MP said it was in the "later part of the winter" of 2013, shortly after he left Canada.
"His passport was revoked after he left the country, so his ability to return is very difficult ... though as you saw in the video, I don't think this guy has any intention of coming back to Canada," said James Bezan, parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defence, in an interview with CBC News Network's Power & Politics.
John Maguire of Ottawa travelled to Syria to join ISIS about two years ago. Online he calls himself 'Yahya' and says he is going to have the 'reward of jihad.' (Facebook) The revocation means Maguire can't travel across borders and if he tried to use his passport to re-enter Canada, it would be seized.
A spokesman for Blaney said the passport was invalidated as soon as officials became aware of Maguire's ties to ISIS.
Blaney said an internal government measure used to assess threats hasn't been heightened as a result of the video.
Arrest by Canadian officials unlikely
Blaney pointed to legislation the government plans to bring to the House to give police more power to deal with cases like Maguire's.
"We are currently working on legislation that would provide more tools to our law enforcement agencies so they are better able to track, build evidence and lay charges," Blaney said.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay called the Maguire case disturbing and said it speaks to the need for vigilance. But Canadian officials likely won't arrest Maguire, he said.
"That is highly unlikely. What we need to do, obviously, to the greatest extent possible, is to monitor his activities," MacKay said on his way into the House of Commons on Monday.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay takes questions from reporters on Monday about the Ottawa man who travelled to Syria to join ISIS. (Chris Rands/CBC) "The RCMP of course are examining things such as recognizance and peace bonds that are preventative and pre-emptive, and we're looking at legislation, as you know, that would address that through such things as lowering [evidentiary] thresholds and allowing for police to have greater ability to intervene in cases such as this where there have been very pronounced and very specific threats that have been made."
Maguire's video references Michael Zehaf-Bibeau's October attack in which he killed an honour guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa before storming Parliament Hill, where he was shot and killed.
'Why wasn't he arrested?'
Abu Anwar al-Canadi does not appear to be under duress in the video. CBC News does not know if he made the statement of his own free will.
Liberal public safety critic Wayne Easter raised a number of questions, including whether Maguire is one of the approximately80 Canadians who have returned to the country after leaving to participate in suspected terror-related activities.
"If he was being monitored, why did he have the opportunity to leave the country and try and draw others in to an extremist cause and try and turn others against our country?" Easter said.
"Why wasn't he arrested under the authorities that are already there under the laws of Canada? That's what I can't understand."
Easter said there are existing laws that could have been used to arrest or detain someone like Maguire.
"They can't go over to Syria and arrest the guy, but should they have arrested him before he left?" he said. |
Every year we have a little family tradition where we all go on a kayaking trip for the day – my brother Oakley and I included.
So early in the morning we pack up our gear and kayaks and head up river. At the start, Oakley and I pick out which kayaks (or paddlers) we’d like to command, yet this always ends up changing once we start hopping to other kayaks or falling off and being picked up by someone else.. Sometimes even ending up on the same one!
We prefer to each captain a different kayak though so we can keep track of who’s ahead of who. If you haven’t realized by now, brotherly love is often a matter of competition. You may also notice that in many of the following photos Oakley is all wet, which is of course because he’s always falling in.
I kept telling him not to get so far over the front tip of the kayak. Yet, he was always just so excited that he’d be hanging right over the edge – so much so that his balance would be compromised at the slightest irregular movement in the kayak, thus leading to a little dip in the river.
I didn’t make too big a deal of it, because after all, it was an excellent source of entertainment throughout the trip.
Anyway, whoever we’re with, you can tell we get frustrated with our paddler at times for not keeping a satisfactory speed – hence the need for us to switch boats occasionally. For instance, I can count on Dad for good speed bursts (which however makes the kayak a little unstable for me), while Mum is good at a nice continuous stroke.
Occasionally, Oakley and I would end up on the same kayak. Being the eldest and the lifetime-appointed expedition leader, I held the position at the front as commander and captain.
(As a sidenote, I think that at this point in my celebrity career I need not even mention that I’m flexing – it’s a given).
At times I worried if taking the very front spot of the kayak was a good idea. Oakley was always trying to butt in from the side, but I didn’t want to give it up. It ended up that we were both barely balancing on the tip of the kayak while Oakley kept pushing me closer and closer to the narrowing tip.
I’m not sure if he just didn’t realize that he was putting me in a precarious position or if this was some tactic of his to toss me overboard as an “accident”. That would be more like a wire haired to do. Anyway, it didn’t work – as I never fell off (from that).
In fact, I’d say it backfired because Oakley ended up falling in a few times while trying to edge me off. I couldn’t help but lick my chops in satisfaction!
After a couple hours of kayaking, we stopped for a nice break and lunch on a sand spit of the river. This is a great time for us to go stretch our legs, run around a bit, chase some squeaky balls, go for a swim, and crunch some sticks.
Oakley had a blast retrieving the ball in the water, as the little guy just loves to swim. I prefer to just let him retrieve it for me (I’m not as much a water guy).
We also soon discovered that when you throw a ball in shallow water, Oakley has a very nice ‘water-gallop’, which you can see in this video – as filmed with GoPro:
Then it was back to the kayaks for the final stretch!
When we weren’t on separate kayaks competing for leadership of the pack, it let us better appreciate our beautiful surroundings. Here we are together, no worries in the world except what might lie around the next river bend.
As we slid under the last bridge before the exit, Oakley lost his footing and somersaulted frontwards into the water. It was the best thing ever, and I so wish someone caught it on film.
Oakley just loves the water though, and no matter how many times he fell in, it didn’t phase him one bit, while I on the hand will shiver and demand to be wrapped in a blanket for at least 10 minutes before re-emerging to take my position as captain once again.
So that was our kayaking adventure. I look forward to next year’s trip!
My vacation with Oakley may be over, but I have one more adventure of ours to share with you, so the summer’s not over yet!
Keep paddlin’,
~ Crusoe
My New Book! Featuring my worldly travels far and wide, from Europe to Mexico and more, and the whole story of my surgery and recovery! Rated 5 stars on Amazon! Get Yours!
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What fun activities do you do with your dog? Let me know in the comments!
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Two Baltimore-area residents have been charged with attempting to disarm a security guard when they tusseled early Monday on Delaware's Dewey Beach.
John P. Clancy, 21, of Towson and Julia C. Price of Baltimore, 21, were charged with attempting to remove a firearm from a law enforcement officer, second degree conspiracy and offensive touching, Delaware State Police Master Corporal Gary Fournier wrote in a news release.
The security guard, who was not identified in the release, was unharmed.
The couple approached the 52-year-old guard at about 3 a.m. as he was partrolling Indian Beach and asked if they could get a ride to Ocean City, Fournier wrote.
The guard offered to call a taxi and told them to wait by his patrol car. The couple began to walk towards a nearby house, and the guard warned them that if they continued, they would be arrested for trespassing on private property.
Clancy pushed the guard and kicked his feet out from under him, the release said, causing both men to fall to the ground. Price allegedly jumped on top of the guard and tried several times to remove his gun from his holster.
A witness to the struggle called the Delaware State police, who arrested the couple, who were being held at Sussex Correctional Institution. |
Tech Article Title Author Date Home Guide to Wheel Scuff Repair NASA Racer 2002 Note that although this is a Porsche painted wheel, the WURTH wheel paint (silver) is used for ALL German painted wheels. Same techniques apply for an S4:
Well, there I was...backing into a parking space against a curb and I was in a hurry and I heard it...SCRAPE! One fraction of a second...barely moving. Got out and looked at the rim...OOOOOOWWWWW!
Well, no need to fear...I've done this enough times to have a easy way to do home repairs with a few simple items. Note that this ONLY covers light scuffs, this isn't meant to be used to repair a DAMAGED wheel or one where the scuffs cause significant damage to the rim. This is only for those annoying superficial scuffs like happened to me more times than I care to admit. Now there are PLENTY of GOOD services which can do this for VERY reasonable money...most folks will happily do this but I'm inpatient and have the free time (generally) to spend a couple of hours doing this and it REALLY takes the edge off donking my wheels when I know I can simply fix it myself.
So if you are interested...here's what you need:
I have a can of scratch-filler primer, the WURTH wheel paint and clear (got mine at Performance Products), some paint thinner, Bondo spot putty (or equivalent), sand paper and some 240 and 400 grit sandpaper (if you are REALLY anal...get some 600 grit).
Step 1. Clean...clean...clean...and did I mention CLEAN!
This is one of the most important steps. Use paint thinner to THOROUGHLY clean the ENTIRE area around the damage...you need to get ANY wax or polish or anything off the wheel...I'm going to remind you EVERY step...I probably end up wiping down these surfaces 10 or more times before painting...if you don't do this, the rest is pointless. Also, we want to work ONLY on the area that's damaged...don't go nuts and try to paint half your wheel on the car...for this technique to succeed we want to sand and paint the area only IMMEDIATELY around the damage.
2. Sand and Putty
I like to START by masking the tire from the wheel...get the masking tape WELL behind the rim. Next, sand the area to a nice "feather" with 240 grit sandpaper and wipe some spot putty on. IMPORTANT...this ENTIRE project will work best if the wheel is in the sun and its a nice warm day...the drying time of spot putty is minutes but if it's cold or damp, this project is likely to not work out too well. Remember...keep your sanding to the IMMEDIATE area around the damage. Trust me on this.
So once you've done the first round of putty, switch to the finer of your sandpaper (400 grit in my case) and sand and putty until it FEELS and LOOKS flush. Note that I use the paper wrapped around a piece of wood to make a flat sanding block. It's best to sand with a flat block to get the smoothest finish:
Note that up to this point...including waiting 5 to 10 minutes between coats of putty that the whole project has taken about 40 minutes.
4. Masking and primering:
Okay, here's where a bit of laziness is going to create an entire new clay-bar project. This metallic paint will GET EVERYWHERE. I'm talking permanently attached to the fender on the opposite corner of the car...mask CAREFULLY and COVER THE WHOLE CAR with a sheet or equivalent.
I've used the thick scratch-filler primer and sanded it and put a bit more putty on. Note that this is the first place where I use the NASA technique. Immediately after I spray the primer (or paint) I clean ALL the overspray off the spokes of the wheel (clean rag and paint thinner) and the area around the inside of the rim...I do NOT want to try to get paint to smoothly adhere to the entire wheel! We just want to paint the REPAIR. Only the clear coat will be sprayed without wiping off the overspray. Wait for the primer to fully dry and lightly sand it with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper.
5. Painting
VITAL: READ THE CAN...if you try to use this paint in cold temperatures (or in damp conditions) it's going to be a mess...shake the can for a minute at LEAST and push the spray nozzle as you sweep across and release at the end. This is roughly the distance I used the can from the wheel...I HIGHLY recommend painting some scrap something to get used to the distances and thickness this paint sprays.
Now we SHOULD be nearly done BUT (as always) Pete got inpatient and sprayed the clear WAY too soon and lifted the paint and messed it all up. This is NO BIGGIE...take a deep breath, get out your rag and the paint thinner and take it all off. The thinner I used did not eat into the primer so I simply cleaned the wheel (again) and got to respray the silver.
Here's the paint lifting because of the clear being sprayed too soon.
Okay, fast forward a few minutes...I had to roll the car forward a bit to keep it in the sun and I had cleaned (and let fully dry) the wheel and RE-sprayed the silver. Now I'm using the NASA technique on the silver paint and CAREFULLY removing the overspray:
AND here's the nicely painted wheel. I'm going to not be an idiot and let the paint dry OVERNIGHT (like I knew I should) and do the clear coat and I'll post that tomorrow. |
(Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)
San Franciscans may be forced to wear clothes outside of their homes and some nude activists aren't pleased.
City lawmakers are scheduled to vote Tuesday on an ordinance that, if passed, would make it illegal for anyone over the age of 5 to expose their genitals in public. Exemptions will be made for parades and festivals held under a city permit, according to the ordinance.
A group of activists filed a federal lawsuit against the city on Wednesday, asking that a judge issue a temporary restraining order to stop the vote on Tuesday and provide the court enough time to determine the merits of the case.
One of the plaintiffs, Mitch Hightower, has organized an annual "nude-in" demonstration over the past several years.
"The 'Nude In' is intended to promote a spirit of tolerance, peace and fellowship among the attendees," the lawsuit said, claiming that if enacted, the ordinance would violate the constitutional right of free speech.
"It attempts to criminalize nudity even when engaged in for the purpose of political advocacy," the lawsuit said.
George Davis, who ran for mayor in 2007 and District 6 supervisor in 2010, both times as the "nude candidate," joined the suit, claiming he uses nudity "as part of his political expression."
If the ordinance is enacted, first time offenders would be fined $100. The fine increases to $200 if it's the second offense within 12 months. The third time a nudist is caught, they could be slapped with a $500 fine and potentially charged with a misdemeanor. |
Michael Moynihan went to The Amazing Meeting and wrote a long feature in Newsweek on James Randi, skepticism, and the movement’s overlap (or not) with atheism:
The activists of TAM see themselves as waging a broad, multifront battle to drag American culture, inch by inch, away from the nonscientific and the nonlogical. This turns out to be a surprisingly uphill struggle. Probably the majority of Americans believe in some degree of what JREF’s founder, James Randi, calls “woo-woo.” (“Please use woo-woo,” he instructs me. “I’m trying to get it into extensive use.”) In 2005, for instance, Gallup found that 73 percent of Americans subscribed to at least one paranormal belief. Television personalities like John Edward earn huge audiences by purporting to commune with the dead. Numerous Americans swear by homeopathy, ingest supplements with no proven medical benefit, or believe, against all available evidence, that genetically modified organisms might transform humans into tumor-covered golems.
As an outsider, Moynihan did a nice job of picking up on the unstated themes of the conference as well as a lot of the on-topic chatter that occurs outside official conference hours. (Feminism is notably absent from his piece. As are women, period. Of all the skeptics mentioned, discussed, or quoted in the piece, I didn’t spot a single female voice… which just seems weird.)
The hardest thing to digest, even though it’s admittedly accurate, is the idea that we’re “sort of insufferable” for questioning things that people really want to believe. There’s an art to getting people to hear you out when you point out that their beliefs are silly and many of us lack that skill. Yet, we do a really good job of making people aware of the issue and helping them recognize bullshit when it’s right in front of them. Moynihan, after spending time at TAM, even writes about how he picked up on one fraudster’s tricks and counteracted them.
It’s a surprisingly balanced piece. Not bad, coming from the same magazine that had this as its cover story last October: |
Observations from Saturday night's 93-90 exhibition loss to the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center:
-- Not completely sold on Hassan Whiteside and Kelly Olynyk side by side in the starting lineup.
-- Because there will be far greater challenges to defend at power forward than Aaron Gordon.
-- But it is a way to maximize the court time for each.
-- And probably deserves more scrutiny.
-- By starting Olynyk alongside Whiteside, the Heat got back to inserting James Johnson and Tyler Johnson together in the first period.
-- That had James Johnson getting some early minutes at center, with Justise Winslow at power forward.
-- Winslow then shifted to small forward when Olynyk returned, the first time he has been cast in that role this preseason.
-- This is why you need preseason, to explore.
-- Which matters far more than the score.
-- The rotation, with Goran Dragic given the night off, also gave Josh Richardson the opportunity to show his versatility.
-- He certainly was in rhythm.
-- He is a different player when fully healthy.
-- He was that player Saturday.
-- Erik Spoelstra stayed with same top nine players at the top of Saturday's rotation (minus Dragic), stressing the need for his regulars to get minutes together.
-- The non-rotation players did not enter until the midpoint of the fourth quarter.
-- When we saw the likes of Erik McCree and Jordan Mickey.
-- Gordon got the better of Olynyk in the early matchup at power forward.
-- But Olynyk did not appear overwhelmed defending on the perimeter, especially when he knew at the outset he had Whiteside behind him.
-- Tyler Johnson ended the game wearing a stim unit, thus his lack of action.
-- Magic coach Frank Vogel said he was approaching the game somewhat close to the vest, with the teams to open the regular season against each other.
-- Like the Heat, the Magic have the dilemma of whether they can afford to play one of their big men at power forward at times. The Magic are loaded in the middle with Nikola Vucevic, Bismack Biyombo and now Marreese Speights.
-- Of whether Speights can play power forward in today's small-ball era, Vogel said, "There are occasions where you can slide him over to the four, but not too many in this era."
-- Richardson opened at point guard, with rest previously expected for Dragic after a busy September with the Slovenia championship team at EuroBasket.
-- Of what Jonathon Simmons adds to his roster, Vogel said of the offseason free-agent acquisition from the Spurs, "Toughness and grit and little bit of swagger."
-- Vogel said he expects more this season from point guard Elfrid Payton, if only because it is the first time he has had the same coach and same system for consecutive years.
-- Heat captain Udonis Haslem said he was not surprised that former teammate and close friend Dwyane Wade was able to score 20 points in 22 minutes of the Cavaliers' Friday exhibition game.
-- "I know how much work he puts in in the offseason to keep himself physically ready and prepared to go out there and perform at a high level," Haslem said "So I'm not surprised at what he's been able to do or what he's able to still do."
-- Haslem said the two keep the talk about age to a minimum. Wade is 35, Haslem 37.
-- "At the end of the day," Haslem said, "I'm older than him so there's not really much I can say."
-- Asked what it would be like if he were to be called on for such productivity in the preseason, Haslem smiled, "I just don't recover as quick as I used to."
-- For Richardson the trip proved to be a disappointment after he learned that the U.S. men's national team was playing a World Cup qualifying match in Orlando on Friday night. Richardson is among the Heat's most passionate soccer fans.
-- "I'm sick I missed it," he said at the morning shootaround of the rout of Panama.
-- "I didn't know it was there," he said. "My boy from Miami called me and told me about it."
-- Richardson said he went to several games during the offseason in Los Angeles, as well as the summer version of El Classico at Hard Rock Stadium.
-- Richardson counts himself as a fan of the U.S. national team and Arsenal of the Premier League.
-- Why Arsenal? "I never really watched a lot of soccer when I was younger, but in college my teammates would play a lot of FIFA and I started playing that."
-- Asked what his plans would be if Miami finally gets an MLS team, he said, without hesitation, "season tickets."
-- U.S. men's national soccer coach Bruce Arena was in the building after Friday's crucial victory here over Panama.
-- As was Christian Pulisic.
CAPTION Spoelstra: No need to show anger to appease outsiders. Spoelstra: No need to show anger to appease outsiders. CAPTION Spoelstra: No need to show anger to appease outsiders. Spoelstra: No need to show anger to appease outsiders. CAPTION Dwyane Wade: Braids a tribute to Iverson Dwyane Wade: Braids a tribute to Iverson CAPTION Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra says his team showed grit in loss to the Phoenix Suns. Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra says his team showed grit in loss to the Phoenix Suns. CAPTION Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade says his team's loss to the Phoenix Suns hurt his team and their hopes of getting to the playoffs. Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade says his team's loss to the Phoenix Suns hurt his team and their hopes of getting to the playoffs. CAPTION Miami guard Josh Richardson talks about the obstacles that lead hs team's loss to the Phoenix Suns. Miami guard Josh Richardson talks about the obstacles that lead hs team's loss to the Phoenix Suns.
[email protected]. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman |
Many people have called attention to the plight of gays in the Islamic world, and the death penalty that Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, mandates for them. But it is one thing to provide facts, and quite another, much more compelling thing to tell a story. In his new novel The Alhambra, Bruce Bawer tells a story of the reality of Islam in Europe, for gays and everyone else, that should open a great many eyes that have until now remained resolutely closed.
Bawer is the author of the 1997 book Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity -- an eloquent, impassioned rebuke to the judgmental fundamentalism in which, Bawer contended, all too many Christians place adherence to dogma, in particular that of the sinfulness of homosexual activity, above the demands of Christian charity. The following year he moved to Europe, where he thought he would find prevailing more tolerant attitudes toward gay rights, which he did -- until Europe’s rapidly increasing Muslim population began to change that.
In 2006, Bawer published While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within, and in 2009 its follow-up, Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom. In them, he warned of how official appeasement of Europe’s Muslims was impinging upon the freedoms that Europeans had hitherto enjoyed, and would continue to do so. Islamic law has a vision of women’s rights, gay rights, and more that is diametrically opposed to Western principles of human rights, and these two radically contrasting visions would inevitably come into ever-greater conflict.
Nothing changed, of course. The immigration rates grew, and the appeasement accelerated. Now Bawer has written a novel, illustrating in a thriller exactly what he has been sounding the alarm about.
Steve Disch is an American playwright who relocates to Amsterdam, where he expresses his relief to finally be away from the influence of the religious right, which he says is all-pervasive, even in Hollywood.
But in Amsterdam, even with the religious right far away, all is not well. He has several unpleasant encounters with Muslims, including being mugged by one, and one of his Dutch friends advises him: “Get a Koran. Read it.” After he learns a bit more, he asks a Dutch friend: “I mean, is this a good thing? These ideas coming here?” The Dutchman answers: “It’s their culture.”
Steve is incredulous: “But what about your culture? What about the liberal Netherlands? And gay rights? Doesn’t this represent a threat to everything you believe in? And have worked for?”
His friend tells him: “It’s very hard to talk about it. … You can almost say it’s verboden to talk about it. … The reigning idea is that it’s racist even to contemplate it critically.” |
About 70 years ago, English novelist George Orwell wrote 1984, a controversial novel which visioned of a fictional dystopian place called Oceania where people had no real privacy. As Orwell described, residents of Oceania had two-way telescreens so that they may be watched or listened to by government authorities. The book was written way ahead of its time, and while it didn't make much sense back then, a lot of assumptions Orwell made in 1984 are coming true now.
Samsung's smart TVs are in the news once again. Not for impressive sales figures -- something the South Korean technology conglomerate would definitely appreciate -- but for jeopardizing its users’ privacy.
Last week, the good folks at The Daily Beast dug through the company’s policy page to find that Samsung smart TVs were orchestrated to record everything you say and send them back to the company, which was later sent to an unidentified third-party player.
This could be a major issue to many, as not all of us would be comfortable with the fact that all the conversations we have in front and around our TV set are being analyzed by someone. The company, however, assured that all the recording was done to make its voice recognition technology better.
The company had publicly acknowledged that it was indeed logging users’ activity and voice commands (do note -- in the company’s defense, the privacy policy is also publicly available). The company also noted that "these functions [voice tapping] are enabled only when users agree to the separate Samsung Privacy Policy and Terms of Use regarding this function when initially setting up the TV". The company further noted that users’ data was fully encrypted as part of the industry-standard measures it takes.
But now we're learning that the data which Samsung gleans from its Smart TVs is not encrypted. Ken Munro and David Lodge, from the London-based Pen Test Partners tested one of Samsung’s smart TVs to discover that the TV was uploading audio files in an unencrypted form. The finding further reveals that a transcribed copy of what had been said when beamed back to the TV (letting the TV act on the commands) was also in an unencrypted form for any hacker to decode.
"Intercepting those communications could be done over wi-fi by neighbours and/or hackers outside your house, if you use the wireless feature of the TV to hook up to the internet", tells Mr. Munro to BBC. "It could also be carried out by your ISP, and by anyone else that has access to internet backbones. I'm thinking governments, law enforcement. This is an easy problem to solve. The communications should be encrypted using SSL just like other sensitive internet communications are".
Samsung has yet again acknowledged the issue and assures that it plans to fix it soon. "Samsung takes consumer privacy very seriously and our products are designed with privacy in mind", the company said in a statement.
Until the patch rolls out to your TV, enjoy your stay in the Orwellian world. Let us know in the comments how you feel about it. |
Luxury isn’t just about something being expensive, it’s about feeling the craftsmanship and conveying the artisan spirit. I want you to experience the thought and effort that went into creating your Smashing yoyo when you receive one. Everything from the yoyo itself, the packaging, even the box it’s shipped in has some thought behind it. Finding the right packaging was an interesting experience. There are so many people trying to sell me unique and interesting boxes at a wide range of prices.
The constant need to keep the price down means my choices are more and more limited but regardless of price, I’ve found the perfect box for the Poppet. It’s unique, attractive and totally perfect for the Poppet. Picking just the right extras for the inside was another interesting fight. I debated about so many things but in the end, decided some nice stickers and a badge for every yoyo so you can show off the Smashing YoYo Company logo wherever you go.
Every yoyo also comes with a nice pouch and it all fits nicely in the pretty box with a shiny sticker on the front to complete that luxury feel. Check out this unboxing video from Andrew Woodford to see for yourself.
It all comes together to give you a nice unboxing experience that you’ll remember and will get you excited to play with your new Poppet. I’ve had a lot of fun and anguish creating this experience and I hope it’s everything for you, that I’ve imagined it will be.
To end the post and provide an update we have some special 50/50 edition Poppets available for the drop day. They are limited to 1 of each and will be £67. You can view them yourself, right now on the store page. Finally, it’s sad but necessary to announce that we have no more of the G Squared Unicorn Acid Fade Poppets because they were so popular among the team and reviewers with the final 2 being sold at the UK National YoYo Contest on the 2nd. They will not be available to buy but we have plenty of everything else. The drop is 6pm GMT on Sunday 17th, don’t miss out! |
The consumption of animal-sourced food products by humans is one of the most powerful negative forces affecting the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems and biological diversity. Livestock production is the single largest driver of habitat loss, and both livestock and feedstock production are increasing in developing tropical countries where the majority of biological diversity resides. Bushmeat consumption in Africa and southeastern Asia, as well as the high growth-rate of per capita livestock consumption in China are of special concern. The projected land base required by 2050 to support livestock production in several megadiverse countries exceeds 30–50% of their current agricultural areas. Livestock production is also a leading cause of climate change, soil loss, water and nutrient pollution, and decreases of apex predators and wild herbivores, compounding pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity. It is possible to greatly reduce the impacts of animal product consumption by humans on natural ecosystems and biodiversity while meeting nutritional needs of people, including the projected 2–3 billion people to be added to human population. We suggest that impacts can be remediated through several solutions: (1) reducing demand for animal-based food products and increasing proportions of plant-based foods in diets, the latter ideally to a global average of 90% of food consumed; (2) replacing ecologically-inefficient ruminants (e.g. cattle, goats, sheep) and bushmeat with monogastrics (e.g. poultry, pigs), integrated aquaculture, and other more-efficient protein sources; and (3) reintegrating livestock production away from single-product, intensive, fossil-fuel based systems into diverse, coupled systems designed more closely around the structure and functions of ecosystems that conserve energy and nutrients. Such efforts would also impart positive impacts on human health through reduction of diseases of nutritional extravagance. |
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