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65daysofstatic have mostly been playing in cinemas recently, namely to the tune of their fine Silent Running soundtrack album. Once the movie tour was complete though they headed into the wilds of the Kent countryside, and dropped in at our Coach Road Studios to play a few songs with us. Cramming the studio with more gear than ever before, we spent an afternoon recording the songs ‘Dance Dance Dance, Piano Fights and Debutante’ from their long player ‘We Were Exploding Anyway’ (Monotreme Records). Finishing up with the epic ‘Burial Scene’ from that movie soundtrack our afternoon was complete…
The band are venturing out in March to play a few dates around Europe so check out their website for details on this and to how get hold of the Silent Running soundtrack.
In related news 65DOS band member Paul Wolinski has also just released his single AWaltzOfLight under the guise of ‘Polinski’, with all proceeds going to Oxfam. This is an alternate version to the one on his debut album ‘Labyrinths’ which is out now on Monotreme Records. Find out more about that here.
Enjoy XO |
Congress has reliably defeated efforts to end the Afghan War on the back of strong support from a number of Representatives who have never seen a war they didn’t like. Today’s highly anticipated vote was assumed to be a defeat before it began, but turned out extremely close.
Indeed, though the amendment was defeated, it lost only 204-215, and carried more than 90% of the sitting Democratic representatives. With the bipartisan bill also carrying a number of freshmen Republicans’ support, a couple of shifts here or there could have actually swung the vote the other way, and left President Obama’s ambition to keep the war going beyond 2014 in an awful mess.
The amendment would’ve called on the administration to begin wrapping up the war and negotiating a settlement that would allow for a pullout. A much more aggressive version sponsored by Rep. Chaffetz (R – UT) was also voted on, falling 123-294.
The Chaffetz Amendment was far more ambitious and would’ve required a full withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan within 60 days. The closer amendment, sponsored by Jim McGovern (D – MA) did not set any explicit dates.
The loss is still surely a disappointment, but when one considers that the 2010 vote on materially the same amendment got only 138 yes votes, there is no doubt which side the momentum is on. It also means the 2012 vote, and surely there will be one, will not be presumed to be a “slam dunk” for the administration going in.
The combination of the two votes also shows that the antiwar sentiment is surprisingly deep. The Chaffetz amendment still managed to carry a solid majority of President Obama’s own party, and the McGovern amendment came within a hair’s breadth of passing.
Polls have long showed the American publicly squarely against the already decade-long war. Today’s vote suggests that while Congress has still not caught up with public opinion, they are coming around slowly but surely. Assuming that the war continues to grow less popular throughout the year, both amendments can probably count on picking up additional support among representatives ahead of the 2012 election.
Not only that, but the votes show Republican opposition growing largely on the basis of incoming freshmen. This suggests that while the “old-hand” politicians can be stubbornly reluctant to abandon an unpopular conflict they voted for at one point, as they get filtered out this lingering support eventually crumbles. Despite administration claims to the contrary, public opposition can eventually end America’s wars.
Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz |
You probably haven’t seen these pictures yet. Here are some first custom RX 470 cards..
Gigabyte RX 470 G1 Gaming OC 4GB
Dual-fan WindForce cooler, RGB lightning, factory-overclocking.
ASUS RX 470 STRIX 4GB
Brand new Dual-fan DirectCU cooler mounted on custom PCB.
XFX RX 470 4GB Black Edition
The RX 470 and RX 480 Black Edition are quite the same, except RX 470 is slightly narrower and has clearly visible copper heat pipe.
Bonus: Sapphire RX 460 2GB Dual
This the same card that was leaked along with RX 470 Platinum edition. I don’t think Polaris 11 requires two fans, but maybe this card features 0db technology, thus larger heat sink.
Bonus: XFX RX 460 Mini
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Today there is a horrific derivatives bubble that threatens to destroy not only the U.S. economy but the entire world financial system as well, but unfortunately the vast majority of people do not understand it. When you say the word “derivatives” to most Americans, they have no idea what you are talking about. In fact, even most members of the U.S. Congress don’t really seem to understand them. But you don’t have to get into all the technicalities to understand the bigger picture. Basically, derivatives are financial instruments whose value depends upon or is derived from the price of something else. A derivative has no underlying value of its own. It is essentially a side bet. Originally, derivatives were mostly used to hedge risk and to offset the possibility of taking losses. But today it has gone way, way beyond that. Today the world financial system has become a gigantic casino where insanely large bets are made on anything and everything that you can possibly imagine.
The derivatives market is almost entirely unregulated and in recent years it has ballooned to such enormous proportions that it is almost hard to believe. Today, the worldwide derivatives market is approximately 20 times the size of the entire global economy.
Because derivatives are so unregulated, nobody knows for certain exactly what the total value of all the derivatives worldwide is, but low estimates put it around 600 trillion dollars and high estimates put it at around 1.5 quadrillion dollars.
Do you know how large one quadrillion is?
Counting at one dollar per second, it would take 32 million years to count to one quadrillion.
If you want to attempt it, you might want to get started right now.
To put that in perspective, the gross domestic product of the United States is only about 14 trillion dollars.
In fact, the total market cap of all major global stock markets is only about 30 trillion dollars.
So when you are talking about 1.5 quadrillion dollars, you are talking about an amount of money that is almost inconceivable.
So what is going to happen when this insanely large derivatives bubble pops?
Well, the truth is that the danger that we face from derivatives is so great that Warren Buffet has called them “financial weapons of mass destruction”.
Unfortunately, he is not exaggerating.
It would be hard to understate the financial devastation that we could potentially be facing.
A number of years back, French President Jacques Chirac referred to derivatives as “financial AIDS”.
The reality is that when this bubble pops there won’t be enough money in the entire world to fix it.
But ignorance is bliss, and most people simply do not understand these complex financial instruments enough to be worried about them.
Unfortunately, just because most of us do not understand the danger does not mean that the danger has been eliminated.
In a recent column, Dr. Jerome Corsi of WorldNetDaily noted that even many institutional investors have gotten sucked into investing in derivatives without even understanding the incredible risk they were facing….
A key problem with derivatives is that in the attempt to reduce costs or prevent losses, institutional investors typically accepted complex risks that carried little-understood liabilities widely disproportionate to any potential savings the derivatives contract may have initially obtained.
The hedge-fund and derivatives markets are so highly complex and technical that even many top economists and investment-banking professionals don’t fully understand them.
Moreover, both the hedge-fund and the derivatives markets are almost totally unregulated, either by the U.S. government or by any other government worldwide.
Most Americans don’t realize it, but derivatives played a major role in the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008.
Do you remember how AIG was constantly in the news for a while there?
Well, they weren’t in financial trouble because they had written a bunch of bad insurance policies.
What had happened is that a subsidiary of AIG had lost more than $18 billion on Credit Default Swaps (derivatives) it had written, and additional losses from derivatives were on the way which could have caused the complete collapse of the insurance giant.
So the U.S. government stepped in and bailed them out – all at U.S. taxpayer expense of course.
But the AIG incident was actually quite small compared to what could be coming. The derivatives market has become so monolithic that even a relatively minor imbalance in the global economy could set off a chain reaction that would have devastating consequences.
In his recent article on derivatives, Webster Tarpley described the central role that derivatives now play in our financial system….
Far from being some arcane or marginal activity, financial derivatives have come to represent the principal business of the financier oligarchy in Wall Street, the City of London, Frankfurt, and other money centers. A concerted effort has been made by politicians and the news media to hide and camouflage the central role played by derivative speculation in the economic disasters of recent years. Journalists and public relations types have done everything possible to avoid even mentioning derivatives, coining phrases like “toxic assets,” “exotic instruments,” and – most notably – “troubled assets,” as in Troubled Assets Relief Program or TARP, aka the monstrous $800 billion bailout of Wall Street speculators which was enacted in October 2008 with the support of Bush, Henry Paulson, John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the Obama Democrats.
But wasn’t the financial reform law that Congress just passed supposed to fix all this?
Well, the truth is that you simply cannot “fix” a 1.5 quadrillion dollar problem, but yes, the financial reform law was supposed to put some new restrictions on derivatives.
And initially, there were some somewhat significant reforms contained in the bill. But after the vast horde of Wall Street lobbyists in Washington got done doing their thing, the derivatives reforms were almost completely and totally neutered.
So the rampant casino gambling continues and everybody on Wall Street is happy.
For now.
One day some event will happen which will cause a sudden shift in world financial markets and trillions of dollars of losses in derivatives will create a tsunami that will bring the entire house of cards down.
All of the money in the world will not be enough to bail out the financial system when that day arrives.
The truth is that we should have never allowed world financial markets to become a giant casino.
But we did.
Soon enough we will all pay the price, and when that disastrous day comes, most Americans will still not understand what is happening. |
A ban on bananas has been imposed in a small Scottish town as it prepares for its biggest weekend of the year – the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.
Superstitious seafarers regard bananas as bad luck on board boats and festival organisers have come up with the unusual move to ward off any potential misfortune to the North-east’s biggest maritime celebration, which takes place in Portsoy on July 4 and 5.
Banana ban signs have been posted, a banana amnesty has been introduced and local businesses have come out in support of the action, with Portsoy Ice Cream removing banana flavoured ices from its range until after the event.
Roger Goodyear, chairman of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, says: “Bananas may be a delicious fruit but they are considered bad luck on boats.
“We want to do everything possible to make sure our 2015 festival is a success and we don’t want to take any chances. Our ban on bananas is a tongue-in-cheek nod to our seafaring heritage and is a reminder that the ocean can be a mystical, but dangerous, place and as such there are many traditional superstitions among fisher people.”
There are several theories on why people believe bananas are bad luck for a boat.
One is that back in the early days of the banana trade, crews would overload the banana boats when leaving the tropics, resulting in the boats capsizing in bad weather.
Another is that wooden sailing boats involved in the Caribbean trade of the 1700s had to move so quickly to deliver bananas before they spoiled that the crew had a hard job catching fish
It’s suggested that bananas harboured dangerous spiders whose bite could be painful or even fatal. Or could it be that discarded banana skins left on deck could cause crew members to slip and fall?
Although a banana ban is now in place, there will be plenty of tempting local produce at the boat festival. To celebrate the Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015, the festival will celebrate Scotland’s fantastic natural larder and exceptional natural produce, as well as the landscapes, people and culture that make the nation’s food heritage unique.
Traditional wooden boats from all over the UK and beyond will converge on the historic 17th century harbour while visitors will have the opportunity to build and restore traditional vessels, learn how to sail a coracle and watch the skiffs go head to head for the highly competitive open seas regatta.
With beautiful boats, exhilarating skiff races on the open seas, seafaring and rural craft demonstrations, music and dance and food and drink, the festival annually attracts thousands of visitors, delivering a financial boost to the area.
Mr Goodyear adds: “As one of Scotland’s leading events, The Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival is renowned for its creative offerings and 2015 is no different. As the festival attracts more historic vessels, craft exhibitors, artists, performers and musicians than ever before, visitors will be involved, inspired and engaged throughout. From toe tapping folk music and unique handmade products, to delicious fresh smoked kippers and seasonal treats there will be something for the whole family to enjoy.”
For more information about the Festival and to buy tickets visit www.stbfportsoy.com
Updates about this year’s festival are also available on Facebook and Twitter – search for @STBFestival. Join in the conversation at #bananaban
An adult day ticket to the festival costs £9, children aged five to 16 and concessions are £5. Adult weekend tickets are priced at £14 and children and concessions at £8. There are also family tickets available which allow entry for two adults and three children for £25 for a day ticket and £35 for a weekend. Children under five go free. Save 10% if purchased online. Car parking is available and costs £2, with the price including a brochure.
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Media playback is not supported on this device Meet England's beach soccer team
Sun, sea, sand and skilful players make arguably the perfect kickabout. Add in the dream chance to represent your country and some might say you have the perfect pastime.
But playing beach soccer for England is no holiday, as the national women's team have found out, undergoing training for the first ever Women's Beach Soccer European Championships.
From intensive fitness drills to goalkeepers scoring bicycle kicks and volleys, what exactly is the sport of beach soccer?
Rules that 'encourage skilful, attacking play'
With five players on each team playing over three 12-minute periods, with rolling substitutions, it is a fast-paced game which typically sees plenty of goals scored.
"When you are fouled, the person that was fouled has to take the free-kick and you make a little sandcastle to take the kick from," striker Gemma Hillier told BBC Sport.
"When the ball goes off to the side, you can either take a throw or kick it back in."
England in training at Canford Cliffs beach, Poole, Dorset
Manager Perry Northeast told BBC South Today: "It is physically draining and really demanding. Technically there are many differences.
"There are lots of different laws of the game that encourage the attacking side to come out. It's a very skilful, attack-minded game and the environment it creates is a really good vibe."
Goalkeepers that score volleys
England's main goalkeeper, Lucy Quinn, is also a midfielder at Women's Super League Two club Yeovil Town Ladies, but goalkeepers in beach soccer form a key part of the attack.
But how did a winger end up playing in goal for her country - and scoring?
"It's important in beach soccer that the goalkeeper is really confident and uses their feet a lot," she told BBC Sport. "The goalkeeper can only have it back in their hands once per phase of play.
"We just thought we'd try it out, with me in goal. I'm the one in training that gets in nets and throws myself around. I must have done alright, I suppose.
"We went away to Italy recently and space opened up so I had a few volleys, and scored a couple, which is always good.
"On the sand, you can't really have it on the floor too much. Most of it is up in the air, it's exciting games - volleys, bicycle and diving headers, so the majority of the goals are scored from play up in the air."
Winger Sarah Kempson added: "The keeper is pretty vital, using their feet far more than they do on grass.
"It's quite common for them to flick it up, self-set and shoot, because generally they're unmarked unless you have a pressing player. The keeper is the key player, your anchor of the team."
Carrying the flag
The first ever Women's European Championships for beach soccer, held in Portugal from 29-31 July, involves six international teams.
The England team all train part-time alongside full-time jobs, as well as training for their respective grass football teams. For them, the tournament is a dream chance to fly the national flag.
"It is that amazing feeling, walking out in front of a crowd with the England badge on, that you dream about. We're all lucky to be here and we love it," added Quinn.
England have been drawn in Group B for the European Championships
The team say they have taken inspiration from England's success at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, where the Lionesses finished third.
"They did so well and were so inspirational for girls playing any sport, whether it be hockey, rugby or anything else, but particularly being so similar to our sport, we aspire to be as successful as they've been," continued Quinn.
England have been drawn to face Switzerland and Greece, who met during the opening day's play on Friday.
"Switzerland have been our nemesis in a way," added Kempson. "We're yet to beat them. They're probably one of the best teams on sand, both their men and women - despite not having any (coastal) beaches, which is quite strange.
"Greece are a bit of an unknown. They're probably very similar to us, having recently started up.
Group B fixtures Friday 29 July: Switzerland 7-3 Greece (result) Saturday 30 July: England v Switzerland Saturday 30 July: Greece v England Group A draw: Portugal (hosts), Spain & The Netherlands Final & play-offs: Sunday 31 July
"Our team started up around four or five years ago and I've been involved for three years. It's really started to take off now, we've been getting some new players in and have really strengthened our side quite a lot this year."
Former Portsmouth Ladies manager Northeast is also part of the England's male beach soccer squad and previously coached many of the current side at Portsmouth.
He led Portsmouth to the Women's Premier League South Division title in 2014-15, narrowly missing out on promotion to the WSL with an extra-time loss to northern champions Sheffield FC in a play-off.
Portsmouth FC Ladies lost just two regular league games under Perry Northeast in the 2014-15 season
Now he is hoping to guide England's women to success in an international tournament.
"If we can have a good tournament, that can encourage more people to come and play the game, male and female," he said.
"Switzerland are very strong - if not the best in Europe. But we've never played Greece. So it's difficult to predict right now, where we're going to finish, but as long as the players give everything they can, we can have a good tournament.
"We've got plenty of sand experience now and international experience, so we're good enough to do well."
Additional reporting by BBC South Today's Jenna Hawkey. |
Introduction
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., left, speaks at an awards banquet in Pearl, Miss., ahead of his election showdown against tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel. Rogelio V. Solis/AP
A U.S. Senate primary dominated by super PACs and nonprofit groups is headed into overtime.
Neither incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., nor Chris McDaniel, his tea party challenger, on Tuesday mustered the requisite 50 percent of votes needed to propel them from one of the nation’s most contentious intramural battles toward an likely trip to Capitol Hill.
Unless a final batch of uncounted votes dramatically swing they way of one candidate over the other today, Cochran and McDaniel now square off again in a June 24 runoff emblematic of a broader GOP civil war pitting party standard bearers against tea party insurgents.
That likely means three more weeks of freewheeling spending by a gaggle of outside organizations — some with few ties to Mississippi, a state of fewer than 3 million people — that have dominated the race.
Super PACs, nonprofit groups and other political committees spent more than $8 million to beat down or boost up their candidate of choice, generally through television, radio, mail and phone ads, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of federal disclosures.
Cochran and McDaniel together controlled less than two-fifths of the $13.4 million that poured into their primary fracas.
Nevertheless, when the money the candidates themselves raised for their primary campaigns is added to the money spent by supportive outside groups, the results are nearly even: Team Cochran controlled about $6.9 million, Team McDaniel about $6.5 million.
Most of the outside spending in Mississippi’s Senate primary — $5.26 million — benefited McDaniel, with tea party super PACs Club for Growth Action, Senate Conservatives Action and FreedomWorks for America investing the most.
But their often negative ad barrages forced Cochran, seeking a seventh term, to kick his own campaign operation into fundraising hyperdrive to keep pace.
Cochran had little choice, as outside organizations supporting his re-election spent barely half of what pro-McDaniel groups did.
Of particular note: In the three weeks leading up to today’s vote, Cochran amassed more than $335,100 in four-figure campaign contributions — he won’t report his smaller donations until later this month — and personally secured a $150,000 loan to his campaign from a Mississippi bank.
McDaniel’s campaign, meanwhile, generated less than $60,000 in such contributions, federal records indicate.
The incumbent’s most generous air cover came from the Mississippi Conservatives Fund super PAC, the mainstream Republican-backing U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund and the American Hospital Association PAC, federal records show.
During the entirety of the race, Cochran’s campaign committee outraised McDaniel’s campaign committee by a more than 3-to-1 margin: $4.1 million versus $1.22 million.
Mississippi’s imbalance between candidate and special interest spending is remarkable for its rarity.
During the 2012 election cycle, outside political groups didn’t once outspend candidates in their own U.S. Senate primary races, according to data provided to the Center for Public Integrity by the Center for Responsive Politics. It happened just one time — in Arkansas — in 2010.
It’s easier than ever for non-candidate committees to act as prominent forces in political races thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allowed corporations, nonprofits, unions and special interests to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for or against politicians.
Mississippi’s primary slugfest also marks a far cry from 2008, when Cochran raised just $2.7 million during his entire re-election campaign. |
Ready to get creeped out? Emmanuel Perez-Duarte masterfully morphs together his own face and that of a monkey’s for this shot he’s titled, “The Origins of Evolution.” We got in touch with the Paris, France-based photographer to ask him how he achieved this fantastically freaky look.
“I had been experimenting on morphing software, which allows to go from one face to another (in theory, both human) in a smooth transition: taking an image from the middle of the transition and correcting it in post processing allowed me to make ‘hybrid,’ or ‘blended’ people. The result was a lot of fun and made the people who knew the two ‘blended’ ones very uncomfortable.
“The next step seemed obvious: blending a human face with an animal face – and what better choice than a monkey? The similarity of its face with a human face made the experiment quite easier than with other animals. I looked at my stock photos and found a pretty good shot, up-close, of a monkey, and voil!
“I first used a morphing software Squiz Morph to help me distort my face and the monkey’s to make them match, and then most of the work was done in The Gimp, which is a open source image manipulation software similar to Photoshop.”
How exactly did the public react to such a startling and realistic-looking figure? “I hadn’t anticipated the primary reaction, which was that people found it creepy, frightening and so on: my point was to make something funny!,” he says. “Some people did find it funny though, as it appears in the comments. Then came other reactions for which I hadn’t intended (though in retrospect didn’t surprise me): those reactions (some in the comments, many by email) seemed to imply that I had made the image to prove a point on evolution – which was not the point at all!
“It amused me that some people thought I was making fun of evolution, and that at the same time other people thought I was trying to prove it by illustrating it.”
Emmanuel Perez-Duarte on Flickr |
Christian organisations have called AC Grayling’s ‘Atheist Bible’ complete nonsense by insisting that if it wasn’t for Jesus they would all be complete and utter shitbags.
The Good Book is Grayling’s attempt to show that inherent kindness is a feature of evolution and bound tightly into our genetic make-up, not the result of an invisible deity threatening people with an eternity in a fiery Hell – a claim refuted by Christians everywhere.
Regular church attendee Troy Williams told us, “I can’t speak for all Christians, but if it weren’t for Jesus Christ our saviour I’d be out there raping and pillaging right now. How do you explain that mister science man?”
“You can’t, can you? Jesus has turned me from a potentially violent criminal into an insufferably tedious bore. Hallelujah!”
“This book and all it’s stories about how people are nice to each other just ‘because’ is load of old twaddle. God told me that in a dream I had last night.”
AC Grayling’s Atheist Bible
Other Christians have insisted that if people are inherently nice, why is everyone so incredibly mean to them when they knock on their front doors trying to spread the word of God.
Christian Margaret Shilling of East Kilbride told us, “It doesn’t make sense, if people were inherently ‘good’ we’d always be invited in for a cup of tea and a biscuit whilst we lectured you on how letting Jesus into your life can rob you of half your weekend every single week.”
“Instead we get sworn at, shouted at through letter boxes and one man threw a bucket of piss at us from his bedroom window. How is that good?”
AC Grayling defended this behaviour saying, “I’ll bet anyone who’s ever had a religious cold-caller had a smile on their face reading that – so there’s your kindness to your fellow man, right there.”
T- Shirt – Jesus: Like Santa, but for Grown ups |
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
Twelve years after they lost their daughter in a tragic incident in the Gaza Strip, Craig and Cindy Corrie are still searching for justice.
Rachel Corrie, 23, was killed March 16, 2003, when an Israeli military bulldozer ran her over as it attempted to destroy a Palestinian home near the Egyptian border in Rafah. Corrie was attempting to prevent the vehicle from razing the home when she was killed.
Their daughter's death led her parents to review a conflict that they were initially "very uninformed" about.
"I think we had a very skewed perspective," said Cindy Corrie. "We had a lot of learning to do, and I would say Rachel opened our eyes."
Rachel flew to Israel on Jan. 22, 2003 and began work shortly thereafter with the International Solidarity Movement, an activist group which promotes non-violent action in Gaza since 2000.
"She wrote that she went to see what it was like to be on the receiving end of U.S. tax dollars, and our foreign policy, and of course what she saw was horrific," said Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father.
The Corries brought a first suit against Israel for the wrongful death of their daughter in 2005 following a military investigation into the case that failed to garner any charges. The case went all the way to Israel's Supreme Court, which said Feb. 12 of this year that the Israeli army had been carrying out combat operations at the time.
The court absolved Israel from responsibility for killing the activist.
"We’ve really reached almost what we see as the end of the road with legal proceedings in Israel," said Cindy Corrie, voicing her exasperation with the Israeli legal system.
The family is now exploring whether or not they should take their case to an international court, including the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
"I will say that being in court, and particularly for such a very long time, is a very demanding, exhausting and costly process, and we're getting older. Our family has to make choices on what’s best for everyone as well. So there’s a lot to think about," she said.
But even as they explore further legal recourses, the Corries are adamant on maintaining pressure on the U.S. government.
"What we need is the institutions of the United States government to be acting on our behalf, and I think on behalf of other Americans wherever they live," said Craig Corrie, referring to the deaths of other Americans who have died in incidents involving Israel, including Furkan Dogan, a Turkish-American citizen -- one of nine activists who died when Israel stormed the Gaza-bound aid boat, Mavi Marmara, in 2010.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave since 2007, resulting in shortages of basic goods and services.
Since then Israel has launched three military campaigns in Gaza, most recently in the summer of 2014. Each offensive resulted in large numbers of casualties, and mass destruction.
"When an American citizen is killed with equipment that the United States provided with our funding, and exported, it was a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer," Cindy Corrie said referring to the model of the bulldozer that killed Rachel. "And that was paid for by our government, and our government can’t get some kind of satisfactory response from the Israeli government on what happened to Rachel, that just seems completely unacceptable, and of course Rachel isn’t the only one."
"It’s very troubling to us and to others when we look at the support that the U.S. government has provided to Israel, we think really, in many ways, counterproductive," she said.
The historically close relationship between the U.S. and Israel has been dealt significant setbacks with recent rows between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader made a controversial speech to both houses of Congress earlier this month in which he attempted to rally lawmakers against a proposed nuclear deal with Iran -- just weeks before a crucial deadline of negotiations, in which the Obama administration is heavily invested in.
And, during the run-up to his country's March 17 elections, Netanyahu made disparaging remarks against the participation of Israel’s Arab population in the polls, and said that no Palestinian state would be created as long as he is the prime minister.
The White House strongly condemned Thursday the controversial comments, saying that the Arab-Israeli remarks "sought to marginalize" the community, and that Netanyahu’s peace process remarks "raises questions about our approach, at least in the minds of policymakers inside the administration. And that is why we are going to evaluate our approach to this matter moving forward."
What might be needed, Craig Corrie said, is a complete overhaul of how Washington approaches Tel Aviv.
"President Obama has pointed out that our policy with Cuba has not worked for all these years, and so we need a new policy there," he said referring to recent efforts to restore relations between the Cold War rivals. "I would think that we could look at our policy towards Israel and Palestine in the same fashion." |
Which Patriots Receiver Will Have the Most Yards At the End of the Year? by Ernie Padaon
There has been much mystery surrounding Jets S Jim Leonhard this off-season. Now that the Jets have officially said they will not re-sign him, speculation has run wild over where he will end up. Many Patriots fans have shown desire for the team to acquire him if possible, but that may not be the best idea.
Leonhard is a versatile player, who can be utilized in different positions on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams. Belichick loves players like that, such as Julian Edelman, and perhaps could see him as an asset. While Leonhard is a leader on the defensive side of the ball and is still relatively young, signing him brings along a huge risk factor that may not be worth the reward.
Leonhard ended his past two seasons early on the Jets with injuries; he hasn’t played a full 16 game season since 2009. While his defensive numbers are good, they aren’t great and likely aren’t worth taking a chance on. I didn’t think I’d say this for a long time, but the Patriots defense (on paper for now) is the best it’s looked since our last Super Bowl win, and I would rather chose to trust the current group that we have instead of adding another player that likely will not be able to contribute a full season.
Tell me what you think! Tweet to us at @NEMusketFire and “Like” us on Facebook! |
According to BBC News (via The Wrap), the Chinese government is blocking all mentions of Winnie The Pooh on social media sites in an attempt to stop people from associating President Xi Jinping with the cubby, honey-living children’s character. Apparently, Winnie The Pooh has been the go-to reference for people looking to poke fun at President Xi for a while now, but the government is ramping up its censorship operations in advance of the Communist Party Congress this fall so that President Xi can make a big show of his “grip on power”—as the BBC puts it—and try to shut down his critics.
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As for why people used Winnie The Pooh in the first place, the BBC story doesn’t really get into it, but it suggests that replacing the president with a silly figure like the cartoon bear is a straightforward attempt to undermine the assertion that he’s superior to the rest of the population in some way. Whatever the reason, uses of Pooh’s name in Chinese are blocked on the country’s omnipresent WeChat app, and attempts to look up previously accessible Winnie The Pooh images now turn up nothing.
For Cheetos’ sake, we just hope Donald Trump doesn’t hear about this and steal the idea to ban things that people use to make fun of him. |
Thursday's blast in Ludwigshafen also gutted parked cars and created a crater 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter and 5 to 6 meters deep. Police in the western industrial city said they continued to investigate the cause.
The explosion left a 10-meter crater
The company Gascade announced that workers had attempted to dig down to a buried line near apartment blocks at the time - as well as near a factory site operated by BASF, the world's largest chemicals company, which has its headquarters in Ludwigshafen.
Gascade officials said it remained unclear what had damaged the pipe, a section of a 57-kilometer (35-mile) line that leads southward to the city of Karlsruhe. Police said that rescuers had managed to extinguish the main blaze at the site by the late afternoon, as well as control the smaller fires.
In September, an explosion at a chemicals plant in the northern town of Ritterhude damaged dozens of homes.
mkg/jr (AFP, dpa, AP) |
One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie (OYAWM) will chronicle the love, sweat, and tears over the next year of WaterMelon team's development pursuits. Everything from Pier Solar HD to our new Super Nintendo and SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis games, ProjectN and ProjectY. We promise it's going to be chock full of excitment, action, and some serious climactic twists.
You can rest assured that we are going to fill it to the brim with special features such as: the history of WaterMelon, interviews, and tons of other exclusive and exciting footage!
How to Unlock One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie?
One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie will be unlocked and free for EVERY single backer if the campaign reaches 175k. Upon reaching 175k, every single backer will receive an HD digital download of OYAWM! This is of course in addition to the Android and OUYA stretch goals!
If the campaign reaches 200k, not only will we release Pier Solar for HD and does every single backer receive the HD digital download of OYAWM, but all backers pledging $49 and above will receive a Kickstarter exclusive special edition DVD (you get the HD download of the film too!).
UPDATE #9: Pier Solar HD is Now Coming to the Wii U
UPDATE #8: 175k Down, Almost to Wii U and Limited Special Edition DVD's of OYAWM!
UPDATE #7: SURPRISES - One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie & ADD-ONS
UPDATE #6: First Two Stretch Goals Locked in: Japanese Translation & Dreamcast Extras are in!
UPDATE #5: Stretch Goals: Wii U, the Directors Cut, Android & OUYA, Japanese Translation, Dreamcast Extras
UPDATE #4: You did it!
UPDATE #3: Pier Solar AMA on Reddit with Gwenael Godde aka Fonzie - WM's Art Guy
UPDATE #2: Almost 100k! New Pledges and Pledge Updates - EVERYONE READ!
UPDATE #1: Original 16-bit SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis Graphics in Pier Solar HD!
Pier Solar is a 16-bit RPG that tells the story of Hoston, a young botanist who is on a quest to save his father from a mysterious illness. Along with his two best friends Alina and Edessot, the three friends embark on a quest seeking a rare herb to cure the illness of Hoston's father. Little do they know, it is the beginning of a winding journey that unravels his father's past and the mystery of Pier Solar and the Great Architects.
Pier Solar was originally designed and developed for the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis. Yes, you read that right!! It was actually the only newly developed game for SEGA's 16-bit system in the new millennium. It's not a port, fan translation, or a copy of any other game. Pier Solar is a 100% brand new, entirely original,16-bit RPG.
We'll get right in to what we think makes Pier Solar so special:
The Biggest 16-bit RPG Ever! We released Pier Solar on a custom 64MEG cartridge (the average SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis game size is 12MEG), making it the biggest 16-bit RPG ever! This allowed us to push the 16-bit medium to a precedent setting level, with state-of-the-art aesthetics and things like full-screen cutscenes, background scaling and 3D modes.
A 100% Original RPG! Pier Solar was developed from the ground up. An original world, storyline, soundtrack, characters, enemies, and battle style. No ports, translations or copying from any other game - it's all fresh! The first original 16-bit RPG to do this in over a decade!
A Massive World to Explore! Pier Solar has 50+ hours of gameplay, over 300 locations, nearly 500 unique treasure chests, and over 800 NPCs!
Epic Battle Tactics! We developed an innovative battle system that puts you in control of up to five characters and includes in-depth strategic moves such as counter-attacks and a special strategy called Gather, which stores energy to unleash even more powerful moves and spells!
Translated in 5 Languages! Pier Solar is translated in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
An Original Soundtrack! A beautiful soundtrack written just for Pier Solar that embodies everything great about a classic retro soundtrack!
There Are Surprises! We also packed-in many other surprises and secrets like hidden areas and mini-games!
Pier Solar truly is a love letter to the rich, imaginative 16-bit RPGs of a bygone era. We crafted Pier Solar in the same light - with an authentic adventure, that resonates deeply about life, death, love, family, and friendship. Remember the wonder you felt when immersed into your favorite retro RPG? Pier Solar captures that same wonder.
Here is what some of the press has to say about Pier Solar:
After 2 years, 3 prints, and 8 versions of Pier Solar for the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis - we are pleased to announce we have been hard at work on releasing Pier Solar in HD for Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Linux & SEGA Dreamcast.
From day one we've been getting requests to bring Pier Solar to platforms like Xbox 360. We've been listening carefully to you and we are very excited to bring Pier Solar to you on more platforms than ever before! The thing is, we don't just want to re-release Pier Solar on some new platforms. We want to redo the game in HD so it looks as stunning as it should. We are putting the same level of attention and detail into Pier Solar HD that we put into our original development. Trust us, it's going to be amazing.
The game will remain the same in essence - you'll still have everything that makes Pier Solar great (including the translations of 5 languages in every version!) - we will simply be redoing the graphics in high definition and releasing it on each respective platform so that everyone can play it! Of course we'll be adding some new things here and there, like achievements and trophies for Xbox 360. We'll take advantage of each platform and make it fit right.
We've been hard at work and we already have Pier Solar up and running on Xbox 360, PC, and SEGA Dreamcast (in the original SD resolution). We put together a video of each platform working so you can see we are well on our way! Watch the video here.
When we first sat down to conceptualize Pier Solar HD, one of our initial goals was to adapt the new HD art direction with our preexisting 16-bit gameplay. We did this by merging the rich charm of retro sprites with crisp HD backgrounds. The sharp blend of each art style unites to provide an enchanting, aesthetic atmosphere never before seen. Sure, other developers have made "modernized" retro, pixel based games - but as far as we know, never before has a game been developed entirely with a mixture of both art styles, from beginning to end. This is one of the most exciting aspects of Pier Solar HD and we think it is going to send every player straight to retro heaven.
Take a look at these before and after Standard Definition to High Definition images so you can see just how beautiful Pier Solar is going to look in HD! We are so excited!!
A rich and beautiful art style
Hoston's house, where the adventure begins.
HD is awesome, look at this atmosphere!
Splendid visual with a blend of pixel art for a unique style.
Beautiful, crisp HD backgrounds.
Sharper HD graphics makes the cutscenes look even more gorgeous.
Working directly with fans is an idea that is intertwined at the very core of what WaterMelon is. Our origins and history as a company have been uniquely connected with our fans. Today, we are more connected with them than ever. Just take a look at our recently launched WM's Magical Game Factory where we are building entire games directly based on what YOU want!
We fit right in around here and that's why we are running this campaign. We're coming directly to you to make Pier Solar HD a reality. This allows us to do our work exactly how it should be done - with no compromises! With your help, we can bring Pier Solar in high definition to five new platforms! Furthermore, we will give you behind the scenes access to our world of development as we work. We want you to be right by our side. As a backer of our campaign, you'll get access to all sorts of behind the scenes extras. We'll make it worth your while!
With Pier Solar already up and running on Xbox 360, SEGA Dreamcast and PC we are already hard at work on the development.
So what exactly will the funding be used for? All funding strictly goes toward:
Remaking thousands and thousands of Pier Solar assets in HD
Licensing fees, extra development costs
Production (plastic molds, printing)
Beta testing for Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Linux and SEGA Dreamcast
To fulfill our funding goal, we have a lineup of pledges that are sure to offer something for everybody. Not only do we have pre-orders for every version of Pier Solar HD, but we have some bundles of awesomeness that you won't be able to pass up! See the pledge section for all the pretty details.
WaterMelon is a video game development company committed to bringing you the best in old school gaming entertainment. We started in 2004 with an idea - to make an entirely original, 16-bit RPG for the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis. After 6 years of love, the result was Pier Solar and the Great Architects. Fast forward to today and take a look at how much we've grown.
Today, WM's offices and our team of 6 are located in Iowa, USA. With distribution centers in both the USA and Europe - we deliver all of our games and products worldwide and have shipped to over 50 countries to date.
One of our latest and most exciting projects is WM's Magical Game Factory. It is a unique approach to crowd driven development. The Factory allows fans to invest in various proposed projects and have a real impact on the games development throughout the project’s life cycle. Players can purchase GEMS and apply them to any project they wish. The more GEMS they’ve invested in a project, the more weight is given to their votes and opinions when consulted. Once the project is completed, investors will not only get a copy of the game but a host of other goodies and exclusive bonuses.
The philosophical roots behind WaterMelon are burrowed in our love for old school gaming. We think the development limitations of retro video game systems from the 90's created a unique context that often caused developers to place compelling story telling and innovative game play at the very top of their development. We think it is through this principle that the very best of games have been made.
Today, with the same recycled blockbuster video games over and over again ad nauseum - it is now that a principled approach is needed most. At WaterMelon, we distill the 'old school gaming' essence of compelling story telling and innovative gameplay into our fundamental and driving principle as a company. We won't sacrifice this principle - no matter what.
If you are familiar with the way we package our products - you know we put our hearts and souls into delivering the highest caliber of packaging possible. In fact, after 1UP.com reviewed Pier Solar their opinion was, "The packaging/presentation for the game is exceptional". For the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis version of Pier Solar we actually designed and manufactured every single piece of it in house, from the ground up. This is a big deal! Check out this gallery of our packaging so you can see exactly how good it really is.
Now the reason we are pointing this out is because this exact caliber of quality follows for each and every one of our pledges below. We carefully crafted each pledge to be the most beautifully designed, collectible offerings we could dream up. You won't be disappointed, we promise.
Oh and one last note on our PC, Mac, Linux & SEGA Dreamcast collector editions: These will be the most limited and collectible versions ever produced on either of these platforms at 250 and 750 limited edition units respectively. To put it in perspective, when we first released Pier Solar for SEGA Mega Drive and SEGA Genesis - we sold out similar quantities in less than 2 weeks on sale and these original print versions went on to be extremely rare and valuable. In fact, so rare and valuable that whenever they come up for resale, you'll find them selling for $500+! Don't miss out on these special editions - they are going to move fast!
Pier Solar HD for XBOX 360
The second we released Pier Solar we started receiving requests to release it for Xbox 360. We do understand that not everyone out there has SEGA Mega Drive or SEGA Genesis to play Pier Solar. The Xbox 360 version will of course be in a crisp, lush HD. We will add trophies and other unique Xbox 360 features, don't worry! The pledge is for a digital version of the game.
Pier Solar HD for PC, Mac & Linux - Digital Version, Regular Edition and Collectors Edition
Don't you hate it when an intriguing new game gets released on PC and you have a Mac or vice versa? What about if you use Linux? We want everyone to play it so we will by releasing it on all computer OS's for everybody from the get go! Pier Solar HD will be compatible on PC, Mac & Linux.
We've got three pledges for this one - a digital download and two physical editions: the regular edition and the collectors edition. The collectors edition is a beautiful physical package that includes Pier Solar HD - (compatible with PC, Mac & Linux), the Pier Solar Guide Book, a signed art print, and three beautiful figurines. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 250! There is one pledge that serves for all 3 versions. We will send you a survey to select which OS you want later.
Pier Solar for SEGA Dreamcast - Regular Edition and Collectors Edition
We can't help it. We just love our old school SEGA systems too much :). The Dreamcast is one of our favorites and we know there are tons of fans out there just like us! The truth is, we've wanted to release Pier Solar for SEGA Dreamcast for a long time. With the Dreamcast's lacking RPG library, it is going to be a great fit!
We are thrilled to utilize the redone HD graphics for the Dreamcast version. They will be scaled down to the Dreamcast's optimal resolution of 640x480 and VGA compatible too. It is going to look incredible, you can trust us when we say its going to look as good as possible on the Dreamcast (which is damn good!).
We have two pledges for the Dreamcast version of Pier Solar - the regular edition and the collectors edition. Both the regular and collectors edition are available in each region's authentic, unique packaging: USA, European and Japanese. The limited edition will include a beautiful physical package that includes Pier Solar for the SEGA Dreamcast (You get to choose whichever version you want: either USA, European or Japanese versions), the Pier Solar Guide Book, a signed art print, and three beautiful figurines.
The SEGA Dreamcast packaging will be designed and manufactured from the ground up, in house by WaterMelon! Each regions packaging will match your collection! A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 750! There is one pledge that serves for all 3 versions. We will send you a survey to select which region you want later.
Pier Solar Original Soundtrack (4 CD Set)
The Definitive Original Soundtrack - everything a fan could dream of! In a stunning packaging with four BUNG-FULL discs, that can be played in any CD player, computer or even your Mega-CD/SEGA CD. We have roughly 750 Pier Solar OST's left and once these are gone - they'll be gone for ever, no more reprints! Limited to 750!
Discs 1-2 contain the game's original Mega-CD/SEGA CD tracks.
Disc 3 contains remixes by famous artists, rare unused tracks & alternates.
Disc 4 is our famous Enhanced Soundtrack Disc, the Mega-CD/SEGA CD disc to be played with any Pier Solar cartridge! This disc also includes PC accessible exclusive content like "making of" and other things.
The Pier Solar Guidebook
The ultimate Pier Solar strategy guide. It is based on tim333's fabulous GameFAQs guide, revised and updated. A beautiful, full color strategy guide that serves as your companion to every version of Pier Solar. It is published in English, but there will also be smaller appendixes with other languages as well.
A Pier Solar SEGA Dreamcast System
A SEGA Dreamcast system custom branded with Pier Solar artwork. It will include the custom system, controller and VMU. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 5!
A Pier Solar Xbox 360 SystemWe’ll build you a beautiful, custom Xbox 360 system custom branded with Pier Solar artwork on the system and controller. It will be a brand new Xbox 360 with 250 GB system or Xbox 360 with Kinect. We’ll send a survey for you to choose your version. You also get to pick ANY version of Pier Solar HD too! We'll let you pick via a survey later. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 10!
Any Collectors Edition and a Limited Poster
Any Collector’s Edition of your choice plus an exclusive, kickstarter limited poster made in super high quality material. Limited and numbered to 150 total. 30in x 22in (55cm x 76 cm).
Early Beta Tester
You'll get a Pier Solar Collector’s version of your choice and you'll be invited to an exclusive early closed beta test before the open beta. We hope you aren't afraid of bugs. Kickstarter Exclusive, limited to 50.
Pier Solar Mega Drive “Classic Edition”
Three different versions of Pier Solar for SEGA Mega Drive and SEGA Genesis have been released since 2010 and The Classic Edition is out of print and one of the most collectible versions. You get a collectors edition of Pier Solar HD of your choice plus the choice of whichever Pier Solar Classic version you want: USA, Europe, or Japanese packaging and we will sign it for you! We will send you a survey to select which region(s) you want later.
Bethina’s Diary - 150+ pages of original Pier Solar work
This is something totally special and unique. You get the two Pier Solar HD collector’s boxes (PC/MAC/LINUX AND Dreamcast) plus something totally special and unique: One of the two independently unique work books, filled with 100% original pieces, no copies. 150+ pages of artwork, drawings, proof printings, script, sketches, technical notes and more. Each book itself is made of original raw material, assembled by hand and stitched as an antique book. The book cover is made of Pier Solar packaging compound. Many pages are annotated by hand. Additionally it contains three 100x100 laser-cuts of original printing plates, annotated, numbered and signed. Includes a Certificate of Authenticity. Protected by custom wood and artboard casing. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 2!
The Pier Solar Prototype Package
Original Pier Solar Prototypes! You get the Collector’s Edition box of your choice plus the original Pier Solar Prototypes! Includes Prototype cartridge, Prototype mega CD disc, Beta Testing A4 sheet (the sheet beta testers have used) and a Certificate of Authenticity. Protected by custom wood and artboard casing making it a true collector’s treasure. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 5!
I Am the Boss! (be in the game)
You get a Collector’s Edition of your choice and we will design you as the big boss in Pier Solar based off a picture that you submit! All the games we make (physical and digital) will feature you as an unlockable boss and you will receive an exclusive code that is used in game to activate this feature, so that you can challenge your friends to beat you! Also includes a custom cover with you as the big boss on it as well as the original signed sketch! This feature will be compatible with all versions of the game. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 10!
Plates of Posterity
One of a kind collectors pieces. You get a Collector's Edition of your choice plus one of a kind collectors pieces. A 100x100mm laser-cut of the original printing plates, annotated, numbered and signed. Includes a certificate of Authenticity. Protected in custom artboard casing. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 25!
The Super Collector Package
The be all, end all collectors package! All three super rare posterity versions of Pier Solar for SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive (USA, EU, JP), all 3 SEGA Dreamcast versions (USA, EU, JP), the Pier Solar OST, the Pier Solar Guide Book, and the both Pier Solar reprint editions. Every item signed by the developers. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 1!
Come Party with us in Paris!
For our biggest fan – get the OST and all physical versions of the game (PC and Dreamcast in all 3 regions, plus a PC collector’s box and the Dreamcast Collectors box in all 3 regions as well. Total of 8 games) plus an exclusive invite for you and as many friends as you'd like you to come party with us in Paris! You and your friends will have an exclusive invite to a launch party for Pier Solar HD. Afterward we will have a beautiful dinner in Paris followed by drinks and a real good time! (We will pay the round trip airplane tickets for you and hand you the invitations for all the friends that you invite.) |
Tim Hudak is discovering the uncomfortable facts of Tory life, facts that earlier Conservative leaders, federal and provincial, had to learn, painfully, in their day.
Out of power, Tories are less a political party than a dysfunctional rabble, seething with individual ambitions and personal agendas. They are not bound together by group values. They are not united by a common commitment to a set of social and political goals, as NDP members are. Nor are they held together by the discipline that comes from power or the proximate prospect of power, as Liberals tend to be.
Ask any political reporter of the pre-Harper era. They would tell you they would much rather cover the Conservatives than the Liberals or New Democrats. Why? Because the Tories were more interesting. They were news waiting to happen. We never knew what might occur next, which accident-prone Tory might shoot himself (and his colleagues) in the foot, and when the wheels might fall off the party's campaign. They were fun.
At the federal level, John Diefenbaker battled, and was eventually overcome by "termites" — his name for party members who didn't really care who was leader so long as it was not the "Chief." Robert Stanfield spent much of his leadership fighting off the right-wing yahoos, western alienationists and bilingualism-deniers who were attracted to the Conservative party likes flies to honey. And Joe Clark was done in by a remorseless campaign led by his old friend and comrade, the slickly ambitious Brian Mulroney.
At the Ontario provincial level, then leader John Tory, after his defeat in the 2007 election, had to fight off activists from the party's evangelical wing, the leader of which was (and is) MPP Frank Klees. Klees is consistent in his ambition. He challenged Tory for the leadership in 2004 and placed third. He finished second to Hudak in the 2009 leadership convention. Now he is positioning himself for a third try, allying himself with a group of dissidents who seek to force a leadership vote at the party's policy conference next month.
Although most of the identifiable dissidents appear to be from the London area, they have attracted support from elements of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's political machine. Rob Ford's brother Doug, a Toronto city councillor, is rumoured to have provincial leadership ambitions of his own.
The anti-Hudak campaign is not likely to succeed this time around. It is too soon to dump the leader, even for Tories. True, he lost the 2011 general election, which he probably should have won. True, he lost the crucial Kitchener-Waterloo byelection a year ago. True, he won only one of the five provincial byelections earlier this month.
In Hudak's defence, all five byelections were in Liberal-held seats. Not only did Hudak gain one seat (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), he gained it in Toronto where the Conservatives had had no seats at all. In the process, although they came away with just one seat, the Tories' total popular vote in the five contests was greater than that of any other party.
Hudak will survive in September — partly because Klees is less popular in the party than Hudak and partly because Conservatives realize that Kathleen Wynne's minority Liberal government could fall at any time. The last thing a party wants is to be caught changing leaders when an election is called.
That said, Hudak's days as leader are probably numbered. He has been a disappointment. He doesn't resonate with the public. He has lost when he should have won. He has been relentlessly negative at time when the electorate is weary of attack, attack, attack. He plays to the party's right wing when he needs to broaden its appeal. The NDP and Liberals are, or are becoming, modern political parties. The Tories are not. They are mired in the past, in the Mike Harris era. |
Why An African-American Sports Pioneer Remains Obscure
Enlarge this image toggle caption AP AP
Alice Coachman Davis never entered the pantheon of breakthrough African-American sports heroes, like Jesse Owens or Wilma Rudolph. But she was a pioneer nonetheless.
In 1948, competing as Alice Coachman, she became the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold, breaking the U.S. and Olympic records in the high jump.
Chances are, you've never heard of her. Davis died on Monday at age 90 from cardiac arrest.
"It was because of her self-confidence, her ability to push through, that made the neglect feel all the more hurtful," says Jennifer Lansbury, author of A Spectacular Leap: Black Women Athletes in Twentieth Century America.
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Rooney/AP John Rooney/AP
Coachman wasn't encouraged as a child. In her day, it was considered questionable for women to compete in track and field — as opposed to more "feminine" sports such as swimming or tennis.
"There were some stereotypes that were very prevalent," says Gary Sailes, a sports sociologist at Indiana University. "If you participate in sports, it could affect your ability to have a baby. The lesbian thing was out there."
These were attitudes apparently shared by Coachman's father. "Her father believed that girls should be dainty and sit on the porch and drink tea and not do sports," says Heather Lang, author of a children's book about Coachman.
In a 2004 interview with NPR, Coachman said the fact that female athletes were discouraged ultimately helped her out.
"I didn't have any girls for playmates because they were ladylike, and I didn't have no competition to help me jump over the bar, I didn't have no competition to make me run fast, and I didn't have no competition to hit the baseball or softball," she said. "So I was really a boy in the sight of the other boys I was playing with. And when I look back, maybe if I hadn't played with them, I wouldn't have been as good as I am. That was my competition right there."
Coachman grew up poor in Georgia, often running and jumping barefoot, sometimes using ropes or tied-up rags for crossbars as she practiced her jumps.
Coachman was discovered, though, at a meet at Tuskegee Institute. She went on to win the national championships in the high jump 10 years in a row.
She was only an Olympic champion once, however. The games were canceled in 1940 and 1944 due to World War II, cheating her of her turn to compete in her prime.
Coachman and many others believed she would have become a repeating champion, if she'd had the chance.
"Had she competed in those canceled Olympics, we would probably be talking about her as the No. 1 female athlete of all time," Eric Williams wrote for the Black Athlete Sports Network.
Coachman was awarded her gold medal in London by King George VI. She was the only American woman to win a gold medal in athletics at those games.
"To come back home to your own country, your own state and your own city, and you can't get a handshake from the mayor? ... Wasn't a good feeling."
But her hero's welcome back home in Albany, Ga. — a segregated event where the mayor refused to share her hand — was bittersweet.
"To come back home to your own country, your own state and your own city, and you can't get a handshake from the mayor?" Coachman said in the NPR interview, which was conducted by the National Visionary Leadership Project. "Wasn't a good feeling."
Lansbury, an independent historian, says the event has to be remembered in the context of the times. Albany's reception may not have represented a civil rights breakthrough, but declaring a day and holding a parade in her honor was something quite unusual for a southwestern Georgia city in the late 1940s.
"For them to put a picture of her on the front page of the Albany Herald was not done and had not been done," Lansbury says.
The 1948 Olympics were her last competitive event. A dozen years later, she watched Wilma Rudolph, who recovered from infantile paralysis caused by polio to win three gold medals in Rome in 1960.
Rudolph became a hugely celebrated figure who helped elevate the popularity of women's track in the U.S. Her homecoming celebration in Clarksville, Tenn., was, at her insistence, that city's first integrated event.
Enlarge this image toggle caption AP AP
In those few crucial years, the civil rights environment and racial attitudes had shifted enough for Rudolph to be lauded in a way that wasn't possible for Coachman.
"Sometimes, it's just about somebody being the right person at the right time," Lansbury says. "I really feel that with Wilma Rudolph, there was a convergence of her personality and where civil rights was at that point in time when she competed."
Coachman herself attributed Rudolph's greater fame to the spread of television. There's something to that, and Coachman never begrudged Rudolph her triumph. But she couldn't have been thrilled when Rudolph, in her autobiography, attributed the first Olympic gold medal to another African American woman entirely.
Books and articles kept appearing that credited Rudolph herself with being the first African-American woman to earn Olympic gold.
Coachman, meanwhile, went on to marry two different men named Davis, teaching and coaching.
"Her students said, 'You said you were the first one,' " Lansbury says. "It wasn't until she brought her medal in the next day and showed it to them that they believed she was the first."
Coachman did receive some recognition in her later years, founding a track and field foundation at age 70 and being inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame at 80.
She never doubted her own contribution.
"I made a difference among the blacks, being one of the leaders," she told The New York Times in 1996. "If I had gone to the games and failed, there wouldn't be anyone to follow in my footsteps."
Sailes, who teaches African-American studies and kinesiology at Indiana, says that Coachman's confidence helped her put aside all the slights in her life.
"She had a higher agenda than dealing with dealing with the racial polarization," Sailes says. "She rose above it by focusing on the work and what she needed to accomplish." |
Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade attends a conference marking the International Day of Family Remittances 2017 in Mexico City, Mexico June 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s government should slow the pace of its budget cuts next year and it will not likely see a surplus from the central bank due to the recovery in the peso currency, the country’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
Mexico’s 2018 budget is likely to see a lower “adjustment” to public finances than in previous budgets, finance minister Jose Antonio Meade said in an interview on local radio.
He said Mexico would still meet a deficit target of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by the end of 2018.
The collapse in global oil prices LCOc1 CLc1 in late 2014 forced Mexico to make sizeable cuts to the federal budget in the past couple of years, and Wall Street credit rating agencies last year warned they could cut Mexico’s debt rating.
Mexico’s government had previously relied on oil sales by state-run Pemex to fund around a third of its budget, but lower prices and a slump in production have pushed oil income to less than one-fifth of the government’s revenue.
Meade also said the ministry was unlikely to receive a surplus transfer next year from the central bank, noting the peso would have to weaken back past 20.50 per dollar MXN= by the close of 2017 in order for that to happen. "That, today, does not seem to be the central scenario," the minister said.
The peso, which suffered a significant slump last year, has been the best performing major currency this year, gaining over 15 percent in 2017. It is now trading just above 18 per dollar as fears have eased that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will slap tariffs on Mexican-made goods.
The central bank books a surplus from reserve assets when the peso weakens against the dollar during the year. In March, the central bank transferred 321.7 billion pesos ($18 billion) of its 2016 surplus to the federal government. |
A spokesman for David Cameron, pictured leaving Downing Street today, has insisted no formal proposals have been tabled
The UK will 'strongly' protest changes to EU migration rules that mean asylum seekers have to make a claim to stay in the first country they arrive in.
Under the so-called Dublin Convention, refugees have to claim asylum in the country they first enter and they can be returned there under EU rules.
But bureaucrats are set to try and push a change on Britain as David Cameron attempts to complete his renegotiation on Britain's membership of the EU next month.
The ultimatum from Brussels is expected to include a new push for Britain to take tens of thousands of migrants as part of a quota system in return for the right to deport people who reach the UK to claim asylum after travelling through several other countries.
It could throw the Prime Minister's renegotiation of Britain's EU membership into turmoil ahead of the referendum.
Reforms to the Dublin protocols had been due for debate on March and today a No 10 spokesman today insisted no proposal had been put to Britain so far.
At a briefing with journalists, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: 'Yes, we would be concerned and strongly against any change against on initial country status that we have got right now.'
Britain has resisted signing up to a quota system on the basis it will draw more migrants from a war torn Middle East. Instead, the Government has gone to refugee camps to rescue the most needy.
But reports from Brussels emerged last night indicating Britain would be told to join a controversial quota scheme to take new arrivals from Greece or Italy or face being stopped from using EU deportation rules to its advantage.
The United Nations has estimated one million people will try and get into Europe this year, either by sailing across the Mediterranean or walking through the Balkans - an area currently suffering from freezing winter weather.
Eurosceptics last night accused the EU of 'mafia-style blackmail' to force the UK to submit to their refugee relocation plan.
More than 12,000 people have been removed from Britain to other EU countries under these rules since 2003 – a figure the Home Office has boasted is 'many more than we have received in return'.
But in proposals to be officially unveiled in March, the Dublin Regulation would be overhauled to include a mandatory mechanism sharing would-be refugees arriving on the frontline between EU member states.
European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker today said he wanted an additional summit added to European leaders' schedule specifically discuss the migration crisis.
Because the talks on Britain's membership of the EU, Mr Juncker said he was 'rather worried that we won't have enough time to tackle the refugee question in sufficient depth'.
If the Dublin regulations were changed would mean that, if Britain wanted to be able to deport asylum seekers who have travelled through other EU countries first, it would have to take refugees.
Justine Greening, pictured last week visiting refugees in Lebanon, has said Britain will strongly resist any change to the system of asylum applications in Europe
Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman, of Conservatives for Britain, last night told the Mail: 'This is a complete disgrace. It's clear we no longer have control of our borders, just the controls the EU allows us if we are lucky.
'The linkage between the two is mafia-style blackmail.'
An EU source said: 'The UK retains the right to choose whether or not they participate in the new system.'
Meanwhile, Austria has put a cap on the number of refugees it wants to accept - 37,500 this year and a total of 127,500 through 2019.
The numbers were announced after a meeting of federal ministers and provincial governors.
Chancellor Werner Faymann said the figures are a 'guideline' while deputy chancellor Reinhard Mitterlehner called it an 'upper limit'. The two officials are from the two parties that make up Austria's coalition government.
Officials said the government will be examining legal options on how it can react if those numbers are exceeded.
Mr Faymann called the decision an 'emergency solution', but said Austria 'cannot accept everyone applying for asylum'.
Asylum applications in the surged in 2015, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund and they are expected to grow further this year
Migration last year was driven by a huge surge in the number of people fleeing Syria, while numbers from Afghanistan also surged
Not included are the 90,000 applications from last year, of which many are still being processed.
THE DUBLIN RULES STRETCHED TO BREAKING POINT BY THE MIGRANT CRISIS The Dublin Convention is an EU law which requires refugees arriving in Europe to claim asylum in their country of arrival. It applies across the EU, while Switzerland, Norway and Iceland have also agreed to apply the provisions. Denmark has its own deal with the EU on the rules. The convention was signed in Dublin in July 1990 and came into force for 12 countries in October 1997. Dublin II was created in 2003, expanding on the original provisions. The goal of the laws is to discourage people from illegally travelling across Europe. The explosion of the migrant crisis in 2015 strained the convention to breaking point as countries in south and east Europe were deluged with hundreds of thousands of migrants escaping conflict in a matter of months. Several countries, including Germany, temporarily suspended the convention.
The European Council president warned yesterday that the EU will face the collapse of its Schengen border-free travel area unless migration policy is sorted out before the March summit. Donald Tusk told MEPs: 'We have no more than two months to get things under control.'
EU migration commission Dimitris Avramopoulos told a committee of MEPs that the 'Dublin Regulation'must be 'revised very deeply' to include a mechanism to distribute asylum seekers 'quasi-automatically'.
He said: 'The Commission will make a proposal by March of this year. Dublin should not be any more just a mechanism to allocate responsibility, but also a solidarity instrument among member states.
'In particular they need to have distribution key system under which applicants would be quasi-automatically distributed to a member state.
'Dublin must be revised very deeply. When Dublin was adopted the situation and the landscape was very different, things have changed.
'The ones who defend the old Dublin, I wonder whether they really understand the situation today.'
Meanwhile more migrants are arriving in Greece – the gateway to the EU – by boat each day than the figure for the whole of January last year. In the first 18 days of 2016, 31,244 people have come ashore on the country's islands at a rate of 1,735 a day.
Some 1,472 migrants were recorded crossing the Aegean in the whole of January last year.
More than 12,000 people have been sent to other EU countries from Britain since 2003. Pictured: Migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan walk this week in very cold weather, through snow in Macedonia to a camp
The International Organization for Migration warned the surge suggests the number arriving in Greece in 2016 'may significantly exceed the record 853,650 migrants' who arrived last year.
Although the number is down on the 108,742 that arrived in December, it has set off alarm bells that the situation is much worse than a year ago.
Westminster insiders said the revelations made the prospect of David Cameron holding his EU referendum in June even more likely. Number Ten is concerned that, if this summer brings an influx even greater than last year, it could tip the contest in favour of the Leave campaign.
And the world's financial watchdog warned last night that Europe is being overwhelmed by a 'tide' of migrants and the jobs market may be unable to cope.
The IMF said the EU was struggling to absorb the vast numbers of new arrivals and a strong response was 'critical'.
But Brussels officials plan to link deportation scheme to the controversial refugee quota, which Britain has so far resisted signing up to
Cabinet minister Chris Grayling, who is expected to be a leading figure in the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, also warned there were 'some really difficult times ahead for countries in central Europe in dealing with the incredible flow of migration that just continues day by day, week by week'.
The surge in the number arriving on the Greek islands shows that the deal where EU countries agreed to hand over £2.1billion to Turkey to stem the flow has failed to make a difference.
Austria has announced that its army will start carrying out thorough identity and bag checks of every migrant arriving at the main border crossing with Slovenia from today.
Britain has spent more than £1MILLION on an emergency camp for migrants who made it to an RAF base on Cyprus but are banned from coming to the UK
More than £1million has been spent looking after migrants who landed at an RAF base in Cyprus three months ago, it emerged today.
Boats containing 115 Greece-bound people - 67 men, 19 women and 29 children - arrived on the shores of RAF Akrotiri on October 21.
Ministers have refused to resettle the group to Britain in case it creates a new migrant route into Britain.
Figures released by the Ministry of Defence last month said one of the group had been imprisoned, 60 had moved in Cypriot communities and 54 were still on the base.
Those still there have been housed in a 'transit facility' outside the military garrison.
Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt told MPs that the emergency response, security, construction of a temporary camp and support costs have so far amounted to £1,122,972.
But shadow defence secretary Emily Thornberry said: 'It is completely inappropriate for a military base to be used as refugee camp.
'This is a question of leadership.
'We need a serious strategy for dealing with the refugee crisis, but these figures suggest that the Government is more interested in throwing money at the problem than in coming up with a genuine solution.' |
Former Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito has been cleared by the NFL for a return to "full activity and regular-season game participation," a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Monday.
The Dolphins had Incognito on paid suspension, and the NFL wanted to review its investigation before saying whether it would allow him to sign. Now that this step has been taken, Incognito is free to not only sign with a team but play right away.
Editor's Picks Yasinskas: Incognito? Bucs on dangerous road The desperate, guard-depleted Buccaneers are on a dangerous road as they consider signing Richie Incognito, Pat Yasinskas writes.
There are at least three and as many as five teams interested in and talking with Incognito, a source told Schefter. He is likely to sign somewhere by the end of the week, according to the source.
Incognito visited with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday. A team official told ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas that the Bucs were doing their due diligence, and a signing wasn't necessarily imminent.
"We had a very constructive meeting with Richie,'' general manager Jason Licht told the Tampa Bay Times after he and coach Lovie Smith had dinner with Incognito. "It went on for about five hours. We haven't ruled him out and he remains an option.''
It marked Incognito's first trip to any team facility since his implication in the bullying scandal involving former Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin.
On Tuesday, Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano did not rule out the possibility of reaching out to Incognito.
"I think anybody that's on the street right now after cut downs this weekend, anybody that comes available we'll discuss," Pagano said. "We will not say yay or nay based on history. If it makes sense, if it's going to help us win and it's the best thing for the team and this organization it doesn't matter if it's Richie or anybody else we'll do what's right for this organization, for what's best for this team. What gives us the best chance to win."
The Colts have battled through injuries and a lack of experience on their offensive line which is charged with protecting quarterback Andrew Luck, who was a teammate of Martin's at Stanford.
A league investigation determined that Incognito and two other Dolphins offensive linemen -- John Jerry and Mike Pouncey -- engaged in persistent harassment of Martin, who left the team in October.
Incognito was suspended and missed the final eight games. He became a free agent when his contract with the Dolphins expired.
"To me, nobody should have a death sentence. If you should, you're probably in jail. From there, what does it hurt to talk to someone? For me, as we go forward, I'm not holier-than-thou. I'm going to give everybody the benefit of the doubt until I have information that tells me otherwise." Lovie Smith, on Richie Incognito
Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith addressed the team's interest in Incognito on Monday, saying that he believes in second chances.
"To me, nobody should have a death sentence. If you should, you're probably in jail," he said. "From there, what does it hurt to talk to someone? For me, as we go forward, I'm not holier-than-thou. I'm going to give everybody the benefit of the doubt until I have information that tells me otherwise."
Earlier this year, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the three players named in the league's investigation into the Dolphins bullying scandal must be evaluated by medical professionals and complete treatment before they will be allowed to return to the playing field.
Goodell said earlier this month during the Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend that all three players have fulfilled league requirements so far.
"I would say the one person that has been very responsive and has gone through the program is Richie Incognito," Goodell said. "We're working with his people and monitoring his progress."
Both quarterback Josh McCown and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said Monday that there wouldn't be a problem in the locker room if Incognito is signed.
"I don't care. As long as he can help us win, that's all I'm concerned about. If there's a problem, then we'll deal with it accordingly," McCoy said. "But as long as he's doing what he's supposed to be doing in the building, then I'm not concerned about anything else."
The 31-year-old Incognito, an offensive guard, has played in 102 games (all starts) over eight seasons with the Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and St. Louis Rams, who selected him in the third round of the 2005 draft.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, ESPN.com Buccaneers reporter Pat Yasinskas, ESPN.com Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold, ESPN.com Colts reporter Mike Wells and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
"We are here today,” Professor Stuart Rees told a media conference at Queens Square on October 30, “to express our outrage that a so-called independent law centre from Israel could attempt to stamp out freedom of speech in Australia.”
"We call on the mainstream media to take an objective stand on the issue of Palestinian human rights.”
The gathering concerned the move by Shurat HaDin, an Israeli-based law centre, to file a case in the Federal Court against Professor Jake Lynch of the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Rees and Professor Peter Slezak said before the conference: "[Shurat HaDin] claim that [Rees] he has supported policies which are racist and discriminatory by his specific endorsement of an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and individuals within them, because of these institutions' support of the illegal occupation of Palestine and their close connections with the Israeli armament industry.
"This lawfare attack against academic freedom and freedom of speech has been condemned by over 2000 Australian and international human rights advocates from some 60 countries, who have all signed a pledge supporting BDS and offering to be co-defendants in any legal action taken against Lynch.
"Shurat HaDin has taken many similar actions internationally against groups who supported the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement. Professor Rees comments, 'It seems that this firm, Shurat HaDin, works in the civil courts as a proxy for the Israeli government and security forces, seeking to shut down any criticism of the state and its ongoing human rights abuses and violations of international law.'
"This overseas law firm now wants to silence this highly regarded academic, by taking their complaint to the Federal Court. This challenges the right to take non-violent action in support of international human rights law and the rights of the dispossessed Palestinians. Australians for BDS condemns racism in all its forms, and specifically anti-Semitism.” |
James Rodriguez was presented to the Real Madrid fans on Tuesday
Real Madrid have signed Colombian star James Rodriguez from Monaco in a £63million deal.
The 23-year-old successfully passed a medical in Madrid this morning before agreeing a six-year deal and is scheduled to be unveiled in the Spanish capital this evening.
Rodriguez will join up with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema to provide a formidable attacking threat for the Champions League winners.
Rodriguez was one of the stars of the World Cup, scoring six goals for his country on his way to winning the tournament’s Golden Boot award.
European champions Real Madrid have signed the World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez for 63 million pounds from Monaco. European champions Real Madrid have signed the World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez for 63 million pounds from Monaco.
The attacking midfielder scored the goal of the tournament at the World Cup with a stunning volley against Uruguay in the last 16.
He makes the move to the Spanish capital after spending one season at Monaco, whom he joined from FC Porto for £35million last summer.
Rodriguez scored nine goals and registered 12 assists for Monaco last season as they finished second in Ligue 1 behind Paris Saint-Germain.
James Rodriguez has been revealed to the Real Madrid fans at the Bernabéu Stadium James Rodriguez has been revealed to the Real Madrid fans at the Bernabéu Stadium
A Real statement read: "The player will be presented today, Tuesday 22 July, at 20:00 CET (7pm), in the Santiago Bernabéu's presidential box.
"Following that, James Rodríguez will take his first steps on the Santiago Bernabéu's pitch wearing the Real Madrid jersey and will then answer questions from the media outlets in attendance in the press room."
A statement on Monaco’s official website read: "The club would like to take the opportunity to thank James for the role he played in getting the club back to the Champions League and wishes him the very best for the future.
"The club had no intention to sell the player, however the time came when the solution of a transfer was considered to be the most beneficial solution for all parties.
The club had no intention to sell the player, however the time came when the solution of a transfer was considered to be the most beneficial solution for all parties. Monaco club statement
"Monaco is proud to be a party to one of the most significant transfers in football history.
"Monaco is a club that will continue to grow and remains focused on the future. More than ever it has the ambition to strengthen the team and continue to progress for next season."
Rodriguez began his professional career with Colombian side Envigado before moving down to Argentinian club Banfield aged 17.
His performances for the Buenos Aires outfit attracted the attention of Porto, who signed him for £4million in 2010, and three years later he joined Monaco for £38.5million after helping the Portuguese side win a hat-trick of league titles and the 2011 Europa League. |
UPDATE: Man arrested at Grand Blanc theater with gun, body armor and fake CIA ID has concealed weapon license suspended
GRAND BLANC TWP, MI -- Grand Blanc Township police arrested a Flint man Tuesday at the NCG Trillium theater who was wearing body armor, carrying a loaded gun with multiple rounds of ammunition and a suspected fake federal identification badge.
Cassidy Delavergne was charged and arraigned in federal court Wednesday, July 31, with having a fake CIA identification card, said Grand Blanc Township Detective Matt Harburn.
The detective said officers were called by the theater, located at 8220 Trillium Circle Avenue, on Tuesday, July 30, around 8:20 p.m. regarding a man with a gun. Delavergne was in a theater watching a movie when the officers approached him and asked him to step outside. Harburn says that is when Delavergne claimed to be a federal agent.
"They were confident that wasn't true, and that's when they arrested him." Harburn said.
Authorities say Delavergne was wearing body armor and carrying a loaded Beretta 9mm pistol along with an extra magazine of ammunition containing 17 rounds.
According to federal court records, the FBI was contacted by the Grand Blanc Township Police Department about the identification. Delavergne told the FBI agent he went to the theater after work wearing his gun and body armor because he did not want to leave them in his car. Federal court documents say he told FBI agents that he had a permit to carry a concealed firearm.
Delavergne also told the FBI agent the CIA credentials he was carrying were fake, and he flashed the badge at the theater so theater patrons wouldn't be alarmed about the firearm he was carrying, according to court records. He then said he showed the badge to the officers to avoid legal trouble, court documents say.
The FBI agent said a later search of Delavergne's car and found an additional 111 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Theater representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. |
Author: arkayn Nice post. I wanted to add to it a little bit... While those exact percentages are not really that hard to calculate or remember, sometimes it's hard to translate on the fly to what that really means to me in the decision making process. I usually think of an even rougher breakdown of the odds for at least a first pass at eliminating choices... Basically, I break the odds down to: not likely, coin flip, and very likely.
1 AV:
coin flip to kill a 1 life unit (or wound a stronger unit)
2 AV:
very likely to kill a 1 life unit
coin flip to kill a 2 life unit (very likely to wound)
3 AV:
very likely to kill a 1 or 2 life unit
unlikely to kill a 3 life unit
4 AV:
very likely to kill a 1 or 2 life unit (overkill vs. 1 life)
coin flip to kill a 3 life unit
unlikely to kill a 4 life unit
5 AV:
very likely to kill a 1-3 life unit (overkill vs. 1 life)
coin flip to kill a 4 life
nearly impossible to kill a 5 life
Yes, that coin flip for a 2 AV killing a 2 life is much worse coin flip than a 1 AV killing a 1 life, and when it comes down to two coin flips that are equally helpful to my position, I might remember the real odds and go from there. And yes, that "very likely" for a 3 AV to kill a 2 life unit is awfully close to the "coin flip" for a 1 AV to kill a 1 life. But there have to be breakpoints somewhere, and even 67% is decent odds, I still prefer to be a little pessimistic.
But basically, "very likely" is something I can more or less count on. Try not to put myself in a position where a "very likely" failing will completely screw me, but taking risks for a "very likely" is generally OK. "unlikely" means don't even try it if it puts me in a bad position - or only try it if it doesn't cost anything or I have a backup plan. "coin flip" means don't count on it, try to have a contingency plan, but generally worth risking or spending moves to set up. |
WASHINGTON, June 23— The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7 to 2, today upheld a Federal law aimed at encouraging states to raise the legal drinking age to 21 years by withholding some highway grants from those that fail to do so.
In a second case, the Justices unanimously overruled an 1861 Supreme Court decision that Federal courts have no power to order state governors to extradite criminal suspects to other states. The Justices held that Iowa must extradite a man charged in Puerto Rico with murdering a pregnant woman there.
The drinking-age decision essentially leaves the status quo intact by removing doubt about the validity of the 1984 Federal law. Twenty-three states, including New York and Connecticut, have raised their drinking ages since it was passed. The ruling was widely expected.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's majority opinion rejected arguments by South Dakota and several state and local government groups that the law violated constitutional principles of federalism and the broad powers of the states under the 21st Amendment to regulate sales of alcoholic beverages. He called the law a ''relatively mild encouragement to the states to enact higher minimum drinking ages than they would otherwise choose.'' #2 Justices Disagree Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and William J. Brennan Jr. dissented separately. Justice O'Connor said the law was ''an attempt to regulate the sale of liquor'' that encroached on the powers of states under the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition and authorized states to regulate sales of alcoholic beverages.
A major goal of the 1984 law was to reduce highway deaths by preventing teen-agers from drinking and driving, and especially to remove the incentives to cross state lines to buy liquor.
It provided for withholding part of Federal highway funds otherwise due to states that allow people under 21 to drink. Five percent of a state's highway funds can be withheld for the current fiscal year, and the figure will rise to 10 percent for the next fiscal year. The total cost for a state that does not have a 21-year-old drinking age could come to many millions of dollars.
As of last March, six states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico had legal drinking ages for some or all alcoholic beverages of 18 or 19, according to a General Accounting Office study. Those states are South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Louisiana, Colorado and Ohio. Under South Dakota law, 19-and 20-year-olds are permitted to buy low-alcohol beer.
All other states had adopted 21-year-old drinking-age laws. Nineteen of them, including New Jersey, had adopted such laws before 1984, and were essentially unaffected by the new Federal law. Decision Was Expected
Critics of the law said today that they were disappointed but not surprised by the decision today, which followed a long line of Supreme Court rulings that the Federal Government has broad powers to attach conditions to grants of money to state and local governments and others.
Chief Justice Rehnquist said in his opinion that the Court did not have to decide whether the 21st Amendment would bar Congress from legislating directly a national minimum drinking age. He said past decisions had already established that ''the constitutional limitations on Congress when exercising its spending power are less exacting than those on its authority to regulate directly.''
He said in his opinion the 1984 law's purpose of reducing drunken driving was ''directly related to one of the main purposes for which highway funds are expended: safe interstate travel.''
Justice O'Connor, in her dissent, said the vast majority of highway deaths involving drinking were caused by people over the age of 21. ''Establishment of a minimum drinking age of 21 is not sufficiently related to interstate highway construction to justify so conditioning funds appropriated for that purpose,'' she said.
South Dakota had argued in its appeal (South Dakota v. Dole, No. 86-260) that its law fostered ''temperance and safety'' by giving 19- and 20-year-olds access to ''legal drinking, as opposed to surreptitious drinking that will inevitably occur.'' Ruling on Extradition
The extradition decision (Puerto Rico v. Branstad, No. 85-2116) presented a historical paradox.
Justice Thurgood Marshall, the only black Justice in the Court's history, noted that the 1861 decision that the Court was overruling had shielded a ''free man of color'' from being extradited from Ohio to Kentucky to face trial on the eve of the Civil War for ''the crime of assisting the escape of a slave'' in Kentucky.
The Court's ruling that Federal courts may order unwilling governors to extradite fugitives to other states also could have considerable practical significance.
It involved a man whom two Iowa governors in succession had refused to extradite at the request of Puerto Rico after he had jumped bail on the murder charge there.
One of his lawyers had stated at one point in the Iowa proceeding that a white American man ''could not receive a fair trial in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,'' Justice Marshall noted in his opinion. |
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AT&T is looking to put some of its unused spectrum to work in a move that could reshuffle the wireless spectrum deck.
On Friday, the carrier filed a joint proposal to the Federal Communications Commission with satellite radio provider Sirius. In the filing, the two companies proposed a solution to some longstanding interference concerns between AT&T's unused WCS spectrum, which is in the 2.3 GHz band and Sirius's satellite radio service. As part of this new proposal, AT&T agreed to give up about 10MHz of this Wireless Communication Services or WCS spectrum as a "guard band" to prevent interference with Sirius's satellite transmission.
The proposal will also change the rules of spectrum in the 2.3GHz band, making it easier for AT&T to use this spectrum for its 4G LTE network. If the FCC goes along with the plan, it would be a huge boost for AT&T, which already owns a significant portion of the WCS spectrum. And it would help give the company near nationwide coverage.
But the move could hurt other spectrum holders that were hoping to capitalize on AT&T's desperation for new spectrum. Namely satellite provider Dish Network and wholesale 4G wireless provider Clearwire could be hurt by this move, says Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant. In a research note today to investors, he said that if AT&T can use its 2.3MHz spectrum for LTE, it may not need to buy spectrum from Dish. And it may not need to partner with Clearwire, which has adopted a strategy of wholesaling access to other carriers.
"If AT&T wins approval for its joint proposal -- and if it can acquire some of the other WCS licenses from parties that currently appear unlikely to build, for example NextWave, Dish and Clearwire could become less attractive spectrum targets for AT&T," he said in his note.
In exchange for giving up a big chunk of spectrum for a guard band, AT&T is also asking the FCC for more lenient rules on the rest of the spectrum it plans to use to build its LTE network. AT&T also wants the FCC to extend the build-out requirements on this spectrum.
But even if the FCC adopts AT&T's suggestions, it could still be three to five years before the spectrum is available for use, some analysts predict.
Still, the move would put AT&T on closer footing with Verizon Wireless, which has a large store of unused spectrum it plans to use for its 4G LTE network. Verizon already owns a significant nationwide chunk of 700MHz wireless spectrum as well as some Advanced Wireless Services spectrum it hasn't used yet. It's now trying to buy about 20 MHz of unused AWS spectrum from several cable companies to add to its coffers.
The spectrum in question was first auctioned off in 1997. But from the start there were interference issues between users of that spectrum and the neighboring satellite radio owners. In May 2010, the FCC suggested rules changes for the 2.3GHz WCS band. These changes would have made it possible for the spectrum to be used for wireless broadband services. And it would have protected against interference. But AT&T and others objected to the finer points of the FCC's proposal at the time.
"Our concern, quite simply, was that the newly-adopted service rules did not permit the deployment of an efficient mobile broadband service in the band, something that AT&T deemed vital for the spectrum to be fully and effectively utilized," Joan Marsh, AT&T's vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a blog post yesterday.
Marsh admitted in her post that the problems the FCC was trying to solve are complex. And she explained that as technologies and companies' priorities have changed, it's now been able to strike a mutually beneficial deal with satellite radio license holders. But she said that there were still compromises made by parties to reach this agreement.
"To be sure, neither party to this proposal got everything it had asked for and perhaps wanted," she said in the blog. "But both AT&T and Sirius XM are confident that they have developed a set of technical rules that will allow each service to flourish while ending the uncertainty that has plagued both bands for far too long. We are hopeful that the commission will agree."
The FCC is likely to rule on the proposal by the end of the year. |
The small asteroid 2017 EA, which is less than 10 feet (3 meters) across, swooped in past Earth's geosynchronous satellites on March 2, 2017, before heading back out into space. Researchers discovered it 6 hours before its closest approach to Earth.
An asteroid less than 10 feet (3 meters) across buzzed Earth last week, diving in closer than many communications and weather satellites.
The asteroid, called 2017 EA, passed closest to Earth on Thursday, March 2, at 9:04 a.m. EST (1404 GMT) above the eastern Pacific Ocean. It reached within 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) of Earth, which is less than one-twentieth the distance from Earth to the moon, officials from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) said in a statement. It won't be back in Earth's neighborhood for more than 100 years, they added.
Researchers monitoring the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona first spotted the asteroid 6 hours before its closest approach; many other observatories monitored it as well as it flew toward Earth. It disappeared from view into Earth's shadow just before its nearest point.
The asteroid came in closer than satellites in geosynchronous orbit — the farthest orbit satellites regularly use, where they stay over one part of Earth as it turns. That orbit is good for providing communication services or monitoring one particular part of Earth's surface.
The small asteroid 2017 EA, which is less than 10 feet (3 meters) across, swooped in past Earth's geosynchronous satellites on March 2, 2017, before heading back out into space. Researchers discovered it 6 hours before its closest approach to Earth. (Image: © D. Farnocchia/NASA/JPL)
Space.com asked asteroid researcher Carrie Nugent, at IPAC, NASA's science and data center at California Institute of Technology, what would have happened had 2017 EA hit Earth rather than just passing by.
"I would imagine 3 meters wouldn't be much of a worry," said Nugent, who is the author of an upcoming book on asteroid monitoring called "Asteroid Hunters" (TED Books, 2017).
"It would likely burn up very quickly, it might create a beautiful light show, maybe you might have some meteorites out of it — but maybe not." The exact effect would depend on the asteroid's composition, she added; predicting an asteroid's effects based on its composition is an active area of study.
Although the asteroid was a stranger as it came in, its oblong orbit around the sun is now well understood as it heads back out. And researchers won't get another close look for more than 100 years.
Email Sarah Lewin at [email protected] or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. |
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, convicted of trying to bomb a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight using explosives in his underwear, has filed a lawsuit over his treatment in federal prison in Colorado.
A man convicted of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009 has filed a federal lawsuit saying that his constitutional rights, including his ability to practice his religion and meet his dietary needs, are being violated in a Colorado prison.
In a complaint filed last week, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, known as the underwear bomber, alleges that communication restrictions, including solitary confinement, imposed on him “are an unconstitutional deprivation of his First Amendment rights to free speech and association.” He also alleges violations of the Fifth and Eighth Amendments, and says he’s been frequently harassed over his religion during prayer times, when “white supremacist inmates ... often curse, yell, scream and say things that are religiously insulting and offensive to Muslims ...”
“Prison walls do not form a barrier separating prison inmates from the protections of the United States Constitution,” the filing states.
The lawsuit also states that some corrections officers have displayed pornographic magazines at prayer times, further offending him. “Corrections officers have also defiled religious items in Mr. Abdulmutallab’s cell, such as his Muslim prayer rug and Qu’ran.”
“This harassment has rendered it extremely difficult for Mr. Abdulmutallab to manage the difficulties of the harsh conditions of solitary confinement by taking solace in his religion and religious practices,” the lawsuit states.
Abdulmutallab, who is Muslim, has gone on a hunger strike to protest his treatment, but has been force fed, the suit says, which violates his religion. As a result, he has “been physically injured and continues to face an unconstitutional risk of physical injury, and he has suffered psychological pain, injury, and emotional distress and continues to face an unconstitutional risk of psychological pain, injury and emotional distress.”
The 73-page complaint filed in the District of Colorado also claims Abdulmutallab is forced to eat foods that are in violation of his religion.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and John Does 1-20.
He is serving four life terms plus 50 years for convictions for the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction on an airliner that landed in Detroit and the attempted murder of 289 people on board. He pleaded guilty without a plea deal for his failed attempt to blow up the airliner over Metro Detroit with a bomb in his underwear. He was sentenced at age 23 on Feb. 16, 2012.
A month after his conviction, Abdulmutallab was transferred to a maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, ADX, where he was placed in indefinite, long-term solitary confinement, the lawsuit states.
At one point, he was not allowed to communicate with his sister, he says. Abdulmutallab still is prohibited from communicating with his 13 nieces and nephews, the filing says.
He is asking for acknowledgment that his First Amendment rights have been violated as well as his rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. He also is seeking removal from solitary confinement and a permanent injunction ordering Sessions remove the Special Administrative Measures and prohibit future attorneys general from re-imposing the measures.
Abdulmutallab also seeks a halal-certified diet and regular access to an imam. The lawsuit states that since Abdulmutallab has been incarcerated he has not been able to participate in group prayer, which is in accordance to his religious beliefs. ADX prohibits prisoners from congregational prayer.
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The Houston Astros have been the most aggressive team of the winter, acquiring Brian McCann, Josh Reddick, and Charlie Morton in the last few days, as they attempt to make their move from contender to division-favorite. The second most aggressive team so far? Probably the Atlanta Braves.
They started off the hot stove season last week by signing Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey to help fill out the back of their rotation. And now, according to reports, they’re aiming for an ace.
Braves are aggressively swapping offers for starting pitchers. Rival officials think Braves and Astros will add the most help this winter. — Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 16, 2016
More specifically, there’s this from David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
They’ve had talks with teams about trading for still another starter, most notably Chris Sale, 27, a native of Lakeland, Fla. The five-time All-Star left-hander is under contractual control for three more seasons at below-market rates — $38 million total in that three-year span including two option years — and has finished in the top five of the American League Cy Young Award balloting for four consecutive seasons after finishing sixth in his first season as a starter in 2012. The Braves have also inquired about the Rays’ Chris Archer and Athletics’ Sonny Gray, but Sale is their focus, a person familiar with the situation said. The price for Sale could be enormous, likely a package including multiple top prospects. The Braves have said they’re not at a point in their rebuild where they’re ready to trade top prospects to fill in gaps, but to get an ace they seem at least willing to consider changing that plan.
On the one hand, this shouldn’t be that surprising: GM John Coppolella is a strong believer in the value of starting pitching, and especially so, in the value of frontline aces. This the kind of pitcher the Braves are always going to be looking for under his watch, and given that they’ve been outspoken that they want to win sooner than later, it shouldn’t be that surprising to see them pursuing players who could significantly improve their roster. Especially with their new stadium opening up next spring, the Braves don’t want to put a bad product on the field, potentially wasting the revenue boost that comes from opening a new ballpark.
But on the other hand, before the team aggressively turns future assets into present value, the Braves should make sure they’re not following in the footsteps of the Arizona Diamondbacks, whose desire to push their window to win forward by a year or two ended up doing a tremendous amount of destruction to the organization.
Of course, the Braves are intimately familiar with that destruction, since they caused most of it when they agreed to the Shelby Miller trade, robbing the Diamondbacks of Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, and Aaron Blair. The former pair are primary reasons why the Braves look at their 2017 roster and see a team that could be okay next year. The Braves landed their franchise shortstop and starting center fielder by exploiting Arizona’s mistaken belief that they were ready to take a big step forward, despite a roster that lacked depth and projected around .500 at best.
But now the Braves seem to be in a similar position, wanting to win sooner than later, but without enough talent to make that something they should plan for in 2017. For instance, here’s a graph of rough projected win totals heading into the winter, from Jeff Sullivan’s post two weeks ago.
Three teams, at that point, projected for fewer than 70 wins; the Brewers, Padres, and the Atlanta Braves. Yes, this was before they signed Colon and Dickey, so now they project closer to 72 or 73 wins, but that’s still a very long way away from legitimate contender status. And even if we gave them Chris Sale, without subtracting any significant major league players from their roster, they’d realistically be looking at a 76 or 77 win projection heading into 2017.
So even if they managed to land Sale without giving up anything off their big league roster — good luck with that, by the way — they’d still be something like 10 wins shy of Wild Card status. And while no projection system is perfect, it’s just not realistic to argue that Steamer is misevaluating the Braves current talent level by 10 wins.
Looking at their current depth chart, there’s a decent argument that Steamer is a little too low on a few of their players. Ender Inciarte is projected for +2 WAR in 600 PAs, when he’s averaged +3.6 WAR per 600 PAs in the first three years of his career. Steamer’s being pretty cautious with its projection of Inciarte’s defensive value, but I’d take the over on him putting up a +5 UZR next year, and think he’s probably more of a +3 WAR player than a +2 WAR guy. So that’s one win.
Steamer’s also projection Julio Teheran to take a big step backwards, but he’s averaged about an extra win every 200 innings above and beyond what his fielding independent numbers suggest, so this forecast is probably low for him too. Let’s be generous and give them a full extra win for Teheran, even though that’s probably overly optimistic. So we’re up to two extra wins.
After that, it gets sketchier. The Braves believe Nick Markakis and Matt Kemp are better than we think, so you can maybe give them another win if you think those guys are underrated by our metrics for whatever reason. Like I said, we’re being generous. So if you think two below average outfielders, one 33 and the other 32, are going to defy aging, then hey, we’re up to three extra wins.
But we’re also just running out of places to find extra wins. Dansby Swanson is already projected as a league average regular, and while the Braves have plenty of reasons to believe in his long-term potential, expecting more than that in 2017 is probably not wise. Adonis Garcia? Jace Peterson? Whoever they get to replace Tyler Flowers as their catcher? Again, maybe you’re looking at a win here or there, maybe.
Unfortunately, the Braves could trade for Sale and Chris Archer and still not project as contenders in 2017. It would be a good rotation, but the Braves position players would still project to be among the worst in baseball, and this big bet on starting pitching carrying not-good-enough hitters was the same failed gamble Arizona made last winter. And, of course, it’s not like Sale and Archer are going to come cheaply, so more realistically, the Braves would have to give up something off their big league roster to acquire either one, reducing the marginal improvement that came from adding either pitcher.
And yes, the Braves can argue that acquiring Sale or Archer or whoever isn’t just about 2017; they’d have those guys in 2018 and beyond, so it wouldn’t be only a win-now gamble. But Dave Stewart made these exact same claims last year when they punted their future to land Shelby Miller, talking about a three-year window that opened up with the acquisitions of Miller and Zack Greinke. And it’s just as faulty a plan now as it was then.
Because to buy Sale or Archer’s value in 2018 and beyond, you have to also pay the 2017 wins that the White Sox or Rays are selling, and those wins are extremely valuable to teams that are ready to win this year. In order to be the high bidder, the Braves will have to pay a high price, and unfortunately, they’re not in a position to take advantage of Sale’s value in at least one of the three remaining years he has left on his deal. And if the young players don’t take the step forward that the team is counting on, they might not be in a position to take advantage of his value in 2018 either, and then they’ll have paid a massive price to land a short-term upgrade to help a non-contender finish in the middle of the pack.
The bidding for Sale is going to be absurd, especially with a limited supply of alternatives for teams to go after. The Braves are probably not in a position to capitalize on his 2017 value, so paying a premium to land a guy whose going to churn through a good chunk of his value in the short-term is a great way to reduce the organization’s chances of winning in 2018 and beyond, and the uptick in their chances in 2017 just aren’t worth it.
That isn’t to say the Braves shouldn’t try to improve. They need a catcher, a second baseman, a third baseman, and an outfielder to eventually replace Markakis and/or Kemp, when those guys stop hitting enough to justify their line-up spots. There are plenty of places where the team can make improvements to improve the quality of their 2017 product, and they can do so by getting guys who aren’t just stopgaps, but who could help the team in 2018 and beyond as well. It won’t be as sexy as landing an ace like Sale, but it also won’t risk wasting a good chunk of the future value the team has been accumulating.
I know it’s tempting to want to win in 2017, and I know the 37-35 record in the second half makes it feel like winning isn’t that far away. But the guys who helped make the Braves one of the worst teams in baseball in the first half of the season? They’re still around, and in many cases, still being counted on as primary contributors. And there just isn’t enough depth behind the team’s few good players to feel safe about the team’s chances to keep winning if any of their best guys get hurt.
Taking a best-case-scenario approach to deciding when to push all-in is exactly what got Arizona in trouble last year. And for the Braves to justify paying the price for Chris Sale, they’d have to overestimate their chances of winning in 2017 and overestimate the impact of adding a frontline starter. The Braves aren’t at the point where they should make that kind of gamble yet. Let the teams that have a better shot at winning outbid each other for the few good pitchers available in this market. Get better position players, continue building for 2018, and make your big move next winter if the team shows they’re ready to win.
Moving up the timeline is tempting, especially with the new park opening. But it’s probably a trap, and one the Braves would do well to avoid. |
A 17-year-old boy who says he was kicked out of his former Christian high school for being transgender is turning the other cheek ― and adjusting his crown ― after being named homecoming king at his new school.
Stiles Zuschlag was bestowed the social accolade at Noble High School’s homecoming game in North Berwick, Maine, on Friday night, just one month after beginning his senior year at the public school.
“This experience feels like a dream. It’s something I never thought could have happened to me,” he told HuffPost by email on Sunday.
The Cinderella moment followed Zuschlag making national news last week after he was told that he was no longer welcome at Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth, New Hampshire ― roughly seven miles southwest of Noble High. It followed him transitioning from female to male in 2015, he told the Seacoast Online at the time.
Zuschlag, who said he had a 3.89 GPA and aspired to be valedictorian, said he went to speak with a school administrator in August about being identified as a male but was instead given an ultimatum. He had to confess his sins, stop taking testosterone treatments and receive Christian counseling or find a new school.
The school administrator, reached for comment by Seacoast Online, declined to speak about Zuschlag’s case citing privacy issues. A request for comment from the school by HuffPost was not immediately returned.
Though the idea of attending a new school “terrified” him, he enrolled at Noble High and made a number of new friends, adding to a few that he already knew.
Administrators at Noble High School, reached by Portland station WCSH-6, said Zuschlag is not their first transgender student.
Definitely your homecoming king 👑 pic.twitter.com/gUsgJXcyJ0 — Stiles Zuschlag 🌐 (@Scalyeragon) October 8, 2017
“We want all students to feel like they belong here at Noble High School,” the school’s director of counseling, Nancy Simard, told the station. “That’s a small thing we can do to help them feel like they’re a part of the community.”
That welcoming feeling apparently wasn’t lost on Zuschlag.
Within the first few weeks of school, Zuschlag said an email began circulating seeking nominees for homecoming king and queen and he decided to pursue it, initially “as a joke.”
“I asked on Snapchat as a joke to put me in and people actually did it. I didn’t really expect them to. I still can’t believe they did that for me,” he said.
His surprise was only magnified when he showed up to the game and won.
“After I won at the homecoming game, I almost started crying. My friends all put me in, people I didn’t even know put me in, everyone voted for me on the final ballot,” he said.
I almost started crying. My friends all put me in, people I didn’t even know put me in, everyone voted for me on the final ballot."
Today, as painful of an experience as this has been, he sees his removal from the New Hampshire school as a blessing from God ― one that he hopes will raise awareness and inspire others.
“I’ve been degraded so much in the past, I’ve conformed to other people’s beliefs and standards just to make them happy and comfortable. I’ve put myself in situations really hurtful to my mental health just to keep peace,” he told HuffPost. |
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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - A North Carolina woman feels she is being discriminated against after being turned away for a pedicure based on her size.
Tiffany Nelson says when she walked through the doors of QC Nails for a pedicure, she was told, "No, we're not doing that anymore for you. Our chairs will break, you're too big of a girl to sit in our chairs."
"That's not okay," Nelson told WCNC-TV. "It's not okay to body shame people. It's not okay to discriminate against anyone."
A nail salon owner in Tennessee has also banned obese customers after he says a couple of expensive spa chairs were broken by their weight, costing him more than $2,200.
In Nelson's case, she says weight should not determine whether a person is granted service.
"My heart just hurts for other women who don't know what to do or who are afraid to speak up. You should be happy just the way you are," Nelson said.
It is not against the law for a private business owner to deny service if weight will damage their property.
However, Nelson believes that the new weight limit policy should be posted for all customers to see before entering the nail salon.
The owner told a reporter he does plan to post signs as soon as he finds out the maximum weight limit from the manufacturer of his spa chairs. |
Former Sale Sharks player Cillian Willis is to sue the club for alleged clinical negligence over a career-ending concussion
Sports scientists are to research the long-term health effects of playing rugby, including the implications for those who suffer concussion.
Retired amateur and professional players across the UK will be assessed as part of a university study.
A Rugby Football Union report in March found there were 645 injuries in the 2014-15 Premiership season, with their severity the highest since 2002.
The research will also explore muscle, bone, joint and cardiometabolic health.
Cardiometabolic risk refers to the chances of having diabetes, heart disease or a stroke.
The study - by UK RugbyHealth - follows research in 2015 that pointed to links between frequent concussion and brain function, as well as the Cillian Willis case.
Former Sale Sharks player Willis, 31, is to sue the club for alleged clinical negligence over a career-ending concussion. Sale are yet to comment.
The Carnegie Research Institute at Leeds Beckett University will lead the study, alongside researchers at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the University of Aberdeen.
Dr Karen Hind, senior research fellow at Leeds Beckett, said: "Our project will examine links between concussions and future health.
"But it is also a broad study of how people who played rugby are getting on later in life. " |
Olympiakos start Sunday's Athens derby three points ahead of Panathinaikos
Petrol bombs, flares, firecrackers and fights. And that's just on the pitch.
Welcome to derby day in Athens, where recent meetings between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos have also seen fans start fires in the stands and attempt to torch the team coach of their fierce rivals.
The last time Greece's two major powers met, in March, Panathinaikos manager Yannis Anastasiou was left sprawled on the touchline after being hit by an object thrown from the crowd.
Panathinaikos boss Yannis Anastasiou lies on the ground after being hit by an object thrown by fans
The latest staging of the fixture known as the 'derby of the eternal enemies' takes place this Sunday and could have an English flavour to it in the shape of former Manchester United and Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele.
The 30-year-old, who started his career at hometown club Peterborough and signed for Panathinaikos this summer after six years at Barnsley, has already had a taste of what to expect.
"My debut was a cup tie away to a team called Olympiakos Volos, a club based well away from Athens," Steele told BBC Sport.
"It was hostile; there were lots of flares. I flinched when the first firecracker landed near me but you soon get used to it.
"It's more than football to the fans, it's almost like a religion. But I'm ready for it. I just want to play as many games as possible."
A 2012 derby was abandoned after serious rioting broke out and petrol bombs were set off in the stands
Eight miles of Athens roads separate Olympiakos, who are from the port area of Piraeus, and Panathinaikos, based close to the centre of the capital.
Yet the burning hatred between the two runs so deep that it even extends into basketball, volleyball and water polo.
In March 2007, a Panathinaikos supporter died during a clash between fans of the two teams before a women's volleyball match. Ten months later a football supporter was fatally stabbed and another wounded after Olympiakos beat their arch rivals 4-0.
In May 2009, riot police were called as Olympiakos fans threw a flare, plastic bottles and other items at the Panathinaikos bench during a timeout in a basketball match.
Thousands of police are deployed to quell unrest between supporters, even though there is a ban on away fans travelling to the game. Little wonder this is one of Europe's most dangerous derbies.
"There is a lot of trouble in football in Greece in general," says Greek journalist Panos Polyzoidis. "Only a few weeks ago, a fan at a Third Division football match was killed and there were only 200 or so there.
Media playback is not supported on this device A game between Greek local football rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos had to be abandoned after it was interrupted by crowd violence
"But it's true that there is a clear hatred when Panathinaikos and Olympiakos meet and it doesn't matter whether it's football, basketball, volleyball or water polo.
"In terms of the social background between the two clubs, Panathinaikos were upper middle class when they were formed 106 years ago. Olympiakos were formed 17 years later in an industrial centre and were seen as a working-class club.
"Both are so huge now that they attract fans from all walks of life. The trouble continues though."
On the pitch, Olympiakos are the dominant force, having won 41 league titles, including the last four in a row. Panathinaikos have not won the title since 2010 when they were crowned champions of Greece for the 20th time.
Serious disturbances broke out in March 2012 when Panathinaikos, who were playing home games at the Olympic Stadium while the future of their traditional Apostolos Nikolaidis home was up in the air, trailed Olympiakos 1-0.
The start of the second half was delayed by 45 minutes as fans pelted police with Molotov cocktails, flares and missiles, and the game was subsequently abandoned altogether.
Fire crews battled to put out fires set off by fans during a derby in March 2012
Twenty police officers were injured and more than 50 arrests were made while three fire engines were called in to extinguish flames as hundreds of fans set alight sections of the stands.
Panathinaikos were docked five points and told to play four games behind closed doors as punishment.
Two years earlier, a late Olympiakos winner by former Blackburn forward Matt Derbyshire prompted Panathinaikos fans to try to set fire to the visitors' team coach.
"The fans are fanatical," Derbyshire, who was nicknamed 'The English Killer' in the Greek newspapers for that goal, told BBC Sport.
Luke Steele: Peterborough to Panathinaikos 2001: After starting career at hometown club Peterborough, invited for trial at Man Utd 2008: Helps Barnsley beat Liverpool at Anfield in FA Cup on debut after joining on emergency loan. Later joins club permanently 2002: Signs four-year deal with United. Wins FA Youth Cup but leaves Old Trafford in 2006 without playing senior game. Joins West Brom as part of deal that takes Tomasz Kuszczak to United 2014: Signs two-year contract with Panathinaikos after Barnsley are relegated to League One. Keeps clean sheet on Greek Super League debut on 28 September, a 1-0 win over Niki Volos
"In derby week, they are all telling you 'you've got to win this. And if you can't win, then for goodness sake don't lose'. They're like 'even if we don't win silverware, then you've got to win this'.
"I will never forget that goal against Panathinaikos. The ball was crossed into the area and I headed it towards goal. The keeper parried it and I smashed in the volley.
"I still get messages from Olympiakos fans about it."
Signing for Panathinaikos... Luke Steele (right) with Panathinaikos technical director and former Newcastle and Leicester defender Nikos Dabizas
Steele will be hoping for an incident-free day after turning down offers from other Championship clubs to move to Greece on a two-year contract following Barnsley's relegation to League One at the end of last season.
"I came over here with just one bag for talks but I agreed a deal very quickly," added the former West Brom player, who lives by the Aegean Sea in the Athens suburb of Glyfada, home to many of Greece's millionaires, ministers and celebrities.
"It's a beautiful country and I'm settling well, I have Greek lessons once a week.
"I had a couple of other offers from Championship clubs but Panathinaikos felt right.
"I had been at Barnsley for six years and I was in a bit of a comfort zone, I wanted to feel some fear and be out of my depth a little bit."
Sunday at the Karaiskakis Stadium should see Steele get his wish. |
The Nova Scotia government is moving ahead on a controversial bill despite pleas from dozens of drugstore owners to shelve it.
Pharmacists claim that capping the price of generic drugs will hurt their bottom line at a time when they are being asked to offer more services.
The province is still trying to determine how to compensate pharmacies for those extra services and it's still negotiating a new dispensing fee.
Opposition parties say the bill should be delayed until those issues are resolved, but Premier Darrell Dexter isn't interested.
"This is about fair drug prices for the people of the province," he said Tuesday. "What the Opposition is doing, of course, is they are really engaging in a process where they would actually drive up the cost of drugs for ordinary consumers across the province."
Dexter said the bill will proceed without amendment and without delay.
The bill would cap the price of generic drugs to 45 per cent of the brand-name equivalent in July, 40 per cent by January and 35 per cent by July 1, 2012.
Pharmacists claim they are losing $4 on every prescription they fill, and the cap would be a financial disaster.
Kim Geldart, who owns three Pharmasave drug stores in Chester, said last week that without higher dispensing fees the generic drug cap could force her to close one of her stores and lay off four to seven pharmacists. |
The Panama Canal has connected the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean via one of history's most incredible examples of large-scale engineering. People come from all over the world to witness the canal for themselves. Because Panama is a major hub for those traveling to South America, it's easy to make the most of your layover by booking a one-day tour to the Panama Canal. Before you go, try and get familiar with some of the facts surrounding this incredible place.
The Panama Canal Changed the World
Construction of the canal was begun by the French in 1880. Unfortunately many French and Panamanian people working on the canal's construction died from diseases such as yellow fever and malaria. This caused significant delays in construction and in 1904, the project was purchased taken over by the United States. The canal was completed in 1914. 14,000 vessels now pass through the Panama Canal each year, saving their crews the 7,900 mile trip they'd otherwise have to take around South America's southern tip.
The Three Places to View the Panama Canal
If you want to visit the Panama Canal, there are three main areas you can start from: Panama City, Gamboa and Colón. If you visit the canal from Panama City, where the country's international airport is, head to the Miraflores Visitor Center. To get there, take a bus from Albrook Bus Terminal to the Miraflores sign. From the sign, it's about a 15-minute walk to the visitor's center, and once you're there, you can head to the viewing platforms to admire the vessels passing through the canal or learn about the canal's history at the on-site museum.
Gamboa, a rainforest preserve just 20 minutes from the canal, was built to house the employees of the canal and their dependents. Gamboa lies on the Chagres River and is home to all kinds of tropical wildlife. You can see the canal from Gamboa, but if you take a tour from here, you will be taken to Miraflores as well. Lastly, you can head up Colón on the Atlantic Coast, and board the Panama Canal Railway which partially rides along the water.
It Takes 10 Hours to Pass Through the Canal
Ships need to be slowly and carefully navigated through the canal through a series of locks, a process which takes about ten hours. Some ships must also wait up to 25 hours for permission to begin their journey through the locks. The canal is used by vessels from all of the world, with a majority of trips being made by ships traveling between the east coast of the US and East Asia.
The Tolls are Expensive
Ships are charged a toll to pass through the canal based on their weight. On average this toll is about $150,000, though the largest sum ever paid to pass was $450,000, while the smallest amount was 36 cents, paid by a man named Richard Halliburton in 1928 who wanted to swim across. Luckily, if you want to enter the Miraflores Visitor Center to experience the canal, you'll only need to pay $15.
Take a Cruise on the Canal
Though some people may be fine with observing the canal from Miraflores or from another point, you can also have the unique experience of crossing through the canal yourself. There are many tour companies that run tour boats offering this service, providing tourists with an experience like no other. If you're interested in sailing the canal, then take a look at Panama Canal Tours, where you can choose a cruise or another type of tour.
About the Author Hana LaRock is a freelance content writer from New York, currently living in Mexico. She has spent the last five years traveling the world and living abroad and has lived in South Korea and Israel. Hana has been writing about her travel experiences for several years and has been published in print magazines like Travel Ideas and Ensemble Vacations, as well as websites such as Tour Amigo, The Culture Trip, REI, and Orbitz. Hana has been to nearly 30 countries and counting. Through her experiences, she has learned to navigate the challenges that can come with visiting other countries and cultures. To learn more, visit her website at www.hanalarockwriting.com. |
The planning of orthopedic surgeries is a difficult process. In a lot of ways, it's like working while wearing a blindfold; a surgeon can't see the bone that needs to be worked on until during the actual surgery, when time is most critical. Even with X-rays and CT scans, the raw data can be difficult to interpret correctly. Fortunately, open source software can (and does!) help reduce the guesswork.
At the 2015 Blender Conference, Vasily Shishkin gave a very interesting talk on his research project and use of Blender and 3D printing in the planning and guiding of orthopedic surgery. (Fair warning: There are some graphic images of actual surgeries in his presentation, so please don't watch it if that kind of thing makes you uncomfortable. See the video at the end of the article.)
You may find yourself thinking, "Wait a minute. Blender? The same Blender that's used for making pretty images and animations? That Blender?" Yes. That Blender.
Despite the fantastically cool use case, the process Vasily uses is pretty straightforward. They take CT scans of the bones that they're doing surgery upon, as well as the corresponding healthy bones on the opposite side of the body. Those CT scans are converted into 3D mesh data and loaded into Blender. From within Blender, the mesh of the healthy bones are mirrored and serves as a template for showing the corrective action that needs to be performed on the bones that require surgery. The mesh can even be used to build precise 3D models of guides for aiding the surgical process. Those models get 3D printed and used during the actual surgery.
Of course, this raises even more questions, so I managed to catch up with Vasily after the conference and sling a few of them at him.
I found it interesting that you specifically chose Blender because it isn't a CAD package with a bunch of precision tools. However, you're also using 3D printing, which sometimes needs precision and accuracy. Has the lack of those tools or precision caused any problems for you?
I use Blender because it's not overloaded with special engineering measurement tools for specific purposes such as determining wall thickness of an object or measuring the tension or torsion of materials that differ in density. We don't need that in clinical medicine.
The human body has great adaptation mechanisms. The acceptable overall shortening of the extremities can be up to 4 cm. The body will adapt itself to changes in anatomy if they occur. But when they are severe and cause pain and discomfort to the patient, that's when surgeons come into play. If you miss a couple of millimeters during surgery on a large segment—a femur, for example—that's not a big deal. Smaller localizations obviously require more accuracy. What we need from Blender is 3D visualization to receive information about the deformity and to find a solution for correcting it. As for 3D printing, it works pretty well. We had no problems using it during our interventions.
The accuracy depends mainly on the resolution of the CT data. We use the basic toolset—things like distance and angle measurement. The rest of the calculation is made according to the relative bone alignment of the healthy side.
How complex are the 3D models that you're getting from the CT scans? How does Blender perform with that dense geometry?
The models that we get in Blender can be really big—up to several millions of vertices—and it can be a problem. The less detailed the mesh, the less information we can get from it. Going lo-poly is not possible, as it diminishes details. So, we have to use decimation and re-meshing tools quite accurately in order to keep models informative. Overall Blender does well if you keep the vertices up to a reasonable amount of about 60,000 per model.
Are there any changes that you've made to Blender or changes that you'd like to make in order to make it better suited to how you use it?
I am currently working on an add-on that will allow new Blender users to work with the software straightaway. It's just a number of standard tools implemented in a panel, but I believe it could help people get acquainted with the system quite fast.
How often do you use Blender to plan surgeries?
In our clinic, every complex clinical case gets treated with the use of this system. It depends on many factors, but there is a problematic patient every now and then. At the moment we have such a case once a week for sure. At the moment, the total number of patients treated is more than 80.
You mentioned in your conference talk that you'd like to have a custom script or tool written to better facilitate automatically aligning 3D models. Was there anyone at the conference who was able to help you with that? For the people who didn't attend the talk, could you explain why it would be so useful to you?
The main advantage of this planning approach is that we use the patient's anatomy, relying on 3D CT scan data from the opposite limb as a reference or template for reconstruction. This gives a clear understanding about the amount of correction needed. We superimpose meshes of healthy and deformed bones and align the matching parts so the deviation becomes visible. This is done manually at the moment and takes time. Besides, bone anatomy can be quite complex to understand even for a doctor. Automating the alignment procedure of two similar meshes could help solve this problem.
I've had some people approach me at the conference and had some emails afterwards. The proposals differ: some people are just interested while the others offer their programming skills. So if there is anyone out there who can help or give an advice on how to make automation possible that would be really great.
What do other doctors think of this kind of technology?
When I'm talking about this technique at medical meetings, reactions vary. Some surgeons are fascinated, while the others try to prove me that this thing is useless and there is nothing left to invent in surgery. Physicians are quite conservative, and it's hard to convince them to try something new and think outside the box. But I believe that in the future computer-assisted surgery will be a standard, just as computer-assisted design is in engineering today. After all, people will only benefit from receiving top-notch healthcare.
Blender is a free and open source 3D creation suite. The Blender Conference is an annual event held in Amsterdam for developers, designers, and enthusiasts to learn more about Blender techniques, features, and tools. |
I’ve spoken about how brazen Studio-B can get with their source material before.
How they are approaching that rare status of critical invulnerability for their medium, achieved before only by a select few like Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Remember the whole “Godzilla because we can” thing? Well you can now replace that with “Clever metaphors about bronydom, whilst simultaneously making a completely unrelated point about personality traits and social stature”.
“Because we can”.
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It’s about time I resumed regular reviews again. I know there are a small handful of you out there on the other side of this screen who have been pestering me to flick the uber-charge switch and pump out more content like quintuplets from a golden galvanised womb of the gods, so after this review I’ll do my darndest to resume regular posting.
It’s just a little bit disheartening for me here on my little blog when shows like Moviebobs “The Big Picture” over on The Escapist do this kind of nerdy social commentary so much better.
Anyway, on to the review…..
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I’m curious as to just how many pegs Studio B plan to take Rainbow Dash down before they lose the character they created in the first place. Previously I have stated that the whole reason characters like these ones are introduced as such over the top caricatures is so the writers have somewhere to go with their story development.
The trouble here is that often times we love so dearly the characters they start as that we don’t like to see them change in the slightest. At least that’s how I feel anyway.
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This episode succeeded in precisely the same way that “Find a Pet” did.
It didn’t overcrowd itself with things to do. In fact, this episode had an even more anorexic plot than that one did.
Rainbow gets hurt. Reads a book. Discovers the joy of reading. Yay. What’s next? Eat your veggies?
The less you crowd yourself with plot threads, the more room you have to focus on what makes a pony episode so entertaining in the first place…namely….Indiana Jones homages… new character designs….eating food with your mouth open…all that great stuff.
Where the real meat of the episode lies however, is in the using of its own plotline to closely mirror how most people generaly describe becoming hooked on the show.
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It really is the perfect setup, and could not have been done nearly as well with any character besides Dash, because she’s the sporty, brash one who best resembles a person who would never in a trillion years consider watching a show like My Little Pony……erm…I mean….reading a book. Because books are nerdy and lame and have stupid pages that you have to turn which is lame because it’s gay just like your face.
It’s really brilliant, especially from a storytelling standpoint, to be able to do two things at once and make it look effortless, because let me tell you, writing episodic thread lines is much harder than it seems. To anyone who wasn’t looking for or didn’t understand the references, it would seem like just another colourful candy coloured cartoon for kids. Inserting undertones that resonate with one person yet sails over the head of the next is A-grade storyboarding.
I love how far the writers go in assimilating bronydom into the episodes. Not just because I’m a fan and it makes me squee like Fluttershy whenever it happens, but because they really don’t HAVE to do it at all.
Remember that. They never HAVE to. But they do.
Also, it might seem like shooting yourself in the foot when you promote the joys of reading on a CARTOON, but what I think was really being promoted was the power of a well told story, and a story can be told in any format.
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As to the overarching character development of Rainbow Dash, it’s hard to say at this point whether or not they are slowly chipping her down to become a softie, or just adding more hidden substance to acknowledge when you look into those same wild eyes we met in episode one.
Does her character arc end with her settling down, halting her daredevil attitude, and marrying Bulma?
Or will she remain the same electric adventure Pony she read about in her newfound book?
Either is possible, but all signs point to the latter.
And that’s good, all stories are better with sonic rainbooms. |
Federal investigators have issued a subpoena for records relating to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, NBC News reports. The subpoena reportedly pertains to a $3.5 million Hamptons home Manafort purchased shortly after leaving the Trump campaign last August. Manafort does not appear to have paid any taxes on the house. NBC News estimates that Manafort should owe $36,750 in taxes on the property.
Manafort took out a loan for the home under the shell company Summerbreeze LLC, which he registered Aug. 19, 2016, the same day he resigned from the Trump campaign following allegations that he received millions of dollars from a pro-Russia group in Ukraine. Manafort’s loan agreement on the home was made with Spruce Capital, an investment firm whose co-founder has partnered on real-estate deals with President Trump, NBC News reports. Spruce Capital is partially funded by Alexander Rovt, a Ukrainian-American developer who attempted to donate $10,000 to Trump’s presidential campaign in violation of campaign-finance regulations. |
When people ask whether mental illness is real or not, my suspicion is that they really mean: does mental illness have a physical, material cause, in the same way as cancer or a broken leg? Can it be tested for, diagnosed and treated with the same certainty as a physical disease? Whatever the answer to that question, it should cast no doubts or aspersions on the very real suffering of people with mental health problems.
When we think of mental illness, we tend to think of categories such as schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, depression and anxiety. These categories cannot be verified with objective tests, in the way as, say, cancer or diabetes can. Neither do they tend to stand up to scientific scrutiny as distinct constructs. For people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, there is no specific treatment or predictable outcome. To take another example, most people with a diagnosis of depression have symptoms of anxiety, and vice versa.
Framing problems as being part of distinct disorders is a powerful thing to do, and loads of the categories that reach our diagnostic bibles appear relatively new, historically. Many can be traced back to the pharmaceutical industry, which has a direct interest in shaping behaviours and emotions into various symptoms, to be sold back to consumers as disorders requiring medication. This has led people to argue that these categories do not represent real illnesses.
Such arguments can come across as diminishing the lived experience of mental anguish, its embodiment, and the potential role of medication. Some mental health problems are less contested than others, and medication does save lives. It would be cruel to suggest a grieving widow unable to cope could not benefit sometimes from anti-anxiety medication, or to deny an option of antipsychotics to quell the intrusive, menacing, persecutory experiences that can accompany an acute psychosis.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest In the City: ‘There is little political will to combine increasing mental distress with structural inequalities.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
The problem, though, is that the efficacy of such treatments, and the mechanisms by which they work, tend to be oversold and presented as long-term solutions. We are right to be cautious about the overprescription of antidepressants, to take one example. These tend to be prescribed along with a scientifically dodgy idea that the pills are rejigging an imbalance in serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain. Similarly, emerging evidence suggests that the long-term prescription of antipsychotics may actually hinder recovery for many.
Psychological and social factors are at least as significant and, for many, the main cause of suffering. Poverty, relative inequality, being subject to racism, sexism, displacement and a competitive culture all increase the likelihood of mental suffering – as the survivor-led collective Recovery in the Bin brilliantly illuminates. Add into the mix individual experiences such as childhood sexual abuse, early separation, emotional neglect, chronic invalidation and bullying, and we get a clearer picture of why some people suffer more than others.
Crucially, all of these experiences affect our psychological and physiological makeup. For example, the Adverse Childhood Experiences studies show that childhood trauma, neglect and structural oppressions manifest later not just in mental distress but in chronically inflamed bodies stuck on hyper-alert (this we can pick up through blood tests).
Governments and pharmaceutical companies are not as interested in these results, throwing funding at studies looking at genetics and physical biomarkers as opposed to the environmental causes of distress. Sociologists argue that this is because citizens who consider themselves ill are easier to manage than people who consider themselves maddened by toxic families and injustice.
Mental health practitioners often try to sidestep this whole debate by claiming that most sensible professionals subscribe to a biopsychosocial model of mental distress. But unfortunately such a model nearly always ends up privileging the biological, despite the best intentions of many psychiatrists. As a society, we have a somewhat fetishistic relationship to bodies and brains, a moth-to-light-like attraction to shiny brain-imaging scans or a hint at a breakthrough in genetic research. Correlations between experiences and genetic phenotypes are conflated with evidence for molecular pathways that prove the existence of distinct disorders. Studies with only a few participants generate multiple headlines, and remain entrenched in the public imagination. At the same time, treatments that we know work fail to get funding due to the unconscious bias towards biological explanations.
We must shift our focus to one that validates the lived experience of people who are suffering, however they choose to understand their pain
Consider family interventions. Professionals have known for decades that reducing hostility, criticism and emotional over-involvement in families improves how well people recover from a number of serious mental health problems, regardless of how severe patients’ symptoms are. Yet despite the robust evidence base – up there with medication and individual therapy – family work is rarely available through the NHS.
Similarly, there is little political will to combine increasing mental distress with structural inequalities, though the association is robust and many professionals think this would be the best way to tackle the current mental health epidemic. The idea that mental suffering is a “real” illness residing in individuals, and especially in their genes, can therefore be damaging.
It is also not necessarily what the public wants, despite the current emphasis on the “just like any other illness” narrative. When researchers ask people how they understand mental illness, they tend to prefer psychosocial explanations to medical ones. Simplistic biological explanations tend to increase stigma, not least because they cement a division between ill and well people. Many people have felt silenced and traumatised by such accounts, feeling that the illness model shuts down their truth.
There is an implicit suggestion here that mental health problems have to be viewed as being equivalent to physical illnesses if they are to warrant society’s care and funding. This may inadvertently cement prejudice, given the contested nature of mental illness. Mental health problems are no less real, no less disabling, for occupying a peculiar space between inner and outer, meaning-making and meltdown, the inner world and the environments that shape us.
Rather than clumsily trying to squeeze people’s distress into different boxes, and attempting to convince the public that these reflect illness processes, as with flu or cancer, we must shift our focus to one that validates the lived experience of people who are suffering, however they choose to understand their pain.
Some will choose to conceptualise their distress as an illness, others as a result of trauma, others yet as an embodied response to the mixed messages that are rife in society about who and how we are supposed to be. Our guiding principle should not be whether such forms of accounting are true or false, but whether they are useful for any given individual at any given moment. Acceptance, after all – is the great friend of good mental health just as writing over one another’s truth is the great enemy. |
A Somerville man was arrested for trespassing Monday night after becoming trapped within the walls of the Ted Williams Tunnel, according to Massachusetts State Police. Daniel J. Kelly, 27, was rescued after he called 911 saying he couldn’t find his way out of an underground storm drain.
According to a state police statement, Kelly apparently had no idea where in the Boston tunnel system he was and could not find an exit. Around 9:20 p.m., State Troopers slowly meandered underground ramps with cruiser sirens blaring until Kelly told a dispatcher he could hear them.
After 20 minutes of searching and taking turns sounding sirens to determine Kelly’s exact location, police say they found him inside a wall of the Ted Williams Tunnel’s D ramp, which connects the Massachusetts Turnpike to I-93. The D ramp was shut down while troopers searched vents, doors, and ceiling openings within the tunnel network. Kelly was found sitting atop a pipe 15 feet off the ground of a vent shaft after waving his hand out of the vent’s opening.
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Kelly was immediately arrested for trespassing and brought to the Massachusetts State Police Tunnel Barracks. He was arraigned on Tuesday and, according to Fox 25 News, said in court that he would represent himself after a judge denied his request to dismiss the charges. Fox 25 also reported that Kelly said he thinks his drink was “spiked’’ at a bar before the incident, and that he has no recollection of how he ended up in the tunnel.
Kelly is due back in court on June 10. |
In today’s Election Countdown 2012 segment: In Quebec, it’s not the fees, it’s the debt; Walker’s win smacks Wisconsin protesters who started recall; a map shows half the nation returning to past employment levels and the other half not, and more.
D – 94 and counting*
“Politics ain’t beanbag.” –Finley Peter Dunne
Reader note: In this series, there are three main tracks: (1) Occupy and Occupy-like movements (e.g., Montreal), (2) State and local actions or events, especially those to do with resource extraction (e.g., fracking), and (3) electoral politics, especially the Obama vs. Romney. Most people, when they say “politics,” mean the last track: the horse race. In fact, all three tracks are “politics,” and the first two can be empowering and even joyful. Also, too, in crises, the tracks will correlate. I’m very interested in curating reliable sourcing from on the ground for occupations and state or local news; please mail me.
Montreal. Jean Charest and his big brother, Vladimir Putin: “[A minority of] Russia’s lawmakers … fought hard and long against a bill that would impose huge fines on protesters” (like Bill 78 in Qeubec; here, here, here). June 6 is casserole night. “Amir Khadir, the sole member of Quebec solidaire in the legislature, was among dozens of people rounded up in Quebec City during a night time march.” “Anarchopanda is taking his fight against Montreal’s controversial anti-mask bylaw from the streets to the courtroom.” Anarchopanda: “The panda costume allows me to do things that I couldn’t do otherwise, like hug police officers.” Anarchopanda’s lawyer: “The [anti-mask] bylaw is just really unclear to begin with. [You’re] forcing everyone to justify why they’re wearing a mask even if they have no criminal intent.” Charest’s trap: “Charest is preparing to use the same ploy [as Trudeau on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in ’68; provoking violence]. He refuses to come to an agreement with student leaders on tuition fees despite a 13-week strike. Law 78 has instigated a social crisis. The noise of casseroles has become a daily one. All he needs now is a riot to call voters to the polls in a re-election attempt just before the findings of the Charbonneau commission on corruption in the construction industry are revealed. Students know to avoid the trap, but how can troublemakers be prevented from taking the bait?” Education Minister Michelle Couchesne: “There are no negotiations planned. No. Absolutely not.”
It’s not the fees, it’s the debt: “Students today graduate from post secondary education with more debt (inflation adjusted) than the generations before did. … This debt is exempt from all bankruptcy laws. I could borrow 50 thousand dollars to start a business bedazzling jean jackets tomorrow and if it didn’t work out be free and clear of that debt in seven years, but if I wanted to be a scientist and things didn’t work out I’d be stuck with that liability for the rest of my life. This makes education literally the riskiest investment a person can make.” “I know some of you are scared. You have every reason to be. But we cannot let that fear win. If the fear of the police keeps us at home, they have already beaten us. Be peaceful, be joyous, be loving. Stand together and be strong. They cannot arrest us all. There is strength in numbers, and there is strength in each other.”
Occupy. Occupy Albany: Adopts “red patch” as logo: “It comes from the French phrase “carrement dans le rouge”, [FB] or “squarely in the red,” referring to those crushed by debt.” Occupy Riverdale: “[Riverdale Mobile Home Community] is the site of the proposed construction of a water withdrawal site for frack operations in the Jersey Shore/Williamsport region–one of the current epicenters of the fracking universe. Aqua America/PVR bought the land from the landowner in the early Spring, and thereby commenced the evictions of the park’s residents.” Occupy Homes: “‘The neighbors have a concern. They don’t want their neighborhood to be a staging ground for protests,’ says [D Minneapolis Mayor R.T.] Rybak. Many houses dotting the area around the Cruz home have the signature red sign that reads, ‘STOP FORECLOSURES, STOP EVICTIONS.’ Many neighbors support the Cruz’s and their efforts to stay in the house.”
Colorado. “There are currently 22 central [evaporation ponds for oil and gas drilling] in CO, and officials say they aren’t sure which chemicals are being stored.” Tinpot Tyrant Watch: “Police in Aurora, CO., searching for suspected bank robbers stopped every car at an intersection, handcuffed all the adults and searched the cars.”
Florida. “Although [Friends of the Everglades] was briefed on the broad outline of a plan to reduce pollution by phosphorous in the Everglades to acceptable levels, including promises of money from the State of Florida, Friends of the Everglades has yet to see details.”
Iowa. “An Iowa State University scientist found evidence that sick hens at farms owned by an Iowa egg producer were ‘almost certainly’ laying eggs contaminated with salmonella months before one of the nation’s largest outbreaks of food-borne illness came to light, newly released records show.” “Iowa City forms new plan of attack for landfill fire” which should have been out this week (TTH).
Michigan. Why don’t Detroit journos write about Cotter’s fraudulent ballot qualifying signatures from the district perspective?
North Carolina. “[Charlotte] released a protest route Monday that is clear of where President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at Bank of America Stadium but comes within two blocks of the main convention site at Time Warner Arena.”
New York. “My senior prom date had a gas well on her farm, about 100 yards across the road. … So yes, let’s pay the extractive industry folks a lot less by using less of what they’re selling. We also need to accept that it’s going to take a while…” “Banking on the long-term prospects of shale development in NY, a PA drilling company has purchased mineral rights to 160,000 acres in the Finger Lakes region from Chesapeake Energy.”
Ohio. “OH law requires political parties to include a disclaimer when posting information on the internet in support or opposition to a candidate or issue. A new website [here] from the OH Republican Party … lacks any type of disclaimer.”
Pennsylvania. “John Perzel, an R from Philadelphia and Bill Deweese, a D from Greene, share the distinction of both having served as Speaker of the Pennsylvania State House. … Now they’re both at Camp Hill state prison, and they’re sharing the same cell.” Sweet!
Wisconsin. Pierce: “What we have here is a fight, out in the open, without nuance or euphemism, between two ideas of what self-government should look like, who it should serve, and how, and how wide the parameters of participation will be. That is serious business. It ought to be contested fiercely and to the last and without cosmetic conciliation.” Reuters head: “Walker’s win smacks Wisconsin protesters who started recall.” “[I]t’s worth pondering how similar the intensity of emotions are on each side of the divide. That anger won’t be relieved after Tuesday.” Chuck Todd: “Most important result from the exit poll: the 60% who said recalls are ONLY appropriate for OFFICIAL misconduct.” Walker: $30M. Barrett: $3.9M. (“We did it with wealth.”) “Please, please, please, remain engaged, remain involved because we will continue to fight for justice and fairness in this city and this state.” (And we get?) Activist Colette Brown: “Recalling Walker is important, but it isn’t good to lose momentum by diverting all energy into the recall campaign to elect a Democrat” (dcblogger).
Inside Baseball. Thomas Edsall: “[W]e still are a nation of Republicans and Democrats.” HCR, Kaiser survey: “35% of non-white respondents believe [ObamaCare] will benefit their family. 14% believe they will be worse off ([and] 39% don’t think it will make much difference).” Whites: “18% believe the law will leave their family better off, compared to 38% who believe they will be worse off.” Full of win! HCR, WI voter, Pierce: “The problem is that, when you start handing out free health care out to teachers, that annoys me to no end. I never got free health care. My brother’s wife is a teacher and I once asked her, when I was getting my teeth worked on, what it cost her and she said, ‘Nothing.’ It should never get to that point where somebody’s getting free health care. Something’s way out of whack there.” Horse race teebee ad money: 60% in FL, VA, and OH. Top 10, largest first: FL, VA, OH, NC, CO, IA, PA, NV, NH, and MI. NSF poli sci funding: “[T]he issue isn’t whether there would be social science funding. There would be. The question is whether, given the agendas of its private funders, the research would be as publicly valuable. I do not think so.” “In Fast & Furious, Phoenix-based ATF agents used watch-and-wait tactics on cartel-linked gun purchasers and lost track of over 2,000 weapons… Two of those weapons were recovered … at the murder site of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.” Oopsie. Atlantic’s secrets for success: “Hire smart people who aren’t jerks.” OK, explain Megan McArdle.
Robama vs. Obomney Watch. Clinton: “[Romney] would be in my opinion calamitous for our country and the world.” Romney “adopted Europe‘s economic policies.” Romney: “[W]e’re so close to economic calamity. We see what’s happening in Europe and we’re following them.” On the same day! (Everythings Jake) Romney: “What he’s very good at is finding other people to blame.” Obama blames “his predecessor, the Congress, the one percent, oil companies, and A.T.M.s. True! Obama surrogate Cutter: “They’re saying don’t hold Mitt Romney accountable for the first three years he was in office, because he inherited a bad economy. Yet these same people blame the president for job losses that occurred in January 2009, the very month he was inaugurated, and months before any of his policies took place.” Also true!
Jawbs. “[T]he new poll finds the number of Americans saying they have been hearing mostly bad news about jobs has spiked, from 38% in March to 55% currently.” “Most of the 15 states where the [American Petroleum Institute] has been holding its meetings will be important battlegrounds for the presidential election, and in three of them – OH, CO and PA – oil and gas are playing an increasingly important role in their economies. We haven’t seen the Republicans using it as a wedge issue, but I can see it becoming one,” Professor Sracic said. “Ohio is going to be very, very close and little things can mean a lot.” Keen map shows half the nation returning to past employment levels and the other half not. “Energy and farm states outperformed the nation, as did states near the nation’s capital.” Yes, a petro-state (farming being oil-driven).
Romney. “And according to the tipster who claims to have hacked [Romney’s email account] by guessing Romney’s favorite pet in response to a “security” questions, it’s still active today.” No, it couldn’t be. “Seamus”?! The emails are about ObamaRomneyCare, among other things.
Obama. Obama: “[Romney] has a theory of the economy that basically says, if I’m maximizing returns for my investors, for wealthy individuals like myself, then everybody’s going to be better off.” (Saw LaBolt try this riff out yesterday.) Capitalism? Did I not get the memo? And “maximizing returns” is wicked professorial. Clinton (Bill) says we’re in a recession: “[G]overnment spending levels … look high because there’s a recession.” Clinton says “no problem” with extending Bush tax cuts temporarily. Obama must want the money bad, to let Clinton wander off the reservation like this.
* 94 days ’til the Democratic National Convention feasts on poutine for all on the floor of the Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC. 94 is the atomic number of Plutonium. |
Even as the Extension School Cultural Studies Club dropped its sponsorship of the event, members of the Satanic Temple held what appeared to be a black mass ceremony at the Hong Kong restaurant and lounge Monday night.
UPDATED: May 14, 2014, at 2:37 a.m.
Although the Harvard Extension School Cultural Studies Club dropped its sponsorship of a reenactment of a satanic “black mass” ritual earlier in the night, members of the New York-based Satanic Temple gathered for what appeared to be a black mass on the second floor of the Hong Kong restaurant and lounge shortly after 10 p.m. Monday.
About 50 people, mostly dressed in black and some wearing face makeup, were present for the ceremony. A consecrated host, believed by Catholics to be the body of Christ, was not used in the ritual.
Four individuals in hoods and one man in a white suit, a cape, and a horned mask were active in the proceedings, as well as a woman revealed to be wearing only lingerie. The ceremony began with a narration on the history underlying Satanism and the black mass ritual.
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The restaurant’s owner, Paul Lee, said in a phone interview around 11 p.m. that he was unaware of the incident. The Hong Kong is located on Massachusetts Avenue, directly across the street from Harvard Yard.
The ritual came after the cancellation of a black mass reenactment organized by the Harvard Extension School Cultural Studies Club, which had the event scheduled for Monday evening in Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub in Memorial Hall. Shortly before the planned starting time, the club said that it was moving to an off-campus site, citing in an email that “misinterpretations about the nature of the event were harming perceptions about Harvard and adversely impacting the student community.”
The club wrote in its email around 5 p.m. that they planned for the event to be held at The Middle East nightclub in Central Square at 9 p.m. But Clay S. Fernald, the general manager of The Middle East, said Monday evening that the nightclub would not host the event, and that negotiations with the Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club had fallen through.
Fernald declined to comment on why negotiations had ended.
Around 7 p.m., the Cultural Studies Club sent an email saying that they had been unable to find another location and would no longer sponsor the black mass, and individuals who intended to attend decided to migrate to the Hong Kong, at which the ceremony was revived.
Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves said in an interview with The Crimson earlier in the afternoon that although the Cultural Studies Club cancelled the event, he still hoped to host a black mass in the future.
After learning of the event that occurred at Hong Kong, Terrence Donilon, secretary of communications for the Archdiocese of Boston, said in an interview around 11:00 p.m. that the Diocese's position is the same. He said the event is disgraceful and despicable.
The Archdiocese followed through with its plans to host a Eucharistic procession to St. Paul Church, where a “holy hour” will be conducted. Donilon said that he was grateful for the community presence at the event and the presence of University President Drew G. Faust.
CONTROVERSY AT HARVARD
The club emphasized in the 5 p.m. email that Harvard had not asked them to move the event from its previous location, the Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub in the basement of Memorial Hall, and commended the University for affirming its members’ rights to free speech and assembly. |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption US women footballers have dominated the international game in recent decades, winning a string of titles
A judge has ruled that the world champion US women's football team does not have the right to strike.
Female players had been considering striking in an effort to address wage discrimination.
The US Soccer Federation sued the players' union to prevent a strike that could have caused the team to miss the summer Olympics.
The judge ruled the players are not eligible to strike because of a provision in an earlier contract.
In March, five players filed a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging pay discrimination. They argued female players were sometimes paid four times less than their male counterparts despite holding the world title.
The players' union had not called a strike over the issue, but had been weighing the possibility.
The US Soccer Federation - the sport's national governing body- filed its own suit to prevent a strike. It argued a no-strike clause from an early collective bargaining agreement carried over to the 2013 memorandum of understanding that the players are currently working under.
The union argued that a no-strike clause had never been specifically laid out in the terms of the latest agreement.
However, the judge sided with the federation citing oral and email communication between the two sides, as evidence that the original terms were passed to the new agreement.
"A collective bargaining agreement may be partly or wholly oral and a written collective bargaining agreement may be orally modified," Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman wrote in her ruling.
The team is expected to perform well at the Olympic Games in Rio and the federation said it feared a strike would damage the development of football in US.
The players, many of whom have expressed outrage at gender pay differences, will continue their wage discrimination case. |
One piece of evidence Donald Trump keeps invoking in his insistence he opposed the Iraq War from the start is an old interview he gave to Esquire, and Esquire has just about had it.
Trump invoked it yet again today and claimed the interview––in which he criticized the Iraq War––was at the start of the war. The war started in March 2003. Trump did that interview in 2004.
Here’s everything Trump had to say then about Iraq:
My life is seeing everything in terms of “How would I handle that?” Look at the war in Iraq and the mess that we’re in. I would never have handled it that way. Does anybody really believe that Iraq is going to be a wonderful democracy where people are going to run down to the voting box and gently put in their ballot and the winner is happily going to step up to lead the county? C’mon. Two minutes after we leave, there’s going to be a revolution, and the meanest, toughest, smartest, most vicious guy will take over. And he’ll have weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam didn’t have. What was the purpose of this whole thing? Hundreds and hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and legs? Not to mention the other side. All those Iraqi kids who’ve been blown to pieces. And it turns out that all of the reasons for the war were blatantly wrong. All this for nothing!
Well, Esquire has added this editor’s note to the top:
Editor’s note: The following story was published in the August 2004 issue of Esquire. During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed to have been against the Iraq War from the beginning, and he has cited this story as proof. The Iraq War began in March 2003, more than a year before this story ran, thus nullifying Trump’s timeline. More details can be found here.
And Esquire‘s deputy editor said they’re doing it for one obvious reason:
Because Donald Trump won't stop lying, we've updated our 2004 story with an editor's note: https://t.co/dhHfecJkaz pic.twitter.com/6rp7da1Sod — John Hendrickson (@JohnGHendy) September 8, 2016
[featured image via Shutterstock]
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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac
Have a tip we should know? [email protected] |
The owners of a luxury home in Waverley, N.S., may have to pay a former business partner hundreds of thousands of dollars over a failed bid to raise money for the Bryony House women's shelter, a judge has ruled.
Kris Martin and Maria Sancho were partners in ALPC Housing Solutions, a company they created to build low-cost housing.
The pair pitched the idea of a lottery to Bryony House as a way to pay for repairs and expansion to the shelter.
The Dare to Dream lottery was established and Kris Martin sold her own luxury home to Bryony House to serve as the top prize. She and her husband Jacques sold the home for just over $1 million. Kris Martin indicated repeatedly to ticket buyers that she was prepared to buy the home back from the eventual winner.
Ticket sales lagged far below expectations and despite extending the sales period, the lottery failed to generate much money.
Sold for over $1M, bought for $621K
In the end, a young couple from Nova Scotia won the home. And, as she had indicated previously, Martin negotiated with the couple to re-purchase the property. She and her husband closed a deal in November 2014 for $621,000, far less than what Bryony House had paid them to buy the home for the lottery.
A Supreme Court judge ruled that Kris Martin failed in her duty as an officer in ALPC Housing Solutions.
"As a director Ms. Martin owed a fiduciary duty to ALPC of loyalty, good faith, honesty and avoidance of conflict of duty and self-interest," Justice Richard Coughlan wrote in his decision.
The judge said Martin failed in that duty by not keeping her partner Sancho informed.
"I find Ms. Martin did not make full disclosure to ALPC of her discussions with the lottery winners or the proposed purchase of the Willowhill Ridge property and did not obtain consent from ALPC to purchase the property."
The judge has ordered Kris and Jacques Martin to provide a detailed accounting of what they paid for the house, plus any expenses they incurred. The difference between that amount and the $1 million dollars paid at the start of the lottery are owed to ALPC.
Kris Martin is no longer a partner in that company, which is now solely run by Maria Sancho. |
(Reuters) - Researchers have warned that a bug in Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iOS operating system makes most iPhones and iPads vulnerable to cyber attacks by hackers seeking access to sensitive data and control of their devices.
Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the IOS 8 operating system during his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California June 2, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
Cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc (FEYE.O) published details about the vulnerability on its blog on Monday, saying the bug enables hackers to access devices by persuading users to install malicious applications with tainted text messages, emails and Web links.
The malicious application can then be used to replace genuine, trusted apps that were installed through Apple’s App Store, including email and banking programs, with malicious software through a technique that FireEye has dubbed “Masque Attack.”
These attacks can be used to steal banking and email login credentials or other sensitive data, according to FireEye, which is well-regarded in cybersecurity circles for its research.
“It is a very powerful vulnerability and it is easy to exploit,” FireEye Senior Staff Research Scientist Tao Wei said in an interview.
Apple’s iOS has robust security features that make it extremely difficult for attackers to install malware on devices using traditional techniques for infecting Windows machines and Android mobile devices with malicious emails and Web links. The “Masque Attack” makes that possible by exploiting a system that Apple developed to allow large organizations to deploy custom-built software without going through Apple’s App Store, according to David Richardson, iOS product manager at mobile security firm Lookout.
Those applications are not vetted by Apple for malicious software, unlike apps in its App Store, though users do receive pop-up notifications asking if they want to prevent the apps from installing on devices, he said.
“You can just say ‘Don’t install.’ As long as you do that, you will be protected from this vulnerability,” Richardson said.
FireEye disclosed the vulnerability to Apple in July and representatives of the company said they were working to fix the bug, according to Wei.
Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.
News of the vulnerability began to leak out in October on specialized Web forums where security experts and hackers alike discuss information on Apple bugs, Wei said.
He said FireEye decided to go public with its findings after Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW.N) last week uncovered WireLurker, the first campaign to exploit the vulnerability.
“Currently WireLurker is the only one, but we will see more,” Wei said. |
Germany’s economy will probably be in a recession by elections scheduled for the end of September because monetary policy officials in the euro area aren’t providing the necessary stimulus, said billionaire investor George Soros.
“Germany itself remains relatively unaffected by the deepening depression that is enveloping the eurozone,” Soros said in a speech at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt. “I expect, however, that by the time of the elections, Germany will also be in recession.”
European leaders are seeking to exit their debt crisis by cutting spending while the European Central Bank has stopped short of outright bond-buying programs like those in the U.K. and U.S. Germany’s exports will probably suffer from lower demand in Europe and a weaker yen as the Bank of Japan joins peers in engaging in so-called quantitative easing, Soros said.
Editor's Note: Billionaires Dump Stocks. Prepare for the Unthinkable.
“The monetary policy pursued by the eurozone is out of sync with the other major currencies,” Soros said. “The others are engaged in quantitative easing. The Bank of Japan was the last holdout, but it changed sides recently.”
The BOJ said last week it will double the monetary base by the end of 2014 through purchases of government bonds, in Japan’s biggest-ever round of asset buying.
In July, ECB President Mario Draghi declared that central bank was prepared to buy unlimited quantities of government bonds if that meant saving the euro. At the same time, his pledge is tied to conditions so stringent that no country has yet asked him to print money on its behalf and the euro region’s economy is still mired in recession.
Soros also reiterated a call for Germany to back the issuance of joint debt by European countries to lower their borrowing costs or leave the euro area.
Germany “went too far” on pushing Cyprus to impose losses on depositors as part of a rescue for the country as European banks rely on savings as a source of funding and that could undermine the banking industry, he said.
Editor's Note: Billionaires Dump Stocks. Prepare for the Unthinkable. |
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told FBI Director James Comey to investigate whether Hillary Clinton lied to Congress when she said she didn’t send or receive classified information on her secret email server.
Mr. Comey told the committee Mrs. Clinton didn’t lie to the FBI, but he hasn’t looked into whether she lied to Congress. He said he needed an official referral to do that.
“You’ll have one in the next few hours,” Mr. Chaffetz promised.
Mr. Comey was on Capitol Hill to defend his investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s use of a secret server to conduct her official business, which he said was “extremely careless,” and his conclusion that despite that, no prosecutor would pursue the case.
The FBI director — a former prosecutor himself — said the difference between Mrs. Clinton and others who have been prosecuted for mishandling classified information is that she didn’t intend to break the law.
But Mr. Comey did repeatedly expose untruthful statements Mrs. Clinton made publicly when she defended her email server. He said she did, in fact, send and receive information marked classified; she did not turn over thousands of work-related messages to the government; and her lawyers, despite her assurances to the public, did not read each message.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
Lexmark, HP Using Patent Law To Try To Block Replacement Ink Cartridges From The Market
from the there-is-no-free-market-in-black-gold dept
Want to know why it would cost $5.9 billion to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool with printer ink? Perhaps look to our beloved US patent laws. Five years ago, we pointed out that HP was claiming that refill ink cartridges for its printers violated its patents , and that it was building up a team of scientists not to invent anything new -- but to analyze the chemical makeup of competitor's ink to see if they could hit them with a patent infringement lawsuit.Every so often, we hear another bunch of claims from HP about ink refillers infringing on its patents, and just a few weeks ago, we heard that HP was asking the US ITC to block the import of refill ink cartridges from foreign competitors, claiming patent infringement.Not to be left out, it looks like HP competitor Lexmark is getting into the game as well, and has also asked the ITC to bar the import of ink refills from 24 companies . Lexmark is also suing those same companies in court, showing once again how the ITC loophole gives companies two bites at the same apple.Of course, it's fascinating to see Lexmark jump into the patent infringement game on ink refills. After all, it famously tried and failed to use the DMCA and copyright law to stop ink refills. It was right after that when HP started using patent claims, so it looks like it took a bit of time for Lexmark to get together a patent plan.Of course, would it be nice if, rather than relying on government granted monopolies to block perfectly legitimate competition, these companies actually competed in the marketplace? Or is that too much to ask?
Filed Under: ink, patents, printers
Companies: hp, itc, lexmark |
MY MENTAL DEPARTURE FROM WATCHTOWER
My name is Cliff (‘Fifth’), 29, I am a 2nd generation Jehovah’s Witness from California, USA. In this article, I share my experience within the Watchtower organization.
I was officially disfellowshipped this year, April 2016. During that time, I began doing independent research about the organization. By June 2016 I was fully awake to the truth about ‘The Truth.’
In the following video I highlight a bit of my background as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the numerous ‘privileges’ that I had within the organization, and the events that led to my eventual departure, both physically and mentally.
My aim in making this video is to share my personal story in the hopes of helping others who may find themselves in a similar situation, to help them realize that they are not alone in this conflict. It is my sincere hope that this video is useful to somebody. |
Our grass-roots agitation and protest movement to get the government to stop vacillating and put more resources into the economy is reaching its final phase. Turning health, security, transport, education, fun and farming into professionally-directed profit-motivated industries has been a start, but there are a few activities which are still under erratic individual control. We’ve outlined the following demands in order to ensure progress, efficiency and growth reach their peaks:
Sex All sexual intercourse must take place in licensed and approved clinics under the supervision of properly qualified experts. No longer will sex, a primary force for social change, be left to untutored novices. For a fee partners will be guided through the necessary steps for productive intercourse, trained in proper posturing and then, upon certification, allowed to operate their procreative machinery in a safe and responsible fashion.
Conversation This unproductive, unprofitable behaviour should come under official auspices as soon as possible. Regulated ‘conversation shops’ should be allowed to operate in high streets, or, if necessary, in mobile units, in which participants can choose topics to debate and facts to exchange under supervision and guidance. Topics of conversation will be divided into various levels of sophistication, access to which will be through certification. In the event that consumers require home conversations, internet-providers and ‘take-out’ delivery services will meet demand.
Child-Rearing Dating has already entered the free-market, pornography has been a commodity since time began, and we envisage further growth in managed romantic encounters. Actual sex, as we have seen, should be integrated into the economy in a short time and professionally supervised birth has long been an economically viable activity. It only remains for the few years between parturition and responsible schooling to be regulated and opened up to market forces. The ideal means in which this will be eventuated is through the internet; successful and approved dating will lead to contributions of sperm and egg to child-rearing clinics, where rational skill-acquisition and socialisation can take place in a properly controlled environment. Parents will be able to enjoy the process on youtube.
Relationships Social life is, of course, well on its way to becoming a profitable market-concern, but we believe it hasn’t gone nearly far enough. For one, have you noticed how hard it is to find ratings on all your friends and lovers? How on earth do you know how well someone is going to perform in bed, or how trustworthy they are as a companion unless you can dial up their stats on an app? Everyone must be rated, for everything, all the time—not only to enable high ratings to be available to rent or buy, but to make sure the world behaves.
Bodily Functions The liver, heart, lungs, kidneys, bladder, bowels and glands have been interfering with productivity for too long. Their disruption of human functioning in a rational wealth-maximising society will come to an end when they are replaced with cheap, serviceable, manufactured parts. This will aid both production — as users will be able to turn off digestion, excretion and inappropriate hormonal urges during working hours; and consumption — as services such as blood processing, blood circulation, air-filtering and enzyme production will incur a fee. Consumers will either pay for each secreted hormone, synthesised protein, urination and heartbeat on a pay-as-you go basis, via installed meters, or will be sent a monthly bill for the use of their body parts.
So come demonstrate with us at the next G20 meeting, when we’ll take to the streets, and agitate for MORE ECONOMIC GROWTH! Let’s turn our DREAMS into things we can rate, copy, print and save-for-later. Let’s convert the QUIVERINGS OF THE INNERMOST into parcelled up things. Let’s make the whole UNIVERSE into something we can package up, possess and SELL!
See Belly Up! for more information on how YOU can make a difference. |
This is the first in a series of posts summarizing the Open Philanthropy review of the evidence on the impacts of incarceration on crime. The full report is available in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats.
About when Chloe Cockburn joined Open Philanthropy to spearhead our grantmaking for criminal justice reform, I was tasked with reviewing the research on whether reducing the number of people in American jails and prisons might actually increase crime. In effect, we at Open Philanthropy asked ourselves: what if we’re wrong? What if our grantees win reforms that cut the number of people behind bars, and that pushes the crime rate up? How likely is that? And how likely is it that any increase would be large enough to overshadow the benefits of decarceration, which include taxpayer savings and expanded human freedom?
It may seem strange to launch a grantmaking program even as we question its empirical basis. But Open Philanthropy had already invested significant time in studying criminal justice reform as a cause. And practical decisions must always be made in the face of incomplete information, forcing people and organizations to exercise what Herbert Simon called “bounded rationality.” It can be boundedly rational to act on the information gathered so far, even as we gather more.
The final report reaches two major conclusions:
I estimate, that at typical policy margins in the United States today, decarceration has zero net impact on crime outside of prison. That estimate is uncertain, but at least as much evidence suggests that decarceration reduces crime as increases it. The crux of the matter is that tougher sentences hardly deter crime, and that while imprisoning people temporarily stops them from committing crime outside prison walls, it also tends to increase their criminality after release. As a result, “tough-on-crime” initiatives can reduce crime in the short run but cause offsetting harm in the long run.
Empirical social science research—or at least non-experimental social science research—should not be taken at face value. Among three dozen studies I reviewed, I obtained or reconstructed the data and code for eight. Replication and reanalysis revealed significant methodological concerns in seven and led to major reinterpretations of four. These studies endured much tougher scrutiny from me than they did from peer reviewers in order to make it into academic journals. Yet given the stakes in lives and dollars, the added scrutiny was worth it. So from the point of view of decision makers who rely on academic research, today’s peer review processes fall well short of the optimal.
The rest of this post elaborates on those conclusions.
The scale of incarceration in the U.S.
Long ago when the world was young, I followed my girlfriend to Philadelphia. Biking to work, I sometimes noticed, embedded in the drab urban fabric of asphalt and rowhouses, a massive, crenelated, slit-windowed, medieval fortress. Not till 2015, when I returned with my family, did I learn that it was the former Eastern State Penitentiary, an old prison built on the theories of a criminal justice reform movement of 200 years ago. It is a fantastic museum now: you must go. When we visited, we finished our self-guided audio tours in an interior courtyard, where inmates were once permitted to exercise. Now installed there is the Big Graph, a sculpture that puts America’s incarceration rate in historical and global perspective. This photograph of the Big Graph shows prisoners per 100,000 Americans by decade for 1900–2010:
In 1970, 196,000 people resided in American prisons, and another 161,000 in jails, which worked out to 174 inmates per 100,000 people. In 2015, 1.53 million people lived in U.S. prisons and 728,000 in jails, or 673 per 100,000. The next photo captures the side of that tall red bar, which depicts prisoners per 100,000 residents by country in 2010:
In fact, the U.S. may be #2 behind North Korea, but that country is presumably left off the Big Graph for lack of reliable data.
Experts disagree about what caused the incarcerated population to mushroom. John Pfaff of the Fordham School of Law sees a change in prosecutor behavior as key: prosecutors file more charges per arrest than they did in the 1970s. Alfred Blumstein and Allen Beck, on the other hand, assign roughly equal responsibility to increased commitments per arrests, which prosecutors would have contributed to, and lengthened prison stays. Regardless, I think there is little doubt that a “tough on crime” movement, including the “war on drugs” initiated by Richard Nixon, caused much of the expansion. Laws were passed to toughen sentences. More was spent on arresting people and keeping them in prison. For whatever reasons of principle and politics, prosecutors became more aggressive. And there was a racial dimension: the newly imprisoned were disproportionately black.
The more practical question for Open Philanthropy is not about the causes of the rise, but the consequences of a fall. Putting fewer people behind bars should expand liberty and save government money. But might it also increase crime? Or might it reduce crime, if the prison experience is itself a source of criminality?
I focus on how incarceration affects crime outside prison, and thus neglect that putting more people in prison almost certainly raises incidence of crime in. I do this for several reasons. I found no rigorous studies of how much crime the marginal prisoner (the sort of person most likely to go free if decarceration initiatives prevail) commits while in prison. Also, neglecting the potential benefit of lower in-prison crime biases my conclusion in the conservative direction: against the operating beliefs of Open Philanthropy. Finally, I think some people view crime in prison as less morally important than crime outside, part of deserved punishment. (No one said prison would be fun.) Though I disagree, to the extent that I conclude that decarceration does net good even under their moral calculus, my conclusion should be more persuasive to larger group; and progress on criminal justice reform today is possible precisely because of pragmatic coalition-building among people of diverse world views.
A good way to organize our inquiry is to start with a simple observation. Incarceration can be thought of as affecting crime before, during, and after: before, in that stiffer sentences may deter crime before it would happen; during, in that people inside prison cannot physically commit crime outside; and after, in that having been incarcerated may shift one’s chance of reoffending. The first is called “deterrence,” the second “incapacitation.” The third I call simply “aftereffects.” Conceptually, the aftereffects channel is most diverse. Prisons may rehabilitate inmates, by “scaring them straight,” or teaching them job skills, or treating their addictions. Or doing time may be criminogenic. Having been imprisoned may make it harder for people to find legal employment, may psychologically alienate them from mainstream society, and may strengthen their social bonds with criminals, all of which could raise recidivism. (Aftereffects are conventionally termed “specific deterrence,” on the idea that having been in prison strengthens deterrence: once bitten twice shy. But I think it’s better to approach the evidence with theory-neutral terminology.)
In reviewing studies that study one or more of these channels from incarceration to crime, I restricted myself to potentially high-credibility studies: ones that exploit randomized experiments, or else “quasi-experiments” that arise incidentally from the machinations of the criminal justice system. And I put special weight on the eight studies whose data and computer code I could touch with my own hands, as it were. As I mentioned, my replication and reanalysis of these studies led me to revise my readings of some. (Section 3.3 of the full report describes my search for data and code.)
On the basis of the evidence, gathered, checked, and distilled, here is my reasoning that decarceration in the United States today is unlikely to increase crime:
In short, it seems, incarceration’s “before” effect is mild or zero while the “after” typically cancels out the “during.”
Since my conclusion is uncertain and may be biased—or may at least look that way—I also develop a devil’s-advocate position. From the evidence gathered here, how could one most persuasively contend that decarceration would endanger the public? I think the strongest argument would discard as biased my critical reanalysis of the two studies finding mild deterrence (item 1). It would then invoke the minority of aftereffects studies that contradict item 3 above, notably the Ilyana Kuziemko and Peter Ganong papers finding harmful aftereffects in Georgia (setting aside my critical reanalyses of those as well). Then, incarceration would be seen as reducing crime before, during, and after.
This table summarizes the two views on the marginal impact of decarceration on crime outside prison in the U.S. today:
My best synthesis of the evidence Devil’s-advocate view Deterrence 0 + (mild) Incapacitation + + Aftereffects – + Total 0 + Note: “mild” = elasticity of –0.1.
If the devil’s advocate is right that putting fewer people in prison causes more crime outside of prison, the increase might still be small enough that most people would view the tradeoff as worthwhile. After all, decarceration saves taxpayers money, increases the liberty of and economic productivity of erstwhile prisoners, and reduces disruption of their families and communities. To explore this possible trade-off, the report closes with a cost-benefit analysis.
Overall, I estimate the societal benefit of decarceration at $92,000 per person-year of averted confinement. That figure is dominated by taxpayer savings and the money value of gained liberty. The crime increase perceived by the devil’s advocate translates into $22,000–$92,000, depending on the method used to express crime’s harm in dollars. I argue that the methodology behind the high end of that range is less reliable. It works from surveys that asked people how much they would pay for a 10% crime cut, even though most Americans do not know how much crime occurs near them, thus what it would mean to cut it 10%. But if we accept the high figure, then in the worst-case valuation of the worst-case scenario plausibly rooted in the evidence, decarceration is about break-even. Given the great uncertainties in that calculation—about the crime impact of decarceration, the money value of crime victimization, the value of liberty—the precision in the worst-case assessment ($92,000 in costs, $92,000 in benefits) is an illusion. The worst case should be viewed as roughly break-even.
This spreadsheet contains a big table that lists all studies I reviewed, what the studies find, and what I take away from them. A separate tab holds the cost-benefit analysis, which you can modify. In the next three posts, I’ll go into more depth on the research on deterrence, incapacitation, and aftereffects.
Code and data for all replications are here (800 MB). The cost-benefit spreadsheet is here.
Note
[1] Among the five studies—Green and Winik (2010), Loeffler (2013), Nagin and Snodgrass (2013), Mueller-Smith (2015), and Roach and Schanzenbach (2015)—only the last dissents. It is also the one where the quality of the quasi-experiment is least certain. |
"He has said the case against him was retaliation for his political activism, including his memorializing the thousands of children who died in schools that collapsed during a 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province.
"He said on Wednesday that the authorities had given him no indication of why he had received his passport now. 'I only can say why not? They have promised for the past four years to give it back. Now finally they gave it to me,' he said in a telephone interview. 'They always say it's in the process but I just need to be patient.'
"The confiscation of his passport meant that Mr. Ai was forced to organize his overseas exhibitions remotely, including shows at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and at Alcatraz, the former prison in San Francisco Bay." |
Bill Belichick dodged a bullet with Spygate. But what if Spygate was all a diversion for a far more nefarious plot? A plot in which the behooded coach is sending his associates across the country to destroy all those who have ever wronged him.
I investigated Belichick's scheme. And I think what I found will shock you.
Target: New York Jets
Bill Belichick does not like the New York Jets. This much you must know. The Jets originally gave him the head-coaching job in 1997, but then pulled it out from under him when they were able to pry Bill Parcells from New England, busting Belichick back to assistant. As an assistant under Parcells, Belichick's contract gave him the Jets' head-coaching job if Parcells resigned. Parcells did just that in 1999 -- unexpectedly -- so he could step into the Jets' front office ... and lock his talented assistant into the job before he had any opportunity to interview elsewhere (namely, New England).
Or at least that's how I interpret the history.
Now, here is where things get interesting: Belichick did not take kindly to Parcells' attempt to manipulate his career. So he humiliated the Jets. At the press conference to announce him as the new head coach of the Jets ... he quit as head coach of the Jets. Well-played.
Then he took the head job with the Patriots, even though he was still under contract with the Jets. The Patriots were forced to give the Jets a first-round pick as compensation; Belichick allowed this so the Jets would think they had the upper hand.
Then he waited. Baited.
His first season in New England, the Patriots went 5-11. Meanwhile, the Jets -- coached by Al Groh -- were 9-7 and beat the Patriots twice by a combined score of 54-36.
The trap was set. And Belichick commenced humiliating the Jets on the field. From 2001 to 2004, the Patriots finished with the best record in the AFC East every season and won three Super Bowls. Meanwhile, the Jets went a mediocre 35-29 and had three forgettable playoff exits.
But something inside Belichick (a jet-black soul and a hankering for evil, perhaps) told him that was not enough, that the Jets had not suffered enough for what they had done to him. So he pulled his young defensive assistant, Eric Mangini, aside after the 2005 season and convinced him to join his plot to destroy the Jets. Only this time ... from within.
This is how I imagine the conversation may have gone.
Belichick: "Eric, speak with me." (Belichick says this while stroking a hairless cat in a gray hoodie and sitting in a throne in his volcano-top lair.)
Mangini: "Yes, master."
Belichick: "I want you to take the Jets head-coaching job and destroy them from the inside, piece by piece until there is nothing left. But to throw people off the scent, we will pretend we dislike each other. Also, your first season will be a great success. Then, the destruction will begin."
Mangini: "Yes, master. Yes."
They both laugh maniacally. (Although Belichick's laugh is far more maniacal.)
Target: Cleveland Browns
Here's the thing: Mangini's mission was not the first such attack on another franchise. There are so many moving parts to Belichick's scheme, and a true evil mastermind doesn't let anyone else in on the reach of the plan.
Belichick's first such dispatch was in 2005 after the Patriots won their third Super Bowl. He sent Romeo Crennel -- quiet, unassuming, lumpy Romeo Crennel: the perfect Trojan horse -- to Cleveland to destroy the Browns. The Browns, the TEAM THAT HAD DARED TO FIRE BILL BELICHICK! In fact, while Belichick gave much time and attention to destroying the Jets, he hates the Browns far more. It was his dismissal in Cleveland in 1995 after five years on the job that caused that switch inside him to flip. That caused him to come over to the dark side from the darkish-gray side.
You know, or at least that's the way I interpret it.
Anyway, that's exactly how it went down. And Crennel destroyed the Browns as thoroughly as Belichick had asked, going 24-40 in four seasons at the helm and sometimes even losing to the Bengals. The Bengals! Well-played, again.
And then, after Cleveland finally could take no more Crennel, Belichick went in with a perfectly timed finishing move: Eric Mangini.
Game, set, match.
Target: Notre Dame
Do not think Belichick's revenge scheme is limited only to the professional ranks. Not at all. He can get to someone who has wronged him anywhere and at any time.
This is what caused him to send Charlie Weis to destroy Notre Dame in what is perhaps Belichick's finest bit of sabotage.
You see, Bill Belichick's father was a scout and coach for Navy from 1956 to 1989. Over his final 26 years at Navy, the Midshipmen didn't beat Notre Dame. Not once. Total humiliation.
But then Belichick dispatches his trusted assistant Charlie Weis to South Bend and two short years later ... Navy 46, Notre Dame 44.
Perfectly executed.
Target: Denver Broncos
While Belichick was executing his master plan across the country, he got too extended and let things fall apart at home. The Patriots dynasty ended. Their Waterloo? Denver, January 2006. Seeking a fourth Super Bowl title in five years, the Patriots suffered a humiliating defeat to the Broncos in the playoffs. It was over.
But Belichick's thirst for revenge was not.
So this year he sent Josh McDaniels out to Colorado to destroy the Broncos as payback. And the eager, young lieutenant got right to work, ridding Denver of its franchise quarterback with stunning alacrity. In fact, McDaniels is working so quickly and effectively, he is liable to tip people off to what is really going on.
This is not Mangini starting strong with the Jets in 2006 as a diversion. McDaniels is going right to work. I mean, really. There might be nothing left of the Broncos by Week 1. Is McDaniels too young and inexperienced for the job? Or is Belichick just getting impatient and sloppy?
Target: Kansas City
Evidence that it might be the latter: Belichick has now dispatched his first player, Matt Cassel, to take down another franchise.
As you'll recall, Cassel had not started a football game since high school before Week 2 of last season. And then he played well only against the poorest teams on New England's schedule, repeatedly getting bailed out by the likes of Randy Moss and Wes Welker.
And why was it that this inexperienced, flawed quarterback got to play for such a talented team in the first place? Because Tom Brady got hurt. And what team hurt Tom Brady? Exactly. Kansas City.
Duh-duh-DUMMMMM.
It's all so obvious now.
Or at least it is to me.
DJ Gallo is the founder and sole writer of the sports satire site SportsPickle.com. He also is a regular contributor to ESPN The Magazine and has written for The Onion and Cracked. His first book, "SportsPickle Presents: The View from the Upper Deck," is on sale now. |
Motivation
Last week we were discussing, among many other things, ways to speed up Firefox during startup. One obvious option was to move more of our I/O off of the main thread. This in turn involves making more code asynchronous, and asynchronous code is simply harder to manage. Mike Shaver mentioned something about "futures" as a possible way to handle the extra complexity, and then the discussion moved on to something else.
What exactly is a future anyway?
I'm not exactly an expert, but I've not just used futures, I've written my own implementations in JavaScript and even Object Pascal (in hindsight I'm not sure the latter was a good idea, but it was certainly an interesting exercise). Futures seem esoteric, but they really shouldn't be -- the idea is really quite simple. In this post I'll try to explain what futures are and how they can be used to make asynchronous programming easier.
In the simplest form, a future works like an IOU. I can't give you the money you've asked for right now, but I can give you this IOU. At some point in the future, you can give me the IOU and I'll give you the money -- if I have it. If I don't have it yet, then you can wait until I do. I get paid on Friday.
Alternatively there's the dry cleaner metaphor. You drop your clothes off on Monday and the clerk gives you a ticket that you can use later to reclaim your clothes after they've been cleaned. The clothes will be ready on Tuesday morning, but if you show up too early, you'll have to wait. On the other hand, if there's no hurry, you can just do other stuff on Tuesday and show up on Wednesday with a reasonable expectation that they'll be ready when you arrive. You'll just hand your ticket over, collect your clothes, and be on your way.
A future is similar to the IOU (or the dry cleaning ticket). It gives you a way to represent the result of a computation that has not yet completed, and it allows you to access that result once it becomes available. So you can call a function which starts some asynchronous process but doesn't wait for it to finish. Nevertheless the function can return you a useful result: a future which can be used to claim the real result later.
A simple example
Of course if you ask for the result too soon, you'll have to wait. On the other hand, if the result becomes available before you want it, then it will wait for you.
Here's an example of what this might look like in pseudo-JavaScript:
function doStuff() {
var cleanClothesFuture = dryCleaner.dropOff(dirtyClothes);
runErrands();
work();
eat();
watchTv();
sleep();
var cleanClothes = cleanClothesFuture.get(); // block if the result is not ready yet
}
Compare this to the traditional way we'd handled this in JavaScript, using a callback:
var cleanClothes = null;
function doStuff() {
dryCleaner.dropOff(dirtyClothes, function (clothes) { cleanClothes = clothes; });
runErrands();
work();
eat();
watchTv();
sleep();
}
A more complicated example
These examples are not one hundred percent semantically identical, but they should be close enough to illustrate the point. I contend that the first function is easier to write, easier to read, and easier to reason about. I also contend that the difference isn't enough to get excited about. It's when things get more complicated that futures become really useful.
Imagine that I have a web page that sends an AJAX request to a server and then displays the results in an IFRAME -- and furthermore does it automatically on page load. I have to wait for both the AJAX request to return data and for the IFRAME to finish loading -- only then can I display the results. This can be done fairly simply using callbacks:
function showData(dataUrl, iframeUrl) {
var data = null;
var iframeBody = null;
tryToShowData
{ if (data && iframeBody) { showDataInIframe(data, iframeBody); } }
requestDataFromServer(dataUrl, function (response) {data = response.data; tryToShowData() });
insertIframeBody(iframeUrl, function (iframeDoc) {iframeBody = iframeDoc.body; tryToShowData() });
}
Now, imagine the same thing done with futures:
function showData(dataUrl, iframeUrl) {var dataFuture = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl);var iframeBodyFuture = insertIframeBody(iframeUrl);showDataInIframe(dataFuture.get(), iframeBodyFuture.get());
callAsap
callAsap()
Again, these two examples are not semantically equivalent -- notably there's no blocking in the first example. Now let's imagine that we had a way to turn an ordinary function into a new function which takes futures as arguments and which returns a future in turn. As soon as all the future arguments became available, the base function would be called automatically -- and once the base function completed, its result would be accessible through the future returned earlier. I'll call this capability "": call a function as soon as possible after all of its future arguments become available. Using, the previous example might be rewritten as:
function showData(dataUrl, iframeUrl) {
var dataFuture = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl);
var iframeBodyFuture = insertIframeBody(iframeUrl);
showDataInIframe.callAsap(dataFuture, iframeBodyFuture);
}
showDataInFrame
callAsap()
In this case we don't care about the return value for. This example is much closer in behavior to the earlier callback-based example. In fact, themethod would be implemented with callbacks underneath, but they would all be nicely abstracted away under the hood.
callAsap()
One of the nice things aboutis that it can nicely handle cases where you are waiting on more than one future. Imagine that you've asynchronously requested data from two different servers:
function showData(dataUrl1, dataUrl2, iframeUrl) {
var dataFuture1 = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl1);
var dataFuture2 = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl2);
showDataInIframe.callAsap(dataFuture1, dataFuture2, iframeBodyFuture);
}
Arrays of futures
This segues nicely into the next topic: Arrays of futures.
Imagine if you have not one, or two, or three futures, but rather an arbitrary number of futures. What we'd really like to have is a way to take an array of futures and produce from it a single future for an array of concrete values. Something like:
function showData(dataUrlArray, iframeUrls) {
// The "dataFutureArray" is a concrete array of futures.
var dataFutureArray = requestDataFromServers(dataUrlArray);
// The "dataArrayFuture" is a future for a concrete array of concrete values.
Future.createArrayFuture(dataFutureArray);
showDataInIframe.callAsap(dataArrayFuture, iframeBodyFuture);
}
var dataArrayFuture =
An advanced example
What this example might look like rewritten in callback style is left as an exercise to the reader.
OK, now for a more elaborate example. Imagine a function which retrieves the first page of Google search results for a particular query, and then goes through and re-orders the results based on its own ranking system. Furthermore, imagine that this ranking is computed based on the contents of each web page. We'll need to to make requests to many different servers for many different web pages. This will be fastest if we issue all the requests at once.
function search(query) {
// Take a concrete search result and return a future to a
// [searchResult, ranking] pair.
function requestWebPageAndRanking(searchResult) {
var webPageFuture = requestWebPage(searchResult.url);
var rankingFuture = computeRankingFromContent.callAsap(webPageFuture);
return Future.createArrayFuture([webPageFuture, relevanceFuture]);
}
// Take a concrete array of search results and return a future to
// an array of [searchResult, ranking] pairs, sorted by ranking.
function requestSearchResultsSortedByRanking(searchResultArray) {
var
rankingArrayFuture
=
Future.createArrayFuture(
[requestWebPageAndRanking(searchResult) for (searchResult in searchResultArray)]
);
return sortArraysByKeyIndex.callAsap(
rankingArrayFuture
, 1);
}
// Request search results, re-rank them, and then display them.
var searchResultArrayFuture = requestGoogleResults(query);
var
sortedRankingArrayFuture =
requestSearchResultsSortedByRanking
.callAsap(searchResultArrayFuture);
showSearchResults
.callAsap(sortedRankingArrayFuture);
}
In all fairness, this is not as simple as a synchronous blocking implementation. Keeping your arrays of futures and futures of arrays straight is a little bit taxing. Imagine what a callback model might look like, however, with callbacks inside callbacks. One advantage of using futures is that you can often write traditional blocking code and then in straightforward fashion translate that code into asynchronous code using futures.
Notes, in no particular order |
Martin Rose/Getty Images
During his nearly five years as manager of the United States national soccer team, Bob Bradley has been an extremely controversial figure.
Controversy has swirled around Bradley for reasons such as making some questionable national team selections, along with certain key players such as Jozy Altidore being unable to score at the World Cup.
Bradley has had some great moments as manager of the national team, such as winning the 2007 Gold Cup, reaching the 2009 Confederations Cup final and finishing first in Group C in the 2010 World Cup, among other things.
But after falling out of the 2010 World Cup to Ghana, Bradley's time as manager appeared to be up when US Soccer president Sunil Gulati ripped Bradley for his job in South Africa, saying, "I think the team's capable of more. I think the players know it. I think Bob knows it. And so at that level we're disappointed we didn't get to play another 90 minutes at least."
However, Bradley was retained as manager with a new four-year contract last August, and American fans continued to question exactly why was Bradley staying.
There were points such as the case of the retainment of former US manager Bruce Arena after he led the US to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals. Arena then led the US out of the World Cup in the 2006 World Cup group stage, leading to his dismissal.
Another interesting point against Bradley staying on as manager was that out of the 48 times that a manager returned to a national team to lead that nation to a World Cup, 25 of them fared worse in their second time around in the World Cup.
There was also a push to get former German coach Jurgen Klinsmann to become the coach after he declined the offer to manage the US in 2006.
However, preliminary talks between the two did not get very far, which allowed Bradley to stay on.
Since Bradley signed his new contract, the US have only won one match (against South Africa last November), drawn four matches and lost once.
In these matches, the US have failed to impress like they did against some similar opponents during Bradley's first term, such as wins over Mexico and at Honduras in World Cup qualifying, the win over Spain in the Confederations Cup and the great performance put up in last year's World Cup.
But in this year's Gold Cup, the United States will be expected to perform like they did in some of the most important matches of the first half of Bradley's regime.
This Gold Cup squad will contain many of the players that the US used in their earlier tournaments under Bradley, along with some young players that have impressed in recent friendlies.
The US will have players such as Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey playing for them throughout the tournament and will certainly look to take back the Gold Cup that Mexico took from them in 2009.
To add even more pressure on Bradley, if the United States fails to win the 2011 Gold Cup, they will not be able to participate in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.
After the United States was able to stun Spain to reach their first FIFA final in the 2009 Confederations Cup, there was an unprecedented buzz in the US for the national team, which translated into a massive attendance increase in the 2009 Gold Cup.
The success in the Confederations Cup was definitely a massive reason why Bradley was able to keep his position as US coach.
However, with the recent 4-0 thrashing given to them by the Spanish national team, there will be more pressure on Bradley and the US team to win this Gold Cup.
The questions such as the inclusion of Freddy Adu on this year's Gold Cup roster and why Jozy Altidore seems unable to score will certainly cause negative press for US Soccer, something that it can ill-afford.
For US Soccer, this is their best chance until World Cup qualification begins to make a big splash in the American media and can garner more fan interest. But a failure to win the Gold Cup will only hurt US Soccer's development.
That is something that Gulati knows all too well, and he knows that the US must win this Gold Cup.
If the United States fail to win the Gold Cup to secure participation in the Confederations Cup, Bradley will get the pink slip from Gulati, and we could see someone such as Klinsmann take over before World Cup qualification begins.
However, Bradley will probably keep his job if he wins the Gold Cup this year. Going forward, Bradley will only be fired if the United States has a terrible qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup, but that is extremely unlikely. |
Mother’s Day is right around the corner and kids always love making something extra-special to show their moms how much they love them. This simple craft is easy to assemble and it makes a great gift!
What You’ll Need:
For one flower photo frame:
1 5x7 piece of stretched canvas
1 5x7 piece of blue cardstock paper
1 5x2 piece of patterned green cardstock paper
1 piece of green craft foam
2 cupcake liners (design of your choice)
a picture of your child
glue
scissors
How To Make It
1. Lay down the piece of canvas. Glue the 5x7 sheet of blue cardstock paper to the piece of canvas. Then take the 5x2 piece of patterned green cardstock paper and glue it to the bottom of the canvas, covering the blue at the bottom.
2. Using scissors, cut a flower stem and two petals out of the green craft foam. Glue the stem and petals to the canvas.
You'll Also Love: Silly Embellished Portaits Project
3. Leave one cupcake liner as is and turn the other liner inside out. Glue the inside out liner inside the regular liner. This way, both the outside and the inside of the flower will show the patterned design of the cupcake liner.
4. Glue the cupcake liner to the top of the craft foam flower stem.
5. Cut the photo of your child into a circle the size of the cupcake liner base. Glue the photo in the centre of the liner. Allow to dry completely.
These flower frames are a super-special craft for kids to make. They'll make a great keepsake for years to come. Enjoy! |
Forget paid apps; there were some countries in which Android users couldn’t get any apps from the Android Market because it wasn’t yet available to them. There are now several countries – almost twice as many – that are able to go through the Android Market and find the best apps.
Google recently expanded Market support to a total of 46 countries, up from the 25 nations previously supported. Among the new countries are Brazil, Israel, and Thailand, countries that have had Android phones for some time without the primary source of getting apps. Users in these nations no longer have to rely on alternative markets to get apps.
In recent weeks, Google expanded paid apps support to Canadian users, and Australian carrier Optus finally opened up its market to paid apps. Surprisingly, Google still hasn’t expanded the list of countries permitted to sell apps (9) to match the number of countries able to purchase them (13).
Here’s the complete list of countries that should be able to access the Android Market.
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States
[Distimo] |
Image copyright AFP Image caption The value of a 100-bolivar note has dropped to just 2 US cents on the black market
The Venezuelan government has announced it will remove the country's highest-denomination banknote from circulation within 72 hours to combat contraband.
Central bank data suggests there are more than six billion 100-bolivar notes in circulation, making up almost half of all currency.
Venezuelans will have 10 days from Wednesday to exchange the notes for coins and new, higher-value bills.
President Nicolas Maduro said the move would stop gangs hoarding the notes.
But in India, a similar move to scrap high-value bank notes last month has caused major disruption.
'Mafia hoarding'
In a surprise announcement, Mr Maduro said on Sunday that the 100-bolivar note, worth about 2 US cents (£0.015) on the black market, would be taken out of circulation on Wednesday.
The president said the aim was to tackle transnational gangs which hoard the Venezuelan notes abroad, a move he has in the past described as part of the "economic war" being waged against his government.
He said the gangs held more than 300bn bolivares worth of currency, most of it in 100-bolivar notes.
President Maduro said there were "entire warehouses full of 100-bolivar notes in the [Colombian cities of] Cucuta, Cartagena, Maicao and Buaramanga".
Border closure
He said part of the plan was to block any of the 100-bolivar notes from being taken back into the country so the gangs would be unable to exchange their hoarded bills, making them worthless.
Image copyright Twitter Image caption The governing PSUV party published photos of what it said were warehouses where bolivars were being hoarded
"I have given the orders to close all land, maritime and air possibilities so those bills taken out can't be returned and they're stuck with their fraud abroad," he said speaking on television.
Venezuela's currency has fallen dramatically amid skyrocketing inflation.
On the black market, its value dropped by 55% against the US dollar just in the past month, and the International Monetary Fund estimates that next year's prices will rise by more than 2,000%.
Gangs can therefore buy up Venezuelan banknotes cheaply on the black market in exchange for dollars or Colombian pesos.
They then use the Venezuelan currency to buy subsidised goods in Venezuela, which they in turn sell at a profit in neighbouring Colombia.
Many Venezuelans living near the border buy Colombian pesos to purchase goods in Colombia which they cannot get in Venezuela due to chronic shortages.
Cash crunch?
President Maduro blames both the shortages and Venezuela's record inflation on "imperialist forces" he says are trying to bring down his government.
Image copyright EPA Image caption President Maduro made the surprise announcement during his weekly TV show
He said the aim of these "forces" was "to destabilise out economy and our society, to leave the country without 100-bolivar notes".
Analysts say the move is likely to worsen the cash crunch in Venezuela, where people have already been limited in the amount of cash they can take out at automated teller machines.
Venezuelans have only been given 10 days to exchange their 100-bolivar notes for new coins and bills ranging from 500 to 20,000 bolivars due to be introduced from 15 December.
Critics of Mr Maduro have predicted chaos and doubt that the facilities will be in place for people to exchange all their 100-bolivar notes.
"When ineptitude governs! Who would possibly think of doing something like this in December amid all our problems?" opposition leader Henrique Capriles wrote on Twitter (in Spanish). |
Unless a Canadian court decides otherwise, the ski jumper with the longest flight on record at Vancouver's Olympic facility will not attend the winter Games in February.
She is not allowed to compete.
Olympic ski jumping is a men's-only domain. Since the first winter Games in 1924, men have been swooping down snowy ramps at 55 m.p.h. and springing into flight – human rockets hurtling chin-first, hands thrown behind, and skis angled forward. With nothing but speed and their skis to aid them, they fly the length of a football field or farther – a feat of technical genius disguised in balletic grace.
But women can do it, too – the best often flying as far as men.
With women now included in such formerly all-male Olympic events as boxing, wrestling, bobsleigh, and luge, the last Olympic door closed to women is ski jumping.
But American ski jumper Lindsey Van – who set the record on the 90-meter jump when the Olympic venue opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, last year and is the reigning world champion – hasn't given up on prying that door open. It's a logical step for the 24-year-old, who, since age 7, has been soaring over Earth's mundane limits on what is possible.
She and more than a dozen other women jumpers from Slovenia to Norway hope to legally force the addition of women's jumping before the Games open Feb. 12. Their lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) contends that not allowing women to jump for gold is a form of discrimination under Canadian laws that prohibit gender discrimination in government activities.
A Canadian judge, last summer, agreed: It is discrimination.
But her ruling concluded that while VANOC is subject to those antidiscrimination laws, it can't control the events – that's the domain of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC voted in 2006 against including women's ski jumping in 2010 because it deemed there weren't enough high-level women to create competition worthy of the Olympics. Because the IOC isn't bound by Canadian law, the judge ruled, Canada is powerless to change the program.
So the jumpers' appeal asks Canada to refuse to hold the men's event unless both genders can compete.
When the appeal is heard Nov. 12 and 13, it will highlight not just women's battle to wipe out the last vestige of an old-boys-club Olympic culture, but also competing demands on the Olympic ideal:
•Allowing athletes to pursue success on the most visible world stage.
•Broadening the appeal of the Games among Gen-Xers interested in more extreme sports while keeping costs manageable.
•Satisfying TV, a key sponsor.
"IT'S A TEXTBOOK CASE OF DISCRIMINATION," says Anita DeFrantz, chair of the IOC's Women and Sports Commission. "This group of athletes is being told that they're not good enough, that there aren't enough women in the top level.... That's never been an issue before."
The IOC defends its position as preservation of the Olympic standard, saying the top women jumpers don't deserve the same gold that is awarded to figure skaters and alpine skiers who have risen to the top of far larger fields.
But the IOC's recent record of admitting both women's events (see chart) and disciplines with weak fields – such as bobsleigh and ski cross – suggests the issue is not as clear-cut as either side asserts.
More than 80 years after men's ski jumping debuted as one of six original Olympic sports, the International Ski Federation (FIS) – which stages ski events at the Olympics – voted in 2006 to recommend women's jumping for inclusion in the 2010 Games. The federation endorsed women's ski cross over ski jumping. Neither sport fully met the IOC criteria for inclusion. The IOC only approved ski cross, which had the required two world championships but less than half as many elite women as ski jumping. Men's ski jumping doesn't meet the criteria either, but was grandfathered in. Compounding suspicions of gender discrimination was the fact that FIS president Gian Franco Kasper told National Public Radio in 2005 that jumping was too dangerous for women, that it "seems to be not appropriate for the ladies from a medical point of view."
But Walter Sieber, a Canadian member of the IOC division that recommended not to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Games, denies that the decision had anything to do with gender – pointing to the IOC's decision this year to include women's boxing as evidence of the IOC's true colors.
While he admits that the top women jumpers are very competitive, he maintains that there aren't enough competitors at that level to warrant an Olympic sport.
The 2009 World Championships results support that view: The women's field of 36 had a 20-point gap between top competitors and weaker ones, while the men's field of 50 competitors finished closer together.
THE BOTTOM LINE, claim both those alleging and denying sex discrimination, is the hard fact that the multibillion-dollar Olympic machine is subject to the rising pressure of commercialism.
"What matters to the IOC is: Will the event sell tickets, will it sell TV time, is it popular?" asserts Jacqueline Hansen, a runner who was a member of the lobby that won a place for the women's marathon in the 1984 Olympics.
Since then, the sway of TV has become so great that Michael Phelps swam at 6 a.m. in Beijing – prime time in the US. TV may well have played into the IOC's decision to approve women's ski cross events for the 2010 games. A sort of motocross on snow, the sport is a variation on snowboard cross – an event introduced in the 2006 Torino Games that was a hit with NBC, which paid $1.5 billion for TV rights there and in Beijing.
Olympic officials do consider TV appeal in deciding on sports, confirms Mr. Sieber. In the era of IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, in the 1990s, he says, the emphasis was "to have many sports involved," but the expanding Games became unwieldy for organizers. In the current era, the bar for new events is higher – they must be "good for TV" and "an addition that enhances the program."
AMERICAN SKI JUMPER JESSICA JEROME, fresh from winning the US Nationals in Lake Placid, N.Y., last month, says she understands the commercial pressures on the IOC: "The Olympics for so long has been what Mom and Dad sit down to watch while the kids are out skateboarding or snowboarding – doing these things that are radical and rebellious."
But while she acknowledges that X-Games sports will increase viewership and revenue – benefiting all Olympic sports, ski jumping is no less daring. "I think it's one of the most ex-treme sports ... it's got that dangerous element, but it's also got that beautiful, elegant thing to it," she says.
BUT WHILE THE WOMEN jumpers recognize the need to grow the sport, they say they face discrimination at every level – a point supported by a 2009 book by Western European sports scholars, "Sport and Gender Matters in Western Countries."
"Barred from serious competition for decades because jumping was not deemed appropriate for females, women ski jumpers have not been able to establish the appropriate experience in international level training and competition and to gain the type of 'technical merit' required...." concluded a chapter on ski jumping that also notes women were jumping as early as the 1920s.
"Jumping is a very traditional European old-men type of sport. They think that women will take away the extremeness of it," says Ms. Jerome,
Women jumpers got their first international circuit in 2004, and were allowed to compete at world championships for the first time last year. But in a sport in which the best European men are treated like rock stars and pocket roughly $10,000 per win, the women are only allowed to compete on a secondary circuit that awards winners $500. And, says Ms. Jerome, women are treated very differently. She and her teammates have eaten meals with barn cats jumping on the table and slept above livestock stalls in lodging arranged by competition organizers.
Even after Ms. Van won world championships last year, the US Ski Team – facing an 18 percent budget cut – dropped all funding for women's jumping, and men's, too.
THE BRITISH COLUMBIA Court of Appeal must now decide whether VANOC should refuse to hold men's ski jumping unless women are allowed to compete.
VANOC attorney George McIntosh argued before Judge Lauri Ann Fenlon that as host, VANOC implements, but can't control, the Olympic program. And while she ultimately found in VANOC's favor, she put his argument into stark relief when she asked Mr. McIntosh if VANOC would plead the same point if blacks weren't allowed to compete in the Vancouver Olympics. His answer, after an awkward silence, was yes.
VANOC has encouraged the IOC to include women's ski jumping, and if that happened, officials say, the Vancouver machine would be able to accommodate the women.
Without that action at the IOC level, however, no one is sure what to expect if the court upholds the women's appeal.
"It's unprecedented," says McIntosh, who half jokes that to enforce such a ruling, "[The VANOC chief] would have to be standing at the top of the jump with a bayonet." • |
Former Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, center, speaks during a news conference to announce the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's donation of $51.2 million dollars to the New York City school system at Morris High School in the Bronx, New York, Wednesday, September 17, 2003. He is flanked by Joel Klein, former chancellor of the city's Department of Education and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
The following is an excerpt from Diane Ravitch’s book Reign of Error.
The education reform movement must be defined in terms of its ideology, its strategies and its leading members.
The “reformers” say they want excellent education for all; they want great teachers; they want to “close the achievement gap”; they want innovation and effectiveness; they want the best of everything for everyone. They pursue these universally admired goals by privatizing education, lowering the qualifications for future teachers, replacing teachers with technology, increasing class sizes, endorsing for- profit organizations to manage schools, using carrots and sticks to motivate teachers and elevating standardized test scores as the ultimate measure of education quality.
“Reform” is really a misnomer, because the advocates for this cause seek not to reform public education but to transform it into an entrepreneurial sector of the economy. The groups and individuals that constitute today’s reform movement have appropriated the word “reform” because it has such positive connotations in American political discourse and American history. But the roots of this so- called reform movement may be traced to a radical ideology with a fundamental distrust of public education and hostility to the public sector in general.
“Reform” is really a misnomer, because the advocates for this cause seek not to reform public education but to transform it into an entrepreneurial sector of the economy.
The “reform” movement is really a “corporate reform” movement, funded to a large degree by major foundations, Wall Street hedge fund managers, entrepreneurs and the US Department of Education. The movement is determined to cut costs and maximize competition among schools and among teachers. It seeks to eliminate the geographically based system of public education as we have known it for the past 150 years and replace it with a competitive market- based system of school choice — one that includes traditional public schools, privately managed charter schools, religious schools, voucher schools, for- profit schools, virtual schools and for- profit vendors of instruction. Lacking any geographic boundaries, these schools would compete for customers. The customers would choose to send their children and their public funding wherever they wish, based on personal preference or on information such as the schools’ test scores and a letter grade conferred by the state (based largely on test scores).
Public Schools for Sale?
Some in the reform movement, believing that American education is obsolete and failing, think they are promoting a necessary but painful redesign of the nation’s ailing schools. Some sincerely believe they are helping poor black and brown children escape from failing public schools. Some think they are on the side of modernization and innovation. But others see an opportunity to make money in a large, risk- free, government- funded sector or an opportunity for personal advancement and power. Some — a small but important number — believe they are acting rationally by treating the public education sector as an investment opportunity.
The corporate reform movement has its roots in an ideology that is antagonistic to public education. Partisans on the far right long ago turned against public schools, which they call “government schools.” As a matter of ideology, they do not believe that government can do anything right. From the time that the University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman introduced the idea of vouchers in 1955, his supporters embraced vouchers as the best school reform ever, because it would enable parents to take government money to a school of their choice, including private and religious schools. Voucher advocates have long argued that the money should follow the child to whatever institution the family chooses, be it public, private or religious. For years, they made the seductive pitch that parents should be “free to choose” (as Friedman put it) and that government should supply each family its share of the money and get out of the way. But for many years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, the idea of school choice was tainted because segregationists used it to evade desegregation in districts facing court- ordered desegregation.
The election results in state after state show that the public does not want to subsidize religious schools with its tax dollars. Voucher advocates do not accept that the public likes and supports its community public schools, free from any religious teachings, with doors open to all.
President Ronald Reagan, an admirer of Milton Friedman’s, supported vouchers but was never able to persuade Congress to go along. In state referenda, the public has consistently opposed vouchers. Every time vouchers were put to a public vote, they were defeated by large margins. As recently as 2012, voters in Florida decisively rejected a constitutional amendment to permit vouchers. Voucher proponents complain that the public doesn’t understand its own best interest and is misled by teachers’ unions, who are just protecting their jobs and power. The election results in state after state show that the public does not want to subsidize religious schools with its tax dollars. Voucher advocates do not accept that the public likes and supports its community public schools, free from any religious teachings, with doors open to all. So choice supporters continually parrot or manufacture a steady stream of bad news about public education to shake the public’s faith in public schools. However, even when polls show that people have a low opinion of American education, they nonetheless continue to have a high opinion of their own neighborhood schools.
Today’s reformers assert that “the money should follow the child” and they herald this as a bold new reform idea. But it is not new. It is the same idea that was behind vouchers more than half a century ago. Today, the same arguments are made by Governor Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, who wants the money to follow the child to any school (even schools that teach creationism as science), any online corporation, any for- profit vendor of educational services, regardless of experience, quality or qualifications. As public money is dispersed, so is public oversight and accountability for the spending of public money. Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan, eager to dismantle public education, proposed a formula for education funding based on this principle: “Any time, any place, any way, any pace.” Conservative governors in other states make the same arguments. [1] But there is nothing conservative about replacing a beloved and traditional community institution — the public school — with a marketplace of privately run schools and for- profit vendors. This is a radical project, not conservative at all.
The organizations that advocate for “reform” have names that are appealing and innocuous, like the American Federation for Children, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Better Education for Kids (B4K), Black Alliance for Educational Options, the education program at the Brookings Institution, the Center for Education Reform, Chiefs for Change, ConnCAN (and its spin- off, 50CAN, as well as state- specific groups like MinnCAN, NYCAN and RI- CAN), Democrats for Education Reform, the Education Equality Project, Education Reform Now, Educators 4 Excellence, EdVoice, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the National Council on Teacher Quality, New Leaders for New Schools, NewSchools Venture Fund, Parent Revolution, Stand for Children, Students for Education Reform, StudentsFirst, Teach for America, Teach Plus and a host of others. Many of these groups have overlapping membership on their boards and are funded by the same foundations. They exist in a giant echo chamber, listening and talking only to one another, dismissing the concerns of parents, teachers and communities.
The reformers are Republicans and Democrats. They include not only far- right Republican governors but some Democratic governors as well.
The reformers are Republicans and Democrats. They include not only far- right Republican governors but some Democratic governors as well. They include President Barack Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan, as well as Democratic mayors in such cities as Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles. Elected officials of both parties have signed on to an agenda that threatens the future of public education.
The aims of the corporate reform movement are supported by a broad array of think tanks, some purportedly liberal, some centrist, some on the right and some on the far right. These include the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Progress, the Center on Reinventing Public Education, Education Sector, the Thomas B.
Fordham Institute, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, the Goldwater Institute, the Heartland Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Koret Task Force at the Hoover Institution and Policy Innovators in Education Network, as well as a bevy of state- level public policy think tanks that support privatization. Many of these think tanks — both liberal and conservative — work closely together, co- sponsoring conferences and publications to advance their shared agenda. Major foundations handsomely fund the think tanks that promote the corporate reform ideology.
The corporate reform movement has co- opted progressive themes and language in the service of radical purposes. Advocating the privatization of public education is deeply reactionary. Disabling or eliminating teachers’ unions removes the strongest voice in each state to advocate for public education and to fight crippling budget cuts. In every state, classroom teachers are experts in education; they know what their students need and their collective voice should be part of any public decision about school improvement. Stripping teachers of their job protections limits academic freedom. Evaluating teachers by the test scores of their students undermines professionalism and encourages teaching to the test. Claiming to be in the forefront of a civil rights movement while ignoring poverty and segregation is reactionary and duplicitous.
The leading funders of the reform movement are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports charter schools and test- based teacher evaluation; the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which supports charter schools and trains urban superintendents in its managerial philosophy; and the Walton Family Foundation, which funds vouchers and charters.
The leading funders of the reform movement are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports charter schools and test- based teacher evaluation; the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which supports charter schools and trains urban superintendents in its managerial philosophy; and the Walton Family Foundation, which funds vouchers and charters. These powerful and wealthy foundations have overlapping interests. They subsidize many organizations in common, such as Teach for America (which recruits young college graduates to teach for two years in low- income schools), the KIPP charter schools and Parent Revolution (the chief advocates of the “parent trigger” idea). They jointly funded the digital learning policy statement issued by Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia, which promotes the proliferation of low- quality virtual charter schools. Many other wealthy foundations support the corporate reform agenda, including the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, the Robertson Foundation, the Fisher Foundation and the Anschutz Foundation, as well as fabulously rich individuals, including the Bezos family (Amazon.com), Reed Hastings (Netflix) and Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation).
The Gates Foundation is by far the largest foundation in the United States and possibly the world. It awards hundreds of millions of dollars in education grants every year. In addition to underwriting the expansion of charter schools, it invests heavily in test- based evaluation of teachers and merit pay. It has made grants to the biggest teachers’ unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association and also made grants to start groups of young teachers to challenge the teachers’ unions. It is difficult to find education organizations that have not been funded by the Gates Foundation. It underwrites “advocacy,” by subsidizing almost every major think tank in Washington, D.C. It supported the creation, evaluation and promotion of the Common Core State Standards, which have been adopted in almost every state. In addition, the Gates Foundation has joined in a partnership with the British publisher Pearson to develop online curriculum for teaching the Common Core standards. And the Gates Foundation underwrote the creation of a large database project to collect confidential student data with Wireless Generation, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation; critics fear that this information will be disclosed to vendors to market new products to schools and students.[2]
The corporate reform movement has a well- honed message: We are the reformers. We have solutions. The public schools are failing. The public schools are in decline. The public schools don’t work. The public schools are obsolete and broken.
The corporate reform movement has a well- honed message: We are the reformers. We have solutions. The public schools are failing. The public schools are in decline. The public schools don’t work. The public schools are obsolete and broken. We want to innovate. We know how to fix schools. We know how to close the achievement gap. We are leading the civil rights movement of our era. We want a great teacher in every classroom. Class size doesn’t matter. Teachers should be paid more if their students get higher scores. They should be fi red if their students don’t get higher scores. Teachers should have their seniority and tenure stripped from them because those things protect bad teachers. Bad teachers cause the achievement gap. Great teachers close the achievement gap. Teachers’ unions are greedy and don’t care about children. People who draw attention to poverty are just making excuses for bad teachers and failing public schools. Those who don’t agree with our strategies are defenders of the status quo. They have no solutions. We have solutions. We know what works. Testing works. Accountability works. Privately managed charter schools work. Closing schools with low test scores works. Paying bonuses to teachers to get higher scores works. Online instruction works. Replacing teachers with online instruction not only works but cuts costs while providing profits to edu-entrepreneurs who will spur further innovation.
It is a seductive message because it offers hope that someone knows how to fix difficult problems. They claim they not only know how to do it but are doing it. They express their message with clarity and certainty. Their message resonates with the major media and with the most powerful people in our society: billionaires, corporate executives, the leaders of major foundations, the president of the United States, the US secretary of education, Wall Street hedge fund managers, pundits and think tank opinion makers.
The corporate reformers don’t like local school boards, because they sometimes defer to the views of teachers and they squabble too much; school boards, they say, slow down decision making with public hearings and sometimes they make the wrong decisions. That is always a risk in a democracy; deliberative bodies are slow and sometimes make mistakes.
Corporate reformers want education decisions in the hands of a powerful executive who is immune to public opinion. They like the idea of a governor who appoints a commission to override the decisions of local school boards that resist charter schools.
Corporate reformers want education decisions in the hands of a powerful executive who is immune to public opinion. They like the idea of a governor who appoints a commission to override the decisions of local school boards that resist charter schools. They like the idea of a superintendent at the state level who has unlimited power to impose his (their) policies, especially closing public schools and opening charter schools. In urban districts, their preferred mode of governance is a mayor or superintendent who controls the schools and answers to no one. At the school level, they want principals who can hire and fire at will, without due process. Corporate reformers don’t like checks and balances. They want executives who can ignore the protests of parents, students, teachers and community leaders, no matter how loudly they complain and no matter how many show up at public hearings or protest at rallies.
It pays to be on the reform team, certainly much more than it does to be a public school teacher. When Chicago’s teachers went on strike in September 2012, the national media thought it shocking that the average Chicago teacher was paid $75,000 a year; they ignored the fact that Chicago teachers are compelled by law to live in Chicago and that this is not an outrageous salary for an educated, experienced professional who lives in a major city. Yet the media are indifferent when charter executives receive salaries of $300,000, $400,000, $500,000, to oversee a single school or a chain of small schools. The reformers are flush with cash from foundations and corporations. The Walton Family Foundation alone made school- reform grants of $159 million in 2011. Reformers often complain about the power and influence of the teachers’ unions, but the unions cannot match the resources of the Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, as well as the many other foundations that march in lockstep with them, plus individual billionaires and millionaires who support candidates for state and local school board races. (The Gates and Walton foundations alone spend more than $500 million annually on education projects, which is more than ten times what unions spend to support civil rights groups and other allies.) When you combine the wealth of the big foundations with the financial and political clout of the US Department of Education, they are a mighty force.[3] The “reformers” are the status quo.
For an ambitious person, being part of the corporate reform movement offers not only access to money but an accelerated route to professional success.
For an ambitious person, being part of the corporate reform movement offers not only access to money but an accelerated route to professional success. Graduates of the Broad Superintendents Academy, an unaccredited program created by the Broad Foundation to teach Eli Broad’s management style of corporate reform, are on a fast track to become superintendents of urban districts — and the Broad Foundation may enhance their salaries. Some of the graduates of this short- term program are now state superintendents. Many are in charge of urban districts.
The young person who joins up with Teach for America or one of the big charter chains becomes part of a powerful network. These organizations provide an escalator to the top that no ordinary teaching career can match. Teachers without these connections may work for years in their classrooms before they are even considered for department chair or assistant principal. Those who rise in the corporate reform movement are soon managing their own charter schools or assuming leadership roles in large urban districts or state education departments, some before they reach the age of 30.
Wall Street hedge fund managers have their own organization, called Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). DFER raises money for candidates and elected officials whom it likes and it doesn’t like them unless they agree to the corporate reform agenda, especially the expansion of charter schools and the imposition of teacher evaluation systems based on test scores (though not for teachers in the charter schools it supports). At the inaugural meeting of DFER in 2005, the speaker for the event was a promising young senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. When Obama ran for president in 2008, his chief education spokesperson was Linda Darling- Hammond of Stanford University. But when Obama was elected, he chose Arne Duncan as secretary of education. Duncan not only was his friend but was recommended by DFER. [4]
In states with a Republican governor and a Republican supermajority in the legislature, the measures to privatize education advanced rapidly.
Arne Duncan is one of the recognized leaders of the corporate reform movement who implemented many of its ideas when he was superintendent of schools in Chicago. Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, is another national leader. He created an organization called the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which actively promotes vouchers, charter schools, for- profit charter schools, virtual learning and for- profit online corporations, as well as testing and accountability tied to test scores. In states with a Republican governor and a Republican supermajority in the legislature, the measures to privatize education advanced rapidly. In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder promoted legislation to allow emergency managers to take over fiscally troubled districts; in two small school districts, the emergency managers closed the public schools and gave the students to a for- profit charter school chain (the law was repealed in 2012 by Michigan voters, but Snyder left the emergency managers and their decisions in place). Governor Mitch Daniels and the Indiana legislature authorized vouchers, for- profit charter schools, for- profit cyber- charters and a test- based teacher accountability system. Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana pushed through sweeping legislation in 2012 that offered vouchers to more than half the students in the state and authorized the opening of many new charter schools; in addition, students will be able to take their state money and spend it in almost any place that calls itself a vendor of educational services. The money to support the alternatives to public education was to be taken out of the budget for public schools, until state courts ruled it unconstitutional to do so. The Louisiana reform legislation ties teachers’ evaluations to the test scores of their students, but teachers in charter schools and voucher schools do not need to be certified or subject to the same requirements, as is the case in many other states and districts.
When the Louisiana legislation was hurriedly passed, it was hailed by a group of state superintendents called Chiefs for Change as “student- centered reforms” that “will completely transform Louisiana and its students.” [5] Chiefs for Change is affiliated with Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. It describes itself as a coalition of state leaders who share a “zeal for education reform.” Its members include the state superintendents in Rhode Island, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Maine, New Jersey and New Mexico.
Much of the legislation for the education reform movement in states with conservative governors or legislatures comes from a shadowy group called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council).
Much of the legislation for the education reform movement in states with conservative governors or legislatures comes from a shadowy group called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council). ALEC stayed out of the public eye until 2012, when a shooting in Florida brought it unwanted national attention. A black teenager named Trayvon Martin was killed by a man who said he was defending himself in accordance with Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which was based on model legislation written by ALEC. ALEC was founded in 1973 to advance privatization and free- market principles. Its membership includes some 2,000 state legislators. Funded by scores of major corporations and philanthropists, ALEC writes model legislation, which its members bring to their state legislatures. Many states have adopted ALEC model laws, simply inserting the name of the state into the proposed legislative language. ALEC does not like public schools or unions. ALEC likes vouchers and charter schools. It wants to eliminate tenure and seniority and to encourage paths into teaching that don’t involve getting a license or pedagogical training. ALEC likes for- profit schools, especially cyber- charters. It promotes “parent trigger” laws to enable privatizers to convince parents to sign petitions that will turn their schools over to charter managers. [6]
The most unexpected supporter of corporate reform was President Barack Obama. Educators enthusiastically supported Obama, expecting that he would eliminate the noxious policies of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind. They assumed, given his history as a community organizer and his sympathy for society’s least fortunate, that his administration would adopt policies that responded to the needs of children, rather than concentrating on testing and accountability.
The first big surprise for educators occurred when President Obama abandoned Linda Darling-Hammond and selected Arne Duncan, who had run the low- performing schools of Chicago, as secretary of education. The second big surprise — shock, actually — happened when the Obama administration released the details of Race to the Top, its major initiative, which was designed in Secretary Duncan’s office with the help of consultants from the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation and other advocates of high- stakes testing and charter schools.
The most unexpected supporter of corporate reform was President Barack Obama. Educators enthusiastically supported Obama, expecting that he would eliminate the noxious policies of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind.
There was very little difference between Race to the Top and NCLB. The Obama program preserved testing, accountability and choice at the center of the federal agenda. Race to the Top was even more punitive than NCLB. It insisted that states evaluate teachers in relation to the test scores of their students, which made standardized testing even more important than it was under NCLB. It encouraged states to authorize more privately managed charter schools, an initiative that President George W. Bush would never have been able to get through a Democratic- controlled Congress. It endorsed competition and choice, which were traditional themes of the Republican Party. The very concept of a “race to the top” repudiates the traditional Democratic Party commitment to equity; it suggests that the winner will “race to the top,” leaving the losers far behind. But a commitment to equity means that federal resources should be allocated based on need, not on a competition between the swift and the slow.
Because Race to the Top was handsomely funded, states eagerly competed for a share of its $5 billion. President Obama spoke out of both sides of his mouth about this signature program. He said in his State of the Union address in 2011 that Race to the Top was not a topdown mandate (after all, states had volunteered to accept its mandates) but “the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities” (which was not true in any sense).
Even though Race to the Top made standardized testing more important than ever, President Obama spoke out against testing. In 2011, he said he was strongly opposed to teaching to the test. He said,
One thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching to the test. Because then you’re not learning about the world; you’re not learning about different cultures, you’re not learning about science, you’re not learning about math. All you’re learning about is how to fill out a little bubble on an exam and the little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test. And that’s not going to make education interesting to you. And young people do well in stuff that they’re interested in. They’re not going to do as well if it’s boring.
His critics agreed with him. The California teacher and blogger Anthony Cody wondered if the president knew that Race to the Top required states to tie teacher evaluations to test scores, that Secretary Duncan wanted to evaluate teacher preparation programs by the test scores of the students of the teachers they produced and that Obama’s Department of Education “is proposing greatly expanding both the number of subjects tested and the frequency of tests, to enable us to measure the ‘value’ each teacher adds to their students.” At the same time that the president was lamenting “teaching to the test,” his own policies made it necessary to teach to the test or be fired. [7]
In his 2012 State of the Union, the president’s message was even more inconsistent. He said that he wanted schools to encourage teachers to “teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test,” but at the same time he wanted schools to “reward the best ones” and “replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.” He didn’t acknowledge that the rewards and the punishments he approved would be tied, at his administration’s insistence, to test scores.
In response to Race to the Top, the number of charter schools grew rapidly. For-profit charter schools expanded, as did virtual charter schools. Neither President Obama nor Secretary Duncan expressed any concern about the risks of deregulating public money to private corporations, nor did they oppose the entry of for-profit entrepreneurs into the charter school market. By advocating for school choice rather than public schools, Race to the Top implicitly encouraged not only charters but the other form of school choice: vouchers.
The 2010 elections brought a new crop of far-right governors into office and these governors warmly embraced charter schools and advocated for vouchers. The Obama administration was silent; after a brief attempt to defund the Washington, DC, voucher program, the administration gave in to Republican protests and permitted it to continue.
The 2010 elections brought a new crop of far-right governors into office and these governors warmly embraced charter schools and advocated for vouchers. The Obama administration was silent; after a brief attempt to defund the Washington, DC, voucher program, the administration gave in to Republican protests and permitted it to continue. As state after state adopted vouchers, the Obama administration raised no protest against the advance of privatization. Nor did Obama strongly object when the governors of Republican states attacked the collective bargaining rights of public- sector unions. In the spring of 2011, Wisconsin’s right- wing governor, Scott Walker, proposed to strip away the collective bargaining rights of most public sector workers, including teachers and they organized massive protests in Madison. They surrounded the state capitol and mounted daily protests. President Obama said he sided with the workers but didn’t show up in Madison to demonstrate his support. Instead, he and Secretary Duncan flew to Miami in the middle of the Wisconsin protests to praise the former Florida governor Jeb Bush as “a champion of education reform” and to celebrate the successful “turnaround” of Miami Central High School. The national media recognized that President Obama was bestowing important support on Jeb Bush’s policies of testing, accountability and grading of schools. The national media did not pay attention, however, when the Florida Department of Education announced plans to shutter Miami Central because of its low performance only four months after the meeting between President Obama and Governor Bush. The state granted the school a waiver to avoid closure. Despite some gains, it was still one of the state’s lowest-performing high schools.[8]
In his support for charter schools, high- stakes testing, merit pay and evaluating teachers by test scores, President Obama forged a bipartisan consensus. But he had strange bedfellows, at least for a Democrat. When I blogged about ALEC and its right- wing agenda for privatization and lowering standards for entry into teaching, the organization’s research director responded that President Obama shared credit with ALEC for promoting charter schools and “teaching- profession reforms.” During the 2012 election campaign, the only difference between Obama and Mitt Romney in relation to their K– 12 policy was that Romney supported vouchers (which he called “opportunity scholarships”) and Obama did not.[9]
During the 2012 election campaign, the only difference between Obama and Mitt Romney in relation to their K–12 policy was that Romney supported vouchers (which he called “opportunity scholarships”) and Obama did not.
Neither candidate in the 2012 election supported public education. Both agreed that it was in crisis and that it needed radical change. In their debates, the subject of poverty never came up. Indeed, the subject of education was barely mentioned aside from the candidates’ agreement that Race to the Top was a great success.
The public is only dimly aware of the reform movement’s privatization agenda. The deceptive rhetoric of the privatization movement masks its underlying goal to replace public education with a system in which public funds are withdrawn from public oversight to subsidize privately managed charter schools, voucher schools, online academies, for- profit schools, and other private vendors.
No matter how many Hollywood movies the corporate reformers produce, no matter how many television specials sing the glories of privatization, no matter how often the reformers belittle the public schools and their teachers, the public is not yet ready to relinquish its public schools to speculators, entrepreneurs, ideologues, snake- oil salesmen, profit- making businesses and Wall Street hedge fund managers.
1. Rick Snyder, “A Special Message from Rick Snyder: Education Reform” (memorandum), April 27, 2011.
2. Sam Dillon, “Behind Grass-Roots School Advocacy, Bill Gates,” The New York Times, May 21, 2011; Sam Dillon, “Foundations Join to Offer Online Courses for Schools,” The New York Times, April 27, 2011; Stephanie Simon, “K– 12 Student Database Jazzes Tech Startups, Spooks Parents,” Reuters, March 3, 2013.
3. The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers together gave a total of $330 million to political campaigns and civil rights groups over a six- year period from 2005 to 2011. Alicia Mundy, “Teachers Unions Give Broadly,” The Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2012. During the same period of time, the major foundations supporting test — based accountability and choice spent many times that amount. Gates spends $300 — $400 million each year on education. Ken Libby, “A Look at the Education Programs of the Gates Foundation,” Shanker Blog, March 2, 2012. In 2011, the Walton Family Foundation spent $159 million on education grants. These figures do not include political contributions made by either Gates or the Walton family.
4. Steven Brill, Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 131– 32, 224– 25.
5.“Chiefs for Change Statement on Louisiana’s Bold Education Reforms,” Foundation for Excellence in Education website, April 18, 2012.
6. Andrew Ujifusa, “Policy Shop Casts Long K– 12 Shadow,” Education Week, April 25, 2012.
7. Julie Underwood and Julie F. Mead, “A Smart ALEC Threatens Public Education,” Education Week, February 29, 2012.
8. Anthony Cody, “Obama Blasts His Own Education Policies,” Living in Dialogue (blog), Education Week, March 29, 2011; Sunlen Miller, “Obama on Wisconsin Budget Protests: ‘An Assault on Unions,’ “ABC News, February 17, 2011; Nia- Malika Henderson and Peter Wallsten, “Obama Praises Jeb Bush on Education Reform,” The Washington Post, March 4, 2011; “Struggling Florida Schools Get More Time,” WCTV, July 19, 2011.
9. Adam Peshek, “ALEC Responds to Ravitch Blog Post,” Education Week, May 15, 2012. Reign of Error by Diane Ravitch Copyright © 2013 by Diane Ravitch. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. |
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The lawyer for U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the former Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan charged with desertion, on Thursday chastised U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for calling his client a “traitor.”
U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Berghdal is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Army and received by Reuters on May 31, 2014. REUTERS/U.S. Army/Handout via Reuters
“Sergeant Bergdahl is not charged with treason or anything like it,” attorney Eugene Fidell said in a statement.
“I condemn Mr. Trump’s reckless disregard for the truth. He should be ashamed of himself.”
In a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Trump called Bergdahl a “dirty, rotten traitor” and criticized the Obama administration for the deal that freed the soldier in a prisoner swap with the Taliban. Many prominent Republicans have called the deal irresponsible.
Trump is leading the polls among the 17 Republican candidates seeking the party’s presidential nomination for the November 2016 election.
Bergdahl, who was released in 2014 after spending about five years as a prisoner of the Taliban in Afghanistan, is now stationed with Army North at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, while he awaits court martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Fidell also rejected comments made by Trump and others that as many as five U.S. soldiers died searching for Bergdahl after he walked away from his forward operating position in Afghanistan in 2009.
“The Army’s prosecutors, who have the vast resources of the government at their disposal, have informed us that they will not be offering evidence that anyone died searching for my client,” he said.
“Mr. Trump must stop vilifying this young man, who suffered five years of brutal captivity at the hands of the Taliban, and deserves to be judged on the basis of evidence rather than slander from someone who has never worn our country’s uniform,” he said.
Bergdahl is scheduled to appear at an Article 32 hearing, the Uniform Code of Military Justice equivalent of a grand jury, at Fort Sam Houston next month.
Bergdahl was charged in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the most serious count. |
Research Miscellaneous
You know youve been in Sweden too long, when... It's acceptable to eat lunch at 11.00. You think Leif 'Loket' Olsson is entertaining. You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage. You associate pea soup with Thursday. The first thing you do on entering a bank/post office/pharmacy etc. is look for the queue number machine. You accept that you will have to queue to take a queue number. A sharp intake of breath has become part of your vocabulary, as has the sound 'ahh'. You associate Friday afternoon with a trip to system bolaget. You think nothing of paying $50 for a bottle of 'cheap' spirits at system bolaget. Silence is fun. Your native language has seriously deteriorated; you begin to "eat medicine" and "hire videos". Your front door step is beginning to resemble a shoe shop. When a stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume that:
a. he is drunk;
b. he is insane;
c. he is American;
d. he is all of the above. You stay home on Saturday night to watch Bingolotto. It seems sensible that the age limit at Stockholm night clubs is 23 or 25. The reason you take the ferry to Finland is:
a. duty free vodka
b. duty free beer
c. to party The only reason for getting of the boat in Helsinki is to eat pizza. It no longer seems excessive to spend $200 on alcohol in a single night. The fact that all of the "v's" and the "w's" are together in the phone directory seems right. You care who wins 'Expedition: Robinson'. Your old habit of being "fashionably late" is no longer acceptable. You are always on time. You no longer see any problem wearing white socks with loafers. You know that "religious holiday" means "let's get pissed." You are no longer scared of volvos and volvo drivers. You have your own innebandy club. You enjoy the taste of surstr�mming. You find yourself debating the politics of Carl Bildt. You use mmmm as a conversation filler. An outside temperature of 9 degrees Celsius is mild. When someone asks for "three cheers", you say "hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, hoorah". You wear sandals with socks. You eat jam with savoury dishes. You have only two facial expressions, smiling or blank. You think riding a racing bike in the snow is a perfectly sensible thing to do. You think it's more fun to stay at home and drink then go out. You wear warm clothing when it's 25 degrees plus in April - because it's April. You wear shorts and t-shirt when it's barely 10 degrees in July - because it's July. You get extremely annoyed when the bus is two minutes late. You think women are more than equal than men and deserve to have better positions in the work place. Your wife watches TV while you look after the kids. You become a punctuality freak and dump your friends for being late more than once. You spend the week's entertainment budget on a pack of cigarettes and a drink in Gamla Stan. When a stranger asks you a question in the streets, you think it's normal to just keep walking, saying nothing. You've been engaged for four years and don't have any plans to get married. Americans start to look entertaining, witty and fun, and you just want to go to the U.S.A., travelling across country on a greyhound, because it's "romantic." You and your friends know exactly the same information, and have the same attitudes and beliefs in the value of Social Democracy. You lose any artistic talent whatsoever. You think that if you smoke a joint you will wind up in an insane asylum. [or become a habitual criminal] You seriously contemplate getting into S & M. You wear a dress or skirt over your trousers and combine them with training shoes. [this is especially problematic if you're male] You jot down 'fisk fingrar' on your shopping list. You no longer look for Vegemite on supermarket shelves, even if it's your first time in that particular store. You think black rimmed glasses are cool. Your wardrobe now consists of 20 different shades of black and grey. You get excited watching a bunch of lame 'celebrities' on a fortress island playing games that are about as intelligent as mud-wrestling. You look forward to the next program about practical jokes done on lame celebrities/has-beens by other lame celebrities who don't really deserve air time. It doesn't feel like lunch unless it's a hot, full course meal drenched in gravy. You eat unlimited amounts of sausage products without worrying about your nitrate intake. You think that an unripe wedge of tomato on a limp leaf of iceberg lettuce can be called a salad. You don't question the concept of 'telephone time'. It seems reasonable that no business can be conducted on Friday afternoons. [or the entire month of July] You assume that anyone who apologises after bumping into you is a tourist. You think it is normal that a huge restaurant has a smoking section which consists of three tables near the door. You reach for your pocket 20 times a day as mobile phones ring all around you. You actually care if your mobile phone meets the fashion standard - and so do your new Swedish friends! It seems reasonable that even those asking you for money at T-centralen reach for their pocket as the melodic music of the Swedish mobile phone resounds. You get into a Mercedes taxi cab and think nothing of it. Paying $5 for a cup of coffee seems reasonable. You understand that when a colleague asks you out for "a drink," it will probably be a long night with a severe hangover the next day. You start to think that having a sauna in the nude with a bunch of strangers is a necessary part of daily life ... and a necessary part of business. You believe that when you finally win your Nobel Prize, it is best to be modest and say "Oh really, it was nothing!" You get offended if, at a dinner party, someone fails to look you in the eyes after raising their glass for a toast. Seeing a young woman with lit candles stuck to her head no longer disturbs you. You become extremely skilled at assembling pre-packaged furniture kits. "Candles" are a permanent fixture on your weekly shopping list. You get to the movies early so that you can watch the commercials. Most of your friends have the same names and you must use both names to distinguish between them. You know you've been in Finland too long, when... |
Texas policy leaves big loophole in criminal DNA testing DNA's net not cast as wide for Texas suspects
State doesn't take samples from all arrestees; foes say it violates privacy
Jennifer Schuett of Dickinson was 8 when Dennis Bradford abducted her from her bedroom in 1990. He raped her and then slit her throat, but she survived. Now 27, she lived to see her attacker arrested, thanks to DNA taken in an Arkansas crime. He later killed himself. less Jennifer Schuett of Dickinson was 8 when Dennis Bradford abducted her from her bedroom in 1990. He raped her and then slit her throat, but she survived. Now 27, she lived to see her attacker arrested, thanks to ... more Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Texas policy leaves big loophole in criminal DNA testing 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
As a growing number of states move to strengthen their DNA databanks, many investigators and crime victims in Texas say dangerous criminals may escape justice here because the state fails to require DNA sampling of most arrestees.
The federal government and at least 20 other states have adopted laws expanding their DNA databanks by taking samples from people arrested. Proponents argue such sampling ought to become as commonplace as taking a footprint of a newborn baby, or no more concerning than taking fingerprints at every booking into jail.
Yet opponents say mandatory DNA sampling of arrestees violates the individual's right to privacy and freedom of unreasonable searches. Complaining that the government is becoming "big brother," civil libertarians predict innocent people will wind up in the nation's DNA databanks.
Also, they say rapid expansion of databanks is costly and creating backlogs of DNA profiling of serious offenders.
Today, DNA profiles are much more respected for forensic identification, said Gary Molina, who manages Texas' databank. Molina said suspicion surrounding the technology 15 years ago — when football star O.J. Simpson's DNA was detected in blood at the murder scene of his estranged wife and her friend — is gone. Simpson won an acquittal after attorneys attacked the DNA lab report.
Texas allows DNA samples taken from arrestees only if they are charged with a sexual offense or burglary — and then only after a grand jury indicts them. If those arrestees haven't been indicted, DNA is taken only if they have a past conviction for a similar offense.
"I thank God that Louisiana has a law that requires sampling of most arrestees," said Monetta Escamilla, who believes her long wait for justice in the killing and sexual assault of her 13-year-old daughter, Krystal Baker, soon will come to an end.
Kevin Edison Smith, 45, was arrested Sept. 22 while working as a contract welder at the Motiva Refinery in Port Arthur. He has been charged with killing the teen after abducting her in 1996 as she walked to a friend's home in Texas City. Baker was strangled and found dead under a bridge over the Trinity River in Chambers County.
Louisiana among first
While Escamilla's hope at catching the killer had dried up along with all the leads, a break in her daughter's case came after Smith was stopped this year for driving erratically in Livonia, La. A large stash of hydrocodone was found in his vehicle, and he was arrested for possession with intent to distribute — and thus his DNA was sampled.
It was submitted to the FBI's national databank and came back as a match to a semen specimen on Baker's dress. Smith would not have qualified for DNA sampling in Texas based on his arrest.
Livonia Police Chief Brad Joffrion praises Louisiana for being one of the first states to pass legislation seven years ago that required DNA sampling of anyone arrested for a felony as well as a few misdemeanors such as stalking.
"We started doing this after catching a serial killer so it wouldn't take so long to make an arrest," Joffrion said.
Col. Mike Edmonson, Louisiana's public safety department superintendent, said: "The vast majority of crimes are done by repeat offenders. Why not cast a bigger net?"
Databases have restricted access and procedures for expunging samples of anyone acquitted.
Since arrestees were added to the pool, the vast majority of Louisiana's "hits" or matches to crime scenes have come from arrestees. So far this year, 406 of the hits were arrestees while only 158 were convicted felons.
Virginia's law requiring sampling of arrestees for violent offenses and burglary was adopted in 2003, and its constitutionality was challenged.
"But our courts upheld the law. Public safety trumped privacy rights," said Pete Marone, head of Virginia's department of forensic science. In the past seven years, records show 11 percent of Virigina's nearly 6,000 hits have come from arrestees.
The American Civil Liberties Union remains opposed to inclusion of arrestees.
"Anyone wrongfully arrested becomes part of a permanent criminal database. Someone arrested for a misdemeanor might become a suspect for life," Caroline Frederickson, the ACLU Washington legislative office's director, said on the group's website.
Expansion in Texas?
Texas state Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas, spearheaded expanding DNA sampling this year to adults and juveniles given probation or deferred adjudication for felony convictions. The state's database already includes all sex offenders and felons sent to prison or the Texas Youth Commission.
Asked why more arrestees are not sampled, Vaught said: "I wanted to do it, but we couldn't get the votes. It came down to cost."
The Legislative Budget Board projected that just adding people on probation would cost $2.4 million this year, which lawmakers hope to defray by charging each criminal a processing fee of up to $50 that would raise $1.7 million. He plans to push next session for not only arrestees, but serious misdemeanor offenders to be included.
Many crime victims such as 27-year-old Jennifer Schuett will join him in urging the expansion of DNA sampling.
Schuett was abducted from her Dickinson bedroom at age 8, raped, her throat slashed and then left to bleed atop a fire ant mound in 1990. The Chronicle ordinarily does not identify sexual assault victims, but Schuett approved use of her name.
Her assailant, Dennis Bradford, made a videotaped confession to the attack before hanging himself this year after his DNA from an Arkansas conviction in 1997 was finally linked to a stain on Schuett's pink pajamas.
Feeling lucky to be alive, Schuett says swabbing the inside of an arrestee's cheek is a small price to pay for saving a life.
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LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - Jun 22, 2016) - As hemp legalization continues to make major inroads in the industrial hemp industry across America, Hemp, Inc. ( OTC PINK : HEMP) is pleased to report that Rhode Island's legislature has passed a bill to "legalize the production and processing of industrial hemp for commercial purposes in the state." According to the Rhode Island General Assembly, HB 8232, which may also be cited as Rhode Island's "Hemp Growth Act", would take effect on January 1, 2017 and would permit the growth of hemp by properly licensed individuals that have applied and met the requirements and would also allow higher educational institutions to grow hemp for educational and research purposes pending approval from the Department of Health.
In an article posted by The Tenth Amendment Center, the bill was initially introduced on May 19, 2016 as legislation that "would have allowed state-licensed representatives of the Narragansett Indian Tribe to produce, possess, distribute, and commercially trade industrial hemp. In a rapid series of events, the bill was amended in the House Committee of Health Education and Welfare to apply to everybody. On June 17, the House passed the amended bill 71-0. The Senate concurred the next day by a 26-7 margin."
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo will either sign or veto the bill. As with North Carolina, if she doesn't act, the bill will become law without her signature. Many believe this law is yet another stepping stone in nullifying federal prohibition of hemp.
Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. ( OTC PINK : HEMP), said, "Yesterday, it was New York. Today, it's Rhode Island. This shows the hemp revolution is unstoppable and relentless. More and more states are realizing how important hemp is to the American culture with its amazing economic benefits as demand for hemp in the marketplace continue to grow by leaps and bounds."
The Hemp Grow Act would prohibit Rhode Island's Business Regulation department from adopting any rules prohibiting a person or entity from growing or distributing hemp based on the legal status of hemp under federal law. While specific language in the bill acknowledges federal prohibition on hemp, the language also asserts that the state can legally dictate its own policy notwithstanding federal law.
Hemp, Inc.'s press release yesterday reported on New York's passage of Bill (A9310/S6960). This bill would allow for the "transportation, processing, sale, and distribution of industrial hemp" as part of the State's research pilot program.
The first half of 2016 has been amazing.
In January, with a unanimous approval in both chambers of legislature, Nevada made it legal to cultivate hemp under current federal guidelines.
Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill to authorize the farming and production of industrial hemp in the state for commercial purposes with a 98-0 vote.
Kansas' Senate Bill 147 would legalize hemp oil for treating seizure disorders.
In Maine, a new law authorizes individuals and businesses to engage in the farming, production, and commerce of hemp in Maine.
In February, South Dakota House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow the cultivation of industrial hemp in the state of South Dakota.
In March, Hawaii passed a bill "that would allow the state Department of Agriculture to create pilot research programs for industrial hemp are moving through both chambers of the state Legislature."
In Oregon's 2016 legislative session, lawmakers passed agriculture-related bills which included allowing growers to cultivate hemp in greenhouses and "propagate it from cuttings under House Bill 4060, which eliminates the requirement that the crop be directly seeded in fields of at least 2.5 acres."
In Washington, state legislature also passed a bill that would allow licensed growers to produce industrial hemp in Washington as part of a research program.
Pennsylvania Senate voted 49-0, a unanimous vote, in favor of industrial hemp to provide for an industrial hemp cultivation pilot program in the Commonwealth through the establishment of an Industrial Hemp Licensing Board within Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture.
In April, Missouri's House of Representatives passed industrial hemp bill HB 2038 which is set to legalize and regulate the cultivation of industrial hemp in the state of Missouri.
Alabama House and Senate passed an industrial hemp bill that would authorize the Department of Agriculture and Industries to administer an industrial hemp research program.
Louisiana's House Agriculture Committee approved two bills to the House floor, HB1085 and HB1099 which authorizes institutions of higher education to develop a pilot program to study the growth, cultivation or marketing of industrial hemp for agricultural or academic research.
Hemp, Inc. also reached a few milestones. The company had announced its first Kenaf harvest from its wholly owned subsidiary, Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC, in Spring Hope, North Carolina. One hundred fifty acres of Kenaf were cut, raked, baled and transported to Hemp, Inc.'s 70,000 square foot industrial hemp processing facility where it was weighed, stored and paid for. It went from seed, to harvest, to paying the farmers. With the company's 150-acre Kenaf crop, it was able to inject revenue into the local farming community.
Hemp, Inc.'s 70,000 square foot multipurpose industrial hemp processing plant is in its final stages of completion. Spread over 9 acres, the processing facility makes up the central spoke of our North Carolina Hemp Hub. To see video footage of America's largest commercial hemp processing facility click here.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL HEMP ASSOCIATION
The National Hemp Association is a Colorado-based 501(c)6 trade association that supports the growth and development of all aspects of the emerging industrial hemp industry. NHA members include hemp farmers, processors, manufacturers, researchers, policy makers, elected and appointed officials, investors, and citizens who are in favor of the re-birth of industrial hemp as a major U.S. cash crop and sustainable agricultural commodity. Industrial hemp can provide significant jobs for farmers and small businesses and stimulate economic development for every state in the U.S.
More information at: (303) 413-8066 and www.NationalHempAssociation.org or to become a member of the NHA, click here.
SUBSCRIBE TO HEMP, INC.'S VIDEO UPDATES
"Hemp, Inc. Presents" is capturing the historic, monumental re-creation of the hemp decorticator today as America begins to evolve into a cleaner, green, eco-friendly sustainable environment. What many see as the next American Industrial Revolution is actually the Industrial Hemp Revolution. Join "Hemp, Inc. Presents" and join the hemp revolution.
Watch as Hemp, Inc., the #1 leader in the industrial hemp industry, engages its shareholders and the public through each step in bringing back the hemp decorticator as described in the "Freedom Leaf Magazine" article "The Return of the Hemp Decorticator" by Steve Bloom. Freedom Leaf Magazine, a leading cannabis industry magazine is published by the public company, Freedom Leaf Magazine, Inc. "Hemp, Inc. Presents" is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by visiting www.hempinc.com. To subscribe to the "Hemp, Inc. Presents" YouTube channel, be sure to click the subscribe button.
Subscribers will automatically get an email from YouTube every time a new Hemp, Inc. video update is posted along with suggestions of other similar videos. Stay up-to-date with the progress of Hemp, Inc.'s multipurpose industrial hemp processing plant while being educated on the industrial hemp industry. Our video update views are collectively reaching over a thousand views per week. Stay informed by subscribing to Hemp, Inc.'s video updates. Hemp, Inc. is positioning itself to be the avant-garde of the industrial hemp industry and processing industrial hemp.
HEMP NATION MAGAZINE
HempNationMagazine.com (HNM) is published by Hemp, Inc. and focuses on informing, educating, raising awareness and connecting the public to the powerful world of HEMP. HNM reports on Politics, Industrial Growth, Banking, Distribution, Medical, Lifestyles and Legalization. HNM is your source for all things HEMP and news about this emerging multi-billion-dollar industry. For more information on HNM, visit www.HempNationMagazine.com.
ABOUT INDUSTRIAL HEMP
Hemp is a durable natural fiber that is grown as a renewable source for raw materials that can be incorporated into thousands of products. It's one of the oldest domesticated crops known to man. Hemp is used as a nutritional food product for humans and pets, building materials, paper, textiles, cordage, organic body care and other nutraceuticals, just to name a few. It has thousands of other known uses. A hemp crop requires half the water alfalfa uses and can be grown without the heavy use of pesticides.
Farmers worldwide grow hemp commercially for fiber, seed, and oil for use in a variety of industrial and consumer products. The United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop on a large scale, according to the Congressional Resource Service. However, with rapidly changing laws and more states gravitating towards industrial hemp and passing an industrial hemp bill, that could change. Currently, the majority of hemp sold in the United States is imported from China and Canada, the world's largest exporters of the industrial hemp crop.
HEMP, INC.'S TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
Hemp, Inc. ( OTC PINK : HEMP) seeks to benefit many constituencies from a "Cultural Creative" perspective, thereby not exploiting or endangering any group. CEO of Hemp, Inc., Bruce Perlowin, is positioning the company as a leader in the industrial hemp industry, with a social and environmental mission at its core. Thus, the publicly traded company believes in "up streaming" a portion of its profits back to its originator, in which some cases will one day be the American small farmer -- cultivating natural, sustainable products as an interwoven piece of nature. By Hemp, Inc. focusing on comprehensive investment results -- that is, with respect to performance along the interrelated dimensions of people, planet, and profits -- the triple bottom line approach can be an important tool to support its sustainability goal.
SOCIAL NETWORKS:
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http://www.facebook.com/hempinc (Facebook)
SAFE HARBOR ACT
Forward-Looking Statements are included within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. |
Arkansas’ monthly unemployment rate fell below 7% for the first time in five years and dropped for the sixth consecutive month.
New numbers released by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services showed the March jobless rate dipped two-tenths of a percent to 6.9%. One year ago, unemployment stood at 7.4%. The U.S. jobless rate was unchanged from February at 6.7%.
“Arkansas’ unemployment rate dropped below seven percent in March for the first time since January 2009. This is the sixth consecutive month that Arkansas’ jobless rate has declined,” said DWS Communications Director Becky Heflin.
Employment also climbed in March to 1,238,900, an increase of 2,400 workers from the previous month and an increase of 10,200 workers since last year. The number of unemployed fell dramatically – also by 2,400 workers from February – and is down 7,100 from a year ago as workers exited the Arkansas labor force through retirement, leaving the state, or just giving up.
In the monthly survey of employers, a separate jobs report released with labor statistics, Arkansas saw eight industry sectors achieve gains compared to one year ago, while three sectors saw year-over-year declines.
Notably, construction jobs have experienced a healthy rebound with an estimated 1,600 new jobs created in the sector in the last year.
Gainers and decliners included:
Change from March 2013 to March 2014
Mining & Logging -100
Construction +1,600
Manufacturing +400
Trade/Transportation +2,200
Information -500
Financial +600
Professional/Business +1,100
Education/Health +2,900
Leisure/Hospitality +4,400
Other +800
Government -400
You can access the full report here.
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With the most important New York presidential primary in 40 years only a day away, Hillary Clinton is making every mile count in the metro area.
On her way in from home, this morning, she stopped in neighboring Yonkers to visit staff at St. John’s Riverside Hospital.
Then she detoured to Queens where she met up with newly unionized employees at a car wash and lube.
Joined by Senator Chuck Schumer, she stopped of at Queens Crossing Mall for some bubble tea, dim-sung, and selfies of course!
Then it was on to mid-town where she was scheduled to hold a rally with Women for Hillary at the Hilton.
Hillary heads into the New York contest with strong endorsements from the New York Times, the New York Daily News, and Newsday. Looking ahead to upcoming primaries, she also earned endorsements from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Hartford Courant, and the Providence Rhode Island Journal.
If you have friends in New York, or if you are a New Yorker with friends in other parts of the Empire State, you can encourage them to vote for Hillary!
Make sure your friends in New York vote for Hillary on Tuesday. Send them a message with our friend finder: https://t.co/iQVioFqAW7 🗽 — Hillary for America (@HFA) April 17, 2016 |
PORTLAND, Ore. – Police have released names of the victims in Saturday's deadly hit-and-run crash in Northeast Portland.
The man killed in the crash was identified as Peter West Gefre, 26, of Gresham. The other four people who were injured were identified as 32-year-old Gabriel Xesmas Mata, 18-year-old Elizabeth Tate, 26-year-old Nicholas Bennett and 40-year-old Michael Genuine.
Meantime, the manhunt continues for David Augustine Saucedo, 36, the suspected driver in the hit-and-run crash.
Police say Saucedo ran a stop sign at Northeast 157th Avenue and Halsey Street and crashed into a pickup truck at about 5:30 a.m.
Crash at Northeast 157th Avenue and Halsey Street
Saucedo fled the scene on foot, according to investigators who identified him after finding his driver's license in the car. He is wanted on felony hit-and-run charges.
There were four passengers in Saucedo's car, according to police. Gefre was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Tate and Bennett were taken to Portland hospitals with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening.
Mata ran from the scene but was located and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Genuine had been driving the pickup truck and did not have any passengers in his vehicle. He was also hospitalized and his injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
Northeast Halsey Street between 155th and 162nd avenues was closed for several hours during the investigation.
Anyone with information about the Saucedo's whereabouts is asked to call police non-emergency line at 503-823-3333.
Top local headlines:
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Chinese internet meme
The Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures (simplified Chinese: 百度十大神兽; traditional Chinese: 百度十大神獸; pinyin: bǎidù shí dà shénshòu), alternatively Ten Baidu Deities, was initially a humorous hoax from the interactive encyclopedia Baidu Baike which became a popular and widespread Internet meme in the China in early 2009.[1][2]
These hoaxes, ten in number, are regarded by western media as a response to online censorship in China of profanity, and considered as an example of citizens' circumvention to censorship.[3][4]
Details [ edit ]
Arising in early 2009,[5] the meme initially began as a series of vandalised contributions to Baidu Baike,[6] through the creation of humorous articles describing a series of fictional creatures, with each animal with names vaguely referring to Chinese profanities (utilizing homophones and characters using different tones).[7] Eventually, images, videos (such as faux-documentaries) and even a song regarding aspects of the meme were released.[8] It was thought that the Baidu hoaxes were written in response to recent strict enforcements of keyword filters in China, introduced in 2009, which attempted to eliminate all forms of profanity.[9][10] The Baidu Baike "articles" initially began with "Four Mythical Creatures" (The "Grass Mud Horse", "French-Croatian Squid", "Small Elegant Butterfly" and "Chrysanthemum Silkworms"), and were later extended to ten.
The memes became widely discussed on Chinese Internet forums, and most users concluded that the initial aim of the hoaxes were to satirise and ridicule the pointlessness of the new keyword filters. The meme is interpreted by most Chinese online as a form of direct protest rather than motiveless intentional disruption to Baidu services.[11] After the hoaxes were posted, news of the articles spread quickly online on joke websites, popular web portals and forums[12][13] such as Baidu Tieba, while a large number of posts were sent on the Tencent QQ Groups chat service. There have also been various parodies of the meme created (such as the "Baidu 10 Legendary Weapons"[14] and "Baidu 10 Secret Delicacies"[15][16]). Meme references can be found throughout Chinese websites.[17]
The 10 Mythical Creatures [ edit ]
The mythical creatures have names which are innocuous in written Chinese, but sound similar to and recognizable as profanities when spoken. References to the creatures, particularly the Grass Mud Horse, are widely used as symbolic defiance of the widespread Internet censorship in China; censorship itself is symbolized by the river crab, a near-homophone of "harmony" (a euphemism for censorship in reference to the Harmonious Society).[3]
Cao Ni Ma [ edit ]
Cao Ni Ma (草泥马, Cǎo Ní Mǎ), literally "Grass Mud Horse", was supposedly a species of alpaca. The name is derived from cào nǐ mā (肏你妈), which translates to "fuck your mother". Note that the comparison with the "animal" name is not an actual homophone, but rather the two terms have the same consonants and vowels with different tones, which are represented by different characters. Their greatest enemy are "river crabs" (河蟹, héxiè, resembles 和谐 héxié meaning "harmony", referring to government censorship to create a "harmonious society", while noting that river crabs are depicted wearing three wristwatches, vaguely referring to the Three Represents, where 代表 "represent" and 戴表 "to wear a watch" are homophones, both pronounced dàibiăo), and are said to be frequently seen in combat against these crabs.
Videos of songs,[18][19] as well as "documentaries" about "Grass Mud Horse" started appearing on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet.[20][21] The video scored some 1.4 million hits; a cartoon attracted a quarter million more views; a nature documentary on its habits received 180,000 more.[3]
The "Grass Mud Horse" became widely known on the English-language web following the 11 March 2009 publication of a The New York Times article on the phenomenon,[3] sparking widespread discussion on blogs, and even attempts to create "Grass Mud Horse" themed merchandise, such as plush dolls.[citation needed]
Fa Ke You [ edit ]
Fa Ke You (法克鱿, Fǎ Kè Yóu), literally "French-Croatian Squid" (with the name derived from the direct Chinese transliteration of "fuck you" in English), was supposedly a species of squid discovered simultaneously by France (法国) and Croatia (克罗地亚), hence the name. The Baidu Baike article claims[22] that "Fa Ke You" is a species of invertebrate, aggressive squid found in Europe. When agitated, it is said that they release a form of "white-coloured liquid". These squids are said to cause great harm to humans when attacked. When some of these squids reached East Asia, it is said that they became hunted, and eaten with corn. Such a dish is known as yù mǐ fǎ kè yóu (玉米法克鱿, "Corn French-Croatian Squid", referring to the fans of Li Yuchun, dubbed "corns"), being one of the world's top five greatest delicacies. An alternate name for the dish in question is 非主流的法克鱿 (fēi zhǔ liú de fǎ kè yóu, "Non-mainstream French-Croatian Squid"). This is apparently due to the behaviour of these squids, which do not inhabit major rivers, or the "main stream" of a river system, thus scientists dubbing them as squids with "deviant behaviour".
Ya Mie Die [ edit ]
Ya Mie Die (雅蠛蝶, Yǎ Miè Dié), literally "Small Elegant Butterfly" (name derived from Japanese yamete (止めて), meaning "stop", a reference to rape scenes and common conceptions and stereotypes Chinese display towards the Japanese in regards to pornography and erotomania), was supposedly a type of butterfly discovered on 1 January 2009 at the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and that legends state that there was once a Japanese girl who turned into these butterflies after harsh pressures during a romantic relationship.[23] The original article states that these butterflies are able to change colour, and are luminescent, naturally emitting light from their wings. This is due to the cold temperatures and low oxygen environment these butterflies live in. There are an estimated 14,000 butterflies living throughout the world, and thus are considered to be precious and highly uncommon.
Ju Hua Can [ edit ]
Ju Hua Can (菊花蚕, Jú Huā Cán), literally "Chrysanthemum Silkworms" (referring to Intestinal worms, where the term "Chrysanthemums" (júhuā) is vulgar slang which refers to the anus). This referred to Chrysanthemum Terrace, a song by Jay Chou, where the lyrics "菊花残，满地伤" (Chrysanthemums scattered, ground filled with wounds/the wounded) are re-rendered with homophones and similar sounds as "菊花蚕，满腚伤" ("Chrysanthemum(Anus)" worms, buttocks covered with wounds). Ju Hua Can can also be interpreted as a pun on another homophone, 菊花残, meaning "broken chrysanthemum", which would be slang for a "broken anus", referring to (possibly painful) anal sex, as 残 is a homophone meaning "broken". Such a phrase implies hopelessness, as once a person is given a "broken anus", they would find difficulty in sitting down, and so "broken Chrysanthemum" is a common (vulgar) Chinese idiom. These silkworms are said to feed on chrysanthemum flowers rather than mulberry leaves (from the article).[24] The article also states that the usage of Chrysanthemum Silkworms dates back to 3000 years ago in Ancient China, and that they were the first cultivation method of silk obtained by early scientists. The silk produced by silkworms that feed on chrysanthemums rather than mulberry are able to be produced at a much faster rate, are higher in mass, are fireproof, protective against ionizing radiation, bulletproof, and lightweight. However, these silkworms are very difficult to maintain, and easily die. They are vulnerable to cold, heat, and are susceptible to changes in humidity, and thus are very costly to nurture. Noblewomen from ancient times are said to pay large sums of money for such types of silk.
Chun Ge [ edit ]
Chun Ge (鹑鸽, Chún Gē), literally "Quail Pigeon" is a homophone with 春哥 (Brother Chun). This species of bird is apparently found only in Sichuan and Hunan; formerly found in the area that is now the Republic of Yemen.[25]
The term "Big Brother Chun" (春哥) has been used to refer to the female singer Li Yuchun due to her apparent androgynous appearance. "Yemen" comes from the catchphrase chūn gē chún yé men (春哥纯爷们), meaning "Brother Chun is a real man" — 爷, meaning "grandfather", can also be read as "masculine" (young males in Northeast China use the slang term 爷 as a personal pronoun in an impolite context). The 春 Chun can also refer to fa chun (发春), which is slang for sexual arousal – literally "Spring has come".
Ji Ba Mao [ edit ]
Ji Ba Mao (吉跋猫, Jí Bá Māo), literally "Lucky Journey Cat" (a homophone with 鸡巴毛, referring to pubic hair, as the homophone jība (鸡巴) is a vulgar term for "penis", while the definition of 毛 máo is "hair" or "fur"). The original article states that this cat lives in dark, damp environments and competes for food with the White Tiger (white tiger is a slang term for a woman's shaved pubic area). Additionally, the Ji Ba Mao flourished during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.[26]
Wei Shen Jing [ edit ]
Wei Shen Jing (尾申鲸, Wěi Shēn Jīng), literally "Stretch-Tailed Whale" (a near-homophone with 卫生巾, wèishēngjīn, referring to menstrual pads). From the Baidu Baike article, it was first discovered by Zheng He during his maritime adventures. According to the article this creature was hunted for clothing material to manufacture women's lingerie.[27]
Yin Dao Yan [ edit ]
Yin Dao Yan (吟稻雁, Yín Dào Yàn), literally "Singing Field Goose" (a homophone with 阴道炎 Yīn Dào Yán, meaning a vaginitis infection). From the article on Yin Dao Yan, in the Kangxi era, a large goose dived into a certain field, damaging it and causing the local farmers to come down with a strange sickness.[28]
Da Fei Ji [ edit ]
Da Fei Ji (达菲鸡, Dá Fēi Jī), literally "Intelligent Fragrant Chicken" (a homophone with 打飞机 Dǎ Fēi Jī, slang for masturbation while literally meaning "hit the airplane"). According to the original article, Da Fei Ji is a species of bird that likes exercise, and the males use neck spasms and spit out a white secretion to impress females during mating seasons.[29]
Qian Lie Xie [ edit ]
Qian Lie Xie (潜烈蟹, Qián Liè Xiè), literally "Hidden Fiery Crab", closely resembles qián liè xiàn (前列腺), which translates to prostate glands. According to the article, this is a legendary crab that once stopped up the Grand Canal (referring to the urinary tract).[30]
Official reactions [ edit ]
The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television issued a directive on 30 March 2009 to highlight 31 categories of content prohibited online, including violence, pornography, content which may "incite ethnic discrimination or undermine social stability". According to reports, the instruction follows the official embarrassment over the rise of the "Grass Mud Horse" phenomenon.[31]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ] |
Today, T-Mobile quietly released a new data-free cell phone plan: unlimited talk & text only for $25/mo, with taxes and fees included. Both new and existing T- Mobile customers can get unlimited talk & text only, but it's not available for No Credit Check or prepaid accounts.
Unlimited Talk & Text Only: features
This cell phone plan includes:
Unlimited talk & text in Mexico and Canada just like in the U.S. (data not included)
Simple Global rates for voice and messaging in over 140 countries and destinations (data not included)
Stateside International Unlimited Texting when in the US and texting other countries (Stateside International Talk may be added as an additional feature for $15/month)
Unlimited Talk & Text Only: fine print
Be aware of these details before you buy:
This plan does not include data and there is no option to add data. To use an app that requires data such as iMessage or WhatsApp, you'll need to connect to Wi-Fi.
and there is no option to add data. To use an app that requires data such as iMessage or WhatsApp, you'll need to connect to Wi-Fi. The autopay discount and Netflix on Us benefits are not available with this plan
This plan cannot be extended for international use; you must reside in the U.S.
Unlimited Talk & Text Only lines may not be added to an existing T-Mobile ONE taxes inclusive plan. You would need to migrate from your existing T-Mobile ONE or Simple Choice plan and give up your promotional benefits or your free or discounted line(s).
Cell Phone Plans Filters Plan Inclusions Price T-Mobile $20 Unlimited Talk & Text Only $20 Unlimited Talk & Text Only
$20 Unlimited Talk & Text Only No Data Included
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$20 + $25 Upfront $ 20 + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile ONE | Unlimited 55+ YRS ONLY ONE | Unlimited 55+ YRS ONLY
ONE | Unlimited 55+ YRS ONLY Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$50/mo + $25 Upfront $ 50 /mo + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile ONE | Eligible Military ONLY ONE | Eligible Military ONLY
ONE | Eligible Military ONLY Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$55/mo + $25 Upfront $ 55 /mo + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile Essentials Essentials
Essentials Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$60/mo + $25 Upfront $ 60 /mo + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile ONE ONE
ONE Unlimited Data
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About T-Mobile... T-Mobile is one of the "Big Four" cell phone carriers in the United States, a key player in the wireless market. Founded in 1994, T-Mobile USA is helmed by outspoken CEO John Legere. Network: T-Mobile's 4G LTE network runs on LTE bands 4 and 12. These bands use the frequencies 1900, 1700 def and 700a. For phones using 2G or 3G network technology, the T-Mobile network will primarily use the 1900 MHz frequency. Coverage: At last check, T-Mobile ranked #3 in overall coverage in the U.S. That may change, though, as the company quickly buys up spectrum in previously-uncovered areas. Where to Buy: T-Mobile products can be purchased online or at one of the company's over 3,500 U.S. stores. Bring Your Own Phone to T-Mobile: Customers can bring along their unlocked, GSM-compatible phones for service on T-Mobile. Just make sure that the device supports T-Mobile's LTE bands and 3G frequencies; you can check here. Tethering: T-Mobile's unlimited ONE plan includes unlimited hotspot data at up to 3G speeds. Customers can add ONE Plus to get unlimited Smartphone Mobile HotSpot data at up to 4G LTE speeds. Prepaid: T-Mobile offers a litany of prepaid plans, and also owns prepaid carrier MetroPCS. Taxes & Fees: One of the biggest perks of T-Mobile is that all taxes and fees are included in the price of their plans. Fact: T-Mobile's unlimited plans have been incredibly popular, and arguably moved the entire wireless industry in the direction of all-you-can-use talk, text and data plans. Learn more about T-Mobile via our carrier review. View All T-Mobile Plans |
Canada’s federal government has unveiled a federal tax plan that would impose an excise tax of $1 for every gram of cannabis or 10% of the purchase price, whichever of the two is higher. This proposed excise tax plan comes as Canada prepares for the legalization of recreational cannabis by July 2018.
The plan has earned the ire of patient advocate groups and medical marijuana proponents, as well as of licensed cannabis producers in the country. This is mainly because the proposed excise tax will apply to both recreational and medical cannabis and it will be applied on top of the sales tax that is already currently imposed on medical cannabis.
The government announced the federal tax proposal to the public last week, giving just enough time for public consultations before the provincial, federal, and territorial finance ministers discuss it on December 10 and 11. These public consultations will end on December 7.
Estimated tax revenues
Liberal MP Bill Blair, parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice, said that the government is committed to keeping a functional medical cannabis system, but it also does not want taxation levels to become an incentive for people to inappropriately use this system. This is why the government is proposing that the taxation levels for medical and non-medical cannabis be aligned.
He further contended that the level of taxation determined as appropriate in this particular instance will keep the price of cannabis sufficiently low so as to stay competitive with any illicit market, yet at the same time, does not create an incentive for users to purchase medical cannabis for recreational purposes.
Tax revenues are going to be split 50-50 between the federal government and the provinces. According to Blair, a rough estimate of the total tax revenues governments stand to raise from this plan is $1 billion a year. He clarified, however, that this amount is at the high end of the scale and it still depends on how many people are going to buy cannabis when it becomes legal.
He noted that the current cannabis market is still an almost entirely illicit market and those who control it do not share data on their market’s size. This, he explained, is the reason why the government is operating on mere estimates right now.
Furthermore, these estimates are under the assumption that every province approves the federal cannabis framework. Those who live in the provinces that do not sign this framework can still buy legal marijuana with a federal excise tax of 50 cents per gram or 5% of the final retail price and GST (Goods and Services Tax), plus whatever amount of tax their provincial government decides to impose or nothing if it decides on not adding excise tax.
Pro-cannabis groups are fuming
In a joint statement, the Arthritis Society and the Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana said that medical cannabis should be treated just as any other prescription medication and accordingly exempt it from taxation. Applying excise tax to medical cannabis, they said, unfairly disadvantages patients.
Jonathan Zaid, executive director of CFAMM, said that patients today make treatment choices based on their finances, including having to switch to less effective medications that carry severe side effects. The proposed excise tax to medical marijuana, he said, is going to further compound these issues, as well as impose barriers for patient access.
Professional cannabis producers also voiced out their concerns and think that patients do not need the added cost burden.
Some politicians are not eager about the proposal, too
Many politicians are not convinced that the plan is the right way to go for the provinces. For one, Charles Sousa, Ontario Minister for Finance, said that the revenue-sharing plan is not sufficient nor reasonable because it is the provinces that shoulder most of the costs – not Ottawa – that are associated with legalizing cannabis, including justice, enforcement, public education, and road safety.
According to Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci, he is not against the 10% tax, but he does not agree with the proposed 50/50 split. According to him, 100% of the tax revenues, or at least close to that percentage, should be given to the provinces because they are the ones who will do the dirty job and the heavy lifting when recreational marijuana is legalized. |
A happy family moment? Or the physical undoing of mom and dad? Wavebreakmedia Ltd via Thinkstock
A common, often buried, fear among parents is that our offspring are nothing more than highly evolved parasites, girl- and boy-shaped barnacles slowly draining their parental hosts of strength. A recent story on Quartz tapped right into this anxiety with the headline “Being a good parent will physiologically destroy you, new research confirms.”
“Our kids are killing us slowly!” one parent wrote on Facebook, in response. “Well, it’s been a good ride,” commented another parent I know.
The story is about a new study from Northwestern University that looked at the effect of parental empathy on parents and children. The researchers surveyed 247 sets of parents and adolescent children and found the more empathetic parents were, the better off their children were both psychologically and physiologically. Emphatic parents also report psychological boosts; they reported feeling a greater sense of purpose in their lives and higher self-esteem than the less-empathetic parents. Their bodies, on the other hand, sent a less uplifting message: The more empathetic parents were, the more likely they were to be experiencing chronic inflammation.
Erika M. Manczak, Northwestern psychology graduate student and the lead author of the study, said parents should be careful not to exaggerate her findings. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that parents will be irrevocably physiologically damaged by being empathic,” she said. “Rather, this research suggests that these parents have elevations in risk markers that, if sustained over time, may play a role in important health processes.”
There’s plenty of evidence showing that parenting isn’t an unavoidable path to physical demise. A large-scale study from Denmark found that people with children live longer than those without them. Women who have children and/or breastfeed are less likely to get breast cancer, and may get some relief from conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovaries. And a study from the National Institute of Mental Health found that fathers with healthy family relationships have fewer stress-related health issues like chest pain, insomnia, fatigue, and indigestion. Also, having children often motivates parents to make healthier lifestyle choices. In a Babycenter poll, over half of the 30,000 respondents said that they had begun taking better care of their health since becoming a mom.
By focusing only on the ways in which parenting might physically ruin people—or, as Quartz put it, “tear them up”—it’s easy to overlook the more fascinating finding in Manczak’s research: the divergence between psychological and physiological health. Most of us know that we need to reduce stress in order to avoid chronic inflammation; we may assume that if someone doesn’t feel stressed out then their body probably doesn’t either. But this study suggests that it’s quite possible not to feel stress mentally but still experience it physically. (Edith Chen, co-author of Manczak’s study, found similar results in a 2013 study she did on African-American teenagers in the rural south.)
Manczak said she is hesitant to draw any large-scale conclusions from the study because it is correlational, and therefore does not offer a clear relationship between cause-and-effect. Still, her research found that there is something unique about parental empathy and the toll it takes on parents. The researchers controlled for other parental behaviors like stress, depression, how warm parents are in general, and the amount of time parents spend with children, and discovered that none of them had as clear a relationship to inflammation as empathy.
But before we all start taking parenting lessons from All in the Family or Married with Children, Manczak wants to make it clear that her findings should not be interpreted as a suggestion to be less empathetic. “I would absolutely hate for parents to be less empathetic,” she said. “What this tells us is that parents need to make time for their own mental and physical health, and understand that it is a disservice to themselves and their children if they are not.” This goes for parents who feel stressed, as well as those who don’t. |
Croatia has received six bids in an international tender for oil and gas exploration areas in the Adriatic, and will choose the best ones by the end of the year, Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak said yesterday (3 November).
“We are satisfied, we’ve received bids from big, serious companies,” Vrdoljak told reporters. The government sees oil exploration as a key project for the newest EU member, whose economy has been stuck in recession since 2008.
Croatia says it expects investment worth some €2 billion over the next five years in exploration activities.
Local media have earlier reported oil majors like Exxon , Shell, Chevron and Total as being interested but Vrdoljak declined to name any of the bidders.
The tender, which closed on Monday after running for seven months, comprised 29 block areas for exploration and future exploitation, eight in the north and 21 in central and southern Adriatic. The size of one block ranges from 1,000 to 1,600 square kilometres.
View from a cruise ship. Croatian coastline, 2012. [Robert Pittman/Flickr]
View from a cruise ship. Croatian coastline, 2012. [Robert Pittman/Flickr]
Each bidder was allowed to compete for an unlimited number of blocks. The six submitted bids were for 15 blocks altogether, Vrdoljak said. The government plans to sign concession agreements by the spring 2015.
The exploration concession will be awarded for five years with a possibility to extend it for another year, while exploitation concessions are planned for 25 years.
According to the preliminary data, gas reserves are more likely to be found in the north while crude deposits are expected in the southern part of Croatia’s Adriatic, where the seabed is deeper.
Local environment groups say oil drilling could destroy the Adriatic and hurt Croatia’s lucrative tourism industry. The government said the concessionaires would be required to respect the highest international environmental protection standards.
Croatia currently covers about 65% of its annual gas consumption of 3 billion cubic metres from its own fields offshore. It hopes to be able to meet the entire local demand from the domestic wells following the new exploration efforts.
Croatia is currently also running an international tender for onshore oil and gas exploration which expires in February. |
[np_storybar title=”Why the Foxconn riot comes at the worst possible time” link=”https://business.financialpost.com/2012/09/24/why-the-foxconn-riot-comes-at-the-worst-possible-time/”%5D At a time when profits are collapsing for big Chinese corporations, manufacturing shutdowns and worker unrest adds to an already tenuous environment. Read more
[/np_storybar]
TAIYUAN, China/TAIPEI — About 2,000 Chinese employees of an iPhone assembly company fought a pitched battle into the early hours of Monday, forcing the huge electronics plant where they work to be shut down.
Authorities in the northern city of Taiyuan sent 5,000 police to restore order after what the plant’s Taiwanese owners Foxconn Technology Group said was a personal dispute in a dormitory that erupted into a mass brawl.
However, some employees and people posting messages online accused factory guards of provoking the trouble by beating up workers at the factory, which employs about 79,000 people and is owned by the world’s largest contract maker of electronic goods.
“The plant is closed today for investigation,” Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo told Reuters. It was not clear how long the plant would be shut while police and company officials investigate the violence, but an employee contacted by telephone said the closure could last two or three days.
Watch this video posted on Youku (the Chinese version of Youtube) of the scene at Foxconn’s factory in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, as the riot broke out:
Foxconn cited police as saying that 40 people were taken to hospital and a number were arrested, while the state-run Xinhua news agency reported three people were in serious condition.
The unrest is the latest in a string of incidents at plants run by Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co whose shares fell 1% on Monday in a broader market that rose 0.2%.
[np-related]
On Monday evening, paramilitary police with riot shields, helmets and batons guarded one entrance of the massive factory complex, while an announcement over loudspeakers said there had been a criminal incident the night before and urged people to respect the law.
The windows of at least three gates’ guard posts had been smashed, piles of glass littering the ground around them, and the railings of some gates lie flat on the ground, having been bent over.
Foxconn, which assembles Apple’s iPhones as well as making components for other global electronics firms, h as faced accusations of poor conditions and mistreatment of workers at its operations in China, where it employs about 1 million people.
The company says it has been spending heavily in recent months to improve working conditions and to raise wages.
Foxconn said in a statement the incident escalated from what it called a personal dispute between several employees at around 11 p.m. on Sunday in the privately-managed dormitory, and was brought under control by police at around 3 a.m.
The cause of this dispute is under investigation by local authorities . . . but it appears not to have been work-related
“The cause of this dispute is under investigation by local authorities and we are working closely with them in this process, but it appears not to have been work-related,” Foxconn said. Hon Hai said about 2,000 workers were involved.
Comments posted online, however, suggested security guards may have been to blame. In a posting on the Chinese Twitter-like microblog site Sina Weibo, user “Jo-Liang” said that four or five security guards beat a worker almost to death.
“FRUSTRATION”
Another user, “Fan de Sa Hai”, quoted a friend from Taiyuan as saying guards beat up two workers from Henan province and in response, other workers set bed quilts on fire and tossed them out of dormitory windows.
Xinhua quoted a senior official with the Taiyuan city government as saying investigators initially determined the fight broke out as workers from Shandong Province clashed with workers from Henan. The agency earlier quoted Taiyuan City’s public security bureau as saying about 5,000 police had tackled the violence.
Calls to the Taiyuan police were not immediately answered, while an official at the plant declined to comment when reached by telephone.
Clearly there is deep-seated frustration and anger among the employees and no outlet, apart from violence, for that frustration to be released
“Clearly there is deep-seated frustration and anger among the employees and no outlet, apart from violence, for that frustration to be released,” Geoff Crothall, communication director at China Labour Bulletin, a labour rights group in Hong Kong, said in a statement.
“There is no dialogue and no means of resolving disputes, no matter how minor. So it is not surprising when such disputes escalate into violence.”
Foxconn does not confirm which of its plants supply Apple, but an employee told Reuters that the Taiyuan plant is among those that assemble and make parts for Apple’s iPhone 5.
In June, about 100 workers went on a rampage at a Foxconn plant in Chengdu, in southwestern China.
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© Thomson Reuters 2012 |
This September marks the 45th anniversary of the Delano, Calif., grape strike that brought together Filipino American agricultural workers and Mexican American farm workers to form what became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).
The strike began on Sept. 8, 1965, when over 1,500 farm workers with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, mostly Filipino, in Delano, Calif., walked off the farms of area tablen grape growers demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage.
Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, Benjamin Gines and Pete Velasco led the striking workers.
One week after the strike began, on Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day, the predominantly Mexican American National Farmworkers Association, led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, joined the strike.
In unifying, both groups built a powerful and historic movement for change. The UFW was born in 1966 after both groups merged. The strike quickly spread impacting over 2,000 workers. It lasted more than five years and eventually became a major victory for the UFW, leading to a first contract with area growers. By 1970, the UFW had succeeded in reaching a collective bargaining agreement with the grape growers, affecting over 10,000 farm workers.
Gregory Cendana, interim deputy director with the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) said his parents came to the U.S. as Filipino immigrants. Growing up in a union household Cendana said he’s honored and proud to know he stands on the shoulders of some of the hardest working brothers and sisters in the labor movement.
APALA is one of seven AFL-CIO constituency groups and continues to be grounded in the work of our predecessors seeking ways to build stronger community and labor partnerships, said Cendana.
For example the number of Asian American workers is rising 300 percent in the state of Nevada, and overall that increase is significantly growing throughout the rest of the country too, notes Cendana.
Looking back it’s important to understand the history of Asian American workers, he said. And Filipino farm workers were extremely critical in helping to create the UFW.
“A goal of mine is to share that piece of history with young people and learn from those past events in order to build a more united labor and people’s movement,” he said.
“It’s important to build power for underrepresented communities,” added Cendana.
For Cendana it’s especially important to uplift the Asian American voice and engage Asian American youth and students to learn about their history in the U.S. labor movement.
“Today there are a lot of parallels to the struggle of the original Delano grape workers,” notes Cendana.
However workers today are in a very different context and 40 years after the Delano strike the political climate has changed, he said.
Nevertheless, Cendana says the Delano grape strike reminds him that “change can happen and it needs to happen with strategic campaigns, coalition building and collective power.”
At the end of the day it’s important to continue celebrating the history and victory of the Delano grape strike but it’s even more important to learn from those successes, said Cendana. |
The Obama administration’s Department of Justice reportedly failed to interview an undercover FBI informant in a Russian nuclear bribery case before filing criminal charges against a top Russian official — the latest government failure connected to the Uranium One scandal.
The Hill reports that under the guidance of Maryland’s then-chief federal prosecutor Rod Rosenstein — now the deputy attorney general at the DOJ — prosecutors handed up an indictment of Russian energy exec Vadim Mikerin by portraying William Campbell as the main victim of Russian bribery and deceit, just as the Russians tried to involve themselves in the American uranium industry.
This would backfire when prosecutors did eventually interview Campbell in 2015 and learned about the broader extent of his undercover activities with the FBI, undermining their claim that he was, in fact, a victim and causing them to recast the case.
Mikerin was a top executive of the Russian energy giant Rosatom and the man who was sent to the U.S. to coordinate Russia’s plans to grow uranium sales in the U.S.
The Hill’s reporting comes as DOJ officials are answering questions from Congress in relation to growing scrutiny about the Obama administration’s approval of the 2010 sale of Canadian firm Uranium One — particularly how much government heads making the decision knew about Russian bribery when the decision was made and the role played by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President and Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer broke the Uranium One scandal in his 2015 book Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich. In the book, he reported that nine foreign investors in the deal gave $145 million to Hillary and Bill Clinton’s personal charity, the Clinton Foundation.
The New York Times confirmed Schweizer’s Uranium One revelations in a 4,000-word front-page story. The scandal hurt Clinton throughout her doomed presidential campaign and hit the headlines this year again in October, when The Hill reported that ahead of the deal, the FBI had uncovered “substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering” to expand Russia’s nuclear footprint in the U.S. as early as 2009.
According to The Hill, the agency also found that Russian nuclear officials had routed “millions of dollars” to the U.S. to benefit the Clinton Foundation, once again raising the specter of “pay-to-play.”
According to the Hill’s latest report, DOJ officials proved that the Russian energy giant Rosatom was engaged in criminal activity through its top American executive as early as 2009, before the administration ok’d the Uranium One sale to Rosatom.
But when they filed the first complaint against Mikerin in 2014, they had not yet interviewed Rosenstein. Campbell was debriefed after the charges were filed, but not brought before the grand jury that would indict Mikerin. When they interviewed him again, they realized his work for the FBI was more extensive and changed their goals.
“Based on what was learned, we decided to change the theory of the case. … A plea deal became our goal so we wouldn’t have to litigate or make an issue of some of the stuff he had done for [counterintelligence] purposes,” a source directly familiar with the case told the outlet.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY. |
Worldwide attention has turned to the Peru-Brazil border where uncontacted Indians live, and the South American countries are finally feeling the pressure to protect them.
Survival International's campaign with newly released photos of the tribe, followed by a breathtakingly haunting film by the BBC, has raised awareness of one of the last uncontacted tribes in the world.
The BBC film, narrated by actor Gillian Anderson was made in collaboration with the Brazilian government for the new BBC 1 'Human Planet' series. Shooting from a kilometer away with a powerful zoom lens in order to minimize disturbance, the BBC crew captures gardens, homes, and people covered in red body paint. An undisturbed civilization. Unfortunately, it may not remain this way.
Illegal loggers have entered the Peru side, forcing the Indians into Brazil. Jose Carlos Meirelles, a member of the Indian Affairs Dept. in Brazil, is responsible for monitoring the land and proving that the tribe exists. According to him, "This footage is the only way to convince the rest of the world that they are here. If illegal loggers or miners contact these people, they won't shoot images... they'll shoot guns."
Until now, there has been little success in preventing the loggers from taking over the land. As Gillian Anderson reports, "Instead of expelling the loggers, Peru's government has suggested that uncontacted tribes don't exist at all." But that seems to be changing, as Peru's authorities have just announced that they plan to work with Brazil to stop the loggers from entering Indian territory. Survival's Director Stephen Corry holds hope for the future, stating, "This is a really encouraging first step, let's hope their declared intention turns into real action quickly."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfounded allegations have been made that this video is a hoax because similar photos of the same tribe that were released in 2008 were incorrectly reported in the media as being an "undiscovered" tribe, thus leading to rumors of them being fake. CLICK HERE for more info on the "hoax" rumors being debunked in 2008. |
Now it's getting personal.
Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates is not happy about New York Rangers coach John Tortorella characterizing the Caps' complaints about officiating as whining.
"Well, I think he's out of line," Oates said on Washington's 106.7 The Fan. "[Tortorella] should be worried about his own series. We didn't whine once during the series. I never complained. I don't know, did you guys ever hear me complain about officiating?"
Oates seemed so frustrated that he was asked whether he could beat up Tortorella.
"Yes," Oates said, "easily."
Caps star Alex Ovechkin had already criticized the officiating in the series, which the Rangers won in seven games. The Rangers received 28 power-play chances in the series; the Capitals finished with 16.
Tortorella responded Wednesday.
"We've got everybody and their brother whining out there in Washington about what happened in that series," Tortorella said. "And I think that's a big reason they lose that series." |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Emergency services try to reach the site of the crash
Thirteen people are presumed dead after a helicopter crashed west of the Norwegian city of Bergen, rescuers say.
Eleven of those on board were Norwegian, one was British and one Italian. No survivors have been found.
A major rescue operation was launched but ended within hours of the crash.
Meanwhile, Norway's civil aviation authority has imposed a flight ban on the type of helicopter that crashed - the Eurocopter (EC) 225L Super Puma. Reports say it was "totally destroyed".
Its officials told VG newspaper (in Norwegian) that servicing for the helicopter which crashed had been delayed twice in 2015, for a total of 200 flying hours.
Later, local media quoted a civil aviation authority spokeswoman as saying the helicopter's two black boxes had been recovered.
The British Civilian Aviation Authority later said it was suspending commercial use of the Super Puma, so it would be unable to carry oil and gas workers but could still fly for other purposes.
The aircraft was flying from the Gullfaks oil field to Bergen, a centre for the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Eleven bodies have been found, and two other people are still missing.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said news of the crash was "horrible".
King Harald and Queen Sonja cancelled a trip to Sweden, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.
'Peculiar engine sound'
Oil company Statoil said all the passengers were on assignment for the company, but worked for different organisations.
Statoil has suspended oil production at the Gullfaks B platform "so that we can take care of the staff in the best way possible", company vice-president Arne Sigve Nylund told journalists.
The helicopter came down near the small island of Turoey, just west of the village of Solsvik.
Image copyright EVN grab Image caption Smoke was visible at the scene of the crash
Image copyright EPA Image caption Firefighters were among those involved in the big rescue operation
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The rotor blade became detached from the helicopter before it crashed
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the helicopter's rotor blade come loose and shear off.
"There was an explosion and a very peculiar engine sound, so I looked out the window. I saw the helicopter falling quickly into the sea. Then I saw a big explosion," a resident told local newspaper Bergensavisen.
Photos from the scene showed thick smoke coming from an area of rocky islets.
Local media said the helicopter dropped 640m (2,200ft) in the last 10 seconds before it crashed. Some wreckage was found on the rocks, and parts of the fuselage are in the sea.
The tail of the aircraft was raised in a salvage operation, local media said, and preparations are being made to recover the fuselage.
Image copyright Mihai Crisan Image caption The actual helicopter which crashed
Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma
Widely used in offshore oil and gas industry around the world
More than 220 in service
Can also be used in search and rescue and fire-fighting roles
Carries 19 passengers plus two crew and can fly for up to five-and-a-half hours
Safety features include self-deployable emergency flotation device, and traffic collision and avoidance system
Source: Airbus Helicopters
The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch is sending a team to Norway because it has investigated a number of crashes involving helicopters operating to and from offshore oil and gas fields in recent years.
In 2012, EC225 Super Puma helicopters crashed in two incidents in Scotland, one off Aberdeen and another off Shetland. Both crashes were blamed on gearbox problems.
In both cases, all passengers and crew were rescued, though in 2013 a Eurocopter AS332 also crashed in Shetland with the loss of four lives.
EC225s in the UK were grounded following the crashes but given the go-ahead to resume flying in 2013.
Helicopter International magazine editor Elfan ap Rees said major modifications seemed to have dealt with the gearbox problem, and it was difficult to know what could have gone wrong in the Norwegian crash.
"Overall, the Super Pumas have a good safety record and they have been constantly improved and upgraded," he told the BBC.
"They have had quite a lot of use in the offshore industry." |
Funny story. I’m putting together the return of Superhero Bits when I come upon some new toys for Iron Man 3. That seemingly insignificant news is perfect for my daily column so I go to grab an image when I get stopped in my tracks. There’s the Mark 47 suit, which we’ve seen, War Machine, which we’ve seen, and the Iron Patriot, which we’ve seen a lot.
Then there’s a fourth suit. Something that we haven’t seen and, if its name is correct, teases heavily to a massive spoiler from Iron Man 3. Whether that’s a cameo or a bridge into The Avengers 2, we’ll have to wait and see. But, if you’re into major, Thanos level, spoilers, let’s discuss below.
Last warning – Major Spoilers for Iron Man 3.
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Here are the four Iron Man 3 Pop figures revealed by Funko. Which one doesn’t fit?
[UPDATE: The one that doesn’t fit has been pulled at the request of Marvel.]
Yes, that’s a Deep Space Suit.
Since we know for a fact the other three suits in the line are in the movie, it’s a safe assumption that the Deep Space Suit is too. So what does it mean?
The most obvious one is a connection to Guardians of the Galaxy. The Guardians are mostly space bound heroes, after all, and if Tony Stark somehow runs into them at the end of the film, it would raise major awareness for a property many movie fans aren’t aware of. A second option is that, at the end of Iron Man 3, Tony and The Avengers get called to another planet, setting up what happens in The Avengers 2. Then there’s Thor: The Dark World, which also takes place in a galaxy far, far away, so maybe there’s a link there. Or maybe he just flys into space for a second.
Also, don’t forget that Kevin Feige teased Tony Stark and space when I spoke to him after The Avengers:
[Guardians of the Galaxy] is where a lot of that will really come to fruition and to me it’s okay and The Avengers is the place to mash it all up, because that’s what Avengers is for and you can have Iron Man in outer space. How’s that going to affect him in IRON MAN 3 or 4? Well the truth is that’s in there now. (Laughs) He’s seen some shit, but he’s also Tony Stark and can blow a lot of stuff off so the story of IRON MAN 3, as we’ve already talked about, is very insular and very Tony Stark centric as redefined by Shane Black.
Which one of these scenarios, if any, occur in Iron Man 3 is still up for debate. What’s much more certain is that this Deep Space Suit is our strongest link yet to what’s coming next in Marvel Phase 2, and beyond.
What role do you think this suit will play in Iron Man 3?
Thanks to Funko for posting these images, Comic Book Movie for alerting me to them and Comic Book for proving I wasn’t crazy |
Archives reveal "comfort women" official actions of Japan
Forcing women into sex slavery and setting up "comfort stations" were official actions of the invading Japanese army during World War Two in Asian countries, newly publicized wartime archives reveal.
A total of 89 wartime documents were made public on Friday as a response to Japan's right-wing politicians' denial of its wartime crimes in China. Twenty-five files relate to "comfort women".
The use of "comfort women" was the state action of Japan during the war, said Su Zhiliang, a professor on the history of "comfort women" at Shanghai Normal University.
The actions harmed China, the Republic of Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The archives showed that the first "comfort station" was in the Southeast Asian country of Indonesia on Java Island.
The invading Japanese army in northeast China, documented what happened during the war, revealing their criminality.
The files are from archives of the military police corps of Japan's Kwantung Army and the national bank of the puppet Manchurian regime, which are stored in Jilin Provincial Archives in northeast China.
The 25 files on "comfort women" include two investigation reports, two telephone records and 21 documents on troops forcing women to have sex and enslaving them.
They revealed conditions at "comfort stations", including ratios between Japanese soldiers and "comfort women" and details of gruesome rapes.
The invading Japanese army allocated women proportionally.
In Feb. 1 to 10 in 1938, there were six "comfort women" for 1,200 soldiers, a ratio of 1:200, in Xiaguan district of east China's Nanjing. After Feb. 20, there were eleven more "comfort women", representing a ratio of 1:71.
In five months since November 1944, the invading Japanese army paid 532,000 Japanese yen on setting up "comfort stations". The expenditure was approved by the Kwantung Army, said a telephone record of the national bank of the puppet Manchurian regime.
The invading Japanese army had abducted and forced women from occupied Korea to some "comfort stations" in Chinese regions, such as Heihe in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and Wuhu in eastern China's Anhui Province, according to the files.
Invading Japanese troops set up "comfort stations" everywhere they reached. The stations appeared in at least twenty to thirty counties in northeast China, said Su Zhiliang.
"The archives showed that the 'comfort station' in Java in Indonesia, strongly demonstrated the 'comfort women' system had reached the southeast Asian country," he said.
One soldier of the police corps was reported and received a verbal criticism after he went to a "comfort station" on March 5, 1944, recorded on a monthly report of the invading Japanese troops in Java.
Several letters Japanese soldiers wrote but seized by army officers expose the invaders' rapes of local women. "Japanese armies raped tens of thousands of women in Nanjing, including a 12-year-old girl, and many were even killed thereafter. The crimes were appalling," said one letter.
The documents represent only a small portion of the nearly 100,000 wartime Japanese files in 1931-1945 period retrieved underground during construction work in 1953, said Yin Huai, president of the Jilin Provincial Archives in Changchun, capital of Jilin Province. Ninety percent of the files are in Japanese.
"The files recorded by the invading Japanese troops themselves are the real documents about their invasion history in China. They are of significant value," said Yin.
The invading troops buried some of their archives when fleeing Changchun, the then "capital" of the puppet Manchu State, in wake of a war with the Soviet Union, as they had no time to burn the documents.
The Jilin Provincial Archives started in 2013 to translate and study the archives. Further work is under way.
Newspaper headline: Archives reveal 'comfort women' official actions of Japan |
Gerald Anderson "Jerry" Lawson (December 1, 1940 – April 9, 2011)[1][2] was an American electronic engineer, and one of the few African-American engineers in the industry at that time. He is known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console as well as pioneering the commercial video game cartridge.[3]
Early life [ edit ]
Lawson was born in Brooklyn, New York City on December 1, 1940.[4] His father Blanton was a longshoreman with an interest in science, while his mother Mannings worked for the city, and also served on the PTA for the local school and made sure that he received a good education.[5] Both encouraged his interests in scientific hobbies, including ham radio and chemistry. Lawson said that his first-grade teacher helped him encourage his path to be someone influential similar to George Washington Carver.[4] While in high school, he earned money by repairing television sets. He attended both Queens College and City College of New York, but did not complete a degree at either.[4]
Career [ edit ]
The Fairchild Channel F, with the cartridge slot on the right of the unit
In 1970, he joined Fairchild Semiconductor in San Francisco as an applications engineering consultant within their sales division. While there, he created the early arcade game Demolition Derby out of his garage.[4][5] In the mid-1970s, Lawson was made Chief Hardware Engineer[6] and director of engineering and marketing for Fairchild's video game division.[4] There, he led the development of the Fairchild Channel F console, released in 1976 and specifically designed to use swappable game cartridges. At the time, most game systems had the game programming stored on ROM storage soldered onto the game hardware, which could not be removed. Lawson and his team figured out how to move the ROM to a cartridge that could be inserted and removed from a console unit repeatedly, and without electrically shocking the user. This would allow users to buy into a library of games, and provided a new revenue stream for the console manufacturers through sales of these games.[7] Lawson's invention of the interchangeable cartridge was so novel that every cartridge he produced had to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.[8] The Channel F was not a commercially successful product, but the cartridge approach was picked up by other console manufacturers, popularized with the Atari 2600 released in 1977.[9][10]
While he was with Fairchild, Lawson and Ron Jones were the sole black members of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists which would produce a number of industry legends, including Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.[9] Lawson had noted he had interviewed Wozniak for a position at Fairchild, but did not hire him.[4]
In 1980, Lawson left Fairchild and founded Videosoft, a video game development company which made software for the Atari 2600 in the early 1980s, as the 2600 had displaced the Channel F as the top system in the market.[3][11] Videosoft closed about five years later, and Lawson started to take on consulting work. At one point, he had been working with Stevie Wonder to produce a "Wonder Clock" that would wake a child with the sound of a parent's voice, though it never made it to production.[7] Lawson later worked with the Stanford mentor program and was preparing to write a book on his career.[9]
In March 2011, Lawson was honored as an industry pioneer for his work on the game cartridge concept by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).[7]
Death [ edit ]
Around 2003, Lawson started having complications from diabetes, losing the use of one leg and sight from one eye.[5] On April 9, 2011, about one month after being honored by the IGDA, he died of complications from diabetes.[4][7] At the time of his death, he resided in Santa Clara, California, and was survived by his wife, two children, and his brother.[4] |
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Saturday she will remain neutral in the presidential race despite Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersPush to end U.S. support for Saudi war hits Senate setback Sanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' MORE’s endorsement of her primary opponent.
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“Even though Senator Sanders has endorsed my opponent I remain, as I have been from the beginning, neutral in the Presidential Democratic primary,” Schultz said in a statement. “I look forward to working together with him for Democratic victories in the fall.”
Sanders, in a CNN interview to air Sunday, said he favors Wasserman Schultz’s primary opponent, Tim Canova.
Canova and Wasserman Schultz will face each other in Florida's congressional primary Aug. 30.
“Well, clearly, I favor her opponent,” Sanders told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “His views are much closer to mine than as to Wasserman Schultz."
Sanders's comments come as tensions between him and party leaders escalate. Last weekend saw a chaotic state convention in Nevada in which Sanders supporters angrily opposed rules they thought unfairly benefited Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. |
In this Feb. 9, 2017, file photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions holds a meeting with the heads of federal law enforcement components at the Department of Justice in Washington. Associated Press/Susan Walsh Attorney General Jeff Sessions has faced mounting calls in recent days to recuse himself from any investigations into Russian ties to Trump's former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and other aides and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, but has so far remained unpersuaded.
On Wednesday, for the second day in a row, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded an investigation into Russian ties to Trump associates conducted by an "independent and unbiased law enforcement authority" that explicitly excludes Sessions.
"The new Attorney General Jeff Sessions cannot be the person to lead that investigation … it is a clear conflict of interest," Schumer said on the Senate floor, citing Department of Justice regulations.
"The words are crystal clear. There is no wiggle room … Any investigation headed, directed by, or influenced by the Attorney General will be jaundiced from the very start."
But Sessions has previously said he sees no need to recuse himself from any such investigations, and one of his advisers told the New York Times he has not been swayed from his position by recent events.
The Justice Department's rule on the matter is brief: "No DOJ employee may participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with any person or organization substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution, or who would be directly affected by the outcome."
The regulation then defines "political relationship" as a "close identification with an elected official, candidate, political party or campaign organization arising from service as a principal advisor or official."
Democrats have argued that Sessions' role alongside Flynn on the National Security Advisory committee during the transition, his position as senior adviser in the Trump campaign, and his enthusiastic endorsement and nomination of Trump at the Republican National Convention last summer constitute a "political relationship" that would interfere with the integrity of an investigation.
"The rules requiring Sessions to recuse from the Trump campaign investigation are so clear you have to question why he is refusing to do so," Matthew Miller, a former spokesperson for former Attorney General Eric Holder, tweeted on Tuesday.
The conflict of interest isn't confined to Sessions' close political relationship with Trump, according to David Alan Sklansky, a former federal prosecutor and current Stanford law professor. Sessions also made public comments during the campaign praising Trump's "pragmatic" approach to Russia.
"It is hard to imagine how his own name — not just the name of the President who appointed him — can fail to surface in this investigation, and hard to imagine how the investigation can fail to touch on, if not Sessions' own actions, at a minimum the actions of close political associated of his in 2016," Sklansky wrote.
Democrats first issued the demand on Tuesday, the day after Flynn resigned over his communications last December with the Russian ambassador. Later that day, the New York Times reported that intercepted phone calls revealed that Trump's associates and campaign staffers had repeatedly communicated with senior Russian intelligence officials in 2016.
Schumer was not alone — 11 Democratic senators on Wednesday jointly called for Sessions to appoint an independent special counsel to investigate Flynn's communication with Russian officials, so as to "maintain the confidence, credibility and impartiality of the Department of Justice."
Debate over Sessions' role in forthcoming investigations was anticipated by Democratic senators during Sessions' confirmation last month, during which Senator Dianne Feinstein of California noted the close working relationship Sessions would have with Flynn upon his confirmation as Attorney General, and asked if he would recuse himself from an investigation.
Sessions replied that he was "not aware of a basis to recuse" himself, adding that he would consult with DOJ ethics officials if he felt his impartiality "might reasonably be questioned."
Sessions did, however, say he would recuse himself from any investigations related to Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server or any matters regarding the Clinton Foundation, given that he had previously made critical comments that "could place my objectivity in question."
Here's Minority leader Schumer speaking on the Senate floor: |
Twenty years after the Olympics took place in Atlanta, a U.S. national team will be training in the city thanks to the threat of the Zika virus.
In a letter issued by USA's Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch, pre-Olympic training will move from Puerto Rico to the Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center, formerly known as the Georgia Tech Aquactic Center, due to the possibility of exposure to the athletes.
As part of our preparations for the Olympic Games this summer, we have been closely monitoring the current situation with the Zika virus. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and other health experts in the field of science and medicine, our athletes would be highly exposed to the Zika virus in Puerto Rico. USA Swimming’s most important priority is the health and safety of our Olympic Team. With this information, the National Team Division has decided to relocate the second camp to Atlanta, GA. Many variables were considered in selecting this location: flight time to Rio, time zone, facility and hotel availability, and training camp atmosphere. The team’s first camp will remain in San Antonio, TX.
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We will also educate Olympic Team members about Zika and provide them with multiple tools to reduce the risk of being bitten by mosquitos while in Rio.
Our partners at Marriott helped us greatly in this transition process and we know the new location will meet our needs. Team culture is one of the things that sets Team USA apart. We want to make sure our camp creates that unity as we head into the Olympic Games.
The team is scheduled to hold its first training camp in San Antonio, from July 11 through July 21, before heading to Georgia Tech's campus.
During the 1996 games, the center featured competitions in swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and water polo. The pool itself is made up of 10, 50 meter by 25 meter lanes and holds 1.08 million gallons of water.
Since then, the center has been turned into a recreational facility for Georgia Tech students and facility.
The Olympics are set to kick off in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, August 6.
PHOTOS | The fight against Zika |
What's scarier than a teenage girl sniffing bath salts to get high? A teenage girl holding hands with another girl. But only if she actually "likes" that girl. You know, "like" likes her.
Sound like a high school argument? Then it should be no surprise this was the decision made at a high school in the Midwest that forbade lesbian teens Desiree Shelton and Sarah Lindstrom from walking into a pep rally together to represent their classmates on the royal court. Unfortunately, it was the school administrators acting like the kids in this situation.
After years of allowing male-female pairs to march as the royal court of the Snow Days pep fest, Champlin Park High School officials freaked when Sheldon and Lindstrom said, "We're here, we're queer, can we hold hands?" They suddenly told the girls there would be no teen pairs this year -- just single royal court members or kids with an adult "important" to them.
The girls fought in the form of a lawsuit, which was dropped in exchange for them being allowed to act like normal teens and walk in together. But the question the district should be asking themselves today is why was this such a big deal? Yes, they're gay, we get it.
But if you've ever attended a high school graduation or similar event where kids are paired up for a processional, do some counting. You'll notice there is rarely a class where the numbers of kids from each gender match exactly. I graduated with 34 other kids (yes, go ahead, laugh). Based purely on an odd number, there were same gender pairs and mixed gender pairs and even some three-bies who stepped in time with "Pomp and Circumstance" into our high school auditorium.
For the most part, we all liked each other. That's what happens when you see the same people day in and day out in such cramped quarters for so many years. We were pretty affectionate. And -- surprise, surprise -- no one bled from the eyes. No one screamed in horror.
In fact, I recall walking hand in hand with some of my female friends in the mall just because we were goofing around. Rather than true love, it was usually a means to drag one friend down the hall to check out the newest goods at the Gap when she wanted to stay and browse the CD racks (remember them?). Still, no innocent children's psyches were harmed as we wandered on by their family shopping trip.
So what's the difference? Oh right, Sheldon and Lindstrom are lesbians. Which means they'll automatically start making out and grinding pelvises right in front of the whole school in the middle of a pep fest. The same way all those horny male/female teen couples drop down in the middle of the gym and start going at it every year. Oh ... wait, that didn't happen, did it?
It turns out, teenage lesbians are equally adept at controlling their hormones in social settings as the rest of their peers. So tell me, the next time you go to the mall and see two teen girls holding hands: can you even tell if they "like" like each other? I doubt it.
So what's so scary?
Image via Made Underground/Flickr |
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So you want to learn the art of picking locks? Well, look no further than our quick and dirty infographical guides to lock picking! The goal behind these visual guides was to extract only the fundamental and necessary components involved in successfully picking a lock, no more — no less.
If you are looking for more comprehensive guides that cover the entirety of lock picking, be sure to check out the Academy and our Complete Beginner’s Guide to Lock Picking.
Single Pin Picking
The first of our techniques in this series of graphical guides is Single Pin Picking. Every technique of lock picking uses two tools — a tension wrench and a lock pick.
The tension wrench is used to place rotational tension on the plug of the lock, much like a key does. This aids us in both setting pins and turning the plug when the pins are all set.
Single pin picking uses a hook style pick. This pick is specially designed to push and manipulate each pin individually — hence the name “single pin picking.”
Raking
The next technique in this series is Raking — also known as Scrubbing. Raking is the art of using both luck and skill to open a lock. To rake a lock we need the use of both a tension wrench and a rake type lock pick.
These rakes style picks come in a variety of shapes, but all accomplish the same goal — to manipulate multiple pins at once. Rake picks have several peaks and are used by inserting the pick into the lock and scrubbing the pins back and forth — much like brushing your teeth, except much more fun. In theory, the more peaks a rake has, the more pins it can manipulate and the better chance you have of bumping each pin to the shear line.
Let’s take a look!
Improvised Lock Picking Infographics
Utilizing the proper lock picking tools will not only aid in your success but also in the development of your skills. However, we don’t always have these little tools on hand and thus we must improvise. Lock picking can be accomplished with anything that is both small enough to fit into the keyway and malleable enough to form into the proper tools.
Bobby Pin Lock Picking
Bobby pins have always had this strange subtle link to lock picking. This is likely because they work fantastic on lower level locks and their availability surpasses any other item like them — being found in just about any purse.
To pick a lock with a bobby pin, we must first forge our tools. Like any variation of lock picking, we will need both a tension wrench and a pick — hence we need two bobby pins.
To make our wrench we need only to bend our first bobby pin into the shape of an “L.” Simple enough!
Our pick requires a few extra steps. First strip off the rubber cap on the straight end of the bobby pin. This can be done easily by using fingernails, pliers, or even your teeth.
Once the rubber end is removed we can begin making our bends. Start by pulling the bobby pin apart and straightening it. Next, stick the straight end of the bobby pin about 1/3 of an inch into the keyhole of your lock and apply enough pressure to bend the end of the pin into a hook.
Other Lock Picking Infographics
The art of lock picking, like every craft and skill, involves much more than originally meets the eye. So many questions and concerns arise when venturing into a new craft. To conclude this infographical series, we will touch on the subjects unrelated to the actual techniques of lock picking, starting with applicable laws.
Us Lock Picking Laws
Before you consider buying a set of lock picks, it is always preferred that you check your state or country laws regarding the legality of owning locksmithing tools. In the United States, there are only five states that do not allow possession of lock picking tools. These states are Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and Tennessee. Any other state is free game! For more information on the legality in your state or country check out LockWiki.
Taking Your Lock Picking Skills Further!
[quads id=”2″] While this simple guide is enough to get anyone’s feet wet, the craft of lock picking doesn’t stop here. Not by a long shot! These were but simple steps for anyone to mimic. By learning the basic theory and techniques behind lock picking, your success at picking locks will skyrocket. And the best part is, it’s not a terribly difficult skill to acquire. Within hours you could be picking locks with a seemingly innate knowledge of not only how locks work, but what exactly you are manipulating within them. If you wish to develop your lock picking skills beyond mere mediocrity, take a look at our comprehensive beginner’s guide to lock picking!
Beginner Lock Picking Sets
Owning and using the correct tools is vital to any lock picking venture. They not only aid in your success, but they help you develop the “feel” and consistency required to become proficient at the craft. A quality set of lock picks is a relatively low-cost investment and will always be there in your time of need. Be sure to take a look at our most demanded lock pick set below or visit our store for more lock picking sets!
As always, Happy Picking!
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The Hollywood star of Republican Party frontrunner Donald Trump has been vandalised and defecated on by both humans and their pets.
The US presidential hopeful has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 2007 following the success of reality television show The Apprentice.
However the gold and brass star has recently been subjected to vandalism, including a spray-painted swastika and pet poo, as many Americans take issue with the real estate mogul's rhetoric and policy plans, The Los Angeles Times reported.
However, officials of the Walk of Fame told The Times they have no plans to remove the star.
"The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a registered historic landmark," president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which operates the Walk of Fame," said Leron Gubler.
"Once a star has been added to the walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted sees the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theatres in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations: Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine—the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit the Frog—and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, played by Ricky Gervais.
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But if you were to join the Muppets on tour, who would you be? Are you a diva like Miss Piggy? A comedian like Fozzie or are you meant to be green like ol’Kermit? There’s only one way to find out…
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Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted is available on Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital HD, DVD, Disney Movies Anywhere, and On-Demand 11 August 2014 |
It is the world's most isolated country, a place where the weekly television highlight is It's So Funny, a long-running comedy show in which two uniformed soldiers perform slapstick sketches in between lectures about the greatness of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.
Now, however, hope – or at least variety – is at hand for the people of North Korea. After months of negotiations with the British government, the totalitarian dictatorship has finally selected three BBC programmes that the state is willing to consider showing its people: Dr Who, Top Gear and Teletubbies.
"Extensive enquiries have been made about what these three shows involve and if they would be suitable for the [North] Korean people," a Pyongyang insider explained. "Anything too political was not suitable but these are entertainment shows, and one of them is for young children."
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The decision follows a BBC initiative last year, supported by the Foreign Office, to draw up a list of programmes that the North Koreans might consider obtaining. At the time, the Foreign Secretary William Hague hailed it as "a good way to improve understanding about the outside world within such a closed society".
Negotiations with the closely controlled state proved tortuous, however. A delegation from the North Korean embassy in London visited the Foreign Office to discuss the proposal, but months were then spent selecting the three shows as worthy of consideration.
A report has been written on each of them to be sent to Pyongyang. No timescale has been given for when an answer is expected, although the British embassy in the North Korean capital is helping to facilitate contact between the BBC's commercial wing, BBC Worldwide, and local broadcasting authorities.
The BBC would not comment on what shows were chosen or why "until or unless an agreement is concluded". But the Doctor Who Appreciation Society had no doubt the timelord's adventures would prove a hit. "If there are children and young adults in North Korea who like the excitement of science fiction and the ability to tell a different story every week," said leading Whovian Antony Wainer, "they'll like Doctor Who."
The country's state broadcaster, Korean Central Television, is only on air for six and a half hours every night. A third of the output is spent praising the government, while another third extols workers to toil harder for the affection of the Dear Leader. Any UK programmes would likely be edited to ensure the removal of ideologically improper elements.
It was reported last month that male university students are being instructed to get the same haircut as Kim Jong-un, though the claim has no reliable source. But the appearance of those on screen is closely regulated, with television news readers required to have specific haircuts and wear certain colours.
The watching of non-sanctioned programmes is harshly punished. Eighty people were reportedly shot recently for crimes that included being caught with pirated copies of South Korean programmes. Such penalties have failed to dampen demand, however, perhaps explaining the regime's willingness to consider foreign exports and so make its own channels more popular. Many North Koreans store foreign programmes on USB sticks, which can be pulled out and hidden from police if required. |
Moviemaker David Lynch has unearthed lost outtakes featuring the late Dennis Hopper for the upcoming Blu Ray release of cult film Blue Velvet.
The Twin Peaks director felt sure the footage of Hopper and Kyle MACLachlan had been destroyed, and was thrilled to find it during a clear-out.
Lynch tells Los Angeles radio station KCRW, "I find out that Dino (De Laurentiis), the producer, doesn't know where they are. They're gone. His company went bankrupt, it was taken over by another company, and then it was sold to other companies. No one knew where they were, they were gone. So depressing.
"Lately, those have been found. Somewhere up in Seattle. It's incredible. I'm seeing stuff I thought was gone forever. And hopefully some of those scenes... will end up on the new Blu Ray." |
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the best films ever made. Almost 50 years after its release, it remains a topic of heated discussion and great reverence. It’s one of those films you could only dream to own a part of. But now you can.
The San Francisco Art Exchange is selling a collection of work called The 2001 File, an archive of over 1,500 sketches, designs, paintings, and more that production designer and art director Harry Lange created for Kubrick’s film.
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This is truly historical, jaw-dropping stuff. It’s work Lange did specifically at Kubrick’s request, much of which made it into the movie almost exactly. Here’s just a teeny, tiny taste of what’s available.
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As you can see, almost every one of those pieces is instantly recognizable as being a part of 2001. These are the original drawings used to spark those designs and sets in the final film.
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“Lange’s illustrations are stunning to look at, and as you take them in you realize that they represent a kind of guided dreaming,” Theron Kabrich, co-founder and co-director of the SFAE, said in a press release. “2001 came at a very important period of time. America was working on going to the moon, and the film made space exploration seem imminent. Kubrick, [Arthur C. Clarke], and Lange didn’t put it so far out into the future that we couldn’t feel it. It’s pretty remarkable to look at Lange’s work from 50 years ago and see that so much of what he predicted is now part of our everyday life.”
So this stuff is awesome, right? Well, here’s the bad news. First, it’s not on public display. Second, it’s all for sale but it ain’t gonna be cheap. The SFAE has estimated the collection is worth $8.75 million so, yeah. These are for serious collectors only. But if you are one of those, or if you have questions, you can contact San Francisco Art Exchange at [email protected], or call 415-441-8840. |
For other uses, see Oxo
OXO or Noughts and Crosses is a video game developed by A S Douglas in 1952 which simulates a game of noughts and crosses. It was one of the first games developed in the early history of video games. Douglas programmed the game as part of a thesis on human-computer interaction at the University of Cambridge.
It was written on the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC). EDSAC was one of the first stored-program computers, with memory that could be read from or written to, and had three small cathode ray tube screens to display the state of the memory; Douglas re-purposed one screen to demonstrate portraying other information to the user, such as the state of a noughts and crosses game. After the game served its purpose, it was discarded on the original hardware but later successfully reconstructed.
OXO, along with a draughts game by Christopher Strachey completed around the same time, is one of the earliest known games to display visuals on an electronic screen. Under some definitions, it thus may qualify as the first video game, though other definitions exclude it due to its lack of moving or real-time updating graphics.
History [ edit ]
The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) mainframe computer was built in the University of Cambridge's Mathematical Laboratory between 1946 and 6 May 1949, when it ran its first program,[1][2] and remained in use until 11 July 1958.[3] The EDSAC was one of the first stored-program computers, with memory that could be read from or written to, and filled an entire room; it included three 35×16 dot matrix cathode ray tubes (CRTs) to graphically display the state of the computer's memory.[4][5] As a part of a thesis on human-computer interaction, Sandy Douglas, a doctoral candidate in mathematics at the university, used one of these screens to portray other information to the user; he chose to do so via displaying the current state of a game.[6][7]
Douglas used the EDSAC to simulate a game of noughts and crosses, and display the state of the game on the screen. Like other early video games, after serving Douglas's purpose, the game was discarded.[4] Douglas did not give the game a name beyond "noughts and crosses"; the name OXO first appeared as the name of the simulation file created by computer historian Martin Campbell-Kelly while creating a simulation of the EDSAC several decades later.[8] Around the same time that OXO was completed, Christopher Strachey expanded a draughts program he had originally written in 1951 and ported it to the Ferranti Mark 1, which showed the state of the game on a CRT display.[9][10] OXO and Strachey's draughts program are the earliest known games to display visuals on an electronic screen, though it is unclear which of the two games was displayed first.[7] As it ran on a computing device and used a graphical display, OXO is considered under some definitions to be a contender for the first video game,[11] though under others it does not due to its lack of moving graphics or graphics which update continuously.[12]
Interaction [ edit ]
Each game was played by one user against an artificially intelligent opponent, which could play a "perfect" game. The player entered their input using a rotary telephone controller, selecting which of the nine squares on the board they wished to move next. Their move would appear on the screen, and then the computer's move would follow; the game display only updated when the game state changed.[8] OXO was not available to the general public and could only be played in the University of Cambridge's Mathematical Laboratory by special permission, as the EDSAC could not be moved, and both the computer and the game were only intended for academic research purposes.[13] |
What if the battery is not calibrated to begin with?
You can delete batterystats.bin while its charging.
Batterystats will get recreated if you were to unplug it.
Otherwise, it get recreated at the boot logo before the animation.
So you can delete it while it's charging, let it charge it up to 4200mV + 15 minutes or so.
Leave it plugged in.
Shut down, take out the battery, start it up and you get a battery screen with the ? and then pop the battery back in and it will show 60% at first and if it's fully charged, it will show 100% soon enough.
Not sure if it works on other phones, but on droids and milestones you can boot the phone up without the battery.
This way to calibrate is pretty cool.
After deleting and charging, reboot phone normally but take the battery out before the logo and the phone keeps on booting.
Then you pop the battery back in at the lock screen and you can monitor everything with battery monitor widget.
Anyway, full guide in in my signature. |
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that one should not think of making a fortune while serving poorest of the poor. Reuters
Asking micro-lenders to look at only a “reasonable profit” to sustain their business while serving borrowers at the bottom of pyramid, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that one should not think of making a fortune while serving poorest of the poor.
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The comments come in sharp contrast to management guru late CK Prahalad’s views in his book ‘The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid’.
The concept of the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid originally appeared in an article by Prahalad and Stuart L Hart in business journal ‘Strategy+Business’ in 2004.
That was followed by a book with the same title that discussed new business models targeted at providing goods and services to the poorest.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, a philanthropist who has seen so far spent millions annually to help the poor, has described the book as something that offers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability.
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Rajan, himself is a renowned economist, said during a recent micro finance event, “I think Prahalad did a disservice by saying that there is a fortune at the bottom of the pyramid.
“My sense is that you cannot, in good conscience, make a fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. Make reasonable profits, but if you start making a fortune, it does start raising societal anxiety about how the fortune is being made”.
Following the advice of Prahalad, many companies across the world and especially consumer goods, auto and telecom marketers in the country, have begun to tap the underserved markets and made a big market out of them, Rajan said.
He added however that reasonable profit must be there at the bottom of the pyramid as the business has to be self-sustaining.
“If business is not self-sustaining, then entities Will make a pretence of doing the business, but they are not really going to get engaged until there are profits,” Rajan noted.
The poor who want to borrow often face local monopolies, which in the long-run can be taken care of by market competition, but in short-run borrowers have to deal with it, Rajan said.
“When they face local monopolies, then essentially we don’t have the presence of a competition commission right at the grassroots. And therefore, sometimes laws like you cannot charge more than a certain amount may be necessary to protect the poor,” he said.
Rajan said an interest rate cap on loans given by MFIs may force some people to go to money lenders who are outside the formal system and can charge an arm and a leg, but at the same time it ensures protection of consumers.
He said: “So, we should have a reasonable ceiling…not too low but not so high that it is irrelevant. When we have more competition we can remove this ceiling.
“For now, despite the MFIs saying that the ceiling is harmful, and I admit it does harm certain individuals who are forced into the hands of the money lender, it is something that we should continuously re-examine but we probably have to live with it at this point.”
The Reserve Bank had in April 2012 capped the interest rate on MFI loans at 26 per cent following the Malegam committee report.
RBI set up the Malegam committee after the October 2010 MFI crisis in Andhra, when the state banned MFIs from coercively collecting instalments after some borrowers allegedly committed suicides fearing recovery agents.
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This led to a massive default by borrowers in the undivided state from which the then largest MFI market is yet to recover. |
Last week we helped the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy organize “Beyond bitcoin: The future of blockchain and disruptive financial technologies,” a roundtable discussion among industry, government, and experts, as well as a public panel discussion. The event looked at blockchain technologies like Bitcoin and examined their use-cases, especially in the context of regulation. Joining us were experts from across the industry representing diverse perspectives on the future of this technology. In particular, there were notable discussions on the value of permissioned or closed ledgers as compared to permissionless or open ledgers. While we do not yet know how the future of this technology will shake out, I got an opportunity to lay out the case for decentralized permissionless ledgers [See above].
Later, we discussed the risks that fast-paced innovation presents, and I made the case that the answer is not precautionary regulation, but to allow the technology to develop and only intervene where there is a clear problem--especially since the technology will continue to be developed even with prophylactic regulation.
Finally, our senior policy counsel, Robin Weisman, laid out the questions and challenges regulators face with cryptocurrency technology:
You can see the day’s full proceedings here. |
Anyone who dares criticize Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians knows what to expect: accusations of being “anti-Israel” or “anti-Semitic.” In mainstream political and academic circles, the topic can be especially toxic as “pro-Israel” zealots go to great lengths to block even a debate, writes Lawrence Davidson.
By Lawrence Davidson
Here is the situation: the threat of aggressive public protests against those assembling to critically discuss the behavior of Israel has become an excuse to shut down such gatherings. The latest example of this tactic , which is really a form of blackmail to impose censorship, took place earlier this month at the University of Southampton in the UK.
An international conference entitled “International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility and Exceptionalism” was scheduled for April 17-19, 2015, at the University of Southampton. It was to bring together lawyers and scholars to examine the legal basis for the establishment of the State of Israel and the rationales (or lack thereof) for its historical treatment of the Palestinian people.
The standard by which these issues were to be judged was international law. The conference would also have examined the issue of exceptionalism when it came to the inadequate legal and diplomatic response to Israeli policies and behavior. Conference participants were to include both those critical of Israel and those who would present a defense of Israeli practices.
This conference had been planned for over a year, yet days before its opening Southampton University announced that it would not allow the gathering to go ahead on its campus because there were “risks to safety and public order.” This was due to expected protests against the conference.
Where did these risks come from? They originated with Zionists and their allies. Specifically, the Sussex Friends of Israel were ready to bring out as many as 300 peaceful protesters. In addition, there was likely to be a very small number of English Defense League members, who are anti-Muslim, pro-Israel, and potentially violent.
Certainly the Zionist rhetoric was aggressive and emotionally charged. The conference was described as a gathering of “Israel-haters,” “a rally of bigots,” a gathering of “toxic speakers,” and an “anti-Israel carnival.” It made no difference to these ideologically driven zealots that what was really planned was a sober investigation of historical patterns of behavior against the backdrop of internationally recognized legal norms.
Though the negative emotional energy ran high, the actual danger from the planned protests was probably quite minimal, and the local police declared themselves capable and ready to handle the situation. Nonetheless, instead of acting resolutely against those who would threaten free speech, the university simply gave in.
It essentially ran scared not only from exaggerated threats of violence but, as seems always to be the case, from the wrath of a small number of financial donors who threatened to stop supporting the institution if it provided a forum for open discussion of issues that cast Israel in a poor light. Essentially, Southampton University allowed itself to be blackmailed by Zionist censors.
One can speculate on what would have been the case if the situation were reversed. That is, if pro-Palestinian demonstrators had implied a “risk to safety and public order” at a Zionist conference upholding Israeli practices. The army would have been called out before such a conference was canceled.
An Ongoing Tactic
This is not the first time this sort of scenario has played out. Back in 2001 the president of the University of South Florida, Judy Genshaft, forced Dr. Sami Al-Arian , then a member of the faculty, to stay away from the campus because of negative and slanderous media publicity and Zionist threats against him.
This all stemmed from his vocal support of Palestinian rights. Here too a university administration allowed itself to be blackmailed by ideologically driven zealots. In the process it abandoned the principle of free speech and allowed censorship to prevail through threats of disruption.
There are other suspicious occurrences that may have been brought about by quieter forms of the same censoring pressures. For instance, in March, this writer was invited to address the prestigious Oxford Union in London on a topic that would, in part, cover U.S. foreign policy in support of Israel. Within five days the invitation was withdrawn.
The quick turnaround called into doubt the Oxford Union’s claim that the cause of the withdrawal was scheduling problems. While it is not possible to say for sure that the reversal was due to Zionist pressure, the present atmosphere of aggressive Zionist efforts to stymie all criticism of Israel and its supporters, makes this sort of occurrence appear suspicious.
What is going on here is not only the censoring of those critical of Israel, but the undermining of the rule of law, particularly international law. The irony is that much of this body of law was promulgated because of the savage persecution experienced by Europe’s Jews and others during the World War II.
However, the Zionist element among Jewry (not all Jews) decided that their future lay not in the support of law, but in the creation of a state through a process of imperial invasion and colonial settlement. They pursued this objective just at the time when both classical imperialism and colonialism were going out of style and the European empires were falling apart.
Thus, even at the moment it succeeded in establishing the State of Israel, Zionism was already an anachronism – an ideology that could only prevail through aggression and racist policies in a world that was trying to outlaw both types of behavior.
That Zionism has, to date, gained its goal is largely due to its having achieved for Israel an “exceptional” status in the West that has allowed it to escape the rule of law. In other words, Israel has evolved into a “rogue” state that is being protected by Western powers, particularly the United States.
Israel has achieved this “exceptional” status by two means: first, the Zionist corruption of Western governments through a lobby process involving the bribing of politicians, and second, through the exploitation of the Western fear of the Arab and Islamic world.
The Zionists always complain that Israel is being singled out. For instance, one of the gambits used to attack the Southampton conference was as follows : “no academic conference on Pakistan, for instance, founded just a year before Israel, would consist solely of discussion on whether it should have been created and how to end it.”
Putting aside the fact that this is an overly simplistic, and thus distorted, description of the Southampton conference, the comparison with Pakistan is off base. Pakistan was created as part of a process of decolonization. Israel was created in defiance of that same process. Zionist ideology, like any form of dogmatic thinking, ends up skewing history to its own needs.
Actually, as long as Israel insists on being “a Jewish state” instead of a democratic state of all its citizens, it must walk the path of apartheid. And, it can only get away with that through successfully maintaining an exceptional status – a status that puts it above international law.
The Southampton conference would have exposed this situation in a factual and sober way – in a way that would be hard for any fair-minded person to doubt. That is why the Zionists went to such lengths to shut it down. |
Update: Jan. 13, 2015 – MSPCA begins accepting applications on rescued Dachshunds
The Boston and Methuen adoption centers will begin accepting applications for adoption for the large group of Dachshunds that were surrendered last Tuesday. Since their surrender the adoption center staffs have been hard at work assessing the medical and behavior needs of each individual dog and are nearing a point where the dogs will be ready to be adopted into new and loving families.
In the next few days the staff will be finishing their treatments and scheduling their spay/neuter surgeries prior to them being made available for adoption. In the meantime we will be starting the application process with interested parties. Since the announcement of this large surrender hundreds of potential adopters have contacted our centers about adopting these dogs. We are excited by the outpouring of support from the public, but also recognize the number of interested parties far outnumbers the number of dogs we will have available for adoption. To be as fair as possible and to help us choose the best possible homes for these dogs, applications for adoption will be accepted in person at each of our adoption centers on Wednesday January 14th andThursday January 15th during open hours (please see our website for open hours as each location’s hours vary). Applicants will be interviewed individually by adoption center staff and determination of adoption eligibility will be made after all applications are collected and reviewed. To make the process more efficient we ask that people review our adoption criteria and bring all necessary documentation with them at the time of applying.
If you are applying at the Boston Adoption Center, click here for the adoption criteria.
If you are applying at the Methuen Adoption Center, click here for the adoption criteria.
Important considerations prior to adoption
It’s important for families to recognize that these dogs have come from an environment that is very different than a regular home environment and were housed in large groups. As a result we want to be sure that families interested in adoption have given careful consideration to the needs of these dogs and the challenges they may encounter as they transition from a large group to individual companions. Each dog will likely need considerable help with housebreaking and will likely require a behavior modification plan to help with this. It is also important for people to understand that because these dogs have been living in a large group and were isolated from normal daily life they may take time to adjust to the normal life of a dog. Families should be sure that they have the patience, time and resources necessary to work through these issues prior to applying.
BOSTON and Methuen, Mass. Jan. 6, 2015 – Seventy one Dachshund-type dogs were voluntarily surrendered to the Westminster, Mass. Animal Control facility last night from a home at 21 Harrington Road in Westminster, and 60 of the animals have been transported to the MSPCA-Angell’s adoption centers in Boston and Methuen, the organization announced today. The remaining dogs will stay at the Westminster facility until new adoptive homes can be found.
The dogs—a mix of males, females and puppies—arrived at the MSPCA adoption centers this afternoon, where they await veterinary and behavioral evaluations.
Most of the dogs are underweight and matted and some are coated in urine and feces. The conditions inside the home have been described as extremely dirty. Moreover, some of the dogs were housed in cages outside, with little protection from the elements.
Law Enforcement Investigation
The MSPCA’s Law Enforcement department has opened an investigation. “At this stage we cannot comment on the status of the investigation but, should there be details we can release in the days and weeks ahead, we will do so,” said law enforcement officer Nadya Branca.
Mike Keiley, director of the Noble Family Animal Care and Adoption Center at the MSPCA-Nevins Farm in Methuen, is overseeing the arrival and the sheltering of 30 of the dogs. “We’ll do everything we can to make the dogs comfortable, and we expect to carry out health and behavior checks in the days ahead,” he said.
Keiley also stressed the need for patience, particularly among those eager to adopt. “The dogs are coming from a traumatic environment and they’ll need time to settle down. They’ll need to be spayed and neutered, and they’ll likely have some health issues that we’ll need to help them overcome.”
The MSPCA will announce availability of the dogs for adoption once these evaluations have been completed.
###
The MSPCA-Angell is a national and international leader in animal protection and veterinary medicine and provides direct hands-on care for thousands of animals each year. Founded in 1868, it is the second-oldest humane society in the United States. Services include animal protection and adoption, advocacy, humane education, law enforcement, and world-class veterinary care. The MSPCA-Angell is a private, non-profit organization. It does not receive any government funding nor is it funded or operated by any national humane organization. The MSPCA-Angell relies solely on the support and contributions from individuals who care about animals. Please visit www.mspca.org and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mspcaangell |
JOHN KEY: The Prime Minister the naming of the staffing at the heart of the briefing is "no big deal one way or the other."
The prime minister's office has released the name of the staff member briefed by the SIS over the release of information to WhaleOil blogger Cameron Slater.
A spokeswoman for Prime Minister John Key confirmed former deputy chief of staff Phil de Joux was told by SIS director Warren Tucker under the "no surprises" policy that Slater would be receiving the declassified documents.
Nicky Hager said in his Dirty Politics book that Slater received the response to his Official Information Act request within a week, and quoted Facebook messages suggesting Slater knew what would be in the documents.
He alleged Slater was tipped off by Key's staff to ask for the papers, which embarrassed then-Labour leader Phil Goff who wrongly denied being briefed by the SIS.
Key came under fire after he denied being briefed about the release of the documents to Slater - video footage emerged of Key saying Tucker had discussed the matter with him.
Key later clarified that in that context, briefing the prime minister meant briefing the prime minister's office.
He refused to disclose which of his staff members had been briefed by Tucker, however.
Today Key said he was "comfortable" with the release of de Joux's name, a matter the Ombudsman was investigating.
"The only reason we didn't name names is simply because these people handle sensitive information and in the case of Phil de Joux he now works in the private sector, so it's really just a privacy matter, but it's no big deal one way or the other."
Goff says it was "very hard to believe that material that came from the SIS, the Prime Minister wouldn't have known what his staff was doing about it".
"I know with Helen Clark, anything to do with the SIS she dealt with personally. I can't believe any staff member would leak material from the SIS without ... John Key knowing about it."
Goff said SIS briefings were never released, other than on this occasion.
Labour leader David Cunliffe said Key's initial claims that the details should not be released in order to protect the staff member was not believable.
"This calls into real question whether or not the prime minister knew that this OIA request from Whaleoil was manipulated by the SIS. It's not good whichever way you look at it."
Cunliffe said that "every day we find out more about the prime minister's office and dirty dealings and in this case the fact that his deputy chief of staff was involved with the SIS in dumping papers on Phil Goff, it's not right and that's why we need a very very broad inquiry around ministerial abuses of power."
It was a "sacking offence" if the deputy chief of staff had not briefed Key, he said.
The Inspector-General of Security and Intelligence launched an inquiry in response to the allegations that SIS documents were declassified so Slater's information request could be fast-tracked.
Goff gave evidence to the inquiry on September 8, and said the obvious explanation for the specificity of Slater's request was that he had a source for the information which "in the nature of SIS briefings could only have been either within the SIS itself or the prime minister or his office." |
Going into the league championship round of the MLB playoffs, the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs were looking like the best bets to meet in the World Series next week. According to our Elo ratings, they were the two strongest squads in baseball, and while neither team had home-field advantage in its LCS matchup, each was favored to win regardless.
The Blue Jays and Cubs both dropped the first two games of their series on the road, however, to the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets, respectively. Both are now staring at a radically different postseason landscape. Chicago and Toronto still grade out as MLB’s top two teams according to Elo (the Cubs are still clear of Kansas City for No. 2, by a fraction of a rating point), but there’s only a 5 percent chance they’ll both mount comebacks and rendezvous on baseball’s biggest stage.
TEAM ELO RATING MAKE WORLD SERIES WIN WORLD SERIES Kansas City Royals 1556 79.2% 43.7% New York Mets 1536 76.5 32.0 Toronto Blue Jays 1567 20.8 12.2 Chicago Cubs 1556 23.5 12.2
Instead — as you would expect — Elo thinks the most likely World Series matchup by far (with a 60 percent probability) is a Mets-Royals showdown — a battle of the champs from 1985 and 1986. That means there’s still a 40 percent chance that either the Jays or Cubs will manage a revival, so it won’t be completely stunning if at least one 0-2 comeback takes place. But the prospect of both is looking pretty improbable, despite the strength of the two trailing teams.
And if a Mets-Royals World Series does happen, Elo gives the Royals the edge, with a 58 percent chance of winning the hypothetical matchup. Not only would they hold home-field advantage thanks to the American League’s All-Star Game victory, but Elo also thinks Kansas City is the better team — particularly in the universe in which it wins the ALCS, because that will have meant the Royals won two more games against Toronto, currently rated as MLB’s best team. |
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